Hi again !! So how do you feel about the twinkfication of the specialists through the seasons of winx club? Like in season 1-3 (and maybe 4 I think) they were bulky, not as much as codatorta or knut, but I really liked how they used a slightly more cartoonish style (or different shape language) to show the specialist's muscles/physical strength.Then in season 5 through 7 they started being drawn slimmer, kinda like timmy’s in the first 3 seasons (no offense to timmy). And we don’t need to talk about their kiddified/preteen looks in season 8.
What’s your take of the specialists body-types in the cursed triplets au? I personally liked their more robust looks in the original seasons, but maybe they could have that and still have more varied body-types (best of both worlds basically). Like, Timmy's not a front-line fighter but he could have a swimmer build and it helps handling the recoil from his laser gun or something. And Helia could have a gymnast kind of build ? It just feels like it would fit his whole “Graceful but Strong” sorta vibe !! And yeah Sky, Brandon and Riven would probably all be at least some level of gym-rat since they’re front-line fighters and stuff.
I actually had quite a bit of fun with this next concept !! Like, Sky wields a shield and a sword while Brandon uses a two-handed long-sword, which does fit with their initial roles of squire and prince. Since a shield is meant more for defense and support along with the sword (a squire role) and the long-sword it’s more impressive/heroic, kingly if you will.
But you know the switcheroo , and I just think it’s so funny (but also cool) how being themselves helps with the whole charade of Brandon and Sky trading places (it makes things even more poetic). Plus, it would be cool/interesting if Brandon had more pronounced muscle definition and was fitter than sky (again, more classic heroic/princely build) but Sky was overall more bulky/robust and also the physically strongest of the group (which could be a nice parallel with Bloom with the dragon flame within the winx club and all that).Maybe those things could grow more pronounced the longer they keep the charade?
Also, for clarification it’s not that I don't imagine sky having a strong core, it's just that I picture him liking food more than brandon, the blonde looks like he would melt a home-cooked meal >;D !!
And that aside, I kinda have some food for thought if you don’t mind.
Like, I love the fact that you made dragons cooler and more important (alongside their roles in specialist training). Like, it feels specialists and red-fountain as whole feel way cooler and more important than it was in cannon (Like there was Alfea, Cloud Tower ……… and then red fountain for specialists/people who wanted to be cool without magic but still not quite as cool as fairies & witches). But do you think that specialists could or would have stuff like magic resistant armor ? Or even grow to have some resistance to magic themselves after some kind of special training (or just their specialist training in general?).
Or like Codatorta !!! Dude once hugged/squezzed a shadow-haunt monster till he popped …. and sure he had help with Griffin & Faragonda magically boosting him, but it was also quite bigger than the average monster and I would like to believe that squeezing a monster to death with just his raw strength is something the teacher would be able to do some of the mobs. Heck !! He did win against Knut at arm-wrestling without any magic boost, which’s insane and kind of shifts my perspective a bit when it comes to specialists ? At first I thought of them kind of like hawkeye => capable and trained person with a cool weapon, but otherwise normal person without powers.
But considering the stuff Codatorta did ….. maybe they could be more like captain america in a way? Like sure, dude’s no way as strong or as durable as the hulk, but still kicks plenty of villain-ass !! I don’t know maybe when humans in the magic dimension train a lot (within a magically rich environment) they gain some enhanced physical attributes
Also I just think it would be funny that in the unlikely scenario Erendor got the opportunity to try and physically drag his son back to Eraklyon …… he wouldnt even be able to make Sky budge because dude’s 3 times his father size now, also kind of physical metaphor on how the former heir outgrew the mold he was pushed into AND how people can flourish once they’re in a healthier environment.
Sorry, At first I just wanted to ask your opinion about something, but it kinda spiraled from there.
So for body types for the main boys I’d say it’s a bit harder to tell Sky and Brandon apart until they’re solidly adults but once they’re grown there’s a lot more divergence.
