#i could especially do this all day long for the winx characters

[floralovebot]

What kind of vices do you think Helia has?

OUGH i love talking about the many problems he has <333

Here are some of his canon vices!

Very self-deprecating - It gets better later on and especially as Flora hypes him up, but Helia tends to think of himself and his actions in a very negative way and doesn't do much to challenge that narrative. He unconsciously relies on the others to make himself feel better a lot!

Self-critical - A thing that can be good in moderation, but like all vices, Helia takes it too far. He's overly observant and critical of himself to the point where it's like he's playing the observer all the time. He then gets anxious and convinces himself he's a horrible person cause he made One mistake. Way to go dude

Escapist - He has a hard time sticking around once he's convinced himself that people would be better off without him.

On a similar note, avoiding conflict. It may not seem obvious since Helia occasionally calls out the others, but that only happens when he's genuinely not in the wrong (or doesn't feel in the wrong). If something happens that he thinks he caused or was involved in, he tends to avoid that conflict and fallout.

And if I'm being honest, avoidance in general. Again, it's one of those things that gets missed easily, but that sort of mysteriousness/shyness that people often see in Helia? That's usually avoidance from him! He avoids talking to people unless they speak to him first, he avoids telling people about himself or his life, he'll outright ignore people if he doesn't like them, etcetc. There are times when it's for a good reason (not talking to the trix for example) and times when it's incredibly annoying and counterproductive (like with the specialists or flora). It should be noted that this behavior mostly shows up in his personal life rather than on missions but if anything, I think that shows he's aware of this but doesn't change it.

Impulsive - Again, it may not seem like it but Helia is very impulsive! A lot of the decisions he makes throughout canon are done in the moment and with very little thinking. It's easy to miss because Helia is a fast thinker and quick on his feet so his actions often seem more planned out than they actually are, but if you look at the individual actions themselves and how quick he makes them after Just thinking of them, it gets really obvious. In the show, I'd say the best and most well-known example would be in his introduction episode, aka the monster stunt. Again, it's easy to miss, but that wasn't planning or cautious thinking from him, that was full on impulsivity (both grabbing the monster And leaving). Other good examples would be the Shaab Stone arc in the comics (literally an entire arc of Helia being impulsive as hell), the s2 florelia kiss scene, Helia saving Sky in s2 when they're in Darkar's Fortress, and him running up to every enemy.

I'm not sure what you would call this, maybe recklessness?, but Helia often has very little regard for his own safety. He regularly puts himself into dangerous situations that he doesn't Need to be in without thinking about how badly it's gonna hurt him. Well,,, he does think about whether or not it'll kill him, but if the answer is "no", then it doesn't matter how much danger he's in, he's gonna do it. This often ends with one of the specialists yelling at him which is funny but Still. I do think it's important to note that he's not reckless with the other's safety (he's overly cautious with them) but he definitely is with his own.

I feel like there are others I Could list but they don't show up quite enough for me to call them his vices (ie the occasional stubbornness, lack of confidence, or jealousy). I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS LIST OF HIS MENTAL ANGUISHES I KNOW I DO

[stardustizuku]

Why Miraculous LadyBug Is the Worst Thing To Happen To Magical Girl Genre in All Its History.

It would be easy to sit here and tell you all the logical reasons why Ladybug is a bad show. It has horrible pacing, it has low stakes, repetitive episodes, and a dialogue that is cringe worthy enough to get its own tiktok sound.

But saying that, would be beating a dead horse at this point. Everyone knows this show is a bunch of wasted potential, only made worse by a director who keeps thinking he created gold, when in fact he messed up in a lot of areas – particularly the fact that he’s a grown man who thinks he knows what little girls want.

I’m not here for that.

Particularly, because I can be quite forgiving to shows like this. I mean, they’re kids' shows! Meant for little girls, and I haven’t been one for a few years now. But I still enjoy them.

Why? Well, cause I’m a massive fan of Magical Girl animes. I love the glitter, the sparkles, the silly adventures with friends, and the transformation sequences! Even with all its flaws, I really like them. So, stories or shows that borrow from them, get a pass in all these things. 

I mean, I have fun re-watching WINX Club, I love Star Vs The Forces of Evil despite its flaws. Steven Universe holds a deep place in my heart and She-Ra is…She-Ra is in its very own league of how amazing it is.

So, no. Be it a very dumb show or a very smart one, I can have fun. It’s very rare when a show with, you know, glitter, girly stuff and animals CAN’T hold my attention.

But, well, MLB failed at that.

It’s just, not a good show.

I mean, it could be. But the age demographic would need to drop several, several age groups just to be barely watchable – and even then, I seriously doubt that it would be good for young girls to watch it. The lessons it teaches are concerning, to say the least.

And at this point, you may be thinking,

"Why do you care so much about this show? It’s dumb and you’ve acknowledged it treats its demographic as toddlers. Why do you care so much?"

Well, because I've been here... for a very, very long time.

Listen, I started watching Miraculous Ladybug, back when I was in high school. Maybe a bit old, but, hey, a lot of unique cartoons came out around that time. (Star Vs, Steven Universe, etc). So, I was hopeful. Really hopeful.

Mainly, because I was here before it EVEN premiered. I remember it. The original PV was 2D animated and it had this vague Princess Tutu vibes that JUST I couldn’t resist. It was clear as day that it borrowed a lot of its inspiration from magical girls from the 90's, probably even 80's.

The premise looked similar enough to Kaito Jeanne, and Kaito St. Tail for me to draw those conclusions.

It had a dynamic very similar to Princess Tutu and seemed like a mix of silly and dark like that one was.

To be honest, I could even see hints of Sugar Sugar Rune with Pierre and Felix.

Not to mention, the animation was beautiful.

I will never, never forget that scene with Chat looking at Ladybug starry-eyed under the Paris Moonlight. That was so beautiful, a genuine touch of romance that rang so similar to the Magical Girl animes I grew up with.

I was thrilled, I was excited. I wanted this show to succeed, before even the premier had dropped.

This is all to say -

I never came to this show with the intention for it to fail.

And I didn’t expect nor want it to be ground-breaking or a giant of the genre. I just hoped I could have a fun time.

I didn't want subversions, I didn't want it to be dark, or deep. All I wanted, was sparkles, fun and a good time.

So, when it first aired, I tried to stay positive. I tried to like it, even when it had all these massive red flags.

I’ve never been a big fan of 3D animation, and especially not how it’s used in Magical Girl animes. (We all know the disaster the first season of Sailor Moon Crystal was).

But I swallowed it down.

The characters were different from the original PV

But I swallowed it down.

The background scenery was bland and generic and hardly felt unique.

But I swallowed it down.

I was here since day 1. I was here when Stormy Weather premiered. I was here before many of you were, and

I swallowed it all down.

Because I really, really wanted this to be good.

And I really thought it would.

But things should have been made clear, when they fucked up the one thing they shouldn't. The one thing that held this all together. The one thing that kept me here even as everything was burning to the ground, and I was too naive to realize it.

They fucked up the thing that started all this, to begin with.

MasterList >> NEXT

[dragonfly0808]

Musa: The Thesis

Kay so… this one involves one of the biggest spoilers of s3 due to one of the biggest changes I made there revolves around Musa and I will be discussing it after the First Things First part. So please please please if you haven’t read up until Season 3 Chapter 24: The Space Between Where Our Ends Meet, DO NOT READ PAST THE FIRST THINGS FIRST PORTION OF THIS THESIS

I’M SERIOUS PLS DON’T

First Things First

The first words I have in Musa’s character sheet are small sassy goth.

One of the main things I focused on with Musa, especially in the first season is her struggle to be vulnerable. Musa has lived the past 5 or so years with a closed off dad and never got a real chance to truly mourn her mom due to her having to learn to pretty much take care of herself, because of this she becomes very defensive and doesn't trust many people, and it causes her to struggle with being vulnerable, making her feel weak to do so. Here we see her open up slowly to the girls and not really talk that much about her home life until s2.

This is also where the main problem in her relationship with Riven comes in, but we’ll talk about that later on.

Musa, along with Aisha was the loneliest Winx before going to Alfea, and this plays into how protective she can be over the girls, she knows what it’s like to have no one so she is more than ready to throw hands for her girls any day of the week.

Love’s a Loaded Gun, Nobody Wants to Fight

A theme we see with Musa is her not believing she’s really worth a lot of time. She worried about staying one place too long and becoming an inconvenience or sharing her hurt and becoming a weight.

We see that it really takes a lot for her to believe that she is not being selfish or ‘too much’ by expressing herself or deciding to stay in one place, namely Tecna’s home.

Musa has a lot of feelings regarding feeling like she’s being shut out.

She’s working on not shutting people out herself but when others do it to her, she could just have a breakdown since she is so sick and tired of her dad doing it to her and that’s just about the worst thing you could do to her.

She’s a tiny bit afraid of love. Not so much of love itself as just, the thought of losing someone she loves again.

Haunted

So… this is the part with the huge S3 spoiler so PLEASE TURN BACK NOW, THIS WAS ONE OF THE MOST IMPACTFUL MOMENTS OF S3 MY INBOX WAS FLOODED FOR A WEEK IF YOU HAVEN’T READ IT YET TURN BACK NOW

So, in s3 chapter 24 Musa gains her Enchantix… and kills Stormy in the process.

First off the second I decided to do s3 I knew I was gonna change how Musa got her Enchantix cause I think we can all agree she got the short end of the stick in the OG.

I also already had in mind killing off either Stormy or Darcy but Stormy just fit more.

I combined these two ideas by changing Musa’s Enchantix to be gained by taking down a building over herself and Stormy due to Stormy loosing control of a curse.

Now, this could’ve gone very differently so why did I chose Musa to be the one to kill Stormy?

Honestly? I felt like it would impact her the most.

Now, obvs any of the girls would’ve been hugely impacted by taking a life (see Tecna) but taking the life of one of the Trix who they’ve known and fought for so long is another level of personal.

And, just like Bloom, Musa can be a very angry person and she hated the Trix’s guts and maybe a tiny part of her would’ve been glad with them dead, but actually having a hand in it…

It creates very conflicting emotions and a mountain of trauma and feelings of inhumanity and just confusion for our girl which we will get to see a lot more of in s4.

Thoughts Behind her Main Relationships

Tecna

I love Tecna and Musa, they are very much a friendship between unconventional girls who don’t always come across as they mean to.

They both struggle to make friends for different reasons but the second they meet they realize that they are quite similar and so never push each other outside of their comfort zone at first and that’s what allows them to become close enough to then push one another.

Musa gets what makes Tecna tick and makes sure that she’s comfortable, she makes sure she gets her alone time and makes sure she doesn’t get overwhelmed.

Tecna gets that Musa doesn’t want to talk about herself so instead gets her to open up about her music.

And it’s through this that they start to trust one another and by s2 we see them knowing each other well enough to keep the other from spiraling.

When Tecna’s confused about her feelings for Timmy, it’s Musa who reminds her that it’s okay to not be ready for a relationship. And when Musa and Riven first kiss, it’s Tecna who suggests they take it slow since she knows how skittish they can both be.

At this point, they push one another when they need to.

They are crucial to each other’s growth.

Riven

I always loved the idea of Rivusa but hated the original execution.

I really like the idea of two kids who have been so hurt by the people that were meant to protect them figuring out how to love each other. How to be open and trusting and just how to work as a couple.

Riven and Musa fall very slowly over the course of a year and a half, they get to know each other, be friends, quite crucially: they’re able to be vulnerable with each other. Which is huge for both of them.

And, when they realize that these feelings are serious and more than just a crush, they are both terrified.

I’ll talk a bit more about Riven’s feelings on his thesis but for Musa, she’s scared of this failing, of flying till the bone crush like the queen would say. She’s scared of it going wrong and losing someone she loves so much.

The part I love about this is that this means that even after they get together we get to see them fuck up. Because just because they’re together doesn’t mean they’re just going to forget years of trauma and having their walls up.

And, in my version, once they’re together, it’s Musa who fucks up by keeping secrets and not being able to bring herself to be vulnerable.

I think my fave part about writing these two is writing about how they grow together both as individuals and as a couple, how they learn to communicate and be vulnerable and realize that they are both here to stay and that this relationship is soft and safe and everything that they have been denied for so long.

That’s what this couple is to me. Two kids learning to love and not be afraid of it.

Helia

Helia and Musa are the writers of the group, due to them both being artist and having had past or present issues with their fathers and being vulnerable, it made sense for them to be platonic soulmates.

They’re the kind of people to spill their guts out of paper and just take a pen and truly speak, word vomit comes out in prose and metaphors and long words that just make you feel serene.

