#winx sotlk

[snarky-art]

bbyyyy SOTLK dresses redesign?

These were actually really interesting to work with, both in trying to keep colors and shapes from the original dresses combined with adding my own lore to it! Except for Aisha’s which wounded my so. I really wanted to keep her flowers but I just,, couldn’t get it to look right🥲 I added purple instead tho which is the color of the flower of andros, which is similar in appearance to a Camas Lily. They bloom in lush expansions all along the coast of the land of Androsia, where the mainland and sands meet.

More info on outfits below!

Musa: Tang dynasty influence. Did my best to keep some of the shapes from the og gown. The 2 red dots that I’ve featured a few times in either side of Musa’s mouth in different designs represent loudness and boldness and are commonly used symbols in a lot of melody, which are traits one would want to represent when holding as representation for the different cultures of Melody, proud of their heritage and great unbending will.

Aisha: mentioned some above about the purple additions to be the substitutes for actual flowers. Kept the split down the middle at the dress itself, just changed its length and shape, trying to keep the shape of the original one some with the purple bits below the corset tho

Tried to keep more true greens than teals too. She deserves more sleek satin fits also. Most of the stuff I draw her in I imagine there’s satin I just decided to do shading this time lol

Tecna: I decided before even designing this I wanted to keep that jacket on them at all costs. Happy with the shapes overall here and really love the colors. Probably my favorite of these looks. Shiny pants and silk featured because they look good on them. To me, they aren’t Tecna if they don’t have some weird heels too.

Flora: probably my least favorite design just because I feel like I need to get better at giving them more variety in their outfits, but I did what I could to keep a lot of the shapes present. Instead of those 2 long flower strands, I just had them replaced with the split full of flowers down the side.

Bloom: empire waistlines are very much the norm in Dominion fashion with not as many ruffles or as expanded a gown shape as featured here, but Bloom is new to this and her parents wanted her to be as comfortable as possible for the celebration. Bloom got to have direct input on the adjustments to the dress and is living the princess dream she’s always wanted currently. She intentionally looks a little awakward as a result, the stylists doing what they could to accommodate what she wanted and mesh it with traditional Dominion fashion styles to reiterate that Domino is what she represents. The slightly more formal front hairpiece with the additional 2 gold curls is present to make the statement that Domino is so back and Bloom is even wearing the golden headpiece that the heir wears to show this. It’s not until after the party she learns it was Daphne’s, and that leads to some Insecurities and the reality of what reviving Domino actually means for Bloom. More spirals coming in waves after this point. As always with Dominion garb the cyan gems are for those of the royal family and purples are for those that work with The Dragon Flame.

Stella: by this point in the story, Stella really starts to get more involved with Lunarian stuff and connect with her moon culture. It starts small in her presentation, with certain cuts of cloth (the slope of the fabric on the top part of the skirt) and the style of some of her jewelry, specifically the one with gems that is tilted to match the fabric shape and the incorporation of more blue gems. She also stops straightening her hair all the time (her hair is blonde from her mother, whom is Lunarian, but the saturation comes from her Solarian genetics, making the color look like it’s from Solarian genetics. Straightening it to match the majority of Solarian hair was a sure way to make sure she passed as Solarian until someone notices her pupils, which are Lunarian. She no longer fears if she’s passing or not. She is learning to take pride in her moon side).

Stella choosing to have the little blue gems on the bottom of her gold gem dress bit instead of gold or more orange is a bold move also she is starting her proper journey to doing joint work and advocating properly for systemic change for Lunaria.

[evicrystal7]

Queen Marion of Domino

[folkloristico]

Spoiler!

I was responding by explaining how I reimagined the Dragon Flame lore, but it was turning out to be a terribly long info-dump, so I just had to cut that part out—and I still ended up writing a lot. Sorry about that!

Basically, roughly 1200 years prior Bloom’s birth, a civil war forced the Court of Domino to find another way but childbirth to pass on the Dragon Flame to another guardian.

They succeed, but the ritual they come up with is complicated. That is because, when transmitted naturally, the Dragon Flame grows with its guardian, but to inject such an amount of power into a person all at once would kill them.

The solution is to seal the Dragon Flame under many locks; there isn’t a precise number, it mostly depends on the situation. Based on how many locks you intend to create, there are people—I haven’t figured out their names yet—who help the current guardian to keep the power under check while it’s being transmitted to the next one.

Nobody has ever succeeded to pass it on at will alone.

Until Daphne.

The war is particularly hard on her. On one hand, she is the guardian of the Dragon Flame—Marion still has fire magic and shares a link to the Dragon Flame, but what remains in the past guardians is just a trace, a faint glimpse of it. Daphne feels it should be her, more than anyone else, to be fighting Valtor and the Coven. But on the other hand, she knows Marion and Oritel won’t let that happen.

