#I have a bit of buffer now

[garnetblackwater]

The Rustle of Leaves

Human female x forest guardian

Chapter 5-A Wandering Mind

The week following was a blur for Vanessa. Most weeks were fairly monotonous, going to lectures either as a student or teaching assistant, grading papers, just general college things, but this week was different. Monday was full of excitement, of course everyone was losing their minds over the blatant head wound covered in a bandage, shoulder bandaged, and band aids covering her legs. Her friends were constantly asking if she needed anything, especially one Carter Rosmund aka Cyclops, much to his chagrin. He had made many arguments for other x-men, mostly wolverine, but they always fell on deaf ears. Carter stood at 6 foot 3 and genetics had been kind to him. Sun kissed skin, short brown hair, broad shoulders, and blue eyes. He wasn’t extremely buff but he obviously took care of his body, and others noticed. But he only had eyes for one person.

“Vanessa what happened? You sent that picture then radio silence. Are you alright?” He reached for her face to give it a once over.

Vanessa pulled his hands away, “It looks worse than it actually is. I just fell a bit.” 

“Just? And how does one fall a bit?” Carter asked skeptically.

“Well. You know. You slip on an outcropping, tumble a bit, and then pass out for an hour or two,” the last few words lost in a mumble.

“Ness!” Vanessa cringed at the nickname, “Did you go to a hospital? Do you still need to?” Carter was uneasy, “I’m sure Professor X will be fine with us missing class considering the way you look.”

“You worry too much. I was checked over and I’m fine. Now let's go before we are late. I have a reputation to uphold.” And Vanessa marched on ahead of him. 

She really was fine, all thanks to Ten. Whatever he had done really did take the pain away. The wounds were still healing but they didn’t slow her down. 

She was lost to her thoughts again. The memory of Ten. The gentleness of his touch. The surprising warmth of him. She could feel that same warmth swim over her and settle in her chest. She could feel his lips ghost over her knuckles again. It all swam through her head, along with the worry. Worry of what was to come, and what she was to give in return.

“Ness you sure you don’t need me to get anything for you? You haven't been able to focus all day, let alone hear anything I’ve said.” Carter had been hovering around any free moment he had since the morning. He offered his arm for her to lean on.

“My legs work just fine. I can get around no problem. I just have a lot on my mind.” Vanessa kept walking towards the library. 

“You’re not feeling light headed? Need to lie down or anything?” Carter stopped in front of her looking into her eyes. He started to reach for her face.

“Calm down jeeze. You’re like a helicopter mom. I’m fine, I swear. Don’t you have class?” She swatted his hand away, and kept walking.

Carter checked his watch, she was right, but he didn’t want to go. “If you need anything just ask, got it? Even if it's just to talk.” His tone was serious. Vanessa knew that wasn’t an option. She knew Carter’s intentions were good and that his heart was in the right place but..

How long before an inch becomes a mile? Best to keep distance.

“Okay Dad whatever you say. I’m fine, just go.” Vanessa missed the way he hesitated at her words. Didn’t see the need in his eyes, but the focus of her mind was elsewhere. No matter what she did her mind trailed back to the forest. Everything happened so fast and it was so unclear. The uncertainty made her anxious. Her sleeping was sporadic and her focus nonexistent. Any free time she had was spent pouring through books and various websites looking for any answer to put her at ease. Before she knew it, it was Friday night. She was in her kitchen with Sandy baking. Sandy had decided on berry muffins, mostly because she had a craving for some, but they were also very portable. “I mean who doesn't like muffins? Especially blueberry muffins, ya know? Classic. Delicious. Van, are you even listening?”

Vanessa was pulled from her thoughts as she was taking the last batch out of the oven.”Listening to what? You stuff your face while I do all the work?” Sandy gave an over the top gasp. “I’m sorry Cheeks, I’m just nervous for tomorrow.” 

“Nervous for what? Wait. Hold up. Was he hot? The guy that saved you. Need a wingman?” Sandy joked but Vanessa’s stomach turned at her words. She had no idea what would happen once she went back. Her mind had jumped through many hoops during the week, some not so savory. 

Vanessa took a deep breath, hoping to stop the incessant spiral of her thoughts, “I promise I don’t need a wing man. Though he was definitely good looking.” Vanessa could not deny that she held a level of attraction for Ten. Even when her thoughts went to unsavory places, she did not always mind. There was also a level of comfort she felt when he held her. She remembered his gentle touch, but also the way he held her. Secure and safe? It only made her nerves spur on. 

