Chaos Out of Shape by Quoshara and speakmefair (R)
Fandom: INCEPTION
Pairing: Arthur/Eames, Dom/Mal, Yusuf/Ariadne (budding), Arthur/Ariadne (past; casual)
Length: ~82,500 words
Author on LJ: quoshara; speak_me_fair
Author Website: quoshara's stories on AO3; speakmefair's stories on AO3
Why this must be read: I love this story. Truly, madly, deeply, I love it because it's beautiful and brilliant, and the world these two authors have created is amazing. I put off reading it for a while after the Big Bangs were posted because I found the summary very complex and it almost seemed like it might be a crossover of some type. It's not. But I can honestly say, the summary does not do it justice.
Here's what the story is: It's world-building at its best - I fell into this world, believed it, wanted to see more of it. Not everything is explained or immediately clear, but you need to be willing to let the story unfold. It's the Inception characters but somehow larger than life and still not quite on the right side of the law. It's the team coming together and learning about one another and fighting for something. It's about love and loyalty, tradition and technology, how society teaches us to take sides.
You'll recognize aspects of the movie, but in completely different ways. Ariadne is forced to grow up and accept some hard truths because of her association with these men. Yusuf is a good friend, but can he be trusted? Dom, still learning how to leave Mal behind. Arthur and Eames trying to reconcile their differences with their strange compatibility; they should hate each other, but they're saving one another.
I don't want to tell you too much, but honestly, read it for the image of Eames as a tattooed man out of time who wears the sins of the world on his flesh in order to remember, and Arthur, who is just broken enough to be able to see beyond the technology Eames hides behind ... it's the kind of screwed-up love story that makes me ache in every way possible for everyone involved. It's absolutely something you should read. I can't recommend this one highly enough.
"Eames, why Station Nine?" She now had time to ask questions since they seemed to have lost their tail, both physically and electronically.
"He knows them." That was Dom, oddly enough. "It's where he came from after -"
"Shut up, Dominic," Arthur said, remarkably gently, and she peered over her chair to see that Dom was sitting up, running his hands over his face as though checking it was still there, and Arthur was sitting on the floor with Eames - or at least his holo - apparently asleep, or at least resting on his shoulder.
It was always strange to see them together, Arthur the only one in the room able to see where Eames really was and what he was doing, and his gestures aimed at something that was like the shadow in the corner of the mirror.
Even when Eames was still, in rare moments such as this, it was unnerving. Arthur sighed, bone-weary. "It's officially outside anyone's domain, Ari. And yeah, the pirates use it."
"Traitors," Eames mumbled. Not asleep at all, then. Maybe the holo was shutting down to conserve energy, or something - Ariadne had long since given up trying to work out how Eames's mods functioned.
"Yeah, you can shut up too," Arthur said with faint exasperation. "No, they're not. Just people who don't always - agree."
"Pirates," Yusuf repeated happily.
"They'll take us on," Arthur said at last.
"Mad skills," Eames said into his shoulder, or possibly his ear. It was hard to tell. The holo at least was talking into his rather tattered suit. Judging from Arthur's expression, Ariadne suspected it was more likely to be his ear.
Dom laughed, the sound tired and breathy.
"Mad, at any rate," he said, and lay back on his bench, closing his eyes.
"And you need to adjust the directives here," said the AI. Ariadne nodded, and tapped it in. Arthur yawned, the sound oddly loud amidst the humming of engines and machinery.
"Go to sleep," Ari said, unable to keep the fondness out of her voice. "We'll be fine."
"We?" Arthur asked, drowsily curious.
"Me and AI here," Ariadne said with a grin at the avatar.
"My name," the AI said, managing to sound offended, "is Saito."
"Well, and hello," Eames murmured, managing lechery from the cusp of dreams.
"Go to sleep, for fuck's sake, Eames, give us all a break and catch up on being coherent," said Arthur wearily, and the silence returned. Ariadne smiled at the avatar.
"Hi, Saito," she said, feeling a bit shy and a lot stupid. But the avatar smiled back.
"Hello, Ariadne," it said.
Masterpost on LJ with links to art post: Chaos Out of Shape
On AO3: Chaos Out of Shape
If you enjoy the story, remember to feedback the author!