Having both been raised by strict parents (Marion’s mother and Oritel’s father were especially shitty), Marion and Oritel try to not make the same mistakes. As a result, they tend to overcompensate, and Daphne can sense that. She’s a smart, receptive child. She doesn’t want to see her parents more hurt than they already are, so she always tries her best to not let them down. She tends to keep everything bottled inside of her. She almost never fights back, never complains.

But she knows to her bones that the war is getting close with each passing day, and she cannot let the Dragon Flame fall into the wrong hands. She starts researching any other way she may pass on the Dragon Flame to someone else (her newborn sister is her first guess) should anything happen, and she tells no one. (Griffin suspects something, and in the first draft I have Daphne openly asking her for help, but I’m considering whether I should cut that part out.)

The Coven attacks, and Daphne actually manages to pass on the Dragon Flame to her sister. Then Domino is destroyed, Bloom gets sent on Earth—you know how it goes.

When Domino is revived, everybody is happy and ready to party, but the sentiment doesn’t last long as reality soon kicks in. Daphne is made corporeal soon after that thanks to Bloom and Griffin, but Marion and Oritel find her… changed. She’s tired, both physically and mentally.

She and Oritel get into a fight when Oritel says something condescending and he’s literally shocked at Daphne’s response, she’s never acted like this. Like—Oritel realizes—a young woman her age.

Returning to life is hard on anyone, of course, but Daphne seems to be suffering in a different way than any of them. She has missed so much, like anyone from Domino has, but it’s not only that. She feels incredibly old and young at the same time.

When Oritel discovers how exactly she was able to pass on the Dragon Flame to Bloom, he is… many things. Shocked. Incredulous. That’s what their fight is about, and it’s like the pressure of constantly keeping any emotion under control snaps in Daphne all at once. 

Marion’s role in their conflict is complicated. Upon being revived, she barely feels like herself. It’s like she’s constantly on the edge of breaking into a million pieces, much like Daphne (and Oritel, too) is. Daphne’s current status is worse than she’d thought and she’s devastated. She feels like she has failed Daphne. It scares the hell out of Marion to think that she has tried so hard not to follow her mother’s example, only to retrace her footsteps backward to the same result—building a wall between her and her daughter.

Of course, having the Bloom situation to figure out doesn’t help. Instead of one, Marion is left with two daughters whom she can’t understand.

All of this happens around the same time Marion has offered Bloom to invite Mike and Vanessa to Domino, but it was before Oritel and Daphne’s fight, when Marion thought things were starting to settle down. There’s a lot of angst, but also some degree of second hand-embarrassment because they’re just standing there like 🧍

(I was actually planning to have Bloom walk in the middle of the fight, but having Marion being the one who does is even better. I love how the second part of my SotLK rewrite is basically family drama and suffering.)

[darkpoisonouslove]

spoiler! :)

In my version of SotLK Mandragora is imprisoned in the underwater prison on Andros. In order to enter Obsidian Winx need to break her out of there because they have no official permission by the Council to free her or go anywhere near Obsidian for that matter. They get her to agree to help them by promising her transfer to a prison on Solaria where she won't be forced to exhaust all of her magic just to be able to breathe. They end up on trial with the Council in the beginning of season 4 with several different charges pressed against them, one of which being breaking out Mandragora but that is pretty minor compared to the rest of their crimes.

send me "spoiler" and i'll give you a spoiler for a WiP my Winx rewrite

[folkloristico]

Technically speaking, I don’t think it’s fair to say that Bloom didn’t ‘deserve’ her Enchantix when she went to any lengths to earn it and actually worked her way through it. But the thing is, she shouldn’t have been able to. I don’t know what the writers were thinking, either they straight up forgot about the rules they established or wanted to push the narrative that Bloom is so special and all that. But honestly, they could’ve just said, “You usually earn Enchantix by saving someone from your home planet, however…”

Not to mention, I don’t really buy the fact that Bloom was suddenly so weak compared to the other Winx when she was gifted with the most powerful magic in the entire universe. I’m aware that, from season 3 and on, different transformations are more a way to milk money by promoting merch than they are useful to the plot, but still, there were so many routes they could have gone with Bloom instead of granting her an Enchantix transformation that, albeit incomplete, it shouldn’t have been there in the first place. The first three seasons heavily revolved around the Dragon Flame, so you know, use it.

From a character standpoint, Bloom brute forcing her Enchantix is actually pretty well done and adds to her character, especially in the fact that by brute forcing it she got an unstable transformation. It not only demonstrates her force of will but her straight up recklessness too. I really do like how it was done.

