What makes your comic or novel familiar and different?

FAMILIAR:

• The reincarnation premise is similar to the likes of Mushoku Tensei and The Beginning After the End.
• Involves Sword and Sorcery like many other Fantasy stories.
• Involves familiar fantasy creatures.

UNFAMILIAR:

• My magic system (Auraspheric Arts and the Verse) is based on Gustavo Theory which has never been used for a magic system before.
• Main character is just as likely to kill allied supporting characters versus the antagonist. Not intentionally, of course, but it could happen even if the allied character never did anything to antagonize him. (Reasons of this happening is related to magic system)
• Made a completely new board game just for my story (Dragiu)

Here's my novel if you're interested:

Ooooh this is a great question!

What makes my novel familiar:
This story has almost a forbidden love kind of feel to it. There is also the "inner demon/monster inside me" kind of trope used. If anyone has read Tokyo Ghoul you will feel similar vibes later in the story. And if anyone has read the manga "Black Cat" by Kentaro Yabuki my MC will be kind of similar to Train Heartnet, as that was a huge inspiration when I first wrote it back in middle school.

What makes my novel different:
I like to think my story is different because of the choices my characters make. I wanted this story to not be as predictable as it may be just going off the tropes I mentioned above. I also think it is different because of the fact that I try to write openly about the MCs struggles with PTSD and finding his way, which I personally haven't seen a lot of.

When it comes to characters like him, as an assassin in a cult who wants to find redemption, I tend to see a lot more often these types of characters are written as silent edgy types and aren't given a lot of emotion or their struggle is really watered down or we just don't get to see it, so I wanted to be realistic with my MCs struggles when it comes to his anxieties and fears.

I'm not saying that character type is bad. I just really wanted to have my MC portray another side to that, because it's too often that boys aren't listened to about their emotions or told to just "man up" and stop crying. I want my MC to be like an inspiration for anyone struggling, so I hope I can do that justice.

I take the familiar story which we've all grown up with, of misfit junior high school kids desperate for friends, trying to fit in, and instead switch it out for a story of a group of mismatched, maladjusted adolescents who come to realize that the concept of "fitting in" isn't all it's cracked up to be, exposing the cliches and stereotypes inherent therein. I also exemplify the myriad ways there are of messing up someone's childhood and how our young heroes try to overcome them.

What makes your comic familiar?

I have gotten a lot of comparisons to cartoons like Ren and Stimpy, Adventure Time, Flapjack and chowder, with the art style and story telling.
I’m really influenced by the cartoons I grew up loving I am a bit older so although I do enjoy adventure time which I get compared to a lot with my art style I am actually more influenced by cartoons like Ren and Stimpy, Ah Real Monsters, Doug, and Rockos Modern Life as well as comic like Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, and the Maxx, and Cow and Chicken.

What makes your comic different?

I think my unique art style and my style of story telling. The character designs. As the story goes there will constantly be new characters being met and fun and interesting side stories.

I also have it formatted to look like old comic book pages. I wanted it to look like the comic books I grew up reading that inspired me to make my own.

what's familiar about my comic series Knights Chronicles is it is a good vs evil story , fairly standard for the usual superhero story, plus some of the inspirations should be fairly apparent , like as is aid a few time my work is much inspired by gundam, power rangers mostly so if you see both those shows you kind of get some where i come from

now as for what is different, i don't think anyone would mash power rangers and gundam into one story ,but i did, ,each of the main heroes will be pretty different from each other ,not just species because they are anthropomorphic ,,but each has their own personality and it will show as i keep going, and each of them is a different model , i try and vary their size and so on to make each have their own identity, i also have a lot going on in there so pay attention there are some in universe ore Easter eggs around if you want to see some extra story

https://tapas.io/episode/19796931

Familiarities:

• It's a colorful fantasy world with magic in abundance everywhere. Elves, dwarves, orcs, dragons, and more are all present and can be found with a little searching.
• Magic exists, in both an arcane and divine format, and people are also given blessings from the gods to help give the mortal races a headstart in their lives.
• Good vs. Evil is pretty common, with Heroes and Adventurers available to take on jobs that counties or individuals can't handle themselves.

Differences:

• The main character doesn't get a uniquely strong power that separates her from the rest of the world. She's only just above average and has to work much harder than her peers just to keep up. And the blessing she was given by the gods is actively causing an issue for her to be a "shining star" among those who outperform her with less effort.
• The two characters who become the MC's mentors are selfish, callous, smug, and incredibly destructive. They regularly taunt and mock their enemies for fun and do what they want when they want, and they were highly infamous criminals in the past. But they take interest in the MC and are going to make her just as powerful while hiding their own interests in why they would.
• Heroes and Adventurers loath each others' existence in this world. The names "Hero" and "Adventurer" are more akin to titles than anything. Where an Adventurer is similar to a freelance janitor to clean up your local goblin problem, a Hero is a near guaranteed dragon slaying and much more expensive.
• A person's gift from the gods can vary highly and given at random whether the people like it or not, and to try and defy it is incredibly difficult.

