#bloom winx club that one is for you

[noinobonoto]

I really dislike it when people make wei wuxian dumb in fanfics just so other characters seem smarter

Ofc it's fanfiction so it doesn't really matter and I firmly believe anyone is allowed to write even the most ooc bs ever because that's what fanfics are for, to do whatever the hell you want, so that's a slight to no one and just me putting my thoughts out there

So yeah, I'm not saying wei wuxian has to be the smartest, the genius and the prodigy, especially if it's not about him, but he IS very intelligent and making him act stupid and not in a playful way but in serious situations where he is making things worse or depending on others to explain obvious things to him is really weird and feels as if an author either didn't understand his character or just doesn't like him

And again, it's weird for me bc all the time I'm saying that fanfics are for writing whatever you wish but at the same time... sometimes I just want to complain a bit about things I hate 😅

[giantratbf]

[lunar-and-ardent]

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

I wouldn't really agree that boys are just arm candy in magical girl shows and only there to look cute. Yeah, sure the girls' friendships are the focus, but the boys are usually very much involved in the plot and most shows do explore their feelings about the odd things that happen due to magical shenanigans even if they aren't in the know (It's why ML baffles me even more with how they screwed up Adren's arc when he's the deuteragonist, when all these boys are supporting cast and get well rounded arcs)

I'm not much of a winx fan, but the specialists were very much not arm candy. Did the girls talk about them being cute? Yes, it's what teenage girls do. Did the narrative suggest they were good looking? Yes, but that's standard for most love interests in any genre. But we still got scenes with them talking amongst themselves about how they themselves feel and they got a fair share of badass fight scenes even if they wield no magic. A large amount of episodes actually included the boys and girls working as a team solving a mystery or fighting a villain. The girls might deal the finishing blow but the boys were still integral to the plot.

I hope this doesn't come across as hate, it definitely wasn't my intention. I'm just a bit too passionate about the magical girl genre.

I do think you have a good point with ML having a problem choosing a genre or blending two genres successfully.

For the CCS fans, I will add though that Cardcaptor Sakura had both Tomoyo and Syaoran serve as sources of motivation for Sakura. And both Sakura and Syaoran collecting cards even if Sakura is the only one who could seal them and yet never made you question whether Syaoran was even necessary for the job the way ml does with Chat.

I wasn't trying to say that boys have no part to play in magical girl team shows or that they're always treated as having no lives beyond the girls, that's why I mentioned that the Winx Club boys - aka, the Specialists - have their own (mostly off screen) lives and occasionally show up help the girls:

the boys are usually off doing their own thing and only occasionally show up for a date or to give the girls a ride on their cool bikes or magical spaceship

Even then, this is certainly a simplification of the roles that they play in the story, but I kind of had to simplify their roles down to their base components for the original post's discussion as I was talking in broad strokes of how these stories are written.

In terms of those broad strokes, the Specialists are absolutely only there for shipping fodder. That's why each one is assigned to a girl from the start and why their main role in the narrative is supporting their assigned love interest or causing relationship-based drama for their assigned love interest. If it weren't for shipping, then the Specialists would not exist.

While the Specialists do have fleshed out characters and may even effect the plot, the execution of those elements is designed around the girls. A really obvious example of this is the character Timmy, who has character development as the boy's tech guy. Why is he into technology? Because he's the designated love interest for the fairy of Technology and we have to show why they're a good match. Along similar lines, the boys don't really get plots that are removed from the girls because this is the girl's show. Every episode features one or more of the Winx, but the boys are optional and often don't appear.

This is because, narratively speaking, the boys are just love interests and that brings us back to Miraculous' big problem. You can't have a show where Adrien is written like a Specialist while also being part of the Winx Club and where Alya is written like she's part of the Winx Club while technically being more of a Specialist in terms of power set and actual narrative role.

I'm was thinking back to my memories of various Winx Club plots to find one that really highlighted what I mean here and I remembered that one of the big dramas in season one was the reveal that Bloom's love interest - Sky - was in an arranged marriage and had just never told her. As it turns out, that's a great example of what I'm talking about re Adrien!

