#[ i've seen some references to some of her new material-- which then draws back to some luofu lines... ]

[iniziare]

I'm finally moved in! I need to unpack some more (and rearrange this kitchen's cabinets, because my god who lived here before me— a tall Dutch person?) But I need some rest before I get to that, for my arms and legs are killing me after last night's repeated walks here. Peace, god, I've missed you with every fiber of myself. But as I (still) wake up from my nap, I wanted to touch on a quick little Kafka thing that I'm not sure how many people have noticed, but hopefully will add to their perception of her, and most importantly, how I actually approach her character.

I think it's easy to say that Kafka's character appears to be 'inconsistent' if you look at her through only the singular lens of the 'spider', and I think that's doing a massive disservice to both her and Hoyoverse respectively. Let me try to explain this for a moment: Kafka is not solely represented by the arachnid, she is also represented by the butterfly. Yes, you read it right. Listen, it's so easy to see the plethora of motifs that pretty much force you to acknowledge the former, in anything from her attire, to the webs, to her very calculating and cunning nature. But they hide, to me, an obvious thing right in plain sight: the butterfly brooch, it stands out like a sore thumb. And like many on X, I used to associate it with the Trailblazer, and their 'transformation' and how that may play into the 'loss' that Kafka is insinuated to have suffered. Ergo, it would carry a fair amount of emotional weight. But ever since I saw it pinned on Blade on official promotional art, this started feeling a bit too ill-fitting for me. HYV doesn't do things willy nilly, and Kafka is very specific and sentimental with certain things, so it didn't feel right that it would be given to Blade even temporarily (it's not specific to him, it is simply that it's too important to give to anyone, ever), so instead— I wanted to see what else this could mean. Now, without overthinking anything, a butterfly stands in almost direct opposition to the spider, in that it is often perceived as restless, or impatient, with the way that it flutters from flower to flower, never keeping its attention on the same thing for too long (does this sound like Kafka's boredom yet, anyone?) — unlike the spider, which is often considered a symbol of patience. And in that journey, I found the second butterfly motif: butterflies that appear behind her as she uses her skill, the skill that, mind you, constructs a web in front of her. And they're not just butterflies, they're black butterflies, which evokes an even richer symbolism and imagery that goes beyond even the 'foundational' concept of what the butterfly on its own means for her character.

Any way, all of this rambling to say that a long meta on this topic for her is still long overdue as this is something that I've been sitting on for months now, but haven't been able to properly put into words because, well, life. But I'm looking forward to being able to get to all of it now. But hello, does this add to your perception, and explain a bit why I write Kafka with such a curiosity? That, boredom, restlessness, and an intrinsic draw to 'beauty', she may not only be potentially 'other' in terms of possibly not being entirely human, but she is, and has always been 'other' in her nuance. Seeing Kafka as merely represented by the spider sells her, in my opinion, very short— because it takes all of the nuance away from her very intricate character. This duality is vital to understanding how she works and ticks, because otherwise I think it's too simple to fall into 'this doesn't suit her character', while actually— yes, it absolutely does.

[bonefall]

You've single handedly dragged me back into the warriors fandom with your warriors overhaul and as a consequence I've been dragged back to my ocs, so I decided to give clanmew names a whirl for the biggest one I've got, sheepstrike!

During a particularly hard leafbare, the prey in the moors wasn't enough to sustain windclan, leading to a starvation event similar to the great hunger seen in goosefeathers curse. With many of the weaker cats already having died, the clan was growing desperate, and a then generically named curlyfur (fofwarrlfaf, curled fur, named for a curly fur genetic mutation) stepped up with a risky plan: sneak into the twoleg farm and steal one of the sheep once they were let out in the fields. While the clan cats would normally not do something to potentially provoke the twolegs, at this point they were desperate enough to try, which lead to an eventually successful raid. While the raid was a group effort, the windclan cats attributed their survival to the cat who came up with the daring plan. Curlyfur was then given the honor title Sheepstrike, which I've translated as baabakorren, baa meaning sheep and bakorren meaning to use/make use of. While her original name focused more on the actual acquisition of the sheep, her clanmew translation ended up focusing more on the use of the body, as the sheep not only fed the clan but also kept them warm with the use of its wool, and gave them materials to make future tools with the use of its bones.

