#winx club meta

[sabrina-bee-art]

The Wizards are Sad Pieces of Toast, change my mind.

The Wizards are this seasons big bad villains. Or, the attempt at villains, ig. The way they are introduced, set against all the other villains the Winx have already beaten, it sets the expectation for the audience that the Wizards are even more evil, cruel and dangerous than all the villains that came before. And I guess on paper they are. Theoretically they are responsible for the genocide on the Terrestrial Fairies, which is pretty horrifying. Even Faragonda doesn’t dare speak of them out loud. And initially that’s intriguing. But when we meet them properly, they are just so boring and ineffective in comparison to Valtor or the Trix. Or even Darkar and he mostly hung out in his creepy cave castle.

I like the Wizards entrance, sort of. I like that they initially are after Bloom and want to steal her power (we’ll disregard for a moment the fact we learned in season 1 that a fairy’s power can’t be stolen) and when they realise, she isn’t the one they were looking for, they just yeet her to the side. That’s funny and unexpected. Every other villain before was after Bloom, and now for the first time, she isn’t the main centre of attention. She’ll make herself into that, later. But back to the Wizards.

We quickly realise that the Wizards are just…ridiculous, not menacing. Their actions don’t live up to the expectation set by their introduction and I think that is the main problem I have with them. How am I supposed to take them as a serious threat when the first two thirds of the season, the Wizards spend their time essentially playing pranks on the Winx? All they do in their brief moments of screen time, is to stand around and complain about the Winx. Then they try to ruin the Winx reputation and get so angry over the people of Gardenia liking these girlies. How very high school mean girl of them. It gets to a point where even the Winx are just annoyed when the Wizards show up and treat them more like an inconvenience than the evil final bosses that they end up being. Well, unless the plot demands otherwise.

It doesn’t help that, until the Winx get Believix at the end of the sixth episode, the Wizards could beat them at any point, since they canonically created a spell that renders Fairy Magic basically mute. But they don’t do anything with their advantage. Instead, they are absent for a good chunk of episodes and then only start messing with the Love & Pet shop, for no other reason than that they don’t like the Winx and find them annoying. After Episode 7, when the Winx insta-defeated them, they just sometimes attack randomly, but not with any sort of plan they want to achieve. Even though Roxy is not very protected, like the Winx don’t organise a watch for her or coordinate schedules so that someone is always with her, the Wizards only try to kidnap Roxy once. Unsuccessfully, because they conveniently forget to take her powers that particular time.

At the end, when they reveal themselves to be the Big Evils after all, I couldn’t take them seriously, with all the silly bullshit they pulled. They don’t even have any memorable personalities either. I can’t even recall all their names: there’s Ogron and Duman. Gantlos? And??? I'm sure there's a fourth one, but I couldn't remember his name if you'd held a gun to my head.

Ogron, or more like budget Valtor, in a sad attempt to be the next “charming” villain, monologues all over the place, throwing around threats and sassy lines. When Valtor did it, at least he made his threats reality thus giving his words weight. Ogron just talks shit and then gets jobbed by the Winx.

Another aspect to the detriment of the Wizards is that we don’t really get to spend much time with them. In season one and season three we spend a good chunk of most episodes with the Trix and Valtor and get to know them, their plans, and personalities. That’s why they are so memorable. The Wizards don’t get the same treatment. We barely cut away to see what they are up to, and when we do, they mostly complain about the popularity of the Winx. I’m serious. These are our villains!

We never learn their plans either. Why do they want the Terrestrial Fairies powers so badly? Just to have it? Because that’s an evil villain thing to do? Why did they start the genocide in the first place? What is their end goal now? Why do they want the White Circle? What are they planning? The audience not knowing the villains plan is a problem. That’s our frame of reference for the stakes of the season. Whenever the Winx and Wizards fight, we should clearly know what happens should the Winx lose. When we don’t understand the Wizards ulterior motives, their actions become meaningless and confusing. I would go so far to speculate that there never was a concrete plan for them, writing-wise. They are just a trope, a vessel, a hinderance for the Winx to fill this season with something. They aren’t real characters.

Let’s look at their plan, or lack there-of: At first, they want to steal Roxy’s power, then they leave her alone for a bit, messing with the Winx instead. Then they suddenly forget about Roxy and want the White Circle. Then they play more pranks and inconvenience the Winx some more. And in the end, they want to destroy Tir Na Nog…for some reason??? Because the show needs an evil final boss? With the other villains in previous season, the audience always clearly understood what their next steps would be. That adds suspense and urgency, like “Oh no! The Trix are about to steal a codex, can the Winx stop them in time???” Because we understood, that if Darkar gets all Codex pieces, he would be super powerful and destroy the Magical Dimension, the audience understood the gravity whenever the Trix managed to steal another piece. Now granted, that’s not a particularly original plan, but that’s not the point. The Wizards just randomly show up to fight, not really following any plan, or rather, whatever this episode’s plot requires. They don’t have an overarching plan. I’d argue because they don’t need one, because they will lose at the end regardless, but there not being any really just makes the Wizards seem like nothing more than a mild inconveniences to the Winx. Depending on the episode, of course, and whether we need to bring in artificial tension.

The fact that they don’t even have a proper villain’s lair speaks volumes. The Trix had Cloud Tower in season one. Darkar had his fancy underground castle. Valtor first had his cave on Andros, then Cloud Tower. What do the Wizards get? An unspecified industrial looking area and then…the sewer. They hide out in the sewer. Ewwwww. They don’t have a creepy castle, nothing. They could have had a sort of Tir Na Nog foil, a creepy old castle maybe, or even lived in the Ruins of Tir Na Nog. No. They hide in the sewers of this random Californian town.

I cannot stress enough how the majority of the season the Wizards are just sad pieces of toast and then at the last minute, they are revealed to be the big bad final boss. Their tactic of feigning their surrender could have been interesting, but by that point they already had lost all their intrigue. The Winx had already won against them every time they fought, so why should I feel any sort of threat or danger?

[fraeuleintaka]

Warum Winx Club S1-3 der einzige Canon für mich ist

(+ was auch immer ich von den dazugehörigen Comics mag)

Ich liebe Winx Club. Ich habe die Serie als Kind geliebt, auch wenn ich letztens feststellen musste, dass ich damals nur die 1. Staffel überhaupt gesehen hatte. Die Staffeln 2 und 3 habe ich dann letztens zum ersten Mal als Erwachsene geschaut und ja, ich liebe Winx Club immer noch bzw. wieder! Allerdings habe ich mich aktiv dagegen entschieden die weiteren Staffeln anzuschauen. S1-3 sind für mich der einzige Canon. Ich habe Clips aus den späteren Staffeln gesehen und weiß über diverse Entwicklungen/Plotpunkte Bescheid, woran ich entschieden habe sie nicht zu schauen. Meine 10 Gründe sind wie folgt:

Die Retcons: S1-3 mögen das ein oder andere Logikproblem gehabt haben, aber das Level an Umänderungen und Ignorieren früherer Plotpunkte, was alle folgenden Staffeln (und Filme) fabrizieren, ist echt nicht mehr schön. Ich hasse, wie diverse Aussagen (z.B. dass Enchantix die finale Feenverwandlung ist) und etablierte Hintergründe (z.B. von Daphne und Icy) einfach ignoriert und umgedichtet werden, um zu irgendeinem neuen Plot zu passen. Ich hasse, wie die Winx erst ihren Abschluss machen, nur um dann wieder in der Schule zu sein für den nächsten Plot, aber mit Kenntnissen des vergangenen, sodass die Zeitlinie hinten und vorne keinen Sinn mehr macht. Soft Reboot nach Soft Reboot und keiner hat mehr irgendeine Ahnung, was eigentlich noch „wirklich“ passiert ist und was nicht, weil eh bei Bedarf alles ignoriert und neu erfunden wird. Im Gegensatz dazu waren S1-3 wunderbar konsistent und funktionieren als eine gemeinsame Einheit.

