#hades x persephone forever

[monstrumpuella]

Too cute 😍

[rosewilliamsimp]

Honestly, when I went into Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, I was expecting a feels tribute to Chadwick.

What I didn’t expect however was that this was Marvel’s (subtle) take on the Hades and Persephone myth

*SPOILERS BELOW*

I mean…Think about it. One of the plot points of the movie is that Shuri is kidnapped and brought to Namor who is a God rules an under[water]world city (but in this case she lets herself get willingly kidnapped to speak with their king to negotiate a peaceful solution with him so that their countries don’t go to war) and he like low key flirts with her a bit, gives her a gift and shows off Talocan to her.

And also because she gets kidnapped, her mother goes into a serious state of worry and grief due to not knowing if she’s dead or alive considering she already lost her son.

Lastly, this may be stretching it a bit but the bracelet which Namor gives to her is metaphor for the pomegranate as from the bracelet, she makes herself a new herb which she consumes and this enables her to be his equal in terms of their power.

Only difference is that she doesn’t have to stay with him for like 6 months every year and instead of being married, they just form an alliance for now (which is understandable considering what Namor did to her mother and citizens).

[matrivers]

“we have enough retellings of hades and perse—”

NO THE FUCK WE DON’T!

[thislilstangirl]

Penny for your thoughts on the Hades/Persephone symbolism re: Namor x Shuri? 😃

well, the three main elements of the hades and persephone myth are: the abduction, the mother’s search, and the inevitable return. and we see close to all three in wakanda forever.

the abduction of shuri:

though in the film shuri “willingly” goes to see namor, the reaction of everyone in wakanda is to see it as an abduction. okoye sees the talokanil leave with the unconscious princess. queen ramonda declares her daughter ‘lost’. nakia is sent to rescue her. shuri has a descent to the underworld underwater kingdom of talokan after picking up a flower riri williams.

the queen mother’s search:

the mother/daughter relationship is central to the persephone myth, and it’s central in this story too. queen ramonda is relentless with finding shuri, serving as a demeter figure of course. while demeter has the torch, ramonda has the shell.

the contrast between the dark, cool underwater scenes between shuri and namor and the warm, summery feel of queen ramonda on the beach with namor makes me think of the seasonal cycle the persephone myth symblolises as well. and of course, like demeter, her search is fruitless- there’s ‘nothing’ that can be given in exchange for the princess’ safe return.

ultimately it is up to nakia to ‘rescue’ shuri and riri. and funnily enough nakia shares similarity to hermes, the god who helps and finds persephone in the underworld. her (familial) love for shuri makes her to come back to the wakanda fold and find shuri. she is a very knowledgeable, from languages and culture to countries due to her spy background.

the inevitable return:

in the myth hades tricks persephone into eating the pomegranate seeds, she not knowing that eating anything from the underworld will mean she is eternally bound there. interesting that food is offered to riri but we don’t see her consume anything.

while namor doesn’t trick shuri into eating anything, i wonder if he knew that gifting her his mother’s bracelet would one day help create the synthetic heart shaped herb? like playing the long game. by the time he ties the bracelet around her wrist, he is already wanting her as his queen by his side as they burn the world together.

shuri consumes the herb and so BAM she is eternally bound to talokan. mythically anyway. the alliance that namor proposed to her in the middle of the film is accepted by the end. they have an alliance, a union. an eternal union to stop an eternal war?

namor is counting on shuri coming back to him. and he’s sure of himself because he understands her and the predicament wakanda faces. just like how hades is certain persephone will come back to him every six months to the underworld.

anyway these are just some quick thoughts off the top of my head x the persephone and hades myth is primarily about death and rebirth though. and boi, wakanda forever is full of death/rebirth imagery.

[suzannahnatters]

You've heard of Dorothy Sayers' poem Desdichado but have you read the Hades and Persephone-themed poem from that same collection because this thing goes way harder than anything should:

REX DOLORIS

* Signed with the sign of His Cross and salted with His salt. S. AUGUSTINE.

