#Tower of Heaven

[mystycor]

Rewatching Fairy Tail with my sister and was reminded how much I love them

[ace-of-fairytail]

Erza inside Etherion (1,000 year quest AU)

[captainuranium543]

Between Erik, milianna and kinana what the fuck where they doing in that tower that kept turning children into animals

[thesirenwithnovoice]

On Siren being a huge nerd today's episode, there's an example of how details can change or add to the overall meaning of an image that I find pretty interesting:

In the anime, it's a cute scene in which we can see a bit of how Erza sees Jellal and how he used to always encourage his friends. In the manga, it's also sweet, but there are some subtle differences:

The change in details allows us know a little more about the dynamics between the kids, specially the older two: Wally and Simon realize Erza's shy reaction when Jellal talks to her, and both have different reactions to it - Wally making a teasingly gesture and Simon being the only one looking unpleased (details that we know will be very relevant later in the story).

(Noting that I'm just comparing one frame isolatedly, what doesn't necessarily mean you can't get the same conclusion in the anime throught other scenes! My point here is just to highlight how simple expression changes can add meaning and different information to a single image, what I do not only find interesting as a reader, but also very useful as an artist as a way to enrich our drawings. If we only had this single scene to compare, maybe in the anime version Simon's jealousy wouldn't be so clear, nor Wally's awareness of Elza innocent crush.)

Now, one might think I'm criticizing Simon's character for loving how the manga reinforces it, but actually, it's an aspect that I appreciate a lot: in Fairy Tail, there's no dicotomy, or saint. Even the man that bravely sacrificed his life to save Erza, has always suffered from one sin: envy.

And poetically, I think in his death, Simon finally became the man he always wished to be; Erza said Jellal used to be admired for his leadership qualities, and he was always ready to sacrifice his well being for his friends without a hinge of hesitation - however, it had never been an easy role to play. We can't blame Simon, or anyone, for having not been like him; after all, being a hero comes at a high cost: for Jellal, his sanity, and for Simon, his own life.

[ermbehindyou]

i guess i’m just becoming a juvia fan account now?? but i can live with that.

let’s please not forget how devoted juvia always has been and always will be to fairy tail. i mean, during battle of fairy tail arc, it took her literally less than a second to decide to sacrifice herself because she’d rather risk her life than harm another member of fairy tail, even if she didn’t know cana that well at the time.

also, the fact that at her core she truly loves the other members of fairy tail? i think people act like juvia genuinely dislikes lucy or hate on her for calling lucy a “love rival”, but i think of their relationship more like natsu and grays. at least in the sense of “they fight and there’s hostility- but actually they love each other.”

despite being cursed during tower of heaven arc (again, right after she’d joined the guild) she was able to partially break through that to reach out to lucy, where they performed the first unison raid in the series. amazing, that’s sisterhood.

finally, on her’s and grays relationship, i feel like people get wayy to mad about her “stalker” gag. calling juvia an abuser or a manipulator or saying gruvia is toxis is shockingly normalised, but if i said gray was a sex offender people would call me insane. rightfully so, by the way, because his stripping is a gag. it’s not meant to be taken seriously, and while other character yell and express discomfort that’s supposed to be the punchline, whether or not you find it funny.

when you boil it down, gray has always carried the blame that he killed ur, and has become convinced he is unlovable because of it, yet juvia has continuously shown gray unconditional love, and slowly made him feel like he is worthy of love.

anyway, stan juvia and have a nice day

[the-dragon-hearted]

The Tower of Heaven Kids Dynamic RN

So in the fanfic, Erza, Jellal, Simon, and Erik are all in Fairy Tail post the Tower Heaven and I just realized this is literally their dynamic:

These kids are not alright, guys. They're coping best they can. I love writing them so much

[reachzodact1]

pressure cooker, luna ascension

[kaleilaart]

Inktober Days 3 and 5: Vessel and Blade

Tower of heaven arc will always be one of my all time favorites ❤️💙

[princeash28]

Natsu's perspective of Erza's sacrifice in the Tower of Heaven

Natsu forced his eyes open when a horrible sense of wrongness flooded him at the sound of Erza’s pained cry.

