She turned her back to the future and fixated solely on her past; watching the sea, the unchanging waves, her gaze stiffened as she felt a sharp, lasting pang of betrayal. The sea had deceived her, leaving her only with numb memories and the dark unknown of her future that she was terrified to explore.

She was beginning to realize that she could no longer fend off the overwhelming waves that had transformed her present life. No longer could she simply ignore the fork in the road… time was beginning to force her to face it head-on and make a choice, accepting which future to grasp in the process.

Her future is waiting.

(in the layout, the black background is supposed to represent her future, while the sea represents her past; witty, I know ;o)

Note: Since the almighty team of neo has buckled down and gotten strict about petpage applications, I shall put a big bold disclaimer up here to prevent something very bad from happening. -ahem- Fae, the owner of Seoire (whom this application is for), did not force me or hint to me in any way, shape, or form that a petpage application was necessary to adopt Seoire; I made this page purely on my own and of my own free will, laced together with the inspiration channeled to me by Seoire. :3

0 – Rambling Begins

FIRST OF ALL. Let me point out that I can ramble and rave on and on and on, and a lot of the time I seem a bit self-righteous and completely insane. A lot of people will shrug off my rambles and say that neopets is just a game, pets are just "pixels" (I cannot express how much I hate that term :x), and that I'm taking everything far too seriously. However, for many years, neopets has been one of the healthiest methods out there for relieving my overflowing creative juices. While most see this site as mere entertainment, I see it as strong, flowing inspiration. AKA NUMNUMS FOR MR. IMAGINATION! 8D

I fully know that we each have our different ways of digesting things, and by no means am I saying that the way I use this site is superior to anyone else's "way of neo", but I do get involved emotionally likely much more than the average Neopian. x3; My pets/characters mean a whole lot to me, and even when they're frozen (unfortunately, it can happen to the best of us) they still stay with me, continue to develop, and continue to inspire me, off and without neo. The thing is, it all starts here, and I'm not yet sure why, exactly. xD

I hope I didn't horrify you with my opinions and mini-rambling yet, because there is much more to come. Prepare yourself, mortal. o^o

I – Kittix's Intentions

I'll start by saying that I thought I was done applying for pets, or getting any new pets, for that matter. xD I'm very happy with my pets/characters and how busy they keep me, and I returned to neopets after a near year-long break thinking the only thing that I would be doing was hunkering down and continuing to develop my characters' pages from where I left off… not making an application. Little did I know, a few days after returning I would be surprised (and ecstatic) to see that Seoire was up for adoption again. Fae, you already know why, but I'll type this up for the sake of typing it. And for any lurkers that may be around. -pets the lurky lurkers- To the right is the very first picture I ever drew of Seoire- you can probably tell it was quite a long time ago. Drag and drop for full view. n_n

Y'see, a very short time before I took my hiatus from neopets, Seoire had been up for adoption and I had planned to apply for her. I had big ideas and big plans for her that I didn't get the chance to spill out into an official application for a variety of reasons. Seoire's owner was a good friend of mine who was quitting; I thought Seoire's deadline was set in stone at the time, and although my memory is a little fuzzy, I remember being quite surprised when Anna had found her a new home. I admit I felt a bit of a lump in my throat and I felt very sad, both because Anna had been frozen without saying goodbye (I assumed she self-froze, but that wasn't the case) and that Seoire, who I had grown so attached to, had been made unreachable. Rather than bother Seoire's new owner (Fae) about the adoption and stir up drama when I was already feeling completely drained, I eventually decided to simply take a break from neo and come back when I was refreshed and ready, and leave Seoire to her new life. The plans and ideas I had for Seoire and her character were stored on the shelves in the back of my mind until I found a way to recreate her somehow, somewhere. I vowed to find a place to plug her in, but never could find the perfect fit. One of the problems I encountered was that Aflico and Seoire were so closely linked; I couldn't have Seoire off in some faraway land without Aflico… it just wouldn't work. ono

But now, here I am. Not more than a week back on neo (at the time of writing) and all of those dusty plans and ideas have flown to the front of my mind and my imagination is actively building upon them again as if no time has passed at all since the first time I was applying. Although I was a little flustered and hesitant initially, it feels nice and oddly enough not nostalgic one bit to be applying for her once again. I'm very happy to have the chance to adopt Seoire again, however big or small that chance may be. :3 Seoire has truly, single-pawdedly, reignited the flame for neo I nearly completely extinguished.

Who be this Kittix person?;
Let's make this short and sweet to make up for the rest of this section's length. 8D I practice martial arts, receive regular acupuncture, have a variety of health issues, and I absolutely love to feed my imagination through coding, drawing, writing, roleplaying, character development, and thinking. I'm a shiny new 17 year old who aspires to be an acushrink, but despite nearing adulthood I don't see character development for my beloved neopets ever "getting old" for me… or with me. I'll be an awesome grandma who still plays neopets the same exact way. xD I enjoy peace and try to avoid conflict whenever possible—if someone starts screaming at me at the top of their lungs, I won't scream back. I also think "internet fights" are completely pointless and unnecessary. I absolutely love goblin sharks and quaggas, my characters stay with me for life and as you may have noticed, I like to ramble quite a bit. c:

Kittix's neo life;
Let's see… I've been on neopets since I was nine years old. That's a pretty long time. xD
Besides developing my characters, a large chunk of my time on neo goes toward helping people, whether it's with coding, computer problems, or even inner artistic battles such as art/writer's block. I really enjoy helping people in any way I can—not only does it make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but it makes them feel warm and fuzzy too. Spread the warm fuzzy feeling! :3 I'm one of those people that leaves free bumps and good lucks on a board without a BC link in my signature. No ulterior motives here, just a helpful Kittix. xD

