Marvel Universe Big Bang

2026 Marvel Bang Guidelines & FAQ

2026-05-03T19:48:48Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

Sign-ups open on May 9, 2026! Are you excited yet? Please find the 2026 Guidelines & FAQ here.

Author Guidelines

What are the requirements for fic?
Your story has to be at least 10,000 words, and there's no maximum limit. You can work with a co-author or a group, if you're more comfortable; the word count will be 10k no matter how many authors work on it.

Stories and art have to be new. If you started a story already, and have not published any of it yet, that’s A-okay! Your unposted, Marvel-centric work can qualify for the Bang. If your story has been posted elsewhere, it doesn't qualify for this challenge.

Exception: The purpose of this bang is to unveil a completed piece on your posting date, however we are okay with you finishing a work as long as you have not posted more than 2,000 words of it and don't post any more until your posting date. Since this bang has a minimum word count of 10,000 words we are asking that no more than 2,000 words be posted prior to signing up so that at least 80% of the fic is new.

Please note that the 2,000 word limit still holds no matter how long your fic is - even if you complete a 100k epic, you can only submit it for this fest if you've published less than 2,000 words of it before signing up for this challenge.

We strongly advise that you have a beta reader for your story. It's difficult to edit your own work and the stories for this challenge should be polished. If you have your own, that's awesome! If not we will have a channel on our Marvel Bang Discord Server devoted to helping people find betas. We understand that finding a good beta match can be difficult so we won't mandate it at this time, but please take the editing of your fic seriously.

What's allowed in my story?
The easy answer to that is: pretty much anything! We're open to slash, het, and gen, no matter your pairing preference. If you want to write Steve/Tony or Charles/Erik, that's awesome, and if you've got a great idea for an epic Natasha/Pepper or Emma & Scott, that's perfectly acceptable as well. You can base your story off of any medium - so whether you’re a diehard comic fan, into cartoons, or someone who loves the movies, you can participate! The only thing explicitly not allowed is pedophilia for the sake of pedophilia - if it's a plot point, it's okay, but we're not going to allow stories that have graphic sexual situations involving children (for our purposes, anyone under the age of 18). If you have a question about your pairing or specific idea, contact the mods and we'll discuss it with you on a case-by-case basis.

Sequels to stories you've written are acceptable! If you write a sequel, be sure to link back to the original story, so people can read that as well.

What about crossovers, fusions, and AUs?
Crossovers with other fandoms are allowed, but the focus has to be on the Marvel character. If you want to write Wolverine in Ancient Rome or Spider-Man as a new member of the Hawaii Five-0 task force, you are more than welcome to. However, if you want to write a crossover that focuses on Harry Potter being a new member of the Avengers, this is not the place for it. The requirement for this bang is that the primary focus of your story be on a character from the Marvel Universe.

I'm interested, but I'm not sure what to write.
Our recommendations:
Read comics and watch movies with the characters you like in them - inspiration may follow!
You may also enjoy fandom outlets like tumblr blogs and Discord servers that focus on Marvel characters you like, and find ideas that way.
There will be a prompt thread on the Marvel Bang Discord server. Anyone can leave a prompt, and anyone can take a prompt. If six authors choose to write from the same prompt, that's totally fine. If someone wants to mash three prompts together, that's also fine. If someone wants to use half of a prompt, that's fine.

Can I sign up to write more than one story?
Yes! You can sign-up to write up to two different stories for this challenge. You must sign up separately for both. The limit is two stories (sorry, you can’t sign up to write 3 or more). If you have to drop one or both make sure to tell us before rough drafts are due so that you don't leave an artist hanging. If you have to drop either story after you have turned in the rough draft you will be banned from next year's challenge.

Can I sign up with a co-author?
Yes! You can work with a co-author or a group, if you're more comfortable. But remember the word count will still be 10k no matter how many authors work on it. Just make sure to sign up all authors on the sign-up sheet. The limit of two stories per author still stands even if all the stories are co-written.

What if I can't finish my story in time?
That's fine! We understand that sometimes the muses won't cooperate or life gets too hectic. You are free to drop out of the challenge with no penalty any time before you turn in your rough draft, just let us know. You are also welcome to participate as a solo author and not submit your stories for an artist claim. That way if you finish it you can post and if not there will be no penalty. However, if you have to drop out after an artist has claimed your story, you will be banned from participating in next year's bang. We don't want to leave any artists hanging if we can help it.

Where do I post my finished fic?
The stories must be posted on AO3 and linked into the 2026 Marvel BB Collection. We will provide a link and instructions for how to post to AO3 when it is closer to posting time. If you do not have an AO3 account, it is simple to get one. Here is the link: AO3 Invite. If you don't have an account, it'd be a good idea to get one as soon as you can. Lastly, don't post your story - or even parts of it - before the challenge goes live.

Artist Guidelines

What are the requirements for art?
Lots of things are acceptable for art! Accompanying fanworks come in many different forms: vids, manips, traditional art, digital art, fanmixes, movie-style posters, podfics, original musical composition, and book covers have all been put forth as acceptable ideas.

