Notable Neopians: Cheesy (coco6468)

Without further ado, let’s hear from Cheesy themselves!

    1. Could you give us a brief introduction to Faellie Tales for those that might not have read it?

Faellie Tales is a silly little comic series showing the daily shenanigans of silly little Faellies and their silly little adventures. We have Lily the outgoing, happy Faellie; and Hawthorn the grumpy, hesitant Faellie. Lily loves to have fun and can be reckless at times, but she is simply a Faellie living her life to the fullest. And she drags Hawthorn into her adventures, who is the more levelheaded of the two (he is more of a loner though).

Faellie Tales is a slice of life, episodic comic with a lot of potential. It is a simple series, but I think that is its charm. Currently, I introduced a new character--Daisy. I'm excited to see what kind of character she develops into!

2. Faellie Tales only started a short while ago. What inspired you to start the series?

I wanted both Neopian Times avatars for a long time, and I thought now is the time to get started! A lot of these ideas have been developed years ago, but I didn't have the time or the courage to start drawing comics.

As to how Faellie Tales came about... Things like composition, dynamic storytelling, panelling, perspectives, and backgrounds--I'm not really good at these things. I'm also not good at drawing regular Neopets or furry creatures in general. But I love Faellies, and I doodle them a lot. And thus, a bunch of ideas got condensed down to fit the simplistic narrative following the daily lives of a few Faellie friends!

I don't plan on stopping Faellie Tales when I get both of the avatars, though. I might run out of ideas and take a break, but inspiration can hit at the weirdest times, and I'll pick up my pen again.

3. What's been the best part about making the series so far?

Drawing the various silly faces of Lily! I love drawing Faellie paws. Their big floofy ears are adorable to draw. Faellies are just really fun creatures to doodle. I really like drawing!

4. I know that some ongoing comics struggle with missing a publication or two. Have you experienced this and if so, how do you deal with it?

It's interesting this question is asked. At first, the story was entirely different. We were supposed to see Hawthorn at a Petpet adoption centre that Lily visits (with Spillaine), and Lily right then and there decides that Hawthorn has to be her best friend. The end to that arc would have been Hawthorn being adopted by Yuyami into the family. And then Lily's backstory would publish in the June 16th "Petpet Theme" issue, showing why she was so eager to give Hawthorn a home.

Alas, I picked the wrong time to submit the first comic ("Illusen Theme" issue), and it was not accepted. This threw off the cadence of the entire story, and I really, really wanted Lily's backstory to be in the June 16th issue. So I threw out the entire five-comic arc, and just had Hawthorn already be adopted. I rewrote the arc to be more standalone (episodic) where I establish Hawthorn's slow acceptance that he WILL participate in Lily's adventures and that resistance is futile.

To end this rambling and to actually answer the question: Yes I experienced this, and I had to improvise a solution after prioritizing what I wanted. I could have easily rewritten the last comic of the arc to be Hawthorn-centric for the June 16th issue, but I prioritized Lily here to give her character mode depth.

5. What, if any, advice do you have for an aspiring Neopian Times comic artist?

Pick up a pen and start drawing! Have an idea? Put it down on paper, and give it a little bit of thought on how you want to tell the story. Storyboard the flow of the story first with pen and paper. Characters can be stick figures and the background can just be amorphous shapes: What truly matters is to get the story down on paper where the flow is smooth and the dialogue makes sense.

To get better at drawing, you need to start drawing. Don't worry about mistakes and absolutely do not compare yourself to other artists. Drawing and publishing a comic takes courage, and I applaud that. Be open to constructive criticism and do not be afraid to seek feedback, and absolutely do use references when drawing something you're not familiar with.

6. Do you have a favourite memory of your time on Neopets? An achievement or random event that surprised you maybe?

My memories of Neopets are scattered about, some bad and many good. It was pretty cool to achieve All-Star in Altador Cup, but it's an experience I do not want to go through again, haha!

I guess one aspect of Neopets that set the stage for the rest of my life is learning CSS/HTML. That first user lookup I made myself? It was not very good, but I made it myself from scratch. I was proud of it. It made me explore careers that required technical aspects, instead of avoiding them altogether.

7. Which of your Neopets is your favourite? (Don't worry, we won't tell them.)

NoooOOooooOOOO don't make me piiiiiccckkkk.

Spillaine will always hold a special place in my heart. My first painted pet. Back in my days, earning Neopoints was pretty hard, and I worked really hard to get that Stripped PB! Though, she is hard to customize, and I don't know how to develop her character and story.

Out of all of my customisation I completed, I love Atheirys' the most. Royalgirl Faerie Shoyru crosspaint is just gorgeous, and so purple and majestic! Her name is a misspelling of Etheirys.

8. What's your all-time favorite painted Petpet?

An unpainted Faellie, hands down. I guess a Fire Kazeriu is pretty cool too. Faerie Snowbunny and Faerie Feepit are really cute too. Water Juma too! I have one on Hystelle. I'm waiting patiently for a Fire Juma. Still waiting, years later... But yes, an unpainted Faellie.

9. Do you have a current goal for yourself on the site?

I am dedicated to getting Nyniaan to 900/600/600 HSD. She used to be my lab rat, and it took me FOREVER to get her to a trainable state. In fact, that was only at the end of June. Granted, I took a lot of breaks in between.

10. What keeps you coming back to Neopets in Y24?

I haven't developed stories and lore for my Pets yet. And there are still avatars I don't have. Nyniaan isn't 900/600/600 HSD yet. I've recently gotten into NC trading, and I don't want to miss out on cute items.

11. Is there anything exciting you'd like to share? An NT series by a friend that's in publication, a completed gallery or dream pet, or a new project of your own?

Shoutout to all the amazing artists and writers out there who still make Neopian Times possible! Neopets is a very nostalgic place. Here's to all the years ahead of us, and to many Neopian Times issues to come!

    Thank you so much for sharing a few minutes with us. I’m sure you’ve already read a Faellie Tales comic or two in your Neopian Times experience but if this is the first you’ve heard of it then please follow this article with your first foray into these adorable Faellie’s adventures.

If you have a neighbour you think is a particularly Notable Neopian, send me a Neomail to nominate them for an interview! Any user of merit is welcome!