Emankcin got their homepage at Neopets.com

Hello guest welcome to my page! I'm Emankcin the ghost poogle. Once upon a time I was a tyrannian blumaroo, then I was zapped by Boochi, then I went to the secret laboratory. I was a chia for a long time. My mom gave me a sip of a transmogrification potion and I became a dastardly looking zafara. Life was good!

One day a giant meepit came to Neopia. We were not prepared!

Unlike most mutants, my zafara form was changed from a slouching claw bedecked mendicant into an underweight blue snuggle pie.

I was never fond of pie so I want back to the lab.

A few zaps and a ghost paint brush later I became the handsome creature you see today. I'm too busy to Rest In Peace!

Journal of the Ghost Poogle
these are just a few of the entries I've written since my afterlife began. One of them even made it into the Neopian Times.

Emankcin Episode #12: Guild Etiquette

Sounds stuffy, right? Nah, think of this as advice from beyond the grave.(straight talk from the ghost poogle)

So what does this really mean?
1) Just take some time with your posts. Think about what you want to express and how someone else might read it. You've heard the saying: Think before you speak? Same Idea.
(wow an outside Neopets application XD)

2) Keep chatspeak to a minimum.
Why?
Neopets has players from all over the world. That means lots of languages too! Slang, also called colloquialism, differs from place to place. Chat speak changes from week to week! We want everyone to feel included in our guild. Frustrated readers would lead to drama, and Subliminal Guild is a no drama place.
(for more information on drama please visit the Newbie Board...at your own risk)

3) Please avoid one word or subject only posts.
A subject of Hiya with a post of What's up isn't quite enough information.
(and then there are some people *cough*perdita*cough* who write entire essays on the board...that's not required)
Tell us how YOU are doing and what YOU've been up to,
and then add What's up.

These three tips will help keep our guild board friendly and legible.

If you'd like more information on board etiquette visit Cultured the Royal Lupe's petpage.

Episode #69 Acara Aquatic Festival : June 28th

In honor of the upcoming annual Acara Aquatic Festival, this month's Ghost Writer is dedicated to...(aw you already guessed).

The talented acaras are a feline-like Neopet. Their soft fur and natural playfulness have made them popular companions. Unlike the housecat, acaras are equally at home in the aquatic element as on land!

Employing a hunting and stalking technique has made acara successful small game hunters. Rumors tell of a traditional coming-of-age petpet hunt, but details have never been disclosed to outsiders. All I can say is: We may have discovered why meepits are so rare.

Acaras are most commonly found along the shores of lakes and the salty ocean coastlines. With their large ears they can detect muscles and crabs beneath the sand during low tides. Young acara hone their fishing skills in nearby tide pools until the day of the Bowla Moon!

Once a year towards the end of June, the bowla gather in huge schools about a mile offshore. The strange petpets prepare for the migration to raise their fry in oceanic trenches. Being felines, how could acara resist such an interesting and easy prey opportunity?!

As the sun sets the acara gather along the sand to watch the bowla flash in the moonlight. One by one the acara paddle out towards the swirling petpets. When enough acara are ready they surround a large group of bowla and dive!

Acara have sensitive eyes and keep them tightly closed when under water. You ask: Wait? So how do they catch any bowla? The muscular antenna on the crown of their heads, often confused for horns, are actually sensitive detectors that can sense the electrical impulses that flow through the ocean when their prey moves. A bowla floating calmly in the water may escape detection, but a busy congregation lures acara like kittens to catmint!

A hunting pride of acara will dive beneath the chosen school and quickly gulp petpets as they surge to the surface. Some acara have been seen to leap 10 feet out of the water at the end of a hunting foray! Many theories have been put forth to explain this unexpected turn of speed. No one seemed to be able to explain the phenomenon. Finally, after years of careful study by uncounted researchers, a freshman on summer vacation asked an acara how they do it.

A few days before each Bowla Moon the neopets arrange their diving teams and collect ballast stones. As they swim out to sea they carry the stones with their hind feet and employ the familiar dog-paddle swimming technique with their front feet. Once they are in position around the petpets they stop paddling and sink beneath the waves. When they sense they are below their school they release the stones and shoot toward the sky. Acara are just extremely buoyant!

