A Green Writing Thread

[Parrot]

A place to put some of my thoughts, reflections, ideas etc as I tackle the writing process once more. I don't know why I sort of kept my writing process to myself a lot, I guess I just had so many ideas that I wanted to be my own. Not to mention I was such a frivolous writer when I had all the time in the world, ideas just came and went...well that's still the case, but less of them actually make it to the page and paper now

This will probably mostly be Neo related. I've tried my hand at starting off some other personal anthologies, though never really seen anything through for long, and probably would push the board rules if not straight up break at some points. For now though let's talk about my process in something I just submitted for the Times last night.

Cycurity Bunny

Premise

This story is a bit of a Day in the Life tale of a Cybunny named Kellence who works for a security agency. He's hired by a theater in the Haunted Woods, to help keep the crowds in line and under control during auditions. Along the way he encounters several larger than life personalities who give him a hard time. Kellence values his profession and remains undeterred on the outside, though finds himself quite drained by all the negative treatment he receives by divas who think they're more important to him. His shift ends though with a visit from a spirit of an actor from a previous era who reminds him that his role is still very important and much appreciated.

Throughout the story, Kellence only ever utters "uh-huh" other than finally muttering a single two words to close out the story. The story is told through a Limited Ominiscience narration style, meaning at times rather than hear Kellence speak, we're given descriptions of what he might be thinking, or what his body language may be indicating. My idea here is that Kellence can speak, he simply prefers not to, somewhat emphasized by his final words once he's out of earshot of anyone else at last.

Brainstorming

I ran through a whole bunch of ideas when I felt the drive to submit something again. At first I wondered if I should just pick back up on one of my old connected stories, eight years after leaving them hanging. I did create an extended universe for my world of writing, centered around the shifty writer, Mr. Peterson, and the shenanigans he and surrounding characters got into. I also at the end of my era tried to do a string of related stories telling the tale of a Chia villain's attempts to conquer Neopia. Not going to lie, I did feel somewhat awkward at the thought of just jumping back in and being like anyways where were we, remember those characters from 2010? They're back!

I then thought maybe I would want to do something using my Neopets. I have faint ideas of their personalities and how i imagine they would act, so I thought maybe it would be simple to do just a cute little story about their daily adventures. The problem I had with both these ideas was that while I could come up with a premise, I didn't feel motivated to string together an actual beginning middle end for a story. I could try, but they felt sort of weak and forced and I knew if I started out that way, I would just lose motivation before finishing.

So I went for a simpler sort of premise. The nice thing about this story is that beginning middle and end are all sort of denoted by when Kellence's shift starts and ends. It's less about getting from Point A to Point B but rather what sorts of things can I make happen on a cruise control voyage between said points. It also allows me a bit of freedom to just throw things in as I feel inspired and not have it disrupt the flow I have going.

I did settle on using one of my Neopets. Kellence the Mutant Cybunny is one of the pets on my side account, a_purplepossum. I thought about maybe making the other characters based on some of my other pets too, but then changed my mind. It felt awkward cause a lot of these characters had specific roles and personality traits that might not necessarily line up with how I imagined my pets to act. Not to mention, they wouldn't be a family, just a bunch of strangers which is also kind of awkward. Some of their species remained the same though, so that may be kind of humorous if I do intend to make this into an ongoing world and start introducing my other Neopets to the plot, but we'll see!

Random Thoughts

Some things that occurred to me throughout the writing process:

• Names: I found myself giving people first and last names (other than Kellence who I just felt sort of wrong assigning a last name to), and had a lot of fun making ridiculously sounding names to match the characters' personalities.
  One thing that occurred to me partway through was, does Neopia even adhere to that naming practice? Come to think of it, feels like most canon characters are mononymous, but then you do have people like Galen Darkhand who I guess invite the opposite. I also found myself swinging between what I would consider "real" world names like Oliver, Regina, but then throwing in some more quirky names like "Pretzels." It just sort of happened, I was like this guy's name is Pretzels now, I have decided! I guess Neopia is a varied land though, and to be fair, the central character of my stories that got published was Samuel Peterson, and if that ain't the most "normal guy" name out there then I don't know what is!
• Description vs Dialogue: Not that these two are necessarily opposed to one another, but just something I noted in my style. First off, description. It's always a bit of a pain for me, I hate the methodic approach I go through to list out the clothes people are wearing or what they look like but I haven't really found a smooth way to repeatedly go through those details without sounding like a robot on repeat. This was something I really worked through as a kid though, my early attempts at writing had bare bones to none for descriptions and I had to learn to really focus on painting a picture with my words. It became my main source of adding length to stories that weren't quite hitting the required amount, every chance there was to get poetic with imagery, I would seize it. So coming back now, I'm finding I do that far less. I still think it's important at points, but I sort of have shifted away from that focus and needing my readers to know the every detail of every item in line of sight. And that's where dialogue comes in. Since trading out NT for fanfiction, I have definitely delved into creating voices for characters, finding ways for them to play off of each other, and just add humor and heart through their words. For this story, and for a lot of stuff I write now, I don't need my readers thinking about what shape and shade every leaf is, but rather how the characters interacted with one another and what this shows us about their own being. Even with my protagonist hardly engaging in any conversations, I tried to take the chance to have each character he met chew the scenery a little bit and just show off their quirks
• Is it too cheesy? A lot of times when I wrote for the Times before, particularly when I did short stories, I would work with a formula where there would be some moment of realization about some cheesy truth, to sort of tie the story together and wrap it up. Typically, this would be explained step by step through the narration, which is kind of cringe looking back, but I guess I wanted to make the point clear as day! In this case though, I have the Actress Ghost offer some pearls of wisdom to Kellence about how theater relies on every participant, not just the star of the show.
  And I debated a bit on if that was too on the nose, or just right. Upon reflection, I do feel as though I have this directive in my head that for a story to be complete and mean something, there needs to be a moment of takeaway, which I've tried to offer through these moments. I do feel like this was a little bit smoother than I've done in the past.
  For instance, we don't really see Kellence had a sudden shift in heart or anything, but I tried to demonstrate that he did need someone to just tell him 'good job' after all he'd dealt with. Maybe there's a cleaner way to get the point across, I will definitely keep it in mind

