#i'll even talk about gajevy

[dootznbootz]

Hi there! Can call me "Mads" or "Dootz". I don't mind either way! :D

I am a Trashcat, member of the Worm family, and the god of cheese.

I'm into so many goddamn fandoms and I'll even slap-up things I just simply find pretty/interesting but probably the main ones as of now are:

Greek Mythology (Mostly Odyssey) MAJOR hyperfixation now. I am in love with Penelope.

Fairy Tail

Legend of Zelda

My main ships are OdyPen (OFC), Helen x Menelaus, nalu, gruvia, gajevy, jerza, and zelink (all)

Those are the main ones you'll find BUT like I said, search for something and you'll find it.

Avatar (both Last Airbender and Legend of Korra)

Fullmetal Alchemist

Pokemon

Gravity Falls

BTW, I get not wanting to follow me if you don't want random shit on your dashboard. You don't have to follow me to say hi and have conversations though! I'm on Tumblr to make friends, not followers!

Just don't be a piece of shit and we'll get along fine!

AO3 account:

(currently writing an Odypen fic (first chap is up), there's 1 Odypen snippet up. 3 Nalu fics (one isn't finished 🫣someday not anytime soon)

Always feel free to say hi! :D

Even if you're shy or don't always know what to say, I like to chatter and am always open to making new friends! If I become too much or something then let me know! (or give a one word message! I'll get it! :D )

My big ass essay I want people to see:

Fuzzy worm above was done by the lovely iroissleepdeprived !

Tag guide:

#Mad rambles : My posts or posts that I chatter in

#Mad writes : My writing/fanfiction

#Water Wife : My silly 3/4th Naiad version of Penelope who I love so very much

#shot by odysseus : My tag for my own Tagamemnon posts in general. The joke is that I love Penelope so much that Odysseus is shooting me like he would a suitor.

#my headcanons : ...My headcanons

#waiting for proteus : Seal tag for Menelaus! From book 4 of the Odyssey! :D

#save me morally gray circe : tag for anything talking about Circe and how she's cool as her fucked up potion making, terrifying, goddess self.

#essay : ... ya know

#Mad memes : most of my memes :P

#Mad character design : exactly that.

#GIFT : lovely gifts by lovely people 🥹

#___ Dork: my unique weird tag for fairy tail characters

[missdeepend]

The Fairy Tail Fandom is so Powerful

I should first start by saying, Fairy Tail was my first anime other tahn the one episode of AoT that turned me away from anime and the few scenes I watched as a little girl of Pokemon, Sailor Moon, and Beyblade. It was the first show I sat down and watched and felt completely moved by with everything going on and it came at a very crucial point in my life. So there I was, roughly 13-14 years old (Almost 10 years for me now) sitting in computer class when I decided to take a "which anime are you quiz". This quiz was going to be my shot at getting into anime again. If I enjoyed it, anime was meant for me and if now, well that was that. So I took the quiz and my answer...was Fairy Tail. I can't tell you how I watched it for the first time, most likely through Netflix or even some other website but I did and I fell in love. It was everything I could ask for and more. The characters- I loved. The story- I loved. The artwork- I loved. It felt like a show made for me.

Now back then Little Deep End here had a small group of friends and shortly after the 3 other girls loved it too. We would always joke about the characters and, well, Gray being naked. It was something we bonded over and expanded out into other manga until eventually... I had to move. The last thing I had gotten from them was a picture of Gray with the words 'naked popsicle' written next to him. Something I kept until around my senior year of high school when I decided to let it go from its prison of my jewelry box.

But there I was, the new girl in school and well it wasn't the worst. I made friends and we bonded over things but I never met anyone with the same passion for this show in person as I once had with my previous friends. Well, that was until I explored Wattpad. Oh boy.

It was on here that I dove into the Fairy Tail community head on. I had already created ocs to join roleplays, with my proudest being Setsuko Rin- who at the time was just another ice mage. I read all the stories about Nalu, Gruvia, Gajevy (I wasn't too much of a Jerza fan but you get the point). It was like a safe haven. I couldn't discuss my passion for Fairy Tail with anyone else but these people but I didn't mind.

This all has a point I promise. Fairy Tail brings out something in its fans that not a lot of fandoms have and I think it has to do with the themes of Fairy Tail. Yes we may feel lonely in person but the guild was somewhere where the least welcomed were welcomed. Those that are outcasts with no friends and those that were the most popular could all come together and talk about how much Fairy Tail changed their lives.

