Three weeks left until the August 1 rough draft deadline! Are you excited? You should be! Here are the guidelines to keep in mind as you work toward the rough draft goal. Directions on how to submit your rough draft will be posted next week.

In the meantime, if you'd like to commiserate with other Big Boom authors, you can visit the bigboom_lounge, where you can find our most recent Word Count Wednesday, check out the Beta Volunteer Post, or make a post yourself with any questions, comments, or concerns you'd like to share with your fellow authors. We're all in this together, friends!

Rough Draft Guidelines

1) Your rough draft must include final title and summary.
a) the title may not change after this point.
b) the summary may only change in the specific language, the idea of the story may not change.

2) Your rough draft need not be a completed draft.
a) it may contain outline notes.
b) it may be rough and sketchy in some places.
c) it should, however, represent the entire story arc sufficiently so that an artist reading it will know where the story is going and understand the tone of it (i.e. you need an ending).

3) Your rough draft must be at least 8,000 words.
a) at least 5,000 words of those 8,000 words must be narrative.
b) no more than 3,000 words of those 8,000 words may be outline notes.

4) Your rough draft must represent at least 80% of your completed story. That means if your story is going to be significantly longer than 10,000 words, we'd like 80% of your projected word count.
a) no, we're not going to go back retroactively and say "that was only 71%, you're out"
b) yes, we will be evaluating your proposed story/outline notes/rough draft to see if what you've already written looks like approximately 80% of the story.

5) The more complete your rough draft is, the better.
a) We have more assurance you will actually complete the fic. It's terribly unfair to have an artist claim and work on a fic that will not be finished.
b) Artists perhaps wishing to use text (fanmixes, for example) will have actual text to draw from. They may ask for updated drafts while working.

Also note that this year we'll be asking for something new! A short excerpt (200 words or less) to go with your summary that will aid artists in getting an idea of the style of your writing. If you have questions, feel free to ask them here. We'll have more detailed information about how to submit your rough draft, etc., next week.

Sign ups for Round 3 writers are now closed, thank you to everyone who signed up and good luck. We had a totaly of 62 people sign up as writers which is really amazing, and everything is being covered from gen, het, slash, even quite a few crossovers.

Remember to join this community and watch for updates.

This a reminder that Writer Sign-Ups for Round Three of the Heroes Big Boom ends exactly a week from now on June 30th. If you are planning on signing up or dancing around the idea take a chance and sign up HERE.

Remember, the word minimum is just 10,000 words!!! But if you want to aim for that you are more than welcome to.

For the Authors that are already working on your fics please visit and join the bigboom_lounge. There will be weekly word count round ups for authors there, techniques offered, cheerleading offered, and other services to help Authors finish their fics on time and turn out something they love.

We have a new header and layout for the community, header courtesy of dhfreak and the layout is one made by milou_veronica.

With Round 3 now starting dhfreak has provided some banners for everyone to use to promote the challenge. Please use them to promote the challenge in your journals.

( 5 Heroes Big Boom Banners )

Challenge Rules for Artists/Vidders

1. You agree to create at least one piece of art, a vid, or a fanmix to accompany one of the Big Boom stories.
2. Art can be of any type you wish: orginal illustration, cover art, photo manip, vid, set of icons, fanmix, and so on. If you have a question about what might qualify, feel free to ask!
3. Art or Vid can be of any rating you choose, provided that it is not more than one rating higher than your chosen fic. Ie., if your fic is G, gen, you cannot make shippy art or rate higher than PG-13.
4. You will be able to post your artwork or vid at your livejournal or site. If you'd rather, we will host your art at a photobucket account.
5. Art and vids may not be posted unlocked anywhere on the web, in whole or in part, before your assigned posting date. Posting to regular small audiencing groups is excepted, but keep the numbers down.

Important Deadlines

1. You must sign up by the end of the day on August 1st.

2. On August 2 a list of story titles and summaries will be posted for you to claim as prompts on a first-come, first-served basis. Once you have claimed a prompt, you will be given the author's name and you will be able to review the story draft for additional inspiration.

