Issue 271 Reviews! (The Christmas Issue!)

[Dan]

Articles

Picking and Decorating Your Christmas Tree by Amy (haven't seen her around in a while, but here it is nonetheless)
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=291132&issue=271

The 10 Worst Holiday Gifts by ngc_5128
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=296419&week=271

Short Stories

Coal is a Girl's Best Friend by czenko28 (same with her)
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=288430&issue=271

Sloth's Christmas Carol by Schefflera
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=293106&issue=271

Christmas in the Ice Caves by Tyrannitar
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=293856&issue=271

Christmas with the Hollidays by Dan and Huntress
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=294622&issue=271

For A Good Claus by Playmobil
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=294947&issue=271

Christmas Tide by Lau
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=295830&issue=271

A Backwards Christmas by Jupe
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=295864&issue=271

The Present's Advent by Battlesunn
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=296955&issue=271

Comics

Furry Christmas and Happy *mew* Year! by Dimitris and rookina
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=291737&issue=271

A Spooky Christmas by Komori
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=292487&issue=271

Merry Christmas from the Land of Pacman! by pacmanite
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=292639&issue=271

Comical Properties by PFA and blacebrander
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=293013&issue=271

Fancy A Fight? by gliderames and xpropugnator
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=293711&issue=271

Dorfdraps by Crystal
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=295620&issue=271

Breaking News - A Comic Special by Dragon
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=296131&issue=271

No Game Here - Fireball Fight by Tee and Kami
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=296309&issue=271

New Series

None that I saw (though I do love the custom pic for the new series Lao and the Legend of the Sun... o-o)

Continued Series

Shad and Saura: The Story of Elversti - Part Seven by Huntress
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=280365&issue=271

Into the Sea: Part Four by Sytra
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=286549&issue=271

In This Together: Part Four by Dream
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=287462&issue=271

Whispers: Part Two by betazoid_telepath
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=287856&issue=271

Orbulon and the Founder of Symol Hole: Part Three by Tashni
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=288088&issue=271

The Petpet Detectives: Case of the Disappearing Deaver - Part Two by Playmobil
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=289883&issue=271

Hissi, Come Blow Your Horn!: Part Three by Bitsy
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=290445&issue=271

Revisited: Part Two by Puppy
www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=291237&issue=271


***
Wow! A lot of NTWFers this week! =)

[Schefflera]

First off -- many thanks to Dan this week and everyone who's been doing the nice intro posts with the link collections. Great idea.

Shad and Saura: The Story of Elversti - Part Seven by Huntress
I am really, really enjoying this series and am insanely curious about the rest. I love the description of the faeries as being... well, less caricatured... and the detective work Shad and Saura are doing. And the conflict is intriguing. And... um... _{I peeked ahead and read part 8 and I'm not sure I can review 7 properly anymore without giving stuff away. But it's really good.}

[Deleted]

Well, as forewarning, I don't think I'm going to read any of the Christmas stuff this week.
Though it's probably unknown to all of you, I really don't celebrate Christmas...
So, by next week, hopefully, I'll be back onto doing full reviews!

And, for all of you, merry Christmas!!!

Comics:

Furry Christmas and Happy *mew* Year! by Dimitris and rookina
Not much a comic, really, but the artwork is nice.

A Spooky Christmas by Komori
I just loved, loved the expressions on every single Neopet! I love these comics, I do! And the ending was so, so sweet! I really, really loved this one! It was simple, but that simplicity made it so splendid.

Merry Christmas from the Land of Pacman! by pacmanite
ROFL! That was great! I often wonder the same thing. ^_^

Comical Properties by PFA and blacebrander
If only the world were truly so... then I'd be falling down my stairs and ending up in a dozen casts each afternoon. ^_^ The art came off as a bit plain, though the pets themselves were nice. I liked the concept of this. It was... whimsical, in a way, if that's the word I'm looking for, and I liked that.

Fancy A Fight? by gliderames and xpropugnator
The art was simply amazing, with so much, so much detail! But... I... don't really understand the comic. I guess... I'm just slow tonight...

Dorfdraps by Crystal
*blink* *blink blink* I am, firstly, blown away by the art. And by that Neopet. What is it? It looks more like Catwoman than Catwoman herself (though I mean that in the most sincere way as a compliment on your ability, not an insult to Catwoman). Then, secondly, the comic was hilarious, and that made it sheerly awesome. *applauds for is speechless*

Breaking News - A Comic Special by Dragon
It looked so sweet... certainly, it did... then came... DOMINATION! I liked this comic. the concept was pretty funny. Can't say I was rolling on the floor, but I definitely laughed out loud. ^_^

No Game Here - Fireball Fight by Tee and Kami
"...and that, my students, is why we do not play snowballs with Fire Faeries." ^_^ That was a pretty funny comic, and the art was nice, too. Some of the eyes looked...off to me, though, but then again, faeries have strange eyes... I liked this, I did.


