Noénique

"Why are you apologizing? Domi, you always show your concern for me. It makes me happy to know about that."

- Noé to Dominique.

Noénique is the het ship between Noé Archiviste and Dominique de Sade from the The Case Study of Vanitas fandom.

Canon
Noé is incredibly close to Dominique, and the two of them grew up together alongside with her brother, Louis, when their grandfather took him in and brought him to Castle de Sade. She was one of Noé's first friends. Noé, Dominique, and Louis would often spend a lot of time together. Noé and Dominique were always kind and friendly to one another. The two of them would play together very often, and even danced beneath the blue moon. After Louis’s death the two seemed to become even closer because of their mutual shared suffering, with Noé encouraging Domi to grow out her hair again and giving her confidence in herself. Dominique on the other hand constantly worried about Noé and how he was blaming himself for Louis' death. Noé said to Dominique that her worrying about him made him happy since she cared a lot for him.

Noé sees Dominique as the most precious thing in his life and something he needs to protect. He is willing to drink Vanitas’s blood without consent, (something Noé has despised since the start of the manga) to protect Dominique. The desire to protect Dominique also stems from Noé's inability to protect her brother back when they were kids.

At the beginning of the manga, Noé and Dominique seem to have a playful friendship. Domi teased Noé quite frequently and even joked around and introduced herself as Noé’s fiancée. Domi also put a collar on him to stop him from getting lost as she took him to Ball Masque. The two dance together at the Ball Masque and Domi teases him about how she's glad he didn't forget how to dance after spending a long time as a "hermit." Noé replies that he couldn't because she had constantly installed dancing in his mind when they were very young. On multiple occasions throughout the Manga, Domi has shown interest in Noé romantically, however, Noé is unaware and oblivious of Domi's feelings for him.

Later on in the series, Noé starts to realize just how bad Dominique's mental state was. He feels sick and shocked when Domi tells her about the abuse she had to endure from the rest of her family, and her suicidal thoughts of wishing she should have been dead instead of Louis. Noé gets deeply disturbed by Dominique's state and blames himself for not knowing this. Noé deems it as another failure of how he couldn't protect the closest person to him in his life.

Later on, Noé tells Vanitas that he can't ever lose Domi. Vanitas responds cruelly saying that if Noé tries to drink his blood (to save Dominique) he'll kill him. He then tells Noé to get out of his sight, or else he'd deal with Dominique first and Noé wouldn't have "that nagging female" dogging his footsteps anymore. After Vanitas says this, Noé attacks him. In chapter 52, Dominique jumps off from the Ferris Wheel and Noé shouts her name with a devastated look on his face.

Quotes
"Domi, you always worry about me. It makes me really happy, you know."

- Noé to Dominique. "Domi. You aren’t ever going to grow your hair out again? Oh... it’s not that I don’t like it this way. It looks good on you, of course, it’s just… I like it… when you have long hair, too. It just feels so much like you’re Domi then, and… I really like it"

- Noé to Dominique about her hair. "DOMI!"

- Noé when Dominique gets hurt. "Domi.. you smell nice."

- Noé to Dominique. "It's fine. I'll give it all to you... mon chéri."

- Domi to Noé. "What's the matter, Mon Chéri? You look as if you'll cry."

- Domi cupping Noé's cheek in worry. "I can't lose Domi, not her..."

- Noé to Vanitas. "If I lose Noé I can't keep living anymore..."

- Dominique to herself. "I must protect Domi."

- Noé.

Behind The Scenes
"RIGHT?! There’s always this sophisticated sensuality between them that is just….-chef’s kiss-"

- Dominique's English VA Alexis Tipton about Dominique and Noé.

Fanon
Noénique is the most popular ship for Dominique and the second most popular ship for Noé. It is rivaled by Vanoé and Jeanninique. Many fans who ship Noénique also ship another popular pairing VaniJeanne as a side-pairing. Fans like to ship Noénique because of the mutual trust and care Dominique and Noé have for each other. It is also popular for the Childhood Friends trope and the Unrequited Love trope. Those who don't ship Noénique romatically love the strong bond and friendship between the two.

Currently on AO3, Noénique has 22 works.

Fandom
FAN FICTION



Trivia

 * Dominique and Noé have danced beneath the blue moon in Castle de Sade.
 * Dominique calls Noé by the nickname "Mon Chéri" which stands for "My Dear."
 * Dominique and Noé were 4th place on the TOP 10 COUPLE-SHIP for Week#5 of the Summer 2021 Anime Season.
 * Dominique's English Voice Actor Alexis Tipton is a Noénique shipper.
 * Alexis Tipton agreed with a fan on Twitter who said that Domi and Noé looked sweet together.