THE CHICKEN SMOOTHIE NEWS
Bringing the vast corners of Chicken Smoothie to your inbox
SOME
SUGAR IN YOUR SMOOTHIE
Sugar to good vibrations for being so generous!
Sugar to Mr. Grizz for being an amazing part of the community and always being someone to count on!
Sugar to mistwell for being so funny and sweet!
Sugar to bark for being so creative and sweet to everyone!
Sugar to jupiter, for never having a dull moment!
Sugar to AdmiralFaber for being a comforting soul!
Sugar to Khajiitcat for always giving me good trades!
Sugar to all of the CSN Staff for their hard work on this months article!
Y’all did a wonderful job
CHICKEN SMOOTHIE HIGHLIGHTS
The summer season is reaching the end as September rolls around and school starts back up! September has brought us tons of great goodies so far as well, such as the new Witch’s Apothecary Set, created by the talented Codex! Additionally, the annual Staff litter has been released, with a whopping 31 outcomes to collect! In other news, CS has recently announced that staff applications for the site have been opened, with the positions available being Roleplay, Oekaki, and Global Moderators, as well as artists! If you’re interested in directly helping with the operations of the site, we encourage you to apply!
Meanwhile, we can finally relax after all the Summer Vacation excitement has settled down; trades have become easier, and we wait eagerly for the upcoming Halloween event! While we sit back and enjoy the air cooling and leaves changing color, we look back at all the vacations before us We hope that older players enjoy a nice trip down memory lane, and newer players can learn more about CS’s summer event history! As always, thank you all so much for reading another edition of the CSN, we hope you enjoy!
Thanks to twilispark for this absolutely stunning art!
CS FUN FACT
Did you know that the 2013 Slumber Party event was the first to introduce the progress bar mechanic to summer events? In this specific event, votes were counted as users submitted their dressups for either the Dream or Nightmare armies! This mechanic would become a staple for later events to come!
Thanks to Wyverncult for the ethereal dressup!
ART NEWS
This month, we’ve seen a new closed species bloom, called Marumi! Originally created by the skilled CS User twilispark, Marumis are small, fluffy dragons, with their most prominent features being big ears, long tails, and long weasel-like bodies! Only just being announced in late August, these fluffy creatures have absolutely exploded in popularity, becoming the newest in-demand species we’ve seen! A very big congrats to the team working on Marumis, as this success is clearly deserved after all the hard work put in.
As mentioned in our initial highlights, CS Artist applications have also opened! A large number of incredibly talented artists have shown interest in this, discussing their intent in the announcement thread, and so we’re all very eager to see who gets chosen to join the team! New artists always mean beautiful new designs and a new creative lens brought to the table, which is very refreshing.
Will you be applying? It never hurts to give it a try; who knows, you could be the one chosen! You’ll never know until you put yourself out there, so take that step and take a risk!
TRADE NEWS
For this edition, we took a look at high demand pets that aren’t on the list. It turns out, a majority of them originate from past summer events. Pets like the Fae Foxes, Creep Dogs, almost all of the Space Event pets, smoothies, and more.
Trades for these kinds of pets have always perplexed most users when attempting to figure out what kind of offer is fair. Since summer event designs tend to use heavily edited lines, a unique theme, and generally stand-out, users tend to hold them a lot closer to their heart and collect them. Due to this, we’ve experienced values as high as a 2009 rare for a 2019 rare (Fae Foxes), and in turn, caused a lot of discourse on what should be considered fair Threads, such as one created by CS User ACat have taken to trying to identify the values of these pets, so we can come to a common agreement on them
One set of pets we were looking at specifically were the 2016 Space Event pets. These pets were aliens, astronauts, robots, star studded, or even galaxies themselves! In the mid 2010's, the space/galaxy aesthetic became all the rage again, with galaxy patterns printed on essentially every article of clothing you could think of So for a space themed event to be released right in the middle of this era makes sense, and explains why so many cherish these designs. The artistic roster for this event was also jam-packed with very popular artists, with some notable picks being Lilian Nightshade and sketchi. There are many users who collect these artist’s pets as well, meaning these will be of even more interest to them Overall, we don’t see the surge in the summer event pets demand dying anytime soon, but it’s very interesting to observe!
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2011: MEDIEVAL FAIRE
As we traveled through the thick brush of the forest, we came to a clearing...what’s this...? A Medieval Faire! With games, tents, and so much more. As we began to familiarize ourselves with the troubles of the Fairegoers, we came to realize that there were a myriad of quests waiting to be fulfilled. What will we do first? We were able to join the ranks of Knights, become a wizard, or even a blacksmith! For the first Summer Event in all of Chicken Smoothie history, there were oodles of opportunities.
We found one of the most notable quests was the search for the royal family. As we ventured back into the woods, we realized that we were going to need a map! However, with so many different items and tents...how would we know where to find it?
