#a year and a half without updating but IM BACK BABEY

[missjanjie]

Better Than Revenge | Chapter 9

Title: Better Than Revenge Summary: Karma Inc.’s business structure is simple - clients hire them when they’ve been grievously wronged and they send one of their revenge mercenaries to right them. As painstaking as their efforts to remain ethical may be, that may be tested when former detective, Rosé, enlists the squad to pick up where she couldn’t on a much higher scale, with potentially greater consequences. Word Count: ~2.7k (this chapter) | ~23.6k (total) Relationship(s): Rosnali (Rosé/Denali Foxx), Jankie (Jackie Cox/Jan Sport), Halldoll (Nicky Doll/Jaida Essence Hall), Gimone (Gigi Goode/Symone), Gottlux (Gottmik/Olivia Lux) Rating: E

Read on AO3 | Ko-Fi

“Why are you laughing at me?” Gigi crossed her arms and pouted as she watched Symone snicker via her reflection in the tri-panel mirror. 

“Because you’re trying so hard to act like you don’t care about this wedding planning and stuff. You’re picking out the dress you’re gonna walk down the aisle in. You’re allowed to be excited,” she replied, adding, “It’s not embarrassing to have emotions.”

“I’m not acting like I don’t care, it’s the opposite!” She insisted, “The dress has to be perfect, I’m paying excruciating attention to detail, and you should be too. What if our dresses clash?”

Symone blinked. “Now how the fuck does white clash with white?”

“Patterns! Textures! Look at the bigger picture – the pictures!” 

She looked between the two women on either side of her – Crystal on her left and Lala on her right. “Is it me? Am I missing something?” As much as she loves her fiancée, she could never quite figure out how her mind works. 

Crystal shook her head. “No, she’s always been like this. It was nothing short of a miracle that she didn’t want to go to prom, I can only imagine it would’ve been foreshadowing to…” she gestured in Gigi’s direction, “all of that.” 

Gigi had tuned them out at that point, deciding to change into another dress, her sixth, for anyone who was still counting. 

“Didn’t you tell me she was a whole-ass seamstress?” Lala asked her sister. “Why don’t she just make her dress? At this rate, it’ll probably be faster.”

Symone tilted her head. “You might be onto something,” she conceded. When Gigi returned in another dress she was already nitpicking, she suggested, “Why don’t you and your mom make the dress instead?”

She pursed her lips as if she were trying to find an argument, something to justify why they had spent the last two hours here. “I suppose it’s an avenue worth exploring.”

Just as Symone was about to bask in relief and satisfaction, she looked down at her phone to see a text from Jackie. “Well, you’re gonna have to explore it later. We have to get to the office, sounds urgent.”

—

The air in the office was thick with tension. None of the group wanted to be the one to break the silence and ask why a meeting was being called so suddenly. This was out of the ordinary – Jackie was a planner, meetings were found on the calendar a month in advance, complete with an agenda. She wasn’t alone, either – Jaida was on her left and Rosé on her right. They all stood as stone-faced as possible, though Rosé was actively avoiding eye contact with Denali. 

Fortunately, Jaida was able to sense that the other two did not want to be the ones to start the meeting, so she took one for the team. “The case Denali and Rosé went on the road for runs a lot deeper than we thought. More people are involved, more is at stake, and it’s gonna be more dangerous, so I’m gonna get all of y’all into more training.” 

Mik raised his hand. “What do you mean by ‘more dangerous’? We’re already literally killing people.”

“Dangerous as in make sure you have a will written up and a next-of-kin established. Dangerous as in Jan’s ‘alleged’ mob connections might not even be enough to save us,” Rosé replied somberly. “Look, I know this sounds like some Law and Order: SVU shit, but we essentially fell headfirst into uncovering a sex-trafficking ring.”

Nicky let out a groan mixed with frustration and distress, hunching forward and pinching the bridge of her nose. “Ma mère avait raison, j'aurais dû rester en France. Je vais mourir ici.”

“You’re not going back to France,” Jaida replied, as that was the only word she picked out of the phrase. “Listen, we have reason to suspect they’re onto us… Well, they’re onto the fact that someone is onto them. We don’t know what they have on us. But the point is, they know they have to get out of New York and they’re gonna start working fast, so we have to be faster.”

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Jan mumbled, then promptly got up and ran down the hall with Jackie on her tail. 

This time, the mounting silence was interrupted by Nicky. “Are we going to address the elephant in the zoo, then?”

“Elephant in the room,” Denali corrected, getting up nearly as quickly as Jan did. “And no, we are not,” she added pointedly. “I have to go to physical therapy… then regular therapy… then I’m gonna go home and get super high. No one call me unless I get to shoot something.”

Nobody had a chance to respond before Denali was out of the room, leading all remaining eyes to shift to Rosé.

Rosé felt everyone’s gazes burning into her and she knew she couldn’t feign ignorance. After she and Denali slept together, she all but ghosted her as much as one could while remaining in a professional capacity. It wasn’t intentional – at least, she didn’t think it was. But she felt the judgment from her coworkers despite her stubbornness preventing her from acknowledging any wrongdoing. “So… does anyone have any questions?” She rolled her eyes when everyone’s hands shot up. “Does anyone have any questions about the case?” 

Everyone’s hands immediately dropped.

“Nosy cunts, all of you,” she muttered. “Meeting adjourned, I’m out.”

—

Denali groaned when she heard a knock at the door, taking the last hit off her pipe and setting it down before opening it, then rolled her eyes. “If you’re here to say ‘I told you so’, save it. I don’t wanna deal with your bullshit, too.”

Jaida shook her head as she let herself in. “No bullshit, just here to talk, since I’m the only one that got both sides of the story.” She sat down on the couch and waited for her to join. “Listen, Rosé is in some deep fucking denial right now. We all know that what went down in that hotel room was more than just some heat of the moment release of sexual tension.”