Now from a world building standpoint? I fucking hate it. It’s the worst. Already saying that Enchantix is the final fairy form is dumb because you know it isn’t. Rainbow was gonna milk Winx for everyone it had. But in-world, establishing rules and then breaking them a few episodes later is just really annoying. Imagine if idk they said you had to conquer a fear to earn Charmix but Bloom was so special that she didn’t have to. She just had to really really want it.

It would’ve been far more interesting imo if Bloom had to find a workaround or just straight up couldn’t earn it, no matter how hard she tries, but still goes off to learn magic and be better in touch with it. Maybe she becomes a more skilled fighter, or she learns some more advanced spells that the rest don’t know and just generally picks up more of a technical understanding of magic to make up for no Enchantix.

And then maybe in the movie when she frees Domino there can be a big scene where she earns it idk

[winxwiki]

Mermaid Magic is a decent tech demo for the future and I'm cautiously optimistic for the Winx Reboot

I was very negative on Mermaid Magic when it was announced and when I saw how the marketing was done. There's still no merch announced for Italy or Europe in general, no dolls, nothing. Hopefully the Rai broadcast brings something from licensors, but nothing has been leaked or announced.

Yet, I will say that it was a very enjoyable watch, despite some flaws (it gets better as you keep watching!). It really felt like I was watching something from early Rainbow, more in line with the Winx movies (SOTLK and 3D) in terms of writing and Rainbow's classic quirks that got ironed out with Nick's acquisition and subsequent demands from broadcasters. Large male cast, plenty of diversity, very pretty backgrounds and worldbuilding, decent animations (despite a very obvious low budget) and surprisingly complex plot (for the target audience, of course). We even got some monster guts and human blood. And butt shots. Butt shots are back. These are all healthy signs.

If the reboot is as decent as Mermaid Magic we're good. And considering the immense budget and marketing, they better not fumble this!

[charmixpower]

I know I'm massively late but shhhhhhh I was tired and busy leave me alone

Anyways here are some Rivusa Valentine's Day headcanons that I've been planning on writing

I'll write headcanons for everyone else later XD

They're first Valentines is in fucking s3

THEY ARE BUSY!!! Shit keeps hitting the fan and they really don't have time. Not to mention no one really wants to go off on their own in fear that they'll be targeted and picked off, especially after what happens to Tecna

Riven is bad at emotions and has literally only been in one relationship with someone who tricked him into said relationship and proceeded to try and murder magix. So he's not counting that one

Tbh he's mostly just watching Stella/Brandon and Flora's relationship and trying to figure it out from there

Musa is a massive romantic and would usually be super excited but right now she's busy crying her eyes out because she and her best friends keep nearly dying and it sucks a lot

If anyone remembers one of Riven's nicknames for Musa in my thing is Kola or Kola Bear and all versions of that because of the way she grabs on to his arms (see: s2 finale, she does that often in my version, she's a huge cuddler) so Riven buys her a little Kola plushie holding a rose for her 🐨🌹(under the watchful eye of Mirta, Lucy, and Nabu who are making sure he doesn't get attacked)

Musa absolutely loves this?? He has a special little nickname for her and gets a gift based on it??? She's cooing over the plushie for days afterwards but the plushie stays on her bed

Musa got him some candies she thought he'd like. Riven doesn't eat candy often bc I know RF so it's a good occasion to have a little sweet treat

Then they mostly hang out on Alfea grounds with the rest of the Winx and Winx Bonus members because no one wants to separated and just hang out

The next Valentines Riven gets Musa another Kola Bear plushie this time with a heart 🐨 and she immediately picks up on the fact she's getting one every year

Helia and Brandon encouraged him to do this because it would become a routine with them, a little routine, they're thing™, they were right because Musa fucking loves the idea. She's gonna have a plushie for every year she's so excited to start amassing them

This year is also severely awkward for them because of the mind control stabbing in SotLK and how Riven is half avoiding Musa out of extreme guilt, but getting this plushie helps Musa strengthen her resolve that Riven does care he's just coping with that terrible situation in the opposite way that she is

Next year and...... Nothing is happening. Life is normal. There's nothing here to kill them.... They can just actually go out and have fun without fear of being interrupted by the world ending what the fuck

They go out on a date, Musa gets her Kola Bear and Riven gets candies from Melody, and they have a VERY nice day

Musa has a little part of her room that has all the kola bears as an adult, it's cute and sweet!! She loves adding another to her collection

[skylaryozora]

So I finally finished (re)watching S6 of Winx Club few days ago, and I gotta admit this was exhausting, I felt like I was wasting my time for the most part. From what I heard, S7 is even worse, so this marks the end of my "live" commenting era on IG.

