Pure Vanilla Cookie Character Ramble!!!
Pure Vanilla has been my favorite Cookie Run Kingdom character since the day I have laid eyes on him. His classic Disney princess and Jesus Christ whimsy has enthralled me. I love how charmingly perfect he is while also being incredibly flawed. He’s the ideal King, Hero and even person to a degree, and yet he’s so self destructive and ridden with tragic vices. All this makes a character who is incredibly lovable and enduring and I’m going to ramble about it.
(Warning this is going to be super long, disorganised and extremely opinionated)
Pure Vanilla is quite simple:
Humble to the point of being self deprecating
Selfless to the point of being self sacrificial
Loving to the point of being people pleasing
Gentile to the point of being avoidant
Compassionate to the point of being seeming weak
Faithful to the point of being somewhat ignorant
For all of his admirable qualities is a self destructive vice. Pure Vanilla's biggest weakness is himself, he finds himself being hypocritical, deceitful, emotionally isolating, and self destructive. He desires to help as many people as possible and yet his lack of action often leads to him intentionally causing pain. Vanilla is incredibly aware of this, it's his own self loathing and doubt which causes him to fall back into deceit (Healer cookie and Truthless Recluse). He is his own greatest enemy. (something he shares with White Lily and Shadow Milk)
Pure Vanilla’s main characteristic is his compassion, his unyielding desire to help others and heal them from both their physical and emotional pain. Even when he is "unrecognisable" from his true self (Healer, Truthless/Fortune teller) his top priority is to relieve or protect others from pain. The way he protects the Raisin Village, Helps the Ginger Brave gang in Crispia. Leads the Ancient Heroes, saves his friends in Beast Yeast, and continues to reach out to Dark Enchantress and Shadowmilk despite all the pain they have caused the world and him specifically.
When I started Beast Yeast I felt that White Lily and Pure Vanilla should have swapped virtues (like the whole MLP Apple Jack loyalty, Rainbow Dash honesty thing) and just like with MLP I soon changed my mind as I got to their respective BY eps. Focusing on Pure Vanilla: He already knows the importance of Solidarity and Freedom, he is a fantastic Leader who values the support of everyone. He steps down as king because he believes that all cookies deserve to be their own ruler in his kingdom. Meanwhile Pure Vanilla is sometimes a liar, who withholds knowledge and denies the truth to avoid conflict. While he is a smart and knowledgeable teacher, he struggles with Truth, which is often cruel and confrontational unlike him.
But Beast Yeast eps 7 and 8 make it clear that the Truth that Pure Vanilla represents is Self Truth. The Truth that determines one’s self, their beliefs, values and outlook on the world. Pure Vanilla's Truth is Faith. Faith that there is always hope to be found no matter how cruel the world may be. That's what made Truthless, “truthless” , a recluse who has lost faith and hope in the world deceiving himself into following the twisted whims of the devil (Shadow Milk). While even as Truthless he is compassionate, pushing his friends away to keep them from getting hurt even if he lies, claiming that he doesn’t care for them. I’ve seen a claim that “Pure Vanilla didn’t embrace the truth because he tricked Shadowmilk with Deceit". Pure Vanilla deceived Shadow Milk by accepting the Truth:
He is being honest when he accepts him as his other half and he is nothing but genuine when he offers to become one and the same, and when he offers to be his friend. Pure Vanilla did genuinely lose hope as Truthless, but not completely for it was the love of his friends that kept that spark alive even when shrouded in darkness. It's consistent that Pure Vanilla completely locks in the moment the lives of his Friends are at stake both in the Crispia and in Beast Yeast. It's like... his compassion is his greatest strength.
The Tragic Irony of Understanding:
Like I said in my Shadow Milk ramble: Knowledge = Understanding. Pure Vanilla triumphs over Shadow Milk in ep 8 and 14 because he has a greater understanding of both himself and Shadowmilk's loneliness. But he ultimately fails in compassion when it comes to Dark Enchantress/White Lily and ShadowMilk in the end because he doesn’t completely understand them. He himself admitted this to Shadowmilk, and why he loses literally every time he confronts Dark Enchantress.
(Short Rant: I’m sorry this isn’t being "manipulative”, he genuinely wants to understand Dark Enchantress and persuade her from, you know, DESTROYING THE GODDAMM WORLD)
Pure Vanilla can’t understand Dark Enchantress or Shadow Milk because he doesn’t know about the Truth about the Witches.
As much as we love to be all like “Ha Ha Pyuba is cookie Jesus lol!” Cookie Run kingdom dedicates a lot of time to religion in its world. Both Pure Vanilla and White Lily are representative of Christian figures, the Pastry Order is literally just Christianity, Shadow Milk, Dark Enchantress and Silent Salt are all different versions of “The Devil”. Pure Vanilla is connected to all of these elements, as his Truth is essentially Faith. It's often forgotten that Pure Vanilla is quite devoted to his Faith. While there isn't really a name for it in the CRK world (as far as I remember) Pure Vanilla is a Witch worshiper, his kingdom and castle is based on church architecture, the Pasty Order (which he has ties to) are devoted to their Gods to the point of extremism. His belief in the Witches (while not that prominent in his character) is based on a lack of knowledge which is antithetical to his virtue. The Witches are the crux of White Lily and Shadow Milk’s problems and as long as he is unaware of the Truth he can’t successfully be compassionate and truly understand.
