The story of Persephone is a troubling one for modern people. A girl, daughter of a god, is desired by her Uncle Hades, who claims her without pausing to ask for her consent. Her mother grieves, drying out the world and making it so that nothing can grow until her daughter is returned. Her plan eventually works, but not until Persephone has eaten some of the food for the dead - in many cases it's implied Hades forced the food on her - and thus is doomed to the depths forever. A compromise is struck, though; for several months Persephone is with Hades based on the number of pomegranate seeds she's eaten, and the rest of the time she comes back to the surface once more - her mother celebrating through an explosion of bounty.
Modern readers often argue that Persephone must have consented in some manner, and the story has even been retold as the secret plot of a girl wanting to escape her overbearing mother. As a story of desire, incest, and the helplessness of women in a world full of people with more power and influence, however, it is a compelling story of loss and compromise for Persephone herself. Robbed of any reasonable choice to determine her destiny, she leverages what power she can to make a life for herself torn between the power of mother, and uncle. Who knows what secrets she holds in order to keep some part of herself for herself in a world dominated by her own family. In the past there were vast cults of people dedicated to each god, and I wonder what the ones who embraced the hard choices of Persephone would whisper to each other in the dark.
Fallen Gods' approach to the Underworld for this Genre is to embrace the pomegranates of Persephone, transforming them into a gorgeous tattoo which begins on the face and curves down ones torso. There is a matching Hades tattoo for men, this time representing the jagged break in the ground he used to abduct her. Both have a lot of versions included; Persephone comes colored and not, and with outlines in a variety of shades appropriate for any skin tone, and Hades comes in five different colors, all of them intense. Covering most of me with modesty befitting Persephone is this hair and veil combination from Anachron. The hair comes either rigged or not - I chose the not-rigged version so that I could fit the hair to match my rounded skull. The hair and veil are both tintable via a HUD, and the latter can be matched to the Greek-style dress Anachron made to match.
I added in a gorgeous mermaid dress from Fission, though, in order to make my personification of Persephone a bit more modern. It comes in four colors, the fabric behind the black mesh shifting into each shade while the black remains consistent. I tinted the gray a rich gold in order to make it match up more effectively with the rest of my accessories, and the effect is striking! Fission also lines the inside of their skirts and rounds the edges of the gown nicely, and it's well rigged despite the mermaid style being tricky around the knees. Finishing out my goldy dark look is a fantastic flowered halo from Souzou Eien. It's well placed, with a large ring and lovely gems tucked into the hearts of each flower. The final detail from Genre is a ring and necklace pair from Bliensen + MaiTai which are actual blinking eyes. It's startling the first few times you're not paying attention and something moves at your neck - definitely a creepy final effect.
Two final points that add a lot to this look - my Glamistry heels are one of their older releases, but they are an amazing combination of straps and chains which are placed with exacting detail and tie in to a band down the arch of the foot. I love them for how brief they are, and for the double layered platform which jogs in under the sole of the shoe. Like all Glamistry shoes they are recolorable via a HUD, and after the initial color is purchase the others can be added via the HUD for a lower price. All of the colors are available for mixing and matching as well, which makes these some of the most versatile shoes on the grid.
I also couldn't do anything I do without the fantastic poses I buy from pose makers who are often under-appreciated. Grafica is one of my favorite stores, having a wide variety of styles and moods including a bunch of poses from both modern and historic dances. There are floating and leaping poses as well, which make picking what I'll be doing in a given image really a treat! Make sure to check out Grafica when you're looking for a way to move yourself into the best images and I'm sure you'll be happy.
