I don't know about pre-Greco Egypt but let me just say the Ptolemies out here making the 18th century French aristocracy look nice

"The Ptolemies reorganized her agriculture to yield the absolute maximum, taxed it so that the peasant was left just enough of his harvest to live on, put the rest in the silos at Alexandria, and exporting it all over the Mediterranean pocketed the proceeds."

The Ancient Mariners by Lionel Casson

anyway I am going to spoil everyone's fun. The Mummy is a racist movie, it's frustrating that it's popular and no one discusses that, and let me explain why

Whitewashing/brownface/self orientalism. The Carnahan's are meant to be mixed race. Their actors are white. Oded Fehr is white and a significant portion of his career has been playing exotic brown people in media made for white people, specifically while weaponizing the ethnic ambiguity he does have. Imhotep is white- insult to injury, his actor is an Afrikaner! Playing a pre-colonial African character! The only Egyptians played by people who arent white are the sex pest warden, Dr. Bey (also a minor character who dies), and Anck-su-namun. None of their actors are Egyptian.

The portrayal of Egyptian men. The warden and Jonathan are both portrayed as pathetic, weak, morally circumspect, and the warden is a pervert. Imhotep is also a pervert, frankly. The Egyptian public at large- mostly male crowds and male workers- are literally canon fodder and senselessly killed on multiple occasions. They're turned into mindless zombies, with no consideration given to what happens to them afterwards. Did hundreds of people just die? In public? The only two Egyptian men that aren't utterly horrible are Evie's boss, Dr. Bey, and Ardeth.

The portrayal of Egyptian women. The only two we actually hear speak is Evie and Anck-su-namun, both of whom have orientalist tropes applied to them- Evie, when they make her dress "local", and Anck-su-namun with the whole titlating "the pharaoh has me walk around naked and covered in wet body paint so no one can touch me without him knowing" nonsense- similar tropes are applied to Ardeth, frankly, with how his tattoos are portrayed, his ethnic background, etc. They specifically chose tattoos a Western audience would still find sexy (which aren't based on the actual local tattooing traditions). Face veils in early 20th century Egypt didn't really look like that, even the ones you might call flirty, and I find portrayals that make Ancient Egyptian society's overall often greater comfort with bared skin into titillation for the audience pretty offensive, especially as there are currently existing cultures in Africa viewed through lenses like that. It's not merely ahistorical, it's apart of a broader issue with how living people are viewed by others.

This is more of a me thing, other Egyptians may not agree: I think mummies as a horror trope are racist. The key fear to mummy movies is that white people might get punished for disturbing the graves of the honored dead. You are asked to identify with literal colonizers and view the local population as antagonistic (past and present in this case), especially in this movie, which is set before England started pretending it wasn't controlling Egypt (and by the damn way, ask ANY Egyptian when the country got independence and we'll say 1956. Between 22 and 56, England still had explicit control over some of the government, notably foreign relations and military, it used this an excuse to justify control of Sudan, and it was militarily occupying the country, especially the Suez area. When King Farouk tried to make a decision they didn't like, they put his palace under seige. That is not independence. Whoever made the 1922 declaration the first result on Google is manufacturing apologia for imperialism).

Master List of Master Lists

Top Gun Fanfiction

Pete "Maverick" Mitchell

Don't Fear the Reaper

My call sign is Reaper, don't ask me how I became the Reaper. My ticket to Top Gun was a surprise to not only myself but everyone around me. My commanding officer believed that a female deserved a chance to prove herself to the many men that had already graduated from the prestigious training school. I've flown with many of them on prior occasions. Although I will make sure to create a legacy for myself this time, I took the chance and will prove to myself and those around me that a woman can have it all: a man, a plane, and prestige. Maverick x OC. Ongoing story

The Mummy Fanfiction

Rick O'Connell Fanfiction

Rick’s Kryptonite [Book 1]

I am the adopted sister of Evelyn and Jonathan Carnahan. I never thought I’d be pulled into such a crazy adventure in the hot Egyptian sun. I had no idea that I’d fall in love and run into some lost friends along the way.

Here We Go Again [Book 3]

Alex O’Connell Fanfiction 

Stained Love (continuation of Rick’s Kryptonite) [Book 4]

Nick Morton Fanfiction (The Mummy 2017)

Liquid Mercury (continuation of Rick’s Kryptonite) [Book 5]

Ardeth Bay Fanfiction

Ardeth’s Weakness - Evy & Ardeth (continuation of Rick’s Kryptonite) [Book 2]

Evelyn and Ardeth’s growing love story.

Desert Umbra

I am the sister of Rick O’Connell. I was thrown into this adventure unwillingly by my brother, to Hamunaptra where I met this beautiful man who is the protector of evil adn in ancient days the pharaoh’s bodyguard. But there is a darkness surrounding us, something sinister that I cannot quite pinpoint. Good for me, the darkness has always been my friend. (ongoing story)

Jonathan in The Mummy script vs The Mummy film

I’ve had Jonathan Carnahan on the brain lately and read the script for the movie and took note of the differences between the script and the final film. There were enough differences that I don’t think it was a waste of time at all, and I was fascinated by three little Jonathan tidbits in particular, which I’ll cover in chronological order as they appear in the script. The first is that his opening line is different! His first exchange with Evie and his first words in the movie are as follows:

EVELYN: Have you no respect for the dead?

Jonathan cackles in the manner only the truly drunk can for a moment before slinging an arm around the corpse.

JONATHAN: Of course I do! But sometimes, I’d rather like to join them.

So, that’s the movie, and that exchange does happen in the script, but it happens directly after his “new” first lines.

EVELYN: You- you...!

JONATHAN: Drunkard? Fool? Rat-bastard? Please call me something original.

And then their “respect for the dead” exchange follows! I just thought his snark was funny and very in character. Also, in the script in that scene it describes Evie as removing a cigarette Jonathan stuck into the corpse’s mouth, which is gross and funny but also confirms Jonathan is a smoker.

The next interesting tidbit is this exchange in the scene where Jonathan and Rick are interrogating Beni right before the Egyptologist gets drained. Beni knees Rick in the balls and escapes out the window, and there’s an exchange that isn’t in the final film.

Jonathan cringes.

JONATHAN: That looked rather painful.

O’CONNELL: (wincing) Ya know, ever since I met you, my luck has been for crap.

JONATHAN: Yes, I know, I do that to people.

This lil exchange is so fascinating to me. I read it as Jonathan being self-deprecating and almost guilt-ridden over... what? Something in his past? An occurrence where someone made his acquaintance and their life fell apart and he blamed himself for it as some sort of bad-luck charm? Also, he says people, like this has happened to more than one person who has met him! I’m fascinated by this rare glimpse of guilt from a character who is a pretty unapologetic thief and general drunken charlatan! 

Finally, the last bit is a whole extra scene that was cut from the film for streamlining purposes as far as I can tell. I don’t really feel like re-formatting the whole scene rn so I encourage you to go read the script (control f and search for INT. CATACOMBS - NIGHT if you just wanna read this particular scene), but I’ll summarize in brief as well.

Basically it’s a missing scene after Evie is taken by Imhotep and they escape into the sewers. In it, they decide their next move and Ardeth explains that Evie is going to be a human sacrifice. This pulls Jonathan up short, and he goes from already concerned and upset to shocked that his sister’s life is on the line. I like this scene because it shows Jonathan truly cares about his sister enough to drop his superficial flippancy he displays throughout most of the film. I understand it was cut because it slows down the pacing a bit but I do have to admit the wake up call Jonathan seems to experience is a nice bit of character development.

And that’s everything! I hope I’ve entertained you and possibly encouraged you to read the script (which is MILES better than the novelization)!

I am...a Professor

I've been on a bit of a faerie kick lately, and Emily Wilde is one of my favorite human protagonists for fae books. She is objectively bad at people, but that's not unusual for academics in general. As a recovering academic, the fact that this book is about how bananas field work can go just tickled me. If you squint, there are echoes of Evy Carnahan from The Mummy in this book, and between that and the wintery vibes, this book was just a delight to read. Let's talk Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries.

Emily Wilde is a career academic whose career has been stalled by the fact that she is...straight-up bad at peopleing. Her saving grace is the solidity of her scholarship, which is why she rocks up to a rented cottage in Hrafnsvik with no grad students and no sense of how to take care of herself while in in the field. Our girl cannot split wood and doesn't so much as know how to bank a fire to stop herself from freezing to death overnight. She also accidentally manages to offend every single one of her hosts and the village headwoman, so she is in very real danger of freezing or starving to death by like chapter three.

And then Wendell Bambleby shows up on her doorstep with a pair of grad students and charm to spare.

Y'all...without giving too much away in spoiler territory, can I just say that I adore how Emily and Wendell are essentially two complimentary halves? Emily is all hardcore scholarship, the scientific method, and goal-focused to the exclusion of other people. Wendell is all flash, showmanship, people skills, and innate knowledge. They would be THE academic power couple at Cambridge...except that right from the get-go, Emily is not shy about telling us the Wendell is kind of a dumpster fire of an academic. He objectively exploits his grad students (although they do get co-authorship on papers and he doesn't sleep with them, so he's already better than most of the horror stories I was aware of in academia), he blatantly falsifies his research to basically no consequences, and he's objectively less interested in the academics than in the clout and money that comes with being a world-renowned academic.

