#novas thoughts and ramblings

[everwizard]

My anthropologist partner dislikes the 1.20 update because it refers to pieces of pottery as "shards" rather than the correct term, "sherds"

[everwizard]

Question one: What's my favorite color? :)

DNI Unless you answer my riddles three

[cosmicrescendo]

Hakanaki Shinzou no Mobius Analysis/Rant

(Precursor Note: will be using the wiki's version of the lyrics and also 4G interview about the twins' songs with FragMem's producer! Read them. Ready, go!)

Overlaying but not Overlapping:

At first, one would assume the twins' chivalries(Louter's 不変(unchanging, I think it was officially TL'ed in the VDs as "stasis" at one point) vs Klark's 永遠 (eternity) ) are simply, synonyms. To imply they both feel the same way. And yeah they are, but there's a nuance in how they differ. They have the same dream and yet......

The love that this light spills The future that awaits us far ahead Please, allow me to shine on you like a shimmer for ever and ever Just like this

Klark dreams of a eternity that continues into the future. That his family happily walks forward, together. He wants to guide his family to that future! (I'll shine on you forever so that you'll never get lost in the stars)This is why he's drawn as looking upwards, and why he's specifically paired with Myunna and Kurode, two characters' whose willingness to walk into the future and embody/protect their dreams. (You'll notice Myunna is looking down rather than up, that's a story for another time but is very much Intentional, alas). A notable motif is constellations (the bonds that tie us together) and a meteor shower (a lengthy journey, to wish for something).

I can't abandon it, I will pray for this unchanging dream Draw these fleeting pictures, my world of stasis is Mobius Dreams that come true and dreams that won't come true, I hope they can become a zero-shaped loop

In contrast, it seems like Louter wants to preserve the present/past, to have it remain unchanging. Locked in stasis, her happy family untainted by the throes of change. She cradles her star gently, gazing down. Ciel and Will's inclusion is a little different (especially Ciel is the odd one out, referring to her willingness to invoke change to grasp the unchanging blue sky she desires) but Will shares the same feelings of wanting to protect something desperately. A notable motif is a "dark" universe (per producer's intention) and novae (the sharp flashing lights that appear repeatedly in the MV, more on that later).

Mobius is 3:22, Sirius is 4:11 (out-of sync but trailing each other, with Klark leading). When their stars overlay each other, they don't overlap. Klark's clock is well-crafted, intricate, and marches steadily into the future, while Louter's is almost half-finished, or as if someone ripped away its plating to get to the heart of it, it quickly moving counterclockwise to the point it breaks itself. They look as if they are one, but they aren't. And the same is true for Sirius- it appears to be a singular star, but is actually a binary star system of two stars in different points in their lifespan.

Those who read character bios are probably already aware that Klark is Sirius A, the first magnitude star, and Louter is Sirius B, the white dwarf. Typically, a binary system with this kind of setup will cause a Type Ia-Supernova, in which the white dwarf siphons material from the bigger star until it hits an ignition temperature from its engorged unstable mass it cant handle and 1) unbinds the bigger star and flings it to god knows where and 2) violently explodes by tearing itself apart, eviscerating itself but. The distance between Sirius's stars is simply too great for this kind of process to happen. Instead they will most likely create novae, where the white dwarf siphons material from the bigger star as usual, but the ignition just causes a big expulsion of energy, causing a big flash of light! The loss to the white dwarf is relatively minor in this scenario, and it can happen multiple times throughout its life.

I don't think Louter being Sirius B is a sign of incoming death, rather just stagnation (which is eerily similar to her chivalry). The love she gets from her family shines brilliantly.....but why must it be finite...

Hiding Your Wish Away?

