#art heist! at the opera

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

well rip to this guy

[hragon]

Dahlia has had a truly wild 36 hours

[outlawnights]

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/outlaw-nights-issue-1-second-chance/coming_soon#/preview

My favorite page. It encapsulating the essence of Outlaw Nights.

Cyrus Lawson is caught up in the underworld of the 31st century. Can he survive a pirate assault? What are they seeking in a remote colony?!

[jojotier]

okay but how do you actually work on them all? do you have a timeline, a plan, or ??

i mean, i do have a timeline for like near future stuff- I've been working on the comic Beasts Without Burden with Terra, as well as some short stories (In God's Eye, Marrion's Wives) and my sci-fi utopian novella, and a Secret 5th Project- but I don't have a timeline for everything else! That comes when I have time to actually devote to writing them and expanding beyond the research/worldbuilding stage

pretty much, the trick to working on all these ideas at once is this- if you're falling into research rabbit holes that might be useful, or if you read or watch or play something even tangentially related to your idea, or if you even Think about it, you're working on the project!

[incorrectbatfam]

The BatFam wants to help Tim have a good date with Benard. What do each of them suggest

Dick: couple's clown camp

Jason: a prison break

Damian: a rattlesnake petting zoo

Duke: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Cullen: pulling a D.B. Cooper

Stephanie: a pie-eating contest

Cassandra: washing her bike

Barbara: a 5-hour opera

Harper: White Castle

Carrie: doing her homework

Kate: a cabin in the middle of nowhere

Alfred: running his errands

Selina: an art heist

Bruce: surveying a crime scene

[shivunin]

💠Alternate Universes💠

A list of AUs intended for writing/art prompts. Tried to keep it general/open to interpretation as much as possible. Thank you to everyone who sent in ideas! (plus bonus Dragon Age-specific AUs at the end, as this is a DA blog c:) Send a number and I will write a short AU about:

Rival market stalls

Fairytale

Post-apocalypse

Pirates

Cowboys/western

Spies/assassins

Gaslamp fantasy

Murder mystery

Cyberpunk

Soulmates 

Gothic horror (or romance)

Space travel/opera

Roommates/neighbors

Mermaids

Urban fantasy/paranormal (werewolves, vampires, ghosts, paranormal investigators, etc.)

Courtly/medieval

Noir/Private Investigator

Heist

Circus/carnival

Period (specify which time period)

Time Loop/time travel

Dragon Age-specific AUs:  (MC refers to the Warden, Hawke, or the Inquisitor)

22. The MC as a different class (mage/warrior/rogue)

23. The event(s) that led to the Warden’s recruitment never happened 

24. Companion AU (MC as a companion instead of the protagonist)

25. Different choice taken for a major plot decision (i.e. Harrowmont vs Bhelen, Hawke vs Stroud left in the Fade, etc.)

26. The game is actually a tabletop campaign (D&D etc.) your MC and companions are playing together

[hdowlpost]

Masterlist of the 2023 @hdowlpost Winter Gift Exchange - Part Two -

Poems

@apricity wrote Fine Boning (G | poem) for @drarrymheart

@DrarryMyHeart wrote The Date (G | poem, limericks) for @moonpeachh

@jadewritergirl wrote I Wish (G | poem) for @wilfriede0815

@KatIsSleeping wrote If You Only Knew (not rated | poem) for @darkravenwrote

Collabs

@inspiredbeing, @moonpeachh, @mars-bar81, @dodgerkedavra and @vaysh wrote wrote Everything in Its Place (G | 7608 words) for @flightinflame

Fic

@apricity wrote You're My Present This Year (PG | 1897 words) for @anaxandria

@azure26 wrote [Owl 1] Knightprince and poem (R | 943 words) for @sitaz

@azure26 wrote [Owl 2] Incendium and poem (G | 697 words) for @smirkingharlequin

@azure26 wrote [Owl 3] Fools Rush In and a Poem (R | 1161 words) for @vaysh

@darkravenwrote wrote The Mystery of the Missing Missive (G | 1830 words) for @threading_fate

@drarrymyheart created Warmth is Where Your Heart Is (NC-17 | 2321 words) for @darkravenwrote

@drarrymyheart wrote Hold Me Close (NC-17 | 6425 words) for @mars-bar81

@drarrymyheart wrote Never Have I Ever Thought That You Might Want Me, Too (NC-17 | 8244 words ) for @stargazing_enby

@DrWhoIsGinnyHolmes wrote A Sight Unseen (NC-17 | 1572 words) for @meowfoy

@DrWhoIsGinnyHolmes wrote The Casualties of Mating (NC-17 | 2147 words) for @pheaphilus

@DrWhoIsGinnyHolmes wrote (I'm Stuck) 'Cause Your Love Has Tamed the Devil Out of Me (R | 2976 words) for @retiredunicorn

@dodgerkedavra wrote The Snowman (R | 3441 words) for @drarrymyheart

@dodgerkedavra wrote Get What You Knead (NC-17 | 7515 words) for @meowfoy

@flightinflame wrote Take my hand and drag me head first (PG | 3201 words) for @legendrarry

@flightinflame wrote Visions of Sugar Plums (G | 6422 words) for @ladderofyears

@flightinflame wrote Reach Toward (PG | 4969 words) for @maraudersaffair

@flightinflame wrote Materials Provided (PG | 1085 words) for @smirkingharlequin

@inheartofwinter wrote Kreacher's Matchmaking Journal (R | 5087 words) for @KatIsSleeping

@inheartofwinter wrote Will You Marry Me? (R | 5804 words) for @mars-bar81

@inspired_being wrote Carols, a Blanket and a Soft Landing (G | 6073 words) for @jadewritergirl

