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biscuitsofthesevenseas · 5 days ago

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A Sea Cookie Hyperanalysis Post (Sugarteara/Wandercrab)

I couldn't think of a proper title. WARNING: Long.

Now, anyone who has at least seen/clicked on this blog before knows that the Ovenbreak sea cookies are my absolute favourites. I love them. However, making analyses tend to take a long time for me due to being a crippling literary perfectionist especially when it comes to characters I like, which may be why i ended up writing up this post waaay later than i intended to. Fashionably late too, as Wandercrab is now over a year old.....shoot.

But anyways, this analysis will be split over two posts. This first one will be mostly about Sugarteara, the next one Wandercrab. (For the sake of my sanity i am not confusing myself by bringing up Octopus here. They're going in the next chapter. ) There will be some mention of the Tower of Frozen Waves gang, but I wont be talking ahout them much. Mostly due to me generally not being as interested in them as much as the underwater guys.

Small note that I am not a media literacy wizard and may have interpreted some things wrong despite my research! I've tried making it as best as i can though, because not only is this a pretty self-indulgent post, but I kinda just... you know. Want the best for my lil guys. They deserve the best.

Anyways, moving on!!

The Role of Sea Fairy Cookie

First, I want to quickly talk about Sea Fairy. Because not only is she an interesting character, but she's also indirectly (or directly, if you interpret it that way) the reason this whole storyline happened in the first place.

Lore wise, she's probably one of the most interesting CROB legendaries (I specifically say CROB because I know that her lore in Kingdom is very different). She's constantly trying to escape the darkness trying to consume her, the curses inflicted upon her by an unknown higher power, all the while looking to the sky in search of hope. Misery lies in every corner of the ocean, to her. And when the threat of death and corruption is so near, it makes sense, actually. She fights fate already by simply staying alive. The moon, so close yet so far away, is the embodiment of the hope she's been searching for. The only source of light when the waters she calls home are darker than the night sky. The Tower of Frozen Waves is a symbol of escapism, yes, but also hope. Everything about her echoes hope. Because she has it rough, she truly does, but she'll suffer her fate again and again and countless more times so long as she lives and breathes.

Despite this all, she's also very willing to discard her hopes and dreams if it means her domain doesn't suffer as she does.

Which leads to events such as this happening:

Hmm Sea Fairy why are you all the way down in the deep ocean what happened here-

The Lost City of Sugarteara

An underwater city crafted from a legendary being's profound sorrow. A place that seemed radiant, almost a utopia, but in reality, the opposite was true. To the point where the being who held the grief had to keep herself captive in the city in order to not have the darkness seeping into the place spread to the rest of the ocean.

So if its fall was inevitable, then why did they make the city in the first place? We know the place didn't instantly materialise but was instead an active choice made by the founders, so why did they have so much faith in the pearl? Even knowing that the raw emotions of the divine was not something to be easily reckoned with?

And I think that this logic can be explained by the simple fact that Sea Fairy was, and still is, their god. She was the being who had sole and complete power over her domain and their home, the one who bestowed compassion to everyone throughout the seas. To them, a treasure with such connection to their god as the Sacred Pearl, was a blessing. And what better way to memorialise the Almighty Sea's fallen treasure than in the form of a civilisation? A place where everyone the pearl has blessed can come and celebrate it and the prosperity it brings?

However, no matter how much they protected, decorated and celebrated the place, the denizens could not hide that the city's existence was one of sorrow, just like its source, the pearl. The emotions of despair infused into the treasure were never meant to last forever, trying to keep it from deteriorating was impossible, and soon enough, the people realised this and they left. One by one, until the faith that had held the city together in the first place was suddenly on the verge of a devastating collapse, only delayed by the steadfast loyalty of two.

Now cut to a depressed crustacean leading two children (well, it is heavily debated as to whether Sorbet Shark is actually a child or not) and Wave Drop (another one of Sea Fairy's treasures, this time it's one of happiness and she left it on the tower as far away from the ocean as possible, while her treasure of misery was left to sink. Oh, symbolism, my best friend) down into the frozen city to save Sea Fairy from her fate once more, and also defeat the Very Evil Manta Ray trying to hold control over the city via the captive Sea Fairy. So really, all of their goals are being met here. There isn't much left of the city, apart from the buildings and sugar crystals, and they don't encounter much on their way to the temple.

