Issue 990 Discussion Thread~ The Underground

[Twillie]

Issue 990

"He put on a kettle, and after making himself a strong cup of dark tea, he settled in to read his new book. Without paying much attention to where he put down his teacup, he let it sit for a while on the blank piece of paper, while he lost himself in tales of long-lost worlds."

~iwonder

Articles

Moltara Travel Guide by theguy2020, kellyclark115, and natashabelx

Spelunking the Southern Connected Underground by Duke Pikachu

Buzzerfeed Reviews: The Record of Petgenius by phlyarologist and wizzy13_7

Underground Treasures: A Guide to the Symol Hole by apanthropy

Notable Neopians: Carolyn (parody_ham) by Gray

How Does It Work: Discarded Items by honorrolle

Short Stories

The Meridell Brothers by sleepiestkitty

Lira's Adventure in the Grave Danger Catacombs! by alvissofcaldia

A Beastly Underground Prank by _brainchild_

Beneath by June Scarlet

Castle Planner's Journal: The Undercobble by ferretboy85

Under the Gebmids by Stella

Under Eye by kebicorn and joanna_lewis

Darigan's Lily by Carolyn

At the Sign of the Dancing Dragoyle by Kat

Underground Underdogs by flannelle

The Commander and the Survivor by shellshocks

The Food Thief by dinha_reeves and higs_pigadeiro

Vertical Transportation by Liou

Comics

"Illogical - Stuck Underground Background" by kimpossibleluvr and Euphemia

I'm standing my GROUND on this joke... by jenna_lyn_russell

Deserted Underground by verna_, myncithemonkey, and timothy1692

Royal Pain: Underground Treasures by winner19955

Darkest Corner: In Action~ by darkelfa

Origin of the Smugglers Treasure Chest by pequepanda and neoskulltula

The Floating Islanders - The Underground by Themeguy

Expensive Adventures by prulletje1852

Where do they go...? by greentoxicity

Digging Up Duds by Lex

An Underground Cryptogram by srr8383

The Underground: Problemas de Mineros by romina_r, krowkano, and frecuencialatina

Bedtime in Moltara by squishyfishylovesme and tkprtyrhd

It was Gravity by tatyanne

The Not So Hidden Tower of Moltara by love_check

Faellie Tales 10: Burrow by coco6468

First Day on the Job by contrito and skeletonic

Underground Treasure by siellan and serein

RIP: Ill-Gotten Goods by peanutbuttermilk

Blossoms~ Digging Deep Part 5 by Twillie

Conspirixi Theory by darkonek, aliceo96, and bennie

A Real Rock by emmakrakoka

Back from the Underground by princecharmiing and darkobsession

The Underground Stamp Trading Ring by truebrony and i_lovee_icecream

New Series

Sand of an Hourglass - Part One by nick_and_nickette

The Shoyru Spy - Part One by iwonder

Continued Series

Return to White River - Part Six by Sunny the Ixiholic

The Primordial Saga: A Faerie's Woe - Part Three by Azusa

The Daily Life of a Grey Kacheek - Part Four by chesschocolate

Bargain with a Dark Faerie - Part Two by puzzlepets

And the Editorial of course!

[Stella]

Could I get tagged for Under the Gebmids please?

I'll do reviews next weekend!! Bit busy this week :')

Congratulations to everyone! The Dirt Symol is so cute. And so pricey haha, torn on selling it or not.

[Twillie]

Sorry about that, you should be good now! :3 And lol yeah, I was not expecting such a rare prize xD

[Carolyn]

I would love a review if anyone is willing <3

Will try to read back when I can, life be cray.

[Stephanie (swordlilly)]

Beneath by June Scarlet

This is a really cute story featuring Saskori's Tamed Mini-Monster! I liked the idea of the Petpet just routinely going around the Catacombs and freeing Neopians who were unfairly sent down there for being "abnormal." xD The suspenseful perspective work was also very well-done, a lot more interesting than just revealing the Petpet right off the bat.


At the Sign of the Dancing Dragoyle by Kat

I'm a fan of your worldbuilding and sense of humor, as always. This sentence in particular got a chuckle out of me:

who said the dregs of Neopian society did not know how to have a good time?

It was a very neat transition from description to story.

I also liked how you sprinkled in bits of character-building in between plot progression and description:

The Double Agent looked around and, more out of habit than anything, began to memorize the layout of the room. The folding screen next to the vanity, sashes and necklaces dangling from the mirror, a single closet, just large enough to hide an average-sized unconscious Neopian...

A masterfully-written story, as always; I liked it a lot. The tension (and chemistry!) between the two characters was convincing from the beginning and you did an excellent job of showing how their relationship panned out.


Might do more reviews if I have time. ^^; Just wanted to put down these few thoughts while these stories are fresh in my mind.

[Twillie]

Floating Islanders - The Underground by Themeguy

Lots of neat visual tricks you used in this comic! I love the parchment texture and sketchy quality of Roxton's panel, like it's part of an entry in a journal or from a weathered library book. The transition panel where "Later" is illuminated by the headlamp is also really cute, I love his little chibi form exploring the caves <3 I can also really feel Shiishika's horror in the last panel with the hatching and scribbled coloring xD I wonder if she's more horrified by the potential danger he faced with the lava, or by the knowledge of how expensive stealthy is to repaint lol.

And ooh, what are all these plans and parts that Shiishika is tinkering with? >w> Looks like she's up to something, surely this will only lead to good things.

Digging Up Duds by Lex

She's not wrong, at least! I would hope that Ralvy would have the persistence to try digging more than just the one hole, but on the other hand I can also see her giving up once it gets dark, covering everything up, and then pretending it never happened else Sura gloat about her failure lol.

Also poor Tilbur, I wonder if she enlisted him for any physical help with the digging, or if he's mostly there for emotional support xD And also to help carry home all the loot she'll surely discover, of course!)