@inspired_being wrote Promising Baker (PG | 2020 words) for @littlewinnow

@inspired_being wrote A Missing Mug and Mysterious Memos (G | 800 words) for @uncanny_cerulean

@jadewritergirl wrote Drowning in Changing Tides (R | 3103 words) for @azure26

@jadewritergirl wrote The Very Bad, Terrible, Awful, Impossible Idea (G | 5720 words) for @legendrarry

@jadewritergirl wrote The Best Laid Plans (G | 2396 words) for @mars-bar81

@KatIsSleeping wrote Know Me Again (G | 500 word drabble) for @bererjs

@KatIsSleeping wrote You're the Glow in a Priceless Work of Art (G | 1750 words) for @inspired-being

@ladderofyears wrote The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year (G | 3570 words) for @littlewinnow

@ladderofyears wrote Family before Tradition (PG | 4430 words) for @queenie-jinny

@ladderofyears wrote Night at the Opera (G | 2021 words) for @threading_fate

@maraudersaffair wrote The Baby is Yours (NC-17 | 2513 words) for @anaxandria

@maraudersaffair wrote I Want You to Be Mine, Harry (NC-17 | 1084 words) for @dodgerkedavra

@maraudersaffair wrote To: Charlie | From: Harry and Draco (NC-17 | 2329 words) for @DrWhoIsGinnyHolmes

@maraudersaffair wrote A Christmas in Heat (NC-17 | 3692 words) for @kitty_fic

@maraudersaffair wrote A Meeting with Professor Potter (NC-17 | 3525 words) for @themightyflynn

@mars-bar81 wrote The Warming Charm Extravaganza (G | 1919 words) for @inheartofwinter

@mars-bar81 wrote High flying Love (G | 2715 words) for @lumosatnight

@mars-bar81 wrote A deer, a dream, and a hot chocolate heist (G | 1578 words) for @moonpeachh

@meowfoy wrote Perfect Jacket (PG | 1526 words ) for @bererjs

@meowfoy wrote We Get By With a Little Help From Amortentia (NC-17 | 4610 words) for @retiredunicorn

@moonpeachh wrote Do It Yourself (PG | 1156 words) for @littlewinnow

@moonpeachh wrote From Antarctica, Love Draco (R | 2308 words) for @uncanny_cerulean

@pheaphilus wrote A Hand To Hold (in the dark) (PG | 5109 words) for @apricitydays-lazynights

@pheaphilus wrote Say It Out Loud (NC-17 | 11334 words) for @starquestingfordrarry

@porcelainheart wrote Malfoy Knows Best (NC-17 | 4200 words ) for @starquestingfordrarry

@queeniejinny wrote An accidental courtship (NC-17 | 6504 words) for @peachydreamxx

@sitaz wrote Krampusnacht (PG | 9058 words) for @darkravenwrote

@sitaz wrote That Which Remains (PG | 2538 words) for @hdowlpost community

@smirkingharlequin wrote The Secret (PG | 1685 words) for @azure26

@starquestingfordrarry created Of easy wind and downy flake (NC-17 | 14194 ) for @ItsPhantasmagoria

@starquestingfordrarry wrote Strange Entanglements (the particles of us) (NC-17 | 15319 words) for @wilfriede0815

@themightyflynn wrote An Unexpected Santa (NC-17 | 4025 words) for @porcelainheart

@themightyflynn wrote The Pale Ferret Café (G | 3778 words) for @peachydreamxx

@threading_fate wrote Love to be Sought (G | 2843 words) for @retiredunicorn

@uncanny-cerulean wrote First Frost (PG | 4767 words) for @digtheshipper

@uncanny-cerulean wrote Roots and All (PG | 10203 words) for @ItsPhantasmagoria

@XxTheDarkLordxX created The Scent of You (Inside me) (NC-17 | 9630 words) for @azure26

All gifts have been de-anoned on AO3. ♥ Creators' names will be added to the LJ posts in the next week. Many creators have different names across fandom platforms; we chose the name we know you by best (except Logan :)). If you'd like your name changed in this post, just let us know. ♥ If you see any mistakes, dead links or entries we may have missed, please let us know in comments or email us.

[chayscribbles]

THE GEMINI HEIST ☆ a novel by Chay Luna

it’s a job that will take trickery... and trust.

GENRE: adult; space opera; heist

THEMES & TROPES: trust. betrayal. a hint of cyberpunk. be gay do crime (in space). oops! all queer women. crewmates to almost-lovers to rivals to ???. Cain and Abel levels of sibling rivalry. idiots to lovers. intergenerational cycles of hurt. daddy AND mommy issues. not the healthiest relationships. if you’re looking for wholesome found family content, you won’t find it here. maybe i had a little too much fun giving everyone tragic backstories.

WARNINGS: to be updated.

SYNOPSIS:

In the lawless expanse of the open stars, Captain Leo Callisto of the Sirens, a crew of thieves and smugglers, is struggling to make ends meet and keep her star ship afloat after the crew’s spy, Zeya, double-crossed her and led most of the crew to desert. With only two loyal but inexperienced people-- anxious and naive mechanomedic Gabi and brawny but impulsive Euna-- opting to stay, the jobs they can take are few and pay little, and Leo’s reputation as a leader is waning.

So when a reclusive, eccentric art collector offers her a ridiculous sum to steal a valuable statuette from a powerful oligarch family, Leo is up for the challenge. With the reluctant help of runaway heir Illiana, the remaining Sirens gear up for their toughest job yet: infiltrating the highly-guarded House of Dyonas.

But with secrets being kept, trust rapidly dissolving, and old enemies resurfacing to pick at still-fresh wounds, they’re going to need more than their skills and wits to get out of there with their prize.

CHARACTERS:

Leo Callisto. 28. she/her. captain of the Siren with a fortune to make and a grudge to settle.

