freighttraininmybrain

[freighttraininmybrain]

I see your “eames? No he’s in Mombasa” and I raise you Arthur and eames fighting off an army of projections and eames yelling “it’s just like in Mombasa, isn’t it darling?” to which Arthur shouts over the rain of bullets “you and I remember Mombasa VERY differently, mr eames!!!”

[freighttraininmybrain]

(literally logs on Tumblr after a couple of months of absence just to reblog this and make a necessary contribution:)

wow there rly is only like 4 ppl in the inception fandom alive rn isnt there

#inception #fandom #is the best fandom #as always

[freighttraininmybrain]

1/? If you wrote a thesis on Arthur and Eames I would literally carry it around in my pocket & read it daily, so I’m begging you!! Please don’t spare your 5k essay on why you think Arthur thinks he doesn’t have a chance with Eames!! I Wanna know your thoughts on this!! Because I think it’s a combination of elements. Firstly I think initially Arthur truly believes Eames doesn’t like him. They’re too different. Arthur is everything Eames isn’t & vice versa. & even tho the saying goes “opposites

2/? attract”.. sometimes you just clash & that’s that.. I think at first he also mistakes Eames playfulness, his snark, quips & attempts at riling Arthur up as genuine condescension & disdain. I also read once in a fic where Arthur made a comment about how nobody likes the pointman cos at the end of the day it’s his job to pick apart everybody else’s work & point out the weaknesses. So the idea that a guy like Eames, who as a forger has one of the most creative/artistic roles in dreamshare. --- 3/3 would be interested in a guy whose role often involves probably telling people to tone it down... yeah. Not gonna happen. & then I think there’s that fear of mixing business with pleasure. The idea of ruining such a great working partnership by bringing something as messy as FEELINGS into it? I think that’s something that would make Arthur not even entertain the idea of ever having anything more with Eames because how could he ever risk losing Eames as a work partner?

---

Aha, are you ready? Obvs these are all just my headcanons, and that the beauty of inception is that the characters can be who we want them to be, all interpretations are valid, etc etc...

So, with Arthur and why I think he thinks doesn't have a chance with Eames. You're right that it's a combination of elements:

I think, at his core, Arthur like, all of us, carries some kind of emotional bruising when it comes to loving and being loved. And like, all of us, Arthur does not think he's perfect. He has self-perceived flaws. Every single one of us, as human beings, has insecurities - even Arthur. I think he uses all of the surface, logical, 'rational' arguments like not wanting to mix business and pleasure to justify not actually addressing these hurts and insecurities.

You know my personal headcanon for Arthur, generally speaking canonically, is that he did not come from money. He grew up poor with a parent that wasn't, say, well enough to be there for him the way a child would need. That he was the caretaker in the household most of the time.

And, bear with me here, on Arthur caring about his looks - Arthur is buttoned up to all hell not because of vanity, but because of how he will be perceived--- he wears his suits less like armour and more like a weapon. Arthur, to me, is scrappy, not defensive.

But despite how he presents himself, deep down Arthur still is that fourteen year old version of himself, the one that lashed out everyone Eventually, he learned to control that anger, the one that showed everyone else where he was wounded -- but he never addressed the ways he was hurt, or the parts of him that has always been deeply lonely. As an adult he isn't keen on loving anyone else because it's always been a one-way transaction. He does not know how to interpret loving someone and being loved in return. For him, what does that even look like? Arthur doesn't want to love anyone because he's never received the same output of love he gives out. And maybe he thinks something is wrong with him, for feeling affection the way he does and never truly getting it back in kind - platonic, familial or romantic.

So he wears his weaponry to keep people from getting too close to touch, figuratively speaking. And maybe Eames takes him on face value for a beat too long.

While I don't really consider Arthur and Eames to be opposites, I do think they are flip sides of the same coin. They share a basic foundation, beliefs, ethics - but can also clash where they combine. It's like when you just... get someone on a basic level, like you share a frequency without needing years of getting to know them. Like when you meet someone and you just know you must have known each other in a past life. Arthur thinks that this weird, antagonistic thing he has with Eames is something different, isn't it? Except, it isn't. It's just love, baby.

Arthur feels it, with Eames. That 'something'. Over time it develops into a feeling that is both thrum and quiet. Like his whole body is vibrating but also completely still just by being near him, thinking about him.

