We decided to give you guys a head start. You're getting this one early.

Let the Mystery Begin!

Your first prompt comes courtesy of the fabulous Megan. And here it is (drumroll if you will…)

YOUR FIC MUST INCLUDE THE CHARACTER(S) ETHAN RAYNE AND/OR MARCIE ROSS

Get your engines running, gang.

How and when do I post my story?

Starting at midnight on July 5 (site time, which is Eastern US time-it's listed under the ShoutBox), you'll see a checkbox on the page where you add a new story:

***Please note: After July 11, the option to join the event will be removed. This is a TIMED event with strictly enforced deadlines.***

How do I find Challenge Stories?

Want to keep up with the fun? All Mystery Event fics will have a little Scooby Doo icon in the byline.

You can also find all of the Mystery Event fics as they are added by visiting the Event Page.

What should my chapter include?

Aside from that week’s prompt, each chapter MUST include a line in the endnotes that identifies the prompt itself and a copy/paste section of the fic where the prompt was fulfilled. This can be a single sentence or a paragraph, depending on the nature of the prompt and how you addressed it. Authors will have until the end of each week’s posting window to include this note. Fics that fail to include this will be removed from the event in real-time, so put this at the top of your to-do list. The Mods REALLY don’t want to remove any fic from the event because that just sucks for everyone involved (and makes us feel crappy, even if you had plenty of advance notice). So do your part to make sure we don’t have to. We don’t wanna play Bad Cop (but we WILL).

What happens if I don’t post my chapter within the time window?

All chapters must be posted within the allotted time window to qualify for the event. Fics that don’t will lose the Scooby icon and be ineligible for author awards. For the first chapter, that means between July 5 - July 11.

Anything else to keep in mind as I start writing?

Unlike past EF events, the Mystery Fic-a-Thon has a HARD cap at five chapters. In addition to fulfilling each week’s prompt, all fics MUST be complete by the event’s end in order to qualify for author awards and remain listed as an event fic with the icon. We know this will be difficult for some of you, especially since you don’t know what we’re going to throw at you next week, but it’s part of the challenge. And, we hope, also part of the fun.

What about betas?

If you have a beta that you worked with as part of your Mystery Fic, you must credit them in your story notes OR your summary in order for them to be counted as having participated in the event. If they aren't listed in your story notes, we have no way of identifying that they were part of the event. And seriously, they need to be recognized. Think of all the work you’re going to throw at them over the next 5 weeks. They deserve all the accolades.

Is there an event skin?

Yes. The Mystery Event skin is now live if you want to make it your default. Scroll down to the skins and select the one labeled “Scoobies” to switch. If you want to keep it, make sure you change it in your preferences page. And if you haven't seen it, the skin looks like this:

Will you be featuring regular stories while the challenge is going on?

Following the first week of the event, the area where we usually have featured stories, we're going to highlight stories written as responses to the Mystery Prompts. 

The Mystery Event challenges authors. What about the readers? Won’t you think of the readers?

Obviously, readers deserve all the love. If you write at least 15 comments in July that contain at least 5 words (for any stories here on EF, not just the challenge ones), you'll meet the requirements of the commenter challenge! You'll see a link to the comment challenge leaderboard on the homepage under the Members of the Month where the all-star commenter list is usually located.

Besides an amazing sense of pride, do we get anything for participating in the event?

Of course you do! As always, there will be awards for participating authors, artists, betas, and commenters. Please note, only authors who SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE their fic will receive the author award. Betas, commenters, and artists will be awarded regardless of whether the fic in question was completed (they did their part, after all). So authors, if you want one of these pretties made by OffYourBird on your page, get ready for a fun five weeks.

I’m exhausted. What was the prompt again?

YOUR FIC MUST INCLUDE THE CHARACTER(S) ETHAN RAYNE AND/OR MARCIE ROSS

When will the next prompt be announced?

Prompt #2 will be announced in a new News Item on July 9. It will also be announced on the ShoutBox and on our Facebook group.