#ms.txt

$app - $companypsa

venmo - @kokeechy

i was curious abt what ingo says in the esp translation of the game, so i looked it up n he says this:

“Although my memory has vanished, there are things that the heart never forgets.”

lemme start this by saying that a lot of the beginning is me analyzing him. my hc stuff will appear much later.

OKAY SO. i always think abt how sparkling’s star guest desc (esp in ovenbreak) seems to put a lot of emphasis on him being alone…

n i Also think abt the canon fact that sparkling is phenomenal at reading others (esp roguefort’s blatant admission that sparkling was the hardest cookie to fool [n failed bc sparkling knew it was them anyway LOL]) also that “you can’t succeed in this gig if you can’t catch on quick” UM? 👁👁 n while it was obvious back then that sparkling takes his job seriously/prides himself in it, CRK made it much clearer by showing just how Far he’s willing to go for his business (pink juice incident) ⬇️

PLUS his role in the tropical seas story… SPECIFICALLY lilac cookie calling him a “skilled manipulator” BUT ALSO… taking note of how thorough? detailed? sparkling is when creating drinks (yes ik obvious bc that’s his job n this particular instance may have been him intentionally bullshitting to distract tortuca but HOLD ON this is important for later)

… AND how d*vsis puts a LOOOOOT of emphasis on his Looks/how cookies are constantly swooning over him (lit every desc of him ever)… the pink juice incident shows that he’s more than willing to exploit… well, Himself basically if it means more customers/better business, but also the way he carries himself (i.e. the way he is noticeably Very Friendly daresay even flirtatious during work [there’s literally no tension in his OB relationship chart])

BUT knowing that he DOES have his limits when it comes to extensive attention/interaction with others… (not pictured but immediately after that highlighted part he tries to get a patron to close their eyes which i didnt notice the first time i read it; says smth like “close your eyes to truly savor the flavor”) i have reached a conclusion…

… which i will get to eventually ^^; earlier i brought up sparkling’s OB relationship chart w/o the intention of going into detail but i just realized i can so here i go! (you’ll have to take my word for it bc i can’t add anymore images -_-)

sparkling’s relationship chart has 7 cookies, 5 of which he is friendly towards (vampire, ginseng, purple yam, sour belt, eggnog). the other two are ones he trusts, cheesecake and DJ. his thoughts on each cookie have smth to do with his business (sans sour belt, which he talks abt how he likes to wear comfy clothes on weekends), but with cheesecake & DJ, he mentions them being “the best hostess around” & “the real party begins when DJ arrives” respectively.

in cheesecake’s chart, she says that sparkling is “a must-have cookie at all [her] parties”, meaning that sparkling gets a grand deal of exposure at her events, which ALSO explains why he trusts her (making connections = more new customers<- this even more so bc cheesecake is richer than god)

as for DJ, who is canonically an award winning musician in the cr universe (see parfait cookie’s story in CRK), carries some similarities to sparkling in that they keep their life under wraps (OB desc states that DJ “keeps [their] private life private”; obv bc famous artist) n yet, they somehow appear to be friends with sparkling (or rather, sparkling just trusts them a lot bc he knows that DJ can bring in way more than just a crowd & makes parties fun, n since he does like parties, having so many ppl around probably increases business for him & makes him feel less lonely. plus just knowing them is probably enough to attract ppl to his bar anyway).

AND in CRK’s juice bar regulars, while the bond story implies that vampire, herb, and mint choco are sparkling’s titular patrons, it is Actually stated that only two of three are regulars at the bar, with herb being the newcomer (the exact line is “And Sparkling Cookie would not be himself if he did not join the conversation, especially one on refreshments with two of his regulars”; herb is not one of these two regs bc vampire is a given [sparkling says so himself in OB] & the bond story mentions that a glass of juice was served to mint choco w/o him having to order as soon as he took his seat aka He Is A Regular).

the ending mentions that sparkling managed to shift the chaotic convo abt juice recommendations over to talking abt his new drink (“The debate now flowed towards Sparkling Cookie's newly crafted concoction of sparkling juices.”), n THEN manages to get vampire, mint choco, n even herb (who was desperate to leave LOL) to come back later to try it out (“Somehow, the suave bartender convinced all three Cookies present to return one day for a tasting.”) which, keeping in mind with what i mentioned earlier (n the fact that mint choco is yet ANOTHER renowned musician in the CRU), could very well indicate that in giving these three cookies the Inside Scoop on his new drink, they will be able to Spread The Word and once again, business boom (even better since herb isn’t a regular, he could introduce more ppl to sparkling’s bar [assuming they’ve never been there])

and so… with all this in mind, i have developed this hc (series of hcs?) that sparkling cookie, king of façades and putting up fronts, surrounds himself with ppl not JUST bc he is a bartender/it is his job but bc he is Agonizingly Lonely (& either represses it by yknow. working at/attending parties [as a guest], OR is somehow oblivious to it [i.e. assumes his business is flat-lining n that he needs to work harder—i mean c’mon. look at his OB sprites n tell me he’s not a workaholic #sigmagrindset])

n i don’t mean to say that i think sparkling doesn’t have friends LOL i do think he is, at the very least, friends with cheesecake n the juice bar regulars (vampire n mint choco particularly but ig according to that CRK thai twit pic herb is a confirmed friend, tho sparkling n vamp are def buds amantes…)

what i mean to say is that i think sparkling hides who he truly is in order to keep his business at the top (one of his loading screens even says that he “looks in the mirror every day and practices his smile before opening the juice bar” like SIR. S), going to the extent of acting coy with his patrons & hiding his discomfort/reservations at any time. (also Did You Know that before CRK he literally had like. 2 sprites w/o him smiling [not counting his fainting anim. & the sprites of him hitting obstacles], which i can actually name: his lobby dislike sprite & the sprite w the uncertain face he makes when confronting roguefort during the 1st detective mystery event. CRK remedied this w his ‘sad sprite’ n ‘serious sprite’ [as named by the wiki] & also him literally getting strangled by monster squid ink; defeat sprites don’t count bc they’re expected)

n BECAUSE sparkling puts so much effort into making himself palatable to everyone, when put in a situation where he’s not doing his job or being a guest, he’s just kinda. at a loss of what to do (remember during OB’s 3rd anniv. event when he was birthday cake n firecracker’s impromptu therapist despite saying nothing aside from taking their orders?), grasping straws at what he thinks he should be doing. which i think makes his friendship with vampire all the more interesting; vampire can just live in the moment, but sparkling needs a directive (one could even say he needs a role to play). sparkling is so used to being the collected, suave pretty boy perfect bartender that when he no longer has to be that, he is left feeling like nothing at all, n he can’t stand it, so he occupies himself with his work.

he can read and pinpoint the (in roguefort’s words) tastes/moods of others so well that he cannot properly distinguish his own emotions, at least not consciously. subconsciously, he showcases his true emotions with his drinks—for example, say there is a time where sparkling is not his “cheery” self. his drinks for the day may be mellow, less fizzy even, or he might use ingredients that don’t have strong flavors. sparkling might not realize that his drinks are lacking their usual charm, but others might. basically, if he’s sad, he’d be able to physically hide it, but his drinks might tell a different story.

maybe sparkling learned early on that he’d never succeed as a bartender if he couldn’t keep his own feelings in check (the whole work over wellbeing mindset), n now that he is a successful n popular bartender, he has paid the price of not having a personality outside of work. he pretends not to be bothered by it bc why should he, his business is thriving, yet he internalizes his loneliness bc he doesn’t know how else to address it, choosing to ignore it in favor of being everyone’s beloved bartender.