The 2025 WIP Big Bang & WIP Reverse Bang Are Open For Sign-Ups!
Welcome to a new round! We're bringing back the OG WIP Big Bang, which is for finishing fic and getting art to go with it, and introducing the first full round of the WIP Reverse Bang, which is for finishing artwork and getting fic to go with it. All fandoms/ratings/ships are welcome, including original works!
Schedule
All times are by 11:59pm PST. Convert time zones.
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Sign-ups Begin- April 1st
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Sign-ups Close- May 21st
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Check In #1- May 22nd
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Check In #2- June 15th
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Snippets Due- July 1st
Big Bang Art Claims/Reverse Bang Fic Claims Begin- July 17th
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Check In #3- July 22nd
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Check In #4- August 6th
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Rough Drafts Due- August 15th
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Posting Claims Begin- August 23rd
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Posting Claims Ends- September 1st
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Final Drafts/Art & Fic Due- September 7th
Big Bang/Reverse Bang Posting Starts- September 8th
Dot tries, and mostly fails, not to let the pain show on her face in front of Jocelyn. Everything she’s done up to this point has been for the Shadowhunter - she barely slept since Jocelyn’s disappearance, working tirelessly to track her down while still fulfilling her promise of keeping Clary safe.
And now here she is. After allowing herself to be captured by Valentine to gain the access she needs to free Jocelyn, Dot knows that she isn’t going to make it back home with the woman she loves. Valentine’s experiments on her have done too much damage too quickly. She has just enough magic to drop the wards long enough to portal Jocelyn out. It’s just a matter of convincing Jocelyn to go when the time comes.
“You should’ve stayed away, Dorothea,” Jocelyn says, eyes wide and brimming with tears at the sight of the black veins spreading slowly but surely up Dot’s neck and across her face.
“You know I couldn’t do that, Jocelyn,” Dot says, shaking her head with a small, sad smile.
“I never should’ve let you get dragged into all this,” Jocelyn sighs.
Dot, against the seriousness of the situation, laughs. It sounds insane given the circumstances but she can’t help it.
“Drag me into this? Jocelyn, from the moment I met you, I started inserting myself into your life more and more. I put myself here, my dear.”
“If I hadn’t needed help hiding Clary and the cup-”
“I offered to help the moment Elliott and Magnus told me about you. And I knew you were a good person the moment we met. Since then I started visiting you more often, staying longer, lingering touches…”
Jocelyn says nothing but smiles slightly.
“Nothing was going to stop me from protecting you, Jocelyn. Not then, and certainly not now.”
“So every late-night drink I thought you were just having because you felt bad for me…” Jocelyn trails off.
“None of it was accidental,” Dot confirms.
“I know,” Jocelyn says, and this time it’s Dot who falls into silence. “I knew, even back then.”
“Then why didn’t you stop me?”
“Because I wanted you, too. I was always yours, Dorothea. I just… I don’t know. I didn’t realize how much I meant to you, not really.”
“Unfortunate that you have to find out this way,” Dot says. She can feel it now, even her words are coming with great strain and there’s not a lot of time left. Not for her, at least.
Dot closes the gap between them, gently placing her lips on Jocelyn’s, her hand coming up to cup the side of Jocelyn’s face. Dot feels Jocelyn’s hand come to rest on the small of her back, pulling her closer. Dot knows she should pull away, she knows they’re running out of time, but she can’t bring herself to end this moment any sooner than she absolutely has to.
When that moment comes Dot pulls herself back, slow and reluctant.
“I love you, Jocelyn. Take care of yourself, and Clary,” Dot takes a deep breath. “And I’m so sorry, I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“Forgive you for what? Dot, what’s-”
Dot drops the wards, and with what little magic she has left at the very fringes of her reach she summons a portal behind Jocelyn, reaching out to push her backward through it to safety. Dot barely has enough energy to keep it up until Jocelyn is fully through before her magic is completely wiped out and the portal closes.
