What’s a Big Bang?
A Big Bang is a fandom event for creators to team up and work together on a set of creations. Each team traditionally consists of an author, a beta reader, and an artist, and the set of creations consists of a longer fic (10k words minimum), and artwork to go with it.
This Big Bang is for the MDZS and CQL fandom, including every adaptation.
Works should be centred around at least one of the characters but no fics involving any of the actors that portray the characters.
There’s no age limit to get involved, however, all participants in teams creating works that are rated Mature or Explicit must be 18 or over. The discord server is also 18+.
For writers: besides the word count, there's no limits. Just tag and warn appropriately, so that betas, artists, and readers know what they’re getting into!
Fanfics are to be posted on Archive Of Our Own, with credit and links to the artist and beta, and works are to be rated and tagged according to their system. If you need any guidance on this, there’s a useful post here. An AO3 collection will be made for this event closer to publishing time, and a post will be made later as to how to add your fic to this collection.
For artists: create as you please. Art comes in many forms, whether it’s drawing, painting, a gifset, a sculpture, a song - whatever you want to do, just tell your author. If you aren’t sure, just ask!
Art works can be posted either on Tumblr or AO3, and should credit and link the fic, author, and beta.

So, how does it work?
We will be running sign-ups for people to get involved from March 25th to 30th April. (Find the full schedule here.)
For the team pairings, each author should submit a summary of their fic - including setting (Canon/Divergence/Post-Canon/Alternate Universe), rating, focus characters, pairings (if applicable), potential warnings and tags, approximate fic length and whether they’d like a beta reader - together with a view-only Google document containing at least 2,000 words to be eligible for claims.
  Notice, it can include:
     Draft/plan of the fanfic
     Summary text and applicable tags*
     Any writing already done
     Any other miscellaneous information pertaining your idea.
     *To be used on claims
Summaries will be put into a document anonymously where artists and betas will be able to read and then submit a claim for the fic that they’d most like to work with. Do not talk about it until the teams are formed.
When the teams are announced, authors should reach out to their team members and decide how they’re going to keep in contact.
We recommend discord, and will be setting up a channel for each team if all members are part of our server.
Claims will not be first come first serve. You will have ten days to have a read through the summaries and decide which fic you’d like.
Contact check-ins will be made via email every month to make sure everything is running smoothly, with possible request of progress proof, and to answer any questions you might have. If any of these check-ins aren’t responded to, there'll be three attempts to contact you and your team via a different method, but if there's still no answer, the Mod Team will assume you’re dropping out and your team will be assigned a new member.
Posting will begin in October. There’ll be a posting week and each team will be given a set day to post both fic and art.
Everything will be reblogged/reposted onto the mdzsbigbang socials' for everyone to see, so remember to tag us!

What’s a beta reader?
It’s like an editor, someone who can look over your work with a fresh set of eyes, check spelling and grammar, and anything else you want checking. They can even help you with your plot if you’re stuck!

What’s a pinch hitter?
Someone who steps in to fill in any gaps left after the teams are formed, e.g. if someone needs to drop out. We’ll run sign ups for these after claims.

What if I can’t finish/reach the word count?
Just let us know! Keep in contact with your team, and keep them updated as to how things are going.
For artists and betas, we will be trying to organise pinch hitters to step in so that a fic is not left artless or betaless.
For authors, please get in touch with your team and ask what everyone wants to do - whether the team will drop out, or if the artist wants to go ahead and finish/post their art anyway!
The word count isn’t set in stone. We ask you to aim for 10k (more if you want!) but if your fic turns out shorter than planned, we can be flexible about this as long as there is clear communication with the mod team and as long as you keep your team in the loop.
That said, 10k isn’t as much as it sounds, especially not for 5 months. That’s about 2,000 words a month, or 500 words a week, or… you get the point! We just want to see you doing your best, and if your best is an 8k masterpiece, then we can be flexible about it!

