Inception meta, mostly on Eames and Arthur and why I can't wrap my head around most fic out there
So I watched "Inception" when it came out in July last year, with friends from university.
And I thought it was an okay movie, but nothing too special. I mean it was great seeing Ellen Page all grown up, because the last time I had actually seen her was in "ReGenesis", and she was quite a bit younger then. I almost didn't recognize her. And I did like the zero gravity fighting scene, that was pretty neatly done (and as someone pointed out to me not long ago, it was a thin guy in a swank suit who kicked ass).
But if I ever had a thing for DiCaprio it stopped not long after Titanic and I was 14 or 15 back then, so any case of being enamoured can be chalked up to hormones and group hysteria because everyone was madly in love with him. (The girls, anyway.) And I didn't really know any of the other actors, except for Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard and Ken Watanabe, as well as knowing that Nolan did the directing job.
But it was an okay movie, it filled the evening nicely and we had stuff to talk about when the boys needed their cigarette afterwards (mainly if by the end of the movie, we're still in limbo or in reality), so that was okay. And I had an evening with my friends.
No, I didn't see the slash. Considering I was out with two guys, it's probably best that my slash goggles are optional and usually off, because that could have resulted in interesting discussion afterwards.
Fast forward to late November or so, when I was starting to think about how to go about my yuletide assignment and I needed inspiration. Which was when I discovered that there was quite a lot of Inception fic, which was somewhat surprising. Even more so, when I noticed that a good part of them were slash. (I was only browsing AO3, so go with me here.) By that point, I remembered that it was an okay movie and that I had liked the general storyline and the fact that there were several layers of story stacked up on each other. I didn't even remember who Arthur and Eames actually were, when I started skimming over the first story (yep, I had to look that up indeed).
Since then, I've rewatched the movie with slash goggles on. Oops, how did I not see that.
I also read a bunch of fic (and made alighiera way too much about my ramblings when she hasn't even seen the movie, ahem).
Problem here: Most Inception fic is...well, to say it's crap would be a bit hard but let's say it doesn't appeal to me.
I see Arthur and Eames a bit differently than a lot of authors, it seems. Even really good writers I usually adore stories from haven't gotten it quite right (example Presque vu by pru, which is a really good story and I love the background of the dream technology and the friendships are completely what I would be looking for and expecting without quite doing so...but I don't buy the romance; I usually love the stuff pru writes and the story is pretty good but the Eames/Arthur interaction...hm no, and yes I commented to that effect so it's not a secret that I think that, it's still a good story and there were lines in it I still adore today).
All the more astonished I was when I stumbled upon two great fics yesterday which pressed all of my buttons! The first is I Count the Moments, Darling, Till You're Here With Me by auburn, which is a casefic and a pretty good one (heed the warning, the M for violence is justified) and the second is Amazing Grace by airgiodslv, which is essentially a different take on how the situation in the movie s set up. Read it, it's really good.
Anyway, that's just how I got to decide to make this post, after all.
I've said it a couple of times to various people, to me Arthur and Eames relate to each other in a very volatile manner, their relationship - for lack of a better word and don't think romantic from the get go here - is in good parts absolutely volatile. The problem with characters like these two in movies is that they're mostly blank slates. We know a few things about them, or can infer them, like that Eames is most likely very British and has probably gotten a good education, was possibly even raised in the upper crust, but doesn't hold to the traditional per say. And that Arthur is concerned about appearance, that he's conscientious, that he's aware of the stakes and that eh probably has several fall back plans for his fall back plan.
But that's essentially all that we know, except that those two have some kind of history going back a bit yet because of how they act around each other, and the rest we either have to make up ourselves, or just live with what we have (and we all know which direction the fic writers take). The fact that a lot of people (writers) few this somewhat differently than me is probably not surprising, but I am a bit dismayed *g*.
(Which is entirely to blame on the fact that I have a thing for volatile relationships, else Gerald/Damien or even *cough*Ovechkin/Crosby*cough* wouldn't be so much fun.)
Anyway, I don't have my own approach as far as Inception goes, and I probably won't have.
Which brings me back to those two fics I linked.
Other than a lot of other stuff out there, these two don't focus on any romance or relationship, established or not established, but in a more or less direct way with a case the team takes on. Which doesn't mean the idea of who interacts on what level with whom falls completely by the wayside, but it's not the focus and maybe that's what makes the difference.
But it did get me thinking about Arthur and Eames yesterday, in a less side-characters and more function-in-the-movie kind of way. And why they're the main slash objective, even though they 'just' side characters *g*.
I commented on both fics yesterday with varying degrees of this.
They're both side characters, but with just enough meat to them to make them entirely too interesting to pass them by. And this is what essentially opens the door for every kind of interpretation, those that agree with my view on them, and of course those that don't. And I do like these two, else I wouldn't still read fic (although more of an occasional thing or when I stumble upon something or when rassaku makes me).
I think part of the reason that I - personally, this is by now means meant to be a generalization, because everyone has something that does things for them, right? and side characters are so much fun to play with because we know so little about them, as airgiodslv pointed out to me - can't be completely infatuated with most of the fic out there is that all too often, authors take the second step before the first, in this particular combination.
Which is why I'm careful with the word 'relationship' here, because it is too often interpreted as romantic first, but in this, I think their relationship - as in the way they act around and with each other, as opposed to any deep emotional entanglement which is that second step, but comes entirely too often before the first - as equal parts professional, out of necessity, and volatile, something that is created by the fact that they're counterpoints and cornerstones of the story and of the team, even though the focus of the movie is on Cobb and Ariadne.
tl;dr but does it make sense to anyone?
