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tfwbigbang · 3 years

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Team Free Will Big Bang FAQ and Rules 2021

Rules

You must be aged 18 or over upon registration in order to take part in this bang. If you lie about your age, you will be banned from all future TFW Big Bangs and other events run by this bang’s mods.

Authors, Artists and Betas will be sent a confirmation email within 48 hours of signing up. You must reply to this email to complete sign up.

What do I create?

Authors:

A story of a minimum of 15,000 words (big bang).

Or a story of a minimum of 5000 words (mini bang).

The story must feature Team Free Will (Dean, Sam and Cas) at the center of the story or Team Free Will 2.0 (Dean, Sam, Cas and Jack).

Or be a real person fanfic (RPF) featuring Jared, Jensen and Misha at the center of the story (Alexander Calvert can also be included as a central character if you so desire).

No story may feature anyone under the age of 16 in an explicit sexual situation, this rises to 18 for RPF.

Your story must be posted in full on your assigned posting day.

See further in the FAQ for more details.

Artists:

For a big bang: a cover and two pieces of art connected to the fic (cover can be derived from main art).

For a mini bang: a cover and a piece of art connected to the fic (cover can be derived from main art).

No art may feature anyone under the age of 18 in an explicit sexual situation.

No explicit art may be posted to Tumblr.

No art can be made of photo manipulations.

Note that this bang runs a no fic left behind policy.

See further in the FAQ for more details

Authors must not discuss their stories publicly on places like social media or Discord servers before claims, unless it is in vague terms to secure a beta reader. You may discuss your story with your beta reader and on the TFWBB Discord server.

All authors and artists must familiarize themselves with the bang schedule.

All authors and artists must make attempts to regularly communicate with each other once paired.

For those taking part, we have created a Discord server. Details about this are available upon bang sign-up.

For more in-depth information on how to be a good bang participant: check out this post on allspnships.

FAQ

What are the differences between mini and big bangs?

Basically how long your story is. The Big Bang has a minimum of 15,000 words, and will receive a minimum of two art pieces from the artist plus a fic cover, while the Minibang has a minimum of 5,000 words, and will receive a cover and at least one piece of art.

Do covers have to be completely separate pieces of art from the rest of the bang’s art?

Covers can be remixes of art already created for the fic. But they need to feature the fic title, the names of the artist and the author(s).

How/where do I submit my draft?

We will provide details about this directly to creators nearer posting time.

How long does my story need to be?

You have two options: for a Big Bang, you need a minimum of 15,000 words. For a Minibang, you need at least 5,000.

What does the focus of my story need to be?

Your story must focus on all three members of Team Free Will: Dean, Sam, and Castiel. This means the story can be Dean/Sam, Dean/Cas, Sam/Cas, Sam/Dean/Cas or gen. If you choose a two-person pairing, the third character must be an equal focus on the story.

We won’t be counting words, but please try to stay within the spirit of the challenge. This is about celebrating Team Free Will characters, so have fun with them.

Since 2018, we have accepted interpretations of Team Free Will that include Jack Kline (Team Free Will 2.0), but everyone must still have equal importance in your story.

Team Free Love (Sam/Castiel/Dean/Gabriel) is not accepted for this bang.

Reader inserts are not accepted for this bang.

We will allow pairings where the four are with other characters, such as Sam/Eileen or Dean/Gabriel, BUT that pairing cannot be the main focus of the story.

Are AUs, crossovers and fusions allowed?

Yes, all are allowed. However, the more obscure the other fandom, the harder finding an artist who knows both will be, so keep that in mind.

What about RPF?

RPF is welcome, but must focus on Jared, Misha, Jensen and (if you want) Alexander, and their relationships with each other. So any combination of these four is welcome, as is a gen RPF where no one’s together. Everyone of these three (or four) needs equal weight in your plot.

What about underage?

Please ensure that all fanfic doesn’t include under 16s depicted in sexual situations—this raises to 18 for RPF. Basically, off the page is fine, but not on the page. All explicit art can only feature characters aged 18 and upwards.

Is it okay to write a sequel or prequel to an existing fic?

No, it needs to be a completely new story.

Can I sign up as both an author and an artist?

Yes, but you cannot claim your own fic.

Can I create additional art for my fic/have other artists make banners and art?

Not until a year after your post date.

May I do photo manipulations for art?

Due to issues of quality with manips in previous years, we have decided that photo manipulations are no longer welcome in the Team Free Will Big Bang.

May I do paper art or use alternative physical mediums like textiles or clay?

Yes.

Covers—can they feature explicit art?

Due to masterposts being posted on Tumblr, covers cannot feature explicit imagery.

Will there be promos? Can I advertise my fic on my Tumblr, Pillowfort, Dreamwidth, Twitter, etc?

There will be a formal promo period available to you during August, once posting dates are known. Promos will be promoted on all our blogs and Twitter. Details on how to promo will be made available in August.

Please do not promote stories ahead of this. You will be welcome to reblog/retweet your promos from our official blogs and Twitter.

Where do I post my fic/art when it’s complete?

All fics must be posted to AO3 and made live on your posting date, with the art embedded in the appropriate scenes if the artist allows.

All art must have a masterpost on either Dreamwidth, Pillowfort, AO3, or Tumblr made live on your posting day. Remember that explicit art should not be posted to Tumblr, unless it is extensively censored.

On or before your posting day, both links must be submitted in a post to the TFW Big Bang Dreamwidth, Pillowfort community and/or Tumblr blog. We will share the posting format nearer the time of posting. We will check over the masterpost, and make it public on the appropriate day on all platforms.

Do I need to link back to my artist’s master art post on my AO3 story?

Yes, all stories must have a link that goes to the art masterpost made by your artist. We advise you add this link in your notes using HTML like:

Will there be an AO3 collection for posted fics and art?

You will be able to add your fics and art to the moderated collection via: tfw_bb_2021.

Do I need a Dreamwidth/Pillowfort/Tumblr/AO3 account to participate?

Artists should have at least one to post their art to, and authors should have at least AO3 to post their fic to. No account besides an email address is required for claims.

Masterpost submissions to Pillowfort or Dreamwidth will require an account on the service you want to use. Tumblr may be submitted to without an account. Submit the fic and art masterpost to your preferred platform and it will be crossposted by the mods.

Due to changes in LiveJournal’s terms of service in April 2017, the bang is no longer being actively run on LJ, though may be promoted there.

Can I write more than one story/collaborate on a story?

Each author can write only one story for this challenge. You are welcome to collaborate on a story, but that counts as your one story.

Can I claim more than one fic to make art for?

The first round of claiming will allow artists to claim only one story. If there are still unclaimed stories 24 hours after the claiming begins, we’ll open a second round for artists to claim a second piece or for artists who didn’t originally sign up to participate. If artists drop out after assignments are set, artists can pinch hit as well regardless of whether they’re already assigned one story.

What do I need to provide for claims?

Fic writers will need to provide drafts that are at least 80% complete (with a beginning, middle and (almost an) end) for claims, along with a summary. Specifics on how to do this will be shared via email ahead of the submissions date.

We will not accept drafts that fail to meet this criteria, as it’s not fair on artists.

What is “no fic left behind”?

If an artist fails to meet art draft check-ins, providing proof of art, when required: they will be removed from the bang and a new artist found for the affected bang story.

The only exception to this is those affected by extenuating circumstances who manage to communicate with their author or the mods—in this instance an extension will be given.

What if something happens in RL and I need to post on a different day or get an extension, or something?

Contact the mods, or get your teammate to contact the mods, or get a friend to contact the mods. Stuff happens and we don’t want our bang to be an extra stress, but you need to let us know that you need help so that we can help you. We can be pretty flexible, so please don’t worry and get in touch. You can reach us at teamfreewillbigbang(at)gmail(dot)com.

How will claims work?

There will be a preview doc with each summary posted at least 48 hours before claims and emailed to artists who have already signed up. When claims open, we will email a link to a Google Form where we’ll ask you to resubmit some of your artist details and your top five picks for doing art. We’ll update the preview summaries with notes on fics as they’re assigned.

