Post by Russia on Nov 22, 2011 1:32:50 GMT -5
The Character
Country Name:Russia
Human Name:Ivan Nikolaevich Braginov
Gender:Male
Appearance:
Personality:
Don't call him Ivan unless he says it's okay, and especially not Vanya (heaven help you if you say Vanushka or Van'ka). He feels these names are too personal and meant to used among good friends and such. However, he'd be more than happy to explain to you the proper use of these names if you ask nicely. Expect awkward bluntness. Sometimes, he will allow Ivan Nikolaevich if you insist on referring to him as a person, but he prefers Russia.
Russia's accent is also very noticeable, but not grossly so. He doesn't use English contractions or articles such as "the" or "a/an". He also has some odd grammatical patterns, especially with auxiliary verbs. His accent gets very thick when he's upset or when he's playing it up for intimidation factor. When in a psychotic episode, you'll be lucky if he says anything in English at all.
He can seem very cold and stand-offish when you first meet him, and even though he smiles, he seems unfriendly. Don't be put off by the lack of personal space he gives you, as Russians customarily have a closer distance that they stand at when conversing with someone. Deep down though, he really only wants to have lots of friends, something he's never actually had. He's really a very lonely person, so if he happens to become attached to someone, he will be fiercely protective of them... almost to the point of seeing them as property. If they are hurt or killed, he will fly into a violent rage that will end in blood and potentially death. If he accidentally hurts someone he cares about, because he never does it on purpose (sometimes he can't control himself), he will proceed to hurt himself to at least the extent of the damage he caused. He will always do this in secret so no one can see and hide it with clothing.
It's really a gamble with whatever emotion Russia could feel at any single point in time as it could be anything; like a mixed bag, you never know quite what you're going to get. The violence and rage are actually abnormal, despite rumors, as he tends to keep a very calm expression, smiling to conceal how he really feels inside, which is generally a pervading feeling of melancholy. Because of this, he prone to apathy, not caring about other people, situations or much of anything at all depending on just how apathetic he is at the moment.
However, there are some rules that can be useful for anticipating his feelings. He is always easily annoyed when he wakes up, is talking on the phone, just after talking on the phone, or when his tea is cold. If there is blood on his hands (not on his gloves, but on his actual hands), he could potentially go into a psychotic episode. This is also triggered by sudden emotional trauma, such as losing a loved one or a loved one being hurt... or being betrayed. He does not trust easily for this reason. Also, touching the scarf counts as emotional trauma as he considers it a very private part of his person (because Ukraine gave him the scarf and also because it hides the ligature marks, which he will not show to anyone, on his neck from when he attempted to hang himself after the Romanov murders).
Psychotic episodes are pretty much the only time he ever loses his cool. He is prone to indiscriminate violence, screaming, mad laughter, blood lust and paranoia. However, after about five minutes at most, he will calm down and collapse to the floor in exhaustion. However, he never "kol"s during a psychotic episode, as those are done on purpose when he is annoyed and trying to intimidate someone.
He is also brutally honest to a fault, not caring about the other person's feeling as long as the truth is told. He is also very logical, even if sometimes that logic strays off to only making sense in his own head. Unfortunately, this sometimes combine with his apathy to make others around him expendable should his logic dictate it to be the most efficient or effective route.
Russia is also capable of being completely childish when the situation is not absolutely dire (and even then sometimes). When he's like this, he acts as though everything is just part of a game that he's going to win and is not above being cruel to get his way. If he likes you, you are at a far less risk of this potential treatment. Normally though, he is somewhat serious, if not at least vaguely sarcastic, and will behave like a mostly mature, if creepy, adult... who is still not above threats and pain to get his way.
On the plus side, his childish nature makes him easily embarrassed, especially if you call him cute. He was hide in his scarf and go bright red. When he's incredibly happy, beyond what normal people show as happy, he will actually seem to be filled with joy... which is an odd sight to see... practically beaming and wishing to hug those nearby or those that have made him happy.
In the end, if he trusts you or likes you, you have a very powerful ally, but if you cross him, make that a very powerful enemy who will go out of his way to cause trouble for you.
Weapon:Shashka hidden in a long pipe, can be quickly twisted open for use, the pipe body/scabbard can be used as a bludgeon
Likes:
★Vodka
★Sunflowers
★Seeing blood, even though it's a trigger, because it's so pretty
★Seeing people happy (or screaming and bleeding, both work)
★Cats
★Knitting
★Scarves
★Black tea with sugar or jam
Dislikes:
★Talking on his cell phone, but does it anyway
★People not taking him seriously
★People he actually cares about being hurt
★Being caged
★Being told "no"
★People touching his scarf
★His tea being cold
Strengths:
★Intimidating
★Physically strong
★Calm most of the time, even when he shouldn't be
★Logical, at least to himself, to a fault
★Brutally honest, to a fault
★Good at hiding his emotions when not triggered
★Defends someone he cares about to the death
★Not above cruelty
Weaknesses:
★Not a fast runner
★Clumsy
★Vindictive
★Sometimes childish (Everything is a game and he's selfish, but this is not the norm)
★Potentially violently emotionally unstable if triggered
★The smile is fake most of the time
★Potentially apathetic
★Can lapse into mad cackling or a repetive chant of "kol"
Sample Post:
The cell door made an obstinate sound as it refused to open for his hand. Over and over again, he tried it with different amounts of pressure. That couldn't be right. It was just flimsy metal! He should be able to just bend this if he wanted to! It had been open a second ago, why was it locked now?! The calm smile on his face slowly began to turn into a scowl as he gained no ground with the infernal contraption. He gripped the mechanism firmly in his hand, yanking and pulling and tugging, all in futility. He'd only come here to check that box in the back the cell for the others, in case there was anything in there they needed or could somehow use, but now he was locked in this God-forsaken metal cage. Sure, he had plenty of room but that wasn't the point!
"Мат!" he swore, dropping his pipe to the ground beside him as he got both hands in on persuading the lock to follow his directions. He even lodged one of his boots against the bars underneath the latch to put more torque on it. No matter how much he struggled, no matter how much he tried... It wasn't giving him even an inch of freedom.
Russia slid to his knees in defeat, arms looped through the bars as he almost dangled off them with his head hung down in shame. This is what he got for daring to go off alone. "Нет..." he whispered. He was stuck until someone came to find him... but he doubted they would... No one would come for him. He was Russia and no one cared about him.
Did you read the rules?:
★Eyebrows
★Knife
★Tomato
★Rose
★Freedom
★Maple
The Player
Name:Vilhelm (I also go by Ivan out of habit, so
whatever you like)
Timezone:GMT - 8 (PST)
