#also Ajak already knows because of course she does

[softquietsteadylove]

For the Thenamesh Proposal AU:

Thena finds the perfect dress and is suprised by Gil’s reaction!

"What about this one?"

No, this one!

"Girls, please," Ajak said gently over her arguing daughters, both holding veils in their clutches. She patted their hands, turning over her shoulder, "I think we might be starting to smother our guest."

Thena turned, raising her hands in protest, "no, please, it's-"

"Sorry, Thena," Sersi offered her a very sweet, very contrite smile. She brought her choice in veil closer to her chest. "She's right, we're having a little too much fun playing dress-up with you."

Sorry, Makkari also smiled and plopped herself on the bench at the foot of Ajak's luxurious king sized bed.

Don't be, Thena shook her head with a smile to both of them. She really did like Gil's sisters. They were both warm and sweet, just like him, and their mother. A whole family of sweethearts, they were--even Gil's cousin Kingo, who had just arrived yesterday.

Ajak set down the last of the pile they were working through at the moment. She came over to Thena, putting her hands slightly upwards on her shoulders, "we must be overwhelming."

Thena offered a sheepish smile. She had lied to Ajak enough already, and it would be another lie to say that she wasn't used to having so many family members around. Especially all so...genuinely fond of each other. "That doesn't mean I don't like it."

Ajak laughed at Thena's reluctantly honest answer. They were also a whole family of knockouts--each and every one of them, absurdly beautiful. She still hadn't met Gil's father, the supposed demon man. But Gil described him as monstrously tall and cold as ice.

She rather thought she was quite cold, but he always told her she was more like ice cream: cold, but sweet underneath it.

"Why don't you try these without all of us fussing over you?" Ajak suggested so gently as she ran a hand over Thena's hair. Her motherly touch was so natural, in a way Thena had never really encountered for herself before. "See which ones you like and then you can show us."

Thena looked at the pile of dresses to get through before nodding. Perhaps this would expedite the process a little. Although she liked the way Sersi had described it; it was a little like playing dress-up, and it wasn't un-fun, as it were.

"Okay," Ajak clasped her hands around Thena's for a brief, tender moment before turning. She waved her hands, ushering her daughters towards the door as if she were herding lambs, or chickens. "Come on, you two, let's leave the bride to her fitting."

Thena sighed as the door closed behind them. She had never thought she would end up becoming a bride, let alone under the current...circumstances.

When Gil asked her to put on this charade with him, she was honestly surprised. He was such a sweet guy, she could barely imagining him telling anyone a lie ever in his life. But if it was for his sister's sake, he was more than willing, especially given the opportunity to embarrass his father.

And he was her best friend--not just work friend, but probably actually her best friend, all things considered.

He was apologising to her morning, noon and night, now that the charade was no longer a charade, and actually happening. He even offered to call the whole thing off, but she wanted to see it through. She liked Sersi, and she also wanted to help alleviate her burden, some.

When asked what having a marriage - annulled or divorced or whatever - would really do in her life, she had told him that it probably wouldn't make much of a difference, really. It wasn't like she had someone waiting for her back home.

Thena ran her hands over herself as she tried on the first one that had actually caught her eye. Sersi's taste was more flowery and plant based, and Ajak's was for lace and chiffon and tulle. Makkari's choices were a little...eclectic, but they tended to be a little shorter than Thena would choose for herself.

This one, though.

It was sleek, elegant without looking plain. The silk was shimmering white, tight where it needed to be but flowing off her nicely instead of being more of a mermaid fit. It sat around her shoulders in a way that felt somewhat alluring but with some of her usual penchant for coverage. It was a little more cleavage than she was used to in turtlenecks and cardigans, but she had to admit, it did look good on her.

She tilted her head at herself, running her hands over it. For as much as she had never given thought to what kind of wedding dress she would like, it certainly seemed to fit her perfectly. She had worn plenty of white dresses before - it was kind of her colour - but this one really did feel different. This really did feel like her wedding dress.

A knock.