Only thing is, the Very Evil Manta Ray speak Lobster had been doing pretty much consisted entirely of lies. Most of what they said at all in the cutscenes consisted entirely of lies, full stop. However, these were lies that Lobster themselves actually believed in a way. To them, they were the only one of the two left actually doing something to bring the denizens back. It didnt matter that it involved seemingly corrupting the one thing that held the place together, it just mattered that it did the job. To bring back the city's glory. Which is why they were surprised when Mocha Ray decided to oppose them. Surprised, hurt even, to the point where they genuinely believed she didn't actually want the people, and in turn, the city back. That she herself was the corrupted one. After all, one effort was better than what seemed to be nothing, so why prevent it from happening?

Peppermint and Sorbet don't know this however, for the better or for the worse, and when they eventually get into the temple (after a bit of experimentation with Wave Drop), they're met with Mocha Ray's iconic first appearance that, while iconic, also seems to play along with the lies they've been told about her.

Everything about this scene screams "villainous". The context behind it, the barriers, heck, even the lighting seems villainous here. The general mystery surrounding her as up to this point, the only information we know about her being the few words spoken by Lobster (the untrue ones as mentioned above). If the city was just as abandoned as they said it was, then why lock yourself up in one singular place? Why lock yourself up in what is basically the core of the city, the one place that dictates the city's existence? What else could you be doing there, other than scheming? Other than villainy? This mystery is what made the lies so easy to believe. We never saw Mocha's own side of the story, heck we never even saw HER up until now.

Which is why it comes as such a surprise when the two guardian's intentions seem to do a complete 180 when they both reach the pearl. The supposed villain ends up taking the good side, trying to protect Sea Fairy, and in turn, the entire ocean from harm, and the supposed hero takes the other. They then proceed to fight to the death, with Mocha Ray being overpowered, until Sea Fairy manages to come back to her senses and quickly eradicates the city (which was directly linked to both of their powers, but I'd say it definitely affected Lobster's more. I mean, they lost their claw. Again. It's a bit of a stretch to say Mocha's powers were directly influenced by the city at all, since it has been showed she kept them even after Sugarteara. )

But one thing I want to quickly talk about is the dynamics between the two. They're complete opposites. In personality, in morals, their roles in the story, they're on opposite sides of the spectrum on almost everything. Even design. (I think the fact that if you inverse their colours they end just having the other's ones was very intentional.) They literally could not be more different if not for one thing - the fact that they were both guardians of the same city. A similarity that shouldn't have as much impact as it does. The fact that these two, despite having their different reasons, were still the only ones who actually stayed until the end. They both were the only citizens who didn't leave on their own accord and actually had it taken away from them, unlike literally everyone else. And weirdly enough, that makes them more similar and intertwined than most of the characters in the entire franchice. Sugarteara is just like that.

But that's where the similarities end. Because even though they are both left with practically nothing by the end, they have some VERY different reactions to this whole situation.

Mocha Ray is surprisingly unfazed. Calm. Which is a bit uncalled for as she is the one who almost died in that. And when such an important place to her had suddenly been lost, you'd think there would be a small amount of grief. But no. Instead, she immediately looks to the future and eagerly tells everyone about her plans. And admits that maybe the city was doomed from the start. In a way, she's sort of facing her own fate head on, like Sea Fairy. (which by the way, their dynamic is hella interesting too because well, Mocha at this point is most likely Sea Fairy's biggest worshipper. She lived in the city crafted from and dedicated to one of Sea Fairy's treasures, and lived the best part of her life in the temple as a priestess specifically while also being one of the last denizens left before the whole destruction happened. And she was definitely the last one who still believed in Sea Fairy's will to keep the treasure and the city alive. The tremendous influence is showing here and I love it.)

She carries on, fully knowing rebuilding a city that in her eyes is just as beautiful as the place she left will take a long, long time. Despite having almost no remnants of a plan on how to get there. I say almost none, because her plan at the end of this is to find Lobster, who seems to have entirely disappeared (We will get to this later). You know, the guy who almost killed her?? The one who attempted to corrupt Sea Fairy with the darkness in the first place???? What the heck??

