#and now Thena has to kill Sersi too

[chaotickryptonitecomputer]

Alone and Broken

Ajak’s voice came out clear and firm “This is where I say goodbye. You are free to go. I want you to go out there and live a life for yourselves. Not as soldiers, not with the purpose you were given. Find your own purpose and one day when we see each other again, I want you to tell me what you found”

As everyone begins to leave, and I quickly follow Gilgamesh and Thena who are speaking in quiet tones, down the steps and into the forest. Walking deeper into the trees they both seem to have finish their conversation before turning to me. “You’re not coming with us (Y/N)” Thena’s voice is low and cold

“I’m not afraid of you Thena, I know who you are, I know who I fell in love with.”

Gilgamesh glances at Thena before gesturing to the side and walking off.

“I don't love you; it was nice while it lasted a warm body after a battle but now that the deviants are gone, I have no need for someone as weak as you.”

I strike my head in disbelief. “I don't believe you it was never about a warm body and I’m not going to let you push me away when you need someone the most.” I stepped towards Thena attempting to touch her arm only for it to be slapped away.

“Maybe I wasn't clear I don't want you you're a burden thinking about you following me around for the next 100 years makes me sick to my stomach. I never loved you I only used you.” Thena’s voice is cold, and her face twisted into a disgusted angry expression.

My blood runs cold I start to feel sick to my stomach. Thena turns and walks away without another word leaving me standing alone in forest.

Every day since then I have been alone, I would forever be grateful to Ajak for giving us our freedom, but I was alone. The last words me and Thena exchanged running through my mind on a loop. I have been in love with Thena for as long as I could remember and for a while, I thought she was as well. I was one of the eternals aggressively against her losing her memories despite the fact of her Mahd Wy’ry, but she used me. I was always just a background character in the eternals. My powers concerning the elements were never much help, Ajax always told me that my heart was my greatest power but now I can't help but disagree because here I am three thousand years in the future and yet I'm still alone. Not one of my so-called eternal friends has ever come to look for me, not even Ajax.

I’m brought back to present day with a sharp knock and the door of my cabin. I shake my head to get rid of the memories like brushing away cobwebs before standing. I take a few steps towards the door before pausing and remembering I live in the middle of the woods there's no civilization for two hundred miles out. I grab a knife from the table I’ve been seated at and make my way towards the door before speaking. “Who’s there?” my voice come out raspy and dry, like sandpaper against a wall.

“It’s Sersi…. from college.” The voice says a bit hesitant at the end “Everyone else is with here too, well except Ajax and Gilgamesh.”  

My mind raced as I stumbled back from the door, bumping into a table, then a chair as I tried to process this. Several thoughts swirled around my head as I stepped closer to the door. Why were they here? None of them care about me, they all disappeared never caring abut me. As these thoughts run through my mind, I start to get angry.

Twisting the doorknob, I tear the door open, nearly taking it from its hinges. “What do you want, I’m not quite in the mood for company.”

They all stand there, surprised at the venom in my voice. I glance around taking in the faces of Sersi Kingo, Makkari, Druig, Ikaris, Sprite, Phastos, and Thena. The air catches in my throat as the sight of Thena, and it's like no time has passed and I've just had my heart broken all over again. She attempts to meet my eyes but ignore her and everyone else in focus on Sersi.

“We need your help, Ajax and Gilgamesh were killed by deviants and...”

“Why should I help you?” I cut her off before she can finish. “Why should I care about two dead people who didn't care about me, as a matter of fact why should I care about any of you.” I scoff shaking my head.

Sersi flinches as if slapped and looks over her shoulder to the rest of the group for help. Kingo steps forward a wide smile on his face. “Come on (Y/N) you know we've missed your…”

“Missed me? Ha yeah right, I hate liars been three thousand years and now you miss me. More like you just remembered I existed I need more help on your little mission. Now Druig and Makkari I can understand, but the rest of you just didn’t care enough to check on me.” As I speak ice grows around my feet and wind starts to circle around me forcing them to step back from the door as I step forward.

“(Y/N).” Thena says her voice holding none of the chill it did when we last spoke.

As I force myself to meet her eyes all the feelings, I've tried to hold back seem to rush back filling my ears with a roar. “You don't get to speak to me ever again, or did you forget what the last thing was you said to me. Let me give you a little reminder ‘It was nice to have a warm body after battle, I have no need for someone so weak’. Or hey this was my favorite ‘Thinking about you following me around for the next one hundred years makes me sick to my stomach. I never loved you’.  

By the time I'm finished speaking there is a cyclone circling around me while my fingers start to spark with the beginnings of fire. Thena’s face is twisted as I repeat her words back to her the same ones that have been running through my head for hundreds of years. Then Ajax’s words which were always kind and soothing Appear in my mind ‘Your heart, your compassion is your greatest gift never lose the love you have for others.’

Shaking my head once more I finally speak again. “I'll help you but after I want you all to leave me alone. Since you were all so good at it before it shouldn't be that big of a problem. I refuse to be a second-rate person in anyone's life especially people I used to consider my family.” Glaring at them all before my eyes rest on Thena once more.

“Please don’t look at me with such hatred. I didn’t mean to hurt you I didn’t mean any of what I said I was trying to protect you. We can still fix this.” Thena’s voice cracks as she looks back at me with despair

“Maybe in another life but you made me miserable, and I still loved you. How could you have thought this wouldn't hurt me? This can’t  be fixed you've ruined what was between us for good now.”

[77-fxes]

That Old Time Religion- An Appreciation of Eternals

I find myself taken by the Eternals because it’s exactly the kind of movie that I wanted: Something like a mix between The Big Chill and a Terrance Malick film with superheroes. I wanted to see a group of characters who’ve known each other too well and for too long and who find themselves adrift in various ways. The film delivered that with aplomb.

What I didn’t expect was that the film would lean into the idea of Eternals as missionaries. Not the kind of missionaries that we see today, but something from a century or two ago. Small groups of fervent followers of some offshoot sect huddled in meeting in small rooms a la something out of The Master, or settling across the frontier spreading the gospel, bound by a common dogma and spiritual zeal. In that environment, the religious group becomes a sort of extended family, with generations, divisions of labor, relationships, and expectations, both of oneself and others. The Eternals present as one of these ‘missionary families’ and I think the movie does a good job of illustrating the sense of loss and disorientation that happens once that religious mission has no meaning.

Ajak is at the top of this family, the spiritual leader who holds the complete faith of her disciples and her directives hold the weight of God itself. Below here are the trusted older members, the devout Ikaris, the resolute Thena, the frustrated intellectual Phastos, and the lighthearted but steadfast Gilgamesh. Next would be the anxious but family-oriented Kingo, followed by the restless ‘teens’ Makkari, Druig, and Sprite who all chafe under the restrictions of their religious life in different ways but are bound by family ties. Finally, there is Sersi who, interestingly enough in this film is presented as the most innocent ‘youngest’ member of the team, with Chan’s performance playing up Sersi’s love of humanity and aversion to making choices as primary aspects of her character (Chan herself described Sersi’s story as a ‘coming of age’ story in interviews).

These dynamics come to ahead at Tenochtitlan where the Eternals' two missions meet an inflection point. The Eternals’ mission is described in two parts–a) killing the Deviants, and b) helping to foster humanity’s development. In Tenochtitlan, the Eternals seemingly kill the last of the Deviants, the Eternals are left with the state of the second mission. Druig calls out the failure of this lesson and in true teenager fashion, rebels against an order that has failed at the part of the mission that he is the most invested in. This in turn prompted Ajak to consider the religious mission concluded and release her children to their own fates. Here, the movie does something truly interesting in that it explores the question of self-identity and relationships outside of a hardcore religious context. All of the personality traits, relationship roles and expectations that the Eternals have ever known have been tightly connected to their faith in Arishem and the mission that he gave them through Ajak. Now that that’s over, who are these people? Who are they to each other? What are they supposed to be doing? Ajak gives the directive to ‘go out and live your lives (I’m paraphrasing)’ but would any of us know what that means if all we had known is one life, one faith, and one mission? The looks on the faces of the rest of the Eternals seems to betray this sense of dislocation and disassociation.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mainstream superhero movie take something like that on, particularly in a way that provides such murky answers. Three of the characters die in the process, one disappears before the big battle, and in the end the group splits into two different missions with three members possibly having their arcs erased with their memories. That’s heady stuff, and to me, it’s what makes Eternals such a fascinating movie.

[themculibrary]

Ikaris And Sersi (Ikersi) Masterlist

chip chrome & the mono-tones (ao3) - dannydays sersi/dane, ikaris/sersi T, 11k

Summary: “Welcome to Highton.”

“It’s a shithole,” Druig said, affectionately.

Sersi said, “We’re happy to have you.”

(human au. dane moves to a new estate and meets the eternals. shenanigans ensue.)

cursed and drunk on love || its not your fault (ao3) - Azurame_Neve N/R, 5k

Summary: They said that love is the most twisted curse in the world.

In which Sersi, the worse of humanity bleeds into her far more easily than expected and she started to plan the end of the world.

Fragment Mapping (ao3) - silver_penny sersi/dane, ikaris/sersi T, 6k

Summary: Sersi swallows. “I’ve got a job,” she says. “Teaching. Nice apartment, down in the city.” She worries at her hem. “A boyfriend.”

From out of the corner of her eye she can see Druig visibly startle. “A…another boyfriend?” he asks, tentatively.

It still blindsides Sersi when it happens to her.

i'll spend forever wonderin' if you knew (i was enchanted to meet you) (ao3) - notquitegucci (AllieKitaguchi) druig/makkari, thena/gilgamesh, ikaris/sersi N/R, 7k

Summary: How the Eternals discovered that Druig and Makkari were in love.

Some of them were a little slower than others.

I take the risk to feel your heart beating (ao3) - anachronistique (924inlegend) T, 57k

Summary: During the Deviants' attack in the Amazon, things take a turn when Ikaris is targeted for his powers during the battle. He is almost killed until Sersi steps in.

Life in the Margins (ao3) - Jupiter77 druig/makkari, gilgamesh/thena, ikaris/sersi T, 98k

Summary: In one of the reviews of Eternals, the film critic commented that Makkari and Druig had a romance in the margins of the movie. This story explores the margins.

Light My Love (ao3) - Redheadclover sersi/dane, ikaris/sersi T, 95k

Summary: Soteri always second guessed herself, even in the very beginning when she was born an Eternal on the Domos. Although the rest of the Eternals can see potential in her, Soteri tries to find her way while protecting the planet with her family.

Perhaps she was too gentle and kind, or that she was too reserve to fully expose herself because of her force field and teleportation ability, but that never stopped her from finding hope and love with her family members, including a brooding mind controller. Her courage and her thirst for protecting those around Soteri has pushed her over and over as time went on. However, once the Eternals broke away from one another, Soteri felt lost without her family.

Without her home.

Now Deviants are appearing once more, her fearless leader is gone, and Soteri has to find her strength to defend and protect her family like she did before. Is she willing to have the old wounds of her fragile and reserved heart be reopened again for the sake of humanity?

Love Me At The Ungodly Hour (ao3) - StarlightInTheNight E, 9k

Summary: She thought she'd learn to live without Ikaris but here she is, moth to flame, closing the distance between them as if it hadn't been a year since he left her and broke her heart.

She's still weak for that smile.

Now That I Saw You (ao3) - lodgedinmythoughts M, 4k

Summary: After all the things he's seen, his gaze will always fall back to her.

5 times Ikaris can't take his eyes off Sersi, and 1 time she can't take hers off him.

oràil (ao3) - delphiniumblooms T, 3k

Summary: " A nighean oràil, " Ikaris says, our golden girl. He takes a little hand into his and counts the fingers. "She's perfect."

set after the events of the movie, which i have no knowledge of. ikarsi have a baby!

spit the blood back, spit the blood back, baby (ao3) - pullapartheart sersi/dane, ikaris/sersi N/R, 1k

Summary: The fall of Ikaris.

teenage headache dreams. (i want to be free). (ao3) - proud_papaya M, 56k

Summary: - non canon compliant eternals (2021) -

there were millennia that they had been the only sense of normalcy for each other, and then, one night, ikarus flew into the clouds, and never came back down to her. then thanos snapped, and any normalcy was gone, as well as dane. he needed to come back.

TLDR: writing various areas of ikarus' and sersi's past, both during endgame and before, and then writing the entirety of the eternals movie, except i'm not killing ikarus off, because that really made me sad, and i bet i'm not the only one. possibly going into after that, as well. enjoy <3 requests are welcome, as well.

The storm bursts or fades! it is not the end of the world. (ao3) - berations N/R, 1k

Summary: Ikaris doesn't think he deserves a second chance. But he gets one anyway.

Visiting Rites (ao3) - qodarkness druig/makkari, ikaris/sersi T, 4k

Summary: Sprite was the first to visit.

Or

How Druig knows all the gossip about what's going on with the Eternals despite living in the Peruvian Amazon with no phone reception for five hundred years.

Water & Stone (ao3) - lodgedinmythoughts T, 2k

Summary: Ikaris being hopelessly in love. And then, the conversation I imagine might've happened between him and Sersi after he arrives in London.

we will make a home someday, one full of love and light (ao3) - delphiniumblooms T, 1k

Summary: Sersi and Ikaris pay Phastos’ family a visit.

[softquietsteadylove]

I just read the little ballerina and boxer one and wanted to ask you if you can continue it. Maybe Gil showing up to one of her shows and invites her to dinner afterwards. And of course, he brought a single flower, because one flower says more than a thousand.

Hugs and much love! 🖤✨

"Bye Miss Thena!"

"Goodnight, girls," Thena bid her little goslings goodbye, the young women flitting out of the dressing room and already laughing about the cast party about to take place. Everyone was on their way for it, and as the newest troupe of performers making their debut, they would be the toast of things.