I shared only a few comments about S1, because I didn't think anyone would really be interested in what I had to say. However, when I was finishing S2 and moving to S3, turned out I attracted quite a big audience, and my followers were eagerly waiting for my comments, which was quite a nice surprise. Since then I made a commitment to write longer remarks and pay attention to details, and all of that was fueled by my audience's feedback. Exchanging remarks with my followers was fun and thought-provoking, especially when we talked about complex issues.

I posted almost 400 stories about S3, almost 300 stories about S4, almost 200 stories about S5, same for S6. I also commented on SOTLK (The Secret of the Lost Kingdom) and MA (Magical Adventure), as well as on two seasons of FATE saga.

This kind of "live" commenting was both entertaining and time-consuming. With every season getting worse and worse than the first three which are, according to many, the best, I decided it's time to bring the commenting activity to an end, because S7 is considered the absolute worse from what I know, and S8 style is something I honestly despise. I have no idea if I will watch World of Winx, and the upcoming S9. Right now I feel I just got bored with the way this show is, so I will now focus on posting art from now on.

I posted some thoughts on particular moments from the show here as well, and some of you responded with your own insight, and I want to thank you for the engagement <3

[basementnoodles]

Mandragora Charather Redesign

Mandragora is the secondary antagonist in the first Winx film, Secret of the Lost Kingdom. She is the Witch of Insects, and the guardian of the Obsidian circle ( According to the Wiki )Her personality is one of a very theatric, over the top villain.

This is a very good concept, but im going to rewrite these aspects.In my rewrite she will no longer be the guardian of Obsidan, since the movie states that the position tends to corrupt the mind of the user, turning them against the magical dimension.Which brings into question why they ( highly likely the lightrock council ) saw fit to create the job in the first place.....good old Winx continuity.Instead, she is an....important member of the Ancestral Witches army that had managed to avoid capture of Intergalactarian forces for the last past eighteen years.The ancestral Witches tasked her with eliminating the Winx and Specialists so that they wouldn't find out the truth of what happened to Domino.She remains the Witch of Insects, but has been retitled to be the High Witch of Volumkinesis

Design :

Design Notes :

Firstly, I chose to change her signature color to a dark yellow, seeing as we already have enough green ppl in this franchise ( Selina, Tritannus, Lucy, Krystal, Miele, Roxy ( In canon ) , Aisha and Flora to a lesser extent.I kept some pieces from her original bodysuit and streamlined it so it looked like something we saw from the other witches in the series, but elevated since she is a High Witch.( See lore page for more details ) I tried to give her aspects of the Steampunk aesthetic with her glasses and belt ( they are potions that serve as boosters for her insects...couldn't find an organic way to include them in SOTLK. ) Her wings are not real --- Witches don't have wings, they are just an illusion spell that she added to her costume.Her handbraces ( the brown things, look below for a more detailed look ) are retractable knives whoms't tips are laced with a deadly venom.

Her main design inspiration was Doc Ock from Spiderman : Into the Spiderverse.

Initial Sketch :

" Default " Pose :

Here is how her design looks unaltered.Her hair is down in this frame because I hadn't decided on tying it back yet---I decided it ultimately because I didn't want her to look too similar to Stormy.I wanted it to have a more disheveled look....her eyes are now a brighter purple.Her ears are small, and curved, typical of the ears of a Callisto native.

The more detailed look at her armguards reveals what the poison looks like activated.The back of her Witch costume was supposed to serve as a cape of sorts, but I removed it from the final design because I thought it looked too crowded.....but I might add it back in if I choose to redesign it someday.

The photo on the bottom right shows my ( very first ) brainstorm. ( Yes she was going to be orange, no we will not talk about it )

That's about it from me...if you made it this far, ty for listening to my yapfest.

[bitchatcloudtower]

Do you think if they would've separate the Trix to different magical prisons then there would have been no chance of them escaping again?

And if so, where would you send whom of them and why?

My ideal version of SOTLK features Bloom realising she needs the Trix (as the descendants of the ancestral witches) to revive Domino. Commence a heist like sequence of events where she and most of the Winx and Specialists (Sky refuses to partake because he has insane antiwitch sentiment that’s just been strengthened over the course of s1-3 + Brandon is required by law to join Sky but he subtly helps them + Riven leaves the squad at the end of s3, rather than in s6 to figure his shit out) break the Trix out of their respective prisons (Darcy in Solaria; Stormy in Melody; Icy in Eraklyon) which takes place like a heist with scheming and near misses with death. Also angst as the Winx struggle to forgive the Trix and a staredown between Sky and Bloom on Eraklyon. The Trix begrudgingly agree to help as they want freedom (they’re very weakened by their imprisonment) and the Winx promise to let them go after the Domino plan succeeds. Or they all die on Domino. Either way the Trix can’t handle any more time in their prisons + separated (their link to eachother gives them strength + they’ve been gradually getting worse because the Dragon Flame from s1 is killing them from the inside out)

The final showdown features the Trix facing their own powers and eventually overpowering the Ancestral Witches’ influence on Domino. And combined with the Winx, they bring Domino back to life (in a sense.) Also bringing Domino back is how Bloom gets her Enchantix.

