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C Major/Cadence Reference Sheet

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For more information on Le Bonhomme du Minuit, a story I conceived in 2009 and revisited four years later:
Book Cover and Information
Le Bonhomme du Minuit Official Website

Click here to read Le Bonhomme du Minuit!



Even though Cadence and Jasmine aren't Eternity characters, nor are they fan characters, I thought it was fair for them to have reference sheets, too. Here's Jasmine's reference sheet: fav.me/d6pr5qp

For a while I thought something looked off about C Major here, and I realized what it was. It's the reference poses; while they are good poses for showing the details of his design, it simply does not suit him to look so rigid when he normally has very fluid poses and movements (that's also why his coattails are almost always in motion).

Unlike with the Eternity characters, I don't have full character pages on the Le Bonhomme du Minuit webpage, so I'll post the full character profiles for Jasmine and Cadence here.


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“Cats come when they want, not when they’re told.”

Full Name: Cadence Kyle Fortier (alias: Feline Thief C Major)

Age: 18

Birthday: July 14, 1990 under Cancer (Le Bonhomme du Minuit is set in 2008)

Height: 67 inches

Weight: 120 lb

Build: Slender (if not a little too skinny), somewhat short, lithe and graceful in an almost feminine way
 
Blood Type: B

Hair: Burgundy (dark brown with a hint of red), shoulder-length waves

Eyes: Olive green

Skin Tone: Creamy, surprisingly pale for a Southerner, has freckles on his cheeks (which are hidden by his mask when he is C Major)

Voice: Medium-pitched, soft-spoken (as C Major he speaks in a slightly lower, more velvety tone)

Story: (contains minor spoilers for Le Bonhomme du Minuit, particularly C21 and C29, but only about his past)
Born to Garrett Fortier, an Art History M.F.A. who never found success with his degree yet refused to find work outside of it, and Désirée Fortier, who walked out on the family when Cadence was little and married another man, Cadence has always had a complicated family life. The heartbreak from losing Désirée shattered Garrett; he would never be the same after that and would never fall in love again. However, Garrett decided to do his best to provide for his son and raise him on his own (many years later, as C Major, Cadence tracks down where his mother moved to and steals back the wedding ring his father gave her).

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Garrett disappeared. Cadence still has no idea what happened to him, nor did anyone else; there has been no sign of him since, yet his name never appeared in the obituaries. It's believed that Garrett is dead, but there is no definitive proof. But Cadence had other things on his mind, like survival. In the midst of the mass lootings following the flooding, desperation forced Cadence to break into a store-and he failed. Fortunately, the store happened to be run by a family friend of his, Serena Desjardins, who sent him on his way with what few supplies she could manage and the opportunity to work for her store. During the chaos, Cadence became more talented as a thief. After things got a little calmer, he realized he could put his dubious talent to good use. He wanted to make a difference and fix the devastated New Orleans.

Not long after, while looking for water damage inside his apartment, Cadence discovered a fascinating secret. Garrett had formed a hidden alcove in the ceiling of the apartment. Stashed within this were secrets of a double-life of Garrett's, most importantly a tattered notepad. Though the writing was mostly too faded and water-damaged to read (and Garrett had terrible handwriting to begin with), Cadence gathered from it what he could, and found information leading him into an unusual mystery that would ultimately involve the entire city.

These events soon led to Cadence taking up the alias of Feline Thief C Major in order to get to the bottom of things and to revive New Orleans to its former glory. He hoped to steal goods and fence them, donate the money to the relief effort, then steal back the goods and return them to their rightful places. He was able to find a fence; two joint auctioneers, Messieurs LaMarche and Lenoir. They agreed to only sell the stolen goods to locals, so that C Major would be able to steal them back eventually, but in exchange they wanted a larger cut of the profits. Unfortunately, Messieurs LaMarche and Lenoir had a bad customer who tried to get back at them for their scam, and they had to flee town. C Major couldn't figure out how to fence the things he stole on his own, and he couldn't find anyone else to do it for him, so he ended up with an ever-growing stash. This pushed him to return some of the goods without selling them. This rather unusual process of his created a huge media stir and fueled another avenue for him to accomplish his goals.

After a couple years of his exploits, Cadence encountered Jasmine one night and both realize the connection between them. They decided to work together and investigate the mystery that ties them together.

