#and certainly don't request any particular pronouns

[wereshrew-admirer]

.txt

[spoiledleaff]

Hello! Do you happen to take xReader requests? I would just love to see a ficlet from you where Mountain catches Rain and Reader cuddling in the gardens? They/Them pronouns for the Reader please? and SFW if possible?

I know I'm asking for a lot, so please don't feel like I'm pressuring you! :)

i mean, i've been threatening to delve into the world of /reader fics for quite some time, but i've never actually made true on my threats, unfortunately :') but!! i will tonight!! >:3c

sfw ✿ he/him mountain/rain + they/them gn sibling of sin reader ✿ wc ; 860.

Mountain knows that Rain's been... predictably vacant from the Ministry's hallways, but the earth's sin had just figured that he was napping in between the pews after Mass or getting high at the lakeside. Rain might not be the same... 'level' as Dewdrop, but the water ghoul certainly knows how to shirk the work he simply doesn't want to do.

Luckily for the Ministry, it's only during the more extreme seasons that Rain choses to abandon his duties. Luckily for Mountain, nothing's really happening at this point in time, so Rain's extra hands aren't a necessity for the wellbeing of the Abbey.

It was midday when he caught them, the black ink of their church uniforms clashing dramatically against the vibrant colors of the garden's flowers. It wasn't surprising at all to find Rain curled up in the depths of the gardens, the shade of the gazebo sparing the water's sin from any risk of drying up in the sun's rays. It took a moment, however, for Mountain to find that Rain wasn't alone in his loafing around.

Mountain recognizes the Sibling from the way they wear their uniform: elongated in some traditionally short areas and trimmed shorter where it was once long. He recalls Rain rambling once — after having met the Sibling a couple of times — about how everything they did was just so uniquely them; their uniform included. It drew Rain in, among other things, and Mountain was happy to watch as Rain grew increasingly infatuated with the very existence of the Sibling.

Speaking of, the earth's sin watches as Rain's tail flicks lazily against their ankle, docile barbs brushing against the sliver of exposed skin. There's small pink welt dragging across the bone of their ankle, he notices, and Mountain decides he's going to have to talk to Rain again about human fragility.

Other than that small detail, the sight laid before Mountain is actually quite wholesome. Rain has the poor Sibling practically suffocated in his arms, his mask flattening the grass below them though his balaclava remains secure over his face. His arms are locked tight around the small of the Sibling's back, their arms curled up in the small spaces left between them and the water's sin. Mountain notices how one of their hands is buried deep between the seam of Rain's button-up shirt, one of the golden buttons having been popped free to accommodate the space of their hand.

The Sibling is curled up tight in Rain's chest, so small and human in comparison to the water ghoul's borderline awkward proportions. It's cute, and Mountain can't help but think of how much smaller the Sibling would feel tucked up into his own side.

Well, it's not that he's never thought about it — the way this Sibling in particular would slot so perfectly into his side or the weight of them on his chest — and he knows that they wouldn't mind! Mountain's lost count of how many times he's caught the little creature wrapped up in Dewdrop's arms or faceplanted into Cumulus' chest. Of course, Rain is never too far away from the Sibling, but Mountain knows the water's sin — or any of them for that matter — wouldn't have any issues with sharing.

They've even offered it to him before! All sweet smiles and an outstretched hand, somehow managing to wiggle out of Rain's grasp just enough to brush their fingers against the leather of Mountain's boots. But, alas, Mountain was supposed to have been in Copia's office two minutes prior to your proposal, and the earth's sin had to refuse.

But now? Mountain's finished his chores in the greenhouse, dinner isn't for another hour or so, and there's no gremlin trying to get into his pants with nothing but hot hands and sly smiles, so-

There's nothing stopping the earth's sin from joining the pair.

Just in case, Mountain quietly slinks off to Rain's side of the cuddle pile, watching the steady of rise and fall of both cuddlebugs' chests as he moved. Mountain plops himself down right behind Rain's curled up form, carefully slotting himself behind the water ghoul so as not to disturb neither sin or Sibling. He presses his chest against the hard plane of Rain's back, scrambling to be rid of his own mask before getting too comfortable dozing underneath the gazebo's shade in the company of those he adores. He sets his mask next to Rain's, mindful of the 'clink' the two masks make, before allowing himself to curl up around both Rain and his napping partner.

Mountain purrs quietly as throws one arm above his head and wiggles the other carefully in the open spaces between Rain and the Sibling, quickly finding the lump of their hand underneath Rain's partially unbuttoned shirt. Through the cotton of the fabric, Mountain holds the Sibling's hand, delighting in the way they snuggle closer and press their nose against his knuckles.

Rain's tail stops swishing, and the devious little bastard starts up a purr of his own, taking great pleasure in having lured in another sailor lost at sea with the sirensong promise of a nap in the middle of the day.

[itwasntimethatdidit40]

Hey there!

I wanted to post that for a while so, here we are.

Wondering who’s behind this blog?

Here’s something about me under the cut:

• I identify as a woman, my pronouns are she/her

• Born and raised in Italy, I still live there.

• I’m 141 LOL but according to people I still look like I’m in my 30s so let me indulge in that, thank you very much.

• I don't think there's anyone who makes me more feral than Joel Miller. I just can’t help it. My (un)holy Pedro characters triad is Joel, Oberyn and Peña 💕 (immediately followed by Frankie)

• I have a little elephant pendant that I always wear, no one knows what it's about *wink*

• I’m Leo Sun, Libra Rising and Aries Moon. You scared? I promise I don’t bite, unless explicitly requested 😏

• I’m Bi/Pan as fuck, always been obviously but I realized only last year. LOL, better late than never i guess. I only have problems with cisgender white males because I mean… they’re the worst, okay, I don’t make the rules.

• Single, unmarried, not interested in having kids even a little bit, I prefer to be the cool auntie.

• I love cooking and I'm quite good at it, I had good genes from my Italian grandmas 😌

• I can’t function without coffee, especially in the morning. I take my coffee bitter with just a little bit of milk.

• I can’t stand lies, the phrase “oh I didn't tell you so as not to make you suffer” (UGH, no you didn’t tell me ‘cause you’re a fucking coward and that’s it, my friend), misogyny, racism, fascism, homophobia, bi-erasure, any other form of verbal or physical violence towards LGBTQIA+ people, injustice in general, if you are any of the above you are not welcome here or in my life.

• I love dogs. I have a poodle named Brienne after the GOT character, she’s 5 years old so that means she got me through pandemic and she’s my love and joy. Isn’t she adorable? Yes, she is.

• I’m unfortunately allergic to cats (yep, like Pedro) and can’t pet them unless I wish for an asthma attack. That sucks, I know.

• I have deep brown curly hair, brown eyes and I’m short (158 cm).

• I have a lot of freckles, you could go on a treasure hunt following them.

• I’ve been to more than 100 concerts in my life including some festivals abroad.

• I currently listen to Hozier and Chappell Roan on a daily basis. I also love Billie Eilish, used to be a big Muse fan (listen, their first albums were great, okay) plus I’m a sucker for ‘90/‘00 music ‘cause that’s the music I grew up with.

• I love beer more than wine.

• I love reading, I used to read all the time, I have less time to do it now and it bothers me so much. I’m still reading fanfiction though. 🤭

• I’m a sucker for True Crime Podcasts, I only listen to Italian ones for now so unless you’re Italian you don’t know my faves and it’s a pity ‘cause they’re really good.

• Cults scare the shit out of me but at the same time they’re one of the things that makes me more curious ‘cause my mind can’t really comprehend what happens in people’s mind when they get sucked into them.

• Some tv series I love in no particular order: The Last of Us, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Lost, The Handmaid’s Tale, Bojack Horseman, GOT (until seasons 7 & 8 happened 💀), Sense 8, Jane the Virgin, Grace and Frankie, Narcos, Only Murders in the building, The Bear, Succession, The Morning Show, Friends, Stranger Things (mostly because Jim Hopper is there, certainly not for those z*onists, you know), Mad Men, Gilmore Girls (Luke Danes *cough*), Mindhunter, Peaky Blinders (huge Tommy Shelby’s slut, don’t look at me like that, okay), My Brilliant Friend, The Affair, Black Mirror (until last seasons happened but it used to be one of the greatest things ever), The Walking Dead (got bored halfway through season 9, I recently started a rewatch and I hope to get to the very end of it lol), Fleabag, Normal People, When They See Us, Hill House, Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, Chernobyl.

• Films I love in no particular order: Parasite, Aftersun, Past Lives, All of Us Strangers, Brokeback Mountain, Almost Famous, The Goonies, Stand By Me, The Breakfast Club, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Lobster, The Neon Demon, Midsommar, One Day, When Harry Met Sally, There’s still tomorrow, Strange Way of Life, Prospect, The Banshess of Inisherin, Coco, The Emperor’s New Groove (so underrated), Mommy, The Virgin Suicides, Girls Interrupted, Saltburn, Promising Young Woman, Little Women (1994), Gone Girl, Shoplifters, Bin-Jip 3 Iron, Love Me If You Dare, The Piano, Fried Green Tomatoes, Notorious, Some like it Hot, Rear Window and you can ask for my Letterboxd account for more.

• Bad weather makes me sad and melancholy.

• I obviously love Italian cuisine with all my heart but I also love to try new dishes especially when I’m abroad. I love chocolate and I have a sweet tooth in general but there’s nothing I crave more than good carbs (I can be happy with a slice of good bread or focaccia). I love spicy food but I can't handle it when it’s very very spicy.

• I love bags, I have so many bags and I still want more lol

• When I was a kid I wanted to be a writer or a journalist. What do I do now? I’m a secretary LOL (I also have a second job not related to writing as well)

• As a friend, I’m loyal to the bone, I could do anything for you if I love you. If you betray me real bad though don’t expect a second chance, I mean I could try but I know i can’t ‘cause you’re changed forever in my eyes.

• I have so many kinks, you can ask if you want to know, okay. Also, so many authors here are responsible for giving me new ones. I love you deeply.

If you want to know more my asks and dm are open!

Here’s a little bit of me, byeeeee.

[wintervalewritersecond]

immortal she - wednesday addams

requested: yes! requests: open! is it possible for a Wednesday x Reader where Reader is cursed immortal that is one of Nevermore Academy's Board that sided with Weems on letting Wednesday attend to the Academy (Reader's look is young) and the reason sided with Weems is that Reader is curious at the Addams girl that was prophesied to be the one who will end Reader's long immortal life then Reader pretends to be student and hangs out with Wednesday and Enid then times past Reader is slowly gaining feelings for her?

wordcount: 4.188 (quite long compared to my other work!) warnings: talk about (wanting) death, talk about the negativity of being immortal, they/them pronouns, characters are aged up to 18, Wednesday may be quite ooc toward the end, possible character death, cursewords.

You have been living since the year 1863 and you have attended Nevermore for most of your life. Though, there might be a change to that, as you have never seen a human as fascinating as Wednesday Addams.

"Alright, alright," Weems puts up her hands. "I will be sending the message to Morticia. I guess that miss Wednesday Addams will be starting here sometime next week. The meeting is dismissed, thank you."

