#brian mcd

aphtober day 4: guilt

brian and twilight. bc i care for they

SHAD!!!!! LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!!!!!!

When I decided to make KC the traitor it was more about her than Brian (other than thinking him being the traitor was boring because he was such a non character), so it wasnt as if I had any big plans for him. However, he does play a role in the story.

Once the old lord died, many of the guards in Phoenix drop left, leaving Garroth as the head guard of two teenagers while Dale, the only other adult, was unreliable at best. Brian is a try hard, hes trying to compensate for Dale's shortcomings but hes still young so he has his own. Training in brightport did set him up to be looking at greener pastures, to be intrigued by the offer to betray Phoenix drop and rise above his station but then he feels the sting of betrayal when Zenix, someone he thought of as his best friend, reveals himself to have been lying all along. And once Zane does what he does to Alexis, Brian understands the wildfire that kind of ambition holds, the kind that indiscriminately burns down everything in its path and it lights a different kind of fire under him, a protective one. For his home, his family, and he fights at Phoenix drops side for the battle with scaleswind.

He sticks behind in Phoenix drop for season 2 and is training Alexis as his apprentice, helping Dante and Nicole balance the weight of a lordless village. He doesnt necessarily get along with KC, though he understands why she was doing what she did and has done her best to make up for it, he still feels burned by the betrayal. When Zenix returns, Brian wont even talk to him until he helps save Alexis from the bandits outside Phoenix drop. After that they start rebuilding their friendship.

I wonder what happened to him like we never hear of him again after s1- obviously he ran away but where did he go? Especially after Zane was gone. How did Dale and Molly continue after knowing it was their child who betrayed them.

i’d like to think this happened at some point

sorry just finished your alexis fic and now im curious if you had any other thoughts/hcs abt that family!!!

YOU REMINDED ME ABOUT MY ALEXIS FIC. i DO have plans to finish it at some point in time because alexis is very fun to write 🩷🩷 but i have some thoughts too!!!

i've always wanted to know what the reason for brian's betrayal!! it's something i speculate on a lot and i think it comes down to brian having resentment towards his parents for sending him away at a young age and for having another baby later on (and doting on her so much) in life. he seemed to have mixed feelings about his betrayal but was probably manipulated by zane And scared for his own life if he didn't comply (after seeing what zane was capable of with alexis).

i do think he loved alexis though, in his own way. he might've been the one to watch her take her first steps (holding onto grey wind for support) and his name might've been her first word!

he also loved grey wind a LOT. he didn't go anywhere without that dog. made sure he was well fed and groomed and given attention <3 when he had a lot of guilt for what he was doing he at least had grey wind, who wouldn't hate him in the end

grey wind lived with molly and dale until he passed away from old age. he loved molly's cooking and going for slow walks with dale (he also peed on dale's slippers way too much. or stole them).

grey wind was also reallyyyy protective of alexis and was never really the same when she didn't follow her parents when they moved :(

in their new village, dale did guard work occassionally but mainly helped with financial issues and training younger guards! essentially the things he was doing in phoenix drop!

dale had a relapse with his drinking after brian's betrayal since it's a way he deals with guilt, but!! he dramatically cut down when alexis got a little older because he wanted to see his daughter grow up properly (and to not make the same mistakes he did with brian)

mollyyyy <3 she had a very hard time accepting brian's betrayal and later alexis' decision to become a guard. she's not a controlling mother but she wanted to keep alexis safe and that caused a lot of tension between them growing up. BUT once she accepted alexis' decision she became her biggest supporter and was always asking how her training was going (and she'd ask dante too whether alexis was doing well)

she has a few of brian's old things (some toys, baby clothes and things, and his helmet) tucked away in their house. he's a VERY sensitive topic for her but sometimes if she's alone she'll get out his things and just. watch them for a while. she buried something of his with grey wind too

alexis barely remembers her brother. she has one or two memories of him but they're very blurry. she is very curious about him but learns who not to ask. she's also quite defensive of him when people try to badmouth him (especially donna) and will argue with people over it despite being quite shy

her and kyle are BESTIES <3

also molly and dale still keep in touch with corey and emma <3

i think he found family and home in the enemies of Pheonix Drop when he was sent away.

if we’re following the medivial knight training process, he was sent away at 7 years old to become a page and start his training as a guard, and came back when he was 21 and knighted. its mentioned multiple times that dale is a drunk, and that he sent Brian away as soon as he was old enough to start training to become a knight. I doubt Brian saw this as a loving act from his father who was excited to share a passion of his with his son, but rather as a way to get Brian off his and mollys hands so Dale could continue to indulge in drinking.

When Brian does come back, im sure he is happy to be back to the place where he was born and grew up in for a handful of years, but by the time he is home Molly and Dale have had another kid, Alexis, who Dale is consistently there for and quits drinking for, especially after the whole shadow knight incident. Alexis has the father Brian never had, which i think ultimately makes Brian feel bitter and discarded, thus turning to the friends and family he had made in his time at the guard academy, which ultimately ended in his betrayal.