Post by Spain on Jan 30, 2011 4:19:07 GMT -8
Character Information
Country Name:
Reino de España - Spain
Human Name:
Antonio Fernandez Carriedo
Gender:
Male
Appearance:
Personality:
From first appearance, it is very easy to write Antonio off as a simple man with a simplistic lifestyle. His behaviours are charmingly rustic, he doesn’t care for anything considered ‘upper class’, and he does little to nothing to dissuade people’s opinions of him. In short, he is merely happy being himself and nothing more.
‘Being himself’ tends to mean, more or less, being a rather happy-go-lucky ray of sunshine in the midst of the drab existence that is daily life. Antonio’s unfailing cheer is a staple to his personality, and it is a rare sight indeed to see him depressed or down. If anything, it is almost as if he works to keep himself in such good spirits for the benefit of those around him, knowing that if he can brighten their day just a little bit, then it was all worthwhile. He has a penchant for silliness that is rarely seen in nations his age, which shows in both his day to day behaviour and his nation’s festivals themselves (La Tomatina anyone?). While it would seem strange that a former empire would indulge in such things, Antonio takes it all in good stride. After all, there is no point in being too serious, it only leads to mistakes and undue stress.
Unfortunately, his laid-back nature also leads to laziness and the stereotype that he is a slacker. While there is a bit of truth to people’s assumptions, as Antonio is a man that prefers to take life at his own pace. While he is not adverse to work, nor is he apt to put off important things, he subscribes to the idea that it’s better to take things slow and at a comfortable pace rather than work himself into a tizzy all of the time. He takes the concept of relaxation very seriously, as evident by his insistence on daily siestas every afternoon.
While fun and games are a large part of his livelihood, there is also a more serious aspect to him that people tend to overlook. When serious political work is to be done, he snaps into shape, and has proven to be a fairly competent diplomat. However, the fact that he is absolutely, painfully oblivious and unable to read the atmosphere of situations is a bit detrimental to his efforts. Indeed, while Antonio is happy with himself, it is obvious to those who interact with him that subtlety and tact are utterly lost on him. If things aren’t completely obvious and blunt, you can count on him to overlook them, and even if they are, there’s about a fifty percent chance that he probably won’t pick up on anything anyways. Trying to get through to him is generally an exercise in frustration that few find fun to undertake.
He is also an incredibly paternal figure, taking great pleasure in being seen as ‘Boss Spain’. In the past he took care of many younger nations, and those protective, brotherly instincts have not waned over time. If one is important to him, he will fight tooth and nail to protect them, even if it is detrimental to his own health.
That isn’t to say that he is merely a simple man. If anything, Antonio is filled with deep, dark secrets that he shies away from discussing. While is no longer the feared Imperio Español, the mannerisms and the habits he exercised as the feared empire have stayed with him, hidden away from the polite, civil world. He understands that in modern times, there is no place for the devout fanaticism, but the part of him that longs for those more brutal, simpler times will not die, no matter how hard he tries to smother it. It is a voice in the back of his mind, tempting him, wheedling at his self-control and tempting him into behaving as he did in centuries past. The lust for blood and gold still exists, and one would do well to try to avoid sparking his interest over either one. Once a conquistador, always a conquistador
Likes:
❂ Warm weather
❂ Turtles
❂ Sleeping
❂ Tomatoes
❂ Gold
❂ Cooking
❂ Dance
❂ The ocean
❂ His former lackeys
Dislikes:
❂ Piracy
❂ Overcast or cool weather
❂ Terrible food
❂ Being considered lazy
❂ Highly serious environments
❂ Needless fighting/cruelty
❂ Being denied his afternoon siesta
Strengths:
❂ Leadership: Wile it wouldn’t appear that he would ever make a competent leader, Antonio has spent centuries as a leader, back during his empire years. Certainly his laid back personality wouldn’t suggest that he knows how to inspire and drive people to things, he is actually quite good at it.
