#Pure vanilla cookie character analysis

[sylvieserene]

currently thinking about how dark enchantress is technically WLC and how maybe her weakness is still PVC deep down

It definitely could be true.

While I was writing the chapters for my PureLily fic, Love is like a Poison , I found myself pondering about it in my free time lol mainly to get a better understanding of WL's character

Idk if I have said this here before but I see White Lily Cookie and Dark Enchantress cookie as Kagome and Kikyo from Inuyasha as their characters resemble eachother perfectly.

Just like Kagome and Kikyo, both are the same as they share the same soul but with two different halves and beings.

When their souls split and DE was born, they got divided in two halves.

Just like Dark Enchantress Cookie's birth was through a tragic event and basically the "death" of White Lily Cookie

As shown in her gacha animation too

Kikyo's tragic "death" is what caused the birth of her reincarnation

But also a hollow version of her when she was brought to life again unfairly.

Just like the Shikon Jewel which shall never again choose her or shine for her in her rebirth, the light of freedom shall NEVER shine for DE because just like Kikyo, upon death both of them were reincarnated as former shells of themselves, born with only resentment, revenge and hatred towards the world, the last feeling they felt before they died.

WL got to keep the love and kindness part of her soul whole DE got born with her dark hatred, jealousy resentment, angry and regretful side. Just like Kagome got born with love and empathy while Kikyo got born with anger and resentment because of how unfair life had been to her previous to her "reincarnation" (Inuyasha fans will know)

Just like her, DE is also more than happy to get rid of her "other half" as it is the part she is missing and she.... doesn't want to acknowledge that

She doesn't want the reminder of the pain when she went through at all.

Just like DE, she (Kikyo) lived a miserable existence as she couldn't accept the fact that Kagome (who is basically her reincarnated in modern time, sharing her soul and heart) exists and Inuyasha (whom she loved) still loved her (just like she loved him) and wanted to reach a conclusion. She continued to hate him, but still kept reaching out to him. She didn't get liberated until she found closure from him.

I see White Lily Cookie and Dark Enchantress Cookie's character in the same light because underneath all that hatred and anger, DE, as much as she likes to pretend she doesn't care, she cares a lot.

Which is evitable with her question here.

Just like WL, who asks the same question.

Despite everything, DE is still what WL is, but just a former shell of it for she only got her hatred while WL got to keep the love and kindness she possessed at heart.

At the end, DE is merely a shadow of what WL is and would forever be incomplete without her. Deep at heart, despite the anger and resentment, DE is still is doing what she feels like is in the best interest for Cookie Kind. Not to attain world dominance, not to get all that power for herself but trying to "fix" the world in a way she feels is right

All of these wars and atrocities? All of this is still for the "help" of others.

Mainly because Dark Enchantress Cookie still cares.

She is still that scared White Lily Cookie with anger and fear clinging her heart as she fell to her ultimate doom.

That girl who thought she can change the world single handedly.

The girl who failed.

The girl who lost her life in the process and is angry about it.

The dead girl still saying "Only I can offer a path to unity."

Just like Kikyo, who also seeked to "fix" the world after she got reincarnated with just hatred

DE is still trying to do what's best for everyone even if it means casualties and hurting everyone in the process.

Something WL, being morally grey, also has done to reach the "truth" (not this severely ofc cuz she still held love and kindness, smth de lacks) but did all the same and perhaps even continues to do so without realising. But she recognises this flaw and is trying her best to fix it.

This is why, I can confidently say Dark Enchantress Cookie has deeply suppressed feelings still for Pure Vanilla cookie and vise versa.

Because again underneath that soul less shell, she still is an extension or perhaps a part of WL, who still carries similar feelings and sentiment over things she cares about.

And no matter what she tries, it keeps showing.

White Lily Cookie is consciously aware that Pure Vanilla Cookie is her major weak spot. Something which even Shadow Milk Cookie catches on very quickly.

Even Dark Enchantress cookie is aware that perhaps only Pure Vanilla cookie who, as much as she'd like to discard her past, continues to be someone she sees as a threat because he can stop her, not just via power but via being himself

And it shows, over and over again.

"Especially you"

Even back when she met him all over again, she's like "So you finally admit you were an idiot aye?"

When PV tries to talk about it, she goes

She is amused and curious. Because she does know this guy was close to her. She knows his deal, she is interested in hearing his side even though frankly she got no reason. She still has an interest over him.

But she recognises this instantly so she doesn't even let him speak lol

Because while she is interested, she is still angry. As evidenced here:

The interesting thing here is, she glares. Because she still recognises that something about him still makes her feel ...weak

Which is why her next question was this

She questions her weakness despite Pomegranate never even mentioning anything about it and just saying "as long as pv is here, the echoes of the past will continue in this castle"

Which is why, DE inorder to get rid of this, tries to kill him lol because she knows Pomegranate is right and that she won't be able to do anything if PV just keeps being himself because no matter how hard she wants to throw away her past, that strange pull for him would never go because he is a major part of it.

What better way to stop making yourself feel bad but by simply getting rid of the thing causing that hurt especially when you're in an eternal cycle of anger and resentment and are incapable of thinking rationally emotion-wise?

She is still angry at him for sealing her and if we go deeper, not getting/understanding her. Which ultimately lead to her doom and cause DE because like I said, underneath all those layers, WL still is alive in DE, in a form who is angry at PV for not understanding her even before anything happened. Something which ultimately led them to splitting paths as even PV admits, he didn't get her and which is what led to both of realising that they gotta part ways, leading to WL's expedition to beast yeast for searching the truth and for PV to stay back and help crispia and his kingdom.

Both did things for helping others.

Their goals aligned but at the same time, they didn't.

Because neither of them got eachother.

Because unfortunate timing.

PV valued his Kingdom more than searching the world with her for a truth they may never find.

This is why when she "meets" him again in Creme Republic, she is almost disappointed at him lol

To the point you can interpret it as "You are still an idiot and you are talking to me?! Stfu"

Just like she was disappointed back at banquet because despite all this time, he has still not seen the "error" in his ways according to her.

He still didn't understand her vision.

This is why, this is exactly why DE is the way she is to him.

She is still deeply affected by him. Even if she doesn't admit it, she still cares a lot. She still has deeply suppressed feelings for him which make her question herself even when literally no one on earthbread is capable of doing so.

She doesn't understand these complex feelings because she never processed her anger. She is permanently incapable of processing these feelings because her other half got that part and now she is merely a husk of what she was.

Just like Pure Vanilla Cookie still questioned his feelings for White Lily Cookie (whom he knew had become Dark Enchantress Cookie), Dark Enchantress cookie definitely questions hers but in a way she is capable of mentally and in her own way.

Pure Vanilla Cookie is what Inuyasha is to Kagome/Kikyo. He recognises the soul of White Lily Cookie even when she can't find it out because he truly loves her. He didn't just love her, he fell in love with her soul. He recognised it was WL in his final moments of the Dark flour war as his eyes went wide which is why he sealed her instead of killing her and along with that sealed his own memories because he couldn't bear this anymore.

This is why when told again that de is wl, he accepts it relatively fast because he knows, he knew and was in intentional denial because he didn't want her to be that.

This is also why he is the one approached by the light of freedom because it also knows that only he has the ability to know the true WL and recognise her being.

This is also why he is more than happy to get WL despite her being half alive to the point of him being willing to die just to get her back because he loves her soul and he wants that part, the one whom he fell for, come back to life and wake up.

This is also why again and again back when he didn't know the entire debacle of WL and thought she is gone for good in exchange of DE, he tried to explain her over and over again that there still was time and she can come back if she wants because he didn't want to seal her, not when he clearly recognises that it's her, it's still the same soul he fell for but now against him.

This is why he happily embraces WL back when she is alive again because he realises that she and DE are not the same despite being the same soul.

Because he fell for WL and not her but he can still/might have residual feelings because at the end, they're still part of each other but he'll always love WL more because DE and WL are no longer the same. But he will definitely always have a spot for DE too cuz that's a fragment of WL too. A part of her too.

So does that mean DE has feelings for PV? Highly possible because it's clear that she's still drawn to him and what he has to say. She still holds him in high regards despite what she likes to admit to herself.

So yes, it is very possible that DE still has deeply suppressed feelings for PV just like he did for her once (before WL woke up) but she would NEVER voice them because caught in a cycle of eternal anger, pain and resentment, she has lost the ability long ago to process these emotions.

Just like Kikyo continued to love Inuyasha but couldn't say it out loud despite her evil birth, despite everything, still continued to subtly show so as she became incapable of love in her new unfair "birth", DE shall always remain this tragic character with an unfair fate and life incapable of emotions and feelings other than hatred.

This is also why, these 3 shall always remain my favourite characters as WL is not a Mary Sue, she is a deeply complicated, complex character who deserves all the love she gets along with PV.

[kvneho1nc]

Do you guys think Shadow milk lives in a perpetual state of constant loneliness? That he made Black Sapphire and Candy Apple to accept people into his life but he realized that he made them the way he wanted people to see him so he slowly grew bored. He hates that he put this on them and everything. Maybe that’s why he felt resentment for Pure Vanilla when he asks to be friends.

He does like / love Pure Vanilla in the sense that “Yeah, you’re my friend” but deep down he’s upset that he was forgiven so easily. That he feels like some sort of revenge should be taken against him but he doesn’t acknowledge it?