Klark's skill is machinery, Louter's is magic. Unlike say, the cogs in Klark's MV, I feel the magic in Louter's is more..mysterious. There are heavy references to the twins' divination ability (crystal balls, tarot cards) but the one I wish to reference the windows! Very transparently "gazing out into the future". Louter is the only one shown physically inside a window (viewing her own fate?), but the windows for all 3 characters clearly weigh heavily on the 3 characters. They don't gaze upon them directly (to verify would seal one's fate), but they Know Of Them. (they are often physically behind them or Near in some way)

There's a comical amount of star charts/magic circles that of resemble the pattern of the twins' sleeves. It makes me wonder at one point.....did she attempt to invoke the world she desires by her own hand? Making a wish on the stars is how she uses her abilities, as we've seen in B02. And with how the song ends, I certainly feel that's an interpretation with some meat on it. However, it cannot come to pass: if just a physical barrier had Louter severely unwell after a few days(?), something akin to time manipulation would just. straight up be impossible to maintain with her constitution. And....I think she understands a little bit, the difference between her and Louter. One can see her desires as cruel and ugly, to deny her family of the future. If that's what they want, then who is she to deny them? She's always been the type to spoil them. after all. So she hides these feelings away, deep in her heart....Then we get the verse that is pretty much identical in both songs, other than the fact that Louter adds she'll do it gently(そっと):

I'll tell you (gently), I'll fix my eyes on you, I want to touch you with my heart......

So when they "touch hearts", we get The Look. We understand the sheer intensity of Louter's anxiety and the true implications of her desires, and the impression of "Whoops, we weren't Supposed To See That!" because she's purposefully keeping her family in the dark about her inner anguish about this.

Time for the Ciel/Will Detour!

Ciel is the "odd one out" of Mobius, and unlike Myunna (i am so Sorry they don't give you shit for me to cook with) there is plenty to say about her. Brief stuff that couldn't fit in the other two sections.

Firstly, you'll notice that they never give her the "Mobius" shot (showing someone and their reflection, which symbolize the allure of Mobius, and conscious duality between desires). Instead, they give a shot that looks like she's the center of the galaxy. How apt for someone who has become the infallible axis her country (and eventually the continent. and the world) spins upon. For Ciel, whose love is bottomless and the firm believer of "minna nakayoku", something like a galaxy suits her dreams far better.

Will's has plenty of Mobius Shots, but it differs from Louter: they glitch to fill the other person's place. Perhaps it's a twist to the duality part: Will does not see a contradiction in their desires as Louter does (desiring stasis/respecting the wishes of her family). Or perhaps it's an illusion to hide the one they love from the viewer's gaze....

I love 1:38: Ciel's ignoring what's been divined (two futures! whatever could they be) and forcibly changing the future through her own means. However one of the futures she's done away with seems to be of Great Interest to Will(1:48, instead of their usual one seen at 2:39). Does Will want to protect a future Ciel is willing to throw away for the sake of her dreams?

Sirius was mostly Klark's blue overtaking everyone's image colors, but Mobius is more like a gradient/purple (everyone feels so strongly here!). When Ciel is alone, she's almost *never* overtaken by the purple/gradient, she is staunchly and wholly blue. Her security in her worldview is super strong!.

There's a specific sequence that comes up roughly 3 times (beginning, after the first chorus, and the end). Louter is cradling her star, when a premonition of Will and Ciel appear, causing her to open her eyes. It's a completive look. Do Will and Ciel represent the throes of change that are going to bring potential harm to her family's world?

This is further corroborated that she's never a moment where like, there's a frame of solely Ciel/Louter or Will/Louter. She's often either alone or all of them together, or Ciel/Will w/ Louter alone. They may attempt to understand, but ultimately they are Outsiders to her World.

To Deny Mobius........

Gaze at each other until we meld together, the two of us are connected in a Mobius Even a gaze in the opposite direction, even an outline sketch is unpleasant Even if the end should come, I shall love you forever, for eternity...