❂ Agricultural knowledge: as obvious as it sounds. Before the apocalypse he was rather skilled in horticulture, and though the conditions aren’t entirely conducive to any sort of farming or gardening currently, he holds out hope that the weather will improve so that he can begin replanting and replenishing the food supply for his people and whomever else is left.
❂ Even tempered: It is incredibly hard to upset Antonio, incredibly, incredibly hard. Threats and insults towards him generally don’t even phase the man, and high stress situations are treated as important, but nothing to grow psychotic over. The one exception to this, however, is if one threatens his land or former lackeys. Then all bets are off.
Weaknesses:
❂ Obliviousness: Antonio is chronically, painfully oblivious at points, entirely unable to read the atmosphere in most situations. This leads to him coming across as rather simple in social settings that require even the smallest bit of tact, though he is blissfully unaware of this.
❂ Bleeding heart: He’s a sucker for anyone with a sob story, especially children, and will often times go completely out of his way to help people just because he feels bad for them. Combined with his previously stated oblivious nature, this makes it rather easy for people to prey upon and scam him, if they feel the need to.
❂ Cold weather: While it may seem like a simple thing, he is absolutely unsuited for low temperatures and tends to do poorly when introduced to them.
❂ …Occasionally lazy: Though he will never admit it, Antonio really can be rather hard to motivate at times. He prefers living a full life, slow-paced and filled with comfort rather than taking the initiative on many things. While he may have been a go-getter back in his empire days, recently he is much fonder of not stressing out over every single thing.
Fears:
❂ The death of anyone close to him: call it what you like, Antonio is a very communal individual, and when those very close to him are injured or (heaven forbid) killed, it affects him greatly. This is partially selfish, as he dislikes the pain it brings him, but it is also a legitimate fear for the safety of his fellow nations.
❂ Abandonment: Antonio has always been a very paternal figure, used to having people around at all times. He simply isn’t sure how he would function if he were completely alone, suffice to say it would probably incite all sorts of mental and emotional breakdowns.
What happened before and shortly after the apocalypse?:
In the beginning, Antonio was entirely ambivalent towards the rumors and whispers that there was anything wrong in the world. Everything was still so nice in his lands, what was there to be worried about? Sure, the summers may have grown more and more scorching, but that wasn’t entirely bad news. After all, it could have been much worse; there had been word that some of his fellow nations had been suffering from cold weather and that would have been just terrible! However, as time wore on, their chill began creeping up upon him as well, the icy touch of winter’s tendrils licking at his borders. But that was still normal, so there was no reason to panic…right? There was usually snow in the more mountainous part of the country, and there was nothing wrong if it was just a little bit colder, a little bit more icy than normal.
It was that logic that almost destroyed him.
The ocean started to rise, and suddenly there was water in his lungs; vicious quakes rocked the land and he was ill. Fever and chills swept through his body as heat and cold began to overtake Spain, and though he did his best to hang on, he was quickly overwhelmed by the natural phenomenons. It was in Barcelona that he finally collapsed, and it was around then that all hell broke loose. The stress of his people’s worry and anxiety coupled it the strikes against the land itself was too much for him to stomach, but it was almost a blessing that he lost consciousness for the worst of the cataclysm.
Though his body was bruised and broken in the subsequent quakes and destruction, his Nationhood kept him alive through beginning of the end, and he awoke to find that his precious city was in ruins. He was exhausted, beaten and bruised by the damage done, but more importantly, he was alone. The buzz of his people’s fear was faint in the back of his mind, but his immediate surroundings were entirely desolate and barren. He felt fear, terror for the unknown that presented itself to him, but it was something that had to be pushed aside for the moment. There had to be others out there, his people had to have survived, and he would need to find them to begin to make everything right again. The apparent apocalypse hadn’t killed him, he wasn’t going to lay down and give up after that.
What are your character's top priorities and goals?
