For as long as Bloom could remember, she always wanted to be a fairy.
What girl didn't want to be a fairy?
As the guardians of the realm, they were easily the most esteemed and respected of all the different lines of people. The fairies had the best of all the worlds; admiration, prosperity, magic. And those wings—those were wings were to die for! They were the pride of every fairy and the only accessory that was truly one of a kind. No two pairs were the same and girls all over the world aspired to have a pair of their own, to stand out as a member of the realm's most prized class.
And Bloom was no different.
Her obsession with fairies started early, when someone in her friend group discovered her wings back in the first grade. She and all the other kids in their class had crowded around the lucky girl like planets orbiting around the sun, bewitched by those sheer swathes of silk and their glittery lining. Everyone wanted to test them under their touch and when Bloom's turn came, she remembered marveling at the indescribable texture, at the logic-defying lightness of them. How could something so thin and delicate be capable of flight, much less lift someone off the ground? she wondered.
But it was possible. It was only a matter of time before that chosen classmate learned to raise herself off the ground, her altitude rising closer and closer to the heavens as time went on. Throughout the years, Bloom and her classmates watched from the ground, their hearts yearning for a similar destiny the higher and higher they found themselves lifting their chins to the sky.
By fifth grade, that chosen girl was not alone anymore. A fortunate few had discovered a new dimension to themselves and it was only a matter of time before recess was dedicated to them. The same handful of girls would always flock together in the school yard, chatting amicably about their new wing-care routines or whatever spells they'd learned. All the while pretending like the whole class wasn't listening in, like they weren't basking in the boys' admiration and the girls' reverence.
By middle school, that admiration had turned into affection and reverence became jealousy. Reality was starting to set in and the adults' views started to root themselves in their children's maturing (and impressionable) minds. Suddenly, the fairies were everything you wanted for yourself: as an identity, friend, love interest, it didn't matter. As they grew older, it became increasingly obvious that fairyhood wasn't just a fashion statement—it meant everything! Being a fairy came with benefits that transcended school, their middle-school minds started to realize. Naturally, the fairies realized this as well and it was only a matter of time before the societal hierarchy carried over into school.
By high school, the lines were clearly drawn. After years of fantasying and discussing their future winx and powers, everyone who didn't have wings at that point knew they were fated to be regular. For many, this reality was a subject of despair. But while some carried an everlasting bitterness, others learned to live with it and quickly adjusted to the hand of cards that'd been dealt them.
Bloom, thankfully, was part of that second group. Even though her love and devotion to the concept of all things fairy never subsided, she recovered from her childish expectations and soon grounded herself in reality. She was fated to be a plain, average girl and that was fine with her. After all, there were worse things she could be. She was content with who she was, and had no qualms with her identity.
But then the horns started to grow.
N/A: To be honest, I don't know where this came from. Growing up, Monster High was something I never really latched on to. Not gonna lie: I had my own little obsession going on for a time and it coincided with Winx Club during the height of the 2011-2012 Nickelodeon era. I was more devoted to Monster High than Winx Club, and spent hours watching the webisodes, interacting with the website, and listening to the Fright Song. But then I saw an Ever After High ad on Nickelodeon—conveniently while playing a Winx Club game—and then everything changed. Ever After High became my new "thing" and I dropped Monster High all together. That was back in 2013, and I didn't take Monster High seriously until years later. Until last month, in fact.
The idea to write a Monster High, Winx Club crossover dawned on April 13, 2022. Normally, I would sit on an idea for a few months before writing, but that's what killed my productivity in my Ever After High x Winx Club fanfiction. I'm actually not supposed to publish anything else until I overcome the dreaded first chapter (technically the fifth). As many of you probably now, I've renewed Sisters in Flame several times since its birth in 2018 and I've recently finalized the perfect "symphony" between WC and EAH. However, I was never able to write beyond Chapter 1 while I was unconfident about the story's original vision, and that has carried over into the mindset I have while writing the finalized version. By finishing the dreaded chapter, I would finally be free of past insecurities and I'd be able to jump into the story like I never have before. However, the process has been unnecessarily slow and I haven't written anything serious in ages. I've been holding myself back until I can overcome this obstacle and it's not working! But then this idea sprung to mind.
Admittedly, I didn't take it seriously at first. But then, out of curiosity, I looked up Monster High for the first time in a while and I found myself being sucked back into the lore. Suddenly, I was rediscovering lost passions, reuniting with characters I used to love. And then my brought my mind back to Winx Club since Nickelodeon introduced me to both series around the same time. The Nickelodeon dub of Season 4 was and still is the only Winx season I watched in its entirety, which has left a long-lasting print. Where most people have childlike love for the original three seasons, season 4 has always carried the most nostalgia for me. But, sadly, it doesn't get the attention it deserves; it's only applauded for being the last "good" season before Nickelodeon came in.
And that brings us here. After a month of reinvesting myself in Monster High, I happened to find an artist that does really good crossover art (TheDominique on devART). When she just started publishing them last month, I knew it couldn't be a coincidence. I reached out and she gave me permission to use her art for the cover. And so, I started writing this story on Friday the 13th, exactly one month after first coming up with the idea. This short bit was such a breath of fresh air. I feel the inspiration coming back to me already. Hopefully, I can add the long-awaited introduction to SIF in the near future.
