#in Nettles we trust

[lady-clouves]

I want nasty uncontrollable horrible women this season. I want Nyra to go batshit crazy and be hell bent on getting her throne back, I want her to show just how deep a mother’s rage can really go. I want Alicent to really commit to supporting Aegon, I want to see her be selfish for once and take and keep taking. I want Baela to be the badass dragon rider she is, I want her to be a character we know and feel for and I want her fight with Aegon to be the coolest thing in the entire show. I want Rhaena to show just how political savvy she can get. I want Helaena to be more than just the mad woman stereotype. I want Mysaria to really be the one that’s team smallfolk and actually look out for them and their best interests, especially commoner children. I want Nettles to BE THERE and I want her to wow everybody and put targ stans into an early grave; I want to see her claim sheepstealer, I want to see her interact with the blacks, I want to see her ride her dragon, and be the coolest hottest person there. And I want to SEE Alys and all her freaky witch stuff, while making self insert girlies angry. And by god I want Rhaenys to have the best ending scene a character could ask for.

[wishesofeternity]

The thing about HotD is that it while it absolutely minimizes the agency and ambition of both Rhaenyra and Alicent, this is specifically used to glorify Rhaenyra and frame her as righteous while condemning Alicent and framing her lacking. That's the key difference in both their textual portrayals that has directly led to 90% of the fandom hailing Rhaenyra as the second coming of Christ while spewing the most hateful vitriol at Alicent just for existing. But y'all are not prepared for that conversation.

[ride-thedragon]

Platonic Dettles might be my next move because I don't think you all understand how much you all will hate it. It's not that Nettles isn't worthy of the love of Daemon Targaryen, it would be that his love for her was so innocent, so pure in the virtuous sense that the accusation of that relationship was enough for him to risk his loyalty for her safety and freedom. If you think you hate them as a romantic pairing, one where he wouldn’t consider sex but other forms of physical intimacy aren't going to be easier. Dooming them to the speculation yet ensuring she'd be free from those who doubted her, who'd end her life because of a love they couldn't understand past a physical and sexual manifestation of their love.

Show me your game card.

[moonstruckme]

hi, love! i have a silly request for james or sirius. there are a lot of wonderful fics out there where reader or the love interest confess their feelings when they’re loopy from drinking or being sick and whatnot, but i think it would be quite funny for reader to just, completely sober, get fed up one day by how lovely he is. She confesses but she’s so angry that it doesn’t even register as a confession at first.

Thanks for requesting lovely!

Sirius Black x fem!reader ♡ 1.4k words

Sirius is braver than you are. You’ve always known it, but you think he likes to remind you by doing things like this, sitting on the edge of his building’s roof with his legs dangling off the edge. You don’t have nearly enough trust in yourself not to lean too far forward and go toppling over, so you’ve got your legs drawn in close to your chest and have situated yourself a few inches back from the edge, watching Sirius as he tempts fate for his lungs as well. 

“I sort of knew he was going to end it tonight,” he says, smoke billowing out from his mouth into the darkness. 

He’s melancholy but trying to hide it, looking off into the distance instead of at you. Your heart aches for him. Sirius likes to pretend that these little rejections don’t phase him, that he’s only dating casually and having fun, but he gets attached quickly; when things don’t work out, he hurts. 

“How did you know?” you ask. 

“He said he wanted to talk over dinner.” 

You wince. “Yeah, that’s never good.” 

“No.” Sirius smiles wryly, the cherry of his cigarette flaring orange as he takes another drag. “But I suppose I can hardly blame him. He wanted something easy, and I’m hardly the easiest person to be around.” He laughs. It’s not a happy sound. “I really make you work for it.” 

“Sirius,” you chide, already exhausted. 

This, unfortunately, isn’t uncommon. Sirius’ heartbreaks, big or small, always come with a horrid bout of self-deprecation hidden under the facade of humor. Even hearing about his dating life isn’t so bad as this; you’re somewhat jealous of the people he finds attractive enough to date, sure, but what you really want, most of all, is for Sirius to be happy. You’re fine with it if someone else is the key to that. But hearing him like this, using jokes to paint himself as worse than he is, is agonizing for you. 

“Don’t say that. It’s not work to be around you.” 

“Oh, but you would say that.” If there’s some bitterness in Sirius’ voice, you know well enough that none of it is for you. He turns to look at you with one eyebrow raised, unable to keep himself from flirting even now. “You’re the sweetest thing on this side of the equator, babe. We can’t expect everyone I go out with to have your saintlike patience.” 

You level him with a stern look despite your heating face. “Stop.” 

“M’just saying,” Sirius goes on, unaffected by your remonstrance, “it’s not like I’m bringing tons to the table.” 

“Don’t say that. You don’t have to bring anything to the table, it’s not an exchange of goods.” 

“But that’s sort of how it starts, isn’t it? And what do I have to offer? Fucked up ideas of intimacy?” 

“You have plenty to offer.” 

“Right. Like a cold, bony shoulder for them to lie their head on.” 

