#this is about sersi not ikaris like yes he's here in the scene but it's about HER

[lady-of-the-spirit]

Eternals (2021) / The Carnivorous Lamb, Agustin Gomez-Arcos, trans. William Rodarmor / "Like The Dawn", The Oh Hellos / "I'm not calling you a liar", Florence + The Machine

[supercap2319]

Golden Light & Shields Chapter 3

Ikaris x Male Reader

A/N: Chapter 3 is here. Writing helps with the stress of school lol.

The next morning was spent on what to do with Ajak. She had her color back but was still weak from having her energy drained by the Deviant. There was debate on whether to leave her here on her farm, or take her with them to Mumbai, to Kingo. “She's been injured. There's no way we could take her,” Sersi said.

“That's true, but we can't just leave her. That Deviant followed us here from London and could come back and Ajak won't have the strength to defend herself,” Y/N protested. They all turn to Ikaris. He looks at them confused. “What?”

“You’re the leader now, Iceberg. It's your decision.”

Ikaris sighed. “We take Ajak with us. It's better she's with us than on her own.”

After packing a bag for Ajak and a quick breakfast, the Eternals and Y/N set out for a flight out of South Dakota, and to Mumbai, India. Y/N’s thankful for his passport and visa. After spending 16 hours and 39 minutes on an airplane, they finally landed in Mumbai. Ikaris and Y/N helped Ajak and carried her stuff as they found a place for her to stay, while they went to go find Kingo.

They found themselves on the set of a movie being made. There was a woman singing about a ‘Nach, mera hero.’ Several women in long dresses dance around with a piece of cloth in their hands as they twirl and move off to the side. The lights turn on in the center of the set are several men dressed like guards, as a man with dark hair and skin is dressed like Ikaris. He and the other males begin to dance to the beat of the music. Y/N and Sersi look on in wonder as Ikaris and Sprite look disturbed.

“That's Kingo, right?” Y/N asks Ikaris, pointing at the man in the middle.

“Yeah, that's him,” Ikaris responds.

“Why is he dressed like you?”

“No idea.”

They continue to watch as the men dressed as guards move off to the side as the women take center stage and begin to dance as Kingo walks around the side. A man comes up to them. “Welcome. I am Karun Patel. Kingo’s valet,” Karun says. “It's truly an honor to be in the presence of the great Eternals and a mighty Avenger.” The final dance number is coming up as Kingo and his leading lady continue the last part of their dance, red and white petals falling on them as they stop and so does the music.

“Cut! Okay, everyone, that was good. But we could do 10% better,” Kingo says. “That was beautiful. Very, very, good. Really so good.” He takes notice of Ikaris, Sprite, and Sersi.

“Ahh, my friends from college are here.” He hugs Ikaris. “Hello, boss! Perfect timing. Welcome to the set of…” He speaks in Hindi. “Legend of Icarus. I'm playing you! You like the costume?”

“We need to talk,” Ikaris says as Kingo keeps talking. “Tell the director I have some notes for him–”

“–We need to talk to you in private,” Y/N interrupts.

“I’m sorry, but who are you?” Kingo asks, looking at Y/N.

“My name is Y/N Maximoff, an active member of the Avengers, codename: Prometheus,” Y/N said.

“Dude, you're an Avenger? Do you know Thor—of course you know, Thor. Why would you be an Avenger and not know Thor?”

Y/N chuckles. “Yes, I know Thor quite well.”

“Awesome, the name’s Kingo,” Kingo held out a hand for Y/N to shake. “Nice to meet you, Kingo. Ikaris has told me all about you.”

“Oh, really? What did he say about me?” Kingo eyed Ikaris suspiciously.

“All good things, I promise.”

“We need to talk to you in private,” Sprite says, pointing a thumb at Karun.

“Oh, Karun. He's worked with me for 50 years. I trust him completely,” Kingo says. “Actually, when we first met, he thought I was a vampire, and he tried to stake me through the heart.”

“I have apologized so many times,” Karun chuckled.

“Not quite enough times. Very close, though. I'll let you know. Oh, I have to get ready for the next scene. Come to my tent, we'll talk there. You guys are gonna love the next scene. I come in on a wire 'cause, you know, I can't fly. Wait, are we getting back together?”

“We need to talk,” Sersi said as they followed Kingo to his tent. “I've been waiting for the day the world learns the true identity of the Shadow Warrior—”

“—Ajak was almost killed,” Sprite said.

Kingo froze, then looked at them through the mirror. “What?!”

“It was a Deviant. The Deviants are back. We don't know how many there are. You need to come with us,” Ikaris places a hand on Kingo’s shoulder. Kingo gets up and walks out of his tent, obviously disturbed by the news. He heads toward the exit of the set. He looks at the poster for his movie. “I can't just go. I mean, all of these people depend on me. We just started shooting this movie. It's the first of a trilogy. We just got BTS to do a cameo…”

“Sir, may I say something?” Karun asks.

“Please don't say anything.”

“I think you should go.”

“I just said don't say anything,” Kingo said.

"Life affords no greater duty than to protect one's family!" Remember? It's your favorite line from The Shadow Warrior 2: Voyage of Time. Your family needs you,” Karun reminds him.

Kingo sighs.

….

That's how they all found themselves on Kingo’s private jet as they headed to Australia to find Thena and Gilgamesh. Ajak was doing better and Kingo was so happy to see her again. It’s been what? 7,000 years?

“Seven thousand years. That's how long the battle between Eternals and Deviants has raged for. You think I'm a movie star? Well, I am. But I am also... an Eternal,” Kingo says dramatically as Karun records him with a camera.

“Kingo, what are you doing?” Sprite asks, annoyed.

“I think we should be remembered, so... I am making a documentary about us. You are about to meet my fellow Eternal Sprite.” Sprite looks at Sersi for help. “Sprite, tell them about yourself.”

“Oh, wait,” she says as she flips Kingo off and disappears.

“I wonder who taught her that one?” Ajak said.

“Okay, well, we'll circle back to her. This is Sersi. Sersi, tell them about yourself.” The camera is on Sersi, who looks uncomfortable. “Uh…”

“We're rolling.”

“Well, uh... I can change a rock into water. Uh, I could turn a rock into wood. Or a rock into metal. Actually, one time, I turned a rock into air,” Sersi states honestly.

“Cut. Um, you know what? Why don't you think about it, and we'll get back to you, okay? Let's go,” Kingo said as they headed to the back.

Y/N’s hand inched towards Ikaris’s drink as he was munching peanuts and wasn’t looking. Just as Y/N was about to grab it, Ikaris grabbed it without looking at him. He turned to Y/N and smirked. “And just what do you think you're doing, hmm?”

“Come on, Ikaris, I'm thirsty,” Y/N said.

“Well, why do you grab yourself a fancy water or soda or something?”

“Why can’t I have that?” Y/N pointed to Ikaris’s alcoholic drink.

“You’re underaged and the last thing I need is a drunk boyfriend,” Ikaris said.

“But I can’t get drunk. Not even Thor’s Asgardian home-brewed liquor can get me buzzed,” Y/N protested. “I’m about to turn 21.” Ikaris gave him a look. “In like a year from now, but the point is I’m an adult.”

“Sorry, Duckling, but this is not for you,” Ikaris kissed Y/N on the cheek and walked and sat down next to Sersi as Y/N pouted.

Sersi was looking down at her phone, texting. “Sprite says you're addicted to this thing,” Ikaris says.

“Oh, this?” She holds up her phone. “Look at this.” She uses an app that changes Ikaris’s face to what he would look like as an old man. “Whoa.”

“You know, seeing as we don't age. I think you look quite good. Don't you?” She takes a picture as they both chuckle.

“Nobody ever wonders how you managed to be the leading man for over 100 years?” Sprite asks Kingo. They were in another part of the plane.

“Oh, I don't know what you're talking about. That is my great-great-grandfather, that is my great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and me. I'm part of the greatest dynasty in the history of Bollywood. Pretty impressive, right?” Kingo says, referring to him in all the posters.

“You abandoned me in Macedonia.”

“Okay, I got sick of moving every five years. People freak out when they notice that you don't... age.”

“I thought we were friends,” Sprite told him.

“Do you know why I love movies? Because of you. I missed sitting in the audience, listening to your stories, watching your illusions. We should've all stayed together. It would have been better that way,” Kingo said.

They make it to Australia as they walk in the Outback, dirt flying all around. A Deviant is dead on the ground. “This is the Deviant you fought in London?” Kingo asks.

“It's different. There must be more out there than we thought,” Ikaris says.

“Oh. Is... Is this a Deviant, sir?” Karun asks.

“Yep.”

“It's a beautiful creature.”

“What? This? This? No. It's hideous. You've never had one try to bite your head off. Roll,” Kingo said.

“Oh,” Karun begins to roll the camera. As Kingo narrates what’s going on. “You're about to meet two of the greatest warriors the world has ever known. Thena, legendary, deadly, fashionable,” Kingo says. “And her trusty friend…” He points towards the door. “Door. ... a mighty powerhouse of strength.” Ikaris knocks on the door. “The fearsome Gilgamesh!” Ikaris and Y/N give Kingo a pointed look. No one comes out.

“Gilgamesh!”

Someone opens the door as Gilgamesh comes out wearing an apron. He looks at Ikaris. “What took you so long?” he waves for Karun to turn off the camera. He looks at Sprite as he walks by. “You look younger today, Sprite.”

“I have the same apron,” Karun notes.

Gilgamesh looks at him. “Who the hell are you?”

“I'm Karun. Kingo's valet.”

“Oh, valet. Like Alfred in Batman.”

“Gilgamesh. The Deviants are back,” Ikaris says.

“No shit. I could have used some help.”

“We were attacked by a Deviant in London, too, and on Ajak’s farm,” Sprite said.

“Ajak’s here?” Gilgamesh asked as the leader of the Eternals walked up to him and smiled warmly. “Hello, Gilgamesh. It's been a long time.”

“Yeah, no shit. What about the Deviant?”

“Ikaris couldn't kill it,” Sersi said.

“You couldn't?” Gilgamesh teased.

“I was distracted,” Ikaris protested.

“Sure, man.”

“It took both of us to stop it,” Y/N said.

“Who are you?” Gilgamesh asked.

“This is Y/N Maximoff. Ikaris’s superhero boyfriend,” Sprite said.

“Boyfriend?!” Kingo and Gilgamesh asked at the same time.

“That's right,” Ikaris said. “Is that a problem?” He brought Y/N closer to him.

“Not a problem at all, boss,” Kingo said.

“He’s cute,” Gilgamesh said as Y/N blushed. “Hey, you guys wanna try my pie?”

“I do,” Y/N said, grabbing the hot pan from Gilgamesh with his bare hands. “It smells good,” Y/N said as Gilgamesh stared at him, shocked.

“Something wrong?”

“Doesn't that burn your hands?”

“Not really. Invulnerable skin,” Y/N said.

“Cool.”

Ikaris looks out into the distance at a tree. Sersi follows his eyes and sees a white figure underneath it. Y/N sets the pie down on the table as Sersi begins to walk towards the tree. “Sersi. The attack triggered her. She's no fun to be around right now,” Gilgamesh warns.

They all walk towards the tree, with a woman with long blonde hair dressed in a white dress sitting underneath it. She’s drawing with oils and pastels a picture of a Celestial. It's either Arishem or Tiamut. “Hey, Thena. Look who's here. Give me your hand.” Thena turns around but instead of giving Gilgamesh her hand, she projects a spear made out of cosmic energy as she attacks Gilgamesh, but he blocks it with his own cosmic energy of exoskeleton. “Thena.”

“Everyone in Centuri-Six is going to die,” Thena said.

“Give me your hand,” Gilgamesh says.

“It's too late. We can't save them.”

“Thena.”

Thena creates another weapon in her other hand as she takes a defensive stance. Sprite uses her own powers of illusions to create an environment that resembles their ship. “Thena. We came to Earth together on our ship.” Sprite waves her hands and there’s a lifelike illusion of Arishem, Thena, and a Deviant. “You're an Eternal. The greatest warrior of Olympia. The legendary protector of Athens. The goddess of war. Remember who you are.” Thena puts her weapons away as she holds on her hand for Gilgamesh.

He links his hands with hers as her eyes go back to normal as Sprite’s illusions melt away. “Remember.”

Thena smiles.

“Thena,” Ikaris says.

“Hi,” Kingo said.

