Frequently Asked Questions
Please post questions in this page, and clarifications, and violent objections, especially since English is not my primary language.
General
Q: What is a big bang?
A: A big bang is a challenge to write long fics, in this particular case, 20,000 words, coupled with art within a specified time frame. Big Bangs started in the harry potter community (specifically, the harry/draco community) with 50,000 words and since then fannish drift happened and it has taken the rest of fandom by storm.
Q: What does signing up for the challenge mean?
A: It means you're committing to writing at least 20,000 words/ one fanart/manip for 20,000 words (more if you can, especially for the higher word counts) by June 1, 2011. That's six months to write a 20,000 word fic/draw art, roughly 3,000 words per month. It means pairing up with an artist/author for the duration of the time and allowing the community to store and archive the work. It also means communicating during the set check-points with the mods.
Q: Do I need to have a livejournal accoount to join?
A: Not at all. A livejournal account is not a requirement to join. Just drop a line where you want us to write to you and we'll contact you through e-mail in the future. Open ID also works in livejournal, and that is also fine with us. When posting time comes, the mods will post your masterposts here and link towards the site of your choice, be it dA, DW, IJ etc. Just make sure to have a small link back to this community with the words 'made for the Maiko big bang' somewhere in your post.
Q: Could I write/draw/sign up for more than one area?
A: Sure. As long as you think you'll be able to meet the deadlines. Remember this is 20,000 words and at least one 500x500px artwork/manip (or an AMV/fanmix if you're so inclined...) If you overextend yourself you might not finish. So think first.
Same goes for beta-reading and writing. If you want to beta-read for another author and write your own story, that's fine, as long as you can meet your deadlines. And authors can have beta-readers not part of the community, it's perfectly fine.
Q: I can't contact my author/artist!!!
A: Please contact the mod.
Q: I still don't understand what the big bang is all about, do you know of any similar challenges?
A: Oh... gosh. Be careful, you might suddenly get lost in this... I want to see you guys BACK okay?:
Strina's list of Big Bangs
Big Bang Index (And if anyonehas a dreamwidth account please try to pimp here.) Thanks fanficforensics
Small list of Big Bangs
An Avatar Big Bang just ended last october: avatarbigbang
More questions? Please comment below.
Fanfiction
Q: What does the minimum word count mean?
A: The point of the big bang has been to archive long fics, (hence the initial 60,000 count of the first big bang.) Thefore, the fics here have that requirement. To give you an idea, a normal length book is around 100,000 words long.
Q: Could I post the finished product be archived somewhere else?
A: Sure. As long as you don't friends lock the journal that would be fine and only post the fic at the time of your posting schedule. As of now, there is no external wedbsite coded for the community. If I get another mod (is anyone volounteering for that matter? Thanks yukinoomoni), and there is time for coding, then there will be. That being said, masterposts of the fics will all be hosted here. Also in the main body of the finished work please post a link back to the community banked-flame and the words "done for the Maiko Big Bang Challenge".
We want other readers of your fic to be able to find the community. We also want them to find art associated with your work.
For Archive of Our Own users, the collection is banked_flame. It's the same name as this comm so there's no confusion, right? As soon as you get your posting date, or when your posting date comes around and you post your master fic here, go to the banked_flame collection in archive of our own and click "Post to Collection" then upload as usual. If you forgot to do that part, no worries, in the settings of your fic find "Post to Collections/Challenges" and type in banked_flame.
As for annoying FF.N non-linking out policy, a mention that goes, 'made for the Maiko LJ big bang community, "banked-flame", check out everybody's work in the comm' or a permutation of that would be sufficient. So please, don't use FF.N as the host where your master posts are connected to.
In fact I encourage you to link the master posts here in this community to the fic body in your own journal, as long as the fic is not friend's locked. I'm not sure if I can code for an external web site yet, but for now host the fic in your journal with masterposts here is the plan.
Q: Is there an upper limit to the fic?
A: No. The requirement is a completed work by June 1, 2010. If you reach 300,000 words by then that's fine. However, you can't give us 20,000 words of an unfinished fic. If you plan to have a sequel to the fic in the future, that's fine, but fics submitted to the big bang must be able to stand alone.