“Sirius—” 

“I’m careless, and impulsive, yet unbearably clingy,” he’s really on a roll now, laughing at himself as he talks and brings his cigarette back to his mouth, “and Evans is always saying I’m arrogant—”

“That’s”

“Plus the anger issues I suppose, and altogether that’s really not—” 

“Oh, would you quit!” Your voice climbs to a shout. Sirius turns to you in surprise, and you snatch the cigarette from his mouth, putting it out on the ground. His eyes follow the movement. 

“My cigarette,” he says bemusedly. 

“Fuck your cigarette!” You’re seething, his words nettling you worse than insults against yourself, and Sirius looks at you like you’re something new and unexpected. Good. Maybe he’ll listen. “You are not difficult to love.” 

“Now, I’m not sure I quite said—”

“No, shut up!” You pin his stare with yours, vehement. “You are smart, and kind, and brave, okay? You are impulsive, but it’s because you’re brave. And you’re not clingy, you just care, Sirius, I—” Your voice grows fraught, and you have to fight past an intrusion in your throat, blinking away some dampness in your eyes. “I don’t want to be a part of your pity party if it’s just going to be you shitting on yourself. You’re a good person, and you’re easy to love, and for those of us that love you, it’s—for all of us, that love you, it’s awful to hear you talk about yourself like you’re not. You’re great to be around. It’s not work.” 

Your voice gets softer at the end, squashed defeatedly under the weight of your emotions. Sirius’ brow pinches. 

“Okay, okay.” He holds up his hands like he’s surrendering, then like he’s reaching for you. “Message received; I’m the shit.” 

“You are,” you insist tearily. “You can’t say it like you’re joking.” 

A little laugh stutters out of him. “I’m sorry. C’mere, babe.” 

If there was ever a time to hold out on going into Sirius’ arms this would be it, but you’re not sure you’ll ever have that much willpower. He folds you into him with one hand, using the other to brush away the still-hot cigarette butt before pulling you closer. 

“And your shoulders are nice,” you whimper, pushing your cheek into one to prove it. 

Sirius chuckles again. “Thanks, sweetheart.” He rubs tentatively between your shoulder blades. You feel bad that you’d met up tonight so you could comfort him, and somehow you’ve made it the other way around. “You’re too good to me.” 

“I’m not just saying that because I’m good to you.” You pull back from him, wiping under your eyes. “You’re a thousand times better than you say you are.” 

“I…” Sirius’ expression looks somewhere between confused and disbelieving, but there’s a caution there you know enough to be wary of. “Did you mean what you said about loving me?” 

Your heart stutters. “I said all of us that love you.” 

“No, but before that,” he presses. “You said those of us, and then you changed your mind, but it seemed like you were talking about you.” 

You shut your eyes, mortified. “That wasn’t the point.” 

“You did mean it, didn’t you?” Sirius’ voice isn’t gentle or pushy, just full of pure, bald curiosity. He sounds mystified. “You really feel that way about me?” 

“Sirius.” You keep your tone measured. “I realize you’re having a shitty night, but please don’t make fun of me right now—” 

“Hey.” Sirius sounds so genuinely wounded that you open your eyes. Once you look at him, his expression gentles. “Hey, I wouldn’t. I’m just surprised.” 

You give him your best attempt at one of his wry smiles. “Well, you shouldn’t be. I’ve just finished telling you about how lovely you are.” 

He laughs again, a breathy, startled sound. And beyond your humiliation, you can still appreciate the rare privilege of seeing him like this; shocked into his truest, most genuine self. 

“Yeah, but you’re only supposed to tell me nice things to make me feel better,” he says. “You’re not supposed to start believing them.” 

You decide to give him a pass on the self-deprecation, but you shoot him a half-teasing irked look. “Thin ice, Black.” 

“Fair enough.” He’s smiling an awful lot, his real one, pretty and dashing at the same time. It keeps coming back like he can’t hold it at bay. “I’m in love with you, too, you know.” 

Your heart can’t decide whether to be in your throat or your stomach. You feel like you’re choking on air. “Don’t fuck with me.” 

“I’m not fucking with you,” he laughs. 

“You are not in love with me.” 

“I am! And who are you to decide? You don’t get to tell me everything about myself, you know. I can know some things.” 

“But,” you’re shaking your head, bewildered and still looking for the trick, “why haven’t you said something?” 

Sirius shrugs, the first hint of that feigned nonchalance making its return. “I didn’t think you’d want to hear it. I do make you listen to me whine about all my woes and heartaches, after all. It can’t be very attractive.” He shoots a look at you, sizing you up. “Why haven’t you?” 

You sigh. Your voice comes out quiet. “I was always hearing about all your woes and heartaches. With other people.” 

Sirius makes a low groaning sound, but he nods. “Sort of shot myself in the foot there, I suppose.” He offers you a little smile. “Maybe we both ought to have given ourselves a bit more credit.” 

You rub your lips together, grinning despite yourself. “Maybe so.” 

