( APPLICATION ) ❖ SPLENDOROCITY
Player Information:
Name: Katie
Journal: tyne
Method of Contact: shinyrapidash @ aim
Previous characters: n/a
Character Information:
Full Name: Arthur Kirkland / England
Series: Axis Powers Hetalia
Canon point: Present day
Age: Thousands of years; 23 by appearance
Species: Personified country; Human
Appearance/PB: Military uniform & casual
Appearance upon arrival: Nothing unusual
History:
Previous RP memories: None
Bringing someone along?: Just his lonely old self.
Character History: Just a note: I'm not playing Arthur as the entire United Kingdom. In the Hetalia fandom some may see or play him as the entire UK. However, for my interpretation, he is the separate state of England. He may however, refer to himself as Britain or the UK-- but he is not the whole UK as in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland in one character.
England's major starting point was around 43 A.D. when the Romans invaded and maintained their control over what was the Provence of Britannia all through the 5th century. However, there was human habitation which dates back to the end of the last ice age. Whilst the Roman departure was settled in England, the Anglo-Saxons invaded which is sometimes believed as the very origin of England and the English people. Many kingdoms were established in England by the Anglo-Saxons-- which were tribes all of a Germanic descent. To England they introduced various important things such as the Old English language itself. Roman Britain refers to when Great Britain was controlled by the Roman Empire. In the Hetalia canon, the character representing Rome goes by the name of Grandpa Rome. The Roman rule over Britain lasted between 43 A.D. and roughly on to 410. Britain was most often referred to by The Roman as "Britannia." The Romans first targeted the south of the island nation, an invasion which was carried out upon entering Britain along the River Thames. After capturing the south of the island, The Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. Wales, in Hetalia is, as England describes, one of his older brothers. After seizing Wales The Romans returned to their conquering and managed to obtain more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. As The Romans continued to develop their Britannia, in 293 AD, Constantius Chlorus arrived in London and chose to divide the providence of Britannia even further. Many of Britain's major cities, such as London (Londinium), Manchester (Mamucium) and York (Eburacum), were founded by the Romans. The Romans also built water supply, sanitation and sewage systems. The Roman departure of Britain finally came around 410.
Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attack on all sides towards the end of the 4th century, and troops were too few to mount an effective defence. In the wake of the breakdown of Roman rule in Britain around 410, present day England was progressively settled by Germanic groups. The first invasion was carried out around the middle of the 5th century. The population of Britain dramatically decreased after the Roman period.
In the fifth century before the Norman Conquest of England, the establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in Britain came first. The fifth and sixth centuries are known archaeologically as Sub-Roman Britain, or in popular history as the 'Dark Ages'. For most of this period England was split between areas controlled by the Anglo-Saxons and by the British. The arrival of the Vikings at the end of the eighth century brought many changes to Britain. Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England began around 600 AD, influenced by Celtic Christianity from the north west and by the Roman Catholic Church from the south east.
Then came the Viking challenge and the rise of Wessex in the 9th century. The first Viking attack was in 793 in a place called Lindisfarne. Despite an upset British government, the Vikings eventually settled in England as they continued to carry out small-scale raids. An important centre for the Vikings was York, which they named Jorvik. The Danish and Norwegian settlement in England had very strong impacts, one of which being the language adaptation. There are significant traces in the English language that came from Danish and Norwegian roots. Defence against the Vikings took place, mainly noted by Alfred the Great. Alfred the Great was king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex and was the first king to receive the epithet "the Great" for his defence. He repelled Viking attacks across England by onlooking where the ships were coming from and killing them off where they stood in order to prevent them from landing and conquering again.
