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 ...

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Happy Christmas eve! In this penultimate Quackcast of the year we decided to have a free day and just chat about any subject that interested us at the time. Next week will be our final cast of ...

Photo: “FYC: Calling In a Favor” by HawkandFloAdventures. (2024)

There is still time to get votes into the ballot box — THREE MORE WEEKS - - to be exact. If you still have the ability to vote, but have not clicked the ballot link posted last week, then here is a more in ...

Damaged Heroes


A well written, standard Protagonist will generally have some flaws, starting out as an underdog of some kind, with lessons to learn and improvements to make over the course of the story.

Granted, some heroes are, well, just heroes, who are pretty much who they need to be ...

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“Passing the mantle” is an interesting phrase. Many claim it comes from a biblical origin; the prophet Elijah was said to have passed his mantle to Elisha when he ascended to heaven, thereby symbolically transferring his authority ...

The Reggie Mantle theory is different. It involves chasing other guys' girlfriends and still expecting to be loved and admired by all. That's another article…

If anyone was following the behind-the-scenes drama at Marvel Studios in the past year or so, you may have heard about the idea from ...

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Today we're talking about the depiction of “intelligence” in fiction! There are a lot of ways this shows up: the genius detective who can understand any clue and uncover any lie, the amazing doctor who can ...

Photo: Life-Sized, Modern Sculpture Adaptation based on the Oil Painting “Yellow Hat Woman” by Edward Hopper. Created by Mr. Brainwash. Mr. Brainwash Museum. Beverly Hills, California. (August 2023)

Nestled in a non-descript corner where Santa Monica Boulevard and Beverly Boulevard intersect, steps away from Rodeo Drive in the city of ...

A long time ago I read something, I think an interview with a respected screenwriter or something, where he brought up the movie “Rain Man”.

If you haven't seen it, it's about a struggling wheeler-dealer type guy, played by Tom Cruise, who goes on a road trip with ...

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We're having a chat about characters that differ from the source material and turn out crap because of it. Characters where the people adapting them didn't care, understand, or even take time to read the ...