[onlyangel4]

today was a fairytale. op81. smau.

oscar piastri x girlfriend!reader

in which oscar wants to make sure he gives his girlfriend of four years a fairytale proposal

warnings: cursing.

faceclaim: madison bailey

taylor swift series masterlist.

oscarpiastri posted a story tagging y/ninsta

written: she just beat me on an arcade driving game, i don't think i can show my face at work anymore

y/ninsta replied to your story: don't hate the player hate the game

oscarpiastri: trust me i hate the game and love the player

y/ninsta posted a story

written: bali here we come

oscarpiastri posted a private story

written: we just landed and she has no idea💍

danielricciardo replied to your story: oh my god you are proposing !

oscarpiastri: indeed i am

logansargeant replied to your story: make sure the ring is hidden so she doesn't find it when she unpacks

oscarpiastri: i would say do you think i'm an idiot but the ring was just resting in the top of my backpack

y/insta posted a story

written: view for the week

y/ninsta posted a story tagging oscarpiastri

written: time to relax

oscarpiastri posted a story tagging y/ninsta

written: pretty girl

y/ninsta posted a story tagging oscarpiastri

written: this was the best pasta i have ever eaten

oscarpiastri posted a private story

written: she thinks i just arranged a breakfast horseback ride, she has no idea she is about to be proposed to

y/insta posted a story

written: the easiest yes of my life

oscarpiastri

liked by landonorris, logansargeant, danielricciardo and 1,231,122 others

tagged: y/ninsta

oscarpiastri: the love of my life said yes! y/n i can't wait to spend forever with you

view all 29,722 comments

y/ninsta: i still can't believe you managed to pull off this surprise

oscarpiastri: i did have some help

logansargeant: that would be me

landonorris: and me

landonorris: i have to let everyone know that the shell ring case was my idea

oscarpiastri: he is very proud of himself

danielricciardo: congrats mate

oscarpiastri: thank you danny

heidiberger: you are going to have the prettiest bride

oscarpiastri: oh i know

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[evagreen-stories]

Honestly, I'm DEVASTATED they've completely cut Nettles and are doing this whole Rhaena x Sheepstealer thing.

Not just because that means we will most likely never see Morning but because Nettles was such an important part of the story. Not just because of the battles she fought but because of her crucial role in Daemon and Aemonds battle and deaths.

Believe what you want, whether she was Daemon's lover or bastard daughter, it was Rhaenyra growing so paranoid after the two dragonseeds changed sides and ordering the ASSASSINATION of that young woman that pushed Daemon to go on that su*cide mission after Aemond.

With Nettles needing to flee and Daemon realising Rhaenyra doesn't trust him anymore and is willing to go after him/his lover/his daughter, he was willing to sacrifice himself and his dragon while bringing down Aemond & Vhagar.

Had it not been for that, the whole story would have been totally different. Perhaps the war would have raged on for far longer as well.

At this point it feels like they won't even do Rhaenyra's paranoia arch and her demise. That they won't have her order Addams arrest, imprison Corlys, order the assassination of Nettles, etc.

It feels like they've turned her into an empowered, always rational, never doing any wrong feminist-icon while her book version was SO much different.

That's what I liked so much about the books and the entire GoT/HotD universe; that there are no good people, only bad people and worse ones.

"Choose your favourite war criminal" type of stuff. That's totally missing from this show, in my opinion. It's all too black and white. It's almost... boring at this point.

At this point, I hold little hope for the rest of this show to get much better. Even George has (indirectly) spoken out against this change.

[queerava]

"We're really leaving here together, aren't we? And all we had to do was trust each other. It wasn't easy, but... I'm glad we finally could."

- The Nettle route

[greenbloods]

a lot of people think that the three dragonriders of Dany's three dragons will be jon tyrion and dany herself. but theyre ALL wrong. IM the only one in the fandom who sees beyond the veil. thats because the third dragonrider has been in front of our eyes this whole time and no one's even noticed. viserion's eyes are described as "two pools of molten gold" in daenerys i adwd, a description echoed later in quentyn's dragontamer chapter (incidentally, rhaegal's eyes were also molten gold at first, but this seems to be retconned as his eyes are later bronze). a very specific phrasing. a phrasing only given to describe one other character in the book. missandei. in daenerys vii we see that dany gives her the same description as missandei "gazed at her with eyes like molten gold." earlier in the same passage we hear missandei described as "the little scribe" who had just turned eleven, and her "dusky" brown naathi skin is often emphasized in her descriptions. but quentyn thought he could tame dragons too. and quentyn died. how could missandei be the third head of the dragon, when quentyn failed? this is obviously because quentyn was cringe and didnt channel the nettles energy. who better to tame a dragon, than a small scrappy brown girl from nowhere? but, i hear you say, this is all just a reach. could this all just be happenstance? could the parallels between viserion and missandei and nettles be simply coincidence? of course not. nothing is ever coincidence. missandei will be the third head of the dragon. wait for winds. trust the process 🙏

[idontreallyknow26]

I am so genuinley beyond pissed that they're giving Sheepstealer to Rhaena and removing Nettles. It honestly might be the worst change yet, imo.

In the book, Nettles' character is so much more important than we think. Her character puts to question whether or not Valyrians truly have a blood tie to the dragons or if it's something that they possibly made up as propaganda during their wars with Old Ghis.

Everything about her character is anti-Valyrian. She doesn't claim her dragon but instead builds a bond with him over time, earning his trust. She didn't use him for battle or power, she had not Valyrian features whatsoever.