You pack up your binder and pens before shoving them in your bag, exiting the stuffy room, and walking to your own dorm. You are not quite a student, but also not quite a teacher. You do have your own room at Nevermore, hidden in the tallest tower that barely gets visited by anyone. You would consider yourself an assistant; you have been helping out the principals of Nevermore since 1883. You started your school journey here at just twelve years old. But then, at the end of your education, your powers really started kicking in. Your appearance still looks like that of an 18-year-old, though you have been living for much more than that.

Other board members were freaked out by the Addams family. Gomez and Morticia attended Nevermore as well, and you clearly remember their entire drama that even got the police involved. After that, the school swore to never let any Addams attend Nevermore ever again.

But, people voted to let the girl come to school; including you. Weems had given you a look, hearing you and the other members out before making the final decision. Wednesday Addams will be a Nevermore student next week.

You had told Principal Weems. You often walked around in the Nightshade library which is filled with old books, though one, in particular, called your name. It was filled with prophecies, and two of those stood out to you. One was of the Nevermore school being destroyed, but the other one included you. Your long, immortal life ends after nearly 160 years. What do both of the prophecies have in common?

Wednesday Addams.

Wednesday Addams was the one that would end Nevermore and would end your life.

But, how believable has the book been? It has been drawn years ago by the mother of Rowan Laslow. You had seen her before she passed, just after she went crazy thanks to her powers. Could you trust whatever it was that she put onto paper?

Nevermore shall see in less than a week.

-

"Wednesday is certainly a unique name. I'm guessing that that was the day you were born?"

You stood to the side of Principal Weems as Wednesday, Morticia and Gomez had sat down. You greeted Morticia and Gomez with a smile and a handshake. You weren't exactly friends when they attended Nevermore, but you had hung out multiple times.

"I was born on Friday the 13th."

A small smile is on your face as you look down at the ground. Weems keeps talking, though you don't pay attention.

"Did you know that your mother and Y/N used to be roommates back in the day?"

You look back up, looking from Weems to Morticia before nodding. Morticia and you shared a dorm for a semester.

"You don't look a day older than 18," Wednesday replies, her face stoic. "I wonder how you graduated with your sanity intact."

"Now," you wave your hand. "It was not bad, Wednesday. Your mother made me gain interest in the dark and the dead."

"Nevermore usually doesn't accept students mid-term," Weems continues, flipping through the pages of her clipboard. "But given Wednesday's perfect grades and your family's long history with the school, I've spoken to the board and we've made an exception."

You have never seen someone so emotionlessly show that they were disappointed, yet you can see it in Wednesday's eyes. Though her parents are ecstatic about their daughter finally 'fitting in' at a school, Wednesday certainly wasn't having it.

"Now, Y/N will lead you to your dorms, you have been assigned a spot in Ophelia Hall, just like your mother once had," Weems smiles sweetly. "You can introduce her to the school, Y/N. I will stay behind with Morticia and Gomez to go over some small things."

You only nod, looking at Wednesday before exiting the room. The girl follows you, not saying a word.

"Nevermore was founded in 1791 to educate people like us. Outcasts, freaks, monsters."

It almost sounds like you are reading it off of a piece of paper. You have been tasked with introducing new students for a while now, as you seem to know the school better than any of the teachers or even Principal Weems. To be fair, you have been here the longest, except for maybe some vampires.

"You can save the sanitized sales pitch," Wednesday reacts. "It doesn't suit you well. Besides, I don't plan on staying here for long. This was my parent's idea."

You only hum in response. She does not know what she has been destined to do.

"Well," you nod. "Rumors have been swirling around that you killed someone at your old school, and that you have been sent here by your old principal."

"Actually, it was two people, but who's counting?"

You let out a laugh before opening the big doors that lead to the Quad. It just so happened that it is lunchtime, so the entire place is roaming with people.

"So, Nevermore is the place for outcasts. We have different groups, actually. There are four main groups."

"I am not interested in participating in tribal adolescent cliches."

"Oh, believe me, I know. But this isn't like normie school. I have attended this place since 1875 and I never really mingled with a lot of people."

You point to Bianca who is sitting at the fountain, dipping her hands in the water.

"We have sirens, vampires," you point to the table with Yoko. "I tend to hang out with them. Some of them have been here for quite a bit of time as well. Then we have-"

Your sentence gets interrupted by howling.

"Werewolves. Full moons are quite loud, so earplugs are needed. And lastly, we have Gorgons."

Ajax coincidentally walks up to you, a distressed look on his face.

"Y/N! Good to see you. I just heard some dirt and I know that you know basically everything. Enid's roommate eats human flesh! She totally chowed down on that kid she killed."

You awkwardly step to the side, revealing Wednesday standing next to you.

"Quite the contrary," she says. "I actually fillet the bodies of my victims, then feed them to my menagerie of pets."

"Ah," you nod. "And she actually killed two kids. Not that I am counting."

With a smile, you walk away with Wednesday, into Ophelia Hall.

You knock on the door, revealing the excited Enid. Her room has been unshared for the entire semester, and she really wanted to meet her new roommate.

"Hi! I am Enid," she squeals, trying to embrace the girl. Wednesday takes a big step back. "Not a hugger. Got it."

"Well," you clasp your hands together. "It was nice to see you, Enid. I guess I will leave Wednesday here to unpack. I will see you both tomorrow!"

With a wave you close the door, walking to your very own tower. Wednesday surely is a very special person. It leaves Wednesday, stuck in the colorful room which looks like a rainbow threw up on it.

"What's their deal?"

Wednesday asks after unpacking her stuff, making it clear to Enid to not let anything brightly colored close to her, insisting it would make her skin peel off.

"Y/N? Oh, they have been here for the longest time. Can't age at all. I would have left Nevermore a looong time ago," Enid lays down on her bad, typing away on her phone. "Not that popular as they hang out with Principal Weems a lot, but they are actually very nice. You might like them. They are into the same creepy stuff as you are. But, less scary."

-

Wednesday surely proved her difference from the others. Everyone seems to be mesmerized by her, and for good reason. You had been hanging out with her and Enid quite often. You didn't really have anything else to do, except to help out Weems or a teacher sometimes during a class. You would sometimes give studying help for History, but besides that, nothing.

You were sitting on the balcony, listening to Wednesday play the cello. Your balcony was almost attached to hers, only a mere meter between the two. Besides her music, you also heard people cheering and singing to music. Another party in the Quad, another one you haven't been invited to.

Your life has been going on for so long, yet you can count on one hand how many parties or outings you have been invited on. Once you had graduated, the principal at the time asked for your help and you just... stuck around. You had nothing to do.

You had outlived your parents and siblings, and even your friends after they had left Nevermore. The vampires were one of the only ones that were around your actual age, but they didn't stay forever either. Not to mention that they also just genuinely didn't want to invite you. You were known as the assistant, the one working with teachers and Weems, not as someone who could have fun.

It hurt. It did. You have not been able to experience normal teenagehood, even though you have been 18 years old for this long. You didn't want to be popular, but you aren't against partying or having a get-together once in a while. You haven't even been to any Rave'n dance as a visitor.

You thought of dying. You tried poison, hanging, but nothing worked. You could never convince someone to try and stab you, either. At least, it didn't seem to work.

"Aren't you supposed to be partying?"

You let out a huff.

"Not invited. No one wants to invite the right hand of the Principal. Always just hanging out on my own."

"Sounds perfect."

You had expected nothing less. A laugh escapes your lips as you stare up at the moon and the stars.

"Sometimes it is," you admit. "It just sucks because it seems like I outlive all of my friends. Hard to make new ones."

"I'm failing to see that problem. You don't need friends, they will only drag you down."

Silence. You only shrug before sitting down on the stones, your legs dangling off of the edge of the balcony.

"You're not the best at cheering people up, Wednesday," you laugh shortly. "At least you are realistic. I guess it's just a fear. Never dying."

She hums, placing her cello on its standard before walking to your side of the balcony.

"Sounds absolutely horrible. Better than a fear of being the center of a big catastrophe. A bad one, of course."

-

More days pass as it is time for the Harvest Festival. It is mandatory to visit, but you have been tasked with keeping an eye on the students. Again. The responsibility is not hard, but you wish you could just go and have fun, even if for once.

You did sit down with Yoko and Enid, though. You had ordered donuts for yourself and for them, sharing them while listening to the drama that Enid had found out.

"Hello, girls, Y/N," Weems's voice can be heard from behind you. "Can I steal Y/N for only a second?"

You stand up from the seat, sighing as you push your donuts to the middle of the table, following the tall woman. She turns around, a smile on her face though you can see it is a cover-up.

"Wednesday Addams has sneaked away. I kept an eye on her, but she is gone. If you see her, report it to me."

After only nodding, Weems walks away, probably trying to find the dark-haired girl. But, after a few minutes, you get pulled behind some cars, a hand covering your mouth as you are being shushed.

"Wednesday?"

She shushes you again, crouching down on the ground.

"You are the only one I can trust right now," she hisses. "One word to Weems and I will make sure you regret it."

You just shrug and nod.

"She has been looking for you," you whisper. "Where were you?"

"I followed a sound in the woods and was met with Rowan Laslow. He tried to kill me."

"What?!" You whisper yell. "Wednesday, are you okay?"

"If he did better, I wouldn't be here," she rolls her eyes before shoving a piece of paper in your face. "He ran off, but before that, he dropped this. He said that I am destined to destroy Nevermore."

You shakily take the paper in your hands, seeing the illustration that you know well. Wednesday Addams standing in the Quad, flames around her as she holds some sort of weapon.

"You have been here the longest," she says. "Tell me what you know."

What are you supposed to do? You can't just tell her that she also is supposed to kill you. But at the same time, the drawings may not be as it seems.

"Come with me."

You fold up the paper before grabbing her wrist, pulling her with you as you try and stay hidden. Once you reach the Edgar Allan Poe statue, you turn to the girl, letting go of her wrist.

"One word and I will report it to Weems. All of it."

She sternly nods as you turn back around, snapping your fingers twice as the statue moves back. Once in the library, you point to a book.

"It has the same symbol," Wednesday whispers, grabbing the book before sitting down on the dusty chair. "It matches it perfectly."

The left side of the picture matches the loose piece of paper that Wednesday had. It confirmed her greatest fear; she would be the one responsible for a catastrophe, and not the good kind. She is the one that would change everything.

"How do you know this?"

"After years of roaming around here, I have read every single book. Even the one of Rowan Laslow's mother. He will be expelled, no doubt."

"Why are you helping me?"

You lean against the stairs, shrugging. You can't help it, you just hope that she proves the prophecy wrong.

"You mesmerize me. In a weird way," you admit. "I have seen a lot of prophecies. I wish you prove this one wrong."

Wednesday only hums before stuffing the book in her bag, walking past you and up the stairs. She pauses for a second, looking back slightly.

"If I prove it wrong, don't think that I don't have the power to destroy the school."

You let out a laugh, nodding your head.

"I would never."

-

"Come on, Wednesday! Rave'n is the party of the year!" Wednesday throws up her arms. "I will help you pick out a dress! Or a suit! Please, just go!"

