Character Information & Background

Basics
Name: Artemis Hart
Age: 24
Gender: Male
General Setting: Cyberpunk dystopia-disguised-as-a-utopia. Sleek black-and-white buildings and calm AIs by day, neon lights and futuristic club drugs by night, state-sanctioned reproductive control and quiet execution of political dissidents in the blind spots.

Physical
Hair: White-blonde, chin length, messy.
Eyes: Light blue
Height: 6'1
Build: Fit, but not huge. I base his body type on a pro surfer.
Note: Artemis' features are a little on the uncanny valley side in that he lives in a society with easy-to-access and relatively painless plastic surgery; his skin is extremely smooth, his features symmetrical, etc. More of him is designed than naturally occuring in a way that may read as subtly weird/unsettling to modern characters.
Dress: Artemis wears quite a lot of stupid and impractical outfits for Fashion. He's fond of androgyny and looks that combine bulky silhouettes with form-fitting pieces.
Body Language: Open and confident, with a half-smile as his resting expression. He has the ease and pleasantness of someone who almost always gets what they want without having to actually do anything for it.
Voice: Aaron Tveit

Backstory

Generations ago, as the planet succumbed to climate change and war, Artemis' ancestor Coeus Hart led the world's wealthiest citizens and an underclass of indentured servants into a corporate-owned sealed arcology known as CITIE. In CITIE, the CEO and board of directors have power over all of CITIE's resources, including the human ones. Cloning or artificially extending one's life is strictly forbidden and socially taboo. Coeus, however, couldn't give up his ultimate power over the place. Instead, he cloned himself in secret and raised the clone publicly as a son until the clone reached adulthood. Then, Coeus 'died' and uploaded his consciousness to the clone's body. This cycle continued for several generations until the man Artemis knew as his father discovered what was to happen to him.

Artemis had an idyllic early childhood. He was close to his father, indulged to the full extent their unlimited wealth allowed, and shielded from the harsher realities of life in CITIE. However, after he turned ten his grandfather 'died' and his father changed in ways he couldn't understand. He became in turns cold and prone to terrifying rage. He expected Artemis to perform well and uphold the family name in public, but in private seemed to hold no interest in Artemis at all unless Artemis disappointed him. Still, because of their earlier closeness Artemis did his best to live up to the pressure of being his father's son and repress his own outgoing personality.

Things changed once again on Artemis' 21st birthday. Through a series of riddles, Artemis recovered a bracelet containing a message from his father that warned of Coeus' plans. In a panic, Artemis tried to flee CITIE, but couldn't find a way out before he was caught. He was brought back home and beaten repeatedly until he accepted that there was no escaping Coeus' plans. Once he'd been mentally broken and physically healed he was allowed back out to resume his public role under a much closer watch.

Without any hope of long-term survival, Artemis became depressed and stopped trying to be a perfect son. Eventually, when he had fully accepted his own death he repressed his feelings about it and dedicated himself to doing the most he could with the time he had. He began collecting experiences and doing anything that he could to make a unique impression on the world before he died by reinventing himself as a celebrity and socialite. He fell into partying, drugs, extreme sports, street racing and aiming to capture the public's attention any way he could. While his fear catches up to him sometimes and his relationships to those around him are hollow, he's convinced himself he's having a good time and has no intention of changing course.

Personality

Most of Artemis' personality has been profoundly reshaped by the knowledge of his fate; the thought of it is never very far from the surface, and it drives the way that he responds to the world and the people around him. His main drive is repressed fear of the future he has accepted as inevitable. That said, he's also an extrovert and the cheerfulness isn't entirely an act - he's simply embracing that part of himself to the exclusion of all others.

On first impression, he's likely to strike someone as shallow but pleasant, maybe a little dim. Despite an excellent education he isn't academically inclined and he's intentionally avoiding thinking too deeply about anything at all. As long as it's interesting he isn't inclined to question it.

Artemis' drive to always be doing something can land him into trouble as he doesn't always think through whatever his latest idea is, and his idea of fun can often be dangerous. While he doesn't actually want to die - he very much wants to avoid it, in fact - the belief that he will regardless of what happens has driven him to become an extreme risk taker with little regard for his own safety.

As long as he can keep active he stays in an outwardly good mood, and while it's mostly genuine he has to work hard to maintain it. Beyond the constant activity, he does this by seeking out company of people he finds interesting and trying to drag them into trouble. For all he wants constant company, though, he's terrified to get too close to people in case they betray him and will resist letting them get to know the unpleasant or negative parts of his personality. If anything forces him to reveal too much of himself he'll become anxious and more obvious in his attempts to push back, to the point of telling obvious lies or just plain leaving somewhere to avoid a conversation.

When someone does manage to break through his adamantium shell, they'll find a surprisingly decent friend underneath. His empathy is rusty, but he genuinely wants the people he cares about to be safe and happy and will go to great lengths in order to help them or try to solve their problems. He is rarely malicious and the worst most people will ever get out of him is gentle teasing. He's non-judgemental to an extreme; very little registers to him as weird, and what does is more likely to excite him than upset him.

Likewise, if an enemy or threat gets him backed into a literal or figurative corner, they'll find a surprising core of strength there. While he hasn't exactly been coping well, he has come out the other side of a good amount of trauma still functional and that's left him with more emotional resilience than anyone - including Artemis himself - might suspect. He's also spent the last two years getting into a bunch of trouble and brushing up against some dangerous situations and people while questionably sober, which has taught him to be resourceful in a pinch and calm in a crisis.

Permissions & Such

Triggering Topics: Please avoid themes of institutionalization. Please give a heads up for suicide and themes of child abuse by parents or caregivers. Otherwise I do not require warnings for dark topics/themes.
Shipping/Smut/Flirting/Kissing: He's pan, probably DTF and absolutely terrified of commitment or emotional intimacy. Have fun! (Characters 16+ only, please.)
Powers: Artemis is an ordinary human and not from a world where psychic powers or magic are a thing. He's defenseless against them and I'm generally fine with them being used against him. In the case of mindreading please work with me to make sure it doesn't throw his development off track.
Killing: Talk to me first.