VON HAMMERSMARK, aspen

[ASPEN VON HAMMERSMARK]

At First Glance

NAME: Aspen von Hammersmark
AGE: Seventeen
GENDER: Male
RESIDENCY: West

Keeping Up Appearances

HAIR: Blonde
EYES: Blue
OVERALL:

Aspen takes a noticeable amount of effort to keep himself looking well. Born to a rich family, he is able to dress in the finest fabrics. His hair is cut in a bold style that often draws attention, blonde locks heavy on one side while thin on the opposite. With bright, blue eyes, he has difficulty lying if he looks at another directly. He has high cheek bones and a thin form, kept in shape by how often he takes to walking into situations he shouldn't.

Behind The Mask

LIKES:

&& the creative arts and literature
&& reading and keeping post
&& breaking the rules
&& parties, music, dance
&& accessories and fine clothes

DISLIKES:

&& getting dirty and filth
&& being held down by silly laws
&& bad manners and rudeness
&& being bossed around or lied to
&& people that can't break free of regulation

PERSONALITY:

Rebellious and energetic, Aspen is no doubt an odd child. While he thrives on breaking the rules dictated upon birth by his parents, he is not so much looking to burn the world as he is to learn about it. Bound by restraints since the beginning, Aspen just wants them gone. He wants to live his life how he sees fit it. He cares little for the tensions between the East and the West, instead declaring people by 'rude' or 'mannered.' He dislikes war, conflict, and those that would pick fights just for the sake of fighting. He is more of a lover than a fighter. Aspen is enthralled by the arts, by writing, by paintings and sculptures and novels and the out of the ordinary. He adores anything that strives to push beyond the boundaries of reality.

On a more level headed view, Aspen is reliable and outgoing. He is willing to help where it is needed. He is well-mannered and enjoys civil conversation just as much as he loves talking about things that cannot exist. While he is willing to break the rules, it is only to save himself from becoming someone he can't stand. He wants nothing more than to be happy with his life and who he will become. He is energetic to the point of eccentricity and can overwhelm others easily with how friendly he can be upon first introductions.

HISTORY:

The von Hammersmark is one of those families that fit their stereotype so well, it could almost be a joke. Not only do they set the bar for the rich, but for the 'West' as well. Nikolai von Hammersmark is nothing short of a scholar. His name is quite common in the literary world for his excellent books of the non-fiction variety. True to his cause, he does not dabble at all in fiction. He finds it offensive and repulsive, only helping to aide the distaste for the East as they are considered the dreamers.

'The West is for those with their feet still on the ground, Aspen. You'll do well not to lose your head in the clouds like those in the East.'

Abagail von Hammersmark, wife to the straight laced Nikolai, was the picture of decadence and greed. She refuses to wear anything less than the finest clothing in the newest fashions, a trait she passed down in a more mild degree to her son. She coerces her husband into accompanying her to all the biggest balls and out of attending those that would tarnish her image. Nikolai and Abagail have their moments of humor, have their strange delights, but for the most part, they are strict and law abiding. Those that toe the line are disgraceful..

'You are to keep this quiet, Aspen. If any of the women from -- oh no. Keep your mouth shut, like a good boy, and we'll pretend it never happened.'

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Their first child, a now young, gorgeous woman by the name of Freya von Hammersmark, fits their ideal world perfectly. She does not enjoy anything out of the ordinary and she falls into like just as her parents do. She is married now, at 24, and lives up to the von Hammersmark name well.

'Really, Aspen, you'll give mother and father a heartattack. Why can't you just follow direction? It won't kill you, you know.'

It was with their second child -- a boy even! how perfect -- that the dream fell apart. Now seventeen, Aspen von Hammersmark was, at first, the perfect boy. Like his mother, he had golden hair and big blue eyes. Like his father, he wore nice clothes and read books about the earth and how it worked explained through faulty science. For many years, little Aspen was exactly the boy Nikolai and Abagail had wanted. Unfortunately, the dream began to crack as he grew up. It started with the questions. Aspen was far too curious for the von Hammersmark's taste. While at first it was a sign of knowledge, his questions grew extravagant and strange. Otherworldly and magical. He was no longer keeping in line with the East sides line of thought.

Aspen's readings drew from non-fiction to fiction. Stories of fantasy and adventure. Things that couldn't happen and therein were not approved. He found the arts, sculptures and paintings and poetry. And Aspen changed. As though he'd found a side of himself he'd always been looking for, he changed, morphing into the seed that would make him quite the interesting young man.

The harder his family pushed, the more outlandish he became. Aspen began to thrive on disruption, on standing out, and rebelling against the norm. He grew his hair too long and when he was forced to the barbers, Aspen ordered him to cut in the style he saw fit. It didn't little to shorten the length, but instead gave it a flair that nearly made his mother faint when he arrived back home. The love for fine things he received from his mother grew out of proportion. His accessories were strange, not only piercing his ears, but his lip and on top of all that, attaching a chain from lip to ear. That time, his mother did faint.

Aspen let his teachers teach him the strict regiment of math and science, even showed signs of understanding it the extent his father did. But he never reached it, never surpassed it because he did not want to. He dreamt of the East, those people with their heads lost in the clouds, with their literature and paintings. Because they were the dreamers and he, woe is him, was stuck with the intellects. It should come as no surprise that his obsession with the other side of the world, with the people that were everything his family hated grew and grew and grew until it was uncontainable.

Now, Aspen has broken the final law, unrepairable should his parents find out. But his trip to see his aunt and uncle was a blatant lie. Instead, Aspen finds himself exploring the East, curiosity hungry.
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[JULIET CAPULET]

A C C E P T E D