gabrielbigbang | FAQ and instructions (Reply)

Instructions tell you what happens at each stage of the GBB. FAQs are all the other questions. Rules and schedule may be found in their own post. For mod contact details, see the community profile.

Instructions

Various FAQs

Instructions

1: Author sign-ups.

Sign-ups are currently open! To sign up to write, fill in this form. You'll get an automated confirmation email immediately, and I will send out confirmation/welcome emails near the end of March to all those who have signed up by then. Start writing whenever you like - but sign-ups will remain open until shortly before the drafts are due. This means that at any time someone who thinks they have a good GBB story can join in, but won't throw off or inconvenience anyone who signed up at the start. Track the gbb2016 tag on tumblr to chat with others who are signing up. You may also sign up as an artist, but you won't be able to claim a fic as an artist unless you've already submitted your draft.

2: Artist sign-ups.

will remain open until a couple of days before the writers are meant to submit their drafts, in late June. You may sign up as an author as well, but you won't be able to claim a fic until you've submitted your fic draft (which of course ought to be done before the arts claims open anyway!).

3: Pinch-hit sign-ups.

See above. Just fill in the same form and tick the 'willing to pinch-hit' box.

4: Author check-ins.

These are not compulsory, but are encouraged, just so that we can all touch base and to start off a bit of chatter amongst our authors. They will be in the format of 'reblog and comment on the tumblr post'. These will be near the ends of April and May.

5: Fic draft submissions.

Due 30 June, this will happen via email. You send your fic to me at gabrielbb_mods at yahoo dot com, any time before the due date.

Absolutely every story is due to us by that draft due date. There are no exceptions to this: I need to have them in hand so that I can check them for word counts and completeness, so that I know your artist will be working with a complete story. I will accept it as long as it's still the due date somewhere in the world, but after that, no.
Your submitted draft MUST be at least 15,000 words, and MUST have a clear beginning, middle, and end. I will be checking all of these for word counts and completeness, and there are no exceptions to either rule.
The story itself should be attached as a file, NOT copy and pasted into the body of the e-mail. Acceptable file formats are .txt, .doc, .docx, .rtf, .html, .odt, .pdf, and recent versions of .pages. If you send something other than one of these formats, it will be sent back and you will be asked to re-send. It would be very helpful if you could name the file "username - title" (e. g., "whitmerule - this widespread realm").
In the body of the e-mail, we need the following information:
1. Title:
2. Summary:
3. Pairings:
4. Warnings (if any):
5. Key visual elements:
Remember the art claims are anonymous, so don't out yourself here. That last field is optional, but it will help give the artists an idea of (in your opinion) particularly powerful visual elements in your story before they claim it. It can be as short as you like, or up to a hundred words (but don't go overboard, and don't repeat info from the summary). Basically, what might draw an artist to your story? Is there an amazing chance to draw golden wings spread against the sunset? Does your story draw on fairy-tale themes, so that might be a visual style that the artist could want to play with? Is it particularly light and fluffy, or might it look more like a noir film? E. g.: "Fantasy themes and clothes; tattered wings; lots of ocean scenes; Castiel in a pirate hat; kissing in the crow's nest; Disney-style story, so art could mimic Disney's cartoon style?" Remember, this isn't prescriptive - the artist can do whatever the artist wants - but it might help give them a bit more to go on than just the plot summary.
You will receive email confirmations that I've received these, so don't worry. It may take a couple of days, but everyone will receive a confirmation e-mail within 24 hours of the close of the due date - probably a lot sooner depending on when you send the story. But there's only one of me, so, you know. Depending on real life commitments this may go slowly.

6: Art claims.

Come the art claims date (1 July), I will post a list of all the fics, without the authors' names attached, but including all the other info (summaries etc) listed in the 'fic draft submissions' guidelines above.

Artists, please read each summary carefully before choosing which prompt you’d like to claim. Make sure you’ve taken note of all of the pairings, and the warnings involved with the story you’re about to choose.

Artists must then comment on that post specifying the two fics which they might like to do (first preference, and second preference). If both your fics are already claimed I'll ask you to choose another fic instead.

Authors must not contact artists until I've confirmed which artist has what fic. Once I have confirmed, the author can get in touch with the artist.

For the first 48 hours I will only count claims from artists who’ve signed up (see ‘artist sign-ups’ above), and those will be first-come, first-served. However, after the first 48 hours (if there are any fics left), I will go back over any claims from people who didn’t sign up, and process those in order. If there are still any fics left then I’ll call for more artists, and that will be entirely first-come first-served. So the order of priority is a) signed-up artists who claim within the first 48 hours, b) others who claim within the first 48 hours, c) everybody else after that. Clear as mud? Good!

