ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ2,050 words, smut/explicit sexual content(18+), brief somnophilia-> so noncon, dirty talk, dry humping, no penetration, roommate is a pervert, denial, flash cut smut, abrupt ending, etcʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ
𐙚18+ 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝑫𝒐 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𐙚
You've been living with him—your roommate—for six months now.
At first, the idea of sharing space with a stranger made your skin crawl. You told a friend, "What do I look like living with a man I don't know? I might as well go on Tinder and end up on the First 48." But rent kept creeping up, and even with all the overtime, minimum wage wasn't cutting it.
The first few weeks were fine. You laid down rules, locked your door, and barely spoke. You thought you could keep it that way.Then the little things started to show... your bear hybrid wasn't bad, though.
He's all hair, warmth, and awkwardness.
He smells like cedar and soap, sometimes like the beer he drinks when he's nervous. He moves slowly in the mornings, hair mussed and shirt riding up to show that thick, fuzzy stomach—soft-looking but solid underneath. Always in some thermal that's seen better days, stretched across his chest, curls of fur peeking over the neckline.
You've seen the little trail of hair below his belly button too—once, when he reached for something on the top shelf and his shirt lifted. A soft, dark line running down into his sweats. You looked away quickly, pretending you weren't staring, but it stayed in your head longer than you'd like to admit.
He had ways that felt like nature creeping in. How he'd sniff everything—laundry, takeout, even the damn air when you walked by, nostrils flaring like he was trying to catch your scent and hide it behind a cough. He slept in long stretches, deep and dead quiet, like hibernation was creeping in early.
When he tried to focus on a book his lower lip would catch slightly between his teeth, and his cup-shaped ears—nestled beneath black curls—couldn't stop shifting, rotating faintly to catch the distant sound of a passing car.
Not that bad, right?
He was just... pathetic in a soft, almost endearing way. The kind of man who apologizes for taking up space in his own home. Who still keeps his ex-wife as his lock screen months after she left him for another man, and pretends it's by accident. Who keeps getting fired for things like "poor communication" or "low initiative," but always gets rehired within days because people take one look at him and think he needs this.
You can tell when he's lonely. He hovers by the couch, pretends to clean things that don't need cleaning, hums to fill the silence.
You've caught him stealing glances, too. The kind that linger. The kind he's not proud of.
You can tell by the way he avoids eye contact, scratching at his beard like he's trying to rub the guilt off. There's a perverted streak in him—gentle, clumsy, half-hidden. When you borrowed his phone to order groceries, you saw the tab he forgot to close. Something filthy and kind of desperate, starring a woman who looked a bit like you. Familiar enough that you didn't bring it up. Just one more quiet thing between you.
Not even because he lingers by your door some nights, mumbling something about cooking or watching a movie together, voice all low and hopeful—like a kicked puppy trying not to whine too loud. Like now.
"Please," he says, eyes wide, voice rough. "I just want to spend time with you. You've been working a lot."
"Yeah, you should try it," you shoot back, meaning paying rent on time. You glance at his beard—thick, uneven, still a little neat from when you trimmed it last week.
You two have a deal. Three movies a month, or a few hours doing something together to make up for it. It's domestic, weirdly comforting. Easy to get used to.
He's good company, in his way. Kind. Respectful. Always trying too hard. Maybe a little too aware of you.
"Please," he says now, voice lower. "Just one more. I want to spend more time with you. You know I'll be sleeping through winter."
You sigh. It's hard to say no to him round, soft, needy in that big, lonely way. He's too easy to read, all his wanting sitting right there on the surface.
"Fine," you murmur, brushing a hand through his thick hair, feeling the warmth radiate off his scalp. His tail gave a single, strong, involuntary flick. A silent, needy confession. "But I'm picking the movie."
He smiles then—slow, uncertain. Something flickers in his eyes, part gratitude, part hunger.
You tell yourself it's fine. Just another movie night.
But you can already feel the heat of him beside you, the weight of his attention. That soft, heavy presence that fills the whole room—and keeps you just warm enough to stay.
-
The movie's halfway through.
You're on your stomach, cheek buried in a pillow, and a carton of lo mein balanced beside you. He's next to you in the same position—shoulder brushing yours, arm stretched out close enough that his fingers graze the blanket every time he shifts.