Do writers need beta readers?

Yes, all fic needs to be beta read for at least spelling, punctuation and grammar.

If you don’t have a beta reader, you can try asking someone from our beta list to beta for you.

Ask on /r/fandomnatural or you can check out our list of beta readers for the bang. Details of this list will be emailed to authors once available.

May I post a WIP?

Works in progress (WIP) are not permitted to be posted for this bang. Fics must be posted complete (i.e. no serial posting).

You didn’t answer my question

Please contact hit_the_books,majesticduxk and fogsrollingin at teamfreewillbigbang(at)gmail(dot)com.

#mod post #rules and faq #tfwbigbang2021

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a-stitch-in-time-and-space · 4 years

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You ask for prompts and I'm here again to seek new content to read: 3. How often do/can they see each other (due to living on different planets, having stressful jobs, etc) with Gashir (/Garakshir) 🤩🤩

Eyyyyy. I am just gonna… casually fold into this… a little trans-Bashir as a treat…. because it’s trans day of visibility!!! Also I hc Cardassians as intersex, in the sense of they as a species don’t call themselves intersex, but their genders are far more loosely determined at birth, because there’s not really sexual dimorphism (or rather, there is, but it’s so many different factors that it’s not classified) and then gendering comes later in life depending on what role they’re supposed to play in society ahem – different post to make!

Also Garak has a tail in this, also casually.. also this got longer than intended… oops?

—– Letter Analysis ——

Their lives have a sort of normality that many families in this day and age exist with. Space travel, careers that necessitate being off-planet for long stretches at a time, the struggles of being a representative for entire planets or systems, all of this isn’t out of the ordinary.

Still, it takes them a little while to adjust, if only because they spent so long not getting it together that now that they have, well, they want to savour it. On the flip-side their relationship functions much better than so many who enter into partnerships of some kind without fully considering the difficulties of spending so much time apart and inevitably crumble.

Because of all that time they know, without a doubt, that their lives are entwined for good, regardless of how much of it they spend without one another’s physical company.

They fall into letter-writing naturally. After all, they had been doing the same before, why stop now.

It has become something of a competition at this point: who can write the longest letter. Thus far, Julian is winning and Elim is still in the process of reading his when they see one another again. He pretends to be blasé about it, but Julian can read him easily these days. He wonders at the time when he couldn’t and can’t really picture it.

While Elim is giving him a back-handed compliment at the way he’s managed to fold three words worth of content into whole paragraphs, Julian realises that he’s never known anyone as well as he knows Elim. And every detail of himself is known in turn. From the scars of his chest surgery that he purposefully kept, to the ridges at the base of Elim’s tail, it feels like everything about them was perfectly made for the other.

It’s strange, how many tiny moments are filled with love, they both learn.

(After Elim sends him a letter of 3000 pages, Julian simply answers: You win).

They consider what it would be like to have a family with the way their lives are run. Elim generally lives on Cardassia unless his diplomatic duties take him elsewhere, while Julian is hopping from emergency to medical find to distress call to conference.

Still, they approach the matter on the premise that it will happen. Their letters during these years follow a trajectory of thought with little variation, as they can’t actually be together for the discussion.

They discuss pregnancy – both of them are capable of bearing a child, but the time needed (nine earth months for humans, even longer for cardassians) makes it a challenging prospect. Moreover Julian and Elim, each for their own reason, have issues with concepts surrounding an uncontrollable force fundamentally changing their bodies.

It doesn’t take them long to agree that adoption was always the only option. Still there’s the matter of their careers being incompatible with children. Neither of them wants to put a child in harm’s way and both of their careers contain elements of danger. I believe, writes Elim drily and with an underlying sadness that Julian wishes he could heal, that this sixth assassination attempt may contain a sign that a child would not be particularly safe in my company.

The way this resolves itself is oddly perfect for what they need and who they are and comes through both of their continued work with mixed-species war-orphans, who more often than not are homeless, ostrasized and suffering from any number of easily treatable diseases. Garak opens a series of institutions in the name of Ziyal and habitually lends a hand in their various gardens where he befriends a number of the kids.

This plan also works to ground a lot of Julian’s focus in the space of mixed-species research, specifically writing papers on the future of the galaxy needing to see species integration for the sake of these kids as an inevitability as cultures mix and to understand the medical and cultural implications thereof.

Kira and Ro get heavily involved on the Bajoran side of things – in general a bunch of adults from DS9 days come together to give kids a better chance than they had.

Beyond that though, they come to realise that they’re okay on family. With these kids – many of whom they get to know personally over the years – with Molly and Yoshi O'Brien and Rebecca Sisko getting older and the two of them functioning as uncles, there’s more than enough for them to be getting on with on the children front: Elim and I were very happy to see you all again – Don’t worry, I’ll keep Yoshi safe – we’ll be making a stop at Bajor where Nerys is very excited to see him again –

Their circle is actually a sizeable, cross-galaxy household. They come to realise that it doesn’t matter if your family is someone you can’t see often, what matters is they’re all inhabiting the same space.

They don’t argue often. With the lack of time they have together, what would be the point of raising petty squabbles. There are things like the time Julian forgot about a very important dinner that Elim was a guest of honour at, which opened up a box of the kind of loneliness Elim thought he’d overcome, but it wasn’t about anger or arguing, it was about the two of them figuring out that sometimes this not seeing one another was actually damned hard. It was about asking for forgiveness and receiving it even before the asking. It was about making sure that they wouldn’t let things ever be unsaid, because their time together – comparative to their whole lives – was always going to be so short.

The actual worst long-standing consequence is that Elim and Julian are political celebrities, and so whatever tabloid-equivalent exists publishes one thousand pieces on their apparently irreconcilable relationship. Julian finds himself referred to as everything from a “heartthrob who found he needed more,” to “a cheater who habitually has several affairs at once.”

It’s amazing, remarks Elim in his latest letter, how these kinds of spurious articles are written even today, and how they still don’t seem to know the facts. On that note I hope you have a wonderful time with Data, and Parmak sends his love from my lap - it’s making it very hard to write this.

They’re both twenty years older by now, but things aren’t slowing down with their work by the looks of things. Julian’s work centres more and more on the various groups whose medical needs are considered less valid or even non-medical, because of their social status and who often have medical issues of kinds that don’t come up in normative societies – mixed-species, augments, A.I. (for awhile his standing suffers, when he argues that mechanical needs for A.I. ought to be taught in Starfleet Medical), non-bipedal species, Ex-B’s, Jem'Hadar, clones.

Elim keeps his Carrington Award on the wall for everyone to see. Partly to mess with him – To The Prestigious Winner of the CA – many of his letters begin for several years after, but mostly out of pride.

(In return and with as much love, Julian addresses him as Ambassador and Castellan – the joke evolves as they find ever more flowery titles for one another. Julian wins this one: My Dearest, the Ambassador to the United Federation of planets, Castellan of the Cardassian Union, Blusher when Being Whispered Compliments about the Length of Your Tail, Not-So-Secret Reader of Austen and Pratchett, Seducer of Doctors (No Doubt Currently Spluttering in Denial), Possessor of Biteable Ridges (Blushing Again, I Hope) and of My Heart… this opening continues a further four pages. The letter itself reads: I expect to land on Cardassia within the next three days. Surprise.)

At the end of it all, Julian finally comes to Cardassia for good. Along the way it’s become his home more than any planet, station, starship, or system, for the simple fact that he’s been returning to Elim, and Elim is home.

There’s a strangeness to all the time they have. The walks they take, the languid mornings, the discussions of books they’ve read whilst in each other’s company, it’s all far more surreal than the years spent wanting to see one another again and catching whatever moments they could.

They can’t shake the habit of writing one another letters, even as they’re sitting in the same room. They don’t need to be long or well-formed any more, although occasionally silly competitions spring up, just for fun.

The one Julian’s reading right now, as Elim’s tail languidly curls around his waist, simply says: I am glad that you’re finally home – E

–— The End ——

Submissions for drabbles are now closed, thank you for sending me asks!