Personality: Cadence is good-natured and very polite, but repressed, and perhaps too humble. Despite his low-class upbringing, he's surprisingly cultured and has a strong appreciation for aesthetics and the arts (Garrett made sure to instill that into him). He has a mild personality, but he's very easy to get along with. He's not the best at asserting himself, and he can come across as a "doormat". Though Cadence doesn't show it to anyone, he has a tiny chip on his shoulder, though he's polite enough to keep his thoughts to himself most of the time. He's also rather high-strung, and his alter ego is even more so. Both also have an effeminate streak.

As Feline Thief C Major, and under the anonymity and lack of restraints that represents, he behaves in a completely different manner. He is flamboyant, sensuous and shameless, arrogant and vain yet strangely charming, and acts on cunning and impulse. C Major can be rather lecherous, especially towards Jasmine. He's very eccentric and has a number of cat-like mannerisms, such as curling up on top of the sheets to sleep, and having to resist the temptation to bat at anything dangling. C Major has a fondness for tormenting his pursuers, especially if their last name happens to be "Ostinato". However, he has a odd sense of honor and doesn't like to take things at the expense of others, especially those who can't afford it. Keyword: doesn't like to. Occasionally he will if he likes something enough that he eschews his self-restraint or if it's to supplement necessities such as paying his rent.

Though C Major is highly attention-seeking, he has very good reasons for being so (which get revealed in-story; Jasmine spends the first half trying to figure out these reasons). However, over time C Major ended up getting carried away with this persona , to the point that he often takes things too far and acts outside of his own control. Sometimes it takes Cadence a while to recall things he's done as C Major, and the line between his identities gets more and more blurred with each donning of the costume. As he's learned, anonymity is a great uninhibitor, and he doesn't always use it in the best of ways.

Likes: Cadence is very interested in and enjoys studying both the arts and history, hence why he chose to be an Art History major, though he hasn't the slightest idea of what to do with his degree once he gets it. He has a fondness for creamy foods and fish (and even better, both together). He has a strong appreciation of aesthetics and beauty in general, and though he does not wear jewelry himself (other than the Sinti Lapitta Gorget and his cufflinks) he has a liking for jewels, jewelry and other types of valuable baubles.

Dislikes: Cadence hates confrontation, and goes well out of his way to avoid it rather than face it. He also dislikes getting wet (it doesn't help that his hair takes a long time to dry). He does not particularly like dogs, viewing them as hyper, slavish, drooling creatures. The only exception to this rule is Brio, who he considers to be "not a real dog, just a cat who was born into a dog's body" (Brio is very quiet and a little aloof, he almost never barks, he prefers to curl up on furniture or laps instead of floors, he's extremely agile and light on his paws, he doesn't eat much, he likes to jump up onto things...)

Strengths: C Major is a very skilled phantom thief, and has pulled off a wide variety of thefts around New Orleans. Though he has only been around for a couple years, he is highly prolific. Wearing the Sinti Lapitta Gorget enhances his physical abilities, but it has its drawbacks, too (see Weaknesses). Things he was already highly skilled in, like agility, acrobatics and reflexes, were boosted to a superhuman degree. Even his weaker attributes such as stamina and physical strength, and average attributes such as running speed, were boosted to a slightly above average level. Cadence is moderately intelligent, and has a good knowledge of history and the arts, and can think on his feet. Like Jasmine, Cadence owns an Audiex, but he is nowhere near as skilled with it as she is.

Weaknesses: Cadence is a bit of a wuss and lacks self-confidence. As C Major, he is extremely impulsive and lacks self-restraint, in addition to being overconfident. Neither plans ahead very well, and both have to think on their feet more often than they should. Cadence cannot cook, which is a problem considering he lives on his own; he can barely fry an egg without burning it. He's a terrible liar; Jasmine often tries to bail him out of situtations where he has to lie. Also, he cannot swim. Without the gorget, he is rather weak in terms of stamina and physical strength. In addition to this, he is not good at planning, and tends to act spontaneously.

The Sinti Lapitta Gorget is both a blessing and a curse. When it comes to personality, it amplifies both the positive and negative traits of one's personality. One of the downsides is that C Major's feline attributes often lead to him getting sidetracked (by things like small sounds, dangling things, moving lights, et cetera), and he has less self-control than before. Sometimes he will do things without thinking about them at all, and he will have a hard time recalling that he did them later.