As I mark each fic as claimed I’ll strike it out on the post. Once all fics are claimed I'll freeze comments and edit the post to include all the match-ups, revealing the names of the authors. At that point, if the author has not already got in touch with the artist, the artist can contact the author and everybody can be happy and make merry.

7: Art draft submissions.

This will happen via email. You send your fic to me at gabrielbb_mods at yahoo dot com, any time before the due date. Please CC your author, just to make sure we're all in the loop!

Every art draft is due to us by that due date. There are no exceptions to this: I need to have them in hand so that I can make sure I don't have to start advertising for a pinch hitter. I will accept it as long as it's still the due date somewhere in the world, but after that, no.
Your submitted draft does not need to be complete, but it MUST meet the minimum art requirements for size etc, and it MUST convince me that you're going to be able to complete it on time. This date is only a week before posting starts, after all.
The art itself should be attached as a file (or set of files) to the email, or you can provide a link to it on your website. If the latter, it must be LOCKED (not public), and therefore, obviously, you'll have to provide me with a password or similar secure way of seeing it.
In the body of the e-mail, we need the following information:
1. Title of fic:
2. Artist name:
3. Author name:
4. Warnings for art (if any):
5. You will receive email confirmations that I've received these, so don't worry. It may take a couple of days, but everyone will receive a confirmation e-mail within 24 hours of the close of the due date - probably a lot sooner depending on when you send it. But there's only one of me, so, you know. Depending on real life commitments this may go slowly.

8: Posting.

Authors, remember how having your story betaed is in the rules for the challenge? Get those babies betaed well before your posting date, okay?
Authors and artists: Your story/artwork must be posted in its completion on your assigned day, as defined by the "so long as it's that date somewhere in the world" principle.
There will be three posts per story: the art which is posted by the artist on their own website, the story which is posted by the author on their own website, and the header post, which is posted by the author on this community and contains header information and links to the other posts. All three posts must go live on your assigned day - not before, not after.
1. The art - The artwork should be posted on the artist's own website - eg, deviantart, tumblr, whatever you use. It should contain the basic story info (title, pairings, author, the fact that it's for this challenge) and a link to the story, in whatever format you prefer - you can put a lot more information in there if you like! It should also contain all the full-sized art.
2. The story - This is the main post that the author makes on their website of choice for the story - eg, on AO3 it would be just the url for the story itself, or on LJ it would be a main page with all the header info and links to all the chapters. The story should be posted to your own website. Full stories should not be posted to the GBB community; nor should they be posted only on tumblr. (The reason is that tumblr as a model is designed for impermanence and short posts: if you change your name somewhere down the road, or delete your account, people following the link from here won't be able to find your story anymore, whereas AO3/LJ/dreamwidth/fanfiction.net etc are better set up for permanency. Plus it's really really hard to read long posts on most tumblr pages! Obviously, feel free to post it to your tumblr as well, but please, not ONLY tumblr.)
3. The header post - This is what the author posts to the GBB tumblr, not to your own blog. This post will include the header and links to your story, wherever it may be (possibly multiple links, if you use multiple sites), and to the artist's post containing the artwork. (Even if you embed the art in your story you should also link to the artist's page, so that they can get credit / comments for themselves, not just as an adjunct to you). The template for the header post is below.
Authors: It is helpful to discuss with your artists ahead of time when you want to post on your assigned day, so that they can have a link to their art masterpost or website to you beforehand. Communication is good - especially if you're in different time zones! You might also want to incorporate their art into your own posts, of course, which again will take a little forethought and organisation. Even if you don't, remember to also include a link to the art masterpost, so all your readers can find it and lavish praise on your artist!
I will go through after the last fic is posted and create a masterpost for this year's fic. (Again, depending on real life, this may take a while - it's very fiddly, and I will be finishing my doctoral dissertation around this time, so I will be busy hating everything.)
Authors: Please use the following template when posting your story header post here. Under the 'author' or 'artist' heading, you can include your username / url for any site, or multiple sites - DW, LJ, AO3, tumblr, twitter, etc - if you want people to be able to find you in all those places. Check with your artist to which name(s) they want here. Tags TBA - check which ones exist for the comm that are appropriate to your story.
- Title:
- Author:
- Artist:
- Beta:
- Pairing (if any):
- [Optional] Genre/Tropes:
- Rating:
- Word count:
- Warnings/Spoilers:
- Summary:
- Link to fic:
- Link to art:
Feel free to include some of the art in the post, especially if there's a title card.