Dunno though! Just me :3

[lvxiferianemblem]

Lvxi SMC character analysis (SMC isn't one dimensional)

As promised, I'm putting down all my thoughts regarding SMC, including general analysis and personal interpretation. This is just an amalgam of all my recent thoughts, but I'll do my best to make it as coherent as possible.

There's no such thing as 'evil for the sake of it.' Despite what most cartoon villains tell you, there will always be a reason for why someone does things, even if those reasons are as shallow as brief entertainment. In this case, however, I don't think SMC fits either of those bills.

Going back to the origin of SMC himself, we have to understand what exactly his story is trying to convey---or at least to the best of our ability.

It's common knowledge that before everything, the apostles of evil were embodiments of virtues, and SMC's virtue, in particular, was knowledge, before he spiraled into the power of 'deceit.' However, I think it's important that we look deeper into this and what his symbolism is trying to convey.

In the Beast Yeast storyline, we see that PV describes SMC as having lived an isolated path previous to becoming what he is now and that being the figure of truth is a damning one. His statue is regal and important, bearing the appearance of a monarch rather than anything like the jester we're familiar with, and it stands tall like an idol of worship.

This statue is old. And it's quite clear that within an amount of time, something drastic has occurred to SMC that caused him to make that shift, so the question is, what exactly was it? In CRK, we know that SMC essentially fell victim to corruption of sorts, and details around it are cloudy at best and vague at worst, but we have background information to assist with that.

As Dark Enchantress Cookie's story tells us, the heaviest burden that will drive one insane is the truth of everything and the knowledge of the purpose of their creation. SMC, being the apostle of knowledge and truth, would no doubt harbor this knowledge.

But how do you tell an entire society this truth? In a world where no one wants to hear you and nobody is willing to follow you in the first place, how do you convince them of something they don't want to hear? You beg and plead for them to listen, but they only call you a liar. They call you a deceiver and a traitor, and they turn their backs on you. So what else can you do but fulfill their wish?

After all, in the court, the jester is the only role that can mock the king without judgment, because no one takes him seriously.

SMC makes it very clear throughout his story that his values are not only his own and that they're more accurately a representation of other people as a whole. He says that people would 'much rather believe a sweet lie' and that the world operates on deceit. He does what he does not only because it's fun but also because that is the only way people will listen to him.

SMC is a liar and sweet talker, but he's also a performer and an entertainer. Everything he does is based on 'audience participation'. It's a social art.

Isolated by his own talents, SMC inevitably falls into corruption through a self-made spiral.

He sets the stage to sing truths hidden in sweetened lies, and his audience only watches to see him dance, but by god, they're finally looking at him, and everything feels less lonely.

As time goes on, SMC becomes a creature of habit and is no longer a last-resort performer. He no longer forces himself to don the mask of a fool to garner listeners, and instead, he cares only for shallow company to fill the void of isolation he is so desperate to always be free from. He loses himself to it and falls into corruption, becoming more and more willing to lie to others and himself just to keep a captive audience. It becomes about his emotional needs rather than his logical ones, and his power over others pushes him to go to further extremes to keep them close, becoming exceedingly cruel as a result.

Everything is easier if he lies. He doesn't have to think about the truth or the horrors of it, and everyone will love him if he does.

Throughout the story, everything SMC does screams LOOK AT ME, yet also insecurity and fear. He mocks people in deflection when he's panicked or confused, he gets extremely aggressive when people threaten his imprisonment again, and he demeans PV when talking about how he took his soul jam. Everything he does is an emotional reaction to what seems to be very deep-rooted fears.

Despite his confident persona, SMC is desperate for everything to go his way, and if they don't, he quickly unravels under it all. He needs to be seen, and he needs to be heard, or he might lose himself altogether.

In his story, he never even attempts to kill PV. Instead, he corrupts him to see the world as he does, desperate that the closest thing to him might understand what is now his own truth and that, in this twisted companionship, he will never truly be alone again.

Unlike the Ancients, the Beasts were not 'tested' for their power. They were created with expectations, not proof of function. They fail because of this.

You give a warrior a sword and they slay your enemies, give a child a sword and they slay everyone without caution or understanding.

Or maybe they're just cookies idk.

[qwq14]

Disclaimer:this analysis has some headcanons into them!!

I like the difference between how shadow milk and the other beasts treat their ancients and in return how the ancients treated their beasts back.

The other beasts didn't care about their ancients and they will never care. They only want their soul jam from the people who stole them in their opinion. But resolution and apathy,destruction and abundance,if someone looked into them hard enough,they'll realize it's actually two sides of the same coin. But the beasts don't care and will never realize that,and so does the ancients.

Both of them have a shared goal,to destroy each other. One to protect cookie kind,the other to literally endanger cookie kind.

But shadow milk and pure vanilla...they're a special case. Shadow milk wants his soul jam back,yes,but more than that,maybe he wants company. Who knows? Why did he even corrupt pure vanilla in the first place? Was there a greater reason for it?

The name of the last stage of episode eight is literally "the only one who understands." Who would want to understand a beast? Definitely not cookie kind! But pure vanilla is different. He's on the same path as shadow milk,so he understands how shadow milk felt more than anyone else. The other ancients won't care about that because the beasts never even opened their eyes to it. Shadow milk seemed desperate to convince pure vanilla that they're on the same path. But why? Does it comfort him in his loneliness? Does he want someone to feel what he felt? All that will be known after two hours in my place😁😁😁😁(I'm insane)

[sniped-hugger]

happy 4/13 have my hot takes /silly

[akipatzzio]

I hate it when people ship Pure Vanilla and Shadow Milk. Are we forgetting that Smc is constantly terrorizing Pvc??

To begin with, we can already see that Smc is rather vengeful because of the souljam. he will not back down until it is his, but Pvc doesn't want to give it to him. after all, Smc was a beast cookie - a corrupt cookie who got drunk off of his own power and threatened earthbread. Thus, the witches had stripped him and the other beasts of their souljams.

It is a popular theory that Shadow Milk had been watching over Pure Vanilla since his childhood, albeit I disagree, because the "proof" was simply Smc tampering with Pvc's memories. Shadow Milk has repeatedly disguised himself as the Light of Truth, making Pure Vanilla doubt himself constantly, and making almost every moment hellish. To have constant doubts and the stress of everything around him being fake must've been absolutely horrible, and it was all the work of Smc.

It's rather obvious that Smc isnt the least guilty about what he's making Pvc go through - rather, he finds it amusing to torture him psychologically.

I still haven't finished Beast-Yeast ep 7, so a lot of this might be wrong. This is just my personal interpretation on their relationship. Correct me if any thing's wrong!

[crystallinecardinal]

Sighs. Thinking about Truthless Recluse and the idea of him feeling absolutely terrified of Shadow Milk deep down.

Pure Vanilla is still in there somewhere— it’s part of the trick, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel anything as Truthless Recluse. For as apathetic as he may be, for as quiet and averse as he is, it’s all a mask. Would it not be terrifying to be right at the mercy of someone who has been tormenting you since you stepped into his realm?

It’s not that Shadow Milk knew Pure Vanilla as a child— he didn’t. But Pure Vanilla doesn’t *know that* in this moment. He doesn’t need to know the truth for the metaphor to get through, though: to be this close to Shadow Milk, left at his whims, feels like being a child cowering from a monster in the night again. It feels like having all his fight taken away, only left to sit and endure the terror.

And it isn’t like there’s anywhere he can go. As Truthless Recluse lays in a bed that feels familiar, but not his own, a mirage created by his tormentor, he cannot rest. To give in to his emotions, his fear, and to cry would mean to alert Shadow Milk. His eyes are everywhere, after all. He can’t hide— not even when he’s alone.

So he must keep it all under wraps if it means to survive. What else do you do when the boogeyman comes knocking?

[darkfluffydragon]

CRK Character Analysis and Theory: Hollyberry Cookie

Hollyberry is so, painfully overlooked. And I think it's almost by design, really. She's a cheerful, strong-willed character who's never really seen to have been really upset, other than when the truth about White Lily was revealed. Sure, there were subtle signs of her struggle, but never anything that really stuck or was obvious enough that 'it seemed important'. This led to the fandom joking around about her traumas, dismissing what she experienced and acknowledging all the Ancient's hardships, except for hers. She became the joke of the group, the "Except Hollyberry" meme.

And yeah, it's funny when looked at in a quick, general view. It's also sort of...not fair on her. She suffered the same as the other ancients, just because she doesn't scream "I'M TRAUMITISED HELP ME", it doesn't mean that she doesn't have problems.

She may not be like Pure Vanilla, who lost his entire kingdom. She may not be like Golden Cheese, who returned to everyone she loved being dead. She may not be like Dark Cacao whose son tried to kill him, or like White Lily who has to experience the maddening guilt of the consequences of her own actions, but that doesn't mean that what she does experiences should just be dismissed because they're seen as "not as drastic as the others".

Hollyberry has always been shown to be a very family and relationship-orientated person. She cares for them a lot, and visibly cherishes her relationships with all her friends and family. It is her shame of being incapable of protecting them that made her flee, she deemed herself unworthy of being able to protect them. or calling herself not just her family's protector, but her kingdom's protector. This happened after she watched Pure Vanilla basically sacrifice himself to save them and the rest of Earthbread from Dark Enchantress, which she didn't. couldn't do anything to help. And she had been gone for so long, that the Hollyberry Kingdom had to start a contest to try and find a new heir. That entire time, did Hollyberry blame herself for "her failures? For the entirety of however long the period between the Dark Flour Wars was, to the present day?

