#young jellal

[yamishika]

In celebration of Jellal Day! (25.06.23)

Tale of the two Jellals with mine & @xhusu interpretations/HCs on young Jelly 🫐 💫

[fanstuffrantings]

I think it's important to admit that when I was younger I fully hated every time crime sorceroire shower up. I didn't like anyone in the guild and in fact even outright hated several of them. I hated that Mashima gave Ultear a pretty solid character end showing us that she was content only to backtrack when he wanted her to be young and hot for a plot save.

I also fully hated that every bit of development these characters got was off screen, meaning I couldn't become invested in their dynamics.

Now I am curious on if a rewatch of tenrou and Ultears backstory as an adult will change how much I don't like her or the plot Mashima gave her. There are characters I hated originally that I actually enjoy as we're rewatching. But I am going in with low expectations.

[ace-of-fairytail]

Erza Belserion.

[nocentis]

" everything is going to get worse from here . " / @ TEENY JELLAL

✧ ┆Not Accepting

". . . Worse?"

He's trapped in this dank crypt, surrounded by fester and rot, fed nothing but scrap, forced to work himself to bone. He's been stripped of his home, his family, everything he knew and everything he was, and all he had left was hope. Hope for a brighter day. Hope that he and his friends could someday escape this rotten place, these rotten bullies, and see the sun again — see the stars again.

Now, here was this oddball guard — one he'd thought was kinder than the rest — taunting him with promises of "worse", whatever that could possibly mean. He should've known better than to expect that earlier decency to last.

"Is that a threat?"

[captainuranium543]

Ft headcanons nobody wanted part 2

-natsu will occasionally get genuinely jealous over his friends owning appliances for heating. Why should they need those things when they have him, if they just call him over her do a way better job then any of those stupid gadgets. He finds out gray owns a hair dryer and immediately becomes a jealous ex girlfriend. He confronts Lucy in her apartment one night acting so serious he she doesn't even get mad that he broke in, then just goes "care to explain this?" And puts a lighter on the table.

- Wendy is very very quiet. Creepily so. Not elaborating but I think you can imagine the kinds of situations this leads to.

- Mira's eyes glow in the dark and it creeps everyone the fuck out

- erza has the worst hoarding problem. Her dorm room is entirely piled floor to ceiling with boxes of meticulously organized random items she refuses to throw out for some reason

young Mira: "alright this is ridiculous why do you even have this"

Young erza: "say what you want but when you need 746 packets of Mcnolias sweet and sour sauce and find your supply baron I'll be laughing"

- levy is one of the few members of the guild who actively sought it out to join. Before fairy tail she was an orphan and a student studying magic. She left to join fairy tail to learn more about magic in general from real world experience.

- laki will sometimes build creepily realistic wooden statues of her guild mates and leave them around in inconspicuous places so when you find them they scare the shit out of you. Sometimes she hides them too well and it takes years to discover them.

- Lucy has actually written several unpublished novels and the only other person who's ever seen them is levy. Lucy thinks their crap but levy carefully annotates every single one.

- laxus used to occasionally be forced to go on jobs with erza and Mira when they were young both to help and to make sure they didn't kill each other and he hated it.

- I think I might have said this before but I firmly believe levy, Lucy, freed and jellal later on all form a book club because they love reading, the problem is they all have vastly different tastes in book so they can never decide what to read each week and usually just end up playing Scrabble and talking shit about their various teammates

"please guys trust me this one's good"

"I am NOT reading Colleen Hoover Lucy and that's final"

- this one's based on city hero but I personally believe erza and Erik find a shocking common ground over motorcycles. Erza likes vehicles in general and Erik took up bike racing as a hobby, since discovering this is the longest they've been able to be in the same room together without someone throwing a punch.

- Wendy visits lamia scale regularly still to hang out with chelia. she usually brings romeo and they all go out to do whatever dumb kid stuff they want. (Tbh I just like her having friends her own age)

-lucy sometimes randomly lets her rich girl's heritage show in random conversation and it's always jarring. You'll be having a normal chill convo with her and then she'll look you dead in the eyes and ask you what colour your personal carriage was growing up.

- Natsu is genuinely a really good cook he just has a terrible taste so nobody wants to eat his food. For reference he only ever cooks his food because he enjoys doing it to him it tastes fine either way.

- if you had asked the fairy tail guild who the scariest guild member was in early season 1 the answers would have been erza, guildarts, laxus etc all the usual suspects. Once season 2 starts however the answer is unanimous. It's juvia. Juvia is fucking terrifying when she gets mad. You don't realize how scary water can be until it's filling your lungs and as your vision blurs until all you can see is her merciless stare.

- Mira and freed can drink blood for demon reasons. gray can too after getting devil slayer but he thinks its gross. Surprisingly so can gajeel because of the high iron content.