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2011: MEDIEVAL FAIRE
A hallmark of the Medieval Faire event was how many complex item swaps users had to make to complete quests; it definitely kept Fairgoers on their toes! For the lion royal family quest specifically, we first needed to obtain the Uncooked Meat item and four Log items from the forest. Afterward, we were able to trade them in for Cooked Meat at the bounce castle. Then, if we returned to the forest, we were able to exchange the Cooked Meat for the Map we were searching for! Using the Map, after waiting 30 minutes, we found the royal family we were seeking out in the forest.
With the quest item swaps tending to be a little complicated, we theorized that this is why the items released for the event are so much harder to find and more valuable than the pets themselves! There is not a single Medieval Faire pet that is considered “list value.” However, there are a whopping 25 items considered “list value,” with nearly half of them being worth 0.25-1.5 nons, which is a lot!
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2012: BEACH EVENT
In 2012, we visited the Beach! We had fun soaking up the sun, visiting shops on the shoreline, and getting fun summer items like surfboards, ice cream, and beach clothes! We also got the Squiddy Smoothie board style for this event, which was likely because of how fond Tess is of squids!
As we walked the shore and splashed in the ocean, we were able to gear up and dive below the surface. We could put on some pool floaties to stay safe! Once we dived far enough, we met Babel the Mermaid! She was kind enough to grant us a wearable mermaid tail so we could swim deep beneath the ocean and explore.
As we swam deeper and deeper, we saw a glimmer it was treasure! We collected the shiny trinkets and began to surface. As we broke the water’s surface and took a breath of fresh air, we came across a looming ship casting a great shadow upon the ocean waves...and someone was looking right at us!
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2012: BEACH EVENT
The one and only Captain Chickenbeard invited us aboard his ship and we got to meet his incredible crew! As we all got to know each other, we explained our excitement upon discovering treasure, and their eyes all lit up with intrigue. They told us that if we retrieved the legendary ruby ring, and a handful of treasure, they'd be happy to let us become part of their crew!
The crew was kind enough to grant us some scuba diving gear, it was a nice change from the tail we used before, and we dove deep to recover exactly what they were looking for. Behold! We got the treasure they needed, and we became part of the Chickenbeard crew!
We returned to the sandy shore to enjoy some last games of ring toss, eat some ice cream, and grab some souvenirs. Our summer came to a close, and our vacation left us feeling more refreshed than ever!
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2013: SLUMBER PARTY
In 2013, we traveled to a town known as Sleepywood—a dreamy and peaceful place. However, it seemed that the entire town was plagued by one big problem: Nightmares! The citizens of Sleepywood had been plagued by only bad dreams for days. To fix this, the mayor of Sleepywood ordered everyone to dress in their pajamas for CS’s largest ever Slumber Party!
The Dream Warriors were prepping to take back Dreamland from the Nightmares who were taking over, and a brave solider, Nero, invites us to join us, giving us armor to suit up with! However, before we decide to fight, we wanted to explore and learn a little more.
The source of Sleepywood’s troubles were revealed as we discovered Nightmares had taken over Dreamland and exiled the Dreamers to the neighboring Floating Isles. Dream Warriors were preparing to take back the castle from the Nightmares, and Dreamland was embroiled in all out war! A brave soldier, Nero, invited us to join the Dreamers, giving us armor to suit up with! However, before deciding to fight, we wanted to learn a little more about the conflict.
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2013: SLUMBER PARTY
We visited Dreamland’s castle to meet the Nightmares, who snickered at their creations, haunting sleep and creating fear. And yet, they told us they had taken over the castle because they had been homeless and abandoned. They protested that they were treated unfairly just because of their nature. It gave us a lot to think about and we had to pick a side
We continued to explore until we found ourselves on a secluded floating island where we found a rather unique couple: while both were lions, they couldn’t have been more different since one was a Dreamer and the other was a Nightmare! They explained to us that they lived amongst these Floating Isles as an escape from the petty drama of Dreamland, and that their friendship was forbidden.
We began to think...Dreams and Nightmares could be friends? While CS never told us which side won the war, both sides were closely matched with votes from Chicken Smoothian’s supporting each one, and we left this event with a lot to think about!
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2014: EGYPT EVENT
We arrived at a pyramid in Egypt for our summer vacation. An archaeologist named Archie was leading a dig site there in pursuit of an exciting discovery that might make him worldfamous and get his face on a magazine. He asked for our help gathering some ancient map fragments (banner tokens). He wanted to piece them together so he could find the entrance to the Queen’s pyramid and recover the artifacts sealed in there, then send them to a museum.
After we pieced the map together, Archie encouraged us to go inside to explore. The entrance guard, Jay, mistook us for a member of the worker crew who were at the site repairing the crumbling pyramid walls. He told us we couldn’t go inside until the repairs were done! We worked to collect bricks from a rubble pile (hourly tokens) and use them to repair the damaged walls. Finally, we completed the repairs and Jay allowed us to go inside!