Eventually, though, she does come back. She comes back and saves her kingdom from Pitaya again, so all is well. Right? Except not really? I've already mentioned that she's a family-oriented person. She defeated Pitaya with the help of Princess Cookie (and Knight Cookie), Princess Cookie who she basically missed her entire childhood of. She never got to see Princess Cookie grow up. The family lost Tiger Lily Cookie while she was gone, and she couldn't do anything. Because she wasn't there. Once again, she has failed them.

She's the Queen Mother again, she's come back and is the hero again with the shield and she defeated Pitaya Cookie once again. She got everything back, without getting any consequences from her disappearance. Pitaya returned because she had abandoned her kingdom. She's the 'hero again' and 'got her shield back again' because she threw them away in the first place. They lost Tiger Lily Cookie and they still haven't found her granddaughter, yet somehow the kingdom sees fit to call her the Queen Mother.

She may have all of this, but does Hollyberry actually think she deserves all of this? Is this not all stuff she would feel she should blame herself for? That she should feel guilt and shame for? Hollyberry has gotten her status back, but she hasn't gotten back the one thing that she cherishes the most. That is the close relationship she had with her family, because of just how long she's been gone. Like, during their reunion? Royalberry personally regarded Hollyberry only one time. The first time he'd seen his mother in who knows how long, and it was him questioning if it really was her or not. Almost like they're just...close strangers. To me, it didn't seem like a familial relationship or a reunion. Probably because that entire part was mostly focused on them talking to Princess, with Hollyberry in the background despite showing up finally for the first time in forever!

Despite the episode being about her, it felt like she didn't belong.

Moving on from the alienation within her own family, I think her drinking problem is really, really overlooked. Seriously, her fondness for drinking is one of her most notable character traits, often portrayed as a part of her hearty and celebratory nature. But there's a fine line between enjoying the drinks in moderation and using it as a coping mechanism. She drinks so much, that Wildberry Cookie is asked to watch over her and monitor her (presumably by Jungleberry as stated in the Legend of the Red Dragon storyline. Also, the fact that a third party has to be the one to ask, and be concerned about her drinking habits??? That it wasn't even her own son, that it was her son's wife. That Jungleberry decided to help, intervene not through confrontation, but indirectly through someone else.)

She drank so much, she literally had a goblet that would never run out of berry juice!

("Hollyberry Cookie's Never-drying Goblet: A goblet that is always filled with berry juice, full-bodied and fragrant. It gets refilled the very next instant one takes their sip, hence the "never-drying.")

Hollyberry drinks so much, in the past and now, that even her friends and the people who know her dismiss her actions and go as far as to even just assume that what she does in her free time, is drink berry juice.

Hollyberry's frequent indulgence could be seen as a means of numbing the emotional pain she feels, particularly in response to her failures and feelings of inadequacy. Her idealisation as a hero, protector, and "Queen Mother" might place immense pressure on her to appear unbreakable, pushing her to hide her vulnerabilities behind her jovial personality and a tankard of berry juice.

It's confirmed that when adventuring, she used to take on an alias name. Take on a different identity, hiding who she is as Hollyberry (the legendary hero, the ancient cookie, the queen of a kingdom), to simply be Sweet Pinkberry Cookie. This felt the need to use another name when travelling, Tarte Tartin Cookie knew her as Sweet Pinkberry Cookie, and the Dragon City knew her as Sweet Pinkberry Cookie, she specifically instructed Wildberry to keep her true name a secret and to call her by her alias while within the city. This could have been a method she used to have used to escape her duties and expectations as "Hollyberry Cookie", which had been tied to her name. Her responsibilities definitely weigh down on her, and it seems like her method of dealing with them is to run away. Whether it is through drinks, or through physically hiding who she is and leaving for an adventure. This is ironic, considering her CRK skill is quite literally her charging forward with her shield.

It is through obligation, and her will to protect those she cares about, like Princess and Knight during the Hollyberry Palace story, that she stands strong and firm as a shield. That's what she's passionate about.

Hollyberry’s coping mechanisms are more subtle but no less significant. Her drinking, cheerful facade, and detached family life all suggest an internal struggle that is often dismissed due to her strong appearance. Her trauma is less about obvious scars and more about the quieter toll of endless battles, unspoken regrets, and the pressure to remain a symbol of strength.

The way Hollyberry is perceived reflects a common issue in storytelling: characters who don’t display their trauma in overtly painful ways can be seen as having “less” to deal with. However, Hollyberry’s struggles with alienation and possibly self-medicating behaviour reveal a more subtle picture of a hero who, despite her laughter and strength, is quietly weighed down by the guilt she feels.

Now, into more...theorising territory. Specifically, how I think Eternal Sugar's story will go.

Hollyberry's drinking and avoidance are not just coping mechanisms; they also tie into the theme of sloth in a...nuanced way. Sloth is traditionally understood as laziness or a reluctance to act (WHICH CAN BE SEE IN THE HOLLYBERRY PALACE STORY), which can also manifest as emotional avoidance and a failure to confront difficult truths (GET OUT OF HER PURE VANILLA THIS AIN'T ABOUT YOU still love you though <3). For Hollyberry, her drinking and retreat from her responsibilities reflect a deeper avoidance of her guilt and emotional turmoils. Rather than addressing the pain of failing to protect her family and friends, she withdraws from it, numbing herself with berry juice and pretending that everything is alright.

She seeks solace in alcohol, allowing herself to temporarily escape the weight of her responsibilities. While drinking may seem harmless on the surface, it represents the passive avoidance of the emotional work needed to heal and make amends. This is where sloth comes into play. It is not the lack of physical activity or courage since Hollyberry is brave and strong, but rather a reluctance to face uncomfortable emotions.

Her drinking can also be seen as a way of slipping into complacency, allowing herself to remain stuck in a cycle of self-pity and guilt, rather than taking active steps to repair the damage done to her family relationships. The choice to rely on alcohol becomes an act of sloth, where it's easier to drown her sorrows and pretend they don't exist than confront them.

Each trial the Ancients had gone through so far had been related to the Beasts and their previous virtues. Pure Vanilla learnt Knowledge about the witches, about the beasts, about White Lily, and had to face a cruel mental quiz by Shadow Milk. Dark Cacao had a battle of will as he travelled up a seemingly endless journey, and had to keep his resolution as he watched all the people he cherishes fade into flour. While for Golden Cheese, it isn't clear yet what it is her trial will be, there has been quite a literal sense of destruction for her (cough cough 🍗 cough cough), and with her hiding the Soulcheese and all she cares about in a vault to avoid having them be destroyed in the following battle against Burning Spice Cookie). It would be safe to assume that the trial Hollyberry would have to go through would be emotional by nature as well, which conveniently fits the issues currently being discussed.

The theme of sloth in her character arc highlights how emotional avoidance can lead to great suffering, not just for herself but for those around her. By choosing not to face her pain, Hollyberry leaves her family to suffer the consequences of her absence, most notably the loss of Tiger Lily Cookie. Her Sloth is not just about failing to act physically, but about failing to engage with her emotional responsibilities. She allowed her guilt to paralyze her, keeping her from returning to her family and from offering the protection and love she knew they needed. Though this has been resolved, the emotional difficulties haven't, and rather, they've all been glossed over.

I believe that Eternal Sugar will use this against her, as her virtue is Happiness. In relation to sloth, happiness can sometimes be a way to avoid dealing with difficult emotions or responsibilities. Rather than actively pursuing genuine fulfilment, one might settle for a superficial, temporary happiness that prevents them from engaging with deeper, more challenging aspects of their life. This type of happiness can be slothful, as it involves choosing the path of least resistance, avoiding discomfort or personal growth. This fits in perfectly with Hollyberry's use of alcohol, avoidance, and happy attitude,

For Hollyberry, real happiness would come from reconnecting with her family, healing from her guilt, and accepting responsibility for her actions. By avoiding these challenges, she sacrifices the possibility of deeper happiness in favour of a shallow, slothful contentment. The cost of this avoidance is not only her own emotional well-being but also the relationships that matter most to her, as her absence leads to greater harm for her loved ones. In order to overcome Eternal Sugar, she'll need to learn to finally confront these problems. Finally learn to properly heal, and not rely on the berry juice to solve her problems.

[witches-dream]

The Magic of the Moon in CRK: Analysis and Theory

Warning: ramble ahead

so this post started out with me being confused/frustrated with the inconsistencies in the CRK lore, but i quickly found that there was more than meets the eye and just began writing my thoughts down as i researched. So here comes an analysis of the Moon, the various forms of magic coming from it and how it relates to the story and characters. So ahead is the post as i made it with no changes lmao

trying to make sense of CRK's lore for a fanfic has me questioning reality cuz howww is it so inconsistent

i began wanting to make sure i remembered it correctly that PV used Dark Moon Magic to seal away DE. I reread half of Hall of Enlightenment, Castle in the Sky and Timeless Kingdom for this, only to be faced with this

"Crescent Moon magic"? what's this new thing?