"WHEREFORE wilt thou linger, Lady Persephone? The sheaves are gathered, the vintage is done, Bacchus through the ivy leaves laughing with his satyrs Calls us to the feasting, and the ripe, red sun Drops like an apple, tumbling to the westward, The shout of the Maenads is merry on the hill, Why do the wheat-ears fall from thy fingers? Whom does thou look for, lingering still?

"Whom dost thou look for? Here is one to woo thee, Brown-cheeked, beautiful, lissom as the larch, Lightsome, slender, blossomy with kisses, Merrier-footed than the winds in March; Loose thy hair to dream along his shoulder, Drowse in thy whiteness warm upon his breast, He shall feed thee with wheaten cakes and honey And all fair fruits that are rich and daintiest."

"I weary of the feast, I weary of the harvesting, I weary of your music, children of the earth-- Your feet dance over the roofs of my palaces, The halls of Hades ring hollow to your mirth; The great King of Grief hath reft me, ravished me, Broken me with kisses, conquered me with pain, I have drunk his bitter wine, I have eaten of His pomegranates, Can find no savour in the honeycomb again."

"Wherefore wilt thou linger, Lady Persephone? When sheaves are gathered and the vintage is done, And Bacchus through the ivy leaves laughing with his satyrs Calls us to the feasting, and the ripe, red sun Drops like an apple, tumbling to the westward, While the shout of the Maenads echoes from the hill?" "Ere the round moon rise ruddy on the corn-shocks The Lord of Hades shall have me at His will."

[lesfir]

[shaunthesheesh]

Con La Brisa from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever album is so fucking addictive. Just came back from watching the movie, it was amazing and the song has been on repeat since I came out of the theater.

[ella-kinsey]

Long Live The Queen Chapter Two (Namor X Shuri, Arranged Marriage AU)

MASTERLIST

Story Summary: "Namor makes Shuri a proposal that she cannot refuse.

OR

A retelling of Persephone, the goddess who loved the surface world, and Hades, the god who loved her enough to burn the world down for her."

Click Below for Chapter Two!

CHAPTER TWO WORD COUNT: 2,022

Shuri awoke to a banging on her door. Sitting upright, she noticed she’d been changed during her forced sleep. The gilded dress she’d worn earlier had been swapped for a satin white shift. Cream-colored and soft to the touch, the dress showed that Namor would spare no expense when it came to her comfort. She frowned at the thought.

The knock is only customary, as Namora and three other Talokaniis glided in without her acquiescence. The woman soldier was devoid of her feather headdress and adornments. Instead, she wore a bejeweled halter that exposed her navel, along with a firmly-woven net skirt. In the dimly-lit room, her top glittered and shined as light bounced off the reflective stones. Despite her casual appearance, Shuri could still spot a scowl underneath Namora’s filter mask. It seemed that the king’s cousin did not share his sentiments for Shuri.

“Rise, my Queen,” Namora announced tartly, standing at the forefront of the other Talokanii women, who were also adorned in similarly shining outfits. “We are here to prepare you for the ceremony.”

If they thought they’d find a willing captive, the Talokaniis were much mistaken. 

“I am the Princess of Wakanda, not your Queen,” Shuri rose from the bed to her full height, feet planted firmly on the ground. “I do not know what is wrong with your bullheaded King, but I refuse to go along with this sham of a wedding!”

Namora did not falter.

“We are here to prepare you for the ceremony,” She continued as if Shuri had not spoken at all. “Please allow us to dress and cleanse you. Ku’kul’kan has requested it.”

At her words, the women flurry into action. It was as if a light bulb had gone off; the women snapped into formation so quickly that Shuri wondered if this moment was rehearsed. To no avail, she tried to twist out of their way, but their grips were iron on her arms and legs. 

