Issue 280 Reviews

[Nimras]

[glow=green,2,300]Spooky[/glow]
by ghostkomorichu

For some reason, the “Spooky” cast in space is just … weird. I’m so much more comfortable picturing them in the Haunted Woods I guess.

The “Fresh Air” line was nice. *grin* Especially when you consider that the air they can get access to is all filtered, processed, and mechanically cycled.

…. Could the two ghosts go out in space without any adverse effects? *debates*

[Nimras]

Hyperion: The Tear
by micrody

“Which brings me,” he added, “to what they actually do.”

*giggles* I was wondering… 7 paragraphs of talking about the mysterious shiny object, and not knowing what it was. ^^

…estimated at a worth of three-dozen million neopoints.

I want to see something with a price tag for that number. Honestly.

The floors were of ornate white stone tiles and what furniture there was in the house was of pure-white wood that simply glistened.

Gack, that sounds so … barren and sterile… [/designer rant]

Aww, he and Anthea are so sweet together! And I love who was actually the thief, though I actually would have liked to see the snobby Gnorbu locked away for insurance fraud. Maybe I’m just a mean, vengeful person though.


The Effects of Procrastination
by puppy200010

LOVE the Couch Potato Poogle picture.

She gave her a quick glance of non-importance and collected her books into a small pile, excusing herself with the rest of the class as the bell rang.

*re-reads* That’s a lot of ‘her’ and ‘she’s there… Maybe “She gave the teacher a quick glance of non-importance, and collected her books into a small pile…”

A surf board made of erasers appeared on her left side, and she grabbed it quickly, running into the water and starting to paddle.

…. That is so awesome. *grin* Loving the idea of a literal ocean of homework.

And the fact that she still didn’t do it? Priceless.


Standing Up
by kittygirl5170 and extreme_fj0rd

Awww, I like Samantha’s outlook. It’s nice to read a story like this where the central theme of the character for the most part is ‘woe is me’. It’s also nice to read a story with a Lutari and a Flotsam as the main characters!

And the novel way of dealing with the bullies, by finding a way where they could have something in common. ^^


Dorak, The Little Known Hero
by ice_dragons_jewel

If you were to ask a random person on the street, they would probably name Lord Sloth as the villain, and perhaps Jacques the Lupe as a hero.

… Jacques the Lupe.



Owww…. It hurts my head.

He was a rather funny looking boy. He was plain blue, but was adorned with a fake eye patch. On his head was a silly little pirate’s hat, and in his claws he gripped a small, gold-colored hook.

Awww…. What an adorable intro for a character.

And I love how you tied the game into the story. Heh, he may have reservations about water, but certainly none about retrieving shiny objects.

[Nimras]

A Simple Guide to the Site Spotlight
by unstealth

Have you ever wanted to appear on the Neopets News page being mentioned for winning a Site Spotlight? Do you want your efforts to be recognized and your page to be shown to all the Neopians around? Have your pages been rejected many times before? Are you nodding at your screen as you read along?

No, no, no, no…. Okay, I’ll stop. I confess, the topic of this article doesn’t really pique my attention, but that’s because all of my petpages are already in use.

Kudos for all the links in the story to the sites, instead of just directing people to them. Double kudos for all the links actually working. *grin*

It’s nice to see a step by step set of suggestions for actually going though the process of submitting to the Site Spotlight though, as I actually had no clue how to do so. It might have been nice to include a link to it, if only to maintain consistency with your HTML and Fun Images part. Of course, that’s just my lazy preference. *grin*

[Tashni]

Oops, posted this in the wrong thread earlier . . .

CCR: Jealousy - Part Eight
Aww, a sweet ending. I liked seeing more of Rolan and Lisha in this series, they're really a great couple. Maybe more in the next one, eh? I THINK you can have a married couple as long as you don't show the wedding. (You proved that in "Castles.") ANYWAY, the one thing I will say in concrit is that the ending was not entirely fulfilling. You built up this ending for 7 parts, and then they just sneak in and out of that castle easy as pie. It was just . . . less than I expected. Your other CCR endings were really good with Jasagh, so I was expecting something more than this. All in all, this was an enjoyable CCR.

