#fairy tail analysis

[ydsurluvhsm]

ok so i need ppl to stop reducing gajevy to just “tiny smart girl & her big dumb guard dog bf” bc that is NOT what’s going on here. yeah, levy is book smart, yeah, gajeel is a beast in a fight, but they’re both so much more than that?? levy might not be physically strong, but she’s got insane emotional intelligence. she picks up on things so fast. she understands people better than they understand themselves. and gajeel?? literally one of the most observant characters in the series. he might not be out here writing essays, but he knows how people move, how they think—that’s street smarts, battle smarts, whatever u wanna call it. levy teaches him patience and softness, but gajeel teaches her how to stand her ground, how to be bold. it’s not just levy being the “brains” and gajeel being the “brawn.” they balance each other. they challenge each other. that’s why they work so well!!

[bumblebeehug]

When do u think Natsu actually realized that he fell for Lucy and i know he treats her differently but can u give moments where it's initiated from his side?

This is going to be a long post so buckle up!

Okay, first of all: the Phantom Lord arc. Though I don't think he fell in love with her at that point of time, I think it was the events that seriously solidified his partialness to her. I'd go into detail but I can already feel a long post incoming, so I'll keep it short: Lucy telling Natsu that she loves being a Fairy Tail wizard, while crying over the fact that she didn't want to leave ↓

After just trusting her life in Natsu, jumping from an insanely high tower, with a mere belief that maybe she had heard him in the distance – I think it struck a chord with Natsu. Like, it would be normal to cry after a fall like that, but Lucy wasn't concerned about that aspect. Her head and heart was all about the guild, how she didn't want to go, and that resonates with Natsu. Natsu's entire life at that point is 1) Finding Igneel, and 2) being with/protecting the guild.

Then I'd say it's a pretty gradual build in their relationship. They go on a lot of missions, hang out together, and just in general spend a lot of time connecting. There's some Natsu-saves-Lucy, some Lucy-saves-Natsu, some hand holding (tenrou arc I won't forget about that, thank you anime team for adding that scene), and then comes the next pivotal moment. GMG arc and the dragon festival that follows.

By then I'd say Natsu and Lucy are very much in this friends-with-emotional-benefit zone: much more than friends, absolutely not yet lovers. But with Lucy's near-death experiences in her battles, Natsu has to refrain himself from getting involved each time Lucy gets beaten up - he becomes helpless, and the worry that's sowed inside of him gets watered each time Lucy still puts his faith in him, still trusts him to come out a winner. That entire section when Lucy's in the infirmary and she tells Natsu that her entire being trusts that Natsu can do anything, I think that's when Natsu falls in love.

Now wait!! He still doesn't quite understand that he loves her. But he understands that his feelings for Lucy are more tender than any other feelings he's ever had. He treasures her in a new, heavier way. She's become precious to him.

Precious. Where have we heard that... oh >:) ↓

Now the Dragon Festival was LETHAL in a trillion ways, but especially for nalu fans. The whole Future Lucy plot and the forehead touches and the Future Natsu and Future Lucy fighting in a wasteland moments and the Natsu skipping the final GMG match to save Lucy. And of course. Future Lucy dying. It's not the first time we see Natsu get so heavily affected - it happened in the tower of heaven, when Erza was ready to give her life up. But it is the first time we see Natsu see a friend die. Like, a team mate, someone who he's responsible for bringing to the guild. And after the whole GMG conundrum? Had a single more bad thing happened Lucy during the dragon festival, he’d probably turn into a demon right there and then. Dare I even say: their relationship was the strongest at this point in time.

After the GMG and the Dragon Festival, we get the Sun Village arc (I don’t like the Eclipse celestial spirit arc so I’m not counting it, same with Key of the Starry Sky arc — technically some nalu moments but not exactly building imo) and then another big one: Tartaros. Ooooh brother, THE best arc of all times, wish Mashima knew how to replicate it. But alas, he doesn’t.

The Tartaros arc isn’t exactly a pivotal moment where Natsu “falls in love” but rather an important aspect to understand his later actions. Like this guy goes through some pretty grusome stuff, learns a lot of complicated, bad things about himself, and finishes off the arc with losing Igneel — his father that he's spent ages searching for. Natsu's entire life is turned upside down, so he decides that he has to become stronger: cue, he heads off for a year to train.

His time away isn't very elaborated on — not from Natsu's viewpoint or Lucy's. But I think it's understood that he chose not to bring along Lucy because she could be put into danger too much for him to be able to concentrate on building his strength: he knew his training would be dangerous. During this time we also have the Gildarts-scene in chapter (idk i can't be bothered to look it up but y'all know the one ↓) which is kinda debated on — who was Natsu talking about here?

I'm still not certain on if it was a heart to heart on the Igneel-matter, or if it was about his guilt of leaving Lucy behind, like many theorise. I'm not even certain that it's limited to one of them — he could be talking about both. But at the very least, this entire year was one of those "distance makes the heart grow fonder" moments for him. He wanted to get back to his normal life with Lucy so bad. After all, it wasn't like him showing up at the GMG was in order to meet Lucy — had he wanted more training after that, he'd head off again, but I don't think he could physically bring himself to do it, even if it hadn't turned out that the guild had disbanded. Though that's just me speculating a bit.

And about the guild disbandment: oh jolly, he was not happy. He had finally taken the step to grow stronger to protect everyone in his beloved guild, and here Makarov went and disbanded it? Leaving Lucy completely alone? Lucy, who once jumped from a hella high tower because she was just so devoted to stay in the Fairy Tail guild? Yeah, I think that broke him a little. At this point there was just so much guilt involved around his whole relationship with Lucy, because now he had put her through so much pain only because he brought her to Fairy Tail that day in Hargeon.

The next arcs I'd say Natsu's trying to spend his time redeeming himself for the countless things he's done bad (getting the guild back together, just generally staying by Lucy's side as much as possible). And naturally he keeps getting hit by challenge after challenge (it's not easy to be a book written by his immortal brother, yk?). And it's even harder to watch Lucy die again, this time for real (he thinks bc he's stupid and also has a tumour that's nothing less than a ticking bomb) (give this guy a break lol).

Anyways: Lucy's death nr2. Natsu can't live a life without her. Now I know — he still doesn't quite understand that it's romantic love, but I think he does understand that it's pure love. No matter if kissing and reproducing was involved, all he knew was that a life without Lucy is completely unimaginable, so blinded by rage he becomes and decides to decapitate everyone in his way (sorry about that Gray).

The last couple of moments I'll go out of my way to mention as signs of love is 1. when he's won over Acnologia and falls towards Lucy, crazy relieved, saying "I'm home", 2. Gajeel pointing out Natsu's crush on Anna, Natsu basically saying "oh that's why I like Lucy so much" (I embellished it lol) and 3. "We're still gonna be together from here on out, right?" yeah that man won't ever leave her. Ever. It's just not an option.

