My Slice of Night

Welcome

Hello, guest, my name is ViviLily, and I am a kacheek. I am 78105 hours old.

Welcome to my slice of night! This is my dreamland and favourite place in Neopia because it is filled with shiny memories, some smooth and glittering, others shattered and broken like mirrors and stars. It would be best to put your shoes on and watch your step. Not everything here is pretty, but all is beautiful. I love beauty... It is such a rare and precious thing nowadays; the world has turned so cold. But don't think that nature and dreams always represent beauty to me because it can be primitive and savage, whereas beauty, like poetry, comes in many forms. And in my safe haven, sometimes even the broken is comforting.

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Family

I am the first in the family. I have two younger brothers, Klomp2000, who is a Kau, and the baby of the family is MrDarcy2040, who is a Bruce. I have many responsibilities as the oldest. Some of them I like, and some are tiring. I am often held responsible for Klomp2000's antics while MrDarcy2040, not realising the trouble that his brother is causing, follows suit and makes a bigger mess of the situation. At the end of the day, however, I feel that I enjoy my position. My siblings are good to me. They respect me. Klomp2000 is more logical, and I can depend on him to be sincere and help me figure out quick, direct solutions to problems. It's also interesting to watch him take things apart and put them back together. He has a great mind and will become something one day.

My owner, Elizabeth Lynn Rakphongphairoj, also known as sparkle_zen, has gone through many changes since she first created me, before either of my brothers were born. We've grown up together, and that is one reason that I am probably the closest to her though she may play with my brothers more often. I am not jealous. I understand that I have my own responsibilities like helping to run the shop and guild on days when she is too tired to even move. My brothers may complain that it's too much work, but it is through working with her that we spend time together. I also know how hard it is because we have had to build ourselves up again after losing all our money and possessions to the massive Neopian server changes back in 2000; for some reason the Neopian Registry doesn't even register anymore that we were here before August 6, 2000, even though we have been here since 1999. I admire her strength of will, however, and the way she picked us back up and strove on to rebuild our lives. As a result, my siblings and I may not be the strongest, fastest, or most intelligent neopets for our ages, but we are well cared for and loved.

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Hobbies

Despite how practical and logical I sound sometimes, I am an idealist dreamer. I very much enjoy reading and losing myself in the things I love, and all my sense of responsibility flies away when I'm engrossed in a book. I guess I'm also a decadent at heart, and in this way I'm close to Lizzie's heart. I also enjoy painting and drawing in my spare time, of which I do not have a lot, even though I don't go to school, as I spend a lot of time helping Lizzie with whatever she's doing. I am told that I am mature and intelligent. I am not so sure; I guess that I am more observant than most kacheeks my age in Neopia, but we're too poor for my siblings and me to go to school regularly or to be able to buy faeries and such the way the rich folks do, so I don't have that many abilities or special skills. However, I have my own talents that nobody can take from me, and in these things I am assured. I don't need anyone else's flattery or admiration to have my self-respect.

As for games, I love games that use words and require the mind, such as CodeBreakers, Faerie Crossword, Lenny Conundrum, Spell-Or-Starve, and The Castle of Eliv Thade. I've only recently discovered Lenny Conundrum, and I fell in love with it immediately. I enjoy a challenge; it works my mind and ensures that I don't fall into banality or get sucked into brainless, popular mass-culture like so many others. Besides, there's nothing like a healthy and stimulating challenge that also earns neopoints for the family!

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Favourites

This was the first toy that I'd ever gotten. It was given to Elizabeth by her good friend, Ryan, when they first started coming to Neopia. Ryan is one of her oldest friends who have not yet abandoned his pet and left Neopia for the great world beyond, and he visits us occasionally. I enjoy talking to him, and I especially like that he often brings Kacheek_Do with him. It's nice to have another kacheek to talk to and be around. I laugh when Ryan and Lizzie mix us up because we look almost the same! I think this orange fuzzle was once his, but he doesn't mind that I now have it. In fact, I think he's a little embarrassed with the fact that he used to play with it. I tease him about it every now and then, but it's all in good fun. After so many years this fuzzle is still my favourite toy and as cute and cuddly as ever.

Back when I was first born, we did not have that much money to spend on toys, and there was much less to do around Neopia. Lizzie found it important that I learn first to think and understand things for myself, so while other neopets spent their time playing and getting bored with one toy after another, I spent my time reading books. I did not find it tedious, however, as Lizzie has fostered in me a good love of knowledge, and she knew that once I learned to think for myself, I could find countless ways to amuse myself. This was also back in the days when costs of living in Neopia were lower, however, and books usually cost no more than 50 NP. Times have certainly changed. This big book of puzzles is still my favourite because it provided endless hours of challenging questions and facts for me to ponder. Once in a while when I had absolutely nothing to do, I used to go back and look over things and marvel over how lethargic my mind had become and all the interesting facts that I'd forgotten. That was back when books in Neopia did not go *poof* and disappear in a puff of smoke after being read once, however, and I could share my books with my brothers.

