the cruel tutor himself, Pai Mei
One of my favorite character types is the gruff/grizzled old mentor. Tough as nails, mean or cranky on the outside but with great knowledge or support to offer when you know them, or when they know - and trust - you.
I've talked about ...
Unlikely Mentors
Banes at 12:00AM, March 25, 2021QUACKCAST 519 - Infodump
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, Feb. 23, 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/
In the year 2020, the world had been devastated by a global pandemic, life had changed forever… It's 2021 and our 4 unlikely heroes have banded ...
QUACKCAST 515 - Mental Health
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, Jan. 26, 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/
This Quackcast was inspired by Pitface, who is concerned out the mental health of her fellow webcomicers. She even started a thread about it in the forums ...
Remember to Be Kind (to yourself)
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Dec. 26, 2020
So it's Christmas Day when I'm writing this- yesterday for you reader reading these lines.
Anyone who knows me, knows I've been running full speed for quite a bit of time, doing my best to meet every deadline, every obligation and responsibility I got, business, family, and ...
Exploiting Death
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Dec. 19, 2020
When a character the story's cast and audience identify and are familiar with dies, the effect is, or should be, monumental.
Not only because that effectively ends that character's journey (and arc), but also because as an event it has immediate ramifications for all the surviving characters.
First ...
The Significance of Names (Part 1)
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Nov. 27, 2020
Picking a name for your character is a pivotal moment. Almost like breathing life into them, the name you pick for them will give their identity a hue, a flavor that wouldn't be the same with any other name. Yes, a Rose by any other name would smell as ...
The Highway to Hell
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Nov. 14, 2020
Unless they are an old-timey Disney villain or similarly classic cartoon villain, nobody wants to be evil or bad starting off. Nobody's ambition is to be the villain in their own story. (note I say ‘villain’ and not ‘antagonist’)
Everyone is out to be the hero.
So why aren ...
Nostalgia for a Time Never Experienced
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, Nov. 9, 2020
Anemoia describes the feeling of missing a time never experienced personally. Movies know how to inspire this feeling whenever a particular orchestra song from the previous century is played during a period piece of a Miami nightclub from the 1950s or whenever synthesizer pop and electric guitar solos transports people ...
Uncompressed Storytelling
Banes at 12:00AM, Nov. 5, 2020
stretchin' out them stories!
I think I first heard the phrase “uncompressed storytelling” via the great John Byrne, comic artist and writer, and man of very strong opinions. He was criticizing some other writer or comic series (I don't remember which one) about hinting at stories that wouldn't ...
Happy Halloween! How's your Memento Mori?
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Oct. 31, 2020
Halloween, aka Eve of All Saints, is a Day of the Dead.
Days of the Dead exist in nearly every culture. There's the famous Dia de Muertos from Mexico, but there are also less known ones.
For example, in Greece we got “Soul Saturdays” which are basically two Saturdays ...