I instantly wondered how it is in Korean. I kept the Japanese dub to see hear how it is there as well. Japanese says "Dark Moon magic" - nice, good, consistent. the korean machine translation has given me "New Moon magic", which would mean that the english version is more true to the original, but?? Crescent moon magic is not something that is ever mentioned anywhere else.

So my next thought, rn as im writing this, is: if this is the first mention of Dark Moon magic, then it's possible that it was later retconned to be called Dark Moon magic instead of Crescent Moon magic.

But that's not the case, because, earlier in Hall of Enlightenment, Wizard Cookie says this:

First off, the moonstone he is talking about is the one where White Lily Dark Enchantress is sealed. White Lily's memory, who's there with them in this moment, says that she destroyed the Blueberry Yogurt Academy by using Dark Moon Magic, but once the GingerGang break the moonstone, it reveals Dark Enchantress instead. So i think that, whether she actually used Dark Moon magic that day or not, that was not the reason she was sealed in the moonstone; the real cookie sealed there was ofc DE, and the reason is that PV sealed her away, which Pome's words confirm.

Ok, so i just remembered that there are actually moonstones in the Guild Museum! So i took a looksie there and found something interesting.

So, this led me down a whole other rabbit hole in an attempt to explain all of this. to summarize what we know about the Moon and its significance in the story and world of CRK by now, is that it holds mysterious arcane powers that both Witches and Wizards used, but Wizards went a step further and began using moonlight in their baking of cookies. They did so seeking to explore the World of Dreams, given that it is a realm where anything is possible and theorizing that "at the intersection of the night, the moon, and the dream, magic unbound by all limits is born" So they created Moonlight Cookie, whom they call "the moon reborn in the form of a cookie" to fulfil that goal.

Obviously this is a post exploring CRK's Moon magics, but the Wizards and Moonlight Cookie are hardly relevant here. I am bringing this up as a source for Witches having used the Moon Magics, plus the fact that the Moon appears to be a source of a very powerful and diverse magic that can even allow cookies to travel dreams as though they are real places, as the Dream Express and Eternal City of Wizards chapters establish.

But the cookies use the magic of the Moon too. There is the Dark Moon magic that triggered me writing this post (im so intrigued by it i made an OC based on it, hence i NEED to research this). But, and im pretty cure this isn't stated directly in-game, but White Magic, of which the only confirmed user is Pure Vanilla Cookie, is said to draw its power from celesitial bodies, including - gasp! - the full moon! And the promo image in question specfically says "FULL moon", which is interesting to me.

While the Crème Republic paladins, namely, Financier, Madeleine and Kouignn-Amann, are famous for drawing their powers from the Light, and said to be blessed by the Divine Light, or simply the Divines, even worshipping it. Neither White Magic, nor the full Moon, come up in any stories involving them, which makes me think that their magic and religion based around the Light is different from the White Magic that PV uses, even if it has similar roots (these cookies originating from the Vanila Kingdom and all).

Ther's nothing saying that White Magic originated from the Vanilla Kingdom, as far as im aware, but it appears to have been at the forefront of education in this school of magic, as the artbook states this:

So now we know that Pure Vanilla is an expert in the matters of White Magic, the healing magic that draws its powers on the full moon... It's not that far out there to say he would be aware of the dark side of this magic as well, maybe even very familiar with it. Interestingly, PV appears to match the aesthetics of White Magic in everything: his main colors being white and gold, the colors featured on the White Magic image, and cyan (or rather, light blue), which is the color of PV's (and SM's 👀) Soul Jam, as well as the closed eye motif; all except that White Magic is described as being "cold and pristine". Pristine is very much a word you could use to describe PV, it's even a synonym for Pure, which is in his name. But "cold"? PV is anything but cold, in fact, he is regularly described as warm: the description of his stained glass guild relic says "warm and peaceful", his soulstone description says "warm and reassuring", a buff in his original skill says "gentle and warm", and I'm sure that there is more. Now, obviously, PV isn't some sorta incarantion or personalization of White Magic, he's literally Just A Guy who became this knowledgeable, powerful and important through his own efforts. But I just think it's curious how this is THE ONLY contradiction here.

Now let's turn our attention to the Dark Moon magic.

First and foremost, this school of magic is described as very dangerous, and Wizard Cookie in the Hall of Enlightenment chapter states that it is forbidden. Secondly, White Magic and Dark Moon magic are said to "form an interdependent energetic cycle", suggesting they are somewhat similar to the Yin and Yang of the cookie universe (or maybe just Earthbread. you know). While they are seen and presented as opposites (even having inverted color schemes, white and gold and black and blue respectively), they are both described as "cold". Not much is known about this school of magic or the Dark Side of the Moon, likely because it is forbidden, though, if we turn our attention back to the Nightsky Moonstone guild relic, it says "even the keenest know more than the fact its source lies on the dark side of the moon", suggesting that it is unexplored and full of mystery to this day. But I have reasons to think that there is a cookie who knows more about it than anyone on Earthbread.

It's hard not to notice the resembalance between White Magic and PV and Dark Moon Magic and SM. I say that these 4 are 100% connected and all the design choices are deliberate. Pure Vanilla is an adept of the healing White Magic, white and gold and featuring details of light blue as well as closed eye motifs, and Shadow Milk claims to live on the Dark Side of the Moon, where Dark Moon magic draws its powers from, the treacherous magic associated with black and dark blue, with elements of gold, and open eye motifs. The color accents are especially interesting. Think back to me comparing these two magics to Yin and Yang. In that philosophy, there's a bit of white in the black and a bit of black in the white, representing the balance of the universe. Similarly, you can say that the blue elements in PV's design call back to SM and Dark Moon Magic, while the elements of gold in SM call back to PV and White Magic, which is further supported by Truthless Recluse gaining more blue in his color pallette and the Sage of Truth gaining more gold. With the context of the latest Beast-Yeast chapters 7-8, it becomes all the more clear how these two characters are intended to be "two sides of the same coin" both in design and in story. I'm not gonna go full analysis of the BY chapters tho cuz this post would never end + it's not all too relevant + i'm sure you already know all there is to know about how intertwined these two are. And also that story, to my dissapointment, did not touch on the Moon magics at all.

And this is a shame, because in BY chapter 2, Theater of Lies, Shadow Milk says this:

And with SM there is always a 99% chance he's spouting bullshit, but he doesn't lie for no reason. And as long a swe can trace the reason, we can fairly accurately assume which parts are lies and which are truths. In this case, his intent is to intimidate PV, so he is likely either lying or exaggerating things. That said, he doesn't bring up the Dark Side of the Moon for no reason. It's a place that nobody knows anything about, where the most dangerous known form of magic draws its power from. SM calling it "his home" would mean that he doesn't just know a lot about it, he's very very familiar with it. He uses this to flex his knowledge and power.

So, is it true that he is from the Dark Side of the Moon? I doubt it. I mean, he was sealed in a fricking tree. Which is on Earthbread, and punishment very much did reach him, as he only has a half of his former Soul Jam. That said, the Fount of Knowledge... Wouldn't you say that, if there is or was anyone who knew all there is to know about the Dark Side of the Moon and Dark Moon Magic, it would be the demi-god cookie who embodies the virtue of Knowledge?

I just went through all of SM's quotes, including the Sage of Truth, and sadly there is NO more references or mentions of the Moon by Shadow Milk Cookie. There are little bits in ep 7-8 and i don't think they are anything relevant but let's take a quick looksie at them anyway.

The first mention of the moon is in episode 7, where White Lily and Pure Vanilla solve the towerkeeper's riddle, which turns out to be about the sun and the moon, but i fail to see how this is relevant at all so im ignoring it :P

The second is in PV's dream, where SM talks to him pretending to be the Light of Truth. PV himself says that the place he sees is the Dark Side of the Moon, which is the same background as when SM first says that it is his home, which makes me think that this is the reason PV thinks it is indeed the Dark Side. It may or may not be, but the next time this same image shows up, PV calls it the other-realm? For which we only have speculation, but it appears to be some sort of alternate dimension that SM has control over, as he mentions in Wind, Vanquisher of Darkness: "Phew, thank creators I know how to bend the other-space to do my bidding. My friends and colleagues do not have that luxury at their disposal…" where he also calls it the "other-space" (other-realm really has a better ring to it doesn't it? now lemme check what it's called in Korean) For you it's instant, but after 5 minutes or so, i think the word SM uses in both instances is the same in Korean, translating to "sub-space", which gives me a different impression. Other-space or other-realm makes me think of a completely different dimension, while sub-space makes me think of a layer of reality that exists right under or side by side to the reality that we live. Think blanket and a blanket cover, the cover of the book and its pages, the outside and inside layers of a winter coat - you get the gist. It's like two sides of the same coin, but in a literal sense - a 2d being living on one of the planes has no way to get to the other side or even know it exists, but a 3d being like us can see and freely manipulate both sides. Am i implying that Shadow Milk has the capabilities of a 4d being? Perhaps. But that is all just my thoughts and theories as for what the other-realm is. It makes sense, i think. Does it have anything to do with the Dark Side of the Moon? Idk. I've gotten so off-track lmao

Umm anyway. Making a very sharp U-turn back to the actual topic of the post 😭 I wanna talk about whatever the Crescent Moon is again. Afaik, it is only mentioned twice: by Pome accusing PV of using this forbidden magic (which I am presuming she meant Dark Moon magic, and the JP translators must've thought so as well) and in the Guild Relic description. I'm putting this image here again bc i showed it a while ago on the post and nobody wants to scroll up again

