#canoe paddles

[only-1-a]

Monty chose Edwin as his target before he accidentally fell in love, but please imagine him meeting Charles with his shiny earring and necklace ("I want to put them in my mouth") and immediately switching tactics.

[elvisqueso]

I look once more Just around the riverbend Beyond the shore Somewhere past the sea Don't know what for Why do all my dreams extend Just around the riverbend?

Pocahontas (1995)

[kanthia]

baten kaitos is a video game about the trust inherent in a relationship between player and character. its also a game about stopping an evil sky clown from getting all five pieces of exodia by hitting him with a trombone

[shipperwolf1]

Bioware pls pls pls retcon solas to be bi. For me specifically. For my personal solrook agenda. Go do that now. There's still time. I'll wait.

[elucubrare]

Really if you think about it my problem is I just don’t have enough things to sand

[ladysansalannister]

When you’re the only one who ships something

Cons: You have to create everything

Pros: You have to create everything

[kmgkmg]

BACK TO US - 03. WATER DAY

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Soonyoung clears his throat before belatedly starting the meeting, “Water day! Wonderful leaders, sign up for the activity that you’re most willing to facilitate after lunch.” 

After a few more reminders and check-ins he sat back down next to Hansol. You’re never one to be in much of a rush, so you went to the end of the line, prepared to fill in whichever remaining slot. As you walked up to the sign up sheet, your face immediately soured. Canoe Rowing - Joshua Hong. 

Looking in Soonyoung’s direction, you put on your best pitiful expression to quickly change activities but he was nowhere to be seen. Joshua and Hansol were talking by the bagel bar which means Joshua still hadn’t realized your pairing yet. Yet. Soonyoung’s voice boomed from outside and once you looked out the window, you realized you were doomed. Soonyoung and another leader were picking teams for a game of water volleyball. Soonyoung’s excited self asking the kids to show off their skills to make them worthy of his recruitment. 

Besides very brief interactions with him, this would be the first time you talked to Joshua for an extended amount of time since you were highschoolers. The time when you walked home from school together everyday. The time when his mom memorized your favorite foods and would invite you over for dinner spontaneously. The time when you would sing along to songs that he was learning on his guitar. The time when you knew what the other was feeling from the slightest change in their body language. 

“We’re leading the canoe rowing together,” You inform him plainly. His blank expression to your statement helps in getting you out of your head with the previous memories playing through it. 

He pauses for a few seconds, “...Alright.”

Soon after, the two of you were walking on the dock, campers in tow. Twenty minutes were spent going over the basics and emphasizing the importance of maintaining balance on the canoe while in the water. Once all the kids took off, you and Joshua finally got into your canoe. Your foot slips on the seat as you get into the canoe, resulting in your arms flailing as you try to stand up straight again. Joshua reaches out to help you out of instinct, but you fail to notice his attempt to assist. He awkwardly brushes both hands on his jeans, sitting down and causing the canoe to become even more unstable. 

“Are you trying to make me fall, idiot?” You seethe. 

A collection of ‘oohs’ can be heard from the campers as Joshua glares at you. 

The moment that the campers in your group are out of earshot Joshua groans, “I never understood your high maintenance.” 

You stop rowing with him, “High maintenance because I lost my footing for a second? Well, why were we best friends for our entire childhood then?”

“Beats me,” He shrugs and continues to row.

“Are you going to stay on your phone or help me?” Joshua grunts, making you finally put your phone down. 

“You know saying please wouldn’t kill you, Joshua.” 

“In your dreams, Y/N.” 

You both sat in a heavy silence, watching the campers ahead of you giggle and have fun. Although you were hostile with one another, you couldn’t help but smile at seeing the campers happy. Both of you admired them before Joshua’s scream tore your gaze away from the occupied canoes ahead of you.

“Wasp! Wasp!” He points, standing up and trying to bat the bug away.

Water flows into the canoe as you pleaded with Joshua to calm down, “It won’t sting you if you stay calm! Just sit back down!”

“Say that when it buzzes close to your ear, Y/N!”

