#muddyevil

[glaceleau]

Even more @muddyevil character drawings because I love them like my own ( June 2022 )

[vividalamode]

character belongs to @muddyevil

[artpigeons]

Two commissions for @muddyevil !

[lil-blue-one]

The Definition of Insanity - Chapter 10

Gray had given up being sociable within ten minutes of getting on the boat. Between Natsu throwing up his guts and the other Dragon Slayers laughing at him; and the girls all squealing and gossiping he had decided he needed to get away. It was still in the back of his mind that he would absolutely need to fight these people soon, and he had to clear his head.

He tried to go down into the belly of the ship but instantly ran into a wall of runes. He couldn't even see Freed around, but knew it must have been him that put up the barrier. Fuck knows what the nerd was doing down there that needed such secrecy. Makarov was locked in the office on top of the deck with most of the S-Class wizards, excluding Laxus who refused to join them for whatever reason, which left him with one choice.

Anyone else would have been bothered by the frigid temperature of the platform that he sat on, but being an ice wizard came in handy from time to time. It was on the back of the boat, far enough down that anyone looking over the side would have to lean over and stare straight down in order to see him. He took off his shoes and dangled his feet in the water, allowing the current to flow past him and cool his body down even further. Juvia was off somewhere doing… who knows what. Probably still talking to the girls up top. He would never admit it, but he kind of missed her. He would love to be spending this time on tactics, but it appeared that the water wizard had other ideas.

"Gray-sama?"

Gray was shocked out of his thoughts by a quiet voice, and lay back on the ice to look up at the person who had shouted his name. The first thing that he saw was soft blue hair falling in waves over the wood and a smile on her face.

"'Sup, Juvia."

Juvia waved down at him, and before she even spoke he knew he would be heading back up to her and talking to everyone else on the boat, just like she would want him. Well, at least he could possibly find something out that could help him. He allowed his platform on the back of the boat to grow, raising him up until he could stand on two feet and step back onto the boat. Juvia grabbed him up into a hug almost instantly, and he buried his nose into her hair.

"Do you at least realise you have me wrapped around your little finger?"

Juvia giggled into his chest, before pulling him away and back to the main body of the ship. It had started to heat up again the closer they got to the island, and he found himself stripping off more and more of his clothes as he went along, starting to think that this was definitely a disadvantage for the both of them. An ice wizard and a water mage fighting in blaring hot sunlight? How could that be called fair, in any sense of the word?

"Could you stay still for two fucking seconds?"

Gajeel groaned as Bickslow spun on the edge of the ship, folding his body in half so his hands clasped onto the railing before kicking his legs up backwards and over his head. He stayed upside down for a while, before he twisted on his hands and stared at Gajeel, his cape dropping down over the edge of the boat as his tongue lolled out of his mouth. The Dragon Slayer wasn't suffering from motion sickness right now, but watching the Sieth's constant motions in this heat was still insufferable. The man had retrieved a large bag full of creepy wooden dolls from the hold of the ship almost as soon as they had set off, handing it to Lisanna who had sighed but ultimately took it without any further protest so Bickslow could perform his show.

"What's the matter there, Rust Bucket? Worried in case I fall in?"

Bickslow shifted his body at an almost impossible angle so he was lying almost parallel to the water below before flexing his arms and bringing himself back up, just to prove that he could. A lot of things Bickslow did seemed to be just to prove that he could.

"I will be honest, never took you for a concerned type."

Gajeel groaned as he narrowed his eyes at the other man, noting the bright green glow that came from inside his mask. He was enjoying this far too much. The Dragon Slayer had already removed his shirt and changed his trousers for some swimming shorts that he had thankfully had the presence of mind to bring with him, but it was still getting more and more sweltering the closer he got to the island. How Bickslow was surviving in his normal, ridiculous clothing he would never know.

"Or maybe you're jealous that you don't have this kind of control over yourself? All of those muscles, they don't do you much for acrobatics, do they? Are you too heavy?"

The Sieth remained staring him in the eye as he lifted one arm up slowly, supporting himself solely on his left arm as he flipped the Dragon Slayer the bird, and Gajeel pretended not to notice Lisanna giggling behind him. He bit back a growl and made a quick decision, watching Bickslow as he swung himself around on the one hand. The guy could practically fly, right? Surely he was just testing either how good his balance was or how quickly he could get his babies underneath him, he was helping with training! The totems were currently just flying around the ship, annoying everyone they could. If he had to justify it to anyone he could always say he was helping out the whole ship.

He waited until Bickslow had started to lower himself down to lay perpendicular to the waves again, timing it perfectly to where he would have the least balance and shooting his right hand out, a long pillar of iron forming out of his arm to hit the Sieth square in the back. To his credit he managed to hold still for a few seconds, wobbling slightly and Gajeel thought he would be able to right himself before his elbow gave way and he fell off the side of the ship.

What the Dragon Slayer hadn't expected was that the high pitched shriek that erupted from the Sieth's mouth as he flailed into the water. The Dragon warned him of someone charging up from behind and he spun to the side, arms up to defend himself when he realized it was Lisanna rushing to the railing to look overboard.

"What the hell happened?!"

Laxus' shouts almost deafened Gajeel, and he had to fight to stop his hands covering his ears. The other Dragon Slayer was by Lisanna's side, pulling his shirt over his head as electricity started to spark off his skin. He was halfway over the railing before Evergreen grabbed him and pulled him back onto the ship. He sent daggers her way, and when she spoke it was with a calming cadence Gajeel had never heard from her.

"If you go in there right now you'll electrocute him. We need…"

She was cut off by Freed almost appearing by her side. He was moving remarkably fast as he burst out of the ship's hold, sprinting for the edge. He'd already shucked his coat, and he paused a moment at the rail as he tied his hair back.

"He was screwin' around on the rail an' I knocked his ass in the water. He should thank me, it's fucking hot up here!"

The Rune Mage's glare startled Gajeel a little, his right eye shifting colors in anger.

"He can't fucking swim!"

All of his anger melted away immediately at the other man's words flying back to him as Freed leapt from the ship after his teammate. Lisanna immediately dove after him, her legs becoming a tail as she shifted to her mermaid form. Gajeel stepped forward to move to the rail, but his momentum was immediately reversed, a shock going through his body.

"Hey, watch it!"

Natsu yelled as he pulled himself from his nausea to grab onto Lucy, shoving her out of the way moments before Gajeel slammed into him, Elfman seamlessly sidestepping as the two of them tumbled to the ground. The Iron Dragon Slayer growled as he pushed himself up, glaring across the deck at the blonde standing where he'd just been. Laxus' sides were heaving, sparks flickering across his skin, leaping between him and any metal within a few feet of him.

By this point everyone on the boat had appeared, either to offer help or watch the spectacle. Bickslow's totems had descended into unholy screaming, zipping around the ship in random directions as Mira tried desperately to round them up, shoving them into the hands of the other guild members to try and wrestle to keep them still. Gajeel could see Levy's hand at the ready beside her, charging up a protection spell. When she spoke her voice was quiet, the kind you would use to talk down someone on the edge of a tall building.

"Hey, Laxus, maybe we should calm…"

"You tell me why I should FUCKING calm down."

Lucy grasped onto Natsu's top as she watched the blonde man crowd over to Gajeel, sparks multiplying as he raised his voice. She hadn't ever seen him like this, helplessness transforming into pure rage on what had happened to the Raijinshuu. She had always assumed Laxus didn't have a weakness like the other Dragon Slayers, but now she was seeing that he had three.

Freed had no chance to keep up with Lisanna as she powered downwards through the water towards Bickslow. The man in question was flailing in complete panic, arms and legs moving completely independently of each other as he tried to claw himself back up, the water around him illuminated a bright green as his magic raged out of control. His clothes had soaked through with water now Freed had lifted the protective runes on them, and they were dragging him further and further down into the depths.

He grabbed onto Lisanna like a lifeline as soon as she pulled level with him. She wrestled with him for a moment, trying to drag him up before realising his struggling and waterlogged clothes were making it too difficult for her. She flashed a worried look over to Freed as he caught up to him and Freed responded with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Bickslow was still struggling, pulling Lisanna further and further down with each kick as he tried to get up to the surface in his panic.