Her name would have been easier to translate, but I took it a step further and decided to try and keep the alliteration as a fun little challenge. Maybe it's a fun little naming quirk of the windclan leader? Who knows? All I know is I made things needlessly difficult shuffling through the clanmew lexicon finding any verb that started with the letter b and shoving it against baa to see if it fit.

(I also gave naming her littermate Cornflower a whirl and ended up with Mooheqmwaron, mooheq meaning corn and mwaron meaning bloomed. As a young kit and apprentice cornpaw was rather skittish, but after a bit of socializing she grew into quite the social butterfly, becoming a popular figure at gatherings. The prefix corn was used because of her yellow coat color and her clans close location to a farm, and the suffix flower/bloomed was used in reference to the fact that she grew into herself and metaphorically became a bright and beautiful flower. Her original name is also a bit of a fun jab at cornflour, since I picture her having a grand old time with kitchen duty, specifically the baking of tunnelbuns)

If people keep sharing cool OCs that draw inspiration from BB, I'm going to have to find some way to boost them. Some people understand the assignment and absolutely knock it out of the park!

Speaking of sheep-killing... I am actually planning a minor subplot in BB!DOTC relating to sheep. I think I may have mentioned it in passing at some point, but in a nutshell, there's a point after the formation of ThunderClan where Thunder Storm and the Gang are negotiating with the River Kingdom, Shadow's Clan, and the Wind Coalition.

To stay on their good side, the Wind Coalition employs them for a while to teach them the secret of killing sheep, something that Tribe cats know how to do. But they quickly find out that the reason the Wind's Runner sent them to do this isn't because they're better at killing sheep, but because there is a vicious collie and she wants to see what they do with a sudden challenge.

As a result of what happens here, sheep become much more closely managed and killing them becomes too hard to do casually for future generations. WindClan also carries an important cultural memory from the event; that stealing from humans means more dogs on the moor.

(Also the border collie's name is Hamish, for no particular reason. I just think it's a cute name.)

But anyway! Onto some new words for you!

The word "mooheq" is actually made during the Sundrown Patrol! Corn was only 'discovered' and named after the Clan cats settled at the lake, because of passing through so many farms to find Sanctuary Lake. Before then, all of the strange, unnatural-looking plants grown by humans are called Yoshepe.

It's why they don't have words for most farm animals (chickens, goats) or any other common crop, like tomatoes, potatoes, or lettuce. Only particularly noteworthy human products are given names, like the unsettlingly red domestic rose or medically valuable catmint.

So for Cornflower, if she's from a time before the Lake before they invented Mooheq, I've gone and gotten three plants for you. Two to keep a "direct" translation and one to hopefully keep the "vibe"

Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) AKA Bachelor's Button = Kerrma This plant (and the next one) are actually named for a very interesting reason; they're 'parasites' of cereal-crop fields. Before industrialization, they carved out a little niche as grain impostors, and humans would unwittingly sew them along with the crop. Kerrma is blue and fluffy, valued for its beauty.

Corn Cockle (Agrostemma githago) = Mwirrma While Kerrma is pretty, safe, and a bit more 'delicate,' Mwirrma is an unkillable weed. Poisonous and seen in cornfields, roadsides, and disturbed areas, this pink flower is seen as a reminder to "be careful" when doing something as risky as visiting a human grain field.

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) = Awlpon I was actually ready to rule against having a word for Sunflower in base Clanmew, then I learned that sunflowers can naturalize themselves in this area, in addition to being a very common crop. So this is one of the few human crops that Clan cats have a name for. It's yellow, it's grown by farms, it's bright and cheerful and faces the sun. If none of the other two tickle your fancy, here's one for Cornflower's vibes!

[asavt]

Another cookie squad Headcanons

Featuring Sparkling, Vampire, cellphones and the Espresso and Madeleine Story of how they came together. Consider it an AU now baby!