I earn my neopoints mostly through gaming and investing in the stock market, although I used to avidly restock but now I'm retired. ;o I don't have anything that I have a dire and immediate need to save for, np-wise, so I've slowed down a bit. I suppose I still need to buy a few petpets, but I do like to save so I can splurge and shower friends and strangers in gift piles every now and then. :3

I spend the majority of my time drawing or writing about my characters and working on their stories, lookups, and petpages, as well as just fumbling around and playing with codes in general. I also roleplay occasionally, although not as often or as avidly as I'd like to. I have a big bucket of roleplays I've saved over the years if you'd like to read through them sometime, as I'd be glad to share them with you. n__n

I have plans for having some sort of coding resource/premade lookup thing going on here on Kittix's page someday. I seem to get asked some of the same coding questions by different people, so I think a page would be able to help a bit faster and more thoroughly than I can with each individual. Kittix's page is a bit like my own personal petpage, since Kittix is a pet that represents me. (funny story how I got her though, you'll read about it once you get to the 'Mind Citizens' section) I'll also be putting my roleplaying page here; basically an overview of my characters and roleplay preferences and whatnot, as well as an art/writing overview and perhaps a few tutorials. :3

I'm also aspiring to enter the neopian times someday; I've actually wanted to try it out since I first joined neopets so long ago, but I've been a little too shy about it. Plus, writing stories can be a bit painful for me—I have a lot of trouble putting my ideas into words sometimes. I'm thinking about co-writing with a friend to start, so that way I'm not so alone, haha. |D I've actually broken out of my shell and entered the BC once, (with my now frozen) white lupe Bavul, and got a silver trophy in species on May 9th, 2008. I liked the fact that I could put my artwork out there and I didn't get any mean comments, haha. c: Advertising was a bit of a pain, though, especially for such a popular species… plus, I forgot I entered him into the BC so I didn't start advertising until four days had passed. xDD Still, it was a pretty fun process and I'd like to enter my pets in the BC again someday. :3

On a sadder note, in May of '08 shortly after Bavul's BC win, I found most all of my active accounts frozen, as well as my friends and my cousin and their accounts, since they used neo from my IP address. The reason given was that I used multiple accounts to gain neopoints, and to be quite honest I probably accidentally collected freebies or played games on a side now and then without thinking anything of it. I wasn't exactly careful or extremely aware like I am today. Instead of listing what I lost like people tend to do, I'm just going to say that a lot of my beloved characters were frozen, yet they still live on in other ways and other sites besides neo. I've come to the conclusion that the only things I truly lost were my material assets and the ability to enter my characters in the BC and such. I'm not reckless now and I don't have an "I don't have anything to lose!" attitude… It's just that looking on the bright side after a freezing is one of the only things you can do. They can freeze my accounts, but they can't freeze my mind. (… I've been compared to the "GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH" guy a few times when it comes to this issue. xD)

I did send in an account access form (or two… or three… I was determined to get an answer and plead my case. xD Kittix doesn't go down without a fight!) and eventually I received a long-awaited reply. The main reason I could pick out of the tip-toeing and vagueness of the staff member was that I was not frozen for making neopoints on multiple accounts, but for having too many accounts. I was actually one account over the limit after successfully gaining access into one of my oldest accounts with TNT's help (had to go through the process of getting the birthday by proving the account was mine) and I hadn't yet self-frozen an extra account because I had to move my roleplay pets from it first. I think they piled together my friend's five accounts and my cousin's five accounts into the mix as well, thinking they were also mine because they were frozen for the exact same reason. I spent a good month or two trying to get to the bottom of their mistake, but they just wouldn't budge and maintained that I simply had too many accounts. That was when I knew I had to pull myself together and accept it for what it was. I was breaking the rules, after all. I decided to hunt down some of inactive accounts that I had long since abandoned, and here I am. :3 Miraculously, a few of my older accounts did survive and I managed to regain access to them. "Rebuilding" what I once had was something that I wasn't going to do—I decided to start anew with the pets that survived and find my bearings again.

Good did come out of that freezing, though; I learned to be careful, mindful, and not paranoid, but aware. Those that used to play neopets on my computer no longer play it—they've since moved on, and I've heard way too many horror stories and experienced my own about TNT and multiple people playing neo on the same computer to let anyone do so again. (and strict lawyer-like Kittix shows her face :|) I learned to appreciate my pets, and also learned that my friends would be around me helping me cope no matter what. I mourned the freezing for a very long time, and I'm still not completely over it, but I'm not sure it's something you ever really get over. I strictly stick to my five accounts right now and know the rules like the front of my face. xD Shortly after getting frozen, I did receive a few odd suspensions, however, such as the one in the screenie I currently keep on Jenniie's petpage. I think TNT got mad 'cause I called them "mindless robots" at one point, hence the "AHEM WE'RE REAL PEOPLE" part of the suspension reason, because I've never impersonated a staff member. I went through the five stages of grief and that was said during the anger part. xD I'm now well into the fifth stage of acceptance (and I've matured quite a bit since then) so I have much more control over what I say, haha. :3

I should also note that I have also been frozen in the past due to being a dim-witted nine-year-old who was too enthusiastic over the BC. xD I used all of my accounts to vote in the BC for an entry I really really liked, told the artist how much I loved them and how much I voted, and that was that. I sent in an account access form, something in all caps demanding that I get my account back because I owned a cellphone (I've never even had a cellphone xD) and that I was rich. Needless to say, nothing came of that, but I hadn't yet learned what it felt like to be attached to my pets so it didn't matter to me much at the time.

