I had done a Sims series before and never wanted to do anything like it again, but then I started sharing screenshots of my sim family's super weird everyday life in the "What happened in your game today?" thread, some with very elaborate stories that other users reacted to, and I realised that I'd like to record those stories somehow, not just in the form of screenshots that quickly get lost on a fast-paced online platform. I told a friend I was going to make another series, which was meant as a joke, but the ideas wouldn't leave me alone and I had to do something with them. So I guess you could say this forum played a part in my inspiration.
But music, TV shows, and video games are definitely a factor, too. My series is mainly about occult sims and combines elements of various supernatural shows and movies such as Charmed, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and Harry Potter, but with an original story and characters. For example, there's a witch who can stop time, like Piper from Charmed, and the sound effect is even the same, but I don't mind copying a few ideas here and there in this case because it's just a fun project, one that I don't earn any money with.
What kind of machinimas do you make? Are those standalone stories, or a series as well?