-As a note, when I say the squad I'm mostly referring to the adults, so no worries about Walnut or Creampuff useless I mention them too

-Each one of the squad has been in Sparkling's bar at last once. There's no need to say who has been there the most. Sparkling has a time every time someone besides Roguefort comes, because to him it's mostly like "Oh I'll finally know the continuation to the burnt toast accident or maybe the cat catastrophe? Maybe a new POV of the--"

He practically knows a lot of what happens in between the squad.

-As another note, Sparkling's bar is called Milabo (You know, like the song from Zutomayo of the same name, which, btw, I relate a lot to Latte)

-*A great part of this “AU” is kind of inspired by the song. Part of its lyrics and vibe.

-Vampire is there most of the time when the squad visits the bar (it's almost as if he never leaves the bar and this is definitely not me low-key putting sparkvamp in this oh no--) Sometimes the fakes his sleep to listen to the things others say (Which is how he knows most of Rogue's pan-ic).

-Walnut has been in Sparkling's bar too, but at day and for case-solving purposes only. Sparkling will give her some alcohol-free drink for free sometimes (mostly because he gets along pretty well with the nut family and because Almond usually pays him whatever he serves her).

-If the squad had cellphones (and probably an app like discord because.), their group chat would initially be called "Coffee mage appreciation group" and then be changed to "Coffee bean appreciation group"

Coffee Bean: Can we please change the group name and mine?

Guided by the Devine: No <3

Coffee Bean: Fuck you.

-*And they all would dedicate half their time to make fun of Almond but with love.

-Espresso has been mistaken for a dark mage before by Almond. It was how they meet actually. Almond had pulled him to interrogate him and got a long lecture on the differences between black magic and coffee magic.

-Madeleine gets along rather well with Roguefort. Rogue seems impressed by Maddie’s acting skills.

-Madeleine is currently living with Espresso. Out of his armor most of the time. He usually takes care of keeping the house clean and preparing meals (He never really had to cook before but the first dish he made wasn’t bad at all). Sometimes he will tag along Almond in the detective’s work, or Almond will ask for his help.

-I’m still unsure if I want the Almond/Roguefort/Latte to be romantic or platonic. But honestly? Both are good. Latte is pretty close to Almond and Roguefort but not in the way she is with Espresso (that makes them look like siblings jkashduawhu). Perhaps I’ll keep it platonic.

-The Espresseleine/Madespresso story of how they came together, because I seem to not be able to write it down JSHALDHUIWADWA-

--It happens after the Puppet Show mini quest. Madeleine starts to ask for Espresso's "assistance" in different mission that are given to him. Angel is there too, of course.

--During these missions is that Essy clarifies that no, they are not friends, no, he does not like Madeleine. Bringing up the knight begin too prideful and self-centered if not all then most of the time.

--Is not until one of their missions goes wrong, were Angel is knocked out and Espresso (seeing and knowing that if Madeleine is knocked down too they might not be able to go back to the kingdom ever) pretty much receives a rather big attack for Madeleine is that he kind realizes the facts given by espresso true. All while he is carrying Essy and Angel back to the kingdom, running and exhausted too.

--Clover begin kind of a mediator between the two (I want to see more of my son--)

--"Devine, protect us" Should happen too after this. An scenario like, Madeleine coming to think something like "I'm the shield, the one who goes on the front line and receives the blows for those who can't, always looking straight ahead... but if I am doing that then who watches my back? Who do I rely on and trust to take care of most enemies so the damage received is not overwhelming...?"

Power of team work baby!!!

--As a note to this, Maddie getting his cape damaged as well as his hair. So, you get short hair Maddie~

(I've been drawing him with short hair in secret now I have an excuse to show)

-- "You...cut your hair..." *Madeleine touches the points of it with one of his hands, pensive* "...pft it'll grow back!"

--There's also this "Search for your own light" thing between Angel and Maddie. Angel encouraging Madeleine to do so. Maybe Madeleine giving his best wishes to them for their wish to fly before they decide to part ways.

--Madeleine trying other ways to befriend Essy. Which at first Espresso mistaken as the knight usual attempts to befriend anyone he sees out of habit and attention seeking, but once they realize the feeling is completely genuine, Espresso is rather perplexed.

--"You can't just befriend people by buying them gifts (although I do appreciate them)" "Then what?" "hmm..."

