#saito x cobb

[valeriley]

[sadlonelyyogurt]

this has been in my drafts for too long

part 1, part 2, part 3

[inceptiontrick-or-treat]

Oh the time has come—

—to once again invite you to the Inception Slack.

Periodically (like once a year, when we remember) we put the bat signal out calling all of our new friends home to the chat. We talk about all kinds of garbage (not all of it Inception related), we encourage each other to write (or draw, or clean, or do homework), we hold each other’s metaphorical internet hands, and we generally fuck about.

You may want to join the Slack if:

…you’re kind of a weirdo about Inception and you want to talk about it with other weirdos in real time (or slightly delayed real time as we’re kind of spread out)

…you are interested in having friendships with people all over the world

…sometimes you need somebody to read a paragraph of the smut you’re writing and tell you if you’ve got the kink right

…sometimes you just need someone else to write at the same time as you so you can enjoy the perks of the Buddy System

…you’re about to realize there’s an entire bonus rare pair fandom out there in the Nolan Batman universe because we’re all obsessed with Inception AUs

…you need to grumble about work

…you need to cry about life

…you wanna help me with this Deadpool and Wolverine AU that’s gotten out of hand (it’s not just Inception in here!)

…you wanna be the first to know about Inceptiversary and other fandom events through our Announcements channel

…you’re 18+

…you’re willing to be a good citizen and a good sport and listen to @stormofsharpthings and/or @finelydressedspacemen if they tell you to knock something off

So go clicky clicky the link and we’ll see you soon!

[thenwhatthefukcisthis]

I... this scene is so chaotic!

“ooh I’m the point man I’ve done weeks and weeks of research so mr-oh-I’m-the-most-important-person-of-this-job-even-though-I’m-more-than-a-little-effed-up-in-the-head-Dominic-cobb listen. And let ME tell YOU mr-forger-the-love of my life I know better! you think with your imagination and spontaneous thinking you can somehow pull inception but boy aren’t you always forgetting specific details! you need a goddamn plane with a goddamn pilot and a goddamn flight attendant so let’s hear how you can imagine THAT (I could still be angry at you for not returning my olive branch eames darling I really am impressed by you can we please get back together) so yes I could be a glorified clerk while you two run around playing badasses but my research always trumps your thinking thoughts so good luck finding an answer for this!”

.... and in comes saito with his neat one liner and look how smug and satisfied cobb and eames look they’ve never seen the pointman become speechless in this fashion before

just. Chaotic.

[enchi-elm]

"HAUNTED" Zine Series (Inception) by Apfelessig

The Zine series is now complete! It has been archived on AO3 for your viewing pleasure. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me. Playing with this medium has been a real joy. And thank you to POE for creating her masterpiece album "Haunted", which still inspires 24 years after its release.

Jump to:

#1: I GO WILD (Mal)

#2: (like lemon) (Eames/Saito)

#3: can't hear myself think (Cobb & Robert)

#4: I have control (Ariadne &/ Mal)

#5: hide and seek (Yusuf)

#6: wicked (Arthur/Eames)

#7: HAUNTED (Cobb)

[the-girl-wh0-cries-w0lf]

You're waiting for a train...(1)

A Leap of Faith

Robert Fischer x Cobbs Daughter!reader

a/n - this is going to be multiple parts as I thought that would be preferable to a 20k fic. So let me know what you think! Also should I make a taglist for this???? (it's my first time doing a multi-chapter so I don't really know :)

description - y/n, the daughter of the thief Dominic Cobb and the late Mal Cobb, joined her father on the run. Knowing her fathers innocence, she couldn't bear to be without him, so she gave up on her architecture degree and followed him into the world of dreams. They do jobs together and, even though Cobb worries about the amount of danger he's putting her in he'd rather her be with him in the dreams rather than on the outside with his name like a brand. In the latest job they are given, Cobb finds peace and Y/n finds her one true love.

*reader is 20*

warnings - angst, dream infiltrating, incepting an idea into someones mind (which comes with it's own ethical qualms), mentions of death, creepy men.

word count - 1.2k

a/n - watched Oppenheimer so yeah...Cillian Murphy.

Series Master list Master list

If you want to be added to the taglist - here

Some thought I was stupid. Following my father into a life of crime. Every day my life was threatened and every day I felt unsafe in my skin. But I couldn’t let my father go. I knew mom hadn’t been well since they woke from their dream.

Dad had told me they’d been stuck for 50 years and I suddenly realised how muddled my mom had become. So I knew there was no way he’d killed her that night. She’d wanted to wake up and she wanted him to come with her.

So I followed my dad because I’d rather be a criminal than be without him. Some thought my father was stupid for letting me follow. But truth was, he wanted me with him as well. We couldn’t see James and Philippa so we settled for the family we had left. Us two.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The clock’s hands on my watch reached 30. I hurriedly placed the headphones onto Nash’s head and began the music.

Arthur woke up first as the sedative wore off. He told me that Saito had figured it out and we needed to disappear. I helped him with the others. Seconds later Nash and dad woke up in succession.

“How did you mess up the carpet?”

