#finished reading art heist baby

[miidnightpoet]

Art Heist, Baby spoliers

~~~

finished “art heist, baby!” this week and as i got closer to the Copenhagen chapter i was anxiously trying to figure out who was gonna die

for a while i thought it would be James and then we’d get revenge arc Regulas

obviously didn’t happen but now i’m in the mood to write some Jegulas fanfic

So please Art Heist, Baby! fans hear me out

University AU

Rivals to lovers

James falls first, Regulas falls harder

best friends brother trope

James, the son of well known politicians is attending university to become a lawyer

Regulas, son of the very prominent and powerful Black family. (rumoured to be involved in some shady stuff) is also studying law.

so they both have a bunch of classes together, James wants to be the best, Regulas is expected to be the best

James and Sirius are roommates

Peter and Remus are roommates

they live beside eachother

Regulas lives in a single dorm but Barty and Evan are in the dorm beside him, they’re friends

difficult relationship between the Black brothers

i have visions for this but like woild hall read this?

this is the vibe board i made

[cessreads]

been reading a few sylvia plath journal entries today to get out of my marauders brainrot 😬

[quarter-lif3crisis]

Art Heist, Baby! | @otrtbs

Art : theinvisiblemuseum

[snugglechase]

Should I start AHB! now or wait for my mental health to stabilise itself........the never-ending debate

[yourlocalbadgerscales]

So

~

90 notes: I’ll post some random shit I’ve been planning to post forever

160 notes: I’ll post a chapter of a fic I have drafted on Ao3 (y’all if I don’t post it before Oct 2 it’ll automatically delete itself so please save my fic before it’s too late oml)

250 notes: I’ll start going on walks at least once a week (I really need motivation)

370 notes: I’ll tell my best friend some big news about my identity (why am I so scared? Idk)

530 notes: I’ll post an audio of me singing something (you can wish for any song in the comments if you like!)

1660 notes: I’ll post a lot of shit I have in my Tumblr drafts + I’ll gather the courage ask my friends for a little money so I can buy myself my own phone (I need a second one in case anything bad happens to me and I have to run away from home. No, I won’t elaborate.)

1850 notes: I’ll take more time to do the things I love this winter.

2000 notes: I’ll wear my lesbian pin in front of my mum and hope she sees it.

2300 notes: I’ll tell my therapist a lot of things… things she probably needs to know but I’m scared to tell her.

2800 notes: I’ll try to talk to my crush in school. Small talk, okay? Nothing more. I’m so scared don’t make me do it-

3100 notes: I’ll finish reading Art Heist, Baby! (No. Please.)

~

I won’t be tagging anyone because y’all are insane and I’ll be forced to keep my promises… sigh

ONLY TWO NOTES PER PERSON!!! Edit: Yup only 2 notes. Can y’all tell I really don’t wanna do all this lol

DOBT MAKE MUNOIST GET TO 2800 BECAISE I DONT WANT TO DO WHAT MY FROEMD WANST ME TO DO AJSHSJSJSJ

[idkjustlemmedrownlikerab]

Why Regulus dying was crucial to the plot of Art Heist Baby!

It really pisses me off and people say "Omg it's so sad that Regulus never finished the heist, why did the author have to kill him?! He never finished his life's purpose" No it's not,  because that wasn't what he wanted in life, he achieved everything that he wanted.

The story doesn't work if Regulus lives. Art Heist Baby isn't about the heist. I mean it kind of is, that was what drew me into the fanfic, why I read it. But, as I read it, I realized that it's not about the heist, it's about love, it's a love letter from @otrtbs, the author, to art history and to the fandom, and about the love of found family, brothers reuniting, and falling in love and all the sappy stuff.

But Regulus and the readers by extension, have always thought that it's about the heist, that it's about the infamy and being remembered, and that's how he lives forever, the heist gets him his brother back, the heist lets him live forever.

But then in Copenhagen, when he's literally dying, he's having this internal monologue, like, maybe I failed this heist and it's not successful and I didn't do what I wanted and I wasn't the best person, but I was loved,  I am loved and I have loved back, he says that he knows he can take that love with him wherever he goes, even if he's a damn star in the sky, it doesn't matter. He's taking that love with him, it lives on, and that is its own form of immortality. That's what Regulus had been searching for this entire time and even after Regulus dies, James is still there, and Sirius and Barty and Evan hell all the others in the team, and it's like even death can't defeat that kind of love. We see James talking to Regulus every night and recounting memories and keeping Regulus alive in a way, which is what Regulus always wanted!!!! Just not in the way he thought he was going to get it.

