Post by America on Aug 12, 2011 3:52:36 GMT -5
The Character
Country Name: United States of America
Human Name: Alfred F. Jones
Gender: Male
Appearance:
Personality: It may seem at a first glance that America is nothing more than a simple minded individual, and even at a second, third and fourth glance, this continues to be apparent. He is a very upbeat character, occasionally to the point where some can find him loud and obnoxious. The blond has what could only be described as a short attention span, along with something of a hero complex. He's eccentric, always hungry, fairly headstrong and optimistic. Though it may seem with this personality that he's completely and fully in it for himself, this isn't necessarily true. He's actually rather selfless when it comes to putting another person's well-being, wishes or safety before his. If someone was in need of anything at all before him, he wouldn't hesitate in doing something to help. This could very well tie into the hero complex.
While it may appear almost to be unlikely with his usual excitable attitude and constant wide array of emotions, he does indeed have a serious side. This side of his is more rare to see, but it has even more so been brought out due to the happenings in the mansion. When it comes to a serious situation, he can more than usually take a hold of it by the reins and deal with it the best he can without panicking. If he thinks he's outmatched—a rarity—or if someone he cares for is on the line in any way, he will still be making every effort to do his best and pull through, but it's fairly easy to tell that he's not keeping his calm, even if in the slightest.
Having his serious side and being as apparently heroic as he often proclaims himself to be, America also has his weaknesses and fears, just like everyone else. For one, he is absolutely horrified of ghosts. If anyone so much as mentions them, he’s reduced to an unconfident and nervous puddle. If he actually feels as if he’s dealing with ghosts, even if they’re fictional, he’ll likely scream, flail and latch onto whatever person or object is nearest. It also takes a lot to get him to snap out of this. This doesn't apply to anything he doesn't consider a ghost, however. He's perfectly fine dealing with 'monsters'. America also has a strong dislike for dark, eerie places, such as caves, graveyards or basements. Along with darkness, he also can’t stand silence, especially if he's alone.
When he's alone, he's also somewhat more reserved that he would be if he was accompanied by others. Though he occasionally talks to himself, whistles or hums to keep the threat of complete silence at bay, he's certainly not as bouncy or chipper as he would be if he was in a group or even with one other person. This being said, when he's with anyone, he's his usual lively self, even if they're strangers.
Weapon: America defends himself with a handgun, better classified as a pistol. He has excellent aim, but uses up the majority of his ammo without even realizing it. If it came down to it, America would have no problem battling with his hands.
Likes:
★ Eating
★ Goofing off
★ Teasing
★ Making others glance at him a second time
★ Being needed by others
★ Heroes
★ Movies
★ Comic books
★ Video games
★ Birds
★ The sky
★ Aliens and outer space
★ Doodling
Dislikes:
☆ The dark
☆ Ghosts
☆ Storms
☆ The cold
☆ Being treated as or being called a kid
☆ Being called 'overweight'
☆ Others having to help him
☆ Being restricted
☆ Being ignored
☆ Silence
☆ Feeling lonely
☆ Boredom
Strengths:
► Strength; Indeed, one of his most prominent strengths is strength itself. America, even before he was a colony, had the sheer strength to lift a bull from the ground and twirl it around in the air as if it were a rag doll. Enough said.
► Optism; America has always been one to look on the lighter side. Even at times when things seem hopeless, he can still find some sort of hope to latch onto. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, he doesn't hesitate to try and lighten the mood or get others back on their feet and raring to go, more often than not by acting like a goofball.
► Perks of diversity; Due to his home being such a racially diverse place, he's picked up on much of different cultures and languages. On the subject of languages, he can speak many fluently.
► Bravery; America is a courageous person, even considering his fears. He'll dive into any challenge head on, even if the challenge is something as simple and seemingly ridiculous as forcing himself to sit through a horror movie sure to give him nightmares afterward.
► Passing off; Slightly more often than sometimes, America receives criticism that isn't exactly constructive or with well intent, or at least doesn't sound that way. He can usually laugh and blow it off, occasionally throwing a sarcastic and potentially insulting comment back. He tends not to let those things bother him.
► Attentive; While America acts cheerfully aloof most of the time, sometimes even going so far as pretending to be oblivious to certain matters, he does indeed pay very much attention to his surroundings, the people around him and how they interact with others. He'd likely never flat out state anything about this. He is also very skilled in dissecting how people act and determining how they feel, what their motives are, something close to what they may be thinking and why, if he actually feels like it. Of course, he still remains oblivious to what most people think or feel about him.
Weaknesses:
► Recklessness; America has a bit of a habit of being reckless. It's in his nature, after all. He'll often charge into any given situation without giving it much thought beforehand, unless someone else is on the line, of course, in which case, he actually will take the time to plan things out.
► Breakdown; America is capable of keeping calm with most situations, but when he feels that something is impossible, hopeless or in the event that he loses whatever he was fighting for, he simply cracks under the pressure.