“I didn’t know he was going to rub his face on it.” I rolled my eyes at his incompetency.

“You always have to expect them to do the unexpected!” I voiced my concerns.

“Oh yeah how about you go down there with us instead of judging from up here!”

“I’ve been in dreams longer than you’ve been alive my friend.” I smirked at him but felt him sidle up to my ear and whisper. “I’d have you on the carpet.” He was roughly shoved back by Arthur. In the years of him working with my dad, Arthur had practically become my protector and he looked out for me at every turn.  He glared at Nash in warning and jerked his head towards where my dad was packing up. Arthur could handle him on his own but he relished in the fear that spread across his eyes.

I helped my dad pack up the case and took the hand he offered me as he led me down the bullet train.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

I joined dad in his hotel room with Arthur and we prepared to leave. We only stayed in the same room in very dire circumstances as dad believed I was safer far from him. Or because he felt safer alone.

When I entered, I noticed the spinning top.

Mom.

Dad followed my eyes and then looked down ashamed. I knew what he was doing. He was hanging on the balance of dream and reality, convincing himself that mom was wrong.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

We three came to the rooftop, ready to fly away from this mess. But the closer we got, we noticed Nash slumped, bloody and bruised. Suddenly Saito appeared from the other side.

“He sold you out, in exchange for my sparing of his life.” Of course, it would be him! I tried to appear angry but I felt nothing. Our lives would be over soon.

Saito offered my father a gun but he declined saying that he doesn’t handle things that way. As Nash was dragged out of the helicopter we were invited to take our seats. I followed nervously.

“What will you do with him?”

“Nothing, but I can’t speak for Cobal engineering.” Ice ran down my spine, understanding the fate we narrowly avoided. Dad grasped my shaking hands.

“What do you want from us?”

“Inception. Is it possible?” Dad tensed and tightened his grip on my hands.

“Of course not!” Arthur answered.

“If you can steal an idea from someone’s mind, why can’t you plant one instead.”

“Okay, here’s me planting an idea in your mind. I say, ‘don’t think about elephants’, what do you think about?”

“Elephants.”

“Right but it wasn’t your idea. Because you know I gave it to you.”

I jumped in to assist. “The subjects mind can always trace the genesis of the idea, true inspiration is impossible to fake.”

My dad softly whispered beside me, and I managed to make out his disagreement with mine and Arthur’s points.

“Can you do it?” Saito smirked.

“Are you offering me a choice? Cause I can find my own way to square things with Cobal.”

“Then you have a choice.”

“Then I choose to leave, sir.”

“You want to take that risk? You want her to take that risk?” His piercing eyes lifted to mine and I felt my dad’s palms sweat at the thought of me in danger. He knew Cobal engineering would not even spare his daughter.

We landed outside of a private jet and I jumped out first ready to leave. I was enchanted by the scale of the jet but my happiness was short lived when I remembered who I was and what was going to happen, once again. Arthur and Dad joined my stride but we were halted by Saito’s voice. A final plea.

“How would you like to go home.” No. How dare he taunt us like that. There was nothing I wanted more than to go home with my dad and he chooses to dangle that freedom in front of us like a donkey with a carrot!

“Can’t fix that! No one can!”

“Just like Inception.” I don’t know if it was the sincerity in his voice but I chose to shuck off Arthur’s hand on my arm and walk back towards the helicopter.

“You’re serious. Aren’t you? Well how complex is the idea.”

"y/n what are you doing?"

“Simple enough.”

I scoffed. “No idea is simple enough if you have to plant it in someone’s mind.”

“My main competitor is an old man in poor health. His son will soon inherit his father’s business. I need him to decide to break up his father’s empire.” A business deal. Did I expect anything less. At least we could remove emotions from it. Simple and transactional.

My father joined the discussion. “If I did this-If I even could do this.” He grabbed my hand. “We’d need a guarantee. How do I know you can deliver?”

“You don’t! But I can. So, do you want to take a leap of faith?”

I shivered hearing my mother’s words pour out of this man’s mouth.

“Or become an old man, filled with regret?”

Dad lowered his head into a gentle nod.

“Assemble your team Mr Cobb, and choose your people more wisely.” The helicopter doors closed and up it went. In a daze I followed them onto the jet and sat down, silent.

“Look, I know how much you two want to go home--”

“No. Arthur, you don’t.” The first words I’d said in over an hour. I punctuated them by standing up and locking myself in the bathroom. Dad’s fingers brushed mine as I left in a brazen attempt to stop me.

As I sat there I thought back on my life, specifically the before. Pictures and films of our happy family danced through my head and I cried. I cried for the first time since we’d left that day. Since I’d hugged my baby siblings goodbye and promised them I’d be back soon. I cried thinking there might be a way. This was our chance.

I splashed water on my face and made my way back out with a fresh smile. I rested my arm on my dad’s shoulder.

“we’re doing this.” I announced. “I know, sweetie.”

I relaxed back into my seat, assured in our choice but nervous of the outcome. “So, where to now.”