Bloom bekommt alles zurück, was sie jemals verloren hat: Das wurde zugegeben in S3 schon angedeutet und ist auch einer der Hauptgründe, warum ich den ersten Film nicht mehr zu meinem Canon zähle, aber die späteren Staffeln haben damit noch mehr übertrieben. Blooms tragischer Hintergrund ist, dass ihre biologischen Eltern gestorben (oder verschwunden) sind, ihr Heimatplanet effektiv vernichtet wurde und ihre große Schwester sich opferte, um ihr Leben zu retten. Sie fand liebevolle Adoptiveltern und eine neue Familie in ihren Freundinnen und verbringt einen großen Teil der ersten drei Staffeln damit ihre Herkunft zu erforschen. Ihr Hintergrund ist tragisch, aber deswegen auch bedeutsam und einer von Blooms Arcs behandelt ihren Umgang mit diesen traurigen Erkenntnissen. Wenn sie das jetzt alles einfach rückgängig machen kann, ihre Eltern wieder da, ihr Planet ist wieder intakt und ihre Schwester lebt auch wieder, dann fühlt sich die ganze Zeit, die Bloom damit verbracht hat ihren Verlust zu verwinden, verschwendet an. Auf einmal ist die Tragödie gar nicht mehr tragisch, weil man ja einfach alles wieder rückgängig machen kann. Das zieht nicht nur die Emotionalität aus der ganzen Sache, sondern wird auch allen zukünftigen Tragödien ihre Bedeutung nehmen, weil man die ja auch wieder rückgängig machen könnte, wenn man will. (Ich hasse generell immer, wenn in Geschichten etwas in der Art passiert, was auch einer der Gründe ist, warum ich den dritten Kung Fu Panda Film nicht mag.) Bei Winx Club ist es noch zusätzlich unangenehm, denn Bloom, unser toller Hauptcharakter, ist die einzige, der dies passiert. Musas Mutter? Immer noch tot und Musa muss damit klarkommen, dass sie sie nicht einfach wieder lebendig wünschen kann. Laylas fester Freund? Auch immer noch tot. Aber Bloom? Wenn sie sich ihre Familie wieder lebendig wünscht, ist das natürlich was Anderes! Diese Doppelmoral nervt mich echt tierisch.

Der Fokus auf Bloom nimmt absolut Überhand: Auch in S1-3 war es klar, dass Bloom die Hauptprotagonistin ist, auch wenn alle Winx die Protagonistinnen sind. Sie ist die Wichtigste und die mit dem meisten Fokus. Das hat schon teilweise genervt, war aber noch tolerierbar, da auch die anderen Winx Fokus und ihre eigenen Arcs bekommen haben. Mit den späteren Staffeln nahm das immer mehr ab und anstatt „Winx Club“ ist die Serie mehr „Bloom und ihr persönlicher Cheer Squad“ geworden. An sich habe ich nichts gegen Bloom als Charakter, nur gegen diesen exzessiven Fokus auf ihr. Die Serie sollte von allen Mädels des Winx Clubs und der Freundschaft zwischen ihnen handeln und nicht nur von Bloom und 5 austauschbaren Anhängseln. Die anderen Winx sind tolle Charaktere (Musa, Tecna und Stella sind meine Favoriten) mit viel Storypotenzial und sie verdienen ihre Zeit im Rampenlicht. Das würde auch einer tiefgründigeren Charakterisierung von Bloom helfen, indem die Beziehungen zwischen ihnen mehr in den Vordergrund gestellt werden könnten.

Ich hasse die geänderten Designs: Das ursprüngliche Design der Serie kann man natürlich kritisieren, z.B. bzgl. der Proportionen, aber ich mag es persönlich sehr und finde, dass es der Serie eine eigene Identität gibt, die sie leicht herausstellt im Vergleich zu anderen Serien. Es ist wunderschön knallig und bunt mit Glitzer, dynamischen Actionsequenzen und ausdrucksstarker aber nicht zu abgedrehter Mimik der Charaktere; es kann düster und ernst sein, wenn es will, und funktioniert genauso gut für Erwachsene wie für Kinder. Die Designs der späteren Staffeln machen alle Charaktere zunehmend ähnlicher, sie sind optisch kaum mehr als Palettenwechsel desselben Charakters. Alles wird versüßt und verknuddelt, sodass ernste Interaktionen kaum mehr ernstzunehmen sind und die Charaktere aussehen, als wären sie 10 Jahre alt anstatt die Teenager bis Erwachsenen, die sie eigentlich sein sollen. Die Designs sind so überladen mit schnörkeligen und rüschigen Details, dass die Gesichtsausdrücke und Animationen nur noch sehr statisch, undynamisch und staksig daherkommen. Es sieht einfach nicht mehr gut aus und dynamische Actionsequenzen kann man gleich vergessen.

Die jüngere Zielgruppe: Jede der späteren Staffeln setzt die Zielgruppe der Serie gefühlt weiter herab. Auch Winx Club der ersten drei Staffeln war an das jüngere Publikum gerichtet, allerdings an jüngere Teenager und nicht an Vorschulkinder, wie es Staffel 8 anscheinend tut. Dadurch ist der Fokus viel mehr auf süßen Tierchen und hübschen Farben, die Storylines sind deutlich simpler und anspruchsloser und die Moralität wird absolut überdeutlich und einfach gemacht. Serien dieser Art haben natürlich ihre Daseinsberechtigung, aber Winx Club war nie eine solche Serie. S1-3 behandelten durchaus ernste Themen in einer Art, die auch Erwachsene wertschätzen konnten. Davon ist in den späteren Staffeln so gut wie nichts mehr übrig.

Die ständigen neuen Verwandlungen: Als in S3 Enchantix eingeführt wurde und alle Winx nach und nach in individuellen emotionalen Szenen und unter Einsatz ihres Lebens diese erreichten, war dies ein episches Ereignis. Dann wurden immer mehr Verwandlungen hinterhergeschoben, obwohl Enchantix die finale und mächtigste sein sollte, und ihr Erreichen wurde immer trivialer. Die Winx bekommen sie einfach alle gleichzeitig und fertig. Jeder Kleinscheiß ist eine Ausrede für eine neue Verwandlung. Oh, ihr wollt unter Wasser zaubern, was ihr in den ersten Staffeln ohne Probleme konntet? Egal, ihr braucht jetzt eine neue Verwandlung dafür! Waren die Designs von Magic Winx und Enchantix noch wunderschön individuell und einzigartig für jede Fee, so sind die späteren Verwandlungen effektiv nur noch das gleiche Outfit für jede in einer anderen Farbe. Das passt zwar erschreckend perfekt zu ihrer späteren Storyrelevanz, ist aber trotzdem einfach nur traurig.

Wie die Herzbandelfen, nur in schlimmer: Ich war schon in S2 kein großer Fan von dem Konzept jeder Winx eine Herzbandelfe zuzuteilen. Die Elfen generell hatten sicherlich Plotrelevanz in dieser Staffel, wenn auch viel ihrer Screentime für "süßen" Schabernack draufging, aber wenige der Verbindungen zwischen den Winx und ihren Herzbandelfen wurden wirklich ausgearbeitet und hätten leicht weggelassen werden können. Leider wurde dieses Konzept in den späteren Staffeln mehrmals recycelt und nur noch schlimmer gemacht. So oft bekommen die Winx irgendein neues zufälliges Viech zugeteilt, sei es Feentiere, Sternzeichen oder was weiß ich, die noch austauschbarer und irrelevanter sind als es die Herzbandelfen je waren. Toll fürs Verkaufen von Spielzeug, nehm ich an, aber nicht gerade toll für die Storyqualität.

Nabu: Ich habe nicht wirklich etwas gegen Nabus Tod, solange es einigermaßen logisch ist, ich habe vielmehr etwas gegen Nabu selbst als Charakter. Seine Einführung in S3 war eine ziemliche Katastrophe (Hallo, Stalker!) und ich kann ihn nur deswegen einigermaßen tolerieren, weil er erst gegen Ende der Staffel eingeführt wird und keine signifikante Rolle spielt. Als Teil des Hauptcasts? Nein, danke. Außerdem bin ich kein Fan von der Idee, dass jede Winx unbedingt einen festen Freund haben muss. Wenigstens eine hätten sie ja single lassen können (was gerade zu Layla und ihrer Unabhängigkeit gut passen würde). Oder ihr stattdessen eine feste Freundin geben können.

Wie Musa & Rivens Beziehung behandelt wird: Ich bin eine überzeugte Verteidigerin von Musa & Rivens Beziehung in den ersten drei Staffeln. Riven hatte in S1 viele Probleme, an denen er sich am Ende der Staffel entschied zu arbeiten, das geht nicht von heute auf morgen. Sowohl er als auch Musa haben Probleme sich offen auszudrücken, gerade in emotional verwundbaren Situationen, wodurch es häufig zu Kommunikationsschwierigkeiten zwischen den beiden kommt. Das ist etwas, woran sie beide arbeiten können und sollten, was auch in S2 und S3 (insofern sie einen Subplot hatten) thematisiert wurde. In den späteren Staffeln werden genau dieselben Probleme jedoch ständig recycelt, ohne dass es irgendeinen Fortschritt gibt. Es mag nicht von heute auf morgen gehen, aber nur dabei zuzuschauen, wie sie sich ständig im Kreis drehen, ist sehr frustrierend, wenn eine richtige fortschreitende Entwicklung so viel interessanter wäre. Noch schlimmer war die Entscheidung Riven für eine Staffel aus der Serie zu entfernen, um effektiv seine ganze Charakterentwicklung off-screen stattfinden zu lassen und ihn dann als „neu und verbesserten“ festen Freund wieder einzufügen, als ginge das wie per Knopfdruck. Die Entwicklung ist doch der interessanteste Teil! Musas Seite wird komplett außer Acht gelassen und sie darf sich sinnlos über Rivens Rückkehr aufregen, nur damit er sie „überzeugen“ kann. Sie komplett getrennt zu lassen wäre noch schlimmer gewesen, da das ebenso komplett alle Charakter- bzw. Beziehungsentwicklung zunichtemacht. Stattdessen hätte man den begonnen Arc einfach weiter fortsetzen sollen.