► Self-blame; While he doesn't let others' criticism bother him, and though it may seem as if this is entirely out of character for him, America is actually rather quick to find a way to blame himself when things go wrong. He immediately jumps to, "I could have done something", or, "I was so stupid not to anticipate this".
► Inexperience; Though America has experienced a lot in his history thus far and may sometimes talk as if he knows more than anyone else, he truly doesn't. He is still one of the youngest of the nations, being a world power or not. While he does have insight and can indeed apply logic and past experience to different situations, It's simply not as keen or developed as that of what an older nation's might be. He still has much to learn, and even he is aware of this. He happens to go by something similar to 'live and learn', however. This could tie into his recklessness.
► Stubbornness; Once America makes up his mind, It's very difficult to get him to think or do otherwise. Being a little stubborn can certainly be a good thing, but not all the time.
Sample Post:
Alfred grinned to himself, blue optics practically shimmering with amusement as he glanced up from his handiwork and gazed at the Englishman on the opposite side of the room.
Arthur was actually paying attention to the class lecture, of course. So studious, so like him.. vastly different in comparison to Alfred, who was currently busying himself in making a paper airplane out of the very important study guide that the teacher whose voice was growing more and more distant had handed out a mere two minutes previously.
Why was the blond making a paper airplane? Well, for two reasons. One, he was bored out of his mind. Two, whenever Arthur happened to be focused on something, he always felt so compelled to break that focus. It was something Alfred found to be endless amounts fun, especially with the interesting and amusing ways he reacted.
He began to put on the final touches to the small, makeshift plane, his fingers pressing carefully and precisely against the creases as if he'd repeated the motion a hundred times.
The American was just about ready to send it on its first and final take off before caught a bit of movement to his side as the teacher at the front of the room directed all her attention to the board. He turned his head, finding his friend, Kiku, eying him with wide, dark eyes. The raven haired teen was shaking his head and hands in an exasperated, desperate way. It was clear that he knew exactly what Alfred was planning on doing.
In response, Alfred almost laughed, but fortunately remembered to mind his volume. Instead, he simply grinned, pointing at his paper airplane, making some sort of whooshing example with his hand and then pointing to Arthur, as if this was supposed to be something to reassure him.
Kiku frowned deeply at this, shaking his head even more insistently than before.
Regardless of the other's silent protests, he stuck out his tongue, a look of deep concentration setting on his features, aimed, and let it slip away from his fingers, all too knowingly setting himself up for an angry lecture after class.
Heck, Alfred thought to himself as the plane, having been thrown so skillfully, nestled in the somewhat tousled hair of the back of the slowly but surely scowling teen's head. He flashed the older student a brilliant smile just as he turned to face him, regardless of how much of a contrast his expression was. Anything if I can get Arthur to pay attention to me instead of his stupid school work.
Arthur was actually paying attention to the class lecture, of course. So studious, so like him.. vastly different in comparison to Alfred, who was currently busying himself in making a paper airplane out of the very important study guide that the teacher whose voice was growing more and more distant had handed out a mere two minutes previously.
Why was the blond making a paper airplane? Well, for two reasons. One, he was bored out of his mind. Two, whenever Arthur happened to be focused on something, he always felt so compelled to break that focus. It was something Alfred found to be endless amounts fun, especially with the interesting and amusing ways he reacted.
He began to put on the final touches to the small, makeshift plane, his fingers pressing carefully and precisely against the creases as if he'd repeated the motion a hundred times.
The American was just about ready to send it on its first and final take off before caught a bit of movement to his side as the teacher at the front of the room directed all her attention to the board. He turned his head, finding his friend, Kiku, eying him with wide, dark eyes. The raven haired teen was shaking his head and hands in an exasperated, desperate way. It was clear that he knew exactly what Alfred was planning on doing.
In response, Alfred almost laughed, but fortunately remembered to mind his volume. Instead, he simply grinned, pointing at his paper airplane, making some sort of whooshing example with his hand and then pointing to Arthur, as if this was supposed to be something to reassure him.
Kiku frowned deeply at this, shaking his head even more insistently than before.
Regardless of the other's silent protests, he stuck out his tongue, a look of deep concentration setting on his features, aimed, and let it slip away from his fingers, all too knowingly setting himself up for an angry lecture after class.
Heck, Alfred thought to himself as the plane, having been thrown so skillfully, nestled in the somewhat tousled hair of the back of the slowly but surely scowling teen's head. He flashed the older student a brilliant smile just as he turned to face him, regardless of how much of a contrast his expression was. Anything if I can get Arthur to pay attention to me instead of his stupid school work.
Did you read the rules?: Yup! ★ Eyebrows, ★ maple, ★ knives, ★ tomatoes, ★FREEDOM and ★ roses are pretty cool. ‘Cept for maybe eyebrows. And knives can kinda’ puncture you, and what not. But whatever.
The Player
Name: Most of my friends call me Ash or Ashmee. You can also just call me America, Alfred, Alfie or any different kind of rendition of the three~. c:
Timezone: GMT -5 Eastern