[daydreamsia]

Magical Adventure feels simultaneously like it takes place

before season 1 - with the Trix being around, like they haven't been sent to two different prison-like places already

after Secret of the Lost Kingdom - with Bloom being in Domino and the Trix working directly with the Ancestral Witches (like SotLK teased at the end)

after season 4 - since the Winx are Believix Fairies, but where is Roxy?

what a mess

[snarky-art]

if you don’t mind explaining, what are each of the specialists’ relationships with their formerly assigned winx members?

Sure!

Biggest changes out of the way first:

Musa and Riven aren’t together. They start dating near the end of s1 and then break up around 3/4 of the way into s2, basically before the big final battles are launched in Shadow Haunt. They start off a somewhat awkward friendship in s3, and after everything is done at the end of SotLK, they’re pretty solid friends.

Aisha and Nabu aren’t together ever, but fear not they’re besties.

Sky and Bloom start dating near the end of s1 and have a kind of flirtationship during s1, although Bloom takes longer to warm up to him that Sky does to her. They date through s2 and s3 and SotLK, and they’re just as messy as they are in canon. S4, it’s getting to be too much though for Bloom, especially with dealing with balancing Domino and Earth life and getting accustomed to royal life bs and learning an entire culture and history. Bloom’s still very real inferiority issues and messy relationship with her parents are present too because they have to learn who they are as individuals while also trying to overcompensate with each other, Bloom because she’s not Daphne and her parents because they want her to feel she really is their daughter and they love her even though they weren’t there for her whole life and they’re literally strangers to each other with only a blood familial tie and giant legacy holding them together, but this results in putting a shit ton of Domino Court shit on her (gotta make sure she’s included and knows they see her as their daughter and rightful heir despite everything that happened before) and it’s too much too much too much. S4 in my thing is partially Bloom running the fuck away from her responsibilities in the magical world, Domino specifically. She goes “oh I gotta go to Alfea to talk about stuff bye. Oh look, a big thing on Earth what a happy coincidence ok bye for who knows how long I gotta go-“ Her relationships are kinda strained in general in s4 since she isn’t great at handling pressure still, and Sky and her are still having the same issues of not communicating well about stuff and Bloom can’t even articulate everything rn and doesn’t know where to start and now she has to worry about potential queen regency stuff and stretching herself not only between Earth and Domino, but Eraklyon too? No, she can’t do this. She’s tired. She breaks up with him before the big final battle shenanigans and she does it super suddenly and loudly and then dips as per usual and Sky is like. “Wtf? Yo what the actual-“ They talk about it eventually near the end of s4 and Sky is rightfully miffed at how this has been handled and how Bloom is still. Running. Away. He hasn’t been the best to her he admits that but she’s also still doing the same things when backed into a corner. And that’s,, kinda the whole point. They’ve grown the most outside of each other, and then when with each other, are perpetuating the same things that are causing issues. Sky goes we could really work on it this time. Bloom says no, I’m too tired, and for once with Bloom looking at hindsight instead of thinking moment to moment for her basic non magical life stuff, she goes if we weren’t growing and trying to be better for each other the way we should’ve for 3 years, what makes this time different? And that’s that. They don’t really talk much for the first half of s5 but they still have to work together, and it’s Weird, but it eventually gets better. Bloom is trying to get better about not running, and she did enjoy Sky, just not as a partner by the end of it all, and Sky still thinks he and Bloom had some good times together and that she’s fun, so maybe they can try getting to know each other again? As friends this time. And they have a decent start to a proper friendship by the beginning of s6, ending s5 as close acquaintances. They don’t become besties or anything, but they’re close friends and they know they can count on each other.

Flora and Helia is the same as canon. They get together by the end of s2 and are adorable.

Tecna and Timmy get together in s2 and are also adorable.

Brandon and Stella get together in s1 and are the flirty fun sassy couple that everyone knows and loves.

[floralovebot]

on flora's whitewashing: is it possible that flora has been whitewashed in the show/movies with her artwork (illustrations) being fairly consistent with her skin tone, even prior to the reboots/nick era? like in season 1 and the movies iirc

examples: s1e3, and the movies like secret of the lost kingdom? i remember thinking she looked lighter in several scenes of lost kingdom and in that episode of season 1

i wonder if this is something that happened with flora in s1, with it not being or less a problem in s2 and 3, with the movie having a similar skintone to the reboot pictures. i swear that this has happened but i dont really see any discussions on rainbow lighting her skin other than in newer media (where it is more prevalent and more obvious) so if you have any thoughts? maybe also slightly on the merchandise/doll side of things if youre interested?

