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Post by RielCZ on Feb 23, 2024 14:39:26 GMT -5
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Post by Serene on Feb 23, 2024 17:36:09 GMT -5
NeoQuest Adventures by Lex and lucI was super stoked to see this one in the issue. Have been wanting to see more of the story for a while. I say it everytime, but I absolutely love your artwork and the personality of your characters. So much anxiousness/nervousness was packed into the Percivole's reaction to Surabar calling him out. And I especially adored the pixelated frame at the end. The Floating Islanders - Haggle Hassle by ThemeguyYour attention to detail is incredible! I loved how full the world feels behind the main action of the comic, without managing to muddle the images down. On top of that the facial expressions do an amazing job selling the humor. The blank face while pulling out that huge sack of Neopoints had me rolling. Un Canny by stjarne I really enjoyed the joke in this one. The Nostalgic Usuki Girl Usul looks just how I remember them looking too! I appreciate the way you hue shifted the leaves of the plant to make it look more like a real, living plant. I am hoping to get a chance to read the first part of Nuria and the Sands of Time by Gray sometime this weekend. Undecided on whether I should just into A Hero's Journey: Squire by Kat right away, or hold off considering I am slowly trying to make my way through the entire AHJ anthology.
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Post by Twillie on Feb 23, 2024 18:32:09 GMT -5
RielCZ There's a few new names added to the NTWF author list I made, in case you may need to update the version your script is using to make these threads!
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Gray
Occasional Commenter
you're alive, so alive
Posts: 20 
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Post by Gray on Feb 23, 2024 20:46:31 GMT -5
I would appreciate any critiques on Nuria. It took quite a few submissions to get this piece in if you can’t tell from the holiday atmosphere and I’m a little bit over it but I’m still so happy to see it in. Also, a little shocked that they never asked me to tone down the more blatant romantic parts but I’m grateful nonetheless. Claire and the Coaster of Terror - I thought this was a lot of fun! It moved quickly and I enjoyed Claire getting her turn on the coaster and getting to rescue her bully. When Darkness Calls - Aw, I love Andrys! I hope he finds his way into more selfish hijinks. I think a big strength of this piece is the characterization, Andrys feels like someone you know rather quickly. How Aphelium Made Friends - What a sweet story! I didn’t expect the ‘twist’ and it was cute to imagine the friendly Xampher, a Petpet I’ve never given much thought to, interacting with all the neighbors . Daring Dailies - the dailies theme didn’t entice me originally but there was so much character in the piece that I found myself engrossed. I loved the final joke and after reading I realized this was the author of Goodnight, Kadoatie which is a piece I just fell in love with a few issues ago and sent them fan mail! Can’t wait to see more from them  Interesting that there’s two pieces dealing with being small in this issue! Hope to do more reviews later! |
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Post by Kat on Feb 23, 2024 21:09:58 GMT -5
Undecided on whether I should just into A Hero's Journey: Squire by Kat right away, or hold off considering I am slowly trying to make my way through the entire AHJ anthology. If it helps, the first chapter revolves largely around the introduction of Cavall. Rohane does not appear till chapter 2, and Reuben, not until the second half. Though, if you want to know more about Cavall's past life, I had a short story about him published several issues back. A Hero's Journey: Squire carries some references to previous stories (and one reference to a story idea that wound up shelved for years) but can be read as a standalone taking place years after the events of NQ2. Rohane is the only connection to NQ2, off the top of my head. |
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Post by Twillie on Feb 23, 2024 21:49:01 GMT -5
NeoQuest Adventures by Lex and luc Lol not only did Sura steal Percy's character, but he dares be disrespectful and call him "Sword Guy" xD And poor Tilbur looking anxious while they're arguing, at least the two resolved things quick enough for him to get excited again lol. He looks adorable in the Mipsy panel! And Ralvy's angry whisper face before is perfect xD
The pixelated video game panel at the end is a fun touch, I love how you went the extra mile for that level of detail! Did you break out Aseprite for that part?  Has me curious what the next installation will entail and if it'll have a similar aesthetic.
The Floating Islanders - Haggle Hassle by Themeguy This is great xD There's like no break in between in laughs by the end, each panel just brings another comedy punch as Anthony makes his situation worse and worse. Expressions as always are top tier, and they escalate perfectly to the end. I also appreciate the more subtle details, like how Capturi holds herself in a very show-y, model-like way even when casually strolling. Neat detail as well integrating the site pages and captchas into the world of the comic, I feel like it's a good way of using screenshots to help sell the joke without breaking the format of the comic. Her impression is so good that she even got the magical hair growth down lol. I also love that she's still wearing the same dress while in the UC pose. And hey, they can save their money now that they don't need any styling studio supplies!
