And also, the Trailer is set to be released tomorrow, Jul. 30! I'll happily post wherever you can find that to share it with the entire world, or as much of it as actually reads LoveNATM, so please, spread the word! Secret of the Tomb is coming!
Countdown: 147 Days to NATM 3
Just wanted to let you know that I am reading this blog and loving it :) So excited for SOTT!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I appreciate your continued support.
DeleteI can't believe SOTT is happening! It's so exciting! Have you seen the trailer? You should see the trailer.
I saw the trailer! How awesome does it look?! Looks like Ahk is getting a considerably larger part (about time) and I'm so interested to seeing this history behind the tablet and the royal family.
ReplyDeleteIt's awesome! I'm so glad we get to see more of Ahkmenrah and his family and the history of the tablet (though my dream of seeing Ahk and Kah together really seems to be in the realm of fanfiction right now). But his dad and that 'tude. That may just be me, but I can't seem to get used to it. I guess Kahmunrah's apple didn't fall far from the tree, except Kah seems to be harsher about it (more like a six-year-old).
DeleteStill, I want to know why the tablet was made, and why the magic's running out, and if Lancelot's the bad guy (and that whole thing in the trailer is an act), then what does he hope to gain? Maybe he's not really the bad guy and there's a man behind the man. Honestly, you can't have a guy hyped as the bad guy from Day 1 without some kind of shenanigans going on.
Ah yes. Lancelot. I'm not sure about him either but he looks hilarious whatsoever the case may be, as evidenced by "I have no idea what that means." I remember that Ben Kingsley was described as playing a "formiddable" Pharoah before we knew for sure he was the father of the Brothers Egypt, so I wonder how much truth there is to that one. You're right, there does seem to be some resembelence between him and Kahmunrah. From the looks of things I am inclined to think that Ahkmenrah got most of his good graces from his mother's side.
ReplyDeleteHaving said all this, it's apparent that the parents knew better than to give the throne to Kahmunrah as Ahkmenrah probably showed the potential to be a much better leader.
I am looking forward to this family reunion (although I too was holding out vain hope for seeing the brothers reunite, as ugly as it could be). The look on Ahk's face in the trailer when they walk in makes me doubt that, whether or not they were expecting Daddy, he expected to see Shepseheret, be she his mother or motherlike figure I'm not sure. My theory is Ahk told Larry his father would know a lot more about it and Larry did his homework.
I have a feeling there's something going on here and this Lancelot thing is a red herring, because telling us early on that he's the bad guy is something the writers of Once Upon a Time would do, and even though this isn't the same production team, this basically is a funnier version of Once Upon a Time, but with its own fairy tale/magical elements rather than retooling those of others. So I suspect that with Cecil and Robert Fredericks, Gus and Reginald, and yes, even Dear Old Dad in town, Lancelot's the least of everyone's worries, bad guy or no. (If he is the Big Bad, though, what would he have to gain? How would he even know how to work the thing, or turn the magic-dying thing to his advantage? It's almost unfeasible in my book that he could be a credible Big Bad in any capacity. I think he's just being a huge troublesome goof for the entire two hours.)
DeleteAhk probably does get his graces from his mother, which may or may not be Shepseheret (that may also be his sister, nanny, or one of Pharaoh's many mistresses). His reaction seems to me one of someone who, while expecting one or more parents, hasn't seen them in thousands of years and it's like, "Now what?" kind of a thing, cause expecting someone and seeing them after forever are two totally different things.
I actually have a complicated headcanon about the Egyptian royal family, now that you mention the handing of the throne to the younger of the two Brothers Egypt. It goes a little like this: In ancient Egypt, when Ahkmenrah was a toddler and Kahmunrah about ten but no more than thirteen, they were inseparable. But there was trouble in paradise; a series of events beginning with it coming out about Daddy's less-than-savory disciplinary methods with Kahmunrah (which little Ahk witnessed) but up to and including the naming of a new heir (Ahk, who at the age of four didn't really understand jack of what was happening) and sending Kah off to join the army, resulted in it all falling apart between the two of them. Ahk still loves his brother, which is good because even though Kah won't cop to it, he needs it, and would love a family reunion, but I don't think Kah would take to the idea very well at first. It would definitely take some getting used to on his part, certainly. And for vain hope, there is always fanfic, which is my answer to the problem.
And please note the 'reply' button under my comments if you want to respond to what I'm saying! :)
DeleteOops, my apologies, I kept assuming I had pressed reply instead 'add comment'!
DeleteAha! Brilliant, you share a good portion of my own headcanon. I too tend to think the brothers once got along very well indeed and Kahmunrah wasn't always the power hungry, selfish and self described "bloodthirsty" man he became. Likewise, I thought he was probably hardened considerably from being sent to battle whilst his baby brother was given the name of heir instead of him.
I can imagine little Ahk having no idea why his brother suddenly shunned him and started to change for the worse. In fact, I believe that Ahkmenrah would have wanted to rule with Kahmunrah as Vizier as an attempt to extend that hand of friendship and bridge the gap. Which leads me to the rest of my headcannon in which the more Ahk tried to make peace with his brother and be friends again, the more envy and bitterness ate away at Kah. This would go on until something would click in Kah's brain that if his brother were to produce any heirs for Egypt, his chances of ever getting the throne would go from slim to almost nil, and so he started to entertain the thought of putting an end to that himself by releasing an asp into his brother's bed or such like.