#Julian Bashir #Elim Garak #Garashir #ds9 #st: ds9 #star trek #fanfic #writing

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neomatch · 6 years

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Neomatch is live!

Neomatch is a “dating site” made for the purpose of pairing the neotag’s lonely neopet OCs together with the intention of finding them friends, and maybe a little something more :)

Like all fun things, NeoMatch has some guidelines we would like you to read before submitting apps to help clear up any confusion or concerns! Please click to read more about this project and learn how you can be part of it.

Guidelines

Neomatch is intended to be a fun, community building activity and resource for people in the neopets fandom who would like to incorporate other’s neopet OCs into their stories/character development and need somewhere to start. We want to keep this site as drama free as possible and ask everyone to abide by the following rules:

Neomatch is purely for fun and not meant to be taken too seriously, so please refrain from starting conflict if your neopet does not find a partner or is turned down by the partner you wanted for them. This site is for making friends, not enemies!

We ask everyone to respect the boundaries of the other individuals associated with this site. That means that if someone isn’t looking for romance for their pet, don’t ask! If they don’t want to RP or have ship art drawn of their pet then please be sure to respect that. What this also means is, regardless of the pet’s sexuality, if the user has stated they are only looking for a specific gender of partner for their pet, please abide to that as well. (I.E. someone’s OC is bisexual but only interested in girls, don’t pursue them with your male OC! Neopets can have preferences, too)

The minimum OC age to use this service is 16, and RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN UNDERAGE OCS AND ADULT OCS ARE NOT ALLOWED!!!! We have created tags with the purpose to seperate the adults from the teens, but while searching through other tags on our blog PLEASE keep an eye out for which OCs are “neominors” and “neoadults” respectively. The only exception to this is the “2 year age gap” rule which basically means that if your OC is 16, the oldest OC they can date is 18. If your pet is 17, the oldest OC they can date is 19. Please be mindful of this rule regardless of what your opinion is of age gaps irl. Anyone found to be purposely breaking this rule will be removed and blocked from Neomatch and will not be allowed to participate in events related to it.

Contact us ASAP if you receive any form of harassment from someone related to using this service. This includes disrespecting pre-established boundaries (unsolicited RP/ship art), pressuring or giulting someone into having your OCs date/be friends, and anything related to shipping minors/adult OCs together (that breaks the 2 year age gap rule). Anyone who is found to be breaking the rules will either be given a warning or be blocked and banned from using the service (depending on the severity of the situation).

Now that is over with, let’s get to the fun part!

1. Making your Application

Below are examples of the templates available to you at this time, the first one is the Neomatch Application which is required to fill out in order to use this service.

Here’s a beautifully illustrated and completed version of the template made by Zji:

Here is where you can download the template yourself! The folder includes a Visual Guide, a blank PNG, and a blank PSD.

The second template is the Neomatch Profile which is completely optional!

Here’s Zji’s version of the profile:

Here is where you can download the blank version of the profile, as well as the visual guide +PSD! This template is easiest to fill out in Photoshop, but if you don’t have Photoshop you can add text to the blank profile in another art program like Paint. If you want to add emojis to your profile but don’t have them on your computer, I would type up the bio on tumblr mobile, save as a draft, screenshot it, then paste into the profile :)

Here is a brief rundown of what is OK and not ok to do when filling out the templates:

Feel free to

change the color of the background, text boxes, and font as you wish (as long as you can still read it)

add multiple pictures into picture box

use a different font to fill out the form

Please refrain from

Changing the color of the header/footer (This is fine on the Profile, but we want to keep the grey top and bottom on the Application)

Removing or editing the Neomatch logo

Leaving info boxes blank (except for the “Other” box)

Filling out the form illegibly (if you really want to write in the info yourself just make sure other people can read it)

Using images you don’t have permission to use as the profile picture

If you have any problems filling out the form or have questions for us related to it, please send us an ask or DM and we will help you ASAP.

Here is where you can see some more of Zji’s apps/profiles if you want to see more examples.

2. Submitting your application

If you go to the Submit page you will see we have a few more rules and stuff to follow just to help keep stuff organized. I will briefly address them here as well as some other things

We prefer at this time if you don’t post your applications to tumblr on your main blog/other blogs. You are absolutely welcome to reblog submissions from us, but we would like to keep everything in one place and don’t want to clutter people’s feed’s with the same picture over and over again.

You can submit as many apps as you want, but if we receive a lot of submissions at once we may put them into a queue to try to space out the posts.

It’s very important to use that you tag your submission correctly to save us a little bit of time when uploading them, we can’t tag them for you because we aren’t at liberty to assume what your OC is looking for

If your application or something related to your submission is incorrect we will send you a message and explain how you can fix it

If you have any questions or are confused about the submission process please shoot us an ask and we will try our best to help you

It is also required to fill out the following form in the description of your submission to be accepted:

Contact: (your blog[s] here) Is it OK to draw your OC interacting with other OCs platonically?: (yes/no/ask first) Is it OK for Neomatch to send you “Matches’ via DM with similar characters your OC may be compatible with, or would you like to look by yourself?: (yes or no) [BE SURE TO HAVE YOUR DMS OPEN IF YOU SAY YES OR ELSE YOU WONT GET MATCHES FROM US] If you marked “No” above, is it still okay for us to match your OC with other’s OCs? (you won’t get a DM from us but someone might DM you): (yes/no) Other important info: (maybe include a bit of your character’s backstory & if you are looking for characters to add to your story, etc? or anything else at all you would like to include)

3. Receiving Neomatches

We intend on providing a little matchmaker service to those who opt into it, what it consists of is the admins of this blog helping you find friends/romance for your OC by taking mutual interests, location, age, and so on into consideration and pairing your OC with someone else’s based off of that. These “Neomatches” will be DMed to you privately (SO KEEP YOUR DMs OPEN) and it’s completely up to you on whether or not you’d like to pursue it or not. The message will consist of something like “_____ has a new match!” and we’ll DM you the profile of the other OC. If you find this service annoying or are not interested in using it you can let us know and we will stop sending them to you :)

I think that basically covers the jist of it, so keep an eye out for future updates and announcements! Feel free to send us an ask here if you have any questions or concerns related to using this service! We hope you all have as much fun with this as we will!

#neotag #neomatch #neopets #all posts will be tagged with neomatch btw incase anyone wants to blacklist it

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theletterformallyknownasq · 4 years

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Mariam - September 13th 2018

Mariam: How did I received my name? That's a good question. It's my grandmother's name. And I believe that, traditionally, everybody’s named after somebody in our family. I'm Mariam, which comes from my grandma Mariam, and the list goes on. Everybody just has a namesake, right? It's an honor to be able to carry on your ancestor's name. I guess the ideal is to live up to it. But, *laughs*, that's debatable.

