Inception fandom, how I love you.
Hi, LJ. I miss you so much. I feel displaced constantly on the Internet these days. My heart is like a grounded fledgling, staring longingly back at its far-away nest, knowing it needs to fly away but unsure where to go.
(Do you like how we can't blockquote things on LJ anymore because now they auto-format as shitty fucking italics? I KNOW I SURE DO!)
Anonymous asked you:
aja, i just watched inception for the very first time (I KNOW) and now i need all of the arthur/eames fic. what's the best you'd recommend? where should i start? #latetothepartyproblems
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*Deep breath* Okay. Ahaha wow. You don't know what an overwhelming question this is for me to be asked 3 years into a fandom whose fics are as good as Inception's. I don't know if I just turn my critical filter off more, or if the fics are just objectively better (i like to think both), but you should know my rec rate is about 40% higher in Inception than in any other fandoms I read in. (I calculated this on Pinboard once, it was ridiculous, haha.)
So when I say you should READ ALL OF THE FICS I mean that with a kind of desperate urgency because they're all so good, haha. Read all of the fics on Phen's enormous 600-strong rec list, read all the fics on Mementis's rec lists, read all of the 2,000-something fics on my Inception pinboard bookmarks, read them all because Inception fandom is amazing, and Arthur and Eames are just. There's nothing quite like them.
I feel like I've made my "all time favorites" lists a few times but since I can't ever FIND them ugh I just went through and did something I should have done ages ago, and made an Inception:absolute-best tag. It's still overwhelmingly large, though, and leaves out some fandom classics because that's how I roll, argh. So in addition to the list above (i'd start from the back and read forward so you go through roughly the timeline of the fandom), here are 2 groups of fics.
11 A/E fics I can't live without: in no particular order, except that if you only read one you should make it It's Automatic. or En Route to Transylvania. or Takes an Ocean Not to Break. or I Set a Fire (Just to See What it Kills). or Plate Tectonics. or Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer. or And Try to Keep it All the Year. or protect this house. or life among islands. or Lions & Tigers. or Late Night Phone Call. or this entire thread. or Two Steps Toward Make Believe. counting, never my strong suit.
11 A/E fics considered must-reads/classics by the fandom at large: in no particular order.
Renovations. Towards Zero. The Domestic 'Verse. Call and Answer. Patience, a Steady Hand. Presque Vu. I've Got Nothing to Do Today But Smile. The Chav' Verse. OH&S. Antimony. Kobayashi Maru. That One Time in Amsterdam. In Our Line of Work. seriously pants at counting.
If I had the time I'd make some kind of 'this is a fic that the fandom says is essential fandom reading' tag, but I don't, so you'll just have to let all of these other rec lists filter those out for you (I refuse to use the word "curate").
A list of lists of recs lists and recs:
- Here are all my inception recs. Here are my extra-excited Inception recs. (I apologize for how that doesn't really narrow the field because I am extra-excited about Inception fics all the time.) Here are the handful of Inception recs I've given my best-fic-ever tag.
- Here is my list of rec lists from other people around the fandom. YOU SHOULD TRUST THEM because there are so many amazing fics in this fandom and locating them all is a team effort. :)
- Here is the inception tag on crack_van. My recs start at the bottom of the page with "it's automatic," and because i'm obsessed i made an overflow recs list here.
- Here's the very first multi-ship recs list I ever made for this fandom. It was meant to be a starter for people who didn't know what they shipped yet but wanted to read good fics. But oh those A/E fics. <3
- Just for you I unlocked the (surprisingly few) recs posts I made on my LJ for Inception fandom. And just for you I cross-tagged the few recs I have on Tumblr.
I also want to add that the way I felt when I made this post way back in mid-August 2010, right in the middle of the madness? That's the way I still feel about this fandom every day of the world. There aren't as many people to share the love and the heady enthusiasm of a fandom bursting at the seams with newness and energy, but oh my god, all things told, Inception fandom is still the best fandom I've ever been in. If you sink into it, I hope very much that you will stay a while, and that you find as many things to love here as I have. <3