Sky and Brandon as teenagers and young men are both very muscular, but not sculpted. They look like actual strong men rather than body builders, so they have enough fat built up on them to help protect their muscles rather than being nothing but muscle. So you don’t have that very defined T shape to them, they just kinda fill a doorway. Sky has always been less muscular than Brandon because Brandon began building his up around seven years old when he began working in the mines. Sky’s athletic development began with just sparring with his mother and playing outside, not from hard labor as a child. Brandon’s always been the stronger one, which is why he favors heavy, two handed weapons like broadswords, battle axes, and war hammers. Sky’s training began more as a hobby and he very quickly specialized in one handed swords and later shields.
Fun fact: Sky gets his combat prowess from Samara! Samara was one of the best ninjas the Yoshinoya Family ever produced. She was extremely successful in both espionage and combat when she was young but when she prevented an assassination attempt on Erendor before their relationship began it permanently weakened her. She’s still very formidable though and collects weapons as a hobby. She also took a very hands on approach to training the boys when they were young because she genuinely knew her shit. Erendor can defend himself but he was never athletic. Even in his youth he was a pudgy, short dude who would easily get his ass handed to him if forced to fight someone with real skill. He learned to sword fight when he was young, didn’t enjoy it, wasn’t good at it, mainly just sparred with Oritel to keep up the skill and Samara because he liked seeing her strength up close. So you can thank Samara for Sky’s combat prowess lol
I kinda did a similar thing but with their personalities over body type. If Sky sounds coherent in an interview or speech - that’s not Sky, it’s Brandon. Sky is a horrible public speaker, absolutely terrified of having to talk in front of people and will word vomit or actually vomit all over the stage. Which is how you end up with gems like Sky blurting out that he’s lowkey scared of his parents and cries himself to sleep when asked for comments of stuff. Brandon handles the press when they’re younger for a reason, he’s a lot better at talking in front of people and seeming princely than Sky is. Sky’s strengths are strategy and his immense empathy. If he’s just talking to another person one on one he’s golden. Put him on a stage and you’ll be lucky not get whatever invasive thoughts enter his brain at the moment.
When they’re older, like in next gen time frame, Sky has a much harder time keeping off extra weight than Brandon does. Unfortunately he did get a sluggish metabolism from his father that he has to actually stay on top of. But he stays active so he’s never really obese or anything. Brandon is just kinda blessed by starving peasant genes that allow him to eat squirrels fried in lard however often he wants and still make it to 90 with minimal issues. Sidenote Brandon never really stops hunting and trying to be self sufficient even when he’s married to Stella. The palace chefs are used to him just slamming random stuff he caught onto the counter and asking them to do something with it. Or him just volunteering to work with them because he or Stella want a specific thing he makes well. Stella can’t prepare her own snacks, late night snack duty is always Brandon’s department. Brandon’s less athletically active than Sky in older age because he’s a stay at home dad, so most of his activity comes from wrangling the kids, playing sports with them, and giving himself construction projects when he’s bored. Sky on the other hand always keeps up his training because he wanted to be a specialist and even though his career effectively ended when he chose to stay by Bloom’s side and help stabilize Domino, it’s what he loves. He also goes skateboarding with his son a lot, that’s their hobby they have together.
Riven on the other hand is going for that hyper sculpted look which is actually physically weaker but looks more intense. I think he works out to cope with things, which given his other coping mechanisms have been hoarding, fighting, and stealing things, is not a bad thing. He could stand to focus more on strength over pure physique though. Riven is the biggest gym rat of the group because the gay thoughts and evil grandma trauma can’t get him if he keeps moving. I think he slows his roll when he gets older and starts actually addressing his shitty mental health. Riven has a really good support system, he’s very blessed to have his dads, Timmy, Musa, and Helia. I think without them he would’ve ended up dead or back in prison very young. And if not that alone in a hoarded house that he’d eventually either die in or get thrown out of by the health department. Never underestimate the power of having people who care enough to set you straight, y’all. No pun intended because he’s definitely not straight but I digress.
Helia and Timmy are a lot smaller. Helia is tall and kinda willowy looking compared to the others. But he’s got a lot of compact muscle. Helia’s not a combat specialist, his specialty is search and rescue. So he can easily pick people up and move debris but he’s not built for a one on one battle of brawn. Timmy is shorter and scrawnier. He’s easily the least athletic. Timmy’s solidly specializing in being a pilot and engineering. He can pick someone up for a brief period if shit hits the fan but they better be light. Timmy’s the shortest of the boys and really is not trained or built for one on one combat. Which is why when Sky got zeroed by the Trix in season 2 he didn’t try to fight them, because then they’d both be dead and he felt it was more strategically sound to try to help the injured.
