#aeldws

[inceptiversary]

Inceptiversary 2024 Masterlist

July is almost here, and we are so excited!

The Inception fandom currently has two chat room servers:

Inception Chat (Slack)

You’re Waiting for a Train (Discord)

Jump in and say hello! If links are expired, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Inceptiversary mods for assistance.

Below the cut is a list of all the events that will be taking place this year! Most events run from July 1 to 31, but some are starting earlier and some are running a little longer. Make sure to read the descriptions for each event and don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions!

Inception 30 Day Challenge (@inception30daychallenge)

The Inception 30 Day Challenge is a set of 30+ questions and prompts about Inception, its characters, and you! They’re meant to inspire some reflection and creativity about Inception, whether it be through a simple text post, art, music, recs – anything goes! And there will be prizes! Visit the @inception30daychallenge​ blog for the full list of questions!

InceptionArt (@inceptionart)

A blog to celebrate all the wonderful art created by the Inception fandom! Feel free to share inception art with us, either your own or others’, by reblogging (not reposting!) the artwork and tagging the inceptionart blog!

Arthur/Eames Last Drabble Writer Standing (@aeldws)

Signups open June 21 through June 28 or all 10 slots are filled. A weekly elimination drabble challenge where all works must fit a given prompt and feature Arthur/Eames as the main pairing. This year’s AELDWS will run for seven weeks, from June 30 to August 11, with a maximum of 10 participants. Prompts are posted on the @aeldws blog Friday at 1AM EDT, and drabbles are due Tuesday at 1PM EDT. Voting will take place Tuesday night through Thursday night.

Inception Auction (@inceptionauction)

Donate fic, art, services, crafts etc. to raise money for a charity - then let the bidding begin! Accepting offers: June 6 - July 6 Auction open to bids: July 8 - 23 Winners notified July 25 Proof of donations due July 31

Inception Big Bang (@inception-bigbang)

Posting date July 31 An author and artist collaborative event. Authors anonymously submit fic summaries, and artists claim their favorites and create art. Claims ended in early June. First check-in for participants is July 1. Second check-in for participants will be on July 15.

Inception Kitties (@inceptionkitties)

30 days of InceptionKitties means 30 questions for the 30 days of Inceptiversary before we draw a random winner on the 31st! A fun question will be posed to the InceptionKitties community each day, and all our cat parents have to do is reblog the post and share their response! There’s no signups or obligation to do all 30 questions. Pick and choose at your convenience! But anyone who tackles 15 days of questions gets entered into the draw for a small prize!

Inception Positivity (@inceptionpositivity)

Submissions open June 24 until July 28. Inception Positivity is a place to send love and kind thoughts to Inception fandom friends anonymously and receive some love in turn. People submit kind messages via Google form and these are turned into colourful posts that are posted on the blog.

Inception Quiz (hosted on the @inceptiversary blog)

July 16 - July 30 Test out your Inception knowledge for a chance at winning some prizes!

Inception Watch Parties (@inceptionwatchparty)

Watch parties will be hosted starting July 1 on the You’re Waiting for a Train Discord server. See above for invite link to the server or contact the watch party mods. For the full schedule and list of films that will be viewed, visit the @inceptionwatchparty​ blog!

Inception Watch Party Bingo (hosted on the @inceptiversary blog)

Come join our annual Inception Day watch parties and play bingo for prizes! Grab a bingo card ahead of time by emailing inceptiversarymods @ gmail . com and enjoy!

[aeldws]

Here are the drabbles for Week 1!

The prompt was:

Prompt: Pass/Fail

Genre: Origin Story

Word count: Up to and including 375 words

To vote, head over to this Google Form and vote for your favorite and least favorite drabble.

Betas, you are welcome to vote. You may vote for the drabble you betaed if you truly believe it is the best!

Note: We had one contestant withdraw, which brings us to 10 contestants total. However, this week will still be a double elimination week.

Voting will close on Thursday, July 4 at 7PM EDT (click here for your time zone!).

