#tbh i worry that i'm flooding the dashboard/tags with my takes. thanks anxiety

[o-wyrmlight]

dude thank you so much for your nuanced takes on dark choco and dark cacao. I love them both sm and its been exhausting watching people reduce their conflict to "dark choco is an irredeemable monster and intentional mass murderer" or "dark cacao is an abusive dad" when both are pretty much the most fleshed-out characters in the franchise, and are entirely victims of a circumstance neither of them had any control over. it's called a tragedy for a reason, maybe neither of them are the "bad guy" and that's why it's so painful to watch them go through this

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if most of the people who are pressing on this black-and-white mindset are from Cookie Run's younger audience. It is a game that's designed to be playable without spending a single cent, and it's a cute game about animated cookies, so it sort of attracts that audience.

But it is always really important to take a look at characters and stories and break it down to discover the nuance and logic behind it. It doesn't do any of us good to look at characters and see them as entirely one thing or the other, and I greatly value characters for just how three-dimensional they can be.

Sure, there are characters and people who are abusive and who cause massive problems on purpose--but context is important to look at when deciding what labels to slap on people and characters. Dark Choco and Dark Cacao have performed objectionable actions, and yet it's still important to look at the entire context of their situation. Sometimes there is no 'right' or 'wrong' answer.

What would people have said if Dark Cacao had let his son stay after he was nearly killed all those years ago? 'He's a terrible king--he should have banished his son because of what he did.' No matter what situation or option you choose, sometimes you just can't win. So sometimes you have to go with what you feel is right. And sometimes that can be wrong, too. (Looking at Dark Cacao focusing more on the wall than on his own people.)

But yeah. I really like Dark Cacao and Dark Choco. They have such an interesting and complex relationship, and I hate the idea of it being broken down into something so simple as one or the other being right and the other being completely irredeemable.

I honestly didn't know anything about Dark Cacao being labeled as 'abusive' in spite of there being literally no evidence until someone mentioned it to me on one of my fanfics, and I'm very relieved about that ignorance I had. And now people are calling Dark Choco irredeemable and evil because Dark Cacao has left the kingdom that he grew up wanting to protect to rot in ruin.

In a work of fiction, a character is always the villain in someone else's story--and that's just how it is.

(And listen. I know this isn't related to Dark Cacao or Dark Choco at all, but I also seriously like the idea that Pure Vanilla is more than just a sweet and polite and well-meaning bean who can do no wrong. I don't like the idea that cookies are limited to be what their ingredients are. Let Dark Cacao be a soft and warm cookie from time to time. Let Pure Vanilla go apeshit sometimes. They are characters, not cardboard cutouts. Let them be varied. Let them experience. Let them grow. Let them learn.)