#but the specific 'so your soul can escape' is an American creation

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

No, I did not "accidentally" publish that post with a typo. Everyone of my posts has at least one mistake in it, possibly more, in reference to the American legend that one must put one flaw in every creation so their soul can escape.

[katsona-the-katsequel]

Timeline Preface

First of all, it's necessary to make clear which years will be used as reference for each game, for these years will dictate everything else in the timeline.

Persona 1 -> 1996

Persona 2 -> 1999

Persona 3 -> 2009

Persona 4 -> 2011

Persona 5 -> 2016

In total, we will be covering 20 years of in-game events plus a few here and there. The following is a list of the events that WILL NOT be considered canon in the timeline, just to keep it in mind:

Shin Megami Tensei: if... Gakuen no Akuma Tsukai

Shin Megami Tensei if...: Jin of the Expanse

Shin Megami Tensei: Kahn

Revelations: Persona (basically the americanized version)

Megami Ibunroku Persona: Ikuu no Tou Hen

Megami Ibunroku Persona: Shadow Maze

Megami Ibunroku Persona Digital Collection

Persona 2: Innocent Sin ~ The Errors of Their Youth

Persona 2 Tsumi: Lost Memories

Persona 2: Tsumi ga Ataeshi Batsu

Persona 2 Batsu: Infinity Mask

Persona: Tsumi to Batsu

Persona 3: Owari no Kakera

Persona 3: Shadow Cry

Persona 3: The Night Before

Persona 3 Portable

Persona 3 Portable: Velvet Blue

Persona 3 Reload

Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight

Persona 3 Em

Megami Tensei Chaining Soul: Persona 3

Megami Tensei QIX: Persona 3

Persona 3 Broken Shadow

Persona 3 Illust Puzzle

Persona 3 Escape

Persona 3 Drama CD: New Moon

Persona 3 Drama CD: Full Moon

Persona 3 Social

Persona Ain Soph

Persona 3 FES: Alternative Heart

Persona -trinity soul-

Persona -trinity soul- Novel

Persona 4: Kiri no Amnesia

Persona 4 The Card Battle

Persona 4: Your Affection

Persona x Detective Naoto

Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight

Persona O.A.

Persona 5: Mementos Mission

Persona 5 Tactica

Persona 5: The Phantom X

Persona Mobile Online

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth*

Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth*

Vanilla Versions of P3, P4, and P5

Animation and Movie Adaptations

Manga Adaptations

Bad Endings

Comic Anthologies

Live Action and Stage Adaptations

Drama CDs unless specifically mentioned

Novel Adaptations

That weird promotional P4 flash game

The ones that WILL be considered canon and will be included in the timeline are the following:

Plus the Persona 2: Eternal Punishment PSP additional scenario.

Final Details

After each part, I will be including a "personal assumptions and headcanons" section. None of the things mentioned in said section are confirmed, in fact, some headcanons will be mentioned. Its purpose is just to enrich the canon already established by the timeline. You'll get it when you see it.

If there is a Social Link/Extra Scene/Additional Dialogue in another game/novel/CD that wasn´t in the list but enriches the story, those details will be included (glances at P3 Portable and Reload). A similar thing happened with PQ, which was almost included because of Chronos. Since everyone's memories were erased anyways, I just took Chronos and left them in their pocket dimension to live their non-canon adventures. Same thing happened with the P1 manga, since it offered extra details and more about Naoya. From Tsumi to Batsu I only took the extended Philemon lore.

Possible Questions

“Why wasn't X media included?”

It depends.

I would have been okay with Tsumi if it didn't overlap with what happens in the main game. Batsu did have some interesting elements, but I couldn't find a gameplay in a language I spoke.

I wanted to include Tsumi ga Ataeshi Batsu so badly, but also couldn't find it online.

I didn't include Vanilla P3 since it needed The Answer to feel truly complete. The same happened with Golden and Royal. Portable was already an AU the moment Minako was included (sorry, queen). Honestly, you can just ignore the extra content from the remastered games or change Minato's name to Minako/Hamuko/Kotone to get the timeline you want (if you want the full FeMC experience, also read Velvet Blue).

At the moment of this timeline's creation, Reload still hasn't launched their own version of The Answer.

Ask me for specifics about other media that wasn't included.

"You forgot X media, which wasn't on either list!"

PLEASE, LET ME KNOW! I know the wiki is incomplete (discovered this when I tried doing an iceberg years ago), and that some media slips through the cracks.

If you can provide a link where I can read/watch/hear it (either English or Spanish is fine), I would be eternally grateful (also if someone can give me a translation of the Naruhodona-SEES section of the Persona Stalker Club pretty please, I would kiss you).

Though if new media was released after March 2024, the year this timeline was made, then that's why it wasn't included.

"Are the timelines already done?"

Nope. They're still in progress, but I wanted to leave some things clear before I published them. If you have any proposals or recommendations, there's still time.

That's all for now. See you next week!

[nani-nonny]

I thought I’d update my pinned so here goes:

Hello! I’m LoneAnon aka Nonny aka LoneAnonon on AO3! My current fixation is Rottmnt, more specifically Future Leonardo (peepaw brainrot) hehe, so a lot of my works as of recent are Future Leo related! Check them out when you can!

Important: my response to ai with my works

Current Work(s):

•WDS or Whispers of Distant Souls aka another F!Leo returns to the past with Casey fic but F!Leo is haunted by his dead brothers. WDS TEASER

•I’m Blue… da ba dee da… aka Reunion, DMD, LCD, and WDS F!Leos collide in one dimension due to a multiverse oopsey (aka aka a silly “what-if” story where my peepaws meet :).)

•(Accidentally) Played American Football With My Newborn aka a silly F!Leo story where he takes a small baby turtle to the past to stop the krang. Never did he think being a single parent would be harder than defeating the krang. (No turtle tots were harmed in the making of the title.) father-daughter fluff snippet

Completed Works:

•DMD AU or Dead Man’s Deal AU a series with an 8-chapter main story and ongoing side stories centered around F!Leo, who returns to the present carrying his heavy guilt that lands him in the Battled Nexus as the Barbarian. DMD Fanart

•Reunion aka a oneshot where F!Leo returns to the past in order to pick up Casey Jones (takes place after the movie).

•LCD or Leonardo Come Down aka a prologue+9-chapter fic where F!Leo returns to the past with Casey (separately) and is hellbent on getting his revenge. Casey is given the task by Michelangelo to stop the Krang and save Leonardo while F!Leo faces the consequences of his actions. LCD fanart aka my pfp

•Setting Sun aka a 5 part short, interactive story where the readers’ decisions can end the story, or discover the details of Mikey’s situation. (Unedited, no beta, silly little dumpster fire aka something bad that you might not want to look away despite how bad it is) AO3 link

•Distorted Mirror aka a 4 chapter rottmnt Leo-centric fic focusing on his role as the leader in silly time travel oopsies. (The oopsies being the future timeline with the krang apocalypse hehe)

•BYMH or Between You and Me and Him aka an ongoing series where you can ask any of my peepaws anything, or tell them you hate love them. [Peepaw multiverse interview] (please state your request as for bymh) or visit their blog @/im-leo-your-leo-were-all-leo

More to see:

Upcoming Works:

•Lost Ronin aka F!Raph returns to the past under “circumstances” and it’s up to the present turtles to solve these “circumstances”.

•Estranged aka an AU where the Hamatos reunite with their long-lost sisters, Jennika and Venus. (Based on the two turtles meant to be introduced in rottmnt future seasons—we were robbed tsk tsk.) Teaser: Two Birds Jennika and Venus appearance

•(possible?) The M-Word aka a 5?-chapter post-Rise-movie angst fic that deals with Raphael’s trauma regarding what he endured in the midst of the invasion.

•(possible?) Inimitable/Spiderweb aka Big Mama imprisons F!Leo to force him to train her upcoming Battle Nexus Champions in exchange for his freedom.

•(possible?) Reunion F!Leo returns to the past once again to provide ultimate peepaw advice and give the kids the reassurance they need.

•I’m In The Wrong AU aka a joke idea where F!Leo goes through the portal to find the key and stop the krang, but he finds himself in a New York unlike the one he knows. Rottmnt x ‘12tmnt crossover

•Mystic Mirror on the wall, who the fuck are those turtles?/A Genius’s Curiosity/Mirror Realm Activities (name still undecided) aka a separated au where Donnie is raised by Draxum, Mikey raised by Big Mama, Raph raised by the Krang and Leo raised by the streets. The turtles are reunited by Donnie aka Subject 03’s newest creation, a mirror that goes beyond its purpose and creates a realm inside its reflection that the turtles use as their escape from reality.

•Attached aka an rottmnt au set during the apocalypse where Leo is too late in providing backup for the ambush attack on Casey. Upon finding her body, he finds an infant protected in her embrace. An infant with the unforgettable gleam in its eye signifying the Krang.

[Tcest DNI]

[Story tags and asks tag below]

[wickedanddeadly]

Mason Sawyer's Bio

" I believe in good old American values, like unlimited growth. But it's like I always say - if you want to win, then you got to be the shark. And a shark's got to eat. "

Leviathan - There are things much older than souls in Purgatory. They were created by God long before He created angels and humans. However, God became concerned that the Leviathans would "chomp the entire petri dish" so he locked them away in Purgatory, which he created for the express purpose of imprisoning the Leviathans. With Lucifer imprisoned in a cage, Hell began to get over run by monsters so Purgatory then became the place where all monsters go when their tickets been punched.

Leviathans, also called the Old Ones, were primordial creatures from the sea, that through evolution, became able to possess other creatures to survive on land. Leviathans pre-date the creation of humans and angels, as well as the soul itself. They would also pre-date any beings with souls, such as Alphas. They are the First Beasts that were created by God, preceding many of his other creations.

