#ft meta

[bumblebeehug]

When do u think Natsu actually realized that he fell for Lucy and i know he treats her differently but can u give moments where it's initiated from his side?

This is going to be a long post so buckle up!

Okay, first of all: the Phantom Lord arc. Though I don't think he fell in love with her at that point of time, I think it was the events that seriously solidified his partialness to her. I'd go into detail but I can already feel a long post incoming, so I'll keep it short: Lucy telling Natsu that she loves being a Fairy Tail wizard, while crying over the fact that she didn't want to leave ↓

After just trusting her life in Natsu, jumping from an insanely high tower, with a mere belief that maybe she had heard him in the distance – I think it struck a chord with Natsu. Like, it would be normal to cry after a fall like that, but Lucy wasn't concerned about that aspect. Her head and heart was all about the guild, how she didn't want to go, and that resonates with Natsu. Natsu's entire life at that point is 1) Finding Igneel, and 2) being with/protecting the guild.

Then I'd say it's a pretty gradual build in their relationship. They go on a lot of missions, hang out together, and just in general spend a lot of time connecting. There's some Natsu-saves-Lucy, some Lucy-saves-Natsu, some hand holding (tenrou arc I won't forget about that, thank you anime team for adding that scene), and then comes the next pivotal moment. GMG arc and the dragon festival that follows.

By then I'd say Natsu and Lucy are very much in this friends-with-emotional-benefit zone: much more than friends, absolutely not yet lovers. But with Lucy's near-death experiences in her battles, Natsu has to refrain himself from getting involved each time Lucy gets beaten up - he becomes helpless, and the worry that's sowed inside of him gets watered each time Lucy still puts his faith in him, still trusts him to come out a winner. That entire section when Lucy's in the infirmary and she tells Natsu that her entire being trusts that Natsu can do anything, I think that's when Natsu falls in love.

Now wait!! He still doesn't quite understand that he loves her. But he understands that his feelings for Lucy are more tender than any other feelings he's ever had. He treasures her in a new, heavier way. She's become precious to him.

Precious. Where have we heard that... oh >:) ↓

Now the Dragon Festival was LETHAL in a trillion ways, but especially for nalu fans. The whole Future Lucy plot and the forehead touches and the Future Natsu and Future Lucy fighting in a wasteland moments and the Natsu skipping the final GMG match to save Lucy. And of course. Future Lucy dying. It's not the first time we see Natsu get so heavily affected - it happened in the tower of heaven, when Erza was ready to give her life up. But it is the first time we see Natsu see a friend die. Like, a team mate, someone who he's responsible for bringing to the guild. And after the whole GMG conundrum? Had a single more bad thing happened Lucy during the dragon festival, he’d probably turn into a demon right there and then. Dare I even say: their relationship was the strongest at this point in time.

After the GMG and the Dragon Festival, we get the Sun Village arc (I don’t like the Eclipse celestial spirit arc so I’m not counting it, same with Key of the Starry Sky arc — technically some nalu moments but not exactly building imo) and then another big one: Tartaros. Ooooh brother, THE best arc of all times, wish Mashima knew how to replicate it. But alas, he doesn’t.

The Tartaros arc isn’t exactly a pivotal moment where Natsu “falls in love” but rather an important aspect to understand his later actions. Like this guy goes through some pretty grusome stuff, learns a lot of complicated, bad things about himself, and finishes off the arc with losing Igneel — his father that he's spent ages searching for. Natsu's entire life is turned upside down, so he decides that he has to become stronger: cue, he heads off for a year to train.

His time away isn't very elaborated on — not from Natsu's viewpoint or Lucy's. But I think it's understood that he chose not to bring along Lucy because she could be put into danger too much for him to be able to concentrate on building his strength: he knew his training would be dangerous. During this time we also have the Gildarts-scene in chapter (idk i can't be bothered to look it up but y'all know the one ↓) which is kinda debated on — who was Natsu talking about here?

I'm still not certain on if it was a heart to heart on the Igneel-matter, or if it was about his guilt of leaving Lucy behind, like many theorise. I'm not even certain that it's limited to one of them — he could be talking about both. But at the very least, this entire year was one of those "distance makes the heart grow fonder" moments for him. He wanted to get back to his normal life with Lucy so bad. After all, it wasn't like him showing up at the GMG was in order to meet Lucy — had he wanted more training after that, he'd head off again, but I don't think he could physically bring himself to do it, even if it hadn't turned out that the guild had disbanded. Though that's just me speculating a bit.

