| What inspires you? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 11 2012, 09:28 PM (953 Views) | |
| Lovin | Apr 11 2012, 09:28 PM Post #1 |
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Goddess Lovin
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Because we need another conversation topic besides the spam thread, and I have found myself needing inspiration lately. List or discuss that which inspires you, how it inspires you, and post a related pic if you desire. Pictures make everything better. When life hands you meyer lemons...
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| I just want it all. | |
| Squall_Leonhart_ | Apr 13 2012, 04:28 AM Post #2 |
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I am nothing, and everything.
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When I get a writers block I'll play some stuff from this guy Mainly arrangements for FF8, then I will play some of his older stuff before that and watch some of his live shows I have downloaded. It will be this guy amongst others (mainly classical artists now days since all normal music is based from the fundamentals). Then there is nature. but not from a hippie perspective. I will suck the energy right out of it, go for a walk, look up some landscapes on the internet etc etc. ![]() Also very unique looking women. (not porn) Classy, fantasy, beautiful women. ![]() There's plenty more and it depends on my mood of course and what style of song I am writing ![]() |
![]() http://soundcloud.com/shanestapylton http://soundcloud.com/garyafterlife | |
| Lovin | Apr 14 2012, 09:20 AM Post #3 |
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Goddess Lovin
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Dude! The nature pic is my current desktop background right now! Guess you've been browsing that blog a bit, too. ![]() I know this sounds weird for a girl to say it, but I agree with the pictures of unique or beautiful women. I get fashion magazines in the mail just so I can cut the pictures out. Until recently, I had this huge collage on my wall of women pictures I had clipped. I took it down about a month ago when I was in a weird mood. They get old after starring at them for some time. {NSFW}
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| I just want it all. | |
| Lovin | Apr 14 2012, 09:25 AM Post #4 |
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Goddess Lovin
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Also! A fridge that is packed full of fruits and vegetables and things to cook with! Gets me in all sorts of moods! I dunno what is going on with the chick in this pic...
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| I just want it all. | |
| The Frostbound Prince | Apr 14 2012, 01:11 PM Post #5 |
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If you can read this, you are not illiterate. Congratulations! Have a cookie.
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Well, I need to kill some time and I haven't done more than ghost this site for months so people probably think I'm dead, so here's a maybe-Frosty-lengthed reply to your topic/question. First off, I wanted to say initially I was like "how much discussion can this question actually garner", but after seeing just what you 'n Shano have replied with, I'm re-evaluating that thought and realizing just how quite-literally inspirational this thread can be. Secondly, I agree with Shano. Music, to me, is easily the most inspirational thing in my life, and every new song I listen to pushes me in a new direction and leads to all kinds of awesome ideas. I write. That's my thing. It's probably fairly obvious given the "why won't it eeeeeend....?!?" length posts and replies, but I love writing, and I have trouble stopping before I know that I've gotten out what I wanted to say and know for sure that it can't be misinterpreted, or that there's no confusion left there (aside from the "I've forgotten what you said eight lines ago since this sentence was so long, eff this, not rereading" thing), so yeah. I understand pretty much everyone finds it annoying, and yet, my attempts to be more concise tend to fail, so whatev, yo, long arse posts for all! ...although I've gotten into a habit recently of adding "tl;dr" post-scripts to stuff I write, at least on here, so people who aren't as insane as I am can keep up ![]() Annnnnnyway, yes. On the topic of inspiration, I often find myself needing it, especially when I write. Usually I put together a playlist, then sit there listening to it as I write, letting the songs and thoughts they inspire move the story along. Earlier in life, that method was a bit more heavy-handed. For instance, anyone who happened to have read my Ultimecia fanfic, "Your Final Fantasy Ends At Eight", would probably not be too surprised to find I was writing it to Evanescence's "Fallen" album. Just the chapter titles and the randomly-interspersed lyrics can attest to that. Over the last few years, the inspiration isn't quite so blatantly direct. I'll find a few songs I like and can listen to over-and-over without wanting to hang myself, sit down, and write to the music. It's not always quite so obvious what I'm writing to, which has led me recently to want to actually include "playlist" information at the end of anything I write, just so I know what I was listening to. Unfortunately, I haven't done much writing the