Me: Is your family a matriarch? As any American family, you sharing the name of so many of your relatives is very normal in culture. Chad Jr, Chad Sr, etc Mariam: Not really, one of my brothers calls his son a Jr. but it’s not formal. Me: Not even for, like, male relatives? Mariam: It’s not common for my family to refer to anybody as a 'junior'. Matter of fact, when me and my sister were growing up, because we're like 18 months apart, people used to ask me, "how do you know who they're talking to?” And because I was more of a trouble-maker, 'I know the tone difference' is what I used to say. Right? Like, Mariam. That's me, usually. (In a softer tone) Mariammm, that's usually my sister *laughs*. But they started calling me Biggy and her Lilly. Just because we were in the same household, I imagine. My niece, we have initials for her, but that's just in text, if you will. But otherwise, we call her Mariam. And when all three of us are in the same house together, I don't know. It just kind of works. Me: How do you identify? Pronouns, Nationality, everything. Mariam: I'm an African...labels are tough for me. Because I don't fit into any one label. Even as an African, I'm not just African. You know what I mean? There's so many cultural aspects to me. So, I identify as Mariam. As far as my sexuality is concerned its diverse sexual fluidity. Me: Is that how you define Queer? Mariam: No, that's how I define my Queer. You define your Queer the way you want it to be. That's your business. I don't fit into any of these molds. What is a bisexual? What is a gay person? I don't know what that means! You know, because I've seen so many different people in so many different realms of life that identify as straight people that do a lot of gay stuff. And I know a lot of gay people that identify as gay and have babies and do all kinds of straight stuff. So, if that works for them, I'm with it. I can respect that. I can ride with the ride because, again, I'm fluid. But for me, I don't want you to look at me and say, “Mariam's Queer or she's not Queer or she's not this or that.” And then if we decide to have sex, you can get to know more about my business! But that's my new thing: Diverse Sexual Fluidity. Me: I like that. Mariam: That shit's tight *laughs*. But I truly do identify as Mariam. If somebody were to ask me if I am a Queer person? Yeah, I have Queer tendencies, absolutely, you know. But I also have straight tendencies too and sometimes I don't have no sexual tendencies. Sometimes I'm asexual like shit. I mean, I'm not kidding. There are times of celibacy that I don't look at it as celibacy, it's just I don't want to be bothered with nobody, you know. That's just what it is. You know? That took years to come to that conclusion. I didn't just come out like that. Me: Where's your family from and what brought your family and you to Minnesota? Mariam: I was born here. My father arrived here by way of Kenya. My birth mother is American. Her family is from Louisiana and they traveled up here to Minnesota around the [19]50s, and my second mother is from the Middle East. My Kenyan father came here to play music around 1975, and became an entrepreneur. Both of my mother's family came here for education and economic betterment. Me: And what kept your family here? Mariam: Well first of all, without getting too personal, opportunity, right? When you start having kids and seeing the opportunities that are here. And remember, we're talking the late 1970s, not nowadays, right? Nowadays it's a little different, I think. Back then it was a big deal to be here in the [United] States. If you're here doing your thing, you grow in your opportunities, offering your offspring those same luxuries. And besides, it wasn’t exactly affordable to bring multiple children across seas in those days. Me: Yeah. Travel is expensive. The biggest paradox. The biggest oxymoron. What could you imagine your life if your family had took you back to their home? Mariam: I think about that actually more than not. I'm so incredibly grateful for how spoiled I am. My life is great. My soul is so full and I embrace the knowledge I learn from the world and use it to help my neighbors and everyone else. In Kenya, I probably would have been married with like 50 kids. All that. Probably stressed the fuck out with plenty of gray hair if I had any parts of the personality I have now. Keeping it low, like, keeping your lips quiet and being submissive is not for me. It just does not work. At all. I can't even spell submissive. *laughs* And out there they just would make us, well, if you don't want to be outcasted and don't want to deal with the rigid role associated with the standards of the traditional construct, it’s best to live in a more open-mined society. But then again, I wonder how much I would entertain being Queer if I was raised in Kenya? Regardless of if I'm Queer or not, would I entertain it? Me: Would you feel safe if you embraced it? Mariam: I'm sure there's lots of Queer people in Africa that ain't talking about it. I'm positive. It's not that they can't, it's just not worth it. Right? Because at the end of the day, when was the last time your parents discussed their sex life with you? Me: *pause* Mariam: Thank you.

Me: What is your general attitude about the mainstream definition of Queer identity? But speaking to your point, what is it about the way in which we understand Queer Identity in the mainstream? What are we missing inherently from that definition that you want to provide from your own definition? Mariam: Your own self-identity. Personal self-identity. Stop wrapping it around and putting so much emphasis on sharing your personal business with everybody. It's nobody's business. It just isn't. If you knew me when I was 15, and now you were like 'Well Mariam, I knew you back in the day, you was a lesbian. How can you have a baby now?" "You ain't true.” “You ain't loyal. “You ain't this. Ain’t that.” Really? That's how [people] feel because I'm growing into myself? I don't think that's an option. I don't think that I would allow somebody to damage my self-esteem in that way. And why do you care so much? Have I done anything to you that makes you question my humanity? I don't care for these gender identities that much, obviously. No two things are the same. Even built the same. They can make these tables look the same. They still are not the same. There are inherent differences in all of these tables, but we still accept them as tables. I’ve never met two people that acted the same, sound the same or are the same. So, I say just accept people for who they are on the inside and everything else will fall into place.

Me: I didn't really get a chance to ask my other subjects because they're my age group. I wanted you to take some time to describe a little bit how your sense of identity has changed over the years as you have matured into your Diverse Sexual Fluidity and how have you seen that change shift in your own peers going into adulthood? Mariam: When I was young, my sexuality was a big big deal for me. It was everything because I didn't understand it. But I was going through puberty and was dealing with hormones in the general sense. So back then I was crazed to fit in with like minded people. In my experience we didn’t have a readily available definition of being Queer, especially as an African queer woman. I found my peace in my sexuality knowing that older Queer peers were doing well in their skin, and that ultimately I would too. But I will say society set the world at ease with Queer with artists such as Prince, Rick James, Freddy Mercury of Queen, and Tim Curry from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Those people set the tone in how we spoke about being Queer, environmentally, if you will. Nowadays, it’s extremely different. I’ve experienced parents influencing their children to “Other” themselves and I’ve also seen society graduate our acceptance as a whole by introducing a more aggressive adult contemporary version of Queer acceptance i.e. Melissa Etheridge to a more recent slap you in the face pop-version of normalcy with Katy Perry bragging about kissing a girl. As an adult, I don’t worry much about people’s opinion of my sexuality. Society does enough of that for me. Over the years, my peers adapted just like we always have. Me: And from that point on, it's just been a journey of ascension? Mariam: Yeah. And it’s been more about than my sexuality - that’s only a portion of me. I love the freedom of myself. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I didn't know that I wasn't going to be a label. I just knew that these labels didn't fit with me. And that was the biggest struggle until I figured out that I didn't have to fit into it. It's tough. I mean, I’m just going to do me. And because of that I never really came out. If someone asked, like my mother, I told her and we dealt with the feelings and then moved forward whether she liked it or not. They all know I'm gay. I do what I want to do, just like everyone else. This is my life. *laughs* This is my beat, this ain't yo' drum.

Me: What do you do for a living and what gives you joy? Mariam: I own a catering company. Me and Chef K, we own K's Catering and more. And we're going into the beverage industry. Laughter brings me joy. I love to laugh. Like, I find humor in everything. I love nothing more than to laugh. Honest to God. And I'll find humor out of anything. It's inappropriate at times, but it’s genuine. *laughs* My family! My family brings me joy. I love my family to pieces.

Mariam: I love them. They are everything to me. Me: One last question. If you had the undivided attention of Minnesota's most powerful, influential public figures and advise them on one thing to improve the standard of living conditions for folks like you, what would you say to them Mariam: How old are you? Me: 27. Mariam: I think it would be more for the youth than for me, I would tell them to look out for the youth more than I would say to do for me. I'm coolin’. I'm not trying to impress nobody. But the kids that are displaced because of their sexuality and stupid shit that isolates young people from maturing should be addressed. Creating a farm with a compound of housing designed to teach people life self-sufficiency skills. Like, gardening, building, stability, entrepreneur skills, parenting skills, bill paying, etc. Teaching love and to be loved. Keeping in mind that self-esteem is what intimates self-worth. Loving oneself from the inside-out, not the other way. Me: An insatiable chase for external validation. Mariam: Right.. Me: Thank you so much Mariam. Mariam: Thank you.

#interviews

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fyrapartnersearch · 4 years

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Looking for a dedicated long term sci-fi partner for discord, kik,hangouts or google docs.