3. Once every story is claimed, there may be a second round of claiming, so if you didn't get to claim a story the first round, don't despair!

4. The due date for completed artwork/vids is September 1. You must provide us with either a live link to the art or vid, or the art file itself in a photobucket compatible format.

5. Posting will begin in September (on a date to be determined once the Season 4 premiere date is announced), starting with art/fic combos that were finished on time. Each artist/author team will be assigned a posting date so that we can spread the posting out over a period of two weeks - assuming we have enough fic. This will give everyone time to read and appreciate the stories, which won't happen if they're posted en masse. This means that some people will be finished and unable to post for a few days, but it will also give us a chance to accommodate one or two authors/artists who might need a few days extension, or deal with any pinch-hit situations.

( Sign-Up Form )


Thank you so much for participating!

Your mods,


chosenfire28, dragon_lord, paperflowered and brighteyed_jill

Let's get this show on the road!

Challenge Rules for Writers

1. Stories must have a minimum length of 10,000 words. There is no maximum length. If you're feeling it, you're welcome to go for the more traditional 20,000 words, and if you do, you get a special Big!BigBoom distinction.
2. Stories may be gen, het, or (fem)slash.
3. The central story element must focus on Heroes characters or actors from Heroes (if you are writing RPF). AUs and crossovers are permitted. You are not limited in subject matter: there is a prompt post to jump-start your muse if you need it, but you are not required to use these prompts.
4. Stories may be posted to your own journal or site; a master list of links and summaries will be posted here at the community.
5. Stories may not be posted anywhere on the web, in whole or in part, before your assigned posting date. Posting to betas or regular small audiencing groups is excepted, but the idea is to keep the fics anonymous for the artists/vidders to select from, and fresh when first posted, so keep the numbers down.
6. All stories must be beta'd before final posting. There is a bigboom support community, bigboom_lounge, that can help you find a beta if you need one. This is also a great place to find advice. Look for an advice post soon with compiled advice from our survey of last year's participants.

Important Deadlines

1. You must sign up by June 30th.

2. In order to participate in Big Boom, you must have a first draft, summary, and final title completed and turned in (details on how to do so will be explained closer to the date) on August 1. This is required, so that we know you will finish before the artists/vidders begin their work.

3. On August 2, summaries of the fics will be posted as an anonymous list of prompts for artists/vidders to claim.

4. Final drafts are due on September 1st.

5. Posting, one or two fics a day, will begin in September (on a date to be determined once the Season 4 premiere date is announced), starting with fic/art combos that were finished on time. Each author/artist team will be assigned a posting date so that we can spread the posting out over a period of two weeks - assuming we have enough fic. This will give everyone time to read and appreciate the stories, which won't happen if they're posted en masse. This means that some people will be finished and unable to post for a few days, but it will also give us a chance to accommodate one or two authors/artists who might need a few days extension, or deal with any pinch-hit situations.

( Sign-Up Form )


Thank you so much for participating!

Your mods,

chosenfire28, dragon_lord, paperflowered and brighteyed_jill

Sign-ups for Round Three of the challenge will be up tomorrow. In the meantime, get ready to whet your whistle and let slip the bunnies of plot:


No way you can write 10K? Not a writer? Got plotbunnies to spare? This post is for you!

Hopefully lots of people will want to participate in Big Boom. Some of them won't have the first clue what to write. In the comments below, go wild. Give a little, give a lot. Give us the best danged prompts you've got! Okay, seriously, if you have ideas for a Heroes, Heroes RPF, or Heroes crossover novella that might help someone else, drop them in the comments below. Prompt anonymously or not, as you choose.

So do you have any ideas for things you wanted to see happen in this season? Or something you want to see happen next season? Or other ideas, off-the-wall ones? Who knows? That Profit/Peter (Profit), Nathan/Jess (Gilmore Girls), Elle/Ruby (Supernatural), pre-series Petrellicest, Isaac/Adam heroin crack!fic, Elle/Claire bodyswap, Matthinder prom AU, Sylar/Luke as Roman gladiators or whatever fic you've been looking for just might get written. And wouldn't that just make your hiatus?


