Persephone's (Gothic) Insights

What's going on in Palestine is wrong, but so is the larger geo-political argument trying to justify it—what is, quite simply, genocide for the same old reasons: bourgeois hegemony. The Imperial Core of the Global North sanctions, funds and incites genocide to enrich the elite, including the one occurring right now in Palestine at the hands of the state of Israel and its war criminals (Bad Empanada, "Israeli ETHNIC CLEANSING of Gaza Begins - 1 MILLION Expelled in Another Nakba," 2023). This is entirely wrong on every conceivable register (and demonstrates how nation-states exist purely to serve the profit motive). Palestine is in the right, Israel is not; even when Hamas becomes indiscriminate in their killings of Israeli citizens, you must remember that said citizens are occupiers of stolen land taken through lies and by force—i.e., the ethnostate using its own women and children as human shields during an unlawful occupation that has been ongoing for over seventy years...

Volume Zero/the thesis volume for my book, Sex Positivity , is officially live! Go to my website's 1-page promo and pick up a copy for free (it's non-profit)! While you're there, you can also learn about the other three volumes, project history and logo design.  The rest of the volumes are planned to release between the remainder of 2023 and all of 2024. In the meantime, give Volume Zero a look. It is easily the hardest thing I’ve ever written, and I’m very excited to share it with you all; if you like it, please share it with your friends and let me know what you think! (model: Persephone van der Waard ; photographer: Zeuhl ) Persephone van der Waard is an anarcho-Communist, sex worker, genderqueer activist and Gothic ludologist.  She sometimes writes reviews, Gothic analyses, and interviews for fun ; or  does independent research for her PhD on Metroidvania and speedrunning  every now and again. She's also an erotic artist and a writer. If you're interested in he...