#the coven wars

[warandpeas]

Ritual

If you also think a marshmallow ritual would be nice, consider becoming a part of our coven on Patreon.

[and-loth-cat]

cant believe sol killed the galaxy's first lesbians

this is a step back in gay rights that would never be recovered until luke took down the empire in chanel boots

[gffa]

Absolutely fascinated by what the coven's philosophy is in The Acolyte, where Aniseya talks about the Thread as a connection between all living things, that different people call it different things, and says, "Some call it a Force and claim to use it. But we know the Thread is not a power you wield. Pull the Thread. Change everything. It ties you to your destiny. It binds you to others." all while she's actively wielding the Force to demonstrate it. Are we meant to find echoes of the Path of the Open hand, who believed that using the Force in one place meant that you were causing an equal and opposite reaction in another? Where they said "the Force shall be free" as a way to stop anyone from using it in any way, saying that if you saved this life then the Force would take that life over there as "balance"? Is the Coven an evolution of their beliefs, where instead of saying that no one can use the Force, but instead that you should be allowed to use it despite that? Or are they an offshoot of the Nightsisters? Or are they simply saying that the Thread wields them, rather than them wielding the Thread? Or is it that they simply believe it's a large connective web, where when you pluck one string, it vibrates across the entire tapestry? The coven is such an interesting mix of things we know to be true about the Force, but also things that are suspicious as hell, like whatever they did to Torbin, whatever created Mae and Osha, why they felt they had to hide, when the Jedi have always existed beside other dark siders in the galaxy, the Brotherhood of the Ninth Door in the High Republic, the Nightsisters in the prequels, so why are they so afraid of the Jedi finding out their secrets? What is it that the coven believes in and acts on??? Because I love weird Force traditions and the different philosophies of them and I feel like The Acolyte is very much going for a story about unreliable narrators and differing desires conflicting against each other where you can at least understand where each group is coming from, like I don't think the coven is necessarily evil, but what they did to Torbin was certainly a red flag, on the other hand, Aniseya listened to what Osha had to say about leaving with the Jedi, but also we don't know what really happened that night, and I'm enjoying the weird Force bullshit because that's my jam in Star Wars.

[brighteuphony]

I love Chiyo- and I kind of headcanon her as a Witch of the Woods (Sands???) archetype- a bitter old woman who has sacrificed too much, experienced and committed more atrocities than anyone can imagine, and who knows the truth about what lies in the hearts of men to live among the villages anymore.

In my AU she's got a pretty dark backstory. Back in time when Villages were just getting established, women weren't allowed to be shinobi in the same capacity as men. There was too much warring and death among the clans to risk women, so they were only ever allowed to serve as spies or medics. (Chiyo started off as a medic).

And like any military/fascist dictatorship, serving the state was more important than anything else- so women who were kunoichi were given missions to steal and return with powerful bloodlines. Even before villages, this was a common fear among clans (which is why so many of them have protective measures and inbreed/arrange matches very carefully).

Chiyo was one such woman, who took a X-rated mission in her youth because she was told it would 'serve her nation'. There was a powerful bloodline whose Kekkei Genkai could harden sand to something akin to Steel- something Suna very desperately wanted.

Chiyo succeeded in her mission, but despite the veneer of 'serving your nation', when she returned, she was considered, in her words, "Just another whore."

Then when her son didn't manifest the bloodline- it was worse, but Chiyo was happy because that meant her son was HERS. (This is when she met Enji, and he saved her son's life at great cost- so Chiyo owes him a blood/life debt.)

Then the war came, and they needed women to fight so now serving the nation meant something different, and Chiyo became a full fledged 'shinobi' and turned her healing towards poison and death- especially when she had to fight the Salamander.

Then she sealed Gaara and that was the atrocity straw that broke the camel's back and she dipped out Suna and retired to an oasis. She's still a healer, but adamantly refuses to serve shinobi.

Once again, thank you so much for these asks and all the support for this AU?

@youngpeacearbiter

[mimir-anoshe]

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field.

I'll meet you there.

~ Rumi.

I am a poet for memes, but I'm not this good, so no not my poetry. These are my gifs though; you can tell by the graininess. Oshamir is the poetry in my heart, and the song in my soul. Goodbye goodbye goodbye, you were bigger than the whole sky💜... My fallen stars.

