Lucy’s preferences, and why it’s bad to self-insert

Original post: ???

Made by Decadus

 

The above quote is taken from a person who no longer wishes to defend their position, and out of respect I will refrain from mentioning their name. That said, their post opened up an interesting dialogue about the core issues I have when it comes to judging pairings. A lot of the points I am about to cover is in response to people with similar train of thoughts. So if anyone wants to take shots at NaLu, they might as well respond to what an actual NaLu fan has to say about the subject.

To start, Gray doesn’t show Lucy any love. At least, not the same type of romantic love that he now openly shows towards Juvia. Friendship on the same level that he has with Erza is the most that Gray and Lucy have. Just look at the latest chapters. Gray is thinking of Juvia when thinking of love, even though Lucy is right beside him. Just seeing Juvia’s counterpart made him all happy.  

Meanwhile, Lucy has Natsu in her lap. I mean, earlier in the chapter Gray got jealous when Natsu was imagining Juvia topless. Did he get jealous when Natsu and Lucy’s counterpart started to make love? I don’t think he even cared. Was he jealous when Lucy cuddled naked with Natsu in the Alvarez arc? He was wide awake back then and could have easily volunteered to warm Natsu up, or argue for someone else to do it. No, he just went over to the other room while Lucy cuddled up to Natsu. Gray easily gets jealous over Juvia, but nada for Lucy.  

Gray isn’t closer to Lucy than Natsu, and he certainly doesn’t show her more support. During the Phantom Lord arc, which was Lucy’s arc, who showed Lucy the most support? When Lucy was beaten by Flare, who showed Lucy the most support? Who is been the most influential to Lucy’s growth as a character? When all is said and done, it’s Natsu. You can remove Gray from the story, and Lucy’s character development and growth wouldn’t change all that much. He is not a major player in any of her story-arcs. You take out Natsu, and Lucy wouldn’t even be part of Fairy Tail. In her own words, she wouldn’t be who she is today. The major reason NaLu works is because Natsu represents Fairy Tail. Lucy loves Fairy Tail. She loves the guild for all the values of friendship, family, bravery, and positivity. Nobody epitomizes those values better than Natsu. So it’s really no surprise that she’s come to love Natsu. Lucy loves Fairy Tail, and Natsu is basically Fairy Tail’s values personified. 

Let’s get another thing out of the way: People need to stop self-inserting and imposing their own preferences on characters. A lot of GrayLu shippers self-insert themselves in Lucy’s shoes, and confuse their own preferences with her’s. When I look at the disdain some GrayLu fans have for Natsu, I can’t help but chuckle at how hilariously out of touch they are with Lucy’s personality. Much of the same can be said for NaLi fans who try to put themselves in Natsu’s shoes, only to hate on Lucy for being a dumb blonde. That’s a topic for another day. The main point now is that Natsu’s “immaturity” is often overplayed when it comes to who is better suited for Lucy. This is despite the fact Lucy has already proven that she will choose to spend time with Natsu over going on dates with these so-called “more mature” guys. Remember this glasses dude that Lucy met? 

Well, this dude is even more “mature” than Gray, as he doesn’t go around getting himself arrested for public exposure. In fact this guy was an aspiring novelist just like Lucy. So what happens when Lucy came face to face with the choice of going on a date with this guy, and spending some time with Natsu on a mission? She ditches this guy and realizes that the day Natsu brought her to the guild was her fateful encounter. So much for Lucy preferring mature guys over Natsu. 

The simple fact of the matter is that Lucy chooses to spend most of her time with Natsu, and she gets depressed and lonely when he is not around. That’s why she chased after Natsu when he went on the 1 year training break. Lucy didn’t chase after Gray after Fairy Tail disbanded, even though she had a great idea where he was. Lucy could have easily followed him to the village along with Juvia if she wanted to. Not only does this not happen, but we get confirmation that the one Lucy most wanted to see after everyone separated was….Natsu.

As a result of all this time spent together, Natsu and Lucy’s relationship is now way more intimate than Gray’s relationship with Lucy ever could be. Lucy would hug Natsu for comfort, get naked to warm him up, or fall asleep under a tree with him. Gray and Lucy just don’t have moments like this. 

Just look at the way Hiro Mashima likes to portray Natsu and Lucy on his twitter. Hiro Mashima never draws Gray and Lucy in such intimate fanservice moments. Gray never gets his face planted directly in Lucy’s boobs and Lucy would never sit on his lap to cuddle. While you’re gushing over small interactions like head-pats, NaLu fans are accustomed to glorious amounts of fanservice. They’re waiting on the conception of their future daughter.  

Finally, let’s look at how Hiro Mashima addresses each of the pairings. July 26 is NaLu day. For those that didn’t know, 72 is pronounced Nanatsu and 6 is pronounced luu. What is amazing about this year is that Hiro Mashima actually took time out of his busy schedule to draw and colour the images you see below. This wasn’t some random sketch either. This was a high quality image, fully inked and coloured. Now NaLu isn’t the only date that received attention. Each of the major pairings received artwork from Mashima-sensei. So where is GrayLu day? Well if Mashima wanted to celebrate GrayLu day, it would have been on Sept 6. Instead he waited until the 10th, which was Gruvia day, to drop us an image of Gray and Juvia in a naked embrace. This is what you would call getting cucked. 

So, intellectuals, this is what an actual NaLu fan has to say on the subject.