- gray the type of guy who's bed has only the smallest thinnest blanket on his bed and usually it's on the ground cuz he gets too hot

- meanwhile erza is the type of girl to have so many pillows, blankets and plushies on her bed you wonder how she fucking sleeps in it. Mf has a NEST.

- Lucy isn't even surprised anymore when she finds people in her house, she doesn't know how they keep getting in and honestly she doesn't care anymore she's to tired to deal with it.

- freed plays a lot of really fucking weird instruments. Idk it just seems like something he would do.

- bixlow can speak most languages and it's always really surprising when he randomly says smth like "oh yea I can speak ancient nirvid no prob" like that's totally normal

- if laxus and freed ever did get together (in my heart it's cannon) evergreen and bixlow would be their biggest haters. Yea they love them and they're happy for them but also EW. GROSS. GET A ROOM.

[power-to-live]

FT SHIPS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE TROPES

(that nobody asked for)

• NaLu- besties to luverss

i actually do think both of them think like this:

Man, i do like Natsu/Lucy. But i dont think he/she feels the same.

....BRO-

•JeRza-

childhood friends to lovers OR right person wrong time...

Kinda both.. cuz they liked each other when they were young, so childhood friends, but then.. jellal was ykyk by ultear and it was right person wrong time.. same situation in tower or heaven

•Gajevy- grumpy × sunshine

Levy is js a ball of happiness well gajeel is.... nonchalant... yeahh lets js say that...

But be fr, the do be the least hated couple- LIKE WHO CAN HATE THEM???...

•ElfGreen-

Fake dating then actually fell inlove

ITS TRUE THO-

in tenrou they beat mira cuz they told her they were dating😭

And in GMG they also kinda fell.....

Last vut def not least,

•GRUVIAAA-

earlier in the series it would be one-sided love, buttt in 1hyq, ITS SHE FELL FIRST BUT HE FELL HARDER,😭😭 once it gets animated istg i will not stop editing them🫶🫶

Tysm if you made it this far and stay delulu🫶

[laramcelino]

My head is wrapped on Nalu baby's soo...

Headcanons about the children of the canon couples in Fairy Tail ✨✨

or at least the ones closer to canon, I'm watching your teasing Mashima

Nalu

Get angry with me all you can, but they don't have a lot of children, oddly enough Nasha is one of the few in the guild who were planned.

Natsu is totally a girls daddy, it's the vibe.

They have Nasha after getting married, she is the spitting personality of Natsu, but learned to like books like Lucy.

They had some false alarms and when it really happened the pregnancy was hard for Lucy and the baby.

They got scared to try again, and Lucy was brokenhearted because she knew Natsu would want more despite him constantly saying that Nasha would be more than enough.

After at least two years they end up adopting a baby boy they rescued on a mission.

The boy is almost as chaotic as Nasha, but is more calculating than his impulsive sister.

The two fight a lot, Lucy is the rigid parent who makes them stop, Natsu is the one wrapped around their fingers, and gets scolded together.

Despite fighting, the kids are very close, play together all the time and protect each other a lot.

When the kids are sad and wanna talk about it they go to Lucy, when they just wanna be held they go to Natsu.

Both times when the kids arrived the spirits were very eager to meet then but waited, except for Aquarius, she used her own energy, and brought gifts, but she also said they were very ugly.

Even though Natsu and Lucy don't have other kids, they would be parental figures to any lonely children who come across their life, and are the favorite uncle and aunt for most of the guild kids.

Gruvia

They have three at max, none planned as Gray was insecure about being a parent.

Gray cried at every single birth.

Juvia is a boys mother and is very jealous of all her kids.

Gray is the parent who puts then on tracks, and so he receives all the hate.

Greige was born months before Nasha, and has the shy nature of his mother .

The middle child is a girl, and if they have a third one would be a boy.

The girl is the princess of the house and is very spoiled, she has Gray infinite devotion.

Gajevy

Those two have at least five. None was planned.

As in the twin trouble novel Asuka seems to be at her mid/late teens, and the twins look six at most, I believe they are not the firsts but the second to born (I couldn't read the full novel to know more).

The first one is a girl, definitely born to defy Gajeel in every possible way, going further enough to ask Natsu some Dragon slayer tricks.

The twins are much more level headed than the firstborn, but Yajee is more impulsive than Jutla.

The fourth and fifth kids are the mischief ones, doing mess and troubling Levy, they also have different magic from their parents.

The fourth and fifth are closer to Natsu and Lucy's boy due to age closeness. When the three are quiet for too long it means they are making some trouble.

Both Gajeel and Levy are good at controlling their kids, but Gajeel does it by being strict and Levy does by tricking the kids, it works better with the more hot-headed ones.

