Fence Summer Nationals 2026

Prompt list

Event rules

#ideas - idea and inspiration on how to interpret the prompts

The most popular forms of fanwork are fanfiction and fanart, but if you fancy engaging with the prompts and expressing your creativity in a different way, here are some ideas!

Based on the prompt of the day, you could:

- make a playlist

- make a mood board or collage

- make a video edit

- make a web weave

- write a poem or song

- craft something!

- write a text post or analysis

For example, here’s a (unfinished) journal spread I (@scottishgremlin) made based on Fence, Vol. 1. I printed out my favourite panels, copied out some quotes and song lyrics I associate with the story/its themes, and also wrote down my thoughts while reading and analysis!

1. No harrassment/hate/negativity on other participants’ posts.

2. No AI-generated content.

3. Please tag your work appropriately with content warnings and such.

4. Please wait until the day of a particular prompt to post your work for it. You can still post if the day has passed, but please don’t post early.

5. Show basic human decency and courtesy and have fun!

Friendship and overcoming differences to work together are core themes of Fence. Here are some more unusual pairings (& or /, take your pic) you could explore that with, but also feel free to come up with your own!

- We know how Nicholas feels towards Aiden in the comic, but what does Aiden think of Nicholas? What do you think their relationship would look like?

- Similarly, we don’t really get to see Harvard and Seiji bonding. What, besides fencing, would they find common ground over?

Create a piece of fan work based on a character’s treasure/trouble!

Seiji

Treasure: diary where he records his fencing matches

Trouble: Nicholas

Nicholas

Treasure: newspaper clip of Robert Coste's Olympic victory

Trouble: staying out of detention

Harvard

Treasure: captain's badge

Trouble: his best friend Aiden is too good looking for his own good

Aiden

Treasure: the teddy bear Harvard gave him when they were six after he said he liked it

Trouble: remembering names

Bobby

Treasure: sewing machine

Trouble: too shy to talk to Seiji

Eugene

Treasure: limited edition Adidas Asymmetrik sneakers

Trouble: failed to make the team two years in a row

Dante

Treasure: signed poster of Ronaldo

Trouble: has zero interest in fencing, but everyone else is obsessed with it

Jesse

Treasure: épée his father gave him, a memento from his Olympic victory

Subvert a trope! Write or draw a omething you’ve always wanted to, but felt it might be too “niche”!

- Write or draw in a medium other than your typical one. For example, if you’re used to traditional drawing, you could try digital art or collage. If you’re used to writing in third-person narrated prose, you could try writing in first or second person, or in verse/an epistolary form.

- Put your own twist on a common trope or AU.

One of the main plots of Fence shows the newly-selected Kings Row team learning to work together and support each other. On this day of the event, we celebrate teamwork and consider our favourite moments of team bonding!

- What are each team’s pre-comp rituals or traditions?

- If each of the Kings Row (or other schools’) fencers had a group of bons, what would the signs that are made for the fencer look like?

- What are some activities a team might participate in to bond? Games? Challenges?

- What are some examples of positive team dynamics and negative team dynamics throughout the comic?

Some characters in Fence have very distinctive fashion choices. On day 8 of the event, we’ll turn to explore what those say about them.

- How do different characters express themselves through what they wear? What do their clothing choices say about their personality or circumstances?

- What are some pieces of clothing that remind you of specific characters? Why? (Does not need to make sense lol - e.g. I associate a turtleneck sweater with Seiji)

- If certain characters were to give others makeovers, what would this look like? What transformations do (or might) the characters go through, and not just physical appearance-wise?

- How can a character’s fashion choices intersect with their sense of body image and/or personal identity? Especially within the context of fencing?

Fencing, like any other sport, comes with risks and drawbacks. Although it’s one of the safest sports, skin can still be bruised; muscle and ligament and bone can be injured; confidence and self-esteem can be permanently altered. But bruises don’t only come from the point of a sword, either… even with the best (or worst) of intentions, human beings can hurt each other and not just physically.

