#Acolyte Visual Guide

[lokislady17]

A very good friend of mine ordered the Acolyte visual guide months ago for my birthday. It arrived today and my goodness, the pictures in this thing are so beautiful

[tremendouskoalachild]

damn spacesuit Osha kinda 👀👀

[cgsketchbook]

At long last, the wait is over! Star Wars The Acolyte Visual Guide is finally out and here is the striking cover I designed for it!

Sometimes, simple is the way to go and doesn't the creepy mask of the Stranger just say it all?

[flythesail]

Comfort: ★

Proximity to soup: ★★★★★★★★

[dapurinthos]

u kno i think i've reached the place where i can watch the acolyte for research while not wanting to gnaw on things in frustration. because i need to know things, like what lene's clothes look like (apart from her 'these are my archaeology cargo pants that i sew another pocket onto every time someone on the high council manages to make a comment that gets under my skin, which is not very often but can happen'. they're probably actually pretty hideous and approach technicolour dreamcoat-level of different textures and shades. the knees of the trousers are sashiko-quilted and patched, with the base trousers being cotton drill), because they're definitely more high republic-style than the rest of the 'modern' jedi, since we can see the influences of the style in sifo-dyas's coat and the high neck of his undertunic.

also the fighting styles, because by the time of the phantom menace, niman is the standard (i'm holding onto the essential guides and not letting go of them) because it's the most practical (something i'm sure dooku has razzed cin about multiple times since cin became the temple's chief lightsaber instructor) (all the niman users who went to geonosis died. like, wow. point. made. yes i know it's because niman is the 'whatever' form and they didn't finesse the duelling until pre-production of rots).

[blergarfvader]

you know you have bad anxiety when you are so excited for something, it overwhelms you a tad and you start to feel uneasy/anxious

[maidenvault]

Several Acolyte characters are getting their own novels/comics and still we have no Bad Batch books, I am so bitter. 😞

[konemanen]

New look at Manny Jacinto as Qimir and Amandla Stenberg as Mae in the upcoming THE ACOLYTE: VISUAL GUIDE. Qimir looks like such a dude lol

Also confirmed Mae and Osha are 24 :)

[kiirostarz]

I found Indris to be a really intriguing character, but what caught my attention the most was the presence of a figure labeled with the word 'Faith'. Could this be the first visual appearance of Misarte? As far as I understand, she is the goddess worshipped by the Wilders. Perhaps her first mention comes in the Echoes of Devastation trailer, when a Wilder calls out to the 'gods' and we hear a woman’s voice. At the end of that trailer, a different voice—possibly Dura—says that the swords once given will turn against them. That line makes me think that, at some point, we’ll have to face something far more powerful than a Hypogean. The fact that this text appeared on Indris’ character sheet, even though it’s already known that all Wilders believe in Misarte, makes me think it will have narrative significance.

That led me to reflect on how each god seems to influence their respective culture differently:

Dura appears to be the most peaceful. Her followers are usually humans, mainly Lightbearers. But aside from a few devoted acolytes or deeply religious people, the general population doesn’t rely on her all that much. For instance, Fay mentions in her affinity stories that she loves and respects Dura, but that Dura won’t grant her entry to the Serene Lyceum—she must earn it through merit.

The god of death, clearly tied to the Graveborns, has a more transactional relationship: they make deals where they surrender their lives. However, he seems more like a bureaucratic figure than a spiritual guide. In fact, Valka was probably human and a believer in Dura, but now that he’s a Graveborn, it doesn’t mean she worships the god of death. I also get the impression that the Graveborns don’t really worship him either. Still, perhaps he’s a god who’s honest about his function.

Misarte, I feel, is different. The Wilders rely on her far more deeply. I remember Lyca in the side quest where we meet Reinier—her devotion to Misarte was almost... extreme? (I mean, in the end Lyca accepts that it's not Misarte's power but she was very reluctant to let it go at first, it's that kind of devotion I'm referring to now) Also, in researching the Wilders, I found that those from the Dark Forest and those from the Vaduso Mountains have very different views of her. Could that be tied to the idea that gods turn their followers into puppets when they accept divine power? I once read a comment saying that people lose autonomy when that happens, and the gods use them as pawns in their wars. Could Misarte be one of those gods? That said, even if that’s true, it’s also possible that many still worship her out of respect—whether they’re aware of her intentions or not. After all, much of what the Wilders use to survive likely comes from her in some way...