And if the common folk had found that out? In the most extreme thought, it could've caused a revolution. The Targaryens' only source of power was their dragons, and if the commoners realized that they weren't even exclusively for them? What then? What separates the Targaryens from the common folk? They could so easily start to attempt claiming dragons, and sooner or late, they'd succeed.

Nettles was so much bigger than her role in the dance and I believe she was more interesting, a bigger "what if" than any other character.

Not to mention, Rhaena had a dragon after the dance. Morning. They could technically jsut scrap her and not change much, but that leaves Sheepstealer. How is she just going to walk around with a full grown dragon after the dance? Now they HAVE to kill Sheepstealer.

The only way I can see this playing out that isn't a total abomination to the plot is Nettles being in the Vale, and Rhaena this whole time was actually just supposed to witness it and send word to Rhaenyra.

There was never supposed to be a dragon in the Vale anyway, why would they even place Sheepstealer there. It makes NO SENSE.

[raidark]

Look, i'm not saying that Jacaerys' insecurities are not interesting or that he has legitimate worries (which will be proven right if they stick to the book... though i'm unsure on whether they will blame his behavior with Them for the betrayal).

But i'm still angry at everything they did to him. Especially since Book Jacaerys is my favorite character of Fire and Blood, of the whole Dance.

It makes me furious how many people are saying we the angry Jace stans have 0 media literacy and asking if we rather have Jace still doing nothing as he did for the whole season.

THAT is exactly the problem. That he didn't do anything in the show while in the book he did SO MUCH.

"And now you say you will strip that from me too" could be perfectly something Jacaerys says to the writers of this mess.

They sidelined all of his alliances achievements with the Vale, the Three Sisters, White Harbor and the North (the lack of Pact of Ice and Fire hurts the most). All the time that could have been spent to develop his character had they wanted and show his potential. Instead we only got a little show only scene with the Freys that barely proved anything about him.

I loved Baela's scene with Corlys, but it was Jace who mediated between Rhaenyra and him in the book, it was by his order that he was made Hand of the Queen.

It was also him who had the Dragonseeds idea... and before you say that he was also the one with the idea in the series, take into mind that in the book he called for the Dragonseeds (Valyrian ascent bastards) from the very beginning. The whole thing with nobles only is only in the show. Book Jacaerys didn't have any prejudice or apparent problem with bastards at this point of the story. It's obvious that he had already accepted this fact and it's in fact because he knows his origins that he gave Dragonseeds a chance and his faith. He leaded them for the love of god.

Yes, it's true that due to the nature of the book we don't know exactly what was he thinking. But it's the complete opposite reaction to his show version. Whether Book Jace understood or not the danger this plan posed on long-term, he did so just like Rhaenyra did, because they had no chance at the moment. Not to mention that while in the series all the candidates come from Kings Landing (?¿?), in the book they're taken from Driftmark and Dragonstone (which is populated, not only a castle for Targaryen), so there's a bit more of trust on them as subjects than on completely unknown people from the city taken and ruled by your enemy. (It also weren't so many who tried in the book)

I've seen some people say that Jace was besties with Addam and Nettles... and while we actually don't know their relationship, we do know that they mourned him badly while Ulf and Hugh weren't that affected. I really don't think they would be that affected if they didn't have some kind of bond before, even if it wasn't told to us. And I mean, it was Jace who supported legitimizing Addam and Alyn and make Addam heir to Driftmark ahead of Joffrey. Which, well, doesn't seem likely in the show.

The thing is that Jace DID a lot of things in the book, supporting his mother, basically leading the Blacks on the name of Rhaenyra Targaryen, who couldn't do it since she was RIGHTFULLY grieving during a lot of time after everything that had happened in quick succession, both Luke and Visenya's deaths.

And you know, THAT'S NOT BAD. It gave time to have other characters doing things like Rhaenyra's sons. It explored a side of Rhaenyra and how much her children's death affected her, explicitly showing how much they mattered to her and how brutally it broke her inside (while filling her with pure unadulterated rage after the Gullet). But well, playing devil's advocate, I understand a bit why they didn't go with this since I don't have any faith most watchers would try to emphatize with the grieving mother part of Rhaenyra, and would instead call her a weak queen.

Jace was a supporting and loving son, an extension of Rhaenyra, heart of the Blacks, responsible for the alliances that would bring them to victory by the end of the war. A boy who came to understand and accept his status in the world and used it on a positive note for her mother's cause. A worthy heir to Rhaenyra, one of the few people in this whole period that was worthy of becoming King in the future.

This wasn't about wanting him to do nothing in the show. It was about not butchering his character and be faithful to all the stuff he actually does. But because the writers couldn't (or didn't want to) understand it wasn't Rhaenyra's turn in the characters front lines right now (it would have come later), instead they had to underline him and strip him of everything he did and give it to other characters, while giving him traits and opinions that has made a lot of people despise him.

His fate was meant to be a tragedy that made an apparent victory for the Blacks as hollow and catastrophic as a defeat. And now there's almost no more time and Jace will be remembered by show onlys just for his self-hating identity crisis (which he could have had in the book as well, or before in the show, but not anymore at this point) and his bordering hypocritical classism. Not for everything he actually did and the traits you could imagine of him from what is said in the book.

