hey everyone. as you may know, aishas (the best neopet) wear a small collar (usually red) with a (usually golden) letter A on it. i was compelled during a conversation with my gf to discuss some of the small idiosyncrasies associated with this habit and my theories for them.
firstly: it is my theory that the A is not just the first letter in an Aisha’s name but a symbol for their greatness and superiority, as the first letter of the alphabet. they may have intentionally chosen the name they are known by to neopians to suit this. although there are many possible roots for their name, “aish” is a common enough Hebrew word for “fire” so it is possible they were trying to evoke the blazing of their ships entering neopia’s atmosphere (assuming some form of Hebrew exists on Neopia. which i am)
thus it is my opinion that by wearing an A on their person, Aishas proudly advertise their allegiance to their species and presumably its broader galactic empire. (for what other reason would even the Alien Aisha wear a normal, recognizable A on their collar?)
this post is less about that and more about the exceptions to this rule: the aishas who do not wear an A!
firstly, the baby aisha is clearly wearing a binky/pacifier around its neck, even though this is piss-poor stimulation for babies and can contribute to gum problems and thumb sucking habits in later infancy:
HOWEVER, in the old (pre-Keyquest) baby aisha plush, which i happen to own, it is wearing SOMETHING ELSE!
namely, a small bib with a lowercase “a” on it. this is the cutest idea ever and i am bummed it’s not the case for the baby aisha on the site, but ALSO, it is a great supporting fact for my theory: in childhood aishas are already marked with the sign of their people and wear it gladly, and in adulthood are upgraded to their collar with presumably some complex and brutal rite of passage.
secondly, the mutant aisha wears a slightly altered A with partially duplicated features:
this may be something they do willingly, to express their different-ness from other Aishas, or something that is thrust upon them by society. the old mutant aisha, which was scrapped in favor of the more cuddly and infinitely less interesting design we currently have, wears no collar at all, probably because it has thrown off the trappings of society entirely and scuttles around in the dark away from it all. i will not include it here because it upsets some people, even though it’s the best aisha
the desert aisha wears a more ornamental collar:
this may simply be meant to represent the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓄿, which is often used as an A in transliteration and as the first character in their alphabet. perhaps the languages used throughout the Lost Desert are similar…
the Maraquan Aisha wears a shell, and so i am unilaterally declaring this to either be a character representing A in a Maraquan language, or as an exceptionally valuable symbol of undersea wealth.
for most of the other Aishas it is easy to extrapolate from this thinking. the Pirate Aisha wears a skull instead because she has left proper Aisha society in order to pillage on the high seas, and is loyal to none but the Jolly Roger. the Stealthy Aisha does not wear her collar, for she does not wish to be identified as beholden to any group. the Darigan Aisha, obviously, is loyal to Lord Darigan and the remnants of his kingdom, and so her D (Darigan) supersedes her A (Aisha). i just have one urgent, nagging question:
WHY DOES THE SNOT AISHA WEAR AN S???
i am FORCED to conclude that for WHATEVER REASON, the Snot Aisha wants to show its allegiance to snot itself more than it wants to show its allegiance to Aishahood. i do not know what this means, and i am troubled immensely. does Meuka have a hold on our very own pets? what is happening? i hate what i’ve learned
