Chapters: 16/?
Fandom: RWBY
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Characters: Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee, Robyn Hill, Ruby Rose (RWBY), Raven Branwen, Emerald Sustrai, Fiona Thyme, May Marigold, Joanna Greenleaf, Winter Schnee (RWBY), Penny Polendina, James Ironwood
Additional Tags: Post-Volume 8 (RWBY), Inspired By It's a Wonderful Life (1946), What if?, What if Yang died at Beacon?, Alternate Universe, LITERALLY, Yang Ends Up in a Alternative Universe, Pre-Relationship, Yangst, Hurt/Comfort, Blake Belladonna Needs a Hug, Ruby Rose (RWBY) Needs a Hug, Weiss Schnee Needs a Hug, Bumbleby Week 2026 (RWBY), Day 7 - AU
Series: Part 15 of Bumbleby AU Fics, Part 7 of Bumbleby Week 2026
Summary:
Don't. Fall.
OR
An AU where Yang falls into the void in Volume 8 and ends up in an alternate dimension where she died at Beacon
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: RWBY
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Characters: Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee, Ruby Rose (RWBY)
Additional Tags: First Meetings, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, Fluff, Bumbleby Week 2026 (RWBY), Day 5 - Soulmates
Series: Part 5 of Bumbleby Week 2026
Summary:
Blake sighed.
Adam had been the one to convince her to get a S-watch, which was supposed to count down until the moment you meant your soulmate. He had been so sure, but when both of their watch screens remained blank they knew.
OR
Blake has a soulmate watch, spending years looking at its blank screen, hoping for her soulmates when a blonde woman makes her question everything.
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: RWBY
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Characters: Kali Belladonna, Ghira Belladonna, Ilia Amitola
Additional Tags: Established Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Vacuo (RWBY), Volume 10 (RWBY), Ghira is still NOT happy, Mistaken for Being in a Relationship, Troll Kali Belladonna, Bumbleby Week 2026 (RWBY), Day 3 - Shovel Talk
Series: Part 3 of Bumbleby Week 2026
Summary:
On the journey to Vacuo, Kali tried to talk to her husband...
Ghira growled as he paced, ignoring Kali's pleas for reason. "Gonna bury him six feet deep..."
...unsuccessfully.
OR
While Ghira fumes after assuming Sun and Blake are dating, Kali talks to her Vacuoan contact, Ilia.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: RWBY
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Characters: Blake Belladonna, Sun Wukong (RWBY), Kali Belladonna, Ghira Belladonna
Additional Tags: Established Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Vacuo (RWBY), Volume 10 (RWBY), Bumbleby Week 2026 (RWBY), Day 2 - Fake Dating, More like Mistaken Dating, Ghira is NOT happy
Series: Part 2 of Bumbleby Week 2026
Summary:
"Sun, has anyone been in contact with my parents?" Blake asked worriedly.
"So, about that..." Sun stalled.
OR
Blake contacts her parents to let them know she's alive, and her parents come to a certain mistaken conclusion.
Day 1, March 23rd: Physical Intimacy
Day 2, March 24th: Fake Dating
Day 3, March 25th: Shovel Talk
Day 4, March 26th: Relationship Reveal
Day 5, March 27th: Soulmates/ Reincarnation
Day 6, March 28th: Meet The Parents
Day 7, March 29th: AU Day
Day 8, March 30th: Bonus/ VA Appreciation Day
Primary tags will be #bumblebyweek and #bumblebyweek2026 but we'll also make sure to keep an eye out for other variants! Like usual we'll explain this a bit more once the date of the event gets closer so don't worry if it doesn't quite make sense just yet!
If there are any question feel free to check out our Q&A or send us an ask! We're always happy to clarify anything so don't be afraid to reach out!
I plan on doing this and completing my current multi-chapter BY fic (work should be chilling out by the end of the month, so hopefully more time for writing).
Day 1, March 23rd: Physical Intimacy
Day 2, March 24th: Fake Dating
Day 3, March 25th: Shovel Talk
Day 4, March 26th: Relationship Reveal
Day 5, March 27th: Soulmates/ Reincarnation
Day 6, March 28th: Meet The Parents
Day 7, March 29th: AU Day
Day 8, March 30th: Bonus/ VA Appreciation Day
Primary tags will be #bumblebyweek and #bumblebyweek2026 but we'll also make sure to keep an eye out for other variants! Like usual we'll explain this a bit more once the date of the event gets closer so don't worry if it doesn't quite make sense just yet!
If there are any question feel free to check out our Q&A or send us an ask! We're always happy to clarify anything so don't be afraid to reach out!
Chapters: 14/?