But, at least initially, Arthur is just too... wary to place his money on it, that feeling. It's never provided dividends before.

Which isn't to say that Eames is the one to show Arthur he is 'worth loving', or anything like that. I believe that Arthur comes to that realisation all by himself - realistically, they're both still young and young enough to be insecure at the time of the film. Late 20's, 30s? Babies, in the grand scheme of adulthood. They are only just consolidating out who they are, really. But Arthur, at some point, realizes its okay to put his sword down and be loved in a different way from those who'd said they'd loved him before. To have someone take care of him, to run point for him. He gets better at reading love languages.

And I think, to address Arthurs own insecurities -- we all also have that kind of rose-tinted view of the ones we love while thinking we are plain and unremarkable - we look at them and go fuck, you are amazing, you are incredible, you can do anything and you don't even know it, how do you not know how powerful you are?? --- that's part of it too. Maybe he looks at Eames, Cobb and Mal and thinks just that. Maybe he wonders in what world would Eames ever look at him the same way? Maybe he does underestimate his own power and he takes it all too seriously and to heart when he's not perfect. Maybe he can't look past his own fuck ups in life and in work that it truly clouds his perception of himself and his compatibility with others.

That, I think, are the basic fears Arthur has. It's like inception, right, these 'simplest version of ideas' manifest in more convoluted ones. Those fears get translated and articulated into very simple 'reasonable' arguments he hoodwinks himself with so he never has to face his own vulnerability: it would never work out. I don't like the way he does x, y, z. He is so annoying. He doesn't even like me like that. It'd be bad for business. It's not worth the risk. We're here to work.

So I think Arthur leaves his attraction to Eames like a mailbox slowly accumulating with more and more junk mail. He'll clean it out some day, pushed aside in his own mind, left unattended by him for a long time without realizing the pile is growing. On this, some of my fave fics are the ones where Arthur has this sort of... comically misbehaving subconscious because of his ignored affection for Eames. The ones where there are errant projections who fawn over Eames, or the ones where his subconscious is literally incapable of hurting him. I think Arthur is not.. repressed... as an individual, but the feelings he has for Eames are so large and encompassing and that he's tried to fit it into too small of a box, and that box is spilling out at the sides. What he feels cannot be contained or disposed of. He would be that kind of hot mess.

But, Arthur, you darling fool. The feeling is mutual.

[freighttraininmybrain]

grizzled dead-inside hired assassin but he never falls for the femme fatale he only falls for the Completely Awkward Guy At The Computer and it's really frustrating for him

[freighttraininmybrain]

ok ok ok using that she & him music video to fuel my arthur agenda!!! that opening scene where jgl is looking all fine &fancy in his suit with his slicked back hair...& then he's just munching the hell out of that sandwich/burger or whatever & wiping his face in all his unpolished & uncouth glory!!??? that's arthur!! yeah, he looks fancy as fuck but he's not!! mr 'talk with his mouth full, elbows on the table, foul mouthed' arthur!! the dichotomy of man* (*namely one named arthur). I love him

YES NONNIE, YOU GET IT! Arthur looks refined and beautiful af but he is uncouth, he is fifty shades of street-rat, he is a boor.

This scene!! Saito is eating very, very neatly, excellent posture and so does Cobb mostly, they both drink their wine gripping the stem, very prim and proper, right --- meanwhile Arthur is just fucking...splayed all over the table.

For comparison:

Not to mention this infamous salad scene you mention above -- elbows on the table, talking with his mouth full, the way he holds his fork !!!!

The subtle body language!!! The difference in posture !!! I think it's partly that Arthur just doesn't care to woo clients of elevated status ("We're here to work") and partly that he is just that way -- rougher around the edges. These are just a couple of examples and not to pick on dear Arthur but I love that for all intents and purposes he looks polished and then he just... has all these chips in his veneer. Maybe his 'vulgarity' is why Eames is so taken with him idk - I just think he's neat. And lovely. I think he worked really hard at refining himself, into being as educated as he could be with what little resources he had. Good for him!! I am here for the Arthur agenda!!!

[freighttraininmybrain]

I know it’s been said before, but you spark so much joy with your headcanon & arthur/eames discussions 🥺 also! Still thinking of that pic of Tom Hardy in a muscle tee & other recent photos of him where he is lots of grey in his beard. Idk if you saw JGL at the ceremony where he presented rian Johnson with an award but he had a deep velvet plum suit on, a beard and his hair is long & wavy. & now I’m thinking about older eames/Arthur who are comfortable happy and still sickeningly in love

Nonnie!!!!!!! Thank you so much for stopping by, these asks always are so thought provoking and indulge me so much, I'm always happy to talk about Arthur/Eames and Inception in general!

