oh, hello!As the hubbub around the candy drive dies down and you’re getting ready to call it a day, there’s a too-close bang followed by a whoosh and a very weird sizzle. Alarmed, you glance around… and find you aren’t actually surprised by what you see.
The little trick-or-treaters are crowded around a NeoHome five houses over, jumping around and waving their arms. Or, at least, you assume all of them are there. You can only see the Ruki and a speck that you guess is the Motere.
The Kitzen and Gelert are nowhere to be seen, though from how the two buggy friends are acting, it’s pretty clear the other two are in the garage. Just as you start to head over, a plume of dense grey smoke coughs out of the half-open garage door, accompanied by several warbling splutters and bloops. The Ruki notices you approaching and looks as though they’re about to try to convince you this is nothing at all, but they very quickly give up. It is, in fact, very clearly something.
In stark contrast, the Motere starts squeaking excitedly. “Hey! Hey! Hi!! Look! Isn’t it great?? We’ve gotted so much candy an’ spooky food an’ stuff that the portal overloadeded! It was only supposta bring Halloweeny friends over, but it gotted so charged that it pulled even more in! These guys aren’t even spooky!!”
You don’t have a chance to process any of this, because at that exact moment, the Kitzen and Gelert tumble out from the garage. Bouncing to his paws, the Gelert happily gives his report. “It backfired a little, but we managed to get it mostly stable. The smoke should clear out soon, and!! Even more friends!”
From out of the thinning smoke, a small crowd of dull-coloured pets appear, blinking and looking around at their new home. Most of them are smiling and laughing, like they’re out on a day trip to Kiko Island.
After a beat, the Ruki turns to you and grins. “Tada!! Just as planned!”
You have no idea if that’s true, and you decide that at this point it really doesn’t matter. The new Neopians look friendly, if a lot less saturated than everyone else.
a word from King - kinghey! i hope you enjoy ashen! sure, it’s a very boring colour, but it’s always struck me as weird that there’s such a conspicuous gap in neopets colours. also, why does a grey palette come with mandatory depression?
and then i realised that i could fix that on moderneo >:3
this thing has been in the works since at least mid-october of 2022 and has gone through a bunch of changes, but i’m very happy with how it’s turned out! ashen is meant to be a kind of counterpart to cream, but on the opposite end of the monotone scale.
(and, maybe, perhaps… ashen will match cream even more closely)
anyway! have fun with your new desaturated friends!
a note from Hazer, Lion, Star, and the artistsHellllo MNeopians!
Lion here to express gratitude for the wonderful year we've had here while we've been organizing processes on the back end. I know it feels like it's been such a long time, but creating proper systems takes a long time... especially when all of us are also working on adult things irl too!
I am very grateful for the help I've gotten this year while settling in as an admin from not only the community, but internally from Hazer, Star, and our fantastic team of artists. I really couldn't have asked for a better group of people to work with. Said wholeheartedly. We've been hard at work on several projects and can't wait to show you everything!
That being said, I want to communicate what December is going to look like, just to set some expectations.
We're currently working on January projects, which means December 2025 is going to be our catch-up month. There are some pets, items, and other things sitting in our drafts that should and need to be released! They may not be "December" themed, but they're still willing to take up residence in your neohomes!
While we have some absolutely fantastic ideas for a December event, it's just not feasible
this year. December 2026, though....hehehe.
You guys have been nothing but wonderful, and I think I can speak for the entire staff team when I say that. We're looking forward to wolfing down 2025 and sprinting right into 2026 with some fun stuff!
Credits:A special thanks to king for masterminding Ashen for everyone to enjoy. Keep an eye out in the future for more news 'bout it ;) It also wrote all the flavor text for this news post AND our Halloween newsposts! Thanks again for that.
PETS
king: Chomby, Cybunny, Eyrie, Floatsam, Grarrl, Grundo, Ixi, Krawk, Lutari, Mynci, Ogrin, Kougra, Korbat, Kiko, Jubjub, Kau, Peophin, Scorchio, Poogle, Skritter, Soreen, Tatsu, Tonu, Tuskaninny, Wocky, Vandagyre, Usul, Xweetok, Uni, Chia, Draik, Gelert, Hissi, Lupe, Nimmo, Quiggle, Skeith, Techo, Yumack, Yurble, Jetsam, Meerca, Blumaroo, Ginko, Gnorbu, Kacheek, Kohmo, Pteri, Shoyru, Zafara, Dirego, Moehog
Doki: Koi, Lenny, Elephante, Lulamu, Ruki, Buzz
Star: Kitzen, Kyrii, Motere
dairydearie: Acara, Bruce, Aisha, Bori
ITEMS/PETPETS
king: Ashen Skritter Morphing Potion, Ashen Vandagyre Morphing Potion, Ashen Quiggle Morphing Potion, Ashen Elephante Morphing Potion, Ashen Hissi Plushie, Ashen Chomby Plushie, Ashen Dirego Morphing Potion, Ashen Kougra Plushie, Ashen Dirego Plushie, Ashen Korbat Plushie, Ashen Bori Plushie, Ashen Nimmo Morphing Potion, Ashen Jetsam Morphing Potion, Ashen Moehog Morphing Potion,
Doki: Ashen Paint Brush, Ashen Petpet Paint Brush, Ashen Belonthiss, Ashen Florta, Ashen Naalala, Ashen Sunutek, Ashen Blooky, Ashen Bython, Ashen Flerper, Ashen Warf, Ashen Symol, Ashen Gruslen, Ashen Eizzil, Ashen Babaa, Ashen Polarchuck, Ashen Piraket, Ashen Petoot, Ashen Wuzzer, Ashen Gratlik, Ashen Altalaphus, Ashen Lurman, Ashen Cofferling, Ashen Sandpoint.
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