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Table of Contents

How to Be Hated in the Beauty Contest

Are you feeling under-despised lately? Does it seem like you're making a little too positive a contribution to society? Well, you've come to the right place! Compiled here are a list of handy tips guaranteed to have everyone in the Beauty Contest just itching to shove you into a wood chipper.

Entries

Enter stolen pictures

I worked hard to draw this picture plz vote!!!!1

The intricacies of this technique cannot be given justice with a mere short description, so it gets its own comprehensive section!

Enter generic Neopets images

It took me a long time to pick this pose, guys!

Spending too much time coming up with an idea for your entry? You don't have to! Just save/trace your favorite picture off the Neopets website and enter it instead. If you feel like being extra creative, give it a one-over with the airbrush tool on MS Paint.

Your failure may vary: the amount of fail achieved by this technique is directly proportional to how hypocritical you are. Be sure to make lots of boards complaining about five-minute scribbles.

Enter humans wearing Halloween costumes

Of COURSE its a Lupe! I gave it doggy ears!

The key to pulling this off is to add just enough Neopian features to slip past the contest judges (try generic catgirl ears and tail), while making it completely human in every other way. Note: we're talking full-blown zoomorphic. A mere anthro entry just won't do.

Bonus points: design the Halloween costume in such a way that it could conceivably represent any species of Neopet.

Your failure may vary: Creative, well-planned zoomorphic entries can look amazing. Be sure to thwart people's hopes by entering the most nauseatingly generic designs you can manage.

When all else fails, try, try again

Guess what I'm submitting this week?

You drew one image... why do you need to make more? Just enter it again, and again... and again. Voters just love the creeping sense of familiarity.

Bonus points: keep entering the same tired old image even after it's won a trophy or twelve.

Advertising

Adver-nuke the BC boards

vote for my pet plz thank u

You are a busy Neopian, and efficiency is the name of your game! In order to get the most out of your advertising time, just make your way down each thread on the BC boards and copy-paste a short ad for your pet. No need to actually read the threads. That would waste time!

Bonus points: be sure to spread your copypasta on MVer's boards. They'll definitely appreciate it.

Cut off your competitors

Before you vote for THAT pet...

Hijack every thread advertising a pet that competes with your own. Those innocent voters need to know about your glorious entry before they make a terrible voting mistake. Also, you need to spread the word that your competitor is a baby-eating monster.

Bonus points: make threads complaining that competitors are stealing your votes.

Whip out the sympathy symphony

The doc says I only have a week to live... and my dog died yesterday... and I lost my keys...

You have special, unique, deep problems in your life right now, unlike any other user on Neopets, and the only cure to your troubles is a nice shiny BC trophy. If you emphasize your woes enough, people are sure to do the right thing and help you out.

Bonus points: you got dumped by your boyfriend just two months ago--only a monster would callously deny you their vote after learning of your tearful predicament. Get back at non-voters with passive-aggressive tactics and strategic use of the :'( smiley.

Don't take no for an answer

So, you voted for me, right?

If someone posts in your advertising thread and forgets to shout excitedly that they voted for you, be sure to follow up incessantly to make sure they didn't forget. After all, it's not like they're trying to be polite about not wanting to vote for you.

Bonus points: If someone admits that they didn't vote for your entry, then they must have a personal vendetta against you. Make several threads about it to expose the conspiracy and earn back-pats and consolation.

Misuse terms for traditional artwork (advertiser's edition)

Be sure to vote for this HAND DRAWN entry!

If you scribbled out your entry with a pencil on paper, be sure to emphasize that it is 100% 'hand-drawn.' This automatically makes you better than your competitors, who apparently draw pictures with their feet.

Nag via Neomail

Hey! Listen!

Advertise your entry by sending unsolicited Neomails to every username you can get your hands on. People will love the attention.

Bonus points: disguise your spam with a relevant-sounding title so more people will be tricked into clicking on it.

Voting

Make 'em grovel

You dare to ask for MY vote?

Your votes are precious, and you should make advertisers work for them. There are many ways to do this, such as requiring them to insert the full text of the US Constitution somewhere in every post they make or asking for a three-page persuasive essay on why you should consider them.

Bonus points: do all of the above, but instead of giving them a vote for their efforts, make them do it simply so they can achieve the honor of getting on your voting list.

Reuse your votes

I voted for you! Honest!