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2014: EGYPT EVENT
We explored the pyramid using Archie’s map, but found that the entrance to the Queen’s Chamber was still inaccessible. We worked to repair the surrounding walls and clear the rubble once more, when at long last we were able to access the Queen’s chamber! But, we unfortunately found the Queen herself there, awakened from a slumber! Angry, she accused us and Archie of being grave robbers, and she revealed that by disturbing her chamber we had set a curse loose upon the land! A plague of scarabs began to cloud the skies (new banner token).
After we apologized, Queen Cleocatra revealed the curse could be broken by restoring the collected treasures to her pyramid. Archie, however, refused. How was he supposed to gain his coveted fame if he returned all the archaeological discoveries to the pyramid? The conundrum was set to a vote: every Chicken Smoothian could choose to side either with Archie and keep the treasures or with Cleocatra and return them to their place. The votes favored Cleocatra. After the relics were restored, the plague of beetles finally subsided, and Archie got his face on a magazine after all!
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2015: CANDY EVENT
For our summer vacation we tagged along with Avian and Totoro to investigate the sudden candy shortage in the Chicken Smoothie world. We traveled to Sucrose City and found out a series of recent earthquakes had demolished the bridge from the countryside to the downtown, stopping the flow of candy.
A couple of old farmers, Honey and Snickers, asked for our help harvesting the candy fields since their workers were stuck on the other side of the bridge and the gummy worms were eating their candy crops! A gummy bear named Teddy also asked for our help gathering candy materials like caramel, wafers, and toffee with which to repair the bridge.
Once Teddy repaired the bridge we were able to visit downtown Sucrose City. We shopped for attire at E. Claire’s Fashion, resupplied the shelves of Cashew’s Candy Emporium, and gathered some gummy worm tack to do some Riverbank Fishing together with Gin G. Bread at the cocoa river. However, another earthquake hit Sucrose City, threatening to raze the bridge once more.
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2015: CANDY EVENT
A Private Investigator named Pumpkin arrived in town determined to find the source of the earthquakes. As tourists crowded the riverbank with cups and straws, since the earthquake temporarily turned the cocoa river into milkshake, Pumpkin noticed some bubbles on the surface. Suddenly a Choctopus Monster emerged from the river! Its incessant stomping was identified as the source of the earthquakes!
The citizens of Sucrose City asked for our help saving their town as the mayor warned that the monster seemed determined to destroy it! We tried to frighten the Choctopus Monster off or push it back into the river, but it fended off our attacks and remained defiantly on shore.
Finally, the Choctopus was able to use their ink to write a message, revealing that the Choctopus Monster was actually a Choctopus Mama who was homeless, unemployed, and had 100,000 kids to feed. She was trying to ask for help!
After we promised to take care of some of her baby choctopi, Choctopus returned to the Salted-Caramel Sea, ending the earthquakes. Teddy repaired the damage to Sucrose City, and its citizens were able to supply the world with sweet sugary goodness once more.
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2016: SPACE EVENT
Our Summer Vacation took quite the turn in 2016, as we went all the way to outer space! We landed at a Lunar Resort, set with every kind of amenity we’d ever need. And if you peered outside, you’d see that it was set on Earth’s Moon, with a beautiful view of the planet itself. We meet Az’it, a researcher studying in this resort, and he told us all about the communications tower, which once complete, would be able to take him home to finally see his sister again.
After enjoying some relaxing days exploring the facilities, we saw Az’it in complete dismay, as the communications tower was completely broken, and he needed our help to properly fix it by collecting the proper parts. After collecting lots of machine parts, he was able to get it up and running once more, but it began to malfunction. In the blink of an eye, the tower teleports us to Luminis, a planet in a distant galaxy. Completely disoriented and confused, we tried to get our bearings and get a feel for the place, and we were able to visit a neighboring planet, Flufzity.
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2016: SPACE EVENT
After familiarizing ourselves with the locals, we were able to ask for their help with repairing the communications tower and returning home. But of course we still need more machine parts. So again, we hunted for a variety of different items, like gears, circuit boards, and batteries.
However, on a more lighthearted note, there was also a stamp war occurring between Chicken Smoothians behind the scenes! There were two sides: Team LetsPlayForever and Team WeNeedSleep. The first team was advocating for staying on Luminis for even longer, whereas the second team voted to finally go home. By the time our Summer Vacation ended, Team LetsPlayForever won by a landslide!
In the meantime, we were once again able to scrounge up enough parts to repair the communications tower for good and finally return home. That was quite a scare, and touching the Earth’s surface had never felt so good.
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2017: LOST CITY EVENT
Many years ago, during a bad data storm, a Chicken Smoothie server broke off and fell into the sea. Using mysterious coordinates from the back of a smoothie cup, we arrived at the Lost City. From the wreckage, the lost pets were able to rebuild and create a new society. The pets were all getting ready for a big event the Summer Jamboree! We met a few of the residents, such as Finnegan, the Jamboree organizer, Mr. Herringbone, the dragon, and the Princess. We helped the residents get ready for the Jamboree by collecting kelp, shells, wood, and even different toys. However, disaster quickly struck as the castle’s security was breached.
