PRINCESS DAYMARE AND SIR KNIGHTMARE, AT YOUR DREAMY SERVICE!
NOTES:
I just think it's cute that Louie's Dreamweaver motorcycle has the word 'KNIGHTMARE' written on it. Oh god, it's a pun, isn't it? Your Honor? He's a fucking loser, oh my fucking god ToT.
Anyways, the 'KNIGHTMARE' from the motorcycle reminded me too much of Bobo's 'Daymare' from the title of her Brave New World Hell Event Suit, "Daymare Fairy Tale". But it also made the light bulb in my clown brain go, "Oh. Oh. Dreams in a Dark Night! Dark Night. Dark Knight. Knightmare. Nightmare. OUGH! Poetry."
And after, by the unmoving force of my laptop's dead battery, having no access to the countless silly drawings where I played around with said concepts, I began sketching the suits again. All this just to say that the "Knightmare and Daymare" is just a re-draw of a WIP in my files. Hopefully, when I get my computer fixed, I'll be able to finish them off and post them.
Off tangent, though?
I think, my biggest worry will be if I improve on my fundamentals, then perhaps, the art of, ranging from what is now, many months ago, will seem... immature and bordering on being first drafts rather than finished pieces. I wonder if I will be forced to restart them from ground zero or just... leave them to collect dust. Or simply continue them from where I left off, but the change will jarringly stare back at me. And this wouldn't matter to me if it was only twenty to thirty WIPs but these are WIPs whose total numbers border on probably the 150s or possibly 200s, not including ones from an art era before 2022, perhaps?
God, how can I explain the feeling? A while back, I was looking at my art from "ya-know-nothing-yet" and though it is all colorful and lively and fun to look back at old concepts and AUs placed in the backburner, a large part of me could only notice the errors and the parts that needed fixing —an overwhelming itch to fix what I had considered complete. But it's normal, it means I have grown in my art to be able to notice that. And I could be satisfied with the idea of these pieces being completed, forever hanged up in the abandoned museum that is "ya-know-nothing-yet". I am.
The reason being that 1) because, my laptop suffered a corrupted hard drive, so even if I wanted to fix some of them, I no longer had access to the files. 2) the format of the images were posted using Tumblr's Legacy editor, a now-forcibly-obsolete-and-placed-in-disuse feature. And finally, 3) The itch to fix does not compare my laziness and the priority I held towards the current WIPs of 2023-2025.
The same cannot be said of the 2023-2025 many unfinished WIPs. Often painting in one layer may have come to bite me in the ass. The body proportions, god. Cannot even begin to imagine. But we shall see, hopefully. Always with full of hope :'D
Anyways, returning to "KNIGHTMARE and DAYMARE". Listen. Listen. Escúchame.
I've been stuck with this silly and absurd concept of a starry kingdom built between the uncanny separation that is wakefulness and sleeping, unconsciousness and consciousness, where dreams and nightmares slip through like needles into the veins of perception.
At least, that's the bare bones I have of it. Of course, Lierver|Verlier are present, and it is of their union that gives birth to the young heir, Daymare Bobo, with Knightmare Louie created to serve as the kingdom's defender, but tasked primarily with protecting her from harm, by Lierlide's orders. Still debating on whether they are siblings of the same parent, or just... have him born through the stab wound Verner suffers at Lierlide's sword of "Fate". Hmmmm. Much to brainstorm and contemplate about.
Then again, these dynamics are not that vastly different from the current one in my main AU, with Bobo prancing around the Cloud Realm and stumbling into the messy family situationship that Lierlide and Verner have burdened her with and exiting out of the Cloud Realm with a god-like-figure-possessive-of-her great-grandpapi calling her daughter, and total control of a nameless knight order that she can puppeteer to her own will, because she is heir to her grandpapi's blood powers, much to Verner's annoyance.
Okay, but what if I include Noah and Lunar, as belonging to the enemy kingdom. Or perhaps it's the same kingdom split in half, one side serving as the kingdom's ruin while the other tries it's best to protect it from deteriorating? Who ordered tragic Noah x Bobo and Louie x Lunar again?
Or if the story follows the little boy Nidhogg, the one in charge of devouring the world trying his best to overwrite his fate or something because he has fallen in love with the fairytale world that guards him when he sleeps, one created by a lonely Yvette. Or something. Maybe.
I'll muse about this some more and come back later but, it's now an AU... I guess.
