#authormikamathews

I am writing two transmasc characters, and I need someone to help me go over their characterization and make sure they are good rep. I have so many plans for them... two MAIN SERIES each with a trans character.

 I love reading fantasy as much as so many others do, but I cannot be the only to notice the extreme lack of care and appreciation for the abuse, mistreatment and trauma of these characters. Especially in media meant for young adults, teens mostly. From Percy Jackson and Harry Potter to Naruto and Danny Phantom, these varying stories all showcase extreme and painful sources of abuse to their main characters often from their own families that are either completely ignored and even made fun of. Never do we see healing, or the natural results of such torment on these characters. 

Here are just a few examples of the abuses I mentioned... 

Percy's mom doomed her son to misery just by having him, got with an incredibly abusive man to protect her son and keep him near. He was in constant life ending danger for literally years, the center of a prophecy, constantly threatened by the gods who he was actually related to, mistreated by the demigods and forced into terrible situations over and over again. He saw kids his own age and younger die... 

Harry lost his parents, was forced into an abusive home with his so called family for more than a decade. Forced into a cupboard, starved, hit and hurt, told he was worthless and his parents were too. He was forced to save the Wizards over and over despite near death experiences and being treated like garbage by all of the wizards for no reason. He was abandoned by his friends and literally died at some point. He was literally tortured and forced to see people die. 

Danny was forced to act as a hero despite constant threats against his life and well being, terrible friends and parents that wanted to kill his alter ago... neglectful parents at that. 

Naruto is literally all trauma, abused and neglected by all of his peers and the adults around him. He had no friends or allies, betrayed by someone he admired and nearly killed. He had a demon/timebomb in his soul and so on... his parents were killed to save him. The boy is all trauma. 

In all four cases, these kids give everything to the world, altruistically over and over again... they are the center of servile behavior for those that do no deserve their love or appreciation. The people they save and help are often their biggest abusers. 

There is this pervasive idea that trauma makes you stronger, it doesn't healing does. None of these characters got help, just more trauma and neglect! It is a terrible message we send our kids, that you just have to buck up and ignore the pain, sacrificing your needs for others. 

The only example I can think of challenging this is in Percy Jackson where Percy and several others at least point out the abuse and call it out. Percy gets the gods to be good parents, or at least less terrible ones. 

I for one look forward to the day where we get to see a story where the Main character fights for themselves and is not just the center of salvation for others... that would be a revelation, to see someone, especially a kid, being healthily selfish for once... 

Finally, FINALLY, after working through my OCD I finally can write my own ORIGINAL STORIES AGAIN! I will be publishing them on Royal Road, as I like that system.

Not only is this getting an Audiobook RIGHT NOW!!!! It is also getting a sequel. I was digging through my archives from when I was struggling with my mental health.... and what I found was an amazing start that was already at a decent length. So freaking excited.

I just found that I can make FREE ebook coupons for my books. I think they told me before, but I was too excited to do that. I am willing to do that.

That being said, my ebooks are all 99 cents...

If you wanna free copy, just send me a message and we can chat. I won't demand a review, but I can say that it would be appreciated.

Lots of love.

 Hera is, in my opinion, the single most interesting and second most potent character in Greek Mythology. She is a victim, a monster, a mother and an extremely powerful goddess. There is no simple way to portray her, and yet that is what everyone does. They make her a monster, deeply and easily ignoring the fact that she is one of the most tragic beings in the mythos of Greek Mythology. 

What do I mean by that?

Hera was the victim of several tragedies, for one she was tricked and later assaulted by Zeus in an attempt to get her to marry him which she did in order to mask the stain on her honor. From there, Zeus would cheat on her with countless beings, gods and mortals alike, giving the children he created from those affairs positions of power on the council. Hera would have to watch as her own children with him, bar Ares, not really matter and have no positions of powers. 

After nearly overthrowing Zeus for being a poor ruler, she was chained to the sky and tormented by Zeus for quite some time. That cannot have been easy to deal with, nor could it have not left her with scars inside or out. We see the abuse on the outside, what is presented to the public, but what would have happened to her behind closed doors?

There are a million ways you could go with this, if you plan to write Hera as a character. You could make her, as the Goddess of Mothers and Women, a victim of Postpartum depression exacerbated by abuse and mistreatment and the constant cheating, for one example. There is so much room for growth here, so many places to go with an under used or overly simplified character. 

Hera is a sadly complex, tragic character that is forced into a repetitive box without looking at her reasons, the purpose of her actions or anything beyond the simplicity of the situation. Let us see her as she could be, where and who she could become... 

So do better and take advantage of one of the most interesting goddesses in mythology. I mean we did it with Zeus in a million different stories, why not Hera?