Upon Completion

I ended up breaking this story into two parts to submit. It doesn't feel like a series to me, but I couldn't bring myself to cut out any of the events I had crafted. I ended up breaking it into the first half of the day when Kellence arrives and the second half where his shift finishes. It's a sort of "nothing really happens" kind of story, which is part of the reason why I felt it better suited for a Short Story. I can't really picture anyone thinking oh wow, I am dying to know where this goes next! Since it's not a gripper, it's just a funny little series of events. But that's how it worked out, and at this point I'd definitely rather add more to make it longer than cut anything out.

Will wait to hear back now, prepared to make edits if it doesn't make the cut. Might share some exerpts in here, but right now I gotta head out to work!

[Parrot]

Hey I'm back at it! Well back at a computer, whether or not I actually do any writing tonight is another matter. I want to take another shot at the STC, but I've got some more brainstorming/ramblings that I didn't cover this morning.

Anthology Approach

I knew I wasn't going to have enough time to cover all I wanted to roll out on this topic this morning, I was running late as is. Plus it doesn't necessarily just apply to the one story I wrote, though it is relevant to it and my ideas.

Essentially, I've thought a lot about how if I were to write something, I might want to do a set of interconnected but separate stories, rather than a full united story. I've taken a few shots at writing more serious (relatively speaking hehe) projects, but always find myself overwhelmed, losing motivation, or just straight up changing interest to a different idea. There's something kind of daunting about the thought that like once you start something, you either need to see it through to the end, or let the whole thing go. That's definitely effected my hesitation to commit to anything major. So I started to think, what if it didn't need to be one big story, what if it were, say, 10 short stories that can stand on their own, but each make up a grander narrative all together. This sort of frees up the obligation to keep trucking through on the same track, and makes for a bit more manageable step by step process. It also means that if I needed to change something, or found that a certain idea wasn't working so well, I could scrap one section without having to totally rework the whole project.

I sort of think of think of it like some big ensemble TV show. I've watched a fair few that have loads of characters that each seem to play their own part in the grand scheme of the plot. If done right it can be really interesting, since there is a unifying factor, but two, or more, characters might have completely divergent plot lines that hardly ever intersect. Of course, this is harder to convey in written form. It can work, but it's different and there are certain limitations; you can't just switch between ten different points of view in a single chapter unless you want your readers incredibly confused.

But with this idea, rather than being bits of different stories progressed through a single chapter, each story would be told in full separately. It doesn't have to follow linear order, if each character has a full arc play out, and if it's done in a smooth manner, then technically you could read any of the stories in any order without needing the others for context. It just paints a bigger, clearer picture once you're able to put it all together.

***

So to tie this in to my current project, while I was working on my submission, Cycurity Bunny, I thought about how if it got picked up I might want to build an expanded universe from this seed, like I had done in the past. This story already sort of sets the stage to be a part of a greater world. We see the point of view of a guard outside ongoing auditions, but what about all the other aspects of production going on? What about the applicants who didn't make it, what stories might have led them to that point, and where do they go next? I've already felt my mind just spiraling outwards stringing together other possible stories that could stem from this starting point.

The nice thing about making the stories separate enough that they're not an exact sequel though, is that it's not reliant on the previous piece being published. Meaning, if I wanted I could get to work on the next installment immediately without any fear that my current piece will be rejected and then I'll have to postpone continuing etc etc as it goes. I'm feeling somewhat rusty and in need to refamiliarize myself with what does and does not tend to make the cut for the Times, so I'm definitely not confident that I won't have to deal with rejection again for a bit, as the process tends to go. That was actually part of the trap I set myself in when I attempted my last connected series project. I had a whole epic saga of events in my mind, but when a four part series repeatedly got rejected, I felt like I couldn't write anything else until this installment made it through (of course this was just one of many ongoing factors that led to be fading out). I tend to be someone with big ambitions when it comes to writing, just not always the motivation to see it through, so I tihnk changing my approach to be a little less linear based will be freeing.