The first thing to do was to deal with his magic. If he took the two of them over down here they would all be dead. Freed drew a quick rune across Bickslow's skin, making sure to channel it onto him solely as Lisanna unclasped his cape and let it bloom down through the water. As soon as she saw the light in the water dim down she unclasped his mask, pulling it away from his face and letting it plummet down.

Glancing up above her and weighing her options she knew she had no chance of getting back to the surface with even one of the men beside her, let alone both of them. Freed wouldn't be able to get up there on his own, they were too far down even though they had stopped sinking any further into the water. Bickslow was clasped onto the skin of her back, although at least he had stopped flailing around and Lisanna looked at Freed and pointed to her neck to indicate their need to breathe. She hoped beyond hope he had a rune to help with that.

Freed's face flashed in recognition, his hair floating up behind him and clothes billowing out from him as he moved his hand through the water with a purpose. The rune trap appeared quickly between them, and Bickslow spluttered as he took his first breath of air. He looked between the two of them gratefully, before Lisanna beckoned Freed closer to her side.

"I can't move the trap, I'm afraid. I can make it movable but it'll take a while and the ship will probably be at the island by then."

Bickslow whimpered, the idea of spending that much time underwater really didn't appeal. Lisanna looked down at where he was clinging to her and carded her hand through wet hair.

"Come on. Take a deep breath, I'm gonna try and get you both back up. You may need to… grab onto me."

Bickslow simply nodded, too afraid to even try to talk right now before filling his lungs with air. Both men wrapped arms around her waist and chest, Lisanna supporting them with arms under their shoulders before starting to pump her tail to shoot them up towards the surface as Freed kicked his legs in an attempt to help her out, if only a little. She felt Bickslow squeeze her tighter as they left the relative safety of the rune trap and reentered the cold water above them.

Her arms let go of the men as they neared the surface, prompting Freed to look at her in confusion as Bickslow simply buried his face in her side. The magic started to wrap around her arms even as she was still submerged, but waited until her shoulders were up and out of the water before they sprouted feathers and she was seamlessly in the air, and heading towards the ship which had by now floated a few hundred metres away.

Bickslow started coughing as soon as they got out of the water, but when Lisanna dropped them onto the deck he rose onto all fours and spluttered salt water onto the deck. His babies all screamed excitedly, and no one holding them had any chance of keeping them still as they all struggled to return to their Papa. Freed started to strip out of his wet clothes, debating whether or not he should waste any magic on drying them off with runes as Laxus ran over to the two of them, barely containing the worry that was etched on his face. Bickslow took a few deep shuddering breaths before looking up at Freed, and Lisanna watched as they had a fast unspoken conversation. Lily and Wendy hovered above them, the girl knowing that as soon as she landed she would be useless. Bickslow waved her away with one hand, assuring her that he could see to it himself.

Gajeel had tried to follow Laxus, the Dragon inside of him refusing to back down from the challenge that had been posed to him by the Lightning Dragon Slayer, but he was quickly interrupted by Juvia standing in his path, chest puffed out as she squared up to him. His Dragon noted an old friend, before he began to feel heavy rain drops fall across his skin. He watched in the background as Lily landed on the ship, instinctively covering his ears from the Thunder he expected to follow the sudden rain storm.

"What the fuck was Gajeel thinking?"

Her hands shoved at his chest before Gray grabbed her bicep to try and calm her down. Gajeel looked down at her and was torn between the pride he felt that she felt strong enough to square up to him and the anger that she had turned against him for a sin he was sure he hadn't committed. He opened his mouth to respond before he felt the familiar feeling of his stomach turning and he fell to his knees as his motion sickness overtook him.

He looked up to try and spot Levy despite the way his stomach was threatening to release its contents any second, and finally saw her stood at the other end of the ship, hand still raised from where she had dispelled the magic that had been helping him. The most obvious thing that he could see was the green glow that was surrounding her as she looked blankly off over the railing of the ship.

Erza watched as Levy stood perfectly still at the side of the ship before sighing and making her way over to where Bickslow still lay on the ground, grinning as he watched Gajeel groan in pain as he clutched his stomach.

"Bickslow… let her go."

The Sieth groaned, rolling onto his back and looking up at the woman.

"But why? He pushed me off a fucking boat. I'm not hurting her, and all she's gonna do is immediately help him out again."

"What do you expect? It's not like Gajeel has ever had any kind of impulse control."

Freed's voice was filled with sarcasm, and Erza was just about to open her mouth to keep arguing with him, but Gray appeared by her side and looked down at the Seith for the first time since he had gotten back on the ship.

"Where's your mask gone?"

Bickslow rolled his eyes, pulling his hands up to interlink behind his head as he looked up at Gray.

"As it turns out, a huge metal mask appears to be some kind of dead weight when you're being dragged underwater."

Gray sighed, Juvia rubbing his arm now she had calmed down slightly and the rain had stopped completely. She looked down at him, voice questioning him in a way that made it almost impossible for him to refuse to answer.

"Did Bickslow not bring a spare one?"

Bickslow sighed, flexing his abs to sit up and cross his legs in front of him, before pulling off his shirt and dropping it into a pile next to him.

"Surprisingly, I didn't expect to be pushed off a fucking boat. Why is no one getting that?"

Gray rolled his eyes back at Bickslow, trying to ignore the constant heaving noises that were now erupting from two Dragon Slayers at the same time.

"You can't do the trials without your mask, you'll just be taking everyone over all the fucking time! It's not fair!"

Gray wasn't expecting Lisanna to get in his face, squaring up against him as she stared at him in challenge.

"You do know that his eyes are a part of his magic too, right Gray? Shall we forbid Juvia from making it rain to get stronger too, hm?"

Juvia narrowed her eyes, and storm clouds started to roll in again. Lisanna looked back at her, eyes full of challenge as she made sure to defend Bickslow even if he didn't defend himself.

"That's enough!"

All movement on the boat stopped as Makarov's voice ran out, and everyone turned in sync as they looked towards him standing next to the wheel of the boat.

"Leave all of your fighting until we're on the island. We will be there in less than half an hour, if you children can keep it together for that long."

Everyone looked down in embarrassment, but Makarov hadn't finished.

"Bickslow, release Levy from your control. I will agree that your eyes class as a part of your magic and I won't forbid you from using them, if you don't want to."

Bickslow sighed, and in seconds Levy had dropped slightly, shaking her head in confusion as she tried to clear her mind.

"Gajeel, please refrain from pushing anymore of your guild members off the boat."

Gajeel simply groaned in response, incapable of articulating any further around the pain in his stomach as Levy rushed to his side and hurried to recast her spell. Makarov nodded, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at all of his children.

"Thirty. Minutes. Can you all play nicely until then?"

Everyone drifted off into their own respective corners of the boat, waiting for their arrival on Tenrou Island before they got started on the trials properly.

A hushed silence fell over the boat as the distinctive outline of Tenrou Island appeared over the horizon. Every single person on the boat was remembering what had happened the last time they had been there, and none of them were able to joke around about anything with that memory in their head. Once again the boat stopped a fair distance away from the island, the first trial actually getting to the island of their own volition.

"S-Class Nominees!"

Makarov had expected everyone to turn around to face him, but they were all still enraptured by the sight of the island in front of them. He couldn't blame them, really. No matter how many times he saw the island it still held a certain hypnotic quality about it.

"Every single one of us on this boat has been here before so I won't bore you with any preamble. If our current S-Class wizards could please make their way to the island?"

A wave of magical energy swept across the boat as all four of the S Class wizards took to the air. Mira's black wings unfurled from her back as she picked up Gildarts, and without another word they flew off towards the island. Laxus took one last look at his Thunder Legion, nodded to each of them before jumping into the air, his entire body turning into lightning as he overtook the two other S-Class wizards and bolted towards the island. Erza's body swirled with magic as she requipped into her Black Wing Armour, and followed the other three off the boat and towards the island. Everyone watched them go, collectively holding their breaths when they realised that four teams would have to fight them in the near future.

