Challenge Rules

In the Dean/Cas Reverse Bang, art comes first. Participating artists will create art featuring Destiel or Cockles that will be claimed by an author, who will then write a story based on the art.

Following are our rules and expectations for the 2022 round.

Expectations for all participants

 * You are expected to read, understand, and adhere to the challenge rules. If you do not understand something, it is your responsibility to ask the moderators for clarification.
 * Although you will receive periodic reminder emails, it is your responsibility to be familiar with the challenge schedule and manage your time.
 * You will meet all check-in points and submit drafts at the time they are requested.
 * You will communicate with your partner(s) and the moderators in a timely and professional manner.
 * You must have reliable internet and email access.
 * You must have the knowledge and equipment/materials to make your fic or art, and backup plans in place in the case of equipment or software failure.

General Rules

 * All participants must be registered for this challenge in order to submit art, claim a piece of art, or post in March.
 * There are no prerequisites to register for this challenge. Everyone is welcome!
 * All participants must have a working email address they check regularly.
 * Due to the number of authors in the fandom, you may register as an author OR as an artist for this challenge, not both. Artists may register as pinch-hit authors.
 * You must be at least 14 years old to participate in this challenge. Artists under 18 may not submit explicit content, and their partners may not write anything above a PG-13 rating. Underage authors may not claim explicit art.
 * Claims are anonymous. Participants may not independently form partnerships.

Rules for Artists

 * Artists will create at least one (1) piece of new art featuring Dean/Castiel or Jensen/Misha.
 * Artists may submit up to three (3) separate pieces (which means you will collaborate with three different authors). In order to submit more than one piece, your previous submissions must be complete (other than minor edits.) You don't need to let us know in advance if you plan to submit more than one piece of art.
 * The art may not be publicly displayed before posting, except during claims when it will be made available by the moderators. To avoid bias during claims, which are anonymous, we ask artists not to discuss their art in public or with any authors in the chat prior to claims. This includes discussing or previewing your art in private groups that may include people who are not participants in this challenge. 
 * Artists will submit their completed art through a provided form. Art will go through an anonymous claims process, wherein authors will claim a piece of art to use as the basis for a fic. You may continue to make changes to your work after claims, but the author must be able to write a fic based on the art as-is. The changes should not significantly alter the subject (unless you and your author expressly agree on this). See Art Submission for further detail.
 * Along with their art, artists may include a list of restrictions on fic content (eg. no AUs, no major character death) that authors must adhere to. They may also include a suggested prompt or details they’d like to see, keeping in mind that your author may not be able to fill the prompt exactly.
 * Your art must be publicly available and unlocked for at least 12 consecutive months immediately following the end of the Reverse Bang posting period.

Art guidelines and content restrictions

 * All visual art forms are welcome, whether digital or traditional, 2-D or 3-D. Photo-based art must be more than a filter application, text overlay, or a collage to be accepted; the photos involved must be significantly altered in order to create a unique image.
 * Art should be at least 500px wide (height may vary) for 2-dimensional art and photos of 3-dimensional crafts, or 30 seconds for a video. There is no maximum size, but please be mindful of final file sizes with regards to uploading and downloading. File format is up to you.
 * Please spend some time with the piece you submit, so your author is encouraged to write a fic you’ll really want to read.
 * Not all authors are comfortable writing RPF. If your art is Cockles, you might consider allowing an author to write either Cockles or Destiel.
 * The real-life children of the actors may not be included in your art.
 * We ask that all characters depicted in sexual situations be 18 years or older. Underage hand holding and kissing is fine as long as everyone is clothed and the people involved are old enough to consent.