Your bickering continues as campers laugh at the level of childishness that rivaled theirs. The wasp circles around Joshua, causing him to move to your side of the canoe. His move was the tipping point, water flooded the canoe’s interior and as the wasp flew near the two of you, Joshua dragged you into the lake with him. 

The cold sensation of the water shocks you as you submerge. You're left gasping for air as your head resurfaces.

“You can stand in this water, it’s not that deep,” Joshua lifts you by the waist, helping you overcome the initial shock of falling into the water. 

Catching your breath, you grab the canoe and flip it right side up again. You were soaked. Thankfully, the sun was shining down on you, providing warmth for your freezing body. 

“I hate you.” You snapped at the person who caused you to fall in.

“Hate you more.” Joshua retorted, walking to shore behind you.

a/n: is it an oar? is it a paddle? the world may never know...

taglist: @kthpurplesyou, @kokoiinuts, @fairywriter-oracle, @cookiehaos, @miruac, @fairybinie, @strawberri-uyu

(send an ask/reply to a post/dm to be added to the taglist!)

[void-writing]

Okay I’m back on my Mummies nonsense and I’m thinking about the untapped potential of Amanda Carnovan and wanting to bite something.

Like, I get that this is a late 90s Y7 show so of course the normal adults aren’t necessarily going to be involved very much given who the target audience is but we could have had SUCH FUN DYNAMICS between Amanda—technically mother of the pharaoh and also a certified Egypt nerd—and the Mummies. The Mummies, who would be an ancient civilization researcher’s WET DREAM because they’d be the ULTIMATE primary sources to their era of ancient Egyptian history. I may be projecting a bit, but having people who LIVED IN a civilization three thousand years ago AND who would be able to verbally talk about their experiences (biases and all) would be so cool.

Plus, I think Amanda and the Mummies would have gotten along so well. Like, they canonically respect her despite never really interacting with her purely on account of what Presley says about her.

I can see Amanda talking parenting and leadership with Ja-Kal and them confiding their doubts and hardships to each other that they wouldn’t talk about with anyone else. Like, for example, Amanda is a single mother working a full time job, and Ja-Kal struggled with balancing his responsibilities as the prince's guard with his duties as a father and husband. I think both of them would have a lot to talk about regarding work-life balance. Plus, Ja-Kal in the show was edging very close to "dad who stepped up" territory. I'm not saying that Ja-Kal and Amanda would get a romantic subplot (Amanda doesn't seem to be interested in looking for a boyfriend and Ja-Kal isn't either) but I feel like they'd become platonic co-parents in the right circumstances.

I can see Amanda just absorbing every historical and arcane lesson Rath gives and chiming in with her own knowledge. They’d butt heads and argue over specific facts for hours, both being entirely too stubborn at times to give the other an inch, but at the end of it all they’d do it again because they’re both nerds and love the pain of their research.

I can see Amanda and Nefer-Tina becoming gal pals, maybe at first being friends solely because they’re the only women in the group but ultimately enjoying each other’s company; Amanda affirming that Nefer-Tina isn’t wrong for being fascinated by modern advances while Nefer-Tina gets Amanda to break out of her shell a bit by dragging her along to experience the modern world with her (I can see circumstances conspiring to get them stealing a car together and I think I’m right about it).

I can see Amanda and Armon bonding over cooking and exchanging recipes from their respective cultures, even if they may have to substitute a few key ingredients for Armon’s recipes (I doubt Amanda would be able to get her hands on hippo steak, sadly).

Plus! I also want to see Amanda’s reaction to hearing that 1) her baby boy is the reincarnation of a murdered Egyptian prince from three thousand years ago (and one she made a full exhibit about and probably rambled to Presley about for months), and 2) the man who killed him the first time is still around in present day trying to not only do that AGAIN, but use her son’s soul to attain immortality for generally nefarious purposes.

What I’m saying is I wish we could have seen Amanda’s reaction to the Mummy Nonsense because she would have been a WELL of interesting character interactions and also likely caused Scarab headaches personally by beating him up for trying to repeatedly murder her son.

