#they can have bad blood! natsu can hate or have mixed feelings on zeref

[phoenix-before-the-flame]

Hey! Just wanted to ask if you have any headcanons abt ignia, zeref, and natsu being brothers👀

With Ignia that is a big ol no because I just don't like him lol. I don't care for anything introduced in the sequel and he's included in that🤣.

With regards to Zeref and Natsu however, weeeeellllll. I have mixed feelings on that plot point.

Like i was never big on Zeref and Natsu being brothers, I personally think it should've just been Natsu being Zeref's creation alone. That would be a spicy enough plot twist by itseld and neatly answer the zeref and natsu connection. Them being brothers kinda felt like too much on the pile y'know?

But, I don't completely hate it. It does add an interesting layer to connect the protag and our main villain plus interesting backstory and lore because for us the audience Natsu before Igneel was a mystery and this was an excellent opportunity to look into that as well as zeref's history as well. However i think the brother plot point in canon wasn't used to its full potential.

Like i said above it missed the moment to show history. What was ancient fiore like when they were kids? What killed baby Natsu? Did Zeref have to recreate a new body for Natsu from his dna or use the old one? Exactly how long was he at it to make Natsu? To make END?

The brother plot point is a huge source of some delicious conflict which couldve been dug a lil bit deeper from both parties.

On Zeref's side you have this guy who clearly loved his family. He went to all this trouble to bring back his brother after all. But! He only brought back his brother, his younger brother. Not even his parents. Why not bring back all of them? Why stop at one?

Questions my dear anon. Why only bring back your younger sibling? For control? The one member he had authority over. Why bind him to a book that you can easily manipulate?

And then after bringing back Natsu he tied his life to his own so if one goes they both go. And then he gave him to Igneel. There's just so much to unpack there. Zeref's love was twisted and dark and it rotted him.

Can you imagine seeing it from his side, working tirelessly through grief to try and bring back his family- maybe he intended to bring them all back- for who knows how long and his grief and determination morphs to obsession where instead of all he just brings back one. One that he's going to make sure sticks with him to the very end so when Zeref finally falls he won't fall and be alone like when he lost his family the first time.

And then on Natsu's side. Oh on Natsu's side. There is so much there that went unused. Learning that his life is tied to a fragile book, that Igneel knew. To know that you died and was brought back, that the guy who's pretty much responsible for almost all your friends' grief is not only your maker but the only living relative you have left.

How do you process that? How do you forgive if, you can forgive at all? It would've been a moment for Natsu to really question his ideals and think. For Natsu who was always so sure of his identity as Natsu Dragneel, Fairy Tail wizard and Son of Igneel to question himself at the core and for the main theme of friendship and found family to really shine through as chosen family comes face to face with blood family.

I know you asked for hcs and I went off track but there was a lot that could've been done with the brother plot line that could've really deepened a lot of stuff but instead only skimmed surface level and went the easy route of forgiveness after a fist fight which felt really hollow and underwhelming.

I dunno man I just have a lot of thoughts with regards to this 😅😅😅

[marumigamer]

The story you will never know: Chapter 3 - Goodbye, Mavis

I introduced an special Brotp in this chapter. I hope you like it.

Pairing: Zervis.

First chapter here.

Previous chapter here.

-------

The day of the funeral, I hid in the ship who took everyone to Tenroujima for the ceremony. I looked all sitting in a branch of a near tree, making sure nothing will happen if the curse appeared. I knew those trees very well. Dad always took us here when he was training us. Natsu and I were born with Slayer magic in our veins, making any Slayer training easier for us.

- This tree... I grew it with my magic... I hope I don't kill it accidentally.

Precht announced Mavis' cause of death. He lied to everyone.

- Mavis died because of a secondary effect of using the incomplete Law magic. It seems like it took longer to appear than other reports of a bad use of this magic.

Liar. You don't know what happened. You just remember me throwing her body in the floor, even if it wasn't me in the inside. It was Ankhseram who killed her, in a way I don't know.

I saw Yuri sitting on the first row of chairs. He seemed to be the most affected of all. He was holding a little boy, like a year old.

- Where is the mother? - I asked to myself while searching her. But soon I noticed what was happening -. I see... Yuri lost his wife and his most close friend in less than a year. Besides, his friend disappeared for a year and appeared dead so... Somehow, I can understand how he feels right now.

The Fairy Tail members soon left the place, one by one, bringing a chair with them. But Yuri asked Warrod to hold his child and leave without him. Precht tried to stay with his friend, but Warrod stopped him. Both left him alone with the kid.

When Yuri was sure he was alone, he kneeled in front of Mavis' grave and cried. It was painful to hear, so I had to approach to him.

- Yuri...

- Precht said you were the one who killed Mavis. That you are the black wizard Zeref. Is that true?