All their kids know that Gajeel is soft-hearted about them getting hurt, so if they do trouble they come crying for him first, because if Levy learns she will be angry, and an angry Levy is a scary one.

Jerza

They only have one child

They are both scared of having children, cus of their bad childhood, Jellal never interacted much with kids and Erza tends to scare them.

Both are very protective.

Their son was an accident that happened on their honey moon.

Was a happy accident though.

He is very smart and takes after Jellal more, being closer to Erza on the aspect of being a good leader.

He is closer to age to the oldest of Gajeel and Levy, so the duo control the kids brawls in the guild hall.

The boy is also very independent from a young age, and Jellal is always scared of not being present enough for him.

Erza tries to be subtle but she loves to say how proud she is of her boy.

As Erza gets older she takes after Makarov when she becomes the master and develops a kind of motherly feeling to the younger generations of the guild, so subtlety she gets a lot of kids.

CobraxKinana

Have only one boy, who very fiercely loves Fairy Tail.

They have him some years after their wedding, the kid would be closer to the twins age.

Cobra didn't want kids, as they make much noise, but accepts because of Kinana, so he would be one of few planned ones.

She is a very dedicated mother, and the type who only stopped working when was due to labor, and returned very early on too.

Kinana would come to work with the baby wrapped in cloth like a kangaroo and it was the sweetest sight at the guild.

Elfgreen

They have two, I don't care gender.

In a very cartoonist way one is the spitting image and personality of Elfman, and the other of Evergreen.

Evergreen loves to brag about how awesome and handsome her kids are.

She also likes to dress up then, uncle Bixlow likes too.

Elfman engages in any stupid ideas the kids have.

Both kids are scared of Laxus, and he got offended by it.

Mira spoils her nephews/nices a lot, but none the parents have the guts to ask her to stop, so anytime the kids wants something and the parents don't give, they run to aunty Mira.

As the kids grew Elfman and Ever become the type of parents that the kids ask them to grow up.

Bonus:

Characters I believe would be a single parent, either by adoption, having a child without contacting or knowing the father, or the child simply appears years later (like Cana to Gildarts).

Cana: adopted.

Bixlow: simply appeared, no one questions who the mom is, just how the kid will survive .

Laki: def don't know the father.

Lyon: appeared.

Kagura: adopted two girls from Mermaid Heel.

Hibiki: adopted, but everyone suspects the blood relation.

[happilychee]

miscellaneous fairy tail headcanons that I came up with while writing my ridiculously long fic pt.2

♡ cana, gray, and loke are a little trio in fairy tail. after the grand magic games, sting gets added to their group. they all meet up after jobs to get drinks and gossip.

♡ laxus's favorite drink is apple cider. he's never told anyone but somehow they all know. if he's having a bad day, mira will slide him a mug of steaming cider with a cinnamon stick in it. laxus does not tear up, there was just dust in his eye.

♡ jellal and pantherlily are both tea enthusiasts. they've argued soooo much about different teas. they've both yet to discover that rufus is also a tea buff.

♡ laxus has sneezed in an onsen before and almost electrocuted everyone. cana never lets it go.

♡ while sneaking around mercurius, meredy runs into hisui. the fiesty princess yells at her, but her curiosity wins out and she doesn't arrest meredy. they become fast friends and write each other letters.

♡ I consider hisui to be pretty young, maybe 14/16 when the grand magic games happen. as such, she's often overlooked by her advisors and even her father. no one takes her seriously, and it's so frustrating.

♡ sorcerer weekly releases a "top 10 ships" list every year. it's almost always well-known guild mages. jenny's won top spot for three years in a row now (with different partners each time, though).

[phoenix-before-the-flame]

Headcanons? Yeah lets talk headcanons

Natsu's attention is hard to hold onto in a convo sometimes. He can be easily distracted by any new sound or smell that he might notice and it just splits his attention between the conversation and the new thing. Anyone outside of the guild thinks he's being rude because of this but he just can't help it.

It's an absolute rarity to see Erza fight bare handed. Sure she trains often to keep her hand to hand combat skills sharp but she almost never foregoes a weapon in a fight.

Evergreen is a big lover of the arts and is probably one of Reedus' most frequent commissioners. Everyone thinks she just commissions self portraits (i mean she does, but its not all the time), but most of the stuff Reedus does for her is nature scenery.

If Gajeel zones out while eating, there's a good chance he'll start eating his utensils too.

Juvia scarcely goes anywhere without an umbrella regardless of the weather. She doesn't use it half the time but she spent so long carrying one over the years it feels odd to not have one on her person.

Droy never brings this up but he is like, one of the best plant wizards in fiore and has helped on several projects to revive and maintain ancient plant breeds. He just never says anything because its not that big of a deal to him.

Pantherlily @ Happy & Lector- 'Young men I beg of you, please wear some pants.'