[Deleted]

nimras23 said:

Twist of Fate: Part Four
by mandapanda9188



Well, I�m not sure which one it was, but they all sound pretty awesome to watch. *grin* I take it he turned Darigan? It wasn�t exactly clear, but it certainly didn�t sound like he�d turned Faerie� And those are the only two purple with wings colors I can think of for Krawks.

Thanks! I was hoping the part that said they were "dragon like wings" would help with the difference xD

[Komori]

Wow, no other NTWFer comics were in this week? ._. That's odd.

rookina said:

Spooky by ghostkomorichu
Ooh, ghosts in space. I like Komo's petpet

micrody said:

Spooky by ghostkomorichu
Pop ups and space shuttles?! Boy, anything does go in outer space! Another lovely comic, yes, and I just love the joke and I love the art and I loved all of the expressions on your pets. They were wonderful.

hubadawaha said:

Spooky:
As always, made me snort. But that's good, because it means it was funny. The art is ever-beautiful and makes me feel all spooky inside. I heart Komo! XD

Thanks guys! I'm glad people like the space angle. ;D It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know that people enjoy my comics. *glee*

nut said:

[glow=blue,2,300]Spooky[/glow]
New Spooky! Eehee, Spooks in Space… is this the beginning of a mini-series? ^^

I love the art, as always. The little spaceship in the first panel is just so cute. x3 Aw, and Komo brought his Petpet. It’ll be fun to see more of him. Komo’s excited pose is so cute. ^^

The comic was really nicely paced out, first showing the spaceship and explaining the situation, then switching to the inside of the shuttle and showing Tombstones looking out the window and finally letting the reader see the view. It flowed perfectly, and there’s a real sense of place, switching from outside in space to inside the ship and back again. It’s fun to read it and just follow the camera angle where it takes you.

The joke came naturally, but I didn’t expect it at all. It was definitely an interesting concept; I always just assumed that those various outer space activiteies were more spread apart from each other. Seeing those giant advertisements floating in space was a surprise—I imagine it would be difficult racing with those things. And the fuzzles look too fluffy to be evil. ^^

I liked Echo’s comment about needing fresh air too… XD

And you were having trouble getting this accepted? I’m glad it finally made it. Another great one. ^^

^^ Heehee, it's indeed going to be a mini-series of space-related comics. I have two more coming up, and a third in the works, so I'm glad you like the idea. Though I forgot to put Komo's petpet in this coming one, oops.

I'm also happy that you liked my composition and joke. Your comments are so helpful, it's great to get such nice feedback!

peri said:

Spooky - I love me some Spooky comics Expressions are priceless on each character. And I love how "space" is filled with everything related to Neopets space... Advert Attack and Evil Fuzzles... lol I would've turned that ship right back around!

nimras23 said:

[glow=green,2,300]Spooky[/glow]
by ghostkomorichu

For some reason, the “Spooky” cast in space is just … weird. I’m so much more comfortable picturing them in the Haunted Woods I guess.

The “Fresh Air” line was nice. *grin* Especially when you consider that the air they can get access to is all filtered, processed, and mechanically cycled.

…. Could the two ghosts go out in space without any adverse effects? *debates*

Yeah, I was afraid some people might be put off with the space theme in my usually Halloweenish comic. I just had a chunk of space ideas that I really wanted to use, so I figured I'd put them in a little miniseries and get them out of my system. But I appreciate the feedback.

Also, I'm super happy that you caught the fresh air line. ^__^ I'm trying to practice with multiple humor layers, and I'm so glad this one worked. Thanks!

___


Thanks a bunch for the reviews, guys! This was a real happy pick-me-up today!

[Deleted]

amateurwriter said:

Hyperion: The Tear - Wolf

Everyone loves a good mystery. And every good mystery has random suspects the protagonist pokes to get a piece or two of the entire jigsaw puzzle. I liked the strange characters Hyperion talked to - how they were all rich and famous but each of them had their own little quirks.

