#shadow Ahkmenrah

[azi13]

So I made a Night at the museum AU sooo yeah... here's some art of shadow Ahkmenrah

In this AU Ahkmenrah is still locked in his sarcophagus, so when his gods heard his screams and prayers they gave him the ability to transfer his conscience into his shadow and move freely around the museum at night and mess with the other exhibits. Though Ahk can't touch or talk in this form, so he has to do pantomime all the time and have a very expressive body language.

I will work on this AU more later with more art 🖍️

[squeakyfir]

No one asked for it... but whatever...

Fictional characters I love!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[poptod]

Day Barque (Ahkmenrah x Reader)

Description: The young Prince invites you on a boat ride, and your father, jumping at a chance to move through the ranks, quickly accepts for you. You, on the other hand, dread the idea of having to spend any time alone with the talkative Prince.

Notes: Wanted this to be smaller but as per usual ancient Egypt whisks me away into pleasure. it's getting colder here in Egypt so that reflects a little in the story... anyway i hope you enjoy (: WC: 3.7k

+

Even though diplomatic meetings in orders of governance always either bored or depressed you, you would do your best each time to admire the architecture of the fancier meeting halls and preceding rooms, thinking of each limestone brick hauled from Tura and the men who laboured. These thoughts, though repetitive, were some respite from the droning voices of your father and his fellow overseers in conversation with the Vizier. 

Why your father brought you along on these tedious meetings you didn't know exactly; but you surmised it had something to do with the Pharaoh's young son, who at times shadowed the Vizier. Knowing your father, he likely wanted to set the two of you up––his way of moving up the ladder of social standing. Not that he needed to; your family was perfectly comfortable. But your father was a bit of an over-achiever.

You crossed your arms. Today's meeting was planned to take place in front of a construction site, and accordingly you spent some time watching the sweat-covered backs of farmers-turned-builders hauling and cutting stone. To the left, your father and the other overseers bent themselves over some newly-revised plans for the temple outside the Pharaoh's tomb. Further, on the other side of the table, the young prince Ahkmen stood with his hands behind his back, stealing glances at you between watching the workers.

You sighed curtly, and kept your gaze fixated on the carving men as your attention strayed. Whether you met the Prince's eye or not, he would look at you, only the slightest shame whenever you would return his stare. For a moment you debated what was more uncomfortable; returning the gaze or pretending like you didn't notice his eyes.

The latter was remarkably more difficult. You squeezed your hands behind your back, pinching your fingers, and wondered when you could finally leave and retreat to the comfort of your cooled home.

Eventually––some time before midday––the overseers either approved or dismissed the new plans. Whichever it was didn't concern you greatly; all that mattered was that it was finished. Your father bid good-bye to his associates and placed his arm around your shoulders, guiding you down from the shaded platform. You sniffled, and with feet weary from standing, followed his lead.

A hand tugged your arm from behind. You nearly stumbled and tripped backwards on the steps, but you quickly regained balance with your father's help. Whirling around with indignation and a crass proclamation on your tongue, you found yourself facing the sheepish, wide-eyed face of the Prince.

Your words died quickly, and your mouth faltered shut.

"I'm... uh, sorry," he said, a breathy, awkward chuckle escaping him. "I was just wondering if..." his eyes darted to your father, then back to you, "... if your father would allow you to accompany me on a boat ride."

Beside you, your father beamed.

"It is a pleasure and an honour to be invited by you, my Prince," your father said with a bow of his head. "Ra'inet would be happy to join you."

You pursed your lips into a tight smile. You were not happy to join the Prince. Through his facade of awkwardness he was incredibly self-centered and egoistic, traits both understandable and reprehensible in your mind. The two of you rarely spoke to one another, but even in those scant conversations those traits pulled through. Some part of you feared imagining what would happen if you were left alone with the Prince for an extended period of time. 

But in front of you, the Prince smiled and his tension eased. Your father patted your shoulder and was quickly gone, caught up in another conversation with an overseer, and leaving you alone with the Prince.

A quiet blush filled up your cheeks as the Prince continued smiling at you, and offered his arm for you to take. Hesitantly, you hooked your arm around his, and with that he led you down the stone steps and towards the distant riverbank.

In the season of Peret, the air grew cooler, and the waters of the Nile were less inviting with their cold waves and murky depths. But the sun shone all the same, glistening rays painting the world a shade of gold, and reflecting off the rustling palm fronds like gems falling from one bowl into another. Many workers migrated from their jobs at the construction site to tend to their fields, resuming their work as farmers as they did with every season. 

Ahkmen led you down the dirt paths winding through farmland and low houses, landmarked by local shrines drowning in lotus flowers and garlands of fresh camellias. You wondered, rather absently, where Ahkmen was leading you––the royal docks were much further down the river. Even to a blind man, the braying of donkeys and the rough sounds of plows digging into the black soil would give away the farming nature of the area. But it was no place of yours to question, and so you quietly allowed Ahkmen to lead you in a tempered walk, his smile brightly offered to anyone who happened to catch his eye.

He sighed, a deep, satisfied sigh that rested easy in his chest, and turned to you.

"Do you enjoy the season?" He asked, his words as spiritually invigorated as his steps.

"Peret?" You asked. You looked ahead. "I suppose so. The smell of fresh silt... fresh flowers. And the absence of the noise of constant stoneworking." You turned to him. "It is nice."

"Indeed," he said, and smiled down at you. "Though at times, I do long for the warmth of Shemu. It is as though Ra Himself encloses you in His arms."

"- and all the children go running for Hapi," you said with a chuckle.

He practically beamed at you. Maybe it was deserved––you rarely ever reciprocated his conversation. Loathing to admit it, some of your reluctance was due to nervousness in the presence of one both prestigious and beautiful. You blushed again and looked away. Ahkmen, while exceedingly beautiful, would take any compliment of yours and run fifty cubits with it.

The receding floodwaters left swaths of black silt fields stretching from the farmland to the riverbank, trodden daily by both birds and farmers alike gathering for their respective needs. Some boats had been left in the same spots as they had been during the flooding season, and for those, their hulls were settled in the soft, wet earth, muddied and blackened. Further down the muddy shores, tightly bound reed skiffs bobbed at the edge of the water. One in particular had its' binding reeds painted in banded colours of red, gold, and blue, and its' ends curved, ending in wooden lotus caps. It was a nobleman's skiff––perhaps for a son, as the size was enough for, at maximum, only three people. And, of course, it was the one Ahkmen led you to.

By the time you reached it, your sandals were already covered in black silt. Still, Ahkmen offered his hand to help ease you onto the boat, and when you had sat down to lift your legs up and under you, he halted you by a hand on your ankle.

He knelt, one knee in the mud, smiling up at you, and proceeded to slip your sandals off of you.

"I'm sure you don't want mud all over your linens," he said.

He had a point. But the image of him on his knees taking your sandals off was doing you no favours.

In response to your silence, he proceeded with his work, took your shoes off, and washed them in the river. After setting them down beside you, he leased the skiff from its tie to the shore, and pushed off into the water. The waves rushed over your dangling feet, quickly washing away any remnants of dirt. Ahk ran, pushed, jumped aboard, and grabbed hold of the steering stick in one smooth motion. Your hands rushed to steady your weight as the boat rocked, but it soon eased into stillness.

On the other end of the boat with his back to you, Ahk shifted to his knees and looked over his shoulder, throwing you a bright grin. You gave a terse smile in return.

"Do you take boat rides often?" He asked, returning his attention to steering.

You watched the muscles in his arms and shoulder flex and curve, their shadows and glistenings building and diminishing in the sunlight with each strike of the oar against the riverbed.

"No," you said after a moment. "It's not an activity my father especially enjoys."

"Your father?" Ahkmen repeated. "Are you only allowed on the Nile if your father says so?"

"Something like that. Only if he wants to... in which case he'll take me, whether I want to or not," you said, redirecting your gaze from his tanned skin to the rippling water echoing from the skiff's belly.

Across from you, Ahkmen scrunched his nose dissatisfactorally.

"Only when he wants to?" He scoffed. "How ridiculous. My father allows me much more freedom."

You snorted some vague agreement, and kept your eyes on the water.

"You know," he began, "your father seemed very willing to let me borrow you. Perhaps, in the future, if you ever want for something, you can tell him I've invited you someplace. Whatever it is you want to do, I shall accompany you."

"How kind," you said with little emotion.

"Oh, it's nothing," he said. Apparently he had some difficulty picking up on your cues. "After all, I have been wanting to spend time with you. You just always seem to disappear whenever I have time to spare."

You cleared your throat, straightening your posture.

"Yes, um... I apologize," you said quickly. "To be honest, I..."

You sighed roughly. This was not something you wanted to admit, but you had already started the confession, and you had no lie to fill the space of this truth. To save yourself some embarrassment, you looked firmly away from Ahkmen.

"... your presence makes me a little nervous," you finished in a mumble.

"Nervous?" He repeated, then laughed. "There's no need to be nervous. I am just as human as you are. Closer to the Gods, perhaps, but still human."

You held back an irritated growl. Fortunately, that passed under his ears, and he continued talking in blissful ignorance.

"I suppose you don't go swimming much, then, if you don't go out on boats often. You know, if strikes me as strange––the poor go to the river every day to bathe, and yet when a noble goes to the river, it is considered leisure; a break from their duties. Don't you think it's odd, that difference?"

