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[inception30daychallenge]

The winners of the Inception 30 Day Challenge are @belbeten and @mister-eames!

Each of you will receive a calligraphy quote from @flosculatory as a prize! You will be contacted on tumblr for more details.

Congratulations to our two winners and thanks to everyone who participated! In total we had 11 participants share their ideas and Inception recs, in a total of 107 posts! Extra congratulations go to @dustednight for filling 30 days of prompts.

That’s it for us! Be sure to check the blog or click through the links on the original prompt list to explore some of the ideas and works created for the event. If you create anything based off these prompts, tag @inception30daychallenge so we can promote your work! Thanks again!

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@inception30daychallenge Day 31: A letter to Inception fandom.

I’ve sat down to try and write this 3 times now, and each time I end up with upwards of a page of rambling where I’ve tried to put into words what I wanted to say.

I’ll spare you the previous attempts, but I kept those versions, and I read though them and I think the overwhelming thing I get from them is gratitude.

I’m a relative stranger but all the same, thank you to every single one of you over the years, whether you are still in the fandom or not, whether you have even found it yet or not. This a thank you to anybody before and anybody now and anybody after this is posted. Thank you for supporting each other and delighting in the things that have, are, and will be made.

Thank you to all the people I will never know who have called this fandom a home, and thank you to the people I might have the privilege of getting to know.

This is the first fandom that I’ve wanted to participate in. That will always mean something I probably can’t express.

Thank you for your warmth, your welcome, and your kindness.

Thank you for helping me believe that things can get better.

-F

[inception30daychallenge]

Day 31 of @inception30daychallenge: A letter to Inception fandom.

Well, friends. I don’t know what to say. I’m writing this at 6am and still wiping the sleep from my eyes so please don’t expect anything eloquent or coherent aha. 

This is coming up to my third year in this fandom, the second where I’ve been an active participant.  Before I was here, I was a part of a really large, chaotic fandom that was rife with dramas, shipping wars, all sorts of garbage that took the fun out of being a fan. I loved my little community within the bigger sphere there, but it never ever felt like a safe space. 

In late 2020 I rewatched Inception for the 2nd time and thought hmmm, might as well read a few fics while I’m in lockdown to pass my curiosity, I think I shipped Arthur/Eames for five minutes in 2010. Safe to say I fell hard and fast down the rabbit hole from that. And here I am nearly three years later, still utterly obsessed, and entranced and finally feeling like I’m in a fandom community that just gets it. I can take a breath here. I can create and exist here without feeling like I am constantly swimming against a current. I am inspired daily to be more creative and to think outside the box.

I’ve been in various fandoms for a long, long while - since I was I was 11. And I can say, without a doubt, that this is by far the most relaxing, chill, welcoming, most talented fandom I’ve been a part of in all that time. One I can genuinely say has changed me as a writer, and as a participant. If I can say anything to anyone reading this, it’s to never ever underestimate how your capacity for kindness and patience can be a boon for others. It’s exactly what I needed and received coming here, and what we could all use. Never underestimate the impact your work can have on someone else. You are all amazing.

Thank you to all the creators who have come before me and those here now. Thank you to the organisers of the year-round events and those who participate in them, and to the ones that are just happy to sit back and be here. You all make this fandom what it is. 

Love,

Ash.

[inception30daychallenge]

Day 31: A letter to Inception fandom | @inception30daychallenge

Dear Inception Fandom,

The first word that comes to my mind when I think of this fandom is: “home”

Because it sure does feel like home to me. It’s a safe, cozy, beautiful place filled with super kind and talented, lovely people. This fandom makes me truly feel so peaceful, and I know we all feel the same about that.

One of the reasons why this fandom feels like home to me is also because: you know how you find yourself wishing to get back home especially after having a long day? Because you know you’ll be able to be yourself there and you’ll feel relaxed, comfortable and good? Yeah, exactly that.

It’s the fandom I keep getting back to— no matter how much sometimes I’m busy obsessing over something else. Inception and the Inception Fandom are always in a corner of my mind. Nothing will ever change that. Nothing. I’ll be honest: I don’t remember feeling that relaxed and good in any other fandom as much as I did in this fandom.

It’s home.