I'm not going to lie and say that Fairy Tail hasn't had its moments in the show and that the community is perfect. However, I will say that you could mention Fairy Tail to any fan and they would welcome you with open arms. I feel like this show teaches a good level of respect and kindness that people aren't used to seeing within fandoms anymore. I can't even tell you how much it warmed my heart to see all the videos standing up for Fairy Tail within the last few years coming out to shut down the negativity it was getting and the people standing up and celebrating its return with 100 Year Quest.

It really goes to show you that a fandom like the Fairy Tail fandom is truly something else. Not to mention Todd Haberkorn being the best voice cast for Natsu there ever could be and same for Cherami Leigh as Lucy. Honestly all those actors both in the US and Japan (as well as the others worldwide) deserve so much praise for growing with us. Even if we shouldn't have been watching some of those scenes that we were at our age.

Anywayssss I just wanted to ramble a bit because this community does warm my heart. But I'll see you all later in the Deep End!!

[acacia-may]

What are your top 5 Fairy Tail ships? And your top 5 Fairy Tail Brotps/Families?

Aww what a wholesome ask, Anon! Thank you so much!! 🥰 I've decided to split your ask (I hope that's okay?) because just talking about the romantic ships has turned into a fairly long post, and I am still struggling to narrow my favorite Brotp/Found Families down to just 5. 😅 There are just so, so many good ones in that category because platonic relationships was something Fairy Tail did best (in my opinion). I'm working on it though and will hopefully have that list posted within the next couple of days. (Spoilers: The Raijinshuu are Number #1...the rest are TBD 😂). For now, here are my Top 5 Romantic Ships in Fairy Tail. Narrowing it down was relatively easy, but I did struggle with the actual ranking of these so the order might be a little fuzzy... I like/enjoy other ships too, but these are definitely my top favorites!

Top 5 Fairy Tail Romantic Ships

Gajeel Redfox x Levy McGarden (Gajevy)

Jellal Fernandes x Erza Scarlet (Jerza) and Edo!Jellal/Mystogan x Edo!Erza Knightwalker (Mystwalker)

Elfman Strauss x Evergreen (Elfever)

Alzack Connell x Bisca Mulan (Connell) (AlBis)

TIE: Erik/Cobra x Kinana (Kinabra) and Wally Buchanan x Millianna (Do they have a ship name?)

I've also included a little bit of discussion under the cut for kicks & giggles! Thank you so much again for the ask! 🥰

(Warning: Some Spoilers for Fairy Tail & a few for 100yq even though I haven’t read that one yet 😅)

(1) Gajeel Redfox x Levy McGarden (Gajevy)-- I talked about these two at length here so I'll try not to ramble too, but their relationship was just such an incredible journey. I think it can be really easy to rush an enemies-to-lovers relationship, but what Gajeel and Levy had was really enemies-to-friends-to-lovers and this kind of slow burn in which Gajeel feels genuine remorse for the actions he took in the beginning, seeks Levy's forgiveness and tries to make it up to her for no other reason than that he knows he messed up and knows he owes her an apology and atonement. There is something so genuine in the way that he slowly earns Levy's trust, then they build this really beautiful friendship with each other based on that trust and mutual respect over the course of the series. I think it is really out of that friendship that their romantic love for each other grows and develops, and it is that love that really inspires both of them to become the best versions of themselves. It is an incredibly compelling storyline for them (especially for Gajeel who grew and changed so much over the series) and it was one of my favorite plotlines in the entirety of Fairy Tail. Also, that great banter they had was just *chef's kiss,* and don't even get me started about that confession sequence! It was everything!! I love them so much!!

(2) Jellal Fernandes x Erza Scarlet (Jerza) and Edo!Jellal/Mystogan x Edo!Erza Knightwalker (Mystwalker) -- I've discussed Jerza in the past (here), and while I generally see Edo!Jerza as kind of its own kind of thing, it's definitely tied with Earthland Jerza as one of my absolute favorite ships in Fairy Tail and so I went ahead put them together on this list for clarity. Like Gajevy, Jerza just such a journey, and I love that it was given the chance to actually be a slow burn and that the characters were given the chance to actually grow, change, and develop as individuals before pursuing that relationship with each other so that Jellal's redemption arc isn't cheapened by the romance. Erza is inspiring him to be better, yes, but it's so clear that he is taking these steps to better himself because he wants to not because he wants something from her (i.e. her love or a relationship). Jellal truly wants to be the best version of himself, the man that Erza believes he can be, regardless of whether or not he ever gets to be with her, and that's very selfless and beautiful, I think. On Erza's side, she freely chooses to love Jellal for who he is, not an idealized, fantasy version of him. She knows, possibly better than anyone, that Jellal is a broken and flawed man, but she also chooses to see the good in him and chooses to love him for who he really is. It's really like she's saying to him: "I know you've made mistakes, but you are not the sum of your mistakes, so I choose to love you anyway."

