User blog comment:RoyallyBella/Official Season 7 discussion blog/@comment-29197449-20160803053055/@comment-29197449-20160803195607

Naw, it's okay. If a discussion happens where you need to thoroughly express your thoughts then do it! I kinda wish I didn't type out my response at around 1~2AM; it looks so messy...

Honestly, you're right about that. Introducing Nex as "the guy who comes between Roy and Aisha possibly having a thing" was a terrible idea. In that way, he's introduced as kind of an antagonist when he obviously isn't meant to be. I wish Rainbow could get a better handle on writing relationships. Sure, Roy knew that Nex had an interest in Aisha but he immediately jumps the gun and starts telling him to back off, like there was some beef between them pre-season 6. Heck, them having some sort of rivalry beforehand probably would've given Roy more character since he basically gets canned after Aisha x Nex is made more obvious.

How is it backwards? I mean, Aisha could fall for whoever she wants but, with how I initially thought of Nex, it felt like she was being set up with a carbon copy of Riven. I mean, I know he's way better and more redeemable than Riven, especially with how he acted after Seasons 4 and 6, but it just came off to me as being that way. I know there is more of a difference between the two but I can't really like Nex. I only liked Riven more because of the development he had going for him during the first 3 seasons. After they took that development and turned it on its head in Season 4, it had me wondering why they bothered doing that. Yeah, he was insecure and a bit possessive from the start(just listen to how he talks to Darcy when he's basically being her mole), but they just amped that up to 11 to make him look bad. I was never a fan of Musa/Riven tension because I felt like Rainbow always had to make Riven look even more childish and possessive in order to make something happen that would've been completely unavoidable otherwise, moreso in Season 4. As for Aisha being competitive, it always felt natural. Yeah, it wasn't needed in some instances but that's because she's stubborn. I'm a fan of direct parallels so I did notice that Roy was a lot like Aisha when she still had those barriers up during her debut season. For some reason, I always had this underlying fear that they would make Nex exactly like Riven by having him basically get everyone miffed when he's "poking fun." Thank goodness that never happened. Though, Riven being a jerk is very prominent in his character, Rainbow knew how to dial it down. I just hated how they had to take the jerk part of his personality and have that dominate his character in order to cause some unneeded tension. Something else possibly could've happened without making Riven look like someone the Winx and Specialists are just wasting their time on. I'd actually like to see those 15+ differences you have listed! Not really as a challenge, they just sound interesting.

I honestly wish they realized Musa and Riven's relationship was dysfunctional during Season 4 because the romantic tension between those two at that time was just dumb. There's no other way to describe it other than dumb because it could've been solved with probably a few more seconds of dialogue between the two rather than making them both so insecure and moody for no reason other than to stir up the drama. Yeah, Riven's a major jerk but I feel like they could have done a better job sending Riven off other than making him a jerk for half of the season only for it to come off as "OH, HE WAS JUST TRYING HIS BEST!!1!" Again, I'm no fan of Riven's but if he wanted to protect Musa by proving he can lead the Specialists, then why the hell was he basically treating her like she was unimportant? They even had a scene where Musa confronts Riven about this and he literally treats her like nothing more than a doormat. Like, what??? I'm pretty sure Riven has common sense; that's not how you treat ANYBODY if you're trying to protect them. He may be troubled after his mom left him but I'm going to need more insight as to why he comes off as so emotionally stunted. Something more had to happen to the man who was somewhere in his early-mid 20s to act like that. Some people need to chill with Riven though. He was proven to be so arrogant that he would end up working for the big bad(Season 1). With that hanging over my head, it was great to see him redeem himself in Season 2, kinda be a jerk only to realize himself that he jumped the gun in Season 3, but then all that goes out the window starting Season 4.

It's just that the way Aisha was handled during that whole season felt like she just forgot Nabu as soon as Roy stepped in. Would it have been right for her to constantly keep up walls and cry to herself every night? Nope, but they could've thrown in a little scene where she "talks" to Nabu for one final time and let us see that she's gotten some sort of closure other than have it look like Roy walked in so Nabu had to get the boot out of her heart. Honestly, I feel like Aisha's progression as a character during Season 5 was missed potential, especially because the season was supposed to have more of a focus on her character(Bloom kinda sucked up that spotlight with Sky losing his memories, Diaspro coming back and Daphne being important again). I just would've appreciated a scene where she "talks" to Nabu figuratively, like while she's looking in the direction of Tir Nan Og or looking up at the sky or even having a dream where she makes it so she can talk to him. Nabu even said that he wants her to always be happy so, for Aisha to act like how most of the fanbase wants her to act, she would already be going against Nabu's dying wish, which is obviously what she didn't want to do. If her being happy involved her moving on and finding someone else then she's still honoring Nabu in death because that's what he wanted.

I honestly wish they didn't introduce a love triangle for any of the characters at all. Rainbow managed to make a smart move and dodge a love triangle in Season 1 when it turned out "Sky" was Brandon and "Brandon" was Sky. With how they handle Stella as a big walking joke nowadays like she can't be mature, her decision to stay with Brandon after it turned out that he wasn't the Prince of Eraklyon was possibly the most mature decision Stella has made next to her somewhat accepting her parents' divorce and just wanting them to get along instead of trying to force them together. Anyway, as I've said, I can appreciate Nex's progression as a character and as Aisha's love interest somewhat, it was just ruined because of poor execution. After reading this and rewatching the third season more closely, I can actually see how her and Nabu's relationship just kinda exploded. I always felt like the both of them were trying to rush into a relationship as fast as possible to go against their arranged marriages but thaaaaaaaaaaaaaat doesn't really sound like it'd fit now. I wish there was a clearer time-frame between some episodes. All I know is that one season is always a year after the previous one. Even then, deciding on marriage within a year of dating is rushing it, especially 'cause they're all about 19~21 at that time. Daphne and Thoren dated for only a couple weeks to about a month before they were ready for marriage... ''Rainbow probably shouldn't be rushing characters into marriage so quickly. ''Actually, speaking of Daphne and Thoren, how is Bloom not freaked out by the fact that her fiancee for 3~4 years? is now her brother-in-law. Eh, I guess she's not worrying because they aren't blood-related but that was still pretty weird for most.

To be honest, I'm a bit over the whole "weh, I can't accept Nex" phase I had for about a month. I just didn't appreciate how he was written and, as you said, Roy made it more problematic. He was obviously going to be the odd man out but he tried so hard to stay relevant in the story that you wondered why he hadn't been put on the bus already. He definitely seems a lot more rational and cool-headed compared to Riven's constantly being moody and I hope that his character will have more room to grow and develop during Season 8 and possibly during the WoW spinoff. It's a shame that they couldn't do anything with Nabu's character. It was a bit weird to see that Nabu hadn't changed from Season 3 to 4 but I figured he was just a guy who changed slower than most... until he died heroically. Don't get me wrong, I am rooting for Aisha and Nex's relationship but I'm seriously hoping that they don't screw this up. Heck, I'm hoping that they don't try to hook Musa up with anyone during this upcoming WoW either. Season 7 already felt like they were hammering me over the head with the fact that Riven's on his bus ride to somewhere and not with Musa anymore, but I'd love for one of the Winx to not look like she needs a guy to not feel lonely. They did that perfectly fine with Aisha in Season 2 and most of 3 where she believed that she was better off being a single chick so I don't see why they can't make Musa look like she's capable of being confident without a guy either.