So here is like, 8 weeks worth of joy wrt Inception fandom crammed into one post.: bookshop

bookshop

So here is like, 8 weeks worth of joy wrt Inception fandom crammed into one post.

Oct 13, 2010 22:47

Disclaimer #1: I already know I am going to miss including some things that have made me super-happy lately, because there's just so much. I am trying to round up a lot of things, but I pre-emptively apologize for all the things I am leaving out. Fandom, you are so vast and amazing and you renew yourself daily, and I do pretty good but I just can't keep up with you!!!!! <3

Disclaimer #2: I've had a lot of conversations about recs lately, so I just want to reiterate that reccing something means that I read/saw this and it made me really happy. My recs are about sharing joy with each of you, not claiming any kind of aesthetic value. (i mean, i have a "bestficever" tag on delicious, but to give you an idea of what you're dealing with, that tag includes a fic where david cook buys david archuleta a giant stuffed teddy bear, okay. THIS IS NOT ABOUT HAVING GOOD TASTE.) In short, I hope this list makes you guys as delighted as it makes me. <3

Catching Up On Two Months' Worth Of Recs:
(click the links to jump to different sections if that makes it easier to follow this giant thing)

So, That Fluff Meme!
Stuff IDK Where To Put Anywhere Else So It Goes Here
If You're Going To Make Me Choose, These Are My Absolute Must-Not-Misses
Sometimes I Read Things That Aren't Arthur/Eames
I Like Fanart
Arthur/Eames Cuddling Gets Its Own Section
Sometimes It's Not All Roses and Gunfights, But That's Okay
But Mostly, It's True Love

SO, THAT FLUFF MEME. :D

things, so many things, on my fluff meme. YOU GUYS. FLUFF MEME. *runs around* TWO THOUSAND COMMENTS IN A WEEK, i can't even. what. just. WHAT. YOU GUYS.
Among the definite highlights you shouldn't miss, in no particular order, are:
Buy Me Flowers First, by butterflythread!
meiface/cherrybina's writing of the much-anticipated EARL FIC, at long-last!!!
WF's .... i don't even know how to describe this, really. DRUNK MOLESTATION, A PRESENT FOR ALL.
innueneko's adorable Arthur/Eames fanart where they are DOGS, OH MY GOODNESS. <3333333 Eames' waggledy tail <33333.
cobweb_diamond's EPIC CHICKEN SOUP FIC <33333
ifeelbetter writing an incadescently happy sequel to the Insomniac!Arthur fic, along with bonus chibi art by Rahly. <3 <3 <3 god, i actually melt into a LITERAL PUDDLE OF GOO every time i look at this thread *_*
gyzym's Arthur/Eames unconventional declarations of love, omfg <3
jibrailis' groundhog day mashup & also Arthur's fear of spiders. :D
dybji's trustbuilding game of love *___*
aredblush drawing MORE MY LITTLE PONY ARTHUR & EAMES. I MEAN. JUST. *______________*
eleveninches' 3-sentences of frustrated!Arthur, which is basically the hottest thing ever to exist in only 3 sentences while simultaneously having no porn, and ariadne eyerolling dflkja;df. amazing.
foxxcub's fake boyfriend high school AU excerpt of joy and shininess.
red_rahl flitting around like a fairy made of awesome, leaving absolutely adorable comics and chibi art everywhere: here, here, and here, and here, and over here, too, oh my god. RAHLY. <3 <3 <3 <3 THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH HEARTS FOR YOU, OKAY.

I've left out so much but. you guys. THERE ARE TEN PHENOMENAL PAGES OF THIS. WHERE DO YOU EVEN BEGIN?

Stuff IDK Where To Put Anywhere Else So It Goes Here:

So, uh. platina drew me Arthur as a catboy, you see, and then cobweb_diamond wrote fic based on the fanart, and then it somehow became a giant pile-on of catboy!love between me and her and Jibrailis and Weatherfront and I PREDICT BINA BY THE TIME I ACTUALLY POST THIS, and-- what, I can't even. YOU SEE, INCEPTION FANDOM IS JUST THIS CONSTANT ROUND ROBIN OF IDEA EXCHANGE AND IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY TO WITNESS even if mostly i am sitting on the sidelines flailing. LOVE. <3 Also note that this art and more is mirrored in this post. HURRAH.
pyrimidine and addandsubtract's amazing MS Paint macro thread follow-up to addandsubtract's gloriously hysterical A/E fic " Please take care of yourself." oh my god, i laughed at this for days. It's a mole with irregular edges!
I assume by now this has been recced all over the place, but seriously, this Arthur/Eames vid, Surrender? SO. AMAZING. I think I watched it eight times in a row.
_fx's post on Yusuf and his treatment in fandom. This is so, so important. In conclusion: Fandom, Yusuf is awesome. STOP MAKING HIM A STONER. Also check out the awesome list of amazing Yusuf-centric recs on that post.
Inception Trailer A Capella Re-dub. If you haven't seen this yet, OH MY GOD. oh my god. BRMMMMMMMMMMMM. adsjfksd.

