It's been a great year! DD has continued to grow bit by bit, we've been stable and a great host for many many webcomics. DD is one of the only truly independent community focused webcomic hosting sites left. Most of the rest are commercial hubs that are not community centered.
Part of our commitment to the community on DD is showcasing our best webcomics every week, which we've been doing for 17 years now, and I've personally been doing that for about 13.

Kawaii and I continually search for new high quality webcomics on DD to feature. We never look for standard art style or story type, we like the featured comics to be highly varied, reflecting many types of art style, format, media and story type. Featured comics can be long form stories, comic strips, stories for all ages, comics for kids, mature comics, action horror, fantasy, covering topics like politics, conspiracy, religion, or just be pure fun. Comics can have amazing art and story, or just one or the other. As long as the comic has over 15 pages and is updating regularly, is not a A rated work and has no borrowed copyright then it's fine to feature.

What matters more than anything is the commitment and passion of the creators and giving them the recognition that they deserve, so that we can hopefully showcase their varied and interesting work to a wider audience.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Feint: A raw thrumming violin importantly intones ringing chords over and over as it sets us up for a beautifully rocky crescendo that culminates in a tumultuous sonic climax!


Topics and shownotes

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Links
Start of the 2019 featured comics list - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/comics/featured/?page=3

2019 featured comics

https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Ripping_Off_King_Arthur/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Legend_of_Wind_Fist/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Molly_Lusc/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Barkham_Horror/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_St_Nickolas_Conspiracy/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Feint/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Inner_Enemy/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/FULL_HOUSE_by_ProjectNutz/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Jacket_Comic/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Risk_it_for_a_Biscuit/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Wild_Wolves/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Interstellar_Dust/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Out_of_the_Blue/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Speaking_In_Tongues/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Stunlock/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_True_Face/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Limbo_Road/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Shootin/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Adventures_of_Kevin_Kid/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Mystic_From_Wanzerbe/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Frolic/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Feelings_of_a_High_School_Girl/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Great_Khan/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Caraway_Crew/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Android_Blues/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Unprecedented_Cleanup/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Strange_Case_of_Dr_Jekyll_and_Mr_Hyde/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Ice_Massacre/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Monkey_Nukes/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/QUASI_and_PSUDO/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Completely_Unrelated/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Jetpack_Jill/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Way_of_the_Waifu/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Customer_Service/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Angels_of_the_Fallen/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Operation_Boom/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Void_The_Guide_to_a_Healthy_Relationship/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Generation_Y/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Sunstrike_and_Bluemist_An_Origin_Story/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Bunni_and_Carot/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Aikonia/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Ursa_Tale/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Breached/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Redneck/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/My_Cute_Wish/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Scarred_Eden/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Space_Repair_Garage_The_Comic/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Vagabonds_Waifs_and_Strays/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Cafe_on_Crepe_Island/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Percival_Pigeons_Perilous_Plan/
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Run_Stop_Go/


Featured comic:
Ripping Off King Arthur - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/dec/24/featured-comic-ripping-off-king-arthur/

Featured music:
Feint - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Feint/, by Stonedraccoon, rated M.


Special thanks to:
Kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/

2 weeks ago we discussed the topic of religion in fiction: basicaly how we use real world religions to inform the perspectives of our characters and make the worlds more real, how we use religion in fiction, and how we make up religions for our worlds.
We had so many great responses to this in the forum and about the Quackcast that we thought it'd be great to feature and chat about them!
DD is a community after all and we love our community members to be a part of the Quackcast!

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Vagabonds Waifs and Strays. It's wonderfully serious introduction. View a vast panoramic wasteland, civilisation utterly destroyed, an end to all your hopes, dreams, and fears… The piano beautifully leads you in, step by step, as guitar soars high above, giving you a perfect bird’s eye view of the destruction spread out in all directions for thousands of kilometres far below.

Topics and shownotes

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Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
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Links
First religion in fiction Quackcast - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/nov/30/quackcast-455-religion-in-fiction/
First religion in fiction thread - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/178325/

Contributors
Mks Monsters - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/mks_monsters
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes
Usedbooks- https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/usedbooks
EssayBee - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/EssayBee
Kou the Mad - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Kou%20the%20Mad
ShaRose49 - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ShaRose49
Genejoke - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Genejoke/
BearinOz - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/BearinOz/
Bravo1102 - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/bravo1102/
El Cid - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/El%20Cid/
Eickrudge - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/rickrudge/




Featured comic:
Molly Lusc - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/dec/10/featured-comic-molly-lusc/

Featured music:
Vagabonds Waifs and Strays - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Vagabonds_Waifs_and_Strays/, by Artisto Escondido, rated E.


Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/

We're talking about how religion is portrayed in fiction and a bit about WHY. This was a surprisingly fascinating topic. I came up with the idea while watching the old 2000s SciFi series Andromeda: one of the alien characters there is sort of a space Buddhist, and I felt like that was a pretty common thing in American TV Scifi, so I wondered about what other kinds of religious tropes exist in contemporary fiction, fantasy and other SciFi worlds.

It turns out that there are many approaches, from fully developing a carefully constructed set of religions like in Dune to the typical anime fantasy approach which is just to steal some superficial imagery from Catholicism and remix it, and everything in between!

We had a really fun and interesting chat about all the different approaches to religions in fiction! Give it a listen :)
What are some of the best examples you've seen?

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Animal Town Confidential - A very fun track. Come on down to the country, mind the chickens! The one makes you feel happy, positive and welcome. Acoustic guitars and analogue sounds bring in a flood of warm sunshine and light.

Topics and shownotes

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Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!


Featured comic:
The St Nickolas Conspiracy - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/nov/25/featured-comic-the-st-nickolas-conspiracy/

Featured music:
Animal Town Confidential - - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Animal_Town_Confidential/, by Justinlapoint, rated T.


Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/

This week we look at the famous quote by respected film director Martin Scorsese that “Marvel movies aren't Cinema” and also the quote by fellow director Francis Ford Coppola that Marvel films are “despicable”. We try and look at the proper context of these remarks outside of the twitter garbage and social media outrage to see if either had any point or whether they're way off the mark and deserving of criticism.

We've linked to the video where you can hear the full quote from Scorsese in its proper context. It was an industry focused discussion about his latest project “The Irishman” and the challenges involved in getting it produced and promoted. He was asked about the future of movie-making and the platforms for movies and narrative cinematic storytelling. In the conversation, as an aside he mentioned what he thought of as “cinema”: something that is a defined, encapsulated, curated narrative experience is what he seemed to mean, as opposed to a long form TV series where the audience chooses how many episodes they watch at a time (his example), so the experience of the overall story isn't as fully guided by the creator. It was in exactly THIS context that he mentioned Marvel films, thinking of them more as an experience, like a “theme park”- NOT that they are facile and lessor things than a traditional movie, more that it's not really a contained story that's offered but more of an immersive world that you visit. I don't entirely agree but I can see his viewpoint and it's valid.

We are all emotionally connected and invested in the Marvel films so we mistakenly took his remarks too personally and out of context, turning it into a very stupid old vs young argument that it never was. It seems it was in the spirit of this that Francis Ford Coppola waded in and offered his rhetorical firebrand defence to his good friend, using a value judgement and actually calling Marvel films “despicable”. This was again blown up into something huge and headline grabbing. It really was a stupid thing to say, but in the context of defending a friend that was wrongly attacked it becomes more forgiveable, especially since its obviously just rhetoric and not a considered, thought out, personal viewpoint. We can't forget that both men know cinema inside and out and helped create the modern blockbuster film industry of which Marvel is a part. They started out with Lucas and Spielberg. They don't deserve to be ignored, the targets of childish Ad hominems, or casually dismissed because they're not big fans of the same things we are.

We on the Quackcast are huge fans of the Marvel films and all forms of storytelling.


This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Inner Enemy: Time races ever onward. As the piano keys play note after note, step by inevitable step we move closer and closer to uncovering the mystery at the heart of this world… it teases at the edges like the disturbing, haunting background melodies in this track.

Topics and shownotes


Links
Martin Scorsese quote - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyZcEZsFXkk
Francis Ford Coppola quote - https://www.indiewire.com/2019/10/francis-ford-coppola-marvel-1202183238/

Featured comic:
Feint - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/nov/19/featured-comic-feint/

Featured music:
Inner Enemy - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Inner_Enemy/, by Sabin, rated T.

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

“Toxic fans” is a bit of a catch cry now and that has seemed to turn into the idea that any fan who is critical of something or doesn't like it isn't a “true fan”, fans must should love everything. I find this a dangerously silly notion and one clearly driven by business interests with only a limited relationship to reality. It's quite similar to the idea that you're “either for us or against us”, the twisted idea of “patriotism” that says you must agree with and love everything your country and your leader does no matter what or you're a traitor.

The truth is that trolls have always been a minority force. They exist and they are nasty, often sexist, racist pigs, but they're certainly not fans and don't characterise real critical voices. Using the existence of trolls to justify shutting down criticism is silly. In reference to this Tantz and Banes bring up big budget mass media productions like Star Wars, Game of Thrones and Ghost Busters, but I was thinking along more general lines: Good fans are people that love something but also care enough about it to think about storylines, characters and deeper aspects of that thing (it doesn't matter what it is), to have constructive opinions or to be upset when they see their characters misused etc.

People who are not fans and who really shouldn't get involved in the discussion are the “it's not for you” or “it's just a movie” crowd. Everyone knows it's not real life, and a creative product is “for” anyone that cares enough about it to consume it and form an opinion.

As Vickie Boutwell said “the opposite of love isn't hate, it's apathy”.