Ah yes, that reminds me of the time at the pool when I tried to stand on a beach ball. Not this poogle's most graceful moment...Where was I?

Oh! So to celebrate the Acara Aquatic Festival you may want to give a special rock to your favorite acaran pal.

Happy Acara Aquatic Festival!

Episode #158 This Episode Stolen By Marsh_Mellon

Hi this is Marsh_Mellon the white grundo(hoping to eventually become Mallow : waves to Fountain Faerie) taking over this Ghost Writer episode for the good of Neopia. Emankcin was going to lecture about using puctuation on the message boards. Pfft, like we have time for that, right?

In the United States where my player lives (they have wierd names for places in RL don't they?) it's finally Summertime. In fact the official first day of Summer was earlier in June. That means the days are longer and the nights are shorter (and there are these little soft beetles called lightning bugs that fly around and sound so delicious * or cute depending on personal tastes).

With all that sunshine most humans decorate their yards with flowers, but a few use cement animals dressed in fancy clothes, small painted gnomes peeking out of the shrubbery, and my personal favorite: Pinwheels!

Why pinwheels?
1) Once planted in your yard you don't have to water them.
2) They don't droop when the weather is too hot.
3) They are less likely to be eaten by kaus.

Most pinwheels have petals made of plastic thin metal, or starched/stiffened cloth.

side note: I saw a really gigantic one at a fair that reminded me of a windmill.
That one had petals made of wood
(I looked around, but luckily Don Quixote wasn't around).
another side note: Emankcin doesn't like side notes,
he says they are unprofessional

Most pinwheels are single flowers on a stem. They can be small enough to wear as earrings or as tall as a person. I especially like the tall ones! Running around with them held over your shoulder is fun, like being chased by butterflies. A bit of advice for you: keep them held high enough that they don't get tangled in your antenna (that was an unfortunate suprise).

Every so often you may come across a very special pinwheel. These extra-creative wheels incorporate shiny metalic fabric, neon colors and complicated designs to make them more than mere lawn ornaments. They are Yard Art! They may have double or triple layers of petals for a hypnotic shimmering effect. Some will have the pinwheels as propelors for airplanes, the wheels on automobiles, the twirling wings of birds. And once I saw one that was the tummy of a teddy bear.

By now you might be asking: how does Marsh_Mellon know so much about RL pinwheels? *Gasp, you gasp* Could it be that she has traveled to the fabled RL?!

No sillies, I have my player take photographs of pinwheels and post them on the internet for me XD. I have quite a collection. I think they are much better than her collection of photos of stone lions. I mean, once you've seen One stone lion you've seen them ... (perdita is kind of glaring at me) soooo enough about that.

I love pinwheels and I imagine that the people who have them decorating their yards must have wonderful decorations in their homes too. Brightly colored cutains in every room, rainbow-striped wallpaper with framed pressed flowers and felted paintings of baby kougras are, I imagine, the norm for such happy households. They probably have collections of plushie unicorns and their own pair of faerie wings for when friends come to visit.

*happy sigh*
I think I will try to talk perdita into getting some pinwheels for our Neohome.

Thanks for reading my article! I told Emankcin it would be OK. I can't wait to hear what he thinks of how well I improved his entry this month! ~ Marsh_Mellon

Yay the Guild is 6 Months Old!!

Episode #175: More than Just Lab Coats

Attention Neopians: Lab-addicted players have Island Poogle clothes from their beloved Zoople_kins, who happens to be a Plushie Aisha just now, and they would like to share them with you!

Sounds too good to be true.

There are a few things to be concerned about.
1) How does this work?
* * start with a polite neomail to a player who has the clothes you need.
* * be patient, it may be several months before the labber has an available month to transfer with you
If the labby is the color you need they may be able to transfer their pet to you for the outfits and then you will transfer their pet back. This is not what will usually happen. Usually you will arrange a month to transfer your pet to the labber. They will outfit your precious Disco Grundo with slightly used disco attire. The next day your pet will come back with his or her new duds.

What are duds? *blushes* duds are a really out-of-date term for clothes...sorry

2) Will I get my pet back?!!
* * Good Heavens, that's what meant to happen, but there is no guarentee.
Think of things from the zapper's point of view before you get too excited.
If somone had really wanted a Zombie Scorchio they wouldn't have let him change into a Snot Chia.

