The World's Slowest Big Bang

Big Bang chat #2

Tue, 12 May 2026 03:10:35 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Our second chat is coming up!

The second live chat for the 2026 due South/Canadian Six Degrees Big Bang will take place on Saturday, May 16. We are offering two different chat times:

Chat 2A will start at 2pm Chicago time (What time is that for me?)
Chat 2B will start at 8pm Chicago time (What time is that for me?)

Chats and check-ins take place on our discord server. We encourage you to check out the server in advance of the chat - and, if you'd like, to use it to hang out and support each other even outside of the officially scheduled chats! Everyone is welcome, whether you're a participant, beta, cheerleader or just want to chat about due South and other C6D fandoms.

Sign ups for the Big Bang remain open! For primary sign ups you can make 20k fics or equivalent art/craft/vids/podfic.

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dS/C6D Big Bang Chat #1

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 02:08:04 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Our first chat is coming up!

The first live chat for the 2026 due South/Canadian Six Degrees Big Bang will take place on Saturday, April 18. We are offering two different chat times to try to accommodate our various time zones:

Chat 1A will start at 2pm Chicago time (What time is that for me?)
Chat 1B will start at 8pm Chicago time (What time is that for me?)

Sign ups for the Big Bang remain open! For primary sign ups you can make 20k fics or equivalent art/craft/vids/podfic.

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2026 due South/Canadian Six Degrees Big Bang Sign-Ups Open!

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 03:15:05 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Woohoo, it's the Eleventh of March, and it's time for the 18th annual due South/Canadian Six Degrees Big Bang!

2026 Schedule

Sign-ups open: March 11th
Chat 1: April 18
Chat 2: May 16
Chat 3: June 13
Chat 4: July 18
Primary works due: August 15
Complementary claims open: August 22
Mandatory checkpoint for complementary creators: mid-September (TBD)
Complementary works due: October 4
Go-live date for all works: Canadian Thanksgiving, October 12

Please take the time to check out the Rules and the FAQ, and let us know if you have any questions! For primary sign-ups, you can make 20,000-word fics or podfics or equivalent art/vids/craft of any sort, for due South or any other Canadian Six Degrees fandom. There is no cutoff date for signing up - sign-ups stay open until the August deadline.

We'll be having checkpoints and live chats on our discord server, and we also encourage you to use the server outside of officially scheduled chats - for brainstorming, moral support, hilarious tangents, group therapy and everything else you'll need to get through this. Remember, there are no penalties for dropping out of a primary sign-up. If RL intervenes or writer's/artist’s block happens, we'll give you a hug and hope to see you next time.

Please note that while this big bang is 18+, our server does not have technological age restrictions in place. This (plus renaming our NSFW channel to "curling-personnel-only") should mean that you won't have to jump through any sketchy age verification hoops to access it. If you are asked to verify your age in order to access the discord server, please contact a mod.

Feel free to reach out to us by commenting on this post, sending us a DM on discord, or emailing us (dsc6dbbmod@gmail.com).

To sign up, copy the headers below and paste them into a comment. Then fill it out!

Discord/DW/tumblr name:

AO3 username:

Email address or discord:

Primary or Complementary sign-up:

Medium (fic, art etc):

Fandom and characters/pairings (if you have any idea yet!):

Timezone (optional, for planning the chats):

If you would prefer not to share your email address or Discord in a public comment, please write "private" in that field and then email your contact info to dsc6dbbmod@gmail.com. We will share this contact only with your primary/complementary creator match.

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Warning: AO3 comment bot

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 22:00:28 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Hi all, there appears to be a comment bot working its way through due South fics in reverse chronological order. It starts off with a lengthy, praise-focused comment that uses words and phrases like "chaotic", "my heart", and "screaming" a lot - from the comments I've seen, it honestly sounds a lot like an attempt to mimic fangirl speak circa 2010 - and if the creator responds has tried to then get someone's Discord handle or email address.

Although there was some initial uncertainty over whether this is a bot, as it is commenting with an AO3 account and appears to draw on specific details in the work, the account it was using as of yesterday (Rosie79) appears to be brand new, comments on a stretch of works one after the other within a short time span, doesn't leave kudos, and consistently refers to everything as a "chapter" even if it's a one-shot. It currently appears as if the bot can only process text.*

While I don't want to encourage anyone to go on a comments section witch hunt and end up reporting legitimate users who just happen to sound a little bit like a praise bot, I do want to remind everyone that you can report suspected bots via the Policy Questions & Abuse Reports link at the bottom of every AO3 page. If an account is otherwise blank, newly-created, and appears to be trying to get you to move to the internet equivalent of a secondary location, it may be worth considering reporting it.