Hello everyone! Hope you’re having awesome days/nights/afternoons or whatever other time it may be for you! I’m just your average twenty year old rper whose come looking for something specific this time. I’ve been craving to do something sci-fi that preferably has a healthy dose of aliens, laser guns, space ships, space, more laser guns (you can never have to many lasers) and an awesome story. I’ve put together three little ideas that I thought would be nice samples for anyone interested to take a look at so they can get an idea as to what I may be looking for or what we may do when we rp. Remember these are just samples, we do not have to rp them and I’m more than happy to listen to and do the ideas of my partners. Voltron: legend of the fallen Voltron: defender of the universe was the mightiest and most powerful robot in existence. Over ten thousand years of age the battle hardened warrior fought hand to hand with zarkon’s robeasts and many other monsters. Voltron was the universes only current robot capable of doing such things though which was where the worry occurred and the idea to remedy that first spurred. With careful consideration, a few arguments courtesy of lance and Keith as well as encouragement from commander holt the proposal was put forward: train the current and new cadets how to fly animal shapes space ships, that is ships that were like voltrons lions, so that they had a backup should voltron ever be unable to fight. Surprisingly for the paladins, galaxy garrison approved of the idea. Within three days the plan was in motion. The cadets were to build robotic animal companions that would be the animal ship they built and flew, it was to be a way of strengthening the bond between pilot and ship. (This takes place roughly after season 6, after the Galra invasion has been cleared from planet earth. Zarkon and lotor are a live therefor Haggar hasn’t gone crazy with her reality destroying plan. While the paladins and other canon characters will be in this and are playable, please keep in mind that they are not there for the purpose of being shipped but for the role they play as teachers in the rp. We will be oc’s who will be cadets who are very close to graduation. The rp will consist of mixed lore from voltron defender of the universe, voltron force and voltron legendary defender as well as some thing other things I’ve come up with for the rp.) Project rehabilitation Many many years into the future, about the 25th century, it was discovered that the galaxy humans occupied for so long was merely one little lick of what lay beyond it. Thanks to advanced technology, extensive studies of human biology and space humans were able to colonise many planets beyond their solar system just in time for the 31st century. Six years of achievements were celebrated regularly. The biggest hurdle to colonising planets beyond earth where the aliens that inhabited the planets. Through very careful tactics, negotiating and trust building a peace pact was formed so that humans and aliens could harmlessly live alongside each other. Despite the acceptance from most people from both races, there were steal trouble makers and extremists. Human criminals weren’t much of a worry.....alien ones were a exception since they were unpredictable and there was still so much scientists did not know about them. This was where project rehabilitation came in, project rehabilitation was aimed at particularly dangerous alien criminals who held a class five or higher threat to society. Many feared what happened beyond the walls, for all they knew no one came back out of them alive. (In this rp I’m an alien criminal who has been captured and taken to the facility, you can be a human, alien or whatever you want. There’s lots of room for creativity in this rp and I encourage you to absolutely pelt me with ideas) A spaceship called legacy The legacy is a ship that’s flown through space since it’s maiden voyage in 2356. Fast forward to the year 2578 and the ship is still going. What makes the legacy such a legend is the mystery of its original voyage destination. Long ago explorers set the legacy on a course that was never followed, the ship came back with no survivors. Some believed that they’d been killed by an unknown menace, others believed something must’ve happened onboard. Regardless the legacy was still used, such a ship could not afford to go to waste despite the myths behind it. The legacy’s current captain had been gifted with the goal to search for other planets that would serve uses to the human race and the aliens they had pledged allegiance too. (I’ve left this one open as it’s yet again another scenario that has the potential for creativity to really get flowing) I hope you all enjoy my samples. Down below is a list of requirements that any potential partners must fulfil before messaging me for a roleplay. 1: you must be literate, write in the third person, have decent spelling and grammar and write at least five or six well fleshed out sentences . One worders, one liners, frequent very bad typos and poorly fleshed out sentences are a big no for me. Occasional typoese I can handle but not constant. 2: you must be 18+ (I will not rp with anyone who isn’t at least eighteen). I’m twenty, rping with someone under 18 (especially since I rp mature themes that aren’t m rated) would get me into very big trouble. No amount of “oh I’m old enough in my country” or “I’m not old enough but I don’t mind” is going to convince me to rp with a minor. 3: I do not care whether you rp as a human/alien/animal/anthro/furry/kangawallafox/ etc. I do care that you rp as a character who isn’t just a Mary Sue/Gary Stu/ op/is just a copy paste of my character or another character/is flawless/overly submissive/overly dominant/only made of flaws/is just you or a self insert and a godmodder. I don’t expect you to come to the rp with a character in hand but I do expect you to be able to create a decent one. 4: you must be able to post once a day or more at the very most and once or more a week at the very least. Any longer and I’ll assume interest has been lost or you’re ghosting me. 5: please do not approach me asking for a fandom rp (voltron is a fandom and it’s currently the only one I will do at the moment apart from lion king) that isn’t related to the example I’ve given or what characters I ship. I’m not a fan of the whole shipping thing for many reasons, it doesn’t mean I won’t allow it but I will express concern if you become too focused on it. Please also do not approach me asking for a rp that isn’t sci-fi as it’s what I’m looking to do at the moment. 6: you must be comfortable writing with/as non human characters/characters with disabilities/etc. you must also be okay with lgbt+ stuff, dark themes, adult themes and nsfw (I do not fade to black). 7: please do not message me saying you want an rp then never answer me again, I don’t accept ghosters and I will not stick around if I find out you’re ghosting me. 8: if something is wrong please tell me! I always try to remedy anything that may be wrong but I won’t know the problem till you’ve spoken it. 9: do not control my characters or dictate their actions. What my characters do/think/hear/smell/see/taste/feel/ etc is up to me to decide. 10: please make sure this is something you have time for. Life comes first but please do not message me if you know you’re going to be swamped by work or other important life things as I do not want yet another message of “I’m so sorry but I cannot rp like I thought I would be able to”. I get this message too often from well meaning people who get swamped by work and cannot rp even if we haven’t started. I know it’s no ones fault but it does get disheartening. 11: you must have discord/kik/hangouts or google docs. I will not rp on any other platform? Not too much to ask for right? Down below is a list about me. 1: I’m literate, write in the third person and stick to the at least five or six lines rule. 2: I’m twenty, hence why I will not rp with anyone who isn’t at least 18. 3: I only rp male characters but I’m open to same sex pairings. The gender of your character or your real life gender doesn’t matter to me. 4: I prefer to play as non human characters unless requested to be a human character. 5: I do not have face claims or pictures for my characters. I only have descriptions. Please do not ask me for pictures or face claims. 6: I live in the eastern Australian time zone, your time zone will not matter to me and I’m available almost every hour of the day provided I’m not sleeping or doing something else. 7: I’m okay with romance but it must be slow burn only and not forced. I don’t do love at first sight or fast paced romance. If you force romance on me I will leave. My characters will be less likely to imitate romance in any situation (they tend to be switches in everything and slightly submissive and unsure when it comes to romance.). Please do not force any kinks on me if I’ve expressed discomfort at the thought of doing them and I do not do top/bottom dynamics, only switch dynamics. Give me a slow burn forbidden romance as a secondary plot and I’ll happily have romance in the rp. 7: I do not want to be the one who comes up with all the ideas, brainstorming with partners is one of the things I enjoy most about rp’s. For all those who have read this post thank you! My contacts are down below. My discord is: tiberionsunsconqourer#6187 My kik is: Tiberionconqueror My email (you’ll need this for hangouts and google docs) is: lleo52560 Can’t wait to rp with anyone interested!

#oc rp #multiple paragraph #para #long term #smut rp #submission

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earlrmerrill · 7 years

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5 Ways to Calm Your Nerves Before Auditions

Everyone gets nervous, whether it's before an audition, a speech, a performance, or stepping on set. Nerves can range from mild- heart racing, to crippling, debilitating fear, and they get in the way of us giving our best performance. If only we could all be calm at ALL times, be focused and relaxed when we are performing, and completely be ourselves, then we would book a ton of work and be really famous, right? Good luck with that!