--Said gifts used to be rather expensive things, simple though. Eventually Madeleine settles to just pass by Espresso's place, give him any food he had bought that day (which usually is glazed donuts), ask if he needs any help with something (getting a vase, materials, moving things), and if not then he just says his good byes, best wishes and silently leaves. (A note on the "silently leaves": Madeleine is pretty much used to speak loudly and enter loudly anywhere, he still does this at this point, but when it's about Espresso he is a bit more quiet, a bit showy over his entrances still, but less loud, and he actually knocks the door)

--Madeleine eventually manages to go out with Espresso to other places that aren't some place in the forest full of enemies. Probably after some more visits to his place and more calm talks between the two, Madeleine brings up that Espresso tends to act a bit cold or distant towards a lot of people, and that, although he understands his discomfort at begin in public spaces or too long out of his work, he should try and open up a bit. This reminds Essy of a certain friend he hasn't seen in some time, and from whom he keeps getting letters.

--Shenanigans.

--There's still some bickering between the two, always with a playful undertone though.

--Espresso explains Madeleine, one time the knight has gotten Espresso wrapped in a blanket burrito again and got him to bed, that sometimes, no matter how tired he might feel, he is simply unable to sleep. Part of a headcanon of mine that coffee magic has this side effect on it's users, prolonged usage of this kind of magic will induce a high caffeine kind of state, which on the long run can fuck up the user's sleep schedule. Madeleine understands this, but remains stubborn about keeping Espresso in the bed so at last he can get some rest from his work and clear his mind a little, the idiot falls asleep in the process and Espresso doesn't try to wake him up.

--This happens several times after, neither of them thinking of the implications of not begin bothered by the sudden closeness they share until it's too late.

--Espresso realizes first that he has slowly, yet nicely, fallen for Madeleine. I think I talked about this before but I'll do it again: Is in one of the times Madeleine has gotten Espresso to bed to get some rest, Espresso not begin able to fall asleep and Madeleine doing again. Is while he thinks of how he has gotten to know Madeleine for real, not the Knight Commander from a noble family or the Chosen by the Devine, but as he is, that he comes to think that "Ah.... I love him" and he remains calm about it.

--Espresso doesn't overthink it, just thinks that, if Madeleine ever got an interest in him, he would surely show it. So he waits. Even if in the end his feelings aren't mutual he knows he'll do just fine remaining friends.

--Madeleine realizes not many days after. And the realization hits him like a truck. Alone in his place and probably in bed looking at the ceiling thinking about Espresso. Once he realizes and thinks about it a bit more his face gets all red and chooses to scream in the pillow.

--He would think about telling Espresso as soon as he can, after all, he doesn't want his feelings to make their friendship weird. He values it, a lot. Maybe because his friendship with Espresso it's the first one where he genuinely wanted to become friends with someone.

--Espresso takes the confession calmly, gets all flustered after they kiss for the first time.

--As a few extras of this: Madeleine goes back to the Republic, asked to be seen by his family and Espresso goes to Parfedia, where a few students have applied to his class to his surprise. When they see each other again is at Parfedia (Madeleine sending a message to Espresso beforehand about his arrival) -there was this one drawing I did once of Maddie running to hug Espresso, something like that happens-. Madeleine gets very clingy for some reason, which they speak later and comes out as “Home doesn’t quite feel like home…” “Why is that?” “I don’t know… maybe I’ve become used to be around you”

--Espresso lets ends up letting Madeleine stay with him until he either feels like returning to the Republic or is called back, whatever happens first (though none will happen for maybe a year or a little more).

--Ends with Madeleine meeting Latte and Almond.

[loopy777]

Non-Review: Free Comic Book Day 2021 - The Legend of Korra (Also Featuring Avatar: The Last Airbender)

With all the hype around 'Suki Alone,' it looks to me like most of the fandom missed that an additional Avatar comic with a story from each cartoon's era was just released for Free Comic Book Day. You can read them for yourself on either Dark Horse Digital or Comixology where it's mislabeled as being for ages 17+ (free accounts are required for both), but I'm sure one of the reasons you all love me is because of my willingness to jump in between you and these comics like the deadly bullets they can be. Well, I'm happy to die (metaphorically) for the sake of (a little anonymous internet) love, so I'm doing a full snarky review for each ten-page story. Also, I'm bored, and it's more fun to make fun of mediocre stuff than to praise stuff I like.

