Helpless Arthur/Eames infatuation (Inception!lust)

[lobelia321]

Okay, I am officially obsessed.

But oh god, it is so much fun to be obsessed with Arthur/Eames! I'm in that phase of initial fandom high: it's all new! it's all shiny! I feel tingly all over and wander through the streets in a daze and must mainline the soundtrack of Inception through my ipod at all times. And must write! I was walking through the street this morning and thought: 'Waste of time!' Yanked out my notebook and scribbled furious Arthur/Eames interactions while ambulant.

It is also a very dangerous fandom phase. It is potentially detrimental to 1) career (obsessive A/E image or fic searching instead of replying to office emails or writing my academic paper); 2) marriage ("What movie shall we see tonight? Let's go out to dinner!" Me: "Um. Let's just stay home. Can't you go out to a movie by yourself?" *thinks: 'I need hours and hours alone with my laptop.*); 3) family (Although as long as t'sons have clean underwear, pints of milk and strawberry trifles, they're not much bothered about having me face-to-face these days. They're the facebook generation, after all.)


But lordy me, just ... look at all the pretty, plus nipple...


This, friends, is iconic Eames from Inception. He sits in a chair. And is about to (or has just) interacted with Arthur. And looks manly. And totally gorgeous.


This, friends, is the iconic Arthur/Ariadne kiss from Inception. How much do I love this scene? Ariadne's wry and amused look after the kiss is ended. Arthur's "It was worth a shot." The chasteness of the kiss. The total and utter hotness of Arthur and his kiss. The suit. The chignon.

This scene alone has inspired a triplet of erotically-charged bunnies in my fevered brain.


This, friends, is a selection of the cast of Inception. Eames is Tom Hardy, and Arthur is Joseph Gordon-Levitt aka JGL (yeah, it took me a while to figure that out, drooling at cherrybina's notoriously glorious picspams. But just look at teh cuteness of them standing near each other. Just --- *has a moment*


Tom Hardy with a scarf! And a wrinkly forehead!!


Tom Hardy at a Lakers game. (Whatever that is. Something American and to do with wearing a peaked cap. No doubt, azewewish knows! ;-p


JGL at same Lakers game! What can I say about this picture? The expression... The hands on top of one another... The spectacles... The crotch...


And this is where fandom spirals slowly and inexorably out of rational orbit and into spheres beyond. Because-- O!M!G! NIPPLE! I am smitten. I am dead.


And if you thought you couldn't get deader than you just were, die again. Because this fandom furnishes you with heartstoppers like this. And here I had started to think that image!googling was a merely academic exercise and not something that could suddenly stop the blood in your veins and make you fall face forwards onto your keyboard.
Baby-JGL! The hair!!! The soles of the shoes! 8i2jekjfowiaksejklg9ipoer;a',v

Pic-taster:


Five delightful absurdities about this fandom:
1. The full names of everybody's OTP are not known in canon.
This is almost more absurd than the gender of an entire character not known in HP-canon. Remember Blaise Zabini???

2. The prettiest man alive (Robert Fischer; and yes, Cillian Murphy turns my knees to gelatine) is supposed to be Australian in the film yet speaks with an American or Canadian accent and is played by an Irishman. Bzuh?

3. They made an entire film about dreams without apparently having ever read (or at least taken into account) Freud and psychoanalytic theory.

4. Everybody dreams in panoramic action thriller genres. I have never had such a dream in my life. But who knows? Perhaps everybody else dreams like this All The Time!!!

5. One main character is called Mal and nobody knows what that is short for or why it is pronounced 'Mawl'.

The glories of fps film fandom:
My entry fandom was rps. So fps is by its very nature always something of an exotic novelty for me. Although I have been through such a lot of fps fandoms since lotrips! And film/TV fps is something else again because the identities of actors versus characters blur and merge so delightfully! So that non-existent canon is immediately, by the Fandom Wot I Luv, filled up with rps canon, morphed into backstory or sidestory or upside-down-ecstasy story.

How delightfully predictable is fandom!
1. Arthur wears suits. All of fandom is helpless. Including me. (Cuffs, ties, waistcoats, shirt collars, button downs, a stripe of hairy shin visible between trouser hem and top of dress sock when legs are crossed -- guh.)

2. Eames has a luscious mouth. Everybody immediately imagines it around Arthur's cock. *loves fandom* (But also vice versa! Because fandom is like that. Equable!)

3. There are children. And without fail, there is kid!fic. (Now me, I am not fond of kid!fic. But it has existed in every fandom I have ever been in. Except for Hetty Wainthropp.)

