1st Application amatomnes
» Name: Russia / Ivan Braginsky
» Fandom: Axis Powers Hetalia
» Reference:
country: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Empire ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsardom_of_Russia ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchy_of_Moscow ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir-Suzdal ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kievan_Rus%27 ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rus%27_Khaganate
character: http://hetalia.wikia.com/wiki/Ivan_Braginski ; http://sites.google.com/site/hetaliaindexes/simple-character-introduction
» Canon Point: Summer 1723 (during the Russo-Persian war)
» Gender: Male / Male
» Age: 20+
» Orientation:
Most of the fandom considers Russia to be gay, based on their interpretation of a few hints in canon. In particular, two arguments are often made.
1) The only het ship involving him that one usually encounters in the fandom (and that we have any canon moments for) is Belarus/Russia. It is extremely onesided, since Russia goes to lengths to avoid it, such as running from her, hiding, and even getting depressed just thinking about it.
From this, people assume that he isn't into girls.
2) In the end of the outsourcing strips, he calls Lithuania his "ex".
Be these things as they may:
1) Belarus is a) his sister, and while he seems to love his sisters as much as he's able to love anyone, they are just that to him - sisters. It is very likely that he is just not into incest. Also, maybe even more importantly, b) Belarus is batshit insane when it comes to their desired marriage (not that she is entirely sane normally, but Russia isn't either). She hurts people, goes berserk, and turns into an even creepier person than Russia himself, and that should tell you something.
Also: If we assume that he loves his sisters as sisters and just that, every nation that he interacts with is either his sister, male, or taken (Hungary). It makes sense that he'd choose males.
2) Though Lithuania being the only person that we've ever seen him intersted in, and that he happens to be male, that doesn't mean that he's necessarily the only one Russia is interested in at all. But much more importantly, here comes the interesting fact:
We've seen Russia drop comments and hints about why, and more importantly, in what way he likes Lithuania, at a couple of occasions.
- Asked what he wants, Russia, instead of saying anything relevant to the conversation/fight/whatever you call the mess that APH UN conferences are, tells Spain that he "Wants to see Lithuania's troubled face". And judging from everyone's reactions, that isn't the first time that he says that, and he's made some effort and taken action to be able to see it before.
- At their very first meeting, he says that "they will become friends when he's stronger, when he's a big country, because he's not strong enough yet", implying that "friendships" are about strenght and domination/submission.
And then it would makes sense that he likes Lithuania. Because a) Lithuania was strong once, and beat Russia at more than one point. Because of this, there was some adoration that Russia felt for Poland-Lithuania despite of what they did to him, and despite of them being at war almost every time they met. b) Later on, he managed to turn the tables, and now he's the one dominating Lithuania, but c) Lithuania is still resisiting. There were three major rebellions before Lithuania left his house for the first time, which he apparently translated to "breaking up" (God alone knows what actually happened between them, and if there was anything that could be called a loving relationship or not - seeing how Russia's mind works, it would at least not have been a steady one); and Lithuania, unlike both his sisters and the other two Baltics, used to be independent before he came into Russia's house. He didn't just exchange one owner for another one - and that still shows.
And that is where my reasoning comes to an conclusion:
A) Yes, Russia's main (maybe only) love interest is most likely Lithuania
B) No, it's not because he's gay. He's pansexual, or let's rather say, powersexual. He's attracted by the struggle for domination, and victory in that struggle, not the physical sex of the other person.
» Personality:
At first glance, Ivan looks like a nice person, friendly, happy and well-adjusted, a bit like a giant child. That is, until you have talked with him for a while and noticed that some of his habits and opinions are a bit ...unique, including his way of interacting with others. Or until you pay closer attention to his smile. It seems a bit too ever-present, and combined with his height and the way that it sometimes doesn't match the tone and subject of the conversation at all, it seems creepy. It's also kind of empty most of the time, even if it reaches his eyes. Which it usually does.