The ending was...well, I can't find the words to describe it and the relationship between Hyperion and Anthea. And Hyperion's a real smart cookie, yes?

I know a few people who don't even like good mysteries, so I'm glad you're not one of them. ^_^ This was actually the first "mystery" I've written, so I'm glad it worked out well.

The bond between Hyperion and Anthea was actually what inspired this story, though how it inspired it...didn't quite fit into the story when it ended up on paper. I guess Hyperion's a smart cookie, though I still see him as a bit naive and still learning at this point.

Thanks for the review. ^_^

nut said:

Short Stories

[glow=blue,2,300]Hyperion: The Tear[/glow]
The sweetest part of the story is Hyperion’s connection with his sister. ^^ The mission itself almost wasn’t as important as his friendship with Anthea.

I don’t much like the pets who live around Lady Witherwaters’ area. Quite a collection of characters there. It is nice how they all have little things about them that differentiate them from each other. *shudders at the Aisha wearing the stained white dress* I have to think that asking a possible suspect if he had any reason to steal a valuable object might not be the best way of solving a mystery.

The way that everything tied in with tears was nice. Though, I wouldn’t necessarily assume that a person who had lost a valuable object would be breaking down in front of her detective… the solution seemed almost a little too convenient. But that may just be me. It was a fun story, and lovely to watch Hyperion’s relationship with Anthea.

Aww, thank you, Nut. ^_^

My first idea for this was more focused around Anthea's "tear" than the necklace, with the idea being that if some thing that precious (Hyperion to Anthea, the necklace to Witherwaters) were actually gone, you'd be crying over it, though that scene didn't fit that well as it was like that, so the focus was shifted to the other tear.

nimras23 said:

Hyperion: The Tear
by micrody

“Which brings me,” he added, “to what they actually do.”

*giggles* I was wondering… 7 paragraphs of talking about the mysterious shiny object, and not knowing what it was. ^^

…estimated at a worth of three-dozen million neopoints.

I want to see something with a price tag for that number. Honestly.

The floors were of ornate white stone tiles and what furniture there was in the house was of pure-white wood that simply glistened.

Gack, that sounds so … barren and sterile… [/designer rant]

Aww, he and Anthea are so sweet together! And I love who was actually the thief, though I actually would have liked to see the snobby Gnorbu locked away for insurance fraud. Maybe I’m just a mean, vengeful person though.

I actually regard the neopoint as little more than about *pause for dramatic effect* a penny, so with that, thirty-six million neopoints would only be $360,000, which would probably be about right with how many jewels I imagined on it. But then again, I do know nothing of jewelry. ^_^ *grins*

Insurance fraud in Neopia? Is such even allowed? Either way, that would have been great!

Thanks for the review!

[sarahleeadvent]

Thank you very much for the review, Nim!

Gah, the part with The Three talking in Darigan’s mind was creepy. *shudders*

Thanks, I did my best to make it that way.

“You may be almost ten times bigger than I am, but the thing you have to ask yourself is: Do they carry body casts in your size?”

*snicker* I think the other pertinent question is, do they make body casts for beings that are apparently at least partially incorporeal? Loved the banter. *grin*

*Grins* I'd honestly thought that if any part of this chapter was going to get Quote of the Week, it was that one you mentioned. Go figure. But I'm glad you liked the verbal combat; between the banter and the triumph over the Three, Part Five is probably my favorite chapter in this series, so it's good to know that you enjoyed it, too.

Evil cliffhanger though. *shakes fist*

Cliffhanger? But of course. What else would I do at the end of a chapter like this?

[Ice]

micrody said:

Insurance fraud in Neopia? Is such even allowed? Either way, that would have been great!

Actually, this story was very reminiscent of appaloosa5000's two-part series Logic & Circumstance, which did in fact involve insurance fraud Of course, that was about 130 issues ago, so rules may have gotten stricter.

[Nut]

Continued Series

[glow=blue,2,300]Catching Up: Part Three[/glow]
Lianar’s job is coming along smoothly. I wonder how Patricia’s doing, and how the completed group will act together when it’s finished. It certainly promises to be interesting, with faeries from different places who don’t know each other too well.

