#my intention was for her and zeref to not be romantic

[fanstuffrantings]

Decided to go ahead and post her. I've been mulling over a Mavis redesign since 2022.

[lemoncakepanda]

Top 50 NaLu Anime Moments {Pt 3}

I am so sorry it took me so long to write this! This week has been a roller-coaster to me, especially since Tuesday. I got so busy, and every time I would log into tumblr, I would only look at my dashboard and have absolutely no energy left to write. Without any further delay, let me show you guys the rest of my top 50, and today we’re covering moments 30 through 21.

Part 2 can be found here.

30. “I’ll be lonely, you idiot!” (Ep 265).

This moment still makes me so emotional. Like... i’ve said this before on my previous top 25 moments, so there’s nothing much to add, but I love this moment because it shows how much Lucy began to rely on Natsu. How much she needed his presence around her, despite always kicking him out and scolding him. And then to lose all that? Just like that? To be filled with such a huge sense of security, the certainty that someone will always be there for you, and to have that ensurance taken away from you? That must’ve hurt. That must’ve broken her heart and it’s no wonder she’s so upset with Natsu when he comes back (again, I get why Natsu had to leave and I’ve already given my thoughts on it, but I also get Lucy’s side) and must’ve stung extra harder bc she’d just lost Aquarius, something she also never thought would happen. But yeah, this is why I like this scene, despite it being sad. It was great character development for Lucy, showed the development in NaLu, and it also pushed the ship forward by giving if conflict and separation, which only resulted in bringing them closer in the future. Also, I also like how Natsu only left a note to Lucy and no one else. She really is his most precious person, along with Happy.

29. “Let’s save the tears for when we win.” (Ep 159).

As a big sucker for moments where Natsu comforts Lucy, this one’s gotta be in the list. Despite being in a team of 5, despite her whole guild being there, only one person came to pick up Lucy and lift up her spirits and that was Natsu. It could’ve been anyone, really. Erza or Gray. But Mashima thought (and I agree) Natsu would make the most sense, because of how deep the NaLu relationship runs, to showcase how they’d grown even stronger since Tenrou Island, and it worked! Natsu, who’d once called Lucy useless to her face, coming up to her and telling her she was amazing, even though she lost? Lucy, who was always so annoyed with Natsu and his fighting, looking up to him with tears in her says saying “i’m all fired up”? That’s the kinda development we strive for.

28. “You’re Lucy of Fairy Tail, aren’t you?” (Ep 23).

I swear, this ship makes me want to scream. And here we come back to a time when Natsu and Lucy were still growing as a team, and still didn’t know each other that well, but already had so much faith on one another. This, I feel, is the first time (after, you know, the tower jump) where it showed that they actually cared and understood each other, mostly Natsu, in this case. Everyone else told Lucy not to cry, not to blame herself because of what her father did, meanwhile, Natsu merely reminded her of who she was. Where she belonged to. And like Lucy said later in the arc, she believed her mother would want her to follow her heart and do what she wanted, and this was probably the first time someone other than Layla showed Lucy that her choice was hers to make, and hers only. Like i’ve said before, what Natsu said, what he did for her here, helped shape Lucy into the person she is today, as well as it’s what also helped Lucy to start relying more on Natsu emotionally, whereas she relied mostly on him physically, to protect her.

27. “Lucy!” (Ep 303).

This moment... is much lower on my list here, whereas it was so high on the first one, but that’s mostly because my opinion has changed, as well as new moments have arrived that I loved much more, and some other moments too I now realize I took for granted, and took a high spot in my list. But nevertheless, it’s still a very special moment. And despite my problems with the animation, I have to admit that I like the desperation in Natsu’s eyes as he holds onto Lucy for dear life, after almost losing her (big sigh bc we know what happens a few eps later); and he even forgets about the other people around them: Mest, Brandish, even Happy! I like how she came first here to him, how he didn’t even hesitate before grabbing her. Now, how he came from that position to groping her boobs with all his might later, I can’t even explain, just... you know... Mashima.

26. Natsu and Lucy versus Jacob. (Ep 299).

Listen, this... this is one of the funniest fights I’ve ever watched on anime. While I like the pacing better on the manga, I really liked the execution of it in the anime, and hearing Natsu and Lucy’s “dirty talk” was one of my dreams coming to life, lmao. Natsu and Lucy once again showing how great they are at teamwork, and why they work so damn well together, how their thoughts align and how their trust on each other plays a huge deal on their victory. Plus, hello, it’s this moment which gives Mavis the inspiration to defeat Zeref, so it’s an extra big moment, i’d say, despite being severely underrated. Still on topic, I liked how when Lucy was undressed in front of him, Natsu was like “how is this supposed to be hell?” and say what you want, but just because he didn’t blush didn’t mean he wasn’t enjoying that view.

25. “Thank you for protecting our future.” (Ep 187).