Thena was just looking forward to going home and getting some hard earned rest. Then, she could finally wake up to her normal life again. No more rehearsals, no more gruelling days of endless practise. She could go to the studio again.

She could see Gilgamesh again.

She hated to admit it, but she had missed even just seeing him in the hallway deeply over the past two weeks. The most intensive rehearsals required full commitment and attention, and that meant leaving classes to Sersi while she was chained up in the Eternal Theatre all day and most of the night.

She never used to think of it that way before.

But she missed the less pressured atmosphere of teaching classes with Sersi. She liked keeping a more normal schedule. She liked getting to see Gil's big, bright smile and his cute little wave in the mornings.

Thena groaned, running her fingers through her hair and throwing her scarf around her neck. She could torture herself more with those thoughts when she was home, preferably sinking into a hot bubble bath.

"Uh, sorry," he poked his head in with a sheepish smile, "door was open, so..."

Thena blinked as he walked in, one hand behind his back and the other in his brushed back hair. He looked rather dashing in a suit. "Gil?"

"Hey," he smiled at her, and the ache in her feet faded from her mind. "You were...wow."

Thena gulped, feeling her cheeks flood with warmth. She looked down, not-so-accidentally burying her nose in her scarf. "You're sweet."

"Well, you were, though," he shrugged, stepping in a little closer. He looked around him, seeing the many, many bouquets of flowers set around the counters. "But I guess you knew that."

Thena looked at the bundles of mostly red roses and arranged bouquets, shrugging at them. "It's a standard practise on the last night. Not all of them are for me, mind you."

"So a good number of them are?" he raised a brow, and she offered a more sheepish smile. He blushed, rocking back on his heels as he pulled out his hidden hand. "It's no bouquet, but-"

Thena gasped. It was a rose - singular - white in colour, clipped of thorns and leaves, bare stemmed save for a shimmering green ribbon tied in a bow around it.

Gil handed it over to her delicately accepting hands, his shyness showing through as he looked everywhere but at her. "I figured you'd get plenty, so maybe this would stand out...or something. And they offered me a white ribbon to match it. But I saw the green one and i-it matched the colour of your eyes, so I chose that one instead."

Thena's eyes were wide, bouncing between the flower in her hands and the beautiful man presenting it to her.

"I don't-"

"It's perfect!"

It wasn't the first time their words overlapped, and once again, Thena felt as if she was saying far too much within the two word sentence. But she pulled the flower as close to her as she dared, not wanting to rustle a single petal. It really was perfect, just like the gifter.

Gil flushed red to his ears, his laugh bubbling out of him. "O-Oh, good! I, well, uh-"

Thena looked up at him again from sniffing the rose gently. It was sweeter than any of the nameless, faceless bouquets around her from nameless, faceless people. "Gil?"

He tugged at his tie, clearly unused to it. "I was wondering...if - maybe - you'd, uh, wanna get dinner--sometime! Doesn't have to be tonight--you probably have a party, or something, with-"

"I'm free."

It was quieter than she thought it would be, but somehow she just couldn't get the air to stay in her lungs.

Gil looked surprised by her interruption, but he clearly didn't mind at all. He smiled, a sureness - a confidence - falling over him as he stepped closer still. He reached out, pulling her hair out of her scarf and fanning it out behind her. "I never get to see you with your hair loose."

Thena's eyes fluttered closed as he used the proximity as an excuse to kiss her forehead.

Then the flirtatious smirk faded against the brightness of his usual megawatt smile. "It's cute!"

Thena reached for her purse hung over the back of one of the chairs, hoping that maybe her blushing would subside a little (somehow, in the three seconds it took her to do it). "Well, where were you thinking of going?"

"I guess wherever you want to go," he shrugged, happily claiming her hand in his as they started to walk out of the dressing room. "I don't know if you want a big, huge meal or if something lighter would be better."

Thena laughed faintly, feeling his fingers squeezing tighter around hers. "If I had another show tomorrow I'd suggest something quite light. But I'm free as of tonight, so maybe something richer than usual wouldn't be the end of the world."

"If that's the case, I know this great Korean barbecue place."

"Sounds-" Thena startled as the backstage door slammed open.

"Miss Thena, are you coming to--oh!"

"Don't interrupt, didn't you see her boyfriend looking for her earlier?"

"Yeah, they probably have a date planned!"

The door closed again but the damage was done. Thena sighed; she was going to kill her little goslings for this.

[misskatebishop]

Don't hide in the shadows

Word count: 1.588

Pairing: Druig x Eternal!Reader

Warnings: Tooth-rotting fluff.

Summary: You're too shy to tell Druig that you like him, so you turn red whenever he's around you.

Let me know if you'd like to be added to the taglist.

A/N: I loved writing this. I was so excited when I received this request. I hope you enjoy it.

Request: May I ask for a Druig story where Reader's an eternal too and the most shy of them all, like very shy, and Druig loves to tease her and sees her blush, but Druig obviously has deep feelings for her.

Reunite with everyone in a single room was some sort of torture, you think. Not because of the arguments that are more likely to start when everyone’s together and disagree on something, but because you always felt a little out of place.

Well, not a little. You’re definitely out of place.

You look at Phastos arguing how his newest design can help mankind to evolve with Kingo and Ajak. Ikaris is having an argument over each Eternals’ power with Sprite while Sersi calmly listens to them. You don’t know where Makkari is, you enjoy her company. Instead, Thena is leaning against the wall across the room, observing. Gilgamesh isn’t here yet, nor is Druig.

You step in the shadows of the room, crossing your arms in an attempt to make your presence as unnoticeable as possible. You really wish everybody were here by now. All you want is to go back to your book.

“If you keep walking backward, you’re going to merge into the wall,” Druig whispers in your ear. His sudden presence startles you. You hadn’t heard him approaching.

Druig has a pear in one of his hands. He stands by your side, giving the pear a bite. You blush at the sight of him. The truth is, you’ve had a crush on Druig for a long time. You admire his fierceness to fight for his values and defend his points during every meeting. However, the other Eternals barely notice your presence in the Domo. You’re too quiet, Sprite said once. You’re always focused on your duties, exchanging a few words with whoever was partnered up with you.

Sprite was one of the most talkative until she gets tired of only talking while you agree with whatever she’s saying. Sersi is as focused as you, you barely talk to her. It was easy to talk to Thena, she always had the most interesting subjects. Makkari likes to make fun, but you feel comfortable around her, maybe because you didn’t need to voice your opinions out loud, the words were at the tip of your fingers. Ajak was always kind.

Kingo was too self-centered, and you definitely don’t know how to make conversation with him. Phastos likes to hear what you have to say about his creation, even if you’re too shy to share it at first. You like Gilgamesh, and he enjoys showing you what he’s baking. You don’t have much to share with Ikaris, but he would make the other shut up so everybody can listen to you, and Druig… well, you don’t think you can keep a conversation without blushing every eight words. He likes to tease you, just like he did a few minutes ago. It was funny, but you often find yourself wondering if he liked you the same way.

Gilgamesh enters followed by Makkari who stops on your other side. She greets you, then exchanges a glance with Druig, it’s too fast, but be the quietest one also allowed to observe the others better. You see Ajak steps forward to the center of the room.

“Good. Is everybody here?” The leader says, eyes searching the room.

Then you feel Druig’s arm around your waist, pulling you forward to the line of people. He keeps the arm around you, and you feel your cheeks and ear heating up at the display of closeness. Ajak’s gaze fell on you, and on Druig’s arm, and she nodded.

Ajak explains that their stay in Babylon will be a little longer than usual due to the goal of making it one of the greatest cities in human history. They would need the Eternals’ help to evolve as a society. The rules are the same, kill the deviants, improve their technology, don’t interfere in conflicts. You feel Druig’s tight around you at the last rule, his body tensing up. You know that despite the rule Druig wasn’t willing to let it go. If no one was seeing, he’d interfere.

The meeting is over the moment the Domo floats above Babylon. Ajak reminds all of you of your duties before dismissing you. Druig plays a big part in it, as he can control minds, he’d calm down the humans, making them accept the Eternals in their city. After all, a flying spaceship would freak any human out in this moment of history.

The other starts to walk away, but not Druig, he turns to stare at you, his hand still on your waist. Looking eye-to-eye at him, makes you blush again. Damn, he’s handsome! Just a glance from those eyes is enough to make your knees buckle.

“Don’t hide in the shadows, princess,” Druig tucks a lock of hair behind your ear. “You’re too beautiful to not allow the world to admire you.” And just like that, he walks away.

***

You were sitting by the fields after you’ve completed your duties. The sun would set soon, and you enjoy watching it from this perspective, even though you’d have to run back in time for dinner. You were chilling, watching how Sersi works with the plants has helped to keep them healthier and to create some sort of trading market.

It was a good thing, except for the fact that trades usually lead to greed, the desire for power, to have more and feel superior in a certain way. Of course, even though plenty of good things come from their work with humans, it also awakens bad sides within them. So you heard the yelling, you stood up thinking it might be a deviant, but it wasn’t. It was two men fighting over a bowl of onions.

You see when one of them pulls out a blade. You couldn’t do anything about it. Those were Arishem’s rules, no matter how much you wanted the men to stop. You expected the worst, but then, the man let the blade fall on the ground. They laughed at their own stupidity before sharing the number of onions.

You see Druig approaching, a smirk on his face.

“I thought I told you to not hide in the shadows,” he reminds you.

“I thought Ajak said we shouldn’t interfere,” you tell him.

Druig sighs, walking along with you.

“You could get in trouble with Arishem.”

“Worrying for me?” Druig says, a teasing smile tugging on his lips.

You can’t help the blush from spreading on your face. Of course, you worry about him. You worry about all of them, but Druig… He has this way of getting in the nerves of anyone, which makes you fear for him.

“I don’t care about what Arishem says,” Druig admits. “Why would a Celestial allow war and violence to happen in the world when they consume human’s hearts with selfish desires? I don’t understand. I never will.”

You could see the sense in his words. You walk in silence for a while before you break it.

Then, you spill out. “I can’t disagree with you,” you shrug, looking at your feet as you walk.

“Does it mean you won’t tell Ajak?” His voice makes you look up, and it gives a little bit of courage when you poke his ribs.

“I won’t tell her,” you assure him.

You walked the rest of the way. You enter the room you reunite for dinner. You frowned when nobody was there, you were late, where could they possibly be?

“Y/N,” Druig calls you. “Today we killed the last deviant in Babylon, so they must be at the celebration.”

Oh, yes, you had forgotten about that. Did he–?

“Did you read my thoughts?” You ask, confused.

Druig steps closer.

“No. I’d never do that,” he says, seeming equally confused.

“You do that to Ikaris every time,” you raise a brow, but you’re smirking too.

“Well, it’s different with you,” he says, getting closer. You’ve never been this close before, and it messes with your sense. You inhale deeply his smell, you could see the freckles on his cheeks, and how light the blue in his eyes is.

“Why?” you ask in a tone of defiance.

Druig’s gaze drops to your lips, which makes you feel small.

“Because I’m waiting for you to tell me how you feel.”

If he hadn’t stepped up and cupped your cheeks to kiss you, you might never have acted on your feelings at that moment. You drown in the sensation of his lips against yours, for a second you don’t know what to do with your hands, but you end up wrapping his neck and holding onto his shoulder. Then, when he pulls away, and the magic seems to disperse, it’s only then that you realize that that actually happened.

“Uh, I-I really like you,” you confess. Better do it in the heat of the moment than never. If you hadn’t said that now, you’d probably pin on him for the rest of the centuries.

“I really like you too,” Druig says, grinning. He strokes his thumb on your cheek. “My beautiful, beautiful, Y/N.”

The truth is, you can never know if someone returns your feelings if you don’t talk them out.

Walking to the celebration drew glances from your fellow Eternals companion. You snuggle close to Druig.

“The lovebirds are finally here!” Kingo blurts out too loud, drawing more attention to the couple. “We have to toast. Where’s Sprite and Makkari?” Kingo stood up. Thena had a victorious smile on her face, and Gilgamesh looked as happy as her.

You blush, hiding your face against Druig’s chest. You have a long night ahead.

[itsthestutterforme]

Mute (Druig x reader)

Summary: Reader goes mute after taking a rogue lazer beam to the throat when protecting Druig.

Notes: GIF is not mine, angst, sad themes (depression), Eternals spoilers

Prompt Credit @scrvllet : "Let me be there for you"

--

There you were, on the battlefield against Ikaris and Sprite. You had an inkling about Ikaris but you never would have expected Sprite to go rogue too. Without Kingo, it's much harder to defeat Ikaris, let alone Sprite. Together they're basically unstoppable.

You helped Makkari and Phastos keep Ikaris at bay while Sersi goes closer to the Celestial. Sprite uses her illusion to distract Sersi long enough to stab her. Ikaris breaks free from Phastos' grip and flies over to Sersi when he sees Druig knocking Sprite out with a rock.

"Makkari, send me over there please." You sign and she nods. You take her hand and she rushes you over to where Ikaris, Sersi, Sprite and Druig were. Ikaris sends a beam towards Druig and you push him to the ground. The beam pierces through your throat and you fell to the ground in ear ringing pain.

You clutch your throat and curl into a ball. Your muscle and skin were starting to regenerate but it wasn't quick enough. The damage was already done. Makkari tries to talk to you but your eyes were screwed shut and pain envelopes your body.

"Y/N! Y/N, look at me, darlin'. Let me see." Druig says and you shake your head, pushing away his hand on your shoulder. You finally take a deep breath when the pain subsided.

"Oh my God, what have I done?" Ikaris says in disbelief. "Y/N?" Sersi says and you look to her. You tried to speak but you wince in pain.

Fear settled in your bones. You couldn't speak. "Y/N, look at me. Everything is going to be okay. Just breathe." Makkari signs when she noticed your hands starting to shake. You crawl away from everyone as you tried to speak again. Nothing.

