After Action [COMPLETED]

FOREWORD

For me, 2019 was not different from last year. In fact, nothing has changed―it was the same fucked-up story of a man who is slowly breaking down, who is facing his own demons alone. There have been a few more incidents of "suicidal ideation" on my part, in comparison to the past years. However, 2019 is also the year I have learned to embrace those "demons", instead of fighting them.

In other words: I gave up.

And with the process of learning how to "abandon" my humanity complete, maybe it's time I bring you a declassified compilation of all "essays"―or "rants", or "journal entries", whatever you want to call it―I have written on the 'Unknown Variable' Facebook page, for the past months. This is the new 'Sitrep'.

(For those who have no idea what "Sitrep" means, it's basically the soldier's slang term for current events happening on the battlefield; it so happened that my old essay compilation has that term for its title.)

This compilation project was something I thought of on a whim, as a way to re-orient myself back to writing stories. Also, this serves as a repository of all entries I've written on the 'Unknown Variable' page, in case Facebook deletes it without any given reason (there have been such cases on my end)―or someone sensitive enough would report any particular post on the page, and the post in question gets taken down. In what I can only call the 'Golden Age of Ignorance', people are easily offended, and are ignorant of what's happening around them. One other thing―and I'm not going to apologize for this: ignorance has become more prevalent in the Philippines than ever, no thanks to the very same social media platform I use, the current government, the Roman Catholic Church (and other major religious organizations), and the country's mass media―which has slowly degraded into a corrupted mass spewing the message of false humility, misplaced national pride, low-brow humor, and learned helplessness. That's one reason why the modern Filipino society is slowly breaking down.

If ever this compilation project gets taken down, I have clearly proven my point.

This compilation project is divided into four parts: "General Rants" [GR], "Self-effacing epiphanies" [SE], "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" [GBU], and "Weeb Stuff" [WS].

"General Rants"―denoted with the "GR" acronym―are a compilation of entries I've written that may (or may not) have a relation to writing whatsoever. It is a record of the occurrences that slowly led to what I can only can call the "death" of my "humanity".

"Self-effacing epiphanies" [SE] are an exposition of my foibles―it is "me" at my most vulnerable. There, one can read all the "flawed" and "negative" sentiments I have in my life.

If ever one has watched the film, 'The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly', that's where I filched the name for the third part. It breaks down a particular topic into three segments: "The Good", "The Bad", and "The Ugly". It is the shortest part of the whole compilation, with only eight entries, tagged with the [GBU] acronym.

Last, but not the least, there's the "Weeb Stuff" [WS]. It's mostly dedicated to animé-related entries. Whether it's an animé review, or a rant related to my own life as an "otaku" (at the least, I have not reached the level of becoming a true "weeb", that is being a proponent of Japanese history, society, and culture being the "best" among the rest) . . .

Also, I will hand-pick a number of entries I've written for the past years since I've started to write on Wattpad, but have never published on the old 'Sitrep'. It will be included on this current compilation novel, with the designation [X].

Now, with the opening remarks complete, maybe it's time to move on to the next page? (To be fair, I could care less whether the reader will move on or stop here, because I know this compilation project will be another dismal failure.)