I love how this fandom is still here after all these years, and I know that it’ll always be here— which makes me feel so happy and grateful.

I want to say a big “THANK YOU” to the fan artists who spend so many hours creating amazing stuff, painting, drawing, writing, giffing, editing videos and much more. Thank you for sharing all these with us and making our days much better with your amazing posts. Thank you for your work, your passion, your time. We appreciate the dedication you put into your works way too much.

I want so say a big “THANK YOU” to the each member of the fandom for being here, for sharing their love for Inception, and for their existence.

For being so welcoming and allowing us to just be ourselves.

And a big “THANK YOU” to the lovely, amazing people who organize such lovely events like this one.

I know I’m not always that active in the fandom, but your existence really means a lot to me, and I made such great friends thanks to this fandom. And I can safely say that this is the best fandom I’ve been ever in. You are all just so special.

Thank you so much for everything you’ve given to me and to so many others who have been lucky enough to be a part of you.

I love you all ❤🌻

Sending many hugs,

-Eisy

[inception30daychallenge]

Day 31: A letter to the Inception fandom

For the @inception30daychallenge Day 31 prompt:

Fanfiction = love

Or, perhaps I should say: fandom = love

The words you write; the headcanons you share; the gifs and videos and fanart you create, and put out into the world so bravely for others to see and enjoy, it is love. 

There’s a lot of debate and skepticism around the merit of fanfiction.  But really it’s an homage. And humans have been making those for thousands of years. 

Every so often, something inside our brain clicks, and we connect deeply with a piece of media or art or writing, and we feel so much love for it that we can’t help but create our own homage, our own love letter to it, our own fanworks.  And how wonderful that there’s a place and way for us to connect and share that love with people from all over. 

I'm lucky to have lots of love in my real offline life: dear friends and family and neighbors and a spouse and child. But no one that I can share my love of fandom with; no one who really gets it. And so it’s been incredible the last few years to have found and been welcomed into the Inception fandom where I can share my love with people who get it. People who might be from different continents, ages, backgrounds than my own. But we share this.

And I love each and every one one of you in the fandom. Yes, you.

Love, and I would triple underline that if I could 

Belbeten 

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@inception30daychallenge Day 30: Your favourite thing about Inception.

I’ve been thinking about this, and I don’t really have an answer.

At first I thought it might be Arthur and Eames, because they seem to be consistently occupying a part of my brain. But then I thought that wasn’t really true, because while I love them to pieces, that’s not the entirety of it.

There is an emotional hook that I find really pulls at me. Grief. Guilt. Regret. Hope. If those weren’t there, it probably wouldn’t have such a hold on me.

Then I thought that actually I was struggling to pick something out because there are many things I love about it and I was finding it difficult to separate them from the whole.

And then I thought about all the amazing things I’ve read, and I thought that maybe that might serve as an answer of sorts. Because something I love about Inception is that all we’re really given about anything is breadcrumbs, and yet it is something that has inspired such curiosity and love, and the creation of things that have made me laugh and cry and feel.

I love that it is a source of discussion and theorising. Would I want more canon backstory? Yes! But I also love background fic. For me, it’s not about whether there is a ‘correct answer’ but about posing the question. It’s saying 'what about this?’. 

I love that it has the capacity to make people curious, to come up with theories and headcanons. It’s following the trail of breadcrumbs and seeing where it goes. It’s the possibility of finding something that I never knew existed. It makes me curious, and I think that’s wonderful.

[inception30daychallenge]

@inception30daychallenge

Day 30: Your favourite thing about Inception.

How at its core, Inception is a truly incredible emotional journey and a deeply moving, beautiful love story. Mal and Cobb's relationship is what makes the movie for me - inevitably tragic but ultimately hopeful. They serve as the thematic pillars of the movie, as a mirror to the other character developments and (de)constructions (i.e. Ariadne, Saito, Robert). There's a deep-seated sincerity in the stories of Inception - of grief and loss and memory and reality - that makes everything so relatable to the human experience, despite it being a huge sprawling production of sci-fi intricacies.

[inception30daychallenge]

Day 30 of @inception30daychallenge: Your favourite thing about Inception.