“Hello,” she says.

“Hey, who's your gardener?”

Ajak steps forward. “Hello, Thena, it's wonderful to see you again.”

“Hello, Ajak,” Thena says, as Ajak pulls her into a hug that Thena hesitantly accepts. They pull back as Thena looks at Y/N. “And you are?”

“Hello, Thena. My name is Y/N. It's lovely to meet you,” Y/N said.

“Likewise,” she smiles as she heads back to the hut. The others follow her as Y/N whispers to Ikaris. “She’s kind of hot.”

“She’s too old for you,” Ikaris said.

“Technically, you're too old for me as well,” Y/N smirked. “Someone’s jealous.”

“I'm not jealous, but let me tell you something. You’re mine and only mine,” Ikaris says as Y/N giggles.

….

“This is just what you guys eat every day? Yeah, this is amazing,” Kingo said. They were all eating food prepared by Gilgamesh.

“Every day.”

“Thank you for this,” Ikaris said.

“Oh, you're welcome. Help yourself.” Gilgamesh holds up a jug. “This one is a trio of wine, beer, and mead. Made for all the soldiers in the battle of Troy,” Gilgamesh smiles.

“That's so thoughtful,” Karun said. Thena stares at him as she eats a bite of her food. Kingo looks at her. “Should she be drinking?” Gilgamesh leans in close. “No, hers is non-alcoholic. For kids.” Thena takes a drink of her cup.

“I gave you the same thing, Y/N, Sprite,” Gilgamesh said. He begins to chuckle, and so does Kingo. “For kids.”

Y/N and Sprite glared at Gilgamesh. Sprite waves her hand and an illusion of baby clothes forms around Gilgamesh. “I was just kidding. Your is a secret brew Odin taught me as a thank-you after we helped defeat Laufey's army in Tønsberg.” The others began to chuckle at the way Gilgamesh was dressed. He frowns.

“What? Oh.” he looks down and sees what he’s wearing. “I'm a big baby. Very mature. Can you stop? Stop.” Sprite breaks the illusion.

“Speaking of Odin... Thor used to follow me around when he was a little kid. Now he's a famous Avenger and won't return my calls,” Kingo said.

“Really?” Y/N asks him. Thor never told him that.

“Oh, yeah. He followed me like a little puppy dog.”

“So, now that Captain Rogers and Iron Man are both retired, who do you think is gonna lead the Avengers?” Sprite asked. They all looked at Y/N, awaiting an answer.

“Umm… Well, Steve has been training me in more leadership types of roles, but I'm sure someone like Sam, Bucky, or Carol is more qualified than me to lead. Maybe a Young Avengers or something with Peter.”

“Well, maybe I could lead them. I figure I'd be good at that,” Ikaris said.

“Yeah, you would,” Kingo said.

“I could ask Steve and see what he says,” Y/N offered.

“As long as you're by my side, dearie,” Ikaris smiled.

“How are you to them when you couldn't even lead us?” Gilgamesh said.

“Whoa.”

“Ouch, Gil. Ouch.”

“Harsh.”

“I'm gonna let that one slide because, you know, you've always been bitter that I can fly and you can't,” Ikaris said.

“Oh, so what, you can fly? I'm better-looking, everybody knows that,” Gilgamesh said.

Ajak was silent throughout the whole meal. It was obvious she had something on her mind. They were all almost together except for Druig, Makkari, and Phastos. Maybe it was time she was honest with all of them and told them the truth about who they really are. “I have something to tell all of you,” she said.

“What is it, Ajak?” Sersi asked.

Y/N looked at Ikaris worriedly. She was going to tell them the truth. Ikaris’s face was unreadable.

“What's been happening to the Earth? These earthquakes. I know what's causing them.”

“What?” Sprite asked.

Ajak looked the other Eternals in the eyes. “It is a side effect of the Emergence.”

“The Emergence?”

“It is time for you to learn the true purpose of your mission. You were sent to Earth to bring forth the Celestial Tiamut. Every billion years, new Celestials must be born. Arishem planted Celestial seeds into host planets across the universe,” Ajak said.

“The planet Earth was chosen to host the Celestial Tiamut. In order to grow, Tiamut needs vast amounts of energy from intelligent life. The Deviants prevented this by consuming humans until the Eternals eliminated them. Now, the human population of the planet has reached the required amount. The Emergence has begun.”

“You knew the truth, and you didn't tell us?” Sersi said.

“It wasn't just Ajak who knew Sersi,” Ikaris said. “Y/N and I knew about it as well.”

“You both have been lying to us?” Sprite asked.

“It wasn't a lie. Just a secret we couldn't say,” Y/N told her.

“Right, because that's so much better,” Kingo said.

“But... Everyone on Earth will die.”

“Right, but we won't let that happen,” Ikaris said. “That's why I came looking for you, Sersi. To find you and Sprite.”

“What about our home on Olympia?”

“There is no Olympia. Your true home is the World Forge. It is here that Arishem built and programmed the Eternals,” Ajak said.

“Everything dies except us because we were never alive. Why don't we remember any of this?” Gilgamesh asked.

“Because your memories are erased and reset after each Emergence,” Ajak said. “Arishem created the Deviants, and he lost control of them. He built and programmed us, the Eternals, to be synthetic beings incapable of evolution, to correct his mistake.”

“So, you're saying we're basically fancy robots? And our past memories are stored somewhere in space?” Kingo said.

“And Arishem made the Deviants,” Sersi said.

“I'm sorry, Thena. You tried to warn us,” Gilgamesh said.

“The last time Arishem reset your memories, something must have gone wrong,” Sprite said.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, that's what Mahd Wy'ry is, isn't it? All this time, Thena was remembering all the other planets we were sent to and everyone dying during the Emergence,” Sprite said.

“Exactly,” Ajak said.

“I thought we were heroes. Turns out we're the bad guys,” Gilgamesh said.

“You’re not the bad guys, Gilgamesh. Just misguided,” Y/N said.

“Why should I believe anything you say?” Gilgamesh looked at Y/N. “You're a liar.”

“Leave him alone, Gil,” Ikaris said.

“Or what, Ikaris?” Gilgamesh said.

Ikaria got to his feet, eyes glowing gold as Gilgamesh summoned his cosmic exoskeleton.

“Stop! Both of you!” Ajak said. “It's understandable that you feel angry and hurt, but if you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me. Not at Ikaris or Y/N.”

Gilgamesh huffed and dropped his cosmic exoskeleton.

“Every time innocent lives have been sacrificed for the greater good, it turns out to be a mistake. We have to stop the Emergence,” Sersi said.

“Sersi, we have no right to stop the birth of a Celestial,” Kingo protested.

“Maybe you don't, but I do,” Y/N said. “I protect this planet and if there’s a way Tiamut can emerge without destroying the Earth, so be it, but if not I'm not going to let him destroy everything I care about.”

“We just have to delay it until we figure out how,” Sersi agreed.

“Could Druig control its mind? Maybe put it to sleep?” Gilgamesh asked.

“"Put it to sleep?” Are you serious?” Sprite said.

“Gilgamesh asked Druig to put me to sleep once,” Thena said.

“So I could take a vacation to Fiji, you know?” Gilgamesh said.

“We’re talking about a Celestial, okay?” Kingo said.

“We have to try. Come on, we’re not gonna let everyone on Earth die, right?” Y/N asked.

“Right,” Karun said. “I’m human. I’m a little biased.”

“The world is ending. You need to go home,” Kingo says in Hindi.

“And do what? Watch TV?” Karun asks Kingo.

“He’s got you there,” Y/N said.

“When I could be with the Earth’s original superheroes and its latest as they try to save the world?”

“Fine. If you want to, stay,” Kingo says, taking a drink of his mug.

“Thank you very much, sir.”

“Gilgamesh, could you please get rid of the saliva beer?” Kingo said.

“I thought you liked it, man,” Gilgamesh said.

“We need to go. Now. Find the others,” Ikaris said. “Once we’re all together, we’ll decide what to do about the emergence.”

….

They all journey to the Amazon in search of the one Eternal who might be able to put Tiamut back to sleep. Druig. They’re deep in the forest and find a small village with a bunch of people and animals like llamas. A little girl walks with her parents as she waves at Y/N, who waves back.

“Buenas Tardes,” a woman says as she passes by Kingo.

“It’s very nice here, sir,” Karun says.

“Don’t be fooled. Ignorance is bliss,” Kingo warns.

“Oye, estamos buscando a Druig. ¿Está aquí?” Sprite asks a man if he knows where Druig is.

“Sí. ¿Cómo conoces Druig?” He asks her.

“Somos amigos… De la universidad,” Y/N said.

The man turns to Y/N and Sprite, his eyes glowing eerily. “Hello, Sprite.” A man walks out of a little building as the people of this village gather behind Y/N, Karun, and the Eternals. “I missed all of you,” Druig smiled. “Please, make yourselves at home.”

They all follow Druig inside the building and tell him everything that’s going to happen. Druig stands in front of them, searching their eyes and maybe even their minds for any indication that this is a trick or bad joke. He looks at Ajak.

“You’ve given me a lot of bad news in one go, my lady.”

“Will you help us?” Ajak asks.

“I am glad that…”

Sersi’s phone begins to ring, interrupting Druig mid-sentence. It plays Juice by Lizzo as she tries to turn it off. It’s Dane calling her. She puts it on silent as she blushes, glancing at Ikaris, who smirks.

“Hey, what’s your service?” Kingo asks curiously. “I’m not getting any bars.” Thena hits a sleeping Gilgamesh awake.

“Do you all remember this forest?” Druig asks. “Beautiful.” He walks around the room. “It was the last place we all lived together.” He stops in front of Thena and Gilgamesh. “I’ve protected these people for 20 generations now from the outside world and from themselves.” Kingo tells Karun to stop rolling the camera as Druig comes up to them.

“Your kind, my friend, you will be responsible for your own extinction one day,” Druig tells Karun. “Don’t you think?”

“I think we must learn from our mistakes and do better, sir. You must not give up hope,” Karun tells him. Druig’s eyes flash gold and there’s a humming sound as Karun’s eyes flash the same color as he throws the camera against the wall. Druig is controlling him. Y/N speeds over to him and pushes him against the wall.

“Let go of him, now,” Y/N demands.

“You’re gonna have to make me,” Druig grins at Y/N. “If you wanna stop me, you’re gonna have to kill me.”

“Oh, don’t think I won’t,” Y/N warns.

Druig’s eyes flash again and Y/N can hear a buzzing sound in his head. Druig is trying to mind control him. Druig frowns as his eyes go back to normal. “That’s not possible.”

Y/N grins. “Sorry, but I’ve had my mind controlled by my sister once and wasn’t a fan of it. She forced me and Ikaris to play house in a sitcom show, so don’t think that’s going to work on me.” Y/N lets Druig go and he lets Karun go as well.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Karun said.

“Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault,” Kingo said. “You are not a God. You know that, right?”

“How ironic. Kingo, the movie star,” Druig said.

“I’ve directed some things, too.”

“Oh, yeah? Like what?”

“Some Internet content.”

“How many views?”

“I don’t do it for the views,” Kingo said.

“He’s wasting our time,” Ikaris says, walking towards the door.

“We need him,” Sersi said.

“Ikaris,” Druig walks up to him. “I missed you. Are you gonna charm me or threaten me like your boyfriend over there?” he points to Y/N.

“I mean, there’s a third option, if you prefer that,” Ikaris says evenly.

“It must be heartbreaking to find out that your boyfriend is just as evil as his sister. A destroyer of Worlds,” Druig says, grinning at Y/N’s shocked face. “I may not be able to control your mind, but I can read you like a book. And let me tell you, Y/N. You’re very open about it.”

“The only evil one here is you, Druig,” Ikaris says angrily. “A spoiled and selfish brat.”

“Sticks and stones, Ikaris.”

“Druig, this is serious,” Sersi says.

“I’ll tell you what’s serious. I’ve just been told I’ve been sent on a suicide mission for the past 7,000 years, and that my entire existence is a lie. So, excuse me for not giving a shit about your plan right now,” Druig says as he walks out the door.

“Druig sucks.”

“He does, sir.”

Ikaris and Y/N flew high above the clouds in the night sky. Usually Y/N love to fly, it always made him feel better and cleared his mind, but tonight his mind was elsewhere. Ikaris sensed something was off with his young lover.

“What’s wrong, Duckling?” He asked.

