#mod cal

1 - OPENING

The goal of this challenge is to create a collaborative piece with your soulmate! This can be anything, but it must combine both visual and literary components! Planning should be done in your team channels, and try to keep your project a secret!

There will be no required prompts for this challenge, but there are optional ones listed in the extra prompts sheet! You are welcome to create your own prompt, or to pick one off our list. 

2 - CREATION

There are no rounds for this challenge! Everything will be done in one chunk, creating one final project between the two of you. Again, the goal is to create a collaborative piece that combines art and writing! Here’s some examples and ideas: 

An illustrated fic (weighted towards writer)

A comic (weighted towards artist)

A webweave of original content (weighting varies)

An interactive CYOA illustrated fic! (requires coding)

Anything in-between!

We encourage people to be creative with their projects, but never ever hesitate to ask questions if you are unsure. This challenge goes from March 11 to April 10. 

3 - CHECKPOINTS AND SCORING

While we do not have rounds, we will have checkpoints every week to check in on progress! Planning should be starting during the break week, so hopefully you’ve got some solid ideas by now!

We will be scoring slightly differently for this challenge, because of the different mediums! 

Illustrated fics will be scored with each illustration counted as an individual piece and the written part counted as one individual piece. Scoring will be using the same rubric as the rest of the event. 

Comics will be scored as we have been scoring them throughout the event, though dialogue and any written script will be scored in addition to the base art.

Original content webweaves will be scored with each written element scored using the non-prose rubric (the same that is used for coding, poetry, and other non-prose writing). Visual elements are scored using the same art rubric, but will consider visual elements with minimal/no characters with a character bonus instead of with size scoring (eg; half-body). 

If you are branching out, just ask us for scoring! What I have listed above are just guidelines, and we are always willing to bend the numbers if you have elements of your projects that don’t fit into strict definitions. We will be working closely with you all during this challenge!

4 - COMPLETING THE CHALLENGE

Your project will be submitted in separate submission channels that will be visible when the submission period for this challenge begins! 

5 - CLOSING

A friendly reminder that this event is not about points or winning! Above all else, we hope that everyone has an incredible time creating with friends and meeting new people. ♥️

1 - PREP

The objective of this challenge is to create the best possible gift for your partner using their Likes and your shared characters. Spend time getting to know what tropes they like, what genres they enjoy, or what art styles they’re into! Do a deep dive through their Tumblr or AO3, go surfing through their messages, and use a fine-toothed comb to discover their interests!

There will be little guidance from the Cupids during this challenge (no prompts, etc.) but we are always available for questions, brainstorming, or some sneaky detective work! When in doubt, check your partner’s DNW and Likes list. Don’t hesitate to ask them questions point blank if you need to! (ex; “what are your thoughts on the living weapon trope?”)

2 - CREATION PERIOD

Creation for this challenge is going to look a little different than it would for a typical round-type game. In Locke & Key, you get three full weeks allotted with three checkpoints after each full week. Instead of just posting one finished week each piece, you also have the opportunity to create one large piece and post WIPs of this piece at each checkpoint. In that case, your piece would not be scored until the very last checkpoint (the third one) and it would have a point cap of 30,000 points instead of 10,000. 

WIPs for writing can be posted in a quoted Discord message or a screenshot with a valid image ID attached. 

3 - CHECKPOINTS

Just like how Soul Searching had a submission period open up at the tail end of each week, these checkpoints will function in a similar way. If you choose to create three pieces (each one having a point cap of 10k), you will be scored on completion of each piece at checkpoint. If you choose to make one large piece, that one will only be scored when it is complete or at the final checkpoint (point cap of 30k). 

Alternatively, you can choose to make a two-week piece and a one-week piece. The two week piece would be scored with a max point cap of 20k. Feel free to mess around with some combinations!

While posting during checkpoints, don’t forget to ping your partner so they can see it!

4 - FEEDBACK

One thing we want to encourage during this challenge is positive feedback. Because these are gifts tailor made for you/your partner, we want to make sure no one is nervous or scared to share their work. If you need some cheerleaders, the Arrows and Cupids are at the sidelines with pompoms!! We are always willing to help brainstorm, plot, and beta!

Stay positive, have fun, and let’s get to lockpicking!

5 - CLOSING 

After the three weeks of Locke & Key, we will end with another break week before launching into Two to Tango! Break weeks can always (and we encourage this) be used for brainstorming. Keep thinking about your T2T project!!

There are no bonus awards or points for Locke & Key, but bonus points can always be earned through the creation and submission of bonus works. If you’re curious about how many points you have, don’t hesitate to ask us!