Fandom: RWBY
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Characters: Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee, Robyn Hill, Ruby Rose (RWBY), Raven Branwen, Emerald Sustrai, Fiona Thyme, May Marigold, Joanna Greenleaf, Winter Schnee (RWBY), Penny Polendina, James Ironwood
Additional Tags: Post-Volume 8 (RWBY), Inspired By It's a Wonderful Life (1946), What if?, What if Yang died at Beacon?, Alternate Universe, LITERALLY, Yang Ends Up in a Alternative Universe, Pre-Relationship, Yangst, Hurt/Comfort, Blake Belladonna Needs a Hug, Ruby Rose (RWBY) Needs a Hug, Weiss Schnee Needs a Hug
Series: Part 15 of Bumbleby AU Fics
Summary:
Don't. Fall.
OR
An AU where Yang falls into the void in Volume 8 and ends up in an alternate dimension where she died at Beacon
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: RWBY
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose & Yang Xiao Long
Characters: Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose (RWBY)
Additional Tags: Established Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Volume 10 (RWBY), Angst with a Happy Ending, Sister-Sister Relationship, Self Sacrificing Tendencies, Ruby Rose (RWBY) Needs a Hug, Yang Xiao Long Needs a Hug, Blake Belladonna Needs a Hug, Everyone Needs A Hug
Series: Part 12 of RWBY Volume 10
Summary:
Blake entered the team room and found it empty. She perked her ears up and heard Ruby and Yang's voices coming from Ruby and Weiss' shared bedroom. She headed closer to let the sisters know she was back, her fist raised to knock
" - I can't watch you die again, Ruby." Yang said, in a tone in which Blake knew her girlfriend was fighting tears.
OR
Blake overhears a heartfelt talk between Ruby and Yang and struggles with her own thoughts about Yang's self sacrificing tendencies
Chapters: 9/?
Fandom: RWBY
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Characters: Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee, Robyn Hill, Ruby Rose (RWBY)
Additional Tags: Post-Volume 8 (RWBY), Inspired By It's a Wonderful Life (1946), What if?, What if Yang died at Beacon?, Alternate Universe, LITERALLY, Yang Ends Up in a Alternative Universe, Pre-Relationship, Yangst, Hurt/Comfort, Blake Belladonna Needs a Hug, Ruby Rose (RWBY) Needs a Hug, Weiss Schnee Needs a Hug
Series: Part 15 of Bumbleby AU Fics
Summary:
Don't. Fall.
OR
An AU where Yang falls into the void in Volume 8 and ends up in an alternate dimension where she died at Beacon
Not that I should have to waste time on this, but there was a comment on my recent fic (most likely a bot since it didn’t say anything specific about my fic - already marked it as spam) that my fic is AI generated. It’s not. I hand write all my fics so I have the receipts. I hate generative AI with a burning passion and never use it for anything, since it’s nothing I want to promote. Plus it’s the creative arts which make humans humans, and AI generated slop cannot touch that humanity.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 5/?
Fandom: RWBY
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Characters: Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee, Robyn Hill
Additional Tags: Post-Volume 8 (RWBY), Inspired By It's a Wonderful Life (1946), What if?, What if Yang died at Beacon?, Alternate Universe, LITERALLY, Yang Ends Up in a Alternative Universe, Pre-Relationship
Series: Part 15 of Bumbleby AU Fics
Summary:
Don't. Fall.
OR
An AU where Yang falls into the void in Volume 8 and ends up in an alternate dimension where she died at Beacon
Chapters: 2/?
Fandom: RWBY
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Characters: Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna
Additional Tags: Post-Volume 8 (RWBY), Inspired By It's a Wonderful Life (1946), What if?, What if Yang died at Beacon?, Alternate Universe, LITERALLY, Yang Ends Up in a Alternative Universe, Pre-Relationship
Series: Part 15 of Bumbleby AU Fics
Summary:
Don't. Fall.
OR
An AU where Yang falls into the void in Volume 8 and ends up in an alternate dimension where she died at Beacon
I was tagged by @else-creates on his tag game (thanks for the tag and rec for my fic Finally Alone Together!)
If you want to do this, consider yourself tagged! I've tagged those whose fics I recommended, but no pressure or obligation to do this.
Here's the rules:
I wanna see what everyone's been reading this last year so, if you're tagged then reblog with your own list and tag some people you're curious about.
It might end up being a good way to get book/comic/fic recs.
I threw the rules out and decided against reblogging, and tagged and linked to else-creates' post instead, because he has been thorough and has a long list of recs, so rather than make it an even longer post my list is a separate post. Sorry! Do go read his post, there's interesting things on it, many of which are new to me.
