#and ignoring the lack of actual canon nalu

[risingmoonyue]

I fully believe Nalu is the ship where:

1) one party (Natsu) fully believes they have been dating for an unreasonably long time while the other (Lucy) is convinced they’re Just Friends TM he wouldn’t know what romance was if it was in a bright neon sign that hit him on the head and Is Suffering

and

2) Once they’re finally on the same page they’d just completely skip the dating phase. Nothing changes and no one realizes anything happened between them until someone finally gets fed up and tells Natsu to just ask her out already, at which point nalu is confused because they’ve been married for three months now and btw Nashi is on the way.

[kaizenproductions]

Natsu does NOT have any previous experience with romantic love

This is the (better) Tumblr version of my post from Twitter. Given the format of this website, I'll add some details to what's already written.

Before starting with this, I want to clarify that the motivation to write this post has little to do with nalu itself (it will be mentioned to highlight a point though). Having previous romantic partners DOESN'T really make any ship invalid. You'll find the actual reason behind this essay under the cut below.

This is about how Natsu, as a character, is never presented or seen by others as someone who has experience with love and such idea is never hinted or implied anywhere in the canon material. This lack of experience explains why Lucy thinks he has no interest in it.

As we will see later, Lucy isn't the only one who thinks like this... Let's get started.

Year 2024. Why writing all this? Some weeks ago I was involved in a discussion about whether Natsu was being OOC during a filler (non canon) scene of the anime where he snaps at Lucy in a way he never does with any of his friends in canon material. The discussion led to this...

I didn't want to assume that this person was taking Lisanna as some kind of first love. At the end it turned out that was exactly what was happening. The proof? The most platonic reunion ever... with Happy reacting the same way as Natsu and comedy being included. It is important to highlight that Mashima never makes two people between whom there have been romantic feelings reunite like this, with comedy references in between that downplays the seriousness of the moment to some extent. While this post is about Natsu and his feelings, I could also mention Lisanna's reaction to this, something that proves that there wasn't even a one sided love: after noticing this Natsu is the same one from her real dimension, she doesn't start crying because of him but because of her siblings.

Let's ignore the part where this dude started calling me and some other users "retards" because that speaks volumes for itself about his lack of real arguments. After all, he has been fighting for at least 4 years with teens over power scaling, a topic he may seem to be knowledgeable about but actually isn't so much, plus he has been banned from at least one Discord server because of his r4pe threats. It seems this individual was so obsessed with that specific thing that he said Zeref did it to Mavis and that's how August was made... That also speaks volumes about his media literacy and the fact that even if it's true that he did read the manga so many times as he claimed during this discussion, he has serious problems with reading as a normal person. When it comes to the topic of this post, the problem is that he has some influence within the fandom, at least on Twitter, so whatever he says is something that many of his followers will start repeating.

What does Mashima do when Lisanna finally comes back to her original home and she gets a proper reunion with everyone?

After the initial shock from seeing Edo Lisanna in Earthland and the big reveal, this is how Natsu reacts.

This isn't a reunion that suggests that Lisanna is special compared to everyone else in the guild, and particulary to those who grew around Natsu. Also, we can't say Mashima just doesn't know how to write such scene properly... because he's written it at least once (in Rave).

The emotion you can feel in this scene, the way ONLY both lovers are on the spotlight and the rest of their friends are in the background until the end... Well, the difference is so obvious that it's ridiculous to say more. Given how well Mashima handles the emotional dimension of his characters in his mangas, the possibility that he didn't know how to depict two lovers who got separated from each for some time due to circumstances beyond their control is off the table.

Also, notice how the end of the Edolas arc depicts this.

The difference with her reunion with Natsu and the others is so obvious that there's no need to say more.

We can also discard Lisanna as a former love interest because there's no akwardness between them once she's back to the guild. They can be seen playing together and briefly interacting from time to time, so it's not like they're avoiding each other.

Is it implied somewhere that they had something beyond friendship? Not in any kind of canon material. Every time Lisanna is mentioned in regards to Natsu she's presented as a close childhood friend. We have, for example, her profile from one of the first chapters where she's back home and the information of the official magazine that was released 10 years ago.

But what if they simply stopped loving each other due to being separated, as a fellow nalu shipper told me on Discord? Making characters fall out of love is something that Mashima also references (see Macao pic a bit below). It also goes against what we saw regarding Erza and Jellal, who still had romantic feelings for each other despite their antagonistic positions for many years, or against the whole Zeref and Mavis thing. In other Mashima mangas we have more couples like this. Elsie and Justice still loved each other despite being sworn enemies, and Let still loved Julia (and vice versa) when he discovered she was alive, a kinda similar scenario to Natsu and Lisanna if they had been lovers. Given that Natsu and Lisanna weren't even enemies to each other at any point and they were only separated for two years, we can't say they had something canonically and they simply got over it with no actual reference to it.

There was a very good moment to reference past feelings in 100YQ: when Touka includes Lisanna in the group of women "around Natsu".

Instead of offering us a comment like "it's not like that anymore", Lisanna just says something that implies they're not that close. After all, Natsu is hanging out with his team most of the time since it was established.

What's the reason this fandom has been so many years discussing about this friendship? Because the first anime adaptation goes beyond that friendship and the manga omake where both of them take care of Happy's egg, something Lisanna decides to help with because she loves animals and she felt Natsu wouldn't do it properly. The first season includes several fillers that pave the way for a love triangle, presenting Lisanna as a girl who is VERY interested in marrying Natsu when they're adults. In addition, Happy is presented as their son, something that totally goes against the source material. Even if Natsu is the one who saw Happy be born and was living with him since then, Happy is never considered as his son and is always called a nakama/companion/friend.

This long thread has everything that A-1 and Satelight added in regards to Natsu and Lisanna. As we can see in the info provided in one of the first tweets, Mashima let them "edit" the story the way they wanted to and it's mentioned explicitely by both him and Ishihara (the director) that Ishihara is responsible for those additions, not Mashima. We also can't say the additions were something Mashima asked for because he couldn't include everything he wanted in his manga for some reason. This is supported by the fact that Lisanna is never presented in the manga as any kind of romantic interest after she comes back.

There's also this tweet from 2012 where Mashima replied to someone asking him whether he was involved in the story of the anime. His answer is no.