Okay so, I had not seen that video and I am SO GLAD you brought it to my attention. JGL LOOKS SO FREAKING GOOD!!! THE SUIT!!! THE BEARD!!! THE CURLS!!!!!! Oh my god. If anyone has not seen the video check it out here you wont regret it.

And, you said it -- "Comfortable, happy and (still) sickeningly in love" is all I want for Arthur and Eames (and my life tbh). My headcanon is that they settle down and retire and while they still dabble in a little criminal action here and there (like being criminally sexy!!!) they live quieter lives a handful of years after the Fischer job. They love each other, right? They want to be safer because they want to build a life over building dreams, because life can be so short, you know, and I think in the film you learn just that--anything can happen at any given moment and you just...slow the hell down. Even when that means taking life in the slow lane and changing course - and so they do.

I imagine Arthur and Eames in their forties and fifties, teaching and consulting for work - Eames being disgusted every time he does his taxes and Arthur being disgusted with himself for wearing polo shirts in the summer and secretly loving it. They are starting to go grey, more grey with every handful of years - they are starting to go soft in places. There are crows eyes and forehead lines and heartburn and creaky bones. Diets to manage IBS and blood pressure. Worse, they start to do things their parents used to do -- like watch the news on TV and mutter into their dinner about idiot politicians and neighbours who park like dickheads on the street and wont trim their trees back out of their yard, and they reminisce about how things were different when they were kids and seriously why the fuck are they the only normal people who live on this street?

They keep busy. They learn new things. For his forty-fifth birthday Arthur builds Eames a library in their Philadelphia home with his bare hands. Eames buys the battered skeleton of a '67 Ford Mustang and restores it for Arthur. They read books and watch movies in bed and keep guns in their bedsides just in case. They go on long drives together and still sometimes travel the world to see old faces and so they still remember what it feels like to be homesick and miss the good life. Eames' knees play up. Arthurs back has seen better days. They're uncles to their siblings kids and to Phillipa and James. And they take that job very seriously.

They still have their domestics and spats every now and then. But they make up and move on. They're partners (in life and crime) and they get their thrills out of making the other happy. They're the people the other cannot wait to come home to.

They have always attempted to manufacture their own luck and they finally did it because here they are, content and happy.

[freighttraininmybrain]

Week 6 results are in!

To recap, @killym and @stormofsharpthings were the two remaining authors heading into Week 4, so they agreed to settle the winner as “best 2 out of 3” for Weeks 4 through 6.

The winner of Week 4 was @killym!

The winner of Week 5 was @stormofsharpthings!

And now, with Week 6 voting officially closed, we are happy to announce…

Stormofsharpthings and killym have tied for the final week of AELDWS! Congratulations to you both!

Author names have been added to the original drabble post and comments are being emailed to authors.

Authors are encouraged to add their drabbles to the AELDWS AO3 collection if they post on AO3!

Thank you to everyone who read, voted, and commented, and an extra thank you to all of the wonderfully talented authors who participated in AELDWS this year!

We hope you had a great time, and we’ll see you again in July 2024!

[freighttraininmybrain]

i don't know if there is a single fandom for whom i have more admiration than the inception girlies. like damn. the main ship has literally 2:23 seconds of screen time together (and that's including times they aren't actually interacting, one is simply mentioning the other) and i know the fandom is not solely this one ship -- the film itself is basically custom build for fandom in terms of the potential world building and development of characters who are mostly composed of clever inferences and powered by charismatic performance -- but still. 2 minutes 23 seconds from a film that came out 13 years ago and the fandom (while obviously smaller/less active than it's peak era) is still going strong. you guys are indestructible gremlins of creativity, god-tier meta, and (fittingly for a fandom that arguably originated in a livejournal kink meme) deeply deeply horny. i respect and fear you all.

#Inception #fandom #is the best fandom #and I'll die on that hill

[freighttraininmybrain]

It will be just a fleeting moment.

