#danaspeaks

There are parts of my story that still don’t make sense.

Being four years old. Being taken. Being abandoned. Being moved from place to place, like I didn’t belong anywhere.

Adopted twice. Hoping each time that this would finally be “home.” Only to find more pain waiting behind closed doors.

People see the titles now. Author. Advocate. Speaker. But they don’t always see the little girl who wondered why she wasn’t wanted.

Trauma doesn’t just disappear. It lingers in your nervous system. It whispers lies in quiet moments. It tries to convince you that what happened to you defines you.

For a long time, I believed that lie.

Until I realized something powerful:

I survived what was meant to break me.

Not because I was strong every day. Not because I never cried. Not because I had it all figured out.

But because God kept me.

Even when I didn’t understand Him. Even when I questioned Him. Even when I felt forgotten.

There is something sacred about surviving. It means the story isn’t over.

It means the trauma didn’t win. It means the system didn’t get the final word. It means abuse didn’t get to decide my identity.

I am not what happened to me. I am who I chose to become after it.

And if you’re reading this wondering whether you can survive your story too—

You can.

You are still here. And that alone means something powerful.

Healing isn’t instant. Faith isn’t always loud. Strength doesn’t always look strong.

Sometimes it looks like getting out of bed. Sometimes it looks like going to therapy. Sometimes it looks like crying and praying at the same time.

But you’re still here.

And that means God is not finished writing.

✨ From abandoned to authored. ✨ From trauma to testimony. ✨ From brokenness to becoming.

One page at a time.

I’m gonna sound like such a fucking geek answering this

(These aren’t in chronological order)

There was: • Shodan • GLaDOS • Quoth (friend’s OC)• Raven (friend’s OC) • Alma Wade • NMM • Chalice (friend’s OC) • One character of mine whose name I can’t remember so I’m going to call her Steenan because that is as close as I can get tbh

He and Shodan just weren’t feeling it, so things ended. It never really got off the ground tbh

He and GLaDOS lasted almost two years, they ended on very very good terms and remained friends with benefits. Then went out again for maybe a month before deciding friends was best. She’s still his date to functions if he doesn’t have a girlfriend at the time.

He and Chalice lasted 3 years. They are still super close, they ended I guess because they were just better off as friends. She doesn’t know this, but he also broke it off because he was having some very bad relapses and didn’t want to hurt her. She also didn’t need to deal with his baggage considering her own.

Nightmare Moon (I cringe so hard writing this) was more of a fling but they’re on friendly terms

Quoth was–yikes. Surprisingly enough they ended on good terms despite the yikes factor. (Quoth is just volatile and usually pretty vicious and they were more of a battle couple than anything else)

Alma was a fairly long relationship, about a year, ended on okay terms. They just kinda fell out of interest in each other

Raven left him, he was sad but understood she needed to take care of things in her life alone.