Dot feels the poisoned veins spread and knows this is it, but she doesn’t care.
She did it. She wishes more than anything she could’ve followed, but as long as she got Jocelyn to safety that’s all that matters.
That’s all that ever mattered, she thinks with the smallest smile just as everything goes black.
Pairing: Jocelyn Fairchild/Dorothea "Dot" Rollins
Rated: Gen
Prompt: Portal/Laughter
“I haven’t seen you smile in weeks,” Dot said, earning a sigh from Jocelyn in return.
“I smile. You’re just being dramatic,” Jocelyn retorted.
“I’m a warlock, we’re allowed to be dramatic,” Dot countered.
read on ao3 or under the cut
“You’ve been a mess of anxiety all day, Joc. You deserve a night out,” Dot spoke from the doorway. Jocelyn didn’t hear her enter and glanced up from the book she was pretending to read with a scowl on her face. “I haven’t seen you smile in weeks,” Dot added, earning a sigh from Jocelyn in return.
“I smile. You’re just being dramatic,” Jocelyn retorted.
“I’m a warlock, we’re allowed to be dramatic,” Dot countered. With a swirl of her hand and a dart of blue magic, Dot successfully closed Jocelyn’s book and flung it onto the shelf behind them.
“Hey, I was reading that!” Jocelyn complained, crossing her arms as she sat up on the couch.
“No, you weren’t. I’ve been watching you stare at the same page for ten minutes,” Dot commented. Jocelyn was suddenly a lot more aware of the ache in her back and the stiffness of her legs that shouldn’t have been there. When she glanced at the clock, she realized she had been sitting in the same position for almost an hour.
“That’s a bit creepy, don’t you think, Dorthea?”
“Oh, she brings out the full name!” Dot said with a small laugh. She walked forward and held her hand out, wiggling her fingers as if urging Jocelyn to take it. “Well, Jocelyn, I’m taking you out.” She tugged Jocelyn up to stand with one hand, the other snapping, a harsh sound through the otherwise silent room. All of a sudden, Jocelyn’s tattered tank top and boring sweatpants were replaced with a bright purple dress she knew for a fact wasn’t in her closet while Dot was in a similar black outfit that was entirely too formal for her living room.
“I can’t wear this, Dot, and I can’t go out. I have to be here when Clary gets home for curfew!” Jocelyn argued, already tugging down the hem of her too-short dress.
Dot rolled her eyes as she explained, “Clary’s at Simon’s for the night. Mrs. Lewis was more than happy to take care of her while you take some time to yourself. Even she knew you needed it.” Jocelyn groaned and tilted her head back, staring up at the ceiling as she tried to figure out another way to get out of whatever Dot had planned. “Do you trust me, Joc?” Dot asked, tugging on Jocelyn’s hand so that she would glance into her eyes.
“With my life, you know that,” Jocelyn responded because trust had nothing to do with it.
“Then come with me,” Dot urged, though it sounded more like a demand than anything else.
Jocelyn didn’t have time to say no or come up with another excuse because Dot’s hand was already conjuring a swirling purple portal that matched the hue of Jocelyn’s dress. Dot didn’t force her through and instead, nudged Jocelyn forward, letting her take the first step.
When she couldn’t think of a reason not to walk forward, she took a step inside of the portal and found herself in a… bar?
“Dot, what are we doing here? I don’t even drink,” Jocelyn said, her fingers still laced with Dot’s.
“Look around, Joc. We’re not here to drink,” Dot reasoned.
When Jocelyn did, she noticed immediately what kind of venue they had stumbled into. Sure, it was a bar for all intents and purposes, but the signs covering the doors and windows had her realizing what the night was going to entail.
“You brought me here to… dance?” Jocelyn asked, a mixture of confusion, hesitance, and–if she was honest with herself–a hint of excitement in her tone.