It's also important to say that these fillers aren't canon: they're not referenced in the source material (the starry key arc was, even if Mashima wasn't involved in the writing), they're not referenced in the anime itself after Lisanna comes back and they have no impact in the events of the story during and after Edolas.

Currently, thanks to Mashima's Twitter Spaces, we know two things: he revived Lisanna because some people in the anime staff liked her (Ishihara is one of them for sure), which explains why she's not very relevant and is always tied to her siblings, and he once considered to include a love triangle between Natsu, Lucy and Lisanna after Edolas, but he liked Natsu and Lucy's dynamic by then enough to not introduce such storyline. He also said Lisanna was "だめ" in regards to that triangle that never came to be, implying that she would have been the one that doesn't get the boy in that scenario.

So is Lisanna our supposed former love interest? As far as the canon material goes, no. Was she close to Natsu? Yes. Is she dear to him? Yes, just like everyone in his family, the guild, is (I can't believe I'm writing this in fking 2024). Now, what if there was someone else? The assumption that characters may have dated another (unnamed) character offscreen isn't totally crazy. After all we saw how Juvia dated Bora, even if it was a narrative tool to show that not even dates would make Juvia stop being depressed. However, we can't say there was someone else as more than a headcanon unless it's implied or mentioned somewhere explicitely. We know Macao was married but got divorced thanks to the official magazine, for example.

When it comes to Natsu, nothing is ever mentioned.

100YQ, the official FT sequel, has several pannels that go against the whole idea of Natsu being experienced with romantic love. As I mentioned at the beginning, even others from the guild, and especifically Macao in this pannel, who knows Natsu since he was a kid, have a hard time believing he's interested in love.

This part of the story includes a very interesting pannel that also debunks the whole idea that Natsu felt more than frienship for Lisanna before she was transported to Edolas.

Why would Lisanna's brother react like this over such comment if Natsu and his sister had romantic feelings in the past? Easy: because those feelings never existed.

Even Lisanna is a bit surprised when Touka expresses her interest in him.

Previous romantic experience would also mean that Natsu's relationship with Lucy would be more advanced than it is as of now, not to mention this recent scene.

Natsu is still quite dense with romance, even when it doesn't involve him, and while he talks about his and Lucy's kids they still have a long way to go due to his total inexperience in this area as of now. Someone with past love experiences wouldn't be like this. I could say more about this but this isn't the post for it so...

Conclussion: the first season of the anime did a lot of damage that resulted in many years of discussions, fights, misogyny towards both Lucy and Lisanna. There was no childhood or teen love, no jealousy from Lisanna when she saw how close Natsu and Lucy were as a team and nothing suggests that Lisanna was more than a friend in canon material. Claiming the opposite at this point of the story is useless.

[natsubeatsrock]

"Why do you hate Nalu fans asking for angst?"

Who actually believed I was done talking smack about Nalu?

I feel like I haven't been clear enough on this. Normally, I'd say something like this because fandom ignores my arguments about something. While that's not untrue here, looking back on my discussions of the Nalu fandom's desire for canon situations of angst, I feel like I can be a bit more clear and direct as to why I don't like it.

A lot of what I've said makes it seem as though I don't like or appreciate angst as a whole. Sure, I say I don't hate angst, but I worry that my explanations make it sound like a cover to rag on Nalu for even potentially having angst. I want to explain the issue I have with the cries for Nalu angst in a way that shows I can appreciate angst.

Let's start with a couple of ships outside of Fairy Tail. The first is one that my long-time fans may recognize. In an earlier rant from around the time that Fairy Tail was ending, I briefly touched on Beauty and the Beast and how Belle and the Beast transformation is something Nalu fans wanted out of Mashima's treatment of the END situation. However, I hinted at how their ship is an example of good angst and I want to talk about it more.

At the beginning of the movie, Belle and the Beast start not liking each other much. However, a change happens when she is told to leave after breaking the Beast's one rule. Before she can get too far from the palace, Belle is saved from a pack of wolves by the Beast. As she's cleaning his wounds, they start to come to more of an understanding of each other. As shown by lyrics of and scenes shown during the song "Something There", they start to come to an understanding of each other that leads to romantic feelings. 

By the time we get to "Beauty and the Beast", it's clear that they both have feelings for each other. Despite the Beast confirming he loves her, we don't get a confession from Belle until after he supposedly dies. However, it's important to remember that her confession comes off the heels of a defense of the Beast from villagers, the rest of their relational progression and the timer set by the falling rose petals. Her confession comes just as the last petal falls from the enchanted rose. In other words, she came to truly love him at the last possible moment and it may not have mattered if he died at that moment. Of course, he does live and they can be a couple.

The second example comes from one of my favorite anime, Toradora. (I'd use Clannad for a similar reason, but I know this one off-hand better.) It's a bit of an understatement to say that Taiga Aisaka and Ryuji Takasu start on the wrong foot. It's established fairly early on that much of their initial goals are to get the other's best friend to end up with them. However, as they spend time together, they end up growing closer to each other. As early as episode 2, Ryuji goes from annoyed at not having enough rice because of Taiga's presence to disappointed at having too much rice in her absence. But then, Ryuji gets into an accident and it becomes clear that Taiga has stronger feelings for him that she's letting on.

As the series progresses, we see evidence of them growing closer together and the idea of them becoming a couple is made to seem more realistic. It's not that we can't tell if they like each other at this point; it's that we're not sure how things will play out. It turns out that, during their class trip, Taiga takes a spill of her own and unknowingly confesses to Ryuji. He outright confirms that he has feelings of his own but struggles to tell her how he feels. A bunch of shenanigans happens between then and the end of the series, but they do end up together at the end of the series.

I explain the stories of the couples in this way for an important reason. In each of these stories, the angst does draw people closer together. However, there is a sense that the relationship was already progressing that way, to begin with. Angst was used as the medium to draw feelings out of characters they might have already been on track to have. Chances are that they could have gotten into their relationship without the angst. However, it works very well to see their relationship progress as part of the resolution to the tension of the story. Depending on how a writer spins it, it can work well.

Mashima did not do this with Nalu. Not he didn’t do it well with Nalu. It didn’t happen.