Traditional art: 1 finished work with color*, or 2 finished line-art works, or 3 sketch-style works
Digital art: 1 finished work with color*, or 2 finished line-art works, or 3 sketch-style works
Fanmix: 8 songs with cover art
Podfic: Committing to 10K+ words of narration is a lot; you may wish to discuss with your author to select between 2,500-5,000 words to narrate in specific chapters and go from there
Original music: 1 song recording; cover art optional but preferred
Manips/mood boards: 2 completed works
Fan Vids: 2-5 minutes with soundtrack

*Fully shaded and rendered B&W works count as “color” - the intention here is for the artist to have a fully completed work, but we are not trying to force a palette on you.

If you want to check that what you have in mind is appropriate, contact the mods and we'll discuss it on a case-by-case basis.

Will every story have art?
We aim for every author that wants art to be matched with an artist. Authors who do not want art may opt out and work as a solo participant. Authors who have/wish to bring a specific artist to work with may do so.

What if too many artists sign up for the amount of stories written? What if I want to create for more than one story?
If we have five authors sign up with ten artists, stories may be double-claimed. Artists are also allowed to claim multiple stories. We'll work this out to the absolute best of our abilities :)

General Guidelines and FAQ

Can I sign up as an author and an artist?
Yes!

What is a solo author/artist?
A solo author/artist is someone who wants the structure of a fanwork challenge without having to work with someone else to create an accompanying fanwork. By working alone you don't have to worry about whether you complete your project or not because you won't have a partner depending on you. You can also decide to do your own art or find your own partner to work with. Basically we won't be matching you with an artist or an author, but you can still have a fic with art if you arrange it yourself. You can also work on other kinds of projects like podfic if you desire.

Do I have to join DW/Discord/Tumblr to participate?
No. You don't have to join any particular social media platform, except for AO3, in order to participate. However, if you want to keep up with Bang updates and take part in the more social aspect of this challenge you will want to follow us on the platform of your choice. Discord in particular is where we will be having our prompt post, beta finding help, writing support, word sprints, etc. so you may want to join up there.

What if I use AI to help me brainstorm/write/create art/etc.?
Don't. Using AI such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini to assist you with your fic is not in the spirit of this challenge. This community strongly believes that fiction and art should be created by humans and that the use of AI for fanfiction and fanart is destructive to the environment and to fandom as a whole. These models have been trained on the works fandom has already created without our permission. We are using the honor system. AI checkers don't actually work so we won't be using them. But please share your own brilliant, human writing and art and don't cede creativity to AI.

Can I post my fic in chapters? Can I upload them over a week? Must I coordinate my art post with the fic posting?
Because of the nature of a Big Bang challenge, the entire fic and the accompanying art must be posted on the same day--the day you claim for posting. All fic and art should go up at the same time--a big explosion of work at once. We understand that with multiple chapters it might take time to get them up, but the nature of a Big Bang is for it all to go up in one day. AO3 allows you to set up the fic prior to the posting date so you could get a draft ready to go over time and just post it on the day.

So short answer, yes you can post in chapters. However, all the chapters must go up on the same day. The accompanying fanwork must be posted to an appropriate venue on the same day (and if the fanwork is not inserted somewhere in the Ao3 fic, the author must link it appropriately with the fic so it can be found (i.e.links to tumblr art, Spotify playlists, Youtube vids, etc.).

What happened to your LiveJournal?
Due to the recent TOS changes at LiveJournal and out of an abundance of caution, we’ve decided to discontinue using the Marvel Bang LJ account for any official Bang communications or info. This will also allow us to more easily streamline our messaging.

I still have questions! Where can I ask them?
You can ask in our #help channel on Discord, email us at marvelbigbang at gmail dot com, message us at https://www.tumblr.com/marvelbang, or utilize the 2026 Page-a-Mod post.

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PAGE-A-MOD 2026

2026-05-02T13:40:07Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Leave a message here, and a mod will get back to you.

Comments are screened for privacy until a moderator has reviewed the content.

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2026 Marvel Bang Opinion Poll

2026-04-14T11:33:15Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

In the lead-up to May 9th, the Marvel Bang mods ask: what does a supportive writing community looks like to you? Please take our google survey and let us know!

The survey is open to anyone, not just Bang participants. Identification is optional.

We thank you!

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Important Announcement: The Marvel Big Bang Returns for 2026!

2026-04-10T11:20:12Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

The Marvel Bang is back for 2026! Sign-ups open May 9, 2026. In keeping with previous years, we’ll keep Author sign-ups open until rough drafts are due. Even if you forget to sign up, you’ll have a chance to participate. We want to stick with the vibe of a low pressure, fun escape for everyone.

Your moderators this year are shinysilver and lalunaunita, with weepingnaiad supporting us as a back-up mod. We will continue to use our moderator account to make our modding life easier. Nonetheless, we’re easy to reach individually via the Discord server as well. We’re so excited to be here for the fifteenth year of the Bang!