But hey, apparently a certain part of the fandom thinks that's the only thing that makes a character, a human, complex and interesting.

I don't hate show Rhaenyra. I don't hate show Jacaerys. I will always support Rhaenyra's claim. But I can't just stand after so many decisions that go against them. Especially in the case of Jace who is already receiving such amount of vitriol hate while receiving love just from being victimiced and poor sad boy.

Ah. My boy needs his own sub-team inside Rhaenyra's supporters at this point -- not putting him against Rhaenyra or anyone else. But. Seeing Rhaenyra's stans wishing for his death...

I don't hate the characters. I hate the writers. I hate the changed dynamics, the change in characters' ages, the erasure of Nettles, how Jace was striped from everything his characte is, the stupid decisions....

[shychick-52]

I will never get over the injustice of the fact that we never got a mutual hug between Sofia and Cedric. Not once, in all the times she hugged him, has he ever hugged her back.

Not even in season 4 when he finally turned over a new leaf and truly accepted/embraced his friendship with her, and how much he cared about her.

In season 2's 'Winter's Gift', there was a deleted storyboard/scene where they would have actually shared a hug at the end after Sofia gave him the homemade wand case for Wassailia, (which he was canonically overjoyed and touched to receive in the actual episode, saying it was the best present he ever got; it would have made the mutual hug all the more precious and meaningful, a milestone in their relationship, showing how much he truly had come to cherish her friendship). But I can't see any logical reason it would have gotten cut for time, because I don't see how that would have taken up any time at all, especially if it was meant to take place during the sweet "Happy holidays, Mr. Cedric" / "Yes, well, it is happy, isn't it?" exchange right at the end. And I can't see why the Disney higher-ups would have disapproved it, because it would have shown even more growth in Cedric's character. And not only were we deprived of a mutual hug, but there was no hug at all in the actual episode (it would have been so sweet to at least have Sofia hug him).

Near the end of season 2's 'The Enchanted Feast', after Sofia and Cedric manage to defeat Miss Nettle together, Sofia hugs him. And... it's not totally obvious, because Sofia was kind of in the way of his arm, but it does look like he either gave her a one-armed hug or at least affectionately patted her on the back (either way, it's absolutely adorable, and I can't stop rewinding it to this part every time I watch this episode). In any case, it's the closest we got to a canon shared hug between them (and maybe it was one), so it's one of my favorite scenes in the series! I don't know how to make gifs, so I'll try to show it in this clip (it's at the 0:34 mark) and in a couple screenshots:

The only time he TRULY hugged her back wasn't even 100% canon! It took place at the end of that cute 'Rain, Rain, Go Away' nursery rhyme short on Disney Junior's Youtube channel:

Now, if only that's what we'd got at the end of the series finale ('Forever Royal') after she thanked him for saving her from the amulet!! But not only did she not hug him at all one last time, but it would have been a perfect opportunity for him to be the one to initiate a hug, showing even more of his incredible character development and their bond:

Sofia the First~Forever Royal~Cedric Returns Sofia's Amulet (youtube.com)

It also was a missed opportunity for them to share a mutual hug at the end of the first episode of season 4 'Day of the Sorcerers' after Cedric earnestly expressed his gratitude to Sofia for defending him and advocating for a second chance to Roland (during the scene where Cedric was still on his knees after pleading for forgiveness to Roland, and Sofia returns his wand after Roland agrees to reinstate him as royal sorcerer). It really was a missed opportunity, because that the was the episode where Cedric finally truly chose friendship with Sofia over his evil dreams. But again, there was no hug at all:

And another fantastic opportunity would have been in s4's 'In Cedric We Trust', after Cedric sacrificed his safety to save Sofia's life, nearly injuring him. ("I can't believe how you saved me like that! You could have gotten really hurt!" / "So could you, Sofia."). Once again, zero hug at all (but it was so adorable how he took her by the hands, at least):

I would certainly hope that if Sofia had hugged him in all those scenes, he would have finally hugged her back!!

And again, him finally being the one to first hug her would have been FRIGGING EVERYTHING.

@sweetmariihs2 @fantadym @bettathanyou @moonypears-blog @cedric-my-beloved

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

You don’t believe Nettles was Daemon’s bastard?

🤨 Yes? I mean, no, I don't believe Daemon fucked his daughter. Presuming that's what you're asking, and that you aren't a sexual-relationship-denialist. (I find "anti" doesn't quite work as a properly definitive noun here.) If you are, though, you should reread:

By the dwarf’s account, Daemon Targaryen had come to love the small brown bastard girl, and had taken her into his bed. How much credence can we give the fool’s testimony? [...] Septon Eustace says her teeth were crooked, her nose scarred where it had once been slit for thieving. Hardly a likely paramour for a prince, one would think. Against that we have The Testimony of Mushroom…and in this case, the Chronicles of Maidenpool as set down by Lord Mooton’s maester. Maester Norren writes that “the prince and his bastard girl” supped together every night, broke their fast together every morning, slept in adjoining bedchambers, that the prince “doted upon the brown girl as a man might dote upon his daughter,” instructing her in “common courtesies” and how to dress and sit and brush her hair, that he made gifts to her of “an ivory-handled hairbrush, a silvered looking glass, a cloak of rich brown velvet bordered in satin, a pair of riding boots of leather soft as butter.” The prince taught the girl to wash, Norren says, and the maidservants who fetched their bath water said he oft shared a tub with her, “soaping her back or washing the dragon stink from her hair, both of them as naked as their namedays.” None of this constitutes proof that Daemon Targaryen had carnal knowledge of the bastard girl, but in light of what followed we must surely judge that more likely than most of Mushroom’s tales.

