#aftgrbb2024

[l-mialamia-l]

Here’s my entry for this year’s AFTG Reverse Big Bang! @aftgreverse

I worked with the wonderful artist amimbia (https://www.instagram.com/amimbia/)

Neil knew how to read every one of Andrew’s minuscule expressions. The way the slightest twitch in his brow denotated amusement, the tiny flare of his nostrils when he got angry, how he blinked ever faster when he was surprised. He’d seen Andrew’s manic, drug-induced smile and his single cold grin when Kevin had come back with his new tattoo, but Neil had never seen Andrew smile out of sheer happiness.

Neil wasn’t sure if most people would classify Andrew’s current expression as a smile. It wasn’t wide or toothy or overtly noticeable, but Andrew’s lips were turned ever-so-slightly up, his eyes crinkled, and Neil knew what this was. Neil’s heart stuttered, and he wished he had Andrew’s eidetic memory so that he could burn this image into his mind forever, write it across the folds of his brain with permanent ink, tattoo it on the back of his eyelids so that he could see it every time he closed his eyes. He drank it all in, trying to commit every tiny detail of Andrew’s face to memory.

. . .

A series of snapshots in which Neil and Andrew allow themselves to heal and be happy over the years following canon.

[unsaidemry]

Chapters: 6/6 Fandom: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, Allison Reynolds/Renee Walker (All For The Game) Characters: Neil Josten, Andrew Minyard, Allison Reynolds (All For The Game), Renee Walker (All For The Game), Kevin Day, Danielle "Dan" Wilds Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Exy (All For The Game), Art, Soft Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, POV Neil Josten, Neil Josten & Allison Reynolds Friendship, Fashion Designer Allison Reynolds, Photographer Andrew Minyard, College, Fluff, Andrew Minyard Has Feelings, Demisexual Neil Josten, Oblivious Neil Josten, Gay Andrew Minyard, Minor Allison Reynolds/Renee Walker (All For The Game), Kevin Day If You Squint, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Relationships, Happy Ending, AFTG Reverse Big Bang 2024 Summary:

“I don’t know what you- what are you talking about?” Neil asks so defensively that it’s embarrassing hearing it come from his own mouth.

“Don’t play dumb with me! I know Andrew well enough and he doesn’t hang out with people- not unless there’s a fine print.”

“He’s paying me for these sessions! We’re hanging out because it’s a mutual exchange of services!”

“Neil,” Allison says, giving him her ‘are you really this stupid?’ look. “In the freelance world, the model is usually the one who pays the photographer. Andrew is the one providing a service while you just get to sit and look pretty. Also, this is the third time you’ve gone to see him. How many photos of you does he need to take before you realize he’s obsessed?”

Andrew? Obsessed with Neil? Allison’s got it backwards, but Neil would drop everything and flee the city before admitting that to her.

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A modern au where Neil doesn't play exy and Andrew is a photographer. Neil discovers the world of fun and feminine fashion after becoming friends with Allison, and his outfits inspire Andrew to want to photograph a person for the first time- i.e. Neil.

Prompt and STUNNING artwork credit to the amazing @s-hanna-h on tumblr!