#“recent” as in sometime this year lol

[alex-procrastinates]

as a nearsighted glasses wearer this is very accurate, i think it should be very helpful! :)

if it's ok, i'd also like to add a few things:

sports are not usually an issue with glasses (except when you get hit directly in the face with a ball and your glasses get shoved into your nose, which really fucking hurts!) for example, i do gymnastics and my glasses have fallen off about 3 times in 9 years of doing cartwheels and flipping around bars and all sorts of stuff. i have, however, recently smacked myself in the face with my leg and bent my glasses slightly out of shape, which is kinda annoying lol

if you have worn glasses for long enough it is possible for them to just become like a part of your body. i've had glasses for 9 years and i sometimes forget to take them off before i get in the shower!

people who see you without your glasses for the first time WILL comment on how different you look, and sometimes might not recognise you at first

if you are drinking a hot drink and breathe into your mug, your glasses will fog up. it usually goes away within a few seconds.

a nearsighted character might rest their glasses on their forehead while reading or using their phone. i know bc i do this all the time

not sure if this is true for other vision impairments, but for nearsighted people, water can refract light in a similar way to their glasses, so they can see a bit better underwater even when wearing normal goggles. my underwater vision is almost perfectly clear, but my eyes aren't that bad.

in australia we usually call nearsighted "short-sighted" and farsighted "long-sighted". this seems to be true for the uk as well

hope this helps! and to op, if you're uncomfortable with me adding to your post, just let me know and i'll delete my reblog :)

How to write a character with glasses

A guide for anyone wanting to write characters with glasses, but doesn’t know how yet.

 Different types of visual impairment

Near-sighted – not being able to see stuff in the distance

Far-sighted – not being able to see stuff up close

Presbyopia – easier in German: Altersweitsichtigkeit = elderly far-sightedness, not being able to read small print when you’re older, sometimes end up being far- and near-sighted at the same time

Astigmatism – light is not focused evenly on the retina, results in distorted and blurry vision

it’s also pretty normal to have different prescriptions for both eyes, one being stronger/weaker than the other one

 Different types of visual aids

Eyeglasses with actual glasses – easier to break, so more dangerous, can be grinded and polished differently than other material

Plastic glasses – lighter than the real glass, not that easy to get damaged

Reading glasses – only needed for reading and driving

Monocle – old-fashioned aesthetic

Bifocals – glasses that correct presbyopia, bottom is seeing closer, top for seeing in the distance

Contact lenses – different types (post about it coming soon)

 How to write it?

think about what kind of visual impairment does your character have?

what are they able to see?

can they see basically everything, but cannot read correctly?

can they see enough to get by, but cannot read and drive and get headaches without their glasses?

can they only see blurred images and colours?

do not change it halfway through the story! Choose their impairment and then stick with it.

what are situations where the glasses could hinder them?

are they doing a lot of sport, are they getting into fights, situations where they don’t want to wear them for aesthetic reasons?

can they not do something because of their impairment? (joining security forces, driving big trucks, etc.)

are they annoyed that they have to wear them? Are they only wearing contact lenses or are they just avoiding wearing anything even though they can’t see everything?

you don’t have to make a big deal out of your character wearing glasses, but it does play a big part in your character’s life

remember to put in a few references about it here and there throughout the story

things to consider

glasses fog up

through temperature changes

while going outside or coming in

while sweating

glasses need to be adjusted

they will never stay where they are supposed to be

especially when moving around and keeping your head down

the character will need to adjust them from time to time and push them up again

glasses need to be cleaned a lot

everything will make them dirty

best option are specific cleaners

if you don’t have them handy a shirt will have to do, but it needs to be the right material, synthetic stuff is not working

people with glasses will ask their friends for their shirts if they have to

sunglasses, swim goggles and 3D glasses are impractical

3D glasses need to be over the glasses and it can be tricky to get it right

sunglasses need the right prescription and then you would have to change glasses every time you enter a building

there are clips that go over the normal glasses, but they have to be exact to look fine

swim goggles can also be with prescription, but you would also have to get your glasses as soon as you’re out of the water to take the goggles off and still see enough

there are also special glasses for other sports (it’s not great to do sports with real glasses, because if they break it can severely damage your eyes)

times where you have to take the glasses off

when showering

when going to bed

when putting on shirts with a tight neckline

glasses are expensive

some insurances pay for them, a lot don’t

the worse the eyesight the more expensive they get

glasses and frames are two different things and get sold separately (you can have really expensive glasses in a cheap frame or vice versa)

you also need a spare pair of glasses, if you lose yours or they get damaged (often this is just an old pair, where the prescription is no longer strong enough)

more things to consider

a new partner cannot just take the glasses and throw them to the side, when the fun starts, if it leaves the character without being able to see properly, there needs to be some more trust there

people will take the glasses and put them on, yelling ‘OMG you’re really blind!’ and then ask you how they look like, especially funny when you really can’t see them

people asking ‘how many fingers can you see?’

