MCYTBLR AU Fest 2026 — General Rules and FAQ
TIMELINE (all times in EST):
May 13 0:00: Writer creation starts, Discord opens.
May 13 - 14: Writers seeking Beta Readers can sign up (having an event-matched Beta Reader is optional)
May 16 9:00am - May 18 11:00am Beta readers can claim stories and be assigned to Teams (having an event-matched Beta Reader is optional)
June 13 - 17: Writers seeking artists can sign up - you must be halfway through your draft or more to sign up.
June 20 9:00am - June 22 10:00am, Artists can claim stories and be assigned to Teams
July 4-5: Team check-in
July 13 0:00: Podficcer creation start. If you are working with a podficcer, your fic should be finished at this point, so your artist can work.
July 19 23:59: Main creation end. Unless you have an extension, you should both be ready to post at this point.
July 26 23:59: The final possible extension date.
July 20 - August 2: Posting period
MCYTBLR AU Fest is a mini big-bang event where artists and writers work together in teams to make stories and art inspired by MCYT and set in an Alternate Universe.
Expectation: Writers must deliver a complete story of at least 5k words. Artists must deliver a finished piece of art inspired by the story they signed up for. Teams must work collaboratively together and showcase each other's work when posting.
Rules:
You must be a member of the discord, for team matching.
Because of Tumblr, Ao3 and Discord TOS, you must be 13 to participate.
Respect your fellow participants, even when you disagree on fandom matters
You agree to work together with your teammate(s) to make a piece of art and a fic together.
All works must be MCYT-centric and set in an AU— no canon-compliance.
All works must be complete, stand-alone, and created for AUFest 2026.
Your work must be appropriately tagged so that teammates or readers can make an informed choice whether to engage or not.
No AI-Generated content
Don't be an asshole
Links:
Ao3: Here
Discord: Here
FAQ:
What is MCYTBLR AU Fest? MCYTBLR AU Fest is a minibang-type event where writers and artists come together to create fanworks centred on MCYT and set in an alternate universe from canon.
How does it work? Writers will have a month to start work on a draft. After a month, at the half-way mark of their draft, they create a short summary/synopsis of their fic, which is posted anonymously for artists to view and claim. Teams are assigned by mods, and then teams will then have another month of creation time. Artists will create art based on the story they chose, and writers will finish their fic (minimum 5k words). This is followed by a two-week posting period, when creations are posted and we showcase everyone's work.
What type of MCYT is included? We welcome creations based on any MCYT media, whether or not they have a canon tag on Ao3. Yogscast, SFAWTDE, DSMP, Hermitcraft, Fuga Impossivel, Vampires, Unstable Universe, Empires SMP, VBRPF— it's all welcome.
Can I join if my Art is a Playlist/Web Weave/Crochet? You can participate as an artist if your art is:
Digital/Traditional Art
Podfic
Web Weave
Other Art Form*
*must be checked with the mods before signing up to a team.
What are the requirements for art? The requirements for different forms of art are:
Digital or Traditional art: a minimum of one piece, finished, inspired by the author's work.
Podfic: a podfic of the author's work, edited to whatever a baseline level of editing is for you.
Web Weaves: a minimum of one web weave inspired by the author's work per 5 k, rounding up, to a limit of two required web weaves, with at least ten elements each. Web weave elements must be sourced to an original source, and pinterest or png blogs are not accepted as sources.
Other Art Form: other art forms such as fan games, original songs, playlists, sculpture, etc. would fall under this category. If you want to sign up with an Other art form, you need to contact the mod team and work out what minimum expectations would be for your art.
If I want to make more web weaves, can I? You can make as many pieces of art as you wish, the requirements is just what is required/expected by the mod team. For example, if your writer wrote a 10k work, you would be required to make two web weaves– but you could do as many as you want. If your writer wrote a 50k work, you would still only be required to make two web weaves, but you can do as many as you want.
Is anything required from me if I'm working with a particular type of artist? In general the requirement is just to be collaborative and communicative with your artist, but the one exception is if you are working with a podficcer. A podficcer can't start work until your work is complete (including editing), so to make sure they actually have time to record, any writer working with a podficcer will be required to finish a week early— so your writing completion deadline would be to finish by the 12th of July, instead of the 19th. In addition, podficcers are generally expected to post near the end of the posting period, so that they have maximum time to do the recording and editing.
I heard there were going to be web weaves, can I sign up for web weaves only? To increase matching opportunities, as a creator you must opt in to at least two types of art.
Is shipping allowed? Yes. Because there is no broad fandom-wide consensus about how Creator boundaries are to be enforced in specific cases (whether it's okay to write beeduo as /r or /p is an obvious one, or whether it’s permitted to ship Joel Smallishbeans, or if writing Philza in dad content is okay) or between specific fandoms (SBK approach to shipping and boundaries is different from MCSR is different from DSMP is different from Life Series), the mods will not be policing any specific understanding of boundaries across the event. The event's motivating ethos is Don't Like Don't Read, in that participants will be able to indicate through tags in signups if they are interested in a given relationship being interpreted as romantic or platonic, and what subject matter they're interested in, and this must be respected when gifts are given. NSFW will have to be opted into and is only able to be produced if all members of a team are adults.
