RUSSIA | vatheon
[ Player Name ] : AO
[ Personal LJ ] : agentco2range
[ Age ] : 19 but can we pretend I'm just going to stay 18 forever
[ Timezone ] : EST
[ Other Characters ] : N/A
[ Character's Name ] : Russia | Ivan Braginski
[ Character's Age ] : Excellent question. He appears to be 20's, but is actually about 1000 and a tick.
[ Series ] : Axis Powers Hetalia
[ Canon Point ] : Fall; 1923
[ History ] :
The Lies of Wikipedia | A slightly Shorter Version, written by Yours Truly. | Hetalia Wikia article
[ Personality ] :
While the largest of the nations, Russia has the temperamental and curious destructiveness of a child. He comes off as a somewhat dim drunkard - soft-spoken and always smiling, prone to letting his thoughts wander and flights of childish fancy. Of course, how much of this is actually real is debatable: Russia (while possibly a drunk) is certainly not unintelligent, and by no means gentle. While he may appear to be a bit of a “country bumpkin,” he's really quite calculating, attempting to manipulate everyone around him towards his one true goal: to become one with the world. Above all, Russia desires to "be one" with the nations that surround him, which, because of the large expanse of his lands and maritime borders, are quite a few (18 to be precise!). Why exactly he wants this is debatable, but it most likely goes all the way back to beginning of Russia's time. Born alone in the cold, he wishes to go to a warm place surrounded by sunflowers to live with all of his family and friends whether they like it or not. guess he'll have to wait on Global Warming to catch up.
Because of his dislike of being alone, he'll go to great means to hold onto those people he wishes to keep near him. He is above all persistent about it, constantly surrounding himself with the other nations and forcing them to stay in his "house," even going so far as to kidnap several repeatedly or force his allies to stay with him. He'll make sure that they are tied to him not only economically and politically, but even culturally influenced by Russia - his younger sister, Belarus, has all but forgotten her own language in favor of his, while his older sister, Ukraine, is reliant on the gas line from Russia. Even if they wished to leave, extracting themselves fully from Russia's grip would be near impossible, which is exactly how he wants it. Of course, "Paranoid Ivan" doesn't come from nowhere - "making tanks and bombs, while his children cry for butter and cars." Russia is convinced that those close to him will leave if he does not keep a close eye on them - he's often seen stalking them from around walls or following them around to make sure they aren't committing thought-crimes or something.
He's also nowhere near above using physical violence where psychological tactics don't work, such as aggressively putting down revolts in the Soviet Union and annexing with brute force. Russia's childlike irreverence for boundaries, over-stayed welcomes and personal space (and the word “no no nononononopleasenonononoauggh!!”) make him a rather dangerous fellow. Lithuania, one of the countries closet to Russia, is seen as having scars given to him while he lived under Soviet Regime - the other two Baltic States, Estonia and Latvia, are both terrified of him on sight, devolving into shaking and crying. Many of the other nations are also afraid of Russia or openly dislike him because of this as well. Any doubts about his intelligence can certainly be thrown out when watching him interact with the nations that surround him - while he may be brutal and crass, he's manipulative as well - a measure of the lion, and a measure of the fox.
Of course, just because he hurts others willingly, doesn't mean he completely comprehends just how much he is hurting them. Again, like a child, he is entirely self-centered - how could anyone not wish to be one with Russia? They just have to be convinced otherwise. He even dismisses quarrels between other nations and people as unimportant - what's important when compared to becoming one with the world?
Force and sheer stubbornness have tided the country of Russia through many hard times, and the harsh environment in combination with ... many many hard times to deal with have lead to a mentality of perseverance. Because of Russia's sheer size, much of their military strategy can be summed with simply: throw people at it til' it stops.