It seems to be established in the films that Kah followed Ahk as Pharaoh, fifth king to Ahk's fourth as you said in one of your posts, so therefore there was no male heir from Ahkmenrah to inherit the throne.I tend to think that an envy driven Kah, if not directly responsible, at least played a key part in arranging the death of the King. An action he may in time (albeit possible a LOT of time) come to regret should they be reunited.
I agree with you that whatever their history, Ahk definitely holds no ill will to his brother and would dearly like to mend the brotherly bond they had as youths.
Unfortunately I have not yet found a fanfic to suit what I am searching for, being a well written and in character reunion between the Brothers Egypt.
I think I may have diverged considerably from our original discussion but oh well!
It's cool. Buttons being close together kind of has that effect.
DeleteAhk was pretty young; a friend of mind has this theory that at the most he can't be more than sixteen, so it's the blend of the fast growing up of a young ruler with some youthful idealism and hope which probably drives his thought processes. Of course, also being young, he didn't really have time to make heirs before being offed in some gruesome fashion (the Cleopatra method or otherwise) by his brother, the much older and (in my headcanon) more promiscuous (to the point of it being an open secret in court and it's easier to find a woman who HASN'T slept with him) Kahmunrah. Being in battle at a young age while his kid brother is being groomed to take the throne probably went a great deal toward hardening Kah, but also shaping him into a brilliant strategist (if nothing else). He would've made a good advisor, especially in times of war, so it's a shame that didn't happen. Kah's probably like "How dare this little upstart extend the olive branch to me? He took everything from me!" and Ahk's over here wondering what his brother's even talking about.
I'd like to see that conversation, probably after the dust all settles, where they talk about Kah arranging Ahk's death and/or killing him outright. I think it would be a nice deep connective moment between the two of them. It's hard to find fics for that, though I like Big Brothers Are Jerks for the characters being in character based on how little was given and even though it's not a reunion piece, it could conceivably be part of that arc. I am, however, working on a fic of my own toward that end; it's an alternate ending BOTS piece which I hope illustrates the consequences of Kahmunrah's opening the gate to summon the army of the undead as well as bringing the two brothers together. The first few chapters have a lot of moving parts, so it can be kind of difficult to get going, but I'm moving forward.
You're good. Discussions are made to evolve.
Oh yes, I've read Big Brothers Are Jerks, I liked it too as far as exploring their history, and it totally supports that Ahk still loves his brother despite knowing he's trying to off him.
DeleteThat would be an interesting conversation to see indeed. Whilst being a conversation that would inevitably need to happen once the dust settles, as you say, and the hatred simmers down somewhat, I imagine Kah would have great difficultly understanding why Ahk could forgive him whether he regrets doing the deed or not.
Your fic sounds likes it's got awesome potential, I'm really interested and you seem like a great writer so that's pretty promising I would say! I've seen a few floating around with the concept of bringing the brothers together but either there is some OC with whom both have fallen head over heels for, or it's just terribly short and nothing like their characters seem to be. I've been plotting out concepts for one that I intend to write too, although mine at this stage, is leaping into Ancient Egypt and exploring their past from childhood to death.
It is a past which I feel needs to be explored. I wish you luck, because sometimes writing can be an absolute bitch. Thanks for thinking I have potential.
DeleteKah would have difficulty figuring out why his brother would want ANYTHING to do with him, all things considered, and Ahk's motivation is probably a very complicated blend of "I feel all alone in the world despite my museum family", "I love my brother", and "I need that relationship that we used to have. I miss it". BBAJ is probably my favorite NATM fic. No OCs to fall in love with (though I cop to being guilty of that one early on in my fic-writing career; her name's Tally Johannson (later Fredericks), and yes, she's a night guard and ends up falling in love with Ahk, and he with her), no OOC-ness, no random unexplainable just-go-with-it shenanigans like I see in this one series (I can't think of the titles, one is something like Lost in New York, but it introduces mages to the verse and acts like they have a long, established history we know everything about, kind of a turn-off for me), just the two brothers in their past and in character. We should see more of it.
Yeah definitely. Unfortunately the NATM ficverse does not have as plentiful a supply of such fics as I would like. So, the way I see it, why not help extend it? I'm very much a writer (at least I love to do it and have some experience in contributing to fanfiction), but I haven't yet attempted anything for NATM, let alone set in Ancient Egypt and being as true to history as could at least be plausible...if with a touch of magic thrown in.
DeleteI'm quite excited actually.
Sounds like a nice challenge. The saying goes that there's always a first time for everything.
DeleteHistorical facts are really the struggle when it comes to that sort of thing. I've worked it out such that Ahkmenrah (thanks to his statement at the end of BOTS when he shows off the tablet; thus, by extension, his older brother) reigned near the end of the New Kingdom and start of the Third Intermediate (c. 1000 BCE), possibly during a time when there were two dynasties with two capitol cities, as a nice, if accidental, parallel to the strife between the two brothers during their lives. You could use that if you want to add that sort of symbolic element to your work.
I read a book on Armarna once, which was really good for seeing what people during Ahkenaten's time wore and how they lived and such like, if you think that might be useful for solidifying a picture in your head for the times, though I imagine some of it has changed considerably since then. Still very helpful I think.
Hope I helped. :)