Inktober Day #9: “Vulnerable”

This is one of my favorite drawings so far. I made some mistakes, but I still love how it turned out. ❤️

To be honest, I wish a scene like this would happen in Winx Club. Maybe Nex’s life falls apart, and the only person he feels like he can lean on — figuratively and literally — is Aisha. I’d love this for two reasons. One, it would help humanize him and erase the negative perception of him. He needs that desperately.

Two, it would be a role reversal. We usually see (and have come to expect) the Winx’s boyfriends comforting them. But a Winx comforting her boyfriend? That rarely happens, mainly because the Specialists and Paladins aren’t given enough (or any) personal struggles that don’t tie into their roles as love interests.

I wanna see Nex suffer through something that has nothing to do with Aisha, but I wanna watch her help him through it. Real love stories aren’t series of dramatic obstacles that keep the lovers from being together. (Cough, cough, Bloom and Sky! ?) A real love story is when the man has to have back surgery, and the woman picks him up, drives him to the hospital, and stays with him the whole day.

…Okay, that’s a boring example.

My point is I’d like to see a circumstance where Aisha or Nex has to rely on the other. It’s usually the Winx who have legitimate life issues, and the guys are just their counselors/cheerleaders. For once, I’d like to see the opposite to happen.

I think Aisha is the perfect Winx for a story like this because of how strong and empathetic she is. In season two, Flora and Musa both felt comfortable asking her for advice and support, even though they’d just met her. As for Nex, I love watching tough guys break. When a bold, confident, independent man loses his willpower and has to lean on someone else for strength, it makes for a powerful and beautiful story.

Nine drawings down, 22 to go!