Die Flanderisation der Charaktere: Nicht nur Musa & Riven leiden unter den Storylines der späteren Staffeln, auch die anderen Charaktere werden nicht verschont. Stella & Brandon wird ein sinnloses Eifersuchtsdrama angehängt (weil wir von denen wohl noch nicht genug hatten), wo gerade die beiden so absolut sicher in ihrer Beziehung sind, dass sie Flirtcontests gegeneinander veranstalten. Gerade Stella verliert nahezu all ihre Stärken, sympathischen Eigenschaften und Nuancen; in den späteren Staffeln ist sie nur noch verantwortungslos, eine schlechte Designerin und so nervig und ignorant gegenüber jeder um sie herum, dass man sich wundert, warum die Winx sie überhaupt mögen. Die meisten Charaktere werden auf ein oder zwei Eigenschaften bzw. Plotpunkte reduziert, die sie ständig wiederholen dürfen (z.B. Musa und ihre Mutter, Flora und ihre Schwester); Tecna kann froh sein, wenn sie überhaupt mal irgendeine Plotrelevanz hat. Jegliche Nuancen, die die Charaktere in den ersten drei Staffeln hatten, sind nahezu verschwunden und sie sind wenig mehr als austauschbare Stereotypen.

Sicherlich haben auch die späteren Staffeln viele gute Momente (z.B. wie Riven für Musa Gitarre lernt und die beiden zusammen singen, was ich definitiv in eins meiner Fanfics aufnehmen werde), allerdings sind für mich die Störfaktoren so gravierend, dass ich nicht über sie hinwegsehen kann. Ich schätze S1-3 von Winx Club sehr und möchte weder meine Zeit verschwenden noch diese intakte Sicht auf die Story und Charaktere ruinieren. Was ich von den späteren Staffeln gesehen und gehört habe, reicht mir schon vollends.

[ragazziamagix]

Reasons why I think season 2 was peak

Aisha's introduction to the group

she came to serve peak

Helia's introduction

he delivered beauty and romance

The pixies I actually like them

This episode of Riven supporting musa (epi 15)

you tell them Riven

Episodes 21 and 22 (I literally would love if the reboot would use more episodes like that

look at Riven serving looks

This Stella moment (go save Brandon u-u)

Friendship bonding! :D cute

Flora iconic daydream

dont worry girl your dream will come true

Iconic episode: Hallowinx!

Team Work at Cloud Tower, honestly the teamwork in general was peak in this season

This Stella and Aisha

THE VILLAINS! Darkar is SO underrated seriously I kinda wish on this fandom he was more discussed lol and obviously Dark Bloom forever iconic

THE ROMANCE, I really think season 2 had the best romantic moments ❤

The end ? Anyway s 2 is queen (because I can't even talk more, this season is just complete, good writing very nice villains great new characters that will stick for ever, team work delivered in more than just a few episodes... The action was good, the romance was sweet, and the fun episodes were great I think this season is where winx is at their best writing tho I understand why s 3 is the most loved ~ enchantix is the most iconic form)

[rist-ix]

This might be weird but bare with me: i saw some fanart of valtor and his mamma bears (I'm sorry), he was freshly made and a child still for some reason (idk if it's canon at this point that he was made in adult form or not buuuut) and so it's shown how they don't like him but at the next panel he wants their makeup so tharma and lysliss give him a makeover and at the end belladonna says i think we'll find a use for that pretty face. What i started thinking was if it's possible they used him as a pr0stitute at some point besides all the torture they put him through. My brain today is fixated on how much trauma or ptsd he could possibly have. Now that i write it i sense how weird this is but what do you think?

My friend my dude my brother in fandom, I am but a humble bacteria and u have given me the juiciest slimiest tastiest agar plate imaginable. Let’s get INTO THIS!

(For the record, this is purely fanon. I think I’ve alluded to this headcanon of mine in fics but I am well aware that I have little to no evidence from canon for these assumptions.)

ABSOLUTELY I think that Valtor was used for getting into royal's beds. Though I do think it would have been more complicated than simply “his moms are whoring him out cause they hate him and they want stuff from people” — and I think there are some FASCINATING implications that has for both Valtor's personality as a whole, and his relationship to sexuality and his own body.

First of all, the reason why I think you are correct is simple: he seems to be universally regarded as attractive in-universe, to the point of having even the Trix fawning over him, and he is consistently seen using charm and flattery to get others to do what he wants. If you wanted to expand on this in a darker and more mature setting, the logical conclusion would be that he'd use his body the same way. And I do think he would do that entirely of his own will by the way, no coercion necessary! Though there most certainly was coercion.

That ties a little bit into my view on the Ancient Coven's relationship to each other in general. While we do see Valtor and the Ancestresses at odds with each other in the finale (culminating in the Witches ‘disinheriting’ him and reverting him to his monster form), the fact that they seem to have worked successfully together for AT LEAST a good few decades implies they could be cordial when necessary. Plus, Valtor somewhat wistfully recalls working under them with Griffin, smirking and content in the flashback, makes me personally believe they were genuinely GOOD at cooperating too, instead of the Witches relying solely on tyranny. Don’t get me wrong: there is no way they were a happy family. I'm thinking more along the lines of them playacting as a very harmonious coven, doting creators and loyal creation, like a game that every one of them is in on — a performance, just for funsies, and because none of them want the outside world to see them as anything but perfectly aligned and ruthlessly efficient. All that while also having a sort of spiteful, vengeful arms race going on internally, with Valtor not-so-secretly trying to find ways to overthrow them, and them waiting for him to lean out of cover too far so they can gleefully, brutally remind him who's in charge.

There's a deep, deep, deeply rooted resentment Valtor seems to have for them, but they are also objectively the same: They both want power, they both want to control the Dimension, they both would do anything to accomplish that goal. So if there was a situation in which having someone charming on the inside would help them, I think both Valtor and the Witches would come to the conclusion that Valtor could do whatever necessary to accomplish that. Be it charm someone, poison someone, or sleep with someone in the hopes they might spill some secrets. I consider all four of them to be pretty pragmatic, I don’t think there would be any conflict or hesitation here — not at first.

Because while Valtor would certainly agree that that’s the best approach, and probably be more than willing to get out of their sight for a while and live it up in some palace or another, I do think it would chafe at him eventually. Whether he's using his body to fight people or seduce them is not all that different, both happens at their behest. He's always painfully aware that he is their tool — but I imagine it does get more pronounced with the latter. Especially over time. Your taste in people or attraction does not matter in combat, but certainly plays a role in sex. While Valtor certainly seems to enjoy putting on a show in combat, that is a power play, whereas having to play a long con, with himself so heavily involved no less, can start to feel humiliating, tiring, more like a loss of agency than a game of wits. I don’t think it’s the seduction itself that would bother him, but the clear knowledge that he's just following his creator's plans here, puppeteered even in this aspect of his life.

The result of that in the present day of the s3 era wouldn’t be sexual trauma per se, I would headcanon. Not in the ptsd sense at least. (Though I bet a good fic could convince me otherwise :D) I remain a firm believer that his trauma is purely about his lack of control over his physical form, and a revulsion towards his original body that borders on dysphoria. The sexual aspect of his utility to them would ADD to that, don’t get me wrong, but it wouldn’t be the main source.

It DOES influence him though.