And don’t even get me STARTED on Walter! He was presented to the audience as Presley’s best friend but we hardly see him at all! We could have had Walter as the best friend sidekick! The non-chosen character stuck in the chosen’s orbit! He could have been a Toby Domzalsky or a Connie Maheswaran before those characters even EXISTED! We could have had Walter struggling with pressure from the Mummies to be as dogged and dedicated in his defense of Presley as they are because they see Walter as Presley’s last line of defense, someone who can protect Presley where they can't. After all, the Mummies can’t follow Presley into school and have to be careful about going out in public on account of their whole undead situation. It could be really interesting to see Walter get continuously pressured by these adults who literally died in the line of duty to follow in their footsteps, even if it meant meeting the same fate as them. It would have been interesting to see the Mummies be struck with the realization that they made themselves forget that Walter is a kid too and someone very dear to Presley, and that they were wrong to try and pressure him into becoming a warrior like them. It would have been interesting to see them try to atone for the way they treated Walter as another soldier for their cause. It would have been interesting to see how Walter buckled under the pressure the Mummies heaped on him and even more so if Scarab tried to exploit it because in his darkest moment, Walter would have just wanted all of this Mummy Nonsense to STOP and for everything to go back to how it was before (even though that’s impossible) and almost costing Presley his life because of it.

And Elaine! How cool would it have been if she didn’t have her memories conveniently wiped and she just elbowed her way into the Mummies’ and Presley’s crazy world of gods and monsters out of rabid interest in getting the truth, even if she has to learn a lesson about how not all truths are created equal and sometimes lies and secrets are made and kept to protect the innocent! We could have had an episode where Elaine gathered proof of the Mummies and Presley’s involvement with them and was SECONDS away from publishing before she’s confronted with the reality that Presley keeps his involvement with the Mummies under wraps (ba dum tss) because the anonymity surrounding his modern identity is the only thing keeping an immortality obsessed madman from turning up on his doorstep or in his class to LITERALLY KILL HIM AND EAT HIS SOUL. We could have had her be the reason Scarab learns Presley’s modern identity and her having to atone for putting him in MORE danger.

Ugh. There's just so much wasted potential and it makes me sad.

[scooplery]

😭😭😭

[nyxelestia]

i think something's happening in interview with the vampire fandom

i don't know what but something based on the posts crossing my dash

[owl-by-night]

To Catch a Thief - Chapter Six

https://archiveofourown.org/works/53865664/chapters/139993423

A nightmare, a truce and Father Brown returns from London

[bluedalahorse]

All I’m saying is I am wishing someone other than me will write saraugust for kinktober (but also I wish this hypothetical imaginary person is writing something 100% catered to my personal taste.)

And now I will go back to work on my deadline… so everything hurts less…

[void-writing]

Mummies Alive!: Reanimated

Since I refuse to be normal about this show, here's a general outline of what MY iteration of Mummies Alive, which I have creatively given the subtitle of "Reanimated" because I am hilarious.

Some General Plot Notes:

I'm keeping the designs because they slap and the general tone because I love that good 90s cheese, but I'm rewriting for a more cohesive story and more accurate myth references. Basically, I'm letting my Egyptology fixation run wild.

I give a justification for Scarab's name being...uh...Scarab! Erasing a person's name is like a big deal in ancient Egypt! We see this most famously with Hatsheput and her successor/nephew (I think) who tried to literally chisel her name off of every structure in Egypt to erase the memory of her. This is what Amenhotep does to Scarab except MORE (because he's the Pharaoh and has that kind of power both spiritually and politically). As in Scarab's original name gets power-washed out of reality itself and even people who knew Scarab before (like the Mummies) don't remember what his name used to be and just call him "Scarab." Personally, I find this fitting given that Scarab is a man who has misplaced aspirations of grandeur and having his name and memory super turbo erased from even memory itself would be an excellent fuck you from Amenhotep.

And on the note of Scarab, I justify his scarab beetle theme with the idea that Scarab stole power from Khepri in ancient times, the sign of that manifesting as the scarab-shaped mark/tattoo we see on his back in the show. This is what gives him the power to create life-sized shabti in the volumes he does and is a vital component to his plan for using the Pharaoh's spirit to grant himself immortality. In ancient times, Scarab used the power he stole from Khepri to rob Rapses of his Ka (aka, his life force, killing the poor boy) and then using that stolen ka as like...an appetizer, which consequently gave him enough power to survive most of his three thousand five hundred year living entombment. From there, Khepri's power served as emergency life support for Scarab until Harris Stone cracked the seal of his tomb (given that Khepri is notably the god of resurrection, so it stands to reason that Khepri's power could do that). Scarab then ate Stone's Ren (and possibly the rest of his soul) because he had lost his godsdamned mind in that tomb, which allowed Scarab to not only regain his sanity, but subsume Stone's identity and buy himself some more time.