"Come in," she smiled, expecting Ajak and her daughters to be pressing their ears to the door in anticipation. She examined some of the details of the dress a little closer. "I don't know who picked this one, but I think it's-"

"Wow."

Thena whirled around, her toes curling in the carpet as Gil smiled at her from the doorway. Ajak and his sisters were nowhere in sight. "Gil!"

"Sorry," he chuckled, stepping into the room more with his hands in his pockets. "I came looking for you because I just finished making lunch."

"Oh," she blinked, wringing her hands together. Ever since arriving, there was a nervousness cropping up here and there that she never used to experience with Gil before. Not consciously, anyway.

"You like it?"

"Hm?" she blinked, desperately trying to collect her thoughts as he walked even closer. His smile was probably the most relaxed she'd seen it since arriving.

"The dress." He looked at her in a funny way--like he had with plenty of other dresses already. She wasn't used to it. But the way he was looking at her now was like nothing she'd seen before. His eyes flicked over her and she felt an increasingly familiar wiggling under her rib cage. "It's...wow."

Thena felt herself start to blush. She wasn't used to that either. "Th-Thanks. I must admit, I think it suits me more than some of the other choices."

Gil's smile was still that one she couldn't quite identify. He stood close to her, his hand close enough to touch her arm but hovering in the air around her. "I think it's perfect."

His breath hit her ear, even moving the stray hair or two curling around it. She swallowed, which suddenly seemed suspiciously loud in her mind. "Good."

"Good," he agreed, stepping back with his smile turning into more of a grin. "I'm glad you found one you like."

"I-I suppose I am too," she mumbled, pressing her palms together again so they wouldn't seem shaky. She smiled at him, "I'll be right down."

"No rush," he shrugged, taking his good sweet time actually leaving. Every step backwards he took worsened her nerves. "That's worth the wait."

Once the door was closed again Thena let out a breath and pressed the back of her hand to her cheek. This was a far cry from herself at work, literally called the Goddess of War. She was getting a little too used to all this 'bride' stuff. She shook her head.

"Stop it," she spoke directly to herself in the mirror as she started pulling herself out of the dress. "None of this is real."

[alwaysdrukkari]

yall there is so much to unpack in the tenochtitlan scene (ty @comradekarin!).

There’s so much, just from a Druig and Makkari standpoint (both their relationship with each other and who they are as individuals) so I’m just going to focus on a few things.

Makkari defending Thena. This isn’t in the linked clip but Makkari was the first Eternal to speak up against Ajak re: Thena’s memories (not counting Thena herself). Gilgamesh didn’t even speak up initially. I’m not dunking on Thena & Gilgamesh’s bond, but I just want to make the observation that Makkari was willing to voice direct opposition to Ajak (and by extension, Arimesh?) when the others were, as Druig later accused them of being, pawns who fell in line behind their leader. (I generally really like Ajak and wish we had more of her in the movie, but her immediately telling Thena after Thena came to that, “yeah you almost killed Makkari, you’re too dangerous and we need to change everything about you” was pretty shitty?) After Makkari speaks, Druig follows her lead — and I kinda just love how they were on the same page about this. Their actions altered the course of the group as it’s only after both of them speak up (and then Druig goes a little too far, but that’s a different topic lol) that Gil volunteers to stay with Thena to let her keep her memories, and Ajak makes the decision to let everyone go their separate ways.

I wonder if Makkari and Druig’s willingness to go to bat for Thena in Tenochtitlan when no one else wanted to defy Ajak’s decision had any bearing on the three of them deciding to head off together at the end of the film. Like since Gilgamesh is not here anymore (for the time being), are Druig and Makkari the next two that she trusts the most in the group?

Thena wounding Makkari. It’s interesting to juxtapose Thena fatally wounding Makkari with Ikaris burying Druig in the earth. Even though Druig and Makkari share mutual feelings, the contexts of those situations with Thena and Ikaris were almost polar opposites, so the way Druig and Makkari reacted was wildly different. I want to look at when Thena wounded Makkari first and Druig’s reaction.

