#bossify

[starkat-cosmickitty]

I JUST NOTICED I HAVENT POSTED A LOT OF MY BOSSIFIED LEVEL DESIGNS . here :)

[mimir97477906]

BETTY GROF. IS NOT A GIRLBOSS 👿👿👿🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬👿🤬👿🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[wutheringheightsfilm]

like no i don't believe the senate staffer deserves anything that's happening to him and obviously this is just an excuse to fire him for his pro palestinian views but can we also acknowledge having sex and filming it in the senate hearing room is a monumentally stupid thing to do when you're toeing a very thin line with your fellow government employees ??? literally it doesn't matter that it's gay sex (well, to right wingers it does) it's literally just stupid to have sex in the middle of your workplace and film the proof of it happening. i think it's debated whether or not the staffer was even in the video and even if it's not him idk who these two were but idk how they could think it's a good idea in the first place. like did you not think about what might happen if you got caught? obviously no one could predict the vile turn this took and no one can predict revenge porn obviously but like CLEARLY there would be consequences if you got caught??????

[ladysophiebeckett]

speaking of lfmb and what you said about the sexual tension: you are right as always, but it's funny because the love scenes are much more explicit from what i remember bc we got to see both f&l on bed doing the deed and also in the dream world inside a pool lol (tho it was very sweet and not necessarily that passionate whereas in ysblf their times together are described as sweet, but for some reason I pictured it as more passionate? don't mind me maybe i'm way off considering we didn't even see much, i blame armando's subsequent desperation for this tbh) aside from these bits, it is indeed more family friendly. ngl i feel like rewatching but only the pre-aldo episodes hahaha

the second love scene in lfmb is very soap opera esque--a bed, candles, the shot of them with the candles in front of them, the shot of his back and then the discrete shot of angelica vale's chest. it's more skin yes, but there is something so rated G about it. its very sweet. even the shared dream pool sequence is sweet but never passionate or intense. too much passion and sexyness is not allowed in family friendly programming.

where as the second night in ysblf is wrapped around desperation and anguish. they're clothes are on in the scene but theyre both desperate to get them off each other. betty doesnt know whether to tug his shirt fm his pants, take off his tie or grasp him to her. meanwhile armando doesnt think to take her to a bed. he's so afraid of her leaving that he leads her to the couch. he's trying to take off his own tie but can't stop kissing her. its desperate, passionate, intense, clumsy at one point. it's sexy. the shot of her touching his back, even tho fully clothed feels more explicit than the shot of lety touching fernando's naked back.

the second night in lfmb is again, very sweet. (kinda corny). but also feels very controlled. very highly choreographed. very careful in how they presented it. like, bc lety is 'the other woman' but also the protagonist we need to see her have a beautiful and safe experience.

where as in ysblf, its about betty's passion being reciprocated the same way. just bc she's isn't beautiful by society standards doesn't mean she doesn't have desires of her own. and i think that message doesn't come across in the mexican version. it gets ignored or forgotten.

[mimbl]

no one is allowed to use the word agency ever again. i’m taking it away from you as a collective. maybe if you’re good you can get it back in a few years. until then think about what you’ve done

[dulcewrites]

Considering Aemond is characterized as dutiful, perhaps religious, in the show, contrary to how he's portrayed in the books, how do you think the show runners will approach his relationship with Alys? Like, in the books he's more envious of the privileges Rhaenyra's kids have despite being unlegitimate, whereas in the show we can add to that the Faith's idea that bastards are evil, treacherous, whatever. So there's that. (And she even is RELATED to Lucerys, the kid he killed by accident. Something I liked but even if it was justified in his mind for his eye it was sorta underhanded, and his first kill, so I suppose it will affect him in some major way) (also not implying Alys cares about any Strong or alleged Strong at all, but I doubt this wouldn't cross his mind) Anyway, how will that even go? He's betrothed, he's dutiful (in a certain fucked up way), he's losing the Riverlands, he shouldn't fuck things up with the Baratheons, it'd offend then (in the books they were irrelevant in the long game lmao because Borros was such a shitty coward). She's a witch, a true bastard, doing base work. A romance sparkling? A babe? The level of respect he seems to show her, by the end? That seems too far fetched. They'd have to make Aemond spirall, or develop Alys really well (and even then it might be inconsistent) especially considering the screentime. They're will be many more important characters (Black allies) appearing in season 2, and Aegon, Jace, Baela, Mysaria will have more focus now. I just don't see how it could happen without it kinda sucking and either going oh he's forsaking it all or oh she's bewitched him. Because, again, screentime.