I like how Lillian is from Maraqua. It makes sense, but it’s a refreshing change from the assumption that all faeries come from Faerieland.

I can’t help feeling that we’re still going through setup and that the real story is yet to come, but maybe that’s just because I’m so curious to see how the faeries work together. The characters intrigue me.

[glow=blue,2,300]The Adventures of Trina: The Return of the Staff – Part Four[/glow]
Malkus Vile… wow, we don’t see a lot about him, do we? It’s nice that he gets attention here. I admit that I’d almost forgotten he existed.

“If Malkus has the right defense weapons, he could reflect the staff’s powers to the whole city, but only with the right amount of sunlight, elevation, angles. Well at least, that’s what my science teacher said, except he used someone and something else as an example. I think it was with the sun’s rays, but I have a feeling that lemons were involved. I don’t remember,”

I like how Trina comes up with these things. Yet I have a feeling she’s right on this one.

I wonder how they intend to find Malkus Vile. Maybe they’ll get lucky with the… accidental help that the Meerca brothers keep giving them.

An evil mastermind bent on world domination and a group of kids determined to stop him… everything’s set for a good old-fashioned adventure.

[glow=blue,2,300]Twist of Fate: Part Four[/glow]
I really like the idea of him having Fountain Faerie magic inside him that changes him based on his mood. I also like the different versions of the story people have come up with for how he defeated Vainglory. Spirit of Darigan, ehehe… ^^

It sounded to me like he turned Darigan at the end, so I’m not quite sure if that was temporary or if he went back to being Grey.

It’s nice how the storm going from horribly destructive to leaving the sky bright and sunny relates to Fratimer’s sudden anger and recovery. ^^

[glow=blue,2,300]The Mirror of Memories: Part Five[/glow]
A lot of things happened here, and I found it very interesting to read. It wasn’t a surprise that no time passed between trips through the mirror, but it was still fun to read Aina’s excited reaction to that revelation.

I like how you add details like the “gross green carpet” (I totally sympathize with Aina… disgusting floors scare me ><) and the creepy glass Cybunny on the nightstand (I can see how that would make it hard to get to sleep. o_0 Wonder if it’ll have an effect on the plot?).

The fact that the trip through the mirror gets shorter and shorter gives me this horrible feeling that if Aina continues to use the mirror, the two realities are going to eventually collide and time is going to be really messed up. Perhaps my fears are unfounded, but I still wonder.

I really like how you used that old journal entry from Part Two to illustrate how Aina was a part of the diary. It was really startling to read that entry and realize it was familiar, but I’d never seen it coming. I got a lovely creepy feeling just then. And I think the whole idea of Aina being a part of the past and playing it out again is a really interesting development. She’ll probably end up changing the course of events, although I, in typical anti-climactic form, almost wish that she wouldn’t alter it at all and we’d just see what happened.

I can’t wait to see where this goes.

[glow=blue,2,300]Sword of the Shapeshifter: Part FIve[/glow]
That was an awesome part. ^^ The Three’s deceptive talk was perfectly eerily done; you could feel the strain the characters were under. Tenultra’s bond with Darigan is really sweet. It’s great to watch them coming to each other’s rescue. Your characterization is very strong.

I adore the smart remarks Tenultra tosses at The Three. They were highly enjoyable to read. Brilliant.

“You- and your little Korbat friend- will both pay for this-”
“Cash or charge?”

*chuckle* That took me by surprise. I wonder if they have credit cards in Neopia. No reason not to, I suppose.

Another beautifully written part. I like how you manage to end every part with a strong cliffhanger, and I can’t wait to see what wisecracks Tenultra throws Miaglo’s way. ^^

[glow=blue,2,300]Legend Seekers: Mysterious Magic – Part Six[/glow]
Ohh… the Deserted Tomb. It’s really interesting to learn how it got ruined…

Jen’s part was reallywell written, full of beautiful description and interesting events. The scroll was very interesting to read. Very nicely written illustration fo the light and shadow.