It's time for me to review "Free Comic Book Day 2021 - The Legend of Korra (Also Featuring Avatar: The Last Airbender)" or more specifically "The Legend of Korra: Clearing the Air" and "Avatar: The Last Airbender: Matcha Makers."

CLEARING THE AIR

The cover makes this look like a story about Jinora and Ikki having a sibling conflict. That's a lie. The Air Sisters arguing is merely the inciting incident for Tenzin telling a story of his youth. I should note that, as inconsequential as the Air Sisters stuff is, it's actually written very well because it posits Ikki as a victim of circumstance and Jinora as a bully who terrorizes her little sister with threats of getting thrown in jail by Metalbenders for an accident, cementing the characterization from the cartoon. This is not sarcasm. I really do think Jinora is presented by LoK as a Holier Than Thou little snot who just so happened to be naturally gifted with magic spirit-powers, but for some reason the rest of the fandom doesn't agree with me.

Anyway, Tenzin comes in to find the arguing (and Meelo just running amok for the fun of it and so far these characterizations are perfect), and rather than telling Jinora to shut her stupid face, he delivers a tale of his youth about conflict resolution.

So the meat of the story is how, when Tenzin was "a few years older" than Jinora, a pair of vandals got onto Air Temple Island and burned some graffiti into the spinning-panel things that Korra will destroy out of frustration during her Airbending training. Literally, the vandals are depicted as scorching the wood with enough smoke to be seen across a plaza. Tenzin goes after the vandals and they flee across the bay back to Republic City proper (one of the vandals is a Waterbender with a surf-plank). Tenzin pursues, catches them, and attacks them hard enough to smash some dockside crates. They are all then arrested by Metalbenders and dragged before Chief Toph. She's going to let Tenzin go (yay Toph!) and throw the vandals in jail (YAY TOPH!) and makes this face, and this entire comic is worth it:

However, Aang arrives and instead arranges to forgo the jail-time in favor of an Air Nomad Conflict Resolution Ceremony. This is nice and in-character, but I'm totally with Tenzin that these vandals should have been thrown in jail. They literally burned insulting graffiti into antiques from a genocided culture. But instead, Aang demonstrates conflict resolution by having Tenzin explain why he's hurt and what needs to be done to redress the wrong. And so the vandals help Tenzin scrub the graffiti off the panels with water and rags and mops- how, I don't know, since they were literally burned.

They also do a ceremony thing where they each take turns bending their element into a central space between them to 'clear the air' (GET IT GET IT HA HA IT'S ALMOST LIKE A PUN BUT NOT), so it's a good thing they were all Benders because this is kinda racist. This fixes all the problems and everyone is friends. Yay!

In the present, though, things are not so nice, because Tenzin's kids are still screaming at and provoking each other. Korra comes in with Asami at the end to ask what's going on, and Asami says nothing, so I still think everyone is characterized with perfect consistency with the cartoon.

I made this sound silly, but (aside from the spinny-panels getting cleaned with a little water and elbow-grease, which doesn't matter because Korra will eventually blow them all up anyway), I actually like this one. It has Tenzin demonstrate how much he's always had to work to be the Perfect Air Monk that everyone expects him to be, and Aang acknowledges how this is unfair but that Tenzin will never let him down no matter what. It also has Katara come in at the end (for just one line, boo!) to acknowledge that this was an especially easy little conflict for Tenzin to practice on and he'll eventually face worse. I found it a nice adult moment in a story that's otherwise clearly aimed at 8-year-olds.

The art is good. It's simpler than the LoK cartoon, with flat colors, but it captures the story and has enough liveliness for everyone's character to come across in their look and body-language. The brief action-sequence where Tenzin attacks the vandals is well done, moving quickly but showing the full flow of the fight and every move Tenzin makes.

MATCHA MAKERS

Apparently, "Matcha is finely ground powder of specially grown and processed green tea leaves, traditionally consumed in East Asia" according to Wikipedia. I had to look that up. I'm curious how many people understood the full reference in the title, especially since these comics are aimed at kids too young to be allowed on the internet.