Now since I've only talked about specific moments, here's what I have to say about his relationship with her in general:

Throughout the main plot line, we also see a shift in Natsu's behaviour. Someone here on Tumblr pointed out that Natsu always finds a way to shield Lucy if something unexpected happens, after not being able to shield her from Future Rogue. There's also the small detail of the order he calls out to people - it goes from being pretty random, to Lucy almost alwyas being on the top of the list: likely because she's always on the top of his head. And in general I'd say that Natsu initiates (i'm adding this entire paragraph bc i realised that you asked about when Natsu initiated stuff, more than when he fell in love lol) almost all of their interractions. It's Natsu who wants Lucy to join Fairy Tail, to form a team, he's the one who enters her apartment constantly, he's always searching her out - his interest in her is at a constant high so we never feel like we get "moments" that he's paying her extra attention. He has one setting, and it's "Lucy" cranked to the max. Lol.

I could also add some HYQ moments to the mix here, but they've been few and far inbetween, and also mostly played off as jokes, so I can't really consider them as moments when Natsu initiates his love. I guess his jealousy can be considered a sign? And when (spoilers from the manga) he runs around to protect her/save her from creepy-freaky-jail (the only one who made it freaky was him, with those wild fantasies lol). Maybe I need to jog my memory a bit, but so far there hasn't been any non-pervy nalu moments initiated by Natsu in the HYQ, aside from jealousy-chap. Sadly.

Hope this gave you the answer you were hoping for! Sorry it took so long, I started writing on it and realised it would be a bible so I put it in my drafts to fetch some pics to make it less wordy, and then I forgot about it, lol. But here it is!

[beargyufairy]

Don't ever hit one of my kids again!

Your kids? They're my-

Never again!

[dragon-toad]

HOT TAKE : Makarov was a bad father (and a bad grandfather)

I'm expecting a big wave of hate with this one... BUT LET ME EXPLAIN

We can dive into the generational trauma theory : we know Yuri has been profoundly hurt by his wife's death (giving birth to Makarov) and this is a thing we should consider. In most cases, people live with the burden of the death of their partner until they die, which could have been Yuri's case. And the idea that somehow his wife died for his son... Well, angst potential.

Now : death of a loved one + wife who dies giving birth to his son = difficult father-son relationship

And even if Yuri didn't do it intentionally, there could have been a distance between the father and the son, and it has repercussions on the futur.

So yes, it maybe happened completely differently, but let's consider this hypothesis to understand what comes after :

Makarov was raised in the guild, where everybody is friendly. The only thing is his daddy issues. He ends up considering the guild more important, so the thing to cherish and protect at all cost.

Everything is fine.

Then, Ivan enters the game.

I know it's very fun to have an antagonist in the family of the master, the man presented as the most loving, a father for all the lost children, etc. BUT maybe we can go a little deeper.

We sometimes have this idea that some characters are born meaner than others, it allows us to ignore psychology and sociology, but it's not fun.

We can suppose Ivan was born in the guild, like Makarov and certainly Laxus. And as it's shown every single second that Fairy Tail is a very healthy environment, a "big family", so even if Ivan was a bit twisted, he would not have been so mean with his colleagues, provoking his exclusion, and he would have not tried to destroy the guild.

Unless he have daddy issues too. Let's consider : Makarov has a son and the mother is nowhere to be found. Doesn't it remind you of something ? But Makarov know his relationship with his father wasn't awesome, so he tries differently.

So two possibilities can be explored :

1- Ivan is a spoiled child. Being the master's son allows him to do reprehensible things and not be punished after, or not too much, and Makarov wants to give him all the freedom he didn't have. Until he almost kills another member of the guild. Then Makarov is forced to expel him. He takes away the thing that gave Ivan an almost unlimited power, and he doesn't like it. So if he can't have Fairy Tail, nobody will.

2- Makarov prefers the guild to his son. He doesn't know how to raise a kid, what if he screws like his father ? (Spoiler : he does) So when Precht makes him the new master, he puts all his soul into his job. But Ivan wants a father. So he does everything to make his father notice him, to make his father proud. It leads him to dark places, and thus, being strong = being good enough. Unfortunately, it doesn't work, because he ends up expelled. So, by pure rage, he decides to destroy the thing his father loved more than him. (It's my favorite version)

In both cases, Ivan manipulates his son into believing that being strong is the only way for him to be respected, to be seen.

Which leads us to the Laxus part (finally)

It's canon that Ivan pushed his son to be the strongest (to the point he put a lacrima in his body) so yeah, Laxus has daddy issues. But he has gampa issues too.

Let's continue with the theory we built on this post : Makarov doesn't really raise his son, why would he raise his grandson ?

But we see Makarov taking care of a very young Laxus. Thus, Laxus once loved his grandfather. Except Ivan didn't. So we can suppose he decided to keep his son under his control by manipulating him into thinking he has to be the strongest.

Then Ivan was banned.

The problem with an abusive relationship is that the victim thinks the abuser is on the right, which explains why Laxus was all but happy his father was expelled. But he stayed in Fairy Tail, because despite everything, Fairy Tail is his home. But this home is controlled by the man who banned his father (his abuser)

Laxus becomes a rank-S mage, which means he's the strongest. He has all the rights to make Fairy Tail his home, not Makarov's.

Well yes, but no.

Because there's Mirajane, a prodigy so fucking strong she becomes a rank-S mage too. But Lisanna dies, and suddenly everybody loves Mirajane. She even becomes the right arm of Makarov, because she's too weak now to create problems now.

And there's Natsu and Gray, Makarov's little boys. They're noisy, annoying, but they have potential. They have the potential to become stronger than Laxus. And Makarov loves them.

But more important, because there's Erza, who is so strong, so kind, so nice... Who is his grandfather's favorite. The same grandfather who did nothing when Ivan imprisoned Laxus into a psychological jail and who banned Ivan for somebody else's weakness. And Laxus knows it : she is the future master of Fairy Tail. She will steal his home and make it even weaker.

So he has to take Fairy Tail now, even if his grandfather dies in the process. Better, it will make things easier !

But in the end, Laxus loves Fairy Tail. He loves the guild enough to not betray everybody by joining his father's guild.

Laxus broke the cycle. And I don't think it was thanks to Makarov. If Laxus broke the cycle, it's because despite everything, he has weirdos to stick with. The Raijinshuu are a safe place for Laxus, they are strong enough to be his friends colleagues, they don't call him "psychotic" when he tells them he wants the guild, and more important, they care for him.

Laxus broke the cycle thanks to people who cared for him. They even wanted to follow him when he was banned ! But he said no, because he care for them and he knows they will be better in Fairy Tail.

Now, let's consider : travelling must have felt like therapy for Laxus : he's not part of Fairy Tail anymore and he's sure he will never have the possibility to come back, but he will not join his father because he doesn't want to put his friends in danger. So he has to do something by himself, not under the influence of his father. And I believe this emancipation was beneficial for him. He could learn what it means to be himself, not Ivan's son or Makarov's grandson.

I don't think he fully forgave Makarov for his inaction and for loving other more than him, and he's not completely out of Ivan's philosophy, those things need time, but he escaped the cycle.

[sahsalart]

(Fairy Tail): The Heartfilia-Dragneel Twins

Back from the void with more fanart lol. I’ve had this specific done for a few months now and finally decided to post it. So, if you’re a Fairy Tail fan then please enjoy lol.

