#ask — otto.

[alicent-archive]

Ah, yes. Team Green. Featuring a repressed lesbian still reeling from the fallout of her complicated situationship. An evil grandfather who eventually will become jobless. A guard who doubles as a stepfather and a hit man. An alcoholic. A doomed prophetess. An overpowered anime villain and his geriatric nuclear warhead. And a fourth child who may or may not exist.

[ottosbigtop]

for your drawing reccs, u should draw an otto mentallis... i miss he

I miss his weird ass… I hear u anon

[synchodai]

HBO's Continued Insistence on Dumbing Down Westerosi Politics

So there have been countless thinkpieces already on how GOT simplified the feudalist politics of Westeros (by giving a lowborn sellsword lordship over The Reach, by having no consequences for destroying the Sept of Baelor, etc.), but I haven't seen a lot of people talking about that for House of the Dragon.

The worst being that the show presupposes that Rhaenyra is the lawful heir when the books showed there are plenty of lawful arguments why she wouldn't be.

Mind you that I've been enjoying the show a lot so far. This is just to vent out my frustration with the writers' failure to fully engage with the values and protocols of the Middle Age-inspired setting. The show seems uninterested in laws of the Realm in a story ostensibly about politics, save for when they're using it as an excuse to amplify depictions of sex and violence.

Blacks vs Greens wasn't a matter of misunderstanding of who each side thought Viserys wanted on the throne. It was the Targaryens' belief of their absolute authority clashing with the Realm's established traditions. Everyone always knew who Viserys chose as heir. In Fire and Blood, Grand Maester Orwyle said as much when he was parleying with Rhaenyra on behalf of the Greens.

Rhaenyra heard his terms in stony silence, then asked Orwyle if he remembered her father, King Viserys. "Of course, Your Grace," the maester answered. "Perhaps you can tell us who he named as his heir and successor," the queen said, her crown upon her head. "You, Your Grace," Orwyle replied. And Rhaenyra nodded and said, "With your own tongue you admit I am your lawful queen. Why do you serve my half-brother, the pretender?" Munkun tells us that Orwyle gave a long and erudite reply, citing the Andal law and the Great Council of 101. Mushroom claims he stammered and voided his bladder. Whichever is true, his answer did not satisfy Princess Rhaenyra.

(For non-F&B readers: Munkun is the Grand Maester who served Aegon III, the king who came after this civil war. Munkun's book, The Dance of the Dragons, A True Telling, is one of Fire and Blood's source texts. Mushroom is the King Landing court jester from Viserys I to Aegon III's reign. One is a source written with academic rigor but is secondhand at best. The other is a firsthand eyewitness account but is from a literal fool who will take every chance to make things more scandalous and sexual to please the crowd.)

In House of the Dragon, they replaced Orwyle with Otto and Orwyle's discussion of legal precedent with Otto handing Rhaenyra a book page from Alicent. It's quite evident here that the writers, much like Mushroom, thought a discussion on the actual laws of the Realm were negligible in this story about a succession war.

Even Alicent made no pretense that Viserys chose Rhaenyra over her children and I have no idea why the HBO writers decided to make her mistakenly think otherwise. Maybe they thought a queen regent pushing her son to take the throne over another woman made her appear unsympathetic as a character, but if anything, this only makes show!Alicent less politically savvy and more delusional than her book counterpart, fully believing an addled king's vague muttering on his deathbed was sufficient grounds to change heirs last minute.

Book!Alicent following Andal laws instead of her husband's wishes makes sense given her Andal upbringing, her devotion to the Faith of the Seven which enforces said laws, and her desire to protect her children from Rhaenyra given that Rhaenyra has shown she's not above murdering family (see: Laenor).

In the books, there was a long discussion between the former king's council on who should succeed Viserys.

Here are the arguments for Rhaenyra:

Rhaenyra was older than her brothers and had more Targaryen blood

the late king had chosen her as his successor, that he had repeatedly refused to alter the succession despite the pleadings of Queen Alicent and her greens

hundreds of lords and landed knights had done obeisance to the princess in 105 AC, and sworn solemn oaths to defend her rights.

Here are the arguments for Aegon II:

many of the lords who had sworn to defend the succession of Princess Rhaenyra were long dead [...]

