Bryan, the Get to Know your Characters ask n_n
Rambles on Bryan under cut --
01. Full name: Bryan Castedem Na’Bransi
02. Best friend: In canon, Fire Mage, of course. In AUs, the title would be split between the FM and Aerith, bc. adorable book buds for the win.
03. Sexuality: I’m just gonna put no here. I mean, after learning more about asexuality, I’m nervous that defining Bryan as such would be a cop-out because while he does have a low interest in sex and hasn’t really experienced sexual attraction, that’s less as a result of who he is as a person and more of a result of successive traumatic experiences that have permanently impaired his ability to invest in others emotionally and physically. Asexual people aren’t broken, but Bryan very much is, so I feel as if it would be a misnomer to categorize him as asexual. *shrugs*
04. Favorite color: He actually likes shades of deep green and pure white. The forest in winter is his favorite place to be.
05. Relationship status: Single and deathly afraid of mingling.
06. Ideal mate: Probably someone who would be perfectly content with drinking tea in his company and listening to him ramble. Bryan’s mental state can be safely compared to that of an easily-startled rabbit; he’ll duck and hide at the slightest sign of aggression, but once he’s used to a person he’ll snuggle right up. So…probably someone who’s very patient as well, and doesn’t ask a lot of him. :)
07. Turn-ons: Eugh, this is weird – I don’t associate Bryan with sexual attraction at all, so I’d have to say that in terms of turn-ons, he doesn’t really have any?? I mean, he doesn’t really get turned on. XD In terms of actions that he likes and that make him want to stay around people, he’s most comfortable being spoken to in a gentle, non-aggressive tone. Sharp words tend to tax his nerves, but it’s relaxing to listen to someone with a calming voice.
08. Favorite food: He’s seriously fond of cinnamon stick tea, which he hasn’t had in a while because none grows in the forest and he hates to ask the FM for things.
09. Crushes: He doesn’t have any currently – in fact, I’m not sure if he ever had any romantic crushes. He did see people that he really wanted to be friends with though, if that counts. :)
10. Favorite music: Birdsong is actually enough for him. People say he’s a good singer, but he doesn’t think anything he can sing is nearly a match for what nature can produce. Which might be the most hipster thing I’ve ever written unironically.
11. Biggest fear: He’s not really afraid of a lot at this point, but he really doesn’t like the idea of living in a world without the FM. He doesn’t know what he’d do with himself.
12. Biggest fantasy: Going non-sexual on this, being that Bryan’s a non-sexual person (which is hilarious, considering he’s easily the most attractive of my OCs). His biggest fantasy is having things continue as they are. He isn’t stupid – he knows the world is breaking and his greatest dream is that its breaking won’t harm what he has. He would actually be pretty happy if life was an eternal summer evening, chatting with the Fire Mage over tea.
13. Bad habits: I would say snapping and murdering people in cold blood is a pretty bad habit. He needs to find a middle ground between ‘upset’ and ‘murder’.
14. Biggest regret: Not leaving the Institution sooner. He always knew he wasn’t meant for that place of invisible chains, but hesitated in leaving because he still had hope for some form of acceptance. Now that he’s out and so much happier with where he is, he just wished he’d left earlier in his life, before the blood on his hands meant sending Gog away.
15. Best kept secrets: Well, he hasn’t gone into his one and only highly traumatic sexual experience with anyone, which is only positive because he really doesn’t want to talk about it. I personally find it highly problematic that no one in his life (*stares accusing at Ellis bc shit man shiiiit*) ever asked.
16. Last thought: Well, okay.
17. Worst romantic experience: Do you honestly want to hear about this? I don’t have anything funny or nice for this. Usually I can do funny or nice but this is not…either of those. I don’t even think that what my poor forest child went through counts as ‘romantic’ by a long shot, but the sad part is, it is the only ‘romantic’ experience he’s had and it is what he associates romance or any physical contact really with. You don’t want to hear about this. It’s not a nice story.
18. Biggest insecurity: Bryan is actually a walking, talking bundle of anxiety, so he has a huge number of insecurities. I’d say that his biggest involves his utter lack of eloquence; he hates the fact that he can never make his words sound right, and fervently hopes he’s never in a situation where he only has one chance at saying something correctly, because chances are he won’t.
19. Weapon of choice: Although he’s undoubtedly better with magic, Bryan is rather fond of his bow, Heartstring. It’s a composite longbow, meaning that Bryan’s gotten some major upper-body strength from handling it (Ellis will forever be salty about his little bro’s rock-solid biceps like gdi becoming a hermit isn’t supposed to make you hotter). He just likes being an archer; firing an arrow takes such minute concentration that he can shut out all the pieces of himself he doesn’t like and focus on the trajectory of the arrow; when it hits its mark, he feels pretty good about himself, which is a rare feeling for him. :)
20. Role Model: Bryan actually looked up to his brother Artore a lot before he died; Bryan’s not the sort to often identify with others, but Artore was one of those people that could inspire even the most apathetic. There was an effortless confidence, a clear-headed sense of purpose, that Artore intrinsically possessed which Bryan found worthy of admiration. He strove to be like Artore in all aspects (often failing, but ever trying) until humans lynched him, which pretty much taught Bryan that no matter how great of an elf you are, you’re still an elf, and if you don’t keep your head down you’ll probably die for it. Always a bundle of sunshine, this one. n_n;
No matter how painful it always is, I do quite like talking about Bryan; thanks for the ask! :)