rist-ix - Tumblr blog

[rist-ix]

HELLER ALS LICHT! LEUCHTET DEIN ZAUBER! REINE MAGIE! DIE IMMER GEWINNT!

I swear if “heller als Licht” doesn’t play the moment I start the first ep of the reboot…I’ll cry

[rist-ix]

I'd like to take a moment to talk about the season 8 Alfea refurb.

Season 8 sees not only the largest shift in art direction of any season of Winx, WoW included, it also sees a complete rebuild of Alfea, and while I do like some parts of the refurbishment, it does a couple of things that make me go “hmmmm.”

The biggest one of these is the destruction of the courtyard/quad's baby elephant paths*.

(*Misuse of the term "Baby Elephant paths" here, a Baby Elephant Path, also called a Desire path, is a path that is created by people continuously using what is often the shortest or easiest route regardless of whether or not it is a paved path, often causing dead grass and dirt tracks in lawns as they move across areas or through gardens. The term here is used in place of anything better, because the original Alfea courtyard layout contains paths that would likely be a closer match to the true Baby Elephant Paths if the courtyard wasn't pre-paved.)

In season 8 the 10 panels of grass are swapped out for 16 gardens arranged into a... well I suppose sea shell would be a good word. A dragonfly-wing clam-shell.

And it looks fantastic, but it also completely ruins the path finding of the courtyard.

Chucking it under a cut because it does go on a bit.

While each of the 8 dragonfly wings of this shell allow students to travel from the staircase of the central building outwards towards the two mirrored side buildings, and each wing is segmented into two, in order to allow a squiggly path to cross from one grass display next to the central stairs, around in a horse-shoe-like loop to the other grass display beside the central stairs.

Originally, the staircases that bridge the courtyard's level and the elevated platform in front of the central building are also affected by this renovation. Before season 8, there were 4 staircases.

The original central staircases were separated by a slim garden that rose along the incline like a pretty dividing rail, then two more staircases rose along the sides of the mirrored buildings. These outer staircases were separated by wide steps of grass. Good for sitting, laying, or feral student 'parkour.'

The grass panels that made up the courtyard were (and as of season 8, still are somewhat) surrounded on all four sides by wide paths that allow students to skirt along any of the building, fountain area or outer fence line without stepping on the grass.

Further, the original grass panels, though they did get upgrades like lights and small hedges as the series went on, were easy to walk over or lounge on them between classes, the season 8 grass sections have larger hedges, and a student would either have to put a bit of effort into jumping over them, or access the much smaller grass area through the open side along the squiggly path.

The path finding of the original court yard layout was also much more accommodating.

The original layout had two direct paths intersecting it, one from the front gate to the central building (actually to the wide fountain area where it would be easy to park a bus for students to (dis)embark for school trips,) and one from the central door of one mirrored building to the other across from it.

Further, it has three baby elephant type paths, that accommodate for paths that are likely to see a lot of foot traffic throughout the day.

One from the gate area to the central doors of the mirror building, one from the fountain area to the central doors of the mirrored building, and one from the front of the mirrored buildings (or the front of the covered walkways, not the tower door) to the front gate.

While the season 8 layout allows direct travel from the front gate to the fountain/central building, it has none of the other direct access pathways. The season 8 gardens would enforce circular travel around certain wedges or for the students to jump the hedges as they move from one building to another.

The season 8 gardens assume travel directions to and from the fountain.

So yes, it's pretty, but it's not really functional for a school. It's more the type of fancy garden you'd find at an estate or museum grounds. Something to wow visitors, not something for students to enjoy or use the space.

The court yard's main pathway is also a lot slimmer than the earlier seasons, which makes sense, since season 8 Alfea is overall, much smaller and shorter. But it Boggles me when I stop and really try to compare what that means, visually:

And that's just the courtyards in overlap. Season 8 Alfea's buildings could probably fit (if snuggly) within the season 1-7 courtyard without removing the season 8 courtyard. (The external garden areas (now with pools and gazebos) might not make it though...)