[inceptionpositivity]

@aeldws - Thank you for running this competition! I love seeing the creativity the authors come up with each week :-)

[dingdangit]

I'm SO excited to get to do this podfic of @enchi-elm's drabble from week 2 of AELDWS 2024, as a prize for Watch Party Bingo! I've loved the fic from the beginning, so it was a real treat to be matched for this ^_^ I hope I've done it justice!!

Title: Podfic of One more thing, before the ash reaches the sky by Apfelessig

Pairing: Arthur.Eames

Rating: Mature

Podfic Length: 3 minutes

Summary: Arthur ponders life-changing decisions in a city that’s buried in time.

[thenwhatthefukcisthis]

this time aeldws round is so great! every author should be proud of themselves! I honestly can’t single out a least favourite AND SOMEONE BETTER CAST TH AND JGL IN A WESTERN TOGETHER THIS INSTANCE OR ELSE

[enchi-elm]

Prompt: Hunter and Hunted Genre: Western 350 words exactly

A stranger sniffs out a lead at Eames’ bar, where all manner of weeds tumble in the corners.

[insert-cleverurl]

to the commenter on my week 3 @aeldws submission who asked me to post it on ao3: i have in fact been doing that ! here is the link to this week's post, and here is the link to the series

to everybody else: this is the aeldws collection full of incredible drabbles written by incredible people that you should check out if you're even a little bit into inception. or even if you're not. lots of excellent writing skill on display here !

[roosterbox]

Until We Dream of Life and Life Becomes a Dream

Hey.

I wrote a little write-along fic for AELDWS week 5. Idk if I’ll put it in the ao3 collection. I haven’t even put my official fic from week 1 in there yet, lol. Still fighting my way through some intense burnout, but eh. I was happy to write this.

The prompt was: Touch-Starved

The genre was: Canon

The word count limit was: 375 - 400 (I went over by about 20, but it’s not an official entry, so that doesn’t matter)

Rating: G (Eames gets mildly suggestive in spots, as he is wont to do, but still not enough to up the rating)

———

“What do you want, Eames?”

The man in question leans against the doorframe, rakish grin plain as he looks Arthur up and down.

“Have I not been obvious? All this time that we’ve known each other?”

Arthur rolls his eyes, but doesn’t move away to let Eames in yet. “Too obvious. Even Ariadne seems to suspect something.”

“We’ve only just met her, love. She’s a perceptive one.” He raises an eyebrow. “Gonna let me in?”

That earns him another eye roll, but Arthur finally steps aside, closing the hotel room door behind Eames. He turns, the two of them facing each other.

“What do you want?” He asks again. This time, however, the answer is different.

Eames sighs. His shoulders slump. “I wanted to see you,” he says. “I wanted to hold you. I wanted to be with you, just for tonight.”

“Eames,” Arthur’s breath catches. He wants that too. “Eames, we can’t- Tomorrow is-“

Tomorrow they’ll be undertaking the job of their lives. The ultimate score for people such as them. Inception, or at least the best attempt that they could have possibly planned. And that means…

“No distractions, I know.” Eames fixes him with a sad smile. “But darling,” he shuffles forward. Not quite in Arthur’s space, but close. “It’s been so long since I’ve held you in my arms. That’s all I want for tonight.”

He’s delighted to see Arthur’s mild annoyance morph into the smallest of smiles. The other man moves, bringing them closer still. He reaches out a hand and brings it up to Eames’ face, cupping his cheek. The feel of his unshaven face is rough, and so beautifully familiar. Eames, for his part, almost melts into the touch, like he’s been waiting for it. Aching for it. Arthur quickly brings up his other hand, practically cradling his partner’s head. Eames sinks into it even further, closing his eyes with a groan.

“No one else?” Arthur asks. He knows he doesn’t have to elaborate.

“No one else,” Eames says. After a moment, he adds, “there was never anyone else but you.”

Hearing this, Arthur lets himself surge forward. The kiss is a relieved, desperate thing, without much heat behind it. They both moan into it though, Arthur shuddering when he feels Eames’ arms wrap around his waist. Seems that the Forger wasn’t the only one aching for something.

Tomorrow, the world as they know it might be forever changed. But tonight? Tonight their world is right here, in this room. And for now, nothing else matters.

[mister-eames]

My write-along contribution to AELDWS Round 5. I took the word limit as a... lovely, helpful guide. But just a guide.

