Private nook where I attempt to defy gravity and come out of my shell.
Day 1: Inception

Before you begin!
- I'm going to assume that you know what I'm talking about. There is no explanation for the plot or for the characters, and there are spoilers ahead.
- These are all personal opionions of mine. I considered doing a heavily sourced post, because I can be crazy like that, but since I'm doing this for fun and not for the Discourse ™, just fuck it.
- I haven't rewatched/rerad any of this shit. All of this is based on what I remember of the source material and/or the fanfiction.
- This post is like, really fucking long. Sorry about that, I wasn't expecting that. It wasn't supposed to have subsections but hey, it does.
How it started
When I watched Inception for the first time, I didn't think that it would've stayed with me as much as it did. Since I watched it back in 2010 I've been writing at least a fanfiction every year, and it's still one of my favorite movies.
I was curious, because I was promised a complex plot, set in the world of lucid dreaming (which was an interest of mine), but I didn't expect much from it, because it was "just a movie". For some reason, back then I was under the impression that only books (and a few manga) could be quality narrative-based entertainment. Which is silly, obviously, but- idek, I was a pretentious teenager.
Anyway, I watched it, and I was hooked. At the time I didn't know anything of cinematographic techniques or narrative theory; I just knew that it looked cool and it was compelling, and in the end it didn't even matter to me that it's full of discrepancies, or about the open ending that frustrated so many people.
Of characters and ships
(it's funny that this GIF is the Signature gif of the ship, because they don't look like themselves)
I immediately fell in love with Arthur: extremely professional, competent and meticulous, dedicated to his job, maybe a little too serious and uptight, a little too much by the book. Always perfectly put together, all crisp suits and his hair slicked back, he's the picture of control. He's that kind of person that, while could have a more creative approach to problem solving (no matter what Eames says!), thinks that sticking to the plan is the best course of action. However, he does have a playful side and a sense of humour, even though it's not immediately apparent (and the fandom keeps forgetting about it)
At first, the reasons I liked Eames had all to do with the fact that he made an excellent foil to Arthur, starting from their tastes in clothing: his loose, eccentric patterned shirts make for a loud contrast with Arthur's sharp dress shirts and waistcoats. Eames, a charmer, quick witted, smart and flashy and creative, the con artist and the forger, used to making shit up as he goes, is an ocean away from Arthur's more reserved, straight-laced personality. However, like Arthur is not completely emotionless, Eames is not all appearances; he's still the best Forger on the market, and takes his job seriously.
Back then I wore my shipping goggles much more often than it was strictly necessary, but I definitely wasn't the only one imagining this: according to a big part of fandom, Arthur/Eames was a Thing That Existed ™.
(this is more like it)
From the get going, it's clear that while they keep each other in high consideration because of their specific skillset, they also don't approve of each other's methods; Eames considers Arthur a "stick in the mud", too attached to his planning and research, while Arthur low-key disapproves of Eames' levity and "lack of specificity". The result is that they keep teasing and messing with each other, until shit gets real and they turn into a perfectly oiled machine.
And that "darling". I can safely say that 80% of the pairing was canonized because of that petname.
Other than this, there's not much that I can say about them, because most of their characterization in the fandom is based on headcanons and my own interpretation of the characters, which brings me to the next section.
Of fandom and speculation
One of the things that I liked best about the fandom in general was the complete uncertainty and vagueness of it. We didn't know shit about the character's backstory. We didn't know anything about the history of Dreamsharing, about its actual inner workings.
Who developed the technology? What was its primary function, before a bunch of people decided to steal it and it became the tool for a new brand of industrial espionage? How many teams of these "dream-thieves" are there, and how are they organized? Is there a thing such as 'legal' dreamsharing? And so on. The answer was whatever you want, as long as you write it and then you share it with the rest of us. It was a freaking amazing environment to be in. The sky was the limit.
The main platform back then was Livejournal; there were various communities, and kink memes, and personal blogs, and the discussion was lively and interesting. Other than the issues formulated above, main topics of speculation were the characters' backstory, the consequences of dreamsharing on the mind, and a few things in the movie that didn't make actually that much sense (including the "rules" of limbo, and the open ending).
Fic rec extravaganza
Antimony by jibrailis: post-canon. Dreamshare goes legal, Arthur goes corporate, Eames goes and (against his better judgement) falls in love.