Friends/Allies: Upon meeting Jasmine, the duo starts to work together to unravel a mystery that links both of them. Even outside of that, they are quite close to each other and he frequently visits her just for the sake of visiting. Cadence is very close with his dog, Brio, and considers him an honorary cat. Cadence initially resented the little dog that followed him home and kept coming back no matter how many times he got rid of him, but eventually realized he didn't have the heart to abandon him permanently. It also helps that Cadence was impressed with how well Brio could keep up with him, even as C Major. He never goes out of his way to take Brio with on adventures, but if Brio happens to be with him when something happens, he always comes in handy. Cadence is close friends with Tim and Tony. Although the latter is also his co-worker (Cadence works as a cashier at a family friend's store), he frequently gets on Cadence's nerves. However, both Tim and Tony have some interest in C Major, and it's up to Cadence to keep them away from that secret. Sonja, one of his neighbors, views him like a non-biological grandson though she can be a busybody sometimes.

Feline Thief C Major and his actions are a huge controversy amongst the New Orleanais. Some find him fascinating and entertaining, and are pleased with the much-needed media attention that he brings to the city. Others hate him, thinking he sidetracks the police from more important issues and perpetuates the image of New Orleans being a crime-ridden cesspool to the media.

Rivals/Enemies: The New Orleans Police Department, headed by Chief Ostinato, is hell-bent on trying to capture him (in fact, the entire Ostinato family has a grudge against C Major for multiple reasons, career-related and family-related). So far they've had no luck with that, but there have been some close calls.

Sammy views the Feline Thief as an arch-nemesis, but the feeling is not mutual. Despite having proved a worthy adversary on many occasions, C Major sees Sammy, who he meets about a year prior to the story, more as a nuisance than a threat. Though C Major behaves condescendingly towards Sammy, he is secretly rather impressed by the kid's determination; perhaps this is because he knows he would do exactly the same things if their situations were reversed (and the same is true for Sammy as well). It gets a little more complicated; he feels a tiny bit of envy for Sammy's life, but over the course of the story that changes more to a feeling that Sammy is fortunate.
In a sense they are parallels to each other: both are unhappy with the way things are in New Orleans, decide to take it into their own hands, and are generally resented and impeded by the people they're trying to help. The major difference is that they're on opposite sides of the law, and that Sammy's idea of reviving New Orleans involves C Major being put behind bars.
 C Major has other enemies, as revealed in the story, but that's hard to get into without revealing spoilers (and makes no sense without any context around it).

Love Interest:He has a strong one-sided crush on Jasmine. Jasmine is plenty aware of this; she finds Cadence's affections cute, though she only likes him as a friend. However, she gets annoyed with C Major's less-than-subtle come-ons. She learns to love him as the story goes on, and eventually she comes to him with a costume design and asks if she can team up with him. He agrees under three conditions-make the neckline lower and the skirt shorter-and trains her.

Relatives: Garrett Fortier (father), Désirée Fortier (mother)

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Information for those drawing Cadence/C Major PLEASE READ:

:bulletblue: The coattails on C Major's jacket should always be prominently visible, regardless of the angle and how much you have to manipulate physics. They hang to about mid-calf and should appear to be fluid and/or in motion, much like a tail. Feel free to exaggerate the length and shape of the coattails as much as you like to get a "tail" effect.

:bulletblue: C Major's cape is fairly short; it's only torso-length.

:bulletblue: C Major's hat is (usually, if he's angry, afraid or otherwise upset it can be at a flatter angle) tilted at around an angle, the notched, popped-up tip giving the impression of "ears". Feel free to exaggerate the angle of his hat as much as possible for your desired effect.

:bulletblue: The brass claws in his gloves are optional; they are retractable and he doesn't have them out all the time. Also, he acquires them about halfway through the story.

:bulletblue: Cadence is a brunet. Depending on the background color, this may or may not be obvious (it doesn't help that he wears blue and gold), but his hair color should be mostly brown with a reddish tinge.



Drawn, inked and colored traditionally, digital inking and coloring done on Adobe Illustrator, background made on Adobe Photoshop
Image size
1228x1020px 1.72 MB
© 2013 - 2024 Magenta-Fantasies
Comments4
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Oakfur422's avatar
I like his design, he seems like a very interesting character and it looks like you've spent a decent amount of time on his design.
I also like how you've incorporated feline details into his outfit.