Arthur/Eames, 548 words. Prompt: Touch Starved Genre: Canon

---

“What are you wearing?”

Arthur looks down at his plaid pyjamas and woolly socks and pauses. He drops his voice, aiming for playful; for sexy. “What would you like me to wear?”

On the other line Eames growls, a gritty, gravelly sound not even a shitty phone connection can distort. “I’d like you in nothing but your own sweat.”

Arthur shifts, enjoying the mental image. “Just that?”

“Maybe some lacy knickers.”

“Maybe you could bring some back for me.”

“That’s my Arthur,” Eames replies fondly, “already fishing for gifts.”

“I wasn’t fishing,” he denies.

He was. If he’s going to be left on his lonesome for weeks he might as well get something out of it and put in an order.

“Mhmm. What are you actually wearing?”

“PJ’s,” he admits.

“The ratty ones?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s…” Eames trails off, “...actually a fright more sexier than I was thinking." He sighs. "Arthur, you dog. I love peeling those off you.”

“I know."

The memory of the last time Eames had done just that surfaces. It's pleasant, until a sudden, horrible want washes over Arthur with such ferocity that his fingers ache.

The smile drops from his face.

Eames goes on, unaware. "Tell me more."

"Um," he begins, trying to think. "Well..."

Except he can't think. It’s been four weeks since Eames left for a job and Arthur's skin feels tighter, thinner with each passing day. A slow and steady gnawing becoming more pronounced, hollowing him out in odd, uneven places, rivulets and valleys of an unfamiliar need in places he didn't know he could feel it. 

Maybe it's the newness of joint home-ownership, but it's never been like this.

He closes his eyes and recalls the heat of Eames’ skin, the heaviness of his leg when its hiked over Arthur, either mid-coitus, or mid-slumber. In the dark of his imagination he can almost feel the scratch of Eames’ beard on his skin and the wet heat of his breath, the dig of his fingernails when he pokes Arthur between his ribs. 

“Still there, love?” Eames comments at the moment Arthur stands from the couch.

“Yeah. One sec, sorry.”

He narrowly avoids stepping on their cat, Morticia, on his walk over to their bedroom. Out of their closet he fishes out a large, threadbare hoodie and threads his arms through it.

Arthur has never been more glad that Eames is an enthusiastic proponent of the sniff-test. It ends up working in Arthurs favour; it hasn’t been washed since it’s last wear and it smells a little musty, and a lot like Eames. 

It’s too large for Arthur. But it’s warm. 

And it helps to abate the restless, quivering discontent under his skin at least. For that, he’s quick to forgive himself for his incredibly embarrassing behaviour. No ones around to see it anyway, except Morticia. 

“What’s that sound?" Eames queries when Arthur tugs at the zip. "Are you lubing yourself up for some dirty photos?”

“Yeah, Eames,” he rolls his eyes, returning to the couch, “that’s what I’m doing.” He picks up the remote and switches to an NCIS rerun.

"Oh my. Now we're getting to the good stuff."

He deadpans, “Uh-huh. I’m three fingers in. Ooh, baby.”

“Well, it’s the least you could do.” Eames voice is light, but drops to a whisper. “I fucking miss you something sinister, you know.”

“I’ve got something that might help with that.” 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Guess what I’m wearing now.”

“What?”

Warm, Arthur yawns widely. “Your hoodie.”

Eames pauses. “The ratty MU one?”

“Mhmm.”

“Fuck,” Eames swears. There’s rustling on the other end. “When I get home next week I better see you in it.” More rustling. “Can you send me a photo?”

The smile returns. He can do that.

[stormofsharpthings]

A gorgeous piece of artwork by glasspunk! linktr.ee or @glasspunkart

Look at the light! The details! The armor is hollow!

It inspired one of my drabbles for this year's AELDWS: Shell Game

[tetchy-frog]

They’re so silly and goofy :P

These are all from @dingdangit ‘s pieces for this year’s AELDWS competition! This was a blast to draw, and they absolutely deserve the win!

You can find the works these are from here.

[inceptiversary]

Mark your calendars for Inceptiversary 2024!

