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heloflor · 1 month ago

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So like I said in a previous post I’ve been kind of obsessed with Cosmo being op as all hell, and after the baby ban stuff it got me thinking about the different types of magic fairies have and how not all magic is accessible for all fairies and also how powerful each fairy we know is.

So here are my ideas for how fairy magic works + how powerful the fairies we know in the og show are, since I’ll be honest I didn’t really think much about the ones introduced in New Wish (4.5k words below):

Ok so first off, all fairies naturally produce magic which then courses through their bodies. This magic is used by their bodies to just function in their everyday lives, maybe being what allows them to float, teleport and shapeshift without using their wands (yes I know in the show when the Big Wand is off fairies can’t do any of those things anymore but shhh).

However while all fairies need about the same amount of magic to function, not all of them produce that amount of magic. As a result, those who produce more than average end up being more powerful due to having some “leftover” magic to use, while those who produce less end up weaker than average. More on that when explaining the types of magic.

This is also why baby fairies are so powerful. A fairy would produce the same amount of magic their entire life, but since babies are smaller their metabolism would require less magic to function, thus leaving the baby with a lot of leftover magic to use.

On that note, I could see all fairy babies being born powerful up until their terrible two, which for the vast majority of fairies is their last large outburst of raw magic. After the terrible two, as the baby fairy’s body grows, their magic starts to reduce.

Now I guess technically it would mean that they’re still stronger than average by the time they’re 8-9 years old, but I actually prefer to think that a fairy considerably loses their power between 3 and 6 years old, so by the time they’re a preteen you can gauge pretty well how powerful they’ll end up being.

This probably makes less sense when taking into account the idea of their body needing less magic when smaller, but screw it I prefer to think children fairies are already almost at the same level of power as their adult selves. Heck maybe that loss comes from their body transitioning from ball-shaped to regular-shaped.

Oh and a fairy’s power is due to genetics with a hint of randomness to it. Usually a child’s power will be either based on one’s parent or a middle ground between both, but you get some rare exceptions with a fairy being born particularly powerful/weak. Though you could argue that last possibility might come from a grandparent or more distant family member.

Now for the magic itself, I see four different types:

1. Wand Magic. This one is the most straightforwards and the one every single fairy can use. A fairy is given a wand powered not by them but by the Big Wand, and as a result they can use it regardless of their own magic. That being said, I could see fairies with more magic ending up having some of it mixing with their wand, thus causing them to do more powerful spells with ease. Also why fairy babies are powerful.

On that note, since we see in the show Cosmo and Wanda getting tired at the same time when doing a lot of wishes, I could see it as either Cosmo using more magic than Wanda thus making them exhausted at the same time, or doing X amount of spells/wishes will make you tired regardless of your amount of magic. I think I like the former more.

And as to why fairies get tired when using Wand Magic despite said wand holding the magic used, I could see casting a spell as still requiring some effort from the fairy, the wand doesn’t do all the work. Adding this in case it needs to be said.

2. Emotion Magic. For this one I like to think that there are two types, depending of the fairy’s strength. The first type, which everyone except fairies with below-average magic can do, it to have their emotions influence their spells. If a fairy is angry when trying to conjure something dangerous, it will make the spell easier. But if they’re sad, it will make the spell harder. Stuff like that. This is also what we see in “Battle of The Dimsonnian” from New Wish with Peri making a giant cupcake when angry. I could see the “giant” part being an accident due to him letting his emotions go to his head (notice the purple glow around his wand when making the giant cupcake).

The second type is what we see Poof do in “Fairly Oddbaby”, with him having the ability to make things appear and disappear depending on his mood. I could see this type of emotion magic as something only fairies stronger than average can do. And the stronger they are the easier it is to use, which also means the strongest fairies need to be careful with their emotions sometimes.

Then again I could see them capable of feeling a strong emotion all the while blocking the part of them wanting to tie that emotion to their magic. So unless they really lose control or don’t have a good grasp on that separation between magic and emotion, it’s not that big of a deal.