I will say, I feel like I might have said this before in the tags of something, but while I do think Aemond does take on the responsibility of following his mother’s orders. I don’t think his dutifulness is necessary natural if that makes sense. We see spurts of Aemond doing things he probably shouldn’t: going into the dragon pit in ep 6, going to claim Vhagar (which of course worked out by he always could’ve like… eaten or something lol), and the three strong boys speech right after seeing vaemond being beheaded for saying the obvious.

Also I think it is not hard for Aemond to look like the “good” child when he is mirrored against Aegon, the “bad” child. And Helaena, through no fault on her own or even Alicent’s most of the time, has a strained relationship with her mom. Then of course we don’t know how daeron is with them. We can assume by stuff in the book that he is well loved by everyone and his family. But he is not around at the moment. So yeah Aemond may have a special relationship with his mom but like… special to a fault.

I personally think based on how they set up the bastard situation for Aemond in s1, on top of some things ewan has said about characterization, I could see it being an actual love story. Not a love story without some strife ofc, but love nonetheless. To me much of Aemond (show Aemond’s) ire for Rhaenyra’s kids comes from how everything has spiraled for him mom, and of course his eye. Now I don’t think he is pro bastards (as a whole) by any means but considering the bastards he knows up until alys, I get why. To me they have painted it so far as less of a “these bastards have my or my brother’s birthright.” And more “these bastard (and their mom) put me and family through shit”. If anything we saw more of that energy towards his relationship with Aegon than the strongs. I think them having Aegon play a part in the bullying about the dragon was central to that.

Just bc he shouldn’t fuck things up… doesn’t mean he won’t. I think Alicent and Aemond are good parallels to each other. They are people who can take a lot on the chin, till they can’t. By the time alys and Aemond meet each other, this is what has happened in Aemond’s life

- he killed a kid (by accident in this context)

- that in a roundabout (daemon is a pos) way leads to his Nephew being killed and his sister going into a deep depression

-who knows how his relationship with will be with family

- his brother/brother’s dragon gets injured, he is asked to step in his place

Now I think all of these things mean he is not gonna be in the most… normal headspace. I think some paranoia about daemon is gonna seep in. Hence why I see them continuing with his attack on harrenhal. Ewan made some really interesting comments about unconditional love, and feeling out of place in his family at times. Idk just the overall tone gives off “but he WILL meet someone who gets that” vibes. It will change him. The same way getting Vhagar changed him.

This is so long winded I’m sorry. But as for how will they go about it. I personally like the idea of Aemond, insert quote ewan said about Aemond seeing enough, first being interested alys/sparing her bc he wants to know how he will die. Alys, thinking she is scaring him, tells him about battle above god’s eye. It all goes from there.

I don’t think much is far fetched with this show. They have shown they can give adequate time to things so we will just have to wait and see. Also I think just based on s1 it is safe to say the writers are intrigued by Aemond as a character. He will get his, and in turn so will alys 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️

[bitter-limelight]

I just had to listen to a queer podcaster with my own ears proclaim that it's gross fundie preachers call the triangle a symbol of gay pride and that maybe "ten years ago" it made a resurgence before "fizzling out" like girl you put out four pride episodes every June and you've never heard of ACT UP?

[artist-issues]

It's so evident that Disney is trying to girl-bossify their princesses, which is why the remakes's focus has shifted from the beautiful and timeless values and themes of love, selflessness, sacrifice, faith, kindness, trust, etc. to how they have actually been badass this whole time and how much stuff they can get done on their own and that actually don't need ANY man because that will automatically make them weak, stupid and useless (and they call people who don't think like them misogynistic lol), but that was never the point of their movies. I partly blame the ignorant fools that lambasted the original movies and characters for not being "progressive" enough or whatever nonsensical argument they came up with and accusing them of being bad role models when they clearly aren't. What Disney is doing is some sort of "damage control" and "apology" for not depicting how kickass a young woman can be or whatever. It saddens me that this is where Disney is at. They discard timeless and beautiful storytelling and themes for modern, performative ideologies.

Correct. I’ve said this somewhere else, too, I think, but they should never have tried to “improve” or change who their characters are. They should have simply doubled down.

That’s what they did with Cinderella 2015. Everyone criticizes Cinderella for not standing up to the evil stepfamily and rescuing herself; proving that they never understood that Cinderella’s superpower was her kindness. So in 2015, Disney said, “no, look, we’ll tell the story again, and this time pay attention to the kindness.”