Sandy’s eyes sparkled with glee, “Oh shit! Okay Van Van, let's get your man then!” The rest of the night was fueled by Sandy’s determination. Outfit planning, plans to get them alone, any scheme to get him to notice. 

The drive the next morning was anything but quiet. While Vanessa could feel the pit of despair in her stomach, Sandy was absolutely jamming!

“Van Van you have to get in the mood! Pump yourself up!” Sandy bobbed her head and shimmied her shoulders. “Come on Van!” Vanessa gave in and danced along with her. Maybe Sandy was right, just have to get in the right mood.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

pygmalion and galatea for aroace people

you should tell your friends what I look like, riz gukgak.

[mewkwota]

I am continuing my current Xeno-train of thought with learning another character, this time it's my favorite male character, chaos.

I feel like I got him down pat with his Episode I look because it's just absolutely perfect, but everything else I was experimenting more with his range in expression as the later games fiddled around with that... As in, I will not forgive what they did to him in Episode II. :(

The ahoge is the last remaining source of his powers (and feelings).

Otherwise I mean for his face to look the face with each design.

[slavhew]

Hello!

If you're not too busy, would you mind listing some of the things you think count as death flags for Mr. Spender?

There's the obvious fact that he's the "old" mentor to group of young protagonists, but what else do you think would count?

OHH BOY ok so I'd think I'm a crackpot for this but since we're talking about Zack "Foreshadowing" Morrison. I have some thoughts

No harm in leading with the (chronologically) first thing that jumped out at me:

This one IMMEDIATELY made me antsy whenever I came back to it after my initial read, and considering Zack has referred to it on twitter in the past as one of their favorite jokes it's definitely not been forgotten about.

Second, the sheer amounts of near-misses, jokey or not, of Spender narrowly avoiding specifically lightning

Again, not much, but it's weird that it happened thrice, latter two of which had real gravitas rather than an one-off joke.

And third, Spender himself. He's repeatedly shown himself to be kind of a self sacrificing idiot, as well as prideful to a fault. Granted, it's both him and Mina trying to take on all the responsibility of saving Mayview and its inhabitants from their fate.. But Spender is exactly that right measure of doesn't-value-himself-enough (chest footprint aftercare or lack thereof), having an obscene amount of power (enables his loner act + pride) and poor judgement that has the capacity to put him at great risk. And it has!

Spender has not only shown low enough self-esteem to view himself as the de-facto scapegoat for the safety of the town, but also prideful enough to make very bad calls that end up in people, often himself, hurt (COUGH FORGE INCIDENT COUGH)

This is all conjecture, but it's definitely enough to make me worried about him :') Even if all this doesn't mean he'll necessarily die he's definitely getting (even more) seriously injured at some point. I love the guy but he's so far doing a horrible job of convincing me he wants to live bad enough to circumvent at least that

[helium-stims]

Gonna put a picture of a bug below the cut. Can anyone identify what type it is so I can tag it in an upcoming gifset? (It will also be tagged with bugs & bugs tw but i also just want to tag whatever type of bug it is)

[sanddusted-wisteria]

Qi and names

A really, really random thing I've been noticing as I'm doing a second playthrough: Qi almost never calls anyone by just their name. Unless he's talking directly to someone, he almost always uses a title or a stand-in...nickname? Epithet? Not sure what to call it.

[VERY long post below, contains some act 2 and mild act 3 spoilers]

Grace: The frycook

Elsie: The rancher's daughter/ranch girl

[pardon the text mine, i don't have screenshots of some of the act 3 quotes and it's not up on the wiki yet]

Catori: The entrepreneur

Justice: The sheriff

Also combined with Unsuur: The lawmen

Pen: The homunculus man

Yan: "Your director"

X: The bird

Bronco the Kid: "The person seeking Logan"

Pablo: "Our local barber"

Here are the ones with titles:

Trudy: Mayor Trudy (but also sometimes just "Mayor" or even "Trudy")

Fang: Dr. Fang

Nia: Assistant Nia

You/the builder: Earlier in the game/at lower relationship levels, he'll only call you "Builder". But later on, he'll always use your builder's name.