People are more likely to vote for you if you vote for them, but nobody can really prove whether you actually gave them a voteback. So why not 'reuse' a few species votes to get some easy votes back? It's not like anyone keeps track of this stuff.

Bonus points: claim that you voted for someone's pet (and ask for a vote back) without checking whether they even have pets entered that week.

Join the MV snobbery division

I make my OWN voting decisions thank you very much!!

Just look at those unwashed masses, advertising on the advertising boards like the simpletons they are. Any REAL BCer would do the RIGHT thing and manual vote for everything. Anyone who sullies themselves looking at advertising is a disgrace to the name of BC.

Essential: MVing on its own isn't wrong at all, so be sure to take it a step further by informing everyone within typing distance about how superior you are for MVing, how advertising will cause the death of BC/Neopets/society/the known universe, etc and so forth.

Misuse terms for traditional artwork (voter's edition)

I have no idea how computers work!

If you prefer traditional artwork, be sure to say that you'll only vote for 'hand drawn' entries. Can be paired with Despise the Digital for extra fail.

Bonus points: when dozens of people inform you that they drew their entry by hand in a digital medium, throw a hissy fit and storm off.

Despise the Digital

Oh, so you used PHOTOSHOP, huh.

REAL art is drawn on pencil and paper. Don't vote for anything less. Those rich kids with all their digital doodads don't do any work on their entries anyway--they just click a few buttons and the computer does all the drawing for them.

Your opinion is law

I only vote for GOOD art!

You set the universal laws of aesthetics. Do you like anthro? Then anthro is good, and everything else is low-quality drivel that doesn't deserve the title of 'art.' People who don't cater to your individual tastes are obviously poor artists and deserve to have their pieces mocked. Don't disappoint them.

Bonus points: emphasize that you vote for good art, but keep people guessing about your definition of 'good.' After all, GOOD artists would already know what you like.

How to be an Art Thief in the BC

In case anyone isn't clear: this is a parody. I will NEVER support the entering of stolen work into the BC. If you'll read through to the Why It's Pointless to enter Stolen Art in the BC section, you'll see why this is. So enjoy this peek into the warped mind of an art thief, but remember: this is all humor.

(While we're on the subject of disclaimers, I don't support people being buttmunches in the BC either. Seriously, disregard all the advice on this page.)

Choose your image

The best possible pieces to steal are those that have recently won trophies in the BC. After all, that's what you're going for, right? And it's not like anyone keeps track of past winners, anyway. If you can't do that, try a recent Art Gallery picture. Nobody will know.

Make it your own

So you have a great picture, but your pet is Red, not Shadow! Well, never fear. MS Paint was invented just for this purpose. A couple of floodfills and not only will your stolen masterpiece be personalized, it will also be cleverly disguised! Nobody will think to compare it with the original after your amazing palette swaps.

What about the signature?

Oh, don't worry about that. Nobody looks at those. If you REALLY want to get rid of it, just draw a big square over it with the square tool. Be sure to use a color that glaringly contrasts with the rest of the background for added effect.

Save away

Gotta get that sucker within the size constraints! You have a couple of options:
  • Save it as a JPG. The compression really gives a beautiful effect!
  • Not feeling the compression? Try GIF format. You didn't need all those extra colors anyway.
  • If all else fails, just shrink it to a miniscule size. Bonus points if it gets deformed along the way.

    • Enter on in

    Be sure to add something in the caption about how hard you worked on drawing the picture. It's a proven way to ward off any lingering suspicion by nosy snoops. Now, just sit back and wait for the votes to pour in! Look at you, so clever. You've just beaten the system and they can't do squat! Except...

    OH NO!

    Someone has accused you of stealing! But don't panic. All is not lost. You have a myriad of excuses in your arsenal which are sure to throw them off your trail in no time.

    I didn't steal this! I drew it! You're so rude!

    The best defense is a good offense. Throw them off guard and they'll back off right quick. After all, they must have been imagining things when they thought they saw this exact picture (sans flood-fill job) last week in the Art Gallery. They'd surely never go to the trouble to actually double-check their suspicions.

    Oh wait... they did. If you're faced with pictoral evidence, it's time to try...

    OMG! THEY STOLE MY PICTURE! HOW COULD THEY!

    That's right, baby! Turn the tables! How can they PROVE the other person didn't steal from YOU? It's not as if the original artist would have a larger, higher-resolution version in their posession or anything! No way this could go wrong.

