#shh tag

[captain-amadeus]

The Protectors didn't want Sofia to face off Vor alone. They would've never put her up to such a danger mission voluntarily. Sofia was the only one who was able to do anything about Vor because she wasn't trapped with the other Protectors. The Protectors were absolutely worried about Sofia being on her own, but she was their only hope in stopping Vor. They didn't WANT her to be their only hope. They never WANTED her to fight alone. If it was up to them, they would've defeated Vor by themselves without Sofia, but they were forced to bring Sofia into this mess. And it wasn't even them who called her the second time. It was Vor mind controlling them. The first time they brought her to stop Prisma in the finale was where everyone was pitching in to stop her. Sofia does not do things alone, and when she does, it's when everything happens by surprise. like when Sofia finds Prisma with Grimhilde's crown. The Protectors didn't make Sofia find Prisma on her own. She just kept finding her trying to steal items from the Wicked Nine. She knows to get help from the Protectors because she threatened to call them on Prisma when she had the crown. And that's the thing: Sofia is not willingly left to do things alone. It's out of anyone's control to help her in the finale because they're either unable to or aren't aware of what's going on.

Say what you will about Sofia being too young to be a Protector-in-Training, but the Protectors didn't want Sofia to have to go through this. They didn't want their trainee to have the fate of the EverRealm dependent on her.

[bloominglegumes]

my brain is fried no caption no context i just like them

[jadeempire]

no nuance we are choosing violence also no women bc i KNOW for a FACT this fandom does not care enough about female characters for any of them to have a prolifically annoying fanbase.

[zan0tix]

HOORAY HOMESTUCK! Happy birthday to the webcomic that changed my life 😁🫶

[captain-amadeus]

Going to be honest, I don't think they ever explored nor tried to frame anything to their friendship falling out.

The most they reference to Cedric and Roland being friends in their adulthood is Sofia encouraging Cedric to spend time with Roland.

"It'll be like two friends spending a whole afternoon together."

"I bet my dad would love to have a friend to see the exhibit with." "And I shall try to be that friend."

Quotes like that are promoting the idea that Cedric could win back Roland's trust with Sofia reminding him that they used to be friends and still could.

But they don't work out at first.

It's pretty rough to see Roland during the episode. He isn't completely justified in treating Cedric so harshly, but it's not like he doesn't have his reasons. It's like you said about Roland not having forgiven him yet. But those sparks of hope when they were at the exhibit and Cedric tried winning him back showed there was still something in Roland that still appreciated Cedric. A soft side to him that he can't bring himself to display once he assumes Cedric is behind stealing Grimhilde's crown.

At best, he gives a chance to his advances, and at worst, he gets furious at what seems to be Cedric attempting to steal the crown.

In a way, Roland has become just as harsh as Goodwyn and Cordelia. This all traces back to Cedric's trauma and how he believed getting back at the people who hurt him would make him happy when what he really needed was to be treated kinder. He needed the respect and trust of his family and peers, and by being blindsighted by revenge, he lost someone who would've been more understanding had he not caused him to lose faith.

This is all to say if there's anyone to blame for getting in the way of repairing their relationship, it's Wormwood.

Out of anything that made Roland mistrust Cedric the most, it was believing Cedric to be behind stealing the crown.

It was Wormwood wanting to continue serving evil that led him to betray Cedric's wishes to become good.

That led to Roland doubting that Cedric had changed.

That led to "the crown is mind!" Scene.

I'm sorry, but it really annoys me how the episode 'In Cedric We Trust' acted like Cedric and Roland were always super close and that it was Cedric's betrayal/attempt to take over the kingdom that destroyed their childhood friendship.

It makes the from-out-of-nowhere reveal (in 'In Cedric We Trust') that they were super close as kids all the more random and clumsy.

Like, the childhood "Incident" that permanently destroyed Cedric's reputation and relationships (including with Roland)- which was already revealed in 'Through the Looking-Back Glass', and came out before 'In Cedric We Trust'- was a separate matter from Cedric's betrayal. Roland always held Cedric in disdain because of his total lack of trust in his competence in magic (but he still trusted his actual loyalty), but Cedric's betrayal also destroyed Roland's trust in his loyalty, only further ruining the bond they once shared (and their working relationship before Cedric's betrayal) instead of being the cause of it like 'In Cedric We Trust' seemed to imply.