When upset, Russia's appearance will quickly turn dark - though the smile on his face never leaves - and he's prone to muttering a chant of 'kolkolkol' presumably short for "kolkhoz" - the collective farms of the Soviet Union - personally, I'd be more afraid of the Gulag. Possibly this is because we're talking about countries, not people - while he can't send them to Siberia, he can bring the joy of Collective Farming to you!
He's prone to flights of fancy and letting his imagination get the better of him. While digging a canal to the sea from Leningrad, he dreams of being at the beach and enjoying himself. He gets grandiose plans for his 'children' from his "Boss," many of which fail spectacularly see: Five Year Plans, Space Race, Communism in general - all to make Russia the greatest nation on Earth. Russia's little "issues" are a result of a long and often bloody history - in a land where drought occurs just about every decade, and a nation so large that it is almost automatically unable to be centrally unified, rebellion, warfare and starvation all occur on a regular basis. And on top of that, General Winter is always around to make sure that while you're trying to Revolt for the Glorious Motherland that you're damn well freezing your Glorious Underpants off as well. He remarks that his "children" - the people of Russia - are often temperamental, and no matter how often he "tries to make them happy" in the end they all end up hating him again. From the Time of Troubles in the 16th century, where 2 million citizens starved to death under an incompetent Czar, to the bloody riots and confused destruction of the Bolshevik takeover (GREAT PURGE AHOY) to the brutal suppression of revolutionary movements against Communist Leaders, Russia's history has been littered mostly with the bodies of its own citizens and his conveniently placed neighbors.
Here it's also important to point out that he certainly has a softer side. He does truly care about creating the best possible world for his citizens, though true belief in their various causes and dogmas is debatable. Then, of course, comes his own special Hetalia quirk - the sunflowers. Sunflowers are a huge part of some of Southern Russia's economy, including the largest sunflower seed factories in the world. Anyway, Russia seems to mention going to the South alot, which includes both the coast of the Black Sea and his enormous sunflower fields and weather that isn't hellbent on freezing your intestines into cold, hard rocks of deadly pain. I can see the appeal. This all kind of throws back to his childish nature - wouldn't it be lovely to just sit around in fields of flowers all day and do nothing and not worry about anything yaddayadda.
Russia has a big old mix of strange quirks and stranger family. He's fascinated with seemingly mundane technology - like water faucets and watches. Even more modern day, his liking for foreign pop culture (like 10 years behind everyone else, but that's okay), such as American jeans and The Beatles. Russia has two sisters, both of which he is very...fond. Sort of. In a roundabout way. There's Ukraine, his older sister, who when they were little, gave him the scarf he wears constantly. And then there's Belarus. Belarus, his younger sister, is obsessed with marrying him. She'll break down doors, she'll break across borders, and she'll break everyone in the way of her and Brother. Of course, Russia wants no part of this. As you can imagine the scene often ends badly, and everyone's crying and andand oh god it's horrible-- and you really can't blame a man for needing to cry like a little girl sometimes okay it's traumatizing.
Russia is also quite sensitive about his weight, claiming to be “Big-boned” as opposed to well. A fatty. Trust us, Russia, the Great Purge didn't work. You just gain the weight right back if you lose it that way. And no. No he certainly isn't picky about what he eats. Why do you ask?
TL;DR: If Hetalia were a Buddy Cop show set in the Big City, with Germany and Italy as completely mismatched partners who learn to overcome their differences and and get along One loves dogs entirely too much, the other is a borderline drooling idiot - Together they fight crime! Russia is the big Kingpin of the East Side who's always smiling and offering you a nice glass of vodka and promising to keep his greedy self out of the Europe District and all the while crossing his fingers behind his back.
[ Strengths/Weaknesses ] :
Apart from being the physical representation of a landmass, He's just like a person sort of. Russia is a large guy, and presumably military trained, so he can certainly defend himself. He also carries around a water faucet. I suppose this is important somehow.