Rainbow whitewashing characters like Flora and Aisha has absolutely been an issue for a very long time. Unfortunately, a lot of white fans don't notice unless it's more of an extreme example (like Flora being stark white or Aisha looking like Bloom).

In the first three seasons, it's really not seen as a big issue because it's genuinely innocent on their part. Those seasons were hand drawn so every now and then you get a scene where the skin is too light or too dark and doesn't actually make sense with the lighting. Usually, it's an innocent mistake due to multiple artists, not understanding lighting, and things just slipping past them because they're looking at these scenes for hours and they get used to it.

Here are some examples from the first four seasons where their skin is too light even with the lighting happening around them.

And for reference, this is what their normal skin tone is (and what they look like in most scenes).

Again, people don't usually talk about these because it (most likely) wasn't racist or malicious intent from Rainbow. They just didn't understand lighting ajdhglad This actually happens with all of the winx! Just go through some episodes and you'll notice that even the white characters get lightened in ways that don't make sense.

As for the movies, Flora was 100% whitewashed in the first movie.

Flora got the brunt of it in sotlk - she's whitewashed for the entire movie, while Aisha is only whitewashed in certain scenes. There are scenes where both of them look normal and aren't whitewashed so maybe some fans just didn't realize, but if you watch the movie, you'll notice that Flora is whitewashed completely and only looks right when they're in super dark places which,, yikes ahdgalhg

The dolls were also a problem! The whitewashing in the doll lines heavily depended on the manufacturer though so it's very hit or miss.

A lot of the early dolls are perfect or almost perfect but some of them are whitewashed like in these examples. It's the later dolls that have the most whitewashing though so they tend to get more criticism (plus the early dolls are no longer being made).

Most of the other early (s1-s3) merchandising (like the magazines, bags, stickers, etc) didn't whitewash either of them.

I'd say almost all of the promotional art for the first three seasons was consistent and didn't whitewash any of the characters. It's hard to believe now of course but Iginio was initially really excited to make winx diverse (like he intentionally changed Flora to latina instead of white to make it more diverse). Rainbow intentionally whitewashing them really started with the first movie and then snowballed into what we have now. Unfortunately, I think so many white fans are so used to the whitewashing, that they've started to no longer even notice it unless it's super extreme. Like with the recent s9 promo art, most people weren't noticing Flora at all (and not ignoring her, specifically not noticing), and in a lot of fanart, they do not notice unless they're literally white.

Whitewashing has been a big issue in winx for years but I think there are a lot of fans who look at the early seasons with so much love and nostalgia that they don't want to admit it, or they don't understand how lighting affects skin, or their favorite character isn't Flora or Aisha so they just never pay attention to them (blorbo hyperbeam is very real). I'd still say that a lot of the early whitewashing was due to innocent mistakes regarding lighting and manufacturing, but the first movie was extremely on purpose (and so is everything after that).

[folkloristico]

Spoiler!

Another thing from the SotLK rewrite because that’s the biggest Winx WIP I got at the moment!

I’ve been trying to figure out how to make Obsidian work. In my understanding, Obsidian is a Pocket Dimension, mostly inhabitable, that was once used as a prison where people from all over the Magic Dimension would send the most powerful evil sorcerers. They would usually get thrown in there without food, water or any other means to survive, and since resources were lacking, it was anarchy.

Magic is like a living entity and it needs its balance, just like an ecosystem. Eventually, negative energy hoarded and it began to consume Obsidian from within, corrupting its captives. Accessing it became increasingly dangerous.

One day, a group of various sorcerers (I use sorcerer to refer to magic people in general, that would be witches, fairies, wizards, etc.) who’d been imprisoned tried to break free, and stopping them required the help of fairies, witches, wizards and mages from all around the Dimension. They agreed entering Obsidian was far too dangerous, but sending more prisoners was out of the question. The portal was sealed off and Obsidian laid unforgotten for some time.

It was Zenith and Andros, three centuries later, who decided to reclaim it. Their soldiers went in and never came back. Some prisoners escaped, but this time it was easier to contain them. At the time, the Interplanetary Accords (i.e. a joint force between all of the planets of the Magic Dimension, similar to ONU) had not yet been devised and therefore no planet could intervene without creating political tension. Espero in particular was furious; the portal leading to Obsidian was transferred to Espero and since then its trespassing has been forbidden by the Council (Espero is a Republic).