“Paris. We need another architect.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

taglist: @jonsncws @h-l-vlovesvintage

[mischievouslittlecreature]

Part 16: Because You'll Be Together

Fandom: Inception

Pairing: Robert Fischer x OC

Summary: An old friend arrives in Sydney with some troubling news.

Word Count: 3,814

Notes: Warnings for references to illness and suicide.

Previous Part • Series • Fic • Next Chapter

Chapter 1: Don't Think About Elephants

Eames looked down at the file Saito had dropped in front of him, and cursed.

“Oh, shit.”

“What?” Cobb asked, looking up.

Eames shot him a look, silently scooping up one of the pictures and waving it in front of his face. Cobb’s face dropped as he took in the image of Robert and Alice walking side by side down a street in Sydney. 

“Problem?” Saito asked, looking between them.

“You didn’t tell me it was Alice’s Robert we’d be doing this job on, Cobb,” Eames said slowly, brows raised. Even for Cobb, it seemed a little far to consider performing something like inception on a friend’s long-term boyfriend. 

“I didn’t know,” Cobb looked down at the files, lips pursed. 

“I still don’t understand,” Saito was looking between them, puzzled. 

“This woman, here,” Eames pointed to the picture of Alice. “Was a member of that one’s,” he pointed at Cobb, “team. Once upon a time.”

“She’s another extractor?”

“Retired. Well, semi-retired,” Eames cracked a smile. “Sometimes when she's bored she’ll join me and Arthur on a job or two.”

“She’ll recognize all of us. She’ll see us coming from a mile away. Shit,” Cobb cursed, eyes desperate when he turned them to Eames. “Is there any way to get Fischer separately from her to do the job?”

“She’s his assistant. And they’re extremely clingy. She goes with him everywhere,” Eames shook his head. Of all of them, he was the one who had kept the most in contact with Alice. They had always been close. “Unlikely you’ll be able to get him alone for long enough without her around.”

A crestfallen look crossed Cobb’s face, no doubt realizing that his chance to get back home to his children was being steadily ripped away.

“If you are unable to do this job–” Saito was saying.

“We just need to readjust–” Cobb tried to recover. Eames glanced down, fiddling with his fingers, considering every possible outcome. Every opportunity.

“Let me talk to Alice,” he cut them both off. Cobb looked at him like he’d lost his mind.

“She’ll never agree.”

“Let me talk to her.”

Cobb looked at him for a long time, clearly evaluating. His lips pressed into a thin line. “Alright,” he turned back to Saito. “What’s your problem with this Mr. Fischer?”

Eames nodded, a plan already steadily falling into place in his mind. There were parts of it that Cobb wouldn’t approve of; not that he would ever find out about them anyway. So long as everything went according to plan. 

He and Alice had always been partners in crime. He just had to get her on board.

∗ ∗ ∗ 

Rolling over, Alice reached out across the bed, frowning when her fingers met nothing but cool sheets. Blinking groggily, head fuzzy from sleep, she lifted her face from where it had been half buried in her pillow to stare at the vacant space next to her in puzzlement. A glance towards the ensuite bathroom revealed the light turned off and the door open. He wasn’t in there.

Whining, she heaved herself up and out of the bed, arms wrapping around herself in response to the chill in the air and having to leave the warm comfort of her blankets. 

“Robert?” she called, rubbing at her eyes as she shuffled out into the hall. There was no answer. Huffing and pouting, she made her way to the stairs. Cider watched her from where she was curled up with Spooky in the cat tree in the living room.

Checking the clock mounted on the wall, Alice felt her brows raise. Robert was often pulling late nights since his father’s latest health incident. But three o’clock in the morning was pushing it. Even for him. The office light was on, as she expected it to be.

Pushing the door open revealed him to be hunched over his desk, fists pressed to each side of his forehead, eyes scanning across a memo. As she watched, he yawned, raising a fist to cover it, even as his entire body contorted with the signal of exhaustion.

“Robbie.”

He jumped about a mile at the sound of her voice, head jerking up from his desk to look at her all owl eyed.

“I’ll be there in a minute, sweetheart,” he said, grabbing a pen and scribbling something on the memo before setting it aside.

“Robbie, it’s three o’clock in the morning,” she said, moving to stand beside him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

“What? No it’s not, it’s only…” he trailed off as he looked down at his watch, then groaned. “Shit.”

“Come to bed, honey.”

“I have to get this done,” he sighed.

“No, you don’t. You need to sleep,” shifting, she slid into his lap, resting a hand on his face, her thumb stroking over the huge bags under his eyes. “You’ve been working late every night for the past few weeks.”

“It’s just until Dad is out of the hospital.”

“Robert…” she bit her lip. “He’s not ever coming back to the company. At least not in the same capacity that he was before. I know that he’s in denial about that, but…” she trailed off, shrugging. Robert’s shoulders sagged, and she placed a kiss on his cheekbone. “Come to bed,” even as she stroked his hair and his face, he seemed to sag against her, blatant in his extreme exhaustion. “I don’t want to have to carry you up the stairs.”

