Soman - A Rant.

This is literally the funniest way to get introduced to a fandom, this being the very first thing you see

ARE U HAPPY. R U FUCKING HAPPY. LEAVE ME ALONE NOW

(AU where the tale of sophie & agatha ends with the first book, rafal never stored his soul with evelyn, and sophie & agatha return to the school afterwards)

Not many people attend the funeral.

A few of Professor Sader's former students do, which is surprising. They're all historians and academics and authors, and they burn miniature copies of their books for him, raised dots shining on the paper. Some of them are familiar with the School for Good's vast grounds; some, those who were Never students, are not. But they close ranks like it doesn't matter at all.

Agatha learns, from Professor Dovey, that Professor Sader was a much more involved teacher before them. To Evers and Nevers alike. He'd distanced himself from their year; probably because he knew what was coming next. She sniffles a little as she says it.

Professor Sader's two older brothers are both there; both must be seventy at the least. The oldest, January, burns drawing paper and fine sets of paint, his face desolate. He speaks of Professor Sader like he raised his younger brother, and from what Professor Dovey says he practically did. How it must hurt, for your brother to leave you behind one final time.

His husband Matthew drops a stack of notes into the flames, the familiar dots glittering on the surface. He'll place a hand on Agatha's shoulder, later, and thank her for coming; tell her that Professor Sader was waiting for her, all this while. January will turn away, so Agatha doesn't have to see him cry.

July is the second brother, and he lingers a distance away from the casket. He doesn't burn anything, but he does step closer— just for a second— and whisper something Agatha doesn't want to hear.

Professor Sader has a sister, too. A half-sister. Her name is Evelyn, and Professor Dovey speaks of her with a quiet exhaustion. She taught at the School once. She doesn't return: not to see her brothers, not to say goodbye.

But one of her sons does. Rhian, he says softly when Professor Dovey asks. He looks very much like Professor Sader did; maybe that's why the adults can't bear to look at him, at the Sader who still has his whole life ahead of him. He never knew his uncle. January sent them the invitation anyway. His twin brother Japeth hadn't seen the need to go; but Rhian had always wanted a family.

The Sader brothers are kind to him. But they don't look at him. He goes to stand next to Agatha instead, like some odd pair of cousins. She doesn't object.

Who else? Not even the faculty attend. Most of them made no secret that they thought him insane. There's Professor Dovey, of course, and Lady Lesso by her side, for once silent. They each burn little paper models of houses: Professor Dovey's is a model of his rooms in the School, and Lady Lesso's is a replica of the Library of Virtue.

Then there's Callis. Agatha hadn't even known they knew each other. But she received an invitation from January, along with Agatha's, and their whole twisting story had come out. Their mutual respect, as researchers, as academics. Their friendship. The way Professor Sader had saved Callis' life, given her a way out of the Woods, just as he'd saved Agatha's. Just as he'd saved the School. Callis burns him paper clovers, the smoke reflecting in her gaze, curling up into the distant sky.

And Agatha rounds it off. She hadn't known Professor Sader, not really. But he'd known her. He'd cared.

He might have been something like a father to her, in some other life.

Just not this one.

She burns her copy of The Tale of Sophie and Agatha for him. She'd transcribed it, with Callis' help, into those patterns of raised dots. Professor Sader had never gotten to read it. He'd given his life for it. She thinks he's owed at least this much.

Thank you, she says quietly to him, as the smoke rises. She hopes that he can hear. She'll make sure people remember that it's his story, too.

Why Tedros of Camelot is not a Mary Sue

I’ve seen a bunch of people on the SGE wiki calling Tedros a Mary Sue/Marty Stu/Gary Stu and I disagree so here’s a FRICKING ESSAY.

WARNING: This is gonna be a full-blown essay. Also I’m using Mary Sue as a gender neutral term because I don’t see the point in the term Gary Stu but I’m not opening that can of worms…Also, very mild book 3 and 4 spoilers.

DISCLAIMER: I’m tired and grumpy. I’m not trying to attack anyone with this post and I am not usually this tired or this grumpy. But today I’m tired and grumpy. Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08YRWuK4bso watch this because I’m too tired to repeat her message.

Reasons why Tedros of Camelot is not a Mary Sue

1) Tedros has flaws.

Mary Sues are flawless characters - and this includes characters whose flaws are physical things, or things other people have done to them. Mary Sues are “X character is kind and brave and caring and has unlimited superpowers but they have two different coloured eyes and their parents hate them so they’re totally flawed.”