light hits differently, which means you see light differently and also, it’s hard to take good pictures with glasses

rain is a nightmare, it’s like driving through rain without a windshield wiper

having to be careful on roller coasters and other stuff, because they can and will fly off

especially with astigmatism it’s hard to drive at night

going to the hair dresser can be annoying when they take your glasses off and then ask you if that’s the right length to cut it and you can’t see it

you cannot lie in bed (except on the back) without the glasses pressing uncomfortable in your face

mascara definitely will end up on the glasses and getting that cleaned is a nightmare

wearing hats, beanies, giant headphones and even facemasks can be extra annoying, because the arms of the frame will get in the way

you can get headaches from not wearing your glasses, from the pressure of the frame of the glasses and from wearing new and therefore glasses with a stronger prescription

small children love glasses, as soon as they can grab stuff, they will yank them off your face if you let them get close enough

kids will tease you about them, but after middle school it’s not really a thing anymore (mostly and as adults it’s really nothing special)

glasses have blind spots on the sides and top and bottom, so you sometimes have to move your head more

Tropes

Blind without glasses and dropped glasses

I actually only have sharp vision for a distance of 10 cm, which means I would not get home save if I had to cross a street to get to my building without glasses

but I very rarely lose my glasses

so, the trope of someone not being able to see without them is correct in some cases, but it’s definitely not hilarious and there are not often situations where they are just without glasses and fumbling around

Being smart

people wearing glasses can be just as dumb as everyone else

try not to make the only one wearing glasses be the smart kid

The Cure

often found in fantasy books, people will somehow get cured from needing glasses

getting some superpowers that eradicate their visual impairment and ‘fixing’ them

The Makeover scene

I love makeover scenes just like everybody else does

but: it’s not really cool to see the ‘ugly duckling’ suddenly becoming a beautiful swan by throwing away their glasses

and it’s impractical, if they just put them away and it was established that they can’t really see that well without them it’s just stupid to leave them at home

if they get new and cooler glasses, the person giving them to them would have needed to know their exact prescription, glasses are expensive and it takes time before they are ready

if they wear contact lenses from now on, they would also need to know the prescription and if they have never worn contact lenses before it will take some time to get used to putting them in and wearing them

Finally… please write characters with glasses. This sounds like a lot of hassle, but for most people it’s the most normal thing in the world. Studies show that soon half the world population will need glasses and I still didn’t really have a cool girl with glasses as a role model in literature when I grew up. It’s just another form of representation and I hope I can help you with this post to create some cool characters!

If you like my blog and want to support me, you can buy me a coffee! 🥰

[manicpixiedreamedwins]

GINGERWREN'S PAYNELAND RECS 2024!

I can't believe we have had Charles and Edwin for less than a year. Even still, we've had a lot of fun! I wanted to share some fics, art, and gifs that made this year worth it for me personally. I was talking to a friend recently, and we noticed recent rec lists seem to be short, tag based lists with no real input from the list writer. Many of them also seem to rec the same few fics. Sometimes I feel left out as a smaller writer, and I know my favorite fics also don't always make it onto these lists either.

So, gentle reader, I will not be making a list of tags and summaries. You can read the tags on the fics and the art work, should you choose to view. I will be telling you why I love the works themselves. This is the best way I can think to recommend work to you.

Without further ado: the list is below.

WRITING

sweeter than honey from the rock - @dearheartdont

This lives rent free in my head. Literally in my mind this is like a lost episode or something. I do not want to spoil it or anything, but some of my favorite things in it are the world building (there are delightfully sympathetic clients, and witty antagonists), Charles does... exactly what one would expect Charles to do in order to help the client and protect everyone, and he makes things temporarily worse for himself. Rest assured though, there is a very, very satisfying resolution. Really, this is such a wonderful fic.