The Leviathans have sharp teeth within an expanding jaw and possess a bifurcated tongue. As shapeshifters, Leviathans can mimic a particular human being following simple contact with one, or they obtain any type of DNA from a person, from skin cells to strands of hair. They can copy a human so perfectly they have access to that person's thoughts and feelings, and even insanity. When wounded they bleed black goo.

They prefer to feed on human internal organs – sometimes with cheese, and they are not averse to cannibalism – called bibbing, one of the very few ways to truly kill a Leviathan. Other methods of bibbing involve literally placing a bib on a Leviathan and then he or she eats themself until nothing is left – except a goo-stained bib. This is one of the only known methods of eradicating a single Leviathan for good. But no Leviathan will follow said orders unless it is their leader that gives the order.

The Leviathan tablet reveals the way to stop them:

"Cut off the head, and the body will flounder. Waste not thy time nor your breath upon the Leviathan herd. Point thy blade at the heart of their master, for from him springs all their messages. Leviathan cannot be slain but by a bone of a righteous mortal, as light and good as the Leviathan are hungry and dark, washed in three types of the blood of the fallen: a fallen angel, the ruler of fallen humanity, and the father of fallen beasts."

Mason Sawyer was second in command up until the moment Dick Roman met his end with a group of hunters, this sprang Mason forth as the Leviathan’s new Master and leader. He quickly established his dominance over the other Leviathans and began his master plan to convert all humans into livestock for the Leviathans to slaughter and eat.

Since his escape from Purgatory Mason started a false alliance with many monster leaders so they would not interfere with his plans. After that he continued to lead his plans as well as buying many other companies, striving to cure cancer, and funding several archaeological digs.

Mason shows himself as charismatic and friendly to the human world. However, his own kind and those who know him to be a Leviathan are aware that Mason is ruthless, and commands both fear and respect. All other Leviathans are terrified of him, as he is the strongest and most powerful of them all, and any failure he punishes by bibbing the Leviathan (making the creature eat itself, one of only two ways to kill them). Once he even ate another Leviathan himself for his failure. The only things he really cares about are the Leviathans, or, more specifically, high-ranking Leviathans. He is very hierarchical and obsessed with those at the top. He does reward his henchmen Leviathans when they successfully achieve his goals.

Like all Leviathans, he views all other species (demons, vampires, monsters, etc.) as lower beings, and considers humans nothing better than food, although he does consider some human inventions, such as the gun, as "cute" and seems to have some respect for some humans who make great achievements.

He is also somewhat masochistic and takes things such as Borax, which his kind finds agonizing, as enjoyable.

As of December 2021: Mason has been in Santa Carla for a number of years, as he is the mayor of the murder capital. The non-human members of the city council are aware of his true nature, but fearful for their lives, and dare not to defy him in any way.

Powers & Abilities

Can kill angels – Leviathans can kill angels by forcing their fists into the angel's chest, causing black ooze to purge the angel from the inside. Enhanced senses Flight – In Purgatory Leviathans can fly through the air in the form of meteors of black ooze that crash into the ground and take on a humanoid form. High intelligence – Many of the Leviathans are known to possess vast knowledge on almost all the world's secrets, including the ability to cure cancer among other diseases. Their intelligence also allows them integrated seamlessly into society, making hunting them extremely difficult. Invulnerability – Leviathans are extremely resilient, surviving multiple shotgun blasts with silver buckshot or taking a shot to the head at point-blank range. They are immune to an angel's power and most weapons devised by mankind. However, this immunity to angel power appears to only come into play if the Leviathan is expecting the angel to attack. Possession – Leviathans can possess any human they encounter through their fluid form, be it through physical contact or a human drinking it. This person becomes their physical embodiment of sorts. These shells bleed black ectoplasmic looking blood when injured and can reshape their jaws to display long sharp teeth and a two-pronged tongue. Regeneration – Leviathans can heal themselves of any wounds incurred. Even if decapitated, their heads will be able to find their way back to their bodies and re-attach itself. Shapeshifting – Once a vessel is taken, they can reshape it into any human form they touch. They require only a fragment of DNA to transform into a person - even lost hair will do. They can also absorb the memories of anyone whose form they take, much like a shapeshifter. This ability extends to absorbing a victim's mental state as well. Super strength – They are shown to possess greatly enhanced strength – Leviathans predate angels, demons, and all other monsters, which allows them to overpower them easily.

Weaknesses

Borax – Leviathans are highly susceptible to materials that contain the chemical compound borax (sodium borate) such as household cleaning products. Contact with their skin results in an instant burning effect that can reduce them to charcoal-like husks following prolonged exposure. A Leviathan will eventually heal from the effects, though the length of time depends on the severity of exposure. Mason is less susceptible to the chemical, healing nearly instantly after a borax bomb blew up in his face. Beheading – Removing a Leviathan's head disables them temporarily. But unless the head is kept far away from the body it will re-attach itself. The combination of burning them with borax and then beheading them and separating the head and the body appears to be the easiest method of indefinite dispatchment, assuming the head has no way of finding its way back to the body or if any surviving Leviathans can locate the head as well as the rest of the remains. Blood of the Fallen – The Leviathan tablet states that a Leviathan can only be killed by a bone of a righteous mortal soaked in the bloods of the fallen. The bone must come from someone as light and good as the Leviathan are hungry and dark. There are three fallen whose blood is required - the first of these is a fallen angel. The other two fallen are the ruler of fallen humanity (Lucifer) and a father of fallen beasts (an Alpha). Once this weapon is assembled, the Leviathan only needs to be given a fatal blow to be killed, but it can result in those nearby being pulled to Purgatory with the Leviathan. Cannibalism – Leviathans can be killed by another Leviathan eating them. A Leviathan can even eat itself, a self-cannibalistic process referred to as "bibbing." Rigid hierarchy – The Leviathans rely heavily on having one all-powerful leader to give them instructions and conduct their master plan. If he dies, they fall apart completely and revert to a state of disorganization. Witchcraft – Leviathans show susceptibility to witchcraft, which can incapacitate them temporarily.

Basic Stats

Height: 5'10" Hair: Black Eyes: Dark Brown

Relationships

Paul ( A Old Friend From Purgatory ) Face Claim - DJ Cotrona

[carewyncromwell]

Hey guys! So, in the past, I’ve done “inspiration posts” centered around my HPHM MC Carewyn Cromwell, Carewyn’s mother Lane and her brother Jacob, and my HPHL MC Jackson Knightly...and now it’s my HPHL vampire boy Bartholomew “Bat” Varney’s turn!

As hilarious as it sounds, I can actually blame the Twilight films for the initial spark behind Bat’s character. I admit that I’ve never really been a Twilight fan -- I read the first book because of my interest in vampires and the (rather shallow) comparison the mass public made at the time between Twilight and Harry Potter, but the second Twilight book lost me once main character Bella started trying to hurt herself just to try to see her OTL Edward again, and I’ve never picked them up since. Skip about fifteen years, and I get invited to a friend’s house to watch and rib Breaking Dawn Parts 1 and 2. Even if I hadn’t read the books, I knew the overall trajectory of the story, so I was able to basically follow what was going on, but those films were and remain the only Twilight movies I’ve seen. And after seeing them, the main emotion I came away with was absolute exasperation...because the entire time Breaking Dawn Part 2 was playing, I couldn’t give a damn what was going on with Bella, Edward, Jacob, Nessie, the Cullens, the werewolves, or the Volturi. All I wanted to do was focus on one of the most minor, bit-part characters placed in the background -- a vampire who was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and later went on to fight in just about every other American War since, played by Lee Pace, named Garrett. I was absolutely beside myself that we had an engaging, snarky, charming vampire who’d once lived in the 1700′s, one of my absolute FAVORITE historical eras, and he was shunted out of the way to make room for such a boring, stake-less, and kind of dysfunctional romance. I wanted a whole book about Garrett -- I wanted a whole TV series! It still boggles my mind that Stephanie Meyer could create such an interesting character and then only feature him for a fraction of the very last book in a four-part series.

The feelings I had about Garrett sort of lingered in the back of my head for a while, and one thought led to another, and I got to thinking about why I’d even tried reading Twilight to begin with. The answer, honestly, was that vampires was one of the biggest question marks left open in the Potterverse by Jo Rowling. She’s claimed in interviews that she didn’t think she could add anything to the vampire mythos through her work, hence why she referenced them existing, but didn’t feature them much at all in the story. And yet from my point of view, the vampire as seen in traditional folklore sort of contradicts one of the core themes of Rowling’s books -- namely, that death is both irreversible and inevitable. Because of the very diverse ways vampires have been depicted in different cultures and media over the years, there were so many questions left unanswered regarding which powers if any Potterverse vampires have, what their weaknesses are, why Voldemort never looked into becoming a vampire when searching for immortality, what their status in the Wizarding World is, why we don’t see any fighting with Voldemort like we do other “Dark creatures” like werewolves, and how their undead status fits in with the tenant of death being something you can’t escape. And the more I thought about it, the more exciting that potential became -- so I fleshed out a kind of vampire that could answer those questions and fit comfortably in the Potterverse without running the risk of “god-modding” or being too overpowered.

Vampires have more weaknesses than powers -- lessened magical ability, hypersensory sensitivity, the inability to sleep and dream, poor health, and intense and constant blood lust VS. lengthened life and increased durability.

Voldemort never sought becoming a vampire because someone else has to curse you both before and after your death, and not only are you not guaranteed to end up in the body you died in, but your magical ability is close to non-existent.

Vampires are on the absolute fringes of magical society and largely live in isolated colonies, hence why we so rarely see them or know much about them.