Mystwalker is just fun! We don't know a lot about them, obviously (besides the fact that they're canon of course. Gotta love the little princess!!) I really loved Mystogan as a character in general so I was definitely always hoping for good things for him, and I really loved imagining how his relationship with Erza Knightwalker ended up developing since we didn't really get to see much about how they ultimately got together.

(3) Elfman Strauss x Evergreen (Elfever)-- I have an upcoming bingo ask about them so I don't want to ramble too much, but as I talked about a little bit here already, these two are just that perfect balance between hilarious and adorable. On a certain level they both have such big personalities that are so wildly different from each other that it's almost goofy to think of them actually working out in relationship, but they complement each other so perfectly and have such a strong foundation of trust and mutual respect which I honestly wasn't expecting at first but was wonderful and delightful. I think the story does such a good job of showing us that they protect each other, sacrifice for each other, and want the best for each other, and ultimately they care about each other deeply, even if they don't always show it.

(4) Alzack Connell x Bisca Mulan (Connell) (AlBis) -- Gosh I shipped this one from back in the beginning from Battle of Fairy Tail onward and was rooting for them so much! I quite literally cheered when it was revealed they had gotten married during the time skip, and I was taking screenshots of Asuka and texting them to my sister like a proud grandma! 😂 They're best friends who have true love, a wedding, and a baby! I'm not sure what more there is to say about them than that. It's the ship of dreams, friends! I mean just look at them...

(5) TIE: Erik/Cobra x Kinana (Kinabra) AND Wally Buchanan x Milianna (Do they have a ship name? I don't know, but they should)

I just couldn't decide between them, I'm sorry. I love both of these pairings so much (though they are a little more obscure and out of the box 😅). I swear Erik and Kinana are the most likely couple in Fairy Tail to settle down on a farm and raise a whole hoard of kiddos together, and their entire storyline was just so sweet. I loved to see how Erik's love for Kinana brought out the best in him and my heart just ached when he sacrificed himself/turned himself into the authorities in order to protect her! 🥺💕

And Millianna and Wally are just such a delightful couple who lights up the screen every time they're together. I loved how supportive and encouraging they were of each other (even of each other's quirks), their strong foundation of friendship, and their absolutely wonderful (and extremely entertaining) banter. That scene where they're having that playful "fight" over whether Natsu is actually a cat or not was honestly one of my favorite moments in the series. We didn't get a lot of them (and I really wish there was so much more of them and their relationship), but they have true love, okay? 😽💖

[natsubeatsrock]

My Incredibly Unpopular Thoughts On: Nastu

Unfortunately, this the final edition of “My Incredibly Unpopular Thoughts”. This has been a fun series to write and is part of the reason I’ve gotten to where I am in the fandom. Some of my favorite posts to have made are parts of this series. And so, I’ve decided to finish this series off by talking about my favorite character.

Let me be clear. This doesn’t mean that I’m done talking about Fairy Tail here. I just feel that it’s finally time to retire this series. If you can’t tell, it’s been fairly infrequent and writing these kinds of posts are a pain to write. I started this particular post in March and coming up with the right words to say for everything I wanted to talk about was harder than I would have thought. I want to spend my time working other smaller projects/”mini-series”.

I don't talk about my namesake much on this blog. Sure, I mention things about him whenever I talk about his ships or my want for an apology. However, I haven't said anything about my own personal thoughts about Natsu in a long post dedicated to just him.

So, in honor of Fairy Tail ending (months after this is coming out) and hitting 9,000 posts, I've decided to get as many of my thoughts on my favorite character as I can write down and available for the public eye.

First things first, I haven’t said this in a while, so I might as well. The reason behind my URL “Natsu beats rock” comes from chapter 418. If you remember, Natsu’s flames after the time skip were hot enough to melt the rock structure of the stadium. Hence, Natsu is so powerful that he’s able to beat rocks. 