Winter Bloom - @skinnybritishdudes

PINK!!! EDWIN!!!! NOW!!!! This was my request for our server's Christmas exchange and it blew me out of the water. Genuinely, the magical mischief PLUS the subtle horror PLUS the absolute tenderness at the end?? Was everything I wanted, and more than I expected. Friendship ended with my own pink Edwin origin story. THIS is Pink Edwin now. Run don't walk for this one (as you can see, I still have not calmed down I am so excited about this one).

Nothing Left to Hide - @roseganymede95

I know I need to say more than "spider jar" but there's a point where I just start crying softly and going "spider jar" while I am reading. Honestly I'm sure if I said that to you, you would probably know which fic I'm referring to. It's this one. It's brilliant. It rewired my brain early on and I haven't been the same since. I found a spider jar pin because it may as well be canon in my mind. They call each other mine in the fic what more do I need to tell you to get you to read this? Join the spider jar cult with me.

right. never finished it.- taableclofh

A classic. Charles tries to save Edwin from Hell. He figures some things out in the process. (This is canon divergent in the best possible way and was a real balm on the soul, somehow).

molliculi (soft little things)- @williamvapespeare

This was made in a lab to make me cry specifically. The first time I finished reading it, it was two in the morning. I stared at my bedroom wall for like twenty minutes, bleary eyed, and then finally managed to type something to @williamvapespeare (who was really gracious about whatever mess I sent, lol). God fuck. It's a character study on Edwin. It's a history of living and dying in 1916. It's wondering what it means to continue on existing, but never have lived on with your peers. It's an outsider's perspective on Charles' trying to figure things out. Go. Go now. Suffer with me.

All Rights Reserved- @phoenix-soar

Do you like possessive Charles? (There's one right answer and it's yes). This fic is the fic. This also lives rent free in my brain. I wish I could say something more coherent but honestly I do not know how much I can say- well there is this lovely description where Charles compares Edwin's eyes to the sea on a stormy day (ao3 is sadly down, I cannot pull the full quote, but it was gorgeous). The rest... 🌶️🌶️🌶️

The Case of the Omegaverse Portal - miraworos

Omegaverse, as specified in the title. Also a very well written casefic, and some really satisfying feelings revelations. Once again: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

ART

Kiss (Blue) - @ent-is-indecisive

Genuinely A I am just amazed by how lovely all the kisses you draw are. Like they come out stunningly, over and over. I have no idea how you pull off this wizardry but it is amazing. Anyway I picked the first picture we ever talked about but I am also genuinely blown away whenever you drop something in LOMA

Collab Gifset For Payneland Week- @mellxncollie

I know you have all seen Ollie's gifs. If you haven't, what are you even doing? (Maybe you're new here. That's okay). It's something special when Ollie makes a gifset for your fic. Genuinely, sometimes I just go back and stare at this one because WOW THOSE ARE MY WORDS. BUT ON A GIF. Genuinely thanks for making my first year in the fandom special Ollie.

Pink Slip- @arisprite

Ari was super great during the flash sketch commissions and we had a blast. Now this reminds me of ongoing convos that @majorlb @deadboyslullaby and I have (and perhaps one day we will do something more with those) but the point here is Ari is great. You all should go and appreciate the wide range of payneland she has made. Her fem!payneland is dazzling, and so is her sad boy Charles (which I think is the first piece I ever fell in love with).

RITUALS - @deadboyslullaby

THE RITUALS ARE INTRICATE. This was a collaboration with @likemmmcookies . @deadboyslullaby worked really hard on the inscription around the edges for this one and I am forever in awe of all the little details here. I want more of them doing strange, arcane stuff together always.

ORBWIN IN CHARLES’ RIBS- @jube-art

This is absolutely what I think is going on when one of them is orbing and the other isn't. No I am not taking feedback. Once more, this was a piece of art that re-wired my brain early on. Ribs are for lovers.

BONUS:

Feathers and Fur - merle_p

Super secret rare pair that rewired how my brain works forever. I love you catcrow. I love you Monty that's a little bit depressed a little bit of a masochist. I love you Thomas who can't help but take in strays but still has teeth and hasn't been declawed in this fic. This fic is just... so... gorgeous*chef's kiss*. I won't spoil it for you, but I implore you to read it so I have more people to talk about this pairing with.

These were all my recs for now. Thank you Dead Boy Detective fandom 2024! We may have had some bumps in the road, but here's to a strong and healthy 2025!