"I suppose," you said quietly. "I always just summed it up that our lives are very different. Chores to some are pleasure to others, and the other way around."

You weren't sure if he even heard you or processed your response. He simply hummed affirmatively and continued rambling, rowing downstream all the while. Between his statements and rhetorical questions, you nodded in vague agreement, adding in sparse verbal responses to assure him you were still listening––even if you weren't. Most of your attention was instead consumed by the passing water, the growing abundance of green reeds, the occasional passing grove of blue lotus and lily pads, and the cold winds blowing in from the north. In fact, you hardly noticed when Ahkmen stopped talking, and were quite surprised to turn your head and find him on his hands and knees in front of you, eyes wide as he studied you meticulously.

You jumped back, rocking the skiff slightly––but the motion was minute, halted by the growing bundles of reeds on either side.

"I hope this is better," he said.

"Wh - what's better?" You asked, attempting to slow your breathing to normal. 

"The reeds. They should keep the wind out, at least a little bit," he said, gesturing to the surrounding flora with his head. 

"Oh." You lowered your defensive hand. "Um... thank you. I - I think it is helping."

While the wind did still rustle and blow through the reeds and nearby bushes onshore, Ahkmen had steered you into a thick and tall patch. None of the reeds surrounding you were moved by the breeze.

Ahkmen smiled.

"Good," he said. "I am glad to hear it."

You glanced to the side, waiting for him to back away, but he did not. He stayed on his hands and knees, so close you could mistake him for a dog attempting to sniff your face. Fortunately, Ahkmen was much more pleasing to the eye––and to the nose––than a hound. On the unfortunate side, you had no idea what he wanted with you, and you were beginning to sweat from the proximity. 

After several minutes, you were unable to hold back the dam of words in your throat.

"Is something wrong?" You finally asked.

"No, not really," he said, but he didn't move away. He didn't even blink. "I'm just trying to figure something out. Or a couple of things, I suppose. My mind wanders."

You raised an eyebrow.

"What are you trying to figure out?"

"At first I was trying to figure out why you don't like me," he said. Still his eyes darted across your face––from each eye to lips, from jawline to cheekbone. 

"I like you," you lied, feeling rather offended for no reason.

Perhaps it was that he had been able to see through what you deemed a perfectly good disguise of manners and politeness. Or maybe––and you liked this option least––it was that he didn't seem bothered by you not liking him.

"No... you don't," he said. 

This time his voice gave way to a softer, yielding tone; one that stretched thin and revealed some hint of sadness.

"Why don't you like me, Ra'inet?" He asked, quirking his head to the side.

It was almost adorable, the way his brow creased and his lips pouted ever so slightly.

"I - I don't... not like you," you stammered, backing up into the curved end of the skiff. He followed, hands as delicate as cat paws upon the boat's floor. "I just –"

You laughed bitterly––half nervousness and half fear––and looked away, biting at your lips.

"My father wants me to get close to you. I think it's a horrible way for a friendship to start, so I –" you looked down, anywhere but Ahk's eyes, "- I'm not exactly jumping at the opportunity to give him what he wants. And besides, all you do is talk about yourself, you're not exactly hard company to not want to be around."

Your face heated to the point of feeling like a sunburn, and you pointedly kept away from Ahkmen's gaze. But he, in all his strange mannerisms and ideas, began to laugh, and that caught your attention. You looked up incredulously, eyes wide as you watched his face split into a wide grin, and laughter rang like bells past his blushing lips. His inexplicable glee did nothing for your heated face, which only grew warmer at the sight.

"Wh - what?" You stammered, your tongue thick and numb in your mouth. "What's so funny?!"

"Nothing, it's just –" he interrupted himself with his own laughter, "- it's hard not to laugh when nearly all my friends have the same problem. Everyone wants their child to be friends with me and somehow, every friend I've managed to pick has despised their parent's pushiness on the matter." He breathed, the laughter having dissipated, but the grin remaining. "You, however, are the first to admit you dislike me."

You spluttered again, shaking your head.

"I never said I dislike you!"

"Ah," he held up a finger, "but you didn't say you like me, either."

"I just – I don't know you very well," you hurried out, running a hand over your hair.

"You haven't given me a chance. And I think you want to... if that blush is anything to go on," he said, and finally, at long last, moved back and out of your space, a smile still curving his perfect lips.

A deep and intense grimace overtook you, eyes wide as your resolve crumbled into embarrassment. If he had continued you either would've started crying or yelling, and for that you were grateful he had the good mind to back off before you exploded. You remained mortified regardless, and your senses, aching to be somewhere else, turned to the world around. 

The shifting shade of the willow tree, and its' branching, green tendons; the ducks on the opposite shore, and the white heron wading through the reeds nearby. The tiny fish with their scales glittering like diamonds on the riverbed weaving between shadow and sunlight, reed forests and mud flats. Ahkmen sitting across from you, one knee pulled to his chest, and a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

You quickly looked away.

"Is this what you wanted to do?" You asked, staring at your bare feet.

"No, I, um... had something else in mind," he said cryptically. "I don't think you're in the mood for it, though."

"Really?" You chuckled weakly. "What was it?"

His smile slowly grew, and you immediately regretted asking. It was too late––he was crawling back over, practically jumping out of his skin with how quickly he made it to you.

"I was hoping to break through that hard exterior of yours. I know there's something golden in that eggshell of yours," he said, placing a hand on your foot. "Something lusting for freedom. Adventure, even. A kindred spirit of mine. I, too, dream of escaping the confines of our life... setting sail up the Nile and discovering the Ta-Seti cities in the south. Or, perhaps, travelling into the desert and joining the Wawat, or the Medjay."

The fantasies were not exactly your own; yours more often concerned themselves with going north and exploring the cities across the distant sea, or hiding in the marshes of the delta, far from prying eyes. The spirit, however, was just as yours was, and the sincerity both humoured and surprised you.

"Well... I wouldn't... say no," you said slowly.

Ahkmen beamed.

"I knew it!" He jumped up, rocking the boat. Your hands shot out to grab the sides. "I knew I could see -"

He was abruptly cut off by his own yelp as he lost balance on the wobbling boat, and was promptly plunged into the cold, shallow waters of the Nile. By the time you reached a hand out to help, he was already soaked, and had splashed you in the process. 

You slowly opened your tightly shut eyes, and found him looking rather shocked, his white linen shendyt turned a splattered shade of brown. The two of you sat still as the event slowly processed. A smile crept across your face.

His gaze fluttered and turned to you as you began to laugh, covering your mouth as laughter as bright and wondrous as Hathor's sistrums sang through the papyrus reeds and willow leaves. He stared, mouth open in wonder, before laughing with you, slowly and shyly at first but with growing humour. Shifting upwards, he walked over to you on his knees, placing his hands on the skiff's edge.

"I knew I could see something shining in those eyes," he said, chuckling breathily. "You try so very hard to dull it, but I can see."

"You pride yourself as perceptive, don't you?"

"I have to pride myself on something," he replied.

"You have lots of things to pride yourself on," you said, furrowing your brow.

"Really?" He said with a smirk, leaning in. "Why don't you enlighten me?"

"No, I don't think I want to bolster your ego any more than it already has been," you said, and despite yourself, you leaned in as well.

"Actually, I think it's hit the firmament. I'm as bolstered as they come, you might as well indulge me," he said, shrugging. "Come now. Consider it your apology for lying when you said you don't like me."

You shook your head, laughing.

"I never said I don't like you."

"Fine," he said. "An apology for lying to yourself."

You raised a bemused eyebrow. 

"Fine," you said, raising your chin. "Above your insightfulness, you are... energetic... joyous... and rather beautiful."

"You would put beauty above the ability to see clearly? A grave mistake, my dear," he said.

"Well, maybe you're just that beautiful," you said before you could stop yourself. 

A blush appeared on his cheeks, but it did nothing to diminish his smile. 

"I could say the same about you," he said in a murmur, his gaze flickering down to your lips and back up to your eyes. "But there are far more interesting things in your mind."

"How kind of you to say," you murmured in reply.

"Nothing but the truth," he said with a grin.

He was close now, the both of you having leaned in in small intervals, till it would take no more than swift movement of your lips forward to kiss him. This time it was your gaze that faltered and fell to his lips––but he did not acquiesce to the quiet desire. Instead, he backed away and stood, his skirt dripping with water.

"I suppose I ought to take you home soon. Your father will wonder where you are," he said, wringing the linen in such a way that revealed his upper thighs.

You tried your best not to stare. The tanned skin blending into pale tempted you deeply, but you kept your eyes on his face, only watching out of your peripheral vision.

"I think I can stay for a little longer," you said with a small shrug. "I'm sure my father won't mind, considering I'm with the Prince."

Ahkmen looked up from his skirt, a mischievous smile on his face.

"See?" He said. "I knew I liked you."

The heat of midday was passed on the river in the shade of the arching willow tree, and when the winds became too much, Ahkmen dutifully rowed you back towards the main city. He obtained for you, to eat near the fires of the public bakeries, a bowl of sunbaked dates still fresh from the hot season. The sun quickly set, as it often did in the season of Peret, and the two of you watched the light disappear behind mudbrick buildings and distant palaces. Ahkmen walked you home, and from the riverside plucked a lotus for you to keep.

"We will see each other again before this lotus wilts," he said, earnesty in his eyes gleaming with sunset. "Yes?"

You swallowed thickly, and with a racing heart, found with starting clarity that you liked the Prince much, much more than you ever thought you hated him.

