Daemon's Wrong Wraith-visions (2/2)

Daemon's Wrong Wraith-visions (2/2)

Harrenhal and the visions or illusions therein should be a great narrative device to explore the newly discovered shortcomings of Daemon as a husband and leader, and it would make sense to address them now; after taking Harrenhal Daemon isn't said to have done much for a while in Fire and Blood so it makes sense to fill out the plot. There are also some hugely tough and tragic events on the horizon, and having Daemon recommitted to Rhaenyra is essential for the Black Faction to remain as a challenger for the throne. Additionally in the final arc of the Dance, Daemon being firmly and assuredly devoted to Rhaenyra will add tragedy to both his and her actions. To have the impact of those events and actions truly land, the audience's faith in Daemon as a husband to Rhaenyra and as a King-Consort to his Queen need to be unshakable. So it makes sense to devote time now to addressing any cracks in him.

But they picked the wrong wraiths to do it.

The first vision should have been of Viserys, allowing Daemon the chance to lash out at him properly; for never treating him as the true heir, and for not realizing Daemons devotion to him as a brother and a ruler. A lot of this was Ottos HighTower's poisoning of Viserys against him, but Dream-Viserys should also bring up all the instances in which Daemons selfish and short sighted actions not only undermined his own cause but harmed those he proclaimed to love.

Case in point; Rhaenyra and the brothel. Riding high on the step stones victory Daemon could have used that leverage and well thought out arguments and petitioned for her hand; It would quieten those people who didn't like a woman as the next ruler, as they may feel he would rule through her, which was incorrect but it would mean they didn't act against her rule; it would have stopped those who were whispering that Aegon should be the heir as he was a son, as now the kings brother would be the next King(in a way); it wouldn't have been out of character for the family, and Daemon had always treated her well (even if Viserys didn't believe he truly loved her); Rhaenyra hadn't found any men on her tour she liked but after such a procession she needed to announce a betrothal. And Viserys could annul the marriage to Rhea and allow her to marry again - another female 'ruler' of her house, which would lend support to Rhaenyra's claim to rule as a woman and a daughter of the former Lord.

But instead Daemon tries to 'force' Viserys to give him what he wants, and looses out on all of it. Not only that, Rhaenyra's reaction to his abandonment is sleeping with Sir Criston and then rejecting him which creates an enemy for life, one who is now in command of her bothers Kingsguard and Army; An enemy she would not have if not for that night. Additionally a key part of Daemon trying to force the marriage relied upon Rhaenyra's reputation being sullied, which would have carried over to her as Queen. She would have started her rule with people whispering that she was a whore in the same way they currently whisper that her sons are bastards. In trying to get what he wanted Daemon actively harmed Rhaenyra, something he claimed in his next breath he would ever do; why on earth should Viserys trust that he loved her when his first act when back home was to harm her?

These discussions and scenes would be compared to Daemons actions with Blood and Cheese; anther instance of Daemon acting selfishly because he was frustrated but which harmed Rhaenyra's reputation and position as Queen. He needs to stop acting this way, or no one he loves will ever trust him to act without supervision.

The second vision should have been Jaehaerys, for Daemon to work through his reaction to having to manage both the duty as a ruler and that of a husband. Jaehaerys is seen in Fire and Blood and GOT as probably the greatest Targaryen King, however his actions as a father and grandfather were terrible and caused untold issues within the Targaryen family which Daemon is still dealing with. His disregard of his children left them feeling like pawns in his plans, his lack of care for his daughters and forcing them to not only marry but marry young lead of 4 of them dying before the age of 20 and 1 fleeing the continent, his decision to change the succession from Aemon's line (i.e. Rheneys) to his second son Baelon (who was alive with two sons - Viserys and Daemon) caused his wife to leave him and live apart for ~2 years, and his refusal to betroth Daemon to his youngest daughter instead of Rhea Royce caused Daemon years of anguish and didn't prevent his daughter Geal from dying a few years later.

Jaehaerys also put the succession to the vote in The Great Council, instead of deciding the succession for himself; he had already declared Baelon as his heir over Rhaenys when her father Amon died, he could have done the same again when Baelon died and simply stated that the succession stood unchanged and Viserys would continue to be his heir. Instead he called all the great houses and asked their opinions; not only did this fracture the relationships between Rhaenys and Viserys/Daemon as they stood as challengers to one another, it established a male heir as 'better' than a female one and it gave the houses the impression that their opinion on the succession could and should be asked for. Now The Greens are exploiting these precedents to argue that the houses (who follow Andal succession rules) should champion Aegon and ignore the previous Kings wishes. Jaehaerys acted as a ruler by soliciting his lords opinions, and not as a head of the family to prevent fracturing relationships.

As a result of or at least partially because of Jaehaerys' actions the Targaryen family at the time of his death had only 4 members (if you count Rhaenys as a Velaryon due to her marriage) and was fundamentally fractured, and now a succession is able to be challenged.