[scarefox]

current QLs I am enjoying~

Every You, Every me (Thailand) : alternative universes, drama, soulmates, boss x assistant, car mechanic x customer, guitar teacher x students brother, BL actors, falling in love in every universe, humor, struggles, fluff, death, loss, abusive ex partner (not between the mains) See Your Love (Taiwan) : crime, thriller, drama, rich brat x caretaker, mafia business, mute + deaf main, martial arts, hurt / comfort, attempted murder, rich brats assistant x mafia assassin, dysfunctional family, loving family, friendship

Caged Again (Thailand) : mystery, drama, humor, animal to human transformation, boarding school, bullying, shy x feisty, animal trafficing, spirits, swim tournament, school clubs, friend group, nerd x dorky Jack & Joker: U Steal My Heart! (Thailand) : action, humor, debt collector x thief, poverty, (friends to) enemies to lovers, time jump, mafia, dysfunctional family, costuming & cross-dressing, from parents disowned children, heists, betrayal, secret relationships, wound patching, social injustice, martial arts, rich snob x poor thief, child adoption, rich to poor, violence, false friends

Miseinen: Mijukuna Oretachi wa Bukiyo ni Shinkochu / Our Youth (Japan) : high school, nerd x delinquent, abusive parent, secret friendship to lovers, hurt / comfort, opposites attract, wound patching Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru / Love is like a Poison (Japan) : investigation, humor, lawyer x conman, court battles, cohabitation, stern x playful, power couple, blackmail, trauma, abusive parent, talking with succulents (lol), street kids, underground gang, corruption

Petrichor (Thailand) : thriller, mystery, serial killer, forensic investigation, detective x forensic pathologist, crime investigation, enemies to lovers, autopsy, gore, incompetent police, feisty x cold, corruption, lovely siblings, coworker friend group Winter Is Not the Death of Summer but the Birth of Spring (Thailand) : thai prison setting, strangers to lovers, rough environment, prisoner x prisoner, homophobia, sexual harassment, based on a real story, hookups

Love in the Air: Koi no Yokan (Japan) : Love in the Air remake, students, senior x junior, bike racing, auto mechanic, dominant x submissive, friendship, seduction, sexual abuse in the past Bad Guy My Boss (Thailand) : boss x assistant, mutual pining, power couple, possessiv, business life, multiple hookup partner, dubcon, attempted murder, shady business, jealousy, so many HR violations, blackmail, cheating, abusive side couples, spying, scheming, miscommunication, slightly dark romance

recent finished ones I rec to check out:

Affair (Thailand) : childhood friends, rich vs poor, family tragedy, time jump, friends to lovers, possessive, mutual obsession, stalking, rich to poor & poor to rich, abusive ex, divorce, secret relationship, suicide attempts, doctor x musician Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo (S. Korea) : martial arts, strangers to friends, friends to lovers, bullying, unrequired love, abusive parent, time jump, stern x dorky, poor vs rich, hurt / comfort, misunderstandings The On1y One (Taiwan) : enemies to friends, mutual pining, cohabitation, nerd x nerd, power couple, dorm life, exam phases, not blood related soon to be step-siblings, forbidden love, secret love, coming of age, yearning, teacher x teacher side couple, hurt / comfort, unrequired love

4 Minutes (Thailand) : crime investigation, mystery, alternative realities, time jumping, patient x doctor, mafia, shady business, murder, hookups, drug use, corruption, death, violence, criminal x cop, hallucinations, cheating, blackmail, abusive lover (not mains), abusive parent, fixing mistakes Battle of the Writers (Thailand) : romcom, childhood friends, writer x writer, fictional parallel universe, secret relationship, friends to lovers, editor x writer, writer collaboration, BL writing, social commentary, childhood trauma, strangers to lovers Eccentric Romance (S. Korea + Thailand) : mystery, crime, romcom, childhood friends, friends to lovers, mutual pining, murder, bilingual, language students, working out, school club, friend group, investigation

Meet You at the Blossom (China + Thailand + Taiwan) : historical, fantasy, humor, dark romance, magic, rich noble families, playboy, crossdressing, noble son x assassine, fake identity, intrigues, fuck or die, royalty, doctor x servant, betrayal, childhood friends, misunderstandings, hurt / comfort at times, abduction, obsession, jealousy, abuse, imprisonment, torture, illness, implied unrequired cousin crush, abusive parent, dubcon My Damn Business (S. Korea) : office romance, short series, humor, boss x subordinate, misunderstandings, fluff, jealousy, teasing, drinking buddies, BL comic, talk about exes The Hidden Moon (Thailand) : historical & present, ghosts, mystery, horror, unrequired love, death, murder, accident, different era time jumps, ghost x human, time loop, friend group, enemies to lovers, forbidden love, f/f m/m m/f side couples, violence

[joshuamj]

Hero.