Because he grew up in a place where he was alone, lonely, cold, constantly hurt by some invasion or another, starving, scared, and abandoned when he needed someone, a lot of screws in his head seem to come a bit (or a bit more) loose. He had his own share of insane, overly cruel, or just ruthless and paranoid bosses, and on top of all that, he is General Winter's favorite... They have a pact, but, while nobody knows what exactly that entails, we can state two things: The General gets full reign of Russia every year, and in turn keeps his enemies at bay... as much as he sees fit. It gets worse roughly 200 years after the point I'll be taking him from, after which he gradually slips more and more into actual insanity, especially after finally snapping completely in 1905.
Over the years, and through everything that he has lived through, he has learned a couple of things that have shaped his way of understanding the world. I'll just lose a few words about a couple of quotes from strips and his profile to line up :
- "In the end, everyone will be one with me" ...probably the most well known Russia quote. He doesn't use it as often as fandom makes it seem, but it is one of the most important ones to understand a couple of things about him.
*While the panel in which he tells China those words looks extremely creepy (true to the traditional Russia strips that show a perfectly normal and sane guy until the very last panel, in which the atmosphere suddenly changes), he uses it in a positive context; comforting the older nation after Japan attacked him. Because, if the Asian nations both live in his house, they will get along well again. To Russia, having everyone stay with him is not only something that he wants for himself; he thinks that it will make everyone else happy as well. If he has to help them to their luck... well. All great achievements (for example the building of S. Petersburg) need to be forced.
*On the same note, until the other nations understand that they're happy with him, he has to make them stay. That is a very recent problem, though, and doesn't yet affect Russia simply because no "troublemakers" (like Lithuania will be) live in his house yet. At least no nations that make trouble.
*Russia likes company... though he is rather the quiet, watching ...erm, yeah. Stalking would be the correct word here... party. It doesn't matter what kind of "lively" the others are, he seems to enjoy people yelling at each other just as much, maybe more. As a reason he gives that he grew up in a lonely and cold place.
- See orientation section: You can only be friends with others if you are strong enough to make and keep them your friends. There is no such thing as "equal" ...later that will warp into a crude travesty of forced equality with him as the first among the equal. Communism in Russia only worked that well because it was NOT about letting people decide for themselves from the very beginning.
- There are practically no pictures that don't show him smiling. He has a wide range of expressions, but his default expression is a smile, and it seems to replace a lot of negative expressions. On the other hand, he sometimes doesn't smile in very pleasant situations. Smiling doesn't seem to carry the same meaning for him that it does for others.
- "The simplicity of a country bumpkin". Often, Russia just doesn't get other people's feelings. While sometimes he seems to be perfectly capable of understanding, using, manipulating them, at other times he is plain oblivious of them, or gets their meaning wrong if they don't fit into his very own brand of logic.
- "The cruelty of a child" He doesn't mean ill when he hurts others, whether physically or mentally. Sure, sometimes he means to punish them, and he is used to that being dealt with effectively. But often enough, there are situations when he hurts others out of curiosity, or just isn't empathic enough to understand that the other person might not enjoy what he enjoys.
» Appearance:
Standing at 182 cm, Russia is the tallest nation whose height has been revealed. That seems to have been the case ever since he reached adulthood, so we can suppose that he is about 180 cm tall at the time that I'll take him from. While he seems to gain more weight later on, he is already quite chubby in the 7 years war pictures - he calls it big boned. There's another part of his appearance that isn't so conventionally attractive: His nose. It's huge and formed like a beak. His eyes are purple.
He almost always wears a scarf, ever since his older sister gave him one as a present, and the only skin that you'll usually see is his face. Long sleeves and pant legs, gloves, the scarf and, if outside, often coats, cover his body; often there are multiple layers which just makes him look larger.
His hair is short and light blond, and together with the constant smile, the childlike behaviour, and the chubbiness that could pass as baby fat, it makes him look younger than his 20 years - while his height makes him look older. In the end, it evens out so that he appears about the right age.