A Dream-Jaehaerys who praised Daemon for prioritizing the realm over his laboring wife would likely horrify Daemon. To be told that he was on the course to be that kind of ruler would be a great opportunity for Daemon to work through what kind of father and grandfather he wants to be within the context of also being a King. Daemon was shown to be quite a loving husband to those partners he loved and respected, so having him reaffirm that he doesn't want to be a great ruler at the expense of his family would be an amazing character moment.

The final vision should be of Aemma, his mother Alyssa, and his first wife Leana, to make Daemon realize that his 'role' is one traditionally held by women and yeah, news flash, it sucks. Oh your opinions and views, which are informed and intelligent, aren't being listened to? You can only advise the ruler and not just have your advice acted upon? Your power is dependent upon the person you married, and all your decisions, advice and suggestions must be run past them before they can be actioned? Wow, truly shocking, how horrible for you.

This is the reality of those married to the ruler and while that has up until now been a women you are seeking to change that and so it will be the role you occupy; Your duty is to advise and aid them, you will not be able to act in your own interest unless it aligns with theirs. Daemon would struggle with this, both as a man who has never needed to defer to his wife or to any woman to be 'allowed' to do anything, and also as a person who has never liked answering to others or having to have approval for his actions. When we see Leana and Daemon in Pentos it is clear that Daemon is in control of their life and decisions as a couple and a family; Leana wishes to return to Driftmark and needs to petition Daemon for permission to return. Daemon is not used to being the one needing to petition. This position is hard to navigate and so those who occupy it, and up until this point that was been women, have learned to work by influencing others and controlling those who are able to act without oversight or restriction.

It wouldn't be 100% the same for Daemon of course as he still is both a man in a world that values that and a proven leader, so his opinion will be sought out and heard. But he will need to come to terms with the reality of his role and the world in which he will operate.

If he wishes to be given greater freedoms to act independently then he must earn that trust, and to do so he needs to stop acting selfishly and re-prioritize his role as a husband and father over that of a leader and ruler. Then the actual ruler will trust in the decisions he makes enough that they will not need to constantly limit or review them.

And if he can make peace with the reality of his role within his family, in that he was never supposed to be King and will always be second to his wife, then he can finally be the support and comfort that he claims he wants to be to the woman he loves. He can stop judging her actions by the yardstick of his own perspective (i.e I would have handled that differently, and by not doing it my way you are doing it wrong) and truly help his family heal and reestablish themselves as the gods-amongst-men which he views them to be.

The Elephant and the Chisel

For my whole life I've thought of myself as a statue, but I didn't know it until today. Until someone made a comment about a skinny girl inside who'll never arrive and I thought wait, I've thought that before.

I realized that is how I've been viewing myself and my body. That inside of me there is a more beautiful version of myself just waiting to be free, and if I can only chip away enough I can free her. If I can find the right creams and gels, the right clothes and poses, stop eating the wrong foods, if I can find the right exercises and do them for long enough, no longer, longer still...eventually this inner me, the beautiful woman who I'm waiting to be, will be revealed.

All I must do is chip away at the extraneous. Remove those parts society tells me I shouldn't have or don't need. That let me down or spoil the whole. My uneven skin tone. My heavy frame. My poor posture. My bad dress sense. My buck teeth. My frizzy hair.

Don't worry there's a cream for that. What's your skin care routine? You should add this one, once a month, it helps tighten your face. And this one, once a week to make it plump. And this one, everyday to smooth the tone.

And your hair. Have you tried this brush or that shampoo? No? But it can fix that issue, so and so swears by it, honestly look at the reviews.

Where do you work out? Do you work out? How do you work out? Oh you haven't tried this, you simply must, its essential to tone your arms. You should add that to your leg day, it really helps with you butt. Add this, stop that, change everything.

Have I chipped enough away yet? Can you see her, the beauty stuck within me? I know she's there. The world has told me she will come if I just do this right. If I do all the right things, in the right way, then eventually that striking, beautiful woman will be set free. Finally.

And that is what I've been told I should dedicate my life to, all of my precious and limited spare time, removing parts of myself. Chipping and cutting and picking and prying until finally someone will say 'voila! There she is. We always knew you could be beautiful!'

'There was always an elephant inside the rock, I just removed the parts that weren't'. How did those parts feel, to be torn from their whole? Told they were getting in the way. Told they spoilt the view?

Can Stray Kids fit a smooth jazz album I somewhere in their schedule?

Between hearing Binnie and Han sing ‘All That Jazz’ on SKZ talker, to Seungmin on Stray Kids radio saying he listens to Swing Jazz as he gets ready in the morning, and Chan telling Teen Vogue that jazz is his current ‘weird’ genre to listen to… *please* can they release a crooners album?

Seungmin was just begging to be part of 3Racha, so let’s make it happen!

Alternate TUA season 4 suggestion

**spoilers**

Why don’t you have the Umbrella Academy having to give up their powers, instead of erasing themselves from the universe?

What if S4 still starts 6 years in from where S3 ended and we still see them all doing Normie things but also just kind of existing or killing time. And then we flashback to when they reset the universe and realised they had no powers, so they had to run somewhere safe to regroup only then Sir Reginald contacted them. He revealed that in resetting the universe it was as if they had been ‘born’ again; their powers were back to next to nothing, suppressed but still there.

