#exchangedfatesau

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...

...Idiot.

You're an idiot, Pure Vanilla cookie. To think that you, of all cookies...

Could even hope to help her...

Much less the others. Even now, you can barely keep up your facade. You put yourself back together with the false promise of hope.

Your warm smile cannot fool me.

I am you. Behind closed doors I can hear your cries. Your anguish.

Your pain and misery. Your helplessness.

"I'm so useless", you wail, "how did it end up so dire?!"

Deep down, you know why. Your efforts, however desperate, are futile. You cannot stop this. You are doomed to watch them all fall to themselves, and you cannot change fate. That is the knowledge you wish to erase.

If only you saw it sooner.

If only you noticed that things were unraveling in front of your very eyes, maybe you could have prevented this.

If only you saw. Her famine. His wrath. Her desperation. Her silence.

You're supposed to know better.

Be better.

You're supposed to save them.

But you can't even save yourself.

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Rice Flour Cookie

Edit (09/14/2024): Rice Flour's pibo has been changed. Her eyelashes have also lost the tinge of red. There she is, in all of her glory. Ancient!Mystic Flour Cookie, or Rice Flour Cookie if you will. Now the first thing you'll notice is that she's more colorful! That's for a few reasons, one! The gold-green combination is nice to look at and contrasts with Dark Cacao's pallet. Two, she's got different roots now!

If you don't know, Mystic Flour is heavily influenced by Guanyin; a Bodhisattva called on in times of crisis. Mine, however is inspired by Tara. Tara is a goddess in Buddhism that, like Guanyin, answers when there's spiritual or physical trouble. Unlike Guanyin though, Tara can take many forms and even has physical incarnations like Princess Wencheng (who was a main inspiration for her design.) It's very interesting stuff, and I do recommend taking a read into it.

Enough of the waffling though, transparent pics below!

Alternatives/Older Versions

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Everlasting Vanilla Cookie

Edit (09/14/2024): Eternal Vanilla has been changed to Everlasting Vanilla Cookie. Edit (10/17/2024): Main image has been changed to updated sprite. Previous sprite is now in the extras section.

And Pure Vanilla makes four, or should I say Eternal Vanilla? Hmm? Not a bad name considering it took me forever to think of one for him. Seriously, you might not know(or maybe you did if you saw any of my past posts), but I suck at naming things.

Transparent and alternative images below! Also, don't forget to reblog this post! It's a great way to show your support, and I do love reading what you all have to say.

Alternatives/Older Versions:

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Blueberry Milk Cookie

This cookie. This cookie has haunted me ever since he got released from that damn tree. Everywhere I go, I see his face. His jester aesthetic. And that smile. That damn smile.

Shadow Milk Cookie... ...is now punt-sized! Meet Blueberry Milk Cookie, the first of the new ancients and the face of the New Yogurt Republic. Yes I am aware that this is the most common name for his uncorrupted self, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Transparent image below!

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Midnight Cacao Cookie

...I don't want to see another Dark Cacao sprite for a bit. I think I might get angry.

Midnight Cacao Cookie, AKA Dark Cacao has been completed! And he was... An experience. If I consider Baneberry my golden child, Midnight is my problem child. I changed his design around so much before settling on this one, and I'm just glad he's DONE.

Transparent and sprite without fade effect below! No alt. dough color this time.

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Wilted Lily Cookie

3/5 complete! Wilted Lily is finished! Weirdly enough, I think she might be too plain, but seeing the details the others have I think it works out. Transparent images below!

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Character Files #1: Blueberry Milk Cookie

Hello again! It's been a while. Today I'd like to waffle on about Blueberry for a bit. If you'll allow me to. In the past I discussed his trajectory, but I wanted to take the opportunity to update a few things and add some fun details. This post is meant to cover Blueberry's past. What will become of his kingdom will be discussed when I get to the aftermath of the Dark Flour War. Now let's begin! ~~~~~

Personality & Early Life Blueberry Milk is a scholar with a taste for thrill and has an insatiable curiosity. He's kind to others, however he has a tendency to be overdramatic and cocky. He always pushes beyond boundaries despite the consequences or risks it may pose. He's an adventurer specifically because he found traditional studying too boring and would much rather get his hands dirty with experiments. But before Blueberry Milk became the illustrious founder of the republic, he was just a student at the Parfaedia Institute of Magic. Many teachers considered him a prodigy due to his prowess and intelligence, however others dreaded teaching him due to his penchant for troublemaking.

He would graduate at the age of 17, and took on a job as a professor before quitting years later. Many would cite a lack of stakes as one of the reasons for his departure, though that was common knowledge to anyone that was close to him. Blueberry Milk would then become an independent researcher, exploring the world and doing field research.

