#fairy tail reread

[lisannastraussisanangel]

This scene is just so 🥰🥰🥰

[ebiebii]

saw this and thought it was THEM

[tamibae]

I go crazy whenever I remember that Natsu is the reason Bora’s love-charm on Lucy breaks in the 1st chapter. I mean yeah Mashima didn’t have anything in mind for Nalu at that time but I still think he did that subconsciously because he said he loves pairing the main leads (ntm all of his mangas have the leads together). Later Lucy says the charm doesn’t work once realisation hits the victim, which doesn’t deny (nor confirm) that Natsu stirs up something inside Lucy that doesn’t happen to the other girls for some reason. It’s not mentioned why or how Natsu does that but all I can think is fate.

[sunslants]

this is probably really only interesting to me and im not going to phrase this well at all but lucy rewriting the book of end is so intimate in a sort of like. well lets think about the technical implications of writing and language kind of way. theres no way natsu got up after that and was exactly the same as he was before.

maybe he uses the turns of phrases that lucy likes to use in her writing now, or a word somewhere got tweaked into an almost-the-same synonym. maybe he eats more, maybe he fights more, maybe he loves so intensely he can save the world with it. maybe hes everything lucy knows him to be and less everything he knew himself to be. maybe he sees her and knows her so well he might as well be looking at himself. maybe lucy gets deja vu sometimes when theyre talking, in the way that very old and very close friends recognize their own subtle behaviors and words in the other.

idk i just like to think about how characters and writing are strange, funhouse-mirror reflections of their authors and the people they want to reach. and anyway at the end of the day, writings all about love and theyve got loads to spare of that

[ngtskynebula]

Mashima, you coward prick! Give me my canon NaLu 😭 It's been more than a decade, you fucker!

[just-someone-online]

Ayy, just reread Edolas today, so here's some Lisanna headcanons!

Lisanna had a few teething troubles when she finally got back to Earthland. For the first week or so, she often forgot that she could use magic again, and sometimes got certain people mixed up with their counterparts when she was tired enough.

Of course, the same thing had happened when she first got to Edolas.

Edo-Natsu taught her to drive! Though she wasn't able to actually get behind the wheel very often, what with the limited magic and all.

She's absolutely a speed demon behind the wheel and has managed to rack up more tickets than anybody else in the guild. Her lack of a license hasn't helped matters at all.

She's almost as much of a matchmaker as Mira. Back when her sister and Erza were always butting heads, she would jump in trilling 'She liiiikes you!' Unlike Happy, she was completely serious about it.

While she much prefers Earthland, a part of her does wish she had a way to visit Edolas and its Fairy Tail again. It may not have been her Fairy Tail, but she would be lying if she said she didn't see the alternate guild as another part of her family.

Lisanna is such a little shit stirrer when she has the chance. Like, yeah, she'll never say or do anything that could cause genuine physical or emotional harm to anybody, but if she sees an opportunity, she'll cause so many problems on purpose.

She had a brief romance in Edolas, but she broke it off partly because it felt weird since they didn't know she wasn't really Edolas Lisanna.

Someone in Earthland's Fairy Tail found out and asked who it was, but she has remained tightlipped about it. She'd rather not risk things suddenly becoming weird with her ex's counterpart.

[nikito0x]

Figured out I was somewhere on the aromantic spectrum and suddenly all my hatred of harem fics, fast burns, and romantic relationship fics that are nothing like friendships makes a whole lotta sense.

What a thing to write about on Valentine's day.

[watcher-ofthe-sky-art]

had to redraw his silly little grin.

[scarletgray]

now i think everyone should go read Hazy by moeruhoshi right now

[celestialulu]

I truly think I’ve read most of the nalu fanfics out there this is sickening I’m upset

[starsandthorn]

As anyone who has ever listened to me talk about Lightning Gods for 2 seconds knows, I personally am not too fond of the Thunder Legion backstory we got from it. Partially because I am a childhood friends Thunder Legion truther, but mostly because I didn’t agree with the characterization choice that had them decide to follow Laxus after…that.

But I understand why it is the way it is, and more than that, I can see now that it does a fairly decent job at using what little space and time there was available to tie into the main focus of the story of Lightning Gods. Namely, Laxus’s and the Thunder Legion’s views on strength, the trust that all of them have in each other, and how that manifests in different ways.

Let’s begin with an overview on the Thunder Legion’s obsession with strength and duty, where it came from, and how it has changed forms over time.

