#{small miracles}

Merchant your rants about this update are actually mild compared to the things other people have written about this update, it's that bad. So don't consider yourself whining for having an opinion because believe me, on crktwt everyone was and are still crashing out so bad about this update it's crazy, NOT EVEN THE SHADOW MILK GLAZERS ARE HAPPY, HOW THE HELL DID THEY MANAGED TO DO THAT

it's atrocious and insane how they took every single bad decision on the story and made it a reality, like, this story and script had to be checked by multitude of people, then supervisors, then the director AND IT GOT THROUGH??? THIS IS HOW YOU END THE STORY??? **ESPRESSO COOKIE** MADE MORE DAMAGE TO DARK ENCHANTRESS THAN THE FUCKING AWAKENED ANCIENTS TOGETHER, THERE WAS A PLOT OF THE BEASTS AND ANCIENTS SHARING A MIND SPACE AND THEY DIDN'T DO SHIT ABOUT IT, SUGAR SWAN WASNT EVEN A PROPER DEUX EX MACHINA AT ALL, SHE JUST REVIVED THE EPIC COOKIES AND BROKE AGAIN??!??@ (oh, and her writing, god lord they massacred her)

HELL, EVEN IF WE ALREADY KNOW DEVSISTERS TREAT THE OTHER A/B PAIRS AS TRASH, NOT EVEN SHADOWVANILLA GOT SAVED, WDYM THE WHOLE "SOULJAMS RESONATING" AND "PV UNDERSTANDING SM" WENT TO ABSOLUTE NOTHING??? THAT'S THE COW YOU HAVE BEEN MILKING AND YOU DECIDED TO THROW IT AWAY??!!??# FOR THE SAKE OF WHAT??!?! WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE?!?@?# IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE STORYWISE OR MARKETING-WISE.

Ok, look, sorry to come to you to rant about this when I could have just made my own post, but seeing your post about it and saying that "it was whiny to do so" made feel as if you saw yourself as the only one insanely mad about this whole thing, which believe me, it's not true at all, everyone is crashing out here, and it's fine, these feelings you have about the ending are absolutely valid, because this """ending""" just breaks everything we had been expecting, even when said expectations were low, they somehow managed to DIG even lower, and people are mad, rightfully so, I've seen people on crktwt reselling their sm/wl plushies at lower prizes, others sending curses to devsisters in weird texts, other people straight up crying or banging their head against the wall for how terrible it was, and of course, people leaving the game.

All your emotions are valid merchant, there's no need to call yourself "whiny" or to shut yourself up with "it's just a game", because you have stayed with this game, you have put your blood and tears into your creations, you meet people through this game, and it's a headache, it's a headache this has to end like this because of... of who?? because this didn't even save Shadow Milk?? They turned him into something he clearly never was meant to be and for what??? Nobody like that?? Why are you treating your "At-this-point-mascot-of-the-game" like if he also didn't matter?? No one is happy with this, not even his fans or glazers.

Crkblr is mad, crktwt is mad, crktt is mad, and as far as I am aware, the korean fans are also mad. even if they retcon this, even if they decide to use timekeeper cookie as a way to retcon this, nothing would actually change, because their writing would still suck, and their way to treat characters would still be bad.

And it's funny, we as a fandom have been supporting this game KNOWING the writing has been absolute trash these past months, yet we hoped that maybe the end of beast-yeast would give us something to be hopeful about, either the beasts starting a redemption (or running away powerless), the ancients back together as a group, dark enchantress either defeated and running away or becoming whole again with white lily, damn, even the whole "power of friendship" ending would have been acceptable, but no, this chapter and the ending has been a breaking point for many, so it's okay, it's okay to feel absolutely mad, sad, or even hurt about this, no one wanted this.