Here is the 2026 schedule:

9 May: Sign-ups open (authors and accompanying fanworkers)

13 June: Optional 2.5k word check-in

11 July: Optional 5k word check-in

29 August: Sign-ups close; rough drafts (80% of story) and summaries due

4 September: Fic summaries go up for fanworkers to peruse

5 September noon eastern: Claims open/Artist sign-ups

6 September 3PM eastern: Second claims open

12 September: Claims close; no more fanworker signups

24 October: Mandatory check-in for authors and artists; posting slots open

7 November: Posting begins

12 December: Posting ends

Please direct any questions to our #help channel on Discord or to marvelbigbang@gmail.com.

Due to the recent TOS changes at LiveJournal and out of an abundance of caution, we’ve decided to discontinue using the Marvel Bang LJ account for any official Bang communications or info. This will also allow us to more easily streamline our messaging. Our Dreamwidth, Discord, and Tumblr accounts remain active.

We hope you'll join us for 2026!

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2025 Marvel Fanworks Week Prompts

2025-08-04T21:58:51Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

Marvel Fanworks Week 2025 Runs from October 19 - October 25. Each day has two prompts, one prompt is a general prompt and the other is a marvel universe. You only have to pick one of the prompts to work with unless you feel extra inspired by Marvel Zombies drinking Pumpkin Spice lattes. In that case please don't let us stop you.

Day 1 - Pumpkin Spice | Marvel Zombies

Day 2 - First Kiss | MCU

Day 3 - Dark Magic | Comic-verse (616)

Day 4 - Camping | X-men Movie-verse

Day 5 - Injuries | Ultimates

Day 6 - Power Swap | Marvel Rivals

Day 7 - Fandom Tropes | Any Universe

You can find more information including our guidelines in this post: https://marvel-bang.dreamwidth.org/206760.html

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2025 Marvel Fanworks Prompt Week

2025-08-04T21:31:37Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

Marvel Fanworks Prompt week is coming soon! We'll be sharing works on our Tumblr, Discord, and have an AO3 Collection, but feel free to use the tags on X or BlueSky as well. Or anywhere else you desire!

If you would like to participate in the event, use the listed prompts. Post your works during the week of October 19 - October 25 and tag your submissions with #marvelfanworks2025.

If you would like to join our Discord for updates and community you can find us here: https://discord.gg/aaEgdk22A7.

Rules and Guidelines for the event:

All Marvel characters and ships from any universe or in an AU setting are welcome in the Prompt Week.
Submissions must be new works created for the Marvel Fanworks Prompt Week.
You may submit more than one work for a prompt if you choose, or skip prompts that don’t appeal to you. Each day has two prompts listed, but you only need to use one in your work. Interpret it however you like!
Works may be posted on the day of the relevant prompt or anytime after if you are not finished yet.
There are no length requirements for fic and all art mediums are welcome. However, we do not support the use of AI art and it will not be reshared.
Feel free to work alone or in teams. This is about having fun with Marvel!
Works without the tag #marvelfanworks2025 may be overlooked. We strongly suggest using the tag so that it’s easy for us to find and reblog your work.
Additional tags for each specific prompt will be provided, and usage is encouraged so that viewers can enjoy your works collected by prompt!
Works can be posted in our AO3 collection here: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/marvel_fanworks_week_2025/
NSFW is allowed, but please tag appropriately.
The only thing explicitly not allowed is pedophilia for the sake of pedophilia - if it's a plot point, it's okay, but we're not going to allow stories that have graphic sexual situations involving children (for our purposes, anyone under the age of 18).
This Prompt Week welcomes all corners of the Marvel fandom. Harsh or negative critique of ships, fandoms, or creators (whether participating in the prompt week or not) is not welcome in the comments or tags.

If you have questions feel free to reach out to us in the comments here or on Discord.

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Important Announcement: Marvel Bang Hiatus & Prompt Week

2025-07-01T02:15:36Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

Several of you have asked about the 2025 Bang and we are formally announcing a hiatus for the 2025 year. This will allow our Mod Team to hopefully get our own lives in order and refocus for the 2026 Bang. We understand that this news may be disappointing for many of you who look forward to the Big Bang each year. Please know that this was not an easy decision, and we appreciate your understanding and continued support.

However! We didn't want to let this year go by without at least doing something to help inspire Marvel fanworks. We are very proud of the legacy of this bang and want to continue to provide inspiration, accountability, and community for Marvel fans of all media.

We are thrilled to announce that in place of the Marvel Big Bang, we will be hosting a special Marvel Fanworks Prompt Week! This event will be open to all Marvel fanworks, including fanfiction, fanart, fanmixes, fanvids, and more. All universes, characters, and ships will be welcome.

The Prompt Week will be Sunday, October 19 - Saturday, October 25. We want to give everyone plenty of time to write or create art so we will be posting up more information including the prompts in the near future.

Each day will have two prompts--one marvel specific and one more general. Feel free to make prompt suggestions in our Discord. Please keep each prompt to one or two words.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years and participated as authors, artists, betas, and cheerleaders. We hope you will create wonderful things for our prompt week.

