#Raquelle (dark rimura)

[desultory-novice]

"The Only Thing I Know"

"...It's still blood shed..."

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A little sketch for the accidental second (or third?) of the Thematically Noir Songs || Gotye's "The Only Thing I Know"

To me, this is 100% a song about the Summer Trio. Or how they came undone when those bonds were destroyed forever.

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I love how the music in this song feels very cold, desolate, and wintry, just like Shiver Star. And then, it chooses to end on this oddly dissonant, warm, beach cafe music, which to me just digs the nail in further. Because going to the (non-existent) beach in search of a true summer is something that was always bandied about between them.

But Raquelle dies and Noir dies and Adeleine, poor dear, DOES get to go in Kirby 64, but it is not with the two of them at her side...

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Lyrics wise, I feel like both Raquelle and Adeleine fit the "girl that I remember, who'll never leave or need to grow" as one is dead and one literally can't grow older anymore. The word "memory" in this case (the only thing I know) feels like a fitting metaphor for the control gear that locked around Noir after Raquelle's death.

(Frankly, all three of them are kind of trapped in this moment/memory, really)

"When the past gives me no comfort And though the future is the cost..."

-The past being times when things were happy, but that memory stings Noir now, because the only thing from the past he'd kept with him was his pain, which the Sword both fed off of and fed him with poisonous whispers that he could cut it all away and be better off. The cost was everyone's future. No one made it out normal.

"The way I'm choosing to remember I'll forever be the man I never was..."

-Noir is literally physically locked into the bloody role of being Zero's blade, enforcer, and executioner: The Swordsman. A role painfully unfitting for the sorrowful and wistful, ever-dreaming, deeply protective, all bark-and-no-bite teenage boy...

"And you, you fade But the memory remains the same"

"And I, I can't change And I think living with your memory Is slowly driving me insane."

-Same as above, really. What he did and the knowledge he cannot take it back is eating away at him and even speeding along the change into Dark Matter.

The last part, the B part following the long instrumental, feels like Adeleine's chance to finally say something about the situation Noir carefully crafted for her by caring about her so much that he...was too afraid to open up to her before things got THIS bad.

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"You are perfect but you're empty And it gets so lonely in my mind"

"Cause your image in my memory's The only shred of you that's left behind" -He was the perfect big brother, at least, on the surface. Again, he never let her in and now she's left trying to reassemble a truer picture of what her brother was like without him and she's got so little to work from...

"You were real and but then you left me And that's the part I can't accept

So I'll keep on living with your memory Because it's all that I have left..." -As I alluded to in the Haircut From Hell comic, Adeleine has this kind of understated, defrosting horror in the back of her mind that Noir's "gift" to her (his curse) was to die while accidentally trapping her in the memory of a time when he was still alive

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For the drawing, though it is a loose and hasty sketch, I did try to convey a few things, particularly in the way everyone's hands are being used. Raquelle has both her hands around Noir's shoulders (or neck) as if she's trying to cling to him mid fall. But that positioning echoes the idea that it was her death that locked the collar...

Noir has never needed to use his hands to wield the heavy sword, but here, he metaphorically holds it, taking "responsibility" for this death. But doing so keeps him from otherwise reaching out to her (as he didn't truly snap out of his emotion-dampened blood-haze till it was too late) and it keeps him from reaching out to Adeleine too... 

Though the tails of his scarf appear to try...

For as opposed to the star-crossed pair, tangled in each other's arms in a doomed fashion, Adeleine is but a singular figure forlornly walking away from the scene. She is alone and seems to know it. Her eyes meet no one's. One hand of hers is full with the Brush, but the other is still open. Yet there is no one to take it anymore.....

[driftwoodmfb]

Some Apologies AU sketches (AU belongs to @desultory-novice )

On the left side is inspired by @startistdoodles 's Dark Matter Blade. What if Noir survived the rainbow sword attack. It brought his consciousness back, but the dark matter scars are very prevalent. The three different Noirs was me playing around with different levels of the scars.