*I did not do any of the digging or conferring that discovered this bot or its characteristics, so if folks in the know from the dueSouthBound Discord server want to leave any significant aspects of this bot that I've missed in the comments, that would be very helpful.

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2025 dS/C6D Big Bang collection is live!

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 14:52:07 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

The 2025 due South/Canadian Six Degrees Big Bang collection is now revealed! Go and check out the fanworks on AO3, and leave comments and kudos for the creators \o/

Congratulations to all our lovely primary and complementary creators, and thanks to everyone who chatted and beta'ed along the way. And thanks to everyone for waiting an extra month to see what wonderful works our fandom has produced this year!

A special shout-out to our creators who submitted their works by an earlier deadline than they had to, who we decided to recognize with little digital merit badges. Keep an eye out for the Dief pawprint of proper preparation approval!

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Mandatory Complementary Creator Check-In

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 15:33:26 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Today is the checkpoint for complementary creators; please check in before the end of the day by participating in our rolling chat on discord, sending us an email (dsc6dbbmod@gmail.com), or DMing one of the mods.

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Complementary checkpoint coming up

Sun, 26 Oct 2025 19:47:48 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Complementary creators - your mandatory check-in is Saturday, November 1!

We'll have a rolling chat on discord (sort of like our first informal chat this year), and you can talk through progress, ask for help, etc.

Participating in the chat can count as your check-in; otherwise, please email us at dsc6dbbmod@gmail.com or DM one of the mods by the end of the day on November 1 to let us know how things are going.

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dS/C6D Complementary Claims Post

Sat, 18 Oct 2025 14:46:28 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

The due South/Canadian Six Degrees Big Bang is now LIVE for complementary claims! Anyone can sign up, regardless of whether you signed up on the initial post back in March.

Although we do ask that at least one complementary work a primary work receives be in a different medium from the primary (fic for art, art for vid, etc), all types of work are accepted: art, fic (2k minimum), podfic, vids, poetry, fanmixes, crafts, you name it. For full details, check the Rules and FAQ. Works are due on November 21, with a mandatory checkpoint on November 1.

Here's how this works:

We do claims by creator, not by work - this only really comes into play years when we have multiple works from a single creator.
You may list as many creators as you like during this first round of claiming; please rank them in order of preference, and we will assign each complementary creator their highest ranked choice that is still available.
We'll have a 48-hour open period to give people in different time zones an equal chance to claim. Then the mods will reply to the comments, confirming which work you've been assigned.
After this first round of claiming, we'll move to a first come, first served basis.
Multiple complementary works for a primary creator are not only allowed but welcomed with open arms - once all of the primary creators have received at least one complementary claim. Similarly, one person is absolutely allowed to create complementary works for multiple primary creators - if you'd like to do so, please just wait to claim your second, third, fourth, etc. primary creator until we're past the first round of claiming and into the first come, first serve portion of events.

To claim a creator, comment below with your AO3 username, your contact information, and which creator you'd like to claim. For contact information, please do not just write "email" unless you either a) are confident that the mods have your email address from a previous Big Bang or b) DM or email the mods so they have your actual email address at the time of your sign up.

Creator 1: AlexandraMRobertson

Fanwork type: Fic
Fandom: Due South, Polar Explorer RPF
Work Title: The Last Link
Length: 24,494 words
Rating: General Audiences
Relationships: Benton Fraser & Ray Kowalski
Characters: Benton Fraser, Ray Kowalski, Diefenbaker, Sir John Franklin
Summary: “They forged the last link with their lives”
– Sir John Richardson, friend and physician to Sir John Franklin
Nunavut, Canada
April 1999
Five hundred miles north of nowhere, frozen, hungry, and feeling useless, Ray Kowalski is ready to give up on finding the Hand of Franklin and head back to Chicago. But when the ghost of Sir John Franklin appears, Ray and Fraser realize that only they can help him move on. Will finding the last link claim their lives - or show them the road back home again?
Warnings: Includes hunting and death of wild animals

Creator 2: mific

Fanwork type: Podfic
Fandom: due South
Title: About a Dog
Length: 02:20:27
Rating: Explicit
Pairing: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Summary: This is an old favorite of mine, written by Speranza. During a case, Fraser and Dief run foul of a witch and Dief is transformed into a human (who looks very like Jeff Daniels). While they work to solve the case Dief points out some home truths to Fraser, with eventual happy results. It's a bit angsty from Fraser's perspective, but Dief's amusingly blunt (albeit pissed about being stuck in a "terrible human body"), and there's a great friendship between Dief and Ray. It all works out in the end of course, with Dief once more furry and stealing doughnuts.
Warnings: No AO3 warnings apply