He was originally at the head of the bed, but that didn't last long.
You could feel his stare on your ass, the quiet ache of it. When you glanced over and teased him, told him if he was going to look at you like that he might as well feel you up too, he lowered his head, muttered an apology, and scooted closer like being near you might make up for it. You laughed, shaking your head. Knowing if he didn't move, your ass and flattened thighs would be starring in his nasty fantasies.
Now, he's still trying too hard to look casual, like he isn't fighting the pull of it. The warmth between you hums. You can smell him when he exhales—warm, a little like cedar and fried rice.
"Outlast" plays softly against the low hum of the heater. It's a tense show. Building shelters, finding food, sabotage, and lasting the longest for a cash prize. Halfway through, you mumble, "I wouldn't survive that. I'd tap out."
He chuckles, a low sound that rolls through the mattress. "You'd want to leave in the first two hours," he says, "but you'd stay. Just to prove everyone wrong. Maybe stay a full two days."
You side-eye him, chewing a piece of cabbage. He's got sauce on his chin. You want to wipe it. Don't.
He's always been like this. Too near, too eager for your approval. You'll make some offhand comment, and he'll glow under it, tail flicking once like he can't hide how pleased he is. He always finds a way to lean close, to make sure you see him, smell him, feel him around you.
And lately, things stick out more. How when you fall asleep on the couch, there's always a blanket tucked over you that smells faintly of his detergent. How he likes to do your laundry. How your panties always end up missing like clockwork.
You'd joke about it if it didn't sit so heavy in your gut. If you didn't already find them under his pillow. If you didn't look through his entire room and stumble upon that clear plastic toy. You lingered for a second before sliding the drawer closed, but the damage was done.
For the next few days, you couldn't stop picturing him using it. You saw his hips bucking messily, the toy wet and vocal under his weight. He’d moan without a shred of shame, mouth agape, hips snapping into a blur. You could see him groaning as he pulled the toy flush to his pelvis, balls smacking, cock swelling to fill every inch of it. He’d go over the edge too soon—a hot release overflowing the sleeve and dripping over his thighs—yet he’d keep thrusting through the ruin of it. Finally, he’d collapse, flushed and spent, muttering about how he only really needs you. The image made you throb.
The movie winds down quietly. Neither of you move. The room hums low and warm. At some point, your lids grow heavy, and the warmth of him beside you makes it easy to drift.
- Flash Cut 1
You wake to the heavy weight of him. His body is a solid pressure against your back, rocking into you with a subtle, steady rhythm that makes the mattress groan. His breath is shaky against your neck—caught halfway between a growl and a sigh—while his hand rests heavy and possessive on your lower hip.
You could push him off. You could say something sharp and end it right here.
But you don’t. Not yet. You keep your eyes squeezed shut, staying perfectly still as you let him linger there, the rhythm of his hips soft and uncertain against your ass.
His scent wraps around you—thick fur, sweat, and that cedar-sweetness underneath. He’s so big and solid that he makes the bed feel smaller, the very air in the room thicker. You feel the tremor of restraint in the way he moves, a faint vibration of nerves and need as he tries to hold himself back even while grinding against you.
In the dark, he murmurs your name like it’s the only thing holding him together. "Mghn—fuck... I'm sorry, so sorry... I just—uhn," he pants, the whispered words broken as he pulls you tighter against the soft curve of his belly. "Please don't wake up... just let me... god, you're so warm." He’s twitchy. Needy. Filled with the kind of restlessness that makes his entire body ache with tension.
The thick bulge stretching his sweats grinds right against your center. You feel every roll of his weight, the fabric of your shorts rubbing and catching your clit with every pass—and it doesn’t help that you aren't wearing panties. You stay still, breathing slow, pretending to sleep like you don't feel that slick heat already dampening your shorts. Like you don’t feel his hand slide further down, his blunt fingers cupping your inner thigh, just inches from your heat.
In the blissful haze of it, he catches your scent—a change in the air he immediately latches onto. Arousal. He knows you're awake. His movement hitches, his heart hammering against your spine.
