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PET CENTRAL - Neopia if full of talented artists, writers, and poets. A relatively
new craze that has been sweeping through Neopia is original, or as they are
also sometimes called, unique pets.
Many pet owners put a lot of time into creating an original design or look
for their pet that they are proud of. We have fire pets with blue, green, purple
or even black flames. We have pets that possess the tails, ears or wings of
a different species. We have pets that are the proud owners of fabulous and
magnificent wings of all types, dragon, Faerie and eagle style.
Flames are easily the most popular of these designs, I’ve seen white Lupes
with blue flames licking up their paws and shadowed Kougras with purple flames.
If used properly, and with moderation, they can give a pet a very mystic allure.
Wings are also quite common, even if the pet’s current paint job doesn’t come
with wings. Some popular ones are leathery dragon wings with wicked curves and
spikes, or the beautiful feathery bird wings, which come in all colors ranging
from the basics such as white and brown to the extremes of pink and purple.
Other popular quirks are symbols or markings that decorate the pet’s pelt,
or small clothing add-ons like hats or amulets.
Most unique designs of a pet tie in and collaborate with the pet’s personality.
For example, if your pet is dark and evil, then green or red flames against
a black pelt and large, demonic dragon wings would be better suited to the pet
than feathery angel wings and blue flames on a white pelt. Unless you wanted
your "evil" pet to have a comical air about them, of course…
While unique and original pet designs are great fun to create, they can also
spawn heated debates that end in long running grudges and feuds. What I am speaking
of, is the fickle case of imitation.
A while ago, I decided to make my Lupe look a bit more original by changing
him into a "Forest" Lupe. I switched around his coloration a little, giving
him brown fur in place of the cream, and changing the tips of his paws and ears
to black. For good measure, I also added a handsome forest hat. By the end,
I was quite proud of my design and even wrote a story about it. That was a mistake.
Suddenly, everyone began to create forest Lupes that looked exactly like Mordegan.
I’ll admit, at first, I was quite flattered. I was even beginning to fantasize
about a real forest paint brush. However, after the twentieth Lupe had been
given a forest pelt, I began to get quite annoyed. It was my design, and everyone
was copying it. Suddenly, Mordegan didn’t even seem unique anymore. The imitations
and clones had destroyed all the fun of owning an original pet.
Mordegan wasn’t even the first instance of originality imitation. After looking
around for a bit, I began to see even more cases similar to my own. Owners who
had spent a large amount of time constructing unique pets, would have all of
their originality quashed after giving their pet even the smallest amount of
publicity.
But fear not! For those of you who have trouble thinking up an original design,
I have created this simple, five-step guide to creating the most unique pet
on the block.
Step One, changing your pet’s overall color
I don’t mean something like spotted to striped. I mean something like teal,
magenta, burgundy, icy blue or gray. Something not normally found in Neopia.
You may not want to change your pet’s entire color, just certain parts of it
such as its tail, paws or belly.
Step Two, Special Markings
This is one of the most fun steps. You get to release your creative demons
for this one. Decide if you want your pet to have any distinctive markings or
oddities, such as spots, flames, stripes or stars. Hieroglyphs decorating the
shoulders, tails and paws are also quite popular nowadays. But make sure that
if you’re going to add markings, do so in moderation. Too much of a good thing
always equals disaster and a very odd looking pet.
Step Three, Add-ons and Accessories
In this step, you can select some little accessories for your pet. Wings are
probably the most popular and common, but the exact style is up to you. As mentioned
before, the type of wing often reflects the pet’s personality and compliments
the other colors or markings.
Small articles of clothing are also quite fun, such as hats, bandannas, collars,
eyeglasses or shades and footwear. Once again, pay attention to the amount of
add-ons that you add on.
Step Four, Other Oddities
Now that you’ve changed your pets pelt color, markings and accessories, you
can change its actual anatomy. For example, maybe you’ve always liked Usul ears,
yet never adopted one because you like everything else about the Kacheek. So,
give your Kacheek Usul ears! Give your Lupe Gelert ears; spice up your Draik
with a Zafara Tail and jazz up your Krawk with some Eyrie paws. It all depends
on which parts you like the best.
Step Five, Publicize!
Now that you’ve created your dream pet, present it to Neopia! Draw some pictures
of your original pet, add a description of it to its petpage, and even write
a story about it to The Neopian Times. How exactly DID your pet get a smiley
face tattoo on its dragon wing? Maybe it was once a labrat of Sloth. Now if
that’s not a good plot, I don’t know what is.
In conclusion, creating a unique pet is a lot of fun, but copying one isn’t.
In the end, all you will have gained is the spite of the original creator and
an unoriginal pet design. You will feel a lot more satisfaction and pride if
you put in that extra effort to design your own original pet, and even more
if you draw pictures, or write stories about him or her. Just imagine how great
you’d feel if your original pet won the pet spotlight! Or, if you want even
more people to see your unique pet, you could design a fabulous site for him
or her and then enter it into the site spotlight. Now wouldn’t that be cool?
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but when it comes
to idea theft, I’m sure that any artist would prefer a friendly Neomail.
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