The World is Filled with Monsters · 2:01pm May 4th, 2017
In 1821, U.S. Secretary of State (and later president) John Quincy Adams delivered one of the first great speeches on American foreign policy. In line with George Washington's warning against European entanglements, Adams announced that America was a friend to freedom-loving people around the world, but there were limits to what we would do for our friends. America stood for liberty, he said, but America would not crusade for liberty. America would stand for good, but it would not enforce good upon an unwilling world. America, he said, "goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy."
It was not America's job to destroy evil. The tyrants of the world were not America's friends, but they had nothing to fear from us either. We would stick to our shores and preach liberty to those who would hear it, but we were not their sword or their shield.
It's been almost 200 years since Adams gave that speech. Some people would say we've forgotten Adams's warning; others would say we've freed ourselves from his cowardly self-interest. Whatever you say, we've definitely changed. For better or for worse, we're not the nation Adams proclaimed.
I've spent nearly three years of my life in Iraq and Afghanistan, fighting the monsters Adams warned us not to destroy. We've killed a lot of them, but there seems to be a never-ending supply. Perhaps the Greeks were onto something with their myths about the hydra. Some monsters are immune to death.
I've been thinking about that a lot over the past few months. And like most things I think about, I ended up turning it into a story.
The World is Filled with Monsters
Vermilion didn’t join the Guard to be a hero. He just wanted to escape the farm and his old, boring life.
But now it seems he may have no choice – his unit is being sent to Hollow Shades, a tiny hamlet hidden in the depths of an endless forest, to fight monsters on behalf of Luna and Celestia. When the mission turns into a disaster and the town is lost, Vermilion finds himself at the forefront of an unexpected war, with all of Equestria at stake.
A new dark age has begun. Heroes must be found to guard the flickering lights of civilization. And Vermilion and his friends will discover that monsters are the least of their worries.
Set in the years before Nightmare Moon’s banishment, The World is Filled with Monsters follows a young hero and his friends as they struggle to protect a newfound nation – and discover the cost of greatness.
I meant to release this story back in January, but ironically world events have kept me busy with work. So instead I've just kept writing, and now there's nearly 50,000 words of this story already in the hopper, just waiting for me to publish. And there's quite a bit more still to write.
Long form stories are scary for me – they're a huge investment of time, and they don't get as much attention as my shorter stories. But sometimes there are things you can only say with a novel, and I've been thinking a lot lately about monsters.
I'd like for you to think about them with me.
Also, have some more art. Here's Vermilion, the hero and main character of The World is Filled with Monsters:
I'll be reading this, Cold. Thanks for sharing!
Taking events that happen in your life and turning them into an extensive story. That's the sign of a great author.
Put on my endlessly long "Read Later" list and I hope to read it soon.
So I guess my thought that was a polished writeoff entry, because it sounds familiar, was completely off-base, huh? :B
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL8DDD2D047A076DC8&v=Ce3hVo9VMhg&app=desktop]
I've been in favor of a more isolated America most of my life. I'm withdrawing evermore from that philosophy now. As regards the middle east, it's christians who ought to travel there by the thousands, dying if need be. Can you fight ideas with bullets? But we're too comfy over here. *shrugs*
Ohhh, man. I'm excited!
Eeeee! Finally.
Insta-tracked.
The problem is in mutual defense pacts. They sound like a wonderful idea until somebody attacks one of the pact members and brings the rest into the fight. Pretty nearly every war the US has been dragged into, for instance, was "in defense of our allies."
The alternatives, though... either don't make any allies, or refuse to help them. Those aren't attractive plans either.
Long form stories are... well.
They're a thing.
Good luck!
And take care, wrestling with monsters.
Excellent, this looks like fun. Love the art work, too.
That art though, holy macaroni. I'll be following this one closely.