crack-in-the-chassis - Tumblr blog

[crack-in-the-chassis]

"Coal everywhere!" yelled Sir Raphael Topham Hatt. "Timbers scattered! Boxcars derailed! Who caused all of this mess?" "My shy but devastatingly handsome friend did," said the freckled driver. "He is the strongest tank engine in the whole yard." "Ooh," said Castiel the tank engine. "Ooh!" His firebox was filled with Purgatory souls and it was giving him quite a tummyache. "But why would he do such a thing?" asked Sir Raphael Topham Hatt. She was very cross. The freckled driver laughed and laughed. "Because we're union men," he said. "And negotiations have broken down, you dick!"

Do you have a yen for the unlikely and the absurd? Fannish creativity unfettered by format or logic? Do you, despite that, like working on deadlines and Making New Friends?

Then join CRACK IN THE CHASSIS, a Supernatural bang/reverse bang where all kinds of fanworks are welcome!

For more info, check out the introductory post or the FAQ, and follow @crack-in-the-chassis for updates!

SIGN UP HERE

FAQ | Schedule | Rules

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DO YOU write fic or draw fanart or create NARRATIVE BAKED GOODS or INTERPRETIVE CROCHET or--as above--sequential art in the medium of Minecraft screenshots? DO YOU enjoy absurd plotlines, stretchy characterization, and improbable crossovers?

Then come join CRACK IN THE CHASSIS, a Supernatural bang where all kinds of fanworks are welcome!

For more info, check out the introductory post or the FAQ.

SIGN UP HERE

and follow @crack-in-the-chassis for updates!

FAQ | Schedule | Rules

[crack-in-the-chassis]

Are crossovers permissible? For sake of asking this e.g.: Sam and Dean working a case in My Little Pony verse? Would be case fic overall but be set in different fandom world?

Absolutely! Crossovers are a venerated pillar of crackiness.

[crack-in-the-chassis]

Just checking on the discord link -- is the 'Dean/Cas+ Stab Fest' the right server?

Yes! StabFest was the first event we put on, and we didn't realize it would become a habit. Once you're in the server, you'll be assigned a role specific to the event you're participating in at that time, so you'll see just the relevant channels.

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Are AI-generated fics and art allowed? (Thank you for running this event. SOUNDS WILD!)

Hello! AI-generated content is not allowed to be submitted for this event.

[crack-in-the-chassis]

hi! is it necessary to join the discord to participate, or will email communication and the tumblr blog (and communication with our partner thru any medium) be enough?

Hello!

Joining the discord server is not necessary. Email and tumblr communication is enough!

[crack-in-the-chassis]

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FAQ

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Discord

[crack-in-the-chassis]

INTRODUCING: CRACK IN THE CHASSIS

Because we always need more cracky fanworks. Yes, even if we have a billion already. We need more.

Every absurd crossover or AU, every ludicrous pairing that would never ever happen in canon, every "What if?" thought that was followed by "Actually, it'd be weird as hell but I could make that work"--we want them.

SPN canon brought us evil clowns that explode into glitter and an entire season where the villain was high fructose corn syrup. Fandom can make it worse. We have the technology.

Crack in the Chassis is bang and a reverse bang at the same time--but NOT limited to fanfic and 2D fanart!

THAT'S RIGHT. You can get cracky with format as well as content!

Have a bunch of SPN figurines you'd love to pose for photo stories or--if you're a masochist--stop motion animation? We'll take it.

Do you have a ton of red color gel food dye and a sheet cake that would make the perfect canvas for a torture scene? We'll take it.

Do you have a few "in this essay, I will" jokes that you're lowkey dead serious about, even though you know you'll look like the Pepe de Silva meme? Don't be self conscious. We'll take it!

Filk, animatics, short films, cosplay--if you can find a way to transmit your fanwork over the internet and it's ridiculous as hell, then you can submit it to CRACK IN THE CHASSIS.

You can be either a pitcher (creating your work first) or a catcher (claiming a work from the gallery and creating a work in response to it.)

And don't worry, if you want to keep to the traditional ways, fanfic and digital fanart are fully welcome. 

As pitcher, you can specify which types of fanworks you're willing to claimed by! You can treat this as a traditional bang or reverse bang if you want to--or you can get a bit adventurous. Allow your fanfic to be claimed by another fanficcer and see what it's like to collaborate with the same equipment. 😏 Mark yourself as exclusively fanart4fanart and watch the ficcers cry about it.

CRACK IN THE CHASSIS: ALL ABOARD THE CHAOS BUS

Sign ups open May 7

Claims July 13

Posting starts August 22

SIGN UP HERE

and follow @crack-in-the-chassis for updates!

FAQ | Schedule | Rules

[crack-in-the-chassis]

Rules

Adhere to all deadlines; communicate early and often with the mods if you are not able to do so.

Do not solicit art or fic for your work outside of your assigned partner.

