Line #47 Main/TooUpsetToCreate


1	-> ''It's not a making day\
2	All of these tears are drying on my face\
3	Someone take me back to all the times where I could feel okay\
4	Doing all the things I wanna do''
5	-->-- '''Creator/{{Atsuover}}''', "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWB8YEtIk5o making day]]"
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7	Earnest creation requires some sort of passion for what is being made, whether it's a child drawing something for the fridge, a professional journalist working on the big scoop, a scientist CreatingLife, an artist creating a masterpiece, and everything in between. When that passion is gone, so is the will to create.
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9	So, when these creative types become emotionally wrecked, their passion tends to leave them. They don't want to work on their new novel or finish up that painting they've been obsessing over. They just want to do nothing-- or worse, they want to ''destroy'' their creations. Their ability to create leaves them entirely, and even if they make an effort, they will find they just can't do it. Not in the way they could before, at the very least. This is especially likely if their breakdown was ''caused'' by something related to their creation.
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11	Undoubtedly, this shift will worry those around them, who are used to this character being interested in their craft. They may try and help the character regain their creative spark, but it's not always possible.
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13	This is TruthInTelevision. Depression can make people lose interest in things they once enjoyed, and this includes creative endeavors. That said, not every example of this trope is going through an actual depression; they may just be going through a rough patch.
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15	Contrast CopeByCreating. This is one reason for a character experiencing WritersBlock. Often overlaps with OOCIsSeriousBusiness. For the real-life equivalent, see CreatorBreakdown. Compare TooUnhappyToBeHungry for another form of not wanting to do something due to low mood, and ForcedCreativity, for another reason someone might not want to create.
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17	----
18	!!Examples:
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20	[[foldercontrol]]
21
22	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
23	* In ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'', Flint Lockwood feels bad about potentially putting everyone in danger by making it rain GiantFood. He wants to quit being an inventor, calling all his inventions- and himself- "[[ItsAllJunk junk]]".
24	[[/folder]]
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26	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
27	* In ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'', when Mr. Wonka goes into depression, his creativity goes downhill, and the chocolate factory faces harder times.
28	* In ''Film/MoulinRouge'', [[spoiler: Satine's LastRequest is that Christian write the story of their love]], but [[spoiler: after her death]], Christian falls into a [[HeroicBSOD deep depression]] and several months pass before he's able to do it.
29	* Inverted in the romantic comedy ''Film/NotAnotherHappyEnding'' -- Jane's editor is convinced she's unable to write because she's too happy, and tries to make her unhappy to unblock her.
30	[[/folder]]
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32	[[folder:Literature]]
33	* ''Literature/HouseOfRobotsRobotsGoWild'': After having his contract for his ''Hot & Sour Ninja Robots'' comic series cancelled, thus losing his job, all Mr. Rodriguez can do is sit at his writing desk, staring at the blank piece of paper, not able to think up a single thing.
34	* ''Literature/YumiAndTheNightmarePainter'': Nikaro is a phenomenal painter but has avoided creative art ever since an incident where he drove away all his friends. As a nightmare painter, he banishes [[LivingDream nightmare creatures]] by painting them into harmless forms, but just paints them all as bamboo because it's easy.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
38	* ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'': When Maya's already fragile mental state falls apart after the bus crash, she's rendered unable to write anything at all for the school musical. Her friends end up replacing her.
39	* ''Series/{{iCarly}}'': In "[=iHeart=] Art", Spencer becomes crushed after his art gets criticized harshly by his artistic idol. He gives up on art altogether and becomes a dental assistant, refusing to do art until the kids convince him that his art ''is'' good.
40	* ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'': In "Guide To Boys", Ned is left depressed after Suzy left the school, despite it only being temporary. His emotional state is so bad that he's unable to work on the Guide, falling into a deep state of writer's block until his friends snap him out of it.
41	[[/folder]]
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43	[[folder:Theatre]]
44	* In the musical of ''Literature/LittleWomen'', soon after [[spoiler: Beth's death]], the grieving Jo confesses to Marmee that she has no will to write anymore, or to [[HeroicBSOD "do anything."]] She finally has a breakthrough in the song "The Fire Within Me," however, when she realizes she can keep her memories of [[spoiler: Beth]] and of the past alive [[CopeByCreating by writing about them.]]
45	[[/folder]]
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47	[[folder:Video Games]]
48	* ''VideoGame/{{Cataclysm}}'' has a morale meter that is affected by things like the food your character eats or the weather. If morale gets too far in the negatives, you are locked out of crafting or repairing items until you get it back up.
49	* The title heroine of ''VideoGame/{{Gris}}'' starts out so broken by grief that she cannot produce anything but weak gasping sounds [[ExpositoryGameplayLimitation when the player presses the button labeled as "Sing"]]. Her ability to sing comes back later in the game, [[spoiler:after she overcomes her initial [[FiveStagesOfGrief depression and anger]], and singing then helps her [[CopeByCreating work through her grief]]]].
50	* ''VideoGame/LayersOfFear'' is centered on a MadArtist who is struggling to paint his magnum opus, but has to search his house for items to do so. [[spoiler: It's implied later on that his lack of will to paint stemmed from his wife's injury in a fire, and eventual death, and all the artist has left is trying to recreate her portrait.]] His skill returns little by little as the painting takes form, but [[MultipleEndings 3 different endings]] vary on what the final result becomes.