Upon learning Oritel and Marion are stuck in Obsidian, Bloom, the Winx and the Specialists can’t go there straight away. Saladin is able to pull a few strings thanks to his connections, both because his husband, Coriander (an OC ofc), is a diplomat, and because after Domino was destroyed, the remaining members of the Company of Light were regarded as some sorts of heroes because of their direct involvement in the war. Hagen was obsessed with looking for Marion and Oritel while Griffin was torn between guilt and a sentiment of scorn towards royalty, so it was mostly up to Saladin and Faragonda.

Anyway, both thanks to Saladin and to the fact that, having basically saved the Magic Dimension three times, the Winx have become quite important, the Council agrees.

During the meeting, Bloom is constantly being referred to as Princess and it’s an unsettling feeling for her. Having spent some time close to royalty in Solaria and in Eraklyon, it’s not the first time she’s addressed as such, but never to such a degree. The Council eventually agrees to let Bloom, alongside the rest of the Winx and the Specialists, go, but she can’t shake the feeling that not everyone is happy with the eventuality that she could succeed in her rescue mission. For political reasons, mostly. The sudden disappearance of Domino has created a political and economical imbalance in the Dimension which wasn’t always easy to overcome and the Council fears that bringing back a whole population may strike a similar reaction.

(Generally speaking, the implications of Bloom being royalty and Domino suddenly popping out of nowhere after almost two decades are an interesting topic to address and I have a lot built around that that I hope I can convey properly.)

[darkpoisonouslove]

1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 22, 23 for the choose the violence asks 🔪

1. the character everyone gets wrong

Faragonda. People either think that she's secretly a villain or that she's a meek, old grandma. The villain part is really annoying because people act like Faragonda sending the Winx on life-threatening missions is a writing choice made in regards to showing her character when it's a writing choice made for the sake of plot. The writers don't care how Faragonda comes off if they can get their little plot with getting the Winx to save the day work. It's true about everything. How come she spies on the Winx but never does it when they actually need help and she could save them but at the cost of interfering with the plot? Her seemingly keeping the Agador box (4x01) is just the writers being lazy with coming up with a new design for something that will be on screen for 10 seconds. Honestly, name one of her "shady" actions that cannot be explained as a plot convenience. The other side of the spectrum is honestly just... Are you blind? She clearly has a lot more backbone than people realize, yet when that's noticed, it somehow makes her a villain. I am tired.

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

Somebody implying that Daphne is at fault for getting killed by the Ancestral Witches because she chose to sacrifice herself for Bloom and she could have just let her baby sister get murdered if she'd wanted to save herself. What even???????? *flips table*

4. what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

I block over too many wrong opinions or just a few opinions that are Very Wrong TM. So it's usually that. I don't try to remember what exactly made me mad.

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

Roxy, kind of. I don't hate her but every time I see someone whining about her not being part of the later seasons and bemoaning the fact that she was supposed to be the seventh Winx but then dissapeared, I start to hate her... until I distance myself from that part of fandom. I think Roxy has much potential in her quality of being a foil to Bloom, someone with a very similar backstory but completely different feelings on magic and being a fairy. However, the writers are so hellbent on making her Bloom 2.0 that they completely ignore the differences between the two that they themselves wrote in and the fandom just makes all of that worse when they try to shove Roxy everywhere and force her into the same mold that the Winx fit into. Roxy should have gotten to decide for herself and instead of going to Alfea should have stayed at home with her long-lost mother. Morgana was literally the queen of the Earth fairies. I bet she could have taught Roxy everything she'd learn at Alfea and more, considering that Earth seems to have a different branch of magic altogether that probably differs from the curriculum at Alfea. Plus, that way she could have spent some time with the mother that is a stranger to her and she could have found her own path instead of being forced into something she clearly didn't want just to be like the Winx and, more importantly, Bloom.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

The idea that SotLK is a better movie than Magical Adventure. The way that Bloom makes headway in her search for her parents is so fucking random. We never learn how the Winx found Hagen, the English dub cut the part where Daphne explains why she now thinks that the Roc might have survived when, for 20 years, she believed it to have been destroyed, and the Book of Fate is the literal fucking worst plot device ever. It straight up tells them that Marion and Oritel are in Obsidian. Don't even get me started on the whole mess that happens once they get there or the search for the key to Obsidian. And the theme - if it can even be called that - is a joke.

Magical Adventure suffers from the fact that the scenes have to be in a certain sequence to make sense and keep the suspense but that sequence makes the story feel like two movies mashed into one. However, the two segments are not bad at all. Sure, there are things that don't work (ugh, that montage with the suitors - what were they thinking?!?!?!). But the movie tries to focus on Bloom's relationship with her birth parents, which the first movie completely skipped over. Bloom and Sky are actually somewhat likable. We see the Winx without magic which hasn't happened since when? Season 1? The Ancestral Witches are actually scary when they possess the Trix and the fights are interesting and creative. Plus, there is a coherent theme about how parents' actions affect their children (there was another nuance here that I can't remember now because it's been a while since I watched it).