Similarly, the Mummies are also powered by Khepri! You see, Khepri noticed Scarab stealing some of his power but was unable to directly interfere to take it back because he's part of Ra and Ra is busy 24/7 unfortunately. So when Rapses is reborn and Scarab tries to hunt the boy down again, Khepri sends a little of his power the Mummies' way to call them back from the Field of Reeds to redeem their lifetime's greatest failure. Hence their battle cry/incantation "With the Strength of Ra," because in this case, they literally were given power by Ra himself.

The Amulets are going to be Important Plot Points in my Season 2 as not only are they juiced by Khepri's power, but they're originally finely crafted magic items that each bear the blessing of an Egyptian deity. Ja-Kal's is Horus (obviously), Rath's is Wadjet, Armon's is Khnum, and Nefer-Tina's is Sekhmet (because really that makes more sense given Nefer-Tina's occupation as a warrior in service to the Pharaoh as Bastet seems to be more home-oriented) that gave them special abilities reflecting their patron deities. These powers are separate from the armor and weapons they wield in the modern day, which were gifts from Ra of the Dawn (aka, Khepri) as part of their revival. After season 1, the Mummies will be set on a quest to renew/re-earn the blessings of their patron gods so that their Amulets keep functioning properly. There's also going to be a bunch of others floating around that pop up for Plot Reasons.

Season 1 will be largely made up of the original episodes (though some of the original episodes will be in Season 2) and will be used to establish the world, the characters, mechanics and whatnot. Season 1 will also be largely defined by Presley's "refusal of the call" stage in his hero's journey, culminating in a two part finale where Presley can deny the truth of his situation no longer. Remember the eclipse in episode 4? That's a big part of my season 1 finale, as is that incredibly underutilized time Scarab impersonated Amenhotep.

Season 2 will have a few of the original episodes sprinkled in but will largely be my own original concepts. This season will be defined by Presley stepping into his role as Pharaoh and going around to get the favor and support of various gods in the pantheon. This will also be where the bulk of the Amulet Plot Line will be. The season finale's final battle will be set up as a mirror of the Season 1 finale but meant to showcase how far Presley has come from the defenseless kid he was in the first season.

Season 3 will be Scarab's third act breakdown and descent into madness as he stoops to consorting to Apep, the Chaos Serpent (also known more commonly as Apophis). Still noodling on what this will look like story-wise, but it's looking like it will feature a lot of the more primordial-leaning gods (Nuhn, Geb, Nut, etc) that were just casually dropped in the original series.

Walter, Elaine, and Amanda will also have larger roles! Walter will be experiencing most of the Mummy Nonsense from jump, serving the narrative role of being Presley's "non-chosen sidekick/best friend". Elaine, meanwhile, does not conveniently lose her memories and elbows her way into the plot (after learning an important lesson about the sanctity of secrets in situations where exposing the truth would put innocent people in danger). Hiding the Mummy Nonsense from Amanda will be a more deliberate effort for the first season as she will be investigating the events of the first episode to discover what really happened to her exhibit (and not conveniently oblivious to the Nonsense going on around her son), finding out the truth in the second season and helping from there to actively fight Scarab.

I'm also keeping Kimas because this is MY STORY and I WILL KEEP MY LITTLE GREMLIN SON IF I WANT!

