#emperor's coven sigil

[gold-and-glyphs]

I usually avoid posting irl photos here, buuut I feel like this deserves an exception 👀

I got an emperor's coven sigil tattoo the other day <3

I might post an update pic once it's more healed!

[childlikegoblinqueen]

SCOM Micro Writing Notes: Guilt.

There's a lot of guilt explored in SCOM. Obviously, Hunter has his own guilt of his past under Belos -- but he also experiences the guilt of those around him.

With the Sigil Sickness becoming more of a concern, Hunter has to accept the fact that he branded witches under Belos -- and this led to families losing their loved ones.

Hettie is problematic in so many ways -- and even though she has a loving family, including a nephew who adores her -- Bettie implies that sometimes even those you love choose paths that make it VERY difficult for you to love them.

It's fair to assume that while Bettie (and likely her siblings) LOVE Hettie, they struggle with liking her.

In general, she has been one of the most fun background characters to write and I kind of love her family. That's about as close to OC's as I am going to get attached to.

In an earlier chapter, Hettie mentioned that not only did she have a hand in the beginnings of the Basilisk Experiments, but the "perfection" of the Sigil. She admits that there shouldn't BE a Sigil Sickness -- but her research is the reason that Bettie lost her husband (Bennie's Dad), and why the Cutburn Matriarch (The siblings mother) passed.

She may lack tact and a TON of self awareness, but it's safe to say that Hettie -- who in spite of turning her back on Hunter as an abused child soldier -- LOVES her nephew. It's safe to say she holds guilt to what she's done if even only as to how it directly affected her own kin.

And then there's Darius.

[sweetjegus]

🌌 STEVE GETS EVERYTHING’D EVERYWHERE’D ALL AT ONCE’D 🌌

(or: STEVE unlocks a Shenanigans Steve state and gets the TOH adults to dab)

Last day of Anime Los Angeles was truly “I want to be comfy and silly and not wear a wig” and who better to enable that but STEEEEEVE. 

Photos by David Harris; rambling under the cut.

Thrifted:

$5 for the yellow “Dog Mama” t-shirt (”Dog Mama” got appliquéd over with red vinyl, which was apparently the only suitable red fabric I had on hand for colour-matching the STEVE logo)

$10 for the black pleather jacket (added cuffs, elbow pads, painted pocket details, and reused the STEVE stencil I made ...for painting another STEVE on the back)

Made (in the span of a very focused week and entirely from stash fabric, s o m e h o w): 

Appliqué for the yellow shirt, with cutouts in the red vinyl to have inset white STEVE letters.

White hood dickie. 

Edits to the black pleather jacket.

Black velvet jester pants with grey sateen insets + the peeking-out tunic. 

Horn prosthetic. 

Synergy in the Emperor’s Coven — grabbed a soupy romance novel from the Little Free Library (that I have previously made deposits to) and gave it a ~ new life ~ 

[merontreasures]

I miss flapjack :(

[asherisawkward]

Why do you think Belos had a sigil put on Hunter?

I think he knew that Hunter would not support him after the Day of Unity, so he did it in part to have a seemingly inevitable way to be rid of him in the case of his betrayal. Additionally, the Grimwalkers are made as both a way to keep Caleb close to himself and to attempt to “redeem” Caleb’s soul from the damnation he condemned himself to when he sided with a witch. With witchcraft gone and the source of Caleb’s “sin” destroyed, there would be nothing holding Caleb back from going to Heaven. His sins would be forgiven, and the Grimwalkers would not be needed anymore.

[th30wlhouse]

I think it’s funny that Lilith has an animation oversight where she doesn’t have a sigil + Cissy jokes that Belos hated her enough to not give her one.