They lifted her shift off her body as though it weighed more than a tissue, dragged her to an ivory tub in an adjoining bathroom, and dried scrub the protesting queen-to-be down with sea salt. Her skin is rubbed raw and exfoliated before perfumed bathwater is poured into the bath. The scent is nothing like what she is used to. If Wakanda is thick musk and incense, smoke clouds heavy with musk and spice, then Talokan is light air and vapor, a smell on the wind that you’d miss if you blink too fast. 

She is none-too-gently pushed down into the warm water. The ladies work silently and efficiently, handling the resisting princess with a practiced ease. Two focus on washing her arms and legs with a crochet material that’s alike the African washing nets she uses at home. The other attendant massages shampoo into her coils and finger-detangles her hair with skilled hand. When they’re finished, they leave a net floating in the bath and stand, all three moving away from Shuri. As quickly as they descended upon her, they rise and stand towards the wall, backs rigid as the most disciplined soldiers.

A moment passes, and Namora, who has been standing dutiful watch throughout, gestures towards her own body and looks at the queen-to-be.

“Hm?” Shuri questions. “Ah!”

Namora nods at her and faces away from Shuri. She isn’t sure what use it is for them to turn away when they’ve already washed her, but she is slightly thankful for the modicum of privacy as she washes the rest of her body on her own. 

Of all the situations to be in, trapped in an arranged marriage to a King of an underwater Kingdom previously unknown to mankind was not foreseen in Shuri’s horoscope for the year. At least, the astrologer did not mention it to the princess and queen mother when they made their annual pilgrimage together to the old soothsayer. No, instead, the elderly crone had only grinned, a joke dancing in glaucoma blue-colored eyes, as she insisted to the royals that the stars had one message for them: the Moon controls those in the water just as it controls those on land. 

At the time, Shuri had only seen the wise woman’s words as all-the-more reason to eschew her country’s traditions. The Moon doesn’t control humans. The human body is impacted by the gravitational pull of local celestial bodies. The same influence could be said for Jupiter, Venus, or any other non-Earth object in our solar system.

Now, thousands of leagues under the sea, Shuri sees that the elder had gotten the last laugh.

Discreetly, Shuri scans the room, searching for anything – a tool, a weapon, a resource – that she might use to her advantage. The room is bare, save for the copper bathtub she sat in and the bed she awakened upon. Though, there were indents along the seashell-lined floor that suggested this room once held more, she could only assume that the room had been searched and stripped of anything too dangerous. 

“My Queen, it is time for the next phase of preparation.” Namora broke Shuri’s thoughts, peering down at her through slitted eyes. “We are running behind schedule.”

“I am not your Queen!” She responded, startling the attendants who had already begun crowding her with opened towels. Her bathwater had long grown tepid. “I am a Princess of Wakanda, and I demand to be released.”

“In Talokan tradition, we must ensure – “

“I don’t care about tradition!” Shuri shrank into the tub, refusing to rise. “I don’t care about a wedding, and I don’t care about the moon!”

The warrior woman spoke in clipped Yucatan so quickly that Shuri could not translate it. Whatever the command was, the attendants forcefully grabbed Shuri out of the tub and dried her down. Water splashed around as the princess wrestled, but she, in combination with her slippery skin, was no match for the attendants’ strong grasp. 

“This is a crime,” Shuri assured Namora as the ladies covered her body in a thick, light-smelling lotion. “You are making a big mistake.”

“You all cannot do this,” She yelled as they clipped her nails and plucked her eyebrows. “This is not right!”

“I am going to escape, and when I do –” Shuri began after they dressed her and applied paint to her face and body.

“You are going to what, Princess?” It was the first question Namora asked her, throughout the hours she’d been in preparation for the wedding. “What are you going to do?”

By now, hours had passed. The attendants did not tire in their efforts but they did not move with the same quickness of vigor as possible. Even Namora sounded tired and resigned to the Princess’s incessant fighting. Most of all, Shuri had exhausted herself out. Before Shuri could think of an answer, a knock sounded.