And about the guild disbandment: oh jolly, he was not happy. He had finally taken the step to grow stronger to protect everyone in his beloved guild, and here Makarov went and disbanded it? Leaving Lucy completely alone? Lucy, who once jumped from a hella high tower because she was just so devoted to stay in the Fairy Tail guild? Yeah, I think that broke him a little. At this point there was just so much guilt involved around his whole relationship with Lucy, because now he had put her through so much pain only because he brought her to Fairy Tail that day in Hargeon.

The next arcs I'd say Natsu's trying to spend his time redeeming himself for the countless things he's done bad (getting the guild back together, just generally staying by Lucy's side as much as possible). And naturally he keeps getting hit by challenge after challenge (it's not easy to be a book written by his immortal brother, yk?). And it's even harder to watch Lucy die again, this time for real (he thinks bc he's stupid and also has a tumour that's nothing less than a ticking bomb) (give this guy a break lol).

Anyways: Lucy's death nr2. Natsu can't live a life without her. Now I know — he still doesn't quite understand that it's romantic love, but I think he does understand that it's pure love. No matter if kissing and reproducing was involved, all he knew was that a life without Lucy is completely unimaginable, so blinded by rage he becomes and decides to decapitate everyone in his way (sorry about that Gray).

The last couple of moments I'll go out of my way to mention as signs of love is 1. when he's won over Acnologia and falls towards Lucy, crazy relieved, saying "I'm home", 2. Gajeel pointing out Natsu's crush on Anna, Natsu basically saying "oh that's why I like Lucy so much" (I embellished it lol) and 3. "We're still gonna be together from here on out, right?" yeah that man won't ever leave her. Ever. It's just not an option.

Now since I've only talked about specific moments, here's what I have to say about his relationship with her in general:

Throughout the main plot line, we also see a shift in Natsu's behaviour. Someone here on Tumblr pointed out that Natsu always finds a way to shield Lucy if something unexpected happens, after not being able to shield her from Future Rogue. There's also the small detail of the order he calls out to people - it goes from being pretty random, to Lucy almost alwyas being on the top of the list: likely because she's always on the top of his head. And in general I'd say that Natsu initiates (i'm adding this entire paragraph bc i realised that you asked about when Natsu initiated stuff, more than when he fell in love lol) almost all of their interractions. It's Natsu who wants Lucy to join Fairy Tail, to form a team, he's the one who enters her apartment constantly, he's always searching her out - his interest in her is at a constant high so we never feel like we get "moments" that he's paying her extra attention. He has one setting, and it's "Lucy" cranked to the max. Lol.

I could also add some HYQ moments to the mix here, but they've been few and far inbetween, and also mostly played off as jokes, so I can't really consider them as moments when Natsu initiates his love. I guess his jealousy can be considered a sign? And when (spoilers from the manga) he runs around to protect her/save her from creepy-freaky-jail (the only one who made it freaky was him, with those wild fantasies lol). Maybe I need to jog my memory a bit, but so far there hasn't been any non-pervy nalu moments initiated by Natsu in the HYQ, aside from jealousy-chap. Sadly.

Hope this gave you the answer you were hoping for! Sorry it took so long, I started writing on it and realised it would be a bible so I put it in my drafts to fetch some pics to make it less wordy, and then I forgot about it, lol. But here it is!

[redmyeyes]

Fellow Travelers sex scenes

I can't stop thinking about what Matt and Jonny keep repeating over and over again in interviews, regarding the FT sex scenes. That, in the writing and filming it was important that:

No two scenes were the same.

Every sex scene informed the story.

The characters were not the same before the scene as they were after. That they were changed by it.

So, let's talk about them.

"Pretend"

establishment of hawk's usual modus operandi -- brief fucks with strangers. he keeps a tight rein on his desires and won't allow himself to want more.

2. "Fold them."

establishing dynamics, hawk is in control, tim is being (happily) led. par for the course for hawk (or is it?)

3. "I'm your boy, right?"

tim can play, too. this dynamic is not one-way. the 'power' in this relationship definitely does not lie solely with hawk. you might even say this flips the power dynamic on its head. hawk is GONE.