“So, what am I supposed to do?” She asked as she packed a fresh bowl, lighting it and taking a hit before passing it over. “I can’t even get her to look at me. I’m not saying I thought we were gonna ride off into the sunset together, but I was hoping for something, you know?”

“I wish I knew what to tell you,” she sighed, taking a hit and hoping in vain that an answer would come with the exhale. “I’ve done my best to knock some sense into her, but at some point, it turns into arguing with an angry, Scottish wall.”

While the visual elicited a small laugh from Denali, it didn’t make the predicament any easier to bear. “The way she was with me in the hospital… I don’t know, I thought I meant something to her.” 

“You do,” Jaida replied with a certainty that caught Denali by surprise. “That’s why she’s being so damn stupid, she don’t know how to handle her feelings for you, so, she’s pushing you away to make it easier.”

Denali sighed as she took a final hit from the bowl before setting it down. “I guess I can take some sort of solace in that, it not being my fault.” 

“You didn’t think it was your fault, did you?”

“No, but it’s nice to hear it from an outside source,” she admitted, then looked at her, “what should I do now?”

“Have you considered getting laid by…  literally anyone else?”

“I haven’t ruled it out.”

—

“We need to do something about the Rosé and Denali situation,” Mik remarked, “those two are our strongest members and they’ve been totally off their game.”

Olivia nodded the best she could while lying with her head in his lap. “Have you guys considered recruiting? Maybe having another pair or two of hands on deck will make dividing the workload easier,” she suggested.

He tilted his head in thought, aimlessly twirling his fingers through her curls. “That’s not a bad idea,” he mused. “No idea how you go about that though. Dark web? Craigslist? Does anyone even use Craigslist anymore?” 

“Right, we can’t exactly go around posting help wanted ads,” she conceded. “Maybe Jaida knows some people from her army days.” With her phone already in hand, she texted her about the idea. 

Jaida: Listen, I can find people if you need people, but you guys gotta make sure the whole group is on board. Olivia: Mik said he’ll bring it up at the next meeting. Jaida: I’ll see what I can do.

“At least we know it’s doable,” Olivia offered, “Do you think the girls will agree to it?”

“Only one way to find out.”

When the next meeting came around, Mik was fidgeting with anxiety as everyone filed in and took their seats. “Hey, um, before we dive into things, can I have the floor for a minute?” After he received several nods in response, he took out a folder from his bag, set it on the table, and opened it to the page he’d typed out the night before. “So, um, given… everything that’s happened lately, I think it would be beneficial for us as a group to consider adding a few new team members.”

The suggestion received mixed reactions, the women murmuring amongst each other before Symone spoke up, “Are you sure now is the best time to recruit considering how severe the situation is?”

“I’ve been talking to Jaida about it, we’d only be taking whoever she recommends, especially since they’re former military or military-adjacent. And she suggested we start them off with the types of cases we used to do,” Mik explained.

“I think he’s onto something,” Jackie chimed in, “we’ve all taken on emotionally taxing work and spreading ourselves thin, maybe having another person or two to share the load would make things easier.”

“Okay,” he clapped his hands together. “All in favor of recruiting for the squad?” With everyone’s hand going up in response, he sent a text to Jaida, telling her to move ahead with the plan.

—

Rosé sat with her arms crossed as Jaida drove them to the airport. “I still don’t think this is necessary,” she muttered. 

“Yeah, no shit,” Jaida scoffed. “That would require you to not be in denial about your situation with Denali. And so help me god, if you say nothing’s going on again, I will drive this car off the highway.”

“Tempting.” After a few minutes of tense silence, she asked, “So these are both girls you know from the military?” 

She shook her head. “Anetra was on base with me, but her sister, Mirage was on the other side of things. Long story short, she was one of the leaders of a gambling ring in Vegas. They weren’t under suspicion or anything, but she had a gut feeling it wouldn’t end well, so she bailed.”

“Did anyone get caught?”

“Eventually, the other ringleader did and the whole operation crumbled. But to their credit, they didn’t snitch and the case has been closed for almost a year.” 

Rosé pursed her lips and nodded. Despite her resistance to having the recruits, she couldn’t deny that Jaida had picked well. And she had to admit, two sisters with vastly different career paths now fighting for the same cause fascinated her. “I guess it’s worth seeing what they’re about.”  

When they arrived at the airport, Rosé wasn’t any more thrilled, but she had concluded that this was what was best for the team. So, she put on a grin and helped the women load their luggage into the trunk. “Welcome to New York, ladies,” she remarked as they all got back into the car. “Is this your first time?” 

“It is for Anetra, but I traveled a lot for ‘work’ and it brought me here a few times,” Mirage answered for both of them, noting that jetlag was hitting her older sister hard, as she was barely keeping her eyes open. “You said the roommate situation was sorted, right?” she asked Jaida.

She nodded. “Yeah, leave it to Jan to ‘know a guy’ whose niece was looking to move out anyway and struck a good deal on renting the extra rooms of the apartment he bought her.” 

“Buying a three-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn? In this economy? Is he in the mob or something?” Mirage asked, only to notice the way Jaida and Rosé hesitantly looked at each other and blinked in surprise. “You know what? I’m not gonna question it. I don’t wanna wake up with a horse head in my bed.”

“The fewer questions you ask, the better. You know how it goes,” Jaida confirmed. It didn’t take long after that for them to pull into the parking garage of the apartment complex and gather their things to go upstairs, the apartment being on the third floor of a seven-floor building. 

“Xunami!” Rosé called out, “We’re dropping off your roommates, come make nice!”

Xunami scoffed as she emerged from her room. “I’m always nice, how very dare you?” She turned her attention to Anetra and Mirage, though her gaze seemed to linger on the latter. “Pleasure to meet you,” she greeted, extending her hand. 

