#bickslow's also a freak but that's just canon

[floertoer]

[fallen029]

Evergreen Overview

In continuation from yesterday where I covered my thoughts on Lisanna and overview of how I write her, this one is going to cover Evergreen. Of all the Fairy Tail characters I write, honestly, she’s the one that’s probably closest to the center as far as canon goes (save Erza as I think I got her down pretty well). Ever was introduced in that generic way that all of the Thunder Legion was, quickly and with a slight detail to make them different from one another. Freed was the leader and closest to Laxus, Bickslow was a creep who freaked Lucy out (and presumably others), and Evergreen’s main function seemed to be jealousy. Mostly of Erza.

We’re given a bit more over time and I think, honestly, one of her better scenes is her realization that Freed is choosing Bickslow to go to Tenrou and not her. It’s a very real emotion and again plays into that jealousy angle. After Tenrou, a lot of her interactions focus more on Elfman and their involvement, only really highlighting a few other qualities. The tonal shift in Fairy Tail’s probably a bit to blame for this as, by the time Tenrou’s over, you’re a bit inundated with new characters and some of the minor ones kind of take relegated back steps.

That kind of leaves Evergreen in a precarious place, development wise. Other than what she does with Elfman, to me it seems like she serves once more as a function of Laxus’ own personal journey, leaving a bit of mystic to her and the other Thunder God Tribe members.

So when I started writing Evergreen, it wasn’t so much with the intention of changing much at all. My main two ships out of Fairy Tail are, quite openly, Miraxus and Bixanna. Elfever just more or less comes along for the ride. I think it’s noticeable in the group settings with them all gathered they probably have even less importance to the plot than Freed (which people love to paint me as disliking, something definitely not true, but we’ll get to that). Evergreen’s quite obviously my least favorite of the Thunder Legion and probably my least favorite out of the group of them, but I still don’t think that I did her any real disservice.

I actually have a few one-shots that are centered around her and Elfman. These are where most of her development for me happens. In big, group one-shots, they mostly serve as targets of jokes from Bickslow or Lisanna whereas, when alone, they spend much more of their time digging deeper into one another’s backstories. Evergreen, in her one on one scenes with Elfman during my stories, typically is more self deprecating than anything else. She hates that she likes Elfman, hates when he’s not with her, and is overly concerned with what the others will think of them as being together. Her fears are often waved by the others as, though Laxus comments frequently on not understanding her draw to Elfman, even he thinks they work out fine together (although this at times is spurned on by Mirajane’s insistence he feel such a way). Still, she’s unable to come to true terms with her love (or even liking) for Elfman.

This stems from her backstory which is probably only talked about a handful of times through the course of my writing for them. Ever tells Elfman of a horrible home life with an abusive father that she runs away from at a young age, only to eventually windup in Fairy Tail. This leads to her more often mentioned bad choices and struggles with men and perhaps her inability to accept Elfman, an all around alright guy, as being not necessarily good enough for her, but her being good enough for him.

Evergreen’s insecurity is shown plainly in her arc of the Battle of Fairy Tail. She’s jealous of the others, in particularly Erza, and wishes to hold the title of Queen of the Fairies. Evergreen always wanted to be the best and sees Erza out of all the women as being that ultimate as far as Fairy Tail goes. She has a lot of quips towards the others and, during that filler episode where they all consider gifts for their significant others, it’s shown that this hasn’t necessarily died down any. I always see Evergreen as having a sharp wit and tongue, but no doubt at times having a hard time backing it up.

I kind of view her as this sarcastic drunk based off very little, but personal preference. I have her being a bit of a wino who views herself as above the others, Bickslow and Lisanna in particular. This is contrasted to Freed, who also holds himself to a higher standard, but typically feels pity and discontentment towards the others when they misbehave. Evergreen, rather,  puts on a holier than thou act while offering little to help the situation. Freed sticks around the others under the order of Laxus, many times, to keep them out of trouble, where as Evergreen claims to only stay around for the drama. Whereas Freed frequently is shown to have other friends, however, that he spends time with, Evergreen typically has no choice, but to stick around the group regardless of what she says otherwise.

