T&N

T&N is a prompt fest for the All For The Game fandom, accepting fic, art (any medium!) and podfic. Coming back for year two in 2024!

[aftgtandn]

T&N is a canon divergence fest for the All For The Game fandom, accepting fic, art (any medium!) and podfic. 

Important Links: 💚 Prompt form & gallery 💚 Our Twitter 🧡 Then & NOW (2023) AO3 Collection

Our 2024 theme is Then & Never: Canon Divergence, which means all your creations must exist within the canon universe, but you can go off-course when it comes to the narrative.

The concept of Canon Divergence and Alternative Universe coexist in a lot of situations. Fanlore’s definition of Canon Divergence refers to it as “a term used in some fandoms for fanfiction set in a universe that diverges relatively narrowly from canon, with a point of departure in a character's backstory or during canon.”

Keeping the integrity of the universe is essential to keep it CD instead of a full AU, which means the majority of canon and the universe as we know it has to remain the same. Essentially: change one thing but leave the rest untouched. For example: the tag No Exy is an Alternative Universe because Exy is vital to the canon universe and for the canon narrative to develop, but Mary Hatford Lives would be Canon Divergence. Other examples could include ideas such as: Andrew and Aaron don’t renew their deal for college, Erik moves back to the US with Nicky, Neil grows up in the Nest, Kevin brings Jean along when he escapes. 

Everyone Lives and Different First Meeting are common subtropes of Canon Divergence. This idea usually answers “what if” questions about the original narrative, like “what if X never died,” “what if X and Y met earlier,” “what if a villain was a good guy all along,” “what if Z happened earlier in the narrative,” etc. We’re looking for slight changes to canon rather than a complete overhaul of the universe as we know it. 

The fest’s only real requirement is that your creations focus on canon divergence. It’s entirely up to you what pairing or pairings (or none at all — your creations don’t have to feature romantic/sexual pairings) you want to feature, what length/medium and what rating you want to go for. We trust you to tell whatever story you want to tell and make the right choices for it. As long as it’s canon divergence, the world is your oyster. Have fun!

TIMELINE

The prompting period will be from September 8th to September 14th.

The sign up period will be from September 15th until the 21st and you’ll be able to either claim a prompt from the list or sign-up with your own idea.

Artists, writers and podficcers will then have until the deadline on October 19th to finish and post their creations.

Posting will start on October 27th and we will stagger the posting of your creations so that everyone has time to read, enjoy, and hype up every creation. 

Reveals will happen on the 15th of November.

Let’s go through what every step entails:

PROMPTING

Prompting will open on September 8th, and will end on September 14th. Anyone can prompt and you can prompt as many ideas as you’d like using our form.

Once you open the form, you’ll be asked for the following info:

- pairing (if applicable)

- your prompt (this can be as detailed or as vague as you want it to be)

- if your prompt is nsfw (so that creators browsing the prompts can filter those out if they want)

- your ao3 username (optional)

This fest isn’t an exchange so all prompts are there for inspiration in the first place. Creators do not have to include every single detail of a prompt if they pick it, but do have to use the main idea as a starting point for their works. If you leave your ao3 username when prompting, the creators can choose to gift the fic to you, though this isn’t at all a requirement.

Note that if you’re wanting to write your own idea, you don’t have to prompt it and then claim it later. There will be an option for self-prompting once sign-ups open!

SIGN-UPS/CLAIMING

The prompt list with all the available prompts will be live from the moment prompting opens. Prompts might take a few hours to pop up after being added via the prompting form but you’ll be able to check the list every day during the prompting period, so you can start gathering potential picks to claim.

Sign-ups will open on September 15th. Please note that while claiming was open until the deadline last year, you only have until the 21st to sign up this time around.

The sign-up form will ask you for your name, ao3 username and an email we can use to contact you. Email will be the main form of contact between the mods and the creators so please keep this in mind when signing up.

You’ll be asked to specify if you’re creating art or fic, and if you’re claiming a prompt or self-prompting.

You can then pick a prompt from the list to claim it if that’s what you’re doing, or leave a short description of your idea if you’re self-prompting.

For the sake of the form, podfics count as art. If you’re podficcing, please leave the link to the original fic in the prompt box.

There will also be a box for any questions/comments.

The prompts left during the prompting period will only be available for claiming once for art and once for fic. 

The option to sign-up as a team (either co-writers, co-artists or a writer+artist team) will be available. Co-writers will be asked to sign-up only once, and leave the information that you’re co-writing in the questions/comments/concerns box. Writer and artist teams will be asked to each sign-up individually, but let us know that you are collaborating in the questions/comments box, too.

Creators will be limited to one prompt.