Creator 3: KittKat

Fanwork type: podfic with cover
Fandom: due South
Work Title: Walking Forward Back to You, written by prudence_dearly, read by KittKat
Length: 3 hours 32 minutes
Relationships: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski
Characters: Benton Fraser, Ray Kowalski, Diefenbaker, Harding Welsh, Margaret Thatcher, Francesca Vecchio, Renfield Turnbull
Additional Tags: First Time, Podfic
Ratings & warnings: Teen and up, no archive warnings apply.
Summary: Fraser takes a walk down memory lane, and drags Ray along for the ride.
Notes: This fic came to me via a rec some time during the Due South 30 Below Fest last year. I knew as soon as I read it that I wanted to podfic it. I loved prudence_dearly's premise (Ben accidentally hypnotised himself and age regresses, Ray takes care of 5, 14 and 21 year old Ben while trying to figure out what happened and bring back his partner) and it is beautifully written, and the chance to voice Fraser at four different ages was too good of a challenge to pass up.

Creator 4: feroxargentea

Fanwork type: fic
Fandom: due South
Title: Full Fathom Six
Length: 26,088 words
Rating: M
Characters/pairings: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Diefenbaker, Original Characters, minor characters from Mountie on the Bounty
Summary: “Why are you yelling at me?” Fraser asked.
Ray hesitated. “I can’t...I can’t swim.”
“Right,” Fraser said, taken aback. Of course Ray could swim. Fraser had taught him to swim. But that had been in 1810, and Ray didn’t remember 1810, because this was Lake Superior in 1998 and none of it was real.
Warnings: Canon-typical violence, bloodshed, dead bodies, period-typical homophobia

Creator 5: portlandwithyou

Fanwork type: fic
Fandom: due South
Title: Something to You
Length: 20,148 words
Rating: E
Characters/pairings: Benton Fraser/Ray Vecchio, Ma Vecchio | Ray Vecchio's Mother, Maria Vecchio
Summary: After being mistaken for gay, Ray has a revelation about himself and his relationship to Fraser.
Warnings: Period-typical homophobia

Creator 6: wicked3659

Fanwork type: fic
Fandom: due South
Title: The Burden of Prejudice
Length: 26,134 words
Rating: T
Characters/pairings: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Benton Fraser & Ray Kowalski, Benton Fraser & Ray Vecchio, Ray Kowalski & Stella Kowalski, Ray Kowalski & Francesca Vecchio, Diefenbaker & Benton Fraser & Ray Kowalski, Ray Vecchio/Irene Zuko, Stella Kowalski/Francesca Vecchio, Ray Kowalski & Ray Vecchio, benton fraser & mackenzie king
Summary: Ray Kowalski can be found most evenings looking through the cold case of Stella Kowalski's murder. Little does he know that this was a catalyst for something much, much larger than one ASA's untimely demise.
Warnings: Major character death

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dS/C6D Big Bang primary works sneak peak

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 02:22:52 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Here's a sneak peek of the due South/Canadian Six Degrees Big Bang primary creators and works that will be available for complementary claiming in just a few days. This is just a preview - the actual claiming post will go up on October 18!

Primary creators, please check we've got your details right and let us know if anything needs changing/adding.

( Read more... )

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Primary works due!

Sun, 12 Oct 2025 14:23:23 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Hey all, work got a little away from me yesterday so we're giving everyone a few extra hours to get their works in. Post your finished work to our collection on AO3 before 2 p.m. Chicago time today, and it'll go on the list of works for complementary creators to pick from.

You can either go to the collection and click "Post to Collection", or go to your own AO3 dashboard, click "Post New" and fill in the "Post to Collections" field as ds_c6d_bigbang_2025.

If you miss the deadline, we won’t assign you a complementary creator, but we will keep cheering you on. You can submit your work at the complementary work deadline instead and still be part of the collection.

Everyone who'd like to be complementary creators: Stay tuned! We'll post a sneak peek of the work summaries in the next few days, and then the actual claiming post will go up on October 18.

If you have any questions, please reach out to the mods! We're happy to help if we can. Comment or DM us on dreamwidth or discord, or email us at dsc6dbbmod@gmail.com.

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Primary works due soon!

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 04:03:18 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

All primary works are due by the end of the day (anywhere) October 11! If you think you may need a little extra time, contact one of the mods (thisaintbc or CJ) right away.

