Gemma Chan

            On Thursday morning it was my birthday. I did yoga without the radio on. 

            I finished working out the chords for my song “Chalkboard Serenade” and ran through it. This is also the last poem from my book Paranoiac Utopia, which I sent to Exile in September in hopes that they will publish it. Michael Callaghan sent me an email in December acknowledging my submission and saying he had sent it for editorial review. So far I haven’t heard anything more. But since I sent the manuscript to them I’ve made changes to most of the poems. Not major ones but some lines have been changed. I’ll have to make a list of all the changes I’ve made and send it to them if they decide to publish it. 

            I listened to “Valse Dingue” (Mad Waltz) by Boris Vian and tried to sing along in French and with my translation. It’s very fast in parts. I downloaded the lyrics to his song “Sermonette.” 

            I tracked down the lyrics to a couple of Serge Gainsbourg songs that I’d previously had to set aside. I haven’t translated them yet. 

            I did a different song practice than usual in that I skipped some of the usual songs and added some that I like but don’t do every day. 

            I had planned on having Popeyes biscuits for breakfast but I looked up their hours and found out that they don’t open until 11:00. I went out to the new bakery, which is in the space where Bike Pirates used to be. The person I asked must be European because when I asked for biscuits she pointed to some bags of cookies. I went to the other new bakery on Brock Avenue and they had more exotic and original items, but I had my heart set on biscuits. I settled for one of my Montreal-style bagels with five-year-old cheddar sprinkled with maple sugar. 

            I spent way too much of my birthday trying to get caught up on The Daily Show’s Twitter posts. It was already after 16:00 when I finished and I had skipped lunch. 

            I wanted to get something accomplished and so I glued the sides and the drawer slats of my living room dresser. I put it on its side and placed my jazz Chorus amp and my concrete block on top.

            While it was drying I rode to Dave’s Hot Chicken for the first time. When they first opened there were line-ups but today there were only two customers in the restaurant. Two more came later to pick up orders. I ordered the #1, which is two chicken tenders with fries. The staff wore t-shirts with the company slogans, such as “Rise and Brine.” I guess because the tenders are brined before they are spiced and fried. I had to wait ten minutes for my food. After bringing it home I went to the Popeyes downstairs for the first time since they opened almost two years ago and bought a six-pack of biscuits. 

            I put my dresser upright and it didn’t fall apart, but I didn’t put the drawers back in yet. The box from Dave’s came with two slices of white bread, dipping sauce, and some slices of pickle, I guess for putting the tenders in a sandwich. I didn’t eat the bread but had the chicken, the pickles, the dip, and two biscuits with a beer while watching Eternals. It was a little before 18:00 when I sat down to view it, but it was a 2.5-hour movie so it was a good thing I started early. 

            The story begins with text telling a creation story. Before creation was the Celestials. Arishem, the Prime Celestial created the first sun. Then the Deviants arrived from deep space and began to feed on intelligent life. Arishem sent the Eternals from the Planet Olympia to destroy the Deviants. 

            Ten of the Eternals were sent to Earth 7000 years ago to stop a Deviant invasion. They are Ajak, Sersi, Kingo, Ikaris, Sprite, Phaestos, Makkari, Druig, Gilgamesh, and Thena. After the last Deviant is killed in 1521 they receive no more instructions from Arishem and drift apart from each other, most of them blending in with the human population in various locations. 

            In modern London, Sersi is a museum curator and lives with Sprite who is eternally an adolescent. Sersi’s boyfriend is a professor named Dane Whitman. One night they are attacked by a Deviant and must reveal their powers to Dane. Sersi can transmute matter while Sprite has the ability to create illusions. But the Deviant Kro has developed new abilities. It can heal itself and can almost talk. It is too strong for them but suddenly Ikaris arrives to fight it. He can fly, is very strong, and shoots powerful beams from his eyes. Kro is chased away. Sirsi and Ikaris were married for 5000 years but he went away and Sirsi moved on. 