I've come across many fan interpretations of the next-gen children of Fairy Tail characters, including Hiro Mashima's official designs. So, I decided to create my own take on the Heartfilia-Dragneel twins—the twin daughters of Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia. Their names are Ende and Sey, with their surname hyphenated from both parents. Ende is the older twin, born two minutes before Sey. They're fraternal, not identical, which I feel fits Lucy and Natsu's dynamic perfectly.

In my canon, the twins are 16 years old and, naturally, members of the Fairy Tail guild like their parents before them. I'm still developing their backstories and finalizing their magic abilities, but both use a unique blend of Lucy's Celestial Spirit Magic and Natsu's Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. This fusion reflects canon, where Lucy inherited her magic from her mother, and the Heartfilia lineage is known for Celestial Mages. I’ve written out their magic systems in full detail, so if anyone's interested, let me know!

From a design perspective, I wanted the twins to visibly reflect traits from both of their parents while maintaining their own individuality. Sey inherited Natsu's bright eyes and facial structure, paired with Lucy’s fair complexion. Her hair is a soft, light pink—spiky like Natsu’s—but catches a blonde hue in direct sunlight, echoing Lucy’s signature color. Ende, on the other hand, has Lucy’s eyes and facial features, along with a more tanned skin tone like Natsu. Her hair is straight and fine like Lucy's, but jet black—a recessive trait inherited from Natsu’s late mother and brother, Zeref Dragneel.

[lulushults]

btw, rewatching fairy tail again so i’ll probably pop up abit more sos guys.

when it comes to lucy’s sexualisation, despite it being an overused and never once funny joke, i thought it made more sense in the OG show to show her difference in ideals and beliefs when it came to being naked compared to almost every other female in the guild.

lucy was raised on the idea of ‘a womans body is a treasure, and should not be shown off to just anyone, only you’re husband’. so seeing lucy freak tf out every time she’s nearly stripped naked makes sense.

erza’s naked? she dont gaf. EVEN lisanna during tartoros, all she did when natsu saw her naked was blush. everytime lucy is nearly stripped naked she gets so flustered because it goes against her values and ideals.

however, throughout she show she visibly becomes more confident with her own sexuality, which is why towards the end of the show, every time natsu gropes her or see’s her naked, instead of freaking out she simply blushes and tells him to get off.

idk if its obvious but my girl lu is my favvv girl from the show, EXCLUDING LEVY thats my girl forever n ever, so seeing her over time become a more confident version of herself is so refreshing. not only is she more confident with her looks and body, but also with her power level. she knows shes gotten stronger and shes proud of her progress, as she should be.

anyway, hiro PLS stop reducing lucy into a sex object instead of showing off her badass independent woman personality.

[celestialtitania]

i have the biggest lucy bias ever but this is the first time it struck me that her mouthing off to gajeel in the phantom arc was her way of punishing herself for bringing all this chaos to fairy tail. since she couldn't fight herself and had to keep running, AND no one in fairy tail was blaming her. her own sense of guilt made her want to be punished and gajeel helped things along.

im like 99% certain this is also why it was so easy for her to accept gajeel as a member of fairy tail (the part of her that hesitated was for shadow gear only imo)

[oulkheir]

Hi, how are you?

What do you think about the fact that Juvia basically stalked Gray for months, was mean to every girl (threatened their life, etc) that came close or even spoke to him (especially Lucy) and that he only feels "obligated to like her" because she saved his life? (like saved victims fall in love with their firefighter or doctor) I want them to work out but if their gender were reversed, everyone would scream that it was grooming. He told her "no" multiple times, he was clearly averse and if a guy would not accept a "no" there would be backlash. Juvia is an amazing character with a lot of development but I think that Fairy Tail often makes fun of serious sexist behavior rather than addressing it. Like making fun of Lucy's naked body or horny old men gawking at young and underage! girls. I'm aware that it's a manga and that Japan has huge issues with gender equality and sexism but I kinda expected more from the new manga/anime. According to Unicef, every 11th boy (and every 8th girl) is a victim of sexual violence. For a long time, nobody took boys being a victim of sexual violence seriously. Of course, Juvia didn't "do" anything to Gray. But it's the same when people said to girls "if a boy is mean to you it means he likes you" (hello Sasuke!). This teaches children that they don't really have a choice and bodily autonomy. Juvia never accepted a "no" and we as the audience should believe that this is her being persistent/ romantic/ etc. It shows: if you just keep harassing and stalking your person of interest, they will eventually like you back. At the end of the original anime, it felt like Gray feels the same and we are made to believe that this him finally realizing his "true" feelings. But it kinda felt like "i'm giving up the fight, you won't stay away anyway". Important notice: I only watched the original anime, so if I missed something in the original manga, please tell me.

hi anon ! i'm good thanks for the ask :) was truly not expecting this lol

first of all, the fact that i've watched fairy tail first when i was younger may bias my analysis and i apologise for that. of course, i've read it again enough to change my opinion on many aspects but the filter still may be a little present. but well you did ask for an opinion haha :)

juvia's obsession and gray's feelings

as you mentioned that you only watched the anime, be aware that it exaggerated juvia's stalking by adding her in scenes where she wasn't actually present and by creating a weird running gag with her obsession for gray. however, she does have an obsession with gray, which can't be denied, and which lead her to be pushy with both gray and her "love rivals" in different directions. but rather than this, she wants to prove him and show him that she loves him whenever she has the occasion, because it's usually what you want to do when you're proud to love someone. it's more clumsiness than wanting to force him into something. since it can make gray uncomfortable, it's not defendable to say it's okay every time, but there are plenty of moments when these are cute attentions rather than stalking. she's not hindering gray's job, sleep and life, by repeating how she loves him. juvia still respects gray's boundaries by not forcing him to go on missions with her or following him at his place.

besides this, i don't think you missed other important points from the main manga, but sorry if i'm spoiling the 100 years quest later on.

if you think that gray feels like he owes her his life and must return her love, then i strongly disagree. gray already had feelings for her by that time, that's why he tried to commit suicide as well to save her. he didn't feel obligated to love her just because of that. he said before the final arc that he wanted to talk about these feelings seriously with her, and had already shown proofs of love by spending time with her during the timeskip after tartaros. gray considers juvia as more than a simple friend since longer than what he says, otherwise you couldn't explain why he chose to create a unison raid technique with her at the grand magic games, nor why he could assure their bond was strong enough for this. he's not avoiding juvia like the plague, or apprehending seeing her, and that is the case since their first encounter. he's glad that she's joining the guild and helping them. in the main series, he feels more reluctant to public display of attention than to her showing her love. in the spin-off, he's being more open to his feelings than before and that's why everyone is shocked around him, but juvia seems quite used to it.

that is all about how i perceive the characterisation of gray and juvia. sorry if i've missed some points, tell me if it's the case :)

now, i feel like most of your criticism is about how fairy tail, and the shounen manga genre in general is associated with sexual fan service issues and sexism. my blog isn't so much of a place to deal with such political and societal questions, but let me try to answer at least partly.