The backstory for the Thunder Legion proposed in Lightning Gods is this:

Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen team up to take on a job, only to find when they get there that Laxus has already finished it on a whim. They exchange some harsh words, and not long after they descend into a fight. Laxus beats them easily, and the three of them are awed and frightened by his strength and power.

Laxus, meanwhile, surprises them by complimenting them […sort of] on being the strongest guild members he’s seen in a long time, in giving him a good fight.

This event is what inspires the three of them decide to band together to form the Thunder Legion—a team dedicated to watching Laxus’s back. It is also the event that sets up their mentality further down the line: physical and magic strength are the most desirable traits one can have, and by continuing to be strong and interesting, they are allowed to stand by Laxus’s side.

Cut to years later, when the most obvious culmination of the Thunder Legion’s obsession with strength takes place: the Battle of Fairy Tail.

The entire point of the game is to weed out the weak from the strong, to create a stronger guild for Laxus to inherit. On his orders, the Thunder Legion are utterly merciless to anyone they deem weaker than themselves.

At first, this seems like purely blind loyalty, but as time goes on, we get a glimpse that it might be more than that. Specifically, right after Evergreen’s loss, we see that the standing the Thunder Legion has with Laxus isn’t a whole lot more solid than the rest of the guild, right now.

The moment Evergreen is beaten by Erza, Laxus re-categorizes her in his mind from strong to weak, and is ready to discard her, saying that he doesn’t need her in his Fairy Tail.

Freed expresses that he or Bickslow should have gone instead—not that Evergreen is weak, not that they don’t need her, but that Erza is simply too strong, and they should have sent someone better suited to counter her.

He then tells Laxus that the game is over, the battle lost, and Laxus tells him that unless he is willing to do exactly as he says with no hesitation, Laxus doesn’t need him in his guild either.

After this exchange, we now know that the Thunder Legion are only standing beside Laxus because they are strong. If they are weak, if they falter in their duties, they will be abandoned, discarded, and replaced.

The three of them are beaten, the game is lost, and Laxus is exiled. They slowly begin to settle back into the guild, to reconnect and mend bridges. But that obsession with strength and duty that the Thunder Legion has cultivated has not completely gone away—merely changed forms.

After all, few of their guild mates can stop themselves from commenting on how ridiculously strongthe Thunder Legion are. Many of them saw their magical strength firsthand, so the three of them are desperate to prove that their abilities can be put to good use.

When it comes to fighting strength, their mindset is one of protecting their guild mates no matter the personal cost. For Freed and Bickslow, we tend to see this manifest outwardly, as continually attempting to sacrifice themselves for their loved ones. For Evergreen, we see this manifest more as an internal struggle, as blaming herself for not being strong enough, and thinking that her lack of ability is what causes others to be hurt.

When Freed is selected to take place in the S-Class trials, with Bickslow as his partner, the two of them are paired up against Lucy and Cana. They proceed to throw the fight in the girls’ favor, allowing them to move forward. Freed says he owes it to the two of them specifically, after what happened in the Battle of Fairy Tail.

Later, when Evergreen and Elfman are targeted by Rustyrose and defeated by him, Evergreen blames herself for not being strong enough, and says that if it weren’t for her, if Elfman had picked a different partner, he may have been able to succeed.

In the Key of the Starry Sky arc, Bickslow throws himself in the way of an attack to save Wendy, and even insists that she should abandon him and save herself—abandoning a comrade who is nothing more than dead weight is still a viable strategy in his eyes.

“Sometimes you gotta have the courage to leave your friends behind too!”

However, unlike Laxus [who I’ll talk about later], the Thunder Legion largely understands that there are different types of strength. Laxus judged himself and others using solely fighting strength as a metric, but the guild as a whole requires a more diverse skill set to deal with a range of day-to-day issues, which the Thunder Legion commit to their comrades with just as much enthusiasm.

Freed’s mission with Wendy is a good example of this. The Master—and Cana, of all people, who Freed feels he has a personal debt to—entrusts not only Wendy’s safety to him, but also her growth and development as a mage. He follows the rules set by them to the utmost of his abilities, even having a minor crisis when his two duties conflict, and he doesn’t know which course of action is the right one to take.

When there is a clear course of action, though, he’s quick to take it, utilizing his runes and his blade for all manner of things that have nothing to do with fighting.

At one point during the journey, Happy comments:

“That’s the Thunder Legion for you! Always there in a time of need!”

