Germany - Ludwig Beilschmidt

[Germany - Ludwig Beilschmidt]

GERMANY general info FULL NAME • Ludwig Beilschmidt AGE • ~1200 years (appears 20) BIRTHDAY • October 3rd GENDER • Male SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Bi FACE CLAIM • N/A appearance HAIR COLOR • Blond EYE COLOR • Blue HEIGHT • 5'11" WEIGHT • ~220 lbs. TATTOOS • N/A OVERALL APPEARANCE • Standing at nearly six feet tall and with a rather large build, Ludwig is anything but a small man. That combined with his normally quite serious expressions and mannerisms makes him quite the imposing person. It's relatively rare for him to smile, though it's not unheard of. More often than not his lips are held in a slight frown, either because he's thinking about something or is just slightly displeased with the situation that he's in. • He has short, blonde hair that he normally keeps slicked back and pale blue eyes that hint at careful observation and intelligence. Some would regard him as quite handsome, though that's not something that he cares about. He usually dresses quite formally, wearing a suit or at least something that counts as 'business casual' unless he's working out or relaxing at home or something, and he keeps his clothes clean and straightened - the only reason why he ever looks messy is if he's been doing something extremely physical. His clothing hides a rather muscular build - in fact, there are few nations that can compete with him in that regard. • He's considered to be a relatively young nation, at least compared to many of the other European nations, though he's actually been alive for a rather long time. He's lived under the shadow of his older brother Prussia, and that kept him from joining the ranks of those who are nations in their own right until relatively recently. But this means that he has a surprising amount of skill and maturity for someone who appears to be so young. personality LIKES Efficiency - Though many people appreciate it when things go well, Ludwig actively enjoys ensuring it. It gives him an extremely deep sense of satisfaction every time he finds some way to make things faster, easier, cheaper, or otherwise improved. When the train arrives on time, he checks his watch to verify and almost smiles. Beer - When you are a large mass of muscle and pent up rage, nothing is more relaxing than a nice beer at the end of a long day. Or three, or five... A nice, craft beer - none of that disgusting mass-produced garbage that others drink just to get drunk. Reading/History - Though he's been around to personally witness a lot of history, he enjoys learning about those parts that he missed or doesn't remember clearly. And there is no better way to do that than through a nice book, or at least there wasn't until recently. But time slips are an annoying and unreliable thing for a student of history to work with, so he'll not be counting that as better any time soon. Dogs - One way to truly get Ludwig to relax is to put him somewhere where there are dogs and no people. Does he smile? Yes. Does he baby-talk? Yes. Does he get on his hands and knees and play-wrestle with them? Yes. If someone else is around he tends to be way more inhibited. Cars - His cars are, of course, the best cars. Never attempt to convince him otherwise. He owns a lot of them personally, both modern and classic. Baking - No, this is not a girly hobby. It requires careful technique, precision measuring, keen instincts, patience, and care. And yes, the pink, gingham apron is completely necessary! DISLIKES Unfairness - There are many times in Ludwig's past when he feels that he was treated very unfairly, and when reminded of those times he's quick to internally fume about them even if his expression is as stoic as ever. As a result, he is very quick to object when he feels that someone else is being treated unfairly as well. Invasions of Privacy - He's a very private person who likes to keep many things to himself. Though he doesn't feel like he has many deep, dark secrets that would get him into trouble if they were exposed, there are many secrets he keeps simply because he feels like it's personal and private information. When someone else finds out about these things when he doesn't want to, that's one of his least favorite things. Chaos - Being such an orderly, efficient person means that when he finds chaos to be like nails on a chalkboard. Though he's self-conscious enough about his past that he actively avoids seeking leadership positions on purpose, he often ends up in them anyways simply because he can't stand it when things are disorganized. Mistakes - He holds himself to an extremely high standard, immediately fixing any mistakes he makes and making an effort to prevent them from happening again. So when others make mistakes, he expects them to do the same and is quick to get on their case if they don't. Laziness - Speaking of getting on people's cases, he also has a very low tolerance for anyone who slacks off. He, of course, never slacks off. Everything - Being an extreme pessimist almost all the time, Ludwig has a particular knack for finding something to dislike about nearly any situation. Even if everything is going perfectly he knows that won't last, so he grimly prepares for that while he's waiting for it to happen. STRENGTHS Strategic genius - In all matters of strategy, whether it's commanding an army or figuring out the most efficient way to do business, Ludwig is one of the most intelligent countries. When he fails it's more often due to a lack of resources than the mismanagement of them - when he appears to mismanage something it's more often because his Boss told him to do something he wouldn't have otherwise done. Leadership ability - He has such a commanding presence that if someone isn't paying close attention they might find themselves doing what he says without thinking about it first. This is largely because he's so direct when giving orders that he sounds like he really knows what he's talking about - which is usually true, though he does make mistakes sometimes - and also because he can be big, loud, and scary so those who can be intimidated usually are. WEAKNESSES Follower - In spite of his ability to lead, Ludwig is actually more comfortable being a follower than he is to being the one to actually make decisions - he can give orders and is good at coming up with the way to achieve a specific goal, but not always figuring out what that goal should be. This often puts him into the difficult situation of not really being sure what the next course of action should be when everyone else expects him to take charge and tell them what to do. Relationship skills - Having been a follower and such a serious person for most of his existence, Ludwig has spent almost all of his time being very busy worrying about what other people want and not stopping to make actual friends and learn how to interact with others like a normal person. Add to that the fact that the exceptions to this have been mostly unpleasant experiences, and you have a man who has a very difficult time getting close to anyone - either in a romantic context or simply in a friendship. And even when he's overcome his hesitation, he usually flubs it up. When he does make friends it's