Pairing: Arthur/Eames, Dom/Mal, Yusuf/Ariadne (budding), Arthur/Ariadne (past; casual)
Length: ~82,500 words
Author on LJ: quoshara; speak_me_fair
Author Website: quoshara's stories on AO3; speakmefair's stories on AO3
Why this must be read: I love this story. Truly, madly, deeply, I love it because it's beautiful and brilliant, and the world these two authors have created is amazing. I put off reading it for a while after the Big Bangs were posted because I found the summary very complex and it almost seemed like it might be a crossover of some type. It's not. But I can honestly say, the summary does not do it justice.
Here's what the story is: It's world-building at its best - I fell into this world, believed it, wanted to see more of it. Not everything is explained or immediately clear, but you need to be willing to let the story unfold. It's the Inception characters but somehow larger than life and still not quite on the right side of the law. It's the team coming together and learning about one another and fighting for something. It's about love and loyalty, tradition and technology, how society teaches us to take sides.
You'll recognize aspects of the movie, but in completely different ways. Ariadne is forced to grow up and accept some hard truths because of her association with these men. Yusuf is a good friend, but can he be trusted? Dom, still learning how to leave Mal behind. Arthur and Eames trying to reconcile their differences with their strange compatibility; they should hate each other, but they're saving one another.
I don't want to tell you too much, but honestly, read it for the image of Eames as a tattooed man out of time who wears the sins of the world on his flesh in order to remember, and Arthur, who is just broken enough to be able to see beyond the technology Eames hides behind ... it's the kind of screwed-up love story that makes me ache in every way possible for everyone involved. It's absolutely something you should read. I can't recommend this one highly enough.
"Eames, why Station Nine?" She now had time to ask questions since they seemed to have lost their tail, both physically and electronically.
"He knows them." That was Dom, oddly enough. "It's where he came from after -"
"Shut up, Dominic," Arthur said, remarkably gently, and she peered over her chair to see that Dom was sitting up, running his hands over his face as though checking it was still there, and Arthur was sitting on the floor with Eames - or at least his holo - apparently asleep, or at least resting on his shoulder.
It was always strange to see them together, Arthur the only one in the room able to see where Eames really was and what he was doing, and his gestures aimed at something that was like the shadow in the corner of the mirror.
Even when Eames was still, in rare moments such as this, it was unnerving. Arthur sighed, bone-weary. "It's officially outside anyone's domain, Ari. And yeah, the pirates use it."
"Traitors," Eames mumbled. Not asleep at all, then. Maybe the holo was shutting down to conserve energy, or something - Ariadne had long since given up trying to work out how Eames's mods functioned.
"Yeah, you can shut up too," Arthur said with faint exasperation. "No, they're not. Just people who don't always - agree."
"Pirates," Yusuf repeated happily.
"They'll take us on," Arthur said at last.
"Mad skills," Eames said into his shoulder, or possibly his ear. It was hard to tell. The holo at least was talking into his rather tattered suit. Judging from Arthur's expression, Ariadne suspected it was more likely to be his ear.
Dom laughed, the sound tired and breathy.
"Mad, at any rate," he said, and lay back on his bench, closing his eyes.
"And you need to adjust the directives here," said the AI. Ariadne nodded, and tapped it in. Arthur yawned, the sound oddly loud amidst the humming of engines and machinery.
"Go to sleep," Ari said, unable to keep the fondness out of her voice. "We'll be fine."
"We?" Arthur asked, drowsily curious.
"Me and AI here," Ariadne said with a grin at the avatar.
"My name," the AI said, managing to sound offended, "is Saito."
"Well, and hello," Eames murmured, managing lechery from the cusp of dreams.
"Go to sleep, for fuck's sake, Eames, give us all a break and catch up on being coherent," said Arthur wearily, and the silence returned. Ariadne smiled at the avatar.
"Hi, Saito," she said, feeling a bit shy and a lot stupid. But the avatar smiled back.
"Hello, Ariadne," it said.
Masterpost on LJ with links to art post: Chaos Out of Shape
On AO3: Chaos Out of Shape
If you enjoy the story, remember to feedback the author!