last few years, so I haven't really been able to make use of this potential practice. Lately, I'll find a song that I think really fits a character's mood at some point. For instance, the most off-the-top-of-my-head example I can give is Paramore's "Misery Business" really fitting with the character of Connie Amara/EmotiCon in my RP/novel/something-y storyline, "Dark Horizons". If you've never listened to the lyrics of the song, the basics of it is a girl who waited for this couple to break up so she could be with the dude, and fighting with the chick to keep her man. I like the opening line, "I'm in the business of misery", and while you have to creatively work Connie into a more villainous role (in the RP, Connie essentially can make people into her emotional puppets, has little emotional attachment to anyone, and wants the hot boy for herself, despite the fact he has no interest in her at all. At the end of the first of three storyarcs, she basically mind-f*cks him, turns him into her slave, and forces him to kill the one he really loves, which in turn leads to loverboy made to "sleep eternal" and thus eff up his romantic life forever. ...then Connie dies. The end. o___O), but yeah, in a vague, sketchy way, Misery Business fits that role. Likewise, I also tend to use songs to inspire whole story arcs or character possibilities. For this reason, I love finding new songs to listen to, since every new song, at least in my opinion, holds at least a kernel of creativity in it. It might have nothing to do with the actual song (your mind might just be wandering), or it might be directly related to one or more lyrics, or inspiration could even come to you while watching a music video---official or not---involving the song. Whatever the case, music is excellent as a source of inspiration, at least for me, and I seriously don't know what I'd do without it. Just quickly, I'd also like to add that the music itself doesn't always need to directly inspire me. One of my favourite artists right now is Celldweller, whose music I only found because of an awesome FF13/Versus13 music video that was out before the former was even released set to his "Last Firstborn" song. I loved the song so much I sought to figure out who sung it, discovered an awesome new artist, and every time I hear a new song by the artist---whether or not I necessarily love the song---it just charges me up. I often do the same every time I find a new artist---if I like one song by them, I go a bit crazy and try to find more stuff by them in hopes of vastly increasing my current playlist. A lot of the time, it goes nowhere. I'm trying to think of an example off-hand of a singer/band who has a song I love but otherwise has a bunch of meh ones, but I can't immediately think of an example. Oh, I suppose Down With Webster (I like Whoa Is Me, not so much any others), but yeah, *shrug* Then there are artists where I really like a small handful of their songs---for instance, Lady Gaga, or Natalia Kills, or a whole host of other artists whose names elude me. Paramore, Panic! At The Disco and Avril Lavigne probably fit in here, since I didn't like any of their newest songs, but yeah. Then there are the ones that, more often than not, have consistently excellent songs, at least in my opinion, that make them excellent sources for inspiration. Sum41 and Evanescence have long held these spots for me, but they're joined by others like 30 Seconds to Mars, Celldweller, P!nk, Nobou Uematsu and other FF/KH composers, that sorta thing. You could probably also throw in Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, The Used, and probably some others as ones that I haven't necessarily kept up with, but tend to have, more-often-than-not, some great songs. One of my favourite "bands" to keep on top of is [Vitamin] String Quartet and their covers. If you've never heard of them, look 'em up. They tend to do covers of popular music---so there's some for pretty much all the artists I already like, except they're instrumental versions and awesome. I often find these potentially more inspirational than the originals, if only cuz they force you to, like the song itself, re-evaluate the way you look at things and approach it from a new direction. Also, it tends to be a lot easier to write to instrumental music over ones with lyrics, so =P As Shano pointed out, Mr. Uematsu has some of the best music for being inspired. If I'm ever at the point where I need some quick inspiration, or I'm in a shitty mood, I'll whip up a playlist with some of his music and sit there and let its awesomeness wash over me. Like Shano, I love his FF8 stuff, but I also like some of the older and more recent stuff too. Alas, I don't have any of the Distant Worlds stuff, so I'll definitely need to look into finding some of that, but yeah, FF music is great for inspiration, and the music makes for some of the best inspiration I've yet found. I can seriously just sit for hours and listen to his stuff---especially most stuff from 8 (barring the horrible Dollet music and a few other choice exceptions), but there's also some really good stuff from 9 and 10 of his, as well as some earlier stuff. If you have a chance, check out an (updated version of) Forbidden Land [Eureka] from FF3's OST. The original is a bit...midi-ish, but if you can find the version from the DS version, while it's short, it's an awesome song. ...I was unlazy, so