I agree with gwern regarding the Death Note reference… of all your pop culture references, this one is definitely the most contrived, and thus it feels a bit out of place.
Strange, that’s the one reference that I only got on a reread—it seemed to flow decently enough by itself (I’ve taken the King, I’ll need Laerters, after K & L will there be some M & N further) that I didn’t realize it was referencing anything at first. So I don’t think it felt out of place.
I agree with gwern regarding the Death Note reference… of all your pop culture references, this one is definitely the most contrived, and thus it feels a bit out of place.
Strange, that’s the one reference that I only got on a reread—it seemed to flow decently enough by itself (I’ve taken the King, I’ll need Laerters, after K & L will there be some M & N further) that I didn’t realize it was referencing anything at first. So I don’t think it felt out of place.