sexual fan service and other borderline behaviours issues

first, when you talk about the gender reverse thing, don't you think it's more the other way around ? i can't see people reacting more to juvia's insistence if she were a man, because you already quoted other issues related to sexism and fairy tail fans don't really complain about it. or at least, they make abstraction of it. have you ever seen someone calling natsu a pervert/stalker because he's breaking into lucy's house all the time ? the most important thing remains to not be hypocritical with these situations : if you consider juvia a stalker, then at least you have to admit that natsu breaking into lucy's place is not okay. and as i said earlier, i don't remember juvia even following gray to his place even once. but that's not the main point here.

to keep it to what you said about the gender reverse, i think it's actually the contrary, and that people tend to accept men's obsessions/non-con acts more than women's. that's why the word "stalker" is so easy on juvia even when she's mostly just watching gray without any bad intentions.

fairy tail has a fair amount of wrong sides that you shouldn't teach to young teenagers. but is this supposed to be a life lesson to them, in the first place ? can you choose to show fairy tail to your kids just so they know how important friends can be, how you should treasure your bonds, how you can be free if you don't harm the others ? is it the best show to watch when you want to learn about care and freedom, even when the sexualisation of both boys and girls is overly present and when the said characters are sometimes minors ?

nowadays, i feel like the shounen anime genre tries to get better on these points, slightly, here and there (jujutsu kaisen being the most obvious example that comes to my mind) but the 100 years quest sequel is in fact directly linked to the main series and since the author is the same, he didn't bother to change anything in his way of making fan service. he likes doing that in his gags and art, it's part of the vibe of his series, so he won't take that away nor even reduce it. i'm a bit sorry that you can't have high expectations of the 100 years quest just because it's more recent, regarding the sexualisation of the characters or of their borderline behaviours. but if you enjoyed the main series, then there's no reason why you couldn't enjoy the sequel because of these.

i hope it answers your questions ! thank you so much for the ask again, i don't usually analyse fairy tail characters this thoroughly because although they are all really good and enjoyable characters, i can't guess if the author wanted them to be so deep after all. have a nice day !

xx

[thatbirdrestaurant]

“Robyn, will you ever stop talking about plot poinst Mashima completely forgot about or should’ve expanded on?”

NO! My topic today is Gajeel and Metalicana’s seemingly complicated relationship!

From the second Gajeel starts talking about Metalicana, it’s extremely clear he resents the fuck out of him for leaving. He plays the part that he could not give a single shit where he is, and I genuinely believe there is some truth to that. Coming from someone who was left by their father, I can see a bit of myself in Gajeel: you want to be so mad and pretend you don’t care - and to some degree, you don’t - but there is that lasting hurt.

And while I know that garbage arc where Gray, for some dumb reason I can’t remember, betrays the guild/Natsu isn’t canon, that arc was still keen enough to remember that Gajeel resents Metalicana to an extent that when he hears about the mere possibility of his surrogate father being alive, he doesn’t even bat an eye. He goes as far to question Natsu and Wendy why they care about someone who abandoned them.

This part of Gajeel’s character got out on the back burner so they could focus on his relationship with Levy, and I’m mostly okay with that because I love Gajeel and Levy’s love story, but it would have been amazing to see more about it.

Basically, Gajeel has daddy issues and Mashima should have exploited that for my projection.

[shiiro-arts]

I just realized, natsu getting punched the shit out of him because he gets distracted because lucy gets hit is kind of sad, because not only he gets worried, he probably freaks out.

He freaks out because since FLucy died, he's always been there protecting her, making sure that never happens again.

So when Lucy gets hit, and he can't protect her (him being there), he probably remembers FLucy, and how he couldn't do anything to save her

My poor baby is traumatized

[zuzu-fairys-tail]

Unpopular opinion: Natsu realized his feelings first (imo, obviously)

I say this cuz Natsu, despite being yk, raised by a dragon he definitely has more of a… “control” on his feelings. He is obviously not as dense cuz bro was raised by MAKAROV AND GILDARTS AND WENT TO MACAO FOR ADVICE? LIKE THE PERVIEST GUYS EVER?? anyways that’s besides the point.

as for lucy on the other hand, her mother dies when she was a child. he father neglected her. Her only friend, a celestial spirit, was always mean to her (i love aquarius but it’s true), her favourite doll reminded her off her mother so she had to leave it behind and it only came back YEARS later in the guise of a friend just to betray her. She probably had trouble trusting anyone, maybe even Natsu when they first met. Her only source of knowing what true relations are like were her books.

Anyways my point is that due to their different environments, their feelings developed differently. Lucy, who grew up with her romantic fantasies of the “perfect prince charming” who would always save her, ended up falling for the dragon who always came to her rescue. This is probably why her mind refused to believe in the possibility of falling for the guy with the COMPLETE opposite personality at first.

Natsu, who carries his heart on his sleeve, fell for her and KNEW he did cuz he never had any type of fantasy or dream in his mind. His heart fell for Lucy and he accepted it cuz that’s in his nature (again, imo)

Now as for when and how all of this happened, i think Natsu probably fell for her earlier in the series but realized during tenrou when he heard her say, “it’s more fun when we’re together” and faced the possibility of actually having to lose her. The realization solidified when Future Lucy died cuz he ACTUALLY lost her.

Lucy i think fell gradually as the series went on and the big realization was also sometime during the GMG, maybe again, after the future Lucy thing when she realized just how much this random guy she met a couple of months ago cared for her, calling her precious to him. This is when she realized cuz no one ever really cared for her, after her mother died, as much as Natsu did. If they did, they didn’t show it (aquarius)

anyways thanks for reading this long ass analysis that has been wandering in my brain for like 2 years atp <3

[bumblebeehug]

i don’t like that edolas didn’t have a lasting effect on Carla. i do believe that it was a bit lazy of mashima to bring her back to her snarky bitchy attitude after all she’d gone through. still, that doesn’t mean i hate Carla.

hence why i’m going to twist this in her favour. but it's going to be long so here's a break:

first a rundown on her lore: she falls into Wendy’s hands, gets plenty of visions that plant the traitor-seed into her head, and she believes that’s she’s leading this small child (though older than herself) into a certain death. life goes on and Carla, still a baby herself, takes it on herself to care for Wendy to the best of her abilities. She has to play this double role — a girl’s best friend, a girl’s protection, and the secret role where she’s on a mission to betray the girl she’s had to hold so close. this is her life for years. she starts to love this girl — perhaps she always has? but no matter, she loves her. they're sisters! through thick and thin.

and then bla bla Mystogan bla bla Jellal and octopus machine or whatever, bla bla bye cait shelter and hi fairy tail. she feels uneasy about this wave of hope fairy tail brings into Wendy, because in her eyes there is no hope. Carla will eventually have to lead her into death, and she's carrying the guilt of Judas constantly. always knowing she'll soon betray the one she cares for the most. but Wendy has a "false" sense of security and there's nothing Carla can do to stop it without revealing her true nature.

then the time comes: edolas and the betrayal and everything Carla has lived her life fretting. and what makes matters worse is that she thinks she's found someone in her same situation — Happy with his designated dragon slayer. but this guy is stupid, naive, ignorant, and far too loyal to his human, and Carla's terrified that he'll jeopardize the operation. she doesn't know what will happen if they fail at this mission — she's under anonymous orders.