here, take it: Forbidden Land link Likewise, I do recommend some other FF-y songs, although not necessarily by him. FF4: The After Years has two excellent and chilling songs, especially when played back-to-back. The first is "The Mysterious Girl", which is chilling, haunting, a bit creepy, but beautiful and melodic. Then sh!t gets crazy in "The Eidolons Shackled" as the theme of the former starts splitting apart and descending into madness---you still have the haunting awesomeness of the original, but it's very definitely a battle theme over a character theme, and you can almost feel the world collapsing from underneath you as the latter plays. You just know sh!t's goin' down and you better fight for your life! Links: The Mysterious Girl andThe Eidolons Shackled. As well, a lot of the Kingdom Hearts music doesn't get its props, so shout out to the Hollow Bastion theme from the original and most of the rest of the music. Likewise, FF13-2's music seems to be fairly panned for a few less-than-awesome lyrical additions to the OST (Crazy Chocobo and Limit Break! spring to mind...), but a lot of the songs are quite good. For instance, if you can find the song that plays around the final battle in the game (no idea what it's called), that song's awesome. Likewise, The Void Beyond, Oathbrand, The Story So Far..., the Closing Credits, Oracle Drive, Eclipse and ESPECIALLY Eclipse -Aggressive Mix- are quite awesome songs, so I suggest searchin' em out if you're looking for some new FF-y music to whet your appetite. Anyway, to segue into a new topic, I think, aside from music, one of the other things I love doing for inspiration is playing, or replaying, a good video game. Obvious FF8 and the other FF games rank high up there, but most enjoyable games will do. I almost always have SOME other thing keeping me from being "done" with a game, so essentially I always have at least a dozen or so games "on-the-go", so when I get bored with one, I have tons of possibilities for new games to try out. For instance, I more-or-less beat FF13-2 a few weeks ago (still have a few items to get and perfect builds to make on some monsters, plus some of the newer DLC to finish off), but cuz my sister bought Skyrim and has essentially stolen my PS3 from me, and cuz there's not that much I wanna do left in the game, I started replaying Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. I had given up doing Aqua's story cuz, as a mage, her battles were too tough right-off-the-bat, but I continued where I left off a year+ ago sometime last week or so, levelled her up to 25 within the first "world", and then powered through the remainder of the game. It was quite enjoyable and now I've more-or-less finished it too, but yeah, continuing to play it reminded me how much I love the KH series, how I looking forward to new installments within it, and how I really wanna replay the other games in the series since I totally enjoyed it. I also replayed FF8 (at least the first disc, I got distracted once disc 2 started with Laguna's dreamworld sequence) recently-ish, and after being angry at how Squall was portrayed in Dissidia and Duodecim as some douche-y jerk who ignores everyone, I was questioning why I loved Squall so much from when I played 8 if he was essentially the same. Replaying it reminded me of how well-written and relatable Squall was, and how the Dissidiaverse version of him does NO JUSTICE to the actual character. It was such a nice nostalgia trip and so enjoyable, I'm hoping at some point I'll get over my gaming-ADD and sit down and either continue it from start-of-disc-two, or replay the entire thing again, cuz it's been much too long since I played it and I love the game too much to die without at least one more full-playthrough. Having it on PSP/PS3 helps too---it's portable, so I can play it wherever. =D But yeah, aside from music, my one big suggestion for inspiration is checking out new games or revisiting old ones you loved in youth. If I had never replayed FF9, I'd've unfairly rated it based on my youthly comparison to FF8 (9 being the second FF I played and unfairly deemed "sucky" in comparison), but with the nostalgia glasses off, I found myself quite enjoying it the second time around, and recently replayed it a third time on PSP as well. Likewise, I've quite enjoyed EVERY FF game since 8 that I've had the priveledge to play (ie: barring 11 and 14 and any Xbox/Wii-exclusive ones), and I hope that others don't let the bad reviews of non-you people coerce you not to play a game. I seriously do suggest to anyone here who hasn't picked up an FF game in years to either pop in one of the older ones or pick up one of the new ones---the series is still pretty awesome and can be quite inspirational if you let it. Aside from those, I think the only other thing I definitely find inspirational when I'm in a rut is rereading things I wrote. If I need a laugh, or if I've had a particularly bad day, I'll go find a "Random RP", sit for a bit and read it, and then perk myself up like that. Similarly, if I need to get myself into a not-happy mood, I'll find one of the more tragic scenes I've written and pore over that for a bit until I'm suitably depressed. The same works for old chatlogs, emails or PMs (I keep everything =P), I love rereading things like that when I can because it instantly brings me back to the moment it was written and lets me relive it. The same