[Gameplay Contest Entry]

[Deleted]

Day 1

Summary (If you just want a quick update on what's what.)

- Do you like your new pets? I love them! They're an absolute joy to play with, or just watch interact with their little virtual world.
- - What are their names? Show and Step
- - Are they boys or girls or both? Show's my little girl, and Step's the ginger boy <3
- Do your new pets get along? Show's a little shy and timid, but I haven't seen them ever upset at each other.. so, yes!
- Figure out what their favorite foods are. A harder task than it first appears! Show initially nibbled from the Red Bowl, and Step, well.. he didn't seem to want to eat much of anything! Silly boy

Full Day

This isn't quite like a normal Gameplay contest in that I already knew who my two little kitters were. Aside from name and looks, however, I didn't really get the chance to know them all that well. I chose Show and Step, because I hoped that maybe they would get to know each other (my previous attempts had failed.. spectacularly) while I got to know them. Two birds with one stone, as they say.



First Impressions:
My first impression of the pair was pretty simple. They're silly little kittens who love to play! They seem even more interested in whatever I'm doing, however..
Every time I bring out the camera:

It's either striking a pose, or making that smug little kitten face I love and hate in equal parts. They can't seem to make up their mind whether they should scramble for the spotlight and pose, or show their disdain by simply ignoring me.. It doesn't matter. They could be eating, tussling, playing, sleeping.. the moment they think I'm snapping pictures, they drop whatever they're doing. Hopefully they'll be just as attentive when the time comes to teach my little kittens to do tricks and earn their treats. ^.-

Before taking Step out alone, I collected a variety of foods and headed to the desktop to see if he had any preferences. I knew he had to be starving- neither kitten had eaten yet today.
However...


He seemed a little confused. Perhaps overwhelmed by the choices?

It didn't take him long to return to his usual good spirits..




Sadly, it seems he's decided that food bowls are toys. *sigh*


Eventually, after a while of frustrating back-and-forth, I got him to eat out of the Red Bowl.

This little episode is a good glimpse into how he views life in general.. toys, toys, toys! Many proud, accomplished faces were made after he successfully captured his prey, the plate of leftovers.. I'm afraid he's going to have to get used to the idea of eating what's put in front of him. If he's always this picky I'm gonna be hard pressed to keep him healthy!

On to Show, my slightly more reasonable little girl: (aren't they always? hahah)





Oh, my..
Her first choice was also the Red Bowl.. though I have my suspicions as to whether or not she really cares! She happily bounced from bowl to plate to bowl, and back again, perfectly pleased with all of them. I think she was just trying to be complacent. xD
There were three foods and only one kitten...
Regardless, I'm glad that one of them looks like they're going to be easy to feed!

With both kittens more-or-less fed and now bursting with energy, I planned a little trip to somewhere warm and sunny where they could burn some energy.

The Supplies:

It took several trips, but I figured I'd make sure we're prepared.

Basket: For collecting any pretty shells that wash up!
Green Rugs: Stand-ins for beach blankets to chillax on x3
Beach Ball, Frisbee, Star Ball: Some beach-friendly toys to play with.
Yarn Ball: I have a feeling they'll prefer to play with this.. xD Also, the nifty yarn lets me get in on the games if I want.
Water: Wouldn't want them drinking sea water..
Plate of Leftovers: It looks the most fattening, which is good considering how hard it was to get Step to eat.. just in case they get hungry!
Brush: To clean out all the sand in their fur afterwards.

The Setup:

Kept everything but the basics in the supply case, and I tried my best to keep the "towels" well above the reach of the waves.. I'm sure that they'll kick them all about before long, though. xD



Show made some initial attempts to kick around the beach ball, but she lost interest quickly.

Step got bored as soon as he realized it was too big to pounce on.


not Step approved :c

My first real victory happened shortly afterwards..

How cute!

Around this time, however, my other little kitten, Band, decided that she wanted in on the action, too. Never mind that she already has a reputation for not playing nicely. And, as luck would have it, the petz door was left unlocked.

                  

          Enter Band, clearly on the warpath.

The target of her aggression?

Show, as usual.

I was certain that fighting would quickly follow, but things took a rather interesting turn.

She ran beside Step, glaring all the while. Show tried to befriend her once more, without success.


Show was ultimately left to watch sadly from the sidelines.


Let's just say that Band isn't afraid of going after whatever she wants.. xD


..Leaving Show upset, meowing sadly. I didn't want to rudely just send Band away, (which would probably just give her a worse temper the next time I brought her out) but I had to do something.

I compromised by distracting them with what appears to be one of their favorite toys..
The yarn ball!



Show took the chance to pounce on Band. Step wisely stayed out of the confrontation, and suddenly became very interested in a fish skeleton which had washed ashore earlier.


After that, I decided it was time to send Band in before things escalated. And in case you're wondering..

