i am the hero of this story (i don't need to be saved) by electrumqueen (PG)

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Hi! I'm so excited to be doing this month of recs in the Inception fandom, because most of my participation in the fandom so far has been as a reader/reccer, and I have so many amazing fics to share with you all! I'll try to bring you fics that represent lots of different facets of this incredible fandom. Just to note nearly all of my recs including this one will contain SPOILERS for the film, so be warned, and if you haven't seen the film first, I highly recommend doing so before you dive into the fandom. :)

Fandom: INCEPTION
Title: i am the hero of this story (i don't need to be saved)
Pairing: Cobb/Mal, intense Mal/Arthur UST
Length: 4,101
Author on LJ: electrumqueen
Author Website: author's works on AO3
Why this must be read:

This fic is my favorite fic ever--not just in the Inception fandom, and not just because it was written for me. ;) When I tell people about Inception fandom, I always talk about what amazing and redemptive things fans have done with the worldbuilding, the characterizations, and the moral themes of the story we're given in canon, and to me all of those things are encompassed in these stunning four thousand words.

This is a story that falls into the category of Inception fics that utilize the trope "Mal woke up." These fics do a revision on canon that assumes that Mal was right when she told Cobb their "reality" wasn't real, and that when she jumped she literally woke up from the dream. This is the story about how Mal attempts to move on.

The first time I read electrumqueen's electrifying fic it literally left me breathless and shaking. It's raw and painful and real, and Mal comes alive in grief and determination and strength in a way that I've rarely seen in any fandom. The dynamic between her and Arthur is incredible, and her love for Cobb saturates the whole fic with such intensity and sadness and power--and maybe even hope.

"We were experimenting," she says. "we went deep, three layers. I woke up, he didn't. It won't happen to anyone who isn't stupid."

"Mal," he says. "Are you all right?"

She stares into her glass, tosses it back. The wine hits the back of her throat hard. "Of course not," she says. "He wouldn't come back with me." She thinks, I let a train run over me for him, and he wouldn't jump off a goddamn building.

They sit, in silence for a long time. Then Arthur says, "I'll make dinner."

"What," she says.

"It's getting late," he says. "You've been drinking."

He is a good cook. She knows this about him, knows this because they used to stay up late and plan jobs and occasionally Dom would say, needling, we should get some pizza and Arthur would say, goddamn it, fine and stalk off to make something quick and elaborate and delicious. "Not in that suit," she says. "I'll get you some of Dom's clothes." She doesn't even wince when she says his name. She is getting better, every day.

If you only ever read one fic in the Inception fandom, I really hope it's this one.

i am the hero of this story (i don't need to be saved)