cap_ironman | 2022 Captain America/Iron Man Big Bang Event Guidelines

This is where everything begins for the cap_ironman 2022 Captain America/Iron Man Big Bang! Running since 2011, the Cap-Iron Man Big Bang challenges writers to create new Steve/Tony fics and then invites artists, podficcers and fanvidders to create accompanying fanworks!

⭐ What is a Big Bang?

A big bang is a collaborative event between writers and artists, meant to encourage the finishing of longer fic. Writers draft a story which then goes to claims, where creators choose a story to create an accompanying artwork or podfic for, and they post the finished works together as part of the event.

⭐ How does it work?

Writers create Steve/Tony-focused stories with a minimum of 25,000 words. During the writing phase, writers will work on a draft of their story and then submit it along with a summary.

Drafts must be a minimum of 20,000 words, and should be 80% of your planned word count at the time of submission to ensure your ability to finish by the posting date. There is no formal sign up period. All a writer needs to do to be signed up is to submit a draft by the deadline. All an artist needs to do to sign up is claim a story during claims period.

During the claims phase, all the summaries will be assigned a code name and posted anonymously. Accompanying fanworkers will then claim a fic for which they want to create an accompanying artwork, vid or podfic.

During the collaborative phase, writers and artists can work together as much or a little as they want to brainstorm ideas and cheer each other on. We'd like to remind you that the Big Bang is not about fanwork being "commissioned" to the exact specifications of the writer, but inspired by the fic that is claimed and based on the collaboration itself.

During the posting phase, teams will post their completed fanworks together on the same day. At the end of the challenge, we will prepare a Masterlist of all created works.

⭐ What does the collaboration involve?

Every collaboration will be different — that's part of the beauty of signing up as a writer or claiming a fic as an artist! The Big Bang is a fun new opportunity to create wonderful Steve/Tony fanworks, and have a fantastic time working together. The level of communication and collaboration between team members is to be negotiated amongst themselves, but at minimum all participants must communicate clearly with their partners during the important stages of the challenge such as after claims and before date claims and posting, and let partners know if there will be times when they are uncontactable. It's crucial to be able to compromise and take each other's feelings into account.

When it comes to posting, your entire team will do so on the same day following the posting instructions sent to you. As part of the challenge, team members will acknowledge their partner(s)' hard work and creations. It is a requirement that all embedded work is credited, and that all team members are recognised equally.

⭐ But 25,000 words is intimidating!

Not to worry! There is still a lot of time in the writing phase and a lot of resources available. We will be holding creator workshops where creators can discuss their works, brainstorm ideas, work through tricky plot points and get the support they need. There is also a whole community of enthusiastic Steve/Tony fans out there ready to support and cheer.

Maybe you’ve had that one fic idea you’ve always wanted to write but you never have. This is the chance to take that on and make it happen! Sometimes the deadline and collaboration are exactly the kind of motivation you need to see a project through to the end — even if this is longer than any work you’ve written so far!

⭐ I’ve never written Steve/Tony / I have never written any fic ever!

In that case, now is a good time to start! Remember, at one point, every single creator was someone who had never made their own work before. If you feel inspired and want to create, then we want your work. Any idea, any Steve/Tony canon, any AU — as long as it’s Steve/Tony focused, we want it. And just think, after this, you won’t be saying “I have never written a fic before” and instead you’ll be saying “I wrote this fic and it was an accomplishment!”

⭐ What if I don’t manage that many words after all?

From now till the draft submission deadline in late September, you can work on your draft and see where it goes, get cheerleaders, plus talk to other creators privately to get tips and figure out where your draft is going. Until you submit a draft to us, you’re not committed to anything. So have a go!

If by the draft submission deadline you’re confident you can finish your fic, send in your draft! If you feel the draft didn’t come far enough to be submitted, you will still have more words in a draft document than you had before you started out, and are that many words closer to finishing your awesome Steve/Tony work! You can post in your own time, or if you like, you can always keep working on your draft for next year's Big Bang challenge or you could send it in for this year's

marvel_bang, which has a 10 000 word requirement and needs your draft by September 20th for you to sign-up..

