#character: levy mcgarden | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thatbirdrestaurant · 23 days

Text

ʚ fairy tail headcanons ɞ

ʚ these all range from canon-compliant to pure fanfiction lala land ɞ

ʚ this ended up being so much longer than i planned ɞ

ʚɞ

the b team from the gmg hang out regularly and are all very good friends. mirajane, cana, and juvia have special "making fun of laxus" privileges that not even bickslow has.

laxus is genuinely embarrassed about how he used to talk about erza and she uses it against him very often. "oh, yes, because how can i - a mere woman - possibly accomplish this task myself?" "fine! i'll open the pickle jar!"

cain instinct is strong in the fairy tail guild. everyone is resisting the urge to smack each other, and most of them aren't very good at it. even laxus can be a target, especially after he chilled out. the most surprising display was when levy smacked him square in the head with one of her books, and he just yelled at her, or when cana stared at erza for a few seconds before smacking her across the face.

sex education was, probably, the worst thing to happen to those who grew up in the guild hall. either makarov didn't give enough details or he gave way too many.

lucy and gray are the biggest gossipers in the guild. they know everyone's secrets and while they don't blackmail people, they never hide something from the other. if they're staring at you and whispering, they are talking mad shit or they found out something about you.

juvia and natsu get along alarmingly well. they're not even sure how it works, just that they're so different that it kind of makes them perfect for each other (as friends).

natsu is sting's celebrity crush and he thinks he's doing a great job at hiding it. he's not. everyone knows. rogue knows, lector knows, all of sabertooth knows, all of fairy tail knows, sorcerer weekly knows, natsu knows. no one has the heart to tell him.

juvia doesn't have romantic feelings for lyon but she wants them to be friends so badly. not to get closer to gray, just because she thinks he's really cool and easy to talk to. lyon is so smug about it and gray wants to throttle him for it.

erza and mira's rivalry is alive in the tiniest of ways. they're always having small contests like "i bet i can wash this cup faster than you," or "i bet lucy says hi to me first." there's no hard feelings involved, they just can't help but be a little competitive with each other.

erza was illiterate for a really long time, way longer than she should have been, and makarov felt awful for not realizing it sooner. she was just looking at the reward numbers and going with the flow. on top of that, she has really bad dyslexia, something that somehow went under the radar.

related to the previous headcanon, lucy eventually realizes that the reason natsu has such bad grammar and reading comprehension is because he was tutored by erza, and erza's so bad at writing and understanding big words because she has undiagnosed dyslexia. so takes the time to slowly teach them how to read more complicated things, showing erza ways to read with her dyslexia, and giving them handwriting lessons. the first time erza writes a comprehendible letter is to jellal, and she's absolutely ecstatic about it. natsu is thrilled that he can finally read lucy's book without feeling stupid.

gray teaches wendy a lot about social cues and how to survive in a city as big as magnolia. she grew up very sheltered in a tiny village, so it makes sense that she struggles with "big city living." she's very appreciative and gray is just happy he can be of use.

gray stopped smoking because he heard lucy say she finds smokers unattractive. (gray, in the manga, smoked for a bit, and it's explicitly stated that, at least for the first handful of arcs, he was interested in lucy).

natsu started having romantic feelings for lucy during their fight against kain, but he didn't realize he was in love with her until he watched future lucy die. lucy didn't realize she had feelings for natsu until she realized she was in love with him, which was after the events with the eclipse gate. (the specific moments i'm talking about: kain | future lucy | post-eclipse gate)

between her and gajeel, juvia is the older one. she doesn't give it much thought but gajeel sees her in a big sister role, and has found himself accidentally referring to her as his older sister. which he would rather die than let her find out about.

when asked who she would go after if gray wasn't in the picture, most people expect juvia to say she could never picture a world without gray, but she will look you dead in the eye and, without any hesitation, say, "erza."

gray and loke had something very gay going on before loke went back to the celestial spirit world. the sexual tension between the two of them in this scene is too strong, they've fucked, kissed at least.

when gray realized he liked juvia back, he had a full mental breakdown for several reasons. a fear of intimacy, a fear of losing her like he has every single woman he's ever cared about, and because he just couldn't believe her very weird and very aggressive flirting tactics worked.

in the same vein, evergreen was inconsolable for days when she realized she was in love with elfman. laxus, freed, and bickslow have never been more worried about her mental well-being.

all of crime sorciere have a betting pool on when jellal and erza will get their heads out of their asses. they've had to place new bets several times because they're still dancing around each other. at this point, the betting pool is getting tense, and someone is going to lose so much money.

cobra and jellal kissed once because they were both extremely drunk and extremely sad about their respective crushes. neither of them remember it but the rest of crime sorciere can never forget watching cobra shove his tongue down jellal's throat.

makarov has said "you're like the son i never had" way too many times for it to be an accident.

elfman wants to be a girl dad so bad. he absolutely loves having sisters and he's obsessed with the idea of having a daughter to spoil and dote on.

gray and juvia have a kid before getting married...whoops.

going against the grain and literally what mashima has said, and saying that natsu and lucy have a son before having a daughter. he's a lot like lucy while their daughter is almost exactly like natsu.

yukino is a raging lesbian and is endlessly distressed by how many people think she's in love with sting. her month was ruined when minerva congratulated them on their relationship. completely ignoring the fact that sting is a gay man and is openly down bad for rogue.

rufus and orga have been dating for almost three years and literally no one knows.

lucy cried for three hours when she found out about anna and ichiya.

laxus and freed are in a queer-platonic relationship. laxus is aroace and has no interest in being romantically involved with someone, but he likes the dynamics of dating someone, and freed just likes having someone to spoil (back massages, compliments, all the things freed does in canon).

natsu has ended up in so many situations where he's put in feminine clothing, that he's actually started to kind of like it. he really doesn't mind the idea of wearing a skirt or letting lucy do his makeup. lucy is obsessed with it, and they sometimes do each other's makeup.

romeo is a trans boy and canon is my enemy. macao is extremely supportive and is always introducing romeo as enthusiastically as he can. "this is my son, romeo. isn't he so handsome? just the most handsome boy out there. i'm so proud of my son. he's the best." it's as embarrassing as it is endearing.

gray gets really bad joint pain after using his demon slayer magic, because the demon ice is so cold that it hurts him. thankfully, juvia is always happy to give him massages and crack his back.

natsu had the fattest crush on laxus from the age of thirteen to the very end of the battle of fairy tail arc. everyone just thought he had too much faith in his guild mates, but it was actually because he was so horrendously down bad for laxus that he couldn't accept that he was kind of a psycho.

gray tries so hard to seem cool and nonchalant that he accidentally flirts with basically everyone he interacts with. he thinks he's being cool and mysterious, instead he's making people fall in love with him.

loke tells lucy she's beautiful all the way into her sixties, and he means it every single time.

jude, technically, didn't take layla's maiden name, they just had the most unbelievable coincidence in the world where layla's last name was "heartfilia," while jude's was "heartphilia," so neither of them really saw a point in changing their last names.

juvia and gajeel were not only introduced to the wonders of genuine friendship and family after joining fairy tail, but also the amazing world of weed by cana and bickslow. laxus will never forget walking into his apartment with the thunder legion for the first time in years, and being met with juvia, gajeel, and cana on the couch, passing a blunt, while bickslow was raiding the kitchen.

gajeel and levy elope, only bringing lily and juvia with them as their witnesses. lucy was a little (a lot) insulted by it, but she eventually understood why levy did what she did when her and natsu decided to do the exact same thing, and only bring along their team. basically, elfman and evergreen, and gray and juvia are like the only couples to have a ceremony.

fairy tail has a lot of lawsuits and property damage bills, and freed, levy, and lucy almost had collective aneurysms trying to get through and organize them all. the guild has never spent more money on coffee.

lucy eventually takes advantage of the fact she has a very powerful kick and gets a black belt in taekwondo, a type of martial art that focuses mostly on kicking. her raw leg power combined with knowing what she's doing AND her heels? deadly.

