Imperio Español {wip it good}

[antonio]

Antonio Fernandez Carriedo



"Cada quien es el arquitecto de su propio destino."

Al mejor escribano se le va un borrón.

Even the best writer slips up with a smudge.

Country: Reino de España //Imperio Español

Human name: Antonio Fernandez Carriedo

Apparent age: Normally, he is twenty seven. He has reverted to his early twenties, but his ever-cheerful demeanor and jovial personality cause him to seem quite a bit younger than his actual age.

Gender: Male

Appearance:

Standing at a comfortable height of 5’6”, Antonio has never been one of the taller nations. It wasn’t ever an issue for him, though, most likely because his other attributes overshadowed his less-than-Amazonian height.

With a cheerful smile and ever-bright viridian eyes, the Spaniard is an indiscernible mix of undeniable pulchritude and childish adorableness. Soft brunet waves rest on sun-kissed skin, giving him a more exotic look than most of his Western European counterparts.

Along with his shorter stature, Antonio also has a small frame, save for a few prominent ‘Latin curves’ that are probably not helped by the over-consumption of a certain sugary pastry. The male has an earthy essence, smelling of the spices from the west and the salt from the neighboring Mediterranean, as well as scant traces of his beloved carnations.

The brunet’s appearance has, at least from the time of his early teens, been fairly static. As a younger man, the only noticeable differences are more miniscule ones. His hair is a bit longer, and if one was to inspect his body, they would see exponentially less scars than one would see later on in his life.

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No es oro todo lo que brilla.

All that glitters is not gold.

Strengths:

• Culinary Arts; Antonio is quite adept around the kitchen. Cooking is one of his most beloved pastimes, taught to him by Francis when they were both just young boys. If looking around the Spanish manor for Antonio, one would most likely find him hidden away in the kitchen, trying out some new paella recipies.
  
  
• Music; Having been married to Roderich for as long as he was, Antonio developed an ear for music. Although not quite skilled with more elegant instruments, such as the violin or piano, the Spaniard was able to master the guitar, as well as various other native devices. Not only that, but Antonio also enjoys to sing. He does not do it often, but when alone or inspired, the male will sing along with his guitar tunes from time to time.
  
  
• Dance; Light on his feet, Antonio has mastered an art that very few humans master in an entire lifetime. Dance is to Antonio what music is to Roderich; A passion, a love, a muse. He enjoys styles he has nicked from his former colonies, namely salsa, tango, and zapateado, but his ultimate love has always been and will always be Flamenco.
  
  
• Temperament; An inherently cheerful man, it is tough to get Antonio angry. He tends to steer away from confrontation, not quite liking to get into arguments or disagreements.
  
  
• Eloquence and Romanticism; Although a little on the goofy side, Antonio is quite the charmer. Most of the time, he flirts without even trying, but when his mind and heart are set on someone, he will stop at nothing to win their hearts. He has a honed ability to express exactly what is on his mind in the words he desires, and is not prone to lying or exaggerating anything he says.
  
  

Weaknesses:

• Pride; He has always battled issues with his own pride. A once cripplingly powerful nation, one that once belonged to the most influential empire ever to grace the earth, Antonio has always maintained the idea that he is strong enough to take care of himself. While this proves to be true in most cases, it does not come without great hardships; Famine, economical depressions, and social tension have all resulted in Antonio’s refusal to seek help from others.
  
  
• Trust; A grinning face on the outside, a watchful hawk on the inside. Stemming from his bad experiences as a child and with people he once held dear, Antonio will superficially trust most anyone, but will not divulge any sort of secrets or true feelings into anyone that has not time and time again proved themselves worthy.
  
  
• Anger; Smiles and laughs only go so far. A thinly veiled passive-aggressive side, though not easily accessible, readily exists within Antonio. Only a few people (See: England) are able to pull his aggressive nature forward without due reason, but those few people (See: England) are also constantly at danger of his wrath, should they slip up.
  
  
• Envy; What Antonio wants, he almost always gets, through whatever means necessary. Often, things that he wants are things that already belong to others. Land, wealth, loves, and even knowledge fall into the spectrum of desirables for the Spaniard, though his greedy nature evened out as he grew older.
  
  
• Insensitivity; With the gift of eloquence comes the downfall of discourtesy. He doesn’t notice it himself, but in his ability to say whatever he wants, he often says it in a blunt, insensitive manner. He does not stop to think before he speaks, and it has led him to many difficulties in building relationships with others.
  
  

Fears: What do they fear?

• Hell; A deeply devoted Catholic and avid believer in the afterlife, Antonio is terrified of going to hell for his transgressions in the past. He tries desperately to repent, attending church on a regular basis, attempting to keep on good terms with the church even when his own people’s belief in God and the saints fade.
  