Having since moved out of my accidental outlaw shoes and into my strict rules-are-rules shoes, I can now proudly say that I haven't received a single warning, suspension, or freezing since returning to neo. Although it's only been a week, so that isn't a whole lot to brag about, I plan to stay completely out of harm's way to the fullest extent of my power. :3 I'm not afraid to come out and admit my mistakes because I have definitely learned from them, and I refuse to take part in absolutely anything that has a risk of me losing my accounts.

Now, let's get this technical stuff out of the way. Here's a list of my neopets accounts (the same list on my lookup), in case you'd like to know more about them. Each link opens in a new window, so feel free to click off the application to snoop around if you want. :3
(1) Rawkage: This account is my main account, and where Seoire would go if I were chosen to be her new owner. n_n I do all of my main account things here, basically everything involving earning anything. xD I also lurk the boards/chat on this account the most. A lot of coding credit links to this account. c:
(2) Prompa; This is currently the oldest living account that I have access to. I'm in a writing guild on this account that I hope will help me get through my writing problems, so I'm quite active. :3
(3) Hippisaurus; Stalinex used to be on my main, but now he's chillin' with my faeries. :3 I use this account the most when it comes to testing, so I'm also on it quite a bit.
(4) Kittany; This account is a combination of my nickname Kittix and my real name Brittany. |D Funnily enough, despite having a feline-sounding username, this account holds four of my beloved lupes. :3
(5) Xittik; Xittik is Kittix backwards. ;D My lab account, but I think my days of labbing and adopting out are mostly over now that my accounts have the potential to be completely full. n_n; I've started the adoption process for only a few pets from this lab; a tyrannian peophin by the name of Atonga who has found a home, and I'm attempting to find a home for Errael the snow gelert, who is residing on a neofriend's account.

Pros and Cons of Kittix;
What goods and bads make up the puzzle of Kittix? xD First off, let's start with the cons. Wonderful wonderful negativity. :3 Oh, keep in mind, I don't suffer from low self esteem and I like to point and laugh at my problems, so this listing wasn't painful or anything. It's supposed to be insightful. xD

• I have only just recently started playing neopets again. I don't want to seem like a complete flake, but when I'm feeling that neo starts to affect me negatively, I take breaks. My last break was much longer than the usual one-week break, but now that I'm back I feel completely refreshed and invigorated. Without taking breaks, I'm not sure if my characters would be as developed as they are now—in other words, it's healthy for me and it's healthy for them. Anyhow, because of my long break, a lot of my pet lookups and pet pages are painfully bare. It may be a bit hard for you to accept some of my promises because I'm not exactly representing them by the way my accounts look right now, but they will be up someday soon. C:
• I'm distracted very easily. In fact, while I was working on the first version of the application layout I was distracted for a good 10-15 minutes by my tablet light's reflection on my monitor when I pushed the nib down. It was just so shiny and blue~ xD In other words, sometimes I just can't focus on a single task. Or, when I am focused, I'm so concentrated that I don't notice anything else. I can't set aside time and say "I'm going to work on this today!" because that's just not how I function.
• To me, time is a bottomless cup of tea. I am a complete, 100% procrastinator. This is probably the one trait that bothers me the most about myself in regard to my characters. :c I'm usually completely bursting with ideas but I have trouble putting them into words—the same applies to my art and my coding. Take Aflico for example; I applied for her over a year ago, and I absolutely love and adore her as much as the weeks I applied, if not more. I know exactly what her current state of mind is and where she is in her story right now. I know her past and her present very well and I have various roleplay buddies set aside for her… yet, her petpage is still unfinished. The intros to the roleplays remain unfinished. Her story is still in the very early stages of being written… but I have vowed to finish it all. Not only for Aflico, but all of my pets someday. I hope that my determination and devotion to my characters will eventually trump my procrastinating ways. c: Basically, I'm saying that if I'm chosen to be Seoire's owner, things such as her petpage or lookup will not be put up in haste, but they will be put up eventually.
• I have a lot of health problems. I figure this is a con, too. xD Anyhow, I'm sick for a majority of the time because my immune system is very mean—it makes it hard to finish projects and such, on top of my procrastination, because sometimes I should be resting instead of drawing. The most major of my health problems revolve around my back, so computer use gets limited by pain sometimes. That sounded kind of sadder than I meant it to, haha. xD Anyway, this effects my activity and my ability to work on my characters, but not my ability to brainstorm and develop them in my head.
• I think big. Sometimes I think TOO big. I'm capable of coming up with the most epic and complex of ideas, but due to many of the cons listed previously I can't carry them out completely. Well, also due to the laws of the universe… they tend to hold me back too. I sketch and scribble frivolously and come up with things that I'd be really proud of if I could finish them. xD In fact, I had an intricately detailed coding plan for this layout, where the navigation would be anchored and drawn all fancy-like in the sand... not only did photoshop die on me, I kind of ran out of room for my navigation. Rather than spend a few days redrawing and reworking the layout, I decided I should just focus on the content. xD;
• I'm a perfectionist and I'm very critical about myself. I guess this could count as a pro or a con. I put a LOT of effort into nearly everything I do, but I'm so critical of myself that it seems like I'm taking five steps forward and four steps back. Projects take me a lot more time than they do for the average Joe... or Joette. xD Added on top of my procrastination and other cons, and this trait is pretty darn deadly.

