Challenge Rules

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.
 * You must be a registered participant in order to take part in the Tropefest.
 * 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.
 * Commercial activity is not permitted. Promo posts, masterposts, and fic and art posts linked from the Tropefest tumblr may not contain links to Patreon, Kofi, or similar services.
 * No participant may offer services in exchange for payment or solicit donations/tips from other participants for any work they do as part of the Tropefest. If a registered Tropefest beta reader asks you to tip them in exchange for their services, please contact the moderators.
 * No participant may commission something to be used in this challenge.
 * You must love tropes.

Rules for Authors
The Tropefest is open by invitation. Authors must be 18 years or older, have a previously published fic or original work at least 15,000 words in length, and be in good standing with our family of challenges to be invited to the Dean/Cas Tropefest. Please see our FAQs for more information.

Authors may write one fic for the challenge.

Authors may also register as an artist, but you may not make art for your own fic.

Fic Content Requirements and Restrictions
Your fic should be brand new for this challenge or previously unpublished. No part of it may be posted prior to your posting date. If you’re uncertain whether your fic qualifies, please email the mods with details.

Minimum and maximum length
Fics must be a minimum of 15,000 words. There is no maximum word limit. Fics must be at least 80% complete in order to qualify for art claims.

Tropes
Authors will incorporate at least two tropes in their story. There is a list of tropes on our Resources page, but you are welcome to choose your own.

There is no limit to how many authors can use the same tropes, or a limit to how many tropes you can incorporate into your work. How you incorporate the trope is up to you. (“So, everyone in the challenge could write ‘Oh No, We Have To Share A Bed’?” Yes, that’s exactly what we mean.)

Relationships
Fics should prominently include Dean/Castiel or Jensen/Misha. (If you choose to write about a threesome or a fic with something other than endgame Dean/Cas (or Jen/Mish), be aware that due to the audience this challenge attracts, it might not go over well with readers.)

Genre
All genres and ratings are permitted. Crossovers and fusion fics are permitted as long as the focus remains on Dean/Castiel or Jensen/Misha. (Please see our note about underaged fiction below.)

Series and cliffhangers
Fics should be standalone. No cliffhangers. Sequels to existing work are permitted if the fic submitted to this challenge is standalone and the first part is publicly available.

Beta Readers
All fics should be reviewed by a beta reader before posting. You may work with any beta reader of your choice. If you don’t have a beta reader, we can provide you with a list of contact information, but we’re not an author/beta matching service. (Did anyone else have an A/B/O moment there?) The mods reserve the right to reject drafts that do not meet minimum requirements for length and readability.

Real-life tragedies
While it’s not prohibited, we urge you to exercise your best judgment if you plan to write a fic that takes place during a real-life historic tragedy. We’d also suggest you tag it “references to a real life event” or something similar so readers are informed.

Underage fiction
All characters engaged in sexual activity or sexualized situations must be at least 16 years old. This includes but is not limited to sexualized situations with an underage character such as hand holding, cuddling, kissing, and romanticized grooming of a child. Fics featuring 16- and 17-year-olds engaged in sexual activity must be labeled as underage, especially if their partners are 18 years old or older.

If your story includes a past history of sexual abuse involving an underage character, you should tag appropriately and NO graphic mentions are allowed of the actual act.

We understand that, historically, certain underage situations may have been common and not taboo during the time period of your story, but our participants include parents, teachers, and community leaders and we don't want anyone to have any issues with their home life due to the content of a story in this challenge. Thank you for your understanding.

Fics based on preexisting works
You are allowed to use other books, movies, and TV shows as a basis for your fic, but please make sure you're using the original as inspiration and creating a unique story. If you do base your fic on an existing work, you should disclose this in your author's note.

We have been asked whether fanfiction based on other fanworks is allowed. Since fanworks are created by fans for fans, not for profit, we would recommend asking permission from the creator first.

Anonymity and self-promotion

 * Recognizable details of your fic may not be made public until after art claims. This includes discussing it in Discord servers.
 * Promo on social media (including sneak peeks) is not permitted until your masterpost is published to the official tumblr. After that, have at it!

Posting and tagging

 * Finished fics should be posted to Archive of Our Own and remain publicly available for at least one year.
 * Your fic must be posted in its entirety on your posting date. Serial posting is prohibited on any website.
 * There will be an official AO3 collection for this round and all fics are expected to be added.
 * You must tag for any of AO3’s major archive warnings, including MCD, non-con, underage, and graphic violence.

Artist Eligibility

 * Artists must be 18 years or older to register for the Tropefest. If you will not turn 18 before registration closes but will turn 18 before artist claims, you may register for this round.


 * Artists must have created and published fanart or original art to be eligible for the Tropefest.
 * Artists may register as both a regular artist (who participates in claims) and/or a pinch-hit artist (who takes the place of an artist who is unable to complete the challenge)


 * Artists may participate as both an author and artist, but cannot claim their own fic during art claims

Art Requirements

 * Artists will create a minimum of two (2) pieces of art for the fic they claim. You are free to create more than the minimum number of required pieces, at your discretion. You’re also welcome to make a promotional banner for  your masterpost and separators/icons for your author to use, but they won’t count toward the minimum of 2 pieces.


 * Art should be an original illustration. All materials and styles of art are welcome. Art should be a minimum of 540px wide if it will be posted to tumblr, but final size/orientation are up to the artist.
 * Art can be embedded in the fic (if the author permits it), posted to the artist’s website of choice, or both. Where art is hosted is at the artist’s discretion.


 * Drafts of your artwork should not be made public or promoted on social media until your team posts on the official tumblr.

Artist Claims
Artist claims are anonymous. Artists will select what fic they will illustrate based on a summary, but they won't know who wrote the fic they've chosen until after claims. It's important artists go into this process impartial, so authors may not discuss their fics in public or with any artists in the chatroom prior to art claims. You may not form your own team.

Author eligibility
To qualify for artist claims, your rough draft must be at least 80% complete based on your projected final wordcount, with any remaining scenes outlined. Fics do not need to be beta read in order to be submitted for claims, but they must be in a state that can be immediately read by artists. Fics that do not meet these criteria will be rejected. Fic previews will be available to artists the week prior to art claims.

The claims process
Claims open 10am EST on the scheduled date and will take place using a Google Form. Artists will be emailed a link to the form the night before. The form will have five fields and ask for the artist’s name, email, and top three fics by title.

Registered artists will have a 24-hour priority claims window. If there are unclaimed fics remaining after the first 24 hours, claims will open to the public on Sunday morning. Registered artists are welcome to claim a second fic at that time. Claims will remain open until all fics are claimed. There will be a maximum of one artist per fic.

Withdrawing from the challenge
If you need to withdraw from the Tropefest at any point, please contact the mods.

There is no penalty for dropping out before the claims process begins (for authors, that is the submission of your rough draft; for artists, this is submitting a claim), 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 Tropefest or its affiliates if you drop post-claims for anything less than an emergency.

In the event that an artist drops out of the challenge before posting occurs, the moderator team will work to find a pinch hit artist for their author. If an author drops, artists will be offered the opportunity to post their art 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 the art claims process begins.
 * If you drop out at any point without notifying the moderators, you will not be eligible for the next round.
 * If you drop out after the art claims process begins (for authors, that is the submission of your rough draft; for artists, this is submitting a claim), you will not be eligible for the next round.
 * 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 art claims, your partner will be reassigned and you will not be eligible for the next round of the Tropefest or its affiliates.


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