If You're Going To Make Me Choose, These Are My Absolute Must-Not-Misses:
Weltschmerz by cobweb_diamond. oh my god, this fic. it was AMAZING. It features an Arthur who's FtM transsexual, and I love, love, love how sensitively and maturely this is dealt with while still building a world of authenticity into Arthur's characterization, and so much love into his relationship with Eames. It made me super, super happy, and I loved this a whole lot and would rec this to everyone everywhere if I could. <3
atomicskull wrote protect this house, which is ostensibly about fashion week, but which is really about what it takes for two people to grow into the idea of falling in love. It's subtle and strong and gorgeous and it is one of my favorite fics in the fandom. :((((
a contraption, armed to the teeth by guns_and_butter. this fic is amazing! so taut and intense, and it felt really canonical to me. and ariadne is fabulous in this as well. <333333 Eames laughs and leans into him, smearing blood and iodine all over Arthur’s second-favorite Borrelli shirt. Arthur lets him.
I've already recced this one in a separate post but i really, really love it, i think it's amazing, so i'll just point again to dybji's fill & expanded fill (scroll down), Lay Them Down. It's just such a completely unique take on Arthur/Eames and their dynamic, and i don't think it can have enough love.
THE IRON CHEF AU by jibrailis is so surprisingly astonishingly wonderful that three weeks later I am still going "BISON BATTLE!" and dreaming of Arthur finally beating Eames. I feel like this AU is kind of like a crazy recipe made of components that SHOULD NOT BY ANY HUMAN IMAGINNG HAVE BEEN ABLE TO WORK TOGETHER as actual ingredients, and yet somehow they turned into something completely unutterably fantastic, and sweet, and profound. I am just like, OH, ARTHUR, the whole time, and in love with everyone, especially Mal and her karate chops. Just. Love and joy.
Renovations, by joosetta. Hopefully you have already read this, but if you haven't, oh my goodness, you're missing out on one of the most delightful and love-filled fics that has yet been written for this pairing. Paris, housewarming, growing into a life together, subtlety, love, and inevitability. Also, love for the amazing fanart by Rahly. <3 Just, love all around.
plate tectonics by indysaur. I loved this fic SO MUCH. You've probably already read it too but I, like. I finished it and then immediately read it again because I was just blown away. I think I actually felt the earth move under my feet (LOL PLATE TECTONICS) as I was reading this--it felt like things were shifting inside of me. and I can't put my finger on why; just that it was so graceful and steady and somehow tremendously profound. Can I say again that I loved this? SO MUCH LOVE.
i know i don't need to tell anyone to read gyzym's domesticverse, because hopefully everyone has by now, but jsaklfjd holy crap, every update just makes me incandescent with joy because this series gives me an arthur and eames who are simultaneously so in love and still so themselves that it RESTORES MY FAITH IN THE UNIVERSE. also, they aren't all through-linked from the fics themselves, so i've taken the liberty of tagging the series on delicious. that should be all the fics in reverse order. :)
okay. I've put off reccing this fic til the end of this giant post because i love it so much, and it leaves me a little overwhelmed. I've been trying to review it unsuccessfully for a week and a half and I just keep coming back to the fact that i am BLOWN AWAY. So I'm going to cheat shamelessly here and borrow what Cathy said in her review of it:
There have been a lot of fics that attempted to deal with Arthur's past, with the military presence and development of the PASIV and dream-share, with the Cobbs' relationship with Arthur, with Arthur's learning how to be alone and learning how not to be; with the fact that every story in Inception is to some extent the ending to a story you haven't heard yet, and the beginning to one you'll never hear; and somehow, this fic takes all of these things and layers them in beautiful shifting fragments, into something so finely crafted and painful and hope-blossoming all at once that it just gets under your skin and stays there and aches.

I can't really even wrap my head around how powerful this fic is. I can't rec it highly enough.

When We Swam by chibi_lurrel.

Sometimes I Read Things That Aren't Arthur/Eames:
fermine can write anything and I basically want to eat it up with a spoon, and in this case she wrote fantastic Eames/Robert and just. bought every bit of it and wanted more. the sea is a good place to think about the future.
Friendly Fire by eleveninches is hysterical, sharp, basically everything you look for in an EZ fic plus the combined insanity of Inception itself. Also, Arthur collects hand-woven carpets. Why are you still reading this post, really.
two_if_by_sea wrote gorgeous, poignant Arthur/Ariadne, days i had with(out) you, and this is basically my personal canon for their relationship. nobody tells it like her. <3
weatherfront's adorable Cobb/Arthur fic, wherein Eames is a shameless enabler, and Cobb is unused to darning precious things, and Aja falls apart in glee even though she doesn't even ship this because it is that wonderful. <3333333
It's The Little Touches by alostcorner. Cobb/Yusuf, short, but really thought-provoking and quietly intense.
Deja Fucking Deja Vu. Nash, Nash, Nash, like you have never read him in fandom before.