Authors, also: If you're posting on AO3, you might want to consider including your work in the 'Gabriel Big Bang' collection there. Works from previous years are welcome too. Remember, you can only make your fic public on your posting date, but after that, you can add it to the community immediately or at any time. This of course makes it easier for Gabriel fans to find your work later. Whether you're creating a new fic or you've already posted your fic there, it's easy enough to add it to the collection - either click on the 'add to collections' button down the bottom of the fic, or used the 'post to collections/challenges' in the 'edit/create work' page. The collection name is "Gabriel Big Bang" (complex, I know).

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to have a dreamwidth account to participate?

No! This BB was previously run from dreamwidth, and it's a more helpful structure to keep all the pages and info on than tumblr, so I'm keeping it for that. If you want to comment on any post you can do so easily enough: you can create an OpenID account with them, which basically means you use your identity from another site to post on dreamwidth. This will allow you to participate fully in the community, just not to have your own journal. You might also want to look into getting a feed of the gabrielbigbang community. (See DW's help page for OpenID and feeds, for further info).

What's the tag on tumblr?

gbb2018! Follow it! Chatter in it! Take advantage of the whole community thing! We won't be policing secrecy for this challenge, so feel free to discuss your work with everybody else, and maybe post a snippet or two here and there. Just remember the rule not to post the finished fic/art (or a substantial portion of it) before your posting date.

What about support people?

We won't be organising betas etc for you. However, if you can't find someone privately, you can make a tumblr post tagged with gbb2018 and I'll signal boost it from the GBB blog. You'll generally get more interest if you post an enticing snippet or summary of your project with your request.

Can I submit the completed version of a WIP that I've been posting in my journal?

No. You may finish something from your WIP folder that you've only shared with alpha/beta readers for the bang, but if you've posted any part of the story to the internet, you cannot use it for this challenge.
The exception to this rule is teasers: if you've posted a few lines of the story on your journal for something like a WIP meme, that doesn't count for the purposes of this rule. This rule pertains to multi-part fics of which you've posted one or more chapters.

Can I submit a sequel to a story I've already posted?

Yes, so long as the new story can stand completely on its own. (NB: for the sake of anonymity for the art claims, when preparing an artist summary for such fics, please use something akin to "This is a continuation of an established verse" instead of a link to the prior fic or 'verse masterpost in the summary. You can link the artist to the prior works after author/artist pairs have been confirmed by the mods.)

Can I do a remix of another person's story if it hasn't been posted before, won't be a WIP, etc.?

No, not even if you get their permission. This story needs to be unique to you.

Are RPF/French Mistake 'verse fics/crossovers/AUs allowed?

Yes, provided that Gabriel or Richard Speight Jr. is the main focus of the story. The only exception is that crossovers with any other fandom will probably not be allowed, but may be allowed in minor cases, by negotiation with the mod. Also, please be aware that even in an AU, SPNxFMV crossover, or SPNxRPF crossover, the SPN character Gabriel or Richard Speight Jr. must be the main focus of the story.

Can I write a pairing that does not include Gabriel or RSJ?

All pairings and moresomes are welcome, as are gen fics. The only caveat is that no matter who is paired off with whom, Gabriel or Richard must be the main focus of the story.
E.g. Gabriel rekindling his relationship with Kali while goading Dean and Sam to get their act together about Castiel = good.
Richard coming to realize just how much he cares for Jensen or Jared or Misha or Mark and the romantic hijinks that ensue = good.
Gabriel coming back from the dead to help the Winchesters save the world while no one gets laid = good.
Richard and Jeremy Carver taking advantage of the power vacuum left by Kripke's death in FMV to bring Gabriel back into the "series" and the mischief, mayhem and possible romance that follows = good.
Gabriel only popping in for a couple snarky one liners while Dean, Sam and Cas do the rest of the heavy lifting in the fic: not good.

Can I do a crossover or a fusion? And what is the difference between those?

Fusion, absolutely; crossovers, only very mild ones, and only by consultation with the mod.
As to the difference: the easy version is that a fusion is where the SPN characters inhabit that other world/canon, a crossover is where they visit it (or characters from that other world/canon visit the SPN world). In effect, this is usually simplified further to 'if there are characters from the other canon, it's a crossover; if all their roles are taken by SPN characters, it's a fusion'. This means that you can, for example, have a Teen Wolf fusion - with the characters of Supernatural existing in the world of Beacon Hills - but not a crossover, where they go to Beacon Hills and meet the Teen Wolf characters. Similarly, you could have an Aladdin fusion - with Gabriel as the genie, say, and Dean as a roguish and well-meaning Aladdin trying marrying the prince/princess to support his younger brother - but you couldn't have the characters from Supernatural meeting the Disney genie/Aladdin/Jasmine/Jafar. Minor characters like Abu and the Sultan would probably be fine - this is where you need to negotiate with the mod!