This is the final part of the song. Seems simple enough, we're going to finally embody Mobius, so don't look away! And yet.....everyone looks away from their stars during this sequence. They deny themselves the gaze of their beloved star, not becoming one. Ciel and Will's looks are more...cold and determined? Of course for Ciel, Mobius doesn't appeal to her for previously stated reasons, this is easy. Perhaps Will does wish to answer the call of Mobius, since they has plenty of the "Mobius shots". But as someone who believes Ciel's dream will ensure the protection of what they love, they too look away.

And for Louter, it's a fond, regretful (or even embarrassed) look, matching up with the lyric: it's not done with purpose, merely an theoretical end. Maybe in this future, she bittersweetly come to terms that the stasis she dreamed of was a fool's errand......Or maybe not, as the clock attempts to desperately turn back time one last time, causing the logo, the clock, and our beloved theme ("The Knights ask nothing in return for their love") to shatter, and a final reverse sequence occurs ends with a flash. How selfish. It's left up to interpretation to what happens to her in this future, so I'll leave you hanging too, ok?

[seraphim-seeker]

Yall think in TFONE when D-16 starts calling himself Megatron bro gonna have that issue where people say his name wrong like in IDW

[celestialecho]

On homesickness, to a home that never was.

via ryebreadgf // the smiths, back to the old house // via wikipedia // adrianne lenker, half return // via edwardsaidpdf // sophie may, somewhere far // radiohead, (nice dream)

[everwizard]

Holy shit Englewood is in the greater Denver area. In such an urban environment, who knows how many people could be/get infected. Even if you weren't at the event, keep an eye out on your dog's health and behavior. You never know what could've gotten to them

SHIT.

Please reblog!

[novantinuum]

god i fucking Love connverse what the fuck man

[everwizard]

Too lazy to find the original but I'm thinking about them

[whimsicalcotton]

Also I started getting into the namesake song of polluted marrow (Spiracle by Flower Face) and it's so good... I wanna give you the green light to ramble about how you think this song relates to the fic/the characters/etc bc I'm very curious to hear how it inspired you 😊

[cracks knuckles] Okay so,

for starters this AU is kinda old. i think i started toying w the general idea in 2016ish, and the want to write it got hardcore resurrected when i decided to watch an lis1 playthrough for the first time in fucking ages last year. i happened to find Spiracle recently after finishing up so there was already like a 60% chance i'd start associating it w lis through just that, but then i was smacked in the face specifically by this last line

so hard that i was immediately like Oh God I Need To Write That Timelooper Max AU Right The Fuck Now. (like seriously. "i want you butterfly, i want you sailor." what am i supposed to Do after hearing that if not wail over pricefield)

as a whole for me the song is about The Devotion (tm) and how Max loves every last little part of Chloe, good or bad, for better or worse, so goddamn much that she's willing to put herself through all this fucking bullshit several times over. Yearning On A Cosmic Scale kind of vibes.

but then after a few listens i Realized. that some of these lines are really good for Rachel + the admittedly unhinged amberfield dynamic i have brewing. imo Max is definitely not immune to the whole putting the idea of Rachel on a pedestal problem, but she does it Different than everyone else bc her image of Rachel is informed mostly by how important she was to Chloe. which is to say i read some of these lines in an "and i want you, too. i want every part of her and you're a part of her," sort of way.

also this one line is very Max @ both of them

and to bring it back to that last bit again, i feel like the butterfly/sailor line is pretty self-explanatory but "i am your lover, and i am your jailor," to me is the crux of all those conflicting gnarly gay timelooper feelings. no one loves you like me, no one hurts you like me. i'm saving us, i'm keeping us trapped here. i'm the one who pulls you from your grave, i'm the one who throws the first shovel of dirt onto your coffin. i'm your lover, i'm your jailor.

also! even the title easily lends itself to lis imagery bc A) english is stupid and there are too many words that look the damn same so i think of spirals every time i see it. and more concretely, B) spiracles are little holes in an insect's body that they use to get oxygen and ofc,, both butterflies And the chrysalis itself have them. i'm mentally unwell about this actually. truly i wasn't aware i could be emotionally damaged by looking up caterpillar facts but that's what writing does to you i guess.

and lastly i picked out 'polluted marrow' as a title for the whole AU because

could be Any Of Them.

for Max it's "i'll still want you if you're nothing; i'll still want you if your insides are rotting." for Chloe it's "i want to know what's hurting you; i want to take it away." for Rachel it's "i want to see the depth of your sickness; i want you to hold it to my throat like the weapon you've made it into."