That’s how they find it easier to communicate.

They bond over words and music and the crushing weight of a knot in your throat not letting you speak when it matters most. The falling feeling of everything coming out wrong when spoken but in a beautiful way when written.

Helia is the only person Musa co-writes with for her songs, because he gets her voice as a songwriter in a way that no one else does.

And Helia shared his favorite poems because he knows she’ll get them in the way few could.

They are the artists who write not just because they enjoy and love it, but because it’s a crucial part of who they are, of how they process things and how to keep going.

If you wanna get to know these two, the best way to do it is to look at what they write.

And that’s why they just click.

Who is Musa in this Rewrite?

Musa is a girl who’s hurt. Who has lost and has had to almost raise herself.

She’s done the best that she could but the best she could do to protect herself at the time, back home with her father was to build walls around herself.

She’s someone who is learning to be open and vulnerable and to believe the people she loves won’t leave.

She’s someone trying to leave behind a toxic environment and mindset.

Someone who is, in one word haunted. By her past, by both her parents be it in different ways, by words, by Stormy.

But she’s learning to live with it, to still grow and to not take steps back in her journey.

She’s an artist finding her meaning and voice.

—————

Masterlist

Musa Moodboard

Musa’s Instagram

Musa and Tecna Moodboard

Musa and Riven Moodboard

Musa and Helia Moodboard

—————

so this one took so long cause I couldn’t figure out how to word certain things and tbh I feel like this one is the worst one so far so pls validate me and tell me it was good I feel like crying but I think I managed to get everything across

[starsnsparkles]

okay i’ve calmed down a little from the massive shitstorm that happened when the winx reboot teaser originally dropped, so now i want to completely and utterly rip into this generic, over-detailed monstrosity of a design that they decided to go with...

... starting with bloom!

oh my sweet, sweet baby, what have they done to you… first off, say goodbye to her iconic bangs, now we have… anime bangs? the braids would look great if her hair was let down & made to be wild, but no, we had to slap on her the mew mew new zakuro’s ponytail which makes them both look out of place and cartoonish with how out of place & massive it looks on them… the outfit raises SO many questions. like, huh? what *is* that crop top doing? like why does it have 1 shoulder pad? why does she have the flame arm decoration on only one arm? the other looks so bare in contrast. what IS that skirt? like, what are those ruffles? they look so random and out of place, her whole outfit is making me go ??? they’re, AGAIN, trying to shove her in pink :^) those boots are whatever, and the wings are overly-detailed, but fine. all of their wings are doing too much ngl, especially if this is the first transformation, but hers is one of the better ones

now onto stella!

the worst case of babyface i’ve seen in the reboot, and that headband with stars ain’t making it better. it makes her look like a middle schooler SOB the top is doing too much for a base transformation, like bloom’s, but at least hers kind of resembles sun rays so it’s… passable? i still want it gone & redesigned tho. the wings, again, doing too much, i like the sun imagery. now i’ve heard people discussing that stella will stay “faily of the shining sun” rather than “fairy of sun & moon” and if that’s true… then i fear it truly is over lads.... i’ll save my moon stella spiel because i’ve already written a post about it, but the “moon” part of stella could play such a huge role in her character and it’s NEVER been used to its full extent and i die inside every time i remember that :^) and if the reboot doesn’t even try? i’ll go fuck myself then uwu

now for flora...

the best out of the batch. nothing really more to say. you can’t really go and make a bad flora transformation technically, just slap her in pink & green, with pretty flowers and voila, there’s flora. girly concepts work on a girly girl what a surprise! the petal skirt is very nice, i will say, although we’ll see later on how horrible it translated to 3d animation :^) her wings suffer the same as the rest, but they’re more toned down so they’re better, her hair is also doing a bit too much, i think the braid with flowers is great, but get rid of those two flower odangos and she’s pretty solid.

musa time!

*insert here a long-winded rant about her face looking generic af when previously we had a very good model shown in the magazine for her monolid look that potrayed her asian heritage more* but of course, we can’t have nice things, so here ya go, a downgrade :) anyway back to the design. so basically, musa’s design pays omage the most to her og magic winx design, so it looks pretty okay. i wish she had headphones, but i like the braids. now i did say the dress pays omage to her og design, but the added details on it to ‘make it look updated” are pretty nonsensical as well. it’s the bloom thing all over again. what is that small gap that’s covered with transparent material? we shall never know. it’s there to be there. 0 purpose. remove that and the design is so much better. what irks me about her wings is that they’re the wrong colours so they don’t even look like they belong to musa. like all others, they’re doing too much, but out of the bunch, hers are the worst. shape is meh, but the colours ruin them.

and now, the girl that suffered the most… my sweet, sweet tecna...

to all tecna truthers, it is a sad day indeed. tecna went from the most unique and wel-thought out magic winx design to… this. just one of many. literally nothing about her costume is revolutionary. nothing looks good. nothing says fairy of technology, save that thing in her hair. that’s literally it. i just don’t even have the words to describe how bland this is, which is horrible to say, because this is tecna! hey! fairy of technology! a fairy that literally connects the two worlds of a fairy, a being that is supposed to be this untamed magical concept connected with the nature & the world, with technology, the futuristic & more grounded concept that explores probabilites in a totally opposite side than magic. like, SHE IS REVOLUTIONARY but nah. here is a generic purple fairy. i want to PERISH.

and last but not least, aisha!

aisha & stella look like babies it’s not even funny actually. now why is she BLUE. aisha had a great thing going for her in the og where her outfit was green & her powers were pink, which contrasted well, and she was still a water / fluid fairy, so she really stood out from the rest of her archtype. and now. she’s BLUE. we already have bloom. we don’t have a green fairy. is this the part where they try to leave a spot open for roxy? yeah we love roxy, but aisha deserves to keep her og colour more than her, you know, THE aisha, who is objectively a bigger part of the winx brand than roxy. her dress is again, doing too much while not really making sense. it looks sloppy and overly-detailed with little reason to be so. flora & aisha are set apart from the rest solely bc their midriffs are covered & that’s about it. her wings are also too similar to bloom’s. my god why are they trying to bloom-ify her i don’t know.... the beads look nice tho, but they don’t feel like aisha. aisha is this cool, admirable, hero character that loves sports & adventure, and i’m getting “mum we have sports day tomorrow” vibes here. misery… and apparently she’s still “fairy of waves” so if they get rid of morphix, which was masterful addition to the power scale, i’d be ACTUAL MISERY

as for animations & civilian looks...

people say they’re eating and i just wanna know WHERE. i like the casual outfits more than the transformations by a mile, and that’s not saying much. musa & tecna’s outfits looked better in the magazine feature/leaks, musa especially suffered. stella’s hair fuses with her outfit constantly. and even if it were good, the animation downgrades everything though. it looks like it came from disney junior, ffs, it looks just a tiny bit better than miraculous ladybug and i can’t take that show seriously because of how bad the animation is. it’s giving fucking, rooster teeth studios with 6 employees and a 6 month deadline. it looks atrocious, i can’t even describe it SOB

closing thoughts - this literally looks like winx for toddlers. i’m sorry, so much hype for “we wanna age up our target audience after nick ruined it” and then we get this. dollar store animation, fumbled transformations, missed opportunities. i was beyond excited and probably coping back when the animation test aired. now i’m fully in IT’S SO OVER downslide. you hate to see it! :)

p.s people are saying these forms might actually be enchantix. baby if this is enchantix? we’re even MORE COOKED

[winx-reimagined]

MASTERLIST

A magic dimension is obviously going to be full of magical creatures. Fairies, witches, pixies (do specialists count as magical? To be discussed later), and several others. But what makes a fairy a fairy and a witch a witch? Aside from aesthetics and alignment, there’s always been a lack of information about the differences and makings of the various beings that exist in the magic realm. There’s also a lack of information about important beings like the Great Dragon, Daphne—nymphs in general frankly—, Faragonda, and many other people & events. Hell, no one can even tell how long the war against the Ancestral Witches lasted. Was it 16 years or over multiple centuries? Like seriously, why is Faragonda old as balls but the war started when she was a teen / young adult, but Bloom is only 16 and nobody remembers her or the war? (Even if she was born at the end of the war, that’s still not enough time for everyone to forget about it).

All I’ve been able to gather from the series is that witch magic is fueled by negative emotion & winx magic by positive emotions. But this isn’t always the case since, for example, when Bloom was infuriated because she thought Kikko was dead she released a massive amount of power. Call it a hunch, but I don’t think she was feeling very live-laugh-love in that moment. Though, you could argue her love for Kikko was the motivation even if the emotion was a negative one. Still, at the end of the day, she acted out in rage and not love.

And clearly, one’s form of magic can be changed, given Mirta became a fairy. Which I personally don’t like, she could’ve just been a good witch (which would help fight the stigma that they’re so adamant about keeping up until it’s convenient for the witches to help the good guys) but I get the school environment might’ve not been the best for her. It just sucks that the only reoccurring witch character we get are the Trix and then are expected to just accept that witches aren’t evil.

Given that Stella said Bloom was born with her powers and the city of Magix, especially the schools, don’t allow non-magical beings to enter. This has to mean the specialists are magical creatures. But the only magical thing they do is use their weapons (which I’m not even actually sure is magic or if it’s just advanced tech or both?) What specialists are is such a neglected topic I’m almost convinced they’re just regular dudes. Also, why are princes training the same way as knights or squires? Like yes, I get “military training” given Sky would lead the royal army if ever the occasion, but I would imagine there’s more to being a king than being able to fight. The princesses don’t ever get “military training” though I guess they do learn how to fight (I think, it at least looks like it) and change the color of their hair. A necessary skill to rule over a kingdom, surely.

I believe that all of their magic is the same but what they choose to do with it ultimately dictates what they end up becoming. But then that puts into question why are witches allowed to go to school? And what are any of them going to school for? Relating back to my previous rant “Cloud Tower | School of Terrorists” most of the Winx dubs have set up witches and their school to feed off negative emotion, not to mention have called most of them evil especially given the terrible deeds of the Ancestral Witches. But how does school function within the magic realm? Because in real life, it’s meant to prepare children for jobs or further education. This idea is never really explored, honestly, I think the fact that the girls are growing up and will soon leave Alfea is never really brought up (mind you I haven’t watched season 7, so maybe it is) since even once they’ve graduated they stay at the school to act as teachers. Which is cool and all, but eventually these girls have to move on. Stella, Aisha, & Bloom all have kingdoms to rule over and Tecna, Flora, & Musa have their own interests but this idea of growing up and moving on from school is never really talked about. And while I know most of my writing is about the actual writing of the series and not its influence on its audience, this idea would’ve been great for young girls to watch so they’re not so afraid of growing up and moving on. Because it’s inevitable and seeing your fictional idols experience that and overcome it, would make it less scary.

Anyway, it’s unfortunate we don’t get to see what they learn from school often. We hardly see what the fairies learn, let alone the witches or specialists. And weirdly, for a show that heavily involves magical schools, we never see any arcs about school competitions, tournaments, festivals, or interactions with other schools. Even regular high schools have basketball or football games against other schools regularly. It’s just sad how little their school life actually makes an appearance in the series. Especially when it seems they’re either too scared or too lazy (perhaps even too uncreative) to let go of them being at Alfea.

I also wish we got to see more unique cases, similar to Mirta, of people who don’t fit the binary of witch, fairy, and specialist. Also we never really learn about other kinds of these species(?)/groups, like how there are nymphs and presumably an equivalent level for witches, not to mention there are also sorcerers. It’s even weirder given Nymph is the next level in terms of fairy magic and yet none of the main crew go on to learn how to become one? But also, what is a nymph? Like always it isn’t explained, saying they’re a stronger fairy isn’t much of an explanation.

Sometimes it makes me sad to write rants like this because it makes me realize that Winx was not as unique as I thought it was nor as in-depth as it could’ve been. I still love the series of course, but taking it apart and analyzing it like this has its consequences. Though in a way, it does motivate me more to add my own ideas and creations to the series, and I hope my ramblings and machinations are at the very least entertaining!

[thelostrainbowthenovel]

Winx Club AU: Mareas Info

The third of the general kingdom info posts for this AU, we have the kingdom of Mareas! I hope you enjoy~ :3

================================================

Mareas is one of five kingdoms on the planet of Elementis, and part of the "Elementals Alliance" along with Feor, Arian, and Erdennia. Mareas is settled near the ocean-coastline and surround swamp ands and wetlands. The capital and other major cities are in the dryer parts or near the surface, while the poorer communities are in the deeper parts. Similar to Andros in having a dual terrestrial and underwater kingdom, but not a dual-monarchy necessarily, as it is just two palaces that royal family switches between. They have their fair share of magi users, but also have one of the biggest communities for magical creatures, mainly those associated with the water like merfolk, selkies, and water nymphs.

