Popular Hades & Persephone "retellings" are, rightly, getting dunked on all over the socials right now and, as a Pagan who has an altar to the Queen, I could not be happier. But also, I feel like a lot of people miss WHY they're bad - aside from just plain bad writing and lazy tropes. Which are, yeah, also REALLY bad.
Pretty much all retellings try to wave away, or excuse, or twist the whole kidnapping bit. And I actually do have sympathy and understanding for why, when speaking from a modern perspective.
But honestly...you gotta get over it. There are other stories to play fix-it with, not this one.
The Abduction is The Thing.
Were I a little more sober I could bring up chapter and verse of the Hymn to Demeter but frankly, if you know even the middle school mythology curriculum version of the story, you SHOULD know the themes. The story of Persephone was one mothers and daughters in the ancient world held dear, because it was a reality: you will, one day, be swept away from your home to go cleave to a man you most likely know nothing about. You will miss your mother, but chances are very good that he will be a good husband, once you get to know him, certainly better than Zeus or Ares, and he will make you a queen of his home.
Leaving home to marry was often scary, and violent (look up the history of the tradition of Bridesmaids, if you don't already know it - they were originally decoys on the marriage road). Centuries later we'd have tales like Beauty & The Beast serving the same function: comfort, hope, you are leaving your safe loving home to figure life out with a (often older, powerful) stranger. Your trauma over this sudden ending of your childhood made manifest in a Beast, or a God of The Underworld.
It's wonderful that we don't NEED stories like this anymore to comfort us (here, at least, in this culture). But if you try to force them into modern vernacular it just will not work, not really, because you're gutting out the whole point just to have a more tidy romantic male hero.
I have read MANY very good ...novelizations? fanfic(? however you would frame them, but they're certainly not "retellings"), etc. that simply take advantage of the blank spaces in the myth, and there are many!
It's not explicit that sexual assault happens - "The Rape of Persephone" as a title was coined in much earlier eras, when the word was just as often used to simply refer to abduction.
"She was starving!" the gods didn't need to eat. So it's easy to read her eating the Pom seeds as a deliberate choice on her part. Like, shit, people, scholars have written whole papers on the symbolism of this moment, between marriage rites and even yeah, Seph choosing both worlds with her husband's knowing consent.
And that, I think, is the real heart of the thing. People want an utterly mundane, spelled-out story here, as opposed to what it really is, has always been, just like any other myth or religious parable: IT'S A METAPHOOOOOOR.
They don't need to be destined, or meet at a goddamned BALL and then CONSPIRE to fake her kidnapping, or shit, I once saw one where Hades got MIND CONTROLLED by Zeus?! Jesus.
Persephone was yoinked into the Underworld against her will.
That's how it went.
I don't mean this in a "stay out of my belief system!" way, shit I'm a white American chick with delusions of witchery. I mean this in a "stop stressing yourself out trying to make things palatable" way:
This is a very real, very precious myth to many people, BECAUSE for at least that one event, Persephone had no autonomy, BECAUSE for thousands of years most women had no autonomy. Erasing that, sanitizing the fact that a girl is ripped out of the spring, from her mother's arms, is erasing the thing that gave comfort to women for centuries. And people can and should still find power and healing in it now!
Fill in the blanks the story leaves in whatever manner seems fit to you, there's plenty of room, but. Come the fuck on.
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saw ur mom at the grocery store !!!
*ੈ✩‧₊˚ in which their post break-up era is them hanging out with each other's families.
or
for when you find out that your second family is actually your ex's family. ˚ ༘♡ ⋆。˚
social media au // charles leclerc x fem!reader
sequel - well, i'm still in love with you ·˚ ༘
warnings - language
author's note - hello!!!! a short one but i hope u like it <3 thank u sm for reading i love you <3
≡;- ꒰ °twitter ꒱
≡;- ꒰ °instagram ꒱
liked by lorenzotl, carmenmmundt, lilymhe and 797,427 others
yourusername saw ur mom at the grocery store i always knew she really did like me more
7,825 comments
username THE CAPTION
username i just gasped omg
username HELPHSHSKAKSJSKAK
username MAMA LECLERC AND Y/N
lorenzotl please return my mother
-> yourusername shush we're going shopping
username THE SHADEEEEE
username i know charles is shaking rn
-> username bro regrets introducing them 💀💀💀
username love that they're still so close like ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
carla.brocker stay right where you are, i'm on my way
-> yourusername already ordered a frappe for u <3
username I NEED CHARLES TO REACT TO THIS RN LIKE
username bro hurt her so bad she started rhyming
-> yourusername PLEASE
username why r u so pretty
username idk what happened just the fact that charles should be on his knees crying screaming throwing up for her to take him back
username the way pascale is always so "😍😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰🥰😘😘😘😘☺️☺️☺️☺️" with her :///
arthur_leclerc pineapple is mad. i repeat pineapple is mad
-> yourusername hoes mad ur honour
-> username NOT CHARLES BEING PINEAPPLE
username THIS IS SO WHOLESOME (if we ignore the caption)
username should've known it was only a matter of time before y/n said something 💀💀💀💀💀
username queens
-> username icons
-> username girlbosses
username charles is fuming rn i Know it
lilymhe missing u ml
-> yourusername cannot wait to see u bb <3
username no bc why did i think for even a second that they ended on good terms.