Alternatively, this could be done as a series (each part telling a different segment of the overarching connected plot). When writing my submission, I had that urge to see it through and get it done while the flare still existed, but if it doesn't make it, then I'm not against taking more time to create a few other short stories that surround the focal production and then packing it together as a full series. That would also allow me to keep this segment as one full part, seeing as the maximum for Series Parts are far more generous.

Anyways, closing out this longwinded post of brainstorming and speculating with an excerpt from Cycurity Bunny.

SPOILER: Click to show

The day proceeded. The Cybunny guard stayed in place. Continuing the traffic, in and out of the hall. Peaceful times were nice, thought the Cybunny, but they rarely lasted. Soon, Kellence felt his whiskers twitch in anticipation of more trouble. He could pick up the sounds of squabble, and after scanning the crowds back and forth, eventually spotted the source. A red Kyrii with a pink blouse and draping blue skirt was weaving her way through the line, ignoring her position and choosing instead to force her way through.

“Future star coming through, step aside!” The Kyrii touted as she fluttered her way through the line, not giving a single care to all the angry comments directed her way.

“Uh-huh,” Kellence grunted as he marched up towards the troublesome agitator.

Kellence stomped a foot angrily, that tended to get the message across that he was being serious. He added a stern point to that back of the line.

“Oh please,” the Kyrii stretched out the word with sugary poison. “The line is for the regular folk. Mr. Pfefferer is going to want to see me right away, and I simply cannot be bothered to spend my entire day out here waiting in the mud.”

“Well what about the rest of us?” called out an irate Kau that the Kyrii had passed.

“Excuse me, what? What was that? Who are you? Just WHO do you think you are!?” the Kyrii spat, her words venomous, though her face plastered with the same brilliant smile. “You really think YOU could handle the role of Carmina? You think you have what it takes to be a star!? Don’t make me laugh! You are nothing! You are dull! You would put the audience to sleep! I am Charlotte Albright, I am Neopia’s next obsession! When I’m spilling my success story, do you really want to be namedropped as one of those doubters who stood in my way?”

“Uh-huh,” Kellence said with another stabbing point of his clawed finger.

“Look, sweetie, I know you have a job to do, and I suppose it’s not your fault you look like you do,” Charlotte cooed to Kellence. “But allow me to explain this to you, I am quite beautiful, quite stunning even, and I would make such a desired member of this cast. Surely you can just let me by, for the sake of the show. If I walk away now, well I’m not coming back and you’ll all just have to live with that.”

Kellence motioned with his eyes at his outstretched paw which had remained in place. Charlotte furrowed, her smile finally breaking.

“You are making a tremendous mistake, you know that!?” the Kyrii snapped as she twirled around. “I won’t be back, so don’t bother begging me!”

“Uh-huh,” Kellence bid farewell.
The Cybunny had only just turned around, as he found someone new in his face: A thin, but notably tall, purple Lenny wearing a pair of spectacles and matching navy vest and skirt atop a white shirt.

“Ah, what’s this?” the Lenny chirped, her eyes wide, her neck stretched forward and craned around Kellence. “Drama is it? Scandals afoot? Oh do spill!”

The Lenny revealed a notepad and pencil which she clutched ready. Kellence felt his demeanor start to deflate. Was it so much to ask for a break between nuisances?

“Oh not to worry, I’m not one of those pesky line-cutters,” the Lenny assured. “I’m not even here to audition. Regina Tackleberry, ace reporter for the Neopian Times!”

Regina extended a wing to shake. Kellence didn’t take it.

“I’m positively positive there’s a story just waiting for me to uncover here!” Regina said. “After all this is theater--” she pronounced each syllable deliberately “--drama is the very lifeblood of the craft!”

“Hey dude,” a plump Meerca called from the front of the line. “Can I go in yet? What’s the hold--”

Kellence clutched the Meerca by the tail and tossed him through the door. He then turned his glance to the next in line, a green Yurble.

“Heh...I’ll just...I’ll wait patiently..” the Yurble promised.

Kellence attempted to return to his post, but found himself pursued by the avid Lenny.

“Surely you’re privy to all sorts of juicy details going on here,” Regina continued to vie as she swerved in front of Kellence and walked backwards to match his stride. “Care to share some secrets from your time here today? What skeletons are hidden under this stage? Metaphorical, I mean...or do I?”

“Uh-huh,” Kellence just scoffed, trying to get past the persistent reporter.

