Issue 873 Discussion Thread

[Twillie]

Issue 873

Articles
None

Short Stories
None

Comics
Ink: Inversion- Part 13 by June Scarlet
Sauna Day, Part 2 by Huntress

Series
The Sisters of Pillar Grove: Part Seven by Blueysicle

And the Editorial. Did a quick skim and doesn't look like Jade answered my question about comics and her inbox. The former I suppose isn't as big a deal since we got some kind of answer for it anyway, but I checked again and her inbox is still full, so. Hm.

[Twillie]

Sister of Pillar Grove Blueysicle
Ooh, I'm having fun reading how the Earth Faerie's getting involved! The low lighting of the scenes make it even more of a spooky image, just these seemingly alive branches slinking and weaving about the city and grabbing the unsuspecting. The beginning scene of these branches attacking Lumberjack while Dimitri, Frazer, and Zircon caught up felt a bit long, which in part may be due to not knowing which details will come back or not. I have a feeling Frazer's injury will be significant, but a lot of the Lumberjack action I think could've been shortened a bit.

Also, oh whoops, at the part where Zircon shoots that flare gun, for whatever reason I initially envisioned him shooting it, and out of its barrel came Flicker xD I guess because it was described as shooting "green smoke," and then it describes something green falling towards Lumberjack, I thought that Zircon was shooting at the machine rather than a signal for Flicker and Lampryi to come out and attack. After a couple rereads of that, I actually figured out what happened lol xD

Ohh, this is interesting- I've never really seen a Neo story use the Inventory as a plot point, let alone something more than just a visual gag or the like. Since I haven't read as many series or short stories before, I dunno if it's a concept that's been explored as much? Either way, I'm liking the use of it here! I love stories that combine both canon Neo elements and the writer's headcanons and OC's, it makes the world feel much more dynamic and fun. It's also having me wonder all sorts of things about the Inventory now, like how one obtains one, if everyone has their own, how they originally came about and who created them, etc. x3

That also explains another question I had while reading, which is what Hallow and Jacenty planned to have happen to the Air Faerie. At first I wondered why they would leave her unguarded while going after the Earth Faerie, since their end goal is to have both under the control. And while I doubt Jacenty originally anticipated Flicker being in Lumberjack when he inventoried it, storing it away along with the Air Faerie makes sense. Flicker and Co. being trapped is now just an added bonus to his plan haha or is it?

I also dig how Lampryi uses Hallow as a weapon to toss at Jacenty- writing for a clay Neopet must be a lot of fun x3

[Blueysicle]

Twillie :

Ooh, I'm having fun reading how the Earth Faerie's getting involved! The low lighting of the scenes make it even more of a spooky image, just these seemingly alive branches slinking and weaving about the city and grabbing the unsuspecting. The beginning scene of these branches attacking Lumberjack while Dimitri, Frazer, and Zircon caught up felt a bit long, which in part may be due to not knowing which details will come back or not. I have a feeling Frazer's injury will be significant, but a lot of the Lumberjack action I think could've been shortened a bit.

I definitely intended the scene with the branches to have a very alien atmosphere. I mentioned before how I didn't like the idea of the earth faerie figuratively twiddling her thumbs with everything unfolding outside the tree, so I decided that having her remotely controlling the branches with earth magic was the best way for her to get involved while still saving up the sense of mystery.

Oh, I very much agree with you on the length of the scene, though. Keeping things concise is something I've always struggled to do. XD Truthfully, I did feel that this part was rather cluttered pacing-wise, and that the scenes with the branches could have -if not shortened like you said- been its own chapter. If only the series limit was thirteen parts instead of twelve.

Also, oh whoops, at the part where Zircon shoots that flare gun, for whatever reason I initially envisioned him shooting it, and out of its barrel came Flicker xD I guess because it was described as shooting "green smoke," and then it describes something green falling towards Lumberjack, I thought that Zircon was shooting at the machine rather than a signal for Flicker and Lampryi to come out and attack. After a couple rereads of that, I actually figured out what happened lol xD

Ohh, I didn't even think about the possible confusion when I wrote that. I made the smoke from Zircon's flare gun green since he's signaling Flicker and Lampyri, and Fireflies have traditionally been associated with green. (In fact, all Fireflies used to be glowing, not just Flicker. The reason why is... a very long story) But it didn't even occur to me that somebody could have been thrown off by the similar colors, like you said. Sorry about that. DX