This is a very simple story about Iroh in his tea-shop in Ba Sing Se. He has an assistant/waitress named Feng, a new character who wears glasses, ruining the hopes and dreams of all the fanfic-writers who were so sure he'd rescue Jin from the Lower Ring. A frequent patron of the tea shop is an elegant, older lady (very clearly Upper Ring material) named Li-Mei, who cannot go a single panel without giving Iroh a HEY BIG BOY look. She is very clearly smitten. Also, I feel the need to clarify that she knows his name is Iroh, so apparently Ba Sing Se is okay with the Dragon of the West serving tea to their wealthy. I don't say that as a criticism, I'm just noting it.

That night, Iroh meets up with his friends- the Pokemon-style spirits that we saw in Legend of Korra. (I don't know if they're the actual spirits from LoK, or just new spirits in the same style. This is because I would sooner grind matcha into my eyes than rewatch Book Spirits.) He serves them his special blend of tea and talks about how he's totally into Li-Mei but isn't going to pursue it because he's feeling old and doesn't want to take a risk. At this point, I could stop describing the plot because between the title and what I've said so far, I'm sure you could figure out every single plot beat that will follow.

The next day, the spirits trip Feng so that she drops Li-Mei's tea and Iroh needs to bring a replacement, and they've drawn hearts on top of the replacement tea with foam or sugar or milk or whatever. I don't know because I've never bought tea in a place that will even put the bag in the hot water for me. Iroh gets out of the situation without starting any love-affairs and runs into the back to tell the spirits to knock it off, dudes, they're totally embarrassing him! The spirits respond by giving him a flyer for a romantic restaurant. I don't know how they got it, so I can only assume that some Upper Ringer had their mail diverted.

Iroh refuses, so when Li-Mei orders more tea and he brings it to her, the spirits hover just out of her sight and threaten to smash the furniture. I am not making that up. They literally threaten to smash Iroh's furniture unless he asks the lady out. He submits to their tyrannical threats, Li-Mei happily accepts the date, he happily accepts her acceptance, and the story comes to a close. Iroh thanks his spirits friends for opening him up to new experience, but hopes that next time (so I guess Iroh is signing up for Tinder after this?) they won't threaten his shop.

At best, I can describe this story as 'harmless.' But it's been a long week and I just got a bunch more extra work at my day job that I really don't want to do, so I'm going to go ahead and call this story 'dumb.' It's rote, leans towards humor without actually being funny at all, and turns the spirits of the setting into Pokemon. And not even the cool dragon kind.

The art is strangely stiff. The coloring is soft and nice, but the drawings seems more 'assembled' than actually drawn. I swear there are even a few panels that reminded me of 'How I Became Yours' with janky poses, horrifying expressions, and just enough resemblance to the original cartoon to make me think a screenshot was partially traced and then ruined. (I'm not accusing the artist of tracing, BTW. I wouldn't even condemn the artist for tracing if they did. I'm just describing that HIBY feeling I got.) It was so stiff that rather than hear Iroh's dialogue in Mako's rich tones, I instead imagined Greg Baldwin doing a stiff Mako-impression with no naturalism to the delivery.

This story is definitely worthy of its "Also Featuring" billing. I'd rate it below Gene Yang's Mai and Suki FCBD short stories, but above everything else he wrote for Avatar.

So there you go. Overall, this is very middle-of-the-pack for Avatar FCBD stuff. It's very much of the nature of the 'Team Avatar Tales' stuff, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Iroh story was a leftover from that project. On Free Comic Book Day, you often get what you pay for.

[angel-0f-verdun]

Camel Rides

"Josephine Rose Carnahan. I should have told you this from the moment I met you..." I looked at him curiously wondering what he could have possibly wanted to say to me. "I love you." He finished his thought leaning forwards and kissing me on the lips. My heart leaped, finally. This is what I had been waiting for.

"Oh, please!" Jonathan let out a sigh ruining our moment. "How 'bout you, darling? Would you like a little kissy-wissy?" He said looking to the camel. Evy came back quickly looking at the ground. I stepped out of Rick's arms to see what she had to say she gave me a look of content.

