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My Fourth Book (the Undead Module) Is Live!

A small announcement and a couple days late, but the fourth book in my Sex Positivity (2023) is live: the Undead Module! Check it out, here ! Here's the front and rear covers, featuring the lovely-as-always Harmony Corrupted ! As for the module, it's a monster (so to speak) sub-volume. Over 1,000 pages and 800 unique images, it explores the poetic history of undead, covering zombies, vampires and ghosts in exhaustive detail; e.g., apocalypses, hauntings, castles and more! The module has taken four months to write, but is actually based on an older manuscript—a Humanities primer I wrote two years ago. Having since written my PhD and two other books, I returned to the primer and expanded on it big time! I'm very proud of this one! Book details: My name is Persephone van der Waard and I am currently writing and illustrating a non-profit book series on sex positivity and the Gothic. About the project: Made in collaboration with other sex workers, Sex Positivity is a four-volu
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Capping off My Magnum Opus: Exploring Rape Play in Hollow Knight

Previously I mentioned that I had written a three-part chapter  on Metroidvania for my  Sex Positivity   book series, " She Fucks Back " (2024). Already the culmination of my life's work, I wanted to cap off my magnum opus with a fun little announcement, letting you all know that the last part of that chapter is now up on my website: " Sleeping Beauties: Policing the Whore; or, Topping from Below to Rise from the Ashes "!  ( source : Materia Collective) Normally it'd just be another post in my book sample series before Volume Two, part two goes live in the next couple of months. However, "Sleeping Beauties" is extra special because it's the end to the capstone to my Metroidvania work after my PhD and what I esteem to be my crowning achievement; i.e., I write about rape play a great deal, talking about it outside of Metroidvania all the time (e.g., " Into the Toy Chest, part zero: A Note about Rape/Rape Play; or, Facing the Great Destroyer

Reaction and Breakdown: Final Alien Romulus (2024) Trailer!

Another Alien: Romulus post! This time, it's my response and breakdown to the final trailer! tl;dr—I fucking loved what I saw! Final trailer link . Here's the link to my video response . In connection with Romulus and its Promethean themes,   I've written a three-part book chapter on Metroidvania for my  Sex Positivity   book series: "' She Fucks Back'; or, Revisiting The Modern Prometheus through Astronoetics: the Man of Reason and Cartesian Hubris versus the Womb of Nature in Metroidvania" (2024).  Said chapter  concerns  Frankenstein   (aka  The Modern Prometheus ) and talks extensively about the  Promethean Quest as it appears in popular media after Shelley's novel; it focuses on Metroidvania, of course (with close-reads of  Hollow Knight  and  Axiom Verge) , but I also talk about movies like  Forbidden Planet  and  Alien .  Click here to read the entire chapter on my website book sample series.  It combines my PhD research after writing my PhD (

Raising Funds for My Partner's Healthcare!

Raising funds for my partner's healthcare! Bay Ryan has a degenerative disease of their teeth, and will need to pay for extractions out-of-pocket (not covered by their insurance), but also aftercare expenses. We're trying to raise $500-$1000 NZD (~$310-620USD)! The original Twitter post: https://x.com/vanderwaardart/status/1801096072049111303 Bay is disabled and gets partial aid through the state; they do sex work, but rely on donations to get by. You can support Bay on OnlyFans, but also through their Ko-Fi! His portfolio: https://vanderwaardart.com/my_partner/bay-ryan OnlyFans: https://onlyfans.com/barkingonmain Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/tiddyshibe I realize that not everyone can donate and I wouldn't expect that. However, if anyone can share the above links to help get Bay the care they need, it would mean the world! *** Persephone van der Waard is the author of Sex Positivity —its art director, sole invigilator, and primary editor (the other co-writer/co-editor being Ba