Can you rank all Winx transformations?

Winx transformations ranked!

Enchantix - My all time favorite! The big wings, the song, the hair ... Enchantix is such a vibe and it can never be topped

Winx - You never forget your first love. <3 The song is superior

Dreamix - I love it. They look so grown up (as they should)! (the song is catchy)

Onyrix - they all look like movie stars on a red carpet. Iconic (the song is not that original, but I’ll allow it)

Charmix - cute but ... not much of a change, right? Just the OG with a charm and a bag (lame song)

Believix (Zoomix/Speedix/Tracix) - I don't dig the costumes. To me, only Flora's seems fairy-like. Nope, don't like it. (love the song, tho)

Harmonix - what’s with the skirts? impractical, much? (the song is gooooood)

Sophix - lovely, with the flowers. Not ugly, but not good (lame song)

Sirenix - not enough mermaid-like. hat’s up with the hair? Just ... Why? (but the song smashes!)

Lovix - winter fashion (I don't see the love part - and what about the song???)

Butterflix - cute. Unfortunately it’s basically the same dress in different colors. I hate the little dance at the end (lame song)

Bloomix - Nope. Aisha’s the only good one (song so and so)

Mythix - I just don't like the animated style (sorry not sorry - song bah)

Tynix - What's up with the hair?! This whole subplot of the Mini Worlds is just not for me (lame song, bad design)

Cosmix - No. (bad song)

Rewriting some of the Winx Club villains (for fun)

I actually had a fun time with rewriting the Winx, and it seemed to have gotten positive reception! Thus, I thought I'd do rewrites for some of the Winx Club villains. Just like with my last post, this is NOT a "what would've made them better" post, but just my own interpretation of the characters based on the show (mainly the first 4 seasons as applicable) and some of the comics. And since I never did a post about recasting the villains (I only did so with the Winx and the Specialists), I'll include my dream voice cast here. Enjoy!

Ancestral Witches--In my rewrite, there's only one ancestral witch; I feel like it fits the primordial vibe more, but this is also because the witches don't have distinct personalities, and the Trix claim descent from all three of them, but this feels like they were moreso their reincarnations than their ancestors (though it could be both). This sole witch would be named Carabosse, named after the wicked fairy the Ancestral Witches are based on. She is created by Darkar as the first evil mortal (albeit with an extended lifespan due to magic, both hers and Darkar's), but she isn't his servant; she's his consort, and they exist as a twisted version of Hades and Persephone from Greek Mythology. Rather than having the same powers as the Trix, Carabosse has the ability of corruption, being the first mortal queen in the magical dimension (and ever, probably), and seen as doing her husband's dream of spreading evil throughout the world. The descendant of the holders of the dragon spark, Oritel, formed the Company of Light to defeat her, but they only managed in destroying her physical body, with her spirit still lingering. She is the first witch, as you may have guessed, and even in death, we are never truly rid of her, due to her divine marriage and long-forgotten magic that makes her influence permeate the most evil parts of the magic dimension.

I'd imagine she dressed in dark blue/black with orange-red gems and patterns, almost like she's made of lava. My ideal voice actor for her would be Colleen Wheeler, who did an AMAZING job of playing Mystique in "X-Men: Evolution."

The Trix--No need for introduction, the sisters of the Ice Kingdom are the most persistent villains in the series. In my rewrite, their realm wouldn't be known as the Ice Kingdom (since it kinda discards Darcy and Stormy, but Distorsione, Italian for distortion), said to be the base of Queen Carabosse. You'd think that being descended from her would offer the Trix some leverage, but the royal family has much closer ties to her while the Trix are distant relatives. The people there are reserved and standoffish, but not necessarily evil, though the Trix essentially ruin that perception and now it's a demonized location in the magical dimension. It's confirmed that the Trix are triplets and were abandoned by their family for the perceived threat they could pose in the future, and upon discovering this, they vowed to take over the magical dimension and retake what they believe to be their birthright. And it's worth noting that for most of the first season, no one knows who they are when they attack the winx; they have a "Superman" thing going on because of the makeup and clothes change; when in disguise, they dress similarly to their fairy disguises in issue #123 of the comic.

Icy has an on-and-off romance with Darko throughout the series (it's implied that they could've been something positive, but Icy is too focused on power and is willing to mistreat Darko, who, despite having his own issues, cared about Icy but is now mainly just courting her for potential power that he could wield as her consort). She also has a distaste for Bloom, given their powers are polar opposites, as well as the fact that Bloom was automatically revered for her potential while Icy was discarded for it. She also takes particular interest in tormenting Flora and Ariel (my rewritten version of Roxy), since I'd canonize the 4kids statement that she derives power from dead planets, and the fact that she doesn't really have any particular respect for animals and plants. I'd probably base her design on Taylor Swift, particularly during her "Reputation" era. I know the Trix weren't based on celebrities, but I thought it'd be a nice touch. I'd I'd like her to be voiced by Salli Saffioti, since I really liked her performance as Cleo de Nile on Gen 1 and 2 of "Monster High," albeit something a bit less regal. As usual, she wears shades of blue, though I like the idea that she keeps the lighter/brighter tones for her witch look that she does in her civilian clothes.

Darcy is the middle triplet, and is quite interesting due to her relationships with others. While Icy is somewhat conflicting with how she feels about others, sometimes abusing them and sometimes praising and adoring them, Darcy cares about others but believes that abusing them is the best way to show it (influenced by her abandonment and the fact that she's been lied to a lot by people who claimed to care about her growing up). She's attracted to danger and doesn't really understand the typical concepts of love and care, which Icy jokes is influenced by her power over darkness, which will prevent her from ever seeing the light. She often takes delight in torturing Stella with darkness and causing friction between Musa and Riven--she even tells Musa that they can share Riven; Darcy takes the evil half and Musa takes the good half, even going as far as to offer splitting them into two separate people, but Musa points out the unethical boundaries of that (duh) and how her love for Riven meant that she loved him in spite of his flaws and wanted to help him improve on his faults, but only if he recognized them as so. This perplexes Darcy, who has a similar corrupting power to Carabossa (albeit much less powerful) and she believes that she must change those who don't like her or think like her. I'd base her appearance on Olivia Rodrigo, and also have her voiced by Tasia Valenza, since I enjoyed her performance as Poison Ivy in the "Batman: Arkham" video game series, and I feel like her deeper voice captures Darcy well (4kids bias).

Stormy, being the baby triplet, is often left the hand-me-downs of her sisters and is the most mysterious, despite sharing her sisters' interest in chaos and power-seeking. Unlike the more composed Trix, Stormy is much more upfront and aggressive, not usually bothering with manipulation unless she thought it could stir up an immediate reaction. She doesn't really have a love interest, but she does note that if things fell apart for Stella and Brandon, she could pick up the pieces and "see which way the storm blows." I'd also see her as the Trix member who's most likely to choose physical violence (in contrast to Icy, who's most likely to rely on her magic), and feels like she has the most to prove, insecure and afraid that she and her sisters were discarded because of her (being the only one who's powers were apparent and uncontrollable from a young age). She also has it out for Aisha and Tecna, as storms know how to stoke an ocean's ire, and can cause blackouts. I'd base her appearance off of Tate Mcrae, with her voicework being done by Selah Victor, AKA Chloe Bourgeois from "Miraculous Ladybug."

Diaspro--Just to be clear, I'm keeping the "Sky and Brandon swapped identities" subplot, but this lie is revealed BEFORE Bloom and Sky get together. It's also revealed that both Sky and Diaspro are political pawns; they were childhood friends, and when it was revealed that Diaspro was a fairy of gemstones (what's with "the"? Can't there be more fairies like her?), she was betrothed to Sky under the belief that her wealth would enrich Erakylon. While Diaspro submitted to this--being from a poor family and "encouraged" by her relatives to accept the betrothal--she became cruel and callous due to the political games she had to play, as well as never wanting to go back to poverty. She had a crush on Sky, and the betrothal heightened this, but she failed to realize he didn't feel the same, as he became more withdrawn when the betrothal became official. Since he was doing his duty as a prince, he tried to submit to his family's wishes, but rebelled when he developed a crush on Bloom, as well as making friends with the Winx and the Specialists. Diaspro misinterprets this as his friends talking him out of marrying her, and she lashes out at them and tries to tear them apart. Sky is the only one who has sympathy for her at first, and eventually all his friends realize she was dealt a bad hand in life. Until it's revealed Bloom is a princess with the power of the dragon flame (she's originally just said to be a fire fairy to protect her), Sky and Diaspro go through with the illusion that they're engaged. When it breaks off, Diapsro's family has been compensated and rises to the noble ranks, but they still want more. Diapsro informs Sky of their plotting, and she pretends to continue to be villainous to her family and other villains, acting as a double agent for the Winx and the Specialists without turning anyone against her. For her design, I'd base her on Ariana Grande (for obvious reasons), and surprisingly have her voice by Ellen Wong; I think her sweetness as Knives Chau would be great for Diaspro's vulnerability, and it'd be fun to see her act stuck-up. I'd also give her an outfit reminiscent of blue labradorite (you'll recall with my rewrite of Bloom I'd give her a black base with colorful accents reminiscent of the cosmos).