Yes, we did find a shell or two!

So, where does this leave Show and Band?
Well..

I wouldn't worry too much. :3

[Deleted]

Day 2

Summary

- Try planting a garden in the backyard for your pets! Well, we.. tried.
- - Do they like the watering can? NO.
- - What about the host? Didn't show up.
- Decorate the Family Room together. Well, I wouldn't say "together"...
- - What did your pets come up with? PILLOWS <3
- Do some training. Posing, tricks, anything's fine. Trickster cats ahoy!

Full Day

My little kittens have grown up! The game recognizes them as adults, though they still have plenty of growing to do. :3

     Woo-hoo! c:     Me, a responsible adult?

Feeding them breakfast was.. certainly an experience. It seems Show's picked up some bad habits from Step. It didn't take too long for hunger to get the best of them, though.


It seems they've found a new way to entertain themselves, though it's hard to truly capture in a picture. They dash across the room full-speed before doing a barrel roll rolling over, sliding on the floor. Don't ask me how they don't get rug-burn!

Time to do some gardening, as per the day's schedule. Ohohohohoooo.. I have plenty of memories of accidentally traumatizing cats who get a little too close to the water. We'll see how it goes today! I packed the watering can and carrots, deciding to see if they have a taste for vegetables, and let them pick what flowers looked the most interesting.


Step, ever the charmer, instantly grabbed the box of rose seeds. I wonder what he has planned?


Show went for carnations, and then decided that she wanted some daisies, too. Lots of pink today!


I chose sunflowers, because I'd never actually grown any before, and I wanted to see what they looked like. xD Step wasn't fond of the idea, and actually knocked them out of the carrying case. How dare I mess up their color scheme!
Guess I'll have to see them some other day..

It took Show about half a second to run directly under the watering can while I was planting, and she quickly decided that I did this to her on purpose.

I made the executive decision to put them away until my carrots grew. Afterwards, I put the watering can away and let them come out again, figuring that we'd just have to wait a bit longer for the flowers to grow.

What do they think of carrots?

They agree that they make acceptable snacks, but they're even better toys!


I set out some seeds, figuring that their usual hyper antics would be more than enough to scatter them around.

It didn't work out so well, and I wound up with three flower clumps. xD
They both played pretty nicely with their one chosen carnation seed, though sadly they weren't scattered too far.



Inspired, I gave Step one of his rose seeds.. He was mostly just confused when his new toy sprouted into a plant!

Neither of them seemed terribly interested in the flowers, so I grabbed two vases, one for each, and started picking flowers and spreading them out, putting them in as they tried to swipe them from me.
Well, that was the plan, anyway. I got about as far as picking Step's rose before..


I was left to clean up while these two made goo-goo eyes at each other.


Decorating the living room was rather uneventful. Here's what it looks like now:

I wish I'd had more input from my two little derps, but, as you probably guessed..

They were rather preoccupied.

I hated to interrupt their little duet, but it was time for training!

I have zero experience with teaching tricksters, so I'm using Spider's Guide to give me some idea of what's going on.
Today's lesson: Covering their face for beef treatz!


Step, ready and waiting for his cue. He picked up on it easily, though he seemed rather disgruntled about having to work for snacks!

Sadly, the trick looks a little weird due to some floating eyeball problems..

And Show:

It took her a little longer to figure out what I wanted, but they both seem to be naturals!
Today's lesson was rather short.. we've already had quite a full day, and I didn't wanna stuff them with treatz. x3 We'll definitely keep working on it in the future!

Step had a little informal "training" in catching things that actually move..

[Deleted]

Day 3

Summary

- Dress up your pets! WOO CLOTHES!
- - Do they like clothes? The jury's out.. They prance around when dressed, but act all relieved when I take anything off of them.. xD
- - What are their favorite outfits? They have an affinity for hats. All hats.
- Try teaching your pets some tricks today. Done!
- - If you have cats, are they trickers? Yes, actually they both are!
- Do some more training today. See above ^

Full Day

We did some dressing up today!

Both of them seemed to enjoy the attention, and I'm not surprised.. xD

Some favorites:

Dressing up seemed to really bring out Show's playful side, though she's still nowhere near as zany as Step. :3 Step himself definitely approved of the crown, hahahah.


The funny thing is, as much as they'd strut around with each new outfit, they'd also look equally as happy to have it taken off, shaking out their fur and stretching. Maybe he's just getting in touch with his inner diva Siamese, eh?

What we decided on:

Perfect for my trickster kitties! I love Show's pose there.. it's just perfect!
Dressed up and ready to perform!

(shh I'm just keeping this here petzforum.proboards.com/thread/37006/spiders-guide-trickster-petz?page=1 yep)


Remember this?

Well, we've got a couple of new surprises in store for you today!

BEHOLD!


