#maraquan

[rumwik]

Some maraquan neopokes, because why not!

[artsyaxolotl]

Neopets commission for RainbowFrosting over on Reddit! I'm so stoked that I got to draw someone's pet and I'm so happy with how it came out!! Thanks so much!

[theneotrash]

I decided my first neopets art of 2024 would be a remake of my Maraquan Peophin because the first one I did was super ugly lol

Maraquan Peophin based on the leafy sea dragon. Video is a mockup of how it could look on the site and second is the actual drawing along with the ref and palette. My next piece will be the Burlap Cybunny, and if anyone has suggestions for other pets lemme know

[xispoint]

"I'll get ya!"

[rando-posts]

[adobe-outdesign]

Opinions on neopets and petpets maraquans?

Maraquan Neopets were already done here, but as for petpets:

Maraquan as a petpet colour isn't that different from it as a Neopet colour: take a petpet, give it aquatic attributes (either based off a real animal or just made up), and sometimes give it unique art if the artist was feeling up to it that day. Out of all the petpet colours with Neopet equivalents, Maraquan is probably one of the better ones; it reads well even at small sizes and there's plenty of fun to be had with concepts.

Favorite Species:

Pofew: A normal Pofew looks a bit like a balloon, so the Maraquan Pofew does the obvious thing and becomes a jellyfish, complete with ribbon-like tentacles and a squishy appearance. The shading and highlights are very nicely done without being overly detailed, and it reads well even at this small size.

Gallion: The Maraquan Gallion loses a point for more-or-less being in the same pose as the original, but it gains them back for being a nice-looking abstract animal instead of just something IRL (which isn't bad, but I find the fantasy designs extra neat). The orange and blue/teal color palette is nice, and little details like the fins, different horn shape, and head frills really add to the underwater look.

Cobrall: This one's super simple, but I like it a lot! Making a snake into an eel is a classic, and the artwork captures the flat, ribbon-like body nicely. I also like the friendlier expression. Only nitpick is they could've changed up the colors a bit more, but that's not a huge deal.

BONUS: The Maraquan Tenna is really appealing to me for whatever reason—I think it's the face, which is smaller and more apprehensive-looking than the regular Tenna's. The markings are nicely done, the tentacles are a natural fit for the Tenna's body shape, and I really like the antennae becomes an angler fish light.

Least Favorite Species:

Meowclops: The Maraquan Meowclops isn't the worst thing in the world, but I do find it weird and vaguely uncanny. The problem is that nothing about a regular Meowclops lends itself to a fish body, so it's just a weirdly furry(???) fish with a Meowclops face on it. Also, the eye color clashes with the body, but that's beside the point.

[nudesfornp]

i just don't like him

[mutantmorphingpotions]

THE NOISE I MADE WAS UNGODLY AND UPSETTED ALL THE ANIMALS WITHIN MY LOCALIZED AREA

[ninebaalart]

Maraquan Lilligant

they go down to the coral to feel pretty and attract prey to eat

[kuudiwad]

I collect aishas because they are perfection💖

-Iristheforgotten aka Iris is my first aisha who used to be maraquan(lorewise, not actually she was blue before) until she made a deal with a witch and, long story short, she’s grey now and a bit of a crybaby about it. Something about being tricked into thinking a certain king was still alive and her family forgetting she existed? Idk she doesnt like to get into it…

-Kiyomizuchan aka Kiyomizu-chan is a good magical aisha that does good but it always seems to be rooted in mischief and fun so she gets into trouble a LOT. She gave Iris those yellow wings, she couldn’t heal iris’s grey coloring but it made her happy💖

-Tsumugisan aka Tsumugi-san is a bad, no good, evil witch that LOOOOOVES to make people sad and cause as much chaos as possible. She’s also kiyomizu’s big sister (lore wise, not technically older in game time) and the witch that made a deal with Iris. She also really likes Vriska cuz shes a huge meanie and made vriska’s fairy wings more beautiful than any a fairy aisha could ever hope to have. (Vriska isnt a true fairy aisha, shes literally just blue lmaooo)

-VriskaMindfang aka Vriska was the aisha i made when i finally came back to neopets as an adult and not just checking if my account was stolen lmao. She’s not necessarily evil but she is a huge bitch (8luh 8luh) and tends to do whatever she wants. She does have regrets and does feel shame so she isn’t as far gone as Tsumugi is and has been known to leave clues to beat them cuz it wouldnt be a fun without the chance(hehe) of loss.

