linkadraws

[linkadraws]

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

OC lore comic

Here's the second part! I was working on it for some time, so I couldn't answer much questions. Also, the making of part 3 might take a little longer than this one. The very unpleasant talk between Belos and his wife continues, and Belos pretty much suspects her of betrayal.

[linkadraws]

William is so cute omg ☹️☹️☹️☹️

I love the idea of him being sweet with animals and nature, which is an excellent contrast to how his parents mistreat the land by exploiting its resources.

I can’t wait to see more of the silly lil guy

You ask and you shall receive! I'll keep in mind to post some more content about this little fella, seeing as people like my boy Willy so much.

[linkadraws]

Hello what does Reina and like and love about each other?

You mean what do Reina and Belos like about each other? Well, surprisingly, there are a couple of things.

Firstly, their shared "humanity". Despite hating one another with a passion, the two would still pick eachother over any other witch on the Boiling Isles. This stems from their hateful prejudices, religious views, and overall mindset. Like, the two would literally rather stay in an absolutely destructive and toxic marriage, then stay in a realm filled with demons and sin. So, they work together for the sake of "saving" humanity and getting home.

Secondly, the also both appreciate the fact that they can be honest with eachother(at least partially). When there is no one but them in the room, they no longer have to hide their hatred of witchcraft or their true names. Even when it comes to their closest allies like Hunter and Kikimora, they still have to put on an act in front of them, which is not the case when the two stay alone together. They even call one another by their real names from time to time. Of course, both of them still have secrets from their spouse, but at least they are being more honest with eachother that with literally anyone else in this whole realm.

Thirdly, despite hating him with a passion, Reina is an outstanding manipulator, and knows how to boost her husband's ego when needed. As for Belos, despite knowing that this might be just a trick of hers, the emperor still feels good when Reina tells him how talented he is in his mechanical skills, or that he is going to be a saviour of humanity.

So, despite loathing one another with a deep passion, they still benefit from this "arrangement". Although to be frank, their marriage does them way more harm than good.

[linkadraws]

Yeah, I figure realistically Luz in an Emperor's Coven AU scenario is gonna end up betraying Belos and Reina sooner than later, no matter how good their manipulation may be. She's just too open-minded, kind-hearted, and questioning of a person to willingly stay by their side for very long. And I figure Reina and Belos would also know this is the case and try to deal with it.

Which gave me an angsty idea. Cause Reina knows Belos would probably just kill Luz and make a grimwalker of her whenever Luz finally betrays them, Reina decides in anticipation of Luz's eventual betrayal to give her some sort of magical trinket that binds Luz to Reina, much like how Belos gave Reina the wedding ring to bind her to Belos.

Like the amount of things that would symbolize is kind of insane to think about. 1. Symbolizes Reina continuing the cycle of abuse

2. Showcases how she really only cares about getting *her* own freedom back, and doesn't hold that same sort of ideal for others.

3. Showcases a twisted sense of "mercy" on Reina's end cause she thinks she did a Luz a favor by preventing Belos from immediately killing her.

4. Emphasizes once again Reina's manipulative nature, because really one of the big reasons she'd do this to Luz is to use her for as long as possible to forward Reina's own plans.

Oh boy, this is some good angst! One thing I like that you pointed out, is Reina caring solely about her own freedom, and no-one else's. Because that is exactly how she feels. That woman, although harbouring a genuine desire to be free, is still a pretty selfish person.

Besides, Reina is alsya very observant person. Especially when it comes to those around her. She is mostly stuck in the castle like in a bird's cage, so the one thing she does is to observe others, and later use the observations she made in her own favour. Hence, it would be quite easy for her to notice that despite all their attempts to keep the girl on their side, Luz is simply too kind-hearted and "soft" for Reina or Belos to blind her with lies.

In fact, considering her tencedny to pick up on small details, I think the woman could've noticed signs of Hunter's eventual betrayal much earlier on in the story than Belos ever did, back when the boy just started establishing his bond with Flapjack. Heck, there even might be a scenario where the empress discovers Flapjack by accident, and ends up blackmailing Hunter, to use him as a tool in some way (for example to get more information about Luz and her friends).

[linkadraws]

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

OC lore comic

Dw, this will be updated shortly!

Context: This takes place right after the empress managed to steall the notes Luz made on glyph magic, to later use it in her advantage against Belos. Reina tricked the girl with sweet lies, and managed to get away with it. Only problem was, she didn't want her husband finding out about it, so that he doesn't get any suspicions. Little did the empress know, that the emperor was already aware of her scheming plans.