I myself am religious (not that much though), personally I really like how Cookie Run Kingdom has been tackling it so far. The Pastry Order is what got me hooked into the story in the beginning. Watching it develop from this Evil, Shady Cult with questionable practices, to a rather grey force in the story, full of misguided people who only wish to relieve the suffering of the world through faith (Their actions are still immoral though). Doughael was right to a degree, the Avatar of Destiny saved the world but it's not the Witches who they should be worshiping.
Pure Vanilla’s development
Pure Vanilla is the only Ancient whose character development feels far from complete in my personal opinion. Yes he’s more confident, and has embraced both truth and deceit, but he still hasn’t learned the Truth of the world, he still hasn't completely mastered Truth (Something which White Lily managed to do before him). Both White Lily and Shadow Milk have warned him about “his kindness will be his greatest regret" and we haven't reached that point yet. While he is much more confident and has accepted his doubt, The end of Act 1 seems to have set him back. How could he not be guilty and frustrated that he has failed to understand the two people he was dedicated to understanding. All the other Ancients seem to be happier in their epilogues; it is made very clear Pure Vanilla is getting worse afterwards.
Pure Vanilla is going to get worse before he gets better:
I want Pure Vanilla to learn the truth, what actually happened to White Lily in the witches banquet, what actually happened to the Beasts and why they are the way they are. He is the second cookie of knowledge and he out of everyone should know the cruel truth. It's also going to be even more interesting considering that he is very devoted to his faith, and learning about the cruel nature of his Gods will challenge that. Pure Vanilla is yet to fully embrace the cruel side of Truth and that's the development I want for him in Act 2. Have the Truth challenge his compassion, drive him to the edge and have him regret his compassion for a brief while.
Extra note: there is one moment where compassion is challenged, in Beast Yeast ep 7. This infamous “nice character finally snaps” moment. Not only is this moment Pure Vanilla getting corrupted by deceit, he’s being deceived by giving into doubt, hopelessness and abandoning his compassion as a reaction to fear. Although he doesn't actually lose his compassion in the story afterwards.
Some Wishes for Pure Vanilla’s development going forward:
I would love for Pastry Cookie to reunite with Red Velvet and both end up living in the Vanilla kingdom together. → Pastry should tell Pure Vanilla everything, the Order, White Lily's journey, and the Truth behind the Witches. (Plus PV and Red Velvet interaction Please!)
Black Raisin please help your husband bestie, She does notice his silent suffering in the epilogue, Pure Vanilla actually share your hardships please
Ginger Brave discuss with your Grandpa about the witches! OMG this frustrated me so much in ep 10 of Crispia
Develop lil Custard III’s Relationship with Pure Vanilla please!!!
Genuine PV crashout, make him regret his kindness briefly, make him vent all his frustrations with both himself and is OPs (Spoiled Milk cookie /j)
While the general consensus of Pure Vanilla seems positive in the fandom (from what I can tell) he is a victim to typical fandom mischaracterization. What makes Pure Vanilla very different from most "Compassionate" protagonists characters is that he is anything but naive. He knows the cruelty of the world, the pain and suffering of people. He’s led two wars and knows grief and loss. His kindness doesn’t come from a lack of suffering but because of suffering. He is compassionate because he understands pain, his desire to heal is because of his suffering, not "despite it”. He is “Pure” not because he’s free of malice or evil of any kind, but rather that he is genuinely compassionate. Pure Vanilla may be dishonest at times but he is intentions will always be to help the other.
Stop Babying the Thousands of Years Old Man! He’s adorable, but still a grandpa, that's what makes him adorable! He’s not a sad, innocent, helpless, pure boi. He’s still a silly twink princess but acknowledge his agency please! Even when he is being a damsel he still saves himself every time! This goes the other way around, he’s not an evil master manipulator, he is always going to be genuine and compassionate. He’s flawed and the narrative punishes him for his flaws but that's why it's so satisfying to watch him succeed. He’s also self aware, he knows he’s being self destructive, and that he doesn't completely understand but he pushes through regardless. He can and will defend himself, he knows when he’s being manipulated, and he can and will kick ass and spit straight gas.
I’ve seen many desperately wish that Pure Vanilla will simply “accept that not everyone can be helped” He already knows that. His compassion towards Dark Enchantress and Shadow Milk isn’t because he is ignorant/tolerant of their evil, he is personally attached to them and understands them enough to know that the suffering they inflict stems from despair. Dark Enchantress was his best friend, he wants to be able to understand how the cookie he loves became this monster. Shadow Milk is his other half and he shares the same feelings of longing and desire to be understood with him. He is a virtue of knowledge he will never stop trying to understand, because compassion is his defining characteristic.
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