Zeta shift needed a bit of luck for a good run, and you know what? Y'all DELIVERED. We dug through all of the lucky charms and came out with a winner that will really light up our run.
First, our runner-up, with a cushion-rotating dragon charm:
And our winner, granting us all of the luck (it's ours and no one else can have it), this AMAZING omamori, embossed with "rotate the cushions" in Japanese on the back, and the Zeta 'Z' on the front!
Created by Setra Lynn
Thank you so much, Setra Lynn! Your art is fantastic, and you've won yourself a loot box! And inside it was......
....
...
A Desert Bus 7 Photo Book, and a Desert Bus 2024 pin! Our shipping team will be in touch!
Thank you all for entering, and keep an eye out for future Zeta art challenges during the run!
For the first creative challenge of 2025, we lobbed a weird one at you. And you didn't even blink! This only encourages us to get weirder going forward. You have been warned.
We received a cornucopia of art depicting the Night Watch crew as big-head fruit people à la 1990s Fruit Gusher commercials. It was no easy task to pick a winner from this bumper crop of submissions, but we persevered.
Honourable mentions:
Runners-up:
And... OUR WINNER:
Thank you all so much for your incredible, yet tragically inedible work! This was a juicy one.
We do it all for Child's Play, but we couldn't do it without Child's Play. As our event has grown, Child's Play has given us busloads of technical, organizational, and moral support along the way. Even more importantly, they take the money we raise and turn it into real magic.
To date, Child's Play has partnered with over 190 pediatric hospitals to provide gaming equipment and other therapeutic technology to kids in care. Gaming gives kids a way to play, to channel their creativity, and to connect with other kids beyond the shared experience of being in hospital. Video games can also provide a helpful distraction during painful or scary procedures, significantly reducing a child's stress during treatment.
If you'd like to learn more about all the amazing work Child's Play does, please check out their website at https://childsplaycharity.org/. (They've been doing this for 22 years, so there's a lot to read about!) From the bottom of our enormous collective heart: thank you, Child's Play. It's an honour to work together!
We hit a big number!!! We've sailed past the $50k mark in just the sixth hour of Desert Bus 2025, and you, the viewers, are the inexorable tide that brought us there. Thank you!!
I can hear the bells! Something's beginning. It's our very first live auction of Desert Bus 2025! Tonight's raucous clanging will herald the sale of this magnificent doctor's bag, crafted by leatherworker and longtime friend of the bus korvys.
Live Auctions are run in our Twitch channel chat over at twitch.tv/desertbus. In order to participate in Live Auctions, you'll need to sign up for a Donor Account, then link it to your Twitch account. You can do so from the Donor Account page here on desertbus.org. If you're bidding, watch the chat for updates, as the stream may be on a delay!
If you want to be the talk of your table, make sure you're all set up before the action begins at 7 pm PST!
Sold! Amount raised: $8,282.82
Have you ever gazed into the gloom of twilight, your skin prickling with the sudden knowledge that here, in the swaddling dark, you are never truly alo—
What? The post title was supposed to be "NIGHT WATCH IS BACK"?! Oh. How embarrassing.
WE'RE SO BACK, BABY!
As the first full shift of 2025, we have the honours of presenting the first Art Challenge and the first live auction of the year! We'll also have good vibes, fun facts, sage advice*, and some sweet, sweet giveaways.
* Not legally binding. Night Watch is not a doctor.
Giveaways
- Hand-drawn Map: Pokemon Legends: Arceus — Ended! Amount raised: $5,669.50
- Stream Deck with Custom Face Plate — Ended! Amount raised: $5,266.41
Silent Auction
Crochet Plush Pickle Ian — Sold! Amount raised: $2,565.12
Live Auction
Leather D&D Doctor's Bag — Sold! Amount raised: $8,282.82
We're really excited to be back in action for 2025. Stay tuned, keep fit, and have fun—for the children!
The great thing about silent auctions is that they're open for several hours, giving prospective buyers ample time to admire each lot and visualize it adorning their home.
Visualize Ian as a pickle. Look into your soul and imagine him with all your might.
Harder.
I mean softer. Softer! Soft, plush, lovingly crocheted Ian Horner, in all his Vlasical beauty, as rendered by fibre artiste Val Whittaker.
Bidding will be open from 6 pm to 2 am PST. Like last year, we'll be using the Vickrey Auction system to run all of our silent auctions; check out our information post from last year to learn how that works.
Sold! Amount raised: $2,565.12