A Headcanon for An Ad-lib Ending and A Ink for a Tragicomedy
I honestly have no idea if these costumes actually have any lore in CRK (besides the costume descriptions, I didn’t bother looking it up 😭), but I saw an edit by idk._.why_ahhh on TikTok and it made me come up with this headcanon.
Imagine that, out of pure boredom, Shadow Milk and Eternal Sugar create an entirely separate dimension, a stage existing outside the real world, where they can put on endless plays for their own amusement.
They abandon their real names. Shadow Milk becomes An Ad-lib Ending, the lead actor of the troupe, while Eternal Sugar takes the role of playwright and director under the name A Ink for a Tragicomedy.
Every other character in their performances is portrayed by artificial beings created by Ink herself. They’re not real Cookies, but flawless replicas made specifically for this theater. They look, speak, and behave exactly like the people they’re based on.
One of those actors is a clone of Pure Vanilla. On stage, he plays the King of the Faeries under the stage name Viridescent Daydreams.
At first, Ad-lib only includes him in the cast to make fun of him.
Just like with the real Pure Vanilla, he constantly teases him, rewrites scenes to embarrass him, changes the script halfway through rehearsals, and throws the entire production into chaos simply because he enjoys seeing Viridescent react.
But something changes.
Viridescent isn’t really Pure Vanilla. He doesn’t remember what happened at the Spire. He doesn’t know about Shadow Milk’s corruption. He doesn’t know he’s a Beast. He doesn’t look at Shadow Milk with disappointment or pity.
He’s simply… Pure Vanilla, but without all of the things that keep them apart.
The more time Ad-lib spends with him, the more he begins to forget that this is only a play.
Watching Viridescent perform in elaborate faerie robes, hearing him speak with the same gentle voice, seeing the same kindness in his eyes…
It feels real. Painfully real.
For the first time in centuries, Ad-lib gets to experience something he knows could never exist in reality. A version of himself and Pure Vanilla who are allowed to stand on the same side of the stage. A version where they can laugh together. Dance together. Exist without destiny tearing them apart.
He doesn’t fall for the clone because it’s a perfect copy. He falls for the life that clone represents. A life he was never allowed to have.
Ink notices it long before he does. She watches him stop rewriting Viridescent’s scenes. She notices him giving the Faerie King more stage time. Writing conversations that don’t move the plot forward. The play slowly stops being a performance. It becomes Ad-lib’s escape from reality.
Finally, Ink has enough.
“He’s a hero. And you’re a Beast. No amount of rewrites is ever going to change that.”
Ad-lib is quiet for a long moment before answering.
“…But I love him.”
Ink’s expression softens. She knows. She probably knew before he did.
But she also knows something Ad-lib refuses to accept.
Viridescent Daydreams isn’t Pure Vanilla. He’s only a role. A dream written in ink. A beautiful illusion. So she tells him the only thing he never wanted to hear.
“If you really love him …you’ll let him go.”
And I think that’s the cruelest irony imaginable for Shadow Milk. The master of lies. The creator of illusions. The one who always manipulates everyone else. Ends up becoming the only person who can’t escape his own illusion.