Although you can continue to edit between posting and go-live, all works must be complete at the time of posting. "Complete" means a finished work that's good enough to be published without any further changes, in the mods' opinion. If you're having problems, speak to the mods! If you miss the deadline, we won’t assign you a complementary creator, but we will keep cheering you on. You can submit your work at the complementary work deadline of November 21 instead and still be part of the collection.

(For those previously banned from complementary signups, now is the time to come and speak to the mods about getting unbanned. This only applies if you've defaulted by no-show at the final complementary deadline in the past and doesn't apply to any primary signups. We will usually ask you to submit your original assignment or an equivalent complementary work before you can sign up as a complementary creator again.)

( Instructions for submitting primary works )
If you have any questions, please reach out to the mods! We're happy to help if we can. Comment here, or DM us here or on discord, or email us at dsc6dbbmod@gmail.com.

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Chat #4

Wed, 23 Jul 2025 02:51:10 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Chat #4 will be held at 2 pm Chicago time this coming Saturday, July 26. Check this link to see what time that is for you.

Chats and check-ins take place on our discord server.

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Revised 2025 Schedule

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 03:06:51 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Due to some RL issues, we're pushing our deadlines back again this year, in a similar fashion to what we did in 2020. Here's the new schedule:

Revised 2025 Schedule
Sign-ups open: March 11th
Chat 1: April
Chat 2: May
Chat 3: June
Chat 4: July 26
Chat 5: TBD
Original primary works due date: August 16
New primary works due date: October 11 (the Saturday preceding Canadian Thanksgiving)
Complementary claims open: October 18
Mandatory checkpoint for complementary creators: November 1
Complementary works due: November 21
Go-live date for all works: American Thanksgiving, November 27

To try and keep motivation up, we've decided to offer a little merit badge for folks who manage to post their primary works by the original deadline. If you're a primary creator, you can post your work to the AO3 collection by August 16 in order to receive a badge you can display on your work, on social media, etc!

If you have signed up as a primary or complementary creator for this year and were not part of discord conversations about this possibility, please comment below letting us know that you've seen this post! If we don't hear from you we will reach out to you to make sure you know about these changes.

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dS/C6D Big Bang Chat #3

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 00:53:44 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Our third chat is coming up! The third live chat for the 2025 due South/Canadian Six Degrees Big Bang will take place at 2 p.m. Chicago time on Saturday, June 14. (What time is that for me?)

There will not be a split chat in June; this is the only chat for this month. Our fourth chat will be held the weekend of July 26.

Sign ups for the Big Bang are still open! For primary sign ups you can make 20k fics or equivalent art/craft/vids/podfic.

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dS/C6D Big Bang Chat #2

Sun, 11 May 2025 23:47:43 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Our second chat is coming up! For the second live chat for the 2025 due South/Canadian Six Degrees Big Bang, we have a choice of two times:

Chat 2A will take place at 12 p.m. Chicago time on Saturday, May 17 (What time is that where I am?)

Chat 2B will take place at 5 p.m. Chicago time on Sunday, May 18 (What time is that where I am?)

Sign ups for the Big Bang are still open! For primary sign ups you can make 20k fics or equivalent art/craft/vids/podfic.

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due South/C6D Big Bang Chat #1

Sun, 06 Apr 2025 16:19:49 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Our first official, quote-unquote 'formal' chat is coming up! The first live chat for the 2025 due South/Canadian Six Degrees Big Bang will take place at 4 pm Chicago time on April 12th. (What time is that where I am?)

Chats and check-ins take place on our discord server. All chats are optional; although many people find them helpful, you are by no means required to take part in a chat.

We encourage you to check out the server in advance of the chat - and, if you'd like, to use it to hang out and support each other even outside of the officially scheduled chats! Everyone is welcome, whether you're a participant, beta, cheerleader or just want to chat about due South and other C6D fandoms.

Sign ups for the Big Bang are still open! For primary sign ups you can make 20k fics or equivalent art/craft/vids/podfic/poetry.

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Informal icebreaker/brainstorming chat

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 22:06:56 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

New to the big bang? Returning for the eleventy millionth time? Not sure what you'll be doing, or eager to help others brainstorm? Got questions for the mods?

Come join us for an informal chat on our discord server this Sunday! We'll start around 4pm Chicago time (what time is that for me?), but feel free to drift in and out. Our chats usually run for somewhere around an hour or two.

This doesn't preclude you from using the server for all of these things and more outside of scheduled chats, but with a number of new folks signing up this year we wanted to offer people a chance to say hi before our first official chat in April.

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Sign up post for the 2025 due South/C6D Big Bang!