What I will say is that there wasn't a lack of moments that could have been used to draw out romantic feelings for each other. Here's a list of a few moments I can think of off the top of my head after the Galuna Island arc (at which point they're more familiar with each other):

Lucy being captured by Gajeel during the Phantom Lord arc.

Natsu on the brink of losing against Gajeel, also Phantom Lord.

Lucy getting captured during the Edolas arc.

Lucy saying "it's more fun when we're together" on Tenrou Island.

After the Naval Battle in the Grand Magic Games.

Lucy getting captured (again) during the Grand Magic Games.

The epilogue of the Tartarus arc. 

Natsu realizing the guild was dissolved at the beginning of the Avatar arc.

Natsu almost dying after Aquarius came back.

Natsu almost dying (again) after fighting Gray.

The end of the fight with Acnologia.

There are a couple of other moments I probably could have added, especially from the anime and the sequel, but these are some of the moments that Mashima could have used to bring Natsu and Lucy closer to a trajectory of a romantic relationship. It's even canonically hinted during a few of these moments that he could have done exactly that.

However, the resolution for each of these moments came and went. Natsu and Lucy were friends before they happened and they didn't seem to be anything more than friends after them. I don't feel as though there's any real reason to think that anything else could cause some well of romantic emotions that has yet to be untapped to spring.

This has been outright confirmed for me by Mashima's writing of the final arc of the main series. Natsu nearly dies in front of Lucy. Twice. And the most we get from the whole thing is a "thanks for helping me get in the guild" a year later? I know Evergreen mentions that she might like him, but that's shot down and ignored almost as soon as it was brought up.

Are we supposed to believe Nalu would have stopped a rampage from END? Or that, even if it did, Mashima would use the opportunity to make clear that Natsu and Lucy did have romantic feelings for each other? Chances are, we'd get a moment where Natsu remembers the importance of his friends and remember who he is. Are we shocked that this was literally what happened in canon when he did lose control of himself? Or how Dragon Cry did a similar thing, despite prizing Lucy more than other members of the guild?

At this point, I guess someone could look at this and come to the conclusion that Nalu was just a product of Mashima's bad writing. Nalu is romantic but was handled poorly. If Mashima were a better writer, this would have handled better. And as someone who recognizes that, despite having great ideas, Mashima's not a great writer and isn't always able to make them work in the best ways possible and has even made a similar argument with Gruvia...

NO!

Not even a little yes.

At least my argument on Gruvia is couched in a recognition that it's the only ship of its kind that Mashima's done. (People who compare Gruvia to Reina and Musica get the bullet.) I don't see the things I'm arguing isn't great about Gruvia in any other Fairy Tail ship. You can't make the same argument with Nalu and angst. If you do, you're not paying attention.

In just the last arc, we got two clear examples of this in Gajevy and Zervis. Not just in the "you could argue that this is what Mashima was building these ships up towards throughout the series" sense that's very real about both of these ships. In the current events of the arc, he advanced both relationships after they had angsty situations. Gajeel confessed his love to Levy as he was almost killed by Bradman. Mavis and Zeref came together just as he was defeated and they ended up dying together. 

Depending on how you interpret it, Gruvia also got the same thing in the same arc. Jerza has had a similar thing going around it with the Tower of Heaven and Nirvana arc. Fan interpretations of plenty of other favorite ships in Fairy Tail are near dependent on the idea that a person came to love someone more after something tragic happened surrounding them, including a number of my favorite ships. Heck, Mashima did this with all three of the ships involving his main characters in Rave Master to some degree or another.

As much as I don't love every aspect of Mashima's writing, this isn't a symptom of that. The fact is that Mashima didn't use ANY moment that Natsu or Lucy have seen the other in angsty situations to show clear romantic feelings for each other. No kisses, no confession, no anything. Given that he's done that with arguably every main ship he's shown interest in both his big series, I can't help but think that Mashima's either trying something completely different with this ship or isn't ever bringing them closer to being a couple. Either way, I don't see how Mashima putting them in one more magical situation of angst is somehow going to push them over the proverbial edge and make them canon at this stage in the series.

In Conclusion:

I don't hate angst. Nalu is just wack.

[warlordgab]

NaLu analysis: The relevance of “moments”

This was going to be a completely different post but given recent developments within the fandom, I had to rewrite this whole thing.

Some people had been making several claims implying that the relationship between Natsu and Lucy is as strong as one featured in an impotent pairing. Others choose to endorse cracks as something solid and big enough to overtake NaLu.

However, these claims not always come from wankers who tend to overhype flawed premises over potent relationships. Some of them are the result of a remarkable lack of knowledge and/or information.

Regardless, there is a reason why NaLu itself proves such claims wrong. For starters, I’d like to quote a non-shipper that inspired me to logically analyze these matters (if you’re reading this, sorry! But I need to quote you to illustrate the point)

“When it comes to the validity of the arguments used in pairing discussions, it's best to look at the weight of each argument presented. And by weight I mean the magnitude of supporting evidence and backing/credibility that each pairing has.”

Why is this important? Because when we’re looking for a potent relationship within a story, we have to rely on “moments” to support the most likely outcome. We can also remember what we’ve learned about chemistry, how emotionally supporting and inspiring one another is a big component of a solid chemistry between the characters.

But, there’s something funny about this. According to another great thinker I quoted and look up to, “Impotent Pairings” may have a couple of nice moments too! In the case of Fairy Tail, even some interactions make people overhype and actively endorse “Cracks” over other more likely premises.

So, what could make a potent relationship stand out from the rest if even Impotent Pairings and some Cracks get a few moments and a lot of hype?

Let’s quote the difference between them:

Impotent Pairings “had some type of stress in their relationship at some point of the series” but they “become stagnant” and often get treated like a joke by the story.

This is where Potent Pairings become different because they’re “supported by multiple logical arguments, a high degree of intimacy between characters, and significant/meaningful moments.”

So, Impotent Pairings had a couple of moments at some point in the story, but they ultimately become neglected by both the characters and the story. They stop having any sort of relevant moments.

Meanwhile, Potent Pairings keep receiving a flow of minor but meaningful interactions as well as significant showings that can leave an impact on the characters.

What defines a Potent Pairing is a consistent bonding based on a long chain of relevant moments between the characters.