Why: It's a great deconstruction of the worldbuilding, where dream-sharing gets public because of Wikleaks and everyone needs to get legit or bust, and it showcases perfectly the things that I love most about Arthur and Eames.
You can drown in a dream by pushdragon: Waking up from an extraction on an erotica writer, something serious is wrong with Arthur. He can't focus, he can't sleep ... and when did Eames start to smell so good? Even as he writes his report describing the writer's fictitious alpha/omega dynamics, it doesn't occur to him that the description kind of applies to him. (Or: the one where Arthur incepts himself into believing he's an omega.)
Why: A great example of inception, where the things that happen in the dream are carried over to reality. Using absurd scenarios in dreams, either smutty or of other nature is kinda a thing in this fandom, and whether it carries over or not, it's a plot device that I love a lot.
Requiescat by whiskyrunner: Crossover with Mysterious Skin. The death of Neil McCormick was gradual, not sudden, and not permanent by any means. In the end, Arthur goes much more quickly.
Why: Okay this fic fucked me over. Inception was also my first movie that made me fall in love with an actor for the very first time, and this love brought me to catch up with JGL's filmography. Mysterious skin is definitely one of the darkest movies I ever seen in my life, and the crossover keeps the mood consistent. It's dark and amazing, and well written. It's all based around the idea that "Arthur" is actually an identity that emerged after a bunch of Neil's traumas. I myself played with a similar idea in some of my stories (see last section).
Brotherly Loathing by lindenmae: AU. Arthur has his life all planned out and he's steadily achieving each of his dreams. He has a good job at one of the best architecture firms in the area right out of college and the hottest, suavest, if slightly repressed, boyfriend he could have ever asked for. So what if his best friend hates his boyfriend and won't tell him why? So what if his boyfriend's twin brother is built like a brick house and hilarious and charming to boot? And so what if his boyfriend is so deep in the closet he couldn't find his way out with a flashlight? Arthur is positive he's on the right path until he realizes he doesn't have a clue.
Why: back then I was very much into closet-fic, and it's part of my headcanon that Arthur is not comfortable with his sexuality.. Even if this is not exactly the case, since it's an inversion trope. It's still an amazing read.
Rough Trade by whiskyrunner: AU. Arthur is an investment banker. He is professional and efficient. He's a halfway decent cook. He's totally independent and has been since the age of eighteen. Maybe he's tired all the time because he works about ninety hours a week which is twice what normal people do, but he's rich and he's competent at his job. He's almost thirty, and already a success. And there are some things Arthur is not. For instance: Arthur is not gay.
Why: Another closet-fic, this time with Arthur being the closeted one. I think this is one of the fics I re-read the most.
The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized by the_ragnarok: Omegaverse. Arthur is the son of the ruler, and an Omega male. Eames is leading the revolution. Which kidnaps Arthur. This is only the start of their problems.
Why: Plotty political get-together arranged marriage fic.
Mr Eames & by wldnst: Post-canon. Eames obsessively tracks a young adult series that may or may not be based on his life.
Why: It's great deconstruction of the worldbuiling (yes I'm a sucker for those), and on top of that Arthur is at the best of his sassy self, while Eames is completely losing it, so that's fun.
Allowed by the_ragnarok: the serie where Eames is asexual.
Why: One of the most enjoyable depiction of asexuality I've ever read , but it's great also for the development of the relationship between Arthur and Eames, and even more worldbuilding deconstruction. There's more talking about militarization of the subconscious, how dreams can be used to cater sexual fantasies, etc. I especially liked the description of how Eames works on his Forgeries.
The collie's work
Disclaimer: I think a lot, but I don't write as much, so a lot of my actual output consists of headcanons I never shared with anyone, or half-hatched plots, or fanfiction that I never translated to English.
I dislike the terminology "One True Pairing" because as a multishipper I like to switch it up, but Arthur/Eames is the closest thing to an OTP I've ever had.
I only ever written A/E fic and headcanons. The only exception is a headcanon where Arthur used to have a crush for Mal, before she got married to Cobbs and before Arthur met Eames, but that's it. While I did care for the other characters, I've never really wrote anything about them.
Before I actually developed headcanons about Arthur and Eames' backgrounds, my first fanfiction was a thing where they slept together on a regular basis, but Arthur got shitfaced before and ran away first thing in the morning after, never aknowledging his feelings or the act itself because he wasn't comfortable with his sexuality (as I said, I was very big on closet-fic, I guess because it reflected my personal situation to a tee) and was afraid of commitment because his main model of relationship were Mal and Cobbs. Eames eventually corners him and they manage to have a conversation about it. It's called Flee, but it's 4k words of Italian and awful 2010 writing.