[agathasvidal]

do you ever think about the couple of decades in time that the witches had to witness the avengers running around saving and ruining the world

like agatha’s just laughing at these children running around their little war zone playground in spandex

aND

do you ever think about the witches living through the events of infinity war? and then endgame subsequently? did any of the witches get dusted by thanos? can you imagine lilia being pissed off that she didn’t get dusted, she’s like “i would have loved a five-year-long nap”

imagine rio being confused af because she felt so much death but there are no bodies to collect

[renesassing]

what i think is sometimes overlooked or missed entirely about the old republic (more specifically, the old sith wars era) is like. old republic jedi were not peacekeepers the way golden age (prequel) jedi were peacekeepers. old republic jedi were esoteric warrior monks and they acted like it. tales of the jedi (the comic run), ft. all the shit about exar kun, the last major player in the galaxy before the start of knights of the old republic (everything in kotor is his fault and i stand by it) came out in the early 90's, back when the only concept of what a jedi was shaped by obi-wan and yoda in the original trilogy. aka people shaped their idea of what the jedi was partially based off of a guy whose idea of conflict de-escalation was mind control and dismemberment. they were the good guys, yeah, but in a 'don't make me come back there' kind of way. and they had to be, because unlike in the golden age, some sith asshole was rearing its head up every generation or so and trying to tear the galaxy asunder and shit. in swtor they're at war with a sith empire for almost three decades. it was a different jedi order back then is what im tryin' to say. and if you don't see that and appreciate it for being what it is, just?? stay out of the old republic??

[portrait-of-ariel]

🛑 Controversial Opinion 🛑:

Mother Koril doesn’t get enough respect or appreciation in the show. Aniseya created the twins but Koril carried them, and I would argue she’s just as much their mother as Aniseya. There’s nothing wrong with having two mothers. Also let us never forget that four Jedi who went meddling on Brendok led to the deaths of nearly fifty women. An entire coven perished in a span of a few days because of the Jedi’s colonizing, strong-arming dogma. I said what I said 🤷🏾‍♀️.

[thecovenwars]

The God Of Magic

Ársa was the very first sidhe, made from the root of an Elder Tree and born with a spark of creation, he was one of the few chosen creatures able to create life. He helped populate the world by creating powerful races that would one day be known as the sidhe, they lived reviered by human kind. Walking along side them, and giving their aid to those who gained their favor, Ársa believed he had done his maker proud. But even the best laid plans can go awry, Ársa didn’t know the pride and greed of human kind, and what they would do for power.

There was a faction of seven men and women who craved the power of their neighbors, to this end, they made a fatal error. Together they schemed to kill a shide and drink her blood, in hopes that from her blood her power would become theirs. Their wish was granted, but with it a curse was born, the men were given eternal life, but with it they were cursed with an insatiable thirst, as their power was born from the spilling of divine blood, to maintain their eteral life they had to spill the blood of their fellow man, and drink from their bodies. These would become the first vampires. Some of those cursed tried to resist the bloodlust only to find that ignoring the thirst ebbed away at their humanity, slowly tuning them into creatures of instinct, who only knew to kill, feed, and spread. Rabidly, the vampiric plague began to overwhelm humanity.

Horrified by what he had created, Ársa turned to the archangels for help, pleading with them and their maker to save mankind from his folly. Until the maker gave him a solution, he would sacrifice his spark of creation, distribute it across the world so that new creatures would be born with powers that could resist the curse that had been unleashed and save mankind. In exchange, Ársa would no longer have the gift of creation he had been given. Seeing no other alternative, he accepted this deal and his gift was distributed across the earth, giving rise to a race of humans with extrordenary powers, some to see the future, others could walk through fire and never burn. Together this new race could fight back the plague of vampires and restore a relative peace to the world. But once again humaity’s hubris destroyed that too.

The gift of magic caused fear and distrust among humanity, they began to call these gifted people witches, called them an affront to nature and sought to destroy them. At the same time the gifted had begun to separate into groups called covens and were fighting amongst themselves for dominion of magic, these wars decimated the world and the gifted population dwindled. Ársa was heartbroken, he considered destroying the gift entirely and all who carried it would cease to be, and yet he couldn’t, as to him they were his, his children. Instead of destroying them Ársa hid among them, in his many forms he helped to rebuild what was lost, and to give them a new name, practitioners. Today, nobody knows where Ársa is, some say he’s still among mankind, watching after his beloved creations, others say he no long exists, but to this day his gift lives on. The gift of magic.