Q: Could I write more than one fic?
A: Try to finish one first, please. I know you might have a lot of plot bunnies, but we're all worried of people overexterting themselves. But yes. If you think you can go ahead. But same rules apply. You must meet all the deadlines in the timeline.
Q: Is smut allowed?
A: Yes. The work could range from G to NC-17, however, please make sure to put up appropriate tags.
Q: Are AUs/Crossovers/Divergent fics allowed?
A: Yes. The requirement of this big bang is the Maiko centric element.
Q: Maiko Element? Does it need to be a romance?
A: No. The fic doesn't need to be romance for there to be strong Maiko elements. A Fire lord with his lady working as an assassin in the background fighting evil in Ba Sing Se is equally plausible. A gen fic with Maiko as a dominant pair is all right.
Q: Are other pair ups allowed?
A: Yes. As long as the prominent pair up is Mai x Zuko, any pair up is allowed. In fact, if you want to start off with a Jetko that's perfectly fine, as long as it ends with a Maiko. Say you start with a Jetko and end up with a Maiko, that's fine. (How are you writing that, I'm curious?) or you make Maiko with Kataang focusing on the Fire Lord's reign, that's fine too. If in doubt, just ask.
Q: Are dark fics/Mai/Zuko deaths allowed?
A: Dark fics and character deaths are allowed, yes. The requirement is the Maiko focus, not the happily ever after. Just put up appropriate warnings. Some people might not like it.
Q: Are there going to be prompts?
A: Not for this one. If it's successful and another one is made next year, we can work on prompts. It doesn't mean that you can't prompt someone else, of course, and we will have a post on ideas for future prompts or something similar.
Q: Why am I required to submit a summary early on? How long does it need to be?
A: This is used for the artist match ups. The summary can change at a later date, but this is what the artists will read when choosing from a list of other fics on which fic they will work with. The summaries need not be long, and a minimum of three sentences is enough. It is up to your discretion to decide how to entice your artist.
Q: Why am I required to submit an extensive outline? Why are there checkpoints?
A: As with most big bangs, authors outnumber artists 3:1, that being the case, we prioritize the authors in match ups who submit what is required from them on time. The outline will tell the mods that you're committed to 20,000 words, therefore an artist will reciprocate by committing to draw for you.
The checkpoints are there so that we know that you're still working with us and have not decided to drop out. Since it's a long term project some people may decide to drop out.
Q: How will I submit my work?
A: Per deadline, please submit the work to banked.flame [at] gmail.com.
Q: Will everyone get art work?
A: Currently, authors number more than the artists. And that is usually the case in big bangs... Most probably after the first round of artist claims, there would be a second round for artists who wish to participate. That being said, there is going to be more fics than art. I will TRY to see what I can do about this, but there are no promises.
More questions? Please comment below.
Artwork
Q: What will I do as an artist?
A: Encourage others of like minds to come and join? *g* One 500x500px artwork (fanart/manipulation) or an AMV or a fanmix (with a cover) for the fic of your choice. Summaries for the fic will be posted here and artists will choose which one they would like to work for. After the artist has chosen, a mod will mail the artist with the author information so that they could collaborate. I'm wondering if artists would be willing to do work per author output, say a 20,000 word fic one art work then per 20,000 a smaller piece of art (like an icon, or a divider) to be given.
Q: What is considered artwork?
A: Fanart, Manipulations, Fanmixes, FST (please have a cover) AMVs are all considered art work.
Q: Could I post the finished product be archived somewhere else?
A: Sure. As long as you don't friends lock the journal that would be fine and only post the art at the time of your posting schedule. As of now, there is no external website coded for the community. If I get another mod, and there is time for coding, then there will be. That being said, masterposts of the artwork will all be hosted here.
If you agree to the challenge you are also agreeing to making the art work accessible to people and archiving them here.
Also in the work please post a link back to the community banked-flame and the words 'done for the Maiko Big Bang Challenge'.
Q: Is smut allowed?
A: Yes. Usually, in big bangs, art work rating does not go higher than a fic so that they could be viewed together. If artwork rating is higher, (that is, NC-17 picture for a G fic) it would have to be stored separately with more warnings for the art. The key here is collaborating closely with your author.