And now it's time for the pros—I didn't want to write out my pros because I just feel weird listing them. However, you cannot have cons without pros. It ruins the balance of nature. xD So, my friend Picklez made a list for me. Here it is in the form of a neomail. :3

Dream Pets;
I often see people referring to their 'dream pets' by color and species, but nothing beyond that. I've always felt like a bit of an oddball when it comes to defining what dream pets are. For most, it's all about the particular aesthetics of a pet. For me, it's all about the inspiration the pet happens to feed my hungry brainz. xD Therefore, all of my pets are dream pets; every pet on the face of Neopia should be capable of becoming one of my dream pets, but my imagination tends to be very selective. Not about names, species, or colors, but about the overall vibe I feel. It's a bit hard to explain, and if none of that made a lick of sense feel free to ask me to try to explain further. xD The initial inspiration/vibe I get by first glance is like an earthquake that starts the tsunami of ideas rolling. :3 All in all, Seoire is definitely a 'dream pet' of mine, and has been for quite awhile, since she was first put up for adoption by Anna. The inspiration she's fed me has stood the test of time and the idea waves are still rolling along, so rest assured this inspiration will last for a very long time to come. :3

The Character-Kittix Relationship;
My karate teacher always points out how "tree-y" my stance tends to be (and tells me to practice being less tree-like), but it's a good example of my relationship with my characters. xD I tend to think of them like I'm the tree, and they all stem from me… into different dimensions, worlds, and perspectives, but they all link back to me somehow. Even characters that are complete polar opposites – like Aylua and Cleaoko—can easily be linked back to some of my own traits. I didn't discover this until a few years ago, when I started to apply for Aflico and noticed how familiar her 'acts of kindness gone wrong' related to my own problems with trying to spread a little too much kindness. I also feel this connection with Seoire and her personality relates to my curse/gift of absolute undeniable stubbornness, among other things. x3
I also tend to compare my relationship with my characters to a mother bear and her cubs. If someone harshly disrespects my dear little stemmies, I will go completely crazy on them and maul them until my dearies are no longer in danger. :3

SERIOUS BUSINESS TIMEZ;
A few days after returning to neopets, I went snooping through my pet's pages—I couldn't exactly remember what I had where after being gone for so long, and I must admit I was curious… plus, I wanted to rip down any old and embarrassing art/writing I had up, ahaha. :3 Anyhow, I stumbled upon Cleaoko's petpage, which contained a text box that had coding and content from the application I used to apply for her… when I was thirteen years old. (I like to save REALLY REALLY old coding on petpages sometimes when I want to save something but don't trust my computer to protect it xD) An application with a four-year-old layer of dust let me stare back at what I was like back then; the funny thing is that I'm exactly the same old Neopian. I have better grammar among other improvements, but I'm the same nonetheless. xD
The point I'm trying to make is… I've respected my pets for a very long time; even before all of this trading nonsense and presently, during the midst of it all. I take pride in being able to say that I'm set in my neo ways, have been for at least four years , and that I'm not going to budge. I've never traded a pet in my entire existence on neopets and I never will. I hold onto the view that pets are individuals, each bursting with potential to both inspire their "owners" and be inspiring to others, and that's what I strive for on neopets. My pets are my characters, which are MAH BUDDEHS, which are MAH BRAIN FOODS. It can be a very weird relationship, but it works. 8D

II – Introducing Seoire

Hullo hullo~ WELCOME TO YET ANOTHER SECTION. An important one, at that! 8D This is a straight-to-the-point "fleshing out" of Seoire's potential future character. :3
(Oh, and my interpretation of Seoire is strictly quad with no anthro plans in the forecast at the moment :3)

Upbringing; Seiore was not the runt of the litter, nor was she the titan—she was fairly average in size compared to her siblings, but she charmed her mother's owners with her odd behavior and appearance. She was born into a human family that earned their means mainly by fishing, living harmoniously with the fishing seasons by plotting expenses carefully. They lived in a small home within a bustling harbor (loosely based on Dutch Harbor, Alaska) that had a very foggy, very rainy climate, with bearable winters and slightly cool summers. Peaks of the large mountainous arctic to the north can be clearly seen from nearly any angle in the harbor, and Seoire gazed at them endlessly throughout her puphood, wondering how far away they were and what it would be like to live near them.

Personality; Seoire is not one to openly admit her mistakes—in fact, she's willing to prove her mistakes are right even after discovering that they're wrong. This is one way (among many) that her stubbornness affects her behavior. She also has a habit of holding grudges, but only against those who heinously attack her in some way, and not typically in the physical sense. She's very proud and adamantly bull-headed when it comes to defending her pride and will dwell on incidents far longer than anyone else. Also driven by her stubbornness is her unyielding hatred of change; she prefers the safety of familiarity above the good that may come from turns in her life.

Fascinations; Besides her love for the sea, Seoire is completely fascinated with the seemingly unchanging arctic (she has yet to see spring in the arctic). After an unavoidable life-changing event occurs, she sets out to explore and familiarize herself with the frozen tundra. She also takes guilty pleasure in chasing and eating butterflies; the hairy, sticky, tart crunchiness simply invigorates her. She's had the obsession to taste the pretty insects since puphood, and she likes to keep it secret. It's an odd fascination, but a fascination nonetheless.

Appearance; Seoire was born a black and white Siberian husky, but the once black portion of her coat has been tinted into a hue of crimson due to prolonged amounts of sun exposure. Unbeknownst to her until recently, she is actually a wolf/husky hybrid. Her mother's Siberian husky genes mixed with her father's wild and rugged arctic wolf genes, and voila, hybrid! 8D As a pup, it's safe to say that she was deliriously fluffy. Good old fluff genes. :3 Her eyes are a very light blue that emphasize her dark pupils, often making her visage appear to be very intense and alert despite how calm she may be. Some very minimal markings include black tips of her ears and tail.