This Lupe seems like he’ll be an interesting character. His changing attitude is a bit bothersome, and what with the suspicious faerie, I wonder if Jen has disembarked to find herself among enemies.

This mysterious tower sounds interesting. At first when I read “grey” in its description, I had this wild thought that they were going to go into the Geraptiku temple and find Jen, but unfortunately the words “tower” and “brick” forced me to disregard that theory. *sigh* So I haven’t a clue what it is. I guess I’ll have to wait and see.

[glow=blue,2,300]Another Hero’s Journey: Part Seven[/glow]
Ooh, the storm’s letting up. Now things are going to start to happen. ^^

And, already they’re happening. The letter from Rohane was a wonderful surprise. Although I knew he’d be fine, it was great to suddenly know for sure that he was all right, considering he’s been absent for the whole story. Not just for his sake, but for Melissa’s. The letter promises to be interesting; I can’t wait to see what it says. Although I have a sinking feeling that may take a while to find out, if it’s true that only Reuben knows the code. I imagine it’ll be frustrating for Melissa to not be able to read it.

…They were considering not giving the letter to her? o_0

There are an awful lot of characters now, and I’m having trouble keeping them straight, as is usually a problem when a lot of names crop up. Some stand out more than others, such as this Shoyru messenger. He sounds like he’ll be an interesting addition to the storyline, though I don’t know what to think of him yet.

Andrea’s gift to Reuben was really sweet. ^^ I’m not sure what to make of her little brother’s name, but it felt warm and happy.

[glow=blue,2,300]Chronicles of the Court Rogue: Jealousy – Part Eight[/glow]
Aww, and so another CCR series comes to a close. I was a little surprised it ended already, but maybe that’s just me wanting more.

This final part was very well written, as always. I’m glad the relics weren’t really stolen, and I love how Mareian keeps the secret of where they actually are.

…I felt this pity for Jeran when he was talking about never being a king. He seemed to be sealing his fate. Considering Mareian is a countess now, I could actually imagine Jeran becoming a king some way or another…

The star show was nice, but wha made it special was Mareian’s reaction to it. It was sweet to see her so innocent and excited. ^^ I could picture all of the ending scenes, and the fact that you ended the series with a romantic moment was lovely.

I thought the ending was very sweet, and it left me with a good feeling. It did seem a little less conclusive than your other CCR series, since nothing much happened with the only main villain (and a good villain), Jules. I liked the fact that it ended with Rolan’s kingship, which they had been talking about in the beginning.

[Nut]

ghostkomori said:

^^ Heehee, it's indeed going to be a mini-series of space-related comics. I have two more coming up, and a third in the works, so I'm glad you like the idea. Though I forgot to put Komo's petpet in this coming one, oops.


I'm also happy that you liked my composition and joke. Your comments are so helpful, it's great to get such nice feedback!

^^ I'm glad you think my comments are helpful.

[sarahleeadvent]

That was an awesome part. ^^ The Three’s deceptive talk was perfectly eerily done; you could feel the strain the characters were under. Tenultra’s bond with Darigan is really sweet. It’s great to watch them coming to each other’s rescue. Your characterization is very strong.

Thanks, Nut, for your compliments on Sword of the Shapeshifter. I hope you find the rest of the series every bit as enjoyable.^_^

[Deleted]

nut said:

Continued Series


[glow=blue,2,300]Twist of Fate: Part Four[/glow]
I really like the idea of him having Fountain Faerie magic inside him that changes him based on his mood. I also like the different versions of the story people have come up with for how he defeated Vainglory. Spirit of Darigan, ehehe� ^^

It sounded to me like he turned Darigan at the end, so I�m not quite sure if that was temporary or if he went back to being Grey.

It�s nice how the storm going from horribly destructive to leaving the sky bright and sunny relates to Fratimer�s sudden anger and recovery. ^^

Thanks!! And yes, he turns Darigan permanetly That's what I was going for with the mini exerpts about the storm, I was hoping it would make sense! xD Thank you again!!