Current author sign up count: 31

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Hi everyone, 

In a little over two months from now Elysian Fields turns 13 years old. 13 years, wow—it’s almost hard to believe our little archive is reaching teen status. And what teen doesn’t deserve a celebration upon reaching such a milestone? To celebrate the upcoming 13th anniversary of the archive, well, that of course means it’s time for the next site challenge. Welcome to your intro post for the Big Bads Challenge.

One of the best things about the series was the depth and breadth of characters, and so many of them were either underutilised or underappreciated. Not to mention, who doesn’t love a good villain? And fanfic is just the vehicle to give these characters the ‘air time’ they so deserve.

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to select a ‘Big Bad’ from the series and write a new fic with them as a key player. Your Big Bad could be one of the regulars that had series-long arcs, or an episodic bit-player that you’d like to see get some more attention. Any named antagonist from the series, no matter their impact on the episode, season or series arc, is eligible to qualify for Big Bad status with this challenge.

You like to write known Big Bads? Great! We'd love to read more of them. Personally, as a fan of Mayor Wilkins III, I strongly believe there is no such thing as too many fic with him involved. But he or other series regulars might not float your boat. Perhaps taking a bit-player and turning them into a more epic-level villain is more your speed. Gorch brothers anyone? Mr Trick? Sunday? The Cher-loving psychopath that was Buffy's short-lived college roommate? I could go on. Whichever path you choose to take, we'd love to see what you come up with. 

Authors:
This new item serves as your sign-up post. By signing up to the challenge, you are agreeing to comply with the rules and regulations, and to write a fic with the following specifics:

• Length: Minimum of 1,500 word count, maximum is completely up to you.
• Characters: Buffy, Spike, a ‘Big Bad’ and any other BtVS or AtS characters you see fit.
• Content Specifications: The fic MUST address the theme of Big Bads. How you decide to incorporate this theme into a fic is entirely up to you, the writer. All big bads figures, canon or OC, are welcome. 
• Timeline: The fic can be set any time during the BtVS timeline, post series, or pre-series.
• Dates: No posting of the fic onto the archive (or anywhere else) until the 1st of October. As soon as you receive a confirmation email from me regarding your sign-up, consider the writing process time open.
• The challenge is for new fic only, not to be attached to an existing story.
• The fic DOES NOT need to be complete prior to posting, nor does it need to finished during the month of October. We’d just like them to be started during that time.
• Authors are not limited to writing one story. So if you have more than one idea...great!
• When you post your fic, please ensure you credit the artist who made the banner in your fic summary. 
• If you have a banner artist or beta that you worked with as part of your event challenge response, you must credit them in your story notes in order for them to be counted as having participated in the event. If they aren't listed in your story notes, we have no way of identifying that they were part of the event. 
• Please note: authors must sign up for the challenge prior to submitting a request for a banner. A further news post with details for banner requests will be posted to the site in the coming days. 

Artists:
We want all of our uber-talented banner artists to be included in the challenge as well. Artists, we’ll be connecting you with authors via a banner request list. Prior to the posting of fic on the 1st of October, authors can sign up to request a banner be made for their fic. Participating authors will email me a completed form, with their request for a banner to accompany their fic. The request may include things such as: Fic Title, Author Penname, the season the fic is set in, specific character image requests (including the big bad), colour theme…etc.

This information will be added to a master list. Artists may browse the page, and choose to sign up to fulfill a particular request. Each fic will ONLY be allocated to one artist, and it will be in a first come, first served basis. Artists may sign up to create multiple banners; however, we will cap the number to three banners to begin with, to encourage involvement from a lot of people. Secondary sign ups will also occur at some point. More details regarding the sign-up process for artists will come at a later date.

KEY DATES for the Challenge:

• Writing sign ups: from the 24th of August through to the 31st of October.
• Writing time: from email confirmation of sign-up until the challenge concludes.
• Author submissions of banner requests: from the 26th of August through to the 15th of September.
• Artist sign ups: 12th of September.
• Artists to provide banners to authors: by the 30th of September (unless otherwise negotiated with the author).
• Posting of fics to begin: from the 1st of October.
• NOTE: fics DO NOT need to be completed by the end of October, but the first part/chapter must be started prior to the end of the month to be included in the Challenge. 

Authors, if you decide to sign up, we are asking you to send Amy an email at angelic.amy.fic@gmail.com with the following information:

          Author penname:
          I intend to participate in the Big Bads Challenge.

And that’s it for now. If you have any questions about the challenge, please don’t hesitate to ask - you can shoot Amy an email at the address above, email the main account at elysianfields@dark-solace.org, or comment on this post. 

Yours in Spuffy,
The Mods.