Munday - Relationship dissection, and oh is it one...
Pick two of your characters who have met or interacted in a more than superficial manner. Best friends, enemies, lovers, rivals, relatives... Something with some meat to it.
Then tell us how they feel about each other in as great a blithering detail as you can manage to do. What do they view as each others' flaws? Each others' virtues? Do they get along with each other, or are things tense? Do they respect each other? Despise each other? Find each other amusing?
Have their opinions of each other been the same throughout their relationship? If not, how have they evolved? What factors of each characters' personality influences how they relate to the other character?
Seth and Marion have been at various points in their history all of those except related. They started off as enemies, Marion was the genius, the perfect student, who interfered one day with the outcast Seth's attempt to jump some kid after school. Marion just had to tell him how bad his attack was, and how it could be done better. This led to Seth taking that advice and trying to ambush him one afternoon, only for Marion to grab the knife blade and egg him to finish the job. The fact that he completely ignored the blood oozing down his hand was unnerving enough that Seth stopped trying to attack him physically. They became rivals then as if he couldn't hurt him physically, he'd take away having the best grades. That quickly became a weird sort of friendship based upon competition and who was better at what. Neither really had people they could trust, and each other became the only important person. That all changed when competition fueled a fight that Marion won by throwing, pinning and suddenly kissing Seth. Scared the shit out of him, but he gave in a week later after Marion kept finding his hiding places.
Neither of them find it easy to trust anyone. Seth's father was a drug dealer in trouble with the police alot and his mother busy working all the time to keep them in their home. Marion's father controlled every aspect of his life and constantly pressured him to be perfect and not give in to emotion. What he learned was that everyone had their own agenda and constantly tried to get one over on you. When they got to the point of realizing they liked each other seriously, they needed to trust each other as well. It's was Seth's idea to mark themselves, because words are forgotten, papers burned, but scars remained. The mark across their dominant hands (Seth's right, Marion's left) represents the absolute trust they shared, and a promise never to betray the other.
Marion has always been something to both live up to and to tear down to Seth's level. Live up to because he was always so together and impressive. Always knew exactly what to do in any situation, what to say, how to look. Was in control of it all. Supported Seth's ideas but also told him when they were stupid and gave advice on how to do it right and not get caught. He always had his back so Seth didn't need to care how he looked to other people. It didn't matter he was often seen as a punk kid nothing good would come of, or just pretending he was better than he was. Marion didn't care about that, and seemed not to care what anyone thought of him. He challenged Seth to be better and was an ideal to live up to.
Seth wanted to tear him down though, because no one could be that perfect. It was frustrating for Marion to act as if he was better than anyone else, even though he rarely did it in arrogance. And it bothers him that Marion can be so emotionless at times, concerned about the lasting effect his father had on him. He knows Marion is afraid this act of his could take him over someday and he holds on to Seth as a balancing force, to help him remember how to feel. Until they were thrown back together again, after the long separation, Seth didn't know the exact depth of Marion's fears of being overcome. That he wanted to be saved or destroyed, it didn't matter which. He holds Marion's sanity in his hands which was terrifying at first but has come to see it as not too different from his need of Marion to be his ideal to reach.
Originally Marion only picked Seth partly because he couldn't stand the stupidity he displayed in his choice of attack and partly because he was known to be dangerous, possibly a gang member and he was looking for trouble. Maybe he'd get a fight out of it or someone to mess with. What he didn't intend was for Seth to change the game, and it fascinated him. The violent punk refuses to harm him when he asks for it and decides instead to beat him intellectually. He pokes and prods more, trying to understand why, always wanting more until he gets the fight he wants. Only when he manages to pin Seth to the ground, he has this uncontrollable urge to kiss him, and so he does. This suddenly changes his view of Seth from someone to lift the boredom to someone who makes him feel again. He wants that feeling more and goes after it in the same single-minded determination he's done everything else, much to the detriment of Seth's sanity.
While the rivalry turns him on, it's after Seth kisses him back and admits he might like him too that Marion starts putting him on a pedestal. Seth lives his own life; screw everyone and what they think. He won't be told what to do or who to be. For someone who's been told to control himself for 'his and his family's own good' this is a seductive thing. He wishes desperately that he could absorb some of that, and combined with the fact that Seth treats him as a normal person he becomes the only person who matters. To Seth he's not a genius, he's not that cold but perfect person that you admire but stay away from because they're just a little too weird. Seth in effect teaches him how to love and he falls hard.
The "betrayal" as he terms it hits him so badly because of this. He had promised to the one that mattered, and then it was his fault they broke up. He doesn't see the extenuating circumstances, it's all his fault and he's NEVER gotten over it. He can't accept that Seth's forgiven him because he doesn't deserve it, and it doesn't matter how long ago it was. He has to be punished by Seth's hand, or finally saved from the horrible person he's become, as he still has that pedestal. It doesn't matter which and he's sure Seth will come around to seeing it his way sooner or later. If asked about Seth's flaws, he'd say that it was his quick temper or that he rushes in without thinking, but until he gets over this those aren't really flaws to him. He's more annoyed that Seth hasn't broken him yet.
