fire will fly from the raven boy

  AU BASICS ⨁
AGE: 20
    ⨁ I'm flexible to age back down or up in either direction (especially for canonmates ♥)
YEAR: 1984, with all the music, clothing, and cringe politics and world news (mostly from a Welsh perspective*) that entails.
    ⨁ To keep a timeline coherent, Silver on the Tree is my landmark: it was published in 1977 and he would have been 13**
    ⨁ If I adjust his age in either direction, it'll adjust to match.

⨁ FIRST IMPRESSIONS
    LOOKS: Bran's albino, with the corresponding very white hair and pale skin -- that's the first thing everyone notices. He has gold ("hawk-like") eyes, rather than the deep blue or violet typical to albinism. He wears sunglasses if outside, and sometimes when inside, especially if it's well lit; he doesn't have any other visual impairments. Tallish and a little angular; strong -- he grew up helping herd sheep -- but more on the wiry/lean muscle side. He's a harpist and can be very delicate in his movements.

    STYLE: Tends to dress neatly: button-downs and jeans, jumpers, nice shoes; the 80s love for striped everything. He's skewed just a touch alt/new wave (not at all goth, though his hair and eyes could easily make him look that way by accident) as he's been in university: He has to try a little harder to project weird and what are you going to say about it which is still one of Bran's defaults when he doesn't know/trust someone.

    DEMEANOR:If one of Bran's defaults is going to say something? one of them is just judgy. Despite his walls coming down a bit since that summer with Will Stanton and the Drews, he can still build them back up with a quickness, especially when he's outside his comfort zone. However, he's less insecure as an adult -- and about slightly different things -- and while he can seem a little arrogant, more often than not now, he's simply confident instead, which can still be offputting to some -- but usually not the kind of people he needs to be friends with -- and is also often deserved. It also makes him a little more prone to believing people when they're friendly: quicker to reveal that despite sharp opinions -- especially where politics are concerned -- he's also witty (if still dry) and thoughtful, even vulnerable with his friends. When he's close to someone that spiky energy gets redirected to being a bit more spontaneous and playful, and also gentler: softer and even poetic about his feelings, though that's generally one on one.

UPDATED BACKGROUND ⨁
I'm pretty willing to handwave/AU-the-AU, but
General AU Interim:
⨁ That summer is a bit of a turning point: although Bran's not not a strange isolated boy, he's a bit more affectionate, more grown into himself, a little less spiky and more comfortable in his skin for reasons no one can particularly put a finger on.

⨁ He continues for a little while to stay in vague touch with the Drews and Will; but, especially in the late 70s, it's easy to lose contact and drift apart; there's no one to blame, of course, but no one wants to be the one possibly irritating the other.

⨁ Bran continues with his music, and with helping his father with the sheep, and also with hating all the tourism in the valley

⨁ Eventually at the nudging of someone -- I honestly imagine his father (as well as likely random schoolteachers) because I feel like they both relax a little bit at the very end and I like that for Owen -- he takes music a bit more seriously.

⨁ My instinct is that he would initially, at least, want to go to Aberystwyth for uni [and he has no reason not to; Aber's top 40 in the UK overall and top 90 for music! #nerd]. Bran stays with his father for a reason, after all.

⨁ BUT~ I really like getting him out of his comfort zone for a lot of reasons? So my idea is that he maybe starts either performing with/attending classes occasionally with the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, somehow, or even switches to that or the University of Cardiff partway through or something, yeah I need to make that make sense with how UK universities and also the 1980s work.

⨁ IN ANY CASE: he's forced to be a bit of a city boy sometimes, and while it's not 100% what he loves, it also gives him room away to explore who he is without who he's always been. Yes, this includes sexuality. Obviously. You saw that coming.
    ⨁ (No, this is NOT something he's advertising on a neon sign in 1984 Wales. But he's at least aware of it and perhaps examining his past with a slightly mm, how long have I known this really eye. Which brings me to now-ish:)

⨁ CURRENTLY:
Having dreams of that summer. Having dreams of ...things that didn't happen that summer, couldn't have happened that summer, are ridiculous. Only -- they're so vivid. Almost more real than reality: sometimes he finds himself losing track of time thinking about them.

So far he just feels a little crazy and is maybe writing some music about how the dreams feels. From here...? Who knows.