This is America by Childish Gambino.

I was working on the latest project of mine at the time: fleshing out the idea of a setting where high-tech and functional AIs prevail to the point where lines between human and machine become really blurry. I was wondering how to wrap it all together. It lacked substance, even though it had essence.

Then I saw the third scene from the music video.

You know that feeling when you finally come up with something, and it's so good you feel that deep, intense-yet-subdued kind of joy - non-expressive yet highly satisfying? That was it for me. I got it right there.

The cars in the scene were American, but their angled shape made me think of the old Mercedes - and 80s Germany.

This is the setting now. 80s Germany, with high-tech implants, AI and reality programming (magic in the form of C and Rust).

Less recently, I wrote up a character based on Henry Rollins. I wanted to roleplay a character in written form. Most people in the forum RP area take up fantasy looks: the Hollywood-esque people of modelling looks and/or sexy exteriors - the ones you'd drip saliva over (although really, the appeal is more personal and depends on one's perception of the person, since Donald Glover was there too).

So I thought: "Well, nobody's done that before". Henry Rollins. I did Stephen King before, as well as a random black guy off someone's well-made photograph. There's a cave and a half of untapped potential when it comes to basing the character's look on a less-popular person. For one, they often make very distinct images. For another, they're unlikely to ever be picked, so you don't have to worry about being the first to "claim" them in the game.