“What?... Oh, it’s nothing,” Y/N said.

“You sure?”

“Actually I’m not okay. What Druig said—”

“— Druig is a down right bastard,” Ikaris said. “Don’t listen to him.”

“What if he’s right?” What if I really am evil?”

Ikaris shook his head. “That’s nonsense.”

“Is it? Agatha told my sister she would destroy the world as the mythical Scarlet Witch. And told me I have that same darkness inside me,” Y/N says. “She said I’d either use my powers to protect mankind from her, or help her destroy it.”

Ikaris was silent for a moment and Y/N was afraid he scared him off. That’s when he spoke. “If that was true then why would you risk coming here to help us stop the Emergence?”

Y/N looked at him. “Because it’s the right thing to do.”

“Exactly, Y/N,” Ikaris said. “Because your heart is pure and you would rather sacrifice yourself for those you love. That’s not what someone who’s evil would do.”

“But I—”

“— No but’s. I don’t care what an evil witch or a bastard Eternal says. I know you better than they do. You're not evil.”

“Are you willing to bet your life on that?” Y/N asked him.

“Always.”

“I love Ikaris,” Y/N said. It took a second for the

Avenger realized what he had just said. “Wait— That’s not what I—what I meant was—”

“I love you too, Y/N,” Ikaris smiled sweetly. “I always will.” Ikaris leaned down for a kiss and before Y/N could meet him, something hard and heavy slammed into them as Ikaris let Y/N go as he fell to the ground below. “Y/N!”

The last thing Y/N saw while he was plummeting to earth was Ikaris being carried away by a Deviant.

“Ikaris!”

[crystalblazefire]

my thoughts after watching eternals for the 2nd time:

visual effects are fuckin cool and the music is so epic like it gives me goosebumps every time i see the intro where they land on earth

ikaris was sus af the whole time ig i was too distracted by the deviants when i watched it for the first time lmao

thena and gilgamesh's relationship is gonna make me cry (i only saw their relationship as a platonic one but i can see how people could interpret it to be romantic now)

the more i think about it the deviant subplot felt underused like i thought it was going somewhere but then the deviant just....died and i'm here like, Bruh™

i love dane whitman he's so adorable and i absolutely cannot wait to see more of him someone let that man become a giraffe

kingo is comedic gold, i love the levity he brings to the film. would've been nice if he were in the final act though, mostly bc his decision to fall back felt kinda...weird and out of place

the scene where makkari finds the emergence point is still the most epic scene ever the rush i felt while watching it was sublime

i wish makkari was more developed as a character

they really just forgave sprite for stabbing sersi?? like come on bro lol sprite doesn't even apologize? (ok it might have happened offscreen but still i feel like the "Hey I Can Make You Into A Human" development was pretty sudden lmfao)

i thought druig said "the beautiful makkari" back in babylon but it turns out he said "my beautiful makkari" so technically they've been together longer than ikaris and sersi have 💀

druig really isn't as much of a grouch as i thought and as people make him out to be - he's a lil shit but he cares a lot about his family and he stands behind them (him reassuring sersi and phastos dude...) that shit makes me Cry

phastos's family is beautiful and i love the scene at the end where the eternals are just hanging out on their couch and interacting with phastos's son, please i want more domestic! eternals content where it's literally just jack and his Cool Immortal Aunts and Uncles

speaking of domestic! eternals ajak's unconditional love for her family is a real tearjerker

i noticed druig is almost always munching on something in the domo and i find it hilarious idk why

also. druig wearing a sleeveless shirt & wielding a shotgun...hello yes 911 i'd like to report a robbery. the victim? my heart

can you tell i'm a druig simp

drukkari still owns all of my brain cells

[slothgiirl]

a rose by any other name x

prev. /// next.

druig x reincarnating human!reader.

massive chapter warning. like, idk how i even wrote this much and yet managed to write almost nothing in kyoto or hong kong.

Kyoto 1855

Sersi’s gaze finds yours and you can see her go from shock, mimicking a pufferfish, to excitement as she lights up and smiles fully before trying to stifle everything as she tilts her head and narrows her eyes trying to figure out if you knew her. You did. 

It’s 1855 and Japan has been forced to open its borders again, finally. You thought you’d died before the shoguns let people travel freely in and out of the country. You’d gotten as far as Kyoto, but even your clever ways and deep well of knowledge came up short when you lacked the money for a bribe and couldn’t exactly chance swimming to Korea. No Dutch ship or Chinese would risk the lucrative trade to smuggle you out of the country. 

But it was 1855, and Sersi was here. 

Which meant all of them were here.

The tall woman rocks in place, visibly working through her thoughts as people pass by on the street. 

It’s an artesian market on the outskirts of the Geisha District. In the day, families came through to shop and watch street musicians play. There were paintings of country scenes, the ever popular calligraphy, and hand carved combs were hawked by a man in a kimono. Another man with a wrinkled face and calloused hands sold onigiri with pickled plums or cuts of salmon. 

You add to the life of the district, strumming songs who’s language had changed so much you could no longer speak it’s modern equivalent; you play songs that haven’t been heard in centuries. No one spoke Egyptian anymore. 

The Aztec empire was gone. 

You were one of a handful of witnesses to the passing of the ages. 

Xenia. . .Kwame. . .so many more people just like them, just like you, who were nothing more than another human being living their lives on earth, making ripples that only the community remembered while the waves of history only cared for people like Julius Caesar. You carried their ordinary lives with you. You knew. You were there. Your lives had always been ordinary, and you wouldn’t change a moment. 

You strum the wrong key on your shamisen. 

Sersi hovers on the outskirts of the small crowd that has gathered, a few coins dropping into a wooden bowl you’d carried all the way from Gifu prefecture nearly a decade ago. 

You smile slightly before bowing in respect, grateful that they had stopped and taken the time out of their day to listen to you and help you make your living. Then make the gesture of a word that she would recognize: you curve your hand against your temple. 

You knew. 

Her eyes widened again. Sersi bites her bottom lip, physically restraining herself from embracing you right then and there, her eyes shine with unshed tears. 

You glance around for her shadow, but Ikaris is nowhere to be seen. 

You collect the coins and put your instrument down for the day. 

She comes to you then, “you’re. . .you’re here!” She had always been an awkward but excitable woman. Her komon was a solid cotton color, and you could just make out the hem of a pair of trousers underneath. It was a world away from the last time you had seen her, in the finest textiles and colourful feathers. She had no mark of wealth that Ajak favored.

“I am.” You nod, leading her away from the bustling square and into one of the tea houses in the district. “Tea?”

“Yes, well-” Sersi looks around, “that sounds good.”

“I’m guessing you just arrived,” you ask her, “though Ikaris letting you go out alone. . .I suppose there’s still the whole foreigner execution mandate going on,” you ramble. The teahouse was in a traditional building and affordable. There were no famed Geisha here. Just the family who ran the place. “Maybe he shouldn’t be out and about. . .” 

Judging by Sersi’s expression, you might as well have kicked a puppy. She looks away, “maybe we should do this once we’re sitting down. . .”

“Do what,” you arch a brow, “what’s happened?” What could happen to immortal aliens who welded powers like theirs? “Sersi?” 

“I-Ikaris isn’t here.” She gushed the rest out, “noneofthemare. It’s just me.” She smiles apologetically, looking more devastated with every word feeling insufficient and obviously missing her family. 

“How?” You couldn’t wrap your head around it. They were Eternals. They’d always been together, even when they hadn't wanted to be. 

It’s-let’s get tea.”

The tea is perfect. Steeped and full of flavor without the bitterness of having been left too long. Most importantly, you can drink it without burning your tongue, no waiting as steam rises. 

“Well,” Sersi mulls over her words, “Thena got sick. Mahd Wy'ry.”

“Mad Wary?” You never even thought it was possible for any of them to get sick. Not like you and other people. You didn’t even know how you’d died last, just the blood and feeling incredibly tired. 

“Mahd Wy'ry,” she enunciates slowly. “It’s in our mother tongue. It’s when you get these hallucinations and lose touch with reality. Thena. . .she was convinced there was a battle going on and didn’t recognize any of us, just attacked. No one wanted to hurt her but she is dangerous to herself and others. So Gilgamesh decided to look after somewhere remote. That or have Ajak wipe her mind-”

“Wipe her mind? Like, erase her memories,” you frown. “But surely there’s other ways to treat this without something so drastic.” 

“I don’t know much about it,” Sersi admits, holding her warm cup with both hands. 

“Laxatives or cocaine pills,” you offer.

“Ajak would know more than me,” she utters longingly. “Since the city fell, we all went our own ways. For a moment it was Ikaris, Ajak and me, but then. . .I don’t know. . .Ikaris left not long after Ajak and I-I don’t know. Maybe he was. . .” She looks up at the ceiling, trying her best not to cry. 

You reach for her hand, “it’s not your fault. Didn’t he say anything?”

“No,” her voice is anguished, “he just left one day and never came back. I thought. . .I stayed in Veracruz for years waiting for him, so he’d know where to find me.” 

“Sersi,” your hand tightens over hers.

“Yeah.” 

She drinks her tea, “then I've just been knocking around and when I heard Japan was opening up, well, it’s been a moment and I was nearby in Vietnam.” 

“I’m glad,” you smile, having left for Kyoto to search for Druig, monumental task in the wide world even with telegrams. You couldn’t exactly place an advert in the paper: Reincarnating wife seeking Immortal Husband. They’d laugh you right out of the office. “Really,” you add, when she doesn’t look convinced, “I am. It’s nice to see a familiar face again.”

“How long have you?”

“About a decade, more or less.” 

“You’d like Vietnam,” Sersi tells you, “Though I think the French will dig their claws in any day now.”

“Like with Africa,” you think aloud, “I’m sort of glad the shogun closed the borders. Sure, it's a headache for me personally, but it probably kept the country from being divided up like Africa and China.” 

“Fucking Africa,” Sersi frowns. “You’d think the USA would’ve outlawed slavery by now.”

“It’s only been three thousand years.” Some things never changed. Societal ills and all that, maybe they would always persist in some form or another. 

“I don’t remember that being a problem in the early days, granted there were no steamships then,” she tells you. 

You don’t want to be the first one to bring up Druig, not wanting the woman to feel like she was playing second fiddle when you were glad to see her again. You trusted you’d find your husband again. 

And you could bring it up when Sersi wasn’t quite so depressed. Clearly she could do with having a bit of laudium. 

“How do you even. . .how do you remember,” Sersi asks, looking down at her cup, puzzled. “I always thought you had to run into Druig or I guess one of us would do?” 

“Not really. I don’t know,” you shrug, “it’s gotten much easier though even fourteen’s young by my standards.”

“How does it even happen? Not that I’m not thrilled to see you again,” she smiles brightly. 

“I don’t know,” you frown, putting your cup down. “I’ve never known but yeah, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Which begs the question, how did you manage to get into Japan? I thought the bay out by Nagasaki was the only port of entry?”

“Oh,” Sersi turns crimson. “I convinced a fishing boat near Korea to let me onboard. Rocks into fish. Then I, well I bribed the officials.”

“Rich girl,” you tease.

“With books actually,” she explains. “They’re desperate to catch up and I had quite a few books from my time in France. Had to flee because of the revolution and then it was Vienna before making my way to Indochina.” 

You snort, “of course you’d somehow bribe officials with books. I’m surprised you didn’t pull out a pristine copy of The Tale of Genji.”

She giggles. 

“Where are you staying?” 

“This inn,” she explains, on the shadower part of town. 

“Oh, you’re staying with me now.”

“Maybe,” Sersi posits and really she’d make a wonderful scholar if she put her mind to it, “it’s some form of human magic? Or could it be a latent ability of Druig’s, given your connection to him? Though I’ve never heard of anything like this on Olympia. Do you remember a life before?”

You laugh nervously, reeling at her words. You’d never given it much consideration. “People can do magic? Like actual magic, not like the tricks from Athens, actual magic?”

She nods.

“I barely remember Egypt,” you admit. “It's like trying to remember when you were three.” 

“Well,” she offers, “we could visit some sorcerers,” then she quickly adds, “if you’re okay with it. We don’t have too. It is out of the way, and I’m sure you want to go straight to Druig after all this time.” 

Brimming with curiosity about human magic and her awareness of sorcerers, you can’t just say no. “How far out of the way?” 

“Hong Kong.”

“Hm,” you think, “and Druig is?”

