Welcome to the RWBY Big Bang FAQ! This covers anything you may need explaining about all of our bangs, sapphic and general.

Please read all of these. In signing up we assume that you have read and agree to all of these.

What is the RWBY Big Bang? + Requirements

• Writers and artists will collaborate to create a joint piece. The writers will create and come up with their own prompt/AU based on a pairing within RWBY, and later in the process, the artists will choose which ones they’d like to work on. Once an artist and a writer have been paired, they will communicate as much as they’d like about the process and, on their set reveal day, post the full writing piece and the art piece together, which must be fully completed and finished. A multi-chapter fic is only allowed if it is fully complete at the time of posting. The writing piece will be posted on Ao3 + the link posted on the writer's own twitter account, and the art will simultaneously be posted on twitter as well. If the artist is okay with this, you can also imbed the art in your writing piece when it is published. If you do not have a twitter account, you must give us permission to post this on your behalf. An Ao3 account for writers is mandatory, and a discord account for all is mandatory.

• For the Sapphic Big Bang— You can choose any pairing as long as they come under the sapphic umbrella! This includes any gender and sexuality headcanons, just as long as the pairings involved are both non-men, and they do not contradict confirmed sexualities within the show (aka Coco and Ilia being lesbians.) This can be non binary, agender, trans, butch, femme representation etc. They can be as much of a rare pair as you like! You can also contribute with a poly ship if you wish.

• The requirements for the Big Bangs are as follows;

• For artists, this is at least one full-colour, rendered art piece with a semi-detailed background (not just a flat colour) that clearly relates to the writing piece, either in theme or a direct scene. If the background is flatter or has less detail/mainly colours, it must have the subject’s full body. There is no upper limit to how much to draw, and only one piece needs to relate to this requirement— so sketches alongside are totally fine! If you do multiple pieces, or a comic-like strip, then the background rule can be lessened, but we would advise contacting a mod if you are unsure. If you are not sure what counts and have examples of past work that would be similar, don’t hesitate to ask one of the mods for their opinion. Non-coloured sketches are not allowed. You also cannot reuse a past/older work.

• For writers, this is 10k of words. They can be multiple chapters, but they must be of the same theme, series and prompt, not just loosely connected one shots, with a romantic theme in nature. There is no maximum word count, but please stick to the check in percentage amounts and be considerate of your artists as you will have to share your full WIP with them at all times so they can begin to sculpt their own ideas. The writing must be fully complete upon posting, not part of a long fic that will be continued, nor a series. You may not add new chapters down the line. If it connects to an existing work, it must be very loosely and wholly standalone. It also must have a form of arc that completes at the end, whether that is a romantic confession, plot points resolving, or clear cut end. If you wish to add a sequel to this work after the bang, you can do so, but it must be posted wholly separately to the bang’s work.

• Neither will be judged based on skill, and anyone is welcome to apply!

• For artists, a short time after access to the Discord has been given the list of writer’s prompts will be posted to the artists in a timed drop with every artist having access at the same time. This will include an anonymous list of all of the summaries of each story, with the pairing highlighted. Each artist will have to choose which prompts they’d like to collaborate with, in order from 1-5. This will also be on a first-come, first-served basis, and the forms to submit which one you’d wish to collaborate with will be published a few days after the prompts are given. If these aren’t filled out, we will be contacting those who haven’t made their choices. If this does happen, you will be contacted when the forms close with a list of the remaining prompts, if any, that haven’t had any artists show interest. If you wish to choose more than 5 when submitting, this is completely fine as well, and would ensure you have a higher chance of getting a pairing you are interested in!

• When you sign up for the Sapphic Big Bang there will be a required question on whether you are a minor or not. If you are an artist, you will be unable to collaborate on anything that is a mature or explicit rating, and these will be clearly labelled in the summaries that the writers give. If you are a writer and a minor, we cannot endorse sexual content or heavy violence under a public big bang. If you’re unsure of what this entails, please contact a mod as it may be on a case-by-case basis. Any ages are welcome to apply, but this also means no explicit or inappropriate conversations in the server or around minors. There will be an 18 and over role in the server automatically given for a space to have these conversations if you wish.

• A requirement of the Bang is that you communicate with your partner(s) effectively. You must show them your wips as you progress in a timely manner. Since this is a collaboration, the art must reflect the writing to a close detail; and the writing must tie in with the art. The best pieces become a mix of fresh ideas between you!

The Strike System

• We will revisit this if we need to and based on feedback, but will hold a strike system. From sign-ups to posting, there will be a large space of time to work on your piece, and once you’re assigned an artist you will have plenty of time to finalise everything before posting. Dropping out too late of a notice or without a good enough reason will cause a strike— there will be allowances depending on the situation.

• One strike: You will be removed from the server, but can reapply for the next big bang if you wish.

• Two strikes in a row: You will be banned for the following year, and if we hold multiple events all of these applications will be cancelled.

• Five strikes total: You will be permanently banned from any future events ran by us, not just including the Sapphic Big Bang.

• As a reminder, from the sign-ups to the deadline to drop out, there’s a space of three months. If we were to allow the artists to drop out after the teams have been assigned, there would be far too much chaos and uncertainty— especially if they weren’t to like the prompt, which would negatively impact the writers. But if you’re ever unsure or concerned, and want clarification on whether the situation to cause a dropout is a strike or not, please contact a mod. We will try to be as understanding as possible regarding this, but it just isn’t feasible to have an easy drop-out post-team ups, since we’d have to try and find a replacement artist on shorter notice.

• The strike system may be used in other circumstances if we see fit; this will be explained if needed. Not communicating with the mods when it comes to posting can be deemed strike worthy depending on the situation, especially if it interferes with posting day. If you do not post on your posting day, this may be warranted as a strike if you do not communicate beforehand. This goes for all bangs.

Rules

• In certain circumstances, we can make allowances if you do not wish to work with others in the server. Once all the artists and writers have been added to the Discord server, and introductions have been made, please cross-reference and check so the mods can sort this as soon as possible. Of course, we hope none of these issues happen, but the last thing we want to happen is for people to feel unsafe or wish to drop out because of others.

• You must let us know if any of the social media handles you signed up with change, including discord, so we can update our records. Due to the sheer amount of applicants, we cannot manually handle checking for this.

• If anyone within the server is being inappropriate or not wishing to work together, please make a mod aware so we can rectify this.

• The Big Bangs are kept a secret until the posting day allocated to each member. You may not discuss this on social media. You can have a beta reader, but they must keep quiet about the content as well. Aside from reveals we make on the Bang accounts, you cannot reveal your pairing nor plot of your work.

• Every check in is mandatory to make sure you are on track. If the mods believe your work isn’t following the guidelines, we may approach you about this after discussing between us. Please make sure you are checking the announcements chat often to see for any new updates.

• You must agree to be communicative with your partner(s) in the bang. Writers will have to share wips consistently to give the artist the latest information; artists will have to share theirs as they progress through the stages of sketches, colouring etc.

• In joining the Bang you also agree to follow the schedule as closely as you can possibly do so. If you fall behind, you must contact a mod or communicate this on check ins.

• Generative AI is strictly not allowed for these events. If we find that you breach this you will be banned permanently. This includes Gen AI ‘help’ like refining or lengthening your work, (for example, Grammarly has an AI feature which can rewrite what you have written with a prompt.) You may use a spellcheck helper for grammar and misspellings.

• Although we want to be as accessible as possible, we have a strict rule of no minors x adult ships, even if you age them up. We also request that noncon content is excluded from the bang. Explicit content of minors (under 18) is also not allowed.