#wip: bbts

[rose-bookblood]

💘 fake relationship / mutual pining / dared to kiss

for a ship of your choice ❤️

@bloodlessheirbyjacques 👁️

Send me an ask for a kiss scene.

Oh wow, I'm only ✨over a month late✨ haha. Sorry, I was sucked into writing Fairy Tail fanfiction of all things.

Here's a scene with Josephine and Travis from book 4 of BBtS. It's probably not even canon compliant, but I'm the author and I do what I want.

@bloodlessheirbyjacques

💘 fake relationship / mutual pining / dared to kiss

Violins and murmured chatter filled the ballroom as Josephine stepped inside, Travis’s arm around her elbow a steadying comfort. Her eyes scanned the crowd. Champagne bubbled in tiny glasses, light glinted off jeweled necklaces, couples swayed to the music, but no familiar faces caught her attention.

“Do you see them?”, she whispered into Travis’s ear.

He shook his head. “We must be early. Let’s try not to attract any unwanted attention before they show up.”

Josephine nodded. “I still don’t understand what they’re supposed to do in a place like this.”

“Seems like we missed a lot while we were on the island.” Travis offered her a small grin. “Hopefully they can fill us in.”

Josephine tried to smile back, but she was sure it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Considering the information they had extrapolated, both from the Thirteen and since their escape, any news they would receive wouldn’t be good.

A hand settled on the small of her back and warmth radiated through her. She was suddenly hyper-aware of every centimetre that separated her from Travis, and of her own erratic breathing.

“We may want to look like we’re enjoying the party,” he muttered into her ear.

“Right.” Josephine forced herself to shake off all worry and the electricity buzzing over her skin.

“So, should we mingle or dance?” He angled his head towards the centre of the ballroom.

Josephine made to bite her bottom lip, before she remembered about the red lipstick she wore. “I’m not sure talking to anyone is a good idea. We might just blow our cover.”

Travis grinned. “Dancing it is, then.”

Her eyes bulged. “No, wait, I didn’t say th—”

Travis interlaced their fingers and dragged her to the dancefloor. His free hand flew to her waist to pull her closer. That smile was still on his face, but Josephine could only gulp in response. Still, she couldn’t seem to tear her gaze from his brown eyes, soft as they had been since the day she met him.

Travis leaned down and whispered conspiratorially, “Have I told you how beautiful you look in that dress?”

Part of the tension melted off Josephine’s shoulders and a corner of her mouth lifted. “Only five times already.”

She didn’t think the midnight blue sheath dress was on par with most of the shimmering gowns in that room, but she would be lying if she said the compliment didn’t make her heart flutter. That Travis gave them out so freely somehow never diminished their effect, because Josephine knew he meant each and every one of them. It didn’t always use to make her blush, though.

His fingers rubbed at the small of her back. “Don’t panic, but I think those two are coming over to us.”

Seconds later, a pair slid next to them. The woman smiled wide as she kept dancing with her partner.

“Oh my, we finally have some new faces here!” She stage-whispered, “You know, parties tend to become boring with the same circle of guests.”

Travis wore an approachable grin. “We’ll have to trust your word for it. We don’t come often to this kind of events, but tonight we were in a festive mood.”

“Well then, I will take it upon myself to make your experience unforgettable.”

“And I will take you up on that offer,” Travis winked, “after a buffet break. My wife was just mentioning that she would like a glass of wine, right, sweetheart?”

Josephine only nodded. The matching silver wedding bands she had created before were coming in handy, after all.

“Pray tell,” continued Travis, not leaving time for disappointment to set on the woman’s face, “do you have any recommendations on what food we could accompany our drinks with? All these options seem quite daunting.”

The man at her arm spoke for the first time: “May I suggest the savoury beignets or the canapés? They both pair exquisitely with the champagne.”

“Oh, but the vegetable pinzimonio is unmissable,” piped up the woman. “Really, try anything and you won’t regret it. The head chef is a dear friend of my husband, a delightful man.”

“Thank you both for the advice.” Travis linked his arm with her. “My wife and I will head to the buffet, but I hope to catch each other again later.”

“For certain!”, trilled the woman.

As they walked away from the couple and towards the table, Josephine exhaled in relief. “We are not talking to them again.”

Travis chuckled and grabbed two glasses of wine. “It wasn’t so bad, but no, we aren’t.”

“The less we have to put our cover to the test, the better.” She accepted the glass he handed her. “Thank you.”

Travis sipped his champagne and scanned the crowd. “Still no trace of them.”

Josephine hummed. “I thought they’d be here by now. Is it possible that we misunderstood?”

“I don’t think so.” Travis furrowed his brow. “Maybe they’re just running late.”

