#khnum ennead

[fallloverfic]

People don't have to care for Anubis/Khnum as a ship in ENNEAD, and/or can prefer one or both characters end up with someone else, and it's entirely possible nothing will come of their relationship in the manhwa, but I find the way people almost entirely write off Khnum and his relationship with Anubis to be extremely bizarre.

I say this as an Anubis/Seth fan as well (I have written fanfic for the ship, and have lots of fancomics and merch for the pairing). But also I like Anubis/Khnum as ship, and have written for them, too (first, second, and I've included them as a side pairing in a couple of fics at this point).

Anubis is not Seth's endgame love interest. That's Horus. And I find it extremely unlikely an Anubis/Seth/Horus endgame ship will happen, no matter how much people want it to. The manhwa has never been described as a polyamorous story, and Horus is always a lead, while Anubis is not (Mojito uniquely refers to Horus as a main ball/lead). Mojito drew an Osiris/Seth/Horus non-canon piece some years ago for an event, but again, that was non-canon (and also didn't involve Anubis). I would like Anubis to end up with someone (because he's very alone otherwise, and often depending on people who don't have his best interests at heart, which doesn't seem to be the case with Khnum), and personally, I don't like him ending up with Isis, as also seems possible, given the parallels between Horus and Anubis, and that one time Mojito drew Anubis holding Isis for a contest back in 2019.

Also, it's a boys love series. Generally, temporary male love interests who aren't endgame end up with another guy. The current existing options for Anubis appear to be: Osiris, the foreign god, and Khnum. I like Khnum the best. (No shade on Osiris/Anubis and FG/Anubis and Seth/Khnum fans, I wish y'all the best).

Khnum is also one of the most consistently reappearing gods outside the four siblings, their kids, Ra, Maat, Thoth, Bastet, and Hathor.

Episodes he shows up in:

A shadow figure in Season 1, Episode 5:

Isis orders him to connect the river Horus and Seth are battling in during match 1 to the Nile in Season 1, Episode 14:

A shadow figure in Season 1, Episode 20:

A shadow figure again standing behind Isis as a subordinate river god in Season 1, Episode 45:

As a note, this panel^ seems to depict Khnum standing next to Satis, who is sometimes his consort in mythology, and on the other side of Hapi (next to maybe Satis) is maybe Anuket, who is sometimes the child of Khnum and Satis (and seemingly appeared next to Khnum in S1E20). We have no confirmation that is who these gods are, or what their relationships with each other are even if that is who they are (gods in Egyptian mythology had different identities and relationships with each other across different centuries and belief systems; Khnum and Satis have been paired with different gods in different myths; also this is a comic where Mojito's making up a lot of stuff). Even if, in the manhwa, Khnum and Satis were at some point lovers and bore Anuket, there is nothing in ENNEAD saying that Khnum can't be with someone else. Ra pushes this point in Season 1, Episode 70: gods are meant to just be with who they want to be with in the moment. Forever monogamous marriage is for humans. I also think it's interesting that, although Khnum and Satis are sometimes the parents of Anuket, she's not standing next to either of them: she's on the other side of Hapi, whom she has no connection to (nor do the other two gods have a connection to Hapi). Regardless of whatever relationship Khnum may have with Satis, she does not appear with him outside shadow narration, and no reference is made to her. This is unlike situations where side character partners/spouses appear together in some fashion (e.g., Tefnut/Shu, Nut/Geb, Maat/Thoth). That doesn't mean Khnum doesn't have a romantic and/or physical relationship with Satis (or anyone else, such as his other consorts), but it does mean there has been an excuse for her to appear at Khnum's side in some manner, and she has not.

Even if Khnum had a relationship with Satis in the past, it actually kind of works as a parallel for Anubis' feelings towards Seth. Seth is also someone who had a relationship with a female goddess that resulted in a child. Seth is no longer with that goddess. Anubis picking someone similar to his father - even though there's no evidence Khnum attempted to destroy Egypt and has murdered a fuckton of people, or has been as cruel - makes a lot of sense.

