Back when the Deep Space Nine series was developing into a more serialized kind of story, the writers wanted to define the major threat from the distant Gamma Quadrant. Who was going to be the big villain for the series?
The stakes were pretty high, here - what if the villains ...

The Villain Combo Platter
Banes at 12:00AM, April 21, 2022Fantastic Bestiary 4: The Naga
Andreas_Helixfinger at 12:00AM, April 17, 2022
Last week’s post of the Fantastic Bestiary dealt with housespirits of ancient Rome. In this post we’re going to the far east, following up on another suggestion left by DD member marcorossi. We are going to study the Naga today. The Nagas are a race of serpentine beings ...
An Itch To Scratch
Banes at 12:00AM, April 14, 2022
Peacemaker is probably not everyone's cup of tea…but it must be seen at least once
to appreciate the opening credits dance number. Brilliant!
When Vince Gilligan was co-creating the idea for the Better Call Saul spinoff, he said that one of the challenges he and Peter Gould and ...
Everyman Heroes
Banes at 12:00AM, Jan. 13, 2022
Critics, professional or not, identified a trend in many of the…lesser regarded manga and anime series.
It's the “everyman hero”.
This school of thought is that to make a lead character who is identifiable to everyone in the readership or audience. So the lead will be unremarkable, and ...
QUACKCAST 556 - That's What She Said!
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, Nov. 9, 2021 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/
The other day Tantz Aerine wrote a newspost about an article critical of Squid Game. The crux of things was that the Squid Game creator had said ...
Juggling the Plots
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Oct. 9, 2021
So often, the story doesn't simply have one plot, but many.
There's the A plot, the one that's the main conflict or problem that needs solving. Then there's the B plot, where secondary but still-important issues and problems are being addressed. And often there can even ...
Rooting for the bad guy
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Sept. 11, 2021
Normally in stories there is the hero vs the villain or the protagonist vs the antagonist. As the audience, we generally expect to root for the hero or the protagonist and hope for the villain's or antagonist's comeuppance.
But there come those times when we find ourselves rooting ...
Speaking in tongues - Character voice
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, July 23, 2021
Designing memorable characters doesn’t just stop at their appearance. The manner in which they speak and use body language is integral to building a full picture of who they are as a character as well as how others react to them. Here are some tips on how to make ...