HEAVY IS THE CROWN.

if you were me... could you forgive yourself?

[bitterresolve]

#BITTERRESOLVE. an indie, private & selective DARK CACAO COOKIE of devsisters' COOKIE RUN: KINGDOM. canon divergent & headcanon based.

as written by sketch ( they / them, 24, white ). low activity.

a study in: resolution unparalleled, heavy is the head that wears the crown, a father's love & grief, 'i am a sword - if i am not the sword, then who am i?', a life filled with nothing but regrets, great strength & bitter consequences, and more.

other blogs (both lower activity): white lily, pitaya dragon

CARRD. // rules are also available under the cut.

THIS IS A PRIVATE BLOG. i am mutuals only, which means i will only write with someone if we follow each other; if i follow you, i am interested in interacting, even if it's quite a bit down the line (see 'low activity' rule). i will be selective about who i follow to some extent to keep my circle small. personal blogs are free to follow, but please don't spam-like my content or anything.

DO NOT INTERACT if you support the following: racism, queerphobia, TERF ideology, incest, pedophilia, antisemitism, zionism, ableism, you call yourself a 'proshipper' (there's a difference between respectfully handling dark themes and romanticizing them), and similar.

WARNINGS. this blog will contain themes of war, death, violence, emotional neglect, generational trauma, grief, depression, anxiety, trauma as a whole, dysfunctional families, manipulation, mental health struggles, and potentially more, if i think of it. i will try to tag everything.

in particular, i take a nuanced stance on the relationship between dark cacao and dark choco. i think dark cacao should very much be held accountable for his actions, as he undeniably caused significant harm, but i also think he was (and still is) a deeply unwell man in difficult circumstances who truly loves his child. whether or not dark choco forgives him is entirely up to the person writing them, and i'm happy to explore the dynamic either way.

ON THE MUSE. as stated, my dark cacao is canon divergent & headcanon based. i haven't cared for the new direction of the story at all lately. my cacao is based primarily on his crispia episodes & cookie odyssey, in terms of personality, with development after his awakening that will potentially differ from canon in some aspects. he is, above all, a man aware of his failures and mistakes, and desperately trying to improve himself and make amends - even if his stubbornness and reluctance to rely on others tend to get in the way.

canon divergences of particular note:

- the betrayal + dark choco's attack was severe enough to leave dark cacao permanently injured. this has a considerable impact on his day-to-day life, particularly as a warrior, which influences his narrative and characterization quite a bit; he is a warrior king who struggles to live up to his own image. i also write him as autistic, which plays a role in how he interacts with others and the world around him. neither of these massively change the plot of his story, but they are quite important to how i write about and explore that story.

- the 'curse' that turned him into ??? / berserk cacao at the end of citadel of the frozen cliff very much still lingers. instead of something that happened once and is never brought up again, it actively lingers with him, having lasting effects on him and manifesting in small ways during moments of high adrenaline - and being invoked entirely if he's pushed far enough. it's similar to a fight iteration of a fight-or-flight response, albeit to an extreme.

- though i have my own personal canon divergences, at default, i will follow whatever overall canon your muse does! dark cacao's role in the major events of the entire overarching story is minor enough that i can pretty easily put my version of him in any canon / canon divergence, even in situations like BY15 where i have ideas for changes specific to him as well. if you specifically want my dark cacao to be from a different timeline than your character, seeing as multiverse things are canon, just ask! i'll be happy to approach interactions from that angle instead if you want. in general, though, i don't keep up with canon anymore.

LOW ACTIVITY. i'm a very easily exhausted and scatterbrained individual, which impacts both my writing and my ooc responses significantly. i'm liable to not reply for long periods of time, though chances are good i'm online and lurking, just not able to write. please be patient with me! i'll be sure to extend the same kindness to you.

CROSSOVER, AU, AND OC FRIENDLY. even if i don’t know a character’s series or whatnot, i’m usually more than happy to interact! i have the basics of some AUs established, but enjoy fleshing them out on a case-by-case basis to interact with others. i am also highly duplicate friendly! i love seeing others' interpretations of the same character, and having them interact, especially since my dark cacao is canon divergent. for duplicate interactions, my dark cacao's nickname is "theobroma."

