I want to start writing fanfiction again

My thoughts on the Winx Club Reboot and why its failure is a sign of the global decline of the Arts as a whole

Lately I've been inspired to make my own rendition of the show Winx Club: The Magic is Back because as a long-time fan of the original show...let's just say the reboot leaves much to be desired...

Initially, after watching the reboot on Netflix (bleh 🤮), I rated the series a 6/10. Now, after having comiserated with my fellow long-time fans by watching a series of hour-long reviews on YouTube, I would rate the series a 3/10.

That's a steep downgrade considering only HALF of the first season has come out. The rest is to be released in the Spring, according to the word on the street.

That's not good.

So, naturally, a lot of us fans have been discussing ways the reboot could be done better. Many across the net have proposed ideas on what they would do differently, and, honestly, it's not really that hard to come up with something even marginally more creative than the reboot. That's how bad it is. Thanks, AI.

Now, generally speaking, my views on AI are pretty nuanced. I'll probably go into detail regarding it another time, but suffice it to say, I'm not against AI use if a person's material circumstances (read: material from a Marxist standpoint) necessitate they use AI to help alleviate said circumstance, whether that be through poverty or disability, or what-have-you. I give others the benefit of the doubt and trust that they know themselves and their situation better than anyone else to act in good faith with their use of AI.

HOWEVER...

when it comes to big corporations, who have ample resources (read: money/capital) that make their material circumstances privileged enough to nullify AI usage...I am very critical of that.

Rainbow s.p.A, the owner of the Winx Club brand, falls into this category.

They had and continue to have ample monetary resources to not resort to AI to cut corners with their, let's face it, cash-cow, Winx Club.

And, yet instead of using this opportunity to do right by us fans this time, cause the other attempts went to shit (looking at you World of Winx, Fate: The Winx Saga, and post-season 4 original series retcon/soft reboot seasons), they doubled down on meeting their bottom-line and decided to fall for the AI grift, hoping that they could make a decent product while winning fans back.

Boy, were they wrong.

So wrong.

My theory is that general rise of conservatism/fascism has contributed to the decline of the arts as whole and big corporations, like Rainbow and Disney, in an attempt to maintain their monopoly on artistic capital have submitted to this fascistic, technocratic paradigm and said paradigm has resulted in a noticeable dip in quality that in my opinion, is not redeemable at this point in history.

Our best bet as a global society, if we want to save the arts, is to decentralize big corporations' monopoly on works of art and to move towards independent (independent in the sense of non-aligned with corporate structures), collective (collective in the sense of shared, mutual pooling of resources and talents) efforts.

This can look like fans taking things back into their own hands and deciding to come together as a collective to make a beloved IP actually in alignment with what the fans desire.

Why wait for the big honchos to cater to our needs? Iginio has obviously lost sight of his vision for Winx Club for good. We can no longer rely on him to cater to our tastes. He's far too gone and compromised.

At this point, its best that we the fans do it.

For me, I'm personally doing my own project of sketching out my own potential vision for the reboot that has come out.

I invite others to do the same on their own time.

Make fanart. Write fanfics (as I will be doing).

Hell, maybe even a few of us fans can band together and make our own version of the reboot!

The world is our oyster and its not too late to try again and make something better.

Will you do the same?

• Amanita

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Angry about a lot of things.

About life.

About myself.

Words cannot describe what rage I feel inside.

But I figured, I'd try.

At least for my own sanity.

---

My own material circumstances have gone to the gutter.

I guess we can start there.

I could blame the government, and that would be true.

After all, for it not for “Orange in Chief”, I would still be in school pursuing higher education.

I could also blame my alma mater, and that would be true too.

As were it not for them, I would have at least felt assurance in the fact that my school and workplace valued my labor enough to tend to my wellbeing.

But alas, we don't live in that reality.

I don't live in that reality.

---

I'm not really sure what to do.

I mean, I'm trying.

I try to find jobs and I have some prospects lined up.

I lean into my community, both by blood and through a sense of found-ness.

And my general resilience developed through growing up as a multiply marginalized person has allowed me to see through the course thus far.

So, I guess, it could be a lot worse.

Still, I'm angry.

Angry at what could have been.

I am part of a generation of peoples who were told from school-age that the world was our oyster.

That if we simply did everything right, we would thrive.

And I did do everything right.

And then some.

I have two degrees to prove it.

So where is the thrilling life that I was promised?

Was it all a dream?

Of course it was.

It was always a dream.

Something to aspire towards but in reality was only available for a select few.

Unfortunately that select few does not include those that look like me.

What a shame.

---

Actually shame is a nice way to put it.

No words can describe it.

Perhaps travesty is a better word but even that is enough.

Haunting, maybe.

Like the haunting way I look these days, as I am told by well-meaning people in my community.

They are right.

I am haunted. By many things.

By the present.

By the past.

By life.

All of which are dictated by the powers that be.

Still, I find myself rising.

Every day, I wake up still wondering how I'm still alive.

Perhaps it's because miraculously I still care.

Something that I am learning increasingly is that it is a lost art.

I find that my internal compass...

...my life purpose, if you will...

is what consistently keeps me burning.

Like a gentle candle keeping me steadily warm as I wade through a dark, frigid cave.

(can you tell I'm cold right now? lol)

So if that's what keeping me alive?

I say, so be it.

So be it.

Because if someone isn't gonna stay alive and fight the good fight.

Then who will?

And I don't want to leave this Earth before making it better than when I arrived.

So I'll stay awhile longer.

I don't know how long.

But until my soul says it is done.

So shall I stay.

And so mote it be.

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This isn't my first rodeo with blogging.

I'm excited to start blogging in a space that's truly mine.

For so long, I've been fed the belief that I need to expose all of myself, including sensitive info, to thrive on the internet.

But as someone who has increasingly grown weary of being negatively perceived in leftist spaces, I've now decided to regain my privacy in hopes that my words can speak for themselves rather than people's preconceived perceptions about my appearance overriding them.

So here's to a new chapter.

• Amanita

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Feel free to follow my RSS Feed as well!