"Another version of myself? No, no, it simply cannot be. I would never dare carry myself with such transparent, childish bravado... That feeble guise of yours might as well be made of parmasand." - Gilded Gouda Cookie
"And you're saying this about the Glittering Princess of the Golden Cheese Kingdom?! Now, now, what sort of princess would lie to her citizens?
That said... you... are correct... it does appear we are versions of each other. But what happened to your eyes? Your wings? Your clothing? Your sand? Your name? All of it is so.... odd... what on earthbread caused these changes?"
Trying to draw tonight but it’s going rough, so as a fun little thing here’s some old design development for Gilded (including the first Rich Cheese I ever drew earlier this year)!
Decided to go crazy go stupid today and pump out a sketch page of my Rich Cheese Cookie instead of adulting! Yay! Anyways, I’m finally starting to get used to drawing her, though I just can’t settle on color placement… So you get monochrome artwork for now. One of these sketches in particular is inspired by something @browhyihatethis said—they’ll probably know which one. And of course, as per usual, I’ll include some fun stuff about her on this post to give more context to the drawings, too.
- As an adult, Rich Cheese Cookie typically goes by Gilded Gouda Cookie. This is primarily because where she lives (somewhere in or near the land of spice perhaps) is rampant with thievery and all negative forms of greed—that is, no one with ‘rich’ in their name is going to be wandering around out there unbothered. The implication of ‘gilded’ as opposed to ‘rich’ is that all of her shine (or what little is left of it) is simply for show; there’s nothing of true value present to steal for oneself. Though initially a pseudonym, she eventually grows into the name and ends up keeping it.
- In a meta sense, the name is deliberately parallel to Golden Cheese Cookie (Gilded = Golden, Gouda = Cheese), and can be considered symbolic of her relationship with both her mother and her own sense of identity over time. Items that are gilded only have a surface-level shine, being veiled by a very thin layer of gold leaf that is virtually worthless if stripped away. Things that are gilded often do not have much of any inherent material value when compared to something made of solid gold. To discover that what was thought to be a golden treasure was so only on the outside… Why, that would undoubtedly be a little more than disappointing, wouldn’t it? However, the process of gilding itself is extremely intricate and time-consuming, making the true value of a gilded treasure not what it’s made out of, but the time, effort, and skill that went into creating it. Gilded items are often unique pieces—works of art in their own right. The paper-thin gold adorning them, on its own, isn’t worth much; the gilded piece itself, however, can nonetheless be priceless. Take that as you will.
- As a child, Rich Cheese Cookie very much made an effort to channel her mother’s bold, confident energy in effort to imitate her. Though the confidence wasn’t actually her own, she hadn’t really encountered any true threats before, so borrowing her mother’s attitude without any actual skill or power to back it up wasn’t an issue. This illusion of confidence shattered, however, when Dark Enchantress’s forces invaded the Golden Cheese Kingdom. Though she was frightened, Rich Cheese Cookie actually did attempt to fight for the kingdom, as her mother would have—an act of childish foolishness that got her tossed roughly into one of the palace’s pillars within moments. Frightened and disoriented, she had lost hold of her weapon, facing down horde of beasts many times her size. Her body was shaking; her breath quickened; something warm and wet crept sluggishly down her face. Her only choice was to run further into the palace. She never stopped running.
- Gilded Gouda Cookie can be fairly standoffish at times and slow to trust anyone—if that wasn’t already obvious. This can lead to her coming off as stern or aggressive if you catch her at the wrong moment, even though what she’s actually feeling internally is closer to anxiety or extreme wariness. Some may even believe that she actively dislikes them for an extended period of time, only to find out later that she never actually had any negative opinions about them to begin with. She simply didn’t know them well enough to feel safe being friendly.
- The emotions she feels when encountering her mother again after so long are incredibly complex. After all, at this point, she’s been without her mother longer than she’s had her around. On the one hand, she is of course very glad to see her, though the shame and sense of inferiority she carries, alongside the imaginary, childlike vision of Golden Cheese Cookie that she held onto for so long to comfort herself, makes almost her wish that her mother had remained only a fond memory—at least initially. It doesn’t help that the golden sovereign has not seen her daughter since childhood and, as a result, still sees and treats her like a child when she is very much a grown adult. Personally, I imagine that Golden Cheese Cookie is the kind of parent to give what she views as advice, only for it to come off as demeaning or critical to an adult child, which is extremely frustrating to Rich Cheese Cookie, now Gilded Gouda Cookie (a name that her mother frequently forgets to use, or even ignores at first). On top of this, Golden Cheese Cookie appears to operate on the assumption that her daughter will merely return to the kingdom now as if nothing happened… but she’s built her own life in her mother’s absence and fears returning to the place she couldn’t protect. There’s a whole lot to unpack there.
- It takes some serious misunderstandings and conflict before Golden Cheese Cookie realizes what her daughter wants and needs from her: acceptance of who she is now, and acknowledgement of what happened to her all those years ago. The latter is something Gilded Gouda Cookie does her best to forget and push away, but in doing so she neglects the scared little kid that’s still inside of her—the same little kid who cried day and night for her mother after losing everything, only to receive no answer. For so many years, all she wanted was for Golden Cheese Cookie to be there; now she can be, even if it’s seriously overdue. Gilded Gouda Cookie may be grown, but she nonetheless needs permission to be her mother’s child again. Understanding, at least for the two of them, starts with, “You must have been so scared…”
- Golden Cheese Cookie eventually has to make the tough decision to let her daughter go yet again, allowing her to live her own life and choose to return to the kingdom if, and only if, she is ever ready to. She ultimately does, of course, bringing a lot of people she’s met (who are at this point sick of hardship) to the land of abundance with her—though until that happens, Golden Cheese Cookie makes sure to send frequent letters and gifts by cheesebird… The poor things end up progressively carrying heavier and heavier gifts until her daughter literally has to ask her to please, PLEASE reconsider what she’s sending. More food and fewer precious metals is always preferable.
- On a more positive note, Gilded Gouda Cookie’s favorite food is a bit of an ironic one. Despite being a royal and having access to the finest cuisine during her childhood, she came to enjoy the street food found at small stands throughout the city more than the finest cheese dishes her mother favored so. One particular stand always made the snack she loved most perfectly—a golden-brown pastry filled with delicious cheese and drizzled with natural honey for a sweet and savory combo that couldn’t be beat! Given her current position, as well as the state of the kingdom itself, she hasn’t had one in many years… but all it takes is one bite to bring her back home.
- Golden Cheese Cookie absolutely sent photos of her daughter as a dough ball baby to her friends and colleagues. She unfortunately lost a lot of baby pictures in the Dark Flour War, but if you ask her, she might still have some digitized…
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Was gonna write more, but ran out of steam. Gah. Maybe I’ll get into the key differences between the mentalities of Gilded Gouda Cookie and Golden Cheese Cookie eventually… In short: Golden Cheese Cookie fights because she sees what there is to gain, while Gilded Gouda Cookie fights because she sees what there is to lose. Tune in next time (if there is one)! ✌️