Fans who care are the best fans: it's these people who become creators in their own right while others simply consume. The greatest minds in pop-culture all started out as critical, thinking, fans. Name any successful, big series in any format (TV, movies, books, comics, games), and you're likely to uncover a fan that cared enough to let their opinions of their fandom show and then get in and have a go for themselves. By encouraging criticism and involvement we encourage creativity, by shutting that down all we get are consumers -which gives you a clue where that pressure is mainly coming from. ;)

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Ripping off King Arthur: We’re all preparing for the big event here with this theme. It’s a weird mixture of a Rocky theme, fantasy epic, and 8 bit video game music… as if were were about to see a pixelated, medieval fantasy themed version of Mortal Kombat! The fight showdown to end all fight showdowns!

Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!


Game of Thrones writer gossip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-rCuVtj7GA

Featured comic:
The jacket Comic - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/oct/29/featured-comic-the-jacket-comic/

Featured music:
Ripping off King Arthur - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Ripping_Off_King_Arthur/, by Arspitzer, rated M.

LINKS

Previous Star Wars Episode - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/quackcast/episode-448-king-of-franchises-star-wars

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/

As promised we dive right into the second half of the Star Wars chat! We cover all the Star Wars stuff besides the original trilogy and the new trilogy. There's a lot to cover and we only touch on most on it: Solo, the Star Wars Christmas special, Droids, the Ewok films, Clone Wars, the games, the books, comics, Solo, Rogue One…

For October we're having a look at various popular film franchises because understanding of them has a lot to offer webcomic creators. Last week we looked at the original Star Wars trilogy and talked about that in relation to the latest one. Before that it was Indiana Jones.

Personally I think the main strength of the Star Wars franchise has nothing to do with the Force, the Jedi, Vader or any of that story stuff: At its heart Star Wars has always been a triumph of aesthetics, aesthetics that are done so well they grab and hold the audience! When the first film blasted onto the screen in the late 70s it was really like nothing before it. It was the perfect synthesis of so many elements; fantasy, Sci-Fi, space opera, western, samurai, ww2 war film, and classic Hollywood blockbuster. We always get too caught up in the ridiculous story and script writing to realise what's so good about Star Wars and what is ALWAYS good about it: Amazing sets, great music, costumes, props, effects, lighting, sound design, models and so on. All those elements come together to make an imaginative, imersive, cool and unusual evocative experience. It's a mythic image that never fails to grab our attention. Yes the stories are often terrible, the dialogue can be stupid, the themes are basic, plots full of holes etc but we still love it enough to care BECAUSE it looks and feels great, so we think it's worth saving. In spite of everything we still love to go back to the Star Wars universe.

It's not easy to write a good sci-fi fantasy space opera. The first trilogy succeeded because it kept to a very simple hero's journey template, it was new and original so we gave it the benefit of the doubt, and it threw in a lot of fun classic tropes from westerns, Samurai movies, and war films. Defending the franchise on plot or story is a fool's task and saying “it's for kids” is a moronic defence, and it's all unnecessary because those aspects don't really matter.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Spacefighters: Run to your spcefighters, leap in, rev up your proton engines, blast into high earth atmosphere at 9 times the speed of sound and shoot into orbit to hunt the baddies! This dynamic, cool tune is the perfect sound track to defend the earth to! It’s groovy and classic.
Staring Tantz Solo and Banes 3P0!


Topics and shownotes

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Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
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Featured comic:
Wild Wolves - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/oct/15/featured-comic-wild-wolves/

Featured music:
Spacefighters - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Spacefighters/, by Cbacolo, rated E.

LINKS

Previous Star Wars Episode - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/quackcast/episode-448-king-of-franchises-star-wars

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/

For the month of October we've decided to look at a different movie franchise each week, starting with Indiana Jones! Banes and Tantz have way more knowledge about the films than I, having watched them much more, but we all have a fondness for the character.

Who is Indiana Jones? He's a 1930s style pulp fiction adventure hero archaeologist. Based on a mixture of things, from the hoax Grand Canyon adventurer G.E. Kinkaid to the characters of Edgar Rice Burroughs, you can even see a bit of Herge's Tintin and Robert E Howard's El Borak in him. But he's cynical and clever in a way that's solidly 1980s. He's an action hero who takes damage, he's not entirely pure and he doesn't always fight fair, but he uses his brain, which is why we love him.

Movie franchises relate well to the structure of long form comics- characters stay much the same while their worlds change and develop over a long period of time. Movie franchises are developed over the course of years or even decades, much like webcomics, and they usually focus on big, bombastic characters or worlds, again very much like comics.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Out of the Blue: Retro futurism! Setting the scene for a white, minimal space, full of the coolest furniture made out of chrome and smooth white vinyl, lit with soft pastel neon glows slowly cycling through the rainbow from pink to red, yellow, green, blue, purple, and back to pink again!


Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Out of the Blue - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/sep/29/featured-comic-out-of-the-blue/

Featured music:
Out of the Blue - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Out_of_the_Blue/, by Shelmnop on, rated T

LINKS

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/

Today we're getting all META and interviewing the creator of another webcomics podcast! Jamais Jochim is the host of Webcomics Reviews and Interviews! It's a podcast that covers much the same ground as we do, but with more research and less winging it, also more interviews with experts and webcomicers, so he's really worth checking out.
Our $5 and up patrons can see video of us chatting with him in the flesh!

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Breached: Sounding like a mix of taiko drumming and creepy, scene-setting theremin tones, this tune sets quite a mood of isolation and antici… pation. It brings to mind the grey, foggy twilight world of the tenebrae, isolated, lonely and dangerous.

Topics and shownotes


Jamais Jochim Link:
Webcomics Reviews and Interviews podcast - https://www.spreaker.com/show/webcomics-reviews-and-interviews/

Featured comic:
Speaking in tongues - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/sep/24/featured-comic-speaking-in-tongues/

Featured music:
Breached - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Breached/, by Wrathborne, rated M.


Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Copyright is a complicated thing and something that all creators should have a little bit of a working understanding off! Checkout my newspost lined bellow for more info! you need to know this stuff.
I must apologise… I hadn't had much sleep and it was very late so I occasionally drift off into nonsense during the Quackcast.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Dragons in Civilized Lands: Compelling, foreboding, panoramic, an epic landscape is slowly revealed bellow as you swoop on down through the grey clouds… the view spreads, wider and wider… cold mountains rear, vast stretches of icefields, patchwork fields, and a huge carpet of forest, past the occasional fort high on a hill, we narrow in on a clash between two brightly armoured hoards. Bright crimson flecks the shiny armour, brightly coloured pendants wave in the wind. Horses snort, men shout and scream… all fades to black.


Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Stunklock - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/sep/17/featured-comic-stunklock/

Featured music:
Dragons in Civilized Lands - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Dragons_in_Civilized_Lands/, by RobertRVeith, rated T.

LINKS

Ozoneocean's copyright newspost - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/sep/18/copyright-and-you/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Based on Banes' newspost about the latest Dave Chappelle comedy special, this Quackcast talks about the way audience reception to it has been somewhat divided based on the topics covered verses current prevailing attitudes and the so-called “outrage culture”

We broaden things a bit to talk about the so-called PC culture and what it really means: ie There are many people who's main motivation is to work positively to make sure others are included and supported, especially people who were traditionally excluded or marginalised. Then there are others who find a sort of pleasure in using the structure of “PC” as a weapon to attack their perceived enemies, making them into strawmen and performing ad hominem attacks on them. We discuss how that tendency has the potential to make them just as bad as those they revile: the end doesn't justify the means.

Culture does change though and we have to keep up with what's right and what's not. This isn't a new thing- Just because we grew up with and were used to certain attitudes as children it doesn't mean those attitudes are right and normal and will never change.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to ArGH ZoMBiE - really fricken bloody creepy!!!! Haunting, futuristic, and… cute. I’m not quite sure how that’s possible. Listen and be astounded by this interestingly impossible mix and try not to get too creeped out. Keep the lights on!


Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Limbo Road - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/sep/03/featured-comic-limbo-road/

Featured music:
ArGH ZoMBiE- https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/ArGH_ZoMBiE/, by Skepticalsquare, rated T.

LINKS

Banes' Dave Chappelle newspost - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/sep/04/too-hot-for-tv/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Cooperation Vs Competition. For decades the mantra was competition is good: it produces progress and makes things better… Well that's actually false. Competition is what you're forced into as a response to limited resources, so you do what you have to to win, which mainly involves losing everything that doesn't serve that specific objective. Competition is massively harmful to progress in general, it ONLY helps you excel in one small area to massive cost. Think of it in terms of an Olympic sprinter: they become the fastest runner in the world, but to what point? Only the artificial structure of a sporting event… they spend years training, exercising, eating right, wasting a huge portion of their lives, creative, and intellectual potential on that one meaningless goal, and IF they achieve it they might get a bit of fame and money and a footnote in history because someone else will inevitably take their spot. More likely though they won't achieve the goal and instead be forgotten.

Evolution is another process that is commonly misunderstood to be a competition to produce better, faster, smarter, stronger creatures… this is absolutely incorrect. Evolution is the name we give for the process of change over time. That change happens in response to all sorts of factors: changing environment, climate, availability of resources, sex selection, disease, mutation, predation, diet, etc. It doesn't produce “better” creatures, it produces creatures that better suit their circumstances (if they're lucky). They can be weaker, slower, smaller, and stupider and still be superior if they fit better with their environment.
The “goal” of life isn't to “evolve”, it's to exist in balance and stability. When organisms don't have to respond to change it's THEN that they thrive. Humans are a great example of this: we're a cooperative pack species that's created millennia spanning culture and civilisation precisely because of our drive to cooperate: Our response to the pressure of change is to adapt through cooperation so that we do not have to evolve.