This comic won't have a huge chunk of lore behind it, since it's my first one, but it's still important for understanding Reina's motives(not that they are an excuse for her heinous actions).

[linkadraws]

You know those AUs where Luz, for whatever number reasons, ends up at the Emperor's castle instead of the Owl House and is taken in by Belos? Kind of had a silly little non-serious thought of that kind of scenario happening with Reina in the mix.

I know for a fact Reina would be absolutely thrilled!

No seriously, she'd be genuinely happy that there is now another human roaming the Boiling Isles besides herself and Belos. Reina already has experience with taking care of two younger siblings in her youth, so taking care of one lost teenager should be a piece of cake for her. I feel like she'd definitely try to stand in as mother figure for Luz, and since there are no amazing and supportive friends to help Luz, the girl falls for it. Of course she's still into witches and magic, but Reina's influence and brainwashing convinces Luz that these witches might not be as nice as those in her books. Overall, I think Reina would see Luz both as a apprentice and a tool for manipulation, regardless of what Belos thinks of her.

I'm not sure if Luz would be completely on Belos' side, if being discovered by him before Eda, but she'd definitely take time to open up her eyes and see past Reina and Belos' lies. Eventually, she would still probably end up going against the emperor and empress after finding out the truth, since she is a very good person, but her journey would somewhat remind me of Hunter's. I might have to think about this some more, but so far, this is all I've got on my mind.

[linkadraws]

Ooo, William seems interesting. The protect the boy and get his parents away from him!

Since you mentioned you felt his design was a bit underdeveloped, I do have a few thoughts actually about a Belos + Reina child that you might find interesting whenever you revisit William's design (TW for disability mention)

Since the curse Belos has literally rots away at his body, perhaps William is ambulatory impaired due to have atrophied muscles and joints as a consequence of his parent's curses. So he might have to move around in a wheelchair because of it.

For the same reasons above, he might also have breathing problems and heart problems due to his lungs, heart, and potentially other organs being atrophied due to the curse's consequences. Perhaps Belos fashions a sort of ventilation device out of the same magical mechanical stuff his and Hunter's staff is made out of to deal with this problem. The visual I had in mind is that it this ventilation device actually looks like a suit of armor that William wears under his clothes, making him look almost like a knight.

Perhaps he might also look a lot more demonic is his appearance, even more so than Belos, to truly sell how badly the curses of his parents messed up his body. It would be fitting irony that the super demonic-looking child is actually really kind compared to his comparatively more "normal" parents who are genocidal villains. That could be too drastic of a design change though and not entirely sure what could be done to make him look more demonic (perhaps his hands have the goop claws of his father, perhaps he looks a little emaciated with some of his bones showing beneath his skin).

A side note: perhaps his ears could have the rot scars on them to hint at him being deaf.

Ooooh, I love your ideas! Thanks for help! I'll definitely use some of those in the future, when coming back to Willy's design and story.

[linkadraws]

I'm working on something...

This is still a WIP

[linkadraws]

Do you ever plan on drawing that Belos + Reina child someday? Not that it would be canon to your AU, merely as the hypothetical thought experiment mused about in an earlier ask?

Actually, I already have! This is prince William! (I feel like this boy's design is a bit underdeveloped, so I might improve it later on)

TW for mentions of disabilities!

His existence is pretty much impossible, but if Reina would be forced to have a kid, he would mostly probably be born disabled.

Due his parents both bearing a curse that takes a drastic toll on their bodies, William was not only born somewhat monster-looking, but also deaf. Unlike his parents, he himself is actually not cursed, and the monstrous appearance is rather a natural state for him, with which he was born. This means he cannot shape shift of have outbursts. Additionally, William doesn't talk much, due to not being able to hear his own voice. Instead he uses sign language to communicate, and sometimes reads lips to see what those around him are saying.

And despite his parents both being horrible people, I like to imagine William turned out to be a decent person, who likes animals and insects.

As for how his parents would treat him... Well, that's a topic for another time. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy looking at this adorable boy!

