The Flamebearer’s Male Characters

~ emadisoncawein

Character Comparisons
CIARAN – NATURALLY TANTRIC, Ciaran is a richly complex character, with elements of both strength and vulnerability, an almost naive emotional honesty, and a deeply felt need for love and intimacy. He is very direct, looking not just at you, but into you and through you, expressing an unfeigned desire to know you and to be known by you. He is changeable, unpredictable, at times abrasively impatient, even rude and dismissive, leading to the impression that he is arrogant and self-absorbed. If he learns that his words or his behavior have inadvertently injured someone he cares about, his remorse is instant and devastating.
  • Basic Fear: Of being worthless
  • Basic Desire: To feel valuable and worthwhile

He alternates between extremes of heat, passion, immediacy, and urgency on the one hand and a seemingly limitless capacity for tenderness and rapturous love on the other.

Ciaran tends to alternate wildly between ego-inflation and self-doubt; he can be self-assured and outstanding in many ways, yet also introspective and sensitive.

Whatever he does, he devotes himself to it body and soul. He hungers for the transformative experience, yet he finds himself perpetually suspended between yearning and possessing, never quite ascending to the exalted understanding he seeks. Will he forever be a restless spirit full of ambiguity and creative turbulence, striving after an outcome so elusive that, despite his determination, he can never hope to reach its promise of perfect equilibrium and fulfillment?

ROBYN – PLAYFUL, BOYISH, CHARMINGLY EARNEST, Robyn embodies the eternal youth – adventurous, freedom-loving, and a bit of a rogue. His penchant for drinking, gambling, sport and all manner of amusements has led him into trouble more than once, but with his instinctive good luck, he typically succeeds in finding his way out.

He can be noticeably childlike, engaging, silly, and despite difficult experiences, he tends to retain a certain innocence and belief in life’s goodness. If he has money, he is generous with others. He has a soft, sweet side which can be very appealing. When he is functioning at his best, he is upbeat, enthusiastic, energetic, and optimistic. People enjoy his sense of humor and high spirits. He can be witty, quick with repartee, always ready with the facetious quip, the tongue-in-cheek aside. His sense of humor leans toward irony and sarcasm. He is a gifted story-teller.

Despite his Devil-May-Care attitude, Robyn has developed a realistic, pragmatic approach to daily events. He doesn’t take life – or himself – too seriously. He is bold and vivacious, pursuing what he wants with cheerful determination. Unlike his companions, he is comfortable in his own skin, at ease in most social situations, and not especially prone to deep thinking on any subject. He prefers casual and spontaneous encounters with women. He likes his sex rough and spirited, enhanced by several servings of his favorite lubricant – a hearty pint of ale.

Robyn enjoys encountering and interacting with other human beings. Robyn genuinely enjoys friendship, whether among his peers or with members of the opposite sex – and in spite of his easygoing, non-committal nature, he tends to develop strong bonds with the people with whom he chooses to spend his time. His genial, broad-minded personality garners him a wide-ranging, vastly diverse group of acquaintances, from princes to stable boys, harlots to scholars, and everything in-between. He possesses an uncanny talent for befriending people of all stripes: nobles, merchants, mummers, and priests.

Robyn is that odd combination of philosopher and skeptic rolled into one. Expansive, optimistic, truthful to a fault, he remains suspicious of orthodox religion with its dogma and hypocrisy, but speculates that the apparent randomness of life’s events are part of a greater plan, and that, ultimately, things have a way of working out for the best.
 THE BRUCE – powerful, physically imposing, and at the same time, emotionally reserved and surprisingly modest, the Highlander is both strong and weak, fearful and courageous, trusting and distrusting, a defender and a provoker, sweet and sour, aggressive and passive, a bully and a weakling, defensive and offensive, a thinker and a doer, a group person and a soloist, a believer and a doubter, cooperative and obstructionist, tender and mean, generous and petty—and on and on. In short, he is a  bundle of opposites.
He is often ambivalent about his feelings, frequently sending ambiguous, mixed signals to other people. His gruff outward demeanor masks an interior sensitivity which all but the most astute observers of human nature fail to detect. Those rare folk who possess enough insight and depth to recognize an Old Soul when they see one are naturally drawn to him though it may take years to break down his defenses and build enough trust for the Bruce to expose his True Self.
He can be moody, grumpy, and downright impossible sometimes, retreating into his “cave” to sulk, transmitting silent, but unequivocal recriminations and implied blame to whoever has wounded him. He may remain in one of his black moods for days, or even weeks; long after everyone else has forgotten the argument. When he, at last, decides to emerge from his (largely self-imposed) cocoon of pain, he expresses his desire to make amends by quietly going out of his way to do a good turn for the erstwhile offender. With a minimum of dialog, he demonstrates his thoughtfulness by delivering the unexpected, yet precisely well-timed gift or favor, without ever having discussed it previously.  *See “Puppies for the Gryffin”
Not gifted in the art of verbal communication like his companions, the Bruce is an attentive listener, and while his quiescence might lead some to believe he is disengaged or disinterested, he, in fact, possesses an almost supernatural memory for the details of what others reveal to him in moments of self-doubt, wavering courage, or loss of faith. In his understated way, he comes through for those he loves, which in the final analysis, reveals a man of great character, compassion, and humanity.