Speaking of the building:

In early seasons, the covered walkways possessed an arched ceiling hidden by facing, but below that it was possible to see a full length door. Basic slap-dash calculations suggest that Alfea's mirrored buildings sit at a height of up to 20 meters, not including the attic peaks on both sides (above the glass domes above the central doors, aka: stella's closet space.) because the space between the ground and the bottom of the balconies of the long windows that line the buildings is at least three-to-four times the height of the doors.

I previously put forward a theory that there were mezzanine levels, and split levels, within the building, but that it was fundamentally 5 floors (not including Stella's attic which would make it 6). And this didn't bother me all that much, we've seen that at least some classrooms have mezzanine walkways, and pretty high ceilings, we often see the high vaulted ceilings in the halls.

And it makes sense, because this is a school for fairies, and fairies fly. So of course they'd have enough room in a classroom to practice something while flying, of course you could fly down some of the halls without buzzing people on the ground, that makes sense with the context.

But season 8 Alfea? Is much, much shorter.

From the ground to the bottom of the balconies? Is two doors if that.

Meaning the height of the externally visible ground and second floor is not between six and nine meters, but four meters tops. Possibly closer to three.

More than that, where once there were three doors and two and a half banks of windows between the central doors and the tower doors that marked the ends of the walkway, there is now only two doors and two large windows on one side of the central doors, and one door and two large windows on the other.

Estimated length of season 8's walkway is around 16m from one end to the edge of the central door's area. My prior season 1 estimate has that same stretch at up to 30 meters.

The upper section and floors of the back towers are missing entirely to make the tower shorter than the main blue roof of the mirrored buildings. In addition the lower floors where the combat exam areas and magical reality chamber outer chambers are suspected to be, are slimmed down to the point I doubt there are any substantial rooms in them.

The front towers are missing external doors because they are now too narrow around.

I honestly don't know that the mirroed buildings are even wide enough, courtyard side to fence side, to hold more than one row of classrooms per floor, let alone two.

In early seasons, counts of students seen in wide shots, like the dining hall, counts of individual classes, and parties, often leave us around 50-70 students. I don't think I'm the only one who assumes that that's not an accurate count, that there's probably some day students (even though it's a boarding school) or seniors out on work experience, or just not everyone is in that one shot, and we're working with a medium that is given to copy-paste crowds, but generally, it feels like Alfea can fit an average student body of 70 and have wiggle room for more.

Season 8 Alfea makes me go "I don't think this place will fit an average body of 60 students."

Season 1 of Winx Club saw Alfea host not just the students but also the teachers of Alfea, Cloud Tower and Red Fountain at the same time during the Trix's siege. Lets assume the schools have a flatline average of students, that's still 150 at a minimum. 210 max if we assume there are no other students who come and go and throw off the numbers.

Plus the staff, which is at least 5 known teachers between Cloud Tower and Red Fountain, and at least 8 for Alfea. So Add in 13 Teachers.

Season 8 Alfea does not have the space, it cannot host that many people.

Maybe it could, maybe it's a more realistic building, maybe the internal structures make sense, but I've spent so long trying to wrap my brain around season 1-7 Alfea that I just... I can't with season 8 Alfea.

The Things about the Season 8 Alfea refurb I do like:

The glass dome on the mirrored buildings has a semi visible interior, which could be used as a green-house/sun room, where the earlier seasons it was just sort of there and high vaulted on the inside up to like, half way the large balcony windows. Like there doesn't look like there's anything in there from the outside, but it could be a good inside green space. or for hanging out washing on rainy days.

The big light under it is also pretty nice, kind of sunny/sunflower aesthetic.

I also love the detailing in the windows and doors, it's super cute and feels like a low-key fairy aesthetic next to basically flat green doors (I've been assuming the early season doors are at least partly green coloured glass paneling in the dorms)

The upside-down flower lights lining the external walkways are life giving, tbh. I need them.

[rist-ix]

Party gurls

Bloom would definitely be that one friend that gets drunk and expresses how much she loves everyone until she’s sobbing on the floor

[rist-ix]

OOF

So I just finished like my seventh reread of tbhtbh (both on the account of your writing and just the fact that great unfinished stories do not let my mind rest) I thought I would really love to have it bound, since some stories just benefit from being on paper.