CREATING

Submissions must be completely new and finished works. Unfortunately, this means no sequels for previous fics or comics you may have, and no finishing WIPs you’ve already started posting.

Even though this is an anonymous fest, we understand the rampant issue that is reposting and art stealing, so all artists are allowed to submit watermarked/signed works. You will also be given the option to take part in the fest and post your work to the collection, but for it to be posted after reveals, so it’s never anonymous.

There is no minimum word count for fics. We trust that you know the best way to tell your story, and only ask that your works are tagged appropriately and follow the prompt (if applicable) and theme.

Having your fics beta-read isn’t a requirement, but if you’d like yours beta-read and don’t know how to reach out to a beta reader feel free to ask the modding team and we can get you in touch with someone! 

Podficcers are welcome to choose any fic previously posted on Ao3 that fits the Then & Never theme to read/record, as long as the original poster allows for podfics of their work to be made. 

As you know, the fest will be posting anonymously so we ask you to be creative when sharing wip snippets. We trust you to know what would easily identify your fic once it posts and what is vague enough to slip through the cracks ;) 

We will NOT be accepting AI-generated art or fic.

DEADLINE; CHECK-INS, EXTENSIONS AND POSTING

We will be emailing every participant during the creation period, but your final deadline for posting is October 19th. You can submit your work as soon as you have it done, though.

You’ll get detailed instructions for posting to the collection via email, and we’ll post those on both tumblr and twitter closer to the posting date. Following these instructions is crucial so that your work ends up in the collection and remains hidden until we post it and anonymous until reveals.

We’ll be sending every participant a check-in email during the creation period, but we promise that isn’t as scary as it sounds! We won’t be asking you to show us what you’re working on, or how much you have already. We just want to make sure you’re having a good time :)

If you need to drop out, please don’t hesitate and do not feel guilty. Shit happens, we get it. We only ask that you do it as early as possible, so we can adjust the posting schedule accordingly. If you need a few days past the deadline to finish, we should be able to give some people extensions too, just keep us in the loop.

There’s a lot of behind the scenes invisible work put into this by your modding team so we’d rather be told “hey, I’m really sorry but I’m not going to meet the deadline” than being ghosted. We’re all adults here, let’s respect each other’s time and efforts.

It is our priority above all that everyone enjoys taking part, so we’re here to minimise stress and worries. 

When posting, don’t forget to add AFTG Then & Never 2024 as one of your tags and post your work to the collection — this will make sure it remains anonymous and hidden until we release it out into the world. Please don’t leave any references that reveal who you are before the anon period is over. You can add all your usual social media links and other potentially-revealing info when reveals happen.

You can find the collection here, and you’ll be able to find it when posting if you type AFTG_thenandnever on the “Post to Collections / Challenges” section.

There will also be a form to fill in with your name, the title of the work you submitted and the link to the work, that you can fill once you’ve posted. The link to this will be shared with you in the posting instructions email :)

(A little note: after you hit 'post' the work will be hidden in the collection until we reveal it, so the easiest way to get to it should you want to edit or just to copy the link is to go through your stats page.)

But don’t worry, we will be reinforcing all of this as we go along!! This is just so you have all the information in one place!

Once your work is posted by us, remember to change the date to the day it’s posted so it appears on top of the list for your pairing/the fandom, instead of the date you submitted it into the collection.

The whole point of this is for it to be a fun and enjoyable experience both for the participants and the readers so we’ll be running lots of activities and hyping up every work as we go along! Please keep an eye on our twitter and tumblr and join in :)

If you have any issues at any point, we’re here to help and to answer any doubts or questions. Do keep in mind we all live in different timezones and are unfortunate victims to the capitalist grindset. If you DM/ask/email us, we promise to get back to you ASAP.

We hope you have lots and lots of fun!!

💚 Your mods,

Marion, Róisín and Rory

[aftgtandn]

I have LOVED going through the collection of incredible fics and art inspired by this event!! I know it’s a bit soon to ask, but any idea whether or not this is coming back for round 3 in 2025?

thank you, thank you! we are incredibly lucky to have had so many talented creators participate in the fest, both the Then & Now (2023) collection and the more recent Then & Never collection are full of beautiful fics and art!

regarding the possibility of us coming back... well, the possibility is always there. the mod team has definitely discussed but we don't want to promise anything before we have a plan! all we'll say for now is that you may even hear some T&N news sooner than you'd expect it this year ;)

[02511213942]

claiming my @aftgtandn canon-divergence fest prompt: what if lola had partially blinded neil?

ao3 | full T&N collection 🔀💚 sorry for posting late after reveals!!! 🙇 no surprises lol these are my guys! thanks SOOO much to the t&n mods for the wonderful event!!!

