Post by England - Arthur Kirkland on Mar 13, 2019 0:25:04 GMT
GREAT BRITAIN  general info FULL NAME • Arthur Kirkland AGE • Around 1,100 years old (Appears 23) BIRTHDAY • April 22 GENDER • Male SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Bisexual FACE CLAIM • N/A appearance HAIR COLOR • Blonde EYE COLOR • Green HEIGHT • 1.75 m. WEIGHT • 11st. TATTOOS • Arthur has tattoos that are typically only viewable in intimate situations, as he would never openly display them. He received renditions of Celtic knotwork along his right hip and over his lower back that connects to further work of the Celtic tree of life further along his back. He received them in the wild, anarchical 1970’s and the tattoos have significant personal and paganistic/religious meaning to him, even if the start of the tattoo had been the result of a drinking and drug-induced night. OVERALL APPEARANCE • Arthur has a rather lean and scrawny appearance on the worst occasions, or something made of stronger stuff on the better occasions. He has a generally fierce, almost consistently surly look about him, the sort that follows someone who’s had to scrape and struggle to survive in a harsh environment. It’s likely that his smaller frame has more to do with the constant famine and disease that he endured as he developed and grew very slowly from the malnourished child nation into adulthood. His skin is on the pinkish pale side, getting red and blotchy very easily in the sun, while his hair tends to be unmanageable—short and messy no matter what era. Arthur is the owner of many scars through centuries of constant war, both internal and with his neighbors. Some of his worst are from the two World Wars, evidence of deep lacerations from the Blitz across his chest and left arm that have healed over, the same evidence apparent in his cities even today. Anglo-Saxon culture has taught him to be proud of any scars acquired in his lifetime; evidence that he’s a survivor no matter how often someone tries to cut him down. As Arthur grew older, entering into his more adolescent phase of life, he grew from having very simple taste in fashion to an appreciation for elegance and extravagance. Of course, Arthur’s fashion is different from others in that he isn’t drawn to the obvious gaudy flash and shine, but to the quality of well-made coats and trousers, simple with clean-cut lines. Fashion to him is a measure of pride, power, and manipulation. When he was pirating, for example, he used the bright colors, strange appearance, and lined gold to intimidate his enemies. More in today’s time-frame, Arthur still takes pride in being well-dressed and prefers the expensive, high-quality selections over anything else. personality LIKES
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OVERALL PERSONALITY • Like most nations, England can be a bit difficult to understand, given that he has been around for quite some time, though is still younger than most of the continental nations in Europe. Existing for centuries has given him multiple dispositions, some which at times are contradictory. One facet of his temperament (that many have pointed out) is that his level of approachability is sorely lacking. Although, this may just be because he’s generally unpleasant to be around for those he dislikes—which happens to be several. He has a sharp tongue, can be cynical and sarcastic to the point of being offensive, and obstinate in his opinions and desires to the point where he seems callous. Part of this hardness was developed after enduring a difficult, centuries long youth where he was consistently being attacked, forcefully assimilated, criticised for his pagan roots, and bled out for those who managed some level of dominance over him. He was already a willful, assertive child to begin with, and with the additional hounding from his siblings and later foreign aggravations, he became even more so. Ambition and centuries long grudges were born (particularly ones directed at France after the Norman invasion and the ensuing Hundred Years’ War) and they were harboured and nurtured until he was able to make his fanciful visions a reality by winning the seat of naval power and with the eventual emergence of the Pax Britannica. Early English history denotes the classic scenario of a child that needed to grow up quickly. Arthur never had anyone take care of him. There was no room for frivolities and fancies, only the need to be strong in order to protect himself from being hurt. Given that he had a volatile childhood, always looking to advance, and eventually, to build a world where he was at the centre, an unrivalled, golden empire, he lacked sorely in his social development early on. He knows more how to handle himself with a sword, with sharp words, and with surviving in a cutthroat world than he does maneuvering himself in a light, social setting. Part of the reason why he’s viewed as unpleasant is the fact that he has difficulty with managing to be pleasant. While he was ruthless enough to build himself one of the greatest empires in history, it has never required him to be friendly, soft, and connected with others. Arthur held such power and surety with himself, but he’d also never felt more alone after he’d built his empire. Loneliness had plagued his heart as a child, growing up with a parental figure who eventually abandoned him and with wild siblings who only seemed interested in attacking or sending him curses. The loneliness only festered and grew the more power he acquired and the more he became capable of lashing back at his siblings, and eventually, at the world. Even in his younger years when he started from nothing but a scattering of chieftains, Arthur had always thought rather well of himself. He never took the abuse from invading nations lying down and he didn’t believe that he ever deserved such treatment, which is what added fuel to the ambition that he would someday lay those who hurt him to waste. On the outside, he exudes confidence befitting of the very person he wishes to be: someone who is used to being heard and well-regarded. This can come across as arrogance; though the line between a healthy dose of confidence and outward pride are often