We’ve spoke about it somewhat in the watch parties but I think apart from it giving us A/E, I’d have to say my favourite thing is that Inception, at its heart, is a story of hope and of second chances. It’s about taking that part of you that is angry or grieving or guilty, compacting it, rearranging it so that it’s no longer in your way and you can move forward. It’s about growth - I think each character has their own arc or mini-arc of coming full circle in some way and it’s very pleasing and cathartic and what makes it such a great film I could rewatch anytime

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@inception30daychallenge

Day 29: A self-rec! (anything from art to a funny Tumblr post you made!)

Oof, I haven't really made anything for the fandom, other than these 30 day challenge posts! But I have this Ariadne character thoughts that I posted the other day, inspired by the amazing Ariadne fics and analysis I have found before.

[inception30daychallenge]

Day 29 of @inception30daychallenge: A self-rec! (anything from art to a funny Tumblr post you made!)

A gifset of my favourite squishy lil grump Arthur.

A fic of my favourite disaster hot mess lil grump Arthur and his disaster husband Eames.

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Day 29: Self-Rec

For the @inception30daychallenge Day 29 Self-Rec:

I'm reccing the matching totem cross stitch hoops I made last year for the respective International Eames and International Arthur Appreciation Days:

[ID: A photo of two embroidery hoops with white aida fabric. The first hoop is a casino poker chip that has been cross stitched in orange, red, and yellow thread. The text on the poker chip reads "100 Shillings Mombassa District Casino". The second hoop is cross stitched in red thread, and shows three sides of a six-sided die. /.End ID]

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@inception30daychallenge

Day 28: Your favourite setting in Inception.

I really love Saito's memory castle! It's super interesting how he chose to build a place that he remembered from a dream, instead of his own reality or imagination. With architects like Cobb/Mal and Ariadne, the final instinct is always to design from their real life memories.

I also love how the setting bookends the movie, place and design exactly the same, but with a completely different feel. In the beginning, he was a skeptic solely on a business mission. At the end, he's transformed into a man with nothing but pure faith.

[inception30daychallenge]

Day 28 of @inception30daychallenge: Your favourite setting in Inception.

It’s gotta be the warehouse. The props! The set design! Every time I see a still I notice something new I’ve never seen before. It’s so chaotic, there are PASIVs everywhere! The detritus! The random assortment of seating and sciency-slash-medical equipment for Yusuf! Also nary a pillow or blanket to be seen for people who sleep professionally, for shame! I just know if the walls of the warehouse could talk, oh the stories they would tell. 

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@inception30daychallenge​

Day 28: Your favourite setting in Inception.

Visually, I think it’s fantastic. But also, this idea of washing up on the shores of the subconscious gets me every time. The whole concept makes me think of something different each time I watch Inception.

I find the liminality fascinating, and I think it’s interesting that every shot we have of somebody waking up in limbo, they are in the sea.

And this pulls me in all sorts of directions. Like the sea, I guess. Sometimes the tide can deposit something on the shore, and other times it can take it out to sea. I keep toying with the idea of applying the mechanics of coastal erosion and deposition to limbo, so I suppose to extend the metaphor (whilst resisting the urge to talk about different kinds of rock), maybe the way the mind can create and simultaneously deconstruct. Or how we create memory and the nature of forgetting, the associations formed between things.

[inception30daychallenge]

@inception30daychallenge

Day 27: What would Fischer have on his online dating profile?

Do billionaires use Tinder? But I think it would be very earnest and heartfelt, bless him. Something like:

"Looking for the love of my life. Serious dating only. Here are my likes and interests (bla bla bla). If you think we can be a good fit, swipe right, I'm happy to chat! Also have a picture of my cat."

[inception30daychallenge]

The 30 Day Challenge is over!

Thank you to everyone who participated! Stay tuned - prize winners and prizes will be announced after all the entries have been reblogged.

If you were inspired by any of the prompts, please feel free to continue making content outside of the challenge! We’d love to see it!

[inception30daychallenge]

Today's the last day for the Inception 30 Day Challenge!

To qualify for the prize draw, make sure you get your 30 Day Challenge posts in by 11:59 PM EDT tonight (July 31)!

Remember, you get one entry for each prompt you’ve answered. We’ll have two winners!

(Of course, anyone can continue posting prompt answers for as long as they want! This deadline is just for raffle entries.)