When I was growing up in the 80s, stories that were marketed as ‘children’s' were occasionally brutal.
Characters got maimed or killed, tortured or traumatized, met with horrid ends in worlds that were anything but rosy. And this was a pattern that wasn't limited to, say, English literature ...
Children's Stories
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Sept. 18, 2021The Privilege of Art
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Sept. 4, 2021
Yesterday Greece's most iconic and proliferate composer, Mikis Theodorakis, passed away at the age of 96. He was a symbol for social activism and human rights. He was in the Greek resistance in 1943 as a teen, then in the anti-junta fight, he was tortured, exiled, prosecuted, and still ...
Through A Mirror Darkly
Banes at 12:00AM, Sept. 2, 2021
Star Trek: A Piece of the Action
So this could be considered Part Three of my loose-knit series on science fiction: The Distorted Society.
This is a sci-fi convention where there is an Earth…or another planet, at least somewhat Earth-like, that has some aspect of society that is a ...
Know Thy Bias
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Aug. 21, 2021
We like to consider ourselves open-minded, free of inflexible thinking and open to ideas. And we probably are- in certain areas. In others, we are not.
This is one of the few statements I still feel justified making in the absolute. Every person has biases. It's one of the ...
A Dimension Not Only of Sight and Sound but of Mind
Banes at 12:00AM, Aug. 5, 2021
When he created the Twilight Zone, Rod Serling was motivated by the desire to tell more meaningful stories. In his writing career up to then, his work had been heavily censored.
Serling realized that by setting his stories in fantastical situations, in alternate or futuristic versions of Earth, that he ...
FOMO and comic creation
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, July 30, 2021
Creating a webcomic can become akin to a second job. Although you set your own hours, it can lead to an underlying sense that you’re not “doing enough”. Balancing this anxiety can be challenging. Here are some tips to help you manage the feeling of “not doing enough”.
Recognise ...
Interviewing Miranda of "Into the Swell"
damehelsing at 12:00AM, July 25, 2021
Hello ducklings! I’m back with another interview, and this time we’ve got our wonderful sea captain Miranda! So, Captain Miranda, please introduce yourself!!
Miranda: Hello ducklings! I'm Miranda! I'm a full time computer engineer and in my spare time I enjoy baking, doing puzzles, playing video ...
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 537 - Historicity
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, June 29, 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/
We have a chat about historicity in this Quackcast. What IS historicity? It's historical authenticity basically but a nicer way of saying it! It's pretty ...
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 ...