I don't know that it's intentional, either, or just happenstance, but I also find the idea that Anuket has seemingly moved away from Khnum, visually, to be interesting. In Season 1, Episode 20, they're standing relatively near each other. But in Season 1, Episode 45, Anuket is separated from her (potential) parents by another god, and from her (potential) father by two gods. It might mean nothing, maybe Mojito just didn't want the goddesses to be trapped by the gods, or she wanted Isis to be next to another goddess, or she just drew them randomly. But if it's meant to subtly imply conflict in the potential family relationship, it's, well... interesting. This of course might mean Anubis shares more with Satis than with Khnum, but it'd also add to that parallel structure of Anubis falling for a guy who's got issues with his kid.

Isis causing the Nile to flood makes Khnum's temple(?) rock in Season 1, Episode 57, during the third match:

Isis orders Khnum to carry Anubis out of the court room during the sentencing in Season 1, Episode 68 and 69. He shows up in four panels in S1E68, and nine panels in S1E69:

That's why Khnum is with Anubis to get injured by Osiris in Season 1, Episode 73:

It's also why Khnum is the only lead Isis, Nephthys, and then Seth have for Anubis' whereabouts and are worried about healing him in season 2. Namely, Khnum is placed in the Heliopolis Temple of Life, and we see Isis and Nephthys working to heal him in Season 2, Episode 14. He shows up in six panels.

Horus brings this up in Season 2, Episode 28, when Seth is asking where Anubis is, and Horus points out that Khnum, found alone, is the only one who possibly knows Anubis' whereabouts, and may die, particularly because the foreign god stole the medicine Isis was using to heal him. Seth blames himself for this, believing that Khnum was hurt by the curse Seth placed in Anubis' arm. And since the foreign god used up all the medicine he stole on Seth, Seth may be the reason Khnum dies. Again, this is something Seth blames himself for.

Anubis heals Khnum in Season 2, Episode 73. Nephthys tells Anubis about Khnum being in a coma, and Anubis asks about it. They go to the temple, and Anubis takes the souls trapped in Khnum's body out of him. Khnum appears in five panels.

While Isis and Nephthys are trying to heal Anubis in Season 2, Episode 96, Isis calls on Khnum to buy her time with Anubis while she fetches Hathor's mirror. He appears in two panels.

This apparently results in him sitting on Anubis' coffin in Season 2, Episode 100:

He is literally sitting on Anubis' entire body. That's... I mean they've done the sit on your face thing. It's done now.

Khnum then defends Isis and Nephthys from Anubis' attack, again absorbing some of Anubis' power/curse/the souls. But then there's this <.< fascinating panel <.<

The posing is very... intriguing. Somewhat suggestive. If this were another story, I'd expect Anubis to kidnap Khnum and carry him off. Heck, he might still do that, who knows? This also continues the parallel with Anubis and Seth, who are connected by Seth's curse: Khnum and Anubis are also connected by the curse, which is still (at least again) inside Khnum.

Khnum has also appeared in extra, non-canon art. Of particular note is Heungbu and Nolbu (ENNEAD Version), an ENNEAD parody comic based on the story of Heungbu and Nolbu, where Khnum shows up without his headdress for the first and only apparent time in any art Mojito's shared. It's available in different languages in Volume 2 of ENNEAD's physical release, and in Korean for free online on Mojito's twitter in two parts: Part 1 and Part 2. Specifically, Khnum appears in one panel on page 5 (in Part 2):

There's one piece Mojito drew of him alone pre-2022 that's floating around online, and another from 2018 where he's standing with Nephthys, Isis, Seth, Osiris, and Anubis while they're holding cats.

This is possibly in part because of his appearing in the side comic Cat with God as Butler where he rescues Simba for Anubis (he shows up in four panels).

So, in canon, Khnubis has supported each other a lot and gone to each other's aid in difficult moments. Of Khnum's 13 episode appearances, 8 involved Anubis to some degree. Of Khnum's four non-canon appearances, two involved Anubis. More than 63% of Khnum's appearances in ENNEAD involve Anubis.