That got a tiny laugh out of him, and he finally nodded, reaching over to turn off the light on his desk. Taking his hand, Alice led him out of the office and back up the stairs, down the hall to their bedroom. Stripping down to his boxers, he fell into bed with a soft groan, curling up. By the time she turned out the light and joined him, he was already half asleep.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, blue eyes just tired slivers of color in the darkness. Alice shifted closer, humming when she felt him wrap an arm around her.

“It’s okay.”

“No, I’ve been working too much. I’ve been…neglecting you.”

“Oh, no, we’re fine,” she pecked his nose for emphasis. “I just don’t want you to work yourself to the bone. I don’t want you to become like…” she bit off the word before she could say it.

“Like my father?”

“Does the man even have a life outside of that office?”

Robert sighed. “No. I don’t think he does.”

Alice nodded, resting her head against his chest.

“We should take a vacation or…something,” Robert suggested, hugging her closer.

“That would be nice.”

∗ ∗ ∗ 

Their day was spent as it so often was recently, sitting around in that godawful room, listening to the monitors and machines Maurice was hooked up to beep and whir. Every once in a while a nurse or doctor would swoop in to check Maurice over, the man’s head rolling from side to side, muttering nonsense to himself. Just outside the room, in the office, she could hear the hum of Peter's voice as he spoke with his team of lawyers and paralegals. 

The huge, heavy wooden doors opened suddenly, and she glanced up from the papers she’d been working on to watch Peter walk into the room. He shared a look with her as he crossed towards where Robert was standing at the window. His back was to them, just staring outside and leaving them with his silhouette. He looked quite regal, in his finely tailored suit, with the light hitting him just right to give him an air of mystery. 

“How is he?” Peter asked. Robert turned his head, only slightly. It was the only acknowledgement that he’d heard Peter at all. Alice bit at her bottom lip.

He was so despondent these days. Subdued and stressed and sad and she just wanted to do something to help him. To make the agony of the whole ordeal go away. His dying father was one thing, but trying to manage the entire company and the vultures within it was another. 

“I don’t want to bother him unnecessarily, but–” Peter was cut off by a loud shout from Maurice and the shatter of glass as one of his hands shot out from the bed, knocking a picture frame off of his bedside.

Robert was halfway across the room before she was even out of her chair, rushing to his father’s side. A nurse beat him there, and he paused, hovering like he was unsure of what to do before bending to scoop up the picture that had been knocked to the floor. Maurice was muttering to himself. Alice set down the papers she’d been working on, moving to stand beside Peter with her arms crossed.

“Has he been like this all day?” Peter asked in a hushed voice. She wasn’t sure if he meant Robert or Maurice. Either way, the answer was the same.

“Yeah,” she nodded, looking down at the floor. Robert returned to them, still staring at the picture of a much younger Robert, sitting with his father and playing with a pinwheel. 

“Must be a cherished memory of his,” Peter offered.

“I put it beside his bed,” Robert looked up at him. “He hasn’t even noticed.”

Alice rubbed a hand up and down his arm. It was the best she could think of to do to offer some form of comfort. 

“Robert…” Peter rested a hand on his shoulder and took a deep breath. “We need to talk about a power of attorney. I know this is hard on you–”

Robert was already shaking his head furiously. “Not now, Uncle Peter,” his jaw set, stubbornly, as Peter continued to speak despite his protests. And, in a move she recognized quite distinctly from their childhood, he turned away and walked back to the window, signaling that the conversation was over. It was a rather childish action. It was also what he often did when he was trying to hide the fact that he was about to cry.

“I’ll talk to him,” she said, laying a hand on Peter’s arm. He looked at her, brow pinched worriedly, then nodded.

“Please do.”

Sighing, she looked down at the floor, pushing a lock of hair that had escaped her bun back behind her ear. When she looked up, it was only by coincidence that she just so happened to glance at the still open doors that led out into Peter’s makeshift office.

Eames was staring right at her from a seat near the door. 

When he saw her looking at him, he waved.

Alice’s lips parted, momentarily stunned. What the fuck?

Straightening, she turned back to Robert, going to him and resting a hand on his upper arm.

“Sweetheart, I gotta go do a thing, okay? I’ll be right back.”

He looked at her, eyes still glimmering a little with unshed tears, confused. “What–”

“It won’t take long. I promise,” she kissed his cheek, and he nodded, letting her go.

“Be right back,” she whispered to Peter as she passed him, marching out the door and seizing Eames by the tie as she walked past him, half dragging him out of his seat and down the hall by it, smiling to a few befuddled paralegals as they swept past them. She found a door that led into a sitting room–did people even still call them ‘sitting rooms’ anymore? Hell if she knew– that usually was unoccupied, and thrust it open, half tossing him inside.

“Nice to see you too.”

“What the hell are you doing here!?” she spoke in a hissing whisper, slamming the door shut behind her. 

“Aw, Ace. I’ve missed you too.”

She rolled her eyes, going in to give him a hug in greeting. As inconvenient as it might have been, she was always happy to see Eames. “Hi. Good to see you,” when she pulled back she gave him a look. “What are you doing here? You better not be trying to pull a job on any of my people.”

Eames drew in a deep breath. “I need to talk to you.”

“We are talking.”

