So this is a trope that unfortunately is very true in life as well. TV tropes calls it “We ARE Struggling Together” and I call it ‘the divided front’.
When the Big Bad is so bad that everyone agrees to set aside their differences to fight it off, then usually ...

Struggling Together
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, July 17, 2021Story Seeds
Banes at 12:00AM, July 15, 2021
In the early parts of the story, it helps the quality of the thing and the experience of the audience to layer in the details that will come into play later.
These are little character and world details that will come into play later - the sword that falls off the ...
It's the little things
damehelsing at 12:00AM, July 11, 2021
There’s always an issue every artist has at some point and that is having stiff looking characters.
It is incredibly hard to actually have a fluid looking character. Also because, as humans, we are kind of stiff. Not every single person moves smoothly like a Disney character gliding across ...
The Test of Character
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, July 10, 2021
If you are in a fairy tale and encounter an Old Woman… never take that meeting lightly. It's usually a test of character: the manner in which you respond to her will be a measure of how kind, decisive, clever, obliging, evil, rude, crass, abusive, or idiotic you are ...
Layers in Character
Banes at 12:00AM, July 8, 2021
Welcome to my Underground Layers
-Banes, your pop culture references are as on point as ever!
I've talked about story structure here many times, normally in similar ways.
A different approach to character and story, one I haven't used much personally, is what we could call the “onion ...
QUACKCAST 538 - Fashion and Trends in Webcomics
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, July 6, 2021 LISTEN on our new player!
Listen on Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/adarunkduck-quackcast
Or TuneinRadio - https://tunein.com/podcasts/Books–Literature/Drunkduck-Quackcast-p1150194/
We chat about the styles and trends in webcomics and what causes them, whether it's people copying stuff they like, working with the limitations of the ...
Space Based Interactions
Banes at 12:00AM, July 1, 2021
Some of my earliest memories are playing with Star Wars toys - my awareness of the first film and the toys are muddled together, but I clearly remember seeing The Empire Strikes Back, and vividly recall the couple-years-long wait after that, before Return of the Jedi would come and resolve the ...
An Ode to Sidekicks (Part Deux)
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, June 28, 2021
Photo: Conan O’Brien and Andy Richter during a Cold Open for San Diego Comic-Con International (2016)
Seven years ago, on November 17, 2014, I wrote a Monday article on the Duck following the final taping of the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson. It was around that time that ...
Is it Luck?
damehelsing at 12:00AM, June 27, 2021
Have you seen ”The Road to El’Dorado”? If you pay attention to the movie, the whole thing is pretty much based on luck.
Spoilers ahead if you haven’t watched the movie!
We witness luck happening from the start of the movie when Miguel and Tulio have been using ...
On Using 'Shortcuts'
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, June 26, 2021
One of the latest twitter dramas seem to be around artistic shortcuts, and how consumers of comics and webcomics (often non-artists) tend to scoff at any artist that dares admit they use them.
Comic shortcuts could include pre-rendered backgrounds, using 3D programs to arrange spaces or make sure perspective is ...