As actors, we have to get past this AWFUL thing called auditioning, where we walk into a room of strangers, stand in front of a blank wall, while acting like a monkey and being judged, and try to ACT like we aren't nervous at all. Try doing that when you know that this job will pay your rent for three months and keep your parents off your back for another four. Let's just get it out in the open that auditioning totally freaks us out, but we have to find a way to curb those nerves for two minutes in the room so that casting directors can TRUST us, and put us on stage, on set, etc. without worrying about us breaking down in tears in a fetal position.

I used to battle nervous when I was an actor. Big time. No matter how much work I booked, or how many auditions I went on, or how much training I had, it still crept up on me. I was just good at hiding it. So here are a few ways that worked for me, and my students. Find one that works for you every time, and give yourself a tried and true system to calm yourself before stepping into the room, on stage, or on set.

1. The 4-4-4 System. Chill out. Deep breaths. Yeah, yeah, yeah everyone says it. But do this: In the waiting room, close your eyes. Inhale for four, hold for four, exhale for four. Do it four times. Every time you do it, think of inhaling "confidence", and exhaling "fear". Do it again. Inhale confidence, exhale fear. And again. When you get to the last time, think of inhaling your character, and exhaling "you." Your heart will stop racing, your mind will slowly quiet down, and by the time they call your name you head will be clear and you will walk into that room ready to play ball.

2. Learn your damn lines. Wanna freak yourself out? Walk into an audition totally unprepared. Of all the things that are out of your control (height, hair color, age, ethnicity), the one thing you CAN control is being prepared with the scene. I don't mean "sort of memorized," I mean know it so well that you can listen and carry on a conversation, ACTING like you've never said these words before, even though you have worked on it 1,000,000 times. Hold the paper in your hand, but only look at it if you need to. It should feel like second nature. But for the love of god, stop shooting yourself in the foot by not being prepared. When you are prepared and know the scene, and they throw your a curveball (as they always do), you will be ready and available, and half your nerves will disappear. At the same time, you can't be so overly memorized that you are NERVOUS about looking down. Look down if you need to! Who cares? Allow yourself to. It's not a memorization contest, it's an acting contest. Be okay with mistakes, because THEY WILL ALWAYS HAPPEN!

3. Picture it. I mean, close your eyes and picture the audition going well from start to finish. I swear this has done wonders for me. Close your eyes, and imagine stepping into the room, flashing that charming smile, looking at the reader, really listening to them, and knocking the audition out of the park from the first word to the end of the scene. When you finish, imagine getting high fives all around. Then at least if it sucks you had a nice daydream, right? Visualization is a very powerful tool. You can actually trick your mind into believing it's real. So try it. And try it again. Try it until it works for you.

4. Confidence. Fake it till you make it. Seriously. Stop showing that you don't know what you are doing and pretend you are a skilled expert and they would be lucky to hire you. You are an actor, right? Can't you just ACT like someone who is confident, not nervous, and knows EXACTLY what he is doing? No, cause it's hard. But there are huge tell tale signs that someone is freaking out when they walk into the room (hands trembling, sides shaking, avoiding eye contact, mumbling, shoulders hunched, panic in your eyes). If you don't believe that you are the most talented actor for the part, then nobody else will. But if that requires years of therapy, and you want a simple fix in the meantime, do this: Take a few deep breaths and walk into that room with your head high, shoulders back, and act like you already have the job. I mean, look people in the eye and think to yourself "watch this" as you are about to show them something amazing. Do it and commit to it, the way you would fully commit to playing a role. It puts the casting director and the audience at ease because they feel like "you got this." It puts them in the mindset of watching a performance, and makes it a WHOLE LOT EASIER to hire you and put you on set. Cause if you can be in control in the audition, then you can be in control on a huge set with 150 crew members staring at you. Don't let them see you sweat, take the power back, stop being desperate, know your lines, make strong choices, kill the scene, and DON'T APOLOGIZE. EVER. Learn how to ooze with confidence, and the rest will fall in line.

5. Technique. None of this matters if your technique sucks. Your technique is what you have to fall back on when everything else is going to shit. It grounds you, it's your safety net. It lets you take redirection and adjust your choices on the fly. If you have it, it will gently guide you through the scene and save you from disaster. What is "technique" in an audition? Well you can be the best actor in the world but suck in auditioning, and vice versa. Learn to do this. You have an empty room, and nothing real around you to react to--just a reader (who often times isn't giving you much). Technique is what helps you make everything REAL and SPECIFIC, and gives you UNSHAKEABLE CONFIDENCE in your work. The more specific you see everything around you, the more you are IMMERSED in the character and the scene, and the LESS NERVOUS you will be as a result. I find that actors are most nervous when they are vague in their choices, and aren't really SEEING and REACTING to the imaginary world in front of them, because they've never taken the time to really SEE it. Perhaps it's a deep visualization on the world of the scene (the colors, the details, the smells, the feelings around it). Or perhaps it's just really LISTENING to the reader, and having a STRONG POINT OF VIEW about what they are saying. Regardless, the idea is to walk into the audition, and for two minutes or so in front of the camera, LIVE THE LIFE of this character, SEE THE WORLD the way he/she sees it, and respond accordingly, in the most TRUTHFUL WAY possible. The more you fill your mind with these incredible, vivid details, the less room for that external voice to come in and say "you suck!". If you are vague with your choices, not really memorized enough, and aren't confident, nobody will hire you. Ever.

There's so much competition out there. If you are lucky enough to be selected for an in person audition (or self tape, which this applies to as well) from thousands of submissions, then you really want to have your nerves in check. This is what you signed up for, right? Auditions don't have to fill you with anxiety, they can be fun and a chance to play with the script. But you really have to believe that for it to work. You have to be okay with making mistakes, and not spend all your time beating yourself up if it doesn't go the way you planned.

Practice these and find the one that works for you. And at the end of the day, it's really about learning not to give a fuck, right? Just do the work and let it go.

--Matt

Article source here:Matt Newton Acting Studio

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tfwbigbang · 4 years

Text

Team Free Will Big Bang FAQ and Rules 2020

Rules

Authors, Artists and Betas will be sent a confirmation email within 48 hours of signing up. You must reply to this email to complete sign up.

What do I create?

Authors:

A story of a minimum of 15,000 words (big bang)

Or a story of a minimum of 5000 words (mini bang)

The story must feature Team Free Will (Dean, Sam and Cas) at the center of the story or Team Free Will 2.0 (Dean, Sam, Cas and Jack)

Or be a real person fanfic (RPF) featuring Jared, Jensen and Misha at the center of the story (Alexander Calvert can also be included as a central character if you so desire)

No story may feature anyone under the age of 16 in an explicit sexual situation, this rises to 18 for RPF

Your story must be posted in full on your assigned posting day

See further in the FAQ for more details

Artists:

For a big bang: a cover and two pieces of art connected to the fic (cover can be derived from main art)

For a mini bang: a cover and a piece of art connected to the fic (cover can be derived from main art)

No art may feature anyone under the age of 18 in an explicit sexual situation

No explicit art may be posted to Tumblr

No art can be made of photo manipulations <<< NEW FOR 2020

Note that this bang runs a no fic left behind policy

See further in the FAQ for more details

All authors and artists must familiarize themselves with the bang schedule.

All authors and artists must make attempts to regularly communicate with each other once paired.

For those taking part, we have created a Discord server. Details about this are available upon bang sign-up.

For more in-depth information on how to be a good bang participant: check out this post on allspnships.

FAQ

What are the differences between mini and big bangs?

Do covers have to be completely separate pieces of art from the rest of the bang’s art?

Covers can be remixes of art already created for the fic. But they need to feature the fic title, the names of the artist and the author(s).

How/where do I submit my draft?

We will provide details about this directly to creators nearer posting time.

How long does my story need to be?

You have two options: for a Big Bang, you need a minimum of 15,000 words. For a Minibang, you need at least 5,000.

What does the focus of my story need to be?

We won’t be counting words, but please try to stay within the spirit of the challenge. This is about celebrating Team Free Will characters, so have fun with them.

Since 2018, we have accepted interpretations of Team Free Will that include Jack Kline (Team Free Will 2.0), but everyone must still have equal importance in your story.