Is RPF allowed? Yes, RPF is permitted. Within certain canons the line between RPF and something set in-world can be hard to define, and RPF has been part of the umbrella of MCYT fandoms from the beginning. RPF must be declared at time of signup by marking the fandom as Video Blogging RPF, so that artists or betas can make an informed choice about whether to join the team.
Is NSFW allowed? Yes, NSFW is permitted. When pitching a work, it must be clearly stated that the work contains or will contain NSFW content. To sign up to work on a team with NSFW content everyone on the team must be 18+, and changing a work to be NSFW after teams have been assigned is not permitted. (This does not mean that all NSFW content must have been completed at the time of signup, just that if NSFW is intended, it was declared at the time of signup so your artist (and possibly beta) can make an informed choice to join your team). To conform with Tumblr and Discord TOS, anything with the tags Underage Sex or Adult/Minor Relationship will not be permitted to be part of the event.
How are Minors defined for the purposes of those warnings? We are primarily using the age within the work— so if the fic itself would require the tags. With recent server epilogues setting a "canon age" has become increasingly difficult across servers, and this is further complicated because of the fandom's tendency to both age up or age down their characters within AUs. It is no longer tenable to make a list of characters who are always minors (and by extension, those who are not), especially when we are taking about aus that frequently modify their ages anyways. As such, we are asking people to make sure that the work they create has all necessary characters being of-age in the work. In cases of ambiguity the mods will be interpreting with an attempt at good faith, but note that clear attempt to circumvent the content rules will fall under the "do not be an asshole" provision and could also result in a ban.
Note: the exception to this rule is if the streamer themselves is currently a minor. Minor streamers are not allowed to be shipped or written in NSFW content, even if aged up.
Are major archive warnings (noncon/graphic depictions of violence/MCD) allowed? Aside from content rules about underage, major archive warnings are allowed. Depictions of real life horrors such as genocide, torture, and slavery are not-uncommon motifs in MCYT fics, and the mod team is not interested in legislating which types of horrors, griefs or abuses are inherently worse than others and are therefore off-limits. The three mentioned major archive warnings (MCD, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Noncon), are permitted to be included, however Major Archive Warnings must be declared during signups, so that people can make an informed choice about whether or not to join your team. The major archive warning rape/non-con is only able to be included if everyone on your team is an adult.
Do you allow dark or violent content? Yes. The lore of many mcyt servers includes death games, abuse, cannibalism, murder-for-hire, and other dark or violent themes. However, we ask that you tag your work sufficiently that collaborators can make an informed choice to get involved or not with your piece. Moreover, if your fic is rated E for any reason (including violence or gore), your team must be 18+.
How can I get involved? You can participate in this event as a:
Author
Artist
Pinch Hitter (Artist)
Pinch Hitter (Writer)
Beta Reader
You can even sign up for multiple roles, as long as you're very sure you can make your deadlines!
What is a Pinch Hitter? A pinch hitter is a person who saves the day and steps in when the original creator is unable to deliver their work for whatever reason, making a new work on an accelerated timeline. In case of pinch hitting a fanfic, you will will be asked to either write using the original writer's outline, or pitch and then deliver a new story for the artist based on the art. If you are an artist, you will step in to make a new piece of art for a writer whose original artist dropped out.
Can I participate as a beta reader? Yes! Matching with a Beta Reader will be optional, but creators will have the opportunity to sign up to have a Beta Reader join their team for brainstorming, accountability, spellcheck, editing, or whatever else they need.
What kind of a summary will I provide as a writer? How long or detailed? We ask that you keep your summary to two paragraphs or shorter, about as long as the AO3 Summary + Author's Note boxes. In addition to a description of your fic, we'll ask that you list out the server it takes place on, what type of AU it is, any ships (romantic or platonic), the expected word count, what age group of people you are okay working with, any major archive warnings, what kind of art you are open to, and any trigger tags that you expect to take place in the story.
When do I have to join the discord? You have the option to join the dicord and hang out as soon as creation starts on May 13, and if you are signing up either as a Beta Reader or wanting to be matched with a Beta Reader, you need to join the discord before signups close on May 15. If you don't need a beta reader or you already have someone you normally work with, you only have to join the discord before author sign ups close for artist matching, which is June 17.
Why do authors have to be halfway through their draft to sign up to be assigned an artist? How are you checking this? This is both to decrease the number of people who drop out halfway through, and to make sure that the artist has something to work with for the entirety of their creation periot. If you write your entire fic in the weekend before the posting deadline, that means the artist has a matter of days or hours for them to do their work, which isn't fair. Writers will be expected to submit a document with their half-draft in it at sign-up, for mods to verify word count.
