#...I also desire connection with the JoJo ask blog community

[sister-dear]

I think you are missing the point I’m trying to make. This response is an attempt to clarify and expand on the original point at once.

I would argue that what Jojo has said is “okay” elsewhere is much less important than what is visibly included on the main story blog, where even a casual fan can see it. What a brand new fan reading through the story for the first time will see isn’t any “oh yeah I’m so totally good with gay people” comments made on separate platforms or buried in very old posts not directly connected to the story even in tags. What a new fan will see is the very explicit “don’t talk about these (queer) ships in my au” statement that has been made (in at least one instance I can think of but possibly more) within text directly attached to the story itself. What a new fan will see is the complete and utter lack of any explicitly queer people in the cast at all. The presence of queer characters does not have to change the basic “found family saves the world” story. The presence of a queer character does not inherently have to be about shipping, sex, etc. Saying so is, in fact, a homophobic talking point.

And the thing is, in regards to the other half of your post, I have made my own AU. However, on that note, I’d like to make two points. The first: if your solution to the problem of “the state of the fandom as it stands has in the past caused direct harm to queer people in the fandom” is “so the kind of queer people that like things I think are wrong for them to like should leave.” Then that is… both endemic of a larger issue that the entire queer community as a whole is facing and not something that I can agree with in this context.

The second point ties into these tags by @mrs-luigi-vargas and is exactly what I’m trying to get at.

This is a case where size matters. If a tiny little AU has ten followers but the creator is openly supportive of irl queer people, then if there’s one homophobe in the mix of people who like that AU they’ll probably keep their opinions pretty quiet.

If there’s 100 fans and the number of homophobes increases in proportion, now you’ve got ten homophobes, and that’s enough for them to find and start talking to each other. That’s enough for them to start going on hateful anon commenting sprees that target the queer fans. And by the time you’ve got 1,000 fans? At, again, proportionate increase? Then now you've got 100 homophobes. There are of course other factors, like the presence of other queer fans being very loud about “queering their favs into oblivion.” 

But if the creator (Who is also a fan! Who is making this for free! Who didn’t ask for or probably expect this degree of visibility!) is not visibly supportive of queer people from day one. If they change absolutely nothing else about their approach as the number of fans grow and the problem of homophobia grows with it. If they do not add in so much as a side queer character. Or make support of queer fans as visible to people reading through the story for the first time as their dislike of that one type of queer pairing. Then that creator who just got lucky to get popular is, through their inaction, skewing the thing they’ve made in favor of the homophobes. They are making their work more inviting, more of a safe space, to homophobes and less so to queer fans.

That’s more than enough for people who think that way to stick around long enough to find each other and make a homophobic discord. Especially if there’s a hundred of them instead of one. 

TLDR: My point is that the amount of influence that Jojo has comes with a level of responsibility, whether that influence was desired or not, for when their long term lack of action makes a space inviting to homophobia. My argument is that a fandom that has been all over fellow fans for creating a space to express their homophobia but refuses to recognize that Jojo has, through consistent inaction if nothing else, created the exact same issue. And if said fandom does this all while using the excuse that Jojo is a fellow fan as a reason to not question the creation of that issue. Then that seems to me either blindness or a truly breathtaking double standard.

So in the midst of all this homophobic discord server stuff I just saw someone make a “respect Jojo’s wishes and don’t linkship in LU” post. And I just. Need people to understand that these two things are connected. That situation A (the only visible opinion of queer ships the creator has made easily accessible to the fandom at large is a big loud “don’t”) has led directly to situation B (homophobic discord server). 

Jojo is a fellow fan, sure. A fellow fan who has created a fandom space that is vastly larger than many, many fandoms for works published with the intent to make money. Like it or not, when you have a following that large, you have influence. It might not be fair. It might not be what you asked for or wanted. But what you say and what you don’t say when you’re a “big name” reaches a lot more people and has the potential to hurt a lot more people and that creates a level of responsibility. It just does. 

This fandom was such a relief when I first joined! As an aro person it was so incredibly nice to be able to write stories about platonic relationships and have people take them at face value rather than interpret them as secretly shipping or something. 

But I have also been very aware from day one that there was not one single in-comic instance of an intentionally, explicitly queer ship of any stripe. No answered asks, no author comments linked anywhere in any of the main blog tags to indicate any of these characters is actually meant to be queer in any way.

