Styles

[rainbowmods]

Please check the Questions & Answers at the bottom of the page. If you have further questions, feel free to leave a comment and a mod will get back to you as soon as possible

Make a music mix/play list that pertains to a story, yours or another person's (with their permission!), or an aspect thereof

mixed media

Borrow the canon (setting or characters) of someone you know; be sure to ask first! This is meant for interaction between RainbowFic members, but you can collaborate with any creators you know. (It'd be nice if they popped in to say hi)

collage

Create a piece with another person, whether as a writing team, artist & writer, or any other collaboration

interactive art

Ask another person to pick a Color for you and pair specific prompts along with each of the prompts given in the Color list

paint by numbers/paint-by-numbers

A sketch or other quick or unfinished piece in any art medium

A comic with as many panels as you'd like

A full illustration, however you define that for yourself

Any piece of work with audio: a song, spoken word, animation, video of some sort, etc.

performing arts/performance arts

Write a piece that is ten thousand words or more

mural

Write a piece that is between five thousand and nine thousand, nine hundred, ninety-nine words

portrait

Write a piece that is one hundred words or less

miniature

Write a collection of three or more Miniatures in one piece

miniature collection

Match two Colors of the same number of prompts together; every piece using a prompt for one Color must also use a prompt from the other Color.

bichrome/bichromatic

Use all of one Color in one piece, each prompt having one section within the piece to make a coherent whole.

saturation

Revisit a previously-done piece, whether posted to RainbowFic or elsewhere (or never shared at all)

reimagining

Match a Style or Supply to a Color with twenty or more prompts and use that Style or Supply with every prompt from the Color.

tapestry

A crossover. This can be a crossover between your different canons, between your canon and a media source, or between your canon and a friend's canon.

mosaic

A response specifically to a game run by the mods or a member; games are hosted in rainbowlounge. These don't count as Resin, unless otherwise noted.

graffiti

Use description only in your piece; characters may be present, but no dialogue and no narrative about dialogue

photography

Use at least four points of view of the same scene; may be a Saturation or a Miniature Collection

stain glass/stained glass

Something that stretches your limits

fingerpainting

Write at least five one-sentence scenes; this may also be a Saturation or a Miniature Collection

pointillism

Repeat a Color you've done before; this may not be a Saturation, but it may be a Tapestry, Bichrome, or Paint-by-Numbers

retouch

Take a short existing piece and expand on the events surrounding it. May overlap with Reimagining if you also include the piece itself from a different perspective

sculpture

Two pieces that reflect or interact with each other thematically. Can not be simply chronological, but could involve a flash-back or flash-forward. May include a Sketch or Illustration, but can't simply depict the writing. Pieces can share prompts.

diptych

Three or more pieces that reflect or interact with each other thematically. Can not be simply chronological, but could involve a flash-back or flash-forward. May be include a Sketch or Illustration, but can't simply depict the writing.

triptych

An epistolary piece, that is one where the events are depicted using letters, texts, blog posts, articles, etc

plein-air/plain-air/plain air/plein air

A piece involving romance or growing relationship

silhouette

A piece with a focus on humor

vaudeville

A horror piece or one involving angst, panic, or extreme anxiety

chiaroscuro

Focusing on (real-life) minority characters: for example queer, disabled, people of color, etc. You determine if your piece qualifies.

life drawing

An exploration of a place or thing. Characters can be present but can't be focused on

cut-away

A piece with a focus on worldbuilding, whether history, flora or fauna, technology, etc. May be a story or a descriptive piece.

panorama

Interactive fiction - a Twine game, hypertext fiction, visual novel, gamebook/CYOA etc.

mobile

Crafts, nail art, figures, or other 3d objects, including digital 3d. Can also be an Illustration or Sketch if digital

folk art

Write a piece between 115 and 200 words.

postcard

Write a piece between two or more characters using only dialogue.

embroidery

Create a work that contains scenes in at least five different locations.

cartography

If you've used 10, 30, 50, or any multiple of 50 of a style, you've completed a goal and earned a banner, as well as finishing a Paint-by-Numbers, Bichromatic, Saturation, or Tapestry. You can request a banner or take one of the generic banners.

Generic banners for a Paint-By-Numbers, Tapestry, or Saturation with a specific Color can be found on the associated Color page. Banners for doing 10/30/etc Paint-by-Numbers, Tapestries, or Saturations are on the generic style banners page.

Questions & Answers

• Can I suggest a Style? Sure, post about it in rainbowlounge
• I can't draw, how can I do a Sketch, Comic, or Illustration? Some possibilities: work with a friend or another rainbowficcer; make a photo collage, mood board or fan casting; or use stick figures, photos, 3d art using Daz3d/Poser/etc, stock art, pixel art and sprites, or Lego figures or other toys.

Illustrations, Sketches, & Folk Art

• If I create an Illustration, Sketch, or Folk Art to fill a prompt, can I post it with the writing it goes with? Generally, each piece should have its own post, but you can the include the image in the writing post and link to the art post. If the art is part of a Diptych/Triptych or doesn't fill its own prompt but just accompanies the writing, please post it with the writing.