The problem is that faeries--their chosen academic subject--aren't known for hanging around Cambridge and popping into office hours for in-depth interviews. So Emily and Wendell are both well and truly out of their comfort zones doing research in a tiny, wintery village. And for all Emily is terrible at people, she is stunningly good at faeries. Brownies, small folk, and even a changeling don't give her pause, and at no point is Emily out of her depth in terms of knowledge--even if actual magic tends to trump KNOWING that you've been magicked.

While Emily, Wendell, and the other characters are what you read this book for, the faerie lore, setting, and sheer winter vibes are phenomenal. I also loved the journal format of this book more than I thought I would. First-person journal style novels (I could maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe justify calling this an epistolary novel, but that might be stretching the genre a little, since the perspective is pretty firmly limited to Emily, with only I think two interludes from Wendell) tend to either feel like there's a lot of distance between reader and character, since the story is literally mediated through multiple meta layers of textuality, or that there isn't enough distance between character and readers. Emily being bad at people means that the book leans toward more distance, but as you get to know her, that distance closes a little, and the understated, scientific tone honestly makes some of the more objectively emotional events hit weirdly harder than they might have otherwise. I think the writing style works brilliantly with Emily as a character, and honestly the whole thing reminds me a little of Olivia Atwater's Regency Fairy Tales in tone and mood.

I am loathe to offer any plot spoilers here, because frankly this book was excellent and I strongly recommend it. It's a very, very slow burn romance with fantastic lore and Emily is a compelling character on her own merits long before she realizes what book she's in. I am absolutely psyched for Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands, and you will likely (eventually) get a review of that one from me as well. In the mean time, remember to be polite to you fae, bring gifts, and keep an eye on your mind just in case something decides to enchant you.

So, with Dracula coming to an end today and reading the epilogue, I finally realised what Mina and Jonathan remind me of.

Evy and Rick from the Mummy.

Same I would throw myself into hell and back for you, ride or die, complete adoration, give them the prize for most disgustingly in love couple you can think off but you can’t hate them for it because they are just so dang adorable, relationship goals™ dynamic. (not to mention ALL the queer vibes and potential polycule options) And I’m not saying we need crossover fic, buuuuuut..

Okay yeah that is what I’m saying.

And also I checked the years you could totally make a case for Quincey Harker potentially being friends and having grown up with the Carnahan siblings. And if you think about it mummies and vampires are both sort of undead creatures. So now I’m imagining Harker O'Connell team-up monster fighting adventures.

Something or other followed the O'Connells home again, because of course it did, and shows up right when the very-nice-and-completely-normal-never-saw-an-undead-creature-in-their-life-we-swear next door neighbours the Harkers are visiting. So now Evy and co are scrambling. Trying to keep the evil minions of the undead whatevers away from their childhood friend and his parents without being obvious.

Cue Ardeth is-it-Imhotep-again-or-is-he-just-chronically-unable-to not-know-whenever-the-O’Connells-have-messed-with-something-they-shouldn’t-have Bay popping in because his medjai senses were tingling. How did he get here? Who knows. He’s here and he’s queer down to kick ass. What they do know is that’s one more thing they have to try and explain away to the Harkers, while also discussing the next apocalyptical threat off to the side. And making sure her brother, her kid, and maybe Quincey’s kid, don’t get themselves in ever increasing amounts of trouble which they have a knack for. (Let’s be honest, it’s the family curse really. Rick’s blood pressure has never been the same after he met the Carnahan siblings.)

Meanwhile the Harkers are watching this pantomime go down with ever increasing baffled amusement. Knowing something is up but not what exactly. Until undead minion or minion of the undead crashes the (tea) party.

So now the undead cat is out of the bag and Evy is ready to just throw hands. Because no, you do NOT crash her tea party and break her best china and ruin whatever relationship she had with these people. Because they are nice and normal and this will be a shock to their nice and normal sensibilities. Look at them they are just the sweetest older couple who are nice and normal and never had any excitement in their entire lives, how do we possibly keep them from freaking out and keep them safe?

At which point Mina cool-under-pressure-age-only-made-her-more-competent Harker turns to her husband and goes, are you calling the boys and Van Helsing, or am I?

In my oneshots of Larissa I've been using an OC so here's some info about her :)

Name: Cecile Weems (originally Edwards)

Age: 38

Nationality: Scottish/British

Eye Colour: blue

Hair colour: Auburn red

Height: 5'4

Reference photo:

(she's similar to Evie Carnahan from The Mummy so please imagine her if you like)

•she wears black frame glasses for reading but is embarrassed of them otherwise.

•she is warm and inviting to her students and other staff members, and some students often stop by on their lunch break to chat.

•Larissa and Cecile have been married for 7 years after dating for another 3.

•Neither of them proposed, Enid Sinclair spread a rumour that they were engaged and they decided to roll with it.

•Cecile first approached Larissa after preparing a speech in her head, but when she was stood in front of her she ran dry and blurted out "have dinner with me"

•Larissa found her cute, these dinners and coffee dates became a weekly thing.

•the closest they have to PDA in their relationship is a kiss on the head or an arm around the waist, sometimes a light kiss on the lips if someone is flirting with one of them.

•the students found out about their relationship after Enid Sinclair snapped a picture of them kissing behind a bookshelf and posted it to her blog

•Larissa made her serve detention clearing up Miss Thornhill's garden for two weeks (which she hated) but Enid insisted it was worth it.

•Cecile moved to the US in her mid 20s with an ex-fiance, both of them started at Nevermore (a librarian and a groundskeeper) but the engagement was broken off after Cecile realised she was gay (which Larissa Weems takes full credit for)

•Hunter (ex-fiance) left Nevermore and moved to Jericho soon after the split, maintaining no-contact with Cecile.

•Cecile is constantly cold no matter how many layers she wears, it isn't unknown for her to wander into Larissa's office for hugs because "you're a bloody oven, Larissa. Now warm me up, dammit!"

•She calls Larissa 'Lissy' in private, but some students caught on and a mystery student wrote Lissy on the door to Larissa's office

•Cecile was made to clean the door and banned from using the nickname (for a few hours)

•Cecile likes to climb the bookshelf ladder in the library so that she can be high enough to kiss Larissa on the head

•Larissa gets easily flustered by forehead kisses.

•when she's sitting down, Cecile sometimes forgets how tall Larissa is and gives attitude only to quickly shut up when Larissa rises to stand over her

•"were you saying something, sweetheart?" "No ma'am"

•if students disrespect or upset Cecile? There will be detentions and yelling from the overprotective Principal.

•sometimes Cecile will overhear students in the library saying disrespectful things about Principal Weems, and a book will happen to accidentally drop onto them from above.

•sometimes Cecile rants to Larissa about facts or stories from history, excited and fully immersed in the past she often reads about. Larissa finds it adorable.

(the next ones are nsfw)

•Sex on the desk? Hell yes

•Sometimes, if Wednesday Addams is being a pain in Larissa's ass, that frustration is put to use in the bedroom...

•Cecile is a ROPEBUNNY 100%

•The Principal's rules must be obeyed at all costs...

•disobey? Bend over the desk.

•aftercare is supreme.

•Cecile could be a whimpering mess, overstimulated af and crying and she would still ask if Larissa is okay.

---------------------------------------------------

Please let me know if you have any Larissa headcanons! :)

share ten different favorite characters from ten different pieces of media in no particular order, then send this to 10 people (anon or not, your choice) 🎥🎬📺

listen, i know you're on hiatus, but you're also here some of the time, so i thought i'd leave you a game to play if you wanted!

ROSE!!! I've missed you! Happy birthday for the other day (I think I saw this on my timeline?). Thank you for tagging me I love asks like crazy and tumblr games so...thank you for thinking of me ❤️

Alex Claremont-Diaz - Red, White and Royal Blue (always and forever my fictional character ride or die. I love so many characters from this book but I didn't want to repeat over and over).

Veronica Mars - Veronica Mars (bad ass bitch ruled my childhood).

Prince Kiem - Winters' Orbit (SO. DAMN. LOVELY.).

TK Strand AND Carlos Reyes YOU CANT STOP ME RULES!!! - 911 Lone Star (the sexiest most competent doe-eyed paramedic and his god damn saintly boyfriend who is hot as hell and makes me melt).

Jessie & James (Team Rocket) - Pokémon (guys these two are fucking comedic gold also they've fixed that damn hot air balloon so many times give them some credit).

Kim Possible - Kim Possible (literally wanted to be her for so long - call me beep me if you wanna reach me).

Evey Hammond - V for Vendetta (a character with so much trauma and so much bravery).

Sandy Cohen - The OC (honestly, I just wanted him to be my dad lmao AND HE'S SO WISE).

Katniss Everdeen - Hunger Games (see: trauma, see: bravery, see: I also love Peeta for his patience and his selflessness).

Alfred Pennyworth - Batman (see #8 plus Michael Caine gets me every time).

Honourable mentions:

11. Evie O'Connell (née Carnahan) our lord and saviour - The Mummy & The Mummy Returns et al. (purely for @clottedcreamfudge)

12. Rafael - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (I have absolutely no explanation for this).

I’ve had this in my drafts for a while and decided to post and unsure if I will continue it.

