markersmadness

[markersmadness]

Good morning! I’m salty.

I think we, as a general community, need to start taking this little moment more seriously.

This, right here? This is asking for consent. It’s a legal necessity, yes, but it is also you, the reader, actively consenting to see adult content; and in doing so, saying that you are of an age to see it, and that you’re emotionally capable of handling it.

You find the content you find behind this warning disgusting, horrifying, upsetting, triggering? You consented. You said you could handle it, and you were able to back out at any time. You take responsibility for yourself when you click through this, and so long as the creator used warnings and tags correctly, you bear full responsibility for its impact on you.

“Children are going to lie about their age” is probably true, but that’s the problem of them and the people who are responsible for them, not the people that they lie to.

If you’re not prepared to see adult content, created by and for adults, don’t fucking click through this. And if you do, for all that’s holy, don’t blame anyone else for it.

[markersmadness]

But here was a man mourning tomorrow,

Who drank, but finally drowned in his sorrow.

PAIRING: Pure Vanilla / Dark Cacao

HURT/COMFORT | ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP (?)

no beta we die like dark cacaos respect for his son, spoilers for White Lily's backstory + Episodes 13-14, cookies are written as humans with humanoid appearances!

Set during the Golden Cheese Episode; in which the ancients have nothing to do but prepare and discuss for the battle ahead at the odyssey. But Dark Cacao feels a old, stinging ache. It's familiar, and it's dangerous.

gay ancient cookies with trauma >>>

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TW: PTSD symptoms & brief suicidal thoughts

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"Your eyes falter, my old friend."

Dark Cacao feels terribly sweet and bitter at those words. It brings back memories, nightmares and hallucinations- all simultaneously and yet not at all, perhaps even the same thing? The king cannot tell. Trapped in pain of his own doing, the man forgot how to breath in a endless sea of loneliness. Before he knew it, he had neglected his son, the only son he'd ever have, the only son he'd ever love.

So to hear Pure Vanilla speak like they weren't married once upon a time? Formalities had to be kept, yes, but that was- that was absurd. Cacao grimaced and glared at his comrade. "Friend?" He spoke harshly, "No one else is here." With that, he sternly placed his mug down on the table. It clinked loudly in the silence. Everyone else had left.

Yet another meeting without any news. Why would that arrogant- Clotted Cream, the king remembers to be civilised- call a meeting without anything to discuss? It was like eating without hunger. "I...What do you mean?" Pure Vanilla's eyebrows knitted as his smile seemed to turn downwards, but he tried to keep his expression neutral. It failed.

Embarrassed... There wasn't any other way to describe that bitter feeling rising in him, a flame Dark Cacao desperately fought to put out. He only felt this around Vanilla. Not anyone else. He liked talking and painting with White Lily, and he enjoyed debating with Golden Cheese, even sometimes drank with Hollyberry.

Yet, there was something special about his closest friend. No, his husband. But was he anymore? Did Vanilla somehow forget their time spent together? The long hours spent talking, or sometimes in complete silence with each other's comforting company, the days that they spent writing letters to each other, showing excitement uncharacteristic of their calm demeanor when they finally reunited, and even the way Pure Vanilla would just somehow know when Cacao couldn't handle that overbearing weight of guilt?

He always knew. Pure Vanilla had to.

...Surely that didn't change?

The silence grew louder with each second. Pure Vanilla took a step back. Dark Cacao stood, trying not to cry. Why would he? He's a king, an ancient, blessed with Soul Jam and almost too loyal soldiers. So why is it that he sometimes wants to lose? Why does he think, At least it'd be honorable this way, when he narrowly avoids death in a battle?

An afterlife, or a hope of one perhaps? The king snorts self deprecatingly, something only expressed around Pure Vanilla. But this time, the healer clutches his staff tighter like he's uncomfortable. Dark Cacao eyes the action, and that flame of embarrassment slowly turns to anger, changing hues of color in unison with their conversation, "Pure Vanilla- no, Vanilla." He dropped the formalities. Like he always did with his husband. It wasn't like it was new. He never called Pure Vanilla his full name, but instead loving names. Darling, dear, my love, my dear, sometimes honey on rare occasions.

And before the war, Pure Vanilla had always returned those pet names. Now he stood befuddled. Like he actually forgot. But he looked too aware to not know. "Likewise, Cacao... I really don't-"

"Do you remember our first kiss?" Vanilla clamps his mouth shut, visibly swallowing a lump in his throat down.

