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Your questions answered!


Read the answers to the most commonly asked Neopets questions this week in the Editorial section. Each week the most popular questions will be answered by one of the creators of Neopets, so keep checking back to stay updated.


Quote of the Week


A song abruptly brings her back to her surroundings. She can't ignore the sorrowful notes permeating the low background noises. Maggie stands to follow the sound which leads her towards the exit of the building. Her hooves click against the hardwood flooring, and she feels a sense of growing panic that shouldn't belong to her. Why would she panic? She's not in any danger. She heaves against the exiting doors. Were they always this heavy? The first thing she notices outside is how she can see her breath puff into the air. Maggie quickly looks up. The sky appears washed out in grey. It's cold and dreary. She notices white-capped mountains in the distance when she ventures out further. She slowly lowers her head and looks at the snow-covered ground. No hoofprints. She looks behind her. There is no longer a door to the building. No evidence of her steps in the powdery snow. In fact, nothing and no one made an impression in the snow.


An Interview with Darrel Latch



Thank you for joining us for another installment on our ongoing interview series. The Eyes on Central has selected and spoken to a wide variety of figures within Neopia dubbed culturally important, many of whom are paramount to the furthered development of the arts. Our writing team, overseen by Senior Editor Von Smubenduffle, ensures you the highest of quality and only the best in our guests. Please enjoy our latest entry to the interviewer series, with acclaimed art filmmaker, Darrel Latch. Darrel Latch is a filmmaker who grew up in Neopia Central. His career in the realm of film launched after 7 years of painting related projects around Haunted Woods. The series that launched him into the realm of cinema specifically was the paint-based animations called, “The Sick Cries of Several Sick Painted Pets”, a macabre surrealist piece where various paintings move in animated sequence while a distant alarm sounds in the background.

The Surreal Recipes of the Cooking Pot



Neopia is a world filled with surreal ideas. A city of magical beings that once floated on clouds, haunted woods inhabited by grotesque creatures, cities that are underwater and underground, and in the sky there’s a space station, moon colony, and a satellite that causes random events. But those are some of the more obvious examples; Neopia has plenty of more subtle surrealism. Take for example an unassuming cauldron on a tropical island which possibly has the strangest property of all: fusing objects together. I’m of course talking about Jhuidah’s Cooking Pot on Mystery Island, and I have a list of some of the odder recipes that can be mixed. Get your aprons on and mad scientist goggles fastened as we check: “Mixing with the Cooking Pot takes knowledge and finesse, Who knows if you’ll end up with something surreal or a mess!“ However just mixing the recipes together isn’t enough to satisfy my curiosity...

An Eggs-istential Interview with the Giant Omelette


During my time in Neopia, I have been fortunate enough to experience many weird and wonderful things. I have seen old fruits disappear and new fruits appear in their place during Gadgadsbogen. I have seen a tree that hands out an assortment of donated presents, a smile upon its trunk and an odd assortment of sinister ghosts appearing amongst its branches. I have seen a haunted creature of muck and slime with a bottomless pit for a stomach that demands...

Other Stories
"The Dream at Illmoor" by herdygerdy
I did not perform exceedingly well in my final Neoschool examinations. I suppose, you might say, that was the cause of it. The reason that I was drawn to that dreadful place all those years ago. It does little good to dwell on the possibilities of what could have been, but I find in those quiet, empty moments of twilight, my mind will think of nothing else. The dream of that awful, haunted night will stay with me forever. Perhaps by relating my account, I might be free of such thoughts, but I have little hope of that after so long. With little prospects in Neopia Central and parents who were judgmental in that gentle, unassuming way about my academic failure, I took whatever opportunity to get out of that stinking, polluted city that I could. It was a fashion in those days for young folk to take roles in companies as door to door salesmen. It was a time before Neovision had properly taken hold in the populace, and lies - or rather, exaggerations - about a product’s virtues were easily sold on the doorstep. Neopia Central had only just opened its borders to the boundless lands that lay beyond. The entire globe was an unbridled frontier of opportunities. I gained employment as such a salesman for Fawcett Manufacturing, the company that makes the patented E-Z Brand of consumable goods.

"The Celestial Egg of the Tyrannian Plateau" by deadpoolio809
Have you ever wondered how Tyrannia came to be? How the geography was shaped? How it developed as a society long before any established history? There is a tale that borders on fantasy and reality, told by seers and prophets that describe the events that preceded its discovery by modern Neopia. One that might just explain how the plateau, canyons, culture, and lush forest came to be. Tyrannia was originally a barren land, its expansive rocky plains broken up only by a few volcanoes and hills of igneous rock formed through tectonic activity. The scorching heat of the sun, combined with the regular flow of lava that brought heat from below the surface of Neopia made for a fairly inhospitable land with no drinkable water, plants, or animals that would be able to help support life. However, that is not to say that there was a complete lack of visitors. The volcanoes and rocky mountains did attract the odd merchants and travellers that sought to make a living off resources that the volcanoes offered. After a large eruption was observed, regular travellers knew that the land would stay quiet for a while. Opportunistic merchants and explorers would then visit the area in caravans of wagons to gather volcanic soil and mine the volcanoes for ores that they brought to the surface. However, as many precautions as these travellers might have...

"The Nightmare" by _brainchild_
Late one morning, when Sellescha the Pastel Kacheek woke up after a night of much-needed rest, she soon realized that something was amiss. Instead of the usual sunny rays beaming through her window, she was greeted by a cloudy cover of gloom. Also, this apprentice of magic sensed a strange presence throughout her Neohome, and it wasn’t a friendly one. What she sensed was dark magic. She immediately tried to find her sister, Maldice the Stealthy Draik, to ask her if she knew more about the surrounding spell. Maldice was a sorceress who was especially well-versed in magic, particularly dark magic, so she would definitely be able to identify a cause. However, much to Sellescha’s chagrin, Maldice was not awake. It wasn’t like Maldice to sleep in. Worried, Sellescha knocked on the door to Maldice’s room. When no one answered, she anxiously opened the door and saw her sister asleep on the bed. “Maldice, wake up. There’s something wrong.” Unfortunately, there was no sign of awakening from the Draik. “Maldice, wake up!” shouted Sellescha worriedly. Still no response. “WAKE UP!!!” yelled Sellescha in a shrill voice. Yet Maldice remained in a deep slumber that was by no means peaceful. She started to writhe in her bed with her eyes squeezed shut, muttering mostly unintelligible words. “The Betrayer... Spare me...” was all that Sellescha could...


thE VoId iS ALL


This week's dimension is graciously bestowed to you by: THE VOID
 
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Great stories!


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Jhudora and Illusen's Surreal Adventure
Jhudora and Illusen find themselves trapped in a strange land...

by smart100000

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An Interview with Darrel Latch
Please enjoy our latest entry to the Eyes on Central interviewer series, with acclaimed art filmmaker, Darrel Latch.

by homsar_eggplant

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The Surreal Exhibition
Have you ever felt that your painting was staring back at you? No? Well, now you have! Collab with fishmas and sunbathr

by acara_575

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Top 14 Surreal Items to Kickstart Your Collection
Luckily for all you intrepid collectors of the inexplicable, I’ve combed through the deepest databases of the Space Station, spelunked into the most ancient of slimy tombs, and poured through endless sandy scroll tombs to compile a handy starter list of some of the most surreal artifacts in the land.

by yellowflower7

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PrePAWSterous: Surreal Idea
How do baby pteris even eat?

by pau_meow



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