"The rules of the first round are slightly different this year."

Makarov's voice rang clear across the boat, as every member still present turned to look at him.

"The goal is to meet me at the base camp which is located in the same place as last year. This year there are nine paths. Two combat paths, four intense combat paths and finally one serenity route. Two teams will face each other, four teams will face one of our S-Class wizards and the final team will be allowed to pass without challenge."

Everyone nodded to each other, this was all very much the same as it had been the year before. The teams all gravitated towards the side of the boat closest to the island, each of them wanting even the small advantage a quick escape would supply.

"Without further ado, I would like to start this year's S-Class Trials!"

The first person to move was Natsu, already excited to get out of the boat and into the cool water beneath, hoping that it was going to relieve the churning in his stomach as quickly as possible. Grabbing onto Lucy he sprinted towards the edge of the ship, regretting it almost instantly as he ran straight into a barrier of runes.

"Oh for fuck's…"

Everyone spun around to look at Freed, smirking over at all of them before he swished his hand through the air and his eye flashed darkly as two runes flew from it. His wings unfurled from his back and he took to the air, with Cana following not long after on her own just as magnificent set of wings. She lurched a little bit as she tried to adjust to them, but quickly caught up with Freed as she got the hang of it.

Gajeel looked at Levy at almost exactly the same time as Elfman looked at Evergreen, and the two women immediately started to rewrite the runes. Lisanna sidled over to Bickslow, looking at him expectantly as he hoisted his bag of dolls over his shoulder.

"Hey, Bicks, did you want to start rewriting the runes?"

Bickslow looked down at her in confusion as his totems chattered in excitement around him.

"What makes you think that I would know how to rewrite the runes?"

Lisanna looked at him incredulously, as Levy broke through the runes and she jumped into the ocean below along with Gajeel and they started quickly heading towards the island.

"You're on a team with Freed just like Evergreen! You should know how to rewrite these runes like she does!"

Bickslow shrugged, sitting back down on one of the loungers while the others all swore about Freed's runes again.

"Just because I'm on a team with Freed doesn't mean I know how to do all of this bullshit."

Lisanna stood over him, crossing her arms as he rolled his eyes up at her.

"You knew he was going to do this, he did exactly the same fucking thing last year, why didn't you brush up on how to undo these!?"

Bickslow sighed, rolling his head back to look up into the sky as all of the totems huffed in annoyance around the two of them.

"I mean, you knew he was going to do this why didn't you learn how to rewrite them?"

Lisanna took a deep breath, about to start shouting at him before Gray threw his trousers at her in annoyance.

"Can you two just shut the fuck up? We're all in the same boat as you, literally, and you are just making this worse!"

Lisanna huffed, throwing herself down heavily onto Bickslow's lap and only protesting slightly when he wound his arms around her waist and tugged her down to lie more completely on top of him.

It was ten minutes later when the runes disappeared with a pop from around the boat, and there was a mad rush to get off the boat and head to the island. Natsu pulled Lucy off the railing where he had been pacing impatiently waiting for the runes to fall. The girl screamed as they hit the cold water, but was swimming towards the shore within seconds. Gray and Juvia followed not soon after, a bubble of water erupting around the two of them as Juvia started to power them both towards the island. Bickslow jumped onto his totems, the five small dolls screaming in excitement as Lisanna transformed her arms into wings and followed after him, the totems getting louder as they noticed they were being followed by others as well. Pantherlily took to the air about the same time, carrying Wendy over the waves and speeding up as they hoped to not be the last team onto the island and getting lumped with whatever the last path left open to them was.

Makarov smiled as he watched the last of the teams hit the shore, each running into their own path. He knew which path led where, of course, and he knew that the first round of the trials was shaping up to be the most exciting yet.

A/N Here comes the trials! As always, we love hearing your thoughts and theories on the chapters! Much loves!

Fanfiction.net - https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12459916/10/The-Definition-of-Insanity

Archive - http://archiveofourown.org/works/10706709/chapters/25286475

[muddyevil]

Quick Update/Announcement

Hail and well met friends! I know many of you follow me for my fanfictions (if not, I don’t know why). I have recently been targeted by a group called Critics Anonymous because my fanfiction contains explicit content. They have threatened a mass reporting of my fics, which may end up with them being deleted from fanfiction.net.

I have done a fair amount of thinking, and I don’t want to bow down to them. There is no appeals process, you can only speak to the person who first found you and it all just stinks of a mob mentality to me.

Therefore I won’t be deleting my fics from fanfiction.net, and I also won’t be editing them to meet their requirements (or “learning how to write smut scenes properly”). Unfortunately this means they could disappear at any point. I will be posting this at the bottom of my fics from now on, along with on my profile, but I would like to provide you with how to find me.

All of my fics also get posted on Archive Of Our Own, and my profile is here: http://archiveofourown.org/users/muddyevil/profile

I will be updating it with some of the older fanfictions I have written (mostly competition weeks)

If anyone has any tips on how to deal with this going forward, it will be greatly appreciated!

I just want to leave you with one more note. I love you all, all of the kind words have helped me out in some frankly awful times and kept me going. I am not going to stop writing fanfiction. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for supporting me.

[elesenine]

Still only a Gajevy collector. (Someday I might actually dare to write something on my own…)

It’s an amazing thing this fandom, it only seems to grow! It feels like we even may have influenced the great Mashima a bit wouldn´t you agree?

For this event I had to dive deep into my vast collection to find something that suited. Did you guys know that on FFn alone there are over 2000 stories about this astonishing couple! (I have probably read them all...)

 Firstly, I would like to remind you all to read a short absolutely wonderful short story called; Gray Saturdays. By the lovely Corrose. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6634252/7/Ironbound-Paperbacks

It is a glimpse into a cosy future that we all hope will come to pass for the two. Its short, too short if you ask me. And when you’re at it, don´t forget to read the rest of the ‘Ironbound paperbaks’ story. The first one is so funny! Poor Gajeel!    

The second one is as steaming hot story here on tumblr from the talented Muddyevil:

http://muddyevil.tumblr.com/post/149426983503/gajevy-love-love-week-prompt-3-dirty-talk

It´s a steaming story from their time in the Council. A story so cannon that it hurts! I can defiantly see them do this! Muddyevil also has written an incrediby story called; Iron and paper. Read it!

 And thirdly I would like for you all to read this…

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8210426/1/Stupid-Gajeel by IceBlueWings.

It’s a very funny story where Levy gets tired of waiting for Gajeels attention and instead she challenges him for a fight! One of my absolute favourites!

Hope you will enjoy this as much as i do! 

[misterjet]

Tarot commission for twitter user @ Muddyevil 

[kitsunefire7]

I saw your post about gajevy fics. Compliments to the chef by xambedo, Ravaged by missmongue, Fighting redfox by capaleran2, A rough start by aya-eisen, Paper and iron by muddyevil. I really liked those ones, they are so good. and it would be really cool to see your art for them. Your art is so good too!

Thank you ^^ I will look into those and see what I can come up with.

[sketcher1994]

Update tomorrow (today, since it’s past midnight)? Mountains to Dust: Becoming Purav, maybe His Brother’s Girlfriend’s Neighbour and Queen of Her Country, and On The Hunt for that matter. Oh, and maybe a one-shot if I stay up late listening to music/reading and feel creative (tired enough for daft stuff to sound like a brilliant idea for a story that I end up spending a day trying to edit and make sense of.)

Just seen a notification for the latest update of Definition of Insanity by muddyevil and gajeelswoman and went “ooh!”, so I know what I’m reading tonight.

And I’ve forgotten the other thing... There was something I needed to say... Oh well, talk to you tomorrow.

Oh yeah, and I just seen spoilers again for the latest chapter of Fairy Tail... They don’t get hidden if they’re not tagged *sigh* It doesn’t sound like it’s an exciting chapter (for me, since something happens that I shall say zero about).

Still can’t remember what the other thing was... I feel it was important...?