His hazy brain couldn’t make sense of all the blue around him until jagged edges dug into his skin beneath him. He blinked to clear up his swimmy vision, his body pulsing in time with the rumblings all around him.

It all came flooding back. The Tower of Heaven. Eating ethernano. Feeling it ignite his insides and then mix with something previously dormant in him.

The fight with Jellal. Collapsing into the arms of—

Erza.

He could smell her. He heard her quiet, pained grunts.

He dragged his eyes over and his mind tripped on the sight of her arm being sucked into gelatinous ethernano.

‘Wait… What?’

His arms burned with the effort to push himself up; his head spun as he got to his knees unsteadily.

“E-Erza?” He croaked, his throat raw along with everything else. His body felt burnt from the inside, ripped apart and soldered back together. His muscles trembled like they would unravel at a moment’s notice. Something in his mind whispered that he had felt like this in a dream before, but it didn’t matter, because—

Erza jumped at the sound of his voice, and her horrified expression revealed itself when she whipped her head to look at him with wide eyes.

“Natsu—!”

“H-hey…” Natsu managed, his heart sinking as the sense of wrongness in the air grew. “I don’… don’t get it… What’re you doing…?”

Erza’s arm sunk deeper into the ethernano, but it looked like she…

His voice was much too close to a whimper when he asked, “Are you… try’na to go back inside that thing?”

After he had already pulled her out? After he had beaten Jellal? After they had won?

“I don’t have a choice—it’s the only way I’ll be able to stop it.” The panic in her eyes was mounting his own.

“What are you talkin’ about? Stop what?”

The shaky tower of crystallized ethernano shuddered, and chunks of it rained down around them. Something foreign yet familiar in Natsu’s veins simmered as light pulsed in all of the gemstones—a warning.

A countdown.

It was going to blow.

“Now you see,” Erza said as Natsu craned his head to watch cracks spiderwebbing all around them. “It’s the ethernano. If it continues to gain power, the Lacrima won’t be able to contain it, and the whole place will explode.”

She winced before adding, “Nnngh—But if I fuse my body with the magic energy, I think I can prevent that from happening.”

Natsu stared dumbly for a second as his exhausted brain digested what she was saying.

Fuse her body with…?

Panic sunk its teeth into Natsu, relentless and visceral. “I’m not gonna let you do that! There’s gotta be another way to stop it!”

But the tower began to pull Erza in, and she cried out in pain even as she allowed it to do so.

“Erza!” Natsu scrambled forward on limbs numb with exhaustion, but his feet wouldn’t work, and he couldn’t stand up. He could only stumble towards her and collapsed just in front of the giant stone taking Erza.

“I-I… I promise I’ll stop it,” she grunted out, “There’s no need to worry. I’m determined to save all of you!”

“No!” Natsu shouted desperately.

Gray’s enraged eyes flashed in Natsu’s mind; his ragged voice, his trembling hands. Pushed into a corner he couldn’t see a way out of. “I’m ready to die if that’s what I gotta do!”

Except there had been a way out. Because Natsu had been there.

“Don’t do it,” Natsu pleaded, and dragged himself closer. Black was edging into his vision. His muscles spasmed but wouldn’t lift him. He couldn’t move.

Erza’s eyes crinkled with hurt, and there was an awful resignation that didn’t belong in her eyes.

“I have to,” she whispered, and Natsu’s heart broke.

Her free hand came to cradle Natsu’s cheek even as he stared, slack-jawed and devastated and useless.

“I can’t even imagine what my life would’ve been like without Fairy Tail,” Erza said with the tenderness of a big sister. “If it weren’t for you and the others, I probably wouldn't be here today.”

Her voice became choked, then. “I hope you know… how important you all are to me. I care for you so much.”

“…Erza…”

She let him go. Her hand gently came away from Natsu’s face, and his cheek was cold.

His breath hitched minutely as she pulled away, disbelief stealing the air from his lungs at her absence.

“That’s why I’m willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. If it means my loved ones will be spared, I’ll gladly give my life—” Her face sunk into the Lacrima, sealing her from the outside world—from Natsu. “—so that you may live!”

This was happening.

His sister was going to—

Just like Gray had almost—

Just like Lisanna had—

Panic and adrenaline finally got his body working again. Natsu’s fists struck the Lacrima like two pebbles trying to break apart a mountain.