Respect the anonymity of claims.

Play nice with the other participants, especially your event partner.

Pitchers and Catchers are collaborators; catchers are not being commissioned by the pitcher (that means pitchers should not make demands about the response piece.)

Fanworks must be posted on AO3 (for meta and fic) and/or the artist’s choice of platform(s) in their entirety on your team’s assigned posting date.

The use of AI in producing the fanworks submitted for the fest is not permitted.

All visual and audio fanworks must have an ID or description attached. Either the pitcher or catcher may assist with this.

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Schedule

May 7 - Signs open for pitchers and catchers

June 1 - Sign ups close for pitchers

July 5 - 50% draft and claims info due

July 6 - Sign ups close for catchers

July 7 - Claims Gallery revealed to catchers

July 13 - Claims

July 14 - Teams check-in

Aug. 4 - 50% drafts due for catchers

Aug. 16 - 80% drafts due for pitchers and catchers

Aug. 17 - Posting dates assigned

Aug. 21 - Final drafts due

Aug. 22 - Posting starts, runs until August 29

Aug. 31 - Masterlist posted

[crack-in-the-chassis]

FAQ

What is Crack?

In short, it's a fanwork--traditionally fic, but we're inclusive--which is absurd, ridiculous, ludicrous, and other -ouses. Imagine the kind of thing you come up with at 3AM during a fit of the giggles. It's exuberant, it's shameless, it's unfettered creativity.

For a lengthier discussion of "crack" with a historical lens, see also: https://fanlore.org/wiki/Crack

Is the event Cas-centric?

No. The line "crack in his chassis" refers to Cas in canon, and we do anticipate plenty of entries to feature Thee Treasured Blorbo, but you can produce fanworks about any characters, items, episodes, monsters, etc. from canon you like.

Is this a bang, or a reverse bang?

It's both! It's neither! Participants will be divided into Pitchers (who create their fanwork first) and Catchers (who select a pitch during Claims and create a fanwork in response to it.) This event is not limited to the traditional fanart and fanfic.

What is the minimum required work?

Minimum word count for fic, meta, and other text-based fanworks: 1,500

Minimum length for audio or video based fanworks: 30 seconds

Minimum size for visual fanworks such as art, comics, sculpture, etc: one image suitable for web browsing, so about 750px width or height. This is very hand-wavy. Gifs can be smaller in dimension because they're technically multiple images stacked in a trenchcoat.

Is there a maximum word length or art size?

No! The minimums are calculated to be feasible for the average creator within the time allotted for the endowed, but if you are endowed with the hubris of gods, then go ahead and write that 150k epic or stage a three hour opera with full sets, score, and costumes. Just make sure it’s done by your posting date, mmkay?

What types of "other" fanworks are allowed?

Fanworks must fit two criteria:

1. Your fanwork must be able to be displayed via a public website. Fanfic and digital fanart are de riguer. Traditional 2D artwork can be photographed. Serial 2D art, such as sequential art aka comics, are displayed in much the same way. But we can do so much more than that.

3D or non-traditional art with a primary visual element--like cosplay, sculpture, cake decorating--can be displayed with photos from multiple angles and accompanied by an artist's statement advising of any elements that are lost (e.g., textures, flavors, scents, mild electrical shock.)

Performance art, music, a podcast or radio play, theatrical skits, etc. can be recorded by video or audio and supplemented with text and photos as needed. Video games which can be played in a browser window also work. (Shameless plug: Dean Dodge https://4mortea.itch.io/deandodge as an example.)

2. Your fanwork must be something that you are considered to be the sole owner of, and which is fair use. So, for example, if you're a filker and you claim a pitcher's fanfic, you can't just set the fic to music, as the ficcer is the owner of the text. But you can compose your own lyrics which comment upon or respond to the fic.

Note that co-creators are allowed--so an author who writes lyrics and a singer-composer who then sets the lyrics to music could present the resultant song as a single pitch or catch, with the "duo" being considered the sole owner.

Fanvids and gifsets that are just clips of canon footage without significant transformation (e.g., other than cutting and color correction) also don't qualify for this event. (We still love them, though.)

Types of transformation which would qualify vids and gifs of canon footage include, but are not limited to: juxtaposing different shots or scenes to create new meaning; adding commentary; altering the images (mod's personal favorite is adding cat ears to the characters). You can also include captions, subtitles, musical accompaniment, etc.

PLEASE NOTE: We know this is a huge tradition and genre, and this hurts us, it does, but using another artist's music on the video without written permission* is not permitted. Youtube will throw your ass under the bus and we will not be able to help you. Crack in the Chassis isn't tangling with Universal Music Group. Nuh uh. Don't go where we can't follow, Mr Frodo.

* if you manage to get permission somehow then holy snackballs please let us know.