(cw for child abuse on this one, skip if needed) minerva has such a massive appetite because jiemma would starve her both as punishment but also to "make her stronger." her body just never feels full, like the food will be taken away from her again.

sabertooth members calling minerva "m'lady" started as a serious thing to show respect, but now it's a running joke where everyone is trying to be as obnoxious as possible with it.

it's kind of implied that rogue is (at least) sexually attracted to minerva, and the fact larcade's "find out who's a virgin" spell hits him right after seeing minerva being affected by it, makes me think he lost his virginity to her. it was awkward and objectively bad but he's still glad it happened. sting drank an entire bottle of tequila when he found out about it.

getting 1 v. 2-d by natsu was the biggest ego crash sting and rogue have ever, and will ever experience. they will never be able to live it down. it will follow them to their graves. please never talk about how egotistical they used to be, they will cry from embarrassment.

minerva calls everyone's boyfriend their "boy toy" because, and i quote, "i don't respect men."

juvia is the best gift giver you will ever meet. she just has a way of always knowing what's perfect for someone, and it's a mutual agreement to always make her go last for gift giving so everyone else feels better about their gift for at least a few minutes.

natsu is the kind of guy to remember something someone said to him once in passing and randomly bring it up weeks or months later. his brain is a library of miniscule information about the people around him.

gajeel talks trash about levy's romance novels but will also be sneaking peeks over her shoulder and trying not to react to various moments. he is deeply invested in the plot twists and the main characters' romance.

while he's traveling, gildarts will buy cana a gift from every town his visits, which results in him having about a pound of knickknacks, clothes, and alcohol for her when he comes back. she pretends to be embarrassed about it but she secretly loves being spoiled by him.

gildarts and cana go on daddy-daughter dates and she'd rather drink bleach than let other people find out about it. gildarts is just happy to be there.

natsu and cana have had this conversation: "so, are we, like, siblings now?" "excuse me?" "because, like, gildarts is basically my dad, and he's your dad. so..." "we are not siblings, natsu." "okay, didn't know you liked being an only child so much." "go fuck yourself."

gildarts knows lucy is going to be his daughter in law. he doesn't know if it's going to be from her marrying natsu or from her marrying cana.

wakaba would sneak teenage gray cigarettes. erza, mirajane, and makarov almost killed him when they found out about it.

mira is aroace, feeling absolutely no romantic attraction and being sex repulsed, but she is absolutely obsessed with other peoples' love lives. she thrives on it.

lisanna is fairy tail's resident lesbian and is a little in love with every girl she meets.

120 notes · View notes

cyannchavez · 2 years

Text

Gajevy Analysis

I'm so glad that I finally have the time to really dive deep into this topic. I have been wanting to do this for so long but never had the time! So I wanted to introduce you all to my deep, DEEP dive of Gajevy. In this essay I will talk about every single moment that features Gajeel and Levy in the manga I might even compare to the anime at certain points. Let me tell you I read the entire manga page by page to find every single Gajevy moment I could, big and small. In this essay we will explore the characteristics and personalities of these two wonderful characters and how they came together to become one of the most loved couples in Fairy Tail. So I hope that y'all enjoy this analysis as much as I enjoyed making it!

I wanna start off with the first half of this pair that we are introduced to in the beginning of the manga and that is Levy Mcgarden. Levy is a 17 year old girl with short but wild blue hair, we learn right away that she is very short for her age, maybe 5 ft 2in or even shorter it's never proven but she brings it up often. She has big brown eyes and her outfit consists of a yellow bikini top covered with a blue vest and khaki like shorts. Overall she's a real cutie, not only that but she is very sweet, loving and kind.

She is also the leader of her own three person team Shadowgear. We learn more about her as time goes on from little appearances she makes in smaller panels. She's extremely intelligent and reads like there's no tomorrow. She doesn't like violence as she never joins in when her guild members fight, she's more of a tactician and peace maker. But she's quick on her feet and uses her attacks to her advantage when she has to use them. Her magic is awesome and slap yer grandma powerful. However, due to her peaceful and loving nature she tries to avoid using it if possible. She uses a holy type of magic called solid script. Writing runes and words into solid materials such as oil, iron, and stone. I for one think that her magic has so much potential but sadly it's so underutilized in the manga which makes sense considering levy doesn't like to fight but dang give me more please! Levy Mcgarden does indeed start off as a minor character but grows into so much more as the series goes on. We find this out as we reach chapter 47, a chapter that will change her character all together.

We start off on chapter 47 with Natsu, Erza, Gray, Lucy and Happy returning home from their most recent mission. They comment on the guild looking so bizarre from far away but not really realizing exactly what's wrong with the guild until they get up close enough to see. They finally look at their guild hall which is deformed and destroyed by several metal looking beams. The beams protrude out from the building in every direction. Team Natsu travels down to the hall basement to get answers from the master. Who is less than helpful and is even drunk. However in that moment we can see he is upset and is drowning his sorrows in alcohol. We find out that a rival guild named Phantom Lord destroyed their guild hall in the middle of the night while everyone was sleeping peacefully in their homes. That next night everyone pairs up for safety reasons. While everyone is together, trying to remain safe for the night something sinister is happening in town. But before I talk about that I wanna bring up our antagonist of this arc. Gajeel Redfox, shockingly the other half of our favorite couple Gajevy.

We meet Gajeel in his guild hall while he is eating with his back turned away from us. He knocks out a guild mate when they disturb him while he eats, turning so we can finally see what this man looks like. Gajeel is a towering man at least 6 ft tall, his eyes are blood red and he has long spiky jet black hair, he also adorns piercings totaling at about 21 piercings on his face not including the ones on his arms. He has a black Phantom lord emblem on his right shoulder. His fashion choice is a little strange. He wears a black shirt that fits into his iron studded belt. It is way longer in the back making it look like some kind of frayed, torn up cloak. He wears baggy white pants stuffed into black steel toed boots covered in iron studs. Safe to say this man is absolutely terrifying.

We learn a tiny bit about his personality other than “EVIL.” Gajeel is easily agitated as seen when he is disturbed while hes eating, he loves to fight, maim, and even torture. His magic which we find out later is Iron dragon slayer magic. He is introduced as Natsu's opposite, both being dragon slayers but one that was abandoned but found by Fairy Tail and raised with love and the other being abandoned and left to fight for himself. A perfect representation of nature vs nurture. Gajeel stands with his fist clenched ranting about how Phantom lord is a more powerful guild than Fairy Tail. His master Jose congratulates him on his destruction of the Fairy Tail guild hall. Gajeel goes on to explain that he doesn't think they were hard enough on them so he decided to leave them a little something extra, a present.