Vampires didn’t get involved in the Wizarding Wars because most truthfully don’t want to hurt anybody or create more of their kind by sharing the knowledge of their creation with wizards.

Vampires are similar to ghosts in the way that they died, but returned to Earth and cannot pass on, but are different in the way that they have a physical form and someone else forced them to come back against their will, rather than it being a choice on their part. They’re similar to Inferi in the way that they were brought back from the dead by Dark magic cast by another person, but they have a soul and are so trapped in the bodies they’re cursed into that they almost always outlive the person who originally cursed them and can only be killed through the traditional “stake through the heart and beheading” technique. Vampires also all end up dying sooner or later, whether by their own hand or intervention by wizards after they’ve lost so much of their sanity and humanity that they become dangerous.

With the vampire lore plotted out, I had to go back to figuring out who this vampire of mine was as a person. At that point, I hadn’t had an MC that was a Ravenclaw yet (unless you count Carewyn’s brother and mother), so I decided that could be something fun to explore, particularly if I wanted to steer clear of the brooding vampire trope. (All of the Ravenclaws I’ve known in my life are much less prone to self-loathing and depression than I am. XD;;;) Sure enough, though, one of the influences that popped up right away was Garrett. Like Garrett, Bat was originally from the 1700′s, only to die and become a vampire while fighting in the American War for Independence -- the biggest difference, of course, is that Garrett was an American Patriot, while Bat was a British regular!! LOL!! As I hashed out Bat’s backstory as a Muggle-born wizard who went to war with his best friend, however, I found Bat (or, more specifically, his original human self, Robert) picking up traits from another character -- Sirius Black! Like Sirius, Robert was disinterested in rules and a bit cocky, but also incredibly talented and intelligent and a deathly loyal friend, especially to his male best friend, who was like a brother to him and he would’ve died rather than betray. If Barty was the popular, well-liked leader of the group, Robert was his right-hand man and foil. Sadly, like Sirius as well, Robert also ended up losing his male best friend far too soon and being condemned to a fate worse than death thanks to a betrayal by his other best friend. They’re also both dog Animagi who become surrogate parental figures in later life! ^.^

As Robert, Bat’s face claim is Josh Groban. As a vampire stuck in his BFF Barty’s reanimated corpse, Bat’s face claim is Lee Pace, specifically in his role as Fernando Wood in the film Lincoln.

[ryanmeft]

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Movie Review

Spider-Man 2 set the standard for the wall-crawler’s celluloid escapes, and the movies have been trying to catch up to that ever since. Thanks in large part to poor decisions by Sony, it never came close until Marvel got a hand on the property again. The last thing I ever expected from Sony’s own spin-off movies was that they’d be any good, especially after surviving Venom. As it turns out, the soul of the character just needed animation to set it free. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is not only a great entry in the webslinger’s mostly forgettable filmography, it’s in the top tier of superhero films, period.

Miles Morales (Shamiek Moore) is a black teen being sent to a private school after winning a scholarship; his father (Brian Tyree Henry) is a by-the-books cop who struggles to understand his growing son but loves him anyway, which sounds cliche but works because the character is so well-written. His mother (Luna Lauren Velez) is unfortunately sidelined, and spending more time on her in the sequel would be welcome. He looks up to his uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali), who shares Miles’s love of graffiti art but who is also some sort of a criminal. I mention Miles’s race because it’s important: the movie elects for a happily stable family and a smart kid with a bright future, a rare focus for African American characters in cinema. The movie is not political in the slightest, and treats this as if it’s not uncommon, because it isn’t. It’s a deliberate contrast to Peter Parker, whose life is a constant mess. Miles gets his powers with a similar spider bite and without much fanfare.

Speaking of Peter Parker, he shows up, voiced by Chris Pine, and gets in a big fight involving the Green Goblin (Jorma Taccone) and the Kingpin (Liev Schreiber), classic Spider-Man villains somewhat re-imagined for the setting. When things go wrong trying to stop a dimension-combining device, Miles lands the gig of stopping the machine from firing again, but can barely use his own powers. Another Parker (Jake Johnson), an older and out-of-shape one who has given up on life, shows up and doesn’t make a very adequate mentor. He’s eventually joined by numerous other versions. Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), who is clearly here to launch her own spin-off, is cynical and calculating. Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn) is an anime take on the character whose powers are actually invested in a machine that I think is piloted by a spider itself. I’ll be honest, I lost the details in the rush, but she works because she’s more homage to the form than parody. Spider-Ham/Peter Porker (John Mulaney) is sadly underutilized and didn’t really add as much as he could; there’s too many other Spider-guys for him to stand out. By far my favorite was Spider-Man Noir, a version who is almost all shadow, wears a fedora and trench-coat, and is voiced brilliantly by Nicolas Cage, who channels Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney. Indeed, the voice cast is so stuffed that Lily Tomlin and Zoe Kravitz end up in tertiary roles. Each of these alternate heroes got sucked into Miles’s universe and will see their molecules fracture like a bad radio signal if they don’t get back. For this, they seek the help of a batty-but-brilliant scientist (Kathryn Hahn), who provokes one of Parker’s best lines. Each is accompanied by a quick and humorous rundown of their respective origins, which both serves as a nice send-up of the now-tedious origin story and fills in whatever small amount of info the audience might need.

A disclaimer for those who are understandably confused about Spidey’s cinematic history: none of these Spider-People are the same one from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that interconnected place of Guardians and Avengers. The Parker here appears to be some version of the one from Sam Raimi’s first trilogy, and considering the divided reception of that line, it’s an interesting choice (it still contains the best Spider-Man movie, and a couple lackluster ones). It matters far less than it does in the MCU, because this movie feeds more on energy, humor and heart than on continuity. To my recollection (it’s been a while), all of these characters exist in some way in the comics, but you don’t have to care. On screen, they play off each other wonderfully. The jaded Parker is like those wizened mentors from every movie ever made about a plucky kid finding his way, except this guy, while having the skills, doesn’t care. That’s a decidedly different look for Spider-Man, one that only an animated film, specifically only an animated film this unique, could pull off; an apathetic hero is just not something audiences would accept if he were the main character. The Noir version has the most potential for his own movie, as his universe is the most different from what we’ve seen before. Like Rey in Star Wars, Spider-Gwen is unfortunately given the least interesting character, but there’s room for development later. For some reason, the same people that decided we need more female heroes (which we do) also decided they always have to be---pardon the expression---the straight man. Will we maybe have a female take on Tony Stark at some point? I won’t hold my breath; the culture just isn’t there yet.

The heroes are of course opposed by the afore-mentioned villains, joined by many others: Prowler, a Batman-esque fighter, Scorpion (Joaquin Cosio), Tombstone (Marvin “Krondon” Jones III) and a surprise bonus pick who I will not mention because you should discover it for yourself, except to say this person really works while, in a way, bringing back a long-absent, long in demand foe. When machines are activated and villains are fighting, the movie does occasionally veer somewhat close to confusion, but it always recovers, with the exception of some of the villains being rather generic. Animation has unshackled the agility, speed and wit Spider-Man has always evoked in the minds of people flipping through comic panels. There’s a litheness to the movements of the characters that no amount of CG could ever replicate, and a boundless energy that the unique animation style---designed to look like comic panels in motion and, to my eternal shock, actually successful in this---works perfectly with.

Still, the most surprising thing is how the emotions carry through. Each Spider-Dude-or-Dudette has their own tragedy and loss, and the sense that no matter what universe he exists in, he’ll always have to deal with that is sadly poignant, especially for anyone who grew up on the Spider-Man mythos. There are actual stakes here; even the motivations of the Kingpin have real heft. The movie has been handled by Lego Movie producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, with a small army of co-writers joining along the way, and the surprise is that for once, so many cooks have managed to concoct something that feels so sincere.

If you aren’t a comic person, don’t worry. There’s enough heart here to sweep you up even if you don’t know your spiders from your bats. Stan Lee’s posthumous cameo feels fitting, in a movie that does right by his (and Steve Ditko’s) best creation. Nerds tend to declare amazing absolutely every comic movie that comes out. And every once in a while, they’re right.

Verdict: Highly Recommended (3 1/2 out of 4 stars)

Note: I don’t use stars, but here are my possible verdicts.

Must-See

Highly Recommended

Recommended

Average

Not Recommended

Avoid like the Plague

 You can follow Ryan's reviews on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/ryanmeftmovies/

 Or his tweets here:

https://twitter.com/RyanmEft

 All images are property of the people what own the movie.

[thenightling]

Meet Azrael / Death (Lucifer TV series related)

Okay, IF Lucifer gets picked up, one of the biggest rumors is that Azrael (Angel of Death) will be a character in season 4.  This actually seems very likely.  

Season 2 of Lucifer told us about Azrael in regard to how she works in the TV universe.   Azrael is Lucifer’s sister and The Angel of Death.  It was her sword that allowed Lucifer to cut a hole in reality so Mum could go off and create her own universe.

 If season four happens, some of you may be curious to know who this character was in the Lucifer comic books.   

Based on descriptions from Lucifer: Season 2, Azrael of the TV series is actually a combination of two characters. 

Character 1:  (Really only the source for the name) is The Azrael of lore (who is actually male or non-gender depending on your view of angels).

And 

Character 2:  The heavier influence.  Death of The Endless created by Neil Gaiman (also creator of this version of Lucifer).  

Death of the Endless is the living embodiment of Death incarnate.  This character is who the Lucifer TV series version of Azrael seems most likely to have roots in.

Who is Death of The Endless?

Continue reading for some information about the comic book version of Death.