[The Mummy] Pt.1/?, read tags for more info

Jonathan Carnahans last memory was hugging his baby sister. Her sobs loud, tears staining his clothing. He was now naked on a marbel stone slab, a blanket separating him and cold stone. He was completely naked. He lay on his side, trying to curl into a ball. Afraid and ashamed of his nakedness. Thoughts of his baby sister was the only thing keeping him even the little bit of sane. He just knew that with this sacrifice, he’d be giving Evy the life she so deserved. Schooling and a place to live and grow. Besides that, he remembered his only friend he had made less than a year ago… this tall, dark and handsome man that he had developed an embarrassing crush on. After meeting him, he had not found company in anyone else except for his almost everyday. Evy had even met him and loved him. His name was Ardeth and had practically gone missing before everything started. He became a bit pitiful after. Usually, they would just worship at the gods temple every month and that was it. He himself didn’t really believe in the god but he couldn’t not worship as that had bad consequences. All of a sudden, a gathering was called and they were told by the leaders that they would be sacrificing a human. Everyone had suddenly became fearful until one of the leaders known as Terrence Bey told everyone to not worry as someone had already been chosen. He and his sister had froze as his name was the one to leave his mouth. Everyone knew who I was. I was known as a lousy and thieving drunk but somehow, I was never punished. I mean, it was mostly harmless fun(atleast to me) and I had only done so to support my sister, unbeknownst to her. Everything had happened so fast as I was whisked away by the villages guards. I would be told what I had to do in a weeks time and I would only be able to say goodbye to my sister a day before it. I was told that he would have to give himself to the god and in the end, the village would no longer need to worry about food, water or sickness. His life would be traded for all that and his sister would be getting the education and things she needed to live comfortably. That somehow made his demise less horrid in his mind. He was sorely missing his friend now. — it was almost pitch black except for a torch in each corner of the temple. That wasn’t even the scary part. There were 3 strangers in each corner of the large room with black robes. They had a sort of thin black veil over their eyes that they could still see through. Why did I have to be killed naked?!? I noticed the room becoming brighter. I start to feel warm all of a sudden and realize I feel eyes on me. I was too afraid to look but I had too. I turn and over my shoulder was a tall figure dressed in a black robe. Nothing but their torso was showing, dark skin with dark hair leading down to their bottom half which was covered with a piece of cloth wrapped around its waist. The face was covered with a black cloth, it only covered the face and cut off to reveal Long black curly hair that fell on broad shoulders. It looked almost human. Not what I expected. It might have been what I imagined my friends naked body to look like. “Lay down flat.” A voice says and it sounds exactly like my friend except the voice doesn’t sound as kind as it usually does. Too afraid to disobey, I do as they’re told. I feel heat rise up my chest at the view of my naked body. I wasn’t exactly impressive. I did often indulge myself. I watch as the man? God? Kneels on the slab stone right beside me and gets on top of me. Suddenly it’s face was above mine, the face covering falling to touch my forehead and a clear view of the gods face. It was- “Hello Jonathan.” He finally speaks. “A-Ardeth?!?” I breath back and suddenly he’s kissing me. I had imagined kissing my friend but not in this situation. His hand came up to caress the side of my face and I close my eyes. His tongue wanted entrance and I gave it. It felt like forever until he pulls away to move down, kissing my neck. I turn my head not knowing what to do.

I spent. WAY too much time on this ultimately fruitless endeavour because - shockingly - a cartoon showrunner/concept artist I am NOT :P But whooboy, it was fun. So without further ado, let me present to you The Mummy: The Animated Series that lives in my head! 🥳 12 episodes, 20-30 minutes each. And PG-13, for obvious reasons.

(I know there’s already an animated series. I watched it, back in the day. This is essentially the first film as a cartoon. If I manage to gather the necessary scraps of my brain I might do a season 2 for assorted Carnahan-O’Connell shenanigans between movies and a season 3 for The Mummy Returns. Maybe next year 🤞)

Also please note that it’s just me messing around with storylines and characters from one of my very favourite movies. It’s not, y’know, serious (as can be shown by my inability to draw natural-looking postures - and LEGS, AARGH). I had a lot of fun making this and I just want to share it :o)

THE MUMMY: THE ANIMATED SERIES 2.0

Season One (the only one for now)

Ancient Tragedy

Cairo, 1923(*)

Roped In

Along the Nile River

The Legend of Hamunaptra

Firefight by Firelight

Cursed

Dogged Survival

Sacrifice

All That Glitters

Only the Beginning

(EDIT: I changed 1926 to 1923 to have a little wiggle room later!)

Episode summaries below the cut!

Okay, so each episode except the 1st and last has character-related flashbacks that tie the episode together and explore the characters by showing us little vignettes of their pasts relevant to their current situation/state of mind. And I thought it’d be nice to have little nods/foreshadowing to The Mummy Returns, even though the whole reincarnation aspect is, frankly, a mess. Onto the actual summaries now (basically a lot of ideas thrown together).

Ep. 1: Ancient Tragedy

The whole episode is set in ancient Egypt and explains the Imhotep/Anck-su-namun/Seti triangle (or Seti vs. Imhotep/Anck-su-namun). Essentially the prologue of The Mummy: setting up the star-crossed lovers, Seti, Nefertiri – the relationships between the cast: Seti being a good father but possessive and controlling of Anck (as his favourite mistress); Imhotep and Anck kill him, she kills herself, the Hom-Dai is performed. End on the 1st film’s title sequence. No flashbacks.

Ep. 2: Cairo, 1923

We track Imhotep’s sarcophagus and Hamunaptra for a bit, then zoom out in time for a (short) history of Egypt and Egyptians. The montage includes a brief early cameo by the elder Carnahans, then the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, before ending on 1923 Evy. We’re shown her being a librarian and a scholar and wanting to be an archaeologist/Egyptologist. She’s excited because she expects an answer from the Bembridge Scholars; we see her get it and be disappointed and briefly disheartened. Introduction to her relationship with the Curator, Dr Bey, and the museum attendants (Abdul, Mohammed, Bob). Bookshelves dominos. The Curator is NOT happy. Lull; enter Jonathan with the puzzle box he found “in a dig down in Thebes”. Evy works it open. They find the map. Adventure calls!

Flashbacks: Evy (childhood/education, mixed-race heritage/her and Jonathan’s parents, daily life and work, setting up her passion for ancient Egypt)

Ep. 3: Roped In

Dr Bey studies the box (internal “oh crap”), then conveniently burns the exact location from the map. Evy won’t be deterred; she pries the truth from Jonathan, and they head to Cairo prison. Meeting with prisoner!Rick. Conversation re. Hamunaptra. Jonathan gets socked in the nose, Evy takes over, Rick gets a little too close. (Doe he necessarily have to kiss her? Maybe grabs her by the blouse instead?) Evy haggles with the Warden. Hanging and immediate aftermath. End on Rick limping home, bruised and battered but alive. “Okay, so I’m doing this. Back to hell.”

Flashbacks: Rick (Foreign Legion, Beni, Hamunaptra, finding the box, a whole lotta trauma)

Ep. 4: Along the Nile River

Cairo Docks. Evy’s and Jonathan’s shock at seeing the new and improved Rick O’Connell. Introduction to the American party (Daniels, Burns, Henderson, the Egyptologist/Doctor Chamberlain) and Beni, whom we’ve seen in Rick’s flashbacks in episode 3. Meanwhile, the Curator meets with Ardeth. We get a sense that Hamunaptra is Very Dangerous for all humanity; both Westerner teams have to be discouraged/stopped before they get there.

The voyage starts peaceful. Card games, friendly rivalries, conversations: Evy and Rick (he starts apologising for the kiss but then puts his foot in it), Rick and Beni. The Medjai attack, the boat catches fire. The map is lost but it turns out the puzzle box is actually a key. Both parties survive, though on opposite sides of the river.

Flashbacks: Ardeth (introduction to the Medjai, context, ancient duty to protect the world from the Creature, training)

Ep. 5: The Legend of Hamunaptra

Our Heroes (plus the Warden) regroup, buy camels, supplies and clothes. We see Rick’s own “oh” moment when he sees Evy. Conversations, getting to know each other and showing relationships old and new (Evy/Rick, Jonathan & Evy, Rick & Jonathan). The trip through the desert, the race to Hamunaptra. Evy’s triumph. Ardeth and the Medjai keep an eye on them from a distance; Ardeth is reluctant to shed more blood, but knows he will probably have to in order to keep the Westerners from unleashing the Creature.

Two digging operations are set up: the Americans+the Egyptologist+their diggers on one hand and Evy+Rick+Jonathan on the other. They meet by the statue of Anubis, tension rises (and guns), Evy de-escalates. Later, the Americans’ diggers find a booby trapped chest that kills three of them. It contains the Book of the Dead (the Egyptologist is awed) and four canopic jars (the Americans are delighted). Evy, Rick and Jon find Imhotep’s sarcophagus, but before they can open it the Warden finds flesh-eating scarabs and they crawl all over and into him. End on the Warden killing himself from the pain, to the trio’s shock and horror.