(at Buddy level)

(at Good Friend level)

And last but not least, those who Qi always refers to by name:

Mint (but he also calls him Sleepyhead, of course)

Zeke

Logan

Matilda (though she's only ever referred to once and she's been de facto stripped of her minister title at this point, so I'll gloss over her)

So uh...what's the takeaway? Well, I think it's an insight to Qi's idea of respect. All the people in the first section have nicknames, which are mostly light jabs at their character/job.

Contrast to the people in the second and third sections. If they have an established title of authority, he'll use it. And for those he refers to by name directly, it's someone he personally respects. Think about it:

Trudy is the mayor, the highest authority in town (and also probably singlehandedly responsible for his funding lol)

Qi's no quiet admirer of Fang's work, as shown by their few interactions

He respects Zeke as a fellow man of science, and a very persistent one at that

Nia is part of academia, advised by a reputable professor

Mint is obvious; he's his closest friend

And you! Take another look at his dialogue with you as it progresses through the main quest, especially after you build the mobile suit. He comes to respect you and your work.

Logan is an interesting exception, but I picked the above quote for a reason. I think he knows straight off the bat that the Logan situation is more complicated than other people say, and he sympathizes with him a little bit (even though he'll promptly hole himself up again and keep working after any Logan event happens).

I made another very long post a while back that touched on why Qi insists on being called "Director" all the time, and I think that's only compounded by this. It's a golden rule type situation, yk? You respect his titles, work, and time, and he'll do the same to you.

ETA: you could also interpret this as Qi viewing people as their occupations first. He's not the most sociable person in town, and he'd like to keep it that way (maybe). So he keeps a veneer of over-professionalism on by default.

[catermeow]

Day 14! I simplified the metal parts for the sake of time, but I still really like them. I’ll probably keep the plated look even when I have time to add in wires and tubes and stuff

[ratcandy]

what they don't tell you about lactose intolerance is that it geTS WORSE why did nobody WARN ME it would GET SO BAD

[the-gene-mile]

HOLY SHIT THIS EP WAS INSANE

[todayisafridaynight]

top ten things i didnt think could happen during the aoki/bodyguard segment Aoki Actually Attacks

[aria0fgold]

So that's... the power of Luocha e1... I get it now. I am now a lil less salty from losing my 75/25.

[arctic-hands]

yes bank, I KNOW I'm very low on cash, stop emailing me about it

[crossbackpoke-check]

18 + swaymark!!

oooo thank you!!

#18 - pleaser, wallows + swaymark

okay i know they are canonically obsessed with each other but. the song is in some ways about feeling like you’re failing in your relationship and being not quite as obsessed with them as they maybe are with you, and in this video of them talking about being a tandem, there is the slightest pause before swayman answers “do you miss him?” that makes me want to probe a wound. we’re not talking irl reasons of how that’s an absurd question (how do you miss him. you’re coworkers you’re seeing each other all the time) we’re talking that maybe this whole goalies-in-love thing got blown out of proportion and now swayman’s having to buy into the bit too hard. linus loves it & everyone’s asking about their bromance & how they love each other so much and the thing is—linus is safe. he’s got a wife and plausible deniability and jeremy? jeremy is gay. sure, he can crack jokes and people-please but the more people ask the more they're going to find out until maybe they find out something jeremy doesn't want them to know. and the longer this goes on, the more jeremy has to sit at linus' dinner table with linus and his beautiful wife and pretend like he isn't a little bit in love with him. and you know what? the longer it goes on and linus doesn't dial it down jeremy does stop being in love with him, because it just feels cruel, until he finally is done enough that he stops biting his tongue and ruins the moment.

[bad0mens]

Uh well, gotta break up the next chapter of Casting Shadows into two chapters because it's almost twice as long as every other chapter....

[frankenfossil]

hi! I just binge-read all of the bright side in a few days (thank you, obscure webcomic tournament) and just had to come here and say how good it is. truly wonderful. recommending it it all my friends. I hope you enjoy making it as much as I enjoyed reading it. anyway thank you for bringing so much joy to my life lately, it means a lot.

Omg!!!!! This is so lovely!!!!! I'm so so glad!!! Yes I do love to make it, it continues to be my most powerful brain worms, really anybody enjoying reading it is just a big bonus 😆 but for real this message brings me huge huge joy and means a lot also, really touched that you sent this! Thank you!! I hope you (and any of your friends, wah) continue to enjoy!! ;_;

[goldpilot22]

page 12: congratulations yellow you made them anxious