I forgot my cereal on the roof again

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DARK CHOCO CRK COMIC: (LIVE)

[The Friends You Made AU]

The Friends You Made written series:

Tags and other content under the cut:

What are his thoughts regarding Dark Cacao's... Parenting?

Yes, Dark Cacao DID apologize for his treatment, but that doesn't undo the harm it caused Dark Choco.

Emotional neglect is no joke. I am quite familiar with that.

At least Dark Cacao is making efforts to be a better cookie.

I've been meaning to answer this with art, but I haven't had the motivation to do so for a while. I hope a written response suffices! I too am grossly familiar with emotional neglect, and it's part of why I connect with Choco so deeply

Anywho—

Safe to say, Midnight is conflicted about that.

In my AU, Dark Cacao was actually doing it fairly right early in Choco's life. Constantly involved, personally trained him in swordplay from a young age. Heck, they were inseparable, especially when Choco was a baby/toddler! Just like how his dad carried him around, Dark Cacao did the very same with his own son. Tucked in his shirt. Compressed by many warm layers. He couldn't be talked into a dad pack. He didn't believe in its efficiency to keep his little boy warm (otherwise, he would've used it LOL shamelessly so)

While Dark Cacao did fumble around a lot when it came to emotional things, his First Watcher at the time, Caramel Swirl Cookie, balanced that out for him. He relied on her guidance a lot as Choco was growing into his tweens. He was doing the best he could, and Choco was very loved. Midnight was pleased and had faith in his son

Caramel Swirl's death is what changed everything. Dark Cacao lost his last major pillar of support, left with his son and her now orphaned daughter, Caramel Arrow, to raise without her on top of running his kingdom.

It was this time of grief that Affogato wormed his way into Dark Cacao's life, taking full advantage of his vulnerability and manipulating him. Affogato took all of Dark Cacao's attention, leaving Choco with less and less of his dad as he came into his teens. Right when he needed his dad most

Choco was forced to grow up fast because Dark Cacao didn't just come to neglect his son, but key duties that kept that kingdom safe. All while Affogato kept the knife of grief deep into Dark Cacao, and twisted the blade whenever he wanted something out of the king

Midnight knew this was entirely out of character for his son, and did his best to investigate why. However, the increase of bandit activity and all hell breaking loose, it took a lot of his time to manage. He didn't find out that it was the advisor's fault until that snake was already long gone from the kingdom

Overall, it's a complex conflict for Midnight. On one hand, he's devastated and disappointed that his son fumbled so bad with his boy. Yet, on the other, he understands that it was out of character for Dark Cacao, that he was being manipulated. Now for emotional neglect, it bugs Midnight a lot. But again, he understands that Dark Cacao has always struggled with expression of feelings, and that Dark Cacao still tried his best (even if it sucked sometimes) to help Choco navigate his feelings as a boy/tween

Midnight is saddened by the fact that it happened in the first place, and he often blames himself for sticking to rules for once. Had he known Affogato was up to no good, he would've broken natural law ("the dead do not meddle in living affairs") to deal with it himself. Affogato would've been HOSED man. Curtains for mister the snake, fish in a river of politics now sleeping with said fishes. RIP.

I can't say I have! But please don't be surprised by this, I'm fairly out of the loop when it comes to AUs in general. I'm an uninformed soul affixed to the underside of a rock 😂

So I had to do a bit of searching to find this AU, since you mentioned it. Can't say it's my cup of tea (as a survivor of abuse myself, fun fact!), and not exactly thrilled that it portrays my fave lil guys negatively. Grimdark generally isn't my thing, but I hold nothing against it either

I do appreciate you thinking of me and offering a suggestion! I'm grateful that I exist to people 😭💖

Oh yes, absolutely! I wouldn't bring Midnight back just for them to never see each other, no no

Hilariously, Dark Cacao saw him often when Midnight was a spirit. Midnight isn't aware though. He thinks he's slick and sneaky. But no. He's not. Dark Cacao frequently spied him from a distance, especially whenever Midnight decided to be funny and jumpscare his poor Watchers for the umpteenth time.

It was a hobby of Midnight's, and something he did to keep the Watchers on their toes whenever he caught them dozing or goofing off. Yes, Midnight is pretty playful, by the way. He has his mischievous streaks

But in the dough, now that Midnight has life once more? Yes, indeed they'll meet again. That fate is inevitable

You have impeccable timing with asks, and I love you for that genuinely

Yes, Midnight passed before the Tartrus incident. And in fact, his death was a catalyst for it. A bigger push for White Lily to try the experiment, and hastily. If she could successfully retrieve the First Headmaster's soul, then surely she could save Midnight too— for Pure Vanilla and Dark Cacao's sake. Even if she was successful with the first, the second would've backfired because his soul never saw Tartrus. Never did, and never will

Everyone heard about it the same day, because Midnight's professor friend, Professor Parfait Cookie, had deployed to aid the village outside the Academy after hearing that Midnight and his boy were already there. She arrived too late for Midnight, and did her best to help little Dark Cacao decide his next course of action. Through her, the rest of the Academy was informed, and there was an announcement made campus-wide. Everyone knew by the end of the day. Dark Cacao had a day in his and his father's apartment before he started the journey to the Milk Tribe, escorted by the aforementioned professor. He never returned afterwards

Comic production has been slow, if not nil, because dear god July was very busy for me, and so has this week been thus far too 😭

All go no stop with these petsitting gigs— even now as I write this, I had just arrived at today’s little gig. Thankfully it’s with my oldest client, and I love these dogs immensely, they’re super easy

I’ve been exhausted for the past week, but following today, I should finally have some reprieve for the next few weeks until the end of this month where I have a longer appointment with a different client of mine

This week I need some SLEEP. Like LOADS of it 😂 Afterwards, I should be be back at it again, hopefully starting this weekend

I have a couple of mini chapters for you guys! First one is gonna give a little insight. I’m also gonna answer a few asks with some art, both providing more snippets and just funny hehe <3 Right now, this upcoming chapter and mini chapter is in the framing stage where I’m setting up page amount, panels, and dialogue

Muffins are banger, hell yeah anon 🤌

Fun fact: my mom used to bring me and my bro these GIANT muffins from a restaurant called Mimi's Cafe, and they were so good. For a child and even a teenager, those muffins were massive and it'd take me a while to eat em. Sometimes it was my breakfast for two days straight 😂

It's been a while for me, but the last time I did get muffins from Mimi's, they were still pretty large and delicious 💖

He's certainly noticed his father's absence. Not only through sense, but eye witness accounts. Midnight's very active in the Kingdom and is frequently spotted by denizens and warriors alike

Though he doesn't express it, Dark Cacao quietly concerns that his encounter with Mystic Flour may had affected Midnight in some manner. After all, his sword suffered immensely to the point where it even released the dragons from within it. The very sword tied to his father's soul.