In all honesty, Spain want to be assured that his former lackeys and his close friends are all okay. He is still quite parental over all of them, and it is his natural instinct to be a protector in times of great stress, such as now. He is actively working on trying to find out if they have survived or not, and has made it his first and foremost goal to reunite himself with Belgium, South Italy, Prussia, France and maybe perhaps Netherlands. Other than that, he truly wishes for everything to return back to the way it was before the calamity. He dislikes seeing everything so vacant and empty and deeply misses the sunshine-filled, easygoing life that he previous had.
There is, however, a small part of him that also desires to revert to his old conquistador tendencies. The desire to once again travel the lands, establishing a new empire, is certainly tempting, but he tempers himself with the knowledge that it is more important to simply survive for now and that the return of such times would be absolutely detrimental to the current world.
…and he would very much like to see the sun again. He misses the sun and warmth of his beaches terribly.
Sample Post:
Just something concocted a while back for a more historical settingSometimes it was hard accept that life was as strange as it really was. The last few years had been chaotic…so very chaotic, and frankly all he wanted to do was rest. There had been too much war, too much death, and it was tearing him apart slowly but surely. For all of his claims to cruelties in his younger years, Antonio found that he was tired of such things now, that he wished to just be done with all of the strife. He had been around for so long…so, so long, and though he was still young in body, mentally he was far wiser than any of the men that surrounded him.
There were times that he wondered if other nations ever felt as he did: world worn and weary from all of the constant struggle. Certainly they couldn’t be immune from the fatigue and misery that accumulated over the decades. No…it couldn’t be just him. It was a conundrum though, odd to think about the fact that the people he knew perhaps he didn’t know at all. Did Arthur really enjoy his piracy, or was it something that had been forced on him? Was Francis really satisfied with how he was seen, or was it just an act he put on? What of little Lovnio, was he happy? So many questions to answer, and never any way to find out if his assumptions were correct. Reality was what they had made it, but was it really what anyone actually desired?
He shook his head, trying to chase the thoughts away as he looked out the window. It was nice to be back home, back on his land, the soil that represented his flesh and blood. Though his men may have become homesick when they were at sea, Antonio always figured that their worry and pining was never as sweet as his own. Human beings could never know the sensation of being separated from themselves, of being in two places at once. Even when he was exploring the new world, there was still an itch in the back of his mind that alerted him to plots and subterfuge within his monarchy. An ache in his bones would tell him that the land was stricken with blight…it was a sensation as old as he could remember.
Given the chance, he wondered what it would be like to have been born human. Certainly they were small, fragile things, with short live and bodies that seemed to be made of glass. They were like ants to Nationkind, scurrying along in a daily struggle to survive, but Antonio had always liked them. He tried not to put himself on a pedestal, to see himself as nothing more than one of them, despite his age-old wisdom and obviously inhuman physicality. He had worked alongside them in the fields, picking tomatoes with a bright grin and quick hand, he had fought alongside them in war, grim faced and bloody. He shared in their triumphs and their tragedies, because when it came down to it, he was them, was the sum of all of their feelings and emotions and hopes and dreams.
It was a bittersweet thing, to know that perhaps the thoughts in your head were not your own, but instead influenced by those around you. Had he decided to pursue it further, the great Spanish empire was sure that he probably would have gone mad long ago. Instead though, he chose not worry over it. After all, he had lived a thousand years and he would live a thousand more, there would be plenty of time to ponder things later.Misc. Information
Timezone:
GMT: -6 (Central)
Did you read the rules?
Despite our past (which admittedly you were a jerk), I suppose you’re a pretty okay guy England. I mean, a lot of our laws are so similar and everything, so you’re not that bad of a person anymore. I just wish we could get everything sorted out with Gibraltar.
…just stay away from my jewelry box. I mean it.
Favorite Pairing:
FrUK and UKSp will always be my dual OTPslololwut?, and other than that, I enjoy FrSp, AmeCan, SuFin- oh hell, just ask, I’m pretty chill with everything~