How does team assignment work? Writers will sign up with pitches and details for their stories, and this will be released anonymously through a custom website. During the claim period, artists will have 24 hours to submit a list of every work they would be okay working with (we ask for a minimum of five pitches, with no upper limit), and after the 24 hour mark we will machine-match all pitches and assignments for a best match (in a similar way to Ao3 matching).
If people are unable to be matched in that time, we will offer a short period for any people who have not been matched to offer secondary short lists, and then we will open it up to anyone to take on secondary claims choosing from any people we were unable to match. Once every team has an assigned artist, we will open up the claim process again for people who want to take on a secondary assignment, choosing from all assignments. At the end of 48 hours from start we will close the claim process and run matching a second time. A final list of all teams will be released after this time.
Note: if you want to be visibly listed as "anonymous" on this list you can be, we will convey you your team in a ticket.
What happens if there are more artists than authors, or more authors than artists? If there are more artists, some fics will be assigned multiple artists. If there are more authors, we will offer the option for artists to be assigned multiple teams.
What's a check-in and how do they work? The check-ins are there to make sure everyone is on track to finish their piece in time, and to communicate any issues with the mods! If you know that you won’t be able to check in on a specific date (lack of internet, etc), please contact the mods in advance.
How long should my fic be? The minimum word count is 5,000 words! There is no maximum word count, but we ask you to be mindful of how much you can actually create in these two months. All fics must be complete and entirely posted during the Posting Period.
If I wrote a multi-chapter work, do I have to have it all posted by the end of the Posting Period? Yes. If you have a longer work, we recommend starting to post early in the posting period, and potentially doing daily chapters to space out your work.
What does AU mean in this context? AU stands for Alternate Universe and in this case means anything that would make the work not able to be tagged as canon compliant. Alternate endings, role reversals, complete setting or plot swaps, and crossovers all count. As this is a fest specifically to celebrate AUs, we ask that the AU be a significant and celebrated part of the work, not something that could be skipped if you aren't paying attention.
Can I create two pieces of art? Absolutely! There is no maximum for number of pieces you want to create, but again, be mindful of not biting off more than you can chew in a month of creation time.
Can I sign up with two fics? You are welcome to sign up as part of the fest with multiple fics, especially given that the word count is reasonably achievable for many people. However, if you do so, we will ask that you prioritize which fic you want to be matched on first, and you will only receive a match to your secondary fic after everyone else has an artist. We're going to prioritize every participant getting a team before we prioritize every story getting a team.
Can I sign up with a writing buddy— as part of a collab team? You are welcome to sign up as a collaborative team! We ask that you make sure you work together well, and when you sign up for an artist, you must declare that you're a team, so people know that they'll be getting multiple writers and not one. You may not sign up as an artist-writer pair— the matching with a new person aspect is part of the big bang experience.
Can I submit a fic that I've been working on for a while? We would prefer that you not bring a piece that you've been writing on before— the spirit of the event is that you bring a new piece that you can work on during the event, and so that you can be open to creativity with your artist. However, creation is a many-faceted process, and a lot of can take place before words hit the page, so you may wish to bring a work that you've been thinking about for a while, that you've outlined before, or that you've sketched out small ideas in the world of, and that's fine. We just want the actual writing to take place during the creation period. As long as you open up the event with the sense that you are starting a new project, and not completing a partially-created work to this event you're good. For completing existing works we can suggest @wipbigbang! Please do not submit a summary for a fic that was already completed prior to the start of the event.
Can I submit a fic that is part of a larger story? All stories must be stand alone and be created for this event. Your beta or artist can't feel that they have to do homework to properly understand your piece, and that is often very hard to avoid when a question of "so what's this story about" includes things like "so the first two fics in the series set up the politics but this one is a side story—". If you genuinely think that a story can stand alone and does not require information from other pieces in a shared universe, that can work. For example, if your work establishes a space universe but this piece is set on on entirely different planet, or if your work establishes a system of fae magic and courts or how hybrid traits work, but your Aufest piece uses this worldbuilding and does not have overlapping overlapping characters or plots. We do not check to see if writers have created in this world before, and we are taking it on faith that when your writer asks what the piece is about, you will hand them only the draft that they agreed to during claims.
Can I use AI to help me with my piece? You must create your work yourself, as that is the spirit of the event. Works may not be wholly or partially created by generative text or art programs (so-called "AI") such as chatGPT or OpenArt.ai. If you feel that you need to turn to AI to finish your work in time, we recommend you drop instead so that a pinch-hitter can be assigned.
What if I need to drop out? It is your responsibility to communicate with us if you need to drop out of the event for any reason, and we do need that communication. We know that life is no respecter of fic and art deadlines, so it is absolutely fine if you need to drop. However, we would hate for any writer to end up having no art for their fic, and it would suck if an artist put a lot of effort into creating art for a fic that ends up not being written, so authors and artists, please inform us as soon as possible if you must drop out or think you will not be able to complete your piece on time. Dropping out after the last check-in without informing the mods may result in not being permitted to take part in further events run by this mod team.
I have a question not answered here? Send us an ask on tumblr, contact @antimony-medusa on tumblr or discord!