[linkadraws]

Thought of a potentially very interesting plot regarding Reina. Perhaps when Reina and Luz were still interacting, Luz mentioned how her friends, Willow and Gus, have super powerful magic. Reina does some digging afterwards to confirm Luz's words and becomes determined to take out Gus and Willow not just to get rid of their "influence" on Luz, but also to drain their magic for her own. I'm not sure if Reina would or could be able to leave the castle if she wanted to at this point to carry out this plan herself though. So perhaps just before the events of Labyrinth Runners when the EC arrives to begin branding students, Reina secretly informs a coven guard or two that she has managed to get the specific loyalty of to capture Gus, Willow, and Amity amongst the chaos for their magic (or in Amity's case, just to eliminate her or use her as a bargaining chip later). I would imagine the coven guards would probably fail though with the Hexsquad fending off them off and Hexside still being brand-less like in the canon show.

That does sound like something that Reina would do. As I mentioned before, Reina is willing to take out practically anyone close to Luz, for whatever reason it may be. And since she is barely let out of the castle, except when acting on her husband's orders, she is forced to take action through her subordinates.

I can see how Reina might indeed try to get her hands on Gus and Willow, either to pry information out of them, or to use their powers later in her advantage. Knowing Reina and how skilled she is in sweet-talking children into following her orders, I think she might've wanted for Gus and Willow(along with some other Hexside students) to be branded so they could become less of an influence on Luz without their powers. She could additionally plan to potentially manipulate them in a certain way, like she does with everyone else. For example Reina could promise to remove the sigil from their wrists(which is a lie), in exchange for valuable information. Her plan is obviously foiled tho, because the coven guards fail to carry out the designated task. Either way, this seems like a possible scenario, as Reina is someone who is more inclined to act behind the scenes, than taking matters into her own hands.

[linkadraws]

What were the influences for Reina's design?

Glad you asked! When it comes to her design, my inspirations mostly came from Sansa(from Game of Thrones), and Hürrem Sultan (from the Magnificent Century, which is a Turkish TV show). Her dress was also inspired by outfits of 17th century ladies, as Reina is a woman from that time period. I gave her a similar colour palette to Belos' so they would match. Women from Game of Thrones were overall a big inspiration for me, both in design and in character. Besides, I love ginger women overall.

As for young Reina, Anne Shirley (from Anne with an E) was definitely a big inspiration for me. They even have matching braids as children.

[linkadraws]

Reading about the wedding ring as a tool for control struck my mind with an idea. What if Belos also created the wedding ring with the ability to incapacitate Reina if she ever got out of hand, sort of like how Kikimora activated Raine's coven brand to incapacitate them at the end of Eda's Requiem. In fact, I could see a defining moment in Belos and Reina's relationship in the far past when Reina realized how Belos manipulated her into being his wife and can't take off the wedding ring, confronting the witch hunter with all her pent-up rage. She fully speaks her mind and proceeds to storm out with the intent to leave Belos. But before she could, Belos activates the wedding ring and Reina is completely trapped and paralyzed. The witch hunter then walks over to her with the same dagger he killed Caleb with and presses it close to Reina, seemingly with the intent to kill her. But at the last moment, Belos puts away the knife and frees Reina.

It was all just a threat on Belos' end, but he achieved the desired effect of quite literally "striking the fear of God" into his wife. The experience was so traumatizing to Reina that she becomes far less willing to face Belos directly and forced to tolerate most of his actions. It could also be the reason for her moving towards more manipulative and subtle tactics in order to get something her way.

(Perhaps this is also the origin of Reina's own rot scar, since we know Belos' face wound originally from Lilith breaking his nose and the curse's infection making it grow from there. Perhaps Belos may give a cut to her cheek or neck that eventually morphs into the rotting wound she currently has)

OMG That's such a cool idea! I was actually going for something very similar. The ring sort of works like parental control. It gives Belos information of magic being used, what kind if magic it is, how was it used, where was it used, and gives him the ability to control its magic. So it is very much possible that Belos can use the ring's powers to immobilize or incapacitate Reina when needed.

In my story, Reina found out the ring cannot be removed the next day after their marriage was sealed. She tried to take it off before bed, and realised she could not. So after a few pointless attempts she ran over to Belos, asking what was wrong. That's when the man hit her with a horrifying revelation. According to his words, it was actually a device that had been designed specifically to keep her from "straying away from the right path". Of course, being the woman that she is, Reina wouldn't just let him get away with this stunt. She completely blew up on Belos, probably told him to burn in hell a few times, and then tried to storm out of the room in anger.