Writing a Potent Relatioship is like constructing a building, where each piece of construction, each meaningful or impactful moment that nourish their emotional connectionn, becomes a part of a much larger whole.

That is why the bond of NaLu so strong. While shippers overhype a few of pieces, they tend to ignore the fact that moments that don’t build-up the relationship between the characters or ultimately lead nowhere are not even enough to construct “a small house” metaphorically speaking.

If a pat on the head is enough to put a pairing in the map, then chapter 5 of the Fairy Tail sequel would’ve made a crack pairing canon.

The point is: that what makes moment relevant is their magnitude when coming all together and how they manage to strengthen the relationship between the characters while creating a solid chemistry. Setting the stage for a potentially canon pairing.

This post isn’t meant to undermine the importance of minor NaLu interactions. This analysis is meant to show that in order to backup a claim of a relationship actually being a potent pairing, we need impactful moments as a foundation, with the other minor showings adding up to the big ones!

If a premsie relies solely on minor interactions that lead nowhere, people cannot make a solid argument for a relationship becoming a potent pairing. Just like someone cannot construct a building with only two small pieces of wood.

That’s what makes NaLu different from the other premises, their biggest moments leave a lasting impact and their minor but meaningful interactions add more to the whole.

[multi-fandomtrashtm]

We Made It. Fairy Tail Finale: Chapter 545

We made it, guys. Through the high blood pressure, grins and tears, we made it. To celebrate, I’ll go back to my old style of reviewing; page by page.

Finale or not, prepare for salt. I’ll try to be as calm as possible.

This is a nice cover, but Levy looks very out of place. She’s not really that important of a character. 

Oh cool, Lucy won an award. That’s nice. I honestly kind of forgot that she’s a writer since it’s barely mentioned. 

Look at the upper left hand corner of that group shot. Those are all of the characters that despite them frequently appearing, we know almost nothing about. And Lisanna is a catgirl for some reason. 

Not much to say here. 

If that cup is not made of iron,is Gajeel eating glass?

I’m so confused by drunk Juvia. Why do you feel the need to strip as well?

Lucy looks good with a ponytail.

Ugh. Anna...can you just...die? There’s literally no reason for you to still be here. Natsu, you remember her? Bruh, why did you never say anything??

Cue Gajevy ship tease. That’s about the twins from the spinoff I bet. 

Wendy being an idol is...the only change from the timeskip that stuck except for power levels. Also, good for Chelia, now we can say that there were no consequences for the war whatsoever. Great.

With how they’d been mostly ignored during the war, I was not expecting to get news about them. And of course Kagura fanservice because reasons.

Juvia, you are the only girl in this series that I’ve seen wear a bra consistently and appropriately. Just wanted to point it out. 

 And here we go with the gruvia. I stand corrected. Gray and Juvia have scars. Amazing. And yes Juvia, your body. I’m not sure why you’re questioning that statement? 

I’m absolutely confused. What was that moment? What are you trying to say with “maybe it should be mine”? Why are you getting all stuttery and embarrassed NOW? You guys lived together for 6 months. What happened to that “answer” you promised? Apparently it wasn’t much because only you have changed your behavior, Gray. And quite abruptly, I might add. Do you guys see what I mean about gruvia now? This behavior makes no sense because up until this point, Gray and Juvia have had the exact same dynamics no matter what happens. This change should’ve happened sooner and over time. 

Obligatory Elfgreen. Haha, all of the main (straight) Laxus crack ships were acknowledged. All of those shippers must be laughing. 

Oh look, Erza’s boobs.

I don’t mind Hisui being queen and I think it’s great that she made the effort to establish a diplomatic relationship with another nation. However, the abrupt politics is very odd and has me thinking about the magic council again. What happened to them after Tartaros, anyway? Where have they even been during the war?

Hisui: I also know about your sins. But I’m more concerned about the future than the past.

Translation: Look, compared to Acnologia and Alverez, y’all ain’t done shit so let’s just move on. 

Never expected Erza of all people to have trouble reading. But then again, Lucy had a way more privileged upbringing with proper education so...yeah. I can see her being more booksmart. 

So she started brushing her hair as a sign that she’s actively waiting for Jellal. Okay, but just...Erza, you’ve waited years for this man at this point. Just go after him yourself. 

Why his legs of all things? That’s so random. Genuinely surprised to see Porlyusica at a party. Didn’t think she was the social type. 

Yeah, no. This moment is meaningless. That is not Mavis or Zeref and those are not their reincarnations with their souls. Somehow, those two had doppelgangers running around for more than a decade and we’re just now seeing them. 

“It’s really hot this August.” Stop. I’m getting flashbacks. He was screwed over beyond belief. 

Okay, but why is everyone smiling like this is a perfectly normal and happy thing? I would be flipping out if I saw clones of my guild’s “tactician” and greatest enemy. 

Good for you, Romeo. Those old guys are kinda cringe, tbh. No. No no no no. Kinana, no. Stop. You and Erik? No. That ship is the most unnecessary and out of nowhere thing ever. It is built off of anime only filler. If you’ve only read the manga, it makes no sense. 

Required reference to the early days of Happy screwing Lucy over in a comedic fashion. 

Drunk Lucy=Cringe.

Pages 31-32 Why are you suddenly getting emotional, though? He’s told you that you’ve got a job to go on a billion times at this point. These are some seriously random and out of place flashbacks. 

Pages 33-35 Nalu fuel because this is the closest that they’ll ever get to canon. 

...The ambigiousness of that “we’ll be together forever” infuriates me with unsatisfaction. I don’t ship nalu, but the lack of any cementing evidence here is killing me. 

Oh look, everyone looks the same as the early days. It would bring nostalgia if they’d changed in appearance at all since that point.

A 100 year quest? Cool, but what is it, though?

Really wishing that that question had been answered at some point. Frankly, that question has been completely irrelevant throughout this entire series. We didn’t really need it at all.

HOLY SHIT, IS JUVIA INTERACTING WITH FREED?? SOMEONE WHO’S NOT GRAY?!

The funny thing is that if anyone hadn’t read FT Zero, they’d have no idea how important Zera actually is.