blurred. But others wouldn’t be exaggerating; he’s an exceedingly arrogant bastard. He is aware of his tendency with protecting and nurturing his pride and makes no apologies for it. He rarely ever makes apologies, particularly with the effects of his cruel ambition well into the height of his Empire and the sacrifices that he needed to make to get there. There’s a definite leaning toward his vices. Arthur is fond of liquor in particular: whiskey, rum, cider, scotch, brandy, and various ales. He also never took up issue with experimenting with various substances in the past and present. On his best days, Arthur is a functioning alcoholic. His liquor storage is normally as well stocked as his tea. Tobacco is another habit, though it’s one that has definitely faded during the wartime, though he used to indulge in it quite often in the century prior when tobacco was a social necessity. And, of course, there are other pleasures that Arthur isn’t a stranger to trying. He has a tendency to be bold, if not outright daring with certain physical pleasures, from substances to sex, if only because they’re a temporary remedy to the compounding cynicism and a general sense of melancholy that he constantly shoulders. In order to balance out his work and other duties, he tries not to allow these vices to consume him. Arthur has excellent memory for his age and is able to recall things that have been long lost to human minds and records, which only manages to amplify his longing for them. He’s notorious for being a rather horribly nostalgic nation—constantly looking back, constantly remembering and honouring the giants among his people, and at times, even causing old wounds to resurface or refueling old rivalries in the process. It truly frustrates him that the world seems to move on so fluidly, which also includes forgetting about the existence of things beyond what can be seen by focusing only on the superficial. Although he doesn’t talk about it much, England will never discount the existence of something beyond the corporeal world. He’s been thought of as being a bit on the fanciful side for still believing in the old ways and still being able to see traces of his fae and other supernatural creatures around the world. In a way, it does ease the loneliness, knowing that he’s not really alone. Staying true to his scrappy nature, England is thick-skinned, willing to weather through just about anything. He has known the ache of isolation, backstabbing, and abandonment for so long, that he has hardened enough from it and grew to lash out, releasing an unresolved cocktail of resentment during his privateering/pirating years. In the end, when he was finally able to grow enough from his backwater origins, he quickly adapted to the European way of war, alliances (broken, reworked, and rewritten in every way possible), and strategic liaisons. And dear God—the more he grew into the role of the instigator instead of the target, the more addicted he grew to power. He liked having power for once—he lavished in the thrill of coercion, seduction, manipulation, being the cause of another’s submission, and even enjoyed the occasional exchange of pleasure for political gain. In the end, the island nation never lacked for enemies, and he often felt that it was far better to be feared than loved. Arthur also has a possessive streak—one that can border on the senseless at times. There are very few things in the world that have ever brought him any level of satisfaction. He wouldn’t call it happiness. Even so, he would fight to keep them all for himself—whether it was sea or land. England loved having that control and he hated seeing it slip away from his tight grasp as the modern age approached. As that form of tyrannical thinking was obviously no longer acceptable in the more 'civilised' present time, England was careful to adapt. He took on one decade at a time to ensure his place, more specifically, though the age of industrialisation and several other, smaller stretches of time that slowly altered the world into what it is today. His temper also has the capacity of being rather explosive, though only when he reaches the end of a respectable length of fuse. It’s a wonder that he even has a fuse compared to the notorious tempers of his siblings. Though this is also something that has developed with time, a measure of tolerance for the things that irritate him as well as a restraint of sorts to keep his rage in check. Although he has calmed considerably in the past few centuries, long after his vengeful outburst in his ‘adolescent’ years where he spilt Spanish blood whilst tearing into their Armada, he can still be rather argumentative and irritable presently. If given the chance in the right situation and if the right words are spoken to him, he may even be quick to anger and strike, though that’s a general rarity. Arthur knows how to stay composed, how to uphold that infuriatingly calm, calculating and gentlemanly front that he came to embody during the Victorian and Edwardian eras, the height of his empire. He’s a pessimist. He sees the world as broken, a place where perfection and true happiness doesn’t exist and never will. He believes that the same could be said of happiness as well, that it’s impossible to be completely happy, having been disappointed whenever he did attempt to forge any attempt at it. As far as hobbies that keep him somewhat content, Arthur finds some satisfaction in seemingly mundane doings, such as needlework, crochet, cleaning, re-reading good literature, discovering new works of literary art, caring for his leather bound books, or finding something to give his scathing opinion about—whether it be Alfred’s Hollywood films, his rubbish version of music, or France’s ridiculous fashion trends. Arthur’s idea of love and that timeless sort of romance is surprisingly much simpler compared to the rest of his idiosyncrasies, but it’s a part of him that he keeps hidden (as far as he’s concerned.) That part of him is a bit of a hopeless romantic, even if it’s the imperfect sort. Beneath his harsh layers, he surprisingly believes in love, the selfless and undying sort that his own authors, playwrights, and philosophers