“No,” he shook his head. “Not here. Somewhere private.”

It felt like a lump of coal had formed in her stomach. “What’s going on?”

“I can’t tell you about it here. When can you meet?”

“Eames, I’m a little tied up here,” she gestured towards the door and hallway they’d just gone down, where her boyfriend’s father currently lay on his deathbed.

“I know, but it’s important,” he cracked a smile. “You think I wouldn’t have flown all the way down to Sydney if it wasn’t? You know how shit I am at handling time changes.”

Alice looked him up and down, the joke doing little to calm her nerves. “Twelve-thirty. There’s a restaurant across the street.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t suppose you’d like to come meet Robert?” none of her extractor friends had ever met him. Odd to think about, considering how long she and Robert had been together. The timing had just never matched up. Eames gave her an apologetic smile.

“Not exactly the best of ideas right now, I think. See you at lunch,” he breezed past her and through the door, leaving her to stare anxiously at a portrait on the wall, twisting her hands together. 

∗ ∗ ∗ 

“Alright, I have about thirty, maybe forty-five minutes before I have to accompany Robert to a meeting. What’s going on?” she slid into the seat across from Eames, setting her purse down beside her. Eames was playing with the toothpick that had been used to skewer the olives set in his martini. 

“Cobb found a way home,” he said, tossing the toothpick aside. Alice raised an eyebrow.

“And we aren’t jumping for joy over that because…”

Eames sighed. “Because the man who has offered to fix his charges for him wants something in return.”

“Of course.”

“He wants Cobb to perform an inception.”

Her blood chilled, throat going dry. “Fuck off.”

“I’m serious.”

“Cobb agreed to that?”

“He did.”

She almost asked why, but then remembered that Cobb was trying to get back to his children and closed her mouth. Glancing back over at Eames, she felt her features darken. “He’s putting together a team, isn’t he?”

“Yep.”

“You?”

“Yes.”

“And Arthur?”

“And Yusuf. He’s got some new college girl doing the architecture. Someone Miles picked out.”

“Miles is in on this?”

“I don’t think he knows what’s going on. Just that Cobb needed an architect.” 

“And you all have agreed to this?” she knew she shouldn’t be so accusatory. None of them but her knew the truth about what had happened the last time Cobb performed an inception on someone. 

“You haven’t even heard the worst part yet.”

“Oh yeah?” she grabbed a piece of bread from the basket at the center of the table and started to butter it. “What’s the worst part?”

Eames swallowed, not looking at her. The bread dropped from her fingers onto the little plate in front of her. 

“Eames…who’s the mark for this job?”

Eames made a face, nose scrunching like he knew he had just set off an inevitable explosion.

“Eames!?” her chest tightened as panic began to set in. “What are you really doing in Sydney?”

She hoped, though deep down she knew it wasn’t true, that he was here for someone else other than the person who made the most sense to be the target for a job like the one Cobb had been hired for. 

He sighed. “Okay, don’t freak out or anything.”

“It’s Robert, isn’t it?” 

A waitress came by, asking if they were ready to order. Alice just stared at Eames with her lips partially parted.

“I think we’re gonna need a little more time,” Eames told the waitress with a smile, waiting until she was out of earshot to start talking again. “The man who hired Cobb’s name is Saito. You know it?”

She nodded. “His company’s a competitor of ours. What’s the idea he wants Cobb to plant?”

“To split up Fischer Morrow after Maurice dies.”

Alice started laughing; a hysterical, off-pitch noise in her heightened emotional state. Eames raised a questioning eyebrow. “He’s probably going to do that anyway,” she said in answer to the silent question.

“Oh good, no harm done then, right?”

“No,” Alice shot him a stern look. “Inception is still dangerous, Eames. Not to mention a violation–”

“So is extraction.”

“It’s not the same thing!”

“I think you’re being a little hypocritical–”

“I can’t let you do that to him!”

“If it’ll get Cobb back to his family–”

“Don’t act like that’s why you’re doing this. You’re doing it because it’s a fun challenge,” she narrowed her eyes. “You know how much he means to me! I can’t believe any of you…I know we’ve drifted apart recently, but Jesus…”

“I think you’re being just a little overdramatic–”

“Inception killed Mal, Eames!” 

He gaped at her, eyes widening. “What?”

Alice dropped her head into her hands. “I shouldn’t have told you that.”

“What do you mean, inception killed Mal?”

“They were experimenting, and…look it isn’t my story to tell,” she sighed. “Cobb planted an idea in her head and it’s what led to her suicide.”

“And you think that the same thing will happen to Fischer?”

“It’s not a risk I’m willing to take, Eames, I’m sorry,” she swallowed painfully. “He’s too important to me.”

“Hm,” he glanced away, rubbing his fingers together like he was rubbing two phantom poker chips between them. “Okay, right. Listen,” he leaned forward conspiratorially. “What if…what if you and I worked together and we were careful. More careful than I’m assuming Cobb was. We make sure there’s no way that the idea we give Fischer could be used for anything other than what it’s meant for.”

“Eames…” she groaned, shaking her head.

