Application @ Discedo
OOC Information
Name: Kira
LJ: whatisnarva
Contact: plurk: whatisnarva
Characters played at Discedo: Sweden
IC Information
Name: New Zealand | Aotearoa | Kiwi | Kerry Monro
Canon: Axis Powers Hetalia
Timeline: late May of 1941
Canon Resource Link: Wiki; Wikipedia
Personality: The first impression that most people will get is that New Zealand is a cheerful young nation, of average height for a young lad and, if a bit skinny and with features that are slightly too soft for a boy, definitely not a person who would stand out much. While energetic, the nation is not nearly as boisterous as some other countries, and while the smile is usually there, it isn't omnipresent like with for example Russia. NZ is not as forgettable as Canada, only... someone who likes staying in a corner of the room drinking some OJ in nice company while everyone is hauling chairs at each other and yelling.
That is actually how the Southerner spends large parts of most family gatherings.
New Zealand is usually a friendly, peaceful and slightly odd nation - living far away from most others and thus having little contact with them, taking sports to extremes always (NZ's idea of hiking is more like European survival training than hiking), hanging out with sheep a lot and being more British than the British, especially ever since France tried to snatch some of the colony's territory by founding his own.
The last two at least can be blamed on the European powers (the first is geography mostly and the second is just there and there are only theories on why it is so) and went down this way: So England had claimed New Zealand for himself, just that the Maori and the white settlers did not get along well. Then, finally, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. It basically said that the Maori were guaranteed their land and would in return obey the Queen. (Needless to say, their land was not nearly as safe as the treaty guaranteed it, but that is a different story.) The interesting thing was that this treaty got signed by an extremely high amount of tribal chiefs over the course of the next 6 months, and England thus had something very solid on his hands when, a few years later, France decided that New Zealand was an interesting little fellow. So he founded a settlement on the South Island. And then England had one of his totally mature episodes. "I WAS NOT INTERESTED IN THAT ISLAND UNTIL NOW BUT WOW FRANCE YOU'RE NOT GETTING IT." A few years later, France had left the islands and Christchurch, the place that he had founded, became British. Very British. And this applied to the whole nation - while NZ does still know some French, it is buried deep down and hardly ever used. Teasing England by calling France 'maman' is a completely different story. And it needed to be buried under something... and that something just stuck.
And about the sheep: They are not exactly native to the islands.
Okay, so I mentioned 'peaceful' up there, right? I should probably mention that there are three exceptions to this: An actual threat to NZ or someone who is important to the nation (like the motherland); rugby (and to a lesser extent some other sports); Oz. The last two are all in good fun, though. Calling each other 'sheepshagger' is totally normal sibling behaviour to them.
It probably showed a bit when I mentioned the teasing England by calling France mother, but New Zealand also has quite a mischievous streak. Teasing others or confusing them can be a lot of fun as long as it does not get out of hand or causes diplomatic or other trouble. Knowing where to draw the line is the key point here.
NZ's gender is not a part of that, though. It is simply that the binary gender definition does not mean much to the nation, and when the child reached an age where it became important, it had realized that to strictly define oneself as one or the other brings a lot of restrictions and trouble. And being an internationally rather unimportant and only seldom bothered nation due to geography and political status, nobody minded much.
Right now, New Zealand is 16 years of age (17 in modern day) and a British dominion, but since the beginning of the century there has been a tremendous growth spurt due to the nation gaining a sense of independence, and in only a few years that feeling will become an official reality.
Okay, lastly a second piece of history - I tried to work it in somewhere but it just did not work out.
If asked how old the first memories that Aotearoa has are, the nation would most likely smile at the asker and answer with a myth. There are a few memories of events from before Netherlands dropped by for the first time, but since the protonation was mostly living out in the wild and only infrequently lived with humans, and also because of the still very young physical age, all memories are more fuzzy, dreamy and well, mythical, which is most likely a reflection of Maori history telling.
The first memory of someone who felt similar, or in other words a nation, is a bit weird. Netherlands had come exploring and was upon arrival surrounded by a few Maori boats. A signal was trumpeted, and thinking that it was a friendly greeting, the European nation answered in the same way. Not a good idea: It had actually been a challenge that he had just accepted. The next day, the natives attacked and Netherlands lost four men. As a result he left again without ever having set foot on the island's ground.