Merchant, please know that your feelings are valid, your thoughts are valid, and if you need to yell, do so, no one is going to blame you or treat you bad for doing so because it's understandable, and it's also good to share it because not only you let it all out, but other people also feel related to your feelings and also feel comfortable and seen in your writing, enough to yell alongside you, like I did now, thank you for crashing out, because it let me know I could crash out too, and that it is okay.

This week is going to be hard to go around this fandom, so as a whole the best we can do is stick together and share our honest thoughts, so that the headache this chapter caused can have a way to go out.

Sending you good vibes merchant, please take care of yourself.

Saved this ask for last haha. Last but not least

I really appreciate you saying all this, honestly. For your criticisms: I agree with everything wholeheartedly. Some part of me was tempted to make a giant post listing every single one of my grievances, but I ultimately chose not to, because... God, it hurts lol. It's been easier for me to just let other people essentially speak my mind for me, and I verbalize my agreement. Easier on my mind and heart yk. And it's comforting to see so many take umbrage at all the issues, and express the same discontent.

For the company: as I've just said, it's comforting to know this update is so widely hated. Seems like everywhere CRK congregate, there has been nothing but outrage. And the Korean fans!!! It's actually kind of a relief to know that even they're unhappy. NO ONE liked this update; for once, we're all united. It's touching, almost. And it's a relief that we do ultimately all have good taste in storytelling lmao. Maybe someone can convince the Koreans to get another van

For feeling bad about complaining.... Thank you, for backing me up there. For the reassurance that's it ok to be upset. Really, it's hard not to struggle with that, because at the end of all things, it really is just a game. But... It hurts. It hurts so fucking much. I love Cookie Run. I have loved Cookie Run for 10 years now, from all the way back when I first joined Ovenbreak. That's almost half of my life with this series in my heart. I've also been with Kingdom since the literal day it launched, January 21st 2021 all the way to today. I really, truly have invested so much of myself into this series, these stories, and these characters. As foolish as it is, they matter to me. They make me happy. They make me smile. They inspire me to be creative. I've found so much joy and comfort and amusement in Cookie Run, including the fandom (I'm incredibly lucky to have skirted around the toxic majority and met actual gems). I've made real, wonderful friends and acquaintances through it. Hell, it even inspired me to draw. I spent so much of my life telling myself that I could never be an artist, that I had no talent, that I shouldn't even bother because I'd only embarrass myself. It was my love of Cookie Run, Kingdom especially, that inspired me to overcome that defeatism and try. I still have a very long way to go, I am still very much a rookie, but nevertheless I've accomplished so much that I wouldn't have dreamed of even a year ago. Same with writing; I've always loved creative writing and storytelling, it's always been a joy, a comfort, an escape, a lifeline even, for all my life. In losing myself in this silly fantasy world, I've honed my own creativity, expanded my storytelling horizons. I'm a much better writer now than I ever was before. Because I was inspired to push myself, because I was inspired by others here alongside me who are also budding writers, or are already great talents with great stories under their belt.

All this to say... Cookie Run is so special to me. It has such a special place in my heart. Certain characters and storylines, especially. I have stuck with it through thick and thin, and by God, has there been thin. Time. Effort. Thought. Emotion. Even money, as embarrassing as it is to admit that. I've given it all to this game, and so have so many others. Because like you said, even at its worst, we all hoped it would get better. We remembered the good times and hoped they'd come back. Devsis is not incapable of making a good story, they've proven that to us many times before. Despite the recent downward trend, we all kept our hearts and minds open, because we cared. Because we like this game and wanted it to succeed.

And how do we get repaid for any of that? How does Devsisters choose to acknowledge our love and support in the end?

I'll use this picture to illustrate it

I was honestly hurt looking at this when I unlocked it. It felt like salt in my wounds. I endure that miniature psychic apocalypse over the course of about 3 hours (I took it slow, and was pausing to relay my thoughts/reactions to a friend who'd already played through it), and at the end, this was waiting for me.

You know who isn't in this collage?