Your breathing grew ragged and Ikaris lands in front of you. Makkari used the force of her speed to throw him into a massive rock. You stand from the ground as he nears and the whites of your eyes changed to onyx. "Y/N, stop." Sersi stands between you and Ikaris and hurt stabbed through your heart.

"He broke me, and you still defend him?" You sign when your eyes slowly went back to it's normal color. "Y/N, please. I love him." Sersi explains. "Then you two deserve each other. I never want to see you again." You sign, tears threatening your eyes.

You walk away from them and Phastos and Thena joined the group. You sat back down and looked down at the drying blood on your trembling hands.

Resting your face in your hands, you no longer have the energy to push them away. Phastos and Makkari were by your side and you silently cried into Makkari's arm.

She held your head as she withheld her own tears. Druig's heart wrenches in his chest seeing you like this. Thena recognized the look in his eye and stood in his way from going to Ikaris. "Out of the way, Thena." Druig says. "It won't change what happened," she explains.

He looks over to you shaking in Makkari's arms. He reads your thoughts. "What am I going to do now?" "How do i- I don't know how to-" Who am I without my voice?" "Who's going to love me when I'm like this?" "I'm going to kill Ikaris," "I can't do this,"

Sersi used the UniMind to combine all of your powers to stop the Celestial. You allowed yourself to be taken under. At least it'll distract from thinking about how you're going to live without your voice.

**

"She hasn't came out of her room in days," Kingo says. "We've known each other for millenia. We've had each other's backs since before that. Why is she pushing us away now?" Phastos asks.

"Druig, you know what she's thinking right?" Kingo asks. Druig shakes his head, not wanting to lose your trust anymore than he has.

He leans his head against the palm of his hand. "She lost hope. For millenia, she's had her voice. And now it's been stripped from her." Makkari signs.

Phastos runs a hand over his face. You loved to sing. It's how you expressed if you were happy or even if you were nervous.

He loved his son as much as you loved to sing. If he lost him, he would have followed Ikaris into the sun. He couldn't imagine it. He looked over to the room and everyone else followed his gaze. "How do you let her know that we're here?" Phastos asks.

"Check in on her every once in a while. You all have lives to get back to. We've got her." Makkari signs, referencing to her and Druig. "We can't just leave her like this," Kingo says. "She's right. All of you trying to get her to open up will only intimidate her even more." Druig finally speaks.

"But what if she doesn't get out of this." Kingo asks. "We're here to make sure she does," Makkari explains. Phastos hesitantly stands and says, "Make sure to tell her that I'm one phone call away." Makkari nods. Kingo also stands and follows Phastos to the door.

When they open the door, they see Sersi raising her hand to knock. "Bad timing," Phastos says, pushing passed her. Tears formed in Sersi's eyes. "I'm so sorry," she croaks. Kingo sighs and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just give her time. She's processing."

"I just want her to know that she'll always be my family and that I never wanted to choose sides." Sersi says, her voice weighted. Druig abruptly stands from the couch and was in her face in an instant.

"You don't get to come here and ask for forgiveness when she barely spoke a word to me for days. The love of my life is mute because your boyfriend went rogue." Druig snaps.

"You should go. All of you." Makkari states. "I'm not going anywhere," Druig tells her. "You're no use to her like this. I understand why you're angry, but she doesn't need that right now." Kingo leads Sersi back to the elevator where she came and Druig left down the stairs.

You heard the entire thing from the other side of the door. You slide down the door and rested your face into your lap as your body shook. You tore your own family apart.

--

Makkari was out buying groceries, leaving Druig to keep an eye on you. "Why are you still here?" You ask in your mind, knowing that he was listening. "What do you mean, my love?" "I'm broken. Faulty. I'm not special anymore."

"Please tell me you don't actually believe that?" "You told me that my voice brought you back home," "You are my home. With or without your voice, Y/N."

"Don't you get it! I'm giving you an out! I'm giving you a chance to move on and find someone better." "Open the door, my love." He calmly says through the door.

"Stop calling me that," "Open the door," he repeats. "Why?" "So I can be there you. Please just let me be there for you, my love." "Stop!" "I won't unless you open the door." "Just please go," "I love you," "Druig-" "I love you. I love you. I love you. I lo-"

The door swings open and you push at his chest angrily. "Why do you love me? I'm broken! What are you, blind?!" Your eyes and nose were rubbed raw from the tissues you went through. You felt disgusting. You're more of a burden now than you've ever been.

"Beautiful," he says with a smile when he caresses your cheek bone with his thumb. You push him again, fuming with anger. You don't understand why he won't leave you alone. "Because I love you," before you push him again, he grabs your arms and pulls you close for a kiss.

"I will always love you," he says pulling away from your lips and resting his forehead against yours. Trailing the tip of his nose along the base of yours. "Why?"

"Because you're perfect for me," "My love," he adds and your eyes snap to his. "And I'm not going anywhere until you realize that so you're stuck with me."

Your body melted into his and buried your face into his chest. He lets go of your arms and wraps his arms around your trembling frame.

"I found the perfect song for us. Tell me what you think," He pulls out his phone and clicks on YouTube. "Japanese Denim" by Daniel Caesar was on the title and the melody was soft and slow. You liked it.

"You like it?" He asks and you nod. He puts the phone into his back pocket before taking you in his arms and swaying side to side. "We'll figure this out together," he adds after few moments of comfortable silence.

The door opens and Makkari beams with excitement. "Finally!" She sigh after she sets down the groceries.

[likeisaidweird]

We need to have a discussion about this right here:

Lauren Ridloff mentioned a few times in interviews that, like Druig, Makkari has a hard time not interfering with humans, and this small moment is enough to show us that she really does care for them, even if it isn't as prominent in the story as it is with characters like Sersi and Druig. Let me explain:

At that moment, Makkari was supposed to be helping the other Eternals fight off the last few active Deviants. Where is she instead? She's running around in Tenochtitlan while the Spaniards are destroying the city and killing its people. A human conflict which the Eternals are repeatedly instructed not to get involved with. That kid wasn't in danger from a Deviant, purely human destruction, but Makkari saved them anyway, and who knows how many other people she saved while zipping through the chaos. But she can't stay in the city, saving people left and right, or else Ajak or someone will notice, so she returns to Thena's side as they commune in the forest. When Ajak asks where the others are, Thena gives Makkari a look as if she knows what she's been up to, but lets Makkari say they had to split up instead to cover her tracks (yea I might be reading into this too much but just let me have this one ok). I mean we know how much Thena loves fighting, so it isn't too far fetched to suggest she let Makkari leave the fight to her for a little bit to help a few humans.

And now for another minuscule thing: that little convo between Makkari and Druig in Babylon. Obviously from that scene, we are shown Druig's desire to step into and end human conflicts, but we also get a subtle hint that Makkari has her own history with interfering. (And before I say anything more, just know I'm not Deaf or HoH, and I only have a base knowledge of ASL from some classes I took years ago, so don't take my word for this. I just wanted to mention it in case anyone else got the same idea). When Makkari is reminding Druig that Ajak told them they aren't supposed to interfere in human conflicts, the sign she uses specifically refers to her and Druig. She didn't sign "the Eternals", she signed something that can be equivalent to "us", or "the two of us", despite it being captioned as "we" (which could technically also refer to only the two of them, but it isn't as specific). So we could assume at some point, Ajak caught BOTH of them trying to stop some sort of dispute between humans.

So in conclusion, I headcanon Makkari and Druig sneaking around like vigilantes behind the backs of the other Eternals, and the only person to notice is Thena, but she just lets them because they're her family and she loves them and she lowkey agrees with them and even helps keep it a secret for as long as possible.

[sinematically]

I watched eternals and ok I have THOUGHTS so I’m putting it here and I’m in a cab frantically typing this so it’s basically unfiltered thoughts kay thanks

- it’s different. It got a very obvious mainstream look. It is still a high budget, heavy CGI or like “comic book hero’s” movie but the more I think about it, the less I find a movie from the last few movies in the MCU to compare it to. So, it’s still very super hero movie, just not like the MCU.

- it’s felt a bit like watching Captain America Civil War. We know all of them, and we know they’ve interacted with each other.

- Something felt incomplete, I think it’s the limited amount we know about each of the eternals on their own? But it’s not really a problem

- seeing Kit Harrington and Richard Madden interact, with a sersi involved? The GoT/SOIAF fan in my has died. KINGS OF THE NORTH BABY!!!

SPOILERS-ish AHEAD

- Ikaris’s storyline was somewhat unpredictable, but also if the fate of his character is sealed, I just need to see what they do.

He’s also hilarious and Richard Madden has wonderful comedic timing

Also, seeing a super hero cry. Shed tears. Kill him self because he loves Sersi too much to kill her, but I’m not killing her is going against everything he believes in? I love Ikaris he is my favourite idiot boy.

- as a desi, everything about Kingo just… worked. PROPER HINDI BEING SPOKEN HAS SAVED ME AND I DONT EVEN LIKE HINDI!!!??? & THE dance sequence, the BHARATNATAYAM?? 12 year old me would learn that choreography in 5 min flat. 22 year old me will need an hour but I know I can do it.

HE SAID DISHOOM. DISHOOM.

- Sprite is such a fucking mood. Her relationship with Dane??? With Kingo?? Kingo and Dane need to meet now too, properly.

The illusions

Also when Kingo said he worked in the movies because he missed Sprite’s story telling

- Thena, my moon and stars and my favourite goddess of war. I want to hug u and hold ur hand and kiss ur knuckles baby you are loved. She can do no wrong and will do no wrong

- GILGAMESH DESERVES BETTER. I’ve concluded that Gilgamesh is a fun house husband who would make the best dad jokes. Also thena and Gil are my only OTP from the eternals. When he dies, the fkn crying.

- When Thena killed the Deviant, everyone in the room felt so much fkn relief. She’s so cool

- I really love Gilgamesh and thena so much. On their own and together

- Salma Hayek did such a WONDERFUL job, the mothering and the nurturing. GOD

- PHASTOS!!! Hilarious & romantic and a good father!! Dude just seeing him KISS A MAN on the big screen?? A MAN OF COLOUR!! GAY MEN KISS IS A MARVEL FILM GODDAMN IT. and the way he talks about his HUSBAND BEN? Wonderful. This is essentially the exchange between him and other eternals

“I thought u lost all hope in humanity”

“They remind me that there’s good left”

- Druig is a himbo I think. I like him. If I could control the minds of people, I too would contemplate taking over humanity to get rid of greed and violence etc etc

- Makkari and Druig are cute. I want more Makkari content because She is so fun. She is every quirky incorrect Marvel quote but in actuality. Also something about her signing her words brings in so much personality to her whole character

- HARRY STYLES IS EROS CONFIRMED

- MY BABY MANS DANE WHITMORE IS BACK

Overall? Imma need to watch it again to decide how much I love it but it’s a 3/5.

[hrtbreakanniversary]

HONESTY; druig [intro]

summary: the police has some questions. 

pairing: mafia!druig x nurse!reader

word count: 1k

warnings: language, aggressiveness, mentions of blood

a/n: so the eternals will not be immortal nor will they have their powers. but I tried to fit their "jobs" with what their powers were.

                  ✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱

NEW YORK

The crimson liquid dripped down her hands onto the blue marbled floor. Her body shaking with her eyes stared straight ahead. A single thought haunting her as this blood didn’t belong to her. Blood never bothered her. It shouldn’t. She’s dug her hands into a body to retrieve a bullet. Shit, this was nothing compared to the pools of blood she’s stepped in but it was the way it got onto her hands. She killed someone. Frantically, she budged her hands to rub the now cold blood off her hands but the handcuffs dug into her wrists, preventing her from moving a single centimeter.

“Hey quit that.” The blonde detective with the badge perched on her hip slammed several files onto the mahogany table in front of the timid girl. Y/N ignored her, still struggling with tears brimming her eyes to get rid of the disgusting feeling. The chain made a jingling noise and the metal feet of the chair constantly scraping due to her current state of uncooperativeness and the tense air, the sound was irking to a close ear. “I said stop.” 

She didn’t listen. 

“This bitch.” The blonde mumbled underneath her breath. Reaching her hand out to physically stop the girl, her moves were halted by the other figure in the room. Sergeant Barnes didn’t need to say anything with his eyes telling all. Telling Sharon Carter to back off with the slight movement on his eyes. She didn’t need to be told twice and he wasn’t going to tell her twice. Even Y/N had stopped budging at the sound of another voice entering the room. She didn't know how she should feel. If she should be mad at the both of them or not. If she should feel betrayed that somebody she thought were friends to her were only foes. Once Agent Carter had calmed down and took her seat from across the table, he moved from the corner of the room to sit himself onto the table. His clothed leg brushed against her bare skin who was quick to flinch away like her skin was being burned.

“Want to tell me about your friends?”, Barnes quipped, taking the files from Agent Carter.

No answer, no eye contact. Nothing.

"Okay." He opened up the crowded file to slip out a paper, placing it onto the table. "Want to tell me about her?" Finally moving her eyes, she looked at the picture on the table. Sersi. All dressed up in white. She knew in that photo she was right besides the tall feline in a dress that matched the two other bridesmaids. That day was perfect. Everyone was happy. Everything was going fine. Until everything turned to hell.

Silence.

Barnes cleared his throat," Right here it says is that she's the basically the head. She leads the whole group. Is that correct? What she says, you do. Nice to see her breaking gender norms and showing women can be in charge."

They've always been on top. You've just been too ignorant to have noticed.

He watched as Y/N's facial features changed, almost into a frown. But he continued and moved on to the next photo. Ikaris. "So what do you call him? A bodyguard? An assistant? Oh no, I've heard he does it all. He's the right hand man. Does all the dirty work for the boss, am I right?".