Aaaand, that’s it. We made it. Fairy Tail has come to an end. Well, the first thing that I can tell you is that this finale was not very good. Despite constantly teasing ships to the point of ignoring actual friendships in favor of ship moments, only 2 major ships have been confirmed as together. I think. Unsure if Elfgreen counts as canon, but for now, I’ll just count it as that. 

Despite all of my salt and rage and frustration, I will miss this series. I spent a lot of my time and energy into rants about this series and it’ll be strange to not rage at or look up spoilers for a new chapter every week. I really did love this series in the beginning. I think I started watching in 2013. I binge watched the anime then started reading the manga. It was happy reading until I find ForneverWorld’s Youtube. He discussed each chapter and pointed out flaws that I’d never quite realized before. Even so, I got excited over the 2014 adaption then disliked the animation despite all of the hype. I liked the music, though.

 Fast forward a bit and one day, I run into @ac-fairytail ‘s blog. Their posts about Juvia stung a little, but it was their other posts about Gruvia that were a slap in the face. THOSE hurt, but it did make me realize the faults in my OTP and at that point I started criticizing FT more as I read it. From there, I found @fairytail-whathesays whose posts turned me into the bitter old lady I am now. I found myself agreeing with a majority of their criticisms and had to acknowledge that Fairy Tail was turning to shit. I refused to stop liking Gray, though. I think I found @the-archangel-of-zeref in between finding those two? Not sure. But I agreed with some of their opinions too. 

Right around the time FT started getting edgy, I started looking for fanfics. I found some good ones, mostly Gratsu at first. It was only last year that I realized that almost all of the fanfics I’d read were probably better than FT 2016-2017. 

I guess I just wanted to reflect on things. Overall, I regret that this series ended on such a terrible note. I really do wish that it had lived up to its full potential. I think a big part of it is that Mashima didn’t have competition for the most part. Therefore, nothing pushed him to improve/change his storytelling methods and the quality of his work. I also think that if FT hadn’t been ecchi, we could’ve avoided a lot of terrible/unnecessary moments. I do wish Mashima good luck on his next project, however, I hope that he does it right this time. I will read his future work that he was oh-so-excited about. I have a feeling that excitement made him start rushing to end FT so that he could move on already.

Now then, I’m going to start reviewing the following series: 

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations

Boku No Hero Academia 

I’ve caught up to both anime adaptions. If you have any other ongoing shounen to recommend, pls send an ask or reblog this post with the title & if it’s good or not. 

Don’t worry, I’m not going to rip these two apart as well. They’re actually pretty good. 

[selenityshiroi]

Fic: Falling into Touch

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Pairing: Nalu

Rating: G

Summary: Who just wrote 3000 odd words of Lucy washing Natsu’s hair? This girl. Fits into my larger post canon fic ‘Falling into Home’ that can be found on AO3 and FF.NET. The AO3 series is in the source.

In the weeks that Natsu had been staying in Lucy’s apartment, sharing all their meals and falling asleep in the same bed and living and breathing in each other’s space as if they couldn’t bear to let each other out of sight, he had learned new, tiny little things that surprised him daily.

Some things were minor little quirks that had escaped his attention, like the way she organised her drawers or had her books laid out in a specific way or the way she hated packing away clothes after doing laundry but would get mad when Happy would curl up in the neatly folded pile.

Other things were details he had noticed but had never thought to ask her about.

‘Why is your hair so soft?’

She’d been sat on the floor next to him, watching as he and Happy were playing a game of Mahjong, and had been drying her long hair after her earlier bath. Some sections of her hair were drier than others and the strands had been fluttering all over the place whilst she’d ran a heated brush, that she kept passing across to him to rewarm, through the damp patches. She had already told Happy off for swiping his claws at some of the stray pieces and when they brushed against his own arm he’d certainly understood the urge to grab at the silky smooth tresses.

‘Hmm?’ She’d barely registered his words whilst she moved her hair to one side to pass the brush through the full length again and he took advantage of the fact that the bulk of her hair was now on his side to pick up a section and run his fingers through it.

The effect was instantaneous as the brush fell from her hand and she pulled her head away whilst a blush blossomed over her cheeks.

‘What? Natsu?’

He pouted as the movement pulled the hair from his hand, but repeated the question, tilting his head as he waited for her answer. As much as he enjoyed it when she got flustered, even if he didn’t understand why most of the time, he was curious and wanted her to tell him why her hair felt so nice when his own hair was so coarse.

The other girls at the guild tended to have nice hair, too, even though he didn’t exactly go around touching it. But he’d fought Erza enough times to be desperate enough to pull at her hair to get free from her attacks and he’d patted Wendy on the head and ruffled Asuka’s hair. Although their hair all smelled different, like chemicals but covered with pleasant perfumed scents, they all had a nice, smooth feel to the strands.

‘Well, I take good care of it and Cancer does intensive treatments on it every so often.’ Natsu knew that she spent a lot of time on her hair, but other than brushing it and tying it back he had no clue what she actually did to “take care of it”. ‘My conditioner is more expensive than the one I used to use when my hair was shorter, but it makes a difference with my longer hair.’

‘What’s conditioner?’

She’d looked at him then in the way that people looked at him when he asked something they thought should be obvious and he almost wanted to take the question back.

He knew that some people thought he was stupid or ignorant and, well, sometimes he thought they were right but he didn’t really mind because most of the things he was ignorant about were things he didn’t care to know. And he guessed he didn’t really need to know what conditioner was, but it always made him feel the worst when someone he actually cared about threw that incredulous look at him.

But then the look in her eyes cleared as she realised ‘Well, I guess the guys in the guild probably don’t use it, except maybe Freed...he has such nice hair. So you’ve probably not seen much of it before.’

He thought about Freed’s hair and realised that, yes, it smelled nice like the girls’ hair tended to and it had a shine to it that, say, Gajeel’s long hair lacked.

But before Lucy could say anything else she picked herself up from the floor and reached a hand down to him.

‘Come on, let’s show you what conditioner is.’ She was smiling down at him, wiggling her fingers as she encouraged him to take her hand, and he slipped his hand into hers and allowed himself to lever his weight against her and rise to his feet.

She pulled him along, dragging him to the bathroom, and Happy followed them curiously.

‘Are we all having a bath together?’ Happy’s question was something he was about to ask, but he was glad the words hadn’t come from his mouth when Lucy glared down at him and snapped ‘Of course not!’

