When Nothing Is Normal

Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Jan. 9, 2021



Usually when building a character, we go for their general personality in terms of traits, the routine/general behavior they would display, the routine/general things that would interest them and so on.

If you are writing a slice of life story, or a sitcom style series, or anything that ...



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How to Retcon

Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Dec. 12, 2020



Retconning has a bad reputation.

Usually because it's done in big IPs and franchises when writers change and decide to drastically alter the development of a plotline, and do it by changing established canon about the characters or the history of the setting. Usually it's sloppily done, dealt ...



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Drawing Lies

Banes at 12:00AM, Dec. 10, 2020



Drawing Lies - Deception, Insincerity and Sarcasm

Stories and characters have many contexts where emotion is needed - the happy and sad and angry and scared of it all is a big focus of my own comic drawing - I keep it cartoony (with as few lines as possible) and maybe slightly exaggerated ...



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Danko's Flaming Heart

Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Dec. 5, 2020




I couldn't have been older than 11 when I read The Flaming Heart of Danko by Maxim Gorky. And boy, did it cut me with the finest of fine glass. Even now thinking about the short story hurts somewhere deep in my soul.

And yet, I love it so ...




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The Struggle for Reality

Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Nov. 21, 2020



What is real, really?

Can we trust our senses that what information they are giving us is objective? There are many thinkers and philosophers that posit we cannot. That as long as the messages get to our brains, it feels real even if it isn't.

If we can't ...





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Hidden Horror - Lifting up the Rock

Banes at 12:00AM, Oct. 22, 2020




On our last Quackcast I had a realization about one of the recurring elements that shows up in a lot of horror I like.

It's the hidden nature of horror. When someone, or something, appears normal or even extra sweet or appealing, but hides nasty stuff beneath.

It's ...






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The Work of the Mentor

Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Oct. 17, 2020




Might as well get it out of the way: if you're a mentor in a story, chances are you're going on a boatride over the river Styx at some point.

When a mentor dies it's often the signal that the main character, the one being mentored, is ...




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Character Design Brainstorming: The Monster Among Us

Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Oct. 10, 2020




We live in a world of routine, predictability, and pedestrian problems. (2020 doesn't count. Much.)

Magic doesn't really seem to exist in our world.

Or does it?

Perhaps we live above a very thin surface, like floating on a tranquil lake, and just underneath it there are ghouls ...








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Assembling your outline

Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, Aug. 21, 2020



August is coming to an end which means the deadline for the DrunkDuck Horror Anthology of 2020 is fast approaching. When building a house it’s good to get the foundations down; for comics that means creating your outline. This applies to any story regardless of length. As you're ...

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Choosing Your Genre

Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Aug. 1, 2020




For better or for worse, we are creatures of categorizations. We love to label things, and to sort them into neat little boxes so that we are absolutely certain we know what to expect when dealing with each one. It is that sense of familiarity that we are looking for ...


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