What if I change my mind about my fic halfway through the event?
This depends on a few factors. It may be fine, but there is a non-zero chance that it will result in us asking you to drop out, or having to change your team, so we would really discourage it if at all possible. We do understand inspiration can be a difficult thing though!
If it’s before claims open, just let us know and submit a new summary, and we’ll edit the claims form. If it’s during claims, again let us know, and the course of action will depend on where we’re at with claims. If it’s after claims are done, please communicate clearly with your team as to the summary, warnings, and ratings. If they’re all okay with it, that’s great - just let us know.
However, if any of your team is uncomfortable, get in touch with the mods, and we’ll come to a decision as to what can be done.
It may be possible to get an artist pinch hitter on your work, and it may be possible to reassign your artist to another fic, but these are second-to-worst case scenarios - worst case being, you may unfortunately need to drop out.
We’ll do our best - just communicate with us first.

Can I write an OC?
Yes! Just be aware that, like all other elements of your fic, might be taken into consideration by the artists when requesting the authors they’d like to partner with. However, the main focus, or at least 50% of the focus, of your work should be at least one of the canon characters.

Can I use a fic I’ve already been working on?
If it’s not been posted yet, then of course! This can be a really good opportunity to give yourself the motivation to finish that one idea you had but never finished.

Can I write a sequel to a fic I’ve already written?
Big Bang fics should be able to stand on their own, so direct sequels aren’t allowed. However, we understand there can be a grey area in some cases, so get in touch if you’re unsure.

Can I rework an already posted fic?
It should be fine if you’re for example elaborating on a short one shot, but the majority of the story has to be previously unposted and made for this event.

Can I write a crossover?
This unfortunately isn’t an event for crossovers. While you can write from/about more than one adaptation of MDZS, crossovers outside of the MDZS universe are not allowed.
You can take inspiration from other universes, as it would be impossible for the mods to police this, but please do not integrate characters from other canons into this event in the interest of fairness to your artist/betas, who expect to be at familiar with the source material!

Can I post my writing as podfic?
As long as it’s on AO3, that should be fine!
Please indicate on your fic details form (this will be sent out after sign ups close) so that we can match you with the right team.

Can I post my work anonymously?
Yes, but the mods and your team will need to know who you are in the creation process.

Can I use AI to write/make art?
This event is about creation, so it’s a hard no on any AI content.
The use of generative AI is absolutely banned in this event. Use of generative AI will result in your immediate removal from the event, and may result in a subsequent ban by any future event run by the mod team.
There will be no second warnings. One infraction, immediate ban.

What counts as Art?
Anything that comes out of your beautiful brain! Art takes many forms, so really the only limit is your imagination. Be it painting, digital art, gifset, song, podfic, or anything else - as long as you created it and can post it to tumblr or AO3, it counts!

Can I make a moodboard/playlist/something that contains other people’s work as part of a larger creation?
Okay, grey area here!
Moodboards and playlists are absolutely acceptable, but the key here is proper credit and permission. If you have more specific scenarios that you’re unsure of, send us an ask.

Can I sign up more than once?
There is usually a limit to the number of artists and betas, and an overwhelming number of authors, so please don’t sign up to write more than one fic, but if you want to art/beta for more than one, that’s brilliant!
Also consider signing up as a pinch hitter later on (see above).

Can I co-author/co-art?
Of course! Please sign up as one entry so we can keep things organized.

Can I be/make my own team?
This is intended as an event to create a sense of community in the fandom, so we’ll team up the artists and writers. However, if you have a beta reader already, or don’t want one, you can let us know when you submit your claims summary, and we’ll exclude you from the beta reader claims.
It can be scary to meet new people, but it can also be really rewarding to work with people you might otherwise not encounter! And since the whole team will have shared/agreed to the summary and warnings, everyone knows what they’re getting into.

Who are the mods?
See our mod page here!
For any other questions, see our answered tag, or send us an ask or gimmick!