And maybe this also ties back to the mission that Dura mentions at the start of the story. Maybe she can’t carry it out on her own, and that’s why the 'Merlin' title and its powers exist. If we are the current Merlin, maybe our journey isn’t about having great power (Like having to fight something alone), but about connecting with others, "recruiting" them, and guiding them toward their destiny. (It could also imply that the 'old Merlin' tried to do it alone, without support—thanks to Kafka030 for that idea.) We don’t grant divine power, but we offer guidance and purpose. We see this reflected in characters like Alsa and Soren, Atalanta and Temesia, Sinbad or Valka, who move forward toward their destiny without losing their autonomy.

Maybe that’s also why Dura doesn’t intervene directly... If she were to speak to the characters herself, (i think) they’d have to make a deal that would involve losing awareness or will. So perhaps we, as Merlin, are her way of intervening without stripping people of their freedom. As a kind of messenger.

[shield-and-saber]

new preview images for The Acolyte: Visual Guide, releasing June 17, 2025

[hegodamask]

why is the acolyte getting an artbook, visual guide and two spin-off novels while andor has had hardly anything since its release nearly two years ago 🙃

[tremendouskoalachild]

just some more full-page Amandlas from the visual guide

[savetheacolyte]

🎬 Part 9 of Acolyte Black History Month:

Award-winning Filmmaker and Director, Hanelle M. Culpepper, contributed two fandom-loved episodes with “Teach/Corrupt” and the finale, “The Acolyte”. In these episodes, Hanelle highlights a turning point for Osha who is forced to confront herself and choose her path. By episode 8, Hanelle links the final conflict to the fitting denouement, guiding the actors’ shining moments and leaving room for more to come.

Now, episodes directed by Hanelle for the new series, Paradise, are airing on Hulu.

Hanelle, we love your storytelling and visual ideas. Happy Black History Month! 🎬

[flythesail]

Hey so why did they just ignore Cassian being a fulcrum

[uzumaki-rebellion]

"Tethered to You" Chapter 3

Masterlist HERE.

"It's unfortunate that when we feel a storm

We can roll ourselves over 'cause we're uncomfortable

Oh well, the devil makes us sin

But we like it when we're spinning in his grip

Love is like a sin, my love

For the ones that feel it the most

Look at her with her eyes like a flame

She will love you like a fly will never love you again"

Massive Attack – "Paradise Circus"

Qimir guided the sleek Exile II onto an obsidian wave-cut platform in the middle of the night off the coast of his own personal island retreat. The tide was out and the uneven rocky land bridge that led to his secret cave was visible by starlight. He'd be able to carry Osha into his hideaway right away. She would have to get acclimated quickly on her own before he had to fly out again to meet his Master in person for a few days. On his return, he would begin her training. Sitting in the cockpit he looked at his hands. They quivered with the overwhelming sense of satisfaction.

He found his true acolyte.

Closing his eyes, he rested his body and mind, becoming calm enough to luxuriate in the winning of Osha's trust to come with him. The inhospitable cold outside seeped into the starship. He flexed his fingers to keep them warm. Nights by the sea often brought a stinging pain, enough to split tender skin and make it bleed. He tapped a button on his display to keep heat inside Osha's cockpit for a few minutes longer. He needed time to decompress from the long flight.

Mae had been a failure.

Qimir had just been a means to an end for the other twin. She didn't look far beyond the killing of the four Jedi. Revenge was enough with her shortsightedness, and although she desired for him to be her true Master, Mae lacked the passion and follow-through to see the bigger picture: Destruction of all Jedi.

Osha? Well, she had the passion and inner will to do more damage than Mae could ever dream of. He flicked a switch to get a visual on Osha in the dual cockpit on the opposite side. She slept for the majority of the trip, mentally exhausted from her ordeal on Brendok. Once they broke away from the planet fleeing directly to his uncharted one using the hyperdrive, she shut down completely. He didn't speak to her or offer words of comfort. She had to eat her pain the way he had to a long, long, time ago. Betrayal was a hell of a thing to endure, but at least she didn't have to make peace with it. He would help her cultivate that pain into power. His hands, that were much older than they looked, finally stopped shaking from the adrenaline rush of securing a lifelong prize.

The moonless sky hid them against the icy black waters of the sea. A sharp whistling of the wind outside produced a soothing Aeolian tone against the protective cockpit canopy. From high above, the Exile II would look like a simple sea-stack on top of more black-gray slabs. The starship blended into the surroundings and they were safe for now. No doubt the Jedi would interrogate Mae and plot to use her to find them. He wasn't worried. His mind-wipe would keep the holier-than thou's scrambling back in the Jedi Grand Temple on Coruscant.

He glanced at Osha's sleeping image. Deep breathing. No eyelids moving with dreams.

The dark force was heavy in her. How many endless decades had he searched for his perfect one? He had traversed across the vastness of space and time, and now that he had her, the real work could begin. Training her to be his other half. He wanted the power of two and Osha would give it to him.