"Yes," you said after a moment's silence. "Of course."

[erodedauthenticity]

Over the mellow cry of a sunbird, a pharaoh navigates through his bustling subjects, hesitating at the sight of a skeletal tail trailing beyond the breadth of a long hallway. It swings left towards a similarly skittish gazelle, stirring a commotion among its kind.

"Rexy," Ahkmenrah's voice cuts swiftly, bemusedly following the eruption of sound with a furrowed brow. "I suggest you run with more caution." He plays shadow to its retreat, calling out after the reanimated beast. "You cannot act like you're the only one here!"

There's hardly a plan to go after it.

He instead readjusts his focus to the sheets in hand and a papery carton.

The route back to the Hall of Ancient Egypt seemed shorter: enough for Ahkmenrah to greet his reflection between canopic jars on display.

"Anubis?" his voice softens, and his reflection follows with glance to the side.

"Larry provided me with something."

Into his own chambers, the pharaoh beholds his guard with a wide smile. "We've been presented with unfinished works of art." Four sheets of recycled paper flutter in his descent. The box splits open with force. The wrong end. He shows him six colored markers and promptly turns his focus to his task.

"He suggested that we can occupy our night here instead of exploring the outside." He doesn't take the time to linger on thoughts as to why. "He said it's important." Grasping hold of the blue marker, he applies the capped marker onto the paper, and begins to scrape once overtop of an animated drawing attempting to retreat from.

"Stop that…" he utters to it. "Why isn't it working?"

[letthewhumpbegin]

Who / what fandoms I write for

Here's an overview per fandom which characters I write for.

You can make a request for a fanfic through HERE (I only take requests from my prompts list).

You can find my full writing masterlist HERE.

List with fandoms / characters I write for below the cut.

WHO / WHAT FANDOMS I WRITE FOR:

911: Eddie Diaz , Evan Buckley

Aladdin (2019): Aladdin

American Assassin: Mitch Rapp

The Batman (2022): Bruce Wayne

Blacklist: Donald Ressler

The Boys: Hugh Campbell

Bullet Train: Tangerine

Criminal Minds: Spencer Reid

CSI: Greg Sanders

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Newt Scamander, Theseus Scamander

Hannibal (TV series): Will Graham

Game of Thrones: Jon Snow

Gladiator II: Lucius

Hawaii Five-0: Danny Williams, Steve McGarrett

The Hobbit: Fili, Kili, Thorin, Thranduil

House MD: Robert Chase

Inception: Arthur

James Bond (Daniel Craig era): Q

John Wick movies: John Wick

Jurassic World: Owen Grady

Justified: Raylan Givens, Tim Gutterson

Kingsman: Eggsy Unwin

The Last of Us: Joel Miller

MacGyver (2016): Angus MacGyver

Maze Runner: Thomas

Moon Knight: Marc Spector, Steven Grant

Mr. Robot: Elliot Alderson

Night at the Museum movies: Ahkmenrah

Now You See Me: Daniel Atlas

Olympus Has Fallen: Mike Banning

The Purge movies: Leo Barnes

Shadow & Bone / Six of Crows: Jesper Fahey, Kaz Brekker, Wylan van Eck

Shadowhunters: Alec Lightwood, Jace Wayland

Sherlock (BBC) - Sherlock Holmes

Spiderman (Tom Holland era) - Peter Parker

Star Trek: Jim Kirk

Star Wars: Poe Dameron

Supernatural: Sam Winchester

Top Gun Maverick: Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw, Jake 'Hangman' Seresin

Twisters (2024): Tyler Owens

Uncharted (movie): Nathan Drake

The Walking Dead - Daryl Dixon

Wonka - Willy Wonka

X-Men: Charles Xavier, Hank McCoy

[that-one-enby-ranger]

My Fictional Crushes

So like a lot of people I, of course, have quite a lot of fictional crushes. And by quite a lot I mean 106. I made a list yesterday and felt like sharing it because why the actual fuck not. I'm not gonna put any tags though because it's gonna take too long and I honestly don't care if people see this or not it's more just for fun. There are a few questionable ones on here (serial killers) that might need a bit of an explanation so I shall try and provide. These aren't in any particular order they just got put on when I remembered them.

Halt O'Carrick - Rangers Apprentice (Number 1 boy)

Gilan Davidson - Rangers Apprentice

Will Treaty - Rangers Apprentice

Horace Altman - Rangers Apprentice

Crowley Meratyn - Rangers Apprentice

Rayla - The Dragon Prince

Callum - The Dragon Prince

Amaya - The Dragon Prince

Runaan - The Dragon Prince

Ethari - The Dragon Prince

Sweeney Todd (He's too amazing for me not to be in love with him. He had motives people.)

Edward Scissorhands (Just look at that adorable confused little bean.)

Adam Maitland - Beetlejuice

Lydia Deetz - Beetlejuice

Antony J. Crowley - Good Omens

Aziraphale - Good Omens

Newton Pulsifier - Good Omens

Victor Van Dort - Corpse Bride

Jack Skellington - Nightmare Before Christmas

Thorn Hammerhand - Brotherband Chronicles

Yondu Udonta - MARVEL

Hank Pym - MARVEL

Tony Stark - MARVEL

Bucky Barnes - MARVEL

Dr. Stephen Strange - MARVEL

Natasha Romanoff - MARVEL

Will Turner - Pirates of the Carribean

Minho - Maze Runner

Newt - Maze Runner

Thomas - Maze Runner

Morgarath - Rangers Apprentice (I know he's horrible but too be fair, he's a tall, pale, black dressed evil villain who sits gayly. He's cool.)

Vaggie - Hazbin Hotel

Millie - Helluva Boss

Blitzo (The O is silent) - Helluva Boss

Stolas - Helluva Boss

Jedediah - Night at the Museum

Ahkmenrah - Night at the Museum

Shrek (He's a fucking legend)

Barnabas Collins - Dark Shadows

Victoria Winters - Dark Shadows

Arthur Kirkland (England) - Axis Powers Hetalia

Francis Bonnefoy (France) - Axis Power Hetalia (I probably spelt his name wrong sorry)

Jareth - Labyrinth

Karl Heisenberg - Resident Evil: Village

Lady Dimetrescu - Resident Evil: Village (I may also have spelt her name wrong. Tall vampire lady)

Stig Olafson - Brotherband Chronicles

Hal Mikkelson - Brotherband Chronicles

Sodapop Curtis - The Outsiders

Dallas Winston - The Outsiders

Darry Curtis - The Outsiders

Steve Randell - The Outsiders

Two-Bit Matthews - The Outsiders

Johnny Cade - The Outsiders

Bill Fucking Cipher - Gravity Falls (He's cool. Everyone loves him.)

Egon Spengler - Ghostbusters

Peter Venkman - Ghostbusters

Austin Powers (I know he's pretty much a sex machine but he's also really kind and caring)

Kenickie Murdoch - Grease

Danny Zuko - Grease

Frenchie - Grease

Betty Rizzo - Grease

Jenny Dalby - Rangers Apprentice

Haymitch - Hunger Games

Lucifer Morningstar - The Netflix show Lucifer

Beelzebub - Good Omens

Mikkel - Brotherband Chronicles (I know he wasn't even really in it but he seemed cool and really nice)

Karina - Brotherband Chronicles (Sweetest mother ever)

The Other Mother - Coraline (Shut the fuck up I like her)

Sir Keren - Rangers Apprentice (He was actually a really cool and interesting villain with actual morals and he did regret his actions.)

Cruella de Vil - 101 Dalmations but I like her more in the movie Cruella

Jafar - Aladdin

Captin Hook - Literally any of the versions of him

Hades - Hercules but just him in general

Dionysus - He's a cool god.

Yzma - Emperors New Groove

Dr Facilier - Princess and the Frog

Queen of Hearts - Alice in Wonderland

Monolo Sanchez - Book of Life

Hector - Coco

Jasper - Cruella

Arty - Cruella

Artemis - Ready Player One

Robin Hood - Any of them apart from the fucking fox. I like Men in Tights version.

Wezley - Princess Bride

Inigo Montoya - Princess Bride

Sheriff Woody - Toy Story (I know its weird and a little bit fucked up but I like him.)

Elsa - Frozen

Merida - Brave

Bo Peep - Toy Story

Kuzco - Emperors New Groove (He's funny)

Flynn Rider - Tangled

Willy Wonka - Johnny Depp's version

Ruv - Friday Night Funkin' Midfight Masses

Sam - Assasins Blade

Michael Afton - FNaF

John - FNaF Novel Trilogy

Barbarossa - Ned's Circus of Marvels (Yes he is a villain. Yes he ia pirate butcher. Yes he is horrible. But he's cool and a pirate and a butcher and I like villains like that.)

Bennissimo - Ned's Circus of Marvels

Loki - MARVEL

Jacob Coote - Looking For Alibrandi

Ryder Dagon - He's a character I made up for a book series I was going to write but gave up on. He's my character. No one else knows him apart from my sibling.

Chloe Decker - Lucifer

Arnold J. Rimmer - Red Dwarf

Alexander Lemtov - Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga

Rosalina - Mario

Four - Divergent

There are a lot more I just can't think of any at the moment. If you want to y'all can show me a list of your fictional crushes. I won't judge.

[spaceychaos]

𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 + 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎.

𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫 / 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝟒. one of the antagonists from game, krauser is a former soldier that once worked for the HCF and los illuminados. infected with the plaga, krauser now leads a private para-military group known as the spectre unit, which often deals with bioweapons

𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐦 / 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝟒. daughter of the former president of the united states, ashley was involved in a plot by the los illuminados, intended to be used as a tool in order to take over the united states and eventually the world. saved by leon, ashley decided to help others and worked for terrasave before deciding to apply to the BSAA and is now in-training to become a full-fledged agent.

𝐚𝐡𝐤𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐚𝐡 / 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐦. an ancient pharaoh, ahk resides at the museum of natural history and is the owner of the tablet of khonsu, also known as the tablet of ahkmenrah. as a result of the tablet's power, ahk and the other displays within the museum comes to life at sundown and 'dies' at sunrise. after the events of the first film, ahk now helps larry keep tabs on the museum's occupants and makes sure that everything runs smoothly.

𝐝𝐫. 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐯𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐜 / 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐥. a former space pirate, corvus is a medical doctor ( self-titled and self-taught ) who once resided primarily in space. after a tragedy that deeply affected who he was at the time, corvus travelled around before finally settling on earth. he owns several clinics and is the happy owner of two huskies named tullk and oblo. if you need a patch up and don't have the funds, no worries, he got you.

𝐡𝐚𝐥 '𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐧' 𝐞𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 / 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. creator of the metal gear rex, otacon got caught up in the events of shadow moses and now works with snake, also known as david, to track down and destroy metal gears. after the events of mgs4, otacon and snake enjoy some peace together while raising their adoptive daughter, sunny.

𝐫𝐚𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 / 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐥. rae is the physical personification of the reality stone, one of the six infinity stones that were created not long after the birth of the universe. billions of years old, rae has seen and experienced many things throughout the universe and rarely intervenes. she just recently woke up after napping for roughly 800 million years and is eager to see what has happened since her last bout of travelling across the universe.

just to give the deets since the carrd is forever a work in progress fdklsglkdsmfds.

[cantstoptheimagines]

Can’t Stop the Love! — Valentine’s Day Masterlist (2023)

This masterlist is for all of my writing that I did for my Valentine’s Day event, Can’t Stop the Love! I had so much fun writing everything! I hope you all enjoyed these! Thank you for reading! Happy Valentine’s Day! :)

FAQ | Masterlist | Fandoms | Requests | Coming Soon | Schedule  

1 | Escape the Night (Kaz Brekker | Shadow and Bone) 

2 | Cliché (Charlie Swan | Twilight) 

3 | Traffic Jam (Garfield!Peter Parker | MCU) 

4 | Allergies (Stiles Stilinski | Teen Wolf) 

5 | Blind Date (2012!Leo | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) 

6 | Second Chances (Steve Rogers | MCU) 

7 | Secret Admirer (Peter Kavinsky | To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) 

8 | Date Stealer (Ahkmenrah | Night at the Museum)

9 | Don’t Look (Sam Winchester | Supernatural) 

10 | Hopeless Romantic (Luka Couffaine | Miraculous Ladybug)

11 | Surprise (Shawn Hunter | Boy Meets World) 

12 | Unexpected (Audrey Jensen | MTV’s Scream)  

13 | Like You (André Harris | Victorious) 

14 | Pact (Jay | Disney Descendants) 

[dayraiser]

In another world, the Museum of Natural History closed abruptly.

Nobody was sure why, initially. The night guard and director of the night exhibitions announced it with only a scribbled note on a crumpled-then-unfolded scrap of paper. He’d approached the big glass doors an hour after the museum was supposed to open, tired eyes scanning the assorted crowd of morning museum-goers - older people, mostly, but there were also several parents with their kid(s), as well as curious New Yorkers who were curious about the ‘evil museum exhibits’ from the night program disaster. A middle-aged man stomped up the stairs and shouted at the night guard through the glass, demanding entry. The brown-haired man had simply locked eyes with the older man, blinked slowly, and sluggishly raised his hand to tape the note on the door.

Then, turning his back to the sound of outrage, confusion, and crying children alike, the man walked back into the shadows of the museum halls until the morning sun no longer reached him.

The ex-director of the museum - to whom all the complications and PR work was still his responsibility to handle, apparently - came out fifteen minutes later, apologizing profusely but only with the sincerity of a peeved retail employee. He spoke of ‘unforeseen circumstances’ and artfully dodged answering the many question being thrown his way. He reassured the crowd that the museum was simply undergoing emergency repairs, and that it would only take a couple days at most. Soon after, the new director of the museum ran up and began yelling too, about missing exhibits and property destruction and a charge to the museum for two tickets to-and-from London, and so the ex-director too disappeared from the eyes of the crowd, who were more confused than angry now and eventually naturally dispersed.

The museum remained closed for 2 days before it was hastily reopened by the new director, hoping to capitalize on the chaos surrounding the museum. It closed again for renovations a month later, due to declining interest after the sudden retirement of the museum’s most popular exhibits.

In the quiet halls of the museum, where the sun flitting through the glass windows glitters off the tile floor, where the only sign of time passing is the eternal rise and fall of the moon, the air is empty and devoid of life. The miniature army of the great Roman empire trains diligently under no one’s watch. Lewis and Clark search fervently sans a native (or Native) guide. Texas the horse stands proudly, posed as if about to take off running, with no rider. The giant jackal statues stand guard by the doors of an empty tomb. Two capuchin monkeys swing happily through tropical branches, an empty space between them.

And in the night guard’s room, where the curtains have been pulled tightly shut and yet a sliver of sunlight shines through, the Fourth King of the Fourth Kings lays slumped over a box, a thin blanket yellowed with age draped over his shoulders and chin resting on a worn pillow atop it, hands frozen grasping for support at a railing that isn’t there anymore. 

(They never found Lancelot, or the tablet. If they did, Larry would’ve laid it by Ahkmenrah, magic-rust and all. The museum technically stole it - he would just be giving it back.)

Behind him, in a closet, Attila lays awkwardly angled against the wall, body tense and paralyzed, wide eyes unseeing.

(He couldn’t quite bring himself to close the doors to the closet. It felt too much like shutting the lid to a coffin.)

Teddy Roosevelt stares blankly, glassy eyes gazing endlessly from the corner of the room, away from the sun, where things have been hastily shoved around to make room for the fully-reclined desk chair that he’s been put in. Arms robotically held out as if he were in the process of an awkward aborted handshake, one gloved hand is not-quite held by the tawny hand of Sacagawea, whose other hand doesn’t quite touch Teddy’s shoulder, and whose unmoving eyes hold a confused horror juxtaposed to Teddy’s, blank and unaware.

(Macabre as it was to have been stiffly maneuvering the two into the same poses they’d been in before death like life-sized action figures, he couldn’t really find any other way to position them. It was poetic, if you didn’t think about it too much.)

Swaddled within a night guard’s jacket, Dexter lays on his side on an tattered dog bed atop the desk - whose contents lay scattered across the floor and never picked back up - fingers still ever so slightly curled as if to grasp something, and with the bed, jacket and his eyes forever closed, it almost looks as if he’s simply fallen asleep.

In a shelf of that same desk, a cowboy and a roman, two leaders without their people, lay in the stagnant dark, fingers intertwined with the whispers of their last wishes, the etches and grooves of their plastic bodies lined with their unspoken regrets.

(It had felt really weird shutting the shelf, but it had also kind of felt right. They deserved some privacy, he’d figured.)

When Larry’s told has to leave, when he gently tugs the curtains completely shut, when he closes the door to the room slowly and carefully as if not to disturb the inhabitants, locking it under the watchful, scrutinizing eye of the museum director, he thinks about gold and emerald green and tombs and graveyards.

And he almost laughs.

THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE GONNA DIE AND BECOME STATUES AGAIN AND JEDIDIAH JUST WANTED TO GO HOLDING OCTAVIUS'S HAND. IT WAS SCARY BUT HE FELT SAFER KNOWING THEY WERE TOGETHER. EVEN THOUGH IT WOULD RUIN THEIR DISPLAYS AT THE MUSEUM. HE JUST WANTED TO HOLD HIS HAND. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE NORMAL IN THESE CONDITIONS.

[black-dhalias]

Imagine Scenarios Ideas

These imagines are scenarios that Id like to write for, but I’m not sure there’s a demand. These ideas are of my own creation, so I would prefer it if they weren’t taken without asking.

{Can Request}

Ahkmenrah X GN!Reader • You were Ahkmenrah’s promised bride, and accidentally die before the wedding (hint hint : not really an accident). But through a ritual, a priest is able to keep your soul from passing and return it to your body. However, the price is that you will always reincarnate. You are forced to marry Kamunrah after Ahkmenrah dies, and after finding out Ahkmenrah was murdered by the same priest who saved you. You take your own life. However, after centuries of reincarnation—you reunite with Ahkmenrah at the musuem. Despite your doubt, he is able to convince you that it is him.

Sam Uley X Demigod!Reader • Sam had figured he wasn’t going to get an imprint pretty soon after half his pack had imprinted. He nearly expected you to never exist at all, or exist in another world entirely. What he didn’t know is that you were at Camp Half Blood you’re whole life—a daughter of Hephaestus, a fire bender and hero extraordinaire. But that life appealed less to you now, so you moved back home with your mom. To Forks, Washington. You found out about the Cullens pretty quick, almost as fast as they figured you out. So imagine the wolves surprise when you show up at the Newborn training session. Sam imprints and protectively asks Edward why you’re there? “How many of you have fought in a war before?” No answer. You spark flames on your fingers and smile a little, “Brilliant.”

