The other day, my mother told me “you are still angry, which is why your story is also full of intense and violent emotion,” referring to the very grim, heavy tone and mood in Without Moonlight. It impressed me really because it rang true. My heart is still very heavy ...

The Stories We Choose
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Nov. 10, 2018How Horror Can Make Us Better Writers by El Cid
Banes at 12:00AM, Oct. 25, 2018
This is a guest post by El Cid, who was kindly enough to write one for us.
Check out El Cid's Transneptunian! (nsfw)
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/TransNeptunian/
I don't personally view horror so much as a genre, but rather as an ingredient. A little dash of horror ...
The Character Journey of Iron Man revisited
Banes at 12:00AM, April 26, 2018
Iron Man and the multi film arc - revisited
There are spoilers below for the Iron Man and Avengers movies, Civil War, and Spiderman Homecoming
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been breaking new ground in movies with their various interconnected films for about ten years.
The MCU began with Iron Man ...
Writing what you Know
Banes at 12:00AM, Nov. 30, 2017
this pic has nothing to do with the subject; i've just been waiting for a chance to use it
Writing what you know is one of those old canards that show up in writing advice, thought it's not up there with things like “show, don't tell” and ...
Controversial Comics
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Nov. 4, 2017
I’ve written about controversy before, and how it has its uses. But I haven’t really yet discussed what makes a comic controversial.
There are the usual hype-controversies like gender bending and race swapping in characters, but in my opinion these types of controversial issues are just what I ...
Diminishing Returns
Banes at 12:00AM, Sept. 28, 2017
Emotional Charges and Diminishing Returns
Many writing methodologies suggest mapping out the emotional change of each scene. The scene either starts positive, and goes to either negative or “extra positive”, or starts negative and goes to positive or “extra negative” by the end of the scene.
So if a lovelorn ...
Characters’ Pets (and Why They’re Occasionally Annoying)
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Sept. 16, 2017
A pet is wonderful to have in your life- they will usually love you unconditionally and give you moments of solace with their antics. They become a member of the family, they have personalities that make them unique across all other pets you will ever have and across species. You ...
Top Five Tear Jerkers
Banes at 12:00AM, Jan. 12, 2017
I was hanging out with my family over the holidays, explaining that I wasn't sad or sick, but had been rubbing my eye because there was some dust or a hair or something stuck behind the eyeball. It was quite uncomfortable.
As I remembered how tears can flush out ...
Quackcast 304 - eeeeeevil!
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, Jan. 3, 2017 LISTEN!
What defines evil in fiction?
I say the simplest one is bad guys are selfish, good guys are selfless.
That is massively over simplistic but it's a good easy template for basic hero's and villains. Basic ones
I was just doing a quick thought experiment to work ...