Familiar:

• Premise sounds like Persephone/Hades myth retold with guys and extra step: Andy (Persephone) is brought to the Underworld against his will to be married/given to Ba(Hades, Death).
• I think there is an expectation early readers (based on Webtoon reactions) expected Ba to be in awe of Andy's beauty, and the two falling in love at first sight.

Different:

• Death wanted a WOMAN. He was offended when presented with a man.
• Ba and Andy mutually DON'T like each other, they clash and argue. Ba lowkey tortures Andy, Andy bites back. They were forced to stay together, but it wasn't romance at all.
• Andy is said to be cursed, was stolen away from his husband, nowhere close to lovely or shy persona. Ba appears less like a powerful god and more like a petty being who has powers and exercises it on others.

What is familiar:
Portal fantasy with an alternate Earth
Lovers from rival kingdoms
Fantasy creatures are real and in hiding

What makes it different (or at least not widely used):
Vampires treated a fantasy race instead of undead monsters
Humans are magical too
I promise no elf vs dwarf or vampire vs werewolf

Familiar: probably the sci fi aspect with super abilities.
Different: No character is important enough to have a 'hero's' arc at least if my current plot development works.

FAMILIAR:
Bishonen protagonist! A brooding poet who exudes vampire energy! Queer characters abound, focusing on a queer romance! Possible enemies to lovers...?

DIFFERENT:
It's in the 70s. The protagonist is also a huge dick. Actually, everyone is kind of a dick, but Edwin beats them all. Somehow, this works.
Deals with more of the pitfalls of the hedonistic era and the overindulgent lifestyles.
Too many prog rock references.

Greetings!

What makes Menmar FAMILIAR

Well, that's quite difficult to be said; maybe the whole Assassin's Creed/ revolutionary factions is what makes Menmar lean together in the Shonen/ action comics department. However, I DID wrote it in a more drama, dark fantasy manner, so it might not be as easy to pitch to a Shonen die-hard, hardcore fanbase as I thought it would. This series may resemble Aladdin (the manga) and Simbad (also the anime, not the animated movie from 2000's) though.

What makes Menmar DIFFERENT

Ahhh, here's where my series shine, with all modesty I may have. I wrote several strong, no-nonsense female character which may remind ppl about the good qualities displayed by Korra or Kyoshi, for instance. Also, making the setting Middle Eastern (especially Persian/ Mesopotamic) and running away from your stereotypical Agrabah might give some enthusiasts something fresher to look when browsing for something new. Also, the fact I explore pre-Islam myths and Zoroastrian beliefs may also give Menmar something else to catch the reader's attention.

I'd say this kind of thing probably is a better way to promote a series than just simply pitching the series. Simply for the "Oh hey, I liked that series!" aspect.

As for my own? I'd say my story on here that I'm constantly working on. (Well, at least 1~2 hours a day.) would at most be similar to Dungeons and dragons, but more an "AAR" of a campaign than the setting itself. It's got all the usual tropes a fantasy genre story has these days. From adventurers and demons to flamboyant elves and stout drunken dwarves. It's got dungeons to crawl in, and mysterious underground organizations that might be planning world domination.

The different part? Like I mentioned prior, I'm trying to write it as if someone INSIDE that universe is doing the writing. That it's an "AAR" (After Action Report, for those not familiar with the term.) or some documentary on the History Channel, instead of the usual.

As well, though this will become more prevalent in the future, I'm also writing the story as a multi-generational saga, than a simple "This character saved the world and lived happily ever after. The end."

EDIT: Oh, and since I've yet to figure out how to do those little info-boxes yet, the link I put earlier will have to do for now.

My novel is familiar because it uses the common trope of virtual reality gaming with real life consequences

But it's different because it is dark and deals with anti-war themes.

https://tapas.io/episode/2092142

Familiar themes:
* mean girls
* new kid arriving at high school
* honestly most of the characters are based on familiar tropes
* enemies to lovers
* vampire romance (kind of...)

Different:
Doing some pretty different stuff with the whole vampire thing... I can't really get into the main thing because of spoilers, but in terms of lore it's pretty different from the standard concept
While much of my script is intended to be pretty cartoonish/deals with the supernatural, the climax and ending are, in a sense, much more realistic than you might expect, and that includes the romance aspect... Sometimes friendship is more important than romance.

Edit: I, uh.... forgot the self-promotion part. I'm good at this...

Hmmm...what makes Thorns of Jade familiar is that it entails our main characters to go on an adventure to save a nation, similar to Avatar the Last Airbender.

What makes it completely different is that it's a boylove story and has a lot more mature themes and drama. Oh and of course it will contain smut...so that's completely different from Avatar