[dreamyintersexouppy]

sending love to all head mates with complex relationships to the body, language isn’t build to adequately describe our senses of identity and that’s fucking rough sometimes! However y’all choose or opt out of labels, I respect your choices!

thank you! but i think that's the thing about it, tma/tme (from how i understand it novas a good explainer but idk if im a good rememberer) isn't opt in or out, it just describes something that exists already, and while my identity as a boy is real queer how i get treated while fronting is still more affected by how people see the body. it feels like a tma if you don't know me/don't know im fronting and tme if you do but even that seems strange (nova says: that sounds like just tme to me cuz of the opportunity to opt out but it could be more complicated). i think the language is good but i also think it matters more to me to be an ally to nova and all my transfem friends than to think forever about where i sit in a framework that wasn't made to benefit me. in the end that stuff is for trans women and as funny as the joke of boy headmate in tma body is i think my position as boy headmate makes me not the authority on actual meaningful discussion

[tonariofjananda]

I think about this moment a lot.

Like. It feels really rude that Fushi’s just brushing Tonari off like this, jerking his hand away as if he’s annoyed she even tried to touch him in the first place. The fact that we don’t even see his expression when he does this makes it feel extra brutal. But I think a lot of people see this scene as if Fushi rejecting Tonari’s ‘advances,’ so to speak, and I’m not convinced that’s what’s happening here.

Like, yeah we see that big love bubble at the corner of the panel while she’s telling Fushi how important he is to her, but Tonari’s just reflected on how she feels about him and ultimately rejected her own feelings. Romantic love is not something she wants to feel for Fushi. So I don’t think she was working her way up to a confession. At least, not intentionally (it’s not her fault Fushi’s an empath)!

Instead I think this scene is supposed to be a parallel of the moment that happens between Gugu and Rean.

Gugu doesn’t tear his hand away from Rean’s because he doesn’t want to hear her confession. He isn’t running away because he doesn’t love her back. Gugu pulls away from Rean because he’s rejecting the concern she has for him and his safety. He realizes there’s something greater that he needs to focus on, something he feels only he‘s strong enough to take care of. And he wants to take care of it to keep her and the people he loves safe. Gugu loves her, it’s just not the right time for him to indulge in it.

In my opinion Fushi feels similarly to Gugu (not the reciprocation part though). He appreciates Tonari’s concern and love for him- that’s why he smiles a little and thanks her- but it’s not the right time for him to indulge in that. He‘s still trying to prove that the world is at peace (something he’s doing because of her, for her), he doesn’t need or want her getting involved in his fight against the nokkers.

I wanna reemphasize that I’m not trying to argue that Fushi secretly reciprocates Tonari’s romantic feelings- he’s already said he’s never felt that way about anyone before. I just don’t think he’s outright rejecting them either.

I think the hands in this scene are also what get people thinking this scene is a little more romantic than it is. It’s a standard cliche where one character stops another from leaving after all lmao. But this to me is what solidifies this as a scene that’s not inherently romantic.

Them grabbing at each other like this is a much older, a much deeper thing for them. Back when they were on Jananda, they’d often grab at each other’s wrists because they could never quite see eye to eye. Tonari specifically would grab at Fushi’s wrists a lot when trying to impose her will on him and drag him along. Once they start understanding each other, however, their hands actually touch (ex. Tonari pressing Oopa’s blow dart to the back of Fushi’s hand).