Flashbacks: Evy (studying, getting her degree with her family’s support, coming up against sexism/racism)

Ep. 6: Firefight by Firelight

The aftermath of the Warden’s and the diggers’ deaths. Rick and Jonathan bury the body, helped by a foreman from the Americans’ diggers team (who says the right prayers along with those for his colleagues). The Medjai attack the camp. There are victims on both sides. Evy takes a rifle (then picks up Rick’s elephant gun – not a wise move), Jonathan a bottle and a gun. The Americans defend each other through the shootout while Chamberlain hides in his tent (and Beni disappears). Rick and Ardeth come face to face then to a standstill. The Medjai leave with one last warning, “Leave this place or die.” Everybody breathes, shocked. Jonathan, then Evy and Rick polish off the Warden’s whisky. Evy is A Librarian. Rick is smitten. End on her passing out.

Flashbacks: Jonathan (growing up between England and Egypt, picking pockets and various illicit hobbies, being a sniper during WW1)

Ep. 7: The Book of the Dead

Everybody is hungover (except the Egyptologist). The Americans open the chest (Beni scutters away before they do); Evy, Rick and Jonathan open Imhotep’s sarcophagus. Spooky shit. That night, Evy sees the Book of the Dead with the Egyptologist and “borrows” it. She reads from the Book and wakes up Imhotep. Mayhem ensues, plus locusts, which leads to underground nightmare. Burns loses his glasses then his eyes and tongue to The Mummy. Imhotep sees Evy: she looks/feels familiar, until he recognises Nefertiri reborn (and is delighted that she doesn’t remember). (Nefertiri’s design should have elements of Evy but still look like an ancient Egyptian woman.) He decides to use her for a human sacrifice because poetic justice, since she set the Medjai on him and Anck. Rick then Jonathan find her and see Imhotep. Screaming, guns, a whole lot of running. Ardeth and the Medjai catch them when they come out (the Egyptologist hid the Book of the Dead in a bag, out of sight). They all leave in a rout.

Flashbacks: Imhotep (Anck, Seti, Nefertiri, being a respected High Priest of Osiris and desperately in love with Anck)

Ep. 8: Cursed

Turns out Beni was left behind: we see a scene with Imhotep who can finally communicate with the living and search for the canopic jars (no broken one, there’s just 4 – and NO HEART). Evy and Jonathan want to head home (their flat in Cairo) while the Americans want to 1] take care of Burns and 2] hightail it out of there, but Rick uses old connections from his Legion days to drag all of them to Fort Brydon. (Establish the cat – the Fort’s mascot, an old moggy now too old to chase mice.) Burns is made comfortable (as much as the poor man can be), Daniels and Henderson are shaken and look for a way out, the Egyptologist takes the Book of the Dead home to study.

Rick wants to go, Evy wants to stay, they quarrel. Rick goes to the Sultan’s Kasbah (closest bar to the Fort), finds Jonathan (and Winston, regular customer and old acquaintance of both Rick and Jonathan), then the Americans join them for a drink. Led by Beni, Imhotep finds Burns and drains him. Liquid turning to blood, thunderstorm of hail and fire. Everybody rushes back to the Fort, stumble on Evy, Beni (who scrams), then Burns’ corpse. The cat moseys in, scares off Imhotep. Well, crap. It’s not over after all.

Flashbacks: the three Americans (when/where they met (possibly WW1?), hearing about Tutankhamun’s tomb and its treasures, easy money to be made, character exploration)

Ep. 9: Dogged Survival

Evy takes the survivors to the Museum, where they find Ardeth and the Curator deep in conversation. Introductions, exposition; Evy says Imhotep mentioned Anck then called her Nefertiri; there’s a knowing look between the two Medjai but they only say Imhotep won’t wait to find out if Anck was reincarnated and instead needs a fitting human for the sacrifice. Someone mentions the Book of the Dead; Ardeth says he was looking for it. Evy points out she saw the Egyptologist smuggle it back to Cairo with him. Darkness falls.

The group falls back to the Fort, Daniels and Henderson aware now of the target on their backs. Rick figures the Egyptologist has one too (although not Beni, because he wasn’t there when the chest was opened). He and Jonathan go retrieve the Egyptologist at his place while the Americans “guard” a fuming Evy. Beni got there first; Rick & Jonathan find him in an empty flat looking for Chamberlain and the Book, but both are gone. Imhotep kills Chamberlain just outside his house and takes the Book. Then he sneaks into the Fort ahead of Rick and Jonathan, kills Henderson, and goes after Evy again. Rick, Jonathan and Daniels arrive just in time for Rick to brandish the old cat at Imhotep, who bails. It’s back to the Museum again, Evy back in the lead, looking for the stone tablet/wall fragment about the legend of Hamunaptra she knows can help them find the Book of Amun-Ra. She makes her own (correct) translation (“Take that, Bembridge Scholars!”). End on Imhotep (and Beni) outside the Museum with a throng of thralls. Cliffhanger.

Flashbacks: Rick (growing up poor, family move to Cairo then orphanage, learning to rely on only himself)

Ep. 10: Sacrifice

Action-packed chapter! Car chase through night-time Cairo, pursued by Imhotep’s thralls. Loosing Daniels, crashing the car, coming face to face with a fully regenerated Creature at sunrise. Imhotep is polite to Evy, calls her “my Princess”, which confuses her. (She gets a flash of him as he was, solemn, regal, trustworthy, before everything went to hell – which confuses her even more.) She goes with him to save the others, he orders the hypnotised people to kill them anyway. The Curator sacrifices himself so they can escape through the sewers. We see them ask Winston for help; he’s only too happy to, especially if he doesn’t make it back. The plane catches up with Imhotep’s sand tornado near Hamunaptra, Imhotep brings it down. Winston dies, Evy despairs. End on Rick, Ardeth and Jonathan paying their respects to Winston and walking to Hamunaptra.

Flashbacks: Ardeth (his family, growing up a Medjai and being elected a leader on the battlefield, relationship of mutual respect with Dr Bey, the lore of Hamunaptra/the Creature)

Ep. 11: All That Glitters

Rick, Ardeth and Jonathan sneak into Hamunaptra, taking a shortcut through a stone wall; during a break, Jonathan picks up a scarab. (Bad idea.) Screams of pain, gunshot as Rick kills the bloody thing – Imhotep knows they’re here. He wakes up mummies (who used to be his priests) and sic ‘em on the trio. Then he knocks out Evy when she tries to escape (the gunshot gave her hope again) and tells Beni he can help himself to the treasure. The trio, pursued by mummies, finds the statue of Horus and the chest with the Book of Amun-Ra. Ardeth runs into the horde of mummies to buy time, Rick and Jonathan grab the gold book. Evy wakes up tied up on a stone table next to Anck’s mummy, Imhotep starts the ritual and lifts a knife – enter Jonathan with the Gold Book, drawing Imhotep to him while Rick frees Evy. Now the trio is reunited and has a supernatural weapon… Except the living but still mindless mummy of Anck springs up behind her! Cliffhanger.

Flashbacks: Jonathan (magpie tendencies, Classics education/able to read hieroglyphs, readjusting to civilian life after the war, career gone down the drain from trauma and booze after WW1 and the elder Carnahans’ deaths)

Ep. 12: Only the Beginning

Big fight between Rick and mummies while Evy vs. Anck and Jonathan vs. Imhotep fight/play hide and seek (kinda). Jonathan reads from the book (the wrong spell at first), Evy gives him the last word, mummy elite soldiers kill Anck just in time. Livid, Imhotep tries to strangle him; Rick slices Imhotep’s arm off, Jonathan shows the key he picked from inside Imhotep’s robes. Last fight while Evy finds and reads the right spell, Imhotep’s soul gets dragged into the Underworld (making him mortal), Rick kills him. “Death is only the beginning.”

…Beni comes back for seconds after hefting a bag of gold stuff onto a camel and triggers the switch. Everything starts to come down, the trio gets out in the nick of time, Beni is just a little too late.

Breath. Ardeth turns up alive, yay! Big Damn Kiss between Evy and Rick (with nose boop), and the trio rides into the sunset (on camels formerly owned by (dead) diggers). Two foreshadowing elements: Evy getting another brief flash of Ancient Egypt and a shot showing a bag of Beni’s loot tied to the camel’s saddle.

The end (for now)!

“Art” notes:

I’m not good at actual likenesses and I canNOT for the life of me draw buff people (sorry, Imhotep), but I did have fun designing the characters :D The good guys all wearing/carrying something blue was a complete accident but I ended up liking the idea.

Also, skin tones! Since it’s a made-up cartoon we can have character designs based on the actors but which also reflect the characters themselves. So Evy and Jonathan are a little darker than Rick (in later seasons Evy becomes an archaeologist/explorer more than a librarian, so she gets more tanned than Jonathan, who spends a lot more time in England). And Beni has grey/blue eyes and fair skin, like Kevin J. O’Connor, because (despite the fez) he’s actually Hungarian. (I’m fairly sure his last name is a nod to Hungarian-born actress Zsa Zsa Gabor.)

For comparison:

That’s it for now! If you have ideas, thoughts, things you want to add or would like to see in a Mummy cartoon, go for it! I can’t wait to hear them :o)

Miss Something

Rick O’Connell x fem!reader

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: violence, some insecurity

Author’s Note: Bruhh, Rick! I love Brendan Fraser he slaps lol. I hope you enjoy!