In fact, if Cedric's freezing of the royal family and attempt to seize the throne hadn't still weighed so heavily on Roland's mind- if Cedric had never committed treason in the first place- then Roland likely would have reacted much more to the shocking revelation in 'The Looking-Back Glass' that the Incident was never Cedric's fault and that his reputation/relationships were unfairly destroyed for no reason. Roland would have felt much more remorseful. But he couldn't bring himself to acknowledge that he was wrong about Cedric being a bungler all those years, much less apologize, because his lack of trust in him for his treason was still too great and made him stubborn... despite what he already knew about how hurt and angry Cedric always felt about his treatment at everybody's hands ever since childhood, when Cedric revealed to Roland why he tried seizing the throne after the guards seized him in 'Day of the Sorcerers'; at Sofia and even Miranda's reasoning, he even actually agreed/acknowledged that Cedric couldn't have had it easy and that maybe they should treat him better.

I hc that after Roland's trust in Cedric was restored at the end of 'In Cedric We Trust' and their friendship began to be mended, Roland's faith in his magic was also fully restored (as indicated when he asked Cedric if he had a spell to fix the damaged landscape, then praised him on a job well done), and that shortly after that episode Roland actually apologized for his part in Cedric's lifelong pain. Like, that's when the realization and remorse for all he went through hit him.

Anyway, it was handled sloppily. But that was par for the course for the writing in most of season 4.

[strifesolution]

And if I only could, I'd make a deal with God, and I'd get him to swap our places 🎶

[lottiies]

should not be getting so hot and bothered watching him do all this

[captain-amadeus]

I have not read all of this, but it would make so much sense if Roland was only being nice to Cedric, making Cedric believe they were friends.

I feel that even with them being one year apart, Roland had been made to mature faster than Cedric due to being heir to the throne and having to prepare for those responsibilities. He definitely acts proper as a child, and as a side note, that seeps into him being a father at times. An interview talks about Roland having trouble knowing when to be royal or when to be a dad, and him taking from his father being the best king Enchancia has ever had but not a good dad for not being able to be one due to his duties, it leaves Roland to have to figure out how to be a balance of both.

I believe this also goes into his relationships.

The incident was made into a wake-up call for Roland to focus on his future. Considering Cedric wasn't favored by their parents, and Roland was simply following what their parents said, he went with dissociating with Cedric as much as their parents deemed necessary.

This is to say even with the friendship they might've had, it might've not been strong enough to stand the test of time. Them being separated was out of their control, but maybe Roland wasn't as close with Cedric as Cedric thought the to be, even after the incident.

Although, there's also their parents enforcing roles between them.

Making Cedric treat Roland as king instead of a close comrade would've alienated him from Roland emotionally.

Making Roland believe Cedric wasn't as capable as his father, along with his difficulty in decerning whether to be formal or casual, estrangered him from the idea of them being too close.

Moral of the story: Both Cedric and Roland have social autism and their parents divided them

Roland and Cedric - Part 1

Just to be clear , this isn’t a hate Roland post. But I just had to talk about Roland and Cedric’s relationship as I think there are things about their relationship that really need to be addressed. This Post may have to be a two partner though as this post will be way to looooooongggggg.  For part 1 ill just be talking about why they may have drifted apart.

While I am happy that Cedric and Roland are on more friendlier terms now, the fact that they had a special bond as kids kind of bugs me. I think it’s because I have a few mixed feelings about their relationship overall as adults and because its revealed that as kids Roland knew all along that Cedric felt pressure to be like his father whereas before it was presumed he didn’t know. But I think what bugs me the most is how un-loyal young Roland comes across in his friendship towards young Cedric. Ill try to explain :/

In the episode “In Cedric we trust” , Cedric states that Roland and him would escape to the fields to play dazzle ball when the pressures of being like their father’s became too great. This in turn gave Cedric the impression that he had a special bond with Roland as they could both relate to one another on their situation with their dads.

But then the incident happened with him and Cordelia , where as soon as Cedric made one unintentional mistake with magic ( which wasn’t even his fault ) , everyone judged him immensely on what a bad sorcerer he was even though he was just a 11 year old kid :/

When Cedric explains what happened after the incident he states that from that day on,  his life was never the same after that day and that everyone in the kingdom including Cordelia , Goodwin and Roland have thought of him as Cedric the bungler. 