The only sounds in the room being the clicking of Carter's pen clicking rapidly. "Calm yourself, Agent." He said before pulling out another photo, piling them up on one another. Gilgamesh and Kingo. "Now we consider these two the fighters. Had a couple of witnesses and victims come forward about some incidents that occurred. Heard they beat someone to a pulp but didn't kill them. Sounds like they know what they're doing."

Barnes didn't even look up before he continued to the next photo. Thena. "Now this one... I heard she's good with her hands. She knows how to fight and I heard she makes all your weapons. You ever use any of her weapons yourself?" Barnes let out a dry laugh," It's okay, you won't be in trouble. I mean.... look at what you're in here for."

He pointed down at Y/N's hand but the girl remained still. Uncaring for what the man has to say. He moved on and set down two photos instead of one. Phastos. "While she makes your weapons, he aids in all other things. He gets and creates all the other supplies you need. Works with the technology too. He's a smart one. Too bad we're just a bit smarter."

"How do you know all of this?" Carter questioned. So unprofessional, Y/N almost rolled her eyes. How is she on this case in the first place if she doesn't know anything she's getting into?

Makkari. "Now I heard this one is quick on her feet. She's the one on the ground, doing all the sneaky and hands on work. Pretty impressive, considering she's deaf. Not that I'm saying her disability should be a disadvantage. Maybe because she's so quiet, she can easily slip through all the cracks."

Sprite. "Now this one I was pretty concerned about. What is a minor doing in the middle of all this? At first, I wondered what was her purpose. But coming from the video footage, she works along well with Makkari. Tiny human, she is. Juvie should be sweet to her."

There was a long pause. As if Barnes was debating even. Before he pulled out the last photo. All air had escaped from Y/N's lung. It's been two months but the man still had the same effect on her as he always did. Druig. " Master manipulator. He has a way with words and somehow he can convince somebody to do anything he wants. He messes with people's mind and he can get into your head." Barnes watched as tears filled Y/N's eyes.

As if Carter finally got a hint," Did he manipulate you as well?" With a pitiful look on her face, Carter stood up to get closer to Y/N. "Did he use-"

Through heaves of breaths. Through the sobs that broke out from her holding her breath. With red rimmed eyes and pure look of hatred she interrupted the blonde," You don't know anything."

[vintaqespce]

Rekindle (Drukkari x F!Reader) Part 1

Summary: After the splitting of the eternals, my family, I was lost. But at least I wasn't alone.

Warnings: Follows most of the eternals movies besides what I add in so SPOILER WARNING, Some fluff, Typical movie violence, my first time writing, not proof read.

Information about you: You are the goddess of witchcraft, magic(you can imagine it as wandas powers but a different color), the moon, ghosts, and necromancy.

Part 2 Part 3

Alone is what I would be if Makkari wasn't here with me.

Tenochtitlan 1521 CE

The wars were heart breaking. Seeing these people fight each other. We should have never let them advance. But that's our job, to help the humans advance, and look where that has gotten us. This place in complete ruins. As the people were going on in their war, we were fighting ours, the deviants. The others were in the woods, while Me, Kingo, Ikaris, and Gilgamesh were still fighting off the deviants. Thena and Makkari had went to go join the others. As the threat of the deviants seemed to be no more, us four went to go join the others as well just in time to find Druig about to take control over the humans fighting.

"Don't do it. We never interfere in their wars" Ajak said to stop him. "It's not a war, it's genocide. Their weapons have turned lethal. Maybe helping them advance wasn't such a good idea after all, don't you think Phastos?" Druig questioned. He was right. This has turned into something I wouldn't have ever dreamed of and I could tell Druig was deeply hurt. "Technology is apart of their evolutionary advancement process Druig. It's not an element I can stop." Phastos responded back. "No, not you, but I can." And he was completely right. He was powerful enough to put an end to this lose and to this killing. "Driug, I know how much you care for them, the humans, and I agree, but you should think carefully about the decisions you're making." I told him.

"It's too late. You're all going to die in the end." Everyone averted their attention on Thena. She seemed to not be herself and her eyes were glowing white. "Are you ok?" Sersi asked as Thena began to create a weapon.

She then began to attack. She almost hit Sersi, but Makkari was able to push her out of the way. Makkari had gotten up and began pushing Thena away, getting injured doing so. Thena was close to stabbing Makkari, but I held her hands back with my magic, averting her attention now onto me. Thena was making her way up to me, readying to go for the attack with her weapon. As Thena was about to stab me, Druig had managed to push me out of the way before anything grave could happen.

Ajak was now standing in front of Thena, outstretched her hands to Thenas temples to calm her nerves, help her go back. It seemed to work for a moment, but only for a moment, an explosion in the far back setting her off again. Thena was now readying to attack Ajak. But before she could, Makkari had pushed Thena back, falling down in the process. But before Makkari could get back up, Thena had stabbed her in the stomach. Gilgamesh had saw this, and he was now fighting Thena.

As Gilgamesh is fighting Thena, Druig and I were making our way quickly over to Makkari. Rage and downhearted is all I felt. I tend to let my emotions get the best of me, but now isn't the time for that. "Makkari." That's all I could say. My best friend, my girlfriend was injured and all I could do was hope for the best until Ajak makes her way over. "She'll be fine y/n." Druig, my bestfriend, my boyfriend . He was the best source of encouragement.

Ajak was now by Makkaris side healing her wound. It was a relief to know she was actually ok even though I knew she would be in the end. At that same time Gilgamesh had knocked Thena out to put a stop to the attacking she was doing. "Will thena be ok?" I asked feeling at bit sorry I had to restrain her like that earlier. "She'll be fine, I just knocked her out." Gilgamesh responded.

"Let's get her upstairs" Ajak said. We didn't know who that was, but that Thena, wasn't our Thena. "Let me take her." I offered seeing Ikaris a little hesitant knowing Sersi was also hurt during this. Before getting up I sign to Makkari *"You ok?*" *"I'm fine"* she signed in response, giving me a thumbs up. Using my magic I lift Thena up and fly us both upstairs in the Domo.

I placed Thena down on the table, everyone gathering around awaiting her awakening.

Thena woke up to see everyone standing around her, not knowing nor understanding why.

"What happened to me?" Thena asked. "You hurt Sersei Thena, you attacked everyone else, Phastos, y/n, you almost killed Makkari." Ajak told her as Thena began to sit up. "I can't remember." Thena had said and we all knew that it was the truth. She really didn't remember.

"You have Mahd Wr'ry. You mind is fracturing from the weight of all of your memories Thena. The only option is for your memories to be erased so you can start over again." Ajak had told her. "And what if it happens again? She almost killed her." Druig says starting to get visibly frustrated. "She could've killed all of us. You're begging her to let you erase her essence." Druig took a step forward towards Ajak.

"Druig, I know you are angry-" Ajak started not being able to finish her sentence. "ANGRY! These past 5000 years we've been trusting you and look where that's gotten us! I watched the humans destroy each other when I had the power to stop them! Do you understand how it feels to live with that kind of pain?!"

I knew how much Druig had cared for these people. He cared almost as much as Sersi. I also knew how much he's been suffering in silence in watching the human use what we helped them advance with destroy each other. And that was tearing both me and Makkari up, knowing that the person we care about most feels this way, and that's heart breaking.

"What if the mission was a terrible mistake. Do you really think we are helping this people build a better world?" Druig had asked now speaking to the whole group. Druig now turned around and watched what was happening below him. "We're the same as those soldiers, pawns for their leaders, blinded by loyalty. But that stops now."

Druig had begun to take control over the soldiers minds. Each one droping their weapon and facing him. "Free them!" Ikaris had flown full force, pushing Druig into the wall." "You'll have to make me." Druig had retorted back. I had used my magic to pull Ikaris off of Druig. Ikaris and Druig have always been like this. I've grown used to it by now.

"STOP!" Ajak had took a couple steps forward. I released Ikaris and him and Druig finally stood down. "If you want to stop me you'll have to kill me." Druig had said. And that broke my heart because I knew he was right. There was no stopping him. "Druig gave a faint smile to me and makkari and signed to us *"I'm sorry."* before heading down, and leaving, taking the soldiers with him.

And that was the last time I had saw him. The eternals spilt and went their separate ways. Nobody offered for me to come along, not even Druig so, alone is what I would be if Makkari wasn't here with me right now and I am forever grateful, that she, my girlfriend is.

[thatblackravenclaw]

A Thousand More...

Masterlist

a.n.: I WROTE ANOTHER FANFIC!! and yes it's about Druig because I'm a whore for him, but my next one however will be about Mr. James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, but for now enjoy another fanfic I wrote based on the song A Thousand Years by Christina Perri

Druig (what's new 💀) x fem!reader

warnings: suggestive dialogue but mostly fluff and sort of proof read (heavy on the sort of)

word count: 2,045

Heart beats fast

Colors and promises

We were sent here for a purpose. Destroy the Deviants and keep the humans safe. That’s all we were here for, right? Then why do am I almost getting myself killed while trying to make sure the man I’m in love with doesn’t die? Druig can take care of himself.

I don’t know how it started, but I know when. We were summoned on The Domo for the first time. I saw Phastos first. My first instinct was that I could trust him. I knew we’d be best friends and I was right. Sprite, feisty little one. Kingo, a bit of an ego, but a nice spirit, nonetheless. Ikaris, bold. Someone I felt that I would challenge one day. He also has older brother energy. Makkari, the kindest soul here. So pure and so full of love. Another close friend I sensed I would have. Sersi, full of compassion. We’d probably bump heads, but as someone I sensed would be like a sister figure, I didn’t doubt that we’d bump heads. Thena, another sister. I felt like I would need to protect her though. She’s bold like Ikaris, but with less of a god complex. Much humbler. Gilgamesh, more dad energy, but like a cool dad. Ajak, mother energy. I felt safe when I looked into her eyes. Lastly, I saw my love, Druig. I had never seen someone so beautiful. My heart felt like it was about to beat out of my chest. Everything just seemed so much brighter. The minute I saw him I knew my heart had made a promise to belong to only him.

How to be brave?

How can I love when I’m

Afraid to fall?

5000 BC Mesopotamia

“How is my favorite mind controller today,” I asked in a teasing tone to Druig. This is my most favorite part of the day. Teasing him when he’s minding his own business. I can tell he enjoys my company though. I see it in his eyes. Not the shimmering gold but the bright blue irises that I’ve fallen even more in love with.

“Better,” he said with a smile. “How’s my favorite flying fire starter today,” he asked with an equally teasing tone.

I started ranting about how Makkari stole my book and then ran off somewhere, “and of course, I can’t just chase after her for obvious reasons. Like I was just minding my business. Why-,” I continued on with my rant as he stared at me with such a loving look in his eye. I know that look because I have the same one when I look at him when he’s talking, fighting, breathing. I hope he never stops looking at me like that. I just wish I could allow myself to truly fall for him. Why am I so afraid?

But watching you stand

Alone

All of my doubt

Suddenly goes away

Somehow

Druig stood before us with tears in his eyes as the carnage happened below us. He was actually going to leave us. Seeing him stand up there with tears in his eyes looking so broken pushed away any doubt I had of not loving him. I didn’t get to ponder on the feeling too long due to hearing Druig say, “If you wanna stop me, you’re gonna have to kill me,” and then he turned around and just left. Didn’t even look my way. It’s times like this where I wish I could feel nothing because then I wouldn’t feel my heart breaking. After Ajak told us we could go our separate ways I took one last look around and flew away. From that moment on I learned to keep to myself. I never stayed in one place long enough and I made sure to keep myself hidden from the other Eternals, so I’d never be found.

1130 AD Iceland

Life in Iceland isn’t that much different than in Babylon. Different culture, but the people are nice. Whenever we’re not working, Sigrún, my best friend, and I go to see the Northern Lights. Sometimes when I’m looking up at the sky, I wish that Druig was here with me... It doesn’t do well to dwell on dreams.

“Y/N,” Sigrún shouted, “you were daydreaming again. Come on, who is it? You’ve been so quiet lately and whenever you finally talk it’s like you’re here but you’re not here.”Guess I wasn’t hiding it as well as I thought.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” I teased.

“Uh, obviously. That was my whole point in asking.” She’s my best friend, yes, but I left that part of me behind. In order to leave it in the past, I cannot talk about it. “Well, if you must know, it's nobody. You know I just get in my thoughts sometimes.” Hopefully that will hold her off until I can come up with a better lie.

“Are you sure it’s not,” and then her eyes turned into that shimmering gold I wished to never see again.

“Druig?”

Time stands still

Beauty in all she is

I will be brave

I will not let anything

Take away

What’s standing in front of me

Druig’s POV:

I found her. I finally found her. God, she looks amazing even over 6000 years later. I come from behind a tree and face her. The only person who can render me speechless. Also, the only person who I’d rather die than see in pain, and when I look into her eyes all I see is pain. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?” These are the first words she says to me. She used to look at me like I put the stars in the sky and now she looks at me like I’m the scum of the Earth. I really messed up.

“I’d follow you to the ends of the Earth milady.” Nothing. She didn’t even blink.

“Why now? You had absolutely no problem not following me in Mesopotamia.” A fact that has haunted me since the day I left.

“You left me. You didn’t even look my way. You said what you said to Ajak and left. Is that something someone who would follow someone else to the end of the world would do,” she asks, “Did I not matter enough to you? I thought you loved me Druig. You talked about following Arishem blindly yet here I am the fool who followed you blindly just to be left in the dust. If you’re here to beg for forgiveness then forget it. I forgave you a long time ago. You did what you felt was best for you and now I must do what I feel is best for me.”

And then she flew away. In the blink of an eye, she was gone. I wish I could stop the tears from falling from my eyes, but in truth, I don’t want to. I deserved to feel this guilt. I put her through so much pain and might not ever get to make up for it, but I will spend eternity trying. If there’s one thing she said that was truly right was that I loved her and I still do.