Literally every other meaning behind the name you can think of, including my other series “Opinions I’ll Probably get Stoned For”, came along after the fact. And the name for that series was just because I was afraid of being attacked for the stuff I was going to be saying. Looking back, there’s an additional reason for this name: Natsu is so overpowered, he can melt destroy rocks. Though, in hindsight, I believe that the name @natsubeatstime would achieve that end a lot clearer, thanks to chapter 536.

Before the cut, I want to bring back an issue I mentioned the last time I said anything about doing something before a cut in this series. Do I think Natsu is the main character? To many people, this feels like a stupid debate, but I'd venture to guess different people will probably think different answers. Surprisingly, this is a big debate in the fandom: Is Natsu the protagonist or is Lucy? There is a lot of back and forth on this subject and many people you know are probably on different sides of this debate.

When I did my post about Lucy, I gave my own answer. Technically, they both are important, but I take preference to Natsu. I stand by that so that's done.

Onto two of Natsu’s most important relationships: Igneel and Happy.

Natsu’s relationship with Igneel suffers from a serious issue with Mashima’s writing of Fairy Tail. There's no focus on it. It's supposed to be a serious and important thing to Natsu, but it's hard to get that when we see no focus on that. Now, a simple solution to that, and a big inspiration for last year's Nali week post is that Natsu gave up on the idea of finding Igneel again. I this gets hinted at a few times, but it should have been more implied throughout the series. There are some more things I have to say about this, but I plan on doing so in other posts.

Natsu and Happy have the best friendship in the series. I think it's to the point that Lucy doesn't seem near as close to Natsu as Happy. And between them, Naruto and Kurama, Ichigo and Kon, and even Haru and Plue, they have my favorite bond between the main character and his nonhuman companion. (I was going to make a ship joke here, but I didn’t because of course. Instead, why don’t you look at this link of someone educating me on Kinabra lore.)

Though one thing about their dynamic strikes me as weird. Often Happy will test Natsu like he's the younger of the two. I get that Natsu isn't the most mature and this kind of thing happens in real life with siblings. But Natsu hatched Happy from an egg. You think he'd think twice before talking down Natsu the way he often does.

Now before I talk about ships, I want to acknowledge that there are people who would rather Natsu specifically not end up in any romantic relationships at the end of the series. I think that is a totally valid wish and, considering that’s the ending we got, I want to say that I have no problem with it. I get that Natsu is one of the big champions of the bonds between guilds and romance has never been a huge aspect that's been explored on his end, not that I would say it's been ignored. 

So seeing Natsu end up alone but happy would be totally fine with me. I'm kind of sad my ship(s) didn't happen, but as long as Natsu is happy, I have no reason to be sad. And from what I can tell, he's ecstatic to go on the Century Quest. As a general rule, character happiness should be prioritized above fan happiness. You can be mad that certain things didn’t happen. However, as long as your favorite characters are alive and happy, that’s usually what should matter most.

That being said, I am a multi-shipper for Natsu. It's probably worse than you think. I've said this before, but I want to expand on my thoughts a bit. I have three big ships for Natsu that I like: Nali (Natsu and Lisanna), Natza (Natsu and Erza), and Navia (Natsu and Juvia). I've done enough posts on this blog defending and explaining my thoughts on the first one, so I want to explain why I like the other two for a bit.

It's kinda funny how I've done so many Natza asks but I haven't explained my own reasons for liking it. I don't think you always have to explain why you like or dislike a ship. But when you're not a fan of the popular stuff, you almost have to have a good reason why.

I really like the bond that Erza and Natsu have. Even in just the recent arc, we see Erza trusting Natsu more than the people around her. And yes, this arc made me like it more, but I've always liked the bond these two have and wouldn't mind seeing them get together.

And, I don't know about you, but I don't remember bathing with my siblings. Especially with my sisters.

The next one might be an out there choice for a lot of people. Of all the popular Natsu ships out there, Navia probably seems like the most out there one to people who don't like it. However, I have a few reasons to like it.

For one, and this will sound especially weird given a lot of my posts, they're two of my favorite characters. As much as I rag on her, I think that if Juvia mellowed out earlier, she'd probably be my favorite female character or even Fairy Tail character just by virtue of being a relevant female water mage with blue hair. Yes, my first edition of this series (which I won’t link here because my writing from then is not the best) was about how I don’t like how her character is handled. However, it was done through the lens of that being my only real issue with her.

