Issue 926 Discussion - Performing Arts Collab

[June Scarlet]

Issue 926 - Performing Arts Collab

There are dichotomous states that often govern our lives: push and pull, yin and yang, order and disorder. Life never stands still, so you are constantly oscillating among these states. Two key ones for me are consonance and dissonance; pleasantness and harshness. When things are consonant, everything seems right with the world, and everything is in its place. Dissonance is just the opposite, with the harshness jumping out at you. This doesn’t mean that we should avoid dissonance at all costs; to the contrary, we need both in life to feel fulfilled. If life was constantly consonant, we could never grow ourselves or learn. Dissonance helps push us to find consonance, and in turn, learn to live with occasional dissonance. This is exactly the essence of music—within the noise you are hearing is the constant battle of consonance and dissonance. In this way, it mirrors life itself.

-- luigilink

NTWF entries

Articles:
This Play Went off Without a Hitch Carolyn
The King in Emerald Review: An Aipoen Classic by homsareggplant
The Art of Battling Duke Pikachu
6 Underrated NC Wearables for Performing Pets Stephanie (swordlilly)
Aquamarine: Faerieland’s Hottest New Band Geo 🇺🇦 🌻
My Life's Consonance luigilink

Short Stories:
The Fat Lady Sings Herdy
Saskori and the Haunted Theater June Scarlet


Comics:
Performing Arts: Poetry bea and fishmas

Series:
A Hero's Journey: Masquarade Kat
Neopia Central: The Musical! RielCZ


And of course don't forget the Editorial.

If I missed you, let me know.

I decided to go ahead and start the thread now, so the discussion can start. Not all sections are filled in yet. I'll finish what I can tonight, and Carolyn will finish up tomorrow.

Edit: I think I added everyone, but feel free to message June or myself for any additional entries.

[June Scarlet]

Thank you for filling in the missing spots, Carolyn.

This issue turned out wonderful, good job everyone!

I'm going to try something Twillie suggested, and let people know that I'm interested in hearing about my short story, Saskori and the Haunted Theater. www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=583675&issue=926

I did have a friend on Neopets beta-read it, and it's already published, so I'm not looking for anything too deep, as I can't fix it anymore. I mostly just want to hear if you read it, and if so, if you enjoyed it.

I would also love theories and discussion on where you see Saskori stories going in the future.

Also a fun fact, at one point I considered making this a comic series, and I drew this scene to get the look and feel of what it'd be like down: cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/629392894150836231/782799815939325992/SPOILER_Saskori_in_the_Spotlight.png

[Twillie]

June Scarlet Just finished reading your story! The setting of potentially haunted theater is always a fun one, plus I'm a sucker for ghost hunting adventures, so the premise of this story immediately hooked my interest. I also like the dynamic of Saskori and her monster hunting team, especially the element of one of the members being supernatural themself. It had me kind of wonder how ghosts are viewed in this world, if Saskori's job involves sussing out creatures like ghosts like they're pests, yet is friends with Annabeth, who seems like a normal Neopian citizen aside from the ghostliness. Are ghosts normally viewed as people, or do most people view them as other? How does Saskori typically deal with hauntings when ghosts can act like normal people in this universe?

It definitely feels like there's more to Mel's story here, so I'm curious about whether she'll be revisited. The story of her grandfather and his theater is very one-sided right now, only coming from Mel's perspective, having me wonder just how he lost his theater and if was a theft like Mel asserts. Even if not, Saskori and team telling her to move on felt a bit dismissive, as they have as little detail as the audience does and may not fully understand how deep the situation is.

I did find their solution to getting Mel off the hook very amusing, though- If Saskori isn't careful, she could turn that act into an easy "solution" to other hauntings she's hired for xD (which also ties into the question of how ghosts work and are viewed by society here; having your ghost friend pretend to be a client's haunt could be an easy scam in Neopia, perhaps)

[June Scarlet]

Twillie I think the view of ghosts depend on the person, and is an aspect I meant to explore more, but forgot to. I wrote this whole story in a bit of a rush. For example, at the theater, ghosts are unwanted for several reasons, but the one I forgot to mention is that they get to watch the shows for free, which is a loss of revenue.