“Ace, it’s worth a shot.”

“I’m not performing an inception on my boyfriend. It’s…wrong. Even if we could guarantee that everything would be fine afterward…it would be a violation of his mind.”

“An issue of consent, eh?”

“Exactly.”

Eames pursed his lips, fingers drumming on the table. The waitress came by again, and this time they ordered. 

“What if you told him?” Eames asked, once the waitress had departed. Alice raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“What if you told him we were going to perform an inception on him?”

“It wouldn’t work then…” she hesitated. “Would it?”

“I don’t know. Suppose it would depend on how much you told him,” Eames leaned forward, hands interlacing on the table. “What about this: you tell him the truth. How much of it is up to you. You join up with our team, you and I work out how to make this thing as airtight as possible so that it won’t harm Fischer, just in case.”

“And then…what? We proceed with whatever plan we come up with?”

“You and I will know. Fischer will know…however much you and him decide he should know. All or none of it. It’s up to you. All that matters is that he’s able to realistically play along,” he leaned back in the booth, looking pleased with himself. “All that we really need to do is convince Saito that the inception has actually worked on Fischer. That’s what’ll get Cobb back home to his family.”

Alice worried at her bottom lip, eyeing her friend warily from across the table. “Huh.”

Eames grinned. “Pretty good plan, right?”

“It…might work,” she scrunched her face. “I’ll have to talk to Robert.”

“Of course.”

She leaned back in her seat, a bit of the tension releasing from her shoulders. Eames flashed her a winning grin.

“I still got it, huh?”

“You don’t got shit unless I can convince Robert to go along with all this.”

“Please. I’ve been watching you two the past couple days. He’d jump off a cliff for you if you asked him to.” 

“Hm,” she rocked her head from side to side with a small smile. He was probably right. Eames’s foot knocked against hers under the table.

“It’s good to be working with you again, Ace.”

“Don’t be getting ahead of yourself yet,” but she couldn’t quite contain the grin that stretched its way across her face. 

∗ ∗ ∗ 

She waited until she was at least one glass of red wine in before telling him about it. He sat there on the couch, listening quietly as she explained the situation and Eames’s idea, Cider meowing and crawling into his lap for attention. Even as he stroked absentmindedly over the cat’s soft fur, he didn’t take his eyes off of her.

“I know, I shouldn’t really be asking this of you at all, and I’m sorry–” she started, feeling more and more terrible the deeper into her story she went.

“No, just…wait,” Robert held up a finger. “Let me…I’m thinking,” he said, softly, eyes faraway. He was quiet for several long moments before he finally swallowed and looked back at her. “It really would help your friend get back home?”

Alice nodded, shrugging helplessly. “Yeah. It would.”

“Okay.”

“Wha–wait,” she flailed a little trying to sit up from where she’d slouched shamefully into the cushions on the couch, displacing their other cat, Spooky, from where she’d been settled against her side in the process. “Really? Just like that?”

Robert shrugged. “Sure.”

“It might–” she stuttered. “It might be dangerous, Robbie.”

He looked at her fondly. “I trust you,” his brow raised as she continued to gape at him. “Did you really think I’d say no?”

“I don’t…I wasn’t sure,” she admitted. He smiled, affectionate as he scooted closer and wrapped his arm around her. He gave her an impish smile, much more like the Robert she remembered from when they were young, than the haggard, haunted man he’d grown into over the past few months as Maurice got sicker. 

“It might be fun.”

“You weirdo,” she laughed, shaking her head, leaning it against his shoulder. “We don’t have a concrete plan yet, but when we do…how much do you want to know?”

He shrugged again. “Whatever you think I should know.”

“That’s not helpful,” she huffed, and he chuckled.

“Like I said, I trust you.”

“Mm,” she hummed, turning to peck a kiss on his neck. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

“I’m going to have to go to France for a little while,” she said it regretfully. The last thing she wanted to do was leave him. 

“For how long?”

“Not long.”

“Okay,” he nodded. 

“You’re sure?”

“Nothing’s changing here for a while.”

“If they do, you call me, I’ll come straight home.”

“I know,” he stroked her cheek, and offered her a small smile. “I love you.”

She stretched up to kiss him, hoping that he understood just how grateful she was. “I love you too.”  

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[silverbrume]

A Sobb piece I made for the delightful @lemon-yellow :) Experimenting with diluted ink to fill larger areas!

Pose reference

[cora-writes-things]

[lemon-yellow]

What if Saito and Cobb made rice balls??

Anybody remember that one time Ken Watanabe shared homemade onigiri with Leonardo Dicaprio on set during the snowy mountain scenes??

“I’ve shared the onigiri that I make with my fellow cast-mates in the past. When I was doing Inception, I was up on a cold mountain with Leonardo Dicaprio and Cillian Murphy for some time and while we were waiting there, freezing, I said, “I got some rice balls (here in my pocket), you guys want any?.” So I gave them the ones with umeboshi in them and they went, “This is DELICIOUS!” and ate them all up.”

After I read that I OBVIOUSLY wondered WHAT IF Saito and Cobb made rice balls?? Be the change you want to see in the world, my friends. Make ALL of the CRACK.