Gabriola “Gabi” Franco. 21. she/her. rookie mechanomedic for the Siren who’s been exiled from her home planet.

Euna Li. 24. she/her. the muscle for the Siren crew who’s struggling to pay off a very expensive cybernetic arm.

Illiana Dyonas. 23. she/her. runaway heir of a powerful family caught up in a nasty sibling spat.

Zeya Kade. 27. she/her. former spy for the Siren crew gone rogue.

LINKS: wip tag | wip page | character intros | excerpts | to be updated

[anhed-nia]

I finally finished reading The Phantom of the Opera, which is a total mess and often mind-numbing, but one of its main crimes involves this device I often see in pulp fiction that's sort of curious. Gaston Leroux has a lot of trouble figuring out what you can just summarize versus what you need to describe in detail, and when you should do those things. For instance:

The Phantom's main demand is that the opera's resident diva should make way for Christine. He also wants a dedicated box, and an allowance of $20,000. The managers are skeptical of the widely-believed rumor that the Phantom is a real ghost (because why would a ghost need money?), and assume someone is scamming them. They ignore the Phantom's demands, which incurs an act of violence--and that's the whole narrative purpose of these guys, to provoke the Phantom one time so we can tell he means business. And the main thing is Christine, who is the center of the entire plot; the money part is so inconsequential that it doesn't even make it into most adaptations. It's not as if the Phantom specifically needs money For Something, and also the managers aren't in danger of bankruptcy or whatever. When you take the money out of the story, it continues to function in exactly the same way, this is really not a load-bearing issue.

However, what happens is that in the third act when Christine is mysteriously kidnapped out of the middle of a performance and you feel like FINALLY something exciting is going to happen, suddenly we're forced to rewind an hour or two so we can spend time with the managers who are having a complicated conversation about the Phantom's allowance and also still debating whether the Phantom is real. At this point I know the Phantom is real, Christine knows, her stupid not-boyfriend Raoul knows, and the only thing that really matters is saving Christine and hopefully having some kind of thrilling final showdown (which doesn't happen btw)...but we're stuck with these two pointless characters who spend literally around 20 pages arguing about how it is that the Phantom's allowance is conveyed to him. Like what's the method of administration there. It's incredibly uninteresting and doesn't serve the plot really at all. And at the very end of the book the Phantom gives back all the money, so it turns out that we didn't even need to spend time on this idea in the first place.

BUT we are not done with this topic. During the epilogue the narrator, who has been aggregating all this testimony about the Phantom debacle, goes back to one of the survivors and asks him how the money moves around, and there's this extremely dull description of exactly how the Phantom was able to creep around everywhere--something we already take for granted about him by now--and then there is even further discussion of how the Phantom gave all the money back, which affects nothing. Also in the epilogue is a brief summary of the Phantom's actually-interesting backstory of being a carnival freak and an ingenious polymath who learned the art of villainy from a sadistic sultan's daughter--like oh my god, why is this not in the main story where the 20 pages of money talk is just taking up space and slowing everything down?? But that's the kind of thing that Gaston Leroux thinks is not that cool and he can just casually shove it up the ass end of the story to check a box.

What this made me think about, besides how bad the book is despite the story's enduring popularity, is that there's kind of a thing in pulp writing where MONEY just becomes involved for its own sake. And let me be more specific, because I realize that money is a common motivator of many kinds of genre plots: Heists are a whole subgenre, terrorists in action movies usually want money, money is essential to any mob-related story, and actually there was a whole rash of "recession horror" movies in the last 10-15 years (think KNIVES OUT). But often when you're reading a horror novel, or something like that where the main plot is not finance-related, it happens that the hero experiences a huge windfall or discovers a major stash, and it can be a convenience to explain how they get from Point A to Point B, but it often feels like it's just there for the thrill of it. When we think about the exploitation elements of genre storytelling, we usually think about scenes of "gratuitous" sex and violence that mainly exist to provide titillation and catharsis, but I think there is a kind of pornography of money that sometimes enters the picture for the same reasons. In the (awful) Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series, Lisbeth's ability to steal is indulged with great interest, but it isn't just about the thrill of the caper or its effects on the bad guys; there are quite long (and strangely sort of good) stretches that just involve Lisbeth alone administrating her hoard, shopping, looking at apartments, taking little trips, etc. They're just languorous descriptions of what it would be like to have money, designed to inspire a sense of desire and pleasure in the reader that isn't much related to the story. Knowing that author Stieg Larsson had been a broke journalist who ate nothing but McDonald's all the time seems to explain this to some degree. I'm sure there are also examples of this in the work of Stephen King, who grew up without indoor plumbing for a time. Not that you need to have been dirt poor to understand the pornography of money, but I'm sure it helps. I wish I could think of more concrete examples, I just know it's very familiar. If you read any amount of genre fiction, you've probably thought of some yourself.

[elphael]

A FURTHER EXPLANATION OF MY DMING PHILOSOPHY

I made a post earlier that was titled something like "anyways here's how to be a good DM" and I never really fully explained the points I made and what that looks like for me when planning and prepping a game. Now that my current short game is mostly through and most of the big reveals have dropped, I'm happy to use it as an explanation for this because I think it's a good example of it on a small scale.

"Give your players a clear idea of the game you want to run and make sure people are on the same page."

What I mean by this is it all comes down to how you present your game. I'm going to be using my three-part heist game. What I did to make sure my group were on the same page was I gave them the following information:

I wanted the game to be split into three parts, the set up to the heist, the heist itself, and the complication / resolution. 

I asked them what sort of heist theme they wanted to do, if their characters had pre-established relationships? What type of item did they want to steal? What atmosphere did they wanted to heist in? And my party settled on stealing a significant item from a semi-public function and that their characters loosely knew of each other. 