So... could I bound it? Right now Sparked, since it is finished obv. I know that especially with the still raw wound in the dramione community bookbinding is a bit of a taboo topic, but I would never think about making a profit from it. I don't want to post it anywhere either (unless you'd like to see it as well, hell I can even make 2 copies and send you one, free of even the post charge, a present from the community for the present you gave us), I just want to enjoy the process and I enjoy your writing tremendously and I just want to bring it to paper, since that's what it deserves. I will not do it without your permission tho, that would feel too icky.

Did I also mention how tremendously talented you are? It's kinda scary sometimes honestly lol.

AbsoLUTELY you can! I'm honored you would want that, go right ahead! (Idk what you're referring to with the dramione thing tho, pls do give me the tea) No need to send me one, but i would LOVE to see a picture once its done if thats ok with you, I'm so curious how it'll turn out!

[rist-ix]

Day 4 (?) of trying to draw the jaw of Valtor (⁠个⁠_⁠个⁠) I see no hope .

[rist-ix]

So I just finished like my seventh reread of tbhtbh (both on the account of your writing and just the fact that great unfinished stories do not let my mind rest) I thought I would really love to have it bound, since some stories just benefit from being on paper.

So... could I bound it? Right now Sparked, since it is finished obv. I know that especially with the still raw wound in the dramione community bookbinding is a bit of a taboo topic, but I would never think about making a profit from it. I don't want to post it anywhere either (unless you'd like to see it as well, hell I can even make 2 copies and send you one, free of even the post charge, a present from the community for the present you gave us), I just want to enjoy the process and I enjoy your writing tremendously and I just want to bring it to paper, since that's what it deserves. I will not do it without your permission tho, that would feel too icky.

Did I also mention how tremendously talented you are? It's kinda scary sometimes honestly lol.

AbsoLUTELY you can! I'm honored you would want that, go right ahead! (Idk what you're referring to with the dramione thing tho, pls do give me the tea) No need to send me one, but i would LOVE to see a picture once its done if thats ok with you, I'm so curious how it'll turn out!

[rist-ix]

OMG ✨YOU✨ REPOSTED MY ART WORK?!?!? QUPVSLADCKPXNXO OH MY GOD!!!

The person who wrote my favourite BloomxValtor fanfic??? IM GONNA CRY NOW.

I saw ✨SPARKED✨ on another website but ao3. It was a translation of your work. I'm gonna be honest, I didn't like it at first, because of the translation. But then I saw an original!!! I WAS IMPRESSED!! The translation I saw wasn't even close to your work.. and I felt bit disappointed because of that. I had feeling that the translation I saw was just a piece of Google translate.

So, the question I want to ask:

What do you think about the translations of your works? Maybe you are positive about that, but I just wanted to ask you, do you know that someone is translating your fanfic?

And once again, I really feel honoured of you reposting my art 🥹

(*reblogged! I reblogged art!! No art theft here folks!)

AAAAAH thank you so much! That means a lot to me! Also it's hilarious how everybody knows everyone here, this fandom really is a village lol. Your art deserves every word of praise btw, it's GORGEOUS.

I'm sorry to hear that about the translation. The only languages I’m really fluent in are German and English, I can’t really judge writing in any other language. And I’m more than flattered anyone would invest all that time and effort to translate something I wrote, so I'm alright if it’s a little flawed. Not gonna lie tho, you preferring the original version still kinda strokes my ego a little :3

I'm not sure what translation - or even what language - you've read, so I can’t speak for that one, but so far I've given like, two or three people permission to translate Sparked, into Russian and Portuguese I think. If there's a version in another language, I'm not aware of it. In general I’m very happy when people want to translate my fics, as long as they ask beforehand and link back to my ao3 for the original. With the internet changing the way it is though, I am worried about how that's gonna be in the future. This fandom is tiny so it’s not like there's a lot of potential for like, content farms or anything, but I don’t want to give a blanket permission I’d end up regretting.