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Posting Instructions!

2024-11-24T17:02:17Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

Posting starts soon so we've put this posting guide together for everyone to use!

Everyone must post their fanworks on AO3 on your posting dates (all chapters and art must go up the same day) and add them to our Collection. That's all you have to do. You're done.

However, you can still crosspost and/or advertise your fanworks any other place that you want on your posting date (or anytime after). As long as all parts of it are publicly accessible and on AO3, you can do anything else that you want with it!

Authors and accompanying fanworkers should be in contact with each other about coordinating posts. We don’t expect everyone to post at precisely the same time, but all related posts should link to each other - the main story post should have a link to its accompanying fanworks, and those fanworks should link back to the story, etc. All posts need to be posted to the AO3 Collection. If one of your participants hasn’t posted by the time you’re ready to go, go ahead and post anyway. You can edit your post later to put their information in. Make sure you edit as soon as you have a link!

Authors, you are welcome to embed the art in your fic as long as it is okay with your artist. Just make sure you still link to a masterpost and give proper credit (and love!) to your artist. When posting images remember to include alt-text and/or a caption for people with screen readers!

It's this simple:
Gather links from all fanworkers
Post to the AO3 Collection which you can find here: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/marvel_bang_2024

Please make sure you abide by AO3's warning system when you add your story to the archive.

If you do not have an AO3 account, we have invites. To request an invite, or if you have any questions, reach out to your friendly neighborhood mods via email, page-a-mod or on discord. We can't wait to see all of your finished products!

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Final Check-in and date claim post!

2024-10-26T19:33:16Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

It's time to sign up for your posting dates! Posting will run from Sunday, 17 November to Friday, 6 December. Due to the limited number of stories this year, we're only allowing a single story per day. But there are plenty of dates! Don't worry about filling out the schedule completely. Pick the day that's best for you. Claiming a posting date here counts as the final check-in for your entire creative group.

Tandem and solo participants: you must send us a summary of your story before you claim a posting date. Posting date claims made without sending in a story summary will not be honored. Summaries can be submitted via email or PM, or included with the posting date claim comment.

We will have more specific details about the process of posting later in the month, but we do want to be clear that each story will have both the complete fic and any accompanying fanworks posted on the same day. Only one representative from each story needs to select a date. Before someone from your creative team claims a date, make sure that everyone involved - the author(s) and everyone making an accompanying fanwork - can post on that day.

Please make claims on the LJ post: https://marvel-bang.livejournal.com/208344.html

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Claims closed!

2024-09-29T03:32:16Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

Artist claims for the 2024 Marvel Bang are now closed. We will not be running an extra claim period for stories to possibly get multiple artists this year.

All match-up emails have been sent out. If you did not receive your match-up email, please check your spam folder. If you encounter an unexpected issue finishing your fic or art please contact the mods ASAP. We are here to help you.

October 26 is a mandatory check in for all authors and artists. Posting dates will be selected during that check in.

Thank you and happy creating!

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One story left to claim!

2024-09-27T20:22:21Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

One story left to claim!

The post will be open for anonymous comments so that you can claim without joining Livejournal, but if you do, please be sure to list the username you signed up with in your claim.

Fanworkers, if you are not a member of the comm, please join by filling out this form after you make your claim. If you have any questions, please contact us on our page-a-mod post or on Discord.

Claims will close on Saturday, September 28th.

The available story is here: https://marvel-bang.livejournal.com/207711.html

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Three stories left!

2024-09-25T03:14:58Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

We still have 3 great stories in need of an artist! Please visit this post to check them out and stake your claim: https://marvel-bang.livejournal.com/207419.html

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Additional Artist Claims!

2024-09-22T19:05:23Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

Artists are allowed to sign up to work with up to 5 different stories, so if you've already made your first claim and are eyeing some others now is the time to do so. From this point on artists can claim as many fic as they want up to 5, just list them in the order of preference and let us know how many of them you want. If you list four fic just in case something is already claimed but only want two of them we need to know that.

You can peruse the fic and make your claims here: https://marvel-bang.livejournal.com/206802.html

More than one artist can not claim the same fic unless all fic have been claimed at least once. If that happens before claims close then we will open claims up once again with instructions.

Claims will close on Saturday, September 28th at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.

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Claims Open!

2024-09-21T16:07:50Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

Art claims are now open here: https://marvel-bang.livejournal.com/206802.html

Fanworkers, if you haven't yet signed up for the bang, please join by filling out this form after you make your claim:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdWunPo029FCQ2qBeype4UXqYBtAzmIuLsNjgcQdUuH9bRBHg/viewform

Please be patient as we confirm your claims. Thanks.

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2024 Artist Claims!

2024-09-21T04:06:19Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

Hey everyone! We have great stories from all over the Marvel fandom in need of artists. We're really excited about claims!

Now that the rough draft deadline has passed, we're putting the summaries up for artists to peruse. The claims don't actually open until Saturday, September 21st at about 12 noon Eastern time, but we want the fanworkers to have a chance to think about their claims now.