Requested: by anon, Maya, darling! May I request a Rick O’Connell x reader? I’d love to see something where reader was absolutely gobsmacked when she first met him but convinced herself that it could never be after seeing how smitten he was with Evie at first. Reader fails to notice Rick’s growing affection for her, much to his annoyance. That is, until they save each other from a near-death situation towards the end of the story and, when he tries to flirtatiously compliment her on her heroics, he only is further frustrated by her obliviousness and pulls her in for a kiss instead. Thanks so much!!

Summary: the request

Genre: fluff

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director/creator

(not my gif)

“I don’t know why you’re making me come when you already have O’Connell and Y/N,” Jonathan said to his sister. You rolled your eyes, holding the strap on your bag tightly.

“I brought you because it’s something you stole,” Evie said.

“I made sure you came because I like to see you freak out over dust,” you said laughing. Jonathan rolled his eyes.

“Did you not see me in the coffin the other day?”

“I did and I imagine when you see one that’s not in a museum, you’ll freak out,” you quipped. You had been friends with the Carnahan’s for as long as you could remember. The three of you had been partners in crime since sandbox days. You had practically become an extra member of their family, considering how much time you spent together. You had all gone into similar fields of work which meant you got to see each other as often as you liked. “Who is this O’Connell anyway?”

“He’s awful,” Evie said. “I’m having second thoughts about letting him come along. He looks dirty and unkept and-”

“Who’s dirty and unkept?” All three of you turned around to meet the eyes of whom you assumed was Rick O’Connell.

You were instantly gobsmacked. He was so handsome. You smiled kindly, averting your eyes as he surveyed you.

“I don’t believe we’ve met. Are you another sibling?” Rick asked, extending his hand. You shook it, dipping your hat to him.

“No,” you said. Rick’s eyes went wide.

“Wonderful. If you aren’t in their bloodline, maybe you’ll be sane,” he said, letting your hand go. You smiled a bit and he smiled back at you.

“Well we have a boat to catch!” Evie said, turning around quickly as she lugged her things along with her. You and Rick walked beside each other further up the ramp to the boat.

“He certainly cleaned up,” Jonathan muttered to his sister like the rest of you couldn’t hear. Rick turned to you as he walked.

“How did you get roped into this?” he asked quietly.

“I’ve been friends with Evie and Jonathan since I was a kid. I just tag along when they want me there now,” you said, laughing gently. You had to make a serious effort not to stare into his eyes too long. He was so handsome. “Evie told me you were about to be hanged?”

“Yes ma’am,” he said, like he was proud of it. “They almost got me too. Would’ve if my neck had broken.” You made a disgusted face. “Hey, I made it out didn’t I? And minimal bruising.” He put his hand to his neck to demonstrate the lack of bruising.

“I’m glad. Hopefully you know what you’re doing Rick,” you said, finally stepping onto the boat. His eyes lingered on you as you walked but you were trying too hard not to turn around and stare at him to notice. Jonathan nudged Rick.

“That’s my sister,” he said.

“Not by blood I hear.”

====

You sat below your competitors. Underneath the floor they were stepping on in fact. Evie was messing with the statue that was the reason you were all there, you thought.

“I would prefer actually if you would not touch anything,” Evie called back to all three of you. You rolled your eyes.

“I know history too Evie,” you said. You were ecstatic about the findings, probably more so than her. You didn’t have any actual hopes going into this expedition. “I know what not to touch.”

Part of the ceiling fell down beside you. It happened so fast and if Rick hadn’t had his arm on you already to pull you away, you might have been crushed. You gasped, jumping into Rick’s arms. You were all startled for a moment and then you backed away from him, clearing your throat.

“What did you touch?” Evie questioned. You rolled your eyes.

“Nothing. I didn’t touch anything. It was probably Jonathan’s fault.”

“No, I think I’m going to blame O’Connell,” Jonathan concluded. You stifled a laugh at Rick’s sudden accusatory face.

“I was right beside Y/N!”

“Alright children,” Evie said. “That’s enough.”

====

You sat around a campfire with the others, glad that everyone was safe for the time being. Eveyln had found a book. The competitors had put down their weapons in order for one night's sleep. You were glad for it too. You just wanted to go to sleep. You could feel your eyes drooping as you sat beside the fire.

“Here,” Rick said. You looked up at him and noticed he was taking off his jacket. He put it over you like a blanket. “Just drift off,” he said. “No one will notice.” You smiled warmly, trying to hide your flustered emotion.

“Thank’s Rick.”

“You want a good pillow?”

“Hmm?” He scooted closer to you. You raised an eyebrow but nonetheless put your head on his shoulder. Your eyes closed and you could feel sleep take you over quickly. In just a moment's time, you were fast asleep, breathing even.

“She likes you,” Evie noted. Rick wanted to shrug but didn’t want to wake you.

“I’m hoping so,” he said honestly, a thin smile on his face. He looked down at your sleeping complexion.

“You best leave her alone,” Jonathan said. He looked disheveled and so out of place it was almost comical. “You don’t deserve her.”

“I don’t think she’s catching my hints so I believe you’re safe,” he said. Evelyn shrugged.

“She’ll come around. She’s bright, she just doesn’t...want to believe things sometimes,” Evie explained. Rick looked away and took a swig of his drink. Hopefully that was true.

====

“Rick!” you yelled but he was yelling at someone else. His scream echoed as he ran toward the group of oncoming enemies, sword in air. You cursed under your breath and kicked up a sword of one of the already fallen men. You had never used a sword before but there was a first time for everything.

You ran forward as well, throwing your arms in the air and clashing with another sword.

Soon you found yourself back to back with Rick, slashing and screaming, killing every one of the undead things in your way. You turned at a steady pace together, moving in sync until there was nothing left for you to get to Evelyn and Jonathan.

Out of breath you moved away from him, stomping your foot down beside the dead enemy.

“That was amazing,” Rick said, paying you a rare compliment. You smiled.

“Thank you,” you said. He rolled his eyes. You would never catch the hint would you? He turned to you and contemplated for a moment.

He crashed his lips to yours. After a moment of deliberation you leaned forward into him, putting your hand on his cheek. He pulled away.

“Did you catch that one?” he asked. You laughed.

“Have I been missing something?”

“Yes ma’am you have.” You couldn’t help but giggle as you moved away from him. You held your sword up.

“Wonderful for you both!” Jonathan said, running up to you. He hadn’t been there a second before. You turned to look at him. “But can we please save my sister!”

Rick grabbed your hand tightly and pulled you along, running after Jonathan.

“We’re going, we’re going!”

Tagging: @sunflowersturn

All right, this time I'm not even trying for incognito 😁 If (and only if - I wouldn't want to be an unwanted addition to your workload) you're still doing the "I wish you'd write a fic where", I would LOVE to see your take on the uncle/nephew duo of Jonathan Carnahan and Alex O'Connell. Any age, any time period, any kind of subject and stakes (shenanigans, heart-to-heart, day about town, etc) and any tone you want (light, emotional, snark, a mix of everything?) Only if you want, though!

This overdue prompt fill comes with a confession: when you sent it, I had never seen The Mummy Returns. A few weeks ago, however, I remedied this lacuna in my filmic education, acquired a still deeper love for Ardeth Bey (sp? surely it is the Turkic honorific), and began ruminating on this. Also, I put this on AO3 because it got long.

"I did what you told me, Uncle Jonathan."

"Hm?" says Jonathan. It is about all he can manage. Izzy, at the helm of his extraordinary contraption, is serenely contemplating the obscene wealth of a vanished civilization. Evelyn has gone pardonably limpet-like on Rick, who has gone ominously square-jawed and silent. As if by default, he has been deputized to nephew-minding. And beneath the sickening wash of relief, he suspects he may have other feelings about this. Feelings such as "Oi, Evy, I've always known you were mad, but this really is a bit much. I wouldn't blame you if you didn't trust me with as much as the tea and biscuits for approximately a century."

"I did!" says Alex, affronted that his proximate adults are taking negligible interest in his exploits.

"Mm, right," says Jonathan, pulling himself slightly closer to upright against the bulkhead of the dirigible. "Well done, old man."

"You always call me old man," says Alex, with severe disapproval, "and you call Mum old mum, and we're both younger than you. And I'm eight." This last is a point much insisted-on. Jonathan sometimes suspects his nephew of using it with self-exculpatory intent. And self-exculpation is a skill that Alex (Iskander) Carnahan-O'Connell seems to have frequent need of. Which makes it a good thing, really, that his godfather is such a disreputable person, well-prepared to attend to this aspect of spiritual formation.

"Well," says Jonathan, "I'm very fond of both of you."

"I don't see how that's sound reasoning." Jonathan is very fond of his nephew (vide, the fact that he's been resurrecting his skills as a sniper, as well as dealing with insufficiently dead armies, insufficiently buried mummies, and the natural perils of jungles, deserts, floods, and London traffic.) But sometimes, he wishes that he were a little less ruthless in his childish ratiocination.

"I'm not a sound reasoner," says Jonathan. "Never have been. Just ask your mother."

"Mummy, is Uncle Jonathan a sound reasoner?"