“To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Travis popped a beignet into his mouth. “We just have to wait. If they don’t show up in, let’s say, thirty minutes, we can check the rest of the building.”

“And what if someone sees us snoop around?” She arched an eyebrow. “We pretend we were looking for the toilet?”

He winked. “Never underestimate a classic.”

Josephine shook her head, but didn’t bother to hide her chuckle. In response, Travis’s smile only grew wider. Josephine grabbed a mini sandwich, to combat the light-headedness that was sure to come with champagne on an empty stomach, and her eyes roamed the ballroom over his shoulder. The security uniform slowly inching towards them had her squaring her shoulders.

She set her glass on the table and stepped closer to Travis. Her hands flew to his suit jacket and tightened his tie. Beneath her palm, his pectoral tensed.

“Uhm.” He scratched the back of his head. “What are you doing?”

“Security has their eyes on us.” Her gaze never left his. “They might have noticed we were looking for someone.”

Travis’s hands settled on her waist in a show of casualness. “Well, considering we must be the only unknown faces here, they probably singled us out right away.”

“So we need to kill their suspicions fast.” Josephine’s fingers brushed his chest, unsure of what to do—she couldn’t pretend to fix his tie forever. She dared to glance at the security person out of the corner of her eye. “They’re still on the move.”

She flinched when Travis wrapped a blonde lock around his index, his sight set on her red-painted lips. His eyes darted back to hers, in that look that asked her to trust him. And of course she did.

He cupped her cheek, his breath caressing her skin. “Sorry about this.”

Travis’s other hand pressed her body against his and he crashed his lips onto hers. Air fled Josephine’s lungs, eyes closing on instinct, and she answered a little too eagerly. Underneath her palm, Travis’s heart thundered to the beat of her own. Warmth blossomed where they touched and unfurled across her skin.

Travis’s featherlight fingers ghosted along her jaw, but electricity fizzled in their path, almost painful. She couldn’t be imagining the softness of his touch, the reverence as he traced her features.

He broke the kiss. When Josephine opened her eyes, he was staring at her as if he could see stars in her grey irises, chest heaving.

Travis gulped. “Are they still onto us?” His voice trembled.

All focus returned to Josephine like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over her head. She peeked over Travis’s shoulder: the security person had retreated to a corner of the ballroom, their sight pointedly fixed in the opposite direction.

“It seems like they’ve desisted.”

A small smile curved Travis’s mouth, but a fiery intensity tinted his gaze. Josephine inhaled a deep breath through her nose. Her hand hadn’t moved from his chest, and his still circled her waist. Red lipstick smudged his lips.

Neither of them spoke. Travis’s thumb brushed her cheek and Josephine felt her clarity slipping. He waited, as if asking for permission, and it wasn’t the right moment to cross that invisible line between them, but Josephine couldn’t find it in herself to stop him.

A familiar mane of red hair entered her vision. Josephine blinked the hazy shape into focus. Lily and Evelyn, the latter sporting a black eyepatch on her right eye, stared back at her.

Travis’s hand lowered and his grip on her waist loosened. Josephine awkwardly stepped back, unable to hold his gaze. Her fingertips tingled as an uncomfortable chill washed over her.

He twisted to follow her line of sight. “Oh. I guess they found us.”

[rose-bookblood]

You thought I wouldn't do this with the BBtS gang?

Every group has a:

socially anxious leader who can't mind her own business

ice queen who's actually this close to blowing up

mom friend who lies for a living

'be gay, do crime' mad mechanic

giant man who's actually a sweetie

muscle who's cursed or some shit

one half rocker, one half ballerina

token extrovert party girl (gender neutral)

cinnamon roll theatre kid

Bonus:

Tired™ mom with a gun

irresponsible dad, but at least he's funny

The “every friend group has…” thing but with your ocs

[yuki-l0l]

GO BACK TO WORK

[aminotvxq]

I'm up for something like this every now and then......😌

[warthogreporter]

Me: Okay I'm going to work on the fake fighting game web serial now.

Fintan and Aodh short story: What about me?

Metafiction novel I haven't gotten back to since senior thesis: What about me?

Unfinished fanfic WiP from years ago: What about me?

Portal Fantasy with Naga and up front criticism of U.S public education: What about me?

Dracula sequel featuring Aztec mythology: What about me?

18+ Dark/Evil/You get the point Romance: What about me?

Disney crossover fanfic ideas: What about me?

Various video game ideas: What about me?

Me: Shut up none of you have deadlines.

[mavsbbtfic]

"you were trying to save me, i couldn't do anything in return" "let me do one last thing for you, friend"

TW: Blood This doodle sets the tone for the au/fic.