The Endless are seven siblings who are God-like entities in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman Universe.  They are anthropomorphic personifications, meaning they embody certain aspects of Sentient life.  They are actually more powerful than most Gods but are less powerful than The Presence (The God that made Lucifer) and they are less powerful than Lucifer himself.

This was confirmed in the Sandman storyline called Season of Mists.  The Sandman, himself, Morpheus AKA Dream of The Endless discusses Lucifer with his raven servant, Matthew.  

The Endless are:

Destiny (male), Death (Female), Dream (male), Destruction (male), Desire (Genderfluid), Despair (Female), Delirium (Formerly known as Delight, female),

According to the message Morpheus (Dream) had Cain deliver to Lucifer in Sandman: Season of Mists, they are actually cousins of Lucifer and the angels.

Death is actually the one Endless most like an angel as she does have wings of her own.  Her wings are never shown in panel art but they are shown on the cover art of the issue of Sandman where she made her first appearance.  “The Sound of her wings.”  This is issue 8 of Sandman.

An audio play / motion comic version of The Sound of Her wings can be watched here. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHkqHsxqlHM

There is a non-Canon Manga that was published retelling Sandman: Season of Mists (the storyline where Lucifer quits ruling Hell) from Death’s point of view.   It is called Death: At Death’s Door. You can see her wings in one page of that manga.

          You never see Death’s wings in the panel art of the actual Sandman or Lucifer comics but Morpheus (Dream) can hear them (”The sound of her wings”).

It is implied that perhaps only the dead can actually see her wings and she only unfurls them when delivering a soul to the afterlife.  

The version of The Angel of Death that appeared in “American Horror Story: Asylum” might have been inspired by her.

Death is also female in Mexican traditions.  

There are multiple different afterlifes in Sandman, just like in American Gods. 

Your afterlife is determined by your belief.  Some people go to Heaven, some go to Hell, some are reincarnated, some go to the Elysium Fields while others might go to Tartarus, and yet others might go to Valhalla, ect...      

      Death physically resembles a nineteen-year-old Goth girl.  Some of her own younger siblings actually look older than her.  Dream, for example, is quite ageless, and most assuredly not a teenager.  Sometimes he can seem young while other times he looks very old.  It’s very hard to determine a specific age look for him. 

But he has never looked like a teenager.

 Death is always seen with black hair and has grey-blue (human looking) eyes.  She often wears a black tank top and black form fitting jeans with black ankle boots. She is very pale (though not as pale as Morpheus) and under her left eye are the markings of an Eye of Horus Tattoo.  

Often she wears black gloves that end at her wrist and instead of a scythe she sometimes carries an umbrella.  She’s very fond of Disney films, including Mary Poppins and The Little Mermaid.   For the artwork of the comics her physical appearance was inspired by a real woman, a nineteen-year-old girl named Cinamon Hadley, just as Lucifer’s appearance was modeled after rock star, David Bowie.  

Like Lucifer, Death is a psychopomp, meaning she can transport souls to the afterlife.

Despite her purpose of delivering souls to the afterlife, Death is not a depressed or depressing character.  She is friendly, perky and kind hearted.  Death would actually prefer it if you end up in a good afterlife.  She doesn’t judge anyone and she tries to be a friend to everyone. 

It was revealed that a long time ago, for a while, Death had become cold, until someone asked her how she would like it.  Realizing she had mistreated the souls she was attending, Death decided to humble herself, and remind herself of what it is like for them to be mortal (since she had never been human).  After this revelation, Death decided to turn herself human once a century to always remind herself why she should be kind, and what people experience while alive.  

 A story of one of Death’s human experiences can be found in the stand-alone comic, Death: The High cost of Living by Neil Gaiman, which is available in Death: The Deluxe edition. 

Death tries to be a friend to all and values the virtues taught in Disney films such as friends, family, love, compassion, ect.

It is for this reason that I felt the show Lucifer dropped a ball by introducing Ella’s brother and not having a surprise reveal that Ella was Death / Azrael in disguise.  She actually fits the personality very well.  

Here is death in her appearance in DC’s Action Comics 894 in 2011 talking to Lex Luthor.  The Endless and their stories are canon to DC comics and Vertigo and they transcend universes.

As I said, Death actually prefers it when you end up with a good afterlife.    

  Each one of The Endless has a sigil, a symbol which represents them.   For Death this is her ankh, the Egyptian symbol of Eternal Life.

  She wears an Ankh as a pendant.  The necklace itself has no power but the symbol means the world to her.  And her family can call out to her by drawing an ankh and addressing her, or clutching a representation of her ankh in front of a mirror in their personal gallery (Each of The Endless has a gallery room for communicating with each other when they are not in the same realm).   

An occult organization called The Order of Ancient Mysteries tried to summon Death over a century ago and accidentally summoned her brother, Dream (Morpheus AKA The Sandman) instead.  Despite realizing their mistake they chose to hold him prisoner for over seventy-two-years. 

When Morpheus finally escaped his prison he had to track down items stolen from him during his imprisonment, including his pouch of dream sand (He is The Sandman after all), his helm (a creepy battle mask carved from the bones of dead Old Gods), and his ruby dreamstone amulet.  This was actually the very first storyline in The Sandman comics.  Preludes and Nocturnes.  Death’s first comic book appearance was toward the end of this storyline.   

It is also during Preludes and Nocturnes that we see Lucifer for the first time in issue 4 of Sandman, “A Hope in Hell.” Morpheus (Dream) had to travel to Hell to retrieve his stolen helm.  It is not until Sandman: Season of Mists that Lucifer quits ruling Hell like in the TV show Lucifer.   

Death is not just present at the moment someone dies but also is there at births as well.  Destruction of The Endless had a theory that all of The Endless actually represent a thing and it’s opposite.  Desire is also hate, Dream is also reality as dreams can influence reality, Death is also life, Despair (whether she means to or not) also represents Hope, ect...

In Sandman: Endless Nights, there is a story set in the distant past where Despair spoke with the humanoid embodiment of Krypton’s sun and suggested that Krypton should bear life even though the planet was doomed to die.  Despair felt that that it would be glorious if when Krypton died only one survivor was left to to mourn and grieve. Without meaning to, she orchestrated the creation of Superman, a living symbol of Hope.     

Considering Death has wings and is a cousin of Lucifer, it actually makes sense that the Lucifer TV series appeared to have merged her with Azrael the angel of Death and turned her into Lucifer’s sibling.

As the embodiment of Desire is one of The Endless (one of Death’s actual siblings), it actually seems even more fitting. (”What do you Desire?”)

Death made an appearance in Lucifer’s solo comics.

Death appeared in Lucifer Volume 1 issue 25 and 26. 

Neil Gaiman’s version of Death is actually a very well loved comic book character and is probably the most popular character in all of Sandman lore.  There are people who would argue that she is more popular than Morpheus (Dream AKA The Sandman), himself.   

Aurelio Voltaire even wrote a song about her for a Neil Gaiman tribute album called “Where’s Neil when you need him?”  The song is called Sweet Death.

He also wrote a song from Lucifer’s point of view called Almost Human (on the album of the same name.) 

Death was even the narrator of a safe sex / AIDS awareness pamphlet published by Vertigo comics in the early 90s that even featured her demonstrating how to properly put on a condom using a banana provided by John Constantine.   It was called “Death talks about life.”  It’s now available as bonus material in the Death Deluxe edition collection.   

Here’s hoping that if the Lucifer TV series is picked up and Azrael (based on Death of The Endless) makes her appearance that she’s a little more accurate to her personality of the comics than poor Cain was...

[iameverything]

A Conversation: Lost Under Heaven

“The Manchester duo Lost Under Heaven, or LUH, have never been keen on subtlety. Super-sized in every dimension, the music of former WU LYF leader Ellery Roberts and visual artist Ebony Hoorn sought grand answers about love and mortality by way of drastic melodies.”

First off, for people who dont know, who is Lost Under Heaven? Ebony Hoorn & Ellery James Roberts Collaborative life work.

The first time I heard of you guys was 'I&I' on the HBO show Ballers and I was hooked. I originally thought of bands like July Talk etc, where the voice coming from the person is a surprise, in a very fascinating and amazing way. Was there a moment you can remember when you (Ellery Roberts) realized you had such a unique voice? When I was young I found a cathartic uplift in singing as hard as I could, usually in response to the noise of the rest of what ever teenage band I was playing with, since then I’ve learned to control it, focus it, People always tell me my voice is unique, it’s just how it comes out, but these days I am singing quite differently, working on a softer croon. I have nothing to shout about anymore.

In regards to the previous question, whats it like to get your music featured on HBO Ballers and even Netflix 13 Reasons Why, among other content? How surreal is that? Its always strange to see a song that has quite specific meaning or ambiance to you, put in a totally different context, but that is also the beauty of creation, once you release something you never know what it may go on to inspire.

With how unique Ellery's voice is and than to be accompanied by the other beautiful voice that is Ebony, I am surprised your music isn't showing up in a lot of other content. I picture LUH having a song in a tv show as the intro in my opinion. How much longer until North American tv/movie productions start taking notice you think? Have you gotten any offers you turned down? We haven’t turned anything down, sure it would be nice to have some high level syncs, make cash flow easier and get the name out to a wider audience, but these things always come out of the blue… We enjoy narrative, atmosphere and an expansive sound in our song writing so it lends well to soundtracks. We are actually working on our first soundtrack for ‘8 days with hopper’ a feature film due in 2021, a really beautiful project that we are very excited to be a part of.

