The light and dark side isn’t just in stories—it’s in your life
From magic to media, everything has a light and dark side. See it clearly, or the very thing you thought would save you will rule you.
What if the sword and the shackles came from the same forge? That’s the truth nobody wants to admit. The same screen that lets you stream banned documentaries also tracks your face. Just as the same school that teaches Shakespeare teaches you to sit down, shut up, and wait your turn. Oh, and the same vote that gives you a voice can be used to silence the person next to you.
It’s all the same pattern. Everything—or, almost everything—has a light side and a dark side.
It’s not the thing, per se, but the purpose behind it. The hand that wields it can use it for light, gray, or dark purposes. And the intent can stand out in the open or hide in the shadows.
Power is always a double-edged blade
We romanticize power when it works in our favor, yet we demonize it when it doesn’t. Want evidence? Just check out how much the political right embraces the state when their guy is in power following years of pretending otherwise.
But here’s the real truth: Power just is. The outcome depends on who holds it, and what they’re willing to do. And if they actively seek it, then it’s a red flag.
Let’s cut through the noise:
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Magic in fantasy? It heals, uplifts, and sets people free. Or, it binds, breaks, and destroys. It’s never neutral.
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Religion? It’s been used to end slavery and to justify it. And that’s just the tip of a massive iceberg.
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Democracy? It’s the will of the people until they vote to chain themselves. Then it’s “the god that failed.”
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Education? It unlocks minds or programs them to obey. Ask yourself what gets left out of the curriculum. Cough—Mises—cough…
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Screens? They can build movements or manufacture consent. They can teach truth or sell lies, one scroll at a time.
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Rebellion? It starts with freedom and ends with flags, rules, and forced loyalty unless you stay awake. Want proof? Just look at what Vladimir Lenin did.
Every one of these can be a weapon or a shield. A light in the dark, or the thing that binds you to it.
Why this shows up in nearly every book I write
I don’t often write about the worn-out good vs. evil trope. Nah, I’d rather write about power vs. control, truth vs. illusion, freedom vs. comfort.
In Cursed Mage, Kaija uncovers raw magic in her blood. But it doesn’t make her special. Rather, it makes her a target. And not just the target of one evil regime. Oh no, there’s hardly any light shimmering through Cursed Mage’s darkness.
In Spirit and Fire, Spirit Mastery is sacred, but the ruling class twists it into a leash. The same gift that connects people to the divine is used to divide them. I can go on and on here, but you get the idea.
All of these stories come down to one thing: Will you use the fire or let it burn you?
There’s no pure force
The human mind loves simplicity. It’s why in so many works, you see heroes and villains. The good guys play the bad guys, and that’s about as far as it goes. But that’s what makes propaganda work so well.
Yet in real life? It never fits in neat boxes. What the hell do you think was the entire point of Deceived Mage, my two-year prequel to Cursed Mage?
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Magic can be sacred or violent.
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Love can heal or manipulate.
We want to believe in pure light, and we want to avoid the dark. Heck, how many people do you know act like they embrace nothing but the “pure light,” “the greater good,” or are “a force for good?”
But the real threat? It’s the blind worship of one side. Your social justice advocates may feel they’re a force for good, but is dividing people into collective groups and labeling some privileged and others underprivileged any different from what a certain dictator advocated back in the 1930s?
The dark doesn’t scare me. What scares me is when people pretend the light is always good, even when it’s fading into darkness.
The light can harm you
You don’t need to fear the dark and you shouldn’t. But you need to stop pretending the light can’t harm you.
Everything is a weapon that can be used against you, or as a shield to protect you if you take ownership of it. Therefore, everything has a light and dark side. And whether you’re holding the sword or shackles depends on one thing: Awareness. Use that, or be used. And it starts with taking ownership of what you’re using.
Want to know who became aware of this concept during her teenage years? Ella Kinnunen, my fearless protagonist in Deceived Mage. In it, Ella uncovers a plot, a barbaric plot that the so-called ‘lesser of the two evils’ is concocting for one reason: To carry out and blame the crime on the ‘greater of the two evils.’ All while justifying it ‘for the greater good.’
