#starbound headcanons

[anxiousanteaterr]

Novakid cores. Choose.

1 core. Located in the head

1 core. Located in the torso area

2 cores/split core. One in the head and one in the torso

There is no core! It's all gas in there!!

Any of the above+ Nature oft foregoes instruction

Voting ended onAug 20, 2023

Evidence:

Head core: Makes the most sense when looking at the functionality of the brands. I feel like in order for the brands to work, they need to be as close to the core as possible.

Evolutionarily though, it doesn't make sense that they'd have a humanoid shape at all, let alone a head that's got the core in it. That's a LOT of body mass that's hanging on by a neck of all body parts. Novakid are not organic. No muscle and bone and ligaments to help hold it all together. OG lore states they're made of gas. Some in-game lore states they're made of hardlight. Either way, I just don't think they'd form such a complex shape all BELOW their core. Especially in a universe where many organic creatures have heads with brains in them, and thus would be the go-to target for an easy kill. Unless the Novakid evolved to mimic that, and they are a case of "this is The Worst Evolutionary Decision Ever but this is the one that outlasted the others so oopsies."

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Torso core: Makes the most sense when looking at how Novakid armor works. Most protection seemed focused to the body pieces, while the headgear is more oriented toward protecting the brands and looking cool, and the pants often are nothing more than a pair of jeans and chaps. Wouldn't really do that unless there was something vital in the torso that's not in the head. But then again, one wide slash to the abdomen and that gas is pouring out FAST.

Speaking in terms of evolution though, it doesn't make sense that they'd have the humanoid shape they do with a torso core, especially the head. I feel like they'd look more like snuggets or the Trinks in general body shape. Unless they specifically evolved the head as a decoy, and later on realized they could use it further when mimicking talking to the other races. The brands general function of holding their body shape makes sense here (its something else to anchor to), but again, I feel like the efficiency level is directly tied to how close it is to their core. Overall, this is my second choice. If someone told me "yes they have one singular core, where is it?" id pick this option.

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Two Cores/Split Core: This one makes the most sense to me. Following the original lore for how Novakid are made, they start out kind of egg-shaped and their humanoid form gradually develops. I like to think that early on, their core splits into two. One stays in place and eventually becomes the head's core, while the other moves down to help form the rest of the body and the limbs, thus becoming the torso core. Double the cores, ideally double the stability, but they tend to be differing sizes, and that adds stress. The brands ease this by helping to keep the cores in balance.

[anxiousanteaterr]

Cool headcannons on the novakids! My personal take on how their brands work is that they need a certain amount of specific kinds of metal to form a membrane around their plasma, this metal has to be supplied during birth, at some point they figured out they could make this metal in fun shapes.

to make sure the brand properly grows with the novakid they have to consume small amounts of metal up untill they're adults, the brand will still get larger with no metal consumed but it'll be very brittle and will have an effect on the health of the novakid.

Sometimes the plasma grows over the brand creating the appearance of a brandless novakid, ingrown brands don't cause any health risks outside of worse hearing(can't pick up vibrations properly) and getting headaches when the head core heats up due to emotion or sickness.

There are various kinds of alloys that work for this process with some of them working better than others. Most novakid parents (can be 2 or more) make sure to have a back up brand on hand because the protokid will not always accept the brand, wich'll lead to the protokid dying due to a lack of membrane. Protokids also need to have constant heating near them the first few years (can be as simple as being held near their parent's chest cores)

Anon... ur brain... (galaxy sized). This is cool asf.

ONE QUASTION: when you say "they realized they could make this into fun shapes" are you thinking the parents give their kids a malleable brand that the kids shape themselves over time as it grows, or like, the parents will give them a specially crafted one and the kids either cannot change it, or the amount that they can is very limited?

I'm w u on the idea of them having a core somewhere in their chest/abdomen area bc the torso is a spot that they really bulk up in most of the armor sets.

Also dying at the idea of ingrown brands giving them headaches. They don't even have brains yet can suffer from one of the worst miseries. Humans 🤝 Novakid <- suffering from head-splitting, chronic migraines that make them feel like they're dying.