A few choice talents might be a bad habit of partitioning Poland, Five Year Plans, making people disappear on longterm Siberian vacations, kicking out Napoleon, kicking out God, kicking out Hitler, Becoming One, The Russian Steamroller if you know what I mean and a nasty case of trigger finger. He can also use the Russian Orthodox Church to curse people! It only takes a while to...actually work. Like 18 years.
As for weaknesses - Russia is, to say the least, a few cards short of a deck, a couple of screws in need in tightening, a few Pocket Monsters lacking from his Pokedex, and has not only fallen off his rocker and onto the floor, but crashed through it and into the basement of utter mental wackiness. Perhaps the worst part is that he is completely in denial of this fact.
That is to say, he's paranoid to a fault (though conversely, he's also seemingly pretty gullible. So he's not any good at being paranoid apparently), prone to sudden mood swings and temperamental like a child.
[ Other Important Facts ] :
✩ Russia has a scarf he's very attached to - his older sister Ukraine gave it to him when they were small.
✩ He carries around a water pipe, broken off from Germany's yard when he came to visit during WWII. It does magical things like shoot water and store food.
✩ Russia is the tallest of the nations, tied with Sweden.
✩ I like these little star things.
✩ His heart is removable. As in it literally falls out of his chest, occasionally.
✩ The little medal he has pinned to his jacket is closet in design to the Hero of the Soviet Union award!
[ Sample ] :
[[This was written for another RP; but it will do here.]]
Ah, computer has gotten very small, very fast hasn't it?
окей, окей-- Is very funny joke, Russia admits this! Will find time later to laugh, but Russia is quite busy now and in future would like little warning before sudden visit to someone's house, Да~?
If comrade responsible would admit now and stop silly games, would be very nice. Cannot find anything useful on little device with tiny tiny buttons either Russia has meeting to attend, you see and could end badly if Russia is not there! Very badly.
[A deep sigh as he tries to find the right button to stop the recording--] Had thought Америка promised to shut down MKULTRA afte-- [The recording cuts off.]
[ Questions? Comments? Concerns? ] : Thanks for taking the time to look at my application!
[ Personal LJ ] : agentco2range
[ Age ] : 19 but can we pretend I'm just going to stay 18 forever
[ Timezone ] : EST
[ Other Characters ] : N/A
[ Character's Name ] : Russia | Ivan Braginski
[ Character's Age ] : Excellent question. He appears to be 20's, but is actually about 1000 and a tick.
[ Series ] : Axis Powers Hetalia
[ Canon Point ] : Fall; 1923
[ History ] :
The Lies of Wikipedia | A slightly Shorter Version, written by Yours Truly. | Hetalia Wikia article
[ Personality ] :
While the largest of the nations, Russia has the temperamental and curious destructiveness of a child. He comes off as a somewhat dim drunkard - soft-spoken and always smiling, prone to letting his thoughts wander and flights of childish fancy. Of course, how much of this is actually real is debatable: Russia (while possibly a drunk) is certainly not unintelligent, and by no means gentle. While he may appear to be a bit of a “country bumpkin,” he's really quite calculating, attempting to manipulate everyone around him towards his one true goal: to become one with the world. Above all, Russia desires to "be one" with the nations that surround him, which, because of the large expanse of his lands and maritime borders, are quite a few (18 to be precise!). Why exactly he wants this is debatable, but it most likely goes all the way back to beginning of Russia's time. Born alone in the cold, he wishes to go to a warm place surrounded by sunflowers to live with all of his family and friends whether they like it or not. guess he'll have to wait on Global Warming to catch up.
Because of his dislike of being alone, he'll go to great means to hold onto those people he wishes to keep near him. He is above all persistent about it, constantly surrounding himself with the other nations and forcing them to stay in his "house," even going so far as to kidnap several repeatedly or force his allies to stay with him. He'll make sure that they are tied to him not only economically and politically, but even culturally influenced by Russia - his younger sister, Belarus, has all but forgotten her own language in favor of his, while his older sister, Ukraine, is reliant on the gas line from Russia. Even if they wished to leave, extracting themselves fully from Russia's grip would be near impossible, which is exactly how he wants it. Of course, "Paranoid Ivan" doesn't come from nowhere - "making tanks and bombs, while his children cry for butter and cars." Russia is convinced that those close to him will leave if he does not keep a close eye on them - he's often seen stalking them from around walls or following them around to make sure they aren't committing thought-crimes or something.