“Back in Mexico. North of what used to be Tenochtitlan. Mexico City expanded so fast. . .you’ll see what I mean,” she grips her cup with both hands. 

“Okay,” you nod, “we’d have to catch a ride in Hong Kong or Manila anyway. Might as well.” You wouldn’t mind knowing more. Maybe give you peace of mind that there wouldn’t be a last time, or tell you how many more lives you’d live. 

It could be good. 

Sersi intertwines her fingers with you. She reminds you of Xenia. 

***

Hong Kong is a sleepy fishing village that reminds you more of the farming town you’d grown up in, the rice paddies and endless green. The main blocks of the city where the English have established themselves are much more modernized in a western Greek revival style, while wood buildings and elegant horse drawn carriages. It feels enormously foreign. 

You might as well be in an entirely different country. 

You could only compare it to Bursa in its golden age. At least the Ottoman Empire was still around, making you feel a bit more grounded. Not everything had become unrecognizable. 

“I think it was this way,” she led you around the streets, “or maybe it was down that street?” Sersi forces you to practice Cantonese which is hardly the most difficult language you’ve learned. It’s one of those that just clicked for you. 

“Are you sure you remember the way?”

Even your simplest kimono stood out among the Westerners in the street: the rounded collar’s of the Chinese style jackets and trousers. 

“Yes. It’s here. The buildings, it’s different.” She glances around before leaning close to you, “There was no English here last time.” 

“We can catch a ship,” you tell her, working around the feeling lodged in your throat at the prospect of being so close to answers you hadn’t even known you wanted until they were dangled in front of you. “And just head to-”

“This way!” Sersi pulls you along a bit too hard, forgetting she was much stronger than you. 

“Careful!”

“Sorry,” she winces, “I should know better by now.”

“It’s fine,” you wave it off, glancing around the street, wondering what a building run by sorcerers would look like, “‘s long as you don’t rip my arm off, please and thank you.”

She laughs, “I’m not that strong. Well, maybe if I tried and put my back into it. . .it’s just never been an area I’ve worked on.” Then she grins, all Maiko white teeth, and says, “this is it.”

The building is ordinary. Wood and stone like the English buildings, with smooth paint, and seemingly no magic in sight. It gave you both the impression that it had always been here and had been built yesterday. 

You didn’t recognize the characters on the sign. They were nothing like the flowing characters of Japanese or Arabic. 

Sersi goes right up and then turns to you, “should I or do you?”

You knock on the door. 

How bad could this go? 

The door opens and a man dressed in a simple Tang suit leans out. “We are closed today.”

“Oh, no, we’re here for the-”

“We are closed.”

“About that,” Sersi tries.

The man starts to close the door.

You stick your foot in the door, “At least let her finish.”

“The Hong Kong Sanctum,” she tries, “I was wondering if you could answer some questions we have.”

The man's mouth quirks up, “usually it’s the other way around.” 

“So may we step inside,” you ask, more to the point. 

He nods. “I am Chih-Ming.” 

Sersi introduces you both.

The inside of the building is more what you would expect from the little you have seen of Hong Kong houses, scrolls with confusian sayings as well as characters that look strange to you. Maybe magic? A woman waters plants around the entryway without a jar; she moves her hands in mudra-like forms and water gently falls, conjured water. 

You stare. 

“Come, you must speak with Hoa, she runs this sanctum,” he explains. “You are familiar with the mystic arts after all.”

Sersi and you nod though you have no clue. People, doing magic! Actual magic, none of the drug induced “visions” shamen and priests had. Like Sersi turns rocks into, well, anything, a human woman was just summoning water. What else could they do?

“Right this way then.”

You keep your eyes peeled for more. Other Chinese and people from the surrounding places walk around in simple robes. They walk into other rooms, the thin walls doing more to separate the rooms than stone. Not even sound carried. Magic.

It was magic. 

Eventually Chih-Ming leads you to a door on the upper floor of the building. “Master Tran,” he says as he knocks on the door, “there are-”

“Yes, let them in. I’ve been expecting them.”

You want to roll your eyes. Now this, this seemed like a trick. You were sure she said that to everyone who dropped by just to seem mysterious and uber powerful.

Either way, you follow Sersi in.

Hoa Tran is old, all her hair gone white and more wrinkles than you can count that map out her age for all to see. She still sits on a woven mat with ease, back straight, as she reads through a book. 

The pages flip by themselves.

“You may leave us.”

Chih-Ming bows in respect before leaving.

“Come, sit.” She motions in front of her, closing her book. “Thank you,” Sersi bows. “Sorry to drop in like this. I wasn’t sure if the old address would be correct and mail sometimes takes longer than travel these days.”

“These days, you really mean that don’t you,” Master Tran smiles knowingly. “Sersi of the Eternals.”

“You know?”

Things continued to get more and more interesting. How could this random woman know?

“I do. There’s multiple books in the Sanctum categorizing accounts of your. . .group, going back three thousand years.” The old woman’s gaze moves to you, “and yours.” 

“Really,” you lean forward, “could I see them? The books?” 

“Our library is open,” she nods, “to all who enter and choose to study our ways.” 

“And what are your ways?” You arch a brow, not sure you liked the idea of having to be here and join whatever this was, but magic. 

“Before we get ahead of ourselves,” Master Tran raises a hand, “let’s go back to why you are here, no?”

You nod. “Okay. Yeah, um,” you felt strange to even say it after all this time. For so long you have just accepted this as part of you and moved on. “I’ve been reincarnating, for as long as I can remember. This is, I think this is the tenth time?” You hadn’t exactly kept track. “I don’t know why or how or if it’ll suddenly stop.” That was your main concern. You didn’t want to just-

“Are you comfortable,” she pauses, “or would you want to speak privately?”

You glance over at Sersi.

She leaves it up to you. 

“I’d be more comfortable with her here,” you admit easily. You didn’t trust this random woman. Sersi, you knew. 

“Alright then,” she nods, “let’s see what we’re working with,” then she puts her thumb in the middle of your forehead and before you can ask what she’s doing, you fall.

The world ripples and grows, lights form shapes and collapse around you and everything becomes insubstantial. It’s giving you a raging headache to even watch as everything around you shifts.

You try to lift your hands to catch yourself only to find yourself standing. 

“What did you do,” Sersi tilts her head. Her voice is murky like hearing something from underwater. 

Hoa ignores her, her gaze traveling from. . .from you to you. 

Your body was laying on the ground.

“I don’t understand?”

“Few do,” Master Tran utters, voice clear. “Or else everyone would do what you call magic, what we know as the mystic arts. Now, let’s see-”

The world blurs again. 

Your feet sink into sand even as you topple over. Your head hurts. Sersi is gone. 

You reach to push yourself up but your hand passes right through the sand. You didn’t understand. 

“Do not limit yourself to what is in front of your eyes,” Master Tran says simply, “just do. If you want to stand, you will. It’s all willpower.” 

It was getting annoying. You might look fresh faced and in your twenties, but you were older than many countries.  

You stand, “what do you mean everyone could do magic?” 

“Everyone has the potential if they wish to learn, but most people lack the discipline to continue on this journey.Like with all matters in life, it isn’t for everyone. Not everyone can be an explorer in the arctic or a linguist. Not everyone can be a sorcerer.” 

You recognize this place, “Egypt.” The Egypt you knew, not as it was now. The pyramids are capped with gold. The shine across the horizon. Wheat and grains line the fertile land surrounding the river. You used to come here sometimes, a very long time ago. 

“It’s not-we’re not really here,” you meant a time. 

“No, it’s just your memory,” the sorcerer nods, “I. . .cannot time travel.” But she didn't say it wasn’t possible, just that she could not. “May I see your hand?”

“Now you ask,” you say archly, holding both hands out. 

She runs her fingers over your skin. “You have a spell woven into the very fabric of what people like to call souls, your astral projection, that which makes you, you.” 

“What?”

“It’s your spell. You never. . .did things without meaning to? A treasured plate you found unbreakable? Shoes that never wore out?”

Rain that never drenched your drying clothes even as it fell on your hair. 

Master Tran smiles softly, clearly remembering her own life, “Or one day something terrible happens and you search for a miracle only to learn how to make miracles for yourself.”

“What happened to you,” you ask, flinching at how aggressive you sound, how rude, “if you don’t mind me asking. You don’t have to tell me Master Tran.” 

“One of our water buffalo crushed my foot. And yet,” she looks down, “here I am.” 

You found it hard to believe that they could do the same kind of work Ajak did. “Why keep it to yourself? Why not teach everyone?”

“We follow the path set up for us by the Ancient One. We are here for those who seek us out. Our doors are open, but the mystic arts are not to be taken lightly.”

You frown. It sounded like an excuse more than anything. 

“Here we are,” Master Tran nods her chin and sure enough, you watch a younger older-looking you walk up to watch the sun shine over the land. 

“So. . .if I made the spell, what then? Will it just run out of steam? Do i have to keep on making it?”

“I could undo the spell if you wish, or you could stay here and learn the mystic arts yourself and undo the spell on your own. You would not be able to draw energy for the spells you would learn and power the spell you have made.”

“I’d die after this,” you say, more to the point. 

“Yes, as all things must. We are bound to the laws of nature. Everything dies.”

“Would you undo the spell by force?”

“No,” she shakes her head. 

Tension eases in your chest as the sun sets over Egypt. 

“I would advise you to-” she tilts her head, “You have lived a long time.”

“But the spell won’t randomly break?”

“You are fueling it yourself, unconsciously, the same as you forged it here, thousands of years ago. I would be very surprised if it were to break.” She frowns, clearly not pleased at the idea. “It’s not for us to live so long.”

“But I haven’t,” you point out. “I live and die, over and over again. It’s not exactly thrilling to remember dying and to-I don’t get to grow old with the man I love or have a life like other people do, but at least we can be together.”

“A half measure.”

“Do you have a better solution,” you snap angrily.

“No.”

Your anger flares at her flippant tone. This was your life. You were done here. There were only explanations but no answers.

*** 

The boat rocks and you feel your stomach swim again, turning into knots and the nausea rises all over again. It didn’t matter if you were in the second class cabin curled up in the bottom bed or if you were on the deck getting air.

“There, there,” Sersi tried. 

“You don’t have to,” you close your eyes and take a deep breath. “I’m sure you’d rather be enjoying the dining room, or those musicians. . .” 

“I don’t mind. I can read down here. They have newspapers from all over the world, the art scene in Paris sounds amazing right now,” she rambles. “And they’re a few months behind, but I like catching up. Knowing what’s going on.” You were sure she was also lonely after who knows how many decades living by herself. You thought she’d be happier settling down in one place and making a life for herself in the community even if the most she could pull off was thirty years before her lack of aging raised questions. Sprite had even less time. 

“Read one to me?”

“French? Or maybe Spanish, I don’t think you know Spanish and since that is where we’re heading. This one might be the most recent one from when we were in Manilla?”

“Anything, really.” You weren’t paying attention. Anything would work to take your mind off the rocking. 

It hadn’t been bad near land. From Hong Kong to Manila had been fine. Stopping by Sydney for a few hours, it had been the open ocean that had done you in.  The road to Mazatlan was long. Especially if the waves were this rough all the way across the Pacific. 

You wish you had run into Makkari.

Sersi’s soft voice fills your cabin. 

It grounds you. 

For days you've thought about the little choices you had been given. Understand magic, but die, permanently. Don’t understand it, and keep on going like you always had. You didn’t want to live and die. It was difficult on both you and Druig. 

What choice did you have though?

The luggage creaks as it rocks with the movement of the waves. 

***

You spy land for the first time in weeks. Too bad it’s Hawai’i. 

The ocean at least is calm. 

“Did you ever look for Ikaris,” you ask Sersi, leaning on the railing.

Sersi raised her head and leaned back, soaking up the sun. “No. I guess that's my problem. For so long I was. . .I just went along with everything. I followed Ajak even when I felt we were doing wrong. . .I followed Ikaris’ lead and then he was gone and instead of doing, of looking for him and demanding answers I just waited around.”

“You aren’t now.”

“I’m not,” she laughs. “I’m done, waiting for something.I’ve done more in three centuries than I did in three thousand years.”

You laugh with her. “I'm glad. You’re, you’ve always been so good and. . .you deserve to be happy and find something fulfilling to do..”

“Yeah, like what?” She wonders.

