Arthur/Eames
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| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Arthur/Eames |
| Alternative name(s): | Eames/Arthur |
| Gender category: | Slash |
| Fandom: | Inception |
| Canonical?: | No; some lines which can be interpreted as flirtation/innuendo - "You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling," said by Eames while pulling out a grenade launcher. |
| Prevalence: | Most popular pairing in the fandom - approx 80% of slash and 60% of fic produced |
| Archives: | Eames/Arthur LJ Community |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Movie fandoms rarely become major fandoms; pairings of minor or secondary characters rarely become major slash couples.
Arthur/Eames beat the odds twice over. Secondary characters in the 2010 film Inception, their oddly personal conversation (considered by fans to be a sign of unseen backstory) and personal charisma somehow birthed a sudden, major fandom.
Meta and Discussion
- The Eames/Arthur Survival Guide[1][2] by godofwine - an illustrated guide to all the Eames/Arthur scenes
- Military Backgrounds discussion on eames_arthur with quotes and supporting evidence in comments
- right hand in a trenchcoat by deepsix. Personal analysis of "Arthur and Eames and their interaction in canon"
- i would be your bonaparte by deepsix. "The more I think about this movie, the more I do not buy fanon characterizations of Arthur and Eames like... at all"
- Dream a little bigger darling, Archived version (2011)
Controversies
Because of the dominance of Arthur/Eames, some fans feel like they don't belong in Inception fandom if they don't ship it.[3] Others feel those fans should "get over themselves"[4] since if Arthur/Eames hadn't appeared, Inception fandom probably wouldn't be any bigger than your average movie/Yuletide fandom.
With a man of color (Saito) and two women (Ariadne and Mal) as some of the major characters in the movie who interact with the protagonist (Cobb) a heavy amount, Arthur/Eames can easily be seen as just another whitecock ship.[5] [6]
Popular Tropes and Themes
- One meets the other as someone's projection before they meet in real life[7]
- Lots of angst, pining, UST, character death, torture, hurt/comfort[8]
- Arthur and Eames have to pretend to be a couple for a job
- Suit porn[9]
- Catboy!Arthur[10]
- Back-histories/Crossovers - they met in the military; they met in competing extraction teams; Arthur is/used to be Tom from (500) Days of Summer/Brendan from Brick/Neil from Mysterious Skin (all Joseph Gordon-Levitt roles); Eames is/was Handsome Bob the gay gangster from RocknRolla (a Tom Hardy role)
- Lots of bantering
- A high percentage of AUs[11] (but as of yet not as out-of-bounds wacky as anything SGA produced); from college & high school to lawyers to bakers.
Sex
- In porn fics, Arthur is sometimes characterised as cockslut!Arthur, and is often the bottom in penetrative anal sex. This sometimes causes disgruntlement in fans who prefer bottom!Eames, switching or non-penetrative sex, and some bottom!Arthur fans won't read A/E if it has Eames bottoming [needs refs]. The LiveJournal community bottom_eames was created in March 2011 for bottom!Eames fanworks -- "You may have noticed this, but bottom!Eames can be hard to find!". It seems not to be widely known and has only four posts as of 29 October 2011.
- When you have a canon with shared dreaming and a character who can look like anyone, you get Dream Sex
- Size Kink! See page for examples
- Other tropes are Alpha/Beta/Omega, BDSM, underage, rimming...
Example Fanworks
Canon-based
- Towards Zero by mirabella - Arthur meets a projection of Eames before he meets him in real life.
- Sharp Dressed Man by annundriel - An early example of suit!porn.
- In the Space Between Them by enjambament - Uses meta on dreams and reality reflected in canon.
- Ghost Pressure by imogenedisease - An early example of more serious fanon characterization.
- Kobayashi Maru by hackthis
- Renovations by joosetta - A popular fic demonstrating the fluff trope common in the pairing.
- It's Automatic by weatherfront - An example from an early and prolific writer for the pairing.
- Wherever You Will Be (That's Where I'll Call Home) aka Domesticverse series by gyzym - a popular non-AU tracing the development of Arthur & Eames' relationship
- Presque Vu by rageprufrock - expands the canon universe based on the idea that Arthur & Mal were friends first
AUs
- The Inescapable Charm of The Countdown by amazingly_me - a lawyer AU demonstrating the very easy slide from AU to canon.
- I've Got Nothing To Do Today But Smile (The Only Living Boy in New York) by gyzym - A popular coffeeshop AU.
- Mr. and Mr. Eames by jibrailis - one example out of the many humor and fluff-based pieces in the pairing.
- Pagina Uno by pyrimidine - Set in a library.
- Waiting On by thehoyden - Set in a diner.
- Next Big Thing by earlgreytea68 - Really long fic of how Arthur and Eames are stars in HGTV and become judges in a reality show. Is a sequel of another fic but can be read separately.
Crossovers
- Requiescat by whiskyrunner - Crossover with Mysterious Skin (Arthur used to be Neil McCormack).
- Left and Leaving by pyrimidine - Crossover with The Time Traveller's Wife.
- Joie de vivre by balphas - Crossover with Good Omens.
- Keep the Car Running by earlgreytea68 - Crossover with Sherlock (Mycroft wants Arthur and Eames to break into Moriarty's mind).
- The Origin of Love by z0mbieshake - Crossover with Mysterious Skin, Warrior and Dark Knight Rises
Podfic
Resources
- Eames/Arthur LJ Community
- Fuck Yeah Arthur And Eames Tumblr
- Arthur/Eames Daily Fic Recs on Tumblr
- Inception Slash
- Archive of Our Own fics tagged with Arthur/Eames (Inception)
- FanFiction.Net fics with Genre:Romance + Character:Arthur + Character:Eames
- InceptionDaily's Delicious tags for Arthur/Eames
References
- ^ "godofwine: The Eames/Arthur Survival Guide [1/2]". 2010-08-03. Archived from the original on 2012-11-28.
- ^ "The Eames/Arthur Survival Guide [2/2]: godofwine — LiveJournal". 2010-08-03. Archived from the original on 2022-04-09.
- ^ "Anti-Arthur/Eames Fandom Secret".
- ^ sherrold. "Fanlore comment". Archived from the original on 2019-05-12.
- ^ "thread". Archived from the original on 2022-06-24.
- ^ "A theory about fans self-selecting". Archived from the original on 2019-12-01.
- ^ cf. jenna_marianne's delicious tag "projections". Accessed 7 November 2010.
- ^ cf. inceptionkinmeme's delicious combined tags "Arthur/Eames and .hurt/comfort" (Accessed 19 November 2010)
- ^ inceptionkinkmeme's delicious counts 173 fanworks under the combined tags "clothing" and "Arthur/Eames" on 19 November 2010. A good number of prompts centers around suits. (Accessed 19 November 2010)
- ^ cf. jibrailis' collection in a livejournal entry. A stirring saga of collective artistry (or ARTHUR IS A CATBOY and we likes it), 13 October 2010 (Accessed 12 November 2010)
- ^ eg swing_set13's Epic Inception Arthur/Eames AU Master List