You nod, looking up from your book.

"Enid is right, you know. From what I heard, it's a blast."

"Finally!" Enid cheers. "Someone who understands! Thank you, Y/N."

"Enid, I would rather stick pins in my eyes than step foot in the Rave'n. Although I might do that anyway."

You laugh, closing your book before placing it next to you. Enid has been trying to convince Wednesday for a week already, insisting that she needed to go.

"I might even go," you nod, making Wednesday look at you. "Weems gave me this time off. The new teacher, Thornhill, is keeping watch this time."

"Alright, well, if Wednesday doesn't want to go, then I will just go dress shopping by myself. Care to join me, Y/N?"

"Sure, I have nothing else to do."

Enid squeals before grabbing her phone, wallet, and bag, sprinting out of the room already.

"We have to go together."

You frown, looking at Wednesday before buttoning up your blazer. Not a student, yet still wearing the Nevermore outfit.

"You know more about the prophecies than I do. We can find out more about the prophecy, and more about that monster in the woods."

"Wednesday Addams," you grin. "Are you asking me to the Rave'n?"

The girl's jaw clenches as she just stands there, already slightly regretting mentioning the Rave'n dance.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Sure, I will help you."

Enid's reaction to Wednesday joining you for the shopping was insane. You have never seen a girl that excited. You had quickly found an outfit you loved, but Wednesday insisted on not needing one, she had a dress already. But, once you pass Uriah's Heap, Wednesday stops walking.

A beautiful, black gown, which fits her personal style perfectly. She would not be caught dead wearing one of the dresses that Enid proposed to her, but Wednesday insists she doesn't need the dress.

-

The day of the Rave'n. You stood in the hallway, waiting for Enid and Wednesday to come out. The door opens, revealing an excited Enid and a less-than-happy Wednesday. You let out a laugh, greeting them before walking down the stairs, the music of the party already heard even from a small distance.

The party was everything Wednesday hated. The music, the lights, all of it.

"I am suspicious of Xavier," she says, staring the poor boy down. "It always seems like he is in the exact right space. It is too convenient."

Time went by where you sat with Wednesday, talking about all her theories and who she suspected could be the reason for her destroying the school, or who could be the monster.

"Have you heard anything of any other prophecies? There must be-"

Wednesday stops when she feels a splatter on her face, soon followed by a downpour of red liquid. This is the first time you have seen a smile on her face, though it disappears fast when she finds out it isn't what she thought it was.

"They couldn't even get real pig's blood."

Her eyes fly back to you, seeing your once white clothes drenched in red. It made her feel something, something unknown and something she hated. The blood, though fake, suited you. You grab her arm to take her out of the red rain, but once you do, her head flies back.

It looks like she is having a seizure, and that is certainly not what you need right now.

"Wednesday? Wednesday!"

She jumps back up, her eyes big and her eyebrows frowned.

"Are you okay?"

She looks at you for a second before looking at the exit, walking through the layer of red liquid without a word, leaving you behind confused.

-

The red was finally washed out of your hair and off of your skin, though slightly staining it still. You had sat down on your bed, just reading again when your door flies open.

"Why did you not tell me?"

Wednesday stood in your room, dressed in a simple black outfit while holding the thick book that was found in the Nightshade library.

"Told you what?"

The book gets thrown on your bed, opening on a specific page. It has the drawing that you know all too well. You, on the ground in the middle of the Quad, with Wednesday next to you. Both are covered in blood, though you look more lifeless than Wednesday ever did.

"You knew that I was destined to kill you," she hisses, pointing at the two figures. "This. This is in the same book that Rowan kept spitting about. You knew that the prophecy was in there."

You are at a loss for words.

"Why did you not tell me?" She repeats.

You close the book, pushing it back to her.

"Wednesday," you sigh. "It's nothing. Destroying the school is a prophecy that should be avoided. This one does not matter nearly as much."

You have never seen the girl this emotional, even if the emotion is anger. She was often very reserved, and though her comments are often dark and mean, she always kept her monotone voice.

"I will decide for that myself," she hisses, taking the book before turning away, leaving the room without any more words.

-

You had not talked to Wednesday in a while, as it almost seemed like she tried to avoid you. Wednesday was busy enough, and there was no reason to bother her.

Your room has been quiet for hours if not days, but that gets changed when you hear screams. Even from the top of the towers, it still sounds like it is next to your door. You look out of your window, jumping out to stand on your balcony. People are running, screaming, and trying to escape.

After grabbing shoes and slipping them on fast, you run out of your door. The halls are empty already, what the hell is going on? Is there a fire? You run to the Quad, trying to see what is going on from a distance. A random man walks out of the door, dressed in what seems like a costume from Pilgrim World. When you look closer, you see the rips in the clothing and the ghostly look that it has. Wait, is that Crackstone? What the hell?

You run down the stairs, being met by Xavier.

"Xavier!" You run up to him. "What the fuck is going on?"

He is out of breath, holding a bow and arrow. He grips his side before pointing to the wooden doors.

"Crackstone. He is in there, he wants to destroy the school."

You look at him shocked before looking at the door.

"Wednesday- Wednesday is in trouble," you whisper before rushing to the door and kicking it open.

"Get away from her!" Xavier screams, pointing the arrow to Crackstone before letting it go.

It doesn't hit him, though. Instead, the arrow turns right back around, back towards Xavier. You dash forward. Neither of them can get hurt. You don't allow it. Before Wednesday has time to react, the arrow hits you, right in the middle of your torso.

"Y/N?!"

You fall to the ground, hissing when you feel the stinging pain.

"Get them out of here, Xavier," you groan, breaking the arrow before throwing the end back on the ground. "You too, Wednesday."

Xavier tries to drag her away but receives a punch to his shoulder.

"Get everyone out of here, Xavier. Leave me."

Wednesday helps you up, the sword heavy in her hands. She has been doing fencing ever since she could walk, and defeating a dead guy can't be too hard.

"I distract, you stab."

"That is my specialty," Wednesday hisses.

You charge at the figure again, holding one of the metal pipes that lay on the ground. You hit him, though he seemed good at deflecting every single thing you did. But then, you finally got him down. You pin him down using your hands and knees. God, he smells.

"Get him, Wednesday!"

"You're in the way!"

You groan as you try to keep the man under your grip, kicking his staff out of his hands.

"I don't fucking care, just stab!"

Wednesday's mind is racing. She can't just stab through you to try and get Crackstone. If you would just move-

"Now, Wednesday!"

She closes her eyes tightly as she drives the sword through your chest, right into the heart of Crackstone. She has never felt this disgusting while holding something sharp. It usually filled her black heart with joy, but right now the only feeling in her body is her heart squeezing together.

Wednesday twists the sword and Crackstone gasps underneath you. Your breathing is heavy as you hold him down, just long enough to see him turn into ashes and flames, blowing away in the wind.

The Quad looks horrible, patches of grass are on fire and everything is destroyed. But Wednesday only has eyes for you. She drops down on her knees as you had fallen down, the sword still in your back and your breathing slowly getting more desperate.

"Y/N!" You barely respond, only a faint sound falling from your lips.

"If you die," Wednesday hisses, balling her hands up into fists. "I will kill you."

Her eyes are brimmed with tears, something that happened only twice before. You let out a pained laugh, your hand gripping hers.

"Oh, Wednesday, don't cry," you mumble. "It doesn't quite fit you."

"Xavier!" She shouts, hoping that the boy is still close by. "Xavier!"

After a few seconds, he hears his footsteps running toward her, but she doesn't look up. Her grip is tight on your hand.

"Get someone, they-they need to go to the infirmary." Xavier stands shocked at the sight in front of him. You, on the floor, the Quad in flames. "Now!"

Wednesday never cried. Not since the death of Nero. Not since Thing. She vowed to never cry again, insisting that the act of showing emotion made you weak. But she did.

Wednesday cried. Not hysterically, no screaming, just a lone tear sliding down her cheek as she can only hope. Hope to get you to the infirmary on time, hope that you are still with her.

Return to me.

[usmsgutterson]

happy fall!

you’re laying waste to halloween

can i request a nikolai x reader enemies to lovers fic, please? she/her pronouns for the reader :D

maybe one where the reader is a kaelish princess whose family is searching for suitors for her, and nikolai just so happens to be a potential suitor. similar vibes to when they held a ball in king of scars to find nikolai a wife, but its for a kaelish princess! :D

i think it'd be cool if the reader befriended zoya, who tries to get the reader and nikolai to get along. i love the dynamic where one of them's a tease (nikolai) and the other (reader) pretends to hate it, but secretly gets butterflies every time. eventually, they begin tolerating eachother and end up confessing to another. (cue zoya emerging from the corner screaming "i knew it!")

i don't mind how long you make the fic, but i do prefer long ones :]

have a great day!

-velvetarcane

The Ravkan Gardens- Nikolai Lantsov

Okay, hi!! I'm sorry that this took me ages to write out, but I hope you enjoy it as it is! Also, forgive me if the enemies to lovers isn't my best work, it's the first time I've written out the enemies to lovers trope in the context of a fic that was a large one-parter rather than a slowburn multi-parter.

I did do it a bit differently to how you'd requested (the only difference being that, instead of a ball, Nikolai sends out an invite for the reader to stay for two weeks as a sort of like, compatibility test thing? I came up with the concept when I was tired so forgive me if it doesn't make much sense) and I did it in second person because that’s just how my brain defaults to writing requests a lot of the time, but if you want me to rewrite and put it in third, please don’t be afraid to reach out and let me know!

Anyway, thank you so much for sending this in, and though this isn't my longest fic on this account, it's certainly up there with the longest for Nikolai (it caps at 4.3k words) and I really do hope you enjoy!

Fic type- fluff

Warnings- mentions of alcohol (wine and champagne, specifically)

DAY 4/14

Nikolai Lantsov was tall, incredibly handsome, and, in general, a man excellent in the art of charming others, but for some reason, as you took every meal with him, interacted with him more than thrice daily, and generally tried to find something about him that you could’ve liked, it seemed you were almost resistant to those charms.

It wasn’t anything particular about him that you hated—or, anything you could place a finger on—and it seemed that you just weren’t the kind of person who could much like the kind of person he was. He was a charmer, someone who knew exactly what to say all the time, and as much as you wanted to like that, you couldn’t find it in yourself to manage it.

“You’re here for ten more days, Y/N. May as well try to make them a bit more worthwhile,” Zoya said as the two of you walked through the corridors of the Little Palace, heading for the gardens.

You’d been in Ravka of your own volitions, staying there to see if there was any chance yourself and Nikolai could ever be compatible. It felt like something out of some cheesy, royal era romance novel, but if it were truly a romance, wouldn’t the circumstances be better? Wouldn’t yourself and Nikolai be interacting because you enjoyed one anothers company, not because there was the underlying truth that you were both in need of a spouse?

Ravka needed a queen, and you needed an escape from the Wandering Isle, from the place that you hesitantly called home. It seemed like good enough reason to stay in Ravka for two weeks, but four days into your stay, you were regretting having accepted the—largely random—invite at all.

“I’m thinking about going home early,” you said. “Nikolai clearly can’t stand me, and I don’t want to exist wherein my presence is not welcome.”