It’s clear that by this point, they have already established a reputation for being incredibly reliable and dependable, despite the fact that this is quite soon after the Battle of Fairy Tail, and the three of them rarely spent time in the guild hall beforehand.

These feelings of needing to be strong and useful so people keep them around linger on even past Fairy Tail’s disbanding, into Lightning Gods. The three of them are incredibly eager to be helpful to Laxus.

Evergreen reinforces this when they step up to destroy the Vesper Blockade Mirror for the first time:

“Let’s show them why you keep us around.”

She says this in tandem with Bickslow, who says Laxus won’t enjoy destroying an object. The three of them step forward to do work that, they assume, Laxus would find tedious or boring.

Not long after they figure out how to destroy the mirror, the priestess Weyse shows her true colors as a Zeref fanatic, and takes on the powers of the demon God of Nightfall.

The God of Nightfall is, quote:

“…a type of magic that shows people illusions of the doubts and fears…and traumas…they carry deep inside.”

To torment the Thunder Legion in the illusion, Weyse begins with this:

“Oh, you guys! As if he could rely on you! You call yourselves his bodyguards, but at the slightest threat you just bleat out for him. No wonder he gets hurt worst of all.”

This doesn’t seem to affect them at all, as all three’s responses are rather unimpressed.

“Yeesh. What terrible lines.” “I guess she’s trying to rattle us.”

This showcases their understanding of who Laxus is as a person. They’ve followed him for years now, so they’re well aware of what he’s capable of, and more importantly, what he’s like, and what he tends to do.

The Thunder Legion is incredibly confident in Laxus. They trust him more than perhaps anyone else, and want more than anything else to protect him and keep him safe.

However, they are also well aware that they cannot control his actions. Especially after the stunt he pulled just before Tartaros. He gets hurt worst of all because he tends to insist on doing things on his own, whether it’s to prove himself, to enjoy a fight more, or because he wants to keep everyone safe. When the people he cares about are in danger, he jumps in to help, and sometimes pushes himself to the point of self-destruction. This is a trait that many mages in Fairy Tail share, and the Thunder Legion understands this.

But they trust him, and they trust him to know his limits.

When he stops them from interfering in his fight against Maiden Quartet, they listen. Their trust manifests as standing back while Laxus fights and waiting for a cue, or helping to mitigate the damage his fight causes on their surroundings. Laxus knows that all he needs to do is ask for help, or offer an invitation, and the Thunder Legion will be right there beside him.

Freed knows this, and he rebuts Weyse like so:

“We trust each other. If Laxus is fighting on the front lines, we’ve only got to run in and support him!”

Of course, Weyse twists his words around and hits them where it hurts:

“So what you’re saying is, he steps up to fight because you’re too weak to do it yourselves.” “You’re his bodyguards, aren’t you? Right? But something terrible is bound to happen to your precious Laxus, the way you guard him.”

Laxus fights because they can’t. Because they’re incapable of it. The Thunder Legion is a burden to him, an inconvenience, and holding him back from his true potential. He doesn’t need them, and he knows it; soon enough, they will stop being useful, and Laxus will leave them behind.

That’s what hurts them, that’s what spurs them to fight and protect the illusion of Laxus with everything they have—not just the concept of being weak, but the idea of being unneeded and abandoned by the person they care for the most.

“Laxus always steps up to fight…because we’re so weak!” “Even though we go around callin’ ourselves his bodyguards!!” “We’re just holding Laxus back!”

Unbeknownst to the Thunder Legion, though, Laxus has been going through his own development during Lightning Gods—namely, discovering just what kind of strength he can bring to his family in order to make them feel safe and protected.

When Laxus and the Thunder Legion join Blue Pegasus, they are confronted with a very different guild experience, in terms of jobs and the people around them. Being a Blue Pegasus member requires a different set of skills and strengths than Fairy Tail members are used to, and Laxus specifically has a difficult time adjusting. But as he’s floundering, he can see the Thunder Legion fitting in with the guild and taking to their tasks with ease.

“I don’t know…but you three are doing great.” “But I just recall how…Fairy Tail was full of people who’d understand me, even just through our fists and fights.”

This is played somewhat for comedy, as the Thunder Legion find Laxus’s awkwardness endearing. But Laxus is genuinely having a hard time wrapping his head around the way the guild operates and adjusting to it. More than that, he’s utterly baffled by the idea that someone like Ichiya could be so respected and adored when he is, compared to Laxus and the Thunder Legion, not all that strong or powerful.