Over the next few days, hopefully, I will be reading the series I have been following.

[Tashni]

micrody said:

Well, as forewarning, I don't think I'm going to read any of the Christmas stuff this week.
Though it's probably unknown to all of you, I really don't celebrate Christmas...

Have no fear, Wolf. You are not alone! I don't celebrate Christmas either, so I won't be reviewing the Christmas stuff, either. Not that I've had much time for any reviewing lately, anyway.

[Deleted]

Firstly, I want to say WOW, and congrats to the big list of NTWFers in the special edition this week. Go Us! hehe.

Secondly.. I want to say. Eeehehehe How about the prize huh? Yay! lol..

And thirdly, I want to say.. BUSY busy week coming up, and I am HOPING to be able to do reviews soon, But I'll be out of town for five days.. holiday to hubby's mom's in canada, so I might be pretty late with my reviews..

I would be grateful for any reviews for my comic, 'Fancy A Fight.' you can spare though.. And I promise to try very hard to return the favor.

Wolf.. ;D ..the 'joke' wasn't that great, actually, but I did that one for a friend, my co-writer.. he insisted, lol. It's based on a real neo event and in HIND site, I think I could have made it clearer, but Doh, too late now, eh? lol.. (ANYway.. my friend was fighting Vira in Battledome, and her RE came up.. Fancy a Fight in the battledome? She stalks us.. lol.. So my friend said he must have hit her too hard, because she's confused and doesn't know where she is..lol). I THINK that if I would have put her text in more.. SHH form, it might have made more sense. But hopefully you guys won't hold another 'off' comic against me, lol.. (ThankYou SO much on the compliments on the detail. I DO try hard in that area. (try) lol. Thanks for the review.. *hugs* Ame.

PS.. for the non-christmas folks.. my comic doesn't have a thing to do with Christmas, if you want to check out something non-holidayish, lol.. hehe.

[PFA]

micrody said:

Comical Properties by PFA and blacebrander
If only the world were truly so... then I'd be falling down my stairs and ending up in a dozen casts each afternoon. ^_^ The art came off as a bit plain, though the pets themselves were nice. I liked the concept of this. It was... whimsical, in a way, if that's the word I'm looking for, and I liked that.

Thanks for the review! ^_^

Yeah, it probably would have looked a bit better if I shaded it... but I didn't, so yeah. ^_^;;

[lunariiku]

micrody said:

Breaking News - A Comic Special by Dragon
It looked so sweet... certainly, it did... then came... DOMINATION! I liked this comic. the concept was pretty funny. Can't say I was rolling on the floor, but I definitely laughed out loud. ^_^

Yayy! That's what I was going for! =3

And what's more is that I got an invite for here from Patjade. xD

[sunny]

If anybody would like me to read and review their short story or new series then I'd be happy to do so-- simply request and I'll do my best to provide an honest and helpful critique.

I'd also like some reviews of my short story, "The Present's Advent", should anyone wish to read it.

[Ice]

micrody said:

Dorfdraps by Crystal
*blink* *blink blink* I am, firstly, blown away by the art. And by that Neopet. What is it? It looks more like Catwoman than Catwoman herself (though I mean that in the most sincere way as a compliment on your ability, not an insult to Catwoman). Then, secondly, the comic was hilarious, and that made it sheerly awesome. *applauds for is speechless*

She's a Christmas Kyrii ^_^ Crystal's art rocks.

[Deleted]

Shad and Saura: The Story of Elversti - Part Seven by Huntress
I was stunned and amazed by how seamlessly you linked Six of the Seven. It was just... woah. How flawlessly done was that? It was done flawlessly, I think. Simple, but so hard to see. And, it does suddenly make sense why you said you chose those six for a reason...

Other than that, I think there is little for me to say, except that I am quite anxious to see how part eight will turn out. It almost feels that it might be the conclusion, but the last time I thought something would be the conclusion, it wasn't, so I'll just have to wait patiently.

Orbulon and the Founder of Symol Hole: Part Three by Tashni
Once again, I enjoyed the recap. :)

Poor Orbulon, now he's being coaxed into doing the bidding for evil...

It always gets dangerous when cookies get involved, doesn't it...? *gives Tashni cookie* *grins wildly*

Well, so, now, *sigh* it's over. I figure I shall miss it. I loved the humor of it. It was so serious, and it was all so... so... unique, that I just fell in love with it. At times, I sort of felt like I knew what was going to happen, yet even then, I had fun reading how it all played out. I really, really liked this, Tashni. Good job!