"Your Uncle Jonathan," says Evy, without moving but with disconcerting promptitude, "is an extremely intelligent and perceptive man. I sometimes think that's his trouble." Jonathan swallows. "What did Uncle Jonathan tell you to do, darling?" Though addressing her son, Evy has fixed her gaze on him, and Jonathan swallows again.

"I ran in a zig-zag!" says Alex. Jonathan would be more relieved if he had the slightest idea what the boy was on about.

"Did you?" Someday, Jonathan supposes, Alex will learn just how dangerous Evy's mildness is. But this is one piece of wisdom his uncle-cum-godfather will not impart. Every man, in Jonathan's view, must learn this for himself.

"When the men were shooting at me," says Alex, and Jonathan feels the blood drain from his face.

"Oh?"

"Mm-hm, I ran really fast to get away, and then they started shooting, but Uncle Jonathan told me that it wasn't really as dangerous as all that. The trick is to run in a zig-zag, and bend down funny sometimes, and then they don't know where to shoot at you, do you want to see how I did it?"

"Later, darling," says Evy, and Jonathan admires how her voice is almost steady. "It was very clever of you."

"I thought so," says Alex complacently. "Thank you," he adds.

"You should really be thanking your Uncle Jonathan."

"Oh. Thank you, Uncle Jonathan, it was jolly useful."

"Oh," says Jonathan weakly. "Right. Well, I... I can't say I expected it to be, and I hope to blue blazes you won't have to use that particular, er, trick again, but I'm glad." He ruffles his nephew's hair. "And your mother's right. It was very clever of you."

"Thanks," says Alex, and yawns prodigiously. Jonathan feels as though his every nerve is thrumming with tension. But Alex appears to be unaffected by this, as he puts his head on his uncle's thigh, performs a catlike wriggle with his limbs, and appears to fall asleep almost instantaneously. Jonathan sighs, and begins the process of extracting what remains of his jacket from beneath him. It will do better as a blanket than a jacket, anyway. And the manoeuvre allows him to avoid Evy's eyes.

"Jonathan," breathes Evy. He wishes she weren't capable of sounding insistent and stricken at the same time.

"I know," he says. "I know, I know. Unpardonable. I... he asked, and I didn't know what to say. I mean," Jonathan corrects himself, "that I thought it would be worse if I didn't say anything. You may feel -- and with some justification -- that I should spend a great deal more of my life with trap firmly shut, but I thought..." Jonathan exhales, and looks down at his nephew. Even now, even after everything, he looks extraordinarily peaceful, as well as extraordinarily fragile. Alex may have lost his look of innocence by the age of approximately two weeks, but God, God, he's still so young. Young enough to treat a priceless treasure like a toy. Young enough, hopefully, to only half-remember all this, a boy's own adventure with himself as the hero. Young enough to forget his mother's blood, his father's anguish. Jonathan becomes aware that his teeth are chattering, and stops them.

"What did you think, Jonathan?" Evy's voice is impossibly gentle. She is sitting next to him, rather than in her husband's lap, and he's not sure when that happened.

"Hm? I... I thought it would be better if he didn't wonder. About the war, I mean. I thought he might -- I don't know -- build it up in his mind. Into something heroic, you know. An adventure. Or, God help us, he might actually have done research." Jonathan's laughter sounds wrong in his own ears: breathless, dangerous. "After all, he is your son. He asked," he repeats, lamely.

"Oh, Jonathan."

Jonathan forces a smile. She is always so transparent, his baby sister: all her fine passions luminous within her. And, now, she is looking at him with nothing but sorrow. "Did I say I was sorry? I am, you know."

"Oh, Jonathan," says Evy again, and then, to his shock, she is kissing him, one hand against his jaw, her lips gloriously warm against his cheek. "Jonathan," she says, and wraps her arm around his neck as though still a little girl herself, as though he were carrying her home from having fallen out of a tree. "Jonathan, it isn't like that."

"Isn't it? I mean, what isn't, I mean..."

"You have nothing," Evy says fiercely into his shoulder, "to be sorry about."

"Plenty, I think you'll find. For a start..."

"Shut up. You are a... a ridiculous man, and Alex is very lucky to have you as his godfather." Evy sniffles. "Rick's orphanage was Presbyterian so I had to explain godfathers. You're a sterling example."

"Am I, indeed!"

She draws a hitching breath. "And," says Evy, "you are very dear to me."

Jonathan presses a kiss against his sister's temple. He wonders what it will be like, having watched her die for the rest of their lives. "Not so bad yourself, old mum."

12 Chimera

Previous Chapter

The night was filled with the clomping of hooves at a constant trot or gallop trying to flee Hamunaptra. The noise was calming and the breeze of the night kept us cool, I had wrapped a blanket around my shoulders as it was almost too much at times. After the conversation with the leader, we knew there was more to fear. I could see the visible change in Rick from the pompous ‘I got him’ guy to ‘Oh shit we’re in trouble’. In my case, there were many thoughts that washed through my mind. Evil… The word filled my mind in metaphorical capital letters. We were all so focused on getting out of there that I hardly noticed Evy was trying to get my attention. 

“Eris?—Eris?” She asked repetitively. 

“Yeah, Eves?” I replied so she knew I was listening. 

“When we were in the chamber you said that the mummy would yield to you until he was fully regenerated. What did you mean by that?” She asked inquisitively. 

“Honestly, Evy I’m not sure. That was Ahmanet, it was like I couldn’t control her, a fight was happening in my mind.” I said to her choosing my words carefully. 

“Yep, I could tell that from your eyes and speech.” She murmured lost in thought. 

“It’s like I was possessed—wait, my eyes? What happened to my eyes?” I asked her. 

“They turned to gold and doubled; not like you had four eyes but your pupils. God, it was disconcerting Eris. I wish you could’ve seen it.” She explained. 

“It certainly got my attention. What I don’t understand is why you? Why did this entity attach itself to you?” Rick pipped up from the background. 

“Well, I’ve been told I’ve been marked for death because of my tattoos,” I whispered out, just loud enough to be heard over the hooves. 

“Marked for death… Who in their right mind would tell you that?” Jon asked as he slowed down to a trot next to me. 

“The warrior, the one that leads them all…” I told him. His face dropped, and his sarcasm died. 

“You’re put your faith in the one person who has attacked us not once but twice?” Jon asked recovering from the serious moment. 

“And beyond that, he has been watching us at each step of the process. Yet he didn’t come forward and say anything with concrete evidence until we were all in danger?” Rick asked me. 

“I guess it is silly when you put it that way… He just seemed to know more about this type of thing than any of us did.” I told them perking up a bit, now that I didn’t feel that I was going to die. 

“I swear to you, I won’t let her hurt any of you,” I said to them all, hoping that they would believe me. 

“She won’t get what she wants out of you, not if I have anything to do with it,” Rick said back to me. I nodded, knowing that there was nothing he could do. 

“We know.” They all echoed each other. 

“Eris, I wondered if I could talk to her…?” Evy asked curiously. I looked around at the other two curious about what their opinions were, Rick nodded and Jon just stared at me. 

“Give me your pack and weapons,” Rick told me, holding his hand out ready to receive them. I did slowly, then took my knife from my sleeve and gun out of my waistband. He nodded and held on to my gun for a second, watching my eyes. I nodded to him to take it once my hands were free I called Ahmanet to the front. She happily appeared a bit eager to talk for once. Evy’s grip tightened on her reins and she straightened her posture. I felt my own posture morph into something that was best described as regal, I felt Ahmanet straighten my back, my grip on the reins, stretch my neck out, and hold my chin up high. I knew she did not feel threatened by Evy she actually seemed interested in her. 

“Ahmanet, our last meeting was rather sudden, I would like a proper introduction. My name is Evelyn Carnahan, this is my brother Jonathan, and this is Rick O’Connell, Eris’s brother. I hope you don’t find it awfully rude that I have requested to speak with you.” Evy started the conversation strongly. I felt Ahmanet blink at her in response, she felt Evy was a lowly comparison to her and the introduction did not matter at all. 

“She cannot change her fate. The curse will never be broken. She was branded from a young age to be my host. My chosen before was murdered and before that and so on.” Ahmanet spoke in Ancient Egyptian nudging my camel to go faster as it followed Evy’s. 

“But if she is your chosen, why would you want to kill her?” She asked dropping all pleasantries. 

“Oh, I don’t want to kill her, I want to kill him. I am going to grant him eternal life, and make him a living god.” Ahmanet replied as if she was dishing with an old friend. 

“You murdered your father…” Evy said plainly hoping maybe to find some answers on my behalf.  

“I loved my father with all my heart, I only wanted his love in return. They were different times. The day of awakening will soon be upon us. He will become Set and the world will fall to his side, he will have power of life over death and he will have me.” Ahmanet explained to Evy watching her face fall gave her joy. I knew at that moment she was looking to twist the figurative knife that she had just stabbed Evy with. I kept her mouth shut from making any more problems with my friend. 

“What you have seen, what you must know… Why I’m sure it’s remarkable, I’d love to-- I have studied the world of the Old Gods and the New.” Evy started trying to pay her a compliment to see what kind of reaction that would produce. 

“The Old Gods? Your language is simple, what you truly wish to know is what lies behind the veil of death to know what I have seen. And you will when he kills you.” She curled my face into a small smile and watched Evy’s reaction. She shuddered but remained stoic and nodded. 