4. "Do you like it this way? Your life, like this?"

not a sex scene, but one of the first slow, tender aftermaths. clear now that, for both of them, this goes much much deeper than just sex.

5. "I belong to Hawkins Fuller."

tim showing that he's willing to meet hawk on his level. the submission and dominance are so intertwined here they can't be separated. it's the willingness of that submission, the willingness of that Belonging, that changes everything.

and tim begging (through provocation) hawk to acknowledge him / what they have, out loud. "who do you belong to" = "i love you, i need you, tell me you need me too."

6. "It's your turn tonight."

a fucked-up goodbye, on hawk's part. he really thinks this might be the last time he's allowed to see tim, and he says 'i love you' the only way he knows how -- with his body, with service.

7. "Your Honor, I stand before you accused of being sweet."

crucially, not a sex scene. even more crucially, there is no sex at all in episode 5, where they separate for the first (and, they think, last) time. instead, we're shown what they're really giving up -- this too sweet (painfully sweet) domesticity.

8. "We don't have to do what we used to do."

the horribly empty aftermath. where they give in to "sex", of a sort, but it's dry and horrifically painful and NOT AT ALL what either of them want. because what they want is intimacy, not sex. and they're not allowed this.

9. "Stay with me."

the botched threesome, where craig is an afterthought, an excuse for hawk and tim to be together, and even then, horrifically painful in the way they LONG for each other and for what they can't have.

10. "I want you to fuck me."

a true surrender. again, hawk showing what he wants the only way he knows how -- through his body -- giving tim his willing submission, body, heart and soul.

11. "We'll be colleagues. We'll see each other every day."

not technically a sex scene, but the truest expression of them 'making love' that we ever get on screen. returning to #1, it's the polar opposite of what hawk had previously allowed himself, and it's what he really wants -- all the intimacy he'll shortly be sacrificing.

12. "That better?" "Oh yeah."

finally, finally, after all those years, a return to the true intimacy they were craving.

[fluffypotatey]

To be honest I am a huge Nalu shipper. But the thing is I want to know the difference between the way Natsu cares about his guildmates and Lucy. Like what is the obvious difference since that boy sees every as Nakama so how can we say that the wag he cares about Lucy is different?

Like even when Erza passed away? (All the way back in first season there was a segment where the guild was gathered at her grave and all) Natsu was still very reactive. Plus he was also said to be depressed even when Lisanna passed.

What's the difference between all of them and Lucy?

the fact that he stayed. the fact that before he met Lucy, Natsu wasn't one to stay in a group or even want to work with anyone besides Happy at the start of the story. hell, he was ready to just file Lucy down as "New Guildmate" once they reached Fairy Tail

but then, Lucy doesn't leave. she follows him on his mission to save Macao despite her not needing to or even really understanding everything about it. she stays and then fights with him and saves him. it's no secret that Natsu is strong and can take care of himself really well. he's been going on solo missions for years now, and no one has really stopped him, but that means he's been in a lot of sticky situations where he and Happy are on their own and have no backup. and yet, without asking, Lucy offers it

and i think this is the moment when Natsu considers that maybe it's okay to have someone there to have his back (sans Happy)

"but Natsu only needed Lucy for the next quest because of the requirements," well, Natsu also wouldn't have taken or even considered that quest if it weren't for Lucy, yeah? he was not a team player (in the picking job's sense) or really wanted other people to help him on his quests sans Happy. and then he goes and picks a job that caters to their team whilst ensuring that Lucy can't say no

or maybe i'm reading too much into it 🤷🏻‍♀️

or maybe Natsu's got horrible abandonment issues that he will latch onto people so fast (Igneel & Lisanna) but also cause him to distance himself so far when left behind (his 1st time at the guild, Lisanna's death). Erza and Gray are Natsu's closet friends after Lisanna and yet they cannot reach him when he closes himself off. and then we have Lucy, who stuck by and had his back, so who is to say Natsu didn't make some contingencies to ensure whether or not she'd join him?

but maybe it's the rose, colored ship glasses i have on

because yeah, Natsu cares for all of his guildmates. the power of friendship is his biggest motivator. when we meet Natsu, our first introductions of him is defending his guild's reputation from Bora (who was using it as a guise for human trafficking) and saving Macao. and our 1st big arc (Galuna Island), where Natsu adamantly refuses to allow Gray to use Ice Shell and sacrifice himself despite how antagonistic they've been to each other. we get Natsu 100% at Erza's defense throughout the Tower of Heaven and he is even ready to defend Wendy though they only met hours ago

