#bbb23

(correct) fic link // @batfam-big-bang !

[ image description: Nightwing proudly sits on the top of a building. It's dark outside, and the full moon is behind him. It's misty on the Gotham rooftops, and he's sporting a self-satisfied smile, bearing fangs. Covered in blood, Nightwing is a vampire. ]

Yay it's posting day! This is my piece for the bumbleby big bang 2023! I had the pleasure of working with @kayleen756894, who wrote a lovely fairytale-inspired au for our favorite bees. Her fic is full of emotion and evocative imagery, check it out at the link below!

I had the absolute pleasure of working with @starshinewriter for the @bylerbigbang this year! It has been a blast getting to reading their fic and make this art for it!

Teal Streaked Ribbons by GardenFairie on ao3

A story and character study of Will’s healing from the Upside Down, and his journey with intimacy and control.

it’s here!! I had the absolute pleasure of working with @gardenfairie for this year’s @bylerbigbang, who wrote this beautiful fic about a part of Will’s canon life that isn’t often explored - including himself here - and it warmed my heart to see him navigate it 🥹 check it out!!

cw for discussions of CSA (read author’s notes!)

"Gathwring like a storm in her heart. Swallowing, she raised herself up until she could take Blake’s hand and press it against her cheek. “Blake…” she murmured. “I… I knew that had to be it. It made sense! But… I couldn’t stop thinking about that moment, and what I must’ve looked like. And just… believing that you saw me as a monster again.”

Yang opened her eyes and looked back up at Blake to see tears streaming down her cheeks. The faunus woman’s fingers curled against her face like she was trying to hold on. “No, Yang. Never. I’m so, so sorry I made you feel that way. I’d announce my intentions to see you again before the entire ducal court before I hurt you like that!”

She cradled Blake’s hand against her face as she kissed her palm. Her skin tasted of her day’s work, but also of warmth and comfort. Yang could smell her earnesty, and her heart yearned to believe the words the remarkable woman above her was saying to her. But the memories of how she’d been left before, abandoned and alone for most of her life, weighed on her like anchor chains, threatening to drag her back down into the dark waters of the loch.

“Do… do you mean that, Blake?” she whispered softly. “Please, don’t say it unless you really mean it. I’ve been… I’ve been alone for so long. And I can’t… if I let myself believe that that’s over when it truly isn’t, I think my heart will fall apart so hard I’ll never be whole again.”

The hurt in Yang’s voice felt like shards of glass tearing into Blake’s chest. Words rose and sank on her tongue as she struggled to find something to say that could even begin to adequately express how much she meant everything she’d said, and more. How much it hurt her, too, being away from Yang. How she wanted to hear her laugh and see her goofy smile every day. How she wanted to touch her, and hold her, and…

Twisting her body, Blake leaned down off the dock, so far that her balance was precarious. She didn’t care. Her face was so close to Yang’s now, she could tell the difference between the dampness trickling down her face from her hair, and the hot tears running out of her eyes. Even in the dark, she could count Yang’s freckles, and her heart vowed to memorize every single one. She reached out and, wobbling on her hips, cupped Yang’s face in both hands.

Yang saw Blake’s ears flatten back as those deep golden eyes she loved to get lost in flicked closed beneath her dark, heavy lashes, her lips slightly parted as she asked, begged, for Yang to do what she was about to do. Her vision was filled with only Blake as Yang closed her eyes and kissed her.

It was the lightest, softest touch. The two women’s lips closed against each other tenderly, taking home that first, incredible feeling between them for their hammering hearts to savor. Blake felt like she could feel the kiss running through her entire body and lighting up everything in her. She felt like she was glowing, and even with her teetering balance one of her legs tilted up at the knee as she leaned back in for more. More that Yang enthusiastically gave her.