They didn’t give her a rapier wit to put her stepmother in her place.

They didn’t add in a legal contract that forces Cinderella to stay so everyone knows she’d “leave if she could.”

They didn’t even make Cinderella fight her way out of her situation, in any way. Or convince the Prince to find her.

They just doubled down on the kindness and showed off, even more carefully, who Cinderella is and always was, regardless of whether or not her critics saw it.

But the other Princesses? They re-wrote. Belle’s no longer self-sacrificial: she “will escape!” her oath to take her father’s place. Jasmine’s no longer trusting and longing to be free: she wants to be Sultan. Ariel’s no longer doing everything out of love and faith: she’s doing it all for herself, so she can be independent.

You’re right, it’s all Disney holding up their hands and saying, “sorry sorry, we got it wrong the first time, what was it you wanted again?” And in 5 years, when the values of our culture shift again (like they always do, because they’re never rooted in a timeless moral standard, just whatever we want in the moment) the remakes will be considered inadequate. Their Princesses will be criticized, and round and round we go.

People are still criticizing Cinderella 2015 for the same core reasons they never liked any version of Cinderella (except for “Ever After” 🙄). Disney needs to remember: that just doesn’t matter. Let them be wrong. Truth will always stand the test of time. Pandering never does.

[texaschainsawmascara]

can y’all stop girl bossifying Kamala Harris she is a politician not a pop girly pls be normal

[drdemonprince]

I know two different women who took their husband's respective last names upon getting married, but then decided within a year or two that they regretted the decision and reversed it, changing back to their maiden them while remaining happily married.

and i think that's a really cool fucking move. it takes a lot of guts in this individualistic, sexist yet girl bossified world to admit that you made a decision due to gendered social pressures, not because it was what you genuinely wanted, and then making whatever changes you need in order to be happy and comfortable after revoking your consent.

both women whom i know that did this were also super open about the decision to revert back to their old names and how they felt navigating these choices, which seems like a really powerful thing to model.

[the-meme-monarch]

still funniest idea for why scc's 4 second song they play you being Literally Just the bed lump music from undertale is that the Strange Someone tried to Secret Bossify them and it just didn't work bc they were just "oh ok cool" about it and now theyre just plagiarizing music from other realities

[shealmostdrowned]

because i'm grumpy today i'm gonna cause problems on the dash

what annoys the shit out of me with the constant "drop reputation!" "rep is coming!!" "clown clown clown for reputation surprise drop" is that it's taking attention away from literally everything else.

we're about to get extra professionally filmed surprise songs and no one cares. "i hope she announces rep IN THE MOVIE with a graphic or something" shut up

we're about to get a whole brand new album and still the focus is on yelling for reputation

the "debutation" theories and shit as though debut doesn't deserve her own spotlight for one fucking moment

the sheer fact that SO MANY of the people obsessively calling for reputation only view it through the girl-bossified lwymmd lense and don't see the vulnerability underneath and understand that taylor really thought this was it for her

does reputation deserve love? obviously. that's not ever what i'm arguing against. i'm just still still still not over the crowd chanting for a reputation surprise drop during surprise songs after we'd only just been given 1989

am i taking it way too seriously. yes, mist likely. am i going to yell about it anyway? yea.

they act like they're entitled to it right now when they want it immediately instead of seeing the release schedule laid out and being a little patient and appreciative of the insane amount of new art we already have over the last 4 years.

folklore, evermore, fearless tv, red tv, tour, speak now tv, 1989 tv, a tour movie, and ttpd but still there's a constant (and i do meant constant) demand for reputation.

it's about the content flow and not about the art or music or even taylor. it's the content and it makes me want to throw my phone in the ocean

[sabrerine911]

Beth Ravencoft re-meeting Pieta (Lords of the Fallen)

Really like Pieta(even summoned her twice cause I love having her around easy enough bosses cause I dig the paladin/aasimar vibe she gives off). She a wholesome bean, great company XD With that said, wanted to make a sketch regarding the first NPC-meeting with her after being un-bossified. For those unfamiliar with my big Warwolf Lady character Ill be brief(posted a few sketches with her on this sub already). Super Tall and big from her own setting, I tend to remake her and my other two characters in different games, there you go

Beth is sniffing to reaffirm she is the same person she fought earlier XD Im sure I know the actual reason for the height, but my feral unga bunga doesnt!

