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Marinette is lying about Adrien’s abusive father and made him worship is abuser and not telling him about something as important as his life, showing herself to be a hypocrite since she went mad trying to prove Lila a liar but then does the same thing to control the narrative. She even says that the truth is what Ladybug makes it, which is something the villian says, so it’s apples and oranges.

It's not meant as a salt or bashing of any of these characters. But before you call Marinette a liar for umpteenth time, please consider:

Luka lied to Ladybug about not knowing her identity.

Kagami did the same.

Adrien in Chat Blanc did the same.

Alya lied to her about keeping the Rena Furtive thing from Nino.

Nathalie told her nothing about being a part of the secret council hunting miraculous.

And somehow, Ladybug is a villain here.

They all lied. And Marinette forgave them all when (if) she'd found out.

But she didn't deserve forgiveness herself, did she? 🤷

Be consistent ffs.

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Too many Greek myth retellings to count. Seriously, what is feminist about whitewashing abusive men who assault women and demonizing the one guy who wanted to protect his mom and stood up for her? Or turning his African wife into his sex slave?

genres i'm tired of:

"feminist retellings" of stories that can already be considered feminist in their own right

"feminist retellings" that fumble the "feminist" plotline so bad it just turns misogynistic

"feminist retellings" that still center around and hinge on men

"feminist retellings" written by people who don't understand what feminism is

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I just want her to treat him like a human being vs her MyAdrien doll.

The thing I wished Marinette stans would stop ignoring is that a huge part of this new post-s4 wave of Marinette salters / critics is that we, in fact, drew the line in s4 or s5 when every conflict in the story was resolved in the most Marinette pandering and one-sided ways possible, utilising every double standard and sending every bad message possible so Marinette gets validated and catered to despite it still solving 0 to non of the actual problems in the show.

If people actually just irrationally hated Marinette, then it wouldn't have taken as long as 4 whole seasons for so many people to turn on Marinette's character and the show. It would have happened way earlier.

So many new wave Marinette salting blogs were totally fine with most of the same problems of hers during s1-s3, so clearly Marinette stans are disingenuous when they claim that its the problematic behaviour itself they can't stand seeing on a female character. We were fine with it, but the pay off was so abysmal to outright harmfully hypocritical in its Marinette pandering that it BECAME a problem from s4 onwards.

Imo, during s1-s3, the love square balanced each other out very well when it came to their flaws in their dynamic. If one had a flaw, you could find some kind of equivally strong flaw on the other one, too. They weren't the same but balanced each other out very very well when it came to narrative development.

That's why I never minded the problematic parts of the love square pre-s4, and for the sake of this post here, Marinette's in particular.

Where the show fully lost me was when then the retooling came around and declared that this balanced Yin-Yang nature of the love square must be resolved in the most morally bankrupt and unhealty one-sided way the show goes out of its way to do over and over and OVER again each and every episode for every conflict and plot ever introduced.

I signed up for an equally flawed and devoted power couple, not Adrichat being Marinette's pet, subordinant sacrifice undeserving of even the most basic support, dignity, and resources, him being her punching bag she never ever tries to spare from anything awful for her prioritisation and validation, and her trophy care taker because she can't handle being in an equal partnership on no matter which side of love square she finds herself in.

This isn't a power couple. It's an abuser and her victim. And as per usual, the abuser thinks she and her feelings are all that actually matters. She doesn't care about actually stopping to act in harmful, disrespectful, and recklessly selfish ways on Adrichat's expense, she just for seasons on end doesn't like being called out for it, not being rewarded for it, and it being so much as implied that her doing all this is BAD. typical abuser at this point.

Biggest priority is always herself and her feeling comfortable, understood, and in control, no matter what she does to everyone else, especially Adrichat. I've had plenty of people like Marinette in my life and I have yet to see anything in her writing that is setter her up to differentiate her from these self-prioritizing people I had to learn to cut out of my life.

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The original show being more equal is exactly it. I used to block people who went “Marinette is a stalker” just as much as I blocked people going on about Adrien's sexual harassment. Like, I could see why some people would see that behavior and find them aggravating, but I figured, as long as it stays equal, I can live with it.

So, of course, it didn't stay equal, and it had to go to such extreme lengths to pander to one character at the expense of the other that of course it was gonna piss people like me off. Like, liking when things are fair is not a strange take, but Maripologists have such a twisted sense of what is fair. They think excusing Adrien's considerably lesser and less consistent flaws means those people should also forgive Marinette’s far more intense and consistent flaws.