Overnight, the orchestra’s instruments were destroyed and the guard opened a full-scale investigation. We joined the guard and were sent out to investigate some of the suspects, learning more information about each of the characters. We interviewed a variety of different characters—we started with Chef Calamari, who was working late that night. Next we interviewed Finnegan, who, when he left work, locked the door behind him, leaving the Chef alone.
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2017: LOST CITY EVENT
He stated the crime must have been committed by someone who had a key. Upon asking a royal representative, they stated that Finnegan, the chef, and various Jamboree staff all had access to a key. Along with that, there may have been various keys left over from previous years. Eventually, a timeline was stitched together, and it was discovered the crime took place sometime between 12:45 pm when the Chef left the area, and 5:45 am when the Chef opened the courtyard.
We eventually interviewed Mr. Herringbone, who was acting paranoid during the investigation and quickly named the number 1 suspect. Soon after, It was revealed that Mr. Herringbone did sneak into the courtyard that night however, it wasn’t to ruin the Jamboree. Instead, he was planning on placing a homemade sculpture on the stage as a surprise. At the end of the investigation, we learned that the case wasn’t a crime at all. The Princess had a sleepwalking episode and accidentally destroyed the instruments during it. She was very apologetic, and the bill for the broken instruments was covered by the royal family. After this, the Jamboree ran as promised and we were able to enjoy the party before heading home!
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2018: JUNGLE EVENT
For this summer vacation, Avian and Totoro booked us a stay at an allinclusive jungle resort! On the first day we toured the resort, but found it oddly empty. We met the somewhat rude clothes shop clerk, Camo, and we also met Tony, the lifeguard, who informed us the pool was closed for maintenance. Finally we met jungle guide Henry, who informed us that the Jungle Adventure Tour was all booked up and asked us to come back in a few days.
We stayed at the resort bungalows, where we met fellow guest Harold, who complained that the resort meal portions were tiny and he was hungry. Throughout our vacation, we shared some of our scavenged jungle fruit (banner tokens) with Harold. Over the next few days we also met the sweet souvenir shop attendant, Simone, and Tony introduced us to one of the resort’s staple activities: Rubber Duckie Racing!
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2018: JUNGLE EVENT
TAlso, the resort wrapped up some construction revealing an adjacent putting green…which was unattended for the day of opening. The resort appeared rather understaffed! Later on, Tracey took over attending the golf course, apologizing for the ongoing construction as the resort was still working on expanding further.
However, some trouble was brewing in the putting green. We noticed that one of the golf course obstacles was actually a jungle shrine inhabited by some shy spirits! They complained about the destruction the resort’s “construction” had brought about to their jungle home, and asked for our help gathering seeds and seedlings, as well as sabotaging the machines before they could clear out any more vegetation!
Together with the help of some jungle inhabitants, like Carica, who joined the fight, the spirits used their magic to make the seedlings grow super fast, overgrowing the golf course, construction site, and even the resort! Resort employees and tourists had no other option than to abandon the site, and we successfully helped the jungle begin to grow back!
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2019: FAE MISCHIEF EVENT
We arrived in a quiet little forest village for our vacation. Speaking to some of the village folk, however, it quickly became apparent that some mischief was afoot! There were paint splatters across the wall of Gernot’s home, Gerlind’s animals were acting anxious and strange, Woodcarver Karlmann’s wood carving tools went missing, the well’s water was contaminated, and someone kept damaging Karlmann’s barn door!
A couple of strange characters in town appeared to know more than they were letting on: the suspicious tradesman, Nokter, and the irritable fortune teller, Griseldis. Nokter finally spilled that the mischief around town wass faework! But the villagers couldn’t see and didn’t believe in the fae… He suggested that Griseldis might be able to help, and after pestering her for a few days, she finally agreed to teach us a ritual to enter the fae realm and investigate why they kept playing pranks on the village folk. When we succeeded in performing the ritual, we were transported to a wonderfully vibrant wilderness filled with burrows.
Author’s Note: We interviewed someone that drew the backgrounds we show, do you remember?
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2019: FAE MISCHIEF EVENT
Alwara and some of the other fae confessed that they had been the ones pranking the villagers, but only because they had blocked the path to the fae dance circle with that awful barn! We tried convincing the villagers that to make the pranks stop they needed to leave the barn doors open to clear the path, but the villagers were skeptical about the existence of the fae
We pestered Griseldis for help one more time, and she finally relented; in exchange for keeping her herbs stocked, she agreed to perform a spell so the village folk would be able to see the fae. Once they could see the fae, the village folk apologized for causing them grief and agreed to keep the barn doors open The fae folk finally recovered access to their dance circle and stopped the mischief around town!