“I brought you here,” Dot began, clearly exasperated with her best friend, “so that you could let loose a little. Let your hair down and enjoy life in a way I haven’t seen you do since Clary was in diapers.”
“I love my life,” Jocelyn argued. Dot raised her eyebrows in doubt before taking Jocelyn’s other hand in her free one.
“You love your life as much as you’re allowed to, but tonight? Tonight you’re not Jocelyn Fairchild; former shadowhunter on the run from her psychotic ex-husband who spends all of her energy keeping life-altering secrets from her almost teenage daughter.” Dot dragged her toward the dance floor, her hands moving to Jocelyn’s hips once they arrived. “Tonight, you’re just Joc; a simple mundane who is free to have whatever life she chooses without consequence. You’re a beautiful woman out with her equally as stunning best friend.”
“Can it really be that easy?” Jocelyn asked suspiciously.
Dot nodded sternly as if she was challenging Jocelyn to argue but knowing she couldn’t. Instead, Jocelyn started to slowly let her body move to the beat with a bit of uncertainty that was quelled by Dot’s grip on her waist. Soon, all she could focus on was the music pumping around her, vibrating from her feet and resonating through her head. If she had a worry in her mind, she couldn’t hear it over the beat. She was spun into the arms of strangers only to end up back in Dot’s.
There was something magnetic about it, the way she found her way to Dot no matter where they had wandered in the room. If she didn’t trust Dot so much, she would’ve thought she was spelled. But no, that wasn’t it. Dot was the only person in the world that Jocelyn relied on so fully, trusted with every fiber of her being, cared about almost as much as she cared about her child. Dot was her best friend, had been for several years, but something about finally freeing herself from the darkness of her own mind had her seeing Dot differently.
It was almost overwhelming how Dot’s smile burned into her mind, how her laughter matched Dot’s in brightness, and how the movements of their bodies complemented each other’s like there was no possible person for either of them to dance with. Jocelyn realized that she didn’t want to be in anyone else’s arms, not when Dot was right there, staring at her like she was some enigma, a treasure that she had searched for and finally found.
Jocelyn realized then that she hadn’t stopped smiling. She hadn’t stopped laughing, singing, dancing. She hadn’t stopped being happy, an emotion she had assumed she didn’t have in her anymore. Dot brought that out in her, though. Dot made her feel capable of anything in the world, happiness included.
“You figured it out, huh?” Dot muttered against Jocelyn’s ear. She had pulled Jocelyn in as a slower song mellowed the crowd, her arms sliding around Jocelyn’s back and holding her still like she was afraid Jocelyn might pull away. Jocelyn wouldn’t have dreamed of it.
“That I love you?” Jocelyn said in a fit of courage. Dot’s eyes widened in surprise and she said nothing in return so Jocelyn filled the silence. “Or that you love me?” she added. “Both of those are true, aren’t they?”
“Yeah,” Dot whispered through a breath of relief, “they’re true.”
“Was this… a date?” Jocelyn asked, suddenly nervous and a bit embarrassed that she hadn’t seen it sooner.
Dot shook her head and responded, “At first, it was just a way to make you smile.”
“You’re the only one that seems to be able to do that,” Jocelyn admitted, a slight blush forming on her face. Dot ran a finger over her cheekbone before tucking a strand of her orange hair behind her ear and cupping her jaw with her palm.
“Will you let me do it more often, then?” Dot asked.
Jocelyn nodded but really, she understood she didn’t have a say in it anymore. Dot made her happy and she wasn’t going to hold herself back any longer.
Did we ever learn what Dot's warlock mark is? Because if not, I have a headcanon/theory that explains why she keeps coming back to life after having "died". Her warlock mark is that of a starfish and much like starfish, when something is removed it grows back. I'm assuming that every Dot is just a regrown Dot and that there's actually many Dots out there. Lol
Naaah, they never bothered with inventing something there. They just. Generally winged this character left and right, so that kinda figures.