Is that plot line technically based around Sky and letting his life effect the plot? Sure, but the fallout of that reveal revolves around Bloom, not Sky. The story doesn't really care how Sky's feeling as the conflict progresses. Instead, it focuses on how it affects Bloom and her friends because of course it does! She's the main character. It would be really weird if that plot suddenly focused on her side character love interest and his friends during one of her darkest hours/biggest moments.

Think of that and then consider how the ending of season five is written. Notice any similarities? Sure, this is Adrien's family drama, but because he's just a Specialist, the focus isn't on him. It's on Winx Club member Marinette and Adrien only shows up at the end for a kiss. That is the problem. That is what I'm talking about when I say that Miraculous will randomly write him as if we're watching a magical girl team show where Adrien is just the love interest.

In fact, let's really dig into this example because it's a good one.

You can have a look at the transcript for the finale episode of Miraculous season five here and see for yourself that Adrien doesn't even show up on screen until the final scenes when the big drama is over. The Winx Club wiki also has episode transcripts, so I took a look to see what happened in Winx land during the arranged marriage reveal plot (I love that this is a thing. It's so useful for fact checking myself!) This is the script for the episode after Bloom learns the truth. Sky does not appear even though his lies and family drama are the fuel for this episode's events, which are a major part of the season's arc. Note how perfectly that matches Adrien's writing?

Similarly, Sky's dialogue in the reveal episode is all about Bloom. He's worried about her learning the truth and thinking less of him. To match that, here's Adrien's only real dialogue in the penultimate episode of season five (full transcript):

Adrien:(Covers his ears.) I cannot transform... (Looks at his ring and tries taking it off.) Plagg: What are you doing?! Adrien: I'm not in my right mind. I'm too angry — at myself for falling short of Marinette's love, at my father for sending me here in London, at this stupid app and these rings that use my image... it makes me sick! This nightmare is giving me the horrible feeling that, if I transform, I'll get akumatized and destroy everything with my Cataclysm — Marinette, Ladybug... (Takes off the ring and hands it to Plagg.)

Switching back to Winx. After Bloom learns the truth about Sky, bad things happen because she's depressed. This results in her and the Winx going off on a journey to learn the truth of who Bloom is. After the girls share this big plot moment and Bloom gets her mojo back, the boys show up to be their ride home and to give Bloom her romance moment where Sky wins her back by declaring that he broke off the arranged married because he loves her.

Sky notably doesn't get an arc about choosing between his arranged marriage and his true love. We don't even know that the marriage is broken off until he tells Bloom because that was never really a conflict as far as the narrative was concerned. Of course he's going to pick Bloom! He's her designated side character love interest! He only exists to be with her. We don't need to treat this as a serious thing for him. The arranged marriage plot was never about him anyway. It was about giving Bloom a reason to have a darkest hour moment that moves the plot forward. Similarly, Sky calling off the marriage is nowhere near as important as him telling Bloom that he's called off the marriage to be with her in a grand romantic gesture.

This perfectly mirrors Miraculous' season five ending where Adrien doesn't appear until after Marinette is done fighting her big girl power fight against his father. As far as the writing is concerned, that fight isn't about him. His connection to the villain only really matters in terms of how it affects Marinette's actions during the final battle. Then, when the battle is over, Adrien shows up to give Marinette her big romance moment because, while the plot may be driven by Adrien's family, he is not a Winx club member. He's just a Specialist. Or, in the words of the head writer:

[image text: She's Barbie, he's Ken. You don't like it. I get it. It won't change. Anything else?] (The full, even more damning context of this tweet can be found here.)

What else can I say other than, "I rest my case."

Oh, and also that I didn't take this as an attack. I just thought it was a good opportunity to really dig into the nuances of this and what I was talking about in that original post as I never know how obvious this stuff is if you don't closely study story telling. As this case study hopefully shows, if a show is about a group of girl friends using the power of friendship, then their love interests may have important roles, but the boys are never going to be more important than the girls and most of the boy's screen time will be focused on romance and how their existence effects the girls because it's ultimately the girls' world. Without them, the show wouldn't exist. Without the boys? Well, then we just wouldn't have a romance plot.