ON SHIPPING. as a whole, i am open to, but highly selective with romantic ships. i headcanon cacao to be gay, demiromantic & asexual, so he only develops romantic feelings for another after they form a deep emotional bond - and will only develop those feelings towards men & masculine individuals. it is actually very difficult to form this kind of bond with him, due to his innately paranoid and reclusive nature. while i absolutely don't mind discussing ships, i can't promise they'll come to fruition, as even with a strong bond his feelings may remain platonic rather than becoming romantic. if you're looking for a character you can immediately jump into a ship with, even with canon pre-established dynamics, dark cacao isn't your guy.

long story short, chemistry and quite a bit of interaction are key, and even then cacao is quite hit-or-miss on whether he'll develop feelings. one-sided ships, however, are perfectly fine and encouraged! i have no issue at all with characters catching feelings for cacao, even if he doesn't return them, but i do still ask that it's discussed with me just so i know. despite being an adult, i will not be writing any sexual content here.

i am also very open for platonic, familial, antagonistic, and queerplatonic dynamics! the same as romantic relationships, these do require chemistry, and can be a bit difficult to develop, but i absolutely appreciate them as much as romantic ships.

DISCLAIMER. though i do heavily research everything i write (and pull from my own experiences where applicable), i'm aware i'm bound to make mistakes; not every experience is going to be like my experiences, and it's quite possible i may say or do something insensitive without noticing. i encourage you to let me know of any concerns you have! you don't need to educate me, i'm fully capable of that, but letting me know allows me to learn and change my behavior. in particular, i do not consider myself an expert on korean culture, but understand the dark cacao kingdom is heavily inspired by it; i regularly research it for the sake of writing cacao, as i consider it very important to him as a character, but as stated, please feel free to correct me if need be.

MISCELLANOUS. standard rp rules apply: no godmodding, trim your posts, don’t reblog asks to reply to them, don't force ships, etc. don't get into a fight with cacao without talking about it with me. mun =/= muse, and just because my character says, does, or thinks something doesn't mean i agree with him. i currently don't have any fancy graphics, but! hopefully that will change.

ABOUT THE MUN. my name is sketch! i'm 24, white, and nonbinary (they / them). i’ve been writing on tumblr for about 12 years now, i want to say. i have AuDHD, anxiety, and a bundle of other issues, so i tend to be quite nervous and fickle in my activity - but as a general rule, i try to be as nice as i possibly can!

[bitterresolve]

told myself i'd work on artfight today / tonight, so! that's the plan. i gotta catch up, i'm a bit behind. that being said, i did throw together a rough human shaped / bust reference for lord of apathy while i was mobile bound!

same image twice to spare some of the tumblr butchering the image quality. my friend said he is "extra fine" as lord of apathy, do with that what you will /silly

[bitterresolve]

@pinchofdeceit asked:

scars + aches! || health related headcanon asks!

scars:  how many scars does my muse have? where are they located on my muse’s body? how did they get them? what do they look like? 

...a lot! many scars, all over his body. he's an immortal warrior king living in one of the harshest lands on earthbread, after all; the vast majority of them are battle scars. because he DOES have a lot though, here's a couple specific ones for more detailed thoughts:

- as shown in my art of him! there's a set of claw marks across his face, starting from about where the bridge of his nose would be in human shaped terms, down to the bottom right side of his face (and likely further scarring on the right side of his face, i dont have any references of that from a side view on hand). these were actually caused by a frozen peak prowler / snow lion, back when he was a young warrior traveling the ridge; he had wanted to protect a village from the beast, and did so, but not without receiving a nasty blow. how i draw them isn't the most realistic depiction, arguably, but you can probably blame their odd shape on a mix of young cacao dodging the attack last minute, and the prowler claws hitting the dragon scales on his face instead of just dough.

- of course, i can't talk about his scars without talking about the scar. a large, jagged slash mark, starting from his right shoulder and stretching diagonally across his chest down to his left side. there are numerous smaller scars littered all across the area around it as well, the kind you'd get from shrapnel. as you'd expect, this is the scar from the incident with dark choco. i've gone into the specifics of what happened there a bit before, but to recap - dark cacao tried to keep himself from being beheaded, and ended up with his armor shattered and his upper body almost cut diagonally in half. ouch. he isn't typically sensitive about his scars - they're a sign of surviving at best, a reminder of mistakes at worse. but that one... the emotional wound there is still very raw, even if the physical wound is as healed as it can get, so that's one he keeps thoroughly to himself.

aches: does my muse have any frequent aches? ie, muscle aches, joint aches? how do these affect them from day-to-day? 