Before we dive into the bright future that is Lost Under Heaven, we gotta go back to the past. Before you (Ellery) joined Ebony for LUH, you started in a band called WU LYF, mindset wise, what was it like being in WU LYF vs LUH? And creatively how different was it? WU was a teenage jam band that got picked up on a wave of hype. I loved the creation of the record and feel it is a very genuine document of untamed youth, but after touring it for 18 months relationships soured and the joy, the fire was gone- trying to write the second record and growing in awareness to the state of the world I fell into a deep depression, I longed for a deeper life and my heart knew I needed to make a change. I broke the band up quite impulsively which I regret for it needlessly hurt those closest to me- but life moves on, wounds heal. creatively all the songs came out of 4 people jamming together for hours and hours- with LUH the process is much more focused, considered, I sit at a piano or with a guitar & write songs working with Ebony to produce them in a cinematic world of atmosphere and tension. I only miss WU LYF in the nostalgic way people miss their teenage years of wild abandon.

With endings come new beginnings.... Right before the end of WU LYFE, did you guys always know Lost Under Heaven was the next project in mind? And has it lived up to the expectations of what you pictured? Lost Under Heaven began when I moved to Amsterdam to live with Ebony, we were not really anticipating working together but it naturally came with me making music whilst she made her visual art in the same small apartment. We then started to have grande visions of what we could create together, we see LUH as a life work, ever evolving, a process thru which we can experiment with ideas and express our ever evolving level of consciousness.

You guys are just absolutely marvelous, I even went as far as calling you my favourite band of the last decade. You guys present not just new ideas, but new sounds and something I have not yet seen. You guys have such a unique vibe its insane. Have you guys ever been approached by any labels or music reps to change anything up significantly? And what do you think of artists doing that to get signed? Fortunately we both have always had a very clear idea of what we should be doing. We are ever motivated to create and have great gratitude that we are able to live this life. To be honest nobody’s ever really challenged us to change, the way in which we work is essentially D.I.Y so we just explore where ever the energy take us. We probably would benefit from some business management, but the blessing of doing everything yourself is you learn and grow at a high pace. As to other artists, each is own their own path and they have to live with themselves so I have no judgment- personally I have never compromised my art to get a wider appeal, or more success, I strive for soulful honesty- not just entertainment.

Little backstory: I was once standing on a beach somewhere in a middle of nowhere, and the beach was a temporary home, something to hide away in but it was only a band-aid of escape. In the mist of the sunset setting and nothing but ocean in the backdrop, your track Loyalty from the album Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing came on, and everything made sense in that moment. One of my favourite songs ever, hands down. Talk about what that song means to you guys? How did it come to be? Loyalty is one of my favorites, it was actually the first song Ebony sang on, the first time I really heard her voice- I wrote the cello part years ago, probably when I was a teenager and always had the idea to make an epic street hassle (Lou Reed) kinda record, but could never figure out how, then I came up with this guitar riff and sang along it all started to come together but I had no idea how the chorus should go, so I asked ebony to just play around and those line’s “we are going to sail away…” came out of it- perfect! yeah I love that song, we have never really been able to play it well live (with out a cello player!) so I haven’t heard it for a few years- but you made me want to revisit it now…

While we are on the topic of your first album, what was the song writing process for it vs your second album Love Hates What You Become? Would you say there was a difference creative wise between the two? Spiritual Songs was written in lots of little fragments over a couple of years (2012- 2015) I mostly wrote it on a piano and then straight into Ableton so its a lot more processed production, - Love Hates I wrote whilst we toured the 1st record in 2016- I had started playing guitar for the live band so I wrote nearly all the songs on 6 strings, I finished it up in a week in January 2017 so it was fast, focused- we produced the record with Jon Congleton in 3 weeks recorded and mixed, so it was all very fast- I felt the record to had a raw urgency, to keep us moving, keep the band on the road, but then the label stagnated the release schedule for 18 months and it kinda lost the energy, I am proud of the record- but it was quite a frustrating period, which I am happy to have behind us.

I've always wondered, with your album titles like Love Hates What You Become or  Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing, where do these ideas for album names come from? The Unified Field. I don’t know man, ideas arrive and you note them down and then months later they have meaning, that’s the way titles, lyrics most of what we do comes to be- I like walking around aimless, letting my mind roam, writing down anything that feels exciting

Speaking of creative, you guys recently left Mute Records to start your own label LUH International. What prompted this big change up? And in a nutshell what can we expect from these big changes? As eluded to earlier, after the release of Love Hates we had become frustrated by the slow and bloated process working within a label system can place on your creativity- We were looking for new way to work in the world with more intimacy and spontaneity, an opportunity had arisen with a de-centralised video platform called Vevue that enabled us to become financially independent for the foreseeable future- so we decided to make LUH.international formalised as an entity- to release our work, not necessarily a record label, I see it more as creative studio that will periodically make short run pressings of our projects- we are currently putting together the First, a book that consolidates our work on the Love Unite Humanity web series release via Vevue.

What advice can you give someone who would want to start up their own record label? Patience, perseverance and maintain a level of success consciousness- law of attraction vibes.

You guys are not just starting your own record label, but developing original content (and music) titled Love Unites Humanity (Episode zero here) and will be featured on the video platform Vevue. In saying all that, what does this project mean for you guys? And how will this take Lost Under Heaven onto the next level? Love Unites Humanity brings together a lot of our thoughts and experiences over the last few years, I see it as a way of articulating our world view, thru artistic expression. It also provides us a free space to experiment, creating work quickly and immediately releasing it with no middlemen, the Vevue platform enables us to directly earn from our work with it token exchange economy.  

When can Canada expect to see LUH live in concert? ah man, I have no idea, we’d love to get over to you tho- perhaps some one reading this will want to make it happen.

5 rapid fire questions, give the answer that comes to mind first If you were not called Lost Under Heaven what else would you want to be called? Ebony & Ellery James and their Famous Flames Best venue to play in? The White Hotel, Manchester Favorite current song? ROSALÍA - Juro Que  Best underrated artist? So many but my today I say, Kali Malone Favorite song that is your own? Here Our Moment Ends or Black Sun Rising

Cover photo by Chris Almeida

[queernuck]

well, make some time lol

disneyland is obviously fake as hell, right? like, you go in and you got frontier town and you got Avatar-land and you got a Star Wars mini-theme park where Hodo is a relevant character to anyone who hasnt consumed so much stars wars media that its their personality, and all of this is conspicuously fake. it is too neat, too tidy, too well-rehearsed, and that is by intention. you can feel that it is fake, you know it is fake, you know that it is something beyond real

hyperreal, more-than-real.

you get into your car in the parking lot and drive off into LA and the sprawl around it and you ignore the fact that Disney has full control over the Anaheim City Council and that they can basically do whatever the fuck they want, that the city of Anaheim is beholden to a theme park. That the city of Los Angeles itself was built out of desert, is even moreso a “modern” city than New York or Seattle or any number of other American cities specifically because it shares that hyperreal quality. it is covered, like those other cities, by so much mythology and hauntology and stories and films and video games and more and more and more built up and up and up upon it, you find that there is no “real” LA, there are simply different simulacra, simulations without original, one can encounter. White 20tweens in college go on “ghetto tours” where they walk through Compton absolutely terrified when, if you just pay attention and know how cities work, how not to piss people off when in an unfamiliar neighborhood, it’s another neighborhood that has been destroyed by white supremacist violence, by capitalism, and not just there as a kind of extended theme park, something more “Real” for tourists to discover. 

This happens in so many places, in so many ways: the novelty of pot shops and tourists taking their first lung-destroying hits of a joint, the Walk of Fame being a genuine subject of political discourse, the way in which the city presents itself to those within and without as something “more” than what it is. Places like Disneyland are there to imply that the hyperreal, the cultivated and highly neoliberalized experience of life that we engage with in contemporary discourse is in fact the “Real”, the genuine article, when at best we are a step removed from it.

This goes for sports, as well. Clearly, there is something taking place on the field, but is it Real? what does it Matter? what exactly are we watching, what must sport constitute? Is Wrestling a sport? The outcome may be written and performed, but for most early-season college football games, the same is true! Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Ohio State will all march to undefeated seasons and that is in no small part to playing vastly overmatched games in the first few weeks to be able to effectively practice in an actual game, like a general demanding his units be chosen for an assault to gain “combat experience” as a skill on their resume when the chance of an actual meaningful confrontation is slim. Sport is just another example of the hyperreal showing itself as such: it is competition with clear rules (that are still often broken) clear winners and losers (that are often not as clear as one would like) and most of all functions such that the world outside of it is “Real”, is that tantalizing and always-escaping genuine experience of an unaltered Realness.

And who DOESN’T want to become something through gaming? What would the use of character creation be without it? If you’re playing Final Fantasy online you dont just wanna be a Catgirl, you wanna be the Catgirl YOU WANT TO BE. And the same is true in Dark Souls, in Elder Scrolls, in the mixing and matching of haircuts and clothes and scars and tattoos on GTA characters, in pushing to see just how absurd one’s character can be rendered in-game. And this in turn is part of what NBA 2k20 is offering: a furthering of that, the creation of a game mode where one can show up at a promotional event, dance for a while with the repeated pressing of a button, and then leave. It serves to hide the idea of a sneaky coke habit, or an athlete who drinks too much, or gets in a fight at the club. It is constructing a feeling of “making it”, much like the 2k series has done since NFL 2k5, one of the best sports games of all time. 

The game almost explicitly recognizes the ridiculousness of this, knows that players might hate it, but present it in a fashion such that one is in fact living the contract obligations of a pro athlete, is simulating even these small details just as one could choose colleges and shoe sponsors in previous versions of the game.

the way that streaming, the attempt of various media ventures to either clumsily offer streaming alongside live TV or make their broadcasts far more like that of streaming media, interconnected with the vast structure of online consumption-production, the creation of a league sponsored by and directly tied to the NBA for playing 2k has made the line between NBA itself and the representation of it in gaming far blurrier works not only to promote the game, but also to make the NBA seem more “real” in an era of Superteams, blockbuster deals, and some of the best basketball ever played, basketball that seems as if the scripts are too crazy for the WWE.

interpreting this as part of something more than mere branding, the implementation of the feature as an idea as to how to integrate the branding within the work of the game is, in fact, part of how games are created, are understood, and consumed and to refuse to analyze it or even take an interpretation of it that goes against the easy interpretation, wondering what the monetization of such small interactions implies about their importance, is something that should be done.