[drops-of-moonlights]

inherited curse

[eldritchgray]

I've been thinking about a Winx au where Bloom's transformation is more were dragon fairy

I have ideas for her enchantix too, but idk if/when I'll get around to drawing it

[folkloristico]

In an AU scenario where Domino is destroyed but Bloom doesn’t get sent to Earth she and Helia would have totally been childhood friends. I don’t remember Helia’s parents ever being mentioned, so I’m totally going with the headcanon that Saladin would have to raise Helia on his own and he would do so because he can’t see it any other way. He loves his nephew more than anything else. Saladin is a scholar who travels a lot and Helia would go with him anywhere. Faragonda and Griffin, for their part, would have taken it upon themselves to raise Bloom, and she would be hanging out with Helia all the time. Faragonda, Griffin, and Saladin would be busy with the Council and the political aspect of having survived the genocide on Domino while simultaneously having saved the whole Magic Dimension. They would be spending a lot of time together and so would Helia and Bloom. They would get bored of sticking around the adults and would go on adventures on their own. 

They share a deep fascination for history and folktales and are both artistic souls. Bloom definitely got it from Marion. Saladin isn’t much of an artist himself but he’s glad his nephew has found a way to express himself even after the trauma of having lost both of his parents. Helia looks so much like his mother, Saladin’s sister, to the point where he sometimes mistakes him for her. (Just like they see so much of Marion in Bloom.)

Bloom goes to Alfea like in canon and she introduces Helia to the friend group. Something clicks with Flora for him because she’s also a history nerd and an artist (she paints in the comics, so I think this one canon-ish) and he would totally ask Bloom for help when he realises he has a huge crush on her. 

[rist-ix]

This is a question about the show. I saw some people saying it’s unfair Daphne be the next Queen of Domino, because Bloom save the planet. So, What you think about it? Bloom should be the next queen, or defy Daphne?

I think it’s should be Daphne, because she probably was been training for it to her whole life. And Bloom doesn’t seems to be ready for that.

I mean, from the writer's perspective, making Daphne the heir to the throne saves them from getting into trouble with Bloom/Sky – which is very much the end goal here, no matter how we might feel about it. Because if the only possible queen of a planet marries the king of another planet, they get into some reeeeaaal weird inheritance issues. They could always pull another eraklyian heir out of their ass and have Sky be Bloom's trophy husband on Domino, but they're very much pushing the hero/princess dynamic with them and I doubt they would downgrade Sky like that.

Leaving that aside, I am a huge fan of Queen Bloom. It doesn’t do a whole lot for her canon goals and needs, sure, but. Rule of cool, u know? She's a pretty decent leader, a powerful fairy and would look fantastic on a throne. I don’t think governing an entire planet is something a human can be really ready for, but I think she could grow into it! HOWEVER. In any scenario that I would imagine her getting crowned in, Daphne stays dead.

If Daphne lives, she's… well, the older one? Winx Club isn’t an inheritance drama, so there's not much emphasis put on the rules of that, but it just seems reasonable. She's older, she's a godlike nymph, she literally died to protect the Dragon Flame. (To protect her sister. But the dragon flame is the relevant part in that context) She's been an only child for about 16 years, it seems pretty obvious that she's been the intended heir since the beginning.

Add to that that Bloom has given no indication at any point to have political ambitions or aspirations to queendom, and you've got the perfect solution: an adult who is both prepared and willing to rule, and a slightly younger adult who gets to hang out with her friends, fight evil and occasionally call in favors with big sis when people get in her way. Living the dream!

