I really hope ppl realize that the sedition tape canon is slightly different from the stuff written in the articles and hope ppl get to realize that you're not obligated to follow through with the canon of the sedition tapes either..
SCP is a playground, you can take an article/SCP and make up whatever bs you want about it.. You can also follow whatever canon you want on the wiki and make your own spin on it to make it smth entirely new..
Go and be free dawg..
So one of my special interests is art history and I really wanted to apply this to my canon, Operation Theatre, and I was wondering how until I came to the idea; "What if all of the Lords of Alagadda were based off eras of painting?"
Black Lord ( 035 ) ~ Neoclassicism era
Yellow Lord ( Citrinitas) ~ Baroque era
White Lord ( Albedo ) ~ Renaissance era
Red Lord ( Rubedo ) ~ Romantic era
Below is some info, ideas and paintings examples I've done through research of my own!
First I will discuss the Black Lord ; I believe that they are based off of the era of 'Neoclassicism' (1760 - 1850).
The idea of Neoclassicism often challenged order, restraint and reason for everything that could be thought of while also remaining patriotic to a degree or some sort of alignment to a side during times of war, famine and disease etc. It really came after the Age of Enlightenment hence why ideas sparked off old ones and the world was in a time of huge change, especially post renaissance. It's why this era challenged the new world, but this era came after the Renaissance, as mentioned, and hence why there was even further development of these reimagined ancient classics. I believe these characteristics as a whole ties into how the Black Lord stands out from the rest of the Lords, due to them being banished for challenging the "natural order" of Alagadda as a whole due to wanting to rule it for themselves and how black stands out so drastically on a colour and tone scale compared to red, yellow and white.
It also brings me to my next point, as previously mentioned, of the central theme of the returning ideas of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, especially post renaissance. In my canon works, Operation Theatre, 035 is infact Ancient Greek and was created there yet came to Alagadda many many centuries later and rose up the ranks due to the Feudal system at the time: from Peasant to Jester to Lord to then being Banished. It would make sense therefore how Neo-Classicism applies, due to them still having the language and mask style of the Ancient Greeks compared to Renaissance styled masks the other Lords adorn, and how they wear wear and speak the language of Alagadda but still have their own spin on it due to being a foreigner.
Below are some paintings which are examples of Neo-Classicism;
~ The Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis David
~ Portrait of Juliette Récamier by François Gérard
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Secondly is the Yellow Lord ; I believe that they are based off of the era of 'Baroque' (1600 – 1750).
The yellow lord themselves is the wearer of the Odius mask, with Odius in the dictionary meaning: "extremely unpleasant, repulsive, or deserving of intense hatred". To me this immedietely stands out as Baroque. The idea, and basic foundation, of Baroque art is to evoke intense emotion by captivating your gaze with bright colours and tones but then uses harsh and sharp contrast to disguise brutal and bloody displays in the same painting. I believe this fits Citrinitas within my canon as the yellow lord's royal duties are to perform the royal orchestra, be a leading musician to the court, tutor other musicians as well as command the ballet. Yet, atop of that they also run the guards of the palace in Alagadda. They distract you with this awe inspiring display yet behind the curtain are commiting brutality and are a lot harsher than the awe-inspiring humanities they display, which I believe is the exact goal of Baroque.
Baroque also features a lot of twisting poses and anatomy, often in negative emotions a lot like their face and disgust they display outwardly. I fear they also have a twisted personality of disgust and negativity. The human body can be beautiful yet disgusting, which Baroque sometimes portrays. It is consistent in sharp angular and diagonal lines, relating to the idea of one always being on edge around this lord due to their unpleasant attitude or demeanor and playing into the very theatrical nature of Baroque overall. Baroque often imitates theological scenes, especially those of dramatic nature, which I feel is indicative with how a lot of the scenes it portrays in the works are religious, like below the scene of Mary Magdelene, in the painting 'Madonna di Loreto', from Christian Theology with the infant, similar to how Alagadda has a lot of Christian imagery such as the Hanged King rising after 3 days in the tale 'And so the Crows laughed' like Jesus did from the tomb post crucifiction.