I'm thinking mainly about Valtor's interactions with the Trix here. On multiple occasions he secretly witnesses how they argue or straight up brawl over who gets to have him. None of them even thinks about who he might have shown the most interest in, they treat this solely as a contest of strength, winner takes all. (I don’t think that’s them being rapey btw just to be clear. I see it speaks more to them being juvenile and deeply unserious about romantic relationships, like dogs chasing cars. They don’t care enough about people beyond the three of them to have any actual experience with romance: Darcy's fling with Riven was discarded INSTANTLY once the three had something better to entertain them — like world domination. If one of them had “won” only to get ignored or rejected, the other two would have laughed her out of the room and then they would have done it all over again the next day.) im getting distracted. What I meant to get to is that Valtor sees them acting like he's a prize to be won… and he does not react at all. The first time he finds it mildly entertaining, the next few times the bit seems to get old for him already. That’s it. He encourages their possessiveness of course! He clearly enjoys being feared, admired, or simply the center of attention, but being treated without regard for his own desires doesn’t really register as an insult to him. AND he's shown to be pretty unperturbed with Darcy getting into his space, and flirting rather aggressively with him.

And while that may seem anticlimactic after all that, I find that FASCINATING. (Not just because Winx Club consistently writes men — powerful men! — the way female characters would be treated in another show. An essay of its own!) A non-reaction is still a reaction, and Valtor's lack of irritation says a lot in my opinion. I think he has little to no real boundaries, at least outside of combat or with people that are allies/useful to him. By that I don’t mean he would reject someone's advances if he didn’t welcome them, but that he wouldn’t really remember that this is a point where people usually DECIDE whether they welcome the advances or not, u know what I mean? I think his entire sense of self is pretty nebulous to himself, and that his own body seems to him more like a commodity than, well, him. Which makes sense, doesn’t it? He is created as one thing, for one purpose, and then given another body, for another purpose. He prefers to be human, reviles the monstrous form, but has no control over which one he is at any given moment — the people who do could change their minds on a whim. It would make sense for him to feel somewhat alienated from his physical form, and therefore have little care for what happens to it. It would take him far longer to know his own reactions, and to realize whether he enjoys something or not.

I feel like I’ve only managed to put like, half of what's in my head into words here. The dysphoria thing alone feels like something that should be dissected on its own, but I’m dead tired and this post is already pretty long. I will say that I’m not 100% consistent in this headcanon, and depending on the fic I use some of this and some of that, but I do think it’s one of my most favorite reads on Valtor as a character. Thank you so much for this ask!!! I hope the answer is close to what you hoped for lol

[stellasolaris]

Why Stella should not have been rebranded as the Fairy of the Shining Sun

After nearly a year, I have finally decided to write a second part to my previous post in which I said I was not a fan of the writers rebranding Stella as the Fairy of the Shining Sun.

To start, let's first take a look at her family background. Her parents are the King and Queen of Solaria—the proverbial sun and the moon. It is apparent from their distinct color palettes and the origins of their names that they represent the sun and the moon. Stella, with her original title as the Fairy of the Sun and the Moon, naturally has qualities and powers from both her parents. To take away her moon powers would be a disservice to her character, as it means taking a piece of her identity away.

While I subscribe to the idea of her having access to solar and lunar powers, I don't mind her lunar powers being secondary to her sun powers. Here's why.

Her moon-based spells, which she rarely uses, tend to be more defensive and tamer than her sun-based spells. (3.14, 3.26) For someone like her, who is bold and daring, and prefers offensive tactics over defensive ones, it makes sense that she would lean more toward using her combative solar powers. (1.21) It's what comes naturally to her.

Her relationship with her father, despite the neglectful behavior of both her parents, appears affectionate. (3.19) I like to think her strong connection with her father and home planet is in part why she prefers and is more in tune with using her solar powers than her lunar powers.

There is some debate over whether or not she should have a secondary power, with some suggesting that she would be too powerful if she had two powers. I disagree.

Her powers make narrative sense when you think of them from the standpoint of light rather than separate celestial bodies. In technical terms, moonlight is reflected sunlight. These two are not separate. In a way, her solar and lunar powers are essentially the same, just in different fonts.

It would be logical for her powers to be influenced by the level of light in her surroundings, allowing her to draw either from solar or lunar energy. We already know from canon that she becomes weak and powerless in the absence of sunlight. (2.04) In such situations, her lunar powers could become activated. This limits her abilities and prevents her from becoming too powerful.

Recall that one of the motifs regarding her character development is the use of mirrors. It serves as a symbol of her personal growth and self-awareness, particularly in seasons two and three. In 2.21, she earns a mirror-shaped pendant for being vulnerable and sharing her feelings of loneliness. In 3.04, she breaks her curse by realizing her beauty isn't skin deep. Every time she reflects on her life and grows as a person, there is a reflective item (the lake, the pendant) present. If we consider that the moon reflects the sun and acts like a mirror, we can interpret her mirror-based spells to have an indirect relation to her lunar abilities.

To be fair, her mirror spells could easily have a category of their own as the moon is not exactly like a mirror in its reflectivity power; the moon only reflects about 3–12% of the sunlight, while a mirror typically reflects anything between 70%–99.9%. However, based on the fact that the sun produces its light, whereas the moon and mirror do not, we can conclude that her mirror spells are more likely to fall under the moon category than the sun category.

From a narrative standpoint, it seems the writers had no idea what to do with her lunar side. It's likely why they changed her title and erased almost every trace of her lunar side, including the blue accents in her transformation outfits. It's a shame because there are so many ways they could have explored her moon powers in the later seasons, but no; instead, we get the displeasure of witnessing her turning into a toddler, putting fairy animals in silly costumes, and wearing an atrocious salad dress to the stage for everyone in the audience to mock. Which, for the record, she would absolutely never wear.

[wintersangelic]

female character: "hey i'm a strong, well-written character."

male 'fans': "okay, you're weak and useless though because you experience human emotion."

female character: "no i mean it. i'm not only the most powerful species in my source, i'm also a goddess and the literal incarnation of life energy itself. i canonically devour entire planets like they were popcorn kernels. i can explode the universe just by thinking about it. i also have more emotional complexity in my left foot than you do in your entire body."

male 'fans': *proceeds to reduce female character to 'weak'/'useless' for having any emotions or flaws*

male 'fans': "why don't we have any strong, well-written female characters?"

[darkpoisonouslove]

Griffin and Valtor's backstory is so fascinating because Griffin is still alive.

Think about it. She was literally attacked by the Ancestral Witches as she was escaping, then she kept fighting in the war against them and Valtor, whom she'd just betrayed, and she survived all the way to and past the final battle while all of them plus Marion, Oritel and Domino's population were imprisoned. Now I know this is mostly because the backstory was, in fact, added later but the trope of a former villain sacrificing their life as redemption was successfully avoided. She got to live/had to live depending on how deeply you believe she regretted her former servitude of the Ancestral Witches and/or the time period (as I think all remaining CoL members were devastated right after the final battle on Domino). She got to build herself a new life, independent of her previous mistakes only to then - almost two decades later - be forced to face the man she betrayed again.

The fact is that no one but Griffin herself ever attempts to justify her betrayal. No one. Not even once. When she confirms to the Winx and Mirta that she was a member of the Company, her previous affiliations are never mentioned. She is allowed to be an equal member of the Company that's never treated as lesser because she was initially working against them; she gets to share in both their victory and their failure (an entire planet perishing is hardly a real victory but they survived and the culprits of the devastation were imprisoned); her past is never held against her to imply she might not be trustworthy. Her course of action is understandable if poorly motivated in the minute this backstory gets to be explained. She is also never exonerated for betraying Valtor, though, which is, frankly, more nuance than you'd expect from Winx Club of all shows.

But then there's the flip side of this whole situation, which is even more intriguing. Just like she's forced to live with her betrayal, so is Valtor. Again, she is alive. Not only did she run away from him, but she also survived any subsequent attempts at revenge on her and remained at large while he was imprisoned. Whether because he still cares for her or his power simply wasn't enough to grant him his vengeance, he has failed to punish her. And failure is a rarity for Valtor.

With the might of the corrupted Dragon Fire, he is so powerful that none of the characters that have handled threats of universal magnitude before are able to stand up to him for longer than a minute. He's also smart and cunning, always knowing what to say to get on top of the situation. As such any failures he endures are far removed from one another and temporary. Really, most of his schemes during season 3 were initially successful and later only failed due to lack of direct involvement from him as he would leave the execution to his pawns - either Cassandra & Chimera, Diaspro or the Trix. The things he personally oversaw in their entirety did always succeed up until the very end.

His one colossal failure - allowing to be imprisoned - was hardly a bigger challenge than anything else he faced and would have eventually failed to contain him even without the Trix' intervention. For one simple reason - he is effectively immortal. He had all the time in the world and no one that could kill him, considering that Marion and Oritel would have probably done that rather than simply imprison him if they'd been able to. Sooner or later something (like the Trix coming across him) would have happened and he'd have been roaming around stealing magic again, his defeat barely registering except... for Griffin.