Richard closed the old tome and looked up at the one toothed hermit, “So… it’s a curse then?  Can it be undone?”

“Who can say, little one.”

“Magic is creation… that means it should be able to do anything, right?!”

“Even creation has its limits, child, even the ancient one couldn’t cure vampirism.”

“I can’t just leave my brother like that, there’s got to be a way. Please, can I borrow this? Maybe there’s some sort of clue in here that can help me save my brother!”

“Take it, I hope you find what you’re looking for”

Richard smiled and bowed respectfully before running back into the tunnel, the one toothed man followed him to the edge of the darkness and smiled, “maybe, just maybe. He could be just what my children need.”

[mysaldate]

Some gifs I snipped from the Order and Chaos cinematic for y'all + the thumbnail ^^^

I am uploading all of these and more on Tenor under the tags AFK + character name (or Eugavus)

I have them fighting in one gif that's unfortunately too big for Tumblr. I can try to compress it but it might come at the cost of losing quality, let me know if you'd like me to try regardless.

Similarly to the previous duo, I have these two put together as well but the size is an issue for Tumblr.

Also have these two connected up on Tenor!

These are connected too!

And just for those who also want the other characters (+Daimon and Talene on Tenor):

And a two misc:

Happy Eugavusmas!

[thetreestumptherapist]

Curses be upon the children of Fortnite, for they know not where their ancestors came from. They shall feel the wrath of the Empire and the flame of Sangheili Honor. We must show them the greats from before, but be merciful in our teachings for we are all they have to guide them in the ways of our ancestors. Go now brothers and sisters, and show them the true legacy of the games and movies that helped raise our generation and generations past.

[reality-detective]

If you missed any of the words being read above 👆 you can read it for yourself here 👇

Let this sink in 🤔

[gffa]

You know what? I actually genuinely like the witches on Brendok, I wish we had gotten to see more of them, because they got to exist as a cool addition to the galaxy, got to be dangerous and dark, but also had moments of care and willingness to let go. Aniseya genuinely loved her daughters, she was willing to let Osha go because that's what Osha honestly wanted. But she was also someone who did harm to others, she invaded Torbin's mind in a way that seemed to really tear him up. The rest of the coven probably genuinely saw themselves as not bad people, despite that nearly all of them were willing to perform a ritual that could kill themselves just to invade someone's mind to force him to kill his friends, because they felt threatened. It's not unreasonable why they felt that way! If you look at things only from their perspective, if they felt like they were under attack, it doesn't matter what the Jedi actually said or did, it's very easy to step down a bad path. It's easy to misinterpret and to feel like you can't trust outsiders to understand you. I even have affection for Koril, who could clearly see that Sol didn't want to attack her, that he was working so hard not to fight her, she wanted him to fight her, screamed at him to do it, so she could kill him, and you could see it in her actions that it was because she felt desperate that she was going to lose her children. It didn't matter that Osha wanted to go, that she'd been dreaming of it even before the Jedi ever came there, because Koril didn't want to let go of either of them. It didn't matter that she was strict and borderline mean to the girls, you could see it was out of fear and desperate worry that they would be found. It doesn't matter that she wanted to hide them away from the world, that it wasn't good for the girls to be hidden that way, it was genuinely because she cared about them, even if it was falling into attachment as Star Wars defines it (the more Buddhist-aligned version)--the desperate fear of how you will feel without someone, rather than what they actually need. I love that they're a bunch of hot messes in ways that aren't healthy but are easy for me to identify with and easy for me to understand where they were coming from. They're just a really interesting source of conflict in the story that you can point to how they walked their own path to this end, but also that they did so out of sympathetic reasons.

[inquisitor-apologist]

I think it’s kind of necessary to consider that episode 3 of the Acolyte is told entirely from the witches’ pov, where the Jedi are dangerous outsiders who might hurt them. When you consider it from what the Jedi see/know, what they did makes a lot more sense.

For starters, they arrive on a planet that is supposedly uninhabited (and was, until at most a couple of decades ago) and pretty quickly they see two force-sensitive kids playing in the woods.

That’s pretty weird, but then a woman comes up and gets mad at them for playing in the forest, which is a very normal kid thing to do. One of the kids says that they are never supposed to leave the Fortress, which kind of leaps the situation from weird to concerning pretty quickly.