3. Inner Magic. This one was originally based on Poof’s terrible two but this is actually something the Fairy Council does as well. But yeah basically in the show you see some rare instances of characters using magic without a wand, with their hands having a glow around them. I like to think that this is basically a fairy tapping into their own “leftover” magic, being able to do everything a wand could do without needing one.

This would be by far the strongest type of magic but also the most rare, as only about 50-100 fairies would have enough “leftover” magic to use it effectively (the number of fairies capable of doing it depends on how many citizens Fairy World actually has. If it’s like a thousand, then only like 15 fairies can use it if not less. If it’s a million, about 100 or less can. It would be really, really rare). Well I guess every single fairy has access to it during their early years, but once they get past their terrible two, it’s gone.

And because it’s so rare, and also because I see the Fairy Council as self-centered who care more about their own self-preservation than the safety of the fairies and as a result feel threatened by the fairies stronger than them, Inner Magic wouldn’t actually be taught. The fairies capable of it would simply be told that it’s very dangerous “especially since you never learned how to master it!” and that they need to never use it. Only wand magic for your overpowered freaks that we definitely would not want to kill if we had the ability to do so without losing support or causing a riot that would make us lose our stand as leaders of Fairy World!

And fun fact, this and the next type of magic are the reason why I went with the idea of “fairies produce magic and the more they produce the stronger they are”.

4. Residual Magic. This one is based on “Nectar Of the Odds” and “Crocker Shocker” (ignore the Crocker lore for this one it sucks) in which Cosmo specifically has particles of magic being taken out of him which can then be used to infuse other stuff with magic. Then I saw “Mooooving Day” in which yet again Cosmo specifically is able to put magic in a drink. Also after watching “Abra-catastrophe” I couldn’t help but compare the cupcake to Cosmo’s socks nectar and sparkling drink.

(If I had a nickel for every Fairly Oddparents episode revolving around a drink spiked with Cosmo’s magic which also featured an underground slave cave and Doug Dimmadome is there for some reason, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice, right?)

So yeah long story short the idea is that, when a fairy is particularly powerful, their body has so much “leftover” magic that you can basically scrap it off of them without hurting them. And that magic could be used to create magical artifacts such as the cupcake from “Abra-catastrophe” (and while this isn’t how it would actually happen it’s kind of cute to imagine Cosmo helping craft Timmy’s cupcake with his own magic).

This type of magic would be less rare than Inner Magic but still pretty rare, at least in order to get a lot from a fairy. Like some fairies who are stronger than average but not part of the “elite” would likely have Residual Magic but to a very small and limited amount. It might also be harder to collect as a result, having to meticulously scrap it off every piece of clothing or scrub the fairy’s body to get it.

On that note, I like to think that every time a fairy with Residual Magic changes clothes, they would wring out their previous ones on top of a container to collect the magic particles and then have it sent to some Fairy manufacturing place that uses it for magical artifacts.

Lastly, given its use here, Residual Magic is capable of granting rule-free wishes. This is why in “Nectar Of the Odds” one kid has their dog show up (from the kid’s phrasing the dog was likely dead and I don’t think you can revive things according to Da Rules?) or why Dale Dimmadome doesn’t get brought back to the nectar stand after Timmy turns 18 (granted this could also be because it technically wasn't one of Timmy’s wishes so it might work independently, but then again it means the wish should’ve come undone after Dale turned 18 so yeah either way it being rule-free works better).

And between the possibility to take it straight from a fairy and it granting rule-free wishes, Residual Magic would be considered the most high-risk type of magic, and powerful fairies who visit the earth need to be careful not to let their clothes hang around or ruffle their hair for too long.

Finally, a word about all the fairies we know in the show and how powerful they are:

- Cosmo: I see him as the third strongest fairy in all of Fairy World. It seems like a ridiculously high ranking but you gotta remember that according to “Fairly Oddbaby” fairy babies are notorious for being incredibly powerful, yet Cosmo was still too much to handle to the point of banning all babies.

So I think it’s fair to say he’s part of the top 5, at least top 10 strongest fairies. And he’s not the n°1 strongest fairy for me because I don’t like “chosen one” type characters ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Also someone needed to have enough power to step in during Cosmo’s Terrible Two before he destroyed all of Fairy World if not the entire universe.