[labialockercolourised]

Got here in late August 2024 actually lmao and after watching their stuff for three weeks I decided I needed to go to TIT and promptly bought tickets.

My first video was their cinnamon roll baking video that a friend showed me. Loved it and then we binged them reacting to PINOF. That was in 2023 and then I forgot about them lol

Several months later I then started with their Sims series because a lot of friends kept recommending it to me (I’m obsessed with the Sims 4) I’ve watched it twice now. I started watching other of their videos that popped up on recommended and before I knew it I had watched almost all of their gaming channel videos. Currently making my way through their Undertale series and a bunch of the spooky week videos (I have no stomach for horror so that’s been slow). Discovered PJ through them and started watching his stuff too lmao

I then started watching their solo content. I’ve seen most of Phil’s recent content and I’m making my way through Dystopia Daily. I’ve watched Dan’s Basically I’m Gay, Why I Quit YouTube, and Daniel and Depression (I still have to watch We’re all Doomed but I want to make it into a little solo watch party). I’ve watched all the PINOFs, the baking videos, Dan and Phil Crafts, and the DITLs

I recently watched Interactive Introverts (still have to watch TATINOF other than their reaction video) and just read TABINOF and Dan and Phil Go Outside. Started reading Dan’s book.

I know about superamazingproject but I haven’t watched it yet (again, gonna make it into a solo watch party), also want to see what I can find of their BBC radio 1 show. I haven’t watched too many of their old solo stuff. Since I wasn’t there for it I don’t have that nostalgia for it and it actually makes me a bit sad sometimes (mostly for Dan) because the self loathing and internalised homophobia is so evident in retrospect, so it’s difficult to get through. I plan to go through all their still public videos eventually but I know that will take a while and I have no intentions of rushing that.

That’s the gist of it and at this point I do feel like I get most of the inside jokes. Anyways I personally love the self reference I also love the internet history that is so embroiled in their own personal history. I recently took a class on Internet Linguistics and read Gretchen McCulloch’s Because Internet (I recommend this to everybody) so Dan and Phil has been super relevant to it all. Even though I wasn’t a fan pre-hiatus I’ve always sort of known about them in the background and they invoke that older internet feeling so their new stuff still feels super nostalgic for that reason especially as I’ve started reflecting on my childhood, especially my teen years.

I obviously don’t have the same relationship to them as all the pre-hiatus/pre-coming out phannies. They didn’t raise me. However I have recently started embracing my identity as a gay man, so their videos are super fun and heartwarming for that reason. I get how monumental it is and I feel it to an extent but at the end of the day I wasn’t in the trenches with y’all. It’s also super funny because whenever they make those joking digs at their audience I’m just like: lol I take no responsibility for that

i'm so fascinated by phannies that got here in a post coming-out universe. especially like, this year?! in the era of self referential "you're all old now we raised you and now we're gay" era? tell me your story. how did you get here. this is not in a judgemental way btw like let me help you catch up, what have you binge watched. there are like 1,000 dnp videos according to the completionist playlists so i just need to make sure you know about the superamazingproject and such. opening my askbox to this. AMA: an 11 year phannie whose entire teen brain chemistry was soaked in this soup

[lunarharp]

played dragon age 2...just simple scribbles

[wigglebox]

Some style exploration sketches for Dean and Cas

[silently-standingstill]

Draw Blocky/Book, please, I need them :]

[bishonenspit]

Maraich, for Cherish Gallery - Mineo Maya Art Exhibition Official Visual Book

[piningpercussionist]

Pine Face Jumpscare

Still got no idea where my fabric paints are, but here I am as (slightly scuffed) Kim! (Second shot mostly there to show off the belt.)

And below the cut here I'll have some other shots that kinda show the hair color a little more accurately

Second shot here had my hair combed a little differently to make it more poofy- meant to do that before taking these, but like... y'all will probably see me do this again. I originally wanted to do outdoor shots, so- next time!

Also bonus jacket I got the other day- kind of a good modern au stand-in for the normal Dia de Los Muertos party fit, right?