They also learned to do some back flipping, though that, too, isn't done justice by pictures.



It was a little hard keeping them focused.. both often would just stand there, staring at me, as if they could hypnotize me into just dropping the treat for them. No such luck, I'm afraid!
And, of course, every time they got a treat for doing something right, they just had to stalk it for a few minutes, and play with it..


With some serious training, they've both learned two new tricks today, which I believe would be an amazing pace to keep up. I decided that was certainly more than enough for one day, and the two played together for a little bit before curling up right on the floor and falling asleep.


Yarn!?!!


Why sleep on the pillows when you could sleep beside them? P: Weird kitten logic will never cease to amaze and amuse me.

[Deleted]

Day 4

Summary

- Dress your pets in some warm clothes and head to the snow scene to beat the heat! Bring out the sweaters!
- Bring out the music box and see if your pets like to dance! Show might. Step... he's just Step.
- Training, training, training. To start the day!

Full Day

Today started out right with some trick training! I hoped they'd be a bit more invested in getting the treat if they were a little hungry.. Our goal is to learn the last two 'up' tricks. ^.^


When presented with a new type of treat, Show's first reaction was to try her old tricks. Maybe one of them was what I wanted?


She did learn a new trick (or two!) today, though. Success!

Show learned crazy fast when we used the cheese as a treat, even though she never actually ate the cheese.. I'm still not entirely sure what this is, either. It looks like some kind of cat-version of begging. x3 But it is trainable!


Step's training went well, too.
He had no qualms about eating the cheese right out of my hand. >

With training done for the day, we decided to head out to the Snowscene and have some fun. Time to break out the sweaters!


I am not a benevolent ruler.

As soon as we got there...

Step what happened to yer feet!??!
They stayed like this the entire time we were there.

They made quick friends with Bear, who certainly lives up to his name.


Snowball fights!

We didn't stay long. I just couldn't bear looking at Step's ridiculous feet anymore xD

But if I thought that was bad, when we got back home and I took off their clothes..


THOSE ANKLES. Show's are discolored, too, but at least not all swollen! p;



Let's see if those fancy feet can dance, shall we?
Bonus points: Sound doesn't work on my laptop. I have no idea what song's playing.

Turns out it doesn't matter, though. They didn't even seem to acknowledge the music!

Though, they did do something with the music box...

They repeatedly pounced on it, like a toy. Occasionally they'd pick it up and set it down next to the other cat, as if giving it to them.. neither seemed to really appreciate the sentiment though!

Just as I was getting ready to wrap up the day, I saw Show pulling some dance moves! Step kept interrupting by cutting off the music, so I couldn't get any decent pictures. I saw it, though! I'll definitely have to bring the music box back out later.
Without a certain little menace of mine.

Bonus shots of Step with weird ankles, just to shame him:

[Deleted]

Day 5

Summary

- Introduce your pets to some of your other pets. Oooooh boy.
- - Do they get along? Step/Band? Definitely. Show/Band? Not in a million years. They hate each other!
- Catnip party! Woop woop!
- - What craziness ensued? Spazzing
- If your pets aren't totally out of it, try some more training. As if we'd get anything done like this. xD

Full Day

Only two days left after this one. Crazy, isn't it? Seems like just yesterday I was fighting with Step over whether you should eat or play with food bowls..
Oh, wait. It was yesterday!

He shows no signs of outgrowing the habit. Guess that's what I get for choosing calicos!

Anyway, I actually only have one other cat besides Step and Show, and you've met her already. The-ever infamous Band!

Yea, dat's me. >:3

Step and Band:


To say they get along well nowadays would be an understatement.


Just gonna leave these here. Make what you will of his intentions.

Show and Band:


Yeah, these two still hate each other. Good job, Step. >.>


Where have I seen this face before?


Oh, right, this is just they way they looked when they first met!


The funny thing is how quickly they go from tearing each other up to being adorable for the camera as soon as I start taking pictures.

You aren't fooling anybody, girls.


It's funny, really. Even as they grow up, you can tell that they're definitely the same little demons sweet kittens I started off with.

Now, how could we possibly take a tense situation and make it even worse?
CATNIP.

Commence worsening in 3.. 2.. 1..

I set out some fresh catnip, a couple of toys, and the music box. There was a tense moment.
As for what happened after that moment? Well...
They spazzed.
Observe:



After devouring the second plant:


Oh, and here's what Show and Band did after I started cleaning up and sent Step in:

This may be a problem.

Training today was cancelled, there's no way they would have learned anything anyways. Guess we'll just have to double-time tomorrow.

[Deleted]

Day 6

Summary

- Second to last day! ;-; Dang, really?
- - Bring out the paints and see if your pets are artistically inclined. I hope the paint is non-toxic..
- Today, you get to pick the scene! To the south seas island to hunt for treasure!
- - Dress them up accordingly and go to the scene of your choice! Pirate petz!
- Traaaaaining. Step and Show have finished their official training, but I guess it couldn't hurt to show off!