From my brief search of the fandom wiki, here are a few more relevant mentions of a (not the) crescent moon: there is a crescent moon symbol alongside a star on the Vanilla Kingdom flag, likely representing White Magic, which draws its power upon celestial bodies (with the full moon that we discussed earlier only being an example); Cream Puff Cookie in one of her quotes states, "Crescent Moon Magic is dangerous…!"; in this video (linked with a timestamp), the narrator states that the battle of the Ancient Heroes and Dark Enchantress happened on the night of the crescent moon, showing a full moon turning black; the animation cutscene in the prologue, which shows PV fighting DE with what's left of his power, shows this moment, where a crescent moon id, i would say very deliberately, is in the very center of the frame

And lastly, there's a bond story about Sea Fairy and Moonlight, but i think it's hardly relevant for a few reasons. Still, I'm going to briefly summarize it before moving onto the next big thing. Now, this is a costume set and those, especially with legendary costumes, tend to write about alternate universes of sorts, something that could potentially happen, but not something that did or is canon to the overall story. And I think that The Sea and the Dark Side of the Moon is one of those AUs. It tells about Moonlight Cookie, specifically her Crescent Guardian costume, and meeting Sea Fairy Cookie in her Rippling Moonlight costume. Sea Fairy becomes entranced with Moonlight, abandoning her elemental guardian duties as she does in canon. But in this story, Moonlight reciprocates, it is implied she takes Sea Fairy with her to the moon, as the last line of the story states, "Instead, a new legend surfaced: the dark side of the moon held an ocean." Just like with the parallels between White Magic and Dark Moon Magic and PV and SM, Moonlight and Sea Fairy's legendary costumes parallel in a similar way. one being primarily white and gold with a bit of blue and the other being mostly black and blue (although more white...) and gold details. It is possible but inlikely that they have much to do with these two schools of magic.

So let's get back to the Crescent Moon Magic. The one Cream Puf says is dangerous, the one Pome calls forbidden, and the one she claims PV had used against DE. The most interesting to me is the moment in the story video where a full moon turns black. Now, obviously, the "dark side of the moon", or, rather, the side facing away from Earth, doesn't magically show up whenever the moon waxes and wanes. It's just a shadow from our planet. But is this the same way for Earthbread? If it isn't, then the shadow that appears may well be the Dark Side of the Moon the name of which im sorta sick of capitalizing (count how many times i typed this name T_T). One possibility is that the way Earthbread's moon rotates makes it so its "dark side" actually faces the planet sometimes, creating the crescent moon. The other is that it doesn't, but rather, the moon doesn't function like our Earth's moon AT ALL, which allows for a magical possibility that the shadow which creates the shape of a crescent IS the Dark Side of the Moon. Im struggling to explain the differences here. But in variant 1, the Dark Side of the Moon is an actual place on the moon that can be visible to Earthbread sometimes. And in variant 2, there is no Dark Side of the Moon as a place, rather, the shadow itself is that Dark Side. 1: the shadow is the Dark Side. 2: the Dark Side is a shadow. If it makes sense.

Whether it's one or the other, one thing becomes clear: that is that, while White Magic draws its power from the FULL Moon, the Dark Moon Magic draws its power from the Dark Side of the Moon, which shows up when there is a crescent moon. Meaning that, on the night of the battle of the Ancient Heroes and Dark Enchantress, PV noticed that it was the night of the crescent moon and seized the opportunity to use Dark Moon Magic, otherwise known as Crescent Moon Magic, to defeat the villainess, ala water and fire benders in ATLA with the moon and the comet respectively.

Aaaand boom! I wish I knew how much time it took me to write this post. If i had lunch somewhere between 2 and 3 and its 5:30 rn, that would mean?? 2-3 hours?? damn. The announcement for the new update came out but i can't watch it until i finish this. We have our explanation for the 2 magic schools that use the Moon's power, the difference between them, their relation to PV and SM and even ML and SF, and we learned how Dark Moon Magic and Crescent Moon Magic are essentially two sides of the same coin (i think this is the 3rd time i use this phrase). This theory fits extremely well with the idea of White Magic and Dark Moon Magic being a part of the same interdependent cycle; after all, there's only one Moon, and it holds the power of both at different times. The power of light and the power of dark; the power of healing and the power of destruction; the power of truth and the power of lies; the state of knowledge and the state of ignorance; dark shadow and pure light; the depth of the sea and the light of the moon. As well as that, this aligns neatly with my idea of the other-realm, which i described as the other side to the same dimension, or even the 4th dimension, if you will (or the 3rd if we think of the CRK world as being 2d).

There is still lots to think about, and lots of opportunities of the CRK writers disproving this theory in some future story update. That said, i think this could very well be canon as it fits rather nicely. I wanna hear you people's thoughts too!!! Whatever you thought or theorized on this topic, or any additional bits and pieces you'd like to share, please do, because i like this part of CRK soooo much. It's magical! You know!!!

NOW I GOTTA WATCH THE NEW UPDATE VID THE NEW COOKIES ARE GORGEOUS BYE BYEEEEEE

Edit: there's a lot here so ofc i forgot something lmao. I meant to mention how i think the other-realm and the dimensional portal in the Blueberry Yogurt Academy may be connected. But i think that may be a post for another time

[kvneho1nc]

I don't think it's healthy how I stare at Shadow Milk and decide that he's unhappy.

But it just makes sense??

Especially when you consider that he was close to Mystic Flour and Burning Spice until yk... But I also do like the idea of Shadow Milk having personally given Pure Vanilla his soul jam.

Especially with how teasing Shadow Milk is, constantly doing mental gymnastics with him, nicknames, metaphorically poking the bear and abusing his power on his people.

I think Pure Vanilla forgives him, says that no matter how bad he acts or how mean he is. He's still someone deserving of love. He didn't hurt people just because after all, Shadow Milk does things for a reason. Not just for nothing.

Shadow Milk knows he's struggling, he knows that he can't change immediately and we'll... Pure Vanilla had always been a patient king.

ORRRR MAYBE IM LOOKING TOO DEEP ONTO THEM!!!

[pumpkinspliice]

**SPOILERS FOR ALL OF BEAST YEAST EPISODE 7!!!

My personal analysis, letting it escape from my notes app! Fun!! This has to be split into parts because it's long

Back in the beginning, it's established that shadow milk is messing with pure vanilla through his dreams. His dreams consist of memories from his childhood and past

To be clear, Shadow Milk is not present in these moments when they happen. That sheep did not have shadow milk's eyes when that happened.

Shadow milk is taking his time on presenting his planted lies

This is foreshadowing PVs awakening. The light refers to PV true Light of Truth. The spire of knowledge did exist, but it was turned into the spire of deceit.

Personal theory but I feel it'll go back to the spire of know when PV awakens, as he will accept his light.

Fortune Teller and pure vanilla can coexist at the same time since shadow milk's domain.

It's rather confusing, but I'm trying to think of it as a paradox. There's one that fits well but I can't remember which one. But we know that past, present, and future coexist at the same time here

This story has some sort of significance to pure vanilla's past. Shadow Milk is using this as a way to subconscious twist pure vanilla's memories again. By giving him a memory of his childhood, as well as a character who is a shepherd, he's trying to make PV believe he was always a liar. That the boy who cried wolf was him!

Shadow Milk is taking a separate way to confuse PV this time. During the Theater of Lies, he had taken lies and sprinkled on truth. But instead he is taking the truth of pure vanilla's memory and twisting bits and pieces to confuse him. The parts that involve shadow milk are these lies

Pure Vanilla knows these memories happened, that they are true. But he struggles to sperate and notice the lies within them. A part of him knows this but as SHmilk puts more and more, he grows more and more doubtful. Shadow Milk is trying to confuse pure vanilla so he will see and accept the "truth" that he wants him too. The truth that shadow milk has been guiding him the entire time, which isn't true

Shadow milk confronts PV with a situation, presumably one he would have gone through as a healer. It's a troubling situation, Pure Vanilla does not want the cookie to give up hope of he tells them he can not save him. It is a cruel truth, so he lies. Pure Vanilla lies for a different reason that Shadow Milk, he lies to help. Shadow Milk lies to confused, but both use deceit.

Pure Vanilla ends up panicking since he knows he lied, he knows he could not save that cookie. Shadow Milk uses this illusion to make him feel that lies can be good, a sweet lie away from the cruel truth

shadow milk uses this riddle to separate the two. He knows PV knows the answer since he can see into his memories. White Lily was the reason PV did not corrupt before, he has to separate them

Also this sets up White Lily and Silent Salt meeting!!

Pt. 1/4,, the rest are in the reblogs!!!

[milkkytxars]

A rant before the day ends, this is for people who didn't understand Clotted Cream's character. And for me, because I love him (It could be seen as an analysis but I'm mostly just rambling)

This is entirely self indulgent and probably completely biased, I want to make sure that's clear lmao

With the popularity of Jambound (love the fic, genuinely one of the best things to read if you like shadowvanilla) I've noticed how a lot of people straight up hate Clotted Cream Cookie on crktwt.

