The origins of fanon!Eames (and fanon!Arthur too, come to think of it)

[sibilantly]

So I was watching Inception (again) because I wanted screencaps for a separate piece of meta on Arthur, and also because I wanted to compare my IRB fic's characterisations to canon. And as I was watching the scenes with Eames, I started wondering: where did fanon!Eames come from?I don't mean fanon!Eames v. 1.0 (illiterate, borderline dumb), but

Comments

[sibilantly]

You make perfect sense! Far more than I would if I had a fever, that's for sure.

Yeah, extrapolation from details is pretty much required in Inception fandom, just because the characterisations are so broad. But even with that broadness, I do think some writers sometime focus on one particular detail to the exclusion of all others (I'm sure I'm also guilty of this, but I do try to avoid it XD). In the case of Arthur, some characterisations focus on his fastidiousness during planning (oh, plus Eames calling him a stick-in-the-mud!), and interpret that as meaning Arthur is high-strung, uptight, and cold. But that characterisation ignores the fact he's cheeky enough to steal a kiss from Ariadne (during the job, no less), that he does joke back with Eames, and the concern/care he demonstrates toward the team (ohhhh, God, I will finish that meta about Arthur one day).

And your description of Eames is actually really close to my personal head canon for Eames! If you're in, you're in, and then you do get to see Eames being warm and lovely

[sibilantly]

*slaps forehead* Ugh, how did I forget the thief comment?!

I also took Arthur and Cobb's short conversation as an indicator that forging isn't used that often in extraction. In my head canon, a lot of extractions can be done as a two-person team (one person to extract, the other to run point; either of them can be the dreamer, and it probably varies depends on the sub-con security - if any - of the mark). A three-person team would, of course, be necessary if they were doing a two-level dream. But forging isn't used that commonly, nor is it as necessary.

So yeah, I agree with you. Arthur thinking of Eames as a thief first, forger second, does suggest that Eames generally make his money in ways other than dream forging.

And yessss to Eames sometimes running as an extractor. Given that he's at least as skilled as Cobb in figuring out the psychology of marks, Eames-the-extractor is totally plausible, IMO (I'd actually say Eames is more skilled than Cobb at figuring out marks, but hey, who knows what Cobb was like before he became

[sibilantly]

My brain welcomes all slightly creepy, messed up romantic internet overtures.

Hahahaha, Arthur and Eames being arseholes-in-love is also a favourite of mine (I was so pleased and flattered when someone bookmarked 'Retroactive Hitting' with the comment: "Hot, with Arthur being kind of a dommy dick". That was a total successkid.jpg moment). Perhaps it's because - much like you and your wife - Mr. Sib and I express our love through affectionate mockery and, well... sometimes behaviour that other people have actually described as mean, lol.

But, then again, everyone fell in love with Arthur and Eames' banter, right? It forms, like, 80% of the basis of the 'ship (the rest coming from the fact JGL and TH are extremely fine specimens of human males... nnnnnnng).

As for the possibility of fanon!Eames' origins being slightly indulgent TH fantasies: I've wondered about that too. And I'm starting to tread veeeeery carefully here, because I don't want to make it sound like I think having such fantasies is bad, or that people shouldn't write

[citrinesunset]

Interesting discussion! To be honest, I haven't read a whole lot of recent Inception fic, so I haven't observed the recent trends in characterization as much. I also don't read Arthur/Eames as a rule, so I don't look at either Arthur or Eames' characterization in the context of A/E

[sibilantly]

*sings quietly to self* Not everything is about Arthur/Eames~. Thank you for that. I... forget sometimes, even though I happily ship Arthur/Cobb and Eames/Saito on the side. And... Eames/Cobb in that one fic by delires, the one that makes my chest hurt.

However, now I'm curious! In your non-Arthur/Eames fic readings, do you see much of this particular fanon!Eames characterisation? Because I'm now wondering if this fanon!Eames is a phenomenon specific to Arthur/Eames.