1492 AD Guanahani

It’s so beautiful here. I never realized how much I loved islands until now. The people are so nice even though I’m not like them. In exchange for me lighting their fires, they let make food for me as well as their families. I also may or may not have gotten rid of this weird European man named Christopher away. Like death away because he was giving me weird vibes. I know I’m not supposed to be interfering with human matters, but since when do I listen to Arishem anyway? Anyway, I can’t help but still feel lonely. I have grown to love these people as I did in Iceland, but I miss my fellow Eternals. I miss Thena, and Sersi, and Phastos, and Gilgamesh. I lost contact with them years ago. Running away from Druig also meant running away from my other family. It hurts but seeing him hurts more. I’m planning to leave again. I’ve been here a tad bit too long. Might check out what’s going on in Italy.

1503 AD Italy

The Italian Renaissance. One of my favorite things these humans have created. Leo released the Mona Lisa to the public today. Probably one of my favorite paintings he’s made. No one knows this, but I made a bet with him that he couldn’t make a painting without having inspiration from someone or something. He obviously proved me wrong. She’s absolutely gorgeous. Reminds me of Sigrún. Speaking of, I believe I saw a glimpse of Druig the other day. It might’ve been my mind playing tricks on me. Is it bad that I wish it wasn’t? It’s been 6500 years. I stopped hating him so long ago, but I’ve just been too stubborn to admit it.

Every breath

Every hour has come to this

One step closer

I have died every day waiting

for you

Druig’s POV:

I think I almost got caught the other day. Yes, I’m watching over her don’t judge. I still watch over the Peruvians; I just also watch over her. I’m still waiting for the right time to talk to her again. I figured giving her another 6000 years would give her enough space before I tried. She’s in the courtyard today. Her skin practically glows against the cobalt fabric she’s wearing. I notice her turning too late though. She stares back at me, and I feel like I’m in a trance. I can’t move.

“I see you’ve found me again,” she says nonchalantly.

“I have. I told you I’d follow you until the ends of the Earth.” She doesn’t say anything. She just looks at me. I can’t quite place the look in her eyes and then, she kisses me. It’s not rushed and uncoordinated. Its slow and sensual. Like this is something we do every day.

“It’s been 6,128 years. 6,128 years of me trying to convince myself that the day you left is the day I stopped loving you. I can’t do it anymore. I can’t. I don’t want to.”

And all along I believed I

Would find you

Time has brought your heart

To me

Peru 1945

“My love, did you get the wood?” I hear Druig ask me.

“Yeah, it was by the tree in the middle, but Dario came and got it.” It’s been like this for the last 400 years. Not that I’m complaining. As much as I loved traveling, this is truly where my heart lies. Maybe not in the amazon, but wherever Druig is; you will find me.

“You know maybe my super cute and super strong boyfriend would like to get the wood for once.”

“I’ve already got wood for you, beautiful.”

“You’re disgusting and 100% the reason no one is about to see us for the next few hours.” He gives me a knowing smile and leads me to our little cabin.

Once we get in there though, the energy shifts. After a few minutes, he starts to speak. “I have something I need to ask you”

“What is it? You know you can talk to me about anything.”

Darling don’t be afraid

I have loved you for a

Thousand years

I’ll love you for a thousand

More

“I have loved you for thousands of years.” He says to me. I look in his eyes to detect any lies or hesitation. I find none.

“And I’ll love you for a thousand more,” I say with a smile.

“Only a thousand my love?”

I know he’s only joking, but I still feel the need to say, “Yeah. I think I may be tired of you after that.”

“I’m sorry to hear that because after this ring goes on your finger, you’re stuck with me for life.”

We finish our vows and then put on the rings we got for each other. We chose not to have a normal mortal wedding due to neither of us having a last name. Also, I think I prefer it being just us. I wonder how we’re gonna explain this to our fellow Eternals when the time comes.

[light-yaers]

All Too Well - Chapter Eight

Ko-Fi | Fic Masterpost | Chapter List

Warnings: Rated M for swearing, death, alcohol and mild sexual content. F!Reader.

A/N: I am so overwhelmed from all the love and support I've got on this series in TWO DAYS!! Like whaaaat. Thank you guys so much, I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this. We're getting close to the end now, so thank you for coming along for this lil fic.

Word Count - 2.1k

Chapter Eight

“I won’t stand by and let you ruin the mission,” Ikaris said through clenched teeth. You and Druig rounded the corner, slowing down as you took in the wounded faces of the other Eternals.

“Ikaris,” you said gently. “What are you doing?” you asked desperately, skimming your eyes around Phastos’ ruined design for the Uni-mind.

“These are Arishem’s wishes,” he explained. “Ajak thought the same as you, she—,” he stopped himself, as Druig slowly strolled around the control room.

“You killed her,” he said plainly.

Ikaris grimaced. Sersi gasped. You swallowed down bile.

“No,” Sprite whispered.

“I won’t let you stop the Emergence,” Ikaris swallowed. “It’s our mission, our purpose,”

“Our purpose has changed,” you spoke up. “This was the Celestial plan all along. Think of the other Eternals out there doing their bidding and not knowing the consequences—,”

“Think of how you’re all stopping the birth of a billion new worlds! Just to hold on to this one!”

“We’ve all grown, Ikaris!” you yelled. “You’re the only one that hasn’t. You killed her,” you spluttered. “I can’t believe you killed Ajak,”

“If any of you get in my way,” he said lowly, stepping back from you all. “I will kill you,”

You all watched in silence as he made his way to the exit, praying that this was false. You turned to Sersi, but her expression was clear; she was heartbroken. She was cracked.

“Wait,” Sprite spoke up. “I’m coming with you,”

“No,” Sersi let out, reaching for Sprite. Phastos held her back gently, and she fell into his arms.

They both left, not looking back at their family once. Sersi let out a cry, clutching onto Phastos for dear life. You looked at the floor, anger and sadness radiating off you in waves. Druig slipped his hand into yours, squeezing your knuckles hard.

“I can’t do this,” Kingo said suddenly. You whipped your stare onto him, pleading through your eyes.

“Please, Kingo,” you urged. Kingo sighed.

“Come on… it’s Ikaris,” he said sadly, before strolling towards Karun. When they reached the doorway, he looked back. “Maybe, I’ll meet you all in the next life,”

There was a huge part of you that wanted to stop trying. When you made your way to Arishem’s chamber on the Domo, no one tried to stop you; not even Druig. Maybe all of you needed some space, just to compute this.

You peered up at the statue of Arishem in the place you’d woken up eight thousand years before. You’d known nothing then, only being aware of your mission at hand. Protect the humans from the deviants, follow Arishem, go home to Olympia when you were done.

Since finding out the truth, you’d been wondering of your past. Your memories were wiped after each Emergence; a blank state ready for another in the blink of an eye; but could that mean you’d met your Eternals before?

Had you already been on missions with Sersi, with Ikaris, with Ajak?

Had you already met Druig before, in the past, through the fog and smoke of your memory being wiped?

Thena knew what it felt like to know. Mahd W’yry had its grip on her thick and fast, but she was the strongest of you all. You wondered, through the pain and blood and destruction she saw and knew about, did any faces appear through the smoke screen, too? Could she see a Gilgamesh from ten thousand years before? Could she see Makkari? Could she see you?

The realisation that you were reset every couple thousand years was a slap in the face. You’d spent years discovering who you are, re-writing your personality, becoming your true self, just for Arishem to take you back and wipe you clean.

It angered you to your core.

And now? Ikaris had revealed his true self. Blindly following a being that he hadn’t spoken to in person in over eight thousand years, over multiple lifetimes.

You squatted to the floor, holding your head in your hands as you fought against the urge to scream, or cry, or break out of the ceiling of the Domo and kill Arishem yourself. You stared up at the statue of the Celestial, sucking in shaky breaths.

“Did you know?” you whispered to him. “Did you know we’d separate to begin with? That we’d grow to love this planet? That it would destroy us all to allow the Emergence to happen?” you asked desperately, as the tiniest part of you wanted him to actually reply. You knew he wouldn’t—you’d never spoken to him in person, but that didn’t stop you wishing for the answers.

“Did you know we’d grow to love? To hate? To feel? Without the help of my power guiding their emotions?” you continued. “Or did you program us this way? Did you build me this way?” you said, louder this time, standing from your low position as a surge of confidence filtered through your blood.

“Did you make me love him? Put something within my circuits that would ensure I’d fall for him, the first moment I ever saw him?” you cried, but there was nothing but silence that surrounded you afterwards. Silence, and the pumping of your blood as it travelled through your mechanical body.

“No,” Sersi said timidly, walking up behind you. “That wasn’t Arishem, that was all you,” she stood next to you, looking up at the statue of her master, her eyes sad and tired. “He didn’t make me love Ikaris, either. I grew to love him on my own,”

You looked at her sadly. “I’m so sorry, Sersi,” you reached out and took her hand in yours, squeezing it affectionately.

“We are strong enough to make our own decisions,” she replied, smiling at you sadly. “Ikaris was not,”

“We can still do this,” you said softly. “Without him, Sprite and Kingo. We still can,”

“I know,” Sersi agreed, shaking your hand affectionately. “I think we all need time to mourn first, just for a little while,” you nodded sullenly, before both of you stared into Arishem’s eyes. This was a being that brought you life, but you felt indifferent now.

He’d lied.

“So, you love Druig,” Sersi said, looking at you slyly. You pushed her playfully, letting out a chuckle. “They say distance makes the heart grow fonder,”

“Those five thousand years apart are not what made me love him, Sersi,” you let out.

“What made you love him?” she asked gently.

You didn’t have to think hard about it. “I’ve loved him from the moment we woke up here and he met my eye,” you said calmly. You meant it.

“Does he know?” Sersi quipped.

“Of course, he does,” you replied, amused. “It’s Druig. He knows everything that I think, even if I don’t want him to,” you let out a laugh, as did Sersi. You couldn’t believe you’d wasted five thousand years without her in your life; without any of them.

You hadn’t even visited people, hadn’t made yourself known to them. The least you could have sent was a Christmas card every year, but something had always stopped you.

Not your pride, or your ego—but the inherent feeling that, perhaps, they wouldn’t like you now that you’d grown.

You were still learning, despite your age.

A clatter sounded from the control room, alerting you and Sersi to move immediately. The two of you rushed back to your fellow Eternals, just to meet the sight of Makkari on the floor; books and jewels and whatever else had accumulated over the years here on top of her.

She lifted her hands through the debris. “I found the site of Emergence,” she signed. Druig was the first to let out a laugh, stepping forward to help her up.

“Slow down,” he said. She elbowed him in the rib.

“So, are we doing this or not?” Phastos asked, eyes wide.

“Of course, we’re doing this,” Thena said, stepping forward and summoning her blade of gold. You gasped as the sword tip dropped to the floor, hitting the metal with a clang. It’d been years since anyone had seen Thena summon her legendary weapons, mostly from the fast it triggered her Mahd W’yry. But this—she was strong, she was balanced, and she could most definitely slice your arm clean off your body if she wanted to.

Phastos gestured to the warrior. “This doesn’t make me feel safe—”

“Can you make the Uni-mind or not, Phastos?” you asked, interrupting him. He shook of his nerves, turning to you.

“Yes,” he said plainly. “But—I need something from you, Sersi,” he approached her, placing his hands on her shoulders. “I need the sphere within you that allows you to converse with Arishem. It acts as a link between you and him, so I think it would work as a link between all of us for the Uni-mind,”

Sersi nodded nervously. “Makes sense. Okay, take it,” she said, swallowing down her anxiety. You stepped back towards Druig, holding your breath as Phastos positioned his hands to pry the sphere from her chest.

“Don’t kill her,” Thena said suddenly. Phastos shut his eyes, calming himself down.

“Thank you for that, Thena,” he whispered, before his fingers twitched. They twitched and grabbed at the air before him, as golden strands rushed forward and latched onto the sphere within Sersi. She gasped once, and your entire body lurched.

Druig grabbed your waist swiftly, keeping you upright. He placed his chin on your shoulder, hugging you securely from behind and watching along with you.

Phastos tugged once, and the sphere emerged from Sersi’s collar. You let out a sigh of relief as it hovered in Phastos’ palm, and he immediately set about getting to work.

“Eternals,” Sersi said, after catching her breath. “Suit up,”

You hadn’t donned your armour since you left Babylon, all those years ago. It felt almost circular, when you stepped back into Arishem’s chamber and stood on your podium. Druig smiled at you from across the room, stepping back onto his own podium as well.

You sent him an amused grin, because you knew what he was thinking about, despite not being able to read his mind. You knew he was thinking of the time he woke up and his gaze found yours. You knew it.

Leaning your head back, the golden strands of the Domo wrapped around you softly. They were like paintbrushes, drawing armour onto the canvas that was your body. Your armour was soft hues of purple and black, blending together into a gradient as the armour drooped over your hips. The sleeves were long, your chest plate form fitting, your pauldrons sturdy.

You didn’t don gloves. They would only be a hindrance to your power.

The final piece of your armour— an armband to ensure you were connected to the Uni-mind. You raised your arm and watched the bracelet wrap itself around your wrist.

You stepped off your podium, as did the other Eternals. You were all ready.

Phastos was still busy, shifting parts of the Uni-mind within his hands, when Sersi approached Druig. “Ready?” she asked. Druig raised a finger to her, signalling how he wanted a minute.

You ran a hand down your armour, feeling the familiar curve of how it sat upon your body, before Druig sauntered over to you. You smiled at him knowingly, as his eyes ate you up. They skimmed across your entire frame, taking in your appearance and the obvious difference in your confidence now that you donned your armour.

“A favour,” he said lowly, hovering his arm out before you. “Can you calm me?”