[glaceleau]

Elves for @muddyevil (in late 2021)

[ao3feed-nalu]

The Definition of Insanity

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2oVoNsD

by Gajeelswoman, muddyevil

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and expecting different results...

Fairy Tail are holding another S-Class trials after the problems that occurred last time... but can they expect anything to change this time around?

Rated M for occasional smut.

Words: 4148, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Series: Part 4 of Mixing Magic

Fandoms: Fairy Tail

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Levy McGarden, Gajeel Redfox, Bickslow (Fairy Tail), Lisanna Strauss, Evergreen (Fairy Tail), Elfman Strauss, Freed Justine, Mirajane Strauss, Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser, Cana Alberona, Wendy Marvell, Pantherlily (Fairy Tail), Laxus Dreyar, Erza Scarlet, Makarov Dreyar, Gildarts Clive

Relationships: Levy McGarden/Gajeel Redfox, Bickslow/Lisanna Strauss, Evergreen/Elfman Strauss, Freed Justine/Mirajane Strauss, Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia, Gray Fullbuster/Juvia Lockser

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2oVoNsD

[blananiastore]

Your store looks down to me, is it just my computer being weird or is it under maintenance? I was just paid and I want to spend my money :(

It’s under maintenance right now but I do hope to bring it back on in around one more week :)

[lil-blue-one]

The Definition of Insanity - Chapter 12

“Can you see who it is?”

Lisanna was crouched behind a bush on the pathway they had picked, holding three of the totems in her arms as she tried to keep them still. Bickslow was up on his knees, peeking out through the leaves and using his soul sight to scout out the way ahead of them. He was wearing nothing but trousers, the rest of his clothes either lost to the ocean or left on the ship as they were yet to dry out.

“I can… but you’re not going to like it.”

Lisanna sighed. Welp, it was obviously a S-Class then. It was just their luck to run up against one so early in the trial. But, there was still hope.

“Is it at least Mira or Laxus? Maybe they’ll go easy on us?”

Bickslow shook his head, still staring out down the path and squinting slightly to get as much information as possible. But she still had a chance. She had been close with Gildarts when she was younger, and he had once told her after a few too many beers that he was sorry he couldn’t be there to help her in her past. Plus, Natsu had said he hadn’t actually had to beat him, just show him that he was capable of being an S-Class wizard…

“Gildarts?”

Bickslow’s lips were set in a thin line as he replied.

“Nooope.”

Lisanna sighed heavily. It looked like they were going out in the first round after all.

“Oh, we are so fucked.”

Erza stood still in the centre of the clearing, eyes closed as she tried to discern any movement coming from around her. Although many of the teams that were heading towards her may have ploughed directly at her, there were one or two who may try to skirt around the sides. She knew that the master had left it vague enough - “You need to get to the base camp” - to allow competitors to try and be stealthy but she wasn't allowing them to do it easily.

She heard the rustle of bushes behind her, which was odd. Whoever it was had managed to sneak past fine, but had decided to attack her anyway. Had they not figured out they didn't technically have to fight? She requipped a sword into her hand and spun, using the flat of the blade to block the person's attack without even looking.

The force of the attack, along with the fact the girl was already off balance from her advance meant Lisanna toppled easily, scraping across the ground and kicking up dust. She was already in her cat form, and Erza bit back a smile when she realised cats didn't always land on her feet.

“It will be good to see how you've improved in the last year, Lisanna.”

Lisanna groaned, standing to her feet and preparing to fight again. Glancing around she tried to spot Bickslow, but there wasn't any sign of him. She wasn't too surprised he wasn't anywhere close, it wasn't a secret he wasn't the best at hand to hand combat and facing her would be suicide. But the lack of any of his babies… that was surprising. Was he making Lisanna to fight all by herself? That in itself wasn’t terribly surprising. He wasn’t above skulking around and letting his teammates do all of the fighting. But there had to be a reason Lisanna had still attacked, even though she’d gotten around the clearing. Maybe he wasn’t able to sneak past?

“Where is your partner, Lisanna? I cannot condone him leaving you to fight alone just because he’s afraid of me.”

Lisanna didn't answer, standing back up to her feet and preparing to attack again. Erza held her sword in her hand. Let her come then. Lisanna sprung forward, bringing her right hand up to swipe across Erza’s arm where it lay unprotected. She tried to bring her sword up to block it, but it was suddenly heavy, refusing to move from it's position in front of her face. The moments confusion let Lisanna’s attack hit, forcing her to hiss at the sharp claws and jump backwards away from the threat. She swore she heard her sword giggle but… oh. She could see what they were doing.

“Nice going, Poppo. You couldn't stay quiet for two seconds longer could you?”

Her sword made a sad noise at Lisanna’s words, before wrestling itself out of her grasp. Lisanna was different now, a green glow surrounding her and it dawned on Erza just what Bickslow was doing. He was off on the sidelines, using Lisanna as a puppet and he was the puppet master. But what would the point in that be?

She got her answer with Lisanna’s next attack. She had always been quick, but this was something else. Adding to that the sword moving seemingly in tandem, and Erza barely had time to summon another sword to her hand to defend with. The metal clashed together loudly, and Erza shoved back with the blade in her hand to knock the other one away. Or at least, she tried to. This one resisted her also, but she didn’t waste more than a moment trying to move it. It would be a waste of energy and a futile effort, so she let go, leaping back as she summoned another sword.

Lisanna followed her closely, the two swords flying next to her as she rushed Erza. The S-Class wizard drew yet another blade, feinting an attack at the girl, throwing the blade at her chest. She was already calling up two more swords, one in each hand, not concerned about the one she threw. She knew at this point that Bickslow wouldn’t let anything happen to his partner. That’s five.. To try and slow them down, Erza thrust the last two blades that she had summoned into the ground, hoping he’d keep them there instead of moving them to the newest blade. She and Lisanna had kept up a sort of pacing circle as she went through these steps to neutralize the spirits as weapon, Erza easily walking backwards and Lisanna matching her steps. The redhead smirked as she saw the swords that she’d jammed into the ground wiggling to try and free themselves.

She summoned another sword, watching as the two remained moving, remained possessed. She blocked another attack with the blade, and watched as for the first time in the fight Lisanna stumbled, missing a beat. Erza used it to her advantage, trying to bring the sword around to counter attack  but to no avail. It confused her, sure, but didn't force her to pause for as long as she brought her foot around to collide with Lisanna's lower back. The girl looked like she was going to go sprawling, but in a display of acrobatics Erza had never seen from the younger girl before she landed on her hands, before springing up to land on her feet again. Erza took advantage of the momentary pause to try and pull on her sword, running a count of the weapons that she had out already. Six… how are there six? He hadn’t abandoned any of the other blades, that was confirmed when they all started racing after her.

There was no way to know how many he could take control of, if he’d already exceeded the five spirits he normally had. Maybe all of those extra totems that he’d brought had contained some hidden souls. She had a quick debate with herself to decide if calling up more swords would be beneficial or not, and then Lisanna was charging at her again. With a determined grin, Erza waved her right hand out to the side, dismissing all of her swords and immediately balling her fist, throwing it forward at her attacker.

“Very good, to find a way to use my weapons against me. Unfortunately for you, I don’t need them.”

Lisanna looked terrified for a moment, but her body kept moving, dodging the fist and trying to throw a punch to Erza’s stomach. Erza bent around it, if they were going hand to hand she would have to up her own speed… She swung her hand around, smacking Lisanna’s arm wide and leaping back a few feet. As she did, the redhead called her magic to her, feeling new armor wrapping around her body. She felt the ears of her Flight Armor settle into her hair, felt the breeze reach her skin, felt the magic course through her limbs. She smiled a little and lifted her hands up in a defensive stance, nodding to the younger girl.

“Whenever you’re ready.”

