Kal’mera Broun

Kal'mera Broun, later known as Kalvin Brnine, is a popular player character from Friends at the Table's PARTIZAN and PALISADE seasons. An engineer and arms manufacturer who was laid off shortly before the beginning of canon, Broun progresses from a mercenary to a reluctant revolutionary over the course of PARTIZAN and then, having changed their name, appears in PALISADE as a ship captain and wholly committed member of the revolution. 
== Popularity ==
In the 2023 round of Secret Samol, Friends at the Table fandom's annual gift exchange, they were the most-requested character with a record-breaking 66 requests. The most-requested ship of the year was also a tie between two pairings featuring them: Balence and Brnine/Gucci.Post by secret-samol (Nov 13, 2023). Tumblr. Retrieved November 27, 2023. (archive link) In 2024, they again topped the Secret Samol charts for most-requested character, and the top three most-requested ships were Balence, Brnine/Gucci, and Brnine/Jesset.Post by secret-samol (Nov 22, 2024). Tumblr. Retrieved Dec 1, 2024. Archived from the original on Dec 1, 2024. 
==Common Ships==
*Balence - By far the most popular Broun ship in the fandom; also popular with the show's cast.Ali Acampora, in PARTIZAN's post-mortem episode: "Um, the biggest Valence/Broun shipper on the podcast was Austin Walker? [...] Whenever they were together on screen, [Austin] would be like, 'Yeah, I’m into this, because I ship them.' And me and Dre would be like, 'Yeah. We get it. It’s sexy and it’s good.'" Broun and Valence begin as coworkers and over time become very close and "intimate" friends who have a profound impact on one another's lives. Much is also made in fandom of their two-way telepathic link.
*Gurbalence - An OT3 of Broun, Valence, and Gur Sevraq, a self-styled religious figure and reported miracle worker with whom Valence has a close relationship.
*Brnine/Gucci - While this ship had little to no presence while PARTIZAN was airing, developments in the characters' dynamic in PALISADE led to an explosion of Brnine/Gucci fanworks.
*Brnine/Jesset - Gained popularity through the airing of PALISADE, particularly after Jesset, a long-time friend of Brnine's and fellow revolutionary, began flirting with Brnine.
==Fanon==
Owing to Brnine's complete lack of social skills, a popular piece of fanon in PALISADE fandom is that they are the hottest character in the podcast...until they open their mouth.e.g., Brnine propaganda submitted to Tumblr's sexiest podcast character poll bracket: "As long as they're not talking, they're the hottest character in the game" (Sep 12, 2023) (archive link) After Friends at the Table's GM referred to them as "swagless" during PALISADE and another player joked that they are a "swagless fish", "swagless fish" also became a popular way for fans to describe Brnine.
In 2023, a meme about them having a toxic polycule developed in the fandom.
==Common Tropes in Fanworks==
*Xeno - Because Broun is an Apostolosian—i.e., a humanoid alien with some fish-like features—more explicit works will often feature xeno kink. Some works, such as imperialhare's popular Balence PWP see you in the morning,see you in the morning by imperialhare (May 11, 2020). Fanfiction posted to Archive of Our Own. Retrieved November 27, 2023. (archive link) depict them as having claspers like a shark.
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanfic===
* see you in the morning by imperialhare. A Balence PWP featuring xeno kink, robotic body repair, and telepath sex. As of November 2023, this is by far the most-kudosed PARTIZAN fic on AO3.
* an ocean of noise by volefriend.an ocean of noise by volefriend (Jul 31, 2020). Fanfiction posted to Archive of Our Own. Retrieved November 27, 2023. (archive link) A popular deathfic about Broun, Valence, and Gur Sevraq.
===Fanart===
File:FATTBrounArtZroem.jpg|alt=A person with maroon skin wears a patterned button-up shirt, suspenders, an oversized blazer, and formal shorts|Fanart of Broun in their formal wear by zroem
File:FATTBrounArtGoblinsnacks.png|alt=A person with maroon skin wearing baggy grey and black clothes and a white hood. Text reads "It's called fashion, look it up"|Fanart of Broun by goblinsnacks
File:Balence repairs by zroem.jpg|alt=Broun and Valence sit close together as Broun repairs Valence's robotic arm|Balence fanart by zroem
File:FATTBrounArtArp.png|alt=A person with maroon skin and shaggy hair wearing a glowing Dragonball scouter over one ear and eye|Fanart of Brnine as they appear in PALISADE by Arp
File:What do you need by courbet-nft - resized.png|Brnine/Gucci fanart: "What do you need?" by courbet-nft
File:Barbie posters meme FATT Kalvin Brnine vlasdygoth.jpg|Barbie Movie Poster by Vlasdygoth
==Archives and Communities==
* "Kalvin Brnine | Kal'mera Broun" tag on Archive of Our Own
==Links and Resources==
*Kal'mera Broun page at FatTWiki (canon resource)
==References==
Category:Friends at the Table