Hello everyone and welcome to the official start of the Hollanov Big Bang ‘26!

This Big Bang will require authors to write a 20,000 word minimum completed fic, centred around Ilya Rosanov/Shane Hollander, who will be paired anonymously with a beta and an artist, with the intent to promote community and communication with people who may not have otherwise interacted!

To sign up, please fill out the form that applies to you at one of these links:

AUTHOR | ARTIST | BETA

If you are signing up for more than one role (i.e. author and beta), please fill out both forms accordingly.

Once you’re all signed up, you’ll receive a welcome email with a link to our discord server within 48 hours!

If you have any questions, feel free to send through an ask and we will do our best to assist.

We look forward to creating with you!

- the hollanov big bang mods

hello :)

your previously published 12k+ fic can be in another language, that's totally okay. however your fic being written for the big bang does need to be in english

– em

hi, thanks so much for pointing this out!

we made some changes to the schedule based on feedback about artist timelines but hadn't updated these dates in the rules and faq. these are all up to date now

– em

hi, thanks for your questions :)

while we don't have any specific rules about using tools such as grammarly, we would expect that betas are reviewing, editing and providing feedback themselves rather than using tools for this – otherwise authors would just use the tools in the first place rather than engaging with betas

if there is proof that an author is using ai, we would ask that you reach out to the mods. but without proof we won't be making any accusations

– em

hi!!

thank you so much, that means a lot <3 we are so excited to be running it

that's totally fine, the 12k+ fic can be any fandom and different pseuds aren't an issue at all!

look forward to seeing your sign up come through!

- shan

hi, we've had approximately 40 writers sign up so far!

– em

Hi!

The beta's are mandatory for this fest, yes!

When you first get matched with a beta, it's important to discuss your expectations vs theirs. For me, this looks like confirming with the beta I am looking specifically for spelling and grammar (a minimum required for all fics), as well as pacing and plot holes. My personal writing style isn't for everyone, so I ask that beta's don't suggest edits regarding my plethora of commas or semi-colons unless it impedes the ability to read. A good beta should be able to meet you where you are at.

A beta's edits don't need to be adhered to, either. In the case of spelling and grammar, we do recommend to make those changes, but in the case of writing style or personal preference - if you don't agree with the edit, you can just move to the next one.

In an instance where you are unable to resolve a disagreement with your beta, or it's clear that your styles are not a match, we are happy to re-allocate to a more suitable pairing!

- shan

hi :)

artist sign ups close may 22, so you can definitely wait until closer to that date before deciding, that's not a problem

– em

Hi!

Yes, co-writing a fic is completely fine! The only caveat is that authors may only sign up once, so if you are co-writing, you wouldn't be able to sign up a second time to write a solo fic.

If you are planning on co-authoring, please make sure you include both parties information in the sign up form or complete two separate forms and indicate that you're working together! :-)

- shan

Hi!

Thank you for your interest in the fest!

We completely understand that life has to come first. Our sign ups are open for a couple months and if you think you may have more capacity to beta or write later on, we would love to have you!

A big thing we would love to encourage for all those who are unable to participate in the creative side is to make sure to leave a kudos and comment once we have started posting to let the team know that you liked the fic/art! (Of course, we suggest this with all fics - but with multiple long fics being posted consecutively, we have found sometimes people forget to pass on the love in the haste to get to the next fic.)

- shan

Hi!

- shan

Hello!

Yes, for our record keeping we do require everyone to sign up. On both the beta and author form, there is a space to indicate if you are already working with someone and provide their name/tumblr so we can correlate it on our end :-)

- Shan

Hi!

No, there will be no specific prompts, authors are free to write whatever their heart desires!

- shan

Hi!

I'm not sure why that has shown up like that, the form is showing up clearly on our end!

Here's the link again, and we have relinked within the post in case there were any issues we couldn't see!

- shan

Hi!

Personally, I have not seen Big Bangs with pinch hitters for writers, only artists.

We already have a very tight timeframe to write a completed 20,000 word minimum fic. While there are authors - myself included - who could write a 20,000 word fic in potentially only a couple of weeks should someone withdraw, that is a high expectation to put on someone who has already written a fic of that length or is possibly still in the stages of writing one.

You can also run into issues in the other direction. Personally, as a writer, if I were to have discussed my idea heavily with someone and then realised I was unable to complete the fic within the set timeframe, and the person I had discussed it with took the idea to someone else to write instead, I would be incredibly unhappy.

With our current timeline, there would never be a reason for someone to need to completely start over on their art.

This is something the mod team have discussed heavily since it was brought to our attention, and we have looked at it from every angle to see how we could change it, which is how artist timeline was changed initially. Unfortunately, there are pros and cons to bringing it earlier or having it later.

- shan

Hi!

Thank you for your question, while we understand why collaboration earlier on can be beneficial for some pairings, we have found that a not-insignificant number of authors who sign up initially, don't make it to the 70% or first draft stages.

In an instance where an artist is paired up with an author in these early stages, it would mean that they could've contributed a lot of work or even started on the art for a fic that would no longer be in the Big Bang and would mean they'd need to start from scratch during the later stages with an alternate author anyway. If there's isn't an artist who has withdrawn in the same timeframe, this can lead to inequity as an author may then be provided a second artist - or the artist could potentially not have an author to be paired with, limiting their ability to participate in the fest through no fault of their own.

The length of time between was brought to our attention and we have adjusted the schedule, however, we are unable to determine an alternate timeline that is fair to all those involved in the process.

– shan