What can you expect but a little species pride? At least I've kept it to a minimum so far, and I will continue to do so. Honestly, though, before reading this book, I had very little understanding of my species, our habits, our talents, and our personalities. Not being incredibly social, I found myself with not a lot of chances to go out and interact with other kacheeks to find out for myself. This book not only gave me knowledge but also the pride and confidence to be able to walk around loving and knowing the great part of my background that shapes who I am. Lizzie had already loved me as well, but after reading this book, she is even more confident my abilities and potential to learn and grow, and she swells with pride whenever I am complimented even for the smallest thing. Whenever this happens, she gives me a wink and a little nudge as if saying, "I told you so! I had always believed in you." And that is the most beautiful thing to know.

The following series had also been my favourite. I absolutely adore faeries; besides the dark faeries, I believe they are the most beautiful creatures inside and out, keeping things smooth around Neopia and giving owners and pets a helping hand every once in a while when they really need it. But the psychology of dark faeries also fascinates me; they are beautiful in their own slightly twisted way, their philosophy flawed only in the fact that they refuse to compromise in the pursuit of what they want and are not concerned that others might have to forfeit their happiness along the way. We all have some goal that we wish to reach and things that we are willing to sacrifice in order to reach that goal, and often we disagree on what a reasonable sacrifice is. Dark faeries simply don't subscribe to our sense of justice and balance, the common idea that "reasonable sacrifice" is a completely subjective matter as long as it doesn't intrude on others' paths and goals. I have five books out of the six in the series, and I have yet to get the sixth and final book - All about Water Faeries.

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Life

We live in a little home on 11216 Coconut Road, Mystery Island. It is a bamboo house, four years in the making and still not yet completed. It is comfortable, however, especially in the summers when the cool air flows freely through the house so that we don't heat up too much. The island has certainly grown since we first built our house here. The population has increased by at least 20-fold! The nice thing about the way this island grows is that it has become livelier, but the old traditions remain. I can still find all my favourite foods at the Tropical Foods store and sift through all the interesting shops at the Island Marketplace for things. The nicest implement, however, is the Trading Post. It attracts business to the island, and just by watching the transactions, I get to see a lot of new and interesting things being exchanged.

I wake to the sounds of training echoing down the mountain from the Training School every morning and wish that we had the money to both finish and furnish our house and to send my siblings and me to school. But I am patient, and I know my owner is working hard, so I don't complain. Part of my great admiration for the Techo Master and his Training School is my owner's influence; she has been involved in the martial arts as long as I have known her, and in recent years she has been involved with Shaolin Chuan Fa, also known as Shaolin Kempo, at The United Studios of Self Defense, where she has become an instructor. She has shown me that martial arts not only grants a student strength, speed, and quickness of the mind, but also discipline, respect, responsibility, and patience. In the dojo one learns respect for instructors and fellow students of higher and lower ranks. One learns obedience and that having a big mouth and the ability to shout out abilities doesn't imply skill or the wisdom to use skill in the right situations. Even though there are ranks, training provides a situation where all are equal as human beings with equal chance of making a mistake and equal potential to learn. Every student and instructor is bound by the same rules, principles, and philosophies, and as a student of the system, and people with opposing opinions regarding the ways of the world can get along peacefully and even learn from one another.

I can't wait until the next time I can take a course at the Training School. But my brothers, especially MrDarcy2040, I think they are absolutely ecstatic that they don't have to go to school regularly like the other neopets. They're still young, so they don't realise how much we're missing. They're adaptable and intelligent, though, so they learn quite a bit on their own.

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Thoughts

It is so often that I tire of the emptiness around me. This world spins by in a rush culture of chaos. Everybody hurries off to reach a destination while trying to escape the journey. It's a lack of patience - they find the journey tedious while trying to capture their state of ecstasy that comes from speed, and keep it eternal. But what is eternal is not defined by so much fun. That is ephemeral. And I'll explore until then. But this is not a place in which to lose yourself. This place is my safe haven, but dreams cannot be depended upon so don't let indolence melt into laziness and wear you away. All are welcome to stop and rest, but the best joy and ethics come from work and God, so when time comes I'll tap you on the shoulder and ask you to move along.

But for now, feel free to explore.

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Codes

If you have enjoyed my safe haven and think that somebody else may enjoy it too, feel free to use the codes below to link back here. Everybody is welcome, provided that they respect this place.

My Slice of Night

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