During the night while everyone sleeps Gajeel stalks an unassuming Fairy tail team consisting of three people, Jet, Droy and to much of our shock Levy Mcgarden. This is where i'm gonna compare the manga to the anime. First off in the manga we don't see the attack take place we only see a cut straight to the next morning where we find the three mages crucified in a row on the sola tree in the middle of the park high up off the ground. They are beaten and bloody, their clothes are ripped, and Levy is branded with the Phantom Lord emblem on her stomach as a calling card. In the anime Gajeel is standing on the roof of a neighboring building stalking the three Fairy Tail members as they happily stroll along unassuming. Gajeel then leaps from atop a building and makes a direct beeline for Levy Mcgarden. I took a moment to go back and watch that episode recently using my handy dandy pause button to see the moment leading up to what would be one of the darkest moments in all of Fairy Tail. Levy is still turned away from her assailant while Jet and Droy turn around in surprise and fear realizing that they are about to be attacked. Levy on the other hand has yet to notice. You see Jet and Droy reach out for Levy to pull her away but it all happens too fast for them to reach her in time. I hit the play button and pause again quickly to see the two are now out of sight and Levy finally turns around. She looks surprised. From watching this scene I think we are seeing this from Gajeels point of view when he first saw Levy the two make direct eye contact. His red eyes meet her big brown ones and the scene cuts out to black after we get a close up of her left eye wide with surprise and fear. We hear a loud banging noise, the sound of metal coming into contact with a human body. In the anime the three are still strung up on the tree knocked unconscious. This on its own is absolutely soul crushing the fact that these three suffered through an entire night their arms stretched passed farther than they're normally supposed to stretch suspended in the air at least 20 ft off the ground with broken bones and hanging on by a thread makes me feel so sick to my stomach. Fairy Tail is normally a pretty light hearted story so this really blew me away during my first reading of the manga.

Looking back on all this for this essay I realize Gajeel did this without his master's blessing without anyone else in their guild knowing. He receives praise from his master for doing so and Gajeel looks on laughing and bragging about what he has done. At this point in time Gajeel is still young, maybe 20 or 19 at the most. He wanted to please his master, like a kid who wants their fathers approval. He did this to get the admiration of the guild and master. He wanted to be the biggest baddest guy they had and this in itself really shows his age in my opinion. He has no remorse because no one has ever told him that hurting people isn't right, he's only ever been praised for it. He didn't need to do this. He had attacked the guild like he was told to do. Yet he still felt like he didn't get the reaction he wanted and proceeded to take drastic measures. He wanted to humiliate not only Fairy Tail but humiliate Levy, Jet and Droy and he did just that.

This concludes the first meeting between Gajeel Redfox and Levy Mcgarden. So this begs the question, “how in the hell did these two end up together?” That we can kinda guess and piece together. Especially since Fairy Tail is a shonen we don't get much romance. But I have been able to piece together a hopefully accurate timeline showcasing the long and grueling walk these two had to take to come together in the end.

The Battle of Fairy Tail

We move on to our next arc where we see Gajeel once again yet this time he is a member of Fairy Tail. Brought on by none other than master Makarov. Everyone is rightfully angry, livid at the idea of Gajeel being a part of Fairy Tail so suddenly. Levy hides behind a wall shaking like a leaf, terribly afraid of Gajeel. She tries to reassure everyone that she is ok with him there and that everyone else should be ok with it as well yet she says this while her body shakes. Levy is afraid of Gajeel but as she tries to move on from this trauma she tries to be strong, speaking up in an effort to show she doesn't care that Gajeel is there even though she's not happy about it. Jet and Droy are less than happy when they see Gajeel even telling the dragon slayer to meet them where the attack took place to “talk.” Gajeel does take the time before his mission to meet up with the two men where he sees Levy yet again hiding behind the sola tree trying to shield herself from his view. She tries to talk Jet and Droy down, she explains that she no longer holds a grudge about that anymore. Not only is she in the exact place that night took place but she is also standing feet away from the man who attacked her and her friends. She is expecting Jet and Droy to get hurt, she has seen Gajeels strength. Jet and Droy don't listen, brushing off her words as they move forward to attack Gajeel. Shockingly we see Gajeel fall, getting hit by every attack that Jet and Droy send his way. Levy looks surprised that he is going down, she almost looks confused. Why is Gajeel getting beaten so easily when she's seen him fight? Levy is smart and she slowly figures out what Gajeel is doing before anyone else. When Laxus shows up and continues to beat Gajeel into the dirt she flinches at him being attacked. Even though she is afraid of Gajeel, Levy hates to see anyone be hurt. She watches nervously as he gets beaten covering her face with her hands realizing that the reason Gajeel is going down so easily is because he's trying to show them that he is one of them now, he is trying to gain their acceptance.

In one lightning fast moment Laxus shoots a bolt of electricity straight towards Levy, she shields her face preparing for the impact,…which never comes. She opens her eyes to see Gajeel standing in front of her bleeding and wounded.

Everyone stands in silence and in shock at how Gajeel protects Levy. Gajeel walks off beaten, wobbling away as the shocked Levy tries to get a word out. We don't know what she is going to say but I think she struggles for the first time in her life to get the right words out because she is so dazed and so confused as to why he saved her. She is so used to the evil Gajeel the fact that she is seeing that there is indeed something good inside him surprises her.

This arc was a great arc for Gajeels redemption; people still don’t trust him at all except for Juvia. Levy still keeps her distance if possible. After the ladies return from being turned to stone by Evergreen they all talk about how they are going to fight back against Laxus. Levy takes it upon herself to free Natsu and Gajeel from the runes that trap them in the guild hall.

I love this chapter and moment between Gajeel and Levy for two reasons, number one: this is the first time we see Gajeel and Levy have a normal interaction. They're talking as if they've been acquainted for a while and I find this very interesting. Gajeel is amazed at Levy's intelligence, you can literally see the gears in his brain turning as he tries to understand what levy is saying. Of course to him it's a jumbled mess of words and codes but he knows it means something and she's on the right track because they are forming TRUST.

He is putting his trust into the woman that he has hurt in the past even though he thinks she has every right to hate him. She doesn't have to help him get out of there but he is now a member of Fairy Tail and she really believes that he can help fight for their guild after he jumped in front of a deadly attack to save her life. If he didnt care, he wouldn't have saved her but he did! Number two: Levy is so swept up in her love for puzzles and solving runes that she is comfortable in her environment once again. All the moments we have seen her prior with Gajeel have been with her in fear and uneasiness. But right now in this moment she feels strong and powerful, she's doing something for the good of her guild and is even telling Gajeel straight to his face what she has to do in order to get them out. I also love how dorky they are in this moment like they are so damn awkward around each other I can hardly stomach it, I fucking love that shit.

After Levy finally gets them out of the guild hall Gajeel and Natsu battle Laxus until they are too exhausted to continue, while this is happening Levy is running as fast as she can to stop Laxus and let him know that Makarov is on death's door. When she arrives. She tries to convince Laxus to stop this whole madness and go see his grandfather one last time. Of course Laxus at this point is too far gone to listen and he activates Fairy law which of course doesn't hurt anyone. Gajeel lifts himself and asks Levy if she is ok. I love this part cause he is genuinely concerned for her safety like damn I'm getting all teary-eyed. We then watch Natsu almost die and Gajeel once again risks his life to save Fairy Tail. Levy again looks shocked that he is still putting his life on the line. I feel like this doesn't really cement her trust for him but it definitely gets the gears in her brain turning on how this man really is a member of Fairy Tail even though he still has a long way to go.

Of course, Fairy Tail ends up winning this battle by the skin of their teeth. Gajeel is covered in full body bandages as he watches everyone laugh and talk after the fantasia parade. He looks down over everyone including team shadowgear kinda foreshadowing his involvement in their lives as time goes on. I have no idea if Hiro Mashima meant for Gajeel and Levy to end up together this early in the manga but this tiny little scene of him just staring at her makes me think he had the idea early on. I feel like Gajeel is watching out for her from afar, they haven't built that friendship yet so he isn't comfortable just talking to her or even Jet and Droy for that matter. So he watches them from far away. I also wanna talk about how Gajeel is a double agent at this point of the story. When we all thought this man was for sure going to betray Fairy Tail. He hands the master a note letting him know that he found Ivan and that his job as a double agent is all going according to plan. This is another way of Gajeel trying his best to gain the acceptance of not only the guild but his new master as well. This is a habit of Gajeels, putting himself in danger to prove himself. He has a tremendous amount of guilt for what he did and he does want to make up for it.