The narrow balcony, two steps across, barely room to turn around, of their tiny apartment. The scent of coffee in the overheated air; two in the morning, Arthur with his coffee mug, wrapped in a sheet like that mummy from the American movies Ariadne watches with wide-eyed wonder. The soft bursts of laughter and silly music from the nearby bar, and Arthur will press his cheek to his, swaying gently to the rhythm. It will be just a fleeting moment – one of those that make you look back at the past and suddenly see everything in a new light. Merely three minutes; and Eames won't manage to utter a word, his heart thudding somewhere in his throat. In another life that never came to be, he might have been someone entirely different, a better person, maybe. But then it dawns on him, that every mistake, every stupid act, every setback – led him to this very second, and it was all worth it.

It's then that Eames will realise – this is forever, perhaps.

There's no need to run anymore.

Arthur/eames song rec: born to beg by the National

Oh nonnie... goddamn. This made me feel things.... the instrumentals? The dotty, constellation sort of quality to it? It felt like a goodbye and a hello kiss at a train station or an airport, like a hug from behind and a whisper in your mind, teakettle love, i'd do anything (for you) - thank you, thank you for this rec, its perfect!!!

#ASH YOUR TAGS ARE AWESOME #BEST THING EVER

[freighttraininmybrain]

Six hours after Inception.

They're outside of a bar, Eames slouching on a streetlamp. The smoke from the group gathered round the front of the bar is blowing their way, over to where Arthur is standing, staring Eames down.

The fluorescent pinks and blues of the club are reflected in Arthur's cheekbones, playing out across his suit. It's incongruous. Arthur looks stunning, somehow untouched in his designer suit among the smoke and haze of Los Angeles' nightlife.

He's smiling at Eames, a private twist of his lips that Eames has spent years thinking about in his less proud moments.

"Take a picture, love." Eames says, gently. He's merely teasing. He'd spend a lifetime against this lamp pole if Arthur stayed right there, smiling at him.

To his surprise, Arthur laughs. "If I had a camera, I would. Fuck, I'd take more than one."

Eames smiles along, shifts closer. "You're in a good mood," he observes.

"You aren't?" Arthur asks incredulously. "Inception, Eames. No one's done it before."

Eames shakes his head, lets out a breath. "We're lucky we got out alive."

Arthur doesn't stop smiling, ever deadly. "Whatever," he says, waving a hand with uncharacteristic looseness. "Dom's home. I'm going to take a vacation. Fuck, maybe I'll retire. Go live by the beach or something."

Eames scoffs. "We both know you'd be bored in a month."

Arthur turns towards him, swaying slightly. "God. I haven't been bored in so long."

"What's that they say, about idle hands?"

Arthur leans into him now, looking at him through his eyelashes. Eames has faced down gunrunners with his heartbeat going slower than it is now. "Eames," Arthur says, soft and quiet against him.

"Arthur," Eames echoes, numbly.

"Come home with me."

"What?" Eames asks. It's not his finest moment, but it's all he can think to ask.

"Come home with me," Arthur repeats, clearer this time. "I don't have anything to do tomorrow. Or anytime in the foreseeable future. Today was a shitshow, and we got through it alive. Tomorrow, when we wake up, I want to be home, and I want you to be there."

For a second, Eames is so bowled over by the confession that he forgets to respond. When he finally gets his wits about him, he has to clear his throat before he can even begin to speak.

"Darling, I thought you'd never ask."

The smile that spreads across Arthur's face in response is lit up pink and blue.

#OH MY GOD THIS IS SO.

[freighttraininmybrain]

Some poor freelancer for British GQ had to cobble together a piece ahead of Christopher Nolan's OPPENHEIMER and since all the Barbenheimer jokes have been made, they decided to dream a little bigger (darling) and present to the readership the reachiest of reaches about the homoreoticism of Christopher Nolan films. A stretch worthy of Mister Fantastic, Elongated Man and Plastic Man.

I'm not mad at it. Especially since they, at least, got the #1 and #2 picks correct.

Because just what things do you get up to with the Protagonist, Neil???

[freighttraininmybrain]

@inceptionpositivity + @inceptiversary + @inceptionwatchparty + @inception30daychallenge + @inceptgen + @inceptiontrick-or-treat + @arthursanonymous + @secretsaito + @aeldws + @inceptionart + @inceptionkitties - To all of the amazing event organizers and moderators out there, who keep our month of July the happiest, most joyful month of the year, and who keep the love and creativity and connection flowing through the Inception fandom throughout the year with such dedication and hard work: THANK YOU!!! (Those two little words don’t seem adequate for all that you do. But thank you, thank you, thank you!)