write about. But his entire history is written of how Arthur wished that he didn't believe in such things. He wished that he had been better at closing and locking away those softer, impulsive feelings. And although he’s aware of the fact that it would befit him to be less prideful and less irritable, he can't. He is who he is. Even if that's not necessarily who he, or others, want him to be. In lieu of all of this, a shorter explanation would be that Arthur can be on the stubborn, volatile side, but can also be steadfast when he needs to be. Emerging from the chaos and cruelty of his youth, he craved stability and strength. Some form of this stability came out through his unexpected dedication to the unspoken rule of decency and gentlemanly expectations that he believes forms a strong and proper society (at least for outward appearances.) Overall, he can be irritable, unapologetic, coarse, but beneath it all, there’s that softer underside that gives away the truth of the lonely nation who believes in love, yearns for connection with others, and had once cherished the natural world for what it was. The world has a brutal way of destroying all those once innocent ideals. And Arthur is truly a product of the world. history IDENTIFIABLE PARENTS • Product of Britannia and an outsider of German origin GUARDIAN(S) OR MENTOR(S) • France (raised him for a time, although Arthur never considered him to be a proper guardian,) Portugal (mentor) SIBLING(S) • Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales (all older brothers) OTHER IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIPS • America (even with their turbulent history, he will always be a very important person to Arthur) OVERALL HISTORY • Early Years / Anglo-Saxon England England came to be when groups of German migrants known as the Angles and the Saxons came to settle on his shore long after Rome had left his mother, Britannia, behind, forming the Seven Kingdoms that would eventually make up a future England. He’d never met his German birth father and he only remembers the barest glimpses of his mother before she too disappeared. Although Arthur had never seen or met Rome, he had always blamed him for his mother’s disappearance. Arthur’s memories of his early years were bitter, lonely, and painful. His older brothers were powerful kingdoms in their own right and sought to kill off the collective Anglo-Saxon migrants, his first people, because they believed England to be an outsider that should have never existed in the first place. Despite his weak stature and small size, he managed to survive his brothers’ attempts at wiping him off the map like a stain. England was very much a wild child, with little to no guidance from others at the time, and lived off the land, relying on the help of spirits, the fae, and other mythical creatures. To this day, Arthur still holds a great amount of respect for these more paganistic forces of nature, which he will attest are entirely real. Alfred the Great The greatest man that had ever lived in Arthur’s timeline was his very first King and his truest personal hero, Alfred the Great. Alfred was essential in the establishment of England as a country because it was under him that the Seven Kingdoms were united and led successful push-back against the Danes. And it was because of Alfred that England was never fully conquered by the Vikings that were plaguing him horribly. When Arthur’s life as a new nation was hanging by a thread, Alfred emerged as a great leader, commanding a force that had obliterated the Danes whom had nearly succeeded in destroying England. Norman/French Rule The only nation to have ever conquered England completely was Norman France. Arthur remembered at first fancying the mysterious and lovely stranger that touched upon his shore. France was different from his previous would-be conquerors in that he was incredibly charming, seemingly kind, and very pretty. It was the beginning of Arthur’s first infatuation, and even today, he still considers France to be his first love. That quickly darkened; however, and he grew to hate France with a passion that matched his initial love for him the moment that France had conquered him, forcing Arthur to be his. France would teach him his language, had even softened quite a bit of the harsher Germanic sounding English language with his French, and would teach Arthur a large number of things that would inadvertently made him stronger in the long run. Even so, no matter how many castles France built for him, Arthur still rebelled. He would climb down the castle windows at night, he would sabotage French endeavors whenever he could, and he even resorted to stealing gold from the French lords that ruled over the common English people. It’s during this era that tales of Robin Hood became popular, as the distance between the wealthy Norman French ruling class and the poor English commoners was so wide. When Arthur’s rebelling drew the complete attention of France, having grown to such an extent, it eventually led to Arthur attempting to regain his independence and sovereignty throughout the events of the 100 Years' War. Involvements with Spain and Portugal As Arthur continued to try and establish himself as a nation, the Spanish navy had initially started bullying England as well by raiding and sinking English vessels. England responded with a victory in dispelling the Spanish, but this only grew into a raging conflict for the next 200 years between the English and the Spanish Armadas, which eventually ended when England completely destroying the Spanish Armada. A victory that Arthur still savors. The start of his trouble with Spain is also when England signed his first official alliance with another nation (and the current oldest alliance in the world, still ongoing) with Portugal. Arthur came to view his relationship with Portugal as something very special, as Portugal became somewhat of a mentor to him regarding how to maneuver European politics and how to become a force to be reckoned with. The two of them also shared a love for the sea and sailing, which was an encouragement for England to put proper attention into slowly perfecting his own