Back To The Grind

[fae_boleyn]

Hi, guys. So, this is kind of a plea for help here. Does anyone know where I might find good information on civil ceremonies in the U.S, U.K., and France? I've got this weddings fic which is kicking my ass royally, and I have no idea what to do with it.

Speaking of, Inception people, if you were writing three civil ceremonies, one Arthur/Ariadne, one Arthur/Eames, and one Eames/Ariadne (not to mention the dream triad wedding I'm going to have), how simple/fancy would you have them be? I'm leaning toward simple for the couples, and more elaborate in dream, but... Meh. Why did I decide to fill this prompt? Oh yeah, because it was sweet. That may be the case, but it's also terribly stubborn. Then again, I don't write much in the way of wedding stuff. Not in this century, anyway... That says something. I'm not sure what, but something.

Also it is time for me to beat my Tudor muse into submission. I don't like writing bb!Boleyn-Seymours, I need to get the hell out of this extended prologue so I'm working with adults. Except for Mary Tudor, but I don't mind writing her, I got plenty of practice in Handmaid. And as far as Handmaid-verse goes, I think I'm close to a breakthrough in the sequel, probably involving Prince Philip and Princess Cecily snarking at each other. (I may use A/E for inspiration; why not, right?)

Still tinkering with the BN/Inception fic and other stories connected with it. I'm trying to reconcile the near mind-rape that extraction is with the stuff Michael does, which is tricky to wrap my head around. Maybe I should change the commonly held idea that the rest of the inception team would stick with purely criminal, corporate work post-inception. Maybe that was Dom's thing, not Arthur's... Hmm. Worth a shot.

And I keep forgetting to make a Burn Notice tag... I should probably make Inception pairing tags too. And finish linking my A/A/E series fics. At least I finally put my kink meme fills on the fill list... Yeah, no, that's not really that impressive in the face of my general lack of neatness, is it? Saito would not be happy with me.

Comments

[ilovetakahana.livejournal.com]

As it turns out I've already put in the work for the Civil Partnership thing. I used the plot device for A Royal Commitment, the third part of the Prince Eames AU. Basically you want to look for something called the PACS in France, and the CP in Britain. As for the US, that of course depends on the state; not all of them do same-sex marriages.

I can actually answer any questions you might have about the process. Venues, well, depends. Many of the best hotels in the UK accept this sort of thing already. I nearly set that story at the Connaught. Give me a shout and tell me what you need to know.

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

Actually, the U.S. one is to be the Arthur/Ari one, I did that intentionally. I live in the U.S. so I know not all states do same-sex marriage.

I think all they're doing is the ceremony itself, because I feel like if they did any kind of reception thing it would be after the dream triad one. I always thought that part was done at the courthouse, especially if it's quiet - and they're using aliases, it kind of has to be - but am I wrong?

Thanks, that is definitely a place to start!

[ilovetakahana.livejournal.com]

courthouse sounds like a good place to do a nice, discreet little hitching. I'm agreeing with you on this one. Hope Eames does his usual ace job at putting together all the fake identity papers and stuff.

happy to help; let me know if there's anything else!

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

Much appreciated, thank you! :D *hugs*

(Replied first using my RP LJ, like an idiot. Sigh.)

[heith-30.livejournal.com]

So, I'm not that marriage-savvy but I can at least help with the french one.
I found the basic procedure and requirements here, and also here. I haven't found much more than that in English but if you need a little more, uh, specificity, I'll gladly do some more research and translate it for you, so feel free to ask!

Also, ilovetakahana's comment makes me wonder if you want them to have Civil Parnerships or "normal" civil marriages; in the latter case, as same-sex marriage is prohibited in both France and the UK (well the UK Civil Partnership is basically marriage in terms of rights etc., while the PACS is nothing like that at all *grumbles*), if you want it to be more, uh, symbolic without getting religion in the middle of it (it will be under fake identities anyway, so...), perhaps it's Arthur and Eames who should get married in the US, in a state where it's legal of course.
Plus I don't know about the UK Civil Partnership, but the PACS is basically a lot of trouble for nothing, especially for two non-citizens (as it's still unclear whether it's actually even possible or not), they'd have to go through all the paperwork and then sign a piece of paper and voilà! They're pacsed. It's very much not romantic and doesn't give the couple the rights to adopt and get their share of the other's inheritance etc., it's only useful for taxes and stuff like that -and only when you live in France. But then you could have Arthur/Eames having a Civil Partnership in the UK, except IDK, they wouldn't all be on the same "level" if it's all symbolic. Or maybe they don't give a fuck.