[vaguely-concerned]

Origins is of course the DA game most closely in conversation with and playing around with Tolkien (right down to the walking talking poetree haha) -- and even more so than most works in the larger western fantasy tradition derived from Tolkien's work that DA:O also hails from and owes a lot of its Stuff to, what makes the game so great to me is that it's doing so very deliberately, and is subverting and deconstructing those tropes and entrenched ideas in some very interesting ways without at all denigrating what it's commenting on. (it doesn't have the almost disdainful undertones of the vein of fantasy that seeks to make the world more 'realistic' ala the more tedious reactions to G.R.R.Martin's work, for example, despite having the darker fantasy bent to it.) among other elements it adopts, what I find the most fascinating is the choice to use the same literary device/conceit Tolkien did in ostensibly only having in-universe biased sources and works to deliver the world through (which I feel is an underappreciated thing about his approach but is part of what makes his world so enduringly compelling and real-feeling -- the feeling of real scholarship devoted/applied to a made-up world. the grounding effect of a good diegetic footnote about source criticism, truly).

many things to be said there, and I'm glad each following game has taken on different perspectives and lenses and traditions to view the world of Thedas through because if you stick with that one too closely for too long I fear we could teeter precariously close to Pratchett's famous and bitingly accurate accusation of most modern fantasy of that era just being about rearranging the furniture in Tolkien's attic lol. and while you could accuse DA2 (my perfect wife who has never done anything wrong in her life to be clear) of many things, that's not one of them, they are pulling on some completely different strings for that one and both the game and DA overall is better for it, to my mind. as so many things in this series: worth staying with and exploring for an installment even if it might get stale if all of it was like this! people are understandably sad about the elements from previous games that they liked which were lost along the way, but that capacity for reinvention is to my mind a huge strength of dragon age as a whole.

(I think Veilguard is coming in as a close second in Tolkien conversation-ness if only in outlining/revealing the worldbuilding that indeed may have been planned since DA:O around the animosity that SHOULD by all rights exist between dwarves and elves in this universe (as per Tolkienesque tradition standards). but doesn't really because you see: politics and the many pitfalls of conservation of knowledge over the ages. our ancestral enmity got semi-intentionally lost between the floorboards of history and you know what. maybe for the best. the humans are already up to so much shit you gotta keep your eyes on them at all times you can't be brawling with each other in the deep roads while they're still around getting up to their nonsense or they'll just pile up even more of it)

[actuallyitsstar]

headcanon asks for Bradley: 1 and 19?

✨ send me a number + a character for headcanons! ✨

1: holiday headcanon

christmas was always one of bradley's favorite holidays, all throughout his childhood. every adult in young bradley's life, all with varying backgrounds and types of childhoods of their own, could come together to agree on one thing: bradley's christmases should be magical. carole, trying to keep the magic of those first three christmases with everyone all together alive; mav, trying to give bradley the kind of happy memories he never had; ice and slider, woven into the family by carole's steady hand, determined to give this little makeshift family what it needs. bradley remembers holiday baking with mom, learning about the traditions of ice's family, so different from theirs; neatly-wrapped gifts from santa, much lumpier gifts that were also "from santa", supposedly, but he knew those ones were from uncle mav- it would be fair to say bradley was a little spoiled when it came to the holiday season.

after carole is gone, and it's just he and mav, those years are empty and feel meaningless, but they try. they try for carole's memory, for each other, and for ice and the others. bradley's eventual disillusionment with the holiday doesn't start there- no, it starts after.

once he and mav have their falling out, it's like someone has flipped the light switch. the last few chrismases were quiet ones, lonely without mom, sure- but he and mav got thru them together. after losing mav, too, though, it's radio silence. bradley goes from loving and enjoying the christmas season to hating it, overnight. the first christmas after is bleak. a long december and a somehow even longer december 25th. the only accompaniment that he has for the next four years of college are the cards and the letters he doesn't open. he spends it in the dorms alone while everyone else goes back to their families.

once he meets phoenix in flight school, things start to look up, just a little. she has a lively, bustling family full of extended relatives and family friends, and they're happy to fold in one more. it still doesn't feel right. it doesn't make him feel at home. for all their effort and kindness, phoenix's mom is nothing like carole and phoenix's dad is is nothing like goose- and as much as he hates himself for thinking it, more importantly, is nothing like mav- and the traditions and energy are all so different that it just feels unfamiliar. though it tugs painfully on his emotional aches and pains, he is grateful to have somewhere to go and happy to be included, even if it only exemplifies to him how alone he really is, and how he really doesn't seem to belong anywhere.

