What inspired you?

Akhilles 2021-08-17 08:15:09 UTC #1

Behind every story, is another story.

What inspired you to write your series here on Tapas? Was it an image that sparked connections in your neurons? Was it a piece of music that created a specific scene of your series that eventually metamorphosed into a story? Was it an incident in your life that you wanted to explore from a different perspective, such as fantasy or science fiction?

To me, it was after watching the first Jason Bourne again a year or so ago that I wondered; what if Bourne was in a mythological setting? Of course, I didn't want to use a mythology already explored in pop culture and mainstream media. I initially wanted to pick Slavic mythology, but well, we now have The Witcher. That's when I discovered South-African mythology, especially those followed by the Yoruba people, who mainly reside in Nigeria. Absolutely fascinating stuff that can rival legends like Zeus, Odin, and Anubis.

Let me know your story and post a link to your series as well so we can subscribe if we like it

ivanskilling 2021-08-17 08:49:20 UTC #2

That sounds really cool! I'll check out yours when I'm free.

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Psychological Thriller
Inspired by people I've met in real life - which is kinda ominous given that this is a murder mystery.
I also based many parental themes and societal issues on Asian culture since I'm from SEA.

Genre: Historical Romance, Fantasy
Inspired by the 2007 live action Hua Mulan movie. I wanted to write about the concept of being bound to one's duty and sacrificing one's happiness for the greater good.

Genre: Scifi, Action, Thriller
Inspired by Black Mirror and Love, Death, Robots! Normally, I read an article about technological advances and think about the what-ifs.

faisalhussein394 2021-08-17 09:21:43 UTC #3

When I was making comics, I am not so sure how could I make it look different from everyone else aside from the artwork.

But then I realize there is barely if nothing about Arab history, mythology and their religious mythologies so I decided to go with it as a fantasy based on middle eastern mythologies along with my own ideas with world-building and lore. Right now, my comic is heavily based on world-building, different factions, and lores and the MC is just born near the end of the prologue. Currently, the prologue is done, and I will release the next chapter about the main character this year once i reached like 20 pages of the first chapter.

You can take a look if you want.

MizzHope 2021-08-17 09:38:23 UTC #4

When The War Ends and Evanescent are supposedly one series only. But when news about countries at war, it sparked an idea for me to separate the two so I can focus on the lesson I want to put in each series without forcing myself to put them all together in one, which will definitely outshine other point. You can start reading either of the two but Evanescent is set before the WTWE's timeline. It can be a stand-alone or a prequel of WTWE. Hope you'll like it!

WTWE is basically just another product of my playful mind but their enemies were inspired by our topic on biology, gene editing. Still it revolves around war but this time, characters got more edge than those in Evanescent. This is much more lighter.

I was inspired to write a story that tackles about a government abusing its power, the cost of rebuttal and the price to pay during wars. Not only those kind of abuse but all kinds (physically, mentally and such). Basically, the modern day era inspired me to write Evanescent, to show how different and how similar we are even though this story takes place somewhat during medieval times. This is based on reality so it's darker than WTWE.

fleurravenbooks 2021-08-17 10:40:35 UTC #5

Honestly, i got idea like two or three years ago, it just popped in my head, and then i "wrote" it in my head by making fake scenarios before sleep

jenessamdsilva 2021-08-17 14:57:22 UTC #6

Will check out your story.
What inspired my story was mental health and peoples struggle with it. Decided to write about a character that deals with such issues and so here's my work.

AmandaJ-art 2021-08-17 15:28:52 UTC #7

The lives we live:
I was inspired by many mystery shows and anime/manga that are character driven. I kept running out of stuff to watch/read from the things I loved. There where many shows that I just felt like could have gone in a different way. So I just made my own.

Life in a fearsome world:
My biggest inspirations where my anxious thoughts. I felt like I just had so many things I worried over and most of them I felt like I was alone in. I decided to share the thoughts into a comic and see if people could relate.

sevenstarsofeightIam 2021-08-17 22:37:54 UTC #8

I'll speak of my first novel, The Faerie Dusters. Way back in the early 90s, I was sitting around chasing a 'what-if' through my thoughts. I first thought of the wall of the New Jerusalem which is supposed to be made up of semi-precious stones. Each one has a piezoelectric quality. Then I tried to think of a way to use such a charge to show if people were approachable or not. I remembered the mood ring, so I thought of a band worn on the forehead that would change color to indicate if a person was angry or sad, etc.

