Earlier this week I uploaded this drawing of my OCs Alex and Laetitia:

So today I want to tell you guys a little bit about them, because in all technicality they are my oldest OCs that I'm still using to this day. These two are characters from a story I wrote in 2014-2015 and then dropped because I had hit a dead end. But they kept living rent-free inside my head and I kept thinking about them, wanting to continue their story for years but never having the motivation to do so. Last year I finally decided to give them a well-deserved sequel. My current story takes place eight years later, where they finally meet up again after all those years of no contact. According to the new story line, Alex broke up with Laetitia with very little explanation in 2013 (which was where my original story took place) and then moved away never to be seen again. They slowly restore their bond and end up falling for each other all over again, but not without obstacles and newly revealed secrets from the past years.

In the past I mostly used these two characters as an outlet for my personal struggles and traumas growing up in an unsafe and abusive environment. Now I try to make the story more of an educative one where I go over the very different coping mechanisms someone can have due to childhood trauma. Alex and Laetitia both have childhood trauma but their coping mechanisms are very different: Laetitia struggles with showing emotions and display of affection and refuses to admit she's struggling. As a result she's been suffering from (for now) undiagnosed C-PTSD without knowing, because she's too stubborn to seek help. Alex, on the other hand, has been in therapy for years and has diagnosed DID which has landed him in a mental hospital twice in his life. Now that they're adults, they're learning about each other struggles and trying to help each other get through the everyday obstacles of life.

As someone who's also diagnosed with PTSD, I'm writing this book in an attempt to educate people on the very different types of trauma responses and the struggles people like us face every day that seem invisible to those around us. But I also want it to give hope that help is always available and that any challenge can be overcome.