While Anetra offered a sleepy greeting before excusing herself to her room to unceremoniously pass out, Mirage took her hand and batted her lashes. “Pleasure’s all mine.”

Jaida sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay, I’m out. I’ll see y’all at the next training session.” As she left, she muttered under her breath, “I swear to god, the next one better be fucking asexual.”

—

After missing the last couple of meetings, Rosé arrived at the office with Anetra and Mirage in tow. “Gather ‘round, everyone. I’m gonna introduce y’all to our newest recruits – Anetra and Mirage Amuro. For the love of god, please be normal to them.”

“You’re a little late in the game to make unreasonable demands of us,” Gigi chuckled as she and the rest of the group introduced themselves, collectively deciding to take the rest of the morning to let everyone talk and get to know each other.

“You’re a blackbelt?” Denali asked Anetra with wide, bright eyes. “So am I, I haven’t met another woman with one in years.”

Anetra chuckled, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Guess we’re a rare breed, what can I say? I’m glad, though, I didn’t think anyone was gonna be able to keep up with me.” 

She arched her brow with an amused smirk. “Oh, she’s cocky too, huh? Though I guess with your resumé it’s not unfounded.”

Mik was within earshot of them, tilting his head in interest. “Huh,” he remarked, “Looks like we might kill two birds with one stone.” While Symone nodded in agreement, the two turned their heads when they heard disgruntled mumbling behind them and turned to see Rosé pouting with her eyes trained on Anetra. 

“What’s your damage?” Symone asked. “Isn’t this what you wanted? Denali won’t hold what happened over you if she ends up under someone else.” Of course, it didn’t take an expert to see what was causing that reaction. “Did all that just to make yourself jealous, huh?”

“This wasn’t even my idea,” Rosé rolled her eyes. “Whatever or whoever she does is none of my business. I just don’t think it’s a wise thing to pursue, all things considered.”

“One of those things being the torch you’re carrying for her,” Mik chimed in. 

She shook her head as she sipped her coffee. “Even if I was, it wouldn’t be right to act on it. She already got hurt physically on my watch. The best thing I can do is leave her alone.” She knew Mik and Symone weren’t convinced, she was barely convincing herself. 

[nat-20s]

8 for jmart?

#8- constantly cheacking their messages for words from the other

what else was I gonna do? here's some classic ol' season 3 pining babey

Hello Martin. This is Jon. I have gotten a new phone after losing my last one, please put in the new number.

It's a simple message. Straightforward, factual, and utilitarian. There is no reason that pressing send should make his heart race. There's especially no reason that the second he sends it off, he's tempted to lie on the deeply uncomfortable, likely bedbug infested motel mattress staring at his screen until he gets a response. Sure, he's sick of being overseas, and he's sick of being so isolated, and he's sick of running, but he's not...desperate for what little companionship can even be provided by words on a screen.

He does miss Martin, though. He misses Tim as well, but in a manner that's significantly more complex and knotted than the simple desire to be around him.

God, when did he start wanting to just be around Martin? He started being aware of that want when he was at Georgie's, but he has no idea when the want itself actually started. That was probably something he should examine. Technically speaking, that is something that he has time to examine, but he doesn't want to examine right now. Right now, he wants the comfort of perhaps one of the only people out there that doesn't want to kill him, or use him, or both.

Martin, whether through somehow sensing Jon's discontent from nearly 4000 miles away or, more likely, through a general dutifulness inherent to his character, only takes a few minutes to reply. Oh good! it'd been a little bit since hearing from you, we were somewhat worried. putting you in my contacts as we speak :)!

Saying that "we" were worried is almost certainly generous on Martin's part, but Jon feels no need to point that out. Instead he turns on his side and stares at the phone. He particularly focuses on the smiley face, ridiculously charmed by the fact that, despite everything, Martin hasn't lost his predilection for emojis. Two years ago, he would've rolled his eyes, maybe thought something snide about professionalism. It wouldn't have been fair, as Tim used to do the same thing and he thought nothing of it, but he wasn't fair back then. Now, he simply wonders if he can get away with sending one back.

Before he can respond, Martin sends another message. Are you actually alright? I realized I was kind of assuming that losing your phone was the only reason you were MIA, but is anything else going on?

Damn. He tends to forget how perceptive Martin can be. What, exactly, Martin had perceived in that first message, Jon couldn't be sure, but apparently there was something that tipped him off to the..eventful last week he'd had. He really, really doesn't feel like getting into all of that right now, especially not over text, so instead he replies a mostly truthful I'm fine.

Then, squinting at the screen and realizing that might come across as a dismissal, he adds, Well, other than trying not to contemplate the general sanitation practices of a motel that clearly hasn't updated it's decor since the 70s. I'm suspecting the sheets are much the same.

He doesn't know how Martin will react to the message. He can't see the face he'll make, won't know the tone of his voice. However, he likes to imagine that Martin will at least smile. Maybe he'll even give that breath of a laugh, the one that sometimes happens when Jon's being lightly acerbic and it's not directed at him. He doesn't know, but he does hope for it. Martin texts back Oof. Maybe sleep on top of the covers tonight, yeah?, and Jon thinks that he might have guessed Martin's reaction correctly.

Christ, who knew all it took was a combination of jetlag and threats to turn him into a sap. He needs to sleep. He really needs a deep, proper, uninterrupted sleep, one lasting a minimum of eight hours and ideally closer to fifteen. Checking the time, it would be a fairly reasonable time to sleep, especially with the early start he has tomorrow. He considers sending off a quick good night message, but then has the realization that as reasonable as it is for him to be asleep right now, it's just as unreasonable for Martin to be awake. Are you alright? Good lord, Martin, it's almost 4am over there. Did I wake you?