I’ve also discussed on this blog how the way the main romance of Miraculous has been presented since season 4 actively turns the fans of each of these characters against each other, and it's all about how the show caters to Marinette at Adrien's expense. All the cushy things and special treatment Marinette gets come from Adrien or Adrien being denied something so that she can have it instead. Adrien is the one fawning over her in both her identities while Marinette returns that with objectification and condescension. Adrien's feelings are denied any room or validation so that it can all go to Marinette’s feelings instead. The very nature of the main relationship is founded on Adrien's unfair treatment.

Of course anyone who's been a fan of Adrien is going to get tired of him getting pushed down so that Marinette can stand on top of him and turn on Marinette. The show is designed so that wanting good things for Adrien, like basic consideration, demands wanting to strip Marinette of some of her many, many many privileges because so many of her privieleges are based on denying Adrien basic human decency.

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It could make for interesting story where Marinette does realize Catwalker was Adrien all this time, and decides to strip Chat of his miraculous for [insert bs reason here] to give it to Adrien permanently. However, Adrien rejects it because he finally sees how shallow and self-important Ladybug really is and that he won’t side with someone like that.

I think things in miraculous ladybug would make infinitely more sense if Marinette hated Chat Noir.

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Marinette resents his shows of skill, treats him as an opponent to outsmart rather than an ally, makes sure he knows less about what's going on than the main villain, never worries whenever he disappears, has no interest in getting to know him as a person, jumps at every chance to replace him that doesn't cast her as the villain and her playful banter sounds like genuine dissing concerningly often. I mean, she certainly treats him like someone she doesn't want around.

New Mari-salt fic concept: Marinette is trying to get Cat Noir to quit because she wants him off the team and just taking his Miraculous for no good reason would make her look like the bad guy. Bonus points if she already has a replacement picked out.

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So I will be Doing My Own Retelling of the Perseus Myth from the Four Main Characters' Perspectives

I was done with bad retellings, so I decided I would do my own, like the title says. Basically, I want to expand on the myth while keeping the characterization for Perseus, Medusa, Andromeda, and Danae intact while showing how what happened to them has affected them and how it changes them.

Trigger Warnings for all books.

Starting off is Book 1, 'Young Perseus': The first book focuses primarily on Perseus, who starts off as a bright-eyed kid who enjoys his simple life with his mother and adoptive grandparents until he's sent on his quest to slay the Gorgon Medusa. I want to explore themes of choice, powerlessness, and what we are willing to do for the ones we love.

Book 2's working title is 'Sweet Danae': Shifting the focus from Perseus to his mother, we explore her happy childhood as Princess of Argos and how that all came crashing down when her father learns the prophecy about her son being his demise. For this book, I want to explore themes of victim blaming, CSA, power dynamics, and the strength of perseverance and motherhood.

Book 3, 'Stone-Eyed' is currently a working title: This story will focus on Medusa and her relationships with her family, including her sisters and sons. For this book, themes of abuse, family, and what it means to sympathize with a monster really mean.

Book 4, I want to be called 'The Chained Princess', but I'm starting to wonder if that's the wrong name. Maybe, 'The Unchained Princess?': Focusing on Perseus's wife, Andromeda, we see her early life where she was always stuck being whatever anyone told her to be, even if that means being the wife of her 36-year-old uncle just because he's the only male in their family, who's not her father, or sacrificing her life to appease the gods. However, she hates this and wants to finally make her own choices. This is a story where I want to explore love, duty to family, societal expectations, and the growth of Andromeda from being a piece to a player as she helps her husband ascend to kingship.

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Also, that he actually asked her father for her hand in marriage rather than just taking her against her will and setting right the problem in her kingdom, showed he genuinely wanted her as his wife rather than mistress or concubine. I mean, he really didn't have to do any of that either, because who would stop a flying guy from just taking Andromeda? Heck, no one could even blame him because he isn't a guest in their house, and even Andromeda offers to be anything to him if he just saves her.

Anyways, I just think for all these stories about 'giving Andromeda a voice' they ironically stripped her of the one she did have an do nothing with her established character.