The right side was playing around with Raquelle. Dess mentioned Noir is responsible for her death, so I drew a more direct responsibility where she was directly sliced by the Dark Blade. If that is the case, that would explain how she turned into dark matter herself. The second picture of her is her turning into Dark Rimura. I accidently gave her inkling hair I can't unsee it dear god

[desultory-novice]

"Apologies AU" Summary Part 1

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Long, long ago, Earth experienced a radical climate shift that meant within as little as two generations, the planet would no longer be habitable for humans. A desperate humanity sought a new home for themselves and their progeny, eventually discovering the perfect place to start over, a planet they dubbed "The New World."

The New World was to be more than humanity's second chance at life. It would be an ideal society: all of humankind's greatness and triumph built side by side with nature, so the problems of the old world would not follow. Humanity began migrating in waves, the most privileged and wealthy and their loyalists first, of course.

Eventually, everyone would get a new lease on life.

Yes... surely...

One day, upon this fresh new world an alien life form crashed. Mysterious. Powerful. Dangerous. Also weak. Too weak to evade capture. And soon...life began to change. The people of The New World slowly turned their eyes away from those they'd left behind in their ugly past, their gaze fixed on a dream-like future. Advancement. Progress. Technology akin-to-magic. A galaxy of possibilities.

It could be theirs. It would be theirs. At any cost. Those in power would make sure of it.

Animal experiments... Human experiments...

Among these experiments was a woman with a voice so beautiful hearing her was to feel like your greatest Dream had come true...  She would fall in love with a man with a Heart so great he left his home to try and return this troubled species to the right path...

...From their union, two children would be born. 

The eldest, a boy, bore great Darkness within him. The abstract nature of his gifts proved of small interest to Lab Discovera at first, and he was tentatively returned to the care of his parents.

The second, a little girl, was a powerful vessel for Soul matter. The ability to create life, not just manipulate it. To bring something into being from nothing.

She, they wanted desperately! For they did not see a child or even a living creature, but a tool from which they could wrest their desired future of absolute control. The wielders of Dream and Heart would not hear of sacrificing their progeny for these twisted goals!

Considered fugitives from The New World for fleeing with precious "experimental equipment" they hid themselves the only place they thought safe: Old Earth, now little more than a dumping ground for exiles and failed or "disappointing" experiments, often sent down as trinkets to pacify the urban warlords who ruled over the depressed, powerless survivors of this slowly collapsing society.

The family of four lived as best as they could in the increasingly cold and harsh modern wasteland, seen as traitors to their neighbors for having worked closely with Old Earth's privileged oppressors. The children were able to avoid capture, at least.

But their parents would not live to see them grow up...

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It is the beginning of summer, the only time of the year on "Shiver Star" where it is warm enough to be outdoors for most of the day. The planet awakens from another three season long hibernation...

Adeleine and Noir Fontaine are orphaned siblings, two young kids in their early and mid-teens just trying to survive amongst a tired and deeply bitter populace who knows that they, for one reason or another, are the ones humanity has chosen to die while the rest migrated to the bounteous and rich future of The New World.

Only Noir is old enough and wise enough to fully grasp that no matter how hard they pretend otherwise, there's no long-term survival for the two of them. And god knows, the day-to-day is hard enough.

Still, the two make it work. They thrive, even, due to Noir's endless tenacity and strong desire to save his little sister from the crushing despair he feels, even if he can save her no other way.

With society opening up again, the two quickly find themselves reunited with their childhood friend of several years. It is a happy reunion for Adeleine and an awkward one for Noir. Though even he can't help but admit, having Raquelle around makes the weight on his shoulders feel a little more bearable. Even if the slightly older girl's good-natured teasing flusters him in a complex way...

Still, they could have gone on like this together for many years, the three of them. Until the snow forgot how to melt and all life fell into a gentle sleep, buried under the white drifts. They could have.

...They could have but...

One fateful day, Adeleine's art supplies, her only personal treasure, are ruined beyond repair by people who did not care for their warm-hearted escapism. Alone, Noir follows a secret hunch and sneaks into the Museum of New World Technology, a wrecked and abandoned building formerly used to host hundreds of the broken and often dangerous tchotchkes left behind by the New World.

He finds just what he was looking for amongst the looted remains of this experimental display of new world glitz – the perfect gift for his sister. A "magical" paintbrush that ensures she will always have the tools to do what she loves. Adeleine now finds herself slowly able to bring her yet unrefined art to a fantastical new level!

While they start out as little more than animated sketches, she will in time learn to tap into powers deep within herself, powers as natural to her as breathing, to bring real items, even food, into being.