Authors, if your story is missing, or something else is wrong contact us ASAP so we can fix it.

To make things easier for everyone and to make sure there's no confusion, the claims post is hosted only on Livejournal. But we understand that not everyone has or wants an account there, so we've made the post public and allowed anonymous claims.

Please check it out here: https://marvel-bang.livejournal.com/206802.html

That post has all of the instructions on how the claiming process works. If you do not have an LJ account, you can post anon, but please make sure your claim has your username!

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2024 Rough Drafts, Drop Outs, and Track Changes

2024-09-13T17:58:39Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

Hey everyone! We hope the writing is going well. Rough drafts are due Sunday, September 15th. Anyone who would like to be paired with an artist must submit a draft. Since Tandem track and Solo track participants aren't being paired with an accompanying fanworker, they don't have to submit a rough draft.

Anyone who would like to drop out or switch to the Tandem or Solo tracks please fill out this form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe6Tstnfc8sc-VpZPxiUZV2Oikuah9qZeh3w7psAg3cLHtUQg/viewform

For anyone who would like to be matched for an artist we do need to see rough drafts, but it is okay if they are very rough at this point. We're just checking for length and completion. Your story does not have to be completely finished, but you must have at least 80% of it done. This means that we will not be accepting any drafts under 8,000 words. However, if your story is going to end up around 20,000 words long, 80% would be 16,000 words. Use your best guess.

If you are submitting an incomplete draft, please be aware that it needs to have all of the scenes at least outlined, including the ending, so we know that you are truly close to finished.

Anyone who submits a rough draft and does not end up finishing and posting their story on time will be banned from participation next year. There is no penalty for dropping out before you submit a rough draft, but once it is submitted you will be paired with an artist and it is not fair to them for you to drop out. In other words, make sure that you can actually be finished by the posting date before you submit.

If you're worried that you won't be finished in time, or don't have 80% but think you could be done writing by the time posting rolls around, you can switch to the Solo track with no penalty. Fill out the above form to switch. Doing the Solo track means you won't get paired with an artist, but you will be able to include your fic in our AO3 collection. Solo fics still need to meet the minimum length requirement and still need to be beta read.

How to submit:

♠ Email your fic to marvelbigbang@gmail.com
♠ Your subject line should say ROUGH DRAFT and include the username you signed up with
♠ We can accept the following file types: .doc, .docx, .pdf, .pages, or gdoc. Make sure that your gdoc is shared with marvelbigbang@gmail.com so that we can see it. (Share the doc with at least commenting capabilities; we need to be able to view the word count. If you submit it as view-only we will not be able to accept it.) If you can't use these file types contact us and we will see what we can do. Don't just send us a different file type without contacting us first.
♠ In the body of the email you need to copy and paste the information below, keeping the html.
♠ Take time with your summary, because this is what the artists will use to make their claims. Make sure you give enough information for potential artists to make decisions, but don't write so much that it's overwhelming. Check out this post for helpful summary writing tips.
♠ Make sure to be clear and thorough about trigger warnings so that artists will know what they are signing up for. You must put any and all warnings in this version of your summary, even if you choose to use an "author chooses not to warn" label later. We don't want anyone to be unhappy with the match, so please warn for noncon, dubcon, excessive or graphic violence, underage sex, incest, character death, or anything else that might be potentially problematic for a reader. Do not warn for slash, femslash, or het.

Once we receive your submission, we will send you a confirmation email. If you don't get a confirmation email from us within 24 hours, contact us. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out on page-a-mod, discord, or via email.

The deadline to submit is 11:59 PM EST on 15 September.

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Author Check-in!

2024-08-02T04:01:42Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

Hey everyone! Welcome to the first marvel_bang check-in post. It's time to see how everyone is doing. This check-in isn't mandatory; we're just trying to get a feel for where everyone is at with their stories. Don’t worry if you’re not finished - rough drafts aren’t due for 44 more days!

All authors, please fill out the following poll:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZ-EYo3H6ohbO0RVHaXjXXzkhsW0_cea65TuZbDLkthyQwdw/viewform

Are you excited about something you’ve written? Worried? Stumped? Leave an excerpt of your fic in the Snippets thread on Discord! This channel is only open for authors to encourage each other, so if you don't have an author role let us know!

If you still need to join the Discord you can find it here: https://discord.com/invite/NAf5bbuB77

Remember, if you're going to need a beta, you should start to work on that process. If you already have someone to work with, awesome! You're ahead of the game!

Artists! Hang out, have a drink, get comfortable :) We're glad to have you along for the ride!

Remember that artist sign-ups are open until September 28th. If you know anyone who might like to sign up, pass the word along!

As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns of any type, feel free to leave a message at the page-a-mod post. We promise to get back to you as soon as we can. :)

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2024 Artist Sign-ups

2024-05-11T15:51:55Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

2024 Artist Sign-Up

This sign-up is for everyone interested in creating art for the 2024 Marvel Bang. No matter if you are planning to be a solo participant, already have a partner in mind to work in tandem with, or want to be paired with an author later, you sign up here. As the challenge progresses you'll have the opportunity to let us know the path you've picked.