Also, after watching “This is Your Wish” I can’t help but see Cosmo as kind of a prodigy magic-wise, because in the kid flashbacks from that episode, Cosmo knew what he was doing. At some point he’s even capable of hitting a moving target with his wand in his mouth! And turn it into a giant dragon! That’s some serious talent!

So with that in mind I like to think he’s a natural at using magic. The issue is that the things he comes up with are dangerous, and since he has the ability to spawn it without issue he ends up causing chaos without meaning to.

Also also I saw one moment from a “Oh Yeah!” short in which Cosmo apparently messes up a wish, Wanda points it out and Cosmo reacts by looking at his wand and saying “I need to get that fixed”. Likewise in the first episode of New Wish when Cosmo struggles to aim at Hazel and turns the whole kitchen into her, he starts hitting his wand while asking “Why can’t I work this thing?!”

With that in mind, I like to think that this is how Cosmo usually reacts when his spell isn’t what he expected. He’s incredibly powerful, is aware of how powerful he is, and again he’s very good at magic. When he casts a spell, he knows exactly what it will create (he just doesn’t realize the consequences of it). So when his spell doesn’t work as intended, he blames the wand.

But anyways, magic-wise Cosmo can do all four, though he almost-exclusively uses Wand Magic with the occasional Residual Magic when he wants to fuck around with Timmy (I mean he’s done it at least twice).

Like all the other overpowered fairies he was told not to use Inner Magic, though I like to think him attacking Crocker at the end of “Abra-catastrophe” was him using it, the muscles did nothing other than boost his confidence. I also like to think he used Inner Magic a lot as a kid and early adult up until the Fairy Council got through to him about not using it. That or he accidentally hurt a lot of people using it at some point and was convinced afterwards seeing how much destruction he caused. That second possibility could explain him never using it unless the situation is that dire all the while having little issue messing around with Residual Magic. 🤔

As for Emotion Magic, he keeps it under control, and I could actually see Cosmo as someone who avoids being angry specifically to avoid making a mess with his magic (I mean while he does get mad at times he’s definitely someone who ends up sad more often than angry, or turns his anger into sadness).

Btw I made a long post exploring the angst side of Cosmo’s magic because as said in the intro I’m obsessed with it.

- Wanda: She’s average strength, meaning she can do Wand Magic easily and has the “first level” of emotion magic (having emotions influence spells) but everything else is blocked off. She doesn’t produce enough magic to use it without a wand or to have residuals that can be collected.

And I like to think that while she’s completely fine with her level of magic, and if anything seeing Peri and especially Cosmo struggle internally because of their powers makes her more than happy to not be powerful, it still pains her to see her family like that and sometimes makes her wish she was the op one so she could be the one carrying that burden instead of them.

On that note I like to think that if some of the strongest fairies were to talk about overthrowing the Fairy Council or at least tell them off for discouraging them from using their full magic, Cosmo might be hesitant to join while Wanda would be all for it. In general Wanda would be pretty tired of the bullshit the Fairy Council imposed on Cosmo and Peri. More on that in the baby ban post.

Lastly I could see Cosmo “sharing” his magic (not sure how exactly it would work) with her when they grant wishes together, with Wanda enjoying the feeling of it if only because it makes wishes much easier to grant compared to on her own. I could also see some cases in which, when granting a wish, Wanda mainly affects how the wish will turn out while Cosmo mostly gives the magic allowing said wish to be made, and Wanda would definitely feel satisfied upon being able to summon exactly what she wants when she otherwise wouldn’t have been able to make the wish so precisely. Meanwhile Cosmo’s more than happy to provide and trusts his wife on how those wishes will turn out.

It might also be possible that them sharing magic allows Wanda to grant wishes she otherwise wouldn’t have the power to do. For example at the end of “Fool’s Day Out” when Timmy wishes for the entire world to be covered in laughing gas, Wanda uses her wand while also lifting Cosmo’s. This moment could be interpreted as either them needing to work together to grant such a wish or Wanda on her own not being able to do it. I also can’t help but wonder if, had she been the one granting the secret wish, time would’ve started back at some point after a few years, while with a fairy like Cosmo granting that wish it was literally going to stay frozen for at least a couple thousand years. Then again in “The Same Game” (when the whole world becomes a gray blob) she’s able to reverse Timmy’s wish on her own.