» Suitability: N/A
SAMPLES
» "amatomnes" Entry:
He woke up gradually, drifting into consciousness from the depths of dream, still caught between fantasy and reality, still unable to tell the two apart.
Something was out of the ordinary, but it wasn't dangerous. He would have felt it, because growing up where he had, he had developed a sixth sense for malicious intent by now. It sometimes bordered on paranoia, he was told, but it was a healthy kind of paranoia, he supposed. If it kept him alive, it was to be treasured. And it wasn't cold... usually General Winter moved closer when he was in real danger.
But that wasn't now. He was warm, and felt a kind of sated that he hadn't felt in years. Reaching down to feel between his legs in wonder, his fingers touched sticky skin and still tingling flesh. Hm....
France had told him about this, a while ago. Wet dreams, he had called it. It couldn't really have been anything else; there was nobody but his sisters that he would have allowed to sleep next to him, and have been able to sleep next to. Even if the dream had been true, the person would have been gone before he went to sleep for good. Besides, this was too fresh.
It wasn't his first time waking up like this, but it was the first time he was able to remember bits and pieces of the dream. The most remarkable thing about it was that it hadn't hurt, and that he had been the dominating party - maybe he should try that if the opportunity presented itself. It had been nice, much unlike what he remembered from the time when he had lived under Tartar. Probably because this time he had been the leading one.
He should just taken off his scarf before falling asleep. His big sister Ukraine had chided him more than once for being reckless because of that, telling him that he would strangle himself in his sleep one day. And really, it felt a bit tight tonight, he should loosen it some-
What met his fingertips wasn't the soft fabric of his scarf. It was cold to the touch, too hard, and too thin and... His eyes opened wide, his body shooting up into a sitting position and onto his knees in mere moments, hand reaching out to grab the dagger that he kept next to him - but it wasn't there.
Ready to fight or die, his eyes darted around - to find nothing. Or nobody, at least. He was alone.
Which meant that he could turn his attention to marginally less pressing matters. Where was his scarf, and what was that around his neck? ...And where were his clothes, as an afterthought. A short search around the room answered the first question, and the third as well, but the second stayed without an answer... the only thing that he could say was that he seemed to be unable to remove it. He couldn't find the clasp, and no amount of tugging made the hidden clasp break. After trying for a while, he stopped and wiped the blood from the bruises on his neck off the skin before they could run down his chest, licking it off of his fingers while he pondered what to do next.
Someone had ...drugged? ...him, brought him here, undressed him but not inflicted any physical harm - none that he had been able to find on his examination of his own body, anyway - and put that collar on him. Someone thought that they could keep them like a dog. Someone hadn't noticed how much stronger he had become over the last hundred years. Someone hadn't noticed what he was now, and what he could do to them.
He giggled childishly, his smile growing just a hint darker while he sat there and considered his next steps. Someone would have to learn a lesson. And no matter who they were, he wouldn't stop until he had turned the tables in his favor.
"Because, Big Sis, I promised you that I would become a strong nation, da?" And then they could live in his house, they could have a holiday home in the south, and be happy.
He reached for his scarf seeming to nearly bounce on his heels as he got up to get dressed, slinging the scarf loosely around his shoulders so no blood would get on it. His voice was pleasantly cheerful, as if he was discussing tomorrow's hunt. "I'll just have to tell whoever this did that they were bad."
» "amatomneslogs" Entry:
[The feed clicks on to the sight of a blond man of maybe 20 years, though his cheerful smile makes him look younger. He is wearing a coat despite the temperature, and a scarf thrown loosely around his shoulders. The reason why it isn't slung around his neck might have to do with the angry red bruises around his neck, still bleeding when he moves his head and the cuts reopen. They do when he leans forward to peer down at the device, apparently attempting to look confident despite the strange technology.]
Good afternoon, everyone.
I was told that I would reach the one accountable for my current situation through this... I would love to discuss the next steps in this incident. I'm sure we can come to a solution that is in the best interest of everyone, da?
[Yes, the servant that he asked about it told him that. ...you would want to redirect Russia's attention as well if he "asked" you like he asked her.]