The Original Episodes: What Will Stay, What Will Change, What Will Go

The Keep Category (i.e. These episodes will largely be unchanged except for some pacing and story details)

"Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra"; "The Bird Mummy of Alcatraz"; "Body Slam"; "The Egyp-Tsu Kid"; "Missing Ja-Kal"

The Change Category (i.e. episodes that will remain the same on core concept and story but the execution will be changed)

"Sleepwalking Like an Egyptian"; "Pack to the Future"; "Good Bye Mr. Cheops"; "Dead Man Walking"; "Miscast"; "Ghouls' Gold"; "Pepped With Good Intention"; "Object of His Affections"; "My Dad the Hero"; "Family Feud Parts 1 - 3"

The Scrap Category (i.e. episodes that are either "completely scrapped" or "scrapped for parts," the latter will be bolded)

"Kid Scarab"; "Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Huxley"; "The Gift of Geb"; "High Nuhn"; "Water, Water, Everywhere"; "Honey I Shrunk the Mummies"; "Who's Who?"; "We've Got One"; "Show Me the Mummy"; "Sleight of Hand"; "Tempting Offer"

The Overhaul Category (i.e. the "Change" category but on steroids)

"Paws"; "The Curse of Sekhmet"; "Loss of Face"; "The Prince & The Presley"; "Dog Bites Mummy"; "Reunion"; "The Face in the Mirror"; "A Dark & Shrieky Night"; "Monster Truck Mania"; "Tree O'Clock Rock"; "True Believer"; "Desert Chic"

The Undecided Category (i.e. episodes that I haven't decided what to do with yet)

"Married to the Geb"; "Eye of the Beholder"

Character Profiles: The Mummies

Ja-Kal:

Amenhotep's second cousin, a hunter he holds in high regard for his loyalty and general level-headedness, as well as his skill with a bow. He lived a humble but comfortable life with his wife, Tia, when Ja-Kal was asked by Amenhotep to lead the Prince's personal guard. When asked, Amenhotep said he wanted his son to be surrounded by people Amenhotep knew he could trust with the boy's safety.

Was given the Falcon Amulet of Horus as a sign of the Pharaoh's trust and favor. The Amulet expanded upon his already impressive skills as a hunter by endowing Ja-Kal with intuitive knowledge of his environment and the terrain as well as the power to see in total darkness.

He's duty-driven and loyal, but also longs to be a good father and husband, though he struggles to find a balance between his duty to the Pharaoh and his duty to his wife. In fact, when his son was born about a year before Scarab carried out his scheme, Ja-Kal nearly resigned from his post as the leader of the Prince's guard so that he could devote his full attention and energy to his family, because Ja-Kal knew that between his family and the Prince, the Prince was bound to take precedence and he didn't want to do that to his wife and son. Tia convinced him otherwise.

Ja-Kal still somehow equates all of his life advice to hunting metaphors.

Ja-Kal has a younger brother, Arakh, with whom he has a tense relationship. Between the two, Ja-Kal always had an easier time finding success and Arakh grew to resent Ja-Kal for it.

Rath:

A scientist, swordsman, and mage all in one, and immensely proud of that fact. Initially, he was brought on to be Prince Rapses' tutor when the boy was about five. Even after he became an official guardian, Rath's primary role in Prince Rapses' life was that of a tutor, though after the incident that led to Rath becoming a guardian, he was permitted by Amenhotep to school Rapses in the art of magic.

Rath proved himself an effective guardian when a mystic threat posed a danger to Rapses and Rath disposed of it by his own skill. As a symbol of his position, he was given the Cobra Amulet of Wadjet, which gives him a venomous bite and the ability to temporarily transform his head into that of a cobra (you know, that thing he does like...once, in episode one).

Rath is kind of arrogant but smart enough that he almost earns the right to be that smug. He lords it over his fellow guardians and adults but still demonstrates a great deal of patience with those under his tutelage. While Rath is a genius and he knows it, he also understands that there is much more for him to learn. The biggest difference between the canon!Rath and the one I will write is that Rath will not be as dismissive of new advances in sciences.

Before Rath was the Prince's tutor and guard, he was a research partner with Chantra, a sorceress whose skill with magic easily matched his own. Together they devised a powerful new method of spell casting that could draw power from gods and living souls directly and without incantation or permission. Rath was more interested in this concept in the theoretical, whereas Chantra always pushed to apply it despite its dangerous and heretical nature when used straight.