Authors, feel free to browse through the prompts listed here to get your plot bunny fix.

The Boom is under new management this year!

Your new mods are me, paperflowered, chosenfire28, dragon_lord, and brighteyed_jill.

If you have questions or want to get in touch, email our official comm address: heroesgoboom[at]gmail[dot]com.

Sign-ups are coming VERY soon!

Hello all! I bet you thought I'd forgotten about you! Well I haven't. But I do have some important questions. Do you have a moment to answer the poll below?

( Should there be a Big Boom this year? )

Congratulations to all our artists and authors! You've done some fabulous work. For those of you (like me) who found the month of September positively jam-packed with Too Much Fic To Read, I've collected links to all the fic and art in one convenient place. You should really check them out! And when you do, give the artist or author some feedback; they've put a lot of work into these monsters, and your comments are the only payment they get. So even if you don't know the person in question, give them some love! Okay, now on to the fic:


Theory of Relativity (R, Molly/Micah, Matt/Mohinder) by kleenexcow
Covers and banners by noelia_g

Acclimation (NC-17, Mohinder/Sylar, Nathan/Peter) by icalynn
Cover, manips, and illustrations by mkitty3

Somewhere in Sands (R, slight Carnivale crossover, gen w/ mentions of Claire/The Haitian and Isaac/Monica)by monimala
Illustration by futuresoon

The Mystery of the Invisible Man (PG, Peter/Claude, Matt/Mohinder) by saena17 @ imaginedmelody
Illustration by postal152

Destiny and Desire (NC-17, Nathan/Peter) by mystery_sock
Cover art and illustration by slanted_edges

A Couple of Days (R, Peter/Claire) by boombangbing @ misfit_fandoms
Cover and animated banner by lucky_star79
Illustration by tielan

Shanti (PG-13, X-Men crossover, Mohinder/Sylar, Northstar/Iceman, Jean Grey/Cyclops/Wolverine) by alex_boylove
Cover and illustrations by sameoldhope

Don't Worry (PG-13, The Island crossover, Gen w/ mentions of Mohinder/Sylar) by megmatthews20
Covers by out_there

Redemption (NC-17, Peter/Claire, Peter/Nathan) by fiorediloto
Cover and illustrations by eryslash

Into the Living Sea (NC-17, Nathan/Peter, brief Peter/OMC) by brighteyed_jill
Trailer by blithesea

Re-Genesis (PG-13, Matt/Mohinder) by medie
Illustration by glmx

Lifetime Commitment (NC-17, Peter/Claire w/ mentions of Mohinder/Maya, Peter/Elle, and Claire/May) by cadesama
Illustration by jin_fenghuang

Special (R, 4400 crossover, Nathan/Peter, Nathan/Marco, Marco/Diana w/metions of Peter/Claire) by fabrisse
Illustration by jkivela

Tides of Destiny (PG-13, Dr. Who crossover, Peter/OFC) by darthlorexa
Covers by quiet_rebel

The Wings are Wide (NC-17, Matt/Mohinder) by clockstopper
Cover and Banners by lostgirlslair

Down My Road (PG-13, Peter/Elle) by wings4music
Wallpaper by sameoldhope

Ties Unsevered (R, Gilmore Girls crossover, Jess/Rory implied) by ibonekoen @ didnttakestars
Cover, Wallpaper 1, and Wallpaper 2 by noelia_g

Trackers (R, Supernatural crossover, gen) by phoenixchilde
Video by pinkfinity @ pear_vodka

You Can Applaud If You Want To (PG-13, Claire/Elle, Adam/Hiro) by soda_and_capes
Video by ricestorm



Thanks again to the participants. You are all made of win. I hope to see you all again next year: same bat time, same bat channel.