(Btw this has nothing to do with this post but in “Fool’s Day Out” the April’s Fool fairy has a risk of getting “comedy backup” and now I can’t help but wonder if every fairy profession has that one condition that, if not followed, leads the fairy to explode??? But I’m just going to stay with the idea of every fairy being at risk of magical backup since in New Wish’s “Fairy For a Day” the music fairy makes a comment about “granting each other’s wishes”, implying fairies can avoid backup by granting other fairies’ wishes, it’s not just a godparents thing)

- Poof/Peri: He’s basically a middle ground between his parents, being more powerful than average to a noticeable extent but still far from the strongest. Like he’d basically be in the 20-30% strongest fairies, while Cosmo is in the 1%.

Magic-wise, he uses Wand Magic and is pretty used to both versions of Emotion Magic, though it takes some effort for him to summon things without his wand (aka with his emotions). Other than that he can’t access Inner and Residual Magics. For Residual Magic I’m not even sure if he’d even have a small amount of it.

And in regards to his wand, it is indeed a wand made to limit his magic, making him as powerful as an average fairy. And the reason why he has this wand when there are thousands of fairies just as powerful if not stronger than him is strictly due to his father’s identity. Basically the Fairy Council is punishing him for being Cosmo’s son because they’re paranoid he might become as strong as him and don’t want to deal with another Cosmo.

- Jorgen: While he’s apparently possibly the oldest fairy we know of (the whole thing about an ancient war and how all fairies looked like him back then), the more I watch of the og show the more it seems like Jorgen isn’t actually all that powerful? Like he’s definitely the strongest fairy physically, but magic-wise he’s far from being the top dog.

Ultimately I like to think that he’s stronger than average, likely to a noticeable extent, but still weaker than a fairy like Peri. Which I guess would put Jorgen in the 30-40% stronger range?

Also with him being an ancient fairy and how they were all warriors back then, I could see the fairies of his time being more powerful magic-wise than the current ones (and maybe his wand also has a few differences compared to the smaller wands, like maybe not being fully reliant on the Big Wand and requiring the holder to give some of their own magic to function or something). So Jorgen would be average for a fairy of his time, which equates to stronger than average compared to the smaller fairies.

Oh and abilities-wise he can only do Wand and both Emotions Magics (like Peri basically, just less powerful).

- Mama Cosma and Schnozmo: I like to think both of them are a bit stronger than average (they got it from Mama Cosma’s side of the family, I really like the headcanon that it’s her side that’s related to Jorgen) but not to the most noticeable extent. Like in a fight against an average fairy it’s pretty obvious they’re the more powerful ones (I mean Schnozmo was able to fight off a bunch of fairies pretty easily while Mama Cosma straight up kidnapped a mafia boss like it was nothing), but on a day-to-day basis there really aren’t any particular differences between them and most fairies. They might not even realize that they’re more powerful (they’re basically on the line right above average).

Abilities-wise this means they have the same as average fairies, meaning Wand and first-type Emotion Magics.

And yes this means that Cosmo’s power was partly due to genetics but also mainly a big part of randomness with how crazy powerful he is in comparison to them.

- Big Daddy and Blonda: They have average strength and the abilities that go with it (Wand + first-type Emotion Magics). For some reason I could see Big Daddy being slightly less powerful hence the need to be part of a mob? But also I don’t think it warrants the mafia stuff + from what we see him do with his magic he seems pretty strong (him being technically weaker than Mama Cosma can be chalked up to her being stronger than average).

- Juandissimo, Cupid, Cookie, etc: Basically every other fairy we meet would likely be average strength. Though I could see Cupid being less powerful when using a wand but the same strength as others when using his bow, on account of him being a different type of fairy. But yeah other fairies we see from time to time have average strength unless they do something hinting they might be stronger/weaker. Speaking of which:

- Dr. Studwell: I’m singling him out because after watching some episodes featuring him, he keeps getting his ass beaten and tries to avoid danger, so I could actually see him being much weaker than the average fairy. His obsession with his appearance and desire to be hot is him overcompensating for his lack of magic (note that Juandissimo being obsessed with his looks isn’t insecurity unlike Dr. Studwell, dude just loves himself and honestly good for him).