The Beasts. Some of the most important and beloved characters in this entire game. In this entire franchise. They don't get to be here. Not even Silent Salt, who actually did help the heroes and helped stop Dark Enchantress and save the world. Why? Well, four of them are dead. Three of them might be enduring a fate worse than death, actually. The one who remains? He is a parody of himself, a deranged husk, because he's the one Devsis couldn't let go of no matter what. Why did any of this happen? Because the Beasts don't matter. Not really. They don't deserve love or care or acknowledgement for their role in this story, in so many characters' stories. They don't get a proper celebration and send-off in-universe, and they don't get one here.

The Cookies of Darkness. Not a single one of them. They have been haunting the narrative since the beginning (and "haunting" is an apt word, because they sure did seem like ghosts for all their lack of appearances overall lol). They played a key role in everything that's happened, everything that led to where we are now. They don't get to be here. Why? Because they don't matter. They're bad guys and they got defeated. That means they, their characters, and their impact on the story are rendered meaningless, non-existent. Just like the Beasts.

The Beasts' minions. They're even forgotten in the story itself lol. What happened to them? Where did they go? What will they do now? The Wild Spices have no leader. The Garden of Delights has no caretaker. The Spire of Knowledge has no master, and thus is doomed to crumble and cease to exist. Cloud Haetae has nothing and no one; they are completely, utterly alone in the world, all that remains to occupy the Ivory Pagoda. They, too, were loved by fans. They were appreciated. Thought of. Remembered. We begged and pleaded for their acknowledgement, for them to get SOMETHING out of this miserable story. Our cries fell on deaf ears. And like their masters, the minions are ignored and erased. Because they deserve it. And they deserve it because they don't matter.

The dough siblings. Mold, Venom, and Pom-Pom. This tragic trio that won a lot of hearts despite being present for such a short amount of time. These poor, unfortunate souls that were created only to be living weapons, who were abused and manipulated and controlled every single day of their lives, and were never allowed to believe that their lives had value or any higher purpose. They don't get to be here. Why? Who even knows? It's not like they're evil anymore, they deserted at the end. They got a little illustration where they're on a beach watching a sunset in the end credits and that's it. We never see or hear from them again, and they don't get to be in the big celebration collage. Because no matter what, they ultimately don't matter.

On the flip-side, you know who IS in the collage?

Those NPCs that are bizarro versions of a few characters, that make up Twizzly Gummy's criminal gang. Those actually, literally, genuinely worthless NPCs who we only saw once and never again, ever, in any story or update.

Fucking Yogurt Cream, who is not a character in this game beyond also being an NPC with 5 seconds of screentime, and has never made a single molecular impact on this story in any way. (And whom a lot of people don't like. He is a very controversial character for understandable reasons. But that's a separate discussion.)

Chedder Cheese. Macaroni. Royal Berry and Jungleberry. These NPCs are more relevant, and also much more loveable. I'm actually happy they're here, but... them? And not anyone I listed above who ISN'T here?

The fucking trade ship toucan? The jelly bear train conductor? Sugar gnomes? I'm not saying that they shouldn't be there, but them and not any of the people who were left out???