“No! No way! Come out of there right now!”

He hit it again and again and again, breaking bones, sending blood spraying from his knuckles, but he didn’t care.

He had saved her. They were supposed to go home together.

“You can’t leave us! NO! Plea—” His own desperate sob interrupted him, and spittle flew from his mouth. “Please!”

She drifted further into the Lacrima as if she were simply sinking into the sea, submerged by the blue around her and taken captive by the Tower that had once kept her a slave. Natsu was weeping, unable to see anymore and unable to regain his composure.

His sister—his sister—

White burned everything away as Natsu roared in grief. In defiance.

That familiar foreign simmering in Natsu’s veins turned to a boil. His body coiled and his muscles thrummed with the last dregs of power the ethernano had given him. The tower, packed full of the same magic churning in Natsu, lit up at the same time his heart ignited in pain like a chemical fire was enveloping it.

In demand.

“Erzaaaa!”

His fists slammed into the Lacrima.

The Tower of Heaven cracked.

Read the rest in Chapter 4 of Don't You Dare (Make me Fall in Love with You): A Grastu fic with lots of angst and fluff 💖

[danithenerd]

Luna Ascension (2025 vs. 2023 vs. 2018)

[yamishika]

Submission for Jellal day (25.06.24):

Split

[void0mega]

Tower of Heaven

[10/12/22]

[lisannastraussisanangel]

More ToH Children Headcanons:

For @dirtmanwalking :)

Simon used to make the group meditate once they started using magic. Claiming they needed 'a sound mind and body' but it was mostly just to get them all to chill out

Contrary to popular belief, Erza is closest to Shô out of the whole group

Erik would bring his snake around and introduce her to all the kids

Wally has mandatory movie nights. Jellal nearly cried the first time he was invited

Simon has two graves. One where the tower of heaven was and one in a cemetery by Kagura

The Oracion Seis used to play a secret game of house. Kids weren’t allowed to have fun so it had to done quietly.

Millianna owns several cats and volunteers at a nearby shelter in her free time

Shô and Wally send postcards to Fairy Tail and Mermaid Heel every time they visit a new place

Kagura is an honorary member of the toh family. She's in the group chat (because of course they have a gc lol)

[moltensmusings]

Posting these to break up the oc posts. I'm thinking I might make Wally look more like a Marionette/ventriloquist dummy in his first appearance because my idea is that the tower crew disguise themselves as circus performers to kidnap people as sacrifices for the tower.

[thesirenwithnovoice]

Thoughts about how different mediums of a same story may give you different views (and rambling about the Tower of Heaven)//TW: violence

Lately I've been wondering about how manga readers might have very different visions than anime watchers of a same story, because althought the plot remains the same, some little details can change our whole perception of a story.

This reminded me of the first time I read Fairy Tail and how terrified I was at how cruel and dark the Tower of Heaven's arc is.

Jellal's face (that by that time, were only an 11-years-old kid) drippling blood while being tortured shocked me so much as a kid and I still find it one of the most disturbing scenes in the manga, lol.

In the anime, the content itself is the same. We know the kids are slaves that go throught different kinds of abuse, however, I find the manga way gloomier and more graphic. And althought part of it might be just a personal opinion, it's not entirely without basis: Mashima uses different techniques in his art to represent facts whitin the story than the animators, and it leads to a topic I really love: semiotics - how we interpret images, and how detais can be used to convey a certain felling throught art.

Colors and composition helps A LOT creating an atmosphere and causing a feeling on the reader. Proportionally speaking, a manga doesn't have colors, but it has it's own alternatives - the Tower of Heaven arc, in comparison to the rest of the manga, uses a lot more black and hatching.

One can argue some scenes are still "visually darker" in the anime, since it has the advantage of being able to play with shadows and colors in a broader aspect; however, since Fairy Tail is not an anime that changes it's saturation or colour pallete, the loud colors in most scenes end up not helping building the same dreadful atmosphere.

(It doesn't mean you can't make a scary story using bright and colorful tones, tho. A great example is the movie Midsommar. But it's not an easy task!)