Gildarts and Macao are really close friends and always hang out whenever Gildarts is in town. Gildarts and Wakaba however, not so much (they're ok with each other lmao. Not really close to dislike in any sense, just casual acquaintances who happen to share a best friend.)

Jellal still works with the council but as a sort of off the books consultant. He's still a wealth of knowledge and knows how to work through the confusion of politics so Mest with reach out from time to time to pick his brain on certain things.

Out of the 3 siblings, Lisanna has the most variety when it comes onto transformations. She has more animal takeovers than Elfman does beasts or Mira with demons and she is always swapping out and changing what takeovers she has so she has an air of unpredictability to her with an ever changing roster of animal takeovers.

[anthonylix09]

Art & BASE © @quins-makeshift-menagerie

Ludwig, Black Rose, Azure, and Sakura © @anthonylix09

Here is Ludwig, Black Rose, Sakura, and Azure.

Ludwig is a tall shiny Mewtwo of pure heart who looks up to his dad and cares about his sister. Ludwig is kind, modest and benevolent and speaks in a way to show kindness and empathy to everyone he meets. His kind nature allowed him to be accepted as Guardian and heavily respected, almost worshiped, by the pokémons who believed he was a descendant of the Mew like big brother Mewtwo (Jellal) and big sister (Nikita). Black Rose is a black and red Mewtwo who is a cynical and choleric young-adult Mewtwo, Black Rose is lazy and shows little interest in matters that are going on around her. She also has a short-fused temper and is often rude and apathetic toward her colleagues, particularly Ched mostly or her big brother Ludwig sometimes, though she seems otherwise indiscriminate. When not looking at her phone, Black Rose is usually scowling at anyone in view. Although, she is undisciplined and doesn't have much of a work ethic. Among her many anti-social tendencies, Black Rose has been known to sleep and drink while reading books. Although, Black Rose goes to great lengths to maintain an outwardly apathetic attitude, her troubled and isolated upbringing appears to have made her socially awkward and she admits, in a moment of flustered vulnerability upon meeting female shiny Primarina, that she does not have any friends. But she learned to interact with anyone by taking steps. Azure and Sakura are the oldest siblings of Black Rose and Ludwig who watched over them but they watched Anthonylix who's been a good father to them.

[patentedsun]

100yq anime first impressions!!!!

Fairy tail with vibrant colours oh how I missed you!!!!

I quite like how Lucy and Wendy and the exceeds look in this art style ehm assets notwithstanding

Natsu Gray Erza bother me because they look WAY too young but I will cope

Very curious how the ost will sound. Does anyone know if we're getting the same composer?

BELOVED VOICE ACTORS. Lucys voice sounds a bit deeper than her usual which I really dig.

Not much plot here but I can't wait for the gajeel juvia antics

got my nalu my graylu my briargray whatever their ship name is crumbs idk I'm very happy

jellal in the op woaahhh

I don't actually have a lot to say. Earlier arcs of 100yq were p well paced and fun, so let's see.

[yamishika]

In honour of international cat day today (8th August) , here is young Jellal from my story with his cat friend Hazel ❤️

[ffxivaltaholic]

Prompt #1: Steer

#FFxivWrite2024

I have endured many things in my life, those experiences taught me patience, even with the most unpleasant and difficult tasks... But this was truly a test of wills... "Hello? Hey, eorzea to Jellal? Jelly-beaaaaan." The grating tone of her voice snapped him back from his thoughts, amber eyes refocusing on the blonde woman sitting in front of him. "Hm?" A look of annoyance graced the man's face and he uttered a small sigh and composed himself. "Ah yes... Anyways, now that we've gone over the basics of the machine, you mostly need practice, preferably in a large open area without things.. Or people... That could become unfortunate pilons." A deep exhale as Jellal watched his cousin with a leery expression. She'd managed to mount the motorcycle fine, even turn it on without issue, but driving and steering it was a whole other challenge, and the vehicle was set to his specifications and power. It had some kick to it. "Perhaps I should just build you a smaller vehicle, with less power and... Guns..." Among other weapons hidden among the parts of the custom magitek bike. The look he received would cause the Seeker's ears to flatten back as Vassyl, her big shiny eyes lit up like a child's stared at him with delight at the idea. "Would you really build me one?" Since they had encountered each other during the war, neither aware of remnants of their family until then, he had always been a stubborn, crass and difficult man to deal with, regardless of being family. There were times the young Miqo'te woman wanted to yeet him off the nearest cliff, but the man had mellowed a bit since the war, getting married, and shifting his career path. He was tolerable most days, and after all, still family no matter how difficult he could be. Reaching up to brush a loose strand from her face, Vassyl offered him a cheeky little grin, awaiting his answer. Initially the man would simply huff and cross his arms, seeming to think about the suggestion he had made and the possible implications it could lead to. There would need to be some considerations made. "Yes but... On the condition you are not reckless with it. Your mother would bury me alive if you were injured by my influence." Jellal had come to terms with the fact that he would never be an overtly good person, even with his efforts to redeem those many years in service to Garlemald, a conscript and slave under their rule, and a soldier who carried the blood of many on his hands, for the war machines he had built. Even so, he kept trying to be better, in not for himself but for Vassyl who despite so much loss in the war had somehow managed to keep such a positive demeanor, and for his wife Iaella, who had seen the same horrors as him from the other side and yet managed to always wake with a smile and warm his once frigid outlook on life. The looked she gave brought out an unexpected chuckle from the Seeker and he waited as Vassyl mulled over the words before her expression matched his own. "Who me? Tch! I am far more capable than you take me for! But... I will be safe. I promise." As much as the woman enjoyed teasing her cousin relentlessly, the genuine concern in his words caused her to ease up a little. "Can you put a little snack compartment on it?" The request caught him entirely off guard and the Miqo'te flicked his tail with a mix of bemusement and annoyance all in one. "A.. Snack... Compartment...?" Jellal muttered the words and reached a hand up to run through his messy hair. Finally a deep sigh would compose him. "Sure why not...."