[anxiousanteaterr]

Neat headcanon about the Novakids deciding their own brand! I love hearing others headcanons for starbound. Also i hadn't thought about it but that probably is Noble's actual brand isnt it... I thought it was a pair of fancy Novakid sunglasses over his actual brand.

ITS FUNNY YOU SAY THAT bc i did have an additional headcanon that there's (typically metal) plates Novakid can hook onto their brands and its purely decorational. LOTS to consider with the reasonings for this.

I also am sitting on headcanons that, since Novakid lore states that they're so scattered across the universe and thus probably don't keep in touch (or even know about other Novakid), there MUST be civilizations of them out there where the brands they came up with are placed on other parts of the body. Like halos, horns, rings, bracelets, maybe even just thin strips of metal elaborately placed all over their bodies like 3D tattoos. They can't ALL convinently be on their face.

If they do, that implies that either they are born with the innate knowledge of how to make the brands (which would explain how they rapidly accelerate into metal-working ages but then stall out), or they just Happen to Always Come Up with This. (This is ofc going under the assumption that they arent born with the brands, which I go by lmao).

Looking back at their og concepts, Novakid also have cores, which most likely are located in their heads since their protokid forms are (presumably) the core + the brand. And since the brands help them keep their forms, they're probably always located on or around the head for the sake of being close to their core. BUT, Again, in the game itself, you can play as a brandless Novakid, which could obvs just mean "oh this one just didnt develop one. u know how nature goes".

BUT, I think its infinitely more fun to have the brands be a signature form of: "we as a society and an evolving people have found a way to make life easier for us + extend our lifespan." It adds SO MUCH MORE of a flexible, social aspect to them.

Going back to Noble, I'm actually bouncing back and forth on whether or not I think his brand is natural or not. Like, I absolutely think he WOULD get a coverplate bc he's just THAT married to his job, but I also get that vibe that this is him inside and out. He radiates an energetic sense of a purer form of justice, and I feel like he has just been like that ever since he was a wee bab. And maybe just clung to the Peacekeepers bc it was the nearest thing he could find that matched what he was after.

He rebuilt the Peacekeepers from literal scraps because he understood and abided to the underlying message of keeping people safe and knowing that even the smallest efforts to beat back all the fear and evil in this vast universe is still something, and its always worth the fight. Could go either way, but I'm leaning more toward that's just his actual brand.

[anxiousanteaterr]

I should probably go ahead and post my headcanons for this since my recent post abt Noble got its usual round of notes: 

My general theory for Novakid is that they’re born without the brands, and once the kiddos get big enough that it starts becoming taxing for them to hold their shape on their own (equivalent to the pre-teen years for Humans), they get their brand put on. Since they’re still growing, are still kinda squishy, and are healthy and stupidly resilient (as children tend to be), its incredibly easy for them to attach and align a brand to their face/body.

This can’t be done TOO early in childhood because their small size wouldn’t be able to support a properly sized brand, and if the brand is too small it won’t be efficient enough to support an adult sized body. 

BUT, if they wait too long, their bodies will “solidify” (this is different from being fully grown), and at that point its too late to slap on a brand. Typically though, and especially for light-star Novakid, there’s plenty of a time to allow a child to muse over their options (if they even get such a chance).

So my general assumption when the bounty hunter update dropped was that Noble was just- in one way or another- very passionate about becoming a Peacekeeper when he grew up, and thus very deliberately chose his brand to look similar to the Peacekeeper’s emblem. He woulda been a Paw Patrol kid, I just know it.

[anxiousanteaterr]

The canon: The Novakid don't give a SHIT about their history, none of them. They're all also too impatient to develop any further technologically than yeehaw cowboy era, but also have extremely high-tech spaceships??

Me: "yeah ok whatever." *shoves that all off the desk and into the fucking bin* The Novakid also have extremely high-tech civilizations called Magenta Cities, which tend to exceed any other know levels of tech. These cities consist of tall dark skyscrapers and narrow, bustling streets that are lined with glowing neon signs, typically of a magenta color. Where walking doesn't work, bullet trains and hovercycles, as well as teleportation are the go-to method of transport. These cities never sleep, and are typically very open to outsiders and aliens alike.

