“The truth is incontrovertible; malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.”

― Winston Churchill

“People are sheep. TV is the shepherd.”

― Jess C. Scott, Literary Heroin (Gluttony): A Twilight Parody

“What the mass media offers is not popular art, but entertainment which is intended to be consumed like food, forgotten, and replaced by a new dish.”

― W.H. Auden, The Dyer's Hand

“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”

― George Orwell

“[...]Although personally, I think cyberspace means the end of our species."

”Yes? Why is that?"

”Because it means the end of innovation," Malcolm said. "This idea that the whole world is wired together is mass death. Every biologist knows that small groups in isolation evolve fastest. You put a thousand birds on an ocean island and they'll evolve very fast. You put ten thousand on a big continent, and their evolution slows down. Now, for our own species, evolution occurs mostly through our behaviour. We innovate new behaviour to adapt. And everybody on earth knows that innovation only occurs in small groups. Put three people on a committee and they may get something done. Ten people, and it gets harder. Thirty people, and nothing happens. Thirty million, it becomes impossible. That's the effect of mass media - it keeps anything from happening. Mass media swamps diversity. It makes every place the same. Bangkok or Tokyo or London: there's a McDonald's on one corner, a Benetton on another, a Gap across the street. Regional differences vanish. All differences vanish. In a mass-media world, there's less of everything except the top ten books, records, movies, ideas. People worry about losing species diversity in the rain forest. But what about intellectual diversity - our most necessary resource? That's disappearing faster than trees. But we haven't figured that out, so now we're planning to put five billion people together in cyberspace. And it'll freeze the entire species. Everything will stop dead in its tracks. Everyone will think the same thing at the same time. Global uniformity. [...]”

― Michael Crichton, The Lost World

“The average TV commercial of sixty seconds has one hundred and twenty half-second clips in it, or one-third of a second. We bombard people with sensation. That substitutes for thinking.”

― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

“What happened to truth? Did it go out of style?”

― Michael Jackson

“There is a huge trapdoor waiting to open under anyone who is critical of so-called 'popular culture' or (to redefine this subject) anyone who is uneasy about the systematic, massified cretinization of the major media. If you denounce the excess coverage, you are yourself adding to the excess. If you show even a slight knowledge of the topic, you betray an interest in something that you wish to denounce as unimportant or irrelevant. Some writers try to have this both ways, by making their columns both 'relevant' and 'contemporary' while still manifesting their self-evident superiority. Thus—I paraphrase only slightly—'Even as we all obsess about Paris Hilton, the people of Darfur continue to die.' A pundit like (say) Bob Herbert would be utterly lost if he could not pull off such an apparently pleasing and brilliant 'irony.”

― Christopher Hitchens

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not a truth.”

― Marcus Aurelius

Came across this on the profile of a community manager I really admire and it changed my mind about reviewing the stories I read. I hope it does the same for others.

From a Grateful and Dedicated Reader

It takes a writer weeks of thought, creativity, effort and love to write a story. It takes a reader one or two days to read it through. It takes less than five minutes to use those little boxes at the bottom of the last chapter to write a comment.

If you liked the story, make the writer’s day and tell them so. It doesn’t have to be a “review” of the story. It can be as little as ‘thanks, I enjoyed that!’. You can make the difference to someone who is struggling to keep going with those four little words. So what’s so hard about that?

The writers on this site do this for love of their characters and their fandoms but gentle readers, don’t kid yourselves, putting their work out for the world to see is hard and it takes dedication. The feedback a writer gets is their only reward for all that work, and they deserve it.

A good story enriches the reader, it’s an escape from life that’s free, does no harm to your health or looks, and lasts a long time. There are many good stories on the site and they deserve to be read, their authors deserve to get something for their time and trouble. So leave a comment, even a short one, to let them know you enjoyed their work!

If you believe in making a writer's day (or week!) copy and paste this into your profile and spread the word - our best writers deserve to hear that someone is enjoying their stories...if we don't let them know, they might stop writing

Some of my favourite quotes from the world behind the world:

By the way ... you have to ask for absolution to be forgiven ... asshole!

John, Constantine

I think the point is to make us despair. To see ourselves as ... animal and ugly. To make us reject the possibility that God could love us.

Father Merrin, The Exorcist

You do this, there's no turning back. You see them ... they see you. Understand?

John, Constantine

You're handed this precious gift, right? Each one of you granted redemption from the Creator - murderers, rapists, and molesters - all of you, you just have to repent, and God takes you into His bosom. In all the worlds in all the universe, no other creature can make such a boast, save man. It's not fair. If sweet, sweet God loves you so, then I will make you worthy of His love. I've been watching for a long time. It's only in the face of horror that you truly find your nobler selves. And you can be so noble. So, I'll bring you pain, I'll bring you horror, so that you may rise above it. So that those of you who survive this reign of hell on earth will be worthy of God's love.

Gabriel, Constantine

Perhaps evil is the crucible of goodness ... and perhaps even Satan - Satan, in spite of himself - somehow serves to work out the will of God.
William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

Especially important is the warning to avoid conversations with the demon. We may ask what is relevant but anything beyond that is dangerous. He is a liar. The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us. But he will also mix lies with the truth to attack us. The attack is psychological, Damien, and powerful. So don't listen to him. Remember that - do not listen.

