Norway application - magicdraft

[ran]

PLAYER INFORMATION

NAME: Ran
AGE: 20
JOURNAL: indict
AIM/PLURK/EMAIL: AIM: Faildere; Plurk: Faildere
CURRENT CHARACTERS: N/A

CHARACTER INFORMATION

SERIES: Axis Powers Hetalia
NAME: The Kingdom of Norway | Olav Gjelsvik (human name)
RACE: Country.
AGE: Nearly 2000 years old (headcanon-wise, he was "born" somewhere between 100-400 AD), looks to be 22.
CANON POINT: Modern.
REFERENCES: Hetalia, real world
GENDER: Male.
APPEARANCE: Here.
PERSONALITY & HOUSE REQUESTS:

True to his history, Norway is a quiet and seemingly mysterious young man. Even those closest to him have a hard time seeing him as anything but mysterious—it's said that during the union of Denmark-Norway, Danes viewed Norway as a mysterious and foreign country that they couldn't understand. However, this is mostly because Norway is apathetic to just about everything. As nothing can particularly surprise him (shown when he simply reacted with, "Oh," to Finland's dog suddenly becoming human), he's constantly expressionless except when angered. His apathy stems from centuries of living and his ability to see magical creatures; the real world just isn't as interesting after that. He's not a horribly self-conscious person and isn't "shy" like Denmark claims, but he's not interested in talking to new people and will keep quiet when confronted with them. It's easy to get the impression that he's emotionless, but it's really that his emotions are just dulled or he rationalizes to a point where he doesn't care.

To elaborate on the emotions he does show, he is very easily angered. All it takes is a remark from Denmark for Norway to strangle Denmark with his own tie. Of course, his anger may be less severe to those he's just met, but he has no tolerance for people he deems stupid and will readily say this. Since his brothers are very important in his history, the way he interacts with them is just as significant. Denmark is a person he's very close to (his "brother" though not biologically), but since he finds Denmark annoying, Norway tends to be rather contrary towards him no matter their relationship. Though their closeness is mainly due to their long history together, it also shows that he's not completely closed off to others. Further proof is his relationship with his little (biological) brother Iceland. Despite the way he acts toward Denmark, Norway is an overprotective big brother to Iceland. His voice becomes gentle and Norway often worries about him, mainly because he still sees Iceland as the child he found and raised. Sweden is another "brother" of his, and the one who receives most of Norway's actual dislike. However, Norway isn't one to hold grudges and, while he doesn't like Sweden or consider him a friend, he does think of Sweden as his brother because Scandinavia must stick together.

On that note, though, he's very hard to get along with and doesn't try to particularly be a nice person. He's blunt to a fault and will say what he feels like without regard to other people's feelings. Though he looks serious, he just has a rather odd sense of humor. His hobby is said to be "poking at Denmark" and he'll go about hitting Denmark for no reason at all simply because he finds it amusing. In fact, he does many things to keep himself amused, especially teasing. For example, he'll tease Iceland about calling him "big brother" or mock Denmark in a singing-tone for getting them lost. It's never in a malicious way and he doesn't intend to be hurtful, he even showed some concern when Iceland stormed off at being teased. At the same time, though, his lack of thought toward other people is because of his selfishness and lack of social skills.

To explain, Norway has learned to focus on himself and do whatever is best for him without thinking of others, because that's how you survive as a country. The union of Sweden-Norway was a high point for Norwegian nationalism, and Norway's selfishness. Even when Denmark was warring with Prussia and Sweden-Norway promised support, they refused to help in the Second Schleswig War and let Denmark be defeated. Norway didn't think about this much because he was so focused on himself, he knew this was an important time for him to establish his own culture and paid no mind to his friend asking for assistance. He believes that's normal as a country, and since he's never really had friends beyond his magical creatures and brothers who so often invaded him for their own purposes, finds it stupid to think any different. He was always very isolated, due to Denmark handling most of their foreign affairs, and Sweden-Norway having a joint consular service (though Sweden not allowing Norway to have his own consul was what prompted Norway to dissolute the union in the first place). Modern day-wise, Norway still treasures his independence and, when prompted for things like the EU, he tends to default back to the traditional Norwegian way of neutrality and isolationism.

That said, by now it's obvious Norway thinks highly of his wit and believes he's just about smarter than everyone. He's a logical person and can generally think of the best course to keep himself safe, even if it doesn't always pan out that way. When half of his population died from the plague, Norway was soon dragged into a union with Denmark. Now, Denmark during this time (the Kalmar Union) was extremely controlling and Sweden soon left because of that. Norway, also annoyed by it, stayed with Denmark because he could see his situation: unable to support himself, with a readily-expanding Sweden as his neighbor. The union with Denmark wasn't ideal for Norway, but at the same time, Denmark was willing to support and do everything for Norway, while Norway could basically sit back and let himself be cared for. That isn't to say that Norway didn't care about his independence, but he knew wanting it would be idiotic with his situation and remained quiet. There are many other instances of this—Norway remained a monarchy after gaining independence in 1905 so other European countries would recognize him, later during WWI he declared himself neutral while stopping trade with Germany and supporting England (earning himself the nickname "the neutral ally"). Because of this, I think he fits into Ravenclaw well. With his self-serving personality, he is also a good fit for Slytherin, though he lacks the ambition.