"H-hey... are you awake?" he whispers, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and hope. "I'm sorry, I just really needed you. I couldn't take it anymore—you're just so—"
He stops, waiting for a rejection that hasn't come yet. He let's out a shaky, broken breath against your skin, his eyes glazed and desperate in the shadows as he waits for you to acknowledge him.
"Say something," he pleads, his grip on your hip tightening. "Please. Tell me to stop or... or tell me to keep going."
- Flash Cut 2
You reach back, fingers digging into his jaw to jerk his face toward yours. You squeeze his cheeks, forcing his glazed, half-lidded eyes to meet your gaze in the dark.
"You really are pathetic, you know that, right?" you berate, your voice low and sharp. "Waking me up because you're too weak to handle yourself?"
He leans into your palm, eyes fluttering shut, shamelessly chasing the warmth of your hand even as you insult him.
"Y-Yeah… I know," he rasps, his voice wrecked and thick with shame. "Sorry… I just—god, I really need this. I need you."
He doesn’t stop moving. If anything, the verbal lash makes him push harder. He grinds slow, syrupy-slick against you. You can feel the head of his dick trapped and pulsing behind his sweats, weeping fluid like he’s never been touched in his life. He moans into the shell of your ear—a broken, needy sound—at the sensation of your wet fabric sliding against his.
His grip on your thigh tightens, his blunt claws pressing a desperate, soft indentation into your skin. His fingers tremble, clutching at you as an anchor while his hips start to stutter, moving in earnest now. It’s ragged. Animalistic. Each heavy roll of his hips makes your body jolt.
He drags his dick up against your heat, catching the seam of your shorts against your clit again and again. You gasp, your breath hitching, soaking through your own clothes now until the friction becomes unbearable.
He nuzzles into your throat, his mouth wet and open, kissing the pulse point with sloppy, worshipping desperation.
His hand leaves your thigh, sliding up your stomach, shaking with the effort of not simply taking what he wants. He hooks his fingers into the neckline of your tank top and bra, and yanks them down with a sudden, impatient tug.
Cool air hits your skin for a second before his hand is there. Your breasts spill out, soft and full, and he cups one in a firm, greedy motion—kneading the tender flesh, his palm rough and hot, thumb dragging clumsily over your hardening nipple.
"So soft," he whimpers against your neck, hips snapping forward as he loses the last of his rhythm.
- Flash Cut 3
The air in the room is stifling, thick with the smell of musk and the humid heat radiating off his massive frame. He’s hovering over you now, holding your thighs, his weight making the mattress dip so sharply you feel like you’re sliding into him.
Your hands slide over his chest, fingers grazing the soft bulk of him like you have every right to. His brown skin is impossibly soft beneath the dark, dense black hair that covers him, holding the heat in like a blanket.
His dick is bare, a heavy, pulsing weight that he’s dragging rhythmically across your wet folds. He isn't inside you—you won't let him be—but the friction is perfect. Every time he slides upward, the broad, weeping head of his cock catches against your clit. The slick dripping down is copious. His cum mixes with yours in creamy white strings and splats.
"So messy," you mutter, reaching up to thread your fingers through the thick, coarse hair at the base of his skull. You yank his head down, forcing him to look at you. His eyes are blown wide, the irises nearly swallowed by pupils, darting across your face with a look of pure, unadulterated worship. "Already came twice, and you're still humping me like a stray mutt."
A low, broken growl vibrates in his chest—not a threat, but a plea. His skin is slick with sweat, glistening under the faint light of the TV.
"Can't—can't stop," he gasps, his lower lip caught between his teeth just like when he’s trying to read, only now it’s bleeding slightly from the pressure. "Feels too good... please, just let me stay right here."
"Look at you," you berate him, your voice a low, cutting contrast to his frantic breathing. "Too stupid to know your own limits. You’ll fuck yourself raw before you give up, won't you? Just a big, needy animal looking for a place to hide."
"Yes—fuck, yes," he gasps, hips jerking faster. His cock drags through your slick folds, twitching with every grind, never slipping inside. "Need it—let me put it in—ah."
Your nails dig into the back of his neck, forcing his face against yours.
"I'm not letting a man this pitiful actually fuck me," you whisper against his lips, feeling him shudder. "You don't deserve it."