But if they had such a special bond , why would Roland think of him as Cedric the bungler. Wouldn’t he try to support and help him ? Wouldn’t he stick up for Cedric and try to stay friends with him despite what others may think ?

Well here’s a few points I’m going to make in this post as to why they may have drifted apart. This is in no particular order :)

Roland’s peers

Cordelia

Roland and Cedric were not at the same level anymore to living up to their father’s reputation

Cedric being seen as a bad influence

1 - Roland’s peer’s

Seeing how Sofia is technically 11 years old by the end of season 4 and at this age she is moving from Royal Prep to Ever Realm Academy , id say Kid Roland would also be attending Ever realm Accdamy at this point in his life. This is becuase he is one year or so older than Cedric is as Cedric is 11 and Cordelia is 10 in “through the looking back glass”, meaning Roland would probably be at the age of 12. 

From what the show has said and shown us, I’m presuming Cedric was 11 years old or so when he started to attend Hexley Hall. I think this because

Every time we have seen kid Cedric in his school uniform , he has those white streaks in his hair which he only had after the incident. 

In Substitute Cedric , Cedric states to Sofia and her friends “When I first got to school, I couldn’t do the disappearo spell either , or most of the other spells come to think of it.” and during the song he says “When I first began to learn the ways of sorcery , I quickly found it wasn’t the easiest course for me”. Before the incident Cedric was capable of doing magic but after the incident he found magic tricky to do because he lacked confidence and got nervous. So it would makes sense that when he started to attend Hexley hall that this was after the incident where his sorcery skills weren’t very good.

Amy, Elliot and Kurt looked a bit older than the royal prep students. Amy also addresses them as kiddies indicating that she may be a tad older than them . 

The reason I mention all this is because this would mean at this point of time , Roland and Cedric would be starting new schools where Roland would be making a bunch of new friends at Ever realm academy whereas Cedric would be on his own at Hexley hall where he would be being teased and pranked by his class mates.  

Keeping this in mind , due to so many royals and sorcerer’s being invited to Cordelia’s  sorceress ball , what happened at the incident was probably talked about among their families and peers , making Cedric’s reputation well known among royalty and sorcerer’s and everyone in the kingdom. 

So when Roland went to Ever Realm academy, his class mates may have known about Cedric being the future Royal sorcerer of Enchanica and how bad of a sorcerer her was. Maybe Roland’s class mates and everyone in Enchancia made him feel embarrassed to be around Cedric or to even be associated with him or to even be ashamed  of the fact that Cedric would be his future sorcerer.

If this is true then It would explain why we only see Kid Cedric and Kid Roland play Dazzle ball together when Cedric hasn’t got white steaks in his hair.

Because of this little detail it makes me doubt that they still played dazzle ball together after the incident.

2 - Cordelia

Cordelia is probably one of the biggest factors as to why Roland and Cedric driftied apart  :/

Cedric states that after the indecent Cordelia would taunt him even in front of Roland and that whenever she was around she made people think he couldn’t do a thing.

“She always wants to put me down , even right before the King. With all her taunts, when she’s around , they all think I cant do a thing.” 

Cedric also states that when him and his sister grew up in the castle together , she would criticise his magic skills everyday – “My own sister doesn’t think I can cast the simplest of magic spells. And now that she’s living here she’ll be telling me so everyday , oh just like she did when we were children. Soon enough she will be taking over my workshop and meddling in my work , telling me I’m not chewing my food thoroughly or combing my hair the right way.”

So Cordelia was probably good at easily influencing Roland and other people’s opinions of Cedric through her own negative perception of him.

Its also plausibly that she is the reason why Roland blames Cedric for anything that goes wrong as when Cordelia admits that it was her fault that she shrank the castle , she tells Roland “ You shouldn’t assume everything is his fault you know” which Roland replies “Well that’s strange to hear , coming from you” indicating that she often blamed Cedric for things is well. 

