#aph novgorod

[hetaartists]

Day 119 | 🪐 | Novgorod

[pskovskaya]

Aph Novgorod (Yarosláv Il'ménskiy) doodle

He's my oc yup

[pearlsongfromstuff]

So um-  Me and my boyfriend were playing around with ArtBreeder and shit and he decided to make Vanya and um-

AAAAAAAA It really looks like a IRL Vanya, I- HHHHHHHH-

[hetaestoniahq]

Somewhere in the 11th century

Novgorod: You! Chude! You tricked me!

Estonia: What? 

Novgorod: I asked for help from a chude who deals with magic, but they began letting evil spirits in. Then they told me to throw away my cross and called even more of them over! 

Estonia: ....

Novgorod: What are you silent for? 

Estonia: breaks into laughter

Novgorod: This is serious!

Estonia: Not my fault you were foolish enough to trust a witch instead of a tark. Do you not have any magic using folk yourself so you need to ask help from chudes like me?

//Idk what to call a tark in English. Tark means like, a person who is wise and smart, and in Estonian Mythology they were like the opposite to witches, doing good with their magic instead of mischief like witches. //

[chessna2]

Ok but honestly the concept of The Battle on Ice being fought between a kid Gilbert and a full-grown Novgorod is so much funnier 

Here is Novgorod, this well-seasoned fighter with his entire army ready to face the Livonian Order, when suddenly a hot-headed little shit just bursts from the ranks onto the ice. Novgorod warns him it’s too dangerous, the ice breaks and little Gilbert is flailing and screaming, Novgorod throws aside his armor and dives in to get him, hoisting him out by the nape of his cape as Gilbert keeps swinging his sopping wet fists in the air. And the Livonian order is thoroughly embarrassed, one of Novgorod’s soldiers comments what a pathetic nation Gilbert is, but Novgorod sees potential in this sopping wet little brat and so invites Gil into his tent.

Gilbert, who only knows fighting and only sees Novgorod as an arch-enemy, doesn’t know what to do with a bucket of hot water and food given to him, as Novgorod sits with him by the fire and gives him nation tips. And Gilbert, too proud to accept them, throws down the blanket in a huff and leaves, marching out without his shoes and ordering a soldier to carry him back to camp. 

And Novgorod just kind of laughs to himself and wonders what kind of nation Gilbert will grow up to be.

[chessna2]

👀, 😬, 😤, 💞 for ivan, natalya, katya, and volodya, please. Thankyou, and sorry if it's too much

Ahh thank you for asking about Volodya! This is good characterization practice 😊

How do they make eye contact? Do they use it as a gesture of power or subservience? Does giving it or witholding it mean something to them, or to the people around them?

Ivan’s intense eye contact is one of his main intimidation weapons. I’ve described his eyes as “glowing" before but I think this is literal – nations’ eyes are like a cats’, they reflect light in darkness and it can be super creepy, Ivan keeps his office dark (at least when he’s having serious conversations with the Baltics) to create this effect. I think Ivan is a bit obsessed with image and eye contact is just one of the ways that he uses his appearance to his advantage.

Every time I write a scene with Natalia in someone else’s POV, they always mention the striking color of her eyes. Nat is just shockingly beautiful and frightening, she knows it, and she has this sharp gaze that can shut anyone up, no matter how powerful they are. So for her it's less of steady eye contact as it is the sharpness of when she first looks at someone. When Natalia looks at you, it feels like she’s stripping you of your defenses and she knows everything about you.

Katya makes consistent eye contact, but it's not invasive like her siblings’. She has an open, kind face and her sky blue eyes and smile make you feel instantly warmer. She's good at winning over people's trust, even if she’s out to get something for her own gain, and the way she gives genuine attention to everything you say makes you feel she is on your side.

Volodya carries an air of extreme importance, so eye contact can either make people swell with pride or feel inferior. But even though he looks intimidating, with his towering height and impeccable posture, his eyes are kind. He kneels a lot when he talks to children, or sits down in other people’s houses to make sure he’s eye-level with his citizens. He’s the kind of person who looks scary or haughty from far away, but the second you look into his eyes, you know that’s not true at all.

Do they have a tell when lying/bluffing?

This is tricky for Ivan, since he lies so much, and more often than not believes the lies he’s telling, or at least believes they are justifiable. This is partly what makes him such a great liar, because to him, it’s the truth. So you have to do some research in order to tell he’s “lying.” If it’s a blatant lie, he gets unusually cheery and creepy, but he’s like this anyway so it’s hard to tell.

Natalia is also great at lying; her entire job working for the KGB required her to put on fake characters and manipulate people. I’d say since she knows she’s actually lying, she’s better at it than Ivan is. But she doesn’t do it as often; only if her work requires it of her. She prides herself in being brutally honest in most situations.

Katya takes an unexpected route to lying; she can use her warm, trustworthy aura to make people believe anything she says. Sweet Katya wouldn’t lie, would she? She used to manipulate people and nations a lot more back in the day. Now she tries to take a more honest approach, but if she ever needs to, people believe her. The only sign is that she might be smiling a little wider than a moment ago, or puts a hand on your shoulder, or compliments you when she walks in the room. Little things to put you at ease so you’ll trust her.