armada. While France may have been England’s first love, Portugal was the first to properly romance him, literally and figuratively, into this new world of eventually obtaining power and adopting a commanding presence. Elizabethan Era England went through many changes for the next hundred years, going through various rulers that would eventually pave the way for Queen Elizabeth I, and for the Golden Age in English history. Arthur loved his Queen above all else and still thinks very fondly of her today. She's also his only monarch in history who famously declared herself "married to England." This was the time when he also established his love for poetry, music, theatre and literature as the likes of Shakespeare grew more popular in Elizabeth’s court. This was a renaissance for burgeoning English culture within the Middle Ages. It was around this time that Arthur also started to become involved in privateering, although this early on, he considered himself only performing this service out of love and devotion for his Queen. Of course, this pattern of piracy would continue well into the early 1700’s and would devolve into a lifestyle of debauchery, greed, and lavish exploitation off the torment of the Spanish fleet. Jamestown / Colonialism While Arthur was still pirating, acting a bit like a teenaged terror, taking everything he wanted and having very little regard for others, he started hearing about the Americas across the Atlantic and how other Europeans were starting to venture there for further wealth and land. He decided to explore the area himself, and thus was his first encounter with a very small America. Arthur was extraordinarily reluctant to open his heart to another, but he found it very difficult to remain closed off to this small boy. Jamestown was officially established in 1607 and Arthur led a bit of a double life for a time: being a devoted guardian to Alfred, teaching him things, showering him with love, and parenting him, while also pirating to an excessive, cruel level against any rivals while he was away. Of course, when Alfred broke free from him around 170 years later, it completely broke Arthur’s heart. It was during the years following this that he promised himself that he would never love someone like that again. And so became Arthur’s rather dark entrance into addiction, global tyranny, and his unsatisfied lust for power. Pax Britannica Having obtained victory over Napoleonic France left England without any serious international rival. Pax Britannica was reached in 1815 when he obtained global power. Arthur enjoyed having unchallenged control of the sea, monitoring and directing all the key maritime trading routes. After having lost America, Arthur grew more cruel, manipulative, and vengeful, turning his gaze instead toward Asia, the Pacific, Africa, and India. It was during this time that England made his way over to China, bringing with him a charming smile and the mysterious poppy flower (opium) from India’s fields. He won over China with a drug-induced haze and attractive promises. It was a foggy and thorough distraction from the pain that still plagued England’s heart. This eventually resulted in the two opium wars, which ended in England walking away with possession of Hong Kong, along with forced continued trade. The World Wars The World Wars were a true representation of Arthur’s indomitable nature and his refusal to bend the knee to anyone. He remained a strong forced throughout the first world war, but the second is what truly tested him. England was left as the only nation to hold out for Europe, the only thing keeping Nazi Germany from completely dominating the continent. Churchill continued to attest to England that America would follow through, that he would not let him down. Arthur didn’t believe him; not after their extended silence with each other in the past century. But he ironically turned out to be right in the end. England and America’s time fighting and collaborating together during the war was an almost surreal experience. They turned out to be a very effective team. After the war, when England was substantially weaker, on the path of starting to lose his colonies as well as his status as a world power, he was rather dubious of Alfred’s offer to enter into a Special Relationship with him immediately following the conclusion of the war. Modern Era The years that follow were decades of excessive change. England stepped down from his empire role and released all of his territories throughout the years that followed, although created the Commonwealth and grated Commonwealth status to many of his former colonies. As Arthur maneuvered this new age, continued forward with his newly established closeness with America, he also slowly started to change as a person. The rough edges became softer, he reluctantly began to open up a bit more (although this is still a work in progress,) and he became a bit milder. Now that he no longer had the status of being a world power, Arthur started to become more focused on having a creative outlet. The 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s were the decades of an explosive music revolution in England (the British Invasion, as the Americans called it.) He became very involved in the unique counterculture that became prominent during these years, which included also becoming part of the seedy part of the upheaval, fostering anarchical ideals and being involved with a myriad of drugs and alcohol. Another aspect of the modern era that Arthur became involved in was the not-so-secret existence of M16, the focus on espionage, and close collaboration with America on matters of security and intelligence as technology and new kinds of foreign threats became apparent, especially with the burgeoning presence of the Cold War. Presently, Arthur is content with his place in the world, still being regarded as a nation of influence with a respectable level of power from his continued presence throughout the globe with the Commonwealth. There’s still quite a bit of uncertainty following his leave of the EU and what that will mean for his future. roleplayer OOC NAME • Rye TIME ZONE • MST EXPERIENCE • 12 years OTHER CHARACTERS • N/A |