His dick almost got hard thinking of all the damage they would bring to the galaxy. Two orphans tossed away by the Jedi would become the architects of their destruction. He grinned reveling in the pleasure of the thought.

The tide began to turn back joined by the curtain of thick white fog creeping across the horizon. It would swallow the land bridge and them in an icy shroud if he didn't move soon. He shut the starship down completely and climbed out of the left side cockpit. His windswept hair became slightly wet from the spray of saltwater tossing foamy liquid across the rocks. Osha remained in her deep slumber. He carefully made his way to her side and popped open her cockpit canopy using the Force. Holding his right hand outstretched, he focused his power on Osha and lifted her with his mind. She floated like a limp ragdoll high into the air and he guided her down into his arms. He nestled her head gently in the crook of his neck. Her hair smelled like something sugary and sweet he remembered eating as a youngling on Coruscant. The sea already added its brakish scent to the damp locs that tickled his chin. She seemed almost weightless and felt tiny in his arms, but the power within that compact frame pulsed around her aura. He lowered his face to smell her hair once more.

She was his.

He would nurture her mentally back to health first before crafting the proper regimine for her training. Seawater sloshed across his inky black boots. His cape and body heat kept her warm while he marched across the wet rocky bridge toward his hidden abode.

The uncharted planet he lived on was mostly rocky terrain of chained islands with large veins of cortosis in some places that he mined for himself and turned into the metal to craft his helmet and gauntlet. Fortunately there was an abundance of food sources in the ocean and on land with plenty of fresh water to survive. Because it was uncharted, it became a safe pocket of refuge for others who didn't want to be found. Scattered across thousands of miles of archipelago were a few folks of ill repute, but everyone kept to themselves except for those occasions when they visited a rough-hewn set of humans who ran a modest bar/watering hole on the largest landmass on the planet. It was a place to gather intergalactic supplies and Intel discreetly. A place he would have to visit in a day or two.

His home was carved from a large rock mass near the sea. He claimed the abandoned property for himself two decades previous and his Master approved. He found the original owner dead and petrified like wood at the entrance as if it had been dead for centuries. Qimir fixed it up with modern fixtures turning it into a lab of sorts. Solitude and privacy was his and stepping through his front door, the interior lights automatically came on based on his biometrics.

The interior was chilly enough for him to see his breath as puffs of condensation vapor. He carried Osha to his full-sized bed. The top blanket was rumpled but the sheets were clean. He placed her on it and unfastened her boots. Her outer clothing would help keep her warm until he had the cave at a suitable temperature. He fumbled with her body to get her tucked under the covers without waking her. She curled into the fetal position. Pulling the covers over her shoulder he paused to watch her slumber.

Osha had delicate full features and still looked fierce in her sleep. He sat at the edge of the bed and let his eyes take in her relaxed state. She would sleep for a long time once her body fully settled into its new environment. He knew this. It would be a deep down in the bones sleep from shedding the weight of her past. He used his index finger to push back the front of her bangs to see her forehead. She didn't have the spiral pale marking on her forehead that Mae did. His finger lingered on her skin before touching one of her individual locs. Firm, yet soft, it felt like the thick yarn that made the heavy sweaters he wore during winter inside the cave. On his planet it was nearing fall. Luckily, Mae left enough clothing and grooming supplies behind that Osha could use until he went out for full supplies again. He bent down to sniff the scent of her hair once more and she stirred in her sleep. He froze, fearing she would wake up and find him hunched over her like some pervert. Distance. Give her space.

He moved away from the bed and shucked off his damp cape and outer layers, hanging them on a rack near the entrance. Untying his boots he scanned his living space for anything out of order. Scavengers often flew to the planet, but none dared to bother him in that area. At least not yet.

His cave smelled of salt, damp bedrock and sea foam. The tide brought in waves that crashed against the rocks below them. He would sleep pretty well himself once he made a pallet on the floor. First task was to make a fire and he grabbed wood and kindling from the stack against the wall where he prepared his meals. Tangled fishing nets waited for his mending on the floor in the corner. He'd need to fish and collect more food in the morning.

With a good amount of wood stacked next to the deep fire pit surrounded by heavy obsidian sandstone rocks that were great heat conductors, he built a fire . He layered the wood in a pyramid shape first, placing enough tinder at the top to make the fire last all night. Qimir stared at the tinder and it burst into flames. He glanced behind him. Osha still slept. He wondered if she already knew the power of pyrokenesis.