Darkar--Much the same, the dark dragon that contrasts with the great dragon that created the world. I'd make him a bit more nuanced, with his nature being chaos rather than outright evil. In fact, to make him different from other Winx villains, I'll make him lawful evil--which is the Dungeons & Dragons way of saying he's a bad guy who follows the rules. These "rules" would essentially be the laws of nature, that light cannot exist without darkness and vice versa, but one can reign over the other. With his wife gone, he sees the Trix as his daughters/granddaughters (and they are his descendants) and attempts to teach them his ways--though they are puzzled by his lack of unecessary cruelty and restraint, as well as his respect for those who align with good. He reveals that his wife was not constrained by the rules that governed him, and that is likely why the Trix act they way they do. He's also known as the "shadow phoenix" because he'll always be reborn, and there will be an age of darkness once more, and Bloom's descendants (or another descendant who holds the dragon flame; Bloom's extended family is sizeable) will fall into their grasp. Plus Bloom's witch heritage makes her fall into his distortion, bringing out the duality of the dragon flame, both light and shadow. I'd love for him to have a larger-than-life deity appearance to him, and taking inspiration from X-Men's "Dark Phoenix" arc feels natural--thinking on it now, they may have already done that. For his great voice acting as Trigon, I'd love for Kevin Michael Richardson to play him--though Paul St. Peter is a close second.

Valtor--He's iconic as-is and the greatest Winx villain (partially because of how involved he is in every episode, in contrast to previous villains), I'd make a change to his origins; instead of an older being created from the dragon flame and raised by the Ancestral Witches, he's the biological son of Darkus and Carabossa. Similar to Diaspro, he was used as a pawn all his life, and is only slightly older than the Winx and Specialists. He essentially does everything the same in my book, but there is a sympathetic angle; he was designed to bring about the age of chaos Darkus foretold, and thus has been emotionally, psychologically, and physically abused by his caretakers (since his parents weren't physically around to raise him) until he became a beast of darkness. However, due to the fact that light cannot exist without darkness and vice versa, in a similar way to Bloom being made into Dark Bloom, Valtor is capable of love and light, albeit in a very standoffish, aloof way. Bloom recognizes his loneliness, and for a second it makes her reconsider wanting to be reunited with her own family, who she only knows through second-hand sources. With the power of the Winx, Bloom defeats Valtor, but instead of killing him, she uses her divine abilities to take some of the darkness in his heart and accept it into her own, giving him some of her light in return, knowing that he didn't choose to be who he became, though he's still imprisoned with the Trix in the Lightrock Monastery due to his crimes. It's implied for the rest of the series that he's an antihero, though he tries to be discreet due to the legacy he created. For his voice actor, I'd love for him to be voiced by Neil Newbon; the Astarion parallels are too delicious to ignore.

(NGL, Valtor is a great villain, but I did feel bad for the circumstances surrounding his creation, thus my sympathetic take.)

Tritannus--Due to his repetitive nature in season 5, I'd make Tritannus a supporting villain in season 3, helping to give more focus to Andros as well as keeping his goals streamlined. For a good deal of the season, the merpeople are curropted, with the pandemic eventually reaching King Neptune and Queen Ligea. Nereus also becomes infected, leaving Trittannus to rule the seas. However, when he welches on his promise to help Valtor take over the magical dimension, Valtor pollutes the ocean, transforming Trittanus into a monster. He then helps Valtor in order to regain his original form, as well as having a thing for Icy (who admires his evil tendencies, but his newfound appearance makes this a manipulative relationship only, as she sees a great deal to gain by becoming Queen of the Seas, this being one of her off periods with Darko). His family eventually defeats him, and he is banished to Oblivion, though both his siblings hope to release him from there with time, given his young age and their merciful natures, though Aisha remains skeptical.

I'd probably want him voiced by David Gallagher; I could totally hear RIku's voice when I see him.

Cassandra and Chimera--Amazing side villains, and pretty underrated winx villains overall, Cassandra is the new wife of King Radius and Chimera is her daughter, and both of them treat Stella cruelly and put a spell on Radius to make her resent her. I'd include them a bit more, and make Cassandra seem a bit kinder than she really is, with Chimera viciously tearing down Stella and Cassandra passive-aggressively trying to cheer her up, only to make her feel worse. I'd also make it less obvious that Radius is under a spell; since Stella argues with him frequently following the divorce and now with his surprise marriage, Stella believes that Radius thinks she's turned against him and wishes to take the throne by force, possibly with her mother. Radius IS under a spell, but it's easy for Stella to buy that after all their arguing, it's affected her father's perception of her, especially since his new wife and stepdaughter appear demure and submissive. They're still vain and spoiled, but they know how to curry the kingdom's favor in order to make themselves likeable, craftily working with Valtor to stain Stella's image as a selfish, entitled princess, and convince the nobles that her behavior could result in a coup that could destroy the sun kingdom, convincing them that Stella has become a puppet to Luna (and that Solaria itself could become a puppet state).

I'd base their appearences on Gwen Stefani and Jenna Ortega respectively, with Cassandra being voiced by Jennifer Hale (using a voice similar to her Bayonetta performance) and Chimera being voiced by Diane Guerroerro (since she has "evil Isabella Madrigal" written all over her).

Wizards of the Dark Circle--In my rewrite, they wouldn't be present villains (not that I've written the whole thing out, but that's my current headspace), but instead beings of legend, with their own unique backgrounds. Two of them are fairies, so I guess "Lords of the Dark Circle" would be a better title.

Ogron--Nicknamed the Stormy of the Wizards by the Winx and the Specialists, he's moody and quick to anger, but when he is in his element, he's calm and collected. As a child, he was a precocious wizard who surmised that fairies were the most powerful beings in the magical dimension (outside of the dragon creator), and realized that no matter how powerful he'd become, they'd always win, inspiring his quest to destroy all fairies on Earth, becoming so powerful that he became the Wizard of Negation, capable of stripping powerful creatures of their abilities (which varied by creature, of course). Despite his rage against fairies, he seems to have love and care for other beings, including his fellow wizards. He was eventually defeated by non-Earth fairies and sealed in a stone statue in Gardenia, and with his defeat, no more wizards were born on Earth. Similar to the Winx, I'd give the WOTDC celebrity inspirations, mainly celebrities who were (arguably) at their most famous decades ago, but are still widely respected now. For Ogron, I'd base him off of Johnny Depp and have him voiced by Mark Hamill (he gives me Ozai vibes, what can I say?) I'd also change the group's color scheme to be more individualistic, making his a mix of reds and oranges in a sophisticated, upper-class style rather than his punk aesthetic in the OG version.

Anagan--I'd make him the most "likeable" of the lords; he shows respect for others, flirts, and socializes, being known as the life of the party. He is known as the Wizard of Time, which allowed the wizards to stay ageless and find the Earth fairies (he joins this quest because he sees fairies as inferior to wizards, and not deserving of their power). It's implied that he can also time travel, and that the Winx may encounter him one day, or that they may already have. Due to his skill at seducing fairies, it's stated that he's sired many descendants, but due to Ogron's petrification, no magic came of his descendants, wizard or otherwise. While he escaped the fate of his contemporaries, it's said he's lived a lonely life without them, being known as the shoulder they could cry on and an expert secret-keeper who they consulted. His celebrity inspiration would be Usher, and I'd make his clothes trendy and have a stained glass style and multicolored, highlighting his colorful personality and friendliness (just not to fairies). Keith David would be a fun voice actor for him, in my opinion.