I told them about our setting, a floral, horticultural themed city inspired by Italian and Spanish architecture (which also means partially inspired by Al-Andalusian architecture bc nothing in the world is in a vacuum lmao) and with a huge theater/opera scene that is largely only available to the upper class. 

I gave them my house rules for character creation to get them started on the mechanical side

This last one came halfway through me figuring out the plot / partway through they had figured out the character concepts they wanted to pursue but I gave them a more detailed premise of what the heist would be from an in-world perspective and how their character was going to be connected to it. (Imgur Link Here)

Then I set them loose and let them start coming up with character concepts and figuring out how to tie them to the setting and how they influence what the plot will be. Which leads us to-

"Create a situation and put your players in that situation, watch what they do to resolve it, and repeat the process based on what they do."

This doesn't speak to how you build things gradually leading up to a larger plot, but this is how I approach short games, one shots, or the arcs in my long game. I would also say you want to make the situation you're creating connect to the characters in some way whether it's in a plot way or an emotional stakes way.  

My players for the heist game settled on:

A) a down on his luck mafia goon who was being blackmailed by his mafia don using the pc's niece, who he couldn't raise on his own and has no clue she's a bargaining chip because she's grown up in that situation. she's also goth but that's irrelevant.

B) an accomplished but now retired thief who has become an art restorer and still mingles within high society, but worries about his adopted sibling who is still plotting and scheming even after a terrible injury that took her out of the game temporarily.

C) a graduate of an arcane university whose student loans are the reason they've turned to crime, with an unusual connection to a quori adrift in space that is the literal embodiment of the dream of recognition. 

D) a courtesan by 'day' / assassin by 'night, who has fallen in love with the governor's wife, who is both her patron and her patron.

These concepts are what helped me flesh out the heist premise that I ended up giving to them (its in that imgur link above) and helped me start to realize how I wanted to thread things together. As soon as I knew that B had a storied history, I wanted to make that NPC important and ended up making them the plot device and person who got the party together for the heist. When I knew D wanted to have an important archmage patron and was determining what sort of event I wanted them to steal from, something just clicked into place for political race and having her NPC be the governor's wife. I wanted to connect C and the governor's wife via the type of magic they use so they're both connected to the lost planet of aberrations. And then of course, the mafia's going to be involved and have some hand in trying to rig the election for A. 

What this led to was a gala where the following things are going to happen which the party cannot control and could change the course of their plan and how they do the heist:

the governor is going to be assassinated by someone hired by the mafia (revealed to be. a courtesan/assassin bc somehow one of my players sniped an NPC concept I came up with 4 years ago when i first went, huh i want to do a heist game in fantasy italy someday.) 

the mafia don and A's niece will be there

news flash, the special object is holding someone inside it and the party has no clue who or what yet

the ticking pressure of if they'll even be able to make it out with the catastrophic complications, and where their ally, B's sibling is... 

So yeah, that's how I set up a game and a situation. I like to build ways for my players to be connected to the scenario and have a personal stake in it even if it isn't explicitly About Them. They all still get to have great beats that are important to their characters and things to pursue within the structure of the plot and I find that it works well and I recommend the "put these guys in a situation" strategy for any DM that wants to feel like you're giving your players good boundaries to work within and also give them agency to propel the plot. 

I have no clue if my players will make it out of this situation with the rose or with all of their allies or how their interpersonal relationships will be affected, but that's okay. I'm reacting to their strategy and the dice rolls to bring them towards a resolution, whatever that resolution may be and they have the power to affect where they end up because I haven't decided an ending. I haven't assumed that they'll successfully get away with everything they want and everything perfectly resolved but I also haven't assumed they'll end up in jail or dead. It will be what it will be and I'm optimistic and excited to see what they do with the scenario!

Anyway, that's all. Put your guys in problems.

[mcytblraufest]

MCYTBLR AU FEST - The Gifts by the Numbers

How Many Gifts? 

Over the course of the event, we saw gifts delivered from 133 gifters, of which 24 were pinch hits. Some of these gifters gave multiple gifts, because you are all just incredibly dedicated!

What Gifts?

The most commonly given gift was writing, but we also saw a considerable amount of art, and a good amount of other types of gifts. 

Writing: 78 gifts

Art: 46 gifts

Web Weave: 12 gifts

Playlist: 8 gifts

Stimboard: 2 gifts

What AUs?

We had a LOT of different AUs. A number of the gifts were tagged with several different tags to properly sum them up, but still— just look at all the AUs!