[thesoulpatch-blog1]

Intro to Spirituality

Spirituality is a complex word. It means many different things at once and is a concept that all of humanity must bear. We will never understand what it means in our lifetime, and likely not even in death. To me, spirituality is what makes one human. The fact that every man and woman has a spiritual experience in their time on Earth is what lets me know that we are equals. We’re one big school of fish. We’ll never escape the depths we dragged our spirits into in the world we created. We see massive amounts of violence, poverty, and hatred everywhere we look. Those things bear weight on our souls each and every day. But our souls can be uplifted just as easily through love and compassion from our neighbors. We cannot forget what love can do. We cannot forget to continue doing the uplifting things we do every day. But our world is ultimately attempting to kill spirituality, and thus kill every human to someday walk on this sacred ground. I think the time has come to focus on thwarting that plan.

Even some of the axioms of our culture have hateful implications. We assume pink is a girl’s color and boys can’t play with dolls. We tend to be confused when women have short hair. For some reason, a cop playing basketball with black children is worthy of going viral, met with sounds of praise for a cop who just wasn’t racist. Oh, look! A cop who likes black kids! See, now it’s okay that Tamir Rice died, because this other cop isn’t a racist. The problem isn’t racist cops, the problem is a racist assumption being made in the first place. For example, the assumption that a 12 year old black boy out late in the city must be committing crimes and so you pull a gun on him. I once lived with a black man from the Bay area who referred to being stopped by the police as “getting a WWB (Walking While Black).” He had been stopped and accused of crimes he did not commit multiple times while just walking down the street, and multiple more when behind the wheel. If you deny the reality of police bias, you are contributing to the racism ingrained in our society and thus our brains. We have willingly accepted these hateful assumptions as truth, and it has ruined us in so many ways. Our spirits are starting from square one at this point in history, but we can better things for the future. It begins with forgetting everything we know. We have lived in a world geared toward killing the spirit and we have believed in it. It’s time to begin being skeptical of the things we know. We can and must begin believing in something new. Whether it be Christ, Allah, or anything else, we’re all talking about the same thing. It’s love and compassion, and we can’t make any progress if we don’t believe in that.

Whether we like it or not, one of the world’s most drastic changes is coming. It is a very dark place we will enter. Perhaps the darkest of dark ages. There is a pool of ignorance that our nation is drowning in deeper than we can fathom. We are fooled constantly by those who have benefited and profited from our lack of awareness of the world around us. Americans have no say in many of the things they claim to be passionate about. We are so entitled that we take that entitlement as inherent. Entitlement has bred nationalism of a spectacular degree. Even those on the rational side of the aisle are there for the wrong reasons. So where do we go from here?

Firstly, we go spiraling downward into the abyss we have dug ourselves. Only when we reach the bottom can we search for materials to build our way out. When we each hit rock bottom after spending so much time in the clouds, the time of enlightenment will be upon us. It’s easy in a time like this to place blame elsewhere. Establishment, billionaire class, immigrants, Republicans, Democrats, terrorists, poor people, and most importantly, anyone but one’s self. But the (hopefully) temporary struggle of humanity is the fault of humanity itself, and no one person is absolved of blame. This chapter of our world’s timeline is the result of the entirety of that timeline so far. I don’t have to tell you the specific actions necessary to save yourself, because if you’re a positive contribution to the world that will rise from the ashes, you’ll simply know the right actions when they are upon you.

Preventing this disaster truly was as simple as doing the right thing, but rarely does the right thing feel good. In order to rebuild a world that we can all share peacefully, we all must do the right thing time and time again. That means hardship beyond the hardship. It means that when you go from having everything to having nothing to having a little, you must share what little you have with those who still have nothing, whether they had anything to begin with or not. Your personal window of opportunity may open long before many others, but you can’t go through it until it is big enough for everyone to come with you. There are some that will not understand this. They will try to climb the ladder out of the abyss before we have built a sturdy one. And they will likely fall to their death. We cannot create a world anything like this one if we hope for it to flourish. A world like our current one can only lead to the same demise we’re about to experience.

In this time of hardship, we only have each other. Those who wish to be saved will join a community of love and compassion for your fellow human and your planet, knowing that is the only true security where we’re heading. Those who are left behind will choose another path, and it is with great sorrow that we must condemn them. The rapture is coming, but it’s not as simple as the godly people disappearing to heaven one day. Heaven is earned, and heaven is achievable only in our hearts. Those who do not strive for a heavenly life for all are those who will be cast into eternal damnation. The simplest advice I can offer to save oneself is to begin to live with unconditional honesty, integrity, and to ask yourself at every turn: “What would Jesus do?” The answer is not as simple as we’d like to believe. But if we can apply that question to every aspect of the world around us and answer it honestly, then we will prosper as a species. The kingdom of heaven is upon us. We must come to truly know our souls to achieve it. But you won’t do that thumping a bible.

We intend to link the political and social aspects of our world to the concept of spirituality. Humanity is hurting because humanity stopped believing in itself. But the world that caused that phenomenon is about to be killed by the spirit. The spirit is complex. It holds immense power. The spirit is truly the greatest creation of the known universe. Whatever the spirit is, it is the answer to our existence. It is why we’re here. You cannot keep it at bay forever, and the time is coming for it to break its chains. These are not chains that have bounded us, but chains we have submitted to. We accepted hateful assumptions to be inherently true and allowed them to shape how society treats its members. The oppressed will not stay that way. Those who believe in the spirit will rise against those who beg for the chains; those are the people who believe we are evil creatures. But the spirit is good and only good. If you want to live life, actually live it, you will embrace the spirit. You will condemn the words of anyone who claims we need controlled to be good. Control and false truths have raped us. We have collectively lost what’s made us human.

I believe that all major events can be connected to the battle between the spirit and our current society. I think this point in time has identified three important players: The Spirit, The People, and The Enemy. The Spirit is what I've rambled about this whole time, and I hope I have conveyed what I believe it can be. The Enemy is any energy, idea, or life force that beats down the spirit and discourages its existence. The People are simply the prize to be won. Our physical being. We can be taken by The Spirit and allow real freedom for ourselves and our descendants, or we can watch The Enemy prevail and essentially, or literally, enslave the human population. Be honest with yourself and others, spread love everywhere you go, and learn everything you can. Times are changing, and we can only fix this place by doing the right thing every chance we get.

[cpdevos]

5/19/20: End-of-the-School-Year Reflections Series (pt 1) - It's Okay to Not Be Okay

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great start to your week! To everyone taking APs or finals or are just wrapping up your school year in general, good luck! You got this!

This week's devos, written by me, Daniel, and Margarette, are going to be a little different than usual. To celebrate the end of the semester (and Daniel and my highschool graduation!) as well as reflect on the ways we've grown this past school year, we decided to each share what God has taught/been teaching us. After reading our stories, we encourage you to share something God has been teaching you recently by replying to one of our devotionals (whether to the group or just privately to us)!

With that being said, please pray to begin, preferably in a spot where it's just you and God and where you can speak your mind and be honest with Him.

"How are you?"

This question has become almost an obligatory greeting, nearly equal to "hi" or "good morning". We hear it at least once, if not multiple times, a day. Sometimes we greet someone with that phrase and keep on walking by without even expecting a response. But when there is time for this short (and perhaps awkward) exchange, what’s our go-to answer? "I'm doing well." "I'm great." "I'm doing fine." (or if you're like me and have poor grammar skills along with the majority of the American population, we're "doing good").

But are we actually "doing well"? Are we really "okay" every single time someone asks us this question (which very well may be everyday)? Although we may not mean to, we often "lie" to people when they ask us this (and I’m using that term very loosely, because it’s not exactly “lying”, it’s just being polite, but what I mean is that it’s not exactly the truth). And I’m not telling you to say “I’m doing terrible” the next time someone asks, but I’d just like you to take a step back and think: well, how are you really doing?

Because the reality is, sometimes we’re convincing ourselves and those around us that we’re “well”. Even when we’re not well, we still want to be seen as “doing okay” in front of other people. In front of ourselves. In front of God.

But the truth is, we're not always okay...and that's okay. That's just the nature of this world. We are sinful people, we are in constant interaction with sinful people, and we live in a corrupt society and broken world. We will never live a single perfect day and will never encounter a perfect person, no matter how "holy" or "good" they may seem (other than Jesus of course, but you know what I mean). And perhaps, if you're like me, you may have grown up in the church reading Bible stories about characters who seemed to have it all together — but really, they didn't. Take a look at David, for example:

Psalm 31:9-13 (full chapter found here) -

9 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress;

   my eyes grow weak with sorrow,

   my soul and body with grief.

10 My life is consumed by anguish

   and my years by groaning;

my strength fails because of my affliction,

   and my bones grow weak.

11 Because of all my enemies,

   I am the utter contempt of my neighbors

and an object of dread to my closest friends—

   those who see me on the street flee from me.

12 I am forgotten as though I were dead;

   I have become like broken pottery

13 For I hear many whispering,

   “Terror on every side!”

They conspire against me

   and plot to take my life.

To me, David seemed "perfect". He was chosen among his brothers because of his righteousness and devotion to the Lord. He was anointed king of Israel at such a young age and accomplished so much in his lifetime all while wholeheartedly serving God. To this day, he is honored and revered as one of the greatest (if not the greatest) kings of Israel to have ever lived. There are entire passages in the New Testament devoted to how Jesus' lineage can be traced back to David!

