Maybe There is Some Hope…
I finally read the comments on WinxClubEnglish’s Aisha/Nex love story video. All the typical stuff was there:
- “Aisha and Nabu forever!”
- “Nabbbbbbbbbbbbuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! ???????????????”
- “Roy was better!”
- “Nex is a rip-off of Riven/a less-interesting, less-developed badly-written Riven!” (If you have to use that many qualifiers, maybe Nex isn’t a type of “Riven”, after all. Also, I love how Riven has devolved from a specific character to a stereotype.)
One Aisha/Nex hater has been working overtime, replying to practically every comment. (There are almost 400.) He hates Nex so much, he even called Nex’s voice actor Marc Thompson an idiot. Also, the Winx fandom apparently needs a time machine to erase him and Thoren from history. ?
That wasn’t the only dramatic comment. Another hater said Nex isn’t just “the worst person for Aisha”, but for Winx Club itself because of his personality. My guess is they’re one of those fans who thinks he’s a womanizer, a misogynist, an egotistical a-hole, or all of the above. He’s not just a flawed character who still has redeeming qualities and is able to (and already has) become a better person.
Despite all this, things weren’t as bad as I expected. I saw several positive comments about Aisha and Nex, and some fans defended them for once. (I couldn’t help but jump into the fray after I saw that.) A couple fans even had the guts to say they prefer Aisha with Nex than with Nabu! Blasphemy!
I didn’t see many comments about Aisha and Nex’s interactions in Winx season eight, so I still think most people who commented (especially the haters) haven’t watched it yet. The English dub hasn’t premiered yet, after all. So even though the video had scenes from the Sirenix arc, those fans wouldn’t know the context. I wonder how they’ll feel after they finally watch the new season.
Let’s hope this comment comes true:
Season 6 fandom reaction: “I seriously hate him! Even Roy is better than Nex! starts sobbing wE wAnT NaBU bACk”
Season 7 fandom reaction: “I still hate him!! And where the heck is Roy???”
Season 8 fandom reaction: “Meh, I think [I] can’t help but ship them…”
Season 8 kiss scene fandom reaction: “JUST MARRY ALREADY!”
Sounds like typical behavior for a fandom. Hey, Rainbow, where’s that kiss scene?
Bottom line: I’m starting to think the fandom will warm up to Aisha and Nex. We’re only halfway into season eight, and some haters are already changing their minds about them. Things are finally looking up.
As you might have seen, I’ve been fairly active in that video’s comment section, and me and Will have been responding to a lot of the haters. My favorite bit of ridiculousness I’ve seen is when a Nabu fan insinuated that he knew better when it came to romantic matters because he was a boy, and most of the rest of us were girls. According to him, guys are more likely to love one girl forever, while girls have more relationships. Therefore, girls don’t “know what is true love”. Because obviously having previous relationships makes it hard for you to love who you’re with now. And of course, being a certain gender makes you completely incapable of understanding true romantic attraction. Look at me, being silly and assuming that Aisha actually loves Nex because of all the direct evidence that supports that assumption. Obviously both Aisha and I are just being foolish by thinking that we could understand the true intricacies of romance. “Just like a girl”, right?
But to be positive, I have seen a lot of nice comments, too, which is encouraging. I saw one fan who asked (paraphrased), “Can’t I just be allowed to like Aisha x Nabu AND Aisha x Nex?” That comment has made me think a bit more about the division in the fandom, and how I may have contributed to that accidentally. The thing is, I do want to point out Roy and Nabu’s flaws since no one else does, but I also don’t want to imply that you can only like one of the three. Honestly, I might rewrite parts of my video script now, because though I do bring up negative points, I don’t want to only send hate and imply that Roy and Nabu fans aren’t “real fans” (whatever the heck that means). I want to send good vibes instead. (Sorry that this got slightly personal, but it’s just something I’ve been thinking about.)
I saw the fan you’re talking about. Yeah, that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. And anyone whose boyfriend or husband has ever cheated on them would beg to differ. Also, you could mention that Winx Club’s target demographic is girls, anyway, but there’s no point.
The thing is the fandom has created and reinforces the rule that you can only like one Aisha pairing. “True” Winx fans only accept Aisha with Nabu. All other pairings are trash.
It’s hard to play nice when no one else does.
It’s almost like the haters think Nex is the Androsian Male equivalent of Diaspro. Ah no. I don’t think he would try to kill Aisha in a season long subplot after a disagreement. I actually think he would be the one to finally ask if they can banish Diaspro to Omega or Oblivion? Omega preferably.
They over-exaggerate his flaws or, in the case of that fan who replied to everyone, they make up flaws for Nex. They’ve also over-simplified Riven’s character to force this “Nex is a rip-off of Riven” narrative. Riven was/is way more than just arrogant. He’s the only guy in the main cast who nearly became evil. As I said in the video comments, Darcy said in “Friends in Need” (S1, EP07) that Riven had “a very strong negative force” and was “on a level with the Prince of Darkness” (i.e. Beelzebub himself).
Nex may be abrasive at times, but he’s never shown vulnerability to darkness. He’s just a guy with some attitude. Apparently, that’s not allowed unless there’s some dramatic backstory attached to it — although Riven technically doesn’t have that, either, except that throwaway line about his mom on the official website 10+ years ago. But it’s never been referenced in the show, so is it even canon?