Evergreen’s kind of this bitter, resentful person in my stories that just hangs around in an attempt to bring the others down. Though she dislikes Bickslow and Lisanna, especially when paired together, she takes the biggest offenses when Mirajane is given any sort of special attention by Laxus or Freed. I’ve always though this to be obvious, but for me, this jealousy is a call back to the Battle of Fairy Tail arc. Laxus is all of the Thunder Legion’s idol and Freed is the leader of said group. As the only female member, this gives Evergreen some sorta clout, perhaps, and in her mind pits her against Mirajane a bit in the new family unit that they have built. They rarely resolve this rivalry that Mirajane only acknowledges at certain times and this probably fuels Evergreen a bit more. Mirajane is one of the other women, in a way, that occupy Elfman’s life and now she also takes over as Laxus’ main woman and, in a lot of one-shots, I have Mirajane and Freed as being close friends. Extremely close. This is never shown to exactly rival anything that Evergreen means to any of the men, but with insecurities already piled on for her, this isn’t helpful.

Rarely, however, does Evergreen have a problem with Lisanna. At least not to such a high extent. She gets frustrated frequently with how juvenile Bickslow becomes around the other woman and the pair love to poke at her quite a bit in the group one-shots, but a lot of the time, Evergreen kind of lets Lisanna skate under the surface. I see this as equal parts Evergreen not wanting to upset Elfman, who is no doubt more protective of his younger sister than his older (and perhaps Laxus too, as was covered before and will be more in depth on his full one), but also because of Evergreen’s relationship with Bickslow.

I think in any friend group, certain people are going to be drawn more to one another. And this doesn’t have to line up exactly. I see Freed and Evergreen as more commonly relating to one another than Bickslow with either. They both have a more mature air about them and, no doubt, find him a bit childish at times (especially in my stories once Lisanna rolls around) and I just seem them as closer than anyone else. Like I mentioned before, Evergreen has many bad dealings with men in my stories canon and, as such, probably distrustful and finds a lot of them as distasteful. Freed, while still a man, I see her as feeling safer around. He’s not interested in her sexually, in any way, and this frees up their relationship to never be bothered by this. She can be open with him and has more respect for him, it seems, than with Bickslow.

This also leads into how I have her interact with Bickslow. She seems him more as a kid brother that she has to protect. She warns Lisanna frequently about not upsetting him and, in a one-shot I haven’t published yet (it’s a bit unfinished, but maybe one day ‘cause it’s one of my favorites), she ventures to one of Bickslow’s creepy parties with his out of guild friends, something the others typically shy away from. Evergreen is very protective of him as well. This is shown best in Hard to Do, when she breaks her stance on insulting Lisanna when it’s feared by the group that the younger Strauss is leaving him for another man. Bickslow is is seen as less of a close friend, as time goes on, and more a family member that you worry about from afar, but infrequently intervene in the life of.

In turn, her relationship with Lisanna is reflected in this. Since Lisanna is infrequently a problem in Bickslow’s life, instead perhaps a distraction from the problems, she leaves them alone for the most part. Whereas, with Mirajane, she finds herself jealous, she doesn’t see Lisanna in the same light. Perhaps in part due to her younger brother handling of Bickslow, she handles Lisanna as a younger woman as well. Lisanna can’t be a threat to her because she’s just, in some ways, her younger brother’s girlfriend. Evergreen doesn’t long for Bickslow’s attention and, any time it’s taken off her is for the best. She finds him annoying and bickers with him frequently in my fics, much to the chagrin of Freed. Her interactions with Lisanna, outside of threats over her treatment of Bickslow, typically short warnings about pissing her off and heavy eye rolls.

The nicest moment I can think of between the two actually occurs in Another Year when, following a bit of a failed surprise party for Lisanna’s birthday on Bickslow’s part, Evergreen approaches and gives the younger woman her expensive pair of sunglasses as a present. This makes Lisanna happy, but Evergreen dismisses it and insists upon it not being brought up again. I always saw this as the best showing of their relationship. Evergreen, to a certain extent, does care for Lisanna as a person, but for her own personal reasons, rather it be her trust or jealousy issues or not, keeps her from properly expressing this. She likes Lisanna well enough and, as she’s not a threat, she finds herself more in her good graces than not. On some level, she has to know that Lisanna respects her and, maybe, even wishes for her approval in her relationship with Bickslow, but can’t give this to her and instead shows it by sparing her in ways she chooses not to with Mirajane.

