#I'm still learning the survival ropes of this game and like...it's fun but also REALLY FUCKING FRUSTRATING HOW IS THIS LIKE THIS JESU

[violet-dragongirl]

Yep I need to take a break, eat, drink, maybe get tipsy, watch some Lupin III Series 5 and chill for second

[mister-eames]

Hello Ash! So, we know that Dom got into dreamsharing because of professor Miles, but how do you think Arthur and Eames got into the industry? And why did they stay, what attracted them to it?

(this is especially true for Arthur, who seems to not have side gigs apart from it, from what we know at least)

And do you think they'll stay after inception?

Hello lovely!!! Oh I love this question and I'd love to know your thoughts/theories as well!!

For Arthur, I love the fandom fave military backstory, and having been a part of the original project. Or maybe Miles used to work in the US and it was Arthur that was one of his 'best and brightest' that Cobb corrupted. Mostly, I gravitate towards the idea that Arthur was never a student or in the military - that he worked himself up into a position as a research assistant through sheer hard work and happenstance, met Cobb through this position and got roped into dreamshare when Cobb went off the rails.

Arthur, to me, seems to be one of the most grounded in having a life outside of dreamshare/criminal activity. I think he was deeply attracted to the exploration of it - to the knowledge, the learning. A whole new world of ideas, notions and theory that he couldn't extract from any book. His thrill was the unspooling of it all. If Arthur wanted to know about dreamshare, its mechanics, its history, then he had to work for it, experience it. Dreamshare, to Arthur, was a challenge, it was the chance to dream up the life for himself that he always wanted - to make the money everyone said he never would.

But then, I think, once Arthur had learned and experienced as much as he could... it stopped being a challenge. It stopped being fun, something he enjoyed. It stopped being the thing that lit the fire under him. That, and what happened to Mal. Maybe he just wants to do something else, go back to a semblance of normality. I truly think he got a big dose of 'play stupid games, win stupid prizes' with Mals death, amongst other things to where it just wasn't worth it anymore. He stayed to get Cobb out of his mess, and didn't return to it, after Inception, except potentially for a handful of times when someone really needed him.

For Eames.... also love the military backstory. Solid. Works for me, love it. I'm also fond of the idea that he was just a young man down on his luck at one point, got into stealing, forging, cat burglary, whatever, and was tasked - either by fee or by blackmail - to steal a PASIV. Of course, seeing what a high price it fetched for, he kept it for himself. The rest is history.

I have a headcanon that Eames was actually retired from dreamshare at the time of Inception, and that he couldn't help but have one last chance at succeeding where he had failed before (and one last chance to dream with Arthur again). I don't know if he ever goes back after. Maybe on very rare occasions, to see if he's 'still got it'. My feeling is that his heart hasn't been in it for a long time, and that the detriments truly outweighed the benefits for him.

I like to think they were both on the path of different things in life besides dreamshare at the time of the movie. Neither of them seem particularly invested in the work itself for the reasons I mention before - especially Arthur, he didn't even want to take on the job, had no professional interest whatsoever. Eames barely kept a toe in the door prior to his recruiting. That, and I think they're at a transitional point in life - thirty-ish/thirty-something - where your priorities are just...changing. Your drives are different, your goals. You look back at your twenty-something version of yourself and say see, you survived, it's time to take a deep breath now. With all of the imagination, influence and investments they must have, I don't know if they would want to spend their time moving forward the same way they did the decade before when they were young and careless, after all they've been through.