When I read that there was a contest to design 's Maya's pet, I was opting for something morbidly cute (especially with the theme being "meat") that had something to do with cats and Chinese buns.

But had dibs on the cat idea.

So, anyway, I started doodling something and had a cow in mind. And Since they wanted fun, I thought Rock and Roll, 80's Heavy Metal (think Transformers the movie themesong), and that living-free dynamic spirit we're supposed to possess as artists.


Then, I thought "Hey, I'll make this a carabao! After all Dameat is a Filipino-based community."


And thus,

Rockabao was born.

I was supposed to give him the name "Metamaraw" (metal+ Tamaraw) , but people might associate metal with death and negativity, especially the young members whose parents might think "METAL IS SATANIC!!" especially since we live in this country. So I'll save Metamaraw for another day.

At least "rock" can be fun and wholesome. Thanks to for the Stray Cats music she gave me. This goes out to you!

And I realized, in 's illustrations, Maya looks like this>>>

[link]

See? Wouldn't he make a cool pet? She can ride on his shoulders holding on to his horns like one would ride a motorcycle. She's in Filipiniana attire, while he's a water buffalo, one of our more local popular animals. He also sports tribal tattoos round his upperarms and he has a bahag (long loin-cloth).

Then there's a question of "meat" in the theme, right? Well, besides me shaping the guitar to supposedly look like a porkchop or chicken drumstick(but failed), I realized that Carabeef is one of the meats available here. yep.

And you know what? look at him. HE'S SCREAMING OF MEAT!!!

MEATAL!!! haha, I kid. But yep, he has meat on his bones. We need something with meat on bones. You can't not have meat. Meat is the muscle. MEAT IS THE DYNAMISM!

I drew a separate face to show you he is cute. In a way. Not your typical kawaii-food-is-alive-chibi cute, but more like your sassy, fun-loving rebel-cute.

You're asking, so, why not just pose his head looking cute in the full-body shot?

The problem was, I wanted a dynamic pose for a full body shot, one that wasn't you're "ooohh look at me, I'm cool" attention-whore pose you get from many pinups, where in the character is conscious of an audience. You can't have real fun if you're too conscious of what people think about you. I needed a free-spirited roar!!! ARTISTIC FREEDOM!!! ROCK HARD!!! THAT'S WHERE THE REAL FUN LIES!!!

In the headshot, I wanted to show the viewers how he'd react to someone who says, "Where do we go?"

"To the stars, baby. To the stars!"

Cheesy I know, but you get the idea.

Hence. There.
I had fun doing this piece, in spite of lack of detail. My hands are shaky these days.

If this fails, well, I'm fine with that. I also made this with in mind. This is for you Detski! I know how nationalistic you really are, even if I'm not. So I tried my best to complement your design.

Thanks if you've read all of this. Hope no violent reactions.
At least Maya has a Carabao who she can ride on (no explicit thoughts ok, it's rare to see me wholesome, so enjoy it while it lasts) and who'll till the fields.

Ps- I dunno if Carabaos wear bells, but I thought it suited his choker. and if you look at the bell ringer thingie, it's actually a cross. Catholic country, yeah yeah.

I think his alternate name would be GARabao.