BatBigBang 2023

[razielim]

I've decided to run a batbigbang! I looked around at the lack of recent big DC events, especially ones that were inclusive of ships and tropes, and said "To hell with it! I'll make my own!"

Which is a very typical thing for me to say, but I've really changed in recent years, and I actually follow through on so many ideas and projects so I feel a lot less feverish and insane than when I've said such things in the past.

I was very fortunate that someone very qualified contacted me quickly to help mod and now I'm choosing a second co-mod while drafting the rules and timeline. All in all, there's a lot more interest in all aspects of the event than I was afraid of when I first made the mod call post and sat around in deafening silence the first couple days.

ALL fandom spaces have become less of a sure thing recently after the post-porn-ban decentralization, and DC fandom in particular has been so difficult for me to get my finger on its pulse. It's active but it's not. It's a behemoth but it's quiet.

The whole tumblr landscape has been cleaved in two between people who ship and let ship and those who don't, and most days it feels like we're in the minority for not being ashamed of just doing whatever the hell is fun to us. So it's been really heartening to see people who are happy that the event is 18+, that it allows Bat/Bat ships while also allowing gen content, etc. all come sniffing closer, cautiously at first and then with growing enthusiasm. Feels good to do my part to contribute to a better fandom experience!

Comments

[vriddy]

Omg that is so cool!! Also I haven't seen a bang with a 50k words minimum in way too long :D :D :D Everything about this event makes me happy, I love that you decided to take matters in your own hands and are starting to find more of your people as well!! Including people willing to help co-mod, that is so helpful!! Wishing you the very best of luck and an amazing time, and a very successful event!! 🥳

[razielim]

I was thinking as I set up my first ever DW community for the event, "Oh, vriddy will be proud!" Hehe 😊

I looooooove 50k word big bangs*. I know they scare the crap out of some writers, but that's the stuff I think really makes a huge impact in a fandom! I love it when you join a fandom and you have the OPTION to read a bonafide long fic that's definitely been beta'd, that's definitely complete. Other fests beef up the middle section of the bell curve and are the bread and butter of supporting daily reading habits, but 50k bangs really set the tone for what is possible in a given fandom space.

*Caveat, I've never written for one, only done the art. But as an artist, that's also what attracts me, far more than 10k or 5k bangs.

[dr_zook]

But as an artist, that's also what attracts me, far more than 10k or 5k bangs.

Maybe that's a dumb question: but what's the difference for you as an artist?

Apart from that: 🥳 Yay! I hope this bang will be as pleasurable as you hope it to be!! You're clearly doing a HUGE service for your fandom!! 💫

[razielim]

I feel like... 50k is SO difficult for most people and SO uncommon to actually finish writing, that I naturally want to reward my author for it, and just make an illustration of more or less whatever the author wants, my only input being what would make the best compositions. I feel more... accountable? And acquiescent? In a way that's very pleasurable and relaxing. It's not my fic, I'm just here to make the author feel happy and validated. I even get less executive dysfunction because it feels so important, emotionally, to do a 50k+ fic justice. Usually I have to find a paying client to be told what to do! Haha

It's different with a shorter fic. I don't feel like I'd be gifting someone a highly-personalized prize for making it to the finish line of a monumental effort if I signed up; I'd just be making fanart. Which is fun! ...but I already make fanart all the time anyway, sometimes even based on other people's fics. So it's not different enough from what I normally do.

I know other artists like to collaborate more and have more input on the big bang fics, but that ain't me. If I wanted to influence a fic... I could and would write my own. Haha. I only influence on accident, like when I forgot to paint someone's glasses and instead of asking me to add them, the author wrote them out of the scene. lol!

TLDR: Getting bossed around by 50k makes the executive dysfunction go away!
i rhyme!

[dr_zook]

Thank you for elaborating-- that makes A LOT of sense. Tell me when you're open for commissions, I like to boss around people. XD

I only influence on accident, like when I forgot to paint someone's glasses and instead of asking me to add them, the author wrote them out of the scene. - !! Excellent!

[razielim]

[dr_zook]

🤩 Now, I'm very glad to hear that! Do you have a pricelist somewhere handy? Any fandoms you wouldn't do? I might have an idea or another. 🦑

[razielim]

I charge $40 USD/hour for non-commercial clients, through PayPal! As for the price, I'd have to estimate the time it would take, depending on the subject, usually within the 2-8 hour range. If you have an idea of what you want, just send me a line through this form.

If you don't mind me not knowing anything about a particular fandom, I can do ANY fandom reasonably within my skillset. I'm probably not the right person for like... Gundams?

[vriddy]

Very proud :D

I am indeed terrified of committing to any piece of writing that large personally at this point, but I fully support! (And I hope one day to build up to that kind of project length :D) I loved reading your perspective from the artist's side as well in the other comments, very cool. Even better with the rhyming slogan, too 😂

May your enthusiasm inspire many others :D

[razielim]

Thank you! Me too, because I'm trying not to shake in my boots. *covers face and laughs*

[dreamersdare]

This is a freaking ♥♥ situation. Like, pretty sure I don't have 50k of anything in me at the moment, but those huge completed fandom epics are just crack for my little fannish soul. Hard approve for this :)

[razielim]

In a perfect world, as I imagine it, every fandom or big ship would have a big bang happening every other year or so. (Or every year, idk, but I'm under the impression that most people want a break between 50k challenges.) I actually always wonder why this DOESN'T happen. Is it that big bangs appeal to a minority of people, or are there plenty more aficionados who also wish that something big was going on, but don't know how to start one or simply don't want to be the one to run them? I'm sure there's plenty of reasons... Some people just want chill fandom experiences. But I wish for each fandom to always have a bustling marketplace you could go to! :)

Okay, this is starting to get away from me, big bangs are nothing like marketplaces, they're more like a college study room full of sleep deprived students. But the colorful bazaar vision speaks to me!!

[dreamersdare]

I think for sure the bigger they get, the fewer people they appeal to (just because not everyone wants to write 50k+ fic, or feels able to, or whatever else). But also, I get the impression that they can be tricky to run, especially when you get to the author/artist matching stage, because there's often so many more authors than artists.

Also, fandom is more scattered these days. Used to be, you ran your bang on LJ and that was it. Now where are you working? AO3? DW? Tumblr? Discord? Twitter *shudder*? I wonder if those kind of logistics put people off as well?