She is right there, his failure - in the flesh - staring him in the face. There is no way to rationalize this away. She betrayed him and joined his enemies. Either he allowed her to play him for a fool or his charm and power weren't alluring enough to keep her by his side. He can pretend she was too weak-willed to achieve greatness beside him but that is still a lapse in judgment on his part since he had deemed her worthy of being his partner. In fact, despite anything else he may say, he still speaks highly of their joint abilities so he definitely believed her to be a good match for him.

He fucked up. There is no way around it. And to differ from all his other failures, including his imprisonment, this one is not going away. In fact, he only temporarily succeeded with taking revenge on her by imprisoning her in turn and taking over her school and her students' minds but that barely lasted a few episodes. Before he knew it, she was free and running around again. His one permanent failure that he cannot get away from, that's been haunting him for literal decades now since she left him.

With how overpowered Valtor is, introducing such a permanent reminder that even he makes mistakes that he can't always fix with a snap of his fingers is ingenious. Granted, they don't really explore any of it but the fact is that that is the only long-term failure that he has to deal with aside from his subservience to the Ancestral Witches. The implication that the soured relationship between him and Griffin is the only thing that is even comparable in any way (as a blow to his abilities and self-image) to his slavery to the Ancestral Witches makes me mentally unwell.

Regardless of the nature of their partnership, Griffin is the only person that has managed to force him to look past his self-importance and egomania, which could have very well been traumatic in light of his lack of agency where his bond to the Ancestral Witches is concerned and has never been framed as the right thing to do on Griffin's part. It adds layers of complexity both to Griffin's morality and to Valtor's image and self-image (or at least would have if they'd explored it a little as forcing him to acknowledge failure would have added more dimension to him and tamed how overpowered he is). It's the perfect ground for headcanons and fanfiction examining the complexities of the characters and their relationship to thrive.

[bellatrixobsessed1]

The Tragedy of the Trix; Rehabilitation vs Punishment

Saw this post on reddit asking if the Trix are tragic characters and at first I almost said no. And then I thought about it a bit. On the outside they seem to handle things very well and they seem to be delighted and content with being evil for the lols but honestly, that happiness is probably super hollow and fake. And they might not even realize it. It has the same energy as someone super wealthy who has a lot of nice things but very little love. Anyways I decided to share my response on tumblr.

I've got several points here that I might elaborate on later if I get some time because I feel like there are a lot of topics here that the fandom doesn't talk about a lot; like Light Rock and the treatment of witches overall.

Honestly yeah I kind of do think that they are tragic characters. It is mostly self-inflicted and we don't really know what happened to them (unless we're counting Icy's last minute backstory) to make them the way that they are. So I can absolutely see them having grown up in rough environments.

The thing that I think makes it a real tragedy as that no one really ever tired to help them. Griffin actively encouraged their mischief and bad behavior until it became a little too evil. In the 4kids dub they didn't even get expelled for the deed itself but because they got caught. And Griffin took little to no responsibility for her hand in all of this; she's the adult, they were still probably teens when they started at Cloud Tower. So in some sense she did have a duty to guide them (and every other student). She praised them for the things that they would eventually be imprisoned for. Which is the next issue; they just kept getting imprisoned and punished with no real attempt at rehabilitation.

I would not call Light Rock rehabilitation. Based on the 4kids dub it had cult vibes more than anything else; not even the guards were allowed to leave and one of them said he felt like a prisoner rather than a guest. The whole scene opened with a debate over the morality of trying to force people to be happy. Light Rock was less about rehabilitation and more about brainwashing. So the Trix never really did get a shot at true rehabilitation and help. It was all punishment. I feel like Light Rock overall was a waste of potential; there were some implications there that really could have made for a cool plot point.

But yeah I feel like not only were the Trix neglected and heavily misguided but they were actively pushed in the wrong direction. The witches in general (not just the Trix) have such a stigma about them that even when they're doing good or minding their own business, they get accused of being evil. And so no one should be surprised when they just embrace the image.

I also feel as though some of the punishments were disproportionate to downright cruel. Like them getting sucked into a void in season 7. Heck, even Light Rock was cruel; it's brainwashing, an attempt at manipulation, and psychological abuse. It's usually passed as a joke but honestly, they have experienced the horrors. Of course they're going to come out more resentful. The comics are almost worse for this. Again it's usually the result of their own schemes but their suffering in the comics is literally played for laughs.

I think that that's why I liked season 8 upon rewatching it; more compassion was given to the Trix. Bloom told Icy that she saw good in her. And, what do you know, Icy was receptive to it. Instead of taking the power for herself, she helped the Winx save the magical dimension. I really would like a follow up on that story line. It was nice to see them humanized a bit more.

Tl;dr: Yeah the Trix brought a lot of their troubles onto themselves but they were actively being praised for doing evil until they did something too evil. And there was no genuine attempt to help them.

[ghostsprobably]

For the winx couples, I always liked the idea of Bloom and Stella. They'd be so cute together idk, just something about the friends to lovers storylines just does it for me XD

( their ship name is sun dragon and no one can change my mind)

And on the other hand i also like the ship between Bloom and Stella but as an Unrequited love. Unicorn of war did this in his season 6 rewrite and its become my biggest theory. Like Bloom having a crush on Stella and her just pretending that crush doesn't exist because she loves her but not romantically. idk that dynamic is interesting :p

gonna use this ask for solarflare since you bring up some really fun stuff!

I don't really see them as romantic

I definitely am not against this one, but it just doesn't super appeal to me because I really strongly see Stella as the big sister Bloom was meant to have. Since Daphne is dead and all that.

They're sweet

I love their friendship so much so I definitely understand why people ship them! Stella would definitely enable Bloom's anger more than Sky does and Bloom would enable Stella's chaos. If they became a full couple I think they would become the best kind of insane force of nature.

Oh the devotion

These two are already each other's biggest cheer leaders lol. I think there could be a problem tho in Stella's flirty nature, and Bloom's jealousy issues, but they would love each other enough to work it out I'm sure

[reina-royale]

I have received a lot of backlash for criticizing Kim Possible as it was one of the most popular "girl power" shows of the time.

Not just here but in other internet spaces as well.

And, truly, I admit that, at the time, I admired Kim.

Emphasis: at the time.

But, as people tend to do, I grew up. I got older, learned more about the world, learned more about people, girls especially, and, when I started rewatching Kim Possible, came to a horrifying revelation:

Kim Possible is not a "girl power" show, it's just a show about a powerful girl.

What does a girl power show look like?

Well, it's best to explain with examples.

I'll keep them limited to crime-fighting shows that were on the air at around the same time Kim Possible was.

Shows being used as examples include:

Teen Titans

X-Men: Evolution

Winx Club

So, what is it that makes these shows girl power shows, but not Kim Possible?

Well, there's a lot, so it's best to grab a snack and a drink, this could be a while.

Let's begin:

Multiple Heroines

Teen Titans starts out with two awesome heroines, Raven and Starfire, and adds more to the cast later - Kole, Bumblebee, Terra, Argent, etc.

X-Men: Evolution had multiple heroines from the beginning, with more added later. And one of the original heroines was an older female mentor that everyone, including boys, looked up to.

Winx Club is a female-led show with five, later six, awesome female leads and powerful females in mentor roles that are admired and respected by men and women alike.

But Kim Possible only has one heroine for girls to look up to - Kim herself.

Sure, Yori's impressive, but she's not really her own character as she's meant to aid in Ron's development.

And while Dr. Director could be cool, we don't actually see her do more than delegate, which, while important, is hard for people to look up to.

And the professional heroes, Team Impossible, are an entirely male group.

Kim Possible only has one female for little girls to look up to.

So, if, for some reason, you find yourself not looking up to Kim, then you're out of luck with this show, because there's not any other girl for you to look up to.

It's not a girl power show if there's only one girl to look up to.

Complex Thoughts and Feelings

The girls of Teen Titans are shown with varied and complex thoughts and emotions. Starfire uses her feelings to fuel her powers, and, even though she's apathetic, there are multiple episodes that address that Raven has complex thoughts and feelings but has to keep them under control because of her powers.

In X-Men: Evolution all the characters, especially the girls, are shown with complex thoughts and feelings.

In Winx Club the girls are shown with thoughts and feelings, and it's established that their feelings fuel their magic.

But in Kim Possible, Kim's thoughts and feelings aren't very complex. Kim is shown to dislike something, or have strong opinions about something, but anything deeper is rarely explored.

When Kim didn't want Ron to be the mascot in "Attack of the Killer Bebes", there's no reason given.

When she's jealous of Yori in "Gorilla Fist", it's only hinted that it's because of her romantic feelings for Ron.

And she certainly doesn't actually talk about her feelings afterwards.