We have an entire section in our Discord for our artists and fanworkers. If you'd like to connect with other fanworkers join us on our Discord: Discord invite

Story rough drafts are due by 15 September. We will post a preview of story summaries (including titles, pairings, and any warnings) on 20 September so accompanying fanworkers can think about the claims they want to make. Claims will open on 21 September at noon US Eastern Time for artists to make their first claim and on 22 September at 3pm US Eastern Time artists will be free to make additional claims.

Claims will be done on a first-come, first-serve basis. Stories will be available for second claims after each has been claimed once; same goes with third claims and beyond, if we have that many. Accompanying fanworkers can sign up to do between one and five claims (this includes works with prearranged tandem partners and claimed pieces); please do not sign up for more claims than you can complete. You are free to create more than one piece to accompany any story that you've claimed, but you must create at least one thing for each claimed story.

Final claims will be sent out on 1 October, and no more accompanying fanworker signups will be accepted after that time.

Accompanying fanworks come in many different forms: vids, manips, traditional art, digital art, fanmixes, movie-style posters, podfics, original musical composition, and book covers have all been put forth as acceptable ideas.

If you'd like to sign up as an accompanying fanworker, fill out the sign-up form at Google Docs. We'll send a confirmation as soon as possible, but please be patient. Your mods are very busy so it may take us a few days. To make it easier we often send them out in batches.

Since we are doing sign-ups via Google Forms, we have turned off the comments on this post.

If you have any questions at all or have an idea for a type of fanwork that isn't listed here, please contact us at our Page-a-Mod post or at our help channel on Discord and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

Sign-ups close 28-September-2024.

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2024 Author Sign-ups

2024-05-11T15:36:07Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

This sign-up is for everyone interested in writing a fic for the 2024 Marvel Bang. No matter if you are planning to be a solo participant, already have a partner in mind to work in tandem with, or want to be paired with an artist later, you sign up here. As the challenge progresses you'll have the opportunity to let us know the path you've picked.

We're open to any and all pairings here, and pretty much any idea sounds like a good one to us. These are the basic guidelines that you'll have to follow while writing, but pretty much anything else is a go:

-10,000 words is the minimum length for each story. There is no upper limit. Stories can be written with a partner or by a group; the minimum word count is still 10,000 words, no matter how many people are involved.

-Stories must have at least one beta reader. If you don't have a beta reader, check out our Discord channels to see if anyone there fits your needs.

-This challenge is for new stories. If your story has appeared online in its entirety, it's not eligible for Marvel Bang. You can complete a story you’ve already started posting as long as no more than 2,000 words have already been posted, and you don’t post any more until your posting date.

-Sequels are great! If you write a sequel to something you've written in the past, include a link to the original story in your author's notes, so people can read from the beginning if they haven't already.

-If you need some inspiration, check out the prompt post, which will be hosted on our Discord this year. Take the prompts as literally or as figuratively as you want - use part of one, use three or four, use half of one and half of another. It's entirely up to you. Discord invite if you need it.

-In order for your story to qualify for this challenge, you cannot post it anywhere online until the due date. On that day, you must post it to AO3, with a link to the 2024 Marvel BB Collection. Just don't put it up before the reveal. (Posting details will be given closer to that time.)

-Rough drafts are due on 15 September. A rough draft is a document with a beginning, middle, and end; it must be at least 80% complete (with the unfinished parts at least sketched out). It does not have to be beta read at this point. Stories must be completed and beta-read before posting starts on 10 November.

-You can sign up to write two stories for this challenge. These can be individual or group sign-ups. (To clarify, you can sign up twice by yourself, or once by yourself and once as part of a group, or twice as part of a group.) Just make sure to complete a separate sign-up for each story.

If you'd like to sign up as an author or an author group, fill out the signup form at Google Docs. We'll send a confirmation as soon as possible, but please be patient. Your mods are very busy so it may take us a few days. To make it easier we often send them out in batches

Since we are doing sign-ups via Google Forms, we have turned off the comments on this post. If you have any questions please contact us at our

Comment on our Page-a-Mod post or at our #help channel on Discord and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

Sign-ups close 15-September-2024.

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2024 Dates

2024-05-11T15:31:47Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

The Marvel Bang is back for 2024! Sign-ups open today. 2023 went well so we're going to keep to that same schedule, which means that Author sign-ups are open until rough drafts are due. Hopefully, that'll give everyone a chance to join in, even if they forgot about signing up. We want this to be a low pressure, fun escape for everyone.