So um. Sorry for the ramble, I hope at least some of it might be useful to you.

Oh and my two cents re: the actual ceremonies, I'd go with simple and classy for the couples (perhaps with every civil ceremony being a little different for each couple) and keep the reception for the dream one, where you can bring out the big guns and make the most of the fact that well, it's a dream.

Pfft look at me, writing kid!fic and giving advice on marriage!fic. It's ALL YOUR FAULT.

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

Kid!fic doesn't bother me if the character(s) must remain young for most of the story. But for this, the real story won't begin till I get them past this point, hence the frustration.

Damn, France makes you jump through hoops. Ariadne wanted one of her 'marriages' (fake names for them all) in France because of having lived there, but... I might go a bit meta in this and have them decide that, after some research, France is too tricky.

As for A/E, that was always going to be in England, what with Eames being from there. They do live in California, but... I don't think they give a fuck about levels. They don't seem the type.

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is my fault. Apologies. But much appreciated! ;D

[heith-30.livejournal.com]

Well actually it's quite easy to get married in France (which is why so many foreign couples do it) since it's mainly paperwork so Eames could probably forge the necessary documents (they don't really check unless it's a wedding between a French citizen and a non-citizen to avoid sham marriages, well like everywhere) so you could easily make it work* by saying Eames took care of the paperwork. Which wouldn't be hard for him. Our administration never checks anything. It's like they've never heard of forgers. Bring them anything that looks like what they want, they barely glance at it and say "okay" and you're good (if you're not *suspiciously* brown-skinned, that is >_>)
(I'm amazed at myself right now. Usually I'm like BOO FRANCE I HATE YOU HOW CAN PEOPLE LOVE YOU I DON'T GET IT but right now I'm all like "YAY FIC IN MY COUNTRY KEEP IT THERE" *is proud*...IDEK. Inception, what have you done to me. Now I can't wait to go to uni because the one I'm applying for is like *that* close from the places we see in the movie. It's a shame Ariadne's neighborhood (I'll spare you the details but it's very likely that she lives in the 16th arrondissement) is atrociously expensive, otherwise I'd look for an apartment there and cross the Bir-Hakeim bridge "EVERYDAY, TO GET TO THE COLLEGE", LIKE A BOSS. ** /coolstorybro)
Anyway they (you) could still make it work, they'd just have to spend some time there before (like 40 days IIRC, but they could still pretend if they travel with different passports). But mostly if it's a civil marriage and not a PACS it should be relatively easy. I checked several requirements for a few US states/counties and there are a lot of fancy words in the links I sent you but the requirements are more or less the same.

And re: Arthur/Eames, well if they don't care then it's alright :D like missjjayne said, in the UK civil partnerships are marriages in all but name.


*I mean, I'm totally using poetic license in the A/R/S fic because in theory it would take months of procedures for *mystery character* to become the legal representant of his child, especially if he didn't know he was the father in the first place. I think airlines are going to be bought and mysterious calls will be made. Also, magic testament! (well technically it works)
** I'm also shamelessly bringing that child from France for um, plot-related reasons. Also, write what you know, right?

Anyway blahblah ramble ramble I can't wait to read that fic :D

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

This is true, and Ariadne really wants one of the ceremonies in France, so I'll play around with it, and Eames will have work to do with papers.

It's not a bad thing for you to be excited about being near Inception stuff - I was giddy when an episode of my fave crime show had them going to my school's campus (or so they said, I was sad when they didn't really, but the whole show is set in my city, can't complain much).

Writing what you know is great; I write Arthur from Philadelphia more often than not because I am from there and it makes me smile. Also I can do things like write about the Italian Market on 9th.

[heith-30.livejournal.com]

Yay! Feel free to ask me anything about Paris or French stuff in general if you need to, btw. I've only got one area of expertise or so to speak, so if I can actually be of use for once...

