Paris, la nuit...: Inspirations

Updated: 24 October 1998
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INSPIRATIONS

There are, of course, sources of inspiration that could help to build a chronicle in "Paris, la nuit...". Here is an incomplete list of sources that we used, as well as in french than in english... But don't get caught by Villon at reading too much english litteracy... You know how touchy he is...

Anyway, never forget the paradoxal duality of the parisian mood: varying with the geographical site (or the moment), the inspiration could come from "Ridicule"... Or "The Crow".

MOVIES:

Ridicule	Really excellent french movie. You must see it as a very good illustration of how the Ridicule (Ridiculousness?) can kill (Even more in Kindred affairs!), and to understand fully the difference between Esprit and Humour (see the Lexicon).

Nikita	Another excellent french movie, by Luc Besson. The World of Darkness, 2nd Edition book already quoted this movie as an frightening vision of french intelligence services. Forget the US version (Nina-something) and the soap "La Femme Nikita" who are too ''soft'' and too ''clean'' to really inspire the kind of violent inhumanity of those services.

The Crow	Is one of our inspirations when describing the Punk-side of the Gothic Punk Paris. Sometime, crimes are not motivated by labyrinthine intrigues. Sometimes, it just happens, and it is frightening. The Crow: City of Angels wasn't so bad if seen without trying to compare it to the first, even if the total disorder of L.A. was too unbelievable... Too bad, too, that it smelled too much easy-won money from the death of a new star and from ''The Crow: The Comics'' lovers.

The Crow

Is one of our inspirations when describing the Punk-side of the Gothic Punk Paris. Sometime, crimes are not motivated by labyrinthine intrigues. Sometimes, it just happens, and it is frightening. The Crow: City of Angels wasn't so bad if seen without trying to compare it to the first, even if the total disorder of L.A. was too unbelievable... Too bad, too, that it smelled too much easy-won money from the death of a new star and from ''The Crow: The Comics'' lovers.

Cyrano de Bergerac	Great use of proto-Esprit by an ugly character who knew how to charm women. Look closely at the ''Precieuses''. French noblemen and noblewomen liked to fantasize to be ''moved'' by poems and other arts, even going to extremes, like fainting out. Did you say? Talking about Toreador Poseurs?...

Farinelli, Il Castrato	As one of our players was fascinated by Carlo Brosci, also known as Farinelli, Il Castrato, this singer entered the nights of our beloved Paris to a most entertaining result. Like Cyrano (and most recent french movies about the 17 to 18th century, it shows a lot of the ''Préciosité'' the nobles were capable of... A good inspiration for Courtisan-wannabe. And the poor Farinelli, loved and despised in the same time by the same society which created him is a good example of what a closed and egoistical population (the Kindred?) can produce, for its own twisted entertainment...

Farinelli, Il Castrato

As one of our players was fascinated by Carlo Brosci, also known as Farinelli, Il Castrato, this singer entered the nights of our beloved Paris to a most entertaining result. Like Cyrano (and most recent french movies about the 17 to 18th century, it shows a lot of the ''Préciosité'' the nobles were capable of... A good inspiration for Courtisan-wannabe. And the poor Farinelli, loved and despised in the same time by the same society which created him is a good example of what a closed and egoistical population (the Kindred?) can produce, for its own twisted entertainment...

The Craft	The only reason you want to see this movie is the appearance of the four witch teenagers. Typical of Goth-Punks. The ''spells'' and mythology are laughable...

MUSIC:

MCMXC a.D., Enigma	Exquisite, refined music, very good when dealing with peaceful Elders or situations.

All music by The Cure	"Lullaby" inspired me, most of all.

The Crow	All CDs, be it the instrumental one, or the two others (yes, even the City of Angels' one).

Farinelli, Il Castrato	All this classical music, with this voice. Even if we know it's an artificial one (two voices in one, one female plus one male). And the artificial music of Ricardo Brosci compared to the enlightened one from Haendel...

Interview with the Vampire	The music is terrific.