"Ready to go?" I asked her, I'd ask her later about Ardeth later.

"Yes, let's go home." She said smiling at me and Jon we had a group hug real quick before we started on the long journey back home. Rick and I got up onto our camel as Jon and Evy did the same. I knew this wasn't the end of my adventures in Egypt. I knew something would always draw me here whether it was my mother being Egyptian or not, it was clear it was in the Carnahans bloodline. Just like being adventurers and treasure seekers was. I learned a lot about myself during this trip, I found old friends and made new ones. I have some amazing stories to someday tell my nieces and nephews someday. I knew one thing for certain, this was not the end.

Ardeth Bay

         It had been a while since I'd last seen O'Connell and the Carnahans. Their names quickly gained popularity in the papers since we met in Hamunaptra. A lot of tourists as they are had wandered their way out into the desert to come find the city of the dead wanting to see what Rick, Evelyn and Josephine had uncovered. We stopped most of them before they even got to the city. The Medjai threw together some very elaborate schemes to get them to leave. Some simply refused but most got lost in the desert and very little perished. The Medjai were almost on a sort of protective duty for these tourists. It got repetitive day after day. I longed for the adventure I had with O'Connell and the Carnahans. Thoughts of Evelyn haunted my days, but she was a welcome distraction. I often thought of writing her but always dismissed it immediately, such foolish thoughts.

       Since then I had still been protecting Hamunaptra from any other unwanted visitors and trust me there had been many. Nothing new had happened which was a nice surprise for the Medjai which meant we all got to spend more time with our tribe. Being a chieftain had it's moments but mostly it was relatively boring guarding a city that everyone thought was a myth. I decided it would be a good idea to wander into Cairo to find out who had replaced Dr. Bey as curator of the Museum of Antiquities.

Evelyn Carnahan

       I thought I would be happier with this situation. Shelf after shelf of historic reference material surrounded the walls of my new office, illuminated by the daylight filtering through the gauzy curtains and the glow of the candelabra sitting on the old desk. I've always had a fondness for candles, as horrid as they are for my tomes and maps. At this point in the afternoon I've considered setting alight any paperwork I don't have the energy for, just as Dr. Bey once set fire to my "treasure map". Only after being contacted by the owner of the Cairo Museum of Antiquities was I informed of the doctor's death. In the streets of the bazar after my sister, Josephine, and I were kidnapped by Imhotep, Dr. Bey sacrificed himself so that my brother, Ardeth, and Rick could escape Imhotep's hypnotized army. My promotion was bittersweet; of course I accepted the position, but I will always miss the annoyed scoldings of my old supervisor. I minimally redecorated the office, enough to feel that it was mine but careful of not fully erasing Dr. Bey's presence.

       A brief period before I returned to work, I traveled home to London. Josephine and Rick's engagement inspired them to purchase a house, and they had contacted me wishing I'd help make the decision. Once I arrived I was greeted by my siblings, and Jonathan excitedly informed me that rather than buying a new home, Josephine and Rick wanted my opinion on the four of us living together in the Carnahan Manor. I... wasn't prepared. They wanted us to walk Rick through our parent's home, and live together in the place I.... that my mother died. It was cowardly of me, but I fled. I flew back to Cairo as soon possible. I'm sure Rick was confused by my actions but hopefully Jonathan and Josephine understand. Pulling myself from my thoughts, I glanced down at the stack of paperwork on the desk.

"This cannot be all of it," I muttered. One look into the rear archives answered why all my filing requests to the staff took days longer than necessary. It was a disaster that only I would tackle. Just breathe, I kept thinking. Approaching this logically, I split the paperwork into sections regarding the areas of first the museum, then the offices, and finally the library. I chose to only work on the first half of the museum sector due to its size exceeding 200 pages. Flipping through the forms I realized that I was missing several reports, so I gathered the stack in my arms and walked with haste towards the archives. My glasses rested on my nose and I was reading while walking. Right as I passed by the columns marking the museum entrance, however, I ran into something solid promptly knocking the papers out of my hands they went flying as I stumbled backwards. I felt hands steady me as the person bent down to pick up the papers I had dropped.