To that point, there are a lot of people who say that, aside from Gray, Juvia would have no character so it's weird that people would like her if that aspect of her were gone. Consider that people also accuse Natsu of having no character now, so that's not that big an issue for me. And from what I can gather, there are plenty of people who do like Juvia even though they don't like Gruvia.

Another reason I like this ship is that I think that, if Juvia is the way she is because she's been starved of real love, I think that one of the few people in the series that could fill that void. I think that stuff like in Day of the Fateful Encounter, Rainbow Cherry Blossoms and the anime version of Natsu and the Dragon Egg show that Natsu is capable of going above and beyond to do things to people that are important to him. (Even as the whole Tartaros conclusion thing shows how he can mess with those bonds without much of a second thought.) I could only imagine how that would go with Juvia.

And something, something, water-fire dynamic.

Under them is basically any other ship Natsu is in. Now, I feel the need to stress this point because I don't think that people will understand how bad this is if I just say it like I just did. Someone was even worried that I would only talk about the popular ships when I said I would talk about the Natsu ships. To put it simply, if you're genuinely willing to write down a scenario where Natsu ends up liking pretty much anyone who has had an appearance in this series, there is a strong chance that I will accept it as a possible ship for Natsu. The reason why is simply because I’m genuinely interested in how people would imagine Natsu would end up in all kinds of relationships. (Even as many of these stories, admittedly, end in smut that I end up skipping over.)

To illustrate this point, here are some of the ships I've found myself liking one way or another:

Natsu and Levy: because if Natsu’s life depended on a book, she's the mage I'd have picked to save him.

Natsu and Meredy: because they both have pink hair

Natsu and Ikaruga: because being enemies and dead are easily written around in series, anyway

Natsu and Brandish: case in point for the first point

Natsu and Sayla: case in point for both and we might as well considering our obsession with END (we’ll get there)

Natsu and Gray: because this is basically the only way I'd believe Gray is a tsundere

Natsu and Mirajane: because shipping one of the Strauss sisters with Natsu doesn't mean I can't ship the other sister with him

Natsu and Cana: because I'd support a universe wherein Gildarts is Natsu’s father in law

I think you get the point.

Keep in mind that there are exceptions. For example, I don't ship Natsu with Wendy, both because I don't like the Wendy ships and obvious other reasons. Natsu and Mavis was a ship I saw someone make, but I don't think Natsu and Zeref need another reason not to get along. Also, I wasn't too thrilled about the Anna joke in the last chapter. So, while I am open to different options, I have my limits.

Also, and I’m kind of weirded out by having to explain this at all, this doesn’t mean that I support all these ships happening at the same time. I’ve seen people hear a term like “multi-shipper” and think that it means support for infidelity or harems. It just means that I like the idea of multiple ships for Natsu as possibilities.

The best way I can explain multi-shipping, especially given my explanation for feelings of Natsu ships, is like ice cream. My personal favorite ice cream is chocolate chip cookie dough. However, that doesn’t mean that I only eat chocolate chip cookie dough. Sometimes, I’ll have another type of ice cream, even if chocolate chip cookie dough is available to eat. The fact that I’m eating some mint chocolate chip or french vanilla ice cream doesn’t mean I suddenly don’t like chocolate chip or even that I like whatever flavor I’m eating more. It means that I’m open to the idea of eating more than just one flavor of ice cream. This analogy fails in the sense that you can have multiple ice cream flavors at the same time, but hopefully, you get the idea.

Then there's Nalu.

I don't like it.

At all.

It’s just the worst. 

If by any chance you haven't seen it, I've already explained why in great detail in another post.

Though I will say one problem I have with Nalu fans that I didn't mention there is how negative towards Natsu they are. I don't deny that Natsu is dumb. I think he's a bit smarter than we give him credit for, but I also feel that Natsu is incredibly inconsistent in those regards. That being said, no one overplays it like the Nalu fandom. And if I'm perfectly honest, it feels like they have to. How else can you explain him not getting a clue that Lucy likes him? It's obvious that he just doesn't know she likes him. At least, that’s the narrative...

Other than the obvious problem I should have with this, my problem with this is how Mashima would have done it. When Kishimoto did it with NH, I was kind of okay with it considering there was enough to convince me it was possible. I can't afford the same grace to Nalu since finding out it wasn't the original plan.

