#Cause you have this marginalized women who for one reason or another don't fit the beauty standards feeling resentment

[supercool-here]

Watching the episode (94th) where the cuartel prompts Berta to get the surgical procedure to have a hot bod and it's Betty and Inesita the only ones having reasonable and smart takes as to why she shouldn't do it (and get the car her husband told her to get instead) but in the end she does get the procedure because insecurities and ego and vanity and coaxing and whatnot. And then they tell Betty how she's ingenuous for believing a man can love you no matter your looks. And then it's BETTY who ends up looking prettier without having undergone any surgeries, but most importantly, Armando, the womanizer who was always surrounded by models and who only chased the most beautiful women, falls in love with her, out of all the ordinary and even undeniably unattractive women he must have met in his lifetime.

[bard-llama]

Ciri contemplating on the Geopolitical chessboard that has formed: "Let's see, we have Meve in Lyria and Rivia, Anais could take up Free... Well, whatever... Temeria, Adda has a strong claim in Redenia, Skellige seems fine under Cerys, the Free Pontar Valley has Saskia, Kaedwen is leaderless, we don't care about Dol Blathanna... Stennis in Aedirn is a problem, but I'll find some way to get rid of him." Vooris is confused on why she would like to get rid of such a sycophant.

Ooooh, I like that! Like, politically, I think Ciri has to marry Morvran Voorhis, because we know that the Nilfgaardian nobles are displeased with the war and how much Emhyr has committed to it. So bringing in a daughter no one has ever heard of? Yeah, she would have to marry someone that appeases the noble families or she would face civil war.

Morvran was groomed by Emhyr as a potential successor (+ his dad was part of a plot to remove Emhyr and place Morvran on the throne, but he wasn't involved in it. Still, I might be a lil pissed if my mentor hanged my dad, even if my dad betrayed me). But we know that Ciri will be a very different ruler from Emhyr. She takes the throne wanting to make real change the way a lone witcher cannot, which likely means she'd enact a number of social reforms, even if she has to fight the nobility to get it through.

But all that is to say, Morvran's expectations of what his Empress will be like are probably wildly inaccurate at first, so he'd be very confused why she would get rid of someone who can so clearly easily be controlled.

But she doesn't want tools, she wants people. She wants to be able to make life better for peasants and nonhumans and other such marginalized groups. She wants to see leaders of other kingdoms that care about their people. That are reasonable and can be worked with. (That they all happen to be women is a happy 'coincidence'. But uh... turns out that in patriarchial societies, women tend to do a better job of not thinking with their cocks).

So there's the Free Pontar Valley with Saskia. There's Enid an Gleanna/Francesca Findabair in Dol Blathanna, Meve in Lyria and Rivia, and Adda the White in Redania/Kaedwen (Redania invaded Kaedwen and took over under Radovid). That's a lot of the North's real estate. All that's really left is Aedirn, like you said. And Stennis would be a problem, but it kinda depends on what state Aedirn is in. By which I mean, if Nilfgaard took over Aedirn after Demavend's death, even if Stennis was left alive (the coward probably ran from battle), then Aedirn would just need to be governed locally by someone loyal to Nilfgaard. Which some could maybe argue Stennis is, but uh... yeah, we know better. Also, he's a shit leader and if he was governor, then Aedirn is falling into ruin, esp after the invasion. So getting rid of him would be more like getting rid of an irritating beaurocrat. She could probably even do it without killing him, but where's the fun in that? Or maybe she extradites Stennis to Saskia and they put him on trial for the attempted assassination?

On the other hand, if Stennis takes over the throne after his father dies in W2 and somehow manages to not get taken over by Nilfgaard (which actually is possible, but only if we ignore the probable canon that Nilfgaard takes Lyria and Rivia too). Then you've got several strong (potentially) rulers and one weak link in the chain. But if Ciri wants to conquer Aedirn, then her army has to get there. Which is important for several reasons.

1) After the Nilfgaardian War + the White Frost, her army is... probably not in the best state. And Nilfgaard enlists their infantry, meaning if you're a farmer or whatever of eligible age and fitness, you are now fighting on the front for Nilfgaard. But a lot of their infantry dies (because they're inexperienced and not soldiers), which means suddenly her realm doesn't have enough farmers to bring in the crops or to sow new ones for next year. That's likely part of why Nilfgaard was demanding grain as tribute from conquered villages. But locally, they probably destroyed most of the crops ('cause walking an army over a farm will do that), so there's already gonnna be (already are) issues with famine in her empire.

