Epic Journeys

MXTX Epic Journeys Big Bang is a fandom event organized by Pocketful Of Recs on Tumblr. It is a big bang for MXTX books SVSSS, MDZS, and TGCF focused on character journeys and worldbuilding.

It doesn't mean you can't create content that is romantic or involves ships, but the theme is to focus on character arcs, worldbuilding, and stories that explore things beyond romance - sorta like the books ;)

Writers and artists can participate. They can explore different plotlines, come up with something unique, and make new friends!

Organized by Pocketful of Recs - @pocketfulofrecs
Mods - Ju - @fondofeveryprickle
Dee - @vrishchikawrites
Art by the wonderful - Baph - @boredbaph on Twitter and @anonbaph on Tumblr

About the Event

Like all Big Bangs, the MXTX Epic Journeys Big Bang is a collaboration between artists and fic writers. Writers come up with a plot and share their idea with a matched artist, and the artist comes up with beautiful artwork for it.

In keeping with Pocketful's purpose and theme, all fics and artwork should be close to canon characterization or tagged appropriately.

The minimum fic word count required is 25,000. Artists are free to provide two or more works for the collab.

We have a dedicated Discord Server for all kinds of Pocketful Events and you will find all relevant links in this Carrd. If you have any questions, feel free to ask the Discord Mods or approach us on Pocketful Of Recs Tumblr.

Schedule

Our schedule is mentioned here. The dates are somewhat flexible based on how the event is run. We may need to extend some dates if necessary but this is the timeline we encourage our participants to follow.

We have set the event to EST or Eastern Standard Timezone (GMT-5).

Interest check: from 15th Feb to 25th Feb.

Writers sign up: from 28th Feb to 28th March.

Artists sign up: from 28th Feb to 28th March.

Artist claims: from 05th April to 15th April.

Writers first check-in (20% or 5,000 words): from 28th April to 30th April.

Writers second check-in (60% or 15,000): from 30th May to 2nd June.

Artists first check-in, rough draft due: from 30th May to 2nd June.

Writers and artists final check-in (90% work complete) : from 15th July to 18th July.

Posting begins: 15th August.

How It Works

If you have participated in a Big Bang before, this event will be familiar. The process is simple:

1. Writers fill out the form and share their summaries and snippets.

2. Artists are shown the snippets and summaries, along with any warnings, tags, and other information.

3. Artists fill out a form with their 5 most desirable matches.

4. Mods match up writers with artists and endeavor to ensure the artists get their most desirable match.

5. Writers and artists get in touch after the matches are announced and collaborate on the event.

6. Check-ins occur to ensure everyone stays on track.

7. After the final check-in, we release a posting date form. Teams can pick the most desirable posting date based on their completion status.

8. All of the fic and art is posted on the date and added to our collection.

Rules

Please read the rules carefully and understand them before participating in the event. We want to make sure the Bang runs as smoothly as possible and want everyone to have a pleasant experience.

What We Expect

We expect all participants to read and understand the rules with the intention to follow them. If you have questions regarding them, please feel free to contact the mods on Discord or through Tumblr (We prefer Discord as the communication is easier.)

All participants are expected to meet the check-ins and publishing deadlines. Please plan accordingly and inform us in advance if you need to drop out or are unable to stay on schedule.

We expect everyone to respond to correspondence within 24 hours on Discord and/or through email. We will start looking at alternatives if we don’t receive confirmation or communication from you. Please understand that we expect professional communication at all times.

Rules for the Event

1. All prospective participants must register within the deadline provided to collaborate in the event.

2. All must provide a working email address to ensure smooth communication.

3. We require all participants to share their Discord ID and join our Pocketful of Recs Events Server. All updates and announcements will be shared on the server. Participants are expected to check the announcements and updates regularly to ensure they’re not left behind.

4. Please make sure the required amount of work is ready for the check-in. If the writer or artist doesn’t respond to check-in requests, we will no longer consider them a participant.

5. We expect our participants to respond to mods and their collaborators within 24 hours. Lack of response after two attempts to reach out will be considered a drop-out.

Rules for Collaboration

1. The matching is anonymous. We request that the writers don’t share their plot ideas and fic summaries with artists.

2. You may end up being matched with people who have never interacted with before. Please maintain kind, compassionate, and professional communication throughout the event.

3. During the collab, you may stumble across differing opinions, squicks, do-not-wants, etc. Maintain a good spirit of collaboration and accommodate each other. Make sure your partner has a good experience during our event. Sometimes compromise is necessary during such collaborations. If it is impossible, please let us know.

4. Do NOT switch partners on your own. If your partner drops out or fails to respond, please contact the mods immediately and we will see what can be done.

5. Ghosting on your writers or artists will carry a permanent ban. That’s especially true if you ghost your partner or the mods at a late stage. We would like for all writers to find a pinch-hitter and still have time to complete the event successfully.

Rules for Writers

1. The event requires the writers to write 25,000 words before the publishing date of 15th August 2022. There are check-ins to ensure everyone stays on track during the event.

2. Please follow the theme of Pocketful of Recs. Make sure the characterization is as close to the novel canon as possible. If you are planning to write a different canon characterization, please mention it.

3. All fics should be appropriately tagged. All kinks (like D/s, spanking, etc), archive warnings applicable (like MCD, Rape/Non-con, etc), character warnings applicable (like OOC, Dark, etc), should be tagged.

4. We encourage all our writers to find a beta. You can request one on our server and find someone to work with you.

5. If you encounter any issues with deadlines or check-ins, please contact our mods in advance. You can request a DM on the contact mods channel of our Discord Server.