“Not much of a talker, huh,” Regina noted. “That’s fine, perfectly fine! Some of us are talkers, some of us are listeners. Some of us are writers, some of us are readers! But if you’ve got no words to share, perhaps you could help me in another way. What do you say you let me just scurry on inside for an exclusive scoop of the casting process! Oh they’ll never notice I’m there, I can be quite discreet, I promise! And my readers would absolutely love love love some scandalous secrets to make their day! Rivalries, feuds, pacts of revenge!? Surely I could fill a book on all the going ons going on behind these closed doors!”

Kellence gave an exasperated sigh.

“I’ll just let myself in, don’t worry, not a peep from me, they’ll be none the wiser,” Regina promised as she stretched her leg towards the entrance.

Kellence strode in front of her and blocked the doorway. He turned up his glare, gone was the disinterested roll, instead Regina was subjected to a menacing stare. Kellence snorted once, a warning.

“Ahem, yes, well...I shall just get some quotes from the crowds then,” Regina remarked, backing up softly. “I suppose my readers could stomach a puff piece for the week.”

Kellence gestured for the Yurble to step up next. And thus the day would continue...

[Rebekah]

Oct 22, 2020 23:58:21 GMT -5 Parrot said:

Anthology Approach

Essentially, I've thought a lot about how if I were to write something, I might want to do a set of interconnected but separate stories, rather than a full united story.

I've written something similar. It's a series of horror novels that are told as interconnected short stories. At first I just had them connected, but then added a framing device that only becomes clear after reading the full book.

It's a pretty fun way to write. The interconnected plotting of it kept things interesting and allowed me to write several different types of stories that all still fit. The way that worked for me was to make a list of story ideas (some with a beginning, middle, and end and some just a basic idea) and then write those ideas. As the plot shaped in each story I wrote, I came up with ways to make them connected and wrote those down in the document with the story ideas so I'd remember. Those ideas for the connections snowballed into more ideas and as I write the novel an outline took shape. It was easier for me to do it that way than try and come up with all the connections before I began writing. Maybe my technique will work for you.

[Kat]

I've written a lot of series, yes, but a large chunk of the A Hero's Journey saga is also made up of interconnected or related stories that stand on their own, and it does give me leeway in writing. Plus, it works when you have something you want to write about but you only have this one event or these two or three events without anything else to add in between. I've written a 12-part series years ago, but in the end, I scrapped the entire thing - yes, the entire thing - and opted instead to write a short story that I felt would close the NQII timeline arc more nicely than a bombastic series.

And yet, arcs aren't always truly closed, we sometimes find ourselves coming back to parts in the timeline or old events that we want to revisit or retell in some way, so the anthology approach would really work in that respect.

[Parrot]

Thanks! I wasnt sure if I was articulating my thoughts clearly on what I meant but yes that's exactly how I was sort of envisioning this.

Anyways Cycurity Bunny was TMGE'd which isnt too surprising. I think it works on its own but if I'm gonna have to cut it into parts anyways, it'll probably be better off as a single part of a grand scheme. So I'm gonna slow my roll a bit and put a pin in that while working on some other installments. I do still like the idea of a bunch of connected but individual stories. Now that I can see how my writing style has evolved i definitely feel like I'd have more freedom that way. I might rename it something like "Six (??) Short Tales on the Joys of Theater" or something of the sort.


Ideas for other installments:
1. Establish plot, producer attempts to find the perfect pet for the lead role only to decide auditions may be simpler.
2. Cycurity Bunny, the auditions
3. I want to do something about a Cursed pet stuck in a haunted house, feel like this could be our lead actress? Thus motivating the others to break her curse.
4. I want to introduce my Kau, Stefamotta, who along with kellence I already have the most established idea on personality. Bring her in as a Writer. Maybe after the casting process, our producer realizes the script needs to be adapted.

Final parts will be however long it takes to actually put on the show.


****

I also got struck with some inspiration for another story last night. See this is the problem with me, too many ideas too little time and motivation. But I'll pour out my ideas here so that I don't forget and can commit myself to it

Basically I was reaquainting myself with some of my favorite games last night I was getting really into Dueling Decks. I thought to myself how epic would it be to actually put all these characters into a battle royale together? I think theres a lot if fun to be had.

The way I see it could work, the characters aren't actually the originals, just representations for the game, but they dont necessarily realize this at first. They have all the same mannerisms and memories. I'm picturing something like NQII a whole virtual world. Hoping this also means I can make clear that anyone "eliminated" isnt really dead, to get around the no killing policy. We've got our two teams, the heroes need to band together despite their differences to defeat the villains team before they achieve the opposite

I'm thinking 10-10 like how the game works though I'm sure that will be a headache to intro dump.