- The Characters

* The Royal Family

. Arethusa: The ruling queen of Mareas, and the Witch of the Seabed. When she was a young child she dreamed of becoming a fairy one day, as she loved hearing stories of the good they did with their magic. However, due to how dysfunctional her family was with her parents' and older brother's scandals, when the time came her magic manifested more from her negative emotions and she became a witch instead. Despite this not being what she wanted, she used her status as a witch to set a good example for her people to follow, especially when she became the new heir and took over the throne when she was older. Although she comes off very serious, no-nonsense, and traditional-minded, this is her way of repressing her trauma and maintaining some sense of control in her life. As she is a mermaid, her mermaid abilities aid her a lot in her witch magic and she had an easier time rising through the ranks and achieved her highest witch form at an earlier age than most.

. Lian: The king consort of Mareas. He does have a weak ability to control sea plants, but not enough to be a magi and he never cared to practice it when he was growing up, so he's not very strong with it. Had a bit of a rebellious streak when he was younger, which is one reason his and Arethusa's parents arranged them together, as they thought she would be a good influence in straightening him out. Although this worked some, he became lazier if anything over the years due to marrying into royalty and no longer having to work for anything. Due in part to his nature he is not very active in his duties as a king or father, leaving Arethusa to do most of the parent work with their kids as he could care less. Never got along with Arethusa with their clashing lifestyles and attitudes, and since they both do not have romantic feelings for each he has had several mistresses over the years, with his current one being his longest affair at several years.

. Meredith: The first-born and crowned heir of Mareas, and the Fairy of Ocean Waves. Being both the eldest and heir to the throne, as well as the first fairy born into the royal family in a few generations, she has had the most attention and pressure to succeed put on her from an early age. While she did her best to take it all in stride, she has been left with a lot of internal stress throughout her life and a longing for more. She looked forward to the day she would get to attend Alfea and have a little more freedom, but her near drowning incident as a teenager not only scared her from swimming, but unfortunately made her feel hesitant to practice her magic much. While it took her a while to get over her fears, she fully embraced her life when she became an adult as she did not want to lose anymore time worried about playing it safe. While nowadays she has been busying herself preparing to become queen one day and her upcoming wedding, when her brother Brooke and his fiancé goes missing she sets off and joins a group of four other fairy princesses to not only find them, but help out anyone else who has fell victim to these evil forces.

. Brooke: The second-born of Mareas, current non-powered warrior, and future Witch of the Sea. Growing up his childhood was very rough, as many people did not bother to get to know him or his struggles better and just labelled him as a trouble-making misfit. He has always struggled with his mental health and felt conflicted about his place in the world and his home, and that no matter what he did that he would always be seen as a disappointment in his parents' and society's eyes. By far the best thing in his life and what kept him going was his relationship with his older sister, as she was always his best friend and they always had each other's backs. As he was the one that saved Meredith from almost drowning, he was inspired from both that incident and his own desire to learn physical fighting to become a non-powered warrior, as he wanted to be able to further protect his loved ones in the future. Though he's been a regular warrior for almost a decade, he does have magic and has been inspired by some of his friends and his mother to fully embrace his magic, and plans to become a witch in the future. Always having a love for traveling, he has been using his adulthood to travel across the Magical Dimension and visit all the places he wants to see and cute date spots with his fiancé, though has unfortunately been kidnapped by the villain to aid him in his plans of world domination.

. Murphy: The third-born of Mareas. While his childhood has been considerably better than both his older siblings as he is not held to the same expectations, he still has his own bouts of anxiety and feeling like he is in their shadows. He does not despise his siblings for that feeling however, as he looks up to them both greatly for their natural confidence and charisma, qualities of which he lacks and always wishes he could acquire. As he is still a child he does not get up to as much as his older siblings, but in his free-time from his studies and visits with his friend Alwyn, he likes to practice his magic more now that it has recently manifested. He's not very skilled yet as he can only summon puddles or small bubbles of water, but time will only tell if his skills will further develop and if he'll become a magi someday.

* The Other Characters

. Adrien: Meredith's fiancé. Has no magic of his own, which he doesn't mind. As he is the manager and owner of his own small but successful shop, he has become pretty fit and gained some muscle from all the heavy-lifting he has done in his life, so he could hold himself pretty good in a fight if he should ever find himself in one. While his family is fairly wealthy and well-respected in the capital city, he is not a noble nor a part of the upper-class. First met Meredith on the boardwalk a few years ago by chance, and ever since talking and getting to know each other that day, they formed a special connection that they have not found with anyone else before. So much so that they are now preparing for their upcoming wedding, though this has just recently been put on hold as Meredith has gone off on her mission, to which he fully supports yet still worries for her safety all-the-same.

. Beckham: Meredith's close friend. He does have magic, but his magic alignment is unknown as he has never really shown his magic in public. First met Meredith in their teen years before she went to Alfea, they initially had more of a work-based relationship as they got paired to work together on council assignments. It was not until one circumstance that allowed for Mere to learn his secret did they become a lot closer as friends, with them having a pretty peaceful friendship where they share mutual goals and support for each other. While he is usually calm and collected, he does have a darker aura about him that makes him come off as intimidating to some, but he's not necessarily a bad guy or villain.

. Shannon: Brooke's best friend, and the Fairy of Selkies. She is a selkie herself, but one that transforms between her selkie form underwater and a more human-fairy form on land. Best friends with Brooke since they were young teens, they have been through a lot together and have always been so supportive and understanding of each other's struggles and dreams. A famous figure skater from her kingdom, she had been doing that for most of her life before she recently switched career paths to be a model, as she had both grown tired of the petty drama happening in the figure skating scene and her new sense of style as an adult captured the attention of a few modeling agencies and fashion companies alike. She mainly models within Elementis, but has been curious and scouted to model on other planets throughout the Magical Dimension.

. Alwyn: Murphy's closest friend. Half-water nymph, despite still being a child they already have pretty strong magic and is looking into becoming a witch in the future. From the poorer parts of Mareas where a lot of social pariahs lived, they met Murphy only by chance one day and despite some awkwardness at first, they quickly hit it off. They became close friends the more they talked, and while they normally write letters to each other to keep in touch, Alwyn has been able to visit him at the palace on occasion and they enjoy getting to hang out and learn more from each other.

[redhairedgirl95]

Friendship Friday

For today's impromptu winx week content, let me share with you some friendship moments between different winx characters from my fics <3

From Looking at the stars, but only seeing one - chapter 4 - Technomagic and friends

Stella takes Timmy to a Tech event

She had conjured a shield over her head, and she had run – run – from the school’s entrance to the gates, passed them and then teleported right into the Mall. Not one raindrop had got her, her mother would’ve been proud. When Timmy arrived, five minutes late and already beyond worried, he was soaked. He had left the bike in the underground parking lot and got to the first floor, where Stella was waiting for him. “P-Princess … I’m sorry …” “No worries, Timmy. And it’s Stella to you.” She said, while using her powers to dry his clothes. “Better?” “Much better, thank you, Pr … Stella.” “There you go.” She smiled. “Okay, so … I figured you’d be better than Sky at this.” She pointed to a nearby tech store. “They’re presenting the newest Technomagic phone, and I wanted to you to help me see if it’s worth the money.” “The newest …” He gasped, looking at the crowd in line outside the store. There could have been half a thousand people. “We’ll never get inside.” “You bet?” She smiled and walked straight to the entrance.

From Enchanted Moments season 1 - chapter 3 - By your side

Flora, Musa, and Stella having a little fun

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, you shouldn’t use your powers. Faragonda said …” “I’m fine, Flora.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s my last day in prison. I can do a little magic trick … and it’s not even magic, it’s just the weather. Right, Musa?” She shrugged. “If you say so …” Stella looked up and focused on the sun. Her father had taught her she could cause small changes in the weather if she concentrated hard enough. Her powers stemmed from the sun, she had a special connection with it, it was easy. The temperature increased by five degrees and soon the guys’ T-shirts were all sweaty. It didn’t take long before they ditched them. “What did I tell you?” She asked, proud of her work. “Wow, Riven is ripped!” She said a little too loud and the Specialists turned to look at them, who were undoubtedly staring. Especially Stella. And Musa. Flora immediately averted her eyes, red in the face.

From Imagine me and you - chapter 8 - Time flies

Young Sky and Brandon hiding from Diaspro

“Girls are the worst.” “Princess Diaspro is not so bad.” They were lying on the grass in the Palace gardens. It was summer and King Topaz and Queen Amber had come visit, they had brought their daughter too, a nine-year-old girl with long blonde hair and gemstones all over her dress. She was a nightmare. They had gone to the gardens to hide. Sky didn’t want to play dolls with her. Ehw! He wasn’t a child! He was nine! Like her, but she was a girl, and he was taller! So, it was like he was older than her. And Brandon wasn’t nine yet, but he was fun and they played with swords, fought monsters and rescued princesses. They didn’t want to play with dolls. “Not so bad? My father wants me to dance with her tonight. Dance, Brandon! Do you understand?” Brandon laughed. A little too loud. “Prince Sky? Where are you?” She had found them. The boys stood up, trying to find the best escape route. Brandon pointed to a puddle, and Sky nodded. They ran and jumped right into it, covering themselves in mud. Maybe Diaspro wouldn’t want to play with them now that they were all dirty and wet. “Boys are the worst!” They heard her say as she headed back to the Palace.

From Enchanted Moments season 2 - chapter 1 - Back to the beginning

Cyrus and Samson training Stella

“We’ve got a problem.” “I know.” “She’s getting good.” “I know.” “The King is going to reassign us.” “I know.” Cyrus sighed, as he and Samson watched the Princess practice with her new sword, a birthday gift from Eraklyon’s Head of the Royal Guard, who happened to be her boyfriend’s father. Less than ten days had passed since they’d started training her, under her own request. When she’d voiced it, they had thought she was joking. Even Cyrus, ever so serious, had laughed, but then she had repeated her wish in the presence of the King and Queen and they had almost choked on their breakfast. After the first shock, it was impressive how well the King had taken to his only daughter learning to use a blade. But then, she had already mastered fighting with her scepter, and it had been Radius himself the one who taught her, so …  “I can hear you, you know?” Stella put down the sword to catch her breath, and looked at her guards, who were looking back at her. “We know.” They answered as one. She smiled, sheathed the blade and secured it to her side, then she adjusted her ponytail and reached them, who were standing under the shadow of a nearby tree. “So? Are you afraid of me yet?” Stella joked. “We’ve been afraid of you since you were ten, Princess.” Samson answered dramatically, to which Cyrus added, “Once you can hold your guard for more than three seconds, I’ll start to worry.” Both Stella and Samson rolled their eyes in sync, just before they burst out laughing and the Princess went to hug the grim soldier, who rested a hand on her shoulder. Samson smiled at them, but a second later his eyes widened, and he started laughing so hard his belly ached. The Princess was lying on the grass, where Cyrus had left her, just a second before. “First rule about being a soldier: never let your guard down.” “I-I’ll try to remember it.” She babbled, and then Cyrus laughed too, helping her up. “I think that’s enough for today, don’t you, Princess?” Samson suggested, joining his friend, and offering an arm to Stella, which she gladly took and let her guards guide her back inside the Palace.

From Enchanted Moments season 2 - chapter 10 - Pressing matters

Riven helping Brandon blow off some steam

“Ain’t it a bit late to be up, future heir to the throne?” “Not now, Riven.” Brandon threw on a t-shirt and grabbed his gym bag as he made a beeline for the kitchen. He opened the fridge and took a couple of energy drinks, but when he closed it, the other Specialist was right in his face. “Move.” He didn’t have time to deal with Riven’s bullshit. He was sleep deprived, he couldn’t call Stella because she needed to sleep more than him, he’d just received a text message from King Radius – how the hell did he get his number? He was sure Stella hadn’t given it to him –, Sky was snoring like a bull, and all he wanted to do was punch something – or better someone. And now Riven seemed like a good enough option. “And what the fuck are you doing up anyway?” “I’ve seen the articles … wanna talk about it?” “I’d rather beat the shit out of someone.” “I’m up for it. Gimme a second.” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - “Feel better, yet?” They were lying on the ring, panting heavily, t-shirts off, both covered in sweat and bruises. “I want a re-match.” “Another? Do you want me to swoop your almost-royal ass once again?” “Can’t end in a tie.” “I agree. And you’ll lose.” “You wish.”