3- Roland and Cedric were not at the same level anymore to living up to their father’s reputation

Both Cedric and Roland felt pressure to be like their father’s hence why they played dazzle ball together to get away from that pressure but after the incident , Cedric’s reputation got worse and worse where as Roland had more of a chance to reach his potential than Cedric did.

Despite the fact that Tilly was supposed to be Queen , Roland’s father knew that all Roland wanted to do was to be King and that it was all he could ever do. Tilly even mentions that they all thought he’d be great at it.  

Roland - “But , why didn’t anyone ever tell me”

Queen Mun - “Because we knew that being King was all you ever wanted. And your father and I knew that it was all you could ever do”

Roland - “… I guess that’s true”

Tilly - “ And we knew you’d be great at it” 

In Day of the sorcerer’s Cedric mentions that everything Roland did growing up was the best thing ever and that Roland and Cordelia could do no wrong in their parents eyes.

Cedric -  “I remember those days where your father was the king and mine was the royal sorcerer. Everything you did was the greatest thing ever. But did anyone notice when I did something right , Noooooo. They only noticed when I made a mistake !”

Roland – “And you made a lot of mistakes.”

Cedric – “So did you. And so did my sister. But neither of you could do any wrong in our parent’s eyes. I on the other hand could only do wrong.” 

So even though Roland knew how uneasy it felt to be in the shadow of a famous person ( his dad ) , I do believe Roland had a lot of support and made his father proud despite how strict and traditional Roland the first may have been. The only thing Roland didn’t really have from his father was quality time with him as his father was always too busy being King. This is kind of sad as maybe Roland felt like he had to do more than he had to do in order to receive his father’s attention :( but that’s just my opinion. 

But when it came to Cedric growing up, no one noticed when he did anything right and only noticed when he made a mistake. He was constantly being laughed at , criticised and teased and would frequently mess up his spells because of his nerves.  

If Roland was being far more successful than Cedric was with his reputation, Roland isn’t exactly going to think that his at the same level as Cedric anymore. His going to think that Cedric may be a loss cause and that his holding him back.

I can see this causing a bit of resentment between the too as with King Roland , he should be a much better king than his father was. But the only factor which is holding him back is having Cedric as his royal sorcerer. Roland the first had Goodwin the great as his royal sorcerer , who was one of the greatest wizards who ever waved a wand. Roland the second is considered the best king Enchancia has ever had but unlike his father , he has a sorcerer who he compares to as a children’s magician.  

With Cedric , he probably resents the fact that everything Roland did was the greatest thing ever as Roland isn’t accountable for any of his mistakes where as he constantly is. It certainly wouldn’t be the greatest feeling in the world seeing someone who drifted apart from you doing much better off with out you or being treated differently to you when you’ve both done something wrong.

4- Cedric being seen as a bad influence

For my last reason, I believe people may have thought Cedric could be a bad influence on Roland. Out of all the reasons I’ve showcased I feel like the other three have more weight to them but anyway, after the incident , people only noticed Cedric when he made a mistake and according to Roland he made a lot of them . He was also seen as someone who could only do wrong , was blamed for things he may have or not have done , failed most of his tests at school and was hugely criticised.

This probably gave people the wrong impression of Cedric and saw him as nothing but bad.

Even Winfred , his own mother thinks its hard for Cedric not to do bad things as seen in the episode “Cedric be good” when she is telling him to stop doing bad things in order for him to get a power from the amulet – “Oh Cedric , you have to stop doing bad things , as hard as that may be”. She even encourages him to do the wrong thing if it suits his best interests.  

So it wouldn’t really surprise me if Roland’s parents thought Cedric would be a bad influence on him if they allowed their son to be the next ruler instead of Tilly.

Now this is just my opinion but in the episode “through the looking back glass” we see kid Roland pouring a jug of water into a bunch of hats for some reason. If this is a hint that Roland was a bit of a trickster or prankster , then they certainly wouldn’t want Cedric’s enthusiasm for prank day to encourage Roland with that behaviour anymore. 

So those are my four reasons as to why I think they drifted apart despite having a special bond but if these reasons are actually true then I feel like Roland needed to be more loyal to Cedric despite what others may think of him and learn what Wormwood learned in the episode Hexley Hall where Sofia tells wormwood that Cedric is his friend and that he should accept him despite any flaws he may have as we all mistakes.

