April Fool's 2017: Totoro Takeover

On April 1st, in 2017, the players of Chicken Smoothie found that Totoro had taken the site over! The normally colorful site theme was plunged into grey scale! Totoro decided to cover the site in grey paint, since her own feathers are that tone, while Avian's purple color was removed. Players were alarmed to find that not only were her colors removed, but Avian herself was no where to be found!

Totoro's paint also effected some of the previous pets released on the site. Their colors have vanished, and the pets became grey-scale pictures of their former selves (although not all were effected). The monthly pets were also released initially in grey scale, although after the event they were given their proper colors back (minus the cat litter which was in fact originally designed in grey-scale).

In this release was a continuation of the annual tradition of "blender pets," released on April Fool's each year. These pets take two previously released designs and combine them, but they are different than 2nd Generation Pets in that they aren't meant to be "offspring." To see the original sources of this year's, and other April Fool's designs, make sure to check this guide for additional information.

See April 2017's pets in their original form!

Blender Pets by Saikiyo
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Monthly Species by various artists
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→ (Newborn remained the same.)		→ (Newborn remained the same.)
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2nd Gen Pets by EmberWolf
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Not only were the pets changed, but the forums also went under some big transformations under Totoro's rule! The grey scale extended to the forums and profiles on the site, a new skin being added to the site and forced onto everyone's account for this crazy day (but would be reset after the April Fool's event concluded). All user avatars became grey-scale, and a chat filter was applied to the site, letting Totoro censor any attempts to rebel against her new fashion plans.

Thanks to the dress-up challenge, many of these pictures have been preserved, displaying Totoro's power over the situation on this day of chaos. Funnily enough, this challenge was titled, "Your Favorite Color! As long as that color is g​ray."

View the entries!

Immediately some users sought to rebel against Totoro's new policy, finding ways to add color to their posts. Others wished to support the bird, professing their new love for the shade in their forum posts and signature! Many staff members took part in Totoro's games as well, changing their avatars to match her's, and promoting grey-scale propaganda while chirping.

Later on in the day, a new news post was made! On the dog adoption page, a pack of items was added along with some special stamps. The paint items stood out brilliantly against the grey which had taken over the site, and gave users more options to resist Totoro's plans.

Tess's Magic Paint Pack

With this addition, the resistance efforts were in full effect - and users could display which side they supported with stamps in their collection.

Although now removed since the event has been over for quite a while, at the time the news post also contained a banner that displayed the ongoing battle between the two sides: supporters and rebels. There was a meter which adjusted itself to show the ratio of supporters on either side, through counting how many users had put either the grey or the rainbow stamps into their collection.

The news post updated again later in the day, showing that Totoro's reign was still strong. However, with the return of Avian, there was yet another call for users to rebel against the bird. Users on forum threads rapidly fought over the fate of the site, desperate to bring their side to victory. As April 1st drew to an end, it was safe to say that the battle had been intense and passionate, yet all in the good spirit of the prank.

As rollover passed, the news was updated one final time in regards to April Fool's. It turns out that Totoro was just hungry, and the grey would now be restored to normal now that she had settled down. On the dog adoption page, a set of grey paint items was added, to match the rainbow ones from Tess, released the day before. If you want to learn more about these items, make sure to check the discontinued item guide for this April.

Totoro's Grey Paint

Although the color was fully restored, team #totoroforever did not need to fear. The theme that covered the site on April Fool's was added as an option to the user control panel, allowing users who enjoyed it to use it from that point forward by setting their board style to CSGrayscale.

Most of the new born litters were also given color, but the cats remained grey all the way in to their adult stages, and the dog's newborn stayed grey (but the later growth stages had color added to them).