Inferna Victoria (Portrait of the Archdevil and Archduchess Supreme of the Nine)
a royal portrait of Raphael and Tav in the style of a Van Dyck for my fic, The Lover's Gambit. it's now my most popular fic, thank you so much for your support! you all have exquisite taste ❤️
Raphael's outfit was inspired by a beautiful gifset by @cherriesandsulphur
details, context below
[Solo Raph painting]
Baroque is one of my fave art movements. the in-game art looked inspired by it, and I wanted to do a piece that combined my love for it and royal portraiture. this was inspired by the works of Flemish Baroque master Anthony Van Dyck.
this is one of the most ambitious and detailed pieces I've done so far: the fullsize is 22 x 32in, and it took over 50+ hrs. royal portraiture usually has extensive detail, so I wanted to make it as detailed as possible. it was challenging and time consuming, but a lot of fun!
framed version (Cassetta frame from the Met website:)
process
spoiler details (for the game + fic)
- their ship came about because I wanted to give Raph a chaotic evil counterpart to his lawful evil. basically he’s the “mansplain, manipulate, malewife” to her “gaslight, (Baldur’s)gatekeep, girlboss” lol.
- I hc this Tav’s ending is the “In my name” one. though I hc she says “In our name” instead ;)
- visually, it looks like Raphael has more power but I hc it’s actually Tav for several reasons: many elements of the composition lead to her (Raph’s sash, arms, the curtains), she’s wearing her crown and is seated, and is also foremost while Raph is in the back.
- Raph’s crown is ceremonial/for vanity only while Tav’s tiara has enough fragments of the stone to be fully functional.
- The crown’s design is based on concept art, and if you look closely it kinda looks like it has hearts on the sides. I added the red gems.
I hc that Raph is a romantic and some of his lines seem to allude to this (code phrase of “my heart’s desire”, the Amulet of Greater Health, which Tav is wearing here, in a prominent place in his house, and his words to Hope in a transcript: “…serve me with your whole heart”)
- I hc they’re married at this point. Tav’s ring has two additional gems, and her outfit in general was inspired by the canon design of the Crown of Karsus.
- there’s a lot of red because according to Hope, Raph’s favorite color is “blood”. my hc for the painting overall is that it was done by his personal painter, maybe a debtor who has to paint for him for all eternity (not a bad deal right? /s) so it reflects his and Tav’s requests.
- I picture this hanging either above Raph’s fireplace in the dining room. or bedroom - much to Haarlep’s dismay 🤣
I'm once again thinking about the missed opportunities to have Klaus and Kol bond more. Part of Klaus' whole motivation as a vampire is to get his werewolf part back and to finally be stronger than Mikael (sort of, I'm simplifying) both of which can be obtained by breaking his curse. But Kol? Kol is the only other original that can relate to having a fundamental part of themself ripped away from them. Klaus might not have known he was a werewolf until he killed, but he likely still had a connection he couldn't explain, as evident by him going to watch the wolves transform. And something he'd never been able to explain was now gone. He might only be able to realise the connection afterwards through its absence.
Kol though. Kol had grown up with magic, a connection to nature and the world around him in a way the rest of his siblings supposedly didn't have. And then he gets turned. And not only has his baby brother died, his father has just murdered him and the rest of his siblings after forcing them to drink human blood, which he'll later learn. Now, not only does he have to deal with the grief of Henrik's death and also his own but also the loss of his magic. A loss that's likely only worsened by Kol being a self-proclaimed child prodigy.
Kol is pretty much the only one who could understand what Klaus is going through with the binding of his wolf. We know Kol searched for ways to get his magic back/carry on practicing magic in the same way that Klaus was looking for ways to break his curse. While Klaus likely could still feel his wolf there despite being bound, Kol has no access to his magic anymore. I just think they should've been able to bond or connect over their shared loss of an intrinsic aspect of their selves at the hands of their parents
the real star of Jhoome Jo Pathaan is the silver earcuff and dangle earring that they have given SRK along with his various necklaces, rings, arm taweez and glorious hair, taking no further statements at this time
The most important person is you, Pun. I value you above all others. It might feel strange but you heard me right. I can do everything for you. Just listen to me until the end. No matter what you say, don't worry, I can accept it all. I told myself since the day you were born, I won't let anyone hurt you. Let me be the only one to get hurt. I didn't want to be dramatic. I just want you to know I'm willing to do anything and I won't question it. Don't blame yourself from now on. You've never been a burden to me.
NAH I CAN’T STOP THINKING ABOUT RINRIN AND SAE BAE WITH A S/O WHO GETS EDITED ALOT 😭 likeeee…the edits come n they definitely deliver
PLS they're your biggest fans ...... will huff and puff in playful jealousy seeing the edits but have them saved in their phone anyway lmaoooo one of them prob reposts it too </3 the other just keeps a nice lil collection in a separate folder w all your other pictures and candids he has </3
Just watched Akira and it was so so good but What The Fuck is Going On because I had no clue it would be like that from what i’ve seen people say about it. The general focus I’ve seen before when discussing Akira was “nice retro animation” and “iconic motorcycle slide” but the motorcycle slide happens like 20 minutes in and I was COMPLETELY unprepared for the rest of the movie?? I mean the things I’ve seen about it online are right, the animation is really cool and the bike slide is nice, but I haven’t seen a single image of Tetsuo before watching the movie, you’d think he wasn’t in it? But disregarding my naivety in thinking I’d get an accurate impression of it from what I see online, I really liked it! Theres a LOT going on, but not in a disorganized way. Kaneda was cool and fun, but I also very much got the wrong impression about him, he seemed like he’d be a lot more stoic/serious than he was, and it felt like Tetsuo got equal or more screentime than him, which makes the total lack of Tetsuo i’ve seen pre-movie more confusing to me. The scene with the glass and the toys was probably the most representative of the tone of the movie to me, not the setting or anything, there aren’t any motorcycles or frozen vaults or sci-fi guns until the end of the scene, but the brand of unsettling is consistent with the rest of the movie. Overall, it was odd to watch with the things I’ve heard about it in mind because you can read that it’s rated R for violence, and it isn’t a lie, but the “cyberpunk action” isn’t the most intense aspect of the movie, and the scenes of violence would have a lot less intensity without the context behind them. The movie was also a lot sadder than I thought it would be! The “cyberpunk biker 80s aesthetic” description that I saw before watching it really doesn’t give it a fair summary, I liked it so much more as the real thing than as what I thought it would be, especially in the character writing. Also the sound design/score was amazing, that one fucking song with the breathing noises was absurdly cool.