[Tashni]

micrody said:

Orbulon and the Founder of Symol Hole: Part Three by Tashni

It always gets dangerous when cookies get involved, doesn't it...? *gives Tashni cookie* *grins wildly*

Ooh . . . CoOkiE . . . *gets eaten by rabid faerie* I've noticed I tend to attack the nearest Faerie wherever Orbulon goes.

Well, so, now, *sigh* it's over. I figure I shall miss it. I loved the humor of it. It was so serious, and it was all so... so... unique, that I just fell in love with it. At times, I sort of felt like I knew what was going to happen, yet even then, I had fun reading how it all played out. I really, really liked this, Tashni. Good job!

Thank you so much, Wolf! I really feel this is my best "Orbulon" yet. Any suggestions on where he ends up next? I haven't made my mind up yet.

[Crystal]

icecreema876 said:

micrody said:

Dorfdraps by Crystal
*blink* *blink blink* I am, firstly, blown away by the art. And by that Neopet. What is it? It looks more like Catwoman than Catwoman herself (though I mean that in the most sincere way as a compliment on your ability, not an insult to Catwoman). Then, secondly, the comic was hilarious, and that made it sheerly awesome. *applauds for is speechless*

She's a Christmas Kyrii ^_^ Crystal's art rocks.

Woohoo, Catwoman!

Awww, thanks ^___^ The art was actually kinda mediocre by my standards, because the backgrounds weren't very complex... but I love compliments!

There were two Neopets, Herman Dorfdrap from the latest plot, and my Christmas Kyrii. The joke was from some twisted conversation with Komori in one of the Neopets General threads somewhere.

[Deleted]

In This Together: Part Four by Dream
Another great part, Dream! I feel, however, that I liked the previous parts better than this one. I think, though, that the writing in this was just as good, just I didn't like it as much. A lot of things happened nicely, almost too easily, I think. She wanted to go to the Adoption Centre, then she didn't, then there was a Miamouse, and then, etc. After her hard trip (which seemed almost too short) and her speaking of the reality, I figured it would be a bit more difficult, but it wasn't.

Then, the ending stumped me. But that's a good thing. ^_^

[Tyrannitar in Asia]

Merry Christmas everyone; I'd do some reviews but i'm In Asia right now till the 6th. If anyone read my story "Christmas in the Ice Caves", I'd love it if you could pleeease comment on it. I noticed that some things were really screwy with it, namely certain pronouns and such being used twice in a row in the same paragraph. I hope y'all like it anyway!

[Nut]

I'm hoping to review as much as possible this issue. It's late now but here are some short story reviews:

[glow=blue,2,300]Sloth’s Christmas Carol[/glow]

Oh my… I love this. It’s so delightfully subtly hilarious. Humor really suits you. I love all the amusing details of Sloth’s world, such as his beeping doorbell, the orange hoverbed that needs green paint, and the twenty-four hour clock. Brilliant touches of flavor. Your writing style is really enjoyable to read. When Garoo first mentioned the three ghosts, I was expecting to see something in the vein of a Christmas Carol parody, but I quickly lost this thought when he named them as The Three.

Then he surged to his feet in a fury, both fists coming down knuckles-first on the desk with a bang. "The Three WHAT?"

*giggles* All my learning in sentence fragments and jokes about abused grammar come rushing back to me…

For the sake of being nitpicky, I saw one grammatical error, probably a typo or missed during editing:

He appeared to struggled with the word.

I really enjoyed this story. I liked the concept of the Three trying to bargain with Sloth, of all people (as if he wasn’t evil enough; he doesn’t need to be possessed with some evil power!). And the punishment, or payment, they exacted from Sloth was a hilarious twist, though the last sentence was the best part of all. ;D

[glow=blue,2,300]Christmas with the Hollidays[/glow]

Aw, this is a cute story. ^^ (And Huntress’s custom pic is spiffy. I’ve got to study your custom pics and figure out how you do it… >>) Flora is a fun character, with her airheaded manner and desire for goodwill, though in the end she’s hardly more than any of her daughters, tearing down their decorations to get her way. Christopher is the calm in the girls’ flurried storm, coming to save Christmas just by being there. The ending was sweet; it feels a little predictable, but is still sweet. I like the cackling Halloween decorations.

[glow=blue,2,300]Christmas in the Ice Caves[/glow]

Designer diapers… o_0 Danny and Sammi are certainly determined to find the present stash, aren’t they? I like the whole Oozing Candle sequence. ^^ Mighty daring babies, to go out into the snow alone.

"Sammi, if we don't survive this, I'll kill you,"

Ah, delicious irony…

I felt that the escapade with the Negg Faerie and the Snowager dragged on a bit, and then ended rather suddenly with what Danny called the most clichéd thing he’d ever heard (ah, he’s still too young to know that there’s much more clichéd things in this world). But the ending was cute. I’m left wondering if their brother will believe them or not, and hoping he will.