2) If Ciri did somehow put together the fighting force to take Aedirn, she has to get there. This is getting super long, so I'll put the map under a cut, but the only direct way from her territory (i.e. all of Nilfgaard below the Yaruga + Temeria and Temeria's protectorates (Brugge, Sodden, etc.)) into Aedirn is north of the Mahakaman Mountains, through Iorveth's forest. Which means she's have to march her army all the way to the northern tip of her territory and then establish supply lines through a forest that is filled with monsters and murdrous squirrels (well, maybe).

Okay, I guess technically a second way to get to Aedirn would be to go by sea and then sail up the Pontar. But transporting infantry by sea is a huge undertaking, so it's still not terribly practical.

And, frankly, their ability to sail up the Pontar could be limited. Because they probably lost a lot of their navy during the White Frost thing, but also, it's in Redania's best interests to prevent Nilfgaard from accessing the Pontar. Even if it means blockading the busiest trade route in the north. Which doesn't exactly help with the famines.

Besides, even if Ciri's army could make land on the Aedirnian shore of the Pontar. That is a very narrow strip of land. Dol Blathanna is kind of on Nilfgaard's side, so they might agree (or not be asked) to letting an army travel over their land.

There is a river off the Pontar that goes to Vengerberg, so potentially she could make land there. But once again, that means supply lines dependent on waterways that she doesn't control.

So how does Ciri take Aedirn? Well, I'd say 2 ways, maybe 3:

1) Send in a covert strike team to assassinate Stennis and sweep in during the chaos. Which is good in that the strike team could probably get to Aedirn easily enough. But if she's going to occupy territory, she needs her army. Which leads to:

2) Try to encourage Meve to take over Aedirn, maybe even promise trade agreements and/or support to make it happen. The bright side: all that extra territory is not Ciri's problem and Stennis is still gone. The downside: well, if Meve is the expansionist sort (i don't know her well enough to say one way or another), then potentially Meve might try to conquer Dol Blanthanna (bad for northern stability and geopolitics, but not that big of a deal to Ciri personally) and might try to push Nilfgaard's border further south, because she knows that having an expansionist on your border signals future fighting.

3) Or, Ciri could negotiate with Meve, get permission to bring her army through Rivia to get to Aedirn. Some problems with this: Meve really kinda hates Nilfgaard, so is not likely to be inclined to agree. Ciri would have to establish supply lines through Rivia, which would at any time be subject to Meve's whims, plus probably attacks from the locals, who both hate Nilfgaard and might be short on food.

Hahaha, this is a very long and political answer, so sorry about that, but theorizing like this is really fun!

Maps:

Here’s the best map we have for the continent:

And here’s a map with some very messy political territories highlighted.

Okay, sorry it’s horribly messy, but essentially what we can see is that Nilfgaard owns the western side of the continent all the way up to the Pontar. Above the Pontar, Redania owns a HUGE chunk of land spanning east beyond Nilfgaard’s reach. Nilgaard owns everything south of the Yaruga and the territory west of the Mahakaman Mountains below the Pontar. (Just an interesting note: Mahakam was a Temerian protectorate, so technically Nilfgaard owns them. But having a city inside a mountain is not the same as getting an army across said mountains.) On the eastern side of the Mahakaman Mountains, we have the main territories that Nilfgaard doesn’t own. First, the northern border of Nilfgaard in the east is with Lyria and Rivia. Then there’s the huge chunk of land that belongs to Aedirn, except Aedirn might not have an heir to rule. And above that (previously a protectorate of Aedirn) is Dol Blathanna aka the elven state that Scoia’tael aren’t allowed in. Then, on the other side of a mountain range, the Free Pontar Valley lies between the Pontar and Dol Blathanna. 

Which is all to say: Aedirn’s fate is very questionable, but they’re actually in a pretty good location to avoid being conquered by Nilfgaard.

[zvezdacito]

I feel like the reason the "women needing help/saving" has become considered a trope that should never be written forever and weakness in women is just confirming to traditional gender roles or something is because people look and react to these tropes in a very shallow and superficial way, and not examining the core reason that makes these tropes harmful. They also usually don't want to make the work to fully represent as much people within these groups, they just want a token character guideline to follow and then be done with it.

The damsel trope is usually harmful because the story usually uses it to frame the damsel as a prize to be won to add to the savior's status and usually ends her entire character there. This type of damsel does not allow the woman to be her own individual person with personality, beliefs, motivations, feelings, and thoughts.

Here she's become an object to advance the plot or the hero's status instead of a real person like the rest of the characters who just happens to need some help because she's human and not invinsible. She's basically in a weak spot for other characters development, but never actually her own.

It also becomes a problem when the toxic aspects about this character, which is needing to be passive/saved for the sake of letting others who are usually men to shine is made to be the standard women should follow to be "proper people" in society.