Also thank you! The specialists do interact with magic, but in a different way. Their equipment is powered mostly by phanto crystals, which have an extremely powerful arcane resonance that makes them versatile in many industries. They can use some armor that absorbs magic shock but it’s usually best when made to defend against specific kinds of magic attacks. There’s actually a lot of cross training between schools due to a good neighbor policy, so a lot of specialists take classes at Cloud Tower and Alfea to diversify their tool kit and vice versa, lots of witches and fairies learn specialist skills at Red Fountain. Notably Diaspro and Bloom learned dragon studies and tactics there. Flora has taken multiple alchemy and botany classes at Cloud Tower. Some skills are just applicable to everyone regardless of whether you’re genetically a fairy, witch, or don’t have strong enough magic for it to matter much. I do have an idea for why there’s a bit of a gender disparity (though anyone can be anything) and it’s that there could be genes on the Y chromosome that muffles arcane resonance and dampens magic ability in some males. And that this gene is prominent enough to lead to a smaller amount of male fairies and witches. Though I’m not totally married to the idea.
Codatorta is a total badass, man, I could totally see him being a Captain America type. Man is just, perfect for his job. You’re not going to find someone as physically capable and mentally patient enough to deal with the students he has to wrangle all the time. It’s not unusual for some dumbass kid to challenge him and swiftly get restrained and sent back to their station with a bruised ego. I think his job takes a lot of patience because he’s handling a lot of teenagers (mostly boys) who are very physically capable, overconfident, and depending on circumstances, traumatized. Some come to him traumatized, some have training missions go wrong early on. He has to balance being teacher, commander, and father figure a lot. Codatorta is well compensated for a very good reason, I think his primary equivalent would be Griselda who also has a tough job. They’re two of my favorite adults to write. I think one of my favorite scenes I have planned out with Griselda is her attending Stella’s false funeral and genuinely being torn up over it. When she found out Stella was alive she genuinely just hugged her and told her she was happy to see her. For Codatorta it’s a toss up between him proposing to Monica with a massive house and that going over Monica’s head so she lectures him about spending that much money on that much space for two people (Codatorta and Ortensia) when he doesn’t even like hosting and the economy is in the shitter. Or him giving Sky and Brandon a big hug and telling them they did a good job but it’s time to stand back and let the doctors work when they rescued Diaspro in season 2. They’re layered. Like an ogre or an onion.
Genuinely, I think Erendor realized pretty quickly Sky was not going to be able to be physically contained. Erendor goes for the emotional damage and sense of duty for a reason. He can’t overpower Sky, hasn’t been able to since Sky was around 14. But he can definitely tear him down mentally and make him comply by appealing to Sky’s sense of duty to other people and need for affection. But Sky’s gone against his dad on a few occasions where he just kinda snapped even before the events of the main story. Most notably Sky attacked Diaspro’s father because he had suggested Sky begin beating her with a cane every morning until she stops interrupting him among some other really fucked up suggestions on how to abuse her and break her strong personality. Another time Sky flipped a table, told Erendor he was disgusting, and nearly broke down a doorway trying to get out of the room. That one was because Erendor had pulled Sky aside and told him that if he’s gay that’s fine, but they still need Diaspro for heirs so just suck it up until there’s a few kids and then he can have all the men he wants. He then basically offered up Brandon, Brandon’s younger brothers, and any kids they’d have in the future as a “endless supply of good looking young men because the poor breed like rabbits”. Brandon was in the room pouring them tea when this conversation happened by the way. Sky lost his shit and probably would’ve hit Erendor if his initial response wasn’t just to grab Brandon and escape the room.
Usually Erendor can shame Sky into general compliance because framing anything as an issue of letting innocent people down or letting them be harmed will get him to comply.
I could get into some of the most fucked up things Erendor has said to or in front of Sky but this post is already hella dense lol.
