Did You Ever Have an Idea Only to Realize Someone Did It First?

[powerplantanimations]

I was planning my next story during my Psychology course, and we had to watch a Black Mirror episode (to analyze it). It was the Arkangel episode where this overbearing mother was able to see whatever her DAUGHTER sees and blur out anything that's violent automatically (she put a chip in her brain). I was... banging my head on the table throughout the entire episode.

I thought about not including the brain chip in my story, but then I discovered the Arkangel episode is considered to be one of the worst Black Mirror episodes for what it DIDN'T explore (and there's A LOT it could've talked about). I decided to keep the brain chip in the end, making it different enough. I am planning on studying this episode a little more.

What about you guys? Did you have a similar situation? How did it turn out?

[cherrystark]

I believe that a lot of good ideas are actually inspired by other things, especially when you go back to the fact that nothing is ever truly "original". If something does spark my interest, I actively try to find ways to make it "different". Like I have an idea for a billionaire romance where the male lead has to meet the female lead on her terms. No falling in love on a whirlwind trip around the world. Their dates are to places like Costco and Olive Garden. The mamas who love billionaire romances might not buy it if I ever wrote it, but the idea would still be mine.

[tarraxahum]

I'm pretty sure there's a saying 'nothing is new under the sun'. At this point I don't think it's possible to think of something no one ever thought of at all.

I'll admit I'm unaware of direct 'twins' of my current story - if I was, I probably wouldn't be creating in otherwise, 'cause the itch would've been scratched. But in general I frequently realize that some ideas I have are directly influenced by something I liked and wanted to explore or do better.

[Nugtown]

There's a place for being unoriginal, believe it or not, I guess when it comes to presenting ideas in a way thats not so unpredictable or confusing.

[NickRowler]

Not really me concerned with someone doing it first but more just having similarities...

I had an idea about people traveling into dreams to solve people's issues. Then Inception came out. I don't think Inception is even the first piece of media to use the concept, but I think because it was so popular, people were memeing it like crazy. Tho, I think enough time has past that you could do a similar story and people won't go "Lol Inception! We need to go deeper."

[GumshoeComix]

As a lot of people here have said, nothing's truly original anymore
and that's fine a lot of the best stories are like other or inspired by other stories.
comparisons wi happen, its just in people's nature
My side comic is gonna get every X men comparison imaginable because - people in mansion with superpowers trope- and I accepted that a long time ago

[thepenmonster]

Simple fact is that people like seeing the same shit over and over again, just with a new paint job on it.

So make your Black Mirror clone. Just add some sassy robots to it or something.

[lizardlullabye]

Yup. I was thinking about how the powerpuff girls were some small peoples made artificially -- like homunculi in Full Metal Alchemist! Then I wondered if anyone else had the same thought. Yes, someone did and they drew art for it.

I drew my little fanart anyways.
Sometimes we catch the "same" ideas, but tell the story differently (at least by little bit).

Also I just like drawing fanart.

[theyrebothakilogram]

I found a story on webtoon from another creator, and it genuinely feels like we were given the exact same prompt and just had different takes on it. It's a crazy world

[angie_draws_things]

I have not had my story done first, but I have encountered some suspicious coincidences.

Back in college, I told a friend about an idea I had for a one-shot comic, but did not have time to complete. Sure enough, two months later, he turned out a comic with the same idea. It is likely he stole the idea, but also just as likely that he forgot the conversation and remembered the idea. Either way, I never vocalized my ideas again without laying the foundations for it myself first.

Next, I had a humble webcomic that went on for about 5 years in the early 2000s. As I was getting burnt out between my full-time job and trying to maintain my art, I noticed a Tokyopop manga had come out with a MC with a similar name and character design. Similar enough to raise an eyebrow among people who knew my work, but not similar enough to be theft.

TLDR: Cover your butt.

[system]

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