With Andromeda, why not explore the idea that she was actually very educated and was actually the one who taught Perseus how to be a king given she actually grew up in a royal court while he was raised as a fisherman. This would show that she’s not just a damsel in distress but a very capable and intelligent woman in own right that Perseus would be lost without.

But no, let’s just make her some random lady. That works too I guess…I mean it’s not like other cultures had royals or the equivalent.

Also the fact that Mycenae was strongly influenced by Ancient Egypt either directly or through the Minoan civilization. Compare this with how Chaterine the Great promoted the westernalization of Russia, or how Marie Antoinette became the trendsetter of french fashion and style even when she was considered scandalous, to give some rough and popular examples from history.

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With the whole 'Adrien is the Damsel while Marinette is the Knight' it does just add a bit of a creepy factor to their relationship since it implies Marinette just sees Adrien as a prize to be won and fought over, which doesn't really make her that much different from Chloe or Lila.

Look, I love a good Knight and Lady love story (Zelink is one of my loves along with Mareach), but there has to be a reason why the Lady loves the Knight outside of the rescue element, and right now, that's all Adrinette. As for the Knight, in my perfect story, the Knight sets his Lady free, not keeps them trapped in another cage which Marinette is doing to Adrien by lying to him.

You know, I find it funny how MLB thinks just having those fairytale parallels is enough to warrant praise, without actually using them to explore the characters.

Using one of the examples you listed in the finale review, Ever After High took the concept of fairytales and used it to explore the characters in interesting ways. Raven outright rejected the fate people decided she should have, instead choosing to write her own story and use her magic for good. Briar HATED her story, as she knew that while she would sleep for a hundred years, her friends would all be dead when she woke up. Duchess was envious of the others, as her story was doomed to end in tragedy as the next Swan Princess…

I could go on for days. The writers of EAH used the basic concept of fairytales to create genuinely compelling characters and discuss topics like autonomy, existentialism, being your own person vs what everyone wants you to be etc. But MLB just- throws these metaphors in on a surface level and then claim that they’re reinventing the wheel. It’s so infuriating.

Again, fairy tale references and deconstructions can work if they're done right (Go! Princess Precure does a great job with this for example), but the problem with this show is that all it does with that idea is compare the story to a fairy tale without really having anything to say about the tropes commonly associated with the genre.

The idea of comparing Marinette to a knight isn't a bad one, as you could argue that superheroes are the modern day equivalent to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, but the whole knight idea is just to make Marinette look like a knight, not have her follow the code of chivalry knights are known to follow. Making Adrien the "damsel" is the bigger problem here. When he was compared to the princess, it was just to portray him as helpless and in need of saving... with the fairy tale visual in "Gabriel Agreste" shows him wear a dress while Marinette wears a suit of armor.

In other words, this show that's trying to be empowering to girls, is essentially associating feminine traits with being weak, while the character supposed to be the female role model girls look up to is only able to get the job by acting like a man. This is why this show needs more than one female writer on the crew.

Maybe I'm overthinking things because I'm not a girl, and therefore, don't see things the same way, but to me, it comes across like the writers only cared about how cool things looked rather than actually diving into what something like this symbolizes. You know, the thing Ever After High has gained a lot of praise for with its discussion of fairy tale tropes?

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I genuinely wouldn't mind a retelling where Medusa isn't a perfect victim, but someone who isn't. She is a party girl, she's not conventionally attractive aside from her hair being very lovely, and lives on the fringes of society by choice, but that doesn't mean what happened to her wasn't traumatic or painful. Exploring that would actually be a lot more feminist and explore a painful reality where women who don't live up to the ideal of what a victim should be are often ignored or ridiculed for something that happened to them.

Please correct me if i'm wrong, but about that last medusa ask, i thought the only version where she was a priestesss and had sex with Poseidon was in Ovid's version, where it was clearly rape, or there are other versions where it isn't a violation?

Pseudo-Apollodorus mentions her as a mortal woman who got punished by Athena after claiming she's more beautiful than her:

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 46 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :

"It is affirmed by some that Medousa (Medusa) was beheaded because of Athene (Athena), for they say the Gorgon had been willing to be compared with Athene in beauty."

No source mentions Medusa as a priestess specifically. Even in Ovid's Metamorphoses her story is told by Perseus at his wedding, where he claims that she was once a pretty girl who got debauched by Poseidon in Athena's temple and then got punished for this. That's it!