Wormwood – “I didn’t mean to do it , it was a mistake. Well Cedric makes them all the time.

Sofia – “Of course he makes mistakes. Everyone does.”

Wormwood – “But the other animals, they were going on and on about what a fool Cedric is”

Sofia - “That’s what you’ve been saying all day too. Don’t you see that when someone is your friend, you accept them, flaws and all.” 

I also think that as understandable as it may be , Roland shouldn’t have let others influence his opinion and relationship with Cedric as if someone is really your friend then you should stand by them and not drift away from them in their time of need. I say this because Cedric and Cordelia were practically inseparable, and all Cedric did was try to help her. But after the incident Cordelia was no longer close to Cedric and he lost what ever good relationship he once had with her. 

Everyone was turning against him , he was being teased , was being treated unfairly and didn’t have any friends growing up. So when the one person who you have a special bond with thinks of you as Cedric the bungler like everyone else does , it must have been really crushing and devastating for him.

Especially when Cedric states that when they played Dazzle ball together he felt like they were a team, that Roland had his back and that it was better than any dream. But Roland obviously didn’t have his back as much as Cedric thought he did.  

No wonder Cedric sounds so resentful in Cedric’s apprentice when he wants to prove to everyone how wrong they were about him when he says “And Especially King Roland”. 

Like , Its bad enough for Cedric that Roland thinks his a bad sorcerer for understandable reasons but the fact that Cedric probably felt abandoned by him after the incident and saw how much praise Roland was getting despite him also making mistakes,  is bound to make his relationship with Roland strained and resentful over the years.  

Because of what happened with Cordelia and Roland, it’s no wonder Cedric has a hard time knowing who his real friends are. 

But who knows , maybe they drifted apart because of Roland’s unknown wish or because Cedric couldn’t save Roland’s first wife ?

But anyway,  in Part 2 ill be talking more about their overall relationship as adults :) Its just sad that their relationship became so strained knowing they were once dazzle ball buddies. If I’ve misinterpreted the situation or have some of my facts wrong I apologise . I just had to get this of my chest though as I don’t think I’m the only one who’s thought about this :)

[xitsensunmoon]

[capcollector]

tit for tat

[captain-amadeus]

Every time Sofia was being a Protector-in-Training, and big emphasis on IN TRAINING, she was always with another Protector.

[captain-amadeus]

That would be calling his parents ugly too because he takes the same physical traits as them. This is a joke post, but people tend to forget how much people respect his father Goodwyn and wouldn't call his son ugly because Cedric is seemingly "an extension of him that shares similar features except for being able to do magic as great as him". For being the best sorcerer the kingdom has ever had, of course they wouldn't insult Goodwyn's son's appearance. That's the man who saved the king 9 and a half times, no way they calling Cedric ugly.

But they would put down his son for not being as great as him. People want the next generation to be as great as the last, if not better. The societal pressure for Cedric to be as great as Goodwyn was too great for him to accomplish, making people hate him even more for his shortcomings.

It's even worse when Goodwyn could've defended his son and tried to raise him up to be as great as him, but he had a similar mentality that warped into him believing he was never going to be ready for the responsibilities of the family wand, merely accepting that he would always have to correct Cedric from his lack of faith in him.

That's what Goodwyn has going: he doesn't believe in Cedric. Sure, believing is only part of the process, and so him focusing his efforts to make Cedric improve without being confident in his abilities set Cedric up for failure from the very start.

Also, ugliness is commonly associated with evilness and immorality, as inaccurate as it really is. However, people were focused on him being incapable rather than being evil. Sure, the incident would've painted him in a bad light, but I believe the narrative shifted to him not being good at magic, which would've explained how even when Cedric apologizes for said incident, people hold his mistakes higher for it being caused by his carelessness and inability to do magic rather than a moral failing.

Point is, people just see Cedric as bad at magic rather than bad as a person, therefore never calling him ugly.

@shychick-52 @bettathanyou

they call cedric a bungler a disgrace and a disappointment because they cannot call him ugly pass it on

[jupiter-reimagined]

got the most beautiful stickers and mini print from @passionpeachy in the mail today!!! i am absolutely in love <3 the little freebie of the bottle is also so so cute!!!!!!! my camera is failing to pick up the holographic layer but its there, and i adore it!! aa!!!