    If the incessant real-source-finding persists, or if, heaven forbid, the original artist gets in on things, it's time to switch tactics. You have three strategies: blame, ignorance, or loopholes.

    Blame: My friend/brother/grandpa's aunt said they drew it! I didn't know it was stolen!

    As long as you conveniently overlook the BC rule stating "You must only enter pictures YOU drew YOURSELF," then hopefully your assailants will too.

    Ignorance: I just found it on on the Internet somewhere! I didn't know it belonged to someone!

    After all, people aren't ACTUALLY expected to go drawing their own BC entries every time, right? And stuff on the Internet is fair game... right? And there's no such thing as a rule clearly stating that all BC entries must be drawn by the person who submitted them... right!?

    If you're feeling especially gutsy and want to live up to your thievery, you can try this alternate, devastating comeback:

    Loopholes: I don't SEE a signature on it! So it must be free for the taking!

    BOOYAH! What now!? See, the laws of copyright don't apply to YOU. You're special that way. They're just going to have to deal.

    Are these people seriously still hassling you? It's time to stand up for your rights!

    I must have spent THIRTY SECONDS recoloring this! That means it's MY work now!

    After all, even the greatest artists use other works for inspiration! Granted, you've never seen great artists shoplift their competitor's paintings out of art galleries, spray-paint them in what looks like a poor imitation of kindergarten drawings, and then resubmit them, but still!

    At this stage, you may find yourself getting clobbered right and left with copyright law and general rage. Things are looking bleak. But don't despair. You still haven't deployed your final weapon. It's a last resort, but...

    YOU GUYS ARE SO MEAN, HOW COULD YOU, WAHHHHHH

    If all else fails, deploy the waterworks full-blast. If it's your style, throw in vague threats of "you're going to make me do something horrible :(" You never know; maybe these people got to where they are by being spectacular pushovers who will back off at the slightest sign of contention. Don't try to think about the fact that they've already shown they're perfectly happy to rock the boat by accusing you to this point.

    Aftermath

    If you find that hard-working artists on the Internet do not, in fact, give a care about the whinings of a petty thief (they usually don't) it's likely that you'll find your account, your items, and all your precious pets frozen at this point. You may want to take a moment to consider the repercussions of your actions. Then keep reading to find out why this would have been a stupid idea even if you hadn't gotten caught.

    But wait!

    What did you say? You managed to get through the whole week without anyone catching on to your thievery? Well, congratulations, I guess. At this point, I'm sure you've noticed something--something quite significant.

    And that's that you haven't won a thing. Chances are, you barely got any votes if you weren't also advertising. (And chances are, you weren't, because people who advertise generally get caught.)

    How could this be!? You stole from the very best. Your crummy paintfills were the best darn crummy paintfills this world has ever seen! What went wrong?!

    I'm sorry to break it to you. But there's a secret in BC, one that art thieves don't usually catch on to until it's too late and they've been frozen. I'll save you the trouble and tell you now. Consider yourself lucky.

    Why It's Pointless to Enter Stolen Art in the BC

    Go on, admit it: you're expecting some kind of moral blathering here, aren't you? Don't worry, I don't like that stuff either. The real answer is much less preachy, and boils down to one simple, unpleasant truth:

    In the BC, the picture itself doesn't really matter.

    You heard me right. The BC is not just a Beauty Contest. A beautifully-drawn picture is great, but it's not what's going to win trophies. If you've looked for more than twelve seconds at the previous winners of the BC, you'll notice that many winners are not, in fact, beautiful at all. To be honest, you can't quite imagine HOW they could have gotten all those votes, or how those crummy-looking first-place winners could have beaten their much more pretty second- or third-place counterparts.

    The answer, my friend, is advertising. THAT is the real crux of this game. A beautiful picture definitely helps--in some higher-tier species, it's almost essential--but it's the hard work of advertising and getting connections that really wins the prize. Is this sad? A lot of people think so. But it's the reality.

    So what does this mean when it comes to entering stolen art? Basically, the argument boils down to Why would you bother? You can win with your VERY OWN drawings, no matter how bad they may be. Just check the previous winners for proof. Why go to the trouble of stealing art at all, when it's the advertising--which you don't need any particular talent or practice at--that will determine whether you win or lose?

    But you DO need nice art for those high-tier species!

    It's true that for the popular species--Lupes, Eyries, and so forth--a beautiful picture is almost essential. But this doesn't negate what I just said. Even though you need nice art, you need tons of advertising EVEN MORE. And it's impossible to successfully advertise a stolen picture to the sheer number of people you'd need to win without getting caught. Trust me on this.