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 03:04:57 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Woohoo, it's the Eleventh of March, and it's time for the 17th annual due South/Canadian Six Degrees Big Bang!

2025 Schedule

Sign-ups open: March 11th
Chat 1: April (TBD)
Chat 2: May (TBD)
Chat 3: June (TBD)
Chat 4: July (TBD)
Primary works due: August 16
Complementary claims open: August 23
Mandatory checkpoint for complementary creators: mid-September (TBD)
Complementary works due: October 6
Go-live date for all works: Canadian Thanksgiving, October 13

Please feel free to reach out to us by commenting on this post, sending us a DM/PM on discord or here on dreamwidth, or emailing us (dsc6dbbmod@gmail.com).

To sign up, copy the headers below and paste them into a comment. Then fill it out!

DW/tumblr etc name:

AO3 username:

Best way to contact you (email, PM etc):

Primary or Complementary sign-up:

Medium (fic, art etc):

Fandom and characters/pairings (if you have any idea yet!):

Timezone (optional, for planning the chats):

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FAQ

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 02:20:50 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

General Questions

What is a big bang?
There are many different types of big bangs, all varying slightly, but usually a big bang is a process in which authors write long fics and artists make art for them. In this case, the primary form of fanwork can be fic, podfic, art or vids, and our word count/work goal will be in the 20k range. See The Rules Post for detailed specs, or check out previous years’ challenges on AO3.

What is dS/c6d?
dS stands for due South; C6D stands for Canadian Six Degrees/Six Degrees of Canada, the larger multifandom fandom that spawned out of due South. C6D is generally accepted to revolve around works that feature the due South main cast and a handful of other Canadian actors and directors; the seven most commonly cited are Paul Gross, Callum Keith Rennie, Hugh Dillon, David Marciano, Don McKellar, Bruce McDonald and Daniel MacIvor. What we would consider to be core C6D media are tv shows, movies, music videos, etc. that feature multiple C6D actors/writers/directors and which were made in Canada or with majority-Canadian casts. Most of the core C6D media will have been made in the 90s or early 2000s.
However, the term C6D can also stretch as far afield as Supernatural and Battlestar Galactica.
For Big Bang purposes, you are allowed to create works centered around any due South characters or actors or those from other core C6D media (eg, Hard Core Logo, Slings and Arrows, Wilby Wonderful, etc.). If you want to venture farther afield, we would suggest to use Paul Gross, Callum Keith Rennie, and David Marciano as your benchmarks, creating works that focus on their characters, writing, etc.
When in doubt about whether the idea you're contemplating would work for our big bang, we encourage you to reach out to a mod.

Can I join this comm?
Absolutely! Feel free to join and watch the comm even if you aren't signing up. If you ARE signing up, please join the comm ASAP. Some important reminders and posts may be members-locked.

How do I sign up?
When sign-ups start, there will be a post where Primary and Complementary creators can sign up for the challenge. Primary sign-ups will stay open until the Primary Work Deadline, so you can sign up at any time until then. Basically, if you can hit the deadline, you’re in! Complementary creators can also sign up later, when the complementary claims open.

What kind of timeline will I be under?
See the sign-up post for this year's schedule.

Where will the works be hosted?
We are using AO3 for this challenge. If you need an invite, please contact a mod.

What’s a Complementary fanwork?
A fanwork based on the Primary fanwork you claim. The requirements for secondary fanworks are spelled out in The Rules Post.

What's a checkpoint?
This is where we check in with all creators to see if they’re on track and if they need any help.

What about chats? Do I have to do those?
These are text-based group chats on Discord. They’re optional, but we encourage you to participate in them. Last year’s chats were excellent for brainstorming, moral support, a lot of hilarious tangents, group therapy, commiseration and everything else you're going to need to get through this.

I've got two ideas in my head. Can I work on both?
Yes, as long as you think you'll be able to finish both by the deadline.

If I am doing more than one Primary fanwork, do they both have to be the same medium and fandom?
Absolutely not! For example, if you want to write a 20k Flashpoint story and do a series of Hard Core Logo drawings, that’s fine.

Can I write/podfic with someone else?
Yes, you may co-author your big bang if you want to. However, the word minimum for co-authored/podficced works is 25,000.

What if I have to drop out?
There are no penalties for primary creators dropping out! RL happens, writer's/artist’s block happens – we totally get that. If you drop out, we'll give you a hug and hope to see you the next round. However, if you’re a Complementary creator already assigned to a Primary work, we do ask that you let us know as soon as possible if you’re having problems, so that we can try and assign someone else. Complementary creators who default by no-show at the deadline will not be allowed to sign up to future due South/C6D big bangs except by prior agreement with the moderators.

