Hi guys! First off we just wanted to let you know we have moved over the Elnin Breeding Post from DeviantArt and added it to the Directory of Resources! Now you can get to know all the lore surrounding elnin romance, breeding, and kittoms!

We’ve been hard at work slowly updating a bunch of trait guidelines and resources. This has been an ongoing project, but here is a changelog of every resource we’ve updated since our last changelog post:

Inner Fire

• Added: Because the trail of light matches the anima color, this also means it will reflect any mutations that affect the anima. Forexample:
  • An elnin with dual-toned anima would show both colors in a gradient.
  • If an elnin has heterochromia, odd-eyed, chimeric anima, or kaleidoscopic anima, the trail should match the color of the eye it is emitting from.
  • An elnin with starlit anima would have the starlit effect in the trail as well. The same goes for other similar effects.
• Added: The trail of light should be thin and tapered, quickly dissipating as it gets further away from the eye. Please avoid making swirly, billowing, cloud-like effects.

Trinket Crowns

• Added: The item should only be one distinct object. Not one object on top of or attached to another object.
• Added: If it’s a food item make it clearly food and not just raw meat / animal parts
  • Exception: A bone or skull is OK

Horn Coverings have been overhauled, and renamed to Gilded Anima

• Description
  • Gilded anima overlays a covering on the anima's surface, and can be applied anywhere anima exists apart for the eyes. Typically this just applies to the horns, but if your elnin has a fractal crown or a mutation like crystallization, gilded anima can be applied to those areas as well!
  • The gilded overlay typically appears as a metallic surface with metal hues. However, it can also be a matte surface with non-metallic hues.
• Details
  • Gilding can appear on the top or bottom of the horns (or both). Consider it like a "cap" to the anima. Apply this logic to any other place the gilding can appear.
    • The gilding needs to be flush with either the top or bottom edge of the horn (or piece of anima) since the gilding originates from these points. There should not be a gap where the anima shows between the gilding and the edge it originates from. The gilding does not have to wrap all the way around the horn, it just needs to have a clear origin point.
  • Gilding can include engraving and detailing consistent with metalwork or jewelry. If your gilding has this sort of decoration on it please keep the theme consistent throughout the gilding. 
    • Overly segmented designs with many overlapping pieces are not allowed unless the elnin has the Scale mutation. Standard gilding should appear as one cohesive piece.
    • You may design the gilding so that it has gaps or areas where the anima shows through. Please do this in moderation and make sure the gilding overall feels like one cohesive piece.
    • There may be a couple of "floating" pieces that are separated from the main body of the gilding, but keep this to a minimum and keep it consistent with the theme.

• • Gilding should only partially cover the anima. Please leave at least half of the anima visible.
  • The color of gilded anima should be monochromatic. There can be slight color variance for aesthetic purposes but overall it should appear as one color.
  • The gilding should appear to be flush with the anima for the most part, but it can still show a tiny height difference or lip on its edges.
  • No embedded gems are allowed in the gilding, these can only be shown in horn glamours.

5MP Hybrid Crowns

• Rule Update: 5MP hybrid crowns may now include 2 or more crown types, but lower MP hybrid crowns are restricted to only 2 crown types.

Fae Doe Eyes & Doe Eyes

• Added: Keep in mind that since the large area in the center of the eye is actually the pupil, it always needs to be black or very close to black. You can have a tint of color to match your elnin's eyes better but it should appear black at a glance.
• Added visual guide

Fauna Crowns

• Added: The designs of the animals should be simplified, rather than true-to-life versions. For example if your creature is a snake, you should not be drawing every scale on it and nictitating eyelids.

Luminous Markings

• Added: Luminous markings on the body can fade into the fluff at the base of the tail, but it should be a clear fade and extension of existing markings on the body (see blue section of mini-guide). Markings should not be present near the tips of long furred sections.
• Added: The markings on shoal and grove tails may extend a bit further down the tail where the fur is extremely short (see the purple section of mini-guide).
• Added mini guide

Anatomy Guide

• Added: Elnin teeth are small with pointed canines. 
  • Note: Prominent Canines are a mutation, so please avoid fangs / long canines if you do not have it!

Prominent Canines

• Added Description: While all elnin naturally have pointed canines (just like a cat would!) they are rather small. Prominent canines are much larger than standard elnin teeth and can be seen even while the mouth is closed.
• Added: The top canines can be elongated, the bottom canines can be elongated, or both!
• Added: If you do not have prominent canines, but wish to draw your elnin's canines for the sake of expression or attitude, be sure that the rest of the teeth can also be seen. Standard elnin canines are not much longer than the rest of their teeth, and so they could not be seen without seeing the rest of the teeth.
• Added: Single fangs showing out of an open mouth or closed mouth are reserved for prominent canines.
• Added: You may feel free to stylize your prominent canines like an anime fang expression. 
• Added mini guide

Upright/Forward Facing Ears

• Added: Upright ears are naturally sleek, but fluffy upright ears are also an option
• Added: Keep in mind that upright ears should mostly be facing forward. They can rotate slightly, but not to an extreme degree.
• Added mini guide image

Extra Fluffy Cheeks

• Added quick size guide image
• Added: As a rule of thumb, if the cheek fluff is larger than the elnin's eyes it would be Extra Fluffy Cheeks

Capricious Shadow

• Added: You may depict the shadow having a face / expression
• Added: You may depict the shadow having altered versions of existing traits, but no traits it does not possess
  • Example: if your elnin has neat and tidy hair, the shadow could have messy hair. 

Moved gijinka notes from Prompt Guidelines to Anatomy page

• Moved guidelines and created a new section of Anatomy Guide
• Pulled in size reference chart

Grove Tails

• Added: Grove tails can have a little bit of fluff on the top of the tail base, but it should be kept short

Light Reactive Coat

• Added descriptions and examples for the individual sub-classes
• Added details on how to achieve the different effects / what we’re looking for, and also how to avoid conflicting with these effects

Updated Outfit and Accessories Guidelines

• Added:  Accessories that arevery near, attach, or wrap around an elnin's horns should be avoided as they can be confused as part of the horn or its glamours.
  • In general, please avoid accessories that are meant to look like horns / antlers. You can have accessories that use horns / antlers but they should not be arranged in a way that they appear to be actual horns / antlers on the head.
  • Avoid living materials appearing to grow around or attach to the horns in any way, as living horns are exclusive to Royal elnin.
• Added: Feathers, fins, or other accessories that might be perceived as part of the elnin's body must have their attachment clearly shown.For example, a feather stuck in the hair by itself would not be allowed, but if it is shown wrapped to the hair with a string or has a metal clip then it would pass. Just please make it clear it is an accessory and not growing out of the body!
• Added link to this area from prompt guidelines

Crown Guide

• Moved Common Crown Pitfalls from Anatomy Guide to Crown Guide

Anima Patterning

• Added Details:
  • Can only be a darker or lighter shade of the anima color.
  • Can be transparent or slightly more opaque.
  • Must be uniform across the entire surface of the eye. The only exception being a "frosted"/"iced" texture which is holdover from legacy stuff but must at least be present uniformly across all eyes even if it's only across a portion of the eye.