Below are some paintings which are examples of Baroque;
~ 'Judith with Her Maidservant' by Artemisia Gentileschi
~ 'Madonna di Loreto' by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
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Furthermore is the White Lord ; I believe that they are based off of the idea of 'The Renaissance' (1347 - 1650).
The white lord is the wearer of the Dillgent mask, with Dilligence in the dictionary meaning: "The quality of working carefully, persistently, and with a high degree of effort or attention", or in this case, "Careful, steady, and earnest effort in one's work or duties". This applies to the Renaissance well as during this era of art they often focused on the realism rather than imagination, unlike the previous era of Medieval art. This era often had dynamic poses, realistic and proportionate anatomy and precise expressions, with most artists going as far as dissecting cadavers to examine how the body moves and why it looks the way it does. I believe this adds to the 'effort' of diligence and the attention to detail during this era ties back to them almost entirely. Another key element of the Renaissance was the perspective, seen in almost every piece made during this era of art.
They used perspective so much, yet in particular used mathematics to create a realistic sense of depth by use of a "vanishing point", using straight lines on a flat surface to achieve this. I believe this applies to the White Lord as they are careful, steady and have no room for failure and thus merging into the idea of realism and balance. Their colour of white ties to the careful nature of the word diligence as, much like how white is often seen as 'pure', 'new' or 'pristine', realism is often linear and the colours in Renaissance art were often bright with shining lights being common in these work's giving it a reflective nature due to the excessive usage of white, like the clouds and robes of the man in 'Sistine Madonna' below. Albedo in alchemy is characterised by "washing away impurities" and "purification" which again ties to the realism factor of the Renaissance.
Below are some paintings which are examples of the Renaissance;
~ 'Martyrdom of St Sebastian' by Giovanni Antonio Bazzi
~ 'Sistine Madonna' by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino
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Lastly is the Red Lord ; I believe that they are based off of the idea of 'Romanticism' (1800 - 1850).
The Red lord is the wearer of the Mirthful mask, with Mirth in the dictionary meaning: "great merriment and laughter / amusement, happiness and joy". At first it is difficult to put an era to this but looking further into the red lord and some of the Alagga related tales and scps, specifically Rubedo Reserve: SCP-3573. This scp is essentially wine that turns the drinkers blood into red wine which I believe ties into the imagination and intense feelings of Romanticism, with these strong emotions often triumphing over intelligence and realism. I believe this is similar to one's state of mind when drunk, especially with how strong wine can be and how the world blends with imagination and how light and hazey one gets when in a drunken state of mind. With Rubedo in alchemy meaning "the creation of the elixir of eternal life" and I am tieing this into SCP-3573. The feelings and definition of Mirth also tie into this 'high on life' feeling of a drunkard and the intense emotions exhibited through romantic art.
The colour of red is often related to the feeling of passion, enthusiasm and desire which is displayed through romantic art displays. These displays are so intense they rival the realism of Renaissance art, aka the White lord. I believe this makes sense as while Black contrasts White the most ( Anguish and Diligence ), the colour Red against the tone of white is definitely the second strongest. It's violent and deeply stands out against one another. It's why so many displays of blood in violence displays are against the tone of white. The colour red in the medieval belief of 'the four humours' is infact correlated blood, again tying back to the Red lord, essentially: The idea of imagination in Romanticism with the Red lord versus the Realism of the Renaissance with the White lord.
Below are some paintings which are examples of Romanticism;
'Sur la montage' ( Partie de 'Poème de l’âme' ) by Louis Janm
'La Mélancolie' by Constance Marie Charpentier
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Thank you for listening to my further canon establishment essay type device, I hope you enjoyed! This is all for my designs mostly of Operation Theatre, my canon, and is something to base them off which I will draw when I get a moment! This is a subject matter I'm extremely knowledgeable and passionate in so it means a lot that I've found a way to link it my other special interest!