then it turns out that everything was a lie. not a lie perhaps, because no one did the lying, other than herself. she gets told that she's the only daughter of the queen (woah, info-dump) and hence gets visions of the future. but poor young baby kitten Carla didn't know this so she made up the mission to make sense of her life: why she was an alone talking, flying cat on earth, when she had clear "memories" of an entire population of exceeds. and the "cowardly" Happy was just a guy who wasn't blinded by visions, and was the one who ultimately stood up for Carla when her life was crashing down around her.

anyways, she later goes on to get a little bit nicer, though she ultimately ends up being pretty much identical to pre-edolas Carla. and here's where i'm struggling to hate her, even if i would in any other context.

it all boils down to the major identity crisis she had after edolas. it's not shown clearly on the screen, but let's face the facts: she definitely had one. her entire life she thought her surroundings were calculated and sinister, so she grew thick and stern so she wouldn't let trivial matters break her. in a normal context, this reads as bitchy. bitchy, snarky, dismissive, authoritarian. we don't like people who act like this. no one does, it's unpleasant. but Wendy saw Carla's softness and her loving heart, so she grew to understand Carla. She was protecting herself — from what, Wendy didn't know, but it didn't matter. their love raised above the thorns.

still, that doesn't mean that Carla was any less unpleasant. but this was all she knew how to be. her entire life she built walls around her, and when edolas tore them down, ruins were what she built her new personality around. she could have made a complete change — scrap the old blueprints and make something more pleasant out of her personality. but she looked at the people she'd hurt, assessed the depth of their wounds, and realised that her suddenly becoming someone new wouldn't fix the harm. so, i think Carla fell into old patterns. she might not be nice, but she was familiar with this — it was comfortable.

that's not to say there aren't adjustments in her "new" identity — she did allow doors and windows and small means that made it possible for people to nudge their way inside of her walls. she lets herself admire Happy when he's kind and determined and true. she opens up to Wendy and takes time to care about her without fearing that she's making her soft. there are moments when Carla can allow to show her growth.

but that doesn't erase her past.

she'll always struggle with imposter syndrome, she'll always be reminded of the time she would scold Wendy for crying instead of consoling her. and i don't think she'll ever be able to forgive herself. she'll think she can't afford self-forgiveness, but i have hope that she'll slowly tear down her protective walls as she realises that others forgiveness matters more. she holds herself accountable perfectly well, but she'll learn not to devalue other people's forgiveness. and i think that would make her become an amazing person.

anyways long rant over, i love her and she's cruel, and i think Billy Joel says it the best:

She is frequently kind and she's suddenly cruel But she can do as she pleases, she's nobody's fool And she can't be convicted, she's earned her degree And the most she will do is throw shadows at you But she's always a woman to me

— Billy Joel, "She's always a woman"

[dragon-toad]

I'll do you a better :

I HAVE ANOTHER HOT TAKE

I don't ship Gruvia.

HEAR ME OUT

Yes, it was thanks to Gray Juvia could see the sky, and yes, they care for each other very much. But... Let's consider that Gray didn't love her at first and she's a stalker the fact that Juvia was alone for a freaking long amount of time. And even when she was in Phantom Lord, she maybe was in a complicated friendship-coworking situation with Gajeel. Thus, she has no experience and no idea of how a normal and functional relationship (love or friendship) work. So of course, she would fall in love with the first person who cares a minimum for her.

Gray does know what a functional relationship looks like, but he's something Juvia isn't : he's emotionally constipated. This guy doesn't think about his emotions or worse, he doesn't know how to express himself, which leads to situations when he's confused between love and friendship, for example.

In conclusion, I think they start a relationship at some point, but they finally realise they are just very good friends. But in contact with one another, they learned some useful social skills, so they stay besties. Juvia becomes the most intense Gray shipper and in return, he's super careful with who she is. He's ready to throw hands.

[pencilofawesomeness]

How Fairy Tail could have had a really cool thematic parallel if they Committed to the Bit:

I often joke about my constant urge to spew essays on characters and topics I have thought too much about, but I refrain because translating all the thoughts in my head to words takes time and effort, and sometimes I am speaking to the void. However. I am spinning in my chair, gnawing at the bars of my enclosure, and frankly thinking way too much right now so I must scream.

It would have been so impactful if Fairy Tail emphasized Jellal being brainwashed.

Jellal is my boy, of course, but I’m not even just talking about the impact to his character: I mean the impact of the entire plot. This, of course, if we went the whole mile with the theming. The machination of being controlled, emotionally or magically influenced, or even unable to fulfill a desire due to an insurmountable obstacle, comes up numerous times throughout the plot, to both primary characters, supporting characters, and antagonists. While Fairy Tail is absolutely a series about friendship, it is also about choosing your path, with a large recurring theme of, regardless of connotation, about being selfish, and what that means on both ends of the spectrum. It’s a matter of free will, and the antithesis to this is all manner of external control. So really, it makes sense that this should be a thoroughly explored theme.

I could talk all day about all the different examples and aspects of this but I came here to talk about Jellal. First, the slavery aspect really hits the nail on the head, so we’re off to a great start—this, of course, applicable to multiple characters, which I really enjoy. Things go wild, however, when Jellal effectively chooses to trade himself for Erza in the punishment game and gets the ever-living shit beat out of him at the ripe age of eleven or twelve years old. He is, understandably, not in a good place, and he comes to the stunning conclusion that… he hates the slavers. Yeah. Checks out. Then, he hears the voice of ‘Zeref’ spewing rhetoric about hate, and it overwhelms; this, we know in hindsight especially, to be Ultear casting a mind-fuck spell in order to manipulate him, under the guise of pretending to be a figure young Jellal believed to be a god. 

When I first saw this flashback, watching the anime, I was unbelievably hyped. For all of Fairy Tail’s odd relationship with foreshadowing, I got the gist of it as soon as the magic went into his right eye and overwhelmed him. In Japanese media especially (largely due to the prevailing symbolism of the daruma doll), the right eye is a huge indicator of free will and the future—namely one’s goals. Creepy magic ghost entering the right eye with magic-bind looking things and immediately warping Jellal’s goal? A+ delivery. Of course, at the time Zeref—an unrevealed ‘evil’ entity—seemed a likely culprit, but Ultear being the puppeteer changes little of the result. In fact, it actually creates a super interesting parallel, but more on that later.

First, there are the consequences of Jellal being an antagonist who is not in control of his actions. I see people lament that it “cheapens” the severity of the arc and provides a cop-out redemption for Jellal, and while the execution of the latter certainly could have been different, I don’t think the premise of mind alteration cheapens the overall plot and theme of Fairy Tail at all; on the contrary, it could have been used to further emphasize intra- and inter- character conflict as well as provide a super engaging parallel for the end of the series. The theme of nakama, family, and friendship is huge, so what better way to emphasize that than to show a twisted example of it?