[rubiatinctorum]

I get where people are coming from when they say Diaspro in Winx lost the plot for the sake of being turned into a minor villain and that's all once Valtor enabled her to do what she did in S3, but I feel like that was a reasonable narrative choice. It's only a love potion at that point (while I could go on all day about the ethics of love potions, of course, a later season has her straight up trying to do direct murder). She's a noble, guards will do her dirty work, and I understand that she would feel like getting revenge on Bloom while getting back together with Sky. She was promised a position — romantic AND political — she nearly had and then it was taken from under her by a random fairy who wasn't even "supposed" to be in the running. I don't think what she did was nice, but it makes sense for the story and for her character for her to want to reclaim her position in the way she did. Sky's love was an accessory, in part, to her political ascension, and thus he is again rendered accessory and accomplice by the love spell. And, sending guards after threats seems to be the thing to do in the magical universe if you're a disgruntled noble, so it's probably not unfamiliar for Diaspro to have seen occur before or want to do. It's not a uniquely rotten response any more than Radius' behaviour towards the monster (who, he didn't know it, was Stella). If we fault her for this action rather than only the intention behind it, we need to examine how the worlds in Winx Club deal with threats to their monarchs in general, which sounds interesting but I frankly don't have time for tonight. Diaspro did wrong, but she didn't do uniquely wrong there, and Eraklyon has the punitive security structures in place to have enabled that.

Diaspro's later appearances seem to flatten her motives and the symbolism behind why her relationship with Sky was important and what she does about it (who cares what Diaspro's political aims are and how her status might reflect how she deals with problems, the audience needs to see Bloom thrown into fire I guess), but I feel like seasons 4-8 weren't really that good anyway, so I can't even claim this as a fault of the writers doing Diaspro specifically wrong instead of them just doing the whole show wrong at that point. It might be related, and it might be a coincidence, but a lot of the writing choices seemed to become more flat to me right around when the art shifted to that lifeless godawful Flash simulacrum of S1-3's art.

Also like... idk but if some long-haired hottie wizard in a sick coat and contemplative eyeshadow told me he could help me get my promised chance at both romantic and political success back, I'd at least hear him out, yknow, see what he had to say (<- don't trust me I simp for Valtor)

[charmixpower]

got any future plans for adding to the child Valtor au, because the more i think about the more i wonder about how his age changes the way he interacts with the characters and vice versa

I cannot tell you how much I've been thinking about child Valtor ever since I made that post

You what a bunch of hcs??? You get a bunch of hcs!!!

Like Winx says that Valtor was made by the ancestral witches, he wasn't born, and he actively trashes against the control the ancestral witches have on him and they straight up help Bloom kill him for the kicks?? And it's like, just there? I love it but it's so easy to kill off Valtor bc he has control over his actions and he's an adult and you don't get to sit with these uncomfortable implications due to that. The tragedy has already happened, it's passed, you don't have to look at it. You know??? Not anymore, we all hurt forever

Can you imagine being Daphne??? Seeing Valtor hiding behind Belladonna's leg, this child. Can't be older than 11. Fighting your fellow Nymph's, and you can't even think about that, pay attention to that, because you need to fight Belladonna and protect your planet. This wasn't a priority, that child those evil women created wasn't a priority. How would you ever recover??

The company of light is made up of educators, people who dedicated their life to children. A stutter, a small child's eyes winding in panic. None of them could follow though. It was safer to kill him, he was made, he doesn't have a soul, it was the right option. They send him to the Omega dimension instead

He wakes up from the ice to see Belladonna's cold eyes staring back at him. She doesn't look the exact same but he knows that smile and he knows those eyes. He'd recognize his mother anywhere. He does what he's told for new Belladonna too, not that he knows why. Icy has plans, plans he's supposed to help out with

He clings to Bloom. Her magic feels like his, she's the only person who could begin to understand how he feels. She was chosen too, right? She gets it doesn't she? How could she not. He just wants someone, anyone to understand him, to help him. He couldn't tell you what he wants help with. The Ancestral Witches say he's loyal to them, and he's never been able to disagree with them before

He doesn't like the winx, he's never shared in his life and is loathed to start now. He plays tricks and schemes and never kills them. He mains, he disables, he distracts. This is fun. He's never had a true enemy, rival. The company of light wanted to defeat his mother's, these are his fights. It's fun, he wants to keep them

(You ever think about the amount of times Valtor could of straight up killed the winx or put his mark on them and he just kinda doesn't and then gives their romantic rivals a love potion??? Bc I do. That was weird and the entire reason this au exists. Like Valtor basically made the perfect opportunities for the winx to get their Enchantix by never directly trying to kill them. It's almost funny)