He curses, his movements becoming ragged and uncoordinated. You can feel the tremor in his thighs, the muscles corded and jumping as he nears a third breaking point without even being inside you.
He lets out a loud, wrecked moan, his head dropping onto your shoulder as his body finally gives in. You feel the hot pulse of him as he shoots ropes of white across your stomach and pussy for the third time tonight, his entire frame racking with a deep tremor. He ruts three more times—slow, heavy, and desperate—before collapsing into you, his heart hammering like a trapped bird against your ribs.
she’s still very young. no essie or sally hansen would be suitable for her. kento first noticed how she stared longingly at your basket of nail polish. then she played with your nails, stroking the polish and holding your much larger hand to her small face, studying how the sparkles refracted and admiring the new design mommy got.
“is this the rub-rub?” your baby would ask. her small finger glided over the bed of your nail. she liked it when you got the nail powder.
you’d laugh, and kento would smile to himself while folding laundry. “yes. i got the rub-rub.”
“i know she’s just looking at my nails,” you told him one evening, “but i like it when she holds my hand.”
after all, your baby’s hand would grow to be your size one day. she’ll only be so small for so long.
it was movie night when kento heard clacking coming from his daughter’s toy room. kento walked inside, excited to announce that he had found a copy of disney hercules, but he found himself launching across the room.
she had stolen your nail polish basket, sorting through the nail polish, managing to crack one open. she tipped the bottle over her mouth, ready to colour the inner lining of her stomach with a sparkly pink goo.
kento snatched her away, plucking the bottle with blurred speed from her small hand. he tried to reason with his crying child that some things cannot be eaten because they’re poisonous. his heart thundered as he tried to speak over her screams. kento’s hands shook, brushing over the downy head of his safe baby, but she shoved him away.
the two of them fell into a hug, exhausted from yelling and the terrible spike of fear kento was naive enough to believe was reserved for missions. now, that fear can happen at home.
from then on, the stinging smell of nail polish always made kento’s stomach lurch.
that evening, when you arrived home, you and kento discussed how you should move forward.
“i can stop doing my nails,” you suggested.
“that’s not necessary. i know you enjoy it.”
you reached for kento’s hand. kento took it, gripping your fingers tight. his hands were clammy. his body trembled with a force you were familiar with.
“there’s nail polish designed for kids,” you tested, studying kento’s face to gauge his reaction. “they’re made with natural ingredients, so if she does try to eat it, she’ll be safe.”
kento’s head rose from leaning heavily on his hand. “where can we get those?”
“online, probably.”
kento tiredly pulled out his phone with his unoccupied hand. “i’ll order some tonight.”
you fell into a silence. the shadows cast across your baby’s toy room felt longer, darker. they fell heavy on kento’s face. was his frown really that deep or was it the trick of the night?
“i’ll hide my nail polish, too. i’m sorry this happened.”
kento squeezed your hand. “this isn’t your fault. if anything,” kento scooched closer, grabbing your other hand, looking you in the eye, “she just wants to be more like you.”
when you had gone to bed, you held each other tightly, your baby wedged between you.
the nail polish arrived in the mail the next evening. you had spoken to your daughter, explaining what happened last night.
“you’re not in trouble,” you reminded her.
“we need you to be safe,” kento added.
your baby, despite being so small, seemed to understand what you were trying to say. not everything is safe to eat. no going through mom and dad’s things unless she asks first.
now, every friday, nanami paints his daughter’s nails, and she paints his.
“i put carrot on your hand,” she’d announce. taking the orange polish (not kento’s favourite), she thickly smears the polish on his thumb nail. he’d have to rub the excess polish off his skin in the shower.
“thank you, baby,” he always said.
the ingredients for the nail polish were extracted from natural dyes, particularly from fruit and vegetables. beets, the skin of apples, carrot.
the brushes that came with the bottles were smaller than yours, making application easy to your baby’s small, small nails.
“ooh, what colours are we wearing this week?” you asked. you shut the front door behind you.
“guess!” your baby demanded.
“hmm.” there was a sharp sting of what smells like carrot in the air. “carrot?”