But when she let go of his hand to grab a towel from the shelf and line up some bottles on the side of the tub, he couldn’t help but wonder what she was up to.

‘Okay, Natsu, take off your shirt and sit against the tub. You should be able to tip your head back far enough over the rim for this to work.’

He raised his eyebrow, still unsure as to what she was planning, but he trusted Lucy implicitly and if she wanted him to take his clothes off and sit against her bathtub then he was happy to do so.

She’d turned away whilst he slipped his shirt off and rested his back against the cold tiles that lined her tub, and he saw her grab the shower head and turn the water on, testing the temperature as she did so.

‘I’m guessing you like the water slightly hotter than I normally have it?’ He hummed his agreement, knowing from the times he’s used the bathroom after her and felt the water from the showerhead before he’d adjusted the settings, that she ran the water cooler than he did. ‘But you’re going to have to put up with whatever temperature my hands can handle.’

She passed him the towel, telling him to wrap it around his shoulders, and he was grateful for the barrier between him and the tiles, the chill making him twitchy until the soft cotton took it’s place. He settled back again as she knelt down next to him and tried not to jump when Lucy’s hands reached out and pressed against his chin.

‘Tip your head back, I need to get your hair wet.’ He did so and when the hot; not as hot as he would like it but a pleasant enough temperature, water rained over his head he couldn’t help but relax into the sensation. When Lucy’s fingers started running through the wet strands, making sure the water was fully penetrating his hair, however, he couldn’t help but tense up at the foreign pressure.

He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had ran their fingers through his hair, if they ever had. It was a rather intimate thing to do and, although he was pretty tactile with people, hair touching was certainly not something he invited from others. And it wasn’t like he had memories of a parent washing his hair as a child...Igneel certainly couldn’t have done something like this with his giant claws.

Strangely, when he thought about it, he could vaguely remember a woman running fingers through his hair as a child. But when he tried to picture her he could only see Lucy, which made no sense, so he brushed the memory aside.

He was just relaxing into the feel of her delicate fingers pulling the strands apart and moving the spray of the showerhead to completely soak his hair when her hand pulled away and she reached down to place the showerhead into the tub.

‘Okay, shampoo first!’

Natsu scoffed at that. ‘I know what shampoo is, Lucy.’

‘Of course you do, I know you boys at least wash your hair. But there is a process!’ She flicked a finger at his ear, chastising him, before she grabbed one of the bottles from the side and poured a dollop of liquid into her hands. The smell was familiar and he realised it must be the same shampoo that she used because the smell was embedded into his memory from burying his nose into the back of her head whilst they slept. The thought of that smell on his own hair, surrounding his senses and making something that had previously been exclusively Lucy’s now a part of him caused a little flutter in his stomach. He wondered if the water really was too cold and was making him ill.

The fluttering only increased when she rubbed her hands together and then returned both hands to his hair, rubbing the shampoo into his scalp and lathering it through every inch of his hair. She’d raised up on her knees over him in order to make sure she could reach around the back of his head and he couldn’t help but relax fully into her touch, knowing that the sigh he let out that brushed against her was the cause of the skin over her breasts breaking out into little goosebumps that he had an upclose view of.

He wondered if it was possible to be both incredibly drowsy and also incredibly aware at the same time. Because he wanted to both fall asleep to the feel of Lucy’s fingers gently pressing against his scalp and rubbing through the strands of his hair, but he also, for some reason, wanted to take notice of the way her leg felt pressed against his and how her arms felt as they brushed against his ears and how he almost felt like he could burn from the heat he could feel from her as she pressed up against him to reach the nape of his neck.

All too soon, she was reaching back into the tub and grabbing the showerhead to wash away the suds covering his head. The light scrubbing as she made sure all of the lather was washed away was still a pleasant sensation, especially when he could feel just the brush of her nails against his scalp. It set his senses alight and he was disappointed when, after Lucy declared all the shampoo was gone, Happy chirped up that he wanted to be washed next.

‘Happy,’ He whined, pouting that Lucy was giggling and telling Happy to hop into the tub when he’d had her full attention on him and had been savouring every moment, ‘Lucy is supposed to be showing me conditioner.’

‘But I wanted her to pet me, too!’

Lucy choked a little, sputtering that she wasn’t petting Natsu, but she quickly dowsed Happy with water and rubbed the same shampoo into Happy’s fur, covering his entire body as he purred contentedly under her care. Natsu couldn’t help but wonder if he’d looked as blissful when Lucy’s hands had been fluttering over him. Still, he was impatient for Lucy to finish with Happy so she could get back to him, and he was glad when he saw the last traces of soap fall away from Happy’s fur.

‘Luuuuccccyyyyyy...conditioner!’

‘Okay, okay! I’m getting there!’ She was groaning a little as she gathered the other bottle she had placed on the side, but he could see she wasn’t exasperated. Instead, she had a soft smile on her face as if she was enjoying washing their hair and pampering them like this. He was pretty sure he would happily let her do this as often as she wanted.

She squirted the new liquid into her hands and he could see it was slightly different to the shampoo, more gloopy and with a slightly different, but complimentary, scent. She rubbed this one between her hands, covering her palms whilst it didn’t lather and then held them up to show him as she declared ‘This is conditioner!’

He was rather underwhelmed. But she quickly returned her hands to his hair and he was much more impressed as she rubbed the new liquid through the strands, coating them and slipping through much easier than they had earlier. The pleasant feeling of her rubbing her fingers against his scalp seemed so much more intense now that he was anticipating it and he almost felt like he was going to start purring just like Happy had.

When he felt her hands slip free and she sat back on her heels, his lidded eyes opened again and he couldn’t help but feel a little light headed at the soft, warm gaze she had focused on him.

His fingers twitched, as if they wanted to reach out for her but he couldn’t quite make himself do so and he was almost pleased when Happy popped his head out of the tub and asked if it was his turn or if Natsu had to have the goop washed out first.

Lucy’s soft gaze switched from him to Happy, even if there was a shift he didn’t quite understand, and he was glad that he got a chance to pull himself together and let the strange urge fall away.

‘It won’t hurt to stay on a little before it’s washed off, I’ll condition your fur next.’

