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hotchocolatefanfics · 4 years

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Reboot PoTA Couple Theme Songs and their Meanings

Boy did this take me a while to finish! This is something I’ve been working on almost all of 2019 and I’ve finally finished it (2019 was not nice to me-my classes were, but everything else was a blur of getting sick and going from no anxiety to anxiety attacks happening daily. It was just a mess!)

Like the title says, it’s a theme song list for our favorite Planet of The Apes shippings and couples (I only did a few to save time but if this gets popular enough, I could do another involving any shippings and couples that aren’t present here (such as Will X Caroline or Malcolm x Ellie)).

Each couple have their own five theme songs (because one isn’t enough to tell their full story) and each song represents something unique about the couple dynamic or how the shipping can be interpreted and will include a description underneath (some may be longer than others (the more I know on that shipping/more I have to say, the more I write about them)-I apologize in advance for that!). If there’s any information that is missing or details that I overlooked (or even if you disagree with the description) please feel free to share!

Please note that you are not obligated to listen to these songs and you are completely and totally free to add a song to these couple lists. Part of the reason why I made this was in hopes that maybe it would spark a conversation amongst us PoTA fans about our favorite PoTA shippings/couple and explore other shippings.

Also, I didn’t include OC relations here but feel free to add them in your reblogs(you may also re-use songs that are already on these lists if you feel they could describe your OC x Canon shipping)! All love stories are welcomed on this post! (the only rule is there can’t be any underage or huge age difference couples).

My information sources are:

All three Reboot movies, Firestorm, Revelations, The Planet of The Apes Fandom Wikia and also reading a couple of stuff/peaking around on AO3, FanFiction.net, DeviantArt, and Wattpad.

With that said, enjoy the theme songs!

Caesar x Cornelia

Stand by you - Rachel Platten

Better Together - Jack Johnson

Say Something (I’m giving up on you) - A Great Big World

Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down

The Call - Regina Spektor

Description:

As this is a couples list, it only makes sense to start it with the king and queen themselves!

I think it’s more than safe to say that these two loved each other very much.

We saw Caesar and Cornelia’s relationship grow from Rise, Firestorm, Dawn, Revelations, to War and during that time, we’ve seen them grow closer (I actually think that, as their relationship progressed, Cornelia made Caesar a better leader-as she pointed things out to Caesar that he either ignored/didn’t realize/know in Firestorm).

When I personally think about this couple, I think about Caesar: The life he grew up with, the family he left behind when he chose to stay in the forest with the apes, the hardships he had to face in the earlier days/years of freedom and I think about all the stress and the anxiety that he had to have felt during those times. He had to have felt that he had to show strength in the presence of his followers-that would have meant not thinking/talking about Will, Charles or Caroline or letting it be known if he missed them at all.

Then I think about Cornelia. As his wife, she had to have known everything about Caesar. From his childhood to anything and everything he feared and worried about as king and leader. If there was anyone in the whole colony that Caesar could have shown that side to him, that uncertain, missing his family side to him, it would have been Cornelia, and I would imagine that she understood that he missed his human home. That she listened to his worries and comforted him-possibly reassured him if he needed it.

I didn’t know if it’s talked about very much but, as king and queen they’re very similar in personality: Both being compassionate and kind, but also fiercely protective of both the colony and of their friends and as parents, both are (also) protective and loving towards Blue Eyes and Cornelius (examples being Caesar protecting Blue Eyes from the bear and later protecting both sons from Carver in Dawn and Cornelia keeping Cornelius safe in Revelations).

This couple is featured in nearly every fanfic out there and every Planet of The Apes role-play that Tumblr has but I feel like we don’t talk about it enough. In War, Caesar was more than devastated by Cornelia’s death (and by the death of Blue Eyes) as he became vengeful, murderous and (pretty much) ready to kill because of it (remember that man with the wood at the oyster farm where they found Nova?).

If you really want to go there, it says a lot about his and Cornelia’s relationship during the war. That (maybe) the war took such a tool on Caesar (mentally and emotionally) that she became his strength. That (maybe) Caesar was already on the verge of losing it well before the attack on that hill (like having a breakdown or panic attack)-and I wouldn’t be surprised, as he was betrayed by Koba, then by Red and other followers of Koba, and his apes were being attacked, threatened and/or killed by the soldiers.

Maybe Cornelia kept him grounded, reminded him of who he was and what was important and when the Colonel killed her, it broke something in Caesar and when he lost her, he lost part of himself and may have forgotten who he was (only remembering when he realized he couldn’t kill the Colonel).

Blue Eyes x Lake

Kiss The Girl - Ashley Tisdale

Love Story - Taylor Swift

Colors - Halsey

It’s all coming back to me now - Meet loaf

When you’re Gone - Avril Lavigne

Description:

Blue Eyes and Lake clearly loved each other in War. We know they grew up together and played with each other as children though their (romantic) feelings for each other likely came later (around the time of Dawn/Revelations).

We didn’t get to see much of their relationship (due to Blue Eyes dying and/or being sent away in Revelations) but, considering that Blue Eyes was protective of his friends and family (and openly affectionate towards them in War), I think it can be assumed that he would have been a loving husband to Lake and would have protected her if she were in danger.

Lake appeared to love children, so it is reasonable to imagine they would have had children together and she would have, more than likely, been a wonderful mother to them. Lake was also brave (as seen when she defended Caesar in War), which makes it likely she could have assisted Blue Eyes as his queen (if he had lived to become king).

And now, the Fan-Made couples!!!

Caesar x Koba (aka: ‘Caba’)

Little Do You Know - Alex & Sierra

Hold On - Chord Overstreet

A Moment Like This - Kelly Clarkson

Breathless - Shayne Ward

Teddy Bear - Melanie Martinez

Description:

Yes, I absolutely had to start with this one as it’s, if I’m not mistaken, the most common shipping in the fandom (and it’s also my favorite too!).

Caesar and Koba were obviously very close in Dawn (as best friends and honorary brothers) as Koba saved Caesar from that bear in the beginning and Caesar later gifted the pelt to him. This relationship was created when Caesar rescued Koba and other apes from Gen-Sys and continued in Firestorm.

I can’t remember if I got this far into Caesar’s Story, but I wanna say there was a part in the book where it talked about Koba having feelings for/falling in love with Caesar(?)(Please correct me if I’m wrong).

It all came crashing down when the humans showed up and Koba’s hatred of them was reborn and it became clear to him that Caesar still ‘loved’ humans (when Koba said “Caesar loves humans more than apes” he may have actually believed that-it is also possible he may have thought Caesar loved humans more than him).

It eventually leads to Koba shooting him (which means he, essentially, abandoned his love for Caesar in favor of his hate for humans) and then declaring war on the humans-and later, resulted in Caesar having to kill him. Koba’s betrayal deeply hurt Caesar and so did killing him (let’s not forget that Koba’s ghost haunted him in War).

What I’ve noticed with this shipping is it’s all about the vulnerable and damaged side of Koba’s personality and about Caesar’s protective and compassionate heart.

Fanfics of this shipping sometimes follows the story of Dawn (with Pope as the bad guy or with Koba’s betrayal being deeper than just about revenge on the humans) and other times it’s completely different (nodding at the ‘Caesar and The Bonobo’ Beauty and The Beast AU on FanFiction and all other Caba one-shots(all deserve a read!)) but in all fanfics and fan arts of this shipping, there’s always a sense of heartache for the couple (either due to how Koba suffered before Rise or knowing how their relationship ended in Dawn).

Everything about this shipping is tragic and (when well-written out) heartbreaking but at the same time, it can be adorable and beautiful (I’m also tempted to call it irresistible for many fans-seriously, look on AO3, DeviantArt Wattpad, FanFiction.net-literally all of these sites has three or more fanfics/one-shots of this shipping (though I would advise you all to be careful as some of them may be, let’s say, ‘Rated R’)!).

I have not found any role-plays of this shipping on Tumblr (yet!) so I wouldn’t know how the shipping is portrayed in that category (Seriously, are there any role-plays of this? Cause I’d like to know!).

Koba x Stone

I Still Love You - Josh Jenkins

Yours to Hold - Skillet

Grenade - Bruno Mars

Hero - Enrique Iglesias

Immortal - Evanescence

Description:

I’ve, sadly, only seen this shipping on role-play blogs here on Tumblr so much of this is guessed (if anyone reading this has role-played this shipping before or have more experience with it, please correct me if I’m wrong!)

Stone was one of Koba’s friends and first followers in Dawn (aside from Grey) but his motives for following Koba are never talked about (also in Revelations, it says he’s dead but he’s clearly seen alive in War…Does he have superpowers or did he just disappear and showed up again for War?)

(Here’s my guess) Stone likely disagreed with Caesar’s role (to some extent but I doubt he was as extreme about it as Koba was) but what if, his main reason for following Koba had more to do with him having secret feelings for the bonobo than anything else? What if Stone saw and knew that Koba was still haunted by his past and comforted him when no one else would? And by the time the humans reappeared in Dawn, Stone developed his own hatred for the species that had hurt his love?

Meanwhile, Koba, who likely doesn’t feel comfortable talking about his past with anyone and felt betrayed and angered when Caesar disregarded his hatred of humans, probably would have resisted Stone’s affection for a long time before he finally let him in and fully accepted the comfort and love from the chimp (it is also possible Koba used that very sympathy to manipulate Stone into doing his bidding but I’m not sure if he would have needed to as, again, Stone would have already hated humans for torturing Koba in the past anyway).

Now about Stone’s death/survival: Let’s say that Stone survived Dawn (as seen in War). If he really did have feelings for Koba, it’s likely he would have felt guilty and somewhat responsible for his love’s death as he had chosen to agree with him that the apes should go to war with humans instead of talking Koba out of it (to be fair I’m not sure if Koba could have been convinced otherwise after the fight with Caesar in the dam but I think Stone would have had a better chance of reasoning with him anyone else).

Now let’s say Stone had actually died and Koba wasn’t defeated by Caesar. I think it’s more than safe to say Koba would be screwed if he was the one to have to go to war with the Colonel in War instead of Caesar (and it may be reasonable to suspect he may eventually realize the gravity of what he did and would regret it all as the war continues) but if this war took Stone early on, and if Stone and Koba were romantically involved, it’s also reasonable to assume Koba would have regretted that most of all-seeing Stone as the last (and by the time of War, the only) to love him and care about him and feeling lost and alone without him.

All in all, this shipping has a love lost and a sort of ‘dam(sel) in distress’ feel to it.

Koba x Cornelia

Sk8ter Boi - Avril Laringe

When I was Your Man - Bruno Mars

Uptown Girl - Billy Joel

Bad Boy - Cascada

Dear in The Headlights - Owl City

Description:

I have the same problem here-total guesswork!

Based on what little I know of this shipping so far, it reminds me of the ‘outcast falls in love with popular person’ scenario that is sometimes seen in high school movies. But this shipping could seriously work as a love triangle story!

Koba and Cornelia have little to no interaction in the books (the ones I’ve read so far anyway!) or in the movies but it is known that they see each other as honorary brother and sister (due to Caesar and Koba being honorary brothers). It’s reasonable to assume they had mutual respect for each other and that Cornelia was just as betrayed by Koba’s actions as Caesar was.

However, it is never revealed what Koba’s plans would have been for Cornelia had Caesar truly died (there is a chance he could have forced her into marrying him but I also think there's a chance she would have rebelled against him and Koba could have decided to kill her (or kill Cornelius as punishment and then kill her? I dunno know)).

Also, what if Koba had wanted Cornelia as his wife all along and only decided to kill Caesar when he did because the humans ‘conveniently’ showed up (unlikely but maybe)? I think this shipping was born from the idea that Koba always had a secret crush on Cornelia but kept it a secret because she married Caesar and knew he had no chance with her.

Another thought (and this is highly unlikely but still): In the wild, chimps would have multiple mates (Rocket in Rise for example) so there's also a (tiny) chance that Caesar could (in theory) be married to both Cornelia AND Koba-I have never heard of this particular thing happening and I’m not sure if the Caba and/or the Koba x Cornelia shippings are popular enough to warrant that sort of dynamic but it would make an interesting fanfic.

Koba x Pope

Issues - Julia Michaels

Battles Scars - Guy Sebastian Ft. Lupe Fiasco

Love the Way you Lie - Eminem Ft. Rhianna

Next To Me - Imagine Dragons

Courage - Superchick

Description:

For those who don’t know, Pope is the main villain from the Dawn comics. He’s very similar to Koba (as they’re both apes that came from labs) but worse as he enslaved primitive apes and saw them as lesser beings-going as far as calling them ‘stupid animals’.

Anyway, me and a friend made this one up a while back in our discussions and, from what I remember, we had two or three(?) different scenarios for this shipping.

One being that since they were both abused and tortured by humans, they may find comfort in each other (finding it easy to show vulnerability to someone who’s equally damaged) and fall in love from their shared experiences.

In the comic, Pope’s past is only hinted by Koba when he says: “He was like me…A lab ape. Bad Things, maybe worse.” and then his past is never mentioned of again however, Pope does say: “Never show weakness.” after the killing of a human later in the comic. Based on that, it’s reasonable to suspect that Pope may harbor a similar hatred to humans as Koba does and may suffer from demons of his own but keeps it well hidden from other apes.

Two being more about their personalities: Both Koba and Pope are capable of hurting people (as seen when Koba killed Ash and shot Caesar and Maurice in Dawn and when Pope killed the alpha, killed Fifer and Cora and enslaved all the primitive apes in the comic) and both are described by the PoTA Fandom Wiki as ‘cruel and tyrannical’ (with Koba being described as ‘belittling’, ‘unstable’ and ‘manipulative’ and Pope as ‘immoral’, ‘arrogant’ and ‘egomaniacal’).

Considering these traits, it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine one of them to perceive the other’s vulnerability as ‘weakness’ and actually abuse the other (like Pope abusing Koba or Koba abusing Pope). Based on their personalities, it’s possible the kind of abuse they’d inflict on each other would likely be physical, emotional, or mental abuse (or all three).

Third (and this is more of continuation of the second one!), even if Koba and Pope weren’t abusing each other, their relationship would likely be argumentative, unhealthy, troubling, rough and just very dysfunctional.

These are two very damaged apes with traumas that were not properly dealt with or given help for and full of pent up rage and hate towards humans (plus Pope hated Caesar and disrespected his rule). If they were to be a couple, their own traumas and hatred would feed off of each other and may, inadvertently, make it worse (this would likely not be a problem if Pope and Koba were with other people as a person who doesn’t have the same experiences or resentment as them would likely help ‘heal’ them). Maybe their relationship could work but they may need therapy (psychotherapy and/or couple therapy) before it gets there.

Red x Winter

Sorry - Halsey

Please Don’t Leave Me - P!nk

Accidentally in Love - Counting Crows

Secrets - OneRepublic

You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

Description:

Eeeeeek! This one is my second favorite! I can’t wait to share this dynamic! :D

Both gorillas are first seen in Revelations. Red being manipulative, defiant, aggressive and violent (as shown when he manipulated Grey, lead the soldiers to the building where the colony was hiding in, tried to kill Cornelia (twice and one being while she was trying to help another female ape give birth!) and also when he slapped Cedar) and Winter being fearful and timid (as seen when he faced the wall after the building next to the colony’s hiding place was blown up and when he failed to kill Cornelia (which Red manipulated him into trying to do anyway)). Both are seen again in War, where Winter proves himself as a coward and Red a traitor.

Needless to say, both of these gorillas have very different personality types. The interactions they had both in Revelations and in War weren’t enough to say they were friends (let alone romantically involved) however, Red clearly knew Winter was easy to control. Why else would he consistently manipulate him? And Winter appeared to be afraid of Red. This could be because Red was more aggressive than him and Winter feared confrontation.

However, there’s a lot about the two gorillas that were never revealed (backstory wise. I actually do have a backstory theory for Red but that’s a post for another day). For example, Red was shown to have a lot of anger built up in him and while it is believed to be due to Caesar killing Koba, it feels much deeper than that.

Koba was only leader for a day and or two (or less, my math isn’t great) and Red was willing to kill Cornelia, manipulate and endanger other apes and betray the colony over that? No, this anger didn’t develop overnight. It had to have been there BEFORE Dawn (and it somehow has something to do with Caesar)!

Then there’s Winter. We know his father died before he was born but we don’t know how or what his relationship was/the whereabouts of his mother (this does open the door for speculation of whether or not the circumstances of his father’s death and the relationship he had with his mother could have anything to do with Winter’s fearfulness).

Finally, their relationship: What if Red’s anger and hate was all a mask? What if, deep down inside, he was actually a very hurt, troubled and damaged person and only knew how to show it through anger? And what if Winter’s greatest flaw was actually his strength? Winter was more open about his feelings in both Revelation and in War (whether it be fear, shock, or worry) while Red was very closed off.

What if that difference was what originally attracted Winter to Red? What if Winter, despite being intimidated by Red, viewed him as mysterious and was drawn to him by that. Meanwhile, what if Red was secretly jealous of Winter being so open about his vulnerabilities-even if he knew others would look down on him for it.

With all that said (sorry it was that long!), Red and Winter’s relationship would be built on shared (either expressed or hidden) vulnerabilities and traumatic experiences. Both have flaws and neither of them are weak. They just depend on each other for strength and (in one-shots where they survive War) for belonging as they have no one else.

Blue Eyes x Ash

Bad Day - Daniel Powter

Dark Paradise - Lana Del Ray

Perfect - P!nk

Complicated - Avril Lavigne

Count on Me - Bruno Mars

Description:

This is another shipping I’ve only seen briefly-I’m not sure if there are any role-plays of it on Tumblr (but then again I never really looked either!) but there is a fanfic or two out there of this pairing (again, if I miss something a detail regarding this shipping, please let me know!).

Ash is first seen in Dawn when he and Blue Eyes are fishing together. Right away, it’s pretty clear these two are close friends and likely grew up together (which would make sense as their fathers are so close). Based on the interactions between him and Blue Eyes in that scene and the council meeting scene, Ash can be described as humorous (such as when he poked at Blue Eyes) and confident in himself (like when he was teasing Blue Eyes over the bear incident) and Blue Eyes, is protective of him as he (presumably) protected him from Carver before Rocket and the other apes intervened.

Blue Eyes is left devastated and deeply hurt after Ash’s death and, throughout Revelations, thinks about him constantly and later having a dream about him.

Since I don’t know that much about this pairing, this is where the guesswork comes in: As these two grew up together, it’s more than likely they also knew each other on a deeper level than their parents did-for example, Blue Eyes could have told Ash all his secrets, whatever worries or fears he had, maybe ranted to him about his anger and frustrations with his father or about being prince.

I don’t know if Ash had any issues with his parents (as he and Rocket appeared to be very close as father and son-and we don’t really see Ash interacting with Tinker) but if he ever had a bad day, he’d likely talk to Blue Eyes about it just like Blue Eyes would.

This relationship would be founded on childhood friendship, turned best friends, into lovers. Likely turning into a ‘you’re the only person I trust with my secrets’ kind of relationship while also being a very supportive and protective kind of relationship too.

McCullough x Caesar

I Hate Everything - Three Days Grace

Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne

Hold Me Down - Halsey

You Don’t Own Me - Grace Ft. G-Eazy

Hellfire - The Hunchback of Notre Dam

Description:

I dabbled on this one in my Whumptober one-shots but if anyone’s interested in more of this shipping, there’s a few on AO3 (it’s easily the black sheep of this list but I think it deserves a place here for clarification as to what this shipping could be versus what it sounds like). It’s a weird pairing but it’s worth checking out!

I think we all know Colonel McCullough as the most evil human in the reboot movies (as he is willing to kill apes and any human who is infected with the virus-his own son for example) and seeing how he treated Caesar in War (chaining him up, forcing him and the ape colony to work, having him whipped and tied to a cross with no food or water for days, killing Cornelia and Blue Eyes) it’s easy to see why this shipping would raise eyebrows but it all depends on how one looks at it.

For example, I see the shipping as a possible twist on War: As the war between the apes and AO soldiers unfold, McCullough’s desire to capture and/or kill Caesar turns into something else. He becomes obsessed with the Ape King and decides the best way to defeat him and get rid of the apes would be to destroy Caesar’s life. So he deliberately kills Cornelia and Blue Eyes knowing it will provoke Caesar to go after him and later in the base when McCullough has Red and Preacher bring Caesar to his office, he blackmails Caesar into marrying him (saying that he’ll let the colony live if he agrees).

As a result of it, Caesar becomes McCullough’s “chimp-wife” and is a prisoner in this forced marriage, the ape colony thinks he’s abandoned and/or betrayed them, the AO soldiers and the Donkeys are confused by the whole thing and Red and Preacher (who witnessed the Colonel’s blackmailing marriage proposal to Caesar) are thinking “WTF is happening here?”.

Another way one could see this shipping would be as something funny. Yes, it’s dysfunctional but that could be the point! If one wanted to make a fanfic of this shipping, they could use the dysfunctional aspects of the relationship and make it funny. Think Marge and Homer Simpson for example.

For those who have an issue with this shipping, I 100% agree this relationship would be doomed from the start (if we decide to take it seriously). If McCullough and Caesar were to be married, I can picture the Colonel being abusive and predigest towards Caesar and his species, blaming him for all things wrong in the world (such as the virus, the fall of the human race), likely never showing any love or affection towards Caesar, and poor Caesar would become depressed and miserable from this awful marriage.

Bon x Pope (from the Dawn comics!)

Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis

Follow Him - Peggy March

I would Do Anything For You - Foster The People

Just The Girl - Click Five

All You Wanted - Michelle Branch

Description:

To be honest, I’m not sure if Bon was really this close to Pope as he only appeared once or twice in the Dawn comics BUT! he was one of his loyal followers and while it is possible he only disagreed with Caesar’s rule, there’s another chance that he may have had feelings for Pope (much like my description of the Stone x Koba shipping).

For those who didn’t read the comics, let me sum up the interactions between these two: Bon was one of Pope’s followers and is seen returning back to the zoo after (unsuccessfully) searching for an ape named Fifer who escaped them and informs Pope that there are humans nearby. Bon also took part in the battle between Pope and Koba and was later banished along with Pope’s followers while the primitive apes followed Koba back to the Ape Village.

As this shipping, almost no leg to stand on (and is more made up than the others on this list) allow me to explain it here: Much like Grey and Stone towards Koba, Bon (and a gorilla named Rex) followed Pope-presumably because they also disliked Caesar and/or his rule. As Pope didn’t actually plan on killing Caesar until later in the comics and didn’t realize there were primitive apes, in the beginning, I don’t think there was any manipulation going on from him.

Now let’s look at Pope for a second: Pope was an ape who looked down upon anyone who showed weakness or was primitive and had no problem with enslaving, torturing, endangering or murdering other apes. Like I said in my description for the Koba x Pope shipping, Pope was also a lab ape (with fishnet scars on the left side of his face, shoulder and chest giving us a hint as to what he was put through-though it’s never actually discussed) so it is reasonable to imagine he may have his own demons and traumas, much like Koba does (unsurprisingly, Pope also hates humans).

The thing about Pope that I’m curious about is if he is traumatized from what had been done to him at the hands of humans, does he show it? He likely doesn’t as he appears to dislike seeing it and other apes showing weakness but that would mean that, much like Koba, he’s holding things back, probably much more than Koba was (as Koba is seen in Dawn talking (briefly) about what he went through with humans to Caesar).

Now looking at Pope and Bon, it makes me wonder if Bon could have picked up on that. Like what if Bon saw the pain that Pope was covering up and reached out to him?

That, and it is also possible Bon was into the ‘bad boy’ type.

Phew, glad that’s over! XD

10 notes · View notes

alexistitania · 7 years

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Good day, I really enjoyed the end of Fairy Tail!

I didn’t want to post anything before a decent translation was out, and I believe I was right in doing so. There’s only so much a panel can convey with no text to accompany it. By reading the translated version I got a better insight into what was happening, though I pretty much already got the gist from the spoilers.

Do keep in mind that the official release is next week, so my opinion is based on a fan translation. But no matter, I don’t think much will change when I read the official translation. Just some minor details, but it won’t change my mind drastically in any way.

Anyway, like a lot of fans, I’ve been emotional all day, listening to the Fairy Tail OST, rewatching the OPs and EDs and recalling some of my favorite scenes. And now I’ve calmed down a bit (but just a bit, I’m pretty much yelling everything I’m typing right now but I want to keep this post clean so I’m not using caps), and am finally able to properly talk about the final chapter, and my final thoughts.

I don’t normally do reviews or anything, but I felt like I should make an exception this one time, since Fairy Tail has been a big part of my life since 2012, if I remember correctly. This post will be me trying to sort out my thoughts and let out all my feels, so it will be pretty personal, but I’ll try to look at things from different angles. Still, this is just my opinion, so I might get a bit biased talking about a few things, but of course, you are free to agree or disagree. So I’ll just be letting out all my thoughts on the conclusion of a series that has been dear to me for years.

Keep in mind though, if you’re willing to read this trough to the end: it is LONG AF! So just that down.

More babbling under the cut.

THAT CANONIZATION STUFF

This is a hot topic right now, so I’ll start with a few words about the whole shipping situation. A lot of people stuck with the series until the end for the ships, so I know they were disappointed because there was no timeskip or next gen or kisses or weddings. I can understand that. All shippers want that, and it’s what shippers got with Naruto and Bleach, so it’s pretty much what we were given to expect from the final chapter of Fairy Tail as well.

But reading the chapter, I couldn’t help but feel satisfied with the way it turned out. Mostly.

See, the good thing about this ending is that NO SHIPS WERE SUNK. Literally, not a single one. (Ok so maybe Miraxus was kinda sunk, based on Yonkou’s translation, but that’s only Lucy’s impression ;) it’s all cool guys.) If anything, most have been canonized or heavily implied, even without kisses or actual confessions. As a shipper, you may be disappointed about your ship “not sailing” but, really, it all depends on your interpretation. Shipping is not about proving to your fandom that you were “right”, it’s about that nice feeling your ship gives you, regardless of how canon it is.

Sure, canon is freaking great. I get absolutely ecstatic when my ship becomes canon. But I don’t need canonization to believe in my ship in my heart. I’ve been on both the losing and the winning side of shipping, so I’d say this type of ending is a good compromise. Because you know, people will get stressed over ships one way or another, and there are also a lot of people who do not actually care about the ships.

This way, it wasn’t all In Your Face, but it was heavily implied. Heavily implied means that you can choose to interpret it in another way. A casual reader will see the “surface”, the obvious, but as a shipper, you can have your own, different interpretation. Mashima gave us that freedom. That’s great in my book. It feels refreshing after Naruto and Bleach.

Personally, I wouldn’t have minded a next gen type of chapter, because it would actually fit the theme of Fairy Tail. In my opinion, it would have done Fairy Tail more good than it did Naruto (I’m not anti-Naruto ending, I’m just saying I would have appreciated that scenario even more in Fairy Tail).

But, that kind of ending wasn’t necessary for me. And I found myself actually not wanting it, after Naruto and Bleach. I wanted something different, not a copy-paste ending of those two. Again, I wouldn’t have complained either way, but I still prefer it the way Mashima did it.

Now, I’m one of the people who ship the main four: Nalu, Gruvia, Jerza and Gajevy. And guess what? I’m satisfied with how they were treated in the final chapter.

Let’s see what we got.

GAJEVY: Ok so, just stating the obvious here. Gajevy has been canon since Gajeel’s confession in the Alvarez arc. Among other things, there was even a panel of them with their children, the twins. I’m pretty sure there was even a light novel about the twins. Mashima considered it canon even back then. So yeah, this ship has been canon for a while actually. Hell, we even got that one panel of them kissing in Juvia’s fantasy. That was no coincidence. A real kiss or a confession in the final chapter would’ve been welcome, but it wasn’t absolutely necessary to cement their romantic relationship. I’d even say Mashima’s way of developing them in the final chapter was better than a kiss. Levy whispered something in Gajeel’s ear, and we can 100% trust Wendy’s hearing, the girl definitely heard something juicy. But from Lucy, we only know there was the word “baby”. So Levy probably said something about them having a baby/babies soon. I see this as Mashima’s subtle way of reminding us, not even confirming, reminding us of Gajevy’s relationship, a relationship that has gotten physical during the one year timeskip. Now Levy is supposedly pregnant, with the twins. I couldn’t believe it when they just casually disappeared after that and Lily wondered where they were. My guy, you know where they are and exactly what they’re doing lol. In any case, I can understand the disappointment about them not kissing onscreen, but like I said, to me, this was even better. And we have no right to complain about there being no confession; we already got one from Gajeel, and Levy has had an obvious crush on him since pretty early on in the series. This ship is good. Let’s not be greedy.

JERZA: Now, with Jerza I can totally understand the disappointment. The disappointing part was not the lack of canonization, but the lack of any interactions at all. I agree that Jerza deserved an actual interaction, not even necessarily outright canonization. In that respect, Jerza got the short end of the stick. I honestly expected Mashima to make an entirely indulgent chapter with actual Jerza moments with just the two of them. But, thinking about it, I think I understand where he’s coming from. Looking back, I even feel like there’s a kind of poetry to it. You’re laughing now, but hear me out. As far as I’m concerned, Jerza has been canon since their Almost Kiss and the famous “I have a fiancée” fiasco. That was years ago. It’s canon in terms of mutual affection, not an official relationship, but hey, they’re getting there, it’s the feeling that matters. Sometimes life is complicated and you can’t just be with the person you love just like that, especially if said person is a criminal. Jellal and Erza’s relationship has been complicated from the beginning, but I think we can all agree they deserve to be happy after everything. Now, with Jellal being absolved of all his crimes, there’s finally hope for them. The way Jellal says “Live” with that pensive expression, you can tell he’s thinking about Erza, a life with Erza, it’s all over his face. And the scene cuts to Erza. Fitting. I interpreted the part where Lucy talks about Erza brushing her hair every day as Erza finally being able to meet with Jellal regularly, so that’s why she’s trying to look her best for him. I find that somewhat bittersweet, like their entire relationship. And while I am a bit let down we didn’t get actual interactions, after not getting much focus in the second half of the series, the romantic in me sees a sort of poetry in this. In Jerza always being driven apart, right till the very end. (Yeah, I’m bullshitting this, but honest to God, this really is how I feel about it.) Just a side note, because I don’t want to make this about other ships from other fandoms, but, without naming anyone, I’ll just say I ship that one ship in Naruto that is always driven apart by the hands of destiny. I’m a sucker for that. So, while I craved Jerza interactions, I can’t deny that my masochistic side was giddy with this outcome. I feel kinda bad for feeling this way though. Again, that’s just me. But I totally understand all the fuss about it. There was the whole buildup for a wedding with Erza’s wedding dress too...

GRUVIA: This chapter actually turned out really cute for Gruvia and only further cemented their relationship. Ok, so we didn’t get a kiss or a sweet Gray, but we got a jealous Gray? Also the Gray who smiles lovingly when Juvia puts her arms around him in that cover (yay). In my heart, Gruvia has been canon since their double suicide in the Alvarez arc, mostly because of what Gray said about wanting to protect Juvia, and because of all the implications that lovers’ suicide puts around their characters. Many fans thought Gray’s behavior would somehow change drastically after that. I never thought it would, but I knew they’d eventually be together, and Gray would still be tsundere about it. And I’m fine with that. That’s IC in my book. But there is a crucial difference this time. This time, Gray isn’t pushing Juvia away, or running away from her, or getting embarrassed by her advances. This Gray drags Juvia away from the party when she gets too drunk and attracts Gildart’s attention with the stripping habit she picked up from Gray himself (oh, the irony). The entire conversation that follows is really heartwarming, and it shows us that there really has been a shift in their relationship. What with Gray saying that about her body being his (as a lover, nothing possessive). It just conveys genuine care for Juvia and her well-being, I am thankful for that. So, all in all, the Gruvia interactions in the chapter were still pretty much in the typical Gruvia fashion, but there were some important changes on Gray’s part. You could clearly see he was more comfortable around her now, and more open about her “belonging” to him (for the lack of a better term). And honestly, that was only natural. After all, it has been a year since the Alvarez war, and Gray promised Juvia an answer right after the war. This chapter heavily implies that Juvia eventually got a positive answer from Gray. Whether they have actually been in a relationship all this time is somewhat unclear, but if they haven’t, they sure are about to be after what Gray said. And this may be just me, but honestly, from the way he talks about it so openly and gets all flustered about her body being “his” too, my bets are on the already existing relationship. I pretty much see this as a post-Gray’s-answer situation. Of course, a flash forward to ten years later could have given Mashima an opportunity to slightly change Gray’s character towards Juvia, make him more affectionate and less tsundere, but just a year wasn’t enough, in my opinion. Since he decided to stick with the one year timeskip, I truly believe this was the way to go. Their interactions truly warmed my heart. All I ever wanted was a jealous Gray (and slightly possessive in a healthy way). And I got it. I’m happy. This ship is good too, as far as I’m concerned.

NALU: Now, I just want to say Nalu is my favorite OTP in the series. Having said that, I absolutely loved their moments in this chapter. I wasn’t disappointed in the least, and didn’t see their final interaction as a friendzoning thing, not at all. Now, I never expected a kiss. I wouldn’t have complained if I had gotten one, but it would have been a bonus. To be honest, I do feel like a kiss or straight-up canonization in the form of a traditional confession would not only feel OOC, but would also be somewhat awkwardly placed at this point in time. Ten years into the future, sure, something’s bound to come out of it, but right now, Natsu and Lucy don’t need to put labels on their relationship. With all the other ships, I feel like that final romantic touch was necessary (and the final romantic touches we got indeed, if only indirectly in some cases!), because they were strictly romantic from the start, but Nalu is different. What I always loved about them was first and foremost their deep friendship, their deep connection that goes beyond any type of relationship that can be defined with words. That’s why I believe it’s fine if you don’t want to see it as romantic. Maybe you believe it would only ruin them. I personally don’t think so, but I understand why some people would. More than anything, they are the best of friends, dare I say, soulmates, as cheesy as it may sound, and only after that can they be a couple. And even as a couple, they wouldn’t be an ordinary one. In my opinion, Lucy and Natsu are so close that, honestly, they already give off that vibe of an old married couple. They have been giving off that vibe for a while, at least to me. Maybe it started sometime during the Tenrou island arc. But what cemented their bond, for me, was the GMG arc, the second half of it. So I didn’t feel like I needed an outright confirmation of a romance to wholeheartedly believe in this ship. What happened was pretty much how I had hoped things would go down between them in their final scenes together. I’m very pleased with how Mashima handled their moments in the chapter. Not only did Gajeel tease Natsu about liking Anna-sensei because she smells like Lucy (meaning he does see something there), but there was also the beautiful, heartwarming embrace. Natsu’s reaction to Lucy thanking him for being there is to completely disregard it, because he doesn’t want or need her to thank him, he just wants her to be with him, that’s all the “thanks” he wants from her. And he reassures her that from now on, they will be together forever. Now, I might be jumping to conclusions here, but in my book, the promise of forever spoken in this manner isn’t viewed as something very platonic in the Japanese culture, is it? (Reminds me of another ship from another shounen manga where the guy said something similar, you know the one.) Either way, yeah, it is kind of an open ending for them in terms of an actual relationship, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. In my heart, I know that somewhere down the road, it will lead to something even more beautiful. I got Natsu and Lucy going on an adventure again. I got all I wanted.

Having said that, I’m pretty sure Mashima will be writing some extra chapters in the upcoming months. Not necessarily next gen stuff, but just something to keep us hyped until the anime comes back. So we might still see some more shippy scenes, but those are just my own speculations.

Anyhow. Some minor ships here and there too. My heart is full of joy knowing that Erik and Kinana are actually lovers now. I never thought it would happen, but here we are. Elfever is freaking canon too, my boys. Also, Laxus got his own harem, the man scored! He can have ‘em all. Probably missing some ships here, but Max x Broom is still canon af!

Now...

ZERVIS: Or... is it? Technically, yeah. I know this is sort of a Trigger ship for the fandom, you either love it with all your being or you hate it and want to burn your memories of it, there’s no in between. You all know I love Zervis, but I’ll try to be as objective as I can on this one. So they seem to be reincarnated. They now call themselves Arius and Mio respectively. Also, Zeref/Arius mentions how “it’s really hot this August” I see what you did there Mashima. But they will never know. Now, I’ll be frank. While I do love Zervis, their scene wasn’t necessary. You can really see how Mashima favors this ship, the way he favored Jerza in the first half of the story. I loved the closure Zervis got during the war, finally ending their lonely existences, together. And their life force made it possible for Makarov to come back. Thinking back on it, it might have been The One True Magic (read: love) between Zeref and Mavis that brought Makarov back. That was probably the deal with that. Makarov is still traumatized. But anyway. Now, it seems like Zeref and Mavis have been reincarnated. I have no idea how though, or why they are already in their teens when they’re supposed to be babies if it’s only been a year since their death (that’s how reincarnation works, right?). But, I figured it isn’t supposed to make much sense. It’s just there to warm our hearts and give us a 100% happy ending, even though it would have already been 100% happy even without it. It might have even ruined the chapter for some. Not for me though... But yeah, this is just Mashima drawing some self-indulgent panels, can’t say I blame him though. About the reincarnation, in a way, it adds an ironic twist to the curse of Ankhseram. After breaking it the first time, maybe their fate is to get reincarnated over and over again, for all eternity, each time forgetting their past lives, each time falling in love with each other. All that instead of being immortals. It’s kind of poetic, in a way. I would have been fine with them finding eternal peace together though. With the reincarnation, it feels less... epic? But the shipping whore in me is still glad I got to see them happy and carefree for once, as a publisher and an aspiring author, who are sure to both have connections to Lucy in the future due to their careers. It’s like an “In another life” fic. It wasn’t necessary, but I won’t complain.

SO, that’s pretty much how I feel about the ships. Man, that was long. But wait, I’m still not done! I want to talk about a few more things before I go back to crying alone.

LUCY

Lucy deserves a whole paragraph, because she’s my favorite character and I’m just so proud of what she has accomplished over the course of this series. There are few things I would change about her development. I would give her more spotlight at times, but other than that, I absolutely love everything about her and her character development. Even though Natsu is technically the main character, it really did feel at times like it was actually Lucy. She is the narrator. We see the whole story and the characters from her perspective. And she has gone through the most character development in Team Natsu. Feel free to disagree on that one, it’s just my opinion. In my eyes, Lucy is the best character (as much as I love a few of my other babies) and I am so glad to see where she has gotten in this chapter. Props to Lucy for managing to finish that novel with such loud friends around her and Natsu and Happy constantly barging in. That girl, always doing the impossible. Gotta love her. In the first page, we see that her novel is called “The adventure of Iris”. So, in Greek mythology, Iris is supposed to be a messenger of the gods and the personification of the rainbow, linking heaven and earth. Sound familiar? Lucy is a Celestial Spirit Mage who basically acts as a portal between the heavens and earthland. And it is also confirmed by a nameless guest that the heroine, Iris, is indeed based on Lucy and her own adventures. So it’s basically saying that she wrote a story inspired by Fairy Tail and her adventures with them. Just like I always hoped she would! Plus, she got an award for it and the guests are calling her Lucy-sensei. That right there is so important to me like! They will keep calling her Lucy-sensei from now on, because she is now a recognized author. Damn proud. As expected of the Celestial Princess. Absolutely proud of everything she has done throughout the series. And she will keep growing, as a mage, as a writer, and as a person.

Also, I loved how the entire chapter was yet again narrated by Lucy herself. A lot of it focused on romance too. I didn’t mention this in the Nalu section, but I believe all the focus on romance was leading toward the final Nalu moment, with the purpose of setting up that “romantic” mood, so that we’d get the hint even though it wasn’t explicit in the end. Lucy is always getting flustered around couples and is sometimes even jealous of their relationships, but she doesn’t realize that she and Natsu have that too, and more, just without the whole making out thing. And by the end of the chapter, I believe Natsu actually makes her realize that! Just my interpretation though.

THE COVERS

I just got really emotional about the covers too. First, the Jump cover with all the major characters being all #squad goals. The Gruvia bit makes me especially happy, and also Nalu and Wendy being the adorable little family they are. I just wish Levy would get more space lol, poor girl, she smol, Gajeel lift her up, won’t you?

And then the color spread with all the guild members together. I always love those, and there is something particularly nostalgic about this one. The style somehow reminded me of Mashima’s style at the beginning of the series. The coloring style too. I don’t know if that’s what he was going for, but I just had that feeling. Everyone looks so BOMB! But again, why the letters over Levy’s face? The final artbook better fix that.

OTHER THINGS I GUESS

Team Natsu dynamics. Just like old times! Natsu and Gray squabbling and Erza freaking obliterating them. Lucy being embarrassed because her friends have no sense of shame or restraint. Gray stripping, but now Juvia strips too. Romeo understanding nothing about adulthood. So many nostalgic moments, there are so many characters featured in this chapter, I can’t even remember them all.

