Curry Zawa Kaoru's Creative Counseling - "I'm a copycat, and so I keep my works to myself." But everything starts from inspiration and imitation.

Oh, honey, join the club. I've spent the last 30 years indulging in some spicy content before bed, then mentally casting my faves into those steamy scenes. So, I reckon what you're doing is pretty normal.

Or maybe you and I are just especially twisted, but at least you're not alone. If the idea of following me into hell doesn't appeal to you, use it as a push to dive into your own original creations.

But for me, it's all just mental imagery before sleep; I've never actually given these scenarios a physical form.

And yet, if someone were to slap their favorite character's face onto every single frame of an erotic manga, even if it's a blatant copy-paste job, I'd be the first to applaud.

Most people just talk about wanting to create but never lift a finger. So even if your art is just shy of carbon-copying, the fact that you're taking your initial impulse of "I want to draw something as wonderful as this other person's work!" and following through with it is admirable in itself.

Being influenced by other works and drawing from that is not inherently wrong, and I believe most creators start out influenced by something.

In fact, isn't pretty much everything in life initially sparked by inspiration and imitation?

It's rare for someone sitting in a room with no windows, no curtains, just staring into space, to suddenly stand up and declare, "I'm going to create a manga about a boy who wants to become the pirate king!" Most mangaka start their journey inspired by the manga they've read. Just like Messi probably began playing soccer after watching others play.

If we started calling everyone who plays soccer a copycat, we'd lose not only great players but also the sport itself.

The same goes for creative work. If we start banning everything that was influenced by something else, we'll actually stop seeing new and original works altogether.

Plus, you can't improve your skills without examples. Even the most talented artists began by drawing from references.

Take life drawing, for instance: it's essentially about replicating models in full detail. If we started accusing artists of "ripping off the human body", we'd soon have a whopping 60% of characters with wonky necks, making the storyline the least of our worries.

So I think it's perfectly okay to continue drawing by imitating the settings and compositions of works you admire.

However, when it comes to actually publishing such works, the situation changes.

The act of copying itself isn't what gets condemned as plagiarism. It's the act of presenting someone else's creative work as your own original creation and seeking to profit from it that's usually no good.

So, you're into tracing or copying? Great, as long as you make it very clear that's what you didーslap a big, bold disclaimer on your work and nobody's going to call you a copycat.

Of course, just adding a *Traced note doesn't give you a free pass to make a carbon copy of all 70 volumes of Kingdom and post them on your page, but even that would technically be okay if you've got the blessing of all the rights holders involved.

Fan work itself is, by definition, made using someone else's characters, and much of it still exists under the massive blind eye of the original rights holders. It's a bit of a tricky area, but let’s say the official creators greenlighted all fan work as long as it follows their guidelines.

Then, it's up to you to reach out to the creator from whom you borrowed the idea. You might say, "I was deeply inspired by your scenario of a room where the characters can't leave unless they [insert NSFW activities] and would like to create and publish a work with my pairing in the same situation. I plan to get your approval on the manuscript before publishing it and will clearly credit the original idea to you."

If, by some miracle, you get their okay, then you're basically in the clear, no fuss, no muss.

But let’s dig a bit deeper here. Behind your wish to share your work with others, isn't there a deeper desire not just for viewership, but for praise?

The thing is, people's adoration is sweeter when it comes to original creations. With fan work, no matter how impressive, credit is often given to the original character’s charm.

And if you're taking the additional step of venturing into the world of fan work of fan work (aka recursive fan work), don’t expect much applause, unless your work is extraordinarily inspired. If that sweet, sweet praise is what you’re really after, that might be the wrong path for you. Like trying to catch fish that only eat fish food with a hundred-page long story featuring a Mary Sue, you know?

Now, if you sneakily use someone else’s ideas and somehow manage to avoid getting busted and actually get praised for it, you might get hooked on that sneaky success. Before you know it, you could morph into a monster, repeating theft for the sake of applause, forever living in fear of getting caught. Think before you post: you don’t want to drag your beloved OTP into a degenerate existence of constantly being on the run, right?

In any case, as things stand, your current work shouldn’t hit the public eye. If you want to release something, better to tweak it till it’s original enough to call your own.

You don't have to start from scratch. You can start as you have been, letting your inspiration come from works that impressed you.

Creation is like a game of association. You begin by taking inspiration from something and then expand it with your imagination, crafting it into something uniquely yours.

You've mentioned that "your characters differ, leading to different developments". This means you're well on your way to playing the game right.

Keep pushing that line further and further into originality. "If this character was in this situation, what would they do?" "What would happen if their mom walked in?"

Sure, you might end up with a wacky piece no one gets, but at least it's not a clone of the original.

Maybe the issue is that you're drawing with a just-for-me, never-showing-anyone mindset that's got you giving up on doing your own thing before you've even started. This could lead to overt imitation. Plus, constantly creating without feedback, praise, or even acknowledgment might be feeding into this whole "I'm just a low-key art thief" vibe.

Why don't you try writing something specifically to post on a platform like pixiv?

Nothing like the fear of a public roasting to keep you thinking about how to not be a copycat. It’s amazing how fast you'll veer off from the source material when you’re creating with the expectation of showing it to an audience.

Also, the juiciest ideas often come when you're in a good headspace. So get your work out there, soak up that praiseーeven if it's just obligatory. Get that ego boost.

But if you're content with simply reimagining your favorite works with your favorite characters for your own enjoyment, without bothering anyone, that’s perfectly fine too.

I've been doing that for 30 years and haven’t been called out or gotten tired of it.

I welcome more comrades in this approach. See you in creative hell!