Lord Milori X F!Reader • Milori had figured he was pretty much useless to Pixie Hollow after his wing broke. Useless to the winter fairies, to his season and home. What goes around comes around—because he meets another fairy with a broken wing, but he learns what they went through. The struggle that came with being flightless—how they learned to function and serve. You were a fast flying fairy, that couldn’t fly. However, your ability to manipulate the winds didn’t change and is incredibly useful for creating wintery winds. Life moves on, and slowly, Milori begins to too. That’s when you show him flight can be attained, you just have to make a friend first.

Young!Charles Xavier X GN!Reader • You are Charles long term partner, his most trusted confident in the whole world. You support his dreams, and he supports your adventures. The interesting thing about the two of you is how opposite you are—while his mutation is primarily mental, your mutation is purely physical. You can take any amount of hits and take no damage, but as you absorb that momentum—you’re able to reroute it to your attacker. You think it’s some sort of force shield, and you’re able to manipulate it to do damage too. It makes you useful in situations, where they’re trying to break in or out of somewhere. However, after you’ve put together the first class— while all hanging out, the others make a comment about it. How opposite you are from each other.

Aemond Targaryen X Velaryon!Mixed!Reader • You are ax in your parents agreement, the only trueborn to come from their marriage. A 2nd born girl set to inherit no more than a name and a husband. When Cregan Stark approaches as a suitor, you are pushed into a whirlwind of jealousy and resentment… “To the sibling of the bastards, and daughter of the whore—may the North be as cold as she is.”

Castiel X Shadowhunter!F!Reader • You were Castiel’s mortal lover for a period of time before Dean and Sam. He had a different vessel at that point. However, when you were prepared to run away from the shadow hunter life. You fell in love with him, but as a Lightwood, nothing is simple when it comes to love. So he is forced to leave you wondering. You grew bitter and trained harder, it drained you of life faster than anything else. You became good. You and Alec trained together, and you worked with Clary—you ended up becoming her parabatai. You got caught though, because others slipped up. At the same time, Castiel needs some extra support on a case with Sam and Dean—and so begins the road to a reunion.

[hamarhemmo]

More LGBTQ+ book/movie/game etc. recommendations!

Games:

Stradew Valley: A lovely game with simple pixel graphics. Basically you live on a farm that your dead grandpa left you and you get to make friends in the small town the farm is in. There's 12 characters that you can marry (6 guys, 6 gals) and also one friendly shadow person who you can take as a roommate. As you could guess all of the bachelors/bachelorettes are bisexual. Costs about 10€, available on almost all gaming devices I think.

The Arcana: A dating sim. Yes, they are pretty cliche but Arcana is seriously great. Basically you're a magician's apprentice, and you get to date cool people. You can even play all routes at the same time if you want. You get to choose your characters pronouns (he/she/they) and name. You can change them anytime. Of the dateable characters 3 are guys, 2 are gals, and one is enby. Julian's and Lucio's routes have some sexual humor but nothing extreme, and Muriel's route has some talk of past child abuse I think (haven't played it yet). The remaining three routes should be suitable for anyone. Free, for mobile.

Movies:

Mulan: Everyone already knows the plot, right? Technically not about a trans guy but I've still always enjoyed watching it on dysphoric days. Also Li Shang is a bi-icon.

Night at the Museums: If you follow me, you've probably already seen them, but basically they tell about a nightguard in a museum where everything comes alive at night. One of the characters is gay (Octavius) and I'd dare to say that Jedediah isn't straight either. Also Ahkmenrah just acts really gay. They are very funny and the characters are mostly historically accurate. The movies are on Disney+ at least.

Old Guard: The movie came out in 2020 so it has actually good LGBTQ+ characters :D. Anyways, it's about these immortal guys who do cool stuff and try to keep their immortality secret. It has five main characters of which two are dating (Joe and Nick) and one is wlw (Andy). Joe and Nick are the sweetest couple I've ever seen. Anyways I think there's gonna be a second movie in a few years. It's based on a comic thingy I haven't read. The movie is on Netflix.

YouTube:

One Topic At A Time: A lovely YouTuber, huge ally, and a dad figure for us all. Makes mostly videos where he reads memes from LGBTQ+ subreddits. Notoriously doesn't get innuendos. He's just a very sweet person, okay?

Kurtis Conner: A popular commentary YouTuber. His videos aren't necessarily about LGBTQ+ but he always tries his best at being inclusive, and has raised money for LGBTQ+ charities.

Lucas Cruikshank: Probably the gayest person I know. Does commentary and reaction videos. A bit questionable humor here and there but mostly suitable for anyone to watch. Definitely entertaining. He's the guy from Fred movies.

Jammidodger: A bisexual trans dude. Makes a lot of videos about LGBTQ+. Often goes through Reddit and has collabed with One Topic. His fianceé/wife is also bisexual and makes videos. (Her name is Shaaba.)

I may add something to this post later if I can think of more stuff.

Also tell me if I should keep the pictures or nah.

EDIT: I somehow forgot the TV show:

Shadowhunters. (It's also a book series but I haven't read it and it's very different, so i'm gonna only be talking about the show.) Anyways, the universe is hard to explain but basically there's humans (mundanes), shadowhunters and downworlders. Shadowhunters are part human, part angel, and downworlders are part human, part demon. (Also there's seelies who are part angel, part demon but anyways.) Basically shadpwhunters kill demons and are usually racist aginst downworlders. Let's get to the gayness: There's a lot of characters but of of the important characters one is gay, one is bi, one is ace, and the rest just give huge LGBTQ+ vibes. Also there's a lot of LGBTQ+ side characters. In my opinionthe gay stuff is really well done, considering the fact that the author is a cishet woman. I don't really know what else to say, but I definitely recommend.

[poptod]

Lover’s Hand (Ahkmenrah x Reader)

Description: You don’t remember how you got here. What happened? Why are you in his bed?

Notes: had another dream! whipped this up first thing in the morning like a goddamn batch of eggs. enjoy. i put salt and pepper on it but u gotta add the hot sauce yourself WC: 759

+

It was a slow wake-up.

Beams of warm, golden sunlight peeked through the room past the curtains, illuminating soft stretches of the sheets that covered you. Past the bed the stone floor barely showed itself in the dawn.

You vaguely recognized all these things as being around you as you woke, only a small part of your brain realizing the peculiarity of it. Usually you woke up to a small, crowded room filled with tapestries and old cabinets. It was a stark difference to the carved pillars holding up a high ceiling, both of which were covered in hieroglyphs and paintings, shadowed by the curtains and the morning sun.

There were eyes on you, and with that your own fuzzy gaze settled on the bed you were laying in––namely to the other person who shared that bed with you.

Your eyes widened and you instinctively flinched away from them before you could even identify them. When you did identify them, though, you wanted to get further away, away from his cool eyes watching you with an intense, but innocent warmth. His hand was extended towards you, resting just before his knuckles could touch your lips. But he wasn't trying to do anything––it was a natural reach, a natural relaxation, a common nearness to you.

What were you doing here? What brought you to the bed of a prince? Last night's events were clouded by lotus wine and beer.

The sheets shifted above you, the white, sheer linen pulling away to reveal the Prince's movements. Your hand was partially extended to him as well, the fingers relaxedly curled inwards. A gentle touch pulled your hand up to him, and as he withdrew his fingers near your lips, he pressed a fluttering, barely-there kiss to the tip of your smallest finger.

You swallowed through a tight throat as you watched, enraptured by his slow movements and the nature in which he used them. He stayed bent forward, as if bowing before you, as he continued to press slow, feathery kisses onto your fingers. Despite the fact that you couldn't maintain eye contact for long, he watched you the entire time.

Eventually he made his way up to your palm, and you could swear golden light poured from wherever his lips touched. Something about his presence made you godly; it made you something worth reverence, simply because he believed it to be true, even if it was only for a moment.

Your wrist.

He lingered on your heartbeat, feeling it against his lips before he moved to finish the kiss. His eyes drifted shut as he appreciated the warmth of your skin.

"Good morning, my love," he finally said, his voice rough and deep with sleep.

He leant back, still holding your hand, and smiled softly.

Oh.

Right. That's what happened last night. The celebrations within the palace had grown too much for you, and you took the rare chance to step away into the royal gardens. When you waded into the water, full of lily pads and sleeping frogs, you expected to get away from people, not meet one of the most nerve-wracking people possible, only surpassed by the Pharaoh himself; Ahkmenrah.

You couldn't remember who kissed who first, but you vaguely recalled falling into his bed in early midnight. Your cheeks flushed as you remembered losing your clothes. Well, you always slept naked what with the hot weather, but it wasn't often you slept with another person in your bed.

You wanted to say something––maybe a question as to what exactly happened last night, or why he was being so nice to you. Part of you wanted to apologize and leave immediately. But his hand still gripped yours, running his thumb over the sensitive skin of your palm.

"Forgive me for saying this, but... I would adore to wake up to you every morn," he said, his gaze tracing the features of your face.

"Why do I have to forgive you for that?"

"I don't know if that's something you would want."

You fell into silence for a moment, watching his expression as he watched yours.

Until his eyes narrowed.

"You don't remember what happened last night, do you?" He said with a hint of amusement in his tone.

You cringed into yourself.

"Sorry," you mumbled.