“You could teach all these languages, or teach about dead ones,” you snort, “pretend to crack what Egyptian hieroglyphs are saying.” 

“I do like history,” Sersi nods, “though,” she grins, “is it really history if you’ve lived through it?”

***

“This is quite remote,” you point out, having traded your kimono for one of Sersi’s Hong Kong style trousers and suits. It was easier to trek through the mud up the mountain. Days had gone by since the last time you’d seen civilization. Sometimes you lost track of the road entirely; in places, it had been overgrown by weeds. 

“You don’t know the half of it,” Sersi catches her breath. It was a good thing you both travelled lightly. 

“I thought you said north of Mexico City,” you huff, sweat dripping down your back, “not in the middle of nowhere.”

“Well, the rainforest north of Mexico City. Cities have grown a lot.”

“I know that. We should’ve brought horses.”

“Sorry,” she utters, with a laugh, “at least you’re not seasick anymore?” 

You roll your eyes at her. “Not sure I agree.”

***

“You do get how fucked up this is,” you ask, looking at the floor. You’d left your shoes, entirely caked by mud, outside of Druig’s home. “Don’t you,” you look up at him. It’s the same man, the same face you know better than you know your own. You’ve traced his expression lines a hundred times over. 

Druig is taken aback. “I’ve given them everything. Peace. Prosperity, a home. Proper healthcare.”

You press your tongue to the roof of your mouth, swallowing. “What about choice? Or free will?” You have not always been free yourself. “It’s not-it’s artificial peace. It’s not real when they’re not deciding to do it themselves. It should be-”

“No murder. Slavery,” Druig argues back stearnly, clasping his hands together, “No one goes hungry. Tangible results. What do philosophical thought experiments matter when they are living better lives than anything out there.” His mouth was a harsh line. 

There was no getting through to him. 

You knew how stubborn he was. 

“Because. They. Didn’t. Choose. This.”

“They’re free to leave,” Druig frowns, placing his hands on your shoulders. “They choose to stay.”

“Oh yeah,” you roll your eyes, pulling away, “they choose living under your thumb like it’s not the only life they’ve ever known! What is it slavers always say? The slaves are happy,” you utter sarcastically. 

You take no pleasure in Druig flinching, stepping back. “It’s not the same. Don’t try and pretend it’s the same,” he raises his voice, clearly exasperated. 

“No,” you make your point, drawing the line in the dirt that this was not something you were going to accept just because it was coming from him when you disagreed with such a large-scale and persistent use of mind control, “you’re more like Arishem and Ajak deciding you know best.”

“I’m going for a walk.” 

You look away from him, not really sure you had much else to say. 

The entire feel of the place made the hairs on the back of your neck stand. 

*** 

Sersi, in true Sersi fashion, has already made friends. “This is Cualtzin. She was telling me what they use to weave watertight baskets now. A lot’s changed. Like wool,” she points at the woman's skirt, “they have sheep now. And horses.”

“Right,” you smile at the woman. She looked only a few years older than you with dark hair plaited to her waist, and a lovely round face. 

“They still mostly speak nahuatl though they know Spanish,” she smiles, “verdad?” 

“Si, es bueno saber los dos idiomas. Los enseña mi abuela en la escuela del pueblo.” 

It was a village, tucked away on the hillside. The houses were wood and stone, with a large building that might have been the school, or a town hall of sorts. In a village this small and remote, it might serve multiple purposes. 

Like buddhist monks, the people wore simple clothes, made for function, in hues of blue. 

In clumsy Spanish, you ask, “y tu, que haces aqui?” 

“Y usted,” Sersi corrects you easily, having spent all of the road from Mazatlan to Mexico City schooling you in the current tongue of this country that had once been your home. 

“Su español está bien. Como dice mi abuela, con que puedas hacerte entender está bien. Yo cuido a los pollos. Tenemos que estar moviendo los seguido.” 

“Thank you. I haven’t really gotten the hang of it. Mayan, Nauhatl, Japanese, those I know.” 

“You speak a lot of your grandmother,” Sersi points out. 

“If you like,” the woman smiles, “you could come to our house and meet her. We could have dinner, if you like?”

Sersi smiles at you, “I’m starving. The journey took a lot out of me.”

“Agreed,” you nod, still feeling uneasy about the situation and how your talk with Druig had gone. 

The Eternal reaches her hand for yours, squeezing your hand in comfort. 

 *** 

“Why so far from the city,” you ask Druig, reading a copy of El Si De Las Ninas. Rice could have been harvested three times over at the rate you were reading. The alphabet was so strange: assigning every shape a sound and putting it back together. 

“To put distance between the village and the rest of the world. The Spanish completely destroyed Tenochtitlan.” He concentrates, planking in the living area of the house without a tremor in his arms. 

“I know,” you muse, watching him from over the pages of your book. “I didn’t recognize it at all when we arrived. And the smell,” your nose wrinkles. The downside of so many horses, so many people, was the literal shit on the streets. The Aztecs may have ripped people’s hearts out, but at least they had clean water and basic hygiene. 

Druig snorts. 

You put your book down. 

“So you’ll stay?”

“I don’t know,” you admit. “They seem. . .nice, welcoming.” You liked Cualtzin and her family. Sersi liked the children who were endlessly amused by her, having never seen anyone who appeared Chinese before. And she had the patience to entertain all the questions and the games they came up with. 

But that didn’t change the facts. 

Did this make you an accomplice? 

Could you live in a place where people’s eyes flashed gold if they started arguing, if they fought? 

“They are.”

“Hm,” you move, laying on his back, only slightly annoyed that there was no give. Superhuman strength had never bugged you so much. 

“What are you thinking, my beautiful lady?”

“That I’ve missed you,” you whisper softly against the shell of his ear, “and I didn’t cross an ocean to argue with you for the next fifty years, and I still think you’re awful for doing this, no matter your good intentions. And they are good,” you state, “I wouldn’t still be here if they weren’t. . .I know you. You’ve always had a good heart,” you rest your chin on his shoulder, “but this isn’t right.”

“We’re at an impasse then,” he muses quietly. 

“I don’t know.” You didn’t want to stay. You didn’t want to leave. You wanted DRuig to stop. You didn’t think he would. Through it all, you loved him. 

Druig lays down on the floor. 

You press a chaste kiss onto his shoulder. 

“They do leave you know. To get what cannot be made here. Or for books and small amounts of trade. News of what goes on. . .yet they always return.” 

“Sh.” You hush him, “I’m still cross with you. If anything, it’s talking to Cualtzin and her grandmother, seeing Javier who. . .he joined right?”

Of the top of his head, Druig answers, “Javier was found wandering the jungle as a child. I couldn’t find his family or where he had come from so he has stayed with us ever since.”

“Oh.” You rest you cheek against his back, breathing in sync with the rise and fall of his chest. 

“Do you remember. . .last time. . .” Druig was loath to bring up your deaths. 

“Yes. . .I don’t really know what happened, or why I bled out?”

Weak from bleeding so much, your memories were clidy at best. You should’ve screamed for help. You hadn’t had the energy by the time you realized how serious it was when you woke up in the morning. 

“Hemorrhage,” Druig shifts, rolling over so that he can wrap his arms around you and tuck you into his chest. You welcome his touch, his embrace. You’ve missed him so much. It’s been months since you set out from Japan. The side trip to Tokyo took up a good chunk, and overland travel had slowed to a halt once you’d left the comfort of the train to travel by foot the rest of the way. 

You lean into him, basking in the feel of him. 

“That’s what Ajak said. When I got back. . .you were so pale. . .”

“I’m here now,” you whisper softly, “I'm right here.” 

Druig kisses your temple. “Hemorrhage, from miscarrying. That’s why you died,” his voice has gone so quiet you can barely hear him.

“What.” You still.You hadn’t-that hadn't ever been a worry, it had never happened, you had been sure it wasn’t even possible. To now know that. . .it was, and you hadn’t even known. You could have taken care of yourself, you would have lived longer. There were herbs to prevent conception and herbs to strengthen you. 

A child. 

Your child.

Druig and your child. 

It wasn’t that your thoughts had gone straight to having a family right this very second, only that the possibility that you could, that you could decide if that was something you wanted along with your husband, was such a paradigm shift to what had become your constants in your repeating life. 

He waits for you to process. 

“How-after all this time.”

“I know,” his voice is somber. “I didn’t know what to think after Ajak told me.” 

You’re silent for a long time after that. 

*** 

“Look at this El Salon des Refusés,” Sersi shows you a newspaper she had picked up on the last venture into the nearby town, “Some artist named Manet and apparently Emperor Napoleon had things to say.” 

You were laying in her room. Apart from the uncanny peace in this village, you couldn’t find anything to do. The pace of life was akin to counting grains of rice. You missed the happenings of Kyoto. Change in the air. Rich and poor rubbing shoulders and the world changing. Clearly, Sersi agreed. 

“Artists are so boring.They have all these rules.” Lowbrow art was where it was at. No one cared what crude carvings you did on bowls and spoons, but those marble sculptures and mosaics always had so many ratios and conventions handed down from the state. 

“Not anymore. It's the subject matter that was frowned upon, but subjected to public opinion instead of the Salon.”

“What could it be,” you rolled your eyes, “the wrong color for the nobles.”

“Nudity.”

“In art,” you laugh, that was normal. 

Sersi snickers, “alright, hush you, do you want to know or not?”

“Okay, tell me.”

“Nudity, but with an ordinary scene. Not allegorical, or mythological or-”

“I get it,” you laugh, “they should see Thena’s crude mix of vivid colors and misshapen bodies torn apart.”

“I just wish they'd taken photographs of the paintings and not the front of the exhibition,” Sersi notes wistfully. 

“Planning a trip somewhere,” you wink. 

“No,” she frowns, “not really. I'm enjoying being here with you.” Sersi wasn't looking forward to being alone. 

“We could go together.”

“You don’t have too,” Sersi buries herself back in the newspaper, soaking up everything. “Mexico is a beautiful country. I’m teaching the children English. Well, history in English.”

“You do know a lot about history,” you tease. 

You had no idea where she found the patience to not only wrangle kids but also teach them.You just didn’t have that talent, or desire. You wondered what it might be like to be a mother, to have your own, but it wasn't something you wanted with the burning ferocity couples in the midst of baby fever had. 

 You just had a lot of time to think. 

*** 

“I was thinking of going to Europe. With Sersi,” you tell Druig casually as you help him make dinner. 

“You were thinking or are planning,” he asks casually. There's an array of fresh vegetables, frijoles from the communal kitchen for anyone who wasn’t up for cooking or simply couldn’t for some reason, and the classic tortillas you still knew how to make. Your hands never burned. 

“Both. She hasn't asked me, but I can tell she wants to go and is lonely and a lot of interesting things seem to be going on in Paris. Much better than the American Civil War. Overdue. I still don’t get why they couldn’t just pass a law like the English.”

Druig smiles, “if you want to go, you should. I don’t think you’ve been to Europe in a long long time.”

“That is true,” you grin, finishing up. “Lots has changed,” then on a more somber note, “are you sure you’re okay with it? We already have such a short time together.” It had been More than two hundred years since the last time you’d walked the earth. 

“Don’t worry about me my lady,” Druig insists, “I’ll be here when you get tired of all the shit out there aye?”

“I’ll make a killing. I heard the Japanese aesthetic is all the rage right now. I can paint some good scenes of pagodas and geishas.” 

“I’m glad you can cheer Sersi up,” Druig brings up, “Makkari’s has dropped in on her but she’s taken a long time to process-”

“He’s an ass.”

“I won’t argue with that.”

***

Druig kisses his way down your chest. 

Your luggage is packed, but for now you lay in bed with your husband, your lover, the man you come back to again and again. 

“I’ve missed this so fucking much,” he wishpers against your skin. You arch against him, towards his touch. “You’re so fucking sexy.”

“I know,” you grin, before moaning as his hand grazes your core. “I almost don't want to go.”

Druig smirks, “careful my love, I might make you miss your train.” 

“Go ahead,” you tease, “try.”

*** 

A painting of you and Sersi hangs in the house you and Druig have shared for decades. It was a gift from Mary Cassat, back in the days when Impressionism was barely rising. She had gone on her way since then, going on to England. Sersi still sent you letters, not that you could read them with your eyes anymore. 

Druig or Cualtzin’s granddaughter would help you read the letters. 

Getting old came with all these drawbacks. Including being cold at all times. 

You wrapped a blanket around your shoulders. It was still a nice day for a walk. 