So my general feeling about translations is pretty positive! With slight anxiety for the future.

[rist-ix]

inspired by lam’s artwork again !! i hope u guys get my vision and the hands r the ancestral witches

[rist-ix]

When I was smoll, I never noticed how toxic was Sky, actually. He never told Bloom that he had someone who he needed to marry. I mean, isn't that a good reason for me to ship Bloom with Valtor now? (I need no reason for that anyway ^°^)

[rist-ix]

Rainbow jeans girl also has a completely different head shape. Her face is sculpted to be much softer and more rounded compared to the slightly flatter, more angular renders ive seen from confirmed characters. Her skin material is also shinier and (i think) has some sub surface scattering going on, which might be because its a single still instead of a 24fps animation, but probably hints to being fake. And I have no idea what Damien is supposed to be, but a) i highly doubt Raindbow would concept in an art style that is THIS different from the visual target, THIS detailed and THIS intensely shaded, and b) I'm almost entirely convinced its AI. It looks too much like bland-YA-second-love-interest fanart.

Winx Season 9/Reboot Leaks

Okay here's the tea: earlier today a twitter user by the name of Cataclysm_Power started posting a video they claimed was from the new Winx season/reboot. When pressed for further information, they linked to a telegram chat with what appeared to be assets from Rainbow (17 screenshots/2 videos). After some C-grade internet sleuthing, I am here to give my (worthless and possibly wrong) opinion on which ones I think are real and fake.

A note before we jump in: I'm not posting full images on my blog, because again I do think some of these are real and if the leaker is to be believed, they hacked Rainbow to get them. You can look yourself through the telegram link, or others who've posted them on the Winx Club tag. I also think the leaker themselves is scammy because they've tried charging for Miraculous leaks before. Do NOT give them any money if they ask.

Real: Bloom, Stella, and Icy's asset sheets, Bloom Full Body Pose

A lot of these leaks are 3d modelling assets, and these 3 are the ones I'm totally convinced are real.

The biggest clue of their validity is the bottom banner. All 3 sheets have them, along with the same episode code and notes in Italian. They're all also linked to the same person: Pasqualino Masciulli is Rainbow's 3D modelling supervisor, and has been with the company for at least 9 years. He's done videos on Rainbow's youtube channel as well, using his shortened first name Lino. My main point is that's way too niche for someone to fake just to make some convincing leaks, and it would make sense for the assets to be tied to him.

Likewise, there's a full-body frame post of Bloom with fucking ugliest denim leg warmers credited to a g.riccobono. This is likely Giulio Riccobono, who is listed on Linkedin Italy as a Rainbow employee.

Probably Real: Tecna's asset sheet, Bloom's detailed asset sheet

Both of these are likely real but have weird things about them that make me pause. Bloom's more detailed asset sheet is missing the name, date and episode reference on it, and the notes are in English. Tecna's is missing the bottom banner entirely, and there's some weird cutting around her head that makes it look like someone hastily made a png and stuck it on there.

Unsure: Computer File Tab, MD Concept Photos, Videos

There's a screenshot of a folder with both 2D and 3D assets of all the girls. in the files. I'm not sure if this is from a computer at Rainbow or the hacker's personal folder, so it goes in unsure. I do think most of the assets in it are real - it's low res but the eyes on the 2D sketches are so similar to the ones on Rainbow's newer images of the girls I think they have to be connected.

There are also some full body concept photos for Bloom, Aisha, and Stella. They all look pretty legit (as they're updated version of images we've already seen) but Stella's has other images for 'possible pallets' included. She's the only one with it and the images look like they came from a flash dress-up game, and it gives me pause.

Lastly, the teaser videos of Bloom are probably real based on the outfit, animation and that stupid fucking Bloom shelf being in the background, but I'm placing it in 'unsure' because of the bandicam.com logo burned into the top. If it really came from Rainbow and everything else was downloaded, there was no reason for the hacker to not get the raw file. I think it's real, but I don't know if it came from Rainbow.