[courtana]

I’m mostly typing this for myself to help process and organize my thoughts but… feel free to read if you want, especially if you have been annoyed lately too.

I’m cutting my ties with Call of Duty as a fan of the games.

Prepare for my unsolicited thoughts under the cut:

This game has always had shady politics and racial discourses. This is known, lol. It has always depicted Arabs, Eastern Europeans, and Latin Americans as caricatures, even if sometimes they sometimes succeeded in portraying their countries as being the victims of European and U.S. imperialism. But in light of the rapid intensification of violence toward Palestinians with the genocide in Gaza, this tendency just leaves a worse taste in my mouth. While the gameplay and plot structure for the new BO game next year will probably be better than MWIII, I have low hopes with how they’ll portray the goddamn Gulf War. The fact they've added an Israeli operator called "Doc" to MWIII in this particular moment in history tells me all I have to know about where Activision stands as a company.

Furthermore, the last Modern Warfare campaign was so bad, it just signaled to me once and for all that Activision does not care about the future of their games or the legacy of any of their previous good games. I’ve mostly been playing Zombies, not even traditional MP / Warzone. But even then, it’s easy for me to get burnt out playing Zombies. And Zombies is not worth the 100 dollars I paid thinking the campaign would be more enjoyable. And season’s 1 battle pass that came with the 100-dollar edition of the game is awful in my opinion.

Not to mention, the voice actors of both the Modern Warfare and Black Ops series have been either totally racist or highly indifferent about the genocide in Gaza. First, Barry Sloane's tone-deaf Beatles post about "peace" he posted on October that he quickly deleted was more insensitive than I think he even realizes. Samuel Roukin liking a racist article that equates calls decolonization as a "false narrative" was despicable. Of course, that article targets Palestine specifically in its racism, but it also indirectly charges all Third World countries with its accusation of their independence and claims to sovereignty as being "a false narrative." As someone who is of both Latin American and Asian descent and whose countries of origins had to fight for independence more than twice (!!), I cannot accept that.

Then Claudia—a woman of Lebanese descent—and Elliot—a queer black man—encouraging and offering condolences to an ex-IOF soldier was downright evil. The IOF actively bombs Lebanon as part of their current genocidal campaign. It has waged brutal wars against the Lebanese people in the 1980s & 2000s [x] [x]. And it has carried out both anti-Black violence [x] and sexual violence—including against Palestinian men and women [x] [x], and it engages in its frequently-exposed pinkwashing [x]. Rather than allying with Lebanese, queer, and Black people who have been victims of Israeli/Zionist violence, Claudia & Elliot as people with major platforms instead are disappointingly choosing to legitimize Zionist propaganda.

I don't know a lot about Julian, Warren, Neil or Alain's stances on this genocide, but I never take silence in the face of genocide or war to be a good sign. Lastly, since Oct 7, María Elisa Camargo (more like caga'o) posted her support for Israel, equating Palestinian existence and resistance with "terrorism." I already did not like her for engaging in indigenista discourses and tropes and for seemingly being very nonchalant about playing the role of a narco-terrorist, trying to girl-bossify a very real source of fear & terror to contemporary Latin American and Mexican people's lives. This was not surprising for her, but it's still worth highlighting.

In terms of Black Ops actors, the former actor for Frank Woods also made incredibly shitty comments in a live stream about the genocide, talking about a so-called "Middle Eastern mentality," (essentializing all Middle Easterners, really), practically equating all Palestinians with Hamas, and roughly stating that people keep on going further back in history to justify their acts of violence—and I'm sure he was not just referring to Israelis weaponizing the Holocaust to commit atrocities against Palestinians. Like many other people, he gives the impression that he dismisses Palestinians and Arabs as incapable of producing a coherent political thought, and that they only resort to violence out of instinct or because of their religion (which is a gross idea—Islam is not a religion of violence at all!)

Again, I didn't have much expectations for Call of Duty to be anti-Zionist, let's be real. But I see these actors as creatives whose literal jobs are to empathize with other people's stories and experiences as part of their work. The fact that they're trained to put themselves in another person's shoes but are incapable of putting themselves in the shoes of Palestinian people right now, when nearly 20,000 have been recorded as killed—and many more injured or displaced—is very telling.