- I could also see that one fairy Jorgen bullies a lot as being weaker than average, which could be a reason for said bullying (apparently his name is Binky?).

Side note but I could see things be though in general for both very powerful and very weak fairies, the weaker ones because they’re constantly being reminded of what they can’t do which heavily lowers their self-esteem + aren’t able to defend themselves as well if needed which makes bullying easier.

For the strongest fairies, because while many would praise their accomplishments, the second they do something wrong they get deemed as too dangerous with people becoming wary around them + I could see the strongest fairies having an “itch” to use more of their magic. Like imagine if fairies have a “need” to use a certain amount of magic regularly (unrelated to the daily amount their body needs to function), for the strongest fairies that amount would be much higher. But due to the “risk” with how powerful they are, they end up using way less than their body needs them to, thus causing a sense of dissatisfaction.

- The Tooth Fairy: Given she’s taller than most fairies (and her outfit seemingly being based on Wonder Woman means she could have fought in the war) I could see her as one of the oldest fairies around, so it would be a similar case to Jorgen with her being average for her time, aka stronger than average compared to “modern” fairies.

- The Fairy Council: Now while I know they’re just fairies wearing cloaks I like to think they’re a different species altogether, meaning their magic would work differently, but I still wanted to include them since I mentioned earlier that I see them as self-centered who care about their own self-preservation above all else.

Basically, if they were to be ranked magic-wise, they would rank number 12 or 13 strongest fairy when combined, meaning there are about 11-12 fairies stronger than them as a unit. And I like to headcanon that, even with those fairies having no desire to take over Fairy World (because honestly why would they?), the Fairy Council can’t help but feel threatened by those fairies.

So yeah those four magical beings were able to find a species that respect them as their leaders (at least I believe the Fairy Council rules over Fairy World?) and they very much want to keep that position of power at all costs. Which is actually also why they don’t outright attack the strongest fairies because that would cause a riot with every fairy feeling unsafe. Plus if they miss the strongest fairies can take them out.

So with that in mind, while I don’t think they would be outright discriminatory against the strongest fairies, they definitely push that narrative that magic can be dangerous when used too much, especially Inner Magic which should never be used (you know, propaganda). So they basically guilt-trip/stress out the strongest fairies into being careful when using their magic.

On that note, I kinda implied it earlier but I could see the reason why Anti-Cosmo is the leader of the anti-fairies instead of the #1 strongest anti-fairy be that the strongest fairy isn’t all that satisfied with the system, hence why their anti-fairy wouldn’t have the drive to take over Fairy World. Not to say the strongest fairy would straight up want to overthrow the Fairy Council tho (I do have some ideas floating around that concept but I’m likely never going to turn it into a coherent story).

At the very least, I do imagine the strongest fairy having secretly taught themselves how to master Inner Magic, possibly hoping to teach it to the other fairies capable of it. Also they can’t write down their research in fear of the Fairy Council finding it out (I don’t think I mentioned it earlier but discouraging fairies from using it does include not writing anything down about it, so if a fairy has info on Inner Magic, they got it from an unapproved source). And fairies are immortal so they have the time to teach it anyways.

Finally, if I have to talk about the power of the Fairy Council, since I don’t think they’re fairies they actually don’t work on the same power basis as them, but from what we’ve seen they basically have the equivalent of Inner Magic. Which could also explain why they’d be so paranoid over fairies learning to use theirs.

And with the assumption that they came up with Da Book which directly influences the fairies’ ability to cast spells, and with them being able to prevent fairies reproduction, it seems the Council also has the ability to “modify” at least one species to their liking, possibly others. Maybe this ability to change fairies is also how they got in power in the first place if you want to go there. Hell it could even be how fairies are changed to look like the dominant species on earth. Though the Fairy Council can’t touch other species’ magic or else there wouldn’t be op fairies.