#that one character is JUST 🤌

[saexy]

TAJ MAHAL 1989 IS SO GOOD!! WHY DID I WIAT SO LONG TO WATCHH!!!

[leonardburton]

the thing is. juno & nureyev's relationship has been such a major guiding thread throughout the podcast and the major drive of season 5, and the fandom has built itself so much (as fandoms often do) around shipping the two of them.

and yet nureyev doesn't show up at all in the last episode! or, he does, but it's only implied (for all we know it could be like. alessandra strong)(i know it's not but it would be really funny) and we don't hear his voice.

and it's so important to me that despite the room that their romance has taken in the plot and in our hearts, his absence reinforces that the point of juno steel's story wasn't a lady getting his man, it was about learning to grow as person for himself and for his friends (and not just his love interest), and it was about finding his footing in life and being at peace with himself and his place in the world. and he did! his growth and relative serenity is so apparent and just. a balm to the soul

and the fact that his man is back is just a nice add-on, not a necessity for his happiness

[nathaniel-underwood-is-an-intj]

Post Ptolemy's Gate ramble

So I just finished Ptolemy's Gate, thoughts are a bit all over the place and aside from mentioning the obvious I thought I'd dump some thoughts here.

Piper's apathy certainly shocked me. I know she's stressed running the council and she's got loads of organisation to do but oof she sure did come across as cold in her conversation with Kitty. Kitty has that kind of apathetic resignation of grief but it really felt like Piper had already put it behind her despite it only being two days before. Her boss that she worked for died horribly to save them all and she didn't even seem to share a quiet moment of grief with Kitty idk it just felt a little brutal 😅 I had an impression of her being really sweet so I was a bit taken aback.

One thing that really stood out to me was Nathaniel's apathy to the situation, I found it really interesting. I guess something could be said about it being the magician in him.

Nathaniel really has this duality to him, the obvious being Nat vs John Mandrake and of course Nat + Bartimaeus but in chapter 36 part ii something that caught my attention

'it was the feeling of consummate superiority, the delight of power weilded without peril. He danced beneath the night sky, smiting down his enemies.'

It already seems as if he's being elevated to something other- a martyr perhaps, except martyrs have causes and ideals, they do something because they have a strong belief in their justness. And Nathaniel:

'He felt aloof disconnected and alone. If his hatred for demons he had killed was dull and almost matter-of-fact, so was his sympathy for the people whose lives he saved.'

So he seems almost like an avenging angel, I love the religious imagery, especially because it seems to call back to Bartimaeus comparing his body to a holy mosque. But also divine rage is the driving force for an avenging angel and he's no longer even angry at the destruction caused.

'Pride spurred him on.' this almost makes him seem God-like?? His sole motivator is the pride of a deity, and I love that. But it's also just very true to him as a boy, pride spurred him on against Lovelace and against Duval and Whitwell.

When he's alone with Bartimaeus he's taken on this air of not being entirely human. He feels alone and solitary from everything including humaity. But when he rejoins Kitty, Piper and the rest of the magicians waiting for him he's reinvigorated - 'he felt a surge of joyful impatience - 'he would detroy Nouda, rescue the commoners and return to Kitty.' it seems as though he has to be surrounded by people to remind himself he's one of them. It could be seen as an effect of sharing a mind with Bartimaeus, but of course it could be Nathaniel's own human pride and his memories of being othered even as a child. Just gives the impression of this human / higher entity duality.

But also I partly got the impression that this hints to depression- I'm sure it's hardly out of the realm of possibility for Nat to have it. Though it's never stated I think several moments in the books make a good argument for it, including the above- just the numbness to everything. And I guess the sudden change in demeanor at 'surge of joyful impatience' can be read as hopefulness, but it reminded me of the saying that when people have decided to follow through on their s*icidal ideation they come across as happy and like a weight has been lifted from them. Nathaniel is impressively calm for someone who realises he's gravely injured. And while he can be seen as a martyr or hero for his final actions, the hollowness he felt at that moment gives it a more bitter edge.

I think it's made even more sad when compared to Anthony Lockwood, who has that same sense of pride - because he's trying to make his dead parents proud and because he's trying to hide the fact that he doesn't like himself very much. Nathaniel gives this same impression. And Lockwood at the end had reason to be proud, he uncovered a huge conspiracy, his agency became the most famous in London. And Nathaniel had reason to be proud; he's managing to wield the staff of his childhood hero, something he had dreamed of doing, he's had the bravery to unite with a spirit and he's going to take down the biggest threat to London.