I’m unsure if Druig possesses telepathy but at the very least, he is pretty perceptive, as demonstrated when he figured out Ikaris was the one behind Ajak's death. And when Druig directed his anger about Thena (and any anger he felt about Makkari getting hurt) to the person he thought was actually at fault, Ajak, he also shows that he is someone who is able to take a step back from heat-of-the-moment emotions and look at the bigger picture. I think Druig absolutely understood that Thena was ill and not in control of herself when she wounded Makkari, and I think he also recognized that Makkari getting hurt was one of the inherent risks she took as a fighter moving offensively against an opponent. Makkari chose to directly engage with Thena when she was in the Mahd My’ry state. But from Druig’s pov, if Ajak had lead them differently, both Thena being triggered and Makkari getting hurt trying to protect the others could have been avoided.

That Druig is able to look at the bigger picture (something I imagine he’s probably had to work on over the millennia, given he is so intimately connected with humankind) really adds some extra zest to the line: “Do you know what [watching humans destroy each other when he could stop it instantly] does to someone after centuries?” It was clear Druig was already in a heightened state of agitation because of the genocide, and the Thena/Makkari/erasing memories thing probably pushed him over the edge so he finally had it with this weird utilitarian mission and his own forced inaction.

Ikaris attacks Druig. The interactions and dynamic between Druig and Ikaris was another point of interest; in the clip, after Druig takes control of the people below, Ikaris tries to physically intimidate Druig into falling back in line. Ajak intervenes, but only Ikaris gives his attention to Ajak. Druig, on the other hand, stayed focused on Ikaris, until Ikaris walks away. The exchange only lasts a few seconds but boy did it set a tone? (Also, given how things ended with them, I’m honestly a little surprised their reunion in the present wasn’t more hostile.)

Druig’s monologue in Tenochtitlan gave us a glimpse into how the different Eternals, depending on their positionality within the group especially re: powers, might have interpreted their overall mission. Protecting humans from the Deviants to help them progress doesn’t necessarily equate to “build[ing] a better world” but it’s a natural assumption for Druig to make when that seems to... generally be the result of their interventions? (Of course, we see Ajak and Ikaris’ faces, and they both know what the true mission. Ajak seems resigned and at times, almost guilty, which is why I think she let Druig speak for so long — she knew she just had to let it play out). Before Druig leaves the pyramid, he tells Ajak, “If you wanna stop me, you’re gonna have to kill me.” And everyone heard (of course, lol it’s a small room).

But this line was directly referenced by Ikaris in the present day (“I should have done this five centuries ago”) before he takes Druig to the sky and tries to blast him to smithereens. Ikaris’ line indicates some level of regret that he had not or tried to off Druig back then, so he almost seemed to relish the opportunity to do so during the Emergence. If you look at this from Ikaris’ pov, burying Druig in the volcano was an attempt to right what Ikaris perceived to be a wrong. Ajak didn’t want any of the Eternals to die (as we saw by her solution to helping Thena and allowing Druig to walk away), so she stayed Ikaris’ hand in Tenochtitlan, and even though he clearly did not agree, Ikaris is nothing if not loyal. Although he never was able to make Druig let those people go (and even when Druig released them in present day, it was because of Sersi), and no one ever stopped Druig from taking those humans and making that commune,  when Druig again is attempting to take control of something he shouldn’t be, Ikaris sees this as a redemption of sorts, his chance to make things right on a cosmic scale.

Makkari, of course, completely loses her mind at this, and it’s just another instance of me wishing we had more Makkari in the movie because I would have loved to see a closeup of her during Druig’s monologue in Tenochtitlan. We got that little moment when Druig was arguing with Phastos, and I feel like she certainly would have had something to contribute here too — or even like a look shared between them?? But alas.. couldn’t have it all this movie.

[aion-rsa]

Marvel’s Eternals Trailer Breakdown: Who Are The New Characters of the MCU?