“papa’s wearing carrot!” she bounced onto her feet, running into your legs. you pretend to fall over, and she tackles you into a hug.
kento rose his hand to show you your daughter’s work: gloopy and uneven orange over his square tipped fingers.
kento smiled at you, a little love sick. you grinned at him from the ground, your baby trying to crawl under your skin and stuffing herself under your coat.
you made a good team: you and kento, with the addition of your baby.
i never thought i’d write papamin. babies are scary to me, but i like the idea of sharing my small joys with them and teaching them about the world. trying gentle parenting and acting the way i wish i was treated as a baby (and now) is a nice thought, too. happy reading :)
The Tuurngaq's death is the most tragic in the show because it represents how industry is successfully poisoning and choking and murdering the Arctic. I'm not even discussing the show I'm talking about the real Arctic. Arctic animals are becoming increasingly endangered year by year. Flowers have appeared in the Arctic where they should not be. Oil companies want to drill and build pipe-lines in Alaska and Siberia that will ruin ecosystems for migrating species. Melting permafrost destroys landscapes and towns. Companies get away with destroying communities and their traditions because a lot of them are poorer and indigenous populations (eg. look up the Yamal-Nenets and how oil affects reindeer hearding). I'm not trying to be a doomer, but I'm saying you should all see this show as a call to protect the Arctic.
writing tropes, moments, and things i love and already have/plan to add to my fanfic
✔️= added to fanfic already
also note to specify, i love these things in positive & consensual contexts, some of these things could be imagined in negative situations so i want to be clear :)
when a character gets a barrage of questions all at once and has to answer them all quickly before they forget ✔️
bickering :) ✔️
animal adjacent (hybrid/shapeshifter/alien/etc.) character shows animal behaviours/traits when scared/startled/no one's looking ✔️
animal adjacent characters being lovingly/teasingly treated like the animal they are adjacent to ✔️
character A tiptoeing around/avoiding a topic/action to avoid making character B uncomfortable, turns out character B is entirely unbothered ✔️
casual intimacy, especially platonic/queerplatonic intimacy ✔️
sharing clothing, food, tools, etc.✔️
characters bonding over shared interests (so simple but so so lovely) ✔️
character A says asks an obvious question, other character(s) stare blankly until character A gets the point ✔️
honestly i just love when a character gets and takes the opportunity to yell "boys!!" or "girls!!" to chastise other characters acting out of line ✔️
characters asking each other awkward/intimate/personal questions!! there's so much characterization to be had✔️
fantasy sign language!!!!!!
in addition to sign language, other forms of nonverbal communication
characters sparring/training together! again so so much opportunity for characterization here
characters teaching each other a new skill
characters playing board/card/dice games! characterization galore (planning to add a scene of playing knucklebones [dice game] at some point cuz i love knucklebones)
So with Ep 10 out what are your thoughts and opinions?
Ep 10 might be the best beast yeast ep ever baring ep 8, I actually can't decide which is my no 1 as they're both absolutely fantastic. Warning: ep10-11 spoilers, the post got way too long so I'm putting undercut, there's also ship talk which um, yup, abandon hope ye who enter:
About ships:
I'm putting this first to get it out of the way... It's canon, it's actually canon guys no more denying it alright. BxA fans keep on winning as always, some joke about it but I seriously won't be surprised if salt does straight up proposed to wl once it's their turn. Honestly I can't believe how blatant they went with it. The pride month post, the costume, everything about esugar and holly's relationship EVERYTHING. Esugar even called holly "my love" several times, as least in her costume if I remember right.
Wedding confirmed, right on time for June too ty devsis!!
Ok ok I jest, still, ppl would argue it's one-sided therefore non canon but I would argue affections being explicitly confirmed in one party is a pretty big deal in of itself. Holly on her part accepted esugar n even agreed to be her other half, now if only esugar agreed to stop trapping ppl in jars.
That said, I'm really hoping players won't go out of their way to scream "fanservice" at the story, I've seen this happen w smilk's update. It's sad seeing fans dismiss good writing as yaoi or yuri bait when the beasts' wish to keep their ancients close play a big role in their characters. That said I don't want non-shipper to feel forced into liking BxA or even admit they're canon, I just want them to leave shippers alone ok since it's clear BxA didn't come outta nowhere, don't dismiss the writing when it's clear the writers DID puts efforts into it.
