Blog Post #3: A New Mythology: The World of Things Not Meant to Be Seen
A New Mythology: The World of Things Not Meant to Be Seen
For years, I looked for myself in the pages of high fantasy, manga, and the frames of anime. To be represented in shows like Supernatural or LOTR (I LOVE Tolkien). I wanted something that spoke directly to the Black American experience, a mythology that acknowledges our trauma while celebrating our resilience.
Things Not Meant to Be Seen is my answer to that craving.
The Story: Order, Chaos, and the War Between Brothers
The narrative ignites when Kayin, a young man from a hidden lineage of ancient guardians, survives a brutal battle in a derelict warehouse. His victory is a chaotic catalyst that rips a hole in the fabric of reality, triggering the collapse of the systems that have kept humanity blissfully ignorant of the supernatural world.
As the global Sundering shatters the Veil, ancient factions including vampires, werewolves, and the isolationist Elven Queen awaken to purge the earth. Kayin is drawn into the Kinship, a secret order led by his father, Lieutenant Tutty. Tutty is a police officer guarding a three-thousand-year-old history rooted in Ancient Egypt and a grief that refuses to stay buried.
But the true heart of the tragedy is the Harbinger of Chaos, Rob. A young man shaped by systemic neglect and weaponized by a primordial entity, Rob is unknowingly Kayin’s long-lost brother. This is not just a battle of magic; it is a collision of ideologies and a breakdown of the most fundamental human system, the family.
The Riley and Huey Dynamic: Two Paths of Resistance
In crafting Rob and Kayin, I drew inspiration from the distinct subcultures within the Black community, much like Aaron McGruder’s Riley and Huey Freeman from The Boondocks. Rob and Kayin represent the two primary responses we see to systemic pressure in Black American culture:
Rob (The Riley Path): Rob represents the nihilistic response to systemic neglect. Like Riley, his worldview is shaped by the streets and a rejection of a system that never valued him, though in Rob’s case, that despair is weaponized by an ancient, destructive power.
Kayin (The Huey Path): Kayin represents the revolutionary, existentialist response. Like Huey, he is the "awakened" observer, struggling to maintain his integrity and to build a future even while recognizing the deep-seated corruption of the world around him.
Beyond the Lens of Victimization
It was vital for me to write a story that spoke to the struggles of growing up as a minority in America without it becoming "trauma porn" or falling into a lens of victimization. The resilience of Black Americans is that we are not just a sum of all the historical and present wrongs that have happened to us as a culture. We have identity and triumphs, we have joy and excellence.
I wanted to write about that trauma without glorifying it or making my characters bound to the systems of oppression designed to keep them from excelling. In spite of that history and the systemic structures in place, we thrive.
Why This Mythology Matters: Temet Nosce
This mythology matters because of the phrase Temet Nosce, or "Know Thyself". America is a relatively young country and has no mythology of its own; our myths are often rooted in other cultures. Specifically for Black Americans, many of us are so far removed from our roots in the African continent that the mythologies of those countries can feel distant.
While European and Asian mythologies are incredibly compelling, there is a lack of representation for the Black American experience. By drawing from world mythologies and reimagining those legends, I am striving to give a home to the generations of black people who craved representation in Japanese animation or American superhero comics based on Eurasian heritage.
The Target Audience: Who Am I Writing For?
I am writing for readers who seek both thrilling escapism and thought-provoking depth:
The SFF Enthusiast: This world is for those who love the epic scale of Rebecca Roanhorse’s Black Sun or the visceral action of R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War. The saga begins with the creation of the universe and the foundational rules and systems that govern reality, providing a massive stage for the narrative. However, that epic scope is grounded in the deep, personal investment of the individual characters, ensuring that every cosmic shift is felt through their struggles, triumphs, and choices.
The Grimdark & Fatalistic Realism Enthusiast: This world is built for readers who crave the unflinching grit of Joe Abercrombie or the complex, systemic decay found in The Wire. In the 10th Era, there are no easy "Greater Good" solutions; there is only the brutal reality of the consequences of choices made in the crucible of chaos. This is a landscape where nature is indifferent, fate is a "mathematical equation," and the line between hero and monster is blurred by the systems we are born into...forcing characters like Kayin and Rob to rise on newly mended bones in a world that refuses to offer them a clean escape.
The Socially Conscious Reader: My work holds a mirror to contemporary America through characters like Sergeant Miller, a police officer forced to dismantle his own ingrained biases in the face of supernatural truth.
The Blerd Community: This is for the subculture of Black Americans who escaped into the world of Japanese Animation and Manga like Ninja Scroll, Naruto, AoT, JJK, Solo Leveling, and Hell’s Paradise, who want to see themselves and their culture reflected in fantasy storytelling.
Ultimately, Things Not Meant to Be Seen is about the new era, or order, that emerges from the wreckage of chaos. It posits that even when destiny looms, choice remains the ultimate force in shaping existence.