Something Ain't Right: Group Shot

What gives me pause in the fully-rendered group shot (even though its shown in the computer file tab) is it shows transformation we haven't seen teased and has a 'Lorem Ipsum' placeholder text. Aisha's hair also looks like it was done with AI - the back of her wings clip through the hair, and parts of it look copy-pasted. I'm stupid, it's the end of her braids. The 'Lorem Ipsum' thing still stands, but I'm re-filing this under 'unsure.'

Probably Fake: Darcy and Damien's asset sheets

I'm showing things from here on out because I'm so convinced it's fake please let me be right. Unlike the other character sheets, the ones for Darcy and 'new character' Damien have no bottom banner, are marked as 'Winx Club Season 9' with an outdated Winx logo, and have notes written completely in English. Darcy's has a bit of 3D modelling, but it's too different from Icy's. Maybe they're super early concepts for Darcy, but Damien...go home, buddy.

You're in the Wrong Place: Rainbow Pants Girl

I'm convinced this girl is from a different show and was saved to the 'Winx Club' folder by accident. Different clothing, hair, and shading. May you end up somewhere better than this reboot, Mystery Girl.

[rist-ix]

Hi Rist!

So, I feel like I’ve asked something similar to this, cuz I’m getting the sense of Dejavu (or it could be my clairvoyance lol), but

let’s say Sparked! Bloom sleepily said, near Valtor, that she wanted kids. Would he have kids with her if he could?

I think his reply would be something like this

[rist-ix]

So after the watch party I was wondering a way to explain better about the sparxshipping wedding. I think would be something “not legal” but just something to represent their love. I think Valtor maybeeee would do that for bloom, because it’s important to her. Something simple in the garden in Domino, just Valtor and Bloom would be there, mayyyybe darcy doing the “ceremony”. I think something like that: 2:00 https://youtu.be/F0g98b-k5AI?si=uhu39HVAk0jsDMWR

I don’t watch friends so i don’t know, but would be something like that, just very feel people, like close friends, but Valtor don’t have friends and bloom’s friends probably don’t approve that. 🤣

but this idea is rent free in my mind rn. hope in yours too 🙏🙏🙏

That is fucking adorable and I love it. Mission accomplished Sir my brain has decided to stan.

[rist-ix]

I am pretty sure I saw you answering it at some point but I honestly cannot find it. So here it goes: how does Bloom being marked by Valtor affect her really? What does she know of it?

It's a lot less palpable than she thinks, basically. Bloom has spent three years running from mind controlled puppets and monsters, she's built up a LOT of fear and paranoia. Valtor's mark is, well. His trade mark. The epitome of everything she has run from and fought against. Especially after the pretty invasive process of being marked, Bloom is reminded of all the most harrowing examples of it she has seen, and assumes that Valtor has a lot more power over her than he actually does.

Not to downplay his mark! He does now basically have an off-switch for her escape attempts, if he gives her a direct command (with intent to command, not just a random statement) she would be physically incapable of defying him, for example. Their connection did allow him some glimpses of her mind before, but Bloom has always been more in control of that than he is. His mark however is a one-way-street, giving him much clearer access to her thoughts while revealing nothing to Bloom nothing in return. If she ran away, he would be able to find her anywhere, instantly, just by looking through her eyes and seeing what she sees.

But he can’t straight up mind-control her. Like with Cassandra or Diaspro, Bloom is still her own person, she's just bound to a very unfair magical contract now. Valtor DOES know that she's very paranoid about the effects of his mark, and he is definitely going to use that to his advantage. He can still gaslight and manipulate his way around her the old-fashioned way.

[rist-ix]

have you ever thought about publishing your fics with changed names

Oh CONSTANTLY. Who hasn’t had the daydream of like, selling a book and turning into the next JK Rowling (except, you know. NOT like JKR. I’m talking money-wise)

The thing is, that simply does not work with the type of story I’m writing. Most fics I’ve seen turned into books were AUs, with a strong individual premise that was different from the original piece of media. You can take an existing ship, change the names and plonk them in a different setting, and the results will automatically be very distinct from the thing that inspired you, to the point it might as well already be original fiction.

