Bait-and-Switch: When Persephone notes that Hades doesn’t have a beard (unlike his brothers and statues of himself), she cheekily asks if anywhere else on him is shaved. He then offers to show her… his armpits.

Invisibility: Hades is shown to have this ability, becoming invisible when Zeus because too pushy about his crush for his liking. Ambiguously Gay: Persephone seems to think the vow of chastity that Artemis took and which her mortal priestesses follow is because she's only interested in girls. Artemis strongly hints this is the case, and she's shown acting suggestively around her female followers. Annoying Younger Sibling: Zeus is portrayed as a wannabe wingman who is a little too interested that his brother Hades is finally pursuing a relationship.Nightmare Fetishist: Implied in Persephone's case in " first date ". Since lush meadows and waterfalls are already her domain, she is less than impressed when Hades tries to show her Elysium, instead finding interest in the more lava-cave areas of the underworld. Demeter and Persephone are having an argument about attending Artemis's ascension as a goddess, with Persephone wanting to attend her party. Demeter at multiple points in the argument refers to it as "pointless frivolities", promoting such unspoken sarcasms from her daughter as, "Well, when she puts it like that...", And, "'Pointless frivolity'." Daddy's Girl: When Artemis is officially inducted into the pantheon with her first temple, the party Zeus throws was done with the idea that she would be treated like a queen for a day. I love how in detail this author is going with the story, really focusing on the characters. It made things slow-paced and meant we only got the start of a romance forming, but I enjoyed that. This is really the author’s own take on the characters and their relationship, giving them their own unique personalities and feelings. The bit of awkwardness mentioned in the description is fun without being overdone. I also enjoyed getting to see their relationships with other characters, like when Hades and Zeus were chatting.

This is a take on the Hades and Persephone story with a good guy Hades, a spirited Persephone, an overbearing Demeter, and a sweet, consensual romance. So I might just post these fun brainfarts in the " punderworld" folder in my gallery. Think of it as Elly's fanfictions, or i dunno derpy romance novels she reads occasionally XD Accidental Misnaming: One of Persephone's gripes about how she and her mother are worshipped is that her name is virtually unknown in contrast to Demeter's; she brings up that mortals consistently refer to her as "Lady Kore" and complains it's equivalent to being called "Lady Girl".I was kinda down in the dumps because this next chapter is all work and no fun forme, and I felt like I lost that enthusiasm and most importantly "inspiration" I had in chapters 1 and 2 of bloodstain, but doing these random doodles made me appreciate how long I've actually gone with Blood Stain and how much dedication and planning it takes the longer you work on something. The pacing was quite slow, but the lovely art made up for it as well as the sweet characters. This was possibly the softest and tamest Hades I've seen depicted before and it made for a nice change. Zeus was also much more tolerable than other depictions of him usually are which also helped make this an enjoyable read. The character designs for the gods were so fun too. I enjoyed them all, but there were some really neat small touches, like how the plants growing in Demeter’s and Persephone’s hair would change based on their moods. And Hades was gorgeous in a long, elegant, emo way (which is the best way, in my humble opinion), so there was that ;-) Cool Crown: Those aren't horns on Hades' head. That's his crown that grants him the power of Invisibility.

Dramatic Irony: Demeter says if the god Persephone has a crush on was worthy of her he'd propose to her officially. Right at the same time Hades is walking towards their house with the intention to do exactly that. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.* Catch-22 Dilemma: According to Demeter, any man who doesn't "go through proper channels" and asks Demeter for Persephone's hand in marriage, doesn't deserve her. However she rejects anyone who does so. Earthy Barefoot Character: Persephone is always barefoot and combines this with Fertile Feet, being the goddess of spring.Reused Character Design: Persephone's and Hades's character designs were originally Greek Mythology Alternate Universe counterparts to Elly and Vlad of Blood Stain. If you've seen those cute comics of Hades and Persephone that sometimes do the rounds online – this is the first collection of those. Yes, the title is terrible, and not even that applicable, because while there is humour here, it's derived far more from character, reaction faces and the odd pratfall than puns. What I hadn't expected, though, was the serious bits. Given the ongoing vogue for retelling classical legends to point up the raw deal women tend to get in the originals, it's fascinating that Linda Sejic has gone the other way, taking one of the stories where the default reading was that the woman was getting a raw deal, and retelling it as a sweet romance. Thus, Persephone here becomes the overworked, shut-away daughter of a controlling mother, never allowed out to other gods' festivals; Hades, meanwhile, is a shy guy admiring her from afar for centuries, never daring to make a move until well-meaning but brash Zeus appoints himself wingman and lends a hand. And yes, all his initial suggestions do run along familiar lines ("So first, you turn into a bee"). ARC from Edelweiss, but this may be out by now? - I was glad to find this on Edelweiss as I had read some of the web comic when it was generating award buzz not that long ago. I was hoping to read it collected like that as it seemed easier, but the irony is it is still paced and plotted like a web comic. This comic is what one might expect from Linda Sejic. It's cute and colorful, but very slow. I have to admit I mostly read and buy her stuff because I'm a fan of her husband's work, and they're both nice people so I want to support them. For this is a rom-com, and I'm not a big fan of those.