This relationship does start off badly, we are all aware of that. Levy is still uneasy and nervous around Gajeel but she is coming around, Gajeel on the other hand is guilty of his wrongdoings and tries to keep his distance but shows Levy through his actions that he is sorry. Many fans of Fairy Tail bring this topic up often “why hasn't Gajeel apologized for what he did?” He may have apologized but we don't know because it is never shown. I honestly think Gajeel is too much of an awkward guy to try and put himself out there to apologize, I mean lets be honest Gajeel is not great with words. So he shows he is sorry by protecting his new family.

S CLASS TRIALS

We slowly make our way to one of the most important arcs of the story involving Gajeel and Levy and that is the S Class Trials. The master explains that he has picked the people for the trial that deserve S class, the people who strive for greatness and are powerful in strength, mind and body. When Levy's name is called she is rightfully excited at first but of course puts herself down. Saying she is not strong enough for the trials and is confused as to why the master chose her. The master didn't choose Levy just because. He has seen her strength, he has seen her work and he knows she is strong and capable. I want to remind you that this trial is not easy to complete. The master picks his candidates based on whether they are strong enough to do so and Levy is of course picked meaning that she can do this. He wouldn't put someone who isn't ready into the trials.

Levy sits on a bench thinking and mulling over why she was chosen while Jet and Droy argue to be her partner. While this is happening Gajeel, who is upset that he wasn't chosen, comes up to Levy offering to be her partner for the trials. Levy explains that she doesn't know why he would even want to help her considering she is too small and weak and that they will probably lose right away. Gajeel rolls his eyes at this, picking her up by the back of her dress with ease. He tells her not to give up before she has even tried and lets loose that infamous line “I’ll make you big.” Levy blushes, at this point Gajeel and levy are still awkwardly tip-toeing around each other but this is one of their first interactions as actual acquaintances. This builds her confidence slightly, a fire growing inside her to win the trials and prove herself not only to her guild but to Gajeel that she is stronger than he thinks.

The two start off the trials with the serenity route which makes Gajeel upset. He wants to fight but levy is relying on her brains for this portion of the trial and a whole lot of luck. They are exact opposites and have no idea how to work together at least not yet. Gajeel complains throughout the whole walk to find Mavis' resting place. Agitating Levy, this girl is an overthinker, as Gajeel complains about not being able to fight, Levy reads this as him not being interested in helping her get S Class but he is in it for himself and this has Levy thinking that when he said he’l make her big he didn't mean it he just wanted to fight. Levy feels insecure about herself once again because Gajeel had made her feel strong but now he makes it seem like he doesn't care. He does care. But like I said earlier Gajeel is not great with words. Levy takes off in anger leaving Gajeel behind. As Levy runs through the island as she thinks about everything that has happened between the two of them, the attack on her team still in the back of her mind, she hasn't fully healed yet and as she desperately tries to move on and put her trust in Gajeel she feels like she can't. She was really coming around to fully trusting Gajeel. She thinks to herself that she thought he was actually a nice guy deep down but he obviously hasn't changed. This upsets her because Levy is a smart woman, she reads people really well. When she saw that Gajeel was beginning to make a change for the better she truly believed that. But this makes her feel like he isn't changing as much as she thought he was.

Her thoughts are cut short when she is ambushed by two members of Grimoire Heart, they pin her down and prepare to literally slice her in two. Before that happens Gajeel jumps in and saves her life. He says that she is so tiny he had a hard time finding her so to never leave his side again. Levy looks on in surprise, proving everything she was thinking about him wrong. He cares, and he is there to help her, yes he loves to fight but he doesn't hesitate to protect her when she is in need. Levy wipes away her tears and stands to Gajeels back ready to fight with him.

Gajeel and levy give it their all but are ultimately defeated. Gajeel realizes that they are in danger and tells Levy to run and that he will hold Grimoire Heart off while she goes and gets help. Levy is hesitant to leave him there alone. Considering he has protected her many times and she doesn't want to leave her friend behind to possibly die. He screams at her to leave and she does but not after giving him some iron to bring his strength back up. We finally come around to full on trust between these two. Gajeel trusts that Levy will get out and find backup and Levy trusts Gajeel to not die and make it out alive. The Iron with the heart in the middle is our first hint at Levy's feelings for Gajeel. This man has shown her time and time again that he will change and he will put in the effort to make it happen. This event brings the two tremendously close, they are now actually friends.

This part of the story is huge for Gajeel, Grimiore Heart reminding him of what he used to be. We get a few AMAZING panels of how Gajeel actually joined Fairy Tail. Gajeel is down on his luck living in the ruins of his guild hall, starving, lonely and homeless. Makarov Seeks him out asking if he is interested in joining Fairy Tail. This confuses Gajeel, considering everything he did to Fairy Tail. He tries to give the master reasons why he shouldn't join. He destroyed their guild hall, Makarov replies saying that they can just rebuild it. Gajeel then brings up what he did to team shadow gear and Makarov replies differently this time saying he will NEVER forgive him for that no matter what. But Makarov refuses to allow Gajeel to fall into the darkness. Makarov reaches out his hand saying that he's not trying to save Gajeel but he is just trying to show him the right path, the good path. The newly inspired Gajeel takes the master's hand joining Fairy Tail for good.

This memory gives Gajeel the strength to continue, he has people he wants to protect, the people who gave him a chance, the people who helped him when he needed it the most. Gajeel delivers a final blow sending the members of Grimoire Heart flying. Gajeel passes out from exhaustion. He opens his eyes to Levy by his side in tears, and with backup. This moment is absolutely beautiful because Gajeel looks at her realizing that Levy actually cares for him seeing her tears and worries with his own eyes. She asks him if he is ok, and he smirks at her letting her know that he told her he could beat those guys. Levy smiles at him, her tears falling. Levy is so proud of Gajeel and what he has done not only for her but for their guild. Levy picks him up and drags him to camp, returning the favor after he saved her. These two characters have fully come around, becoming closer than most characters in the manga.

The arc goes on with them arguing, making jokes, and picking little fights with each other, all in good fun of course. Before they are attacked by Acnologia they even hold hands going down together. Their newfound friendship still baffles me because I do feel like it was handled well. They aren't in love or anything just yet, but they really do put all their trust in each other and rely on each other and I LOVE THAT.

Grand Magic Games

This arc is kinda random but we see Gajeel show up in this arc as part of Fairy Tail team B. He's also suddenly wearing headbands……like where did he get that from hmmmm I wonder. It's funny but I definitely think Levy gives Gajeel the headbands to keep his crazy hair out of his face while he fights. It's not proven but Levy is the only one who wears headbands. COINCIDENCE I THINK NOT!

Gajeel fights in the games and Levy is cheering him on the entire time. We don't know this in the beginning but the narrator of this arc is future Levy herself. Let me just say I was so heartbroken when we saw the future Levy all alone in the future scarred up and beaten. She is lonely and hidden away left alone to die. She writes to Lucy who will never receive the letter but she does this as a way to heal. She explains that they lost everyone, even her beloved. We all know who she is talking about here. We don't know what happened but Gajeel died. This is never brought up again and we can only assume that Levy ends up dying alone in the future at some point. After future Lucy is reunited with everyone in Fairy Tail in Heaven we see Gajeels silhouette, we see everyone really except for Levy. God, it kills me, Mashima of course never tells us what happened to her, but I'm certain that she lived and then died later.