4. Canon!script has Eames say to Arthur, 'Dream bigger, darling.' The entirety of fandom inserts the word 'darling' into every conceivable situation in fic. I spotted a cliché! I tried to resist! Resistance was futile! Eames must say 'darling' at least once per fic! It is a law of nature.

5. Canon!script has Eames say to Cobb about Arthur something like "Are you still working with that stick-in-the-mud?" (Exact wording escapes me.) All of fandom gets busy constructing elaborate backstories for A and E.

Oh, fandom, how I have missed you!!

Comments

[karneol-vision.livejournal.com]

:/ Nope, won't be getting into them. They don't work for me at all, it's too often exactly the same, and especially Arthur, I find him tiresome.

But if on your trips through the fandom you find any ficcage that is not Eames/Artur and looks from afar like it's worth reading drop it on me, please x)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

It's funny with fandom, isn't it? There's really no rational or logical explanation for the excitement. I can even see your point! From the outside! Except that, for some unfathomable reason, I am currently not on the outside but totally on the inside. I am not normally a fan of one-OTP canons! I am the ensemble-woman and purveyor of the rare and the weird!

But what can I do? The bunny bit.

*laughs* If I don't come across any non-Arthur/Eames ficcage myself, I'll damn well write you some m'self!

[karneol-vision.livejournal.com]

Ooh! Nifty! xD That'd be something^^

But it's just too true about the crazy excitement. People looking at you in a funny way, or, well, you looking funny at people, lol!

... Seriously though, not even for one second did I consider Inception to be a one-OTP-canon. To me it just isn't.
It's a one OTP fanon though, as I found out the moment I got home and started looking for fanfic of it. The posibilities for all kinds of pairings are blatantly given, but all that the slasher fan-girls have heard was the 'darling'-bit. And seriously, you call a girl darling and she thinks you want to marry her. Doesn't this case show how much truth there is in that? Lol! No offense ;)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

I have to admit I am myself terribly smitten by the 'darling' bit, all the while knowing its pitfalls and whatnot but what is a woman to do?? Plus while he's saying that he breaks out a fucking big cock gun and shoots the fuck out of some dream gimps. *is shallow*

But the non-Arthur/Eames??? Is already happening! ;-) Is already woven into my current A/E fic which suddenly and unbiddenly wanted to have Saito/unnamed security guard in it.

[karneol-vision.livejournal.com]

Lol, I know, I know, I saw x) Still makes me want to push the little girl in his suit out the window... -.-

Indeed, I just saw your entry on the guard, hehehe. Nice indeed, and as I am great fan of Saito even nicer.
Though I'll have to read around the A/E parts, I suppose *!horror!* xD

[blithesea.livejournal.com]

Hee, I love the fresh fandom fizziness! For me, this one has fizzled out, sadly, but I remember it fondly.

As for recs! People have been writing like crazy. I am lazy, so I will just link to the inception tag of my favourite reccer.

She also wrote an essay about (un-)dressing Arthur in fic:

http://hackthis.livejournal.com/561614.html

And the best thing about inception for me:



Well-tailored suits. *nodnod*

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

o my god that bum photo. And the shoulders. The whole... Auch ein Rücken kann entzücken!!!!!!!

*smooches you*

Oh, and reccage, what delight!

So this fandom has already sizzled out for you? I hadn't realised this fandom was so old..?! *looks around* Ah, the fickleness of us...!

[blithesea.livejournal.com]

XD Isn't he just? I even love the back of his neck, the shape of his hairline, Dumbo ears and all.

Though I watched it four times in theaters *cough* I wasn't into the fandom itself that deeply to begin with, it was more of a fleeting flirtation for me. So I have no idea, they could be going strong without me being aware. It seemed like there was a fandom lull halfway between the movie and the dvd coming out. Maybe there's a second spring going on!

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

I saw the film last summer, quite soon after it came out. And I enjoyed it a lot but bizarrely (I should know better, right?) it never even occurred to me that there was any slashiness in it. Some weeks (months?) later I stumbled across someone emoting inceptively on my flist, then nothing. And all of a sudden I'm drawn in like a drawn-in thing. I think it was helenish (I fangirl Helenish totally!) who suddenly posted Arthur/Eames and I started going, omg what just bit me???

Whee, Lakritz!

Four times, eh? So what kept you coming back??

[blithesea.livejournal.com]

The thing that made me come back four times was Arthur's hallway fight. I wish the movie was still on in theaters, so I could see it once more in all its glory! The rest of the film was just bonus. :-)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is a film for the big screen!! *awaits reruns at local arts picturehouse*

Why the hallway fight?? Elaborate!