This scene is a little mix of the two. Tonari’s grabbing Fushi’s wrist to stop him from leaving (imposing her will on him) but her hand overlaps with his palm a little (trying to understand him). Tonari doesn’t know what’s happening completely, but she knows enough to know something’s wrong. In a way, Tonari grabbing for his hand is her appealing to Fushi to open up, to let her in, follow through on this connection that’s always been theirs.

But he doesn’t. Fushi rejects it.

I think the chapter image shows it all pretty well too. They’re both reaching out for each other. But while Tonari’s solid in her attempts to reach him, Fushi's all fuzzy. It's as if these are his emotions. Like, subconsciously he wants to reach out, but he can't. So close, yet so far…

[galaxybean]

thinking about aromanticism

[everwizard]

Hhhhhh. 52 hours left.....

3 days

Until The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

[plucky-belmondo]

late night ramblings

Y'know, now that I think about it, Nova (ToArise OC) has some similarities with Ishtar from FE4 (this was unintentional on my part) :

Both of them are loyal to those they're with (Julius for Ishtar and Vh*lran for Nova), even though if said person is evil.

Known by everyone around them to be powerful in combat

Actually a kinder person once you get to know 'em

Adding on to bullet point one, both Ishtar and Nova also object to any and every cruel act done

Works with outside forces to alleviate the damage (for Ishtar it's working with Arvis to stop the child hunts, for Nova, it's with Alphen's companions to prevent Pelegion's citizens from Hollowing)

Their inner feelings make them stay loyal, on the basis that change is possible.

Both of them end up fighting the opposing parties (Liberation Army // Alphen's gang)

Able to use magic

Purple eyes

Differences?

Nova survives the fight and ultimately defects to Alphen's gang in secret (Nova still loves Vholran though).

Ishtar ends up dying while fighting the Liberation Army one last time.

Nova uses twin rapiers, while Ishtar has the Mjolnir tome.

Nova has never feared Vholran and his power.

Ishtar mentions that she feared what Julius had become, post-corruption by the Loptous tome.

[candyn-gutz]

lives were changed

[novatheastropirate]

Welcome to the fun sequel to my last post on Angel in Blood Feud- featuring our special guest star, Kazuya!! A lot of his expressions and actions are just as interesting to look at!

Kazuya's a character that we all know and love- he's been a major face for the entire franchise since its beginning, and he's one of the characters that we know the best! Barring Tekken 3, he's been in every single game- and as we watch him lean further and further into the Devil Gene, we watch his beliefs solidify to an almost unshakeable degree. This shows more as he ages, and in the emphasis placed on his outfits- shifting from more of a "dojo-ready training" look to elegant, almost king-like suits.

Kazuya's expressions throughout the games reflect this, and we know him very well. He's battle hardened, and he's been that way for a very long time. He scowls, he frowns, he glares- and that's only if he's deemed something important enough to glare at. Most other things are meaningless- he is a man on a mission, and he'll stop at nothing to achieve what he aims for.

The only two times we see him smile, (at the very beginning, and at what could be the very end of his character arc), it's for something that he's done that solidifies his own strength. (Tekken even used his latest smirk as a callback to the original, in the very first teaser we got!)

So when we learn in the first issue that Kazuya's main goal in finding Jin is killing him- we're not surprised. It's what he's been after even in canon, and we know there's no paternal affection. (At least not any that he wants to display.)

But in their first interaction, Kazuya's interactions with Jin are a little different. While we don't know much about what Kazuya truly thinks of Jin (besides snippets of him either wanting to extract his portion of power back, or taunting Jin for giving into Devil Jin), this Kazuya openly accepts and acknowledges Jin as his son- even if it's his way of trying to taunt Jin's devil form out, and looking forward to the "fight" that side of Jin will give him.

As we move through the comic, we learn that Jin is looking for something called "Artefact 333"- something that we later find out is Angel. And we've also learned that Kazuya is having visions.