Retouch

• Do you have to complete the color first before starting a Retouch/repeating any prompts, or can you repeat one before completing the color for the first time? If you're doing the color as itself for both, you need to complete all the prompts before repeating any. If you're doing one version of it with the styles Tapestry, Bichrome, or Paint-by-numbers you can have both lists going at the same time, but you can't use two versions of the same color in the same piece

Paint-By-Numbers and Bichromatic

• Paint-by-Numbers prompts must be posted to rainbowlounge
• Bichromatic is also called a Bichrome
• Does every piece need to only use the two Bichromatic Colors? You can use the two Bichromatic colors, plus one more from another list or the Color of the Day.
• Can a Miniature Collection be a Bichromatic or Paint-by-Numbers? Yes it can
• Can I do a Trichrome, that is a Bichrome with three colors? If I do, does it count as more than one Bichromatic? You can, but as it’ll be the same amount of pieces, it’ll still count as one Bichrome. If you ask nicely, you may be able to get multiple banners for it though.
• How do I get a banner for a Bichromatic or Paint-by-Numbers? When you finish using all of the prompts, you'll have earned the banner, and that counts as one usage of that supply. This will involve a minimum of ten pieces.

Saturation

• Must I only use prompts from the Saturation color? You may use one prompt from a different Color within your Saturation; consider the Saturation as covering two of the three prompts allowed. Alternatively, you can use two Color lists, matching prompts from each list together, but no other Color prompts can be used; this doesn't count as a Bichromatic, but may count as two Saturations if both Color lists are used completely.
• Can a Miniature Collection be a Saturation? It sure can.
• Can a Tapestry be a Saturation? Sorry, no. A tapestry involves multiple pieces.
• Can a Paint-by-Numbers be a Saturation? Like a Bichromatic, a Paint-by-Numbers can't be a Saturation
• If I've made a Saturation, can I use that same Color to make another Saturation? You sure can and you'll get two Saturation banners for it.
• Saturations don't count toward your completed Color list total (Box of Crayons) or toward a Retouch. They also don't count as one of your five active Colors

Tapestry

• Can we do a Tapestry and a Paint-by-Numbers or can a Bichromatic be a Tapestry? Yes, but they must be paired with another Supply or Style, and a Paint-by-Numbers can't be paired with a Bichromatic or vice versa.
• Can I do a Paint-by-Numbers with the same color as a Tapestry at the same time? As in a two separate things or as in a combination Tapestry/Paint-by-Numbers? In the first case, yes, and it'd also be a retouch. In the second case, yes, but you'd have to pair it with another supply or style as well, as stated in the previous question.
• How do I get a banner for a Tapestry? When you finish using all of the prompts, you'll have earned the banner, and that counts as one usage of Tapestry. This will involve a minimum of twenty pieces.

Mosaic

• Examples of what is and is not acceptable (including specifics for tabletop role-playing games)
• If I write something with someone else using both of our canons, is it a Mosaic? Yes, and it would also be Interactive Art.
• So I can write fanfiction, right? Not exactly. This isn't a fanfic community, so while you can write a crossover with a media source (book, movie, series, video game, or tabletop rpg, etc), it needs to either be an alternative universe of your story/series or the crossover should be a minor aspect of your story/series.
• What if I'm using open-source settings or characters like The Free Universe or Jenny Everywhere? (linking to the TVTropes page for Jenny Everywhere instead of JennyEverywhere.net as the latter's style is hard to read). As these are established characters, it would still count as a crossover and so a mosaic. Follow the rules that the open-source requires and you're good to go (these don't count as a media source and so are not fanfic).
• What about public domain stories? While Pride and Prejudice and Zombies proved you can legally publish crossovers, it's still (more or less) fanfic, and we're not a fanfic community. You can write them, but they're the same as any other crossover with a media source.
• What about crossovers with mythology, folklore, fairy tales, etc? Go wild, but keep an eye on what interpretations are influencing you. Writing about Thor is cool, but writing Marvel Comics' Thor is not.

Diptych / Triptych

• The parts of a diptych or triptych can share prompts
• Should the pieces for a diptych or triptych be posted together or in different posts? Either! The intent was for them to be posted together, but if you feel they work better posted separately, that's allowed. If you do post them separately, please add links to all the parts on all the parts.

Mobile

• If I create a Mobile, can it also be a Mural, Portrait, Miniature, or Postcard? Yes. The word count of a Mobile is based on what the reader sees and doesn't include any code necessary to make it work.
• Can a Mobile be a Miniature Collection? Yes! Again, word count is based on what the reader sees. Keep in mind that each Miniature in a collection must be "a piece" - more separated from each other than just a change of setting or point of view.
• Can a Mobile be a Pointillism or use Dice? It sure can! See the first two questions for how words are counted.
• Can a Mobile also be a Performing Art? Absolutely! It must include more than basic sound effects. For example a sound when you press a button would be too little, but background music or environmental sounds like wind, crickets, or water would count.
• Are there any requirements for a Mobile? Preferably it'd have at least two branches or choices, but considering the difficulty of making one, it's not required. It must be interactive in some way (have something to click to continue the story). Please check out the links included for ideas
• What software or systems can I use? Anything that will let us read it. That includes things that need an .exe. However you will probably get more readers and responses if we can access it online. I mentioned Twine because, so far as I'm aware, it's the most widely known, but you can use any development system (it doesn't have to be listed there) or do it just in HTML.

Embroidery

• Can I use dialogue tags if there are more than two people talking? Preferably, it should be clear from context, but if necessary, yes you can. Clarity is more important than the gimmick.
• Can I format it like a script that is Name: I say something ? That's acceptable as well.
• Can a comic or illustration be an embroidery? Yes, as long as it's a comic with no action (that is to say, either just dialogue balloons, characters just standing, or characters walking).
• How about a comic with a dialogue between the narration boxes and a character? Also acceptable as long as the narration boxes don't also have narration happening. See for example, this episode of 1/0 (and many other episodes)

Updated April 27th, 2025 to clarify Graffiti and Resin interaction