My stuff tends to be very, very tied into the canon Magic Dimension. I'm very good at exploring and fleshing out existing premises, and carving out details from soft systems, be they magical or political. I am TERRIBLE at coming up with those systems myself.

Also! I never have to put in the effort of introducing the characters! You know the characters, you know their dynamic and backstories, I can jump straight into the action and my fic is better for it. If I wanted to file off the serial numbers, I'd have to not only change the setting — which Valtor and Bloom and ValtorAndBloom are very tied into — I'd have to introduce their motivations, their personalities, their histories and relationships to other characters. These fics take place in season 3, there's a lot of stuff that makes them juicy that are ONLY juicy because they’ve been established to you in canon, way earlier. If I had to set everything up myself, the actual story I wrote would lose either a lot of momentum or a lot of impact.

So yes, I do think about that. But I don’t think it’s ever going to happen.

[rist-ix]

I think it’s a hugeeee spoiler or not, but would Valtor tbhtbh marry bloom? Like, propose her, and do the whole thing, even just like they both together, and Darcy doing the ceremony. Or he don’t think that’s it’s necessary? Hope you doing good!

Gonna be honest, memes aside I don’t think marriage is necessarily the cornerstone in their relationship than it is in other fictional — or even real life — pairings.

Big part of that might be that Valtor, for one, lives outside of any official systems. There are villains that do crime but still kind of have a clear position in society (the Darkling is a General and coups his way to tsar-dom, most vampires in any vampire story do pretend to lead a somewhat normal life, villains with a royal title automatically has a rank that comes with a fitting one for their romantic partner etc.)

Valtor does not. His crimes are motivated by pettiness and his hunger for power, he builds up political figures to do his dirty work when it’s practical, but does not have any political ambitions for himself — he doesn’t wanna be king of the cosmos, he just wants to be the most powerful, and that everyone knows it. He's kind of a cryptid that way, because he appears, wrecks shit, and leaves as he pleases. The most official thing in his life was probably his imprisonment on omega, and marriage tends to very much be an official kind of thing in nature, even if it’s held in private and off the record. Official-ity IS kind of the purpose.

The only real power Valtor seems to believe in is, well, power. And they already do have a magical connection, which I think would be more important and meaningful to him than - what he considers to be - a social ritual.

Add to that that Bloom is a guardian fairy, very grounded in day-to-day life, and a princess, where marriage tends to have political implications, and I don’t think she herself would be very interested in putting a legally defined term on their relationship, unless we're talking about a redeemed Valtor maybe.

That being said!

I am not very set in this headcanon! I'm pretty sure pulling a marriage off in a fic would be MORE than doable, and really interesting on top. It's just not very intuitive for me, so I’m gonna stick to the plan and go with my gut. Doesn’t mean it’s not gonna happen in a future fic, or that it’s not a really cool concept.

[rist-ix]

can we get a snippet of the next chapter of tbhtbh, queen?

My bros it has been 84 years but I swear to god it’s getting done one day. Have this and my eternal thanks for your praise and patience in the meantime.

A few hours earlier, when the light falling through the windows had been muddled sunlight instead, Darcy had come to her.

The witch had stood in the middle of the room, seemingly alone to anyone who merely glanced inside. Her back straight, her eyes downcast.

“You knew.”

It's a rasp, barely more than a whisper. She doesn’t recognize her own voice, but Darcy hears her anyway. Still, she doesn’t turn towards Bloom, hidden in the shadows of her corner as she is.

“I know many things,” Darcy says evenly. Composed. But there's a small, narrow edge of defiance there, too, something almost childishly deflective.

Bloom doesn’t look up either.

“You knew about Andros. You knew about his plan.”

Her hand clamped over the side of her neck tightens.

“His mark.”

She opens her eyes.

“My friends.”

Darcy has her back turned towards her. If there's any emotion at all on her face, genuine or false as it may be, Bloom cannot see it. The witch runs a dark blonde strand of hair through her fingers and stays silent.

Then:

“I advised you not to give him the excuse, didn’t I?”