Fantasy: 32 gifts

Modern: 21 gifts

Paranormal: 13 gifts

Science Fiction: 13 gifts

Crossover: 7 gifts

Magic: 6 gifts

Superheros: 6 gifts

Cyberpunk: 5 gifts

Dungeons & Dragons: 5 gifts

Gods and Goddesses: 5 gifts

High School: 5 gifts

Mob Hybrids: 4 gifts

Royalty: 4 gifts

Coffee shops & Cafes: 3 gifts

Different Ending: 3 gifts

Dimensional Travel: 3 gifts

Fae: 3 gifts

Mermaid: 3 gifts

Soulmates: 3 gifts

Urban Fantasy: 3 gifts

Werewolf: 3 gifts

Assassin: 2 gifts

College/University: 2 gifts

Family Dynamic: 2 gifts

Horror: 2 gifts

LOTR: 2 gifts

Mafia: 2 gifts

Magical Girls: 2 gifts

Mystery: 2 gifts

Phantom of the Opera: 2 gifts

Pirates: 2 gifts

Post-apocalyptic: 2 gifts

Prank War: 2 gift

Sports: 2 gifts

Theatre: 2 gifts

Time Travel: 2 gifts

Vampire: 2 gifts

Villains: 2 gifts

30000 leagues under the sea: 1 gift

Age of Sail: 1 gift

Apocalypse: 1 gift

Age Reversal: 1 gift

ARK: Survival Evolved: 1 gift

Bad Guys Won: 1 gift

The Breakfast Club: 1 gift

Canon Divergence: 1 gift

Circus: 1 gift

Cowboys: 1 gift

Cryptid: 1 gift

Dinosaurs: 1 gift

Dystopian: 1 gift

Fairy Tail: 1 gift

Farm/Ranch: 1 gift

Forest Spirit: 1 gift

Heist: 1 gift

Historical: 1 gift

Idols: 1 gift

Isekai: 1 gift

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: 1 gift

Mechanic: 1 gift

Minimum Wage: 1 gift

Monsters: 1 gift

Musuem: 1 gift

Over the Garden Wall: 1 gift

The Owl House: 1 gift

Pokemon: 1 gift

Prequel: 1 gift

Roller Blading: 1 gift

Raft: 1 gift

Robots: 1 gift

Road Trip: 1 gift

Room of Swords: 1 gift

Sacrifice: 1 gift

Science: 1 gift

Shapeshifter: 1 gift

Shop: 1 gift

Slime Rancher: 1 gift

Small town: 1 gift

Soul Reapers: 1 gift

Space: 1 gift

Space Opera: 1 gift

Speedrunning: 1 gift

Spies and Secret Agents: 1 gift

StarCraft: 1 gift

Summer Camp: 1 gift

Supernatural: 1 gift

Teacher: 1 gift

Tokyo Ghoul: 1 gift

Twitch Streamers: 1 gift

Vegas: 1 gift

Warlock: 1 gift

Warrior Cats: 1 gift

Winx: 1 gift

Witches: 1 gift

Wings: 1 gift

Zombie: 1 gift

What Servers?

As above, we had several crossovers! DSMP was the most popular server, but 3rd LIfe, Hermitcraft, Origins and Empires all made a good showing, and we had several smaller servers that people still made gifts for. 

DSMP: 85 gifts

3L/LL/DL: 23 gifts

Hermitcraft: 21 gifts

Origins: 21 gifts

Empires: 13 gifts

30 Day SMP: 2 gifts

Afterlife: 2 gifts

Mianite: 1 gift

MCSR: 1 gift

SMP Live: 1 gift

Vault Hunters: 1 gift

What Characters?

Who did people choose to put in AUs? Well TommyInnit, Ranboo, Tubbo, and Grian led the leaderboards, but there were a lot of different characters who had the spotlight, even if for a little bit. 

TommyInnit: 34 gifts

Ranboo: 31 gifts

Tubbo: 25 gifts

Grian: 24 gifts

Wilbur Soot: 23 gifts

Technoblade: 21 gifts

GoodTimesWithScar: 19 gifts

Philza: 19 gifts

Dream (tagged as Dreamwastaken): 15 gifts

Quackity: 15 gifts

Sapnap: 13 gifts

PearlescentMoon: 12 gifts

Charlie Slimecicle: 10 gifts

GeorgeNotFound: 10 gifts

Jschlatt: 10 gifts

Jimmy Solidarity: 10 gifts

Joel Smallishbeans: 9 gifts

Niki Nihachu: 8 gifts

Mumbo Jumbo: 8 gifts

Karl Jacobs: 7 gifts

Scott Smajor: 7 gifts

Fundy: 6 gifts

GeminiTay: 6 gifts

Rendog: 6 gifts

Awesamdude: 5 gifts

Ethoslab: 5 gifts

ImpulseSV: 5 gifts

LD Shadowlady: 5 gifts

Zombie Cleo: 5 gifts

Captain Sparkelz: 3 gifts

DocM77: 3 gifts

Eret: 3 gifts

fWhip: 3 gifts

Foolish Gamers: 3 gifts

Jack Manifold: 3 gifts

Jellie: 3 gifts

Joe Hills: 3 gifts

Martyn InTheLittleWood: 3 gifts

Purpled: 3 gifts

TangoTek: 3 gifts

Bdoubleo100: 2 gifts

Friend the Sheep: 2 gifts

Iskall: 2 gifts

Ghostbur: 2 gifts

MythicalSausage: 2 gifts

Ponk: 2 gifts

Sneegsnag: 2 gifts

Xornoth: 2 gifts

Zedaph: 2 gifts

Aimsey: 1 gift

Boatem: 1 gift

BadBoyHalo: 1 gift

Captain Puffy: 1 gift

Chat: 1 gift

Couriway: 1 gift

ConnorEatsPants: 1 gift

Dr. Renstein: 1 gift

Evil Xisuma: 1 gift

FalseSymmetry: 1 gift

Feinberg: 1 gift

Granola the Fox: 1 gift

Hannahxxrose: 1 gift

Hbomb94: 1 gift

Joey Graceffa: 1 gift

Katherine Elizabeth: 1 gift

iijerichoii: 1 gift

Ianite: 1 gift

Michael _Beloved: 1 gift

omgitsfirefox: 1 gift

PeteZahHutt: 1 gift

Pixlriffs: 1 gift

Poundcake: 1 gift

Punz: 1 gift

Renbob: 1 gift

Ranboo’s Mother: 1 gift

Sam Nook: 1 gift

Skizzleman: 1 gift

SynHD: 1 gift

StressMonster101: 1 gift

The Red King: 1 gift

TinaKitten: 1 gift

VintageBeef: 1 gift

Yogurt the Fox: 1 gift

Xisumavoid: 1 gift

Check out the blog for more of the art and playlists, and you can check out the Ao3 collection for the fics! (73 submitted fics on the Archive, of which four broke 20k, and one was a twine game!) Thank you all for participating, this was tons of fun. 