Natsu is a character with a bleeding heart and cannot help but wear it on his sleeve, but we don't really see him allow others to fight his battles or have his back until Lucy comes in. to be honest, i don't even think he had his heart on his sleeve until Lucy. he still has a bleeding heart (i don't think anything could stop that), but he was not ready to be open in receiving company because he was so used to it being ripped away from him

that being said: of all the characters he interacts with, he finds Lucy to be someone compatible enough for him to start going on team missions and inviting her on them (for example, his 1st S-class mission, which he stole, he went to her house to show it to her. the fact that part of the reward was a celestial key might be a coincidence, but i wouldn't doubt it as Natsu and Happy's trump card in case she refused)

but yeah, the difference is that he stayed and didn't push her away at the beginning, but instead continued to invite her along with him to the point that doing a mission without Lucy wasn't his regular anymore. compared to the rest of the guild, of whom he spent most of his childhood with, even if he spoke to no one, they would still be around and talk to him anyway. he might not invite them on job and only challenge them to fights, but the guild is his home and a constant in his life, a constant he needs (bc heavy abandonment issues).

"okay, but he still pushed her away after he watched Igneel die right in front of him. and he left the guild for a whole year, too. so what's the difference there?" you may ask.

so 1) Natsu never thought the guild would disband. he returns to Fiore after a year and is the last to know that they disbanded. he assumed, like all the other times before and while he and others were sealed for 7 years, that Fairy Tail would still be there when he returned. he assumed that his disappearance would not impact so hard because the guild would still be around and Lucy would have the others with her

which, did not happen :)

and like, so many guild members go off on jobs, quests, or even just leave for an indiscriminate amount of time (which i, personally, believe was his rationality for leaving), so him being gone for a year was nothing! right? no harm, eh? his plan was never to be gone forever :))))

2) he just watched his father die and lose any chance of having some semblance of a long term reunion with Igneel. he literally lost one of his main driving motivations for getting stronger and taking jobs. before Fairy Tail, before anyone, it was Igneel. and to learn that a) Igneel was always with him to begin with and b) he only got to see him for less than a day after 14 years of nothing......i would feel lost too ngl

man's needed space from everybody. and he also needed comfort, but Natsu has been shown not to really be the character who asks to receive comfort (and when he does receive it, it's usually when he's already emotionally compromised). he is in the habit of shutting people out after being abandoned or losing someone close to him, with his next rationale being to "get stronger" in order to prevent what happened in the past to ever happen in the future.

anyway

what makes this different? well for one, he sent the letter only to Lucy (or it's implied since no one else is shown getting one) because of how the two spend most of their time together. even the line that goes with the panel makes it sound like Natsu is unsure on how the note will be received (maybe even hesitant? but that could be my own hopes)

and one of the 1st people he reunites with after a year is Lucy and we get such a similar parallel to the first chapter of Fairy Tail between the two as if the narrative itself is slotting them together to say "ah yes, now everything is back to normal and new journeys can begin"

but yeah, this is just a long way of saying, that Natsu does love his friends and guildmates but even when he is close to them, he kept to himself (and Happy) and sort of stayed in their orbit but always with some emotional distance because of his fear of abandonment. and then you have Lucy where he will stay for and allow her to orbit around him and he will invite to new adventures no questions asked

that's the difference

[angstandhappiness]

Interesting

Question: How can we say Natsu treats Lucy differently compared to the rest of his nakama? We have seen him being angry emotional during Erza "funeral" (in the first season) and his reaction when topic of Lisanna's death comes up. He even blushed when Lisanna used to talk about marriage and all (just before she passed away when Happy and Natsu have another fight). He never really expressed any physical interest in Lucy EVER and is mostly lukewarm in his reactions unless she is in danger or hurt. He didn't even hesitate when he was asked to kiss Lucy.

So how can we say that Lucy is different from all these people? I hope you understood my question.

(PS I am a huge NaLu shipper but I hate how they handle serious moments)

Well, I think that we have to clear something up, and its that Lucy and Natsu are more than Lucy and Natsu.

