It's finally done! Our Adopt-A-Secret-Santa Event has successfully concluded and the winners of the MYO-Slots have been chosen by my jury!

First off, a huge thank you to everyone who participated. Altogether there were 20 participants who sent in their designs! And the best thing is that all of these designs found a loving new home~! Here's are some thumbnails of the entries:

So now after this little Thank You, it's time to announce the winners!

First off, I sadly also have some not so fun news for you guys. Among the many submissions I received, most (as in 14 out of 20) did not properly follow the submission rules or they incorporated elements that do not comply with the Species Guide on Calyptra appearance. The most common issue was too small a file size for the complete ref, from near misses of maybe 1200 pixels in one direction to very small sizes of maybe 500-650 pixels in either direction. Among the anatomical errors the most frequent one were disconnected and differently colored neck- and head-hair.

Now, excluding all of these entries entirely from the event would have felt unfair and unnecessarily harsh. I wrote a tendency for crossbreeding into the Calyptra's lore for exactly such cases, to allow for small exceptions and unusual traits every now and then - especially among characters not created by me. So all those anatomical errors can be explained away as mutations due to crossbreeding somewhere down the line. And as for the sizes - most of them were still useable, and the one that I couldn't salvage was still happily embraced as it was by the person who received the gift. I want you guys to know that I really do my best to make things work out!

However, it would have felt a bit unfair to attach no consequences at all to this, especially combined with some cases of people whose entries actually were faulty enough to let them enter before they fixed them up.

So my decision in the end was to make everyone who participated eligible for a gift, as reward for their hard work and creativity. Having a Calyptra character in the first place is a great starting point to jump into other rewarding activities like prompts and themed events later on. But as a tradeoff, the only people eligible to win one of the three main prizes were the six participants who followed all of the rules and stuck to the correct anatomy! I am still thinking over how I will handle it in future years, because this hurt my soul to do - some of the most beautiful entries and personal favorites were among the entries disqualified this way. But the people who took the time to read, listen, and double check do deserve that reward, and seeing as I, too, worked hard on the announcements, rules and species guide, I feel that this might also be the best incentive to pay attention to these things in the future. Especially since you all still earned yourself a new lil bean to keep~.

So without further ado, here are the winners!

3. Place: mama-acorn!

Your entry not only arrived in a timely fashion, it was also executed with obvious care! The Calyptra's face is brimming with personality, and the soft, muted palette is incredibly pleasant to look at. It was a surprising but interesting move that you left out the markings completely, to settle for a very plain but very pleasant design. For your beautiful contribution, you receive an MYO-Slot and 5 Lightbulbs to burn on your characters or any other wishes you might have! They have been registered in your account in the bank.

2. Place: PopoDaWolf!

I'm always incredibly happy when people take advantage of my little note that all bodytypes are welcome among the Calyptra, and so seeing how you drew those gorgeous thunder thighs and broad shoulders made me smile brightly when I saw your entry! The soft greens and browns are a beautiful combination, and the face and stance make me want to hug and befriend your character on the spot! For your fun contribution, you receive an MYO-Slot and 10 Lightbulbs to spend on your characters or whatever else you might want to do with them! They have been registered in your account in the bank.

1. Place: erratictransparency!

Your design is another one of those that made me smile right when I first saw it! This "I'm a little shit"-grin, those "come at me bro!"-arms and that firm stance - it's just so fun to look at! Of course, that alone wouldn't have won you the top prize though - it's your actual design that knocks this entry out of the park. Making the markings vaguely reminiscent of tree bark while adding the twist that they look almost more like running mascara around the eyes was a really cool take on the concept of the markings, and you obviously put a lot of love and effort into them and the wing pattern. For your lovingly made contribution, you receive an MYO-Slot and 15 Lightbulbs to spend on your new babies or whatever you wish! They have been registered in your account in the bank.

Now that everyone has received their main prizes, here are some honorable mentions!

Once to GreywaterAlley, Morrynlupine/Sto and Whydotheleavesfall! Your entries followed all of the rules and specifications to a T, and as a little reward for this you each get 3 Lightbulbs to use as you please! You can use these for trade, save up for a later adoptable-purchase or upgrade your current babies with them if your Santa's allowed for changes. C:

And the second honorable mention goes to the herb lord! Your entry came in first, at a time when I thought no one would actually take interest in the event or species after all. As a reward for kicking us off and sending in your entry early, you also receive 3 Lightbulbs to spend on whatever you wish!

With that, our event officially and completely concludes! The MYO Winners can PM me to talk about their drafts and ideas - keep in mind that the final designs still need to be greenlit by me so I can ensure a certain amount of consistency in the species! To everyone else - thank you for your participation! I will create a separate announcement for things to come. C: