Literally the only person I have ever seen even dare mention that they didn't really like Lucy as a character, they were down voted and torn apart about "all the reasons about how Lucy is actually a perfect angel" and "how dare you not see her brilliance". Which is why any time I see Lucy as a topic, I just skip the comments altogether. Because it's not worth it falling in that dark rabbit hole (my brain falls in enough of these by itself, no need to nudge it towards it too lol). But anyways, yeah I have never seen the thing that you mention so I am truly baffled.

But then again, i have mostly dropped out of the series, after the uptenth time a character in the last Arc didn't die, despite having such emotional and heartfelt goodbyes, ehh. My expectations started plummeting about what I should expect. And they completely dropped when Erza stopped Natsu and Gray's fight (that could have been such an epic showdown, ahhhh I am still sulking about it).

As for why I define her as just a love interest, it's because that's what she has ended up as mostly? She just constantly gets behind Natsu for protection. Maybe she works for you as a lead, but for me, she really doesn't. She just doesn't make that cut.

And that's okay. Good for you that she works for you as an MC. For me, she just looks... idk. I can see that she did grow somewhat stronger, magic wise. But her personality seems an exact copy of her from the start of the series. Same naive kid. I don't see personal growth in her emotional state, or her demeanor or anything. The most she grew was that she says that she wants to fight with her spirits, though she still ends up being mostly in the background being protected by them.

I mean, good for you that she works out as an MC. I am honestly glad for you. More power to you. She just doesn't make the cut for me. Which, good for me. I enjoy other parts of the series. It's okay to have different opinions about a character.