The Boom is over now (phew!), but there may be more great fic on the horizon. We had 46 writers sign up, and 19 of them competed fics (you go, guys)! So that means there may be 27 stories out there that were started in the name of Big Boom but never finished. And we don't want to miss out on 27 more awesome Heroes fics. So. If you originally signed up to write, but didn't finish for whatever reason, you are invited to post a link to your Big Boom-inspired fic here. It doesn't need to be 10,000 words. It doesn't need to meet any requirements other than you originally planned to use it as your Big Boom entry. Post a link here, and I'll add it to the bottom of our Big Boom Round-up so folks who come looking for the master list of fics can find yours, too.

Also, I know there was some discussion of having artists hook up with those Big Boomers who didn't finish. I think we can do that in a very informal way. So artists, if you're interested in doing art for some Big Boom-inspired fic, post here to volunteer your services. Authors who want to collaborate with artists who've volunteered here can contact them directly, and we may see a few more fabulous Heroes fic/art pairings this year!

In summary:
1. If you have completed a fic that was originally meant for the Big Boom, post a link to it here and I'll add it to the master list.
2. If you're interested in doing art for a Big Boom-inspired fic, post here and mention what sort of fics you'd consider doing.

First off, congratulations to everyone who participated. We had more stories and more art than last year, which is great considering our show had a few setbacks in its sophomore season. Tomorrow I'll be putting up a master post rounding up all the stories and art in one convenient place. While you're waiting for that, though, give us some feedback on this year's boom so we can make it better next time. Go ahead and skip any questions that don't apply to you.

( 10 Questions to Make the Boom Better )

Please feel free to share additional thoughts in the comments (anonymously or not, as you choose). Really, the mods won't be offended by suggestions to change things. So speak!

Fic title: Trackers
Author name: Beth CG Phoenix (phoenixchilde)
Artist credit(s): Heidi (pinkfinity/pear_vodka)
Art link: Vid here! (Note from Heidi: please let the vid load in its entirety, and please wait until after finishing the fic to watch.)
Genre: Crossover with Supernatural
Pairing: None
Rating: R
Word Count: 19,583
Warnings/Spoilers: Heroes: Through "Homecoming," though it starts bending in strange and AU-ish ways a fair while before that. SPN: Through "Hunted."
Summary: Mohinder's finally found his list. Too bad it's not documenting what he thinks it is -- and too bad he's not the only one who wants to get ahold of it.
Notes: A huge thank you to silveraspen for betaing/hand-holding/fixing my laptop when it crashed three days before rough drafts were due (seriously, she is the Ultimate Kickass Super Beta), newredshoes for cheerleading, varadia for characterization checking, and the BigBoom mods for getting me to finish something that I thought I'd never see finished. Almost two years after the plot bunny bit me, this sucker's finally done. WOO! \o/
Link to fic: HERE

Fic title: You Can Applaud If You Want To
Author name: soda_and_capes
Artist credit(s): ricestorm
Art link: Vid here!
Genre: Dark comedy.
Pairing: Claire/Elle, Adam/Hiro
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 10,139
Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers for s2.
Summary: AU where the end of the world involves iPods, fast food, acts of Congress, and bad costumes. Claire and Peter learn to deal with life, Elle does not, Adam goes to movies, and Hiro is a genius.
Link to fic: HERE!! (It all fit in one post, amazingly enough)
Notes: Title from "Evening Wear" by Mindless Self Indulgence. Thanks ricestorm for an utterly perfect video, ariastar and missfuneralsong for an awesome beta job, incredulousyak for cheerleading, and cause_to_effect for knowing six different kinds of iPod.

