'Lo, all. I hope not to alienate anybody with this journal, so if you feel offense at religious topics, or if you feel affronted after reading this all the way through, I want it understood that I mean to offend no one, or mock anyone's own personal beliefs. And if you do feel especially strongly about the subjects below, don't be afraid to tell me, and if you want to chew me out, by all means, I'm willing to take it. Now then....

Yesterday, I finally finished reading Quakers Philip Gulley and James Mulholland's If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person, a book considered, like their teachings, to be controversial even amongst other Quakers. I started a while back, but mainly read through one chapter or so every few days.

For a good while now, due to the continuing philosophical and theological (among some other subjects) discussions I've had with my former Physics and Astronomy teacher, Mr. Thomas Young, I have firmly believed that hell in the form of a place of eternal suffering for the wicked is a misplaced ideal, and is utterly removed from the truth of God's loving relationship with us all. Mr. Young never pushed a single belief or idea of these subjects on me; the first discussion was triggered by him honestly giving his opinion on a question I asked him concerning heaven and hell (I can't remember the question exactly), and my flabbergasted, somewhat angry inquisitive reaction pushed me to ask him more. He never put me down, told me I was wrong, or anything like that—he simply told me things how he saw them, invited me to believe what I myself thought was right, and only continued because I was anxious to continue talking about it. Over the course of the next 3.5 semesters (1.5 semesters in junior year, Physics, and 2 semesters in senior year, Astronomy), he and I had a number of talks about a myriad of subjects pertaining to: the afterlife, humanity, God, the nature of good and evil in humankind, God's endless grace and love, the true messages within Jesus and the bible's teachings, the connectivity between all religions (and non-religious beliefs), how no religion or philosophy is truly loving without having healing and forgiveness above all else, the nonexistence of hell as a place in the afterlife, a number of scientific and literary topics, and much more. Mr. Young is a man I have an enormity of respect for, and to this day both I and my older brother Grayson, a former student of his, consider him one of the wisest/coolest men we've ever met (to which he retorted "Oh, well, you should get out more," when I told him so), and while he can be eccentric and frank about some of the things he does, that only adds to his charm as a teacher and mentor. I honestly don't know where I'd be today if I had never started talking to him after and before class, especially because he was also willing to be emotionally supportive if I was having a problem that I wanted to talk about, or just felt down on myself. Sooner or later, I'm going to post a picture of him up here, so the lot of you who’re interested will see what he looks like.

But anyway, because of my beliefs, I often have felt alienated when there aren't others to talk to about it, and while I certainly don't want to give the impression that I'm putting others down or am saying I'm better than everyone else for thinking that all people will be embraced by God's love whether in life or after death (in fact, it's the opposite—we're all human here, and I'm no better for having these beliefs than anyone else), it saddens me deeply when people choose to be less forgiving, accepting, and loving in their beliefs and outlooks on life. But after reading this book, I feel boosted, refreshed, and confident in what I already believed, as it hit the message home in ways even beyond my own comprehension beforehand—and I was already a believer in the teachings stated in the text before I started reading.

Whether you believe such things, are directly opposed to them, or are neutral, I'd like to recommend reading this book. And if you do pick it up, I urge you to finish it; that applies to both those for and against it, by the way.

On a side note, I watched Pulp Fiction yesterday and Pan's Labyrinth a few days ago. Both are terrific movies, and I greatly recommend both; the latter is on Netflix instant play for anyone who has an account, by the way.

Oh, and I apologize for the irrelevant/stupid nature of this journal's title. The ole' creative well was pretty dry when I was trying to think of a title, and I just decided to toss something kinda random out there so I could just go ahead and post this journal.

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And still, the Kingdom Hearts: Ending Credits jokes are below this entry. Sooner or later, I'll actually put them up as deviations again, only then I'll actually make the illustrations, so the DA admin. squad won't be on my case. 'Til then, enjoy! Or perhaps don't enjoy! And any pokes made at yaoi fangirls are purely aimed at the unreasonable blacksheep of said followings.

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Sora: After the events in Kingdom Hearts, Sora went to Disney World. He was reported in saying, "Eh, I've seen it all before."

Riku: Riku was later committed into an insane asylum when he couldn't tell who was the real Riku between himself and his clone. (His condition is more commonly referred to as Peter Parker Syndrome.)

Kairi: Kairi and Sora's wedding was crashed by the Nobodies. However, they were driven out by the horrid music at the reception. (The hors d’œuvres were pretty rank, too.)

Mickey: King Mickey and Queen Minnie were eventually overthrown by the Bougerousie and the Walking Brooms. (However, the Brooms were overthrown by Axel, who used the power of fire to his advantage.)

Goofy: Goofy eventually scored...........Yeah, we won't get into that......(Said woman was never seen in public, EVER AGAIN.)

Donald: Nowadays, Donald plays as Hitler in historical reenactments of World War II. (Daisy usually plays as Eva Braun.)

Faux-Ansem: The fake Ansem was later revealed to be Maximillian Pegasus wearing spray-on tan.