Or to sum up what Gyldayn is saying: "normally Mushroom is not trustworthy. However, here is a maester (someone in my job, someone I trust) with his professional records of the histories of Maidenpool, and he confirms Mushroom's story. I think it's very likely."

Or what GRRM is saying: "I know I set up Mushroom to be the wild sexy gossip you can't believe guy, but this is an actual bit of wild sexy truth here, ok? Sorry the conceit of my history book doesn't let me actually state anything outright."

And in case you were asking the daddy-in-more-ways-than-one question, no, I've stated from the start (2013 with TPATQ, tyvm) that Nettles exists to show that dragonriding does not necessarily require Valyrian blood. Daemon is just paternalistic. Patronizing, in a Henry Higgins meets "Wildest Dreams" kinda way...

[myimaginationplain]

I've found that when it comes to discussing who has the best claim to the iron throne and/or the Targaryen dynasty, there's often this implicit assumption that when Jon finds out about his true parentage, the knowledge will inevitably leak to the general Westerosi public. People love to theorize about whether or not the Northerners would continue to support Jon if his being Rhaegar's son came to light, or if he would be pushed as heir to the iron throne over Dany & Aegon, & I'm just like...how would any of them find out about it? Why would any of them find out about it?

I feel like some people believe that when Jon finds out about R + L = J, he'll, I dunno, send out news letters about it or something? Publicly renounce his status as Eddard Stark's son? I don't exactly understand what people think Jon would do with the information, but anything less than keeping as tight a lid on it as possible would be very out of character for Jon. Guys, we're talking about the same guy who purposefully gave a young mother the wrong baby. He's not gonna be cavalier about this.

The only people we can really be certain he'd feel the need to tell the truth to are Arya & Sansa. We know that Bran is likely to already know the truth himself by then through his greenseer tree-god bullshit; Rickon, even if he is found & taken to Winterfell by the time the other siblings reconvene (which I find highly unlikely), would probably be considered too young to trust with information like that.

Daenerys is also an extremely likely candidate for being one of the few people Jon would tell, although this is variable, as it depends on what sort of relationship you believe she & Jon will have by the time R + L = J is revealed. I for one am betting on she & Jon already being involved in some capacity by the time he finds out, thus making her one of the people he'd tell. But if you're in the camp of people who think they'll be enemies by then, he probably wouldn't tell her in that scenario.

Sam is furthest down on the very short list of people Jon would probably tell. I think it's likely, seeing how much he trusts Sam & leans on him for support. But still, it's not a sure thing.

So, including Howland Reed (who has successfully kept the secret for ~17 years now), that makes just 6-7 people who would be privy to Jon's parentage. None of whom would have much motivation to go screaming about it from the hilltops in any scenario where they're still behaving like themselves. (If any of you bring up show!Sansa here, then I'm gonna beat you with a hammer. Don't be a hypocrite; if you can acknowledge & accept that literally every other character was wildly ooc in Season 8, then do the same with Sansa. Betraying Jon's trust after swearing not to before a heart tree is just as ooc for book!Sansa as purposefully burning Kings' Landing to ash would be for book!Daenerys.)

Even in the event that Jon rides a dragon, I think that can easily be explained away by lying about Jon's mother. "Oh, why can I ride a dragon? Not many people know this, but my mother was actually a Lyseni whore. You know they have some Valyrian blood in them. She died in childbirth, though, which is why my lord father took me in." Who's gonna call his bluff on that? Ned's resolute silence on Jon's mother would absolutely work in his favor. The historical precident set by Nettles & others like her means that Jon can 100% just say his mother was the daughter of some unknown dragonseed or something.

IMO, the real question we should be asking is, if Jon were to have children, would he ever tell them the truth?

[filletedfennysnake]

Arthurian characters as insects I see on a semi-regular basis

Because if I don't do it, who will?

Part 1: The Orkney-Pendragons (and friends)

Arthur: Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus

To be completely honest, I didn't even realize the wordplay aspect here until now. The posterchild butterfly; even people unfamiliar with insects can probably name it. Impressive in terms of mileage (I suppose king arthur's been around for a while. chronologically) and also, under special circumstances, very resistant to death

Guinevere: Western velvety tree ant, Liometopum occidentale

To anyone who thinks guinevere would is a butterfly: you are wrong! ants upon be ye. No but seriously I've been working with this species all summer (images are mine, that's a winged male and a female worker above) and man they're neat! Dominant ant species in the woodland here; they support many other arthropod species via symbiotic relationships and are a major political ecological resource. They're also very pretty as ants go but really really aggressive and bitey. When stressed they release an alarm pheromone that smells very strongly of mint.