I would gladly take their place, I'm better off that way
But I don't have the strength for that, so I live day by day
And I'm so glad you stayed, stayed, stayed, stayed
I'm scared… I think. I'm scared for a lot of things, and it hurts because there's no one I can trust with these feelings. So, I choke them down, shoving dreams into a suitcase before boarding a train to nowhere. And that gentle June breeze still makes its way through the windows of the train, its sea salt smell reminding me of things I'm losing and of the things I am bound to forget.
"But when the angels’ trumpets herald the break of dawn and waves wash everything away, he will wave the world’s white flag."
WEB WEAVED MOODBOARD
With this mini-project, I wanted to tackle various subject matters familiar to the Love Nikki game, ones I’ve been almost-obsessively interested in. Of course, at the heart of them is one of my all-time favorite characters, and thus, it has been a blast brainstorming how to interweave all these themes into one sole image.
SOURCES: {♦}{⟡}{♦}{⟡}{♦}
I was inspired by the Love Nikki character, Louie, and wanted to depict the constant struggle he goes through when dealing with matters relating to the Curse of Blood. A curse that has been the cause of his greatest pains, yet even if it puts him against odd with his remaining family, he will do everything to defend it.
Hence, for his outfit, I wanted to give a restrained and restricted angelic knight imagery. The armor was primarily referenced from the 16th-century Gothic plate armor, most specifically the Maximilian armor. The clothes beneath his armor are shaped similarly to his Nameless Chivalric Order uniform, and I did want to give them a more of a holy ghost vibe, given that Love Nikki's Volume 1: Chapter 19 did characterize the Nameless Knights as "ghosts", wearing their "straight white robes" and "their spikes like aurora". I especially wanted to visualize this in his brooch, with the starry pearlescence.
For the wings, a Dawn Front event described Louie's "snow-white cloak" to be "like a pair of wings for safeguarding peace." While the cloak has already been drawn as such, I did want to draw what a pair of wings would look like after all the hell it goes through in "safeguarding that peace." I settled on the wings as having lost all its feathers and remaining where only its hollow bones, stained red by the bleeding drops of poppies. Whether the blood is of the wings themselves from a fall from grace, or if it's from the blood spilled by knifelike bones, that is up to interpretation.
Lastly, the big visual that can be quickly explained: the caged heart enveloped in thorns behind him represents the Curse of Blood — the gold thorns symbolizing not only the backlash pain of the Curse, but also the prioritizing of beauty above the lives of the people. As for the religious motifs, while they are a nod to the True King|Verner, who created the Curse of Blood —notably the silver thorn crown the suit has — they are also referencing Lierlide and the flood he once warned Miraland of, centuries ago.
SUIT BREAKDOWN
I provided two versions of the suit, one with the original top item, 'Sanctuary for the Nameless', and another with what would be any short top from the game. Without 'Sanctuary for the Nameless', a lot of the armor details are revealed, such as the bottom and shoes.
Also of note: I did try to limit the number of items being used, doing my best not to exceed the twenty-digit mark for the number of items. I believe I failed in that regards, if judging by the number of item descriptions — nineteen — and taking into account the "unposed hair", "posed dress with brooch", and "posed dress without brooch" that's... twenty-two pieces.
When it came to the armor pieces of the suit, I thought it best to separate them from one another, such as the "scarf" item from the "waist" item. Not only because realistically, armor pieces are broken down as such, but as opposed to clunky pieces that can only be worn with select items of this game, you can take away parts that overlap with other clothing items. The "North Kingdom" tag of suits is lacking vastly, and adding around thirteen armor-related items wouldn't hurt.
Granted, none of the pieces are invisible little "earring", "face", or "tattoo" pieces. You can still see when pieces of "Luciferous Dawn" are being worn and when they are not. But that's beside the point.
BACKGROUND
There's not much to say about the head ornament item, 'Orders from Above', that its diagram did not explain. It tied the Curse of Blood, Lierlide's Intervention in Fate, Verner's True Peace, as well as the Destruction of Miraland, all into one little wheel that tells a story. The only thing unexplained would be the poppy flowers and their significance. They are the Flower of Heroes, according to the North Kingdom lore of Love Nikki, and I do think it has everything to do with the "In Flanders Fields" war poem, written by John McCrae.
