#but that doesn't help with the fact that your arms aren't physically capable of executing it

[mrtheinsatiable]

Starting to realize I've been unnecessarily resistant to a lot of ideas because I was just looking at them from an angle I didn't like

The idea of a "purpose driven life" is one of those things. The whole "I was Created for a Purpose" thing didn't vibe with me and also kind of pissed me off and that was pretty much the only context I had for the idea for a long time. And even the more secular version where I create my own purpose didn't work either because I've never felt like I had any particular calling or thing I Have to Do. It also feels dehumanizing to think of it that way, to a certain extent, to have a specific purpose or use like a tool or an object.

But actually a purpose driven life doesn't have to mean Having a Purpose it can just be "doing things on purpose." Life becomes a lot easier and also more fulfilling when you act with intent instead of just letting yourself loose in the day. It's hard to get your shit together when you're winging every second. A sense of purpose doesn't actually need to be deeper than that, I think, to positively influence your life

[lucy-and-rebecca]

Spoilers for 100 yq chapter 103

Welcome to another episode of me fangirling over Lucy disguised as analysis.

This chapter is one of the most important chapters for Lucy's character development and it was brilliantly executed.

We start off with the Gemini fake out. The thing that worried fans for two weeks turned out to be Lucy's spirits looking for her. While I was pretty sure Lucy wasn't going to lose her arm knowing she was fine was a huge relief.

Then she got into Aries form. I follow the logic on that. It's the only star dress that can offer her protection against physical attacks. Also it is just me or they were intentionally putting the focus on Lucy's guildmark?

Anyways that didn't work. Kiria was able to cut through it and Lucy was about to give up.

This is where things get intresting.

Kiria says no more miracles for you. It could be just because of the translation but the way she says this implies that Lucy being saved was something someone else did for her. In reality only Lucy could have pulled it off.

It's scenes like these with Gemini that make you realise most people don't really know much about celestial spirit magic. Not only that but Lucy's magic is on another level. If you know everything Lucy can do you can predict she was capable of using Gemini or Gemini could come to help her. To people who don't know much about celestial spirit magic and the ways Lucy can use it, what happened would feel like a miracle.

The moments with Laxus were just incredible. When Lucy was about to lose hope Laxus came to her rescue. He physically saved her yes, but more than that his words gave her strength to fight.

This guy who didn't come to help his guild when phantom lord attacked them because he didn't accept Lucy as a member of fairy tail and didn't think she was someone worth protection, broke free from mind control and put himself in harms way almost on instict to save Lucy.

Lucy thought she couldn't do anything on her own. The solution to that is her realise her guild is always with her. It's your typical power of Nakama but it feels more impactful with Lucy. Because the story with her isn't she was weak but then she became OP (I mean it's kinda true but that's not the main point). Her story is she wanted some place to belong and fairy tail accepted her unconditionally and the strength she has now is because of their support.

Lucy is at her strongest when she is fighting to protect someone else.

Do you understand how incredible this moment is? Lucy summoned a spirit to look after Laxus as she was about to do a spell that required three people. Summoning a spirit and keeping their gate open requires magical energy. Virgo said Lucy can maintain her new SD for only sixteen seconds and Lucy said that's all she needed. This shows she calculated how much time and energy she needed to defeat Kiria and made her moves accordingly.

Kiria could slash through anything so Lucy let her. She let Kiria slash at water in confusion while she chanted her spell. Because all she needed was time. She was strong yes but more than anything she was smart. She's the jack of all trades character who uses her power smartly to overpower enemies far stronger than her.

Lucy doesn't have the magical power to do Gottfried by herself so she figured out a way to increase her power and do the spell with other celestial wizards without actually having anyone else there. She had done spells with Gemini before but they aren't here right now. In that moment the only person present there is Lucy. She is just using her magical smartly.

And finally we have this.

That smile is so important.

This fight was very similar to her fight with Mimi. There were two main difference. First is Mimi realised she shouldn't underestimate Lucy, Kiria didn't. Second is, with Mimi even after Urano metria Lucy wasn't sure she had won. Here she knows. She's not even looking at Kiria she just knows she has won. In fact she knew she would win even before she summoned Virgo.

This fight is the perfect mix of last minute power up through power of friendship and a character winning the fight before it even begins because they were prepared and planned according.

One of the things I love about Lucy as a character is that losing is a real possibility for her. Which is why when she uses her head and wins it feels so much more impactful.