It may just be my impression, but usually when a story is set in a dystopian setting, the dystopia is played straight. However, when the characters encounter or start off in a utopian setting, they almost always will end up realizing that the utopia is actually a mirage, and in ...

On Utopias
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, April 26, 2025Creator Interview: Paul Eberhardt
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, June 29, 2024
Finally! It's time for yet another Creator Interview, and as usual, I have the pleasure of interviewing one more fantastic DDer! This time it's Paul Eberhadt, a wonderful artist and comic creator with a unique style I could discern among many!
Paul already has a bio on his ...
What is your major malfunction?
Banes at 12:00AM, May 2, 2024
Damaged Heroes
A well written, standard Protagonist will generally have some flaws, starting out as an underdog of some kind, with lessons to learn and improvements to make over the course of the story.
Granted, some heroes are, well, just heroes, who are pretty much who they need to be ...
The Understudy Hero
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, April 18, 2024
There's nothing more shocking than when the hero dies …at the beginning.
Don't worry, Banes isn't dead! I'm just standing in for him this week, he will return! This is only about fictional main characters that didn't get the memo they should reserve their death ...
Of flaws and foibles - creating characters with rough edges
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, April 6, 2024
Hello hello Quackateers! Today, let's chat about the secret sauce that makes webcomics, hell comics in general, pop – crafting a character with flaws so relatable, they spark lengthy reddit discussions!
Think about it. What makes your favourite characters stick with you long after you've closed the comic tab ...
Creator Interview: Dragonsong12
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, March 23, 2024
Today we are interviewing the accomplished and proliferate Dragonsong12 who has actually completed multiple webcomics!
There's so much to tell as an introduction to Dragonsong12 but suffice it to say that she has one of the most recognizable and uniquely beautiful art styles I have encountered on the Duck ...
Belief is a mirror
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Dec. 9, 2023
Last week I had the fortune of stumbling across Netflix's latest animated series, Blue Eye Samurai. I didn't expect much, but I was so bowled over by the sheer excellence of this show that I ended up binging the entire first season overnight. Like all shows, it's ...
Toxic Positivity, Toxic Acceptance (Part 2)
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Feb. 11, 2023
So last time, in Part 1 of this discussion of …sunnier villains or antagonists, we had left off talking about how toxic positivity is all about the toxic person's comfort. And that this need to impose a certain behavior, dogma, and/or approach to reality in their environment leads ...
QUACKCAST 583 - Why is it bad?
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, May 17, 2022 LISTEN on our new player!
Listen on Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/drunkduck-quackcast
Or TuneinRadio - https://tunein.com/podcasts/Books–Literature/Drunkduck-Quackcast-p1150194/
Spoiler- we don't actually talk much about Yu-Gi-Oh! But I feel it's a good example of a pretty bad story- a so-bad-it's-good story, but ...
The Unicorn
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, April 30, 2022
No, this article isn't about the mythological beings. I wouldn't want to steal any single one from Andreas Helixfinger's awesome Sunday article series.
What I want to talk about is the metaphorical unicorn: a character that is too good to be true, too unlikely to be found ...