We will continue to use our moderator account to hopefully make our modding life easier. But rest assured, both shinysylver and weepingnaiad are back this year. We're excited to get this ball rolling!. So without further ado, here are the 2024 dates:

11 May: Sign-ups open (author and accompanying fanworkers)
1 August: Author check-in
1 September: Author check-in
15 September: Author sign-ups close & rough drafts due (at least 80% complete)
20 September: Fic summaries go up for fanworkers to peruse
21 September noon eastern: Claiming opens
22 September 3PM eastern: Second claims open
28 September: Claims close; no more fanworker signups
26 October: Mandatory check-in for authors and artists; posting sign-ups open
10 November: Posting begins
13 December: Posting ends

Please direct any questions to our Page-a-Mod post or to our #help channel on Discord.

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2024 Guidelines

2024-05-11T15:27:54Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

So, what's allowed here?
The easy answer to that is: pretty much anything! We're open to slash, het, and gen, no matter your pairing preference. If you want to write Steve/Tony or Charles/Erik, that's awesome, and if you've got a great idea for an epic Natasha/Pepper or Emma/Scott, that's perfectly acceptable as well. You can base your story off of any medium - so whether you’re a diehard comic fan, into cartoons, or someone who loves the movies, you can participate! The only thing explicitly not allowed is pedophilia for the sake of pedophilia - if it's a plot point, it's okay, but we're not going to allow stories that have graphic sexual situations involving children (for our purposes, anyone under the age of 16). If you have a question about your pairing or specific idea, leave a note in the page-a-mod post, and we'll discuss it with you on a case-by-case basis.

Stories and art have to be new. If you've written something that's 10k already, awesome! That's a huge accomplishment, and we're really happy for you. However, this is a chance to create something new, so if your story has been posted elsewhere, it doesn't qualify for this challenge.

Sequels to stories you've written are acceptable! If you write a sequel, be sure to link back to the original story, so people can read that as well.

What about crossovers, fusions, and AUs?
The only requirement for this bang is that the primary focus of your story be on a character from the Marvel Universe. If you want to write Wolverine in Ancient Rome or Spider-Man as a new member of the Hawaii Five-0 task force, you are more than welcome to. However, if you want to write a crossover that focuses on Harry Potter being a new member of the Avengers, this is not the place for it. The focus must be on a Marvel character. Crossovers with other fandoms are allowed, but the focus has to be on the Marvel character.

What are the requirements for fic?
Your story has to be at least 10,000 words, and there's no maximum limit. You can work with a co-author or a group, if you're more comfortable; the word count will be 10k no matter how many authors work on it.

You'll also need a beta reader for your story. If you have your own, that's awesome! If not, we'll be having channels on our Marvel Bang Discord Server devoted to helping people find betas. This is non-negotiable. You have to have a beta reader. If you want to have more than one person beta read your story, that's fine, too. One is a minimum, not a maximum. :)

What if I've already posted part of a fic? Can I finish it for this challenge?
The purpose of this bang is to unveil a completed piece on your posting date, however we are okay with you finishing your piece as long as you have not posted more than 2000 words of it and don't post any more until your posting date. Since this bang has a minimum word count of 10,000 words we are asking that no more than 2000 words be posted prior to signing up so that at least 80% of the fic is new.

Please note that the 2000 word limit still holds no matter how long your fic is - even if you complete a 100k epic, you can only submit it for this fest if you've published less than 2000 words of it before signing up for this challenge.

What counts as art?
Lots of things! Traditional art, digital art, manips, and fanmixes (with 8 songs and cover art) are all fine. Vids are also an acceptable form of art. If you want to check that what you have in mind is appropriate, or leave a note in the page-a-mod post or the #help channel on Discord. We'll discuss it on a case-by-case basis.

I'm interested, but I'm not sure what to write.
There will be a prompt thread on the Marvel Bang Discord server. Anyone can leave a prompt, and anyone can take a prompt. If six authors choose to write from the same prompt, that's totally fine. If someone wants to mash three prompts together, that's also fine. If someone wants to use half of a prompt, that's fine. Sensing a trend yet? :)

Where can I post my story?
The stories must be posted on AO3 and linked into the 2022 Marvel BB Collection. There will be a link provided and instructions for how to post to AO3 when it is closer to posting time. If you do not have an AO3 account, it is simple to get one. Here is the link: AO3 Invite. There's a queue, but it usually takes no more than a week to get your account. If you don't have an account, it'd be a good idea to get one as soon as you can. Lastly, don't post your story - or even parts of it - before the challenge goes live.

Will every story have art?
As it stands, we are aiming for every author that wants art to be matched with an artist. Some people want to sign up as a solo participant and don't want to work with an author/artist and other people want to work with a specific author/artist.

What if too many artists sign up for the amount of stories written?/What if I want to create for more than one story?
If we have five authors sign up with ten artists, well, stories will be double-claimed. Artistsare also allowed to claim multiple stories. We'll work this out to the absolute best of our abilities :)

Can I sign up as an author and an artist?
If you want to, more power to you!

Can I sign up to write more than one story?
Sure! You can sign-up to write up to two different stories for this challenge. If you do want to write two stories make sure to sign-up separately for both. If you have to drop one or both make sure to tell us before rough drafts are due so that you don't leave an artist hanging. If you have to drop either story after you have turned in the rough draft you will be banned from next year's challenge.