A hulk-sized warrior, the one they called Attuma, stood in the doorway. His frame took up the entire space. 

“He is ready,” was all Attuma offered.

Namora nodded at him and smiled briefly, the softest action Shuri had ever seen from her, as she materialized an air filter out of seemingly nowhere.

“Oh no,” Shuri spoke. “Don’t you dare!”

-------------------------------------------------

When she came to, she was not alone.

The King of Talokan sat beside her. He wore an elaborate, gold-brimmed animal head cowl with green and blue plumage sprouting at its back. His chest was bare, except for a string of pearls and his customary brass and blue shoulder plate. A gold armband curled around each of his biceps, and a beaded bracelet wrapped around his left wrist. He knelt on the ground next to her her and used a poker to adjust a well-lit hearth with a roaring fire. He looked into the flames, the bright color dancing golden-red in his eyes. 

“Sweet dreams, Shuri?” Namor asked, eyes remaining focused at the task at-hand. 

Shuri’s hands were bound together by rope, although it was an unnecessary precaution. She laid on a thick, circular mat on the ground, layered with animal fur, skins, pillows, and other soft comforts. Sleep’s embrace threatened to draw her back into the void, but she shook herself out of it and sat upright, yawning.

“Yes, I dreamt that you dropped dead and everything you loved fell to ashes before you.”

“I forgot that Wakandan wedding vows were so cruel,” He laid his palm upon his heart. “Such vile words, from such a pretty mouth.”

“Don’t you know it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?” She sneered at him.

Much to her chagrin, he fully turned towards her and took in the sight of his reluctant bride.

The Princess had been prepped and pampered in the finest that Talokan had to offer. Her skin shined with body oil; her hair and lashes tinted with onyx; her lips colored with ochre. She wore a dress made of jaguar skin that connected to her neck with a trail of jades and emeralds. Swirling white lines climbed up her fingertips to her elbows. On both forearms, she wore vibranium armbands. Her nails were painted silver, the same crystallized tint that dusted across her eyelids and cheeks. 

He did not try to hide his interest in her, moving his eyes up and down her body.

Between the bedding and the fire, the room felt hot, stifling. Most of all, Namor’s presence alone seemed to suck all the air out. Shuri had to manually pace her breathing, lest her heart would break free of her chest. 

“Before?” He moved away from the hearth and laid next to her, though she tried with no success to put more space between them. “Our wedding is happening right now. While we are in here together, my people are out there, feasting, drinking, dancing, rejoicing in honor of our marriage.”

“This marriage is a sham,” She said to him, throwing up her bound hands at him as proof. “Your people rejoice for nothing.”

“In the eyes of Talokan and the supreme god Tlāloc, we are husband and wife.” He spoke sincerely, unclasping the bracelet from his wrist. 

“You are not listening to me at all,” She began, just as he began untying the rope around her wrists. “Namor, you don’t have to do this.”

“No,” He shook his head. “I must do this.”

“There are other ways.”

“Other ways?” He paused, fingertips slowing on the last knot. “I told you the story of my people. We were hunted down, beaten, killed. I did not choose this war; it was brought to me. What would you have me do? You look at me as if I have many options. I do what I must to protect my people.” 

The rope fell to the ground in one singular loop.

“Some things, a King must do because it is right.” Slowly, he now wrapped the bracelet around Shuri’s right wrist in place of the rope ties. “This, I do because it feels right.”

“You have been decorated and painted in the colors of bridedom.” He continued, looking deeply into her eyes; she met his challenge, unblinking, and his heart swelled with pride at his choice in wife. “I’ve tended to the fire, just as the first man Mixcoatl did for the first woman Cōātlīcue. Incense has been burnt and offered to the gods. You wear the mane of a jaguar that I hunted, killed, and skinned with my own hand. And with this final act, I have made us one.” 