I mean, otherwise what's the alternative? Regulus lives and he's happy with James, and maybe that's better than living on an infamy and better than the heist because, well, he's actually alive, but it's not just about love. Regulus and by extension, the reader wouldn't have this moment of realisation like, oh, it's love, love is the answer. Love is what makes all of us a little bit immortal for a little while. That's what it's all about in the end. Not the money or fame or notoriety. Just love. And Regulus dying feels like it was the best way Nat could have driven that point home. Like plz look past the heist, what else is there?

Because Regulus spent his whole life thinking that this was his goal. Just one more heist, that's what he'd always said right? One more heist, this is the last one. This is it. He'll have achieved everything he's ever wanted. Except, it's not what he wanted. Because throughout the story, he gets his brother back, he gets Sirius back in his life after spending years in silent mourning dangling just as precariously as the daunting Degas in the bathroom, he gets his brother back. He sees Barty and Evan who have spent their whole life going back and forth, finally getting together. He watches them grow up and grow together, and he spends his entire life with them. He brings together this group of strangers, this ragtag team of random people that applied via a fucking poster about a lucrative job and watches them bond. He watches relationships form, he connects with the Remus through annotations and books and a shared love for Sirius, he organizes dorlene's proposal and wedding!!!!

He bonds with all these people that he never would have met if he led a normal life, and then he meets James. He meets James Potter, who teaches him everything, who lets him borrow his bravery and shows him that life could be so much more if he wanted it to be, which he does.

"I love you, that's all." His last words, love, that's all. Not the heist, not the drop offs, not the money or the fame or the glory. Love, that's all. He started getting involved with the heists to feel loved, to get the attention that Sirius got from their parents growing up. Some superficial kind of love, and his life ends after he gets real love, platonic and romantic. Love, that's all, not the heist. He died with everything he knew he always wanted but never had the bravery to attain until then. That's why he said maybe he hadn't lived a long life but he lived the best life he could have.

Nat literally told us the reason with Regulus' last words and all of us decided to turn a blind eye to it, yes, yes ik it was heartbreaking to see him die and not live in the house in Brazil with James but we do see them meet again in the epilogue don't we? And let's trust Regulus and the author both when they said

"in every lifetime?"

"in every one."

[piscesmoonpress]

Art Heist, Baby! by otrtbs (@otrtbs)

When James Potter answers a mysterious ad in his local coffee shop, the last thing he expects is to be thrown into a world of white collar crime, but how can he resist when the mastermind behind the operation has dark hair and brooding eyes and promises wealth beyond James' wildest imagination? He would do anything for that boy named after a star, including stealing millions of dollars of fine art.

Pairing: Regulus Black/James Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Alice Longbottom/Frank Longbottom Fandom: Harry Potter

Disclaimer: otrtbs no longer allows binds of Art Heist, Baby!. This edition was first typeset and bound in May of 2023. Please do not use this post as a permission to bind Art Heist, Baby!.

Art Heist, Baby! was one of the very first jegulus fics I read, and eventually became my second-ever bind. The original binding for this fic was done over the course of a single weekend, which makes me cringe a little now—but I am still so proud of this typeset and the bind itself, despite its flaws.

Half-Letter | 219,117 words | 609 pages

Title and Drop Cap Font: Bodoni 72 Body: Adobe Garamond Pro Accent(s): Gill Sans, Futura Condensed

Typset by me in Word.

Designed by me in Illustrator.

Materials

Cover Bookcloth: Duo in Blue Jean HTV: Siser Brand in Gold Metal and Powder Blue Endbands: Mettler Silk Finish Thread Endpapers: Chiyogami Paper

Eventually, I found that the structure of my previous binding was less-than-ideal, and I decided to rebind my copy. Given that I couldn't change the typeset, I spent a lot of time deciding on a cover design, and eventually settled on using Ivan Aivazovsky's Ship on Stormy Seas (a painting synonymous with this fic) as inspiration.

The process of turning the boat from this painting into something that could be used with a single shade of HTV was difficult, but I eventually settled upon a design I was happy with after messing around in Illustrator for a couple weeks.

When I removed the cover from this bind, I also trimmed and painted the edges, sewed double-core french endbands (two-tone, to match the bookcloth), and reinforced the spine (though I couldn't do much for the pre-existing swell). Overall, I am thrilled with how it looks, and with how my original typeset fits with my more developed design style.

Thank you to Nat, for writing such a beautiful (and heart-wrenching) story. Art Heist, Baby! is free to read on ao3, here.