Ideas:

Heroes
1. Ylana: not a hero by any means but still ends up on this group. I wanted at least one protagonist who doesnt fit the good person mold and tries to do their own thing, but still be reasonable enough to recognize they need to work with others. Ylana feels like one that could work that, shes ruthless but not necessarily straight up evil.
2. Bruno: Another protagonist, for Bruno I want to explore the idea of him facing his mutated self and grapple with what that may mean for his future choices.
3. Cybunny Collector: Third protagonist. I like the idea that she isnt even given a name. I want to sort of play with that, have her automatically dole out a spiel on her collections when asked about herself and her name. Forces her to rework her own identity.
4. Prince: I just love his expression. Coward to hero arc?
5. Tor: we need a good heroic force to push things forward. Him and Ylana probably would have a love hate relationship.
6 Techo Master: Offers insightful yet cryptic Pearl's of information. Early elimination after he offers some exposition on what's going on (could be fulfilled by Werther too, or both.)
7. Judge Hog: OP yet cocky heroic force that gets himself wiped out early on by not being careful.

Room for a few more still.

Villains

Villains will be a little less in focus and will need to be taken out one after another.

I can see Sloth, Jhudora, Roothless all bickering and trying to evil mastermind while Gormos serves them coffee.

Vira, Scarblade could be some of the "boss" characters our heroes face along the way. Meerca Henchmen as annoying little pests that keep reappearing. Mutant Bruno is under mind control.

Feel like we could have some decidedly less evil members just for fun and to sort of counterbalance Ylana's alignment.

Nightsteed could be big bad man behind the curtain. I know hes not really evil but with him being the wildcard I want to apply that like he retains his memories from every past game and wants to ensure it keeps playing through.

----

Alas with the working week starting up again I'll have less time to put words to paper but these will be more drawn out projects so I will post work here as it goes

[Parrot]

I stayed up tonight to put together the first chapter of my Dueling Decks series, which I'm tentatively thinking of calling The Game. Had a lot of fun kicking this off, now let's just hope I can keep that steam rolling rather than leaving this in the attic of my mind.

Draft of Part 1:

SPOILER: Click to show

A blinding light, that’s all Ylana saw. All around her as she felt herself falling at an alarming speed. Then in an instant it was gone. The Acara was on the ground; she didn’t even recall hitting land, just that now she was standing on it. In an automatic reflex she swung her dual blasters out in front of her, fingers ready to fire. But there was no looming threat. The bounty hunter tried to gather her thoughts. How did she get here? A transporter malfunction? And where even was here?

She took a look around. Green grass as far as the eye could see. Beyond that seemed to be even clumps of trees. Ylana turned herself around. More woods in all directions. It was like she was in a clearcut circle, right in the midst of a grander forest. The Acara turned her gaze downward. She was still wearing her copper colored metallic plated armor. Strapped together piece by piece, but holding sturdy all the same. She could feel her signature helmet and goggles resting on her head. Everything seemed to be as it should...but the question remained, what was she doing here? Something seemed to be missing from her memory, as hard as she tried, she could not piece together any events that had led up to her being dumped in this field.

Her thinking was cut short though, as more lights began to fall from the blue sky. Like comets moving to the earth at incredible speeds. The Acara instinctively rolled out of the way of collision. But there was no sudden crash. Instead as the light reached the ground, the glow vanished and they transformed into forming silhouettes. The nearest to Ylana towered over her. As the light faded, she was faced instead with brilliant yellow and red colors. With a blink of her eyes, the full figure came into focus for her. She was standing before Judge Hog, Defender of Neopia, in all his bright spandex glory. The Moehog stood proudly, his cape flapping before him.

Ylana wasted no time pointing her blasters at her new target. She flinched slightly though. The Acara prided herself on having crossed paths and lived with many fearsome foes. She relished the challenge. But a Defender of Neopia? The leader no less? Ylana wasn’t sure what to expect. Out of the corner of her eye though, she realized the other lights had transformed as well. Behind the massive Hog several other Pets were now arriving, many with the same confused reactions as Ylana.

“W-where am I?” a green Gelert in royal robes gasped. “Who are all of you?”

“MY USUKIS!?” came the shrill voice of a young Cybunny. “Has...has anyone seen my Usukis!? Oh I can’t be apart from them I just can’t! That collection is my life’s work, my everything, my, my--”

“Madame,” spoke up a yellow elderly Jubjub, “you appear to be holding them.”

The Cybunny glanced down at her arms which were indeed wrapped tightly dozens of dolls. She hugged them in close with a squeal of delight.

"Alright, alright!” Ylana snapped, trying her best to move her blasters in a way that would allow her to fire on anyone who moved--no small feat in itself, given that the Acara counted nine others before her. “One of you had better give me some answers on just what is going on here! I’m not playing around, try anything and you will get fried!’

“Please donèt fry me!” sobbed the royal Gelert, dropping to his knees. “Please, please, I have a kingdom to get back to! Oh my maids and butlers will be worried sick about me!”

Ylana fired into the air and snapped, “I said I want answers, now! I do not like being toyed with!”

“Mmm…” chimed in an ancient green Techo, with a bushy beard, and simple maroon robe, “answers are often all around us...look with our eyes...listen with our ears...feel with our heart….”

“And I’m asking with my blaster,” Ylana threatened. “What do you know, geezer?”