From All that glitters is not gold - chapter 4 - When war play turns into war day

Radius and Helios suffering Cassandra's constant presence

“Radius? Radius, have you been listening to me?” “Of course. You were talking about …” He turned to Helios for help and his friend made some signs. What did they mean? Fortunately, Cassandra’s attention was totally focused on Radius, so she didn’t see Helios frantically gesturing. He had put his hands in front of his chest and was moving, kinda swaying. He couldn’t mean that. No, boobs wasn’t the answer. “Ehm …” “The ball, Radius.” She rolled her eyes. “Tonight’s ball. I was saying that we could dance together.” “Oh, yeah!” Of course it wasn’t boobs. Not that Cassandra had any. And he didn’t even like her! She was just a friend. Like Helios. Well, not like Helios. Helios was his best friend; Cassandra was … someone who always found a way to be wherever he was whenever he was there. It was annoying sometimes. (Most of the times). “Wonderful! I claim first dance!” “What? No!” He exclaimed, and then had to find a way to make up for his rude answer. Cassandra tended to cry, a lot, and Radius never knew what to do when she cried. “I mean … I don’t like dancing.” Lie. He loved dancing, and he was good at it. His father said he had inherited the talent from his mother, Queen Suna, the sun dancer. He thought of her whenever he danced, he hoped she would be proud of him, looking down on him from the Light of the Suns.  “But it’s a ball. You have to dance!” And she knew he was lying. She had seen him dance. He was good! Unlike Helios. Besides, she had already danced with him a couple of times, and he’d never stepped on her feet. And he was the Prince, while Helios … Helios was just a noble, and not even an important one. Not like her. She would be Countess one day, and, given that the Prince hadn’t yet chosen a bride, she could hope for a higher title. King Radius and Queen Cassandra of Solaria, what a nice couple they would make! “I don’t. Father says I don’t have to dance if I don’t want to.” He replied. “And I’ve gotta beat Luna. She won last time.” In the gardens of Linphea, during some kind of fair, they had found a quiet spot and she had asked for a chessboard. Her Queen had checkmated his King in less than ten minutes. Twice. The third time he had resigned halfway through the match. “But I’m gonna destroy her tonight.”

[epicfranb]

warning: long rant/ramble under cut (i jump from topic to topic a lot)

I need to watch more Sausage vids so i can write him BUT lately I'm so tired from mcyt cuz it's basically the only thing i watch, i wanna read comics and watch shows again i miss it but i only hav minecraf on the brain :( my attention span is GONE (not that there was much in the first place but. I could easily binge an anime season or 2 in under a week. I can't watch a single episode a day idk why)

This is what I'm complaining about?? Really??? If i complained about the actual serious stuff that worries me you'd hear no end of it lol. It's kind of in the background, anyways looming over me (the anxiety) im kinda used to it but it shows itself in the little things that seem unrelated.. like that fact that i can't seem to do the things i actually wanna do anymore. It's called AVOIDING. im scared of failure, im scared of making myself upset, so i start avoiding it even if i like it and wanna do it. It's silly bc in this case it's literally about WATCHING COOL SHIT??? i don't wanna have another kagepro or winx club or naruto on my hands where im so unbelievably upset at the source material that o have this urge to complain about it ALL THE FUCKING TIME but i don't have it in me (maybe i have the skill, but not time and not motivation) to make rewrites for all of them that'd be fucking impossible, especially seeing as they're not exactly short stories or easy to write and structure and REwrite and REstructure n all that.. i have my own fics and stories to worry about BUT I'M NOT WRITING THEM EITHER honestly i thought graduating high school would make me better it made me worse actually. In some ways it made me better. Maybe it's just maturing (a little bit) but worse i mean that 1) I'm drawing way less 2) I'm not developing my original stories at all 3) i don't see comics anymore 4) i don't fucking go outside 5) i don't socialize 6) i rot at home all day IDK im trying not to say that i feel like a failure bc that's not exactly true?.. maybe i don't feel this way cuz im avoiding thoughts like this (im good at avoiding lol) and that's good. Cuz objectively I'm not a failure. I'm still creating, even tho slowly. I think I'm in my transitional point between like.. a worm that i was at school, just creating things with no real purpose, to bring a butterfly who creates more thoughtfully and is able to self express deliberately, because i know what i like and what i want to do now (moreso than i did before at least). Not a fan of an insect analogy but here ya go. Optimistic ending to my little rant at least.

Honestly i wanna do a series of complaining at stuff that i kind of hate-love. I have the most to say about kagepro probably, since i was into that for like 2 years, or maybe winx since I'm into it rn, and it has far more source material+ has a bigger world and now characters.. but i thought about it far less so far (i need to write down my thoughts more..) i really really want someone to talk with about it.. either winx or kagepro, idc. It would be funny to tell about kagepro to a person who doesn't know about it (it's still fresh in my mind... *shudders*) but when it comes to winx I'd rather talk to another fan honestly. So yeah.. rant over bye bye

[ravenwitch45]

I Went Back Through Winx Season 4 and I have Feelings

Now you may have seen my post about my rewatch of Winx Club Season 3 where I shared a few frames that I liked and I wanted to share. Well now since apparently I'm rewatching the entire show now I went through Season 4 and I kinda wanted to do the same thing. Then that idea kinda mutated due to something I've neglected to mention.

I Fucking LOVE this season. It has problems I'm well aware but still. Believix is my favorite ever transformation, I love the season sound track and it brought so many cool characters into the show that are criminally underused these days. I'll talk about some funny moments, some sad ones, and ones that just make my heart soar with happiness, or ones that make me want more.

(Of course spoilers for season 4 but uh... it's been out for years so I'm not going to tag that)

Here we go, this is long so be warned but so are my feelings. (PS: this get's more intense and deep the further we go so... yeah, and it may become mulitple posts idk)

First up Tecna's face. Why does she look so mad?! Then again she literally threw herself into a vortex and got sucked into Ice Hell and now she has to do basic manual labor, honestly I'd be mad too.

"The Winx are going to beat you to death" saga continues (If I can find something in S5 for this I will howl like a hyena)

Okay tell me if I'm crazy but that girl with the purple curly hair looks like Stormy in disguise? Maybe that oppositus spell had lasting effects on her pchyche and created a second persona, who knows?

Oh and this! This camper van or whatever the specialists get the Winx has antena. Like seriously. I guess it could be to tie into their fairies which have insect wings but it still looks stupid. Also I'd feel like it's cause some issues line of sight wise.

Ogron: Oh you're apporaching me?

Bloom: I can't get kick your ass without getting closer.

This immediately made me think of that and I kind of love that.

Roxy going feral at Gantlos for calling Artu just a dog gives me life, also it's just so fitting for it to give her her fairy form

Oh and she's so pretty! I so wish she got to have more transformations eventually. She was robbed of Butterflix and you cannot convince me otherwise. She literally had butterflies already come on!

Gantlos is just so fucking done with the Winx's nonsense, and i'd say same but he's a fairy hunter so suffer.

Cursed Stella. That's it, good lord Girl what happened to you?

This Roxy outfit deserved so much more. I think it shows up once more and again in season six but still it's SO refresing to see Roxy in something new. Can we just agree Roxy deserved some more outfits later on instead of getting locked in that stupid paw shirt for all eternity. I'm sorry it's not that bad but it's just so old at this point to me good lord. Roxy got fucking robbed of everything.

I'm just going to say it, I love the wizard's outfits honestly. Especially how Duman, Gantlos, and Ogron are all in dresses/skirts and honestly there all a little feminine. What I don't love is that the only feminine men this show has ever had are some of the most sadistic villains as well. Men can be feminine and not be evil for Fucks sake!

And now for the Earth fairies to steal the show for a bit, particulary Morganna cause I completely forgot how much I liked her as a character. I love her design a lot cause she is gorgeous. I love her dress and her hair and even her wings even if there a little basic, her color scheme being green and blue makes sense cause from space... well those are the colors of the earth but before we leave this scene...

Why is everyone so surprised when she invites them to join her court? She hasn't even brought up the vengence so the shock seems strange to me, loving Bloom's face though. On a more somber note...

Right before the door closes you can see Morganna frown, which makes sense cause not only will her vengence force her to fight other fairies but she'll have to fight her daughter as well. Oooh I love details like this cause it shows that her being Roxy's mom wasn't a last minute idea and they thought it through (Well not really but we'll get to that later)

Let's take a small moment to appreciate Flora's cat. I don't know their name but I love them so much. Flower kitty supremacy, you deserved to meet your dumb wolf brother you sweet ball of cuteness

In fact let's appreciate all the fairy pets, and not only them but the fact all the Winx have little carriers for theirs and Bloom has one for both her's and Kiko. Flora making me mad jealous as usual cause I wish I could carry my cat around in a purse. So cute.

Not Roxy lowkey giving Timmy a "Why are you so thirsty?" look. Good lord I did not appreciate her enough when i first watched this.

And Diana is here, we can now bow. I really forgot how much i loved the major fairies cause dang. Her hair, her wings, her powers having the detail of lightning making it look a lot more wild compared to Flora's. Spectacular. I'll get to Aurora and Nebula don't worry.

I don't know if this has happened before but the Winx briefly glowing their respective color after transforming seems new. I don't know correct me if i'm wrong but I honestly really like it.

Musa and Tecna being really extra in the air for no particular reason I just love. I wish we got this more in the newer seasons cause now they just float there soulessly. Let my fairies be flamboyant!

Flora's hair normally

Flora's hair up. No. Fuck no that is not happening. There is no way all that hair can go up in those tiny buns, and that goes for Aisha too. What kind of Tardis scrunchies do they got?

And Once again Tecna's face is just priceless, I don't know what it is but it just makes me laugh

Ah yes, Roxy being told to hang back for... not really a good reason. Yeah she doesn't have Believix but they let her come along to deal with Aurora so what happened there? And you'd think a fairy able to get animals on their side would be fantastic for a mission in a wild rainforest but no. This is the beginning of the end for you Roxy...

Stella being completely calm so close to a wild snake is just... so cool to me. Cause going off the basic fashion girl character you'd think she'd freak out and scream but no. Stella is different, she's rebellious and she loves nature and the world and appreciates it and is nice to it. Stella got so degraded later on but she was so cool at first. I want this Stella back please.

Can I just say that Flora and Diana deserved more one on one stuff, there both fairies connected to nature and we get barely any stuff with just them. I would love a fanfic with these two just bonding- or OR Flora could bring some lynphean plants and show Diana, theres just so much potential and none of it was used. Enngh...

Also Diana is actually really tall, which as a tall girl myself I appreciate. Yes she is wearing heels but everyone does in this show so that point is mute. Love ya girl, sorry you just get ignored for the rest of the season though (Seriously why weren't her and Aurora at Tir Nan Og during the cermony?)

Okay well with Diana's venegence ended now so is this post, cause only thirty images per post so I'll make a sequel for the rest of this eventually.

[mynameisnowwyrm]

Spoiler warning

TL;DR horrible adaptation, but very enjoyable on it’s own

(Also just wanted to say I was so sure I was going to hate this bc of what’s different but they changed so much the cartoon and the live action are barely connected in my head)

Okay my review will be split up into two parts: fate: the winx saga as an adaptation and as a standalone work

As an adaptation:

0/10. Maybe 0.5 if I’m being generous.

The things that were unchanged from winx club:

There are characters named Bloom, Stella, Musa, Aisha, Sky and Riven

Aisha, Bloom, Stella and Sky resemble their cartoon counterparts

Riven is an asshole

Bloom is a dumbass

Magic exists

The specialists exist

Main characters go to schools for magic and specialists respectively

The dragon flame is a thing

Witches exist

Other than that it’s a completely different show. The plot vaguely resembles season 1 of winx club only in that Bloom is trying to discover her true heritage. Musa, who is supposed to of East Asian descent is not, Flora was not included and in her place is a different character with similar powers, Tecna was excluded entirely ( I believe this was to distance the show from the futuristic elements of winx club and focus only on fantasy, which doesn’t make sense since they changed Musa’s powers ).

The magic system was changed. Fairies don’t on the regular transform since in the show the know-how to do so was lost, though Bloom does unlock the ability in the finale. Instead of each being a fairy of an individual concept, everyone’s powers ale element based, with Musa’s powers being changed to her being an empath. While this does feel more generic, it makes more sense from a world building perspective and I can see why they changed it.

The fashion is horrible. You will never be able to convince me teenagers dress like that. One of the reasons the original cartoon was enjoyable was all the colourful, fun clothing. The clothes feel dated and too mature for the characters, like I can see a twenty-something person in 2013 wear some of those outfits. It especially feels like a missed opportunity since 2000’s fashion is coming back into style.