Noir finds a gift for himself as well. A sword with a strange dark aura. It speaks to him. To his soul. Anxiety. Dread. Anger. Negative emotions that Noir had been able to push aside for most of his troubled life with seemingly endless patience and resilience.

It tempts him: a weapon that does not require strength nor training to use, and effortlessly concealable as something no more noticeable than a chain necklace he can hide beneath the scarf he always has on him. Before he knows what he is doing, he has donned it.

Their summer takes a dramatic turn for the better. Long days of magic-fueled safety and silliness sponsored by "dream-like" technology. Adeleine continues to hone her skills. Noir trains with his gift as well and the inexplicable powers it grants him. He plays with being a hero, disappearing night after night to hunt "monsters."

...But this isn't a story about a hero...

Noir is disappearing more and more lately. He's tense. Frightened of something lurking just over his shoulder. He never takes his scarf off now, and he's begun to wear gloves over his hands, even inside.

One day, he reports to Adeleine that he and Raquelle had a bad fight; that she said she never wants to see him again. Adeleine, seeing the changes in her brother as a sign Noir's been deeply hurt by this experience, loyally sides with him and gives up her oldest friendship...

And so, things go back to normal for the two Adeleine...

What she cannot see is that Noir's hands and neck have begun to turn dark and withered; it is almost as if something other than blood is starting to run through his veins. Underneath his scarf, the chain necklace that gave him control over the dark sword has transformed into a collar he can neither remove nor destroy. His attempts to do so cause the sword under "his" control to attack him, violently.

Frightened, he manages to contact an exiled New World scientist, a man with a shattered mind who informs Noir of the horrible secret behind The New World's precious "miracle." That their wondrous advancements all stemmed from the extensive torture of an alien life form, a powerful psychic who even now, a planet away, is able to toy with the fates of those who gorged themselves on Forgo's pain.

Worse than the knowledge of what this information might mean for him is the realization that he has cursed his little sister to the same terrible end as he. Noir runs to her, frantic! Perhaps it is not too late! There may still be time to take it back!

Please!! Not Adeleine too...!!

And yet...

...She is fine! To his great relief! Adeleine shows no signs of the frightening, irreversible transformation he is seemingly undergoing!

Indeed, she hasn't changed one bit since her gift...

Time passes for the siblings. Slowly and quickly. Noir becomes desperate to continue to conceal and somehow free himself of his "gift." For if he were to die now, what would happen to his sister? She has no one left. But her joy at her growing abilities only makes his guilt worse. And negativity speeds along the change...

Realizing at long last that the fragile life he wishes he could return to is now forever out of reach, that he was the one who destroyed it, and that the monstrous transformation he is going through can only end in harming Adeleine as well, Noir makes a decision...

There is no escape for him. But Adeleine will be free.

At any cost.

Noir touches his sleeping sister's cheek with a hand she would recoil from if she knew what her "hero" has done and disappears into the night one last time...

Days later, Noir and Adeleine arrive at the spaceport. He has come along to bid her goodbye. He tells her not to worry. That he will follow once his paperwork is all sorted out. Unable to fully disguise his intentions, he smiles with tears in his eyes and begs her to be happy.

Happy enough...for the both of them...

Only he knows this is the last time they will meet in this form.

After she departs, Noir walks out into the snow, alone. The distant eye that had been closely watching the child born to Darkness from afar for years, that had begun to lurk inside him since he took the Dark Matter Blade, that sunk its claws into its prey for good the moment his unstoppable resilience finally slipped and he allowed himself, in his fear, to murder his best friend and consign her soul - along with the others he killed - to be enslaved to the darkness too, bursts forth, consuming his physical body.

His last thoughts are not for his own fate. He knows what he deserves.

No. They are for she whom he always thought of first. To the one he had given up everything for and knew, deep inside, he would give up his life for as well, the moment she gave him that scarf...

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"Was I a good brother... Adeleine...?"

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[Apologies AU Masterpost] [Noir's Field Trip Masterpost]

[desultory-novice]

Off topic here but, How did Raquelle turn out to be such a sweet girl with a father like... THAT!? Dang...