So, now that you’re convinced that participating is a fantastic idea, read on for some very important logistical information…

Schedule

Now - September 14: Writers work on their fic for draft submissions
Wednesday, September 14th: Drafts and summaries are due and writer sign-ups close
Thursday, September 15th: Summaries are publicly posted
Saturday, September 17th: Accompanying fanworkers claim stories by summaries
October: Creators work on their piece of accompanying fanwork, writers finish their fics
Saturday, October 22nd: Teams select November posting dates
November: Posting begins!

Guidelines for All Participants

Please read through the following rules below carefully before submitting your draft or making a claim.

All participants must be 18 or older.

This challenge is run by the cap-ironman community and it’s a Steve/Tony fest, so we’re looking for works with a focus on the relationship between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark in any context (platonic or romantic) and in any setting or continuity you can think of.

Fics focused on a primary non-Steve/Tony relationship or moresome involving other characters shouldn't be send in

Each creator may participate a maximum of two times. See our FAQ for more on what this means.

We don't allow pre-formed teams or tandem sign-ups between someone who submits a draft and someone planning to claim, and we expect all participants to be open to working with new people. The claiming process is partially anonymous and first-come, first-serve — when you sign up, be open to work constructively with anyone.

This is a collaborative fest: you are expected to keep in touch with your team for the duration of the fest. You must coordinate with your partner during the posting period.

Works need to be complete and ready for posting in full by your team’s posting date.

Even if you finish early, do not post your work or any portion of it anywhere before the posting date.

After all creators have been teamed up, the BB mods will be sending out additional information and event updates primarily via email. Please make sure that you check your email regularly once you've joined the event.

Event Requirements

⭐ Writers commit to posting a complete story of at least 25,000 words.

Writers must produce at least 20,000 words and confident they can finish their draft in time before draft submissions
The fic must be complete by draft submissions if writers are opting in to be paired with a podficcer

⭐ Artists commit to posting:

At least one complete traditional or digital artwork OR
A complete fanvid of at least 1 minute
At least one fanmix with cover art OR
At least 2 manips or gifs

In addition to one of the above, artists are required to create a story banner for their team.

⭐ Podficcers commit to posting an accompanying podfic of at least one complete scene in the story. In addition, they are required to create a story banner for their team.

If you're signing up as a writer, please before submitting your draft before September 14th read through the GUIDELINES FOR WRITERS page for information on draft submissions and more.

If you'd like to claim a story and join as an artist, fanvidder or podficcer, please before making a claim on September 17th read through the GUIDELINES FOR ACCOMPANYING FANWORKERS page for information on the claiming process and more.

Here are our Posting Instructions with everything you need to know on your posting day in November

Check out our BIG BANG FAQ POST for more information.

AO3 Account Required for Participation

Please note: For long term accessibility reasons, we require all creators to have an AO3 account. You are responsible for posting your finished work(s) to our AO3 collection upon your team's posting date. If you need to make an AO3 account, please request an invite here and keep in mind that it might take a few days for you to get it and be able to create the account.

Discord Chats for Writers

It's a long creation period from now until November, and the key is to keep motivated and have a great time throughout the challenge! The Big Bang mods will be running some limited-time chats hosted on Discord.when we'll also be there to answer questions. The dates will be published beforehand on our community platforms.

Writers can also hang out in the Big Bang channel of our discord to word war or ask other writers for advice or brainstorm throughout the writing period. Don't forget to ask for the Big Bang role by indicating that you're planning to work on a draft. Join our Discord here.

Accompanying creators, beta readers and cheerleaders can ask for the Big Bang role after clams are over and all teams have been matched up

If you have any questions, please contact us by commenting below, emailing cap.im.events@gmail.com, or getting in touch.