#inception #fandom #SENDING YOU ALL MY LOVE

[freighttraininmybrain]

It's Inception Positivity time, y'all!

July has come back around, which means the time has come to drop your little (anonymous) love notes to anyone in Inception fandom! Write some kind words to any of the friends and creators who have inspired you and made you feel all warm and fuzzy!

As always, fill out this submission form, and your words will be turned into a colourful post on the inceptionpositivity blog for everyone to appreciate!

Key dates:

June 24: Submissions open

July 1: Posting begins

July 28: Submissions close

July 31: Posting ends

For more information, check out the FAQ, or feel free to send a message or ask!

#inception #inceptiversary

[freighttraininmybrain]

Inception as The Onion headlines, again

#inception #smth funny

[freighttraininmybrain]

Do you think Arthur is a speedo man or a swim trunks dude

Swim trunks. The man is "gets a sunburn by thinking about the sun too hard" pale and will take advantage of whatever extra coverage he can get. Eames has been trying to get him into a speedo for years to no avail, except for one particularly wild occasion. Unfortunately the occasion was so wild that they were both blackout drunk and don't actually remember it. Eames is still mad about this. They only even know it happened in the first place because Ariadne was there and told them about it afterwards.

She's lying. It never actually happened. She's a menace though and the combination of Arthur's horrified embarrassment and Eames' rage over not remembering is too funny to give up the bit

#inception #meta and headcanons

[freighttraininmybrain]

AELDWS 2023 Participants

Signups have officially closed for AELDWS 2023! This year’s writers are: 

@betterpausenow

@dingdangit

@finelydressedspacemen

@fourzerozeroam

@killym

@mister-eames

@seleswrites

@stormofsharpthings

@strangegeology

@tigercublove

The first prompt will be posted this Friday at 1AM EDT.

Also, because we completely filled up signups (yay!) weeks 1 and 2 will be double elimination weeks.

Writers, we just sent an email out with the schedule and rules; if you didn’t get it (and it didn’t end up in spam) please let us know!

#inception #fandom

[freighttraininmybrain]

1. Imagine eames’ reaction to seeing Arthur in a tux for the first time. 2. I know Arthur is meant to be looking all suave and cool in that tux but also all I see is: BABY 🥺 look at his little face and sad eyes in that last gif!!! 3. Still thinking about that message where you talked about Arthur being able to sing/dance and thinking THOTS! Which I would like to share but don’t know if you like discussing Arthur/eames headcanons??

Eames, for all of his eloquence, his gift of the gab, his quick-wittedness, is struck dumb upon seeing Arthur in a tux for the first time. Maybe it's for Dom and Mals wedding. Maybe it's for a job. Upon sighting Arthur from the other side of the room Eames' mouth stops working and his stomach squirms like he just dropped from a great height. Arthur is making small talk with a stranger, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

And Eames, who has finally remembered to swallow the champagne he'd sipped earlier, tries to ignore the weird thing his brain is doing. Because attraction to Arthur isn't foreign to Eames, but he's never wanted to wrap someone up in finery as much as he wants to unwrap them out of it. Never wanted to muss someone up as much as he wants to put them back together, sartorial layer by layer. Eames fingers itch to tug on that bowtie as if he were tugging pigtails, then fix it for him just as quickly, just to provoke that peeved little face Arthur makes, the one he directs at people who annoy him but doesn't completely hate.

And maybe Arthur's jacket is a little long, or maybe the bowtie is a little crooked - it's the little imperfections that Eames knows Arthur must be aware and of that makes his heart beat funny. Or maybe it's the champagne. He finishes the flute, then switches to water.

It doesn't help.

Anyway.

To your second point YES. I keep thinking of the way he says "we're here to work", and I wonder how many times he's had to say that. How many times he was told that Dom's shit was under control. Look at the vexation, the concern, the look of betrayal in that last gif. How many times has he had to deal with this very same outcome, knowing better but hoping anyway, having faith that is ultimately unfounded? International Give Arthur a Hug day, when?????

And absolutely, please share your headcanons with me any time!!! Tell me all about them, these two are not leaving my brain any time soon!!! <3

#please ask Ash more #this is ridiculously good #I'd read the shit out of it anytime #Inception #meta and headcanons