Barely 30 seconds pass before he gets back no, you're good!

A beat, then a follow up message. I've had a irregular sleep schedule since I was like 16. A lot of evening and night shifts had a lasting impact u know? Working at the institute made it a bit more consistent but it's still p rare that i sleep the same eight hours night to night.

Jon's starts to text back something sympathetic; he's had his own struggles with both in- and hyper- somnia, but his phone buzzes in his hand before he can finish it.

Sorry! That was uh probably more information than you wanted.

Well, that just won't do. Even if there wasn't a part of his brain that had recently started collecting facts about Martin like they were precious jewels instead of mostly mundane stories, he doesn't want Martin to think he can't talk to him about things outside of the standard bounds of coworkers. Not at all. We're friends, Martin, I enjoy learning about you.

His brain wants to catastrophize the second he presses send. For the first minute that Martin doesn't reply, he doesn't let it. After the second minute, he allows the minor worry to become more severe. Had it been too much? Were they friends? Jon certainly thought so, but what if Martin wasn't in the same boat? Their interactions had been entirely friendly for months now, but what if that was just Martin being polite? God, what if Martin still thought of Jon as his boss, nothing more?

Ten minutes. It takes ten minutes for Martin to finally respond, and Jon has almost called him four times to explain himself. Ten minutes, and the first response is only Oh!

Then: Cool

Well, that's not a "piss off and die", but it's not exactly comforting. Jon doesn't know how to reply, staring at the words on his screen and not entirely sure if he's fucked up or not. Fortunately, Martin's not done responding, and the next message is much, much better.

Hey uh. Feel free to say no I know it's getting late over there but. Im not getting back to sleep for the rest of the day and itd be nice to actually hear you. Would you be okay with a call?

Without a moment's hesitation, he texts back Yes!, exclamation and all, because he's become someone he barely recognizes. The phone rings just as immediately, and he feels his entire body relax at Martin's first "Hello?"

Things are difficult right now. Things have been difficult ever since the promotion that was a curse in disguise. The world is filled with monsters he barely understands. He wishes he was home despite the fact that he barely recognizes it, as filled with tension and strife as it is. There's so much to discuss, so many things they should be hammering out. But right now, the threats are not pressing. Right now, he can hear about the bad true crime documentary Martin half-watched before he got Jon's texts, and Jon can bitch about the three different "pip pip cheerio" comments he's gotten since coming over seas. Right now, and for the hour before Jon drifts off, breathing slow and deep, he can pretend that this is an ordinary phone call, in an ordinary world, between two people who simply miss each other an extraordinary amount.

[falloutboywife]

I stopped taking my medication back in like. February because I was on it consistently for almost four years and I figured I had adjusted well enough to where I didn't need it anymore, but suffice to say that the reasons my medication was necessary are coming back in full force and destroying my life again. so even if the way I'm acting now is reminiscent of the behavior that got me put on it to begin with, at least its still nowhere near as intense, but its still enough to make me miserable

so like after a ton of bullshit with the doctors office I finally got refills on my prescriptions but one won't be able to be filled until tomorrow because the pharmacy was out of stock, and right now its just the one. I was taking 5mg of the mood stabilizers and 5mg of the antidepressants but after years of the mood stabilizers sedating and exhausting me I asked him to cut that in half and double the antidepressants, but now that I'm struggling again I'm back to he 5mg of the mood stabilizer and 10mg of the antidepressants and fellas

lemme just say

that the way my body feels physically right now is exactly why I stopped taking the medication to begin wifh LMAO I was diagnosed with bipolar when I was 14 and every mood stabilizer has always fucking made me exhausted, when I was in the 9th grade and on this experimental drug called geodon I seriously would fall asleep while standing up for the national anthem and I slept in gym class. literally I would sleep in fucking gym class, please do not ask me how I managed it but 9th grade was a miserable time

and the shit im on now isn't as powerful in that aspect but it generally is very normal for me to sleep for like at least 12 hours a day, and for a while getting up before 10am was almost physically impossible. I understand now though that that's just the side effect of being on this, and I do know the benefits greatly outweigh the detriments but it still really fucking sucks LOL

and the thing is I'm not even on the mood stabilizers yet (; this is just the antidepressants babey

but even if i am very tired, I'm already feeling more relaxed and mellowed out. its easier for me to just sit alone with my thoughts without it immediately going to something very nihilistic or morbid, even when a conversation earlier felt like it was headed in that direction. I've been struggling a lot with my depression ever since I lost my childhood cat back in June, and it feels like its only been getting worse in the last year despite having been on medication for a lot of that time. but I'm in a better environment with better people and things are starting to look up for me, and for a long time I was saying how my depression is very much a result of the environment and circumstance I found myself in back in Ohio.

its interesting how now that I'm out of that environment, my depressed thoughts are manifesting in much darker ways, but thats something for a therapist to help me with and not a personal blog post on tumblr dot com where I should be sitting there thinking about babystump's dsl instead of talking about how I'm trying to hate my life less. I have a lot of posts like these saved in my drafts because this is where I get my thoughts out when I feel too bad bothering my friends with this kind of shit but I'm posting this one because its more positive and its an update on how I've been doing I guess for those this applies to

[inceptionbigbang]

The complete list of fics available for the Inception Big Bang 2019 is here!

Works are numbered, without the authors names to preserve the mystery. Artists, when you're ready to make your decision send us an email or a tumblr message with your top 3 choices. Fics will be claimed depending on availability, on a first come first served basis. 

On this round we will only assign one artist per fic. Artists that wish to claim a second fic, or that wish to work on a fic that has already been claimed should check out the second round, on July 2nd. All fics will be open for all.

