"Extra whipped cream on the latte, please. It's an 'extra whipped cream' kind of day today..."

Flashy, outgoing, and bubbly, Audrey strikes the image of a quintessential American cheerleader to anyone who meets her. So long as they are courteous, she is friendly to anyone, regardless of their appearance. She has a big heart and likes taking care of others. She believes that a better world is facilitated by everybody lifting each other up, not pushing them down, and she strives to live her life that way. With a passionate love of pumpkin spice and democracy, she's somebody who knows everybody in her community by name, and is generally perceived as a model citizen. She runs a lifestyle blog and online advice column called "Underworld." Her username is "Persephone," and she espouses generalized positivity and self-care.

The way she presents herself, while not completely disingenuous, partially serves as a front to her true nature. She is a rather infamous hacktivist operating under the pseudonym "Eden," notorious for leaking documents and exposing corrupt public figures. She has something of a messiah complex, and is singlemindedly pursues what she views as "justice." She will readily break laws and breach personal privacy/boundaries in order to do what she thinks is best for a person, to the point of stalking people who submit queries to her blog, and hacking devices around them to observe them.

The reason for this is in part due to her childhood and upbringing. Born in Chicago, she spent the early parts of her life on the road with her father, who claimed to be a "vigilante." He spent his days identifying abused and neglected children, taking them from their homes, and helping them find households that would appreciate them, while exposing the parents. Audrey idolized her father and completely bought into his lifestyle, viewing him as a hero and striving to be just like him. 

When Audrey was thirteen, her father was captured by law enforcement and incarcerated. Audrey was thrown into foster care. Shortly, news coverage of the serial killer who had been terrorizing the nation and killing children for twelve years, Roger Knowles, had been caught. It made headlines. Audrey, in denial,  studied computer science and cybersecurity for years, something she took to with stunning aptitude, and hacked into the precinct. She found documents of undeniable proof, and eventually spoke to the sibling of one of her father's victims.

The loss of her single moral guide in her life shattered Audrey. She felt extreme guilt for being an accomplice to her father's actions, and even more guilt for still loving her father in spite of learning the truth about him. Since then, she has avoided analyzing these feelings, burying them and involving herself in other people's problems in order to run from her own. She often struggles with doubts of whether she is helping others in order to do well, or if she does it for selfish reasons of assuaging her own guilt.

She spent the next years of her life on the run, after electronically erasing all traces of her identity. A few notable encounters she has had:

• The investigation of a a small town overrun with a cult with ill-gotten power and their fallen god
• An inquiry from a young blacksmith about the origins of a family member
• Altercations with high-level Korean politicians and a thousand-year-old Kumiho
• An investigation of a black market in Europe, for supernatural beings
• The discovery of a secret organization hunting a nonexistent race of people

Most notably, she has gained her purple eye from having stolen the power of a Kumiho, which grants her some limited omniscience, though she is learning to control the power.

Thank you for visiting the Underworld☆☆! 

Please make sure to read the rules before asking a question, okay? 

(There's also an Easter Egg in the sidebar!)

Posted May 25  12:45 PM

Hi, everyone! How have your weekends been? The moment the workday ended, it called up the weather forecast and was like, "Make sure she suffers!"

Anyway, I was thinking, on a rainy day like this, it's great to kick back with a book and a nice, fragrant tea... would you guys be interested in starting a book club? Then, you can brag about how you're in a book club!

Attached: [IAmSoCultured.jpg]

I was thinking... a book per month, give or take depending on length. And I was also thinking we could rotate teas based on recommendations! I'm really blessed to have such thoughtful, intelligent readers, and I think it'd be a ridiculous amount of fun to read a book together.

Anyway, leave a comment (or email me!) and let me know what you think! 

I hope your weekends have been sunnier than mine!