Gantlos--Originally a wizard of destruction, I'd rewrite him as the fairy of memory, and thus the one responsible for erasing Earth's recollection of magic ever being real. He also is the most protective of the group, throwing himself in danger to keep the others safe and being akin to the Pied Piper of Hamlin due to his mesmerizing flute playing. He was ignored as a male fairy within his family, lacking the ability to progress to different forms (likely because he was sheltered and thus could never overcome his insecurities or make a sacrifice), and took on a dark fairy transformation, giving him a new form, but locking him out of the forms other fairies have. Being raised by a rather strict, traditional family, he doesn't share compassion for animals, making Ariel detest him as she learns more about him. However, he does have affection for the elderly. When trying to wipe the entire world's mind of fairies, he became overwhelmed and it destroyed his mind (and failed, thus why we still have fairy tales), making him the second of the Lords to fall and thus buried in a magical crypt by Ogron and Anagan. I'd base his appearance on Leonardo DiCaprio, and have him voiced by Zahn McClarnon, since I enjoyed him as Olrox in "Castlevania: Nocturne." His fashion sense would be very similar to Dante from the "Devil May Cry" video game, albeit blue.

Duman--Also a fairy in my rewrite, he was a fairy of shifting (ie he could shapeshift). He often downed himself as a loser, not strong as other fairies and eventually fell in with the wrong crowd, making his way into the Wizards of the Dark Circle. He strives to be useful, and due to insecurity, almost never appears as himself unless he's with the other lords. Unlike the other lords, he acknowledges that what he's doing isn't really ethical, but is fine with being bad because he has community. He's quite lonely, and it's mentioned that if he never met the wizards, and thus the lords are like family to him. He has a tendency for gambling, and it's noted that after being tricked by a clever fairy, he was forced to give up his magic power. The lords erased his mind of them, deciding to spare him the pain, and he married a human woman and had a family, which they knew he always wanted. His legacy in the magical world was not forgotten, but the mortal world never knew of him. I'd want his appearance inspired by Brendon Urie, as well as being voiced by Noel Fisher (who I know as Toad in "X-Men: Evolution") would be perfect for this. I'd probably keep his punk aesthetic, though I love him wearing green.

Hope you like these takes. Lemme know what you think, and if you ahve any questions. Next post for this will be the specialists!

Whispers Amongst the Blooms- Part 1

This is a series I'm working on featuring Saul Silva from Winx Saga and my OC Valerie. More parts are to come hope y'all like it :)

In the heart of Alfea's spring-clad courtyard, where magic bloomed as vividly as the flowers underfoot, the new term's air was electric with the promise of beginnings. Saul Silva, his muscles still singing from the day's rigorous training, navigated this tableau of anticipation, his eyes inadvertently scanning the sea of new faces. It was a ritual of sorts, observing the influx of potential that each term brought to the hallowed grounds of Alfea.

One figure stood distinctly apart among the myriad newcomers—a girl whose presence seemed to command the chaos into a hushed reverence. She navigated the courtyard's vibrancy with an almost otherworldly elegance, her long, ebony hair cascading like a waterfall of shadows, catching whispers of sunlight in its depths. Her eyes, a captivating shade of emerald green, held the mystique of enchanted forests, glowing with an inner light that drew Saul like a moth to a flame. With every step she took, skirting the tranquil embrace of the lake, a cautious grace enveloped her, setting her apart from the throng of new students.

Saul's path veered towards her, his usual assurance tempered by a sudden, uncharacteristic hesitancy. When she turned her face momentarily towards the sun, soaking in its warmth, a silent connection sparked between them, a thread of intrigue that pulled him closer.

Their paths converged as if by destiny's design. "Hi," Saul ventured, stepping into her orbit with confidence and an unfamiliar hesitancy. "I'm Saul Silva, second-year specialist. I take that you're new here, right?"

Valerie, caught slightly off-guard by his approach, nodded, her voice a melody of quiet strength mixed with a hint of reservation. "Yeah, I'm Valerie. It's.. my first day here. Honestly, everything's a bit overwhelming."

Her shyness did not dim the spark in her eyes; if anything, it added to the allure of the mystery that Saul found so captivating. "Alfea can be like that at first. But you'll find your way," he assured her, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "If you need a guide, or just want to talk about anything, I'm mostly here around the specialist grounds."

There was a pause, a moment where the world seemed to hold its breath, before Valerie returned his smile with a tentative one of her own. "Thank you, Saul. I might take you up on that offer sometime. It's all a bit much, but… exciting too."

Just as the first threads of a deeper conversation began to weave between them, a voice called out to Saul, pulling him back to reality. "Silva! We need you back at the grounds!"

With a regretful glance, Saul excused himself, promising, "We'll talk again, Valerie. Welcome to Alfea."

As he walked away, Valerie's gaze followed him, a gentle smile gracing her lips—a smile that held the promise of future encounters, of mysteries to be shared and perhaps, in time, unraveled together.

In that brief meeting, under the burgeoning life of Alfea's enchanted spring, Saul and Valerie's paths crossed in a dance of fate and curiosity. It was but a fleeting moment, yet it promised the beginning of a journey neither of them had anticipated—one woven with the threads of magic, mystery, and an unfolding connection that would challenge and change them in ways they could scarcely imagine.

NOO! Griffins redemption arc could've had SO MUCH potential, the show runners doesn't even know about!!

They could have do so much out of it! What lead her to Valtor in the first place (in my hc it has something to do with the diffrent teatment of dark and light magic users)? What happened that she left him in the end? What was that "change of heart"? Why did the CoL believed her when she came to them? The history of her and Faragonda that she vouched for her? And what happened AFTER the fight ok Domino that Faragonda and had that complicated relationship at the beginning of season 1?

And what did they? The gave her one, just ONE fu***** flashback scene and one scene with Valtor?! That lover to enemies plot was just got thrown out the window!!

Getting the entire Company of Light backstory was, for me, (one of) the best thing(s) on the show but for the writers was just a shortcut to creating personal conflict between Valtor and Griffin, Faragonda and Saladin so they can keep the action mostly contained to the territory of the schools and their surroundings. Sure, we go to other planets a lot in season 3 but the major battles with Valtor happen in CT, the Magix museum and at lake Roccaluce (and the final battle on Andros hardly counts either because the actual battle with Valtor was led inside his body).

Honestly, however you look at the Company of Light backstory, it just doesn't make sense. Griffin, Saladin and Faragonda were in the Company and then all proceeded to become heads of the most prominent schools in the Dimension? What are the odds of that actually happening? Especially considering Griffin's background. The fact that they apparently knew Bloom's parents but no one thought to tell her for... what reason exactly? Not to mention that Faragonda didn't appear to have a personal connection to the Dragon Fire and the Domino royal family in season 1 even if she started connecting the dots at some point. If she'd known Marion and Daphne, she should have instantly concluded what's going on the second she learned Bloom was having visions of Daphne and she would have suspected from the first moment she saw Bloom - an "Earth" fairy who's practically a copy of Marion with fire powers. Come on! And then you get to the timeline that just doesn't add up and the writers make that much worse every time they insist that the Company were the same age as Winx when they fought the Ancestral Witches, which is absolutely impossible because Marion and Oritel already had a teenage daughter at the time. The whole thing is just... Okay then. You know, a spin-off could fix most if not all of this. Just saying.

As for Griffin, same thing there. Like I said, I believe that making her Valtor's partner was to justify him taking over CT since that's where most of his battles with the Winx take place (and Bloom's talk with the Ancestral Witches that is questionable too - how are they connected to CT? Why can they be contacted through the crypt if they're not dead? If they can access this dimension, why haven't they tried to contact any of the witches in CT, especially back when the Trix were still students, so that they can get freed from Obsidian?). Plus, she's the only older witch character we have on the show, therefore she's the only one who would have served the forces of evil in her youth. Don't we all know that witches are just prone to seeking world domination? If you haven't grasped that yet, you clearly have not been watching the show carefully smh. /s

So they just slapped that backstory there. It's obvious that they didn't want to bother with it when you remember how stylized the entire flashback is. There was literally nothing in it to give you any concrete details about their partnership. It's basically an illustration of the concept that doesn't indicate anything specific about the characters and the relationship. And the offenses don't stop there. Griffin isn't allowed to do anything against Valtor, even though she should be the one person that knows him best and is therefore able to at least somewhat predict his moves aka would have the best chances to counter them. They let Faragonda fight him and blast him through a bunch of trees but Griffin gets nothing, even after he imprisoned her and zombified her students? The sheer indignity of that! And when you look at it, it's so clear why they did it - because they don't want anyone other than the Winx to be able to save the day. Winx save Andros, Winx save Alfea and Faragonda, Winx save CT (in 3x24). Never mind that Griffin has worked with Valtor under the Ancestral Witch that has illusion and darkness powers. Surely, she never would have considered he didn't just decimate CT but simply masked it. Especially since season 2 said CT is alive and both Griffin and the Trix could sense its energy and direct it to make the castle do what they want. Makes perfect sense! All the logistics in this show are a fucking joke.