[vinelark]

hi!!!! do you have any Timkon (or superbat too) fic recs with identity shenanigans? the more ridiculous the better, like MLB levels of ridiculous and annoying. Can be angsty too!! and/or pang-y as you call them (which!! I became obsessed with that concept and you fully convinced me it should be a new fic genre!!))

(sidenote: I absolutely loved the way you dealt with the identity side of things in BBTS!!! just another way it's one my favourites fic out there💖💖💖)

hello! sorry this took forever, and thank you! also hell yeah, i'm slowly pushing my pang genre agenda one person at a time 🙏

i do have identity shenanigans for you! here are a few timkons from a while ago, and here are some more timkons + superbats + a few others.

and here are a couple more bite-size timkon recs:

the bro code by @cv-angels: kon makes a valiant attempt to get over his crush on robin by dating [checks notes] random civilian tim drake

Wires Crossed by @hayleyhearts: the pure shenanigan-filled fallout of robin thinking superboy is flirting with [checks notes] random civilian richard grayson

and to round it out, a not-so-bite-sized superbat wip rec that i've def talked about before, but if you're looking for pangs boy howdy does this fic have them:

we shall be free; we shall find peace by @blorb-el: au where clark has been kept in a lab (to put it mildly) since he was a kid; bruce does not know this mysterious and dangerous alien ever had a civilian identity, and clark does not know batman's civilian identity yet either

[shitpostingkats]

You know how Yugi is just a presence in GX? 5Ds AU where Jaden is the overarching presence around Yusei. Starts hanging around the crew after Yusei returns from the Paradox thing because of the timeloop. Leo: If you're such a powerful duelist, where were you this entire time? Jaden: With Yugi at the Nazca lines. Did you know there's, lik,e 80 of those things? Sure you guys tussled with the top generals but Yugi and I handled the others. Thanks for that by the way, the whale hates me. Crow: Why does Chacu Challhua hate you? Jaden: I stopped it from claiming Yusei. Team 5Ds: ...What. Jaden: Yeah! A few years back I sensed a disturbance, walked through the darkness between the dimensions, and punched a demon whale that tried to claim Yusei as he was drowning. Don't know how that last part happened. Jack: Yes. It's a mystery. Let's talk about something else now.

adakdsklajsdf I have an au that's EXACTLY this.

Literally the first yugioh wip I started was a canon divergent fic where at the end of bbt Jaden and Yusei get stuck in Jaden's time and have to find a way to get Yusei home. At then they get back to Neo Domino and Jaden just. Hangs around.

In canon, the events of BBT happen right before the crashtown arc (which is weirdly hilarious to me). Scenes that I kept imagining were when Aki realises she's lost her powers and has to go to Jaden for help. And she's having an existential crisis over why this is happening and he goes "Well, I've lost my ability to talk to spirits like three times in my life :/ Kinda could be anything." and they both bond over being reformed weirdo magic people.

Also a whole drafted conversation imagining Bruno falling into the black hole and just. Jaden's there. I am a godsdarned SUCKER for emotional, calm conversations between two characters when one of them knows they're about to die. THEY HAVE SO MANY PARALLELS TO EACH OTHER GODDAMMIT. The copy of an original chained to their own predetermined actions. They could have such an insane talk about it.

But imagine if Jaden's there from season 1. An evil cult trying to unleash a multidimensional demon from the prison of darkness between worlds? Hm, if only we knew the reagent ruler of the realm that is in charge of keeping dangerous spirits like exodia locked up.

Watching s1 of 5Ds and I just kept saying aloud "Jaden, do your job."

[rose-bookblood]

Badly summarized WIP poll tag

Thanks @memento-morri-writes for tagging me! This is such a fun tag!

Thought I'd add some WIPs I haven't introduced yet. If anyone was wondering, the 4th project is TWATB's villain sequel/spin-off (not that I've introduced TWATB lmao).

Tagging @mel-writes-with-her-dragons, @chayscribbles and @onomatopiya.

[muirmarie]

i just got an email notification that someone just followed/subscribed to the sga/bbt wip on ff.net that i last updated in may of 2010 (and the last time i posted ANYTHING on that account was from 2010???), and:

a) woof i should've finished that story,

b) following a story from 13 years ago.....i am genuinely obsessed with you,

c) the sudden desire to actually finish it SOLEY because: how funny would that be if you followed a story from 13 years ago and then it ACTUALLY UPDATED????? genuine lol tbh

[waveridden]

Ooh, I’m curious what faraway look and breathe in, breathe through are about/what fandom they’re for, since you said they aren’t blb?

faraway look is my wip big bang! i started it in 2020, it’s an it (2017/2019) canon divergence , which is not normally my thing but i always wanted to come back to this idea and am super excited to finish and publish it soon

breathe in breathe through is a ygo gx fic! it’s several years postcanon and post-bbt, and in retrospect it was ummmm in direct response to some emotions and problems i was having re: grad school. but it’s an asuka (and asuka/jim) centric character study about like. what happens when you fall out of love with the thing you’ve spent your whole life doing

[rose-bookblood]

Fair!