More importantly, I’m glad Anna stayed in their timeline (not sure if there was even a way for her to get back to hers), and love how she’s a teacher, it’s only fitting. Wish we could have seen more of her interactions with Lucy or her time with Natsu and the other Dragon Slayers. Now, there’s an idea for a short spin-off series! Just sayin’.

Also, Chelia is slowly starting to use magic again! Very happy about that. You can come at me with all your “but it’s unrealistic” flame, I still love that cheese. Absolutely love how Wendy and Chelia are still performing for Lamia Scale! Also, some Chendy for my soul.

Minerva freaking obliterated the rest of her guildmates. Lesson number one about women, never underestimate our voraciousness, especially if we’re used to being on ridiculous diets.

I don’t really understand what happened with Ichiya, but he's exclaiming “MEN” and is apparently the boss of something now so that’s good. It’s the least he deserves after sacrificing his life along with Anna so that Jellal didn’t have to sacrifice his. Even though he would have been brought back as well lol.

And the Mermaid Heel girls are Weekly Sorcerer’s models, somehow I always knew.

Drunk Cana and her sweet, protective dad for my soul.

Makarov is still the guild master, I presume? It’s either him or Laxus now. Even though he can’t move around much nowadays, I kinda feel like the members of the guild would still want him as their master, until the last of his days, or until he passes the baton. That realization is somehow really heartwarming.

Princess Hisui is now Queen Hisui, I love it! She is a good queen, a gentle soul, and she pardoned Jellal and the Oracion Seis. They are finally free to do as they please, after so much suffering, some of them losing their way and finding it again. Thank you Hisui!

Also, just wanna say I appreciate that bit where Hisui pardons Jellal and there’s the transition from his sort-of-smiling face to a sort-of-smiling Erza with her bangs covering her eyes. Right then, Erza whispers “It’s complicated”. And since we, the audience, did not only just see a character whom Erza has a kind of a “complicated” relationship with, but we’re also seeing the whole situation through Lucy’s eyes (with Lucy being concerned about Erza and Jellal’s progress lol), we are bound to connect this to Erza’s relationship with Jellal at first, before she explains she’s actually talking about the book. Mashima being subtle lol.

The timeskip. There was indeed a timeskip, but only like a year. I actually liked that. Long timeskips aren’t necessary for the main story, and would only disrupt its flow at this point. The only major timeskip we ever had was the seven year timeskip after the Tenrou island arc, but our characters didn’t really feel the timeskip on their skins. They just found themselves in a new world. So it pretty much felt like there was no timeskip at all. Maybe a longer timeskip could work for a spin-off series or a special next gen chapter, if we ever get one.

Speaking of, I know a lot of fans wanted a fast-forward to ten years into the future with next gen, but I’m just here, sitting with the 5% of us who didn’t actually want that lol.

I actually used to be one of those fans who wanted to see all my ships married with children ten years into the future, but the closer we got to the final chapter, the more I realized that what I really wanted was for the familiar and loved characters to get some kind of closure. I started wishing for a chapter that would feel like old times. I wanted things to be simple and silly like they used to be at the beginning. I didn’t really want to see all the characters as adults with families and stable lives.

For me, Fairy Tail is an endless adventure. A longer timeskip with everyone going their separate ways to build their own families, even if they’re still part of the guild, would feel like the adventure was interrupted. Like it was over. I still feel like there’s so much more they can do. So many more adventures they could go on, together.

Which brings me to Natsu’s “Grand announcement”.

So I know most of us jumped to the conclusion that it would be something about Lucy, whether as a confession, or a request to go on an adventure together, with romance implied. That mostly came from that one dialogueless chapter featuring Natsu and Gildarts, where Natsu blushed talking about something. To me, the whole “big announcement is a confession” thing was a possibility, but I wasn’t counting on it. Glad about that one. Because it turned out to be something better and so much more symbolic.

They’re going on a 100 Year Quest together! It just holds so much meaning for the end of the story, and for Natsu as a character. Because Gildarts, the man who is the closest thing to a father figure in Natsu’s life after Igneel, once went on a 100 Year Quest. And only top tier mages are allowed to go on such missions. Which speaks volumes, if you consider how the whole Team Natsu was allowed to go, proving, yet again, that they are all hella strong. (My heart is happy for Lucy.) Also worth noting, the 100 Year Quest is a sort of symbol. 100 years is a damn long time, sounds like an eternity. Just like this adventure! Never-ending!

(Also, while they’re at it, might as well search for that Aquarius key, eh eh? It was promised, and so it shall be!)

What I loved about the ending was that it didn’t really feel like much of an ending, somehow? It felt like... the middle. It was definitely a closure, but not the end of their story. It’s still somewhere in the middle, somewhere between the adventures of their lives. It’s great, because if Mashima wishes to ever make a spin-off series or special chapters or any additional material, he has so much to work with, so much to expand on, so much space for work.

In my opinion, this was overall a great ending. Typical Fairy Tail Spirit.

LOVE LETTER TO FAIRY TAIL!

The conclusion wasn’t entirely perfect, for me, but it made me feel all sorts of emotions and I just can’t believe the main story is finally over!

Fairy Tail has been a big part of my life since 2012. I fell in love with the premise of the story and its early arcs, then I fell in love with the characters, and even while this final arc wasn’t much, I stayed for the characters! And I am happy with where they have gotten along the way.

I am so thankful for the memories and everything that this story has made me feel throughout these years! It wasn’t the best story out there, but it meant something to me, it means something to me! And I will forever treasure it!

Whatever new material gets thrown at us, I will never forget the original journey. I will stay here for the anime too, and everything that might follow.

I’m here forever, my dudes.

So that’s all I have to say, for now, I think. I am still so full of feels, but this is what I could put together in my current emotional state.

THANK YOU MASHIMA HIRO-SENSEI! THANK YOU FAIRY TAIL! I WILL NEVER FORGET THE JOURNEY!!!

P.S. Fairies do exist. It’s just.... they don’t have tails. Dangit.

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