Snakekeys often barter or simply pass things around for free, but if they need/want an official currency, they do have one: folded paper stars! These are often called "paper stars" or just...y'know, "stars". They come in many colors and are identifiable as official by special gold and sliver ink used to write values on them. To keep them safe, they're often stored in glass jars or boxes. The paper they're made with can fend off liquids in small amounts, but they won't tolerate being drowned! As such, it's best to keep them in a safe, dry place unless in use
🌿 Rules 🌿
🍃 The itty bitty gif above is the official paper stars sprite! This used to be something you could put in DA descriptions next to your star counts, but DA kinda broke this, so don't worry 'bout it
🍃 Stars are earned by drawing, writing, crafting, or otherwise using your Snakekey/PC! Each has their own count, starting at 0 when created
🍃 You do not lose stars when getting upgrades. Your count should only ever add up
🍃 Stars can only be earned by you for keke you own
🍃 Stars should be counted per drawing in the description something like (2/75), 2 being what you've earned, 75 being your new total
🍃 You must count stars on the drawing in order to actually get them. If you fail to show a count, you'll forfeit what you may have earned. Don't worry, though! If you forgot, you can always go back and edit it in (This isn't me being a bully btw, it's so I can check for counting mistakes or rule misunderstandings! :>)
🍃 Bases do not count for stars. If it is a base you made yourself, you may get stars for the first instance of it, but any color-ins will not unless the lineart is sufficiently altered
🍃 Generally, art should not involve photos or other images you found on the internet. For example, using a background that is just someone else's photo will cause you to loose all stars you may have earned for that drawing unless fixed
🌼 Exceptions to the above rule include photos you have taken yourself or ones from the internet that are specifically labeled as creative commons (CC)! Here's how to search for said images on Google
🍃 Minor edits to lineart will not give you new star counts. Say you've drawn two pictures of your keke on the same canvas and they are near identical. The only difference is one has an arm raised, the other arm is down. This will only count as one set of stars, the other lineart being considered as drawn off a base. The only exception to this is for animations
🍃 Paper stars cannot be traded. They'll be "stuck" to the keke that earned them. They keep their stars even if they trade owners!
🍃 Official NPCs in the NPC folder will count for stars. Personal NPCs that are not approved Snakekeys will not count for stars
🍃 Collab info in in the "Clarifications" section below!
🌟 Star Values 🌟
🌿 Basics:
🌷 Headshot - Less than 50% of the body is shown: 1 star
🌷 Halfbody - Roughly 50% of the body is shown: 2 stars
🌷 Fullbody - About 75-100% of the body is shown: 4 stars
🌷
Egg - The keke is depicted as unhatched: 1 star
🌿 Additions:
🌷 Gift - Drawing a keke belonging to someone else: +2 stars
🌷 Shading - Shadows and/or light are visible on the body: +2 stars
🌷 Background - A backdrop drawn by you of a scene: +4 stars
🌷 Writing - Each 100 words gives you a star bonus: +2 star
🌷 1,000 words - Every 1,000 words you hit in a piece rewards this bonus. The count for this starts at 0 on each writing piece you make: +4 stars
🌿 Animated:
🌷 Animation - Each unique frame gets an additional star: +1 star
🌷 Hand drawn - Each frame requires the lineart to be at least 80% redrawn: +1 star
🌷 Shaded - Light and/or shadow are visible on the body in each frame: +1 star
🌷 Moving background - The background is animated along with the keke: +1 star
🌿 Misc.:
🌷 3D figure - Something made with clay, fabric, pipe cleaners, etc. Digital models also count. Stars not get halved for being uncolored: 10 stars
🌷 Colored 3D - The above created 3D figure is colored similarly to the keke used (not digitally altered unless originally digital): +2 stars
🌷 Uncolored - Art lacks color: Cut the art's star count in half. Round up if uneven. For example, 7 would turn to 4
🌠 Bonuses (Optional) 🌠
If you feel the above values are doing your hard work dirty, see within! Please be sure to use when you feel it's just, as many of these rely on the honor system <3
🍀
Fancy-Schmancy:
🌻 Composition - Extra effort to give a scene a more interesting/dynamic angle. (Examples: 1, 2, 3): +3 stars. Halfbodies may be counted as fullbody instead
🌻
Dedicated shading - Some hard work went in to make the lighting extra spiffy: +2 stars
🌻 Overlap - The character is overlapped by others or objects for a sense of depth. (Examples: 1, 2, 3): +2 stars
🌻 Annoying overlap - The same sort of thing as above, but dude... it sucked: +4 stars
🌻
Detail-heavy background - When you put enough work into a background that you feel like you might cry if you only get four stars out of it... (Examples: 1, 2, 3): +5 stars
🌻
Gold star anatomy - For when you feel like you pulled of that anatomy like a champ!: +3 stars
🍀 Lore Friendly:
🌻 Character interaction - At least two characters are interacting with each other somehow. Both characters must be at least partially visible. (Examples: 1, 2, 3): +2 stars
🌻
Character development - The piece is significant to your character in specific somehow. May be establishing backstory, relationships, character traits, etc...: +3 stars
🌻
Canon life - You went to the effort of including canon animals and/or plants in your piece! (NPCs don't count for this unless they're pets or mounts or something): +2 stars, +4 stars if there are five or more different types of life
🍀 Mood:
🌻 Pride - You personally feel you did a really good job! :) : +2 stars
🌻
Effort - Your piece took a lot of work, research, and/or time to complete: +4 stars
🌻
Experimentation - You tried something new or different!: +2 stars
🌻
Sunk cost fallacy - You don't really like the way your piece came out... :( But you soldiered through anyway. Here's a condolence: +2 stars
🌻
Spite-powered - This piece required doing something you super hate, but you managed to survive,, (Eg, for me this would be drawing buildings): +4 stars
🌿 Clarifications 🌿
🍃 Say you've drawn two of your keke, shaded, fullbody, on a background. Each of them would get 10 stars for this. When counting stars, each Snakekey will get points for each element included. However, keke A's star count will not merge with keke B's resulting with a count of 20 for A. They are separate characters and have their own counts!
🍃 Say you've drawn someone else's keke shaded, fullbody, on a background. This will give you 12 stars. Where these end up going is up to you! You can split them between your Snakekeys or just dump them all on one
🍃 The fullbody term is flexible. Say you've drawn your keke curled up on itself and sleeping. You can only see half of them since the other side is hidden, but technically, it's clear that it's all there. This can be counted as a fullbody. Some other examples might include a keke under a blanket or submerged under water. If you can see the shape of the Snakekey under the blanket or their body under the water, then it counts for a fullbody. If the water is cloudy or the blanket is just an unidentified round lump, you'll have to count lower stars
🍃 Backgrounds must be of a scene, room, or some such to count. They cannot be something like a gradient or a lazily blobbed on background. Ideally, there should be at least some effort put into them and they should have some form of depth. This adjusts according to your individual skill level!
🍃 Regarding animation, only the first frame can be used to calculate fullbody, backgrounds, etc. Any other frames will only add 1 star (or other animation bonuses), not the full count again
🍃 For collaborated drawings, count the stars regularly. Each of you get the full amount! Only one artist is required to submit the collab