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Marvel’s Eternals trailer is here, and with an all-star cast and an Oscar-winning director (in the form of Chloe Zhao) it looks like an ambitious, surprisingly cerebral new addition to Marvel Cinematic Universe lore. It doesn’t reveal much, but what it does is more than enough to make us hopeful for all the cosmic surprises that MCU Phase 4 has in store for us.

Watch the Eternals trailer here if you haven’t already…then we’ll get to talking about who all these cool new characters are!

And here’s the official synopsis, courtesy of Marvel Studios:

“Marvel Studios’ Eternals welcomes an exciting new team of Super Heroes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The epic story, spanning thousands of years, features a group of immortal heroes forced out of the shadows to reunite against mankind’s oldest enemy, The Deviants. The outstanding ensemble cast includes Richard Madden as the all-powerful Ikaris, Gemma Chan as humankind-loving Sersi, Kumail Nanjiani as cosmic-powered Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as the super-fast Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as the intelligent inventor Phastos, Salma Hayek as the wise and spiritual leader Ajak, Lia McHugh as the eternally young, old-soul Sprite, Don Lee as the powerful Gilgamesh, Barry Keoghan as aloof loner Druig, and Angelina Jolie as the fierce warrior Thena. Kit Harington plays Dane Whitman.”

So who are all these cool new characters joining the MCU? We’ve got a breakdown for you here.

Richard Madden as Ikaris

Eternals is going to give us a veritable Game of Thrones reunion with Richard Madden as Ikaris, the most famous member of the Eternals. Of course “most famous” is relative when dealing with Marvel creations this relatively obscure, but hey, it worked for Guardians of the Galaxy, it’ll work here.

It’s not yet clear exactly what everyone’s power sets will be like in this movie, but in the comics, Ikkaris had the powers of flight, energy projection, super strength, and limited teleportation. Like most of the characters in this trailer, Ikaris was created by Jack Kirby in 1976.

With him in the above photo is…

Gemma Chan as Sersi

Sersi is a powerful sorceress, and the member of the Eternals with perhaps the most love for humanity, and the trailer hints at that by seeing her walking among regular folks in different time periods. We’re also willing to bet that she’s the Eternal most likely to pop up in other MCU movies, as the character has been a card-carrying member of the Avengers in the comics.

Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo

Another Jack Kirby creation (albeit one who didn’t make his way into the pages of The Eternals comics until 1977), Kingo has a power set similar to Ikaris. In the comics, he became an action movie star, although based on the brief glimpse we get of him in this trailer, he may have opted to become a Bollywood actor instead. Check out Nanjiani’s badass Marvel-ready physique!

Lauren Ridloff as Makkari

Every good super team needs a speedster, and what’s better than a speedster? A nigh-immortal one! Like Quicksilver, Makkari (note the similarity in name to “Mercury”) has been known to be a little bit impatient thanks to the gift of speed. Fans of comics to screen adaptations will recognize Lauren as Connie from The Walking Dead.

Anyone spot any MCU Easter eggs in this reading room? One thing is for sure, that isn’t Dane Whitman’s Black Knight armor…because we saw that in a museum in Spider-Man: Far From Home!

Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos

Phastos is a relatively recent addition to Eternals lore, first appearing in 1985 where he was created by Peter Gillis and Sal Buscema. Phastos is an engineer, inventor, and weapons master…all useful skills when you’re practically immortal. Here he seems to be using his innate cosmic abilities to create something wondrous and beautiful.

Fans of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (and really, who ISN’T) will know this isn’t his first trip to the Marvel Universe, having voiced Jefferson Davis in that film.

Salma Hayek as Ajak

The voice you hear in the trailer is that of Salma Hayek as Ajak. The original comics lineup of the Eternals was pretty male-heavy, and Ajak was portrayed as a man on the page. One of the key figures of the early Kirby comics, Ajak has been worshipped as a god at various points in history.

Lia McHugh as Sprite

Sprite may look young, but they’re as ancient, wise, and wily as the rest of the team. Think of Sprite as the trickster of the team (at least if the comics are anything to go by), and their antics could cause havoc for the Eternals’ place in the MCU.