» Fandom: Axis Powers Hetalia
» Reference:
country: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Empire ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsardom_of_Russia ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchy_of_Moscow ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir-Suzdal ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kievan_Rus%27 ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rus%27_Khaganate
character: http://hetalia.wikia.com/wiki/Ivan_Braginski ; http://sites.google.com/site/hetaliaindexes/simple-character-introduction
» Canon Point: Summer 1723 (during the Russo-Persian war)
» Gender: Male / Male
» Age: 20+
» Orientation:
Most of the fandom considers Russia to be gay, based on their interpretation of a few hints in canon. In particular, two arguments are often made.
1) The only het ship involving him that one usually encounters in the fandom (and that we have any canon moments for) is Belarus/Russia. It is extremely onesided, since Russia goes to lengths to avoid it, such as running from her, hiding, and even getting depressed just thinking about it.
From this, people assume that he isn't into girls.
2) In the end of the outsourcing strips, he calls Lithuania his "ex".
Be these things as they may:
1) Belarus is a) his sister, and while he seems to love his sisters as much as he's able to love anyone, they are just that to him - sisters. It is very likely that he is just not into incest. Also, maybe even more importantly, b) Belarus is batshit insane when it comes to their desired marriage (not that she is entirely sane normally, but Russia isn't either). She hurts people, goes berserk, and turns into an even creepier person than Russia himself, and that should tell you something.
Also: If we assume that he loves his sisters as sisters and just that, every nation that he interacts with is either his sister, male, or taken (Hungary). It makes sense that he'd choose males.
2) Though Lithuania being the only person that we've ever seen him intersted in, and that he happens to be male, that doesn't mean that he's necessarily the only one Russia is interested in at all. But much more importantly, here comes the interesting fact:
We've seen Russia drop comments and hints about why, and more importantly, in what way he likes Lithuania, at a couple of occasions.
- Asked what he wants, Russia, instead of saying anything relevant to the conversation/fight/whatever you call the mess that APH UN conferences are, tells Spain that he "Wants to see Lithuania's troubled face". And judging from everyone's reactions, that isn't the first time that he says that, and he's made some effort and taken action to be able to see it before.
- At their very first meeting, he says that "they will become friends when he's stronger, when he's a big country, because he's not strong enough yet", implying that "friendships" are about strenght and domination/submission.
And then it would makes sense that he likes Lithuania. Because a) Lithuania was strong once, and beat Russia at more than one point. Because of this, there was some adoration that Russia felt for Poland-Lithuania despite of what they did to him, and despite of them being at war almost every time they met. b) Later on, he managed to turn the tables, and now he's the one dominating Lithuania, but c) Lithuania is still resisiting. There were three major rebellions before Lithuania left his house for the first time, which he apparently translated to "breaking up" (God alone knows what actually happened between them, and if there was anything that could be called a loving relationship or not - seeing how Russia's mind works, it would at least not have been a steady one); and Lithuania, unlike both his sisters and the other two Baltics, used to be independent before he came into Russia's house. He didn't just exchange one owner for another one - and that still shows.
And that is where my reasoning comes to an conclusion:
A) Yes, Russia's main (maybe only) love interest is most likely Lithuania
B) No, it's not because he's gay. He's pansexual, or let's rather say, powersexual. He's attracted by the struggle for domination, and victory in that struggle, not the physical sex of the other person.
» Personality:
At first glance, Ivan looks like a nice person, friendly, happy and well-adjusted, a bit like a giant child. That is, until you have talked with him for a while and noticed that some of his habits and opinions are a bit ...unique, including his way of interacting with others. Or until you pay closer attention to his smile. It seems a bit too ever-present, and combined with his height and the way that it sometimes doesn't match the tone and subject of the conversation at all, it seems creepy. It's also kind of empty most of the time, even if it reaches his eyes. Which it usually does.
