Shan He Ling Big Bang 2021

A Collaborative Fandom Event

About

A Big Bang is a fandom event where both writers and artists team up to create complementary art: writers decide on a fic to write, and artists pick which fic they’d like to create art for. Everybody then gets time to finish their work in tandem, and it is all posted around roughly the same time.

RULES and REQUIREMENTS

Requirements:

-Type of art accepted are drawings/paintings/etc (traditional and digital), fanvids and gifsets/manips.

-Minimum wordcount for regular writers will be 8k, minimum wordcount for pinch writers will be 4k. No wordcount cap.

-Minimum art requirement for artists will be at least two pieces of new art, one of which must be fully finished according to what you’d consider fully finished in your style, while the other can be less elaborate. Fanvids must be at least 30 seconds long. For artists making gifsets/manips, a gifset must have at least 8 gifs, or you must make at least 2 manips, or a blend of both (for example, 4 gifs gifset and one manip). For pinch artists, requirements will be at least one piece of new art (fully finished if possible, at least polished), at least 15 seconds long fanvid, or at least 4 gifs/one manip.

-For writers, if you have a beta already who would like to beta your fic, they’d still have to apply as beta and you both have to message the mods to let them know; the fic will be marked as claimed for beta during claims.

-Works must be posted in their entirety on the chosen posting date.

-You can sign up for more than one role, but be aware that it would be a lot more work, and mods might ask you to drop one or two roles if needed.

Content rules:

-We will not accept any submission where the characters are white.

-We will not accept any submission depicting nsfw of minor characters.

-We will not accept ship hate or character bashing.

-We will not accept pieces that depict unquestioned racism, sexism, transphobia, ableism, etc. Exploring those themes within the story or art is ok! Using your art to enact any of those things is not.

-We will not accept submissions with graphic depiction of abuse or rape.

-NSFW (other than previously mentioned) and canon typical violence are fine, as long as it’s all properly tagged or posted with content warnings.

-You must be 18+ if you want to depict NSFW (we will confirm with you, but just to be clear, we will never ask for you to show us ID or anything of the sort)

-Any pairing, setting or crossover is fine. Inspiration can be drawn from the book, the series or both! Gen fics are also accepted.

CONTACT
If you need help or have general questions please reach out to a moderator at any of the links listed below.
Tumblr
Twitter DM
Discord

DISCORD

Reach mods, chat with with fellow members, and general Bang Updates will be on Discord.
Here is the link! Please do only join if you are participating.

SCHEDULE
(Everything is in British Summer Time Converter)

- May 17th, 10am: beta, writer, artist and pinch hitter signups open. Signups for regular writers last 2 weeks; signups for regular betas and artists last 4 weeks; signups for pinch hitters last 7 weeks.

- May 30th, 10pm: end of regular writer signups.

- June 13th, 10pm: end of regular betas and artists signups.

- June 14th: first check-in, writers only. Writers will use the link we send them to submit outline/summary, tags, expected wordcount and rating, as well as beta notes and art ideas.

- June 18th: end of first check-in. Writers need to have submitted by 10am BST, or we will consider they dropped out. If for any reason you aren’t able to submit, get in touch with us!

- June 20th: viewing period starts - all outlines submitted by writers can be viewed by betas and artists, but not claimed yet. That is so people can get an idea of which fics they’d like to work with.

- June 25th - 26th: first round of claiming. Betas and artists will use a form to indicate 5 fics they’d like to work with. It’ll last from 3pm BST on the 25th to 3pm BST on the 26th. If you aren’t able to submit your claims then, you can ask someone else or a mod to submit your top 5 on your behalf!

- June 27th-28th: second round of claiming. Artists and betas will enter their top 5 again for the remaining less claimed or unclaimed fics. Same times as before.

- July 4th at the latest: mods contact you to let you know who you’ll be working with! Artists will be paired with 1 writer to make 2 pieces of art for (or equivalent for their medium). Betas will be assigned as many fics to beta as they’ve indicated they’re comfortable with.

- July 10th: second check-in. Mostly to make sure everybody has been in contact and no conflicts have arisen.

- July 24th: third check-in. Artists should have at least one sketch/concept, and writers should have at least a quarter of their intended wordcount done.

- August 21st: fourth check-in, assignment to pinch hitter in necessary cases. Mostly to make sure everybody is managing and nobody has completely stopped contact with their partners.

September 18th: fifth check-in, assignment to pinch hitters in necessary cases. You should be about ¾ done with your fic/art. Don’t forget to take into account editing and finishing touches in your planning!
September 27th, 10am: start of posting date claiming! Lasts one week. Agree with your partners on when and how to post and link your works, contact mods for any last questions and problems you encounter.
October 3rd, 10pm: end of posting date claiming.
October 9th: sixth and last check-in. Participants should be almost done.
October 25th: start of posting! Lasts one week. Link mods to your work when you have posted it, and let them know how you would like to be credited on the final post compiling all works for the Bang.
October 31st: end of posting!
November 14th (subject to change): end of posting for people with extensions!
November 21st (subject to change): last post compiling all works for the Bang!