It’s pointed out in the dialogue of the episode itself that the galaxy is a pretty dangerous place for force-sensitive kids (people try to enslave them and use them as weapons a lot, think tcw). And. Well, when you go to a place that is supposedly uninhabited (isolated) and immediately see children of a very vulnerable group who are, by their own admission, never allowed to leave a fortress (military connotations), that’s pretty concerning.

Look at Sol’s face when we first see him. He’s breathing heavy, and he looks scared. He’s obviously, and justifiably, imo, worried for these kids.

When they go to look for these kids later, they find, yeah, a massive fortress, but, since it’s implied that everyone is at the ceremony but the two scouts, it’s empty. So they come in, and they are immediately met with hostility.

They say hi, and someone yells that they’re trespassing, despite the fact that no one is supposed to be on this planet and nobody was answering the door. When they point that out, the lady in charge is immediately condescending and and rude for no reason before accusing them of lying.

We know that the coven is trying to stay hidden, and earlier this episode believed that the Jedi didn’t know they existed, so why Aniseya is suddenly sure that they knew the planet was inhabited is unclear.

Indara is then clear that they’re not here to hurt anyone, and Aniseya accuses them of lying again, because they’re armed (Jedi always carry their lightsabers, it’s part of their religion, though I’m willing to believe Aniseya didn’t know that) and unannounced (?? What. How are the Jedi going to announce themselves to people they didn’t know about).

Indara pretty quickly makes it clear that they’re concerned about the kids (she literally says concerned), which, as I said earlier, is pretty justified from their pov. She says that it’s illegal to train children in the Republic, which I have to assume is meant to be seen as a lie (or at least a stretch of the truth) by the audience, considering that the Jedi know of and are friendly to many other force-sensitives faiths across the galaxy, including ones that train children and use the Dark Side, like the Nightsisters.

And yeah, maybe that lie wasn’t the best approach, but I think it’s an understandable choice. They get the kids to come out, and then ask where their dad is, which seems pretty reasonable to me, and are told that they don’t have one. Since that is impossible, it probably sets off all kind of alarm bells, like were these kids (force-sensitive, living on a planet where nobody is supposed to be, unable to leave their fortress) kidnapped?

One of the kids has a very intricate tattoo that probably feels pretty weird in the force, that she didn’t have a couple hours ago and does not appear to have been done recently (no irritation or redness).

When Sol points this out, he’s accused of spying on them (as opposed to the idea that he saw the kids out in the forest? It seems like everyone in the coven knows they were out in the morning) and trying to steal the kids. He’s literally just said hi, asked their names, and pointed out a confusing tattoo.

When he’s like, no, I’m not here to steal your kids, we don’t do that, he’s immediately threatened. Despite this, he gives his sacred weapon away to one of the kids, who was clearly curious about it, to prove he’s not a threat. Indara is even clear that she doesn’t want Sol to even have his saber out to protect himself from the witches who just threatened to cut his tongue out, which really speaks to his much the Jedi are being genuine and not trying to cause problems.

Sol then tells Osha that she’d be a good Jedi (nice compliment to a kid who’s clearly interested) and asks if she wants to be tested, which is pretty innocuous, especially when considering that the Jedi probably think that Osha and Mae might be being abused.

In response to this, the witches then cast a spell on and threaten a child to make them leave. The child has done literally nothing this entire time. He hasn’t talked to the witches or the kids, he’s just been standing there.

Seriously, I don’t think people are talking about that enough. They torture a child (he is clearly in pain and ‘not in his right mind’) because… they’re threatened by Sol talking to Osha? That’s a huge red flag, and probably confirms to the Jedi that Osha and Mae are in danger. They attack a child with no provocation, and the Jedi are just supposed to assume that the kids in their care, in an isolated fortress on an uninhabited planet, are safe?

The Jedi (rightfully) double down, going like, hey we have the right to make sure these kids aren’t force sensitive (and probably to make sure they aren’t being hurt, though they don’t say that because, well, they already know that the witches aren’t going to react well).

After getting permission, the Jedi thank the guys who just attacked them and leave (look at how scared Torbin is, how quickly he tries to get away from the witches).

They test the kids, who are definitely trying to fail, and ask Osha what she wants. She reveals that she wants to be a Jedi despite pressure from her family to lie (bit of a red flag) and that she doesn’t seem to be aware of the existence of other kids (another red flag).

[mimir-anoshe]

Osha in season 2 when she finds out about that: