Fairy Nostalgia

and frustrations…

[eebibly]

(adding to your star dress post) i love lucy doing summons bcuz yeah in the “power of friendship” anime, lucy’s magic power is Literally Friendship. its how we see the more complex side of certain zodiacs too (ex: aquarius, loke, celestial spirit king). its how she gets non-spirits to open up (juvia, cana, yukino, etc) i never needed her to become another brawler to be important

sorry I meant to answer earlier but the draft to my first response, like, disappeared for some reason so I had to rewrite everything~

YOU’RE COMPLETELY RIGHT❕

Lucy may have been a bit of a damsel in distress, but for once that’s almost forgivable because she has a plethora of friends who are ready to fight for her and with her. And it’s not just about her needing to be saved, it’s about the complete trust that they have in one another.

Side note, my least favourite parts are when Lucy is actually in distress, because it feels like Mashima is trying to get anyone to save her but her spirits (especially Natsu. He could fully be passed out, but he’ll wake up just in time to stop a fatal blast. *lazy jazz hands* How romantic). But I digress…

My point being that Lucy is fun because she actually feels like a refreshed, modern take on the damsel in distress. Because she’s not just a waiting to be saved (or, well, she shouldn’t be, but Mashima has trouble keeping his own characters in character), she is smart, reliable and very good at getting people to trust her. And she can choose how she wants to be ‘saved’ and by whom— how cool is that?? Also, despite not being a protector herself, she’s a natural at making the people around her feel safe.

Which is why it hurts so much that her character has basically been rewritten. I don’t have a problem with her being able to fight better, but that doesn’t mean she should want to fight on her own. Her wanting to have the power to protect her friends doesn’t feel like her character has evolved, it actually feels more like she’s devolved. Lucy was the one characters who didn’t need to be powerful in order to protect her friends.

Should her magic power be growing? Absolutely. But not at the expense of her growth as a celestial wizard and certainly not by sacrificing her celestial spirits’ relevance.

[eebibly]

I don’t reaaaally like the stardresses

But not for the same reason I’ve seen others dislike them? The biggest argument I see against Lucy’s stardresses is that it’s too much like Erza’s requip. I don’t disagree with that specifically. The thing is, in a roundabout way, I would argue that the issue with Lucy’s dresses is actually more of a reflection of the issue with Erza’s power (which I may or may not make a post about). What I mean is, if Erza’s magic was better developed, Lucy’s magic would seem more original.

Much like almost every other magic in this lazy-ass written universe, I don’t like the ‘rules’ (or lack thereof) for summoning them. The power scaling in FT is infamously terrible, so I’m basically preaching to the choir, but brain rot takes over my typey fingees sometimes.

So I’ve been reading the manga because the anime recently upset me, therefore I’d now rather quickly read through FT: 100YQ than invest a lot of emotional energy in an adaptation that really slows the pacing of its printed counterpart. That being said:

Part 1: Aquarius

First of all, I don’t agree with the fact that Lucy can still use Aquarius’s stardress. I understand that it was gifted to her by the Celestial King during Tartaros, but that only should have lasted as long as that war. I think it undermines Aquarius’s sacrifice and I also believe it would have benefited Lucy and her goals as a character for 100YQ. Giving Lucy Aquarius’s stardress could have represented the end of an era but the start of a new one. And it does, ostensibly. Aquarius is basically Lucy’s first spirit, someone who has both a strong connection with Lucy and with her mother. It’s a difficult bond to break, but a testament to Lucy letting go of a piece of her past to protect her present bonds. As a reward for such a sacrifice, the Celestial King gives her one last chance to fight for her future with an old friend’s power. It’s a beautiful moment that acts as closure for Aquarius’s “loss”, but also a hint at the new possibilities for Lucy’s new abilities. And that’s all it needed to be.

However, despite the fact that her contract with Aquarius is, for that time being, null and void, Lucy now overuses ‘Aqua Metria’ at every turn instead of bothering to actually summon the spirits with whom she currently has contracts (and seriously, is there no reason she can’t use Regulus Impact? I feel like it accomplishes the same… impact). This paragraph is just me venting, I find it quite annoying… Not to mention that not having the dress until she gets the key back could be something else to look forward to! Also Aquarius’s dress is probably my least favourite… so boring and just another excuse for Mashima to draw as little clothes on Lucy as often as possible.

Part 2: Borrowed power

Or at least, I feel that her stardresses should be considered borrowing a part of her spirits’ powers. Celestial magic is unique in that the wizard doesn’t just need to understand the mechanics of it, or how the magic flows within oneself. It also requires an extra level of bond and trust for it to function at its fullest. It’s actually a really beautiful power, one that I really admire. Which is why I’m so sad that it’s so misrepresented by its own creator. This is my opinion, but considering that summoning spirits is the main facet of her magic, I strongly feel that summoning a stardress should cost more power than opening a gate as well as be less powerful than the spirit whose dress it belongs to. That way, it’s still more worth it to summon the spirit, but is also a testament to the wizard’s magic power and their bond with their spirit since they are willing to expend even more power just to be able to fight alongside them. Not only that, but it feels to me like the dresses should be the spirits sharing their power with Lucy. However, it feels more like Lucy is summoning an entirely different entity that scales purely on her own magic power. Doesn’t that make her spirits obsolete? She barely ever summons them anymore because it seems that choosing to summon a stardress and skipping the spirit is not only more cost effective, but also makes her combat more efficient. If she fights better by herself than with her spirits, why even have spirits?

Considering how poorly written the spirits are, I’d almost argue that the stardresses, and only the stardresses, should’ve been Lucy’s power from the start. If you can’t do it right, then don’t do it at all.

On that topic:

Part 3: Is he bored of them?

I’m genuinely wondering if Mashima grew tired of his own concept. And by that I mean, the spirits specifically. Because he clearly loves the moral behind them. You love and respect them even if they’re not human. A moral developed really well, at least as far as I’ve seen in the anime, in Edens Zero. I won’t spoil it because this is a post about Fairy Tail, but I really like how that moral is done in that story. But he made 2 major mistakes in Fairy Tail. 1) Celestial wizards are rare. How can you fight for a cause if there is no cause to fight for? He tries to make up for this by Lucy starting to connect with other characters in the way the other protagonists just can’t, like Eclair from Phoenix Priestess and Athena from 100YQ. Great, point for Lucy’s character, really well done. Why can’t she extend that to her spirits on-screen? 2) he seems to have decided that because the spirits aren’t human, they must be one-note?? And only one spirit can have depth at a time. When he needed Aquarius to matter, Loke devolved into the thats-my-wife-guy. Meanwhile Aquarius evolved from raging PMS b*tch to ‘well maybe I do love Lucy after all -3-’.

He has written so so so many characters into his canon, but the celestial spirits, nooo that’s too much to keep track of. Despite how much he hammers home that they matter as much as everybody else. Worst of all, most of the time that they’re summoned, Lucy just seems annoyed or disturbed. So which is it???

Part 4: Help

I wish I could let go, someone help.

If you got this far, thanks for reading ✌️

[eebibly]

Nope. Nuh uh. Nah just. Nope.

What’s even… what’s even the point? What’s the. Nope.

spoilers I guess ⬇️

Mirajane is tough. I get it. But “I’m the leader of the zodiac, I can do things the other spirits can’t, love makes us stronger, yada yada-“

Does Mashima regret creating Loke? He clearly just doesn’t care about him anymore. What’s the point? What’s the point.

I honestly don’t even know if I can keep watching if this is the kind of crap that’s gonna happen in this sequel. Like I was already not very impressed by the start of this story. I was almost pulled back in with the bait that Lucy, Loke and Virgo would overcome the freakin Strauss siblings. But nah, no. Once again, Lucy’s spirits are the laughing stock of Fairy Tail.

I’m fckng done.

[seasonfivebitchsaveme]

Celestial Spirits Eclipse Arc Rant Part 1/?

Okay.

Let me preface this by saying, I tried so hard to like this arc on my rewatch.

Filler arcs and I have always had a strained relationship, but I was surprisingly optimistic about this one.

When I first saw Fairy Tail, I absolutely DESPISED the Key of the Starry Skies, so much so that I was scared to rewatch it.

From...this whole blog, you can probably tell that I had a change of heart. In fact, I ended up adoring a character that used to be my all time least favorite.

So, I went into this filler arc with a new perspective.

However, unlike the Key of the Starry Heavens, I think revisiting this arc has only made it worse for me.

Now of course, we can't really judge a filler arc up to the standards of a well planned canon arc. Not that it's a bad thing to do so, but I feel it automatically puts said filler arc at a disadvantage.

What we can do however, is compare it to another filler arc.

So, in this multi-part rant, I'll talk about why Key of the Starry Skies worked for me, and why the Celestial Spirit Eclipse Arc failed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First, I've been really negative in the introduction. So, why not go over the positives of this arc! No matter how bad I do think it is, there are always some things that I think should be given credit.

The concept itself is very interesting!! There is so much potential to be had with Celestial Spirits, who from this point have been shown to serve Lucy(and Yukino), wanting a rebellion for their own individual freedom.

I like some of the Eclipse! designs a lot! I particularly like Eclipse! Taurus and Eclipse! Virgo's designs!(but I suppose that is down to personal preference)

The variety of fights was nice to see, and some of them are iconic.

Gray's dance battle with Eclipse! Cancer has to be one of the most memorable parts of the arc for me!!

..............................................................................................................................

Unfortunately, that's about where my praise for it ends.

Before I get into specifics, I just wanted to say that it's totally cool to like this arc! I'm glad you're able to enjoy it!! (つ≧▽≦)つ

To stop this section from being too long for now, I'll focus on just one character that bothers me. Truth be told, it's the character from this arc I have the most to say about(surprisingly).

Eclipse! Virgo was really uncomfortable to watch. Her awful, sadistic personality and love of seeing others suffer was just...not for me.

Normal Virgo is actually one of my favorite spirits, so seeing her become all mean and ruthless wasn't too fun.

Now, that sounds a bit familiar...maybe even a bit hypocritical of me.

A filler woman who doesn't mind hurting others, specifically Lucy, and gets a thrill from doing it. A filler character who believes that they are righteous in punishing people who oppose them in a militaristic fashion, having little care for the consequences…a filler character that the guild at first considers absolutely rude and obnoxious...

I might be absolutely crazy, but Eclipse! Virgo is just if Mary Hughes sucked and lacked any depth

Now, I'm incredibly biased, and I know that. But look at these two side by side and TELL me they aren't thinking the exact same thing.

It's not even the fact that most of her character traits feel recycled from Mary, but that they based a filler character...off of another filler character.

Mary Hughes is a character I love because she is flawed. She does horrible things, and expects to get away with them. The difference between her and Eclipse! Virgo is development.

Mary gets to go through a bit of a mini-arc in the latter half of season five. Eclipse! Virgo, of course, does not.

A major problem I have with having a filler arc like this is that it does feel very rushed. We have to go through each Zodiac in a span of a 22 episode arc. The Key of the Starry Skies did have 26, but also a more linear plot.

There are only 6 members of the Legion Platoon, compared to 12(13 if we count Ophiuchus) Celestial Spirits. It leaves for these Eclipse! variants to only leave their first impressions.

For Virgo, it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Even if we disregard that factor, Virgo is almost a flanderized version of Mary Hughes, taking all her more evil, grating traits and putting it into one character.

Of course, it's all very likely a coincidence.

However, Mary Hughes as a character displays that the show writers were able to create a character with those traits that works.

..............................................................................................................................

Okay I'm so sorry if you read this much thank you for listening to me yap

If I said anything wrong, please feel free to correct me!! I know some of the things I said might be a bit out there, but I wanted to say them.

[eebibly]

THIS!!!

[eebibly]

Why was it so hard to include Loke as one of the main side characters (for lack of a better term)? And by that I mean like not the main Lucy/Natsu/Gray/Erza/Happy gang, but as important as Wendy/Carla, the Strauss siblings, Gajeel, Laxus/Thunder Legion, Levy/Panther, Cana, etc. Obviously I’m coming from a fav character bias, but I also think it would’ve made sense narratively and for his character development.

One of the running themes in Fairy Tail is “Found Family”. And out of place or not, while he is pretending to be a wizard, it’s evident that he’s made himself at home in Fairy Tail. It was a place to call home while he was suffering. Not only that, he did make genuine friendships there. Close enough that when he quit out of the blue, the whole guild went looking for him. So close, in fact, that Gray asked him to be his partner for the S-Class trials (which, by the way, was a super fun time having him back). Actually, Tenrou was probably the last time he was properly accepted as a member of Fairy Tail.

So, what? He gets saved by Lucy and because of that he just doesn’t care anymore? “All right, character growth chyeck ✔️. Hehe, glad I don’t have to worry about that character anymore. It’s not like he has any residual trauma left from previous abusive masters, and he doesn’t miss his Fairy Tail fam in anyway way shape or form!” Like, it’s almost absurd how little of his character is explored. What does it mean for him to be the leader of the Zodiac? Has he ever met a good celestial wizard before Lucy? How much power does he actually have when not limited by Lucy’s limited magical power? (Which is also annoying, btw, cuz supposedly he should be getting more powerful whenever Lucy gains power, and yet it feels like he keeps getting weaker while Lucy unlocks more abilities. How is that fair???) Even Kagura got more character development than Loke and she’s not even part of Fairy Tail (I love Kagura btw, just trying to make a point).

Also, just exploring what he himself represents could be so interesting. Between being Leo the Lion and wielding Regulus (AKA the light of the king), he should be a symbol of leadership and power. I’m not saying that means he shouldn’t be his goofy, flirty self. If anything, that’s a duality that he could learn to live with. It could be either a struggle or something fun about this phase in his eternal life where he’s sort of half spirit, half human. Why aren’t we allowed to experience that with him?

I have many more qualms about Fairy Tail and how it’s written, it’s just that Loke and the celestial spirits are my favs and therefore it’s easier for me to talk about them. But if anyone is curious about my other thoughts about other events or characters, I’d love to answer those lol. I love this anime for some reason and its characters and I have such a weird obsession with how flawed it is. But until Fairy Tail magically becomes the perfect story I imagine it to be, I need to vent my irrational frustrations somewhere and coming back to Tumblr’s been fun so far so imma be here from time to time lol.

[eebibly]

The Fairy Tail anime should not have made the Eclipse Spirits arc.

Spoiler Warning

I was super excited for this arc. I knew it was filler and would end up relatively inconsequential to the main story because it can’t (or at least shouldn’t) mess with manga canon, but I felt like the Eclipse designs were really cool (most of them anyway) and the celestial spirits were finally getting the attention that they so deserved! So when I finally got to watching it as the episodes came out week by week, I was so disappointed to slowly witness the anime equivalent of a train wreck that only got worse with every new release.

It’s bad. Might as well start with that. Plain and simple. It’s horrible. It lures the viewer in with an intriguing premise: Lucy’s golden spirits aren’t appearing when summoned, her silver spirits are harmed and in distress. Suddenly, her beloved Zodiacs appear before her —having taken on completely new forms— to declare their freedom from the shackles of celestial contracts; even though they have no memory of Lucy and what they’ve been through together.

And, already, therein lies the anime’s first mistake. The Zodiacs, simultaneously, have absolutely no recollection of their previous lives or masters, and yet also harbour a deeper resentment for both. So much so that they are willing to give up their immortality and lives just for a taste of some ‘true freedom’. This implies that, despite the amnesia, there is deeply-rooted residual trauma that Lucy and friends could have addressed in order to reach out to them. Although Lucy, famous for being especially respectful of spirits, may not have done anything specifically wrong, this could still be a good chance for her to better understand what freedom, bond and loyalty actually mean to her spirits. And then, she could readjust to meet their needs. Instead, the anime gets very stuck by the fact that they’ve forgotten everything. So the spirits just end up sounding like petulant children, covering their ears. The anime can’t decide whether we, the viewers, should be taking their concerns seriously or just feeling bad for Lucy who has to deal with her oddball pesky spirits again- But This Time, They Might Die!! Edition.

One could argue that the anime didn’t want to explore the same concept of freedom 12 times over. Except, they didn’t have to. There are so many different ways to explore what freedom means to each spirit, especially since each one has a room dedicated to them. It’s a perfect yet wasted opportunity to actually delve into each spirit and how they feel about their existence. Some quick, underdeveloped ideas: Leo could have been a reflection on what it means to have power, but the way that that power is used is out of his control; Aries could be a deep-dive into how to deal with abuse and trauma when stuck with a soft heart; Aquarius could have a been a deliberation on independence vs codependence; Virgo— exploring the difference between loyalty and servitude, etc.

One may argue that it would have taken too much time to do that though, considering the allotted amount of episodes for the arc (being 15). But I would argue that some of the *checks Wikipedia* 10.5 extra filler episodes before and after this arc could have been used for this purpose, instead of filling more space with (cute, but mostly mediocre) one-shots that, honestly, could have just been OVAs. I don’t think they’re useless or anything, I just feel that those episodes could have been better spent on making the Eclipse arc actually good. (Except Kemo-Kemo~ sweet baby’s story is exactly where it should be and he deserves so much love.)

However, we instead get a hodgepodge of slapstick gags and situational ironies in nonsensical minigame-esque battles. Taurus getting defeated because he’s a germaphobe? Really? You’d rather make fun of OCD (or other related neurodivergent diagnoses) over just actually having a meaningful conversation about what Taurus wants to achieve out of this rebellion? A boring Game Show where Levy is forced to reveal her oh-so-not-secret crush? Magic The Gathering Scorpio??? Don’t even get me started on Aries and Virgo… On top of that, the characters speak to one another as if they’ve resolved… something (for example, Wendy and Aquarius wanting to play together again someday), and will see each other again in the spirits’ eclipse forms—which I had assume they were trying to revert. Unfortunately, there’s literally no point to any of their bonding… especially after they forget it all when they become normal again anyway.

Not to mention, every other conversation is just a looped wall: “Loke, I’m saving you cuz you’re my friend and Lucy is sad!” - “My name is Leo!!!”; “Virgo, let’s talk, I don’t want you to feel enslaved, I swear!” - “Yeah right, stupid human, have some mayo down your tits”; “Please, Libra, I just wanna be friends again!” - “Shut up, balance is all”. Worst of all, these are the few examples where the humans managed to break through to them minimally. Everyone else simply had no brain cells left and were just like: “Welp, guess I lost. Peace out.” It is just the laziest writing. They even chose to ignore Loke and Gray’s canonical friendship, all for the sake of making Natsu shine again… (listen, I love Natsu- but THE BROMANCE C’MON. It all just felt forced.)

And on top of that, you know all those interesting themes that could have been explored but that ultimately amount to nothing? The story then pivots and decides: “you know what? It actually DOES mean NOTHING!!!” Because (plot twist!) the freedom they actually wanted was from their power-hungry overlord beast of a King! (|Sarcasm incoming->) But of course, that wasn’t a believable enough reason for wanting freedom, and they’d rather die than ask humans for help. (Sarcasm over|) The fact that Ophiuchus tricked them into giving up their lives “for the king” without the Zodiacs realizing is probably the worst plot twist I’ve ever read.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t necessarily mind “we did this all for nothing” or “we tried to help but ended leading them to their demise” premises. Having said that, not only was this one poorly executed, but it also removes any reason for the viewer to take the spirits’ concerns seriously. After all, they were just taking out their misunderstood fear on the humans. Their feelings were misplaced, therefore we no longer have to worry about them wanting to actually leave Lucy or choosing to die. Also, why did they hurt the silver keys? Were they just acting out? Were they working under the influence of the king? Or is the implication that it’s actually the king who hurt them? If it was the Zodiac spirits who hurt them, despite the fact that the silvers are also under threat of the beast- WHY???

*siiiiigh*

In short, just because filler arcs should be inconsequential to the canon story line, that doesn’t mean that they can’t have something meaningful to explore or add to the existing story. Instead, Fairy Tail anime decided to waste everyone’s time on half-baked battles, cheap (borderline offensive) gags, and a plot twist that ultimately implies: “if the spirits don’t belong to Lucy (and Yukino), then they don’t matter.” And then— The spirits don’t even remember being saaaaved. *slow clap* Veeeery funny, anime. What a clever clever this-was-all-for-nothing final jest.

[thecagedsong]

You know, it's kinda funny. I keep getting comments with weird backhanded parts. Like I'll get a review that's "WOW you're such a good writer, I'm hooked! Even if it is tagged as a romance and has a bad ship, this story is worth all that :)"

I'm glad my craft is appreciated to the point that it's appeal is across genres and ship preferences, but I'm left feeling odd and unsure of how to respond.

It would be one thing if they said "not usually my preferred genre/pairing, but I love the way you're writing it." Those reviews are awesome and I adore them. These ones are different, just making straight fact statements that my genre and ship are bad for some reason.

I like writing romances because of the personal emotional depth that the romance genre explores that others don't. Because in a romance, the adventure and magic comes down to "This person means the world to me, and I will make sure we can spend our lives together because that's what happiness is." Its in the romance plots that the message is that you can be offered the entire world and everything you thought you wanted, but realizing that all you need actually need is the love and support of your chosen companion. This emphasizes some of the main themes of Fairy Tail, and I genuinely think canon suffers from not developing and exploring the romance subplots better.