Hehe i love my girls, they are such a mess 🥰

[dimetrodone]

Still taking offers for this fella. If anyone has a decent paintbrush or want to do a pet trade I’m open.

[plushie-neopet]

Kuro is diving for treasure on your blog!

[artsyaxolotl]

Tolosh and his surzard, Pringle! and a pinchit c:

[sevilai]

I am absolutely still playing Neopets at the age of 27 and I am flourishing

[flannelshirtandjeans]

Big and smol file for different uses BUT!

@keycchan traded me a Maraquan Lutari on Neopets and I HAD to paint him! He's my super duper dreamie!

His name is Tzji, he's a petpet vet who in his free time wrestles, and enthuses about tea and tea cups and teapots. Despite being aquatic, he isn't a very strong swimmer due to some spine or tail problems. And clearly his lil reverse aquarium helmet for going on land is way too small for him head. xD

The lil creature on his head is Itsy.

[adobe-outdesign]

Will you review the Maraquan pets? I think Buzz is my favorite based on design, and there are so many really creative/punny ones. Personally, I’ve never liked Wocky.

Maraqua is probably one of Neopets' most distinct lands given that it's, you know, underwater. The idea of making a color that fits with the Atlantis-esq aesthetic just makes logical sense, and the actual designs tend to be pretty cool. I like how there's actual thought put into how [X] Neopet would function if it was adapted to life underwater, with the bubbling pit area vaguely implying it might be a natural mutation (given the amount of "painted" Maraquan pets we see in Maraqua).

Maraquan also didn't do too badly with customization, mostly because they're not compatible with normal clothing anyway so the poses are at least somewhat distinct. That said, it is weird that they changed the poses at all; they already have to have clothing drawn specifically for them, so why force things like fists onto some of them? It's so weird.

Even weirder is the seemingly arbitrary decisions regarding which ones got UC versions; Maraquan Chombys barely changed at all yet somehow got a UC, while Maraquan Zafaras changed drastically but never got a UC. What gives?

(I can't count it on the favorites list because there are too many good still-obtainable Maraquan pets, but shoutout to the unconverted Maraquan Zafara for being one of my favorite Maraquan pets. Shame it's no more.)

Favorite Species:

Gelert: While the unconverted Maraquan Zafara is my all-time favorite Maraquan pet, the Maraquan Gelert is a very close second, and is definitely my fav if we're talking pets that are still obtainable. I love Maraquan pets where the design is just abstract, taking cues from various sea creatures without being a 1:1 parallel of them, and the Gelert is particularly beautiful in this respect. It plays with the Gelert's long ears and tails by making it vaguely eel-ish—adding in a back fin, a few spots, and a lovely green and purple color scheme.

The UC version is particularly gorgeous, having this lovely flow that curves back from the head and leads straight into the curled tail. The converted version is still fine, as it's a fairly accurate recreation all things considered, but the pose is much more awkward (the body suggests an S shape, but the paws and ears are going opposite directions and the chest sticks out too much).

It does, however, at least fix the shading; for some reason the UC Maraquan Gelert has one layer of shading with no highlights or shadows to speak of, which is really weird. (See the above, which is an edit I made years ago that just adds the layers of shading that the actual UC is missing. The lineart should also probably be thinner but I digress.) Anyway, the point is that both are beautiful designs.

Uni: Maraquan Uni are also really beautiful. Similar to a Peophin (arguably too much so, but hey, there's no Maraquan Peophin at the time of writing anyway), they've swapped their legs for a tail and their wings and mane have become fins themselves, with a pretty curved horn and some subtle striping to boot. Even better, the converted version is basically the same as the old art, so there's no difficulty in obtaining one (other than the PB cost, of course).

Lutari: While there are still a lot of great abstract Maraquan designs that I love (Eyrie, Draik, etc.), I have to give a shoutout to the Lutari for being a really great design based off of an obvious animal (in this case, an axolotl). The cream and pink color scheme is lovely, and I love the subtle mottle gradients on its limbs. The multiple sets of ears forming the gills is fantastic, the tail is pretty, the black claws add contrast, and it still reads really clearly as a Lutari despite the animal influence. Really good stuff.

Least Favorite Species:

Kacheek: The Maraquan Kacheek just looks incredibly uncanny to me. The best Maraquan pets are either ambiguous or choose an animal that fits the Neopet, but here they just... took a Kacheek head and slapped it on a goldfish body??? Don't like that at all. The head in isolation isn't terrible and I could see it working on a more Kacheek-ish torso, but this... no. At least it's nicely drawn on a technical level, I suppose?