The first blast caught her off guard. She'd never expected any of Bickslow’s totems to be stealthy, but they had managed to build up a Baryon Formation behind her and it exploded across her back in a blossom of pain. She rolled forward with the momentum, coming up on one knee just in front of Lisanna. Throwing a jab at the girl’s stomach, she came up onto her feet, her right fist coming in to strike at her jaw. Lisanna’s hands flew to block the first attack, but that left her a little hunched over so the uppercut hit her square, snapping her head back and making her stumble back a few feet. By the time she shook her head clear, Erza was up and running at her, determined to stay close to her. Lissy could see the wisdom of that, really. The babies would be hesitant to attack when Erza would just have to shift to the side and let them take Lisanna out for her.

“You're out here doing all this work and Bickslow isn't doing anything, how's that making you feel?”

Bickslow scoffed from the tree he was stood in, way out of view of Erza and her attacks but still watching the scene in front of him. His hands cut through the air like a conductor, mind racing as he fought to control all five of his babies and Lisanna in tandem. He got it wrong, once or twice, but Lisanna didn't seem to mind as much as he did. Was it fair that Erza thought it was being lazy? No, probably not, but he couldn't afford the cognitive process to think that through right now.

Lisanna jumped, landing squarely on Pappa and Peppe and flying up into the air to vault over Erza’s attack as the remaining three totems tried to get a clear shot on the redhead. Maybe if he added more targets to the mix…

Slowly he crouched, never taking his eyes off the scene in front of him as he grabbed another doll. Throwing it up into the air he winced as he pulled one of Lisanna’s animal souls out of her body, making sure she was far enough away that the sensation didn't cause her to be hit, and shot it through into the doll. This was more difficult, and he started to sweat as he added it to the battlefield. Erza wouldn't know that this particular totem couldn't attack with a beam, all he needed to do was make it look like it was moving with the others as he bent down to grab another doll.

Not to be left on the ground, Erza leapt into the air, grabbing at the closest totem. Of course it wouldn’t cooperate for her like it was Lisanna, but it would be all the extra lift that she needed. Before the doll could start lurching around, Erza swung her feet a few times, launching herself at Lisanna feet first. The two totems that the Take Over mage was standing on dropped a few feet, making Erza’s assault go high, but the older woman simply spun in the air, twirling like a dancer. As she soared over Lisanna’s head, she dropped her arms, grabbing the girl’s shoulders and pulling her to the ground with her. She noted an extra totem flying around the clearing, but couldn’t tell where it had come from.

As they fell to the ground, Erza wrapped her arms tighter around Lisanna’s easily overpowering the girl’s struggles. They twisted as they fell the last foot, and landed on their sides, a shock shooting through Erza’s arm at the impact, although she didn’t let go. Lisanna hissed, her hands clawing at the arms restraining her, but Erza just tightened her grip. The younger woman planted a foot, shoving off the ground to roll so she was laying on top of her opponent before lifting her feet into the air and slamming them down onto the redhead’s thighs. Erza cried out, her voice directly in Lisanna’s sensitive ears making her wince a little, even as she readied to do it again, willing to do anything to break free. She noticed that Bickslow had given her most of her control back at the moment, and she smiled a little, realizing that she did actually have more experience in this sort of fight. Having wrestling matches with her siblings had been for more than just fun.

Her second kick was enough to make Erza throw her off, both women leaping to their feet. There wasn’t much of a hesitation in either before they were coming together again, Erza throwing her left arm up to block Lisanna’s punch, immediately following it with one of her own. Lisanna moved easily to the side, her movement continuing into a spinning kick, her aimed at her opponent’s ribs. Even as fast as Lisanna was in her cat soul, Erza saw the move coming and caught her leg, huffing a small breath out at the impact. She threw a solid punch at the inside of Lisanna’s thigh, the smaller girl not having much in the way of defense in that moment. She was surprised however, when her fist collided with a wooden block, pain shooting up her whole arm. The shock was enough for Lisanna to pull her leg free, easily slipping into a backflip that landed her ten feet away, three of Bickslow’s totems hovering in front of her to act as a shield while she caught her breath.

Lisanna’s chest heaved. Well, this never was gonna be an easy fight. She watched Erza, the other woman not looking half as bad as Lisanna felt, and swore internally. She was getting too tired, too fast.

Lissy. Scorpion. Need armour.

The girl’s face set in determination as she processed through what her partner was telling her. Before she could get much thought into it though, the babies started shrieking and whistling, the word “Scorpion!” being echoed by five voices around the clearing. She shook her head, unable to do anything but laugh at their enthusiasm before laughing and yelling out, “I KNOW!”

Erza simply watched this whole thing, taking a moment to slow her breathing. Sure, that let her opponent do the same, but Lisanna needed it more than she did anyway. Letting her have a moment wouldn’t hurt. She glanced around at the ground when the noise began, having thought that she heard someone shriek about a scorpion. She wasn’t overly concerned about one being in this region of the island, but being diligent was never a bad idea.

A crash filled the air, a roaring boom that must have been audible across the island. Lisanna screamed, clutching her hands to her more sensitive ears as Erza looked up to the sky. Suddenly the ground shook, forcing Erza to rebalance herself as Lisanna toppled to the side. She couldn't see any smoke, or any sign of an attacker, nevertheless she was still on her guard.

“What was…”

Erza’s sentence was cut off by a whoop of jubilation coming from the trees, followed by a familiar voice.

“Fucking Thunder Palace! Laxus is over there kicking some arse! Man I feel sorry for whatever poor fuck just felt that.”

Erza grinned and didn’t waste a moment, pushing her magic through her body as she called out her Heaven’s Wheel armor and all of the swords that came with it. She threw her right hand towards the sound of Bickslow’s voice, willing her swords to move at him. She hoped he’d be too caught up in his excitement to be able to defend against them. There was a sound of several wooden thunks as her swords impaled the tree the Sieth was in and a few around him, paired with an inhuman shriek.

“FUCK ME! WHO HURT YOU IN THE PAST?!”

As the women peered into the shade of the trees, they could see the man with his arms and legs splayed out, swords under each arm and above each shoulder. His shorts were pinned in several places, but it was the dagger that was embedded in the tree almost to the hilt that had probably elicited the scream, its placement would have made any man scream. Lisanna couldn't help but smirk, a gesture that she regretted almost instantly when Erza whipped around, leg kicking back behind her and aiming for her chest. She managed to get her arms up in time, Erza’s foot hitting the armour plating that now ran across her skin and sending painful shockwaves through her arms and upper body.

“Fuck. FUCK.”

Erza had figured it out. With Bickslow’s concentration broken, one of the dolls had dropped to the floor with the other five now taking to screaming and flying around randomly as they fed off his panic. It also meant Lisanna was on her own. All of her energy went to blocking Erza’s frenzied attacks, two more to her arms, one to the outside of her thigh where she didn't have any plating and uncountable to her tail when she did manage to bring it around in time. Erza’s attacks were faster now, hits coming more frequently and being blocked less and less. Bickslow’s voice came from the trees, but Lisanna couldn't afford to look up at him, she was losing enough ground as it was.

“Erza!”

She didn't stop. It wasn't at all malicious, Lisanna knew that. Erza was just showing the power of an S-Class wizard, and just how far Lisanna was away from that power.

“Erza please you have to stop!”

Bickslow’s voice was closer now, as if he had gotten free and was heading over to them. Erza didn't pay him any mind. A couple more hits and Lisanna would be out, and she could focus all of her attention on the Sieth. A well aimed strike to the stomach had Lisanna buckling over, wind knocked out of her.

A body crashed into Erza’s back, bare arms wrapping around her and she immediately started to struggle to break free. Bickslow was closer than she had anticipated, and she'd made a mistake. She prepared to flip him over his head, but he panted in her ear. He sounded scared.

“Please; you can't hurt the baby.”

Erza froze. That last kick to the stomach had been fierce. Why had they agreed to do the trials with Lisanna in that condition? Lisanna looked shocked, more than she should from just the hit, and it dawned on her that maybe she didn't know.

Her thoughts were stopped by the incredibly fast movement of Lisanna's tail, stinger snapping forward and sinking into her skin between her ribs. It didn't hurt, to start with, but the low ache of poison started to spread through her chest quickly. She felt her body go limp as she collapsed back into Bickslow’s arms, before her mind started to go fuzzy.

