Looking for Some Inspiration

[PennLady]

The first Miyazaki film I saw was "Spirited Away," and I thought it was terrific. I'm a big fan of animated movies, and my favorite is "The Nightmare before Christmas." I've been getting stuff from the library, so "Howl's Moving Castle" is next on the list, and I've added about every Miyazaki film to my wish list. And yes, it is a shame that they are $20 or so. I keep hoping for a sale.

Aside: Pixar films are cool, and I enjoy them, but the computer animation is so perfect as to almost not be animation in a way. I find "traditional" 2-D animation to be warmer.

The witch/were thing could go in various directions. I did have a witch/werepanther relationship, but it wasn't a power issue or anything. But it obviously could be. I've seen a number of stories that involve someone finding an injured were, or the flip side, a were finding an injured human. Lots of things you can do there.

 

[LettersFromTatyana]

I'm a big fan of animated movies, and my favorite is "The Nightmare before Christmas."

Have you seen one of my all time favorites, The Triplets of Belleville? My husband still bitches about watching that one in the theater.

 

[PennLady]

Have you seen one of my all time favorites, The Triplets of Belleville? My husband still bitches about watching that one in the theater.

That one is great -- we have the DVD. In fact I've been thinking about watching it again lately but haven't gotten there. We have the soundtrack too. I'd love to see it in a theater!

The 3yo is now -- after asking herself! -- re-watching K's Delivery Service. Mostly she likes the cat.

 

[LunaEroticaMystica]

Oh, I have oodles of resources for mythological creatures/folklore/faerytales - yay for my favorite subject. Most of my resources happen to be books, but I'll look for some links for you too. I took shifters from a totemic/spiritual aspect in one of my stories and a series-in-the-works from a god/goddess aspect with lioness, black jaguar, and raven.

TIO mentioned selkies and kelpies already, how about kitsune - fox shifters? Sidhe (Celtic) and Fae have made a resurgence lately and might be more difficult to make fresh,
although I'm trying my hardest. Don't forget trickster characters like Raven, Coyote, Rabbit, etc...

Reminds me I need to post my story about an ancient, insidious Atlantean creature.

From a Sci-fi perspective you could look at alien/celestial races and do something with them, beyond what you see out there. I have one in the works now.

Pick a culture (ancient or present) and look into their mythology. Shamanism, vision quests, even Australian aboriginal Dreamtime - you could run with dream sequences there. There are SO very many mythical creatures out there.

I'd suggest mythological encyclopedias if you are going to add any to your library. Carol Rose' "Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins" and "Giants, Monsters, & Dragons" is a well-spring of creature knowledge and lore. Metaphysical books contain spiritual/healing properties of the beings, like DJ Conway and Ted Andrews' books, but they also contain the story and the origins of the stories.

I could go on and on and on.... hope you've gotten some ideas from our ideas.