  
• Loneliness; Throughout his life, Antonio has lost almost everyone he has ever considered close. Being a family oriented and romantic person, the thought of going through his life without anyone to care for, without anyone to love… It is a dark thought indeed.
  
  
• Himself; There was a time when Antonio was frightfully unstable. Blood fever, people had called it. Endless amounts of people died by his hand, friendships were broken, and an entire empire lost. He never fully recovered, and he ended up having frequent internal battles with himself, ones that resulted in civil wars for his people. He learned to force a smile to his face for the benefit of his citizens, his fellow nations, and for himself. To the day, Antonio is not sure what he is capable of doing if that side of him is unleashed once again, but he does his best not to think about it. Laughter is the best medicine for any sickness, after all.
  
  

Personality:
Antonio’s personality has varied over the years. From one extreme to the other, Antonio has been known as everything from the village idiot to El Diablo.

Normally, his personality is bright and sunny. He laughs a lot, smiles more, and gives his love and affection freely to those in desire of it. Once he makes friends with someone, he becomes very loyal and attached. He is a fiery partner and gives his all to his significant other, going to any length to make them happy. If he is ever presented with a situation in where he has become smitten with someone that doesn't share the same feelings, he will persist and continue trying to woo the person until they give in to his sheer passion.

He has no concept of personal space or polite mannerisms, a habit picked up from none other than Rome. As a country bumpkin, he has no head for newer technology, and in fact is very much against moving away from traditionalism.

He speaks with a thick accent and a friendly lilt, and can babble on for hours on end about seemingly nothing if one lets him. Sexual innuendoes and even certain inappropriate touches go unnoticed by the spacey male, as he never put much importance on such things. An after product of Catholic practices, some have guessed, but it is more likely that the brunet just doesn’t care.

When it comes time to get serious in any type of argument or battle, Antonio is usually one of the most reluctant to engage, but will eventually show a more violent or temperamental side if provoked enough. Hell hath no wrath like Antonio scorned. This man pioneered what some have come to call the ‘Latin temper’. He can hold on to anger for a long time, sometimes an unreasonable length of time.

He is passive-aggressive normally, but he has been known to be quite a bloodthirsty fiend. Rape, torture, and murder are just a few of the things Antonio has been known for, though these were in an altered state of mind. In the past, he was considered more or less ‘unstable’, but the viciously violent side to him gradually decreased with age and prayer.

All things considered, the Antonio of modern day is simply a joyful man without much care for anything besides the simpler side of life.

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Dime con quién andas y te diré quién eres.

Tell me who you walk with and I will tell you who you are.

Family:
Rome; Although previously passed around through multiple powers while young, Antonio has always seen Rome as a fatherly figure to him; Someone to look up to, someone to emulate. They look quite alike, too.

Italy {North&South}; Antonio has differentiating relations with the Italy brothers, but loves them both as if they were his own brothers. Admittedly, Southern Italy gets on his nerves quite a lot more than Northern Italy, but the Northern brother is not without fault either. He tries to look past Lovino’s selfish bratty attitude and Feliciano’s airheadedness, as any good family member would do. He would die for these two.

Portugal; They share the same peninsula, a lot of the same history, and although Portugal has been more or less standoffish towards Spain over the years, he still regards the trade nation as a close brother.

Former Colonial Ownerships; Antonio considers most of his colonial ownerships to be like his own children. Sort of twisted and morbid, in a way, considering how cruelly he treated them when they were under his care.

Friends:
Prussia; Antonio has never had any lasting conflicts with Gilbert, and had regarded him as one of strongest friends and allies, even after the Prussian’s dissolution. Perhaps more of a personal friendship than political, Antonio regards Gilbert as a strong man with a good heart but terrible execution.

Austria; Once married to form one of the more powerful houses in Europe, Antonio is very fond of Roderich. They have similar views on some political matters, as well as a common religion. Roderich is one of the few people than Antonio can truly say he fell in love with, and is disappointed that it could not last, but he found peace in the fact that no love between any nation can last forever. He has not lost his closeness with the male, at least in his own head, and continues even in the future to use pet names and invite him over for late lunches.

Belgium; A strained relationship he realizes, but Antonio sees Belgium as a sisterly figure and a sharp lady. She was a fraction less troublesome than other colonies. They maintain a friendly relationship, although her brutish brother threatens their happiness from time to time.

Enemies:
United Kingdom; Not one to hold grudges, Antonio made a special exception for Arthur. Though not as bad as between France and the UK, Spain and the UK have definitely had their catfights. The relationship between these two nations can be likened to that of two old women trying to beat each other up with moth eaten purses. (< Analogy taken from cracked.com kehehe ‘u’)

Ottoman Empire; This empire, later to be Turkey, never sat well with Spain. Creepy, mysterious, and constantly smelling too strongly of some sort of musk, Antonio does his best to avoid this burly nation.