3) Why would anyone want to do this?
* * This type of project is designed to help Pound Surfer's rehabilitate their rescued pets.
Bad enough to go through the trama of being abandoned, these pets have also lost their basic decorations. *sniffle* It breaks one's heart.

An unprofessional aside from Emankcin: That last comment isn't sarcastic. I really feel sorry for Elephante who lose their hats or Aisha who lose their 'A's. I would hate to lose my stripes! Not every pet is lucky enough to be a ghost poogle you know.

4) Does your pet match the color for the outfit you want?
* * Paint Brush clothes can only travel between accounts if they are carried by color matching pets.
Your electric blumaroo cannot leave a labber's account with a Halloween cape.

The Grundo Experiment:
Marsh_Mellon is a White Grundo. Except for about 5 minutes last Christmas (when she was Christmas) she has always been White. She dreams of being Mallow, of that one-day Fountain Faerie Quest to come her way, but so far to no avail! Perdita has a Laboratory Ray, but Marsh_Mellon isn't willing to go anywhere near it.

Marsh_Mellon: *hee hee* I got into another Ghost Writer. You should just let me write all of them!
Emankcin: Get out of my article.

While chatting on the boards I came across a generous Neopian. This labber's pet happened to be a Desert Grundo, while Marsh is White, so the labby came to our account to visit. Marsh_Mellon was impressed by the blue-eyes Adonis carrying gifts, but soon he was gone. Soon he may be a Grarrl.

~
Thinking about trying your luck? Here are two reputable groups of labbers who can help re-attire that Baby Chia you rescued who needs a pacifier.

http://www.neopets.com/~ExtraPBClothes
http://www.neopets.com/www.neopets.com/~Glisses

Episode #231 Decorations from Neopets: yay free stuff

Too many outfits! I keep telling perdita I have no need of fru-fru wings or an orange wig. After all, I was a fine Neopet for years before Customization was available. She insists she's not a fan, but you've probably noticed I wear a pair of glasses.

* sigh * They are just for show.

But these doo-dads and accessories all cost NPs * gasp *
or even RL money(whatever that is).
There are plenty of other ways to stand out in the crowd.

Neopets has a treasure trove of information for you to use to decorate...Your Lookup! (ooh rubies)

There are guides that offer adoptable graphics and even entire premade pages.
^ Izzy's Graphics: http://www.neopets.com/~iz9piper
xdriftingdreamx's Lookups: http://www.neopets.com/~xdriftingpremadesx
Frisky's Lookups: http://www.neopets.com/~Spurtly Some help comes from player guides that show ways to add special effects to your pages. Scrolling pictures and color-changing text are certainly interesting.
Basic HTML Help: http://www.neopets.com/~Red13_K9
^^ Neopets HTML Guide: http://www.neopets.com/help/html1.phtml
(you've probably come across these type of guides before)

OK, what if you want to make something original?

That will take a little time and practice, but if my player can do it * haha * so can yours!
You will want to use a document program like Word or Notebook to save your coding as you build it. Copy and paste the code to your lookup or description to review how it looks. Sometimes the Neopets Coding Robots like to tease you by unexpectedly erasing your code before you accept the changes. There is no avatar for this :( It's just an annoying random event.
Here are a few guides to help you build your own lookup.
Roni's Lookup Coding: http://www.neopets.com/~plumroyal
L00kupHelp (rehosted and improved) : http://www.neopets.com/~Kished

You can use a scanner to add your drawings to Neopets. Or you can use an art progran like Paint or Photoshop to create digital artwork. Be patient. And remember nothing is permanent. You can always change pictures and pages when you want to.
These guides can help you create amazing artwork that all your friends will envy!
Microsoft Paint Guide: http://www.neopets.com/~Grape_Candy Neocolors (yep, just colors): http://www.neopets.com/~Triflot
LilAngel's Art Tutorial: http://www.neopets.com/~unholy_ravens_

Some players will even make special graphics just for you or your player. These are usually a small banner or graphic to use as a decoration, but not a whole page of coding. Be sure to read each page's info!^^^
Glitterliciouss Banners: http://www.neopets.com/~glitterliciouss
Ominous Graphics: http://www.neopets.com/~ominous_beauty

So after all this you still don't find exactly what you want? Browse the Neopian Times and the Neopedia and the Downloadables in Pet Central. You can use images from Neopets!

