Nova AU Concepts (TLT) // Monthly vote (Patreon)

I spent waaaaaaay too long on finding a concept I like with the Nova AU. I don't consider myself to be fast coming up with creative designs, so you get some sketches and what I played around with this month 💛Next time you vote on the Nova AU again, I have the outfits down and can draw them doing doing whatever shenanigans (or naughty situation) I can think of (maybe the pool scene or avulsion trial Nova AU style?)!

Concept Line of thought

I thought about practicality and what fits both of them in this AU. The book chapter is very short so we've got a lot of creative freedom with the Nova AU! I imagine both Harrow and Gideon stick to their core character from the first book:

Harrow

Harrow shows an iron will and tries to excel at her purpose. She still obviously values tradition (as we read in the book) and uses speed and tactical strategy to gain the upper hand. To reflect that, a friend mentioned traditional fencing gear and that immediately just clicked for me.

Harrow's initial idea was quite generic and I like the adapted one a lot more. Her face paint came to fruition by accident. I drew shadows across her forehead and thought it looked SO cool and menacing lmao. It reminded me of Furiosa - which is a perfect fit for Harrow in this AU.

Another difference to her usual design are two scars she got from fights with Gideon: one over her lip and one on her left cheek.

The chain of Samael is there - obviously. I still don't quite understand if the chain is truly just little skulls linked to each other, but the German version translated it as literal little skulls. So there you go!

Gideon

She probably still came to the Ninth as a toddler, but was instead adopted by the Reverend Father and Mother (I can't remember if that's canon or not, but let's assume this if it's not).Even if she's adopted and grows up among the Ninth, with her abilities and her looks I imagine she still has trouble fitting in. I can see her be a sort of outcast everyone tries to avoid.And if her character is the same, she still wants to experience life - something impossible on the Ninth. So I see her as being bored of the religious tradition, being bored of studying necromancy. It's just all boring and tedious work. But cavalier work? The cohort? That still sounds interesting! Where she could meet like-minded people who are strong and energetic like her and not half-dead like basically everyone on the Ninth. She just wants to get off the planet.

So she's still adoring cavalier training. Cavaliers are cool and strong and pretty women look up to them! I can easily see her create bone swords to train when she's alone. Hence, I still gave her muscles - maybe she wouldn't be quite as muscular as her regular self, but fuck it. I just love drawing muscles.

I also love Gideon's silly self. So no way would I put her into traditional nun outfits. She gets a cape, but that's it. Everything else about her outfit isn't traditional. She's a hands-on girl and gets some fun bone armor/decoration thingie on her arms. She also gets a WWE inspired bone belt - because she's stupid and thinks it makes her look cool (like those heroes in her magazines).

Initially I also wanted to give her a bone mask, which she would wear instead of the itchy and oily face paint. But it clashed with the hood and I ended up scratching the idea.

Gideon was far easier to design with her character in mind than Harrow, but I still love both.

Hope you enjoyed those! 💛

Chim