usually because they literally threw themselves at him. DREAMS He just wants his people to be happy and for the other nations to see him as an okay person. The problem with this dream is that he wouldn't believe that he achieved it even if he did. FEARS Failure - His number one priority is to take care of his people, and he's always worried that he'll make the wrong choices in that regard. He's failed at that pretty badly in the past, and he can't shake the fear that history will repeat itself. Rejection - He has also experienced being a global pariah twice, and that's another thing that he doesn't want to repeat again. As a result, he cares a lot about what others think of him and his reputation. OVERALL PERSONALITY • He's a very tough person, generally able to take what life gives him without throwing a fit about it. And when he does throw a fit about it, it's usually a burst of rage, and then maybe a beer, and then he's fine again and ready to deal with the problem. He's also profoundly serious, with his mind always on business and very rarely allowing himself to relax and unwind. He values efficiency and skill and he hates weakness, setting a very high bar for both himself and others. He respects the competence of others, going so far as to praise his enemies if they show themselves worthy of it, but he's not shy about turning around and attacking them with an iron fist. He's incurably stubborn, and is often determined to see things through to the end even if things look bleak. • He likes his dogs, and he relaxes more around them than probably anyone else, and he also likes a good beer. Though he allows himself very little free time, when he does he enjoys reading, baking, cleaning, and hanging out with Prussia or possibly Italy. But he likes to keep himself busy, as his people are extremely important to him, so he feels the need to spend as much time as possible looking out for their welfare and making sure that everything is going as smoothly as possible for them. As he's also strongly pessimistic, there is no end to what he can do for them - even if everything seems okay right now, there's undoubtedly something he can do to make it better, or to plan for the future, or to make a backup plan just in case. But he keeps himself busy enough that he often seems to be rather tired and world-weary - even when things are going well he can seem to be full of melancholy. history IDENTIFIABLE PARENTS • Unclear, but the Nordics are his cousins on his father's side, and France is his cousin on his mother's side. GUARDIAN(S) OR MENTOR(S) • Germania, his grandfather, Austria, and also his older brother Prussia SIBLING(S) • Prussia OTHER IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIPS • His best friends are Italy and Japan. OVERALL HISTORY The Early Years • Though he is a lot older than most others probably imagine, most of that history wasn't especially important or interesting. There was always someone around to tell him what to do, so he wasn't the one making the decisions - he only had to deal with the consequences. The whole thing was extremely messy - there were a lot of wars - and he was quite young at the time, so he doesn't like to think about it very much. In fact, he's actually outright forgotten quite a bit of it. However, his early years shaped him into who he is today - he learned all about strategy, not giving up, leadership, and so forth during that time. World Wars • He didn't really come into his own until his brother Prussia took the back seat and suddenly he was in charge. It was a huge adjustment for him, and he may or may not have immediately made a bunch of decisions that he now deeply regrets. • To make a long story short, he wasn't very careful with his alliances, and got dragged into a World War. Which he thought was okay at first because if he knew how to do anything well, it was how to fight a war. However, he fought so hard that when the war ended in defeat for him and his allies, he ended up getting a lot of the blame. Which he thought was deeply unfair because he hadn't started the war, after all, and had merely been honoring his agreements with his allies. • So when a very heavy punishment was put upon him - so heavy that he believed that the nations responsible might have actually been trying to kill him, and if not then they certainly didn't seem to care about his well-being - that made him angry. Angry enough to stop caring about what everyone thought of him and to try to take over much of Europe. That didn't go well. Aftermath • Fortunately, the victors this time seemed to recognize that perhaps they'd been too heavy-handed with him the first time, so they were more reasonable this time. After a long probation and absorbing many lectures about how a nation should and shouldn't behave, he managed to regain the trust of almost everyone and establish himself as a good and strong nation that can get along well with the others. Though some of them still look rather nervous when he gets angry, his is allowed and sometimes even is appreciated for his ability to function in many leadership roles among the European nations. They know that if he is put in charge things will get done. Present Day • He is constantly busy, always juggling a million different problems both internationally and among his own people. Most of those problems are relatively minor, fortunately, but he doesn't give them any less of this attention. Small problems that are mishandled easily turn into big problems, after all. • It should be said that he's not especially keen on the experiments that have been going on. While he's normally very enthusiastic about science, he really doesn't like being treated like a test subject at all - in fact the mere thought of being experimented upon makes him uncomfortable. However, he has never once voiced his objections to it - he's afraid that if he did then someone might point to certain events in his past and call him a hypocrite, and that they'd be right. So he endures it all in silence. • The side effect of the time slips both interests him and bothers him. Being a student of history, being able to actually go to the past and experience it seems almost like a dream come true. On the other hand, because he's a very private person he doesn't like the idea of anyone going into his own past and it really bothers him that it can't be avoided. He also doesn't like the disruptions it causes in the here and now. • But because it seems impossible to avoid the problem, he simply does everything he can to prepare for it - he's taken to keeping certain useful supplies on his person whenever possible, such as his gun and a spare magazine, just in case he ends up in the middle of a medieval war or something. The recent discovery that you can get out of the past by dying and that this doesn't seem to cause other problems is useful, but that also means he ends up being torn between staying in the time slip and absorbing the history and getting out of it so that he can attend to his many responsibilities. roleplayer OOC NAME • Avalikia / Ava TIME ZONE • MST EXPERIENCE • Close to 20 years OTHER CHARACTERS • Vietnam - Nguyen Thi

[Rye]

Such a pleasure to see your Germany again. I really enjoyed reading your app!