It's not a bad thing for you to be excited about being near Inception stuff

LMAO yeah I don't think it's a bad thing either, but I'm (probably) going to Paris to study filmmaking so I should be all "FUCK YEAH I'M GOING TO PARIS TO STUDY FILMMAKING", you know, not "ASLKDKJALK INCEPTION FILMING LOCATIONS WOOHOO ELLEN PAGE TOUCHED THAT OMG AND CHRIS FUCKING NOLAN STOOD RIGHT THERE AAAH". But mostly that's the latter. Or at least I should be excited about studying near the Bir-Hakeim bridge because that's where Last Tango in Paris was filmed. OH WELL.

And yeah, writing what you know, especially in the middle of situations you've never experienced can really add credibility to a story, I think.
Speaking of, I should get back to that fic. It's being a bitch but I'm not going to let it win and turn into badfic. Nonono. >:I

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

I don't write much set in France, but if I do need info I know who to call! :D

I had a fic wherein Eames was a total idiot and Arthur walked out on him (because it's usually the other way around), and so Eames had to chase him down and grovel, which happened at the Italian Market. I had fun doing that.

Don't let the fic win! I know exactly how you feel, and it is annoying.

[heith-30.livejournal.com]

OH YEAH I REMEMBER READING THAT ONE. Sorry for the capslock but woohoo I remembered something :D I liked that you took the "Arthur doesn't get the true deep feelings of poor Eames" because the opposite is just as likely to happen. "Specificity", anyone? I can see Eames being a total BAMF at work but quite the sentimental klutz. He's so used to pretending and acting like people expect him to that real feelings could be his weakness. Both interpretations are valid, though, because Eames looked genuinely hurt in the "Your condescension..." line. Ah, these two. *shakes head*

Anyway yeah, it's fun to picture characters in places you know well or having your own habits or those of someone you know etc., I have yet to get to that part but I know I'm going to giggle to myself quite often while writing a particular scene for the A/R/S fic (gah, I really need to find a title) because it features typical French food (but not quite what you'd expect) and it's going to be a relief for Ariadne and the girl but for me as well because yay, something familiar at last, in a world that is as foreign to them as it is to me. So yeah, that's a good tool to use to strengthen that, much like what you did by having Arthur end up in his/your hometown, actually.

And IKR? For now it's behaving but I bet that soon it will start bugging me again for MOAR ANGST and neverending sentences and general ridiculousness. Fic, I created you. The least you can do is be nice to me.

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

LOL. The funny thing was, I prompted a very similar idea on round... 11, I think, of the kink meme even as I was writing my own, for the very simple reason that I am a little sick of that trope. I like it but... There is too much of it. I actually was immediately struck with the idea of Eames being the one likely to break Arthur's heart - that was in the first Inception fic I ever did, before I was deep in the fandom, and seeing it almost always be Arthur doing the breaking bewilders me still. The funny part with the condescension line, I got the impression Arthur was being sincere - mostly, anyway. Maybe some surprise, but... *shrugs*

Eames caught Arthur sitting at the same outdoor table where I sat with my friends and had lunch the day we went. It was fun.

Just because we create the fics doesn't mean they play nice. Trust me on that one.

[heith-30.livejournal.com]

That's one of the things I noticed in this fandom: there are lots of tropes and all the good ones tend to be overused.
Maybe this one comes from the fact that in the movie, Arthur "screwed up" when he "failed" to discover that Robert's subconscious had been militarized (between quotation marks because as good as he is, that sort of stuff isn't likely to be recorded anywhere and fellow extractors aren't really going to spill the beans because hello, criminal world. Anyway there's an awesome meta post floating around here that explains it way better than I ever could but basically, Arthur didn't really screw up and Cobb really acted like a huge douchebag to try and divert the team's attention from his own huge fuck-up.) and we never see Eames being anything less than a BAMF. So maybe it incepted people into thinking Arthur was more likely to fail than Eames. I don't know.
But in my head!canon they're both stubborn and insecure, each in their own way but then it's overpowered by the power of their ~epic love~. Basically. But seriously, to me they're both equal in their qualities and flaws, and that's what I love about them anyway. Maybe they won't screw up at the same time (like, in the same story) but it should be more, um, balanced than it is right now in A/E fic.

