This week is the big ‘ol finale of //019, in which Milly and Lucas take their biggest risk yet. Will it pan out? Will it go wrong? Read and find out. Either way, consequences will never be the same.
But let’s also discuss City of Angles, as a whole. I’ve been asked by the people tied up in my basement what my influences and inspirations were when creating the series. Well, people tied up in my basement, I’m glad you asked that question. Oddly despite being a book written with words by an author, I’d say the key influences were not actually books. (Honestly, I need to make more time to read stuff in general.) Let’s run down a few notables, shall we?
Dark City (Movie). A stylish and surreal noir in a twisted urban environment. At times, literally twisted, as it’s being tuned and adjusted each night by a strange race of puppetmasters with darker purposes. Even has a climactic reality-warping battle scene worth note. If you do watch this movie, though, please, PLEASE mute your television through the entire opening voiceover. It was added by the studios who assumed audiences would be too dumb to figure things out as the movie goes along.
The Prisoner (Modern AMC TV Series). What, not the BBC original? Nope. For spoilery reasons, it’s definitely the remake. While the remake was quite flawed in many, many ways, it presented a unique existential dilemma that the original lacked. It’s a village that sorta exists within a collective unconsciousness, shaped by the minds that exist there. Not exactly like CoA, but the concept of an inescapable dream world was quite fascinating.
House on Haunted Hill (Modern Movie Remake). Aside from being a fun horror movie, it digs in hard on the idea of surreal nightmarish corridors with lurking, shapeshifting, shadowy abominations that stalk you at every turn. Picassos, ahoy! Ghost stories in general inspired the Picassos, as they represent lost spirits, unable to sync properly with reality any longer.
Dreamscape (Movie). Well, this one should be obvious; entering into the world of another’s dream, shaped around their fears and hopes, and playing around. A very dodgy and cheesy movie, but it had a spark of creativity which its budget could not support.
Memories: “Cannon Fodder” (Anime). Otomo’s classic short subject animation about a militarized city engaging in total war against an unknown enemy, using an excessive number of cannons and fortified walls. The 100%-dedicated-to-war and overall propaganda-soaked society were considerably important in deciding on the mentality of the Citadel.
Silversun Pickups: “Neck of the Woods” (Album). If you’ve ever wanted a creepy, intense, and anxiety-producing pile of rock music dumped in your head, this is the way to go. Definitely set the mood for all of vol//001, particularly songs like “The Pit” which describe falling into darkness and finding twisted companionship there.
My Own Awful Anxiety And Insomnia Problems From 2012. Yeah, that kinda sucked. But hey, it helped my creativity, so… yay?
So, what sorts of tidbits from our culture remind you of City of Angles? What music comes to mind when you read the story, what movies trigger a sympathetic reaction? I’d love to hear.
For some reason, I remember you citing a TMBG album as an influence on early CoA. Am I misremembering?
I can’t think of what that might be. Only noteworthy TMBG albums I have in my stock are Flood and John Henry and neither are relevant. Probably were thinking of Neck of the Woods, which I did listen to on repeat a few times. (Or maybe anachronauts, where Death Cab for Cutie played a lot when writing Astro Gal’s stories.)
Half Light I by Arcade Fire makes me think of CoA, particularly the lines about echoes and escaping to the streets.
Also, I am remiss on commenting about the last few chapters, but in short: …whoa, WHOA, and oh wow, you totally did go there. ;_;
Thanks for sharing this. Interesting. it’s always nice to know how a story develops from an idea and its influences.
What music comes to mind? OH MAN. This might take awhile. Of note:
-“All The Myths Are True” – Abney Park
-“Pet” – A Perfect Circle (alternatively, the “Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums” version)
-“system0” background music from Umineko When They Cry, which you can listen to here.
-“Magia” – Kalafina
-“Secret” – The Pierces
On a lighter note, dreams don’t always have to be dark and menacing: they can be what we want to be, so “Master Exploder” by Tenacious D and “Danger High Voltage” from Electric Six has that sort of style.
…of course, many of these songs also appear when I do Halloween themed lists, or for older works (remember me doing a series on the EE modules? Yeah)
Only ones I’ve heard there are the Perfect Circle and TD/E6. Yay! More fodder for the iPhone! MP3S FOR THE MP3 GOD
I really should be representing the nicer sort of dreams more often in CoA, but the nightmares fascinate me more. I think though that the world we see in today’s story update can represent that.