Full Day

If you've taken a look at my nursery thread, you'll know that some things have been happening. Step's now the proud father of two! (And, eh, Show and Band are the mothers of one each.)
My little Gameplay family:


Pants, the little kitten, who's getting his first proper showoff. Yes, he is wearing several different styles of.. Pants. Expect to see more of that in the future. xD Personally I'm fond of the ducky PJ's.


Definitely takes after his dad!


Watchful mother, Show, and not-exactly-faithful mate, Step

Now that you're caught up, let's get on with today's activities! On to the paint cans!
I took 14 cans- enough for the full paint-can rainbow- to the desktop scene, so they'd have the largest space possible to run around and cause havoc. Plus, no carpet or rugs to get paint on!
Here's what it looked like before I let them out:


With that, I took all three cats out and let them run about while I did other things, occasionally glancing over to watch entropy increase. Sometimes the best memories come from just sitting back and watching.
Highlights:






..Okay, so they're not going to be auctioning off their creations any time soon. But I'd say they're doing pretty good for catz with no knowledge of color theory.
Pants in general seemed to reaaallly like the russet color. xD Maybe the paint tastes good?

Know what it's time for now? A bath?
NOPE :D
Step and Show get to wear their silly colors while showing off their trick knowledge!


Step does not seem concerned by this.
Show, on the other hand..


I knew it was a trick >:c

.. Fine, Show, you can stay in the pet carrier and take care of Pants.

Meanwhile, with Step:

Such a smart cookie he is! Or.. maybe more like a blueberry muffin, or something.
Afterwards, I decided to clean them all up and wash off all that paint. Pants seemed completely tuckered out by the paint fiasco, so he and mum decided to stay behind and rest. Looks like it's just me and Step heading off on an adventure!



Happiest pirate I've ever seen. :B

It wasn't long before our presence attracted attention..


A REAL PIRATE D:
Oh, wait, I think she has something for us.


The message inside? "You must do what you feel is right." Well, it isn't a map, but we squirreled it away into our carrying case anyway, as a token of our adventures.


What's this?

A TREASURE CHEST! BINGO! X MARKS THE SPOT!

aaaaannnd it's empty
what gives?

As quickly as Peg had appeared, she dashed off. We soon learned why.


The Admiral didn't seem too pleased to find a pirate lurking about, for obvious reasons.

Plus, he seemed a little crazy. We high-tailed it home, and called it a day.

[Deleted]

Day 7

Summary

- So, what do you think of your pets now? Show's a sweet girl. Step's a goofy boy who never fails to make me laugh!
- Did your pets develop any love interests over the week? No one can resist Step's charm.
- What are your plans for your pets? Hopefully my little pixel pets will lead long and happy virtual lives!
- You get to pick the activities for today! Much reminiscing was had.
- - Do your own thing! Back to the beach, just like the first day!

Full Day

Ah, where to start? I first adopted them over a month ago- which seems crazy! It's been so long since I've raised petz naturally, I'd forgotten how fun it could be :3
They've gone from little kittens to fully-grown cats right under my nose!


Step, Step.. where to start with him. He's a little charmer, I mean, really. This cat's got dangerous levels of charisma! The worst part is, he knows it, too.

He's a complete and utter idiot, but it works for him.


And, of course, we can't forget Show. You have no idea how glad I am that I picked Show as one of my gameplay participants. She's sweet, and mellow.. practically lazy compared to Step's constant craziness!

And she absolutely adores getting attention from me, hahah. She's always quick to bounce over when I call for them.

Make no mistake, though, she's still a Calico at heart <3


Yeah, I'm sure these two falling in love didn't come as a shock for anyone. Still, though, I think you'd be surprised as to how incredibly sickeningly cute these two get around each other.

The biggest surprise was the whole Step/Band romance issue.. and even then, it was less of a surprise (Two boisterous kittens growing up and falling in love? INCONCEIVABLE) and more of an unnecessary complication to my delicate plans.

Pictured: Trouble

Maybe someday we'll have more little kittens running about, but for now.. I've got my hands full taking care of the crazies I've already amassed! Speaking of crazies, I bet you're wondering where that little Pants fellow is..


That's right! We're ending the week with the kitten of my two original cats becoming independent. How sweet!


He's also a trickster!


As easy as it is to compare him to his parents, I think it's important to recognize his individuality. He certainly has a feisty attitude all his own!

I figure the only proper way to end this would be to take them back to the beach, just like the beginning!


Seem familiar?


A couple of adorable pictures of Pants <3


Step and Pants have some weird father/son relationship going on..

And, finally, a family photo:


Dammit, Pants

~Fin~