It just seems like the fandom has it out for Nex no matter what he does, even if it’s positive. The haters have rigged the debate so he can never be accepted. But it looks like the Aisha X Nex fans are starting to fight back.
Apart from the birthdays and the favorite colors of Musa, Bloom, Flora and Tecna and a few favorite foods being seen (Bloom, Stella, Flora, Tecna and Aisha especially with Magix popularizing pizza after Bloom showed up)…I’m pretty sure that most of the stuff on the website is (imitating Donald Duck) a bunch of phooey!
Stella’s favorite color isn’t green as evidenced by those Zenith outfits in s6. It’s purple. Aisha has the green since those Zenith outfits used the favorite colors of red (bloom), pink (flora), blue (tecna) and yellow (musa). And of course we all know that the whole Best Friends thing is royally messed up in regards to Tecna, Flora, Musa and Aisha. Tecna & Flora, Musa & Aisha. Even the RAI Tecna and Flora had been working together previously on Arthur (funny supplant to Tecna and Flora being bffs. It’s Francine and Fern respectively. Also Flora being voiced by Fern…they went for the joke.)
I think we need to realize that there will always be extreme ends to every random, no matter how ridiculous. Having an opinion on a ship that you like is just not allowed for some reason, but not only in the winx fandom. At this point we just gotta ship whoever we want and not worry about the backlash. I agree with you, some people are absolutely crazy but the best thing to do is just ignore it and love who you want with whomever you want to regardless of what others say and to not let ourselves get hurt or disheartened on the opinions of others. You are ALLOWED to love Nex X Aisha and die hard Nabu fans are allowed to love Nabu, but of course people don’t understand how to be civil with each other when it comes to being a fan about something. All we can really do is say whatever and be entitled to our own opinions without invalidating others.
Believe me, it’s hard to ignore it. In the Winx fandom, only Aisha X Nabu fans are considered “true” Winx fans. They constantly hound anyone who posts Aisha X Nex content.
I’ve been back on Instagram lately. You know all those roleplay accounts? If an Aisha roleplayer posts pictures of Aisha and Nex, haters will spam it with comments like “Nabu!” or “What about Nabu?” or “You betrayed Nabu!” You can hardly find an Aisha X Nex post or video — on Instagram or anywhere — that doesn’t have a bunch of those comments. And Aisha X Roy fans are starting to do the same thing.
Fans of the other Winx couples don’t have to deal with this, so I wish Aisha X Nex fans didn’t, either. The only way things are gonna change is if a lot more fans fall in love with this couple. Right now, the haters think no one likes Aisha and Nex, so in their minds, they’re not invalidating anyone’s opinions. They’ll leave us alone once Aisha and Nex gain enough fans to be an “approved” couple (so to speak).
And that’s ridiculous that fans of Nabu and Roy are that rude to those who are not fans of those two. I can admit I am a part of the MuRi train, but it really hits a nerve when MuRi shippers crap on those who don’t like them together. Like why? If someone doesn’t like that ship then they are ALLOWED to not like it. And the same goes for Aisha and Nex. People are allowed to love them together. Nabu is gone and the fandom needs to understand that he is not coming back. If they enjoy Nabu so much they should stick to seasons 3 and 4, because that’s where it stops. Yes Nabu was a great character but he’s no longer a part of the show. Aisha has moved on. Nex is a great guy for Aisha, they’re literally perfect together. Like the fandom can’t seriously expect all the girls to have the same boyfriend for the entire show, there has to be some aspect of reality. So yes, it’s great that Rainbow had Aisha end up with Next instead of Nabu. Personally, I find Nex and Aisha totally cute together and season 8 has made them even cuter. I’m so sorry you get trashed for liking them, really you shouldn’t be. They’re a couple in the show??? It’s not like you made that ship up, they are actually together and fans need to suck it up and accept that.
I think it’s so ridiculous that the fandom is that crazy about their ships, like seriously let people ship who they want. I can admit I’m a part of the MuRi train but when MuRi shippers crap on people who don’t like the ship it really hits a nerve. Like so what if people don’t like them together? They’re ALLOWED to not like them together without all the hate from MuRi shippers. And the same goes to Aisha xNex shippers. The fandom needs to move on, Nabu has been gone since season 4 and he is not coming back. Yes he was a good character but he’s not a part of the series anymore. If you want to enjoy Nabu go back to S3 and 4. Aisha has moved on, so stop hating on people who like Nex and Aisha together. I find it so crazy how insane some fans get over Nabu and Roy. Like sure, like them if you want but don’t be rude to people who don’t like them. Personally, I find Nex and Aisha super cute together and season 8 made them even more cute together. I’m sorry you get trashed for having opinions, but for the record a lot of the fandom are also kids who have no filter. You’re not a fake fan for liking Nex and Aisha. They are fake fans for hating people who have opinions tbh.
I used to always react to Aisha X Nex haters, but not anymore, because they always let me question my sanity. They are so good at manipulating people ?
manipulators are very hard to spot like valtor for instance his manipulation is very subtle but these Aisha x nex haters are very good at it sadly