“Wait!” She placed her hand over his.

Namor paused at the contact. Shuri had to think quick.

“You said that gods do not bargain with mortals, but can a wife not bargain with her husband?”

His mouth quirked, and though he did not laugh, she saw a sparkle in his eye, as if he knew a joke she was not privy to.

“Depends,” Namor brushed his thumb against her knuckles; she ignored his action, keeping her hand atop his in spite of her discomfort. “What is the wife bargaining with?

“I will marry you,” Shuri spoke the words that would seal her fate. “If you let the scientist go.”

[blackpantherwfxoxo]

Ok, HEAR. ME. OUT. Shuri and Namor are Hades and Persephone (duh), but what about the pomegranates that make her need the return to hades? IT'S THE BRACELET. "Hades" (Namor) offers "Persephone" (Shuri) "food" (the bracelet) and Shuri does eventually wind up consuming the "pomegranates seeds" via the strands from the bracelet she uses to synthesis the new Heart shaped Herb. Meaning she will have to travel back to the "underworld".

[monstrumpuella]

Hades' Vows

[desidarling123]

[bowlingwithplanets]

I just watched Wakanda Forever and I can’t help but ship Shuri and Namor. There’s just too much of a Hades and Persephone thing going on for me not too.

Evidence:

he “kidnaps” her and brings her to his kingdom

She finds this new place beautiful and likes it there. She is also willing to stay

He is feared by many but was soft around her (gifting her his mother’s bracelet and bringing her to see his city)

Said kingdom is not easily accessible by surface dwellers (under the sea versus the under the ground)

Her mother is powerful and desperately trying to get her daughter back

There’s so much evidence here, and I could probably come up with more given more time

[thislilstangirl]

In an interview Tenoch himself said “Approaching this kind of character, trying to find the humanity is marvellous, but it only works if you have people like Letitia and Ryan there making the journey easier and you can find all the pieces and put it together to create this beautiful relationship— because if they don’t have a good relationship (gestures to him and Letitia) you can’t understand the humanity of each one. It’s not easy to complete the journey but the journey is complete because you create this relationship.” likeee doesn’t that just prove even the subtle moments between Namor and Shuri was intentional??

i would love to know what interview this is from. so i can understand the context of these words a bit better.

but i think we don’t have to look to interviews to know if any moments between shuri and namor are intentional. the text of the film is pretty clear on the intent. these two individuals are intrinsically tied to each through a shared grief, pain, and rage. and they are able to see that in one another.

you were suppose to come out of the theatre, understanding that they have a genuine connection, they are equals, and that they understood each other deeply. that’s the only way the last scene between the two of them works. they have to be a mirror image and know that.

when you see the humanity of another person as clear and deeply as you see yourself, your halfway there to romance. add the very telling lyrics of the song that plays during the scene of the two of them on talokan, the gift of a family heirloom, a proposal to burn the world together, and the reverence namor has towards shuri…it’s hard not to jump to a romantic connection. or at least the crew knew it was a direction the relationship could (can?) take.

[starsteemer]

Ummm furrifies your greek gods This is technically a Ducktales Redesign of Hades and Persephone Hades design is by @liquid-bats (He’s a screech owl, Persephone is a deer <3)

[naylor]

so anyway my mom saw the new black panther movie last night and then called me to talk about it. i think she ended up wishing she didn't :/

[ofmythsandfablesaa]

@anakinsstuff​​ asked: [ TOUCH ]  for the taller muse to lean down and press their forehead to the shorter one’s.  for Hades and Persephone

❈ — The goddess smiled sweetly as her husband pressed his forehead to her own, though she found it rather amusing how he had to bend quite a bit in order to do so. Leaning up on her toes, Persephone wrapped her arms around his neck and lightly nuzzled her nose with his, humming softly. “You have my attention, my love. Is there something on your mind?”