Anyone who knows this blog knows I have formed a lot of beef with other COD blogs for stuff like fanfic tropes, sexual politics, and about the idea of watching playthroughs vs. playing the game. For once, I'm actually relieved and oddly glad most of this fandom has rallied around the idea that Palestine is not the villain, and that we almost all understand that what Israel's doing is unacceptable, and that these actors and creative industry workers have a duty as humans to stand with victims of genocide and to call out crimes against humanity. For this, I actually have to commend this fandom. We're so trivial about shit like fanfic tropes and headcanons, but I'm glad we have our heads on straight for things that truly matter—like real life war and mass violence.

Honestly, the last straw today—although much minor in its gravity compared to genocide apologism—was Barry's childish behavior toward COD fans on twitter who expressed that they agreed with Christopher Judge's joke at The Game Awards last night that the MWIII campaign was too short. You do not get to talk down, mock, or be childish to your fans when they give you feedback on a public platform as an actor. Judge did not even attack the quality of the game or the VAs' performances—he only joked about the game's super short length. Yet, Barry chooses to act out on Twitter because of these harmless jokes. He seems to care more about protecting his ego as "Captain Price's actor" than about the quality of the game or story that fans are receiving and sometimes paying upwards of 100 dollars for.

I thought to myself, okay, this is just one actor letting his ego get to him. That's not that extraordinary. But the fact that COD devs on Twitter today also starting getting defensive about the jokes and trying to excuse the shitty game they produced? That truly showed me that the horrible launch of the campaign and of MP that happened with MWIII was not a learning opportunity for these studios or devs, but rather only made them stick their heads further up their own asses.

I have little faith in this franchise and honestly am not enjoying it, both in terms of game play and the political discourses coming from its creators. After the Season 1 BP is completed (because I fucking paid for it—sadly), I will be planning to uninstall and shelf the game. If I ever play a COD game in the future, it'll be after it goes on a sale because I won't be paying full price. But the thought of giving this company any more money turns me the fuck off right now.

I also realize I'm co-admin for @dailycallofduty and I will still be participating in running it. I'll be promoting the actors' signings less and promoting the game's new content less. Nonetheless, I'll still be reblogging posts that dailycallofduty is tagged in, like art, graphics, and gifs. On my personal blog, I'll still be reblogging COD gifs that I'm tagged in by friends & mutuals. Just don't be expecting more gifs from me. Not that there were many great scenes to make gifs from this new game anyway.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading.

Here are some useful ways to advocate for Palestinians:

Donate to Doctors Without Borders, where in Gaza they are providing medical and psychological assistance to people affected by the ongoing conflict.

Tell Congress: Support the Ceasefire Now Resolution (call now w/ a script)

Donate to Palestine Legal, an org dedicated to defending and advancing the civil rights and liberties of people in the US who speak out for Palestinian freedom.

Donate to National Students for Justice in Palestine, which supports over two hundred Palestine solidarity organizations on university campuses across occupied Turtle Island (U.S. and Canada).

Read DecolonizePalestine's Reading List to expand your knowledge on all things Palestine

Find a Palestine Protest near you.

Support the BDS Movement, a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality that calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.

[3d-wifey]

So idk if you’ve thought about this but since star “attends” I’ve thought about how star could remind snow of Lucy gray??? Lucy gray has an Appalachian accent and the Appalachian mountain range goes through what would be district 11 (from what I understand at least???) and the whole thing about how star is also a musician kinda makes me thing that star reminded him of Lucy gray (not necessarily by looks but by…vibes???? Idk how to describe it)

(This could also be my thoughts because I was told like 3 times I look like Rachel Zeglar and I’ve never lived it down)

Oh yeah that's exactly the case. This isn't a spoiler bc it's something the characters will never know. But Snow knows, and we as the audience knows. Like, they're both pretty, young, poc victors, both musicians, both can command a crowd, very persuasive, natural leaders, both from butt fuck poor districts, both have that heavy lower district accent (southern). Both rebellious, both kind and care for their little communities. Both incredibly desired. Both pretend to be dumb/unassuming, but are very clever/observant. Snow saw 15 y/o Star in the arena, saw how much the ppl rooted for her as an underdog, and didn't think twice about claiming her in his own way. Seeing how she acted in her interviews afterward only further cemented that this was his second chance. Bc he never loved Lucy, he loved knowing she was his. He didn't even fuck with her music fr until she made a song for him. It's why he alway has Star perform for his birthday parties where she composes a song for him as a present (she's actually just improving on the spot).