Maybe he's just convenient and that's why he shows up so much. It saves Mojito coming up with new character designs, and it makes sense for Isis to have a servant she relies on a lot, in a similar way to how Hathor has a servant she relies on a lot. That being said, it is inarguable that he is important to the story, and tied heavily to Anubis in particular. He may have no relationship with Anubis beyond as acquaintances down the line. Maybe at most we'll just get potentiality or something. But a lot of side ships in boys love series get a lot less than these two get.

Perhaps the funniest criticism I've seen of this pairing is that Anubis was "too" young when they got to know each other. Ignoring that Anubis when we meet him at the start of ENNEAD is hundreds of years old (he just looks very young at times, arguably on average like an older teenager), the speaker was an Anuseth fan. I love the ship, I've written for it. Seth's known Anubis since he was born. How is Seth knowing Anubis near to conception any different or somehow better than Khnum knowing Anubis when Anubis was nebulously young? The alternate popular pairing is Anubis/Isis, in part given the non-canon art Mojito's drawn of them. Isis has also known Anubis since he was born.

Again, people don't have to like this pairing. They don't have to like Khnum. They can want Anubis to end up out of a romantic relationship, or perhaps they just want the pair to be platonic friends. But stop pretending nothing is there. Stop pretending Khnum is a no-name character who never shows up or never does anything or has no relevance to the plot, particularly involving Anubis.

[fallloverfic]

ENNEAD by Mojito Ask me meme

12.

14.

20.

5.

6.

7.

^^

Ahh so many! Thank you so much for asking <3 (The ask meme)

This got long so I'll put it under a read more:

5. What would you like to see happen in ENNEAD?

I genuinely want a Horuseth flying sex scene roflmao. It's why I wrote a fic about it back in 2022. Being the change I want to see in the world alkdjlaj

6. What is the most mysterious thing about ENNEAD?

That Mojito keeps seemingly teasing Anubis/Khnum ("Khnubis") as a pairing and I want to know if that's going to be an endgame ship because it would make me happy XD (I've written fic for them and have written them as a background ship a couple times in other fanfics and have another Khnubis fic outlined and partially drafted, but would love more food!!!)

7. What scene melted your heart?

There are so many, it's hard to pick one.

This panel in S1E5 was a pretty early one.

Particularly the way Seth was talking about how he hoped Anubis wouldn't grow up to be a god like Seth, because it wasn't a good idea. Because Seth is aware of how hard it is. It's so sad to tell your child - who loves and idolizes you - that. To have that awareness of yourself and what you do. And to want better for him. And knowing better isn't becoming like you.

I'm not sure if this fits and I guess it's more "intrigued me" than melted my heart, but the opening of S1E7 was fascinating, in the sense that it was another turn on Seth's braggadocios nature during the opening of the trial. Here we had a character who was mocking everyone within visual range, who has been shown to have depths to him via the opening narration and flashback with Anubis, who's being attacked by his sibling, his nephew, and his parents, and viciously hurt his son. And then suddenly he sees Osiris and you can see he's afraid.

We still didn't know much at all yet, and I knew it was possible he was just worried at getting caught out. That now, as the story usually goes, his crimes would be properly laid out. He'd lose his throne, get sent off to the sun boat, who knows? But the flashback with Anubis and all the other details and his trembling in Osiris' grip, frozen instead of immediately lashing out, for 12 panels, ending in this fascinating set of panels:

He's scared. Again, this could just be him alarmed at getting caught. But it felt like something more, even before the audience knew anything. And I was just like... oh. I want to protect this man :3 (Also Horus observing all this, including Seth's fearful reaction to Osiris). And that feeling of "oh there's way more going on here and Osiris is dangerous to Seth in maybe traumatic ways" is confirmed in S1E10:

The sequence of this scene:

Seth freezes when Osiris calls his name. Seth clearly tries to gather himself, and then is furious Osiris is coming after him. Seth tries to use bluster to cover up how he feels, and Osiris is saying some very weird things that sound kind of patronizing, implying some kind of past relationship between them beyond alleged jealousy that is making Seth flinch and tremble. Osiris traps Seth with his brambles and grabs him, knocking his headdress off, for what is implied to be a noncon kiss, if not more. It heavily reframes Osiris as a villain and Seth as a victim, and casts a more sinister tone on events that were already pretty dark (I mean Seth was murdering lots people and encouraging the slave trade). I already really liked everything we'd seen about Seth as a character but I was even more ride or die for him after this. I wanted someone to rescue him from Osiris T-T And given Horus' comments about serving Seth if he lost in S1E9, and what he'd observed, I hoped it'd be him.