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I actually like the idea of her being a party girl who enjoyed getting around instead of a pure, innocent virginal priestess but still ends up assaulted by Poseidon after she rejects him. So often, women are judged on whether or not they were virgins when they were assaulted and judged if they aren’t or if they actually like partying and sleeping around, thus their assaults are seen as less traumatic or ‘they asked for it’.

Heck we see this kind of slut shaming all the time in Medusa retellings where she has to be basically the Virgin Mary, innocent as fallen snow, and a priestess only wanting to serve her goddess. Esstentially, authors think her being a party girl would go against the image of the ‘innocent, untouched victim’ making it harder for people to sympathize with her. I think this also why people ignore her monstrous appearance and make her more physically beautiful, because society has a tendency to only judge women and their trauma based on how beautiful and innocent they were when it happened. Oh and can’t let her be a mother either, because that gets in the way of the ideal.

I also think this is why Danae’s trauma about Polydectes is often ignored, because she’s a single mother, in her thirties, and is seen as ‘used’.

Please correct me if i'm wrong, but about that last medusa ask, i thought the only version where she was a priestesss and had sex with Poseidon was in Ovid's version, where it was clearly rape, or there are other versions where it isn't a violation?

Pseudo-Apollodorus mentions her as a mortal woman who got punished by Athena after claiming she's more beautiful than her:

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 46 (trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :

"It is affirmed by some that Medousa (Medusa) was beheaded because of Athene (Athena), for they say the Gorgon had been willing to be compared with Athene in beauty."

No source mentions Medusa as a priestess specifically. Even in Ovid's Metamorphoses her story is told by Perseus at his wedding, where he claims that she was once a pretty girl who got debauched by Poseidon in Athena's temple and then got punished for this. That's it!

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I actually had an idea for a story where Perseus, now king of Mycanae, is living his best life but Medusa’s sisters find him and want revenge for their sister by killing his family.

Same anon who said not wanting to write a greek retelling. But if you insist... ^^; thank you for that encouragement! I would love the Greek perspective on it. It would help very much. I was gonna abandon it, but I would also love to tell you. See, I wanted to do a retelling of Perseus and Andromeda. They are one of my favorite mythological couples. However, I do NOT want to see anymore retellings of Perseus being some bad, evil man while Medusa and Andromeda are girlbosses or helpless who deserve better. I am so sick of the "feminists" claiming they're giving them a voice when they're actually hurting them more. They already had a voice to begin with while Medusa was already a cruel monster. It was gonna be short so far, but I wanted to write more of Perseus and Andromeda while being respectful to the source material and how they were viewed. It's not much yet, but ANYTHING but what we have now.

A nice idea would be to not rewrite about the original myth again like others have done already but make it about this couple what they do AFTER the myth. How's their life after everything, how their relationship unfolds and blossoms. How other struggles Perseus had to face some enemies, Dionysus for example could be a nice add because it's said of them almost clashing out (Nonnus later had them fight in a war)

There's much potential in retellings to expand the relationships instead of "fixing" them. To make stories that highlight key themes in one couple and what made them so special

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Again, I won't deny there are interesting ideas here that could be explored if Heywood would just stop with her hate boner for Perseus for ten minutes, but the fact is, she doesn't.

Like I could see a Polydectes who tries to give lip service to how much he adores Perseus, but in the end, still sees Perseus as a bastard, which is why he would never accept him even if he proves himself worthy. This could be a wedge that builds between Polydectes and Danae where at first she tries to justify it by Perseus being almost an adult, but eventually realizes that Polydectes love was based more on the idea of her being an Argive princess who can give him an heir that would unite their two lands, she starts to realize that he had just been using her the whole time. Would this justify Perseus? No. But it would at least keep Polydectes as the main villian who puts on a good front, but deep down is not a good man you want to marry.

I'm still not over her, a grown woman in her 30s, not just talking to her son about what she wants and explaining that this would be best for both of them. Sweet Jesus, did she think Perseus would be any more accepting if she went behind his back and did this?

Now, if the point was that because she was so young when she gave birth to Perseus, and it had cost her everything, leading to her having some resentment toward him, that I could understand. I could see the possibility in that idea and having complicated feelings toward her son and his existence, which leads to Perseus constantly trying to prove himself worthy to his mother because he does love her and wants her approval. After his return, Danae ends up realizing that she didn't really love Polydectes, but just the possibility of returning to her old life and status. It would at least be a nuanced situation and show why Perseus is the way he is, without totally demonizing him. It would also show the complexity of Danae, who, while loving her son, doesn't always find it easy to love him. Is it like the myths? No, but this book threw that out when it started, so at least do something with the ideas presented.