Jellal goes from ride-or-die loyal and ‘good’ to circumstantially loyal to an ideal (and the people attached to it) and ‘evil’ with the flip of a magic switch. Erza gets the immediate short of the stick when she is the first victim (aside from Jellal himself) to this meddling, and the caring friend she had seen days or weeks before is now cruel, insane, and full of threats—threats she takes heed to as she is cast from the island. Now, Erza is also a child, and one full of trauma, so I am not trying to invalidate her fear or blame her for any outcome. This also does not dive into the intricacies of saving friends at cost to oneself, and all of the conflict thereof; if anything, the complication of the matter bolsters the drama and impact. And then, we have the rest of the squad. Sho, Wally, and Milliana buy into the idea without any trouble, and they continue to buy into it as they get older. Beyond morality, it’s a power fantasy, and those are easy for formerly powerless people to latch onto. However, Simon is the only one who realizes that something is fundamentally wrong and twisted with Jellal… and his ultimate goal, developed over the course of roughly seven to eight years, is to wait it out until he finds the opportunity to kill him, or get somebody else to do it. Ultear, even after integrating herself into the group out of nowhere, gets away with her plan, because ultimately nobody questions that Jellal’s sudden change was anything but a result of trauma and his own will—even in a world with magic, where the very first arc revolves around the use and mistreatment of charm magic.

(Now, as an aside, I unfortunately have some experience in friends suddenly changing. In real life, it is rarely so sudden and obvious, of course, and the culprit is usually those horrible little signals and hormones within the mind, and nothing so fanciful or external as magic. I had a friend take a nosedive into some truly batshit ideas—cult-starting worthy—and exhibit wild mood swings and displays of unprecedented behavior. It admittedly took me a moment to ascertain it among the known issues, but once the pieces clicked, it clicked. I wished I had noticed sooner, and even though she was more culpable of her choices than a person supernaturally influenced by an outside force, I still can’t hate her for all the harm done. This is all just to say that I have, especially in recent years, a personal perspective on this trope and an appreciation for the painful nuance.) 

Refusing to reveal this mindfuckery in the arc diminishes the severity of it a great deal, I fear. We, along with the characters, spend time believing he died an insane villain… and then when he comes back amnesiac, it softens his character but does nothing to contradict how awful he had been. It’s not until years later, arcs later, that we get this random instance of the long overdue reveal to tell us that the manipulation has been discovered off screen. Not only is this utterly underwhelming, but Jellal is now actively working with Ultear and is fine with it! He’s still (understandably, after all this damn time thinking otherwise) blaming himself and lighting his own pyre to atone for things started by a factor completely outside of his control, and every character lets him. The discussion of autonomy is wasted. So, too, is all the juicy emotional fallout. We don’t see Jellal grapple with the horrifying reality that he has not been himself, that years of his life were wasted as a mental slave instead of a physical one; we don’t see Erza beat herself up (likely unnecessarily) because she could have potentially protected him but she hadn’t out of fear, and then she condemned him unknowingly; we don’t see the others truly come to terms with the fact that Jellal had been stolen from under their noses and they never noticed; we don’t even get more than a glimpse in Ultear’s head, who committed the deed because she thought her means wouldn’t matter and then they did. 

It’s horrifying. It’s tragic. It was, perhaps, preventable—in that the problem was a punchable one, to a degree—except the people involved were just children, just human, and it wasn’t enough. Friendship and flashy magic power could not trump trauma and entrapment, not this time. No matter how I think the series could have and should have handled it (and I have several ideas, of course), Jellal’s story provides a haunting case of failure regarding the themes of friendship/community and freedom that our protagonists embody. 

Which brings me to the perfect opportunity to follow up this occurrence of stripped autonomy and loss of freedom with a culmination of the affected themes, plot points, and more: the books of Zeref. 

Namely, the idea that the etherious—sapient, cognizant, and fully capable of autonomy via every depiction given of them, from Tartaros to even Lullaby to especially Natsu—can be and have been resolutely manipulated and controlled via the books by Zeref. Now Zeref, infamously hands-off up until the finale, barely utilized this. The most we ever see is instilling a directive and supernatural need to kill Zeref in the texts, which serves as an externally imposed goal. (Sound familiar, yet?) Provided Larcade clearly doesn’t have these instincts, it is not a guaranteed addition either, which further adds to the sense of deliberation. Natsu experiences this only in the last arc, in what I assume is supposed to be a very tense and jarring plot of a friend and protagonist suddenly losing himself, but it does not get expounded on for long enough to hammer the point home. The plot point of reclaiming the book becomes about saving his life only, and not his autonomy. Not only could this have been emphasized to be properly horrifying and devastating, but the effect—and the suspense—would be doubled with the prior establishment of Jellal’s arc and the tragedy therein. 

To back up for a moment, this parallel is further accentuated by the fact that Ultear and Zeref are clear mirrors of each other. Ultear was afflicted by a magic condition outside of her control and she was enslaved as a lab rat for it. When she broke free, she perceived her mother to have abandoned her, so Ultear, in her unresolved anger and grief, aims her entire goal to rectifying it, which culminated in planning to undo the entire timeline in order to make the one she wanted all along. Any casualties, any cruelties—including the mental enslavement of a slave child—are means to an end, and will ultimately be forgotten. Zeref lost his entire family to tragedy, and in his grief, he refused to forfeit the idea of regaining what was lost, namely his brother. He became afflicted with a curse—a magic condition outside of his control—and experienced cognitive dissonance for it. Ultimately, this miserable existence culminated in the idea of erasing the timeline entirely and forging his own. Any casualties, any cruelties—including subjecting his creations to the same lack of complete cognitive control—are means to an end, and will not matter. 

I mentioned that selfishness is also a recurring theme and this is a prime example of the dark side of it. For Lucy, claiming her independence and following her own path against the wishes of her estate, it is a wondrous thing. Freedom cannot be achieved without some selfishness, and this is a wonderfully handled theme in Fairy Tail, where our protagonists unabashedly put their friends above concrete morals and follow a creed to live their life to the fullest—the eternal adventure. For characters like Ultear and Zeref, their personal desires—born of horrible tragedy and frankly understandable things to want—come at the cost of the autonomy of everyone else, especially the pawns they use to further their goal. This, in true fictional hyperbole, begs the question of where the line in the sand is to be drawn, of what is acceptable on a moral standard and what is not. It is, of course, colored by the protagonist’s point of view as clear antagonism, but as a viewer of the media it provides to us to question when protecting one’s ideal becomes irrevocably an attack on the sanctity of others. 

Which brings us back to the matter of the books. The intended horror of Natsu losing control of himself, I think, could have been really emphasized in order to highlight these aforementioned themes. Imagine if, instead of a complete menagerie of new characters as the final invading force, Zeref’s key piece of his invasion was Natsu. With the intended goal of undoing time, having Natsu kill him is no longer necessary, so it would be more pragmatic to use Natsu instead as a weapon of mass destruction for his goal. Not only is he inside of Fairy Tail, but Zeref is, theoretically, doing this for Natsu too, and he won’t remember this upon success—nevermind that the Natsu we know, that presently exists, that we have watched develop over the entirety of the series, would be forever erased regardless. 