But even the seemingly “perfect” David lived a life far from perfect -- he sinned against people and dishonored God (2 Samuel 11, Psalms 51), and people sinned against him (2 Samuel 15-19, Psalm 3). No matter how "holy" or "righteous" he seemed to be, he could not escape the inevitable brokenness and sinful nature of this world. And during these days of trials and hardships, he certainly was not "doing well". As seen in this specific Psalm, David was “in distress”, was “weak with sorrow” and “with grief”, and was “consumed by anguish” — and that’s just within the first few lines!

So it makes perfect sense if we're not doing okay sometimes. If anything, as sinful human beings, and especially as followers of Jesus, that is to be expected. So why do we try so hard to seem "okay"? Why do we desperately try to cover up the reality of the situation? Why do we lie to others, to ourselves, and most importantly, to the Lord of all the earth, who knows how we're doing whether or not we tell Him? Why don't we just be honest about how we're doing?

This is a very complicated question to answer, and I can’t say I have the complete picture of it all, but from my observations and experiences I’ve learned this: it’s hard to be honest about how we’re doing because honesty requires vulnerability. And vulnerability requires humility. And humility costs our selfish and self-centered human pride.

We don't want to admit that we don't have it all together. We shroud our faults and weaknesses and create a facade in which we are completely content and satisfied (and may even appear like perfect Christians who never struggle with anything) because we don’t want to admit that we are broken. So instead of being in fellowship with brothers and sisters who are genuinely aware and care for each other’s wellbeing (during the good and the bad times), we sometimes attend church service and greet one another as we hide behind our smiles. And the scary part is? Some of us aren’t even aware that we do this, and we therefore deceive ourselves. (Disclaimer: I’m not saying everyone is like this, just that I have felt that I have done this before and wanted to share my opinion on this.)

We all strive and struggle and ultimately fail to construct this "perfect" image of ourselves when we inevitably can never attain perfection. We are all equally broken sinners. No one is “better” or “above” another. We are all in need of God’s forgiveness, grace, and love.

Looking back to David’s psalm, he certainly did not shy away from being honest about how he truly was doing. Yet his response is a good example of how we as Christians should also respond:

Psalm 31:14, 21-22 (full chapter found here)  -

14 But I trust in you, Lord;

   I say, “You are my God.”

21 Praise be to the Lord,

   for he showed me the wonders of his love

   when I was in a city under siege.

22 In my alarm I said,

   “I am cut off from your sight!”

Yet you heard my cry for mercy

   when I called to you for help.

23 Love the Lord, all his faithful people!

   The Lord preserves those who are true to him,

   but the proud he pays back in full.

24 Be strong and take heart,

   all you who hope in the Lord.

Instead of sweeping his problems under the rug and trying to convince himself and God that he was doing well, what did David do? He cried out to the Lord and put his trust in Him. He praised God for His faithfulness and love and mercy. He encouraged those who were also hurting and suffering to “take heart”, reminding them that their hope is in God, the Supreme and Almighty Lord of all creation.

So don't try to run away and hide from how you are truly doing. If you’re anxious and worried, be honest about your worries. If you’re struggling with a sin, be honest and confess it to God. If you’re angry and find it hard to forgive, be honest and ask the Lord for forgiveness and guidance. If you’re feeling lost and don’t know what to do next, be honest and bring it up in your prayers. It is only until you are honest about how you are truly doing that you are able to trust and have faith that God will bring you through this storm, whether by providing comfort or wisdom or healing.

If you’ve read up to this point, then I sincerely thank you for bearing with me and my probably incoherent rambles. Again, I'm not saying the phrase “how are you?” should be abandoned, or that you should pour out everything you’re dealing with as an answer. But at this time, I simply ask that you be honest at least with yourself and with God: how are you really doing? And once you figure that out, will you trust in Jesus?

As you pray to close, I'd like you to listen to this song.

Joyce

[secretbouquetpen-blog]

LIFE AWARENESS: Reveal my untold questions about our existence.

What is life?

 Hindi ko matandaan kung pang-ilang beses ko na 'tong naitanong sa sarili ko. I doubt if you say na ni-isang beses sa buhay mo ay hindi mo rin nagawang maitanong ito kahit sa sarili mo. No one have ever found the answer on it. If you are such like me who did an attempt on google, mapapansin mo kung gaano karaming sagot ang lumalabas. Most searched questions says like this: "What is life according to science?, What is life according to Socrates? What is life according to Philosophy?, What is life according to Augustine? and What is life according to Bible?"

Aren't you curious why lots of people are trying to look for an answer kahit ang totoo, the actual happenings in your life had already defined what is life?

From the our struggles, we learn life.

It all begins when you wake up in awareness of your surrounding.

To make a definite explanation, lets see kung paano nila ito ipinaliwanag.

What is life according to science?

A branch of science such as biology says that: The definition of life is controversial. The current definition is that organisms are open systems that maintain homeostasis, are composed of cells, have a life cycle, undergo metabolism, can grow, adapt to their environment, respond to stimuli, reproduce and evolve.

Science supplies as with a new representation of the world, of life, of the human being. Science can liberate us from the views imposed to us by nature, to our senses and minds. Science offers new answers to the meaning of life.

What's life? Who we are? According to science. Kahit ang pinakamatatalinong tao sa mundo katulad nina Charles Darwin na nagsabing nagmula daw tau sa hayop (unggoy specifically) ay di rin paniwalaan ng lubos ng mga tao. Ikaw matatanggap mo bang isang hayop ang naging ninuno mo? Bukod kay Charles Darwin, pinatungan pa ito ni Richard Dawkins. He is an atheist, and is well known for his criticism of creationism and intelligent design. Sinabi niyang ang evolutionary processes  as analogous to a Blind Watchmaker (a book that he wrote) , in that reproduction, mutation, and selection are unguided  by any designer. It means that he doesn't believe about the Creator that most religious people had. He contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that religious faith is just a delusion.

What is life according to Socrates?

Socrates is one of the most famous philosophers who directly influenced a number of other famous philosophers, including those during his lifetime. For him, the goal of life is to find “virtue” and “the good” in order to improve the soul. In "The Apology of Socrates" (which was the Socratic dialogue that presents the speech of legal self-defense, which Socrates presented at his trial for impiety and corruption, in 399 BC. ) we'll learn how Socrates lives out his own philosophy to the fullest. He made an accurate explanation between the examined life and unexamined life. Sinabi niyang ang unexamined life ay hindi worth of living. He believed that philosophy - the love of wisdom - was the most important pursuit above all else. For some, he exemplifies more than anyone else in history the pursuit of wisdom through questioning and logical argument, by examining and by thinking. His 'examination' of life in this way spilled out into the lives of others, such that they began their own 'examination' of life, but he knew they would all die one day, as saying that a life without philosophy - an 'unexamined' life - was not worth living.

What is life according to Philosophy?

Below are lists of 5 american philosophers who had also define life in such different ways.

1. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson was the leading mind behind Transcendentalism, the first purely American school of philosophy. He was a pantheist and believed that God was in everything and everyone. To truly express this divinity, he felt, one has to find who they truly are and then live out their individuality as well as they are able. To do this, Emerson suggests self-reliance, independence, and a wariness of society and its pressures to conform.

Emerson reminds that even the dull and ordinary parts of our lives are filled with divine grace. His individualism, which has inspired people and encourages us to find who we truly are at heart and then act on that knowledge even if we are seen as radical because of it.

2. Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau was a follower of Emerson and his transcendentalist philosophy. He resolved to live simply in the woods and see how it compared to life in the modern world. His insights are often profound. His perspectives on the simple life, how we can reduce our dependence on worldly goods, the need for individualism, and the joys of solitude in nature remain important lessons.

Thoreau reminds us that we must examine our lives at every juncture, that progress in science and technology may not be what makes us happy, and that sometimes the simplest things are the best. While his escape to the simple life might have been more of a vacation than anything else, it does show us that technology may not be the path to finding meaning. An excellent overview of his ideas can be found here.

3. John Dewey

Dewey was a philosopher and reformer who worked in many fields and is largely remembered for his work in pragmatism and progressive education. He encourages us to stop looking at education as preparation for a job. Rather, it must be considered as a tool to help giving meaning to our lives. To do this, education must encourage autonomy, student involvement, active inquiry, and cover a wide field of subjects so the student can find what they enjoy doing. This, he argues, will not only improve our educational system and our democracy but will also allow us to live meaningful lives.

Dewey asks us to see ourselves are more than just technical staff in a modern economy, but as people with talents for art, science, and the humanities as well. To properly live full, meaningful lives we must educate ourselves for the entirety of life.

Cease conceiving of education as mere preparation for later life, and make it the full meaning of the present life.

4. Thomas Jefferson

As the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, a founding father of the United States, the founder of the University of Virginia, and third president of the United States, Jefferson was a busy man. While he never wrote out a grand tract on the meaning of life, he did give us some insight on a good one.

Jefferson declared himself to be an epicurean in a letter to a friend, that philosophy blends elements of both hedonistic (engaged in the pursuit of pleasure) and eudemonic happiness in a way that promotes the happiness of the individual without resorting to debauchery. It is this sort of happiness that Jefferson himself strived for in his daily life.

He also invoked epicurean ideas in his praise for the life of the independent farmers. Self-reliance, democratic government, and live in small communities would come not only to embody Jeffersonian Democracy, by the United States itself for the first part of its history. Jefferson reminds us to seek out the good life with an eye towards independence and a not too complicated life of progress.  