But Lockwood gets something Nathaniel doesn't-

There's this subtle idea seen through Lucy's eyes that Lockwood's biggest achievement was fighting through his s*icidal ideation and discovering he has something to live for, even just seeing his friends again.

And Nathaniel just doesn't get that moment.

He sort of acknowledges that he doesn't have to be a powerful leader, that he doesn't need his colleagues approval, that he doesn't need to erase the fear the commoners have of him and other magicians, but without these things he doesn't know what to do with himself. He has no plan for the future, because even before he's injured the idea of a future doesn't seem to have much appeal to him. He already appears to have given up on trying to uncover who Nathaniel is, depite finally having the opportunity to. Like after everything- being beaten, the fear of his colleagues trying to harm him and burying himself in the John Mandrake persona to protect his sensitive side- he doesn't want to uncover the remnants of that boy because he's worried it'll be too difficult to put himself back together.

Or maybe he feels that he already has discovered who Nathaniel is, a deeply unhappy, hollow shell of a person, whose personality has been pulled in so many directions he no longer has a sense of self. He's been stripped back to the barest version of himself and found he doesn't even have the foundations upon which to rebuild himsef. Like discovering dry rot in your walls and you keep pulling and pulling bits of rotting wood away from the home until you've finally got it all, only to realise the house has come down around you- there's nothing left.

He doesn't get this moment where he works through his trauma, where he realises he has a support system, where he realises he's loved. I don't know if Nathaniel ever really knew what it felt like to be loved. I don't think he did. Ptolemy's death was awful and heartbreaking but his short life was filled with affection. And Lockwood realises people do care about him, depite being told that no one does. It hurts so much that Nat felt isolated and alone his whole life, right up to the last minute. Potential love confessions aside, Nathaniel never got a chance to sit and bathe in the warmness of affection. Like Bartimaeus tells him, it's about 'being not doing.' Nathaniel never got to understand the importance of just being, of simply existing as himself or of being happy. He constantly had to be working on the next goal, the next plan, because if he stops working he'll be forced to sit with his thoughts and realise how unhappy he is. And the thought of that is just too much to bear, it's so much easier to give in.

The ending gave the impression of being very romantic, while sad. Nathaniel gets to be remembered as a hero and never has to confront the consequences of his actions with wars in Europe and America that he had a direct role in. Acknowledging his role and dealing with fallout are two very different mountains to climb. And I think that idea of dying like a hero perfectly appeals to Nathaniel's prideful tendencies, and maybe he views it that way to hide the fact it's a convenient way out of his unhappiness and confronting what he's done. It's quite interesting to see that after he's been stripped back to nothing and can't figure out who or what he wants to be if he gets the chance, he still has that vanity and arrogance to him- despite not really being good character traits, they're so authentically Nathaniel, he's been that way right from the start and it's nice little peak of the real him at the end, being so humanly flawed.

[gardenoblues]

The Less I Know The Better

[theprodigypenguin]

I'm not a parent, but can you imagine how psychotic Dragon would get if Sabo got hurt in his place. Like to some degree Sabo is worried that if Dragon were to die, the revolution would die with him, and Sabo was raised from a very young age to think of himself as expendable because of his parents, and that kind of thing can settle into the marrow of your bones and not go away no matter how much time passes. He would more than willingly stand in front of a brutal attack to defend Dragon, though Dragon is the last person in the world who'd ever need to be shielded. It's instinct for Sabo to protect, plus this is Luffy’s dad AND a member of the D clan. Dragon is important, Sabo isn't, so he'd happily take a hit in Dragon's stead. Queue his blood splattering across Dragon's face and Dragon just has a psychotic break because first of all he probably most definitely has ptsd, suddenly all he can see is Sabo crying against him because he can't open the gate to Grey Terminal, ten years old with half his face burned bloody and unconscious, and he just fucking snaps cuz that's not just a revolutionary or the chief of staff or his second in command that's his fucking kid and he's watched him grow up for the past twelve years, he can remember when Sabo barely reached his knee in height and now he's bleeding out because he, the child, was trying to protect Dragon, the parent. Nonono, that's not how this works and now Dragon has to commit homicide. "Would you kill for you child" he sure would! He knows Sabo can take care of himself but if he sees that blond brat fall in front of him he is going to descend to the lowest level of hell and bring whoever pulled the trigger with him.