Her underlying thoughts, feelings, and motivations are rarely explored.

A girl power show should explore the thoughts and feelings of it's main character.

Competent Heroes

In Teen Titans, the Doom Patrol are in fact skilled and competent, even if they "die" a lot.

In X-Men: Evolution, the older heroes are actually good at what they do.

In Winx Club, the Specialists aren't considered less competent, they're just trained differently. And the older heroes are, in fact, very skilled.

In those shows, the more experienced and professional heroes are actually shown to be competent.

In Kim Possible, Agent Du and Team Impossible are (supposed to be) less skilled than Kim.

(Though, really, the laser web thing isn't a fair assessment of ability if they're not starting from the same place.)

While I get that Kim is supposed to be the hero, it'd be more impressive if the professional heroes were actually portrayed as good at their jobs.

The other shows don't require dumbing down the professionals to make the heroines shine, so Kim Possible shouldn't need that either.

A girl power show shouldn't need the professionals dumbed down for the girl to shine.

Independence

In the other shows, each girl is a formidable force on their own.

Maybe not able to take down every bad guy on their own, but certainly able to hold their own in a fight.

But in Kim Possible, Kim is dependent on Ron and Wade to succeed.

(As shown in "Bueno Nacho" and "A Sitch in Time".)

She is completely incapable of handling missions on her own, making her unable to be a stand-alone hero.

The main character of a girl power show should be capable of doing things without her sidekicks.

Kindness

In the other shows, the main heroines are shown to be kind to others, even those outside their immediate friend group.

A few missteps along the way, but rarely ever having malicious intentions.

Not never, but rarely.

And especially no ill intent towards their friends.

Being kind takes a lot of strength at times, so a heroine who is kind is strong and worth looking up to.

(Seriously, kindness is powerful. The world needs more of it.)

But Kim isn't very kind to her loved ones.

Don't get me wrong, she saves the world and does other things to help people, but the way she treats those closest to her is not kind, and not worth looking up to.

Hyper-competitive, bossy, controlling, condescending, judgmental, etc. These aren't actually behaviors we want little girls emulating.

A kind heroine is more powerful than a bossy, controlling, judgmental, overly-competitive one.

Acknowledgment

In the other shows, the heroines acknowledge their teammates' contributions, and don't feel jealous or threatened when one of them is better than them at something.

In Winx Club, Stella, a character who could have been a stereotypical vain, spoiled princess, is constantly praising her friends on their accomplishments.

In X-Men: Evolution, the girls acknowledge each other's strengths and skills.

And in Teen Titans, Starfire is constantly showing her friends affection and believing in their abilities. Raven too, but not quite as enthusiastically.

But in Kim Possible, Kim refuses to acknowledge Ron as important to her success, and never gives him credit for his contributions.

(Well, not to his face.)

And, while she might praise Wade when he does something cool, she clearly doesn't value him very much, as shown by her comment in "The Truth Hurts" and her disregard for his warnings in "Queen Bebe".

A role model has no problems acknowledging the contributions of others and respects her teammates.

Training

In the other shows, the heroines are shown training in the use of their powers.

But in Kim Possible, Kim is naturally good at everything.

Okay, maybe not driving or cooking, but Kung Fu and cheerleading, to name a few.

The only time we see Kim practice anything is cheerleading, but "A Sitch in Time" revealed that she was an expert from the beginning.

She was good enough at Kung Fu to impress Hirotaka, a life-long student of Kung Fu, despite saying herself that she only dabbles in it, and she's never seen training in it.

It's not even mentioned that she had any actual training in it.

And, honestly, "naturally good at everything" is hard to emulate. It's not easy to look up to "impossibly talented" when you're older.

A heroine who fails and keeps trying is more admirable than one who never fails.

Varied Interests

In the other shows, the female characters don't all have the same interests.

Teen Titans has Raven interested in things like books while Starfire is interested in cute animals.

X-Men: Evolution has Jean do basketball and soccer, Kitty enjoys theater and parties, and Rogue likes literature, to name a few.

Winx Club has Stella into fashion, Musa is interested in music, Tecna likes technology, Aisha likes sports, and Flora likes nature.

But in Kim Possible, the girls are all interested in the same things; boys, boy bands, pop music, fashion, celebrities, etc.

(Aside from Monique's interests in wrestling and extreme sports, which never get brought up more than once each.)

Despite Kim herself doing Kung Fu and other extreme sports on the regular, the other girls are shown to only be interested in stereotypical teenage girl things.

(Again, aside from Monique's interests that are only mentioned once each.)

(And also aside from Zita, who is stated as being interested in video games and on the swim team, but disappears after her second episode until "Graduation".)

A girl power show would have girls with a variety of interests, not just the stereotypical ones.

Romantic Relationships

The other shows have great romantic relationships.

In Teen Titans, Robin/Starfire had build-up, despite their interest in each other being obvious from the beginning.

In X-Men: Evolution, Jean/Scott had build-up despite their feelings being clear from the beginning, and Kurt/Kitty were never more than friends with them both ending up in relationships with other people.

In Winx Club, all the relationships took time to build up, and some don't stay together forever but neither half is entirely demonized for it.

But there wasn't a lot of build-up for Kim/Ron, with Kim insulting Ron for suggesting people might think they date and Ron expressing discomfort at the idea of dating Kim.

A girl power show should have a proper build up to a romantic relationship.

Lack of a Fool

In the other shows, there is no one "fool" character who is a majority of the humor.

There is no one character who is the butt of all the jokes.

Sure, Teen Titans has Beast Boy, who's pretty humorous and funny, but his abilities and skills as a hero are still acknowledged and respected.

And plenty of the humor comes from other characters as well.

X-Men: Evolution has Nightcrawler, who certainly jokes around a lot, but he's still taken seriously in serious moments.

And other characters contribute to the humor of the show to.

But in Kim Possible, Ron isn't taken seriously.

Ron, despite having many moments where he shows impressive skills, isn't taken seriously as a hero.

His feelings are also rarely taken seriously, even about things that are pretty serious.

And Ron is responsible for 90% of the show's humor, often at his expense.

Ron is meant to be a bumbling, clumsy, inept, incompetent character to emphasize how much Kim shines.

But a real girl power show doesn't need that, because the heroine(s) shine anyways.

Summary

Unlike some of the other "girl power" shows of the time, Kim Possible decided the only thing that's important is that Kim is capable of fighting bad guys.

But a strong female character is so much more than fighting bad guys.

Now, I'm not saying the other shows listed handled everything perfectly. I know some things were handled poorly, but in terms of "girl power", they were still handling it better than Kim Possible.

And, shockingly, only one of them was even intended to be a "girl power" show.

I guess a better girl power show would have girls as people first, icons second.

[sabrina-bee-art]

Roxy, or The tragedy of being a background character in your own story

Ok, let’stalk about our new “main” girlie. She is sometimes introduced as the seventh Winx and among fans, it is generally agreed, that Roxy gets severely sidelined in the coming seasons and never really becomes part of the main squad. I don’t think that was ever intended for her, especially considering how this season plays out. I think she was supposed to be introduced as a bridge between the OG Winx and a new Alfea group, maybe with the OG characters popping up here and there as cameos.

Don’t get me wrong, I do like Roxy and I like what her character could have been. I don’t personally think it would make sense for her to become the seventh Winx, because she is…well the timeline is unclear, but anywhere between 3 to 5 years younger than the Winx. They already graduated Alfea. Roxy is sixteen and only just this season discovers her powers and has so much yet to learn and to grow, and that’s fine. That is potential right there. Like I said, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that she was supposed to be the main girlie of the new Alfea generation. Alas, that did not happen, so let’s look at what we got this season.

Roxy grew up on Earth, believing she is a normal teenager, and then she suddenly finds out that she is a fairy, and that magic is real. This mirrors Blooms introduction from the first season, but in contrast to Bloom, Roxy is immediately hunted by enormously powerful villains (or at least we think so until they develop their sad piece of toast syndrome). From the first moment, she is drawn into this conflict between ancient fairy hunters and powerful older fairies. My point is, she is thrown into a dangerous and harrowing situation right from the start. She has no time to enjoy or really discover her powers, or the Magical Dimension, before some asshole wants to rip it straight out of her fingers again. Or…straight from her back I guess. All she experiences as a fairy is threats and danger and fear for her life and her loved ones, not really any positives at all, so I think her struggle with this new identity makes sense. She is overwhelmed and scared.

The way it is introduced to us, however, does not work imo. At the point all this happens in Episodes 6 and 7, we don’t know Roxy yet, she just got introduced that episode. Sure, she showed up here and there in little scenes and to the audience it’s clear that she is the last fairy the Winx are looking for, but during these we don’t see her character. We don’t spend any time with her so that, when these big character moments happen, it just doesn’t land. It seems to be coming out of nowhere and they seem almost comical set against new Winx transformations and the villains ridiculous monologuing.

