[MySpoons]

VOK Winter Event 2019 | December 12th - December 23rd

Prompts | Design Santa | Make a Snowman | SPECIAL | Final Raffle

This is a time of gathering together and celebrating! With so many prides here today, there is bound to be some interesting cultural difference!

Welcome to the "Design Santa" Event! To enter, draw and/or write about what your pride's version of Santa Clause looks like and acts. A gift-giving old lion? Or someone to bring coal to the naughty ones? Or something entirely different? You don't even have to use the name 'Santa' or 'Santa Claus'.

Winners will receive a semi-custom inspired by their entry! More entries = more winners! ENDS on the 23rd of December at 6:00 pm CST.

Code: Select all

[b]Username[/b]:
[b]Pride[/b]: [link]
[b]Your Pride's Santa[/b]: [image and/or written description]
[b]Why Santa looks this way to your pride?[/b]

[DraconisSumeris]

Username: DraconisSumeris
Pride: Defenders of the Dragon's breath (link in sig)
Your Pride's Santa: [image and/or written description]
Why Santa looks this way to your pride?

Wip <3

[-Isabella-]

Username: Isabella45
Pride: xxXxx
Your Pride's Santa:
Katonda Pride believes in an ancient deity called Jionni who gives many kinds of gifts to those who ask it of her and are deserving or earn it.
During the Days of Giving in Katonda Pride cubs are told stories of Jionni who is said to be a lioness who can take on many forms and will disguise herself to live among mortals and determine which of them deserve her gifts and which do not.
Cubs are warned to behave and be kind, because you never know when she might be among you, keeping track of good hearts and bad.
Her gifts can vary from simple things, like favorite foods, decorative pieces for your den, or bigger things like physical gifts of strength or sharp eyes. Her powers are great but she uses them wisely and sparingly.

But while there are legends of those who have seen her, it has been many years since Jionni physically appeared to anyone. But legend says that in her lioness form she is beautiful to look upon, that to see her is to be caught up in enchantment of the deepest kind.

Cubs are warned not to try to look for her during the holidays or they might become caught in her spell, and if she knows you've seen her you may find there are no gifts waiting for you when the giving day finally arrives.

Why Santa looks this way to your pride?
As far back as anyone can remember the legends speak of a lioness whose fur is jet black like the deepest night and covered in delicate tribal-like markings of some kind. Her eyes glow with a soft gold light and flecks of gold dust glitter in her fur. According to stories when she enters or leaves a place she disappears into nothing more than a puff of gold dust and can even glow with a golden light when in her celestial form.

While her appearances in stories and legend are not reserved only to the Days of Giving she is said to appear more around that time and is credited with being responsible for mysterious gifts appearing at lion's doorsteps or in their homes on the actual giving day.
The tradition of connecting her to this holiday has been a part of the pride for so long no one has ever tried to change it.

[TheUnsinkableShips]

Username:
Pride: [link]
Your Pride's Santa: [image and/or written description] floral design
Why Santa looks this way to your pride? wip, with anthousai vale being strongly related to and in tune with flowers

[Runnersback]

Username:Runnersback
Pride: Pride of Safiri’s Oasis
Your Pride's Santa:

A41888F6-677D-48E6-8197-FA6E863C9A01.jpeg (62.95 KiB) Viewed 243 times

The Pride’s Celtic Santa!
The Massive Lion also has bannered ribbons wrapped around his front paws that state Father Christmas in English and Daidí na Nollag' in Irish Gaelic.His fur is a husky charcoal with what looks like maroon bird tracks traveling down his back to his hind legs.His mane is a gorgeous salt and pepper mixture and his eyes a blazing blue of the cold winters surrounding him. A holly leaf crown polishes his head and coils around his tail to hold ancient Victorian candles that the Irish would make.He also is adorned with a small holly necklace with the brightest red berries you’d ever seen!The candles always remain lit and a bird has made home in the warmth of his crown,he will never bear his fangs unless it’s to a naughty little cub who’s followed his glowing tracks and smelled the wren.