In the 10th Century, Alfred the Great died in 899, and was succeeded by his son Edward the Elder. Edward continued to lead his father's doing by seizing territory back from the Danes and fighting off even more Danish attacks. By 918, Edward had gained control of the whole of the south of England. The unification was permanently established despite a few more losses of England's regions (Northumbria) but they were shortly regained. The renewed Norse attacks on England took place in the final decade of the 10th century. Edward's son, Æthelred, did briefly lose his kingdom within England to the Viking Sweyn of Denmark but regained it following Sweyn's death. However, Æthelred's eldest son Edmund II Ironside died shortly after him, allowing Cnut the Great, Sweyn's son, to become king of England, which then became part of a Viking empire stretching from Denmark to Ireland. In this period there is a possibility that Viking culture was properly inherited by England, although Vikings had been settled in the Danelaw (England north of Watling Street) for at least a century earlier. Rule over England bounced between descendants of Æthelred and Canute for the first half of the 11th century. This resulted by 1066 in several people having a claim to the English throne. A well known battle took place in this year - the Battle of Hastings. Before the Battle of Hastings the Battle of Stamford Bridge took place-- which was so gruesome that the Viking tribes from across scandinavia never dared to tread on England again. The Battle of Hastings took place a few days later. Harold Godwinson, who succeeded in the Battle of Stamford Bridge fell in battle against William of Normandy, thus ruling the right to be King of England over to William. William was crowned on Christmas day in 1066 and began a programme of consolidation. Not all of the Britons were satisfied with his reign and rebellions were carried out until 1071.
Then came the Norman Conquest. England's new ruler, William, ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey of the entire population and their lands and property for tax purposes, which reveals that within twenty years of the conquest the English ruling class had been almost entirely dispossessed and replaced by Norman landholders, who also monopolised all senior positions in the government and the Church. The followers of Willaim and Willaim himself spoke in Norman French, a language spoken by little people in England. It originated from Normandy in France and began to slowly weave itself into the founded Anglo-Saxon language that England had. This period, the Middle Ages, was characterised quite thoroughly by war and trade. England by this time was a good provider of cereals, dairy products, beef and mutton. The economy itself relied on wool trade. Things became shaky for England by 1139 when William's son Stephen took to the throne England saw many invasions by Scottish and Welsh raiders. Some of them obtained small patches of land. Following the death of Stephen, more invasions and attempts to seize the England throne took place until the Tudor period. The deadly Black Death and agricultural depression eventually hit England, killing at least a third of the population.
The Tudor period formally refers to the period between 1485 and 1603. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII (1457 - 1509). The term is often used more broadly to include Elizabeth I's reign (1558 - 1603), although this is often treated separately as the Elizabethan era.
The first king into this era was Henry VII. He came to the throne once the Wars of the Roses came to an end. Traditionally, the Battle of Bosworth Field is considered to mark the end of the Middle Ages in England. Parliament quickly recognised Henry as king, however most European rulers did not believe that he would survive long. A plot was formed to rebel against him called the Stafford and Lovell Rebellion of 1486. It presented no serious threat, but shortly after, Richard III's nephew John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, attempted to follow up this rebel a year later. England was invaded but Henry managed to prevent any overthrows that John de la Pole had planned. Manyrebels did follow after this. But Henry VII's foreign policy was a peaceful one. He had formed an alliance with Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, but in 1493, when they went to war with France, and England was dragged into the conflict. Henry did have no desire to go to war with France. In an attempt to prevent a long and unnecessary war with the French, Henry set them a treaty: that they recognise him as king and he will not invade. The French agreed to this, and tension between the two nations faded. Henry eventually died, leaving his next son Henry to the throne as his first child to the throne, Arthur, died of an illness aged 15.
Henry VIII is possibly one of England's most well-known kings. His first wife was Catherine of Aragon who he had several children with, however only one of them survived; a daughter named Mary. Despite his father's rather peaceful end to war with France, in 1512, a young Henry embarked on a war with France. Despite being Spain's ally, one of France's principal enemies, the war was mainly for King Henry's personal glory. As expected, the war accomplished little. After England claimed victory over France, Henry's brother-in-law activated a secret alliance with France in the name of Scotland and declared war on England. Because Henry was off in France (doing nothing important in the slightest), he left his advisers to take care of the invasion. Nonetheless, the Scots were defeated. After Henry returned from France he received victory even though he had nothing to do with it. Eventually, Henry's wife Catherine was no longer able to have any more children. This worried Henry as his only surviving child, Mary, would be next in line to the throne. Henry did not want a woman to gain power over England as a previous sovereign, Matilda in the 12th century, erupted into a disaster. He decided to divorce Catherine and find a new queen. However, the church would not grant this favour. This lead to an important historic event known as the English Reformation, where Henry had captured the Pope in 1527 as prisoner and overthrew England's current founded religion and established the Church of England under new values in order for him to divorce his wife. Henry is well noted for having six wives, of which: divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. Henry himself died in January 1547 at the age of 55 and was succeeded by his son.