[grimescum-2]

andd all the notes for claudine under the cut!! same thing as last post, sorry if its bad i'm. so fucking eepy etc etc. NO moodboard for this bitch i already made one for her

claudine boutet

- confident, polite, showoff, theatrical, charismatic, witty, collected and hard to upset, a little snobby, jovial and upbeat

- formerly a street performer solely for the purpose of raising money for her poor family. slowly began to enjoy the attention it bought her and upping the ante of her shows in turn. was eventually offered work at a circus and began to work there as an acrobat in training. would sometimes stop to visit family and offer them around half of her earnings

- a vampire had snuck into the circus one day, killed the ringmaster, bit claudine (who had tried to stop them) and fled. she then took on the title of "ringmaster" to avenge the previous one and continue the circus in their honor. wishes to create "the best show on earth" for both the attention it'll bring, the honor it'll bestow upon the circus and the possibility of showing humans that not all vampires are inherently bad for a chance of being allowed back into society.

likes & hobbies

- the arts, black & white movies, swing, opera, ragtime, musicals and concerts, museums, cabaret, hollywood (or how its depicted in movies, anyway)

- reading: a good time waster and may provide inspiration for her show. greatly prefers reading in french and enjoys mystery and drama.

- practicing: greatly enjoys practicing her makeup, musical skills and acrobatics

- stealing: steals a variety of things from raw meat (generally anything with blood in it), clothing, mirrors, props, etc etc. ranges from full on heists to breaking and entering or just shoplifting

- collecting: enjoys collecting antiques. reminds her of when she was a human.

dislikes

- the closed-minded, the cowardly and the selfish. those who don't contribute to society and leech on others

- bad tastes in fashion, music and art

- people with no sense of humor

- lack of cleanliness or regard for appearance

- being embarrassed, being surpassed in terms of talent

- vampires who believe they are better than humans, humans who believe they are better than vampires

notes

- has a very "for the greater good" focused mindset. she's fine with committing certain crimes as long as they'll be beneficial to everyone in the long run. she views her circus as that, hence why she's willing to do so much for it

- lives in a traveling caravan she took from the circus. hangs in the outskirts of towns or in forests and regularly moves from place to place to avoid detection

- her home is technically the old, abandoned circus. she performs there and regularly checks in to make sure no one has broken in while she was gone

- her skill with disguises allows for her to blend into crowds with ease. she'll do this just to attend certain events she couldn't see otherwise, like concerts and such. she fits in particularly well at parties since she's great at convincing others that the fangs are part of her costume

- dropped out of school early to focus on training

- uses the little money she finds to support local artists

- doesn't really like feeding off of people. mostly because she doesn't like how barbaric and violent she has to be

- LOVES leaving hints and traces of her existence around for people to find, like ominous letters detailing her arrival or hand-made fliers for a circus with no set date.

- never targets the poor when she steals

- her signature instrument is the accordion and she'll carry it with her into fights

combat

- does NOT fight to kill under most circumstances. rather, she fights to put on a good show, and she'll intentionally drag the fight out and allow her opponent to land hits whenever it fits

- when she does fight to kill it's mainly to feed. even then, she offers a quick and painless death through whatever means are available

- dabbles in both long-range and short-ranged attacks. has a variety of weapons (and comedic props, like those "bang" flag guns) at her disposal

- focuses on avoiding attacks rather than engaging in battle. enjoys making her opponents frustrated with her games and antics

abilities, skills & weaknesses

- high speed and stamina

- low awareness of surroundings; too busy acting

- great reflexes when she does notice

- disguise: using makeup and wigs, she's very talented at disguising herself as someone else entirely

- acrobatics: decades of training in acrobatics and plenty more to perfect her skills

socializing & relationships

- very talkative, enjoys the company of others greatly

- talks in a near-constant speaking voice; loudly and clearly. may not recognize when she's being too loud

- exaggerated, wide movements. talks with her hands

- humbly brags whenever the conversation allows her to

- offers to do other's makeup or to help with an outfit

- gets along best with people who are good listeners

possible ideas

- draws a mustache on her makeup to resemble the former ringleader more

[outlawnights]

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/outlaw-nights-issue-1-second-chance/coming_soon#/preview

My name is Ben Fuselier. I am a writer from New Orleans. In 2019, I successfully crowdfunded Issue 1 of my space opera comic series Outlaw Nights. I am doing a second campaign to build up my readership and raise money to complete Issue 2.

Cyrus Lawson finds himself caught up in the underworld of the 31st century. Can he fend off a group of pirates? Why are they invading a remote settlement with no real value?!

[voidcricket]

it's me, hi

Hello again, tumblr! I'm Ren. I'm a writer of SFF, mainly of the space-flavoured variety with a side of heists, time shenanigans, & a lot of feelings!

I love old computers, book playlists, history & archaeology, cute stationery, weird mysteries, space science, chaotically drafting my books out of order, playing D&D, pondering about alternate universes, & designing things with too many fonts.

My debut sci-fi novel, Under Fortunate Stars, was published by Solaris in 2022. It's a space opera about accidental time travel, a history nerd to the rescue, and the perils of meeting your heroes. Just want news about UFS? You can follow @under-fortunate-stars, a sideblog where I'll only post updates related to the book. Here on my main blog you'll also find my general updates, writer life things, reblogs of art/fandom content, etc.

Thanks for coming along on this weird & wonderful journey! 🚀

[ramblings-from-the-ether]

Wuxia AU (Section 1: Introduction)

I imagined Giovanni serving Tang Yuan (汤圆, a traditional Chinese dessert of (sometimes colourful) glutinous rice balls served in hot broth) to his brothers (minions/boys) and now I have an AU setting.

