Apocrypha

Preamble

Apocrypha: An American Tale

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Those are the words written in the preamble of the Declaration of Independence. The United States was founded upon the belief that freedom and democracy should be at the forefront to a powerful country.

Autonomy is what was wished for by the Founding Fathers. The Founding Fathers did not want a tyrannical king to rule over subjects without the proper representation. A belief that was instilled into this country's very fabric. It was the reason why the US exists in the first place.

And yet, this belief during the recent modern era seems to be fading ever so slowly. The US may not have been a paragon, but its influence on the world cannot be ignored.

So, what happens when the beacon of democracy, the country that prides itself with freedom and liberties, is no longer looked at that way. Instead, it becomes its exact opposite. A country that has heavily strayed from its original motto.

Believe it or not, this type of future is not impossible. We are witnessing it with our own eyes. We watch as our politicians would prefer to wage wars and enforce their beliefs rather than try to care for its citizens.

We are witnessing our personal rights slowly be stripped, while we stand motionless.

Our civil liberties are not permanent. If they can be taken away through some paperwork and bureaucracy, they are indeed not rights.

This story has been in development for 2 years. Since I first began to write my second ever story, the idea for Apocrypha had already begun to grow steadily.

Apocrypha has gone through many changes in terms of story, plot lines, character names, setting, and even the overall theme. This will be explained more at the end of the story during my afterword.

Before this story begins, here are some details I want you, as the reader, to know and be aware of.

-This story will delve into some heavy subjects such as assault, trauma, homophobia, religion, politics, extreme forms of racism, and more. This will be your only warning (Stressing the trigger warnings because of past experiences where I have cautioned people about such triggers only for them to be ignored). Be cautious of the story you are about to read.

-In terms of religion, this story will be heavily criticizing Christianity. While my intention is to not criticize the religion itself but instead focus on how it can be bastardized, it will happen at some point. Religion is not perfect. Humans are not perfect. Holding up a book and saying it should be followed should come from a person who also follows the doctrine, not from the mouth of a hypocrite.

-Apocrypha is, at its center, a queer romance. I hope that I will be able to create a balance between the romance and the dystopian aspects.

-My intention for this story is not to enforce my personal beliefs onto you. Quite the opposite. I encourage you as the reader to be critical of this story. Read and think to yourself "How accurate would that actually be?"

-There will be references to politics in this story. But also, will have international conflicts. These conflicts, while most are made up, were created through research and seeing ongoing ones. Nevertheless, this is all speculation and not true, but that doesn't mean it was created out of thin air.

I hope you'll stick around for the entirety of this story. It will be long, so prepare for that.

Before I go, there will be references to characters from my other stories. However, this is an alternate universe where things went wrong. There might be a reference to a character that died in this story but is alive in the main universe. Therefore, technically, there will not be spoilers for my other stories.

If you wish to find out more about how this universe came to be, I have another story, Auburn Brights Academy, which serves as a backdoor prequel.

And with that, Apocrypha will now begin.

Thanks for tuning in!

And may God bless America.