Don Lee as Gilgamesh

You’ll note the similarities of many of the Eternals’ names to mythological gods and warriors. That’s no accident, as it’s generally accepted that these characters’ adventures were interpreted into folklore and mythology over the centuries. Here, one of the oldest recorded stories in human history now has a place of sorts in the MCU. Here he’s played by Don Lee, and if you haven’t seen Train to Busan yet, you should just go ahead and fix that immediately. Thank us later…it’s one of the best horror movies of the century.

In Eternals comics, Gilgamesh was known as “The Forgotten One” for some time, but it was ultimately Sprite who convinced him to return to the fold. He adopted the name of Gilgamesh “officially” when he joined the Avengers for a time. Perhaps it’s no accident that our best look at him in this trailer comes when the team is having a discussion about who will lead Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the wake of Tony Stark and Steve Rogers.

This version of Gilgamesh was created by (wait for it), Jack Kirby, and first appeared in the comics in 1977.

Barry Keoghan as Druig

Another Kirby creation, Druig is Ikaris’ cousin. Described as an “aloof loner” in the film’s synopsis, Druig has a checkered past in the comics, and could cause some trouble at some point.

This isn’t Barry’s first brush with a comic book-related project. At one point he was set to star in the long in-development and troubled TV adaptation of Y the Last Man, and also has a role in the upcoming The Batman.

Angelina Jolie as Thena

Warrior, scholar, and all-around badass Thena is another potential leader of the Eternals, although in the comics that has brought her into some conflict with Ikaris from time to time.

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Kit Harrington as Dane Whitman

Remember that Game of Thrones reunion we promised? Well, it’s here in the form of Kit Harrington’s Dane Whitman. But Marvel fans may recognize the name of Dane Whitman as belonging to the heroic Black Knight (another occasional member of the Avengers…hmmmm…there’s a lot of those in this trailer). We wrote more about the history of Marvel’s Black Knight here.

What else is hiding in this trailer? Well…

Is That a Celestial?

If you look very closely in the fiery part of that volcanic eruption, it seems there’s a giant figure there. Could this be one of the Celestials, one of the giant beings who travel the cosmos conducting experiments on the inhabitants of various planets? And speaking of which…

What are these two up to?

That sure appears to be a partially formed human body in the background there. Is this a hint that the existence of super powers in the MCU is a result of cosmic intervention by the Celestials?

We’ll find out when Marvel’s Eternals opens on Nov. 5.

The post Marvel’s Eternals Trailer Breakdown: Who Are The New Characters of the MCU? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[softquietsteadylove]

can you write Thena getting hurt in a battle but it's Ikaris fault, because he actively tried to manipulate Thena because he's sick of her resistance against him? of course sweet Gil is upset about that. pls

Things were tense, to say the least.

The fight had been pretty ordinary--nothing the Fighters couldn't handle, as usual. Makkari had taken care of crowd control, as usual. Kingo had taken care of the long range shots, as usual. Thena and Ikaris had fought and bickered the whole time, as usual.

But that was where things had gone wrong. What was their usual arguing had escalated in the middle of the fight. Thena had ignored Ikaris one too many times and he, in turn, he had tossed a Deviant off of him and 'accidentally' hurled it right into Thena's path. She had been in the process of finishing off a kill of her own when the new obstacle had plowed into her from the side.

She could hold the one off, its jaws gripping the staff of her spear, bright and sizzling in her hand. But it left the other one free to sink its claws into her.

Her scream of pain hit the air, and the other Fighters all responded. Ikaris was on his way to undo his doing when Gil got to her.

The Strongest Eternal was never far away when it came to the Warrior Eternal, especially on the battlefield. He was only seconds away from her when she'd been hurt. And it had taken him mere seconds more to knock one Deviant's head clean off and rip the other one's legs at the joints.

Sometimes even the other Eternals could forget how truly strong Gilgamesh was.