He's also nowhere near above using physical violence where psychological tactics don't work, such as aggressively putting down revolts in the Soviet Union and annexing with brute force. Russia's childlike irreverence for boundaries, over-stayed welcomes and personal space (and the word “no no nononononopleasenonononoauggh!!”) make him a rather dangerous fellow. Lithuania, one of the countries closet to Russia, is seen as having scars given to him while he lived under Soviet Regime - the other two Baltic States, Estonia and Latvia, are both terrified of him on sight, devolving into shaking and crying. Many of the other nations are also afraid of Russia or openly dislike him because of this as well. Any doubts about his intelligence can certainly be thrown out when watching him interact with the nations that surround him - while he may be brutal and crass, he's manipulative as well - a measure of the lion, and a measure of the fox.
Of course, just because he hurts others willingly, doesn't mean he completely comprehends just how much he is hurting them. Again, like a child, he is entirely self-centered - how could anyone not wish to be one with Russia? They just have to be convinced otherwise. He even dismisses quarrels between other nations and people as unimportant - what's important when compared to becoming one with the world?
Force and sheer stubbornness have tided the country of Russia through many hard times, and the harsh environment in combination with ... many many hard times to deal with have lead to a mentality of perseverance. Because of Russia's sheer size, much of their military strategy can be summed with simply: throw people at it til' it stops.
When upset, Russia's appearance will quickly turn dark - though the smile on his face never leaves - and he's prone to muttering a chant of 'kolkolkol' presumably short for "kolkhoz" - the collective farms of the Soviet Union - personally, I'd be more afraid of the Gulag. Possibly this is because we're talking about countries, not people - while he can't send them to Siberia, he can bring the joy of Collective Farming to you!
He's prone to flights of fancy and letting his imagination get the better of him. While digging a canal to the sea from Leningrad, he dreams of being at the beach and enjoying himself. He gets grandiose plans for his 'children' from his "Boss," many of which fail spectacularly see: Five Year Plans, Space Race, Communism in general - all to make Russia the greatest nation on Earth. Russia's little "issues" are a result of a long and often bloody history - in a land where drought occurs just about every decade, and a nation so large that it is almost automatically unable to be centrally unified, rebellion, warfare and starvation all occur on a regular basis. And on top of that, General Winter is always around to make sure that while you're trying to Revolt for the Glorious Motherland that you're damn well freezing your Glorious Underpants off as well. He remarks that his "children" - the people of Russia - are often temperamental, and no matter how often he "tries to make them happy" in the end they all end up hating him again. From the Time of Troubles in the 16th century, where 2 million citizens starved to death under an incompetent Czar, to the bloody riots and confused destruction of the Bolshevik takeover (GREAT PURGE AHOY) to the brutal suppression of revolutionary movements against Communist Leaders, Russia's history has been littered mostly with the bodies of its own citizens and his conveniently placed neighbors.
Here it's also important to point out that he certainly has a softer side. He does truly care about creating the best possible world for his citizens, though true belief in their various causes and dogmas is debatable. Then, of course, comes his own special Hetalia quirk - the sunflowers. Sunflowers are a huge part of some of Southern Russia's economy, including the largest sunflower seed factories in the world. Anyway, Russia seems to mention going to the South alot, which includes both the coast of the Black Sea and his enormous sunflower fields and weather that isn't hellbent on freezing your intestines into cold, hard rocks of deadly pain. I can see the appeal. This all kind of throws back to his childish nature - wouldn't it be lovely to just sit around in fields of flowers all day and do nothing and not worry about anything yaddayadda.