Voice; Seoire's voice is actually very feminine and high in pitch; she doesn't particularly dislike her voice, but she often deepens it intentionally into a near-growl to seem a little rougher and stronger. Though, this is a conscious effort—when surprised or startled, she tends to abandon the effort and reverts back to her original voice.

Speech; Although she cannot understand what humans are saying directly, being around the same group of people and constantly hearing the same terms hollered out from the fishing vessel's crew, some terms from sea were bound to stick with her. The most vivid term is "man overboard" – when referring to death, near death, or a disappearance, she'll use this term, often provoking odd looks from those around her that are not familiar with the sea. Also, "mayday" is a term she uses to describe any high level of danger. She uses a plethora of other nautical terms in her daily life, but those are the most notable one. :3

Diet; Seoire prefers to feed mostly on fish, but eventually adjusts and begins learning how to hunt small prey on land such as rabbits. At the point she's at right now, she has yet to experience a cooperative hunt with another wolf or take down larger prey. Berries, roots, and other "vegetarian" meals do not appeal to her one bit. x3 In her early puphood, while being treated as a bit of a "house dog", she tried dry dog food but decided shortly after her first taste that it wasn't worth eating, and only worth using as padding when sleeping in the food dish.

Knowledge; From spending so much time with humans, Seoire has the know-how of the inner-workings of a human society. Unlike most wild wolves, humans are no mystery to her—she can easily read a human's demeanor and body language, and even determine their health condition, with a simple observation. Later on, her knowledge of humans allows her to hitch a ride on ships and avoid being noticed until it's too late for them to take her back. (In her hometown's harbor, they eventually nicknamed her "The Pirate")

In her mind sits a huge collection of remedies for seasickness and scurvy as well as general savviness of the sea. Her mind is also very powerful, but her high intelligence tends to cloud her judgment relating to emotional subjects. Not only that, but her habit of over-analyzing nearly every detail she gives thought to can be quite compulsive and exhausting at times.

Skills; Seoire is capable of holding her ground and being remarkably observant even in the direst of situations—she can notice the minutest of details and reflect upon them vividly after the situation dissipates. Although she obviously doesn't remain calm every waking moment of her daily life, her 'on again, off again' cool-headedness may appear in the midst of the most panic-invoking situations. She can also swim quite well, but once her thick coat is wet, it stays wet for a very long time. Her coat is great for protecting her from snow and generally cold climates, but loses its protection properties when wet. It absorbs so much water that she actually runs the risk of freezing if she's too wet and the weather is too cold.

Ayare; Seoire's furry little friend is actually a very, very waterlogged Bichon Frise that used to be her neighbor's pet back when she lived near the harbor. The horns that appear on her head are actually twigs gnarled within her countless curls and her pale white fur is stained with the greenish tint of the sea. Her pink skin still shows through brightly— while typical Manjeer petpets have gray bodies, hers is pink :3. She has a deliriously optimistic outlook on life, and even after the most tragic of incidents, she's able to shrug it off and focus on short-term needs (such as eating) rather than long-term needs. Getting on Seoire's nerves is something she seems to do daily, but Ayare has a way of getting through Seoire's stubbornness and convincing her to do things she wouldn't otherwise do. She isn't the brightest in terms of logic and problem solving, but her heart of gold shines through her rather dim intelligence.

III – Story Outline

A very good example of my weird humor. What fine worms these two are. n_n

Hullo hullo~ This section features Seoire's story outline, not the story itself in its story-like glory. I'm horridly slug-paced when it comes to writing actual stories, and if I want to make it by the deadline I'll have to just present to you the story outline. Oh well, it's still fun and insightful so here ya go. :3

Background of Seoire's Parents;
The fishing harbor of Nüshime (noo-shee-mehy) had been menaced by a large male wolf, who eventually became Seoire's father, for nearly a two long years. He never physically attacked a single human or their pets, but his presence froze the town with tension. Knowing that a wild and dangerous animal was roaming the streets struck fear into both the locals and visitors to the harbor, and mayhem ensued. People refused to leave their homes, fisherman began taking their entire families with them on their ventures, and a mass migration began. A lot of folks simply didn't feel safe in the once peaceful, blissful Nüshime.

The wolf had ventured far away from his arctic origins to the north, and a wolf making it into these regions was practically unheard of. An extremely harsh winter in his territory proved to be too difficult of life for a vagabond without a pack to hunt the larger game, and starvation forced him to travel until he could find a way to sustain himself. There were a countless number of sightings and clever attempts to secure him had been made, but all efforts were in vain. The cunning wolf easily eluded capture and made himself at home, eating trash and rummaging through open barns and sheds. He overstayed his welcome, continuing to live in the harbor well after the harsh winter was over and he had no pressing reason to be there.

Those that did stay in the harbor, mostly because they lacked the funds to do otherwise, began to take actions to regain their peace of mind—most did so by obtaining large dogs to protect them. Malamutes, Great Danes, and Siberian huskies soon became plentiful throughout the harbor. This is when a small family of three humans, consisting of a mother, father, and young four-year-old daughter, welcomed Seoire's future mother, Verndari, into their family. They named her after the Icelandic word for "protector" and life began to roll along at a steady pace again. The wolf continued to lurk around, but everyone felt a little safer with their companions to protect them and their children.