While we're talking about Natsu fan interpretations, another thing I don't like fans doing is making E.N.D. versions of Natsu. I kinda get making him look kind of like a dragon, similar to the stuff in Dragon Cry. But I find it weird that fans romanticize Natsu becoming E.N.D. Especially when it comes to shipping art for Natsu. The conceit of Natsu’s transformation could prove a ship as canon is disturbing to me. And in case you’re wondering, no this isn’t just a Nalu thing. I can only think of two good versions of E.N.D!Natsu ship material, both for Nali. Even then, I'm wary of the way it was done there as well.

The weird thing about all of this is that Natsu was already END. All throughout this last arc, Zeref was referring to Natsu as END. What many people might be imagining is an Etherious form of Natsu, which still would be weird to romanticize. However, that's not what people are thinking about drawing and writing. They’re imagining Natsu turning into an entirely different and demonized version of himself that he’s unable to control, kind of like stereotypical werewolves.

In general, I feel like the big problem with the Natsu fandom, specifically the Nalu side, is a lack of good arguments. I get wanting to defend your favorite character, but it gets to a disturbing level of stupid at times. While some might assume I'm biased because I'm not a Nalu shipper, I'd like to share some of the arguments made for him:

Natsu can't be ace because he's constantly sexually assaulting Lucy.

Natsu shouldn't apologize to Lucy because leaving a note for her was enough.

Lucy has finally gotten used to Natsu groping her. That's totally a good thing.

Stone Age Omake was totally in character for Natsu.

The entire reason Natsu helped Lucy to bring the guild back together was to apologize to Lucy.

I know some of you reading this might think these arguments are valid. Unfortunately, this is my incredibly unpopular thoughts on Natsu. Not yours.

I honestly don't feel capable of defending Natsu on many of the points critics have with him. I agree that his fights can be stupid and he's overpowered. I think that he's written all over the place. If you asked me a year ago, I'd say he's of average intelligence but now I think that, again, it's all over the place. I'm not sure how to judge his small moments of genius alongside his other amounts of idiocy. If there's anything I'm known for talking about Natsu, it's my criticism of his non-apology to Lucy. In fact, if you Google this blog, one of my posts on that will probably show up. I've checked.

So, why is he still my favorite character? I can justify him being my favorite character when I started this series. I fell in love with him after Dear Kaby, just as I fell in love with the series and I enjoyed seeing how he dealt with stuff. And I was nowhere near as aware of his faults, in addition to the series’, up until more than halfway through my first year doing this blog.

But why, knowing everything that I know about the series and especially about Natsu, would I still say Natsu is my favorite character?

Because despite anything I know to be wrong with him, I still enjoy rooting for him. I still feel pain whenever he gets sad. I love both his sub and dub voice in the anime and Funimation’s work on the dub has made watching him do stuff even more fun. I know that sounds more like a description of what you do for your favorite characters, but knowing everything I do about Natsu and not being able to stop my love for him is exactly why I consider him to be my favorite character.

The more I think about it, I feel like my feelings about Natsu are a symbol of my feelings for this series as a whole. As much as I know this series isn't good and I could be spending my time talking about a better series, I still can't pull myself away from this series.

And believe, I would have if I could. However, I’m finishing this next to a folder of untyped essays for Fairy Tail and it’s fandom close to four months after it’s ended. I’ve even started working on how I would rewrite the series.

In Conclusion:

Natsu’s not the best-written character in Fairy Tail. However, I have a lot of love for him as one of the main characters of one of my favorite series. It’s like they were made for each other.

Thanks to all of you for supporting me and the other editions of this series. A special thank you to those people who gave me other topics to discuss regarding Natsu than the ones I had originally planned. If you didn’t see your topic, I haven’t ignored it. You might just see it show up in a future post. 

See you! 

[nagirambles]

I actually had this thought where sometime between the Nirvana Arc and Edolas, Natsu and maybe even Gajeel give Wendy combat training.

Yes! That would make Wendy joining the Edolas final fight much less abrupt tbh. She went straight from 'just starting to learn how to be confident' to 'no hesitation, I'll provide the support!', and I just-- yeah it's cool, but c'mon! Mashima, this isn't development, this is throwing her old traits out of the window and replacing it with the opposite!

Show her making some gradual growth, don't give her a Pokemon evolution!