“I would like to speak to Eris now please.” Evy almost whispered out, Ahmanet faded away and let me push forward back into my own body. It felt so much better to have her leave willingly. Ahmanet knew that our relationship would be easier this way. Evy watched as I blinked and she looked back to Rick and Jon and nodded. Everyone let out a sigh, relieved nothing had happened. 

Rick rode up next to me and handed me the items back that he had confiscated while Ahmanet took over. I smiled at him and happily put everything back where it belonged. They knew I couldn’t control her appearance. I was focused on where we were headed, Cairo, we weren’t far out. We were heading to Fort Brydon, a common area for the locals and for the Royal Air Force, I’d assume we’d run into Winston as well. I needed to get Evy alone to see if she knew anything further about this creature Ahmanet. Her home wasn’t far from here, I assumed we’d be going there to collect her things before we left the country entirely. I knew Rick planned to go with her, my intuition told me to stay behind. I wanted to try to see if I could swing by the museum before we were all scheduled to leave. 

The sky was starting to cloud up and I could hear the thunder starting to rumble as we neared the city. A storm was brewing, with what, I wasn’t sure. But this was the type that I loved, it was exhilarating. I watched as Evy talked to the guard at the gate, Rick leaned over to me, standing up in his stirrups and stretching as he did so. Evy and Jon went through the gate leaving us. 

“I’ll see you in a bit, come down to the bar when you’re finished.” He told me. I nodded to him, clucking to my camel to take me in the direction of our house and the museum. The ride was short but would have been much faster in a car. I maneuvered the camel to the post where I climbed down and tied him up, I gave the camel a pat and reached in my saddlebag for a carrot to give him. I smiled as I held it while he enjoyed the carrot. I strolled through the library entrance, waiting to be greeted by the curator. Although I heard voices echoing through the halls, one was the curator the other was one I had grown familiar with but still surprised me. I could feel Ahmanet struggling in my head to be the main character. I went to the section I knew held the book I desired. Knowing Evy at all, I knew how she would categorize. I slinked up to the stalks and up the ladder to grab it, Set Volume 1. I tucked it under my arm and went back down the ladder feeling my feet firmly on the ground, I walked towards the curator's office. I’m not entirely sure why I did it, but I hid in the hallway for a few minutes listening to their conversation. 

“Yes, the creature certainly poses a threat.” The curator told the man I had previously interacted with. 

“But, the girl, she poses another issue as well. She has no idea the power she possesses, who knows if she has already given in to it. The only good news is that she doesn’t have all the information, although she is quite inquisitive about it. It’s better she knows less, I believe.” 

“Ardeth… I don’t think Eris is our problem here. She’s a bright young thing, quite an adept learner, I have no qualms with her or her family, in fact before this ordeal I would say she would have been a smart match for you. The Carnahan’s however, have a habit of sticking their nose where it does not belong.” I heard the curator chuckle out. 

“Dr. Bey, I respectively and vastly disagree. She has the power to wipe out the entire world, why, you know better than most the stories of Princess Ahmanet. She was beautiful, cunning, and ruthless, she vowed her life to Set and was reborn a monster. All she needs to do now is something she has not completed in her lifetime. The demon will be running around our world, and most likely the sacrifice will be the brother. Or that skittish fellow she’s been with as well, but I’m sure Ahmanet won’t settle for the woman. I’m sure Imhotep already has plans for her.” I stayed quiet hoping to hear more of my fate. 

“Yes, well, if you’ve made up your mind there is nothing I can do to change it. However, do not underestimate Eris, she is a strong woman, I’ve known her for over a couple of years now. I know little about her history but from what I have gathered she is certainly capable, driven, and mischievous.” The curator finished. I swallowed my pride and strode away, I didn’t want to pry any further than I already had. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I wanted to go in and confront them. But I was worried what Ahmanet would decide to do since it would have been an easy fight. I walked quickly down to my own office retrieved a spare scarf I had in there and promptly left the museum. I put the book inside my saddlebag and started my journey to the house. I repeated the process I did the for museum with the camel. 

I walked through the door and took a deep sigh of relief. It felt good to be back in a familiar place. I walked over to my room and pulled out some clothes to change into, but the first order of business was to take a shower. I got inside and did everything without a sense of urgency. It was nice to feel the hot water over my skin and the suds wash away the dirt and grim that had accumulated on my hair and skin. I scrubbed and scrubbed until I felt like a new woman. Once I was satisfied I stepped out and wrapped a towel around my form and another around my head to pull the water from my hair. I left my dress and corset from the trip on my chair in the bathroom and walked to the bedroom to change into the pants and shirt I had laid out. I dried myself thoroughly before putting the clothes on my body. 

“Must we dress like a peasant?” I heard Ahmanet hiss at me. I brushed off the insult and continued moving through my motions. I walked toward the bathroom again preparing to do my eyeliner. I slowly winged the liner being careful not to mess up the lines. 

“At least your face is reminiscent of royal lineage.” I scoffed at her words, heading to Rick’s room. I wasn’t entirely sure why he wanted me to pack him a bag, because he hadn’t touched his clothes here in 3 years, and I wasn’t even sure if they fit anymore. I looked in the closet finding a couple of shirts that might fit and then rummaged through the drawers finding a few pairs of pants. I pulled out a duffle from underneath the bed and put the clothes inside. After this, I went through the house turning off the things that would bill us and other things. After a final round of checking things, I went outside and rode the camel back to the fort. I wrapped my scarf over my head and continued until I saw the guards at the gates. 

“Eris O’Connell, here for Evelyn Carnahan,” I told the man in Arabic. The guards waved me through as I felt Ahmanet pushing through to the surface, I’m sure she would have just doubled my iris to terrify them. It was as joyful to her as it was for me to see their faces change instantly. I tied my camel to a post with the others and slowly got down from the height. I took the book from the saddlebag and threw it in my pack. I then slung the duffle and pack over my shoulder and headed towards the entrance, keeping my head down and away from prying eyes. I walked through the courtyard and down some stairs to the bar. I saw Jonathan talking at the bar with the Americans. I took a seat next to him and decided now was the time to do some research on Set, I opened the book and waited for my brother to arrive happily settling in and ordering a gin and tonic from the bar.  

Next Chapter

14 with the Carnahan-O'Connells and a visiting Ardeth? :o) Apocalypses non included!

#14: Keeping warm around the fire

The Valley of the Kings, Luxor, April 1923

They had never thought to see the desert warrior Ardeth Bey again when he left them after the fall of Hamunaptra: there had been finality in the man’s serene goodbye. Therefore it was with some surprise that Rick and Evie met him outside the funerary temple of the Pharaoh Hatshepsut some six months later: Ardeth Bey, and with him a woman in a blue hijab.

“Oh!” exclaimed Evie, eloquently. “It’s you!”

Rick, taking photographs of certain inscriptions on the wall, fumbled and almost dropped his camera.

“Oh God,” he said, “are we not supposed to be here?”

Ardeth Bey laughed. “Be peaceful, my friends, there are no curses in the Valley of the Kings.”

“Oh, thank God!” said Evie. “For a moment my heart almost stopped.”

“Could you tell that to the damn journalists over at Carter’s dig?” Rick called, sliding down the ladder.

Ardeth Bey chuckled again. “Would they believe us? No, we have simply come to pay our respects to you, as the English people say.”

“Of course, where are my manners? How do you do?” Evie asked, giving Ardeth Bey and his companion a friendly grin. Rick, ambling over to Evie’s side, echoed the question.

“Very well, thank you, Miss Carnahan, O’Connell effendi,” Ardeth Bey said.

“It’s Carnahan-O’Connell now, actually,” Rick said, putting his hand on Evie’s back. “We, er, got married after Hamunaptra.”

The other couple made happy noises. “Nikkah Mubarak to you both,” Ardeth Bey said. “May Allah bless you both on this new adventure.

“This is my wife, Inneni,” he continued, bringing his companion forward. She wore a deep blue yelek robe and a thin cotton bur’a with gold jewelry over the lower part of her face. Her eyes were very merry.

“You have found each other,” she said. “It is good.” And then, seeing their puzzled faces, she added, “You were kept apart before and it brought you great sorrow.”

Rick and Evie glanced at each other and back at Inenni as she continued to speak.

“You must come to us in our camp. When we heard that you were working here, we came at once. There are many of us who wish to meet the heroes who saved us from the Creature.”

Evie blushed, looking at her feet. “I think we better deserve a good scolding for waking him up.”

Ardeth Bey tilted his head in the Egyptian shrug. “You laid him down again; that is what matters. It is over now and the threat has passed. Please come, my friends, for dinner. We are camped north of the Valley, at the edge of the cultivation.”

And so it was that Rick and Evie, as the sun sank down into the western desert, found themselves walking towards the Medjai encampment. In one hand Evie carried a jar of local honey; she was uncertain as to the etiquette of gift bringing, but was loath to arrive empty handed.

“I wonder what they’ll make of us,” Rick said as they tramped along.

“I still think we’re in for a scolding,” Evie replied.

Rick shrugged. “I’m inclined to agree with Ardeth Bey that laying Imhotep down again counts in our favor. We didn’t exactly decline taking responsibility for what happened.”

Evie slipped her hand into his. “And it’s all worked out for the best, hasn’t it?”