Rules for Authors

 * Authors will write a fic at least 3,000 words long based on the art they’ve claimed. Authors have two months to write their story and should consider this timeline when making a claim. Please be conscious of the short writing period and do not claim something you cannot do justice to in that window.
 * You may co-write, but if you choose to, be aware that you and your partner may only work on the art you claim together. You may not claim other art as solo writers.
 * Challenge moderators may not register as authors for this challenge, but they may pinch hit.
 * Authors may claim one (1) piece of art for this challenge. You may pinch-hit for another piece of art but only if your first story is complete. Moderators reserve the right to request proof of completion of your first story before assigning a second art prompt.
 * Authors must respect restrictions specified by the artist during claims (such as tropes or themes that may not be included in the fic). Your fic must be related to the art for which it is written, and it cannot have been already posted elsewhere.
 * While writing, you may come across further topics that make your teammate uncomfortable. We ask that you do your best to compromise on this so that both you and your teammate have a good experience.
 * Authors may not alter the art or demand changes to the art to fit the fic unless your artist has expressly permitted this.
 * Authors may not commission additional art for this challenge, even if your artist permits it. Additionally, you may not illustrate your own fic or ask artistic friends to make art for you as a gift. Chapter dividers are considered additional art and may not be created by the author.
 * Challenge fics must be written in English. If you are multilingual and would like to also publish the fic in other languages as translations of the original, that’s very welcome!
 * Drafts you submit must be typed. We will not accept photos of your notebook or your word that your handwritten manuscript meets our requirements.
 * Please don't share details about your fic publicly until your posting date.
 * Beta readers are strongly recommended.
 * We ask that your story be posted to AO3 and included in the official archive for the Reverse Bang. You are expected to include a link to your artist’s masterpost. We encourage you to embed the art if your artist allows it!
 * Your fic must be complete and posted in its entirety on your scheduled posting date. Serial posting (posting in pieces or chapters across several days) is prohibited during the Reverse Bang posting period. Once the posting period closes, you may add epilogues or timestamps to the story.
 * You must tag for any of AO3’s major archive warnings, including MCD, non-con, underage, and graphic violence. All underage characters involved in a sexual relationship must be able to legally consent and be at least 16 years of age.
 * Your fic must be publicly available and unlocked for at least 12 consecutive months immediately following the end of the Reverse Bang posting period.

Rough draft submission
Rough drafts must be at least 80% completed based on your estimated total wordcount (do your best to determine this), with the remaining scenes outlined, in order to be accepted. Drafts and outlines must be typed.

Claims
Claims are anonymous. Authors will have a chance to preview available art several days before claims open, but they will not know the identity of the artist.

To avoid bias during claims, which are anonymous, we ask artists not to discuss their art in public or with any authors in the chat prior to claims. '''This includes discussing or previewing your art in private groups that may include people who are not participants in this challenge. '''

Artist eligibility
To qualify for claims, artists must submit a completed piece of art. We will not accept preliminary sketches or yet-to-be-colored lineart for claims.

You're welcome to continue perfecting the piece between claims and your posting date, but an author must be able to write a fic based on the art as-is. Further changes should not alter the subject unless you and your author have agreed upon it.

The claims process
Claims open 12pm ET on the scheduled date. Authors will be emailed a link to the claims form before claims begin, but it will not open until the scheduled time. The form will ask for the author's name, email, and top ten art selections by ID number. These will be assigned on a first come, first served basis.

The email must match what you used to register or you will not be able to submit the form!

Registered authors will have a 24-hour priority claims window. If there is unclaimed art remaining after the first 24 hours, claims will open to the public on Sunday morning. Claims will remain open until all art is claimed.

You are prohibited from using scripts, bots, or other means to expedite the claims process. We will consider this type of behavior cheating and you will be uninvited from this round and future rounds of the challenge and its affiliates.

There will be a maximum of one (1) author or co-writer pair per piece of art.

Withdrawing from the challenge
There is no penalty for dropping out before claims, but we request you let us know so we can remove you from our mailing list.

If you have already gone through claims and need to drop, contact us immediately so we can arrange for pinch hitters. You must communicate with your author or artist directly. You will not be eligible to participate in the next round of the Reverse Bang or its affiliates if you drop post-claims for anything less than an emergency.

In the event that an author drops out of the challenge before posting occurs, the moderator team will work to find a pinch hit author for their artist. If an artist drops, authors will be offered the opportunity to post their fic on their original posting date.

Do not use social media to announce drops, since we don’t want your artist or author finding out that way.

In the event of an emergency, get in touch with us as soon as it is reasonably possible and safe for you to do so. We will work with you in any way we can.

Penalties

 * There is no penalty if you notify the moderators that you need to drop out before art claims.
 * If you drop out after claims, you will not be eligible for the next round of the Reverse Bang or its affiliates.
 * If you miss a check-in point or fail to submit a draft, you will be immediately dropped from the current round. If the challenge is past claims, your partner will be reassigned and you will not be eligible for the next round of the Reverse Bang or its affiliates.


 * If you are an author whose artist has been reassigned to a pinch-hit author because you missed check-in, you may only re-enter the challenge if the pinch-hitter opts to transfer the art back to you.

Breaking challenge rules and other actions not specifically outlined here will be handled on a case-by-case basis. The moderators’ decision is final.
 * If you lie to the moderators or to your partner, or if you break the rules about serial posting, the anonymity of claims, or commissions, you will not be invited to participate in future rounds of the Reverse Bang or its affiliates.

Disclaimer
As is the spirit of challenges, you never know who you will be paired with. We ask that you be open and communicative with each other, and work together to make your posting date requests to avoid any conflict.

At no point may you drop your team member and choose a new one on your own. If you are having trouble with your partner, please contact the moderators for a solution.

How to sign up
See Sign Up!