Natsu's world doesn't revolve around Lucy, and Lucy's world doesn't revolve around Natsu. They are their own persons with their own dreams and goals (and this is completely fine)

Natsu is a very passionate person, who loves his friends and family, he has known Erza and Lisanna since they were children, it is obvious that he will be emotional about their "deaths". Just like he was with future Lucy's.

Why do I think Natsu treats Lucy differently? Well, because he does. Literally. Not only does Natsu avoid any kind of (serious) fight with Lucy, but he is emotionally vulnerable with her, he becomes soft. I'm going to focus on Erza and Lucy because we don't have enough interactions with Lisanna.

Natsu is an extremely violent person, even when Erza was distressed his solution was punching her (even if it was for her own good or not),

Now, we have never seen Natsu use violence to console Lucy (or in general), they are always soft, comforting moments

He just can't hurt her, at least not willingly, it's beyond him.

Just like when he had to fight snake lucy and completely stopped thinking she was back

I want to pinpoint his reactions to different deaths, because even those are different

When Lissana, erza or even Igneel died, Natsu felt helpless and sad

Lucy? He wanted to burn the world down, kill his best friend out of grieve and then kill himself in the process just because he thought he had lost her forever. (I talk about this here)

-.-.-.-

About the physical interest, I kind of disagree, It is true that he doesn't show as much physical desire like other men in FT but he does in his own way. We have seen natsu fantasize over Lucy

be jealous of other men for her attention

and become possessive of her

He is not responsive because almost every time they have a physical moment he sees it coming, is mentally prepared for it or he initiates them.

NOW, what happens when Lucy initiates or he doesn't see it coming?

My man becomes a blushing mess (this is mainly shown in official art tho)

but he never shows jealousy or possessiveness towards erza, because Erza is not Lucy

[lazylittledragon]

just realised i never posted any of the stuff i did for the alternative steddie dads au

[t3chborb]

Cuddling the big scary robot would save me actually.

[breathe-2am]

Buck as in young. Buck as in up. Buck as in the trend. Buck as in the fight against restraint. Buck as in his first scene is him fuckin in a stolen firetruck. Buck as in short and one syllable and easy to shout. Buck as in bark. Buck as in the punchy B, the clacking K. Buck as onomatopoeia.

Evan as in two syllables. Evan as in soft vowels and lower lips curled under teeth. Evan as in exhale. Evan as in gentle. Evan as in sighed. Evan as in stressed, as in ground out, as in snapped. Evan as in hurt, as in pain, as in trouble. Evan as trouble. Evan as in be still. Be quiet. Behave. Be Daniel.

Evan as in there were three other Evans at the academy. Evan as in everyone calls me Buck.

Evan shortened to Buck. Evan grew up to Buck. Evan compartmentalized to Buck. Evan Buckley. Buck. An offered hand, a tight grip, a firm handshake. Buck as in being a firefighter is my life okay? It is the only thing that I have ever done that is important and that mattered. Without it I don't have- Buck as in you will still be Buck. And we will all love you. As Buck.

Evan as in take care. Evan as in I think you're adorable. Evan as in nobody meant to exclude you. Evan as in you have nothing to apologize for.

Evan as in Tommy's.

Evan as Tommy's.

[mothdotz]

Saving . . .

[sunbabycentral]

I've not posted my writing verbatim here, but I wanted to post a bit of Will making a camp necklace for Nico, so... please enjoy!

Nico's Camp Necklace

“What are you doing?” Will jumps, holding his hand over his chest. Melody stares at him, her blonde hair in a braid over her shoulder.

“By the gods, Mel, you scared the mess outta me.” He says, putting his paintbrush down. She narrows her eyes, zeroing in on what he was working on.

“That did not answer my question.” She says, and Will sighs, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “What are you doing?”

“Nico doesn’t have a camp necklace.” He mutters, and a smirk quirks up his sister’s lips, Melody stepping forward to examine the beads on the desk.

“So you are… making him one, non?” She asks, picking up one of the dried beads to inspect it. It wasn’t exactly the same, since Will’s not much of an artist, but he figures it’ll be the thought that counts.

“…Yes.” He sighs, defeated. “I am. I want him to feel…welcome here. I want him to stay.” Melody hums, setting the bead down.

“You could just tell him that you have been pining over him since Manhattan, you know.” She says, flipping her braid over her shoulder. “That would be much simpler, non? Much… easier?” Will scowls at her.

