Furry Reminders

[kookybloo]

There once was an outright ban on these, but it seems to have loosened up lately. I can recall recent stories with Kanrik sniffing and wagging his tail, and Kell hissing, for example.

I'm curious as to how far it can go. I suppose what I really want to know is: Can I have the Duchess flying? It would be so cool.

[Blueysicle]

I thought the ban was more or less on Neopets acting like real-world pets, though? (Such as eating out bowls on the floor and that sort of thing) Then again, I really wouldn't know for certain, since it's only been two years since I've become reasonably active in the NT.

At any rate, I really don't see why not. I've been able to describe a Wocky fluffing up his tail when he's scared and a Uni's nostrils flaring and his ears flattening backwards when angry, so I can't imagine that a Lenny flying would be considered a no-no. As long as you don't have the Furry Reminders be outright degrading (That is, treating Neopets more like wild animals than sapient beings) or gross, then I think you'd be fine.

[Deleted]

Like Bluey said, I think there's a difference between giving Neopets body language fitting to their physiology and making them act like real-world animals (whether wild or domestic). Humans, after all, are technically animals as well and we have our own distinctive set of body language while still being sapient and civilized. Just as humans can wrinkle their noses, grimace and smile, and clench their fists, I imagine Neopets take use of their own physiology to indicate their emotions.

On a more practical level, it has never been an issue for rejection for anything I have written, and I use copious amounts of nonhuman body language (ears perking and flattening, tails lashing, Grundo antennae pricking, etc.). There's actually a fairly wide spectrum of just how anthro you want to go with how you characterize Neopets, from making them quad (but still sapient and civilized) to writing them in a way that, if you had not indicated their species, they would be easily mistaken for human characters. So yes, having a Lenny fly is fine. Eyries, Pteris, Scorchios, Draiks, Shoyrus, Unis, and Faerie-painted pets fly in NT stories all the time. It's just if you had something like a Gelert on a leash or a pack of quad Lupes living in the woods hunting for food that things would get problematic.

[kookybloo]

Something else I remembered...Noah, my Zafara, eats leaves off of trees from time to time, but he eats normal food too (and he is kind of a hippie ). Since Zafaras aren't based on any real-world species, this would probably work?

[Deleted]

Does he eat them like he's a wild animal foraging for food, or like a slightly eccentric human plucking leaves off of trees? Because the latter seems like it would be more acceptable than the former.

[kookybloo]

He does look like he's foraging. Noah started eating leaves when he was lost for a long time and needed the leaves for food, and he developed a taste for them I guess I could just say something like "Noah ate the leaves" without really describing how.

[Deleted]

Well, if there's a good reason in his character for him to forage for leaves, in my opinion that could slip by--especially if he acts very anthro otherwise. I suggest you write it how you feel, and if it gets rejected, then tone it down a little.

[Thorn]

I have Unis pull coaches as like a job. xD Bridles and reins and all! And Neo seems to be fine with that. =)

[Deleted]

I use Neopian body language to my advantage all the time, especially when it comes to wings, tails, and ears. They're so very expressive. Flaring your wings for (instinctively) intimidation is a GREAT way to show you're angry!

Like Thorn said, there are also plenty of Unis and Eyries that pull coaches and carriages as a job. They're just the only ones fit to do it in terms of size, and hey, not that much different than driving delivery trucks. Just the Neopian version.

As far as foraging/hunting goes, I mostly reserve that sort of thing for tribes, where it's a cultural thing, like a bonding thing. Though I've never actually included it in an NT story as of yet. I think it depends on how you write it?

[PFA]

Jan 19, 2014 7:41:14 GMT -5 Thorn said:

I have Unis pull coaches as like a job. xD Bridles and reins and all! And Neo seems to be fine with that. =)

Fun fact: waaay back in Her Spirit's Eyes, I had a Uni-drawn carriage, originally driven by a Techo. When it got into the NT, they edited out the reference to the Techo driver and just had the Unis pulling the carriage. True story!

So yeah, they can still do animal-like things, I think just as long as it doesn't get into creepy territory with leashes and such. XD I think foraging would probably fly, though if it doesn't, you can always tone it back.

[Komori]

Honestly, I think it boils down to sentience and intelligence. As long as they're demonstrating human-like thought processes, what they do really doesn't matter as much as why they're doing it.

[Ted (the zombie Dalek)]

I don't think I've written anything that features this yet, but in my headcanon for Crazy he does sometimes paw the ground and snort if he's angry. Although, that's when he's on four legs. Not sure if he has another tic for when he's on two legs. (It changes depending on what mood he's in and what he's doing at the time. I figure UC halloween Moehogs would be better at walking on two legs than their converted counterparts.)