Staff Litter 2022 Discussion Thread

[Desmond]

Aaaaaah, snake, snaaaaake, it's a snaaaake!

Hints:
Dorje/Mushroom Dressup references the "Badger Badger Mushroom Mushroom" meme song.
The emerald tree boa stamp refers to... Snake. I was a bit blunt this year.
2 and 4 -- 24. I said this was a very nerdy hint, it references the cobra Pokemon Arbok, who is #24 in the PokeDex, and is the first thing I thought of when I finished the lines for the cobra's hood and started messing with colors. This was the hint that didn't get found until a few hours ago, so it never got solved.
I mentioned that my outcome would be in Slytherin, like me. Voila, snek.

Senka is a Slavic name meaning "Shadow" - the full story behind them is that they are a shadow that has started to hunt down their own kind, but it's not yet known if this is for good or evil. I originally did not want to lean into the snake motif for this idea, but given that the snake is also a symbol of rebirth/renewal, it seemed more appropriate than anything else I had considered.

You've mentioned that you expected one of your hints to only be solved in restrospect. Out of curiosity, which one was it?

The stamp c: I figured that, as much as it was in plain sight, it was innocuous enough to be overlooked easily.

[catmother456]

@Avianhelena

It was the last hint - 2 & 4. It is for Arbok, #24 in the pokedex. I tried, but never once thought of pokemon. But we figured out the rest!

And now, we have 14 claims and 13 to go, so our work here is far from over. But we are more than half way there!

[Avianahelena]

The stamp c: I figured that, as much as it was in plain sight, it was innocuous enough to be overlooked easily.

That's really interesting! And then it turns out to be the signature hint we missed. That's hilarious to me because I have highlighted your signature looking for invisible text SEVERAL times and never noticed the numbers at all!

@Avianhelena

It was the last hint - 2 & 4. It is for Arbok, #24 in the pokedex. I tried, but never once thought of pokemon. But we figured out the rest!

And now, we have 14 claims and 13 to go, so our work here is far from over. But we are more than half way there!

Whoo-oa! Halfway there!
Love me some Bon Jovi.
I just think it's funny that Desmond said it was a nerdy reference and I would still have never made the connection. Pokemon isn't nerdy, it's nostalgic!

Aaron✦, Burrito Bunny, Celozon, Doglike, Emberwolf, Kazin, Nadine, Raire, Shy, Sixbane, Vampiric, xem, Yağmur

Ok then, back to work, eh?

[tabook]

3. does your dog have a dominant sense? (vision, smelling, hearing, etc.)

3. Probably taste and hearing!

I haven't thrown any guesses out yet, but I wanted to try! Shy, is this one yours?



Maybe I am reading too much into the "hearing" part of the hint, but this pup has pretty big ears! And, comparatively, this is the bluest outcome so far... (Shy's link in the hints led to the Blue song)

I hope I haven't repeated anything, I tried to comb through here but I am definitely not a sleuth

[catmother456]

3. does your dog have a dominant sense? (vision, smelling, hearing, etc.)

3. Probably taste and hearing!

I haven't thrown any guesses out yet, but I wanted to try! Shy, is this one yours?



Maybe I am reading too much into the "hearing" part of the hint, but this pup has pretty big ears! And, comparatively, this is the bluest outcome so far... (Shy's link in the hints led to the Blue song)

I hope I haven't repeated anything, I tried to comb through here but I am definitely not a sleuth

I think you are right. The song link was to Blue, and this is a very blue outcome so I was also thinking the same thing.

[Avianahelena]

Aaron's dog has purple eyes. Its favourite birds are wrens. It enjoys gardening. It wishes it could fly. It likes circles/teardrop shapes. It comes from dreams. It would be either friends or enemies with Flower. It would choose to visit Maridun. It resonates with summer, prefers sunny weather, and has a red aura. It's an Aquarius. It believes in the supernatural and has symbolic meanings.

Its friends that have been identified so far:

Pups with spots, flowers, wings, sky themes.


Raire's hints are largely the same, but as far as I remember, Aaron's not mentioned dragonflies and Raire's not mentioned wrens.
Could that be significant?


Wrens are a common, plain brown bird with a loud, vibrant song. They are associated with spring, rebirth, and immortality. They also notably symbolise the arts, especially songwriting and other written works.
Maridun is a "temperate and verdant" planet, so this probably ties in with the general love of green and growing things.
Aquarians tend to be lateral thinkers, optimistic, resourceful. Aquarius is an air sign. Its birthstones are amethyst and garnet (both stones with colours that fit into this year's palette, by the way).
The Cat and Venus has a theme of nature overcoming nurture, of creatures being happiest when they act according to their true nature. Raire also referenced Dig A Little Bit Deeper, which also has themes of settling into oneself and figuring out one's true needs as a result.


My guesses for Aaron:

(At the risk of being trolled again...) It's nature themed, has the pixel diamond and a coloured tag, and has line edits--Aaron is a lot more prone to line edits in the pup stage than is Raire.


Also has a coloured tag, and the eyes could honestly be either garnets or insect eyes (dragonfly? does that hint definitely refer to Raire's outcome, or could it point to Aaron's instead?)


My guesses for Raire:

My strongest candidate so far. Plain (so far), has a coloured tag, definitely looks like it's got some growing to do before its appearance matches its true nature.


Same reasoning as above, just...less so.

[Addy_sloth]

I haven’t seen any more newborn pups. Is that all of them? Or are there more? Sorry I’m just confused lol

[Raire]

I haven’t seen any more newborn pups. Is that all of them? Or are there more? Sorry I’m just confused lol

No, the last newborn grew up a few days ago. =)
There's one outcome per artist for this litter, so 27 total.

[Shy]

3. Probably taste and hearing!

I haven't thrown any guesses out yet, but I wanted to try! Shy, is this one yours?



Maybe I am reading too much into the "hearing" part of the hint, but this pup has pretty big ears! And, comparatively, this is the bluest outcome so far... :P (Shy's link in the hints led to the Blue song)

I hope I haven't repeated anything, I tried to comb through here but I am definitely not a sleuth :mrgreen:

I think you are right. The song link was to Blue, and this is a very blue outcome so I was also thinking the same thing.

yup! their name is Grove. they are blue 👀

[kiro,,]

@ shy
theyre so cute!! i cant wait to see Grove grow <3

---

mk guess-y time!




i think this little pup belongs to emberwolf!

on page 70 she says her pup doesnt have any line edits yet, which immediately disqualifies most of our remaining outcomes. she also says in the same post to look at her past pets because "multiple elements of reoccurring themes may or may not be present" (this made me think the cloud pup could be a strong possibility bc of her 2018 cloud staff dog, but it has a mouth edit so nope!). looking back at her past staff pets, a couple design aspects stood out to me. her designs from 2019 and 2020 both have similar toe beans, lighter mouth areas, and edged inner ears



now onto hints:

#5: Does your pup live in the sky, ocean or on land?

5 - I'm not sure, maybe it's a different plane of reality altogether?

thee astral plane for example? 👀

What kind of place/world does your pup live in?
What is your pup's favourite song?
Is your pup a dog or another species?

- very far away, though seemingly close
- not much of a music listener! they like silence
- yes? no? I'm not sure, really

- stars can look relatively close by, when in reality the closest star (other than the sun ofc) is 4.24 light-years away! aka very very far away
- its silent in space
- star dog. is it a dog? sure, yeah. but its also a star. stars dont have a species, soo its also not a dog in a way. yep.