could probably be said for diaries, journals, blogs, or even Facebook/FF8K posts/updates/replies, so yeah, I totally suggest rereading stuff if you're ever bored and need some inspiration---you'd be surprised how much you can squeeze out of ancient chatlogs or stupid stories from youth. =P ...and with that I should probably shut up. So yes, tl;dr: music and video games inspire me, as do old writings and such. I will agree that pretty pictures---whether of nature or hot people or video game characters or what-have-you can also be really inspirational as well. When in doubt, a nice long shower, cooking or baking, or even cleaning your house can lead to unexpected insight as well. If I'm in a rut, I generally try to do something else for awhile---clear my head---and then try again. At the very least, by doing something else when you can do what you want/need to do, you're at least accomplishing something else. Can't write that 80 page essay due tomorrow? Well, at least you cleaned your house. Can't work out a way to get your hero from point a to point b in your latest story idea? Well, at least you have a shiny casserole to feed yourself with for the rest of the week. Can't beat that horrible boss battle the game throws your way after 8000 attempts at it? well, at least you took a shower and sat in your bathroom for an hour pondering life and the universe, and while Mama Nature might wanna off you and threatens you with a real-life boss battle, at least you're clean and gave your video game a rest for a bit, right...? All-in-all, I think you can find inspiration wherever you look for it. I think, for me, easily the easiest place to find it is in music, but I can also pick out ideas from TV shows, movies, books, graphic novels, video games, that crack in the bathroom ceiling, whatever. I'd like to think that if you're sincere enough in your desire for inspiration, the universe will provide, no matter the content. And since I just killed over an hour writing this and odds are everyone's just gonna be all "oh, Frosty", shake their heads and scroll down to the tl;dr secion, uh, yeah. Time to wrap this up and shut up. =P Anyway, 'twas an awesome topic, I hope I, uh, somewhat added to it content-wise as I surely did length-wise, and uh, here's to everyone finding the inspiration they need...? *peaces out before he's shot and/or kills the topic* |
![]() ---No Hope--- | |
| Sora | Apr 15 2012, 08:47 AM Post #6 |
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If you embrace the darkness... You might enjoy it.
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First off, wanna say that, as always, I read your whole posts, Frost. I always have and always will. I think that if you're gonna put the effort in, I'm sure some of us will read it. So no negativeness thinking no one is reading it, Frosty! D: On that note, I also try to write out things in a way to keep them from being misinterpreted, or confusing. I've been accused of saying things I didn't in the past just because someone understood something wrong... So I've made sure that can't happen again. Many people have hated me for this, though. It's part of why my ex left me, actually. Anyway, as for inspirations... You guys. ![]() Seriously, I've found my ways out of lots of things (mostly problems in my own life) just by thinking of things you've done in the past... Or things you were doing even at the time. I've also thought of how you guys would handle certain situations. Dunno if that counts, but it has really inspired me to move further from certain points where I thought I'd give up. Shano, I know you're not in that pic, but a few times, you've actually been one of my bigger inspirations, actually. Same goes for you, Lovin (though I know you're actually in that pic). Shane's music actually is also one of my inspirations at times. Um... Sora is actually one. I am sure you guys know how I used to like to argue. I was easily angered and such... Those games taught me many things about good and bad in the world. XD How he handled those situations actually made me think more on how I should react to things... So more of a, "what would Sora do?" outlook on life. I just hope you guys don't find me stupid on that. Um... Music is a big inspiration to me in general, since I am a musician myself. I do write songs (not always lyrics) and play the guitar/piano/drums/bass (wish I had a piano at home, but at least my dad has a keyboard). When writing a song, I usually use others for inspiration. "If today was your last day," by Nickelback (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrXIQQ8PeRs&ob=av2n) was actually an inspiration for the song I wrote for my grandmother's funeral, and played on her guitar (to explain, she had wanted me to play for her all the time, but toward the end... I never had the time, or never had my guitar ). I actually try to learn a song (either old or new) when I feel I need to feel one emotion or another (usually for writing purposes).That brings me to another inspiration: writing. Reading and writing inspire things in my life, but... At the same time, things in my life are seen (if only by me) in my own book (yeah I'm still writing it, guys ). That's actually all I can think of for now. I have a feeling someone may say something negative about something I've said but, uhh... That's what hiding in dark corners is for. Edited by Sora, Apr 15 2012, 08:52 AM.