click for the emotional support drawing i had to make to keep myself from losing it:

actor au lol 🥹

[kiwiaok]

scavenger’s hunt | 10k words | mature

Lola survives and Neil must face her again, this time in court. Despite months of anticipation and meticulous preparation, he still comes up short against Lola's particular brand of cruelty.

hi hello this is my official claiming post plus a lil mood board :)

thank you @aftgtandn for organizing the fest – it was the first time I took part in anything like this and I had a blast!! also the first time I ended up writing more than I expected haha

a huge thank you to everyone who read and commented, the feedback was mind blowing ♡

[darknightfalls04]

Yuna's AFTG Then & Never Event 2024 Masterlist

thank you @aftgtandn for organising this years event! i had been looking forward to this years version of this event ever since last year, after i was unable to join, and i had such a lovely time! thank you to all the creatures who created such lovely works, and all the mods who made it possible for this event to exist in the first place, you are all amazing! <3

joined events

bingo cards: week 01 / week 02 adopt-a-work moodboards #01 : are you real? by Whyreme #02 : [art] don't flinch by ghostheroes #03 : as soft as feathers by delossanctuary #04 : if I was easy to kill you would have done it already by lazarusthefirst #05 : duck duck goose by glittersinnin #06 : if you're throwing me to the lions by orionauriga #07 : if I was easy to kill you would have done it already by lazarusthefirst #08 : damage control by seasy33 wip wednesday: moodboard

my work : i know that i did you wrong (but will you trust me when i say that i'll make it up to you somehow) | stuart hatford & neil josten | 10k words

Rather than a countdown on Nathaniel’s birthday Neil was given a gift in the form of a promise instead, one that after all that he had been through, he hadn’t dared to hope for. One which tasted too much like what he had once supposed freedom would taste like.

written for prompt #112 - Stuart's intervention precedes Neil‘s kidnapping — Nathan and his people are killed before any of their plans come to fruition.

moodboards : 01 / 02 / 03

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[undermoonwalker-ish]

my piece for @aftgtandn for the prompt "elodie was also sold to ravens with jean"

it was an amazing event and i enjoyed participating in it very much!! also thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments on ao3 you're very kind

go check out all the over amazing works in the collection btw!!

[darknightfalls04]

AFTG THEN & NOW EVENT 2024 || i know that i did you wrong (but will you trust me when i say that i'll make it up to you somehow)

written for the aftg canon divergence fest hosted by @aftgtandn

i know that i did you wrong (but will you trust me when i say that i'll make it up to you somehow) by evenfallwriter

He was fine. There was nothing wrong. The feeling of impending doom was only that, a feeling. Nothing more. It was nothing more.

had been so excited for the reveals and can finally share the first moodboard i made for my work for the then and never event!

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Rather than a countdown on Nathaniel’s birthday Neil was given a gift in the form of a promise instead, one that after all that he had been through, he hadn’t dared to hope for. One which tasted too much like what he had once supposed freedom would taste like.

[vykio]

i’ve been feeling smaller for @aftgtandn 2.4k words — Rated T

What if Aaron picked up Neil fro the airport that first day?

Summary:

Aaron narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Neil, preemptively admonishing when he’d told him, “Don’t do anything stupid in Arizona.”

“I won’t do anything stupid in Arizona,” Neil had promised. Aaron had given him a sidelong glance full of mistrust, but he hadn’t said anything else. Aaron’s intuition hadn’t been wrong—Neil went on to vanish for those fourteen days, leaving all of Aaron’s questions about Arizona, his family, where the hell he was, why why why unanswered.

Neil nearly sighed and just barely resisted. Aaron hadn’t said anything then, and Neil knew he’d have to touch base with him at some point too. They didn’t have many chances to talk between Aaron’s arrival and their picking up Andrew—he’d just hoped he wouldn’t have to contend with both twins in one night.

-----------

Huuuuge huge shout out to the mods for hosting this event!!!!

[chickenbyday]

Andreil | 1k | T rating

It's time!! I had so much fun being a part of this event, and I'd like to thank our mods at @aftgtandn for putting it on!! Y'all are awesome sauce <3

I wrote for prompt 208: Andrew doesn’t get to Neil in time and Riko’s racquet comes down onto Andrew’s head instead. Will Andrew survive?

Read here!