And I must say, the scene you came up with is brilliant! Philip incapacitating Reina and then walking over to her whilst holding a dagger is a fantastic way to show just how far this person is willing to go, and would undoubtedly give Reina chills for at least a few weeks afterwards. I swear, at that moment Reina thought she was actually going to get murdered. But of course, he doesn't kill her. Why would he? This was just a warning.

This situation doesn't end up making the empress fear confronting Belos directly, seeing as she still pretty much does this in the present. Tho it definitely does make her fully understand that leaving him is not an option in any way, and that she will have to result to some other methods if she ever wants to be freed. This event could even mark the begging of Reina developing deep loathing for the emperor, and the scar on her face is going to only strengthen the negative feelings. Whenever Reina sees it in the mirror, it keeps serving as a reminder of how easy it was for Philip to frighten her.

[linkadraws]

Do you think the Isles have a holiday celebrating Belos and Reina's marriage? I could see Belos making one to reinforce his good PR, making a big public show of how good of a husband he is to Reina. Certainly think Reina would hate that holiday with a passion since she'd have to tolerate all of Belos' public displays of "affection" towards her to avoid suspicion from the public about the stability of their marriage.

I'd say more of a celebration party than a full blown Holiday. A prestigious gathering for important witches and demons, for example members of the emperor's coven and the nine coven heads.

The thing is, although no one openly talks about it, people(or at least those close to Belos) are pretty much aware that the two are not very fond of each other. Thanks to Reina's nasty remarks and their constant bickering, word sometimes gets out about how their relationship is going. Some witches dismiss it as rumours, while others choose to believe it. Belos does try to uphold an image of a somewhat decent relationship with his spouse, but this facade is destroyed as soon as people hear the two nagging each other. Some coven heads even make jokes about the emperor and the empress constantly fighting.

I can also definitely see how the empress would secretly hate this event, as she would constantly have to be around her "favourite" husband and listen to his fake showoff. But, I do believe that Reina herself would also show fake affection towards Belos, just to keep up her benevolent and graceful image in the eyes of the public, and win over the sympathy of others. After all, it never hurts to have some allies on your side.

[linkadraws]

What do you think a hypothetical Reina grimwalkers would be like and in what ways would they differ from Reina in character?

Hmmm, I think her grimwalkers would pretty much end up like Reina herself, but with subtle differences. Just like how Caleb's grimwalkers would eventually turn on Belos, no matter how many of them he created. The same thing would happen to grimwalkers made of Reina. They would start out fine in their relationship with Belos(whatever it may be), but as time passes they would all eventually develop negative feelings about him, and end up hating him. Of course they'd each have their differences, but still, they'd all still meet the same fate. Because at the end of the day, Reina always craved freedom, and being with Belos is the exact opposite of having freedom. Her main objective is to return home, maybe even find traces of her family, and finally live a free life. And keeping in mind that the grimwalkers are basically clones of people, and are largely similar to those they are created from, they will all eventually go down the same path in one way or another.

[linkadraws]

Just wanted to let you know that your TOH OC is so interesting omg.

I fucking LOVE EC adjacent OCs and yours fit that perfectly. Her general design is so visually pleasing and her motivations n lore are intriguing and I can’t wait to see more about her relationship with other characters and how the end of her story will go

AWWWW! Thank you SO much! This is literally the best thing to wake up to. You can't imagine how much your words mean to me! I'm really happy that you liked my OC, her design and the story behind her. There is much more to tell about this woman, so I will keep expanding her story in the future. Thanks again for brightening up my day! Words like these always give me more motivation:)

[linkadraws]

Raine ever gets annoyed when people brings up how his name sound slike Reina's?

Knowing Raine, they'd be more embarrassed than annoyed, since Eda, the coven heads, and the others make a tone of jokes and remarks about it.

Eda: Heeyyy... So Rainestorm, does emperor dorks often mix you up with the empress? You know, when calling you by name?

Raine: Eda! Stop it! My name is not similar to the empress's!

Eda: *smirking* Haha! Sure is! Sooooo... wada'ya think would happen if Belos calls for his wifey, and then you accidentally barge into his room instead? That would be a good way to rob the sucker of his-

Raine: Eda!! Stop!

[linkadraws]

So i just remembered that comic where Belos says he's going to therapy and the therapy is him bringing a grimwalker to life and stabbing him repeatedly. What would be Reina's therapy equivalent?

Oh, I know what you're talking about! I remember laughing at this so hard. So anyway...

Arson. Burn the whole castle, and Belos along with it. Best therapy ever.