Though usually a calm nation, Norway is extremely rebellious and usually won't let himself be pressured by outside forces. Through his Viking Age and later Golden Age, Norway was powerful both at home and overseas; this, or at least his attitude toward it, didn't change as he later became practically a Danish province. His pride was neither crushed nor did it disappear and the Dano-Norwegian union was merely called an "interruption" in Norwegian culture. When Norway was being handed over to Sweden in 1814, he refused to let this happen and declared independence; then fought with Sweden until the terms of a union were decided. During this union, a very important part of Norway's personality became apparent—he was unhappy and wanted to make it known. He was civil and professional with Sweden, but practically never stopped complaining. Nothing was good enough, right down to the way the king signed his name on official documents. This aspect is also shown in official strips: Finns plan the designs, Swedes build it, Danes sell it, and Norwegians criticize it. He simply doesn't believe things can be left at good enough, they could be better and Norway will say exactly how.

Norway's image has always been of a "nation of farmers" and even in the changing modern day world, he keeps his roots close. Along with his farmer persona, he tends to speak in a rural accent. He appreciates nature to its fullest extent and his idea of a perfect day is spent hiking, sitting in a forest, or skiing. Furthermore, the sea has always been important to Norway and for a while it was the only way to get contact with others (since his land is so mountainous, it was easier for people to travel by sea than by land, which caused Norwegians to meet the Danes before the Swedes). Canonly he's shown most in his WWII naval uniform and historically he takes a very strong interest in the navy; Norwegians even supported the Dano-Norwegian navy more than anyone else. Speaking of keeping close to his roots, he used to be one of the poorest countries in Europe, and even now that he's one of the richest, he's extremely frugal and tries to spend as little money as possible. He has to be traditional, after all.

COMMUTER DETAILS: He won't be aligning with Voldemort, so his commuter will be normal.

POSITION: Student.

ABILITIES & POWERS: Norway is a country which means he's stronger and harder to injure than normal humans. He's one of the few magical nations in Hetalia and can often be seen with a troll or fairy by his side; he even mentions that he can send Azathoth to protect Finland. The extent of his powers isn't specific, though it's implied he can do spells (with a limit, as he says that even he doesn't have the ability to make someone pass out in a flash). It seems that he generally uses his troll for battles, though Estonia has said he can put up a good fight.

For clarification, he won't know Harry Potter spells or something specific to the HP-verse but he can probably get the gist of most things just due to his very long magic experience.

WAND: Pine, Phoenix feather core, 12 inches, stiff. Strength in charms.

Pine: "The straight-grained pine wand always chooses an independent, individual master who may be perceived as a loner, intriguing and perhaps mysterious." This is basically a description of Norway!
Phoenix: Norway canonly seems to have a good range of magic, and it suits him to have a core from a creature that is also independent and detached. And I'm not sure if this is allowed, but the person apping Sweden and I talked about it and wanted them to have cores from the same phoenix, should both of us get in.
Stiff: Norway is very stubborn and will always stand by his beliefs, no matter the pressure. Though of course, given his history, he's had to learn to adapt to situations he would rather not be in if forced.

MISC.: N/A.

WRITING SAMPLES

FIRST PERSON:

[VOICE]

[ There's complete silence as the commuter turns on and it continues for a few seconds before Norway's monotonous voice comes through. ]

Others can see 'em here, huh? [ The magical creatures, he means. ] Different, but unsurprisin' for what this school claims. Speaking'a the school, the idea's good but the stuff they're teachin' is pretty low-level. Like something England would do.

[ Then as an afterthought: ] 'n why exactly is the forest "forbidden"? Those with magic should be able to take care of themselves, too bad if they can't.

THIRD PERSON:

The Care of Magical Creatures class was taking place in the Forbidden Forest this time around, and though this was Norway's elective, he silently wandered off while the teacher was preoccupied. He'd been wanting to explore the forest, but as it was forbidden he didn't get much of a chance to. He made as little noise as possible as he walked along, to avoid disturbing any creatures, though he did occasionally stop to examine any tree he found particularly interesting.

It wasn't long before Norway came across a tree he thought was suitable for relaxation, and sat against it. He wasn't used to classes and this schedule he was forced to keep up with, so he needed a moment of peace. In fact, he thought about his home. A stranger's call for help from a magic school didn't interest him, he was a busy person and had to check up on his little brother.

His thoughts were disrupted by the sound of something moving near his hand, and though hard to spot at first, he found a small creature that seemed to be made of wood. It was small though its long, sharp fingers made up for its size.

Norway shifted slightly to get a better look as he said, "'n what exactly are ya?"

He was familiar with many creatures, but he'd never come across this one. He wondered if they were simply eluding him. As it didn't answer, Norway took to watching it go along its business, not making any movements so it wouldn't be scared away.

"Those claws'd be useful for pokin' at Den, but yer size is a problem," he remarked, mainly to himself as the creature obviously didn't understand.

It soon disappeared into the tree, causing Norway to sigh and stand up. He slowly made his way to his class, keeping the image of the creature in his mind.

Maybe it would help to pay attention in this subject, at least.