Druig is looking out down the hillside. 

“You just had to build your dumb village on the side of une cerro,” you tell him, “what’s wrong with a nice even valley.”

He laughs, offering you his hand. “There’s water up here.”

“I do like the river,” you agree, “it makes for a nice swim. A shame there’s no axolotls there. Or tuna. Have you had tuna?”

“I have.”

“It’s great. I did love the ramen we invented here.”

“You are a very demanding taste tester,” Druig jokes, wrapping his arm around you. 

You’re old and wrinkly and your bones pop everytime you stand up, and you’re still in love with him. You’ve been in love with him since Egypt, nothing had happened then, but you’d loved him. 

Druig had obviously loved you back, why else would he have visited you nearly every day. 

You watch the sun rise over the jungle.

notes: i learned everything about dr strange from 2 youtube clips of him arriving to kamar-taj and from what he’s featured in avengers and thor ragnarok. im not sure that the ship really would’ve stopped in hawai’i before mazatlan because the records i was able to find were mostly manilla to japan to hawai’i to california in the 1900s, not the correct time, but it would’ve been mazatlan because it was a port of entry. lots was happening in the world in the mid 1800s, or maybe its that its more relevant to us than history from three thousand years ago. the part ends in the late 1890s.

[killervibe]

drukkari 😈😈 this is abt to get really good i can feel it

I have known this 5 minutes of screentime ship for less than a month and have already written 2 fics, inhaled like 45 top fics in the tag and have 2 more extensive fics plotted out in my brain. HELP. 

What made you ship it? I am a speedster slut as everyone already knows so it was not going to take very long for me to be obsessed with Makkari. And again, the ‘side characters’ superheroes who are best friends trope is literally my OTP drug. I thought Druig was a really interesting character too because his powers were very Brainwave-y which is usually a villain type power not a hero power so I was like oh??? And then I saw the way he spoke to Makkari “she also said stealing is very very bad 😏” and I was like .... what am I watching??? Druig??? FLIRTING?? And THEN we got to the holy Beautiful, beautiful Makkari scene and I literally have not been the same ever since. I am UNWELL. Like...HELLO??????? THE CHEMISTRY. 

What are your favorite things about the ship? Their communication is so open which is really striking considering there is SO much mystery to their past and the nature of their relationship!! I am also obsessed with the way you can pair these two with mythological couples and the archetypes they represent. I am obsessed with the fact this is like ??? a slow burn ship over THOUSANDS OF YEARS????? And it’s private and secret and flirty but REAL and theirs alone?? I also really love Makkari’s love language both in how she expresses and receives is physical touch, you can even see it in her rage in the fight against Ikaris. She thought Druig was GONE. And she poured every fibre of her cosmic being into the grief that caused her. The layers of it all the LAYERS. And to find out so much of it was just IMPROV? EXCUSE ME???? We were NOT prepared. The potential here is unmatched. I am so excited to see these two together on the Domo stuck with Eros because....hey. Sticking two Eternals with obvious feelings for each other with the other Eternal with the speciality of these feelings? Yes. Double yes. 

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? idk if i have one but i will use this space to say I want a drukkari wedding. I want to see Druig sign marriage vows KNOWING the risk and KNOWING what happened to Ikaris and Sersi and just not caring because he will love Makkari forever. Makkari will never be bored again. Goodbye. 

[thenamesh]

I truly believe that, at this point, Marvel should release a series of Thena and Gilgamesh. Just cute ol fluff or like their adventures together. It's gonna be amazing, I just knew it. (We'd get to see them more as malewife x girlboss 😩)

This isn't really an ask but I've just been dying to let out my admiration for Gilgamesh and Thena and their bond together.

Being an MCU fan since the start, out of all the couples out there, they're honestly the second relationship I'm really looking forward to and supported so much (if they would decide to deepen it)

Anyway, I wanna know what made you became a supporter of their relationship too ^^

Thank you so much for your ask! I appreciate it so much! You’re my third ask ever! (I think it’s the third, it might be the fourth lol) OH MY GLOSH! I would looooove it if marvel did a series or a trilogy or SOMETHING for Thena and Gilgamesh! I would actually die for joy! <3 And that’s a great question! What made me become a supporter of thenamesh? Welp, buckle up because here comes and ESSAY! lol jk <3 I think I’m attracted to thenamesh as a ship because, for me, they freakin’ emobody some key elements of what I think a healthy relationship looks like. What key elements are they, one may ask? I will name three out of the handful. I’ll put them in bullet form and then elaborate on them. Also, i’m speaking purely towards romantic relationships (although I also support shipping thenamesh as friends too) 1. self sacrifice

2. sticking together even when it’s rough

3. intimacy Okay here we go! First up is self-sacrifice:

When I look at Thena and Gilgamesh, they embody the purest form of love and the strongest form, the kind that says “I would do anything for you including give up my very life.” There is no greater love than this than to lay your life down. 

Where do we see this in the movie? When Gilgamesh says he’s gonna stick by Thena even though the Mahd Wy’ry will come back and she could possibly kill him. 

You guys.

*sobbing because I love thenamesh so much*

Okay here’s the another one: sticking together:

Faithless is the person that says farewell when the road darkens. Is the path of Thena and Gilgamesh rough? YES! HELL YESS! She could kill him at any moment, but he gently brings her back from the Mahd Wy’ry every time. The scenes where Gilgamesh says “take my hand” and “remember” are very telling. He’s probably said that to her at least a few million times but he is no less tender.  This goes without saying that there are relationships that exist that should not stick together and should end as quickly as possible, i.e. abuse, axe murderers, etc. But the point I’m trying to make is that sometimes people up and leave when the romance wears off, but that’s when you gotta be willing to put the work in to it!

And last but not least, intimacy:

I don’t mean just sex. I mean the way they hold hands or just sit and talk. This is wonderful for this generation to see. So many people just want to jump in the sack and have a romp between the sheets. (not that there is anything wrong with that) but for me, What’s the rush? Why all this emphasis on sex when there is more to intimacy than just that. Thena and Gilgamesh don’t even have sex in the movie (although I would have preferred the sex scene be of them and not Ikaris and Sersi, lol) Don’t get me wrong, sex is great. But intimacy is an umbrella term, and it encompasses the whole kitten caboodle.

I hope I haven’t completely bored you to DEATH! :P

I really love thenamesh and I hope I answered your question about what made me start shipping then in the first place!

Have a wonderful day!

Oh I almost forgot, I’m curious who your first fav ship is? You mentioned thenamesh is your second fav! <3 ;P

[fandomficticn]

The Last Hope - Prologue

THE LAST HOPE Masterlist

Word Count: 2004 words

Summary: She was never supposed to be needed. The Celestials created Naluma as a last resort; if all else failed, she would be the one to save mankind. Hoping that such a time would never occur, Naluma remained dormient and Lily Shorne was born, living a normal life on Earth with no knowledge of who she actually is or the power she has. When the world is put in jeopardy once more, the Eternals must find Naluma before it’s too late and all of humanity is lost.

Warnings: eternals spoilers

A/N: thank you to everyone excited about this story so far! i watched eternals on saturday and literally a day later came up with this story. like i put in the notes of the masterlist post, this story has the same start to it like the movie, the eternals coming to earth and their mission leading up to them going their separate ways in 1521 with some slight differences with my original content to fit my story. hope you guys enjoy!

2024 - Peru 

“Druig?" 

"Yes, my love?" 

"Do you think we have time to do everything we’ve ever dreamed?" 

"We have till the end of time.” 

Druig woke with a start like a strike of electricity struck him and ran straight to his heart. It was quite warm in his quarters and he often woke with sweat beading on his forehead but this was different. This dream caused the same reaction every time he woke up. The dreams were never the same, different locations and different times, but the voice was always the same. The girl was always the same. 

Druig had no idea who this girl was or why he kept seeing her when he closed his eyes. He felt in his gut that she was important somehow, definitely felt like she was important to him, and he needed to figure out why but he didn’t know where to start. This was the process his thoughts went through after every dream; rapid curiosity before the defeated feeling took over and he resolved to drawing her once again. He could cover the walls of his room with the pictures he’s drawn of this mystery girl. 

The dreams started when they arrived in Mesopotamia; just quick glimpses of her features here and there for a while until the pieces to the puzzle started to be put together and he could see her face. He’d started drawing her when the dreams became a reoccurring thing. Babylon is where he started getting big pictures, sometimes like he was on the outside of his own body and watching everything unfold before his eyes. He was actually smiling with her, not just smirks and eyes full of condescension. 

During these moments he’d just be watching, he could tell the two of them were moving through a different time which made him doubt any of these dreams were more than just his figments of imagination. How could he have been with this girl, have “memories” with her, when nothing around them had happened yet? Maybe he was seeing his future. That idea had crossed his mind but even with everything he knows is possible, he still thought that was far-fetched. 

He recalls the moments throughout his times with the Eternals, helping the humans and protecting them from Deviants, when his mind would just go blank. It was almost as if certain parts of his existence were just gone, like blips in his memory and no way to recall them. There were times when he’d look back on what fond memories he did have with the others and the scene would just cut short, like the footage was lost and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t fill in the blanks. With his gift being what it is, it baffled Druig that he couldn’t conjure up even the vaguest of scenes from these missing memories. Parts of his entire existence were just gone and he couldn’t help but think it had something to do with this mystery girl. 

-

400 CE - India 

Before Ikaris and Sersi’s wedding, the girl had still been on Druig’s mind and the others could tell his mind was far away just from the look in his eyes. No one had the sense to approach Druig about what was on his mind except for one person. 

Druig was off in his mind once more, sitting off to the side as he gaze out at the Babylonian sky when a gust of wind breezed past him. A smirk was on his face as he knew exactly who had joined him. He turned to face the new company, “The beautiful Makkari,” He signed to her, “To what do I owe this pleasure?" 

The usual bright smile the speedster possessed had softened to a gentle smile, one that was easily recognized as trying to mask the obvious look of concern. Before he could say anything, Makkari was already one step ahead of him, "Something’s on your mind.” She signed, “We all see it.”

Druig took a glance around and could see the truth in her words. His fellow Eternals were trying not to look but they were all clearly concerned about him and he could also tell they were trying not to look like they were watching to see how the conversation was going. He rolled his eyes as he turned back to his friend, “You’re all very nosy."

She playfully glared at him and shook her head, "Not nosy, worried.” She signed before placing her hand over his.

He knew she didn’t have to tell him how concerned they all were, he could see it clearly in their minds. How was he supposed to tell them what he’d been seeing in his dreams? Would they even believe them? What if they thought he was experiencing Mahd Wy'ry? Druig pushed the idea of telling them out of his mind; if things got worse, if he couldn’t move forward with the mission because of these dreams, then he would say something. Nothing sooner, nothing later.

Druig smiled softly at Makkari and shook his head at her, “Don’t worry, everything is fine."

The genuine look in his eyes seemed to satisfy Makkari’s worries for the time being and with her appearing at ease, the rest of the Eternals also felt at ease. She got up from her seat before informing him that the ceremony would start soon.

Druig watched her go and started to feel a block form inside him from keeping the truth from her. He wanted to say something, maybe someone would have some insight into but the fear of what he’d uncover outweighed his want to spill the beans. For now, he’d keep things to himself, and one of these days, he’d bring his secret dreams to light.

A few moments later, Druig found himself alongside the others as they looked on to the sight of Ikaris and Sersi cementing their love for one another. At that moment, he felt a twinge in his heart; part of him, deep down, wanted to have something like what they had but that was just a small part of him. The bigger part of him felt a hint of familiarity with the ceremony like he’d seen something like this before or even more so, been in the ceremony.

These fleeting moments were new and starting to happen here and there, where he would have feelings of having done something before but never able to recall the actual memory itself. Whatever all of these things were supposed to mean, the dreams and the feelings, the need to figure things out was starting to grow.

-

2024 - Peru

The compound was one of Druig’s proudest creations and he took great lengths in ensuring everything around it and in it ran smoothly. He was no Phastos but his people had certainly overcome quite a bit and thrived for years and years. He’d been circling around the compound, checking in here and there, before heading to his quarters. After India, Druig would force himself to stay awake, to distract himself when he was awake to keep from having the dreams and feelings and so far he hasn’t had a dream or felt anything familiar since leaving the Eternals and starting his compound.