The colors feel very cohesive here, I love warm reds and greens throughout everything. Gives it a very cozy and sort of retro vibe, especially combined with the room's decor style. I'm also glad those flower eye sparkles are a consistent detail in her character design ;w;
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Post by Twillie on Feb 24, 2024 22:46:15 GMT -5
When Darkness Calls by Serene I always love a goofy villain, especially one that aspires to great villainy but always gets in their own way. It's interesting getting a glimpse into Andrys' thought process and how he twists things to be either a personal offense or actually a great villainous deed, depending on who's doing what lol. While his thinking certainly won't get him to villain status anytime soon, at least he seems to be having a good time along the way? xD I'm curious, in his opening monologue when he lists various Gallery of Evil entrants, was Jerdana purposefully put there as a little joke? The other characters also make great straight men to Andrys, which helps sell his over-the-top act by placing it in an otherwise grounded world. Impressive that he even makes the Pant Devil look normal and sane by comparison lol, to the point where he leaves from things getting too weird. But then as an inverse to that, also funny how Andrys is weirded out by what's considered normal to others, like the battle dung that everyone was apparently so eager to have. One of the few times Andrys' behavior may be normal to us, but strange to the rest of Neopia! I'll also paste my reviews from the neobards for all non-NTWF comics for posterity :3 Accessories NOT Optional- Oh nooo poor baby ;; I love the faces, equal parts funny and absolutely devastated haha. A rather unique take on pound pet trauma xD Haggling- LOL the title of the book he's reading. I love his unchanging face and how sinister it is behind the customer service smile xD And then the last panel gives a good comedic punch in both visuals and action! Valentine Rock Beware- The fact that it's a chocolate Chia makes it even more messed up xD Hopefully the Rock will be safe if all its "chocolates" are just smaller rocks lol Royal Pain- Funnily enough I've never encountered this berry with Pick Your Own That is quite the conundrum, hopefully the Gelert farmer isn't too stingy with the avvie (although I'm not placing any bets on that lol). The Real Games Master- After enough years of this, Gilly has had enough of Thade's nonsense and is just going for the high score lol. Love the sunglasses in the last panel xD Next Neopian Generation- What a sweet comic! ;w; It feels very timely with both the 25th anniversary celebration and the recent NT milestone, and it's exciting seeing both new and old players alike still enjoying the site! Down for Maintenance- Hey, the DfM Pteri deserves some fun as well! (even if it's at the expense of others >>) Beautiful artwork as they try on the styling studio supplies :3 DoTS- Ey, glad to see this published! Your art style is super appealing, I love how uniquely you draw Neopets~ Referring to the Money Tree as a dump is also hilarious xD But oh noo, I wonder why he's so sad ;o; Baby-Faced- Ooh I love how you colored this, especially with the soft gradients and subtle details like the little rainbow coming from Umbra's brush! And lol, Luna's red face at the end is perfect, instantly breaks that cool punk persona they wanted (don't worry luna, i still think you look cool! :3) Completely Smart- Ooh yay, I always love seeing your guys in the Times =D I love the blunt humor you give them, and you always find a way to make gr.ape chias funny haha. That last panel has me crying xD
The Perfect Petpet- Aww, look at the Snowickle's poor face at the end ;o; Well, perhaps the Bori can give them a good home
Subverting Egg-Spectations- Okay that's great xD The punch(ha)line is pulled off perfectly with the art, peak comedy xD
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Post by Serene on Feb 25, 2024 13:27:20 GMT -5
I'm curious, in his opening monologue when he lists various Gallery of Evil entrants, was Jerdana purposefully put there as a little joke? It was! But I wasn't sure it would read that way, so I am really glad somebody caught it. It was supposed to serve two purposes: 1. As the mirror to Andarys who accidentally does heroic deeds for selfish reasons in the attempt of committing evil deeds vs Jerdana who did something that could be construed as horrific/villainous (freezing Altador in time) for selfless reasons in order to save lives.
2. Hint at the fact that no matter how much enthusiasm Andarys has, he just can't quite get it all right. He can't ebmven keep straight whose in the Gallery of Evil vs the Gallery of Heroes. Though he does clog the Money Tree up with junk, so who knows.
Thank you for reading the story! Hopefully Andarys's personality was as fun to read as it was to write. |
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Post by Twillie on Feb 25, 2024 20:42:43 GMT -5
I'm curious, in his opening monologue when he lists various Gallery of Evil entrants, was Jerdana purposefully put there as a little joke? It was! But I wasn't sure it would read that way, so I am really glad somebody caught it. It was supposed to serve two purposes: 1. As the mirror to Andarys who accidentally does heroic deeds for selfish reasons in the attempt of committing evil deeds vs Jerdana who did something that could be construed as horrific/villainous (freezing Altador in time) for selfless reasons in order to save lives.