During the second winter after the wolf's invasion, Verndari found herself face to face with the wolf while she was watching over the then five-year-old child who was playing in the snow. She was caught off-guard by his laid-back personality and complete lack of intimidation and barely noticed his presence. But, being as overprotective as she was, she immediately put herself between the wolf and child when she realized who he was and demanded him to leave. Nonchalantly, he refused. Vendari, being a bit of a hothead, felt her short fuse spark and get eaten away by his attitude… this was when their relationship started, when he realized how much his mere presence could annoy her, and how much fun it was to set her off. He always seemed to slip away when Vendari looked away for even a second, leaving Vendari the only witness to him being there.

He visited her almost daily, harassing her by cracking jokes and prodding at whatever happened to annoy her the most at the time; he absolutely loved to use his superior intellect and tried to convince her that he was merely a figment of her imagination, a stem from her deprived psychological social needs from being around humans, and that he didn't actually exist outside of her mind. She was often furious at him, but did begin to open up and indentify him as a friend after an incident in which the daughter she watched saw the wolf, injured herself in panic, and began to cry… in response, he tried everything possible to get her to stop crying, even chase his own tail.

As the five-year-old girl grew and became more curious about the wolf, she began to attempt to pet him and treated him as a companion. She soon realized that her relationship with him must be kept secret between Vendari and her, and she didn't tell a soul about her wolf encounters.

However, his stay did come to an end. The girl, now a few years older, had gotten into an argument with her family about the fate of the wolf. She had become opinionated and stubborn, and was determined to resolve the issue. In the heat of the argument, she ran outside to find him and tried to prove that there was nothing to fear him for. While searching for him in areas he frequented in her emotional haste, she greatly injured herself.

By the time her parents and Verndari could find her, she was unconscious… and the wolf was standing over her. Verndari felt her heart drop into the ground, but knew that he would never be capable of hurting her. Verndari and the wolf staged a chase, leaving the parents to focus on resuscitating her. When they were alone, they began to discuss what happened.

Verndari was faced with a choice—she could return to his territory with the wolf, who she had developed strong feelings for, or she could remain with her family and watch over the human she thought of as her own pup. The wolf coaxed her to stay with the humans and wouldn't allow her to come with him. After an emotional goodbye, they parted ways, never to see each other again.

Verndari stayed by the side of her human pup, helping her throughout her recovery. She continues to be as overprotective as ever today. The girl doesn't remember much about that night, but still maintains that her injuries weren't caused by her wolf companion. The citizens of Nüshime regard Verndari as the hero and the reason why the wolf left, although she doesn't proudly wear the title.

Seoire doesn't know the entire story of her father, not even his name, and Verndari doesn't talk about him much. When she does open up about him she always speaks of him fondly and her face seems to light up, so Seoire can only infer that he must've been pretty much amazing to get her mother's approval, who barely approves of anyone as it is.

The Accidental Boarding;
At less than a year old, after her siblings had found new homes and separated from her, Seoire became obsessed with exploring accompanied by her human neighbor's prim and proper white fluffball, Ayare. It seemed as if their appetite for adventure grew by the minute, and eventually they found themselves visiting the harbor at the ocean's edge nearly every day to survey the water and watch ships come in. They knew the humans used the big bulky ships at the harbor to go away for long periods of time (later coming back smelling like fish), but their knowledge didn't go much beyond that.

When the next fishing season rolled by, Seoire curiously watched her favorite human, the father and breadwinner of the house known as Jack, prepare for a long fishing voyage. He was a heavyset man that had the early stages of a beard masking his jaw line—his eyes were a deep green and his face boasted a prominent pointed nose. He was clearly uneasy, still disappointed by the huge failure of the last season. His ship, dubbed "Shopping Bag" by his daughter, had suffered from huge mechanical problems and the crab he was fishing for were virtually gone. Before setting out, he hugged his family, patted Seoire's head goodbye and set off to collect his eager inexperienced crew, nearly all replacements of his previous crew that had quit on him.

After he shut the door, his wife Melody gasped and grabbed a green cloth left on the table. She frantically stumbled out the door to chase him down and give it to him. Seoire had never seen her so frenzied, and followed her closely. When Melody reached Jack, she exclaimed "You almost forgot your good luck charm!" And he chuckled in response,

I was not just eating a butterfly by Soar (freesias)

taking it in hand and carefully tying it around his head.

Seoire was immediately intrigued with the cloth and vowed to get her teeth around it to see why it was so important. She quickly returned to her house and clawed at the fence that marked territory borders, signaling her comrade Ayare to come out and follow her. They followed Jack to the harbor and as he began the painstaking process of preparing for the journey, they boarded the ship.

Eventually, the ship set sail with both Ayare and Seoire on board, who were rocked to sleep by the gently swaying motion within the storage area. They weren't discovered until the next morning when a deckhand was fetching more baiting material; by that time, they were too far into the voyage to turn back. With the dogs on board, Captain Jack notified his wife via radio that Seoire was on board, and told her to tell the neighbors about Ayare as well.

They had brought extra food rations, and the company of dogs on board raised the morale of the exhausted and overworked crew. The temperature was below freezing outside and during breaks it was nice to have a thick-coated husky sitting next to you. Jack's bad luck took a complete turn and they began raking in piles of crab, near record numbers. They began relating the presence of the dogs with their newfound luck and nicknamed them the lucky pirates.

After the season ended smoothly with each crew member weighed down by fatter pockets, Jack began referring to Seoire as his little great luck charm, and pondered whether to bring her on the next trip. It didn't take long before he decided it would be nice for her to tag along again. Seoire's mother on the other hand scolded her and told her to stay out of the water due to her thick coat, offering good advice, but it fell on excitedly deaf ears.

