T. K. Arispe

Today's writing notes:

Working on: Shadow Play

3,700 words in and I'm feeling fine! One of the fun challenges about writing Neopia Central is to try to figure out the technology and infrastructure in a land that superficially resembles early 20th-century cities, but without electricity or motor vehicles. I don't want to solve everything with magic because I feel like that's taking the easy way out, and I like representing Neopia Central as a melange of Neopian cultures--I imagine they've also imported some technology from the Virtupets Space Station and Moltara, for example.

When trying to find an acceptable Neopian equivalent for a certain technology, I usually first ask myself, "Did a non-electrical equivalent for this exist at any point?" If the answer is yes, I see if there's any way I can make that technology more efficient in a Neopian way (such as with magic, Petpets, etc.). If the answer is no, it means I get to make something up off the top of my head. :)

Also this particular part just cracked me up and I wanted to share it:

“Howdy!” Blynn said, waving at them as she tugged Terra toward them. “Why are you talking about eating rocks?"

The Kougra gave them an odd look, and the Kau laughed. “Not rocks,” she said, “rock. Kiko Lake rock. It’s a type of candy. I’m going there on vacation next week.”

 “Ooooh, right,” Blynn said. “I like their rock too. It has a good crunch to it.” She pointed to her own fangs. “I get kinda bitey sometimes.”

My headcanon is that Zafaras are basically weasel-dragons, which means they do have fangs.

That's all for now!