"It's alright," he chuckled, and pressed another kiss to your knuckles. "I'll be happy to tell you over breakfast. I know an Elamite bakery in town that's quite good. Does that sound nice?"

You nodded.

"Good," he said, smiling as he kissed your hand again.

[regrettablewritings]

Modern!Ahkmenrah x Reader Ship Meme (2, 10, 11)

Nobody asked, and that’s precisely why I’m doin’ it! 

2. What their love letters look like:

For such a socially awkward guy, Menny can be quite the motormouth. His mind works a mile a minute, and his mouth and hands can really only keep up with so much. As a result, it’s uncommon for you to really receive anything resembling a love letter written by hand: There’s just no way he can properly form the letters and words meant to articulate how much he cares for you and what beauty he sees in you if left to his own manual devices. Typing is faster and thus he’s able to get more out of himself before his intentions disappear into the ether of his mind. More, but not all.

As such, be prepared to receive most of, if not all of your love letters in the form of either texts, emails, printed-out on sheets of paper, etc. Even still, they’ll be on the prosier side and may have a tendency to ramble or babble.

He tries to be poetic about it (he might’ve studied Egyptology at Cambridge, but he still has to make a show out of that education in other ways), referencing and comparing your beauty to things meant to symbolize beauty and goodness in Ancient Egyptian culture. But because this is Ahkmenrah we’re talking about, it can still get weird.

If anybody else read, “I salivate at mere dreams of your beauty, your wittiness like Isis allowing you to do with it as you wish and leave me once again awestruck”, they would be confused, disgusted, and horrified. Spit isn’t sexy, Menny!

And yeah, you’re not discounted from the weirded out crowd, but you’re in an army of your own when you insist it’s actually sweet when you get down to the bones of it. After all, being compared to a goddess who was considered powerful even by Egyptian god standards is pretty flattering. And one that was clever enough to acquire the name of the Sun God? Yeah, you’ll take it, however weird it may be.

10. What TV shows they watch together, and which ones they hide from each other:

This is a Cambridge-educated man, but make no mistake: Ahkmenrah Malek’s a dirty little weeb. Catch him on his days off wearing a My Hero tee, or looking over paperwork while playing the Demon Slayer OST for background noise. What had started off as him ranting about how inaccurate Egypt’s portrayal in Yu-Gi-Oh was grew up into him being a goddang otaku. And you weren’t necessarily against it but . . . Honey, come on, you can’t commit to memory both Egyptian hieroglyphs and the lyrics to the season 1 opening of Death Note!

If you’re not into watching anime with him, though, he completely understands and won’t force you. He may bribe you with Funko Pops or even offering to cook the dinner you’ll eat while watching Toonami together but that’s only if you’re willing. But if you won’t watch anime, you must at least be willing to keep him company while he’s keeping up with The Kardashians. Because of how often he’s huddled up in the museum archives or running around giving presentations, he doesn’t always have time to catch up. So even if watching a pack of Prime First World Drama Queens made your eyes sore from rolling them too much, you could at least appreciate the bonding the two of you could experience as Ahk’s grip on your hand would tighten at an insult being thrown, or him practically leaping into your arms with excitement whilst tea had hit the fan.

When the show came to an end, though, you had to admit that you felt sad. Mostly because it meant your boyfriend was sad, but also because for a moment it felt as though you two had lost Your Show.

But only for a moment, of course. The good news is the both of you agreed to start on something new for the both of you, that way no one felt left behind or clueless as to what was going on. Of course, plenty of people had already known about What We Do in the Shadows but that wasn’t going to stop the both of you from feeling new about it.

11. What their first impression was of each other:

He’s odd, you thought. Of course, you were absolutely correct, but you didn’t know that at the time. Instead, you were mostly basing it off his appearance, as most tend to do. He wasn’t unattractive by any means whatsoever, but the young man your friend insisted you had to meet also wasn’t common-looking. Perhaps it was just the juxtaposition of that tasty complexion, blended with such striking eyes? Or how you frankly weren’t expecting such an accent to come pouring out of such an adorably awkward smile?

Well, whatever the case, you were put off by and also put onto this guy. He seemed like a nerdy dude, not helped by the fact that your friend had hyped him up to you as an Egyptologist working in the MoNH’s archives. It was such an unusual, almost unheard of occupation that part of you kind of just wanted to meet him just to say you’d met one.

He’s got to be interesting. Or, at the very least, very dedicated. Or boring, you had decided. After all, you had never met an Egyptologist before, so it wasn’t as though you had a lot to go off of when your friend insisted that you must meet the new guy working at the museum. She wouldn’t show you a picture of him to your dismay, so chances were her new coworker was a sight to behold -- and likely not in the good way, given how much she hyped up only that “you gotta meet this guy, he’s so . . .” So what? So what!?

As it turned out, he was so very . . . odd. Not in the wrong way but not in a way that you’d have to retract, either. You weren’t sure what you had been expecting, but this Ahkmenrah guy was both it and yet far from it. He wasn’t unattractive by any means, but he also was unlike any man you’d ever seen. He had the geeky physique bit down, but it worked for him. Just like he was making his unconventional appearance work. After all, green eyes may have been pretty but that didn’t mean they were for everybody. They were definitely for hi, though, however large yet tired they seemed. Even the crooked, awkward (or should you say “Ahkward”) smile he offered you upon introduction had its charms.

You still weren’t entirely sure if your initial predictions of him were correct at that point, but by the end of that meeting you at least knew that whatever Ahkmenrah Malek was, it was just plain something.

As for you . . . Well, you were pretty. That was all he really thought of you. Not to be shallow, he just didn’t have much to go off of at that moment: He’d been caught off guard in his little office in the basement, about to tuck in for a delightful lunch of ramen cup and a pack of snacks from a vending machine when one of his coworkers snuck you in and started going on about how “the two of you ought to meet.”

Admittedly, it might’ve been because he wasn’t prepared (or because he was so tired and hungry that the ramen cup actually looked appealing) but Ahk failed to see any real reason the both of you needed to become acquainted -- let alone in that moment. Though in hindsight, maybe they just thought he was lonely? After all, it wasn’t as though he’d accepted a job offer in the US with any friends or family to greet him there. Everyone was back in the UK. And he’d never been especially gifted at making friends, though not for lack of trying per se. More like for lack of connectability. After all, not everyone was into his sense of humor or his intense approach to his interests . . .

It wasn’t quite a first impression, but the thought of why the introduction had been so heavily pressed flitted around in Ahk’s head even hours after it had ended. Like a scarab beetle. It might’ve been optimistic of him to ponder it, but he couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps you wouldn’t be against the idea of being friends . . .

After all, not just anyone could say that they were friends with an Egyptologist, right?

[freebooter4ever]

Lighting/shadow livestream! Saturday July Third, 1pm California time - I will be working on Ahkmenrah golden basketball boy, his outfit and the ball is 90% orange and his cape is 50% reflective so he requires a lot of light, but this is still a simple (hopefully) fast doodle \o/ (twitch.tv/freebooter4ever)

[pixie-mage]

4,5, O (both + and -) and V -

From this NatM Writing Prompt: [ x ]

(Sorry it took so long, but I had a lot of fun writing this one! It gets a bit emotional in the middle, but I promise there's fluff there too!)

Characters: Jedediah x Octavius Adjectives: Overprotective, Overworked, Vulnerable

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Jedediah really should have noticed it sooner. They had returned from the Smithsonian and been on display for almost a month by now, and the new Night Program was in full swing...so perhaps there were more than a few reasons it had slipped under his radar. But still, he should have noticed it sooner.

It was approaching midnight now. There had been no guests in the museum for a few hours or so, just Larry and the exhibits, and most of them were taking the time off to enjoy the night like they normally did. Emphasis on ‘most’.

Jedediah leaned sideways against the wall of the Roman diorama, his arms folded across his chest and one boot tucked across the ankle of the other. He watched with a subtle frown as Octavius discussed something quietly with Marcus, his second in command, at the edge of the courtyard that marked the center of the display. Octavius’ brow was furrowed, his hands moving with his words, whatever he was saying clearly of some level of importance. Or at the very least, Octavius seemed to think so. But Jedediah could see the dark shadows under the general’s eyes, the tension in his armor-clad shoulders, the odd little eye movements that flickered off to the side at odd intervals...as if he felt like he was being watched, or was waiting for something to jump him.

Octavius looked stressed and worn out, and it was a wonder Jedediah hadn’t caught on sooner. Come to think of it, since they had returned from Washington DC, Jed couldn’t remember more than a few brief, fleeting moments that Octavius wasn’t hard at work doing...something. Anything. Running drills with the Roman army, rehearsing dialogue for the Night Program, discussing some kind of political or military issue with Marcus (or Cyrus...Jed shuddered; that slimy kiss-ass of a senator could take a damn hike in his opinion). And on the rare occasions that Octavius took time aside to spend with Jedediah for fun, he was constantly on edge. He consistently offered alternate choices for their museum adventures that (Jedediah now realized) were less ‘dangerous’ or ‘risky’. He casually (slyly) veered Jedediah away from ideas that involved something less-than-wise. He was being–

...well, protective, almost, Jedediah landed on. Or maybe paranoid.

All in all, it was obvious that something was up with the Roman general...and perhaps it was high time Jedediah did something about it.

Jed pushed away from the wall and moseyed over to the town square, tossing his arm around Octavius’ shoulders with a grin.

