Of Paint and Plush by green_dragoness |  |
RAINBOW POOL - And people thought that there was controversy when the baby
paint brush came out.
Imagine if you will: a brush that turns a living creature into nothing more
than a child's plaything; a creature of stuffing and sawdust. Following on the
wave of other paint brushes that change entire pet pictures rather than just
colours, the new 'Plushie Paint Brush' was released on the 26th, showcasing
a Skeith as a model. According to some it might be considered 'cute'; to others,
it might just be seen as an attempt to weasel away NPs from the former. However,
this new paint brush might bring up some interesting questions--namely, what
twisted mind came up with the idea, are they animate or inanimate, and what
effect might these cotton-polyester blend filled, button eyed pets have on Neopia?
Who introduced this object into Neopia? While I can imagine hearing the readers
shout out, 'the Neopets staff thought it up, you dolt!', it's frankly kind of
a boring suggestion. Wild predictions are always the most entertaining, such
as it possibly being Dr. Sloth. What could drive the black-hearted, vile (and
cliché) villain to create such a thing? Perhaps he has fond childhood
memories and wishes to give plushies to any younger relatives (see 'Meet the
Sloths'), or perhaps even villains need something to cuddle sometimes. That,
or he could just have figured that plushie Neopets would be easier to catch
than the real ones. Maybe it's some demented relative of the toy shop owner,
(or the toy shop owner herself--never trust anyone who smirks like that) assembling
an army, or one of those magical plushies gone horribly, horribly wrong. Or
perhaps it could be the result of the old standby of fairy tales--a curse. Granted,
people cursed in fairy tales normally get turned into animals or spit out reptiles
for the rest of their lives, but Neopia has never been exactly 'normal'.
An interesting question springs to mind when viewing these piles of fluff
- are they counted among the living, or is any unfortunate pet that's painted
with the brush doomed to an eternity of being inanimate and mute? Because the
formerly stone painted pets are no longer around, they can't be tracked down
to have a series of tests run to see if they too might've been inanimate or
not, and how they compared to the plushies. There are two 'major' pets that
the plushie pets can be compared to the Jelly Chia and Meuka. Made of jelly
and mucus respectively, they might be the best subjects to compare to the plushies.
However, some how my assistants have mysteriously vanished while trying to do
biological research on the demonic duo, results are at the moment inconclusive.
There is also the strange case of the robot pets and petpets--like their stuffed
brethren--one might debate if these creatures can be considered 'alive' or not.
However, the fact that both of these painted pet groups can battle, eat, get
sick, and be healed, the most likely assumption is that the plushies are in
fact animate.
Ah, scammers. The hated, lowest ranking class of Neopia. Somehow I can see
them having a field day with this paint brush. Imagine the horde of newbies
that gets conned into thinking that a magical plushie of any type will instantly
turn their pet into a possibly rare and desirable painted colour. The spamming,
the freezing, the complaining! Riots in the streets, dogs and cats living together,
mass hysteria! Ahem. And what does this possibly mean for the healing springs?
Will the water faerie start having to give out thread, needles, and extra stuffing
along with the usual healing potions? What about the Neopian pound? Should a
plushie pet get tossed with the rest, or will Dr. Death have to build a bin
of horrors, moldy fabric, and stains no one was meant to know the origin of,
like those at the thrift shops? Another possible question is what might happen
to the original plushies. In the event of a (quite likely) pandemonium to be
one of the first to get the new paint brush, will they skyrocket in price, or
remain the same? On the other hand, prices might plummet for a short time as
plushie collectors rush only to get the paint brush, not to mention the fact
that Neopia's economy currently has most of the price jacks directed towards
training and battle items.
So, now it's time for the reader to decide: the Plushie Paint Brush. An attempt
to make pets even cuter, or a vile attempt by villains to lull the people of
Neopia into a fuzz and stuffing filled haze so that attacking is easier? Fluffy
heaven or inanimate torment? The answer could be the former, the latter, both,
or neither in this little slice of Neopets called "The Paint Brush Zone". |