Bad writing aside, I really do think the time between Nirvana and Edolas should've have a little segue arc that focused on other characters, like the Loke arc did between Phantom and Fantasia. Same thing to the in-between of Edolas and Tenrou (seriously there should have been a Lisanna arc there). And no, we do not acknowledge Daphne in this household.

Just a little arc to do stuff like train or coach Wendy in the background of a... Levy-centric storyline! maybe they could literally read about dragons because y'know, Gildarts came home and he talked about Acnologia? So Natsu got interested in learning the current history of dragons and they get Levy's help, also to push in some Levy development so the Gajevy situation doesn't feel abrupt either? And whatever conflict happens there, Natsu and Gajeel would be punching enemies and Wendy would just ask how to do similar attacks before imitating them? And then it turns into a yeah go Wendy, kill em dead! Look at that child I raised that girl!! kinda thing where two older brothers have become cheerleaders to Wendy's progress.

This would also give us more time between the Mystogan-Wendy reveal to the reunion.

[nagirambles]

what's your favourite ships in the show?

I don't passionately ship anything in the show, honestly.

I guess you can take it as 'I'll ship anything if you convince me it's cute', but most of the time, especially for the Big 4 because it's Mashima's job to convince me of that, I already have impressions that probably won't change.

Gajevy's 'the rough one is soft for the cute one' bond, but I never saw it immediately romantic. The 'big scary guy's always got a loli' trope or even 'cute little sister with overprotective big brother' uses this dynamic as well. I only saw it as Gajeel trying hard to make up for what he did, and he felt responsible to protect Levy. Yes, it's endearing, but is that apparently a declaration of love already? Darn, now I see why some people think Gajevy was forced. Anyways-- I can be incredibly passionate talking about these two, but do I go around seeking out fluff romantic fanfic about them? Nah, they're cute as a couple now, but shipping in general is just not my thing. I enjoy seeing it play out between the lines of the Fairy Tail manga, and cute fanart of them is always a joy-- but that's it, really.

Gruvia was very one-sided, so child me never understood it. In the same way Gray needed to break it to her, Juvia needed to take a hint-- or she was blatantly ignoring the obvious hint, which grates my gears, because speaking as an aroace, it's not cute. You're not going to get me if you lay jewels at my feet for long enough. They finally progressed after the timeskips though, and I like where they were trying to go with it. Using their battle with Silver as a crux, things are better in their dynamic now. It's getting somewhere.

Jerza was probably one I wanted to see most (of the clearly intended to be canonical ships, aka the Big 4,) because it was a slow journey of recovery between two people, and while it's weird they almost kissed on that beach, I believe it was done to tell the audience that right now, Jerza is going to take three steps back. They're not going to kiss, they're going to set this back and Jellal is going to find redemption first. It's called overcoming trauma and the miracle cure is not 'finding your true love'.

As for other ships in the show that I quite adore, high on that scale would probably be Gray and Loke. The anime tends to eradicate a lot of casual intimacy outside of Big 4 ship moments (which is why all the Nalu hugs are there untampered but somehow the Gray and Erza hug in the Phantom Lord Arc was the most awkward thing I've ever seen) so things like Gray being the only one worriedly looking at Loke and consistently asking him if things are fine because something's not right? I fully appreciate them, and I fully want to explore the partnership between them that we never see. Loke is rarely shown to have as significant a relationship with people in the guild other than Lucy, so this stands out.

I also kinda ship Chendy, RenxSherry, Bixloke, Canalucy, Nali, Gratsuza, and Thunder Legion trio. But once again, I'll ship even rarepairs or crackships if someone manages to convince me that their dynamic's interesting to explore.

I also ship Laxana for no reason other than the fics I've written and contributed to. They have near zero interactions in canon and yet, because I explored them interacting in childhood in the guild-- I've started to see them working in a rather endearing way. (I still spite the source material because Cana, my favourite character to write, is such a waste of potential in the main story.)

But once again-- I don't passionately ship anything. If I do write them or think of them, it is almost always intended to be platonic or an endeared character study, because romance in general is just not my thing. Yes, I can rave about ships, I can squeal about them when they have a wholesome interaction in fanfic, fanart, or the show itself-- but do I particularly seek out instances them kissing or dating or expressing their desire in a deep, meaningful speech? Do I try to interpret 'clearly' romantic motives into every impactful gesture each of them do for each other? Not at all. I feel this exact same way for the Big 4, maybe stronger.

Honestly, I watch Fairy Tail for the nakama power. That's genuinely all I really want to take away from it.