Without further delay, here they are:

1. Arthur and Eames meet as trust fund teens in a Manhattan private school. Eames is a new student who's just moved from overseas, and him and Arthur hit it off immediately. Friendship turns to a whirlwind summer romance, until Eames is forced to move back to London. They meet again many years later when Arthur has to kidnap Eames for a job.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up

No content warnings apply

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2. A songfic featuring Aubrey by Bread, studying Arthur and Eames and what their relationship might have been like before the Fischer job. The characters aren't going to resemble fanon (Arthur's closed-off persona and Eames's flirtiness). I'm going to try to expand more on what Nolan gave us during the movie (Arthur's straightforwardness and Eames's aloof/cold personality). Basically, Eames is distant and Arthur chases.

Arthur/Eames

Side: Dom/Mal

Teen and Up - Mature

Graphic Depictions of Violence*

* There might be a torture scene, but I'm still debating on whether or not I want that in the story.

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3. A fic about arthur and eames and their first meeting in the military to all their other meetings in the criminal underworld of dreamshare. not that long, i'm aiming for 2.5k or maybe 3k if i can. i wanted to focus on their totems and how eames could use forging as a totem (because if he can't forge then he must be awake, right?) but he has a totem just in case. and arthur has a totem (the die from the movie) that he uses a lot more except when he happens to be taken and tortured for some secret or another and the only thing that convinces his brain that he isn't dreaming is the way eames stands when arthur aims a gun at him? if that makes sense....

here's a little bit of what i have written so far:

he’s more surprised at the lack of surprise he feels when eames digs a poker chip out of his desk. its blood red with gold and white accents, worth five thousand dollars at the particular casino it came from, disregarding the fact that it was arthur’s shitty first and last attempt at a real world forge after he participated in a poker game eames held on base many years ago and realized half the chips in the set were fake, pocketing a one thousand dollar chip to use as a reference.

“our totems match,” eames murmurs, flipping the chip over his knuckles with a concentration a bit too intense for something he could do in his sleep (ha).

“match how?” he asks, sipping a glass of orange juice, freshly squeezed because eames wanted to use the electric juicer. he's tempted to pull out his die from his pocket and roll to see it land on five, even though he knows this isn’t a dream.

“i have something that you made, and you have something i made. also, there’s some significance with the number five.”

Arthur/Eames

Side: Dom/Mal

Mature

Graphic Depictions of Violence*

*I put the Graphic Depictions of Violence just to be safe but i think it's less than what's shown in the film? because it's supposed to be like an after-torture scene where arthur is like "ouch i'm super hurt and drugged and don't know if i'm dreaming" but again i don't think it's any more graphic than the film at least. might keep that tag just to be safe though idk

.

4. When dreamshare is first developed, no one has totems. They've always gone into dreams for short amounts of time and always with another person, so there's no chance of someone forgetting their reality. Mal's friend Pip has consistently been pushing the boundaries of dreaming, and one day she decides to go a later deeper without Mal. When Mal wakes up, she realizes that Pip is still asleep and she has to go down after her where she basically incepts Pip with the idea of totems.

Gen

General audiences

No content warnings apply

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5. There was a small lake behind Arthur's house. The following night, he sat at its edge and stared at the moon's reflection in the water.

See something you like?

Arthur turned. A man was sitting next to him.

"Hello," Arthur said. "Thank you for helping me get home last night."

The moon smiled. "How did you know it was me?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. He picked up a pebble and tossed it into the water, watching the waves ripple the reflection. "How can you be here and there at the same time?"

The moon leaned back on his elbows and stared up at the sky. "Same way I can be in the lake and the sky at the same time."

Arthur frowned. "That's not the same thing. The lake's just reflecting the light from the moon. From you."

The moon turned to smile brightly at him. "Well aren't you a smart one, hm?" He leaned in and whispered, "I'm a reflection, too. We all are, at the end of the day."

Arthur thought about that. It didn't make sense, but that didn't mean it was wrong. He looked up at the moon in the sky, then at the moon sitting next to him.

"My name's Arthur," he offered. "What's your name?"

The moon looked at him strangely. "Eames. You can call me Eames."

"I'm going to be an astronaut, Eames," Arthur said. "Then I can come and visit you in the sky."

Eames smiled again. Arthur wouldn't have thought the moon liked to smile. "I would like that very much," Eames said. "Very much, indeed."

Arthur/Eames

General – Teen and Up

No content Warnings Apply

This fic is a canon AU and will ultimately include the events in Inception.

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6. Eames on vacation after inception and stumbling upon Arthur; floppy haired, tanned and just completely the opposite of how Eames has ever seen him before.

Hawaii looked good on him, no better than good...

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up – Mature

No content warnings apply

.

7. It’s a follow up story to Cat Person.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11040948

First story summary:

Arthur misses his cat and would very much like to get another. He gets Eames instead.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up

No content warnings apply

Set in the Star Trek Universe

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8. This is an academia AU! Arthur is a struggling young professor trying to find his niche, Eames is the mysterious colleague he keeps (inadvisedly!) hooking up with at conferences.

Arthur/Eames

Mature

No content warnings apply

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9. When Eames first moved to America, he was at a loss for things to cook. He wasn’t used to the supermarkets and ingredients he needed were expensive. So he Googled food bloggers and found Arthur’s blog. The weekly updates keep Eames going in his boring office job. It takes him a few months before he gets the courage to comment but it’s all downhill from there. Eames is lost with Arthur’s sardonic commentary and when Arthur’s next recipe is one Eames requested, he knows he’s in bad.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up – Mature

No content warnings apply

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10. Arthur is a flight attendant. Eames is a passenger.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up – Mature

No content warnings apply

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11. Haunted House AU. Arthur’s working at a popular horror maze escape place to make some extra money over the summer. It’s far from his dream job—making minimum wage crouching behind dark trap doors and chasing random couples and tourists—but at least he gets to vent his frustrations about his coworkers (who are, frankly, driving him insane day by day) by literally screaming at customers. Then there’s Eames, who finds haunted houses boring, overrated, and not the least bit frightening, but is willing to humor a friend (Ariadne?) by accompanying her. But an encounter (and some painfully obvious flirting) with the cute guy under the ghoul mask is enough to make him want to come back again, and again, and again—

FEATURING:

- Cobb as the owner/boss and the only guy who actually takes his job seriously. He probably squints a lot because sunlight genuinely hurts his eyes lmao - Mal as his wife, who used to be an actress but left to start a business with Dom. Super sweet and kind of protective of their employees. Plays the main ghost. She’s terrifying. - Yusuf doing their costumes and makeup!!!!