Valtor is completely incapable of free will but he does experience desires and he has the ability to think for himself. One of the winx asks him why he's doing all of this and he literally can't answer, he doesn't want to, he doesn't want to be here, but he does? That's why he's doing it, right? And the girlies get a front row seat to a child gaslighting themselves to cope with their inability to control their own actions

He wants to be powerful! The most powerful person in the dimension! Then he could do whatever he wants! Then he would be free! At least that's what he tells himself (he knows it's not true, but children are allowed to have their fantasies)

They could extinguish kill. He barely came up to Bloom's chest, and they could just extinguish him. If Bloom pulled at the fire element in his body and Aisha the water they could pull him apart. Making a soul sounded impossible and has never been done before but that's the only way to release the Ancestral Witches control on Valtor, so they'll do it

[imhereformr]

In honour of this stupid ass holiday, here are the cards the winx and specialists would send to their SO

Specialists

Stella:

Bloom:

Tecna:

Aisha:

Flora:

Musa:

[redhairedgirl95]

I'll be sharing some AMAZING mood boards paired with pieces of my writing. All the mood boards have been created by the WONDERFUL @weasley-05 taking inspiration from my fics/asks/headcanons. Go give them some love, they are EXTRAORDINARY <3

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

Stella mood board

Face masks

“You’ve such beautiful skin …”

“You sound jealous.” He opened one eye, smirking.

“’Cause I am! Your skin is so smooth, and I know you don’t go through all the things I do. It’s just unfair. I’d be hideous if I didn’t do skincare twice a day.”

“I find it hard to believe that.” He replied. “Are you finished?”

“Yeah.” She sighed.

“Good. Your turn.” Brandon took the other jar, opened it, and applied the mask to her face, avoiding lips, eyes, and eyebrows, as previously instructed. The whole operation took him a good five minutes, but just because he enjoyed taking care of Stella any way he could. “Done. Now what?”

She opened her eyes, closed the two jars, and put them back in her make-up bag. “Now we go to sleep and tomorrow all of Red Fountain will be blinded by our combined beauties.”

“As if it wasn’t already …” Brandon took her by the hand and opened the door to the room.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Looking at the stars, but only seeing one - Chapter 12

Stella looked up at the stars and Sky did the same, both replaying in their minds the first – and up to that moment, only – time they had stargazed together, that night of so many months before.

“How many are there?” He asked.

Stella didn’t even stop to think. “Two hundred billion trillion.” She answered, like it was obvious.

“What?! That isn’t even a number.” He said, looking back at her.

“But it is. Ask Timmy.” She loved being the smartest in the room (or on the beach).

“That’s crazy …” He replied, with his eyes back to the night sky. “Do you have a favorite one?”

“I’ve never thought about that.” Stella looked up. “But no. Each and every one is beautiful in its own way. I can’t choose. Can you?”

And when she turned to look at him, he was already looking at her. “I can. I …” He took a deep breath to gather the courage to go on. “I am looking at her right now.”

He gently took her chin and slowly drew her closer, giving her every chance to pull back. She didn’t.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

EM1 - Chapter 3 - By your side

She came out into the garden more or less one hour later, her wheelchair (which she hated, but she couldn’t walk or fly, so … well, she was stuck in it) pushed by Musa and Flora. Stella was wearing a green long sleeved blouse and a pair of skinny black trousers, but it was her hair the most peculiar thing: it was divided into two braids, which were decorated with colorful flowers. The princess was positively beaming: she usually didn’t like to be seen while she was on the wheelchair, but that day she felt beautiful. It was the first time she had really felt it after all those days spent in the infirmary.

Flora and Musa helped her up so that she didn’t have to put all her weight on her hurt feet, then made her sit down on the grass and sat next to her. They looked at the two Specialists training with their phantoblades.

“Mmm … I bet I can get them to take off their T-shirts.”

“Stella!” It was Flora.

Musa giggled. “How?”

“I can … make it hotter.” She suggested, grinning.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Stella and Flora

“It’s fifty pages.”

“And? It’s not that many.”

