In continuation of this post of Professor X and Magneto managing to be mates 80% of the time because they keep renewing it every time they team up and it not fully/only just wearing off between said team ups.
The X-men (and Brotherhood) are resigned to the fact that whenever the team up lasts more then a couple days that mate-bond is going to be renewed. It does feel ineivtable that the two of them are going to retire to chess one night and by the morning there's going to be fresh bites and a vague content feeling caused by a very pleased telepath in the room.
What they more have issue with is when the team up only lasts under a day or so. When they were only working together for 8, 20, maybe 33 hours where nobody slept and someone can vouch for knowing the location of one/both of the two of them the entire time and yet somehow by the time Magento has fucked off again Charles still has a fresh bite and that strong-mated scent because What? How? When?
i'm so sorry i don't want to be the "the party ended 5 years ago and he's still here" person but dark phoenix's final scene is still SO funny to me. especially to see how erik plays charles like a fiddle
like: he shows up with NO helmet AND a chess set. (he did this last time in days of the future past, and it worked, right? so it should work again, right? right???)
so, he sits, completely uninvited mind you, and he tries (and fails terribly bless his heart) at starting a normal conversation, he asks charles about his retirement, probably trying to get charles to like, talk about it or whatever
(rip erik's hairline)
charles is not having any of it, which... valid. the last time he and erik had a full conversation, erik told him to shut the fuck up
anyways, erik realizes his failed attempt at being casual did NOT work like he wanted, so he pulls out plan b - he calls charles his old friend (which, if you pay attention, in the prequels they use 'old friend' as a term to de-escalate the situation)
which WORKS, for some reason, and charles immediately deflates and gives erik the tiniest smile in existence, because erik showing he cares always seems to do it for charles lmao
(he's so embarrassing . god bless. @ x men: is this your leader)
anyhow, erik pulls out the second part of his plan b - he asks charles if he wants to play a game. still playing casual. just two buddies. just two guys. some guys. just some friends having a toootal normal n casual conversation.
and you can immediately see charles close himself up, he crosses his arms and avoids looking erik in the eye. erik managed to soften him up with the 'old friend' and having his helmet off, but it's not enough YET so erik pulls out his plan c. luckily his last one, christ, charles really does like to keep them waiting doesn't he
keep an eye on erik's entire demeanor in this scene, his position is not closed off like charles', he's open, he leans on the table, and maintains eye contact with charles. his head is tilted to one side and everything, completely harmless
i'm so obsessed with charles' microexpressions here james mcavoy you are so insane
anwyays, charles uncrosses his arms and his position does come off a little more open, but if you watch the scene you can see him shake his head. this obviously touches him - but he's probably intending to say still no. probably because he has the biggest martyr complex i've ever seen in a fictional character
so, erik pulls up his fucking plan d (lol) and hopefully this time IT WILL be the last. he pulls the pawn out of his jacket pocket.
(why the fuck is this played like a fucking romantic scene i'm so serious, why is he smiling to himself like that)
mind you, erik had the pawn in his pocket the entire time, which could mean either of two things:
charles looks surprised/confused the entire scene, but in THIS part he doesn't look confused, he just looks like he's still trying to figure out what erik is trying to do. so it either means erik makes charles play this 'guess where it's hiding' game all the time (????) which doesn't really sound likely for him to do, but erik is always begging charles to get into his head so it wouldn't surprise me if he actually did this every time. god knows he's desperate enough
or
erik was expecting charles to reject his offer right away, and had multiple other plans shoved up his ass if this was the case. this also seems likely, he's obsessive enough to have thought multiple ways through.
anyways, he puts his two fists up and pulls up the most mortal sentence in existence. one he knows charles won't be able to deny him
"just ONE game 🥺 for old time's sake???? 🥺🥺🥺" man stfu you are 62 years old GET UPPPP
anyways - pay attention to his wording.
"just one game" because erik came ALLLL this way for charles, so charles might as well play ONE game with him, and then erik could be gone - if charles wanted it that way.
"for old's time sake" when things were easier and when they were more at peace - when they were on each other's side. when they were together and the mansion, just after charles had saved him and gave him a hom- oh wait
(also, there's 100% a hidden meaning here. and there’s also a 100% chance i’m reaching but idc. the pawn could be in his left hand or his right. the possibility is 50/50. the only way charles could know with 100% certainty was if he entered erik's mind - if he took up erik's offer. but he could also not get into erik's mind and just... guess and fail - by thus, not taking erik's offer. erik is giving him an out, a choice to make the first move)
(and the chess piece he offers charles a WHITE pawn. the white pieces are the first ones to move.
also also if you have paid attention to the previous movies, erik is always the one to use the white pieces, this is the first movie where we see charles play with white)
anyways, charles does struggle a bit with the choice, but ultimately he decides to accept erik's proposal and """guesses""" right.
and going from erik's... entire face and smirk lmao i'm guessing charles went into his head to get it right. mind you, this is like sex for them
charles accepts - erik is very relieved to know he's not the only one who's down horrendously. and after the worst guessing game in history (seriously, the pawn was in erik's right pocket and then he had it hidden in his right hand... man i guessed that shit and i'm not even a telepath) they start rearranging the board
so anyway, erik gives charles this look like he wants to climb him like a tree, which means that playing edward 'down embarrassingly bad' rochester in jane eyre (2011) finally fucking paid off
erik doesn't even blink mind you, and charles doesn't take his eyes off erik either way, which means they are just STARING at each other without blinking for god knows how long LMAOOO 😭😭😭
once everything is said and done, erik makes a silly little joke and charles rebuts. then erik gives him the biggest smile i've ever seen him give to someone since magda, and then he follows it up with a smaller, softer smile with no teeth
seeing this for the first time in the theater was like getting shot in the chest, no joke
mind you erik stopped trying like three minutes ago but for some reason, the first time we finally see charles soften up in the ENTIRE movie is after he sees erik smiling at him. which could mean nothing.
and the thing is: charles does have a big heart, and he means well, most of the time, but he also doesn’t necessarily has… the best way of showing it with his actions lol. erik knows this, and he knows charles has a thing for lost causes, for people the society has given up on. charles threw himself into the freezing water to save erik - even when he didn't KNOW him.
