There is a poem by one of the most interationally famous Greek poets, Konstantinos Kavafis, called Waiting for the Barbarians. I invite you to give it a read (I've linked its translation) but here's the gist in a nutshell: It's about the Romans waiting for the Barbarians ...

What Will Happen Without the Barbarians?
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Feb. 8, 2025Writing Strong Characters of Any Gender
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Aug. 26, 2023
Last time I'd written about gender toxicity and what a trap it can be for creators seeking to write powerful characters. It is not something that only plagues the “strong female character” attempt, but also the “strong male character” and definitely the “strong LGBTQ+ character”.
Too many of these ...
Being Inclusive vs. Being Authentic
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, March 18, 2023
So for some reason my youtube is being besieged by rant videos over The Little Mermaid live action movie by Disney… AGAIN. You'd think the algorithm would know by now that I only watch ER skits and debunking videos, but here we are.
The controversy (again) is over the ...
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 ...
Pretty Boy Badass
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Aug. 14, 2021
When this guy appears for a fight, there are eyerolls or scoffing sounds. The opponents start smirking and giggling, taunting and goading him because he's dressed to the nines. Or maybe he's got a very intricate hairstyle that takes hours to get just right. Or perhaps he has ...
Interviewing Nic and Ben of Potato & Kraut
damehelsing at 12:00AM, May 9, 2021
Hi! I’m damehelsing from The Drunk Duck Community and for today’s Sunday article I will be interviewing the lovely duo, Nic and Ben!!
So, Nic and Ben! Give us a little introduction!
Ben: well, my name is Ben, I'm the artist of Potato and Kraut, hosted on ...
On the Purging of the Past in Art
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, July 4, 2020
First off, Happy 4th of July to all USA Duckers!
Recently I listened to Lindsey Ellis' excellently made video essay on so-called ‘woke Disney’: the company's attempt to remake or edit or outright hide past works because they are now judged to be problematic in some way or other ...
Art and Propaganda
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, July 21, 2018
Soviet poster advocating atheism and science over religion
From the most ancient times, art has always been used by the ruling classes for purposes of propaganda, to propagate certain ideas about those commissioning it and their purposes: that kings are mighty, that regimes are for ever, that the enemy is ...
Proving Your Progressiveness?
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, June 30, 2018
Yesterday, Mks_Monsters asked me to talk about an experience of hers, which I have seen being shared with a range of creators belonging to certain social groups (female, LGBTQ, POC, etc) if their occasional tweets on the matter are to be believed: That support for them on the basis of ...