Ohh, this is interesting- I've never really seen a Neo story use the Inventory as a plot point, let alone something more than just a visual gag or the like. Since I haven't read as many series or short stories before, I dunno if it's a concept that's been explored as much? Either way, I'm liking the use of it here! I love stories that combine both canon Neo elements and the writer's headcanons and OC's, it makes the world feel much more dynamic and fun. It's also having me wonder all sorts of things about the Inventory now, like how one obtains one, if everyone has their own, how they originally came about and who created them, etc. x3

I know at least one Short Story from a few years ago used Inventories as a central theme, since there was a custom image for it. (After doing a little bit of research, it was this one. I've never read it, but perhaps I ought to now that I've looked it up. )

I'll admit that I haven't thought too much about the history of Inventory spells. XD I imagine that in at least modern-day Neopia, where magic is widespread and accessible, it's a fairly common thing. How they came about in the first place might be a fun world-building exercise, though, so maybe I ought to try it one of these days.

That also explains another question I had while reading, which is what Hallow and Jacenty planned to have happen to the Air Faerie. At first I wondered why they would leave her unguarded while going after the Earth Faerie, since their end goal is to have both under the control. And while I doubt Jacenty originally anticipated Flicker being in Lumberjack when he inventoried it, storing it away along with the Air Faerie makes sense. Flicker and Co. being trapped is now just an added bonus to his plan haha or is it?

Jacenty did luck out when he trapped Flicker and Wingen in the Inventory along with Lumberjack. As you've already read by now, though, he's not terribly happy about leaving them unsupervised. XD

I also dig how Lampryi uses Hallow as a weapon to toss at Jacenty- writing for a clay Neopet must be a lot of fun x3

I love writing about the more unusual colors and such, yes. X3 I wrote a relic Neopet a while ago that had shapeshifting abilities somewhat similar to Halloy, but I wanted to see what I could do with a character that was (literally) more malleable. At the time that Halloy was introduced, the clay color was still restricted to only Jubjubs and Kikos. But now that a lot more Neopets have it, I might explore the color further with other characters should the opportunity ever arise in the future.

Thank you for the review!

[Twillie]

Aug 18, 2019 21:27:48 GMT -5 Blueysicle said:

Oh, I very much agree with you on the length of the scene, though. Keeping things concise is something I've always struggled to do. XD Truthfully, I did feel that this part was rather cluttered pacing-wise, and that the scenes with the branches could have -if not shortened like you said- been its own chapter. If only the series limit was thirteen parts instead of twelve.

Aw man, I know the feel! It definitely seems like a difficult scene to choreograph, so I totally understand. And lol, if only indeed!

Ohh, I didn't even think about the possible confusion when I wrote that. I made the smoke from Zircon's flare gun green since he's signaling Flicker and Lampyri, and Fireflies have traditionally been associated with green. (In fact, all Fireflies used to be glowing, not just Flicker. The reason why is... a very long story) But it didn't even occur to me that somebody could have been thrown off by the similar colors, like you said. Sorry about that. DX

It's alright! I'm prone to missing details on the first read through anyway, so going back to reread a scene (especially action scenes) isn't unusual for me. But lol yeah, one of those things where the little details weirdly line up where it wasn't intended x3

I know at least one Short Story from a few years ago used Inventories as a central theme, since there was a custom image for it. (After doing a little bit of research, it was this one. I've never read it, but perhaps I ought to now that I've looked it up. )

I'll admit that I haven't thought too much about the history of Inventory spells. XD I imagine that in at least modern-day Neopia, where magic is widespread and accessible, it's a fairly common thing. How they came about in the first place might be a fun world-building exercise, though, so maybe I ought to try it one of these days.

Oh yeah, I've seen that custom image before, neat! I might give it a read myself as well.

Ah, gotcha! Haha, lol yeah my mind always wanders to the most obscure details to a story and wonders about the backstories there x3 Sounds like it could be fun indeed, though, I'd recommend if you're thinking of doing it. Exploring those finer details to a story is typically how I figure out the workings of the more immediate story, or even get unstuck in trickier parts of the plot.

I love writing about the more unusual colors and such, yes. X3 I wrote a relic Neopet a while ago that had shapeshifting abilities somewhat similar to Halloy, but I wanted to see what I could do with a character that was (literally) more malleable. At the time that Halloy was introduced, the clay color was still restricted to only Jubjubs and Kikos. But now that a lot more Neopets have it, I might explore the color further with other characters should the opportunity ever arise in the future.

Ooh, nice nice! And ah yeah, that might be cool indeed, now that there's more opportunities with the color :3