#darlingstern

[galaxyspeaking]

His monstrous queen, her gentleman demon

[macaulaytwins]

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

[rosiethorns88]

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!

[kimikofrenchie]

hey sorry your boyfriend died and he came back hornier. yeah he’s more or less the same but all he can think about is going down on you. sorry i know you just wanted the gentleman back but he’s more of a demon now. yeah sorry

[epitaaph]

“Is that what those things are?” she asked. “Around your wrists and neck? Marks?” “These?” He leaned forward, and the change in him was instant, the glowing eyes, the curling horns, the broadening of the shoulders. Without meaning to, Alex found herself scooting back in her chair. He was man and then monster in the space of a breath. The golden bands glowed at his wrists and throat.

“Yeah,” she said, trying not to show her fear. “Those.” “These marks mean I am bound in service. Forever.” “To hell? To Golgarot?” He laughed then, the sound deep and cold, the thing at the bottom of the lake.

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo, page 412.

[devotionconsumed]

my favorite dynamic is girl who is a murderer and unhinged with her twink pretty boy bf

[whatbusiness]

“his monstrous queen”

“her gentleman demon”

[sncinderdoodles]

Alex and Darlington sketch

[phy-be]

His monstrous queen. His gentle ruler.

[toointofiction]

"You know your problem?”

��A predilection for first editions and women who like to lecture me about myself?”

I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY, THIS IS A LOVE CONFESSION AND YOU CAN'T CHANGE MY MIND!!!!

[galaxyspeaking]

Her eyes were dark and full of stars.

A bit of Darlingstern from Ninth House to change things up 🖤

[poetic-gays]

Alex: We all have our demons.

Alex, grabbing Darlington: This one’s mine.

[academtits]

Darlingstern moments that play in a ceaseless loop in my head, Vol. I

The fact that Alex was sweaty as fuck the first time they met and made Darlington roll up her sleeve to check for track marks

Darlingtons prudish shock when Alex takes her shirt off in front of him

The fact that they got shitfaced and broke a bunch of Lethe glassware??? Like she got Mr. Lethe to be like “fuck the rules”? And they passed out in the parlor???

Alex’s foot/hand/arm fetish

When Darlington complimented her Queen Mab costume, then said “didn’t someone say love is a shared delusion?” And “two people reciting the same spell”

Darlington getting annoyed when some guy hits on her

The “incident”

His heart hurting for the wanting of someone

The fact that Alex literally has constant imaginary conversations with him and everything reminds her of him and she always assesses how he would feel about her actions

[octobers-veryown]

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

Art by: ekbelsher and dianadworak

[tough-n-dumb]

when alex calls darlington danny when trying to bring his soul home from hell. when darlington calls alex galaxy when saying he’s been crying out to her from the start. when we’re told over and over again the importance of the bond we form through names. that’s all

[upinurbiz]

post-hell darlington really does just wax poetic about the nature of his new existence for entire paragraphs just to end it with “and also I want to fuck Alex Stern”