Taylor Reed Hudson
Biggest Influences of Dimension Travelers
Taylor Reed Hudson grew up loving stories his whole life, and though it has usually happened on a subconscious level, everything he's taken in during that time from books, comics, films, shows, and games has influenced his writing style, both in good ways and in bad, though Taylor has improved on separating the two as the years have gone by. Dimension Travelers would not be what it is without the many creators and series he has experienced in his life, and while it would be impossible to mention all of them, this page is dedicated to some of the biggest influences who have helped shape Dimension Travelers, its writing style, and even Taylor Reed Hudson as a person.
Brandon Sanderson
Sanderson's stories and craft advice have had a tremendous impact on the way Taylor looks at the writing process, especially in regards to creating magic systems and interconnecting worlds. But those are far from Sanderson's only areas of expertise. Most authors have their specialties they are known for, but Sanderson is a man who clearly knows all the rules of the game, has studied every aspect of storytelling, and has been incredible enough to share it in his creative writing classes, which are all recorded and available on his YouTube channel. In addition to having a wonderful online presence, and being such an interactive author with his fans, Sanderson also created Taylor's all-time favorite novels (the Stormlight Archive and Mistborn series),
Michael Dimartino & Bryan Konietzko
The co-creators of what Taylor considers the greatest animated series ever created and one of the greatest shows ever aired on a television. Avatar: The Last Airbender is a story that not only does well, but excels in every part of storytelling. Story, characters, emotion, humor, soundtrack, worldbuilding; Avatar went above and beyond at everything it did, but if only two things could be mentioned, Avatar must be acknowledged for having (in Taylor's eyes) the greatest redemption arc and greatest ending to a story in all of fiction. Taylor all but worshiped this series throughout high school and can even now fully recite any episode.
Star Wars
Star Wars is a franchise of Mount Everest highs and Mariana Trench lows. It has influenced Dimension Travelers in amazing ways and influenced Taylor's younger self in... less amazing ways. But as his writing knowledge and experience have grown, Taylor has better learned to separate the good from the bad. Considering it was during the peak of Taylor's Star Wars phase he got the idea for Dimension Travelers (a series about traversing worlds) it is probably the biggest influence on this list. Taylor grew up watching and loving the prequels rather than the original trilogy, and while it has taken him some time to unlearn the bad writing habits from those less than high-quality films, Taylor thanks the prequels every day for giving him a love of stories with multiple worlds, grand, epic climaxes, and fallen hero arcs.
Bill Watterson
Perhaps one of Taylor's earliest influences, Calvin & Hobbes was practically his bible from third through fifth grade. Calvin deeply captivated him as an intelligent, creative character who encouraged Taylor's wild imagination growing up, taught him to see the fantastic in the ordinary, and helped turn him into the imaginative writer he is today.
The Legend of Zelda
The MacGuffin fetch quest is a trope that plagued many of the earlier stories in Taylor's youth due to video games in general, but the Legend of Zelda series, to this day, continues to be one of the biggest inspirations for the sense of adventure present in Dimension Travelers.
Anime & Manga
The amount of anime that have influenced Dimension Travelers could fill an entire page on their own, but for brevity's sake, will have to be kept to this small section. Anime has influenced Dimension Travelers since its inception, from early influences such as Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! in Taylor's childhood, to the more recent inspirations such as the many shounen shows inspiring Dimension Travelers's fight scenes, or dramas such as Clannad: After Story, Your Lie in April, and A Silent Voice, which have demonstrated many ways to evoke emotion besides simply killing characters. Death Note for its cat & mouse battles of wit and cunning, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood for its intricate plotting, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni for its mastery of suspense and psychological horror, and of course, a big shoutout to One Piece and the genius Eiichiro Oda for the mind-blowing scope and uniqueness of his worldbuilding and knack for creating side characters that are more memorable than most main protagonists in other stories.
One Piece
Anime has already been thanked above, but One Piece deserves its own recognition. Author Eiichiro Oda is commonly referred to by his fans as "Goda" and for good reason. Over the years, what first seemed to be a wacky, absurd manga has increasingly become one of the greatest stories ever told. And it was no accident. Oda has brilliantly crafted a masterful work of literature unlike anything the world has ever seen. Very few stories can go so long without growing stale, but One Piece is one of the few that benefits from its length, only getting better the longer it goes as Oda continues to blow his fans' minds with his mastery of setup and payoff and meticulously planned out plot filled with intentionality in every chapter. Intentionality that Taylor hopes he can match in his own series to even a fraction of a degree. The world is brilliantly crafted, captivating to the fullest, and has a scope very few can match. The characters are deep, inspiring, and memorable even down to the minorest of individuals. And the series is chalk full of impactful scenes that stick with you forever.
The worldbuilding greats
While Taylor enjoys The Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire, and The Wheel of Time, he has never loved them to the passionate degree that so many others do. But no one can deny that their respective authors, J. R. R. Tolkien, George R. R. Martin, and Robert Jordan are absolute masters of worldbuilding, whether it be in languages and writing systems, political warfare between morally gray characters, or deep cultures that influence every aspect of character behavior. Nothing but the utmost respect can be given to these creators who are always the first Taylor looks to when seeking inspiration for crafting his own worlds.
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series Taylor will always love first and foremost for its cast of quirky, memorable characters who stick with you regardless of how minor they may be. J. K. Rowling shows that even the wisest and most beloved people, such as Albus Dumbledore, can have questionable pasts and motives, and that the most detestable characters, such as Severus Snape, can have a spark of good and be an invaluable asset in conquering evil; traits Taylor has used more than once with his own characters. Her prose remains some of Taylor's favorite to read, and Rowling conveys her themes of love and death in ways that touch and inspire him to this day.
Mothy (Akuno-P)
The most obscure entry on this list, The Evillious Chronicles is not told in a typical story fashion through books or television. Though it has expanded into manga and light novels, The Evillious Chronicles is a story originally told through a series of songs. Vocaloid music is undoubtedly a niche genre, and the series can be difficult to get into due to often being criticized as confusing to newcomers. But for those who take the time to explore the world through its multiple mediums, the individual puzzle pieces of the overall story at large gradually come together, and Mothy makes his author genius clear with his brilliance in crafting interconnecting stories spanning the thousand-year history of his world, involving such real, believable, morally gray heroes and monstrously evil villains that you can't help but empathize with. A mindset Taylor does his best to put into practice with his own villains. The Evillious Chronicles is not a series most have the patience for, but is one that should come highly recommended to any fan of Vocaloid.