Also, Happy Winter Solstice!

Inspired by old Kung Fu and Wuxia films from the 70s where:

Anything can be a weapon in the right hands

Anyone with enough training or experience can be a capable fighter

And, chivalrous heroes and sinister villains clash for treasures, ideals and fame.

Doesn't this sound a bit similar to Epithet Erased in some ways?

So here is an AU in which our midnight heist takes place in a grand temple hiding a treasure, with bandits and vagabonds behind every curtain, and a little girl trapped behind the closed gates. Also everyone is wearing some form of traditional Chinese clothing or clothing styles that originated in ancient China, and sometimes sing as in an opera.

Magic System

Instead of epithets and inscribed, anybody can harness Qi or supernatural powers through enough training and hardwork/grit. Our inscribed characters in this AU have these powers through years of experience using them, the luck to gain a boost (eating magic pills) or to be born with innate potential, or the unluck to be forced by fate to become stronger in order to overcome its machinations.

Characters

Molly

Pretty much the same with mostly aesthetic changes. Her powerset focuses on dispelling in order to control her older sister's with the opposite focus of creation. She has never wielded an actual weapon in her life.

Giovanni

Was once a good child who gained a passion in cooking to the point his skills are focused around making Soup and similar concoctions. Unfortunately he managed to read Water Margin and decided to become a bandit by joining the Yellow Scarfs (Banzai Blasters), a 'bandit' group more of a private criminal mercenary and highway robbery organisation.

Instead of baseball, in this AU Giovanni has a side skill in Da Tuolo (A Chinese whip and spinning top game) unmatched amongst his brothers (instead of 'boys' in this AU) and peers. Instead of the 13 combo effect, its now a 4 combo effect at the 'cost' of rarely using the whip as a weapon (It's his only one, plus he uses it for competitions. Furthermore he knows the pain of being hit with it by accidental self use or by others accidently hitting him with their whips during practice).

Sylvie

A young man (often mistaken for as a kid) from a pastoral family who studies and practices the analysis of Qi usage on the human body, as well as how to take care of it. A horn-hat wearing recluse who has more knowledge than his age suggests. Or at least, this is the story he tries to present...

His skillset focuses on pacification (useful for calming down animals and troublesome patients) with an odd ability of transforming into a bull monster as his 'dreamform' or something. He also has a large amount of magical trinkets and talismans as well as general knowledge of pressure points on the human body, these consist the majority of his arsenal in the event of a fight.

Mera

Born with an unusual amount of power, her magic tends to be rather unstable and constant usage can harm her. Her noble family could not provide a solution despite their wealth to aid her, and thus she left to travel the world with Indus to seek a remedy for her condition.

Her powerful abilities allows her to manipulate matter into a more fragile state like porcelain. She is rather tricky, and may use stealthy, disguised or unconventional weapons to catch her opponents off guard.

Indus

Same fellow as in canon Epithet Erased with the ability to create magical barriers. Only that he probably came from a nomadic clan in the west or north.

Percy

Either a former member of the imperial army or just born in a rather chivalrous martial arts clan, she serves the city guard with an honorable distinction.

She however, has a rather low stamina which regulates her to a support role, where she does her best to learn how to treat wounds, care for weaponry, and other skills a support role may need in the military.

Despite her low stamina, she is still a remarkable fighter nonetheless. Her weapons include the infamous Tamade Sword (他妈的剑！), and a pair of mirrors (one is semi-transparent while the other has a very bright reflection). Reflected light from the latter mirror can actual be used to revitalise one's face and skin; but when the former mirror is used to direct sunlight into the latter mirror, the resulting ray of reflected light can blind, scald and even burn anything it touches with enough exposure.

Ramsey

He has lived many schemes disguised as lives, but it seems his luck has run out, forcing him to be on the run. A former merchant, conman, and even a (albeit corrupt) governor; anything related to gold is his domain to rule if he gets the chance.

Speaking of gold, his skillset is focused around turning things into precious metals (though he prefers gold), he can even do this to himself to avoid physical harm.

Zora

Some say she served the Immortal Emperor when he was alive, while others say she was once a warlord who ruled over the far-flung steppes. Nevertheless, this mysterious and terrifying woman serves as mercenary and assassin for a shadowy faction that has plans to usurp the Mandate of Heaven.

Swords, traps, knives, bows, crossbows and flying guillotines may be her primary or secondary weapons. But her signature weapon is none other than a small water clock. No one has seen the use of such an odd contraption in the hands of a mercenary, much less its use as a weapon, and lived to tell the tale. Rumours say the waters of time drip and flow to her command, and from which she nourishes her seemingly unending youth.

Poor Vasemaker from the temple

Works in the temple to make, manage and take care of the vases there. Is also the artist behind the newest vase so beautiful as to be worth more gold than what the temple could afford. When Giovanni smashes a specific and rather intricate vase, this poor fellow wakes up and hops out of bed sobbing "My vases!" and "My life's work!" in the distance.

Meta Data: One of the first AUs we've made together. A setting centered AU inspired by the Wuxia genre. Pre-POP story.

Status: General character, location and plot redesigns made, little to no name changes. There are 2 world concepts (based on 2 similar AU concepts during early development that differed in cultural focus called 'Wuxia AU' & 'Silk Road AU', the former is the current basis of this AU).

[magicianapprenticelyra]

Actor AU: Season 5 [Portia Devorak]

Credit for the basis of the AU goes to both @lightvsdark18 and @lynmay-arcana.