[fischlich]

fellas is it gay to dig the plants that grew too deep out of your girl best friends back

closeup + extra info and doodles under the cut yippee

any text in the images is in the alt if its hard to read! last one has some ara doodles in general because i love them so much you guys

[captain-amadeus]

First off, I'd like to say that sibling dynamics are very common in the show:

Sofia and Amber, Tilly and Roland, Baileywick and Nigel, Cedric and Cordelia, Azurine and Prisma. Hell, even Ivy has a sister whose name I don't recall being revealed.

The sad thing about the three characters, Cedric, Prisma, and Ivy, who are motivated to get power, is that out of the three, only one of them has extended depth shown throughout the series. Cedric.

That's not to say the other two don't have anything to stand on, but I think I favor Ivy more because of how interesting her case is.

Ivy developed this black and white magic that she believed to be superior, and this belief started to get to her head. So much so that she attempted to overthrow her sister, ultimately failing and being sent to a prison island. It's in "Ivy's True Colors" that sparks her redemption as well as a reveal of her character outside of wanting a kingdom of her own. She never thought about the needs of others and focused on getting what she wanted, up until Roma fell to the Deep Sleep. Once someone she cared about was affected by her self-centered thinking, she needed to let go of her desires for once and let her butterflies tend to the Wake-Upsy Daisies so the cure could be made.

Ivy's development is based on thinking about other people outside of herself.

I felt Prisma didn't get the same luxury as Cedric and Ivy with her character. I felt her motive wasn't explored as thoroughly, and the writers seemed to be focused on her being evil for the sake of bringing Vor in for the finale. Although I might be wrong since it's been awhile since I've seen her first appearance, she just felt like a villain for the sake of being evil.

Cedric's tale has been told to the moon and back, but when comparing these three together, all I see are characters with siblings who want power but for uniquely different reasons. Despite how much each is shown in the series, they're all motivated by things that don't make me think of them as essentially the same thing.

And it makes me think that if Cedric were to ever talk to Prisma in prison, I feel he would relay more about the people who've hurt him and how despite them treating him unfairly in the past, were still capable of change.

People are capable of making the effort to improve and take accountability for their actions, and Prisma turning herself in is a start.

Yoooo, it just hit me how strikingly similar Cedric and Prisma are.

As a Crystalmaster, Prisma always felt overlooked and unappreciated, jealous of her talented sister and feeling overshadowed by her. She longed for recognition and admiration, and to be the most powerful Crystalmaster. To achieve this, she tried to cover the entire Mystic Isles in crystals to make the most powerful crystals for sorcerers/wizards to use in their wands, staffs, and amulets (which has been the job of Crystalmasters for centuries).

But unlike Cedric, Prisma was willing to go much further with her ambitions and revenge vendetta. They both made terrible mistakes with similar motives, but Prismatic was much more selfish, cruel, and genuinely didn't care who she hurt to get what she wanted. Cedric always had a good heart buried under years of pain and anger from genuinely unfair treatment, and never actually wanted to hurt anyone, and truly desired friendship and acceptance deep down. And he always had limits to how far he would go, plus he showed guilt and did the right thing instead on several occasions (even before his ultimate redemption)!

It was a missed opportunity in season 4 for Sofia to point out how similar the two are, as well as the differences between them.

And I love the idea of Sofia taking Cedric to see Prisma in prison back on the Mystic Isles (post-series) to tell her about his own story, experiences, and mistakes, and how he changed thanks to Sofia's kindness and friendship... and tell her it's never too late to change and eventually mend broken relationships if you truly regret what you've done. Prisma already felt remorseful by the end of the finale for all she did, and I can see her wanting so badly to make things right, but unsure how and also scared there's nothing she could ever do to make up for everything, earn forgiveness, and repair her relationship with her sister. I like to think that Sofia arranging for Cedric to meet and talk with her would be her way of helping Prisma find her own redemption (however, Cedric would probably not forgive her for trying to kill Sofia in 'In Cedric We Trust', which he saw firsthand).

@bettathanyou @fantadym @moonypears-blog

[berlingotesque]

Interrupting my 40+ asks to post this experimental illustration I did for Valentine’s Day to practice painting backgrounds + featuring my favorite batim ships on romantic dates