After the reign of Edward VI, son of Henry VIII, there came the Elizabethan era. The Elizabethan era was associated with Queen Elizabeth I's reign (1558-1603) and is often considered to be the golden age in English history. During this time, English poetry, music and literature took a turning point in major success as famous writers such as William Shakespeare were from this time. Throughout this era England was a separate realm before its royal union with Scotland. Not only this, the conflict between France and England was delayed throughout this period, and England's greatest rival became Spain. Both Spain and England clashed in Europe and the Americas on several occasions, thus exploding into the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585-1604. An attempt was carried out to invade England by Philip II of Spain with the Spanish Armada in 1588 but was famously defeated. Afterwards, Spain provided support for Irish Catholics who were performing a series of rebels against England due to the religious change that Henry VIII carried out. Nonetheless, throughout this period England maintained a well-organised and effective government. Economically, the country benefited greatly from trade.
Elizabeth died in 1603 at the age of 69. Her closest male Protestant relative was the King of Scots, James VI, of the House of Stuart, who became King James I of England in a Union of the Crowns. The Union of Crowns was the union between Scotland and England which took place in 1707. Many disagreed with this union and several assassination attempts were plotted against James, the most famous being the Gunpowder Plot on the 5th of November 1605, carried out by a group of Catholic conspirators, lead by Guy Fawkes. Guy Fawkes filled the Houses of Parliament with gunpowder and in an attempt to blow up the government leaders. But at the last minute whilst he was lighting the match, he was caught red handed and immediately sentenced to death. If Guy Fawkes managed to carry out his plot, the union of Scotland and England would have been unlikely as James VI would have been killed. Upon taking power, James immediately made peace with Spain, and for the first half of the 17th century, England remained largely inactive in European politics.
In 1607, England built an establishment at Jamestown in North America. This was the beginning of English colonisation. The English began to settle in America and other countries for reasons relating to economics or religious beliefs. The main trade between England and its colonies was for the sole purpose of providing cotton and raw materials. All countries, despite being provided, would be under British rule. As the British Empire continued to sail and conquer, it grew until approximately a quarter of the world was under British rule. Many countries eventually gained their independence, the most well known being America's War of Independence. The last country that England had colonised was Hong Kong, which was eventually returned to the union of China.
For a more canon note on colonial England, England found his colonies at childhood and raised them to be like himself. America and Canada being the most prior examples of this. England found America when he was a baby and also took Canada as well. America eventually grew up and rebelled against England as America was unhappy to pay taxes to a royal family that he did not want to be associated with. But not all nations were young at discovery, some of them, like Seychelles, were at normal age when colonised by England. This is noted in the Hetalia Gakuen game where England simply tells Seychelles upon meeting her for the first time that she is now British territory and that she is to call him her master.
England's first Civil War (known as the English Civil War) broke out in 1642, the cause being a series of conflicts between James' son, Charles I, and Parliament. Throughout this war English territory was fought over by the Royalists (Charles I's side) and Parliamentarians. This war lasted until 1645, and the English monarchy was restored in 1660. In 1665, London was swept by the Great Fire, which raged for 5 days, destroying approximately 15,000 buildings. After the Restoration, there was an overall reduction in the power of the crown, and by the 18th century England rivalled the Netherlands for being the freest country in Europe.
Into the 18th century, the formation of the United Kingdom was emerging. The Acts of Union between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707 were combined and created a unified Kingdom of Great Britain governed by the Parliament of Great Britain. Ireland was formally inclined to join thus creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, despite an unwilling Ireland. Following into the late 18th century and early 19th centuries, there was increasingly high standard technological advances and increased mechanization, which was the Industrial Revolution of Great Britain. Many workplaces lifted from country regions into high class society.
Many political and military issues carried onward into the 20st Century. The Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 established the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) as a separate state, leaving Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. The official name of the UK thus became "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". In a separate act to the UK, England joined the European Economic Community in 1973 which became the European Union in 1993. There were also demands for a constitutional change in Scotland, as the Scotland Act 1998 was passed. The First Minister of the leadership, Alex Salmond was determined to move Scotland towards independence. But despite this, Scotland still remains a working part of the United Kingdom.