He mentions that they shouldn’t go to assist him—since the others respect him so much, he assumes Ichiya must be strong enough to save himself:

“But he’s actually super powerful despite how he acts, right? So just wait for him to come back on his own.”

What others might see as abandonment is Laxus’s idea of trust—putting faith in another person’s ability to handle themselves, and not insulting their strength by rushing in to rescue them.

But the members of Blue Pegasus quickly correct him, bringing up the many weaknesses that Ichiya has that make him vulnerable. Laxus wonders if there’s anything good about him at all, and how someone with so many weaknesses—that are apparently common knowledge—could be so idolized by everyone around them.

Despite his overall reluctance to engage with the situation, Laxus goes to rescue Ichiya, on the basis that they’re from the same guild, and anyone who messes with guild members is an enemy—not because he looks up to Ichiya, something he quite vehemently denies.

In the process of rescuing him, though, Ichiya himself takes a blow from Laxus meant for his captor, and tells Laxus not to fight, “out of respect for his gorgeous face”. Laxus takes this as an insult.

“Is this a joke?! Huh?! We came here to rescue you, because you’d been kidnapped. And now this? Was this some game to you? And you want me to respect your face? You think you can mess with me and I’m just gonna take it?”

In his mind, if Ichiya is so respected, he must have been strong enough to escape this entire time, and waited until the most inopportune moment to do so. He interfered with the rescue attempt, made light of Laxus’s attempt to help, and wasted his time.

However, Ichiya replies:

“This was no game. And no one is messing with you. Thank you for coming to my rescue.” “I honestly didn’t think you four would be the first ones here. Fighting on a joyous day like this…would hardly be the classy thing to do! Let’s go home and open up some champagne.”

Laxus seems surprised by this, and remains in thoughtful silence for a long while, even all the way back to the guild. Ichiya approaches him, and Laxus finally admits:

“So, look. I don’t get you at all. You don’t stand out as some powerful dude…but look how much they all worship you.”

Ichiya responds that it’s because he’s good-looking, much to the irritation of Laxus. However, the Trimen speak up once Ichiya leaves, saying that’s his true strength. The Thunder Legion take the word strength to mean the same kind of power they see in Laxus; an insurmountable might that puts one above other people. Hibiki corrects them:

“He may seem unreliable to you. But…when the moment calls for it, he’ll even use his body to defuse a crisis, even without magic…and isn’t that another kind of strength? That’s our Ichiya. We can feel safe with him.”

It’s not about physical or magical strength. It’s his strength of character that the members of Blue Pegasus are drawn to; they trust that he is the type of person to do everything in his power to keep conflict from breaking out, even if it means bringing harm to something he prides himself on quite highly.

This sticks with Laxus.

When he and the Thunder Legion head out to the village of Rugosa for the request put forth by the priestess Weyse, Laxus wonders to himself just what sort of strength he brings to his family.

After Weyse begs them to help, and speaks rather tearfully about not wanting to lose her home, Laxus is immediately swayed to get serious about her cause. He makes an effort to destroy the Vesper Blockade Mirror, and goes to great lengths to defeat Nasser, whom Laxus believes is trying to destroy his own home—something that Laxus takes very personally, because he [mistakenly] sees his past self in Nasser.

“So your mission is more important than your home? That thought process…makes my blood boil!!”

Nasser asks him why he’s risking his life for this. Says it seems foolish, since this is just another quest for him. Laxus flashes back to the Battle of Fairy Tail.

“I’ve tried to destroy my own family…my guild…before. I thought I was doing it for the guild’s own good. But now I see that was a stupid, immature idea. And I’m pretty sure you’re gonna regret this, too!”

After Nasser’s defeat, the Thunder Legion destroy the Vesper Blockade Mirror, just as Laxus trusted them to do. And the demon God of Nightfall’s true identity is revealed. Nasser shares his side of the story and laments his inexperience, stating that despite being seen by the villagers as an outsider, Rugosa village is his only true home.

Laxus is immediately swayed to his cause, and vows to destroy the God of Nightfall. Nasser reprimands him, saying that it’s too dangerous, but Laxus insists—

“But if we do nothing, your home is gonna get destroyed.” “Look, no apology is ever gonna be enough for what happened. So let me protect your village. I have to…!!”