- Arthur getting the job in the first place because his screams are so full of rage (let! him! rest!)

- Eames blowing all his cash on haunted house admission fees so he can flirt with Arthur (who plays different roles on different days, maybe? but Eames can always recognize him, even under the masks/makeup)

- he’s not trying to be creepy, he just wants to ask if he can see him outside of work/get his number—but something always goes wrong before he can

- Arthur being frustrated because Eames is a) distracting, and b) not easily scared, which doesn’t look good for his job. And it annoys him because he has a track record of being able to freak out anyone. He takes it upon himself to make him scream at least once (I haven’t decided how he does, but he does, eventually. Eames probably jokes about screaming with something other than fear, but i am too babey to write any sexytimes)

- maybe??? mild h/c?? Dumbass Drunk College Students coming in all wanting to prove to their friends that they're the Alpha Male, picking a fight and being super violent/rowdy/destructive, + arthur getting hurt/generally kind of shaken up; that’s the first night he lets eames really talk to him outside of the job, maybe even lets him take him home (i dont know if im including this scene for sure but..perhaps)

- Ariadne getting them banned from the haunted house after reflexively slapping Arthur in the face with a rubber snake (Cobb takes the ‘no touching the actors’ rule seriously—especially after what happened^). Eames thinks he’s lost his chance for good, but Arthur finds him outside and finally makes the first move :)

Arthur/Eames

General – Teen and Up

No content warnings apply

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12. Arthur is in love with Eames, and he's pretty sure Eames is at least interested in him back. Only problem? Arthur is ace, and not at all sure how Eames is going to react to that. But Arthur's going to talk to him about it, because the alternative is to lose even his friendship with the forger, and that's just not on.

Only the team is also determined to set the two of them up. Will that end up being a wrecking ball to Arthur's fragile attempts at making things work with Eames?

STORY OUTLINE:

Arthur is ace, and no one knows. When Eames invites Arthur to join him for Christmas, Arthur panics and says no - and spends the whole of Christmas regretting it. The team comes back from Christmas break, and everything is awkward. Arthur knows he has to say something or ruin his relationship with Eames forever, and he's going to do that at the New Year's party where Eames will hopefully be in a good enough

But unbeknownst to him, he's not the only one who's realized something needs to happen. Cobb, Ariadne and Yusuf agree that an intervention is in order. And when better to set their two friends up than at New Years? Get them kissing and surely the tension between them will resolve itself.

What could possibly go wrong?

At the New Year's party, Ariadne suggests playing a game of spin the bottle. Arthur is less than enthused, but Cobb and Yusuf both back up the idea. They play a few rounds before it lands on Eames, whom Ariadne dares to make out with Arthur.

There's an awkward beat before Eames moves to do it. Arthur reacts by freezing and shying away physically. Eames takes this a rejection and leaves the room. Arthur sits there, frozen, and then leaves too.

He goes to the bathroom and breaks down, blaming himself for being so stupid and backwards. Eames hears him, and comes in and comforts him. Once Eames realizes what the problem is - that Arthur is ace - he promises Arthur that it doesn't matter to him, he just wants to be close to him. Cue happy end credits.

Arthur/Eames

General

No content warnings apply

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13. Arthur learned a long time ago that he was special, and no else could see the strings.

Or, ‘everything is still the same, but Arthur can see Red Strings of Fate’ AU.

There are moments when Arthur thinks he needs to tell Eames about the strings. Owes him the truth, he thinks, Eames deserves to know. Other times – well.

Eames knows enough, and he has secrets of his own. Arthur is allowed this one.

Maybe someday it will come up on Sunday brunch, or something.

“Oh yeah, by the way, I can see red strings that I’m pretty sure are tied up to being literal soulmates and we have one. Get it? Tied up hehe. Anyway, no pressure or anything. Love the sex.”

Yeah, Arthur, that would go lovely.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up – Mature

No content warnings apply

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Ok folks, the next fics are or may eventually get explicit. Minors, we love you guys! Stay safe. Don’t claim them.

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14. Arthur has a goldfish which, long story short, he has convinced himself he only needs to keep alive to prove he is not a hot mess. Except now it’s not looking so good and has a weird sore on its side and he doesn’t know what to do but he can’t just let it DIE. So he takes it to the vet and is scoffed at and told it is a feeder goldfish, they cost less than a dollar, just get a new one.

Two vets later and he’s at the end of his rope when he meets Dr Eames, whose dog is introduced as his PA and goes on all his rounds with him. Dr Eames doesn’t even question it, just starts the exam and tells Arthur to pet the dog and start at the beginning while he works.

Arthur/Eames

Teen and Up – Mature - Explicit

No Content warnings apply*

* Discussions of parental death.