BOOKS:

The Trilogy of the Red Death	Of course. There we can see glimpses of Paris. The information given it Bloodwar, Unholy Allies and The Unbeholden are interesting even if some events seem too little plausible. (I believe it's strange for someone in such a fragile position like the Giovanni Elder to attack so easily a City Prince who happens to be, too, Prince of a whole Country, and one of the most influencal Toreador in the World (which means in the Camarilla), and who is, when seeing the World of Darkness book, of the same age...). The Giovanni surrendered to the Camarilla and asked for peace, not the other way around...

The Trilogy of the Red Death

Of course. There we can see glimpses of Paris. The information given it Bloodwar, Unholy Allies and The Unbeholden are interesting even if some events seem too little plausible. (I believe it's strange for someone in such a fragile position like the Giovanni Elder to attack so easily a City Prince who happens to be, too, Prince of a whole Country, and one of the most influencal Toreador in the World (which means in the Camarilla), and who is, when seeing the World of Darkness book, of the same age...). The Giovanni surrendered to the Camarilla and asked for peace, not the other way around...

The Prince	Written by Machiavel. Sometimes boring, but so interesting (for the Storyteller, of course!).

COMICS

The Crow, by James O'Barr	No need to explain why... Forget the others Crow series: The Flesh and the Blood, for example is a waste of paper, even if I like the drawing, the story is ridiculous... As for the City of Angels, I must say that while I count Vincent Perez as one of my favorite actors (Le Bossu, Cyrano de Bergerac, etc.), the style of the drawing of the Comics is so... Alien I won't even try to describe.

Wytchblade	Imagined by Marc Silvestri, and marvelously drawn by Mickael Turner and D-Tron, the inspiration is quite on the surface. The general background (crime, violence, cynicism, etc.) as well as the occult can help a Storyteller a lot. On the same vein, The Darkness, by Mark Silversti, and Spawn by J. McFarlane...

ROLE-PLAYING GAMES

VAMPIRE: The Dark Ages	For informations about classical Clans and Bloodlines. Too bad the rules are so obscure (two different XPs costs for the Willpower, unclear information about Fortitude, etc.).

Ravenloft (TSR)	The Dark Powers was a great idea... Who knows, perhaps Paris will become, soon, a Domain... I remember of a AD&D Nosferatu (A normal Vampire draining Hit Points instead of Experience Levels) with shades (!) and coming from a world whose description was very... Gothic-Punk and World-of-Darkness-like... Forget the prejudice some contemptuous players and gamemasters have for the TSR games. Ravenloft is a very good one, and a very good inspiration for the Gothic side of the Gothic-Punk world...

Ravenloft (TSR)

The Dark Powers was a great idea... Who knows, perhaps Paris will become, soon, a Domain... I remember of a AD&D Nosferatu (A normal Vampire draining Hit Points instead of Experience Levels) with shades (!) and coming from a world whose description was very... Gothic-Punk and World-of-Darkness-like... Forget the prejudice some contemptuous players and gamemasters have for the TSR games. Ravenloft is a very good one, and a very good inspiration for the Gothic side of the Gothic-Punk world...

GAMES:

Chess	Not a Joke! It's very serious. Playing chess makes us learn how to sacrifice pawns, and how to build intrigues more complex then I-See-I-Kill... Try it, you will see...

Risk	Other good strategy game, to familiarize ourselves with battle plans. I still wonder how my brother can play this game alone!

Illuminati	Real good! While I played only a few time, I liked the concept. It can be a good ''summary'' of control of mortal institutions.

COMPUTER GAMES & INTERNET SERVERS:

Ashland	This Internet Site let you play any creature from the World of Darkness. The interesting side is the possibility for great role-playing among unkown people. It's very different from playing with your friends, believe me.

BJ Zanzibar's WoD	B. J. Zanzibar's World of Darkness is the top to find inspiration. While you don't need to take everything there (or even anything), the ideas are there, waiting for you to extract them from the rest...

Wing Commander	Oops... I just wanted to say I loved this computer game... : ) By the way, I loved Tomb Raider, as well as the Ultima serie and the strange sequel Dungeon Keeper... Oops... I believe I should go to sleep... I must be exhausted... : )

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