SIGN UP
Writers (CLOSED)
Artists (CLOSED)
Betas (CLOSED)
Pinch Hitters

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Who are the mods?

The mods are symphorine (@symph0rine on tumblr and twitter, symphorine on AO3), shards (@shards-of-divinity on tumblr and AO3, @Shards_Divinity on twitter), kep (@huldraism on twitter, drifloon on AO3), vesh (@dryadfangs on twitter, decidueye on AO3) and bees (@xiejie-liubo on tumblr).

Is this only for the show?

No! We realise the name might be misleading, but this is for people who have seen the show, read the book, or both! You don’t even have to have seen/read it all, but in that case, beware of spoilers.

Is this only for certain pairings?

No! As long as what you want to write about is within the rules, you’re good! You don’t have to write a pairing, either. Gen fics, with or without background ships, are absolutely welcome!

What is the minimum wordcount for fics?

The minimum wordcount is 8k words. There is no wordcount cap; you can write as much as you want!

What kind of art can artists participate with?

Drawings (both digital and traditional), fanvid, and gifsets/manip set are all accepted! They will have different requirements.

What are the art requirements?

For drawings: at least one finished piece, according to what you'd consider fully finished in your style, and a second piece that can be less finished (i.e. maybe you don't add a background or shading)

For fanvids: a video at least 30 seconds long.

For manips/gifsets: at least one 8 gifs gifset, or two manips, or a mix (for example, 4 gifs gifset and 1 manip).

Of course, if you feel particularly inspired by a fic, feel free to do more if you want!

If I am a writer and already have a beta, do they have to sign up as well and claim my fic, or can they stay “exterior” to the event?

They should sign up as well, and you should both contact us to let us know you’ll work together! Your fic then will be marked as already claimed by your beta during the claiming rounds. This is mostly so we can keep track of who’s involved, and have a way of contacting your beta for check-ins and in case of problems. This also means they will get an invite to our discord if they’d like to join it!

Will this bang be allowing NSFW or dead dove content?

We will be allowing NSFW (as long as it isn’t about the minor characters, i.e. Chengling and any kids), but not dead dove content that exceeds canon typical stuff.

For example, there are torture scenes in both the show and the book, so it’s okay to include equivalents in fics or art, but if you were planning on writing 8k of only detailed torture, then that wouldn’t be allowed. If in doubt during the event, you can always ask a mod if what you’re thinking of would be allowed or not!

Do writers get to choose what kind of content they do/do not want for their fic? (Like yes to drawings and no to vids, for example?)

No, writers will not get to choose what kind of art they will get. That’s in the interest of fairness, but also so no participating artist gets left out! Of course, as a writer, you can still discuss with your artist what they’re intending to make, but they will have the final say on that.

Can we participate as an artist and writer team that is predetermined?

No, sorry, artists and writers cannot form a predetermined team. It kind of would go against the idea of the event, the forming of the team and working with new people is most of its purpose. Of course it would be easy to “cheat”, but we are trusting participants to not do that!

Can I sign up as writer and artist?

Yes, you can! We will have a separate signup form for writers, artists, betas, and pinch hitters, so you’ll just have to submit both a writer and an artist form!

I want to write an AU, a friend who is very familiar with the AU setting is already helping me brainstorm and would be up to sign up to beta it but they haven’t watched SHL. Could I still have my fic up to be claimed by someone actually familiar with the characters?

Yes! Although this is a bit of an edge case, nothing is technically preventing you from having several betas; we simply want everybody to have at least one, which is why we are providing one through the event. In this particular case, we would still like your friend to sign up so they can give us ways to contact them, and for you both to then contact the mods to let them know. If they are unfamiliar with SHL, though, they should tell us, and will not participate in claims. You will also be quite low priority if we end up lacking betas (in which case one of the mods will probably pick up your story for beta reading).

Are there options to go forth with if I am not comfortable working with my beta?

Yes! If you aren’t comfortable working with your beta (or if as a beta you are not comfortable working with one of your writers), contact the mods and we will arrange for you to get a new beta (or if you are a beta, we will arrange for somebody else to take your place).

How fully made will the fics be when artists claim them?

You will claim fics based on summary and/or outline, as well as AO3-style tags that would apply. Tags will indicate pairings, main characters and tropes, so you will have a general idea of the focus of the fics! We might also indicate the writer’s rough estimation of their final wordcount, but you will not know how far along each writer is in writing their fic.

If I already have an idea for a fic and I would like to “claim” that idea, would that be possible? Or are you guys okay with accepting multiple entries of the same premise?

We are not regulating fic premises! You don’t need to claim your idea or make sure nobody else is doing anything similar before you write it. Technically, if everybody wanted to write a fluffy coffee shop AU, then everybody would be free to write that. The “claiming” part is only for artists and betas to say which fics they’ll work with.

If we are not comfortable working with minors, is there any way for us to know in the claiming process?

We do not have a particular system for this. A safe bet, if you’re claiming fics, would be to claim NSFW works, as we did establish that people should be 18+ if they want to depict NSFW. If you’re a writer, you can always message us and say that you do not want your fic to be claimed by a minor, and we will add that as a note during claimings.