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15. Eames is working with Arthur the first time in a long while, only now it seems that he has a huge crush on Arthur. He doesn't know how else to get rid of the crush and he really can't concentrate on the job when he's thinking about Arthur all the time, so he asks Arthur to have sex with him, to get the crush out of his system. Arthur agrees surprisingly easily and sex is great, but afterwards Arthur doesn't seem happy and Eames' crush is worse than ever. The more Eames tries to get rid of his crush, the more it sticks, and the less Arthur is talking to him. After the job, Eames has some time to think and he realises that maybe neither of them really wanted for him to get over Arthur. He goes to see Arthur to talk to him about it, but they end up kissing and stuff as well.

Arthur/Eames

Mature – Explicit

No content warnings apply

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16. Summary: Eames hasn't seen Arthur in almost four years.

Pseudo- Winter Soldier AU.

--

There's no response from Arthur, no recognition in his eyes. No banter, no teasing – a coldness that would leave any lesser man with severe frostbite.

"... Arthur?" The words sound so raw, so gutted in Eames’ mouth. "Are you-" are you alive? Are you dead? Am I dreaming?

He reaches for his poker chip.

But before he can trace the ridges for the familiar grooves, a shot rings out loud like a crack of lightning.

And the last thing that Eames sees is Arthur and how he always remembers him: in his whip-black suit and a smoking gun in his hand.

Bang.

A single bullet tears through Eames' temples, and he is ripped open, pain lighting every nerve in his body like a pinball machine – and he prays to god that this is merely a dream so he can finally wake up.

Arthur/Eames

Mature – Explicit

No content warnings apply

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17. “Taxiing an injured delivery boy around the neighbourhood to help him complete his remaining orders had not been a contender on Eames’ list of potential scenarios for the night. Instead of the morose teenager bleeding onto the synthetic leather of the passenger seat, and the short stack of pizza boxes sliding to and fro across the backseat, the Brit had rather imagined his rental car would serve far more nefarious purposes tonight." -- Essentially, Pizza Delivery Porn Guy Crack A/E AU. Aim: comedic tone with bowchikkawowow.

*Arthur isn't the teenager. He is a customer who ordered pizza.

Arthur/Eames

Mature – Explicit

No content warnings apply*

*There is mention of a traffic accident - no detail, but it might not be someone's cup of tea. Also, not yet at the sexual scene so don't know whether I'll stop at M or go to E.

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18. In the court of the vampire supreme Saito, ambitious human noblemen Eames and Arthur battle for the coveted position of favorite bestower. Winner takes life everlasting.

Arthur/Saito

Side: Arthur/Eames

Arthur/Dom Cobb

Eames/Saito

Explicit

Graphic Depictions of Violence

Bloodplay, Extreme Sadomasochism. Possible Necrophilia

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19. Arthur is an undercover narcotics officer posing as a high school senior. Eames is his teacher, who is taken with Arthur and who feels terrible for lusting after a student. Arthur takes down the bad guys, saves Eames' life, then they smash (after Eames finds out he's a fully grown adult person).

Arthur/Eames

Explicit

No content warnings apply*

*Eames is (shamefully) interested in Arthur, who he thinks is 18 and also his student.

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20. Pre-movie: Dom and Mal are a dominant/dominant couple who want to find a sub they can play with together. Arthur is interested in trying to fill that role.

Arthur/Dom Cobb/Mal Cobb

Mature – Explicit

No content warnings apply*

*BDSM, bondage, dominance/submission, spanking/flogging, roleplay.

[evangclines-blog1]

what  if  we  ......  pretended  this  was  a  good  intro  .....  aha  just  kidding  .....  unless  ?  i  was  just  gonna  link  to  all  my  stuff  but  ...  ur  girl  wrote  a  lot  and  i  don’t  wanna  be  cruel  and  force  u  all  to  read  everything  JDBWBDJBWJ  so  here we  go  !!   <3

( VENUS, PARK SOOYOUNG, CIS FEMALE, SHE /HER ) guess what, EVANGELINE RHEE has just landed in cannes with their private jet. they are a TWENTY-TWO year old socialite, who spends much of their time & money UPDATING THEIR SKINCARE ROUTINE. i think their family is in the ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY and their net worth is around 10B USD.   

first things first ... i’m gonna drop some links in case u want to read everything i wrote at 6 am the day the submit closed bc im stoopid like that <3 

here u can find her full bio, stats, extended stats, and hcs ! the hcs are definitely the most fun to read so i recommend going to that page hehe

into the summary we go !

BACKSTORY:  suicide mention tw

eva’s dad is a movie producer and her mom was the beautiful woman he met at a train station <3 her parents had a very whirlwind romance, very love at first sight, very passionate and intense type of relationship literally everything you see in hollywood ? they had that ! they got married after only a year of knowing each other and had eva soon after 

thats when things got not-so-picturesque /: after having eva, her mom entered a pretty dark depression. eva’s dad ( who had been aware of his wife’s mental health and even warned by her family against doing anything crazy like getting married and having a whole baby so fast ) was kinda in denial about everything. eva’s mom still had her good days, but the bad days were really bad & when eva was only two years old her mom had an accident & passed away 

so while eva’s dad was grieving, he sent little eva to new york city to go live with her grandma !! eva adored her grandmother more than anyone else. she was a retired jazz singer, and a lot of what they did together was sit around and listen to old records <3 eva lived with her until she was five years old & that’s pretty much the only childhood she can remember since her mom died when she was so young !! 

when her dad brings eva back to france, he’s doing a lot better. he’s back to producing movies and throwing parties and being a part of society again ( things he had stopped while he was grieving for his wife ) and he even found his own form of “medicine” which was simply the company of beautiful women ! most of them were young actresses he met through his work, all of them were gorgeous, and they all adored little eva <3 

eva adored them right back ! they taught her stuff she imagined all mother’s teach their daughters: how to dress well, how to smell nice, how to get people’s attention, what makeup to wear, how to do your hair, how to speak so everyone hangs on to your every word, etc. she was still a little girl but she was absorbing all these lessons like a sponge, & it’s a big part of why she’s so obsessed with her own femininity and why she’s got this mindset about being beautiful inside & out in order to feel balanced. 