ALSO a lot, actually. you won't generally notice unless it's one of his worst days, as he's had literal years to learn how to manage it (and mask it) - but he's pretty much constantly aching. his chest, back, and right arm & shoulder are the usual culprits, thanks to the aforementioned injury; likewise, he gets quite a bit of muscle and joint pain from being so high-strung and on high alert all the time, usually aggravating the already present aching from the injury. he's equally prone to tension headaches for the same reason, which i'm at least... 70% sure i've had him mention during some dash commentary shenanigans before. maybe not, but the dash shenanigans are always giving him a headache even if i haven't mentioned it outright.

as for how they affect his day-to-day - they can range anywhere from mildly inconveniencing, to completely incapacitating (particularly the ones caused by his injury), depending entirely on how much pain he's in that day. he could be functioning seemingly fine, he could be a bit slower and a bit more irritable than usual, or he could just not be seen at all for the entire day, spending it in his chambers. while his level of activity the day before can kind of gauge what the next day will be like, this is very much not always reliable. how it influences his day in subtler ways: little winces and grimaces without an apparent cause, grunting when he has to move (particularly standing, sitting and kneeling), honestly at least some of the random noises he makes in general, leaning more heavily on his sword / using it to support more of his weight, he is, as mentioned, slower and more irritable on worse days, etc. i've also mentioned before that his attire tends to differ if it's a better day or a worse day, affecting how much armor he can wear at the time due to the extra strain it puts on him.

the most notable change compared to how he used to rule before he was injured is that, despite the citadel no longer being locked down, he still doesn't go out on the field constantly like he used to. before the dark flour war, he was out there any time he had the opportunity to be, patrolling the kingdom right alongside his warriors; nowadays, it's far more rare, and either because he's having a particularly good day, or because the situation is dire enough that he needs to be out there. he still does it, and being far stronger and more durable than an average cookie thanks to the soul jam makes him much more able to fight than you'd expect, but it isn't something he can do all the time anymore. at least, not without running the risk of not being able to do it at all when he's truly needed. eben now, most of his time is actually spent in his citadel, even if he keeps a close eye on communications and goes out whenever he can to avoid a repeat of crispia 13-14.

when it comes to more mild things like the tension headaches, though - if it's a situation he can feasibly withdraw from, he'll do that. get on his nerves too much and he will just up and leave.

[bitterresolve]

@beastcfburden asked:

Examine! + hands over a tiny ice sculpture of an untied shoe || Send “Examine!” and an item or person and I’ll write an RPG description of it/them.

It's... exactly what it looks like. A tiny ice sculpture of an untied shoe. It likely used to be a typical ice cube, but someone took the time to chisel away at it until it resembled a shoe, down to the dangling laces. It now sits in the palm of your hand, though the metal of your armor is cold enough that it hasn't started to melt yet.

...You aren't entirely sure what its purpose is, or why it was handed to you. Even so, you cannot help but admire the craftsmanship. To think, someone put all this time and care into something that's doomed to melt. It's an odd, but undeniable display of Cookiekind's Resolution.

[bitterresolve]

@lifemourns asked:

" the end is near. drink the paint water. " mystic flour

By the Witches, they're multiplying.

"I- what?! No! I am not- drinking paint water! What is the meaning of this?!"

[whiteflourfog]

“Poison his mind? Once again you choose wallow in willful ignorance.” She did not react to his drawn sword or sharpened gaze. In fact, her face betrayed no emotion. “Even when the truth is here with me.”

“In my Ivory Pagoda, to be more specific. Perhaps you’d like to join Pure Vanilla in my inner temple? I hear he’s getting acquainted with the Queen of Spiders. You remember her, yes? From your visit to my realm?”

[bitterresolve]

"His decision to give you a gift only proves the extent of your deception! Do you think me a fool?! I faced your twisted illusions for myself- I know well what you are capable of." He hardly expected a reaction, not from her, but he grit his teeth and dug his heels in all the same. How Pure Vanilla had managed to get tangled up in this was beyond him, but he would not stand for it. Particularly if 'getting acquainted' was anything like his own encounter with said Queen of Spiders.

"Mark my words, I will not let another soul succumb to your Apathy! If I must face you and all you have to throw at me once more to defend my dear comrade- then I will do so without a hint of hesitation!" Theo. Theo. Theobroma Cacao. You are greatly misinterpreting the situation.

[bitterresolve]

Theobroma is currently a bit busy.

"...It matters not what you choose to drink. Tea, wine... paint water. It will still lose any semblance of warmth. You will still crumble." Thank you, Lord of Apathy. Very enlightening.

[bitterresolve]

i'm also trying to answer asks while i'm here but my cat is currently... stretching her leg directly across my keyboard, for reasons unbeknownst to me. for those curious though, here's a picture of her from earlier today under the cut, from when i was trying to draw and also quite interrupted

her name is natas and she is a needy old lady who screams a lot.

[whiteflourfog]

“Your distrust blinds you.”