As always, though, if after claims you find that you do not work well with the people who claimed your fic/whose fic you claimed, you can always message the mods to try to arrange something.

Do you have contacts for any sensitivity readers in addition to betas who may sign up? It's my first Chinese fandom so i want to ensure i get someone(s) to look over it from a culture perspective.

Unfortunately, no, we don’t have any particular sensitivity readers contacts. You may try to find somebody to do that by yourself (in which case, good luck!). You can also look around for resources, I have seen a few threads and links pop up recently. Finally, you can also look for a beta who would be able to do sensitivity reading as well. It’s not guaranteed that someone who can do that will sign up as a beta for the event, but we can put it as a note during claims so betas can see it and claim accordingly!

Other than that, your best bet would be, I think, to ask on the BB Discord server if anyone can do sensitivity reading/knows someone who can.

Can ongoing works in AO3 be submitted?

No, ongoing works can't be submitted. We would like writers to submit something that hasn't been published yet; a wip, or even a complete fic, started before your signup time is fine, as long it hasn't been published elsewhere. Of course, a new fic is fine as well.

With everything going on currently, is the schedule going to remain the same for now?

It will stay the same for now, yes. However, since our next check in is next week, we will reevaluate the schedule after people have checked in, and might modify/extend it depending on people’s answers.

However, regardless of whether we make changes to the schedule or not, you can still ask for extensions or any other arrangement or help you need! That’s what we mods are here for.

POSTING

The date:

The start of regular posting is on October 25th, and it will last a week. This goes for teams where nobody has an extension. Those teams will claim a specific posting date through the posting date claims (from September 27th to October 3rd). The reason we want you to go through posting date claims is that we'd like to have a fairly even spread of works being published through the week, and this will help us organize that. You will be able to indicate the date you'd like to post as well as a second preferred date. If you can only do one particular day, select the same day twice.
Posting date claims last one week to give you time to figure out which date is best with your team, if you haven't already. Remember, you will be posting as a team on the same day!

If one or more people on your team have an extension, then your team will not participate in posting date claims! The mods will work out a date with you directly. Your posting time will be pushed back by the length of the longest extension of the team. For example, if one person has a one week extension and one person has a three weeks extension, then your posting date as a team will be pushed back three weeks.

The posting weeks will be as follows:
week of November 1st for teams with a one week extensionweek of November 8th for teams with a two weeks extensionweek of November 15th for teams with a three weeks extensionweek of November 22nd for teams with a four weeks extension
We will message everyone to make sure everyone knows their team's longest extension, and thus which posting week they should keep in mind. Of course, it'd be better if you can talk about it amongst yourselves and inform your team members if you have asked for an extension! But in case that slips your mind, we will send one round of messages about this. For any subsequent changes (i.e. if someone needs a last minute extension), we expect you to tell your team members yourselves.

How to post:

You will post works at the same time, as a team, linking to each other's work. You can post all together on the same post (for example all on AO3, or all on the same Tumblr post), but it's not required! Each person can post on any social media or website they want (for example, a writer can post their fic to AO3 AND Twitter, an artist can post their art on Twitter AND Tumblr AND Instagram, etc).

What we do require is that on each of your posts, you mention that this is something you made for the Big Bang, and that you link the work of your team member(s) as well. If your team member(s) have posted on several websites, you do not have to link to each post, only to one (if they have a post on the same website you are using, preferably that one!). For example: the artist on my team has posted their art for the BB on Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr. As the writer, I will post my fic for the BB on Twitter and AO3. On my Twitter post, I will link to the artist's Twitter post; on AO3, I will link to any of their posts.

We also require, for writers, that you mention your beta(s)! They do a lot of work that often goes unseen by readers, and we want their help to be recognized.

Anonymous posting:

We can help you post anonymously if you'd prefer that, for any reason!

On the AO3 collection, you can submit a work and ask us to keep it anonymous. You will need to message us with the link to that work and inform us that you'd like it to stay anonymous.

On AO3, Twitter and Tumblr, we can post your work for you as the SHL BB account. You will need to send us a message and what you want us to post (image file, gifs, link, doc). You can also tell us how you'd like us to format the post (i.e. "I would like this art to be above the other", "I would like you to add only the fic tags but not the summary", etc).

We cannot help you post anonymously on other websites.

If you don't want to post anonymously, but still would prefer us to post your work for you, then message us to arrange it!

Informing the mods:

If you are having us post your works for you, then you do not need to do this.

If you are posting yourself, you can use this form (https://airtable.com/shrbpwrER4dbPqfiF) to give us:
the links to all the posts you'd like us to retweet/reblog (on Twitter or Tumblr)the links to all the posts you'd like us to link to in the Big Bang Works recap list (can be from any website)You should fill out that form as soon as you have posted your work.
(Please note that the form will be disabled until posting starts! If you click on it right now and do not see anything, that is normal.)

Please DON'T message us directly with the links, unless a mod specifically asks you to. It's a lot easier for us to keep all of it in one place, attached to people's names!