hi everyone, im solowinx! im an italian girl who likes winx and expressing her own opinions so in this page im gonna put them together. i may post in italian too sometimes, ill see...
i really hope you're gonna enjoy my opinions, my headcanons, my theories and my silly reblogs. i also write fanfictions sometimes on ao3 and post very often on tiktok and twitter too, maybe sometimes ill post on youtube . i used to have ig too but i barely log in now... if you have any questions feel free to ask me. if i dont answer im probably studying. see ya
my series
my opinions
my headcanons
my redesigns
my memes
my ships and my brotp
what if winx was actually italian
shame on english dubs
my fanarts
my sec blog @fatinixx (useful for not italian)
Writing ideas through Chatgpt for the draft in 2023 (ex employee testimony)
Concept art since late 2023 (testimony and leaks)
Songs for animatics (leaks)
Real work started only in mid 2024 after years of pre-production and messy restarts, giving the multiple studios involved barely a year and a half to finish the first 13 episodes, with multiple delays to barely meet the september BBC Player release
But sure, no shortcuts were used through AI! And the animation was totally avant-gard movie level and the whole thing was proudly made in Italy, no mass outsourcing, no american writers! Believe everything they say
ciao! mi sono imbattuta nella tua raccolta di foto contenenti look dei magazine delle winx risalenti al 2009 in poi. potresti gentilmente accompagnare ad ogni foto il numero e il nome del magazine? potrebbe essere un modo per gli appassionati di sapere quali magazine possibilmente comprare e/o scannerizzare. grazie in anticipo <3
I didn’t put the magazine titles like I didn’t put them in the masterpost with all the credits, because idk what (or if) there’s English titles for the magazines (and it would be kinda useless cuz a lot of those pics are from ad pages, and they likely changed ad pages based on the country). However the date and number of magazines are now there. In the reblog tab mostly, because this website is held together with thoughts and prayers.
Rare specialist new outfits. Also Roxy has an official frutti music outfit, and of course her fruit is kiwi. Either sweet or sour and no in-between, just like her 😂
Some of these are the reason I am critical of the s6 and s7 "college" collections (the everyday outfits). It wasn’t hard to do something with that theme while maintaining everyone's personality and with a varied palette.
What does canon suggest about Riven and his background? I will share some of my thoughts about Riven's background and potential socioeconomic status in this post. As always, these are just my opinions. (If anyone's wondering: no, this is not the meta post that I was talking about in one of my other posts.)
I'll start by saying that my following thoughts are based on the RAI dub and the first four seasons (S1-4) as I don't consider anything past season four canon. However, I'm mainly going to focus on seasons one and two in this post.
As pointed out by many, the one-on-one scene between Sky and Riven in 2.08 is the closest we get to Riven directly confessing that he is (or has been at some point in his life) from lower-class origins.
Riven: Must be nice being a prince. You spend your whole life learning from the best.
I agree that this does give us some indication of his social class, mostly because this line fits with the rest of his characterization that's established in the earliest seasons, but even on its own, it does imply that Riven isn't nearly as privileged as Sky. He wouldn't make a comment specifically about Sky's access to highly qualified teachers if he didn't feel like he lacked them in some capacity. In other words, when we take into consideration his character as a whole, it's implied that Riven has not had as many resources growing up. This hints at him being from the lower class or relating to the struggles of someone from the lower class.
It's important to note here that this isn't the first instance Riven has expressed distaste or a mocking attitude toward privilege. It is also equally important to understand why he reacts so strongly to it. It's not that he hates or dislikes anyone who's above him in wealth or opportunity. I think he primarily has an issue with the injustice of being looked down on, of not being treated fairly, of not performing well enough. He's sensitive to people being ignorant of their privileges, which is why he often calls it out, but it's not necessarily out of resentment toward the person or their social class, but rather an indicator of his roots and how he feels about privilege in general. 2.21 is a good example of this, which I will get into later.
The reason Riven is so aggressive and abrasive in the first season has to do with a myriad of things, but it makes the most logical sense that he's likely had a bad childhood (aka trauma) and experienced being treated unfairly by either the system or people above his status. Riven wouldn't otherwise feel so strongly about privilege in season two or make patronizing remarks that are directly about one's social class in season one.
Sky (Brandon): What Riven means is that perhaps it would be best for you to go back to Alfea while we try to capture that animal.
