Yora
Maester
All creativity comes from reimagining old things in new ways, combining and recontextualizing them. "Everything is a remix", as they say.
I am curious about what existing works had the biggest direct influence on what you consider to be good plots, characters, scenes, and settings when it comes to creating your own works. Where did you encounter the imagery, atmosphere, and specific elements that you are reimagining with your stories?
The biggest one for me is clearly classic Star Wars, particularly The Empire Strikes Back. Dagobah and Cloud City are big setters for the mood and atmosphere I am striving for, and the look of Endor dominates the way I see my own setting in my mind. I also am quite fond of the conflicts Luke and Han are dealing with respectively.
Another big one is the roleplaying game setting Planescape. It started as being a description of the heavens and hells of a regular generic D&D world, but the final thing ended up being so much more. It feels a bit like a sci-fi setting, but instead of hundreds of different planets there are dozens of different dimensions, populated by numerous different forms of mortals, angels, and demons. These don't have any direct influence on my own visions for fantastic worlds, but I am completely in love with many of the wilderness dominated dimensions that are inhabited by fey creatures and have few or no human populations. They are lush environments, but almost desolate when it comes to people. The quirky artwork also inspired me a lot in finding my own style of imagery, and I really latched on to the idea that belief of the masses will be reflected in the environment.
When it comes to specifics of the setting, the big inspiration is the game Morrowind. Which I think is actually a rather poor game, but the setting is the most amazing fantasy world I've ever encountered. It's like an alien planet, but imagined as a true fantasy world without and science fiction elements. Giant mushroom trees, giant insects and reptiles as beasts of burden, warrior monks in brass armor, living god kings. I just love this stuff.
I am curious about what existing works had the biggest direct influence on what you consider to be good plots, characters, scenes, and settings when it comes to creating your own works. Where did you encounter the imagery, atmosphere, and specific elements that you are reimagining with your stories?
The biggest one for me is clearly classic Star Wars, particularly The Empire Strikes Back. Dagobah and Cloud City are big setters for the mood and atmosphere I am striving for, and the look of Endor dominates the way I see my own setting in my mind. I also am quite fond of the conflicts Luke and Han are dealing with respectively.
Another big one is the roleplaying game setting Planescape. It started as being a description of the heavens and hells of a regular generic D&D world, but the final thing ended up being so much more. It feels a bit like a sci-fi setting, but instead of hundreds of different planets there are dozens of different dimensions, populated by numerous different forms of mortals, angels, and demons. These don't have any direct influence on my own visions for fantastic worlds, but I am completely in love with many of the wilderness dominated dimensions that are inhabited by fey creatures and have few or no human populations. They are lush environments, but almost desolate when it comes to people. The quirky artwork also inspired me a lot in finding my own style of imagery, and I really latched on to the idea that belief of the masses will be reflected in the environment.
When it comes to specifics of the setting, the big inspiration is the game Morrowind. Which I think is actually a rather poor game, but the setting is the most amazing fantasy world I've ever encountered. It's like an alien planet, but imagined as a true fantasy world without and science fiction elements. Giant mushroom trees, giant insects and reptiles as beasts of burden, warrior monks in brass armor, living god kings. I just love this stuff.