2. Hint at the fact that no matter how much enthusiasm Andarys has, he just can't quite get it all right. He can't ebmven keep straight whose in the Gallery of Evil vs the Gallery of Heroes. Though he does clog the Money Tree up with junk, so who knows.
Thank you for reading the story! Hopefully Andarys's personality was as fun to read as it was to write. Gotcha! I had a feeling that's what that was, since Andarys has a rather shaky grip on how things work most of the time xD (I also wouldn't have been surprised if he accidentally got her and Jhudora's names mixed up lol)
And yeah, it was funny seeing how he kind of twisted reality in his head to maintain the evil villain mindset! I could tell you had fun writing him, so if you continue his story in the future, I look forward to seeing how else he fails/succeeds in his day haha.
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Post by Stephanie (swordlilly) on Feb 29, 2024 12:39:56 GMT -5
The Floating Islanders - Haggle Hassle by Themeguy This is such a funny in-world interpretation of a restock ban. xD I love the bulging eyeballs and exaggerated expressions of the Kacheek chef. I'd be seriously annoyed too if someone took advantage of my kindness only to turn out to already be tens of times richer than I am. The Real Games Master by kittyko92 As someone who once also tryharded for the golden Eliv Thade trophy, I feel this so much. xDD I love the comedic timing of Gilly pausing and turning around with that smug gamer expression on her face. Subverting Egg-Spectations by charlubby I love this. xD Grarrg's expressions are top-notch. It's funny how tiny his arms look compared to the egg's attack in the last panel, too. A Hero's Journey: Squire (Part One) by Kat I'm so happy to see this series finally published after so many months in the queue! Congrats on getting Quote of the Week, too. I remember reading the short story about Cathton's birthday. It's great to have the opportunity to get to know him more deeply in this series. The structure you've set up, alternating between past and present, works really well. The story feels cinematic. I find myself asking questions like: who is this Cybunny? Why is he crying? What is he running away from? And my questions are answered piece by piece in every flashback. I also really liked the details in your setup of the conflict between the protag and his parents: It's never explicitly stated, but the protag doesn't feel loved, and you did a really good job of conveying that through these subtle details. If I had to offer one critique, I'd say the plot feels a little bit too much like deus ex machina. Cathton has a problem with his family and wants to run away? Boom, a fire appears out of nowhere, his parents are removed from the picture, and he gets to run away! He's homeless and needs food and shelter? No problem, a nice trustworthy guardian appears at just the right time. That's something to pay attention to when you craft future stories, I guess - try to resolve problems in more believable ways. Or just let them linger a bit - that's okay too. I look forward to seeing the next part of Cathton Cavall's journey!
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Post by Kat on Mar 1, 2024 18:45:15 GMT -5
A Hero's Journey: Squire (Part One) by Kat I'm so happy to see this series finally published after so many months in the queue! Congrats on getting Quote of the Week, too. I remember reading the short story about Cathton's birthday. It's great to have the opportunity to get to know him more deeply in this series. The structure you've set up, alternating between past and present, works really well. The story feels cinematic. I find myself asking questions like: who is this Cybunny? Why is he crying? What is he running away from? And my questions are answered piece by piece in every flashback. I also really liked the details in your setup of the conflict between the protag and his parents: It's never explicitly stated, but the protag doesn't feel loved, and you did a really good job of conveying that through these subtle details. If I had to offer one critique, I'd say the plot feels a little bit too much like deus ex machina. Cathton has a problem with his family and wants to run away? Boom, a fire appears out of nowhere, his parents are removed from the picture, and he gets to run away! He's homeless and needs food and shelter? No problem, a nice trustworthy guardian appears at just the right time. That's something to pay attention to when you craft future stories, I guess - try to resolve problems in more believable ways. Or just let them linger a bit - that's okay too. I look forward to seeing the next part of Cathton Cavall's journey! Thanks for the review, Stephanie! Yes, when I looked back on the series after it got published, I did feel like everything was aligned perfectly for Cathton/Cavall to begin his new life. (Hindsight 20/20, amirite?) But his parents aren't entirely removed from the picture as he thinks.  Maybe if I wasn't rushing the first part to really jump into the "squire" bit of this series I might have spent more time on him leaving. And yeah, I was concerned I was doing a lot of flashbacks but I guess with a story like this it's inevitable and even necessary in several points alsdjfals |
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Has me curious what the next installation will entail and if it'll have a similar aesthetic. 