username my two absolute girlbosses
charlotte2304 wowwwwwwww. guess my invitation got lost in mail huh?
-> yourusername we're literally going to dinner tonight??????
-> charlotte2304 okay and???????
-> yourusername join us!!!!! we can have a girls' day!!!!! carla is on her way too!!!!!! - pascale
-> charlotte2304 i'm halfway through the door love you!!!
username no bc all jokes aside i wonder how y/n and charles must be feeling with yk, both of them being close to each other's families and friends like
-> username no bc imagine having to stay in the same friend circle after u break up like that's so 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔
username the caption punched me in the gut js saying
username she's the favourite child 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
≡;- ꒰ °instagram ꒱
liked by carlossainz55, pierregasly, landonorris and 868,525 others
charles_leclerc vacation with ex in-laws ❤️
8,627 comments
username NAH NO WAY
username OH MY GOD
username PLEASE
username charles being a petty bitch we love to see it
username NOT HIM GOING ON A WHOLE ASS VACATION WITH HIS EX'S FAMILY
arthur_leclerc that's where you had to go "so so so urgently"
-> charles_leclerc yeah !!!
username bro went on a vacation with her family bc she went grocery shopping with his mom 💀💀💀💀💀💀
username no bc he got the grandparents too
-> username HE GOT THE DOG
username y/n bout to move in his childhood home i can feel it
-> username they're both so stubborn and petty so i wouldn't be surprised at all 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
username him being close with her family after they split hits me in the heart idek why
lorenzotl maman says you should've told her, she wanted to see them too
-> charles_leclerc i invited them to dinner next week, tell her to not worry
username THIS IS SO
username no bc she went GROCERY SHOPPING with his mom and this mf went on a VACATION
username what'd they even talk about 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
-> username "your daughter is giving me grey hair" "you're not the only one, son"
*liked by charles_leclerc*
-> username PLEASE OMG
username i would do anything to be on this vacation
username kinda need y/n and charles to interact again
username IT'S ONLY 7AM WHAT THE FUCK
landonorris tell (your mom's name) i miss her cooking and her favourite son says hi
-> charles_leclerc she says she's going to the next race so she'll make something for you and no. i'm her favourite son
-> carlossainz55 pretty sure it's me
-> pierregasly no way
-> lewishamilton it's me actually
-> maxverstappen1 shut up it's me
-> danielricciardo it's me lmfao
-> yourmomsusername it's actually mick and roscoe
-> mickschumacher YES
-> username the way everyone is close to y/n's family :///
username y/n's next post "so i moved into my ex's childhood home lol"
-> username the way idk what to expect from her 💀
username alrightttt all jokes aside please get back together with mom ❤️
username no bc if they don't work out then there's no hope for me 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔
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˖⁺。˚⋆˙who's gonna know | CS55˖⁺。˚⋆˙
pairing: carlos sainz x ferrari admin!reader y/n (she/her)
genre: social media au
warnings: none just fluff
summary: in which a certain someone is trying to catch your attention but you are otherwise preoccupied
a/n: this was kind of hard to make there was a lot to fit in so i didnt make her like childhood friends w lando or anything LOL sometimes it's saur hard to fit too many plot points in smau 😭 hope it's ok tho!
request!!!: newly hired Ferrari social media manager ( literally jokingly simps over every driver despite being a Ferrari employee) who Carlos has a crush on and is trying to shoot his shot while the drivers are on his neck lol ..reader could also be lando's childhood (or not) best friend..it's upto you actually
fc: various brunette girls from pinterest
sequel
my masterlist
twitter ->
instagram ->
pierregasly
liked by charles_leclerc, yukitsunoda0511, and 72,284 others
pierregasly 🏙️
view all 8,284 comments
user5 so cute
user6 ily pierre
user7 luv pierre selfies
scuderiaferrari so hot! 🔥
pierregasly ???
charles_leclerc oh no ferrari admin
maxverstappen1 wrong account?