He stood near the fire in the middle of the cave to make sure it burned evenly. Light gray smoke rose up and out of the ventilation he made in the cave's roof. Holding his hands out, he warmed his palms and rotated his neck to knock out stiffness. He reached for some dried fragrant sea moss and tossed it on the fire. The scent of the sea rose up and gave him tranquility in the moment. Clarity.

He peeled off the rest of his clothes until he was naked and distributed them with his outer layers to dry near the fire. There was a chest full of clothing across from his bed in the back and he padded there barefoot on the clean earthen floor to retrieve soft beige trousers that always hung low on his hips. He pulled them on near the bed, keeping his eye on Osha as he tied the drawstrings. She'd rolled over onto her back with her hair in disarray across her cheek. The scent of sea moss finally reached the rear of the cave and so did the slow transfer of heat.

Qimir wandered over to his fresh water supply inside an ancient wooden barrel. He ladled a glass and the refreshing coolness pulled a groan of satisfaction from his throat. Exalted from his journey, he smiled as drops of water fell from his moist lips. He pulled a piece of seasoned jerky meat out from his dry food cabinet and settled on a bench in front of the fire with his front facing Osha. The plans running through his head for her wouldn't let him relax fully by the fire. How could he when the ultimate gift was in front of him? Secure inside a cave no one from her world would find.

"Oh-shaaa," he said softly into the fire.

She moaned in her sleep. He gazed at her form on the bed.

She had to consent to everything he wanted each step of the way. His seduction of her on the island before had been slow and deliberate. It helped that she was already physically attracted to him, but her fragile state would have her questioning every move he made from here on out. He was a master manipulator and could seduce anyone easily; her sister had been proof of that. But Osha? She was a woman who had been deceived to the core of her being. There was no way she would fully trust him even though she accepted his offer to train with him. Physical seduction wouldn't work on her the same way. He had to capture her mind first. It meant he was pushing her to do what he wanted, however nothing would stick unless she said yes to him. And yes to him again, and again…and again.

He steepled his fingers together and held them under his chin. How far could he push her? Would she buckle and run like Mae did? That would anger him. The longer she stayed in close proximity to him, the more potent their connection in the Force would be. Their bond would intertwine and grow stronger over time. He had to admit that it chilled and thrilled him to the bone to watch her burn all of her anger and grief and pure unadulterated rage into the cracked hilt of Sol's lightsaber, bleeding the kyber crystal into crimson fury. Chilled him even more when she force-choked her former Master and father-figure to death. She was sublime. Ripe for the plucking.

Now he had her.

He would mold her.

Teach her.

"Mae!"

Osha's shriek wrenched his eyes away from the crackling heat of the fire. She bolted up from her sleep and glanced around in fear.

"You're okay Osha," he said moving toward her slowly, "you've had a bad dream. You're safe. Mae will be fine."

Fiery eyes took him in and he knelt down next to the bed.

"We're safe on my island. In my home. You need rest��shh…lay back."

Red weepy eyes stared at him with so much anguish. Wracked with sobs, Osha flung herself on the opposite side of the bed and wept into the soft pillows within her grasp. Her entire body convulsed in agony and he couldn't allow her to suffer alone like that.

Qimir crawled onto the bed and spooned around her. She jabbed his chest with her elbow.

"Get away from me! Don't touch me…don't you touch me!"

Her voice cracked and she wailed, still flinging her arm back to cause him pain too. He stayed still and let her release the first wave of pain until she was spent and nearly lost her ability to speak from all the crying.

"You will use this, Osha. There is power in pain—"

"Shut up! Shut your mouth! I don't want to hear anything…I don't want to hear your voice!"

She held her body in a rigid ball and wept for an hour. He simply stayed next to her making sure she didn't hurt herself like he tried to do once. The fire heated the cave up and it appeared to settle Osha into warm comfort. He reached out a hand and touched her shoulder. She didn't resist the touch, nor did she scream at him.

"It's not fair," she whimpered, "He took everything away from me and lied to my face for sixteen years. They took away the only people who ever truly loved me and my sister."

Her voice had a despondent tone he had never heard from her before. It sounded like giving up. Qimir wrapped a muscular arm across her waist and snuggled against Osha's back, pouring all of his warmth and strength into her.

"Sleep, Osha. I am here for you. Always. Remember that."

She cried softly through the night and he held her close, listening to her profound despair until she fell back into a pitiful sleep. The icy wind howled outside, but they were warm and cozy together.

He never left her side until the sun rose.

Chapter 4 HERE.

A.N.:

Look at me me posting a day ahead of my Friday Schedule! Enjoy!

[dapurinthos]

i need to know more about:

the woman ☝️ with the blue and damask clothing on the left;

this guy in the cloak with ☝️ the fancy back clasp; and

this ☝️ one here in the blue with the reverse fanny pack.