I also believe that her joining Valtor had something to do with the issue of light vs dark magic. Even if we accept that there isn't outright hostility and bias against the witches everywhere (Magix is cool for example whereas other planets such as Eraklyon are more discriminatory against witches), I still think that light magic users are more propped up in the spotlight and respected. It would have bothered someone like Griffin and I can see her seeking out power to prove dark magic's place in the "ecosystem" is just as important. Tbh 1x08 kind of supports that and could give insight into the issue with Faragonda but I will get to that later. And from there I can see her getting close with Valtor based on the similarities between them. After all, Valtor is just as powerful as the Domino royals with their Dragon Fire but ignored and openly abhorred because of the darkness added to his power. He's not really considered a natural extension of the Dragon Fire (Faragonda calls him "a creature", which, I mean, fair but still). He's smart, cunning, ruthless, powerful. All things that would draw Griffin to him because she's so similar. It's not that hard to see why they'd work together, though the show would never admit to the superiority of light magic that is imposed on the world.

What's really annoying is the fact that the motivations for her betrayal are left up in the air. Again, Griffin is smart enough to have seen through the Ancestral Witches' plans. She would have known that they would bring about a lot of destruction. Why work for them only to decide later that she's not okay with it? If you consider the possibility that she's prideful enough to get herself into a mess like that, there would have had to have been a wake-up call for her to decide to switch sides similarly to what happened in season 1 with the Trix. But there she took measures against them before the catastrophe hit and she never suspected that they could try to take over the world - implying that she would not have waited around for the situation to get so dire to get herself out of it. Add to that that neither Griffin's, nor Valtor's words and behavior indicate that he (or the Ancestral Witches) did something out of their ordinary to alienate her. It's all worded as if one day she just realized out of the blue that she's helping a plan that could lead to the ruin of whole planets and she booked it. I am not buying that. Which leads to the only viable alternative - that someone else (Faragonda) changed her mind but that's also counterintuitive considering the situation in season 1. I'm not saying it's impossible, just that it would have needed more backstory to stick properly. That's not my headcanon but it would work really well with what we already saw on the show. It would also bring in maximum angst for Valtor because she left him because of Faragonda, and maximum angst for Griffin and Faragonda because of the way things proceed to develop between them. All that to lead us to them being protective of each other as we saw on the show and to intensify Valtor's anger and bring out his feelings on the betrayal to the surface.

Imo it makes the most sense that the Company (without Faragonda) decided to keep Griffin purely from a strategical PoV - to use her information on the Coven. All of that helped by Faragonda's unwavering belief that Griffin is not just spying on them for Valtor. And with time they would be convinced that she truly wants to help for the sake of the universe and fixing her mistakes.

Honestly, I can see how they could have fallen out after the tragedy on Domino. Now the show implies that no one has heard of the Company of Light, which, again, doesn't make sense if they fought the battle that lead to the destruction of an entire planet but okay. It would make sense that they got their positions as heads of the schools in relation to their heroism, exhibited during their time with the Company. Except that Griffin was helping the Coven first; she was less standing up to a rising threat and more fixing her own mistakes, plus she's a witch. She's mostly an afterthought when it comes to the Company's "victory" if not outright ignored and that bothers her. It's a nagging in the back of her mind for over a decade until it starts to undermine her relationship with Faragonda. And that leads us to her lines in 1x08 about the alliance between Winx and the Specialists possibly changing the balance of power. They could have even saved her more questionable characterization in the beginning of season 1 if they had tried to tie it into her past and then draw from that to add drama to the conflict between her and Valtor.

Again, imagine the tension of him taunting her about having to bow to people that would have cowered before her if she'd just stayed by his side. Imagine her obsession with him leading to comments from, say, leaders of the planets affected by his actions asking how reasonable it is to let Valtor's ex partner in charge of the strategy against him. Even if she's successful in foiling him, that just proves that she's too good at thinking like him. Maybe it's all a big con and they have been working together the whole time. Or if not, they made up after she became obviously disgruntled with the treatment she received after her involvement with the Company of Light. Imagine Valtor, pissed off about the insinuations that he would trust her again but still not passing up a chance to mock her that if everyone thinks she's working with him anyway, she would have been much better off if she'd actually been working with him still, but she's not. Imagine the strain on her relationship with Saladin and Faragonda when they see in her more and more of the woman she was when she was working with Valtor because she's trying to get in his head to win their game of cat and mouse. For them it's like seeing the trauma of the past coming alive right before their eyes while for her it's more of the thing that alienated her in the first place - doing everything to help only to have her efforts questioned and doubted, only to be accused - whether implicitly or explicitly - of being evil.

I understand that the writers wanted to keep the focus on the Winx but in that case, they should not have introduced the backstory that Valtor has with Griffin, Faragonda and Saladin. Valtor is undoubtedly the type of person that would pursue revenge vehemently and not fitting that into the plot works against his character. Add to that the fact that they made him overpowered from the start and had to scramble to write in ways for Winx to defeat him but that only made him look more and more pathetic the closer we got to the point where they had to defeat him. That whole thing would have worked much better if instead of weakening him (I mean, really? He allegedly gets so many spells that he can't even hold all of them in his own form but he's afraid of fighting the Winx himself and he can barely save his own ass - not through magic, but through trickery? Gtfo), they would have written the Winx foiling his plans with help from Griffin. Having her in Alfea once he concealed CT (and doing that earlier, in 3x18 instead of him just leaving and letting Griffin come back) would have been the perfect opportunity and perfect motivation to make her be out for his head if she weren't already. That is already the point in which they start to weaken him so it would have worked perfectly with the plot. Just add a few more scenes with Griffin advising the Winx what to do, or in the very least make Stella (we all know it would be Stella, especially since she's the one who freed Griffin from her cell in CT) jab him about Griffin's information doing wonders for them and helping them ruin his day. I'm definitely thinking here of the "[we will win] because you slept with her and now she's mad" scene from the season 1 finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Anyway, pour one out for all this wasted potential.

After 3 years of being on hiatus (if I can even call it that), I’ve decided to return to my writing, despite only having published one fanfic from the Winx Club series lmao. I had written two more before and left them unfinished but I’m back at it.

Anyway, I’ve recently been reading the Winx comics and some fanfics that I’ve either read before or are new to me. Again anything with Griffin, I’ll read. Even more so if it’s a Griffin and Faragonda friendship/romance. Also anything with the Company of Light, I’ll also read.

I think the time before the Winx really fascinates me, especially the Company of Light era. There is so much material to explore, which I think is a HUGE missed opportunity from the writers of the show. Not to mention the countless plot holes that I, and several other fanfic writers, are trying to piece together in our own AU.

I’m currently rewriting ‘Heartbreak Anniversary’ and potentially changing its name to something more suitable. This follows 10 years before Season 1 and provides my own backstory of what went south between the two headmistresses of Cloud Tower and Alfea with flashbacks from the battle in Domino and when they were younger.

This leads to my second chapter, which I’m also writing, following the end of Season 1. To me, this is the time when they reconcile their friendship that gradually changes over time to lovers. (Though, they’ve always had something for each other in my verse)

The third chapter I'm writing follows Season 2, Episode 17 where Griffin teleports into Faragonda's office just to 'talk about strategy' *wink, wink*. After the three chapters, I’ll start piecing together my Company of Light AU. I’ve been writing notes of my head canons for each member, some of the winx’s parents, villains, planets/realms/dimensions, and the whole world building of it that I’ll share soon.

I guess I’m trying to fill in the holes the Winx writers left throughout the series, picking up clues to make sense of some of the characters and their storylines in my own alternate universe.