Riven: We don't need your editorial comments, Your Highness.
Brandon (Sky): Riven, you've gone too far!
Riven: You're just Prince Sky's yes-man, Brandon. Why don't you go clean up his stables?
In season one, Riven likely projected a lot of his personal issues and insecurities on Brandon and Sky and their class dynamic as a whole—primarily his trust issues and feelings of inferiority—but after the infamous monster scene in 1.22, he goes through a ton of humbling and character development. He grows as a person and learns to trust and appreciate the boys, and most importantly, he starts to embrace himself. He also finally feels accepted by the group, which makes him want to clean up his act even more.
By the time we get to season two, Riven is relatively calmer and significantly lacking in condescension. The comments he continues to make about privilege are mostly a nod to his background and how he feels about unfair advantages. This is why we see a much more mature and open version of Riven in season two where he continues to make remarks about privilege on several occasions, but he's much more reasonable about it.
I want to thank @skylaryozora for mentioning the following scene in 2.21 because it ties in perfectly with what I've been explaining so far.
Riven: Well, I think it's high time you girls get a taste of what life's like where you don't have magic powers, and all you can count on are your wits and your muscles.
In this episode, Bloom says she finds it hard to get used to not having magic powers, which leads to Riven making the aforementioned comment. Similar to 2.08, he indirectly calls out the privilege (albeit a different kind) but doesn't make a big deal out of it. He's most likely talking from personal experience and having had to count on his "wits and muscles" as a kid. He isn't angry or insulting in this scene, but he does acutely notice the difference between himself and others when it comes to having unearned advantages or a better upbringing or better circumstances, and again, he wouldn't continue making these types of remarks if it wasn't deeply personal to him.
Riven's comments based on 2.08 and 2.21 alone suggest that he's had to work hard on his own to get to where he is. It's blatantly obvious he knows what a lack of privileges (and likely economic instability) feels like, probably more than anyone else because the writers make it a pattern to have Riven point out these things.
Let's talk about Riven's skills and what they mean for his character
I don't think it's a coincidence that Riven is good at creating lock picks from scratch . . .
. . . or that his stealth and wilderness survival skills are impeccable compared to others
. . . or that he's exceptionally resourceful and adaptable
. . . or that he's good at spying
These are generally not skills someone randomly picks up or excels in after a year or two of training. These are skills usually associated with people who've had to look after themselves, watch their backs, and protect themselves—people who are more likely to come from the lower class than the upper class. These "street smarts" skills might not hold a lot of weight on their own but together they form a bigger picture as to what Riven has possibly gone through to obtain these skills. (Yes, I'm sure they teach all these skills at Red Fountain, but what I'm getting at here is that Riven's expertise lies in these skills, and I think it was an intentional decision on the writers' part to showcase these particular skills.)
It's also important to consider Riven's fighting style in season one. It's not very polished. It's rushed. It's rough. It's very direct and brutal. He's not afraid to play dirty. Riven almost seems inexperienced compared to the other guys when it comes to technique and formal training, which suggests that Riven has likely been self-taught for the most part or lacks some private or selective education.
Incidentally, and this is more of a personal note, I think one of the primary reasons why Riven seems to always lose to Sky in one-on-one combat is because Sky has an edge over Riven when it comes to technique. But when it comes to other skills, like racing and wilderness survival instincts, Riven is better than Sky—the former being canon, as witnessed in 2.01. In spite of this, Riven feels a little insecure and bitter about not being as good as Sky. That lack of technique, coupled with a lack of opportunities, might be what he thinks is holding him back from being one of the best students in Red Fountain. The balcony scene in 2.04 is interesting in that regard because Riven appears to feel some type of way about the fact that Brandon and Sky were chosen to accompany the girls to a mission instead of him. He doesn't express it outright, per se, but you can tell by his tone and posture that he wishes he was included.
While the show deservedly gets a lot of criticism for its bad writing, season one is mostly decent in terms of character portrayals and has some of the best writing in the series. As I mentioned before, I think the writers were intentional with their decisions to paint Riven in a certain way, to have him say certain things, to give him certain skills that set him apart from the other characters, and in several ways, the narrative of his story gives us many details hinting at his background.