The Kingdom's Beginnings With months of travelling under his belt, it became very clear that he needed somewhere to store all of his findings. Initially he planned to establish it back at Parfaedia, but found it too stifling for him. So he packed all of his things and began moving north. Some old colleagues heard about this and followed suit, joining him up north in what would be called "The Land of the Studious." Alongside his colleagues, they established The Congregation, a meeting hall where they could all discuss the progress made with each of their projects.

Over time, more cookies heard of this place up north and had began seeking it out to perform their own personal projects. The Land of the Studious became known among Parfaedians as a wizard's getaway, a place where students could perform magic more freely than in the Institute. With the surge of visitors, the Gelato Villas were built for incoming travelers and eventually permanent residents, and the Wafer Train Station was built soon after for easier access to and from Parfaedia, and a new school began construction. As the area expanded more and more, the Land of the Studious had changed from a small community of scientists to a bustling city-state. The Congregation evolved, with the original founders becoming council members and gaining more political power over time. Soon even the name itself had changed, now being known as New Yogurt City.

A City in Crisis As the city developed, Parfaedia began to recognize NYC as a legitimate entity outside of "tourist destination." With competition on the rise, the magic city was forced to evolve to stay relevant. More technology was implemented into daily life as a result, with new experimental magic being tested. It was all going well until everything came screeching to a halt.

The incident happened outside of the institute. It started as a few electrical malfunctions inside some of the classrooms before quickly spreading to the rest of the building. Strange rifts opened inside one of the classrooms before letting in a legion of cake monsters. Even with all wizards pushing back, they were unable to stop the rifts. More appeared, wreaking havoc across the magic city. In a final attempt to get outside help, the wizards looked to the legendary beacons and lit them.

Dozens of wizards saw the lights and answered the call, including Blueberry Milk. With additional backup, they all began to go around the city, fighting the cake armies with staffs and wands. The city lit up with magic spells and potions as the streets were enveloped with smoke. For a moment, it looked like victory was near for the wizards, until the smoke parted with a mighty shriek.

Flying over them was their last and greatest opponent: the roll cake hydra. A horrible beast with cream cheese frosting bleeding through it's teeth and seven heads to boot. While the wizards and townsfolk fought long and hard, it kept coming back harder and more angry. The terrible beast forced them to retreat into the nearby forests.

A Glimmer of Hope Tired and exhausted, the cookies tended to their wounds. Many of them had passed out from spending too much mana, and others didn't know how much longer they could go on. Splitting from the group, Blueberry Milk wandered through the woods. He began flippantly going through spell after spell, trying to find one that could stop this before he never could. In his darkest moment, a voice beckoned to him. He tried to find the source, moving further inside before it spoke again.

It asked him if he was truly determined to save Parfaedia, and he responded with a nod. Sensing his desperation, the voice offered him a deal. It would give him the power he needed to stop the hydra in exchange for defending Earthbread as a whole. With dwindling options, he agreed, and his powers were amplified. Using his newfound strength, he left to face the hydra alone.

The fight was intense. Standing in front of the hydra armed with only his staff, he launched the first blow. Taken aback by the sudden attack, the hydra was struck, backing up before lunging it's heads at the cookie.

Move.

Blueberry Milk jumped out of the way, heart racing as he looked down at his hands. He felt sharper, quicker. The hydra tried again, snapping it's neck at him as it attempted to swallow him whole.

Roll.

His body acted on impulse, rolling away from it before sending a shockwave at the monster's body. A direct hit. A grin curled up onto his face as his teammates returned, mouths agape in shock.

Again.

The fight raged on as Blueberry Milk effortlessly weaved through each attack while dealing blow after heavy blow. More onlookers came, cheering him on as the hydra grew tired and sloppy. Another set of attacks came as he pushed the hydra into a corner.

Once more.

Pouring his remaining mana into his staff, he sent one final attack aimed at the hydra's chest. The hydra, desperate to live, fought back with all it's remaining strength, but it would be of no use. The attack speared through it's chest, pushing it back into a wall before it erupted in a beautiful collage of colors and sounds.

His finest work yet. And one that made him faint. His body was quickly ushered into a recovery room. When he woke up, he found himself surrounded by friends and acquaintances. If he didn't shoo them away, they would have killed him with kindness. He also wouldn't have noticed the gleaming blue gem resting on his chest.

The Aftermath Since the attack, Parfaedia immediately began reconstruction efforts, and with the help of the NYC was able to recover almost completely. After intense discussion and meetings, the two cities agreed to join under one entity as the New Yogurt Republic. The new republic recognized the efforts of the brave wizards that defended Parfaedia as heroes, and Blueberry especially began to grow in popularity. He was eventually appointed as the leader of the republic, with a new and improved council by his side, and with their combined efforts helped to usher in a new golden age for both cities.

For now.