Really, I see the ghosts of Neovia more as a marginalized group. Most of them are truly harmless, there are a few that are harmful, but they are all viewed as pests at the best, and demonized at the worse.

I mean, what harm is a ghost watching a play? They aren't taking up seats. But the idea that they're taking away somehow from living Neovians is still prevalent. It could definitely be something to explore more of.

Meanwhile, you have Saskori, who considers herself a monster-tamer, as opposed to a monster hunter. Someone who thinks that all monsters can be tamed and reasoned with. When I think she'll eventually find that not all monsters can be tamed. She isn't as much of a ghost expert, but assumes that they're just as agreeable as any living person, which is in fact true.

Mel was intended to be an ally of Saskori by the end of the story, but Mel turned out to be a bit more stubborn than I expected. Mel will return, in fact, she's a real Neopet I adopted, Melandine, who I turned into a Christmas Vandagyre.

The inspiration for Mel's Grandfather losing the theater as motivation came from my own experience. When I was fifteen, a business that had been in the extended family was sold, so I quickly grabbed that. It wasn't stolen at all, but it felt a bit that way. I did not "haunt" the business in revenge, though.

Haha, yeah, ghost scams are probably common enough in Neovia, which would probably just feed into the ghost stereotypes there.

Thank you so much for reading my story!

[Liou]

Show? What show? by youi234
This was cute and fun! I enjoyed the sequence of the Lenny's poses and how the artist tackled bird anatomy in all those poses. The four different placements of the Aisha around the panels gave me an impression of zippy movement and fluttering, nice use of space.

One Supporter's Value by lolamartinez1
This one was very sweet and very true! I appreciated the expressions, the use of colour, the brightness brought by the yellow.

This Play Went off Without a Hitch by Carolyn
This felt very much like a fun mockumentary to me, from the interviews to the anonymous confessions of behind-the-scenes drama. The characters speaking mostly without interruption from an interviewer gave me the impression that I was hearing them speaking to a camera recording them. The descriptions of backtage equipment and props felt very true to life and reminded me of being backstage.
You have a very large cast of original characters here and gave them all distinct voices, just one paragraph of each being interviewed was enough for me to picture them through their voice.
Oh, Terry. I had forgotten Terry. But there is always a Terry. They're everywhere. ;u; The last-minute panic over Terry's absence is so, so true to life.
So glad that Queen Fyora is not that good at playing Queen Fyora on stage, that's priceless :3 And hey it's Melody! Hi Melody, precious bean~

Saskori and the Haunted Theater by June Scarlet
An intriguing, fun little mystery with my favourite monster tamer! *waves Saskori fanmerch*
I love how she bargains her way into the theater and how Nathan's got her back.
You set the scene nicely with the description of the theatre, it's an interesting space to work in. I like how Saskori reacts to the empty space in the theatre and enjoys it, it's a reminder that she is young, and unashamed of it, very wholesome.
The clues and the pieces of the puzzle were revealed in bit by bit, and dialogue was very conveniently cut off before certain reveals, and to me this felt very much like a Scooby-Doo or similar cartoon. The rational explanation and unmasking part, too.
The solution was beautifully clever, and it's delightfully fitting for this issue that the story ended with a performance, right on stage. Annabeth is a star. I like how each member of the gang got to play an important part in resolving this. Looking forward to more mysteries~

[June Scarlet]

Liou Thank you! It was fun to write, Saskori is such a fun character. I was hoping Melendine would be a friend to Saskori by the end of the story, but she was more stubborn than that. Still, she's an ally, at least, and after a few more adventures, who knows? They might be friends.