I'm hella tired, so here you have a couple BBtS gang memes:

Trick 👻 or treat 🍬?

Since you got double treats... now you get a TRICK!

👻🎃

[mavsbbtfic]

Finally finished the good boy's desgin! Important notes- Can draw in either style lul he is S M O L. Keyhole shaped eyes KEY IN THE HAT'S BAND. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT FORGET THAT. THE KEY HAS A DIAMOND SHAPED RUBY. Long tail with feathers at end. Large Raven Like wings Long, Messy, Unkept hair 2 halos ONE GREEN, ONE RED. ALSO IMPORTANT DETAIL Scars on his front and back from HoneyKiss Crushing him During Pit People's ending. Dagger has a Barb and a Gem on it. 2 smol teef poking out.

[vinelark]

hi!! i love your writing, do you have any other fic recs? just caught up with bbts and it put me through agony (in the best way) <3

thank you so much! and hell yeah i do! here are a few little reclists i've put together previously:

timkon + extra timkon recs

reverse robins

dick & tim bonding fics

de-aged tim

core four

whumpy fics (multiple fandoms)

jason + lazarus effects

four assorted batfam recs

and you can check out my general fic rec tag for more posts/reblogs/some individual fic recs too!

and i'll toss in some recent fics i've loved:

we shall be free; we shall find peace by mediant (wip)

so much to say about this fic--the clark of it all! the kon! the absolute agony of every scene!--but i think the most telling thing is that every time it updates multiple groupchats/DMs just explode into action. read for prime clark kent pangs in a what-if au that's all the more painful for how close it comes to not being an au at all, except for everything clark has suffered. i'm so excited for eventual catharsis and in the meanwhile i'm enjoying the ride.

Fujiwhara Effect by byrambles

a great dick & jason oneshot set in the early days of jason joining the family, featuring a hurricane, an exploration of dick's insecurities, and the untimely demise of a white couch. i've been craving more early dick & jason fic lately and this delivered.

the fire under your feet by phnelt

a jason & tim & damian story that takes us on a different first-meeting journey for all three, in a story i read straight through start to finish. featuring a jason who can't help but care despite all reason--and outside influence--not to, a tim who is sharp and brilliant and as good at protecting others as he is bad at protecting himself, and a damian who is achingly young and desperate to love and trust those around him.

Never a Hero by iesika

in which jack drake is resurrected and used as a bargaining chip against his own son, except tim is, as always, five steps ahead of the game. a jack drake character study that hooked me way more than i expected--i loved this semi-outsider pov on tim and tim's crew, and this fumbling but sincere second chance at a father/son relationship they never really had.

[sundaynightnovels]

lu, whats your favorite thing to eat?

lu: that’s easy! did you think that was a difficult question? pffft. what’s difficult is giving me a multiple choice question with five options and expecting me to decide between the five of them! open-ended questions are easy!  zhen’s food, hands down. i don’t want to admit it so easily because we already give zhen too much praise for her food, but... yea. really! otherwise i like brown sugar milk tea. i like chewing on the bobas and tasting that warm sugary sweetness! 

[rose-bookblood]

Happy WBW!

How does the government system in your WIP work? What type is it (is it a monarchy, or theocracy, or democracy, etc), how are laws passed, how are new leaders/rulers chosen, how does the justice system operate, etc etc?

(Finally catching up with the asks in my inbox! You sent this probably like... a year ago??)

Happy WBW to you!

Gonna talk about the Elemental Republic in BBtS, since that's the one I've developed the most.

The Republic's government is a democracy based on its military and governed by a Council of 13 members, one for each element of bending. The Councilors are technically the highest-ranking officials, though they don't actively participate in the army life; they're more supervisors.

Between other high-ranking officials, there's a pool of possible candidates for the role of Councilor. When a Councilor dies or steps down, the remaining members draw a vote, keeping in mind any preference the ex-Councilor may have expressed.

Laws are formally submitted by the Council and then passed through a referendum. There's little need for broad laws regarding rights, though, since the Republic is free of discrimination. The propositions are often about minor tweaks for efficiency purpose, rather than what we're used to.

The Republic has a reformation justice system, so there aren't any prisons. No punishment, only education and social work to strengthen the connection to the community. Before the terrorist attacks in book one of BBtS, crime is at an all time low anyway, and the 'criminals' usually consist of, like... two dudes (gender neutral) who got into a fisticuffs or kids who stole apples from a fruit stand.

Thanks for the ask, Anna!