☭Appearence☭
Brags is an obviously heavy man, though his standing at approximately 6'5" does a lot to proportion it. His build is an odd one- thick muscle in some places, enough to see definition and in other places any muscle there is covered with an ample layer of adipose padding. This is mostly due to the heavy amounts of protein, white starch and sugars in the soviet diet, amongst other things. His arms, legs, and chest are hairy, just shy of beastly, his hair growth pattering out into a treasure trail down to his navel. His body hair a shade or two darker than his tresses, though that fact isn't noticeable at a glance.
His skin is pale and very slightly jaundiced, making his his ash blonde hair and purple eyes more striking against them, though it also makes the rosecea lining his cheeks and the bridge of his nose more obvious, something he does his best to ignore. His off coloured skin tone and cheeks are from a few decades of both heavy drinking and smoking, and also due to living in such a polluted ecosystem with a mentality of forced eviromental ignorance. His face is usually covered by his cap, the article barely leaving his head unless instructed or out of uniform. He usual posture is tense and rigid, walking with the slightest hint of the Stechschritt (or 'goose step' for its more comical name), the intensity of said walking quick becoming more or less apparent depending how relaxed he is. The times he slouches fully are few and far between, though the change in his posture is noticeable when he's drinking or, most likely, already obviously drunk.
His wardrobe is plain, wearing either his uniform (second picture below) his coat (similar to the one he wears in the series but closer to the actual greatcoats used during the period in either tan or grey) or, very rarely, civillian clothing, all of which heavily utilitarian and bland compared to his uniform. His scarf is prominent in most, if not all these outfits, the simple woolen garment now a pale yellow with age and caustic washing. He carrys his ration book and a small silver flask with him, but it is more to fiddle with in times of boredom than to drink from. He does still drink from it on occasion, the contents a rather potent home-made samogon (home made vodka). He dislikes wearing anything that outshines his uniform, be it parade or field, because the Union is meant to be the the colourful aspect of his existance for now. That and the general public find things such as jeans and whatnot presumptious unless under the age of 21 (then it's just seen as childish silliness that should be curbed, most likely with the belt). Ivan is far from young and rebellious looking, especially in his own opinion.
☭Personality☭
Braginsky is straight forward, or at least, he enjoys putting up the pretense; what he considers simple and straight forward is skewed and often changes to suit the situation at the time. He isn't a fan of having blame held over him and can and will go to extreme lengths to prove himself correct, or to have a scapegoat if all else fails.
Regardless of his usually arrogant demeanor with people he is terribly neurotic and his paranoia and stress over sometimes ridiculous issues fuels most if not all of his 'bad habits'. His arrogant way with people either keeps them at bay, or makes sure they hold him in a negative standing, which is what he wants, in a way; Brags doesn't want help or assistance, however much his Leaders willingly take any donations sent their way. He does do his damndest, however, to make 'helpful' parties think twice on assisting, at least on a personal level. He would never actually go against his boss however, not unless he had no other choice; it's not as if rebellion has done anything but give his people something else to complain about recently.
The idea of being helped (and needing it) to him is a sign of obvious weakness, something he's not gotten over since being the Yoke of Tatar, Mongolia leaving far more marks on him than he would ever willingly admit. Because of this adverse fear he will keep people at arms length, even ones that he cares about, using force and humiliation to do so if needed. His past relations with most, if not all the nations around him have affected him heavily in some way, especially if the relations were negative, as Braginsky is a very heavy grudge holder; his 'relationship' with Lithuania is in most part solely a way of paying the other man back for all the times when he was a Duchy, and eager to hold the Russian's lands as his own. There are some feelings under his heavy scrutiny however, he often just finds it very hard to remember sometimes that they actually do exist.
His opinions on the other countries are similar, though the positive opinions on them are a little less buried; part of him truly wants to live in a world in which they all coexisted peacefully (if there wasn't he wouldn't have given Marxism the time of day, let alone how much devotion he's put into it) but there has and will always be the pessimist in him waiting for his (and other countries) people to fuck it all up, as they are so prone to doing. He has yet to be proved wrong, and he's already starting to see the slope. It's one of the reasons he's in such an ignorant state of denial.
He's no stranger to pain and, while other nations have tried to bury their more psychopathic urges, Braginsky pushes his cruelty into his work. What interrogations and executions with his group don't relieve him of he relieves with experimentation; fuelling objects with radioactivity, reanimating the dead, the effects of temperature, chemicals and electricity on organs- whatever his curiosity leads him to. What he isn't allowed to toy with in Moscow's military or university laboratories, he moves to his own private quarters; a small shack hidden in the forestation in the Urals, north of Magnitogorsk. It's far from high tech, and a far cry from sanitary work conditions, but there are plenty of creatures nearby and it's a quiet place to rip something apart and let his mind wander. If he's not at home, or at work, it's almost certain he will be there.
With so much hate, distrust and unadulterated rage working through the Russian's mind half the time, it's not surprising he isn't seeking love, companionship or affection. When he does however, watch out; there are heavy chances it the relationship will become akin to a parasitic affair. Brags can, has and will abuse his loved ones emotionally, psycologically and physically to keep them by his side. As well as being quick to grow jealous and anger over a partner, he also holds little, if none, of the same values himself; he can and will drunkenly sleep with other women (or men under very certain conditions) and only consider his actions afterwards, sometimes not even until his partner reacts to it themselves.
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