I’ll probably write some Griffin x Faragonda one-shots in the future but don’t quote me on that lol because I don't know when I'll get to it. I’m still finding my feet with my writing because my only background is poetry and it’s always been one of my passions. I’ve only ever written 3 fictions and a few magazine articles.

For now, I’m gathering facts about Griffin from the show, comics, and the enciclomagia. Feel free to exchange head canons with myself!

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.

The Lost Rainbow: Winx Club AU (as of 2024)

Yes, I am updating this AU for the third time lol. But, with the recent work I have done of imagining the main girls as fairies, I thought it would be best to update this AU once more! :D The biggest inspiration for this is from some talks I've had with @littlechaoticwitch about the AU, especially since she did originally give the idea of my main girls being fairies and came up with a storyline idea for this AU too! :3

This post is actually the first of a few posts for this AU! In this one I'll be going over some general information for the AU and including everyone's magic alignment(so pretty similar to the previous two versions), with another post for everyone's magic titles and then individual posts to go over the characters from each kingdom in more depth. Also, for some context this AU is considered an alternative timeline to the canon timeline of Winx Club, and will have the main kingdoms/countries of TLR translated over into the Winx setting. I felt this was the best route to take with this AU, especially considering I don't see my characters interacting with the canon Winx Club characters much.

So yeah, I hope you enjoy~! I'm putting the info under a 'readmore', just in case it gets a little long.

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- Fairy: Hestia(former valkyrie before she discovered her fairy magic), Amaya, Talia, Meredith, Gaia(a dual fairy and witch), Raine, Shannon, Avani, Iris, Aurora, Noelani(former witch), Demeter

- Witch: Idalia, Ren, Enki, Arethusa, Skye, Eteri, Selene, Rosia

- Wizard: Ignatius, Caelestis, Argento, Archer, Castor, Carmelo

- Warrior(Specialists, Paladins, Valkyries): Kenneth, Tyson, Flint, Damini, Emberleigh(formerly, but has magic), Vulcan, Sefarina, Soleil(became a regular one after losing her magic), Brooke(does have magic, becomes a future witch)

- N/A(either doesn't have magic, doesn't do any sort of combat, or both): Adrien, Beckham(has magic, but his magic alignment is unknown), Vernon, Lian, Apollo(former warrior, does have magic but wanted to pursue music instead)

- Too young/no magic yet: Ashton(future wizard), Zephyr, Murphy, Alwyn(future witch), Beaumont

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Many decades ago, the then-king of Melor had an encounter with an insanely powerful witch during his travels across the Magical Dimension. They struck up quite the bond during their travel together, resulting in them forming a rather passionate affair together. Yet despite their draw to each other the king was never truthful with her, so after one moment of sleeping together and finding out his true nature, she cursed him and his entire kingdom to be forgotten. Once a very powerful kingdom, Melor had lost all previous connections and was since sealed away from the rest of the Magical Dimension.

All the kings since then have done their best to try and break the curse and bring their kingdom back into prominence, but none were as successful or ruthless in their pursuit than the current king, Argento. He is the only one who has actually gone through with leaving their kingdom to find more resources and ideas on how to break the curse, and so far in his short time as king he has done so much. His plans do not just stop at breaking Melor's curse, as he has bigger plans in action to take over the entire Magical Dimension, so his name and kingdom shall never again be forgotten. During his pursuit so far he has also begun kidnapping those whom he believes holds potential to aid him in his plans of world domination, by expanding upon their magical power and breaking their spirits to act as obedient servants to him. This has unfortunately included the two eldest princes from the Elementals Alliance- an alliance that was formed between four kingdoms that had excluded Melor in previous centuries.

With this growing threat in the Magical Dimension, amongst many others, five fairy princesses have come together to help put an end to the terror. They have all come from the kingdoms in the Elementals Alliance, and especially as two of the girls have had their respective brother kidnapped, they hope to not only find them but help out anyone else who has fell victim to these evil forces.

Winx Club Nostalgia!

The First Dub You Were Introduced To:

The Nickelodeon Dub when it started off as four 45-minute animated specials with the first three being just a shorter/reanimated version of season 1 with the last special being extremely shortened/reanimated for season 2. Season 3 was kept in full, but re-dubbed.

The Dub You Favor The Most:

Personally, I enjoy the 4Kids dub! I know it's flawed and it made a few changes, but there's this certain charm to it that I adore very much as well as the voice acting and the soundtrack. It's very nostalgic and special to me!

Which Character Is Your Favorite?:

I can't choose one! There are so many enjoyable characters! Though, I'd have to pick Bloom, Stella, and Flora. Bloom is a good protagonist who went from trying to find her identity to becoming a proud fairy who protects those she cares for! Stella is a diva princess with attitude, but she is always there for her friends no matter what! Flora is a sweetheart through and through! I love her! She cares for all life including plants...she is the fairy of nature!

One Thing You Think This Show Can't Be Without:

The fashion! If there is one thing these girls know, is how to look good while doing good! I love the art style and their many MANY outfits are so beautiful! There are days when I look at my wardrobe and think "I wish I had one of their outfits!" They have many iconic looks! So eye-catching and astonishing!

Favorite Season?:

I'm stuck between 2 and 3. Season 2 gave us the one and only Layla/Aisha, The Pixies, Musa's first stage performance, Charmix, and The Dark Bloom arc. But, then there's season 3.....SEASON 3!!! That season gave us more world building, multiple arcs, the continuous threat of the fan-favorite villain Valtor, and ENCHANTIX! I love them both equally!

Seasons Ranked:

Season 3/Season 2

Season 1

Season 4

Season 5

Season 8

Season 6

Season 7

Transformations Ranked:

Enchantix

Magic Winx/Charmix

Believix

Sirenix

Harmonix

Bloomix

Cosmix

Tynix

Butterflix

Mythix

Honorable Mentions: Lovix, Sophix, Dreamix, Onyrix

Any Other Thoughts?:

Roxy (the new Winx girl from season 4) deserved more than just one season and should've been more involved in the group!

I like the inclusion of The Pixies but I'm not too keen on watching the PopPixie spinoff show.

The Specialists are enjoyable, but I wish there was more to them besides being love interests for the girls. I would've liked more lore into their work as being potential Heroes without having magic.

I don't know why season 8 decided to give the cast a whole new art style that doesn't capture much of what made Winx Club so unique. Also, the look of The Specialists is DEFINITELY a downgrade in that regard!

I appreciate how even though the animation and art style got changed around, the music remains to be good and fun to listen to.

I wish we had more lore with the students from Cloud Tower and WHY there seemed to be this Witches vs. Fairy tension in the first place!

I am very upset that the Netflix live-action adaptation hardly gave us any iconic outfits OR good-looking fashion from transformations. How do you do Winx Club WITHOUT the fashion?!

I didn't finish the other spinoff, World of Winx but I like to think that it takes place when the girls are much older taking care of who they can save while they star in a television talent show undercover.

Conclusion:

After all these years later, this show still holds a place in my heart and it's something I love looking back at whenever I feel like watching something nostalgic. It's been 20 years since the show aired and the fact that it's STILL relevant makes me so happy! These fairies deserve the world....well, they deserve the whole Magic Dimension!

One Thousand and One Nights

[This is a idea-fanfiction collaboration with @ship-ovnik​]

"Your Highness, would you like to hear a story?"

"Story? Do you know about something that the Crown Prince of this empire doesn't know?"

"It's a little story that could brighten up our evening"

Callisto put glass of wine on the bedside table and got out of bed, gave her his hand and sat her down on the couch opposite the other, on which he lay down comfortably with his head thrown back.

Surprisingly, His Highness turned out to be an attentive listener, who interrupted from time to time, asking a small clarifying question. Of course, it is much easier to surprise an inexperienced viewer, or rather a character from the game, with a retelling of "Harry Potter", "The Chronicles of Narnia" and even "Winx" or "Twilight"...Literature that has never existed in this world.

If Siyeon had been asked if she had assumed that running away from the Eckart family would turn out to be the prince's concubine, she would have immediately cursed this man, not sparing the magic stone, and ran away from him as far as possible. But here she is, in the palace of the Crown Prince, sitting in his chambers and trying in every possible way to delay the moment when he reaches out to her for caresses, retelling to him the plot of teenage literature from her world.

It was crazy, but damn it, he liked it, and he listened, greedily swallowing every word.

