Persephone's (Gothic) Insights

My blog concerns the Gothic, but also sex, metal and videogames (not quite sex, drugs and rock 'n roll, but certainly healthier). I'm also an atheist, and write about that in this post . In any case, I wanted to briefly cover these areas of interest—why they're so important to me, but also how they tie into the Gothic according to my overlapping tastes. If anyone's wondering what the Gothic is, here's a useful (and funny) guide ; it's not totally how I view the Gothic as a mode of expression, but it's a good place for the uninitiated to start. Here's another. Sex Who doesn't like sex? All kidding aside, sex is a large part of my identity as a thinker and an artist (I make videogame pinups and erotic art ). Most of my teachers in school were women, and the women in my family—from my mother to my great grand mother—were educated. At a very young age I wasn't thrown into religion; I was encouraged to learn. I learned about feminism as an undergrad.

I frequently write about Gothic horror on this blog, as well as metal, videogames and sex . In relation to those topics, I've never written about my religious views. I wanted to do that, here. Before I do, a shoutout to the YouTuber TheraminTrees, whose videos on atheism are an effective and stylish introduction to the topic. I'm not religious at all; I am atheist, specifically a Satanist. I have been since was I small. I'm not naïve enough to think that fake gods aren't dangerous. The world is littered with graveyards filled by phony crusades. Sadly the living are tyrannized not by gods, but the people who worship them. There's so many things worse than dying, testified by the presence of the religiously indoctrinated and abused. I have no faith in the devil as "real," either. This being said, I cannot question "his" effects on my nascent mind. Growing up, I watched horror films, and obsessed over the obscene—cartoonish violence depicted on VHS

What follows is my interview with State of Mercury, a YouTuber who reinvents Metallica songs. Check out his channel,  here . I often analyze Mercury's work (which is superb),  and you can read about that in my Two Cents compendium  (which also has all of my interviews about metal remixers).  Check out  a similar interview with Ahdy Khairat , and another interview with Bryce Barilla . If you like our work (mine, State of Mercury's et al), you can find us on  State of Mercury's Discord server ! Nick: Hi, I'm Nick van der Waard, aka "the two cents guy" on YouTube . On YouTube, I write comments on heavy metal remixes/remasters. This interview is for my blog, where I write about metal, but also horror, videogames, and sex in media . State of Mercury, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Mercury: So my name is Calvin Cox. I'm a guitar player from Canada. Right now, I guess I'm mostly known for my " Metallica What if... " series on YouTube

This piece examines Metroid , specifically how Samus Aran is a phallic woman; how the space she explores is weaponized and vaginal; and how its overseer, Mother Brain, is an Archaic Mother. To summarize those terms, a phallic woman resists sexist conventions by behaving in a masculine (often war-like) fashion in Gothic stories. An Archaic Mother is a powerful, ancient, female mythic figure tied to abject images of motherhood and/or numinous authority. Her power is womb-centric, stemming from her actual womb, or the womb-like space she uses to attack the hero.  Update, 7/2/2023: This piece was originally written in response to Barbara Creed's  The Monstrous-Feminine  (1993). Creed's book is a cis -gendered, post-Freudian response to ancient Greek myths exisiting in the present space and time; "War Vaginas" bears out these signature arguments in much the same fashion. Since writing it, though, I have come out as trans , wanting to be more more inclusive and holistic in

What follows is my interview with Bryce Barilla, a YouTuber who reinvents Metallica songs. Check out his channel, here . I often analyze Bryce's work (which is superb), and you can read about that in my Two Cents compendium (which also has all of my interviews about metal remixers).  Check out a similar interview with Ahdy Khairat , and another with State of Mercury . If you like our work (mine, Bryce's et al), you can find us on State of Mercury's Discord server ! Nick: Hi, I'm Nick van der Waard, aka "the two cents guy" on YouTube . On there, I comment on heavy metal remixes/remasters. This interview is for my blog, where I write about metal, but also horror, videogames, and sex in media . Bryce, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Bryce: Yep, my name is Bryce Barilla (pronounced "Ba-Rill-Ya"). I joined the bandwagon of the Metallica Album Crossovers in 2017. Pretty much the guitar is my main instrument, followed along with drums and ba