You need them to build the characters, the scenes, the setting ... but references are also a way to pay tribute to other works and authors that you like or have inspired you. 

One of the things we have enjoyed the most during the development of unmemory is the references. Here is a first list in which surely they are not all.

Killer Kittens: This is the name of our group of protagonists. It is derived from The Killing Kittens, a sort of erotic parties “designed to encourage, liberate, build trust and allow experimentation, within a safe environment run by women. Burlesque, masks, ornate houses, country mansions. ” It occurred to us when we were looking for how the Killer Kittens could steal without consequences. But to explain this, it is necessary to go back to the beginning.

The idea of having a girl group is inspired by various sources such as the Barbie LIberation Organization, an artistic and activist group from the 90s, framed within the culture jamming movement, which “stole” Barbie dolls and G.I. Joe to change their prerecorded message for others that would highlight the machismo of society or the excessive consumer culture that surround us. A current but more political and provocative reference would be the Pussy Riot, and although it was never a source of inspiration, the use of the color balaclavas (Chapter 4) inevitably resulted in a coincidence.

But the intention was always that the Killer Kittens were more like the Yes Men than the Bikini Bandits. We always imagine them with more class, like Carmen San Diego or the girls from Ocean’s Eight. Perhaps a little more irreverent and crazy, more similar to the protagonists of The Bling Ring and more evil like the girls of Wild Things.

The case is that we had the idea of an art group made up of girls, intelligent, beautiful, demanding within a countercultural movement such as culture jamming, whose works consist of performances that denounce consumerism or the power of the media and large corporations. In this context, the idea of their latest project was born: to steal money from the corrupt but not to give it to the poorest, but to the smartest, hiding it in public places that anyone can access. A sort of alternative reality game (ARG) where any citizen can follow the clues, solve the puzzles and get a prize made of the real loot stolen from the villains of society.

Thus we come to the sexual parties for the elite. Parties for big shots, bankers and corrupt politicians whom they invite to take advantage of them being there and rob their houses. The blow has very little risk, because in case they try something against any of the girls, they have recorded material (videos of the sexual encounters) to stop their feet.

Anyway, the death of one of the members will change everything, and although their project  is almost finished it never gets to be released. A story that is not in unmemory, but in the Red Notebook.