Armed with the knowledge of what happened to Jellal, and how he ultimately had no one to intervene for him, this increases the urgency within the characters and will likely expedite their discovery of why Natsu turned against them out of nowhere. This time, a resistance is launched, and characters have the chance to intervene on the behalf of a friend. Gray couldn’t save Ur, Lucy spent years ensnared by the will of a family member, Erza didn’t recognize Jellal’s plight until it was too late, but they can save Natsu, and save him quickly. Fairy Tail, Team Natsu especially, can rewrite the book of E.N.D. solely for the great cause of freeing their friend and handing him back his free will, and in the process, Fairy Tail saves their own future as well. This doesn’t preclude the ability to free Zeref from his curse, but with or without that we have a beautiful culmination of fighting for the sake of a friend, for the individual and for the whole group. This time, friendship wins. 

I just think it could have been really cool.

[lulushults]

why does no one talk about the real implications of natsu becoming end?

people go on and on and on about how nalu isnt real because natsu’s ‘too stupid to understand love’, but…r u guys not seeing whats literally right before ur eyes? let me explain :)

natsu was told by zeref himself, and then shown a direct demonstration, of the fact that zeref and natsu are directly connected, meaning if zeref dies, natsu dies.

then we get natsu finding presumably dead lucy, and going apeshit and becoming hell bent on killing zeref before being interrupted by gray.

so? what ya’ll think natsu just thought well lucys dead, lets go finish the task at hand and kill zeref yipee!

natsu was told if zeref dies, HE dies. and immediately after finding lucy ‘dead’, he loses literally every thought in his head except for his drive to kill zeref.

u wanna know why? because lucy has had such a dramatic effect on natsu’s life, personality and happiness that the thought of living without lucy drove him straight too a main source that he can rely on to end his life. in that moment he forgot about everyone he was leaving behind, happy included, and wanted to join lucy in ‘death’.

mr go happy natsu that everyone thinks has exactly 0 thoughts inside his head and goes out of his way to hide his feelings, immediately decided the next step and only step of action after discovering lucy was to end his own life because he couldnt bare to not have her in his. natsu relys on lucy as a main source of safety and comfort, sure he never directly says it out loud but he shows this through the way he acts with her. the way he goes out of his way to be in his apartment with her constantly. the way he feels he needs to protect her. the way he gets so aggrivated when another man flirts with her, because to him shes HIS lucy and he just cannot allow another man to steal her away from him. not to mention he also outright said lucy’s scent makes him feel comfortable.

i’ve always believed that natsu and lucy are connected in more ways than one. they’re eachother best friends. they’re so clearly in love. and they are eachother safety blankets. they both rely on eachother for stability and comfort whether directly or indirectly, the small glances when natsu notices shes upset, lucy always wanting to look out for him and immediately becoming worried whenever they’re apart despite knowing he can take care of himself. and i also wholeheartedly agree that if one of them were to die, the other would not be able to live anymore. if natsu were to die, lucy would drown in the feeling of loneliness despite being surrounded by the guild. without natsu, who does she really have left? hes so implemented into her daily routine that she couldn’t continue her everyday life because everything would feel so out of the ordinary and just…wrong. waking up without his heat next to her. walking to the guild with him. eating with him. going on jobs with him. and then falling asleep and feeling him sneak into her bed while she pretends to be asleep all the while slowly inching closer to him because shes enjoys his company.

and as we literally saw first hand in the final season, natsu does not under any circumstances want to live without her either. who would splurge on his expensive eating habits on jobs? who’s apartment would he break into? who’s bed would he sneak into? who’s fridge would he secretly break into every day to steal food? natsu has never cared about love, or relationships, or starting a family or even getting married. until he met her. and now shes so naturally integrated into his life that he just can’t imagine how he would go about putting a smile on his face without her there to make it so easy for him.

[cylove]

propaganda i am never falling for: the raijinshuu is just a fanclub for laxus

i never ever want to hear people talk about the raijinshuu as though theyre his cheerleaders/worshippers because that's not true! theyre his friends forever and always and im about to talk about it ad nauseam. its honestly going to sound pretty aggressive but idc its so annoying that after a decade theyre still interpreted this way!! also very ramble-y again

debut arc ie battle of fairy tail

first and foremost, its the best way to view them and they were taken seriously. to put it plainly, the raijinshuu were created for laxus. theyre his team and his accomplices to his crimes! laxus at the beginning of the series is nothing short of selfish, arrogant, and rude. these are traits that not a lot of people want to hang around with for good reason! but yet he has 3 people who would hurt their own guild mates for him? even so far as to kill? like in evergreens case SHE lives with many of the girls that were in the Miss Fairy Tail Contest! erza, levy, cana, and bisca all live in fairy hills along with evergreen. she's dedicated to laxus and his cause and was willing to murder women who she slept right next door to!!! (under the assumption she lived there pre-BOFT, if not its still crazy considering theyve known these people since they were teens)

what must you do to garner that sort of support? that mere idea alone should be indication of a deep bond. and it's not manipulation or any threats made by laxus! its not mean to say this because mashima says this too. laxus is not a genius (his intelligence is a 3 from the GMG stats, so average), hes not a master manipulator who tricks them into following his lead. he also never threatens them, its very obvious from the get go that they agree with his idea! because theyre bad people too! so if YOURE an asshole and IM an asshole, then hey! were like 4 peas in a pod! theyre similar to laxus, they seek power, fame, and recognition for their skills (also fun!.. by beating people up). it makes sense laxus would be drawn to them. if they didnt have traits he liked in the beginning, he wouldve never given them the time of day because hes a dick who pushes people away

read more to see me yell about them for 5 miles

laxus is very socially awkward and never got close to the other members of fairy tail. in flashbacks, hes always on the outskirts of social events. laxus was raised in fairy tail, every one else were orphans who came in like as 10yos or something. laxus was alone in terms of children his age since birth until the raijinshuu came around. like obviously he'll end up anti-social, he's surrounded by kids 5 years younger than him or adults (they literally never show kids going to school, maybe laxus did but they definitely didnt stick around!) by ages alone they have a better chance of getting along with him

and they have time!!! so so much time to get close to one another. lisanna referring to them as the raijinshuu at first sight and them welcoming her with familiarity confirms their formation BEFORE her death which is in X782. BOFT is in X784. thats AT LEAST 2 years to get buddy-buddy with each other!! and whats more is that its mage work. not some office job. you can work a job and not know the name of the person right next to you but not in this profession!!! literally you eat, sleep, and fight side by side!! you cant expect laxus to be around them for that long WILLINGLY and think he doesnt form a genuine connection with all of them!! idc if it takes months, he comes around! he couldve broken it off any time he wants, i know he saw strength in them but laxus is so moody he wouldve said fuck it and got rid of them anyways. but he doesnt!!! because he likes them!!

and hey lets just say maybe they barely hung out besides doing jobs Pre-BOFT, i'd say fair! laxus was pretty bad back then, but post-BOFT, they'd become close no matter what. they continue working together and with everyone's more mellowed out personalities, then it all leads back to them to being friends!! stronger than ever too. laxus getting touched by their love and vise versa is inevitable

thats a big thing to note too! he likes them because theyre strong, he doesnt pass that around lightly. he says this about s-class mages of course but he thought the same of them as well! i have touched on in another analysis about his comment on ever v erza. but to reiterate he thought ever could take on erza and is incredibly angry his expectations were not met!! he doesnt even think "maybe she was weak from the very beginning" No!! he thinks its a fall from grace!!! that says so much about him and the respect he has towards her! he glazes them too its a two way street!

