Villains are tremendously important for a story. They set the framework and standard for a lot of things in an unsaid but definite manner: how far your villain is willing to go sets up audience expectations for how big and how dire the stakes will be in the story.

If ...

Hello everyone, and welcome to Panel by Panel, a periodic exploration of comic panels around The Duck. We'll be getting back to panel analysis in the coming weeks, but for my return to writing after a brief health break, I want to do that challenge I discussed some time ...

In rewatching some 1990's movies, I saw quite a few of these Protagonists show up - they're these disaffected types, usually quite intelligent or at least verbose, who are wrapped up in their emotions and sort of spinning their wheels in life as they analyze their problems and face ...

All aboard the interrealm train, heading toward a one-way stop to the Shadowlands. The conductor this evening is Rebeka Sutton joined by the Q.T.74 (aka “Cutie”), a mechanical spider companion. Rebeka seeks to help unburden transitioning passengers traveling through this train track. The next passenger scheduled to board ...

Photo: “Windmills through the Passenger Side Window”. Photo taken by me. (June 2022).

“When June came
The grasses headed out
And turned brown,
And the hills turned brown
Which was not a brown
But a gold and saffron
And red—
An indescribable color.
And from then on until the next ...

Sound-proofed, but still aloud
Some say I make thunder, others cloud me mute
Still Alone, but in a shroud
Some will walk me by, others crowd me mad
“So when will your world arrive?” Quote one mind.
Deadborn, but still alive


NaaN (Now, always and Never)

The DD Awards, run by DD Awards Queen Niccea, are already under way!

The first For Your Consideration (FYC) pages are already up on the DD Awards 2023 page, so go check them out if you haven't already.

And since the DD Awards are already happening, you guessed it ...

Picard Season Three hit the fan service HARD. I absolutely loved it.


The final season of Star Trek Picard is winning very good reviews from fans and critics.

Of course, in some corners there is criticism of fan service, nostalgia and ‘member berries’ being the driving force behind the season ...

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We finally gave in to temptation and just started chatting about Star Wars. For our Patreon video we were talking about the idea of pivotal pop-cultural landmarks ...

Photo: “Animator Desk Belonging to Frank Thomas”. Taken at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures (by me). Los Angeles, California. (October 2021).

The mid-twentieth century animator studio has always held an aura of mystery to any mind that has ever wondered how hand-illustrated animation is created. Anyone who has drawn ...