Lisanna moved quickly, helping Bickslow lower Erza to the floor and feeling her forehead. The poison hadn't acted this quickly with Laxus, but then she supposed he hadn't been exerting himself and he was a whole lot bigger than Erza.

“Bickslow, where's the antivenom?”

The Sieth sprinted back towards the trees, around the swords that he had pulled out of his clothes to get free and grabbed the bag he had bought with him. Rustling through it he grabbed one of the potions Kinana had given them before they left, and returned to Erza’s side.

She didn't look good. Black veins were apparent on her skin, inching their way over her chest and up towards her face. He slipped the cap off the needle, kneeling down beside her before stopping.

“What are you doing?”

Lisanna’s voice was panicked, eyes blown wide in fear as she watched the girl in her arms slip slowly into unconsciousness. Bickslow held his jaw firm, turning Erza’s face to look into his eyes.

“Tell us we can go forward first.”

Lisanna gasped, not expecting Bickslow to do this. They didn't have time, the poison was…

“Bickslow! You can't… she’s…”

“We beat you! We beat you and now you need to let us through to the next round.”

Erza’s nod was almost imperceivable, and Bickslow took it as a yes. He plunged the needle down into the wound, slowly pressing the plunger as the sickly green liquid inside entered her body. Erza gasped a little at the pain, Bickslow’s bedside manner left much to be desired, but clenched her fists through it.

“We’'ll need to get her back to base camp, we can't leave her here.”

Lisanna nodded, transforming back into her human form and shooing away the babies that had started to gather around.

“Erza, did you want to let Bickslow take you over, he could walk you…”

Erza shook her head viciously, brain still not letting her form words. Lisanna looked shocked at the violent reaction, but Bickslow just smiled sadly.

“I'll carry you, don't worry. Lissy, can you grab my bag and the spare totems? I think I might need them later.”

Lisanna nodded, and Bickslow slid his arms under the back of Erza’s shoulders and hooked under her knees in order to lift her up. Her head lolled against his shoulder, still unable to move much.

“You’ll be paralysed for a couple of hours even with the antivenom, I’m sorry. It was the best Kinana could do.”

Lisanna’s voice drifted into her ear from behind Bickslow as all three of them started to head towards the base camp, Bickslow’s totems drifting around them lazily. There were only five again now, and she made a mental note to make sure she asked him more about them in case she ever came up against him in the future.

“Hey, Bickslow?”

She watched as the man looked down at Lisanna, walking by the side of him and occasionally laying a cool hand on her head.

“Why on Earthland did you tell her I was pregnant!? That’s how rumours get started you know, and yes I know you love starting rumours but if you could keep from spreading them about us…”

If Erza could have rolled her eyes then she could have done, but she was still too paralysed to move her eyes just yet. Bickslow shrugged, squashing her to his chest as he did.

“It’s not my fault! I panicked, and Evergreen said it worked with Mira last time!”

Erza sighed deeply, and Lisanna made sure to check on her but she wasn’t doing it out of pain. She was doing it out of knowing that it was a ten minute walk to the base camp, and the whole time she would have to be listening to their incessant chatter.

Fanfiction.net - https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12460904/12/The-Definition-of-Insanity

Archive - http://archiveofourown.org/works/10706709/chapters/25672002

[muddyevil]

The Definition of Insanity - Chapter One

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and expecting different results... 

Fairy Tail are holding another S-Class trials after the problems that occurred last time... but can they expect anything to change this time around? 

Rated M for occasional smut. 

Collaboration with @gajeelswoman (go check out her other stuff if you haven’t already!)

Disclaimer - This has been rated M for occasional smut. It starts off straight away. You have been warned.

Also (I promise the story starts under the read more) this story is based in the same universe as my other fics, Iron and Paper & Soul Squared. Reading them isn't necessary, but there are a couple of references to it.

Cana braced herself against her kitchen counter as Bacchus' hips slammed into the back of hers. Her teeth toyed with her bottom lip as the pleasure coursed through her body, forcing all of her muscles to tense and release. She screamed aloud as her orgasm wracked through her and her legs started to turn to jelly, but Bacchus grabbed onto her hips harder to keep her upright. His thrusts sped up, slamming into her harder and deeper before he grunted her name into the air.

As soon as he was finished he let go of her, allowing her legs to collapse underneath her and she fell to the floor. Bacchus groaned slightly, taking a few steps forwards before he collapsed onto the countertop, panting as he tried to catch his breath.

"You could have just, you know, not dropped me on the fucking floor."

Her knee connected with his shin and he cursed, nudging her hip with his foot. He could try and make it to the bed, but that would be too much effort and right now the cold marble of the countertop was bliss against his heated skin.

"Yeah, and you could have stayed standing up. Six of one, half a dozen of the other."

Cana giggled, rolling onto her back and looking up at him. She couldn't see his face from this angle, but something told her he was smirking. The sweet liquor they had been drinking all day had got her pleasantly buzzed, but she still couldn't wait to have just a little more.

"You sound like Freed, you know."

He crumpled to the floor, shoulder slamming into Cana's elbow where she couldn't move it out of the way quick enough. She swore as it shot pain up her arm, but he rolled onto his side and kissed her cheek in apology.

"Why do I sound like Freed?"

Cana smirked, turning her head so they could rub their noses together. It was sickly sweet and romantic, but sometimes it was just what she wanted.

"You know, all those idioms and shit."

Bacchus chuckled, stretching his legs out and batting at her feet with his. He was about to tell her that he wasn't the most intelligent person on the planet, but he was sure he hadn't used an idiom when there was a harsh knock on the door. Cana groaned, and they had a silent conversation before she stood to her feet and made her way to the door.

She didn't even bother looking through the eyehole before she pulled the door open. Everyone in the guild had seen her naked anyway, what did she care?

"Look can you fuck off? I'm kinda busy…"

Her words trailed off when she realised just who was standing behind the door. He looked away almost instantly, and Cana closed the door until she could hide behind it.

"Oh, hi, Gildarts. Erm. Give me a moment and I'll get dressed."

The door shut, and Cana turned to look at Bacchus with wild eyes. He mirrored the expression, jumping up and starting to throw his clothes on. Cana found a shirt and some sweatpants without much hassle and helped Bacchus gather up the last of his things, before opening the window and hoping the drop wouldn't kill him.

"How long is he gonna be here?"

The words were in a low whisper, and Cana prayed that the man outside her apartment couldn't hear it.

"No idea. Head to the guildhall, I'll see you there soon. Oh. And let everyone know that they can absolutely not give him a clue as to what is happening with us."

Bacchus nodded, giving her a chaste kiss on her cheek before jumping out of the window. Cana let out a sigh of relief when he landed safely, before taking a deep breath and turning around to face her father. He was speaking before the door was even fully opened, the same familiar voice she had heard around the guild whenever he bothered to grace it with his presence.

"Do you often answer the door naked?"

Cana scoffed, moving out of the way so he could enter the apartment and thanking all of her lucky stars he wasn't a Dragon Slayer.

"Unless you haven't noticed, idiot, this is a girls only dorm. How did you even get in here?"

Gildarts grinned, scratching the back of his neck as he looked around his daughter's messy apartment.

"Being one of the only people who can pull rank on Erza helps. Plus everyone who lives here is young enough to be my daughter so…"

Cana snorted, pulling two beers out the fridge and offering one to him as he sat down at her table and she tried not to think of what she'd done on that chair the night before.

"Like that stops you? Why you back anyway?"

Gildarts took a swig from his drink, looking up at her in confusion.

"What? You haven't heard?"

Gildarts was sat in Makarov's office, surrounded by the other S-Class Wizards. Mirajane and Erza were both perched on chairs they had brought up from the main hall alongside him, and Laxus was sat on the floor cradling a beer in his hand. Nice to see his banishment hadn't changed his casual nature in the least.

"I think Gajeel is definitely deserving of consideration."

Erza had a strawberry cake balanced on a plate in one hand, a fork held in the other as she took another bite.

"Despite his beginnings in Phantom Lord, he has definitely become a valued member of the guild, especially the hand he had in taking down Lin. He's certainly a strong wizard, not only in physical and magical strength but in tactical planning as well."