So how does this apply to webcomics? Hahaha! Listen to the Quackcast! ^_^
But seriously, communities like Drunk Duck emphasise cooperation over competition, although we do not enforce it! We're a community that wants to bring everyone ahead with us. Cooperation encourages diversity of opinion, style and approach. Competition on the other hand has the opposite effect in webcomics: only a few can get ahead, but the very worst part is that it limits diversity and instead results in comics, stories, styles, thinking and opinions that are all very much the same- they HAVE to be in order to compete for what their audiences like or the rules and requirements of their webhost. Which is why when you look at more competitive comic hosts you won't see better comics, you'll mainly just see comics that all look the same.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Moonscapers: It’s back to the mid 80s with Beverly Hills Cop! Not really, but this bouncy electronica sound will make you think it is. It has a jaunty little sound, a nice fast rhythm and a little bit of reverb for that authentic feel. It puts you in mind of neon light effects and retro 1980s futurism -bright, angular, vast, and slightly unsettling.



Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
The Adventures Of Kevin Kid - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/aug/19/featured-comic-the-adventures-of-kevin-kid/

Featured music:
Moonscapers - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Moonscapers/, by Pencilz, rated T.

LINKS

Tantz's commie newspost XD - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/aug/23/cooperation-vs-competition-in-comics/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Today we compare and contrast two ways of making characters: starting with a pure archetype and building it with tropes, or creating a character organically through circumstance and interaction with other characters.


Quackcast 440 has the full crew of Ozoneocean, Banes, Pitface and Tantz! Our description of the two types of characterisation are are probably artificial extremes but it helps to see the advantages and disadvantages of both.

Some advantages to starting with archetypes and building traits with pre-defined tropes are that it's very quick, very easy and you can create something you know for sure your audience will understand and resonate with! Disadvantages are that you risk making stale characters: either by creating a cliché or by sticking too closely to your archetype (as you're always tempted to do when you make a character this way), and not allowing the character to evolve, change out of it and escape it. You generally want to return them to “true”.
A good use for this approach are quickly made side characters who won't be around long, characters in a short-form or one-off story, or sitcom characters where you have to quickly get the audience to like them.

building a character organically over the course of a story through interaction and circumstance is harder and takes longer, but give you a changeable character that grows with your audience and who your audience grows to love! …if they can invest the time. The disadvantage here is that often you can't afford that time. This is better for long-form stories, dramas and novels.

In reality most of the time you'll use a mixture of the two approaches, often starting out with a reasonably defined character with a few traits in place, who grows as the story progresses and is changed by what happens to them and around them. That's a good, balanced way to do things, though short stories and side characters benefit from tropes.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Ice Massacre: A quiet, contemplative meditation on the vastness of space and time. Gentle ripples of sound lap against and wash over you… building slowly and then receding back into the ocean of time. Percussive tinkles glitter within the flow, like unusual seashells or sparkling pieces of colourful coral. For a moment they catch your eye, only to disappear again forever in the wash of sound.


Topics and shownotes

Featured comic:
The Mystic from Wanzerbe - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/aug/13/featured-comic-the-mystic-from-wanzerbe/

Featured music:
Ice Massacre - - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Ice_Massacre/, by Icemassacre, rated T.




Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Tantz's clever idea was that the weather isn't just a backdrop… it's an important prop in it's own right.
Weather can be used to drive a plot: the wind snatches a hat and makes a person chase it, which causes them to meet another character.
It can be an antagonist: people fighting a storm for example or running form a tornado. It can signal and enhance emotions: rain for a sad funeral or sun for happy for a happy event. Growing shadows can signal an ominous turn of events, wind billowing out a cloak signals a dramatic character! You can just use it for fancy visual effects if you like, snow and rain are great fun to draw, and stormy skies are the best!
We chat about all things weather and give examples of how we've used it ourselves.


This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to SWALLOW Vamps in the Big City. It's a jaunty latin dance number! Put on your best suit or evening dress, then salsa and swish around the dance-floor to the spicy sound of trumpets, fast rhythm of the percussion, and the cool bell-like tones of the vibraphone. This number is hot, tight and tasty!




Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
The Frolic - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/aug/06/featured-comic-the-frolic/

Featured music:
SWALLOW Vamps in the Big City - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/SWALLOW_Vamps_in_the_Big_City/, by Meesimo, rated T.

LINKS

Tantz's spicy weather newspost - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/aug/09/the-weather-as-prop/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Sometimes your audience just doesn't pick up on the clever symbolism, the hints, the metaphor, the underlying themes and all the artistic cleverness in writing and art that you've filled your work up with!

So what do you do when that happens?
Do you call them philistines and rage-quit, do you double down and make your work even more confusingly impenetrable till they're FORCED to decipher your genius, do you accept the state of affairs and dumb things down to the lowest common denominator, or do you ignore it and keep doing what you're doing?

Creators have chosen ALL of these options at various times. It can be quite frustrating when no one seems to pick up on your cleverness… But then when you've been creating long enough you don't care anymore and you're just glad anyone at all is still reading your stuff! XD

What do you do when people don't get your stuff or you don't get someone elses? What symbolism is hidden in your work that no one seems to get?

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to The Frolic: Deep, multilayered, full, complex and interesting! This one leads us into the green dark forests, dry desert caves caves, and other hidden places, hinting at deeper truths within the depths beyond.

Topics and shownotes

Featured comic:
The Feelings of a High School Girl - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Feelings_of_a_High_School_Girl/

Featured music:
The Frolic - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Frolic/, by Paulie Blade, rated M.


Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Today we cover the interesting trope of the “old warrior”. This was based upon a newspost Banes came up with last week. He was thinking of Captain Picard in the latest Star Trek series and he also brought up Luke Skywalker from the latest Star Wars movie. The “Old Warrior” makes a really cool protagonist, in this Quackcast we try and discover why that is…

Well we came up with a few insights!

-First up, the “old warrior” is often a side character in the secondary role of a mentor, i.e. someone there to hand things over to the next generation. Personally I think that's the most boring way to use them, they work FAR better as a main character rather than support for one.

-Second, the “old warrior” has mostly been traditionally male but doesn't have to be, there are some great female ones like Ripley in the Aliens series, Laurie from the latest Halloween movie, and Sarah Conner from Terminator 2 and the latest version of that series.

-Thirdly, the “old warrior” doesn't HAVE to actually be old at all, all they need to quality is to be experienced, to be a veteran of the type of situation they're facing, and to “know death”, they can be a child soldier and still qualify.

-And that brings us to number four: “knowing death”. This is interesting! Your usual protagonist generally seems to think they're immortal, but your “old warrior” doesn't. They've seen death, probably a few too many times and managed to escape unscathed so far, but they know it's always drawing closer with every step they take and diving into this new mission just might be the end of them… every new adventure could be their very last. This adds an unusual frisson and spice to their story.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Sunstrike and Bluemist, an origin story: Plotting, sneaking, stealthily creeping, sidling along in the shadows. Action, danger covert missions, and secrets! This jaunty tune is the perfect spy theme.


Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
The Great Khan - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jul/23/featured-comic-the-great-khan/

Featured music:
 Sunstrike and Bluemist - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Sunstrike_and_Bluemist_An_Origin_Story/, by ShaRose49, rated T.

LINKS

Banes' Old Warrior newspost - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jul/21/the-old-warrior/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/

To become truly successful at one thing you need to focus on that alone. Is it worth it?

There are MANY calls on our time with all the side things we like to do, ESPECIALLY webcomics. One of the few ways to become a really successful superstar at any one thing is to start dropping all the other things that call on your time and devote all your energy to that one thing! Then you can push past all limitations and devote the effort and time needed to properly succeed.

But the real question you have to ask yourself is “Do you really want to?”. A lot of us find great joy and fulfilment in working on our side things, even when they can be a bit of a chore, so, is it worth it to drop all of them for as long as it takes to succeed on that “one thing”?
We have to realise that “one thing” isn't necessarily better than another, being a superstar high profile webcomicer isn't inherently better than being a good webcomicer and also having a good job, other fulfilling hobbies, being a great gamer, being a great student, father, mother, or just someone who likes to relax and enjoy themselves in their free time. Are you prepared to sacrifice that stuff and is it even worth it? For most of us I would say “no”. Great if you can, but do NOT feel bad if you can't.

We mainly chat about what it takes to be a popular and successful webcomicer and why that might not really be what you want.

This topic occurred to me because I have a lot of things on my own plate: two webcomics with a high level of art in them, I do illustrative art, I sew and do cosplay, I do a podcast, I run a webcomic hosting site (Drunk Duck), I collect antique sabres, then there's my day job as a graphic designer… (and more things). That all takes a lot of my time and I know that if I dropped some or most of those things and just laser focussed on ONE I could be very popular and successful at it, but the thing is that I don't really want to since I love doing all those things and I don't think that's the lessor choice. What about you guys?


This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Nincu the world’s worst ninja: Silence punctuated by the gentle strains of traditional Japanese music, beautiful and subtle, minimal yet essential… Then we slide on down a crazy swanny whistle into the dark rocky world of 1970s James Bond style electric guitars, portending great action and danger!

Topics and shownotes

Featured comic:
The Caraway Crew - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Caraway_Crew/

Featured music:
Nincu the world’s worst ninja - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Nincu_the_worlds_worst_ninja_/, by Oscarnjboy, rated M.


Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

We're discussing spin-offs in this one.
Why do them? There are many very different reasons for doing a spin-off as opposed to a sequel, prequel or a totally new story:

- Spin-offs make promotion and marketing of the work easier because it has an existing audience who are invested in its world.
- It gives you as a creator more freedom because you're not as strongly constrained by the existing cannon of the parent stories, unlike sequels etc. and you don't have to do any new world building!
- For big commercial comic publishers it makes it easier to keep their universes fresh and their audiences connected by spinning side characters off into their own stories .