Why Santa looks this way to your pride?

The Pride Normally adopts a Swahili tradition but this time they adopted one from the Irish.In the Swahili culture their is no Father Christmas or Santa Claus and well that couldn’t be for the poor little cubs hearing rumors from the other prides of their own Santa’s.So Safiri took the Daidí na Nollag to help the pride celebrate the Midwinter Yule.The Lion draped in a holly bush necklace and a holly wreath with Victorian candles lit atop and a wren perched in the center spends his night delivering presents to the cubs and replenishing the fresh kill pile with hearty wrens.He looks this way to the pride since one of the pride members actually derived from a Celtic Pride and the wrens overpopulate the territory at times so the lions had to hunt them to safely control the populations.During the Midwinter Yule most of the prides start to starve since the scarcity of prey and the gift of wren aid them through the rest of the winter time.The tradition gets passed on from generation to generation of lions to celebrate all of the Celtic Traditions together in one big festive night.Some say Daidí na Nollag is a legendary tall tale but others have seen the paw prints with the festive glow of candles and sweet scents of holly leaves intermingled with yummy cooked wren.Do you believe this Midwinter Yule?

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/ireland.shtml
https://www.chickensmoothie.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=3861407&hilit=Big+cat
Research/Credits to what was used to create the Celtic Christmas Lion

[Firedancer77]

Username: Firedancer77
Pride: Isle of Roses
Your Pride's Santa: Kulia is the closest thing the pride has to Santa. Her name is Swahili for "weep," fitting seeing as she has permanent, black tears spilling from her eyes. She has golden roses tied around her paws, and wherever she walks, roses grow, though once the sun rises, the flowers fade and die. Her fur is the same color as the tree she is bound to, and she has a long mane, colored red and topped with a crown of thorns. Instead of coming to give gifts, Kulia enacts retribution on those who "pervert the name of love," as the Isle of Roses believe the time she appears during is meant to be a time of love. For those who do act in a way she deems unfitting, in return, she takes away something that they do love, whatever that might be.
Why Santa looks this way to your pride? Legend has it that Kulia started out as a mortal lioness. However, an especially persistent lover could not accept that she would reject him, and the lion finally snapped, attacking her. They were both rogues, so there were no rules in place to punish such an act, and the lion fled the scene, leaving Kulia to die alone. Some say this is when the devil approached her; others claim it was Kusafiri, the lion most notorious for a supposed deal with the devil. Whatever the case, one approached her, and offered her a chance to live and enact vengeance on the one that wronged her. Her life was bonded to the tree she was dying beneath; if the tree dies, she will too. Her appearance shifted to one more fitting of an other worldly being, and her presence as the closest thing the pride has to Santa was solidified.

[EchoIre]

Username: EchoIre
Pride: Motoheri Pride
Your Pride's Santa:
The Motoheri Pride, while it does have an equivalent to Christmas, has no real equivalent to Santa. The purpose for their 'Christmas' is to highlight the importance of life and family, therefore no gift-giving entity was created to issue cubs their gifts in place of friends and family. However, this is not to say Motoheri's legends are without an enigmatic benefactor.

The lions of the Motoheri Pride are raised to believe in spirits of good fortune known as almalayika - which translates roughly to 'angels' in the ancient tongue. These spirits, though rare, are present year-round. They are known to bring luck and fortune to lions who are honest and good, and play cruel tricks on those who behave otherwise. Night terrors plaguing a mean-tempered lion are often blamed on an almalayika, while worthy warriors claim to have one of the mysterious beings guarding them in battle.

These almalayika are versatile and enigmatic spirits that have the ability to shapeshift, and as such there is no true defining factor of what makes an almalayika. Cubs are warned to stay away from these strange spirits just as often as they are told the divine beings grace them with their watchful and loving eye. Across the desert, there are many tales of almalayika to be found, and certain spirits are decidedly more present in certain areas and seasons than in others.

