itâs about damn time i made a post purely focused on bloom so here we are. this will partly be a bloom analysis/deep dive and partly just defending her
so first i wanna talk about bloomâs mindset and focus a little on the first 3 seasons. so at the start sheâs just a girl, she has a normal life (trying so hard not to quote the miraculous intro lol), loving parents, though it is pretty easy to tell sheâs quite lonely and doesn't really have friends. she learns sheâs a fairy and within a couple of weeks has the whole universe thrust upon her. she has to deal with things sheâs never dealt with before and, unlike literally every single other fairy, has to start from scratch. queue learning sheâs actually a fucking princess and has a whole ass kingdom and family, except everything and everyoneâs dead and learning she actually possesses the most powerful and most important power in the whole world, which alone puts her in SO much danger, and not only learning that information in 5 minutes (from the enemy mind you) but also having her power taken from her immediately after. god, talk about trauma. and pair that with the fact she was already having the WORST week possible so that was really just the nail in the coffin. then sheâs basically told âeither you get your powers back and save the whole universe by yourself or everyone dies. literally no one but you can do ANYTHING about this situation. so good luck with that i guessâ and sheâs just left to figure it out. of course she eventually does get her powers back and defeats the trix and saves the magic dimension. yay! and now sheâs left in the most vulnerable position ever! iâm sure that wonât have any consequences!
so of course, moving into s2, instead of a, you know, trusted adult helping her with any of this shit, telling her about her past, helping her deal with all of this newfound information and incredibly big responsibility, sheâs left to just wander the dust on her own. and with the extremely vulnerable state she's in, it's no surprise she becomes an easy target for fake avalon/darkar. every adult at alfea fails her. she gets isolated from all her friends, her family and her boyfriend. iâm not even gonna touch on this subject that much because itâs clear as day (or at least it should be) that this kid was groomed and literally none of anything that happened was in any way her fault (though if you do want a more in depth analysis on the whole grooming plot then check out this video)
as weâre moving into s3 thereâs something very important we need to discuss and itâs the way bloom just doesnât view herself as a human being, deserving of love and grace. so many moments make it clear she doesnât view herself as âbloom, the sweet and kind girl (teenager) who deserves to be loved and appreciatedâ but as âbloom, the girl machine who has to constantly give all of herself to save everyoneâ. i think in so many ways sheâs a lot like adora from she-ra. theyâre both their universesâ saviors (in universe jesus), the one who has to always sacrifice herself and her needs for everyone elseâs sake. like adora, bloom doesnât really know how to exist outside of her role of saving the universe. like she can have fun with her friends, go out with her boyfriend, but the moment something is needed from her, she has to turn off everything else and focus on that. she can't sleep, can't relax until the threat is defeated (3x18 is a pretty big excellent example of this). she always has to put the whole world (+ her friends, loved ones, ect) above herself. she literally cannot and will not allow herself to be selfish. and that is SO much pressure and responsabilty for a teen girl.
some scenes i really wanna bring up are 2x07 where the girls had to use their powers to get rid of that giant rock thing. and all 6 of them tried for a bit but eventually all except for bloom gave up. bloom stayed out there for HOURS. giving it her all and working herself to exhaustion until she physically couldn't continue and literally PASSED out. thatâs genuinely crazy. and whatâs crazier is that no one (and by that i mean the adults, the other girls are also 16-17 year olds who shouldnât be responsible for their friend) did anything to stop her. this is unfortunately where a pattern begins.
next is the scene in 3x14 where faragonda sends her to pyros. faragonda basically tells her âthereâs a very real chance you might die thereâ while bloom basically responds with âif it means getting stronger and beating valtor, iâll do itâ. this 17/18 year old was literally just told she might DIE and sheâs not even phased. in fact, sheâs fine with those odds. she turns around and nonchalantly tells lockette and kiko that sheâll either come back stronger or not come back at all. once again, this is genuinely insane??? she then spends the entire next two episodes fighting for her life for like 2-3 days straight with her only breaks (as far as we see) being from passing out and almost dying.
