Welcome to Paracosm
This series is your shadow, US America. And your mirror, US American.
It doesn't shy away from the damage caused. From war, from rape, from institutional violence, the harm we do to each other from our own wounds, or the harm we cause ourselves. It asks you to hold the complexity that is life, that is OUR history, without resolution. To see the nuances, and the grey inside the black and white. Some characters who cause harm are also the ones you'll end up loving the most. That's intentional. Give them a chance, because none of us are innocent.
This series includes:
Sexually explicit content (consensual and non-consensual, sexual trauma, using it as a tool for self-harm, the process of recovering from said trauma.)
Graphic details of violence (battle, injury, physical and psychological torture, death, body horror elements, wound descriptions, depictions of inhumane prison conditions)
Substance abuse (detailed accounts of alcohol and drug use that are repetitive, relapses)
Mental health (depression, anxiety, ADHD, autism, PTSD, suicidal ideation/attempts, self-destructive behavior)
Religious trauma (been hurt by Christianity? This is the series for you! Depicts theocratic authoritarian systems used for control, persecution, and erasure of cultures and marginalized groups. That being said….)
Cult dynamics and ritualistic sacrifice (from Communion to removing eyes and hearts and other body parts)
Grief and Loss (people die. A lot.)
Discrimination (systematic oppression of magickal/minority groups [arcanes, draknē], functions as an allegory to real-world racism, transphobia, homophobia, and ethnic cleansing.)
A NOTE ON REPRESENTATION
The characters telling this story are not white.
The empire is.
This subtext mirrors real-world structures of who holds power, and who gets erased in our world. White people are not the victims; we are the perpetrators. And it's time we face that.
I trust you'll read this accordingly. And, if not, if you picture someone differently, I ask you to read it again.
That being said, discrimination in Paracosm comes from carnal (non-magick) and arcane (magick), and within the two primary groups, not from skin color. But the above distinction is important regardless.
A welcoming spell:
Welcome, all you who are weary and burdened, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to US. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your shores. For I lift MY light, beside the Golden Door.
The moment is now.
With love,
Kairos