[for-those-who-wait]

I saw somewhere that playing dress up with your OCs is good for you and well. He's not an OC but it does make my brain happy. Ramblings and explanations below the cut

Featuring: 1. Non-canon sweater with semi-canon watermelon pants, and also glasses because HC that Hunter is blind as hell but only wears them at home. Also Flapjack-colored socks! 2. Canon sweater with non-canon pants. It's his outdoor version of the first one, and I also HC that this sweater was so old and frayed that he would eventually need to fix it up into the first one. 3. This one is inspired by the haircut scene and features a slap bracelet he conned off (asked very nicely to borrow from) Luz. They're colored based on the bi flag and are used to cover his Emperor's Coven sigil. 4. Swimwear. Calaiti helped me pick out the swim trunks pattern, and I decided bananas would be fun since they go with his watermelon pants. We both thought he would definitely wear a swimshirt. Another bi-themed slap bracelet 5. Admittedly an outfit from my own closet: cargo pants, crocs, and a high-necked hoodless windbreaker. I think he would be a socks with crocs kind of guy. Way too many pockets 6. Calaiti suggested a gardening outfit for when he would help out Willow and as such behold, it's one of his most worked-on projects. He has little birds on his pockets, and he repaired the front pocket and the knee. The plant embroidery was already there 7. Red hoodie with a bird emblem that he stitched on himself and glasses because he's blind. Also just boxers because that's very gender of him and he's very rarely barefoot if he can help it. I imagine this would be when he has the house or at least the basement to himself. 8. Channeling my love for transfem (and gnc) Hunter, probably the first piece of clothing he's cut and sewn from scratch. On his wrists can either be sweatbands or bracelets, but they're colored like the bi flag. Instead of him stealing them from Luz, Luz actually got them specifically for him to have. 9. The glasses make another appearance, his shirt is probably some knock-off Cosmic Frontier or NASA merch. I do think he'd like NASA! Also I think that if he has a silly bright yellow sweater, he would definitely have a pair of silly bright yellow pants. (I also think everyone would have to desperately beg him to please please please not wear both yellow things at the same time.) Another bi-themed slap bracelet 10. HC that the residents of the Boiling Isles have naturally evolved to expel a lot of internal heat to keep from getting overheated, and thus everyone is freezing cold and Hunter wears three layers without even breaking a sweat. Button-up shirt is the same as in 3. 11. Halloween costume! 12. Wolf shirt! Also glasses again

[bronzepatriarchy]

Guess who's going to a ren fair tomorrow/today :D

I'll see about posting the drip! It's not super fancy tbh, but I plan to wear my Emperor's Coven jacket!

[starwhoopsass]

ALTAR BOY ALTAR BOY (I'm gonna make art filled w/ so much religious trauma its not even funny)

WAAAAAAAAAAAAA *bounces off your walls*

We are the divine separated from the swine

Come on, sing along! everybody now ! GOD GIVEN

[retro-stars]

I sometimes think the TOH fandom as a whole needs to talk just a smidge more about the characters who knew the flaws of their own coven system while inside said system and not watching on as outsiders or passive observers. Raine, Darius, Eberwolf, them.

I don't think we all truly understand the soul crushing pain of being fundamentally disillusioned with an organization you have pledged yourself to. They gave away their lives for this. They sat there, fighting an impossible fight most of them knew wouldn't be won, knowing they'd likely die with those damned sigils imprinted on their wrists.

Raine came in hoping to find ways to improve policies and change laws and came out running an underground organization smuggling people and supplies and doing their damned best to stall patrols and arrests of wild witches because it was the most they could do. That was how hopeless and cruel the system was.

Darius was stuck at Belos' beck and call and watched as more and more children were indoctrinated. He choked on his own grief because no matter the blood he knew to be on the emperor's hands, he couldn't change a thing.

What of the inherent hopelessness of soldiering on even as you become more and more certain that you will fail but being unable to live with yourself if you don't try? What of the guilt hiding just beneath the skin of all the people you didn't save in order to keep your cover that has them marching towards death? What then?

Anyway, just a thought.

[gold-and-glyphs]

Guess who's getting an emperor's coven sigil tattoo soon 👀

[songofthenightingale19]

I don’t know if anyone's mentioned this before, but Raine's titan badge after the time skip looks a bit different than the others:

They have this red piece of cloth attached to their badge that I haven't seen on anybody else.