have you noticed the theme? of bloom working working working fighting fighting fighting training training training⌠constantly pushing herself until she eventually passes out? have you noticed how her only breaks are when her body has absolutely hit its limit and shuts down? how if she had infinite stamina and endurance she would just keep working herself into oblivion? like this is genuinely so unhealthy and damaging to the point itâs dangerous. and no adult ever says anything about it (and a little bit of a tangent but this is one of the biggest reasons why i ship her with sky. he is ALWAYS looking out for her, always making sure sheâs not exhausting herself, always taking care of her. as that whole thing in 2x07 was happening he was calling her, to check up on her, as if he knew exactly what she doing. and immediately started getting worried for her and knew something was wrong. knew that if she wasn't answering him it was probably because she was working herself to her limits. how he knows her SO well and knows how much sheâs always pushing herself. how heâs always reminding her to be careful because he knows how reckless she can be and her safety and happiness are always his number 1 priority/concern. i just LOVE that about them and i might write a whole separate post on this)
now onto the final part of s3 - the whole thing with the water stars. genuinely from the very second they get them i kept shouting at the screen âgirl be careful! they could literally destroy you!â. like bloom was being way too nonchalant with these things that could literally kill her. i mean can we talk about all the times she almost died because of those things??? this one line in 3x23 in the nick dub caught me off guard so much - (after they used the water stars on valtor in the library and flora asks bloom if sheâs alright) âiâm still breathing but i had my doubts there for a secondâ like girl you canât just casually drop that and immediately move on??? and then everything she did in 3x25 - passing out 50 times, sacrificing herself and almost giving all her friends a heart attack⌠like i think she just genuinely doesnât care what happens to her. as long as the universe is saved, itâs a job well done, no matter how bruised and beaten she is. and thatâs genuinely heartbreaking
weâve seen her risk her life episode after episode, and some people still have the NERVE to call her selfish. honestly at this point itâs a miracle sky and the girls havenât all collectively died from a heart attack or something đ THATâS how self sacrificial bloom is.
anyway, a lot of the criticism pointed towards her is mostly about her âgetting too much screen timeâ and thatâs quite frankly the stupidest thing iâve heard, seeing as she is the main fucking character. itâs completely valid to say stuff like âtecna deserves more screen timeâ or so and so but saying it as if it bloomâs fault tecna or whoever doesnât have much screen time / isn't getting much attention is ridiculous. so much of the criticism surrounding bloom is stuff you should be mad at the writers for, not her. i genuinely donât see how any of it is her fault
the stuff i hear people most often say is how they love bloom in s1-s3 but hate her or at least somewhat dislike her / find her annoying in s4 and up which has never really made sense to me. obviously iâve only watched half of s7 and havenât watched s8 yet and itâs been quite a while since iâve watched beyond s4, however iâve loved bloom SO much throughout every single episode iâve watched and that isnât going to change.
bloom becomes more mature and way more serious in the later seasons which makes perfect sense. sheâs got the whole universe depending on HER. she makes one mistake and everything falls apart. she is constantly having to save everyone, do everything, and be everything. you thrust the fate of the whole universe on a 18 year old and GOD FORBID she becomes more strict and stern.
i don't have THAT much to say about this section in particular, especially seeing as iâve just gotten to s4 in my rewatch. i could just make a more in depth continuation when i eventually get further in my rewatch but yeah, i just don't understand the hate for s4-s8 bloom (again, being treated like a main character or the seasons' writing or whatever is not enough of a reason to me)
so to wrap this up: i will forever be a LOUD bloom lover/defender. this girl has done nothing wrong, is incredibly selfless, loving and loyal and most people just hate her because sheâs the main character (and a big reason being â¨misogynyâ¨). i love her in s1, in s3, in s6 and so on. there isnât a moment where i havenât loved her. she could literally murder a man and iâd cheer. genuinely nothing and no one can ever make me hate her. she will always be so dear to me. she's my perfect little angel who can do no wrong <3