No more "b-but it make no sense, they only wanted the souljam!" ok it may apply to mflour but esugar does not give a single fuck, she won't take the souljam at least not by force. We have in-game dialogues of her confirming it, I need people to stop saying they only wanted the souljam since that's not only untrue but is an active simplification of their motivations!
About our beast/ancient duo:
A couple of Hollyberry scenes almost make me cry... It's great, it's amazing, beast-yeast partly serve as a revisit to the ancients' characters so having the story digs into her past was everything I needed. Sad dcacao-goldie didn't get the same treatment, we can only hope they get a revisit one day. Dunno if this is controversial but- while the game now confirmed hollyberry does have a drinking problem. I don't want fans to flanderize n make it holly's only trait, we do know she have a problem but we can assume the severity of it does fluctuates, we've seen several instances of holly's drinking n not all of them are shown in a bad light. Compared to, let's say, her Triumph of Sloth costume which arguably is holly at her worst mental-wise n have her dialogues mention drinking several times. In short, I just hope fans would depict these subjects w the nuances they needed. The same thing apply to pv's eating disorder that's, while the game did hint at, is still unconfirmed n only a headcanon as of now. The fandom have a problem with misinformation+taking theory/headcanon as canon in general tbh.
I really enjoyed the revelation about holly's empty heart, the story did touched on the survival-guilt she got after the dark flour war before n I'm so glad it is brought up again. Holly avoiding love in general does track w her attitude toward royal magarine's flirting n her cake hound decor lol. As explained in her awakened's description she cloaked a shield around herself, so much that she didn't noticed the cracks forming within.
Cookie run mostly focused on platonic relationship but this time we got romantic love playing its role as one of the extra themes within the story. Royal berry+jungleberry cookie are one of the few married/explicitly romantic/not one-sided couples within cookie run lore. To get a bit personal here, I find it way too relatable seeing pavlova (being the cookie ver of eros/cupid/romantic love) constantly telling holly she'll be happy once she accepted love into her heart. And the implication that holly is deliberately ignoring the affections of those around her. It's a revelation I find endlessly interesting. Note, despite her Awakening along w accepting pain as something one have to face in life, her "empty heart" has yet to have a 100% resolution. I kinda like how all of the ancients still have unresolved issues despite their Awakening, cacao not yet reuniting w choco, goldie not yet recovering her kingdom, vani and his 99+ problems... And damn what did holly meant by "I've learned from experience"?? My celibate queen who hurt you?...
She's just like me fr
Also, the reveal that hollyberry did resented wl make me tweak. Here we though the ancients sans goldie was too forgiving but turned out the truth is far more complicated. Good stuff. (the gang have no idea how insane I am about this one line)
Weirdly enough I'm not as attached to esugar as I am w the other beasts. Before the update she's my 2nd beast based on design alone but after reading the story, um, she might be my 4th writing-wise. It's a matter of personal opinion, her story is still incredibly well-written all things considered. I just don't vibe w her like I do the rest of the beast ig?? (Current ranking for anyone wondering: 1st mflour; 2nd smilk; 3rd spice; 4th esugar; salt is undecided)
I am thriving so, SO hard w this ep. That scene near the end where we can only hear esugar's voice, the godly choir in the bgm n sugarfly screaming her heart out in terror. Peak, so so PEAK. The "don't leave" scene was sooo fire, someone made a dub compilations of it, my favs are the English n Taiwanese dub. Some of the voice actresses were screaming their lines at the end of it, peak. That one sprite of hers might be the most terrifying thing the artists over at devsis put out yet I need moreeee. Hoping smilk's new sprites (and he WILL get new sprites not even a prophecy we all know he's the game's darling by now-) managed to outdo this cause that one motivated sprite of his doesn't do it for me tbh. The one where he broke his own neck is close but still kinda eh. Do note how exhausted esugar look here.