Indeed, because of their long-running nature, the investment involved and the shifting structures of their creative teams there's a VERY strong commercial imperative to keep birthing new stories through spin-offs rather than create totally new ones.
Webcomics have very different pressures so spin-offs are a lot more rare, but they Do happen. Do you know of any webcomic spin-offs?

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to The Great Khan: Happy, fun, jollity! This one bounces through your door with glee and excitement, happy to see you and wanting no more than a snack and a belly rub! A happy little dance number.


Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Android Blues - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jul/08/featured-comic-android-blues/

Featured music:
The Great Khan - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Great_Khan/, by Gr8k4an , rated E.

LINKS

Tantz Aerine's fantasy novel spin-off from her Art of Veiling series:
Becoming a Healer - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D0UJ8SM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Spin of story in Pinky TA - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Pinky_TA/5044382/

Epic of Blitzov, spin-off from Putrid Meat - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Epic_of_Blitzov/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Today we chat about a furore on Twitter focussing on a artist who made a tutorial about the differences between the line work of beginners and advanced artists. Many people identified their art style with the work described as “beginner” and took extreme offence at that characterisation. It's the contention of Tantz that “beginner” is not a dirty word. We're all beginners at something. We can all stand to learn things.
I don't necessarily agree that sketchy lines in art are the sign of a beginner, so much as they might indicate the artist needs warming up for the day or their subject is very unfamiliar to them… but putting that aside, the ability to accept advice, learn, and teach are very important.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to STEEPLEWIND. Groove on down to a track that’s smoother than satin sheets and twice as cool . Set the lights down low, pour a glass of red wine, and relax… This tune leads you gently by the hand into warmth and fantasy.


Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jun/25/featured-comic-the-strange-case-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/

Featured music:
STEEPLEWIND - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/STEEPLEWIND/, by cfsherratt, rated M.

LINKS
From Tantz's Newspost - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jun/28/beginner-offense/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

*Cover-art from the movie poster for METROPOLIS, not Atlas shrugged :)

This Quackcast is about having political agendas in your work and expressing them well!
We're talking about deliberately putting in ideas that you want to get across to people, NOT the idea that all work has agendas and ideas no matter what. That's not relevant to this discussion.

When you want to want to get your ideas across there are good ways to do it and poor ways. When you do it poorly your work either has the opposite effect (people will laugh at your agenda or despise it), or it becomes propaganda. Propaganda is for preaching to the converted, it's terrible for changing minds. The only thing it's good for is motivating people who are already on-board with you.

To do it well you want to be able to bring anyone on-board, even those who disagree with your ideas, and hopefully change their minds or at least get them to consider what you're saying. A popular approach now is for people to say “Oh, I'm sick of codling people and leading them by the hand, I'm just going to say what I want” - this will result in people either fighting or ignoring you. You can't convince anyone of anything by shouting the loudest, that leads to isolation and echo-chambers.

The best approach is to have your ideas presented within a story rather that simply developing a thin, perfunctory story around a idea. Make your characters and situations identifiable and convincing, but AVOID straw-men! That leads to propaganda and failure. None of this is to say you need to sugar-coat your work, seduce the reader and stroke their egos to get your ideas across, not at all: There are plenty of examples of hard hitting work that contains big ideas and is still able to change minds such 1984, A Handmaid's Tale, Fahrenheit 451, and Maus. Just tell a good story without preaching to or trying to overtly manipulate your audience, and then even if they don't agree with the ideas you present they'll still enjoy your work anyway.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Monkey Nukes: Long black roads, damp streets reflecting yellow street lights, red tail lights streaking ahead in the dark, Friday night is the time for parties, pubs, and potential… one drink follows another, friendship flows with the beer, danger lurks in the shadow. Perfect homage to early 80s electronica!

Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Monkey Nukes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Monkey_Nukes/

Featured music:
Monkey Nukes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Monkey_Nukes/, by SimonMackie, rated M.

LINKS
From Tantz's Newspost - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jun/14/working-with-political-agendas/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
PitFace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/

At the beginning of a story how do you grab and KEEP your readers? This comes from the Friday newspost by Emma Clare. Her advice was pretty brilliant. From my own perspective it's generally characters that grab me first before anything else. Great art and a fantastic cover can hook your eyes, but without a great story or interesting characters there's zero to keep you there.

Info dumps explaining the entire premise can scare people away but so can dumping the reader in a complex world and complex situation without explaining anything… One technique is to ease people into the world by starting them off with a familiar and identifiable situation and then building up from there, maybe having the weirdness and complexity being new to the protagonist as well? This is how we start off in The Hobbit (the book, not the crappy films), Magician by Raymond E Feist, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Quasi and Psudo - Waves of contemplative strings, like huge feathered fans slowly wafting in air, thick with importance and potential at the imperial court. The musical atmosphere is rich and heavy… A cheeky clarinet takes up the theme of the deep bass cello, performing a twirling pirouette, before sinking away and ceding to the cello once more. Spikes of harp strings glint like gold reflected from the richly decorated furnishings…

Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
QUASI and PSUDO - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jun/04/featured-comic-quasi-and-psudo/

Featured music:
QUASI and PSUDO - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/QUASI_and_PSUDO/, by 1rd2th3st, rated E.

LINKS
Emma's newspost on Beginnings! - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jun/07/starting-your-story/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Pit Face - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/

This Quackcast was inspired by the fan reaction to Game of Thrones, a series that I haven't watched but Tantz and Banes have! Specifically it's about poorly written endings and gas-lighting fans rather than admitting to faults.
No matter how great we are at writing (and the GOT guys MUST be good to have created such a popular show), that's no proof against writing a poor ending. Endings are the HARDEST things to do well, it's devilishly easy to flub them. Most fans of the GOT series seem disappointed, which would indicate it's more likely to be a bad end than them not “getting it”, but that seems to be the narrative. And we've seen that happen before with things like the Mass Effect Game series, the Battlestar Galactica reboot, Dexter, Lost etc.
The industry has to support their talent so they'll defend the poor work regardless and gas-light the fans. To be fair,poor endings can be beyond the control of the creators: lack of budget and a mental breakdown gave us a very improvised end to Neon Genesis Evangellion… the creators did the best with what they had.

But the lesson I take away from this is that sometimes, just sometimes, fans are right, and we should listen to them when we're creating. NOT by giving them the silly shipping and fan-service they secretly dream off, but to help us realise when we're veering wildly off-target.


This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Embrace the Pun - In the words of the great man himself: “sax and violins … it's a musical pun as a theme tune.” The measured, stable regularity of the violin and quiet percussion are contrasted starkly against the wild wanderings of the jazzy Saxophone as it stomps into the room, kicks over the carefully arranged furniture and pees on a pot plant.

Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Completely Unrelated - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/may/27/featured-comic-completely-unrelated/

Featured music:
Embrace the Pun - - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Embrace_the_Pun/, by BarryCorbett, rated E.

LINKS
Contributions red from this thread - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/178163/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

What are the different expectations for female and male audiences? This almost entirely a culture based thing, it changes depending on where and WHEN you are from as well as your age and experience… but some obvious things are determined by our physiology: sex sells, but there are slight differences based on gender. I wasn't interested in the “why” (genetic predeterminisim or evolutionary psychology), just the “what”

In my experience and from my own perspective male audiences like a little more action and active situations, characters doing things and getting things done, plots that move from point to point rather than settling down for an extended scene of chat and emotional development. But for female audiences I can only infer…
Are there more similarities than differences? I put these questions to the Duckers and they had some interesting responses.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Customer Service: slow, steady, cool. Dim the lights and slow dance to this groove. Black satin sheets, sophistication, late night, let those clothes slip to the floor and get a little skin to skin contact.

Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Jetpack Jill - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/may/21/featured-comic-jetpack-jill/

Featured music:
Customer Service - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Customer_Service/, by Synwells, rated T.

LINKS
Contributions red from this thread - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/178163/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Pit Face - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/

Betrayal is an interesting thing to use in fiction. You can have betrayal of your nation, your organisation, friends, lovers, religion, beliefs, self. In stories it can be used to add a nasty twist or completely change the flow of events and alter the balance of power in a dramatic way! It can be devastating in relationships. The story of Judas betraying Christ for 30 pieces of silver is one of the most famous betrayal stories and became so iconic that the phrase “30 pieces of silver” or just the word “Judas” became synonymous with the act. Of course the inspiration for the best treachery and betrayal comes from real life and the names of the betrayers often echo down through history. IFrom Rome we have Brutus, in the USA the name “Benedict Arnold” has a similar meaning to “Judas”, the 20th century gave us the term “quisling” after the Norwegian political leader Vidkun Quisling who sold his country out to the Nazis.

Betrayal is a horrible thing to experience, but it can be very useful in fiction- as long as you don't also betray your audience by not properly bracketing, contextualising or justifying the betrayal, i.e Captain America and the “Hail Hydra” fiasco. Betrayals are an extremely powerful tool because they can absolutely and very suddenly reverse and alter plot, character relationships, story structure and the audience expectations all on one fell swoop, so it's best not to handle them in such an amateur, soap opera fashion.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Through the Window: Flamenco, Latin, fast stepping, toe tapping, heel stomping to this powerful rhythm that wants to get your body up and moving, swaying and spinning on the dance floor, shimmying with your partner, fast and intense!

Topics and shownotes

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Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
The way of the Waifu - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/may/14/featured-comic-way-of-the-waifu/

Featured music:
Through the Window - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Through_the_Window/, by Andore Mordre, rated E.

Links:
Betrayal newspost by Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/may/17/betrayal/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
PitFace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Inspired by Emma Clare's Friday newspost about supporting characters, today we're discussing sidekicks! Sidekicks are a useful character type that are used in so many different ways. They can be a specialised type of supporting character that are also a main character or they can be the main protagonist in some cases. In comics sidekicks came in during the early days as a way of giving juvenile readers their own insert character who they could identify with… Bucky Barnes, Jimmy Olsen, Robin etc. They had other functions like giving the hero someone to save, providing commentary, reaction and exposition. Later when that kind of sidekick fell out of favour they became superheroes in their own right.