Not really a NaLu NaLu moment, but still a very sweet NaLu moment. In case you don’t know (and for that reason, you should not be reading this list), the one in the picture is Future Lucy, and what makes this moment so special is that, even though that’s not present Lucy, it’s still his Lucy. He trusts her word completely and understand she effort she’s made, and all the horrors she’s been through, and he kneels down to the ground, craddles her head and presses his forehead to her, to express how grateful he is for what she’s done, and to show that he appreciates her, even if she’s not from his time. And this must’ve meant so much to this Lucy, because she lost her Natsu; she watched him die (the anime even does a little flashback), and she is back at the warmth and the softness only one person could give her, and she thought she’d never have that again. And then there he was, right in front of her, still the same man she’d always known. Still believing in her. Also, a small bonus: present Lucy is watching all this with a sweet smile and a soft blush on her cheeks.

24. “Don’t worry me like that.” (Ep 310).

And now we’re back to me wanting to scream because of these, bc hey... look at this! How come these two f*ckers started a goddamn a relationship and not even realize it? Like, it’s not even possibly platonic at this point in the story! There’s no friendship that can explain this, especially when it’s purposely being parallel with Gruvia, a canon romantic ship, and especially because we know what led up to this moment. And then you have Lucy holding onto Natsu, so relieved that she found him and squeezing him closer to her, despite not knowing what happened to him or what he’d just done, and Natsu whispering her name, listening to her voice once again when he thought he’d never listen to it again, having her so close to him when he thought he’d lost her... and you want me to not ship that? You want to tell me that’s platonic? I can’t even. I literally can’t even. That’s all I have to say about this.

23. “I want a piggyback ride.” Drunk Lucy round 1. (OVA 4).

While I love Lucy jumping on Natsu and wiggling her body onto his during the christmas ova, I have to admit this moment here has a special place in my heart, which makes it higher on the list. Maybe it’s because it was the first time we saw Lucy drunk, and was still a time when we started to really get NaLu moments, and Lucy’s feelings were still 50/50 to us, and then you get this, and Drunk Lucy is all f*cking over Natsu; she has hearts around her when she’s happy because she saw two Natsus, she makes him omelet (how? idk) and wants to feed it to him, is upset when she thinks he rejects it, wants him to make her purr... this alone should tell you a lot, is all touchy-feely with him, and basks in how warm he is, with her eyes closed. And Natsu, my boy... you coulda just run. You didn’t have to stay there and you didn’t have to obey her, lol. I bet he was freaked out because Lucy had never given him this much attention before, so he didn’t know how to deal with it. Always nice to see some Lucy > Natsu action, so let us all thank Mashima for the existence of Drunk Lucy, who makes this more possible than regular Lucy bc she lives in denial, lol.

22. “Beautiful”. (Ep 73).

A classic moment, and one that is immensely loved within the NaLu fandom, and rightfully so! Not only is this the most beautiful tree i’ve seen in anime, but also gave so much more depth to Natsu and Lucy’s relationship, despite being a simple omake. I’ve mentioned this before, but after Phantom Lord arc, there was very little development on NaLu, and most of their scenes together were reapeats of things we’d seen before: them reuniting after the team is separated, working together to solve it, reuniting again, trusting each other, yada yada. Very nice, but still, mostly just friendship and nothing that really stood out. This moment here, where Natsu uproots a tree for Lucy just because she was sick and couldn’t come to see it, then putting it into a boat so it could float all the way over to the front of her house... can be seen as a platonic gesture, and probably was made with that intention on Natsu’s part, but the thing is, these kinda things only happen with them. Yes, Mashima could have given this moment for someone else like Erza or Mirajane, or even Wendy, who was new to the series and probably didn’t even know about this: so why didn’t he? The answer is quite easy, and y’all know it. Development. Growth. Natsu was upset Lucy couldn’t come and join them, didn’t even crack a smile during the whole festival, but he wanted Lucy to be able to, even if he didn’t get to see it. He wanted to make her happy. That’s very special of him, and I think there was already a little of romance there, he just didn’t know what it was, so he just followed his feelings and went for it. Okay, enough gushing and analysing, time to end this list.

21. “What do I look like to you?” round 1. (Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry).

Please, don’t kill me for not having this on top 10, I wanted to put it there, because HELLO, LOOK AT THIS PICTURE, I NEED 911, I- HOW CAN THEY STAND SO CLOSE TO EACH OTHER! MY BOYFRIEND SAW ME GIFFING THIS AND ASKED “IS HE TRYING TO KISS HER” AND I JUST FREAKED OUT, SOMEBODY SEDATE ME! Mashima, what were you trying to do with this? Were you trying to kill us? Like, why does Natsu want to know what he looks like to Lucy? And why he’s gotta stand so close to her that their noses are brushing, just to ask her this? AHSIAHSJJAOSJAAKA, I KNOW THE ANSWER, BUT I STILL NEED ANSWERS! Okay, I was able to calm down a little. I really truly love this moment (love dragon cry in general), and I love how Wendy interrupted them and knew immediately she’d walked into something intimate, the poor thing, lmao, I wish that was me. But really, this is just Natsu taking any excuses he can to stand super close to Lucy even when it doesn’t make sense, because we all know he’s just got it real bad for her.

Will try to post part 4 tomorrow, but no promises. My baby niece is staying over and she takes up all of my free time, lol.

