it was either late 2002 or early 2003?? some new kids had just moved into my neighborhood and somehow or another we became friends. their older sister, who was just a couple years older than me was playing a game on their family computer. it was called neopets, where she had made some of her own virtual pets and was feeding them. i was absolutely enamored. i went home and asked my mom if i could make my own account using her e-mail address and (uncharacteristcally) she agreed!! i actually don't remember my first account username, though i do remember it had "raven" in the name (i was obsessed with teen titans at this time). i became absolutely consumed with neopets- thought about it when i went to bed at night and thought about it when i woke up in the morning type of thing. i was homeschooled at the time and so everyday i would try to finish my schoolwork as fast as possible because that meant more time for neopets!! i wasn't very good at a lot of the games, but i loved to collect avatars and trying to come up with designs for future pets that i hoped of one day painting.

not to sound dramatic, though i know i'm not alone, when i say that neopets has genuinely inspired me so much. i started drawing everyday because of neopets, admiring the other users competing in the beauty contest/getting into the art gallery and wanting so badly to be as talented as them. this had a huge domino affect on how i have used the internet as time passes- deviantART, tumblr, instagram, etc. kind of wild tbh. present day i have a silly little BFA that i never use, but its funny how i can trace back my interest in art back to neopets. it's also where i dipped my toes into HTML. haven't done much with that and i am still very much so at beginner level, but it did give me some good foundational knowledge. over the years, i have stepped away from it for periods of time, but i have always been able to pick it back up. it is seriously so special to me and i have so many fond memories of playing it as a kid and showing it to my friends. i have been playing daily again since 2021. these days i am mostly focused on having fun with pet customizations and sharing it with my seven year old

last year i went to the 25th anniversary neopets birthday bash (nov. 2024) with one of my friends!! we attended the atlanta event at battle & brew. i had never even dreamed of attending anything like this before. i had a great time and it was really cool to see other players in person. so many cool memories: the attendees at my table were playing the neopets board game, the venue had a themed menu, the darkest faerie playthrough was playing on overhead screens, there was an attendee there giving out free unopened mcdonalds toy plushies, i saw someone i went to art school with, and so many people giving out stickers + bracelets and other themed goodies!! my favorite was someone cosplaying as the grey faerie giving out pictures of adam FUCKING borovan- (during THAT discord) like are you actually kidding me. so perfect. i keep it in my wallet lmao

click below to see some pics of the evening~

username: moonkittens
name: Ariel
gender: other
country: united states
status: offiline- eating
last spotted: under one day ago
started playing: about 22 years ago
favorite avatars:

favorite neopet species: cybunny, kougra, bori, aisha
favorite petpet species: meowclops, warf, slorg

favorite paint brushes: halloween, ghost, faerie

favorite classic/UC neopet: plushie kougra!!!!!
altador cup team: haunted woods
favorite faerie: jhudora, illusen, ilere
favorite non-faerie NPC: sophie the swamp witch, the shop wizard
favorite food items: neopian central dog, baked faerie corn, deviled steak, haunted pumpkin bar, jhudora day burger

favorite games: hubrid's hero heist, moon rock rampage

i am indeed utilizing my extra pet slots to their full capacity

i did eventually make it into the art gallery
i actually had two different entries get accepted. these are both from when i was still in high school.
it is a goal of mine to try out again sometime soon!! i was recently accepted to the halloween 2025 art gallery!!

a picture of my rainbow neopets plushie shelf that hangs in the "dining" area of my small apartment
plushies acquired (left to right): mcdonald's red aisha, christmas bruce, gruslen, fire noil, mcdonalds nova, yellow xweetok, modified (by me) shop wizard yellow jubjub, speckled negg, mcdonalds green grundo, starry paint brush, starry lupe, electric cybunny, limited too blue kadoatie, plushie kougra, purple doglefox, mcdonalds supernova, mazzew, faerie cybunny

i acquired most of these over the past ~3 years, only the electric cybunny was from childhood. i mostly find them on ebay/poshmark and have been gifted a few from friends. i am hunting for a few more, specifically: meowclops, slorg, ona, faellie, warf, and maybe a halloween kacheek.
i just haven't found them at a price i'm willing to pay just yet lol

some other images of items i have collected!! i am interested in collecting more of the jakk's pacific figures/playsets as well as the neopets magazine issues and am regularly looking on ebay for them. despite not having the correct gaming system i would love to own a copy of the darkest faerie as well!! and definitely one of those polly pocket type neopet things omg

pictured: neopets cd cases i got off ebay (originally from limited too), a cloud ixi figure my friend molly gave me, a neopets mousepad featuring an uni and a shoyru which also came with 3 cd sleeves (uni, kougra, and shoyru), mcdonald's green kacheek keychain that i got from a kind person at the 25th birthday bash in ATL, halloween aisha plushie originally from limited too, the neopets cook book (with a lil mcdonald's jubjub plush i customized myself!!), and a giant magnet i had custom made of neopia central on my dishwasher. because fucking obviously. every *proper* household needs one.

click the images to view~


i also have a neopets themed tattoo!! i have always had a soft spot for neopet food items!! specifically a lot of the spooky and faerie themed foods. my *very* humble neopets gallery is called "neopet food items that i would tattoo on my body" and i did just that.
(i have plans to get a few more neopets-themed images tattooed in the future as well!!)

BEHOLD my own faerie baked corn tattoo!! done by the wonderful Erika White of whitewolfink.

that's all for now!! thank you so much for visiting my neopets shrine.
if you are also a neopets user and want to trade NC, feel free to check out my tradelist + shoot me a neomail~

*credits*

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