The point that I'm taking England from is present day. To this day, England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. He is leader leader of the Commonwealth of Nations, a member of the UN Security Council, The G7, Member of the European Union, among others. This does in fact mean that Arthur's place in the world is a highly significant and important one. His economy is one of the largest in the world with his capital, London, being the world's largest financial centre. But unfortunately, England is hit by the recession and is suffering what is commonly called a 'credit crunch'. He only speaks English, as the English language itself developed in him over the ages. However, he does know a few more common European phrases in French, German, Spanish, the likes-- but probably for greeting or insulting. He does take pride in his cuisine; fish and chips being the most well known and most praised dish. But even so, he constantly gets mocked by various other nations (if not, the whole world) for his inability to cook, as British cuisine has a much lower reputation than that of the Italians, the French, etc.
Personality:
Arthur, for most of the time, is very proud and rather naive. Whilst he may come off as pain in the arse, he is, as he claims, a gentleman. Polite and well mannered, he has a calm and collected sort of aura about him. That is unless you get on his nerves. He is noted for having a "potty mouth" which is due to the fact that he has the tendency to curse. Politely, however, as British slang and curse words are less harsh than the typical swear words. British curse words actually came about in working class times due to the constant scolding to those who swore. Thus words such as "bloody", "buggering", "hell" and other various curse words are used as an alternative. As for being a gentleman, he will take responsibility. Whether it be taking a girl out to dinner-- as a situation like this happened in the Hetalia Gakuen story with England and Seychelles. She was angry at him, and he offered to take her out for dinner in order to make up for his behaviour. Not to mention various other things such as table manners, holding a door open for those passing through, even offering to pay for a pint that he someone has spilt in a pub. But beware, England's gentlemanly status drops almost instantly when he is under the influence of alcohol.
Despite his overall harsh and somewhat begrudging state of mind, England is actually a loner deep down. Commonly referred to the fandom and the author as a major tsundere, he will snap at people and go flustered when facing things such as insults or arguments. He wouldn't admit to being lonely, of course, but he does restrict himself from getting too attached to nations nowadays. Particularly due to his historical bad relations with his brothers (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) and with his colonies. But despite this, if you can manage to woo England into being your friend-- he will be very loyal to you indeed.
However, despite his friendship with several nations, his main annoyances are America and France. He does rely on America-- they have a "special relationship" as one may know. But this doesn't mean that England is all up and friendly with him. England does get strangely irritated whenever the American even stands to raise his voice or presents an idea, which England, naturally, will knock down and disagree with. Actually, he tends to disagree with just about anything that America puts forward. Then there's France, an old rival of England. England, so he says, does not enjoy any involvement with the Frenchman. (it wouldn't have been a hundred years war for nothing.) He thinks that France is nothing but a rotten pervert and will insult him without missing a beat. But even though England may appear to have a burning hatred of these two nations, it is a mask. England actually admires French culture and cuisine but as the author states, he would never ever admit it. This is the same for America. In one strip America complained and pulled out of war because England didn't get him anything for valentine's day. Once England heard of this, he went straight to America and shyly offered him some of his own chocolate. All in all, he does hold affection deep down for his "enemies" or even his friends-- he's just too stubborn to admit it.
England does maintain a calm and collected appearance. But even so, England's life is much more personal than what he claims for it to be. He does hold many secrets and hobbies that he wouldn't be seen dead doing in public, yet he always gets caught for them. One in particular would be his faeries and unicorns among other mythical beings. In his own privacy Arthur would very much enjoy a frolic with his faeries or a skip with his unicorns, smiling and laughing all the way. Which is something that no one would expect from this tsundere gentleman. Another being his weird sex acts. Apparently, England has a reputation in Europe for being an "erotic ambassador" due to the numerous times he's been caught in a strange and bizarre public sexual involvement, the case usually occurring after visiting another part of Europe and getting drunk. England will of course blurt out-- "I didn't do anything!" before hiding a porn mag he was reading behind his back. A nation who tends to tease him for this sort of behaviour in particular is France, who casually invited England one day to "join him in feeling open" and despite declining at first, England couldn't resist and stripped naked with France. Only to stop thereafter.
England, in the past, was a very greedy nation as one may know. He would approach any nation, not ask for their name; in fact he wouldn't care. He'd just say "right, you're British territory now." England as an empire had managed to dominate at least a quarter of the world. And because of this, many countries to this day hold a grudge against England. Despite this, he will attempt to show kindness even though he knows that he is most likely going to be knocked down as he does realise he's quite hated among former colonies. This is because England took rights away from them, as they would live under British law and remain second class under British rule. It's not a surprise that so many countries fought England for their independence. Presently, he does feel bad for what he did.