“Howdy Marcus!” he greeted the other soldier, who smiled politely at him. “I’m gonna steal Octavius from ya for a while. Hope ya don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” Marcus inclined his head. Octavius let out a disgruntled noise of protest.

“Jedediah, please, I have to–”

“Nope,” Jed cut off his protests and steered him about, marching off towards the Roman border with Octavius held tight against his side. “No can do, amigo. We’re goin’ for a drive.”

“Jedediah–”

“Ockie, hush up. You look like you could use a break, so I’m makin’ sure you get one.”

“But Rome–”

“Can last one night without you there,” Jed said. “Your soldiers have been workin’ their tails off for more ‘n two weeks straight. Hell, Billy’s been all mopey over on our side of the wall because he ain’t seen his Roman friends in days. Let ‘em have a night off.”

As if to cement this fact, Octavius caught sight of a familiar pair of archers chattering excitedly near the diorama’s edge, clearly on their way out of the city - much like Jedediah and himself. Octavius sighed, finally giving in to Jedediah’s impulsive adventure.

“Very well,” he said. “I suppose you may have a point.”

“Dang right I do,” Jed grinned, shaking Octavius slightly with the arm still slung around the man’s shoulders. “Get yer Roman ass down that climbin’ rope and I’ll fetch the car.”

Jed left Octavius behind to grab up the rope hanging over the edge of Rome’s border, gripping it in both gloved hands and leaping out of the diorama with expert ease. He didn’t have to look behind him to know Octavius would be following after him.

~

Tonight’s drive was about the same as every other time in the past few weeks that they had taken the car out for a spin. Jedediah drove a little too fast and a little too recklessly, Octavius tried to enjoy himself while murmuring quiet cautions to be more careful, and once or twice Octavius gripped the door handle with such intensity at Jedediah’s more reckless turns that his knuckles were white from the strain.

It was almost the same as when they would drive around before the Smithsonian...but only almost.

Now that he was looking for it, Jedediah was kicking himself for not noticing the difference sooner. Before, Octavius was normally just about as invested in the thrill of their adventures as Jedediah...but much of his enthusiasm was missing right now. Without a second thought, Jed took a sharp right and headed for a familiar exhibit, ignoring the tense expression that flitted across Octavius’ face at his sudden change of direction. He steered the car swiftly into the dimly lit room and parked off to the side, and the moment the car came to a stop he kicked open the door and ducked out of the miniature vehicle.

The room was quiet and empty. Ahkmenrah was almost never in his own exhibit after hours, making this one of the only places in the museum that was relatively still at this time of night. Though Jedediah himself had never asked the pharaoh about it in person, he had a sneaking suspicion that the young ruler wasn’t too fond of his tomb and sarcophagus. Jed imagined being trapped in one place for decades could do that to a person.

The sound of the passenger door opening and closing came from behind him but Jedediah didn’t turn around. Instead, he took a few strides away from the car to lean against one of the massive stone pillars that decorated the exhibit, only turning to look at Octavius once he had his back pressed against the cool stone. He folded his arms over his chest and eyed the other miniature from beneath the brim of his hat.

“What’s goin’ on with you Octavius?”

Octavius, who had been in the process of following Jedediah away from the car, paused mid-step. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, then his brow furrowed as he said:

“In...what regard?”

“You look exhausted, Ockie,” Jed said softly, a pained sympathy lacing his words. “You’re workin’ yourself to pieces and you’re jumpin’ at shadows. Now I know you keep sayin’ you’re just busy because we’re still settlin’ into the new Night Program and whatnot, but I’m not so sure I believe you.”

A brief, startled look passed over Octavius’ face like a fleeting shadow, there and gone again in less than a breath.

“I admit, I may be keeping myself a little too busy as of late,” he conceded. He rested a hand on the hilt of his sword, his fingers tense. “But - Jedediah, I assure you, I am perfectly fine.”

“Mind tryin’ that again?” Jed quirked an eyebrow at Octavius, who swallowed thickly and looked away.

Jedediah shook his head with a sigh and pushed away from the pillar behind him. His footsteps echoed quietly in the cavernous room until he came to a stop right in front of his - now oddly tense - partner. He tried to catch Octavius’ eye.

“Look, I’m not tryin’ to call you a liar, but you’ve got shadows under your eyes and you’re about as jittery as a cornered cat. Somethin’s up, and I just wanna help.” When Octavius didn’t reply, Jedediah ducked into Octavius’ line of vision to finally meet his gaze. He gave the other miniature a lazy, lopsided smile. “There ya are. C’mon, talk to me sweetheart.”

Despite himself, Octavius smiled wearily and chuckled, shaking his head ever-so-slightly at Jedediah’s antics. Then his smile faded again and he let out a long breath, his eyes becoming closed off just as they had been before. He ran his fingers through his hair once or twice, having left his helmet in the car.

“Yes, alright, so I may be under some stress at the moment...but I’ll be fine. I swear it. I don’t wish to bother you with my trivial worries.”

“Hey now, that’s now how this works,” Jed protested immediately. He planted his hands on his hips. “We’re partners. We trust each other. Right?”

“Completely,” Octavius breathed. “I do trust you, my love. Always.”

“Then I don’t care how trivial you might think it is. If it’s worryin’ you then I wanna hear about it. Comprende?”

A brief moment of silence settled between them. Octavius looked as though he wanted to say something, but the words never left him. As he stood there, conflicted, unsure what to say, his expression slowly melted from the closed off facade he had been wearing for days into something softer��something fragile. A strained and emotional sort of exhaustion settled in his posture, his shoulders sagging, and Jedediah could see the very moment that something behind his eyes began to break. When Octavius finally spoke, it was on a quiet and wavering breath.

“...the hourglass.”

Understanding began to dawn in the back of Jedediah’s mind and his chest tightened. He had a feeling he knew exactly where this was going.

“After we attempted to escape the shipping container, you were trapped in the hands of a monster who held no qualms about harming anyone who stood in his way,” Octavius went on, speaking softly. Remembering. “And though it does not often bother me, our smaller stature was...a disadvantage. You could do nothing to fight against him, and on my own I could have done nothing to prevent your harm. I watched him lock you in that hourglass with no way of stopping it.”

“Wait, hold on – you were there?” Jedediah asked, eyes bugging out in surprise. He gripped Octavius’ shoulders in both hands. “You didn’t mention that before. I told ya to run! I told you to get away from there!”

“And leave you behind?” Octavius shot back. He pressed his palm to Jedediah’s chest as if to push him away...but he didn’t. “I had to be sure you were alright! I had to know where you were so that I could save you.” His eyes were shining as he searched Jedediah’s face for something that couldn’t be named. “That monster gave you all of an hour to live. It was at once the longest and the most quickly-passing hour of my entire life. Had I not been able to get to you in time–”

Octavius couldn’t finish the sentence. His breath caught, shuddering, and he clenched his eyes shut as if to block out the thought.

Jedediah felt as though the wind had been knocked from him. He had almost never seen Octavius so distraught. Octavius was a strong and proud man, a Roman general, and he rarely showed signs of true fear. It didn’t feel right to see him looking so terrified of something that could have been, that never was.

“Ockie, look at me,” Jedediah murmured. He waited until Octavius opened his eyes before cupping his face in one hand. He ran his thumb over Octavius’ cheek gently, a lopsided smile slipping onto his face. “I’m right here. Nothin’ happened to me. You got that? That crazy Egyptian couldn’t’ve done anythin’ to me even if he tried.”

A watery chuckle bubbled up past Octavius’ lips. The hand he still had pressed to Jedediah’s chest clenched slightly, his fingers fisting against the blue fabric of the cowboy’s shirt.

“No, I imagine he couldn’t have,” Octavius agreed shakily.

“That’s what’s been eatin’ at ya since we got back?” Jedediah asked, worry creasing his brow.

“For many reasons.” Octavius let his eyes close again and he leaned into the comforting hand at his cheek. “It seems silly, perhaps, to be so affected by it...but I keep having nightmares in which I am...I am unable to save you.” He shivered. “Often I am either too late, or I cannot break the glass, or Kahmunrah grows impatient and–” He shivered again, a pained look crossing his face, and he pressed his lips together tightly.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright,” Jed murmured, pressing their foreheads together, the brim of his hat tilting upwards because of it. “I’m fine. You saved me. Everything turned out alright, remember? Look–” He brought his other hand to grip Octavius’ fist where he was still clutching Jedediah’s shirt. “–feel that? My heart’s still beatin’ as strong as ever. Might be ‘cause of a magic tablet, but it’s there.”

Octavius nodded. He opened his eyes to meet Jedediah’s blue ones, so very close to his. He didn’t speak. He didn’t have to. Too many emotions were swirling in the depths of his eyes, tears glistening there that had yet to fall. He swallowed, licked his lips. He breathed. Jedediah pulled on a soft, crooked smile.

“Are you with me, Ockie?”

Not quite sure what else to do, Octavius moved in Jedediah’s hold until he was clinging to him tightly, holding him close, his face buried in the crook of the cowboy’s neck. His nose brushed against the blue and red of Jedediah’s shirt and neckerchief, taking in the familiar scent of sand and hard work and the hot sun and something so distinctly Jed that he could not put a name to it even if he tried. He closed his eyes and choked back a sob and clutched at the man in his arms as if he might never see him again. Tears slowly soaked into the shoulder of Jedediah’s shirt, but he didn’t seem to care as he hugged his partner back with every ounce of love he could give and let Octavius revel in the sheer solid proof that he was alive.