“That’s quite enough of that!” Judge Hog boomed as he stepped between Ylana and the Techo Master. “Young lady, put those toys away!”

“Never!” the Cybunny Collector shrieked.

“Not you,” Judge Hog groaned. “I’m talking to our trigger-happy Acara. You see, I refer to her weapons as toys to show how little they frighten me.”

“Oooh,” the Cybunny exclaimed before kissing each of her dolls lovingly.

“You should be scared,” Ylana told Judge Hog. “You may be tough, but I bet that suit of yours won’t protect you from these hot shots.”

It was a bluff, in reality Ylana had no clue what powers the superhero had, or what he could withstand. She just hoped she delivered her threat with enough conviction to convince him otherwise.

“Um excuse me…” a voice spoke up.

Judge Hog and Ylana broke their stare down to glance to the side. A thin blue Gelert, in simple yet classy attire had stepped forward. He wore a chestnut button up top over cream sleeves and pants. He seemed to be quivering uneasily, but spoke with purpose.

“Miss, pardon me but...I don’t think any of us have any more clue than you do,” the Gelert said. “I don’t think any of us have the answers you seek.”

“Hm…” Ylana mused, she did not want to back down, but she couldn’t deny that the Gelert seemed to be speaking the truth; everyone around her seemed lost.

With a sudden flash and metallic clang, Ylana felt her blasters knocked from her grip. A bold yellow Lupe in shining armor had swung his sword and knocked her weapons out of her paws. The Acara snarled and reached to reclaim her weapon, but the Lupe was quick as well. Before Ylana could pull back up, she found a blade pointed at her neck.

“That’s quite enough of that,” the Lupe declared.

“Please...everyone,” the blue Gelert spoke up again. “Let’s not fight. If we’re all stuck in...well wherever we are...then fighting among ourselves isn’t going to solve anything.”

The Lupe glared down at Ylana. She turned the look with a hate filled sneer. Eventually, the Lupe warrior withdrew his blade. Ylana resisted the urge to fight back.

“I suppose there is some sense to what you say,” the Lupe remarked. “Let’s start with introductions. My name is Tor..Sir Tormund Ellis. I am a knight of Meridell. I’ve dealt with foul magic in the past, and if that’s what we’re dealing with now, I will put forth all my might to thwart it!”

Ylana rolled her eyes at the sudden pomp the Lupe carried himself with as he gave his introduction.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sir Tor,” the blue Gelert said. “My name is Bruno. I don’t have quite so much to claim, I live in Neovia with my family.”

“Judge Hog, at your service!” the hero announced.

“I have THE most complete set of Usukis!” squealed the Cybunny in a blue dress. “Like you wouldn’t even believe it! No one else can match my collecting skills!”

“Brucey B is the name!” spoke up a lime green Bruce with a pair of circular glasses and a bright blue shirt. “Cards are my game! Not much of a fighter myself, but so long as I’ve got my lucky coin, things tend to work out right!”

“And I….” announced a starry Kau in a pointed hat, “am Kauvara! One of Neopia’s most esteemed magical marketeers! Would anybody like a potion?”

“I wouldn’t mind one,” Brucey B remarked after a brief pause.

“Wonderful! That will be 5,000 Neopoints!” the Kau chimed.

“Oh I uh...I left my Neopoints in my other shirt,” Brucey admitted sheepishly.

“No points, no potion!” Kauvara declared.


“I don’t know if now is really the time to be worried about Neopoints,” Bruno suggested/

Well, that may be the difference between you and I, for I am always worried about Neopoints!” Kauvara claimed. “And it just so happens, I run quite the lucrative business, I’m not going tg give that up now!”

“My name is Professor Werther,” introduced the Jubjub.

“Hey, I’ve seen you,” Ylana accused. “You were with the resistance!”

“Well uh...yes...perhaps,” Werther replied. “I’m not...well as you can see, I’m not physically with them at the moment. You can lower your blaster, I’m no threat to you here.”

Ylana felt all eyes fall to her now.

“Hmph,” she remarked with a flip of her horns, “you should all be familiar with my name, Ylana Skyfire. And this has been real fun, but I don’t do the whole teamwork thing, not my style. So if none of you have any answers for me, I’ll just be on my way out of here…”

Ylana turned her back on the group. She barely got a step forward though before noticing something above her. Like a swarm high in the sky, something was moving towards the field.

“What is that!?” the royal Gelert gasped.

“Looks like trouble if you ask me!” Judge Hog stated.

As the swarm drew nearer, the group of Neopians could make out now that they were looking at hundreds of robots. Small and boxy in stature, the sleek grey machines had round heads and jets coming out of their stubby feet. Several were fitted with blasters in place of arms, for others claws, some even seemed to have drills attached to their sides.

“Okay...let’s not panic,” Brucey B cautioned. “Maybe...they’re nice robots. Maybe they’re just on their way to the robot convection.”

“DESTROY DESTROY DESTROY!” the robot army chanted.

“Well so much for that,” Brucey B sighed. “It’s never nice robots.”