I like writing Loke/Lucy romance because flirty dialogue is the bomb, Loke isn't afraid to be silly and Lucy isn't afraid to be too serious, and because I'm in love with the idea of your word binding your soul and your word being something can't be broken without serious consequences for the mere act of breaking it. There are very few pairings that let me explore that, and Nalu isn't one of them no matter how much I love Nalu on a normal day.

Like, my reviewing friend, the dove is dead. The frameworks you're "suffering" through are actually functionally what makes this story as good as it is.

I usually just say "hey, don't knock a genre or ship categorically, glad you can appreciate the way I write this one. Thanks!" but does anyone else have thoughts on this? This is the first time I've had these kinds of reviews, I'm curious how others respond.

[eebibly]

It does suck, escpecially with lolu content :/ I’m sorry to hear you have to deal with that. I totally agree that romance is not developed enough. Actually, often it feels like in Fairy Tail proper, the romance is more used as a joke or a gag, so I really appreciate it when fans actually understand what the romance could (or should) look like. But it’s so weird how, because Fairy Tail has *decided* which pairing is canon fairly early on, a lot of people get really really attached to everything canon, only canon. Like, Hiro Mashima can’t even *consider* the possibility of a love triangle (not that I’m especially fond of those, but it at least gives fans more options/is more interesting even if it’s tense [although even love triangles can be wholesome and light-hearted]). Or fans are just not interested in romance because of how Fairy Tail handles it. Sooo, just don’t look for romance I guess? Anyway, I am currently reading Lucy the Lion and Loke the Wizard btw and I think it’s absolutely adorable.

Sorry for the jumbled response of a repost, kinda was just writing as I thought XD

Keep writing what you love 💖💖

[eebibly]

Spoiler warning I guess for 100 Years Quest? But more like I would like to be spoiled so if you don’t, then ignore this post.

I’m just starting the 100 Years Quest anime right now. I was hoping it would be a fresh start to Fairy Tail, but I’m only 2 episodes in and they’ve shipped themselves off to another continent and recycled the dragon plot again.

To those who know 100 Years Quest, do the celestial spirits even matter anymore? They’re what got me into Fairy Tail years ago but they just keep getting more and more neglected. I was hoping a sequel could be a good chance to see them more but it seems that Dragons are the most important part of the plot *again*. Are they ever significantly relevant anymore? (Not including her stardresses and also not including Aquarius). Basically, should I just not hold my breath?

[5-7-9]

I do like the way Loke’s and Aries’s abuse by Karen was done. Albeit i wish they continued the after effects of Aries and Loke healing together instead of having Loke immediately be fine after Lucy and just never addressing Aries probably trauma induced insecurity. Plus, despite all the sexism, there could be something to note about a woman abusing another fellow woman and a man (i think).

And wtf you mean Hibiki dated Karen? Should we ask him what he thinks about celestial spirit rights??? Bet he didn’t know, would he excuse it if he knew? Jk jk jk but he would’ve saw Aries and Bob knew too. Despite all that they loved her? Sorry but i don’t like her, feel grief all you want for human life but she was cruel.

The manga says it’s “theorized” that Karen influenced Loke’s womanizing behavior, but this is directly from the manga so it’s a clue/hint in canon. I thought Loke was like that because of Blue Pegasus’s trio of male hosts, but that made me second guess something else. What if Karen just did the same thing to Loke what she did to Aries by making him “entertain” woman guests. As in she forced Loke to work as a host instead of him picking it up naturally.

Sadly the author never expands on Loke and Aries with Blue Pegasus and their connections, so this is all speculation on some japanese to english translations that could be misinterpreted. But this really shatters Aries’s and Loke’s one-note personalities into borderline offense.

[eebibly]

OMG YES THANK YOU

The celestial spirits in general are so skimmed over by author that I think a lot of the audience also seems to have forgotten about them (not everyone but discussion about them is so lacking) but like omg yeah. I love the spirits in theory because they actually all have things about them that could be explored.

But back to Loke and Aries- This is also something I really wished was explored. Sorry but all Lucy did was save Loke’s life? (Ok I know that’s big but that doesn’t mean you just heal overnight). And even Aries, she didn’t even help her, Aries just *ends up with her* because Lucy technically won. How did Aries heal? We don’t know, and probably never will ;-;

The problem is that in general he can’t seem to explore trauma? Most character arcs are ‘defeat your greatest demon and you’ll be a new person’ (until it’s convenient for the story for the characters’ trauma to resurface). But in Fairy Tail especially, the fact that the spirits are basically losing brain cells as the story progresses means he’s essentially done with them. Which sucks because I would have really loved to see their healing, or maybe how other spirits relate, or some backstories?? They are *immortal* after all. What’s that like? And clearly Gemini was traumatized too- but no now everything is just hunky dory.