Makarov nodded, stroking his chin as he did. He didn't even attempt to write anything down, and Gildarts grinned. He liked to portray his mind was good enough to not need notes but he had been through enough S-Class trials to know what he was doing.

"My second suggestion is Wendy. She has come a long way since she entered the guild, and has definitely matured in both personality and magic power."

Mira tapped her chin with her pen, crossing one leg over the other and balancing the notepad she had back on her lap.

"Isn't she awfully young though?"

Erza looked over at the other female and took another bite of her cake, furrowing her eyes as she did.

"Younger than we were?"

Mira pointed her pen at Erza, matching the narrowing of her eyes. Gildarts rolled his eyes. The two women acted like they had gotten over the rivalry from their younger days but when it came to these S-Class meetings it always surfaced again.

"You were fifteen and I was sixteen. Laxus was seventeen. Wendy's only twelve. I'm not saying she's not strong enough, I'm just saying it's an awful lot of responsibility for someone that young."

Erza finished off her cake, placing her fork on the plate and balancing it delicately on her lap.

"She IS a Dragon Slayer. They function differently than the rest of us."

Mira scoffed, tilting her head to her left to where Laxus was leaning against the wall.

"There's a Dragon Slayer in this room that proves that may not be a good thing."

Laxus finally looked up, and Gildarts was amazed he was actually paying attention to what was going on. Maybe he had grown up a bit.

"The fuck you trying to say, Mira?"

The takeover mage looked pointedly over at the Dragon Slayer, smiling as she did. It was sickly sweet, and Gildarts knew that smile was deadly to any man that opposed her.

"That you know more than anyone else how unstable Dragon Slayers can be."

Laxus ground his teeth, a low growl resonating from his throat, but it was cut off by his grandfather waving a hand.

"Alright. Enough of that. I'll take her into consideration. Any other recommendations, Erza?"

The requip mage crossed her arms over her chest, nodding as she did.

"I do, actually. I have two others." She sighed, closing her eyes for a second before she spoke. "Even though her personality… has a lot to be desired… Evergreen has worked incredibly hard the last few months to get her health and magic back up to the standard it was before. That takes an awful lot of work and motivation."

Everyone nodded, no one could argue with that. The long recovery process after Lin had been hard on everyone that had been injured, but Evergreen especially.

"In addition to that, I would also like to nominate Elfman. He showed amazing selflessness supporting Evergreen through the recovery process along with the resilience to keep her going through even the darkest of times."

Makarov nodded slowly, and everyone else followed soon after. Mira was staring down at her hands, playing with her own fingers. No one else in the room mentioned anything about the tears welling in her eyes. Mira was proud of her brother, and no one had to acknowledge it for it to be common knowledge.

"Gildarts, what about you? Who do you recommend?"

The man thought to himself, leaning back in his own chair as he did.

"Well, of course, I know that you're going to select Natsu, Master. But I think that you should give my baby girl another chance as well. She obtained Fairy Glitter the last time! She would have won if it hadn't been for everything that happened! She's strong, just makes her daddy so proud, you know! And she really kept her cool during everything that happened, so I've heard! And you can't deny that she helped keep things organized in the afterma-"

Gildarts' words were cut off by a massive fist slamming into the back of his head. He'd been rambling on despite Makarov's hands flailing around to get his attention, so the Fairy Tail guild master finally gave up and resorted to violence.

Mira coughed slightly, smiling as she prepared to make her suggestion.

"I want to nominate Kinana, she does a lot of hard work at the guild and picks up for me and Lisanna whenever we're out on jobs."

Everyone in the room looked at her, but it was only Erza that was brave enough to actually say anything.

"Mirajane, while I will admit that hard work is an important tenet to have as an S-Class Wizard, Kinana doesn't even use magic."

The takeover mage smiled, shrugging her shoulders while she did.

"She can learn though, right?"

Erza looked at Mira incredulously. She wasn't sure what the other woman was thinking, exactly, but she certainly did know that she wasn't getting the logic.

"In a week, Mira?"

Mira shrugged again, still smiling, and Makarov tried not to roll his eyes, before turning around to look at Laxus.

"How about you, Laxus. Do you have any nominations?"

The Dragon Slayer scoffed, taking a drink out of his beer before looking his grandfather in the eyes.

"Does it even matter if I do? You're going to pick whoever you want, anyway. Why should I even waste my time on having an opinion?"

Mira smiled, the same sickly sweet smile that Laxus just knew was Freed's weakness, but it would not work on him.

"Come on, Laxus, we all gave our nominations!"

Makarov nodded, looking thoughtful as he did.

"All of your opinions are incredibly important to my decisions. You've always had such strong opinions on who should be chosen before, why not now?"

Laxus put his empty bottle down on the floor, standing up and dusting off his trousers where he had been resting on the floor.

"Then I will give you the same answer that I have given you every other year. I want my Raijinshuu. All of them, even the honorary members."

Without any further ado, he left the room, no longer bothering to take part in the meeting. Makarov looked out after him but didn't call out. Gildarts looked confused for a second, looking over at the Master.

"Who are the honorary members of the Raijinshuu?"

Elfman and Lisanna were playing cards with the Thunder Legion when Laxus got back. Bickslow had towers of betting tokens around him, he had always been the best at any kind of card game and no one could figure out why. They had learned to make sure none of his babies were flying around spying on them years ago, but even if they made sure they were nowhere to be seen he kept on winning. Evergreen looked up from her hand when Laxus sat down, leaning over to grab a beer to pass to him.

"What's up with you?"

Laxus shrugged, downing half of the beer in one before nodding at Freed to indicate he wanted a hand in the next round.

"Shitty S-Class trials consideration meeting. Drives me mad every single year."

Lisanna smiled as she looked over the top of her cards at the Dragon Slayer, imitating her sister's sweetest smile and batting her eyelashes as she did.

"Did you vote for me, Laxus?"

Laxus scoffed, taking another drink out of his beer as he crossed his arms and waited for the next round so he could start to play.

"Why would I? You suck."

Lisanna pouted, but Bickslow just laughed as he played down his card and reached to take the pot from the centre of the table as everyone swore and threw down their own cards.

"Yeah, she does. Really fucking well too."

Lisanna blushed as Bickslow held a hand up for a high-five, waiting for anyone to congratulate him but instead Elfman leant forward, slamming one of his hands over Bickslow's and the money on the table.

"Firstly," he growled, "Don't ever speak of my little sister like that. It isn't manly to hear about her doing things to you." Bickslow just laughed, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

"Secondly, you're a fucking cheat." Bickslow stopped laughing, narrowing his eyes behind his visor. Smirking up at the takeover mage he pulled his arms free and crossed them over his chest.

"Oh yeah, big man? How d'ya figure that out?"

With a yell, Elfman shoved his chair back, his bulk slamming the table and disrupting the cards and tokens as he lurched to grab the front of Bickslow's shirt. Freed and Evergreen let out sighs simultaneously, leaning back away from the table. Lisanna, on the other hand, stepped next to Bickslow, yelling for her brother to stop.

"That pillar just laughed! I know you put a soul in there!" The Takeover Mage lifted his fist to throw a punch at the Sieth's face, but his motions were halted by a shoulder slamming into his chest. Faster than anyone saw, Laxus got behind him, a muscled arm wrapped around his neck, Elfman's hands trying frantically to free himself. After a very short amount of time, the Strauss brother stopped struggling, realizing that he didn't have a chance without a beast taking over, and even he didn't want it to go that far.

"Of course he cheats. Everyone knows that."

Laxus looked over at the Sieth, Bickslow having resumed his laughter. Freed had begun to straighten the table again, and Evergreen was simply sat fanning herself. Laxus growled low in his throat, fighting back the dragon inside of him as he saw that his people were okay. Sure, he'd unofficially adopted the Strauss siblings, but the Thunder Legion would still always come first.

"I just don't understand, surely you could just freeze her, knock her over and then boom. She's done."

Natsu mimed the actions with his arms, standing up from his chair while Gray scoffed and relaxed back into his.