Art made with Graphite, India Ink, and Photoshop!!  Made For Inception Reverse Bang 2021!!!!

[valeriley]

@inception30daychallenge day 09: Which character has the most annoying habit on the job and what is it?

Um, I’m gonna say Arthur and Eames together. Because no matter in what stage of their relationship they are, they can’t help poking at each other in little ways, whether it be verbal spars or little office pranks (see all of their interactions during the preparation for Inception). And while some can find it entertaining at first, it gets old fast for most of their colleagues, who wish they could just focus on the job and not whatever the drama of the week is. Even though most of them have placed bets about the 2 of them and their relationship status anyway. I do think they both are better behaved and more professional normally, when they’re not in each other’s orbit, but their bickering and flirting also brings to light the best in them in terms of ideas, and they’re the best, so people are willing to put up with their ridiculous antics anyway.

They’re all some flavour of nightmares though, that can tick some of the others off at times, so here are their individual worst habits on the job:

-Cobb tends to hover over people like an overgrown vulture when he’s worried or anxious about something, not in a mean way but still very annoying and exasperating;

-Ariadne is an absolute slob, her corner of the warehouse/office/ whatever is always chaos and she leaves her things all around the place for people to find and stumble over, while she can’t even find the pencil she put behind her ear anymore;

-Eames likes to take office supplies and trinkets from people to use, or even just to see what would happen (though he almost always gives them back), and he’s a shit-stirrer, at his most dangerous when he’s bored (or when Arthur is there);

-Arthur has a tendency to become hangry but more time passes and less likely he is to realize he needs food, and so he progressively becomes more jittery and short-tempered, so much so that few dare to approach him even if they can’t concentrate because of his obsessive pen tapping or something;

-Yusuf is a coffee snob and always hogs the coffee maker, and he’s superb at making it so the others wouldn’t mind that much, if it wasn’t for how very finicky he is about who and what can approach his makeshift lab, even having a set of written rules about hygiene and behaviour and such;

-Saito isn't usually part of the job, but on the inception he was always the perfect employer and tourist, helpful and diligent in providing what the team needed, though how he could get anything through wealth could get kind of creepy;

-Mal was always poking her nose in people’s personal business and giving them unwanted advice, especially people she liked, and would try to set things up or give hints instead of thinking about work because she thought she was doing them a favour. But while she was usually right in her assessments, let’s just say her plans left much to be desired.

[sadlonelyyogurt]

more of these, sorry

part 1, part 2, part 3

[suskityrannushazelae]

@inception30daychallenge

Day 17: If you could change anything about Inception, what would it be?

In the scene at the airport, Cobb gets one last look at everyone - except Saito, who is speaking on the phone. I think they need one more longing gaze into each other's eyes to complete the set.

[thenwhatthefukcisthis]

one fine day, eames learns the phrase “lean mean fighting machine” and refuses to call arthur by anything else for a good month.

obviously, he aims to woo arthur but fails by a mile cause OF COURSE the only word arthur zeroes on is “mean” and refuses to meet the forgers eyes in the said month.

safe to say no productive dream thievery was done for a total of thirty days

[enchi-elm]

But how long were Saito and Robert in limbo?

No one knows for sure! Nolan gives us juuuust information for me to come to my own conclusions but not enough to answer some pretty basic questions that might give us a definitive number.

But I have an answer for you!

Get ready for spreadsheets, time conversion charts, infograms, and so, so much conjecture.

(caution: contains overthinking)

By watching the scenes, making a note of what happens, and guesstimating loosely how many in-person minutes it would have taken, I have added up how much time the team spends in level 3 once they reach the fortress. There's a chart at the bottom that shows this in picture-form, but to be exact:

Eames rushes to resuscitate Robert, Cobb and Ariadne arrive, they talk about the plan, Cobb and Ariadne go under {3 minutes}

Eames gives Saito the gun, goes and sets charges, Saito holds off security, Saito dies {6.5 minutes}

Eames arrives in antechamber, Arthur starts the music, Eames starts reviving Robert (first attempt) {30 seconds}

Eames keeps trying to revive Robert {10 seconds}

Robert is revived and talks with Maurice, Eames watches Inception, Eames blows the charges {1 minute}

Ariadne arrives from limbo, wakes in level 3, the floor drops {1 second}

Ariadne wakes in level 2, the elevator stops {1 second}

The van sinks in the river, a sleeping Cobb is left behind and drowns {2 minutes}

Cobb washes up in limbo from having died [*], gets found by Saito's security, gets taken to Saito's palace, convinces him to wake up {30 minutes}

Obviously I had to assume a few things to make any of this work:

[*] I assume that Cobb drowning -- and actually dying instead of just sleeping -- is how he manages to wash up on the shores of limbo despite already being in limbo. If you want to quibble with me on this, PLEASE DO. I would love to talk about how this plot point was supposed to work

All these times are made up based on how many times it flashed between the scenes, how much progress Eames had made around the fortress and how badly it looked like he was getting his ass handed to him by Robert's security XD

The time for a kick from one level to the next (to wake up, essentially) is 1 second

Saito dies the instant before Eames appears in the antechamber

It takes Eames a few tries to get Robert back with the AED

You might notice that I've converted the times listed above (highlighted blue in the chart) into time spent in limbo. As Yusuf so kindly explains to us, there is a twenty-fold acceleration between levels. In table form, that looks like this:

There's not really a need to have a separate minutes and hours table--the numbers are the same, obviously, but it makes it easier to see our magic number highlighted in yellow, the numbers that Yusuf confirms for us: 10 hours in real time is 8.3 days in level 1, 5.5 months in level 2, 9.1 years in level 3, and a whopping 182 years in limbo (ouch).