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| Squall_Leonhart_ | Apr 19 2012, 07:12 PM Post #7 |
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I am nothing, and everything.
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Hey Mary! i've had it for ages not from that blog, i did get it from a blog or something i can't remember where! @Josh (JOKES) - Frost: I read it as well. I appreciate the honourable mentions and the passion surely shows in your essay <3 @Sora - deeply hurt that i am not in that picture. haha nah its okay, thank you for your kind words though. And that is one curvy picture of lovin' damn. lol. Recently with one of my latest projects I was inspired by this film do write a score. Its a little shocking but morbidly beautiful and I couldn't resist but have some form of music pop into my head as I watched. |
![]() http://soundcloud.com/shanestapylton http://soundcloud.com/garyafterlife | |
| Sora | Apr 20 2012, 03:43 PM Post #8 |
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If you embrace the darkness... You might enjoy it.
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O.o that was an odd video, but the music was great as always. As for the pic, well... It was a pic a few of us made a couple years ago. XD |
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| Lovin | Apr 22 2012, 05:02 PM Post #9 |
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Goddess Lovin
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Gets me every time: Seriously I want this played at my wedding as I walk down the isle.
Edited by Lovin, Apr 22 2012, 06:03 PM.
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| I just want it all. | |
| Squall_Leonhart_ | Apr 24 2012, 05:12 AM Post #10 |
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I am nothing, and everything.
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Ah yeah i remember ages back you told me about that. I remember sending you a few versions i had from my massive collection over msn! ahhh the good ol' days i'll never forget
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![]() http://soundcloud.com/shanestapylton http://soundcloud.com/garyafterlife | |
| Lovin | Apr 24 2012, 03:46 PM Post #11 |
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Goddess Lovin
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Oh! Do you still have them? My hard drive crashed two summers ago and I lost everything you ever sent me.
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| I just want it all. | |
| Squall_Leonhart_ | Apr 28 2012, 01:04 AM Post #12 |
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I am nothing, and everything.
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Damn! yeah i sure do. I got everything + more xD |
![]() http://soundcloud.com/shanestapylton http://soundcloud.com/garyafterlife | |
| Lovin | Apr 28 2012, 10:33 PM Post #13 |
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Goddess Lovin
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Any way you could, like, send me some of it? Obviously not everything heh but at least the Theme of Love variations and a few other final fantasy things you think I would like. My FF collection is pretty depressing nowadays. I have half of the Potions album...and I think that's it. |
| I just want it all. | |
| Squall_Leonhart_ | Apr 29 2012, 03:03 AM Post #14 |
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I am nothing, and everything.
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Yeah sure i can make you a folder on my server and get some material uploaded
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![]() http://soundcloud.com/shanestapylton http://soundcloud.com/garyafterlife | |
| Lovin | Apr 29 2012, 08:49 AM Post #15 |
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Goddess Lovin
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That would be amazing! thank you thank you!! |
| I just want it all. | |
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Dunno if that counts, but it has really inspired me to move further from certain points where I thought I'd give up. Shano, I know you're not in that pic, but a few times, you've actually been one of my bigger inspirations, actually. Same goes for you, Lovin (though I know you're actually in that pic).
I just hope you guys don't find me stupid on that.
). I actually try to learn a song (either old or new) when I feel I need to feel one emotion or another (usually for writing purposes).




2:15 PM Jul 11