Anyway, Magical Adventure supremacy.

9. worst part of canon

I already talked about all the bullshit in SotLK and besides I really hate what they did with Zenith. The source of most technological advancements and, of course, they made the whole society be logic-based and emotionless. I. Cannot. Stand. It! They should have made Zenith's technology come from a place of empathy, of wanting to improve life so much for everyone that they become too focused on their work and don't notice how they isolate themselves from everyone else, including each other. It would have been so much more interesting and they could have kept Tecna as a logic-driven person, who's not good with feelings because that's just who she is. She'd fit even better with Winx if she comes from a planet so dedicated to helping everyone else that they neglect themselves and their emotions.

10. worst part of fanon

Blorboifying Valtor. I'm sorry but if you think you want a real-life Valtor, you need to go outside and touch grass. Not to mention that Valtor stans in general seem to have a very distorted view of him. This man has the temper and anger management of a fucking toddler. The only reason why he manages to remain collected and calm a lot of the time is because pretty much no one can stand up to him and pose a threat to his plans and his ego. At the same time somehow people completely miss the fact that he's vain and self-centered and clinging so desperately to his charisma and skills because he knows that deep down he is nothing more than a monster that was created to be a tool for the Ancestral Witches and he hates that. He's practically in constant denial mode about how truly sad his existence is.

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Krystal! She's already at a disadvantage because she's introduced in season 5 AND is instantly shoved in the bullshit drama between Helia and Flora. I have seen people hate on her and call her a shady bitch when all she's done is be overexcited about seeing Helia and managing to defeat the Winx at volleyball and then realizing that maybe the situation came off wrong to Flora and trying to talk to her and tell her that Helia only loves her and he and Krystal are just friends. She's just an excitable teen and she's not at fault for Helia acting weird as fuck and introducing Flora to her as his "friend" as if they haven't been dating for 3 years. Smh. #JusticeForKrystal2kforever

14. that one thing you see in fics all the time

Giving alien features to the girls. Like, I get it but it's always surface level because in the end it's so much easier to work with humanoid characters that you don't have to invent a whole new biology for. It seems completely pointless and usually doesn't come into play a lot. It feels like it's added more for diversity points rather than because it's fun or interesting.

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

Making Flora a drug dealer. The "Flora does recreational drugs" take honestly feels like people are desperately trying to make her interesting because they don't like her as she's portrayed on the show. And the idea of "Flora is okay with parts of nature that are dangerous and volatile" somehow always seems to lead to "give Flora a gun" when the two have nothing to do with each other. Flora wanting to protect all nature as it is is one of her defining traits. It feels like people are trying to erase her gentleness because they think that a mild-mannered character is worthless. Honestly, the show doesn't help. They make her empathy come down to "don't hurt it" even when the "it" in question is trying to kill her friends. They could have improved on that by letting Flora specialize in restraining spells that don't hurt the creature they're used on so that she can protect her friends and stick to her beliefs.

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

The Company of Light. Even the writers ignore it because a) they did not think it through when they added that backstory and created several plot holes, b) they never did anything with it (for the last time - where's the fucking spin-off?!?!?!?!) and c) they constantly make all of the Company members appear incompetent and weaker than they are for the sake of the plot and letting the Winx in the spotlight. Give these people screen time! They are interesting and important! *cries*

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

I guess Blicy. I just didn't understand why Icy would want to date Bloom but I read a really good fic and I can see it now.

[bloomvalyria]

Winx

1, 6, 7, 9, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25

1. the character everyone gets wrong

- Most of them. But Sky in particular. (And I’ve been guilty of this.)

6. which ship fans are the most annoying

- Everyone except Brella fans lol. They are very chill and usually correct.

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how the fandom acts about them?

- Nex.

9. worst part of canon

- Sky wielding Oritel’s sword and being the “savior” in the SotLK prophecy

18. it’s absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on…

- icy in her fairy disguise from s2. definition of a baddie.

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

- The Pyros arc in s3. Can’t stand that shit.

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

- Darcy x Riven

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

- the two versions of dark bloom

23. ship you’ve unwillingly come around to

- None. I refuse to let any of you fuckers influence me.

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

- obviously my Top-Bottom factual statements. Some of y’all had some absolutely despicable opinions on that.

25. common fandom complaint that you’re sick of hearing

- That I need to accept Nex into my heart like he’s Jesus Christ and repent for still recognizing Nabu as a character in this series.