The characterization of some of the characters compared to winx club was hit and miss. Riven was an ass and Bloom was impulsive and naive, which is accurate, but Stella, oh Stella was a disappointment. Stella was a jealous, manipulative bitch, which in context of her character backstory makes sense, but is so far from her original portrayal. Cartoon Stella was spoiled and at times self centered, but she was also genuinely kind, helpful and bubbly. To see her character take a 180 and become the all too familiar jealous ex archetype was upsetting.

Now, aaaaall that being said, I don’t believe we should judge this as an adaptation. They changed so much that it is quite literally a new story. So let’s see how it stands up on it’s own.

Summary, taken from the wiki

The series tells the story of Alfea, a fictional boarding school where teenagers study. The world inside this universe is not only magical and full of monsters, but it is also a world of real teenagers who do the most common things: make friends and enemies, go out and of course... fall in love. They are eager to find their place in this world. This universe is different from the one we have all known for a long time.

The attention is focused on a group of proud teens, also well-designed female characters. Sometimes they are heroines, sometimes weak girls. Sometimes they are friends, sometimes rivals. Of course, they are not perfect, but they are real. A group of girls who did not know each other until they are included in the same team inside a school that is strange to them. They will meet forces that are beyond their control and things they do not understand. But, throughout the series, they will find themselves, form an indestructible bond, and transform into powerful and strong girls, ready to change not only the supernatural world, but also ours.

Character summary:

Bloom is a newly discovered fairy from the human world who is attending Alfea college in the otherworld. There she meets her new roommates: chatty Terra, athletic Aisha, uptight Stella and stand-offish Musa. She also meets Sky, Stella’s ex, who is training as a specialist.Shortly before coming to Alfea, Bloom discovers she has magic powers by almost burning her house down and killing her parents. She is distraught over this and it is why she is eager to gain control of her powers.It is discovered that Bloom is a changeling, a barbaric practice where a fairy baby is exchanged with a human one. This leads Bloom on a quest to discover her true heritage.

Musa is an empath, she can feel the feelings of everyone around her. To shut them out and escape she listens to music through her headphones. This leads to her initially coming off as uncaring when Terra tries to get to know her better.

Terra is an earth fairy with a particular talent for making plants grow. She is very nice and chatty, eager to make friends, but not afraid to stand up for herself. She struggles with finding someone to like her and compares herself to “cool girl” Beatrix who has boys following after her.

Aisha is a water fairy who swims twice a day every day. She comes off a a good person who wants to make friends and do the right thing. She also tries to do everything in her power to protect her friends.

Stella is a light fairy and princess of Solaria, the realm in which Alfea resides. She is repeating her first year due to an event prior to season one where she lost control of her powers and blinded her best friend. She is very uptight due to her perfectionist mother and tries to exert control in every other area of her life, when this doesn’t work, e.g. when someone flirts with her on-again-off-again boyfriend she gets jealous and causes trouble. She is also generally rude to the people around her.

Sky is a specialist legacy and Stella’s on-again-off-again boyfriend who has an interest in Bloom. His father was a famous specialist and he was raised by his father’s best friend.

Riven is Sky’s roommate, best friend and a genuine asshole. He insults and antagonizes everyone around him and gets involved with Beatrix. He seems dissatisfied with the life of a specialist.

Beatrix is an air fairy with a lightning powers. She seems mysterious and looks to be the villain of the season. She has enlisted the help of Riven and Dane.

Dane is a first year specialist who first seems to be friendly with Terra but gets sidetracked after spending time with Riven and Beatrix.

What I didn’t like:

The world building is sparse and the magic system is generic. I feel like things could have been better expanded upon. Throughout the show they bring up archaic fairy magic but it’s never really explained how that’s different from current fairy magic.

The interactions between Riven and Dane come off as a bit queerbait-y although they could be setting things up for a second season.

Everyone is constantly so rude towards Terra. Even her supposed friends are mean to her. What gives?

Stella was constantly rude to everyone but by the end they are all the best of friends when she really hasn’t changed much. Also Stella being the jealous controlling ex archetype and not enough people calling her out on her bullshit.

What I did like:

For a Netflix teen drama there is surprisingly little sex between the teenagers. This might be subjective but it was refreshing for me.

Again subjective but I could definitely relate to Bloom’s antisocial teen flashbacks

Beatrix was a fun villain

Though the story might be a little generic, I felt it was compelling throughout. I genuinely wanted to know what happened next.

The story was well paced. It never felt like anything was dragging along

Overall:

The show was definitely enjoyable to watch. There is a lot of room for improvement. It sometimes felt like different plot lines were unconnected and the costume choices leave a lot to be desired. Aside from that they set up a solid story and likable characters (some of whom I love love and love to hate) which I very much want to see further developed in the future. As a stand-alone work 6/10

[muscatmusic18]

we’re a family (my darling) (1/1)

Fandom: Fate: The Winx Saga

Pairing: Farah Dowling and Terra Harvey

Terra worries that she’s losing everyone around her. Farah reassures her and sets her straight.

Read here on AO3 or below.

~

The one I think many have been waiting for, Farah and Terra. No I’m not salty at all they didn’t make Farah an aunt

A knock came at her door, making Farah furrow her brow in annoyance briefly before calling for the intruder to enter.

The door slowly opened, and Farah’s annoyance disappeared when she saw Terra looking in, peeking around the edge of the door.

“I know your door was closed, but can I come in?”

Farah smiled gently. “You’re always welcome, Terra.”

Something passed over Terra’s face, looking like irritation or even anger, which was out of character for her niece, but it was gone before Farah could study it closely.

Terra entered and sat on the couch, looking lost in thought, so Farah turned back to her work, allowing her some time.

“It’s been a while since you’ve come to my office just to sit,” Farah started after a while, not looking up from her work, though she watched the girl out of the corner of her eye.

When Terra was young, she would often come and spend time with her – coloring or growing plants at her feet, making crafts on the coffee table, or just reading on the couch. As she got older, she came less and less, preferring solitude as any teenager or to spend time with friends, which Farah understood, and as much as she missed those days, she did find it curious that Terra was here now.

Terra shrugged, giving Farah a small smile before looking away again. “I do miss it here, with you. Sometimes I just wonder if it’s… right for me to come here anymore, especially now, you being more my Headmistress rather than my aunt now, and—”

“Terra,” Farah interrupted gently. “I’ll always be your aunt, regardless of you being a student here.”

Terra smiled at her, looking relieved, but still there was something in her expression that was unusual for the girl, something bitter and angry, and now a pang of worry pulled at Farah’s heart.

Making up her mind and standing, Farah walked over to the couch and sat down, picking up a book she’d left on the coffee table, one she’d been meaning to read for a while now but just hadn’t had the time. Terra looked at her half in surprise and half in curiosity, but Farah just smiled softly and opened the book, starting in on it.

Though she didn’t really read, choosing instead to study her niece out of the corner of her eye. Something was off about Terra, and something that the girl most likely wanted to talk about, given that she’d come to her, but just wasn’t sure how to start. Sitting down with Terra, Farah hoped she opened herself up to the girl, becoming more of her aunt again instead of her Headmistress, a confidant, like she used to be before…

Well, before she’d become Terra’s Headmistress, rather than her aunt.

Luckily, she didn’t have to wait long for Terra to speak her mind, a quality of her niece’s she rather admired (and one she hoped in part came from her).

“Why were you and Dad hiding things from me?”

Farah looked up. “We weren’t hiding things from you, necessarily. We were worried both of espionage and of inciting a panic, and decided that keeping information between your father, Saul and I would be the best.”

“But you lied, all of you did, right to my face. It’s not like you all just said there was something you couldn’t tell me, you looked me in the eye and told me that everything was fine, even when an idiot could tell something was wrong. Is that what you take me for?”

“Terra,” Farah said a bit sharply, trying to hide her hurt at her niece’s words, and the girl had the sense to look ashamed.

“I’m sorry, I just—” Terra paused, and Farah’s heart clenched when she saw the tears welling in her eyes. “I feel like I’m losing people lately.”

Farah’s chest caved, and she moved closer to Terra on the couch, angling to face her more. “Terra,” she repeated softly. “You aren’t losing anyone.”

“How can you say that though?” Terra asked, sounding more desperate than angry. “Dad lied to me. He promised me he wouldn’t, when Mum died, I still remember that even though I was young. And Dane turned out to be completely different than I thought he was, and you’ve been like a mum to me for as long as I remember, but sometimes I feel like you’re no more than a Headmistress anymore, like you thought I grew out of needing you.”

Terra’s admission of Farah’s role in her life, made so offhandedly, rocked the woman, and she had no time to process before Terra continued on, rambling so much like her father did.

“Sometimes we’re in class and you look at me, and it’s like there’s no recognition there. And I understand the need for distance there, you are my teacher, but it looks like all those years of memories are just gone, and it scares me so much to think that I could be losing another—”

“Sweetheart,” Farah said, voice thick, making Terra stop and look at her in surprise. She hadn’t called her niece that since she was eight years old, but if there ever were a time. She moved closer to Terra and put her hands on her arms, gripping lightly to make her point. “Sweetheart, you could never lose me.”

Terra, the girl she’d thought of as her daughter for so long. How many times had she chided herself for thinking that way, feeling guilty for trying to take over Rose’s place, all for Terra to tell her she was like a mum to her. A lump formed in her throat, seeing the worry and heartbreak in Terra’s eyes, and she managed to smile reassuringly at the girl, rubbing her arms.

“We never grow out of needing the ones we love, as children or adults.” Her smile softened, and she reached up to brush back a piece of Terra’s hair. “I have loved you since the day I met you. And I’ve done everything in my power to be a person you deserve to have in your life. I have watched you learn and grow into the woman you are today. And there isn’t anything in the world that would make me give you up.”

Tears were rolling down Terra’s cheeks, and she leaned in to bury herself in Farah’s shoulder. Farah hugged her tightly, rocking her gently like she did when she was a child and scared of the monsters under her bed, and a few tears of her own dropped into Terra’s hair, tears for ever making the girl wonder how much she meant to her.

Eventually, Terra slowly sat up, even as Farah was reluctant to let her go. Her tears had dried, though there were still tracks on her cheeks, and Farah gently wiped them away, giving Terra another small smile. “I’m sorry if I’ve been too distant lately. I… thought you might not appreciate me becoming Auntie in front of your new friends.”

Terra laughed a little at that, and shrugged. “Well, maybe don’t wipe my face with a napkin around them,” she quipped, and Farah laughed herself. “But… I don’t mind people knowing that Dad is my dad. I guess I wouldn’t mind them knowing that you’re my aunt.”

Farah nodded, and with a bolt of courage she leaned in to press a kiss to Terra’s forehead. “I haven’t grown out of needing you, either,” Farah murmured, and Terra leaned against her shoulder again in a half hug. “You’ll always be my Little Tree.”

Terra smiled at the old nickname and settled deeper against Farah’s shoulder. Tucking a leg underneath her, Farah leaned back against the couch with Terra comfortably in her arms, thanking gods above that she had a daughter like Terra.

[your-brilliant-lady-m]

Part 1 - Basic Concepts of Miraculous Ladybug: Miraculous Jewels

Alright! I promised you meta and now I deliver!

I feel like people mostly watch Miraculous for the romance these days. Shipping is all everyone cares about. I wonder why? Probably because writers themselves don't take their worldbuilding very seriously and because they don't put much effort into making the audience care about something other than Love Square, like the mythology behind the Miraculous, or motivations of the main villain, or some pretty heavy topics for a kid's show that they bring up and then refuse to touch again. You know, all the good things. And this is coming from someone who is a passionate multishipper. I have lived through several shipping wars in different fandoms and came out victorious after all.

I am probably the only person out there who cares about the big picture, the overall storyline and the worldbuilding of Miraculous in addition to all details and implications that could develop into fascinating plotlines relevant to the main story. It is a rather lonely fandom experience, I must confess. But, hey? Who cares? I am here to have fun and bring to the table discussions no one wants to have.

So, let's talk about the basics.

If you, as the writing team, are capable of keeping only 1 thing consistent, then please, I beg you, let it be the basic concepts of your universe. Because in this case, one has to actively put effort into writing characters and conflict resolutions badly. And also because nothing can save bad worldbuilding.

I don't have high worldbuilding standards for Miraculous. They certainly aren't as high as the ones I had for Legend of Korra (which was a badly written trainwreck, that ATLA doesn't deserve as a sequel) or the ones I currently have for Dragon Prince. Therefore I won't be too harsh in my criticisms. Granted, I think that Miraculous has better worldbuilding and lore consistency than Winx Club for example (I haven't seen the reboot yet, so writers might have fixed their worldbuilding at least a little bit). Even though I enjoyed Winx when I was younger and some elements of this story still attract me.