Extra:
Character Abilities: He can see mythical beings. Faeries, unicorns-- the lot. He can also do "black magic" (which never really works in the end. An example would be when he tried to curse America with a chair named Busby's chair, a chair in which those who sit in it are expected to die. However, Russia sat down before America did and broke the chair into pieces, the fact being that Russia is more evil than the chair itself.)
He's also rather musically talented, having produced legendary musicians such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Black Sabbath, Depeche Mode, Sex Pistols, Coldplay, Elton John, and so on.
Possessions: None, aside from his clothes.
Anything else: He can't cook to save his life. Do not touch anything - even a scone made by this Brit. Either way, he's beyond stuck up on his cooking abilities. He'd happily cook for anyone who wants it.
But it's highly recommended that you don't.
And according to the author's notes, Arthur's interests include embroidery, craftsmanship, reading literature, rock music and criticising America's films. Not to mention the fact that he is possibly one of Europe's worst, if not, the worst of its drinkers. Definitely a drunkard, and most definitely a lightweight. Beware.
Samples:
Action/Communication thread/post sample:
[ Upon arriving in Splendorocity, what has fascinated Arthur the most is the peculiar looking device that he found inside of his pocket, not to mention the necklace which he suddenly has in his possession. Removing the device from his pocket, he decides this may be his only hope of finding an answer as to where he is. He has inspected it and-- well, this certainly isn't a normal ... mobile phone. He does in fact understand advanced technology rather well considering the year is 2011 for him and those who can't work a sodding electronic device these days are ... just ... plain daft. But nonetheless, he is struggling with trying to figure out how to--
Ah, there we go. The video feed displays a seemingly annoyed blonde haired young man, no older than twenty three, holding his Seal at a comfortable distance away from his face. The screen wobbles slightly; Sounds of footsteps and rustling can be heard as he walks. His English accent is notable in his speech. ]
O-Oh hello, ahem. If there is anyone viewing this, I would like to request that someone kindly inform me of where I have wound up. I believe that I am lost, and this certainly looks nothing like my home land. [ hesitates for a moment ] That will be all. Thank you. [ and the feed clicks off. ]
Log/Prose sample:
Brilliant.
Getting away from home was fine. Taking a holiday somewhere in the east- even better. But it was never Arthur's cup of tea to be lost in the middle of nowhere with not a single soul in sight. Not that this is the first time that he had gotten himself lost - but still. Things do go wrong one way or another. Well, Arthur finds that a lot of things that go wrong for him are, most of the time, caused by that ... idiot America.
"When I see that blasted America--" he cursed under his breath, "I swear I'll--!"
Right, right. Well America obviously wasn't here, as England would have most certainly heard his loud voice thundering over him by now. Perhaps he best settle and do the logical thing of asking someone where he is-- which would be useful if there was a single person in sight. The only thing that the Englishman can do now is look. Look, and hope that some other unlucky bugger is wandering aimlessly as well about this bizarre area. Clearing his thoughts, Arthur noticed something on the horizon that overwhelmed him with curiosity. A castle--? Here? He must be closer to home than he thought. Immediately interested he hurried towards it for a closer look.
Ah, a castle. Bloody big one, at that. He shields his arm over his forehead and squints his eyes to catch a better view, attempting to familiarise with it. England has many castles. Many, many castles-- Some of the world's finest, in fact. Windsor Castle, Knole Castle, Hever Castle, Thornbury Castle, just to name a few. But never in his days had he seen a castle like this was some kind of children's story. Or maybe ... maybe, a myth at that. No! A legend-- something of the sort! With that thought in mind, a smile naturally curled on the lips of the Englishman as he slipped into thought of what the castle may actually contain.
Perhaps it was occupied by a family-- There had to be magic involved somehow, yes! There had to be! Perhaps a fairy princess, or even --
"Enough!" He scolds himself, shaking off all of those thoughts with a remaining hint of red flushed in his face. He raises his fist to his mouth, biting back his embarrassment with a cough or two. Blast, England is all too used to taking abuse from the other nations for his beliefs. Just because they're too daft to realise that mythical beings live among us-- ah, less of those dimwits for now. Exhaling a dragged sigh, he turned his attention back to the path. It had to lead somewhere, a village, perhaps. It doesn't matter where it leads, England had better find someone to explain this nonsense soon enough.
And maybe after he'd make himself a cup of tea.