- Think about the scientific basis of what a bruise is and how it forms. How can this inspire the story or artwork you decide to create? How can this be linked back to Fence?

- How do fencers look after themselves and each other? What do they do to prevent injury or to treat it? How can these behaviours be utilised in a fic or piece of art to convey characters and/or their relationships?

- How can one’s mental wellbeing/sense of self be ‘bruised’? This will be different for every character, depending on their past experiences. How would certain characters respond to having a poor mental health day?

- How might bruises or other injuries impact a character’s perception of self and/or body image? Negatively and/or positively?

We’re keeping it fun and low-stakes on day 6! The boys are off to the beach, or a city break, or whatever shenanigans you desire.

- How would each of the Kings Row (or any other) team act in the beach? Who’s having water fights, who’s sunbathing, who’s digging a hole?

- Consider the ways filler episodes/plots can be used to e.g. further develop and strengthen characters/character dynamics.

In Fence Challengers: Long Shot, we were introduced to a girls team. On day 5 of the fandom event, we’re focusing specifically on them!

- Dafna and Harvard used to date. What do you think that relationship might have looked like? Was their breakup mutual, and what was their reason for breaking up?

- Their first appearance on-page shows Adrienne occupying a similar social role to Aiden. What is Adrienne like as a person? Would these characters get along? How do they differ beyond the shared social role they play? Does Adrienne like all of the attention she gets?

- How does the team dynamic differ from that of the other teams we’ve seen? What is their team dynamic like?

- What are their experiences of being women in sport like, particularly in one with the history of women not being allowed to fence épée until 1992?

This is the day to put our favourite boys in any self-indulgent crossover situation you can think of! Pirates, coffee shops, college/university… or, you could explore what might’ve been if only one thing had been different… the possibilities are endless.

- There are some very common AUs; these are staple genres and exist for a reason! Stick the characters in a cowboy western/sci fi/coffee shop/actor AU. How would their personalities have been shaped in those environments, rather than competitive fencing? What would they be wearing? How would they style their hair, for example?

- What if Seiji had gone to Exton after all? Would he still have met Nicholas and the rest of the Kings Row gang? How would his character traits and development differ from canon?

Coaches are an integral and sometimes unsung part of any sport; they can help an athlete achieve their goals, or ruin one’s enjoyment of the game. Let’s show the coaches of Fence some love on day 3, and reflect on their roles within the narrative!

- We see various coach-student dynamics in the comic. How do these differ from one another? Which are healthy and constructive, and which are not? Is the line as clear as we think it is?

- If the high-school aged characters were coaching, what would each of them be like as a coach? What age group/level would each of them coach? Why?

- How do you imagine the coaches from Fence were like when they were younger and perhaps competitive fencers themselves?

- To reiterate, from day 1: what the fuck is going on between Coach Williams and Coach Donati?

Intertextuality reigns supreme as we think about the songs and albums we associate with Fence on day 2 of the event!

- If the characters from Fence were in a band/orchestra/music group, what would this look like? Which instrument would each of them play, and why?

- Make a playlist of songs that remind you of Fence! This can be as specific or as general as you’d like.

- Take a lyric that reminds you of Fence and draw some fanart inspired by it

- What music tastes do you think each of the Fence characters have? Why? Could music be a bonding point between certain characters?

Explore the themes of rivalry and friendship/romance/other relationships in Fence, and how they intertwine. How do they differ from each other? Are they really that different?

Some ideas to get you started:

- The most obvious example of rivalry in the comic is between Nicholas and Seiji. How does the dynamic they have at the start of the comic affect the development of their friendship and romance? How does this differ from Seiji’s rivalry/relationship with Jesse?

- Do you think there is any competitive tension between Aiden and Harvard? How has their dynamic changed as they’ve grown up together?

- What the fuck is going on between Coach Williams and Coach Donati? Are they living vicariously through their schools fighting it out for state champion? What sorts of unresolved conflict lie between them?

- At the start of their time at Kings Row, Nicholas is constantly trying to one-up Seiji in every aspect of life. What are some of the ways this manifests as?