Russia has a big old mix of strange quirks and stranger family. He's fascinated with seemingly mundane technology - like water faucets and watches. Even more modern day, his liking for foreign pop culture (like 10 years behind everyone else, but that's okay), such as American jeans and The Beatles. Russia has two sisters, both of which he is very...fond. Sort of. In a roundabout way. There's Ukraine, his older sister, who when they were little, gave him the scarf he wears constantly. And then there's Belarus. Belarus, his younger sister, is obsessed with marrying him. She'll break down doors, she'll break across borders, and she'll break everyone in the way of her and Brother. Of course, Russia wants no part of this. As you can imagine the scene often ends badly, and everyone's crying and andand oh god it's horrible-- and you really can't blame a man for needing to cry like a little girl sometimes okay it's traumatizing.
Russia is also quite sensitive about his weight, claiming to be “Big-boned” as opposed to well. A fatty. Trust us, Russia, the Great Purge didn't work. You just gain the weight right back if you lose it that way. And no. No he certainly isn't picky about what he eats. Why do you ask?
TL;DR: If Hetalia were a Buddy Cop show set in the Big City, with Germany and Italy as completely mismatched partners who learn to overcome their differences and and get along One loves dogs entirely too much, the other is a borderline drooling idiot - Together they fight crime! Russia is the big Kingpin of the East Side who's always smiling and offering you a nice glass of vodka and promising to keep his greedy self out of the Europe District and all the while crossing his fingers behind his back.
[ Strengths/Weaknesses ] :
Apart from being the physical representation of a landmass, He's just like a person sort of. Russia is a large guy, and presumably military trained, so he can certainly defend himself. He also carries around a water faucet. I suppose this is important somehow.
A few choice talents might be a bad habit of partitioning Poland, Five Year Plans, making people disappear on longterm Siberian vacations, kicking out Napoleon, kicking out God, kicking out Hitler, Becoming One, The Russian Steamroller if you know what I mean and a nasty case of trigger finger. He can also use the Russian Orthodox Church to curse people! It only takes a while to...actually work. Like 18 years.
As for weaknesses - Russia is, to say the least, a few cards short of a deck, a couple of screws in need in tightening, a few Pocket Monsters lacking from his Pokedex, and has not only fallen off his rocker and onto the floor, but crashed through it and into the basement of utter mental wackiness. Perhaps the worst part is that he is completely in denial of this fact.
That is to say, he's paranoid to a fault (though conversely, he's also seemingly pretty gullible. So he's not any good at being paranoid apparently), prone to sudden mood swings and temperamental like a child.
[ Other Important Facts ] :
✩ Russia has a scarf he's very attached to - his older sister Ukraine gave it to him when they were small.
✩ He carries around a water pipe, broken off from Germany's yard when he came to visit during WWII. It does magical things like shoot water and store food.
✩ Russia is the tallest of the nations, tied with Sweden.
✩ I like these little star things.
✩ His heart is removable. As in it literally falls out of his chest, occasionally.
✩ The little medal he has pinned to his jacket is closet in design to the Hero of the Soviet Union award!
[ Sample ] :
[[This was written for another RP; but it will do here.]]
Ah, computer has gotten very small, very fast hasn't it?
окей, окей-- Is very funny joke, Russia admits this! Will find time later to laugh, but Russia is quite busy now and in future would like little warning before sudden visit to someone's house, Да~?
If comrade responsible would admit now and stop silly games, would be very nice. Cannot find anything useful on little device with tiny tiny buttons either Russia has meeting to attend, you see and could end badly if Russia is not there! Very badly.
[A deep sigh as he tries to find the right button to stop the recording--] Had thought Америка promised to shut down MKULTRA afte-- [The recording cuts off.]
[ Questions? Comments? Concerns? ] : Thanks for taking the time to look at my application!