Penances

A penance is something a keyholder asks the member they hold to do, usually when a check-in isn't up to standard. The member does it and sends proof (a photo or video), or does it live. The keyholder then accepts it or asks for a redo.

The member can decline any penance with their safeword, with no penalty.

Assigning a penance (keyholders)

You can assign one from the member's page, or straight after rejecting a check-in photo.

1. On Home, tap the member you hold (for example Riley) under Your locked members.
2. In the Penances card, tap + Assign. Or, when you review a check-in photo, tap Reject & assign a penance (the penance is linked to that check-in).
3. Read Their hard limits at the top of the sheet: their own list, and any live penances that aren't okay for them.
4. Under What should Riley do?, describe the penance.
5. Under What it involves, tick anything the penance involves. Riley's hard limits are marked, and a penance that involves one can't be assigned.
6. Under How they do it, leave Send proof selected, or choose a live option (see Live penances). Live options are switched off, with the reason, when they go against Riley's hard limits, when Live penances isn't a power Riley has given you, or when Riley (or you, for a call) hasn't verified their ID.
7. Under Proof required, choose Photo, Video or Either.
8. Under Due within, pick a time from 2 hours to 1 week.
9. Tap Assign penance.

Riley gets a notification straight away. See Hard limits for what they can rule out.

Penances are one of the powers Riley gives you, and they can set limits on it: how many can be open at once, the shortest time to do one, and whether automatic ones (for a missed task) are okay. A live penance needs the Live penances power too. The sheet shows what they allow.

Penances can also come from elsewhere: a task with a penance attached issues one automatically when it's missed (see Tasks), and a check-in exception request can be approved with a penance.

The code

Every penance has its own short code, like K7PX. Photos are stamped with it automatically, along with the member's username, the time and a proof number. In videos, the member says the code out loud at the start, so old videos can't be reused.

Reviewing proof

You're notified when proof arrives. On Home, the member shows ⚖️ 1 proof, and on their page the penance shows Review proof.

1. Tap the penance in the Penances card.
2. Tap 👁 View photo or 👁 View video. Proof stays hidden until you choose to see it. Any note from the member shows below it.
3. Add an Optional note to them if you like.
4. Tap Accept, or Ask for a redo to have them send new proof. A redo always gives them at least 12 hours: an earlier deadline moves out to 12 hours from your request.

Each proof is marked To review, Accepted or Redo asked.

From the same sheet you can give more time with +24 hours, or Cancel penance. The member is told either way.

Due times and overdue penances

The member gets a Penance due soon reminder about 2 hours before it's due (for a live penance, it reminds them to do it live). If the time passes without proof, the penance shows Overdue and you're both told. Nothing else happens automatically: they can still send proof, and you can give more time or cancel it.

While tasks and penances are paused, open penances show Paused and can't go overdue. When you resume, each one is due 24 hours later, or keeps the time it had left if that was longer.

If the pairing ends, any open penances are cancelled.

All the penances you've given (keyholders)

The Penances page lists the penances you've given to everyone you hold now, open ones first. Tap one to open it on that person's page, where you can review it.

What's posted to the feed

If the member shares their activity, the feed can show "was given a penance by Morgan" and "completed a penance from Morgan". The penance itself, its proof and any notes are never shown. Members choose who sees their activity, or turn it off, in Settings under Activity in the feed.

Live penance videos only appear in the feed if the member agrees to post each one (see Penance videos in the feed).