But sidekicks are a lot older than comics. People in social situations will often naturally fall into that sort of role because humans work well in hierarchies. One person takes the lead and the other follows: the person with the most forceful personality, The most experienced person, the higher ranked person, the socially superior person leads, and the other follows and that's reflected in literature.

Class was often used to put people in their “natural” roles: Frodo and Sam from Lord of the Rings; AJ Raffles and Bunny Manders; Sherlock Holes and Dr Watson: the posher person with the higher social rank is automatically the leader. This is very much a part of the British class system, officers and senior management came from the higher social classes etc, it's a large subject.
But that's also inverted occasionally; Jeeves is Bertie Wooster's Valet and social inferior and yet Jeeves is the leader in that relationship.

The sidekick is often the main character when used as the point of view character to tell us how marvellous their leader is. We get this with Doctor Watson in the Sherlock Holmes stories, Bunny in the Raffles the gentleman thief stories, Bertie in the Jeeves stories, and Archie in the Nero Wolfe stories. Archie is interesting; he does everything, he's the main active character, and yet he's still no more than a sidekick to the great Nero Wolfe.

Sometimes the sidekick is the smart character who's there to try and rein in the excesses of their leader, like Arthur with the Tick, Sancho Panza with Don Quixote, Doctor Girlfriend and the Monarch, Agent 99 and Maxwell Smart, Kif and Zap Brannigan, Banes and Ozoneocean… They can also be used to compliment the leader by replacing something they lack, not just intelligence as in the former example. Kato in the Pink Panther provides Inspector Clouseau with muscle, Brock Samson provides EVERYTHING for Doctor Venture, Doctor Watson has skill the ladies, tact, charm, and humanity that Sherlock lacks, Archie has the confidence and mobility that Nero hasn't.

There are so many clever an interesting ways to use sidekicks, far in advance of the Batman and Robin method! I think we should continue to use them. What are your fave sidekicks and why? Do you have a sidekick in your story?



This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Operation Boom - Booooooooooom! This one thunders in, all action and furious energy, rolling in like a 50 tonne bulldozer at high speed while on FIRE and sparking with insane electrical discharges. This is danger music. Bright yellow with black diagonal lines. Listen for the deep, bass booms.

Topics and shownotes

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Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Customer Service - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/may/07/featured-comic-customer-service/

Featured music:
Operation Boom - - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Operation_Boom/, by Recklesshero, rated E.

LINKS
The importance of supporting characters, newspost by Emma Clare - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/may/09/supporting-characters-and-why-they-are-important/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/

In this Quackcast we chat about set-ups. pay-offs, and rip-offs. To make your climaxes and endings more satisfying you have pay-offs for audience expectations: set them up in the story and pay them off at the end. If you fail to pay-off then you get a rip-off, it's pretty simple. Your audience will be really disappointed. That's not to say disappointing and unsatisfying ends to stories are wrong, not at all! Often those are fully intended. We're just talking about satisfying audiences, not “good” endings.

There are a lot of ways to do this, oh so many… building up the emotional development of a character in the story and giving them an emotional pay-off is a small scale why of doing this. On a larger scale you can have a satisfying end battle where the forces of darkness are defeated in a resounding way. A “Checkov's gun” that was hinted at earlier finally comes into play… or maybe you just have all sorts of great call backs to hints of things mentioned earlier in the story, rewarding the careful watcher.
This topic was inspired by both Emma Clare and Tantz Aerine's opinions of the Avengers Endgame and the 8th season of Game Of Thrones.


This week Gunwallace has given us a Requiem for Tupapayon, our recently departed and loved member of the site: A haunting, sepulchral piece… a deep, brooding, melancholy requiem that expresses the reverence and sadness we feel for our departed ducker, Isaac Ramirez, aka Tupapayon. It takes us into the dark shadows of a lofty gothic cathedral, where the magic of coloured light through stained glass paints the cold stone floor, shining through the gloom, the same way Tupapayon would always light up the site with his presence.

Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Angels of the Fallen - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/apr/29/featured-comic-angels-of-the-fallen/

Featured music:
Requiem for Tupapayon - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/may/01/rip-tupapayon/

Links:
RIP Tupapayon - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/may/01/rip-tupapayon/

Emma Clare on Set-ups and pay-offs in fiction - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/may/02/a-confused-rant-about-setup-and-payoff/
Tantz Aerine's counterpunch - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/may/03/a-proposed-counterargument/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
PitFace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

On one side we have creators of content and on the other we have the consumers. The consumers number in their billions and they're voraciously hungry for constant stimulation! Pretty much all creators are consumers too… So why don't they want the beautifully made, clever, spicy, artisanal dish you're selling? Why do they prefer the nice, bland, familiar mass-market high in fat, sugar and salt fast-food of the mainstream instead?

One approach people typically take is just to ape the mainstream and hope that works, sell their own counterfeit McDonald's so to speak. This isn't fun for anyone. You'll get only limited success this way… One of the real reasons popular mainstream things become so popular is because they make us feel more connected to each other and they connect with all of us on some level. They make dishes around things that are tasty and fun to most of us: Pizza, tacos, fruit, tomatoes etc.

Basically we can get more of an audience for our stuff if we create it and sell it more in terms of the things that are universally relatable, are connected to the bigger cultural experience, or that make as feel bigger and more connected to others somehow: like religion for example, patriotism, love, fear for our lives, death, childhood, whatever. The more universal something is the more people it will strike a chord with.
We do NOT have to change our work to include universal themes. What I'm saying is that we should either find those themes already IN our work and turn up the level on them slightly, or simply promote and sell our work in terms of those themes.
Read more in my newspost on the subject linked bellow.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Super Temps: Sounding a lot like someone drumming on the open tops of a lot of PVC piping, this is a slow, creeping beat that builds and layers: a real construction zone. Stacking that scaffolding higher and higher into the dark sky, lit up by bright, piercing arc lamps that star, blur and streak though the dark skeleton of the unfolding structure.

Topics and shownotes

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Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Void The Guide to a Healthy Relationship - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/apr/24/featured-comic-void-the-guide-to-a-healthy-relationship/

Featured music:
Super Temps - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Super_Temps/, by Smkinoshita, rated T.


LINKS
The Creative Divide newspost by Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/apr/27/the-creative-divide/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Pit Face - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/

What's your favourite weapon in fiction?
Mine are ridiculously giant swords, huge anti-tank rifles, and mecha. There are a lot of complex reasons for weapon choices in fiction, a Kalashnikov assault rifles for example signals certain things about the person carrying it: They're usually a bad guy for a start. This originated during the cold war, with certain types of bad guys using AKs. First it was Soviet Bloc soldiers, then it was Viet Con and rebels from South East Asia, then it became the “terrorist” weapon. The sub machine gun is the weapon of the bad guy. Terrorists used to use Uzis (before they turned to AKs), bank robbers used to use Mac 10s, now it's the HK MP5. Good guys carry an M-16 or AR-15 rifle. In historical fiction traditionally the bad guys carries curved swords while the good guys had straight swords, this came from crusades. Minor characters carry spears and heroes carry swords. Women, weaker characters and rebels carry bows. Giant swords and guns are often given to smaller characters in anime (usually female), as an obvious contrast with their small size. It's meant to emphasis the fact they're sort of a “mighty mouse”.

Weapons technology can also be used to signal things about the society using them. In fiction the Nazis are highly mechanised, with their huge Tiger tanks, sleek half-tracks, and fighter panes. It shows a ruthlessly efficient fascist state with the power of high technology on their side. The Empire in Star Wars was directly influenced by them. In reality the Nazi forces were largely horse drawn, their air-force was limited and they had very, very few tiger tanks. But they lent us the “empire” trope where the bad guys have better weapons and the goodies have to beat them with pluck and improvised tactics, as in Avatar.

So what are your fave weapons in fiction and why do you think they're used in stories?

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Bottomless Waitress. This is such a happy sounding, Southern, joyful track, filled with banjo and layers of guitar, twanging away… bringing notes of sunshine, natural wood, the light glinting softly through tree leaves and making dappled shadows on the ground… Perfect for an advertising jingle!:
Slip into a comfy booth, get your butt comfortable on our soft cushions, and enjoy a plate of down-home cook’n in this fine establishment, filled with a cast of friendly ladies. Try a plate of our famous bottomless fries, a cup of our delicious bottomless coffee, and the sight of our lovely bottomless waitresses!

Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Operation Boom - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/apr/15/featured-comic-operation-boom/

Featured music:
Bottomless Waitress - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Bottomless_Waitress/, by Ozoneocean and Banes, rated M.

Links:
Your fave weapons in fiction thread - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/178137/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
PitFace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

The entire gang comes together today for two topics that were taken from recent newsposts: Emma Clare's Positive self promotion, and Tantz Aerine's Handling Controversial Characters. First up we chat about why it's always a great idea to sell yourself positively, NOT be arrogant or douchey, but rather by talking enthusiastically about what you genuinely love about your work and using that REAL and SINCERE enthusiasm to infect others with your love of what you do. Emma was mainly talking about the way you introduce your comics to friends and family but it definitely applies more broadly to self promotion in general: Don't try and get sympathy through self depreciation (oh, it's not very good…), and don't be an arrogant ass (My stuff is AWESOME!), rather you should just be honest about what you love about it (This story was so FUN to write!).