More questions? Please comment below.
General
Q: What is a big bang?
A: A big bang is a challenge to write long fics, in this particular case, 20,000 words, coupled with art within a specified time frame. Big Bangs started in the harry potter community (specifically, the harry/draco community) with 50,000 words and since then fannish drift happened and it has taken the rest of fandom by storm.
Q: What does signing up for the challenge mean?
A: It means you're committing to writing at least 20,000 words/ one fanart/manip for 20,000 words (more if you can, especially for the higher word counts) by June 1, 2011. That's six months to write a 20,000 word fic/draw art, roughly 3,000 words per month. It means pairing up with an artist/author for the duration of the time and allowing the community to store and archive the work. It also means communicating during the set check-points with the mods.
Q: Do I need to have a livejournal accoount to join?
A: Not at all. A livejournal account is not a requirement to join. Just drop a line where you want us to write to you and we'll contact you through e-mail in the future. Open ID also works in livejournal, and that is also fine with us. When posting time comes, the mods will post your masterposts here and link towards the site of your choice, be it dA, DW, IJ etc. Just make sure to have a small link back to this community with the words 'made for the Maiko big bang' somewhere in your post.
Q: Could I write/draw/sign up for more than one area?
A: Sure. As long as you think you'll be able to meet the deadlines. Remember this is 20,000 words and at least one 500x500px artwork/manip (or an AMV/fanmix if you're so inclined...) If you overextend yourself you might not finish. So think first.
Same goes for beta-reading and writing. If you want to beta-read for another author and write your own story, that's fine, as long as you can meet your deadlines. And authors can have beta-readers not part of the community, it's perfectly fine.
Q: I can't contact my author/artist!!!
A: Please contact the mod.
Q: I still don't understand what the big bang is all about, do you know of any similar challenges?
A: Oh... gosh. Be careful, you might suddenly get lost in this... I want to see you guys BACK okay?:
Strina's list of Big Bangs
Big Bang Index (And if anyonehas a dreamwidth account please try to pimp here.) Thanks fanficforensics
Small list of Big Bangs
An Avatar Big Bang just ended last october: avatarbigbang
More questions? Please comment below.
Fanfiction
Q: What does the minimum word count mean?
A: The point of the big bang has been to archive long fics, (hence the initial 60,000 count of the first big bang.) Thefore, the fics here have that requirement. To give you an idea, a normal length book is around 100,000 words long.
Q: Could I post the finished product be archived somewhere else?
A: Sure. As long as you don't friends lock the journal that would be fine and only post the fic at the time of your posting schedule. As of now, there is no external wedbsite coded for the community. If I get another mod (is anyone volounteering for that matter? Thanks yukinoomoni), and there is time for coding, then there will be. That being said, masterposts of the fics will all be hosted here. Also in the main body of the finished work please post a link back to the community banked-flame and the words "done for the Maiko Big Bang Challenge".
We want other readers of your fic to be able to find the community. We also want them to find art associated with your work.
For Archive of Our Own users, the collection is banked_flame. It's the same name as this comm so there's no confusion, right? As soon as you get your posting date, or when your posting date comes around and you post your master fic here, go to the banked_flame collection in archive of our own and click "Post to Collection" then upload as usual. If you forgot to do that part, no worries, in the settings of your fic find "Post to Collections/Challenges" and type in banked_flame.
As for annoying FF.N non-linking out policy, a mention that goes, 'made for the Maiko LJ big bang community, "banked-flame", check out everybody's work in the comm' or a permutation of that would be sufficient. So please, don't use FF.N as the host where your master posts are connected to.
In fact I encourage you to link the master posts here in this community to the fic body in your own journal, as long as the fic is not friend's locked. I'm not sure if I can code for an external web site yet, but for now host the fic in your journal with masterposts here is the plan.
Q: Is there an upper limit to the fic?
A: No. The requirement is a completed work by June 1, 2010. If you reach 300,000 words by then that's fine. However, you can't give us 20,000 words of an unfinished fic. If you plan to have a sequel to the fic in the future, that's fine, but fics submitted to the big bang must be able to stand alone.
Q: Could I write more than one fic?