6. You have 5 months and 15 days to complete the fic. Please keep this timeline in mind when you participate.

7. Make sure your fic can be read standalone. It must not be a part of an on-going series (though it can be a beginning of one.) It can be chaptered or a oneshot. If it is chaptered, all chapters should be posted on the assigned posting date.

8. We recommend you back up your work frequently to ensure nothing is lost.

9. If you share a document with your artist and/or beta, please mention what kind of engagement you need from them in advance. For example, if you don’t want your artist to leave comments on the draft, let them know.

10. Sharing WIP snippets in the writer’s channel is permitted. Please don’t share them with artists before the matching process is done.

11. Your story will be posted to AO3 and will be added to our collection for the MXTX Epic Journeys Big Bang. Please link your artist’s work in your fic and embed it if your artist agrees.

Artist Rules

1. All artists should provide two art pieces for every fic they match with.

2. Artists are permitted to pick as many fics as they like as long as they can complete the work on schedule. If you pick two fics, you will provide four artworks, two for each fic. You will have a little under four months to accomplish this.

3. Please work with your writer and maintain open conversation with them. Your art must fit with the fic and its theme. Please be open with your writer about any squicks, do-not-wants, and other concerns.

4. If you encounter any issues with deadlines or check-ins, please contact our mods in advance. You can request a DM on the contact mods channel of our Discord Server.

5. If your writer drops out of the event or can’t be contacted, artists can publish their art and we will still promote it on our socials. If you upload the artwork to Ao3, it will be added to our collection.

6. Artists can request to work with other writers on their existing projects if their writers have dropped out. They can work as pinch-hitters or, if all fics have artists already, they can create artwork for fics they like with the writer and their collaborative artist’s permission.

Whatever decisions the mods make during the event are final. We won’t ban a participant lightly or bar them from future Pocketful events without just cause. Please maintain a degree of professionalism and treat everyone involved kindly.

Sign Up

You will find the Writer and Artist Sign Up Forms here. The forms will be updated every year this event runs. The current forms are for the 2022 MXTX Epic Journeys Big Bang.

We will add the match/claims form when it is time for matching.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Maybe have artists/writers indicate if they’re writing something shipping-focused or not? I know I’d like a little romance in my piece but I know some might not

Don’t worry! On the sign up form, writers will have to say what they are writing, including ships/main tags/fandom, etc so on claiming, people will know what they want to collaborate on.

2. Will this event be inclusive or will y'all be maintaining the ""canon characterisation"" only rule?

Pocketful was created to help people find fics that have canon characterization. There are many great fic rec accounts and events that are 'inclusive'. You will see many excellent fics and artwork from these events. Our only condition is that people avoid fanon and employ good judgement to ensure the work appeals to our target audience.

3. Can I specify which fandom I want to participate for as an artist? I'd like to do MDZS only.

Of course! On sign-up writers will have to say what fic they are writing, including pairings (if any) and fandoms. On the artists form, there will be questions to see what kind of work you’d like to collaborate with, and which ones you don’t.

4. Can we enter this event with a partner like LWJ Birthday Serenade?

You can choose a writing partner but not an artist partner.

5. Can I still post if I’m short of the minimum word count?

We are pretty flexible and can help you reach the word count. You can choose a late posting date to have more time. However, we really need writers to hit the word count for the event to be fair to everyone.

6. Is there an age requirement to join?

We’re not barring minors from entering the big bang, but they won’t be able to write or collaborate on NSFW works.

7. The plot is mine completely right?

Yes! You will submit a summary/outline of your fic on sign up, so the artists can choose which story they would like to collaborate with. But the plot and the story is completely up to you. We’re not giving prompts.

8. Is there a discord server we can participate?

Yes! The Pockeful Events server is open to everyone to talk about their projects and ask for help, find betas, etc. You can also reach the mods there. You can find the link to the server on the links section of this carrd.

9. Is the pinch hitter position for writers or artists?

This time it’s for artists only. We thought it would be too much to ask for an author to write 25k in a very short time.

10. If possible, I’d like to see more time given for writers! I love the concept for this event, but worldbuilding fics will require more research and planning than a regular ship fic and I think that should be factored into the schedule.

Writers can start writing now. You'll have a little over five months to write. We chose that date because it wasn't clashing with other events like MXTX Big Bang or MDZS Big Bang. Some of our writers wanted to repeat last year's events like WWX November Mayhem, etc. We had to pick a spot this year or postpone it to next year.

11. What is a pinch hitter?

Pinch hitter is an author or artist that takes over another author or artist if they drop out of the event. In this big bang we’re only accepting Pinch Hitters for artists. So midway, if an artist decides to drop out, or stops communicating with us and their partner, we’ll reach out to pinch hitters to take over that art.

12. Would it be all right to make the work as part of a series, or should it be standalone? I have ideas for both, so I will participate anyway, but would like to know.

It can be part of a series as long as it can be read as a standalone. So for example the first work of a series, that has an ending, but later you can continue if you want.

13. How much focus on romance would be acceptable? I'm thinking of maybe doing a time-travel or a curse-fic where the characters' relationship is the trigger and therefore is a big part of the plot. Would that be allowed?

We love romance! And you can write a lot of romance in your fic. We are just asking that that’s not all the fic is. It should have some world-building or character-focus as well.

Since you’re writing a time travel fic, I’m sure you’ll have the world-building part as well.

What I meant to say! Write away! The idea is to have as much fun as possible!