He’d been working himself to the bone and would try to squeeze in the moments of peace and rest where he could. After finishing his rounds, he entered his quarters and let out a breath, finally feeling relaxed after another hard day’s work. Druig all but collapsed on his bed, throwing his arm over his eyes as he started to melt all the stress away.

All of a sudden he heard the faint shout of his name, his eyes shot open and he quickly realized while he was still in his bed, he was surely not in Peru. He shot up out of his bed and quickly tried to assess the situation but he was completely lost, thrown for a loop. Druig rose from his bed and scanned his surroundings; there wasn’t a building as far as he could see, nothing but an open field of lavender. The smell was familiar but besides that, he still had no clue where he was or how he got there. Was he even still sleeping?

"Druig!"

There is was again. His head quickly turned as he tried to pinpoint where the voice was coming from when he spotted a figure some feet away from him. He cautiously started to walk closer to the figure, fully prepared to defend himself, but as he got closer, that familiar feeling was back.

"Druig, help me!"

That voice. Her voice. It was her. He could pick her voice out of a lineup in a heartbeat. Druig was less hesitant to go to her now than before. "Help you? How?"

As he drew near, he could see the distraught look on her face and the feeling to spring into action appeared out of nowhere. Druig wanted nothing more than to help her, he didn’t even have to know what it was he was helping her with or from, he felt like he would do anything she asked him to and he could not fathom why.

They were now mere steps away from each other, within arm’s reach, and now Druig could see the tears falling down her face. He wanted to reach out, to dry her tears, and before he even realized it, his hand was already reaching out to her. Part of him wanted to finally feel her under his touch after all the dreams he’s had of her but the more rational part of him convinced him that this was nothing but a dream and he wouldn’t actually be able to feel her. His eyes widen as he made contact, feeling the heat from her cheeks and the dampness from her tears, "H-how…?"

The girl wrapped her hand around his wrist, making him focus on her, "I need you to save me, Druig. You have to help me."

Druig shook his head, "I don’t know how. I don’t even know who you are or where."

"You know me. You know you do.” The girl kept pressing on, “You have to find me and you have to save me.” Fresh tears began to fall down her face, “I don’t have much time."

A roar behind him broke the two out of their bubble and Druig knew that sound all too well. A Deviant. Druig went to look back at her but she was no longer in front of him. He turned back as the roar ripped through the air, heavy footsteps following shortly after it, and spotted her yards ahead of him. The Deviant was now visible, pounding down the field and destroying the lavender under it.

Druig took off in a sprint to get her, with no thoughts but to save her. The Deviant was moving impossibly fast, faster than he could get to her but it didn’t stop him from trying. What struck him as odd was the fact that she wasn’t running away from the deviant, she didn’t even look back at it, just stood there with tears in her eyes.

"Find me, Druig, before it’s too late.”

Druig screamed out as he tried to reach her but right as the Deviant snapped her up, he woke up. This was the same feeling he had after the very first dream he ever had of this girl but it was ten times more intense. His heart was racing and the feeling of fear and loss was high inside him. Druig clutched at his heart and felt something in his hand. He looked down and saw lavender in the palm of his hand and right then he knew he was right about these dreams from the beginning.

Druig needed to find answers and he knew where he needed to start. He sighed, groaning at what he knew he had to do, “Time to head to jolly ol’ London.”

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[legobiwan]

Alright people, I finally got out to see Eternals and what all the commotion was about:

Very first thought. This movie was nowhere near as bad as the critical reception would lead you to believe. Is it a masterpiece? No, but the critical reviews are overly harsh when they have been far more forgiving of far more utter schlock.

If it weren't for the fact that a) we know this exists in the MCU and b) the very brief references to the Avengers, I could have forgotten this was a Marvel flick at all and instead remember it as an independent comicbook-esque movie. I'm not going to say that this movie is diametrically opposed to the rest of the MCU, but it probably lies more than one standard deviation away from the norm. And I honestly think it succeeds because of that.

The cinematography is gorgeous AND the CGI is mostly inoffensive, sometimes bordering on the beautiful with the gold patterning of the Eternals powers.

I really like that this movie wasnt good guys versus bad guys with an obvious moral code. Arishem has their reasons, Ikaris has his reasons, Sersi hers, etc. And they're all relatively defendable, in the broad scheme of things. I can also see how this could be really off-putting to some people.

Uhhh I'm going to say Angeline Jolie because woah. Yes, please.

More than a few complaints have been lodged against pacing of the movie and this is super-evident in the first act. There is a lot of exposition crammed in there and the first few flashbacks were a little jarring.

Even in a film with so many characters, I felt like I was able to get a good grasp of each person and their motivations. All of them except for Ajak, who felt really underdeveloped. Which is kind of an issue in that her death and leadership are the two main catalysts for the entire plot of the movie. And with that lynchpin being somewhat weak, I can see how the rest of the movie would fall apart in some people's view.

Okay yeah, the Mind Meld thing was a little hand-wavy and Sersi's leftover powers to "fix" Sprite seemed to come out of nowhere.

Oh Marvel. On one hand, yes, you give us a same-sex relationship and on-screen kiss and on the other, aforementioned kiss can still be easily edited out. *Sigh* Small steps, I suppose.

Loved the integration of so many languages, including the ASL. I loved Makkari but really wish she had a little more character development.

By they way, are the Eternals just one big incestuous family, because they all seem intent on boning each other. I suppose that's bound to happen after 7,000 years, but still.

So wait, which planet got apocalypsed when Ego was created? And why is Earth always the special child? Fuck it, next movie I want them to cream Earth and save some other place, Douglas Adams-style.

Jon Snow still apparently knows nothing...or does he?

While the third act still had the typical Marvel fight scene, it wasn't overly bombastic and felt almost intimate in a way, despite the world-saving consequences. It was a very nice departure from the escalating Big Boss scenes we've been seeing as of late. (Also, thank you, Chloe Zhao, for traumatizing a city other than New York for once).

Also, Ikaris dude. A little dramatic flinging yourself into the sun, aren't we? (Also, the actor really is a dead ringer for Sebastian Stan, it's uncanny).

Kumail Nanjiani was awesome and hilarious. The whole goof with the cameras was great.

The squeals of...something the row of adolescents in the front gave out when Harry Styles appeared on screen were HILARIOUS.

I'm going to go out on a huge limb here and say I enjoyed this a lot more than Shang-Chi. While the plot and pacing weren't perfect, I really enjoyed the tone, character interactions, and the intimate feel of a movie with galactic consequences. 8.5/10 overall and by far my favorite MCU flick of 2021.

[imaginearyparties]

quick eternals thoughts:

(i’m on my phone and can’t put a keep reading so WARNING FOR ETERNALS SPOILERS)

i didn’t really buy the chemistry between sersi and ikaris which was a shame because they were both giving performance

they did the least creepy version of the sprite/ikaris dynamic they could possibly do, however it still made me uncomfy

the little moment of dialogue about peter pan really stood out to me though

the movie had a tone issue i felt. there were many attempts at the marvel quip in the face of danger style humor, but it didn’t really work for these characters. lingo felt particularly out of place most of the time. the worst of this was when sprite gave a very impassioned speech about her struggles at a crucial point in the film and druig ends it by whacking her over the head. it made it hard to take any of the rest of the intense battle seriously.

makarri was everything i love her. she had so much personality in so little screen time.

wish i got more of phastos, especially phastos and his family. it was actually rather shocking that he came into play so late in the story, given that he had the most to lose if earth was destroyed.

druig was such an interesting character, but the morality of using his power was never questioned and i felt like it should’ve come up? especially when he’s around phastos’s son?

kingo just… gets away with not being in the final battle. we don’t even see him turn into part of the unimind with everyone else. that didn’t sit right with me.

i knew ikaris was sus the whole time and it did really effect my ability to empathize with him as a character.

i get that dane will be important later but his presence had no weight on the story. would’ve loved if sersi like, mentioned her boyfriend, especially with the ikaris shit.

the scene where ikaris can’t kill sersi is stellar. something about richard madden’s performance coupled with the way they edited his eye powers was really compelling to me.

i fucking cackled when ikaris flew into the sun. man just yeeted himself in there.

and yes, harry styles does show up at the end. a few people in the theater laughed when it happened. my issue with harry’s casting is that he felt so undeniably harry styles in the scene that i could not at all take him seriously as eros, brother of thanos. i think harry’s probably a pretty good actor but chloe zhao really casts for the character to align with the actor and idk if that works for me here. l

[foxybananaaaz]

I've got a theory

Will Stephen may appear in the end of Moon Knight, or Steven and Marc(and hopefully Jake, and Layla and dreadfully Harrow) will appear in Doctor Strange. And yes, I know it may be a bit of a stretch, but hear me out.

Let me Explain

(Below the cut though, cause long post)

Let's start of with how much the show of Moon Knight does not feel like it's a part of the MCU at all. It feels very disconnected from the rest of the MCU. There are no references to what has happened in the past.

There has specifically been no mention to the war against Thanos. No mentions about the 'blip' in Moon Knight at all. Yes there is the same excuse, the same 'reason' given that the Eternals gave. "We decided long ago not to interfere in human affairs."(paraphrase)

The difference being that in the Eternals, this answer was given specifically when asked regarding Thanos. In Moon Knight this phrase was given in general, and not to answer a question, though to remind Konshu of a fact, in conversation.

This one sentence, so similar between both film and tv show, could be a perfect representation of a Red Herring in Moon Knight.

If you need a refresher or are unaware of the literary term Red Herring, I have explained it, given an example of it from Harry Potter, and touched on possible Red Herrings in Moon Knight already in a previous post. I have also, in the same post, explained how Jake Lockley is currently standing as a Chekhov's Gun not yet fired. If you wish to read this post, Please click HERE.

In every film and show since endgame, we have had reference to Thanos or the war against him, except Moon Knight.

Spider-Man Far From Home :: Mentions/Visuals of the Blip, and Tony's death.

WandaVision :: Vision is supposed to be dead and people outside the Hex mentions that frequently, and seeing people in a hospital Blip back into existence after five years.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier :: Sam having a hard time getting a bank loan(I think) because he has no records for five years.

Loki :: Thanos killed our Loki, so this Loki, is a vatient created from the time traveling events from Endgame.

Black Widow :: Mid credit scene references Natasha's death from Endgame.

Eternals :: Dane flat out asks why Eternals didn't help fight against Thanos.

Hawkeye :: Clint suffering severe survivors guilt, over Natasha's death. Yelena blipping away, and back again. Yelena getting personally, revengefully, invested on a hit job she was hired for because the target is the man she believes killed her sister(Clint Barton)

Spider-Man No Way Home :: References to Tony's death, in way of news reporting someone stealing important objects from Tony's lab(?) that turns out to be Happy.

Moon Knight :: Nothing. Absolutely Nothing. Except for a potentially perfect red herring.

The above indicates that Marvel has been showing that Endgame is a movie that happened, and has long lasting repercussions from the film, and also the fact that there is no mention to the events of Endgame at all in Moon Knight.

To take things one step further, the fact that Eternals begins in London, and Sersi, Sprite and Ikaris fight Deviants in London, the same city that we begin Moon Knight in. You'd think Steven would ask if Marc had had anything to do with those Deviants leaving London so quickly by now. Because if you're in the main MCU universe, scary unknown creature shows up in your city, you know there will be news coverage for at the very least a few days.

Mind you the two haven't had much time I get it, but if they could have figured out a way to squeeze it in and make it feel natural, that way it gives the connection to the rest of the MCU, while still being it's own Moon Knight show. But it didn't, and the show still feels incredibly disconnected.

So, what if the show isn't taking place in our main MCU universe?

What if, by the end of MoM, the characters of Moon Knight will be in our MCU main universe?

One day before episode five released, one week ago today, the TV spot for Doctor Strange that was released had a blink and you'll miss it moment. But I got screen shots.

We have Doctor Stange fighting against some Purple Magic. It wouldn't be that big of a deal if there weren't only two people in the entirety of the MCU canon currently with purple magic.

Had this clip come out before Moon Knight released I'd believe he was fighting Agatha Harkness no questions asked. But it was released during a TV Spot in the very middle of Moon Knight's run, where Arthur Harrow has access to part of Ammit's power through the cane she gifted her first avatar that has magic that is purple. It is also looking that Harrow will be Ammits new avatar, with more Purple Magic.

Let's move on, shall we?