[brightest-blue.livejournal.com]

Isn't initial fandom fizziness divine? It's like those first few weeks of being in love. You simply aren't good for anything else.

And yes, I actually dream like this. I was relieved to find I'm not the only one, and am therefore, not too terribly insane. :-)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

You do? You dream these panoramic spaces with car chases and gun fights and earthquakes in bars?? Tell more!

Yes, 'fizziness', that's exactly the word that describes it! And the 'being in love'. Which is, of course, impossible to impart to one's actual loved ones because how can one say to t'h: "You're just sort of second on my list of priorities right now because I simply have to go and write about one fictional character's mouth around another fictional character's cock and that's about all that my head's got space for right now." !!!

[brightest-blue.livejournal.com]

You do? You dream these panoramic spaces with car chases and gun fights and earthquakes in bars?? Tell more!


Yes! Car chases are very common, in all sorts of interesting landscapes. Earthquakes and violent storms aren't uncommon. I also use a lot of guns, grenade launchers, etc. I seem to do the chasing, or be chased, just about equally. It's often on foot, skis, motorcycles, or snowmobiles.

It's all very exciting, but it doesn't make for very restful sleep. I also shudder to think of what Freud would say!

how can one say to t'h: "You're just sort of second on my list of priorities right now because I simply have to go and write about one fictional character's mouth around another fictional character's cock and that's about all that my head's got space for right now." !!!

Ach, poor t'h! He'll just have to make do with his own porn. :-)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

I can't even tell him; he'd be too upset. :-( 'tis a love whose name may not be spoken. Except to about a thousand fellow afflicted on LJ.

Your dreams fascinate me! I have never had a dream like this which is why I couldn't really buy into the dream-ness of Inception at all; I just thought, 'well, they got that all wrong but hey, who cares? it makes for a good action movie. Clearly not!

Are you going to join the fray of this fandom? Unleashing your dreams upon it?

[brightest-blue.livejournal.com]

Are you going to join the fray of this fandom? Unleashing your dreams upon it?

I'm not really feeling it yet. Maybe because I've been away from fandom of every kind for so long. But, if I start reading Inceptionfic regularly, who knows where that might lead!

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

No, I know what you mean. I've had a non-fandom period for about two years. When the time's not ripe, it just isn't. So just go with that flow, hon.

[msilverstar]

Lakers = Los Angeles basketball team. Celebrities often go to games and sit in the front row with their legs wide open like that and they know damn well we're watching!

I think the movie is bad enough to be good, and half the best fics really go to town with the dream-sharing motif. The other half are fantastic porn ;-)

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

The porn quotient is quite high in Inception fic, you're totally right! On the whole, I have to say that the actual quality of the fic (or the kind of fic that hits my fic-buttons, let's put it that way) isn't as high proportionally as it was for me in HP or SGA. But then that makes it somehow more fun and less intimidating at the same time!!

I am strangely unable to be critical of the movie at the moment...

Oh, and celebrities routinely sit with legs wide open in the front row of basket ball games? How come we in Britain do not have a venerable tradition such as this? hahah!

[msilverstar]

It's all your fault, I had to go find the photos and upload them:

	2002, hobbits at basketball game

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

omg teh cutenesss....!!! There's some demureness going on here with scarves over crotches that is highly intriguing, and lots of thigh rubbing. And lovely interactin and peering through beer (??!) and did I mention the thigh rubbing? Hah, I can see why you keep these babies secreted on your hard drive, ms! :-)

[msilverstar]

I'm not very good at picspams, that's the only reason I didn't upload before. They look so young! *clings to my old fandom*

[viva-gloria.livejournal.com]

For me, the sketchiness of the characters' backstories is part of the appeal -- so very much blank space to fill. Also, Eames and Arthur in particular are Competent Blase Criminals, which is a particular interest of mine.

But I confess to an immense crush on Mr Hardy. So much so that I have watched many of his other films (some are good, some are differently good). There is something about his face and his smile that .... mmm. Also, the eyes. THE MOUTH. and the rest is not bad.

JGL doesn't do it for me so much -- his ears make me want to point and laugh -- but I think he's an excellent actor, and he's so graceful.

I also think that this, for me, is a case of being in love with the fandom as much as the canon. There's so much marvellous fic, so much creativity and fun and inspiration, such a sense of community. The inception_kink meme has a ridiculous number of prompts and fills (not all 'kink' by any definition). (Look! well-tagged links!)