post-mission, post-reconciliation, bradley isn't sure what to expect. he imagines that mav would have built a life without him in it by now and is dismayed to learn this is not the case. he isn't sure if mav will want him around for the holidays after everything he's done and said. phoenix pushes him, telling him that of course he's welcome at the trace family table again this year, but you really ought to stick around and sort this shit out. through much hesitation, bradley does.

the post-reconciliation christmas is not lively or bright or boisterous like the christmases of old. it'll never be the same, without mom, without uncle ice, when the other flyboys have families of their own to worry about now. but mav welcomes him, wants him to be there, and it's more at home than bradley has felt in fifteen long years. it's not about the food or the gifts or the decorations. it's about the people- person, actually. it's about being invited into mav's life and heart even when he knows he can never deserve to be in those places again. at the end of the day, the old christmases were always about family and love and connection, and even though they're quite different on the surface, the new christmas is about all those things, too.

19. favorite photograph headcanon

photos were and are such an important part of the bradshaw-mitchell family. bradley knows it- and it's a part of why, when he leaves, he doesn't take the photos of himself and mav. he knows that to mav, that will say something, loud and clear, and he wants to be hurtful- he wants his emotions to be heard and understood. instead, he takes with him only the photos of his mom and dad, and a couple with the flyboys that mav took, and subsequently was not in; but bradley tells himself that he doesn't need the pieces of a relationship that there's no point in trying to salvage, so he leaves all of those pieces behind.

except for one.

it's a somewhat dilapidated polaroid, taken with his dad's old camera, snapped by carole as she'd stood on the back porch of the little bungalow house that bradley grew up in. in it, a six-year-old bradley sits in mav's arms, held up at eye-level in one strong arm as mav points up with the other. bradley has one hand fisted into mav's shirt, and his gaze and rapt attention are locked overhead. mav always used to tell little bradley to look up at the stars if he missed him, because it's the same stars- they always have that between them, at least. in the photo, mav points out the constellations they share even when apart, and bradley listens intently, trying to commit the names to memory. when he became old enough to have one, bradley used to keep it in his wallet.

eventually, when it's all fallen apart and those connections between them have been severed, bradley gives a new photo the place of honor in his wallet, a photo of he and mom- but he can't just throw out the old picture, no matter how angry he feels when he looks at it, no matter how badly he wants to. it goes into the box with everything else, with letters and cards and artifacts that mav sends him or that he can't bring himself to throw away. sometimes on a quiet, lonely night aboard a carrier or on leave, floating adrift in the world with no anchors to speak of, he thinks about it. he looks at the stars and he sees that image in his mind's eye and he remembers being six years old and thinking mav would always be there, and he wonders sometimes in the most empty moments if the old man still remembers all that shit about the stars. if he ever still looks at them, still thinks of it, of bradley, if he ever wonders anything about bradley the way bradley wonders about him. deep down inside, he knows that he mustn't. deep down inside, he tells himself that there's no chance in hell mav does. because, if he does, it means bradley threw away something that was still alive. it's a fate he cannot bring himself to accept.

when they've reconciled, bradley will find that old beat-up picture in the box. he'll show it to mav. i never forgot, he'll quietly admit. i always thought about it. i- i guess i thought that you probably didn't even care to look at them anymore. i just- i thought it was over. mav will take the photo, tattered and much-handled, from bradley's outstretched hand, studying it with a reverence that bowls bradley right over. i looked at 'em every night, baby goose, he'll admit. always hoped you might be looking, too.

tysm for this ask !!! and for your infinite patience in my disastrous ability to reply 😭😭but i loved answering this ask sm !!! and i definitely did not answer it in longhand at my job and i also definitely did not accidentally write so much about the christmas thing that i had to chop it way down for this ask because it accidentally kind of became a chapter of something lol. i am a disaster. but thank u so much and i hope u enjoy and are well!! <3<3<3

[rollercoasterwords]

You have probably answered this before, but have you ever considered becoming a published author ? Your writing style is soo good

sure lol i’ve considered it but the older i’ve gotten & the more i’ve learned abt how the publishing industry actually works the less it’s become a priority… “author” was like my dream job as a kid but it takes a lot of time & money & connections that i simply don’t have rn 2 write & publish novels so! maybe one day i’ll give it a go but 4 now i’m more focused on writing & publishing nonfiction articles/research as part of my work…of course that is not something i will make money from lol but it’s what i’ve gotta do if i want a shot at building a career in my desired field so. current priority lies there…

anyway appreciate the compliment glad u enjoy my writing <3 let’s all hold hands & enjoy it 4 free…

[merverelli]

"im a magician, i just dont bang on about it"

missing marvin the magnificent hours </3

[cq-studios]

Do you have any Skuld headcanons/story ideas you’d like to share?