The closest the Motoheri Pride has to a 'Santa' would be one of these such spirits.

Known as Mal'akhi to the desert dwelling lions, this almalayika is a strong presence during the winter months. Perhaps due to the amorphous physiology given to the spirits, Mal'akhi has no one agreed-upon appearance, though there are shared details in each of his sightings. A slim figure of pale golden hue, eyes of fragmented sky, skyward-curled tufts of fur upon the ears, and down-white paws with a wintry mane to match are ambivalent in the sightings of the mysterious spirit. Often times, Mal'akhi is seen with a falcon perched regally upon their shoulder and a palm frond in their maw. Their glossy pelt is embellished with a golden sun and rich swirls of the same sunlit hue, though rarely does the spirit's delicate markings come to their full glory under the blazing sun; Mal'akhi is most often seen at night, an ethereal glow about them as they drift about the desert. To most those they meet, Mal'akhi bestows insightful stories and a feeling of hope and jubilance. With their pelt of gold, Mal'akhi leads lost wanderers home under the pale light of the moon, or directs fruitless vagabonds to the place calling out to their hearts. To those who offer refuge or food to the jovial spirit, Mal'akhi is considerably more attentive. Finely-crafted gifts are given to those generous souls, and some have claimed to maintain an amiable relationship with the golden almalayika. This is how Mal'akhi is most often seen, which slight variations from teller to teller. But, like all almalayika, Mal'akhi is not entirely benevolent.

When Mal'akhi plays the part of fiend, they play it well. Eyes that same chilling blue, the swirling sun now gules upon their pale pelt; paws of soft white hidden beneath clawed gauntlets of harsh gold. Abandoned by their companion to play this wicked role, wide wings of falcon's feather carry Mal'akhi through the chill of night. This is how the cruel find Mal'akhi as he reaps the debt they owe to Maat come the winter moon's rise.

Why Santa looks this way to your pride?
"Because," mothers will hum, "that is how Mal'akhi chooses to look." Given that almalayika are capable of shapeshifting, Mal'akhi chooses to fit the part he must play best, be it gentle benefactor, or brilliant agent of justice.

Skeptics, on the other hand, draw parallels between the common physique of Mal'akhi and important symbols and figures in the lore of the desert.

For example, the goddess Sehkmet - matron of the desert - is described in her lion-form as a lean creature with sand-gold fur and pointed tufts of fur cresting her ears. Lions wise in the legends of the goddess point to the similarities in her appearance and Mal'akhi's most common physique and the sun-like markings upon the almalayika's pelt, which are perhaps another allusion to the deity of the desert and sun. The shift of color in his markings is simple enough: Red is the color of passion and blood, and nothing else would fit so well with a warrior.

The falcon and the palm frond, perhaps strange symbols to outsiders, are obvious even to those not especially well-versed in the legend of their scorching homelands. The falcon is a bird sacred to Horus, and is a symbol of knowledge and health. The palm frond, a verdant emerald green, is a symbol of victory and peace. These two items are meant to represent the valor and benevolence of Mal'akhi and all almalayika, according to scholars. They represent a sort of duality, they say, that was especially praised by the Motoheri Pride in the past.

[Mercuré]

Username: irockwaffleking
Pride: Haulani's Pride
Your Pride's Santa: Res with something similar to christkind (germany)
Why Santa looks this way to your pride?

The pride has a very loose idea of Santa but I can ultimately be described as the spirit of generosity. Due to the pride also worshipping a sun god with a similar disposition the two have sorted melded into one. Nokala appears as a glowing white/golden lion with grand wings (though sometimes they appears as smaller lumps on the back and not fully formed) with some sort of golden object on/around the head. Whether it be a crown, halo, or wreath Nokala appears angelic and divine everything about them aglow.


