Neopia's Real World Equivalents
Whenever I think of writing stories for Neopets, I always think of the world, because I love world-building. A lot of the lands are based after stuff in the real world, like Lost Desert is based off of Ancient Egypt and Altador is based off of Greece, etc. So I thought, to add some realism and fun to any stories I might write, I could base all the Neopets lands off of real countries. It won't be an exact copy, of course, but it would be great to take away a lot of the customs and traditions of these real worlds and add them into Neopian lands, don't you think? Here's what I've thought of so far:
- Altador: Greece (of course)
- Neopia Central: America (New York in specific) -- this is one I made up completely on my own. Why, you may ask? Because when I thought of it, I thought that NC would be like America where people of all different kinds of backgrounds and from all around the world would come and live. I like the idea that it was a new place that people immigrated to for jobs, just as they did with America back in the day. It's just one of the ideas that the more you think about it, the more it makes sense!
- Brightvale: Victorian England -- Both Meridell and Brightvale are very similiar but I wanted some way to distinguish them. They're both European, of that I have no doubt, but which country and what era? I once thought to maybe make them both different eras of England, like Meridell could be Middle Ages-esque while Brightvale is more like during the Renaissance, but I wasn't sold on the idea. My most recent idea is to keep Brightvale as England (and it would totally be Victorian, with gas lighting and carriages) while Meridell is...
- Meridell: Scotland -- I can't go too in-depth simply because I don't really know a lot about Scotland. Which is to say, next to nothing. My main point of interest is England 1880-1930. But from what I've heard my mom tell me about Scotland and also what I've seen in Brave, I like the idea. It fits the kind of warrior-like atmosphere of Meridell, while Brightvale is more subdued and intellectual. This is subject to change.
- Roo Island: Australia -- another one I made up from scratch. A bit wierd, I admit, but there's not much about Roo Island, except that it's this happy-happy-joy-joy place where Blumaroos live and they play games. They'd totally be gambling addicts! It could be part of the culture, that EVERYONE gambles. Anyway, they're both islands (well, sort of) so I thought... you know.
- Shenkuu: Japan -- another no-brainer, like do I even need to explain?
- Lost Desert: Arab -- visual-wise, Lost Desert is imitating Ancient Egypt but there are aspects of general Arab stuff, and it was also highly influenced by the Disney movie, Aladin. A beggar in the streets wearing a belly dancing outfit? Really? But anyway. So I figured, I don't really think it would be anything in particular, just the Arab world in general. Distinguishing Qasala and Sakhmet is a great idea but I don't really know which one would be which, seeing as how neither city has any distinguishing features. Maybe base them off of different eras? Since Qasala only recently 'appeared'? I prefer the idea of making them different countries, though. Syria and Lebanon are close together and are allied, as far as I know, and even have similiar accents. Maybe those two? But what era? Needs more research.