            They go to South Dakota to reunite with their leader Ajak but find she has been killed by a Deviant. As Sirsi mourns over Ajak, a luminous sphere emerges from her body and passes into Sirsi. That means Ajak has chosen Sirsi to replace her and so now she has the ability to communicate with Arishem. 

            They go to India where Kingo is a Bollywood star. Kingo’s valet is a human named Karun who knows they are Eternals. He comes with them to film their exploits. 

            They next go to gather Thena and Gilgamesh. Thena is the goddess of war but she sometimes loses control of her mind and begins to try to kill her friends. For all these many years Gilgamesh has cared for her and helped her remember. 

            They go to South America where Druig has lived for centuries illicitly controlling the lives of a group of humans so they will live in peace. They are attacked by Deviants and defeat all but Kro who kills Gilgamesh and absorbs his power, and suddenly begins to talk and look more human. 

            Sirsi is finally able to speak with Arishem, who reveals to her that the Eternals and the Deviants are both artificial species that he created. The Eternals on Earth are essentially shepherds for protecting the humans until they reach a certain population and energy level to feed the Emergence of the Celestial Tiamut. The earth is basically an egg that will break open and be destroyed when Tiamut is born. 

            Sirsi does not want the Earth and its people to be annihilated and so she and most of the other Eternals plot to find a way to stop Tiamut from coming into being. But Ikaris opposes this and we learn that it was him that killed Ajak because she also wanted to stop the Emergence. Ikaris is determined to stop them from going against Arishem’s plan and when he leaves, Sprite goes with him. Despite being trapped in a child’s body she is in love with Ikaris. Kingo does not want to oppose Ikaris but he also does not want to go against the others, so he and Karun leave. 

            Sirsi and the others seek out the super-fast but mute Makkari, and Phaestos. Phaestos is in a relationship and he has a child now so he is reluctant to get involved, but his partner encourages him to save them all from dying. He says that using the sphere that passed from Ajak into Sirsi he can construct a mechanism that will allow them to form a group mind that will be powerful enough for Druig to control Tiamut. Ikaris tries to stop it but they form a group mind anyway. 

            However, Druig is unable to put Tiamut to sleep and so Sirsi is determined to use the group mind to complete the mission. Sprite stabs her but she continues. Kro arrives and Thena battles and kills him. Ikaris tries to kill Sirsi but he can’t bring himself to do it and so Sirsi is able to turn Tiamut into Marble. 

            With the remaining power of the uni-mind Sirsi offers to make Sprite human so she can grow up to be a woman, and she agrees. She becomes the ward of Kingo and goes to school. But what could they teach someone with thousands of years of knowledge? 

            Thena, Makkari, and Druig travel into space to warn other Eternals about the Emergences. Their ship is boarded by Starfox, accompanied by Pip the Troll. I remember both Starfox and Pip as being associated with Adam Warlock, especially Pip, who was Warlock’s companion. But apparently, Starfox first appeared in Iron Man. He is also called Eros and he is the brother of Thanos. He introduces himself to Thena, Makkari, and Druig as a fellow Eternal. So that makes Thanos an Eternal as well. 

            For obvious reasons, Arishem is angry at Sirsi, Kingo, and Phaestos for their betrayal. He returns them to their lives on Earth but they are now on trial. 

            It does not say so in the story but Sirsi’s boyfriend Dane Whitman will become The Black Knight. He is about to pick up the sword that he has inherited but someone we don’t see asks if he is really ready. The silver age Black Knight first appeared in Avengers comics and became a member of the Avengers. But there was a character in the 1940s Marvel Comics called The Black Knight and I think Whitman is his descendant. The original Black Knight lived in the time of King Arthur. Dane Whitman’s Black Knight has a genetically modified horse with wings named Aragon. 

            The star of this movie was definitely Gemma Chan, who plays Sirsi. Chan had many supporting roles in British film and television before she landed the part of Astrid in Crazy Rich Asians and gained more world recognition. She played Minnerva in Captain Marvel and she was the voice of Namaari in Raya and the Lost Dragon. 

            Before bed, I dug one bedbug out of one of the old black nests in a groove to the left of the frame of the old exit door at the head of my bed.