Ironrod, the master of laws, cited the Great Council of 101 and the Old King’s choice of Baelon rather than Rhaenys in 92

the hallowed Andal tradition wherein the rights of a trueborn son always came before the rights of a mere daughter

Ser Otto reminded them that Rhaenyra’s husband was none other than Prince Daemon, and “we all know that one’s nature. Make no mistake, should Rhaenyra ever sit the Iron Throne, it will be Lord Flea Bottom who rules us, a king consort as cruel and unforgiving as Maegor ever was [...]”

Should the princess reign [...] Jacaerys Velaryon would rule after her. “Seven save this realm if we seat a bastard on the Iron Throne.”

Once again, the show chose to cut out this long political discussion. Instead, the council had already made up their mind and decided to stage a coup (when in their perspectives from the books, it would definitely not be a coup).

For all their marketing how two sides are equally grey, HotD is actively delegitimizing Aegon II. The strongest argument for him is how his claim follows the laws of the Realm, but the show doesn't seem to care about the laws of the Realm or the political need to maintain a more predictable/tested transfer of power.

Instead, the show focuses on Viserys's relationship with his daughter and the mysticism of the Targaryen bloodline. In doing so, they emphasize Rhaenyra's strongest arguments for succession — that she's more of a Targaryen than her half-brother and that her father prefered her.

And what for? Because in our modern-day, we don't have male-prefered inheritance and people can only imagine misogyny as the only injustice here? What about the injustice of a monarch exercising absolute control, thinking that his "superior" heritage makes him above the established laws of the native people?

This is not to say Aegon II is unquestionably the heir. But this is to say that the show removed the political nuance of why people are questioning in the first place. Precedence isn't the end-all-be-all of succession, but neither is "because daddy said so".

[potato-lord-but-not]

Draw the girls shirtless too

at first I was like can I even post that but the answer is yes. yes I can.

[allyriadayne]

ALICENT & OTTO // 2.02 Rhaenyra The Cruel

[felsicveins]

Ok but what if he tried to flirt with Branch? Only we all know Poppy won't stand for it

In your dreams, pal

[cornkernelle]

love how you casually drop a legit goddess on the side. Nana Otter is very exceptional!! 👌

I remembered making a sketch of her reference when this ask was sent! Thank you for this, I was able to stuff a bunch of info in this little page!! ^^

[marggri]

[illuteridae]

those guys from that game

[friendlyengie]

hi so i've loved your fem fortress ocs for a while now and i've only just recently been motivated to draw + finalize designs for my own femforters. and i kinda have gone about the whole process with your stuff in mind because i like how yours are separate characters from the canon mercs who fight + interact alongside them (plus i think flat out genderbends are annoying and push weird stereotypes but that's another jar of bugs) and that's the model i'm using as well! tbh it makes characterizing and designing more fun because you get to think about how your oc team might coexist with the canon team. in short, you are a big source of inspiration for me on this so thank you:)

also also thank you for making so many of your characters lesbians. thank you like genuinely. boss is my favorite btw. sincerely a lesbian ok bye

hey hell yeah!! Yeah that’s about why I chose the “separate people” aspect too, it’s just so much more freeing and interesting if you want to make them characters and not just alternative designs. That’s super cool to hear! I’m glad that my ladies were helpful in that regard!

and of course! I love lesbians shout out lesbians. Boss is also my favorite and I love that she’s a big hit she sucks so bad. Sincerely an aro butch.

^ some lesbians for your troubles

[thesunfyre4446]

When it comes to Alicent everything is about Rhaenyra

things in alicent's life that are not about rhaenyra :

(the last one is her doing all of the actual work of running the kingdom with otto while your qween is having a 6 years long vacay with her uncle husband on dragonstone)

[ryssbelle]

Bro didn't even get a chance

Wanted to try my hand at the drawing Otto with your oc trend, but like this little guy is the only one I got so here they are in da void.

I thought this would be a funny bit but realized halfway through it was very similar to one felsicveins already did here but again I was already halfway done so I was like screw it I'm finishing it XD

Otto belongs to @felsicveins

[thewritetofreespeech]

Could I request Aemond's s/o defending him? S/o's words were so scathing and brutally honest, no one can talk back to her.