There are exceptions. “READ HARKOVAST” become a great catchphrase for the author of that comic ;)

Next up we talk about Tantz's subject of handling controversial characters: Real controversial characters and established characters in fiction that have very different interpretations and views about them can be tricky to use in fiction. WHICH of the popular interpretations do you choose? - The one that says they were an insane dictator or the one that says they're a hero of their people? Whichever you do you'll have audience members who're angry about it in some way. Examples are characters like Jesus (comics linked bellow), and Mother Theresa. Jesus obviously means a lot of things to different people, there's around about 2000 years of culture focussed on him and people during the time he was meant to have lived would have regarded him very differently to the later worshippers. Mother Theresa during her lifetime was almost universally regarded as a living saint, her name was common shorthand for being extremely caring. After her death opinions changed and fractured desperately. To many she was either a monster, a scheming witch, or a stupid naive backwards woman who was used as a promotional tool. Which approach do you as a writer take?

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Tusk. Fast tribal beat that makes you want to shake your hips, stamp your feet, wiggle, twitch, and vibrate all over! A nice, stompy, vibrating rhythm booms into the centre and slows things down for a change of pace. This is the ultimate dance track. Get hot, sweaty and show off your crazy moves as best you can. Put the other dancers to shame!

Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Breached - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/apr/09/featured-comic-breached/

Featured music:
Tusk - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Tusk/, by Fallopiancrusader, rated T.


LINKS

Positive promotion newspost by Emma Clare - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/mar/30/talking-about-your-comic-to-others-and-why-you-should/
Controversial characters newspost by Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/apr/12/handling-controversial-historical-characters/

READ HARKOVAST - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Harkovast/
Holy Bible the Albino Ginger version - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Holy_Bible_the_Albino_Ginger_version/
Jesus 2016 - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Jesus_2016/
Look who's back (movie) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4176826/


Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Pit Face - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/

Today we're talking about all the ways nightmares can be used in stories. This is based on a newspost by our very own dreamboat Tantz Aerine. Nightmares are great for foreshadowing through premonitions, forcing characters to confront things and change their minds, ratcheting up tension in a story and all sorts of other useful things that you'd never consider.

You can use symbolism and heightened reality, surrealism, fantasy and lots of experimental techniques that you couldn't do in your normal comic. Nightmares are an excuse to cut loose artistically, but also for your character to act out and go crazy too if you want since things are occurring in a dream reality and not your proper story. Listen to us chat more about it in the Quackcast… or become a patron and see our video about it ;)

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme The Last Sheriff: Metallic tumbleweeds trundle by singing a tune of plucked wire and steely resonance in this one rocket-horse town… This is the sound of an old west future, fully charged plasma blaster six-shooters and robot cowboys in a world of red rusted steel and dust.


Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
EDENTIA - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/apr/02/featured-comic-edentia/

Links:
Tantz Aerine newspost - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/mar/27/the-use-of-nightmares/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Featured music:
The Last Sherif - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Last_Sheriff/, by RecklessHero, rated E

The entire gang is here this time again. This marks number 420 of the Quackcasts we've done. 420 is code among some for smoking dope, so going with that theme we're talking about the influence of substances on creative endeavours. People try and use substances to facilitate their creativity, we chat about why they do it, how it works, why it fails, the benefits and the issues. We DO NOT advocate taking illegal things in any way at all. This includes ANY substance, from dope, to coffee, to redbull, tea, wine, beer, cold and flu medication, headache pills, opium, adderall, ANYTHING at all, as long as it produces some mental or physiological change, it counts!

There's a long history of artists and writers taking things and this supposedly affecting their creativity. Brilliant Renaissance painter Caravaggio would become wildly drunk, famously the 18th century poets Byron and Shelly would indulge, the preRaphaelite painters also took their share of things… In the 20th century we have the famous drunk writer Bukowski, Hunter S Thompson and all his indulgences, not to mention the myriad of musicians, artists, and actors, especially from the 1960s onwards when the drug culture exploded.

One of the persistent myths is that substances help you access some from of external cosmic creativity or tap into a creative well inside of yourself. The former is pure nonsense and the latter is at best a partial truth… Buuuut we get deeper into the subject IN the Quackcast and the Patreon video so listen to or watch those to learn more.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Cosmos Song. Ice cold stillness of eternity. Glittering sparkles reflected in an oil black sea of immeasurable depth. Ripples spread outwards, one after another, they collide and combine, distorting the reflections, till they die and all is still and calm once more.

Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Generation Y - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/mar/26/featured-comic-generation-y/

Featured music:
Cosmos Song - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Cosmos_Song/, by Peipei, rated M.

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Pit Face - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/

It's the rating game! Yeah!
This Quackcast was inspired by Emma Clare's newspost on Friday about rating levels. On Drunk Duck we have 4 rating levels so they're nice and simple: “E” for everyone, “T+” for teens, “M” for mature, and “A” for Adult! We talk about why ratings exist and how to use them.

But why do ratings exist? Well it's complicated actually…
The main reason is that all cultures have various taboos and things they consider inappropriate to be viewed in certain situations so most countries have ratings systems set up to cater to that. Ratings are partly used to restrict access to some material (eg. stopping children from seeing violent or sexually explicit content), and partly as a way of marketing material: ratings let people have a good idea of the content, so parents will snap up any child rated material for their children to see and adults will know that higher rated things will be more appealing to them. Ratings such as “NC17” and “MA+15” were invented so content creators could sneak in more of what adults want to see in films (sex and violence) and still avoid a higher more restrictive rating which would mean they have less of a market because there are less forums to display and advertise higher rated work.

Ratings on the duck
We only have four ratings levels. These are based on old style film ratings, we do this to try and avoid confusion. Higher ratings mean you have a lot more freedom in what you can show but less freedom in who you show it to: “A” rated work is ONLY visible to adults (not kids) who are logged into the site. Theduckwebcomics is one of the few webcomic hosting sites that allow creators to post very sexually explicit material. Work is self regulated, we expect creators to be responsible adults here. The rating of a comic can be changed by us upon request, but we prefer to ask the creator to do it themselves. Here are our ratings:

E: Everyone
Open to everybody. Non-offensive material in text or imagery. Appropriate for both children and adults.

T+: Teen
Content is suitable for teens or older. Mild violence, slightly mature themes. No obscenities, graphic violence, sex, or nudity.

M: Mature
Content contains mature themes that might not be suitable for children. May contain occasional obscenities, limited graphic violence, implied sex, mild nudity. No sexually explicit material, no graphic sexual acts, no Hentai, no unrelenting violence, or non-stop obscenities.

A: Adult
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This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Blighted The Odyssey: The spirit of exploration, taking you far out into the deep black starlit ocean. St Elmo’s fire glows around the mast and yards, swirls of glowing plankton cling and drift away from the sides of the hull as you venture further into the unknown, disappearing into the darkness…


Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
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https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Sunstrike and Bluemist An Origin Story - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/mar/18/featured-comic-sunstrike-and-bluemist-an-origin-story/

Links:
Emma Clare's ratings newspost - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/mar/21/rating-your-comic/
DD ratings list - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/about/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Featured music:
Blighted The Odyssey - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Blighted_The_Odyssey/, by Alpharie, rated M.

There are many kinds love. Love is a great thing to include in your story for all sorts of reasons: it's an easy way to develop characters, give a character something to strive for, it's universally relatable, You can use it for tension, all sorts of things! There are different kinds of relationships you can use as well, not just heterosexual or homosexual relationships and the common trope of showing the beginning of a relationship, you can show crushes, established relationships, platonic relationships, relationships collapsing and exes coming together.
For this topic we were loosely inspired by Tantz and Emma's great newsposts about romance and platonic love. We chat about luuuurv and tricks like lurv triangles!

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Angels of the Fallen. Break on into the other side, smash through the dimensional glass into a world of hot, tasty electro, spicy flamenco, and raw, roaring guitar! Get your body moving to these irresistible sounds. You won’t be able to stop yourself.

Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Bunni and Carot - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/mar/12/featured-comic-bunni-and-carot/

Links:
Writing healthy romance - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/feb/28/writing-healthy-romance/
Platonic Freindships 1 - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/mar/01/platonic-friendship-part-1/
Platonic Freindships 2 - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/mar/08/building-platonic-friendships-part-2/
RIGHTEOUS, relationship webcomic - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/RIGHTEOUS/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Pit Face - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/

Featured music:
Angels of the Fallen - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Angels_of_the_Fallen/, by BustyLaroo, rated T.

This is a big, awkward, contentious and fiery subject. What we're talking about in this Quackcast is the current phenomenon of social marketing and how it fuels and drives the “culture war”, or “pop-culture war” to be more correct. Word-of-mouth and viral marketing are old hat now, Social Marketing is in.

But what is it?
Basically its word-of-mouth and viral marketing smashed together and weaponised: Marketing companies hijack hot-button social issues and hitch their client's brand to them in clever campaigns (“We can be better”, etc). The purpose isn't really to make a brand seem progressive, modern or new, rather it's another way of getting it trending on social media that's guaranteed to work, unlike the legion of hit or miss but mostly failed “Viral” campaigns. Whether people say negative or positive things about this issue is irrelevant to the marketer, as long as people are talking about the brand is all that matters. Free advertising is the goal, but it has a social cost.

This has led to issues because the so called “culture wars” divide people in artificial ways. The way the social issues are presented in these campaigns is often overly simplified and so can sometimes be harmful to the issue itself. Fallout over community discussion can bring unwanted attention to the brand… People are random factors and can run with things in unexpected ways: actors can go off-message, people can get together and organise campaigns to review bomb things or even hound actors off-of social media, studios can get nervous and throw their weight around using their advertising budget (the threat of withholding it) as a bludgeon to kill websites…

So much for the theory, what are examples of social marketing?
A recent famous example was the “We can be better” video done for the razor company Gillette. The message was didactic and simplistically constructed, but what you'd expect from a marketing company. It was an enormous success though: it was fuel to the fire of the “culture-wars” and massively increased the profile of the Gillette brand. The campaign was trending on all social media, videos were made about it, blog posts, comments, rants, news articles and so on. The Gillette got far more than their money's worth with what they paid their marketing company.
The social marketing of recent movies, the Ghostbusters reboot and the new Captain Marvel film caused problems (not the films themselves). Social marketers wanted us to think they were socially progressive and politically aware, promoting female empowerment, when in reality they're simply big budget, well-produced mainstream entertainment, the same as any other. The social marketing added to their profiles but also caused them to become pawns in the culture wars: by advertising love or hate of them people signal allegiance to a raft of other social issues and positions.