Yes, you can access this spreadsheet here: [x].

So we have a rough timeline and a conversion chart. From there, it's just a very fun exercise in converting time and adding minutes.

So, as you can see, here's what we end up with:

Robert was in limbo for 203 minutes and 20 seconds, which equates to 3 hours, 23 minutes and 20 seconds.

Saito was in limbo for 320 070 minutes and 20 seconds, which equates to 7 months, 12 days, 6 hours, 30 minutes, and 20 seconds.

Wait, only 7 months? But Saito ends up, like, ancient, right? For sure! So for Nolan-verse to make sense, one of my assumptions has to be wrong. The one really easy way to rack up the years in limbo is to spend even a few more minutes in level 1. If Cobb takes 15 minutes (according to how time passes in level 1) to find Saito, that converts to 4.6 years in limbo.

So how long in level-1-time would Cobb have to faff about to pass 50 years in limbo? Thanks to the spreadsheet, we can find out it's 60 hours!

Other theories I've seen discuss how your appearance in limbo has a lot more to do with how old you feel than how old your "body" is. I like this idea!

Anyway, everyone else survives the van, swims to shore, and hangs around for 8.3 days.

Wait, 8.3 days? Don't they wake up?

This is where I get really confused because I think Nolan changes how kicks work.

There's a lot of pressure to sync up the kicks but we never find out why. Will they be left behind? Yanked out before the job is done? Left feeling totally discombobulated because part of their consciousness is on another dream level? I need specifics, Nolan! But as for the actual kick mechanic, honestly, I had a pretty good grasp on it until Ariadne said "we ride the kicks all the way up" and I could feel my tenuous understanding disintegrate like a marshmallow in a blast furnace.

Earlier in the movie, we see Arthur asleep, immune to Yusuf slapping his face. He only wakes when Yusuf tips him over. He needed a kick from the level above (reality) to wake up from his dream (level 1). We see the same thing when Cobb gets dumped in water at the start of the movie: a kick in reality to get him out of the dream.

If Arthur's elevator trick is all it takes to wake them up from the fortress (the kick from the level above), why have they got explosives in level 3 in the first place?

Because suddenly, the logic changes: when we see the kicks start to collapse, we watch Ariadne fall off a skyscraper in limbo (the lowest level) to get back up to level 3. This is the reverse of what we understand. The fortress explodes, the floor drops, the kick that happens in level 3 takes her to level 2. The elevator stops in level 2 and that kick takes her to level 1. Suddenly it's the kick from below that seems to do the trick.

And yet everything we see before then seems to go against then. IF YOU UNDERSTAND THIS BETTER THAN I DO, PLEASE DM ME. I'm too invested in this.

Anyway.

They're sitting at the rocky riverbank and shivering. They're too heavily sedated to wake up from death or fear. They need a kick. There's probably nothing stopping them from falling from a great height in level 1 to try and wake up, but again, what understanding of "kick" are we using? Could you do it in either reality or in the dream? Barring repeated jumping on a trampoline in level 1, they would need heavy turbulence on the plane (or the landing on the tarmac) in reality to disrupt their inner ear. If that's all it takes--yeah, they can wake up as soon as the job is done.

But for fic purposes (and yes I've got one in progress), I think it's way funnier if they just have to sit around for 8 days until the sedation wears off.

What about Mal? How long was she in limbo with Robert before Cobb showed up?

Hah, yeah, okay. So. Hear me out. She's Cobb's projection. Her death in level 3 should not have done anything. She's not wired to the PASIV, she's not a sedated human partaking in the dream-sharing. There is no separate, distinct human mind to fall into unconstructed dream space. Robert should, technically, be chilling in limbo alone.

Of course, once Cobb goes down there he inevitably takes her with him, the same way he does in every level he goes to. And her death in limbo, of course, is meaningful, certainly for Cobb.

I disagree with you on so many fronts.

DM me or find me on the Discord. I have so much time on my hands right now (clearly) and love dragging people into rabbit holes with me. I already am hemming and hawing about some of the lengths of time I chose for the events in level 3.

And if I have made an egregious math or plot error, I look forward to hearing about it for the rest of my life as the edited post tries to catch up with the original 😂

[of-fluxions]

l’appel du vide (lit. “the call of the void”) a strong or compelling urge one might feel to jump or fall from a high place.

♫ -  the night we met by lord huron

_

cobb loses saito the same way he loses mal.

_

coming soon to a youtube channel near you?