Tedros is not flawless. Tedros is stupid. Reckless. Impulsive. He holds grudges. He is stubborn. He values his pride too much, which leads him to land everyone in trouble. He is absolutely terrible at communicating. He has SERIOUS trust issues. Did I mention he’s stupid?

But this doesn’t make him a bad character, because…

2) Tedros grows as a character.

I would argue that Tedros is the character who goes through the most character development throughout the series. Tedros begins the books as someone who sees the world as black and white. He is someone who believes he knows the boundaries between good and evil, and refuses to change those views. Take his first proper scene with Agatha, for example. When Tedros sees the gargoyle in Agatha’s arms, he doesn’t stop to ask himself what is going on - he instantly categorizes the gargoyle as evil, and kills it. Even when Agatha protests that the gargoyle was innocent, he just considers her evil by association. He does the same thing with his mother - he resents his mother for abandoning him, so he paints her as the villain of the story, building up his father as a hero, despite having seen his father’s descent into paranoia and alcoholism. He refuses to change his views of Arthur = good and Guinevere = bad. He also holds grudges and doesn’t trust his princess, despite Agatha often knowing better then him.

But throughout the books, Tedros learns. He learns that people are multifaceted, and that there is more to people than Ever or Never, boy or girl. He learns to swallow his pride and let Agatha take the lead. He learns to put away his prejudices and admit his own flaws. He even learns to forgive his mother, and actually listens to her side of the story. And even though he does have a bit of a backslide in book 4, he apologizes and proceeds to be more careful about his actions. In fact, he does this even better than Agatha, who continues to keep trying to take charge even in book 6, when it’s not her battle to fight. (No hate to Agatha. It’s just that Tedros’s arc is slightly more impressive.)

3) Tedros is not a personality vaccum.

Part of the problem with Mary Sues is that they cause everyone around them to lose all personality beyond what is needed to make the Sue look good, as the whole universe’s point is to make them look good. The world literally revolves around a Mary Sue. A smart character cannot be as smart as the Sue, an edgy character cannot have a backstory which is more tragic than the Sue’s, an attractive character cannot be as attractive as the Sue, etc.

But with SGE, this is clearly not the case. Every major character has a reasonably developed and multifaceted personality. (Except Anadil, but Anadil’s whole thing is that she doesn’t have a personality.) Think of Hester - she was introduced as Sophie’s edgy, cool, black-hearted rival. But as the books progress, we see a different side to Hester: she is very driven and determined to prove herself as more than a girl, as seen when Evelyn Sader revamps the school, she is very emotionally mature, as shown when she doesn’t hold a grudge against Hansel and Gretel, and she clearly cares about her close friends a lot - even though Dot is constantly the butt of Hester and Anadil’s jokes, they are willing to do anything to protect her, even attacking the Sheriff.

Another example is Reena - she is present throughout the books as Beatrix’s sidekick, and she is often thought of as nothing more than that, as Sophie explicitly states. But in book 6 she suddenly takes control, revealing herself to be a strong leader, quick-thinking and smart and a QUEEN.

This started as me defending Tedros and dissolved into me just stanning best girls Hester and Reena……..anyway back to the show.

4) JUST BECAUSE YOU DON’T LIKE A CHARACTER, THAT DOESN’T MAKE THEM A MARY SUE.

Being stuck up is not a Mary Sue characteristic. Being perfect is. Look me in the eyes and tell me this dopey golden retriever of a prince is perfect.

In conclusion:

Tedros is not a Mary Sue. He is a bicon and a puppy and I love him.

(Thoughts on OTK coming soon!)

My complete Hades Huevember!!!

Trying to draw sophie as sabrina just ends up looking like sabrina fanart 😭😭😭

Taste - literally the whole plot of school for good and evil

Please please please - mv where sophie gets the ick

Sophie would really love Sabrina Carpenter, would even go as far and say Sabrina IS Sophie

rip sophie of woods beyond you would have loved sabrina carpenter

They’re so important to me

My portraits inspired by Across the Spiderverse so far. There’s one character left!

Accessorize ! Accessorize ! Accessorize !

based off of how my dad got his ears pierced))

Was thinking abt Tedros's talent and why he never had one in the books (thank Kate for making me wonder abt this stuff) and...it would've been really funny if Tedros has a Talent but no one knows he does because it has nothing to do with fighting or swordplay or being the future of Camelot.

Like his Talent being something like proficiency with musical instruments or singing. Talking to birds or other small creatures. Growing plants. Tedros being a disney princess would've been his peak character trait and also hilarious.