Tartaros

This arc is….WILD. We all know why too hehehe. In this arc Gajeel fights against Torafuzar, this fight takes place in an enclosed building that is filled to the top with water, poison water at that. As everyone floats around drowning Gajeel has iron insides so the poison doesn't affect him the way it affects everyone else. He holds his breath as best as he can, fighting for his life, he can feel his lungs begging for oxygen as he gets tossed around in the water, not being able to move as quickly as Torafuzar. We get the scene where he floats down into darkness unable to hold his breath any longer, believing that this is it, he is going to die. He begs for air but sees a small ball of light coming toward him. He tries to shoo the light away saying he needs air not light. The lights grow closer and when he thinks he can no longer hold on. Levy appears as the light he was seeing and she blows her last bit of air into his lungs.

Gajeel’s eyes open wide in shock. He suddenly has air. He spots Levy, confused, “why is she here and when did she get there?” She floats down into the darkness and he watches in shock and worry. Until he sees Torafuzar make a direct attack on levy, angry that she saved Gajeel. Gajeel jumps in right before Torafuzar is able to hurt Levy holding her close to his body and throwing his fist straight down on Torafuzars head. We have multiple translations of this scene. Gajeel says pretty much the same thing in all “Hands off,” “Don't you touch her” or “out of my way!” I love this scene for so many reasons, Gajeel has no idea what Levy did, only that she saved him when he thought he was a goner. This is the funny thing with these two they both will put their life on the line to save each other. I like to believe that they definitely have feelings for each other at this point. I mean it's hard to deny, considering they both will die for the other like wow!

After Gajeel knocks Torafuzar to the bottom of the poisoned water, Gajeel tries to rouse Levy, shaking her back and forth and screaming at her to hang on and wake up. (Also why the hell can they talk in the water? Are they talking in the water? Or do they talk telepathically? This will forever confuse me but meh.) Levy finally jolts awake at her limit for air. Gajeel screams at her to produce more air for everyone. Levy shakes her head thinking to herself that she has no more air to give and that the only reason she gave him the air was that he was the closest. (sure levy…suuuuuure.) Gajeel grabs her screaming, “What are you talking about, you're a wizard! Make some air with your magic!” Levy stares in confusion quickly turning to embarrassment when she realizes she didn't have to give Gajeel mouth-to-mouth in the first place she coulda just made it. This is hilarious, it kills me every time. But also People forget that this was an insane situation, Levy was probably low on air and panicking, she saw Gajeel and knew that he could save everyone so she did the first thing that came to mind. She isn't dumb she just couldn't think in a dangerous situation.

Levy uses solid script crafting an air bubble the two burst from the water into the air bubble taking in gulps of air. Gajeel now has enough to fight. Gajeel swims off to take care of Torafuzar leaving Levy to take care of everyone else. “Gajeel thanks Levy for saving his life saying he would have been a goner without her. The fight goes on and Gajeel is grabbed by Torafuzar he struggles to escape but turns to check on Levy. He watches her air bubble blip out of existence and she passes out from taking in too much carbon-laced water. His eyes grow wide as he watches her sink, throwing him into a memory.

This is a side of Gajeel we haven't seen in a long time. Gajeels memory consists of him standing in a room at the magic council, probably being charged with some crime he committed in the name of the Phantom Lord. As Gajeel walks out to leave, an old woman on the Magic Council named Belno follows Gajeel outside. She goes on to beg him to leave Phantom Lord, she says she has seen many young men just like him and every single one was lonely and sad deep down inside. Gajeel scoffs angrily at her for telling him what to do. He blows her off trying to ignore her words. She stops him one last time telling Gajeel that she doesn't need him to be an upstanding citizen but to give his life some meaning. Gajeel grows excited, turning to laugh that his life has plenty of meaning and that he is going to war with Fairy Tail. of course the war with Fairy Tail is a moment that he will regret for the rest of his life. After Gajeel, Levy, Jet, and Droy find Belno dead in her home, Gajeel seems upset as Levy tries to calm him. Gajeel then secretly travels to the roof to cry, heartbroken that Belno was watching out for him and he never gave her the time of day, he cries, saddened by the fact that Belno will never see who he is now and that he has given his life meaning. The meaning of his life being that he will keep his family and his friends safe no matter what.

At the end of this arc, the guild has been destroyed and the master makes the decision to disband Fairy Tail for good. Everyone is heartbroken at this fact and goes their separate ways. Gajeel and Levy however decide to leave together with Pantherlily to join the magic council

Alvarez

This is our final arc in the story of Gajeel and Levy. We meet the two again with Pantherlily as they now work for the magic council custody enforcement unit. Levy returns from a mission where she infiltrated the cult. She explains that mixing in with the believers was super easy but getting out was hard. I love this about Levy, she infiltrated a whole ass cult which of course is crazy dangerous. Levy, Gajeel and Pantherlily talk about Gray and everything with him joining the cult. Gajeel states that they will stop him and that he is no longer their friend. Levy seems saddened by this but agrees nonetheless. Of course, we find out Gray was just doing the same thing Levy was doing and Gray knew it was Levy immediately and that she needed to work on her disguise.

We fast forward to The ladies of Fairy tail in the bathhouse that belongs to blue Pegasus after traveling for a long while. The men sit on the other side of the bathhouse and they all chat through the gate. Gajeel gets thrown out by Elfman hitting Ichiya, and sending Gajeel flying through the gate naked. He lands right on top of a naked Levy. He mentions that he is cushioned but not by much (Which makes me so mad by the way Gajeel totally deserves to be hit after this comment.) She is embarrassed, punching Gajeel calling him a dummy while Gajeel screams out in pain. Gajeel isn't embarrassed about being on top of Levy naked in front of everyone but Levy freaks!

Then we see the infamous blanket scene while everyone relaxes before the battle that they are certain is coming. We see Gajeel lying on his back shirtless staring at the ceiling, his waist covered by a blanket with stars on it. A few panels later we see Levy sleeping as well….with the same fucking star blanket! Like what!!!!! Of course, I believe that they were sleeping together in the same bed. This makes me think that over the past year that these two were in the magic council, their relationship has started to grow into something more than friends. We don't know exactly what happened in that past year but there had to be something. There is no awkwardness between them as they share a sleeping space but they are together. Another thing that supports this theory is that they are both on opposite sides of the bed, Gajeel being on the right side and Levy on the left. Idk maybe I’m crazy but I couldn't believe it when I saw it.

We move on again seeing mavis explain that she fell in love with Zeref and because of her sins all this terrible stuff is happening. Gajeel interjects with my favorite line of his in the entire series. “It's not a sin to fall in love.” Alluding to Gajeels feelings about a certain blue-haired fairy. I feel Gajeel says this because he's been through something not really similar to Mavis but similar in how they feel about falling in love with someone. Mavis is upset about falling in love with Zeref and the bad things that came from it, viewing it as a sin. Gajeel is guilty about falling in love with Levy because of what he did to her when they first met and he feels he doesn't deserve it viewing it as a sin at one point but he is slowly coming around to accepting it. This makes Levy blush because deep down I think she knows what he's talking about.

The next time we see them together Gajeel and Levy can't sleep before meeting up with Sabertooth. Gajeel sits crouched on the ledge of a mountain where Levy asks him if he's having trouble sleeping. He tells her that obviously, she's having trouble sleeping as well. She explains it’s because she is scared of the fight that's to come and she's worried that it will be the end for all of them. She says she isn't as strong as everyone else and she's afraid to die. Gajeel then blocks her in with a bunch of iron pillars before getting in front of her and leaning on one of them to talk to her. He tells her she is under arrest for doubting herself, she apologizes and Gajeel tells her that he promises that since she's under arrest he will throw her in the guild hall cell when they get back home. Levy smiles and nods. He isn't really talking about arresting her here. He's upset with her for doubting herself, yes but what he's really saying is that everything will be ok. They are going to make it home alive and together. I love this scene because they both understand each other without being direct with one another and I think that shows just how much they have grown together in the past year.