While NZ's people considered the contact hostile, the tiny nation who was watching from the beach only felt curiosity. Seeing the ships sail away without that man who was different even setting foot on the island was disappointing. The next time she felt something like that on someone, NZ decided, there would be a proper contact of some sort. Knowing that you are not the only one, and then having that person being taken away from you, is a mean thing. Not that the child was unable to deal with the experience, being alone was something the nation was used to. But when England arrived and had a translator with him so that the humans could communicate, the little child was elated to say the least, and that positive feeling towards the stranger stayed. He left and came back and left again, only writing letters more often than not, but Kiwi did not mind: Being alone was not bad if the knowledge that someone is out there who understand and cares. The fact that England introduced New Zealand and Australia to each other (for a while, NZ was a part of New South Wales) and that they both were loyal to the motherland and thus did not talk each other out of it was definitely a plus, too.
The most striking fact about the nation in the eyes of someone from for example Europe will be the peacefulness. Sure, there was fighting in the past, but there was exactly one (1!) act of war committed on the islands through all of the 20th century, and the only wars that Kiwi was in were those that Britain had called them into. The nation itself shows that by trying to avoid conflict - when teasing someone, Kiwi will never let it get too far (again, unless it is Oz, but only because there the relationship is clear and the boundaries are long-term-tested and wider); when people start to fight New Zealand will hardly ever interject, at least not if it does not seem 200% necessary. Another reason for this is that the nation is aware of the fact that there is not much Kiwi weight to throw around in world politics, especially not as long as the dominion status stands. When someone is in trouble, Kiwi will be more prone to offer a sympathetic ear and listen to them, and maybe give hugs and advice (depending on if it feels appropriate) than to go and kick whatever troubles that other person in the privates. New Zealand likes to talk to others, but then as well will try to stay out of fights - discussions are fine, and sometimes you need to make your opinion heard and sometimes people are dumb, but NZ strongly believes that yelling at each other won't get anyone's point across and thus will avoid that as much as possible. The nation is neither particularly chatty nor particularly sparse with words, but if the other nation is up for deep talks, the Southerner can get very inquisitive.
The above does not mean that NZ will always dodge, though. Depending on what it is, the Oceanian can be very stubborn. For example: "Fight about who makes dinner" - dodge and have a napkin in the lap if England makes it. "You won't get your nuclear ships/weapons/etc anywhere near my lands" - verrrry stubborn.
NZ genuinely likes most people, though it might also be described as amiable curiosity in many cases - strangers are interesting. You will have to do a LOT to make this nation dislike you. So far, nobody has managed to earn real hatred or dislike. This means that when meeting others, the nation will display a friendly attitude, and stay even friendly in tone and expression when teasing others ("You should find yourself a room, you two" when coming across Australia shearing a sheep, or asking England how his martial trouble are going when referring to France and England's relationship, things like that). Playing tricks on someone ("Sure, America, everyone in Australia's place wears hats like that, you will make him really happy if you know that") is totally a-okay, too, as long as it won't really hurt someone.
Powers & Abilities: Relative immortality.
What items will they be bringing with them to Discedo? Uniform, helmet, rifle, a survival package, a knife, a locket with family and pets in it, a few first aid kit things.
Posting Samples
Third-Person Sample:
The report was done and only had to be sent to the person that the soldier at the table would call Dad. It wasn't long - neither party had that much time to spare. New Zealand stared down at the paper for a few more moments, wondering and worrying how England was doing - communication had been messy-, and then got up, grabbing the message to get it to the man who would send it off towards the motherland.
Men were running around outside like startled chicken, and the nation tried to keep to the walls to not be run over. Other nations might have just marched down the corridor and expected everyone to get out of their way, but outside of formal occasions or when it was needed to show off, New Zealand just didn't deem it necessary.
Plus while this was certainly not a happy time in anyone's life, there was no reason to make it worse. All these men were fighting, were doing their best to protect a far away motherland that most of them had never seen and too many would never have the chance to see after this was over. The nation hated that thought. There were so few, and it would only get less. Every single man who died out there was one too many. And there was nothing what a nation could do in times like this but pray and hope and try to do for their people whatever they could. Sure, it was necessary to fight to stop the Germans and their allies, stop this insane man that had seized the middle of Europe with an iron grip, but that did not mean that Kiwi enjoyed the fighting. The war.