A: Try to finish one first, please. I know you might have a lot of plot bunnies, but we're all worried of people overexterting themselves. But yes. If you think you can go ahead. But same rules apply. You must meet all the deadlines in the timeline.
Q: Is smut allowed?
A: Yes. The work could range from G to NC-17, however, please make sure to put up appropriate tags.
Q: Are AUs/Crossovers/Divergent fics allowed?
A: Yes. The requirement of this big bang is the Maiko centric element.
Q: Maiko Element? Does it need to be a romance?
A: No. The fic doesn't need to be romance for there to be strong Maiko elements. A Fire lord with his lady working as an assassin in the background fighting evil in Ba Sing Se is equally plausible. A gen fic with Maiko as a dominant pair is all right.
Q: Are other pair ups allowed?
A: Yes. As long as the prominent pair up is Mai x Zuko, any pair up is allowed. In fact, if you want to start off with a Jetko that's perfectly fine, as long as it ends with a Maiko. Say you start with a Jetko and end up with a Maiko, that's fine. (How are you writing that, I'm curious?) or you make Maiko with Kataang focusing on the Fire Lord's reign, that's fine too. If in doubt, just ask.
Q: Are dark fics/Mai/Zuko deaths allowed?
A: Dark fics and character deaths are allowed, yes. The requirement is the Maiko focus, not the happily ever after. Just put up appropriate warnings. Some people might not like it.
Q: Are there going to be prompts?
A: Not for this one. If it's successful and another one is made next year, we can work on prompts. It doesn't mean that you can't prompt someone else, of course, and we will have a post on ideas for future prompts or something similar.
Q: Why am I required to submit a summary early on? How long does it need to be?
A: This is used for the artist match ups. The summary can change at a later date, but this is what the artists will read when choosing from a list of other fics on which fic they will work with. The summaries need not be long, and a minimum of three sentences is enough. It is up to your discretion to decide how to entice your artist.
Q: Why am I required to submit an extensive outline? Why are there checkpoints?
A: As with most big bangs, authors outnumber artists 3:1, that being the case, we prioritize the authors in match ups who submit what is required from them on time. The outline will tell the mods that you're committed to 20,000 words, therefore an artist will reciprocate by committing to draw for you.
The checkpoints are there so that we know that you're still working with us and have not decided to drop out. Since it's a long term project some people may decide to drop out.
Q: How will I submit my work?
A: Per deadline, please submit the work to banked.flame [at] gmail.com.
Q: Will everyone get art work?
A: Currently, authors number more than the artists. And that is usually the case in big bangs... Most probably after the first round of artist claims, there would be a second round for artists who wish to participate. That being said, there is going to be more fics than art. I will TRY to see what I can do about this, but there are no promises.
More questions? Please comment below.
Artwork
Q: What will I do as an artist?
A: Encourage others of like minds to come and join? *g* One 500x500px artwork (fanart/manipulation) or an AMV or a fanmix (with a cover) for the fic of your choice. Summaries for the fic will be posted here and artists will choose which one they would like to work for. After the artist has chosen, a mod will mail the artist with the author information so that they could collaborate. I'm wondering if artists would be willing to do work per author output, say a 20,000 word fic one art work then per 20,000 a smaller piece of art (like an icon, or a divider) to be given.
Q: What is considered artwork?
A: Fanart, Manipulations, Fanmixes, FST (please have a cover) AMVs are all considered art work.
Q: Could I post the finished product be archived somewhere else?
A: Sure. As long as you don't friends lock the journal that would be fine and only post the art at the time of your posting schedule. As of now, there is no external website coded for the community. If I get another mod, and there is time for coding, then there will be. That being said, masterposts of the artwork will all be hosted here.
If you agree to the challenge you are also agreeing to making the art work accessible to people and archiving them here.
Also in the work please post a link back to the community banked-flame and the words 'done for the Maiko Big Bang Challenge'.
Q: Is smut allowed?
A: Yes. Usually, in big bangs, art work rating does not go higher than a fic so that they could be viewed together. If artwork rating is higher, (that is, NC-17 picture for a G fic) it would have to be stored separately with more warnings for the art. The key here is collaborating closely with your author.
More questions? Please comment below.