“The idea to invite you here was his, not mine,” Zoya said as you walked. “Rumors of the replacement of the heir in the Wandering Isle have become rather rampant lately. He figured you could use a break from constantly being told you needed to find someone willing to propose, so he invited you here under the guise of an attempt at courtship.”

“The future king of Ravka invited me to his palace with the intent of giving me a kind of vacation?” You asked, momentarily rethinking all of your prior assumptions, the ones you’d gathered over the days you’d stayed at the Little Palace. “I feel the need to thank him now, I must admit.”

“He also looked at a photograph taken of you during this past summer,” Zoya said. “I presented it to him when trying to find a way to set him up with someone. I think you’re about the only woman he’s ever called beautiful without trying to be a charmer for one reason or the next. Give him a chance, Y/N. You might come to not regret it.”

“I’m here for another ten days,” you said as finally, the gardens came into view. “I’ll do my best, Nazyalensky. For you, if for nobody else.”

Zoya grinned. “If you hate him by this time next week, we’ll drink to it,” she said. “The kitchens have delightful wine.”

“Thank you,” you said with a grateful smile. Genya approached, whisking Zoya away and leaving you to observe the gardens alone.

You stood, idle as you took note of the flowers that were blooming, the apple trees with leaves that rustled in the wind. The view of the gardens was one you would’ve been content to stare at forever, the view itself likely being the only reason you would allow yourself to stay as long as you’d been invited to.

“The gardens are beautiful in their aestheticism,” came the voice of the blonde you’d come to dislike. “If you’ve got a talent for art, I have no doubt that this view on a canvas will go for at least ten or twenty thousand. I’ve seen the versions of it less grounded in realism sell for more than that.”

“And you think a piece depicting exactly what it is meant to look like will, perhaps, go for less?”

“I do,” Nikolai said. “Though, to be fair, I’ve barely known you long enough to form an emotion other than dislike and mild hatred, so I don’t know. I don’t even know if you’re talented in the realms of art.”

“I am not a painter, no,” you said. “You’re right in that.”

“I think you don’t want to be here,” Nikolai continued. “That you’re here because you need a husband just as much as I need a wife, and that if I propose, no matter how much you hate me, you’ll say yes for the good of the Ravkan people.”

“Ah, look at that! You’re correct again,” you said. “I would accept a proposal from you, Lantsov. I would do so to get out of the dreadful place that I call home, if for no other reason.”

“Have you seen the libraries?” Nikolai asked. “I’ve noticed you love to read.”

“Trying to be civil?”

“I can only realize what kind of person you are if civility is something which I decide to give a shot,” Nikolai said. “Getting to know you is my end goal, Ms. L/N. If I jump straight onto the wagon of hatred, we both end up stranded, and that is the last thing that my kingdom needs.”

“I make no guarantees that civility is something at which I will excel.”

“As I look at you now, there are a thousand different insults that come to mind,” Nikolai said. “However, I will not say a word of them. No more insults or jabs. Not from me.”

You said nothing, did nothing, just turned your gaze back to the garden, trying to look for every single one of the details you hadn’t noticed in your mere glimpse. Nikolai stayed with you, standing a few feet off to your right, the two of you watching the garden in silence.

-

Later, you found yourself in the library, sat in a far off corner with just enough light to allow you to read without difficulty. You were reading a book of sonnets recommended to you by Tolya. The book was called ‘To Love In Spring’ and every single poem was written in old Ravkan.

“Making yourself comfortable?” Nikolai asked as he walked down a row of bookshelves, finding you sitting and reading at the end of them. “You do look a fair bit like you’re in your element here, Y/N.”

“And you look quite so like you’re entirely out of yours,” you said, the quip falling from your lips before you could’ve thought about it. In response, you got a laugh.

“Oh, you wound me,” he said. “Your words cut deep, darling.”

“That’s entirely my goal, Lantsov,” you said, successfully ignoring the butterflies that came to light in your stomach with the use of the nickname.

“Well, it’s not quite working,” Nikolai said with a grin. “I find myself too enamoured by your gorgeousness to be too hurt by the words you use as weaponry.”

“You and your silly little compliments,” you said, once again unable to think before the words had fallen from your lips. “I don’t need, nor do I want, your flattery. I just would like to spend the days I have here as usefully as possible.”

“Is getting to know me not useful to you?”

“To be honest, I don’t think it is.”

“Again, Y/N, you wound me,” but he was smirking as he spoke, running a hand through blonde hair. “How about this: any time in which you decide you hate me less, come seek me out. We’ll learn about each other, see if the hatred that exists now is really as necessary as we clearly think it to be.”

You paused for a moment, thinking about the proposition. Getting to know Nikolai, see beyond his blonde hair and his charm and the fact that he normally seemed quite capable of saying the right thing at the right time, it might not have been something you particularly expected to happen often. It was something you expected to occur rarely, for in the four days you’d been there, you hadn’t hated him any more or any less than you had when you’d arrived and gotten a good look at him, a sense of who he was.

“All right, then,” you said. “You won’t be seeing much of me outside of the meals we’ll take together, though.”

“I’m going into this expecting not to see you outside of those times at all,” Nikolai said. He turned on his feet. “Enjoy your book, darling. I’m not much for poetry, but right now, I could be possibly be convinced to read a few pages.”

“Old Ravkan works, that can be found in the classics section, are quite wonderful.”

“Familiarized yourself with the library already?”

“I’ve only looked where it’s mattered,” you said. Nikolai walked off with that, and for some reason, you couldn’t pull your eyes away.

DAY 7/14

“My favorite color is dark blue,” Nikolai said. It was morning and you were standing in view of the garden, sleeves of the beige sweater you wore rolled up to your elbows, mug of your hot drink of choice tucked into your hands. “Or, the space between dark and light, I should say. Not so light that it is pastel, but not so dark that it’s navy.”

“Space blue?” You asked. “I’ve noticed you wearing a muted version of that color a lot. It suits you, Nik.”

“We’re using nicknames now?”

And, with the way that he points it out and you realize you’ve used a nickname for him, you pause.

“No,” you said after a moment. “It was a one time thing.”

“That’s disappointing, then. I usually hate nicknames.”

“Space blue is your favorite color?” You asked, desperate for a change in the subject and for anything to take your mind off of the embarrassment of having called the man who you’d convinced yourself you weren’t falling for a nickname, let alone one that he said he didn’t hate.

“Yep.”

“My first memory from when I was a kid was running in the palaces,” since it had been made, the deal had changed a bit. Nobody sought anybody out, most of your meetings were by chance. If Nikolai found you, he gave away a small piece of himself, a favorite color, a favorite season. You gave something like a childhood anecdote, a fact about yourself that nobody else knew, and vice versa.

You laughed as you recalled it. “Those palaces, the endless corridors, the vast windows, they used to be my favorite thing growing up. I wanted to learn every room, every place where I could hide when I didn’t want to be found. At twenty-three, I have learned every place in the palaces like the back of my hand, and most days all I want to do is escape them.”

“So why haven’t you?”

“I have yet to find good enough reason to go,” you said. “I’ve had my life threatened when I explained that I wanted to abdicate.”

“So do it,” Nikolai said. “Write a letter of abdication, and stay in Ravka.”

The words as he spoke them almost made you laugh. “Where would I stay, Nik?” There it was again. The stupid nickname that you’d claimed to be a one time thing the first time—though it was such, really.—but, if Nikolai was listening, he definitely assumed that it was more.

“As I’ve gotten to know you, darling, you seem less and less terrible by the day,” he said. “The room here, if you do not marry me but end up abdicating, will always be yours.”

“I appreciate your kindness,” you said. “I shall take it into consideration, Nik.”

“That nickname is going to stick around, innit?” You finally turned, met his gaze, as you brought the mug to your lips and sipped from it. “I really can’t say I hate it.”

“If David used it, would you react the same?”

Nikolai laughed as he thought about your question. “Most likely not, no,” he said.  

You began to turn, intending to head back up to your room. You were about a third of the way down the first of many halls when finally, you heard Nikolais voice.

“Three days now,” he called. “I’m not so terrible, am I?”

The question, though clearly both question and quip, was enough to make you laugh.

“Perhaps not, Lantsov,” you said. “We have one more week together. Ask me then.”

-

“My mother used to say I was infected by wanderlust,” you said with a slight smile as Zoya tipped a book off the shelves in the library. “I always wanted to leave, to go somewhere. I never really got much of a chance.”

“Did she ever realize you don’t want to wander, you just simply want to leave?” You leaned against the shelf, opening the book you’d grabbed whilst glimpsing the classics section.

“I imagine she’ll figure it out when I go back with all of my exciting tales to tell.”

“Oh, yeah,” Zoya said, nodding with her agreement. “All of the details of the garden, at which you looked longingly for hours will be so much fun to regale, Y/N.”

“The books I’ve read will also be mentioned, and the food, and the company,” you said pointedly. “The hours spent looking at the garden will mostly be left out of it.”

Zoya laughed, eyes scanning the cover of the book she’d grabbed before she put it back disinterestedly.

“Wise choice,” she said. “You’ve got one more week here. Are you excited to go back?”

“I’m heading into the city for a week after I leave here,” you said. “I need to think about things, and I need to do it without the prying eyes of the observers, staring at me whilst they try to dissect my every thought. Nobody has ever really seen my face, either, so I’ll go without being recognized while I’m there.”

Zoya looked at you, quirking a brow. “My my, has Nikolai given you something to ponder?”

You grinned, feeling almost a little defeated. “He’s different,” you said. “Different than I thought he would be, is all.”

“You’ve given up on hating him?”

“I still hate him, just less than I did three days ago,” you said. “He’s sensible. Goodwilled, strong. He seems like he cares about the people here, and I just find it a tad bit admirable, is all.”

“So, I was right, is what I’m hearing?”

“Not yet, Nazyalensky,” you said. “I’m learning what about him there is to like, not falling head over heels.” At that point, though, you could’ve guessed that you’d be romantically inclined toward Nikolai by the end of your stay.

“You will,” Zoya said with a teasing sort of grin as she pulled another book from the shelf. “In five days, at least, I’ll be telling you that I told you so.”

You laughed again as she read the cover, deciding to keep that book on her person.

“Thank you for staying,” Zoya said after a long moment of silence has passed. “You could’ve left when you decided you hated him, but you didn’t. Thank you for that, seriously.”

“Your company has made it the most worthwhile so far,” and the views, of course. The food, the excellent wine, the books that lined the shelves of the library and the scent of the roses in the garden. All of it made for a worthwhile stay, but Zoya was what made staying seem like the most logical decision. The truth may have been that you hardly knew her, but even as such, Zoya had become a fast friend, someone you would’ve hated losing. “Seriously. Thank you.”

“I’m glad I could assist in keeping you around,” Zoya said as she opened the book, reading the dedication and skipping the table of contents to get to the first chapter. “I do hope that you’ll find it in yourself not to hate him.”

“I’m learning what about him there is to like. If I do go without the intent of coming back, I promise to write.”

“And I promise to respond,” Zoya said, the two of you lapsing into a comfortable silence thereafter.