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2020: CARNIVAL EVENT
This year we arrived at a Carnival! While it was being set up, we noticed that things, vital parts like nuts and bolts, which are needed to set up all the attractions, started to go missing. Someone was also going out of their way to trash the carnival, with lots of litter being strewn about the grounds. The Carnival staff were absolutely stumped on who could be causing this, so they asked for our help in investigating who the culprit was!
We began to take a closer look at all the Carnival staff, trying to take in clues, signs, and see what everyone’s opinion wass on the matter at hand We met lots of unique individuals offering a wide variety of goods! There were balloons to collect, tickets for rides to collect, snacks to eat, and more! You could even go visit a fortune teller to get insight into the future or go see a magic show!
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2020: CARNIVAL EVENT
After playing Hook-A-Duck and winning some plushies, we returned to play again, and found that the booth owner, Tanya, was strangely standoffish. We didn’t mind at the time, but decided to visit again the next day to check up on her. To our surprise, we ended up seeing a familiar face! We discover that Tanya’s brother was the one and only Tony, who we met in 2018 during the Jungle Event!
However, to our dismay, it seemed that Tony was incredibly disgruntled, explaining that he lost his job at the Jungle resort, and that Tanya took the job at the Carnival that he originally wanted. He admitted in anger that he was the one sabotaging the Carnival, vowing that as long as he was around, the Carnival would never run smoothly! Luckily for us, Tanya talked to him and smoothed things out, and we agreed that Tony could become staff at the Carnival as a mascot. Apologies were made, and with that, we didn’t have to worry about any more sudden issues with the setup of the Carnival! We were able to enjoy the carnival for the remainder of the event and end the Summer off right!
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2021: CAVE EVENT
We joined Ruben and a few other researchers in order to assist in investigating a mysterious cave The team received a tip about a “chamber of crystals” and the goal was to find this chamber, but previous cave-ins had the crew on alert. A few days into joining the research team, there was a cave-in accompanied by a mysterious roar that revealed the Village! The residents of the Village had very limited contact with the outside world due to a previous cave-in. We learned quite a bit from these residents, including that the whole chamber we were in was the cavern of crystals.
One resident, Imbrie, introduced an interesting proposition to us. The cavern that the Village resided in also contained a unique portal to the past, which was causing the destructive caveins. It wasn’t working right, but destroying the portal would destroy the entire cave. Imbrie tasked us with collecting her father’s research in order to correctly power up the portal so it could be safely turned off and deactivated, leading to an end of the destructive cave-ins. After collecting the notes, the portal was properly activated and lead us to the past However, instead of disabling it, Imbrie insisted on traveling into the past just for a short period in order to witness everything before it was disabled forever The researchers and residents were very split on this matter.
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2021: CAVE EVENT
Ruben insisted that anything from the past should be left in the past, while Hadil, an aquatic researcher, insisted that prehistoric life samples should be preserved and further investigated. Some of the residents of the Village were wary of the past, but they began to hear the mysterious roar from before. They said it sounded like someone that needed help, and it wouldn’t be bad to investigate.
We headed into the portal, fell into a tar pit, and met the first prehistoric resident, a lion named Brea. We interacted with a few other characters, such as Cycad, a forest cat; Novak, a grumpy, sleepy canine; and Chauvet, a curious artist. Back in the present, Wollstone, one of the researchers, had made a device to communicate with the cavern’s mushrooms.
We were able to obtain and use that device in order to communicate with the characters from the past. We headed to the forest, following the sound of the mysterious roar. It was a difficult journey, but we were able to find the source of the roar a huge dinosaur was trapped within a cluster of vines! We were able to use an energized crystal to free the dinosaur, and put an end to the roaring and the cave-ins With everything resolved, we were able to head back to the present and safely deactivate the portal for good
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2022: INTERNET EVENT
This summer vacation trip saw us being zapped into our computers and seeing different pages of the internet! When we arrived, we were greeted by five different sites to click on: Tweeter, Auction Bwak, Chickenpedia, Gobble Search, Vapor Arcade, and the Door Icon. All of the NPCs mentioned something about a glitch affecting the internet. As the days went on, the glitches got worse, eventually letting us go inside of Chicken Smoothie.
We got to see Nick at the IT Office, Pet Collection, The Pound, The Forum, The Oekaki, and The Cave! There was a bit of a dispute between Alphabet and Plato on the best way to search for how to fix the glitch: by Gobble Searching on the internet or by reading in books. This gave us two team stamps during the event: #TeamAlphabet and #TeamPlato.
As the glitches got worse, Vivian from Tweeter pushed for everyone to work together to fix the glitches. Once Plato and Alphabet worked together (along with the other NPCs), it was revealed that the glitches were caused by a powerful entity named Internet Cthulhu! Everyone was able to work together to fix the glitch, and even adopt an Internet Cthulhu to take home when the vacation ended
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2023: CAMPING EVENT
We arrived at Camp Smoothie for the summer and were greeted by camp counselors, Avian and Totoro! We took a quiz to get sorted into one out of 7 available cabins and Avian asked us to pick up any beads we found lying around (banner token) since some wild animals got into the Arts & Crafts Pavilion and scattered them all over.