51	* In ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'', the in-game EncyclopediaExposita was written by [[TheMentor Achilles]] as a way to help PlayerCharacter Zagreus understand the world and its inhabitants, and entries are unlocked as Zagreus meets and interacts with new people or monsters. Should Zagreus encounter [[spoiler:Patroclus]] during one of his escapes, his Codex entry contains only the sentence "...Forgive me. It is not my place to say much of him, now." Further interactions with said character (which normally adds more information to the entries) only adds a MadnessMantra to the end of the entry until you talk to him even more.
52	** Orpheus starts out too broken up over Eurydice to even sing, much less compose, which is why Hades had him placed in solitary confinement shortly before the game.
53	* Inverted by Olivia in ''VideoGame/HiddenCity''. Once a renowned {{sculpt\|ors}}ress, she suddenly lost her ability to create while trapped in the fog. This drives her to depression and despair, and [[spoiler:led to her turning her good friend Sophia into a statue after an argument. She then decides to turn herself into a statue in order to restore Sophia because she doesn't want to live without her talents, as well as to atone for turning Sophia into a statue in the first place.]]
54	* ''VideoGame/NamuAmidaButsuUtena'': in Kongōman Bosatsu "Leader"'s 3rd personal story, in light of the Eight Offerings' dwindling audience numbers, he quits the troupe, drawing a big audience from the controversy but making the rest of the troupe too distressed to put on a show. [[spoiler:This is in fact a publicity gambit he planned, and he publicly returns to his leadership position immediately after.]]
55	* In ''VideoGame/PersonaQ2NewCinemaLabyrinth'', it turns out [[spoiler:Hikari, the listless girl seen from the very start of the game, is an aspiring filmmaker who gets severely bullied by pretty much everyone in her life, causing her to stop making films altogether and then shut down.]]
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58	[[folder:Web Comics]]
59	* ''Webcomic/TrueVillains'': Mia briefly loses her {{Golem}}-creating ability after Tom's destruction. {{Justified\|Trope}} since her power calls and manipulates [[OurSpiritsAreDifferent Spirits]], which she can't do while her own spirit is weakened by grief.
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62	[[folder:Web Videos]]
63	* ''Series/TheCryOfMann'': Jack starts off as a completely obsessive artist, and though he was [[OneTrackMindedArtist only painting one thing]], his family still had respect for his talent and passion. That is, until his art show, where his chosen subject matter of orange phones sent everyone into a mass, unprovoked, fit of rage. After that, Jack became so angry at everything in his life that he ''destroyed'' his paintings, and lashed out at his family members ''and'' his callers. By the time he became "Jack Prime", his anger had consumed him, and his interest in art was gone.
64	* Implied in ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice''. When their father is dying, blacksmiths He'Stan and Tu'Shan need to make a lot of money in a hurry. However, all they can make are funeral masks.
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67	[[folder:Western Animation]]
68	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Rarity suffers this twice:
69	** Shown in a YetAnotherChristmasCarol plot in "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" when Luna shows Sweetie Belle what the consequences of her actions in sabotaging Rarity's headpiece for Sapphire Shores will be if she doesn't fix things. Namely the headpiece falls apart when Sapphire tries it on during a dress rehearsal, Rarity loses her credibility due to it, obsesses over the mistake to the point she won't even speak to her friends anymore, and ultimately stuck in a fetal position while her dress shop falls into ruin.
70	** Happens again in "Inspiration Manifestation", though this time due to Rarity not designing a cart for a puppeteer properly and getting chastised for it. Spike finds her in the dress shop suffering HeartbreakAndIceCream, which prompts him to help her gain her spark back via an ominous-looking book he finds in the Castle of the Two Sisters.
71	* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'':
72	** In "Phineas And Ferb Get Busted", the boys are sent to a reformatory school after their mother catches their latest project. The program was designed ''specifically'' to stomp out creative, individualistic spirit in kids, led by a cruel DrillSergeantNasty. By the end of it, Phineas and Ferb are shells of their former selves, and can't create anything. Luckily, it was AllJustADream.
73	** In the "Summer Belongs To You" special, in which Phineas and Ferb travel around the entire world to have the longest possible day of summer, they end up stranded on an island. Phineas is so upset that he might fail that he starts snapping at everyone around him and his usual ability to think up insane solutions on the fly won't work. Isabella has to snap him out of it as he gets more and more desperate.
74	--->'''Phineas:''' Look, [[WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants a sponge and a starfish]]! There's gotta be something we can make out of this! ''[throws them away]'' [[TakeThat Ah, no, that's ridiculous!]]
75	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
76	** In "Pickles", [=SpongeBob=] gets so upset about forgetting to put pickles on a Krabby Patty that he is unable to remember how to prepare one. It gets so bad he can't do ''anything'' at all, even talk with proper syntax. Once he is able to relearn how to make a Krabby Patty, he returns to normal.
77	** In "Artist Unknown", [=SpongeBob=] attends Squidward's art class, annoying his teacher with his unusual creative process. Squidward scolds him for doing art "wrong", and he gets so upset he quits the class and goes to live in the dump. When an art collector comes in and declares one of [=SpongeBob's=] artworks a masterpiece, Squidward tries to get [=SpongeBob=] to make some more. Unfortunately, [=SpongeBob=] has taken Squidward's criticisms to heart and is unable to recreate his previous work.
78	[[/folder]]

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