notes ✖ a work in progress
EARLY LIFE;
Arthur's real name is James Arthur Deacon, Jr. He is the only son of James Arthur Deacon, Sr. (a former law enforcement agent, deceased) and Agnes Deacon (neé Harrowman, a retired school teacher). Because his father goes by "Jimmy", Arthur insists at a young age that he be called "Arthur" instead to avoid confusion. Born in Connecticut, he grows up there and lives a spectacularly ordinary childhood, despite being an extraordinary boy. His father suffers an unexpected stroke when Arthur is a teenager, from which he subsequently passes away. This leaves a distraught Agnes to raise Arthur on her own; he, in turn, assumes the responsibility of looking after her emotional well-being. This plays an integral part in the development of Arthur's sense of responsibility, as well as his ability to compartmentalize the things he feels are necessary to do from the things that he feels.
EDUCATION and the MILITARY;
Arthur receives his undergraduate degree from a middle-tier public university. Originally slated to study art history, he switches tracks early on after weighing the practicalities of the situation, ultimately earning him a BA in International Relations (due to its relevancy to a military career). Arthur graduates near the top of his class with Latinate honors and immediately applies for the United States Military Officer's College following the successful completion of his degree. He is a year younger than his peers at the time (having skipped the third grade in elementary school). Fast-tracked into intelligence, he quickly rises in the ranks, becoming the youngest Captain in his division by the age of 25. With his promotion, comes reassignment to the dreamshare initiative. This is where Arthur meets Eames.
When Arthur later petitions his resignation at the age of 27 (under dubious circumstances, see "Eames"), he is given an honorary discharge due to lack of court martial and an otherwise exemplary performance record. This discharge is the last bulletpoint on the official record of 'James Arthur Deacon, Jr.'; Arthur quickly falls off the radar afterwards (see "Mal and Dom").
EAMES; *
Arthur's history with Eames is an extremely long and complicated one. The two meet while still in the military when Eames -- sorely outranked by Arthur -- is assigned to serve as one of HRH's liasions to the United States Military, specifically the dreamshare project.
(WIP, but essentially THEY SHARE DREAMS AND LOTS OF BOTTLES OF WINE AND THEN EAMES UP AND STEALS THE MOTHERFUCKING PASIV TECHNOLOGY OUT FROM ARTHUR'S NOSE, THUS SHATTERING THEIR BFFERY and arthur's little paisley heart. it literally takes years and intervention from the future cobbs to keep arthur from shooting eames in the foot everytime they see one another. but then they grow up and get over it. kind of. not really.)
MAL and DOM;
Arthur meets Dominic Cobb (and subsequently his partner, Mallorie Miles) through Stephen Miles -- an architecture professor from Paris who serves as a consultant to the dreamshare project.
He is the godfather of Philippa Cobb.
(WIP)
MODUS OPERANDI;
A few notes on Arthur, thiefdom, and his BAMF-ness:
Arthur did not want to be a thief. That he is one is a direct result of Eames' actions, something that was a huge point of conflict between the two men for a long time. It is important to note that Arthur's issue with Eames' decision was more about their relationship at the time and less about moral high ground. If given the opportunity to take the PASIV with the promise of a minimalized amount of repercussion, Arthur may have beaten Eames to the punch.
Although Arthur is considered by some in the business as a freelancer with tunnel vision, he has spent most of his time as a dream thief working with the Cobbs. Following the death of Mallorie Cobb, however, he has worked in almost-exclusivity as Dom's point man. The times he has contracted himself out, it has predominantly been for intel gathering and surveillance.
Arthur has never considered himself Dominic Cobb's "partner". Whether Cobb holds a similar opinion is unknown to Arthur, but it is an important distinction for him to make in his mind that Cobb is someone he works 'for' or 'alongside', as opposed to 'with'. That Arthur splits semantic hairs in order to provide himself a defense mechanism shouldn't surprise anyone. The only person Arthur has ever considered a partner was Eames, during their time in the military together. Arthur has made a very conscious and active decision since then to avoid this in the future, though his resolve in the matter has weakened considerably since Cobb's retirement.
Arthur's real name is kept from his employers. The only ones that know it are those who predate his military discharge (Stephen Miles, Dom and Mallorie Cobb, Eames). When he is hired, it is usually under an alias, though most aliases involve the name "Arthur". He actively avoids any aliases that use the name James or any permutation (re: Jimmy).
Arthur does not participate in the extraction business for the money. He has, over the years, invested wisely in a highly aggressive stock portfolio. As a result, Arthur is fairly well established and does not need a constant stream of supplementary income. His continued participation in the business is motivated by genuine interest in dreams and his loyalty to Cobb.
Arthur is not very social, nor does he have a private life to speak of. He does, however, have an extremely well-cultivated list of contacts and connections -- mostly maintained by the fact that Arthur is ridiculously reliable. His network spans the globe but has its strengths in Asia (China and Japan) as well as Europe (France, Spain and Scandanavia). He tends to actively avoid Washington DC and London, due to his histories there.
Arthur is capable of the following levels of fluency in the noted languages. Full Professional proficiency (ILR-4): Danish. Professional Working proficiency (IRL-3): French, German, Spanish and Italian. Limited Working proficiency (IRL-2): Japanese, Mandarin, and Farsi.
Of the various properties and safehouses that Arthur owns, his official 'home' is a rail-cart style apartment in Copenhagen. He has maintained an apartment in Copenhagen since his days in the military; however, after Eames' betrayal, this original apartment was promptly sold to dissolve any ties to James Arthur Deacon's record (nevermind the fact that it housed memories that Arthur wished to dissociate himself from).
* I realize this version of Arthur and Eames' history (developed in collaboration with idlethings as a shared backstory)
is highly interpretative and makes for a very specific reading of their dynamic both pre- and post-canon.
For the purposes of open play in DR-type situations, I try to vague-up Arthur's history with Eames and then adapt accordingly.
That being said, this is my personal headcanon for Arthur to describe the shape of their dynamic as shown in canon.