My list is below, mostly rereading things (abridged to recommended highlights because I don't have the energy to list everything I read in 2025, roughly in order of reading, not in order of preference):
Fanfic: (RWBY fics, and almost all Bumbleby because the Bees have a death grip on me, mostly rated M or E, I'm considerably over 18 and these reflect that)
@lucytara's AKA explosivesky's fics (if I had to rec a single fic it'd be let you see my wilder side (if i can see your bones - a simply fantastic rock star/movie star modern AU, this would be a comfort read if not for Adam crashing the party and the consequences of that, ow. Fortunately there's a happy ending and I keep coming back to reread)
@kienava's fics (my top pick being Crash Landing, one of the funniest fics I've had the pleasure of reading, and the reading equivalent of comfort food for me)
@citadelofmythoughts's fics (particularly The Golden Knight, The Hour Of The Wolf, and Time Enough For Love, intriguing canon divergence with fluff and angst. I haven't read her longest fic SREN yet but I'm sure I'll love it when I do)
@thornwoodposts AKA Thornwood's fics (I can't pick a single fav, there's too many to choose from! So many short and sweet Bees fics, fluff and angst, and hurt/comfort)
NotALinguist's fics have such a great Raven, but everyone else is handled wonderfully too: the rest of Team STRQ and Yang and Ruby, and what we see of Weiss and Blake (they're not the focus). If you've ever wondered what would happen if Yang and Ruby had to spend time with Raven, read on.
lescousinsdangereux's fics (especially when I dream of dying I never feel so loved, the best time loop AU I've read, prepare for a lot of temporary character death, most of all Yang's but others too, very much a happy ending)
A Different Shade of RWBY: Volume 3 by @electronicyarn (I recommend the whole series but I didn't get around to rereading the first two fics, fair warning that the Bees have a break up but there is a promised reconciliation and happy ending ahead)
Shameless self pimp for my own fics, because I reread them too. The only snag is the mortification of occasionally spotting typos I missed when editing. That and the author doesn't update nearly enough.
(My fics are locked to registered users on AO3, no thanks to gen AI thieving bots. Feel free to send me an ask if you'd like an invite to register for an AO3 account)
(If I read your fic and didn't rec it here that doesn't mean I didn't like it, it means I forgot - my memory issues played up. They do that. I very much hate it when it happens. There's also a lot of fics I haven't got around to reading yet because writing my own restricts how much time I have to read. Would I have more time to read fics if I didn't reread any? Maybe, but the heart wants what it wants. Fav fics I've read before are also easier to read than a new one, like the equivalent of a comfy old pair of slippers)
Now on to non-RWBY stuff:
Audiobooks: (most books I read are audiobooks because I can listen to them while doing something else, like washing up):
Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (unabridged), I'm not terribly fond of Rincewind, but even the books with him have their moments, and I love all of the others, especially those with the witches.
Nation by Terry Pratchett (unabridged), unrelated to Discworld, but very much recommended. I've read it before, but it punched me even harder in the feels this time around. Prepare for themes on death, grief, and life through the eyes of a boy and a girl on the cusp of adulthood, from very different cultures, an alternate history novel set about 150 years ago. In the author's words from 2009: "I believe that Nation is the best book I have ever written, or will write." Much as I love most of the Discworld books, I'm inclined to agree with the great Pterry.
The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells (unabridged), despite the title Murderbot actually tries to keep its human friends alive against all odds, which does admittedly involve some murdering but they always had it coming. Great fun, looking forward to when the next in the series comes out.
Magica Riot by Kara Buchanan (unabridged), currently listening to the sequel Magica Riot: Full Bloom, both feel good and great fun adventures starring a trans magical girl joining a band of magical girls and saving the world with them.
The Silmarillion (unabridged), The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings (both dramatised and abridged) by JRR Tolkien. I have the unabridged versions too but was in the mood for the dramatisations. I listen to these every year, either the dramatisations or the unabridged ones, and always enjoy them. The Silmarillion is perhaps an acquired taste because it is a bit dry in places, but I enjoy it just as much as the Hobbit and LotR. It's just more like myths and legends than they are.
The Golden Fleece by Robert Graves (unabridged), I've never heard such a thorough retelling of this Greek myth, which includes several others. Atalanta and Medea steal the show imho, and Orpheus is worth his weight in gold too, if not more. Jason is the worst, at least sometimes, but nothing new there.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: RWBY
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Ghira Belladonna/Kali Belladonna, Raven Branwen/Taiyang Xiao Long (past)
Characters: Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, Ghira Belladonna, Kali Belladonna, Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen, Weiss Schnee, Ruby Rose (RWBY)
Additional Tags: Established Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Holidays, Father-Daughter Relationship, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Family Drama, Marriage Proposal, Future Fic, Post-Canon, Good Parent Kali Belladonna, Good Parent Ghira Belladonna, Raven Branwen Tries, So Does Tai, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long in Love
Series: Part 11 of Bumbleby Future Fics
Summary:
As it got closer to the grand holiday festivities, Ghira noticed his daughter's girlfriend seemed a bit more restless than normal. "Blake?" he asked.
"Yeah, Dad?"
"Is it me, or is Yang acting...not like herself?"
OR
The Belladonnas host the holidays and while Blake plans to propose to Yang in front of their families, Kali and Ghira work to ensure Raven and Tai don't mess it up for them