His interest in the job seems much more academic--he's curious about doing inception. He's not in out of loyalty or concern for Cobb's future or anything like that.

But I think he comes closest to being genuinely warm when he's interacting with Saito, particularly toward the end.Agreed. I really enjoyed the mini-evolution of their interaction/relationship. Someone in campfire chat commented that Eames seemed to perform a complete 180 in his attitude toward Saito, which really surprised me. I thought the development of their relationship was mapped out quite nicely,

[citrinesunset]

That's a good question! To be honest, I don't think I've read as many non-A/E fics involving Eames as I have fics involving Arthur. At least, I haven't read as many fics where Eames was the main character or part of the main pairing. But yeah, I would say that I've seen this version of fanon!Eames. I feel like in general, fic does tend to play up his playful side. I've seen it in a few Ariadne/Eames fics, I think. But aside from Eames/Robert, which I haven't read that much of, I don't see a lot of fics with Eames front and center.

I agree with you that Eames' character and his dynamic with Saito are consistent and develop well over the course of the film. I don't really see any inconsistency in Eames, in general. He can be snarky and playful, but I don't feel like it detracts from his focus or seriousness.

[fruityshirts]

Oh man, this is my first time jumping into a meta conversation, but I have THOUGHTS about this! I feel like fanon Arthur and Eames's relationship basically boils down to the odd couple trope. And I think that trope is present in cannon, but I also think that whether it be due to the writing or JGL/THard's acting ability (or probably both) the characters and their interactions in the movie are much more nuanced. I often feel like fandoms (not just Inception, but in general) boil complex characters back down into simplified tropes so that they can tell their own stories. And I should be clear that I don't think that is a bad thing! I really enjoy lots of different characterizations of Arthur and Eames that really don't match up with cannon but are still aweome/hilarious/touching to read

[sibilantly]

I often feel like fandoms (not just Inception, but in general) boil complex characters back down into simplified tropes so that they can tell their own stories.

Oh hell. That is possibly the most succinct description of it that I have ever read. Yes. Fandom is all about transformative works. And in that transformative process, certain bits of canon can/may be kept or discarded as it suits the story the author (or artist!) wants to tell.

So, with that in mind, I suppose the question becomes: why is there a trend for magnifying the more gregarious aspects of Eames, given that canonical evidence points to him being rather closed off? Why not Arthur? There's arguably more evidence for Arthur being the friendlier one.

Is it because it's easier to write a relationship between Arthur and Eames? Or even Eames and another character (citrinesunset's comment reminded me that not everything in fandom revolves around Arthur/Eames *hangs head*. I do tend to forget sometimes, even though my secondary ships are Arthur/Cobb and Eames/Saito. Mea culpa). Or, as motetus

[fruityshirts]

I like the point that others are making that it's much easier to see Eames as cuddly and gregarious when you're a bit of a Tom fangirl (which I am). I even kind of remember when I first started reading things in the fandom being a bit like "where is this notion of cuddly Eames coming from?" and the more I hang out on tumblr and read about Tom's antics...well it becomes easier to picture in my head him as Eames doing things like scrap booking for fun and profit: http://cherrybina.livejournal.com/185216.html?thread=10743168... )

[sibilantly]

LMAO. Oh my God, that scrapbooking fic. I forgot all about it. Thank you for bringing back the memories.

And maybe it's not entirely canon-compliant, but I think it's compliant enough. It does have things I'm very fond of, so maybe I'm biased ;D. Arthur is grumpy, but not completely humourless. Arthur is sexually aggressive. They do messed up shit like breaking into one another's homes and treat it as completely normal. What's not to love? <3

[sibilantly]

A bit of mail I received from a French-speaking follower on tumblr, who I will keep unnamed/anon unless told otherwise! I think it's interesting, though, so I'm adding it to the comments:I just read what you and others said about fanon!Eames on your LJ and I just wanted to tell you that it’s a very interesting discussion