#nonbinary farmer

This week's brief diversion is a piece of extremely fluffy, gender-affirming tail stuff in honour of MerMay 🧜

Coral Island

Non-binary farmer x Pablo

This is so niche omg but I had fun

2.2k

~🪸~🪸~🪸~

"Just… wait there," Cyrus said, when Pablo reached the shore. They braced their arms on the rock before them and took a deep breath, drawing in all the love and patience that emanated from their husband's warm, brown eyes. Only their torso - a pale, golden tan, deepened by the summer sun - was visible above the water. From this angle, this distance, Pablo would be able to see nothing more than the hairless skin of their chest, or their intricate red-and-black back tattoo should they turn around. Cyrus knew this, because they had asked Denali of the Merfolk Kingdom to help them scout the best location, and that was what this was all about. Sure, Pablo knew that Cyrus had met and been helping the merfolk who also made Coral Island their home. He even know about the underwater farm Cyrus had been cultivating, and the weird and wonderful crops it produced (he was less taken by them pickled than he was their traditional island fare, but he'd never turned down a jar yet). What he didn't know was that for a long, long time, Cyrus hadn't needed the lab's diving suit at all. Through courtship and marriage, moving in together and the Goddess-blessed arrival of their child - baby Raffi, after his uncle Rafael - this was a secret that Cyrus had kept to themselves: that they had a tail beneath the waves, much as Denali, Semeru, and Princess Miranjani gained legs (with Cho Oyu's potions) on land. Something had convinced them, though, that they didn't have to hide it any longer. Perhaps it was the seasons of being loved by Pablo, morning after morning waking by his side; the repetition of those acts of love, both big and small, which strengthened their relationship like a hammer forged steel. Maybe it was the fact the weather was only going to grow cooler from here, and if Cyrus didn't take the opportunity now, it would be late spring or early summer again before they had the chance. In either case, they fired a quick mental prayer to the Goddess, braced their arms against the rock, and hauled themselves upwards. They could practically see the !! over Pablo's head as he took a step back. "Cyrus! Wait. What?!"

~🪸~🪸~🪸~

Read now on AO3

P.S. It's this rock - @the-font-bandit helped me pick 😂

To Maru:

Maru was the first person to be directly informed about Farmer’s gender identity. What caused it was a combination of the girl’s friendly, open personality and the medical setting. In a everyday, vague conversation Farmer usually overlooked assumptions about their gender. It just felt weird bringing it up out of the blue. But when a medical questionnaire demands declaring a gender from you, there is no room for understatements.

„Thank you for coming to register so quickly after moving to the valley” said the doctor’s assistant. „Usually we have to chase people to remind them about their appointments”

„That’s no problem, I like to get stuff like that out of the way as soon as possible. Otherwise it would hang over my head and stress me out”

„Haha, I have the same thing with chores. Please just write your data in this template and give it back to me when you’re done. It’s all confidential of course”

Farmer took a piece of paper given to them and sat in the waiting room. They smiled, writing their new name in the form. Before changing documents they had to use their deadname in official settings, which made visits to doctor all the more stressful. Moving out and registering in a different clinic was also an opportunity for a new life.

Next point on the template caused them to frown, erasing most of the joy that lasted after using their preferred name at the top of the paper. Next to the rubric: “gender” there were two boxes: “male” and “female”. Farmer’s pen hanged above the “female” option for a few moments - that’s what they were used to and that’s what was in their biology. But it just didn’t feel right.

“Um, excuse me?”

They said in Maru’s direction after filling lower points on the template and not having any more options of delaying the conversation.

“Yes? Can I help you with anything?” Maru’s friendliness emboldened Farmer to continue on with their questions.

„Um… I have a question about the… the gender”

„I’m sorry, I didn’t hear the last part quite clearly. Could you repeat it please?”

