Persephone's (Gothic) Insights
The horror blog about metal, videogames, and sex.

Volume Two, part one (the Poetry Module) Is Out (feat. Harmony Corrupted)!

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)

Update, 4/9/2025: I just completed "Make It Real" for Volume One's 2025 promotion rollout, followed by releasing the second edition of the volume, itself. The entirety of its changes are contained in "A 2025 Foreword: On Volume One's New Edition Focusing on Ludo-Gothic BDSM (and Cuwu)." Alongside it, I also released new editions for Volume Zero (small changes) and the modules to Volume Two: "Redirected the hyperlinks for quotes from Volumes Zero and One to the online book promotions: 'The Total Codex' and 'Make It Real.' Updated the abstract, acknowledgments and glossaries." This means all my book volumes are available in PDF format, as well as post-by-post in a blog-style format (except for Volume Three, which isn't out yet)! Give 'em a look!

To summarize, the Poetry Module concerns the poetic usage of Gothic poetics during the dialectic of the alien; i.e., nature-as-monstrous-feminine being something to humanize (for workers) during ludo-Gothic BDSM, or to harvest harmfully during the same oppositional praxis except for profit (for the state): during the ghost of the counterfeit's process of abjection as a historical-material loop, a Torment Nexus.

 

As a whole, the Poetry Module concerns the poetic usage of Gothic poetics during the dialectic of the alien; i.e., nature-as-monstrous-feminine being something to humanize (for workers) during ludo-Gothic BDSM, or to harvest harmfully during the same oppositional praxis except for profit (for the state): during the ghost of the counterfeit's process of abjection as a historical-material loop, a Torment Nexus. I wanted to comment on that mirrored concentrism by writing an impromptu preface the morning of the Poetry Module's debut. Read said preface on my website.

(artist: Harmony Corrupted)

If any of this sounds fun, you can download the full module for free on my website's one-page promo, and access the other available volumes, promo images, project history and more! Access individual samples of the module on my website's blog (which has divided most of the module into separate posts). And please, please consider supporting Harmony's work (on Fansly and Ko-Fi; follow her @[email protected] on Mastodon); this module could not have been written without her inspiration, and she does awesome sex work while raising awareness for sex worker rights on Mastodon (see her whole portfolio, a review of her work, ways you can support her and more on her special promo page on my website)!

 

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My name's Persephone van der Waard; I have my MA in Gothic English literature and independent PhD in Gothic poetics and ludo-Gothic BDSM (focusing partially on Metroidvania), and I am the author of the multi-volume, non-profit book series, Sex Positivity vs Sex Coercion, or Gothic Communism—its art director, sole invigilator, illustrator and primary editor (the other co-writer/co-editor being Bay Ryan). A rape survivor/granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor and Dutch Resistance memberand someone anti-war (as a business), anti-Zionist and anti-racist/anti-white-supremacist who specializes in tokenism (e.g., TERFs, SWERFs, and fascist feminism)I'm a MtF trans woman, Tolkien and Amazon enthusiast, former YouTuberanti-fascist, loud critic of Marxist-Leninism/state vampirism, atheist and Satanist, poly/pan kinkster with multiple partners, erotic artist/pornographer and anarcho-Communist; i.e., under my brand of Gothic (gay-anarcho) Communism as a holistic, intersectional discipline: one devised in 2022-2023, and which my friends and I currently achieve together. / Originally this blog explored my love of movies when I was cis-het; now I use it to write about the Gothic—horror, but also sex, heavy metal, and videogames in a queer way (especially Metroidvania).

I take donations for my work (which goes towards helping sex workers, trans people and other minorities). I currently take payment on PayPal, Patreon, and CashApp, etc; all links are available on my Linktr.ee. Every bit helps!

Regarding Formatting Issues for Blogposts (Older than October 2025): Recently Josey Howarth helped transfer my old blog from Blogger to WordPress, which—while vital for security reasons—altered their formatting. On a phone screen, the posts are mostly readable, but look slightly "jank" on computer screens. Many also contain outdated "About the Author" sections—meaning inside the posts-in-question, alongside the blog website "footer" (as added by Josey after the transfer). Such things are temporary. Eventually we plan to overhaul their visual design, remodeling my blog and website (thus fixing the issues in the question)!

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