[fanstuffrantings]

Ok there’s this fic I read where Lucy doesn’t do the s class trials because she becomes the temporary guild master and it’s her building relationships with other characters and making sure Fairytail doesn’t fall behind and I was wondering how that would work in your redesign and rewrite of Fairytail? I think it would make her and Juvia closer and allowing her to become more confident in herself as a mage and leader! (Also jellal is in that fic and it’s so cool how the two interact and it gave jude a redemption arc)

So short of it: within my rewrite it wouldn't fit, but that doesn't mean it's not an interesting concept to explore!

Longer explanation, starting with why i'd keep lucy not staying behind and also explaining how it would effect her dynamic with Juvia if she did stay behind:

while it's been years since I watched Tenrou Island, so much happens in that arc that I feel Lucy being absent would make it feel incomplete. Mashima isn't the best at showing it but she is the main character and should he present for canon major events that happen throughout the show timeline.

I really loved seeing her bond with Cana and I think the tragedy of her being just barely too late to see her father again was one of the few heavy plot points we got that actually made me emotional (shocker most of those moments happened when lucy got actual focus.) I also like the idea of us getting a fair bit of chapters showing the people that stayed behind and what was going on with them to lead up to the tenrou crew returning. So I think not having major players for a bit of the series to allow the side cast to shine would be really cool.

That said: how would lucy staying behind and eventually taking over as guild master change things in my opinion. I think we'd see Lucy bonding with a lot of characters she has minimal interaction with. Macao being one as he'd no doubt be the one to acknowledge her skill and potiential. Since Lucy is so young even in canon I don't think she'd actually get the role for a few years. She'd have a proving stage where she showcases her skills and gains the guilds trust as an authority.

For juvia, I've always imagined Lucy was one of the people who encouraged Juvia to befriend Droy, getting him to teach her about plants as a hobby which leads to Juvia joining shadowgear. I could see Lucy actually kind of integrating into shadowgear in the absence of her normal team and running missions with them to both improve her abilities and help people. They started out on very rough terms due to Juvia's obsession with Gray, but with Juvia actively working to change herself and figure out things she enjoyed, I think Lucy's friendly nature and incredibly supportive attitude when it comes to creativity would've lead to a strong friendship and trust forming. Lucy likely being the first person Juvia makes something for.

Now I can't really speak on jellal because it has been a hot minute since I watched any of his arcs and I honestly just kind of thought he was so-so as a teenager (no hate, just wasnt personally for me. Its one of the reasons im lacking in content for him rn 😔). But I do know he really was lacking in interactions with anyone on team natsu outside of Erza, so him and Lucy would be very interesting to see unfold.

All in all fun idea to play around with but within how I imagine canon not for me.

Thank you for the question and I hope this answered things for you!

[pyropsychiccollector]

Natsu Harem: Fairy GET! 14/14

Made it to the end of this little carnival ride.... (人◕ω◕) As far as you guys know. More on that later, though~

Who could I possibly round out this group with? Gee, I wonder who it could be? (人◕ω◕) Sorry. If you've followed me at all over the years, you know I'd never leave Erza-chan out. Erza Scarlet~...