DAY 10/14

“I’ve never quite been able to pick a favorite time of day,” you said as you approached. Nikolai was facing a window in a common room within the depths of the Little Palace, hands leaning against the ledge as he looked out on the view from the second floor. You could’ve laughed as you realized that he was brooding, but you didn’t.

“Some days, I wake up early enough to see both sunrise and sunset. Other times, I particularly love the afternoon, when the sun is right overhead. I tend to gravitate towards the evenings, lately. In the past six days, I’ve found myself most at peace after the sun has set, when I can escape the Little Palace for a bit. Did you know that, when you escape the cities, the crowded streetways and the houses that’re lit up like trees at Christmas, you can actually see the stars? On nights where you’re lucky enough, you get glimpses of the other planets that exist within our solar system.”

“That’s the reason I haven’t been able to find you past eleven?” Nikolai asked.

“I go out with Tolya, Tamar, Nadia, Zoya, Genya and David. Every other day. You should come, we’re going tonight.”

“My favorite time of the day is the morning,” Nikolai said. “Everything feels so spry then. I feel ready to get on with my day. Nights always leave me feeling a little empty. I’ve never much been good at handling too much quiet.” You walked up to him, standing to his right. Carefully, you moved an arm so that it was within the same space as one of his. If Nikolai moved his hand just a bit to the left, he would be able to take yours if it was something he so pleased to do.

“Nights won’t feel so lonely if you spend them with the right people, my lovely enemy,” you said. He didn’t look at you, but when you rested your head against his shoulder, he did not move away.

He rested his cheek against the top of your head, neither of you saying a word as he did.

“Do you still hate me?” Nikolai asked.

“A lot less than I used to,” you said. “Let me guess, when you look at me, your heart and mind fill with nothing other than sheer resentment?”

He took your hand in his as he laughed, eyes still on the view of the gardens, apple trees rustling with the wind.

“Not exactly,” he said.

The two of you stood, in relative silence, watching the garden together, much like things had been almost a week before, except the hatred you felt for one another was largely gone, having been replaced by the starts of romance.

-

Nikolai found you a fair bit later, as the sun was setting and you were standing in the middle of the garden, book in hand. You were completely enthralled in it, and even though speaking was his first instinct—the act of revealing a small part to himself, one of many things that made him who he was—having almost become reflexive after nearly a week, he stopped himself. He merely leaned against the door, content to just watch.

As he did, he found that he was completely enamoured, just as he’d been when Zoya had dropped your photo onto his desk. You were naturally beautiful, a woman who everyone was jealous of. How Nikolai had hated you upon your meet ten days before was something that almost became a bit of a mystery to him as he looked at you, watched you run a hand through your hair as the breeze picked up, seeming to move around you in an almost perfect arc of wind.

“I can feel you staring at me, Lantsov,” you said. Nikolai almost flinched, having been caught off guard, but managed to maintain most of his composure. “Are you ever going to allow words to leave your lips?”

“You leave me speechless,” Nikolai said, turning on the charm before he can even think to do otherwise. “Though, with how beautiful you are, how any man who looks at you isn’t also rendered speechless is an absolute mystery to me.”

“I do not look beautiful,” you said. “Not right now, anyway.” You were wearing a dark maroon shirt with a black skirt, hair styled as it normally was, and between the fact that there wasn’t a day Nikolai had seen you looking anything less than gorgeous, and the fact that he’d let you into his heart, he realized he could’ve been happy to die right there, as he was.

“You do,” he said. “You look absolutely incredible.”

You grinned, and yeah. Nikolai was done for. He absolutely could’ve died happy in that moment.

He stepped forward as you closed the book, objecting to merely hold it at your side.

Eventually, you were standing close, your hand against the side of his face, one of his hands on your waist, the other resting at the bottom of your cheek and on your neck.

“Your company is not nearly as terrible as I presumed it would remain ten days ago.”

He gave you a grin, asked if he could kiss you, and when you said yes, he did.

As he felt your lips against his, he felt, for the first time in a while, the monster as it grew quiet, seemed to step away, and Nikolai felt well and truly happy.

When you pulled away, you pressed your forehead against his.

Neither of you had perfect lives, just moments wherein they felt perfect, but it was something neither of you minded.

DAY 12/14

“I knew it!” Zoya shouted as Nikolai pulled away from you, your hands still remaining entwined as the moment you were sharing was interrupted. You were in a common room, having thought yourselves mostly alone, the conversation you’d been having only having been interrupted by a kiss for a split second, though it was one Zoya, Genya, and Tamar had happened to walk in on. “I fucking knew it!”

The common room you were standing in was the one you’d been in in the days before, the one on the second floor with the view of the gardens, walls painted the colors of the royal emblem, light flowing through the window naturally.

“Well, Tolya officially owes me quite the pretty penny,” Tamar said. “Congrats, you two. When did it happen?”

“It’s happened gradually over the past week,” Nikolai said.

“Your first kiss happened five days ago, and you didn’t tell me?” Zoya asked. You shook your head.

“It happened two days ago,” you said. “I guess it slipped my mind.” You shrugged, giving Nikolais hand a squeeze. He squeezed your hand in return as you adjusted, hand slipping from yours a moment later, in favor of an arm wrapped around your shoulder.

“Slipped your mind?” Genya asked. “You both realize this means we have a wedding to plan?”

“Not for another quarter,” Nikolai said. “Saints, Genya. You’re getting too far ahead. I haven’t even thought of proposing yet, and if I do, it won’t be until December. A proposal always tends to go over better during the Christmas season.”

“Or you could propose at the end of this month and we could do a December wedding,” Zoya suggested. “It’s the beginning of October. A month of courtship, a proposal, and then you get another two months of courtship before the wedding.”

“Don’t get too far ahead of yourselves,” you cautioned. “We’re taking it slow.”

“A June wedding could be lovely,” Tamar said. “The weather is warm, lots of guests could come, and a coronation to have Y/N in the palaces as queen could be a lot easier to do around the spring or the summer, I would assume.”

“I’ll start planning the wedding in December,” Genya said. “Zoya, Y/N, you help me every step of the way. Promise it.” She looped her elbow through Zoyas, running a hand through vibrant red hair as she did.

Your gaze met Zoyas, and the both of you burst into laughter as Nikolai pressed a kiss to the side of your head.

“Deal,” you said.

“Promise,” said Zoya.

“Tonight, with dinner, we’ll have champagne,” Tamar said. “In celebration of the happy couple, of course.”

You wrapped an arm around Nikolais waste, leaning up and pressing a kiss to his jawline as you did.

“In celebration,” you said, Nikolai nodding his agreement.

It was odd, really. Twelve days before, you’d hardly expected to have anything to celebrate, and yet there you were, with a relationship and potentially a marriage.

AUGUST

You grinned as you caught sight once more of the ring on your finger. It was something you hadn’t gotten used to, even though it’d been two months since the wedding, since your coronation.

“You look wonderful, as always,” Nikolai said as he entered the room you shared. You were in bed, book in your lap, just as it’d been since that afternoon. It’d been a book given to you at the recommendation of Tamar, a fantasy novel that was an absolute page turner. “I’m relieved, personally, that we finally have a chance for a moment away.”

“A trip to Novyi Zem sounds wonderful about now,” you said as he pressed a kiss to your cheek. “I’m thrilled about it, really. Being a queen is a lot more than I expected.”

“Well, for the next two weeks, queenly duties be damned,” he said, acknowledging the trip you’d leave for early the following morning. “I love you, my dearest wife.”

“And I you, dearest husband,” Nikolai joined you in bed as you dimmed the reading light you’d been using, eventually putting the book down and falling asleep next to him, just as you’d done since before your wedding, with every bone in your body overflowing with content.

[shytastemakerthing]

Hi! I noticed your matchups were open and I wanted to have ab romantic MHA matchup pls? I'm an Asian minor who uses she/they pronouns and an Aquarius . My sexuality is bi demiromantic (male preference). I'm 5'0 with tan skin, black hair, brown eyes and glasses.I'm bilingual. People say I look unapproachable since I don't smile or talk much around strangers. I'll need to warm up to people but when I do, I will surprisingly be energetic, talkative and VERY sentimental.

I consider myself a fair, open minded and laid back person most of the time. I like to seek out my friends' company when bored.I'm down to do anything with my friends. I'm hardworking if its something that interests me. I'm very creative but can't seem to make my ideas into reality mostly due to lack of resources or motivation. Idk myself too well so I consistently ask for opinions. I'm pretty emotional and can be a bit sensitive when there's a lot of build up but I try my best to hide it.

My friends describe my  sense of humor as dark and cursed. I can be mischievous and chaotic but still reliable and smart.My hobbies are baking,gaming,art, true crime and supernatural stuff. I express my love with gifts and quality time but still physically affectionate. I get flustered easily. My ideal type is someone who I can trust with my life, very respectful of my boundaries, protective and honest even if its brutal. Sorry if its too much info. Thanks in advance and stay safe💗

Hello and thank you for your request! I am finally able to get these going, just 2 more weeks of classes and finally my schedule will be cleared!

There were a couple ideas that I had as to who you would match with the most but there was one in particular that stood out the most to me!

Tw: None

I match you with..........

Tokoyami Fumikage

Mr. dark and brooding himself. After reading through your initial information, you both seem like a pair that would get along rather well for a plethora of reasons.

From what I have seen, he isn't the most outgoing with the rest of his peers. Not to say he is reclusive, he has his friends, it's just this vibe I get from him.

He would certainly be into the supernatural the same as you. Have you seen his room?

It's been the hang out spot for the both of you a number of times throughout the time you two have been together, even before

Tokoyami rather enjoys that you are a more open-minded individual. It's not often that he sees people like that, especially in the society that you are both living in.

When it comes to you having problems with motivation or lacking the proper materials, he makes it his personal mission to be able to help you with such a feat. Even Dark Shadow wants to help!

Speaking of Dark Shadow.....

ABSOLUTELY LOVES YOU

Aside from Tokoyami (after much practice and training), you are one of the very few who is able to calm Dark Shadow down, he has a soft spot for you

And yes, he has poked fun at Tokoyami on more than one occasion when it came to his affection for you

Though this was more before you both got together and was quite literally screaming at Tokoyami to make a move already

Both of them are highly protective if you, whether you have a quirk or not or able to defend yourself. As your partner, he wants you to know that he will be there to help you and take care of you

He is an honest man, and there are times he is rather blunt in this, but he means the best, he really does. That is also something you don't have to worry about with him.

Overall, Tokoyami loves you for you. He is respectful of any and all boundaries that you have set up and will call out others should they cross a line. You are his partner, and that is something that he does not take lightly.

Thank you for your request!

[breakingblorbos]

Pinned Post/Blog Info!

Hiya!! Welcome to my BrBa & BCS focused blog! 👋🏼😊 The primary purpose of this pinned post is to give some info about me, my blog, and what you can expect to find on it. Everything below the cut is not required reading to follow or interact; merely just additional info if you are interested, or if you want to make requests. The only thing I require you to read is the following disclaimer:

This is an 18+ blog ran by an adult. You will find NSFT art/fic, dark and potentially upsetting themes, as is common for the BrBa/BCS universe. And I make very thirsty comments & posts about my blorbos, so just keep that in mind. However!! I am not going to restrict anyone from following/interacting with my blog. Use your own discretion and awareness. That's your responsibility, not mine. Anything that needs a content warning will be tagged appropriately, of course.