    In closing, just don't do it.

    You simply won't succeed. More than that, it's not worth it to risk your account, your items, your irreplaceable pets for a stupid 50x50 image of a trophy. Enter your own work, get on the BC boards, and enjoy the great experience it is to play BC legit.

    BC Terms Glossary

    Adverspamming: Copy-pasting a set speech to many threads (sometimes more than once on the same thread). Also known as too-lazy-to-pretend-to-be-interested-in-the-conversation syndrome.

    Anthro (Anthropomorphic): In the Beauty Contest, refers to Neopets with human characteristics (usually a humanoid body/face shape). The surest sign of an anthro is when a species that normally walks on four legs (quad) is shown walking on two legs like a human. Most official Neopets plot characters are anthro.

    BC: Beauty Contest, the grand art and advertising contest held each week on Neopets.

    BC boards: The section of the Neoboards dedicated to the Beauty Contest. People go here to advertise and cause drama chat happily with other BCers.

    BCer: Someone who participates in the Beauty Contest. Widely regarded as the most awesome category of Neopian in the known multiverse.

    CAP/C&P: Copy-and-paste work. When someone takes an official Neopets.com image (NOT Art Gallery/BC image) and alters it. This technique isn't art theft, since using official Neopets images is allowed. It is, however, considered kind of lame.

    Competitor: Either refers to a user who has entered a pet of the same species as a pet you have entered, or refers to the competing entry itself. Either way, these are creatures to be feared.

    Digital artwork: Artwork drawn entirely or partially on the computer, using a program such as Photoshop.

    Entry: The drawn image of the pet entered into the Beauty Contest.

    MV (Manual voting): When a user views each species' entries, and votes depending on preference, without taking advertising into account.

    Gijinka: A style in which an animal-like character is redesigned to look more human, can be synonymous with Kemonomimi. The result can range from anthro to zoomorphic to 'that's supposed to be a Neopet?', but often leans towards the human side of the spectrum.

    Goldban: If a pet wins gold either in species or overall, they aren't allowed to re-enter the BC for four months. This is called a goldban. It only applies to gold winners, not silver or bronze. Trying to get around a goldban (by pounding, switching species, etc) will get you frozen.

    Hand Drawn: An inaccurate term usually referring to traditional (non-computer) artwork. Came into being when traditional artists got the impression that all digital artists drew pictures with their feet/tongues/cybernetic implants.

    Kemonomimi: Also known as "I like designing outfits on cute anime girls oh wait this is supposed to be Neopets?" syndrome. Kemonomimi characters are generally humans with animal ears and a tail. These additions may be real, functional ears and tails, or may be just props. Kemonomimi characters are considered a great way to get your drawing thrown out of the BC for being too human-like.

    NSV (Non-silent voting): Telling a user that you voted for them. Silent voters vote without saying who they voted for.

    Quad (Quadruped): Literally means "walking on four legs." You'll hear it used to refer to non-anthro, more animal-like Neopets, whether or not they actually walk on four legs.

    SV (Silent voting): Voting without telling people who you voted for. Great for minimizing drama, but doesn't carry the voteback potential of NSVing. It's impolite to ask a SVer who they voted for.

    Trace: Similar to a C&P entry. Refers to an entry traced from an official Neopets image. Not considered lame like C&P entries, since the artist actually drew all of it.

    Traditional artwork: Artwork drawn without a computer, using paper, pencils, pens, and so forth. Entries are scanned or photographed but that is the extent of the computer's role in the picture.

    Vote Trading: Trading items, drawings, etc for BC votes. This includes "Vote for me and I'll vote for you." Vote Trading is NOT ALLOWED and will result in a swift freezing.

    Voting List: Part of a particular voting style. Some people make a voting list of entries they want to vote for, based on advertising or other means. Before the contest ends, they go through their list and pick their final vote choices.

    WIP: Work In Progress; an unfinished picture. People often post WIPs on the BC boards to get buttpats input and suggestions from others.

    Zoomorphic: In the Beauty Contest, refers to human entries with few if any animalistic characteristics (for example, a human with cat ears and a tail). For something to be zoomorphic, the animal characterstics must be functional parts of the character, or it'll be considered a human entry. (For example, the animal ears must be real ears, not just a decorative headband.) Completely human entries aren't allowed in the Beauty Contest.

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