My preciousss
Spice currently hold the "most sprites that give me the heebie-jeebies" award
I'm kinda sad holly's "ancients psycho-analyze the beasts" speech isn't much of a speech but a couple of short revelations. Esugar's wish to grant cookiekind's happiness is genuine, confirmed, she deluded herself into believing hardship is a unnecessary thing in life, confirmed. Ok it's esugar's reaction to the whole ordeal that's interesting to me. Esugar just zeroing on the fact holly came back for her- will she actually consider the words holly said or not place ur bet now everyone. Esugar being a denial queen does tracks w her theme of sloth, it's running away from pain both physical n mental. Pretending everything is fine (webtoon reference)
I like how at the end esugar insists on decorating her garden for when holly returns despite the garden being the problem in the first place. She's so distracted by her own delusions that she can't recognize pavlova's misery despite him standing right beside her. Not story-related, but another aspect of sloth is when one stopped caring about anything around them, esugar display this aspect in the bond costume. Once she achieved everything she wanted, neither cookies' happiness nor the garden is of any concern to her, all she cares about is staying beside her beloved other half. Did I mentioned she wanted holly? Cuz she wanted that cookie baddd. But it's not just that, holly is the representation of passion. Is it by keeping passion locked within her garden that esugar proved her ideology is the right one. That the happiness she has nurtured for so long is "correct."
>About the supporting cast
Pavlova cookie may ended up being my favorite beast follower, ough, but nutmeg tiger... I can't choose... "Sidekick who's done w their boss' shit" is one of my fav archetype. I'm so glad we got pavlova for that, he's what I expected black sapphire to be tbh. Maybe it's cuz he hits my niche but pavlova's story throughout the ep have been one of the most intensive character development we've got for the beast follower trope. I seriously hope we see more of him, his potential are a-plenty, being the only follower so far who's unhappy w his current disposition. (Current ranking: 1st pavlova/nutmeg I can't decide ok; 2nd the deceitlings; 3rd sugarfly; 4th cloud haetae)
We might see more of sugarfly tho, seeing as she'll be returning to the faerie's kingdom. That scene of her breaking off the sugar coating was beautiful, I like how the game presented it. It's not boom she's able to insta fly again, her wings are permanently messed up after not being in use for so long. There's true beauty in that. Both sugarfly and pavlova ended up going through a transformation in the end. To talk about them though, s*garlova eh? Fitting the update of passion gave us 2 peak af ships, but I only like s*galova as one-sided haha... Let's be real here pavlova treated sugarfly pretty bad😭 He spends all of their interactions pilling his work onto her then/and insulting her for being compliant. It's projections n him secretly being mad she's trapped like him, but feelings are not actions, did he ever do or say anything nice directly to her? Idk. Lil guy just have this love/hate envy/admiration mess of emotions toward sugarfly while my girl be out there living her best life. Again, so much potential here, once they met again they'll be at the opposite side of war. What will their interaction be like?
One of the biggest problems cookie run faced is their large cast. With "large" being an understatement... Most of the time the characters aren't utilized well/ ended up being under-used or misused. Ep 5-6 is the best of the best in term of utilizing characters for reasons I'll elaborate on another day. I'm impressed with how the writers managed to juggles so many characters this time around. Rasberry, wild berry etc etc all got their moments. N the illusion at the end left quite an impact despite holly's loved ones appearing for one dialogue box at most. All in all, I'm quite satisfied with how ep 10 turned out despite tiger lily being the only side cookie that got properly explored imo. My only nitpick is I wish the game presented clearer reasons as to *why* the hollyberians wanted to return to the kingdom. Blueberry wanted to leave cuz the place is gross I think? Funniest thing ever.
Just for fun: cookie run have a thing for yearner x wanderer dynamics. One will just be out there living their life while the other yearns for them, one tend to have some kind of emotional constipation toward the other, they are hinted to may or may not reunite once again. From the top of my head- lord oyster -> black/white pearl (low-tier since one of them is DEAD), pv -> lily, the blue one-> pv, can apply to all BxA ships tbh, sea fairy -> moonlight cookie (the yearning r heavily implied to be mutual in this case), cotton -> sherbet (the yearnings r also heavily mutual, not as much as seam*on tho), now we got pavlova -> sugarfly (New!)
>About... The Azure one...
Actually the smilk cameo wasn't that bad all thing considered. I wish they didn't put him in the title screen though consider he's only in the ep for a single scene, there's some debates on how much smilk's advice played a part in esugar's downfall, but eh. They knew what they were doing putting him there, they managed to pull fans coming in to see smilk so that's a win ig.
