A core principle of the works of horror mangaka Junji Ito, is the mundane and everyday only backwards. This concept is perfect for short stories as there is no need, or time, to explore lengthy explanations for the uncanny. Events are as they appear which renders them all the more ...

Junji Ito and the art of unease
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, Aug. 7, 2020Wounded Characters
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, July 25, 2020
There is a reason why in fanfiction archives there's a whole category of stories called “hurt/comfort”, where one of the main characters of a specific IP is injured, and others (usually an unlikely person or whoever the author is shipping with the injured one) have to take care ...
On the Purging of the Past in Art
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, July 4, 2020
First off, Happy 4th of July to all USA Duckers!
Recently I listened to Lindsey Ellis' excellently made video essay on so-called ‘woke Disney’: the company's attempt to remake or edit or outright hide past works because they are now judged to be problematic in some way or other ...
What to do when you think you've outgrown your comic
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, June 19, 2020
As you grow and develop as a comic creator, you might find stories you had invested time into beginning to lose their appeal. You might be thinking that having outgrown your story. However, it might be a case of having written yourself into a corner or maybe you might need ...
Revisionist Historical Fiction
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, May 30, 2020
So over here on Greek TV, there's this very popular drama series that happens to be set in a Greek mainland village in the 1950s, and sells itself as ‘authentically representing an era’. It started off very promising, as a crime drama + family drama kind of story where three ...
There Is No See Saw
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, May 23, 2020
(I'm writing this after a very long and hard day of mental and physical work so if it sounds ranty or convoluted…. eh, you've been warned :P )
Humans are competitive by nature. Somehow we have to rank everything- all things, from the most concrete to the most abstract ...
QUACKCAST 479 - Big ideas in fiction
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, May 19, 2020 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/
My original idea for this Quackcast was: “Genre fiction is the best place to explore ideas, straight fiction doesn't do it as well”
What I meant ...
The Means Make the Villain
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, May 2, 2020
There are the mustache-twirling villains, that enjoy being evil. They're deliciously fun!
Then there are the nutjob villains. Those that are basket cases one way or the other, psychopaths or antisocial, unfettered madmen with a logic of their own that wreaks havoc upon the world. They're also very ...
After Marriage
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, April 25, 2020
Usually in adventures, thrillers and other stories, when the main characters are romantically involved, the B plot (or even the A plot) is the ‘will they/won’t they' question: will they get together in the end, usually with a happy end scene of marriage, or some such thing. Romance ...