#i feel kinda similarly about the districts in the Hunger Games

[waywardsunlight]

Covens

The way the Owl House coven system has been used in fanon is kind of gross. There’s nothing wrong with the magic categories (ei. I like bard magic, this person does Abomination magic) but labelling them as “which coven would you be in” comes off extremely hollow. Textually, the covens are part of a genocide plot against the witches and it’s very clear that the covens are a bad thing, that they’re kind of like a semi-self imposed separation that causes infighting so the actual awful person can quietly kill people. Seeing “which coven are you” posts, especially when they don’t include the option of being a wild witch, are... yikes.

Ultimately this doesn’t have many real world applications. The infighting with the witches reminds me of how people in power intentionally spark infighting in queer communities and pit people against each other on topics that ultimately don’t matter while we get legislated away. I think, when you’re considering how to interact with any media, you should be aware of what exactly you’re representing because the show itself is extremely straightforward. The main plot of season 1 is Eda trying to keep Luz away from the covens and refusing to join one herself, and we see characters who did join like Raine showing extreme regret and horror at everything happening. Using the magic system is fine, nobody cares. But like... talking about the covens like they’re a major or a h*gwarts house is kind of wild given the actual context.  The show itself is asking you not to use the categories and actively encourages wild magic and fighting against imposed labels. So uh... go ahead and multitrack and do whatever you want. You don’t need to put everything into a category, you can just let media be sometimes.