And honestly? Worst of all? This collage is nothing but a monument to the bare minimum. To dissatisfaction. To broken promises. Because not a single character in that collage got worthwhile pay-off or closure. We never see Dark Cacao reunite and reconcile with Dark Choco. We never see Golden Cheese confront White Lily and attain any closure with her. We never see what happened to Pitaya Dragon, or even if they're alive at all (they most likely are but come the fuck on you get what I'm saying). We never see Silent Salt actually deal with any meaningful fallout or consequences from the other Beasts for imprisoning them. We never see a satisfying conclusion to the five Beast/Ancient arcs and everything they tried to explore. For years they have been trying to tell us, the audience, that this was all about connection, shared suffering, finding shocking and uncomfortable commonalites with questionable people, the nature of complementary forces, understanding, compassion, acceptance towards others as well as the self, grief and its mismanagement, forced responsibility, loneliness, even love, and also, ultimately, coexistence. And now, that is all gone. Every arc has been undone and rendered meaningless. Everything seen and explored in every previous chapter of Beast-Yeast might as well have never happened in the first place. The Beasts died alone, unceremoniously, and offscreen, and nobody, not even the Ancients, their literal soulmates, cared or had anything to say about it. Remember how Truth and Deceit were happily proclaiming that they wished to be together? That a peaceful partnership was possible? Nope! All gone! It doesn't matter! Their relationships meant nothing! Their battles meant nothing! Not even PURE VANILLA had anything to say about the Beasts' broken corpses! Not even Shadow Milk's! After all that time and effort fighting to understand him and convince him to join him in the light! Nothing for any of them! Nothing for anyone at all! Because it doesn't matter! Nothing matters!!! NOTHING HAS EVER MATTERED!!! FUCK YOU FOR EVER THINKING IT DID!!!

And White Lily up there. Up there, facing away from us. White Lily, after everything she's endured. After spending the whole game hating herself, thinking the only thing she deserved was to die, because that was the only way she could fix her mistakes. After episodes 11 and 12, where the message seemed to be one of choosing forgiveness and radical self-acceptance, of realizing that self-sacrifice does not need to be the only solution, that it is by living and working together that we achieve great things and redeem ourselves. What happens to her? She fucking dies. The suicidal girl kills herself in the end, for the same miserable reason from the very beginning: because she's a bad person, because she needed to atone for her sins, because death is freedom. How fucking dare you. How fucking dare this be the final message of this story. What a disgusting and frankly harmful moral to get across to the audience, especially when this game is aimed at children. This post puts it in excellent terms, and I recommend everyone read it. What an absolutely cataclysmic way to end this poor woman's story. She ends her life after already going above and beyond the call of duty trying to help people and fix things, despite no one ever asking for her death and her not even truly deserving it (she never asked to be split in 2, Dark Enchantress was not her fault, she never would've committed any of those atrocities on her own, and she nevertheless accepts responsibility for it all like a righteous person), doesn't get to share any last words with her friends (except for Pure Vanilla, like he's the only one who ever mattered in her whole entire life and not also those other 3 that loved her and valued her and her friendship), leaves people letters we don't get to read, and isn't even given a fucking funeral. And after all that? In this collage? They won't even let us see her face.

God in Heaven, this is the worst update to a story I have ever seen. I was tempted to uninstall the game for a good minute afterwards, I was that beside myself. Nobody got anything they wanted. Nothing was accomplished. Characters and storylines were torn to shreds. For what? Who was this update even for? Who the fuck wrote this and how did it get approved? At this point, I am unable to comprehend this catastrophe beyond it being an act of malice. I honestly think Devsisters hates its fans, or at the very least only sees us as money sources to siphon from, and doesn't care what we have to say or think about their work. Unless they truly are that stupid/oblivious? I don't know. I likely never will. I don't think it matters. It matters as much as Cookie Run clearly matters to them.

This was literally just an excuse to draw them in fangs i didn't even do the eyes properly :)))))

Close ups on the cuties 🥰

Blood ver cuz character injury is fun to draw sometimes~

EDIT

Someone asked for a red version ❗️❗️❗️

to everyone who is saying "this finale was half assed/rushed/not well written". ITS WRITTEN THE EXACT SAME WAY THE REST OF THE SERIES IS!!!

if you go back and rewatch it all, its just on par with the rest of the writing. stranger things always had writing that was 50/50. sometimes it was great, othertimes it was bad.

everyone has built stranger things up in their heads to be this amazing series, but the constant great writing always came from the fanfics/etc. this ending was the perfect ending for stanger things. a "yeah they all live happily ever after" ending, because the "story" was always going with "stories" of DND.