Morgan: Arizona mantis, Stagmomantis limbata

Cool. powerful. weird. into sex that humans find freaky. Can be used as a mercenary against flies. Never turns up when or where you expect it. I'm like 58% sure that manteoda consists entirely of fairies anyway and besides that morgan deserves it.

Morgause: Black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens

Very dapper, with an undeniably commanding presence. Looks mean (it has evolved to mimic a wasp) but is actually rather harmless, and has magic powers insanely cool mechanisms that allow it to process yucky polluted waste into useful things like fertilizer and animal feed. The larvae can also produce grease and chitin– economically relevant critters! They remain underrated and probably will stay as such until people recognize the importance of 'uncharismatic' animals (arthurian authors I am begging you write a version Morgause that isn't misogynist or girlbossified pLEASE).

Gawain: Western yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica

*points* bitch. No but seriously I can recognize the significance and beauty of these animals while still calling them out as annoying (this is gawaincore. to me). The only thing that stops them from becoming invasive in their OWN NATIVE RANGE is the occasional cold snap and lack of sun in the wintertime. In areas without that they are a serious problem. you want to drink a beverage or eat a burger in peace? No. your food is their food now and they won't hesitate to sting/bite in defense of this divine right. They thirst for carnage but are annoyingly pretty

Gringolet: Western paper wasp, Mischocyttarus flavitarsis

Matching with gawain <3. but seriously seeing one of these babies in person can be a little awe-inspiring if you aren't already expecting them. absolute BEASTS. generalist predators that can and will feed directly on living flesh. Their primary defense strategy is ramming into their opponent at full fucking speed. legends.

Agravaine: Red admiral, Vanessa atalanta

Underrated and pretty butterfly that uses nettles (prickly!) as a host plant. territorial but loses to bigger butterfly species all the time (I've seen it. trust me). Also a bit of a tease, they're notorious for letting people get close to them only to fly away as if personally affronted

Gaheris: Dusky raisin moth, Ephestiodes gilvescentella

not much to say here. It's gaheris. I find these in the pantry all the time, usually because they keep trying to lay eggs in our flour. They're a pain in the ass

Gareth: Western carpenter bee, Xylocopa californica

So very very cute and fuzzy. Not the kind of bee we get honey from, but it could pretend to be and we probably wouldn't mind. Absorbs heat well. Steals nectar from flowers without pollinating them sometimes, the little rascal. Also quite horny; they exhibit a variety of mating behaviors

Mordred: Painted lady, Vanessa cardui

knock off monarch butterfly. lol.

Lot: Torpedo bug, Siphanta acuta

not going to lie this insect is probably too cool looking get assigned to Lot

Kay: Stink beetle, Eleodes sp.

dignified. a bit of a trundler. gets the job done. Mostly harmless, but from a young age we're taught not to provoke them anyways because when threatened they release a truly awful stank

Ywain: Gulf fritillary, Dione vanillae

A gorgeous species that somehow gets overshadowed by the more showy butterflies. just a good-natured guy all round. I like ywain but I don't think he's too complicated :)

[pessimisticpigeonsworld]

If Nettles was white, she would be as popular as Lyanna, Brienne or Arya, and y’all know it.

She grew up a homeless orphan (which is why it’s so insulting when people try to act like she’s a freaking idiot who doesn’t know how to bathe herself yet she can tame a dragon🤦🏽‍♀️ Put most of the highborn women in her position and they wouldn’t survive a day in her shoes).

She’s the only known non-Valyrian dragonrider who claims a wild dragon. A prince who believes in Valyrian supremacy falls in love with her to the point where he’s willing to sacrifice his life for her. Nettles singlehandedly disproves the whole idea of Targaryen exceptionalism and their blood purity. She slowly earns a dragon’s trust by bringing him sheep, and gradually he lets her closer, and then forms the dragonrider bond and lets her fly. up until this point, nobody had tried a strategy like that before.

Nettles is self-made. She’s self-taught. She’s loved for herself. She survives a freaking war and becomes a fire goddess/witch. Who wouldn’t want her ? Who wouldn’t want to be her ? Unlike Rhaenyra and Alicent, she’s the final girl of F&B.

Once again, I don't understand where you got that I'm anti Nettles? I'm anti Nettles x Daemon, but other than that theory, I very much am a fan of Nettles as a character. I won't say that there isn't racism and unfairness that happen regarding Nettles' character (though I haven't seen it personally), because people can be really shitty. But me personally, again, I'm not anti Nettles, I just dislike certain groups of her stans.

Again, I don't deny that Nettles was a strong woman. She endured many things most characters in F&B don't and most likely survived the Dance. However, I do disagree with some of the ideas you're stating as fact.

For starters, we don't know if Nettles is non-Valyrian; that's one of the many theories surrounding her, but it's not confirmed, so stating it as fact is misleading. Just because she lacks traditional Valyrian features doesn't means she isn't a dragonseed.

Jace and his brothers don't look Valyrian but they very obviously are of Valyrian descent. Rhaenys, the queen who never was, had black hair; Duncan the son of Aegon V looked like his mother, Betha Blackwood; Aegor Rivers also had black hair; Baelor Breakspear had dark hair; Daeron son of Maekar had sandy brown hair; Rhaenys the daughter of Rhaegar had her mother, Elia Martell's features.