Can I have an extension?
If you're running late, the mods may be able to grant a brief extension of a day or so, but only if you've agreed this with us in advance. Late works will not be accepted without prior agreement with the mods. We need finished works by the deadlines so we can find pinch hitters if necessary and publish on time.

Primary Fanworks

What type of requirements are there for fic/art/podfic/vids?
Please see The Rules Post for a complete list of requirements.

I've already been writing a story -- can I use that?
You can use a Work in Progress as long as 20,000 words are entirely new and unseen.

What genres/fandoms are allowed?
All genres are allowed. All ratings are allowed. RPF is allowed. For a partial list of C6D fandoms, have a look HERE. If your fandom is not on this list, contact a mod – odds are we’ll say it’s good.

Can I do a crossover, and if so, do both have to be C6D?
Yes you can, and no, the crossover fandom does not have to be C6D. However, the primary fandom MUST be C6D. For example, if you were writing a due South/White Collar crossover, your main protagonist(s) or POV must be C6D characters. (An outside perspective on C6D characters is fine as long as the C6D characters are the focus.) The C6D fandom cannot be a cameo. It could, however, be set in New York, with dS characters going to work with the White Collar unit.

Does my art have to tell a story?
Not necessarily, but there should be something there for the Complementary creator to work with.

How do I get a complementary creator assigned to me?
If you submit your primary work on time, it'll go on the list available for complementary creators to pick from. We'll ask you to provide a short summary, including any relevant warnings. If your piece is fanart, you can provide a thumbnail preview as well if you want to. We can't guarantee that everyone will get complementary work, but we'll do our best.

Complementary Fanworks

How do I know what I'm making a fanwork for?
After the primary fanwork deadline, we'll make a claims post. In this post we'll include the primary work summary and any warnings the creator gives. You can choose which piece you'd like to create a fanwork for, and then we’ll link you up with the primary creator for that piece.

Why does your claims process not look like this other fandom's?
We do complementary claims by creator instead of work. Most years, this is a distinction without a difference, but some years we get multiple primary works by the same individual. We're a relatively small fandom, and we want to make sure that everyone gets a slice of the complementary pie. The point of this system is to ensure that each primary creator gets at least one complementary work before anyone gets two or more. Ideally, everyone will get one or more complementary works for each primary work they've made, but this seems to us to be the fairest way to deal with any potential complementary creator vs primary work shortages.

How do I make a claim?
Initial claims will open for 48 hours to allow people in all time zones to choose the primary creator they feel inspired to make something for. If any creators are claimed by two or more people in that time, we’ll draw names out of a hat. After the initial 48-hour period, any remaining claims will be on a first come, first served basis.

What happens if the number of Primary creators doesn't match up with the number of complement creators?
If Primary fanworks outnumber Complementary creators, we will allow people to make a second claim. If it's the other way round, we’ll allow more than one creator to be assigned to the same piece. Either way, everyone who wants to participate will get to participate. We can’t guarantee that all Primary works will get a complementary work, but we’ll do our best.

Can the Complementary fanwork be done in the same medium as the Primary fanwork?
We’d prefer them to be different, but if this isn’t possible (given that our fandom is very small!) then we will accept complementary fanworks in the same medium.

How will I get in touch with my Primary fanwork creator?
We will provide you with contact information once you are committed to that individual. From there you can contact them to obtain a copy of their fanwork and ask whatever questions you want. We would like to encourage you to be in contact with them and to share what you make for them throughout the process.

Posting Requirements

What types of requirements are there for me to post my fanwork?
You will need an AO3 account. Detailed instructions will be posted closer to the submission deadlines. Contact the mods as soon as possible if you need an invite.

Can I post it to my journal early to show my friends?
No, the first reveal for your fanwork must be on the big bang’s AO3 collection, on the go-live date. If you are above your minimum requirement or have bits of your work that didn't end up in the final draft, you may post snippets/clips/etc as teasers.

Anything we didn’t address? Post a comment, PM the mods, or email us at dsc6dbbmod at gmail dot com with any questions.

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Rules

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 01:50:44 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Rules for primary pieces:

Fic
Stories must have a minimum of 20,000 words. There is no maximum. If you've posted any part of the fic in the past, you will need 20,000 new words. If you are co-authoring, the minimum is 25,000 words.

Stories must be complete and stand-alone (i.e. not just Part One of an ongoing story). If you published an unfinished fic in a previous Big Bang (back when when Part One fics were accepted), you may submit the final part of the story.