When Siyeon woke up in Penelope's body, she realized with horror that it wasn't a stupid dream at all. She got into the world of the game, becoming the main villain.  Knowing the plot and further events, she tried to rationally figure out how to complete the game without repeating the sad end of Penelope. But after trying to use the game mechanics, in the form of answer options, as well as to establish relations with her brothers, she realizes that no matter what she chooses, she will still be in a losing position. Siyeon spends too much time trying to establish a relationship, and the risk of a bad ending does not decrease, the potential protagonist can change his mind at any moment and leave her with nothing, choosing Yvonne at the very end of the game. Neither Vinter, nor Callisto, nor Iklies inspired her with confidence. There is only one way out - to achieve a good ending for Penelope herself, without the participation of male characters.

"Surely there is a hidden ending in this game, where the villain remains alone and goes into the sunset so as not to interfere with the happiness of the main characters," she thought, collecting jewelry and dresses with her to get money from their sale, on which she could live comfortably for many years.

Wearing a magic bracelet, Penelope hid her appearance and went to a small dysfunctional town where no one would ask her a single question about where she got such jewelry.

Penelope goes on a little trip, wanting to get away from the capital. And finally, she finds a small town in the south where  needs a man in the town hall who can read, write and count. The elder turns out to be an elderly old man who was happy to hire her. Penelope helps in the library along the way, sorting books and helping to organize a file cabinet, while studying paleontology and the history of the ancient world, trying to learn more about the empire and its rules.

But after a few months, the quiet town turns into a noisy farce. Everyone is preparing for the holiday - the return of the Crown Prince from the war with victory. Fortunately for the residents, their city was one of the transit points before returning to the capital to replenish supplies and get some rest.

Hearing this news, Penelope was scared to death. She needed to avoid meeting a madman so that the game would not force her to participate in a chain of stupid quests for the sake of a percentage of sympathy over his head.

In order not to accidentally pass the game on a "happy" ending with him.

Penelope, as the elder's assistant, was obliged to help with the counting of provisions and preparations for the celebration. That's why she went to the military camp, where she met Cedric Potter, the assistant to the Crown Prince. And it would seem that the nightmare has passed... But, alas...

During the festivities in the central square, Penelope, enjoying the fireworks, did not notice how someone quietly crept up behind her and grabbed her hand.

"Is a beautiful lady walking here all alone?"

*The title is a reference to work about the Persian king Shahryar and his wife Scheherazade.

Guess who’s back again with another book to tv connection??? Me! ( I promise I’m going to talk about other things at some point but apparently this is just how my minds working right now lol)

PS: there may be some slight spoilers for the “Fate the Winx Saga” tv show

This time, it’s more of a criticism though. So, I just finished watching Fate the Winx Saga on Netflix and although I thought it was a good show I ended up cringing a lot of the time by how much it shadowed Harry Potter. I find this kinda thing happening a lot in fantasy books and tv shows. Basically whenever they have a school it seems like it’s kind of inspired by Harry Potter but for this one especially I feel like it kind of took away some of the good story line because (especially since I’m currently rereading Harry Potter) I couldn’t help noticing all of the things that are so similar. And not even just the school but like, even the main characters are kinda similar.

Bloom, like Harry, grew up with a family who wasn’t actually her own and she always felt like she didn’t fit in with them. She was sent to live with a different family because she had the dragon flame and evil people would try to get her if they knew who she was. Just like how Harry was sent to live with his aunt and uncle because he had survived Voldemort’s attack and everyone knew who he was. They both grew up not even knowing about the magic world. Let alone knowing their parents were a huge part of that world. And they even both had weird things happening to them before they went to school and learned how to control their magic. And that’s not even mentioning the fact that they both really found their first true friends at school and that those friends are the ones that help them through everything. I mean, she was literally at alfea for two days before she found a group of best friend AND a potential boyfriend like seriously??…

Even though it seems like I’ve been kinda hating on the show, trust me I don’t really hate it. I think that the show was pretty good I just didn’t like how much it mirrored Harry Potter because it just makes it seem a little uncreative.

Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk.

(Seriously this was a long rant but I just needed to write about it lol. I hope you enjoy)

I've been following this blog for a while, and is it me,or has your opinion on Madoka seemingly softened over the years? Like I know you still criticize it a lot but although you have a lot of criticisms of it, at first I thought you despised it but now it seems you're more 'eh' about it?

Because I was still learning on how to tumblr at the time, so it was all one huge mess because I'm a major klutz.

Like, I'm a firm believer that there are no bad ideas, only bad executions. And Madoka Magica is a clear case of that.

You COULD create a story about the seedy underbelly of the world as a Magical Girl; like how it's often a thankless job, it makes you feel like an outcast, you can't reveal your identity to anyone in fear that they might be the enemy in disguise waiting for an opportunity to strike, and can most likely drive you to paranoia as your friends and family could be put in danger at any minute, among other things...

But, Madoka Magica didn't do any of that? It just tells us that the driving force of the world is feminine hysteria? That women are pre-disposed to hate eachother and fight to death? And the MC had to DIE in order to alter the system? And even after the change, more innocent girls are STILL dying?! And you're telling me this ending is supposed to be the HOPEFUL one?!?

Are you sure that Madoka Magica's original ending isn't dragging me into a death cult like Midsommar...?!

And I still stand by my argument that this anime is shamelessly sexist. HOWEVER, I will make myself clear that this argument of mine is based on the entirety of the Magical Girl genre; I'm aware that Urobuchi's brand of despair is unisex, but if we see through the point of view of a genre instead of an entire industry, it IS sexist, no ifs, ands or buts about it.

Though that's not a fair argument, the anime/manga industry is STILL sexist anyways. I mean, just look at the state of the Shounen genre.

And I can guarantee to you that almost every trope that Madoka Magica utilizes has been done in a past Magical Girl series in some shape or form (mostly in Sailor Moon and Pretty Cure). The only original things that this anime had was its dadaist aesthetics for the Witches and the use of more elaborate weapons like swords and guns.

And also, it has been 10 years already; we all have grown up, and our opinions have changed along with us. Certainly, many of the tropes that Madoka Magica used have aged like milk and wouldn't fly in the 2020's. Are we REALLY going to forget that Urobuchi has once compared Magical Girls to TERRORISTS?! Come on, man!

And don't get me started on Rebellion!

I have promised myself to keep my expectations for Walpurgis no Kaiten as low as possible to avoid disappointment, but there's a small voice deep within my brain telling me that SHAFT will realize that there's a demand for LGBT+ characters in today's market and make Madoka develop Stockholm Syndrome by the end of the fourth movie.

Madoka Magica HAD potential. But in the end, it's just some mindless drivel about how women are horrendous monsters for wanting things for themselves. It only got popular because of how much marketing buzz it has gotten. The Magical Girl genre is no stranger to dark moments (Sailor Moon, OG!Winx Club and Pretty Cure have plenty of those!) and/or darker series (does anyone even remember/has heard of Shamanic Princess, Vampire Princess Miyu and Uta-Kata?), so the boom for darker Magical Girl stories in the future was inevitable.

And even with its hiccups, its spinoff, Magia Record (the game, not the anime) has shown to be much better than its original source, as in while it presents dark storylines as per Puella Magi tradition, it has the heroines atoning for their past mistakes and fighting for a better future... and they succeed!

It's like it's THAT indeed easy to write a serious Magical Girl story and not punish its heroines for wanting things! Crazy! Bonkers, even!

Turns out I have been pavloved into hating this anime by the annoying stans who can't take a criticism without breaking out in hives, and treat the series and its characters as binaries instead of spectrums as if the motherfucking show didn't referenced Goethe's Faust and Nietzsche.

Truth be told, I don't really HATE Madoka Magica; hate is such a strong word, and there are other Magical Girl series that have done much worse and deserve my hatred more, like Mahou Shoujo Site, for example.

Just look at this shit.

Disgusting. Rotten. PUTRID.

Can you rank the winx couples favorite to least favorite?

Let's see:

Stella and Brandon - They are the OG Winx Club, dating back from even before the series started. They are so obviously in love with each other they make my heart melt. Every. Single. Time.

Flora and Helia - "No one's ever noticed the fern in the paper before". I mean ... This was hella cute. First meeting and already perfect for one another!

Musa and Riven - It's problematic, it's messy, it's fun! They did Riven so dirty, but I think that those two need just a little bit (a lot) more communication. They could solve so many issues if they just talked.

