Incomplete draft: do not cite!

Thus far, when Step decides to print something, it always prints it the same way.  Now let’s look at how we can use context information to adjust how a given item gets printed.

Even simple things like printing someone’s name can be complicated.  When the narrator first introduces Diana Ratcliffe, titan of industry, we’d probably use her full name:

Diana Ratcliffe, Founder and CEO of Ratcliffe Industries, surveyed the New York skyline.

On the other hand, when a character mentions her, they likely won’t use her full name:

  • “Here are the reports you asked for, Ms. Ratcliffe,” said Benjamin, her trusted assistant.
  • The elderly woman gazed at gift.  “Oh, Diana, you shouldn’t have!”
  • “Ratcliffe is up to something.  I don’t know what it is, but she now owns 51% of Algernon Pharmaceuticals.”

Others might not use her name at all.  If they were intimate with her, they might use an endearment such as “Mommy” or “Darling”.  If she had a butler, they might address her as “Madam”.  In an institutional context, someone might use a title, such as “Colonel”, if she was in the National Guard or Army Reserves, or “Your Excellency,” if she was a US ambassador.  Or “ojou-sama” if she was an anime character who was secretly the daughter of a yakuza boss.