- I'm Zeref, but... Mavis' death wasn't my fault.

- You treated her like a doll when you took her body back!

- Precht said that? Well, it was my body but not me in the inside.

- What do you mean?

- The Tenrou jade it's a gem that had a connection with the first fairy queen and her twin sister. It's special magic was neutral until the first queen died.

- Why are you telling me this?

- I'm seeing the magic of the jade inside you. The first queen's sister is known as the Dark Fairy, and her soul is inside my body right now. She made me do things I don't want to remember right now. I even lost myself for a long time.

- You have a dark fairy inside you?

- There's only one dark fairy in this world, and that's her. I managed to stop her time, but I don't know how much it will be.

- What are you doing here?

- Mavis saved me. I wanted to say a properly goodbye to her. After all, she was a ray of sunshine for me.

Yuri turned his head to look at me.

- You didn't change in 11 years...

- I'm cursed with the same curse as Mavis. I'm not able to age since I was 15.

- And when was that?

- 300 years ago, I think.

- That's a really long time.

- I've been alone since then. I can't be near to anyone without killing them. I can't show any good emotion without risking the lives of the ones around me.

- That's why you were that far away from us when you were teaching us magic?

- Yes...

Yuri looked at the grave and put his hand on it. I approached to him a little more.

- Actually, I want to leave something for Mavis - I said.

- What is it?

- Fire flowers. They only grow in the Fairy Kingdom.

- How do you have that!? - Yuri turned his head, surprised.

- Can you keep a secret?

- Yes...

- I'm part fairy.

Yuri was even more surprised of that confession. He didn't know how to react.

- You are a fairy!? - asked Yuri after a while, not knowing if believe me or not.

- Yes, I am. Mavis meet a fairy without knowing it. It's not something I tell to everyone.

- But... Fairies are little and... They glow...

- That's what Mavis told you?

- Yes.

- Well, that's true. There are two types of fairies. The little ones Mavis always knew and the ones who can hide their wings and walk between humans being totally unnoticed.

- You're one of the second group?

- My mother was a complete fairy of that type. My father was half human, half demon.

- You have an interesting blood mixture.

- I know. But I'm more human than anything.

- Do you think she will like those flowers?

- I know she will. They are beautiful. Do you have a pot or something?

- No, but I know where to find one.

Yuri ran in the opposite direction their companions were. I used that moment to go to the top of the Tenrou tree, picking some dirt from there. I used my demons wings for that. They are faster than the fairy ones. Yuri arrived when I landed in front of the grave, before I hid my wings.

- Those were...? - asked Yuri.

- My demon wings.

- They are huge.

- I know. Did you find the pot?

- Yes, and it's even better. Mavis did that one. Look, it's signed.

The pot was painted with beautiful colors and little drawings of fairies. Between them, the name "Mavis" was written in yellow.

- Aww... Such a cutie...

- It will be bigger enough?

- Yes, it will.

I put the dirt in it, and an only seed of a fire flower.

- Where did you get the dirt? - asked Yuri.

- The Fairy Kingdom is at the top of the Tenrou tree.

- You're kidding, right?

- No. As I said, the fire flowers only grow in the Fairy Kingdom but, if you have a pot with dirt from there, it will grow outside the kingdom.

- I never imagined that the Fairy Kingdom would be that near to us...

- Mavis either. But don't tell anyone.

Yuri gave me the pot. I looked at him, and he nooded. I took the pot and I put it in Mavis' grave. Then I kneeled, I put my hand on the grave and I touched it with my forehead.

- Goodbye Mavis - I said -. It was good to meet you. You were a ray of sunshine to me, always. Even when I said all those cold things to you. But... I think I love you. I'm not even sure anymore. I had my feelings mixed a lot of times with fake feelings, that I don't even know which ones are real.

- Zeref, do you feel something warm in your chest? - asked Yuri.

- Sometimes, when I think of Mavis. Why?

- That's love. I feel it when I think of Rita.

- It feels good.

- I know. By the way, how did you arrive here?

- I hid in your ship.

- So... You need to return with us.

- Yes.

- They won't leave without me, so you have a little time.

- Thank you, Yuri.

Yuri left me alone. When he was far enough, I stopped containing my feelings. I cried for 15 minutes, out loud. Everyone could hear me. Even the curse was released, but I didn't care. I wanted Mavis back, even if we had to act like brothers for the eternity. I wanted her by my side forever.

- I HATE YOU, ANKHSERAM!

Everyone could listen that. Yuri came back when I was more calmed.

- Are you feeling better? - asked Yuri.

- A little. I don't think I can get along with this.

- You never can. It's always there, and you only wish for people to not remind it to you.

- I see... If you allow me to ask, how did your wife die?

- After birth, in the guild. Mavis was there, and she ran away when Rita died.

- So, that was the death that activated her curse.