Team Free Love (Sam/Castiel/Dean/Gabriel) is not accepted for this bang.

Reader inserts are not accepted for this bang.

We will allow pairings where the four are with other characters, such as Sam/Eileen or Dean/Gabriel, BUT that pairing cannot be the main focus of the story.

Are AUs, crossovers and fusions allowed?

Yes, all are allowed. However, the more obscure the other fandom, the harder finding an artist who knows both will be, so keep that in mind.

What about RPF?

RPF is welcome, but must focus on Jared, Misha, Jensen and (if you want) Alexander. and their relationships with each other. So any combination of these four is welcome, as is a gen RPF where no one’s together. Everyone of these three (or four) needs equal weight in your plot.

What about underage?

Please ensure that all fanfic doesn’t include under 16s depicted in sexual situations - this raises to 18 for RPF. Basically - off the page is fine, but not on the page. All explicit art can only feature characters aged 18 and upwards.

Is it okay to write a sequel or prequel to an existing fic?

No, it needs to be a completely new story.

Can I sign up as both an author and an artist?

Yes, but you cannot claim your own fic.

Can I create additional art for my fic/have other artists make banners and art?

Not until after your post date.

May I do photo manipulations for art?

Due to issues of quality with manips in previous years, we have decided that photo manipulations are no longer welcome in the Team Free Will Big Bang.

May I do paper art or use alternative physical mediums like textiles or clay?

Yes.

Covers - can they feature explicit art?

Due to masterposts being posted on Tumblr, covers cannot feature explicit imagery.

Can I advertise my fic on my Tumblr, Pillowfort, Dreamwidth, Twitter, etc?

Once claims are completed and you’ve been assigned your artist, you are welcome to advertise your fic on whatever media you’d like as long as you don’t post any snippets of the actual fic.

Where do I post my fic/art when it’s complete?

All fics must be posted to AO3 and made live on your posting date, with the art embedded in the appropriate scenes if the artist allows.

All art must have a masterpost on either Dreamwidth, Pillowfort, AO3, or Tumblr made live on your posting day. Remember that explicit art should not be posted to Tumblr.

Do I need to link back to my artist’s master art post on my AO3 story?

Yes, all stories must have a link that goes to the art masterpost made by your artist. We advise you add this link in your notes using HTML like:

Will there be an AO3 collection for posted fics and art?

You will be able to add your fics and art to the moderated collection via: tfw_bb_2020

Do I need a Dreamwidth/Pillowfort/Tumblr/AO3 account to participate?

Artists should have at least one to post their art to, and authors should have at least AO3 to post their fic to. No account besides an email address is required for claims.

Due to changes in LiveJournal’s terms of service in April 2017, the bang is no longer being actively run on LJ, though may be promoted there.

Can I write more than one story/collaborate on a story?

Each author can write only one story for this challenge. You are welcome to collaborate on a story, but that counts as your one story.

Can I claim more than one fic to make art for?

What do I need to provide for claims?

We will not accept drafts that fail to meet this criteria, as it’s not fair on artists.

What is “no fic left behind”?

If an artist fails to meet art draft check-ins, providing proof of art, when required: they will be removed from the bang and a new artist found for the affected bang story.

The only exception to this is those affected by extenuating circumstances who manage to communicate with their author or the mods - in this instance an extension will be given.

What if something happens in RL and I need to post on a different day or get an extension, or something?

How will claims work?

Do writers need beta readers?

Yes, all fic needs to be beta read for at least spelling, punctuation and grammar.

If you don’t have a beta reader, you can try asking someone from our beta list to beta for you.

Ask on /r/fandomnatural or you can check out our list of beta readers for the bang. Details of this list will be emailed to authors once available.

May I post a WIP?

Works in progress (WIP) are not permitted to be posted for this bang. Fics must be posted complete (i.e. no serial posting), with art embedded.

You didn’t answer my question

The please contact hit_the_books and majesticduxk at teamfreewillbigbang(at)gmail(dot)com.

#mod post #rules and faq #tfwbigbang2020

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tfwbigbang · 5 years

Text

Team Free Will Big Bang FAQ and Rules 2019

Rules

You must be aged 18 or over upon registration in order to take part in this bang. If you lie about your age, you will be banned from all future TFW Big Bangs.

What do I create?

Authors:

A story of a minimum of 15,000 words (big bang)

Or a story of a minimum of 5000 words (mini bang)

The story must feature Team Free Will (Dean, Sam and Cas) at the center of the story or Team Free Will 2.0 (Dean, Sam, Cas and Jack)

Or be a real person fanfic (RPF) featuring Jared, Jensen and Misha at the center of the story (Alexander Calvert can also be included as a central character if you so desire)

No story may feature anyone under the age of 16 in an explicit sexual situation, this rises to 18 for RPF

Your story must be posted in full on your assigned posting day

See further in the FAQ for more details

Artists:

For a big bang: a cover and two pieces of art connected to the fic (cover can be derived from main art)

For a mini bang: a cover and a piece of art connected to the fic (cover can be derived from main art)

No art may feature anyone under the age of 18 in an explicit sexual situation

No explicit art may be posted to Tumblr

Note that this bang runs a no fic left behind policy

See further in the FAQ for more details

All authors and artists must familiarize themselves with the bang schedule.

All authors and artists must make attempts to regularly communicate with each other once paired.

For those taking part, we have created a Discord server. Details about this are available upon bang sign-up. (Thanks to the DC Server mods, museaway and Jojo, for leading the way in using Discord for SPN fandom events.)

For more in-depth information on how to be a good bang participant: check out this post on allspnships.

FAQ

What are the differences between mini and big bangs?

Basically how long your story is. The Big Bang has a minimum of 15,000 words, and will receive a minimum of two art pieces from the artist plus a fic cover, while the Minibang has a minimum of 5,000, and will receive a cover and at least one piece of art.

Do covers have to be completely separate pieces of art from the rest of the bang’s art?

Covers can be remixes of art already created for the fic. But they need to feature the fic title, the names of the artist and the author(s).

How/where do I submit my draft?

We will provide details about this directly to creators nearer posting time.

How long does my story need to be?

You have two options: for a Big Bang, you need a minimum of 15,000 words. For a Minibang, you need at least 5,000.

What does the focus of my story need to be?

We won’t be counting words, but please try to stay within the spirit of the challenge. This is about celebrating all three characters, so have fun with them.

Since 2018, we have accepted interpretations of Team Free Will that include Jack Kline (Team Free Will 2.0), but everyone must still have equal importance in your story.

Team Free Love (Sam/Castiel/Dean/Gabriel) is not accepted for this bang.

Are AUs, crossovers and fusions allowed?

Yes, all are allowed. However, the more obscure the other fandom, the harder finding an artist who knows both will be, so keep that in mind.

What about RPF?

What about underage?

Is it okay to write a sequel or prequel to an existing fic?

No, it needs to be a completely new story.

Can I sign up as both an author and an artist?

Yes, but you cannot claim your own fic.

Can I create additional art for my fic/have other artists make banners and art?

Not until after your post date.

May I do photo manipulations for art?

You may, but any photo manipulations must create a fully realized new image that is well blended. It is not okay to create mood boards or just do a copy and paste of existing still character images onto a new background.

Covers - can they feature explicit art?

Due to masterposts being posted on Tumblr, covers cannot feature explicit imagery.

Can I advertise my fic on my Tumblr, Pillowfort, Dreamwidth, Twitter, etc?

Once claims are completed and you’ve been assigned your artist, you are welcome to advertise your fic on whatever media you’d like as long as you don’t post any snippets of the actual fic.

Where do I post my fic/art when it’s complete?

All fics must be posted to AO3 and made live on your posting date, with the art embedded in the appropriate scenes if the artist allows.

All art must have a masterpost on either Dreamwidth, Pillowfort, AO3, or Tumblr made live on your posting day. Remember that explicit art should not be posted to Tumblr.

Will there be an AO3 collection for posted fics and art?

You will be able to add your fics and art to the moderated collection via: tfw_bb_2019

Do I need a Dreamwidth/Pillowfort/Tumblr/AO3 account to participate?

