#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!

[puppppppppy]

Remember how they pointed out that Palistrom wood was becoming rarer? Because Belos kept over harvesting it and not giving it time to grow back?

The University’s tree is blue. Its a big ass Palistrom tree

[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.

[wackulart]

A lil more Day of Unity lore with me and @titan5blood's ocs/sonas

[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.

[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!

[drawer-ghost]

I feel that Potion Tracks teaches you the basics of all the "Non Tracks related" spells and everything about potion brewing (think about art school) and it's mainly made for the preventing young witches who wanna learn all the types of magic from becoming Wild Witches, Witches and Demons with Low Magic Skills and being at least 70% sure that everyone is in a coven with a sigil.

So long short story, Belos created a "Fake" coven for getting more witches with a sigil.

Who was seriously getting sigil-ed for the Potion Coven? Did they just lose everything? What the fuck is potion magic?

[gold-and-glyphs]

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

[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.

[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!!

[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

[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...