Five then does his mathematical limbo-jumbo, reminds them all that their powers didn’t truly appear until they were teenagers, and calculates that with them being adults now it will take about 6 years for their powers to come back. So they decide to kill time until then, and split up to do what they want while they wait.

They haven’t fully resigned themselves to life without their powers though, and keep planning for the day they can be ‘themselves’ again. We see each ‘kid’ not taking an opportunity or cutting off a plan because they are expecting their powers to come back, so they’re planning for that day. Even Diageo and Lila have thought ‘let’s have kids now while we can before we become super-powered again’.

Episode 1 still goes the same way, though instead of drinking the marigold it’s just reactivated at the right time and they all get their old powers back. Or new ones because of the reset, either method works.

The whole season can go the same way (bar Five/Lila because Eww) but the revelation about the marigold is that they are going to have to voluntarily give it up, and it will then be destroyed. Maybe the method of extracting it is going to kill Sir Reginald too? And there’s no take backs and no further opportunities to be special.

And now these abused kids turned damaged adults are going to have to address that they both hate and love their powers; it’s the reason for their twisted childhood, a lot of their trauma, and why they’re fucked up people but at the end of the day it’s a huge part of who they are and their self worth is tied to it.

Give us scenes of all these broken damaged people having to overcome their internal view of themselves, in that the adults in their life always valued them for their powers and so they too have valued themselves due to how ‘special’ they are, and now they’re being asked to give that up? That’s going to be a hard ask for all of them, especially Viktor.

But they’ve grown, matured, lived as un-powered people and created lives for themselves. And yeah they didn’t intend to stay as un-powered normies and so those lives aren’t as great as they could be but at the end of the day they’re family and that’s all they need. And now they can truly plan for a future in this world without the fear of being to save it again.

So they decided to give up their powers to stop the world from ending itself, killing their abuser once and for all and ending that cycle. Now they’re free of the responsibility to save the world they can finally try and discover who and what they could be. They’ve grown past the mould others tried to fit them in, rejected the gifts those who controlled them most valued, and now they’re a family of choice not ability.

I’m seeing a lot of discourse about Bridgeton Season 3 and the recasting of certain characters and people keep talking about it being unfair to the original actors, or that they shouldn’t have jumped to other projects (Francesca’s season 1 actor was cast as the lead in Lockwood and Co, which was then unfortunately cancelled…) and instead they should have stayed around to be avalible etc.. and I think we’re missing an obvious point:

People don’t want to watch the kids that grew up on their Tv have s*x.

Bridgerton by definition is a s*xual show, with explicit scenes and n*dity from its leads. When it gets around to the younger kids stories (if the show’s renewed enough) no one will be 100% comfortable watching s*x scenes when they remember that actor as a child.

Game of Thrones ran into this issue too. We all watched Maisie Williams grow up on screen, watched as her characters story grew and she had to handle tougher subject matter and scenes. No one wrote into complaint when we watched her pretend to kill a child at 14 (playing an 11 yr old Arya Stark), when she blinded and killed a p*edophile at as an actor of 18 (15 for Arya) or watched what was essentially torture p*rn of a blind 19 year old being beaten relentlessly every week for a month.

But when it came time to do an intimate scene… suddenly the audience felt awkward. Something about s*xual intimacy crossed some internal boundary for a large portion of the audience and suddenly the voyeuristic nature of being an audience in those scenes was driven home. It was okay being a viewer to explicit scenes if they were violent or gory, but explicit scenes of romance… nope that somehow feels indecent.

It was a tasteful scene, only partial n*dity, nothing full frontal, and the blocking and writing made it clear it was consensual and enjoyable. In every way possible this was a positive thing for Arya as a character and as both the character and actor were adults there was no concern about appropriate story lines.

And yet.

People wrote in. People switched off, fast forwarded, talked about it at work on Monday. Articles were written, and it became a discussion piece around the TV; even knowing all the above people still felt wrong watching an actor they first knew as a child and who they ‘watched grow up on screen’ perform a s*x scene.

So I think a big part of Bridgerton’s casting choices around the younger children is to head this off at the pass and to not invite the discussion. Why risk even a percentage of your audience not watching the intimate scenes that season (or god forbit not streaming the season at all!) when you can just recast and remove the problem? Why borrow trouble or controversy, especially when other plot points in future stories will likely do that all on their own?

This way we get to have a child character played by a child actor, who the audience can find cute and precocious, who they can feel parental and familial toward with complete peace of mind. And then when the season comes for that siblings love story, ‘oh would you look at that puberty made them look all grown up and completely different’! A new adult actor is playing the adult version and the audience can watch them enjoy their love affair with no guilt, unease, or annoyance.

So yes it’s probably sad for the actors who first played these characters or are playing them now to know that they won’t get to be the one to act out their characters ‘main character moment’ season. But they were hired on in that capacity, they knew what they signed up for, and at the end of the day no one is ‘entitled’ to anything in Showbusiness.

The whole show’s already a guilty pleasure, so let’s not tip the balance too far!

Article in 'Film Threat' mag from the early 90s. We're either looking at a cool movie which went into production but never released, or Goncharov 2