Ooh, Raquelle time~

So, her impressively horrible father, once his power-base was established, effectively spoiled his daughter with (entirely feminine) luxuries from a young age–because what HE wanted was to raise a pretty looking trophy daughter to use as a bargaining chip.

(Her father does NOT drink respect women juice. At all. In fact, evidence would suggest that he was quite possibly a raging misogynist in addition to all his other crimes. And while I haven't set it in stone, let's just say that whoever Racquelle's mother was, she was almost assuredly out of the picture from a very young age.)

However, Rouan missed out on a very important aspect of his "pet daughter" project: providing her with, y'know, anything resembling love. So while he could blithely deliver most material things she wanted, he never managed to win her loyalty, only her passive (and frankly, a bit nervously given, because he was a frightening figure even when he was making a passing attempt at playing father) obedience.

Raquelle, meanwhile, yearned for real love and family. It's probable that her initial bond with the Fontaine siblings came from a place of shallow idealization of the storybook familial love (!) they had for each other! She didn't have it and she wanted to be a part of that. A part of a connection. Adeleine was in the perfect place to receive that connection, and her receptiveness emboldened Raquelle's belief in "love"–though Noir was a harder nut to crack, and it took her a while to learn to "read the room" with his attitude.

Her rich upbringing did leave her with a bit of a frivolous streak and her sweetness can be a bit tone deaf (it may be her own way of coping with life) but after losing Noir and Adeleine the first time to her father's machinations, she determined to grow up fast and learned that it was possible to still love people even from afar.

A small tidbit, but she dressed in mostly hyper femme skirts and dresses when they lived together and while she still adores pinks and pastels and girly things, switched over to pants and more utilitarian outfits later! Kind of a sign of emotional maturity on her part + an attempt to shed her naivete. (Speaking of little design quirks, Noir wore his bangs down all through the period they lived together.)

[Bonus] Summer Trio Trauma Responses!

Raquelle | Fawn Noir | Flight interestingly enough...! Adeleine | Fight (!!!!!)

<gif from notobscurevideogames but I'm too embarrassed to tag for an OC post>

[desultory-novice]

Hey! Noir! You seem acquainted with Adeleine's babysitter... What's the story with her?

cw: emetophobia, ommetaphobia

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"This...isn't you though..." "Noir Fontaine isn't a killer...!"

"...Why...?" "Or...do you somehow think you're the first, Raquelle...?"

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Come, sweet butterfly. Come into my den. It is awfully cold outside, and the world is full of frightening monsters. But if you come with me, I can teach you the secret to staying safe forever...

For the monsters, you see they don't hunt their own kind.

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Noir's Field Trip Masterpost

@kirbyoctournament

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AN: For clarity's sake, Noir finally broke from the Sword's sway on his mind and began to regain his true personality only -after- killing her. (anime-plot) Thus, his repulsed reaction and (unfortunately too late) horrified attempt to throw the thing away. Up until that moment, he was being pretty heavily influenced by it. Else he would not have killed all those people as hinted in the previous text post...

[desultory-novice]

Hi! I really love all your content! I'm super excited to see where you take the apologies AU. Anyways, but were the three dark matters in Kirby 64 (Dark Rimuru, Rimura and Rimuro) all like noir at some point? In terms of being something else before being assimilated into the hivemind?

Good question, Anon!

In totally unrelated news... ...meet Raquelle, Adeleine's old babysitter!

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"Freeze"

Adeleine started out life... a bit trapped in her shell, given the early loss of her parents and also because angsty teen Noir is not the best guardian for a sensitive, budding future artist.

Raquelle is one of those unique people who was able to make an instant connection with her and help bring her out of herself! She was almost entirely a net positive in Adeleine's life.

Her relationship with Noir is more ...complex....

[image behind the jump]

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...This is not a happy story.

[Apologies AU Masterpost]

[desultory-novice]

Hey! I just realized! we don't know Raquelle's fate in the Snowflakes AU! *Gasp!* Does this mean... SHE CAN BE SAVED AFTER ALL!? 🤩

Besides, we've seen Adeleine and Noir's reaction to Dreamland and all the characters, what would her's be?

You wan to save Raquelle in SNOWFLAKES?!?!?! The worst timeline for the siblings?!

...Well, okay!

She thinks Dream Land is a lovely place. Pretty as a picture. Day and night. Everyone is so cute...and friendly...