Now, theorising time: I think they might be part of the new government, maybe even the president of the Boiling Isles. Hear me out, I have good reasons to believe so (and it's not just because they're my favourite character and I'm biased, shush):

1) As the former head of the Bard Coven, they'd certainly be qualified for the job: Raine has been part of the government before (as much as you can be when you're not the monarch in a monarchy lol) and knows how to lead.

2) They're probably more respected/trusted by the population of the Boiling Isles than most other public figures at this point - working together with the wannabe genocidal former emperor tends to ruin your reputation, so someone who led a rebellion against Belos (and fought against him personally in the final fight, though the question is if anyone except the people who were there knows about that) and has ties to other known rebels aka Eda should be quite well-liked.

3) They have already proven that they're able to make sacrifices for the sake of the whole Isles (for example: risking their own life and that of the woman they love to stop the Day of Unity in Eda's Requiem). Most of the other characters, like Eda and Luz, in comparison, have proven again and again that they would never be able to sacrifice someone they care about - which is an admirable trait, don't get me wrong, but you want a political leader to be able to consider what choices are best for everyone and compromise, if necessary.

4) It would be a great conclusion to their character arc: Raine spent half of their life trying to destroy the coven system from the inside and has witnessed its worst sides first-hand, let them be the one to build something new and better for the future of the Boiling Isled.

So in conclusion: Raine has the potential to be a great president....... as long as nobody forces them to make public speeches regularly.

Them being a member of the government would also explain why they are present when that coven sigil was removed: Why would someone who specialises in Bard magic be needed for something that seems to be based on Healing and Abomination magic? Because they're a representative of the government/the Boiling Isles!

Also...........

Give me power couple Raeda as president of the Boiling Isles and Headmistress of the University of Wild Magic!!

[sepublic]

"And besides, my powers don't work on King."

"The... dog?"

"Yeah! 'Cause he's a TITAN! You worked in the castle Ray-Ray, you've seen the big 'ol heart, still beating too! Titans are amazing! When they're full grown, they're more powerful than anyone!"

I’m seeing people joke about Belos not knowing the giant heart in his throne room belonged to the Titan, but keep in mind the Collector thought they were talking to Raine, who wasn’t privy to the secrets that Belos was taught. Plus, I don’t think the Collector’s dialogue necessarily indicates Raine didn’t know either, just that they were bringing up Raine’s one frame of reference regarding a Titan to compare to King, and emphasize their powers (Since what prompted this was the Collector complaining about how Titan magic counters his own).

Given his intimate understanding of the isles thanks to the Collector, Belos was probably aware; There isn’t any confirmation he knew, but there isn’t confirmation he didn’t know either. I don’t think it was a coincidence that Belos chose to build his castle right in the center, right around a giant beating heart that might’ve once held Titan’s Blood before he drained it. Possession of a still-living heart that would’ve validated Belos’ claims that the Titan still lived on in some capacity (which is true), and that he was listening to it.

As for why Belos’ first plan wasn’t to possess the heart, keep in mind his curse may not have transformed him to that point yet; We never see him possess anyone until after the Collector splatters Belos, so it’s possible he hadn’t even figured out he could hijack bodies until he had to! Belos invested time into perfecting the sigils and implementing them for the draining spell, we've seen his failed experiments, and this man is the Emperor of Sunk-Cost Fallacy.

Plus, fusing with the isles itself to destroy it seems like a pretty permanent solution that could destroy the portal, or anything he’d use to make another one; And Belos was still insistent on returning home to be hailed as a hero, told he did a good job, etc. It’s only when Belos realizes there isn’t any adulation waiting for him in Gravesfield, discovering this through Hunter’s eyes and ears, that he gives up on home to focus on all he has left; Hatred.

It seems Belos' original plan was to possess the Collector when their guard was down, and use their power to kill everyone; Maybe resuming the draining spell by moving the moon back into place, controlling the puppeted Coven Heads for the ritual, etc. But then the Collector confirmed the Titan as more powerful than them, and practically tailored towards defeating such a powerful kid. And Belos planned to kill the Collector afterwards anyway, so...!

