How You Accidentally Fell In Love With Your Pets!

I decided to ask the Neopian Pound Neoboard whether any of the players there had accidentally fallen in love with their pets, pets that had never been dreamies of theirs. I got many interesting replies!

Here follow some of the reasons why players fell in love with their pets!

1. You Zapped A Pet

I have to admit, my 2 side account Secret Laboratory Rays are purely for zapping and pounding pets. So far I've adopted 79 plain pets, zapped them into colors, and given them away on the Neopian Pound Neoboard. I'm looking to give away 100 more!

However, there have been moments where I zapped a pet and fell in love with it instead. Some truly awesome pets, such as Dimensional and Darigan, were kept on my account for a couple of days while I seriously debated whether to keep them or give them away. These pets were never dream pets of mine, which just goes to show you how thrilling it is to get painted pets from the Lab!

And this is why many people accidentally fall in love with their pets -- they zap them with the Secret Laboratory Ray and get so thrilled with the change that it takes a while to give the pets up for adoption. One of my oldest Neofriends still has her first ever zapped pet, a badly named JubJub that she adopted from the Pound and zapped into Island. She keeps it as a reminder of the first day she ever used the Lab, and she'll never, ever give it up!

2. You Were Uptrading

A lot of people, including myself, accidentally fell in love with their pets while uptrading them towards other, more "valuable" pets, such as unconverted pets. I have a well named Plushie Kiko that I traded for several years ago, and I'm still in love with her! I'd been planning to uptrade her towards Krawks, Draiks, or even unconverted pets, but she's so lovely and squishy that I unwittingly fell in love with her instead! Now she occupies a permanent space on my side account.

3. You Were Customizing It

Several players admitted that they loved their pets only so far as they had great customizations. For instance, one player said that she hates Kacheeks in general, but has a White Kacheek just because it looks great when customized with items from the NC Mall. After viewing her Kacheek's extensive customization, I had to agree! This player accidentally fell in love with her Kacheek, and I'm so glad she did!

My personal favorite pet is the Lutari, because it looks (to my mind) heroic and spunky. I'm zapping my battle pet right now and aiming for an eventual Desert Lutari. I hated the Lutari at first, since I rather liked their appearance before customization happened, but after seeing the Desert Lutari, I'm a new convert! And this is how I fell in love with all Lutaris!

4. You Stalk The Pound

Many players stalk the Neopian Pound in the hopes that they'll be able to adopt rare and expensive pets. However, as with the Secret Laboratory Ray, sometimes these players adopt cheaply colored pets just because it's so exciting to spot a well named, painted pet in the Pound! One player openly admitted that he gave away 2 pets, only to adopt 4 more from the Pound, pets that weren't even dreamies of his!

I had to grin and agree. I have Draiks, Krawks and other expensive pets, but I still get a thrill when I find a Spotted Gelert in the Pound. It takes some personal wrestling to decide that I don't want to adopt it after all!

5. You Submit To Contests

Many players, especially the artistic ones, admitted that the only reason they had Koi and Grarrls were because they were so fun to draw, and they loved entering their pets in the Beauty Contest. They had never intended to fall in love with their Faerie Unis, but fall in love they did, especially since Faerie pets are so fun to draw!

And so these players keep their Koi and Grarrls on their main accounts, hoping that one day they'll earn some beautiful golden trophies for their pet lookups. Having no artistic talent whatsoever, I had to applaud these loving and ambitious players and wish them much luck with their entries!

6. You Were Giving It Away

There were a lot of players who admitted that they put their unwanted pets, such as Robot Peophins and Maraquan JubJubs, up for adoption on the Pound Neoboard, only to end up keeping them. These players couldn't find suitable new owners in all of the 68 applications that they received, and so they realized that they were too in love with their pets to give them away. They accidentally fell in love with their "unwanted" pets because they couldn't find suitable new parents!

The same thing happened to me! I was trying to give away my Robot Kacheek one day, but couldn't find any respectable, aged and goal-oriented players to give him away to. Though he's badly named, and though Robot Kacheeks are far from rare, I still cling to him with the hope that someday I'll find a suitable new owner. For now, he happily occupies my side account!

7. You're A Role Player

I have to admit, this category of players has my greatest admiration! Role players are extraordinarily talented and literate players, and I love to chat with my Lupe-loving Neofriend about the latest role playing she's done with her guild. I admire her devotion to her pets, including one Brown Lupe who was her first ever painted pet, and is by far her favorite. Though her pets aren't expensive or rare, she has a fierce attachment to all of them, and I love that she loves her pets so much!

She fell in love with her pets because they were easy to write stories for. I noticed that her Lupes all have intertwining stories with each other, while her Maraquan Draik languishes on a side account. She loves her Lupes so much that she ignores her other pets! Now that's love!

8. You're A Pet Lender

I have to admit, being a pet lender was never a goal of mine, but nowadays I find such gratification in lending out my Huggy and Mazzew pets that I happily lend them out a few times each month! I accidentally fell in love with these pets because I love to help other players achieve cool new avatars!

I don't think I'm alone, either! One player, who admitted that she stalks the Avatar Neoboard every day, said that she likes to lend out her newly zapped Coconut JubJub. Even though she never particularly liked her Coconut before, she does now! She enjoys helping other players with their avatar goals. I gave her a virtual high five and smiled, glad to know I was not alone!

9. You Anticipate New Colors

I know of one player who has an Aisha on a side account, one with an excellent and truly sinister name. She's waiting for Stealthy Aishas to be introduced someday, and for now, she keeps her special Aisha on a side account. She admits that she doesn't particularly like Aishas, but the thought of a Stealthy Aisha being available someday makes her giddy with excitement! She thinks that the combination of a dainty creature like the Aisha being painted an ominous color like Stealthy would be a truly spectacular combination. After hearing her reasoning, I had to agree!

And that is how this player fell in love with her pet -- because she's anticipating a new pet/color combination. I nodded, smiled, and wished her much luck with her future plans!

10. Other Players Admire It

I had the option at one point to trade my unconverted Faerie Pteri for an unconverted Faerie Aisha. Unsure of what I should do, I posted a thread on the Pound Neoboard asking my fellow players whether THEY'D go through with the trade, or wait for a better offer. Hands down, everyone told me to keep the Pteri! To this day, I'm thankful that they gave me such good advice. I've fallen in love with my gorgeous Peri and I'll never, ever trade it. The unconverted Faerie Aisha, in hindsight, now looks so plain and small that I'm glad I never went through with the trade. Thank you, dear Neopians, for your help and wisdom!

Conclusion:

And these were all the ways in which the players on the Pound Neoboard unintentionally fell in love with their pets! I thought these reasons were fascinating, didn't you? I was especially amused by the fact that I fulfilled almost all of these criteria. And here I thought I was the only hapless owner to fall in love with her "unwanted" pets!

Thanks for reading this article, my fellow Neopians! If you have any more reasons why we players unintentionally fall in love with our pets, drop me a line! I'd love to chat with you, since talking to people on Neopets is my favorite thing to do!

Have a great week! I wish you much luck with your own pets and pet goals!