“I’m not gonna push him into anything. Plus, he likes someone else.” Melody shakes her head.

“You think that he likes someone.” She points out. “But we are not so blind as you, Will. And you are not as… how you say…” She thinks for a minute, muttering in French. “Discreet? As you think you are.” His frown only deepens. “All this to say, just be normal Will Solace around him, and do the things that you do, and this di Angelo fellow will see how great of a man you are.” She pats his shoulder.

“Is this a pep talk?” He asks with a laugh, and Melody snorts out a giggle.

“Ma chérie is a daughter of the goddess of love, what can I say?” She smiles. “Plus, I would do anything for you, and that includes playing this… What is it, wingwoman? As you Americans say. I do like to see you happy, Will. Nico makes you happy.” Will flushes a deeper red at that.

“He does. I like being his friend first.” Will says quietly, and Melody just hums.

“I know that. But don’t hide your feelings out of fear, frérot. I have a good feeling in my heart for you two. As does Nova. After all, she has a bet with that Drew.” Will rubs his temples. He’s been ignoring that on purpose.

“I’m gonna pretend I don’t know about that and finish this up.” He says, and Melody nods, turning, her braid swishing behind her back. “And Mel?” She turns her head slightly. “Thanks for the pep talk.”

She smiles, her blue eyes lighting up. “It is no problem, Will. You are my most favorite of all brothers.”

---

“What?” Nico says when Will walks in, his eyes narrowed.

“What do you mean what?” Will asks, a grin turning up his lips.

“You’re in a good mood.” Nico comments, hands fiddling with the sunglobe on his lap.

“I’m always in a good mood, that’s not new.” Nico squints, looking him up and down. He shakes his head.

“No, you’re in a strangely cheerful mood, which means either something happened or you did something that you’re probably vibrating with how badly you want to tell someone, so out with it.”

Will practically bounces over to Nico, dumping the necklace in his lap. Nico stares down at it, before he picks it up, running his fingers over the beads.

“Where did you get this?” He asks, inspecting the beads closer. “I didn’t think they just had beads lying around or whatever.” Will clears his throat, shuffling his feet a bit in embarrassment.

“They… don’t.” Nico’s eyebrows furrow, and Will can’t help but feel his heart clench at how adorable Nico looks when he is confused.

“So how did you get this then? With the beads…” Will flushes deeply, biting down on his lower lip.

“I… made it.” Nico looks up at him sharply, his eyes wide.

“You what?” He asks, his voice a little hoarse.

“I made it. I painted the beads. I used my own as reference.” Will says sheepishly, and Nico just stares at him, the necklace with two beads on it in his hand.

“…Why?” Nico asks, and Will comes closer, sitting on the stool next to Nico’s bed.

“You said you didn’t have one.” He says simply, and Nico’s eyes dart away from Will, clutching onto the leather cord.

“That… you didn’t have to do this for me, Will.” Nico says, and Will shrugs.

“It’s part of being a camper, and you… you said you wanted to stay. We’re getting new beads in a couple of weeks, and I wanted you to be able to paint yours with the rest of us.” Nico’s lips quirk into a bit of a smile, just enough that Will feels his heart clench again. Gods above, he needs to control himself.

“How did you know how many beads I should have?” Nico looks at Will, his dark eyes curious. Will cringes. How is he supposed to say that he remembers exactly when Nico came to camp without sounding like a lovesick creep?

“I uh… I remembered that you came in the winter after Thalia’s tree was healed. So that means before this bead.” He points to the first bead, and Nico’s eyes follow his finger. “So that means you’ve been here for two summers.”

“Well, not here.” Nico mutters. Will frowns.

“It doesn’t matter that you weren’t physically here. You deserve these beads, Nico.” Nico just sighs, waving his hand.

“I don’t know how to put this on.” He says, and Will brightens up.

“I can tie it on for you!” He chirps, and Nico just stares at him, an unreadable expression in his eyes. He holds Will’s gaze for a moment before he sighs again and nods, sitting up in his bed.

Will takes the necklace in his hand and reaches behind Nico’s neck, leaning in closely so he can see what he’s doing. He ties the necklace swiftly, making sure it won’t come off accidentally.

He feels Nico stiffen slightly with how close he is, and the quick intake of breath from the younger boy. Will’s sure Nico can hear how loud his heart is beating, and he tries to calm it, breathing in deeply.