Both serialised and episodic shows as well as movies to the lesser extent must have some flexibility in worldbuilding and plot because you can never be 100% sure where your story is going. Maybe, you'll get money for more seasons, maybe not. However, you must never lose sight of your basic concepts. They have to stay the same no matter what, because rewriting lore and retconning major developments every new season is not and never will be called good writing.

Forgive me for using architectural metaphors, but you need a solid foundation to build any kind of structure. Otherwise, everything falls apart.

I like to apply this logic to writing as well. When designing a world where your story takes place, you must lay a few ground rules. It's especially important if you have a magic system. What kind of ideas absolutely must exist? What kind of conclusion do you want your story to have? Does your magic system has limitations? Where is the grey area? Could you introduce new elements later on?

And I feel like the writing team of Miraculous Ladybug did not ask these questions. This may feel like I am nit-picking canon material and looking for problems that simply aren't there, but I promise that I am not. You see, things that I am about to point out only seem small at first glance. But these details are actually the source of the largest plotholes in the series. And their presence negatively affects character development, conflicts and resolutions of said conflicts.

That doesn't mean that I have nothing good to say about the magic system of the show and its elements. There are a lot of great ideas and concepts. And some of them have the potential to contribute to the delightful story.

Let's dive right into it, shall we?

Camouflage

I have to give credit where it's due because the idea of camouflage and shapeshifting for Miraculouses is brilliant. It seems like Miraculous can't fundamentally change its type of jewellery or accessory. The ring will always be the ring but with a different ornament, colour or shape. This is true most of the time (Monkey Miraculous is an exception since it transformed into earplugs/headphones/headband/circlet) It makes sense and avoids plotholes. Grimoire doesn't have the pictures of each Miraculous in disguise for identity protection. That was very neat too. I have no comments. This concept was very good.

Also, since Marinette wore a nose ring of the Ox in "Kwamibuster" without any problem and Adrien wore Ladybug's earrings in "Reflekdoll", we can assume that you don't need to have piercings to wear a Miraculous. Miraculous just magically passes through your skin.

I'm interested to know the following. Can Kwamis recognise a camouflaged Miraculous on a person? Can the holder order them to confess the identity of this person? This shouldn't be possible for identity protection just like with Kwamis sensing each other. But more on that in later posts.

Power Levels

For a long time, we assume that there are only 7 Miraculouses. Turtle belongs to Master Fu, Gabriel has Butterfly and Peacock, Marinette and Adrien have Ladybug and Black Cat. Everything is pretty straightforward. Then it's revealed that there are more jewels and more boxes. It makes the worldbuilding interesting, but it also majorly complicates things, making them inconsistent.

Their position in the Miracle Box implies their power levels. Creation and destruction are the most powerful forces in existence, therefore they are at the top. Moreover, it makes this Box the most important, the most powerful out of all others. Su Han in "Furious Fu" calls it "Mother Miracle Box". Fox, Turtle, Bee, Butterfly and Peacock have less power than the main pair, but more than the Miraculous of the lower Zodiac tier (since they correspond with animals of the Chinese Zodiac).

1. Ladybug can create anything out of nothing (Lucky Charm, which gives what you need the most at the moment). This Miraculous can resurrect the dead, reverse the effects of the Cataclysm. The power of Miraculous Cure or Miraculous Ladybug can work in several ways:

it simply repairs the damage (puts stuff back together, heals injuries and so on)

it reverses time for the matter, restoring things back to the state they were before the destruction occurred (however, the Cure doesn't erase people's memories of everything that happened unless they were mind-controlled, frozen in place or transformed by Akuma into something else - this is an important point that I'll discuss some other time)

How does Miraculous Cure work when there are no supervillians? In NY Special Marinette just says this.

Excuse me, what? What was that? You can't do anything when the villain is gone? What the hell?

*insert here every scene where Ladybug fixed Paris after destroying akumatized/amokized object (this action causes the Akuma victim to detransform/sentimonster to disappear - villain is gone) and purifying butterfly and feather*

It was such cheap angst. I couldn't even be upset when Adrien gave up his Miraculous, because that whole situation is just stupid. But, never mind. We aren't talking about that today.

Apparently, Lucky Charm and Miraculous Cure only work when summoned to battle a specific villain. What is the point then? Huh? You can't tell me that Ladybug has the power of unlimited creation and then say that she can't repair the damage without a special Lucky Charm that was magically synchronised with specific big bad of the week.

Ladybug also can purify Akumas. It makes sense for Ladybug to have the ability to reverse the magic of less powerful Miraculous. But this power can't be applied universally. How does this power of reversal apply to different situations where there is no evil Butterfly holder? Can Ladybug reverse the magic of any Miraculous?

The unlimited power of creation introduced in season 4 ("Mr. Pidgeon 72") is another fascinating thing. On one hand, it's logical and proves the status of this Miraculous as the most powerful. On the other hand, by introducing this power, you have created a plothole. Look, Marinette can create the charm which repels Akumas. If Ladybug can create anything then what stops her from creating a tool for finding Hawkmoth (like special glasses for discovering identities or a compass)? I mean, the show says that the power of creation is unlimited, it means that the creation of such tool is possible.

2. Black Cat can destroy anything with Cataclysm, even other Miraculous. He can kill living things and turn them into ash, but not himself. This Miraculous is supposed to have other special abilities that we don't see. And they should be equal to powers of Ladybug, both in number and in potency. Unfortunately, after 3 seasons writers didn't give us anything. It makes laughable the idea of balance between Ladybug and Black Cat.

Now, to the second tier. These Miraculouses have a singular ability, but they need a second one to keep the power balanced between Zodiac and the main pair.

3. Butterfly creates champions with different superpowers. But how does the time limit of children work for Butterfly? In theory, the countdown should start right after the creation of the Akuma since for Ladybug and Chat Noir countdown starts after activation of their powers even if they don't use them. However, if the countdown of the Butterfly begins after Akuma creation then there's no point because the holder has to stay transformed to guide their champion. The charged butterfly won't have time to even grant powers before the transformation of the child-holder drops. This issue is never explored because Gabriel doesn't have a time limit. However, I feel like it should be addressed in flashbacks of past Butterfly holders for example.

This Miraculous should be less powerful than Ladybug and Black Cat. It's often not. Some Akumas are too overpowered. Stormy Weather can move the Earth away from the Sun, Timetagger can send people through time and jump through time as well, Chat Blanc destroyed the world with a single energy blast, Miraculer could steal powers of those more powerful than her by default. These are the most notable examples. One could argue that Chat Blanc was a different case. Hawkmoth simply gave the most powerful Miraculous a boost. However, we know that even without a holder (the wildest and the most powerful form of uncontrolled Miraculous magic) Plagg's Cataclysm can't destroy the universe just like that (he presumably wiped out dinosaurs and sunk Atlantis on his own without a holder). I think that the less powerful Miraculous (Butterfly) shouldn't be able to increase the power of destruction to such a degree and give Black Cat the power to destroy celestial bodies and galaxies.

Writers want us to see Hawkmoth as the formidable villain. But it's not easy because he is less powerful than your main heroes by default of your worldbuilding. Sometimes writers make the Butterfly more powerful than creation and destruction to raise the stakes, breaking the laws of their magic system. So, how do you solve this? Let Ladybug and Black Cat keep their status as the most powerful and instead of giving Hawkmoth more magical power, make him smarter, more cunning, inventive. Gabriel is a fashion designer, whose creativity makes him a very good Butterfly holder. He has a life full of experience, he knows much more about things than the main teenage characters. Catalyst was very interesting for this very reason. Gabriel sort of discovered a cheat code to boost his powers. Show us how he experiments with his powers, how he analyses his past Akumas and tries to find the most effective ones. Maybe Gabriel tries to design Akumas that can specifically neutralise Ladybug and Chat Noir. This exploration could also give writers an opportunity to explain how the powers of Butterfly work. Can he control the type of powers he grants? Can he control the appearance of Akumas? There are many things to be explored.

4. Peacock creates sentimonsters. I remember that fans were very disappointed when the power of the Peacock was revealed at the end of season 2. I was one of them. The concept of Amoks is far too similar to akumatized butterflies. Other Miraculouses have unique abilities and keywords for their powers, while Peacock just looks like Butterfly 2.0. That glowing mask effect just adds insult to injury.

You have to start by figuring out the powers of the Peacock in a normal situation. If a holder is a good person, then how does their power work? For example, make them related to sight (because of the "eye" pattern on feathers). Maybe, Peacock grants the ability to see the several possibilities of the future, but only a few minutes ahead. Maybe, this Miraculous gives you the ability to see through someone's eyes for a few minutes (and the victim is completely unaware of the intrusion). Perhaps, Peacock allows the holder to use feathers (or tiny peacocks) as cameras one at a time and be all-seeing. These feather-spies can be destroyed by the holder or disappear on their own after some time. Such power could be devastating when used against heroes in canon.

5. Bee can paralyze. This power is pretty straightforward. Once I read a fanfiction focused on very vell done Chloe Redemption, where she fights alongside Ladybug and Chat Noir. Eventually, she grows and becomes a better person. This fic ends with an Akuma battle, where LB and CN are trapped and Akuma is ready to kill them. But Chloe uses a second power of the Bee on the villain - Miraculous Stinger. It's deadly both for the holder and for the victim (because bees die when they sting someone). Chloe kills the Akuma with a Stinger before it can get LB and CN, but she too dies making the ultimate irreversible sacrifice. I will add a link if I find it again.

6. Turtle can create a shield. I don't have much to say on this either. It feels underpowered compared to others in the second tier. Maybe Turtle can also slow down opponents (because turtles aren't the fasters animals out there).

7. Fox creates illusions and acts as their puppeteer. In order to create a balance between other powers, these illusions must hold for as long as the holder needs them to. I propose this mostly because we see that Venom of the Bee lasts very long, the shield of the Turtle lasts either until it's destroyed or the holder wants to remove it, same goes for Akumas and sentimonsters who disappear only when the holder wants them to or their affected object is destroyed.

Let's talk about Zodiac tier. Miraculous of the third tier shouldn't have the second ability like more powerful ones. These powers are the most inconsistent. Even if we haven't seen all of them yet.

8. Mouse can create many small clones of the holder. It is unclear how these clones communicate with each other and how many of them this Miraculous can create. The holder can control the number of clones. This power was very convenient in "Kwamibuster" and it makes sense symbolically for the mouse. What activates the time-limit for children? Marinette didn't have any problems with it when she became Multimouse.

9. Snake can create a 5-minute time loop and has the ability to come back in time. This Miraculous feels a bit overpowered for the Miraculous of the Zodiac Tier. The holder can reset the time as many times as he/she needs to. It's was a good source of drama and trauma in "Desperada". I was honestly surprised that Adrien was capable of fighting after spending months in a loop. But this doesn't change the fact that Snake is overpowered. You can give this Miraculous the power to hypnotise or keep the time ability but place a limit on the number of resets. How does the lyre work as a weapon? Who knows? No one!

10. Dragon can shapeshift into elements: water, wind and lightning. It has the coolest transformation words hands down (Bring the Storm and Open Sky). Apparently this Miraculous doesn't have the time limit.

11. Rabbit can time travel or jump through alternative realities, even writers aren't sure. Time-travel in this show is so badly written it gives me a headache. This Miraculous shouldn't exist just like its powers. Snake belongs to the same tier, but 5 minutes and whole centuries of time jumps aren't comparable in power levels. They are not and this is the hill I will die on. Give the Rabbit powers related to its symbolism in China like an ability to de-age people, heal them or give them a speed boost in contrast with Turtle who might have the ability to slow down.

This Miraculous is so special that its Kwami - Fluff can live separately from his Miraculous in a Miracle Box for millennia (Fluff lives in the Box in "Sandboy", but his Miraculous, pocket watch, was passed down for generations in Alix's family). This is a discussion for a separate post, however. There's a lot to unpack. We'll do that some other time. You will suffer with me but at a later date.

12. Horse can create portals. They could lead anywhere, which is pretty cool. On the other hand, this power is not very useful in direct combat, especially when it's used by a child since we can have only one portal per transformation.

13. Monkey can cause a malfunction in powers of other people. What is the point of this? This power was specifically created by writers to defeat Akuma in "Party Crasher". That's it. What if your target is not magical? How does this Miraculous work in different circumstances?

14. Pig shows people their greatest desire. Both the holder and the recipient of this power can see this desire. Chat Noir wasn't impressed in "Guiltrip" and neither was I. It's underpowered compared to other Miraculous in this tier. Also, why does the tambourine can shoot energy beams? Why?