But poppies, most specifically the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), have heavy symbolism with sleep and death. In fact, Morphine, extracted from the opium poppy, was named after the Greek god of dreams, Morpheus, for its "tendency to cause sleep". Still, despite being an analgesic drug, morphine, along with other opium derivatives, is highly addictive and prone to misuse. While poppies are a nod to Verner's plan of getting rid of the people's will and putting the world to sleep, the poppy flowers are also a callback to the North Kingdom's Curse of Blood backlash suppression serum.
It is through Louie's (and Nidhogg's, but this isn't about him) lore that we come to learn of said serum, offering an unfair advantage to the soldiers who use it while leaving their opposition to suffer the burning pain of the curse for using force. It is how Louie sees his father die, not from a wound, but because his father could not overcome the pain of the Curse of Blood.
Which I personally think it adds to the angst of his character. After all the years he spent searching for peace after his father's death, the only choice left was to keep the very cursed that killed his father from ever breaking.
As for the background item, 'Birches Forever Awake', and ground item, 'Peace of Mind', they were originally going to be merged together. Even way before that, the suit was only going to have one background piece, that being the blood lake with a bit of snow around it. In fact, submerged in said blood lake was going to be a pillar on which the angelic character sat, as if guarding the lake.
What changed? I hate posting art filled with negative spaces. Blank spaces. The suit, with the top and brooch items already white, forced my hand into creating something to fill the empty background. Add some pop of color. Add some red to the white. (Color theory!)
But also, birches. They're some of my favorite trees. Mostly because I like anything associated with winter, but also because birches have the uncanny valley of seemingly having eyes on their white bark. Like they are silent witnesses of forests, forever remaining awake and watchful. You can almost consider them omniscient in that regard.
ITEM DESCRIPTIONS
It is silly to hope that all his efforts will one day bring True Peace. But the blood continues to spill before his eyes. —Decadent Virtue (Hair)
The illusion of choice is offered: a binding oath that unchains him from his pain and himself: ‘Forget all, even your name.’ —Oath of Erasure (Coat)
His coerced devotion to the Uncrowned Kings’ curse, all of his suffering, all of and from God’s will. —Sanctuary for the Nameless (Top)
When he saves, spares, and annihilates, he disbelieves but still warbles his deserted war goddess’s song, ‘IUSTITIA’. —Night Singer Hymn (Bottom)
On his knees, he suffers God’s warnings: ‘A flood is coming. There’s no stopping it. So, you must bear your pain well.’ —Misery’s Protection (leglet)
He doggedly rebelled against God’s words. Blindfolded and sword in hand, he’ll seek another outcome until the world’s end. —Righteous Path (Shoes)
But when the angels’ trumpets herald the break of dawn and waves wash everything away, he will have to wave the world’s white flag. —Luciferous Dawn (Hair Ornament)
The world has ceased cradling him; he’s outgrown its gentle hold. He’s endured its marvels and its horrors, too. —Confirmation of Growth (Scarf)
He suffers and forgets. He questions, understands, and despairs. He remembers the suffering again, and he forgets it once more. —Perpetual Fragmentation (Right Hand Ornament)
Father, brother, lover, friends, even the gods who bore his fate, it doesn’t matter. He forsakes them all. —Unherdable Lamb (Left Hand Ornament)
Memories blur and overlap. The red on the snow, on his hands, on him! In his hands, their hands growing cold. He retches. —In Winter, I Lost Them (gloves)
With unwavering hope, a tiny war dove pecks through the ice, seeking the key to escape the King's gilded cage. —The Light Pierces Through (Left Handheld)
Under layers of ice, he hides his heart, splitting his existence into pieces that guard it: a ghost, a dog, and a boy. —Flesh to Ghost (Waist)
He doesn’t need God, erases all stains of God from himself. But God is unrelenting, drowns him in the waking red. —His Holy Pettiness (Brooch)
In a field of poppies, the King buries the world’s primordial truth. ‘Sleep. The world will never be safe again. This is True Peace.’ —Hollow Ring of Peace (Wing)
He couldn’t close his eyes to the truth, escape its ugly glare. So, he dives for the girl’s hand, saves both their souls. —Birches Forever Awake (Background)
Still… Still! All this death, in an era of cursed peace. ‘God, why?’ ‘Because we’re all going to die beautifully.’ —Orders From Above (Head Ornament)
From the blood of his frozen memories emerges a crying girl, in her hand, both their bleeding hearts. ‘I need you to remember.' —Peace of Mind (Ground)
‘Your miseries are mine! But who carries my pain?’ He looks down at God’s pitiful face, ‘I shall.’ God smiled, ‘so you shall.’ —Truth Vessel (makeup)
FINAL THOUGHTS
When it comes to the lore for the rest of the item descriptions, there's really not much I can say without resorting to an essay of explanation that delves into the AU, and I'd rather just... not do that right now. This post is plenty long!