I Like Fanart:
trolleys drew fantabulous Cobb/Saito, gorgeous as everything she does, but what really gets me happy about that post are those two unnamed girls who totallyareMalandAriadneinmyhead. Guh. GUH.
MERMAIDS. *____*
blue_phlox is arting Inception art and it is amazing. See: her stunning Saito fanart; her Arthur/Eames genderswap fanart, among others. All of it is incredible.
also amazing: slanted_edges and the hauntingly beautiful artwork s/he has been creating for this fandom. Linking to the whole inception tag because it is all just that gorgeous and. wow. wow. wow.
i do not know if dlrzl has an art comm or if s/he just goes around leaving amazing anonymous tidbits like this for us all to enjoy, but GOD BLESS YOU FOR YOUR KINDNESS TO US ALL.
so I did this poll where i was like PET NAMES! and that was awesome, but then onthecount/sandrocks drew one of the poll responses. holy crap. *runs around* I bet "sweetheart" makes Arthur's ears turn pink. INDEED. <333333
fanlay's Noir!AU Arthur/Eames series: Pulp & Private Affairs. Just. Guh. The lighting and the shading and the coloring and the lineart and - guh.
glockgal's Yusuf/Ariadne sandcastle-building fanart. I kind of ship Yusuf/Ariadne a lot, and I loved this so freaking much.
Tatarnikova's art gallery on DA. I just. THERE ARE NOT WORDS. YOU GUYS. GUH.

Arthur/Eames Cuddling Gets Its Own Section

HEY, you know what I like? CUDDLING. You know what else I like?
red_rahl's gorgeous cuddling!art, holy crap
twilight_la_fae's couch cuddling art for the fluff meme.
platina's contented snuggling art for the fluff meme.
cobweb_diamond's cuddling on airplanes.
Then there is the tremendously giddiness-inducing The Big Sleep, by anonymous jibrailis!, in which Arthur and Eames attempt to navigate their relationship without physically abusing each other in their sleep--
--as well as Dearheart, by bauble, where they attempt to navigate their relationship without cuddling one another to death.
the fantastic Pre-deprivation by withthunder, where they cuddle without realizing it, until they do. *BLISSFUL SIGH*
Also meiface's fic where Arthur wants them to cuddle more than they do, which, seriously, should be the basis of all fanfics ever. *solemn nod*
And then finally, there's it isn't love by Anonymous, in which Arthur definitely doesn't want to cuddle. and my face definitely did not hurt from grinning.

Sometimes It's Not All Roses and Gunfights, But That's Okay:
this commentthread fic by two_if_by_sea & weatherfront. so gorgeous and love-filled, and then gorgeous and love-filled and sad, but mostly just beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. This is the moment Eames knew that he would love Arthur:
knowmydark wrote only way left from here, which is a totally engaging Arthur/Eames mindfuck, that's really about what it means to forge and take on other people's identities, and I don't totally buy the meta, but i do buy that this fandom lets you play around with whatever the fuck kind of meta-theories you want, and the result is pretty badass. It also inspired this haunting and gorgeous fanart by mayamei.
paranoiaskill wrote it will always just be me, which is basically about Arthur/Eames but also about the team, and insecurity, and it kind of gut-wrenched me when I read it in the best way. Short, tense, sort of terrifyingly honest, and ultimately wonderful. <3
it's telling you that i'm a mess (the hardest thing i've ever done), by anonymous. it's so rare that i believe in them *so hard* the way i believed in them in this fic. too-short even though it's in six parts and has an alternate ending. i just, sigh, i really loved them in this. <3
like a trick of light (i thought i could move on) by two_if_by_sea, with heartwrenching follow-up by stungunbilly. I feel like I've talked about these fics everywhere but on my own LJ. It's just, yeah. What can you say, really? No one makes me want my own pain like Cathy.
i continue to shamelessly exploit
's ability to provide AMAZING fic for my crazy far-fetched prompts, and one of the best examples of this is a fantastically meta and painstakingly crafted ficlet by nyzmachina, Dream Demolition. The premise is that you have to physically destroy dreamscapes once you create them; also that Eames hates fire. The two things together make for a short fic that is completely fascinating, and everything I want this fandom to give me when it comes to worldbuilding and expanding on what we see in canon. Just. SO AWESOME.