But he opens his eyes, his staff closes its, and now Cacao can see there are tears in the heterochromic eyes he once stared into for hours. "Yes." Vanilla's voice is warbling, dangerously so, "At your kingdom. There was a blizzard, you let me in and told me to warm myself. I got distracted by the cookies around me I wanted to help, and you kissed me while telling me to focus on myself because my lips were so cold."

Cacao nodded, jaw tightening as he felt more of his composure leave him. You remember. Why are you acting like you don't? "And our wedding?" He asks, "What makes you act as though that didn't happen?" It didn't sound like a question when Cacao worded it so gruffly, especially when there was a tinge of anger hiding pain in his voice.

Pure Vanilla takes a step forward, looking up into Cacao's eyes as he trailed his gaze over the scars Cacao had visible on his neck. His armor concealed everything else, but Pure Vanilla knew he could still outline Cacao's figure in his sleep. And he did for some time. "I... It's been hundreds of years..."

A pitiful excuse. How could that be the only reason? Much more than time had failed to keep them apart. "If you don't love me any longer, say it."

Pure Vanilla's frown deepens, and he raises a hand to Dark Cacao's cheek. "Dark Cacao-"

"Say it!"

Despite the fact Cacao had raised his voice, he made no move to take away the nice, comforting hand that caressed the side of his face. "I do love you. I never stopped, my... my dear." Vanilla's eyes break eye contact with that, as though there was something wrong with what he'd said.

Cacao feels his lungs tighten and it gets harder to breathe. Look at me. Don't forget me. Don't leave me again and make me think you're dead or worse. "Why do you hesitate?" His deep voice reverberates with each syllable, trying desperately to understand. He never did understand Pure Vanilla.

The healer would talk about how his best friend and their comrade, White Lily, would never talk to anyone. Yet he'd run off and do the same. Sometimes it sparked fights in their youth, but Cacao chose to trust Vanilla even when he had no idea what the in the-witch's-oven his lover could possibly be doing. But it had been years.

Does that same trust still lie in Cacao's heart? Frost corroded it, sorrow chipped at his joy like icy daggers, loneliness came like a wave that crashed over Dark Cacao and made him stumble and break. How could someone as terribly bitter as he love such a passionate healer? How could he trust when his friends had been thought to be dead for years? Golden Cheese didn't even bother writing a letter, apparently her kingdom was doing just fine. Hollyberry had been in hiding, but why didn't she ever come to him?

He didn't understand, he never could. Why things happened the way they did. Just one visit, one sign that his friends still breathed for another day... Just one, and it would've kept the king going without his newfound bitterness.

But the sign, the visit, it never came. A letter did, years and years later, after Cacao has grown oh so close to impaling himself on the same blade he once carried proudly. A shameful, weak thing to do that he swears he'd never act upon, and that they're just thoughts... But are they really?

Did Vanilla understand and share in that same sorrow?

"Hesitate? No, I..." Pure Vanilla looks back to Cacao's face, his sharp jawline, hair that has grown somewhat thinned and unkempt, eyes that seemed to never once lose sight of the battlefield, despite the freezing blizzards. The same eyes that would crinkle at the edges when he denied being happy, when he was with Vanilla, or drinking with Hollyberry. His eyes always gave away how much the king loved his closest allies.

The healer gulps. "You still love me... Even though I...?"

"Even though you what?"

A sigh leaves him, like it was obvious what he'd done. "I know it's silly, but I was the one responsible for all that death. I didn't reach out enough to White Lily. Had I, maybe things would be different," He rambles, oblivious to the look on Cacao's face, the kind of look that said, 'What are you talking about' without a single thing leaving his lips, "I'm so sorry." Tears begin to fall down Pure Vanilla's cheeks as his lips quivered, sputtering out words but they all blended together, "I knew instantly when I saw you what I'd done, I just- I can't believe that everyone, everything crumbled because I-"

"Pure Vanilla!" Cacao shouts, interjecting the other's spiral, "What on Earth-bread are you saying?" His words fell from a shout to a quiet whisper, as if hushing a secret. Comforting never was Cacao's strong suit, but even so here his lover cried, blaming himself of all people for the downfall of thousands.

It had to be the absolute dumbest thing Cacao had seen.

The healer widens his eyes whilst staring at Dark Cacao's expression. Despite being blind, he still managed to make out things close to his vision without his staff. Cacao calms himself. Forcefully. Then his eyes trail downwards to Vanilla, their height difference just a few inches, locking eyes with one another. "It was never your fault. How could it be? One kingdom is almost too big for one cookie, let alone the world. Expecting yourself to live up to those expectations..." Cacao shook his head, "No one else will blame you for what you will blame yourself over."