He watched her rub the conditioner into Happy’s fur, pleased, now that he wasn’t impatient for Lucy’s attention, that she cared so deeply about Happy and loved him as much as he did. It took a little longer to coat his fur, and Lucy complained partway through that she was going to have to buy a new bottle sooner than she thought. But she was still smiling throughout and he wondered if he could find out where she got it from and surprise her by buying a new one for her.

Still, he couldn’t say that he was dissatisfied when she finally finished washing the conditioner out of Happy’s fur and beckoned for him to put his head back over the bath so she could rinse his hair. He felt like he was never going to able to wash his own hair again without feeling the phantom sensation of Lucy’s fingers running trails along his scalp and leaving lightning running up and down his spine.

When she got to her feet and declared they were done, turning off the showerhead and reaching for another towel in order to wrap it around Happy so she could pull him from the tub, he could help but be disappointed that the whole thing was over.

‘Come on, Natsu, dry your hair and then you can see what a difference it made.’ She smiled at him, nodding her head towards the living area before making her way into the other room, rubbing the towel into Happy’s fur as she went. He rose to his feet, pulling the towel from around his shoulders over his hair and rubbing it against his scalp, heating the towel as he went and feeling the water dry up as he scrubbed.

As he walked into the living area he saw that Happy had already escaped the towel and was being scolded by Lucy for curling up on the pillows of the bed whilst still damp. He couldn’t help but laugh, as Happy never fully dried himself off after a bath and, instead, just left damp patches all over the place as he dried off slowly.

But her complaints ceased when she picked up the brush she had been using earlier and sat on the couch, indicating to him to sit on the floor in front of her.

Recognising another opportunity to have her hands in his hair he quickly made his way around the low table and sank to the floor, letting his body relax against the chair behind him. He could feel the leg that wasn’t tucked underneath herself pressed against his right arm and he resisted the urge to lean against it.

He felt her fingers pick up a section of his hair and he tipped his head back, slightly, to look at her face.

‘Wow, your hair is already almost dry. Mine takes ages.’ She moved onto a different section, that felt heavier, and she waved the brush in his face, a silent request for him to heat it like he had earlier. He did so and passed it back to her, careful to pass her the insulated handle and not the bristled end.

He wasn’t sure what to expect from her running the brush through his hair instead of her fingers, but feeling the prickle of the bristles against his scalp was almost as satisfying as having the contact of her warm skin. The soothing feel was making him drowsy again, and with much less of her body pressed against him, he was falling into the urge to close his eyes. It was only when her fingers drew through a completely dry section and giggled that his eyes reopened and he tilted his head back, curiously.

‘Feel the difference, Natsu!’

He reached up, running his hand through his own hair, and was surprised to find that his hair was much softer and smoother than he was used to. It didn’t feel as fine as Lucy’s but it definitely felt nicer to the touch and he couldn’t help but run his hand back and forwards through the strands. She giggled again, and pushed his hand aside so she could smooth the strands into some sort of order.

‘There is one small problem, though.’ There was still a pleasant mirth to her voice, and he wondered what had her so amused, but before he could ask her she slipped out from behind him on the couch and moved across to her dresser when she picked up a small, handheld mirror. She made her way back over to him, commenting with a light giggle toning the words ‘Conditioner is great for your hair but not so good for your style.’

She angled the mirror towards him and he instantly saw what she meant, his hair looking softer and shinier than he had ever seen it but lying smooth and flat against his head. He reached a hand up, running his hand through as if trying to push the peaks back into spikes, but the strands just fell through his fingers and back down against his head, again.

Lucy giggled once more, and he shot a glare at her, even if she didn’t look at all bothered by his predicament, as she offered ‘Perhaps you can do without conditioner from now on.’ He thought about the way he wanted to sit for hours with her hand running through his hair and wondered if a change in hairstyles was all that bad an idea. But then he looked back in the mirror and barely recognised the sight in front of him without his trademark spikes.

Lucy’s giggles died down and she looked rather apologetically at him, so he guessed he looked as conflicted as he felt. ‘Um, perhaps until the conditioner wears off we can ask Cancer for some gel?’

Natsu looked once more in the mirror, thinking of the smelly concoctions he’d seen Warren use, before, to fix his spike into place and wondered if he could put up with putting the stuff in his own hair. But then he imagined Lucy applying it for him, careful hands pulling his hair into place and setting the spikes how he liked them and the words were falling out of his mouth before he even processed them.

‘What’s gel?’

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Ayesha Liveblogs Fairy Tail S3

Can the narrator really justify the “small peaceful nation” part of the intro after a morality weapon was resurrected and almost destroyed a ghost town

“Flower parties are freakin’ manly!” Elfman isn’t here for your gender roles

My sweet stripper son:

Erza: Have you considered putting on a shirt?

Gray: [Growls]

“Don’t get cold feet” I love shitty battle puns

The implication that Natsu would literally move the heavens and the earth for Lucy is beautiful

I can’t believe that disaster of a play exists in continuity

“I need your guidance Laxus” When Freed is faced with difficult decisions he looks into the sky and sees Laxus in the clouds

“A real man never uses his brain” I mean... tru

Gray just fucking peacefully iceskates past a pile of his friends

“You and me aren’t married okay” “Then why are you blushing” Baby Natsu and Lisanna are so cute

That exchange between Natsu and Lisanna makes it seem like she’s missing and not dead but they buried her body right?

Gildarts has apparently decided to adopt Natsu

Poor Natsu he doesn’t even get sad about Lisanna’s death he’s mad

Natsu @ Gildarts: You’re not my real dad! 

DRUNK GAJEEL SEARCHES FOR KITTY CATS

Mystogan is Wendy’s Jellal oh no the one nice thing Jellal thinks he did his whole life was a lie

I fucking love Natsu’s nicknames for Gray: Frosty, Freezer Burn, Snowflake <3

“We need to talk, it’s time you learned to grip it right” Gray pls

“I wish something interesting would happen today,” said Lucy, shortly after Mystogan announced the impending apocalypse

This is the second time that everything Wendy knows and cares about has evaporated right before her eyes yikes

Based on this intro everyone’s going to meet their AU selves in Edolas and I’m really curious if AU Gray is just going to put on more clothes

“If none of our buddies are in this world, what would be the point of coming back here anyway?” Natsu <3333333

“We gotta walk somewhere, so why not this way?” shit u right Natsu

AU Gray does wear too many clothes I love it

Oh no Lisanna’s probably still alive in this universe

“Why isn’t Cana half-naked and fully drunk?” Cana is a mess 

Natsu, weeping: The Gray I know would be half-naked by now

“I’ve never seen a frog like this! We should take it back for Lucy as a souvenir” Amazing his friends are trapped in a giant crystal and he’s still thinking about what they might enjoy as keepsakes

I think Scary Lucy is in love with Natsu

But how did Gajeel get to Edolas without a magical flying cat?