[revvethasmythh]

Yes, three of these are from the same conversation, but they all deserved being separate options. Fight over which one hurt more

[bwaldorf]

also alicole's self-flagellation as foreplay (born out of their guilt & seeing their own desire as sinful) was such a crazy fun concept i ate it up sorryyyyy 🫣

[eeblouissant]

thinking about Dorothy & her midlife crisis turned at home perm once again and have come to the conclusion that she 100% looked like irl mother gothel with it

[syrupyyyart]

There's so much worthless Motley trivia that's accumulated over the years that will probably never have a chance to be shared organically. Angel Cake has terrible handwriting. Cherry is afraid of cats. Blueberry can't swim. Lime Pie would be a swiftie

[bluelolblue]

RICKY FANS

How we feeling about Federico from Welcome Home?

I personally love him, he's so silly and hot

And he had such a good chance to be more important character... if they just made him an actual killer, he would've been perfect

[s0fter-sin]

shepherd saying, “war isn’t about friends, it’s about enemies” when friendship is the main reason the 141 find all the missiles and take down hassan just scratches a lovely itch

laswell is able to find out hassan’s in mexico and working with the cartel bc of her friendship with price and gaz, who are already in amsterdam. they’re able to get the jump on him and find out about him shipping the missiles over the atlantic bc of her friendship with alejandro. price and gaz are able to fly to al mazrah in time to intercept aq bc of price’s friendship with nik and they’re able to get laswell back bc of their friendship with farah. soap makes it through las almas and eventually kills hassan in chicago bc he successfully befriended ghost, who stayed behind at his own risk and kept giving him advice he wasn’t required to give

the real treasure was literally the friendships they made along the way

[harapeveco]

what's your opinion about people shipping their oc with eve characters?

I think it’s cool for them to do so! They are braver than anyone else too so pls continue drawing your ocs kissing eve characters 🫡❤️

[fanflames]

HC QUESTION FOR THE DASH: what does your character smell like? their perfume or body wash or their surroundings or just their natural scent? do they smell strong or weak? ifyou want, describe it like a fancy perfume!

[daughterthethird]

Can anyone please send me art requests through asks/reblogs (it can be their ocs or canon characters- preferably ToH ones!!) causee im fighting artblock rn and i am LOSING.

[CLOSED]

[mo-ok]

Suprise! I wanna talk about Hyuuga! Specifically! What he and BullBlack were getting up to for 17 episodes, and how Ryouma was more right than he realised when he said it felt like it was Hyuuga that saved him

So from the way BullBlack describes it, he'd been using Hyuugas body since the events of episode 1, but we dont see him till episode 17/18.

WHY??

While its obvious that BB is in control of the body by the time we meet him, its also very heavily implied that that wasnt always the case. Upon being possessed, Hyuuga would have fought back (hell we actively SEE him fighting back when BB pushes things to far). In terms of who was initially in control, I imagine they would have been pretty close to 50/50, unable to enact upon either of their desires because their objectives were so completely at odds.

But so if Hyuuga was fighting BB the whole time, what made him let BB have almost complete control for like 8 episodes??

BB let him save Ryouma.

I dont think its too much of a stretch to assume that the pair were observing almost every fight the team had - unable to help, unable to hinder, but never the less drawn to the conflict. They would have seen that Ryouma was in grave danger in episode 17, and - taking advantage of Hyuuga's need to save his brother - BB would have cut him a deal.

Yeah sure you can save Ryouma, IF you promise to stop fighting and let me be in charge of the body afterwards ✌️✌️

We know Hyuuga is a man of his word (and self sacrificing to a fault) thanks to the whole Knight Axe arc, and after fighting over a body with him for a few months, I imagine BB would also be very aware of this character trait. BB didnt have anything to lose by offering the deal, but really it was a pretty safe gamble.

Hyuuga agrees, and is given complete control just long enough to save his brother (reflecting BB's inability to save Krantz oof).

And so, like a good loyal knight, Hyuuga saves Ryouma, keeps his promise with BB, and finally submits.

Pls enjoy this pic of (what i feel is) the exact moment the body completely becomes BullBlack 😌😌😌

[hanakihan]

I’m this close to brainrot about mix of Kusuriya no Hitorigoto and Wataru no Shiawase no Kekkon AUs for chulwoo feat. Girls being true MVPs along the way, political games, harshness of world and society and ultimate slowburn—