Pure Vanilla laughed sadly, already wiping away evidence of his tears with his offhand's sleeve, "Thank you." He whispers, resting his staff against the wall to cup Dark Cacao's face with both hands.. Hands that are calloused from war, fingers long and skinny with scars covering each and every one. Just like the rest of the ancients.

He leans in, and their lips meet for the first time in hundreds of years. Despite the pain, suffering, sorrow and guilt...

Despite it all, there is a reunion.

There is hope of a everlasting love.

FIN.

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Thanks for reading! Comments are highly appreciated. My requests are open, but keep in mind I reserve the right to decline requests that make me uncomfortable. ♡

TO BE CROSSPOSTED ON AO3 UNDER THE ACCOUNT AZRAELCARES122

REPOSTS APPRECIATED ♡

[markersmadness]

𝙒𝙍𝙄𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂: 𝙀𝙈𝙊𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝘼𝙇 𝙎𝘾𝙀𝙉𝙀𝙎

𝒂 𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆'𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒌. 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒕... 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏 [𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓]'𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊��� 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆.

𝐎ne thing I notice new writers tend to think is that a emotional or important scene has to be dangerous. that there has to be risk. but that isn't true. in fact, the opposite can be! scenes where the surroundings don't reflect a character's emotions make them feel real; the rain won't conveniently come for you, so why should it for your character?

Scenes where a character isn't surrounded by pain, perhaps even surrounded by joy can make their misery all the more impactful. Describe the energetic, lovely, happy people around them. How their friends cheer and hold one another, play games and run amok. The bubbly, warmly colored room, the nostalgic and dazzling music. All while your character is breaking apart, their eyes glazed over like newly cut glass.

Using impactful words to show a character in pain makes the reader feel it, too. metaphors to describe their perspective, the hints that they aren't really okay, meshed with descriptive narratives depicting celebration causes such a contrast that it makes a heavy impact.

Of course, there are times where it's better to have the atmosphere match the emotions. this technique only works when used sparingly; having the same scenario, same metaphors makes your writing dull. if you feel like you're running out of writing methods, or that you're repeating your self, be it word choice or characterization or anything really, try writing one shots! think of a different approach to write each time for each one shot, so that you can explore what is best to write in what circumstance.

The world around your character is just as important as the character themself. Yes, it's important to have dimensional characters, and to build on their traits. But it doesn't matter if you're unable to convey it. One of the hardest things to do is to write an interesting story when a character and the world don't "match"; the character isn't motivated, doesn't care, doesn't... feel for their environment. Hence why so many authors and writers try to explain and show how important motivations and goals are for your characters, but then they don't explain it, don't tell you or show you why it is that they need a goal.

It's still possible; it's difficult but it is possible to write a story for a character without a motivation. It's just a very bad starting point for those who are new to writing, or haven't entirely figured their characters or writing style out yet. So don't take it as a "never", take it as " do this only if you really think you can work with it "

I'll make a separate post for a list of metaphors and descriptors I like to use, some are listed here above in the example (bolder) but there are lots more if you're at a loss!

[markersmadness]

ᴅɪᴀʟᴏɢᴜᴇ ᴘʀᴏᴍᴘᴛs : ʜᴜʀᴛ/ᴄᴏᴍғᴏʀᴛ ᴇᴅɪᴛɪᴏɴ

1; IN WHICH [CHARACTER A] FAILS TO KEEP THE PROMISE OF NOT HIDING INJURIES/PAIN/SICKNESS/EMOTIONS FROM [CHARACTER B]

"I thought you promised to tell me if you got hurt/sick (or it got bad) again! " "I did, and I would've but then it was just a headache and now I'm coughing out blood! / I didn't think it would be this bad!"

OR: "I tried to, but you didn't listen / didn't hear me / weren't there!"

2; [CHARACTER B] LIES TO KEEP [CHARACTER A] SAFE (BONUS POINTS IF IT'S COMPLETELY REASONABLE)

"Listen, I didn't tell you because you weren't stable at that time! / I knew you wouldn't have reacted well!" "That may be true, but you know I hate it when you lie / I'm not made of glass!"

OR: "I wanted to know the truth!" "But you needed me to lie!"

3; [CHARACTER A] TELLS [CHARACTER B] THEY'RE FINE, AND MEANS IT THIS TIME. THEY REALIZE THAT B CAN'T TRUST THEM TO TELL THE TRUTH.

"I'm fine! Why are you looking at me like that? I... You don't believe me?"

OR: "[CHARACTER A], tell me the truth." "I am!" "No, you're not!"