“You advised me to give up. In more flowery words, maybe.”

“I told you, Bloom. You're not my priority here.”

She breathes out. Leans her head back against the wall and pulls her knees closer, as if there's any comfort in that.

“Was it your idea?”

“No. But I would have suggested it to him, if it had been.”

She steps towards the window, stares down at the frozen surface of Domino beneath them. Or would stare down at it, if it weren’t hidden by the eternal clouds surrounding the tower.

“He's toyed with the idea since before we even found you, I think. But I don’t think he considered it… urgent, until you were shot.”

She crosses her arms. Dignified or defensive, or maybe a mix of both.

“Your friends weren't as careful as you. Icy figured out they were involved on Icthos, and from then on it really was just a matter of making the right people believe the right thing. He's good at that, you know.”

She does know.

On the other side of the room, backlit by the cold, harsh daylight, Darcy inclines her head just a little.

“Icy told me he hesitated. For a while, at least. The day before you escaped.”

Her nails dig into her skin, and her memory seems to taunt her, snippets of half-heard conversations floating through her head. Things she'd found confusing, now seeming perfectly clear. So laughably obvious, in hindsight.

“Was there ever a chance he would have stopped, if I'd stayed?”

It's not really a question. There's no answer to it she doesn’t know already.

It's the hollow hope of reassurance, maybe. A demand for confirmation, pointless as it is.

Darcy breathes out a laugh.

“No. Not really, huh?”

She turns around and leans back against the glass, finally facing her.

“Doomed if you do, doomed if you don’t. I still think you would have improved your circumstances a lot, though, if you'd listened.”

There are no circumstances that could have fixed this. The look she throws Darcy says as much.

The other girl sighs.

“Not that it matters now. If there ever was a point to back out, we missed it.”

She walks out as calmly as she'd entered. But she pauses at the door to look back, just for a moment.

“And I don’t dwell on what-if's, Bloom,” the Witch of the Darkest Night says. The shadows of the hallway seem to reach for her, as if to welcome her home.

“I do the best with what I have.”

[rist-ix]

Gosh, I'm so sorry, I hate to be annoying and nit-picky and coming out as a Twihard, but Edward actually does not mature or change over the years as a vampire. Canonically, Twilight vampire are incapable of maturing or developing in any sort of way past the point they were turned. Nothing about them can change or grow or develop. They stay frozen physically and at the mental age that they were when they were changed. They're meant to be "frozen" in almost every sense of the word. That's why Twilight vampire children are illegal, cuz they will never "grow" or gain the maturity necessary to keep vampirism a secret and to not be a menace, lol. So, in canon, Edward is still 17 not only physically, but emotionally and mentally too - a 17 year old from the 1900s, but a 17 year old nonetheless.

But all that aside, maybe it's just me, but personally I do not care about these types of age gaps in immortal ships. The dynamics are often all about power imbalances and exploring that, it's sort of the whole point. It's what makes them interesting. Bloom may not be 16 when she meets Valtor, but he still holds a considerable amount of power over her (both magic-wise and experience wise), and that's the whole point. The push and pull of that, and how that could push Bloom to grow. And how interestingly you can explore that dynamic for both characters. That, to me, is what matters the most in ships involving immortal beings.

And the same even applies to Edward and Bella. Edward may still be a 17 year old mentally and emotionally speaking, but he's also like... not human. And he's a murderer! Try as he, and the rest of the Cullens, might to cling to their humanity, they're not human and that informs every single thing about them. And Twilight vampires are like ridiculously strong and powerful, so Edward brings all of that into his dynamic with Bella (plus the fact that he really wants to kill her and is trying hard not to). And that's the whole point, that's what's interesting and compelling. So shying away from those messed-up elements is just pointless to me. Like the age gap at the point is the least messed up thing in those dynamics lmao. And all those things are features of the monster/villain boyfriend trope, not bugs.

I am so sorry, this has been rotting in the back of my askbox for so long and I have no idea what the context for this ask was, but u go buddy! Give us that twilight trivia! Give us the deep age lore! Give us the controversy!