Your gut coiled in surprise. “Really?” you asked. Druig almost laughed.

“There’s a Celestial that I have to put to sleep, you know? Can’t do that with butterflies in my stomach,” you smiled at him, feeling the overwhelming urge to hug him—but there were matters at hand that you couldn’t ignore.

You took in a deep breath, resting your hands on his arm gently. Your fingers sparkled with gold, transferring through Druig’s thick skin until you could feel the Eternal start to relax. He smiled wider, his breathing slowed, he looked content.

“You know, when I said you suppress our emotions, I was wrong,” he whispered, catching your eye. “You don’t suppress them, you make them. You make me feel,” he admitted, before slowly resting his forehead against yours.

This was Druig’s main love language—the subtle intimacy of his forehead upon your own, sharing each other’s breath, feeling the other’s body warmth and closing your eyes—just for a second just until the two of you are connected in mind and body and soul.

“Don’t die,” you whispered, tightening your grip on his arm. “I’ll kill you if you die,” Druig smirked in amusement.

“I’m not going anywhere, now that I’ve got you back,” he reassured you. You swallowed as you pulled away from him, not allowing yourself to cry. You had a planet to save, and so did he. “See you soon,” he said.

You nodded.

And he was gone.

[sersi]

i am insane about eternals in a way that only sometimes manages to reach coherence (it will get better with more rewatches and with the eventual arrival of the studying micro-expressions via gifmaking era), but one of the things that has set my brain on fire most intensely is the sheer tragedy of the eternals.

arishem made them, not for happiness or contentment, but for usefulness. each eternal has a role to play in the successful cultivation of planets and, because most are supposed to remain in blissful ignorance until the moment an emergence arrives, their ability to accept or handle the cost of their true mission is immaterial. their minds will be wiped and then they will be sent out once more to repeat the cycle over the next few thousand years.

and yet, each time they do this, they’re still themselves. i don’t think it was false kindness or manipulation when ajak said that thena would still be herself, deep down, after having her mind wiped--i think it was the truth of what ajak has seen over millions of years. each time they start a new mission, the eternals are returned to the base personalities/identities given to them by arishem. and each time, they are shaped and changed by the planets they visit. but the changes they go through have never been large enough to change who they fundamentally are. sersi always loves and cares for the people of the planets they come to. phastos always wants and needs to help people evolve and progress. ikaris remains the good, loyal soldier. sprite delights, amuses, and, when the mission takes long enough, becomes frustrated with her inability to truly grow up. and yet, because eternals were never supposed to be capable of true, lasting change, none of this was ever supposed to matter in any real way.

at least right up until the point where it does. it might have taken her millions of years and countless planets sacrificed to the celestials, but ajak changes. and changes in such a fundamental way that, even when faced with death, she does everything she can to ensure that her fellow eternals will have the opportunity to change as well. ajak picks sersi, the one eternal who has never, ever given up on humanity and whose base personality/identity almost guarantees that she will reach the same conclusion as ajak, even without the benefit of remembering all of her previous lives.

and it works. sersi, who isn’t usually regarded as the strongest or the smartest and who doesn’t even fully believe in her own capacity for leadership at the start of things, refuses to be part of the destruction of billions of lives and, through this, discovers just how deep her principals run. sersi might fear some of the changes she is going through, she might have a hard time accepting the rift it causes between her and ikaris, but she never stops. she doesn’t stop when she turns a deviant into a tree, she doesn’t stop when ikaris turns on everyone, and she doesn’t stop when ikaris is standing there trying to will himself to kill her. 

arishem may have designed the eternals to be incapable of change, but, much like with the deviants, it didn’t actually work. they might not be able to evolve as quickly or as obviously, but the eternals spent seven thousand years on earth and they all changed. the changes might not have made all of them happier or been the sort of changes that they wanted most, but they changed and evolved and grew and, on a planet that moved a bit slower than some of them wanted, they finally reached a point where this change wasn’t able to be wiped away or cut off too early by the arrival of yet another emergence and mindwipe. the tragedy of their creation remains, but they’re no longer trapped in the same endless, repetitive cycle and they’re now able to try and free some of their fellow eternals from that same cycle.

[vansmaybeonthewall]

Eternal Darkness || Prologue

Masterlist - 01

a/n: i went into the theatre thinking i would fall in love with Ikaris. WRONG, Druig has taken over my heart.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Domo

“It is time.”

The group of eleven walked towards the walls, golden magic turning the grey they wore into colorful armor. Talvi, one of the many strong women on the team, was granted a suit of grey and ice blue. She noticed her suit was almost identical to the look of the blonde woman.

Their next mission was on the planet Earth, to kill all Deviants and keep them from harming the human species. Although, she wasn’t sent down with the others. Instead, Ajak, the Prime Eternal, told her to stay on board the Domo and wait until the others killed the Deviants. They looked so organized down there, like an actual team.

Thena and her conjuration of golden weapons.

Makkari and her super speed.

Kingo and his blasts of power.

They were all so...powerful and in control.

“Thinking about them won’t do you any good.”

“Ajak.”

“You have great gifts of your own, why do you question yourself Talvi? You are strong, you just have to believe it.”

“Yes, but the others have such beautiful gifts, why am I the only one limited to what I can do?”

Ajak walks towards the Eternal and grabs her hands. “You are capable of great things, all you have to do, is try. Now, get ready. We are meeting the others on the ground.” Ajak walks away, leaving Talvi with her own thoughts.

If only it were that easy Ajak.

You’re doing yourself a disservice beautiful.

“Get out of my head Druig.”

“Oh, but you make it so easy for me. Somehow in some way, you are the only Eternal I can read. You let your thoughts wander. Not to mention, you think way too loud. I just so happen to find my way in through the cracks.”

“Bugger off, would you? We have more important things to worry about.”

“What? The Deviants you don’t think you can kill?”

“Druig…”

“Or the powers you have no control over?”

Talvi groaned out of frustration. She didn’t want to hurt the people who were supposed to be her family, but then again, he was being annoying. Instead of retaliating, she chose to walk away, leaving Druig smirking to himself.

“Calm down Talvi, don’t let him get to you,” she whispered to herself, “Just go meet the others, everything will be fine.”

However, she couldn’t stop thinking about the rest of her team.

Ajak, who had the ability to heal.

Ikaris, who had the power of flight and could shoot powerful beams out of his eyes.

Sersi, who had the ability to manipulate matter.

Kingo, who had the ability to shoot energy from his hands.

Sprite, who had the ability to create illusions.

Phastos, who had the ability to create any invention or weapon.

Makkari, who had the ability of super speed.

Gilgamesh, who had the ability to enhance his strength with golden shields around his arms and fists.

Thena, who had the ability to create weapons out of thin air.

Druig, who had the ability to manipulate and control other people’s thoughts.

And Talvi, who had the ability to manipulate the wind.

Not the elements, not temperature, just the wind.

“Oh Ajak, I do hope you’re right about me.”

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #248: “To Save the ETERNALS!”

October, 1984

Scarlet Witch: “It’s raining ETERNALS!”

Hallelujah?

This is a pretty striking cover. The white background is what sells it. Having an actual background would busify the cover too much.

So last times on Avengers: Bored after giving the chairman role to Vision, Wasp takes Starfox’s invitation to crash a party hosted by Sersi, a truant Eternal. Some other Eternals come to fetch Sersi for a Big, Important Eternal Thing and Wasp and Starfox end up getting dragged along when they try to stop the kidnapping.

After Sersi and Ikaris recap the Eternals’ ENTIRE HISTORY, Starfox realizes hey he’s an Eternal too! So he gets invited to the big, important Eternal Thing. Which is turning into a giant flying brain. As ya do.

But jerk fiend and eventual Great Lakes Avengers punchline Maelstrom takes advantage of all the Eternals being a giant brain and attacks, knocking out spectating Avengers Wasp and Captain Monica Marvel.

So thats a lot.

Vision and Scarlet Witch arrive in Greece after seeing Maelstrom on the video phone.

While Vision flies off in a big hurry, Scarlet Witch goes back into the Quinjet for some good exposition.

She continues to be worried about how Vision has been acting lately. Because after seeing Maelstrom, Vision barely said a word during the flight to Greece and kept pushing the engines until Wanda was afraid they’d blow up. But since he just took off and she can’t fly, she calls up what files the Avengers have on Maelstrom.

Which is Benn Grimm, the Thing, reporting on Marvel Two-in-One #72, where he teamed up with Black Bolt to fight Maelstrom who claimed to be the son of a renegade Inhuman. In the end, the Thing tossed a tube of anti-terrigen gas in his face and then Maelstrom appeared to die in an underwater cave-in.

Vision returns from his reconnaissance and does Wanda a startle so she finally unloads on him for how he’s been acting.

Scarlet Witch: “You don’t seem to be thinking at all these days! We haven’t had a real conversation since you became Avengers chairman! Half of our trip to Washington was taken up by a private meeting you had with the president! Afterwards, you didn’t even have the decency to tell me what you talked about! I had to hear from a reported that you’d discussed making the Avengers chairmanship a cabinet level post! We used to be so open with one another! What is happening to us? What is the matter? Is it me?”

Vision says ‘its not you, its me’ although in the context of him being at fault and not breaking up with her.

But he promises to do better and that she’s important to him.

Which would be heart-warming and romantic if he wasn’t making this face over her shoulder.

Why.

Anyway, with uh whatever that is handled, Vision reports what he found on his scouting nyoom.

He found the Eternal city on the side of Mount Olympus because of course its there.

Although. Wait. Where do the Olympians live? Are they neighbors? Do the Olympians live in another dimension or something? I vaguely remember something like that.

And Vision found Maelstrom who’s wearing a silly techno-harness connected to a big machine and has Captain Marvel and Wasp chained up at his feet.

You have problems, Maelstrom.

Not least of which is that his big scheme is to absorb the giant brain to make himself more powerful.

He blabs his plan to the Wasp who woke up when she sensed the opportunity to sass.

Wasp: “You seem awfully sure of yourself, Maelstrom.”

Maelstrom: “Ah, the Wasp! Back among the conscious, I see! Yes, I am quite confident... Supremely confident, you might say.”

Wasp: “But not so confident that you felt you could keep us here untied!”

Maelstrom: “If you are trying to shame me, it will not work. I am quite without shame!”

Curses, he’s immune to petty ego games.

Wasp also assumes he’s an Eternal which he’s quick to correct. No, see, his mom was a Deviant. And I guess his dad was an Inhuman, based on the Thing’s report on him. But its not like he wants revenge for all the Deviants being compressed into a giant cube.

After all, the Deviants killed his mom and raised Maelstrom in their slave pits.

In fact, after Maelstrom absorbs the giant brain, his next plan is to release the Deviants from the giant Deviant cube one by one and then do harm to them.

But, yeah, no. He does look like an Eternal. Easy mistake to make. The Eternals have been making that mistake as Maelstrom has just been hanging around for days with all the Eternals assuming he’s just some Eternal.

He’s actually maybe a little bit regretful that he has to kill them all to absorb the giant brain since the Eternals have actually been nice to him?

Maelstrom: “But power belongs to those who are willing to seize it!”

Interesting guy, Maelstrom.

He starts absorbing the Uni-Mind and totally spaces out doing that. But unfortunately, Wasp is in no position to capitalize on it because he put some leech manacles on her which are preventing her from shrinking. And Captain Marvel is completely out cold.

But Vision sneaks up intangible through the ground as he do like to do and intangibles his fingers into Maelstrom’s harness, shorting it out.

The energy discharge knocks Vision on his ass unconscious but Maelstrom just has to take a knee.

He yells up at an ominous figure standing up on a tower for not telling him that Vision was sneakign up on him. Maelstrom obviously thinks that this Deathurge is his minion but Deathurge has differing opinions.

Deathurge: For so long have I been with Maelstrom, yet still he does not understand! Still he thinks of me as his lackey! When will he learn... it is a darker power I truly serve!

Kinda wonder why he’s here. He doesn’t seem to be helping Maelstrom’s great brain heist and mostly just seems to... stand on a tower and look ominous.

But while Maelstrom was distracted yelling at a guy, the Uni-Mind breaks free of Maelstrom’s siphon and then explodes into a bunch of Eternals again.

Because it would be very improbable if that happened.

Your plan scheme just got Wanda’d, Maelstrom.

Huh. When I saw the cover, I wouldn’t have guessed that Wanda is the reason why its raining Eternals, hallelujah.

Goes to shows.

But since it was very improbable indeed that the Uni-Mind would explode into peoples, Wanda is wiped out.

Captain Marvel starts waking up and Wasp orders her to bust the chains, don’t even think about just go go go.

And Monica Marvel CHOOOMs the leech manacles.

It’s probably a testament to her power that she can bust right through the power dampening handcuffs but Maelstrom immediately hits her with some pink with kirby krackle which apparently is an energy field for sapping strength and down goes Captain Marvel again.

>=|

Wasp dodges the pink energy and gets out of the way so Vision can shoot his forehead laser at Maelstrom.

I sometimes forget he has that thing.

Vision: “Yes, Maelstrom, I have found your weakness! you are vulnerable to energy that is not purely kinetic! That is why you required the power siphon to absorb the psionic energy of the Uni-Mind!”

Maelstrom insists that he’ll still kick Vision’s ass except we’ll never know if he was talking out his ass or not.

Starfox wakes up from being a giant brain and decides to go punch the bad guy.

Except except except.

Punches is kinetic energy. Fool that he is, Starfox just recharged Maelstrom.

Starfox: “I am Eros, called the Starfox... son of Mentor! The blood of the Eternals flows in my veins... and I am an Avenger! Thus I have the greatest stake in seeing you fall!”

Maelstrom: “No doubt! But you’ll not accomplish it this way!”

And then suddenly giant Maelstrom just picks up Starfox and hurls him at Vision who is forced to super-dense catch Starfox instead of intangible out of the way and let the idiot hit a wall head first.