But like the people above said representation isn't a "one size fits all" thing and replacing one fixed unfluid gender standard with another but hiding it behind feminism this time doesn't really help anyone. Especially for women who can't help but need help (such as disabled women), or women who are usually not given the chance to feel beautiful, vulnerable, safe or worthy of the dedication of saving (such as black/darker skinned women and trans women).

So the damsel in a story being good or bad rep for women really just depends on the framing of it and good character writing. If you don't conform to the ableist and misogynstic framings the trope is usually utilized for, then you're not really conforming to anything harmful, you'd even be representing more marginalized groups and affirming to people that whatever vulnerabilities they may have does not lessen their wholeness and dignity as a human person, and that they're not holding anyone back for needing help.

A lot of people also don't talk about how making the "no weaknesses girlboss" character sometimes becomes another way toxic masculinity manifests, which is weird cause we encourage men to move past that but fsr we now love forcing it onto ourselves for the sake of being "progressive women"

Also men have been weaponizing the girlboss to act dense on purpose and basically not even try to help women face the systematic barriers created by the patriarchy, since she's "so strong and independent. And therefore responsible for making sure she doesn't get harmed by circumstances out of her individual control. Therefore we don't need to do a thing because wouldn't you just call us anti-feminist if we do that😁"

There's never such a thing as "enough representation" for opressed groups, create as much different kinds of representation as possible to represent as many different kinds of people as possible. Creating a fixed model for representation for it to be "safe" and palatable is just a disservice to many people in those groups.

Like before, if you did that you wouldn't be representing people, you'd be back to representing ideals.

When I was younger and more abled, I was so fucking on board with the fantasy genre’s subversion of traditional femininity. We weren’t just fainting maidens locked up in towers; we could do anything men could do, be as strong or as physical or as violent. I got into western martial arts and learned to fight with a rapier, fell in love with the longsword.

But since I’ve gotten too disabled to fight anymore, I… find myself coming back to that maiden in a tower. It’s that funny thing, where subverting femininity is powerful for the people who have always been forced into it… but for the people who have always been excluded, the powerful thing can be embracing it.

As I’m disabled, as I say to groups of friends, “I can’t walk that far,” as I’m in too much pain to keep partying, I find myself worrying: I’m boring, too quiet, too stationary, irrelevant. The message sent to the disabled is: You’re out of the narrative, you’re secondary, you’re a burden.

The remarkable thing about the maiden in her tower is not her immobility; it’s common for disabled people to be abandoned, set adrift, waiting at bus stops or watching out the windows, forgotten in institutions or stranded in our houses. The remarkable thing is that she’s like a beacon, turning her tower into a lighthouse; people want to come to her, she’s important, she inspires through her appearance and words and craftwork.  In medieval romances she gives gifts, write letters, sends messengers, and summons lovers; she plays chess, commissions ballads, composes music, commands knights. She is her household’s moral centre in a castle under siege. She is a castle unto herself, and the integrity of her body matters.

That can be so revolutionary to those of us stuck in our towers who fall prey to thinking: Nobody would want to visit; nobody would want to listen; nobody would want to stay.

[ladysophiebeckett]

#It's giving fairy tale and I love it#Cause you have this marginalized women who for one reason or another don't fit the beauty standards feeling resentment#But not going against the canon belief that to be valuable and loved you gotta be pretty and to win in life you need beauty#The same damning rule they are accepting of!#And then there is other women who do fit the beauty standards like Marcela or Patricia but they're mean and proud and rude and etc#And they are alone (at the end of the telenovela but I do love redemption)#And then there's Betty#The most marginalized and the most hurt of all the “ugly” women and men shown in the soap#And she is not perfect yes#But she is the one that never relied on her beauty or Social stratum for love or self accomplishment#Yes she believed herself ugly and yes she marginalized herself too and yes she believed that those with beauty and money belonged#To a totally different world she could never live in#But she never played by those rules#And she never believed it fair#And for as hard as it was she always believed love should not depend on the looks of people#And when she had the beauty (and the money or at least the social recognition) she did not rely on them#She didn't become proud and didn't start despising her friends

Watching the episode (94th) where the cuartel prompts Berta to get the surgical procedure to have a hot bod and it's Betty and Inesita the only ones having reasonable and smart takes as to why she shouldn't do it (and get the car her husband told her to get instead) but in the end she does get the procedure because insecurities and ego and vanity and coaxing and whatnot. And then they tell Betty how she's ingenuous for believing a man can love you no matter your looks. And then it's BETTY who ends up looking prettier without having undergone any surgeries, but most importantly, Armando, the womanizer who was always surrounded by models and who only chased the most beautiful women, falls in love with her, out of all the ordinary and even undeniably unattractive women he must have met in his lifetime.