“You need only ask your ally, Pure Vanilla Cookie, for proof. He seemed rather fond of my teas last we indulged together. I even still have the tea set he gifted me should you require further evidence?”

[bitterresolve]

That doesn't seem to serve as 'proof'. On the contrary, it immediately puts him on high alert, his sword raised and his expression set in a razor sharp (slightly alarmed) glare. (Deception check, or whatever you would call hinting at poisoning his friend, rolled at advantage from his many trust issues, and succeeded.)

"As if attacking my kingdom was not enough- you have sought poison the minds and bodies of my comrades as well?! Wretched Beast! Do not assume your vile treachery will go unpunished!" Clearly, that's what this is. She's poisoning AND manipulating Pure Vanilla to make him give into Apathy.

[bitterresolve]

@whiteflourfog replied:

Plenty of cookies have consumed her tea and been just fine! A lucky few have even found in enlightening

"Hmph. Considering just what her so-called 'enlightenment' entails- I highly doubt that." He still remembers the whole 'all the warriors who ate the steamed white buns returned to flour' thing. He's not letting that go any time soon.

[bitterresolve]

Dark Cacao's Guide to Self Care:

Drink Tea

Do not follow Mystic Flour Cookie's other two points of advice

In fact, don't even drink any tea from her, it will probably turn you into flour somehow too

[bitterresolve]

see i can't just reblog the general 'does my muse find your muse attractive' meme because you can just see the demiromantic flag fading in behind theo any time he tries to discuss the subject

[bitterresolve]

(from Licorice) 'Listen, ever since you asked me if I thought you were attractive, it's been haunting me in the worst of ways! I-I can't stop thinking about it, and it's driving me crazy! I-I just gotta know....do-do you think...Do you think I'm attractive?! There! I said it!' If nothing else, this will either complicate things, or he will live with the rejection and he's not really sure which one was the better outcome.

Truth be told, he wasn't entirely sure why he had asked it to begin with. It was just... one of those things, an idle thought that slipped him before he could stop himself. He hadn't expected Licorice's reaction to be so startled, just as much as he hadn't expected his answer (even if it took further prodding from strangers for it to come out right).

...Just as much as he didn't expect his own impulsive words to be twisted against him.

"Do I- excuse me?" Blink. Blink, blink. Dark Cacao cleared his throat, trying to regain some semblance of decorum (to little avail). "...I see. I... am not the best gauge of such things. That is why I asked you about the matter. But- it also was not my intent to haunt you, especially with something so... childish. Therefore- if it would offer you some reprieve..."

He took a step back, then took a deep breath. Anything he said was guaranteed to be misinterpreted, so he tried to pick his words as carefully as he could. "...Though your boldness is born of resentment, I suppose I respect your willingness to stand before me and express that resentment. There are few mortal Cookies who would face- one such as myself, and voice their disdain for me to my face. Likewise, your skills as a mage are potent enough that your forces brought down the Great Chocolate Wall in a single night- a feat worthy of recognition, if wariness. And... I admire your dedication to your cause, even if I may disagree with the cause itself."

The King glanced away, awkwardly adjusting and readjusting his grip on his sword. "Are such traits considered... 'attractive'? I truly cannot say. But I do consider them admirable. Even if my word is worth little."

[bitterresolve]

...If it helps, he also has no idea how to feel about this.

[bitterresolve]

...He is neither 'hot' (it's far too cold in his kingdom for that) nor 'cute.' And Licorice assuredly did not call him 'cute'. What?

[rubymemes]

Send ❤️ if you want to ship but are too shy to ask

Can be sent on anon or not

[rpmemes-galore]

all about health

send one ( or more ) in to learn all about… 

scars:  how many scars does my muse have? where are they located on my muse’s body? how did they get them? what do they look like? 

sleep: how many hours a night does my muse sleep? do they take naps? how restful is their sleep? do they experience nightmare? if so, how often? 

meals: how many meals does my muse eat a day? what do they generally consist of? 

routine: does my muse have a consistent routine in their lives? do they find it difficult to stick to a routine? 

chronic: does my muse have any chronic health conditions / illnesses? how do these affect them from day-to-day? 

doctor: how often does my muse visit the doctor? do they tend to go routinely, or only when something is wrong? 

relaxation: what does my muse do to relax? do they find it easy to carve out time to relax? 

aches: does my muse have any frequent aches? ie, muscle aches, joint aches? how do these affect them from day-to-day? 

stress: does my muse handle stress well? what is a surefire sign for others to tell that they’ve become stressed? how does stress affect them mentally / physically? 

mind: does my muse have any mental conditions that affect their lives? what are they? how do they handle them? what coping methods do they use most?