- What curse?

- The curse of Ankhseram. The same curse I have. Do you know who is Ankhseram?

- No, but I can imagine just seeing what you did.

I smiled. Death was around us, surrounding Mavis' grave.

- Ankhseram is the God of life and death. His curse only affects the ones who play with life and death.

- You did?

- I tried to resurrect my brother. Well, I did, after getting the curse. But I don't know where he is right now.

- Zeref, the truth. I know you are not human. Your brother hasn't to be either.

- I knew he would come back after a little, because he wasn't completely dead. But Anastascia didn't.

- Anastascia?

- The dark fairy. She modified him to be a powerful demon, and our two best friends. After that, she played with different corpses of children to get powerful demons and tell the world I did it.

- That's... How can someone do something like that?

- I can't find anything to justify her actions and decisions. But, because of her, I got cursed. She was always playing with my mind when I was little. She made me believe my brother wouldn't come back and do all the research to resurrect people.

- What about the curse?

- The most you value the life, the most you will take it. That's the rule. Actually, you are in danger, if the curse was released right now.

- Mavis' life has to be really precious to you, then.

- I wish nothing happened. Maybe it was better if we never meet.

- Don't you dare to think like that. You were precious to Mavis too. She was always wondering how you were.

- She did?

- Always.

Knowing that brought me peace. A few tears fell from my eyes. Yuri did some steps backwards.

- I'm happy, Yuri. The curse rarely appears when I'm happy - I explained.

- Okay... We should go. I'll distract them so you can get on the ship being unseen by the others.

- Thank you, Yuri.

Yuri and I went together to the ship, but we separated when we were near. Yuri distracted his friends and comrades, and I could hide inside the ship. He even made sure I left the ship after everyone was gone.

- Good luck, Zeref.

- Good luck, Yuri.

It was late at night, and Yuri was carrying his son. The little one was asleep. I put my hand in his little head.

- Be good to your father, little boy - I said.

- Makarov.

- Makarov?

- It's his name. Mavis suggested it.

- It's a good one.

- And it's better than Pippoko. Precht suggested that one.

- What kind of name is Pippoko? - I laughed.

- I don't know. But Mavis had a good taste for his name. She said it was from a book, and he was...

- A prince, I know. That book was one of my favorites when I was little.

- If only you and Mavis meet each other in a different situation... Your relationship would be very different.

- If only I wasn't cursed and I could help you to defeat Blue Skull...

- We can't turn back in time.

- We can, but it's a taboo, because of how the present and future will be affected in the changes you made in the past.

- How do you know?

- My base magic is time. Besides, I'm the God Slayer of Time.

- That's a very rare magic.

- Slayers don't exist anymore. There's nothing to kill. Our magic is not needed.

- Be careful, Time Fairy.

- You too, Lightning Dragon.

Yuri nooded. Our paths were separated that day, but you never know when you can find an old friend in the future.

[fairytail-whathesays]

I have seen your post on Zeref. What do you think should have been done with him for his character to be at the least DECENT?

Hooooly shit. Let’s enter that hurricane and try to find the eye.

1. Stop trying to weave together every single plotline into Zeref.

The big, overarching villain does not necessarily need to be connected to every single story in the series. And when they are, it takes an exceptionally skilled writer to pull it off, and Mashima is frankly a good ways under par. Untangling this mess is the first step towards finding a place from which we can launch an actual character. To that end, I suggest cutting out:

Irene Belserion’s backstory, obviously.

Anna Heartfilia and the Eclipse Gate. That one falls apart rather easily. The dragonslayers did not need to come from 400 years in the past.

Zeref’s story with Mavis. There is far too much interweaving between Fairy Tail and Zeref and it’s basically driving this shitty Alvarez arc.

If you absolutely must keep Natsu being Zeref’s brother, then do so, but that plot point is so overused it’s fast approaching cliche levels. There really should be other ways to tie the central characters into Zeref if they have to be.

2. Explain Ankhseram.

Ankhseram is an actual, divine god of life and death that was awake and willing to curse two teenage individuals over messing with life and death in ways that would end up causing more mass death. In present day Fairy Tail, there has not been a single hint of any divine presence at all beyond Chronos, who in himself is just sort of there to give DiMaria an unfair power. In case anyone is confused at why Ankhseram is important:

It literally caused every single important event in the goddamn manga with its actions.

And yet, it has received no fleshing out or explanations beyond those backstory actions. It is literally just a very important chunk of backstory with no substance. We do not know who exactly Ankhseram is, why he felt it important to curse Zeref and later Mavis over his transgression and her own much smaller one, why it has not been seen or heard from since, what its laws and rules surrounding death are, or how it feels about the events that have unfolded as a consequence of its curses. Ankhseram is literally “a mean god came and cursed Zeref one day so that’s why he’s bad” and that’s it.

