#deceitvanilla

[art-of-the-sea]

redemption arc au go bbrrrr

[beltsourcookie]

good morning to the delusional shadow milk/pure vanilla likers, do you consider them to be a codependent relationship

[art-of-the-sea]

Cookie Run: Facets of Knowledge AU

[pt: Cookie Run: Facets of Knowledge AU]

" The Virtue of Knowledge holds two sides to it; Truth and Deceit. Only together can they truly understand its depths. "

Not so much a complete AU as a likely canon divergence, this 'verse is set after Dark Enchantress's defeat. Her attempt to free the Beasts from their eternal prison by creating new bodies for them ended catastrophically. The only way to keep them all at bay was to seal them within the Soul Jams carried by each of the Ancients, as well as within their own bodies. This came with its benefits and drawbacks- after all, the threat has been tamed for as long as the Ancients remain uncorrupted. Not only that, but the reuniting of the Soul Jams' other halves magnified the Ancients' power beyond imagining- as its main holders, it's all in their control now, out of reach of the Beasts.

The complications, of course, come with the continued presence of the Beasts within the Ancients. They may not have any powers, no, but they can certainly be heard by the Ancients they've been sealed within - even seen as a projection of the Soul Jam's magic. Pure Vanilla Cookie knows he's in no danger from Shadow Milk Cookie as long as he doesn't mentally give in to his lies. However, that doesn't stop the comments, the perspectives, or the presence he brings. Sealed together, they have to learn to understand each other deeper than either expected, and slowly, each begin to open their eyes to the other's views and experiences.

More details & doodles below the cut! ⤵️

- Shadow Milk Cookie can project himself outwardly into the world using the Light of Truth, but in almost all cases, the only one that can see, hear, or feel him is Pure Vanilla Cookie. This leads to quite a few reactions to seemingly "nothing" from the outside, which took a long while for the other cookies around him to get used to.

- Shadow Milk gets bored very often due to not having a physical body or the ability to interact with most cookies, so he often resorts to pestering Pure Vanilla in one way or another. PV found that ignoring him only makes it worse, so he'll often engage in giving hypothetical answers to SM's ridiculous lines of questioning. This tends to result in either an absurdly niche philosophy discussion or a yes-and fantasy lasting on-and-off for days.

- Distrust is rampant between the two, of course, which is beneficial for neither of them. Pure Vanilla is convinced Shadow Milk wants nothing but to control Earthbread once more, and SM thinks PV wants nothing more than to lock him away somewhere dark and eternal. Both are partially right, but they are forced to learn the depths of the others' perspective and understand how their defining traits are reflections of each other, stemming from the same place.

- Because of this, they slowly begin to understand each other. To trust each other. To let down the walls, because really... Who else would ever be able to comprehend them like the other?

- Pure Vanilla still refuses to trust him enough to let Shadow Milk take control of the body, though. After all, control of the body would hypothetically mean control of the Soul Jam, and he can't let himself risk the fate of Earthbread once more. Sure doesn't stop SM from pestering, begging, bargaining, and more to try!

- Arguments are surprisingly rare, because if both of them get too deep into their heated debate, they get uncomfortably close to the reality of how similar they are to each other; this tends to make them back off.

- Both of them also feel this discomfort when the other is genuinely feeling mentally unwell, as viewing the other's complexity reflects on their own they wish to conceal. This can result in an awkward attempt to cheer the other up or help the situation, if nothing else to simply remove the shared disconcertion.

(If anybody's honestly interested in learning details for this AU, send in an ask! I might even draw doodles for the replies. this au is also where this sorta popular doodle comes from)

Bonus:

me too gingerbrave

[art-of-the-sea]

Hello!! what are the other ancients dynamics with their respective beasts like? Are they also learning to get along or is that unique to SM and PV?

Hi, thank you so much for the ask!! Since we don't know much at all about the other Beasts, it's hard to determine what their relationships with the other Ancients would be like. However, there're some light predictions that can be made!

- Hollyberry cookie, holder of the Light of Passion, is likely trying to befriend Eternal Sugar cookie, but Eternal Sugar goads her into giving in to her indulgences such as berry juice, hoping to get Holly to turn to Sloth as well. After all, they both represent Happiness. Hollyberry honestly believes she can turn the other back, however, an admirable belief that Pure Vanilla picked up on when deciding how to treat Shadow Milk cookie.

- Mystic Flour cookie and Dark Cacao both respresent Volition- however, due to Mystic Flour's apathetic disposition, the two clash very often, and they're very against any change or compromise. Dark Cacao sees Mystic Flour's apathy as an inherent betrayal of the kingdom's subjects and refuses to listen.

- Burning Spice cookie and Golden Cheese would likely see eye to eye at first, both being super driven and representative of Change. However, Golden Cheese is driven to Abundance, desiring only the best for themselves and others, but Burning Spice only wants to destroy and raze. They would likely get into arguments often, only working together in desperation.

- White Lily has the most complicated and unpleasant lot of the bunch, unfortunately. She not only has to contain Silent Salt cookie, but she has also been reunited with her other Self steeped in destruction, Dark Enchantress cookie. Due to her multiple bad experiences with corrupted reflections of herself, she's the most resistant to any sort of idea of redemption for the Beasts than the other Ancients. Thankfully, she's also the least likely to be corrupted- Dark Enchantress is incapable of using the Light of Freedom, and Silent Salt has taken to, well... Silently brooding and ominously watching over things, for the most part. While all three fall under the overarching virtue of Change, she's the most resistant to a different mindset. White Lily is rather fearful of any corruption happening again, which is why she's also rather scared & resistant to Pure Vanilla's comparatively casual relationship with Shadow Milk cookie. Even seeing him simply humoring him terrifies her; she cares deeply about him and doesn't want him to be harmed by the other's lies, an understandable position considering everything.

[beltsourcookie]

devsis: NOOOOOOOOO!! YOU CANT SHIP SHADOW MILK AND PURE VANILLA!! WE MADE WHITELILY AS PV'S LOVE INTEREST!!!!!!!1!1!1

me: shadow milk goes lives in pure vanilla's head longer and goes 'brrrrrrrrr gay gay homo gay' and sends him mspaint valentines

[beltsourcookie]

there is nothing hetero or normal about the way shadow milk and pure vanilla are drawn together

it is delusional, it's deranged, and very unhinged and has bitter, gay tension undertones