Nasser relents, and asks for his assistance in defending his home. But not before telling him:

“You lose sight of all around you the moment something important to you is involved, like one’s home or guild.” “Viewed in another light, I suppose some might call you stubbornly honest.”

The two of them rush back to the village to confront the God of Nightfall. Laxus goes to destroy it, but is blocked by the Thunder Legion’s attacks. Weyse reveals that the three of them see Laxus as the God of Nightfall and vice versa—this is quickly reinforced by their words, shouting that they’ll protect Laxus no matter what as they’re attacking him.

Then, of course—Laxus hears what they think. That they’re too weak to stand beside him, they’re holding him back, they can’t even do an adequate job of protecting him.

After snapping them out of the spell with his magic, Laxus tells them exactly how he feels, how he said he felt even in the midst of his fight with Nasser: he trusts them.

“Don’t be stupid, Thunder Legion!” “It’s only because I can trust you to have my back…that I can run forward to fight!”

He doesn’t say, you’re strong enough to stand beside me.

Instead, he tells them, I am only this strong because you’re here. Because you have my back. I could not have done any of this without you. I have faith in your abilities. I can trust you.

To have his back, to look out for him, and more than that, to understand him, when it seems like no one else can.

The three of them gather themselves, and step up to watch Laxus’s back, to assist him in fighting the God of Nightfall.

“It’s alright. The three of us…we will not falter!!” “Strength…weakness…the form it takes doesn’t matter. The desire to protect the people we care about is still the same.”

The God of Nightfall is defeated. Nasser returns to the village, having lost his magical power. The Thunder Legion lament this loss, saying that losing such strength seems like a waste, but Laxus seems to understand—it was worth it, if it means Nasser gets to return to his home.

The four of them leave Rugosa village, talking about Weyse’s betrayal and how impressive Laxus was during their fight. And, finally, they tell him what it is that he wants to hear:

“But you confirmed something for us.” “Thanks to you…we can rely on you and feel safe.”

His dedication to doing what’s right, to protecting other people’s homes and family, led him back to the village when he could have easily left everyone to wait for the Council instead. His strength and quick thinking saved the Thunder Legion from the God of Nightfall’s spell. His stubborn honesty snapped them out of their fear of failing him, of being too weak, of being left behind.

At last, Laxus says that he thinks he’s figured out a little bit about the strength that makes Ichiya so adored.

[lisannastraussisanangel]

I miss this trio so much. We were robbed

[carbonatedjem]

Erza! I wanted to draw some Fairy Tail art, and I ended up drawing Erza’s initial design from the manga since I just really love how it looks. I know it’s supposed to be like some poofy shirt, but I always kinda envisioned it as a tracksuit, though I still leaned closer to the actual design.

@ft-reboost

[creative-hanyou-girl]

The struggle between reading original books or reading fanfiction is real.

[miyu-writings]

Fairy Tail Reread 2023 part 1

I'll be rambling here about the first book.

I'm getting the hang of this so I apologize for the wonkiness right from the start. 😅

It's been one year since I read the manga so I'll be going into this as if I'd forgotten most of the story, yeah?

Okay, let's get started!!

So, we start with Siegrain and Ultear and the Council and it's pretty ominous. Especially how Fairy Tail is such a thorn in the side.

And then, Natsu and Happy. The introduction of the MC is quite silly because we're being introduced to this character who's totally KO after riding the train. And more silliness ensues. Very lighthearted feeling.

Then Lucy appears. We're introduced to our other MC. She's complaining about the lack of magical stuff at that store. And we're also introduced to another of Mashima's staples, a sleazy chara saying dumb stuff and a female character amping the sexiness to have some leeway or whatever. Not a great thing to say about Mashima if that's how he sees women... Then again, her "wiles" weren't useful here but, hey, the story is started after the short but kind of enough introductory notes about the charas.

Lucy got under the spell of the so called Salamander and I like that she's fighting it, but ultimately she succumbs to it. But is saved by Natsu. The quest for Igneel sure is a long one.

Natsu's face of "who the fuck are you?" cracks me up. And how he's tossed aside by the groupies is also pretty silly. You treat the MC like that, dude?

We're then introduced to another side of Natsu, the glutton. Lucy looks a bit disgusted and, tbh, me too Lucy, me too. And through the conversation we're introduced to the main space, the core of the manga - the guild of Fairy Tail. The conversation flows nicely and it introduces the charas a bit more, with OTT reactions happening too but that does make sense, in context, in some way. Also, the cringe in Lucy was at the top now at the beginning - being in the guild will erode it haha.