The underwater Horuseth kiss scene in S1E14 also really got me. It's just so pretty and stunning, given Seth's past behavior, especially with Horus. Another intriguing scene is during S1E23, in the second match, when Seth pauses mid-fight as he notices his own boat is under attack, and he realizes it's Osiris, again.

And he's just standing there, bow down, kind of frozen and forlorn, unable to react properly, which Horus uses to his advantage. For a god of war who was previously shown in this episode to be so creative, responsive, and fast, it's a very big change. Whatever his history with Osiris, which has only been brought back after the opening of the trial with Osiris grabbing him, telling half-truths and manipulative comments, and then the kiss/whatever else he did after the trial opening, it's rocked him to his very core. And he just seems so sad. He can't get away from that horrible man, and he's essentially being re-traumatized over and over. And I think Seth's obvious shock and seeming fear is what makes Horus hesitate while sitting on the sail, making this fascinating expression (below), before he goes into the attack.

This is presumably a facet of Seth and Seth's relationship with Osiris that Isis never talked to him about. Horus has heard so much from other people, but seeing this is another thing entirely. Were they not enemies in a match against each other, I think he'd have tried comforting Seth. I knew it wouldn't happen, but I really wanted him to.

Later, in S1E27, when Isis is re-bandaging Horus after Hathor's hackjob and they have their argument, Horus admits, "It's just that... ...having to receive help from others because I'm weak makes me feel pathetic." And it's while he's holding his mother's hands and gazing downward. And Isis has this stricken look on her face and says his name, and it's a very tense but sad mother-son moment between them, and I felt so bad for him. This demigod who wants to prove himself but keeps getting overtaken by everything else happening. And this goddess who clearly loves her son - despite their arguments - and wants the best for him, but has to be practical.

We'll be here all day if I go through all of the manhwa lol But a more recent bunch of moments is in S2E126 (the whole episode is amazing, I love it, especially Seth hugging Horus' back while they're fucking), when Horus is ashamed of hurting Seth in the bath sex scene and ducks his head half-under the water, and then swims forward so he can bump against Seth's chest.

And Seth is clearly still in love with the guy and just exasperated with himself, Horus' lack of self-control and inexperience, and the whole situation, and how they can't just do the sex: they need to take their time, talk, and learn to better understand each other. But Seth clearly wants to be with Horus, he loves this guy. I also love Horus' clear desire to hold Seth, but his hesitation, and wanting to respect Seth's boundaries, so he places his hand on the stone. And Seth, exasperated and struggling to be the older, more experienced partner who just wants to be physically intimate with his partner, grabs Horus' hand and sticks it on his side. I just love them so much. They love each other so much and want to do right by each other even though it's hard. Ahh T-T

12. Do you listen to music when you read ENNEAD?

Not generally! I dislike noise while I'm reading and tend to find it distracting, though I can ignore it (so having music on does nothing for me, generally, at such times). The exceptions tend to be when I'm writing fanfic or editing and occasionally use music to set the mood, though that's very rare and usually it's like... I'm writing something that has an animated adaptation or something and can turn on the soundtrack.

14. What powers would you like to see in ENNEAD?

Already answered this one :3

20. What struck you most about ENNEAD?

Initially, that it's pretty much everything I wanted in one place lol It's boys love ("BL"), about Egyptian mythology, has beautiful art, is in full color, has good smut, a fascinating narrative, and a great cast. I've read/seen a number of media takes on the Horus v Seth battles and trial, and I find the way Mojito depicts it quite fun. I also expected I'd enjoy the BL aspects, but did not know I'd fall so in love with Horuseth's dynamic. It's just so good.