Armon:

The first to be part of Rapses' personal guard, Armon was a renowned warrior who served Amenhotep in one of his many campaigns to Nubia, even losing his right arm defending him. Up until Rapses' birth, Armon was part of Amenhotep's personal guard and they were even on friendly terms. There are some stories that say that Armon was one of the first people the Pharaoh let hold his newborn son, which only lend credence to the rumors of Armon and Amenhotep's close friendship.

Unique to the other guardians, Armon was given the Ram Amulet of Khnum following his discharge from the Pharaoh's army and acceptance into the Pharaoh's personal guard (and later into the Prince's). This was done as a way for Armon's valorous actions in defense of his Pharaoh to be honored. The Ram Amulet allows Armon to walk freely over all terrain, including water.

As a warrior, Armon is an exceptional fighter with or without his right arm. He's skilled in wielding all sorts of weapons but Armon truly excels in hand-to-hand combat due to his raw strength and his skill in wielding that same strength, even against opponents stronger or larger than he is.

Compared to Rath, Armon is not especially book smart, but he's by no means stupid. More academic subjects go over his head sometimes, but out of all the guardians, Armon understands and reads people the best, spotting things others might miss or asking questions that may have been overlooked. (Armon was the first to grow suspicious of Scarab, sensing his ill-intent and underlying resentment towards the Pharaoh)

Armon's love of food stems from being the son of a royal chef and he has a long mental list of recipes he learned from his mother (who is said royal chef).

Nefertina:

(I'm not opposed to changing her name because the "tina" bit really feels like Western writers trying to signal to the Western audience that she's a woman. I haven't figured an alternative out yet, so I'll continue calling her "Nefertina")

Now, in my telling, Nefertina never hid her gender because as it turns out, ancient Egypt wasn't quite as sexist as modern interpretations might portray (this isn't to say that it was free of sexism entirely, as women were barred from certain professions, like being a soldier and posts of great and overt political power, but it wasn't as restrictive as we might imagine). Still, Nefertina was a bit of a stand out because women weren't warriors in any capacity, but she was more interested in chariot driving than combat anyway, so that didn't bother her much. Given my research, it's pretty doubtful that women were barred point blank from driving chariots (though the Pharaoh's chariot specifically may have been a stretch for anyone other than the Queen, but sources are unclear). Still, regardless of whether or not she was allowed to do the things she wanted, Nefertina was no push over and had plenty of fighting spirit.

Initially Nefertina was a lady-in-waiting to the Queen, but gained favor from the Pharaoh after she successfully defended the Queen and a three-year-old Prince Rapses from an attempted assassination with little more than a footstool and a hair pin, giving the Queen time to escape with her son and raise the alarm. As a reward for her courage, Nefertina was given the chance to take up a position in the Prince's personal guard, gaining the Lion Amulet of Sekhmet as a sign of favor, and unilateral permission to drive whatever chariots she wanted whenever she wanted.

Nefertina is a talented tactician who uses her environment and cunning to her advantage while also using pure strength and blunt tactics. However, her youth and inexperience compared to the other guardians often leads Nefertina to take a "brawler approach" over a strategic one even though she does have the talent for it. She's something of a wild card, as likely to use a clever trick with her environment as she is to pick up the nearest blunt (or sharp) object and go to town.

Nefertina is hot-headed and passionate. She often feels she needs to earn her place/prove herself amongst her older male comrades and this can lead her to get a bit defensive in the face of judgement. Which is a little silly when put against the fact that Nefertina regularly serves as Ja-Kal's second in command (and also as his lancer from a meta-narrative perspective), filling in for the leader in blue when he's unavailable.

So, essentially, the order in which the Mummies joined the Prince's personal guard goes as follows: Armon, Ja-Kal, Nefertina, Rath.

---

Next post will be an episode-by-episode guide for what my seasons will look like. I'll probably only do Seasons 1 and 2 for now because Season 3 is still largely blank, but I will welcome any questions on this :)

[nearlywrites]

from V'là l' Bon Vent by becky tarasick

[sameboot]

They r sharin a sody-pop

[justbackgroundnoise]

Kate Vincent winning canada’s 8th gold medal and the 25th medal for Canada at the Paris Olympics while also setting a worlds best time is iconic The women have been getting it DONE for Canada at these games and I’m so proud of them 👏