Eames doesn’t give two fucks about anyone here, least of all the mission. He’s on a timer and he intends to go back in one piece. Being a team player ends here, and the second everything begins to fall apart, he will cut the losses and move up. No regrets, even for the billionaire mark or the billionaire client, the father yearning to get back to his two kids or sweet little ariadne. Eames doesn’t care about the happy endings, but only his own safe exit.
on the other (lovable) hand,
A plea. A begging. Eames is not the one who controls the kick here so he has to tell Arthur, who might press the button even at the cost of his own life, to come back before the eleventh hour. Eames knows how self-sacrificial Arthur can be, so he is desperate for Arthur to know that he wants Arthur alive, no matter what. Like it doesn’t matter to him whether they win or lose, whether Arthur outruns the security or whether the inception is achieved, he just needs Arthur to come back. Just come back. Come back at any cost. Just do that, cause Eames’ only happy ending is Arthur.
Eames and Arthur are not virtuous people; in fact, they tend to revel in their vices.
Arthur smokes like he sucks dick: languidly, richly, enjoying himself in the process and tasting the smoke on his tongue, in his throat. Eames never joins him for a cigarette when they are not alone — the temptation to drop on his knees and beg for a taste is too strong.
Eames plays poker like he strips: teasingly, mirthfully, recklessly. He starts by showing just a sliver of his cards, a tick of a corner of his mouth, a little of tongue sticking from between his teeth when he drapes his suit jacket over the back of his chair; and ends up going all in. Arthur takes pride in his patience — yet he never quite manages to wait all the way to the end before he yanks Eames by his already loose tie.
Okay, but I only noticed the other day how Arthur’s eyes are FIXED on Eames’ forge the entire time he’s playing the blonde woman. The entire time. Arthur’s just paralysed by it. He can’t take his eyes off Eames, no matter what form he’s in.
WHO IS THIS??? WHAT IS THIS??? IS THIS WHERE EVERYBODY IS PULLING THEIR LORE FROM???? WHY AM I SO LATE TO THIS??? HAS EVERYBODY ALREADY SEEN THIS????? WHY HAVEN'T I EVER SEEN THIS BEFORE????? ????????
that inception darling gun scene is so insane like normally if it's a rival relationship after eames shown off his big ass gun arthur should have done the same (show off his dream skill) because that's how every rival relationship works, they compete with each other but what arthur did was act surprised, made an impressive look, oh his gay ass was smitten with eames so much like your plan didn't go smoothly, you missed the target, and you panicked a bit but then you have this hot british men helping you by pulling out his big imaginary gun and calling you darling and suddenly everything seems to be better, no wonder why he was the one hooking the iv for eames during the second dream stage instead of cobb in the original screenplay because that's his boyfriend, his pookie, his future partner
Nonnie you are SO right! And hii!
Yes, like you said, this easily could’ve been a dick measuring contest (tbh, on paper, it is! even with the darling bit, cause when sometimes when you add piece like “sweetie, hon, dear”, with the right amount of contempt, it can turn very hostile)
but while the darling (everyone say thank you Tom hardy) did add the cherry on top and was the final push over the edge, the reason why the line will go down as the gayest moment in cinema is all of the other little bits ; ramble under the cut :)
1. Like you correctly said, the priceless reaction of arthur (everyone say thank you JGL) for eames pulling out his big ass gun.
Had he done the same face he did when eames kicked his chair or given his bitchface of specificity, or like stared at eames with “oh my god you are better at this than me”, the scene would’ve been basically a dudebro moment. a waste of space and time.
instead, he kept his arthur face on (once again, thank you JGL for not blushing and giggling when a sexy British guy calls you darling) and delivered a mixture of a admiration ok cool and that was pretty darn hot and familiarity that’s my eames for you, always saving the day and a grudging but fond thanks you for having my back and saving my ass.
2. The moment leading up to it. oh there’s a beautiful piece by @mister-eames which I will link if I can find it, how in that particular moment, is so important in the sense that, it follows right after a very stressful moment. Arthur had been shouted at and singled out it was your responsibility this was not supposed to happen we were not prepared for this for possibly running the entire mission and killing a billionaire and putting everyone is danger and even if it was cobbs fault , it was still obvious that if arthur had known about the subconscious, things would’ve been much smoother.
And the way Arthur said sorry (once again, thank you JGL, you sublime sob) was so heartbreaking that he owned up to his mistake and was truly sorry (in contrast to yusufs nonchalance and cobbs reluctance guilt of drugging everyone w/o consent. So it’s not hard to imagine that arthur was beating himself up and was shouldering the responsibility of getting everyone out as much as he can. that’s why he was putting his sanity on line by firing.
And eames coming in, delivering a smooth line which is akin to their usual banter with a endearing name thrown out and while eames could’ve smirked or winked or scoffed by one upping his coworker, instead choosing to come in and leave without a big fanfare (again, thank you mr hardy for being you) , just offering a silent support you did your best I don’t blame you I’m with you added so much to that scene, which made that dialogue birth thousands of fics and and fanarts.
“And eames coming in, delivering a smooth line which is akin to their usual banter with a endearing name thrown out and while eames could’ve smirked or winked or scoffed by one upping his coworker, instead choosing to come in and leave without a big fanfare (again, thank you mr hardy for being you) , just offering a silent support you did your best I don’t blame you I’m with you added so much to that scene, which made that dialogue birth thousands of fics and and fanarts.”
YESSSS……I love the idea that this moment is a olive branch, a demonstration of solidarity, not just because they need each other to make it out of this mess, but because Eames doesn’t blame Arthur for this shitshow. It’s definitely giving I’m not mad at you darling - let’s just get this done.
it's always so funny to see a post from years ago that's like "is anyone still thinking about arthur x eames in 2016??? 🫣" buddy you're not gonna believe this
everyone say thank you to joseph gordon levitt and tom hardy for imbuing their characters in inception with so much chemistry that it gave the impression of a tangled history of failed romance and repressed love and the desire to reignite the flame between them. and they did it for literally no reason. in 2010
Genuinely! We are given absolutely not context for their relationship and the way Joseph Gordon Levitt and Tom Hardy characterized their characters and their character's relationships with each other is stunning. It gives the illusion of context in a movie that doesn't actually reveal much of anything about anyone.