Magenta Cities are often first started by Novakid who are focused on preserving history and rediscovering what they've lost to time. The ones who want to advance their people into the newer ages and pass on everything they've learned to their children. The ones who may not want to wander aimlessly, or have grown tired of it, and instead have found a drive for something so specific that it grounds them to a planet's surface.

Planets with Magenta Cities also tend to have Novakid space stations orbiting them. The ships here are all based off of trains, from the traditional steam locomotive to electric, and beyond.

The culture in Magenta Cities differ vastly from the Frontier Town Novakid culture. The Novakid here are often referred to as "the total opposite", being "a bit more reserved", "hoity-toity" or "havin' spare metal shoved up their cores". Despite this, there are still plenty of them who live wild and free. They also have a much stronger sense of family, and the major way this is reflected is through their brands.

It is extremely common to see families have the exact same brand (if not look near identical in every possible way), and some brand shapes go as far back as to the very first Novakid who landed on the planet. This has been met with endless controversy from more free-spirited Novakid, who claim that forcing children to get a specific brand instead of letting them choose their own (or none at all) strips them of perhaps the most vital part of their individuality, and should be outlawed.

A more widely agreed upon controversy surrounding the surgeries that replace brands on adults who marry-in, is also present in most Magenta Cities. Despite the outrage, risks, and high fatality rate, this practice is still not outlawed. It is very looked-down on though, and is typically only seen in families who hold high amounts of power.

For those who refuse to do the surgeries, the brand that gets passed down onto the children often comes down to the families importance. The higher up in society they are, the more likely that brand will be passed on.

And for those who just cannot agree on whose brand gets plastered onto their children's faces, the parents may choose to combine their brand patterns, creating a whole new one in the process. Some Novakid have adopted this blending tradition on purpose, and while its not a super common practice, its also not rare to see Novakid with large, intricate brands that showcase their whole family tree (if one knows how to read them).

[anxiousanteaterr]

I have a LOT of headcanons for the Novakids, one of which is that they do not have different languages, they just have two universal languages: a spoken one and a physical one.

The spoken language, simply called "Novaspeak", has been dubbed "the hardest spoken language to learn by people with vocal chords". Many linguists argue that its technically impossible to speak it. "Where Novakids have to mimic our sounds to 'speak' our language, we have to mimic their sounds to 'speak' their language." is a common phrase that gets tossed around by Novaspeak teachers. The language is extremely complex and expressive, but to other races, it just sounds like Space Sounds™.

Since Novakids lack vocal chords and thus their language was formed without the use of them, for people WITH vocal chords, it can be extremely hard to make those noises. For those who can, they need to do so perfectly in some cases, as changes in pitch, tone, or even volume can completely change a conversation to a whole other topic. However, Novakids generally do not expect people to even try to speak their language, so they tend to be extremely patient with those who do, whether its out of understanding or total shock and amazement.

There is also of course plenty of technology that allows people to translate for them, and practically every space faring adventurer's auto-translator has Novaspeak pre-programmed in.

The physical language, called Constella, is basically the Novakid's sign language. While Constella can be used as a standalone language, it is almost always incorporated into spoken conversations. This language is where the stereotype of Novakids being "restless" and "always fidgeting" came from.

Most people who try to learn a Novakid language pick Constella due to how much easier it is to learn.

Frontier Novakids tend to use Novaspeak more than Constella.

Magenta City Novakids tend to use Constella more, as the cities are so large and loud, it can be hard to hear one another speak.

Lil bonus: Since Novakids lack facial expressions, the smaller aspects of body language play a huge part in how they communicate with each other. Things like how bright or dimly they glow, how loud the vibration/humming of their brand is (if they have one), or flucuations in their density, can all be indicators of mood, stress, and physical and mental status.

[starboundheadcanons]

koichi is a he/him lesbian send tweet

[starboundheadcanons]

While Novakids that interact with other races tend to be less forgetful than those in Novakid villages, the opposite is true for Novakids who are alone for long periods of time. It gets so much that some will forget they've sustained a fatal injury and remain alive simply because they forget to die.