We met the other camp staff, including the chef, Moose, who was responsible for keeping campers well fed; his rival Conall, the camp storyteller who loved sharing s’mores and other sugary treats with campers; Andrea, the Cabin Counselor, who was a sweetheart; and Beryl, the Arts and Crafts counselor. We spent the first few days around camp collecting beads so we could make friendship bracelets, but after a while we started to get antsy to leave camp and explore the lakefront!
At long last, we got permission from the counselors to go out and explore the forest trails and the lake after showing we were very responsible campers. Andrea introduced us to her friend, Cirrus, a camper at the Glampgrounds. We also met Ranger Seraphine at the Firewatch Tower Finally, we met Ranger Mason who talked about his enthusiasm for cryptozoology and told us to keep an eye out for cryptids in the forest!
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2023: CAMPING EVENT
One day, Cirrus and Seraphine went missing during the night! Ranger Seraphine returned after a day and told us someone was messing with trail signs. Cirrus was still missing, so we continued to investigate her whereabouts. Avian asked us to be careful while searching for clues and to always use the buddy system. Ranger Mason, meanwhile, insisted the cryptids must be at fault!
We eventually found Cirrus in some caves at the end of a long hike. She stayed there for three days since she didn’t know the way back to camp and learned that when you go missing, you should stay put until someone comes to find you. She told us that she was kidnapped from the Glampgrounds and brought to the cave! Someone brought her supplies the whole time she was at the cave. Ranger Mason insisted this further pointed toward the cryptids in the forest as the culprits, since they were very upset when the Glampgrounds were set up. However, the clues weren’t adding up…something smelled fishy and it wasn’t the monster of Loch Tess.
SPECIAL FEATURE ARTICLE: SUMMER, A RETROSPECT
2023: CAMPING EVENT
Finally, Seraphine revealed they were also an investigative journalist! With help from the clues we had gathered, they revealed Ranger Mason as the true culprit! Seraphine interviewed one of the forest cryptids, a mothman who revealed Mason was their brother. He had never been happy letting cryptids keep their existence a secret, and he had become obsessed with exposing them He had tried to reveal the cryptids to the world by framing them for Cirrus’s disappearance.
Mason ran away before he could be caught, but his misdeeds were reported to the Ranger Corps. Luckily, we were able to thwart his plan, and the cryptids can continue enjoying their preferred status as stuff of legend
WHO IS LACUNA?
AN INTERVIEW WITH: LACUNA
Lacuna is a CS veteran and long time staff member, having an impressive history with the site starting as a Roleplay Mod, then advancing to a Global Mod, and then all the way up to Admin Assistant! Today, she has returned to her roots as a Roleplay Moderator, but her contributions to the site still do waves and leave a forever positive mark. Most notably, she has been the mastermind behind the Summer Events since 2020, bringing us so many incredible stories and experiences! Today, we dive a little deeper into that process, so keep reading to learn all about it!
How
did you discover Chicken
Smoothie?
I saw a CS pet in someone’s forum signature on Dragon Cave back in the day.
Tell me about your journey as a CS staff member! How has that role changed over the years?
I first applied in approximately late 2012, and was not successful. The application cycle I was hired in was announced in March 2014, but I believe the applications actually took place in late 2013. I first applied for and was hired as an RP Moderator. I was offered promotions several times thanks to my commitment and activity on the team, first to Global Moderator, and then Admin Assistant, which is the role I had for the longest time. During my time as AA, I helped rewrite the site rules, and in 2020 I volunteered to help with the Summer Event as well. Creating the NPCs and writing the plot and dialogue for the summer event has been my responsibility since. Recently I went back to my roots as an RP mod because it was a better fit for the time I had available and was a good move for the moderator distribution on site!
How has becoming a staff member changed your perspective on CS, if at all?
I think it has made me appreciate it more, because I’m able to see the work put in behind the scenes and the genuine love for the site from other staff. Since it’s a volunteer position, it’s about doing it because you like the site and want it to continue, not for any gain.
AN INTERVIEW WITH: LACUNA, CONTINUED
What does Summer Event prep work normally look like?
In recent years we have taken input from the user suggestion thread, but in my time, the event theme has always also been in some ways a staff team decision, with everyone able to give input on what plots for different themes might involve, or any pitfalls or things we want to avoid.
Once a theme is decided, artists make pets and items for the theme. What I have done in my tenure is to write a summary of the plot I’ve synthesized from everyone’s discussion and start creating what the map locations will be so artists have a skeleton of what to create, and whoever is drawing the map can create it. However, it is definitely a collaboration and I work with what is made without constraining their creative process too much. As more pets and items are finished, I finalize the plot into a day by day breakdown, create the NPC characters (including naming them and dressing them up), and usually help decide what the “game” will be for the year.