AND he also knows charles has the biggest soft spot for him, he KNOWS - because all those years ago, charles' biggest accussation wasn't "you paralyzed me" it was "you left me". because after erik lost his wife and daughter, charles rushed to find him, to make sure he was okay. because nine years ago, charles looked at apocalypse and said "fuck you you are twisting erik's grief, and you are hurting him" to A GOD BTW. TO HIS FUCKING FACE NO FUCKS GIVEN AT ALL
tldr: call erik the fucking violinist because boy he sure knows how to play charles like a fucking instrument and how to press all the right keys to get him to say yes to him. he gave charles an out if he didn't want to come with him, but he also came PREPARED for it, mind you, he came PREPARED to take charles with him to genosha. he didn't get to take charles with him 30 years ago, and he was going to be dammed if he didn't take charles with him NOW (this time with no bullet wound and no helmet lol)
and the most insane thing to me is, that he knows charles has a soft spot for him, he's known this for 30 years, and yet, the only time he uses it in his favor is to get charles to say yes to him on this. the only time he uses it is when he thinks he can do something to help charles - to give him back all the kindness charles gave to him 30 years ago.
anways i'm insane. i'll be back here eating glass if you need me. i'm so normal about them. simon kinberg broke something in me 5 years ago
The first time Peter spends the night at Stark Tower, it’s unintentional. A snow storm rages outside as Peter and Tony work in the lab. It’s not predicted to stop until the next day.
Between Peter’s lack of thermoregulation and the windy conditions, Tony insists on Peter spending the night.
Peter doesn’t want to intrude, but Tony insists on the boy staying. Besides, Tony just happens to have an entire closet full of clothes in Peter’s size. The penthouse just happens to have a room decorated with Peter’s favorite things.
Obscure Rivalry - Kaishin Doujinshi by M2GOU - English Translation
I've had this doujin for a while, and wanted to get some translation practice in, so I decided to do so with this! It's very cute, and I just had to share it! Keep in mind that I do not own a printer or scanner, so I took photos and edited so that they looked clean. I hope it's okay!
Oh God... Just look at this a little and you see the parallel. They are opposites, the night and the day, the moon and the sun, the illusion and the truth, the thief and the detective... but still they maintain similarities, share secrets and have a strange bond.
I am on my way to being the best auntie ever or the worst sister-in-law that ever lived. Possibly both.
I am making my 2-year-old niece a plushy for her birthday. She is very hands-on baby and wants to help with everything and be involved in the center of attention. A few weeks after her birthday everyone is going dipnetting. She is two and can not help with dip netting or do anything but watch.
So I am making her a toy salmon. And I am making it so she can filet it. It has guts. It has bones. It is all one piece and child friendly, and I am debating using embedded magnets or velcro to hold the filets on.
She has a kitchen set with a little wooden knife at her grandparents house, who have already heard about this and think its a great idea. We are gonna teach this kid to clean and process fish. She already knows where meat comes from and she will want to get in and do what everyone else is doing which she can not do because the fish are only slightly smaller than she is.
BTW, I make plushies by winging it. Actually I make all my art by winging it. If you would like to comment on the fine art of making shit up as you go, feel free. If you wanna ask for a pattern, uhh,
I have weird priorities for this fish. I want the gill plates to be shaped like a real fish so she can learn how to pick a fish up correctly and develop the fine motor skills to do so. But thats turning out to be a bitch and a half.
Also I have no googly eyes anywhere in the house and thus far I've been able to do this entire project with material on hand. I've used 4 old tee shirts and a pair of jeans, but I will need to buy velcro and eyeballs.
the head/jaw/gill plate got a lil wonky and honestly I'd like to take it apart and try again but I'm running out of time.
But we have eyeballs! We have guts! We have a gill pocket and oddly attached pectoral fins! I just need to get ahold of some white velcro for a spine and I'll have a completed plushy.
I'm actually quite proud of the velcro arrangement I've come up with, because to peel it apart with the toy knife she'll be mimicking the motion of actually fileting a fish.
He's done! He's adorable! He's filetable! I had to hide my phone from my niece because she wanted to see the pictures I was showing her grandma.
I think I may try and make another one that's less child friendly and more accurate, because I had a great time solving topology problems, but I did sacrifice alot of anatomical details in the name of practical toy construction. I like what it says as an art peice, the junstiposition of a medium associated with simplified design and the details biological reality. There's also a fun parallel that comes up when sewing and food processing (specifically fish processing) are both pretty heavily gendered labor, but when you put them together they almost cancel each other out conceptually.
That’s so cool OP! When my first kid was little we used to have Li Ziqi videos on sometimes, and one day I found them making Fish Soup by whacking at a stuffed toy robin with a dinosaur-shaped comb, so that indicates how many young children would take an interest in this.