Lucy's wish/goal of being part of Fairy Tail puts her in danger but we're still seeing that she sees the warning signs (she didn't drink the wine) and then the veil is lifted about the whole trafficking operation. And Lucy is nearly branded a slave and her keys thrown away but Natsu appears! But the tension was slightly broken due to the silly moment of Natsu's motion sickness but it quickly snapped back to "serious business" mode. Or rather, Lucy's escape and recovery of keys and Aquarius - where we also get another basis to a core relationship - sending everyone to firm land. And now Natsu's jumping to the serious business and, surprise, surprise - he's Natsu from Fairy Tail. The real one.

Ass is kicked and the trio ends up escaping the cops (it's what they are) and going home.

The guild is not boring and makes the guys at the Council stay on their toes, that's what we get from the closing of the chapter.

As a first chapter this does open up a lot of possibilities and has a lot of potential. And then, we're about to step inside the guild and who knows what kind of wonders might come from it...

Chapter 2 & 3 (idk why but it's how it's coming rn)

Lucy's dream comes true. She steps inside Fairy Tail.

It's a different world, inside. And we quickly are introduced to some characters. Yay Gray! And Cana pointing out he's naked. Lucy starts to see that there's something odd in this place. And how her idols are pretty much human.

It's chaos, with everyone fighting. Poor Makarov... his kids do give him huge headaches.

But.

The heart of the story is shown here. Follow their own path, that's how the mages from Fairy Tail go.

And like that Lucy has joined the guild.

We're shown a bit more of Natsu's background and it really is sad, seeing little Natsu so happy with Igneel and then, loss.

Then we have the first mission: find Macao.

Lucy gets to show some more of her magic and the Vulcans are so lecherous, sheesh.

We get to see some fight scenes and here Natsu shows once again that, he can kick ass during battles. He's good at this shit. (Remember that, Mashima? You used to write Natsu like this!) And the moments of silliness again break the tension but the fighting is serious and Natsu kicks ass.

They recover Macao and return home. Family should be reunited.

The chapter ends in a very feel-good way and it's not a bad thing.

Lucy is our narrator and she hopes for good things in the future. It's a nice way to get started on this long adventure.

Chapter 4

One thing I liked about the anime was also how they always introduced Magnolia, the location and the guild of Fairy Tail (and the music is epic). We're kind of welcomed back to this place that we belong. This chapter starts with the location too. Well, Lucy's home, which is an important place too. And Natsu and Happy are hanging there already. The poor girl doesn't know it but her house is nearly their lair now...

We learn a bit more about Lucy and what being a celestial mage entails and basically is. And here's Plue, from Rave Master. I haven't read that (yet, maybe?) but these cameos and silly spirits did kind of disappear later on during the story. Not saying that they aren't there but to me it feels like it's more background stuff. I understand that it was because of the tone of the story, it got more serious. But I don't mind Plue.

Natsu invites Lucy to go with her on a mission. And we learn that this dumbass took a mission that was forbidden to his level.

Natsu, I love you but, you need to reflect more. I totally understand wanting to be challenged by stronger foes but, c'mon. xD

That's how you land yourself in hot water! I totally understand Makarov's stress though. He, like a good parent, wants to protect his family from unnecessary risks and troubles but what to do with such a rowdy and - I'll say it - crazy crowd?? Someone's going to get grounded.

And then, hey there, Gray!

I like Gray smoking. I totally understand that it sets a bad idea for kids because smoking irl is very bad for your health, lung cancer and any cancer whatsoever isn't good. But, Gray smoking to me, speaks of a bit of an oral fixation and, honestly, it connects him to Natsu. As someone who does ship Natsu with Gray, having Gray smoke means a lot. I totally headcanon him as stopping later on but he will fall back to the not-so-great habits in times of stress and turmoil. That's how Gray rolls.

And we're on for the first arc, the one that made me really go "yeah, I like this a lot". The Galuna Island arc!

[theophagie-remade]

People have always made fun of fairy tail for the whole "power of friendship" thing, and I mean, if these elements were to randomly appear in any other series I would agree, but you also need to tell me what exactly you expected from a story that at its core can be summaried as "there's This One Guild whose members are all connected à la "the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb" and these are their adventures". What else exactly did you expect to see if not "the power of the bond between us is stronger than the enemies we face" with a premise like this