The swarm dived down, straight for the group now, moving in synchronized motions.

“Stand back!” Judge Hog ordered, puffing out his chest. “Leave this to me!”

Judge Hog took to the air, slamming his fist into one of the oncoming machines. However, as the bot exploded with his fist, many more simply went around him, headed straight for their targets.

“You cowardly cogs!” Judge Hog cursed with a shake of his fist. “Come back and fight!”

“Aaah, protect the Usukis! Won’t somebody think of the Usukis!?” the Cybunny screamed as she tried to shelter her collection of dolls.

The robots began to open fire upon the band of heroes. Some reached land and began to charge by foot.

“Back, back I say!” Tor barked as he swung his sword from left to right.

“Oh this is bad, this is so bad, we’re doomed, we’re so very doomed!” sobbed the Gelert prince.

As multiple robots surrounded the prince, Kauvara raised her star-tipped wand.

‘Abra-Kau-Dabra!” she chanted and waved her want in the air.

Suddenly, colorful bubbles flowed from the tip of the star. The robots caught inside found themselves trapped and floated off into the sky.

“I’m still alive...I’m still alive!” the Gelert squealed in relief.

Bruno tried delivering a punch, but as his fist struck the metallic head, he only ended up hurting his knuckles. The robot spun its head around and glared at Bruno with glowing red eyes.

“Ah...my mistake,” Bruno remarked helplessly.

With a swift kick, the Techo Master knocked off the head of the attacking robot, causing it to fall to the ground.

“Thank you sir,” Bruno said with a nod.

“Mmm...true strength may be found, not in one’s power, but in knowing one’s limits,” the Techo imparted to Bruno, before spinning around and piercing another robot with a well placed punch.

“Okay, I will try to work on that,” Bruno promised.

Ylana had both her blasters firing gleefully. She got a sense of satisfaction in finally getting the chance to inflict damage with reckless abandon. One of the drill bots came up behind her though, undetected and ready to strike. It met the cold steel of Tor’s blade and was knocked back.

“Back off, I don’t need rescuing,” Ylana huffed. “Least of all from you!”

“You’re welcome,” Tor simply replied, raising his sword once more and charging.

“Abra-Kau-Vara, Abra-Kau-Pocus, Abra-Kau-Winkle!” Kauvara recited, each with a flick of her wand that would transform her foes into a tree, a pumpkin, or a Slorg.

Judge Hog clutched one fallen robot and tossed it towards another. It bounced and ricocheted off others like a pebble skipped along the water. After much effort and carnage, the heroes remained, while the roots had been reduced to steaming rubble.

“Child’s play,” Ylana scoffed.

Brucey B waved a fin in front of the prince’s face and found him petrified stiff. The Bruce snapped his fin to try to break the Gelert from his frightened trance.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Bruno remarked. “What were those?”

“Looks to me like standard Sloth minions,” Werther noted. “If he’s involved in all this..well, that might explain something, though it does not leave me feeling reassured.”

“So Dr. Sloth kidnapped us all, dropped us in the middle of nowhere...just so he could unleash his robot army on us?” Tor surmised. “It makes no sense...why?”

“Mmm..” the Techo Master remarked, closing his eyes. “Even with the finest paints, the most delicate of brushes cannot paint true reality. Open your eyes.”

“Can someone tell me what in Fyora’s name this guy is rambling about?” Ylana groaned.

“Ah yes yes, I can try, I’ve done a year of Cryptic Riddle Interpretation at the Neopian Academy,” Werther offered. “Ahem...I believe he is speaking to the element of illusion. What appears to be one thing...and in fact is quite another.”

“Great, that helps us how?” Ylana asked.

“I uh...well let’s see,” Werther remarked, taking in his surroundings, “Mmm...yes...oh...aha!”

“Well?” Ylana waited for answers.

“Those trees...look at them, it’s the same pattern...tall, short, short, average, short...tall,” Werther noted. “And on it goes...never changing.”

“Oh yeah, I guess you’re right,” Brucey B agreed, “But what does that mean…”

“It means...we’re in a world of design,” Werther deduced. “Someone has made a lot of effort here, but...the seams can be seen. Nothing here is actually...real.”

“But I’m real,” the Prince said as he felt his gowns. “I’m definitely real, right?”

“And I’m real,” Brucey B added.

“My Usukis are real!” the Cybunny announced.

“And I am certainly real,” Judge Hog declared.

‘Okay okay we’re all real, we get it!” Ylana snapped. “So much for that idea!”

“Mmm…” spoke up the Techo Master once more.

“Oh here we go,” Ylana groaned in anticipation.

“Pet that dreams does not know they dream,” the Master stated. “Pet that wakes...cannot know for sure, they are not but in a dream.”

“Fascinating, truly fascinating!” Werther exclaimed. “Could in fact all of us simply be copies of an original? Made for this simulated world?”

“Absolutely not,” Ylana scoffed. “I’m Ylana Skyfire and that’s that.”