“The gender” Farmer blurted out and started speaking really fast, in fear that the courage will leave them as soon as it came. They also stood up to show Maru the template, forgetting that she probably had it memorized by now. “Because you have only two options and I understand that’s useful from a medical point of view, but the thing is I don’t identify with either gender”

“Oh” Maru’s face lit up with curiosity, which gave her purple iris an eye-catching gleam. „So you’re a hermaphrodite?”

Farmer’s face scowled, partially against their will. “That’s… not really a term you should use anymore”

“I’m so sorry!” Maru covered her mouth in the same manner that people sometimes do after a curse word escapes them. “I didn’t know. Could you tell me how should I call it then?”

“It’s okay, thank you for making an effort to learn” Farmer smiled reassuringly. “The proper name is intersex, but I’m not one. Biologically I’m female, I guess, I mean I do have all the, uh, parts. But I identify as non binary”

„Non binary…” Maru’s face showed focus, as she was searching for this term in her memory. “Oh, right, of course! I actually read about this a little bit when I was looking into differences in responses to some drugs among genders. But there is so little reaserch about your identity that I almost forgot learning about it”

“Yes, it is very understudied” Responded Farmer, relieved that they don’t have to explain everything from the basics.

“I promise to look into it some more, so you’ll have the same quality of medical treatment as everyone else!” Said Maru with determination. “Is there anything you’d like me to know right now? Or any way I can help you?”

“For now the only urgent thing is that I prefer to use they/them pronouns. And also that questionnaire…”

“Oh right, of course!” Maru looked over the template, thinking of a way she could improve it. “You know what? I’ll bring it up with Harvey, he is our town’s doctor. Maybe there can be a “other” option, or a form where you cross on the list what organs you have and write preferred pronouns separately… For now just leave it unmarked”

(Pt 1/?)

Sheesh Doc, dramatic much? (Jkjk)

Strawberry Wine

By sleepov3r

For the one-year anniversary of their wedding, Farmer Jo gives Penny a gift.

Words: 561 Chapters: 1/1 Language: English

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: Other

Fandom: Stardew Valley (Video Game)

Relationship: Penny/Player (Stardew Valley)

Characters: Penny (Stardew Valley), Farmer, Pam (Stardew Valley)

Hey, I was tagged by @blackbirdofasgard and I have something! Still working on the next part of Feather and Scale, but also kicked off a fluffy Coral Island one-shot of my farmer Cyrus and their husband Pablo for MerMay 🧜

It's just a short exploration of Cyrus sharing their merfolk tail with Pablo from a non-binary perspective, which is super cosy and restorative in some ways but also really fun to write new characters. It's set on the last day of Summer, about a year and a half after Cyrus and Pablo got married, and the same year they welcomed their baby Raffi into the world:

It was a straight walk from their farm down to the shore, past one of the Goddess' sacred trees and through a small patch of palms and other plant life. Two sets of steps then led onto the sand, one closer to the Inn and one closer to the lighthouse. Cyrus had counted on Pablo taking the latter, and they weren't disappointed. The soft slap of sliders on stonework announced his arrival before he came into view, feet first, then legs, purple-and-palm-print swim shorts, hard abs, plump pecs and finally his face, as softly-fuzzed as usual and bearing an expression somewhere between skeptical and willing to be humoured. "Hey, baby," he called when Cyrus waved. He lingered on the bottom step and looked left and right, the sounds of the larger celebration drifting on the ocean breeze. "Suki and Valentina came over to look after Raffi like you asked. Did you not want to bring him down to the Inn? Suki says she still has a crib, and we'd be welcome to stay in one of the guest rooms if you didn't feel like carting him back to the farm when we're done. We could have sat on the sun loungers out front, sipped some wine… you know how I feel about sand."

Never a bother!

-

Alex -

1. "Trans...masculine? So...does that mean you wanna work out with me?"

2. Alex has sort of had very definite of ideas of masculinity/femininity planted in his head, so his first reaction is to wonder if he's been hanging out with the farmer in the right way.

Elliott -

1. "However you wish to exist, I'm glad you exist truly as yourself, and that you exist at all."

2. Elliott also ends up getting sort of interested in how to write about a person like the farmer--grammatically and stylistically.