Tecna and Timmy - Just two cute little nerds slowly (painfully slowly) falling for one another. I love how they found their ways to communicate through the digital world.

Aisha and Nabu - They had too little time, but there was potential. It's the usual story of the betrothed who don't want to marry and end up falling in love ... What's not to love? (But I agree that Nabu was a bit of a creep in the beginning)

Bloom and Sky - I'll admit I have a think for main characters and Bloom just got on my nerves every time I saw her on screen (maybe because she took screentime from my girl Stella? Probably. Definitely.). Like Musa and Riven, please, guys, just talk. Sky, you're betrothed to Diaspro? Tell her. Bloom, fake-Avalon is helping you discover the truth about your parents? Tell him.

The first three couples I'm sure; the other three I'll admit I have never given much thought to, but here they are: Winx Club couples from favorite (1) to least favorite (6)

Fanfiction Alert

After years of contemplation, I've finally made the decision to share my Season Three rewrite of Winx Club. This project has been brewing in my mind for quite some time.

Season three holds a special place in my heart, in my opinion it was the best transformation and was the last season where each of the girls had some individuality. However, there are aspects of the season that I believe could benefit from some enhancements.

I don't want to give too much away but there will be romance and adventure, and several OC's. I will say that specifically, I aim to delve deeper into Mirta's transition to Alfea, explore Aisha's engagement, unravel the drama between Sky and Diaspro, and do more with King Radius' wedding.

I also want to infuse Valtor, the main antagonist, with more complexity and depth. My goal is to provide a richer backstory for him and his connection to the Dragon Flame. Valtor was a remarkable villain, and I believe we need to explore the full extent of the havoc he could potentially wreak upon the world.

I wholeheartedly welcome any feedback, so please take a moment to read my work and share your thoughts. Your insights are greatly appreciated!

Did you ever thought about what could've happen if Griffin never switched the sides and stays with Valtor instead? And do you have any headcanons for that?

I have and I don't think it would have went well.

For one, Griffin doesn't seem the type to condone genocide/complete world domination, which was what the Ancestral Witches were going for.

I think if she would have stayed longer, she may have convinced Valtor to leave with her, probably by finding a way to break whatever hold the Ancestral Witches had on him.

(After all, from the context clues we were given in the series, the Ancestral Witches were abusive to Valtor despite calling him their son, and Valtor doesn't strike me as the type to put up with such abuses if he can find a way out of it. In fact its implied the main reason he didn't go into business for himself was because they had a hold on him somehow.)

I don't see them going to the Company in this version of events though, as they would have been just done with the fighting and the squabbling and neither would want to risk being caught by either side of the war.

I mean, if they're caught by the Company: Potential Death. If caught by the Ancestral Coven: Definitely Death.

So I see this version of them deciding to hide away on Earth.

Getting away from it all.

Maybe being archaeologists on Earth?

Just because everyone assumes magic on Earth is dead, doesn't mean there wouldn't be artifacts or magic books or diaries on Earth. And I can see Griffin and Valtor uncovering so much of Earth's secrets.

Hell, in this version of events; maybe the Winx run into them during their Season 4 era of bringing magic to earth? Like during their search for Roxy, they find Griffin and Valtor and the two end up assisting them... For a price.

(They know Bloom is Marion and Oritel's daughter. They kept in touch with some of the goings'-on with magical dimension because I can't see Griffin just cutting contact with Ediltrude and Zarathustra completely. Or with Faragonda.)

So they have Bloom pardon them for their "past" so the two can visit the Magical Dimension as they please. And they help fight off the Black Circle and bring Earth back into the Magical Dimension.

(And look at all this stuff we discovered about Earth Magic! Isn't that worth something?!)

Great... Now I may have ideas for an au...

Or an au of an au I already have.

I didn't need more ideas.

(Thank you though. Seriously!)

What is your opinion on World of Winx?

Recently, I saw someone incorporating the WoW storylines into the season four, and although I doubt this is something you were planning on doing (since I believe you only focus on actual events from the Winx Club series seasons and movies), I wanted to give you my opinion on some of these and maybe you could give yours and all!

Note: Not all of the following opinions are from what I saw, some, if not most, are my own while I was watching the show. Note also that I watched it quite some time ago so maybe some of these opinions may actually just be headcanons or other.

I think my biggest change would be with Matt Barrie. I really don’t think he should have any romantic involvement with Tinker Bell, considering she was in love with HIS FATHER. Instead, either she should be his mother (maybe weird in this context but trust me), or idk, his sister or maybe just something that doesn’t make them a thing. Also, I believe either Peter Pan should stay his dad or, Matt should actually be Peter Pan, or his incarnation or some stuff like that, idk if that make sense tho.

Another change I think could be nice, would be Neverland and its history. I’m not really advanced on that one, so sorry if it is confusing. I think it could be interesting for it to be linked to Tir Na Nog and the Wizards of the Black Circle. Tinker Bell could have either be a Major Fairy or just a fairy that was hunted and then "tortured" or other by the WotBC. Neverland could have been forgotten like Tir Na Nog was, and only a very tiny part of magic would have survived. With that, Tinker Bell could have "changed", becoming more revengeful of what the WotBC took from her. Maybe some small breach between the two "worlds" (Earth and Neverland) could have been formed and that’s where Tinker Bell would use her power to steal magic from humans whose magical abilities have been lost for decades/centuries, making them either disappear or go insane from the lost of it. If she was a Major Fairy, she could have been the Major Fairy of Dreams or something else and after she changed, becoming the Major Fairy of Nightmares (that’s actually not that good but you see where I’m coming with that lmao). I think this plot could be much better worked, changed and really make sense with the story of season four.

The whole Venomya/Baba Yaga plot. Had potential but could actually be used for so much more.

I think the romantic aspect as a whole. WoW didn’t have much romance and the specialists weren’t mentioned once. Assuming that they weren’t here or didn’t exist, I think they were a lot of potential for romantic stories but if I base this on the season four, depending at what moment or if after, most of the girls would stay with their respective partner. But, I think Jim/James Hook could have definitely flirted with one of the girls, trying to gain their trust and all. My guest would be Bloom since she was the one he shared the most scene with. Another pairing I think could have been great if done well, but that may be just me, is Aisha and Tiger Lily, but that could be weird to some people and I would understand. Also I think the idea isn’t bad but I don’t know how that could work on paper. Matt could also just be aroace, or gay, or bi, but to be honest i don’t really know. I think Matt would become the closest to Aisha, Flora and maybe Tecna too.

As for the WOW show, I think the idea wasn’t bad, especially for their searching of people with magical potential but, I don’t think it actually fit the girls. Maybe after the Earth discovered that magic was real and the Winx became popular but even then, I think it would be more weird than anything and they wouldn’t really be "undercover". So I think the whole idea of the show could be scratched and redone but I’m not really advanced on that.

I think there is so much more I could actually say but this is already very long so I think I’m gonna call it a day. Pardon also my English which may be not that good, I am not a native speaker.

Also, I am almost done with your season three rewrite and I cannot wait to start season four.

Sorry again, that was very very long, and mostly me ranting so again very very sorry. However, I would love to know your opinions and headcanons on World of Winx.

hi! So I’ll be honest I really can’t reply to any of this cause I never watched WoW, I was just never really interested

But I’m glad you enjoy the rewrite!!!

Reading The Secret Circle in 2023

I love this series. It was probably my first teenage witches series, it was YA before YA was really a separate genre, and LJ Smith is a solid writer. But I’m giving it a reread to see what I see, that my teenage self, who had read much less YA, didn’t see. And I’ll just write whatever comes to mind while I read.

The first thing and the main thing that made me twitch was Faye. The femme fatale of the coven, Hera the jealous goddess, boyfriend stealer and terrorizer of the school. In her first scene she’s pressuring a guy who has a girlfriend to take her out on a date, and since the whole school lives in terror of the coven’s powers the poor guy can’t say no. This is super uncomfortable.

Ms. Smith likes this femme fatale character type, she uses it again in one of the Night World books. I don’t think I’ve ever run across this kind of character in any other YA book. Faye is a very sex-positive character but also a sexual predator of unfortunate boys. She’s not a good person but she’s presented as wicked but still one of the good guys.