He doesn't expect to be reminded of home. The smell of the rain against the stones outside of his grandmama’s house, when he would play in the rain, dancing around with his mama. Will hesitates. Nico smells like Texas to him. Like home. The rain.

Nico clears his throat, and Will pulls back, a flush creeping up the back of his neck. Nico shifts in the bed, looking away from Will.

“Thanks.” Nico says quietly, and Will just smiles.

“No problem, Neeks.”

[moonmacabre01]

Little kid Meta. If you even care.

[paintpanic]

Return of Unpaid Intern Waddle Dee

[thelionandtheeagle]

a quarter century of comics history in between

and Dick still just ain't about that Slandering Slade Life ya know

Deathstroke (1991) #7 --- Teen Titans (2016) #8

[redmyeyes]

I cannot stop thinking about 1968 Tim, given the new context of 1957 Tim.

This Tim -- who can barely let himself look at Hawk--

wracked with guilt and shame and longing--

and YES, it's partly about the (not vow but) practice of celibacy he's trying to keep, but more than that, it's this--

not wanting to let himself fall back into the trap of believing.

because, last time, it tore him apart.

[bumblebeehug]

Btw Natsu didn’t “snap” last chapter. He called out to Lucy, it’s different. Snapping implies that he was mad or upset over Lucy’s actions, but I truly don’t think he was: he just noticed that she wasn’t fighting, and he knew she was needed in this fight, so he cried out for her.

I’m upset over people calling him angry, that he snapped and got mad and yelled at her. That’s literally not what happened: Natsu saying “Just shut your mouth for once!” With a dark, clearly very angry face, when she unknowingly talked about Lisanna before she returned from Edolas - that is him snapping.

(I could only find the scene on TikTok lol, credits go to @dailydragneel even if I edited it a bit)

Maybe it’s not that deep, but I feel like the nuances matter. There was nothing that indicated that Natsu was angry with Lucy, the “Lucy, please…” panel showed more that he felt helpless, knowing that their efforts didn’t seem to make a difference in the fight. So he called out for Lucy. (Here’s the panels so you can compare with the actual angry Natsu)

In the hyq he looks upset and stressed, but I don’t think those emotions were aimed at her. Maybe I’m choosing to see it differently, but I think he’s upset and desperate in the situation, and that he’s raising his voice and straining himself because he’s in the middle of a fight.

Anyways that’s my two cents.

(Nice addition in the tags by @fleuve-des-etoiles )

[angstandhappiness]

Interesting

Thank you so much for replying to my previous ask in such detail (I loved it and really, really appreciate your efforts 🙏)

I just started rewatching the anime and I saw the focus they kept on Lisanna hence my doubt. From Erza I felt it was more of a sibling type dynamic (that Erza sees Natsu and Gray more as her younger brothers) but they really pushed the Lisanna narrative in the beginning. And given the way he reacted differently to Lucy and Lisanna like becoming flustered with Lisanna I wondered.

Please do talk about the killing himself part too.

I love reading your analysis!! Thank you so much for your hard work ❣️ (Feel free to push in NaLu scenes that show it their bond more obviously)

Hi!! I'm happy you liked it, I'm going to try and talk about Natsu and Lisanna a little bit more and then I'll start with the whole killing himself thing. (following this post)

I think the reason they focused on Natsu and Lisanna at the beginning is because a lot of studios/mangakas have the need to create a couple, even better if it's an MC. And pairing Lucy and Natsu up from the beginning doesn't make any sense, they just met and didn't know each other.

Lisanna is a really important person to Natsu, although they hardly interact anymore.

She supported Natsu when he first came to the guild and became his first friend. Not only that, she helped him with Happy, hence the whole wife and husband thing, they represented a family.

Natsu is not as stupid as they make him out to be, he knows what marriage is, exclusivity to a partner

and things only adults are supposed to do.

He knew what Lisanna meant by "we'll get married in the future," and if she had never "died," NaLi would have made sense.

But it happend, Lisanna "died" and Natsu had to get over her. This doesn't mean forget her tho, as I said, Natsu LOVES his family and friends, forgetting about lisanna just because she died would not make any sense. It takes time to accept death, and after Igneel's disappearance, the death of lisanne hit him, HARD.

The only thing he could do was getting over her, but not forgetting her.

And that's when Lucy comes into the picture.

