#novas thoughts and ramblings

[everwizard]

I need riptide to return from war. Riptide save me

[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

[novantinuum]

god i fucking Love connverse what the fuck man

[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)

[whimsicalcotton]

For the OTP + self ships asks, 2 or 51 (or both!) for whatever ship you wanna pick :0)

yeehaw free reign! i'm in an amberfield mood today so

2: What would they do if the other woke in a manic state after a nightmare?

Max is the teddybear type who'd quietly offer hugs and tea/hot chocolate. she'd manage to deescalate things pretty quick & be curious enough to ask what it was about at least once, but wouldn't push it if Rachel's being cagey about answering.

Rachel has yet to master the art of Slowing Down so if Max wakes up manic off her ass from a bad dream Rachel will just. Be Manic With Her. like. oh you need to pace around the hallway 'til you burn off the anxious energy? sure let's pace together. oh you need to go check all the door/window locks like 10 times each? dw i'll help. oh you're gonna go wander outside at 3am in a half-dissociative haze? yeah hold on i'm right behind you let me just grab your jacket

51: What’s a non verbal way they say I love you?

for Max, it's sharing food. Rachel thinks she's real slick about keeping her less than stellar eating habits under wraps but Max Notices. this also is something she doesn't push about bc Rachel is one devious little lying bastard when she wants to be, so instead Max will do things like "accidentally" order too much of stuff she knows Rachel likes too so that they end up sharing, or keeping the bottomless pit known as her bag extra stocked w snacks.

for Rachel, it's stealing Max's clothes so she can wear them around like Lady in Lady and The Tramp showing off her new collar. she's a damn thief actually. Max will spend like 15 minutes looking for The Sweater (tm) and go so far as to text Rachel being like "hey did i leave my sweater in your room" and rachel will say "No." and then the next time Max sees her like maybe 2 hours later she's fucking wearing it. and making the >:3c face. shamelessly

[cloud-the-forgotten]

Imagine if Galacta Knight wasn't sealed away because he was evil/too strong. Imagine it was because he couldn't control his strength. He becomes so strong that if he isn't consciously dialing it back he could seriously hurt someone just by trying to give them a high-five.

It gets so bad that after defeating/sealing Void, he begs the Ancients to seal him away because killing one of his species is incredibly hard and dangerous to the people around them, and he doesn't want to hurt anyone. His time spent sealed away puts him in a state of consciousness and unconsciousness where he trains himself to dial back his strength.

Moments when he's taken out of his seal to fight are moments when Galactic Nova is controlling him, because the Clockwork Star knows Galacta Knight would refuse to fight if he had the decision. Unfortunately, Galacta Knight is completely conscious when this happens, and he hates how he feels both distraught because of the situation, and excitement from the thrill of the fight.

[toboldlywrite]

Hopping in between writing Control fic and Mass Effect fic while I wait to want to work on one of my original wips again. At least I'm writing and having fun writing again though!

[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…

[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

[everwizard]

I don't know how to express my feelings very well

[seraphim-seeker]

I think…. Though he may never admit it. I think Bloodmoon (the Brash Twin) regrets killing KC deep down because he killed someone who genuinely cared about him and his brother.

Now, that he has lost his brother and a long while back killed his father, he’s starting to feel those words from their last interaction now that he is truly alone and no one cares about him. He suffers in silence and within his own emotions because he doesn’t want to admit that he lives with regret or that he’s in pain or that refusal to change is because he does not really anything past killing, maiming, tormenting, and torture

(Yes, Yes, Bloodmoon is kind of a psycho jerk whose killed for fun and this me being a lil delulu but I think there is hope for him. At least this part of Bloodmoon, if he tries.)

[novantinuum]

man, "gender related panic number two" was definitely not what i expected for this year's pride, but go off i guess, life

[malewifehenrycooldown]

When Ly.on meets Nova at a poignant point in his life, he doesn’t become infatuated with Ju.via. However I think it would be cool if Ly.on and Ju.via were friends :D

[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."

[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.