Can an author turn in more than one story?

Yes, provided that both stories are completed by the due date. If only one draft is completed on time, the mods will only post the completed draft's summary for artist claims.

Can an artist make art for more than one story?

If there is a deficit of artists to authors, then artist claims will be opened for a second round and re-publicised so that those artists who wish to work on more than one story (or artists who didn't sign up in time) may select one of the unclaimed summaries. (See the 'art claims' instructions on this page for further details.)] You may not select more than one story for your initial claim. Please bear in mind that your artwork drafts for both fics must be completed by the due date.

Can writers collaborate on a story?

Absolutely, but that decision needs to be finalised and noticed to the mods before author sign-ups end. If the authors decide to collaborate before signing up, then simply make that clear in your sign-up comment. If you decide to collaborate after placing your initial sign-ups but before author sign-ups end, please edit your sign-up form AND contact the mods by e-mail.

Can an artist do more than one piece of art for a story?

An artist can do as many pieces of art for their assigned stories as they want to once the main piece is finished.

Is there a maximum story length or size limit for artwork?

No. The sky's the limit once your artwork or story meets or surpasses the minimum requirements (15,000 words for fics, 1 minute for fanvids, 500x500px for other art).

Can I post a soundtrack for my story?

Yes, definitely! However, the cover art made by your artist to go with it (if they do oblige with that) may not be the only art your artist creates to go with your story.

Do fanmix covers count as art?

No. You must do a piece of graphic art (original illustration, photo manip, etc.) or vid to go with your author's story. If the author has a fanmix or soundtrack that you are doing cover art for, it must be in addition to your other art.

Can I post art or fanmix covers that I or someone other than my artist has done when I post my story?

Not before the end of the posting period. Once all of the big bangs have been posted and the mods have closed this round of the challenge, you may post additional fanwork that goes with your fic.

Can I give my artist direction on the art?

We encourage authors and artists to communicate as much as possible and for authors to provide their artists with as much feedback as they can during the production of the art. If an author has a specific request of the artist (i.e. icons, dividers, specific scenes to be turned into an image or used in a vid), that should be brought up during the art creation process and equitably considered between both parties. However, the final call regarding what art is produced for the challenge is up to the artist.

What if the artwork I'm inspired to create for the story doesn't involve Gabriel or Richard Speight, Jr.?

We mods understand the whims and whispers of muses quite well, so we know that sometimes you can't control what sparks it the most. But since this challenge is about Gabriel and the actor that plays him, the primary artwork for the challenge (and therefore the work that should be given priority for completion) should be focused on that character or person. You may, of course, do additional art that doesn't include Gabriel/Richard.

Can I turn my art/fic draft in before the deadline?

Of course you can! Draft submission instructions are over here.

My story/art/vid journal is usually f-locked. Do I have to unlock my big bang posts?

The point of this challenge is to share your stories. They must therefore be posted in a way that is available for anyone to read, irrespective of whether or not that person is on your f-list. You may choose to post the art/fic on another site if you prefer not to make an unlocked post on your own.

What happens if I miss a deadline?

While the mod is generally understanding about the need for extensions in certain cases, they will not be granted by default if a deadline is missed. If you have not contacted the mod with an extension request and you miss a sign-up or submission deadline, you will be considered dropped from the challenge. Pinch-hitters will be found for any artists that drop out (and I really don't want to do that because it's a nuisance, so please, let me know as soon as possible if you really can't do it!).

I'm not going to be able to complete my art or story in time. What do I do?

Contact the mod! Very quickly! I will work with you on an extension if possible, and will determine how to proceed if you ultimately cannot complete your aspect of the challenge.

Will you be archiving the Big Bang submissions anywhere?

No. While we do require authors to submit copies of their completed drafts, that is for verification that the artist will have a complete story to work with and that the story meets the challenge requirements. We do not expect the drafts submitted to us to be the final drafts, and so would not use them for archival purposes. We do, however, have a Gabriel Big Bang collection on AO3, which we'd love you to list your works in!
Each post made to the GBB blog will contain links to the stories and related artwork, and a master list of those posts will be compiled at the end of this round of the challenge.