In the second book there’s a buck-wild scene where Faye, Suzan and Deborah play “Pizza Man He Delivers” they get the house done up like witchy love nest with candles, incense, crystals and music, and then they order six pizzas and if the delivery guys are cute they invite them in to seduce them. And I have so many questions. 1)did anybody do this in real life ever? 2)does Ms. Smith think anybody did this in real life ever? 3)how many adult films is this exact scene in? It’s straight out of a dirty video, with characters who are supposed to be 16! Ms. Smith is a much weirder writer than you might think lol.

Good girl Cassie decides this is wrong because the guys “don’t have a choice” even though they are enjoying the proceedings. The real life dangers of seducing and sleeping with random guys don’t seem to cross Cassie’s mind, so maybe their school has really bad sex ed.

But (back to slightly more serious thoughts) reading Faye it also occurs to me that she’s the femme fatale without ever being slut shamed. Her sexuality is scary but not shameful. Suzan, the voluptuous Aphrodite of the coven who barely gets a mention that doesn’t include mention of her chest size, is not really written as less-than because she likes seducing guys. In fact there’s a scene where Suzan helps the other girls get ready for the school dance and Cassie thinks, “She’d thought Suzan was just an airhead, but it wasn’t true. Suzan loved beauty and was generous about sharing it with other people.” and that is an amazing, amazing way to write the “fashion obsessed airhead” character type. Half my headcanons for Stella are based on that image that stayed in my head from the time I first read this series to the time I started watching Winx.

Each girl in the coven is based on a goddess, and they each have a signature color. This is not a bad writing trick to handle a bunch of characters and make them distinct! The third “bad girl” is Deborah the biker chick, based on Artemis the huntress. Deborah rides a motorcycle and wears itty-bitty tops and leather jackets and at one point has a leather hat with a chain on it. And she’s “not interested in boys.”

Ms. Smith was writing in the early ninties when there were “gay books” and ‘normal books” and she was writing normal books as directed by her publisher so all her characters are white-cis-het. But Deborah, while described as very pretty with a dainty face, is kind of butch. One of the boys, the cold and emotionless Nick, is described as not liking girls, but I don’t get any potentially gay vibes off him. If you wanted to read into it Nick could be ace and Deborah could certainly be a lesbian.

This made me wonder-- if she started writing again today when representation is the trend in YA literature, what would Ms. Smith think? We can’t ask her so I can only make a guess based on her writing, her blogs, and the fact that she’s no fan of Trump… I think she’d freaking love it. Ms. Smith’s jam is writing forbidden love, and now she’d have all these new kinds of couples to write and new reasons for their love to be forbidden. Thinking Night World here because that’s a series that could be expanded, what do all the supernaturals think of same-sex relationships? The witches are very traditional but same-sex relationships happen among animals so maybe the shapeshifters are chill with it. Who knows? Ms. Smith could worldbuild that stuff to her heart’s content and I think she’d have just a grand time.

LJ Smith mentioned somewhere that she put “everything I could find or make up about Wicca” into Secret Circle. There were BARELY any books about witchcraft in 1992, and I wonder what Ms. Smith could do today, when they’re everywhere and she could look up all different magical traditions. She’d have so much to work with!

So what did she have to work with? The girls use rhyming spells and lots of candles. They use herbal teas and homemade beauty products. There are circles and books of shadows. The elements and nature are mentioned a lot, but despite the girls reflecting goddesses they don’t worship the old gods.

There aren’t a lot of magic tools, interestingly. The girls use a lot of stones, each girl has a unique “working crystal” and a type of stone that they use most. Then there are the “master tools,” a set of regalia the leader of the coven wears: a bracelet, tiara and garter. Not a wand, besom or cauldron in sight! At one point one of the characters mentions typing up spells to make a “floppy disc of shadows” which is a phrase I think I read in a Silver Ravenwolf book, but I don’t think Ms. Smith read any SRW, she’d have pulled WAY more from it if she had.

But if you are, like I was, a young magic user looking for how-tos in fiction books, the Secret Circle is great. The main magical takeaway is the use of stones and crystals, which the girls use constantly. As jewelry, as pendulums, in spells, or just to hold to absorb their attributes. Each girl mentions her favorite stone at some point so whoever you are you’ll probably be inspired to use your favorite stones more often.

In fact I think I’ll drop the page from the old Circle Daybreak website here.

Finding your working crystal Each witch in the coven, male or female, also has a special stone, often of their color choice but not always. This is their working crystal, and is used to draw out their own special virtues and powers. Here are what different crystals can be used for and what they mean. You, too, can use your working crystal, in addition to wearing a certain color, to bring out these qualities in yourself.

The garnet brings circulation to normal, helps the blood clot, and purifies. It builds balance, awareness, and well-being, as well as preventing fears and insecurities. Garnets also draw out negativity, and can make one more attractive to others.

The ruby intensify love, compassion, and sexuality. It, too, brings circulation to normal, and purifies the blood. Also, rubies are high-energy stones for courage, boldness, and action. Faye likes to wear star rubies to increase her sex appeal to men.

Carnelian stimulates energy and appetite, as well as physical power and courage. It helps ground one to the physical plane, and promotes practical application of ideas. As Suzan’s crystal, perhaps this is why she has such a fondness for twinkies.

Citrine is Deborah’s crystal and may be the source of her energy. It provides a sense of stability and promotes practical application of ideas and a rational approach. Citrine also adds energy and emotional balance. It clears the body of toxins.

Topaz calms and cleanses. It relieves and balances emotional breakdowns. It aids in the healing of nervous fatigue, exhaustion, and extreme stress. Topaz also aids with headaches.

Peridot is used for clear sight and problem solving. It is a healer of the spirit and physical body. It provides protection from nervousness, and increases fearlessness and willpower. The circle uses it for dowsing. It helps with hurt feelings.

Melanie’s crystal is jade, and she uses it for mental clarity. It brings peace and calm, and has a stabilizing effect on the body. Jade also builds courage, clarity, and tranquility of the mind. It aids stomach problems.

The emerald strengthens memory, clear seeing, and wisdom. It enhances speech and creativity. Emeralds also increase intelligence, foresight, and prophecy. It aids heart problems and asthma, and eye problems.

Malachite purifies things on the material plane. Its bands provide protection of creative ideas. Malachite also promotes tranquility, success and good wealth in business. It is sometimes called lapis liguris.

Lapis Lazuli is used by vampires in The Vampire Diaries as protection from the sun. It illuminates the mind, and has purifying and healing properties. Lapis also promotes mental endurance, insight, and wisdom, as well as building good judgment and psychic abilities. It helps emotional healing.

Azurite aids in communication. It clears thoughts, and cleanses negative mental states. Azurite also aids in insight, vision, and hypnosis. It reduces stress and depression.

The sapphire aids in communication, as well as aiding clairvoyant perceptions, divine wisdom, and prophecy. It also cleanses negative mental states and disturbances. Sapphires help with nervous and mental disorders, and asthma.

Blue Topaz adds spiritual strength. It calms, sooths, and sedates. Blue topaz also brings a peaceful and natural healing state of consciousness. It builds mental clarity, and aids emotional healing.

The amethyst, Laurel’s crystal, has a calming and healing mental effect. It enhances the meditative state, and creates pure thoughts. It also adds spiritual insight and higher values, in addition to alleviating mental stress. The circle uses amethyst to ward off evil

Extra Secret Circle stuff: There was a sequel series written by Aubrey Clark. They are not very good. I did have them from the library but it was some years back so my memories are vague. Ms. Clark did her best but she just doesn’t have Ms. Smith’s gift for getting the characters right. She also killed off some characters, I think Suzan didn’t make it, which sucks.

Ms Clark brought two new things to the series: the concept of witch hunters and Scarlett, Cassie’s half-sister. My first reaction was, “Ha-ha, Mary Sue long lost sister!” but… it’s actually a pretty valid idea. Bringing in a child of Black John is a good way to add something new and connect to the original villain without bringing him back from the dead, and Scarlett can start evil and then be turned to good. Valid plot! I, uh, don’t remember if that actually happened in the sequel series, but the idea’s good.

There was a TV show. I was excited to learn this—but I learned it too late and could only find a middle episode and something I forget what about the plot annoyed me so much that I never tried to find the rest. I really probably should at least watch episode one, give it a chance, but the CW’s style is just so not my jam.

I’ve read that the show and the sequel books have similar plot points so that could explain some of the sequels’ events, if Ms. Clark was writing to tie in with the show.