fic title: Down My Road
author name: wings4music 
genre: gen/het.
pairing: Peter/Elle
rating: pg-13
word count: ~19, 000
warnings/spoilers: none, but if any, just vague references to S2.
summary: For nearly four years, Peter has been searching for an answer he's feared. Instead of the expected answers, however, he finds an Elle that has opened up an entirely new road for herself, one she has chosen to walk without ever looking back. But before their roads diverge once again, another old face reemerges in Elle’s life to threaten that which she loves most, forcing Elle to remain in the cross of Peter's path longer than she would like.
note: Art H E R E by sameoldhope! A trillion thanks to my awesome beta, retroblair, whom helped polish this story so wonderfully. Both you & sameoldhope  deserve mad props. ;D

Fic Title: The Wings are Wide
Author: clockstopper
Artist Credit(s): lostgirlslair
Art Link: Here
Pairing: Matt/Mohinder
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 18,534
Warnings/Spoilers: This kind of re-writes most of season one, but there are spoilers for that season and maybe one or two things in season two. They're vague though
Summary: Instead of Matt being able to kind of control his powers and develop them naturally, he gets them full blown and really powerful. Like too powerful for himself and he ends up killing his wife and her boyfriend guy by accident. The Company gets a hold of him and keeps him locked up through season one as well as parts of season two until Mohinder finds him. Mohinder is working for the Company and he's starting to have doubts in them and what they're doing even though he's always had some. They're sort of keeping him hostage because of Molly. Obviously a few things happen a bit differently then the show because Matt isn't around. Mohinder decides to set Matt free and trigger a sequence of events that hopefully put everything back on the right course.

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four

Fic Title: The Tides of Destiny
Author: Tracy A
Artist Credit(s): quiet_rebel
Art link: over here
Genre: Gen, Het, Crossover
Pairing: Peter/OC
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 13844
Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers for 3x00 - 'The Runaway Bride' for Doctor Who and general spoilers for Season 1 of Heroes
Summary: Peter always believed that he was somebody special, somebody who was capable of extrodinary things. That he could be just as special as his brother Nathan if he was only given the chance. He is given that chance when he is suddenly transported on to the TARDIS and he learns exactly just how special he is in a way that he never thought was possible.
Link to fic: Prologue to Chapter Five and Chapter Six to Epilogue

Author: Fabrisse
Title: Special
Fandoms: Heroes and The 4400
Pairings: Diana/Marco, Nathan/Peter, Nathan/Marco, mentions of Peter/Claire
Rating: Older Teen, kissing and mentions of sex only
Warnings: Discussions of drug use and suicide, mentions of incest
Seasons: Through Season 2 of Heroes and the finale of The 4400. I'm completely unspoiled for season 3 of Heroes, so everything in here is speculation.
Summary: Marco Pacella warns Nathan Petrelli that he might be arrested for illegal use of promicin. With persuasion from Diana, a summit is held among the three forces from Seattle and many of the Heroes. Do the 4400 and the Heroes derive their abilities from the same source?

My betas were kelly_girl, who did the very first beta on the opening section way back in the spring before I decided to finish it as a heroes_bigboom submission, riverfox, and mystery_sock who dealt with my insecurities in several IM conversations. All of them gave me invaluable advice, whether or not I took it. It's not their fault if anything is still wrong.

The cover is by jkivela. I was thrilled to have art work, and something this good is just a terrific bonus.

riverfox has given me archive space. The whole story with the lovely cover is here.

Fic title: Lifetime Commitment
Author name: cadesama
Artist credit(s): jin_fenghuang
Art link: here
Genre: het
Pairing: Peter/Claire (with references to Mohinder/Maya, Peter/Elle, and Claire/May)
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 47000
Warnings: incest, violence, explicit sex in later chapters, some gruesome imagery
Spoilers: Through S2 of Heroes, and the comics up to issue #82 (particularly "Golden Handshake", issues #43-26). No S3 spoilers.
Summary: Completing her freshman year of NYU has left Claire feeling stifled by normalcy. Meanwhile, recovering from his latest power meltdown has left Peter emotionally devastated and withdrawn. When Angela arranges to get them back into the game, they know there's more to it than sending them undercover to deal with a dehydrating villain preying on New York's elite. More to it than the marriage license they have to sign, even.
Link to fic: Prologue here