Moving on, Daemon's relationship with Nettles is ambiguous. We don't know if they were in a romantic relationship or if his attack on Aemond was purely to save her (though I'm sure that was part of his decision). Again, you are stating a theory you believe as fact, even though it's unconfirmed.

I'm not going to touch the whole thing of Targaryen exceptionalism, because, as I said earlier, Nettles' parentage is unconfirmed. But the whole blood purity thing still hasn't been disproven at any point of GRRM's works; they intermarried to preserve their magic blood, the magic blood still exists in ASOIAF due to the incest.

Nettles is an important character in the story of the Dance, but she isn't the "final girl" you claim she is, let alone of the whole book. There are several dragon riders who survived the Dance and thrived. Rhaena is the ancestor of the Tyrells in the main series. Aegon III is the ancestor of Daenerys, the Baratheons, any remaining Blackfyres, and possibly Jon Snow and Young Griff. Baela and Alyn are the ancestors of Aurane Waters and the Velaryons.

The book of F&B is so much more than the Dance of the Dragons. Saying that Nettles is the "final girl" of the book doesn't make any sense when she only appears in a few sections. That's like saying Alys Rivers is actually the main character of the book. Nettles disappears after the Dance and doesn't appear in any other event. She does nothing else after her disappearance and has relatively little impact on the history of Westeros post Dance.

I have absolutely no idea where you're getting the whole "fire goddess/witch" thing. However, you have already been throwing out theories and your personal biases as fact, so I don't think it matters. I'm not trying to control who your fav is, I totally understand wanting to be a certain book character. But that doesn't mean you can act like everyone else is wrong for not having the same fav as you.

It's that kind of entitlement, thinking you're better than everyone else that makes people not like Nettles stans. It's almost on par with stansas and Alicent stans. People like you project so hard onto your favs, you take any perceived insult, critique, or argument as a personal attack. It's exhausting interacting with people like you.

[midlandslady]

Writers and audience impact

I hate hate hate when the writers/ producers/ directors wait for the audience's reaction to see if they should push a pairing in or not.

Like wtf? By the time they get our reaction, we have already been fed a story. And some of us will have loved it and others hated it but it was the story they created. Changing the pairing later based on the fandoms is so f* stupid.

I have stopped watching countless of tv shows because of this.

Examples: Vampire diaries. I really liked it at that time of my life. And I liked Stefan and Elena. They were a bit too lovey-dovey and boring? Yes, but I liked them. The story was about them. The books too. But because Damon was more handsome and sexier and had, according to the audience, better chemistry with Elena, they decided to give what the audience preferred, going against the original book.

The 100 is an odd example. Everyone loved Bellamy and Clarke, they are also the romantic pairing in the book. But the tv show created such a deep profound connection between them that was better than the book. It was an enemies-to-lovers trope developed to perfection. But what did they do? They destroyed it in what seems to be a clear defiance of what the public loved and the book. It made no sense at all. I stopped watching when I realized it was going in that direction and decided to wait for the finale. And I'm so glad I did. Horrible thing. I hate even the memory of having loved it.

Another example. Never have I ever. Yes, Paxton was the hot boy that we should begin to hate at some point in a very cliché fashion. And Ben is the rival that will become a friend and then a lover. All good. But then they developed Paxton and Paxton was ten thousand times better than Ben. And by the end of season 1 and particularly season 2, I was sure Team Paxton had won. But I was wrong. There comes the shift. For 2 seasons I loved Devi and Paxton but then all that development and fairytale-like ending is put into the garbage and I am supposed to pretend it never happened because now the main pairing is Ben and Devi. I did not watch season 3 and season 4. To me, it ended in season 2 and what an amazing ending it was.

So yes, I was afraid that House of the Dragon would be the same. They created a story between Daemon and Rhaenyra in season 2 that was special and magical in a very hauntingly gothic fashion. It was perfection, the chemistry, the between-the-lines feelings, the desire, the attraction, the frustration. My god, we could feel it all. And every episode was so exciting because of that. People loved it, not everyone, but most people loved it. People were in love with Daemyra and with Daemon and with Matt Smith. There were hundreds of videos on youtube, pages on the internet talking about it, it was everywhere. It couldn't have been more successful. But the writers somehow, despite creating such a beautiful thing, were surprised that the public loved it so much. So they came out saying: you're seeing it wrong. Daemon is mean, evil, selfish and cruel and you need to see that. So they create a season 2 to make us hate daemon, to make us fall out of love with Daemyra. Yet they were fearful of pushing it too far so they still gave us a happy ending to keep us satisfied. But are they waiting to see if we have given up on Daemyra and would be more open to other pairings that they wish to introduce? I want to believe they won't do it, but do I trust it 100%? Of course not. Similarly, they are giving contrary information about Helaemond to see how we react and if they can push it or move away from it in season 3. I also think they didn't make Rhaena claim sheepstealer to see how fans would react to the potential elimination of Nettles. And I hate that they do it! Just be consistent, for god's sake! Write the damn story as you did before knowing how the public would react but be consistent with what you started.