Another early, but good example is the famous “Fearless Girl”
This is a bronze sculpture that was commissioned by an advertising company, its purpose was to market a new female focussed investment fund on Wall street. As an aesthetic piece of art it's awful, looking like a Disney figurine; pure ugly kitsch. It also unfairly re-contextualised the older Charging Bull statue which it was put in front of. It looked like the girl was bravely facing it down which made the bull an evil villain. The bull sculpture had been created by an artist to celebrate the vitality of and dynamism of American business culture while this new sculpture was essentially fake art, a marketing gimmick created by an advertising company. However the unintentional result was that the sculpture became an icon of female empowerment, far beyond the small scope of the investment fund it was promoting. Bad, false art that it was, it actually became a successful “Good” art piece because it resonated and communicated so well with people everywhere, albeit with a far different meaning than was originally intended. It's now world famous.

The problem with social marketing
Companies ARE made up of individuals and they can support whatever ideals they like, as they should. This can genuinely be reflected in the products of those companies, this is perfectly ok. The problem comes when marketers insert issues as an artificial layer as part of a marketing campaign. Progressive issues are too important to be hijacked by marketers.
The world is being divided more and more and the power of the individual is getting smaller, social marketing campaigns usually only exacerbate the problem. They hijack left-wing progressive issues and attempt to manipulate masses of people. They are not a genuine contribution to the cultural discussion, they aren't sincere, they are not organic, and they have more resources and a bigger voice so that they cause imbalance and contention. The web used to be a massive, chaotic, democratic morass, now it is dived amongst a much smaller number of media companies: Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter etc, so that it's very easy for corporations to manipulate and attempt to control social sentiment while also shutting down the voice of the community.

How can we combat social marketing?
Calling out social marketing for what it is, that's a start: Recognise when something is attempting to manipulate you and instead of engaging with it (“This movie will be amazing because it's about this social issue!” or “This film is horrible because it's about this social issue!”) say what it's really doing: “This film is no more an advocate for that social issue than any other, I will see it because I like the content. The marketing campaign attempting to promote it as socially aware is false and manipulative”. But simply ignoring fake controversies the same way we do with viral ad campaigns is probably best.
Progressive people should not be fooled into thinking a corporate entity properly represents issues and nor should those who are against them. No one should be tricked into doing the work of a marketing company, you are not being paid and they don't deserve the free help.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to The Lightning Orb: Zaps, shocks, sparks, electrified plasma arcing through open air with the hot burning smell of fresh ozone… invisible pulses through flat gold wire circuits printed on green silicon as electrons are exchanged at almost the speed of light.


Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
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Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Redneck - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/mar/04/featured-comic-redneck/

Links:
Banes' newspost about Gag orders - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/feb/28/gag-orders/
Banes' comic strip We Can Do Better - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jan/16/we-can-do-better/
Fearless Girl and the bull - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fearless_Girl

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Featured music:
The Lightning Orb - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Lightning_Orb/, by AWilsonnn, rated T.

The entire team is here this time, no one was cut… So we're chatting about CUTTING, as in cutting out scenes to make a story cleaner, leaner and less flabby, but also NOT cutting because in a webcomic you don't have to, and when you cut badly you end up with a “D movie” effect where story scenes don't follow, don't make sense and plots seem to go nowhere or happen for no reason.

In most stories you can cut out lots of bits and pieces and get a leaner, more streamlined result: the reason is that an audience will interpolate the missing information between two factors and create their own rationalisation for the events that lead from one to the other. Often this can get them a little more involved and invested in the story because of it. You can trick them into thinking it's a better, cleverer story than it is because they did some of the hard work themselves. Introductions and long establishing scenes can be cut, but also the “things” that happen between or lead up to something:
A murder for example. You don't need to show how it was done, just the intent to commit it and the discovery of the body the next day.

You have to be careful when you cut too much though because events and motivations will stop making meaningful sense and your story will turn to garbage as the structure begins to collapse. I'm sure we've all seen the DVD special features where scenes were cut to streamline the story and you realise WHY the finished product didn't quite make sense in its final form and that it would have been SO much better if they haven't cut that bit out…

Webcomics are a unique medium: they thrive on content. Commercial products have a lot of boundaries and rules they have to stick within, especially movies, so cutting content makes much more sense for them than it does for webcomics. But it's still an interesting thing to try, especially if you want to make your work more commercial in future, i.e. write it up as a screenplay, release it in 30 page printed issues, or even just go for a more cinematic feel.

Don't fall into the trap of pruning a story just for the sake of one element like “action” though, or because you want to rush from one scene to another. Stories benefit from having variation in the pacing. This is why action movies like Ronin and Diehard are so awesome: extreme action is beautifully contrasted and set up with slower scenes that let you take stock and rest (- https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/feb/22/the-action-non-action-ratio/ as in Tantz's newspost last week). The film Van Helsing was well made and entertaining but the breaks between the non-action parts were insufficient, meaning that the impact of the action suffered because of it.

You often hear on DVD commentaries “We cut this part because we thought it was diverting from the main plot” among other rationalisations… Well sometimes that works in film and sometimes it doesn't. Webcomics though often benefit from the freedom to explore side-plots so be careful what you choose to cut.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Aikornia! Double, triple, contrabass, octobass cello! The big guns are coming to play for you now, ushering in the footsteps of doom. It’s like the knight’s dance from Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev, but as if it were written for ents instead!


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Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
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Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
My Cute Wish - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/feb/26/featured-comic-my-cute-wish/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Pit Face - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/

Featured music:
Aikonia - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Aikonia/, by Aikonia, rated E.

This Quackcast expands on my newspost from Friday about forgotten abilities causing plot holes, but now bunny Banes and Lady Tantz wade in to lend their genius to my silly ideas and we chat about what the real issues are: bad writing and laziness!
This is when a character gains the ability to walk through walls or become bullet proof or go back in time and then forgets it for the rest of the story or in the sequel When basically 80% of the problems they encounter could be solved by it… And you're mentally screaming at them “Use your damn power that you got 20 pages ago… Remember that thing that would help you avoid all this trouble!?”
Using easy solutions to get out of problems causes plot-holes! And your audience will hate you for it.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Space Repair Garage The Comic: Groove into this easy-going, saucy space symphony of high tech bleep-blooping cool! You’ll be carried along on a flaming column of power as it slowly ramps up to epic proportions, and then be left alone, coasting in space as it suddenly cuts out.

Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Aikonia - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/feb/18/featured-comic-aikonia/

Newspost about causing plot holes by forgetting abilities - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/feb/21/forgotten-abilities-and-plot-holes/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Featured music:
Space Repair Garage The Comic - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Space_Repair_Garage_The_Comic/, by Ninja_bait, rated E.

Hollywood has a tendency to simplify or completely alter stories to make them more mainstream and appealing to their idea of a popular audience.
In this Quackcast we thought it'd be fun to run with that idea and re-imagine our works for “Hollywood”.
Need examples? Take Carmen Sandiego: From a mysterious woman and master thief she has now been rebooted as a teen girl who only looks like a thief, she's really a good guy. Hollywood is replete with far worse examples though: “Run Lola Run”, a high action German movie about a woman desperately trying to get to a reality where she and her drug dealer criminal boyfriend stay alive after a routine drug deal spirals horribly out of control, all themed around her desperate run to be on time! Turned into “And Then Cam Lola”… Now a romance film and instead of a scruffy ner-do-well in love with a drug-dealer BF, Lola is now a talented photographer who's trying to make things right for her job and her girlfriend: Hollywood ;)
Ironically, the treatments we give our comics probably makes them more commercially saleable IPs XD

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to GRIND: Raw, slutty vocals and a slow sleazy tune… perfect for a burlesque show. This music evokes the acid colours and sensual, hardcore, comical imagery of Lothar’s GRIND perfectly!

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https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Ursa Tale - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/feb/12/featured-comic-ursa-tale/

Link
Hollywood Treatments… - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/178108/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Pit Face - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Featured music:
Grind - WARNING NSFW - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/lothar/, by Lothar, rated A.

*the cover pic is me and the other winner of best costume at a masquerade ball on Saturday. No reason, I'm just happy with it :D

It's just Ozoneocean and bouncy Banes today. This time we're chatting about breaking and subverting structures, formulas and conventions in webcomics. Commercial creative projects need to use formulas and familiar structures because that's what audiences expect, it's also what studio executives, creative editors, publishers, producers and all the people that greenlight those projects need and expect as well. The Hero's Journey and other conventions and formulas aren't just used because they make good stories but because of the commercial realities and risk averse nature of the industry (there's a lot of money and jobs on the line). Webcomics don't have those pressures so we're talking about why webcomics shouldn't necessarily adhere to popular formulas and structures and why many don't.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to EscapeVelocity. Blinking readouts on screens and dials, blinking stars outside thick glass sealed against the vacuum… this is the future and the future is space. Deep in the cold, black void, in an isolated oasis of heat, light and breathable oxygen inside a space travelling vessel, the only place out here that survival is possible.

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Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Scarred Eden - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/feb/04/featured-comic-scarred-eden/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Featured music:
EscapeVelocity - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/EscapeVelocity/, by TheJolle, rated M.