Artists should have at least one to post their art to, and authors should have at least AO3 to post their fic to. No account besides an email address is required for claims.

Due to changes in LiveJournal’s terms of service in April 2017, the bang is no longer running on LJ.

Can I write more than one story/collaborate on a story?

Each author can write only one story for this challenge. You are welcome to collaborate on a story, but that counts as your one story.

Can I claim more than one fic to make art for?

What do I need to provide for claims?

We will not accept drafts that fail to meet this criteria, as it’s not fair on artists.

What is “no fic left behind”?

If an artist fails to meet art draft check-ins, providing proof of art, when required: they will be removed from the bang and a new artist found for the affected bang story.

The only exception to this is those affected by extenuating circumstances who manage to communicate with their author or the mods - in this instance an extension will be given.

What if something happens in RL and I need to post on a different day or get an extension, or something?

How will claims work?

Do writers need beta readers?

Yes, all fic needs to be beta read for at least spelling, punctuation and grammar.

If you don’t have a beta reader, you can try asking for help over on

/r/fandomnatural or you can check out our list of beta readers for the bang. Details of this list will be emailed to authors once available.

May I post a WIP?

Works in progress (WIP) are not permitted to be posted for this bang. Fics must be posted complete (i.e. no serial posting), with art embedded.

You didn’t answer my question

The please contact hit_the_books and majesticduxk at teamfreewillbigbang(at)gmail(dot)com.

#mod post #rules and faq

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tfwbigbang · 6 years

Text

Team Free Will Big Bang FAQ and Rules 2018

Rules:

You must be aged 18 or over upon registration in order to take part in this bang.

What do I create?

Authors:

A story of a minimum of 15,000 words (big bang)

Or story of a minimum of 5000 words (mini bang)

The story must feature Team Free Will (Dean, Sam and Cas) at the center of the story (Team Free Will 2.0 is also allowed (Dean, Sam, Cas and Jack))

Or be a real person fanfic (RPF) featuring Jared, Jensen and Misha at the center of the story (Alexander Calvert can also be included as a central character if you so desire)

No story may feature anyone under the age of 16 in an explicit sexual situation, this rises to 18 for RPF

Your story must be posted in full on your assigned posting day

See further in the FAQ for more details

Artists:

For a big bang: a cover and two pieces of art connected to the fic (cover can be derived from main art)

For a mini bang: a cover and a piece of art connected to the fic (cover can be derived from main art)

No art may feature anyone under the age of 16 in an explicit sexual situation, this rises to 18 for RPF

Note that this bang runs a no fic left behind policy

See further in the FAQ for more details

All authors and artists must familiarize themselves with the bang schedule.

All authors and artists must make attempts to regularly communicate with each other once paired.

For those taking part this year, we have created a Discord server. Details about this are available upon bang sign-up. (We’re taking this approach after seeing how well it worked for both the DeanCas Tropefest and the DCBB.)

For more in-depth information on how to be a good bang participant: check out this post on allspnships.

FAQ

What are the differences between mini and big bangs?

Basically how long your story is. The Big Bang has a minimum of 15,000 words, and will receive a minimum of two art pieces from the artist plus a fic cover, while the Minibang has a minimum of 5,000, and will receive a cover and at least one piece of art.

Do covers have to be completely separate pieces of art from the rest of the bang’s art?

Covers can be remixes of art already created for the fic. But they need to feature the fic title, the names of the artist and the author(s).

How/where do I submit my draft?

We will provide details about this directly to creators nearer posting time.

How long does my story need to be?

You have two options: for a Big Bang, you need a minimum of 15,000 words. For a Minibang, you need at least 5,000.

What does the focus of my story need to be?

We won’t be counting words, but please try to stay within the spirit of the challenge. This is about celebrating all three characters, so have fun with them.

Change for 2018: Interpretations of Team Free Will that include Jack Kline (Team Free Will 2.0) are permitted this year, but everyone must have equal importance in your story.

Are AUs, crossovers and fusions allowed?

Yes, all are allowed. However, the more obscure the other fandom, the harder finding an artist who knows both will be, so keep that in mind.

What about RPF?

RPF is welcome, but again, must focus on all three actors and their relationships with each other. So Jensen/Misha, Jensen/Jared, Jared/Misha, and Jensen/Jared/Misha are all welcome. Again, you are welcome to include Alexander Calvert in your story, but everyone needs an equal weight in your plot.

What about underage?

Please ensure that all fanfic and art doesn’t include under 16s depicted in sexual situations - this raises to 18 for RPF. Basically - off the page is fine, but not on the page.

Is it okay to write a sequel or prequel to an existing fic?

Yes, but only if your bang fic can be read without having read the existing fic.

Can I sign up as both an author and an artist?

Yes, but you cannot claim your own fic.

Can I create additional art for my fic/have other artists make banners and art?

Not until after your post date.

Can I advertise my fic on my Tumblr, Dreamwidth, etc?

Once claims are completed and you’ve been assigned your artist, you are welcome to advertise your fic on whatever media you’d like as long as you don’t post any snippets of the actual fic.

Where do I post my fic/art when it’s complete?

All fics must be posted to either Dreamwidth or AO3 and made live on your posting date, with the art embedded in the appropriate scenes.

All art must have a masterpost on either Dreamwidth, AO3, or Tumblr made live on your posting day.

On or before your posting day, both links must be submitted in a post to the TFW Big Bang Dreamwidth and/or Tumblr. We will share the posting format nearer the time of posting We will check over the fic post for Tumblr and/or Dreamwidth, and make it public on the appropriate day.

Will there be an AO3 collection for posted fics?

You will be able to add your fics to the moderated collection via: tfw_bb_2018

Do I need a Dreamwidth/Tumblr/AO3 account to participate?

Artists should have at least a Dreamwidth or Tumblr to post their art to, and authors should have at least Dreamwidth or AO3 to post their fic to. No account besides an email address is required for claims.

Due to changes in LiveJournal’s terms of service in April 2017, the bang is no longer running on LJ.

Can I write more than one story/collaborate on a story?

Each author can write only one story for this challenge. You are welcome to collaborate on a story, but that counts as your one story.

Can I claim more than one fic to make art for?

The first round of claiming will allow artists to claim only one story. If there are still unclaimed stories 24 hours after the claiming begins, we’ll open a second round for artists to claim a second piece or for artists who didn’t originally sign up to participate. If artists drop out after assignments are set, artists can sign up to pinch hit as well regardless of whether they’re already assigned one story.

What do I need to provide for claims?

Fic writers will need to provide drafts that are 80% complete for claims, along with a summary. Specifics on how to do this will be shared via email ahead of the submissions date.

We will not accept drafts that fail to meet this criteria, as it’s not fair on artists.

What is “no fic left behind”?

If an artist fails to meet art draft check-ins, providing proof of art, when required: they will be removed from the bang and a new artist found for the affected bang story.

The only exception to this is those affected by extenuating circumstances who manage to communicate with their author and the mods - in this instance an extension will be given.

How will claims work?

There will be a preview doc with each summary posted 48 hours before claims and emailed to artists who have already signed up. When claims open, we will email a link to a Google Form where we’ll ask you to resubmit some of your artist details and your top three picks for doing art. We’ll update the preview summaries with notes on fics as they’re assigned.

Do writers need beta readers?

Yes, all fic needs to be beta read for at least spelling, punctuation and grammar.

If you don’t have a beta reader, you can try asking for help over on:

/r/fandomnatural

Or ask someone from All SPN Ship’s list of alpha and beta readers:

allspnships.tumblr.com

If you still need help finding a beta reader, email [email protected] and we will create a beta reader request post for you here.

May I post a WIP?

Works in progress (WIP) are not permitted to be posted for this bang. Fics must be posted complete (i.e. no serial posting), with art embedded.

Got a question not answered here? Send us an ask or email us at [email protected]

#mod post #team free will big bang 2018 #tfwbb #tfwbigbang2018

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