Rick squeezed her hand and smiled at her. “Yeah, honey, it has.”

The Medjai encampment was sprawling, a village of tents erected along the edge of the cultivation and the desert. Cookfires dotted the view, with a larger central bonfire burned merrily, surrounded by stools and cushions . A crowd of children, seeing the Carnahan-O’Connells coming, ran shouting into the camp, and Ardeth Bey came forth to meet them, an easy smile lighting his face.

“My friends, welcome!” he said. “Come, let me introduce you.”

He led them to the bonfire, where a number of women and men had gathered. A flurry of introductions followed; parents, siblings, cousins; Medjai warriors old and young, with their wives and their children. There were, at the beginning, some arch looks from the older warriors, men who had spent their lives guarding the ruins of Hamunaptra and its hapless prisoner, but as the evening deepened into night and the feasting began, these looks came less and less often until they disappeared entirely. Evie was relieved: sometimes she couldn’t believe that she had let her scholarly fervor cloud her judgement when clear warnings had been delivered. But as Ardeth had said, the fact that she had laid Imhotep down again after raising him counted in her favor. She had not abdicated responsibility and left the Medjai to deal with him on their own.

Even as she had these thoughts, that scholarly fervor was creeping in, for the Medjai were unlike any people Evie had ever met before. Though they spoke in Arabic that evening–and some of them even in English–their own dialect seemed to be an unusual mixture of modern Arabic and ancient Egyptian.

“Yes,” Inneni said when Evie asked, “we make it a point of pride to remember the old ways. Perhaps it may interest you to study us for your European linguists.”

“That would be fascinating,” Evie said. “It would require me to live among you for an awfully long time, though, to learn the language. I’m about to return to England in the autumn,” she added, blushing a little, “to pursue my D.Phil in ancient Egyptian language. We learned so much at Hamunaptra, you see, before it all went to pot.”

Inneni smiled. “Perhaps you will see my brother in Oxford. We like to send our people to university when we can.”

That would explain Dr. Bey, Evie thought, and felt a pang for the grumpy old curator. He had studied at Cambridge and the Sorbonne.

A burst of laughter sounded from across the campfire; Evie and Inneni looked across at Rick and Ardeth, talking with the men, tiny cups of coffee in hand. Rick looked happy, relaxed, and Evie smiled. Sometimes she couldn’t help but marvel that they were so happy, that they had found each other. Found each other–what was it Inneni had said earlier that day?

“Sitt, do you mind me asking,” Evie said. “At the Valley today you mentioned that Rick and I had been kept from each other before. What did you mean by that?”

Inneni tilted her head, a small smile lighting her face. “Perhaps you will think it foolish, but we Medjai believe that the soul lives many lives, that each journey through life teaches us lessons until we have learned all that this world has to offer.”

“You mean reincarnation,” Evie said.

“Yes. I am gifted with the ability to see a person’s lived past. You and your Rick have been friends and lovers many, many times. When I saw you in the Valley today, I saw some of your time together. In your last incarnation, you were not allowed to be together, and this made you both miserable.”

Evie looked back across the fire, her thoughts whirling. Rick met her eyes and gave her a small smile.

“I was never taught to believe in reincarnation,” Evie said slowly, “but it’s a fascinating thought.”

Inneni smiled. “Do you feel whole when you are with him?”

“Yes,” Evie said. “I mean, I was a whole person before, but when I’m with Rick…”

When she was with Rick, Evie felt as though there was nothing she could not do. When she was with Rick, she knew that she didn’t have to prove herself to anyone, because he believed she could do anything. When she was with Rick, Evie knew that she could be nothing but herself. And he felt the same way around her, she knew; it was something they had talked about. They didn’t complete each other: they built each other up. They were good on their own, but they were best when they were together.

“With Rick I am most truly myself,” Evie said at last, and Inneni nodded.

“It is good,” she said. “That is exactly as it should be.”

“Yes,” Evie said, “I think so, too.”

Later, as they walked back towards Luxor, with the full moon silvering everything and the stars burning down, Evie slipped her hand into Rick’s.

“Inneni said we’ve lived many lives together,” she said.

Rick glanced down with a smile. “Does that mean we’re soulmates?”

“I hope so,” Evie said.

Rick put his arm around her shoulders, pulled her in to kiss the top of her head. “Me, too, sweetheart. I don’t know about many lives, but I’m happy to share this one with you.”

Evie put her arm around his waist and gave him a squeeze. “So am I.”

(How about an angst-inducing anon?)

Hello there, old mum.

If you're reading this, it's either because I'm dead and you're sorting my things or because you're nosy and going through my things. Either way I'll kindly ask you not to read the papers locked in the secret drawer you probably already opened. I know you. (And I'm supposed to be the mildly criminal element of this family - you've never seen a door you didn't want to open, for God's sake.)

I love you. I don't say it. Blame our national obsession for stiff upper lips. But you're the most important thing in my life and one third of the reason this world is worth saving every time some nutters decide to end it. I know I've never been that good at taking care of you, and anyway Rick gladly took on the job all these years ago, but please take good care of yourself, all right? I've seen what a world without you looks like. It's fu I still it was

Anyway.

Say hi to Rick, Alex, and the grandkids for me. Sorry I couldn't it's not Well. C'est la vie, I'm told the French say. Don't be sad. We had a long run, and a good one.

Your brother who loves you, even if he's rubbish at reminding you,

Jonathan

(PS: I'm not kidding about these papers. I will know.)

Evy chuckled as she read the first lines -- the first time she’d permitted herself to laugh since her brother’s passing. “'Secret’ drawer?” she said with an affectionate roll of her eyes. “The key fell out of your trousers, idiot.” She couldn’t imagine why Jonathan would have hidden the key in such an obvious place unless he secretly wanted her to read the papers -- and, in any case, the warning was too late.

As she read on, she felt a lump forming in her throat. No, he hadn’t often told her he loved her, but she’d always known -- even when he was at his lowest point, after the war and the deaths of their parents, even despite his seeming inability to take anything else seriously. He wasn’t exactly wrong in saying he hadn’t been good at taking care of her -- in those few years before Rick joined the family, when it was just the two of them, Jonathan had barely been capable of taking care of himself -- but he’d always supported her, encouraged her dreams even as trauma and alcohol ruined his own. She ached to tell him how much his support and unwavering faith meant to her.

She stopped cold at the words he’d crossed out, one trembling hand coming up to cover her mouth. Dear God...Evy had seen how her death at Ahm Shere haunted her husband and son, comforted them both through the odd nightmare even years after the fact. But by all appearances, her brother hadn’t changed from his usual jolly, joking self, though she knew he was surely suffering, too. Now, for the first time, she saw the depth of Jonathan’s suffering in the words he’d been unable to write.

Tears clouded her vision as she finished reading, though she couldn’t hold back a smile at how casual, straightforward, and distinctly Jonathan the final lines were. “I love you, too, big brother,” she said, folding up the letter and setting it aside. There was no doubt in her mind that he heard the words, nor that he was watching her as she began to peruse the contents of his so-called “secret” drawer -- a travel diary beginning with Hamunaptra and detailing all of the Carnahan-O’Connell family’s adventures of the past three decades.

Brother-Sister bonds that give me Storm Sibling Feels:

Evelyn O'Connell and Jonathan Carnahan from The Mummy. That's why I have such a soft spot for their movie. Their team dynamic is Evie as Sue, Jonathan as... Jonathan (that name must be synonymous with imp), and Rick being a merged Reed and Ben.

Dana and Ryan Mitchell from Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue. After being separated as toddlers by the forces of evil for almost two decades, it shocked and simultaneously gladdened Dana to learn her older brother was still alive. Once Ryan fights his evil brainwashing, they quickly become each other's priority person.

Kari and Tai Kamiya from Digimon Adventure. They have one of the nicest, most amicable sibling relationships ever depicted on TV. Tai is the headstrong, blazing leader who can get a little too overheated. Kari keeps her big brother on a tall pedastol, but also acts as his own personal empath. With few words, she's able to calm and uplift him.

Harrison and Tru Davies from Tru Calling. They lost their mother as children and have a very absent father. Essentially, the Storms' brunette counterparts. Despite what a troublemaker he can be, Harrison is the only member of Tru's family she confides in about her strange, seemingly celestial powers.

ZZ and Blitzy Zulander from Bots Master (decent but short-lived 90s kid show- look it up). In addition to maintaining his underground robot army to prevent world domination by a megalomaniac, young ZZ is his kid sister's only caretaker. Not one to give into orphan misery, Blitzy is vital in helping her brother from behind the scenes while ZZ is on the battlefront.

On the subject of decent but short-lived 90s kids shows, Clyde and Quintin MacCloud from Highlander the Animated series. Through their bizarre and confusing world, Clyde is usually the sole source of sunshine for Quintin. Their mother used her last breath to remind Quintin to take care of his sister. A request he more than filled.

Peter and Judy Shepherd from Jumanji. When we first meet them, these two are basically the Storms if Sue was the one with the mischievous streak while Johnny suffered in silence. After losing their parents, they pretty much shut out the rest of the world to live in their exclusive bubble. Before they meet Alan and Sarah, their earnest and vulnerable moments are reserved strictly for each other.

This has been an excerpt from

Multi-Media Feels 💛