The next part is…dark. We see Sabertooth never made it to the rendezvous point due to them being attacked and crucified. This shocks Gajeel and Levy; they are horrified. Levy knowing how terrible it feels to be crucified and Gajeel knowing what it feels like to crucify someone. They fight saving Sabertooth, until Gajeel gets his hands on Bloodman, the monster that crucified Sabertooth. Gajeel pins him against a tree asking him “do you have any idea how it feels to be crucified?” Gajeel is angry because Bloodman has forced Gajeel to relive the worst memory of his life. Crucifying team shadowgear, specifically crucifying the woman he now loves. Gajeel tells Boodman he's glad he gets to fight him and even if he dies that it's ok because he's been looking for a spot to be his final resting place. Levy gives him a sad look as he says this, heartbroken first off that Gajeel has to relive this terrible moment in his life and saddened by the fact that he says he doesn't mind dying. Gajeel fights with everything he has telling everyone to get away because the Bloodman is emitting magic barrier particles, a poison that means death for whoever comes in contact with it. Gajeel falls and as Bloodman prepares to attack him Levy jumps in front of him using her solid script shine. Bloodman is reeled back surprised, referring to Levy's magic at holy.

Gajeel screams at Levy to get out of there but Levy turns revealing her makeshift mask. Stating that the poison can't get into her if she wears it. Gajeel believes her, Levy then scolds Gajeel saying that he shouldn't be talking the way he was about wanting to die. Gajeel tries to explain that he didn't mean it but Levy doesn't agree. She states that his life is important to her and she wants him to keep on living.

The fight proceeds with Gajeel and Levy working together to defeat Bloodman. They almost drown once again after Bloodman tries to use a tartaros curse on them. Levy uses Solid Script Hole to drain all the poison water into the ground while Gajeel attacks. Gajeel and Levy work great together, I think back to the S Class trials when they had no idea how to work together but now they've been doing it for so long it's like second nature to them. Levy and Gajeel are then swept away by a sea of corpses. Gajeel wades as fast as he can through the corpses to pull Levy out with him. Both mages fall to the ground in exhaustion. Both are badly injured as they try to pick themselves up but Levy is having a hard time doing so. She collapses again and begins to cough up blood and poison. Gajeel panics, screaming that she needs to get her mask back on now. Then Levy confesses that the mask never worked in the first place. So this entire time she has been allowing the magic barrier particles to be absorbed through her skin filling her body with the poison. I wanna say that Bloodman literally didn't even touch the other people who died when they were fighting. Levy literally swam in the poison and inhaled the poison yet she is still alive…what a bad bitch. Gajeel freaks out at her rightfully so asking why in the hell she would even go there. And Levy replies weakly that all she wanted to do was save him. She then passes out. Gajeel screams her name in worry before telling her to hang on, and that he will handle Bloodman. Gajeel gets knocked around like a rag doll but continues to pursue Bloodman like there's no tomorrow desperate to win and desperate to save Levy. Gajeel thinks to himself about how he's always felt like the weakest of the Dragon Slayers and how he's always felt that he's fallen behind. At the time, beating Natsu and being the strongest is what he cared about the most. But now all he cares about is protecting Levy, the woman he fell in love with.

Gajeel screams out that he will get Levy back home safe no matter what, keeping the promise he made to her a few chapters back when they were talking on the ledge of the mountain. After Bloodman disappears Gajeel turns to Levy with a smile on his face, and he says her name. But before he can go to her Gajeel is grabbed by Bloodman who is turning into this kinda hell portal thing that turns people completely into magic barrier particles. Gajeel squirms and struggles to break free realizing that the portal is pulling him inside.

We reach the only chapter of Fairy Tail that has actually made me cry. Levy watches as Gajeel gets sucked into the portal; she uses all her strength to stand spitting up blood as she does so. Running to Gajeel to save him. Gajeel screams at her to stay away from him that if she touches him she too will die. He says that he can feel his body turning into a mass of magic barrier particles and it's too late to save him. Levy shakes this off saying she doesn't care what happens to her and that she WILL save him. Gajeel pins Levy to a rock in the same crucifixion style that both of them hate. Levy yells at him asking him what he thinks he's doing. Gajeel looks down ashamed that he is doing this to her once again saying that she left him with no other choice.

Levy because she is such a freaking badass uses her foot to write the word sword cutting her free from her restraints Gajeel begs her to please stop but before she can reach Gajeel something stops her and holds her back. Lily. Gajeel gives a smile of relief as Lily holds Levy back from going any further. Levy fights to get out of Lily's grip begging him to let her go so she can save Gajeel screaming that if she doesn't do something Gajeel is going to die. She begins to cry in frustration and sadness. Until Gajeel says her name. He tells her that he used to be such a horrible person, but then he met her. She was able to bring out all the best parts of him. Parts of him he didn't even know he had. “You taught me what it means to love..and for that I will be eternally grateful.” Levy is crying so hard at this point realizing that Gajeel is going to die. Gajeel smiles at her his own tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He says that falling in love with her made him think about things he never thought he would think about. A future with her, a family with her, and just all around being happy with her. We get a few shots that I absolutely love. Gajeel laying in the grass with Levy laying on his chest, now I don't know if this is a memory of them taking a nap together or just him imagining what it would be like. But I like to think that this is a memory. A shot of Gajeel and Levy with their children, and a shot of levy giving him a smile.

Gajeel begins to let his tears fall as he's further sucked into the portal. He says “I really did want us to be together forever..and having that future snatched away from me is the most terrifying thing I've ever had to endure.” Levy screams for him begging him to stay with her but at this point, Gajeel's face is the only thing that can be seen in the portal. Gajeel tells Lily to get Levy back home and makes him promise that he will do so. Then in a blip, Gajeel is gone. Levy screams out his name crying for him with Lily. This was the most heartbreaking moment. The two people that loved Gajeel more than anything crying over his death. They hold each other sobbing. Gajeel never thought he would ever be loved by anyone. Lily and Levy truly changed that for him. They were his family, the people that he trusted more than anyone in all of Fairy Tail.

Of course, we find out Gajeel is ALIVE! I held my breath man I was like there ain't no way this man is dead and we were all right. Gajeel thinks about how he supposedly died and blushes because he realizes that he totally confessed his undying love. Levy finds out he is alive and is so happy when she sees him again she gives him a big ole kiss….just kidding she dropkicks him in the face. He falls back and she straddles him crying telling him that he needs to keep his promise of taking her back to the guild, Gajeel smiles and nods. After a big fight with Acnologia everyone comes together again happy that they won. We get a tiny little shot of Gajeel holding Levy and Lily close. Levy cries tears of joy and Jet and Droy stand in the back cheering at the fact that they all finally won.

We end the Fairy Tail manga with Levy coming up to Gajeel through the narration of Lucy. It is a year later at this point and Lucy explains how Gajeel and Levy have grown even closer over the last year (meaning they're dating.) Levy whispers in Gajeel's ear something secretive and Gajeel gasps in shock blushing profusely. Lucy then begins to blush confused thinking she just heard Levy say the word baby. Wendy however knows as she is steaming in embarrassment. This of course confirms that Levy and Gajeel are indeed going to have a baby. Y'all know what that means. Y’all know where babies come from hehehehe. They even end up leaving the party, Lily goes to Jet and Droy asking if either of them has seen Levy and Gajeel. Jet and Droy yell at Lily not to ask them and to think about their feelings. Where did Gajeel and Levy go? Maybe they went to “celebrate?”

