A Place To Belong Fanart Contest Results

The results are in, so come check and see whether your vote has found its place to belong on the main menu!

Boldly striding forward into one of our broadest themes yet, 135 artists made the brave step to put their work up for the consideration of the masses.

And considering is exactly what the masses did! With only 14 votes to wield, it was a tough set of choices to make, but over nine thousand (nice) of you let loose your stars of judgement, and so, we have finalists to crown.

Let's get straight into the results — but not before a quick reminder from yours truly about how you can click any of the finalist banners to be directed to a high-quality version of the image for all your wallpapering needs.

Got that? Onwards:

Taking top spot with pippi, Mocha and Chirou enjoying a scenic bike ride through a springtime park is none other than two-time (now three) finalist Dreamxiety with a whopping 3713 votes!

An absolutely stunning piece, well-deserving of the big one!

Showcasing another springtime spectacle, utaaa's academic artistry portrays pippi and Mocha in a schooltime setting to the approval of 3270 voters.

Pencil dog and a mysterious frog both make a low-key cameo appearance, of course.

The very aptly named Llamartist impressed 2938 voters with a beautiful bout of pippi and Mocha appreciating aquatic aesthetics.

Is it a date? A field trip for a school project? Are we the fish Mocha is pointing at? So many questions, but we'll thankfully have the next few months to think it over while this wonderful piece makes its well-deserved main menu appearance.

DGen won 2813 votes with a rendition of pippi and Chirou enjoying a vast assortment of Japanese foods, complete with "Choked Top Play Soy Sauce (with Extra Salt)", presumably freshly harvested from your favourite osu! streamer or top player of choice.

The very unaptly named PacifiedPaints produced a punchy punk picture of pippi and Mocha engaging in some urban art to the approval of 2727 voters.

There's something absolutely poetic about this piece also featuring a WYSI sticker in it. I swear, we haven't touched the votes. This stuff just happens sometimes.

Sjao returns once again with a windswept pippi and Mocha before a blissful springtime vista that 2646 voters could not help but adore.

Springtime camping is on the cards in ZunK's entry showcasing pippi, Mocha and the Dean "peppy" Herbert in a most huggable doll form. 2594 voters likely smashed the vote button so hard that they sprained something afterwards.

Don't let the magnificence of the doll distract you — Mocha's rocking some serious style in this one. A don is chilling out in the back there too!

cubey went fishing for votes with pippi and Tama, and pulled up 2327 of them.

If you think about it, playing osu! is a bit like going fishing... but only if you don't think about it that hard at all.

Hark! The fantastical imaginings of Swarmsii depicting an adventuring ensemble of Mocha, Yuzu and Chirou impressed 2213 denizens of the realm.

Of course this fantasy-Yuzu is haggling for fruit, and of course the fantasy-Mocha is carrying a very sharp stick. Of course they are. It just makes sense!

Dialling attitude up to maximum, Kwms024 ruthlessly intimidated (or just straight up convinced, your choice) 2207 voters into supporting their urban osu! piece.

There is a lot going on in this piece, and the more you look at it, the more you see. Wonderfully stylised and beautifully executed, though unfortunately pippi's slightly provocative choice of attire means that it won't be actually making it to the main menu despite being a bonafide finalist. That's a bummer. The piece still owns, though.

The cheers of 2137 voters lifted up Dem4eg-'s piece of pippi and Mocha taking centre stage as charming idols, complete with a fanatic crowd cheering and swinging their pastel glowsticks.

lILY1231's rendition of pippi and Alisa enjoying some sparklers ignited the hearts of 2097 voters. How can you say no to those faces?

tehfire's most orbital arrangement of basically the entire official cast (plus the Taikonator) floating in space impressed 2055 voters. If you look really closely, they're all there, and what could be mistaken for solar panels is in fact, an osu!mania playfield. Or could be.

What's that? You're worried about Yuzu being cut loose? Don't worry, he'll be just fine.

Probably.

2003 voters gazed across the neon lights of a cyberpunky cityscape with Porukana's rendition of pippi and Aiko in special osu!-branded athletic wear. Looking stylish!

1886 voters couldn't help but fall for the charms of araran's fox-type pippi, Chirou and an eared don enjoying some time at their local slider gallery. There's a joke to be made here about tech maps, but I will not be the one to do it.

Download an archive containing high-quality images for all the finalist entries here!

You'll now be able to enjoy (almost) all of the finalists listed above as the Spring 2022 Seasonal backgrounds, now available in the osu! game client.

For all the others, check out the contest listing for the full voting totals and maybe sling their artists a message to ask where you can find a full-size version if you find one you like. Seriously, artists like it when you do this kind of thing! Be social! Say hello!

Huge thanks to everyone who submitted an entry and took the time to vote — your efforts make these contests both possible and also as fun as they always end up being.

—Ephemeral