But no. She just whines and moans about how everyone is corrupting her precious baby, but then does absolutely nothing to stop this and doesn't even attempt to communicate with him.

Also her and Andromeda being pregnant at the same time feels extremely uncanny to me. That woman was living in a time period when giving birth as a middle-aged woman was more dangerous and life-risking, Polydectes had a wife who died during childbirth in the past and her son was old enough to have children on his own. Furthermore, back in Ancient Greece there were numerous methods of adoption, including testamentary. If Polydectes actually loved Perseus as his own son as he claimed then all he had to do was to recognize Perseus as his child instead of sending him away before marriage, and then Danae’s wouldn’t have had to offer him any heir. This should've been enough for Danaë to realize that man just wanted to get rid of her son, yet she still married him willingly.

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And again, it makes Danae look stupid!

She knows that her father is a paranoid mess who locked her away to prevent the birth of any children, and the only thing protecting her is that she is his daughter, and that might not be enough if she is actually pregnant.

Who cares about that though?! She's too horny to actually use her brain, because you know women. They're too dumb to think beyond their momentary wants, amiright?

That was sarcasm, but that's basically Danae's entire character in this book. Getting locked away for probably life over a prophecy? Seems like a great idea to have an affair with some rando who could easily be killed for doing something so dumb (and he's not getting away from me either. Dude, are you moronic!? This is the princess! You will die! Then again, you kind of deserve it). Your son is not letting you get married? Hm...have ten ten-minute conversations or just ship him off to God knows where 'to become a man', so you can bang some random guy, who only started lusting after you when you became homeless. Don't worry, he has a sad backstory and is hot, so who cares if he isn't the best guy or doesn't get along with your only family?

As much as I pity Danaë for what she's been through I find the way she gets pregnant with Perseus in this retelling to be completely frustrating. Not only that the author introduced an OC that was there for like three or four chapters and then suddenly left to get some milk before Perseus was even born, but the fact he met her during her captivity AND visited her regularly basically shows how ineffective her prison actually was in this retelling. As a base of comparison, this is the energy this part of the book gave me:

Zeus had to turn himself into a golden shower in order to enter that chamber for a reason, and the fact that we're talking here about a random peasant makes the absurdity of the situation even for obivious. Like I can understand how could either Proteus or Acrisius come in since both of them were kings and those guards would've listened to their orders, but the baker's son? What did he do?! Did he gave them cupcakes or left some cookies and chocolate milk outside in order to distract them? Okay, he was actually entering through the air holes of the ceiling, but then if they were so large that a whole human could fit into then why couldn't Danaë escape with his help earlier? There are just so many head scratching moments in this part of the novel and a LOT of thing to unpack here.

Like woman, at least make Danaë have an affair before her imprisonment, not after!

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Exactly.

And I think this also shows why having her be in love with Polydectes was such a terrible idea. Not only does it bring down his character, but hers as well, since it makes no sense for her not to just tell her son that this is what she wants, and it might be their only option to not be homeless. Sure, Perseus might grumble a bit, but eventually, he'd have to come around to the idea.

Worst of all, though, never does she try to understand that this would be a big change for her son, and his having reservations about suddenly having a stepfather thrust into his life against his will is natural. She just ships him off on a boat for him 'to become a man', which she was afraid of. This change, like I said before, also turns her into one of those parents who throw away their kids, the moment it's convenient for them and their new spouse.

It's disgusting!

One of the dumbest parts of this book is the fact Danae lied about having a demigod by Zeus.

FIrst of all, that was blasphemy. That was punishable by death, so she was stupid to do that. Secondly, why would she do that? Back then, the gods were taken seriously, and lying about them could get you killed or cursed. I could understand if she didn't know the father, but she clearly did so she's a moron for risking something like that! Thirdly, I don't know how she dares to have the gall to be sad when Perseus learns the truth and is rightly pissed with her. She lied to him his whole gosh darn life, which made him feel like he had to be some glorious hero to be worthy of a parentage that was a lie!

