Bandom Summer Blowout
| Challenge | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Bandom Summer Blowout |
| Date(s): | 2022- |
| Moderator(s): | |
| Founder: | |
| Type: | |
| Fandom: | Bandom |
| Associated Community: | tumblr, |
| URL: | AO3 collection |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Bandom Summer Blowout is a Bandom challenge that was created in response to new rules at Bandom Big Bang banning certain content.
The challenge includes bands related to Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, and Panic! at the Disco, plus music video characters and the Killjoys comics.
Rules
The challenge allows for collaboration between fanfic writers and other fan creators similar to a big bang challenge, but also allows writers to do solo projects without coordinating with another participant. For the big bang option, minimum word count is 10K, and the creator who claims the fic can make any type of fanwork (including another fic) as a companion piece. The solo-writing option does not have a minimum word count; "We offer this option for writers who can’t or don’t want to commit to writing a 10k fic or aren’t interested in collaborations, but still want to be part of the challenge."[1]
Participants must be over 18.[1]
The challenge allows "all ships, tropes, themes, kinks, and ratings".[1]
It’s completely fine if certain ships or tropes make you uncomfortable. What’s important is that you respect the principles this challenge runs on: Don’t like; don’t read, Ship and let ship, and Kinktomato. You are expected to respect fellow challenge participants and fandom members. We have no room for ship or character bashing, kinkshaming, or harassment.[1]
The challenge was set up to allow fans to participate anonymously, due to fans expressing fears of being harassed by Bandom Big Bang's supporters.[2]
Challenge History
For the 2022 challenge, signups started in December 2021, and completed fanworks went live on July 1, 2022. The mods were L, Sarka, and ??[1] The AO3 collection includes 13 fanworks--9 MCR, 4 FOB, and 2 Danger Days. The two most popular ships are Frank/Gerard and Pete/Patrick. Ratings range from Explicit/Mature (6 works) to Teen/General Audiences (7 works); 9 works are marked "No Archive Warnings Apply", 2 Choose Not To Warn, 2 Underage, and 1 Graphic Violence.
For the 2023 challenge, signups opened January 2023[3], and completed fanworks were revealed on July 3, 2023. The mods were Fontainebleau, Kaysa, Mini and Mod M.[1] The AO3 collection includes 12 fanworks--9 MCR, 5 FOB, 3 L.S. Dunes, 1 Thursday, 1 No Devotion, 1 Taking Back Sunday. A wide range of ships were included; the most popular was Anthony Green/Frank Iero with 3 fanworks. Ratings range from Explicit/Mature (6 works) to Teen/General Audiences (6 works); 8 works are marked "No Archive Warnings Apply", 2 Choose Not To Warn, 2 Rape, and 1 Graphic Violence.
Origin and Controversy
Bandom Summer Blowout (BSB) was created in response to new mods at Bandom Big Bang (BBB) banning some ships and topics in fanworks: Waycest along with "pedophilia, explicit underage, and explicit non-con".[4] See Bandom Big Bang#Content Restrictions for more details.
When the BSB mods announced their new challenge on twitter, fans who liked the content restrictions pushed back:
- "YKINMK is for like piss kinks and mpreg n shit, not fucking pedophilia and incest. fucking freaks."[5]
- "Just say you made it out of spite for BBB its ok. :) just say you wanted to make a challenge that supports people and themes that have been banned for a good reason :)"[6]
- "idc how close we are if you participate in this our friendship is over <3 absolutely pathetic making this little spiteful challenge because the mods didn’t let you write incest and underage fic in bbb/didn’t allow authors who made ppl uncomfortable.... just seen someone say 'you just want to censor artists' so consider this: incest freaks are not artists"[7]
- "Ok - I’m not going to get into it too much, but I just want to say that as a grown ass adult in this fandom, I feel a responsibility to ensure the safety of those younger than me. ... The fact that these GROWN ADULTS felt SO fucking offended by being excluded by BBB, who ONLY wanted to ensure that everyone felt SAFE, because they write explicit in*cest, underage, and extreme non-con, that they made a whole other challenge out of spite is INSANE."[8]
- "You could have just written something else for the challenge and posted whatever else you want independently on ao3, instead you make a challenge specifically for that kind of content… the two possible conclusions are you’re incapable of writing about anything else or just petty"[9]
- "yall r freaks for real"[10]
Other fans took a different view, sending messages of support to the mods:
Good luck with the event, I don’t think I’d be very good at joining it myself (my focus is always all over the place) but I’m so glad that you’re open and welcoming to all pairings and everything. It makes me sad how exclusionary some fandom spaces have become lately[11]
Bandom Summer Blowout mods stated that the challenge was not a "spite event" but an effort to create a space that catered to them, that the challenge had a zero tolerance policy toward harassment, and that "Writing about fictional illegal actions is not illegal nor does it mean that the writer or reader of this fiction condones or supports these actions."[12]
References
- ^ a b c d e bandomsummer: FAQ, Archived version (Accessed 10 October 2023.)
- ^ anon ask answered by bandomsummer, Archived version, 7 December 2021.
- ^ Bandom Summer Blowout - 2023 Schedule, Archived version, tumblr post by bandomsummer, 16 December 2022.
- ^ One week until signups open, Archived version, tumblr post by bandombigbang, 24 November 2021.
- ^ tweet by MCPlSS, Archived version, 6 December 2021.
- ^ tweet by grerardie, Archived version, 6 December 2021.
- ^ first tweet by HYPN0TICSPELLS, Archived version, second tweet by HYPN0TICSPELLS, Archived version 6 December 2021.
- ^ first tweet by skeletoncrevvs, Archived version, second tweet by skeletoncrevvs, Archived version, third tweet by skeletoncrevvs, Archived version, 6 December 2021.
- ^ tweet by sclpeladmission, Archived version, 6 December 2021.
- ^ tweet by FUCKlNGBATS, Archived version, 6 December 2021.
- ^ anon ask answered by bandomsummer, Archived version, 8 December 2021.
- ^ PSA: This mirror IS big enough for the two of us., Archived version, tumblr post by bandomsummer, 7 December 2021.