#since i see astronaut as a young adult vs. nova being pretty old altogether

[pictured-as-perfect]

...do you have any xilitol nova cookie headcanons???

buddy this is super broad. you bet your ass i do, but it's difficult to just spit one out without something to like. elaborate on

though i can say that i do think about his species a lot? i don't see them as true cookies, they just use that terminology around astronaut for convenience. They're more like candy that anything, since they live much longer, and are a lot more resilient than cookies [plus, them being cookies never made sense to me. space cookies in general are odd]

Each of them carries a little fragment of the original star in their bodies, cementing them as part of Planet Xylitol, with Nova himself having an especially large concentration. Most can go their whole lives without noticing, but such a thing grants all sorts of stuff for Nova. he glows, has a greater drive for truth, advancement, and compassion, is generally more powerful, ETC. Plus the people naturally adore him because, like most fragments of things, they're subconsciously drawn together. Very social species. Nova just gets an odd end to this where most people are automatically inclined to trust him, but more as a local superhero than a person.

which unfortunately means most of his friendships are shallow. and he does get lonely. Astronaut Cookie was a godsend since she doesn't apply to the rules of his species, and wanted to get to know him for him- a genuine desire, rather than one out of instinct alone. had they been given more time on Planet Xylitol, they really would've been good friends