[theastrologydad]

Fairy Tail 545: Final Verdict

After reading the chapter and then scrolling through the tag for the final chapter I decided I too would share my thoughts on how Hiro Mashima has ended the series. But before I begin, I must say that overall I have loved Fairy Tail entirely and it has been one of my favourite manga/anime because of the fact that I have grown up watching and reading it. And I must say that I have the upmost respect for Hiro Mashima and his decisions as a writer. 

I’m going to begin with the ships and address how I feel about their endings one at a time because I feel like that has been one of the things that people have been the most upset about.

1. Nalu

Whilst I am disappointed that we couldn't see a ‘for sure’ confirmation of this ship, I do strongly believe that Mashima left it open to interpretation for a reason. And a real romantic moment between Natsu and Lucy I think would have been quite out of character. Natsu by nature is a young free spirit and whilst he’s quite open on voicing how he feels about Lucy and his many other friends, he doesn’t properly understand romantic concepts nor does he ever really initiate anything purposefully intimate between himself and Lucy. That doesn’t go to say that he doesn’t love her, because from the countless moments they’ve shared all the way through Fairy Tail, it’s obvious she means the most to him out of everyone (with Happy, of course). In the final chapter he does tell her that they will be together forever, which I think is a clear indication that he wouldn’t want to spend the future with anyone else and shows how he plans to remain by her side, something that soulmates do. So I actually believe that from this, subtly, Nalu is a canon ship.

2. Gruvia

I couldn’t be more elated that their ship is officially canon. These two have been through so much these past two arcs and I think they definitely needed this. However, my one tiny complaint is that I wish there could have been more of a straight answer from Gray! Juvia seems entirely satisfied with it, however, and that’s all I truly need. You could definitely tell how much more aware of Juvia’s goings on that Gray is in this final chapter, in that he takes her off to a more secluded area after her behaviour starts to become more wild due to the alcohol. He also seems to care a great deal about her scars, which we know is an important issue for Gray as a character, and her body. 10/10 very pleased with the outcome of this ship.

3. GaJevy 

Can you believe it!!! A hint at them both becoming parents!!! This was a wonderful surprise and also slightly expected at the same time, due to this ship to be the first to become canon (after Gavel’s lovely speech before he got sucked into the abyss and then spat back out thanks to Eileen) These two are one of the reasons that I hope at some point there is a one-shot ‘Years Later’ chapter for old times’ sake!

4. Jerza 

This is the ship that disappointed me the most. I was unhappy that after Jellal’s pardoning the two weren't shown speaking. Out of each ship I always felt that after their almost kiss before the Grand Magic Games, they would be one of the couples to be set in stone. They have great emotional development and out of all of them I do believe Jerza to have the most mature bond due to the sheer depth of their trials and tribulations, and how they managed to come out of it stronger than ever. Anyway, despite my disappointment that they weren’t given what I believe they deserved, I was slightly comforted at Erza’s subtle and cute reaction to knowing that Hisui pardoned Jellal and Crime Sorciere. 

5. Zervis 

Personally I think that it was unnecessary to return Mavis and Zeref into the final chapter after their emotional farewell a few chapters back, especially when there had been so little for Jerza and there could have been more on Gajevy, Gruvia and/or Nalu. Whilst I was pleased that they (or their reincarnations) could finally be at peace and find a forever home with each other, I think Zervis’ story had already been told and should have been laid to rest. 

On other matters: 

Lucy and finding Aquarius’ Key

I was a bit surprised when there was no mention of Aquarius’ key in the final chapter, and I hope that for whatever reason there was a proper intention behind that! 

Kinana and Erik

This made me happy that even though they weren’t properly recurring characters, they still managed to get a happy ending with each other. I loved their moments together, despite them being a bit of a rarity.

Laxus and Guildmaster 

All through the manga after the Grand Magic Games arc when Laxus defeated Ivan I was vouching for him to become the next guildmaster of Fairy Tail, as I think his character development has indeed been something to admire (next to Lucy’s of course, which I will address in a minute) and I believe that he deserved the role. Makarov certainly looked like he could use a break all bundled up in his wheelchair!

Lucy and Character Development

Lucy’s character development has been a true treasure to me through the entirety of Fairy Tail as a whole. She has grown into a brave, fierce, kind and empathic young woman and I’ve loved every second of watching her grow. I was so pleased that despite Natsu being the main focus when it comes to all the battles and action, Lucy was the one who really shone at the end of it all when she won the award for her book. Truly, well fucking done girl. 

Finishing Thoughts

I would rate the chapter a 6/10. Purely because of the fact that I feel some of the matters that deserved to be shined more light on, weren't (Jerza, Lucy and the Aquarius key etc.) and other matters were just overused for no point at all (Zervis). But i did enjoy seeing what happened to other minor Fairy Tail characters such as the other wizard guilds and Hisui becoming the crown Queen, and like I said I definitely enjoyed watching the end of Lucy’s character development. 

All in all though, it has been one heck of a ride. Thank you Hiro Mashima, for such a wonderful manga!