#recon with the bots /did/ cross sc's mind

[crepebot]

I want to talk about the Vanilla Kingdom for a moment as shown in these screenshots. On the left, that is no doubt Pure Vanilla Cookie's throne and behind it is obviously the sugar glass of the Solarium of Unity. There's actually no reason for me to establish the evidence that this is the Vanilla Kingdom as it's outright stated in the lore that this is where the final battle against Dark Enchantress Cookie took place — these are also screenshots from the opening scene of Cookie Run: Kingdom that depicts that very battle. As we can see though, the Vanilla Kingdom is obviously earthbound. When the artbook talks about the Vanilla Kingdom, it states that it was founded in the highlands. The way the pilgrim elder talks about it as well more than solidifies that the Vanilla Kingdom was on the cookie continent, and though the comics are not canon, it also confirms this. Which is why it's such a huge surprise when the heroes discover it in the clouds, after having been told that the once great kingdom mysteriously vanished from the lands without so much as a trace during the war.

In the end, the Vanilla Kingdom didn't just simply "vanish," though. It was literally ripped from the earth and sealed away in the sky itself — and that much isn't a huge revelation to the players as it's plainly written out for us, but it is important to discuss what this ultimately meant for Strawberry Crepe Cookie.

Can you imagine the shock to them of not only waking up to their home now desolated, but being in the sky, too? That tentative look over the edge they took as a gust of wind that nearly knocks them off confirms it — suddenly they and the entire kingdom was skyward and they had no understanding of why and no means of escape. They were utterly alone and trapped there. Even if they wanted to, Strawberry Crepe Cookie couldn't have sent the wafflebots to the lands below until Dark Enchantress Cookie had truly awoken and broke the seal / barrier around the Vanilla Kingdom. After all, her actual body was trapped in the castle of the Vanilla Kingdom itself ( which gives us context as to why Licorice Cookie, Choco Werehound Brute, and Bat-Cat had been looking for the Vanilla Kingdom in episode 4 in the first place — their master was still sealed away there ) while the heroes accidentally freed her 'soul' ( or at least, the half that was hers ) in episode 8. Before they were taken in and exploited, they didn't even have access to the castle ( and by extension, the Wafflebot Hangar ) due to to the imprisonment / presence of Dark Enchantress Cookie there acting like a dark ward around the surrounding area, but once they did have access thanks to her letting them, it made a world of a difference with what they could actually do then. No more makeshift tools or stealing parts from other broken bots to fix another — they could actually properly fix and build bots now! They had so many more resources, so many more bots now to command than just the barely-functioning few they had prior, and the means to create the technological marvel that is their waffle headgear and crepe fits.

There'll be more to this as I begin to get my headcanons in proper order, but here's a preview of what's to come!

#tbt #[ #though despite not being able to do it before being found by de #recon with the bots /did/ cross sc's mind #they didn't know what the lands would be like below #was everything destroyed? #were they the last cookie in the world...? #they didn't know #even if the barrier & floating in the sky hadn't been an issue #their resources were very limited at the time #they could only do so much #with what they had #they... had been trying for a long time #to get into the castle honestly #𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁: #went back thru the beginning story again! #yeah this is more than confirmed lol #]