“It took you two hours to read two.” She reminded her. It wasn’t always easy remaining calm when dealing with Stella, but Flora was calm by nature, and she’d volunteer to help her study. Not that Stella had actually asked her – she’d do anything to avoid spending time bent down on a book – but Bloom gave in too easily to the Princess’ proposals, Tecna would have screamed at her, Musa didn’t have the patience for it, and Aisha kept repeating she should already know all of that. In short, the other Winx weren’t suited for the task. It was a mission only Flora could accomplish, and she was determined to ace it. Stella wouldn’t fail that exam; she would pass it. Whatever the cost.

The princess snorted. “Okay, okay. You’re right, but what happens if I fail this exam too? I’ll be a bit behind, like always. It’s not like they can expel me twice.” She joked, but Flora could see that, behind all the smiles, the perfect make-up, and the shiny clothes, Stella was worried.

“They won’t expel you, Stella.” She reassured her. “But … wouldn’t you like to show Griselda you can do it? I’m sure she is ready to talk you down in front of the class. Imagine her face when she sees you’ve passed!”

“That would be glorious … but I can’t do it, Flora.” She sighed. “I know it, Griselda knows it, and you know it too. I’m not good at school.”

“Why don’t you try? I’ll help you; I promise.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

EM2 - Chapter 7 - Royal pains

“And how do you know that?” Stella asked.

“Sky told me. And he said that you fell at his feet the first day you met him!”

“I tripped! I tripped, guys!” Stella tried to talk over her friends’ laughter, but she joined in soon enough when Bloom offered to re-enact a scene she had only been told about.

“Bloom is a really good actress.” Lockette clapped.

“I am way more graceful when I fall.” The Princess of the Sun complained, unable to fight back a smile.

“No, you aren’t.” Tecna intervened. “You fall at least twice a week. Never gracefully.”

Stella gasped. “And I thought the Trix were vicious!” She exclaimed. “Look at you! Five evil Winx!”

“Six, Stella.” Musa reminded her.

“Nope. Five. I am not evil at all. I am beauty. I am grace.”

“You’ll fall on your face.” Flora added, and even more laughter resonated in the apartment.

“Flora!” An outraged Tune turned to her as if she’d just said the most hideous thing. They all laughed even more. All except for Piff, of course, who was snoring peacefully without a care in the world.

Laughter couldn’t fix all their problems: Stella’s worries, Musa’s constant quarrels with Riven, Tecna’s inability to express what she felt for Timmy, Bloom’s misunderstandings with Sky, Flora’s extreme shyness, Aisha’s fear of being left out; but it made them seem smaller, weaker. Together, everything seemed easier.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Stella and Bloom take a day off

“No thanks needed. But you owe me a portrait.” She said, taking her place on a chair behind a white canvas. “I think it will improve Brandon’s bedroom wall. Don’t you think?”

“I’m not sure Sky will like it.” Bloom chuckled as she settled in front of the tripod.

“Well, I’d return the favor, but I can only draw clothes. And you’re not wearing that many right now.”

“I love you, Stellie.”

“Tell me something I don’t know … like, should I pose like this?” She turned her body to the side and her face to her, lowering a sleeve to show her shoulder. “Should I ditch the robe altogether? I can pose naked, I’m sure Brandon would like it.”

“Keep your clothes on!” They both burst out laughing.

Study 0 – Stella 1. Mission accomplished.

[parola-di-winx]

happy new year let's kick it off with thee best girls <3

[darlenicy]

what other people saw as kids: *gay awakening*

what I saw as a kid: my favorite character and idol slaying the annoying main character like a goddamn Q U E E N

[existentialcrisis-24-7]

Going through an old sketchbook I had lost and oh my god I had so much good winx art and comics and shit and my old art style for traditional art was stunning where did I go wrong

Anyway idk if I ever actually posted these but I found them and they’re cute and I’m posting them now

Some old (like 2 year old??) but cute doodles of Bloom, Andy and Selina as children to enjoy

[midnightbluerose93]

Found these on a site called displate. Love these designs, and it's nice to see my bedroom walls not look so bare anymore.