🌌About Me!🪐

Basic info - You can call me either Orion or Riley! I'm 25, neurodivergent, trans masc & nonbinary, and bisexual. Pronouns are he/him and they/them. I do also live in New Mexico (born and raised babyy!), which makes the shows that much more special to me!! I'm very friendly and open, but also very shy, so I tend to not reach out to folks even when I want to talk to them (which, honestly, is most of y'all. Oops.) If you ever do feel compelled to chat with me, please don't hesitate! I'm super excited to talk about BrBa/BCS with literally anybody!

I'm a writer, but I struggle hard with getting anything actually published on here or AO3. I try to write but it's not nearly consistent enough to ever expect anything from me. I'm working towards getting better at this! My main hurdle to overcome is my perfectionism and my fear of rejection (RSD).

I have a lot of interests, being autistic, so the only important one to list here is obviously Breaking Bad & Better Call Saul. You can certainly ask about my other interests, and I'll be happy to tell you more! I like to keep my special interests all separate on their own dedicated blogs, so that was the main motivation behind creating this one. Which leads me to the next section:

☣️About This Blog!⚗️

Most of the content is gonna be reblogs from others: fanart, fics, writings, memes, shitposts, etc. I myself am not an artist and cannot contribute with art even though I wish I could, but I may sometimes write little drabbles, oneshots, and universe willing, fic chapters for my ships/blorbos (more info on that below ↓). If you want to see something in particular, you're more than welcome to submit a request! I think I have a lot more motivation to write when I get specifically asked to write something, perhaps?

My main blorbos: (red shows the character currently occupying my braincell the most rn)

🥊Tuco Salamanca

🐍Nacho Varga (and by extension, Vaas Montenegro. I simply love MM.)

💀Marco & Leonel Salamanca

❤️‍🩹Jesse Pinkman

🎭Saul Goodman/Jimmy McGill

Of course, I adore all the characters (except Walt ofc) and they're all very special to me!! But these seven men listed above have an absolute chokehold on my brain at any given time lmao, so they will be featured prominently in this blog.

My fave ships:

Default ship is character x reader

Vaacho (Vaas x Nacho)

Lacho (Nacho x Lalo)

Beef Sandwich (Nacho x Twins) I fucking love this ship name holy shit

Tucho (Tuco x Nacho)

McWexler (Kim x Jimmy)

Jesse x Jane

Jesse x Andrea

Jesse x happiness (this is a joke, but also not. Man deserves it.)

📨Requests!📝

My asks are always open for questions, requests, or really anything! I love sending/receiving asks and interacting with this fandom! If you're interested in requesting a writing from me, first read this list of what I will and won't write before you submit your request:

Yes, no problem!

Vast majority of ships

Smut/Explicit/PWP

Headcanons

AUs

Oneshots

Drabble

Reader Inserts

Gender Swaps

Fluff

Hurt/Comfort

Angst

Violence/Gore

Dubcon

Toxic Relationship

Most Kinks & Fetishes

Please ask first!

Fandom Crossovers (mostly just to ensure I know the fandom)

Consensual Noncon (depends on character)

No, I will not!

In/ce/st Ships (i.e. twincest, cousins)

Explicit content involving underage characters

Ageplay (calling a character daddy doesn't count lol)

Extreme Kinks, such as s/ca/t, v/or/e, n/ecr/o, etc.

Keep in mind that I reserve the right to deny your request for any reason, including no reason at all! 9 times out of 10 this won't be necessary, but if you're rude or demanding non-jokingly, I won't write for you! Just be chill and it'll be Saul Goodman! :)

Also I don't have a Masterlist to link here, because I've never posted anything ever! It's all just vibing in my Google Docs while I polish and tweak until the end of time! Fun! :D /s

So, yeah, I suppose that's the long and the short of it. I didn't expect for this to be so long, but I have a tendency to just keep adding details to things! Good for writing; not great for writing a blog intro. I'll edit as needed over time, though. Thanks for reading if you got this far! Seriously, props to you. Here's a cookie mwah 🤲🏼🍪

[justlikearat]

ੈ✩‧₊˚ Pinned ! 

ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩‧˚ { About Me }

Hey there! I'm AMA! I’m Chilean-American, and Catholic. I both like to write and do digital art. I currently identify as bisexual and gender-fluid, so feel free to use any pronouns w/ me! :3

Feel free to drop into my asks for art requests and my opinions on stuff (I cannot guarantee i will answer or they will be good opinions )

I have a spelling disorder, so I have a lot of trouble writing stuff out, be patient with me please! 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩‧˚ { Fandom stuff }

In no particular order, my favorite characters are; Ruggie Bucchi, Jaime Reyes, Tavros Nitram, Kon-El, Prompto Argentum, Nanoha Takamachi, Eva Nine, Link, Riju, Gamzee Makara,

Stuff you may or may not find me talking about, certainly hmu if you wanna chat about this!

Anime/Manga I Like: Evangelion, Gunbuster, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, honestly most magical girl animes, Bubblegum crisis, Megazone 23, Gundam, just … sci-fi and magical girls. I feel like that sums it up. NieR: Automata, Devils Candy, girls in panzer.

Comics: Bone, some marvel comics, but ones like filament, Newsprints and Endgame! Stuff by Nathan Hale and Shen Hicks tbh, Bryan Lee O’Malley also. Gotham Academy, Blue beetle, Superboy, Impulse. Jem and the Holograms.

Books: The Search For WondLa, Lunar Chronicles, The Murderbot Diaries, More Than This, Dinotopia, Percy Jackson, 

A few of my ships include: Nanofate, Promptis, Hellbeetle, Damijon, Boostle, Gamtav, Vrisrezi, Kawoshin, Asumari, and others. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩‧˚ { BYF + DNI }

BYF/BMF

People who like the same characters I do, people who are into similar fandoms and such, tbh, my standards are low, I just wanna meet cool people! 

DNI

people who start shit for no reason, bigots, ppl who hate on ships and characters for no reason. I want my internet experience to be fun and ppl who are overflowing with negativity don't have a place here. I’m down with joking mean, but actual bullying is a no-no.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

My Tags for art and such are down on this post! But im not always 100% consistent with using them, i try!

{ End } ┊͙✧˖*°࿐

[craze1209]

🔶️Intro🔶️

Heya there! You can call me Craze :]

I mostly post art on here, and sometimes reblog stuff. I may share the occasional random thought.

About Me ♥️

Pronouns: She/They (You can use either or! I'm kinda used to people leaning on one so I don't mind. Although if you can use both, I'd be very happy!)

Gender: Demigirl (Although I don't mind being called a girl)

Orientation: AroAce (I have no desire for a partner of any sort)

I'm autistic, so I may struggle with wording or being overbearing! I tend to express positive emotions rather violently, too.

I'll gladly use tone tags for you if needed! :]

I'm mostly interested in video games and webcomics, especially older media or dead media :D (my interests may not align with my values or beliefs, or may contain humor involving offensive subjects. I do not condone such things and have other reasons for enjoying a particular media.)

I have a part-time job and school, so I may take a bit to respond to things or post. I'll get to you when I can!

I flip-flop through fandoms, so I hope you like my art nonetheless!

About Requests ♥️

You can use the askbox to request a drawing!

I'll do any fandoms (even ones im not in), sonas, and OCs! I can draw humanoids, animals, or whatever!

I won't do NSFW, any form of hate or mockery towards others, or depictions of subjects not suitable for the platform.

Requests may take a while for similar reasons stated above, but I promise I'll get to it!

I'll tag you if you're non anon when I post! But don't be afraid to remain anonymous if you want to :]

I don't really do commissions right now, but I'm hoping to make stickers, keychains, and other things in the future!

Also, not entirely related, but feel free to use my art as a PFP! (with credit, of course!)

I have other social media, too:

YouTube: Craze_1209 (the @ is technically "Craze_1290" because I lost access to my old channel of the same name)

Instagram: aropersonontheinternet (I don't post as often, but I do certainly spam my stories :'] also my profile is a bit different than the rest)

So if you like my stuff, you might wanna follow/subscribe there, too!

Anyways, see ya in hell! /pos

- Craze ♥️

[pinkanonwrites]

Hello~

the fics where jamil and azul turned into their respective animals were so cute 😭 may I request one with riddle turning into a hedgehog? tysm

You most certainly may! This one has been in the works for quite a while, so I hope everyone enjoys now that I'm finally getting it out for you all to read!

GN! Reader, They/them pronouns +1,700 words

"Housewarden! Please come out!"

"Riddle, I promise I won't take any more pictures!... Well, maybe just one? For the likes?"

"Snrk- Yeah, Housewarden! You'll be super popular this way!"

"Riddle, the sooner we find you the sooner we can figure out what happened."

Of all the things to expect when you waltzed into Heartslabyul commons that afternoon, you couldn't really say that this was one of them. Sprawled out amongst the furniture in various, uncomfortable states of disarray were your friends, clearly searching for something. Or someone, considering that the notable Housewarden of Heartslabyul was nowhere to be found.

As if to make the situation even more confusing, none of the boys seemed to be searching anywhere that would make actual sense for Riddle to be. Cater was on his hands and knees, peering under the sofa by the light of his phone. Deuce had somehow managed to weasel his head into the unlit fireplace, laying amongst the soot ad debris as he called upwards into the chimney with only an echo to respond. Trey was crawling around under the tea table in the sunroom with a deeply concerned expression.

And perhaps least helpful of all was Ace, who seemed to be picking up the same textbooks and flower vases on the coffee table again and again, occasionally lifting up one of his feet to check the underside of his sneaker.

"What are you guys even doing?"

Deuce jolted at the sound of your voice, smacking his head on the fireplace brickwork with a groan. The other boys all stumbled to their feet, dusting off their clothes and making their way carefully over to you, all but tiptoeing across the floor.

"Prefect! Did you see any adorable little hedgehogs in the hallway when you came in? Like, totes adorbs? With the grumpiest little eyebrows?" Cater's eyes were gleaming as he held up his phone, like he was expecting you to whip a hedgehog from your pocket and present it for him to photograph. Trey slowly put a hand atop Cater's phone and pushed it downwards and out of your face.

"We aren't taking any more photos of him. Not if we want him to come out at least." He added. Cater humphed, stowing his phone in his pocket.

"I didn't. But aren't you guys looking for... Riddle? Why would he be in the chimney?"

Deuce, with a face full of soot, piped in next. "Some sort of spell was cast on the Housewarden! One minute he was eating, the next, poof! We need to find him so we can take him to the Headmage."

"And whatever you do, don't take a bite of that tart, No matter how good it looks." Ace elbowed you and pointed to a half-eaten slice of strawberry tart on the tea table. Laying next to it appeared to be Riddle's magical pen, unattended. "That's our prime suspect for the magicking."

"You think... The tart cast the spell?"