In just over two months it will be Inceptiversary season!

As always, we will have a full calendar of events running throughout the month of July, with some events starting a little sooner and some events running a little longer.

Here is a list of all the events taking place this year!

@inception30daychallenge

@aeldws

@inceptionart

@inceptionauction

@inceptionbigbang

@inceptionkitties

@inceptionpositivity

Inception Quiz*

@inceptionwatchparty

Inception Watch Party Bingo*

We will send out the official Inceptiversary 2024 Masterlist a little closer to July 1 with start and end dates for each event.

Until then...have you joined our Inception Slack and the Waiting for a train discord server?!

*These events will be hosted on the @inceptiversary blog

[aeldws]

Week 6 results are in!

Our first place winner, and the winner of AELDWS 2024 is @dingdangit, who wrote "what are you doing (with your whole life)”!

Author names have been added to the original drabble post and comments are being emailed to authors. Authors, if you would like to know your ranking for this week, let us know in a reply to that email!

Authors are encouraged to add their drabbles to the AELDWS AO3 collection if they post on AO3!

Thank you to everyone who read, voted, and commented, and an extra thank you to all of the wonderfully talented authors who participated in AELDWS this year!

We hope you had a great time, and we’ll see you again in July 2024!

[inceptionpositivity]

@aeldws + @secretsaito + @inceptgen + @arthursanonymous + @inception30daychallenge + @inceptionpositivity + @inceptionwatchparty - I want to give a HUGE shout out to all of the mods and event organizers who keep this fandom going. You are incredible, and the work that you put into the events of inceptiversary (and year-round) deserves all the praise out there!!!

[dingdangit]

Title: in tramadol veritas

Pairing: Arthur/Eames

Rating: T

Words: 400

Summary: In which a sky-high Eames’ honesty makes Arthur reevaluate his assumptions.

Notes: This is my entry for Week 5 of AELDWS 2024! The prompt was Touch Starved, and the genre was Canon.

Mild warnings here for non-graphic description of a canon-typical injury, and a depiction of (prescribed) painkiller use.

[ladysarai]

Teeny Tiny Fic Fest Interest Check?

OUT OF CURIOSITY, INCEPTION FANDOM.

Would there be interest in a teeny tiny itsy bitsy yellow polka dot bikini bit of a fic fest this August?

I do realize that we are approaching the end of Inceptiversary and the Inception 30 Day Challenge, AELDWS is still ongoing (YAY!!) and the Inception Big Bang will be posting August 11th (DOUBLE YAY!!).

BUT HERE IS MY PROBLEM!! The Olympics are happening, and that in combination with all of the INCREDIBLE posts for Day 26 of @inception30daychallenge? Are TOO GOOD!!! I need all of these Olympics AUs.

I've been kicking around ideas for myself to work on, and so far I have:

Men's gymnastics AU (I mean, look at this shit!)

Fencing AU!

Equestrian events! Any/all of them!

Wrestling/Boxing/Judo AU!

Swimming AU!

Diving AU!

Bicycling AU!

Shooting AUs--guns or archery!

Tennis AU! (Look. Dom and Arthur as a duo. Maybe up against Eames and Yusuf? GUARANTEED CHAOS.)

Competing coaches! Good coaches, bad coaches!

Are your faves on a team together?

Or do they compete against each other in the SAME SPORT?

Do they compete in DIFFERENT sports and support each other??

Are there career ending/threatening injuries leading to hurt/comfort??

Does everyone win a gold medal?

Does NO ONE win but get to go home with something better than a medal??

JUST THINK of all the shenanigans that can be got into in the Olympic Village!

PARALYMPICS!!! Why are they competing the paralympics?! Is it one character or several?!

THERE ARE TOO MANY POSSIBILITIES. FICS. ARTS. I need them all. I'm greedy, and it's just not physically possible for me to write all the things by myself.

So. You know. I propose a collection of:

no word limits (min or max)

no deadline or start date

fics

arts

fan mixes

gif sets

a collection of prompts up for adoption

Rec lists

literally anything accepted...

Gen or ANY pairings

Whatever!

Anything goes!

The only commonality being: OLYMPICS AUs. Who's with me? Anyone? Bueller?