Erza's childhood memories in the manga also carry a "dirtier" feeling; the kids are always covered by bruises, and the background is rougher. Also, the anime chooses to represent slavery in a more fanciful way: the kids wear stylized handcuffs and are assaulted with magic attacks, what inevitably softens the scenes by distancing them from real life slavery.

In a story, an act of violence will always be more shocking if your brain is able to automatically make a connection with real life. Seeing blood conveys a feeling of disconfort easier than a character being hit by a wave of magic, even if the author tells you "this is painful"; that's why some people say they started to find difficult to watch horror movies involving kids after becoming parents, because after experenciating something in real life, they connect with fiction harder.

The above scene causes me very different feelings in each media. In the manga, the despair in Jellal's face when seeing they removed Erza's eye is much clearer, and his skinny body, his eyes filling up with tears (he doesn't cry in the anime) shows not only a feeling of worry, but of utter dread and helplessness. All that helps endorsing the fact that, doesn't matter how brave he is, they are still just fragile kids, unable to protect themselves from the cruelty of the world around them.

I want to make it clear, though, that this is not in any way meant to be a critique to the animation team, or an affirmation that one type of media is better than another. We all have our personal preferences, but each media has it's target audience and objective. Fairy Tail's animators certainly do know how to convey the same feelings on the public, they just choose not to, for a variety of reasons. Probably because the anime is aimed for a broader and younger audience, many scenes have been softened or censored somehow. Also, animation consumes more labour than a manga page, so unless you have a lot of time and investment, the art tend to be simpler.

So do you think it affects the plot, Siren?

In my opinion, yes, even if just in a subtle way. In the manga, I think this raw brutality helps Jellal's character to gain a more interesting complexity. To me, he feels less like a hero and more like what he actually is: just a really kind and brave kid trying his best to protect his friends.

Another major change they made in the anime was removing the ambiguity (something that happened more than once in Fairy Tail's adaptation, such as in the famous kiss scene), leaving clear since the beginning that Jellal was a victim of a mind controlling spell; while in the manga, until Urtear's confirmation at the end of the arc, we do not know for sure if he have been brainwashed or just convinced to adore Zeref.

And as much as I can see why some fans might hate it because it leaves room for people to see Jellal as a bad man, I (as someone who is not afraid of loving evil characters, heh), find it interesting and somehow enriching to the plot, because it gives the whole arc a reflection: is extreme suffering, specially at such an young age, capable of changing someone so much?

We are left questioning what did "Zeref" say, or do, that made him change so much. And having so many real life examples where despair has made people easy victims of manipulation throught faith or falling into extremist ideologies, after we seeing Jellal's pain and fragility in a tangible way, it's not that hard at all to understand how he went insane and managed to drag all the other slaves along with him.

Also, I think it makes it easier to understand Erza's empathy towards him. Jellal and Erza are characters connected not only by the affection they nourish for one another, but also for sharing the same pain. She is the only person that fully understands the horrors he lived in the tower, since they were the only kids that have been in the torture chamber. And althought she never tries to justify Jellal's actions, Erza does not only show him compreension, but she feels guilty for not being able to retribute his protection and prevented him from losing his mind.

That doesn't mean, tho, that there weren't many other clues he was not acting on free will: be it his grotesque change of personality, his hysterical laughter out of nowhere or his motivations that doesn't hold (because they were never his to begin with). To me, all that at first glance makes him closer to Batman's Joker, someone that grew insane after so much suffering, than a villain that's genuinely just plain selfish and thirsty for power. And that only makes me find him a creepier villain, since personally, I find sadism and insanity way scarier than ghosts.

So this is just a looong collection of thoughts about how small choices can change a lot the "feeling" we get from a scene or a character. I hope someone can find it interesting too. There are many other examples of adaptations where it happened, and if you remember one you'd like to share, I would love to hear!

Last but not less important, all the love for Mashima's art, the Tower of Heaven arc (that is a personal favorite) and Jellal, a character I deeply love and one that holds for sure the strongest spirit in the manga for being able to become such a kind and mature man despite everything he has been thought. ♡

[ace-of-fairytail]

I think what we all need right now is a tower of heaven Jerza fic, angst, called “Your Name on My Grave” and we’d all be healed. Bonus points if one is actually dead