Because Gil was all softness with Thena. He had held Thena so gently, extracting the claw from her leg with his own pain written all over his face. He pushed her hair back and ran his finger over her cheek. "Does it hurt?"

Thena made a face she could only make around Gilgamesh and nodded.

That was all he needed to know before scooping her up in his arms and carrying her to their healing leader. Thena was still with Ajak, letting her clean the wound before simply closing it up.

Gil was outside, listening toThena's every breath for a sign that she needed him.

Ikaris approached cautiously. "How is she?"

Gilgamesh's face went dark and cloudy. "What?"

Ikaris froze in his tracks. He knew that Gil wouldn't exactly be happy to see him. He knew that he probably deserved it, too. "Is it bad?"

Gil leaned off the wall and uncrossed his arms. He walked over to Ikaris, happy to get right in his face in complete contrast to his usual avoidance of conflict. "Are you really asking that?"

Ikaris was not to be intimidated, but maybe he had a little too much guilt to look his teammate in the eye. "Look, I-"

"You threw that thing at her," Gil growled out. He wasn't one for anger--didn't use it, certainly didn't hold onto it. But when it was there, it was there, and he wouldn't be letting go of this any time soon. "You knew she had her hands full already."

"It was a mistake."

"It was petty," Gil snapped back at him, bumping his shoulder against the Soaring Eternal's. Ikaris stumbled back a little, giving him somewhat of a glare for it. Gil was happy to receive it. "You think you're such a great leader, but you're no better than a child."

Ikaris growled, a vein rising in his forehead under his skin. "You have a lot of nerve directing this at me and not your precious partner in there."

But Gil didn't even blink, walking on and backing Ikaris up further. "Thena knows what she's doing. She's the Warrior Eternal. She doesn't need you barking orders at her and she certainly doesn't need you taking out your frustrations on her."

"Gil, I-"

"She's hurt!" The last straw was broken. Gil grabbed the collar of Ikaris' armour, hoisting him up and holding him up against the wall at his back. He glowered at him, "because of you!"

That was true. He was right, and Ikaris knew it. But he also wasn't going to be held like a stray dog. "Get off me, Gil."

"If she ever spills blood because of you again," Gil promised, raising his fist and building his energy around it, layering and layering until his ears popped.

To Ikaris' credit, he didn't flinch as Gil punched straight through the wall of the temple with enough force to send a shockwave into the outside air over most of the temple grounds. If he'd been mortal, even being that close to its impact could have killed him. "Point taken."

"Is it?" Gil dropped him to the ground again nonetheless, very much done with his miscreant brother.

"Gilgamesh?" Ajak called as she emerged from the room. He turned to her immediately. She glanced from him to Ikaris and the hole behind him with a sigh. It would have to be a later discussion. "She's fine--you can go see her."

Gil rushed into the room, practically sliding on his knees to where Thena was, donning their standard issue grey robes instead of her armour. She must have dispelled it for Ajak to work on her leg. "How is it?"

She smiled at him, and he was reminded that this side of Thena was completely unknown to their teammates--their family. "Much better now."

Gil glanced down at the leg, underneath layers of thick, soft, grey material as it was. He could remember the bright red of her blood as he'd examined it in the moment. He rested a hand there, watching carefully to see if there was any lingering pain.

Thena let him, tilting her head with her hair sitting freely around her shoulders without the tiara on her forehead. "Thank you for carrying me."

He blushed sweetly, leaning into her hand as it rose to his cheek. "Anything for you."

She pulled him closer until she could leave a kiss on his forehead. It was so natural for the two of them, even while the rest of the Eternals would drop to their knees in shock. But Thena had never thought it odd she was so at ease with Gilgamesh.

He smiled at her, picking her up in his arms again and holding her comfortably. "Shall we?"

"I can walk, Gilgamesh," she declared, although her eyes had a certain sparkle in them as she said it (and her hands linked behind his neck).

He shrugged as he started down the hall and towards her room in the main temple. "For my peace of mind, then."

Thena laughed, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Anything for you."