Can I sign up with a co-author?
You can work with a co-author or a group, if you're more comfortable. But remember the word count will still be 10k no matter how many authors work on it. Just make sure to sign up all authors on the sign-up sheet. The limit of two stories per author still stands even if all the stories are co-written.

What if I can't finish my story in time?
That's fine! We understand that sometimes the muses won't cooperate or life gets too hectic. You are free to drop out of the challenge with no penalty any time before you turn in your rough draft, just let us know. You are also welcome to participate as a solo author and not submit your stories for an artist claim. That way if you finish it you can post and if not there will be no penalty. However, if you have to drop out after an artist has claimed your story, you will be banned from participating in next year's bang. We don't want to leave any artists hanging if we can help it.

What is a solo author/artist?
A solo author/artist is someone who wants the structure of a fanwork challenge without having to work with someone else to create an accompanying fanwork. By working alone you don't have to worry about whether you complete your project or not because you won't have a partner depending on you. You can also decide to do your own art or find your own partner to work with. Basically we won't be matching you with an artist or an author, but you can still have a fic with art if you arrange it yourself. You can also work on other kinds of projects like podfic if you desire.

Do I have to join LJ/DW/Discord/Tumblr to participate?
The short answer is no. You don't have to join any particular social media platform, except for AO3, in order to participate. However if you want to keep up with bang updates and take part in the more social aspect of this challenge you will want to follow us on the platform of your choice. Discord in particular is where we will be having our prompt post, beta finding help, writing support, word sprints, etc. so you may want to join up there.

Can I post my fic in chapters? Can I upload them over a week?
Because of the nature of a Big Bang challenge, the entire fic must be posted on the same day--the day you claim for posting.. All fic and art should go up at the same time--a big explosion of work at once. We understand that with multiple chapters it might take time to get them up, but the nature of a Big Bang is for it all to go up in one day. AO3 allows you to set up the fic prior to the posting date so you could get a draft ready to go over time and just post it on the day.

So short answer, yes you can post in chapters. However, all the chapters must go up on the same day.

I still have questions! Where can I ask them?
There's a Page-a-Mod Post. Just leave a comment there and a mod will get back to you. You can also ask in our #help channel on Discord.

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Page-a-Mod 2024

2024-04-19T16:39:51Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Leave a message here, and a mod will get back to you.

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Closed!

2023-12-19T21:47:31Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

The 2023 Marvel Bang is now over. Look for us to return in May of 2024 for another round. Thank you to everyone who participated!

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Posting Instructions!

2023-11-19T22:25:05Z

Posted by: shinysylver

Posting starts soon so we've put this posting guide together for everyone to use!

Everyone must post their fanworks on AO3 on your posting dates (all chapters and art must go up the same day) and add them to our Collection. That's all you have to do. You're done.

However, you can still crosspost and/or advertise your fanworks any other place that you want on your posting date (or anytime after). As long as all parts of it are publicly accessible and on AO3, you can do anything else that you want with it!

Authors and accompanying fanworkers should be in contact with each other about coordinating posts. We don’t expect everyone to post at precisely the same time, but all related posts should link to each other - the main story post should have a link to its accompanying fanworks, and those fanworks should link back to the story, etc. All posts need to be posted to the AO3 Collection. If one of your participants hasn’t posted by the time you’re ready to go, go ahead and post anyway. You can edit your post later to put their information in. Make sure you edit as soon as you have a link!

Authors, you are welcome to embed the art in your fic as long as it is okay with your artist. Just make sure you still link to a masterpost and give proper credit (and love!) to your artist. When posting images remember to include alt-text and/or a caption for people with screen readers!

It's this simple:
Gather links from all fanworkers
Post to the AO3 Collection which you can find here: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/marvel_bang_2023

Please make sure you abide by AO3's warning system when you add your story to the archive.

If you do not have an AO3 account, we have invites. To request an invite, or if you have any questions, reach out to your friendly neighborhood mods via email, page-a-mod or on discord. We can't wait to see all of your finished products!

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Final check-in and date claim post!

2023-10-28T23:00:40Z

Posted by: mbb_mod

It's time to sign up for your posting dates! Posting will run from Sunday, 19 November to Friday, 8 December. Due to the limited number of stories this year, we're only allowing a single story per day. But there are plenty of dates! Don't worry about filling out the schedule completely. Pick the day that's best for you. Claiming a posting date here counts as the final check-in for your entire creative group.

Tandem and solo participants: you must send us a summary of your story before you claim a posting date. Posting date claims made without sending in a story summary will not be honored. Summaries can be submitted via email or PM, or included with the posting date claim comment.

We will have more specific details about the process of posting later in the month, but we do want to be clear that each story will have both the complete fic and any accompanying fanworks posted on the same day. Only one representative from each story needs to select a date. Before someone from your creative team claims a date, make sure that everyone involved - the author(s) and everyone making an accompanying fanwork - can post on that day.

Please make claims on the LJ post: https://marvel-bang.livejournal.com/204103.html

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