3. Do better when it comes to “snapping” Zeref.

People have heard me mention that what Mashima wanted when creating Zeref is the story of a good person who just suffers way too much trauma and tragedy before that one last thing happens to completely break them and turn them into a monster that can’t be saved. I have also mentioned that he failed, badly. And that’s because the catalyst for Zeref “snapping” was Grimoire Heart’s war with Fairy Tail on Tenrou Island. I should mention that Zeref gaining control of his death powers goes hand in hand with his loss of care for humanity at large–one can’t happen without the other. I should also remind everyone of the terrible, traumatizing, and tragic displays of human violence and aggression that have happened during Zeref’s 400+ lifetime, including recent ones like: the cultists of the Tower of Heaven running an immense slave labor project using kidnapped and abused children, the many millions of people across the many towns Grimoire Heart slaughtered without mercy looking for ‘keys’, the Edolas Anima project run by a mad king that would’ve ripped away everyone in Earthland and murdered them……and yet, what tips him from  his life of willful seclusion and love for humanity into nihilistic omnicidal insanity, is…..a war with Fairy Tail that Grimoire Heart started and subsequently lost, badly, wherein no one died except people who died at Zeref’s hand. This is not exactly a believable catalyst for me. I have trouble, considering the depth and scale of this manga, believing that this is what turns a good man into a psychopath. Do better.

4. Stop mixing “kind” and “murderous”.

I will state right here and now that we are supposed to perceive pre-Tenrou Zeref as good. Flawed, maybe, but good. After all, he fell in love with Purity Sue Mavis, and taught her and the other Fairy Tail founders their magic. And he participated in a project to dethrone a homicidal dragon king. All of his horrific experiments started with him just trying to revive his slain brother. That meanie Ankhseram is to blame! All those demons that have hurt and threatened countless people are “misunderstandings”–they were for the purpose of suicide, not killing anyone else! And he banded together 730+ guilds both light and dark to overthrow a tyrannical monarch!

Yeah, there’s a bit too many problems with this. For someone who hadn’t seemed to have had his “snap” yet, Zeref pre-Tenrou is surprisingly uncaring about loss of life that comes as a direct result of his actions. That stuff I mentioned in point three about possible catalysts for Zeref to snap over human violence? A lot of that is blood on his hands. The Tower of Heaven was started in his name, to bring him out of his supposed sleep. So were the mass killings committed by Grimoire Heart. In addition, the demons that he created are either vicious killing machines (Lullaby, Deliora) or are incredibly hostile to human life (Tartaros), an idea that was apparently programmed into them. For someone whose decision to slaughter the entirety of humanity down to the last child was born as a result of one final anger with humanity’s senseless violence against itself, Zeref has still done more harm to humanity than it has ever done to itself, by far, and is either too selfish or too hateful of humanity to begin with to acknowledge it.

This really just comes with a problem I’ve pointed out before, which is that Mashima has no sense of delicacy or subtlety when writing antagonists even if they’re supposed to be anti-villains or tragic villains. “The Black Wizard Zeref” being a misunderstanding kind of plays off how many people were torn apart by Zeref as though he didn’t very much earn that name.

5. Cut his love story with Mavis.

This was just so unnecessary, not to mention a monumental dip into the pedophile-pandering jar. Even if you had to maintain Zeref’s connection with Fairy Tail (you really didn’t), a love story was not the way to go. It has now started its entire own arc, and a very poorly done one at that. You know how I would’ve won the war with Alvarez? Walked up to Acnologia with Mavis’ crystal in hand, said “hey, eat this” or otherwise told him to fling it into the sea, or in some other manner had it delivered permanently from Zeref’s grasp. The fact of the matter is that Mavis should have remained dead, because her being alive has been a tool used for Zeref’s character and not to its greatest effect. 

6. Explain what exactly is necessary to kill Zeref.

Another one of those things that was never really explained about Ankhseram (that really should have been) is the immortality he cursed Zeref with. The most we’ve been able to guess is that it’s sufficient power, as E.N.D. is described as being the most powerful of Zeref’s demons and thus able to kill him. So, uhh….? Have Acnologia do the job? It’s canonically greater than Zeref’s equal, easily so. Or, I dunno, wait a few years and Laxus or Gildarts will get to that level, I’m sure [shot]. Oh, but Zeref wants to destroy Acnologia! (Strange thing, as setting Acnologia on a rampage would be the easiest route to wiping out humanity, which is Zeref’s main goal). That’s what he wants Fairy Heart for: to destroy Acnologia. But couldn’t he also use a power source that great for his suicide? 

If all he needs to die is power, than what exactly is stopping him? If it’s not power, than what is it? We’re getting kind of close to the end of the manga here, and why exactly E.N.D. should be the one to kill Zeref instead of anyone else hasn’t exactly been explained.