I... don't think that's how warlock marks work? ôo But also what of a starfish? You just said "that of a starfish"? Her... skin? *shudders*
I dunno. I am not even gonna try to rationalize or explain that one away, the writers just sucked at handling many characters. Just like how Meliorn is the Convenient SeelieTM who does everything they need a not-the-queen Seelie for, or how Izzy has like a dozen jobs at the Institute just because they don't wanna give more depth or significance to the few background Shadowhunters they introduced.
They really tried to limit the amount of characters, so instead of having different warlocks fill these different roles, they just... kept coming back to her for all non-Magnus warlock things. Because it's what they do. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
ok idk if u like harry potter (either way fuck jkr) but have u thought about sh characters and hp houses? for magnus i’m torn between hufflepuff and ravenclaw, alec hufflepuff ?? maybe?? and idk for anyone else
its a weird thing because i've always hated hp, even when i was a kid, but i'm kinda interested in discussing the whole houses thing? possibly because the choice between traits is so fucking random and absurd like idk it makes for funny character analysis. so in short let's go
but also, i'll warn u that my takes on this are usually considered kinda spicy. mostly because other ppl r wrong and interpret the characters terribly i go by the canon that the house ur sorted into represents what you value the most, not necessarily what you are (which is why hermione is gryffindor and not ravenclaw for example, and if i'm not mistaken so's neville? idk idc her worldbuilding is bad) so yeah
magnus is definitely hufflepuff for me, no argument about that. like yes he is very smart but i don't think that he values knowledge/intelligence above all else. wisdom maybe, but even then, magnus' character core is and has always been kindness and loyalty. he values kindness and mutual support and community and equality. it's indisputable that he's hufflepuff for me, not only in values but in personality and actions
i like slytherin alec, first because it fits his character arc. like big racist family who loves fascism and is very traditional sounds like slytherin, and at a very young age he'd be their golden boy tbh [EDIT: ive already gotten anon hate over this so please read these posts before freaking out over this part please and thank you] so like, makes sense. but even later alec i think fits slytherin, although in a different way. family above all else, tradition, and ambition? sounds like him. he's a political shark, he's very traditional, and he's loyal as fuck to his family. i'm not against hufflepuff alec per se but i wouldnt say, even by the end of the series, that alec values kindness/community/equality above all else, tbh
raphael is hufflepuff. again, loyalty, community, kindness. i could maybe kiiiiiindaaaaa see why ppl think he fits slytherin aesthetics with his power suits and shit but also raphael is the least ambitious person in like, this entire show lmao his happy ending is literally to become a priest (like i hate the whole mundane thing but u cant argue that that's an ambitious man lol). throughout the show his whole motivation was always protecting his people and his family, and he was shown to be kind and caring even to shadowhunters. and yes okay there was the heidi plotline but like a- it made no fucking sense anyway (both for his character and just plot-wise, like, she wasn't a daylighter, why would he be after her and not simon, what the fuck) so i simply ignore it, and b- even then it doesn't define him or his values. if ppl can see hufflepuff alec when he handed meliorn over to be tortured for basically no reason and was never shown to be particularly caring beyond the people closest to him, i can say hufflepuff raphael when he continuously extended his hand to people who literally betrayed, used and tortured him
maia is hufflepuff and look i know that this sounds like "all my faves are hufflepuffs" but really tho. endlessly loyal to her pack, wants to build a family, her whole thing was always about making the downworld better and making sure her family was okay, i don't see how community and equality aren't defining values for her. "oh muh muh muh she was willing to kill ppl" there was a war going on buddy. it doesn't mean that maia isn't kind and caring. also, again, she is fierce on her ideals, which happen to be family, equality, and community (both as in the pack and the downworld as a whole, see how hard she tried to mend vamp/wolf relationships). she's a hufflepuff