Ooh okay, rapid fire Skuld headcannons

She’s in the same Union as Player (Anguis) and a different one from Ephemer (Unicornis) as per novels

She’s originally from the world that becomes Arendelle

She was 15 at the end of KHUX, was 13 when the Keyblade War occurred, and was 11 when she became a Keyblade Weilder

Lesbian Skuld for the win

She strikes me as someone who would like Strawberry flavoured candy. Why? I dunno

She and Ephemer has similar jackets because they bought them to match when they were in their party together

She and Ephemer (and and the rest of her party really) are also both banned from the Moogle Shop because, when they went on missions together, they would have competitions on who could find the most ingredients, then sell them all to the Moogle afterwards without buying anything. It did not like that, and they were banned for life lol

I think she and Ephemer also had a half joke competition going on about who would end up being the tallest (they were basically the same height when they started this), technically Brain would’ve won because they ended up dragging him into it (when he was also around the same height as them… he ends up significantly taller than both relatively soon after in my mind lol), but if it had just stayed between the two of them Skuld would’ve claimed victory by about 2 or 3 inches

If I were to choose one of the three medal classes for her to be most proficient in it would be strength. I think after strength she would prioritize magic, leaving speed in last place. Overall though, I think she’s decently balanced

Alright, I’m sure there’s more but that’s what I got off the top of my head lol

As for story ideas I have at least four fic WIPs I’ve been working on on and off. Those being:

Unlikely Friend - A multi chapter fic where Subject X (Skuld) tries to befriend Ienzo that I should probably work on (lol). It has two chapters already up on AO3 if you’re interested.

Ghosts of the Past - A fic where Subject X (Skuld) ends up in Zootopia followed by a certain red scarfed ghost who claims to be her long lost friend. I made a post a while ago talking about this one if you’d like to learn more.

Meanwhile in the Realm of Darkness - A fic (that might end up being multi chapter depending on how motivated I am) where Subject X (Skuld) ends up in the realm of darkness and Aqua finds her. They end up bonding and her and Aqua try to put together pieces of her past as they travel through the fallen worlds (most notably the three from Fragmentary Passage, since Skuld is likely to recognize those from missions).

Party Days - A multi chapter fic from Skuld’s perspective about when Skuld and Ephemer were in a party together. Just a lot of the two of them being goofy and going on missions and stuff. Yay friendship! lol

And I have one that is just ideas I haven’t really expanded on since I wrote it down. Which is the Boiling Isles AU, where Subject X (Skuld) ends up in the Owl House world sometime around the beginning of season 2. It’s not super developed and I wrote my notes for it right after finishing season 2. I don’t really feel the need to write it out anymore but what I had was fun lol

(Luz was so hyped to have another human who could do magic around and I’m also pretty sure I made this AU purely because I thought it’d be funny if they tried to do the memory thing where they pull pictures out of their ears but because Skuld is from a different world they just end up pulling out broken chains lol)

[wolvertooth]

im just lookin thru my archive rn cuz ive been posting fairly actively since like. july. debating if i need to do another #mentalhealthbreak or nah….

its not that ive run outta post ideas or anything(cuz my brain never shuts tf up), its just been kinda hard lately to keep up with the community aspect i think. i dunno. maybe im getting a bit burnt out again too

this is kinda the longest ive ever held a fixation consistantly, but the fear of slipping back into the Nothing Era where i got nothing to keep my brain occupied has me hanging on ig. i feel like im not done yet either like waiiiitttttt ive still got piles of wipssssssss i gotta make gay people realllllllll sigh

im only human im a messed up human blablah it makes good practice for adderall at least(not that its really been working) i just dont wanna be in a state where it feels like a chore yknow? like im not an influencer im a gay lil tumblr.com blog ffs

another dramatic emotion filled sigh………im gonna be staying out in the middle of the canadian sticks(farmland n woods n a couple beaches nearby) this winter for awhile, so maybe i’ll be able to figure out how to get some good chill time. or go more insane. (likely get more insane)