Volodya uses a similar tactic as Katya; you just trust him. He’s incredibly charismatic and puts people at ease by remembering their names, asking about their families, serving them food and making them laugh. He just seems to be such a good person that people don’t even think that he could be lying. But if you look closely, there’s always a little mischievous smile and a glint in his eye. Katya can spot this a mile away. “Don’t you lie to me, Vladimir Rurikovich, you think I am an idiot!?”

What's something that will always, without fail, make them angry?

Ivan hates it when people say something that is insulting to Russia as a country or attacks how hard he has worked to get where he is. His biggest pet peeve is when Alfred (or American tourists or politicians) go around saying that America alone won WWII. Every time he hears “back-to-back world war champions!” he has to close his eyes and remind himself that it is not socially acceptable to chuck people out of windows. If Alfred ever says it, he gets a black eye.

This should be no surprise, but Natalia is protective of Ivan. People learn very quickly to think twice before insulting Ivan around her; she’ll shoot back with something embarrassing about you that she has learned through her many intelligence chains. It’s not a fun experience.

DO NOT EVER say “Ukraine isn’t even a country!” or “Ukraine is basically Russia!” within a 20 mile radius of Katya. She can sense it through the ground and she will come for you. She keeps having to buy new TV’s because she kicks/punches through the screen if she hears it on the news.

Volodya is hard to anger, but he would get really pissed if any of his soldiers needlessly tortured or killed someone. It definitely wasn’t standard for the day, so it confused a lot of people. But many of his men were met with cold disappointment or some form of punishment if they had gone on a killing spree or tortured someone to death. Everyone wanted to be on Volodya’s good side, so his negative reactions were very effective.

What (if any) is their preferred way to receive affection?

Ivan’s love language is physical touch, 100%. His significant others have all figured this out, and so long hugs, stroking his face or running hands through his hair or up his shirt can easily distract him or put him in a better mood. Ivan will come up behind someone and hug them from behind without warning, not caring if it completely interrupts whatever it is that they were doing before, “Ivan, the pancakes are burning… Ivan… IVAN GET OFF ME!!”

Natalia holds loyalty above anything else, and so she feels cared for when people stay loyal to her through thick and thin. This also extends to her citizens or people who have worked for her in the past, she gains a lot of comfort in working with a team who would lay down their lives for her. It works the other way too; betrayal cuts especially deep and she will swiftly and harshly cut people out of her life if she feels they aren’t loyal. It takes a long time to regain her trust.

Katya’s love language is acts of service. She can’t stay still; she’s always cooking or cleaning or working in the garden. (Matthew makes fun of Alfred for having a clean house because of Liet, but he should take a look at his own spotless house and elaborate landscaping.) She also adores gifts, not matter how small. Even something as cliche as a bouquet just makes her glow.

I guess for Volodya… he really likes to spend time with his family. It’s the one place he knows he can come back to, no matter how bloody the battlefield or cutthroat politics become. He loves each and every one of them; in all their oddities and antics. He feels loved just by being with them, whether that’s training his younger siblings how to fight, or cooking with them, or laughing at bad jokes. Losing them was a devastating blow, since his family was his home.

[chessna2]

🤪😷for Russia, and maybe 🤯😊🤩 for Volodya?

Thanks so much everyone for sending me asks, this is the last one I’ll do! 

Do they have any squicks?

People touching his neck, especially the scars. They represent a deep self-loathing and even his closest lovers need to ask permission before they can take the scarf off to see the scars, let alone touch them. Various heads of secret police have figured this out and will make a point to humiliate Ivan by ripping off his scarf to show it to soldiers or rake fingernails across it just to freak him out.

What are they like when they're sick? (needy, self-isolating, try to power through, etc)

Ivan has been deathly sick in the past, as Russia has experienced some horrible famines and government upheavals. He’s very much a workaholic, so he’ll push himself until he collapses in the middle of a meeting and an army of people has to be summoned to drag him out and to the nearest hospital. Ivan has woken up plenty of times in hospital beds with Natalia at his side. He gets emotional when he’s sick, overwhelmed with his feeling of inadequacy for his position as the nation representative of Russia, always blaming himself for whatever tragedy has happened. And Natalia is always there to tell him that he’s strong, that it’s not his fault, that he is worthy of the role of being nation, and he’ll pull through, just as always.

What's a fact or bit of knowledge they don't know but which would absolutely blow their minds if they found out?

I think if Volodya could have known the kind of person Ivan has become, it would confuse him because it’s the very opposite of what he taught him to be. It would grieve him to know that Ivan learned all the wrong lessons from his death.

What's their smile like?

Think of the smile of a person you would instantly like. Warm, kind, trusting. Not a trademark confident grin like Alfred’s; something more soft and genuine and much more effective at winning over people’s trust. Katya would sometimes comment that it was dangerous, how likable Volodya was, and maybe it was a good thing that this ability never came naturally to Ivan.

What's something they're absolutely amazed by?

Volodya was always enraptured by nature – not the grand mountains or rivers, but the little things. He would point out butterflies or bird nests or animal tracks in the mud. You couldn’t go anywhere with Volodya without him stopping to point out some insect on the ground or hushing you to listen to an animal sniffing around through the trees. It was an odd outlook for a time when taming nature was a struggle; animals were a source of food and danger, not the “exotic” or something to be marveled at. But it fit into Volodya’s maxim that all life mattered, kind of a “circle of life” outlook.

[chessna2]

You know you’re a writer when you go back to study your “notes” and just find pages of plot brainstorming and doodles instead 😓