(this section/installment will also include how Seoire adjusted to the swaying sea, and how she felt she had to readjust herself to land afterwards)

Seoire's Vow of Avengement;
The second season swung by, and Seoire's family bid both Jack and Seoire off. Ayare tagged along again, too. The crew was enthusiastic, but still quite new. Most were only in it for the payout and didn't care about working for it or respecting their captain. Around six or seven hours into the venture, the weather took a turn for the worst. A massive storm that was stirring in the arctic swept through the fishing grounds and the outcome wasn't looking good.

The persistent crisp gusts forced the ship to turn back, leaving their fishing gear behind—a huge monetary loss. It wasn't long after the decision was made that the engineer alerted the captain of a leak and the engine began to malfunction… it was only a matter of time before the ship sank. Jack, not exactly the most experienced captain, hadn't prepared his ship for a disaster such as this.

The crew had refused to let Seoire on the life raft—they couldn't risk her claws popping it and dooming them all. There wasn't enough room for Jack, who volunteered to stay behind with his ship, honoring the "captain always goes down with his ship" tradition. Jack and Seoire exchanged glances as the crew hurried into the raft; Seoire was searching Jack's eyes for answers, trying to figure out what was going on, and Jack's eyes stiffened with a watered-down sense of alarm.

A calm had washed over the both of them as they saw the life raft carried away, but not sunken, by the monstrous waves. Smiling in a calm moment that followed, though with an obvious glint of sadness in his eyes, the captain untied his lucky bandana and fastened it securely around Seoire's neck over her loose leather collar. Seconds later, there was a loud final snapping noise and the final piece of the ship gave way to the hungry waters.

The only thing Seoire remembers after that getting engulfed by pure coldness, getting thrown around like a leaf in the breeze, and then sinking into a blanket of fear. It was not just a feeling of being cold or chilled; it was as if nearly all of the life energy was ripped away from her, leaving her with absolutely nothing. No air in her lungs, no warmth in her veins… Grimly and desperately, she paddled upward, eventually breaking the surface, managing to find floating debris to scramble upon that could hold her weight. She scanned the chunks of the former "Shopping Bag" body, but couldn't see Jack or Ayare anywhere. Unbeknownst to her, Ayare had already been rescued by a smaller "monster" lurking in the ocean. (Nuibre… you'll learn about him in the next section ouo)

A brown crescent-shaped figure bobbed as it quickly passed through the water in the midst of the mayhem, seeming to slither through it rather than swim. It slid by Seoire, going by her and continuing a few feet before mysteriously diving into the water. Seoire couldn't get a good glimpse of whatever it was. She floated in between monstrous waves, shivering excessively. A few moments passed. Before her eyes could see it in the dark, her ears picked up the sound of something surfacing.

She turned her entire body, concentrating toward the sound. She aimed her eyes where the creature was precisely, and saw that it had Jack. It began to carry him off, and she barked viciously, with more emotion than she ever felt coursing through her blood. Her inborn wolf instincts kicked in for the first time in her memory, and she let out a chilling howl of desperation.

Seoire by Jenny (screeches)

The creature squeaked and squealed like a dolphin as it navigated through debris, chattering away as it faded. When it was almost out of sight, Seoire lunged back into the water and tried to chase after it. She could feel hypothermia tugging numbly at her limbs, but swam for as long as she could keep up.

Shortly after jumping in, a huge wave swallowed her and she slipped in and out of consciousness. She remembers floating, freefalling, and feeling completely numb… and then something swiftly retrieving her and bringing her back to the surface. "I'm… Aflico…" a small, hushed voice murmured into her ear. "Please don't struggle..." Seoire also remembers the unsettling words, "I'm sorry about your friend… I didn't mean to…"

Seoire woke up, finding herself on a rocky coast, where she could only assume was near the arctic lands her father came from. She was completely dry, somehow, and Ayare slept soundly at her side… but still she shuddered with a chilling feeling. Where was Jack? Was that what Aflico was apologizing for? In Seoire's eyes, not only did Aflico naively rob him of his life, but his pride as a captain… Seoire thought she took him away from the ship he wanted to stay and protect. She grit her teeth, biting down with full force on the mere thought of one day finding this monster and avenging him. Her claws bore into the wet sand as her muscles tightened from her sudden realization. This is when her journey began, her systematic invasion of human-controlled ships each fishing season, hoping to one day meet the monster again face to face.

She didn't want to return home; she wouldn't dare show her face. Not that she knew where home was from wherever she ended up. She couldn't return anyway, feeling as if she had failed to carry out her responsibility of protecting Jack… the least she could do for him now was stop this monster from disrupting someone else's life. She had not yet considered the vastness of the ocean, but would stop at nothing to get rid of the fiend that introduced themself as Aflico. Meanwhile, during the off-seasons, she would explore the arctic and search for clues about her father, all while training to be stronger.

This is where she is in the layout, and the beginning of the application, right now—she feels betrayed by the sea and doesn't want to face her future, but has to.

Some Notes;
This story line doesn't go into much detail at all. xD Seoire's actual story will be much more in-depth. For example, the crew of the "Shopping Bag" ship will be described and identified, and later on Seoire will be on a ship with one of the crew members again… who thinks she's a spirit back to haunt him. I get really detailed when it comes to stories, so odd details from the beginning WILL for sure pop up again in the future—I just love to make things go in circles. :3

Jack taught Aflico that humans can't breathe underwater. ._.; However, Jack may still be alive out there, somewhere—he just can't remember anything after being deprived of oxygen for so long. The entire crew was rescued after seventeen hours of floating around in the stormy seas, but Jack was never found… not yet, at least.