[elleeeine]

When i am having a really bad time mentally I like to read the worst parts of Art heist, baby! So I can feel even worse and start crying

Most of the times I can’t even finish those parts but they do the work I want them to do

[itsrichardnotjohn]

About what suit I wear? Of course. Your mother's going to be there...

i’m alive! i’m so sorry for my absence

[thatoneslytherinnerd]

Art Heist, Baby! - A Rant

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS YOUR WARNING

so I finished reading ahb the other day again and reg?????????????? HELLO?????

um first of all I am so so so in love with all relationships between characters eg WOLFSTAR AND JEGULUS but like the friendships??? and the black brothers angst??? muah chefs kiss

but here's what this post is actually about

regs death

because like. GUYS. the parallels??? that whole scene???? there was this one specific line that hit me so fucking hard it was like "regulus was drowning in his own blood" DROWING WHY WERE THE PARELLELS DONE SO WELL WHAT RIGHT DID THEY HAVE

also Sirius "begging a god he'd never believed in to bring his brother back" and him saying "I just got him back, don't take him away" and that being what actually convinced James reg was dead

the fact that i'm not even looking at this scene??? that I remember those lines because of how raw they were??????

was sobbing

this fic is perfection

would like more angsty longfic recs pls

Edited bc I put crimson rivers instead of ahb??????? guys I got like three hours of sleep last night don't judge me

[lonnie37]

does anyone have any jegulus fic recs???

i've read all of the big fics (crimson rivers, art heist baby, choices, etc.) and pretty much all the top kudos jegulus fics on ao3

i will read pretty much anything but I don't like to start fics that aren't finished.

please let me know if you have any recommendations I need to read more about my dead gay wizards <3

EDIT: thank you so much to everyone who sent recs <3

[luminousfumbling]

The first fanfic I ever read was atyd and I couldn’t even finish it because I didn’t want to read the sad part. I told myself that I would never read any of the other really popular marauders fics with sad endings.

Anyway it’s now three years later and I’m starting Art Heist, Baby! so wish me luck.

[bri-cheeses]

please recommend ur fave rosekiller fics!!!

so funny story. i haven’t actually read all that many Rosekiller centered fics—or that many fics in general. But here are the ones that I have read that have been worth my time :) (also i’m so sorry it took me so long to respond, i was trying to compile a list of the ones i’ve read and really liked and for some reason it took a really long time)

I would say I love you (but it’s so hard, I won’t say anything at all) by graveryavery — they’re just so dumb in this fic and I love them so much. Also this one is amazing at making me really feel for the characters, which is something I really love. Oh also btw it’s not finished yet, but it’s worth it :)

Intermission by bizarrestars — i don’t actually think i spelled the author’s name right, but points for effort, right? Anyways, it’s apart of the Just Lovers universe, and it’s really cute. They’re so silly. Also Evan’s asexual in this one, and I love asexual Evan <33

Love in hurricane (Playing a dangerous game) by andromeden — Okay maybe i’m just biased about this because I relate to Evan so much in this one, but i love the way the author conveys the character’s feelings. It’s just laid out in a way that makes so much sense to me and makes me feel things, and I actually read it for like an entire day straight without even realizing it. So yeah i like it a lot :)

Tender Curiosities, Baby! by otrtbs — this one is an extension of Art Heist Baby, which has a special place in my heart. Especially since i love art so much. But I’m not going to lie to you, both AHB and this one are absolutely BRUTAL and the way i sobbed was not funny. (I blame the orange muffins). But yeah it’s just so quality ❤️

[eucalyptusbrainrot]

notification

(i hate getting reminded this fic exists)

i rlly wanna read art heist, baby

part of my says know because i have a lot of pent up emotions that could get triggered

the other part says yes because i have a lot of pent up emotions that should get triggered…

update : i read to like chapter 15 maybe? and then i learned who dies and more importantly who does not die and i am NOT reading that.

anyone who kills one of them and leaves the other is evil, i thought they both die in the end 🙄💁‍♂️ but no.

the thought of this fic brings me physical pain, and i never even finished it (i never will)

[urmomsmattress]

me when i finish my current read and my art heist baby tab is staring me in the face

[cressthebest]

finished art heist baby and am absolutely devastated. however, when i’m ready for a new fic, which one should i read next?

these fics are all jegulus, but i’m 100% open to other pair suggestions. (i LOVE wolfstar, but also some good old fashioned jily. also non-ship centric fics are welcome)