Father Merrin, The Exorcist

But when you cross over ... time stops. Take it from me, two minutes in hell is a lifetime. When I came back ... I knew ... all the things I could see were real. Heaven and hell are right here. Behind every wall, every window. The world behind the world, and we're smack in the middle.

John, Constantine

“We use concepts like ‘consciousness’ – ‘mind’ – ‘personality’, but we don't really know yet what these things are.” He was shaking his head. “Not really. Not at all.”
William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

“...the exorcist should not believe too readily that a person is possessed by an evil spirit; but he ought to ascertain by the signs by which a person possessed can be distinguished from one who is suffering from some illness; especially one of a psychological nature. Signs of possession may be the following: ability to speak with some facility in a strange language or to understand it when spoken by another; the facility of divulging future and hidden events; display of powers which are beyond the subject's age and natural condition; and various other conditions which, when taken together as a whole, build up the evidence.”
William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

There are no experts. You probably know as much about possession than most priests. Look, your daughter doesn't say she's a demon. She says she's the devil himself. And if you've seen as many psychotics as I have, you'd know it's like saying you're Napoleon Bonaparte.

Father Damien Karras, The Exorcist

I'm an angel. I kill firstborns while their mamas watch. I turn cities into salt. I even, when I feel like it, rip the souls from little girls, and from now till kingdom come, the only thing you can count on in your existence is never understanding why.

Gabriel, The Prophecy

Did you ever notice how in the Bible, when ever God needed to punish someone, or make an example, or whenever God needed a killing, he sent an angel? Did you ever wonder what a creature like that must be like? A whole existence spent praising your God, but always with one wing dipped in blood. Would you ever really want to see an angel?

Thomas Daggett, The Prophecy

Other angels have made this war because they hate you, you and all humans. God has put you in his grace and pushed them aside. They're desperate. They've never been able to conquer the other loyal angels, and so this war has remained in stalemate for thousands of years. And while this state of affairs endures no soul can meet its god. Your parents, and their parents, and so on from the beginning lie still in wormy earth. Of course, some of them do come to me eventually, for while heaven may be closed I am always open, even on Christmas.

Lucifer, The Prophecy

I remember the First War, the way the sky burned, the faces of angels destroyed. I saw a third of Heaven's legion banished and the creation of Hell. I stood with my brothers and watched Lucifer Fall. But now my brothers are not brothers, and we have come here where we are mortal to steal the Dark Soul, not yet Lucifer's, to serve our cause. I have always obeyed, but I never thought the War would happen again.

Simon, The Prophecy

Lucifer. Sitting in your basement. Sulking over your break up with the boss. You're nothing.

Gabriel, The Prophecy

And in the end, I think it must be about faith, and if faith is a choice, then it can be lost - for a man, an angel, or the devil himself. And if faith means never completely understanding God's plan, then maybe understanding just a part of it - our part - is what it is to have a soul. And maybe in the end, that's what being human is, after all.

Thomas Daggett, The Prophecy

Joseph: And this is for you. He's also a hermaphrodite. He's got both male and female sex organs.

Thomas Daggett: Think of the possibilities!

Joseph: Yeah, you can be impotent and frigid all at the same time.

When I was a kid, my father would sit by my bed every night before I went to sleep. And he says to me, "Percy, if you don't wake up tomorrow, if it turns out that today is your last day on earth. Will you be proud of what you've done in this life? Because if you ain't, you better start getting square."

Percy Walker, Legion

When God chose your kind as the object of His love, I was the first in all of heaven to bow down before you. My love, my hope for mankind was no less than His. But I have watched you trample that gift. I have watched you kill each other over race and greed... waging war over dust and rubble and the words in old books. And yet, in the midst of all this darkness, I see some people who will not be bowed. I see some people who will not give up, even when they know all hope is lost. Some people, who realize being lost is so close to being found.

Michael, Legion

You know what, there's a ton of lore on unicorns too. In fact, I hear that they ride on silver moonbeams, and that they shoot rainbows out of their ass!

Dean Winchester, Supernatural

Read the Bible. Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier.

Castiel, Supernatural

What kind of a house doesn’t have salt!? Low sodium freaks!

Sam Winchester, Supernatural

Oh yeah, life as an angel condom. That’s real fun. I think I’ll pass, thanks.

Dean Winchester, Supernatural

And there are other battles, other seals. Some we'll win, some we'll lose. This one we lost. Our numbers are not unlimited. Six of my brothers died in the field this week. You think the armies of Heaven should just follow you around? There's a bigger picture here. You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of Hell. I can throw you back in.

Castiel, Supernatural

This is one little planet in one tiny solar system in a galaxy that’s barely out of its diapers. I’m old, Dean. Very old. So I invite you to contemplate how insignificant I find you.

Death, Supernatural

This isn’t funny, Dean! The voice says I’m almost out of minutes!

Castiel, Supernatural

I'm a reader and can't write to save my life. But I love all the worlds people come up with and all the characters in those worlds. As a fan of the earlier seasons of Supernatural, I found a great world, one that meant something beyond bills and jobs and bullshit PC opinions and reality shows. I've read a lot of great Supernatural stories and a lot of them are on Unique & Unforgettable, a SPN community run by SPNReadingManiac. A lot have been nominated in the Supernatural Fan Fiction Monthly Awards too, some by me. This is a great forum for finding really well written stories by writers you might never have heard of before, for discussing the show, the fan fiction stories and talking to the writers and other SPN readers. It's a really supportive forum for writers and readers and some of the best stories on the FF site have been winners.