The Fight

Now I wanna talk about their meeting. Gajeel used to be a terrible person and what he did to Levy, Jet, and Droy was completely inexcusable. It was not ok but it was integral to his development. Gajeel doesn't do an immediate 180 and Levy does not fall in love with him right away. Levy doesn't forgive right away either. He doesn't join Fairy tail and she immediately accepts it. Levy is terrified of Gajeel still she is actively hiding away from him in multiple panels. When Jet and Droy go to fight Gajeel Levy follows quietly; she doesn't say a word until Gajeel shows up. The only reason she tries to stop Jet and Droy in the first place is that she is afraid that they'll get hurt. She also, like I said before, hates violence it seems to me she honestly wants to move on and ignore Gajeel if she can. We have no idea what kind of fight they had that night of the attack and I don't think we will ever know. But I think it's important that we don't know. This moment is something that only Jet, Droy, Gajeel and Levy know and it stays that way because it's dark, and it's not easy to talk about. One thing that I hate seeing is the whole disgust with Levy falling for a man who hurt her. Now let me explain myself and why I think that is wrong! Levy is not a victim, Levy is a strong and capable wizard. Levy is a member of Fairy Tail even though she hates fighting and she tries to avoid it, she will fight if she has to. Don't forget that Levy is also the leader of her own fighting team, Levy's job is to be a fighter. Gajeel didn't just beat up a girl, he fought another mage. I believe 100% that Shadowgear fought him with everything they had, they just were on the losing end of the fight. Yes, sneaking up on Shadowgear was a shitty thing to do but they are enemies of course they're gonna fight.

Levy's clothes

After the Phantom lord arc, we see Levy again and she looks slightly different from when we last saw her. A few paragraphs above I really went into detail on how Levy dresses. Her outfits in Fairy Tail really tell us a lot. That being how she is feeling and her mental state. Levy is still very happy and sweet per the usual greeting Lucy as she returns from her mission. Levy is now dressed in a turtle-neck orange dress that reaches the middle of her thigh. Underneath she has another layer, long sleeves adorn her arms leaving her shoulders bare and long black leggings…in the summer. Why is she dressed this way? I believe this is far from just a fashion statement. This particular outfit covers not all but most of her skin. The only remaining skin is her face, shoulders, and hands. Levy is covering herself as a way to hide. After what happened with Gajeel she feels embarrassed, nervous, and maybe even exposed after having a dark guild emblem forced upon her bare stomach. Being covered is her way of protecting herself. At this time even though she may not say it, the attack on her team really did a number on her, and most importantly her confidence, the horrible event is still fresh in her mind. Early Levy is a fairly confident woman, she is a leader and she is very capable. Not being able to protect her team or herself really knocks Levy down and now she's struggling to believe in herself and believe in her confidence.

She ends up changing her outfit again in the S class trials. Now more comfortable around Gajeel. She also has more confidence after Gajeel told her he'd make her big. She exchanges her orange turtle neck for a short orange dress that bares her legs and shoulders.

Levy is slowly growing, her trauma falling behind her.

The last outfit everyone loves including me is of course the white crop top with the word iron on it, the gray skirt and black leggings. This is her “I love Gajeel” outfit I swear to god. Levy is now complete again and she is stronger than ever before and I love that about her. She really did grow in so many ways…not in her height but in everything else hahaha.

Forgiveness

A common theme in Gajeel and Levy's relationship is the theme of forgiveness. Levy does not forgive Gajeel right away and Gajeel takes FOREVER to forgive himself. Gajeel and Levy don't talk about their first meeting which I understand. It's a sore subject. Gajeel however is a man of action. He shows that he will do anything for team Shadowgear and the guilds forgiveness. Protecting Levy is his way of apologizing. The man would take a bullet for this woman I kid you not. In the beginning it was a way of apologizing but now it's because she is his family and he loves her. Instead of being on his knees begging for forgiveness he gives Levy reasons to believe in him and to forgive him. Which is something that Levy needs. I don’t feel like she is one for taking apologies and just forgiving a person. I do think she wants to be shown that the person doing the apologizing is actually sincere.

After a year of all this Levy finally gives Gajeel a shot by letting him help her with the S class trials. That scene with her running away from him after they argue on Tenrou Island isn’t just her being overly dramatic. This scene is important to Levy's development because she is fighting to forgive. Levy does want to let it go and trust Gajeel but to do that she needs to see it and believe it. The whole reason she runs away is that she thinks Gajeel hasn't changed when she was certain he had. He just doesn't know how to talk right that big ole dummy. Only after he saves her life again and they almost die together after Acnologia tries to kill them all does she truly and fully forgive him.

It was a long road but Levy got there, Gajeel on the other hand has the hardest time forgiving himself. In stories like this, we always talk about the person who needs to do the forgiving, never the person who is searching for that forgiveness. Gajeel is a deeply emotional person. I know it might not look like it but he truly is. Gajeel was thrown into this life with nothing but the clothes on his back. This made him very tough and emotionally distant from everyone else but also himself. When he starts to try to earn Fairy Tails’ forgiveness he learns to express his feelings more. Jumping on stage to sing with passion, or crying when he finally gets to have PantherLily as his cat and partner, or being heartbroken about Makarovs sacrifice when he saves them from Acnalogia. This man is learning and thriving, however, there’s one thing that he just cannot get over and that is Levy. We kinda start to see a crush blooming between the two of them. Of course, Levy is good at showing it even though she really tries to hide it. But Gajeel on the other hand is quite different, Gajeel is comfortable around Levy, they are always seen together, and they train together. To the unknowing eye it may look like just pure friendship. He enjoys spending his time with her. We all know Gajeel prefers to be alone or with Lily, Levy is the only person that he hangs out with outside of the guild. But he is hesitant to show that he likes Levy more than a friend but goes out of his way to be with her on multiple occasions.

When we reach the Alvarez arc he is flirting with her and picking on her. But he still doesn’t confess until he realizes he’s going to die. Gajeel explains how horrible of a person he used to be and Levy is the one who made him want to change. In that moment all the guilt and hurt that Gajeel has held onto all these years falls away as Levy cries for him. He feels like he doesn’t deserve her after what he did. Instead of telling Gajeel that she loves him she cries for him and begs him to stay with her and I think that shows Gajeel what she means by that. Gajeel was certain that no one would ever love him the way Levy does. I feel like another reason Gajeel was so emotional and heartbroken about losing his future with her is that he waited so long to forgive himself..too long. By the time he was ready to confess he was dying and it was too late.

The path to forgiveness really is a righteous one, Levy forgave him, but not as quickly as everyone says she did. They worked together, they picked each other up constantly, and in the end, they both saved each other. Gajeel saves Levy from her fear of being weak, something that he caused by attacking her in the beginning. He picked her up and put her back together over years of working at it. Gajeel made Levy feel strong once again. Levy then fell in love with him. Levy saves Gajeel by believing in him, believing that he can change and that deep down he is a good person. She pushed him in ways no one else ever could. She pushed him to grow and become better. And in the end, Gajeel fell in love with her for it.

How did they become who they are?