My next fic was a cheesy Christmas fic about exchanging gifts, when they also reveal to each other their real names. Confession time: I still like it, because it's cute and really fucking cheesy. The only thing I regret is that since it was written in 2011 it's awful.
Cambio di programma (2012) (translation: Change of plans) wanted to be a plotty fic, but it wasn't. At all. The idea behind it (Eames leaves for a job, and comes back later than expected, making Arthur sick with worry) was developed later in Projection (2013) and, to an extent, in Beneath the surface (2012), which are my best works in this fandom.
Beneath the surface is my first plotty fic for this fandom: Arthur (without his knowledge) is 'poisoned' during a job with a compound that throws off his capacity to work in the dreamscape, and after a time spent trying to hide it while working, he decides to go dark. Eames finds out, and helps him. It took a long time and a lot of cheerleading from a couple of friends in the fandom to plot and write, but I still am pretty proud of how it came out.
Projection is basically a longer and darker version of Cambio di programma. Eames goes dark for eight years, and everyone but Arthur believes he's dead. Arthur's denial and obsession with Eames gets to him to the point that he starts seeing his projection while he's working, and decides to retire. It's of course right then that Eames decides to reappear: he actually didn't do it on purpose, because a compound messed with his mind and his memories, and couldn't come back until he was completely recovered. I built a whole world behind this fic, because I wanted to write about their backstories (finally!) but I never got around it, not really.
I've written two more little snippets set in Projection'verse (in English!!!) for a contest: the first one is Royalty(2015), which has absolutely no fucking plot. I was playing around with the idea that Arthur built his own identity from the Arthurian cycle, to hide his supposedly dark past (yeah, I don't have the details down yet…). The second one is Good Time, which is the prequel of an episode that is briefly recollected in Projection: a New Year's Eve party organized by Eames' old friends, where Arthur ends up starting a brawl and a life-long rivalry with some other Forger… but Eames doesn't know that yet, so he does his damnedest to convince him to come. It's short but I like it a lot, it's fun. I'm probably going to write more about this 'verse, as soon as I get over this fucking writer block.
Who are you when I'm not looking (2014) is a darker take on the "Arthur's other identity" headcanon, and it's definitely a sort of transition between what I've read in Requiescat and the headcanons that are behind the Projection'verse; after a job where Arthur got stuck into limbo for a while, he comes back up and starts losing his mind. Eames is with him every step of the way. It could be read as part of Project'verse, a darker AU. I started translating it in English, but I had difficulties with my own use of images so it's still a work in progress…
My last work (and then I promise I won't write anymore of this post…), which is actually a little older than Royalty and Good Time, is a SM fic called Painful Needs and it's right here on AO3 and it's in English. Arthur is a masochist and goes looking for trouble in the city's bars, until Eames stops him and has him get his fix of pain in a more controlled environment.
Conclusions
I didn't expect for this post to become this long… it just shows how after all this time it's a fandom that I still love and I would love to get back into, I guess…? I hope it didn't get too boring or too abstruse… leave a comment if you like!
BONUS … I was looking for the meaning and the origin of the word PASIV because I was mostly convinced that somebody in the community just made it up and it went viral, but apparently it appeared for the first time in a mysterious package (that was part of the promo campagin for Inception, clearly) containing the Dream-Share manual, documented by Wired. You can read the article here, and the PASIV Device Technical Manual. I'm a little mindblown XD





I never got fully sucked into the Inception fandom, but I have always enjoyed a bit of Arthur/Eames on the side. :D Thanks for reccing all these fics, I'm looking forward to checking them out!
On a totally unrelated note: are you in the Hannibal fandom at all? (If not, I really recommend you check out the TV show--it's basically m/m fanfic on screen & dark/psychological enough that it might be right up your alley!) I'm currently (very slowly) working on a Hannibal fic that has some Italian scattered throughout; would you be willing to take a look at some point to check that I haven't totally butchered your language? ;))
Haha I was going to rec more but this post was already out of control... I don't know what happened there omg. Hope you like them!
I love Hannibal, and I'm so happy to hear that you're writing some. It would be my pleasure to help you out! :) I will message you my email so you can send the fic over!