Pete and Maleficent: Pete and Maleficent were eventually wed. Their children are as ugly as sin.

Xemnas: Xemnas later held George Lucas for ransom in exchange for another Star Wars movie. (In case you don't get it, this is a reference to his lightsaber-esque weapons.)

Xigbar: Xigbar went on to become president of the U.S.A., and became legendary for his gun safety laws. (After all, it's so much easier for him to shoot them if they can't shoot back.)

Xaldin: Xaldin's sideburns would one day conquer the Southern Hemisphere. (But hey, it's not like there are any important countries down there. Except Australia and New Zealand.)

Vexen: Vexen, having nothing to do, went on the play Lucius Malfoy in the last two Harry Potter movies.

Lexaeus: Lexaeus would be recorded as the first and last person to match power with Chuck Norris. (This title might've been taken by Mr. T, Super Mario, or Mr. Rogers, but all three were away at the time, doing a triple buddy comedy.)

Zexion: Zexion was later able to obtain a Death Note. You may be next. (So watch your step, punk! And don't even think of calling him emo!)

Saix: Saix was finally able to get a heart. Shortly afterwards, he died of cardiac arrest. (After all, that berserk mode can't be good for his blood pressure.)

Axel: Axel burned Axel/Roxas fangirls. He burned them to the friggin' ground. ("They're corpses stank of evil," he was quoted in saying.)

Demyx: Demyx went on to release his debut album, 'I have a heart. Really!'. It went platinum within hours. (His many musical fans find his mullet to be quite retro.)

Luxord: Luxord is currently hiding out in Guam in order to avoid massive gambling debts. (His current debts put even Tsunade to shame!)

Marluxia: Marluxia and Larxene got married, and currently have three kids. Those who believed him to be gay are still in denial. (If anybody dares call him a nancyboy, Larxene'll kick their ass to next Sunday!)

Larxene: Larxene later came to terms with her sadomasochism, making things very interesting for her and Marluxia. (After their honeymoon, she and Marluxia were on crutches for a month!)

Roxas: Roxas would go on to confront the public with the message, "I am not emo!" And, of course, no one believed him. (Another emo joke. Can't ya just smell the creativity?)

Squall: Squall later found his way back home. However, upon said arrival, he was beaten senseless by Zell, Quistis, and Irvine, who demanded to know why they didn't get cameos in Kingdom Hearts, too. (Rinoa, of course, just went into a pouting fit and refused to speak to Squall. However, thanks to Zell's clever planning, they managed to patch things up.)

Tifa and Aeris: Tifa and Aeris would have a match to the death to decide which of them would get Cloud. Once again, Aeris died a horrific death. (It was later revealed that Aeris had been dead the whole time, and was being controlled by Merlin's necromantic powers.)

Yuffie: Yuffie went on to have many undead ninja babies with Vincent Valentine. (She has a habit of flaunting them around Cid/Vincent fangirls, and then siccing them on them.)

Cloud: Cloud and his busty barmaid wife, Tifa, went on to settle down for a peaceful life in Midgar. But not before Tifa made him amputate that weird wing. ("I just wish it hadn't been Sephiroth who did the surgery," Cloud stated, wincing at the memory.)

Cid: Cid spends most of his time nowadays defending his wife Shera from angry hoardes of Cid/Vincent fangirls. ("Buncha f%#$in' idiots just don't get it," Cid said, wiping blood from his spear.)

And there you have it. Hope you enjoy!

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My Friends and People I Look Up To:

Mr. Matt Garner, a friend, mentor, and big brother figure to me, who has always been willing to answer questions, give good advice, or make witty remarks. A truly fantastic cartoonist within his own rights, who I figure will one day become legendary in the world of underground comics! My hat's off to you, Matt!

Susan, a sweet, demure artist and friend, who is always willing to comment, always willing to chat, and a truly talented artist of teh numerous fan artz.

A friendly soul whose stunning EEnE/various anime fanworks blew me back on my feet! Plus, she's gonna be doing works based off of my EEnE/FFIX(200 years later) fic! Thank you so much, Amanda!

The Authoress/Artist whose stories first turned me on to fanart and fanfiction, with her unbelievably brilliant Final Fantasy Eds! It was the first story I ever read on Fanfiction.net close to two years ago, and I must say, it's what lead me to being here today! Kudos, Ms. Karen!

A wonderful gal named Julia, who shares a large number of interests with me, including anime/manga/rpgs, horror, a wide array of musical tastes, and support of IchiRuki and IshiHime.

All of these girls really know how to make good Avatar: The Last Airbender fanart, to say the least! Huzzah!

A kindly Swede whose fanart and original work, not to mention her sparkling attitude, rocked me world!

A young girl with quite a lot of talent in the department of (mostly) great cutesy couplings, amongst other things. She's like my online little sister!

A.K.A. Rob Taiki, creator of the currently-hiatused, hilarious series Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Alternate Series, and an up-and-coming mangaka. Quite the individual, and he's my friend!

I could go on, but then we'd be here all night!

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