And I totally agree re: the condescension line, the way I interpreted it since I first saw the movie was that Arthur was sincere but couldn't help being snarky and Eames ,blinded by love, failed to pick it up. JGL and Tom Hardy really nailed that scene IMO. If you look at it from the inception=movie angle, where Eames is the actor and Arthur the producer, Eames sounds like he's pitching an idea (which is not his job but Cobb's) and just, you know, dropping the act and standing there all bare and waiting to be judged and in that sort of situation you tend to take things very literally, so the way I see it, that was just a misunderstanding.

Re: fics, GOD I KNOW D: I just can't help but have a little hope, you know? Right now I'm just dropping everything and starting back from the beginning for the 5th time but at least everytime I do that I throw away all the unnecessary stuff so I end up writing faster because well, I get closer to the point. And it gets better, too, so hopefully at some point SOON I'll be satisfied enough to keep on writing like that (that always happens but I have to get through all the same stages over again, every time. WRITING SHORTCUTS, Y U NO EXIST?)

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

I missed that meta. Did one myself on what running point means, which explains Arthur poking holes in everyone's plans and maybe part of why he was a little snarky to Eames. I actually sort of see them as former friends or lovers who've had a falling-out, hence the tension level. The scene with them in the hotel almost feels like some sort of near-reconciliation in some ways. Eames is basically all "watch yourself" and Arthur's like "hey, no problem, man". And really, why is he hooking Eames up to the PASIV? I would think Eames knows how to do that himself... ;)

My head-canon is similar to yours, I don't know where some of the things in fanon come from. Balance is good, why do people not know this? Honestly, Eames comes closer to being an asshole without justification in the film - someone pointed to him chewing out Cobb and Nash after the Saito job but... He'd just been kneecapped and the job had imploded, I'd be even nastier than he was.

Wow, I didn't mean to cause this level of trouble for you... :/

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

Also, are you on Yahoo Messenger or AIM? Just curious, chatting in real time could be fun.

[heith-30.livejournal.com]

OMG what is that long-ass reply I just posted? Anyway, right now I'm going to get some sleep because it's 6am here but you reminded me that I downloaded AIM some time ago, just in case(we mostly use MSN here) but never got a username or anything so I'll do that, first thing in the morning! I'll PM you when it's done. That way I will actually be able to tell you my complete headcanon, privately *throws suspiscious glances around* (j/k, I think it might even be a widely accepted version but...you never know.)

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

Wicked! And I replied with a long thing myself, so no harm, no foul. :)

[heith-30.livejournal.com]

Actually, I read yours too and noticed they're quite similar in the sense that they both aim to explain what Arthur's job really is, but the other one focuses more on the research part, so they really complete each other nicely, and both really helped me put my thoughts in order. It must be somewhere in my browser history, I'll see if I can find it for you!
I have the same background in mind for them! Also, I don't remember if it's Word of God or not (it might be from JGL, so it's close enough anyway), but I remember reading that they used to be rivals, which might justify the "There are plenty of good thieves" and "He has no imagination" lines but doesn't necessarily mean they didn't know each other on a more personal level, whatever their connection was.

And that scene in the hotel (that was supposed to happen between Arthur and Cobb in the shooting script, so between that and the adlibbed "darling" I guess we were supposed to ship Arthur/Cobb BUT THEN, TOM HARDY. 'Nuff said. We should all thank him for A/E. Not IRL, of course, because that would be awkward.) ahem anyway, that scene really surprised me because it was not strictly-speaking necessary to the plot, and it fits A/E so much better, because I don't see Arthur and Cobb saying that to each other anyway. Of course it's obvious they're friends, but they're always all SRS BZNS with each other so it doesn't really suit them.
Also, I think that bit of dialogue gained all its importance when Eames told Cobb and Ariadne that he'd ride the kick with or without them, because it's only then that we can really understand that Eames sees Arthur differently than he sees the rest of the team. So yeah there are a lot of perfectly legitimate reasons to imagine that kind of background on top of shipping them in general. Maybe that's why I can't bring myself to ship Ariadne/Arthur on its own; they might have kissed on-screen but somehow Arthur and Eames' interactions are more... I don't know, meaningful.