Whether that was intentional or not. Whether that is a reflection of Jojo’s actual views of irl queer people or not. It has, along with the “safe space” for a-spec people, created a safe space for homophobia. It has created a space that has flared up (repeatedly!) into active hostility against gay people. 

And then I see, in the wake of the homophobic discord drama and people gleefully shit-stirring and doing “recon” in the homophobic server, “ohhh but don’t criticize Jojo! Jojo is just a fellow fan!” 

And I’m just. 

Tired.

[ask-demon-prosciutto]

((Random thought:

What if I made a Discord for this blog? Would anyone be interested in that? That way I could engage with y’all while I’m still on hiatus, and maybe show off some more WIP stuff...

[tfwbigbang]

Team Free Will Big Bang FAQ and Rules 2019

Rules

You must be aged 18 or over upon registration in order to take part in this bang. If you lie about your age, you will be banned from all future TFW Big Bangs.

What do I create?

Authors:

A story of a minimum of 15,000 words (big bang)

Or a story of a minimum of 5000 words (mini bang)

The story must feature Team Free Will (Dean, Sam and Cas) at the center of the story or Team Free Will 2.0 (Dean, Sam, Cas and Jack)

Or be a real person fanfic (RPF) featuring Jared, Jensen and Misha at the center of the story (Alexander Calvert can also be included as a central character if you so desire)

No story may feature anyone under the age of 16 in an explicit sexual situation, this rises to 18 for RPF

Your story must be posted in full on your assigned posting day

See further in the FAQ for more details

Artists:

For a big bang: a cover and two pieces of art connected to the fic (cover can be derived from main art)

For a mini bang: a cover and a piece of art connected to the fic (cover can be derived from main art)

No art may feature anyone under the age of 18 in an explicit sexual situation

No explicit art may be posted to Tumblr

Note that this bang runs a no fic left behind policy

See further in the FAQ for more details

All authors and artists must familiarize themselves with the bang schedule.

All authors and artists must make attempts to regularly communicate with each other once paired.

For those taking part, we have created a Discord server. Details about this are available upon bang sign-up. (Thanks to the DC Server mods, museaway and Jojo, for leading the way in using Discord for SPN fandom events.)

For more in-depth information on how to be a good bang participant: check out this post on allspnships.

FAQ

What are the differences between mini and big bangs?

Basically how long your story is. The Big Bang has a minimum of 15,000 words, and will receive a minimum of two art pieces from the artist plus a fic cover, while the Minibang has a minimum of 5,000, and will receive a cover and at least one piece of art.

Do covers have to be completely separate pieces of art from the rest of the bang’s art?

Covers can be remixes of art already created for the fic. But they need to feature the fic title, the names of the artist and the author(s).

How/where do I submit my draft?

We will provide details about this directly to creators nearer posting time.

How long does my story need to be?

You have two options: for a Big Bang, you need a minimum of 15,000 words. For a Minibang, you need at least 5,000.

What does the focus of my story need to be?

Your story must focus on all three members of Team Free Will: Dean, Sam, and Castiel. This means the story can be Dean/Sam, Dean/Cas, Sam/Cas, Sam/Dean/Cas or gen. If you choose a two-person pairing, the third character must be an equal focus on the story.

We won’t be counting words, but please try to stay within the spirit of the challenge. This is about celebrating all three characters, so have fun with them.

Since 2018, we have accepted interpretations of Team Free Will that include Jack Kline (Team Free Will 2.0), but everyone must still have equal importance in your story.

Team Free Love (Sam/Castiel/Dean/Gabriel) is not accepted for this bang.

Are AUs, crossovers and fusions allowed?

Yes, all are allowed. However, the more obscure the other fandom, the harder finding an artist who knows both will be, so keep that in mind.

What about RPF?

RPF is welcome, but must focus on Jared, Misha, Jensen and (if you want) Alexander. and their relationships with each other. So any combination of these four is welcome, as is a gen RPF where no one’s together. Everyone of these three (or four) needs equal weight in your plot.

What about underage?

Please ensure that all fanfic doesn’t include under 16s depicted in sexual situations - this raises to 18 for RPF. Basically - off the page is fine, but not on the page. All explicit art can only feature characters aged 18 and upwards.

