Persephone's (Gothic) Insights

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...

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 ...

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.  ...

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...

Decided to do an Alien  Romulus reaction/breakdown; i.e., super  low-effort material I can put quickly on my old blog in the spirit of looking at Alien -rated content!  Here's the link to my video response  (excuse the uneven audio on my end; recording goof and I'm too lazy to rerecord, haha). Note: Normally I would do an extended respond with an image breakdown, but I'm currently in the middle of proofreading and releasing book samples during Pride month; i.e.,  for Volume Two, part two of my  Sex Positivity ( 2023) book project, featured in my second, very NSFW book sample series, " Searching for Secrets " (2024) . So this half-assed approach is all you're getting! Gorgeous-looking film! Not sure how much plot it will have apart from the usual Gothic thrills (the black genderqueer monster chasing the straight white lady around the Gothic-castle-style spaceship), but at least it's well put together!  Happy Pride, bitches! *** Persephone van der Waard...

Starting a second sample series for Volume Two, part two, "Searching for Secrets"! Part one's sample series, "Brace for Impact," explored the usage of Gothic poetics (monsters, magic and myth) when making new proletarian histories; part two reverses the arrangement, examining the history of monstrous poetics in two basic modules that future workers can learn from. Volume Two, part one (the Poetry Module) is out now (5/1/2024)!  I wrote a preface for the module along with its debut announcement.  Give that a look; then,  go to my book's 1-page promo to download the latest version of the full module (which will contain additions/corrections the original blog posts will not have)! Click here to see "Searching for Secrets'" Table of Contents and Full Disclaimer. (model and artist: Harmony Corrupted and Persephone van der Waard ) From the original 5/4/2024 post: "Searching for Secrets*" is a second book sample series, originally inspired ...

First and foremost, the Poetry Module is out, babes! It is part one of Volume Two (with part two being the Monster Modules) for my Sex Positivity (2023) book project, and extensively features my muse and friend, Harmony Corrupted (featured on its covers, below). The full announcement is up on my website , but I wanted to have a little post here, too, to celebrate and mark the occasion. (model and artist: Harmony Corrupted and Persephone van der Waard ) About my book: Made in collaboration with other sex workers, Sex Positivity is a four-volume book being released one volume at a time. From newest to oldest, as of 5/1/2024, my Poetry Module is live ; as of 2/14/2024, the manifesto/instruction volume is live; as of 10/8/2023, the thesis volume is live. Simply go to my website's 1-page promo and pick up a copy of each for free! While you're there, you can also learn about the other yet-to-release volumes/modules, project history and logo design. Note: Volume Two, part one is ...

"Medicine" is another piece of the module, "Brace for Impact" (2024),  the book sample for my upcoming monster volume (rough ETA, mid-2024) and  of which the  opening section  "Hugging the Alien" is already available on this blog. Note: "Brace for Impact" is actually a full module that divides into over thirteen pieces ( clocking in at  ~85,000 words, ~209 pages, ~139 images, and sixteen new exhibits ) . "Hugging the Alien" is the first chapter; " Time ," the second; " Teaching " (the opening), the third; " Medicine ," the fourth; "Facing Death," the sixth. The others are actually too erotic to feature uncensored on Blogger, so I will be posting them on my (18+) website, instead.  Click here to see the promo post for the entire sample module and links to all thirteen+ pieces. Abstract:  "Medicine" focuses on pacing ourselves medically when seeking knowledge as a limited category through ...

"Teaching" is another piece of the module, "Brace for Impact" (2024),  another book sample for my upcoming monster volume (rough ETA, mid-2024) and  of which the  opening section  "Hugging the Alien" is already available on this blog. Note: "Brace for Impact" is actually a full module that divides into over thirteen pieces ( clocking in at  ~85,000 words, ~209 pages, ~139 images, and sixteen new exhibits ) . "Hugging the Alien" is the first chapter; " Time ," the second; " Teaching " (the opening), the third; " Medicine ," the fourth; "Facing Death," the sixth. The others are actually too erotic to feature uncensored on Blogger, so I will be posting them on my (18+) website, instead.  Click here to see the promo post for the entire sample module and links to all thirteen pieces. Abstract:   "Teaching" focuses on the duality of monstrous language when employed in either direction, but gen...