But in Mocha's perspective, it makes sense. Because she knows they are quite literally the only other person with the same goal as her. It also helps that despite moving on (somewhat) fairly quickly, she's also stuck in the past, and I would say almost as rigid as, if not more rigid than Lobster. Because at least Lobster's viewpoint of a person can change, hence the whole switch up with Mocha Ray. But Mocha still sees Lobster as a good person who is simply misguided, because of how they were back when the city thrived. So rigid, but in an hopeful way that could be confused as blind trust, but it really isn't that. Naivety? Maybe.

Its just a bit too bad, seeing how Lobster is her foil and all, because on their side of the story....

Yeah. That. The weirdly ominous scene where we find out that the plan to corrupt Sea Fairy via the pearl was not their own. Instead, that can be credited to the aptly named Eerie Anglerfish (who just so happens to be a messenger-type creature made by Dark Enchantress. It's unknown whether this is just a random fish corrupted and turned into a spy for evil, or whether this is the voice of DE herself.) But the reason I say it's aptly named is.. well.... look at the way it convinces Lobster to carry on.

Manipulation at its finest. The way this is worded makes me think that, no, makes me sure that Eerie Anglerfish was watching Lobster for a long while before making a move. I mean, there was lots of time, and there would've been more if Lobster didn't try and corrupt the pearl. Watching, of course, to try and bring Sea Fairy to the darkness. She seemed like the easiest target to DE as well, too hopeless and pathetic to protect herself, but powerful enough to have some sort of value. And as always, with a being such as her, there will be followers. Even DE had some. Now they were indeed loyal and would follow her every order, but there weren't any that could traverse the seas, and her goal was to conquer all of Earthbread, was it not? Including the domain of the lonely ocean. How? Via the lonely ocean legendary. Where? In the lonely ocean city. The only way to do this, however, was to recruit a new member, one who could access the domain which wouldve been unpassable to any of her other servants. And to DE's surprise, when the time came to strike, there only seemed to be two to pick from. Perfect.

Mocha Ray was out of the question. Despite being the closest to Sea Fairy, she most likely never even met the angler, because for a start, the temple, where she permanently resided was filled with barriers and traps of her own making. But even if the angler could get to her, she would absolutely not be convinced. Because as mentioned earlier, she is Sea Fairy's biggest worshipper, and would more likely kill the angler than be swayed. Mocha ray, following Dark Enchantress? Nope. Not happening. Non. Nada.

So that just leaves one. Lobster. Surprisingly easy to manipulate seeing that they had practically the same amount of loyalty to the city as Mocha, despite it showing in drastically different ways. And in those opposite ways lies opposite chances. Watching the two guardians fall apart, latching onto one was a piece of cake. Playing around with falling loyalty and watching it slowly dissipate as the target loses trust in the being meant to protect them? Easy.

When compared to the indiscernable mind of the temple keeper, the crystal-clawed sentinel's thoughts could be read like a book.

All she had to do, for them to join her, was provide a remedy. A cure for the dying, sacred city.

And with the plans of Dark Enchantress, the remedy was not going to work anyhow. It was never going to restore the glorious city, only conjure a twisted version of what was once a place of radiance. It didn't need Sea Fairy to fail. But she wasn't expecting it to end this way either. So she did the only thing she could possible do, without losing this newfound follower.

Another remedy. Another cure. Sugarteara was gone, so where else could they go? And the city would be revived. Back to its rightful glory, with newfound powers and a leader they could actually trust.

All of this, with one small condition. Their loyalty.

An offer they could not refuse.

TO BE CONTINUED !!!

This is the end of the first half of my hyperanalysis! (This took way longer to write than I intended, almost two months of pure procrastination) The wandercrab sector will probably arrive three years late if I'm being honest (just like the actual update), but I had a lot of fun writing this! If you actually got to the end then thank you for being one of the people actually interested enough in my words!!

Until next time!

#cookie run analysis #Sugarteara #mocha ray cookie #lobster cookie #sea fairy cookie #cookie run #crob #cookie run ovenbreak #ovenbreak #zappy yaps

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