You’ve got your amazing idea down for a story but how do you begin? You want to make your first chapter amazing! En medias res means opening in the midst of the plot. This way, exposition is bypassed, allowing you to fill it in more gradually, either through dialogue ...

En media res
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, Jan. 8, 2021Back From The Dead
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Jan. 2, 2021
So we've talked often about how letting a character die in a story is something that should be used very frugally, because once death occurs, it should be permanent. In most settings, death shouldn't be something that is reversible. If not, it will lose its impact, and the ...
Handwaves, Explanations and Just-Go-With-Its
Banes at 12:00AM, Dec. 24, 2020
The long-running series Supernatural just came to an end and I enjoyed the last couple episodes. Even though I haven't seen the last few seasons and don't plan to, I knew the series fairly well from its first 6 or 7 years. I could say more about this ...
Horror in Pieces
Banes at 12:00AM, Oct. 1, 2020
Now that's a little TOO scary!
Horror is perfect for metaphor and allegory. In fact, a horror story is often allegorical by default, what with its bizarre landscapes and freaky beasties.
Here are some categories of horror and some thoughts on what they symbolize:
Reality Bites
psycho killer! Qu ...
Quackcast Podcast Seeking Submissions for the 500th Episode!
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, Sept. 7, 2020
Hello Ducks,
The Quackcast is created and inspired from original content from the Drunk Duck 🍺🦆 community, current events in the Comic World, and thought-provoking ideas. It has been running since the end of 2010, which is nearly a decade, and the 500th Quackcast episode will be airing on Tuesday, October ...
Fear of the unknown
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, Aug. 14, 2020
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about the long abandoned video game demo, P.T, a PTSD inducing horror teaser that went on to be scrapped by game publisher, Konami, before the project had gotten on its feet. I was arguing that the real horror ...
Junji Ito and the art of unease
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, Aug. 7, 2020
A core principle of the works of horror mangaka Junji Ito, is the mundane and everyday only backwards. This concept is perfect for short stories as there is no need, or time, to explore lengthy explanations for the uncanny. Events are as they appear which renders them all the more ...
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 ...
DD Red Carpet 2020
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, June 27, 2020
The DD Awards are here again, thanks to the wonderful Niccea!
And that means that together with this year's DD Awards, we also are having the DD Red Carpet event again!
The DD Awards are more or less the equivalent of Oscar Night for Drunk Duck, and so we ...
A Character's Free Will
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, June 20, 2020
Whether we have free will or not is a philosophical, existential and psychological conundrum that will forever tease and challenge us. While I can't speak for philosophers, I can for psychologists:
Behaviorists will tell you it doesn't exist (look up Skinner); Cognitive behaviorists will tell you it's ...