[Original Link] | [Additional Link]

O*O*O

[Season 1: Nadia Satrinava] | [Season 2: Asra Alnazar] | [Season 3: Julian Devorak] | [Season 4: Muriel] | [Season 5: Portia Devorak]

Portia Devorak—Behind the Scenes & On Set Happenings/Shenanigans

[Six months after Season 4′s wrap-up, it was Portia’s time to shine. This would be the first time she’d be co-stars with her brother on a project like this. She knew of Lyra prior to The Arcana, thanks to Julian working with her in the past. Still, she didn’t expect the unforeseen challenges that would come to this season of the show].

[More under the cut!]

Portia tended to be cast as either the tank of an action/sci-fi flick—she’s got the sturdiness and the strength, C’MON—or the hacker in that genre/heist films, and the bubbly friend/girlfriend/ex of the main protagonist.

She’s done several Historical/Period Dramas and everyone’s always moved by her acting.

Her crying scenes are legendary.

One of Portia’s most famous roles is as a Pirate Queen that was, according to many, their Bisexual Awakening.

Think something like Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Portia actually can carry Nadia with no sweat.

Though in Julian’s route it was Nadia that swung with Portia in her arms in the Arcana realms, there was an alternate version where Portia swung with Nadia in her arms.

In order to make it mirror what MC and Julian were doing though, Portia was to be carried by Nadia.

Portia did a majority of her stunts in the show.

Climbing the vines into MC’s room.

Using the ‘magical’ rope to swing with MC when they were going through the catacombs.

The wirework when MC and Portia were floating through the ballroom was an absolute joy to them both.

The giant Magically-Induced Anxiety Crow Monster from Julian was part puppetry and part CGI effects.

There were many false-starts, especially with the popping packet of fake blood in Portia’s dress.

It took about five takes to get that scene right.

Pepi was Portia’s favorite costar.

Pepi adored her the most in turn, which was just fine with Portia.

Pepi got along with most of the cast and crew, the exceptions being Lucio and at times, Julian.

The actors for Tasya and Lishka are actually aunt and niece in real life.

The resemblance between Lishka and Portia was so startling that it was written into the plot of Portia’s route.

In promos for Portia’s season, she wore both the mask and her masquerade dress together. When it didn’t happen in the aired episodes, there were questions as to why it didn’t happen.

No one could give any clear or consistent answer.

Mazelinka reprised her role.

She talks in interviews that it was fun to tease Portia and MC about their relationship because, “What old coots wouldn’t want to relive the days of young love, you know?”

On days off, Portia and Lyra spent time together playing games and driving a few towns over to just be ‘normal’ people.

In interviews, it’s brought up time and time again that Lyra is not exactly used to being the center of attention with anything she’s in.

Lyra: “At times I feel like I have a secondary role in my own life. I know it’s not true, but . . . imposter syndrome sucks.”

Portia, by her own estimate, has signed over one thousand things that relate to her character on The Arcana.

Interviewer: What was the most memorable thing you have ever signed?

Portia: A fan’s fan art.

Interviewer: What was on it.

Portia: [smiles enigmatically].

The actress who plays Tasya Devorak is a former opera star. One of her favorite fancy hats made it into the final costume of the character.

Portia had the honor of trying it on for a few moments before returning it to the woman.

Portia has posted some on-set and off-set prank shenanigans committed between the Devoraks and other cast members of the Arcana crew.

The scene where Portia, disguised as Lishka, stabs a transformed Tasya toward the conclusion of the Reversed ending.

This made poor Lishka cry a number of times.

While getting interviewed about how Portia and Lyra felt about the season, they had slightly differing views about how it went.

Both agreed that it felt like Tasya had a lot of the spotlight on her rather than Portia’s arc.

Portia herself felt that MC could possibly perish within a few years after the end of the season. Lyra herself thought MC might’ve lasted a decade or so before fully expiring.

Lyra seeing the Diplomatic vs Warring endings of the season was something new for her.

Lyra: I don’t usually like shows that dabble in a lot of politicking, but I like seeing it in this season because in Nadia’s, it’s more localized—

Portia: And then this is a greater expansion of that! It’s, it’s certainly exciting!

A number of the Palace Staff were actually members of the behind the scenes crew.

Portia made sure they were compensated fairly.

In a promotion of the season, Portia was wearing her Masquerade mask along with a sneak peek of her dress. Fans were outraged that they didn’t get to see this happen within the show.

There is a deleted scene, however, where Portia and MC had their own little private dance before it all went to hell thanks to Tasya.

The Devil’s tiny form is a mix of practical effects and CGI.

Portia got to keep the little puppet, and he sits on the mantle in her home in a glass case.

Lyra complimenting Portia’s Ambassador outfit in the Upright Ending was unscripted, and Portia actually gotten flustered in turn.

Julian: It was a d o r a b l e!!!

Muriel and Portia didn’t really get to interact outside of his featured season and her own.

Online, they have been seen hanging out together with Muriel’s real-life partner. Portia and said partner are often being mischievous and Muriel seems to be long-suffering, but he admits he enjoys these hangouts.

Mercedes and Melchior actually are rather well-behaved on set. Around Lucio and Portia, however, the dogs acted so goofy that shooting scenes with them together are difficult to do with straight faces.

After The Arcana, Portia had gone on to dabble in various other careers, including a short while of producing her own music.

A number of tracks were inspired by the events of various timelines of The Arcana, though Portia leaves it open for interpretation on what those could be influenced by.

A few scenes that hit the cutting room floor are as follows:

An extended cut of Portia and MC torturing Tiny!Devil to a hilarious extent. It’s made it into various the Top 10s list of funniest not-exactly-bloopers of both The Arcana and other shows.

A more graphic version of Portia and MC breaking through Tasya’s force-field in the Reversed Ending was filmed and edited, though removed ultimately to maintain the PG-13 rating.

Portia reading longer passages of The Firent Affair.

A/N: This took MUCH longer than I had anticipated. Still, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading this as I had with writing it!

Next: Count Lucio [TBA].