If we contrast Roxy’s introduction with Blooms the difference becomes even more jarring. In the first episode of season 1, we spend a good amount of time with Bloom before she even meets Stella, so we get to know her a little. And it takes yet another few episodes for Bloom to reach a point where she has an internal crisis on the scale that Roxy has right at the start of her arc, and by that time we know Bloom and we care for her. Roxy never gets the same treatment in the writing. I wonder whether it was ever discussed in the development stage of this season, if it wouldn’t be better to tell the story out of Roxy’s perspective. The way I see it, that would make more sense narratively. But I guess they didn’t want to give up the brand recognition of the main six.

So after the initial introduction, Roxy get’s possessed by an evil fairy in Episode 9. That doesn’t make her think favourably of fairies either and I think that makes total sense. After her first transformation, in Episodes 12 and 13, we have the same problem of her experiencing big emotional moments, we don’t really have any context for, because we still haven’t really spent any time with her and gotten to know her. She just seems to fade into the background when she’s not in one of those big moments, because there is so much going on and there’s so much focus on the Winx and their various dramas and the Love & Pet shop and the Rock Band, there’s no time dedicated to getting to know Roxy better and she seemingly gets over these issues as quickly as they came up. Sometimes she’ll have a line like “Maybe I can still be a regular girl while being a fairy.”, which is supposed to remind us of her character conflict and…show progress I guess?

In the last third of the season her struggle is almost completely dropped. Roxy gets telepathic messages from Morgana and it’s uncomfortable for her, and intrusive. And then she has to discover that her ancestors, the people whose culture she shares and that might help her with her new fairy identity, turn out to be genocidal maniacs and want to destroy humanity, her home, her friends and family. And then she also discovers that she is the direct descendent from the leader of these people, the fairy queen. And without any real resolution for her different struggles, at the end, she embraces her identity and that’s just…the end for her.

There’s the illusion of character development, but really it’s just randomly pieced together moments. We lack the connective tissue between the big important beats. So they don’t have the impact they could have because Roxy as a character is still not that important to us. I feel like there should have been way more emphasis on Roxy’s journey, generally this season, but especially in the later third. She is just…sort of there. In the background. While all the action and conflict falls to Bloom. Roxy doesn’t take up centre stage in a conflict, that affects her the most of all the characters. The Wizards are after her, they destroyed her people and try to do so again. Her mother wants to destroy humanity. The Winx should be in the background because the only one with real personal stakes this season is Roxy. I think, if Bloom had taken a back seat, and not been so “uwu I’m the perfectest main protagonist and speech at you to resolve the conflict”, this season could have been really compelling. Bloom should have taken up the role of big sister and mentor for Roxy, like Daphne was for her.

Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I’m annoyed that this wasn’t Roxy’s season right from the start and we still faffed around at Alfea and had to sit through all the other distractions. And I’m annoyed that they didn’t even take Roxy to Magix so she could see what it really means to be part of that world.

[charmixpower]

Riven: Even without a voice, you put on the most amazing concert. You saved Alfea. I just wish I could be half as remarkable as you. I wasn't able to save your voice, and I couldn't be there for you once it was gone. You deserve better

You know what???? From on this has got to be genuinely the best late season Riven arc. I'm not even doing a bit or anything. S6 is genuinely selling me on their breakup as a mutual and healthy thing and Riven wanting to reflect and grow to be a better person for both himself and Musa. I WISH THEY SPENT MORE TIME ON THIS ARC INSTEAD OF PARTIES AND SKY'S RANDOM COUSIN

Everyone was warning me about s6 Riven, which is fair I'm sobbing and throwing a tantrum or whatever, but now that they're genuinely expanding on WHY he's acting like this and giving him motivation is really good. I wish he was like this from the beginning instead of just blowing Musa off for his boomerang. Like if this was the direction his arc was written from at the start I would have been all over it

Like s4 was annoying because Musa was rewritten to act more like the rest of the winx, s5 was annoying because despite giving me a lot of cute moments it was just dumb and didn't care about character, this however while being written in a way that doesn't make sense for his later motivation, could be genuinely a amazing arc AND character congruent. Seriously just like take out all the being the best stuff and over competitiveness that was smacked out of his head in s1, let him still be attentive when it really matters and just DROWN him in self worth issues and I would be yelling about s6 Riven the way I constantly cry over how much I love s2 Riven

Like you can still have them break up too! Id cry about it, not to mention kicking him off the show and making him do character development off screen robs the audience of a character arc, but like being there only when some shit is seriously going down isn't enough!! You should be continuously present obviously. This wouldn't stop that from happening!! Not to mention Riven doesn't fucking talk about stuff!! I love s2 Riven, he's genuinely trying his best but he doesn't say anything about Darcy until he's absolutely sure what the plan of action would be! He clearly doesn't like telling people about things when they're in the process of going down, so he probably is only going to mention this kind of stuff when Musa really presses him on it because he would want to get to a level hes proud of THEN tell Musa after it's already over

Oh my god this is how I felt watching the s1 final with Riven, when I stopped hating him.... God okay, S6 takes ONE win with how the second half of the Riven arc is CURRENTLY being handled. It's giving me ALL the thoughts and feelings about him

[vicontheinternet]

I need y’all to know that Aisha/Layla is not defined by swimming/being active. She is a girl who is sensitive and shows her emotions a lot. Yes she felt claustrophobic by her parents but she also loves her ppl and loves being a princess. She wears skirts and dresses and I need y’all to sit with why y’all think she isn’t any of that or wears exclusively shorts/pants when in canon she’s dress just as girly as any of other girls. Aisha was based off of Beyoncé in her destiny child’s era and while she was dress in camo and shit she was still feminine I need y’all to sit with why y’all always push aisha as this hypermasculine/tomboy/swimwear wearing only/shorts and pants wearing only girl because she’s not she wears skirts and dresses she’s not uncomfortable in skirts and dresses and i need y’all to get that

[wingshowdown]

ROUND THREE - DAY TWO

[rist-ix]

What do you think about the fact that the "light" put Valtor in a torture prison for almost two decades and how it could have affected him ? Love you meta btw

Thank you!! About the company of light sending Valtor to Omega…

welp. he had it coming

The exact circumstances of his imprisonment are, as usual, a victim to timeline wonkiness, so we can’t say for certain who it was that locked him up — whether it was Oritel and Marion before the Witches arrived to wipe Domino clean, or the Faragonda-Griffin-Saladin-Trio. But it is likely that Domino was destroyed before he was sentenced to eternity in ice, if not before he was even captured in the first place.

Going from that, Faragonda and Co. have just learned that their friends, their kingdom and their two young daughters (one of them a literal infant) were murdered as a final act of desperation/cruelty in the war. And they have the man who was complicit, if not actively executing said act, in their hands. If we assume that Valtor‘s fate was solely up to them, no Council and Light Rock involved, I totally get why they yeeted him to Ice Hell without hesitation. Any of his previous crimes would probably be enough to warrant that too already. I am frankly surprised that they didn’t straight up murder him on the spot, but that’s were my favorite headcanon that he’s pretty much unkillable (‘cause dragon fire) plays in quite nicely.

I love Valtor, he’s my pathetic lil meow meow, but he is also unrepentantly evil in canon. He’s living for the atrocities. He's doing it for power, but also DEFINITELY for funsies. There is the implication that his mothers can control his physical form, but even then, he never regrets anything he's done and would 100% do it again if given the chance. That is a) very sexy of him and b) a very good reason to put him in the freezer and never talk about him again. I'm with Faragonda on this one folks

That second question tho, how his imprisonment could affect him, offers a whole lot more options:

To be fair, I don’t think it was ever explicitly confirmed that Omega prisoners are awake and aware while frozen, I just like to do that in fics for the angst. But thats still 20 years he's just straight up missing, a lot of changes and developments that happened without him noticing. If he was frozen before Domino fell, thats one big newsflash for sure; if he knew beforehand, he's still terribly out of touch with how the dimension settled around that loss. I also like to think he does not understand half the lingo the trix throw at him. He fakes it till he makes it, but he is SO confused.

Going back to canon, there actually is one pretty big indicator that his imprisonment really fucked him up emotionally tho. And its in everyone's favorite episode too: the one with the ruins on Andros, where Valtor officially introduces himself to the Winx.

If we skip past his private conversation with Bloom (which would be a crime), and to the part where the Winx re-enter the fray to blast him with their colorful beams, we can see one INCREDIBLY quick shift in his behavior, to the point its almost jarring, and it's when Layla / Aisha steps up.

