so people of Gaia

[Wynoochee]

In your opinion, what themes or genres for comic books (this applies to all, western, japanese, mexican. Whatever you read) is over done? What constitutes fresh material?

I am in the writing process while go through college and i want to know what kind of material excites todays readers without being too cliche.

Feedback is appreciated!

[Kaxen]

In my opinion, cliche is in the execution.

Because some people can tell you the most goddamn stupid summary but actually a good story in practice and some people can tell you the most amazing ideas and give you a piece of crap story. And it's possible to describe beloved characters in ways that make them sound like terrible Mary Sues/Gary Stus ((though the whole Mary Sue concept gets kind of problematic at times because some people just use it to mean "any female character I don't like" rather than referring to self-inserts or characters that break every rule set in the story)).

But as far as stuff I want to see more of, here's the first few things to pop into my head:

-Historically accurate medieval Europe settings and medieval fantasy inspired more by actual history than the pop culture mental image of medieval times.
-Men and women being just friends for the entirety of the story not being treated as a negative thing. It also does not turn into a long WILL THEY OR WON'T THEY?! romance....
-Asexual characters (probably explicitly mentioned as asexual since most people go "heterosexual until proven wrong." )
-Unicorns being treated in a badass manner.
-A story about horseback warriors where horseback riding is drawn correctly and horsemanship and horse care is accurate........ because almost nobody draws horseback riding correctly......
-Stories about snipers (I would kill for someone to do a Simo Hayha story)
-Stories about biplanes
-Steampunk in a not-Eurocentric setting. I saw someone do an Indian steampunk cosplay and it was awesome.
-Well, any setting that is not Eurocentric.
-Passing the Bechdel Test with plotly important dialogue
-THINGS I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I NEEDED IN MY LIFE (I mean really, if it's a super-original never-seen-before-idea, I most likely haven't thought of it yet).

[Xiam]

Character wakes up. They're late for school! Time to introduce themselves to the class because transfer student or whatever!

Uhhh, I don't know if this is cliche or not, I honestly don't read as much as I should, but... um... do people still do "lolsorandum" humor? Because back in the day I always found it irritating. "I don't know how to make this funny, maybe I should have them say "BUTTS!" and then explode."

Kaxen

-Historically accurate medieval Europe settings and medieval fantasy inspired more by actual history than the pop culture mental image of medieval times.

W-what if it's a deliberate mashup of periods and locations for the sake of flavor? emotion_kirakira

Kaxen

(I mean really, if it's a super-original never-seen-before-idea, I most likely haven't thought of it yet).

The more frustrating: I come up with something I think is clever, then it turns out it's been done already, or it's been done already and I'd actually seen it but forgotten about it.

[Kaxen]

Xiam

Kaxen

-Historically accurate medieval Europe settings and medieval fantasy inspired more by actual history than the pop culture mental image of medieval times.

W-what if it's a deliberate mashup of periods and locations for the sake of flavor? emotion_kirakira

Well, if it's a mash-up of periods and locations, would it really be medieval?

Though mash-ups sometimes get kind of problematic and cultural appropriation-y where it's like "We're gonna use a bunch of Asian stuff, but Asians don't exist!" So I guess it sort of depends on how much you blend into a cohesively new thing and how much comes off as "real life with the numbers filed off."

Though on that note, racially homogenous fantasy worlds are kind of weird to me sometimes. If they have a (reasonably priced?) magical means of fast-travel (teleporting wizards, fast-flying ride-able dragons, etc), I don't really understand why nobody leaves their villages ever (epic quests notwithstanding)... because people attempted travel for the sake of money, conquest, and/or finding somewhere new to screech "My god is better than your god" in real life even if it took several months; they had no clear idea where they were going; a shaky understanding of how ocean currents work; and/or they had a decent probability of dying, so... unless your fantasy world is a place where everyone has 100% of all the resources they need and no one is greedy with the exception of maybe the dark overlord's expanding empire, I'm not really sure why nobody ever tries to go anywhere ever and nobody ever decides they like living somewhere else.

[Xiam]

Kaxen

Xiam

Kaxen

-Historically accurate medieval Europe settings and medieval fantasy inspired more by actual history than the pop culture mental image of medieval times.

W-what if it's a deliberate mashup of periods and locations for the sake of flavor? emotion_kirakira

Well, if it's a mash-up of periods and locations, would it really be medieval?

Though mash-ups sometimes get kind of problematic and cultural appropriation-y where it's like "We're gonna use a bunch of Asian stuff, but Asians don't exist!" So I guess it sort of depends on how much you blend into a cohesively new thing and how much comes off as "real life with the numbers filed off."

Though on that note, racially homogenous fantasy worlds are kind of weird to me sometimes. If they have a (reasonably priced?) magical means of fast-travel (teleporting wizards, fast-flying ride-able dragons, etc), I don't really understand why nobody leaves their villages ever (epic quests notwithstanding)... because people attempted travel for the sake of money, conquest, and/or finding somewhere new to screech "My god is better than your god" in real life even if it took several months; they had no clear idea where they were going; a shaky understanding of how ocean currents work; and/or they had a decent probability of dying, so... unless your fantasy world is a place where everyone has 100% of all the resources they need and no one is greedy with the exception of maybe the dark overlord's expanding empire, I'm not really sure why nobody ever tries to go anywhere ever and nobody ever decides they like living somewhere else.

Well, a mash of medieval periods and locations...

I was mostly just hoping to blend flavors of things here and there to make something unique, but it may have fallen apart when I developed my first city and it was basically a city at the crossroads of desert trade routes and it became very middle eastern, argh... so now I'm thinking that based upon the climates, the cultures change, though they're definitely in touch with one another through the trade routes, and possibly on shaky terms with one another politically. But I'm toying with different regions being strong in different things, which could give them economic or military strength, like one city basically being well known for its magic and learning, and another area for teas and spices, and another having a lot of mines and quality weaponry, and maybe another is rich in textiles, with each one having their own preferences and production in meat, vegetation, grain, etc...

I wonder what they have in the way of drugs and alcohol, hm...

Sorry, s**t, did I derail the topic?

[Wynoochee]

I appreciate the feedback, i especially like the unicorn idea lol. As it stands, i am mostly Native American and will incorporate some of my heritage within, but im also small part mexican and dutch. So i may use some of those elements as well.

Don't get me wrong, I will use cliche items and/or themes as it is almost impossible not to.

Maybe use some paranormal beings like cryptids. Without it diving into the who paranormal realm. Maybe incorporate slipstream style writing methods to provoke curiosity.

I'm excited to write but do not want to create this story thats been done a hundred times over. Again thank you for your voices.

[Cynotherium]

What general genre are you going for?