Because he grew up in a place where he was alone, lonely, cold, constantly hurt by some invasion or another, starving, scared, and abandoned when he needed someone, a lot of screws in his head seem to come a bit (or a bit more) loose. He had his own share of insane, overly cruel, or just ruthless and paranoid bosses, and on top of all that, he is General Winter's favorite... They have a pact, but, while nobody knows what exactly that entails, we can state two things: The General gets full reign of Russia every year, and in turn keeps his enemies at bay... as much as he sees fit. It gets worse roughly 200 years after the point I'll be taking him from, after which he gradually slips more and more into actual insanity, especially after finally snapping completely in 1905.
Over the years, and through everything that he has lived through, he has learned a couple of things that have shaped his way of understanding the world. I'll just lose a few words about a couple of quotes from strips and his profile to line up :
- "In the end, everyone will be one with me" ...probably the most well known Russia quote. He doesn't use it as often as fandom makes it seem, but it is one of the most important ones to understand a couple of things about him.
*While the panel in which he tells China those words looks extremely creepy (true to the traditional Russia strips that show a perfectly normal and sane guy until the very last panel, in which the atmosphere suddenly changes), he uses it in a positive context; comforting the older nation after Japan attacked him. Because, if the Asian nations both live in his house, they will get along well again. To Russia, having everyone stay with him is not only something that he wants for himself; he thinks that it will make everyone else happy as well. If he has to help them to their luck... well. All great achievements (for example the building of S. Petersburg) need to be forced.
*On the same note, until the other nations understand that they're happy with him, he has to make them stay. That is a very recent problem, though, and doesn't yet affect Russia simply because no "troublemakers" (like Lithuania will be) live in his house yet. At least no nations that make trouble.
*Russia likes company... though he is rather the quiet, watching ...erm, yeah. Stalking would be the correct word here... party. It doesn't matter what kind of "lively" the others are, he seems to enjoy people yelling at each other just as much, maybe more. As a reason he gives that he grew up in a lonely and cold place.
- See orientation section: You can only be friends with others if you are strong enough to make and keep them your friends. There is no such thing as "equal" ...later that will warp into a crude travesty of forced equality with him as the first among the equal. Communism in Russia only worked that well because it was NOT about letting people decide for themselves from the very beginning.
- There are practically no pictures that don't show him smiling. He has a wide range of expressions, but his default expression is a smile, and it seems to replace a lot of negative expressions. On the other hand, he sometimes doesn't smile in very pleasant situations. Smiling doesn't seem to carry the same meaning for him that it does for others.
- "The simplicity of a country bumpkin". Often, Russia just doesn't get other people's feelings. While sometimes he seems to be perfectly capable of understanding, using, manipulating them, at other times he is plain oblivious of them, or gets their meaning wrong if they don't fit into his very own brand of logic.
- "The cruelty of a child" He doesn't mean ill when he hurts others, whether physically or mentally. Sure, sometimes he means to punish them, and he is used to that being dealt with effectively. But often enough, there are situations when he hurts others out of curiosity, or just isn't empathic enough to understand that the other person might not enjoy what he enjoys.
» Appearance:
Standing at 182 cm, Russia is the tallest nation whose height has been revealed. That seems to have been the case ever since he reached adulthood, so we can suppose that he is about 180 cm tall at the time that I'll take him from. While he seems to gain more weight later on, he is already quite chubby in the 7 years war pictures - he calls it big boned. There's another part of his appearance that isn't so conventionally attractive: His nose. It's huge and formed like a beak. His eyes are purple.
He almost always wears a scarf, ever since his older sister gave him one as a present, and the only skin that you'll usually see is his face. Long sleeves and pant legs, gloves, the scarf and, if outside, often coats, cover his body; often there are multiple layers which just makes him look larger.
His hair is short and light blond, and together with the constant smile, the childlike behaviour, and the chubbiness that could pass as baby fat, it makes him look younger than his 20 years - while his height makes him look older. In the end, it evens out so that he appears about the right age.
» Suitability: N/A
SAMPLES
» "amatomnes" Entry:
He woke up gradually, drifting into consciousness from the depths of dream, still caught between fantasy and reality, still unable to tell the two apart.
