Artemaesia Livingstone; Capitol

Artemaesia was born into wealth and privilege. It's all she's ever known. From the time she was an infant, she was pampered and spoiled with the best of everything. Her interests generally fluctuate in regards to what is known to be popular throughout the Capitol at the time. She attends school, and flirts and flaunts with the elite children of Panem's leaders. She never allows herself to be tied down to anything, and has a distinct fear of settling down, for the wild lifestyle is all she's ever known. Morality is a word not often used in close association with Artie, although to be fair, she tries her hardest to not cause problems. She claims to dislike any sort of drama, but in reality, she's smack in the center of it. Truthfully, Artemaesia's personality is grating to most. She often talks too much, and seems not to understand personal boundaries. She is not a keeper of secrets, but loves gossip, the more the better.

Despite being shallow and obsessed with material things that matter to no one outside the Capitol, she does have a somewhat-kind heart. Like the majority of the rest of the Capitol's residents, she eagerly looks forward to the Hunger Games, but has always felt that it was rather unfair that all but one of the children involved had to die. Because of this, she has taken it upon herself to donate anonymously to the Games, sponsoring some of the most unfortunate players. Only her father knows of this charity done by his daughter, and Artie prefers to keep it that way.

This girl is by no means totally naive, but her inability to commit to any one cause or person has made her friendships difficult, and relationships are virtually non-existent, if you don't count the numerous brief affairs she's had with her peers. The Hunger Games children are the only cause she's ever been faithful to, but unfortunately this kindness isn't visible to the public eye, so all one can see is a spoiled fashion princess whose heart is seemingly as cold as the gems in her skin. So far, no one has ever bothered to get to know Artie on a deeper level, since most don't have the patience or the interest in looking beyond the surface.

What most people won't realize is that the attitude and overabundance of beauty enhancements are an acquired defense mechanism, at least to an extent. For the entire duration of her life, Artemaesia's biggest, meanest critic has been her mother, who is consistently overcritical of any choices Artie makes. The surgeries and tattoos were never Artie's idea, although the colors and certain aspects of the inkings were to her taste. This seventeen-year-old girl is under constant pressure to maintain her appearance and to 'represent her mother accordingly.' Having lived this way for so long, Artie knows no other life, and so doesn't feel any resentment. However, what she doesn't realize is that the constant stress is the reason for her headaches, and that her lifestyle could eventually be dangerous to her health. Artemaesia doesn't know how to be herself anymore; she's a product of her mother's ambitions, and has very little sense of who she really is, apart from the role she plays in public society.

Artemaesia (Ahr-TUH-may-zhuh) was born in the summer, during the year of the 40th Hunger Games. She was a healthy, ordinary child born to extravagant parents who believed themselves to be extraordinary. Parlie and Nicolas Livingstone had been born and raised in the Capitol, and it was no surprise that they were rather disappointed with the level of ordinary that their tiny daughter possessed.

Parlie, at the time, was an aspiring stylist attending classes pertaining to high-fashion and the application of makeup. She wore the latest fashions--all paid for by Nicolas's vast accounts, the money in which he inherited from his wealthy parents and grandparents--and never kept the same hair style or color for more than two weeks. Her husband, smart, snappy Nicolas (Nic for short) was working as an apprentice in a law firm, and aspired to become a Gamemaker one day.

As families go, the Livingstones were strange, but not entirely out of the ordinary, especially when it came to the culture of the Capitol. It was at Parlie's demand that Artemaesia be pampered with beauty treatments starting as young as age two. Skin and hair treatments kept the toddler busy for much of her young life, and things only got worse as she grew older. A physician had informed her mother shortly after her own birth that Parlie would never be able to birth another child successfully, and so poor Artie was to be the prime target for her mother's criticisms.

The beauty treatments led the way to a strictly-controlled diet, to keep Artie from putting on too much weight. She ate healthy food, and was made to exercise daily. To most, it sounds reasonable. To Artemaesia, it was torture. Sweets were unallowed, and her days were swallowed up by her mother's constant attentions and criticisms over her appearance. Playtime was almost non-existent, and even when she did have time to herself, the poor little girl was so afraid to be herself that she spent most of her time sitting quietly, surrounded by a vast amount of toys that were purchased for her, but never played with.

This sort of existence continued on into Artie's preteen years. The cosmetic surgeries started then, and any sort of childhood was wiped from Artie's agenda for good. Her face was changed, her hair extended, skin lifted and cut away. It wasn't until the botched surgery that scarred the skin on her child's neck and part of her upper back that Parlie insisted on the tattoos. It was a trend swiftly coming into popularity, and even Nicolas--who was becoming concerned for Artie's well-being--couldn't stop his wife from putting his teenaged daughter under the inking needle. The only bright point in it all was that Artie was able to choose the designs for her ink, and make them some semblance of her own liking, though it had been many years since she felt her body was her own.

While all this dark criticism was happening in the privacy of the Livingstone home, Artie struggled to maintain a vision of normalcy in public. She attended school with the rest of the city's elite children, and went through the motions of preteen friendships that broke down quickly once rivalries for the boys started. As the daughter of Parlie Livingstone--who by that time was a well-known stylist and consultant within the Capitol--it was assumed that Artie's unnatural beauty would give her an advantage when it came to finding a mate, and for the most carnal of reasons, her appearance was beneficial. However, even in the Capitol, real relationships were based upon more than one's outer appearance, and up to present day, Artemaesia has never had a steady 'boyfriend.' She has few friends, and they're all fair-weather at best. It's generally just too difficult for her to make and keep real friends, for her fear of settling keeps her from committing her heart to any one person, friendly or otherwise.

Of course, the one exception to Artie's outwardly-cold personality is her devotion to the children of the Hunger Games. Exempt because of her social status, Artie has been a Games spectator from a young age, and the 53rd Hunger Games were the first instance of her charity toward the less-fortunate Tributes. With excess money from her unusually-high allowance, Artie started sending gifts to those who were certain to fail. Most of the time, her chosen tributes did die, but it gave her peace, knowing that she was doing what she could to help those less fortunate.

As of today, Artie's world is one full of superficiality and stress. She plays the game, and most people think she's a spoiled little heiress. The successes of her stylist mother and lawyer father have set high expectations upon her shoulders; however, the stress of these has sent her into an inner spiral of mental collapse. Headaches plague her frequently, and day after day, Artemaesia finds herself feeling less human, and more like a much-abused doll that her heartless mother takes joy in poking and proding and fixing. Nicolas Livingstone is perhaps the only person in the entire Capitol who sees even a minute semblance of the pain that Artie goes through internally, but something keeps him from stepping in and stopping his wife's mad stampede toward what could very well be Artemaesia's final breakdown.

If I have missed something in regards to character creation rules, PLEASE, let me know. This character has been in the works for about two weeks, and it's easy for me to lose track of what rules apply, and what don't, since this isn't my only RPG.