(I'm not saying everyone was super serious about it, some of it was definitely more in a joking manner, but I know that some other comments weren't ironic)

The fic doesn't portray him badly- in fact, for the amount of time he gets he's actually pretty accurate to canon.

And listen, the guy is annoying. We can all agree that he's fundamentally a grey character that isn't necessarily supposed to be extremely likable.

But genuinely hate him?? For his character??? I didn't know people still did that! I genuinely thought everyone had appreciated him more after finishing the Odyssey and the hype around him died down.

Because, I've seen people hate him back when the Odyssey first released because he was too popular or because he had a fake persona, but I've seen people on twt express that they hated Clotted Cream more after they finished the Odyssey in full!!

I feel like Clotted Cream is a pretty nuanced character, and that he grew a lot through the story. Just not in a super noticeable way, but rather, in the small things. He's definitely still the same person, with the same political mannerisms that would annoy anyone, but he's not...evil like some people say he is.

(Here I'm going to start talking about spoilers, so feel free to stop reading if you haven't finished the Odyssey)

When you finish the Odyssey, I feel like you're supposed to understand him better and be able to come to terms with some of his more questionable actions.

He's not two-faced simply because it's enjoyable for him to be. He's two-faced because he's been raised as a political weapon by his adopted father.

He is discouraged from seeing his biological mother, even though it's clear that he doesn't truly want to sever their connection and he still cares about her to some degree. But because he's the definition of a politician, he knows that acknowledging her in his position will only do more harm than good.

And I know it's nicer to believe that he can just turn the tide and change the entire thing, but that's not how the republic works. Or at least it's not how Clotted Cream thinks the republic works.

His connection to his mother can be used against him at any time, and I wouldn't be surprised if that's exactly what Elder Custard has told him his entire life.

Even though he follows Elder Custard's orders and advice, he doesn't like doing so, and it's very clear from the fact that he betrays him the moment he's given a chance to.

It's not only to further his own goals, but because Clotted Cream cares deeply about the republic! Everything in his life has always revolved into protecting and serving the place, and he will do anything to do so.

And because of that, the eyes of the republic are also always on him. Whether it is to make himself useful or to help people, or just to prove himself like he's always been told to do to be worthy, he's doing what he thinks is right while still trying not to fully fall from power.

In politics, this is playing smart.

He tries to gather information on what is happening because it's important for him to know. He talks Gingerbrave into telling him more, but he never extorts him into speaking up about what happened. It's important for Clotted Cream to know what happened with Dark Enchantress, whether he was using that information to gain access to the souljams or not.

People thinking that Pure Vanilla trusted him too easily are treating Pure Vanilla like someone naive. He knows what Clotted Cream is doing, and he understands that ultimately it's because of a sense of duty. It doesn't matter that it's not to the Vanilla Kingdom, because those in the republic are what Clotted Cream cares for.

Also. Nobody in the Republic truly cares about the Vanilla Kingdom, they're only interested in it for their own legacy and prestige it gives them, they don't fully care or understand Pure Vanilla's wishes and teachings. It's only natural that Clotted Cream, having grown up with this idea in mind, doesn't fully see the extent of the importance of what Pure Vanilla preaches at the start and is only concerned with his own goals as a consul.

And even then, Clotted Cream is still one of the firsts to realize the Five Heroes' importance to earth bread and the protection of cookie kind.

Nobody but Clotted Cream could have made this promise, because no one else in the republic truly trusted in the heroes' abilities! (And those who did either couldn't do anything, or wouldn't bother to do anything) Clotted Cream gained immense political power after Dark Enchantress' attack and used it to follow Pure Vanilla.

People seem to forget that the one orchestrating most of the bad things with the souljams is Elder Custard. Clotted Cream is the one that gathers enough power by his side, takes power away from his father, and manages to go through with both his plan to make stronger soldiers for the republic he so dearly wants to protect while also helping Gingerbrave and co. Into returning the souljams.

(Elder Custard didn't flee only because of the attack, a smaller reason why he fled was because he was trying to save face! This was all going to come bite him in the ass, and he knew his connection to Clotted Cream was unlikely to be able to save him from the fall this time around)

Yes, it's a bit infuriating that he has to be told about things to go through with helping, but I think that just makes his character more interesting.

Because, why does he do that? Why does he always wait for confirmation or encouragement from someone to fully act?

Is it because he's been raised like that and he can't bring himself to disobey authority figures unless it's done behind everyone's backs? Or is it because he's aimless without his role in the republic, and is constantly walking on a thin line of trying to think for himself while also having to put on a perfect face?

There's even a line in a loading screen explaining that he had to spend hours, probably as a kid, practicing a perfect smile before going out into the public! That's not something someone who doesn't feel pressured or feels like they can be themselves freely does.

It's always implied that he's scared something will go wrong because of his actions. He knows his position is important, so everything he does can bring destruction to everything he's worked for, and that's scary.

You can even see this in the way he reacts to Dark Enchantress' attack. He's done the best he could but- was it enough? This power is simply too much, did he make a mistake? How many casualties are going to come from this? Will he be able to come out of this unscathed?

He has to be pulled away from those thoughts with the help of someone else, and yet there's not a single moment in which he considers the option of being a coward and leaving.

He wants to fight for his home. Not for his ancestors or for house custard, but for those that count of him- and yes, most importantly, he fights for himself. And I don't think that's wrong. I just think people compare him to Pure Vanilla's kindness a bit too much.

(I love PV but his levels of compassion cannot be replicated by anyone else, even his own people lmao)

At the end of the third chapter, he even goes back to the Vanilla Kingdom and tries to be himself a little more, opening up a bit, even if he still can't fully let go of the perfect mask he's put on his entire life. When the children offer him raisins, he hesitates before accepting them- you can tell that he's trying to be warmer in a more genuine way, he has no reason to accept the raisins if he didn't like them and/or wanted to make the children happy.

And in the Christmas Story Event (I don't remember the name, I apologize) he goes to visit his mother! Because he realizes that "I have full control of my life now, I can allow myself to do these kind of things"

A little extra: the only interaction he has (at least that it's recorded in the wiki) with another cookie is with Milky Way! Based on her words, they had met in dreams, possibly being that Clotted Cream had once been in the Dream Express but forgot about it.

For what we have seen, those who appear into the express either have a destination, are searching for something, or have lost their path.

It's implied that Clotted Cream was most likely a child when he entered the Dream Express, therefore- maybe he got there when he got adopted into house custard? Milky Way says that Clotted Cream spoke about being a custard cookie with no custard in his dough, which is only something a young Clotted Cream would have admitted to being an issue for him.

To me, this just proves the point that he's always trying to prove himself as worthy. Aside from the fact that Elder Custard is constantly pressuring him into playing his part and making House Custard greater.

It is literally said by Elder Custard that if he had more family left, he wouldn't even have adopted Clotted Cream in the first place! That places a heavy toll of a child.

What I'm trying to say is- yes, Clotted Cream is the definition of a guy that you know is fake but everyone loves him so you can't do anything about it, and that's rightfully annoying! He's an annoying character!!

Some of the things he does or say are brushed off way too fast for the sake of the plot, and that's also annoying.

But Clotted Cream himself, especially after having finished the Odyssey in its entirety? I feel like he's a pretty well written character, and I don't truly understand why people hate him so much.

Especially because a lot of people that hate him love Shadow Milk, I've seen them portray Fount of Knowledge exactly the way Clotted Cream's character plays out and everyone loves him for it! But for Clotted Cream is somehow a bad thing.

But maybe that's just me. Sorry for the heavy rant, I just really like Clotted Cream lmao

[juricel]

hihi.. im a big fan of your works and your characterization of smc and i was just wondering if you would ever breakdown your view of his character like an analysis! its a weird request but ive always been wanting to hear your general understanding of him not as a character but as a person

greetings! I was initially gonna ignore this as it didn't fall under my usual requests, however, thank you for your compliments! I love shadow milk cookie a lot and the way he is written by devsisters, albeit I have grown a bit reluctant to write him after episode 8 as I feel I might be mischaracterizing him.

to me, shadow milk cookie's actions are mostly derived from his desire to be understood.

however, I do not believe he is only motivated by the desire to be understood; his actions are also derived from his desire to gain control.

He seeks validation not out of insecurity, but as a means to absolve himself of responsibility. If someone can justify his actions, then his isolation is not his fault—it is the world's failure to understand him. His cruelty is both a test and a performance; by provoking hatred or fear, he ensures that others respond in a way that reinforces his worldview (treating others horribly so he can be treated terribly back) Whether they despise him or cower before him, he bends them to his will, using their reactions as both proof of his power and fuel for his own twisted sadistic amusement. for him, there is no respect that comes with being understood.

And this is where I'd like to bring up the relationship betwene him and truthless recluse, or so, corrupted pure vanilla for it plays a lot of part in his character.

The reason why Shadow Milk Cookie did not kill him as what most of the beast cookies did to the ancients is also from his desire to be understood.