...She really hopes... ...they loved it here too...

[desultory-novice]

Slow, slow art rehabilitation.

When Raquelle says to present day Noir, "You look good. I'm glad." well...this is the Noir she knew when they were younger.

[desultory-novice]

Apologies AU - "Allergies"]

The kinds of things Noir put up with...

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CW: implied sexual abuse of a minor (dialogue) + emetophobia

BLEAK AF + NO HOPE / NO HAPPINESS

it's also very sketchy and hastily drawn

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"You're allergic to fish, beef, chicken, pork, lamb..." "What did you used to eat before coming here?"

"..............." "...I can't remember anymore..."

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posting this after all, sans context.

[desultory-novice]

Noir, how do you feel right now? You're more energetic than usual

[Cheery Noir]

"I'm in a great mood! Have you looked around? The sun is shining and it's so warm and there's grass and trees here! I haven't seen a hint of snow! Snow's really pretty, honestly, and I don't mind it but I haven't seen this much greenery before! Even when I was little I don't think I saw a lot of greenery outside those 'species-something-or-other' chambers where they let me play around!" (Who? Dunno!)

"Everyone at home is always looking for green places! Sometimes they make artificial indoor gardens or snow gardens or trash gardens! And warm places too! I know Adeleine would talk about the beach! I didn't think it was such a good idea because it was probably cold there too, but Raquelle said we should try it! Wait for the brightest, sunniest day and the three of us could head out and...!"

"...Raquelle...?"

"W-Why does my throat feel so tight all of a sudden?"

"Oh! I'm wearing something around my neck! What is it? Like a necklace? That's funny cause I don't wear jewelry! I don't even have any. Oh, wait. Maybe she put it on me as a joke? She's always teasing me like that. (C'mon...) I hope it's not embarrassing looking at least!" 

"Huh. Is it...stuck...?"

"I-I can't seem to find the clasp thingy holding it on... Or maybe I'm just struggling cause of these thick gloves...? I hadn't stopped to think of it before but why am I wearing gloves? It's not cold here!"

"Um...gimme just a moment, phone person!" "I gotta call you back once I figure this out!"

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Noir proceeds to (immediately) get distracted by something else Needless to say, he forgets to call back

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Noir's Field Trip Masterpost

@kirbyoctournament

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AN: One more from the belated "Cheery Noir" pile and the surprise return of the sadly-never-to-happen beach trip from the old OC Takeover Week...!

Also be sure to stay tuned for the rest of today...! We have ~content~!

[desultory-novice]

Um, yes we want to save Raquelle in Snowflakes! At least then SOMEONE is getting saved in that au!

It balances things out within the timelines too. If two go, one survives! My girl either gets corrupted or murdered in the other timelines.

Therefore!

In normal apologies: Noir & Raquelle corrupted/killed; Adeleine Saved

White haired noir Au: Adeleine & Raquelle Corrupted/killed; Noir Saved.

Snowflakes AU: Noir & Adeleine Corrupted/Killed; Raquelle Saved!

(Unless you count the Au where Noir gets chopped up by the blade, Raquelle gets murked off-screen, and Adeleine becomes an emotionless husk...)

Also, I mean all this in good fun! I'm not criticizing you're storytelling or timelines, or any of that! Also, I noticed the hints! Didn't know Raquelle was a good artist...!

You're not wrong! And Dess does love when things are in balance!

As for poor Raquelle, much like Noir himself, her overwhelming unluckiness stems from the fact that she was kinda created to be a victim. It's taken some work to find ways to make her happy!

(I've got a post written to go up once "A Cold Hell" reaches a crescendo that might explain the unfortunate reason why she gets the short end of the stick more often than not, but that aside...)

>Didn't know Raquelle was a good artist...!

YESSSSS! For ONCE, Dess's hinting worked as intended! /lh

She's got a long way to go, mind (she really does... Raquelle did not start out good at art, despite spending all that time with Adeleine. Then again, Noir never picked up art either.) but she'll make it! She's got, well, a lot of time following her Dark Matter corruption, but most importantly she's got a VIVID imagination! ^_-

[mobgabriel]

so...i just finished reading this and while there is a lot i would like to talk about i will reserve these thoughts for when dess comes back from hiatus but with that said

HOLY SH*T rouan is 100% the worst father i've ever saw like how can someone be such a shitty living being that their existence makes a content warning feel necessary

like the fact that so much raquelle content was hidden behind dess's fear of questions about him is crazy because i genuinely didn't care about raquelle before this because rouan literally scared dess out of posting about her due to the possibility of questions about him popping up

Apologies AU ~ Director's Cut

I really wanted to release this before the end of the year, since it was a promise for 2024's Tournament, but close enough?!