5. Robert Nozick

Robert Nozick was a philosopher at Harvard who is best known for his lone venture into political philosophy Anarchy, State, and Utopia. In that book, he briefly touches on one of the more popular ideas for the meaning of life; that we should maximize our pleasurable experiences and minimize our unpleasant ones.

He asks us to imagine that a team of neuroscientists have invented a machine that allows you to live in a simulated world with nothing but enjoyable experiences in it. The world inside the machine is perfectly lifelike and the only catch is that nothing inside is real. Think the Matrix, but much more enjoyable for people living inside of it. He points out that if all we really want is to feel pleasure, then we have no reason to not get in. However, most of us would say that we have reservations about living in the false reality. This, he argues, shows that most of us want more than just pleasure in our lives.

While this doesn’t mean that you can’t value a life with pleasure, if you decide not to get into the machine you must think there is more to the meaning of life. He doesn’t give us a prescription for what we should value, however. He instead encourages us to think it out for ourselves.

What is life according to Augustine?

Augustine of Hippo was the first to develop the theodicy. He rejected the idea that evil exists in itself, instead regarding it as a corruption of goodness, caused by humanity's abuse of free will. Augustine believed in the existence of a physical Hell as a punishment for sin, but argued that those who choose to accept the salvation of Jesus Christ will go to Heaven.

So, for Augustine, life about doing good things that will pleasure God from above. In return, an eternal life with Him will later be claim.

What is life according to Bible?

Life is contingent upon the continuing, sustaining "breath" of God. The situation and quality of life may be diminished and even destroyed by chance, circumstances, and the conduct of unrighteous or negligent persons. In such circumstances, the lowly pray for divine mercy and help. Worries, riches, and pleasures ( Mark 4:19 ; Luke 12:15 ), as well as hunger, sickness, sorrow, and sin can choke and even destroy life.

Mortal humanity was created in the image of God ( Gen 1:26-27 ), and given the opportunity of eternal life in relationship with the Creator (Gen. 2-3). Life , predominantly has a metaphysical and spiritual meaning, an indestructible quality, which supersedes physical death and the grave. This life is more important than eating, drinking, and clothes ( Matt 6:25 ; Luke 12:22-33 ), and more valuable than physical wholeness and health.  There is a tension, even a conflict, between the present physical existence with its passions, and the spiritual life that will continue beyond physical death. Whoever loses or denies the present life for the sake of Christ, finds eternal life, life in the age to come ( Mark 8:35-37 ; 10:30 ; par. John 12:25 ). The rich young ruler desired to inherit eternal life, but to him the cost of denying his present life by selling all that he had and giving to the poor in order to gain the eternal was too great ( Mark 10:17-31 ; par. ).

From all this chosen explanations for life, one thing is for sure that I will never regret of believing of, God is real and He is the One behind everything and all the histories.

[ishiireviewer]

RATING: 10/10

REVIEW:

What a beautiful movie. I just loved it so fucking much.

The characters were so amazing. They had so much depth. And I’m really overwhelmed right now so this review is gonna suck.

They were so mature. They didn’t take offense when the other was making fun of them. They never interrupted when the other was talking. It was just so beautiful.

God. So beautiful.

QUOTES:-

1. Celine: Isn’t everything we do in life a way to be loved a little more?

2. Jesse: Alright, alright. Think of it like this: jump ahead, ten, twenty years, okay, and you’re married. Only your marriage doesn’t have that same energy that it used to have, y'know. You start to blame your husband. You start to think about all those guys you’ve met in your life and what might have happened if you’d picked up with one of them, right? Well, I’m one of those guys. That’s me y'know, so think of this as time travel, from then, to now, to find out what you’re missing out on. See, what this really could be is a gigantic favor to both you and your future husband to find out that you’re not missing out on anything. I’m just as big a loser as he is, totally unmotivated, totally boring, and, uh, you made the right choice, and you’re really happy.

3. Celine: I believe if there’s any kind of God it wouldn’t be in any of us, not you or me but just this little space in between. If there’s any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something. I know, it’s almost impossible to succeed but who cares really? The answer must be in the attempt. (So fucking beautiful)

4. Jesse: I kind of see this all love as this, escape for two people who don’t know how to be alone. People always talk about how love is this totally unselfish, giving thing, but if you think about it, there’s nothing more selfish.

5. Celine: You know, I have this awful paranoid thought that feminism was mostly invented by men so that they could like, fool around a little more. You know, women, free your minds, free your bodies, sleep with me. We’re all happy and free as long as I can fuck as much as I want.

6. Jesse: I don’t know, I think that if I could just accept the fact that my life is supposed to be difficult. You know, that’s what to be expected, then I might not get so pissed-off about it and I’ll just be glad when something nice happens. (Yes yes yes yes)

7. Jesse: OK, well this was my thought: 50,000 years ago, there are not even a million people on the planet. 10,000 years ago, there’s, like, two million people on the planet. Now there’s between five and six billion people on the planet, right? Now, if we all have our own, like, individual, unique soul, right, where do they all come from? You know, are modern souls only a fraction of the original souls? ‘Cause if they are, that represents a 5,000 to 1 split of each soul in the last 50,000 years, which is, like, a blip in the Earth’s time. You know, so at best we’re like these tiny fractions of people, you know, walking… I mean, is that why we’re so scattered? You know, is that why we’re all so specialized?

Celine: I don’t know. Wait a minute, I’m not sure… I don’t…

Jesse: Yeah, hang on, hang on. It’s a, it’s a totally scattered thought. It… which is kind of why it makes sense.

8. Jesse: Sometimes I dream about being a good father and a good husband. And sometimes it feels really close. But then other times it seems silly like it would ruin my whole life. And it’s not just a fear of commitment or that I’m incapable of caring or loving because… I can. It’s just that, if I’m totally honest with myself I think I’d rather die knowing that I was really good at something. That I had excelled in some way than that I’d just been in a nice, caring relationship. (Yes. Because being in a caring relationship is not thought of as something of an achievement.)

9. Jesse: You know what drives me crazy? It’s all these people talking about how great technology is, and how it saves all this time. But, what good is saved time, if nobody uses it? If it just turns into more busy work. You never hear somebody say, “With the time I’ve saved by using my word processor, I’m gonna go to a Zen monastery and hang out”. I mean, you never hear that. (So fucking true. We do more work in that time. Instead of focusing on the real and beautiful things that life has to offer.)

10. Kesse: Listen, if somebody gave me the choice right now, of to never see you again or to marry you, alright, I would marry you, alright. And maybe that’s a lot of romantic bullshit, but people have gotten married for a lot less. (So sweet and so true.)

Celine: Actually, I think I had decided I wanted to sleep with you when we got off the train. But now that we’ve talked so much, I don’t know anymore.

Celine: Why do I make everything so complicated? (Yes. Just do whatever the hell you want.)

11. Jesse: This friend of mine had a kid, and it was a home birth, so he was there helping out and everything. And he said at that profound moment of birth, he was watching this child, experiencing life for the first time, I mean, trying to take its first breath… all he could think about was that he was looking at something that was gonna die someday. He just couldn’t get it out of his head. And I think that’s so true, I mean, all - everything is so finite. But don’t you think that that’s what, makes our time, at specific moments, so important?

Celine: Yeah, I know. It’s the same for us, tonight, though. After tomorrow morning, we’re probably never going to see each other again, right?

Celine: We, maybe we should try something different. I mean, it’s no so bad if tonight is our only night, right? People always exchange phone numbers, addresses, they end up writing once, calling each other once or twice…

Jesse: Right. Fizzles out. Yeah, I mean, I don’t want that. I hate that.

Celine: I hate that too, y'know.

Jesse: Why do you think everybody thinks relationships are supposed to last forever anyway?

Celine: Yeah, why. It’s stupid. (Wanting an amazing thing to last forever is not stupid.)

12. Celine: I used to think that if none of your family or friends knew you were dead, it was like not really being dead. People can invent the best and the worst for you.

13. Jesse: I know what you mean about wishing somebody wasn’t there, though. It’s just usually it’s myself that I wish I could get away from. Seriously, think about this. I have never been anywhere that I haven’t been. I’ve never had a kiss when I wasn’t one of the kissers. Y'know, I’ve never, um, gone to the movies, when I wasn’t there in the audience. I’ve never been out bowling, if I wasn’t there, y'know making some stupid joke. I think that’s why so many people hate themselves. Seriously, it’s just they are sick to death of being around themselves.

Jesse: Let’s say that you and I were together all the time, then you’d start to hate a lot of my mannerisms. The way every time we would have people over, uh, I’d be insecure, and I’d get a little too drunk. Or, uh, the way I’d tell the same stupid pseudo-intellectual story again, and again. Y'see, I’ve heard all those stories. So of course I’m sick of myself. But being with you, uh, it’s made me feel like I’m somebody else. (So beautiful)

14. Jesse: I feel like this is, uh, some dream world we’re in, y'know.

Celine: Yeah, it’s so weird. It’s like our time together is just ours. It’s our own creation. It must be like I’m in your dream, and you in mine, or something.

Jesse: And what’s so cool is that this whole evening, all our time together, shouldn’t officially be happening.

Celine: Yeah, I know. Maybe that’s why this feels so otherworldly. (What are the odds? If that’s not fate then what is?)

15. Jesse: Would you be in Paris by now, if you hadn’t gotten off the train with me?

Celine: No not yet. What would you be doing?

Jesse: I’d probably be hanging around the airport, reading old magazines, crying in my coffee cause you didn’t come with me.

Celine: Aww… Actually, I think I’d probably have gotten off the train in Salzburg with someone else.

Jesse: Oh, yeah? Oh, I see. So, I’m just that dumb American momentarily decorating your blank canvas. (Hehe so cute)