And it tracks he'd go for such a last resort, as it seems Belos is dying, from a number of reasons; He's run out of energy, with Vee contributing; His own curse has worsened; And he probably never fully recovered from being splattered by the Collector. That seemed to have broken something in Belos that he couldn't fix, hence why his body keeps falling apart outside of hosts. I think Belos merely treated the fatal injury the Collector gave him, kind of like how Manny's illness could only be postponed. And there is that analysis speculating Belos’ cursed form’s corruption as an allegory for that very illness...

[oilith]

My Head cannon for the Clawthorne sisters: They're both talented even in their teens and both think the other is the genius teen prodigy. Hear me out:

Lilith is actually a prodigy in terms of academic level. She learned to do spells in the first few tries. We can see this talent when Luz teaches them glyphs. She impressed Luz with multiple ice sculptures while Eda could only make small ice balls. She thinks Eda is the genius teen prodigy because Eda has more raw power than her in magic as seen in their fight. Thus, Lilith focused on being "sharp and crafty" as she puts it.

Eda is the prodigy in the practical sense. We saw her raw power during her fight against Lilith. We saw her survive Terra's challenge when she was young. She taught herself wild magic too. Now here's the fun part: Deep down, She thinks that Lilith is the genius teen prodigy because she saw Lilith perform spells after learning once or twice which motivates Eda to learn more spells especially wild magic (Let's be honest: I'm sure the emperor's coven sigil still seals some form of magic to avoid them getting too powerful for Belos) until Eda believes that she's "better than Lilith". These needs of trying to be better than Lilith resurfaced again on the day Luz teaches them glyphs.

Sorry for the long head cannon. Have fun with this information

This is interesting. I've always thought that they're sort of "opposites" in a way. Like you said too, Eda has raw power, but lacks in the techical area. Meanwhile Lilith, while she isn't as strong as Eda, she has the technical skills. Also, Lilith has the EC military training so it makes sense for her to be like that. It's basically something like an experienced street fighter against a military trained fighter. I really like the idea that both of them think the other is a prodigy, when in reality it's both lmao

[thousand-winters]

I feel like part of the way in which Darius facade can trick the audience is in that he comes across as this vain, haughty witch who gives no damns about anybody else but himself and that's that, but also someone who's very set on his ways.

And like with every other part of his mask, I don't think that's true at all.

He's not vain enough not to touch Hunter's head when he's sweaty and dirty from swampy waters when they finally reunite.

He's not arrogant despite how he talks, he's quick to admit when his judgment has been wrong like he did in the ending of ASiaS.

And he's not at all someone traditional or too set on his ways.

Because you know what? This is the same man who experimented so intensely with abomination magic that he straight up created a new form of it in which the matter was mixed with his own body. He was so full of curiosity that he didn't stop until he altered his body permanently. He was the mentee of the previous Golden Guard so he probably was just like Lilith and believed firmly in the coven ideas and yet he was open enough to change to realize something wasn't right and start a rebellion from the inside.

That is not someone who keeps his ideals and opinions inside of a tight and restricted frame of ideas. He's open to changes and innovations, he's even one of the people involved in the research for the removal of the sigils despite presumably not being a fan of Alador's technologies.

I'm always a little puzzled when people are like "there's no way Darius would have allowed Hunter go with that orange suit to Grom", like... of course he would. Darius isn't close-minded. And besides, his best friend is Eberwolf, Darius is far from someone who needs those close to him to be carbon copies of his way of living or his ideas, if one takes a look at his inner circle, both when he was a child and later on as an adult, there's such a rich variety of people that he simply couldn't have if he refused to engage with people who thought and lived a little differently than him.

Darius is, funnily enough, quite flexible just like his magic specialty.

I'm guilty of joking around too of how he would scoff at someone wearing a particularly atrocious outfit but I think he's very much one to appreciate others' self-expression and to be curious about it. In my mind he's such a scholar and I think that's probably part of what got him a mentorship in the Emperor's Coven, that he had such a curious mind and was willing to use it to innovate and create.