If we are only in Moon Knight, and only need to worry about Moon Knight, why is it, that Steven needs to constantly need to emphasize that his name is spelt with a V? There are no other Stevens in Moon Knight. (At least the show, I'm not sure about the comics sorry.)

But each time he has to remind someone his name, he says his name is Steven, and then quietly adds on 'with a v.' Why feel the need to do that, unless...

You, or someone you know, are going to interact with StePHen, and need that way to differentiate between SteVen and StePHen. You're going to find a way to make sure others can call you and have the two people with the same name know it's you. Avoiding a similar "Peter? Peter Parker." moment in No Way Home.

The one that feels very very disconnected from all the rest, does conveniently end, just two days before the other releases and has the exact set up to potentially, conveniently bring a handful of characters with him to connect them with the rest of the MCU easily.

What if Moon Knight is currently taking place, somewhere else in the Multiverse?

No, it doesn't have to be long, and I'm not really wanting it to be long. My theory is just that Doctor Strange may possibly arrive in the Moon Knight's end credits scene, or somehow our beloved characters(and possibly Harrow) may find themselves briefly within MoM.

Not finding a way to cleanly make Moon Knight feel more connected with the rest of the MCU, thus his possibility of returning left up in the air surrounded in question marks would be showing an incredible lack of intelligence.

Especially with how incredibly popular this show and these characters are.

Again.

This is a THEORY.

A THEORY.

That may seem like a stretch.

I am aware of this.

I just wanted to share my theory. So please don't get upset or angry.

[agirlwithachakram]

I like Druig a lot and your post about how his telepathy is intrinsic to his being but doesn’t make him particularly cunning or smooth is so true. I wonder if it’s the dry, hard outer shell and his tendency to needle people that makes some think he’s rougher around the edges than he is. All character interpretations are fine, of course, it’s just really interesting to me whenever I see that because I immediately read him as one of the softest of the group. Even more than Makkari, who I think along with Kingo and Sersi might be the most genial, but also seems slightly closed off emotionally.

Yes he's so squishy! I think he does have the gooiest insides, even more than Sersi (her emotional resilience is one of the reasons why she can get closer to humans and he can't). that's why he's such a jerk, it's because he doesn't feel safe with his family anymore (except Makkari), he doesn't feel supported. And, you know, I think there is pretty strong justification for them to disagree with his actions and even pull away from him personally, but either way, it's happening, and it's really painful for him. hence the protective outer shell and claws out.

okay sort of a side note but his powers being bigger than his cunning made me think like...how the FUCK did he handle the logistics of abducting all those people at once? There are children, there are probably old people and sick people, where is the food, the water, it will literally take MONTHS to get down to Peru, were they likely to run into Balboa, this is like 1000s of people, right? there were FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE in Tenochtitlan in 1519. In 1520, smallpox ravaged the population, leading to further deaths from famine (because people couldn't work the fields/chinampas) but I can't find good numbers on it. Still, there were at least thousands! Druig, that is so many people. plus the invading Spaniards. what is your plan here. And! it wasn't just Spaniards vs. Aztecs. There were local factions, there were alliances and rivalries and political issues. the man has his work cut out for him, is what I'm saying. the scene of him saying fuck it to Arishem's stupid plan and stopping the battle and leaving with all the humans is great, but like. did he text Makkari like "hey so uhhh i am in WAY over my head, don't suppose you could run to costco real quick" five minutes later.

/end tangent

and yeah Makkari is SO relatable to me. She's pleasant and friendly but she's TOTALLY closed off. she didn't see her family (aside from, i think we can safely assume, her boyfriend) for five hundred years! The first time we get a strong sense of what she's really feeling and thinking is when she's trying to kill Ikaris! She's very expressive but most of her serious emotions that she shows are about Druig. because like, when you find your person, when you have someone you can have all the feelings about, you can both do that and remain uncomfortable with fully expressing other feelings.

this is partly me projecting and I think this turned up in a different post and/or a fic I wrote or something, but yeah I think that's Makkari, she struggles to connect with humans and that has affected her willingness to open up in general.

[deepwoundsandfadedscars]

Hai ! Hope you're doing well :D I saw you reblogging eternals gifs ! I saw it yesterday and I loved it so wanna hear your thoughts about it if you want ! Who was your fav ? Fav scene ? Fave dynamic ! Did you like the movie

Hi! I'm doing well, thank you! I hope you are too <3

I did! I saw it in theatres a few weeks ago, I'll put my thoughts under a read more in case anyone is avoiding spoilers still~ also it got a bit long 😬

OK, so it's been a few weeks since I watched it, I think it was in December, so this review is entirely reliant on my shitty memory 😆 I keep saying I'll rewatch it now that it's on Disney+, but I haven't yet. I almost turned it on this evening but it was already 9 PM and when I clicked on it I remembered it's over 2 and a half hours long and that's not going to happen lmao it's a work night, I should be in bed well before the time it'd be ending

Who's my fav: Oh boy, I think I like all of them in one way or another, but if I had to pick one I'd say Ikaris (though Phastos is a close second). I like Richard Madden and I think he did a great job in the role, and as for the character like. the betrayal sucks but I can kinda see where he's coming from? He's just doing what he was created to do, plus I think it's fair to say he never fell in love with the planet the way the others did (to various degrees), like immediately after waking up on the Domo, Sersi is already marveling at the planet, commenting on how beautiful it is, but he barely glances at it cause he's already in love with her. And in the flashbacks he always focuses on her rather than anyone else around them, and in the end it's when he has to face her is when he falters and falls apart. The fact he has to fight her (and everyone else) hurts him more than what's going to happen to the planet, but he wasn't ever really there for the planet anyways. Which I realize doesn't give any justification for why I'd chose him as a favourite, but uuuhh. Ikaris hot and well acted, that's why. (also, hilariously, he's like 70% of the reason I need to watch it here at home cause I need subtitles to understand what he's saying half the time 😂😂 I hadn't seen him in anything before Eternals tbf and since then I've watched a couple other things, so I think I have a better grasp on understanding his accent so I probably wouldn't struggle as much, but still hahaha There's probably lots more I missed without subtitles, half the characters I only know their names cause I've been able to google them since then)

Fave scene: I liked both the fight in the jungle and on the beach, though that jungle fight is dark af, like where's the lighting budget on this film??? Anyways, both fights were really cool, and of course the whump 😏 Coulda been more!! But still good 👌

Fave non-fight scene though is probably when Sersi and Ikaris show up at Phastos place and he's like "ah yes. These are my friends. From ~college~." Ben: "ah yes. ~College~." And Jack being absolutely adamant that Ikaris is Superman was really cute. And then later when Ikaris blasts the doors to show the shield Phastos had up, somehow takes that as a sign that the whole house must be indestructible for some dumb-ass reason and breaks the table 😆😆 Even knowing that was coming because of the trailers, it still absolutely killed me

Fave dynamic: This ones tough cause there are so many great dynamics between them all!!! To my memory, especially so when Kingo was involved 😆 but there were more than a couple parts where it's not the main focus, but there's a conversation going on in the background and the combination of foreground acting and background conversation made me dissolve into laughter, like when they're newly back on the Domo and Kingo's trying to explain to Makkari what a Kindle is, and then realizes he'll have to explain what an iPad is too, meanwhile in the foreground Ikaris and Druig are having a stare down before quickly trading the Twinkies and the tablet.

Overall, Yeah I did like the movie! I wouldn't say it's my favourite, but probably still in my top 5 of the MCU (but worth noting I haven't seen No Way Home yet and it sounds like everybody else fucking loves it, we'll have to see if that affects my rating when I get around to seeing it lol) There were definitely parts that could've been improved on (*cough lighting cough*) and also the sex scene??? Why was that necessary at all???? idk man, could've been left out, shaved a few seconds off that long ass run time and it wouldn't have been missed imo

What about you?? What were your favourites??

[lettertolife]

E T E R N A L S - My Thoughts :)

Oh Yes, I'm definitely extensively late to this party thanks to Covid-19 :) But here I am after watching the movie with my thoughts. CONTAINS SPOILER

You have been warned:)

I read and heard about how people did not like this movie, mostly because it wasn't Superheroic enough, was rather slow and had too much emotions! Yes, the movie is slow and Yes it has more emotional quotient than other Marvel movies but it is clearly Superheroic. I guess if you took out the Marvel banner from this movie, people will actually start liking it.

Marvel has created Universe and now they need to understand that we cannot just accept any movie without it contributing majorly to the Universe. With Eternals Marvel has completely opened up a segment of superheroes that are way powerful than another characters established in MCU (exception Scarlet Witch). We are talking about lasers, energy shots, flash speed, mind control, technology, illusion, fight, Super strength and then there is Sersi- I have no idea how to categorise her powers! (onto that later on)

Here's to what I enjoyed about the movie:

1.The Powers of Eternals have been well established in the movies, I loved how they kept particular scenes to demonstrate what powers each eternal has and how they put it to use. Each Characters of Eternals have been established pretty well; except Sersi (again, onto her later on)

2.I enjoyed how Marvel played around history and indulged Eternals into it. And it makes sense right; They have been on this planet for 7000 years and they have contributed in evolving and helping human race so they have to be the Mythical legends of Human civilisation. And I enjoyed it.

Also I a lot of people did not like the fact that Angelina Jolie was part of MCU now and I was worried based on what I read however I can perfectly put aside all my concern because she was graceful in the role but one complain, the amount of hype Thena's character had about her fighting ability that lead her to be the Goddess of War. There were extremely less fight sequences of Thena to enjoy the hype.

3.I LOVED the inclusion of every important historic era in the movie, finally when American Movies say world it actually means beyond the land of North America.

4.I enjoyed the entire Karun and camera gag and also in general the Kingo and Karun relation and chemistry.

5.Special mention to the entire Superman gag "Clark, is that what you go by?" 😂

6. Ikaris. That character's story arc was created beautifully. explaining him, his mindset and his personality. His Loyal & faithful love.

7. Every Characters individual arc.

8. Friends and BTS 💜

Coming to what could have been better in the movie,

1. Sersi- Her character wasn't established well and was rather just going with whatever is happening. Her Powers weren't distinguished like the others. They just ended up showing that she is extremely powerful, how? what? why? and NOBODY was shocked in her team!

2. Deaths- I mean few minutes in the movie and Wow the prime eternal is dead. came back after interval and Voila another Eternal is gone. WHY? The characters haven't been established that well either and they are a team and suddenly 2 of them are gone. Just What!

3. Ikaris- Okay I loved the Character of Ikaris, I understood where he was coming from and how he viewed the entire situation as but what I didn't understand is KILLING THE CHARACTER! That character had so so so much potential in MCU ahead and suddenly the dude just flys to the sun and BURNS! TRULY UPSET ABOUT IT. I WANT HIM TO RETURN.

4. The Storyline- In all honesty, they did mess up the ending of the movie. It felt like they had the ending but not enough time to establish it so they chopped off some senes to meet the time limit. I have so many questions regarding the ending. Could they actually fight the Arishim? I mean it's the ultimate power of the Universe and they just went against it and killed one of its kind? And can they actually turn every Eternal against Arishim? I mean every Eternal in the room agreed that they shouldn't stop the emergence in the bigger picture because that's how billions of lives depends on, they just needed to delay it and suddenly here they are on a mission to collect all the Eternals and turn them against Arishim. WHAT? The ending was a big mess up for me. Way too Rushed.

5. The Deviants: Couldn't decide what were they in the movie, villains? Victims? Heroes? No arc and no nothing. Disappointing.

SPECIAL MENTIONS:

1. Kit Harington aka Dane Whitman aka Black Knight: Extremely excited for that Character, even as a normal human being he tried to help Sersi and sprite when they were fighting the Deviant. and now that he has discovered his family lineage and his legacy I cannot wait for what future awaits for Black Knight in MCU. Specially the 2nd post credit was Ooof.

2. Harry Styles aka Eros: All hail to the king please a minute of presence but the dude took all the clapping to himself. The entry, the lil comedic moment and the way his presence just said 'you need me or else you no good' had me. again, cannot wait for EROS and his journey in MCU.

In total; You should definitely watch Eternals because it opens up another huge arc in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and not only that the Eternals have been established well. Yes, the ending is rushed and leaves you rather confused but it also gives us the glimpse of how powerful threats the earth is going to face.

The Movie has its own comedic sentiments and you will enjoy it. It could have been better but let'd hope Marvel works on the future of Eternals much better.

Worth the watch :)