Something was out of the ordinary, but it wasn't dangerous. He would have felt it, because growing up where he had, he had developed a sixth sense for malicious intent by now. It sometimes bordered on paranoia, he was told, but it was a healthy kind of paranoia, he supposed. If it kept him alive, it was to be treasured. And it wasn't cold... usually General Winter moved closer when he was in real danger.
But that wasn't now. He was warm, and felt a kind of sated that he hadn't felt in years. Reaching down to feel between his legs in wonder, his fingers touched sticky skin and still tingling flesh. Hm....
France had told him about this, a while ago. Wet dreams, he had called it. It couldn't really have been anything else; there was nobody but his sisters that he would have allowed to sleep next to him, and have been able to sleep next to. Even if the dream had been true, the person would have been gone before he went to sleep for good. Besides, this was too fresh.
It wasn't his first time waking up like this, but it was the first time he was able to remember bits and pieces of the dream. The most remarkable thing about it was that it hadn't hurt, and that he had been the dominating party - maybe he should try that if the opportunity presented itself. It had been nice, much unlike what he remembered from the time when he had lived under Tartar. Probably because this time he had been the leading one.
He should just taken off his scarf before falling asleep. His big sister Ukraine had chided him more than once for being reckless because of that, telling him that he would strangle himself in his sleep one day. And really, it felt a bit tight tonight, he should loosen it some-
What met his fingertips wasn't the soft fabric of his scarf. It was cold to the touch, too hard, and too thin and... His eyes opened wide, his body shooting up into a sitting position and onto his knees in mere moments, hand reaching out to grab the dagger that he kept next to him - but it wasn't there.
Ready to fight or die, his eyes darted around - to find nothing. Or nobody, at least. He was alone.
Which meant that he could turn his attention to marginally less pressing matters. Where was his scarf, and what was that around his neck? ...And where were his clothes, as an afterthought. A short search around the room answered the first question, and the third as well, but the second stayed without an answer... the only thing that he could say was that he seemed to be unable to remove it. He couldn't find the clasp, and no amount of tugging made the hidden clasp break. After trying for a while, he stopped and wiped the blood from the bruises on his neck off the skin before they could run down his chest, licking it off of his fingers while he pondered what to do next.
Someone had ...drugged? ...him, brought him here, undressed him but not inflicted any physical harm - none that he had been able to find on his examination of his own body, anyway - and put that collar on him. Someone thought that they could keep them like a dog. Someone hadn't noticed how much stronger he had become over the last hundred years. Someone hadn't noticed what he was now, and what he could do to them.
He giggled childishly, his smile growing just a hint darker while he sat there and considered his next steps. Someone would have to learn a lesson. And no matter who they were, he wouldn't stop until he had turned the tables in his favor.
"Because, Big Sis, I promised you that I would become a strong nation, da?" And then they could live in his house, they could have a holiday home in the south, and be happy.
He reached for his scarf seeming to nearly bounce on his heels as he got up to get dressed, slinging the scarf loosely around his shoulders so no blood would get on it. His voice was pleasantly cheerful, as if he was discussing tomorrow's hunt. "I'll just have to tell whoever this did that they were bad."
» "amatomneslogs" Entry:
[The feed clicks on to the sight of a blond man of maybe 20 years, though his cheerful smile makes him look younger. He is wearing a coat despite the temperature, and a scarf thrown loosely around his shoulders. The reason why it isn't slung around his neck might have to do with the angry red bruises around his neck, still bleeding when he moves his head and the cuts reopen. They do when he leans forward to peer down at the device, apparently attempting to look confident despite the strange technology.]
Good afternoon, everyone.
I was told that I would reach the one accountable for my current situation through this... I would love to discuss the next steps in this incident. I'm sure we can come to a solution that is in the best interest of everyone, da?
[Yes, the servant that he asked about it told him that. ...you would want to redirect Russia's attention as well if he "asked" you like he asked her.]