Feel free to reblog with your OTP / pairing you thought of >:]

[markersmadness]

OTP PROMPTS ೄྀ

If you're brainrotting, here are some situations & scenarios that can help with writer's block, or just are fun to imagine!

A = Typically the character struggling in angsty prompts, perhaps the stubborn person in the relationship. Usually the main focus in a 3rd person POV!

B = Typically a stoic character. May be better at hiding their feelings, or have a complex psyche especially. Usually the perspective in a 1st person POV!

[ Whatever characters you envision never have to fit these tropes, they're just a general outline as to what these prompts work best for! The roles reverse occasionally for ships with other dynamics or dynamics where both characters share the descriptors listed. You're more than welcome to use a prompt here without credit, but I'd love to see anything made based off these prompts! ]

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A comes out as [identity/sexuality]. This idea can be elaborated upon in many ways! Perhaps it makes B realize they actually have a chance, or that they don't know A as well as A knows them. Did A not have a choice? Perhaps B could be comforting A after being distraught that they had been outed. Was it a drunk confession? One that only happened after a series of very 🌈 things, and/or is very overdue? The possibilities are endless! If you're more of a hurt/no comfort person, consider if B didn't like them that way or was discriminative. Or A was murdered or hate crimed for it, bullied, etc. Think about how A would handle it, and how would B react to A's reaction?

The gold ol' sickfic in which A falls ill. A great fluff, angst, hurt/comfort or even a hurt/no comfort. Fuck it, a smut fic in some cases! Consider what reasons your character probably got sick; Overworking, laziness (not being hygienic), staying out in the rain too long, just getting sick during that time of the year, having a weak immune system, mental problems that had/have physical symptoms, was unlucky and got a chronic illness, eating habits, family genetics, perhaps even faking being sick for B's attention! Consider how B would react to this information- or if they'd even know this information about the other, and if A would tell them. Would B pick up on the clues, or be oblivious to the other's sickness? How would B care for them? Would B be more soft, or be angry with them for getting sick? What stage of their relationship are they in? If you struggle to write a sick character, I suggest scrolling through the sickfic tag!

Note: While most sickfics show a dynamic where B is a caretaker and only listening and tending to A, there are lots of other possibilities! B could get into an argument with A because A refuses to rest, or argue because B doesn't know how to explain that they're in love with A and that's why it's important to them that A is happy and healthy without confessing. A could feel burdensome and force themself to get better (which could backfire), or B could be absolute dogshit at caretaking (babe I made you soup but I burnt the everything) (shit this ice pack is warm as fuck) (I'm sorry dude I fucked up your assignments while you were resting), etc.

Jealousy. While it's a overused trope, it is still a good one! Typically portrayed as B being protective over A, I find it is more fun to write when both are jealous for each other. Or when the jealous character hasn't come to terms with their feelings ("I'm not in love but when my "friend" flirts with someone else I feel really mad for no reason at all hahaha what"). Did A make B jealous on purpose, or by mistake? Maybe A is the emotional hotheaded one, or the jokester, whilst B is more reclusive and gentle, making their uncharacteristic anger (read; jealous) that much more evident. Or it could be A whose jealous, as B is simply chilling and talking to someone, and now it isn't a joke when A comments that "don't get too friendly I might get jealous!" They could also be rivals if you like ETL, making their jealousy even more confusing for them because why would I ever feel jealous about them..?! That's so weird whattt...

Jealousy is used a lot in every aspect of fanfiction. I find it best enjoyed as angst, but wholesome reassurance fluff is also a huge fan favorite of a lot of people I know- ("I only like you, so don't worry", etc.) Smut, of course, plays on jealousy as well. But make sure to keep in mind jealousy isn't the same as possessiveness! Protective characters can be more prone to jealousy, using B as an example, who wants to protect their loved ones, but then why does it hurt when someone is protecting A, and it isn't them? Humor is also used in jealousy, as watching a character slowly get hotheaded or act stupidly or comedically from their jealousy is also fun to read. Do consider when writing (if you want to!) if B comes off as overbearing or jealous, or both? Write them the way you want them to come off, as readers can feel uncomfortable if possessiveness or other toxic traits are passed off as jealousy. And it's also interesting to read about a character who thinks it's just jealousy! However, make sure to properly tag your works if on ao3, or add TWs on other platforms so they know what they're reading :)

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That's all I have right now! If this gets a lot of likes or if anyone wants more tropes / ideas like this I'd be happy to make a part 2. I've been brainrotting so much I've run through these scenarios like 30 times over, so I'm making this guide for myself as well so I can stop repeating the same fanfic in my head (>_<)