Next, I made the great leap to a person's skin being the mood ring, and fairies seemed to fit the bill. I researched fairies from around the world, in all cultures, and constructed a fairy people known as the Rainbow Shee. The ability to read the rainbow and know what another was thinking was a guarded power within the teachings of the Phrava discipline. I made an outline and developed a personality profile for the characters that came to mind.

thecrystalrook 2021-08-19 00:19:43 UTC #10

Originally, Tenchi Muyo. I thought their take on space pirates was really cool. But that was almost 20 years ago when I came up with my original story. Nowadays, it's also got inspiration from Dragonball, Naruto and Star Wars.

mountainwolves 2021-08-19 00:48:33 UTC #11

Adventure Time, Hellboy, Zelda, an assortment of anime, and my persona relationships

Tired_Spider 2021-08-19 06:02:01 UTC #12

Well, I've always wanted to create a story since I was a kid, but the rolling stone was my enjoyment of poison as a tool within stories, games, and so forth. And that's when I thought "How come not many protagonists don't use poison?" I'm certain many exist but I feel like they are normally minor/side characters. So I worked on creating my story, using my favorite media to build the story like:

James Gurney's Dinotopia (Settings)
Alien path + Hollow Knight (Abilities)
Jurassic Park (GMO's)

So yeah now I've got my work on Tapas, and I hope you enjoy if you read

Shazic 2021-08-19 06:14:27 UTC #13

what inspired me was a
horrific daydream i had when i was a kid
i don't know why but it was a pretty dark daydream that i thought about
it wasn't a good
i think some other bad things like mix meda of horrible things happing in school
dark thought of wanting to be a bad person
and a lot lot more
giggles

CarltonIsaac 2021-08-19 06:16:08 UTC #14

WHEN YOU READ MY BOOKS.

Shazic 2021-08-19 06:20:44 UTC #15

that the best heheehe

aarujarv 2021-08-19 06:42:15 UTC #16

So, I already mentioned it in another post Hi there. But I suppose there's room for more detail.

The main inspiration comes from Malazan Book of the Fallen. The idea for a huge world with loosely interconnected stories and groups of characters who shape the world all in different ways. Not necessarily all working towards one goal, but they all have their own motivations and at times they may even clash. This is the thing I like most about stories in general - the world and how different groups shape it. And how the world in turn shoves back. The world should not be a servant to the main character. There is no one main character, there are several and they are not always "the good one".

Then, a lot of the magic and demon influences come from Berserk, Claymore and funnily enough, Trudi Canavan's The Black Magician trilogy. The first two influences are pretty much self explanatory. I liked the visuals of those demons and awakened beings and tried my best to put it into writing. With Canavan's series, what resonated with me was the idea that you can go over the limit(also in Claymore). I did not have the creativity to build some sort of unique or otherwise complex magic system, but somehow I stumbled onto the premise that the reader should ask if magic is a blessing or a curse.

Finally, there is always some sort of Tolkien-like influence. But I wanted to go the direct opposite way. I dislike this elves are very beautiful humans idea etc. In a sense I have elves and dwarves and dragons in my story, but I tried my best to dismantle the ideas behind them and write them from the prespective of that one very basic idea. And Malazan Book of the Fallen influenced me here with its varied and truly fantastic creatures. More importantly non-human creatures.

Akhilles 2021-08-19 12:55:29 UTC #17

I think taking inspiration from people in real life can add depth to your characters. After all, you already know people. You can just tweak their personality and mannerisms to get the desired effect.

Akhilles 2021-08-19 12:56:15 UTC #18

That is fantastic. I think exploring unexplored mythologies is a way to bring them out to the forefront. I'm truly happy you are doing this.

Akhilles 2021-08-19 12:57:10 UTC #19

I love when authors can create two different books in the same universe and somehow connect them together. It's a complex idea, but one that, if executed well, just adds so much depth. Just like the Dune universe.

Akhilles 2021-08-19 12:58:05 UTC #20

You have no idea how many ideas have just "popped" into my head. But that's the best thing about being creative; we are always open to new ideas. We don't shun them away as weird. In fact, I'd say that weird is normal for us!

Akhilles 2021-08-19 12:59:21 UTC #21

Mental health issues are something people need to be aware of. I think these days, they make "mental health" seem cool, almost like a superpower. It's great to see you focus on the struggles people have with it. Because in reality, that's what dealing with mental health is; a struggle.