The makeshift office was empty. Fingers drummed against the doorframe of the farmhouse while the teenager considered the options, and then the nation turned on the heel, heading off to where the other Oceanian had set up tent. In normal situations, asking Australia would have been the last choice, but right now, there was no place for things like that. And, Kiwi had to admit that, Australia could have pretty good ideas when he tried. Though the Southern neighbour would never have admitted that aloud.
First-Person Sample: [video; English]
[The first thing that one will notice about the person that is coming on the screen as the feed switches on are probably the rather massive eyebrows. The face under them looks friendly, though worn out and on edge, and a bit far away - NZ is poking the communicator with a long stick, to at least have a chance in case that it explodes. The realisation that the thing is a communication device doesn't seem to have kicked in yet.]
Looks kraut - [the vision spins as the device is flipped over a couple of times] haven't ever seen anything like it, God knows what they've been developing. I wonder what it does.
Hey! [The screen now shows a nearly full view of a young Caucasian with dirty blond hair and in a military, rather dirty uniform that has definitely been worn for a while now, clutching a rifle tightly and looking around to see if anyone will answer. NZ doesn't normally stand alone in a situation like this. Being alone and being alone in a foreign, possible hostile environment are two totally different things.] If someone is there, show yourself! [The nation repeats similar words in heavily accented Russian, German and Japanese, most likely phrases that were learned instead of understood. There is a long pause, and Kiwi's stance shifts slightly, from scared nervousness to a clear attempt to calm down and look angry instead. The whole situation is just too strange, suddenly waking up in the ruins of a city without anyone around and a weird device nearby. It has to be a joke. Right?]
...Oz?! You idiotic sheepshagger, get over here, this is not funny! I'll feed you to the sharks once we're back home! [The feed times out to the nation listening hard, trying to pick up sounds that are neither wind nor own heartbeat nor imagination.]
Links: here
Name: Kira
LJ: whatisnarva
Contact: plurk: whatisnarva
Characters played at Discedo: Sweden
IC Information
Name: New Zealand | Aotearoa | Kiwi | Kerry Monro
Canon: Axis Powers Hetalia
Timeline: late May of 1941
Canon Resource Link: Wiki; Wikipedia
Personality: The first impression that most people will get is that New Zealand is a cheerful young nation, of average height for a young lad and, if a bit skinny and with features that are slightly too soft for a boy, definitely not a person who would stand out much. While energetic, the nation is not nearly as boisterous as some other countries, and while the smile is usually there, it isn't omnipresent like with for example Russia. NZ is not as forgettable as Canada, only... someone who likes staying in a corner of the room drinking some OJ in nice company while everyone is hauling chairs at each other and yelling.
That is actually how the Southerner spends large parts of most family gatherings.
New Zealand is usually a friendly, peaceful and slightly odd nation - living far away from most others and thus having little contact with them, taking sports to extremes always (NZ's idea of hiking is more like European survival training than hiking), hanging out with sheep a lot and being more British than the British, especially ever since France tried to snatch some of the colony's territory by founding his own.
The last two at least can be blamed on the European powers (the first is geography mostly and the second is just there and there are only theories on why it is so) and went down this way: So England had claimed New Zealand for himself, just that the Maori and the white settlers did not get along well. Then, finally, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed. It basically said that the Maori were guaranteed their land and would in return obey the Queen. (Needless to say, their land was not nearly as safe as the treaty guaranteed it, but that is a different story.) The interesting thing was that this treaty got signed by an extremely high amount of tribal chiefs over the course of the next 6 months, and England thus had something very solid on his hands when, a few years later, France decided that New Zealand was an interesting little fellow. So he founded a settlement on the South Island. And then England had one of his totally mature episodes. "I WAS NOT INTERESTED IN THAT ISLAND UNTIL NOW BUT WOW FRANCE YOU'RE NOT GETTING IT." A few years later, France had left the islands and Christchurch, the place that he had founded, became British. Very British. And this applied to the whole nation - while NZ does still know some French, it is buried deep down and hardly ever used. Teasing England by calling France 'maman' is a completely different story. And it needed to be buried under something... and that something just stuck.