1 - INFORMATION

Every player will receive their prompt privately by one of the mods through the Discord server! You will receive four things; your prompt, the fandoms that you and your soulmate share, any characters that you or your soulmate specified in the sign-up form, and your partner’s DNW (Do Not Wants). You are not required to follow your own DNW, but you must abide by your partner’s. You must create something that is on the list of tags that you signed up with. This is to help your partner figure out where to start looking, as they will receive the list of characters that you signed up with. 

You will not know who your soulmate is. The goal of the first challenge is to guess who they are! If you are a writer, your soulmate will be an artist and vice versa! 

2 - CREATION ROUNDS

For this challenge, there are three total rounds. Each round will last for one week (seven days) excluding round one, which has a few extra days for settling in. You will receive a new prompt at the start of each round, totaling out to three prompts for this challenge! (There will be opportunities to create extra works if you want!)

With your prompt, you will create one piece that conveys the prompt to the best of your ability. There is no minimum level of completion for these works! You can submit a sketch or a fully rendered portrait, as long as the prompt is there; you can write as little or as much as you want, so long as you can convey the prompt!

[WRITERS! If you write more than 1.5k words, you must supply a summary with your work that also conveys the prompt. This is because there are a LOT of participants, meaning your soulmate might have to read through every fic. While we do not have a maximum word count, we do require summaries in order to prevent artists from having to do too much work. This summary does not have to be long.]

3 - CHECKPOINTS and SELF-SCORING

At the end of each round, there will be a checkpoint! Players will post their work to Tumblr and/or AO3 and submit the link to that post within the Discord server. There will be specified channels for fandoms! Rounds will end on Fridays, though submissions open on Wednesday. There will be a 48 hour submission period. 

[ARTISTS: You may post just the image as well, for visibility, but we encourage you to post to Tumblr! ]

Along with your submission, you should include a self-scored point sheet! This will look different for writers and artists. The self-score should be in your submission message! 

SELF-SCORING GUIDE: [link]

4 - GUESSING YOUR SOULMATE

You can guess your soulmate from the moment of posting up to the next checkpoint, though we will not confirm guesses until submissions close for that round. For example, if we have just finished Round One and you are looking through art pieces to find your soulmate, you can wait to submit your guess all the way until Round Two finishes. However, you can only submit one guess per round! The mods will verify that you are locking in your answer and will let you know if you are right or wrong, but please keep the information to yourself if you got it wrong; don’t say it publicly! 

If you guess correctly, just hold tight! Give your partner a chance to keep guessing. We will let you know when both of you guess correctly!

You will submit guesses in your private prompt channel. 

5 - BONUSES and COMPLETION

If you guess correctly before the challenge is up (ie; before Round Three), you and your soulmate may decide to access the Overflow Prompts and create extra pieces to earn more points! This does not have to be a joint decision; one of you might decide to write a couple drabbles to earn more points, and the other might choose to rest their hands for the next challenge! 

The Overflow Prompts will open publicly and will be different from the given prompts. Multiple people can choose the same prompt. You are not required to make extra pieces once you finish the challenge!

Once you finish the challenge and find your soulmate, you may start planning for Challenge Three (Two to Tango) if you like! We encourage open communication between the pairs, but do ask that you not discuss your pieces for Challenge Two (when we get there). Be friends! This is your government-assigned bestie!

6 - CLOSING

At the end of Soul Searching, all players should know who their soulmate is. If they have not guessed by that point, the Cupids will bring the pairs together! Each pair will have their own Discord channel to communicate in. 

There will be a one week break between each challenge to allow the mods to double-check points, fix things in the background, and prepare for the next challenge! There is no creation during this period, and any extra works submitted during this week will not be counted for points. This is to encourage players to take a break!! We will not tally points for works made during the break!! Please rest!

WRITING SCORING:

-> 1:1 word to point ratio -> 10 points per line of CSS in work skin

[example: if a 5,000 word fic has 15 lines of CSS in a work skin, the fic is worth 5150 points]

ART SCORING:

-> BODY Simple Shaped | 45pts Bust | 75pts Half Body | 100pts Full Body | 150pts -> LINE ART +100pts -> COLOURS Monochrome | +150pts Flat Colours | +250pts Coloured Shading | +350pts Fully Rendered | +700pts -> BACKGROUND Basic Background | +50pts Abstract Background | +100pts Detailed Background | +200pts Per Detailed Background Element | +75pts

For Each Additional Character | + half the full scored value

CHANGELOG:

words to points ratio for writers was changed to 1:1, capping at 10k total points

HTML was removed for a CSS line-by-line bonus

3/4 body is now considered 1/2 body for easier scoring

additional characters are now scored at half value instead of flat 50pts

backgrounds now include several scaled versions, including an element bonus

now includes several example scored art pieces

FAQ:

-- I'm not sure if this background is basic or background

Never hesitate to ask us! While we require you to self-score for submission, it's always okay to ping the Arrows to ask for scoring help beforehand.

-- Is there a 10k point cap for artists too?