Stories must be betaed by at least one person. If your story is not betaed to a reasonable standard, you may be asked to edit it or remove it from the collection.

Art
Art can be one piece or a series of related pieces. We just ask that there be something there that gives a sense of narrative thread, or a scene, or a moment even, in that fandom.

And seriously, art is a VERY broad term, including handmade and digital works. A partial list includes painting, drawing, digital art, sculpture, cross-stitch, wood-working, stained glass, papier-mache… Basically, any medium is acceptable, with the exception of icons and fanmixes. If either of these are your form of creative expression, please sign up to do a complementary piece, because we’d love to have them. If you'd like to make a case for how your icon set will satisfy the amount of time commensurate with a primary piece, we'll totally hear you out on it.

As far knowing if you’ve met the minimum requirement, this is trickier. Our best advice is to base this on an estimate of working 5+ hours a week, 3 weeks a month, for 5 months = 75+ hours, which is the amount of time we roughly estimate an author would put into a fic for this challenge. We’re not saying you have to log your time or anything. This is just to give you an idea of how much work we’re talking about in whatever your preferred medium is. If you have specific questions relating to art requirements, feel free to contact a mod.

Podfic
Podfic must be of a story with a minimum of 20,000 words, or 25,000 for collaborative podfics. You may also make podfics of multiple works that add up to at least 20,000 words, but in that case there must be some sort of unifying element among the fics you've selected (author, theme, trope, etc).

Vids
At least 3 minutes, please.

Poetry
The minimum requirement for poetry primary works is your choice of either 13,000 words or 75 hours worth of work. You can use any poetic form you want, but in order to be treated as a part of a separate category from fic your work should be recognizably poetry rather than prose. (If you're interested in prose poetry, please reach out to the mods.)

Poetry can be in the form of a single epic poem or multiple shorter poems. If you opt for multiple shorter poems they must all have at least one element in common, such as: an ongoing narrative or scene, a theme, a location, a character, an actor, a meaningful word or phrase ("Franklin" qualifies; "the" does not), etc. By its nature poetry can be abstract and we don't want to limit your creativity, but your poem(s) should constitute a single project creating a coherently unified work, be it one poem or an anthology.

Other media
Seriously, you can do pretty much anything that will take 75+ hours’ worth of time, including mixed media, knitting, piñata making, etc. Ask if you're not sure, but we are very welcoming of all forms of creative expression.

Rules for complementary pieces:

Fic must be at least 2,000 words.
Poetry is allowed and should represent an effort commensurate with a 2,000-word fic.
Podfic should be of stories of at least 2,000 words.
Art must be at least one piece, again in any medium. If you want to do icons, a minimum of 20 icons must be submitted.
Vids must be 1.5 minutes at the minimum.

Deadlines

Primary creators can edit/tweak their Primary fanworks right up to the go-live date, but it must be completed and submitted to AO3 by the primary work deadline in order to go on the list of works available to complementary creators. For fic, that means it has a beginning and an ending, with no missing sections or placeholders in between, is a minimum length of 20,000 words, and is polished enough to be published without any further changes, in the mods’ opinion. For art, vid or podfic, it must be finished and suitable for publication without any further changes, in the mods’ opinion. This is to make sure that those working on Complementary pieces have a completed Primary fanwork in the collection to show as their inspiration, and to avoid last-minute no-shows.

If you miss the Primary Work Deadline and want to aim for the Complementary Work Deadline instead, you can do that and still be part of the collection, but you won’t get a complementary creator assigned to you.

Complementary creators are required to check in at the Complementary check-in deadline.

There are no penalties for defaulting on a primary work, or for complementary creators who contact the mods in advance of the final deadline to notify them they need to bow out. Complementary creators who default by no-show at the final Complementary deadline will not be allowed to sign up to future due South/C6D big bangs except by prior agreement with the moderators.

Fandoms

This big bang is for due South and Canadian Six Degrees, with Canadian Six Degrees (C6D) being the larger multifandom fandom that revolves around the due South main cast and a handful of other Canadian actors (see a partial list of acceptable fandoms here). Any rating, any pairing (or more, or none) is acceptable. Due South or c6d, both RPF/RPS and crossovers are fair game. If it’s a crossover/fusion with a non-dS/c6d fandom, the dS/c6d fandom should be the fanwork’s main fandom – see the FAQ for more details. If you're not sure, ask a mod. The most likely answer will be YES PLEASE, more C6D fanworks!

Additional rules:

No amount of any AI generated content in a big bang work is allowed. Including AI generated words, art, etc. will be regarded as plagiarism and handled as such. We can't prevent you from asking AI for writing, art, etc prompts, but the mods strongly encourage you to instead utilize our discord server and the broader due South fannish community.