Seriously, I hate this version of Danae, not because she's not a good mother (though that's part of it, and it's never explored which could be interesting), but because she has no backbone or brains. The whole book she just whines and cries about how her baby is becoming evil, and she's utterly powerless to do anything. B*tch aren't you his mother? Ancient Greece was patriarchal, but they still respected their mothers; just sit him down and talk to him like a grown adult. Tell him what you want, make him understand your position, insist upon it, just stop complaining! I can't stand characters who do nothing to fix their situation, but whine the entire time.

And then these are the exact same people who have the audicity of claiming that they're giving a "voice" to these women when there are ancient poets who did that thousands of times way better than them.

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This version of Danae is just so dumb. Firstly, she lies about Zeus being Perseus’s father which was blasphemy and punishable by death in those days, and has the gall to act sad when Perseus learns the truth and is rightly furious about her lying to him his whole life. Secondly, she doesn’t have any sort of backbone to just explain to Perseus what she wants and try to make him see her perspective. Thirdly, she acts racist towards Andromeda and blames her for Polydectes’s death for reasons I guess.

Yeah, Danae from the myths would beat this one with her broom if she could.

And again does Dictys just not exist in this story? Why not explore her relationship with him and his wife? I mean in one version he fights off satyrs from r*ping her and took her and her son in despite not having a lot. It’s a sweet part of the story, and the fact he makes no attempt on her and there’s no implication he sees her as anything other a daughter figure makes it that much sweeter. Also, he has a wife. Could do something with that as well. Maybe having her help Danae with baby Perseus when she’s overwhelmed and needs support? Really get into the dynamic of their little found family?

Heck you can add a scene where Polydectes, believing Perseus had died, takes Dictys and his wife prisoner with the intention to execute them unless Danae marries him. She agrees simply because she can’t stand that two more people she’s come to love and cherish would die thanks to her, showing her own strength and loving nature.

I hate hate HATE the way the entire Polydectes situation was treated in this retelling.

In Shadow of Perseus Polydectes not only that has a tragic background story (being a man who worked hard and won people's trust in order to become king and then tragically lost his wife and daughter) in order to appear more sympathetic, but it gets to a point where Danaë herself wants to marry him and we're supposed to appreciate him even more for willingly wanting to marry a woman above 35 with a child. 🙄

The sanitization of his character is just another way the author proves not only that her irrational hatred towards Perseus made her portray the actual big bad guy and final boss in a good light, but also that she doesn't understand how does abuse work. Polydectes wanted to marry Danaë against her own will and then, after she rejected him, he planned to send Perseus on a safe suicide mission in order to marry her, in some source he goes far enough to rape or enslave her. Just because she's not your conventional victim because she wasn’t young neither childless that doesn’t mean that her trauma is less important. Not to mention the fact that people tend to hyperfixate on physical appearence and claim that Danaë couldn't have been desired because she was no longer beautiful enough, when in most cases the most common reason behind SA is NOT sexual attraction but domination or control, and in this case particularly we have a man in power being uncapable of accepting that a single mother and vulnerable woman such as Danaë would refuse the advances of a goddamn king.

Speaking about Danaë, I find it deeply ironic that a so-called Feminist Retelling wasn't able to acknowledge the fact that a woman choosing not to marry even the king of an island despite of currently living in a fisherman's household and probably confronting her with the social stigma of being an unmarried woman Ancient Greece was ahead of those times. Danaë was actually the type of woman who didn't desire a husband even for a higher social status or financial stability, and you're here having her fall in love with that piece of shit because... because?!

Next we have Perseus, who, being the male guardian of his mother, feels entitled to her and doesn't allow her to marry Polydectes because he knows that he will become her protective figure then. It gets to a point of over-possessiveness that gives Perseus some freudian tendencies, even having him claiming that Polydectes wants to keep his mother all for himself. Which not only that is disgusting af, but directly erases the most important aspect of Perseus and Danaë's relationship from the original myths, namely that Perseus cared for his mother's wishes and would've done anything she wanted him to do. In some versions he doesn't even despise Polydectes but perceives him as a father-figure (before he betrayed him), and the only reason why he disapproved this marriage was because his mother didn't want to marry him.

Turning back to Polydectes it is deeply frustrating to see how he convinces Danaë to sent Perseus far away for an year so that he could get rid of him, marry his mother and bang her in the meantime just like in the original myth, yet somehow his actions are still sanitized and Perseus is still the supreme evil guy in this story. He even leaves Danaë pregnant so that his death could be perceived as more disturbing by readers than it should've been because now Perseus left his unborn half-brother fatherless just like him. Again, what was in the writer's mind when she decided that said pregnancy would be a brilliant idea?!