Is it predictable? I don't care. I'm violently opposed to Jerza for... many reasons. But I'll leave it at that cuz I've talked about it loads in the past. I was there when the manga was ongoing, and NaLi and Natza were dunked on very frequently. Natza is the progenitor of my Natsu ships, the "Naezono" if you will. ... Though I was into Fairy Tail way before Dangan. So it's probably the other way around. (人◕ω◕) All you need to know is, Jellal is one of my least favorite characters ever, and it's not really the good kind of, "I hate this guy." Cuz there's guys like Kotaro from Assassination Classroom, villains we're supposed to loathe... And they can still be satisfyingly evil. ... Jellal tried to go the redemption route, and he just bombed. And I'm under no obligation to spend time "fixing" him to my liking, so these days I just leave Jerza fans to their corner while decrying my own personal reasons for why I despise that pairing. My time is better spent with the glory of Natza and other Natsu ships.

... With the exception of Nalu, which I avoid like the plague. Because Lucy H is right up there with characters I just can't stand. Easiest thing for me to do is to pretend she doesn't exist, and wrest control of the plot from her since, from where I stand, she frankly has very little impact to events... She's literally there for the fanservice and the Nalu Stans. I wash my hands of Lucy H. (人◕ω◕)

Alright. That's enough of my soapbox stuff. Let's just get to it. (人◕ω◕)

When did they meet?

Of all the girls in the harem, Erza can be said to be the first to have met him. (人◕ω◕) Erza arrived at Fairy Tail in X776, banished from the R-System by Jellal and threatened to never breathe a word of its continued existence - or he'd kill their friends. She lost an eye during that tragedy, and had to get a replacement from Porlyusica. Erza was... pretty guarded for her first couple years in the guild, being rather stern and no-nonsense, even at her young age.

A year later in X777... Natsu arrives, and it's not as if Erza warmed up to him right away. It took time. Erza had a harsh childhood as a slave in the R-System, and she constantly fretted over her old friends, being careful to stick to Jellal's demands. Making new friends and moving on was... rough. Yet Erza did manage, eventually growing fond of Natsu and Gray... even if she had to constantly intercede in their fights. ... And a year later in X778 had to put up with Mirajane as her own rival...

Still, there was something about Natsu that drew Erza in. (人◕ω◕) All his talk about being raised by a dragon, Erza probably didn't believe it at first... As far as she knew, dragons were extinct. But considering her own circumstances as a former slave, she could never rule out his stories for certain. The same went for Gray and his tragedies with Deliora... Erza could tell they were all affected on some level by their experiences, with Natsu probably being the best off because he just wanted to find his dad... But that was fine. For Erza, it wasn't some contest who was more deeply scarred. What likely had an impact on her was Natsu's never-give-up attitude. Even if he was rambunctious and tried picking fights with Gildarts, their guild's Ace... Erza liked his positive attitude, regardless if he was a handful or not. (人◕ω◕) That's why she took it on herself to watch over him... and teach him to read. Which we all know Natsu loved sooo much. (人◕ω◕)

Even more than that... In those first few years, Erza decided she liked Natsu so much that she wanted to be a team with him. (人◕ω◕) Sure, she could easily go for the S-Class trials at the tender age of fifteen in X780... But in this alternate universe, she decides not to. She prioritizes training Natsu up until they're both ready, and they manage it in X782. ... Even if it takes threatening Master's porn stash. (人◕ω◕)

Erza can see that the loss of Lisanna that same year impacted Natsu a great deal, not to mention Mira, Elfman, and all their friends... But Erza and Natsu both agreed the best thing they can do is become S-Class and protect the friends they have left. Which they manage to pull off. And Gray follows in their footsteps a year later. (人◕ω◕)

When did they grow closer?

This sets the stage for the present, when they run into Lucy in Hargeon~... (人◕ω◕) By this point, Natsu and Erza are pretty good friends, and despite Erza still being rather strict, Natsu has helped her to enjoy life at the least~... Go out on adventures. Protect Fairy Tail's honor... Handing posers like Bora over to the Rune Knights. (人◕ω◕) Lucy is overwhelmed in meeting the real Salamander, although.... (人◕ω◕);;;

For some reason, Erza keeps giving her the stinkeye whenever she tries to help take a gentler approach with Natsu on transportation. (人◕ω◕);;; Natsu can take a punch to the gut. Surely? It's the fastest way to alleviate him of the queasiness of motion sickness. And besides, he likes resting in Erza's lap. The knight asserts this as fact. Lucy should mind her own business. (人◕ω◕)

Still, Lucy is generally welcomed to the guild by Team Natsu... Erza's just a bit hands-on with keeping Natsu in line and taking care of his needs. Natsu requires a firm, authoritative hand. (人◕ω◕) Soon enough they go to take down Eisenwald, then resolve that mess on Galuna Island, then that spat with Phantom Lord...

And eventually, the time comes to clean out the skeletons in Erza's closet. (人◕ω◕) She's not eager to drag Natsu and Gray into her mess... But they're both too stubborn to be turned away, Natsu especially refuses to let Jellal hang over Erza's head a moment longer. It's... Well, the battle is pretty intense, and Natsu and Erza both nearly don't make it a couple of times - particularly when abandoning the crumbling tower... But Simon gets them out of there, though Jellal seemingly fell to his demise.