And seriously? People say that? So he gets shot by Cobb's projection (who's still Cobb), then Nash ruins the job, and add on top of it that Cobb's plan was basically a less direct version of "Mr. Charles" (because I don't think extractors often talk about extraction to their marks, that's more or less like telling them they're dreaming except it's the mark who does the math), which we know Arthur doesn't approve of, and Arthur actually did his job and is now screwed because of Cobb and Nash's mistakes? And people think he should have been nice to them? I just don't get it.
And as much as I love Eames, which is a lot, I have to agree that he was more of an asshole (though not really) than Arthur was, like when he said he'd just stay on the first level (I think it was more about moving the plot forward but anyway). Though I've seen people bitch about his whole "aww I was really wondering what's behind that door *hint hint nudge nudge*" speech, and the "it's not me who's never going to see my family again" part, but I think he was just trying to show Cobb how stupid his negativity was. Alas, Cobb is kind of dense, so Ariadne had to make it clear to him by coming up with the back-up plan herself. (nice parallel with the negative/positive sides of the same idea they discussed at the planning stage, btw.)/ramble

And aww don't worry, I'm always like that when it comes to writing. See, it's like the Eames to my Arthur, I can't quite figure it out immediately and it's annoying and frustrating so I get bitchy and pretend I hate it but deep down I just looove it, otherwise I wouldn't even bother fighting with it. I just need to admit it to myself. /fanontropes
But seriously, it's just a necessary part of the process because like I said the other day, I haven't really written in a long time, but I'm really glad I picked this prompt because it makes me push my own limits and rediscover the "joys" of writing but without much pressure the stakes are not the same as they would've been if I just got started on my "big" projects without warming up a bit before. Which doesn't mean that I don't want to do this well, let's be clear. I will never post anything I'm not at least a little satisfied with.
...Which is why I basically never posted anything. :/

[fae-boleyn.livejournal.com]

Wait, a meta on research? Actually, I just might have that one in my bookmarks after all, hmm. Will have to look.

I think it was one of the producers who said they were rivals in their military days or some such, actually. And as for all of us shipping Arthur/Cobb, no, I doubt it. Cobb is so obsessed with Mal. He and Saito get a bit shippy with their "be young men together" thing, but really...

Someone mentioned it in a comment on my meta piece, that Arthur is a bit of an asshole, and used that scene as evidence. I didn't get it. You know, I'd never actually compared the hotel scene to what Eames says to Arthur in the hotel room (reminds me of a couple of prompts on the kink meme, actually). And that scene really makes no sense without some kind of subtext between Arthur and Eames, be it friendship or more than that. It didn't make sense with Cobb either - I have a PDF of the shooting script - but it works with Eames. I just watched the clip again on YouTube, and I was justified in my one note about it - Eames definitely can hook himself up, he was about to when Arthur just plucks the needle out of his hand. Makes you wonder... I think someone was setting us all up, I just don't know who. TH says the "darling" bit was accidental, so...?

As for Ariadne/Arthur, I shipped it initially, but a lot of the fic I read was... boring. And if you watch the kiss, the only one to react is Ariadne, and she slants Arthur this look that seems like it's suspicious and amused all at once. She doesn't seem lovestruck, and he's just "oh, it didn't work, oh well".

At this point, Cobb has earned some snark shot at him, though Eames bringing up the family was a bit of a low blow.

I never thought the A/R/S wouldn't be good, you're clearly putting effort in and I appreciate it fully. I like to be happy with my work too, but I find that my readers usually like it more than I do. Like my Tudor fic Handmaid, easily my most popular piece. And longest, 43 chapters. I'm proud of it, but some of the praise I got from readers seemed... undeserved, but obviously appreciated. It was thrilling but surprising.

[missjjayne.livejournal.com]

UK civil marriages - although I don't know tons about it, I do know it's pretty much marriage except in name. Legal rights, etc. come your way but you just don't get the word 'marriage' (presumably this will be dropped after a while as I assume it's a way to keep the people who are more against the idea of gay marriage quiet).