And about the sheep: They are not exactly native to the islands.
Okay, so I mentioned 'peaceful' up there, right? I should probably mention that there are three exceptions to this: An actual threat to NZ or someone who is important to the nation (like the motherland); rugby (and to a lesser extent some other sports); Oz. The last two are all in good fun, though. Calling each other 'sheepshagger' is totally normal sibling behaviour to them.
It probably showed a bit when I mentioned the teasing England by calling France mother, but New Zealand also has quite a mischievous streak. Teasing others or confusing them can be a lot of fun as long as it does not get out of hand or causes diplomatic or other trouble. Knowing where to draw the line is the key point here.
NZ's gender is not a part of that, though. It is simply that the binary gender definition does not mean much to the nation, and when the child reached an age where it became important, it had realized that to strictly define oneself as one or the other brings a lot of restrictions and trouble. And being an internationally rather unimportant and only seldom bothered nation due to geography and political status, nobody minded much.
Right now, New Zealand is 16 years of age (17 in modern day) and a British dominion, but since the beginning of the century there has been a tremendous growth spurt due to the nation gaining a sense of independence, and in only a few years that feeling will become an official reality.
Okay, lastly a second piece of history - I tried to work it in somewhere but it just did not work out.
If asked how old the first memories that Aotearoa has are, the nation would most likely smile at the asker and answer with a myth. There are a few memories of events from before Netherlands dropped by for the first time, but since the protonation was mostly living out in the wild and only infrequently lived with humans, and also because of the still very young physical age, all memories are more fuzzy, dreamy and well, mythical, which is most likely a reflection of Maori history telling.
The first memory of someone who felt similar, or in other words a nation, is a bit weird. Netherlands had come exploring and was upon arrival surrounded by a few Maori boats. A signal was trumpeted, and thinking that it was a friendly greeting, the European nation answered in the same way. Not a good idea: It had actually been a challenge that he had just accepted. The next day, the natives attacked and Netherlands lost four men. As a result he left again without ever having set foot on the island's ground.
While NZ's people considered the contact hostile, the tiny nation who was watching from the beach only felt curiosity. Seeing the ships sail away without that man who was different even setting foot on the island was disappointing. The next time she felt something like that on someone, NZ decided, there would be a proper contact of some sort. Knowing that you are not the only one, and then having that person being taken away from you, is a mean thing. Not that the child was unable to deal with the experience, being alone was something the nation was used to. But when England arrived and had a translator with him so that the humans could communicate, the little child was elated to say the least, and that positive feeling towards the stranger stayed. He left and came back and left again, only writing letters more often than not, but Kiwi did not mind: Being alone was not bad if the knowledge that someone is out there who understand and cares. The fact that England introduced New Zealand and Australia to each other (for a while, NZ was a part of New South Wales) and that they both were loyal to the motherland and thus did not talk each other out of it was definitely a plus, too.
The most striking fact about the nation in the eyes of someone from for example Europe will be the peacefulness. Sure, there was fighting in the past, but there was exactly one (1!) act of war committed on the islands through all of the 20th century, and the only wars that Kiwi was in were those that Britain had called them into. The nation itself shows that by trying to avoid conflict - when teasing someone, Kiwi will never let it get too far (again, unless it is Oz, but only because there the relationship is clear and the boundaries are long-term-tested and wider); when people start to fight New Zealand will hardly ever interject, at least not if it does not seem 200% necessary. Another reason for this is that the nation is aware of the fact that there is not much Kiwi weight to throw around in world politics, especially not as long as the dominion status stands. When someone is in trouble, Kiwi will be more prone to offer a sympathetic ear and listen to them, and maybe give hugs and advice (depending on if it feels appropriate) than to go and kick whatever troubles that other person in the privates. New Zealand likes to talk to others, but then as well will try to stay out of fights - discussions are fine, and sometimes you need to make your opinion heard and sometimes people are dumb, but NZ strongly believes that yelling at each other won't get anyone's point across and thus will avoid that as much as possible. The nation is neither particularly chatty nor particularly sparse with words, but if the other nation is up for deep talks, the Southerner can get very inquisitive.