But Mostly, It's True Love:
ifeelbetter/suchdisguises wrote Give Me The Number If You Can Find It and it has been weeks and weeks and i'm still re-reading it regularly and dying of joy. I WANT SOMEONE TO HAVE A PHONE FULL OF UNSENT TEXTS TO ME. <3 <3 <3
liketheroad/smallacts wrote Maybe Arthur, and I only just read it and I was totally besotted by Eames in this, and Eames' total bewilderment at discovering that Arthur is someone he actually wants to get to know. What's in it for you, indeed. <3
i_ate_your_cake wrote Paris: A Rainy Day for me, and it's Ariadne, Arthur, and Eames in Paris, loving each other and tentatively forming something new. I love Ariadne in this so much, and I love how quiet and restrained but still full of feeling this is. ♥
Jibrailis wrote PASIV!MAKES THEM DO IT, then woogling made fabulous art to go along, and then on the fluff meme, there was a brief return. All of these things are miraculous, and you should go ogle them like the wondrous wonders of wonder that they are.
2 equally amazing fills for the Mail Order Bride Arthur/Eames prompt on the meme, and i am pretty much head over heels for them both. Mr. Eames and Mr. Eames by jibrailis is hysterical and sweet and fun, and then knowmydark's can't buy this sort of happiness is sharp, cracktastic parody and sly humor. I am in love.
tequiladeas wrote well, alright, okay, you win, and basically this is a fic where Arthur and Eames realize that they are in love, and it is hilarious, and there is the requisite nod to Russian futurist poetry (check!), and basically everyone wins.
Lifestyle Change, by airgiodslv, aka the one where they're basically domestic partners and they take the Cobb kids trick-or-treating, and my HEART GREW TWO SIZES BY THE END OF THIS even if i could have done without the neighborhood cougar-bashing, okay. I just. yeah. i apparently have a yen for domesticated fluff in this pairing that i would find wretchedly sweet in other fandoms, but when it's this glorious, i don't care, i don't care, i don't care.
fermine's fic where arthur is a cat and platina's subsequent heart-melting fanart. This is SO ADORABLE. MOST ADORABLE. MOST ADORABLE EVER. EVER ON EARTH.
a line you don't wat from me like a hole in your head by la_victorienne. The title is practically longer than the whole fic, and yet it fills me with a happy warm glow. I am so easy to please. but really. PROPOSING DURING SHOOTOUTS, THERE IS NOTHING MORE ROMANTIC ON EARTH. <3
knowmydark's fic where Eames is three inches tall skdlf;saldjfds. EAMES IS THREE INCHES TALL, OKAY, THERE IS NO BAD IN THE WORLD. *_*
amazingly_me's subconscious!makes them do it fic, But It's A Good Refrain. I basically prompted the hell out of this thing and WF was like GREAT NOW NO ONE WILL WRITE IT YOU LOON, but then amazingly_me not only wrote it, but wrote it SO WONDERFULLY. my heart. <3 <3 <3 god, i just want Arthur and Eames to go to Red Sox games and get caught on kissing cams FOREVER, okay. AND EVER AND EVER AND. *sigh*
and speaking of x making them do it, cherrybina let me make her make them get stuck in a tunnel of love. the result. SO GLORIOUS. i cannot complain at her shamelessly enabling me to shamelessly enable her to write these things.
CLOTHING FIC. pyrimidine's fic where Arthur defends Eames' sartorial choices because he *loves* him, and jibrailis' fic where the reverse happens with the addition of Wal-Mart + Juicy Couture. And lo, then there was fanart of Arthur in purple tracksuits.
a gentleman by his books, by pennyplainknits, in which they simultaneously are Dickensian, experience Dickens, and woo each other through great literature, and it's just as wonderfully self-indulgent as anything based on Dickens ought to be, and incidentally is marvelous, fun, and sweet.
gyzym is a thing of wonder, as you all know, but this Troy!AU she just posted is a thing of.... transcendence. oh my god, i laughed so hard, and i have been going around going MOM, DO I HAVE TO BRING PAT ALONG? all day. i love it. LOVE.
I'm apparently one of the last people in fandom to read Gav's Ballet!AU, aka I bet Nureyev never had to deal with this shit. But I read it and fell totally in love, because much like Nance's Iron Chef AU, it's full of things you think would never work, but work so well it takes your breath away. I loved everyone in this. I loved Eames' and Mal's relationship so much; I loved and adored Arthur with his fear and confidence and determination and cynicism, and I loved him being so close to Eames but not realizing it, and I just, ahh, I loved them falling in love. Also, there was so much world-immersion in this that by the time i finished I felt like I could start discussing the ramifications of the Bourne Swan Lake in popular culture. It was pretty freaking great, okay. ♥

and ONE LAST THING:
Gav says she wants me to host a fluff meme like once a month or something, maybe on an off-week between kink memes like this last one.
Poll

inception, it's a circle of love, recs