scuderiaferrari nope im on the correct account dont worry everyone :))
francisca.cgomes 😂😂😂
user8 HAHAHA
user9 omg this is so funny
danielricciardo
liked by maxverstappen1, landonorris, and 81,799 others
danielricciardo 💤
view all 11,294 comments
user10 hiii daniel
user11 aww sleepy daniel so cute
user12 ADORABLE
scuderiaferrari hey daniel you look cool and hot as always 😎
danielricciardo awww thanks ferrari!!
charles_leclerc not again
carlossainz55 admin pays attention to everyone but us
scuderiaferrari hey charlos
carlossainz55 hey what you doing tonight?
danielricciardo not on my post please!
user13 ...wait
user14 is carlos trying to shoot his shot with ferrari admin 😭
user15 CARLOS??!
landonorris
liked by danielricciardo, carlossainz55, and 81,192 others
landonorris ⛄️
view all 18,283 comments
user16 he looks so cute
user17 so cosyy
user18 hi lando
user19 cue ferrari comment in 3 2 ...
scuderiaferrari dont get too close to the snow you'll melt it 🔥🔥
landonorris 😂
charles_leclerc 😐
user20 they're fed up now LOL
carlossainz55 STOP THIS!!
scuderiaferrari 😮
landonorris everyone stop being hostile it's my bad for being so hot
carlossainz55 🤨
scuderiaferrari 😍
yourusername
liked by charles_leclerc, landonorris, and 21,973 others
yourusername ❤️💋🌹🍷🎈💥🔴🚗💄❗️
view all 3,112 comments
yourbff red era
landonorris she isnt taylor swift
yourusername why do you even know that's a taylor swift thing
landonorris im one of the girls alright?
charles_leclerc not sure who you're trying to impress but i know who you are impressing
yourusername is this a riddle i have to solve
user21 ???
user22 omg all of the red lol ferrari girllll
carlossainz55 🔥🔥
user23 oh carlos fancies her fr
user24 he wants her so bad it's left him rizzless
user25 fire emoji is lando norris levels of L rizz
messages ->
instagram ->
yourusername posted a story
liked by charles_leclerc, pierregasly, and 12,104 others
charles_leclerc 👀
yourusername you have issues
user26 wait did he rizz her
user27 YES CARLOS
user28 omg
user29 is it just you two??!😼
user30 womp womp
messages ->
instagram ->
yourusername
liked by carlossainz55, pierregasly, and 38,928 others
yourusername love my job 🐎
view all 5,077 comments
user31 y/n and her red shoes
yourbff LOVE YOUUU proud of you
yourusername love you sm alwaysss
carlossainz55 we love having you around y/n ❤️
yourusername !!!! hehe ty my fav
landonorris 😂
carlossainz55 do you ever say anything besides laugh emojis, lando?
pierregasly 😂
charles_leclerc 😂
yourusername immature boys!
user32 what is going onnn
user33 carlos needs to ask her out already
liked by pierregasly, landonorris, charles_leclerc
carlossainz55 👍
carlossainz55
liked by charles_leclerc, landonorris, and 719,296 others
carlossainz55 🐶
view all 12,822 comments
user34 IS THAT Y/N
user35 omg that's y/n????
user36 did carlos actually pull the ferrari admin
charles_leclerc interesting
pierregasly tell me more
landonorris i see
user37 THE COMMENTS???
user38 details nowwwww
scuderiaferrari ruff ruff!!
carlossainz55 grrr
user39 is this flirting
twitter ->
instagram ->
yourusername posted a story
liked by pierregasly, charles_leclerc, and 21,183 others
yourbff SOFT LAUNCHHHH???
yourusername 🤷♀️ who's gonna know
yourbff probably everyone
pierregasly 👀
user45 is it carlos
user46 if it's carlos u can tell us y/n :-))
charles_leclerc you're not sneaky, y/n
yourusername ?? dont know what ur talking about
charles_leclerc ur dating my teammate
yourusername baseless accusation
carlossainz55 posted a story
liked by landonorris, yourusername, and 51,830 others
user47 this is too convenient for it to not be y/n
user48 first y/n soft launches and now this?
user49 not u pulling the ferrari admin
user50 wow & haters said you couldnt do it
pierregasly wow
carlossainz55 ???
landonorris congratulations 🙌
carlossainz55 😎
yourusername
liked by carlossainz55, yourbff, and 43,283 others
yourusername 💫
view all 7,273 comments
user51 she's trying to soft launch carlos but we already know
user52 CARLOS DEFFO BAGGED HER
user53 i can't believe carlos rizzed her up
user54 she's so motherrrr
charles_leclerc no comment
yourusername boooooo
charles_leclerc i know more than u think 👀
yourusername creep!!!
user55 LOL charles knows too
yourbff and you said who's gonna know 🤨
yourusername yeaaaaaaa my bad
user56 y/n carlos confirmed
THE END ❤️
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