Visions that are getting increasingly frequent- and visions strong enough to give him nosebleeds. Kazuya believes these visions are from a spiraling Jin who's losing control of his own power- and in the brief glimpse we're given, this one in particular contains a Devil Jin mid-lunge, a silhouetted winged figure (that we can infer is Angel herself), a cackling Heihachi, and an unnamed woman holding something that looks like a scientific instrument.

The next time we see Kazuya, after his initial confrontation with Jin, it's when he learns that Jin is in search of Artefact 333. And despite not yet knowing what the artifact truly is, Kazuya decides to root around in Zaibatsu files for it on his own.

We know that Jin and his team make it there first- and we discover that Artefact 333 is Angel: previously captured by Jin, and now subject to Heihachi's desire for power.

But for Kazuya, this revelation comes in a bit of a different manner.

"...I thought she was lost!"

Kazuya gets what we can only assume to be his final vision- and his words manage to give us just enough information to fill us in while leaving gaps to make us wonder.

The image of Angel fighting Devil Kazuya fits perfectly within her ending in Tekken Tag Tournament 2- and he knows enough about her to recognize her purpose for being there, and when she disappeared. It's enough to make the reader wonder what he'd thought- had he thought himself too irredeemable for her to help? Had he thought she'd fully abandoned him, or been snuffed out by the rising corruption in the world?

(Another interesting quote is from Anna- it implies that she also knows about Angel in the comic's timeline. Whether that's from seeing Angel herself, or being told about her by Kazuya later, Kazuya doesn't seem to worry about Anna knowing.)

Kazuya's next actions say more than his words. He'd come for Jin, and Jin alone- he had no other reason to be there. But after learning that Angel's inside, and that she'd been calling for help...

His entire focus shifts. He eliminates Paul after asking him where Angel's being held...

Bolts away from the outside battle- and away from a now-temporarily-dead Anna..

...And arrives just in time to save Jin, and enter the battle against the ascended fighters that Angel has resurrected. He even refers to Jin as a Mishima- something Jin might not accept, but a strangely uniting phrase for him to say. This means accepting Jin fully as his own blood.

Somewhere after learning that Angel was here, Kazuya's motives changed entirely. He had no reason to stay after learning what was going on. He could have easily left, and allowed Heihachi to eliminate Jin for him. He could have waited for the two of them to tire themselves out, and end them both without a moment's hesitation.

But he didn't.

Angel sees that too.

Out of the three Mishima men here, two have imprisoned her against her will- and no matter what Kazuya and Angel's association was in the past, he joins the fight solely to get things under control. She looks almost surprised to see him- another expression that isn't the norm for her. She could be relieved to see him, and to know that he wants nothing from her. It could be a reminder of a time that was a bit more hopeful.

Things continue, and the battle heightens. Once the resurrected fighters are all defeated, and Jin embraces his Devil form, what does Kazuya do?

He watches.

Out of all the remaining parties, it's Kazuya that stands closest to where Angel is. He doesn't fight, or enter his own devil form- which he can summon upon will, as opposed to Jin.

Even when Devil Jin frees Angel, and the two begin their battle in the sky, he doesn't join. He doesn't take advantage of Jin's shift in attention, nor does he chase them. His work is done.

And when the battle is over, and both Jin and Angel are nowhere to be found- he leaves. There is no battle with Heihachi. There is no waiting for Jin.

He gets back in his car- stares out the window in contemplation- and exits our view of him within the Blood Feud comic. This is the last time we see him.

Like with Jin in canon, Kazuya never explicitly says his thoughts on Angel, or how he feels about her. One would think with his quest to obtain power that he'd hate everything she stood for- or even that he'd be resentful towards her for trying to free him from the very gene that gave him his demonic powers.

But the major shift in his actions say something else entirely, without him having to say a word. He cared enough about her to competely disregard killing Jin, something he'd more than likely been planning for ages, and fight for the purpose of calming things down enough to free her. Her power does not, and cannot, belong to Heihachi.

It's enough to make some readers wonder just how evil Kazuya Mishima really is.