(Oh right, and all of my reservations don't pertain to crack because crack is...well, crack.)
And I thought it was an okay movie, but nothing too special. I mean it was great seeing Ellen Page all grown up, because the last time I had actually seen her was in "ReGenesis", and she was quite a bit younger then. I almost didn't recognize her. And I did like the zero gravity fighting scene, that was pretty neatly done (and as someone pointed out to me not long ago, it was a thin guy in a swank suit who kicked ass).
But if I ever had a thing for DiCaprio it stopped not long after Titanic and I was 14 or 15 back then, so any case of being enamoured can be chalked up to hormones and group hysteria because everyone was madly in love with him. (The girls, anyway.) And I didn't really know any of the other actors, except for Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard and Ken Watanabe, as well as knowing that Nolan did the directing job.
But it was an okay movie, it filled the evening nicely and we had stuff to talk about when the boys needed their cigarette afterwards (mainly if by the end of the movie, we're still in limbo or in reality), so that was okay. And I had an evening with my friends.
No, I didn't see the slash. Considering I was out with two guys, it's probably best that my slash goggles are optional and usually off, because that could have resulted in interesting discussion afterwards.
Fast forward to late November or so, when I was starting to think about how to go about my yuletide assignment and I needed inspiration. Which was when I discovered that there was quite a lot of Inception fic, which was somewhat surprising. Even more so, when I noticed that a good part of them were slash. (I was only browsing AO3, so go with me here.) By that point, I remembered that it was an okay movie and that I had liked the general storyline and the fact that there were several layers of story stacked up on each other. I didn't even remember who Arthur and Eames actually were, when I started skimming over the first story (yep, I had to look that up indeed).
Since then, I've rewatched the movie with slash goggles on. Oops, how did I not see that.
I also read a bunch of fic (and made alighiera way too much about my ramblings when she hasn't even seen the movie, ahem).
Problem here: Most Inception fic is...well, to say it's crap would be a bit hard but let's say it doesn't appeal to me.
I see Arthur and Eames a bit differently than a lot of authors, it seems. Even really good writers I usually adore stories from haven't gotten it quite right (example Presque vu by pru, which is a really good story and I love the background of the dream technology and the friendships are completely what I would be looking for and expecting without quite doing so...but I don't buy the romance; I usually love the stuff pru writes and the story is pretty good but the Eames/Arthur interaction...hm no, and yes I commented to that effect so it's not a secret that I think that, it's still a good story and there were lines in it I still adore today).
All the more astonished I was when I stumbled upon two great fics yesterday which pressed all of my buttons! The first is I Count the Moments, Darling, Till You're Here With Me by auburn, which is a casefic and a pretty good one (heed the warning, the M for violence is justified) and the second is Amazing Grace by airgiodslv, which is essentially a different take on how the situation in the movie s set up. Read it, it's really good.
Anyway, that's just how I got to decide to make this post, after all.
I've said it a couple of times to various people, to me Arthur and Eames relate to each other in a very volatile manner, their relationship - for lack of a better word and don't think romantic from the get go here - is in good parts absolutely volatile. The problem with characters like these two in movies is that they're mostly blank slates. We know a few things about them, or can infer them, like that Eames is most likely very British and has probably gotten a good education, was possibly even raised in the upper crust, but doesn't hold to the traditional per say. And that Arthur is concerned about appearance, that he's conscientious, that he's aware of the stakes and that eh probably has several fall back plans for his fall back plan.
But that's essentially all that we know, except that those two have some kind of history going back a bit yet because of how they act around each other, and the rest we either have to make up ourselves, or just live with what we have (and we all know which direction the fic writers take). The fact that a lot of people (writers) few this somewhat differently than me is probably not surprising, but I am a bit dismayed *g*.
(Which is entirely to blame on the fact that I have a thing for volatile relationships, else Gerald/Damien or even *cough*Ovechkin/Crosby*cough* wouldn't be so much fun.)
Anyway, I don't have my own approach as far as Inception goes, and I probably won't have.
Which brings me back to those two fics I linked.
Other than a lot of other stuff out there, these two don't focus on any romance or relationship, established or not established, but in a more or less direct way with a case the team takes on. Which doesn't mean the idea of who interacts on what level with whom falls completely by the wayside, but it's not the focus and maybe that's what makes the difference.
But it did get me thinking about Arthur and Eames yesterday, in a less side-characters and more function-in-the-movie kind of way. And why they're the main slash objective, even though they 'just' side characters *g*.
I commented on both fics yesterday with varying degrees of this.
They're both side characters, but with just enough meat to them to make them entirely too interesting to pass them by. And this is what essentially opens the door for every kind of interpretation, those that agree with my view on them, and of course those that don't. And I do like these two, else I wouldn't still read fic (although more of an occasional thing or when I stumble upon something or when rassaku makes me).
I think part of the reason that I - personally, this is by now means meant to be a generalization, because everyone has something that does things for them, right? and side characters are so much fun to play with because we know so little about them, as airgiodslv pointed out to me - can't be completely infatuated with most of the fic out there is that all too often, authors take the second step before the first, in this particular combination.
Which is why I'm careful with the word 'relationship' here, because it is too often interpreted as romantic first, but in this, I think their relationship - as in the way they act around and with each other, as opposed to any deep emotional entanglement which is that second step, but comes entirely too often before the first - as equal parts professional, out of necessity, and volatile, something that is created by the fact that they're counterpoints and cornerstones of the story and of the team, even though the focus of the movie is on Cobb and Ariadne.
tl;dr but does it make sense to anyone?
(Oh right, and all of my reservations don't pertain to crack because crack is...well, crack.)