"I'm so sorry, I was lost in my thoughts and I have a terrible habit of reading while walking," I excused myself. I heard a familiar voice chuckle as he bent to pick up the papers that had fallen from my hands. I looked down at the man clutching my files. He returned my gaze, and I knew those brown eyes anywhere.

"It's alright, one cannot often think straight and walk straight. It seems you've chosen the former." I smiled at him.

"Why yes it seems I have. What a pleasant surprise!"

"Hello, Evelyn," he exclaimed in his beautiful accent.

"As lovely as it is to see you, Ardeth, what brings you to my museum? Are we in some sort of predicament again?" I laughed, completely taken by his smile in return.

"No, you don't have to worry. When I saw you last you were happily working as a librarian, but now you are the new Curator?"

"Yes, after Dr. Bey's passing the owners reached out to see if I would fill the position." I cleared my throat feeling nervous about the situation. I smiled, pausing to see if I was speaking too much, as my sister says I'm apt to do. "I believe, however, this will only be temporary."

"I was in search of the new curator, as we have business to discuss. I am pleased to see you are with whom I must speak," Ardeth declared with a sense of determination.

"I wish I had the time to chat with you, how long has it been since..." I trailed off, finally remembering the scattered papers surrounding us. If only the librarian that replaced me was more experienced, because even if I finish the museum accounting record from this month... I sighed heavily. "I'll still need help cataloguing the new Hatshepsut collection into the records, which is honestly just a mess. My private research is completely on hold right now as well, because you see I was beginning to pin down the location of the... Oh my." My cheeks reddened as I realized I had vocalized those last few complaints. "I'm so sorry, you didn't travel all this way for me to blather on like this. Would we be able to talk tomorrow perhaps?"

"Of course, I am sure we will meet soon." He handed the papers back to me and with one last smile he walked off to go on with his day. I wandered back to my office, thinking about all the possible things Ardeth could be doing. I caught myself at least four different times daydreaming and before I knew it, the clock read 7:30. I'd gotten no more work done since my run in with Ardeth. My eyes scanned the pages in front of me, knowing I wouldn't retain any of the information they held. With a sigh I blew out the candelabra and grabbed my keys and coat. I walked towards the door, knowing that locking up the museum would be my only true accomplishment of this unproductive and horrid day. Just as I was locking up the front door I heard some strange noises coming from behind me. I whipped around to see Ardeth standing there with a camel on either side of him.

"I remember you enjoy the company of these creatures, and was hoping you would join me on a ride around the city. We have much to discuss." He seems more solemn than earlier, puzzling me. I had assumed he wanted to discuss the former curator, but the intensity of Ardeth's gaze pushed that thought from my mind. Walking towards the camels, I remembered the last time I had seen Ardeth:

After the excitement following the events in Hamunaptra, I stepped away from my siblings and Rick to bid Ardeth farewell. He was in a sore shape; his right arm was bandaged haphazardly and scratches peppered his face along with an expression of exhaustion. I approached him timidly, not quite sure how to begin wishing him goodbye. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, but I believe he brightened when he spotted me walking towards him. Ardeth dismounted, his camel groaning from the movement. There were so many things I wished to say, but my mind refused to settle down, so instead I reached out and took his hand.

"Your bindings are slipping," I whispered. Ardeth just chuckled. "It's hard to do all by myself, especially when I am right handed." I smiled up at him, "Well I'll fix you right up." I almost questioned my own confidence. How could just touching his hand have this effect on me? I need to get ahold of myself.

I heard Ardeth clear his throat, it snapped me out of my daze. He was still awaiting my answer.

"Evelyn...?" He asked me, worry filling his eyes. He reached out carefully brushing my arm.

"Sorry, yes, I was just reminiscing. That's a wonderful idea. It's just what I need to end my day." I smiled at him walking towards him and the camels. He mounted swiftly while looking at me, concern lingering in his eyes.

"I assume you do not need my assistance." Hmpf. Of course I don't. I quickly hopped on my camel, hearing its slight groan from the weight change. Ardeth clucked and his camel began walking off, mine following in tow with his. Peacefulness washed over me from loving the experience of Ardeth's closeness and riding these adorable creatures.