Ace snorted. "You really don't understand how magic works here, do ya? We think someone might've cast a spell on it while it was in the fridge. So probably someone from Heartslabyul. But we can't figure that out until we find the Housewarden first. Sooooooo, if you aren't busy or anything?"

But you were already budging past the gaggle of boys and into the room to begin searching under furniture. Not that you'd ever tell him or any of his housemates (though you were starting to think Ace was catching on) you did have a particular fondness for the uptight Housewarden. And without reading into things too much, you were hoping he had just a touch of fondness for you as well.

Riddle didn't give you the same lectures he did to other students when you arrived with your tie crooked or your hair disheveled. He'd just quietly fix you up, tutting softly with just the faintest red to his cheeks. Then he'd seem to realize what he was doing, and rip his hands away like they'd been burned. It never stopped him from doing it again the next time, though.

He had a temper with others, but he never seemed to direct that anger towards you. He was notoriously strict, but more often than not you seemed to get away with merely a warning or a word of concern. Out of earshot, Ace had begun to refer to you as 'his favorite.'

You weren't quite ready to admit just how much that made your heart flutter.

"Of course I'll help. Is there anywhere you haven't looked yet?"

"We've covered most of the commons, do you want to start on the main hallway? He may be trying to get back to his room." Trey said. "Though he probably won't make it very far."

"Got it, I'll start there."

"Watch where you're stepping!" Deuce called after you as you made your way to the halls. "Don't squish the Housewarden!"

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Deuce.

But Trey was certainly right about Riddle not being able to make it back to his room. The Heartslabyul dorm hallways were full of staircases, wandering and twisting up and away into nooks and corridors. Even if he did manage to safely make it down a staircase or two, there's no way he'd make it up the next one.

"Riddle? Are you in here?" You called, though you doubted his ability to reply. You tread carefully down each step, checking corners and around each banister as you went. And sure enough, at the base of the staircase leading up to the first hall of dorm rooms, you spotted a little red ball of spikes attempting to scale the first step.

"Riddle!" You gasped, causing the little critter to startle and tumble from the edge of the step. As he turned around you could see that Cater has been completely on mark with his description, Riddle's little hedgehog forehead graced with the tiniest pair of little furrowed eyebrows you had ever seen. You almost cooed at the image, but you got the feeling Riddle wouldn't appreciate it.

Speaking of not appreciating, rather than scampering into the relative safety of your embrace, tiny hedgehog Riddle chose instead to turn on his heel and make a mad dash for the next hallway, almost disappearing out of sight before your brain caught up with your eyes.

"HEY! Riddle, wait!" You bolted after him. You'd teased Ace and Deuce before, watching them chase awkwardly after their respective hedgehogs during croquet while yours remained perfectly well-behaved. You'd have to apologize after this. Despite their small size, hedgehogs could apparently really motor.

But this hedgehog was still Riddle, and if Riddle's P.E. grades were anything to go by, it wouldn't be long before he started running out of steam. And the moment you saw the little guy began to falter, you took a running leap, pouncing on him and scooping him into your cupped hands. He didn't give in without a fight though, thrashing in your grip and jabbing you with his pricked-up quills.

"OW!" You yelped, hissing through your teeth at the needling sensation. Riddle stopped thrashing immediately, staring up at you as you kept him still cupped in your hands. He looked... guilty? If you had to guess.

"It's fine." You murmured. “I know you didn't mean to hurt me." He began to relax ever so slightly, at least enough so his quills wouldn't continue jabbing into your soft palms. "You should have been more careful though! Why didn't you just let your housemates help? What if someone had stepped on you?"

He furrowed his tiny brow, opening his mouth and hovering it over one of your fingers like he was about to bite you.

"You won't. You're too mature for that."

You called his bluff, and he huffed to himself, pulling back and closing his mouth again before curling into a little ball in the center of your palms. You sighed, moving yourself to sit upright so you could keep him cupped close to your body.

"I'm serious. I know you have an image you want to uphold and all that, but everyone needs help sometimes. And I know Ace and Cater probably weren't very mature about it, but Deuce and Trey were really worried about you! I was too!" You sighed, bringing the little ball of spikes closer to your face as your voice dropped into a murmur. "I don't know what I would have done if you actually got hurt."

It took a moment but Riddle finally poked his head back out of his irritated spike ball. He unfurled, sitting in the palm of your hand as he watched you, shifting back and forth in a manner you would almost call sheepish if you'd seen a person doing it.

"Can you please let us help you, Riddle? For me?"

A long moment of silence passed, before he finally nodded. You sighed in relief, bringing your hands forward to press a little kiss to the top of his head. "Thank you."

POOF!

A wave of thick, pink mist began to envelop you, heavy with the scent of sugar and strawberries as it clouded your entire vision. A weight seemed to have draped itself over your lap, but it wasn't until the fog cleared that you were able to make out where it had come from. Seated facing you in your lap with his arms draped over your shoulders and somehow, despite all odds, redder than you had ever seen him in his life, was Riddle.

"I-I don't- I didn't- You-When-How did-?" He was stammering so hard you thought he was about to combust, and honestly you probably weren't that far behind him. But your brain was too fritzed to try and put any words together, so your body did the work for you instead. You wrapped your arms around his middle and tugged him in, resting your forehead on his shoulder.

"...Glad you're okay." You finally managed to force out.

He froze up, his whole body locked in place and for a moment you worried you made the wrong move. But then one incredibly shaky hand managed to find itself patting the top of your head in an awkward, placating manner.

"T-Thank you... for your help."

You couldn't have asked for a more Riddle-like response.

[gendercensus]

On plural inclusivity and "plural they"

In the Gender Census feedback box and elsewhere I have frequently been asked:

to make the annual Gender Census survey more inclusive of plural participants, and

to add "plural they" to the checkbox pronouns list alongside "singular they" in order to be inclusive of plural participants.

It's a rambling topic, so I'll address them in sections in that order.

~

INCLUSIVITY RE: PLURAL PARTICIPANTS

I've been inviting plural people to take part in a short survey about the Gender Census, asking questions that help me get a feel for the issues involved and asking about whether people feel included in the survey (and why or why not). At the time of writing there have been 139 responses, I will leave it open for ongoing feedback, and I'm unlikely to be publishing the spreadsheet of results in full because the responses are off-topic and very personal. However, I will refer to some individual responses as well as my personal experience discussing inclusion with plural systems.

Here's a graph based on the responses so far:

I'm asking for direct feedback about this issue because over the past few years plural folks have been one of the more consistently vocal groups in the feedback box of the survey and elsewhere, which would usually be fine, but I've been finding it very overwhelming and confusing. I think that's because the advice/demands/questions have been unusually inconsistent, often to the point of being in direct opposition to each other, and the result is that I have no idea what to do.

Before now, most plural people have understood that it's quite a nuanced issue. When asked I would explain that if they felt that filling it in once for the whole system made more sense they should do that, and if individual system members felt strongly that they should participate alone then they could do so.

This year it got to the point where I had to make a decision and write unambiguous, easy-to-follow guidance about how plural people should fill in the survey, because I had one system submitting dozens of responses and giving the exact same three points of feedback, paraphrased, over and over - making it look like many unconnected people felt strongly about these particular issues, when in reality it was all this one system. I decided that, to be as fair as possible, plural people should fill in the survey once per body.

When I posted about the "once per body" policy on social media I received very little direct feedback, which leaves me in the position of not knowing whether that's because I did it right and you have no complaints or because you've all jumped ship! The statistics and comments from the plural feedback survey are very helpful in this regard:

It seems that plural participants, on the whole, are fairly understanding about it all, often supportive, and are still able to participate. ("Unknown" and "no strong feelings" together are a much higher proportion than I expected.) Some positive feedback included appreciation for the ability to select as many gender identities and pronouns as one wants. Common arguments against the policy include feeling that system members are not treated as people in their own right, which is understandable; the Gender Census is designed to present practicable data about nonbinary people for use within a system that assigns one identity per body, socially and bureaucratically. A "once per body" policy makes sense when prioritising nonbinary people, but adds to the list of crap that only plural people have to struggle through when they're not the main focus of the research.

I was surprised that only a couple of people pointed out that some systems have amnesia between members, and so some systems may participate more than once per body unintentionally. (I understand that this is unavoidable, and I certainly wouldn't be upset about it. Sometimes non-plural people participate more than once by accident, too! On the scale we're talking about, I'm unlikely to even notice it happening.)

Back when I first started to get requests to make the Gender Census more plural-inclusive, my first move was to ask people what exactly they felt excluded by. Responses to this have been continuously nebulous, to the extent that I don't think I have ever made any design changes to the annual survey at all as a result. I also asked what they would do to improve the survey and help them to feel included, but this has yielded very few viable ideas for how to move forward, just because so many of the ideas that people suggest are mutually exclusive.

As an example, I spoke to one member of a system who expressed, understandably, that their experience of themselves as plural inextricably affected their experience of their gender(s), and after some discussion they concluded that the two were so intertwined that it made the most sense for it to be included in the identity question, e.g. a checkbox called "plural" alongside nonbinary, genderqueer, trans, etc. I explained that I don't arbitrarily add things to the checkbox list, but it would be counted if it was typed into a textbox underneath, and if it went over 1% I would consider adding it to the checkbox list. They became increasingly angry. The only way this situation would make sense for them moving forward was if I added "plural" as an identity checkbox option immediately. Conversely, just a couple of weeks previously I had spoken with a member of a system who was very vocally distressed at the idea of plurality being conflated with gender, and wanted to make sure that I never added "plural" as an identity checkbox option.

As another example, in the plural feedback survey when I asked people how they felt about the "once per body" policy, a member of one system was against it and said "it feels like this policy doesn’t recognize us as separate people", but a member of another system was in favour and said "we're encouraged by our therapist to think of ourselves as dissociated parts of a whole. So we're all one person, just not directly connected like a singlet [non-plural person] would be. From that perspective, it makes sense to keep us as one person in the gender census, no matter how many genders we have." It's not possible to reconcile these two perspectives.

From the very beginning up until now, the unifying theme for feedback from plural people and their allies is "please be more inclusive of plural people." That's a really good start! After that it becomes a plate of tangled spaghetti.

Here are some themes I've managed to tease out, and my thoughts.

"Each system's alter should be able to participate in the survey individually if they want to." Some systems have literally hundreds of alters, and several systems have acknowledged in the feedback survey that this is probably both impractical for many plural people and unfair on singlets.

"We're okay with taking part once for all of us in the system, but we're just checking all the boxes that apply to at least one of us, and some of those are explicitly disliked by at least one of us. This is uncomfortable." I think that's... probably okay, actually. Other subcategories of participants whose identities fluctuate that strongly (e.g. a genderfluid person who is sometimes very male and sometimes extremely not male) or whose pronouns are context-dependent are also in this predicament. Participants often express a desire to rank their identity terms by importance, accuracy, fluctuation or frequency. The survey aims to collect broad and fuzzy data about a very large group of people, to monitor trends and let people know what language we're comfortable with on the whole. This survey just isn't looking for that kind of nuance.