The above does not mean that NZ will always dodge, though. Depending on what it is, the Oceanian can be very stubborn. For example: "Fight about who makes dinner" - dodge and have a napkin in the lap if England makes it. "You won't get your nuclear ships/weapons/etc anywhere near my lands" - verrrry stubborn.
NZ genuinely likes most people, though it might also be described as amiable curiosity in many cases - strangers are interesting. You will have to do a LOT to make this nation dislike you. So far, nobody has managed to earn real hatred or dislike. This means that when meeting others, the nation will display a friendly attitude, and stay even friendly in tone and expression when teasing others ("You should find yourself a room, you two" when coming across Australia shearing a sheep, or asking England how his martial trouble are going when referring to France and England's relationship, things like that). Playing tricks on someone ("Sure, America, everyone in Australia's place wears hats like that, you will make him really happy if you know that") is totally a-okay, too, as long as it won't really hurt someone.
Powers & Abilities: Relative immortality.
What items will they be bringing with them to Discedo? Uniform, helmet, rifle, a survival package, a knife, a locket with family and pets in it, a few first aid kit things.
Posting Samples
Third-Person Sample:
The report was done and only had to be sent to the person that the soldier at the table would call Dad. It wasn't long - neither party had that much time to spare. New Zealand stared down at the paper for a few more moments, wondering and worrying how England was doing - communication had been messy-, and then got up, grabbing the message to get it to the man who would send it off towards the motherland.
Men were running around outside like startled chicken, and the nation tried to keep to the walls to not be run over. Other nations might have just marched down the corridor and expected everyone to get out of their way, but outside of formal occasions or when it was needed to show off, New Zealand just didn't deem it necessary.
Plus while this was certainly not a happy time in anyone's life, there was no reason to make it worse. All these men were fighting, were doing their best to protect a far away motherland that most of them had never seen and too many would never have the chance to see after this was over. The nation hated that thought. There were so few, and it would only get less. Every single man who died out there was one too many. And there was nothing what a nation could do in times like this but pray and hope and try to do for their people whatever they could. Sure, it was necessary to fight to stop the Germans and their allies, stop this insane man that had seized the middle of Europe with an iron grip, but that did not mean that Kiwi enjoyed the fighting. The war.
The makeshift office was empty. Fingers drummed against the doorframe of the farmhouse while the teenager considered the options, and then the nation turned on the heel, heading off to where the other Oceanian had set up tent. In normal situations, asking Australia would have been the last choice, but right now, there was no place for things like that. And, Kiwi had to admit that, Australia could have pretty good ideas when he tried. Though the Southern neighbour would never have admitted that aloud.
First-Person Sample: [video; English]
[The first thing that one will notice about the person that is coming on the screen as the feed switches on are probably the rather massive eyebrows. The face under them looks friendly, though worn out and on edge, and a bit far away - NZ is poking the communicator with a long stick, to at least have a chance in case that it explodes. The realisation that the thing is a communication device doesn't seem to have kicked in yet.]
Looks kraut - [the vision spins as the device is flipped over a couple of times] haven't ever seen anything like it, God knows what they've been developing. I wonder what it does.
Hey! [The screen now shows a nearly full view of a young Caucasian with dirty blond hair and in a military, rather dirty uniform that has definitely been worn for a while now, clutching a rifle tightly and looking around to see if anyone will answer. NZ doesn't normally stand alone in a situation like this. Being alone and being alone in a foreign, possible hostile environment are two totally different things.] If someone is there, show yourself! [The nation repeats similar words in heavily accented Russian, German and Japanese, most likely phrases that were learned instead of understood. There is a long pause, and Kiwi's stance shifts slightly, from scared nervousness to a clear attempt to calm down and look angry instead. The whole situation is just too strange, suddenly waking up in the ruins of a city without anyone around and a weird device nearby. It has to be a joke. Right?]
...Oz?! You idiotic sheepshagger, get over here, this is not funny! I'll feed you to the sharks once we're back home! [The feed times out to the nation listening hard, trying to pick up sounds that are neither wind nor own heartbeat nor imagination.]
Links: here