For further information on fair use:

https://smallbusiness.chron.com/copyright-laws-30-seconds-music-61149.html

https://www.transformativeworks.org/faq/ (specifically the section "What exactly is Fair Use?"

How will Claims work, since you're being so complicated about it?

All of the pitches will be presented in a single gallery for all the potential catchers to review and select their preferences. (Pitches may be split into two categories depending on how many under-18 participants and NSFW pitches we get.)

In addition to stating what elements they would and would not like (e.g., yes to gothic horror, no to adultery and A/B/O), pitchers will also specify the kinds of catches they would and would not like. E.g., If you are a fanficer and the idea of a catch piece that is also fanfic unnerves you, you can restrict fic catches. If you are THRILLED with the idea of a companion fic, you can request *only *fic catches. If you grow weary of traditional fic and fanart, you can specify that the catch piece must be an "other" type of fanwork. Any and all choices. There will be ticky boxes.

Can I sign up as a Pitcher and a Catcher?

YES! For the sake of anonymity for Claims, however, you will be restricted from the Pitcher's channel in the Discord server until Claims are over.

How many Pitches and Catches can I submit?

Each person or team can only submit a maximum of three pitches. Each pitch must be fully completed before submitting additional pitches. E.g., You can submit one pitch that is 50% completed for claims. If you want to submit two pitches, your first pitch must be fully complete and the second one 50% complete. For three pitches, the first two must be fully complete and the third 50% complete.

For Claims, each catcher will recieve their most preferred pitch which is still available, on a first come, first serve basis. If there are pitches remaining after the first round, we will do additional rounds of claims as needed. Catchers can pick up only one pitch per round.

Can I discuss my fanwork before it’s submitted and posted?

No. You are not permitted to publically discuss your fanwork in detail or post any portion of it outside the designated channels in the Discord server prior to your assigned posting day.

Pitchers, we ask that you take precautions to prevent the catchers from being able to recognize your pitch piece at claims. This may mean not publicly discussing your piece at all, or keeping discussion to a private chat with your alpha/beta, or just being obnoxiously vague in shared spaces. We know there will be slip-ups. Catchers, please pretend you Do Not See It and uphold the spirit of the event: to be paired with someone based on their pitch, not their identity, and to make some new friends! This may mean deliberately not choosing a pitch because you know who the creator is.

Can I create a work that’s part of a series?

Yes, as long as the work meets the criteria of the event and the work (but not necessarily the series) is posted in its entirety on the assigned posting date. Pieces that can stand on their own are strongly preferred. Be aware that your catcher may not have the time or inclination to brush up on the parts of the series other than the event piece. Catchers, if you’re creating something that happens to fit into a series you’ve been working on, please make sure your pitcher is okay with that.

Can I use a work I’ve already started?

We do ask that you create a new work specific to this event. However, if you’ve already started on a work but haven’t posted it or discussed it publicly anywhere, the mods aren’t really going to know, are we?

Is this restricted to SPN?

Your work should engage primarily with SPN or The Winchesters, but crossovers are allowed. If you want to focus exclusively on quasi-canon materials, like Supernatural tie-in books, graphic novels, or the Ghostfacers webisodes, that's welcome, too.

What about RPF?

There's two prongs to this.

1. Canon includes fictionalized versions of several crew and cast in the s6 episode The French Mistake, and the character Chuck establishes the conceit of a writer as god of the 'verse who engages with the characters he's manipulating. So anything in that vein is allowed, and godspeed.

2. SPN RPF is a different fandom than SPN, so any SPN RPF fanworks would have to be crossovers--meaning the fanworks must *also *be SPN related. E.G., a Cockles coffeeshop AU wouldn't be eligible, but a Cockles AU where they're interacting with the Ghostfacers would. RPF other than SPN RPF is also allowed under the same mechanism--as a crossover.

Are there restrictions on content?

Other than it must be cracky and SPN related, nah.

There must be something you don't allow.

The limits will be 1. the laws of the area in which you reside (e.g. don't do crime. or at least don't get caught about it.) and 2. the ToS of any services you use to host your fanwork: e.g., Tumblr won't host sexually explicit images, YouTube will scan for copyrighted material, and AO3 does not allow commercial promotion.

No, I mean, do you allow content that is... problematic.

Yes.

Surely you jest.

No.

But what about the panopticon? What about being seen at the witch's sacrament?

Look, fandom isn't a workplace or a church picnic. It's a subculture for freaks.

When posting fanwork, your responsibility is to provide metadata--e.g., tag and warn for potentially upsetting content--so people can curate their own experiences.

When engaging with your pitcher or catcher, your responsibility is to honor the restrictions stated during claims, and use care when bringing up subjects which they may not have explicitly listed but that are commonly considered to be upsetting. In this house we respect hard and soft limits. Informed consent is king (gn.)

Other than that, go wild! It's a crack event. Self-censorship is gonna make the fanworks sad and boring and we don't want that.