Harmonix

Here's a close up of Stella, Bloom and Flora's new harmonix form:

I'm not sure about Stella's hair. It does seems a little...inelegant. It looks more fitting on Musa. And of course, the wings still look like PopPixie wings. Stella's are particularly strange in terms of colour contrast.

What do you think about harmonix so far?

Source: Winx Club Episodios

Wedding Bells

I'm a little late to the party, being as I don't actually have cable and therefore can't watch Winx Club on Nickelodeon. However, after reading this article on Una di Noi, and writing last post here, I want to talk about the proposals and marriages in the show.

There are a couple things that have been bugging me about the Winx Club and their upcoming marriages. For one, there is the fact that it's going to be harder for the majority of the fandom to relate to a married fairy. However, it's a tight spot there- would Iginio and the Rainbow staff rather have a group that the fandom who have grown up with the Winx can't relate to? Or would they rather disappoint all of the fans by not having the girls get married after all?

Another thing is- can anyone actually see the Winx girls getting married? It's a girl power show, and even in an equal marriage, wedding bells would signify a loss of freedom. As the show progresses, we see that the girls aren't shy about doing things that their boyfriends necessarily approve of. It's already something that is a cause of stress and of fighting. Can you just imagine if they actually needed to get their partner's approval? That's what marriage is, Winx. It's letting someone else have some pull over your life.

On a more humorous note, what direction would marriage lead the show in? Season 6: Apronix, a domestic transformation? An honest-to-goodness canon 2nd generation when one of the girls gets pregnant? I'm not saying that the show would be that stereotypical or sexist, but one thing we all love about the show is the diversity in it. If one of the girlier characters, say Stella or Flora, decided to settle down, what would that mean for us as viewers?

I also have to wonder... are the Winx Club fairies ready to be married? In canon, Aisha and Nabu have known each other the least long of any other Winx couple (of course, with Nabu's current state, marriage isn't exactly doable at the moment). As for Stella and Brandon and Bloom and Sky... well, with Season 4 and Magical Adventure, both relationships have been shaken to the ground. Are they fully recovered enough for marriage? With all the fighting that happens now, what does that signify for after the papers have been signed and the honeymoon has been had? No wonder Musa and Riven aren't engaged- they recognize their issues! The only Winx who I can see flourishing in marriage are Tecna and Flora... but hey, Misha Collins got engaged in a low point in his relationship, and that turned out fine!

*cough* Sorry... wrong fandom...

The only way I can see marriage working out is if it happens in the very last part of the show. For example, if Season 6 is the very end of Winx Club, with no more to come, I can see the characters getting married and leaving the show with a "Happily Ever After" feel. But I don't think that weddings can happen before them without consequences- for the fans, for the characters, or for both.

What I need from Season 5

Okay. I'm going to set something straight RIGHT NOW. I am going to have a hard time with Winx Season 5 if they don't at some point acknowledge the events of the Season 4 finale.

Both Aisha and the rest of the Winx made huge mistakes... Aisha when she, in a surprisingly Willow Rosenberg-esque plotline, went to the side of vengeance- and the Winx when they diminished the value of her grief and actually ATTACKED her for it. Yes, the last episode shows her being let back into the Winx inner circle... but hurtful words and actions were exchanged. That doesn't just go away.

I recognize that Winx Club is not always the most realistic show. And of course, nor is it the best with continuity (especially if you don't believe in the canon split theory). However, one of the things that has drawn me to the show since I was ten years old is the realism that isn't immediately obvious. No, most people don't believe in growing wings and going off to fairy school, because the realism in the show is from how the characters grow up. Every single character, even the commonly ignored ones like Tecna and Musa, has experienced some form of character develoupment since Season 1 began.

And as they grow up, so do their situations.

When I was ten, and the Winx were sixteen and seventeen, I related to how the girls were looking to find themselves. In Season 3, I related to their search for morality, how they were trying to learn what the right thing was, and how they always tried to do it. Even at great personal cost (remember the Water Stars plotline?). I watched Season 4 when I was seventeen, and the problems they faced echoed the problems of my emerging adulthood- getting a job, trying to make a path after school is finished, dealing with increasingly serious relationships, and your friends around you getting engaged!

Winx is a kids show, but it is the rare kids show that grows up. And I need Winx to keep this. As I, who will be nearly nineteen when the new season begins, learn to deal with the fallout of serious arguments... I need the Winx Club to learn, too. I need Winx Club to keep that realism, that personal growth that makes it stand out from so many other cartoons. I need to see the characters keep growing.

I hope so much that this isn't too much to ask.


NOTE: I don't know what's up with formatting. So apologies.