Your fanwork cannot have appeared anywhere else on the internet. If the story you are writing is a partially-posted WIP, you must stop posting to it until the go-live date and add at least 20,000 new, previously unpublished words. Unposted WIPs are perfectly acceptable.

All works must be posted to the challenge’s AO3 collection. Do not post your story anywhere else until two weeks after the go-live date, but DO post the link to it on your blogs. Make sure all your friends know about the awesome new work you’ve created!

No bashing of other pairings/characters or other participants. We shouldn't have to say this, but play nice.

All participants must be 18+, as fanworks and chats may be unsuitable for younger fans.

The mods may adjust these rules situationally as they see fit.

Please check out the FAQ Page to see if there’s anything else you’re wondering about that isn’t covered here.

Let us know if you have any questions! Comment below, or PM one of your friendly neighborhood mods, or email us at dsc6dbbmod at gmail dot com.

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due South/Six Degrees of Canada Big Bang sign ups coming soon!

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 03:49:20 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Sign ups for the 17th annual due South/Canadian Six Degrees Big Bang are coming soon! The Big Bang celebrates fic in the 20k range, or equivalent art, podfic, poetry, vids or craft of any type.

Here's the rough 2025 schedule:
Sign-ups open: March 11
Primary works due: August 16
Complementary claims open: August 23
Complementary works due: October 6
Go-live date for all works: Canadian Thanksgiving, October 13

There will be optional monthly chats for primary creators April-July, and a mandatory checkpoint for complementary creators sometime in September. If you are aware of a fannish event or challenge that could significantly conflict with one of these chats/checkpoints for multiple big bang participants and think it may not be on our radar, please comment below. We make no guarantees, but knowing when things are happening can help us try to avoid them when possible.

To find out more about the Big Bang and how it all works, see the Rules and FAQ. Check back here on March 11th for the sign up post!

ETA: we will be making some adjustments to the rules and FAQ soon to reflect some minor changes that have been made over recent years (eg, we now know what the requirements are for poetry primary work entries, and figure you might want to know that too) and to spell out an official AI policy. The updated rules and FAQ will be posted before sign ups.

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2024 dS/C6D Big Bang collection is live!

Tue, 22 Oct 2024 01:01:41 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

The 2024 due South/Canadian Six Degrees Big Bang collection is now revealed! Go and check out the fanworks on AO3, and leave comments and kudos for the creators \o/

Congratulations to all our lovely primary and complementary creators, and thanks to everyone who chatted and beta'ed along the way. Thanks especially to our lovely pinch hitter, verushka70 , and to all of you lovely folks for waiting a week past Canadian Thanksgiving so verushka could swoop in to save the day.

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dS/C6D Big Bang go-live pushed back

Sat, 12 Oct 2024 17:29:40 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

Hey all, in order to give time to our wonderful last-minute pinchhitter and have everyone get their complementary works at the same time, we're going to delay go-live until October 21.

Primary and complementary creators, you may continue to make minor edits up until the new go-live; if you make any major edits, please let the mods know.

eta: I apparently don’t know what month it is—new go-live is October 21, not September.

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PINCH HIT CALL - CLAIMED

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 14:45:49 GMT

Posted by: wicked3659

Hello Duesers,

We need a pinch hitter:

~~Creator 3: portlandwithyou~~

~~Fanwork type: Fic~~

~~Fandom: due South~~

~~Title: First Impressions~~

~~Length: 20k~~

~~Rating: T~~

~~Characters/pairings: Fraser/Ray K, Stella Kowalski, Ray Vecchio~~

Summary: Ray Vecchio never leaves for Las Vegas and instead devotes his time trying to play matchmaker for Fraser. Unfortunately, after a chance encounter with Stella Kowalski's ex-husband, Fraser's attentions are elsewhere.

~~Warnings: Major character injury.~~

Please message me and I'll put you in contact with the creator.
Pinch Hit deadline is: 19th October. Thank you

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dS/C6D Big Bang final deadline

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 20:33:53 GMT

Posted by: thisaintbc

The final due South/C6D Big Bang deadline is today, October 7! Please post all your complementary and additional primary works to the collection on AO3 by midnight in the latest timezone on October 7.

Although you can continue to edit between posting and the go-live date of October 14, all works must be complete at the time of posting. "Complete" means a finished work that's ready to be published without further editing or beta.

If you're having problems, please reach out to the mods now! We're happy to help if we can. Comment here, or DM us here or on discord, or email us at dsc6dbbmod@gmail.com.

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