Is it okay to write a sequel or prequel to an existing fic?

No, it needs to be a completely new story.

Can I sign up as both an author and an artist?

Yes, but you cannot claim your own fic.

Can I create additional art for my fic/have other artists make banners and art?

Not until after your post date.

May I do photo manipulations for art?

You may, but any photo manipulations must create a fully realized new image that is well blended. It is not okay to create mood boards or just do a copy and paste of existing still character images onto a new background.

Covers - can they feature explicit art?

Due to masterposts being posted on Tumblr, covers cannot feature explicit imagery.

Can I advertise my fic on my Tumblr, Pillowfort, Dreamwidth, Twitter, etc?

Once claims are completed and you’ve been assigned your artist, you are welcome to advertise your fic on whatever media you’d like as long as you don’t post any snippets of the actual fic.

Where do I post my fic/art when it’s complete?

All fics must be posted to AO3 and made live on your posting date, with the art embedded in the appropriate scenes if the artist allows.

All art must have a masterpost on either Dreamwidth, Pillowfort, AO3, or Tumblr made live on your posting day. Remember that explicit art should not be posted to Tumblr.

On or before your posting day, both links must be submitted in a post to the TFW Big Bang Dreamwidth, Pillowfort community and/or Tumblr blog. We will share the posting format nearer the time of posting. We will check over the masterpost, and make it public on the appropriate day on all platforms.

Will there be an AO3 collection for posted fics and art?

You will be able to add your fics and art to the moderated collection via: tfw_bb_2019

Do I need a Dreamwidth/Pillowfort/Tumblr/AO3 account to participate?

Artists should have at least one to post their art to, and authors should have at least AO3 to post their fic to. No account besides an email address is required for claims.

Masterpost submissions to Pillowfort or Dreamwidth will require an account on the service you want to use. Tumblr may be submitted to without an account. Submit the fic and art masterpost to your preferred platform and it will be crossposted by the mods.

Due to changes in LiveJournal’s terms of service in April 2017, the bang is no longer running on LJ.

Can I write more than one story/collaborate on a story?

Each author can write only one story for this challenge. You are welcome to collaborate on a story, but that counts as your one story.

Can I claim more than one fic to make art for?

The first round of claiming will allow artists to claim only one story. If there are still unclaimed stories 24 hours after the claiming begins, we’ll open a second round for artists to claim a second piece or for artists who didn’t originally sign up to participate. If artists drop out after assignments are set, artists can pinch hit as well regardless of whether they’re already assigned one story.

What do I need to provide for claims?

Fic writers will need to provide drafts that are at least 80% complete (with a beginning, middle and (almost an) end) for claims, along with a summary. Specifics on how to do this will be shared via email ahead of the submissions date.

We will not accept drafts that fail to meet this criteria, as it’s not fair on artists.

What is “no fic left behind”?

If an artist fails to meet art draft check-ins, providing proof of art, when required: they will be removed from the bang and a new artist found for the affected bang story.

The only exception to this is those affected by extenuating circumstances who manage to communicate with their author or the mods - in this instance an extension will be given.

What if something happens in RL and I need to post on a different day or get an extension, or something?

Contact the mods, or get your teammate to contact the mods, or get a friend to contact the mods. Stuff happens and we don’t want our bang to be an extra stress, but you need to let us know that you need help so that we can help you. We can be pretty flexible, so please don’t worry and get in touch. You can reach us at teamfreewillbigbang(at)gmail(dot)com.

How will claims work?

There will be a preview doc with each summary posted at least 48 hours before claims and emailed to artists who have already signed up. When claims open, we will email a link to a Google Form where we’ll ask you to resubmit some of your artist details and your top five picks for doing art. We’ll update the preview summaries with notes on fics as they’re assigned.

Do writers need beta readers?

Yes, all fic needs to be beta read for at least spelling, punctuation and grammar.

If you don’t have a beta reader, you can try asking for help over on

/r/fandomnatural or you can check out our list of beta readers for the bang. Details of this list will be emailed to authors once available.

May I post a WIP?

Works in progress (WIP) are not permitted to be posted for this bang. Fics must be posted complete (i.e. no serial posting), with art embedded.

You didn’t answer my question

The please contact hit_the_books and majesticduxk at teamfreewillbigbang(at)gmail(dot)com.