The first part of their kiss had told each other that this was okay, that this is what they wanted. The second part was what they needed. Yang’s mouth opened against her’s, hot and wet, as the lamia pressed upwards into her. Blake surrendered her balance and let Yang support her fully as she returned her kiss with equal desire. She moaned into her as Yang’s tongue entered her mouth, noting the sensation of its sensitive fork touching its way inside her until they met. Yang’s arms grasped her shoulders to take her weight, leaving Blake free to trust her completely as she tangled her fingers into the wet locks of hair behind Yang’s head.

Yang’s whole being tingled as Blake’s lips worked against hers, warm and moist and declaring their hunger for her. Her heart was racing as she kissed the faunus woman, her faunus, her Blake , back with all the longing that had been coiling inside her for the past two weeks. She could feel the moans leaving Blake’s throat and entering her mouth, and she consumed them greedily. She fed them back with one of her own as, below her, her muscular body found purchase on something so she could push herself up more. Upwards meant Blake, and that was the only thought on Yang’s mind. Stars above, she needed this woman like she’d never needed before. 

Blake would’ve plunged into the waters of the loch, cold be damned, if it meant being closer to Yang. Having more of Yang. Instead, she found herself being lifted backwards onto the dock as the lamia in her arms raised up into her. Somewhere below, the body of a being from legends and nightmares was pushing itself to her, and she wanted it. As she sat back, Blake felt Yang’s strong hands go from supporting her shoulders to holding her waist and tangling in her hair. Fingers flicked the tip of her velvety ear, and she whimpered  into Yang’s mouth as she pulled the woman in tighter.

Neither woman knew what could have happened there on the dock, had it not been for the sudden noise of some rowdy villagers up the path stumbling out into the night, boasting and laughing. Blake whimpered as, torturously, Yang pulled her lips apart from her. Her fingers knotted in the lamia’s hair, begging her to stay and keep kissing her, to stay and quench the fires lighting in her belly, even though she knew it couldn’t happen. The look they shared as they gazed into each other’s wide, unfocused eyes said that they both wanted as much, but also knew as much. Blake exhaled long and hard as she pressed her forehead against Yang’s, closing her eyes and breathing out her name like a murmur on the wind.

“Blake…” Yang returned. A finger on her chin turned Blake’s face up, and she opened her eyes again and stared into the pools of liquid amethyst that glistened back at her.

Blake’s heart was in her throat. There were words she wanted to say. Words that would change everything. They were scary, but in this moment, they felt so right, and they were on the tip of her tongue.

The small crowd above broke their reverie again, and Yang’s eyes flickered nervously past Blake’s shoulder. She swallowed, and Blake nodded her consent. Their eyes stayed locked as Yang sank back down into the blackness of the loch, even her bright golden scales and waves of blonde disappearing immediately under the dark waters."

2023 Byler Big Bang Fics & Art Masterpost

Now that December is here, that's a wrap on the 2023 Byler Big Bang! We welcomed 22 fics and even more art into the fandom over October and November, and now we want to celebrate everyone's hard work one more time with this masterpost of all the fics and art links completed for the challenge. A huge thanks to everyone who took part or otherwise supported the fics and art of the creators!

We will be back in summer 2024 with info about next year's event.

[The full fic collection on Ao3]

Masterposts here on Tumblr with fics + art:

Second Chances and Dances

remember to remember me

Theatre and Pom Poms

a swingset stuck in amber

Teal Streaked Ribbons

in the springtime, in the sun (we can be alone without anyone)

it's nice to have a friend

What a Time to Be Alive

under the stars with you

Ain’t it enough that I'm laying my heart out?

Through A Dark Glass, Wanting

nosebleeds from epiphanies (i took full in the face)

Autumn Leaves

this must be the place

And the Wonder of it All is That You Just Don’t Realize How Much I Love You

Lips Like Sugar

never did shine as bright

afterimage

On the Same Frequency

At the Time of Sight

ai! ai! (fūnestaque littera ducta est)

happy me finally getting to post my @bylerbigbang 2023 entry; its been a long time coming~!

Fic link:

My art for the @bylerbigbang , for @arrow-of-ravenclaw 's fem!byler fic that you can read here!