I don't think I'd have written as much, or been as infatuated, without this marvellous sense of community and shared squee.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Blasé criminals: ah, I see the connection to Sherlock now! ;-)

The blurriness fps/rps/actors/whatever in this type of fandom is endlessly intriguing. I know exactly what you mean when you talk of crush on Mr Hardy -- it all morphs seamlessly from Eames!lust to actor!lust and all of a sudden one finds oneself watching unwatchable C-rate movies, oh god, yes. I myself am somehow and despite all better judgement on a total OTP A/E spree right now. My rational self says: "OTP-shmotp! The rare is where it's at; we need Saito/Yusuf and Fischer/Uncle Peter!" My lust self says: "Arthur/Eames omg omg, nipples mouth on cocks Eames/Arthur yes." (That about sums up my literary ambitions in this fandom right now...)

Aside from the OTPness, it's the Arthur more than the Eames that drives me (unlike you). I am totally squee over JGL. He's liek the Orlando Bloom of Inception. And it's driving me into sort of strange twists in writing because: am I Arthur? Or do I want to be Arthur? Or do I want to see Arthur?

Also, I'm not understanding 100% how the inception-kink comm works but I read an office AU last night till 1.30 am and that is true obsession.... (it had squee in it)

Interesting re the fandom. Oh, it's all about the fandom! I was enthused by cherrybina's posts; they are just so cheerful and life-affirming! So far, the quality-quotient (going by my own tastes) is not quite as high as it was in HP or SGA but that also means it's less intimidating to jump in and join the fun!! Also, because I pretty much skidded into writing almost as soon as I started reading, I've not read nearly as much fic as I did with HP and SGA where it was much more of a slow burn.

I'll message you re meeting!

[viva-gloria.livejournal.com]

I am happy to see you are already spreading the rare-pairing joy!

I have actually written some Yusuf (gen, I fear) but it's part of a larger thing that isn't working. Maybe I'll post it as a standalone. I find Yusuf much more interesting as a character than Fischer, but Fischer is so very very pretty. (There is plenty of Fischer porn, see those Delicious links and tags, but I don't remember having read much else with him in a central role.)

Eames Eames Eames. There is something faintly ridiculous and very familiar about Tom Hardy (in fact I think a friend of mine went to skool with him): if I ever veer into RPS again he'd be great fun to write because he is or appears so open and honest and self-analytical. Also hot like burning. Also the MOUTH the EYES I may have mentioned.

Even in bad films where his acting is merely adequate, he's worth looking at. He has a fairly minor role in The Reckoning (medieval whodunnit) but is utterly hypnotic. (Also, RPS-ville: during filming of this he slapped Paul Bettany, I want to know more.)

Very taken by your summary of perspective: am I Arthur? Or do I want to be Arthur? Or do I want to see Arthur? I now want to apply this trichotomy [is this a word?] to all my fandoms. I think I want to be and see Eames. (Hence E/A/E projection-fic!)

I'd disagree about the quality-quotient, though obviously it's a matter of taste: I think the quality is as high as SGA by the time I started reading SGA, though Inception is such a huge fandom that there's an increasing amount of by-the-numbers fic. There is some stunning writing in this fandom.

[msilverstar]

I love the competent blasé criminals bit! But it reminds me what I love about RPS (non AU), which is writing about real people and their mostly-undramatic lives, even celebrities.

[viva-gloria.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I wonder if the popularity of AUs (especially domestic AUs) in this fandom is to do with wanting to write the more-mundane stuff?

(I've pretty much stopped writing RPS per se, though the occasional gen piece slips out. But I suspect at least some of my AUs draw as much on the actors themselves as the characters in canon.)

[msilverstar]

AUs are important for a healthy fandom! There's no way to say everything in canon-verse.

I like it to a certain extent when actors and their other characters influence the fandom, at best giving it many more layers and interesting depth. At worst, it's muscle-man Bronson-type Eames and timid 500 days-type Arthur :-/

[viva-gloria.livejournal.com]

... or weirdo violent Brick!Arthur and pouting-in-drag Reckoning!Eames ...
... or emo teen 10ThingsIHateAboutYou!Arthur and dodgy The Take!Eames ...
... or or or ...

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

To me AU was like a step towards orig. You can do what you want. In actor-rps, this is especially pertinent because I could imagine the actors acting the roles I was scripting for them. (And then, of course, I was like 'but are they good enough? Is so-and-so not too wooden to pull this subtle and nuanced and omg fucking hot part off??' heh.)