Eons seemed to pass before they finally parted (though not completely, as Octavius still had a hand on Jedediah’s waist and Jed was still lightly gripping Octavius’ arm, neither of them quite ready to let go). Octavius sucked in a deep, shaking breath, and when he smiled - almost embarrassed - Jedediah couldn’t help but notice that the shadows beneath his eyes seemed less prominent and some of the visible weight on his shoulders had lifted.

“Feelin’ better sweetheart?” Jedediah asked with a gentle smile. Octavius let out a huffed laugh and nodded.

“Much,” he said. “Perhaps I should have tried to speak about my troubles sooner.”

“Oh ya think so, huh?” Jed teased lightly, a sparkle in his eyes. He tugged at the brim of his hat, straightening it. “I reckon next time you’ve got a bunch o’ ‘What-If’s’ and ‘If-Only’s’ bouncing around in that head o’ yours, you won’t keep it to yourself. Right?”

“Of course,” Octavius smiled sheepishly. “I apologize for not speaking up before now. Nightmares didn’t seem like an important enough subject to bother you with.”

“I don’t care if your complaint of the day is that you’ve got a cramp in your left foot! If it’s botherin’ you, I’ll listen.”

Octavius giggled quietly and brought up a hand to hide his grin.

“Whatever did I do to earn such a caring lover?” he queried, and Jed winked.

“Punched him in the face a few times, I reckon.”

Laughter rang out quietly from the secluded corner of the Egyptian exhibit, unheard by anyone but the twin Anubis statues standing guard. The air was calm.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

“Do you think General Octavius will allow us another night off this week?”

“Fabian, if you’re trying to be subtle, it isn’t working.”

“It was a simple question, that’s all!”

“Oh yes, of course it was. The implied ‘to see Billy’ after ‘another night off’ definitely didn’t exist.”

“MARIUS!”

A pair of archers were making their way back into Rome at the end of a night that had been much more relaxing than any they had spent lately. After a few weeks of enduring Octavius’ much more vigorous training regiments it was a welcome relief to be given even one night of freedom...and they weren’t the only ones hoping that their next night off would come sooner rather than later.

“You are much too easy to rile up, my friend,” the archer named Marius chortled, elbowing Fabian. “But to answer your question, it depends on that cowboy Jedediah. You saw him escorting the general out of Rome earlier, did you not?”

“Of course I did,” Fabian grumbled, still flushed from Marius’ earlier teasing. “General Octavius didn’t seem very willing to leave.”

“Ah, but he still left,” Marius pointed out. “Hopefully Jedediah will be able to pull our dear general out of the sour state he has been in lately. With any luck, he’ll be–”

It was at this point that the pair reached the square, and Marius didn’t need to say anything more because Octavius and Jedediah were both in sight. Octavius was smiling brightly, looking more like his usual self than he had in weeks, and he was saying something to the cowboy beside him that neither archer could hear. Whatever it was, Jedediah’s grin turned into a gobsmacked expression in an instant and within the next moment he was bright red and fuming, blustering and spluttering indignantly beside a now-slyly-smirking Octavius.

“OCKIE, YOU CAN’T JUST – THAT’S NOT – WE’RE IN PUBLIC!”

“...I get the feeling you’ll be able to see Billy fairly soon, actually,” Marius muttered with raised eyebrows. Fabian only nodded, as Jedediah stammered something about:

“Crazy flirty Romans…”

~

Octavius bit his lip to stop himself from laughing, his eyes sparkling with mirth while he watched Jedediah teeter on the edge of an explosion. One might think he had already blown up with how loudly he was ranting on...but Octavius knew from experience that the things that actually put Jedediah over the edge left him unable to even form words, so absolutely dumbfounded and reeling that all he could manage was spluttering angry noises, enraged shouts, and pinwheeling limbs that made it look as though he was fighting with the air itself. While it was a guilty pleasure of his to push his beloved to that point, Octavius supposed that it wouldn’t be a very nice ‘thank you’ to do so right after Jedediah had so worriedly and dotingly helped him through some of his recent fears.

With a soft sigh, Octavius caught Jedediah by the arm and pulled him closer, pressing a soft kiss to the raving cowboy’s cheek.

“Forgive me cara, I’ve never been very good at holding my tongue around you,” he chuckled. “I was only teasing. I apologize.”

Jedediah stilled, as red as a tomato, but his temper slowly fizzled out. He grumbled quietly and hunched his shoulders with his arms folded tightly over his chest.

“...yeah, yeah, keep yer apology,” he rolled his eyes. “Just - quit sayin’ stuff like that in public. It’s not for other people to hear.”

“I shall endeavour to do better.”

Octavius was still grinning softly when Jedediah turned to look at him, the flush of his face lessening and his expression turning affectionate and a little concerned.

“...are you alright?” Jed asked him in an undertone, aware of the people of Rome lingering around the square. “For now anyway?”

Octavius’ grin softened into a tired smile.

“For the most part, yes,” he nodded. His fingers tightened against Jedediah’s arm. “...I doubt the nightmares themselves will vanish overnight - after all, the thought of losing you isn’t one so easily swept aside...” Jedediah winced sympathetically. “...but it doesn’t feel nearly so real of a concept anymore.”

Jedediah was quiet for a few seconds, searching Octavius’ expression for what he could only assume were signs of falsehood. (Octavius knew it was not for a lack of trust either.)

“D’you want me to stay?” Jedediah asked quietly.

“Stay–?”

“Stay durin’ the daylight hours,” Jed specified. “You can try and get some decent sleep and I’ll fight off your nightmares. And if Larry says anything about it, I’ll handle it. You’ve been through enough.”

A warmth, a fondness, swelled in Octavius’ chest, and he found himself gazing adoringly at the man before him. He had asked himself this question almost a million times by now, but...how did he ever get so lucky?

“I love you,” he whispered, before he could stop himself. Jedediah cleared his throat, his cheeks pink.

“Well...w-well that’s nice an’ all, but...er...is that a yes or a no?”

“Yes,” Octavius amended quickly. “Yes, please. I - I would greatly appreciate it.”

“Alrighty then.” Jed nodded and tugged the brim of his hat down to hide his face, looking thoroughly flustered. He took a few steps in the direction of Octavius’ home, paused, and turned back long enough to add: “...I love you too, ‘Tavius.” Then he was marching off through the crowds of Roman citizens, his fists in his pockets and his hat pulled low. Octavius only smiled.

He would be okay.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~

[A/N - Hope you enjoyed this one! Sorry again that it took so long to finish it! This time, I wrote them as having an established relationship, mostly because the discord server I'm on voted for that one over (A) mutual pining and (B) Octavius confessing his feelings. Seeing as I don't often write them this way, it was nice to change things up! Plus I feel like it makes Octavius racing against the clock to save Jedediah that much more meaningful. I ALSO GOT TO WRITE SOFT!JEDEDIAH TOO! I've never gotten the chance to write that side of him, so thank you for the inspiration!]

[elysiumxii]

the lost tomb | starter for @goldentablets​ ft archaeologist!antonio & spooky!ahkmenrah 

“It’s hot-” Anotnio grumbles to himself, lazily fanning himself with his straw hat in one hand, having stripped to just his damp, linen shirt, open at the collar, cream slacks and trouser suspenders. Above him the Egyptian sun beats down on his tan skin, leaving him with a sheen of sweat that have his glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose almost constantly. All around him Egyptian men in jellabiya work tirelessly with pike axes and shoves to dig down towards the submerged, ancient crypt below. They heave with ropes, camels bleating and groaning and the unending shouts of orders in Arabic. 

Antonio turns to gaze back at the tent he’d wandered from, where his plants and maps were laid out under paperweights and the wireless radio played German radio that could faintly be picked up if the wind was right. He could return to the tent, shelter from the sun, but that just wasn’t Antonio’s style. He was hands on! Too hot to pick up a shovel and help dig, however. It is then that he notices the hush, the voices had stopped, even the camels had fallen quiet. 

“What is it?” He calls out in Arabic, running down a sand dune towards his dig, where the men had stopped to look on at the doorway they had uncovered. Above it’s great archway hieroglyphics that had not been seen by human eyes in over 4 thousand years. “A curse-” his foreman whispers beside him, as Antonio steps closer, lifting his hand to shield his eyes before he’s swallowed by the shadow of the structure half buried by the desert. “A curse on those who enter. Swallowed by the... late king?” The archaeologist and linguist reads the ancient Egyptian with a frown, the symbols meaning a little muddled to him. 

By his side the foreman shakes his head before translating into English “Devoured by the dead king” his tone is so foreboding it causes Antonio to look around at him, as a murmur spreads through the men. “It’s a tomb” Antonio murmurs, realisation hitting, he’d found it! The tomb of  Ahkmenrah! Quickly he turns back to the stone and hurries forward towards it, pressing his hand to it, smoothing over the ancient stone. “I found it” he murmurs to himself in Italian, and with it, it’s halls of gold said to be buried with the Pharoah. 

Work is quickly started again and not even the beating sun could deter Antonio from his involvement now, not until that doorway is revealed, and they are slowly peeling it open. 12 men heaving with rope slowly, inch by inch, reveal the dark inside of the tomb before him, lost for thousands of years. Curse forgotten he steps forward, lit torch held aloft and steps into the lost tomb.