idolization allegations

sigh its true in the sense that mashima didnt care about them as much since their initial arc and made jokes creating this narrative and some people just took it and ran. but if you really think about it, theres no way they do. remember that they work together? so they spend numerous days with him and see him act like a regular person.. they met him as a teen boy like ofc the spell breaks the first day. laxus is strong but cmonnnn the image fades fast. theyre teens too, you dont think they find him like nightmarishly annoying some days. they cant be blind fanboys/girl because that would require some parasocial relationship but how does one have that if the person you are a fan of in question is telling you he forgot his sleeping bag when he was packing....? like 2+ years is a long time to get to know a guy

fans are annoying in the sense that THEY DONT KNOW YOU!! but they know laxus!!! the problem is how mashima presents them and ugghhhh i get where people get it from but if you take literally 2 seconds to think about the logistics, its all for show. like pls guys just trust me on this. they've went bar hoping, they've gone to festivals, they throw each other birthday parties, it was never a casual work relationship (disregard this part, im getting into hc territory)

but genuinely if not the raijinshuu, then who else? dont bring up fairy tail team b becaus then why doesnt he want to go on jobs with them (the ones who still do)? why arent they the ones he's drawn with in numerous group official arts? so youre saying he goes on jobs for days, weeks, months with his coworkers and OTHER people are his best friends? what???? sure team b can be his friends, but then you have inner circle friends, which in this case is the raijinshuu

it is hard to see laxus reciprocating this love, i understand, but thats just how he is. he's terrible at emotions, its how he ended up nearly blowing up magnolia!! despite all that he can admit to loving people because he does it in canon. the words are right there. you can hear it too in the anime if you want! like you see him hug them so close to himself the second he wakes up from a coma. he was just as worried as them!!! he thinks lowly of himself because he's not doing enough FOR THEM!!

also patrick seitz (laxus va) says verbatim "you 3 are the world to me. i cant keep you safe" like are you kidding me sure dubs can deviate but it just supports the original even more. its so direct, he loves them! he thinks the world of them!

im gonna get atmospheric on your ass because literally this man's breathe is tickling your face as he says he loves you and he needs to do better for YOU!! he's burying his face in their's!! its sooo sweet and it was fast too! he was overcome with emotions that he had to immediately tell them this and physically let them know. its so so important that he initiates too!! hes not usually touchy like this, hes never hugged except here!! (side hug for jellal during GMG wasnt heartfelt, he was being a tease, also it was nothing like this)

these arent your fans!!! theyre your bestfriends who love you UNCONDITIONALLY even at your worst, accepts you once more because of course they will, and you just nearly lost them!! it was never casual nor professional!!!!! its love all the way down

like the pure rage he felt after what wall did could not be compared!! he wasnt even this angry during his fight with raven tail. and we get another hint at how he views himself. hes changed a ton since BOFT, he used to think of himself as an arrogant god but now he admits hes barely worth his friends' lives. i find it a little much and the raijinshuu would probably say something about that, but it really shows that he feels deeply for them too. he wouldnt do this for "worshippers" or part of the "creed of laxus" (gray watch yourself)

also another point, if they really were mindless meatriders, laxus wouldnt even like that. sure old him probably wouldve sucked up all the attention, but since his exile, his ego has been reign in and wouldnt enjoy people blindly praising him up and down. genuinely think about having 3 people have a fan-idol dynamic with you and you work with them for YEARS in life and death scenarios. that is legitimately an insufferable experience, you'd quit! unless you are an ego maniac (which laxus kinda was before) it does not last long!

they dont do these things because its deeper than that. they tease and poke fun at him! its points to the idea that theyre regular people who joke around with one another! like they know him enough that he gets lost easily? i get intense cuteness aggression from them THIS IS WHAT I WANTED it is the tiniest glimpse of their dynamic when theres no over looming threat or serious job and i love it a lot! seriously what would have happened when laxus just got to come back normally and drop off the groceries?

is that not significant too? it was bickslows idea to do more casual things for cash and laxus goes along with it? that would be boring for him no? he loves fighting yet hes willing to hang around at a restaurant? the people he works with must be enjoyable then no? evergreen says the place is lowkey dead so its not even busy. like they just like experiencing life together its not hard to understand. when fairy tail disbanded for a year they all stuck together and worked in blue pegasus of all places. laxus always had the chance to tell them to go away

more teasing :3 im making this thread with strictly canon moments from the manga to make a point, it's more important to focus on moments mashima made canon in the og series. secondary content (anime only scenes, ft game dialogue, their gaiden volume) could be saved for another day

this has been going on for a while so one last thing and its my favorite thing, theyre physically affectionate!

when they glomp laxus its from pure joy that hes back!! BOFT is in october while tenrou island is in december, its only 2 months theyre apart but they missed him so much!!! its a lighthearted jokey tone but is them hugging him not indicative of a friendlier bond? it implies that BEFORE he got exiled he had a relationship with him that made them think it was okay to hug him. if they know him and he didnt like being touched like that, it doesnt matter how much they miss him, they wouldve respected his boundaries and not hug him. but they did! they mustve been affectionate before these events, they just didnt let anyone see it!! but since he's back they couldnt help themselves! freed's nuzzling his face its all very cute

also hes so harmless all he does is say stawwppp, they never push the joke further by making him push their faces away or anything. he says get off but doesnt really do anything beyond get embarrassed

like this moment is even better since its not played off as a joke as much! evergreen still hugs him and this time he doesnt even say anything!! this is still fresh off exile, so its not like their relationship developed in that time to making physical touches okay. no, it was before exile that this development occurred!! when the raijinshuu began opening up to people, it made them more bold to show that side of their relationship. its again really close too! her cheek is right on his arm and shes hugging him close to her chest!!

shes literally about to throw her arms around him if we had a second panel youd see it ugh AND HE WOULDVE LET IT HAPPEN!! not as intimate but bicks has his arm on him too

i think it misses the messaging of fairy tail, which is an anime about love, friendship, and family if laxus lacks that and the raijinshuu are nothing more than cheerleaders who arent actually that close to him. it makes 0 sense realistically, the existence of a couple one off jokes are that, just jokes. in canon laxus has stated he loves them as much as they love him! i find that laxus' main charm points is the idea that despite having difficulties with connecting to people, he still found love! if him being an asshole didnt scare people off, it was how socially clumsy he is! but the raijinshuu didnt care, they liked that about him because it made him, him

it really diminishes his closest platonic bonds and honestly a fundamental misunderstanding of his character to dismiss his friends like this. he'd hate you for saying shit like that!!

TDLR; the raijinshuu are not "a fanclub", "laxus whorshippers/fanatics/idolizers", "a parasocial relationship" or whatever else people want to say about them them! laxus is grown, he has complete autonomy in who he wants to spend most of his time with, in and out of work, and guess who he picks! its freed, evergreen, and bickslow!

CUTE LAXUS AND RAIJINSHUU IMAGE ATTACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!