“This Gajeel’s a freelance journalist, better get the scoop on him” I wonder if his political activist alter ego also uses terrible wordplay

“Being bossed around is kind of a nice change” Kinkshame Scary Lucy

It makes sense that Lucy’s the only one who can use magic here because her magic isn’t tied to Earth

Gentle Fro Gajeel bonding with Angry Spiky Gajeel is great

Lmao @ Mystogan just tossing up random members of a Fairy Tail up into the sky and also it seems abundantly clear at this point that he’s Edolas Jellal

Natsu [Aggressive Roadster voice]: My Lucy

I guess Edolas Natsu is only ballsy while inside moving vehicles

“Not exactly my idea of a dictatorship” Clearly you have never seen footage produced by any dictatorship ever

Nalu must be canon because she just gave him the Hug of Passionate Restraint

Ngl this cat drama is a bit Much for me I don’t even like Happy

This is some dark philosopher’s stone ass shit that I didn’t really expect from Fairy Tail yikes there’s no moral dilemma for these people

How come Gajeel can use his magic??

Honestly the greatest suspension of disbelief in this show is pretending Happy does not sound like a whiny adult woman

The way they told that story at first made it seem like all 100 eggs belonged to Happy’s parents 

I’M SCREAMING THE REAL GRAY AND ERZA ARE BACK MY SWEET NAKED AND VIOLENT CHILDREN

I love their entrance bathed in ethereal light and also the fact that their combined magical power was enough to fill a town square

Ohhhh so that’s why Lucy can use her powers because Mystogan gave her the crazy red pills

Gray, trying to give medicine to a person who is out cold: Come on, open your mouth, you loser

“I was wondering what he popped in my mouth,” I'm concerned about you Lucy

Gray just faded into transparency because he was being ignored amazing

“Do you want get in the middle of that?” “You know, you make a good point” I missed Gray’s and Lucy’s asides <3

Gray did you need to pin Lucy down to protect her you are so Extra and I love it

Gray just... fucking chucked Lucy.... twenty feet in the air GOOD LORD

Oh my god is Panther Lily going to become Gajeel’s magical flying cat

“You’re not dead, are you? Yell if you’re dead!” NATSU PLS

“I have to care about her, because it’s obvious that you don’t!” Lucy is so powerful and kind I love her

Full offense but I’m going to marry Gray Fullbuster

“I’m still making you my cat” he said, before beating the shit out of a man-sized panther

I bet Good Erza robbed Bad Erza lmao beautiful

Why are neither Gray nor Natsu attempting to retake their hostage

None of the Edolas boys have this same need for angry haircuts

The Cat Drama has reached new heights but I’ve slowly grown fond of it

Did Panther Lily save Mystogan?? Oh the answer is yes

What the ever loving fuck that was an abrupt cut off to an almost happy ending

I can’t believe Mystogan is a prince and also that no one is reacting to the fact he is Edolas Jellal

“I’m sure he’ll feel right at home crawling along the ground with the other pests” Apparently there is a worse dad than Papa Heartlessfilia in this show

Natsu as Daenerys Targaryen: Fire cannot kill a dragon

Fairy Tail is full of Human Disasters no matter what universe

Erza, every time she puts on a new suit of armor: My strongest armor

I love that Erza, Gray and Natsu all give their opponents speeches on the morality of their decisions as they fight

“Is a floating island going to fall on our house?” no one ever said that Mystogan was great at foresight

“But Edolas had a pretty good run, huh?” said Hughes, just calmly fucking watching the apocalypse

Why is Jellal always trying to get himself killed no matter what universe

I’m crying I love Space Jellal 

The fist pumping is killing me 

“What an overachiever!” Gajeel is so happy to have his own kitty cat

Every time Natsu tries to hug Lisanna someone physically restrains him

I’m so happy for Mira and Elfman and Natsu <3

This is going to be so weird for Fairy Tail to them it’s like they passed out and they wake up to their friends bruised and bloody, Mystogan gone forever, a baby panther in Gajeel’s arms and someone back from the dead 

Hughes, about his own execution: Seriously, it’s not a big deal, just do it!

Jellal did the thing! The Fairy Tail thing again my sweet son

The implication of Mystogan having joined Fairy Tail as a child means that he’s been walking around in a full cloak since he was like 10

Lmao @ Natsu dreaming about fighting Gray 

The unnecessarily intimate and homoerotic friendship chain continues as Lucy and Cana bathe together

Literally their legs are intertwined together underwater?? This is Extremely Gay and I love it

“Forget your clothes again?” “Don’t have time to worry about that!” 

Ggekghjrhgkhkg Gray using one of Lucy’s spirits as his partner 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 

“At this point I’d put almost anything in my mouth as long as it’s cold” ... Like an ice wizard? 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 

GRAY IS LITERALLY THIS MEME:

I arrive at S-Class Trials

Ship: Crowded

Partner: Loke 

Dick: Out

I am forcibly clothed at S-Class Trials

Gajeel using Levy’s head as an armrest pls 

Makarov @ an Ice Wizard: Chill

“What sort of vulgar sorcery is this?” Omg Freed is so nervous around scantily-clad women I love it

I guess Freed and Bickslow throwing the fight makes more sense than if they were defeated through the power of sex and cotton candy

“There is one thing you still lack” Self control?

This was actually a pretty accurate guess

Mystogan’s a little young to have an adult man as his pupil

Hard for Emo Wizard to avoid confrontation when everyone in this guild takes “I could kill you” as an invitation to fight

I guess it says a lot about Natsu that Gildarts has been mentoring him for many years and yet he still thinks of the dragon as his dad