All in all, it's not strictly canon that Riven grew up financially lower class as we don't have any direct statements in the show about his background. However, I think there are more than enough allusions pointing to Riven having had to be independent and live in less-than-ideal circumstances with limited resources, so the idea of him having had a rough childhood (economically and otherwise) or being from the lower class at some point or another in his life is not unfounded. Personally, I think it's heavily implied.
S1 Musa wasn't madly in love with Riven, but rather attracted to him. When Stella brought that Riven was dating Darcy what upseted Musa the most was that Stella mocked her feelings, then she slapped Icy because she mocked her too, and once she saw Riven with the Trix her interest on him dropped. She never mentioned him againg until he showed that was indeed a good guy. Their messy relationship from season 3 on is just the result of the writer recycling subplots for all the couples.
Season 1 Musa was not in love with Riven, that's for sure. She was just very attracted and intrigued by him. I think her crush persisted through Darcy, it just wasn't shown on screen (a common issue with Winx). It may have been hidden behind anger and hurt, but it was still there.
Season 2 Musa was also not in love with Riven. She didn't know him. They barely interacted. At this point, she's piecing him together with her imagination. Taking what little bits of him she does know and creating the rest to match what she wants him to be.
Season 3 Musa is also not in love with Riven, at least you wouldn't think so based on what we see. I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but you wouldn't even really think she likes him. The biggest disservice Rai did to this ship is making all their arguments off-screen. I would like to think they work well enough, while still being incredibly dysfunctional. Their good moments are great, but then their respective issues get in the way and they fight. I have no problem believing that they fight a lot since they're both stubborn, emotional and temperamental in nature. They both also have a tendency to shut down which helps nothing. But, really? Would it have killed Rai to get them to make up in a way that wasn't so 🤢. I mean, Riven assuming Musa would cheat on him IN FRONT OF THEIR FRIENDS??? And then being a possessive jackass and her going you do care. Not here for it. Where's the vulnerability???? Where's the genuinely getting to know each other???? Hell I'd settle for a one minute conversation honestly.
Season 4's story makes sense, but is also riddled with plotholes. Someone wrote about Riven's reasoning for reacting the way he did (if anyone remembers who and has the link, please link it cause I cannot for the life of me remember), and I'm inclined to agree. He sees Jason being able to offer Musa this amazing opportunity and knows he could never do that for her, but instead of being supportive and acting out of his love for his girlfriend (because by season 4, I want to believe they genuinely love each other even though Rai has given us no indication that they do besides saying they do) he acts out of insecurity. Musa, who at this point would know about some of his issues IF THEY'D FUCKING TALK ABOUT SOMETHING (I'm convinced Rai couldn't think of anything for them to have in common so all we get is fights to fill their air time), did nothing to help by falling for a grown-ass man she knows fuck all about and made up stuff about in her mind (anyone seeing a pattern here?)
Season 5 just annoys me. Riven has never given her any reason to believe he'd cheat and Musa has never had issues snapping and going off on him (if their constant argument story is to be believed). There's no way in hell she would just sit there and cry about him cheating instead of threatening to cut his dick off. And Riven's too smart to meet with the girl he's "cheating" with on Alfea's campus right in front of her window. I mean, come on. They couldn't have Musa come across them somewhere or have someone else tell her? No. He meets this bitch right in front of Musa's window.
I refuse to acknowledge their issues in season 6. I do, however, agree with their break up (and I love that Rai FINALLY gave us some maturity for them), but I hate the reason for it. I like the idea of them going separate ways and making their own lives only to be led back together by circumstances in a cheesy what's meant to be will always find a way sort of thing.
a while ago i shared here some roxy redesigns ive made. recently i posted them on twitter as well and i received good feedback. in particular, one user said that they headcanon roxy as filipina with greyish blonde hair. that comment blew my mind! ive always thought something was missing in my redesigns and that was the proof.
so this is my roxy redesign now
now i need to choose her secondary color, any thoughts?
I like to think that Bloom is pretty old-fashioned when it comes to music.
She likes old rock, rock'n'roll, sometimes jazz or soul. Everything Mike used to play when she was little. As for pop music, it seems that Bloom doesn't really understand what young people are listening to nowadays.
Then if Bloom were Italian she would probably listen to Vasco Rossi, 883, Mina, Umberto Tozzi, Modà and Loretta Goggi cause italian parents like them. Mike would go crazy for Vasco