Then tell us how they feel about each other in as great a blithering detail as you can manage to do. What do they view as each others' flaws? Each others' virtues? Do they get along with each other, or are things tense? Do they respect each other? Despise each other? Find each other amusing?
Have their opinions of each other been the same throughout their relationship? If not, how have they evolved? What factors of each characters' personality influences how they relate to the other character?
Seth and Marion have been at various points in their history all of those except related. They started off as enemies, Marion was the genius, the perfect student, who interfered one day with the outcast Seth's attempt to jump some kid after school. Marion just had to tell him how bad his attack was, and how it could be done better. This led to Seth taking that advice and trying to ambush him one afternoon, only for Marion to grab the knife blade and egg him to finish the job. The fact that he completely ignored the blood oozing down his hand was unnerving enough that Seth stopped trying to attack him physically. They became rivals then as if he couldn't hurt him physically, he'd take away having the best grades. That quickly became a weird sort of friendship based upon competition and who was better at what. Neither really had people they could trust, and each other became the only important person. That all changed when competition fueled a fight that Marion won by throwing, pinning and suddenly kissing Seth. Scared the shit out of him, but he gave in a week later after Marion kept finding his hiding places.
Neither of them find it easy to trust anyone. Seth's father was a drug dealer in trouble with the police alot and his mother busy working all the time to keep them in their home. Marion's father controlled every aspect of his life and constantly pressured him to be perfect and not give in to emotion. What he learned was that everyone had their own agenda and constantly tried to get one over on you. When they got to the point of realizing they liked each other seriously, they needed to trust each other as well. It's was Seth's idea to mark themselves, because words are forgotten, papers burned, but scars remained. The mark across their dominant hands (Seth's right, Marion's left) represents the absolute trust they shared, and a promise never to betray the other.
Marion has always been something to both live up to and to tear down to Seth's level. Live up to because he was always so together and impressive. Always knew exactly what to do in any situation, what to say, how to look. Was in control of it all. Supported Seth's ideas but also told him when they were stupid and gave advice on how to do it right and not get caught. He always had his back so Seth didn't need to care how he looked to other people. It didn't matter he was often seen as a punk kid nothing good would come of, or just pretending he was better than he was. Marion didn't care about that, and seemed not to care what anyone thought of him. He challenged Seth to be better and was an ideal to live up to.
Seth wanted to tear him down though, because no one could be that perfect. It was frustrating for Marion to act as if he was better than anyone else, even though he rarely did it in arrogance. And it bothers him that Marion can be so emotionless at times, concerned about the lasting effect his father had on him. He knows Marion is afraid this act of his could take him over someday and he holds on to Seth as a balancing force, to help him remember how to feel. Until they were thrown back together again, after the long separation, Seth didn't know the exact depth of Marion's fears of being overcome. That he wanted to be saved or destroyed, it didn't matter which. He holds Marion's sanity in his hands which was terrifying at first but has come to see it as not too different from his need of Marion to be his ideal to reach.
Originally Marion only picked Seth partly because he couldn't stand the stupidity he displayed in his choice of attack and partly because he was known to be dangerous, possibly a gang member and he was looking for trouble. Maybe he'd get a fight out of it or someone to mess with. What he didn't intend was for Seth to change the game, and it fascinated him. The violent punk refuses to harm him when he asks for it and decides instead to beat him intellectually. He pokes and prods more, trying to understand why, always wanting more until he gets the fight he wants. Only when he manages to pin Seth to the ground, he has this uncontrollable urge to kiss him, and so he does. This suddenly changes his view of Seth from someone to lift the boredom to someone who makes him feel again. He wants that feeling more and goes after it in the same single-minded determination he's done everything else, much to the detriment of Seth's sanity.
While the rivalry turns him on, it's after Seth kisses him back and admits he might like him too that Marion starts putting him on a pedestal. Seth lives his own life; screw everyone and what they think. He won't be told what to do or who to be. For someone who's been told to control himself for 'his and his family's own good' this is a seductive thing. He wishes desperately that he could absorb some of that, and combined with the fact that Seth treats him as a normal person he becomes the only person who matters. To Seth he's not a genius, he's not that cold but perfect person that you admire but stay away from because they're just a little too weird. Seth in effect teaches him how to love and he falls hard.
The "betrayal" as he terms it hits him so badly because of this. He had promised to the one that mattered, and then it was his fault they broke up. He doesn't see the extenuating circumstances, it's all his fault and he's NEVER gotten over it. He can't accept that Seth's forgiven him because he doesn't deserve it, and it doesn't matter how long ago it was. He has to be punished by Seth's hand, or finally saved from the horrible person he's become, as he still has that pedestal. It doesn't matter which and he's sure Seth will come around to seeing it his way sooner or later. If asked about Seth's flaws, he'd say that it was his quick temper or that he rushes in without thinking, but until he gets over this those aren't really flaws to him. He's more annoyed that Seth hasn't broken him yet.