Scattered between series and one-shots though, Evergreen more or less falls between the cracks of my interest and many of the stories. Her biggest development is probably in the only series I ever made her a parent (and definitely serves as a reason why she should not be). From the start, she has misgivings about being a mother and even contemplates abortion (or whatever you’d call it in Fairy Tail; who knows), but nervously comes to terms with the idea that, perhaps, she and Elfman could forge a semi-good life for their child.

They can’t.

I base this in my portrayal of them both. Elfman’s rather obsessive with strength and manhood which leaves him away most of the time, off on jobs or training while Evergreen, realizing that she was right before, she never rightly did wish to be a mother, escapes this by pawning the child frequently off the far more motherly Mirajane. I think this fits perfectly into her insecurities as well. Evergreen, in my stories, has a bad relationship with men, fine, but her relationship with women is hardly better. I can’t recall true mentions of her mother, other than few throwaways, and her fear in being like the woman results in her actually fulfilling this. She doesn’t abuse her son in any ways, but rather finds herself neglectful and perhaps a bit self-centered. Being a mother isn’t enjoyable and Mirajane, who she’s innately jealous of seems so much better at it, so she finds herself just thrown the child as the other woman a lot in frustration.

This works only because Mirajane, with two children already, doesn’t notice adding their cousin to the bunch and, in many ways, enjoys the concept. It’s never stated fully, but I always imagine Evergreen only growing more jealous over this fact and being unsure of how to properly filter this, just falling more into her drinks and self-loathing. As well as job taking, which has become more a drag as she and Elfman frequently take them together now and her discontentment only grows.

She has a few redeeming moments with her son throughout the course of the series, but overall feels too down on herself as a whole to properly care for him and only falls into a cycle of sulking over this fact, doing nothing to fix it because the fixes are too complex, and then repeating.

The other series where Elfman and Evergreen end up together long term, Remember Me, they appear much happier and less frequently. They find babysitting for their nieces and nephews far more comfortable than having a child of their own and have no desire to have one. Evergreen is, however, drawn more to Mirajane and Laxus’ youngest daughter, the meeker of the pair, and this isn’t by accident. I imagine that Marin reminds Evergreen a lot of how she was when she was young, defenseless, and perhaps a bit ignored. Haven, by contrast, is loud and abrasive and what Evergreen would have wanted to be, but wasn’t. For this, she resents Haven and the torment she inflicts on her younger sister. Evergreen, however, is see as one of the few adults who can combat Haven easily and see things on her level. The similarities in Haven and Evergreen currently lead them to clash frequently and highlights more so how little Ever likes who she has become.

Overall, I think that I paint Evergreen as just as sad as I do Lisanna, but for vastly different reasons. Lisanna disliked how ignored she felt, upon returning, while Evergreen dislikes how ignored she’s always been. She’s not Laxus’ favorite Legion member (that would be Freed), Freed, during Tenrou chose Bickslow over her, her idol is in love with another woman (Mirajane), and the only person she can attract that treats her well (Elfman) is someone that she feels embarrassed over being seen with, if not a bit inadequate for. If you look at the surface of how I write Evergreen, she comes off as a bit of a bitch and nothing more than that. She was a young girl who got mistreated and never properly dealt with that reality. The closest person to her in the group, Freed, isn’t shown as having these feelings (as he is better at compartmentalizing them) and she fears turning to anyone with these thoughts. Evergreen’s a swath of unresolved insecurities that won’t ever be resolved because she fears ever truly facing them.

Evergreen’s biggest downfall is actually herself and her failure to acknowledge that leads to a stagnancy. She uses sarcasm and wit to hide the fact that she’s honestly sad inside and, rather than embracing the family unit they form, she more or less rejects it and refuses to help herself in any way. If Lisanna is going through her teenage rebellion phase in my stories, Evergreen’s probably going through that mid twenties lull where you might know what you know what you want to do in your life, but the problems that you’ve put off for so long are keeping you from it. You either have to address and conquer them or succumb to them. I think most people can feel that on a rather deep level.

I’ll probably do Mirajnae next, then Bickslow, then Elf, Freed, and finish it all off with Laxus. After, I think I’ll cover the relationships in their own, more focused pieces, but who knows? Anyways, hope you guys like these. If not, you’re suffering through them til the end, ‘cause I do.