Shadow Milk Cookie is not content with mere ruin and his appetite demands something far more exquisite. To unseat the Truthless Recluse from grace was an indulgence, a meticulous orchestration of despair, yet even as his victim lay in the wreckage of his own unspooled faith, it was not enough. Dissatisfaction lingers, a quiet yet insistent dissonance. And so, he prods, he teases, he dismantles, pressing against every last remnant of defiance with a sadist’s precision, savoring the gradual erosion of resistance. Only when the Recluse surrenders—not merely in body, but in the marrow of his being—does Shadow Milk Cookie begin to entertain the notion of “us.” It is not affection but possession, not camaraderie but consumption. The moment of true capitulation comes when the Recluse accepts the obliteration of choice, when he understands that he has no destiny, that his life is not his own, that he is owned. And though Shadow Milk Cookie treasures him, it is not in the way one cherishes a person. No, the Recluse is an artifact, a masterpiece of ruin, an object molded by his hands—beautiful in its defilement, valuable only in its submission.

And this is also why Shadow Milk Cookie cannot abide the thought of being deceived—not by the Truthless Recluse, not by the very thing he has sculpted from ruin. That the Recluse might hold some secret, some flicker of will not yet extinguished, is an insult to the meticulous artistry of his destruction. After all, he was made to be remade, stripped of destiny and rewritten as something less. To Shadow Milk Cookie, he is not a counterpart, not even a disciple, but a possession, a thing molded to fit within the perfect architecture of his dominion. Understanding is a need that gnaws at him, but not in the way of ordinary souls who seek connection. No, Shadow Milk Cookie’s hunger for understanding is a hunger for control. He does not crave an equal, does not desire recognition from something separate from himself. He wants a mirror, a reflection that does not distort, a mind that does not exist beyond the confines of his own design. Until Pure Vanilla has been stripped of even the capacity to deceive, he will never be seen as anything more than an echo, a lesser fragment of the whole.

That was his weakness. That was the fracture beneath all his grandeur, the flaw that made him incapable of taking Pure Vanilla’s hand when it was offered. He could weave illusions as intricate as constellations, construct labyrinths of deception so vast that even their maker might forget the exit—but truth was something he could not stomach. To accept Pure Vanilla back would mean acknowledging that he, too, was flawed. That he was not some immutable force, not a being beyond imperfection, but fallible, weak, capable of error. And that was unthinkable. He clung to the notion that he was something greater, something sculpted by the witches as a divine instrument, a creation set apart from the common masses of Cookies who stumbled through existence in their fragile ignorance. To admit weakness would be to shatter that distinction, to strip away the layers of self-fashioned divinity and reveal the raw, trembling reality beneath: that he was no different from those he manipulated, that he was just as bound by the cruel absurdity of fate as the rest of them. And so he rejected truth. He rejected Pure Vanilla. Because to accept either would mean confronting what he truly was—and that, more than anything, was a reality he refused to face.

Regarding his past, I do believe I have written my understanding of it already in the request in which the reader was a previous yandere; Shadow Milk Cookie’s fall was not a moment, but a slow unraveling, a quiet, insidious corruption born from the realization that truth was irrelevant. He had once spoken to enlighten, to illuminate, to guide, but he came to understand that it did not matter what he said—people would listen regardless. They did not crave truth; they craved *him*, his voice, his presence, the way his words could shape the world into something easier to swallow. They did not seek understanding but comfort, clinging to his wisdom not as an answer but as an escape. And so, piece by piece, he lost belief in his own purpose. He had long struggled with being misunderstood, not as a person but as a symbol, an idol for the desperate to worship without truly seeing him. But instead of seeking to reclaim himself, he turned outward, lashing against the world that had failed him. If no one cared for truth, then he would make truth meaningless. If his words were only ever a salve for the weak, then he would twist them into weapons. It was a self-destruction turned outward, a choice to rot not in solitude but in dominion, to bring ruin as proof of his own suffering. This is what set him and Pure Vanilla apart. They both knew what it was to be unseen, to have their existence reshaped by the expectations of others. But where Pure Vanilla chose to heal, to extend kindness even in the face of his own pain, Shadow Milk Cookie chose cruelty. And though his descent is understandable, even tragic, he is no gentle victim of fate. He is vicious, theatrical in his sadism, delighting in the slow, deliberate unraveling of others—because if he must suffer, then so must they.

[projectmoonlightproductions]

Ok listen I wholeheartedly agree with everything you’re saying. I’m someone who doesn’t love PV but who also doesn’t hate him. At the end of the day he’s a morally gray character and Devsisters needs to work on their storytelling.

Hell, I love GingerBrave with all my heart but sometimes he barely does anything in the plot(like the Beast Yeast story) to where you could imagine him not being there and the story would still work.

I also agree with your point on how you don’t need an excuse to hate a character. For example I hate Snow Sugar cookie but I say this as a joke because I don’t have any strong feelings towards them.

That being said though, the reason why I really wanted to get you to respond about all of this was because you basically called friend braindead and stupid, you even called everyone stupid at the beginning of your own argument even though you ended by saying it’s alright to hate PV. I’m not saying you’re a bad person but it just felt like you were insulting everyone throughout your post.

I hope we can come to a common understanding

Can you please rant to me about how much you hate GingerBrave smut and Pure Vanilla? I hate GingerBrave smut too

OML YES PLEASE. For starters, it's clear that pure vanilla cannot handle his own problems alone and I'm honestly sick of people not talking about it, people be saying that he's one of the strongest ancients but I'm not seeing it, it's no shit people see him as a TWINK because he fucking acts like one, He can't face his own problems and relies on others to do so, like white lily with shadow milk cookie and GingerBrave for the cookie of darkness + dark enchantress cookie, it's also clear he gives no shits about his own people nor about his own fucking family, let's talk about how his youngest descendant was left in a forest to fucking die by his own family and pure vanilla didn't even know, also, you get how pure vanilla is ONLY involving GingerBrave? Talking about taking him to war and everything? Like what the fuck makes him think it's okay? Even if GingerBrave wants this, why the fuck would he still do it?! GingerBrave is a three year old in a twelve year olds body, and also I'm pretty damn sure GingerBrave was being sent into this, the others were given a choice and he couldn't even be there for his friend. If he had just heard her out he would've prevented this, GingerBrave had no reason at all to be thrown in this, and also im sick of people victimizing him, like "ohh poor pure vanilla" or "pure vanilla is a good guy!" Even if he regretted his past mistakes, he is clearly training GingerBrave to be his tool only to toss him out when he's done, he doesn't care about GingerBrave or anybody that isn't himself, I'd actually argue he's worse than dark enchantress cookie, pure vanilla is dumb and that's saying a lot for the supposed ancient of wisdom, then when I say this to his fans about why I don't like him they want to get all mad and shit, pure vanilla cookie failed to represent and lead his people which was why the raisin village was being invaded by waffle bots and the vanilla kingdom became timeless and over taken by DE, I'm surprised everyone forgave him after everything he did, it's like he has everyone wrapped around his finger, in my opinion pure vanilla is the WEAKEST ancient I ever fucking seen, at least the other ancients can handle their own fucking problems and not send a literal child into this, pure vanilla is supposed to be this peace maker and voice of reason but I feel like people are glorifying him way too much. Pure vanilla lacks general remorse and emotion towards his people and those around him. Better yet, I'm sick of people making pure vanilla cookie seem like a father figure for GingerBrave, like dark cacao or dark Choco or the other ancients I can see that but pure vanilla?

And as for GingerBrave smut, I fucking hate it, people are generally sick in the head, especially the bitches who would age him up to make it okay, like when will they learn that it isn't fucking okay, people would proship this boy, draw him pregnant and even make jokes of the one ad, if it was someone like sorbet shark cookie or sherbet cookie, there would be absolute out rage, but the minute it's GingerBrave all of a sudden it doesn't matter. People had pair GingerBrave up with everyone, his fucking brother included, I swear if it was some other character there would be actual cancelations. When it comes to other characters being proshipped, they wanna scream, get angry, start an actual outrage, rant on how their minors but the minute it's GingerBrave who is one of the most shipped fucking characters is the victim of this, people wanna make jokes or not care, it's actually hard to find people who would actually act out on proshippers who'd proship GingerBrave to no end, like people would do it for cream puff, people would do it for wizard cookie, hell people will do it for strawberry crepe cookie but the minute it's GingerBrave it's fucking SILENCE. Like not a word, NOTHING. I hate how people turn a blind eye on GingerBrave, hell I swear the only reason people are even talking about it is because their favorite adult cookie is in it, hell some people would say they like it when it comes to GingerBrave, you notice how they would age GingerBrave up in some aus to ship him with adults, even making some rape him it's wrong and fucking nasty but people are acting like it's okay because it's fucking GingerBrave.

[crystallinecardinal]

“The strings are wrapped around you,” or, a discussion about Truthless Recluse, Pure Vanilla, and an idea of an awakening

One of the things I’ve been hung up on ever since finishing A Game of Truth and Deceit’s story is the fact that the things Truthless Recluse says does not feel exactly in character for Pure Vanilla. I’m sure this is the point. You’re supposed to get that feeling out of hearing him, Gingerbrave even directly points it out.

So, other than the corruption, why the so sudden change? Why is he suddenly turning against everyone? And most importantly, how is he supposed to get out of it?

Or, a CRK analysis/theory of sorts regarding Beast-Yeast episode 7, as well as how episode 8 might go, split into sections below the cut.

1 - An Introduction

I will start off by saying that before this update came out, I was one of the people adamant that Pure Vanilla was not going to end up corrupted. Not because I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him, but because I couldn’t see a reason why.

