#the-wolfbats

[adobe-outdesign]

Based on .... recent TVW events...what do you think of Fyora's design? It's the only one I think is truly very ill fitting, yet iconic.

Fyora's design has been more-or-less the same since the earliest days of the site: pink with a blue tiara-like crown and simple pointed wings with a diamond shape at the tip. Her hair gained stripes over time and the bands on her arm sometimes vary slightly in count, but otherwise, it's the same. I think the only update was during the Viacom era, where they updated her to have pink sclera (as was the standard for faeries at the time).

As for the design itself, it's...alright. Like, there's nothing wrong with it; it looks pretty and the monochromatic color scheme works well. But I think my main issue with her is that she doesn't really feel that royal, if that makes sense. She has the same face as all the other faeries and the only thing that screams "queen" about her (outside of the staff) is her crown.

I choose to blame this issue on her cheekbones, which were lost sometime in the early 2000s and never recovered. Give her her face back cowards!! First, the cheekbones help make her not look the same as all the other faeries, and secondly, they make her look older and more wise, which I think helps her vibe immensely. The missing cheeks in her newer art make her look like she's a 20-year-old fashion model rather than a ruler (faeries don't age like people but you get the point).

I also wish there was more purple in there or something else more "regal". In general it feels like a lot more could've been done with her dress or even her rather plain wings to make her feel like a ruler and less like a dress-up-doll, if that makes sense.

So basically, I think the design, visually, is solid and doesn't have many flaws. It's just that it doesn't really feel like it fits Fyora's character or purpose or really reflects on what her deal is. It's just a pretty standard pretty faerie design, nothing less, nothing more.

[ainwonderlnd]

Thank you great stump, wherever you are!

@the-wolfbats request

[christina-articulates]

@the-wolfbats replied to your photo: New addition to the bun head section of the shelf!...

wait where did you get HoloLeia so early from

I got her from EB Games, which is the Canadian Gamestop. They came out today!

[chassecroise]

wintermoth replied to your post “real talk, how many of you pronounce my username as chase cross when...”

I read it the French way XD

lolol as expected iwillalwaysbearealfan replied to your post “real talk, how many of you pronounce my username as chase cross when...”

It's actually a rough r, not pronounced w at all haha but that sound doesnt exist in english so it's impossible to write it down. I guess I read it right cuz I'm french?

haha yes you don’t count if you’re a native french speaker!! you know how how to say it naturally :^) adjit replied to your post “real talk, how many of you pronounce my username as chase cross when...”

I just see the familiar collection of letters and my brain autocorrects to "priya" at this point because it knows I can't pronounce chassecroise

amazing the-wolfbats replied to your post “real talk, how many of you pronounce my username as chase cross when...”

Guilty tbh

I KNEW IT a-crafty-lass replied to your post “real talk, how many of you pronounce my username as chase cross when...”

I think I read it as chay-say-cross

ooh that’s a new one haha! kwamikwami replied to your post “real talk, how many of you pronounce my username as chase cross when...”

If we're being really honest I always read it as "Cha-Say Cross-Ay"

LOLLLL it’s not too far off!

[adobe-outdesign]

Thoughts on the new coastal tokens on neopets?

Water has always been a tricky color because if you don't shade and capture the subtle details correctly, it falls apart completely. This means that the pet styles for it had to be really good, and they are...okay. Like the converted color, they're just kind of a mix of good-to-bad depending on the artist, and vary between "water", "blue pet with stripes", and "Jell-O".

I have noticed, however, that sometimes the pet styles look worse than the converted versions. This is usually because of A) a lack of contrast in colors, and B) the artists creating a striped pattern to the waves instead of creating a natural flow and cap. Look at the Kyrii above—while the pose is great and the anatomy looks better, the loss of contrast and the less realistic mane really don't do it any favors.

On the plus side, the poses are look pretty good. The very "flow-y" nature of water really gives the artists a lot to work with.

Favorite Species:

(Note: as with previous pet style reviews, this is primarily based on which colors were most improved over their converted designs.)

Bori: First, this is one of the styles that doesn't lose contrast; if anything, it gains some via some extra dark gradients. In addition, it also adds additional waves on the head, which really helps to fix the distracting space up there. The stripes are well placed enough and have enough transparency to feel properly water-y. And, most importantly, the pose is extremely cute.

Ixi: Again, another color that doesn't lose contrast and looks better overall. The darker areas and gradients really help make the design pop more, while the extra splashes on the head look really nice. This is further helped by a dynamic pose, better looking splashes, and a much cuter face. The only thing the converted version has over this is that the tail gradient looks more natural.