Ok I'm hoping it's not pure vanilla for once c'mon. Might have to do a poll on this...
Anyways, IN STORY BEAST INTERACTION IN STORY BEAST INTERACTION AAAA. This lil scene gave us so much tidbits into esugar/smilk's relationship I love it! Esugar appeared very cautious around smilk, yet she never denied her fellow beast the berries. Smilk once again is scheming sth as smilk do. I won't lie I did miss this casually cackling clown. The passive-aggressiveness, smilk giving advice leaving us to wonder if it's sincere or not. Back when the beasts got revealed fans locked in(tm) n shadow-sugar got the most fanart ship or otherwise. It's still unbelievable to me they're the first beasts duo to get an actual direct interaction in-story. I wonder if it's sth that's added in due to the fandom or sth that the writers already planned n the fans r just that in-tuned. I'm willing to bet the former seeing as the sh*dowsugar fans r not, mm, happy w their canon dynamic. Again the amount of "yuri bait"/"they ruined esugar's character" discourse gave me a headache (I have to emphasize some, only SOME shippers do, all the sane sh*dowsugar fans I wish u a very good day). Gang we all know the beasts mostly don't like each other just by their battle dialogue by now. Everyone, ship what u want, I'm just praying we won't have anymore blowups when it turned out... Idk spice doesn't care for smilk or sth along those lines.
Side note: smilk/lady azure casually brought up killing cookies for fun in that scene, I got told some fans r actually shocked about that?? I'm sorry but did we read the same story😭 that mf killed off a named character in the INTRO of beast-yeast. Attempted to murder cookies, some included KIDS, several times. Scratch that it's not even an attempt, smilk *did* pushed the gingergang off the spire just for giggles bro. Ik the fandom woobified the clown but for some to collectively forget his crime(s) is, wow- even when lady azure is just standing there the writers have to drive home the amount of crimes this mf has committed, every new smilk appearance is a new crime added to the list it's so funny asdfghj
I used the jp voice-over for this update, funfact esugar straight up called him "gross" in the dub. Talking about it though, I'm insane absolutely insaneee about the way the jp voice actress managed to replicate Toriumi-san's speech pattern, even his iconic "KHEHEHE" laugh. Her voice was so amazingly, wonderfully deep n villainous it feel like my beloved Beatrice is back by my side again.
>Other miscellaneous thoughts
-Not ep 10 related but I'm seriously insane about the costume, not only is it yuriful but it's the closest we'll ever get to a "beasts win" AU, one let down is we have no intel on the other beasts since the focus is on these two. The story said holly have no foes to protect the garden from so I'm guessing they left the garden alone or is somehow incapacitated. Some of holly's dialogues are so sad, n looking back it's disturbing how many times she mentioned berry juice, also, "her voice… is my paradise" "my heart feels at peace around… her…" bro, bro? Brooo aa aaah hold me bro ough...
-Alongside happiness n love there's also the theme of parenthood, that scene when tiger lily calms her crying dad by giving him berries.. Can make a grown man cry tbh. We were so close to a family reunion, what a fool I am, for thinking the game might finally resolve a plot thread. Truly we're all fools, gotta wait 5+ more years for it.
-Rip "silent salt is elder faerie" theory it was fun while it lasted (or did it...?) So much details in one image. I'll take whatever ef official art I can get. Interestingly enough ef represented the moon here while the guest resemble the sun w their golden halo. Ef have vines n foliage which is wl's motif not his, the foliage here doesn't resemble the silver tree's branches either. Hm... While the guest have three claw marks ripping them apart. Must this be silent salt? The majority of the fandom agreed so. I'm curious what everyone else's theory is.
...i'm gonna talk about this for the umpteenth time even when i wasn't going to (need to outline mirror sex with insane dialogue and also a nosebleed idea). to me it doesn't make sense him surviving over or much longer 100 years after he retired, unless lud or [insert ship here] tie themselves to him and carry him everywhere so immortality keeps rubbing on him—i generally don't hc him as berIin (maybe there is somebody else, maybe) nor kaIiningrad (replaced as soon as he left) so that's why i think he will run out of time. or either he dies in a (clumsy) accident, or killed (:3). ludwig and others will grieve :D
