Here it is, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! [Insert drumroll here.]
The very first prompt for this year’s mystery month is… a choice of three!
Pick from:
- Obscure Location Prompt: a Vampire Drag Show (as suggested by Holly)
- Side Character Prompt: Include Willow's parents (as suggested by Tuoshnell)
- Season/Episode-Related Prompt: Someone(s) body swaps (as suggested by The Danish Bird)
To clarify, you DO NOT have to include all of these––but you could, if you really wanted to.
You can start posting the first chapter of your fics from midnight (site time) on Friday 1st July, and it must be posted (or submitted for validation) by the end of Thursday 7th at the latest.
***Please note that after July 7th, the option to join the event will be removed. This is a TIMED event with strictly enforced deadlines. If you don’t post your chapter within the posting window, your fic will be disqualified from the event.***
Prompt two will be announced Wednesday 6th July.
For your fic to be included in the official list of qualifying fics, you will need to tick a box that will appear when you go to post your chapter. Doing so will earn you a fun little icon beside your fic title, as displayed in the image below.
You’ll also need to clarify in your chapter end notes how your chapter matches the prompt, with the relevant quote from your chapter included. Fics that do not have the qualifying prompt listed in the end-notes will be disqualified in real-time from the event.
If you’ve used a beta or banner artist for your fic, please list them in the story notes at the beginning of your story. (Or tell us if you made your own art, so we know to give you the award.)
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.
Oh, and the special event skin is now live.
As always, if there are any questions, comment below!
--The Mods on June 28, 2022 01:11pm 8 Comments
I love that we have three to choose from! Great idea! Love the flexibility!
How much of the story has to include the prompt. For example, if you pick the vampire drag show does that mean the story has to take place there or it just needs to mentioned? Thanks!
It needs to be relevant enough that removing it would dramatically alter a scene, if not the whole fic. You can have it starting at a drag show, have that be the place of the inciting incident, and never revisit it, but it'd need to be involved enough to stand out.
Thanks for this event! I still can't believe I'm actually trying to join again, but here we go 
I do have a question: is every prompt going to be a choice between three, or was that a one-time thing, or something that could happen again or maybe we could get a two-prompt choice or maybe just one?
@MaggieLaFey The week-two prompt will have three options, and there will be two options to pick from for weeks three and four (with the fifth prompt already having been stated at the start of the event).
Does the banner need to say anything special on it, like Mystery Month Challenge 2022 or something?
Nope :)
Love the location option! Can’t wait to see what you all create!