Aisha: The water Aisha style has a very lovely pose, flowing in a crescent shape but having the upper body turn to add a bit of extra depth. The water patterning on the limbs is well done, but I'm mostly including it here for the fancy "A" collar, which is now splashing and clearly made of water instead of just a normal "A" like on the original.

[adobe-outdesign]

Have you reviewed Kaia the NeoCash / Shenkuu Faerie?

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of this one. Shenkuu's always had this thing going on where it's just sort of the "eastern" land, resulting in it being an uncomfortable combo of two very different cultures (China and Japan; sometimes they'll throw a little Korea in there as well). I think it generally leans more towards Chinese, so having a faerie based on Japanese sakura (cherry blossoms) is a bit weird, even if it's not unprecedented.

Even putting that aside however, I don't think her design's even that great from a Japan-only perspective, as there's a few things that are off—for example, kimonos are always tied left-over-right, but Kaia's is right-over-left, which is the fold used for the deceased. I can't really comment further as obviously I'm not Asian, but it feels like more research should've gone into this design.

Visually, she's alright—I do like the pink and white palette and the way the black of her sash matches her hair, providing contrast. I do also like the detail of the wings being cherry blossoms at least in isolation. However, she's also more realistically proportioned than most faeries are, which is jarring. Compare her to Fyora:

Faeries usually have unrealistic proportions, with very big eyes, large mouths, and only semi-defined noses. Her anatomy's fine in isolation, but when next to other faeries it's hard to ignore. She also lacks the colored sclera that many faeries have had since the Viacom era. Not all faeries have them so it's not the end of the world, but it was consistent in all updated designs at least for a little while.

Her design also has a bit too much detail in it—the kimono patterns and hair flowers are good examples of this. These could've very easily been simplified without losing anything in the design.

Here's a good fan redesign that makes her fit with the other faeries better while still keeping most of her unique qualities (though she might be a bit too old here, as she is supposed to be a teenager):

ugly neopets

fake kaia quest screenie i made!

So overall, not a terrible design in theory, but a questionable execution.

[adobe-outdesign]

I saw the post about helping that artist get the general idea of water down - What do you think about water neopets as a whole?

Water always felt like a logical choice for a Neopets' colour, as we already had fire (as well as magma) for years before this. It's also a unique concept—the closest thing we had before this was Maraquan, which was based on aquatic biology instead of making the Neopet literally just be water.

Visually, water pets usually have similar attributes—blue monotone coloration, areas that look like waves/breaking water, caustics (the patterning), etc.—but the way the elements are applied do manage to give each pet a unique flair.

The only real issue with this colour is that it's almost entirely based on how well the artists can render water. Don't get me wrong, all pet colours have good and bad art, but here there's nothing but the art here to back up a design if the water portrayal doesn't land.

Water was released after customization and currently has no styles, so there's no other art to talk about.

Favorite Species:

Zafara: The water Zafara is the best water pet, hands-down. The water rendering is extremely good here, and makes good use of extreme darks and extreme lights to both define the body and portray the water. Areas like the tail going from dark blue to white really capture the wave-like aspects, and the similar effect on the head "fur" also gets across a sense of transparency. Also, major bonus points for the standard Zafara ear spots being replaced here with air bubbles—that's a super nice touch.

Kyrii: The water Kyrii has a lot of aspects similar to that of the water Zafara (so much so that I feel like these might've been the same artist). Once again, the portrayal avoids being too flat and monotone by using extreme tints and shades to define the body, with the underbelly being lighter and the mane being perfectly portrayed as rushing white water. I would rank it slightly below the Zafara, but only because the mane waves feel just a little too contained.

Yurble: I do have one issue with the water Yurble which is that the underbelly and eye markings probably should've been a little lighter than they are—they blend together a lot as-is. The portrayal of the waves, however, is very good and has a great energy to it. The body also has a good sense of depth and dimension as well.

Least Favorite Species:

Flotsam: Remember when I said earlier that this colour is dependent on how well the artist can render water? Evidentially, this artist wasn't very good at it. In fact, it doesn't look like water at all, but rather a blue Flotsam with cracks all over it (except for the horn and beak, for some reason). The lack of rushing water for areas like the tail and dorsal fin also really stands out. Just a very bare-bones design with no real effort put into it.

[adobe-outdesign]

there's new tokens based on the Treasure Seekers (an old Neopets game)...the style is different than the others. what do you think?

Treasure Seekers has always had a completely different art style compared to mainline Neopets. I'm not personally into it (I don't tend to gravitate towards chibi styles in general), but it's plenty well-loved.