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Posted May 24 10:10 AM

Happy Friday, everyone! Today, I'll be answering the question of starrie, a newer reader of this blog! Their query is here:

hello persephone,

i found your blog last week and i love all the photos you post, and the comments are always fun to talk in! especially how often dzt roasts you, lol

my question is kind of related to that! i think it's kind of strange that it's so easy to talk to people over the internet, but I have trouble keeping friends irl. even at lunch at school, i don't really have anyone to talk with, so i just end up browsing on my phone instead. but it's not like i'm disliked or bullied? it's more like everyone's kinda. indifferent to me idk

anyway sorry for being such a downer unu here's a photo of my dog to make up for it:

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Hi starrie,

I think anyone who has an online presence would probably agree with you! I definitely know I do. When you're hidden behind a screen, it's easy to curate yourself, and present the version of you that you want to be... and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing! It's like, the people who need to prepare and practice for a presentation, versus the horrifying superbeings who can just get up in front of a crowd and start orating. I think a mix of both online and offline connections is healthy, though sometimes you don't have a choice if you're surrounded by people you're incompatible with!

That being said, I think the way of thinking, of "I'd rather be online right now" can interfere with making genuine connections offline. If you don't come forward as an earnest, genuine person, people will notice, and you'll notice, so step one is opening up yourself! Ask yourself what you want in these relationships. If you're the type of person who likes to make lists and charts (me!!) then visualizing your ideas could help! Try to find common interests or goals - conversation becomes 200% easier if you're both passionate about the subject!

If you're interested, I've attached a few articles about socializing in a crowd, read them if you see fit! Let me know how it goes, alright?

And, Angie is totally adorable!! How long have you had her? 

I'll return the favor with a photo of me Fighting dzt irl sometime! ;)

Have a lovely day,

Persephone ☆☆

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Posted May 21 5:22 PM

I found this totally cute water bottle in a little shop Akihabara today! There were cat and dog versions, too!

Attached: [supercute.jpg]

There's even a place you can put on a chain to attach to your bag. Of course, I put charms on it! ☆

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It might feel insignificant to do something like carry around a reusable water bottle, but I really do think it adds up! (And look at how cute it is!) It sounds trite, and you've heard it a million times, I know. But, during this trip, I went back to drinking from plastic bottles after using a reusable bottle for a while, and I really did notice the difference! 

This shop sells lots of adorable eco-themed goodies too! Look at this entire rack of house slippers! All wool! Which pattern is your favorite?

Attached: [LEGION.jpg]

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misc

• Before being adopted, her legal name was Poppy Knowles.
• Audrey built her cell phone by herself. Despite its clunky retro look, it's quite the powerful hacking tool. It's as important to her as her liver or lungs. 
• Despite her self-proclaimed activist lifestyle and heroism, she always finds herself getting along the best with unsavory criminal-types.
• She tans rather easily.
• She prefers deep-dish pizza to New York style and loves pineapple on pizza. Her favorite food is avocado.
• Once she decides she dislikes you, she's a very contrary, catty little brat. She only seriously dislikes people whom she deems morally unsavory, however, and is forgiving of social misdemeanors or rudeness.
• She is a huge hypocrite and fully aware of it, but doesn't appreciate being called out on it.
• In the incident with the Kumiho and Park Dae-Suk, Audrey did not lose her eye. Rather, the yeowu guseul of the kumiho fused with her existing eye and granted her the ability. Before she learned to control its power, she wore an eyepatch to avoid passing out from information overload. She learned how to use the power from the demon Greed. However, if she uses the power on ancient entities or certain items, she gets a terrible headache/undergoes extreme stress.
• Audrey is fairly athletic. She swims regularly, and dabbles in parkour. 
• She's also good with a gun. She knows a variety of sketchy things, which were normalized by her father growing up, so she doesn't realize that they're not great until somebody else points it out. Such things include interrogation techniques and being able to tie up others in different kinds of knots, etc.
• As a result, she is very cautious about revealing anything beyond her normal cheerleader persona. She doesn't trust anybody, save for a single (deceased) friend, and has trouble forming earnest, deeper bonds with other people. She especially has trouble trusting men, even moreso older men.
• She's got a bit of a competitive streak, but only when it comes to hacking. Otherwise, she is a non-competitive, easygoing person.
• She is currently on the run from the kumiho, who seems to be... thirst following her? It's complicated.