Thought We Were Done With This
The Chimes of the Failed
Currently playing: REPO, and not much else. I dropped Elden Ring: Nightreign and blitzed through Stellar Blade, and now I’m looking for something else.
I’m a veteran. Was in Iraq in 2007, worked a desk job, but still dealt with some shit. Unfortunately, it didn’t sink in how badly we were all lied to as a country, how broadly they lied, and the cost of those lies until a few years after I got out. I had a few vet friends in college, but thankfully I also surrounded myself with non-vets. I also traveled. Studied abroad. Sat in class, played games, and partied with people from all over the world, from all walks of life. Studying abroad stripped me of the American Exceptionalism that’s culturally ingrained - indoctrinated, even - into most every American. In turn, I saw the war I participated in for the fucked up, pointless, illegal shitstorm that it truly was. Hundreds of thousands of civilians killed, thousands of American personnel killed, god knows how many more dead to suicide after, and for what? Resources? Military contracts? Saddam was an asshole, but if the Arab Spring showed us anything, it’s that the people in the Middle East are more than capable of overthrowing a dictatorship or two. They don’t need our military, and I hoped we would never use it anywhere ever again. And I, babe in the woods that I am, keep having my hopes dashed.
I’ve spoken very little about the ethnic cleansing being carried out over the past… god, it’s been almost two years now. My silence hasn’t been for a lack of empathy or sorrow for the region. It’s because I have very real concerns for the safety and well-being of people in my life, and my speaking out could jeopardize that. I loathe remaining silent in the face of injustice, for silence is compliance in such cases. But for some of us, silence is the only choice we can make.
I was once close with someone from Iran - Tehran, in fact. Lost touch with them some time ago, but they’ll always hold a place in my thoughts and heart. They’re a good person. We had our differences, but never once have I ever felt they were my enemy. Nobody in Iran is my enemy.
Yet, the United States bombed Iran this past weekend, and I still don’t know why. Oh, I mean I’ve heard the official line for why, but I’ve learned not to trust my country’s “official line” justifying bombing another sovereign nation. The only true reason I can believe is either delusion or sheer xenophobia. This has to stop. Somebody needs to make it stop. I can only have my hopes dashed so many more times.
Writing shit: Still looking for more beta readers for THE CRUELEST GIFT, my dark fantasy. Doing some rough outlining of another manuscript while letting my as-yet-unnamed sequel to FIREWIND’S ACCORD marinate for another few weeks. Otherwise, it’s just been… I dunno. It’s been rough.