How do you find the code?
Say you search for negg plushies and you want to use the image of the rainbow negg plushie. Right click on a blank area of the page and you should get a list of options including View Source or View Page Source. Scoll slowly thru the coding, yep at first it looks like gibberish, until you see something similar to what you see near the plushie picture. For instance: 'Neopian things that match your query!' (ah-ha) Then look for rainbow negg. In this case you'd wantthe code: http://images.neopets.com/items/toy_plushie_negg_rainbow.gif. Now you have a picture of a rainbow negg plushie. and you didn;t have to draw anything!

You have permission to use Neopet's images on Neopets. However,
IF YOU USE A PLAYER'S DRAWN IMAGE OR CODE YOU MUST LEAVE A CREDIT OR LINK BACK TO THEIR PAGE!! BE SURE YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO USE THE ART
(usually a page will say 'adoptable' or have some message telling you if it's OK to use an image or coding :)) If you're not sure, stay away from it!

Now you should have plenty of info to get started decorating you pages.
Coincidentally, Subliminal Guild has a new Creativity page where you can show off what you've made! * waggles eyebrows *
http://www.neopets.com/~beephath

Good Luck and remember your guild, player guides, and Neopets Help Board can give you advice and tips if you ever need it!

^ player id_24 will help you with HER coding if you are having trouble using it

^^ this is the guide that The Neopets Team offers to help you learn about coding :) it's the guide from 'Edit Homepage' and 'Edit Description' on your pet

^^^ If your making an application for a pet you'd like to adopt, some players will make special graphics for you to use. You can find more if you go to the Pound Board and look for an art topic. Be careful in there!

GhostWriter Episode #487 The Fruits of Acaran Labors

Sometimes one just gets a craving for fresh delicious plant life. It's true. Even I, dedicated pastry and carniv -ore, occasionally dream of the taste of zenannas. Feeling adventurous one day I decided to try the foods of a distant land.

This month's article is about an oft-visited greengrocer located to the South of Brightvale Castle: Brightvale Fruits.

The sun was high and the scent of warm, slightly overripe fruit was nearly overpowering as I entered the bug-eyed acara's dimly lit boutique. I squinted into the smoke filled room.

Rushlights?: I asked myself.

I must have spoken aloud becasue the proprietress replied: Oh my yes! Everything in here is natural and traditional! Light bulbs just wouldn't do at all!

No I can see how they would be strange: I agreed, wondering if I had ever seen lightbulbs in Neopia. Maybe they were some type of petpet?

I noticed that a few of the fruits were glowing slightly on there own.

I picked up a lumpy orange specimen: Is this one magical?

No, no magical fruit in here: the acara winks: that one's a florange. It's supposed to help you gain knowledge: she grinned rather disturbingly: but no one has proven it yet!

I rolled my eyes, trusting the light was dim enough she wouldn't notice.

Maybe it would be wise to add refrigeration to keep the berries fresh : I mention.

Nonsense: the acara gives me the eye: these berries were picked fresh this morning. See? This one still has a little dung on it!

I back away.

Here's one you'd like: that grin again, I notice she has about 3 teeth in there : The grenelon is a favorite!

It reminded me a little bit of a wart fron a mutant peophin: Lovely: I said: what does that one do to people?

She cackled: Wisdom can be gained from the grenelon :she nodded: next time you see one, you know it will taste just fine.

A small cloud of flies circle above a basket of navy blue blobs.

These seem a little past their prime: I mention.

Oh those are just right!: she slices one open and a mass of wriggling tenacles rolls into her paw: These squibble berries are nice if you'd like a touch of protein in your fruit salad.

Eurgh, I've almost made it to the door. (and aie she's got a knife)

Feeling a bit guilty for not buying anything I ask: With Meridell right across the bridge, do you get many visitors from the next kingdom?

Those barbarians! she screeches, antenneas flapping.

Somehow I've said the wrong thing.

She leans towards me.

I reach behind me for the doorknob.

Did you see who they have roasting?: she whispers: and right by Ye Old Petpets *tisk* It's horrible.

As I run out into the sunlight and down the road I realise why there were no other customers in the shop; that acara is out of her gourd!