She keeps bumping into him, buys him food for "no reason" and talks all mighty and good about his family, basically, she gives him good vibes. He takes her to FT and for some reason she follows him everywhere and before he knows it, he wants to partner up with her.

This is development by natsu's part, he is ready to open up to new people (Lucy) and pretty much they become attached to the hip, because "she is nice", yeah, that's his reason.

Lisanna wasn't meant to come back, mashima himself said so, the only reason they brought her back was because the animation staff preasured him to because they liked her. NaLi is not happening because Mashima never had anything planned for her, and I'm not saying this because I'm a NaLu fan, it's just facts. Thats why she is so useless in the manga, because mashima doesn't know what to do with her. She is just there.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Let's beging with the whole suicide thing

I want to clarify that this is MY PERSPECTIVE, you might agree or disagree with me and thats completely fine.

Let me beging with one thing, and that is that natsu IS NOT SUICIDAL.

He wants to live his life at the fullest and he looks forward to the future.

Then why do I say he wanted to kill himself? because when lucy "died", he was so full of grief that he just didn't care any more.

One thing that they make clear is that the demons of zeref, once awaken, have only one thought in their minds: KILLING ZEREF

Lucy's "death" is what awoke END, Natsu felt so desperate and he was so full of grief that he literally abandoned his humanity.

She was gone and he blamed zeref, because if he had never started the war, she would be alive, that was enough for him to abandon his morals and look forward to kill someone.

Now comes the important part: his confrontation with grey

This part is really important because it shows that Natsu is aware of his actions.

If he really was completely possessed by END, then he would not have hesitated and warn grey about getting out of his way, he would have just killed him and keep going, but Natsu warns him several times

Until he doesn't give a damn anymore and attacks him.

Natsu was adamant about going after zeref and killing him, but he is also aware that if he does so, he will die. Zeref told him so himself.

But lucy is dead, so he just doesn't care anymore.

Igneel talked to him about looking at the future

But Lucy wasn't in that future anymore, so he can't look forward for it, because it died the moment Lucy did. if she wasn't in it, why bother? He knew that killing zeref was killing himself.

Gray literally saved Natsus life confronting him

This whole panel is foreshadowing to Lucy dying and Natsu wanting to die because of it

[justaravingwritingdesk]

isn't it just tragic how a woman like yoo sangah changed throughout the scenarios just to survive? she's not weak or fragile in any sense – still can't forget how she got back at her manager and team leaders in such petty ways – but she does have her principles.

she's still kind, yes, but see how her kindness at the beginning of the story is different from her kindness in the middle and in the end? she used to be kind for the sake of kindness – what hsy called “naïve”. she loses that naïveté soon enough, but it never went away. it still shines through, but those times grow less and less with every scenario. it's not the cruel kindness kdj and yjh possess, but that doesn't make it any less sharper.

she's stronger, but at the cost of weakness. she used to show vulnerability among friends, but then somewhere along the way she learns to never fully let her guard down. she's still open with the company, but she's also more reserved than before.

her skills from before the apocalypse were practiced because they could be useful in sometime in life; her skills in the apocalypse were nurtured because they were vital to her everyday survival.

and everything, everything circles back to the one “friend” she kept from before the apocalypse: kim dokja. it's ironic how much the man is both the cause and condition for her change, his status as oldest dream notwithstanding.

it's kim dokja who shows her how kindness can be detrimental to personal survival in their new world, but it's also him who shows her how it helps preserve what “humanity” they have left. it's kim dokja's absence that forces her to abandon her old kindness and reforge it into the sharper one she learns to wield. it's with his absence that she learns to treasure what little kindness remained in the world and in herself.

it's kim dokja who first lets her grow, albeit not in a physical way. she grows as a leader, a protector, a peacemaker – fitting for her as a former employee in human resources. she grows in a different way without him. yoo sangah learns to kill in cold blood, learns to shut away the guilt and horror she feels. she learns to muffle the pain of holding too much power in a weak body.

that she can understand demonic language because she learned spanish is something she indirectly attributes to kim dokja as well. it's the first of her many pre-apocalypse skills that she learns to use. it certainly isn't the last.

she doesn't blame dokja for the mess the world has become. but after learning of his identity as the son of lee sookyung, she certainly can't deny that this whole tragedy is probably a mirror to his own personal tragedy, a tragedy she's not even sure he remembers anymore.