For as much as Shadow Milk could break him, dig into his biggest fears and insecurities and make them appear real, there wasn’t a reason to me for him to suddenly turn against everyone on his own— not when those around him had consistently helped him, bringing him out of what might have been the worst dips of his bad mental state. Not unless Shadow Milk was able to really manipulate him into it.

Then again, I knew what Shadow Milk could do. I knew he could control the will of other cookies (seen with the faerie cookies), and disguise himself in another form (see: every time he impersonates the Light of Truth). I also knew Pure Vanilla would be vulnerable to him, both with the bad mental state, and by the fact that the first time they encountered each other, he was already struggling. The right strings being pulled could just make him snap.

And then, I saw Truthless Recluse. And I lost my mind.

So, the point of all this. I had been TERRIFIED before this update how Pure Vanilla would fall. I thought he’d have his sense of self broken, all his emotions toyed with, sure, but I wasn’t ready for a FULL CORRUPTION. Then I got to thinking: it’s been a pattern this happens, right? In the Ancient vs Beast chapters, they encounter each other, fight in some way, and the Ancient somehow loses their connection to their respective Light. They only awaken after, picking themself back up from the brink of defeat. And we already know Awakened Pure Vanilla exists, so that leaves the question: how do you help him? How does he come back from where he is now? How does he awaken if he’s already been “defeated?”

That’s what I’m here to discuss.

2 - The Spider-Man meme problem

So! Fortune Teller. That guy.

Almost everyone I saw took one look at him in the trailers and KNEW he was Pure Vanilla. Had to be. The voice was the same, appearance the same, motifs the same, the character design was a pretty big giveaway. If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, yknow. It’s probably a duck.

And that presumption was right! Fortune Teller is Truthless Recluse, and by extension, Pure Vanilla.

How can that happen, though? If Pure Vanilla talks directly to Fortune Teller, how can they be the same? Luckily, the game decides to answer this question on its own!

So, if this is a space the future of the past (the present) and the future of the present (just the future) can both exist… that means Fortune Teller, and by extension, Truthless Recluse, are likely from the future. Not only because we’ve seen PV walking around in the present, but because we KNOW how TR talks about PV like he’s dead, as well as because of a fun little quote from Shadow Milk!

“In the end, you will become me.”

This is what I’m going to be building the rest of this off of. Stick with me here.

3 - What’s that, puppet boy??

Lies. Manipulation. Deceit.

These are the things Shadow Milk lives for. But any good snake, any good spider weaving a web, knows that the best lies have a hint of truth to them. This is what I intend to dissect.

It feels... a bit strange to think that Pure Vanilla could become someone like Shadow Milk. And yet, the signs are already there. He isn't honest with himself, tells white lies in the hopes that it may make someone feel better rather than the cruel truth, and his mental state is already in a horrid place. Of course, none of these are particularly bad things, they're human, and I can't blame him for any of it. But they're also all undeniably things that could lead him to snapping. What's the point doubt is all that's left? What's the point that he delves into the comfort of the lie of fantasy? What's the point that reality is too much agony to bear? Is that not how the Fount of Knowledge became the Master of Deceit, finding that cookies enjoyed the sweet lie more than the cruel truth?

“In the end, you will become me.”

And so, he just might.

So, consider. If present and future can both at once in Shadow Milk's domain, if Fortune Teller is not merely an illusion, then who's to say Truthless Recluse isn't who Pure Vanilla is destined to become?

The best lies have a shred of truth. This is our (hypothetical) truth. If nothing changes, if Pure Vanilla falls to Shadow Milk's games, lets himself be broken, plays the role he's had laid out for him ever since he was young (once again, if we choose to take that as truth and not an illusion), then his fate is sealed.

"Despair follows in your footsteps... A river lies on your path. Cross it, and you will face unfathomable dread. Turn back... Turn back before it is too late. Turn back before the cold flames of doubt swallow you whole."

That river is fast approaching, if it hasn’t already.

4 - Finding truth, breaking strings

Let's circle back to one of my first points.

"Then I got to thinking: it’s been a pattern this happens, right? In the Ancient vs Beast chapters, they encounter each other, fight in some way, and the Ancient somehow loses their connection to their respective Light. They only awaken after, picking themself back up from the brink of defeat. And we already know Awakened Pure Vanilla exists, so that leaves the question: how do you help him? How does he come back from where he is now? How does he awaken if he’s already been ‘defeated?’"

Is episode seven not still following the same formula, yet iterating on it in its own unique way? Pure Vanilla comes directly into contact with Shadow Milk, and tries to defend himself the most he can. However, he's a lot more vulnerable than the others this time around— after all, lies and truth cannot exist without the other. They're not entirely opposites. After having his sense of self shattered, Pure Vanilla falls from the Spire. Somewhere, he loses his connection to his Light of Truth. Enter: Truthless Recluse.

We know Pure Vanilla will eventually be awakened (see: dev commentary), so how does he leave the state he's in? How do you come back from falling so far?

This is where our "Truthless Recluse is a future version of Pure Vanilla" idea comes in handy! To put it simply: he hasn't become him yet. Not in reality. The present Pure Vanilla has fallen somewhere deep, deep down, into the darkest abyss... And has yet to come back. It sets a perfect scene to trick those closest to Pure Vanilla to believe the lie wrapped in truth of his ‘death,’ doesn't it?

It also solves our characterization problem from the very beginning of this post. I never said he immediately becomes Truthless Recluse. Given that in this interpretation, TR is what PV will eventually become, it provides a reason for Truthless Recluse to say the things he does, and act the way he does. Maybe Pure Vanilla wouldn’t have said or done those things, but to Truthless Recluse, that part of himself has long been dead.

So. Where does Pure Vanilla find his truth?

It could be a lot of things. However, one of the main things I've seen reiterated is just how much Shadow Milk toys with the mind. Right now, Pure Vanilla likely believes his entire life is a lie. Not once has he had free will. Since birth, he has been a marionette on strings, a plaything for a being beyond everything he ever knew. Every action, every decision, it was just part of an Oscar-worthy performance. Everything he may have once defined as himself is null.

And even worse: there's no one to drag him out of it this time. White Lily is gone, off on her own mission. Gingerbrave and his friends have Truthless Recluse to deal with. The Light of Truth is silent. Everyone, everything he may have depended on isn't there. It's just him, the Other-Realm, and eyes that have been watching for his entire lifetime.

To get out, he has to break the strings. Just as he once awoke from his prison when he needed to confront his past, he can do it again. But this time, it isn't going to be while he hides under another identity, it isn’t going to be while telling himself a lie. Outsmart the snake, remember, remember, remember. Hold onto the love, the care, the things that are true. No amount of deceit can change how he once felt. They say the heart is true. Maybe that's the key out.

To put it more simply: no matter what it ends up being that causes it, he needs to realize himself that he is in charge of his own destiny. The truth of the question "who am I" is "whoever you want to be." It isn't an question that can be answered by someone else. You only become fully truthless, only fully wall yourself away from everyone if you choose to do so. It isn't fate.

And so, in the end, I think Pure Vanilla will awaken. By proxy, if my entire idea here were to be true, Truthless Recluse would cease to exist. Paradoxes are funny that way. There's no way for that ending to exist if it's no longer the future that lies ahead.

5 - A conclusion

I have absolutely no clue what's coming in episode eight. I'll say that upfront. I have no clue, and it terrifies me. I love Pure Vanilla, I want him to make it out of this, but I know he won't make it out unscathed. The tragedy could stay, it could just be for this episode, it's unclear. We just have to wait until episode eight goes live.

Regardless, I want him to struggle. I don't think it makes sense for him to get out of this easily. Not when he considers himself pathetic, not when he can't trust the voice of the Light of Truth, not when he's been questioning himself. Let that doubt sink into him. Let him rebuild himself, piece by shattered piece. It makes for an emotional story, and makes me like Pure Vanilla even more as a character. Maybe that's just the Omori fan in me, but I love delves into characters' minds like that.

It may not be anything like what I've discussed here, but I'm very excited to see what Devsisters does. This is all I'm going to be thinking about until then.

[lilacthebooklover]

shadow milk is such an intriguing character to me because so many things he shows us are a facade. we see him constantly belittling other cookies, calling them "fools" and "silly", yet he himself can't seem to count to four. we see him act lighthearted and jokey, only for wrath to emanate from him as he blasphemes this world's version of gods (his whole deal with the witches is something i'd very much like to go into). we watch his performances and his own interpretation of why he was sealed away, only for the witches to go further unmentioned as the story focuses on the "fool king" (clearly bearing no resemblance to elder faerie cookie, what are you guys on about smh, it's just a sad coincidence). we don't know his true intentions- he seems to have a lot of fun tormenting pure vanilla and apparently wants his soul jam back, but has made no move to take it, instead repeatedly stating that he wants to introduce pv to the other fallen heroes once they're released. he seems on the surface like a being of chaos, but we find out how much of a perfectionist he is through the white lily/dark enchantress puppets. he twists the narrative in his favour so much that he fails to see how someone might deviate from the script, he has no qualms about turning cookies into mindless puppets or even killing them (rip elder faerie), and yet he treats the group like more of an amusement than a threat. he's smart but arrogant, able to pick apart minds while still not yet strong enough to take over pure vanilla's, and he's incredibly proficient at identifying someone's weaknesses. there's so much about him that we don't know yet, and i'm getting more tempted to make a full cohesive analysis on him by the minute