MANDRAKE

#𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐘𝐄𝐃: a selective, canon - divergent roleplay blog for book & headcanon based NATHANIEL / JOHN MANDRAKE from the BARTIMAEUS SEQUENCE by jonathan stroud, presumed he had lived through the events of ptolemy's gate.

𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯: lost childhood, the abuse of power, magic, recovery, the prodigal son, the martyr, revolution, the scheming politician, reclaiming your name.

CARRD, PROMPTS, VERSES, HEADCANONS .

meet me in 5 ( location : the dungeons )

ARE YOU NATHANIEL’S TYPE ?

animal : black cat

colour : purple , blue

month : september

song : oh no ! - marina and the diamonds .

number : 7

day or night : night

plant : the mandrake , of course

smell : slightly decaying roses

season : late autumn / early winter

food : apple strudel

astrological sign : sagittarius

element : fire

drink : sparkling lemonade on a summer day

stolen from : @heartofchivalry

canon vs post canon nathaniel for all with eyes to see .

tagged by : @heartofchivalry <3

THE CRUEL PRINCE // ACCEPTING

HIS MASTER IS RUTHLESS ; and so is every other magician in the land . one does not last if they are not , weeded out in early apprenticeship . he remembers clearly when underwood ( and a ruthless magician he was not , in fact -- which accounted for his demise ) would lock him in the study , with its low , burning candles , and leave him to fend for himself with a horde of unhappy , chattering imps , who would pull on his hair and ears and leave deep , welted scratches on his arms until he managed to pull himself together well enough to cast a binding spell on them . WHITWELL IS SMARTER ; his new master knows that punishing nathaniel unjustly is uncalled for . he is already a formidable magician , and will eventually overcome her --- he had no qualms in disposing of lovelace when he was barely out of childhood , and does not take kindly to humiliation .

BUT HUMILIATION IS NOW SNAPPING AT HIS HEELS ; ever since he was brought into court life and charged with controlling the commoner subjects , there has been no end to inconveniences . what seemed to initially have been a small group of commoners ransacking magician households and robbing them on the roads leading in and out of the city has grown immeasurably . what is worse , none of the demons that nathaniel had summoned to keep watch have been able to produce any valuable information . HE IS BECOMING DESPERATE , for failure is impossible -- if one fails , then there are many willing to take his place .

it is not like nathaniel to seek help , nor is it very common for magicians to descend to asking help from anyone , in general . particularly those uninvolved with the tenuous rules of magic . but the rumours about siegfried and his travelling entourage abound , enough for nathaniel to slip into the commoner - run inn where they are staying , dark cloak covering all his magician finery .

nat is putting you in situations and watching you through his ipad . sorry . iball 💜

TUG ON HIS HAIR / ALWAYS ACCEPTING .

HE IS SPRAWLED OVER HER LAP ; the headache pressing at his temples is frightful . she is like the maiden above him , playful and gentle ( how surprising ! ) , her face glowing in the warm candlelight . but nathaniel knows she is not the maiden at all — not with her uncontrollable spirit , her lack of care for propriety . and she is so , so beautiful it hurts . almost more than the headache , really . nathaniel would never say it , of course , for he would never hear the end of it from her . but he wants her to know it , still . that when they are not snapping at each other , when she is not shaking her head at him in disappointment when he sends another young lordling scrambling away from the fireside , her touch and her softened gaze are the gentlest , most beautiful things nathaniel has ever experienced in his life .

he wishes he could love her like a husband would . a delusional thought brought on by the fire his brain seems to be on . HE WANTS TO LAUGH THEN — because lynorra would scoff at ever truly having a husband like him , and he would never be able to handle a wife like that . only a very special man could ; and nathaniel with his entourage of spirits will make sure that when he comes around , lynorra is happy in all aspects .

THE CRUEL PRINCE // ACCEPTING

WHEN BAELOR WAS SILENT IN BED , FIGHTING with the great god for his life , his breath shallow and desperate , nathaniel had thrown himself with claws unsheathed at maekar . in any other circumstance , this would have him executed at worst , banished at best . but at that moment he , and his tenuous , volatile magic had been the only thing keeping baelor alive . at the trial , nathaniel had been high on the stands - he did not know baelor's intentions , otherwise he would have sent one of the demons with him promptly , to ward of any hits that may have been intended for the crown prince . TOO LATE , he could not draw a summoning circle there in the open , and the fourth son , with his unruly mace , had struck baelor so hard it seemed like nathaniel heard the noise from his spectators' position . BUT BAELOR SEEMED FINE ; the dragon was not so easily defeated , until he realised that the small helm of his own son had been crushed into his head .

the rage nathaniel felt then was insurmountable . he could not recall if he had ever felt such fire burn within him . not when he was a young boy , humiliated and punished within an inch of his life by lovelace and his demons , not when his master's house burned with priestess underwood still inside . commanding the maesters as if he were royal himself , nathaniel bathed himself in blood and slaughtered baelor's own royal horse as an offering to the goat god to drag baelor back from death’s edge . and it had succeeded . no matter how much the demons seethed and snapped at nathaniel for making them search the other place for baelor’s slowly - decimating soul , it had been stitched back together . and as baelor lay waiting to open his eyes , nathaniel had rounded on maekar , bloodied hands gripping at his throat , some unknown strength driving him for the other man was far more schooled in battle and had a hand heavy enough to crush his brother’s skull . he had nary drawn the sacrificial knife on the other man himself when a maester managed to call him back to baelor’s bedside , for the crown prince had opened his eyes .