[decaflondonfog]

depraved heart | kevin/andrew/neil, M, 7k

In a different world, you would have stayed at the table, you would have made small talk. In a different world, you wouldn’t have had the stomach. In a different world, you wouldn’t have pushed Neil aside. In a different world, your hands wouldn’t be bloody. In this world, you’re the first one to make it up the stairs. You do what had to be done.

ever since i was a little girl i knew i wanted to give kevin day a knife and then cover him in blood............. :') loved writing this one even if it made me cry (wymack pov you were an absolute bitch!) and i spent more time studying trial transcripts than i did actually writing.

still. so fun to consider all this! i looooooved this year's @aftgtandn theme because it's SO so so so so fun to see how a tiny little change can have so many consequences on the universe and narrative as we know it.

t&n is a real dream come true and has my entire fucking heart — it's such a warm reminder of how GOOD fandom can be. thank you to everyone who makes that possible, and most of all to my fellow mods and helpers @mostlymaudlin @jaywalkers @rwnjun and @ashestoashes7 <3

[merceyca]

patient violence

Happy @aftgtandn reveals day!! I wrote some painful heist chaos featuring Andrew keeping his promises, Jean enduring, and Neil’s awful commentary through it all.

READ IT HERE

Preview:

Pain.

That was Nathaniel’s first thought upon waking. So much pain, everywhere in and on his body. It invaded his lungs when he breathed and chafed his skin when he shifted. He tried to draw back from his own aching body when he caught the sound of a familiar voice.

“I knew you were crazy. I didn’t realize you were suicidal.”

“Move,” another voice commanded, but this one didn’t belong; not in this room, stadium, or state.

“You ought to be the one moving,” Jean said, and Nathaniel heard the fear underlining the threat. “You won’t like what comes next if you are found here.”

“You won’t like what comes next if you don’t step aside, Jean.”

Andrew?

The Foxes. Easthaven. The doctor. Andrew.

“Neil?”

[billdenbrough]

IT LIVES IN THE THROAT

aftg · aaron & andrew · 14.4k, t. on grief, promises & what it means to be a brother. for @aftgtandn —i’m still here, he thinks. i’m still here, andrew, where are you?

Legally speaking, for a few hours, Aaron Minyard is dead in that car. Luther Hemmick, the next-of-kin to one Tilda Minyard, 35, pronounced dead in a car accident, is contacted by the relevant authorities. He says, Tilda and Aaron had left our house in an emotional state. He says, Aaron was a good boy. He says, What a tragedy. Yeah, Aaron thinks. Real fucking sob story.

Andrew dies in the car crash too. Aaron picks up the pieces.

read on ao3

then & never fest prompt, for animediac: 54. Andrew dies in the car crash with Tilda.

[lynxdoes]

Someone get our anxiety queen that is Kevin Day a bottle of vodka before he throws up

So excited to finally share this! I participated in this years AFTG Then & Never fest and had the lovely prompt of “what if Kevin is the one who killed Drake”. This fest was AMAZING to be a part of, and I want to thank the mods @aftgtandn for putting together such a wonderful event and bringing the AFTG community together once again to show off all the amazing creators we have!!

Someone get our anxiety queen that is Kevin Day a bottle of vodka before he throws up

So excited to finally share this! I participated in this years AFTG Then & Never fest and had the lovely prompt of “what if Kevin is the one who killed Drake”. This fest was AMAZING to be a part of, and I want to thank the mods for putting together such a wonderful event and bringing the AFTG community together once again to show off all the amazing creators we have!!

Do not repost please, reblogs appreciated

[liaisun]

what if neil kept the guns after burying mary?

secrets - damnation - ruin

for @aftgtandn prompt 82 <3

crossposted as "shots fired" on ao3 💥

[teisms]

I wrote Bite the hand for @aftgtandn :))) Andrew chokes Kevin when Neil vanishes, only in this version of events no one is around to stop him.

Betrayal that goes both ways, Kandrew metaphorically biting each other's metaphorical hands, complicated feelings about even more complicated relationships, and Andrew's particular brand of morality are the main ingredients ✨

[orionauriga]

if you’re throwing me to the lions

aftg | katelyn & andrew | 3.7k words

Katelyn isn’t afraid of Andrew. This is how their conversation goes when he confronts her in the library.

a very happy @aftgtandn reveal day to all who celebrate!!! this fest has been sooo much fun; a big big thank you to the mods for all your hard work! i can’t wait to catch up on reading everything bc i know this year's collection is full of absolute bangers 🩶

[whyreme]

◇ Are You Real? ◇

📍Fic Reveal for @aftgtandn 📍

• 6k words

• Andreil

• Angst / Neil is Not Fine

• Canon Divergence: Neil comes back from Evermore and Andrew is Here

Did you guess it was mine?

If you haven’t yet, you can read it HERE:

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

For the ones who have read it already, thank you for reading, thank you for all your love, kudos and comments! 💖