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The person I reblogged this from deserves to be happy

I tried to scroll past this. I really did

[thoughts-and-ideas-and-reblogs]

The whole thing could’ve made for a fascinating look at those ‘nice guy’ types who think women owe them for basic decency and how they immediately flip when they don’t get it. You could even include the idea that because he’s king, he’s always gotten whatever he wanted just by asking for it because he was favored over his older brother, so when a woman who is older and has a bastard rejects him, he just can’t take it. Basically a Gaston type of abuser with an added mix of lovebombing to make Danae feels like she has to give in to him. Add to the fact society, especially at this time, believes women can’t or shouldn’t do anything without a man and that a single older woman like her should be grateful a king is giving her time of day just adds to that feeling of entrapment and pressure that Danae was no doubt feeling. Abuse doesn’t always have to be physical after all and would show this different types of abuse out there through the predators in this story.

Also, that makes no sense. The whole thing with Perseus being the only thing standing between them makes no sense if Danae wanted to marry him. He’s the king, while Perseus was just some powerless guy at the time even if he was super strong and in this he really is just a guy, so why doesn’t he just tell Perseus that he will marry his mom? Also, this ‘feminist retelling’ has Danae just okay with Polydectes potentially murdering her son and still wanting to marry him. Nice to know in this story, she’s one of those moms who throw their kids under the bus for their new boyfriend.

I hate hate HATE the way the entire Polydectes situation was treated in this retelling.

In Shadow of Perseus Polydectes not only that has a tragic background story (being a man who worked hard and won people's trust in order to become king and then tragically lost his wife and daughter) in order to appear more sympathetic, but it gets to a point where Danaë herself wants to marry him and we're supposed to appreciate him even more for willingly wanting to marry a woman above 35 with a child. 🙄

The sanitization of his character is just another way the author proves not only that her irrational hatred towards Perseus made her portray the actual big bad guy and final boss in a good light, but also that she doesn't understand how does abuse work. Polydectes wanted to marry Danaë against her own will and then, after she rejected him, he planned to send Perseus on a safe suicide mission in order to marry her, in some source he goes far enough to rape or enslave her. Just because she's not your conventional victim because she wasn’t young neither childless that doesn’t mean that her trauma is less important. Not to mention the fact that people tend to hyperfixate on physical appearence and claim that Danaë couldn't have been desired because she was no longer beautiful enough, when in most cases the most common reason behind SA is NOT sexual attraction but domination or control, and in this case particularly we have a man in power being uncapable of accepting that a single mother and vulnerable woman such as Danaë would refuse the advances of a goddamn king.

Speaking about Danaë, I find it deeply ironic that a so-called Feminist Retelling wasn't able to acknowledge the fact that a woman choosing not to marry even the king of an island despite of currently living in a fisherman's household and probably confronting her with the social stigma of being an unmarried woman Ancient Greece was ahead of those times. Danaë was actually the type of woman who didn't desire a husband even for a higher social status or financial stability, and you're here having her fall in love with that piece of shit because... because?!

Next we have Perseus, who, being the male guardian of his mother, feels entitled to her and doesn't allow her to marry Polydectes because he knows that he will become her protective figure then. It gets to a point of over-possessiveness that gives Perseus some freudian tendencies, even having him claiming that Polydectes wants to keep his mother all for himself. Which not only that is disgusting af, but directly erases the most important aspect of Perseus and Danaë's relationship from the original myths, namely that Perseus cared for his mother's wishes and would've done anything she wanted him to do. In some versions he doesn't even despise Polydectes but perceives him as a father-figure (before he betrayed him), and the only reason why he disapproved this marriage was because his mother didn't want to marry him.

Turning back to Polydectes it is deeply frustrating to see how he convinces Danaë to sent Perseus far away for an year so that he could get rid of him, marry his mother and bang her in the meantime just like in the original myth, yet somehow his actions are still sanitized and Perseus is still the supreme evil guy in this story. He even leaves Danaë pregnant so that his death could be perceived as more disturbing by readers than it should've been because now Perseus left his unborn half-brother fatherless just like him. Again, what was in the writer's mind when she decided that said pregnancy would be a brilliant idea?!