Hm. Guy absorbs kinetic energy and gets beefier? So he’s like a less stylish Sebastian Shaw?

That’s not a flattering comparison for you, Maelstrom.

Makarri, Thena, and Ikaris of the Eternals wake up and also try to jump on and pummel Maelstrom.

... God, its like they weren’t even paying attention.

Good thing they’re immortal because they have no survival instinct among them.

Maelstrom throws them off and then whips out the pink bio-kinetic energy again, using it to crowd control the Eternals.

Then he announces that yeah, sure, the brain thing was foiled. But he absorbed enough information while he was draining the Uni-Mind that he has an even cooler plan for even greater power now.

So his new plan is to just leave. And go do something else.

‘Walk away with no further conflict you say? Nuts to that!’ - Scarlet Witch, presumably.

In fairness. This isn’t really a no harm, no foul situation.

I wouldn’t give Maelstrom over to the Eternals to add to the Deviant cube but he’s just going to do more asshole things if he walks away.

Starfox wants to go over and start punching Maelstrom again because. I DUNNO! The man is supposed to be smarter than this!

Vision stops him and tells him that instead he’ll need to use his pleasure power on Vision’s mark.

Starfox is startled that Vision knows about his secret weirdo power but this isn’t the time for a conversation.

Instead its time for microwaves.

Vision signals Captain Marvel to do her thing and she flies at Maelstrom, turning into infrared and microwave radiation, toasting Maelstrom up.

Then Wasp pew pews with her pew pew, while staying ten feet away so he can’t absorb any kinetic energy. That’s apparently why her stings sucked when she tried shooting him before. She got too close.

Well, her stings are bio-electrical so him absorbing her bio-kinetic energy would probably weaken them? Probably?

Maelstrom actually panics a little because the Avengers aren’t being dumb. They’re pelting him with energy attacks from a distance, wearing him down and not giving him a chance to build up his energy stores again.

I’m proud of you, guys. I knew you could fight smart if you put your minds to it.

Then with Maelstrom weakened, Starfox tries to use his PLEASURE BEAMS and tells him that actually we’re all friends here, won’t you be our friend?

Starfox: “The others will tell you I’m not one to hold a grudge! Besides, you really don’t want to hurt anyone! You’ll be much happier giving yourself up!”

Maelstrom: “Giving... up? Y-yes, that does sound nice. I... No!! What are you doing to me?!?”

So since Maelstrom succeeds his will save against the persuasion check, or something, Scarlet Witch just casts a spell of ‘on your knees, asshole’ and makes Maelstrom fall to his knees.

Realizing that he might actually be defeated, in the city of his mother’s enemies no less!, Maelstrom calls out for Deathurge to attend him.

Deathurge: “At last, the call I have longed for!”

Hmmmm. Maybe Maelstrom should have been more specific.

I admit that its very possible that this is exactly what Maelstrom wanted Deathurge hanging around for. But having a guy standing by to kill you so you don’t have to tally an L sure is an interesting way of going about things.

Also, the narration says spear but Deathurge’s weapon is clearly a very anime scythe. A dude in Bleach had two of this exact weapon.

Captain Marvel, as the nyoomiest of the Avengers, flies at Deathurge as the “spear” returns to his hand. He tries to hit her with the “spear” but it goes right through her and then she goes right through him when she tries to tackle him.

Since they can both be intangible, Deathurge declares this a stalemate and drops down into the ground. Captain Marvel tries to follow as x-rays but loses the ominous weirdo.

So that was a thing that happened.

Maelstrom sure folded like nothing once people who knew how his powers work actually started fighting back.

And I can’t even ding him for explaining his powers because he didn’t. Vision just did his research.

Anyway, even though the Uni-Mind ritual was interrupted, the Eternals still learned what they should be doing. Since the Eternals have grown stagnant on Earth, THEY’RE GOING TO SPAAAAACE!

Most of them anyway.

Ikaris, Sersi, Thena, Valkin... Lets just say the main Eternals are going to stay on Earth.

The Eternals chosen to go out into space form a Uni-Mind again, grabs the Deviant cube, hurls it out of the solar system, and then takes off into space.

“So does the Uni-Mind, in all its wisdom, protect its native world from the Deviant menace.”

Eeeesh.

I thought squeezing them all into a cube was bad enough, now you’re sending them into space forever? You couldn’t find a planet where they can’t hurt anyone and just dunk them there?

Back down on Earth, the Avengers and Eternals watch a giant brain fly into space.

Wasp: “To think, this all started with Starfox and me crashing Sersi’s party! I certainly never expected to be in Greece at day’s end, watching the Eternals leave Earth!”

Really makes you think. That its a good thing that most Avengers’ day job is being an Avenger.

Captain Marvel asks Starfox if he’s sorry that he didn’t go with the giant brain and he says participating in one Uni-Mind thing was an incredible experience that he wouldn’t have missed but he’s a free spirit and there’s a bunch of stuff he still wants to do on Earth.

Which Sersi certainly agrees with.

The Avengers offer her a lift back home and she has perhaps the greatest of attitudes about everything that went down.

Sersi: “I hope my friends in the city have kept the party going! If they haven’t... well, we’ll just have to start one of our own!”

That’s the spirit!

But meanwhile, halfway around the world in a secret underground lair, Deathurge pops out of the floor.

Villains are villainous and all but you can’t beat the class of “secret underground lair.” Step up, heroes.

Deathurge struts over to some tubes and goes Everything Has Transpired According to Plan.

Because inside one of the tubes (or maybe all of the tubes??) is a fresh new Maelstrom body!

Deathurge: If all goes as you have planned, you shall soon awaken within this newly prepared body, ready to live again. And, as ever, I will stand by... ready to attend... Until all your lives have been lived!

Well!

No wonder Maelstrom has a dude standing by to pop him. He’s got extra lives!

Anyway, that was the unexpected Eternals three-parter nobody called for. But Avengers is the place to go to tie up loose ends from other books and concepts.

Avengers’ll accommodate you, they have room in their hearts and publishing schedule.

Follow @essential-avengers​ because there’s more Maelstrom coming! Wait, is that anything people want? There’s also Hercules! I know people like Hercules! He gives the best hugs! Also like and reblog if you like to reblog.

[karenxmenfan]

(above: Jack Kirby, John Verpoorten, Glynis Oliver; John Paul Leon; Al Milgrom, Joe Sinnott, Julianna Ferriter; Daniel Acuña)

READING THE ETERNALS

Jack Kirby’s Gods return to the Marvel Universe

PART 1 — INTRODUCTION

“When two aggressive species share the same environment, evolution demands acceptance or dominance.” When Jonathan Hickman’s return to Marvel was first teased in 2019, I thought they might do something unexpected and announce a new Eternals series. Kevin Feige had revealed an Eternals movie not too long before, so it seems possible. I knew practically nothing about the characters, aside from Sersi being an Avenger, that it was Jack Kirby’s baby, and they were tied to the Celestials. I met these massive Space Gods in the beloved 1999 miniseries Earth X. That series includes a basic recap of the Eternals and Deviants in service of an epic plot surrounding the Celestials and their relationship to Earth.

The Hickman rumors sparked an interest in the characters, so I decided to read the original run from the beginning. What I found out is that there’s a lot of silly fun to these characters and I’m genuinely excited for the movie. The concept is weird and doesn’t quite have the same generative power as, say, the Fantastic Four, but it’s still enjoyable and Jack Kirby’s art is always a treat for the eyeballs. It’s easy to get caught up on all the essentials, since these characters are used so infrequently, but their presence is heavily seeded throughout the Marvel Universe. I’ve put together this reading guide to offer a roadmap for anyone wanting to take a deep-dive into THE ETERNALS!

WHO?

The Eternals are secretly one of three branches of the human race that were ENGINEERED BY ALIENS (a fact that gets reiterated nearly every time they appear in a comic). Yes, it’s that old urban legend that human evolution was kickstarted by extraterrestrial influence. In this case, massive space beings called the Celestials came to Earth and did experiments on apes, resulting in homo sapiens, but also the Eternals, powerful god-like beings, and Deviants, “monsters” who have unstable genes so no two are alike. Make of that what you will, it’s kind of messed up. Anyway, many thousands of years after their first visit, the Celestials return to Earth again to check up on their creations, and to see if the planet is worthy to survive.

PART 2 — KIRBY

The main draw of this series is Kirby’s art, weird ideas, and how funny all the characters are as they strut around exclaiming everything. What’s interesting here is that it’s not actually a part of the Marvel Universe - there’s an issue halfway through where they fight a robot Hulk, which is pretty explicitly based on a fictional character. The best characters in the whole book are Sersi, who is a hip, with-it party girl, Thena, and of course the Deviant leader Kro (the romance between the latter two is very good).

Entries in blue are favorites

The Eternals (1976) #1–6 — Where it all begins!! WHO ARE THE SPACE GODS? Some human archaeologists discover, with the help of a disguised Eternal, the big secret of the human race, and their relationship to Eternals, Deviants, and the Celestials who created them. This kicks off the series and the first arc where all the various Eternals are brought out of hiding as the Deviants, led by Kro, launch an effort to keep the Celestials from returning to judge their creations - this includes an attack on New York where the Deviants pose as demons from space hell. Meanwhile, the Fourth Celestial Host arrives on Earth…

The Eternals (1976) #7–13 — Picking up after the attack on New York, the human race is now formally introduced to its ancient siblings. This arc starts to get more into the relationships of the characters, with Sersi getting thirsty for a flummoxed, stuffed-shirt anthropologist, while Kro and Thena drop hints of a previous romance. Through their story, we see more of Deviant society, which introduces future BFFs The Reject and Karkas. Meanwhile, the Celestials are floating around the planet making observations like colossal roombas and freaking out humanity who start to get very worried. We also see the introduction of the Uni-Mind, where all the Eternals fly into a blue flame and emerge as one giant brain-thing. In this form, they leave Earth for a while.

The Eternals Annual (1977) #1 — A fun little adventure with Thena, The Reject, and Karkas (who has a human disguise in this) dealing with some Deviant menace who brings Jack the Ripper and Atilla the Hun to the present day to cause mayhem. The Eternals (1976) #14-17 - The momentum of the series comes to a halt - the Uni-Mind returns to Earth and the Eternals get swept up in a battle with a robotic Hulk who goes on the loose, and then a secret, all-powerful monster that Zuras was hiding in the basement.

The Eternals (1976) #18–19 — Probably with the knowledge that cancellation is nigh, the story picks up again. Druig becomes obsessed with uncovering the whereabouts of a secret weapon that is able to kill the Celestials (planting the seeds for the Dreaming Celestial). Ikaris tries his hardest to stop his cousin’s folly and avert the wrath of the Space Gods and I think it eventually comes to an end when the Celestials make Druig disappear? I guess this is when Jack Kirby peaced out of Marvel…

CREDITS* full series (Writing/Pencils - Jack Kirby; Inks - John Verpoorten, Mike Royer; Colors - Glynis Oliver; Lettering - Gaspar Saladino, John Costanza, Irving Watanabe, Mike Royer)

PART 3 — JOINING THE 616

Since the original series kind of was cut short with Kirby’s departure, the Eternals’ story gets picked up in other Marvel comics, where the heroes slowly learn about their existence.

Thor Annual (1976) #7 — Since the original series kind of was cut short with Kirby’s departure, the Eternals’ story gets picked up in other Marvel comics. This issue starts off a storyline where Thor recovers memories of the Celestials and some secret that Odin has been keeping from him.

(Writing - Roy Thomas; Pencils - Walter Simonson; Inks - Ernie Chan; Colors - Glynis Oliver; Lettering - Tom Orzechowski)

Thor (1966) #283-289, 291, 300-301 — Spurred on by his meeting of the Eternals, Thor takes the question to Odin. Odin won’t tell him anything, so this sets Thor off on a journey that takes him to the Eternals, the Deviants, and eventually the lead Celestial, The One Above All, who shows him hints of a deal between Celestials, Odin, Zeus, Zuras, and the other deities of Earth. Joining forces with the Eternals, Thor tries to stop the Fourth Hosts’ judgement of Earth which puts them at odds with the Norse and Greek gods. Thor finally learns the whole truth just in time to stand against the Celestials on the Day of Judgement. This is the big culmination of everything that started in The Eternals #1!

(Writing - Roy Thomas, Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio; Pencils - John Buscema, Keith Pollard; Inks - Chic Stone, Gene Day; Colors - George Roussos, Glynis Oliver, Marie Severin, Bob Sharen, Carl Gafford; Lettering - Joe Rosen, Tom Orzechowski)

Iron Man Annual (1970) #6 — Rhodey is flying around and accidentally happens upon the Eternals’ city, but it’s overrun by Deviants! They’ve incapacitated all the Eternals and are trying to steal their power source or something.

(Writing - Peter Gillis; Pencils - Luke McDonnell; Inks - Roy Richardson; Colors - Carl Gafford; Lettering - Diana Albers)

Eternals: Secrets from the Marvel Universe (2019) #1 — This one-shot collects a series of backup stories that ran in What If? through the early 1980s. This covers the established origin of the Eternals and Deviants, but also goes into more detail about the branch of Eternals who left Earth to populate the solar system. It also ties in the Inhumans and creates a relationship between these two very similar groups of characters.

(Writing - Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, Peter Gillis; Pencils - Ron Wilson, Rich Buckler, Bruce Patterson; Inks - Chic Stone, Alan Kupperberg, Bruce Patterson, Joe Sinnott; Colors - Carl Gafford, Ed Hannigan, Nel Yomtov, Glynis Oliver; Lettering - Michael Higgins, John Morelli, Tom Orzechowski)

Avengers (1963) #246-248 — The Avengers crash one of Sersi’s parties and get dragged with her back to Olympia for some Eternals business. There we find out about the Eternals who went to Titan, and everyone finds out Starfox is an Eternal. The main plot involves a supervillain infiltrating Olympia to steal the power of the Uni-Mind. At the end of this story, the majority of lesser-known Eternals decide to leave Earth in a Uni-Mind for good, greatly narrowing their cast to just the essentials.