"We're okay with taking part in the survey once for everyone in the system, but there should be a way to separate out responses about different alters within that one response." It's literally impossible to program the survey to have infinite subsections for each alter, but if it were possible, what would I do with the data? I think the most likely approach would be combining into a list of identities etc. "per body". The participant would feel better for being able to enter different words for different alters, but it would be more work for them, and it would be more work for me to process responses from plural people just to have them be counted like those from non-plural people.

"There should be a 'plural' checkbox in the identity list so that we can express that our gender is influenced by our plurality." I consider adding terms to the identity checkbox list when they're typed into the textboxes by over 1% of participants. There are some situations where I'll make an exception to that rule, but it's unusual and this isn't one of them. Whether you enter a term using a checkbox or a textbox makes no difference to how well-represented you are in the results.

Maybe just a question that asks if you're plural, with a checkbox? What would this checkbox do? Plurality is beyond the scope of the survey, along with things like height and eye colour. It would allow curious people to analyse the responses using plurality as a variable, but I wouldn't include it in any analysis in an annual Gender Census report.

That last one is particularly interesting, because it's what I actually did in the supplementary survey. I wasn't 100% sure in advance whether or not I would need that information for the singular vs. plural they issue, so I included an "I am/we are plural" checkbox just to be on the safe side. As far as I could tell, the survey was no more or less materially inclusive than the annual Gender Census survey. There were a couple of interesting patterns to report in the statistics, but the main things I noticed were:

Feedback saying that the survey wasn't inclusive of plural people was non-existent.

Several people thanked me in the feedback box for making the survey plural-inclusive.

Several people promoted the survey on social media by using its plural-inclusivity as a selling point.

Again, the supplementary survey didn't take a different approach. There was no particular difference in language, there was no indication that whether or not you're plural would be integral to the reporting of the results or even used at all, the only difference was the existence of a checkbox that let participants declare their plurality.

That's all it took to cause a complete U-turn in feedback. A checkbox that doesn't relate to gender or connect to any of the other questions in any way, and isn't particularly statistically useful based on the supplementary survey. It doesn't make the survey more inclusive, it just acknowledges that some participants are plural, and gives them a way to declare it.

Whether or not participants are plural is beyond the scope of the Gender Census, which aims to collect broad data about how we as nonbinary and otherwise genderly-interesting people want the world to see and describe us. It just doesn't make sense to include questions about plurality in future surveys. But I'm honestly amazed and a little confused, because until the "once per body" policy was added it seems that there wasn't actually anything about the Gender Census that prevented plural people from participating, at least not more than anyone else whose genders change significantly over time.

~

SHOULD "PLURAL THEY" BE ADDED TO THE CHECKBOX PRONOUN LIST?

This is something that participants often ask me to do in order to make the survey more plural-inclusive, so I decided to seriously consider it.

The first draft of the supplementary survey asked over 1,000 participants about this issue, but I had to scrap those responses and then redesign and restart it because, even though dictionaries are fairly clear on what exactly "singular they" is, a lot of survey participants who are not dictionaries seemed to be in disagreement (or confusion) about what singular they and plural they actually are. I have been unable to find any academic or reference articles online using the phrase "plural they" at all.

Here are some of the things people have told me recently:

"Singular they" is when you use "they" with singular verbs, e.g. they is a teacher.

I can't say that I use "singular they" pronouns because I always say "they are". "They is" just sounds wrong to me.

"Plural they" is when you use "singular they" pronouns to refer to a system/someone who is plural.

"Singular they" and "plural they" are grammatically identical except for the name.

"Singular they" and "plural they" are functionally the same and should be combined into one option called "they" in the annual survey.

Let's start by stating what we do know for sure.

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THEY VS. SINGULAR THEY

For the record, "singular they" is defined by its purpose and context, not the specific words used.

Wiktionary says:

they (third-person, nominative case, usually plural, sometimes singular, objective case them, possessive their, possessive noun theirs, reflexive themselves, or, singular, themself)

It then goes on to specify three use-cases:

third-person plural, referring to two or more people

third-person singular, referring to one person

"indefinite pronoun" - people; some people; people in general; someone, excluding the speaker. E.g. "they didn’t have computers in the old days."

So we've got "they" (groups), "singular they" (individuals), and "indefinite they" (an "other" that is ambiguous in number).

Again, I have never found anything academic or, er, dictionarical (lexicographical?) that calls any of the forms "plural they", so my first job is to find out whether what Gender Census participants are calling "plural they" is the same as what the dictionary just calls "they", which is defined as the set used to refer to two or more people. For the purposes of this article I will call it regular "they".

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WHICH WORDS MAKE UP SINGULAR THEY?

Even though most dictionaries will state which words make up singular they, and it's usually they/them/their/theirs/themself, if you change individual words within the set or even around the set it is still called "singular they" if it is used to refer to only one person. This might happen due to regional or cultural variations. So whether you say "they is a writer" or "they are a writer", whether you say "themself" or "themselves", if you're talking about only one person, it's still singular they.

In the annual survey, singular they is consistently chosen in the checkbox pronoun options by the most participants, usually more than twice as popular as the next most popular option. (I use the dictionary-provided set, and I've checked it's still the most commonly used in several polls and surveys along the way.) In the annual survey, singular they is presented as:

singular they - they/them/their/theirs/themself (e.g. "they are a writer")

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WHICH WORDS MAKE UP PLURAL THEY?

I had never heard of "plural they" before people started asking me to add it to the checkbox list in the feedback box of the annual Gender Census survey, but it seemed clear from the name that it is meant to be contrasted with singular they, and I wondered if perhaps everyone else had been calling regular "they" (for referring to two or more people) "plural they" this entire time and I just hadn't noticed.

It was specifically presented to me by participants as a pronoun that a plural system could claim, and that a plural system might prefer over singular they. This tallied with my initial assumption that "plural they" may just be regular "they" referring to groups, since a system is a body containing two or more distinct individuals, so if they wanted to be referred to as a group then singular they would be inappropriate and regular "they" would fit.

I went to the pronouns spreadsheet of the 2021 Gender Census, and took every pronoun set that was named and copied it into a new spreadsheet. I ran a query to list all sets that contained both the words "plural" and "they" in the name field. There were 71 results, out of ~44,500 total responses. I ran another query to find out what these people were entering in the reflexive field, and here's what I got:

themselves - 61 (85.9%)

theirselves - 3

them - 2

themself - 2

themself (plural) - 2

theirself - 1

So I think it's safe to say that the set that people are calling "plural they" uses "themselves" as the reflexive, which is consistent with dictionaries' reporting of regular "they".

I conclude that most people do mean regular "they" when they refer to "plural they". "Plural they" seems to be they/them when used to refer to two or more people, including the plural reflexive "themselves".

As in "singular they", if you change individual words within the set or even around the set it is still called regular "they" if it is used to refer to two or more people. This might happen due to regional or cultural variations. So whether you say "they is writers" or "they are writers", whether you say "themself" or "themselves", if you're talking about two or more people, it's still regular "they" (or plural they).

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IS PLURAL THEY GETTING SMUSHED INTO ANOTHER PRONOUN/GROUP?

I recently explored the (apparently unintentional) overlap of Spivak (e/em) and Elverson (ey/em). In case you've not read it, here's a brief overview: I found that it might be that Elverson (not on the checkbox list) is many times more popular than Spivak (on the checkbox list), even though it isn't being written into the pronouns textboxes often enough for it to reach the 1% threshold. Since the two sets are identical except for that one letter in the subject form, it is very likely that many of the people who use Elverson (ey/em) pronouns are choosing the Spivak checkbox option in the annual survey because they don't realise the spelling is different, or they think that they are minor spelling variants of the same set. I concluded that in order to get a fair count of both sets I will need to list both in the checkbox options next year, even though Elverson hasn't been typed in by over 1% of participants yet.

It's possible that the same thing is happening with singular and plural they. I ran a couple of Twitter polls, asking people whose pronouns are they/them which set they prefer, and presented answers like this:

a) Singular they, referring to only 1 person: they are themSELF

b) Singular they, referring to only 1 person: they are themSELVES

c) Plural they, referring to 2+ people: they are themSELVES

Here's the results, with 927 usable responses:

The results of this poll are really useful, because it allowed people to choose between singular and plural they AND themself and themselves, in combination. We can see that of the people who call their pronouns "singular they" (referring to only one person), the majority prefer "themself" as the reflexive, but a respectable proportion prefer singular they with "themselves", even when presented with the option of "plural they" (referring to two or more people).

(I have a policy of providing the most popular word choices in checkboxes, so I will continue to provide a they/them checkbox option that says "singular they - they/them/their/theirs/themself", but since singular they is consistently the most popular pronoun this is something I like to keep checking in on.)

If we apply these proportions to the 2021 Gender Census responses and imagine that everyone whose pronouns are they/them chose "singular they - they/them/their/theirs/themself" regardless of how accurate that is, this would mean that 3.7% of all respondents would check a "plural they" box, which is well above the 1% threshold for adding something to the checkbox list. Why not add it to the list, the way I'll also be adding Elverson to the list? This graph may help:

I generally consider it unwise to make big decisions based on Twitter polls, because the sample is much smaller and more biased than a standalone survey. Twitter requires membership, Twitter membership is skewed younger, and younger members are more likely to use Twitter often and see polls when they appear.

However, even I can't deny that there is a very clear mandate here for Elverson to be added to the checkbox list. When given a straight choice between the Spivak, Elverson, both, and neither/something else, participants were over six times more likely to choose Elverson over Spivak. (For context, Spivak got 4.3% in the 2021 Gender Census as a checkbox option.) Even if this poll were somehow put to the entire Gender Census participant group, it's hard to imagine a scenario where the results shift enough that Elverson gets a lower percentage than Spivak.

4.7% of a smaller sample of younger Twitter members just isn't enough to push me to add something to the checkbox options. I really hope that everyone whose pronouns are "plural they" takes the time to type it into next year's survey as a pronoun distinct from "singular they", so that if they do end up being over 1% of participants I can add "plural they" to the checkbox options.

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IN CONCLUSION

As far as I can tell, the Gender Census doesn't particularly exclude plural participants. Systems are still able to take part, so it is at least as inclusive as any other survey of a similar nature, maybe even more so thanks to the ability to choose multiple gender identities and pronouns "per body".

There isn't sufficient evidence to support adding "plural they" to the list of checkbox pronouns at this time, and systems can be represented in results by typing any plural-inclusive terms and pronouns that are not on checkbox lists into some of the many textboxes provided, as any other participant would be expected to do.

The "once per body" participation policy is uncomfortable for a significant number of plural people. However, due to the intensely varied experiences of plural people, any policy on that issue that I impose would make some plural people uncomfortable - and it turns out that I chose the "side" that plural people are more likely to agree with. The survey isn't intending to collect or convey the more nuanced information that plural people (and others) have said that they would like to provide.

A separate question that specifically asks participants whether they're plural makes systems feel seen and acknowledged, but is beyond the scope of the project and doesn't add value to the data or analysis.

So, I will not be making any changes to the Gender Census at this time, based on the information I've gathered so far. However, I welcome further feedback in the plural participants' feedback form, which will remain open, anonymous and private.

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Edit: Follow-up.