That's all I have to say on the matter. I'll update the power analysis as needed.

[magicalgirlfan666]

Alfea's Magical Girl Fairy School (Winx Club Reader Insert)

Chapter 1: First Day & Dormmates

This Winx Club Fanfic was brought to you by DragonStar sponsored by Winxwasmychildhood.org which was made possible by viewers like you enjoy 

Fair warning: not everything that's going to go down in this will be from the tv series since I like doing my own thing with fanfics that I write so just so you don't get confused I placed this here as a heads up. Now you know.

P.S this is a reader insert that means you are the Main Character of the story.

______: First name

(I will be giving you an eye color I hope that you don't mind ^^')

(h/c) Hair color

(Same with skin color again I hope you won't mind)

I will be giving you the last name this time.   

_______________________

Finally, I have now come of age to attend Alfea, it was something that I have been looking forward to going. In hopes of improving upon my magical powers and gaining what I need to be a good queen to my people. My Mother and Father also warn me to not only study but to be on look out for any royalty students attending as well so that I may make good relationships with them to help further prosper our kingdom.

But to only seek out royalty anything other than studying and bettering myself is unnecessary thus deserving no further attention, and I had no plans on going against it for nothing else piques my interest.

For I was taught to have nothing else to gain my interest other than my kingdom: Frozonia, if it prospers I prosper. Anything and everything I do is for it and it alone. No desires for myself no wants or needs for myself other than the want and need for a glorious kingdom.

It didn't take long for me to arrive to Alfea, there were a bunch of other girls at the front waiting for Griselda to finishing verifying if rather or not they belonged here. One girl was having a bit of trouble since Griselda was having trouble finding her name on the list and it wasn't til the girl told the older woman how her name was spelled did she finally spot the name and allowed her access.

The red head in front of me appeared to be worried as the two whispered about something, I saw the blonde female rip apart a letter for a reason unknown to me before approaching Griselda.

"Hello Ms. G this is Princess Varanda the princess of Callisto" I glanced to the redhead who was acting funny, I found it odd about how she was acting when being introduced but wrote it off as none of my concern, Griselda argued over the blonde who's name I now learned was Stella, return to Alfea especially after what she did to their science class to which Stella replied on how her parents did pay for some of the school's new stuff.

I was getting a bit annoyed at having to wait for the pair to finish their chit-chat, have preferred that they have this kind of personal chat when she doesn't have to allow access to a bunch of girls waiting to get in but since I have been taught to keep these sort of things in check so I knew not to voice this. 

Though I was also taught to offer my honest thoughts and opinions and to be blunt a queen as no time for beating around the bush since I was not asked there was no need. My people though blunt and truthful with what we say, we tend to be a silent and quiet bunch only speaking when spoken too or when necessary.

 I didn't deem now necessary, finally, they finished and I was finally next. "Name?"

"_____ Frosthart Princess of planet Crystria" I answered with a stoic face and a voice void of any emotion. 

"Ah yes I see your name right here, go right ahead" I wasted no time walking through the gates and into Alfea, soon the head mistress Faragonda showed up and give a big speech before we were allowed to go inside when she finished. I quickly located my room and it appears two of my dormmates where already here.

One was a orange-blonde hair girl with a bob-cut hairstyle and hazel eyes, the other a fair-skinned girl with long, chest length brown hair with neatly brushed bangs above her eyes, while she has a strand or two hang over her shoulders with sea blue eyes. Both girls appeared friendly enough as they greeted me.

"Hi I'm Amaryl and this is my friend Francine" The two offered a kind and friendly smiles as they stuck their hands out for me to shake. I stared for a brief second before accepting their kind gesture.

"So would you happen to be Looma or ______?" Francine asked, before I could respond another voice spoke up. All three of us turned to the entrance of the room where the voice originated from.

Standing there a was brown hair, green eyes girl with her hair styled into a tight bun and two braids in the front. Her eyes shone bright with kindness and excitement. "Hello" She greeted kindly, placing her right hand on her chest. "I'm Looma and it would seem that from now and we will be dormmates" 

"Ah so then that would make you _______" Francine said before returning Looma's greetings, as they started to converse I went to my room and used my magic to unpack everything. It wasn't long before Looma walked in still smiling.

"Looks like you already picked your side of the room" She said as she walked over to the other side and did the same as me with her magic as she unpacked I noticed she had a lot more clothes than I so it was safe to assume that she was really into clothing and fashion. She also had a few other things to make her own clothing.

"You weren't there when I told the others but if you ever need any clothing or some specially made feel free to ask all I need are some cool stuff to make them out of or if you want just buy some off me, it's really no trouble since I'm always making more than I really need" She gave an awkward laugh when addressing her lack of self-control on making clothing.

I don't really think that I will be needing any clothing specially made from her or to purchase any off her anytime soon but did make sure to keep note of it just in case. You never know when this knowledge might come in handy.

I nodded to let her know that it was acknowledged, she smiled in returned and started going over to the desk she unpacked and got to designing something that I can only assume was clothing.

I didn't have anything planned so I just sat down on my bed reading as my roommate hummed while drawing which I didn't mind since I would only tune it out once I get adsorbed onto the book.  And in no time at all I was soon lost into a land of my own.

That is until a rabbit came out of nowhere and hopped right onto my book and soon a girl's voice shouted out a name that wasn't mine or any of my dormmates. 

"Kiko!" She came rushing in and stopped once her blue orbs landed on the gray little bunny who was smiling sheepishly, they soon turned to me as she took notice that he was standing on my book. 

"I'm so sorry, I don't know why he went running off like that" She appeared to be genuinely sorry for her rabbit's actions as she stared into my icy blue eyes. 

I looked at her for a bit before turning my gaze to her rabbit and picking him up, the moment my hands made contact with his tiny little body he started to shiver but it wouldn't last too long since he would soon be in his master's hands as I handed him over. 

"It is fine any damage done I can easily fix but do try to be careful next time" She nodded as she took the little bunny in her hand's as he immediately started to warm up.

"Right it won't" She nodded as I returned to my book. She got the hint that I didn't wish to speak anymore and soon left as I picked up where I unwillingly left off. 

I finally reached the end of my book and was left wondering why did the main character make such a choice? Why did they choose to abandon their kingdom for someone else? It didn't make sense, no matter how many times I read books like this I could never figure it out. 

Since the day I was born I was told that the kingdom and the people's welfare were to be placed above all else which means doing whatever was necessary to make sure that our kingdom was prospering. 

So for her to make such a decision only leads to one thing for me to believe since it was the only thing that made sense, her tutors didn't educate her well enough at all, I just hope that other kingdoms in this story learn from this and never hire that person again.

I sighed as I placed my book onto the stand next to me and soon realizing that it was now night time, I must have missed lunch.... I look over to check on Looma and she was still drawing, I get up to tap her on the shoulder which startled her.

"Oh it's you, sorry you kind of scar-" Her eyes glanced around the room before landing back on me. "Um.. is it night time?" I nodded.

"Darn that means I miss lunch" She pouted before looking to me again. "Why didn't you say anything?" I pointed to my book.

"After finishing my book I was only now made aware" She looked over at my stand(no that's not a jojo reference) before nodding and then smiling. 

"I guess that means we are sort of alike only we get far too absorbed in different things" She giggled before yawning. "Well not that it matters now I'm far too tired to eat anyway" She stood from her seat heading over to her bed.

"I'm going to head off to bed, night" She hopped into the bed pulling the sheets over her as I soon deiced to do the same as well.

Closing my eyes I soon drifted to sleep, one that was dreamless as usual for me they normally were anyway. It happens so often that I can't remember if I ever had dreams before or maybe I just simply can't remember them... whatever the case it doesn't really matter all that much anyway.....   

___________

Okay so, this has already been posted on my watt pad and quotev, and is how it will be staying, the next parts will be drafts and possible outcomes

[black-rose-writings]

Some thoughts on Winx characters’ ages

From youngest to oldest, more or less

Characters discussed: Miele, Roxy, Daphne, The Earth Fairies, Faragonda, Griffin, Griselda and Valtor.

This is very long and I’m very sorry.

1) Miele (Flora’s sister)

She has been aged down in season 8, so I’m no counting that into her age.

She seems really young in season 3, mostly because she is so much shorter than the Winx in a lot of the shots (though her relative height compared to them seems to change a lot - sometimes she’s up to Flora’s waist and sometimes to her chest. Ugh, inconsistent art is the worst).

In seasons 6 and 7, she looks like she could be in her early teens, like 15 at most (and most of her classmates fit that age range, too).

She doesn’t have an official age, as far as I could find, but I’m headcanoning her as being 10(ish) in season 3 and 14(ish) in season 6.

Final headcanon age: 10 (season 3), 14 (season 6)

2) Roxy

Roxy does actually have a canon age, but I’m chosing to ignore it, because it doesn’t feel accurate.

Roxy is supposedly 15 in season 4, but the thing is, she doesn’t feel that much younger than the Winx, who are at least 19, 20 in Stella’s case, possibly even a bit older (the time skips between seasons aren’t exactly clear). Like, don’t get my wrong, she does feel younger than the Winx, but not by 4-5 years. I’d put her at like, 17(ish) in season 4.

One more reason I headcanon her to be older is simply because the younger she is, the more plotholes there are in the whole “The magic on Earth has been gone for a really long time” thing (especially if you could the later seasons and the Selina plot, but that’s a rant for another day). To sum it up, if Roxy was 15 in season 4, it would mean she was born when Bloom was 4 or 5, already on Earth and that Morgana would have been captured around the same time Eldora took Selina under her wing (aka, Bloom and Selina’s magical power were already noticable) and that’s assuming Roxy was just 1, when Morgana was captured. Which would raise the question why the Fairy Hunters, who have spent the last several centuries hunting down fairies, wouldn’t notice two other fairies living a few blocks away from Morgana.

Aging Roxy up makes the timeline make more sense as most of the plotholes created by season 6 are eliminated if Roxy is closer in age to the Winx.

Final headcanon age: 17 (season 4)

3) Daphne

Daphne, again, doesn’t have a canon age, and, in fact, her seeming age changes a bit here and there. Both her picture in the book of Fate (1st movie) and her voice in the (probably fake) memory in season 2 make her appear to be younger than in any of her other appearances, but since the first is from a movie (which have questionable canonicity, especially, when it comes to details), the other is most likely fake, and both of them are at odds with everything else we know about Daphne’s story, I’ll just ignore them.

The youngest I’d go for her is 18, at the time of her “death”, with the oldest I’d go being like 23.

Honestly, I’m very tempted to headcanon her as being 18 or 19, because, like, do you see the angst potential? I mean the whole Domino resurection is an untapped angst mine, but like, having Bloom be the exact same age as Daphne was, way back when? It just adds a bit of something, you know?

It would also be kind of fun to have Daphne be physically younger than Bloom, once she’s resurected, too. Bloom is 20(ish) when she brings Daphne back, possibly older (again, time skips aren’t really clear between the seasons).

I’d also like to add a friendly reminder that, regardless of her physical age, Daphne is around 40 chronologically, when she’s resurected.

Final headcanon age: 18 (at the time of death)

4) Faragonda, Griffin and the others

The others being mostly Griselda and Kalshara, since all of these characters are meant to be roughly the same age, give or take a year or so. And I guess Saladin and Kalshara’s brother, though those two aren’t really confirmed to be around the age of these four.

Faragonda has a “100 years of being a headmistress of Alfea” party around the start of season 6. Even if we say she had become a headmistress right out of school, she’d be at least 120 at that time, though she’s probably at least a decade older than that.

Since Griffin, Griselda and Kalshara have all been in school at the same time as her, it’s most likely they are about the same age as well.

This does give us a lot of insight on the lifespans of people in the Magical Dimension. Griselda looks middle-aged, despite being at least 120. Griffin barely looks human, so her age is hard to guess, but she doesn’t look terribly old either and neither does Faragonda, if you think about it. Kalshara and her brother have that wild magic thing going on, so I’m not really counting them in.

Also, the flashbacks on the old Company of Light show them looking really young, when they would be a least 100, when Domino fell. So, if we exclude continuity errors as an explanation (even though that is the real exaplanation), we’re left with either:

A) 100-year-olds in the magical dimension just look like they’re still in their twenties

B) They’re all vain bitches that make themselves look younger using magic.

C) The Company of Light goes a lot further back than we thought.

Or any combination of those three, really.

And, again, this calls into question how long do people in the magical dimension live? I’m thinking at least the same as wizards in Harry Potter universe (who live to be like 140 on average, apparently).