Sometimes I really look at how far Gajeel has come as a character and who he is as a person. Gajeel like I mentioned above is deeply emotional, he has hardened his heart over the years from being abandoned. The day that Metalicana “left” Gajeel was the day that made him decide he wouldn’t trust anyone ever again. It’s so sad to think about him as a kid wandering for days looking for his father only to come up with nothing. This leaves him homeless and desperate for help from anyone who will give it to him. And that is where I’m thinking Jose entered his life. Giving Gajeel food, a roof over his head, and a life in general. Jose used Gajeels vulnerability to his advantage, Gajeel being a child at the time or maybe even a young teen when he was recruited into Phantom Lord. So Gajeel learned things all wrong, Jose drilled into him that he had to be the best and to do that he needed to hurt people to get what he wanted. Gajeel was tricked into thinking that Jose, his master, was a father figure and what does Gajeel do? He strives to please him, to show him that he is the best, that he can handle the harder jobs that Jose has to throw at him. While Gajeel sees this as Jose being kind to him, Jose sees Gajeel as a puppet or a pawn nothing more. So when Phantom Lord is disbanded

Gajeel is so lost, he knows nothing else but Phantom Lord so he once again falls into this depressive darkness. If Makarov had never gone to Gajeel that day, I don't think he would have ever joined Fairy Tail, or let alone see levy again. This huge difference between Jose and Levy is crazy because Levy on the other hand believed in Gajeel in a different way, encouraging him to fight and be the best but for good and good only. He struggles to put his trust in her but when he does he grows in all the best ways possible because this is the first time someone has worked to build him up not tear him down.

We have no idea who Levy used to be before she joined Fairy Tail. Something that I will always wonder is what happened to Levy's parents for her to end up in Fairy Tail? The majority of the children in Fairy Tail have been through some pretty unimaginable things, things that no child should have to go through. There are a few panels and one cover page that show Levy as a little girl in Fairy Tail. She is very, very young in these panels and when we see her she is never smiling. She's frowning or looks sad or uncomfortable, I don't know, maybe I'm crazy but where on earth did this girl come from? It is mentioned in one scene while little Levy plays some kind of version of chess with Cana that she was younger than Cana. I have a theory as to why levy's backstory was never introduced. I think Levy was very young when her parents disappeared or died making her an orphan. She honestly could have been an orphan from the very beginning but we just don't know. Levy integrated into Fairy Tail at such a young age I don't think she even thinks about her real parents. She sees Fairy Tail as her only family. She grew up there and that's why she is the way she is, kind, loving and strong-minded, she learned from tons of good-hearted Fairy Tail mages, so it would make sense that her characteristics and qualities all derive from the people who raised her.

Two Mages and a baby

Gajeel and Levy are seen again and their story continues through the Fairy Tail 100 year quest. Gajeel and Levy are boyfriend and girlfriend now which is so weird to me. I mean I love it but it's just so crazy that it feels surreal. This story is set a little bit after the end of Fairy Tail and Gajeel and Levy are expecting their first child. Gajeel and Levy bicker like an old married couple but they also constantly flirt with each other like teenagers. Levy's unwavering trustful side comes out when they discuss Touka, Gajeel not trusting her stating that she's off for some reason he doesn't know why but he knows something's up. Levy combats this saying that they shouldn't be stalking her and that she is a Fairy Tail mage so why shouldn't they trust her. Gajeel goes on to say that everyone treated him badly when he joined. Levy scoffs, stating that it was because he used to be horrible. They get all up in each other’s faces and Lily tries to cool them down, they both turn telling him to shut up. Levy then stomps off angry, Juvia asks Gajeel if he's sure that fighting with levy was ok. Gajeel turns to state that if Touka is actually evil then she'd be putting levy in danger and he refuses to let that happen.

It's not fully confirmed at this moment that Levy is pregnant. However, it is finally fully confirmed as Levy walks down the street after catching Gajeel and Juvia still stalking Touka. Gajeel lands on top of Juvia in a very suspicious-looking position on the middle of the sidewalk. Levy looks down at them and Gajeel tries to explain himself. Levy just says “carry on,” and walks away while Gjaeel screams for her to wait. Levy is not jealous in this scene. Levy is just agitated that they still aren't listening to what she had to say when she told them that stalking Touka wasn't a good idea. No she doesn't think Gajeel is cheating bahahaha. She holds her stomach and a little light pools inside, showing Levy's pregnancy.

Gajeel is very protective of Levy that even when his mind was being controlled by Touka and Levy was fighting Natsu, Gajeel begged Natsu to not fight her afraid. Before Natsu punches Levy in the stomach, he stops mis-swing remembering that she's pregnant. We get a little flashback of Levy telling Lucy, Natsu, and wendy that she is expecting. Natsu asks her if the baby is his and Levy gets flustered screaming at him saying “there's no way in hell that it could be his.” Natsu is not that dumb seriously hahahaha I will never understand why he thinks this way.

Natsu is completely frozen in his place, giving Levy the moment to strike, sending him away on a carriage. Gajeel gets upset with Levy saying that what she did was really risky. He then begins to sulk after being beaten by Natsu again. Levy smiles saying that she doesn't care that he lost, holding his hand, she goes on to say that no matter what she will always think Gajeel is the best. We get another scene later on of Gajeel switching bodies with Levy while Sai uses his alchemy love bond which turns people into the person they love. Gajeel gets angry allowing God Serena to get away saying that this body is way too important right now and that if Sai even tries to put a scratch on it he'll smash him to pieces.

Gajeel shows his affection for Levy constantly in this spin off and I absolutely love it. While Gajeel fights God Serena we get a scary panel of Gajeel being beaten when God Serena asks him if he has any last words, Gajeel looks on in anger and worry. We then see Gajeel slumped against the wall beaten and bloody. God Serena then replies “Oh? A woman's name? Too bad she will never see you again.” Gajeel was so worried about leaving Levy alone and I think that's why he said her name, maybe even wanting to hear himself say her name one last time IDK but I was all sad. I think this is an eye-opener for him because when he returns to the guild Levy scolds him for disappearing and that she was worried sick and that he is going to be a dad now so he needs to be close. Gajeel smirks, wrapping his arm around her stating that she's going to be a mom too. They walk off together. I assume Gajeel might be done with doing dangerous things at least for a while so that he can be with Levy and the baby. Gajeel is super excited for the baby, we even get a cover page of him making a baby crib while smiling, and Levy stands behind him smiling as well. Overall I think they are gonna be great parents. They're all grown up now and it literally brings a tear to my eye. We got a little spin off story of Gajeel laying on the ground in his house in his underwear exhausted because he is pushing himself so hard to make more money to support Levy and the baby. Levy comes home to a huge mess and starts to clean but notices Gajeels scars stating that he has so many and there are even more than before. We see a memory of Gajeel explaining that he will be ok and he just wants to make as much money as possible so he can support them. Levy smiles at the memory and lies down on the floor with Gajeel resting her head on his chest. It's absolutely beautiful and Gajeel doesn't even stir awake. He's so used to Levy's presence that he doesn't care; he knows it's her sleeping on him and he just lets her come in for a cuddle. So damn cute!

I feel so lucky that we get to see Gajeel and Levy’s actual romantic relationship, them getting ready to become parents, their flirting and being in love is just so beautiful! I do wonder if they will get married though, or if we will actually get something showing their engagement or even wedding! I cannot wait for this baby to be born or if its actually going to be twins like we all suspect.

Conclusion

Gajeel and Levy are one of my favorite couples of all time. I'm so happy that I saw these two characters grow together in more ways than one. Seeing where the two of them are now is so fulfilling, being able to watch Gajeel change his ways and being able to watch Levy grow in strength was more than I could have ever asked for. The two of them deserve all the happiness coming their way after working hard for each other for so long. It definitely is a rollercoaster of a ride but it was all worth it in the end. Gajeel is one of the best once a villain and now a hero character i've ever seen. Levy really did bring out the best in him. Now we can't have one without the other. It's no longer just Gajeel or just Levy it's now Gajeel and Levy. Thank y'all so much for taking the time to read this. I hope you all enjoyed reading the entire timeline of how these two ended up together and how they lived, learned and loved.

#Gajeel X Levy #gajevy #gajeel #gajeel redfox #Levy McGarden #levy #fairy tail #character development #character analysis #hiro mashima

42 notes · View notes