Why I write charters the way I do: first up! FTO Bryan!
Ramble time baby, line when i start and stop.
before I get into why I have to explain how he cannonly is, which- ho boy…
the best I can explain it is shoenon protagonist, like the same black haired cool guy with OP powers who gets all the lady’s in like every overly sexualized anime that has a plot where you know their gonna win no matter what because their so cool.
granted cannon bryan isn’t that horrible but my point stands, fairly interesting on paper but the execution isn’t there and by the time it is it feels bland.
cannon Bryan is a one of the richest people in the nation, a skilled swordsman with the best education that money can buy, struggles with his mental health and his parents passed in a tragic fire.
my issue isn’t the premise it’s the fact it’s only started to be somewhat fleshed out in season 5, After about 15 episodes with him. Bryan is mostly there for plot in season 4 and dosent get a lot of one on one meaningful adventures with anyoen in the guild the best we get is the great fairy quest and that’s more on the adventure and the camping trip which were just kinda shown Bryan’s an idiot which goes against him being well educated.
this does effect his relationships with others especially his guild mates, in other POVs we see jakey and kay going on adventures together Jakey and Lo’Pho, Kay brick and Stu, Mario does his own solo adventure after his singler one on one with Bryan and mario interacting with the other protectors more than Bryan.
it’s likly why Bryan/Jakey is as disliked as it is we love Bryan dispite his often time bare bones charter but we’re also shown how flawed jakey is due to his own more fleshed out plot, that combined with how little build up to the actual relationship and the frankly unnecessary drama in season 5 makes it easy to dislike the ship. We don’t get any build between Bryan and others and are decently left with our own take on the guy. It’s why something like ToxicFlare is so appealing due to Bryan and Viper having not only similarities but also chemistry with how they interact.
I’m not saying there’s nothing to Bryan there just needs to be more of it.
I prefer to baise Bryan decently a bit with how he comes off in his first ep, with the strict professionalism he has there. Entire time his voice is level and clear, he speaks with prorpose only shifting when talking about his parents passing(a slight drop in pitch and slower speech) and when displaying one of his spells(raise in volume).
I take that and apply it as kinda like a fortress wall around him, it’s him and it’s an important part of him but it’s not his whole self. It’s there about as a ward and defense from attack with only those with permission allowed access. Its also the part of him that is intertwined with his job as a noble a calm leader a man who can relided on.
It also serves as contrast to what it’s protecting a much more gentler and scared man er- well… it’s a bit more fitting to call him a boy. If you’ve somehow missed it I pin Bryan as being about 19 and a half during the start of season 4 which along with his trama I use to somewhat point to the fact of Bryan being a child who grew up too fast.
Bryan was cannoncly a young child left with a very large and profitable company after his parents passing and in addition to social pressure of other people in the same social circle as him he would have been under immense stress(as Nova points out as well) leading to him being mentally forced to his feet and forced to run and tossing his emotions to the wayside just to survive. It’s why I having him in the camping chapter(soon to be redone) the thinking of “if things go south someone’s gonna die out here” he’s always thinking negatively so he can counter it.
it also ties into cannon Bryan’s reason for joining the protectors: to prevent harm and stop the same kinda of pain he suffered from from hurting others.
but at the end of it all he is a soft person, he’s scared of disappointing others, of letting someone get hurt, of FAILURE.
the most gentle part of him his core recoil’s violently at the mere thought of failure so he makes sure things run smoothly, the city the protectors his own squdueal. He dosent like sudden changes because he has to redo everything and oftentimes sudden means he dosent have the time to do so so he’s learned to adapt quickly.
but joining the protectors means being forced outside that structure.
the protectors are chaos all the guilds are to some extent but them in particular are more day to day familial chaos.
and that’s something Bryan’s not used to and so desperately needs after being so alone for so long. He needs to be loved and be able to be soft without judgement.
And he gets to be a goofy lizard when they finally get past those walls. They get to see how silly he is how weird he is what makes him him and why he’s so driven to do what he does.
for one his relationship with Kay:
They’re those chaodic siblings who but heads but are perfect for when it comes to setting up pranks(pranks bewilder and confuse not harm) a bunch of disposable palstic cups all over your kitchen? It’s them. Streamers hanging from your hallways roof when you come home from work? Them. A stuffed animal suddenly in your face when you open the door? Them.
They are chaos and they know it. And it starts because Kay looked at Bryan right into his soul: “I’m going to platoniclly love you long after I’m dead and buried.” With such determination it scared that damn tax lizard. She clings to him and he ever so slowly warms up to it until he’s willing seeking her out and acknowledging it.
Lo’Pho is Bryan and Kay’s father figure, is he the best father figure? Hell no. But he does care and tries to do right it’s just how he gre up and his trama blurs that for him most times and mostly that’s because he lets it. But he serves as stern mentor who will defend his students, heck he barely hesitates to do so. As prideful, stern and hella flawed as Lo’Pho is he still is a solid rock to lean on when he clears his mind and sets things in motion. Bryan and Kay do need that in an adult figure.
their relationship starts as jakey being kinda scared of Bryan especially, Lo’Phos simalerly scary but his appearance softens it(unfortunately for him) so it’s not as bad, but everytime bryan looks in his direction it’s with a cold glare like he’s going to gut him and study his insides(partly jakey overthinking partly because Bryan has a resting bit— face and never stops thinking) it would develop with them actually doing stuff together before a relationship like a quest or just Kay dragging them both into doing something with her for fun like baking, and Jakey slowly getting used to then recognizing Bryan as being a good person, as no evil or horrible person would be so gentle with Oliver or entertain Kay’s very loud and enthusiastic presence without some motive and whats Bryan got to gain from baking with them besides quality time.
To summarize I baise their relationship as a kinda high strung fear driven man with a fear controlled hiding in fluff kinda thing to put it as bare bones as possible. The two can learn from eachother, namely by learning better parts of eachother. Bryan would learn from jakey how to take things slower, to breath to just have a day without anything in there just because he had free time. Jakey meanwhile would learn how to identify what he needs to pioratize and manage things accordingly. They lean on eachother and breath when they have time to themselves.(also fu——- communicate more)