A huge thank you to the fantastic Amelius, creator of Charby the Vampirate! We mined her great newspost on the topic of the comic hiatus for this Quackcast. When you're reading a comic and it goes on Hiatus it's an awful thing… suddenly all progress stops and you don't know for how long it will be gone for. Some authors are great, they'll reach a point where they can't work anymore for some reason or they'll take a little break, but they will tell you they're going on a hiatus and when their comic will return- and Lo, it comes back exactly when they said it would. Crappy authors will say they're going on a hiatus and never return.

The sad fact is that all webcomics end eventually and most don't have a proper end, they just peter out. Sometimes they return from the dead, but if a comic hasn't updated for 3 years it's generally finished. It's a good courtesy gesture to your readers to give them closure in some way: don't end with an indefinite hiatus, rather you should tell people flat out that you're not doing anymore work on the comic and maybe post a link to any current projects you have instead.

This week our theme from Gunwallace is Mediocrity Simulator: Life in the big city is a slow, dull crawl… the gears of capitalism grind on inevitably regardless, crushing all that falls between their cold, uncaring mechanical teeth. Grow up, go to school, get a job and become a part of the machine. Days stretch to infinity.

Possible topic for next week: Stories that subvert expectations: Good or bad?

Topics and shownotes

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Only for Patrons who donate $5 or more, here:
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And advertise with us for just $2 a day, ALL regions, unlimited impressions and clicks:
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2018/oct/25/advertising-on-dd-available-plus-a-special-deal/

Featured comic:
Space Repair Garage the Comic - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jan/29/featured-comic-space-repair-garage-the-comic/

Links

Amelius's newspost and reader comments - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jan/27/the-dread-hiatus/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/
Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Featured music:
Mediocrity Simulator - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Mediocrity_Simulator/, by FunctionCreep, rated A.

Copyright is a huge thing! It allows us to make money from our creations and stops other people from stealing them. But culture isn't about a series of billions of totally original ideas invented from nothing- absolutely NOT. Culture grows from ideas that are recycled, reiterated, and reinvented. It's all quite derivative and mixed. So there has to be a balance between respect for rigid copyright and some flexibility to work with existing ideas.

In this Quackcast we talk about the practical aspects of working with copyright protected and copyright free work: i.e. fan art and sprite comics VS using Robin Hood or Snow White for example.
Using a known and popular quantity in your work is a good way to get attention because it typically has a built-in fanbase, or simply the “recognition” factor. The disadvantage is that it's hard to make money off of that or use it for anything else unless its copyright free, and if it is then someone else can easily copy your work. Working on something that's derivative enough or fully original avoids most copyright issues but then you have to work harder for fans.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to The Cherub Brothers: A welcoming, friendly sound draws us in and warm, heavy distortion burns over the top, like gently glowing plasma, roasting us to perfection! Serve with mint sauce, this one is tasty.

Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
The Vagabonds Waifs and Strays - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jan/21/featured-comic-the-vagabonds-waifs-and-strays/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Pit Face - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Featured music:
The Cherub Brothers - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Cherub_Brothers/, by Magor, rated T.

Coming up with character names can be a real challenge because once you settle on one they can define the character just as much as their personality and looks! Names also affect how you name other characters: are they too similar, like Betty and Barney? Will it be an unintentionally meaningful combo like George and Washington? There are so many things to consider, it can be daunting.

In this Quackcast we talk about some of the methods that duckers have used to come up with character names. It's pretty novel and interesting, anything from using friend's names, names that have special meaning to them, names that have inerrant meaning, names that deliberately have NO meaning, place-holder names, names from the phonebook and more. Your options, methods, and reasons are endless!
Tell us what's behind YOUR character names!

This week our theme from Gunwallace is Let Us Be God: Mellifluous mellotron tones flowing over your ears like the warm summer sun on a cool morning, slowly speeding up into a torrent of competing notes, washing you with their beauty… all in the style of early Genesis, for a clever musical pun ;)

Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Only for Patrons who donate $5 or more, here:
https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
And advertise with us for just $2 a day, ALL regions, unlimmited impressions and clicks:
https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2018/oct/25/advertising-on-dd-available-plus-a-special-deal/

Featured comic:
Cafe On Crepe Island - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jan/15/featured-comic-cafe-on-crepe-island/

Links

Read from the name posts here - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/178089/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/
Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Featured music:
Let Us Be God - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Let_Us_Be_God/, by Jesse CT, rated E.

*Image from “Say My Name” by Peking Duk

The topic we discussed in this Quackcast was looking for symbolism, meaning and intention in comics: The English literature approach! Deeper meanings and all that. It's fun to do actually and sometimes you really can hit upon the intentions of the creator, uncover NEW meanings, or just do it to entertain yourself. We used our own comics for an example and talked about things beyond the superficial for a change. For example: Banes' comic Typical Strange is a sitcom set in a video rental store, staffed by a group of characters that make up the cast. Why is it set in a place that is clearly decades out of date and relevance? A video rental place is an anachronism in this time. Is it saying that the characters themselves are stuck in time? It's a sitcom comic so situations often reset or rewind back to the status Quo, so that interpretation would seem to fit… Of course that wasn't Banes' deliberate intention but it's fun to think about that way.

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to Pep Squad: These girls are here to get you motivated! You can almost SEE the dance routine in your mind’s eye, and believe me, it’s pretty sexy… They’ve got some moves. The crowd roars as the pep squad performs, bumping, grinding and sliding on the stage.

Possible topics for next weeks Quackcast:
Has there ever been a good retconn?
Character names. What does your name character name mean?


Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
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Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Percival Pigeon's Perilous Plan - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jan/07/featured-comic-percival-pigeons-perilous-plan/

Based On:
Brave Resistance - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Brave_Resistance/
Typical Strange - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Typical_Strange/
The Epic of Blitzov - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Epic_of_Blitzov/
Without Moonlight - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Without_Moonlight/
Pinky TA - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Pinky_TA/
Putrid Meat - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/PUTRID_MEAT/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Pit Face - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Featured music:
Pep Squad - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Pep_Squad/, by Dave Mire, rated E.

Happy new year! This is the first Quackcast recorded in 2019! Pitface is back too, can you believe it? In this Quackcast we chat about Imitation, based on Amelius's newspost from last Sunday.
How do you know if someone has copied your work, just been influenced by it or influenced from the same sources as you, or has actually stolen your work wholesale? And what do you DO about it? Is imitation or someone doing the same thing as your “original” idea, always a bad thing?

We try and answer those questions in the Quackcast, but I'll address some briefly… It can be hard to tell if someone has stolen your themes and ideas because it's often not much different to influence or drawing from the same sources of inspiration. Either was it's not always a bad thing, actually it can be really useful! For one thing it's quite flattering that someone has liked your work enough to follow the same path. Aside from that, contacting them and teaming up can make it easier to sell your work to people because now there are more versions of the same thing, you can even attract their fans (and they yours), it's the same reason different banks and things are always clustered together.

But when a person straight out steals your art or your whole comic and slaps their name on it, that can be awful! Stolen art is akin to the phenomena of “stolen valour”, where civilians dress as veteran soldiers and wear medals they didn't earn. They do it because they crave the reverence and appreciation of the public without having to put in the work, time and sacrifice to have earned it. People imagine that art thieves just do it for the money, but that's not often the case. All they want is the “fame”. In cases like that you have to approach the administrator of the website and get it taken down. Don't confront them directly.
Check out Amelius's newspost for a lot more info on the subject!

This week our theme from Gunwallace is Scarred Eden. A million futuristic laser violins play a symphony of light and sound, weaving the landscapes of our dreams against the awesomely huge backdrop of a swirling, purple, star filled nebula…

Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Only for Patrons who donate $5 or more, here:
https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck

Featured comic:
Run Stop Go - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2019/jan/01/featured-comic-run-stop-go/

Links
Amelius newspost on Imitation in comics - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2018/dec/30/imitation-flavor/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei/
Pitface - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/PIT_FACE/
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Featured music:
Scarred Eden - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Scarred_Eden/, by Damehelsing, rated M

*Painting by Mathew Jackson 2004, “That Girl”, owned by Michael John Morris

Happy new year!!! All of us on the Duck Webcomics, AKA Drunk Duck, thank you for all your support over the year! DD has grown and flourished because of all of you!
It was coming to the end of the year when we recorded this, the time we traditionally mull over regrets of the year gone past and come up with resolutions for the new year to come! Tantz, Banes, and I chat about what WE think about resolutions and regrets.

Regrets can be teaching moments but to mull over them is worse than useless and leads to depression and damage. Don't obsess over missed opportunities, you're never too old to start again or learn new skills, especially with comics! In fact with most things you learn much faster and easier as an adult, especially skills like drawing.

Resolutions can be a good way to kick yourself into making a positive change, but NOT if handled poorly. Shoot too high or aim too far at a poorly defined objective and you will fall short and blame yourself. Instead, break things down into manageable steps! Don't say “I will write a novel this year!”, what you SHOULD say is “I will write a rough outline and then write at least 200 words a day this year”.
Follow our advice and have a great new year!

This week Gunwallace has given us the theme to FIGHT: Roll in like and armoured ball of fury, thundering through, nothing will stop you, nothing CAN stop you! This is power, aggression, and movement: undeterred and arrow straight!

Topics and shownotes

VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!

Featured comic:
Coward Of Valor - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2018/dec/23/featured-comic-coward-of-valor/

Based On:
Ozone's Regrets newspost - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2018/dec/28/the-utter-pointlessness-of-regret/
And Tantz's Resolutions newspost - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2018/dec/28/new-years-resolutions/

Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - http://www.virtuallycomics.com
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/banes
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean

Featured music:
FIGHT - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/FIGHT/, Art by Edbang, story by Edbang, Mlai and Justnopoint, rated T.