As a result, Erza's past is... mostly laid to rest. Her old friends are saved and join Fairy Tail. Her one regret is not saving Jellal... though for the life of him, Natsu can't figure out why Erza spares time mourning the guy that betrayed her and tried sacrificing her... Jellal might have killed her friends if given the chance, and it didn't seem possible to negotiate with the guy. Natsu for his part could never forgive Jellal for hurting Erza... But even with this lingering regret of Erza's, she is grateful for Natsu sticking up for her and helping close this chapter on her life. (人◕ω◕)

Their bond grows stronger in the Battle of Fairy Tail arc, when taking down Laxus and the Thunder Palace... But soon after that, the mission to crush Oracion Seis happens, and... Jellal was revived. ... Much to Natsu's displeasure. (人◕ω◕)*** Erza keeps trying to resolve things with Jellal, circumventing Natsu's attempts to deal with the guy before he hurts Erza again... She's too attached to this idea she has of who Jellal was, as a kid. Erza believes she can bring that scarred kid back... and Natsu doesn't believe it will be that simple.

Jellal is arrested after Nirvana is wiped out, and Oracion Seis taken down. This ends up souring the victory a bit for Natsu... Cuz Erza's still depressed, and hung up on that guy. He wants to be there for Erza, but she's not ready yet to "move on" from Jellal... It's frustrating, but Natsu bottles up his bitterness. Jellal did try helping take down Oracion Seis... Natsu just can't forgive the guy for hurting Erza, for continuing to let Erza drown in sorrow and regrets.

Edolas comes and goes... The Tenrou trials are broken up by Grimoire Heart's invasion. And... because Fairy Sphere had to be invoked to save them from Acnologia, they missed out on seven years with the guild. It's a harsh future they come back to, with the guild hanging on by a thread due to not having the manpower to keep handling the tough jobs. Other guilds have risen to prominence in the meanwhile. And the Tenrou team needs to catch up to the rest of the world, having the same strength as seven years ago.

Natsu and Erza are no strangers to training hard... They thrive on it. ... But unfortunately for Natsu, Crime Sorciere approaches them, wishing to work with them to deal with a presence similar to Zeref. It's unfortunate because Jellal seems to be running that gang, and Erza gets caught up in the misery interacting with Jellal after seven years...

Natsu's not happy about it. Especially not when, after the resolution of the Grand Magic Games and the dragon invasion, Jellal joins the guild... To keep from thinking about it, Natsu throws himself into other interactions. There's a lot of new faces in the guild these days, and he wants to pal around with the old faces, too. He and Erza are still good friends, just... If he hangs around Jellal too much, he's bound to say or do something that will put himself in hot water with Erza. He's trying to "give Jellal a chance", the issue is that Jellal remains this hollow shell of a man. Even after being pardoned, even after Erza keeps saying she forgives him... Jellal is so empty and depressed, feeling "unworthy" of this new life. No one else in Crime Sorciere or Hydra Roots is as miserable as Jellal; a few might be grumpy about joining Fairy Tail, but they've all more or less accepted it... Jellal is just a sore spot for Natsu, and he keeps bottling up his issues...

They eventually deal with Tartaros. ... Natsu loses Igneel. And to deal with his deep sadness, he was prepared to go on a training trip alone, but the Strauss Siblings had other ideas and took him with them - informing the Dragon Slayer about the guild's disbandment. Natsu feels bad about leaving all their other friends to do their own thing... But they resolve to round everyone back up after a year. Give everyone time to collect themselves after that debacle with Tartaros~...

It figures that Erza and Jellal would be working together with the Council, when Natsu reunites with her a year later. He's still bitter about Erza dwelling on the guy... But apparently they're not "together" together. While various other women keep Natsu's spirits up and his thoughts off of Erza's thing with Jellal... He can't fully extricate himself from that situation. Much less when Erza still comes around, turning girls away from Natsu and insisting they have training and catching up to do... Erza and Mira especially get into it.

But Natsu... He just keeps brute-forcing through the pain and acting like nothing's wrong. Sure, it stings a bit that Erza's turning the other girls away at times... But he can see that it's not so cut and dry. Jellal's important to her, but so's Natsu. And... Natsu can't deny Erza's important to him, too. (人◕ω◕) He just wishes he could figure out why he's lingering on Jellal so much~... Why it "matters" who Erza cares for most. He just can't figure that out. ... Though Mira, Ultear, Meredy, and some others have long since puzzled that out, even when they're at war with Alvarez. (人◕ω◕)

When did friendship turn to something more?