The dialogue and text for the giveaways is usually the last thing created, sometimes quite close to the actual release I will occasionally sneak in a few things that people have been talking about for extra immersion if it’s feasible
What is your inspiration behind the stories of the events? How much prior research do you have to do?
Thankfully the events are pretty fictional overall; I wouldn’t say that much research is necessary, and often other staff are the head researchers (such as figuring out which cryptids to include in the Camp Event) I did some research on biology to write things during the Cave Event, and I hunt through historical events and other information to come up with NPC names sometimes For the Wild West Event, I based it off my existing knowledge from personal experiences, as I live in the American Southwest I think the artists end up doing a lot more research for different types of animals they want to include in the more natural world centered events, as well
As for the story, I have always been a writer and creating characters is one of my favorite parts of that Usually a portion of the plot is determined by staff discussion, and I then make characters and just sort of let them interact with it in my head and see where that takes me I try to keep each character distinct, with different motivations and reactions to the plot as it progresses Sometimes, something the artists make will inspire me, such as the Flux and Major pets for this recent event; as soon as I saw them, I knew they were going to have an enemies to lovers arc
How did you get into writing?
AN INTERVIEW WITH: LACUNA, CONTINUED
I’ve been writing and telling stories for as long as I can remember. My parents were big on reading to me, and it became one of my passions. My favorite author, Tamora Pierce, made me feel like I could tell stories of my own, and for a long time I thought I was going to be a novelist. It’s a hard industry, though, and I’m not traditionally published yet (or honestly really seeking that at this time). My favorite stories to write are fantasy and romance.
In high school, I got really into poetry and ran my school’s creative writing club and was also introduced to slam poetry. I would say that is my biggest writing related passion now, and it has taken me all over the U.S. to compete in poetry slams. I run my local poetry slam as well, which allows me to build a community of writers, especially those who are queer, like me. I also get hired to write and perform poetry for events all over my town and sometimes even in big cities or out of state, which is amazing.
What’s your general work process for NPC dressups?
The NPC dressup’s are usually a creation that comes solely from me Others may have suggested character archetypes or ideas, but I do the actual dressing up on my own It is one of the most difficult and time consuming things to do, because I want to choose a decent variety of pet linearts to be included, and not everything has a lot of items to fit The theme is also generally uncharted territory so it can be hard to get the right vibe I also mostly can’t use the event items because they’re not ready yet and/or I don’t want to give spoilers Sometimes a later added NPC will get event items though!
How have you felt about community response and participation in the events you wrote? Especially the NPC accounts, was it you behind those?
Any time I get community response to my part of the events it makes it all feel worth it! I know a lot of people don't focus on the story, but I really appreciate those that do One of my favorite things people were invested in was the Camp Smoothie cabin assignments, I was really proud of getting that set up! The NPC accounts were me; it was something I was able to do as an AA, but unfortunately not this year with the tools available to me as an RP mod I'd like to figure out how to do it again in the future!
AN INTERVIEW WITH: LACUNA, CONTINUED
Who has been your favourite NPC to write and create for?
It's hard to pick, but Andrea (named for Taylor Swift's mom) during the Camp Event really stands out to me She was a very motherly character, and I was also able to incorporate hearing loss/a hearing aid into her dressup and story which I know was appreciated by users! Others I recall fondly are Wollstone (named for Mary Wollstonecraft) from the Cave Event, who was a scientist but also gothic literature inspired; Noodles (named for the Flying Spaghetti Monster) from the Internet Event, follower of the squiddy overlords, and just in general all the queer and trans/nonbinary characters I've been able to create over the years!
What’s your favourite pet that you’ve designed? How about ones you haven’t?
For a favorite, I’d narrow it down to the trans lesbian chicken, the lantern fox, and the Jelly Donut second gens. My favorite CS pet designs overall are the Cinnabun and this little kitty:
What’s your favourite part of CS?
AN INTERVIEW WITH: LACUNA, CONTINUED
CS is a site that doesn’t demand too much from its users. It’s free to play and chill. You can leave for any amount of time and know that your account/pets/posts are waiting for you to pick up right where you left off. It’s a really unique site in the grand scheme of the Internet and I’m so happy that something like this is available for people who might want to have that. I’ve tried many other pet sites in my time, but CS is the one I’ve always come back to and maintained my account on for this reason.
Who are you outside of CS?
I have a regular old day job because stability is really important to me. I’m also married to my lovely wife Lucy (we’ve been together for 16 years) and have 3 cats. My main focuses outside of that are crocheting and poetry/writing. I organize, host, and compete in poetry slams both by myself and with a team and also get hired to write and read poetry for other events. I also write novels. I crochet mostly fidget toys and clothes; I like developing my own patterns and making items that will be useful, not just decorative. I also play a lot of D&D with my friends!
If you could give one piece of advice to all CS players, what would it be?
Play the game however makes you happiest Collect the pets you like, not the ones that have the most value or popularity Give back to the community (through sharing information/resources, participating in events, etc ) and you’ll enhance your experience immensely! It’s supposed to be fun and relaxing I just want people to enjoy their time on CS!