none of the women her dad brought home were ever at her house for more than a week. her father, who had been a notorious bachelor before eva’s mother, seemed incapable of falling in love again. that was his first and maybe only lesson to eva, which was how to break hearts, which is something else she absorbed & carried with her as she grew up

as eva grew up, she kinda became obsessed with trying to imagine what her mom had been like. no one in her family liked to talk about her, especially not her dad, but she knew she looked just like her and she was kinda always trying to fill in the blanks. but then one christmas her dad let it slip that her mom’s death hadn’t been an accident at all, that it had been on purpose. that was kind of the turning point for eva & she just kind of....stopped trying to re imagine her mom after that just kinda wanting to let her rest /:

she also went through a phase of doing stuff just because she could. she’d flirt with people’s boyfriends, she’d make strangers fall in love with her, she’d date people just to break up with them suddenly, etc. she kind of realized just how much she could get away with, but more than that, just how far people would go when they fell in love. she was obsessed with that, but also kind of jealous of those people just because she’d never felt that kind of soul shattering love for someone before and she really does want to </3 while she’s never been in love before, and while she does get bored of lovers easily, she still feels a type of attachment that is sometimes so strong she’s not willing to let the other person go even if she’s being selfish by hanging onto people she can’t get serious abt /: thats just life sometimes......whore rights !

FUN FACTS , PERSONALITY, AND TIDBITS: whore antics tw

 goes by eva, never evangeline. her grandma has always called her angel, and so that nickname has also carried over naturally

libra sun AND moon babey ! read abt it here

wears euphoria makeup to do groceries

 moved from paris to new york city for college to attend columbia university. double majored in english literature and business management. 

created what she called the “manhattan group” in reference to the bloomsbury group, which was a group of associated english writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the first half of the 20th century ( that included writers like virginia woolf ) duringher freshman year. although meetings were supposed to be about discussing literature, it mostly became a place to drink warming champagne, flirt, and gossip. eva hosted the events & meetings off campus inside her loft. the manhattan group only lasted her freshman year though, as rumors of all the underage drinking and “cult-like behavior” persuaded her to drop it. that, and the fact that more than one member had fallen in love with her and things were getting quite tense. 

she never carries a lighter because she likes the way more than one person will offer her one if she asks for a light <3 

it’s a famous rumor that eva once spilled her drink on her chanel mini-dress at a charity gala and stripped down to her lingerie in front of everyone. it would have stayed a rumor if it wasn’t for the instagram story that went up of her only her underwear. 

she has a house phone in her nyc loft that only a select few people ( minus the strangers she’s given the number to while drunk ) know the number 

has a three year old black cat named june that she brought with ehr to cannes <3 

is the proud owner of a black maserati despite being an infamous bad driver. no one in their right mind, especially not her friends, would ever trust eva to drive.

it’s rumored she once snuck onto the yacht of a ceo to a fortune 500 company, only for him to find her in nothing but a bath towel eating chocolates while flipping through his playboy magazines, and that he was so taken with her instead of pressing charges he decided to name the boat after eva.

once spent a whole day walking around paris in a cheap pink wig and calling herself yvette. nobody could figure out why. eva often pulls stunts like this on a whim.

believes 2 is an unlucky number and is very superstitious about it, as that is the year her mother died. fully believes her twenties are cursed and is actually looking forward to the day she turns 30 just to escape the 2′s.

leonardo dicaprio once made a pass at her during the after party of a movie premiere she was attending.

during full moons, eva always has sex with the windows open. even if it’s winter, a window will be cracked open. this is one of her many personal superstitions. 

has a collection of old love letters, mixtapes, and presents past suitors and secret admirers have gifted her. while she cannot remember the origin of quite a few of the objects in her collection, she is attached to them still.

owns a replica of the famous cross necklace filled with cocaine that kathryn had in cruel intentions.

literally i basically just copied most of my hcs page im a clown i cant do summaries...

ok so personality wise ? shes a flirt. a whore, if u will. yes thats a personality trait now. literally if ur breathing shes flirting doesnt matter who u are doesnt matter if ur married if u have 10 kids doesnt matter like she will flirt....does not know how to open her mouth without flirting 

big on aesthetics /: believes everyone should get manicures like if ur cuticles are showing shes gonna gag . get help <3

not good at being held accountable for her actions. she’s not really the type to be malicious on purpose, but since she really does play with ppls feelings a lot it’s inevitable she’s gonna hurt someone but if u bring it up shes just gonna be like .. me ? at fault ? u must have the wrong girl i’m angel ...

likes 2 play games JSBDWBDJW clearly....matters of the heart are her fave kind but she also likes doing kinda ridiculous stuff for fun just to see how ppl are gonna react, also likes to do stuff just bc she knows she can usually get away with it 

loves skin care like she will be ur dermatologist ( self appointed ) she will gift u a moisturizer she will get everyone to do facemasks with her u cannot escape it ...

has trouble being alone but won’t admit it / doesn’t even really realize it ??? like it is... very rare u will ever find her sleeping alone or spending a whole day in just her own company 

not shy.....at all like JBSJDWBJDW she could use some shame but she has zero unfortunately 

despite being a whore....she is a HUGE romantic like whew she is obsessed with old love songs & is always playing them on her record player she loves to slow dance <3 she often gives ppl her fave poems ( usually poems abt sex ), she loves getting roses, loves kissing ppl on the cheek when she’s wearing lipstick, & she likes to leave ppl voicemails like ... shes really living like she is the main chara of a romance movie and everyone else is extra #5 most of the time... 

idk what else to say im sure shes gonna evolve once we start rping bc that always happens to me but....for now.....this is the end ! *cue feel special by twice*