But I will briefly add that the girl mentioned in the item descriptions 'The Light Pierces Through', 'Birches Forever Awake', and 'Peace of Mind' is Bobo. My LN au expanded on the concept of 'memory lakes' introduced in the "Illusive Snow" suit, everyone is said to have a lake of all of their memories, most often frozen.
In the Heavenly Realm of this AU, you can enter another's lake if you've had similar experiences. Sometimes it is as innocuous as seeing raindrops race against your window, but it can be as big as losing a loved one to a fire. When a memory lake diver recalls the shared memory of the lake, the diver's memories will surface first and be forced to live through them again, before the scenery subtly shifts to the memory lake owner's memories. But stay there too long, and the lake will begin to feel the unfamiliar presence that isn't its memory creator, and proceed to eject them from its waters.
Although still needing to have faced a similar experience to the memory lake she's diving into, as Verner's descendant, Bobo can alter the memory lake's owner's perception of the memory. But Bobo's stuck in the Heavenly Realm, locked out of her memory lake due to Verner's possession; therefore, she cannot fully return back to her body.
But there are memory lakes without owners. Memory lake with owners in a deep slumber, though in the mortal realm, they are able to live as if nothing's wrong. Memory lakes whose owners have crawled out of the lake and left them soulless. Lakes whose owners have ceased to exist, whether through comas and amnesias, or through binding oaths, much like the Nameless Chivalric Order Knights take. Louie is sort of a special case. Can't explain without also going into paragraphs, but just know that not only is his lake completely untethered from himself, hence without an owner, but it is also a mirror to Bobo's, and the moment Bobo stepped over it, she was completely dragged under it. In the process, she is forced to see her most haunting memories without any reprieve, not until Snow drags her out in a moment of curiosity.
The Heavenly Dream Realm portion of the AU talked about is only its beginning. It takes a long while before we reach the end of the Heavenly Dream Realm, which is also where some of this suit's item's descriptions start, as read below 🥹👍:
(Smiling thru the pain because in the end, I did give an essay of explanation orz.)
Moving on! As for what I would have done differently, design-wise, I would have added a bit more gold, especially to parts of the armor. Just so the outfit itself could've blended well with the head ornaments and the wings. I always would've added engraved texture to the armor, more florals, and perhaps some bird motifs. God, the rivets! I completely forgot about the rivets and buckles that hold and put the armor together.
I also wish I had relied heavily on the absurd asymmetry present in Louie's NCO uniform. God, I've studied that outfit more than the palm of my hand, and every time I'm left even more frustrated at the requirement of perfect symmetrical lines while also requiring asymmetry. Your honor? He must absolutely be held in confinement for these fashion crimes inflicted upon my psyche, patience, and sanity.
Cause what is this??? I've seen most of the Love Nikki character designs. I've drawn some of them. But apart from Agata showing leg while wearing her knight outfit (the absurdity of her design lies in the fact that her uniform is supposed to be a winter outfit), I've yet to see an absurd number of asymmetrical details like Louie's NCO uniform has. The worst offenders, though, have to be the symmetrical details.
Especially that stupid little rhombic cut-out opening of his coat at his navel? And why the hell does his coat even have that opening? For what? For what? For another man's sword 😭?!
Anyways, this concludes this drawing's long essay. If you read this far and play Love Nikki, I thank you for your time. If you don't know anything about Love Nikki and also read this, chances are, you're in the same boat as a regular Love Nikki fan, ha ha. Most of Love Nikki's lore is scattered around, thus it's often just easier to disregard it. But I'm truly grateful for your time in following me on this tiny journey. It was fun putting this together, and I hope you enjoyed my ramblings. Usually, this is how in-depth the majority of my drawings are, but I don't often get to talk about the tiny details or thoughts that went into them.
Fixing the unfixable, saving the unsavable,
love in the unlovable, all beauty in your terrors —
what awaits us, regardless of your collective endeavors,
is an inevitable end, and the Flood.
"Obstructor of Timeline 1593's stable continuance, the optimal time of your annihilation is 00:33, Prime Earth's rotation-based time, August the eleventh, year thirty-five oh three. You will now be eradicated from Timelines 256 and 3951. We… I thank you for your precious efforts in existing."