Natsu and Erza's relationship is certainly... Well. (人◕ω◕) It's one of those "spontaneous" situations that I've brought up in prior posts. But here's why it took until after Alvarez to sort out their feelings for each other: ... Jellal. Simply... Jellal. (人◕ω◕)***

Erza has long wrestled with romance. She's latched onto every book she can get her hands on to learn about it, but it's a concept that's so immersive and hard to comprehend. For the longest time, she thought that the reason she was stuck on Blueberry was because she loved him... And perhaps as a child, she did have a crush. (人◕ω◕) However, as adults, seeing Jellal so down all the time after the various conflicts they've been through together... Erza came to see Jellal as her responsibility to "fix", to cheer him up...

But after so many failures, Erza came to realize something. She's not... happy doing all the work in this "relationship" with her childhood crush. Even after so much effort, the guy's barely plodding along... Hardly ever takes jobs unless there's a significant threat (not to mention, more than a few times he tries sacrificing himself to resolve conflicts), and in-between work he's just... so lost. Unsure of what he should be doing, constantly doubting if he's worthy of having friends... Everyone else in the guild has essentially welcomed him, though most give Jellal his space to sort things out himself. Aside from Erza, Meredy and Simon are the ones giving more of an effort to help Jellal move on with his life... Master Makarov tried bestowing his wisdom, but Erza can't be sure if it soaked in for Jellal...

Eventually, after much trial and error... They work out Jellal does better on the Council. He's accepted as a secretary, and the work keeps him... occupied. Jellal is more responsive now whenever Erza finds the time to speak with him, but he hasn't made much progress in the way of his personal life. He's a busybody, and he's never given much thought to a relationship with anyone.

On the one hand, this relieves Erza somewhat, as she's been coming to the realization she doesn't love Jellal... Not like that. He was a "project" for her, wanting to help her old friend... But he's drastically different from the idealized picture she had in her head of who "Jellal" is. A part of her is let down that friends is all they'll ever be... But conversely, she can now turn her attention to Natsu, who she's been a bit concerned about. Despite his smiles and easygoing attitude, he was always tense whenever Jellal came up as a topic, giving Erza a somewhat wide berth...

... And Erza doesn't like that. Natsu's special to her, and she wants the Dragon Slayer to confide in her, like how she trusts him with everything she wrestles through. Shortly after Jellal's transferred to the Council, Natsu does open up to her... And it all leaves Erza pretty flabbergasted and feeling whiplash from so many emotions all at once in her head...

Natsu still hadn't forgiven Jellal for hurting her as a child. He went all this time trying to honor her feelings, tried getting along with Jellal for his sake... But he just couldn't let it go. Natsu could see how depressed Erza was whenever Jellal was around, how attached she seemed to be to the guy... And despite unloading all of this on Erza because she asked, the Dragon Slayer was expecting to be hit or punished or whatever Erza needed to do...

Erza was angry Natsu held all this in for so long. ... Or maybe she was just annoyed.

She was angry he resented Jellal...

Yet she understood why, considering he kept asserting it was because she was hurt and miserable...

She was sad he expected violence for just speaking his mind.

She was touched that he cared about her so much.

In the end, Erza hugs it out with Natsu and stumbles upon some revelations, herself. (人◕ω◕) She could understand Natsu's frustrations at seeing her dwelling on another guy... After all, the same kind of ire rose up whenever she saw other girls hanging off of him... Erza didn't want Natsu hurting anymore, and she didn't want to just be his friend. They'd been past that stage for a long time now... Erza was just too caught up in distractions and not processing her tenderhearted feelings for the Dragon Slayer that she was so proud of and loved so much~... (人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕)(人◕ω◕)

When Erza muses all this, it clicks for Natsu as well. He does love her. That's why he was bothered all this time... And it's nice to hug it out with Erza without her armor getting in the way. \(人◕ω◕)/ ... Sure, they'll have to talk about all the other... interested parties. Hash things out with all those other girls.

But Natsu doesn't wanna give up on a single one of them, much to Erza's chagrin. (人◕ω◕) They will make this work. ... Even if sometimes Erza-chan wants to rip off Mira-chan's head, or vice versa~... They don't always get along. But they can be all one big, happy family~.... Really. (人◕ω◕)

Fourteen's a nice round number... right? (人◕ω◕) Surely there wouldn't be any more surprises.

[toshiro-taichou]

A rainy day

Young Mystwalker.

Prince Jellal was taking a walk in the Royal Gardens when it started raining. On his way back to the Palace, he met Erza Knightwalker who had no home. This was the beginning of their story.

It is my head cannon that Mystogan is slightly older than his counterpart and Erza. So Erza is roughly 11 and Mystogan is 13. He meets Wendy when he is 14. Apologies for anyone who doesn't like this idea

Original image:

I found this so cute and I couldn't stop myself from drawing Mystwalker