here's a note i left for my beta reader:

in the book, Lucy Gray is quiet but cunning. She doesn't have the "girl bossified quirky" demeanor she does in the movie and I blame Disney for that. As such, she doesn't have the "loud and proud/nothing affects me/cocky without a cause" attitude in my canon. What attracted Snow to her was that survivor instinct he saw in her that he felt he himself had. Everything that made Lucy Gray interesting to him can be found in Star. I think Katniss's personality is so much like Sejanus's that it pissed him off. close enough to District 12, but not exactly. district eleven has the exact background that Snow wishes he had with 12. He has more control over Eleven, they're easier to control/oppress as opposed to the free-spirited District 12. With Star, he strives to fix what mistakes he made with Lucy Gray.

think about it

[lemonhemlock]

So I was the anon who sent the ask about modern sensibilities and refusal to engage in the time frame and thanks so much for answering. You hit the nail on the head with this social justice warrior who refuses to engage with historicity typology, which seems to make up a majority of the fandom. This trend, and HOTD is a perfect example of this, of historical media nowadays throwing all historicity out the window to Girl Bossify and attempt to appeal to modern sensibilities is deeply annoying.

First, they take the deep religiosity including concepts of sacred oaths, duty, sacrifice, etc. of the medieval period and completely strip it away because writers are deeply cynical when it comes to religion and need to attract the Champagne Agnostics/Atheists who have a deep contempt for anything religious as being Boring and Uncool (and I say this as someone who has never been particularly religious lol, but as a student of history understands how important the concepts of religion, God, faith, oaths, duty, sacrifice, etc. were during the medieval ages). Arguably, the most important aspects of both nobles and peasants' lives during these times were their deep faith in God and devotion to their faith. Not including this religiosity in medieval dramas completely negates a lot of plot and character motivations.

Second, you have deeply ahistorical plot points that are used in a very manipulative way. I feel like now in every period drama I see you have a willful princess aka a Rhae/nyra type that gets placed in an arranged betrothal or marriage and we inevitably get a scene where she's shocked and outraged over marrying a man she doesn't know/love and being used as a BroODmArE (writers loveee this word lol) and I'm just always like ???? Are you knew? These girls have been surrounded by nothing but arranged matches from their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, etc. for their entire lives? They 100 percent expected to be marrying a man for the realm not out of love? They also saw bearing children to further their line and unite the two families as a sacred duty and a good thing? Like?? it's just so eye rollingly ahistorical I can't. I'm not saying that there have never been cases where women were violently against their arranged marriage for whatever reason. But, by and large, they did their duty and gladly, at least in public no matter their personal opinions. Yet, because of how this is framed in story the social justice media illiterate type act like these literal one percent privileged noble princesses are the most Oppressed People Ever? These literal royals have one fucking duty and that is to make a marriage that stabilizes the realm so smallfolk don't have to go fight and die in unnecessary succession wars while getting waited on hand and foot as peasants are working the field for 15 hours per day, and I'm supposed to feel bad because the Precious Princess didn't get her First Choice husband?? Are these writer's serious? It's so deeply unserious and and the history illiterate fandom eats it up.

Thanks for coming back, anon. 💖 I think there is space to critique aspects of medieval society, even if we're talking about elements chosen particularly because they are egregious to the modern eye, like arranged marriage and blind devotion to God that leads to intolerance and Church abuses etc. But most of it is done in a trite, superficial, redundant way and the critiques are in the same registry.

I agree about the topic of arranged marriage being discussed in the context of a pampered princess that is always so shocked that she has to marry for political reasons and throws a tantrum worded in a way that sounds vaguely human-rights-ish or feminist to our ears. In the case of Rhaenyra, she actually IS offered the chance to marry for love, but even that she considers a chore and squanders it. On the opposite end, I really enjoyed the movie Catherine Called Birdy because it took this trope and did something different with it, both highlighting the inherent unfairness of this practice and being refreshingly honest and human.

Ultimately, I feel like the framing is stale in many medieval or fantasy productions, with talking points that we've already seen a hundred times before. Film-makers feel the need to over-correct for the sins of the past when female characters were often sidelined, but they understand strength and character development in having them trample over everyone else instead. Rhaenyra repeatedly breaks the law, makes destabilizing political decisions and shows little interest for learning how to actually do her job, i.e. governing, but we're supposed to cheer for her because she is living her best life and is a bad bitch, so anyone who opposes her must be a shill for the patriarchy. Similarly, the framing of religious people is nuts and I say this as a staunch atheist.