The gentleman of Lethe

Concept sketches of Daniel Arlington from Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (the second sketch got chosen, but I kind of want to finish the first one when I get a chance!)

Daniel Arlington III the man that you are,,,,,,

Dropping the latest Sketch-a-Wish, voted on by my lovely Patreon members for January! Featuring a tense scene from Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo!

Spoilers for Hell Bent below!

This is one of the few examples of me putting in the WORK for the background, only because it's such a character itself. Il Bastone is a real world setting from Ninth House / Hell Bent, and even though they are scant, there were luckily a few interior photos available for me to reference to create the Virgil bedroom, where Alex and Darlington are having a tense conversation in this scene. I took some liberties on the design but a lot of the structures, accents and patterns were either pulled from the interiors or exterior facade of the Anderson Mansion. (especially the stained glass windows and painted tile fireplace!).

I spent a ridiculous amount of time on the painting over the fireplace to capture a small world-building segment from Hell Bent that I think has a modest symbolism of Alex's and Darlington's new relationship here. A fun little puzzle for those who want to try to research it!

“his monstrous queen”

“her gentleman demon”

Alex: We all have our demons.

Alex, grabbing Darlington: This one’s mine.

i class profanity with declarations of love. best used sparingly and only when wholeheartedly meant.

Ninth House, page 152

Hell Bent, page 462

There is something so comforting about Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, despite the abundance of trauma, gore and eerie stuff.

Take Il Bastone; the existence itself of a sentient house that worries about you, in a world where magic is grotesque and raw.

Dawes's warming meals.

The architecture! The beauty of New Haven, the art.

For how fucked it is, you never see Alex complaining because she has met worse. Because even among demons, and bloody rituals, and uptight professors, she's at least surrounded by beauty and comfort. That same feeling passes unto the readers, it truly is magical to read Ninth House.

They're fucking everything to me. Bless you Leigh Bardugo.

Art by: ekbelsher and dianadworak

i need to reread ninth house and hell bent fully focusing on darlington because he's so hard to grasp and he's obviously a central part of both books despite barely being there

i am obsessed with how he's old money, a snob, a different breed but he's been so broke and alone he had no heating for the winter, he's a know-it-all, too well-read, intelligent but his demon self didn't hold his knowledge over others, he's incredibly self-righteous, courteous and kind but he murdered his grandpa too

i cannot explain how much i love leigh bardugo's slow SLOW burns. everyone's yelling about how much they want darlingstern to fuck meanwhile i'm here reveling in the tension and slow burn like:

Dawes and Alex walking in on Darlington

Sometimes family is a gentleman demon, a galaxy who can see ghosts, an anxious research assistant, a well-dressed detective, and the human embodiment of a golden retriever

darlingstern drives me absolutely INSANE. alex spouted “i missed you more than i should have, more than i wanted to. i went to hell for you. i’d do it again” and then just. went on with her day like that was a normal thought to have

“In the mirror, he saw himself, a knight with bowed head, offering his service, a sword in his hand, a sword in his back. He felt no pain, only the ache in his heart. Choose me. There were tears on his cheeks, even as he felt the shame of it. She was no one, a girl who had lucked into a gift, who had done nothing to earn it. She was his queen.”

Ninth House - Leigh Bardugo 🌙