Your heels click furiously as you ascend up the stairs of the tower to the room of the King’s Hand. A message had come earlier that morning requesting, no demanding, your presence at once and it infuriated you that just mere moments after his return Lord Hightower thought he could just order you around.

The door opened after you had made your way to the top, and the servant left immediately after that. Clearly having been told to give the two of your privacy. "You summoned me."

"Yes, thank you for coming." Otto replied calmly. Clever enough to pick up on the distain in your voice, but also clever enough to know not to acknowledge it. "I wanted to talk to you for a moment about Aemond."

You arched a brow. There were a lot of things you thought this conversation could be about, Aemond being one of them, but your husband had been very low on your list. "What about him?"

"How is your marriage to my grandson going?"

"...Fine..." Again, this was a very strange conversation. But you were still on your hackles as you were not sure where this line of questioning was going.

"That is good to hear. My grandsons can be a... challenge." That sounded more personal than he may have meant. "Aegon is too concerned with the opinions of others. He is reckless in his pursuit of praise and adoration, to the point of weakness."

"Careful," you caution, "is it not treason to speak ill of your king?"

"Aemond is the opposite." Otto continued. Ignoring your quip. "He is reckless in pursuit of damnation. He thinks he knows better. That books and study make up for lack of experience. And for that he will accept the guidance of no others."

"Maybe he does know better. Have you bothered to ask him?"

Otto huffed through his nose. Coming to realize his grandsons may not be the only challenge with your cheek. "I want you to caution him in my stead."

"You mean reign him in?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes." He confessed. "Aemond will not listen to me. He thinks everyone is conspiring against him."

"Aren't you?" You counter back. "You are literally conspiring with his wife to spy on and manipulate him to your own ideas."

"Encouraging him to see reason."

"You can spin this however you would like, Lord Hand, but that is what you are doing and I shall play no part in it."

"You would see your husband break under the weight of his own ambition."

You shrug. "Maybe he will. Or maybe he'll fly. But I do know this, I will not break his trust."

Otto huffed again. Crossing his arms now as he seemed to debate on a new strategy to overcome your objection. “I thought you were clever, and therefore more reasonable.”

Flattery.

“No, you thought I would be more pliable. Because I am the fairer sex? Or because you’re too scared to confront Aemond about your concerns?”

“You know, when the contracts came for who my grandson would marry, it was I who put your House name up for consideration.”

Indebtedness.

“Then I owe you for my eternal happiness. We shall name our 4th child after you.”

Otto sneered. Frustrated at your flippant tone now, but also the slight. “Your husband will die if he continues this path. And the wives to traitors, should Rhaenyra win, do not end well.”

Fear.

You have to admit. That one almost got you.

“Then let us see to it that we do not lose, and my husband will be safe, the realm secure, and all shall live happily ever after under the true Targaryen rule.” You intentionally leave it blank on who would be ruling, Aegon or Aemond, but sure as the sun rose a Targaryen would sit the throne at the end of the day. “Now, if you excuse me, I must return to my duties and my husband.” The tone in your voice letting Otto know that your loyalties had been chosen, and this conversation would not happen again.

Your curtsy like a lady for the Lord Hand and see yourself out. Half way down the stairs you change your mind from telling Aemond about the incident to keeping it to yourself. You do not wish to lie to your husband, ever. But if he heard that his grandsire had conspired with you to keep him on a leash, there was a good chance he would throw the man from his tower. Otto had been right about one thing, Aemond was getting more reckless in his frustrations on the war. Perhaps he had been right to try to help steer him towards more caution, if you could, but it would be for no benefit other than Aemond’s and your future together. You would not be another knife in Aemond’s back for him, nor would you be another pretty pawn for the Hand to manipulate his King, or Regent, with. Otto Hightower was on his own.

[ottosbigtop]

humbly asking for your clown bear fursona they look nice

Going thru old files and found this guy hiding in a bunch of my tf2 ocs. So here’s bungee (again)

[desnaa]

met alfred molina after his play in new york last week and gave him a little doc ock. he loved it so much 🥺❤️

[allyriadayne]