Frenemies:
France; Antonio has known Francis almost as long as he has known Portugal. Antonio, and even the people of Spain, consider France to be a brother nation, one linked by intertwined culture and history. Out of all of the nations, Antonio can honestly say he has had the most history with the Frenchman. Wars, succession, marriages, alliances, everything that could happen between these two has happened. Because of this, the relationship is not perfect. A good amount of scars on Antonio’s body have been caused by the Frenchman’s bayonets and bullets, just as some of his most memorable intimate times have been in the blond’s bed. Their relationship is questionable at times, but Francis is the one person and nation that Antonio has never been able to hold a grudge against. He has more or less forgiven Francis for most of his transgressions. He only wishes that the other could become a stronger catholic like he was before.

The Netherlands; A very troubled relationship. Though the Netherlands seems to more or less hate him, Antonio can’t find it in himself to reciprocate the feeling with as much vehemence. Sure, he indulges in bickering and tiffs with the freakishly taller nation, but he has no lasting spite for him. Antonio thinks him to be a good man with a strong personality, and sometimes wonders what it might have been like, had they not butted heads so much in the past.

History:
Without the great accomplishments, endeavors, discoveries, and interventions of what is now referred to plainly as Spain, the modern world perhaps would not be anything like it is today. With countless years of passionate battles, integration of cultures, social interaction, and intellectual growth under its belt, Spain is widely considered to be a country with one of the richest and most interesting histories ever recorded.

Because of its location, the Iberian Peninsula was the target of many civilizations. The Carthaginians, Romans, Germanics, Arabs, and eventually Christian and Catholic Kings all fought for dominance at some point on the rich soil of the Mediterranean nation.

The name ‘Spain’ originates from the name given to early Iberians at the time of Roman control. ‘Hispania’, roughly translated into ‘land of rabbits’, was bestowed upon the nation because of its excess of bunnies. Throughout the years, the name was eventually changed to just España.

Pre-Roman Iberia;
Human civilization in Spain, as with most countries, dates back to the stone age. The earliest evidence of this has been found in the Spanish caves of Atapuerca, the evidence being fossils that date back to approx. 1.2 million years prior. The Basques are thought to be descended from the humans whose fossils and cave paintings were found from that era. It was a mix of native Iberians and early Celts that made up what the Phoenicians and the Greeks met when settling along the Iberian coast, though. Later on, the Carthaginians came to settle the area, coexisting with smatterings of Greek colonies.

Roman Hispania;
It was the Roman success in the Punic Wars that meant the eradication of the Carthaginians and their own settlements in early Hispania. Though they able to conquer Southern and Eastern Hispania without much issue, the North seemed to put up a resistance to the invading force.

Once conquered in 9 AD by Emperor Augustus, development flourished in the new territory. There were a lot of great artistic and architectural movements, as well as the developments of new aqueducts, theatres, and circuses. In addition, Roman rule brought political unity, law, and economic prosperity.

Rome lost possession of Hispania beginning in 409 AD when the Germanic Buri, Suevi, Vandals, and Sarmartian Alans were driven to Iberia by the Visigoths after attacking Gaul earlier that year. The Visigoths entered Hispania in 415, driving the Vandals and Alans to leave for northern Africa.

Al-Andulas;
Though fairly recently conquered by the Visigoths, in 711, the Moors took their control over Spain, though they were not able to conquer the entire peninsula at first, mostly due to the internal divisions amongst Moorish rule. Had they come together and conquered as one, Spain may have very likely remained a Muslim state to current day.

The Moors expanded and improved Roman irrigation systems and helped to develop a strong agricultural society in introducing new crops to the land (such as oranges, lemons, peaches, apricots, figs, saffron, sugarcane, cotton, silk, and rice, some of which remain main crops of modern day Spaniards).

Reconquista;
A period of about 700 years, the Reconquista was the reconquering and repopulation of the Iberian Peninsula by Christian kingdoms from the Muslims. Because of the lengthy duration of the Reconquista, it is regarded as largely complex with a lot of blurred lines. Christians and Muslims, as well as fighting each other, fought amongst themselves, prolonging the time it took for either side to declare any sort of victory.

The main phase of Reconquista (which was, of course, to take the land back from the Muslims) was completed in 1249 when the last remaining state of Granada became a vassal state of the Crown of Castile. 250 years later, the Granada War of 1492 expelled all of the remaining Muslim authority from Spain.

The Spanish Inquisition;
The joining of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile brought stability to once separated and unstable, feud-prone kingdoms and later became the foundation for the entire unification of modern day Spain. The two, widely known as ‘The Catholic Monarchs’, were responsible for, among plenty of other large historical things that were later important, putting into motion the Spanish Inquisition.

El Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición, or what is more frequently referred to as El Inquisición española, was a tribunal established by the Catholic Monarchs to maintain Catholic control in their kingdoms. The Inquisition was mainly intended to ensure the orthodoxy of newly converted Muslims and Jews. Strict royal decrees even ordered Jews and Muslims to convert or leave Spain.

The main justification for expelling the Jews from Spain was said to be the "great harm suffered by Christians from the contact, intercourse and communication which they have with the Jews, who always attempt in various ways to seduce faithful Christians from [their] Holy Catholic Faith.” In addition to the ‘expulsion’, there was also known to be plenty of executions of those that the Holy Faith did not approve of, or of those who refused to convert or leave.

Though there were few protestants in Spain at the time of the Inquisition, the few there were heavily repressed and disliked, though none were executed as many others had been. The Inquisition itself did not fully end until the rule of Napoleon, around the 1800’s.

Imperial Spain;

Spain under the Habsburgs;

The Enlightenment;

Napoleonic Wars;

First Spanish Republic;

Restoration;

Second Spanish Republic;

The Spanish Civil War and Dictatorship of Francisco Franco;

Modern Spain;

Post 2011 Spain;


RP Sample:

It was hard to raise any sort of family during the 1930's. Tension had been rising between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, because of the recent World War. America had lost most of its money in that 'depression', and whatever countries had escaped financial crisis were facing internal collapse. One of the prime examples was, of course, Spain. The once thriving country of passion had quickly gotten entangled in the web of Fascism spreading over Europe, much to most of its resident's displeasure. This, of course, separated the already loosely-sewn together nation into two factions.

Now, for most people, this spelled bad news. War was obvious, if not in Spain itself, then in Europe as a whole. But to Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo, this news was quite fine. Sure, war was bad, but it also meant profit. America made all that money during World War 1, what was to say that other people selling goods couldn't make as good a living as America made?

Antonio was determined to do just that. With his 7 brothers and sisters (typical Catholic family), it had always been hard to get by. But in all of this, the Spaniard found a great opportunity for profit in his family's General store. Found in the normally Republican-inhabited city of Madrid, It was in a prime location to get money from not only the normal civilians, but from the Nationalists that had recently been stationed there to prevent any revolts, and from the new Italian and German soldiers.

Of course, there weren't as many foreign soldiers as there were natives, but the foreigners all had foreign money, much more valuable than that mierda that the nationalists had been supplying. Even though Antonio himself despised the Nazis and Fascists, he would honestly kiss those men's boots if they came to his store.

Thankfully, no boot kissing was required. His family's store was conveniently located next to the military base, and had become a popular place to buy candy, tobacco, and various fruits and vegetables from the Carriedo garden. It didn't hurt that Antonio himself turned out to be a fan favorite, his cheerful smile and easy-going eyes making the Carriedo store very wealthy very quickly.

It was only natural that Antonio kept up his lovable façade for these soldiers, and it was no different on that day, a day in early August, 1936. The air was sticky and men were marching in and out, buying themselves cold Sangria (the closest thing to beer in those parts) before a boring day around town. Business had slowed around 2 pm, and Antonio had just stared closing up for siesta when a tall blonde male, who really did look like the poster child for 'Nazi', walked in. Antonio resisted his urge to sneer at the man, which was fairly easy, considering who he catered to on a daily basis.

"Hola~ Soy Antonio. How may I help you, señor?" he asked in a saccharine tone, leaning over on his hand on the counter. "I have no more Sangria left. Maybe I will have more if you come back after siesta."

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Con los años vienen los desengaños.

With the years come the disappointments.

[ OOC ]

Name:
Ariana! You can call me Ari, if you’d like @u@;

Age:
Freshly legal! Eighteen years of age.

Experience:
I have been role playing for 9 years. In the past, I have role played from multiple fandoms, including Naruto (shush), OHSHC, D. Gray Man, Harry Potter, as well as various OCs. I have been playing in the Hetalia fandom for a little over 3 ½ years, and have been playing Spain for 3 of those years. Within the Hetalia fandom, I have also played Belarus, Fem!America, and Denmark, but not for any extended amounts of time.



Contact:
MSN; [e-mail]
Skype; Sugarcoated.Sunshine
Twitter; Conquistawhore
Tumblr; Conquistawhore



Anything else?:
Jjjjjjeeeennnnssss Bjorneboe o/

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El que ríe último ríe mejor.

He who laughs last laughs best.

This template was created by Ophelia for Hetalia: Distorted Destiny. Lyricss are from the medieval Swedish ballad, "Herr Mannelig."