...Thank you everyone for your patience...

At last, "The Dess Cut" is complete!

>>>[Google Docs Link]<<<

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...New to my blog and don't know what "Apologies" even is?

Then check here, here, potentially here and/or his character tag to learn more about the human identity I gave to Kirby's Dark Matter Swordsman (including a bunch of HC about Adeleine, Neichel, Shiver Star, Ripple Star, Dark Matter...)

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PS: This monster is 318 pages long >w<

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@kirbyoctournament (Not sure if you're still reblogging things but...)

[desultory-novice]

"Apologies" AU - Masterpost

"Before Popstar, Adeleine lived on 'Shiver Star,' the embittered residents' nickname for the frozen husk of old Earth they were left on after the migration. But she isn't sad, for she has a best friend in her older brother. And he would give up anything to protect her...."

Characters: Adeleine, Noir (loosely based on unused Dark Matter design) / Dark Matter Swordsman, Gooey, King Dedede, others...

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Note that this "comic" started as a well-received one shot that proceeded to grow into a series. As a result, it's very experimental. Expect random inconsistencies and continual artstyle shifts.

Bolded text are the newest posts

[Apologies AU] -Shiver Star- “Apologies”  “One Sneeze”   (illust) “Summer”   “A Walk in the Snow”   “The Swordsman”  “Wonderful Gift”  (illust) “Damnation”  “Salvation”  “Unstoppable”  “Brightest Star”

-Dream Land 2- “Sibling Reunion” “Big Brother Instincts” “Unsung Hero”  “The Perfect Vessel” “To Protect” “Matter Over Mind” "Darkened Skies" (illust) “Last Will” “Ego”

-Side Stories- "Freeze" "A Cold Hell" "No Friends"

"Honestly, it was all worth it"

"Never Never Land"

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[Noir Fontaine - Initial Ref Sheet] [Noir Fontaine - Kirby OC Tourney Profile]

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[Noir's Field Trip]

Please see the above post for links to all Noir content following Dream Land 2. In short, I submitted him to a silly popularity contest and let people ask him questions, many of which served to reveal his backstory and emotional state during various events. It also provides the lead up to Noir's ultimate fate, ie, The Good Ending.

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[White-Haired Noir] “Dark Matter Painter”  (gift art - how this whole idea started...) "Have You Ever Killed Before?" (reblog sketch - W.Noir is born...) "Why Did You Stop Me...?" (reblog text + sketch - W.Noir in Kirby 64)

“You’re a good knight!” (illust - W.Noir and Ribbon) “The Body Remembers” (illust - W.Noir's scars) "Knight Costume" (sketch - W.Noir and Meta Knight) "My Trauma" (sketch - W.Noir and Meta Knight)

"Like Brother Like Sister" (comic, white-haired Noir origin) "Each From His or Her Own World" (comic, one of various endings)

"Three Challenges Noir Had to Face and One Meta Knight Did" (fanfic - W.Noir and Meta Knight in Planet Robobot) "Cold Air" (fanfic - W.Noir and Meta Knight's first meeting)

"The Little Prince" (illust - Adult W.Noir) "Brighter Skies" (Sketch - Adult W.Noir and Kirby)

[Snowflakes Timeline - cw: body horror + bad end] "I'll Never Leave You" - Script + Sketch "...Zero Three..." - Sketch + Script + Illust "Melted Snow" - Script + Fictional Boss Fight "Null v0.3" - Sketch + Silliness

[Extras - Art (canonincal)] “Ugly Scarf”   (illust - our first look at Noir) "It'll All Make Sense Soon, Right?" (illust - Noir + Adeleine) "You Won't Win..." (illust - Noir's last moments) “Was I A Good Brother...?” (illust + text - storycrafting for Noir) “That’s…Funny…”  (illust - Adeleine's notebook) "Blue Penguin Scarves" (illust - Dedede and Noir's Scarf)