"Apart from she can superheat herself so I can't freeze her, but do carry on trying to educate me on my own magic. Surely you could just evaporate her into nothing?"

Juvia twisted her fingers in her lap, staring at them as a blush spread over her cheeks.

"Juvia doesn't think she would like either of those things…"

Lucy sat down next to Wendy, looking at the little Dragon Slayer as she placed her bag on the floor.

"Hi! Sorry I'm late, I had to go pay my rent. What are those two up to now?"

Wendy smiled, taking a sip out of her tea as she greeted the older girl.

"They're arguing about who could beat Juvia easier."

Lucy grimaced, looking at the two men. This could go one of two ways. Natsu could try challenging Juvia to a fight, or it could devolve into a full guild brawl and it was too early for either of those outcomes.

"Not that I'm all that surprised, but how did the topic come up?" The small bluenette just shook her head, laughing nervously.

"I don't even know, really. I came up in the middle of it as well."

"Yer both idiots. Juvia could utterly destroy you both without any effort." Their argument was interrupted by the Iron Dragon Slayer walking up, Levy in his shadow. "She's too fuckin' nice to do shit to the Popsicle, but Flamebrain, she could destroy you with a thought."

Juvia's blush darkened, opening her mouth to protest his praise until he made the comment about Gray.

"Juvia does not wish to fight either of her friends, Gajeel-kun. She would not wish to harm any member of Fairy Tail. They are her family." Gajeel just chuckled and messed with her hat, pushing it down over Juvia's eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Yer not denyin' what I said though." He dropped onto the bench next to Juvia, Levy leaning against his arm as everyone else laughed. Natsu crossed his arms, looking away for a moment before snapping his gaze back to Gajeel.

"Bet she could beat you too, Rust Bucket!" He dropped his hands in front of him, balling them into fists as he smirked and stepped forward. "And if I beat you, that means I'm as strong as her! Fight me, Metalface!" Levy groaned, stepping away quickly as she knew her Dragon Slayer was about to be engrossed in a fight. She walked around the table to sit on it next to Lucy and Wendy.

"Why does it always end in a fight?" The blonde leant against her smaller friend, amusement dancing in her eyes. Gray scoffed and walked some ways away, not wanting to be dragged into a fight between the two Dragon Slayers.

"If you two calmed down and actually listened you'd learn you might be able to test that out."

Erza walked between the two Dragon Slayers, pushing them apart as she headed to the front of the hall with the rest of the S-Class Wizards. Mirajane had collared Laxus, and he was sulking as he followed her and stood at the back of the stage. The Master stood at the front, coughing to get everyone's attention.

"Fairy Tail! Listen up! I have an announcement to make!"

The entire guild hushed down, all turning to look at the guild master in curiosity.

"After the loss of Mystogan, we are down an S-Class Wizard, and the number of S-Class only jobs are increasing faster than we can keep up with. For that reason, we will be holding the new S-Class trials next week."

The guildhall erupted in excitement, everyone clamouring and wondering who would be chosen. Makarov raised his voice, continuing his speech.

"Because of the need for more S-Class and the high calibre of wizards we have, there will be more nominations this year than ever before. Therefore you will all partner up with another nominee, and more than one wizard will be promoted."

If the roar was loud before now it was deafening, people rising from their seats as they shouted their feelings towards the stage.

"The current S-Class Wizards and I have deliberated long and hard." Laxus scoffed, but his grandfather ignored him. "And we are pleased to announce the following candidates for promotion. The first, Bickslow!"

Everyone cheered, clapping at the first revelation and Lisanna turned to congratulate him only to be met by a grim face. She reached out to touch his arm, but he shook it away to stand up and storm upstairs into the Master's office, totems following behind him in a line. Lisanna was going to go after him but Freed grabbed her arm and the Master moved onto the next candidate.

"Evergreen!"

Evergreen set her jaw firmly as cheers erupted around her, and she clenched her fists in her lap. Elfman was still looking hopefully at the Master, and it was only Freed who nodded at her in congratulation.

"Pantherlily!"

Levy squealed in excitement, snatching up the exceed and hugging him close. Lily just nodded, trying to cross his arms over the top of Levy's. He would thank the Master for nominating him later.

"Cana Alberona!"

The card mage didn't even look up from the beer she was drinking, ignoring the clap across the back she had gotten from Macao. She had sent Bacchus back to his own guild as soon as she realised how long Gildarts was going to be staying around. Maybe she would go and visit Quattro Cerberus as soon as she failed yet another promotion trial.

"Natsu Dragneel"

The Dragon Slayer whooped in excitement, punching the air above him as he jumped out of his chair. Happy started to fly around, joining in his own partner's excitement before realising that he wasn't going to be able to be on the same team with Natsu this year and went to go and sulk on one of the guild's tables.

"Gray Fullbuster!"

Juvia's screams of elation drowned out anyone else's, and she threw her arms around Gray, who didn't even bother trying to shy away from her as she crushed his ribs in her embrace.

"Lucy Heartfilia!"

Lucy's mouth hung open, she would never in a million years have expected to be nominated, but as Juvia let up her assault on Gray and instead turned around to hug her other teammate she was brought out of her daze and hugged her back.

"Freed Justine!"

Freed nodded, adjusting his clothes as he did to make sure he was looking his best. He hadn't been expecting the nomination per se but it was an honour to be considered again. Maybe this time he would be able to win. He immediately started to form strategies in his head, already thinking of ways to defeat his fellow nominees.

"Juvia Lockser!"

Juvia paused in her embrace with Lucy, before breaking away and turning back to Gray again.

"Gray-sama will be Juvia's partner, won't he?"

Gray sighed, knowing it was coming because of course Juvia would be nominated again. She was one of the strongest mages he knew.

"Of course, who else would I team up with? Flame Brain?"

Juvia squealed again, and Gray reached over to pull her onto his lap. If anyone asked he would always say it was just to shut her up, but in secret, he enjoyed it too.

"Wendy Marvell!"

Wendy jumped in her chair in excitement, clapping her hands before Carla turned around to glare at her. It was unbecoming of a lady to show excitement in such a fashion. Carla would never admit that, just like Happy, she wasn't pleased knowing that she wouldn't be able to join her partner's side. Maybe she could sneak onto the island like the last time?

"Levy McGarden!"

Gajeel clapped the script mage on the back while Jet and Droy whooped enthusiastically. Levy just smiled, hugging Lily tighter and beginning to form her own strategies.

"Gajeel Redfox!"

Levy squealed, turning around to pull Gajeel into a hug and crushing Lily in between them. The exceed sighed heavily before enjoying as his two humans celebrated all three achievements. At least it would be fun until the two of them realised that they would probably be fighting against each other at some point.

"Elfman Strauss!"

Elfman yelled in happiness, one arm grabbing Lisanna and the other grabbing Evergreen and pulling the two women into his chest. Both of them struggled for a moment, before looking at each other as they both accepted their fate.

"And finally - Lisanna Strauss!"

Elfman's embrace only intensified at the last comment, but Lisanna simply looked up to the Master's office, wondering what Bickslow was doing behind the closed door.

The Master clapped his hands, trying to get the attention of everyone in the guildhall back, but it wasn't until Mirajane made her way to the front of the stage and yelled that anyone bothered paying attention. Makarov thanked her and took his opportunity before it was too loud for anyone to hear him again.

"Everyone can pick a partner from within the nominations, and we meet at the docks to head to Tenrou Island in exactly a week. Good luck!"

A/N - Woo, first chapter of my collaboration with Gajeelswoman. We are writing the chapters between us, so go and check her out if you haven't already.

Please let us know what you think about the idea/the fic/any theories you may have about what may happen. We both completely love reading reviews!

Huge thanks also to @kmmcm for blind testing this for us, go and check out her art like straight away.

Fanfiction.net - https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12459916/1/The-Definition-of-Insanity

Archive of our Own - http://archiveofourown.org/works/10706709

[glaceleau]

More sketches of @muddyevil characters (early 2022)

[glaceleau]

( January 2021, @muddyevil's character in vintage Barbie style )