Up to this point, and really, in 95% of his battles, Valtor never loses his charming tone of voice and his calm demeanor. It's how he's mocking his enemies and asserting his superiority: he is so confident in his power that he doesnt even bother raising his voice, he just swats away spells and keeps up the chit-chat. That little shit. He's iconic that way.

Un-fucking-bothered.

But it also means that when he does lose his cool, its very noteworthy and makes it obvious he feels genuinely threatened or unbalanced. When Layla lands in front of him and announces herself as Princess of Andros, his face visibly falls. His smirk is wiped clean off, and he goes straight into the offensive, for the very first time that day.

No banter, no pulling his punches, he goes in for the metaphorical kill and leaves immediately after, with Layla permanently (for now) blinded in one shot. It's the only time i can remember that he specifically targeted her, and its with pure, unregulated rage and ruthlessness. Similarly, while he is doing his one-man world tour of planetary crisises, every planet suffers but Andros specifically is nearly wiped off of the star maps entirely.

While there is a point to be made about how the writers always seem to have it out for Layla, the watsonian reason for this that jumps to my mind is that Andros, for the past 18-20 years, has been his jailor. I'm pretty sure i remember lines from the german dub about how Andros and everyone on it is worthless and deserves the same fate, but even without that, its pretty obvious that Valtor is pissed at them specifically. By doing their galactic duty (or political responsibility) and guarding the Omega Gate, Andros has ensured Valtor stays nice and frosty for almost two decades. While his outward reaction - anger and violence - demonstrates his desire for revenge, his sheer lack of restraint and impulse control hints more at fear in my opinion. In the latter half of s3 we only ever see him freak out like this when he is actively losing the war. He is the animal that bites when cornered.

We cant be sure he was aware in his cell, but if just the mention of Andros can set him off like this, we can assume he really doesn't like to think about it, and might even have some form of PTSD sticking with him. And since his only reaction to fear at this point seems to be maiming and murdering, this will likely contribute to his evil-and-lovin-it problem.

Excellent ask anon!!

[stellasolaris]

What does canon suggest about Riven and his background? I will share some of my thoughts about Riven's background and potential socioeconomic status in this post. As always, these are just my opinions. (If anyone's wondering: no, this is not the meta post that I was talking about in one of my other posts.)

I'll start by saying that my following thoughts are based on the RAI dub and the first four seasons (S1-4) as I don't consider anything past season four canon. However, I'm mainly going to focus on seasons one and two in this post.

As pointed out by many, the one-on-one scene between Sky and Riven in 2.08 is the closest we get to Riven directly confessing that he is (or has been at some point in his life) from lower-class origins.

Riven: Must be nice being a prince. You spend your whole life learning from the best.

I agree that this does give us some indication of his social class, mostly because this line fits with the rest of his characterization that's established in the earliest seasons, but even on its own, it does imply that Riven isn't nearly as privileged as Sky. He wouldn't make a comment specifically about Sky's access to highly qualified teachers if he didn't feel like he lacked them in some capacity. In other words, when we take into consideration his character as a whole, it's implied that Riven has not had as many resources growing up. This hints at him being from the lower class or relating to the struggles of someone from the lower class.

It's important to note here that this isn't the first instance Riven has expressed distaste or a mocking attitude toward privilege. It is also equally important to understand why he reacts so strongly to it. It's not that he hates or dislikes anyone who's above him in wealth or opportunity. I think he primarily has an issue with the injustice of being looked down on, of not being treated fairly, of not performing well enough. He's sensitive to people being ignorant of their privileges, which is why he often calls it out, but it's not necessarily out of resentment toward the person or their social class, but rather an indicator of his roots and how he feels about privilege in general. 2.21 is a good example of this, which I will get into later.

The reason Riven is so aggressive and abrasive in the first season has to do with a myriad of things, but it makes the most logical sense that he's likely had a bad childhood (aka trauma) and experienced being treated unfairly by either the system or people above his status. Riven wouldn't otherwise feel so strongly about privilege in season two or make patronizing remarks that are directly about one's social class in season one.

Sky (Brandon): What Riven means is that perhaps it would be best for you to go back to Alfea while we try to capture that animal. Riven: We don't need your editorial comments, Your Highness.

Brandon (Sky): Riven, you've gone too far! Riven: You're just Prince Sky's yes-man, Brandon. Why don't you go clean up his stables?

In season one, Riven likely projected a lot of his personal issues and insecurities on Brandon and Sky and their class dynamic as a whole—primarily his trust issues and feelings of inferiority—but after the infamous monster scene in 1.22, he goes through a ton of humbling and character development. He grows as a person and learns to trust and appreciate the boys, and most importantly, he starts to embrace himself. He also finally feels accepted by the group, which makes him want to clean up his act even more.

By the time we get to season two, Riven is relatively calmer and significantly lacking in condescension. The comments he continues to make about privilege are mostly a nod to his background and how he feels about unfair advantages. This is why we see a much more mature and open version of Riven in season two where he continues to make remarks about privilege on several occasions, but he's much more reasonable about it.

I want to thank @skylaryozora for mentioning the following scene in 2.21 because it ties in perfectly with what I've been explaining so far.

Riven: Well, I think it's high time you girls get a taste of what life's like where you don't have magic powers, and all you can count on are your wits and your muscles.

In this episode, Bloom says she finds it hard to get used to not having magic powers, which leads to Riven making the aforementioned comment. Similar to 2.08, he indirectly calls out the privilege (albeit a different kind) but doesn't make a big deal out of it. He's most likely talking from personal experience and having had to count on his "wits and muscles" as a kid. He isn't angry or insulting in this scene, but he does acutely notice the difference between himself and others when it comes to having unearned advantages or a better upbringing or better circumstances, and again, he wouldn't continue making these types of remarks if it wasn't deeply personal to him.

Riven's comments based on 2.08 and 2.21 alone suggest that he's had to work hard on his own to get to where he is. It's blatantly obvious he knows what a lack of privileges (and likely economic instability) feels like, probably more than anyone else because the writers make it a pattern to have Riven point out these things.

Let's talk about Riven's skills and what they mean for his character

I don't think it's a coincidence that Riven is good at creating lock picks from scratch . . .

. . . or that his stealth and wilderness survival skills are impeccable compared to others

. . . or that he's exceptionally resourceful and adaptable

. . . or that he's good at spying

These are generally not skills someone randomly picks up or excels in after a year or two of training. These are skills usually associated with people who've had to look after themselves, watch their backs, and protect themselves—people who are more likely to come from the lower class than the upper class. These "street smarts" skills might not hold a lot of weight on their own but together they form a bigger picture as to what Riven has possibly gone through to obtain these skills. (Yes, I'm sure they teach all these skills at Red Fountain, but what I'm getting at here is that Riven's expertise lies in these skills, and I think it was an intentional decision on the writers' part to showcase these particular skills.)

It's also important to consider Riven's fighting style in season one. It's not very polished. It's rushed. It's rough. It's very direct and brutal. He's not afraid to play dirty. Riven almost seems inexperienced compared to the other guys when it comes to technique and formal training, which suggests that Riven has likely been self-taught for the most part or lacks some private or selective education.

Incidentally, and this is more of a personal note, I think one of the primary reasons why Riven seems to always lose to Sky in one-on-one combat is because Sky has an edge over Riven when it comes to technique. But when it comes to other skills, like racing and wilderness survival instincts, Riven is better than Sky—the former being canon, as witnessed in 2.01. In spite of this, Riven feels a little insecure and bitter about not being as good as Sky. That lack of technique, coupled with a lack of opportunities, might be what he thinks is holding him back from being one of the best students in Red Fountain. The balcony scene in 2.04 is interesting in that regard because Riven appears to feel some type of way about the fact that Brandon and Sky were chosen to accompany the girls to a mission instead of him. He doesn't express it outright, per se, but you can tell by his tone and posture that he wishes he was included.

While the show deservedly gets a lot of criticism for its bad writing, season one is mostly decent in terms of character portrayals and has some of the best writing in the series. As I mentioned before, I think the writers were intentional with their decisions to paint Riven in a certain way, to have him say certain things, to give him certain skills that set him apart from the other characters, and in several ways, the narrative of his story gives us many details hinting at his background.

All in all, it's not strictly canon that Riven grew up financially lower class as we don't have any direct statements in the show about his background. However, I think there are more than enough allusions pointing to Riven having had to be independent and live in less-than-ideal circumstances with limited resources, so the idea of him having had a rough childhood (economically and otherwise) or being from the lower class at some point or another in his life is not unfounded. Personally, I think it's heavily implied.