Well, you put up with me because I can read and write in ancient Egyptian, decipher hieroglyphics and hieratics... and well, I am the only person within five thousand miles who can properly code and catalogue this library, that's why!
Lockwood & Co AU where Lockwood's parents are just Evie and Rick O'Connell from The Mummy
Lockwood inexplicably knows a lot of extremely specific things about Ancient Egypt and he never elaborates and it infuriates George to no end
Lockwood: Well, it can't be a real canopic jar. The jackal protects the stomach, not the liver.
George, who has never seen Lockwood read anything other than trashy tabloids and pulp detective novels: How could you possibly know that???
They discover while fighting off relicmen that Lockwood is insanely capable with guns and he flat out refuses to acknowledge any line of questioning about it, but it does explain the crate of old shotguns in the basement
He also apparently knows how to build, operate, and diffuse a range of explosive devices, which they discover during the Siege of Portland Row
Clearly, he has a talent for leaving buildings in partial to complete ruin everywhere he goes
He viciously despises the British Museum, a fact they discover after getting hired to clear out a particularly nasty poltergeist from one of their exhibit halls and Lockwood turns them down flat
On top of ghost relics, Portland Row is also home to various Ancient Egyptian decor--small statues, modern recreations of khopeshes, photographs of temple interiors. Some of the artifacts are the real thing and he does not see the hypocrisy in this
Along with the iron line outside, the lintel of the front door has the Eye of Horus carved into it as an additional protective measure
During rare nights off, the gang sometimes plays board games together and Lockwood is visibly surprised that no one else knows how to play Senet
He speaks Arabic and, if given enough time and motivation, can translate hieroglyphics
Sometimes when they're stumped in a particularly dangerous case, Lockwood will call on a 'family friend' who happens to have the relevant connections or expertise
Ardeth visits on Christmas every year without fail or warning. Everyone is in utter shock the first time except Lockwood, who is royally embarrassed by all the baby stories his godfather keeps telling people. Ardeth is just happy to know that Lockwood has formed his own family
The uncle he stayed with in the country was Jonathan
He has dual citizenship in the United States and, when Kipps learns this, he teases him mercilessly about it
Inspirational female representation is not flawless girl-bosses. It never has been. That's another one-dimensional unattainable version of perfection same as the 50s Housewife was. We can't all be Aunt Bea or Black Widow those are caricatures of what it means to be a woman and only highlight limited aspects of femininity without character growth or nuance. Assassin is no more of a personality than cook is.
Inspirational female representation in media is women who make mistakes and are still given value even after blundering. It's Anne falling off a roof. It's Evie wrecking a whole library and nearly ending the world. It's Eowyn in a suicidal depression riding into battle with the goal of dying. It's Lizzie believing everything Wickham says about Darcy.
It's Anne learning that you shouldn't fall for a bully's bait and pride has its place and it should be kept there. It's Evie learning that maybe don't assume something is safe because sometimes it definitely isn't, whether that's ladders or big black books. It's Eowyn learning to love herself and that she doesn't have to prove anything to anyone. It's Lizzie learning not to jump to conclusions about people's character.
It's the space for mistakes and growth. These characters are loved and lovable before, during, and after their mistakes. While they learn from the mistakes they make there is no pressure that from that moment on they are perfect and do nothing else less than perfectly (the mummy sequel doesn't exist here because they made Evie into a cardboard cutout of who she had been in the first film and stripped her depth and warmth). These women are allowed to fail, learn, and grow. They are also some of the most resonant characters in the history of women in literature and film. Who here consumed the media where they are represented and didn't feel akin to at least one of them in some way?
"The only thing that scares me, Ms. O'Connell, are your manners.”
With the SPOP Flex Monster Mash event going on, I realized I could do some screenshot redraws of Glimmer and Bow as Rick and Evie from my SPOP AU of The Mummy. (Eventually I will also do Catradora when I figure out Catra's outfit.)
Then I wanted to draw the meet cute where O'Connell is feral and about be executed in the prison but I'm not sure about how it came out so I am putting it under the jump with a quick little rewrite of the scene.
"You really wanna know?"
"Yes."
She beckoned him closer then grabbed his face and pulled him in for a harsh kiss. "Then get me the hell out of here!"
Because The Mummy (1999 with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz) turned 25 years old this year--another thing making me feel old af lately-- they are releasing it into select theaters.
And I'm going. I'm going to see my favorite movie on the big screen with snacks and squishy arm chairs as God and Nature intended.
My friends and I would get together in high school to reenact this movie it's a big deal in my house.