AN INTERVIEW WITH: LACUNA, CONTINUED
Tell us about your custom!
Allegra, my custom, is the first ever animal character I made to be an OC
When I first joined CS I only had human/oid characters because I was a roleplayer first and didn’t roleplay animals I wanted to make the perfect cat character for myself so I included all my favorite colors and design elements and a lot of personal touches (like her bracelet representing my wedding band) and a love of writing so much she leaves ink paw prints when she walks Her personality closely mirrors me at my best: full of joy and wonder, and a little bit goofy I had her released on my grandmother’s birthday, and then she grew a few months later on my grandfather’s (February 21st) Her baby stage looked like the attached image and she was drawn as a CS pet by sketchi I also have a custom plush of her!
WHO SHOULD BE INTERVIEWED NEXT?
Whether it's staff members, a well-known artist, or a CS creator in some way, suggest users in our suggestion form! This can be found on our main forum thread.
GAMES GALORE
WORDS:
ARCHIE
BEACHEVENT
CAMPINGEVENT
CAMPSMOOTHIE
CANDYEVENT
CAVEEVENT
CIRCUSEVENT
SLUMBERPARTY
CLEOCATRA
COOKEDMEAT
CTHULU
DUCKYMCDUCKFACE
EGYPTEVENT
FAEFOX
FAEMISCHIEF
SPACEVENT
FLOATINGROCK
FRESHLYBLENDED
INTERNETEVENT
JUNGLEEVENT
LOSTCITY
MEDIEVALFAIRE
PETROCK
SQUIDDY
GAMES GALORE
HAVE IDEAS?
Check out our suggestion form on our main forum page, where you can suggest new games and activities!
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
CLUES:
Across Down
4: Who was the Captain we met in 2012?
5: What was the secondary planet we could visit in 2016?
7: Was species was introduced in 2018?
10: What was the name of the town that the battle between Dreamers and Nightmares for Dreamland was wreaking havoc upon?
1: Ranger Mason came from a family of cryptids known as:
2: Which Medieval Faire item did we have to make out of gold and red cloth to complete the Cat Royal Family quest?
3: Who made a sculpture of themselves in 2017?
6: Who is the staff member mainly behind the summer events since 2020?
8: What species is Lacuna’s custom?
9: Which NPC has appeared for two summers?
A SPECIAL THANKS TO:
OUR STAFF:
ellebee - Head author and Creator
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LETTERS FROM OUR READERS:
Here, CSN readers can send in letters to talk to the staff, comment on the topics we touched on, and ask questions that will be featured in the next newsletter!
What’s this...? No letters?!
To our surprise, we haven’t receieved a single letter since July! It happens, people get busy, but getting letters from you all really makes our day. So if you’ve wanted to send a letter in, but aren’t sure what to say, here are some prompts!
PROMPTONE:
Which Summer Event has your favorite NPC designs, why is that?
PROMPTTWO:
How do you feel about this issue of the CSN being so much larger than what we normally publish? Would you like to see more occassional mega-issues?
PROMPTTHREE:
Which Summer Event has the most interesting “lore” and story, and why?
PROMPTFOUR:
What do you wish you saw more of in our articles?
Answer any/all of these prompts and send in your answers to our Letter Submission form! But just remember, we appreciate every single one of you, whether you always submit and comment, or prefer to read and appreciate in silence, you all make such a massive difference to us!
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WE’RE ON DISCORD!
The CSN has partnered with CSDS! A lot of our users have requested we open a Discord Server, but with the creator of the CSN having already created CSDS, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to create a second server So now, within CSDS, you can get pings for new articles and updates, discuss with others, and more!
LGBTQ+CSPRIDEPETCOLLECTION!
Come and see an ever growing collection of LGBTQ+ CS pets! Find pets who can represent you, and maybe learn about some new identities along the way :)
SYLVEON’SADOPTIONCENTRE
Its an adoption center for all players to gain free pets! Its limited to two per day and once a month there are raffles for pets that are worth Rare+!
DAINTERSEXPRIDEPOUND
+da intersex pride pound+, a place to adopt, interact with others, and have fun! lets go pride!
PERCYJACKSONFANCLUB
Calling all Percy Jackson fans! If you love the Percy Jackson books or show, this fanclub is for you!
YOINKGROUP
Yoink group is a monthly giveaway I run with monthly doubles! It goes for 2 weeks or until I run out of pets, so come yoink!
CD’SPWYWARTSHOP
Check out CD's PWYW Art Shop! It has free slots available from time to time, and offers that'll be going around!
OMGSR,UR,ANDSTOREPETCOUNT
This thread is to help users gauge how many pets it roughly takes to turn an "OMGSR" to an "ER" and to possibly help see which outcomes are more rare The thread does not represent site-wide numbers, but we hope to help alleviate some of the pains with trading OMGSR, UR, and old store pets.
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