"Happy Birthday!" (sketch - Adeleine and Noir)

[Extras - Art (non-canon)] “Full Regalia” (illust - Dark Matter Blade “Gijinka”)  "No Hands Club" (sketch - incredibly short MariPav Crossover) "Looking Over You" (sketch - Angel Noir he's not dead yet!!) "Hell Branch x Apologies" / 2 / 3 (sketch - unexpected crossover!?!) "Games You Play When..." (sketch - the siblings + Steven meme) "Family Wedding?!" (sketch - the siblings + Raquelle/Rimura) "Adeleine meets Dark Matter Painter" (sketch comic) "Noir meets White-Haired Noir" (sketch comic) "Hell Branch x Apologies Returns!" (sketch comic) (Leads to same post as "...AGAIN" below)

"Ending D" (illust - Everyone dies...) "Sempai Noir" (illust - Adeleine draws Noir) "sEmPaI bLaDe" (illust - Gooey draws Noir)

[Extras - Scripts] “Vestige” (script - Susie + Adeleine) "Evil Science" (script - Meta Knight + Susie) "W.Noir and Taranza + Adeleine and Magolor" (scripts) "...AGAIN." (script - Noir in Dream Land 3) (Leads to same post as Hell Branch Returns" above) "Why Does Life Suck?" (more Hell Branch crossover)

"Re_Birthday" (script/sketch - Noir reflects as Adeleine mourns)

[Extras - Asks] "Warning Sign?" (text) "W.Noir and Meta Knight" (text) "What was Gooey...?" (text) "Adeleine, Noir, and 'bullies'" (text) "Noir as Dream Land 3's Dark Matter" (text) "Dark Matter Painter's Light" (reblog; White-Haired Noir lore) "Why hell though?" (text)

[Shiver Siblings Takeover] (For one weekend, I let Adeleine and Noir "answer" any asks about them. White-Haired Noir shows up too. Somewhat non-canon, but surprisingly connected?!?)

Please Send Positive Thoughts to... Which Kirby Adventure... [w/ Sketch] If You Had a Wish-Granting Clock... Food and Warm Clothes Arrive... [w/ Sketch] A Crystal Ball to See the Future - Noir... [Comic] A Crystal Ball to See the Future - W. Noir [Comic] Have You Been to the Forgotten Land... [Comic] (This ^ one is canon to W.Noir btw!) So Zan Roasted Your Sister Online... A Conversation (?) With Marx [Comic] Thanks for the Fun Weekend [w/ Sketch]

[desultory-novice]

Woke up feeling a little sick today but the details you put into this!!

I love how you took a bad end AU and (while it's still not happy, though that was the original premise) found a way to extend it into new territory!

Really liking the stuff with the paintbrush and the name of the AU.

The Sword quietly offing Raquelle too (gotta separate Adeleine from all her loved ones) then taking her form is very in character??

In fact...

(I'm sorry. I had to bring the braids back in the way they'd hurt the most)

Inspired by this post by @desultory-novice where he talked about what would happen if the Dark Blade chose Adeleine instead. I'm calling this Apologies AU, AU: The Armed Painter and the Dyed Knight aka APDK

I uh... might have gone too far on the second page...

CW: Heavy blood, character death, and body dismemberment

Some info!

The comic starts in the middle of the conflict. The Dark Blade chained Adeleine in one place to make her watch. The start of the comic is when the Blade stabs Noir's back, causing blood to splash on Adeleine's face. All the cuts before hand were survivable, but still very painful.

Adeleine, as dark matter is known as just Dark Matter Blade, never Dark Matter Swordsman because the sword is more or less puppeteering her.

Noir had the paintbrush on him when he was killed because he was keeping it to give to Adeleine on her birthday.

Don't know if I'm going to go with it, but I have the idea of the Dark Blade taking the form of Raquelle. Either killing her and taking her form to befriend Adeleine and Noir or, for this AU, Raquelle was made up by the Blade.

At the end of the comic, the Magic Paintbrush tried to revive Noir, replacing everything missing by painting it. This attempt failed though. It ended up basically making a living puppet. The Paintbrush gained all of Noir's memories and realizes just what he, and it lost.

The Paintbrush didn't turn Noir into Dark Matter because it could feel how much he cares about Adeleine. This ended up making the care about her too; and Noir.