(Writing - Roger Stern; Pencils - Al Milgrom; Inks - Joe Sinnott; Colors - Christie Scheele, Julianna Ferriter; Lettering - Jim Novak, Diana Albers)

The Eternals (1985) #1-12 — This is actually a solid series, and does a huge amount to introduce new concepts and characters into the Eternals. It’s more of a standard Marvel superhero comic than Kirby’s weirdness, which perhaps allows it to fit more neatly into the greater shared universe. The best thing is that it features a lot of Kro and Thena as the latter becomes leader of the Eternals despite them not taking her seriously, and the former becoming embroiled in a sectarian power struggle with Ghuar (that guy from “Atlantis Attacks”) to lead the Deviants. The two find their love rekindled, putting them at odds with the other Eternals (Ikaris is a big asshole in this). Meanwhile, Sersi collects more human pets, including a guy she saves from suicide and tries to show that life is worth living. Central to everyone’s machinations is a plot to harness the power of the Celestials, playing off of the hints left by Kirby about the Celestial who was killed during the Second Host (this is the continuing foundation for the Dreaming Celestial idea).

(Writing - Peter Gillis, Walter Simonson; Pencils - Sal Buscema, Keith Pollard, Paul Ryan; Inks - Al Gordon, Keith Williams, Danny Bulanadi, Sam de la Rosa, Al Williamson, Tom Morgan, Geof Isherwood; Colors - George Roussos, Bob Sharen; Lettering - Joe Rosen, John Morelli, Rick Parker)

The Eternals: Herod Factor (1991) #1 — A little one-shot that is fun largely because it ultimately is about Thena and Kro. It’s written by Roy Thomas so doesn’t stray too far from established canon.

(Writing - Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas; Pencils - Mark Texiera; Inks - Bob McLeod, Christopher Ivy, Mark McKenna, Ian Akin, Sam de la Rosa; Colors - Mike Thomas, Dana Moreshead; Lettering - Jean Simek)

PART 4 — SERSI & THE AVENGERS

Despite the Forgotten One (aka Gilgamesh) joining the Avengers in issue #300, he doesn’t seem to have ever made much of an impression. His tenure does little more than to lead the team to another, more famous Eternal - the cosmopolitan Sersi! She definitely makes her mark on the team in the early 90’s. For better or worse!

Avengers (1963) #307-310, 325 — Gilgamesh is injured in battle, leading the Avengers to seek out the aid of his fellow Eternals - except Sprite has transported all of Olympia to the Negative Zone. After helping fend off Blastaar, Sersi joins the team in Gilgamesh’s stead. At this point she becomes a series regular and fans can start reading Avengers from here for more. Issue #325 is a great fill-in by Mark Gruenwald that features Sersi at her best – throwing a party and hitting on stymied squares.

(Writing - John Byrne; Pencils - Paul Ryan; Inks - Tom Palmer; Colors - Christie Scheele, Tom Fine; Lettering - Bill Oakley, Rick Parker)

Avengers (1963) #325 — A great fill-in by Mark Gruenwald that features Sersi at her best — throwing a party and hitting on stymied squares.

(Writing - Mark Gruenwald; Pencils - Rick Levins; Inks - Fred Fredericks [et al]; Colors - Ed Lazellari; Lettering - Brad K. Joyce)

Avengers (1963) #370-371 — Kro works at the Pentagon and has an outreach database for Deviants, which he uses to form Delta-Force! This team includes his kids with Thena who have the ability to merge into a grotesque fusion, and they need to save the Avengers from Ghaur.

(Writing - Glenn Herdling; Pencils - Geof Irsherwood, Mike Gustovich; Inks - Al Milgrom, Kevin Yates, Tom Palmer; Colors - Chris Matthys; Lettering - Bill Oakley)

Avengers (1963) #339, 344-347, 355-366, 372-375 — This is Bob Harras’ grand epic to ruin Sersi. After Sersi forms a version of the Uni-Mind with a bacteria-based group of Eternals (it’s… a thing), her behavior becomes erratic, presumably some Eternals mind-sickness. She begins to fawn all over Black Knight, linking to him in a soulmate ritual against his consent (he’s falling in love with Crystal). It’s all because of an alternate-reality Black Knight who wants to get revenge on Sersi because his version broke his heart. When everything is finally resolved, Sersi and Black Knight enter a wormhole and leave the dimension. At least Sersi has a cool costume.

(Writing - Bob Harras; Pencils - Steve Epting, Gordon Purcell; Inks - Tom Palmer, Steve Alexandrov, Fred Fredericks; Colors - Kevin Tinsley, Sarra Mossoff, Scott Marshall, Evan Skolnick, Tom Palmer, Gina Going, John Kalisz; Lettering - Bill Oakley, Michael Higgins, Rick Parker)

Heroes for Hire (1997) #5-7 — Sersi returns to a post-Onslaught 616 universe to warn about another plot by Ghaur to form an “Anti-Mind.” He’s been resurrected as a giant gold statue and is controlling all the Deviants. Once the day is saved, Sersi goes off on her separate way, with her bond to Black Knight severed at last.

(Writing - John Ostrander; Pencils - Pasqual Ferry; Inks - Jaime Mendoza; Colors - Joe Rosas; Lettering - Jonathan Babcock)

PART 5 — REBIRTH & DEATH / THE MODERN ERA

Having exhausted the story potential of the Eternals throughout the 80s and 90s, Marvel decided to pull in a ringer to give the franchise a reboot.

The Eternals (2006) #1-7 — the Eternals have all forgotten who they are thanks to Sprite, and the return of the Dreaming Celestial forces them to wake up… I am not a big fan of this run, and hold a bit of a grudge against it. John Romita Jr’s art is good though, especially when he’s drawing big bulky things. The biggest shame is that the Deviants are pretty generic here, and Kro is nowhere to be found. I mostly recommend reading this because it reintroduces the Eternals in the modern era and sets up the scenario for the next volume, with Makkari taking center stage and arranging Druig and Tiamet, the Dreaming Celestial on the board.

(Writing - Neil Gaiman; Pencils - John Romita Jr; Inks - Danny Miki, Tim Townsend, Tom Palmer, Jesse Delperdang, Klaus Janson; Colors - Matt Hollingsworth, Dean White, Paul Mounts; Lettering - Todd Klein)

The Eternals (2008) #1-6 — Druig is brainwashing as many Eternals as possible to his cause as Thena and Ikaris race against him. The heart of the story, though, is how Makkari is being used as a megaphone/alarm system by the Dreaming Celestial to warn about an intergalactic menace called the Horde that is coming to consumer Earth - a role that is overtaking his personality like an addiction. Sersi gets some good scenes in this but her character is kind of diminished in favor of Makkari. The story is actually pretty interesting, and salvages a lot of the ideas that Gaiman brought to the table. There’s a three issue X-Men crossover after this but I don’t have much to recommend it - Acuña’s not even drawing it.

(Writing - Charles Knauf, Daniel Knauf; Art - Daniel Acuña; Lettering - Todd Klein)

Thor: The Deviants Saga (2011) #1-5 — A little romp with Thor that takes the newer elements established by Gaiman and the Knaufs and brings them more in line with the previous depictions of the mythos. It does include a lot of details and references that Eternals fans should get a kick out of – Karkas and Ransak play a large role, Deviant Ereshkigal makes a return as does Ikaris’ dad Virako, there’s a lot of Kro – but it’s kind of meandering and doesn’t amount to that much. It ends with the entire cast essentially writing themselves out of future appearances.

(Writing - Robert Rodi; Pencils - Stephen Segovia; Inks - Jason Paz, Jeff Huet; Colors - Andy Troy, Will Quintana; Lettering - Jeff Eckleberry, John Rauch)

The Ultimates 2 (2017) #4, 6, 100 — Overall this is an amazing series, but as it pertains to this reading list, these issues shed light on the origins of the Marvel Universe, and thus, the Celestials. Created in the very first iteration of the cosmos, they not only have survived the many subsequent deaths and rebirths of the Multiverse, but they stand in opposition to a host of opposite, evil Celestials, known as the Aspirants. The Aspirants lay waste to the Celestials, who manage to live on through the surviving One Above All (this is even after the Celestials were seemingly all killed by the Beyonders in New Avengers [2013] #30).

(Writing - Al Ewing; Art - Travel Foreman, Filipe Andrade, Marco Lorenzana, Scott Hanna [Inks]; Colors - Dan Brown, Matt Yackey; Lettering - Joe Sabino)

Avengers (2018) #1-6, 8 — This series combines with Aspirants with the Horde of the last Eternals series to introduce the Dark Celestials, retconning the Celestial’s origin even further. The evil Dark Celestials have killed off their more colorful brethren and are coming to destroy Earth. Meanwhile, the Eternals are found to have all killed each other for some related reason. Ikaris holds out long enough to give Iron Man the power to make a Uni-Mind, which saves the day. The Celestials return and are cured of their Horde sickness – in return, they give the Avengers an ancient Celestial corpse to live in. Not my favorite, but as of this writing, it is the last time any of these concepts have appeared in the comics.

(Writing - Jason Aaron; Pencils - Ed McGuiness, Paco Medina, David Marquez; Inks - Mark Morales, Jay Leisten, Juan Vlasco, Karl Story; Colors - David Curiel, Justin Ponsor; Lettering - Cory Petit)

The History of the Marvel Universe (2019) #1 — As the name implies, this is a straightforward and beautiful explanation of the MU’s origins and the role the Celestials play, told from today’s vantage point with all the retcons and retrofitting that have happened over the years. Includes the obligatory origin of the Eternals and Deviants and the first three Hosts of the Celestials.

(Writing - Mark Waid; Pencils/Inks - Javier Rodriguez; Colors - Álvaro López; Lettering - Joe Caramagna)

PART 6 — XTRA-CREDIT

Being an X-Men fan, it's worth noting the times when the Eternals, Deviants, and Celestials have run into the mutants.

X-Factor (1986) #43-50 — Judgement War! X-Factor ends up on another planet which is visited by its own Celestial Host. The team gets involved between a set of Eternals and Deviant-type sects, trying to stop the Celestials from judging them unworthy.

(Writing - Louise Simonson; Pencils - Paul Smith, Rich Buckler; Inks - Al Milgrom; Colors - Tom Vincent; Lettering - Joe Rosen)

X-Force (1991) #77, 79, 82-90, 96-97 — X-Force starts running into people associated with the Damocles Foundation - a group of Deviants, Eternals, and Humans.

(Writing - Joseph Harris, John Francis Moore; Pencils - Adam Pollina, Jim Cheung, Angel Unzueta, Terry Shoemaker, Anthony Williams; Inks - Mark Morales, Rob Stull, Ray McCarthy, Bud LaRosa, Harry Candelario, Scott Koblish, Derek Mei, Scott Elmer; Colors - Marie Javins, Steve Buccellato, Mike Thomas; Lettering - Comicraft, Chris Eliopoulos)

Earth X (1999) #0-X — Issue 0 is basically Uatu explaining the history of the Marvel Universe to X-51, with a heavy emphasis on the role of the Celestials. This includes a very brief discussion of the Eternals and Deviants, but mostly focuses on the creation of humanity and the birth of super heroes, as the various Celestial Hosts visit Earth. By issue 9, the Celestials return for their Fifth and final Host, and more of their relationship to earth and Uatu is revealed as the remaining heroes defend their planet. Really really good and a must-read in general, even if the Eternals themselves are just footnotes. John Paul Leon makes the Celestials look like the coolest things the Marvel Universe has ever produced. The Reject does get to play a role in the sequel Universe X, though.

(Writing - Jim Krueger, Alex Ross; Pencils - John Paul Leon; Inks - Bill Reinhold; Colors - Matt Hollingsworth, James Sinclair, Melissa Edwards; Lettering - Todd Klein)

New Eternals: Apocalypse Now (2000) #1 — Apocalypse is behind some ill-defined plot that involves destroying Lemuria and turning Karkas into a kaiju. Ikaris’ father Virako is brought back, and they have some quarrels over leadership. This is another good one for Eternals fans but it’s kind of incomprehensible. At the end, the Eternals adopt new superhero identities as “the New Breed,” but this is never mentioned again.

(Writing - Karl Bollers, Mike Higgins; Pencils - Joe Bennett; Inks - Scott Hanna; Colors - John Kalisz; Lettering - Benchmark)

Uncanny X-Men (2012) #1-3 — Mr. Sinister messes with the Dreaming Celestial and it’s bad news for the planet. Magneto comes in handy.

(Writing - Kieron Gillen; Pencils - Carlos Pacheco, Jorge Molina, Rodney Buchemi, Paco Diaz; Inks - Cam Smith, Roger Bonet, Walden Wong; Colors - Frank D'armata, Rachelle Rosenberg, Jim Charalampidis, Dono Sánchez-Almara, Rex Lokus; Lettering - Joe Caramagna)

There’s more stuff with Eternals in it throughout the Marvel Universe, and even more with the Celestials, but this is pretty foundational and focused on the Eternals of Earth. Most of this stuff is on Marvel Unlimited, and the stuff that isn’t is looking like it will be included in a new Omnibus - ”The Complete Saga” - (currently scheduled for December, 2020), like the 1985 series and the “Herod Factor” one-shot. With the MCU movie scheduled for February 2021, it’s highly likely we may be seeing a new series before too long. I recently came across this fascinating bit of research on the behind-the-scenes of Jack Kirby’s work on the The Eternals -- check it out! Four Color Primer: Sersi & The Eternals Part 1

*issue credits gathered from marvel.fandom.com