Blueberry Milk, now a wielder of the soul jam of hope, began doing research into how exactly it worked. He knew that it helped him during the fight, but something about it felt.. foreign. But Blueberry wasn't one to give up, and he began to seek out others like him for his research. His curiosity knew no bounds, and he was determined to unlock the secrets of the soul jam.

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Ghost Spice Cookie

Edit (10/17/2024): Link to older version has been added here. Main image has been changed.

Heeey, guess who went back to update Ghost Spice's design after Burning Spice's release? This gal. And it's much better, I hate it much less, thank goodness. He now has a ponytail and the two parapets in addition to the shawl. The axe also got changed to the one he has in canon, and he has an ankle bracelets instead of shoes.

Left: Old mockup based on silhouette Right: New mockup based on sprite And! A small gift.

I cleaned his teeth. Surprise. More transparent images below!

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Baneberry Cookie

Repost because I think Tumblr killed the first one. Brief explanation, I posted this an hour ago and it was doing well! I check the tags and this post isn't showing up at ALL. If anyone knows what might've happened, I would love an explanation. Anyways, thank you to everyone who liked that first post, I really do appreciate it! I'm glad you like her as much as I do!

Here's a fun fact about Baneberry for compensation: She's the third hero in the AU to corrupt. While on her trip, a messenger from her kingdom finds her and gives her the news that Pitaya Dragon Cookie took over. When she comes back, the entire kingdom is in chaos. She finds them, beats them up and realizes she barely managed to beat Pitaya. That worries her because even after all the work she put in, she's only barely strong enough to take back her kingdom. She starts to turn from there as she tries to be stronger for everyone.

Original text starts... Now!

Hollyberry my beloved. Behold, Baneberry Cookie! The first in a series of sprites based on my Exchanged Fates AU! I adore her so much, she turned out even better than I expected.

Transparent images and an alt dough color image are below!

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Oblivion Knight Cookie

Of course, nothing lasts forever... The brightest to burn are always the first to adjourn.

Surprise! I told you there was more. Every story needs their antagonist, and it wouldn't be a swap if there wasn't a Dark Enchantress somewhere. This is Oblivion Knight Cookie, the DE adjacent in the swap. And I think he came out looking great all things considered. Transparent and an alt without the soul jam are below as always!

I'd like to thank you all for sticking with me this far! Really, the amount of support I've received for this is so mind blowing to me. I'm not done with this yet, far from it in fact. We're just barely getting started! The next posts will be getting everything all organized and we'll go from there, so I hope you all will stick around to learn more about these guys!

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Fleur de Sal Cookie

Finally. After maybe two weeks, I've finally completed them all. ...Kind of. Allow me to introduce the final member of team ancient. Fleur de Sel Cookie, formally known as Silent Salt Cookie. A literal "white knight." And after Burning Spice, I needed this so bad. This is my first time making armor of any kind, and I was straying from the silhouette we saw in the Beasts' introduction. So it turning out well was a pleasant surprise. The color pallet was a struggle, though. It went through a lot of changes before reaching here to try and keep him from blending in with the other ancient designs.

Transparent Image below!

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Date Sugar Cookie

I'm walking into uncharted territory. From here on out I'm working with silhouettes, thankfully hers is relatively simple. So here, my version of Eternal Sugar, now Date Sugar Cookie! Yes I considered Pink Sugar Cookie. No I didn't like it.

Fittingly, I've taken a more Greek inspiration for Sugar's design. I mentioned she gave off both Ancient Greek and Christian vibes, and look at that, Greece has both in spades. The olive wreath and the Greek pattern on her cape pay homage to it while she keeps her halo and angel wings.

As always, transparent image below!

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Opulent Cheese Cookie

Golden Cheese arrives fashionably late as the final ancient in this collection! In this AU her name is Opulent Cheese Cookie, and like Dark Cacao before her she was difficult to get nailed down. But I'm glad she came out alright.

With her finished, I can now say that the beasts are complete. Now I 'll have the difficult challenge of trying to work out new designs for characters that technically don't exist yet. Silent Salt is going to run me over like a tractor. Expect some time for that to start, though. As always, transparents and alts below! Thank you all so much for the support for this project!

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WIP. Are you seeing the vision? I think I'm onto something here...

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Here's problem child #2! Burning Spice/ Ghost Spice Cookie! Good grief, man. Trying to alter a design that's already simple enough with his pre-existing color pallet sucks. Add onto the fact that his soul jam is on his chest makes it worse, because now you have to make sure any additions don't cover it. Really, I'm just glad it's finished so I can move on to Silent Salt.

Transparent Image below!

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It is said that the one closest to the witches' hearts must hold the weight of the world on their shoulders. They are expected to overcome any obstacle that comes their way. They must obey without question, lest they suffer the consequences.

They must be perfect, for their subjects and kingdoms.

But to be loved by them is to know great pain. To know their tricks is to make great sacrifice. To keep their secrets is to suffer in silence.