FInal headcanon age: 130 at least

5) The Earth fairies and the Wizards of the Black Circle

All of the names Earth fairies from season 4 (with the exception of Roxy) have been around since at least the medieval times, as have been the Wizards of the Black Circle.

So, we can assume all of these character are at least like 600 years old.

But

Morgana is strongly associated with Morgana le Fay (literally: Morgana the Fairy) from Arthurian legends in the show - assuming that this isn’t just a reference, but she actually inspired Morgana le Fay in the Winx universe, she’d have to be over 1100 years old at least (since the first recorded version of the legends comes from the 9th century), most likely closer to 1500 years of age (since the legends are set in the late 6th century). That is on the low end, so she might be even older.

As for the other major fairies

Diana has quite strong paralels with the roman goddess of the same name. She is incredibly powerful, so it is quite possible, that she was seen as a goddess by the ancient humans and became the inspiration for that particular goddess. That would make her go at least as far back ar 6th century BCE, if not further. Her temple isn’t much help, since pyramid-like things have been some fo first permanent things humans built and are being built to this day.

Aurora does have some links with the roman goddess of the same name, but those are pretty weak, so I’ll not dive into them much.

As for Sibylla, well, Sibylla’s cave and the Sibyllini mountains are things IRL, named after the Sibyl prophetesses (who are heavily linked to the oracle of Delphi, which you probably know of). Earliest record of those is in 5th century BCE.

To sum up, the Earth fairies are old as sin, and probably don’t actually age.

Which probably means Roxy is also going to be ageless. Now that would be an interesting thing to look into.

6) Valtor

Valtor has a canon “at least this old” limit, if you count season 8 info.

That is, he is at least 1000 years old. We know he wasn’t born, but made, so he might have theoretically been just a few weeks old, when he tried to catch the wishing star last time.

We know the spark that Valtor came from was “lost” around the same time as creation (I’m just now processing that creationism is canon in the Winx universe. Great). The Ancestral Witches were supposedly first evil creatures to exist in the Magical Universe, so they probably came in shortly after. And then they created Valtor, at some point.

So, Valtor could literally be almost as old as the Magical universe, however long that is.

Final headcanon age: Who knows, certainly not me, and since 1000 years is the lowest possible age, I don’t actually want to know.

[darkpoisonouslove]

Ah, good that you reblogged the ask game again - I was supposed to send some of these, but I forgot! Anyway, 💖😐👀🌝✨👩‍🏭 (and of course (as long as you want to) 🖊 !)

💖 What do you like most about your own writing?

I love the way that I weave words and concepts together. Sometimes it just comes out of nowhere and sometimes it takes a little effort but I love the way that it all comes together like a puzzle that has the most unexpected pieces but they still fit with each other. It makes for unique images. I haven't quite seen anyone do that the way that I do and I am proud of it.

😐 What embarrasses you most about your own writing?

Descriptions are way up there, especially in English because there are so many words about movements and I just have zero idea which one I am supposed to use. I do not know all of them (or that many either) and it's just 😅. I have no idea what is going on aND IT BOTHERS ME SO MUCH!!!!!!!

👀 Do you have any WIPs that you would never let see the light of day? If yes, what are they about?

That I would never let see the light of day? I have so many ideas that a lot of them probably won't see the light of day because I simply won't have the time for them. But something that I won't let see the light of day? Probably all of those Erendor x Samara ones that are so OOC that they would need MAJOR reworking (to the point of changing the entire idea) in order to be presentable to anyone else's eyes. And I have several fics including the Winx girls that are just too dark to be let out in the internet space. I don't feel like having hateful anons coming after me.

🌝 Who is one character you haven’t yet written for that you would like to?

I answered this here. But hm, okay, if I were to pick another one, I guess I'm really looking forward to writing Luna. The show was scarce with characterization for her and I have given her a more prominent role and, hopefully, made her more interesting.

✨ Choose three adjectives to complement your own writing.

Clever, emotional and insightful (I would like to believe so)

👩‍🏭 If one of your fics was going to get you arrested, which one and why?

Probably one of the dub/non-con variety because the purity police never sleeps. (I don't want to pick a particular one and call attention to it just in case.)

🖊 Post a snippet from a current WIP.

Here's an excerpt from the SoL bachelorette party:

"You were the first one to know her. You have to tell us what kind of wedding little Griffin dreamed of!" Zarathustra would fall over in Faragonda's lap as far forward as she was leaning.

Ediltrude's wine glass was just short of touching her lips as if it couldn't satisfy her thirst despite how tempting it was and Griselda fixed her glasses on her nose, waiting to read into every little detail. Even Marion was staring at Faragonda, the quietness clinging to her shifting into anticipation.

"It's not my place to say." Faragonda locked eyes with Griffin, their squabble over the photo Griffin had threatened to send to Hagen put to rest. She could count on Faragonda to be the bigger person in their friendship. At least when it really counted.

"Come on!" Ediltrude whined. "It's not fair. We don't get to go to a wedding, we don't get to hire her strippers because you're boring," she pointed at Faragonda and Marion who'd organized the party, her wine swishing around in the glass with her vehemence, "and we barely got her to throw one lousy bouquet." That was unfair to the housekeeper who'd done her best with the flowers blooming in the garden and put together a little bouquet for Griffin to toss at the others.

"How long are you gonna sulk over catching it?" Zara made herself the victim of a kick in the shin from Ediltrude's heel but quickly retaliated with an elbow in her sister's ribs.

Ediltrude threw her crumpled napkin at her. "At least we'll get to hear the details from Auntie Em who hasn't been banished from your wedding."

Griffin blinked at her, the words echoing in her ears like a siren. An alarm for danger.

Zara stepped on Ediltrude's toes but it was Faragonda's glare that made Ediltrude crouch. "I'm sorry, Griffin. I didn't mean to…"

It was Griselda's hand on hers that saved Griffin from the current that had drowned Ediltrude's voice. The warmth startled her against the tears already blurring her vision. Her father had never seen Valtor, would never see her in her improvised wedding dress, could not lead her down the isle. And Valtor had no loving parents to see him through their wedding, had no family except the one she'd said yes to and she hadn't wanted to make him more aware of that. More aware that the feeling was shared despite all the people offering her a hand currently, despite her mother's presence at their wedding. Her family had been broken, too, and without a blueprint she could mess up the one they were creating together beyond repair.

"It's okay," she squeezed Griselda's hand lightly but didn't let go when Griselda didn't try to either. "I know you didn't mean it like that. And I'm sorry I can't invite you to a wedding." Their happiness for her was infectious and she was already full of sparks that would flicker out without Valtor's hand in hers. "I promise you we'll have a celebration when we get back from our honeymoon." It wouldn't be just about her and Valtor but a celebration of all the relationships in her life, of her family. All of her friends understood her pain in one way or another. And all of them understood her love.

"At least that way you might have gotten fucked enough that you won't look like you'll jump Valtor's bones at any moment." Ediltrude scrunched up her nose before pouring her disgust down with some wine.

Griffin flashed her a smile. "Never." She glanced at Marion to make sure she wasn't spacing out from discomfort.

Ask me fanfic questions

[rist-ix]

The prophecy arc in sparked was cause for some controversy, so I’ll do my best to clean this up here. Spoiler warning obviously for the finale.

First, the cut together prophecy so y'all don't have to look for it:

-

At last, King Oritel's trusted advisor, Hagen the Blacksmith, has returned from his quest to the gate of the stars. The witches may have destroyed the grand lenses, but the astronomers' records have survived. And from beyond the grave, they bless us with their knowledge.

The witches’ power can be broken, they foretell us, by a company of six warriors, fighting for the light beyond these times of darkness. It is the sliver of hope the King and Queen have longed for. There is no doubt now that the Company of Light will be victorious, with such obvious signs from the Stars. 

What will become of Valtor, one might wonder, their most trusted weapon, once the witches are defeated? The astronomers’ studies have concluded that he can, in fact, exist outside of them. For the Flame is eternal, and even its stolen, corrupted sparks can never be extinguished. And the witches cannot command him through the veil of death. Surely, their spawn will rain new, unforeseen kinds of terror upon us all, in vengeance for his creators.

But the stars favor Domino once more. And so the late astronomers have given us one final prophecy.

Valtor will die.

Our recent failures to kill him have a simple, obvious reason: none of us are chosen. Only a true wielder of the Dragon's power could hope to destroy Valtor, fire against fire. And the astronomers have divined the time of his demise as well:

When the witches are torn from this world, at last, the power of the Dragon Fire will burn across dimensions in a glory once thought lost. Its faithful guardian will destroy the last traces of the Ancestresses, and slay the demonic beast they call their child. Our brave, beloved princess shall claim its spark as her trophy, and its body will rest in forgotten catacombs, deep beneath the earth. 

-

Everything that was written in the chronicle deserves to be treated with a grain of salt, last but not least because it was written by an unreliable narrator: Lord Bartelby. I have no idea what his canon personality is like, but in my fic he's this zealous royalist (and somewhat nationalist) dragon flame stan. Most of the entry in the chronicle are his own words, the actual prophecy is rather short. I've marked it in purple above.

The second point that should have tipped Valtor off was the fact that the predictions, and especially Bartelby's interpretation, were already proven flawed:

He assumed Domino was going to go into a new golden age, and instead it was completely destroyed.

He assumed Daphne would be the one the stars referred to, but she was killed just four weeks later.

He assumed the company of light would be victorious, but half of them are either dead or in exile after the fall of Domino.

Valtor knows all this, but because he's a firm believer in destiny and the stars, and also emotionally impacted, he doesn’t pick up on these red flags. And since he's your POV character, neither did most of you!

(Gotcha!)

Let's cut out Bartelby's fangirling over Daphne and the rest of his speech, and look at the prophecy itself.

The witches power can be broken, by a company of six warriors, fighting for the light beyond these times of darkness.

This, on first glance to them, is referring to the company of light. (Duh.) Six people who fight for the light beyond the darkness, aka a better future, yadda yadda. And it’s not incorrect: the company of light did indeed defeat the witches, which lead to them being banished to obsidian.

But it’s not the only interpretation. Those who have watched the movie, or — like me — binged the wiki entries instead, will know that the Winx are dubbed the new company of light by the end. The witches weren’t really defeated by their predecessors after all, only their power was broken. The real defeating will be done by the Winx (conveniently also a group of six ppl) over the course of two movies.

Knowing this, the part “fighting for the light beyond these times of darkness” takes on a new meaning. It’s not “fighting for the light at the end of the tunnel” anymore, but “fighting for good, but long after these current dark times” aka 20 years later. 

So Bartelby got the timing wrong, in his interpretation.

Another thing he got wrong? Thinking the second part of the prophecy meant Valtor would die. Because it’s never this explicitly stated. If you pay attention to the writing style, you can kinda tell which parts are the original, translated predictions, and which parts are his interpretation. “Valtor will die” doesn’t fit with the flowery rest of the prophecy, it’s safe to assume Bartelby just skipped ahead to the point with that line.

The only actual quote from the astronomers in that entire paragraph is this:

When the witches are torn from this world, at last, the power of the Dragon Fire will burn across dimensions in a glory once thought lost. Its faithful guardian will destroy the last traces of the Ancestresses, and slay the demonic beast they call their child. Our brave, beloved princess shall claim its spark as her trophy, and its body will rest in forgotten catacombs, deep beneath the earth. 

We have in part 1:

the witches are torn from this world (dead/trapped in obsidian)

Dimension-crossing dragon fire (Bloom being send to earth and returning to Magix (bringing the “glory thought lost” — the royal family was assumed extinct, after all)

Then, in part two:

destroying the ancestresses traces

Slaying their demonic beast child 

And this is where Bartelby's, and by extension Valtor's big mistake is! They assume the guardian fairy would destroy the witches “last traces” by killing Valtor. But the two points are not necessarily related. 

Bloom does destroy the witches' traces, but she does so by eradicating their power over Valtor. And she certainly slays his demonic form, in a way. It vanishes almost instantly, probably never to be seen again.

(And what happens *ahem* after counts as slaying too, in my book. Girl is gonna give him a heart attack one of these days)

If you want to be petty, you can argue that she does actually kill a demonic child of the witches later on - Mandragora, a character from the movie. That's Close Enough for the stars.

A big reason for Valtor and Bartelby interpreting this part as Valtor's death is the wording of the next sentence.

The Princess will claim Valtor’s spark of dragon fire (aka his life force, aka his heart)

His body will rest in underground catacombs, IMPLYING that he will be buried there and forgotten

And well. All this does happen, doesn’t it? She officially wins Valtor's heart and love for herself, and together, they find some well deserved rest in the catacombs. In other words, they Take A Nap. 

Eat THIS Bartelby.