In conclusion, I’ve been really wanting to talk about this, tyyyyy

[eebibly]

I need to go on a bit of a Fairy Tail brain rot rant while I use Tumblr. It’s about character ‘design’ (design is in quotations because they’re minor things/preferences than an actual criticism).

[This ended up being a part 1 cuz I’ve only talked about one character so far]

First of all, I think Loke should be taller. I believe he is 5’10” which is slightly above average height (I think) and is perfectly fine when he is blending in with people, cuz he doesn’t wanna stand out. But as Leo I think he should be like 6’ to 6’4”. There’s nothing wrong with men shorter than 6’- just hear me out.

It seems like spirits have some capability to change their form, some more than others (Virgo probably has the most) but it’s clear that Loke also has some ability since he does have a human form to turn to. Also, when he turns back into spirit form, his clothes change with him if he needs them to.

He often reminds us that he is the leader of the zodiac. He’s not an imposing one, he uses the benefits of being the leader more than he uses he’s position, so it’s not like he needs to be taller than everyone (the idea of Loke towering over Taurus kinda scares me). The thing is, not only is he a spirit, but fairy tail is a story we’re talking about, and height in a character can be chosen and have meaning depending on the situation.

So considering he is the Zodiacs’ leader, takes pride in his looks and charm, kinda gives gentleman bodyguard vibes with his suit and can kinda control how he looks- I think being 6+’ is not the worse thing to expect.

I was a bit disappointed to find out he was shorter than Gray (5’11”). Not by much but it just kinda felt weird. Again, as a human, perfect way to blend in. As a spirit, the blending in thing doesn’t matter anymore. All the spirits stand out.

In conclusion, minor thing I wanted to vent about. I don’t blame you if you think I have too much time on my hands… I don’t, I just manage it poorly…

Also I have nothing against short guys, Natsu is like 5’7” and I wouldn’t change a thing about him. He’s like a pink chihuahua: small, powerful and aggressive, he’s perfect as he is.

I guess this was Part 1 cuz I have more to say about other characters (mostly Lucy tbh) but this ran longer than I thought. Gonna take a break before part 2 lol

[bunani-draws]

[floertoer]

my fairy tail brain rot continues

[jadeluz-writes]

Kinda want to rewatch Fairy Tail, kinda don't knowing Lucy doesn't end up with Loke or Gray.

Looking back at it, Natsu treated Lucy so horribly. Calling her fat as "jokes", calling her "weak" at some points in battle, or the cheap "she's always n*ked in battles", ditching her for a year with nothing but a letter, constantly breaking into her house and gr0ping her multiple times...

Loke always made Lucy his priority. Even after he becomes a spirit again, he broke through worlds to make sure she's okay. He adores Lucy to bits and always made sure she was complimented. Not once did he make her feel like she wasn't valued.

And Gray was the only one who really treated Lucy with respect too. He properly apologized after hurting her before the fight with E.N.D, and actually had a canon crush on her for a while. His monotone/cooler temper would've been a better match for Lucy.

It amazes me how people still defend Na/lu. Don't get me wrong, there's still a couple cute moments. But the vast majority of interactions between Natsu and Lucy makes it seem like Lucy is just better off with someone else or with no one at all.

[eebibly]

I’m not a big nalu fan either. I do think a lot of the issues between them (the groping, the breaking and entering) are Mashima’s own way of writing humour vs romance that are unrefined and kinda just don’t work in my opinion.

But the one thing I do appreciate is their bond. I love them as best friends, as teammates and in that way her feelings make sense. But Mashima insisting this is the only endgame for Lucy without putting effort into actually developing their romantic bond just because it’s a given that they’re ‘made for each other’ feels lazy and a bit selfish. This is why it’s frustrating to me when nalu fans use mashima himself as proof of what’s ‘canon’ because author canon doesn’t necessarily mean what makes sense in universe/inter character context.

Lolu is my vote but I agree with graylu <3

[jadeluz-writes]

Any LoLu stans out there?

Loke treated her sooo much better than Natsu sorry

[eebibly]

I miss Loke <3 I feel like he’s less and less around later and later, also feels kinda like mashima’s lost track of his character too, he seems out of character at times just for the lols, but it’s not that funny.