“And yet, you cannot recall how you got here, can you?” Werther pointed out.

Ylana grimaced.

“Memory spells exist,” she pointed out. “Or maybe I just hit my head, who knows.”

“Hm…if only there was some way...ah,” Werther mused before turning to the Cybunny Collector. “You there, could you please tell me your name?”

“”I collect Usukis!” the Cybunny gushed. “I have every one, straight off the shelves!”

“Yes, good for you, but that’s not what I asked,” Werther pointed out.

“Oh?” the Cybunny replied in confusion.

“I asked, what is your name,” Werther repeated.

“I collect…..Usukis…” the Cybunny echoed again, this time catching herself before finishing. “Why did I say that?”

“Yes, it’s as I thought…” Werther said with a shake of his head.

“I...I have a name!” the Cybunny insisted defiantly. “It’s...it’s...I collect Usukis, straight...what!? No! I...my name is...my name...I collect Usukis, straight off...NO! I…..I don’t have a name!? Why don’t I have a name!? Why don’t I have a name!?”

The Cybunny dropped to her knees in tears.

“What is my name!?” she cried. “What is happening!?”

***

In a dark room, lined with smoky violet drapes, and hanging wires alike, a sinister group loomed. In the center of the room was a glowing purple cloud. Gazing into the cloud, one could watch a display of the heroes in the field as they came to their concerning realization. A tall Dark Faeries with deep purple robes and flowing hair to match gazed intently at the enchanted cloud. A wry smile curled upon her wicked lips.

“So, they’ve arrived at last,” remarked Jhudora.

“Indeed!” said another booming voice.

Dr. Sloth stepped forward, dressed in his draping black and red cape, and smirking devilishly.

“And surely my robotic army has already made short work of them!” he boasted.

“Hardly,’ the Faerie scoffed. “Your precious army is nothing but useless rubble now.”

“Bah, I’ll send forth another wave,” Dr. Sloth announced. “And another, and another!”

“Your robots are all the same, so very...breakable,” Jhudora said with a humorless laugh. “What we need for this is magic.”

“Oh don’t give me that,” Dr. Sloth scoffed. “You faeries act like your magic can do anything, but I’ve seen the truth. It is limited, and depleted far too soon. With science, though, I shall achieve new horizons, of endless power!”

“Such arrogance,” Jhudora said with a shake of her head. “Your blind hubris is the reason you’ve never conquered Neopia.”

“Heh,” came a third voice.

Jhudora and Sloth both glanced back to a green, almost sickly appearing Green Blumaroo wearing a crown and dusty green gown.

“Something funny to you?” Dr. Sloth sneered.

“Heh,” King Roothless laughed again. “I always get amused by those of a lower intellectual degree, bickering about such trivial matters.”

“Lower intell--listen here, you!” Dr. Sloth snapped, pointing an accusatory finger at the Blumaroo. “My name is Dr. Sloth, you hear? Doctor! That means that I have an education! I am one of the greatest evil minds Neopia has ever seen!”

“Heh,” Roothless cackled for the third time. “Education and intellect are often mistakenly conflated...but don’t always go hand in hand.”

“Gentlemen,” Jhudora interjected. “Let us go back to focusing on what matters...destroying those pesky heroes before they get any closer.”

“Now that is a plan I can get behind!” Dr. Sloth exclaimed.

“Should be fun,” Roothless added.

A brooding dark blue Kougra approached with steady steps. In his paws he presented a large, steaming mug.

“Your coffee, oh great leader,” the Kougra offered monotonous.

“How dare you interrupt me!?” Dr. Sloth accused with rage. “Have I not been clear!? My evil genius is not to be interrupted by such meaningless matters as...ooh coffee, don’t mind if I do!”

Sloth grabbed the mug and took a large gulp, despite the high temperature of the drink.

“Very good, sir,” the Kougra remarked with a nod.

“But don’t think this gets you off the hook,” Dr. Sloth said, “you...whoever you are!”

“Commander Gormous, sir,” the Kougra answered, with the same creaking steadiness of someone who had repeated the same words many times before.

“Who?” Dr. Sloth asked.

“Your loyal servant,” Gormous clarified.

“Mhm,” Sloth replied, unconvinced. “Well get on out of here! Don’t you have other evil tasks you should be doing!?”

“Yes sir,” Gormos replied before departing.

‘“I swear I have never seen that guy before,” Dr. Sloth promised to Jhudora and Roothless..

“Well next time make sure he brings me a latte as well,” Jhudora demanded.

“Now, where were we?” Sloth asked,

“Destroying those pesky heroes,” Roothless pointed out.

“Ah yes, soon..they shall face the true forces of evil!” Dr. Sloth exclaimed. “Ah ha ha ha ha!”

“Eh he he he he,” laughed Roothless.

“Oooh ha ha ha,” Jhudora contributed.

“Ah ha…” Dr. Sloth finished off. “My evil laugh was the best, just for the record.”