IV – My Mind Citizens

This may seem a bit repetitive if you've already read the story tidbits that include when particular characters meet Seoire (well, just Aflico xD), but please bear with me. x3 Not every one of my characters will meet and intertwine stories with Seoire, but some do. :3 The sole purpose of this section is letting you get to know my current characters a little bit, because I haven't been back for long and haven't had a whole lot of time to work on their lookups/petpages and whatnot. n__n; For the sake of consistency and my compulsiveness, I've used neopets images instead of custom art. So sit tight, here be my mind citizens!

Click on their pictures to go to their lookups. (although, most of their lookups are unfinished and in the works, so you probably won't have too much fun xD) Also, I have included the petpets that are also characters. If they aren't included, they probably have no involvement whatsoever with the pet they're attached to yet. xD

Fantastic Four-legged Friends (quad);

Hairy Heart-having Humanoids (anthro);

V – Impressions!

This section will present to you the impressions people have of me through recommendations. Since you didn't have a preference either way, I decided to include some. n_n

Recommendations;

Yes indeed, I sat on my beloved Picklez to hide her from danger. xD

VI – Foreseen Future

If the path I've made for Seoire is the one she ends up taking in these crossroads, I, Kittix , pledge to be the best owner I can be for Seoire. I understand all the sadness that she has already been through in the past two adoption processes, and I will provide everything she needs to be happy; in the basic neopets sense, the complex creative sense, and beyond. I promise to be a wonderfully attentive tree to my beloved stem and never put her through the pain of neglect or abandonment again.
(modified TNO pledge of good ownership :3)

If Seoire is chosen to be with me and follow the future I create for her, I can't guarantee things will happen immediately, as I've said before. x3; However, they will happen. When I set my mind to something, I carry through with it. Much like this application—about 70% of this was done right in the middle of a bad flu, so I had a lot of time to work but also a lot of erm, interruptions while working. xD

Anyhow let's start with the neopets-related things I would do. I would like to keep building upon Seoire's stats, especially her intelligence. :3 I have a few books in my gallery that I'd like to read to her, if she hasn't read them already. She's a tough canine, and I can see her befitting the role of a battledome pet, should I ever get involved in BDing again. Since I'm not saving for anything in particular, I wouldn't mind splurging on codestones/dubloons and such.

As for customization, I can't see myself going too crazy unless TNT releases tattoos that look like husky markings, green neck bandanas, or ice-blue eye contacts. @0@ -drool- I'm not into fancy dresses or shoes for my quad pets. I like things to have a purpose and things that can be worn without having opposable thumbs. xD; However, I do have two backgrounds for starters that I'd like to use for her that I would switch depending on her current roleplay setting—whether she's exploring the arctic during off-season or boarding a ship in search of Aflico. In fact, one of the backgrounds is the same one she's sporting now, haha. They can also be found in my gallery with the books. n_n

I currently don't have a future lookup made for her, but I'm testing potential templates for one on Evasis and Kittixs lookups. I have a lot of new ideas I'd like to establish on her lookup, such as roleplay-related stats like "hunting experience" and "human involvement" – the stats would look a bit like the neopets stats (for example, "tactical genius" listed after hunting experience), but also have a gauge above them that measure how strong a particular stat is.

Seoire by Midna (fearsomedragon)

It's a bit hard to explain, but I look forward to showing it as soon as I can create a coding template I like enough to use with it. x3

It goes without saying that Seoire would be roleplayed, and that she will grow immensely with each encounter. I have a lot of both old roleplay friends and new acquaintances lined up that I really want to roleplay Seoire with, should I receive her. c: I also want to enter Seoire in the beauty contest, and in order to capture her cuteness as a pup I'll probably be entering both pictures of her now and pictures of her as an enormously fluffy black and white puppy. :3

Her story will follow the outline I showed you, but I will also continue to work on it beyond that. None of my character's life stories are capable of actually being completed (only their back stories are), and Seoire, like my other characters, would have a story that would be ongoing and constantly worked on.

As for her petpage, I believe I'll be using this application's layout art until her story progresses enough through brainstorming + roleplay that it calls for another layout and a change of scenery. n_n I'm not quite sure what sort of resources her page will contain, but I do have an inkling of ideas including cures for seasickness and "lupe in a bottle" adoptables— a play on those nifty ship in a bottle thingies. xD I also got the idea of using part of her petpage as a lupe roleplayer directory, but I'm still pondering how to tie it in—I'll probably relate it to her harbor origins and ship hopping.

VII –Before you leave…

Before you're finally done and can let your eyes rest, I'd like to say that Seoire has really dragged me out of a creative rut. A few weeks ago, I never would've thought that I could pour out a character foundation through so much writing and art in this amount of time. Ideas tend to get wedged into my brain and stuck there until I begin the slow and painful process of ripping them out one by one, but my many ideas, both new and old, for Seoire have been flowing very smoothly and painlessly. :3 I would like to thank you, Fae, for giving me a chance to stir up my old ideas for Seoire and build upon them, further strengthening my bond with her. I'd also like to thank you for allowing me to make an application that I've truly learned from. I think ripping out those ideas won't be as painful anymore, or nearly as rip-y. 8D

As I've said earlier in the application (somewhere back there, in that huge ocean of words), Seoire has truly rekindled my fascination with this site. I can see myself becoming active again and sticking around for a long time to come. My inspiration bucket is now overflowing—thank you. :D