Unlike our Santa Nokala appears during Christmas Day so all cubs leave their house so Nokala can place the gifts. Nokala to enter into houses takes on the form of a sunbeam. If it is cloudy on Christmas Day then it means that Nokala is simply tired and one of their henchmen are delivering the gifts instead. All cubs get gifts naughty or otherwise but those who were particularly good get better gifts. Also unlike Santa Nokala is not just mentioned during Christmas time but all year round and is considered to be a magical presence that influences others to do good.

In conclusion Nokala is a sort of fusion of multiple cultures that takes on different forms and appearances based on who you ask and what stories you believe but no matter what they always are a generous glowing spirit that believes in kindness to all

[LoSt In PrOgReS]

Username: Lost in progres
Pride: Eternal snow
Your Pride's Santa:
The pride's version of "Santa" is a lioness with her cub. The pride has no real Santa, since they have their own version of holiday traditions, and instead these gift-giving lions visit during the spring.

The mother lion is brown with green leaf-patterned markings. She has a green back mane with pink flowers growing in it. She has two differently colored eyes, neither of which have pupils, and they are believed to glow faintly in the dark. Her markings are also told to glow, but since she is hardly ever seen in the dark that is strongly believed to just be rumors. While she doesn't bring actual gifts, she brings blessings instead. She blesses lions with many things, like good fortune, strength, and intelligence.

The cub, on the other hand, does bring actual gifts. The cub is male, and already has the start of a *regal mane. He has small horns and tiger-like markings. He has small feather tufts, as well as paws with feather tufts. Unlike his mother, he has no glowing parts, but he does have something else special! Little flowers sprout from where he walks. The cub gifts real gifts. He seems to know what lions most desire, and therefore brings all sorts of fun stuff!

They travel together with a pack of bluejays, Blue grosbeak, and Eastern bluebirds. Because of this, these birds are considered sacred to the pride.
Why Santa looks this way to your pride?
The legend of the pair of lions was brought to the pride by an orphaned cub, Spiros, who had excitedly told the rest of the cubs. Since the cubs were already excited, there was really no stopping them. The pride had already gathered gifts, but just as they were about to hide them noticed there were already gifts hidden around. Darting out, Boyle just about managed to catch a glimpse of an odd-looking lioness ushering along her cub. After that, the pride found it hard to believe that the legend was just a story.

*Just gonna call it that, linked an example to show what I meant.

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Note: Hope I did this right?
Palette ideas:
Mother on top, cub on the bottom

[minifun990]

Username:minifun990
Pride: Mystic Isle
Your Pride's Santa: Mystic pride's santa surrounds the territory they live in. He is the leaves on the trees, the blades of grass, the fronds of seaweed swaying in the ocean. He watches cubs and lions alike, until, when the days shorten, the leaves falling to the ground he rises. His mane is filled with all he is the rest of the year, and they say it is the rustling of his leaf mane that puts you to sleep on the night of his return. He returns each year, filled with knowledge, ready to give the good cubs gifts of feathers, bracelets of shells, daisy chains, anything hes collected through the year, the adults are treated differently, with gifts of good fortune, strength, courage. Its said his eyes are as golden as his heart.

His eyes turn turn dark as he turns to the lazy, the cruel, any that one could call 'bad' to him he whispers curses of misfortune, of leaves that crunch underfoot to scare prey, of thistles in paw-pads and kelp that wraps around feet.

He makes sure his gifts and warning match the lion, his year of surveillance to decide whether to give another year of protection or a year of shunning.

They call him Guardian Goldleaf.

Why Santa looks this way to your pride? If there is one thing that the elders know its that nature decides their fates. It can give but it can also take. Everyone always wants fate to be fair. The wishes spilt to the cubs, fiction and desires of a perfect world became more than just stories to them, false threats to act good became tradition until almost no one in the pride could imagine a year without the excitement of waiting for the guardian.