Noir's scarf at the end in a nod to those pocket color wheels

His outfit changed colors at the spots Dark Blade dismembered him. His sleeve cuffs are silver just like the Paintbrush's metal.

'Noir' later paints a glass eye for himself.

Calling this AU the Armed Painter and the Dyed Knight is a double meaning with Noir having the Paintbrush and also dying in this AU.

'Noir' still goes to Popstar, similar to the White Hair Noir AU. He initially pretends to be Noir, not wanting to except he's really gone.

I'll let Dess decide if this should count as Noir propaganda for the tournament

[sortanonymous]

These poor guys 😭😭😭

"The Only Thing I Know"

"...It's still blood shed..."

-

A little sketch for the accidental second (or third?) of the Thematically Noir Songs || Gotye's "The Only Thing I Know"

To me, this is 100% a song about the Summer Trio. Or how they came undone when those bonds were destroyed forever.

-

I love how the music in this song feels very cold, desolate, and wintry, just like Shiver Star. And then, it chooses to end on this oddly dissonant, warm, beach cafe music, which to me just digs the nail in further. Because going to the (non-existent) beach in search of a true summer is something that was always bandied about between them.

But Raquelle dies and Noir dies and Adeleine, poor dear, DOES get to go in Kirby 64, but it is not with the two of them at her side...

-

Lyrics wise, I feel like both Raquelle and Adeleine fit the "girl that I remember, who'll never leave or need to grow" as one is dead and one literally can't grow older anymore. The word "memory" in this case (the only thing I know) feels like a fitting metaphor for the control gear that locked around Noir after Raquelle's death.

(Frankly, all three of them are kind of trapped in this moment/memory, really)

"When the past gives me no comfort And though the future is the cost..."

-The past being times when things were happy, but that memory stings Noir now, because the only thing from the past he'd kept with him was his pain, which the Sword both fed off of and fed him with poisonous whispers that he could cut it all away and be better off. The cost was everyone's future. No one made it out normal.

"The way I'm choosing to remember I'll forever be the man I never was..."

-Noir is literally physically locked into the bloody role of being Zero's blade, enforcer, and executioner: The Swordsman. A role painfully unfitting for the sorrowful and wistful, ever-dreaming, deeply protective, all bark-and-no-bite teenage boy...

"And you, you fade But the memory remains the same"

"And I, I can't change And I think living with your memory Is slowly driving me insane."

-Same as above, really. What he did and the knowledge he cannot take it back is eating away at him and even speeding along the change into Dark Matter.

The last part, the B part following the long instrumental, feels like Adeleine's chance to finally say something about the situation Noir carefully crafted for her by caring about her so much that he...was too afraid to open up to her before things got THIS bad.

-

"You are perfect but you're empty And it gets so lonely in my mind"

"Cause your image in my memory's The only shred of you that's left behind" -He was the perfect big brother, at least, on the surface. Again, he never let her in and now she's left trying to reassemble a truer picture of what her brother was like without him and she's got so little to work from...

"You were real and but then you left me And that's the part I can't accept

So I'll keep on living with your memory Because it's all that I have left..." -As I alluded to in the Haircut From Hell comic, Adeleine has this kind of understated, defrosting horror in the back of her mind that Noir's "gift" to her (his curse) was to die while accidentally trapping her in the memory of a time when he was still alive

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For the drawing, though it is a loose and hasty sketch, I did try to convey a few things, particularly in the way everyone's hands are being used. Raquelle has both her hands around Noir's shoulders (or neck) as if she's trying to cling to him mid fall. But that positioning echoes the idea that it was her death that locked the collar...

Noir has never needed to use his hands to wield the heavy sword, but here, he metaphorically holds it, taking "responsibility" for this death. But doing so keeps him from otherwise reaching out to her (as he didn't truly snap out of his emotion-dampened blood-haze till it was too late) and it keeps him from reaching out to Adeleine too... 

Though the tails of his scarf appear to try...

For as opposed to the star-crossed pair, tangled in each other's arms in a doomed fashion, Adeleine is but a singular figure forlornly walking away from the scene. She is alone and seems to know it. Her eyes meet no one's. One hand of hers is full with the Brush, but the other is still open. Yet there is no one to take it anymore.....