meliorn is a hard one. i think gryffindor or slytherin? tbh i don't think any of the houses really super fits them because again jk's worldbuilding makes no sense like the four personality traits are kind, smart, brave, and racist there are no other ones you sjw snowflake. and okay i know that i just called slytherin the racist house but that was a joke and i can see slytherin meliorn because loyalty and tradition. not really ambitious but not not ambitious either. tbh i could make points for meliorn in all houses, i think wisdom is definitely something they seek and care about, as is bravery (they're literally a knight), as is community, as is tradition. but also i could see them being like "hey sorting hat put me in slytherin i'm a 'mudblood' they're gonna be super pissed". and going there just to be defiant. but no actually i changed my mind completely, they're ravenclaw. i think wisdom and temperance are what they seek the most, because they want to be a good leader/asset for their people. which kinda circles back to hufflepuff but still.... wisdom. i think it suits them
simon is another hard one for opposite reasons like i don't think he truly fits any of the houses? like meliorn fits them all simon fits none. i know ppl always go with hufflepuff simon cuz they think hufflepuff is the dork house and simon is an anxious bean but fuck that noise, hufflepuff isn't the dork house, it's the house for those who believe in mutual aid and support and equality and that's literally canon, hufflepuff existed because it was the only hogwarts founder who believed that everyone had equal right to education. hufflepuff is a fierce house of sjws and people who want to change the world for the better and YES i am aware that for someone who thinks harry potter sucks i sure have strong opinions about it. but that's the thing like there are so many interesting places jk rowling could've gone and instead she chose to write the most superficial shit ever. anyway my point is that hufflepuff is not the dork house so i'm not gonna sort simon there just because he's a dork. but anyway i wouldnt say that he particularly values any of the house's traits. maybe ravenclaw for creativity? or gryffindor because clary is there and he's like "please sorting hat do me a solid" lol
which okay i guess leads me to clary. definitely gryffindor. bravery with a side of recklessness is definitely her thing. she is fierce and she is proud of it. no argument about that
j@ce is also gryffindor in the most annoying obnoxious way. he's just like man i sure like violence watch me prove how macho i am and the sorting hat is like oh no it's one of those gryffindors
izzy.... i can see gryffindor cuz again bravery and just again fits her character arc as she would go there specifically as a fuck you to the lightwood's traditional slytherin shit. but really tho, ravenclaw. she values knowledge, she is hungry for it, she wants to see the world and learn and invent and create you know?? so like yeah ravenclaw
cat.... either ravenclaw or hufflepuff? she just cares about people as a whole but also about wisdom and knowledge so could go either way imo
ragnor... man i really have no idea for ragnor. again aesthetic fits slytherin but is he actually proud, ambitious, cunning? i don't think so. fucking ravenclaw maybe? just like "yes i value knowledge very much now put me in the nerd house where people will leave me alone" lol. ok tho ravenclaw it is
madzie... gryffindor? idk she seems like she would want to have adventure. it's so hard to do this for sh minor characters when their personality was basically based on the shape of the writer's poop that day tbh
camille is slytherin because duh and if we really wanna do a h*gwarts au for some reason, it adds some angsty juices as magnus once again falls in love with a slytherin and doesn't know how to open up and trust (once he meets alec, i mean)
luke is ravenclaw methinks. i guess could have been slytherin because character arc as shadowhunter but like... he's just a wise and caring figure. i could see hufflepuff but i think his thing is less equality/community and more family, but post-sh luke doesn't exactly fit "proud, ambitious, cunning" either. so yeah methinks ravenclaw. same for alaric i guess
who else exists lmao. i feel like i'm forgetting somebody but idk who so i guess i'll reblog or edit if i think of someone elsIT WAS DOT okay so i think either hufflepuff or ravenclaw. kinda hard because her whole personality was "cares about clary" so idk but like loyalty and care seem like character traits that suit her? also she was knee deep in trauma and still cared about helping magnus so... yeah hufflepuff