Harvey -

1. "Nonbinary and trans-masculine? You know, that reminds me of a case I studied back in college..."

2. Harvey ends up just getting distracted, talking about that case, but it's clear that he doesn't feel anything negative or unaccepting toward the farmer.

Sam -

1. "You know, I think a lot of rockerstars would fall in with you there if they weren't scared of the public."

2. A lot of Sam's favorite singers present themselves in ways beyond what they were born as, so he kind of thinks the farmer's self-representation is kind of cool.

Sebastian -

1. "That's cool. Thanks for telling me."

2. This doesn't change how Sebastian sees the farmer, but he does take the new info into account when he's planning games of Solorian Chronicles. Just using the proper terms and all that.

Shane -

1. "Oh, uh, we all have our stuff, I guess?"

"Sweetheart?" Harvey called as he entered the house, tired from a long day of caring for an entire town of people. Maru's days off didn't usually weigh so heavily on him; today had just been a tiring one so far. His hair was still frosted in snowflakes despite the warmth of the house, but they melted by the second as he stood just inside the closed front door, still waiting for a response. But lights were going off in the bedroom, followed by quiet sound effects, and his heart began to ache for what he was about to have to do.

"Honey..." he said, stepping into the bedroom. The room was dark and hot, the only light coming from a flashing television screen as the farmer's avatar swung a pixellated axe. Harvey stopped just behind them. "Please put the controller down," he said softly. He was almost inaudible over the sound effects.

"Just...one more day," the farmer replied, their eyes focused hard on the screen. "Just one more day. I've almost saved enough for a new barn." Their fingers gripped the controller even when Harvey reached down and gently touched the inside of their wrist.

He automatically counted their pulse before mumbling, "I mean, I guess. Have you tended to the cows?" By then, he had settled down on the bed to untie and shed his shoes. When his farmer hadn't responded by the time he had them off, he asked again, "Did you check on the cows this morning?"

The farmer nodded. "Yeah, yeah, of course." Their voice tightened up as they fought a cloud of bats onscreen. "I fed the chickens." They leaned hard to the left as their character moved in the same direction. "All of them."

Harvey frowned slightly but waited until he had his tie off before speaking again. "I really think you ought to take a break. All that strain on your eyes..." No response. That bothered him to no end. Harvey carefully settled down next to his farmer, knees cracking horrendously, before gently leaning on their side, thinking that perhaps he could yank them out of their misplaced focus.

"You know...it's good weather for sitting by the fireplace." He tentatively ran his fingertips down the farmer's arm. "Or, you know..." His anxiety amplified tenfold. "...actually feeding the animals. They're all looking a little thin...and grumpy." How he hated confronting his spouse. Harvey didn't like to say he hated anything; he'd always felt it was too strong a word. But he hated to bring up anything bad to his love. Especially times like this.

"Harvey, I fed them all," the farmer said, focused still on the screen. "And my eyes are fine."

"H-honey..." He wasn't sure how to go about this, but it was starting to get him upset. He just wanted to take care of his spouse. It always became so much more difficult when they barely took care of themselves in the winter. "Come on. We need to take care of the farm. And you! We need to take care of you. Get up! When was the last time you saw the sun?" He started urging the farmer to stand up. It soon became clear that the farmer wasn't exactly in a rush, though, so Harvey let go of them and hurried to throw open the curtains. Grey light drifted in and the farmer flinched at the brightness, but they stayed put on front of the television.

Harvey put his hands on his hips, ready to just--to just--just--give his farmer what-for, to wallop some medical knowledge into them, but a second before he let loose, he wordlessly decided not to rip into them. He could never get as angry as he wanted to, especially not when his farmer was concerned. He sagged a bit.

"Alright. Fine." He headed for the bedroom door. On the way there, he pulled his glasses off to tiredly rub his hand over his eyes. "I'll get dinner on, I guess. Then..." He paused at the door. "I guess I'll feed the animals, too."

He left the bedroom. A second later, another set of footsteps followed him.