#posts from the evil planetarium

[planetary-problems]

"fiction doesn't affect reality !!"

Pal,,,,buddy,,,stranger on the internet;

If fiction doesn't affect reality than what is the point of reading and consuming media?

If fiction doesn't affect reality why do fandoms exist?

If fiction doesn't affect reality, then why do people self ship?

If fiction doesn't affect reality then why does fan art exist?

If fiction doesn't affect reality then why is fan fiction written?

If fiction doesn't affect reality then why do people get comfort out of media?

If fiction doesn't affect reality then what is the purpose of YOUR favorite media? What is the purpose of fictional literature at all? "It's fictional", so you can't get enjoyment out of it. It's the only thing you're telling people when you say that 🤷 sorry not sorry.

[spiribia]

'utena is so dumb she doesn't even realize akio is evil even when he straight up says his name is related to the morning star and therefore the devil LOL' imagine you are a kid and you meet your friend's cool older brother who you have no reason to believe isn't a normal person, and you are not privy to any ominous narrative asides. from your perspective this is all you know about him. and he shows you his cool planetarium projector and goes 'fun fact my name is related to the morning star which is related to the devil.' would you scream and run? be real. sorry my post from 2021 is circulating and i just remembered when you'd see that point everywhere. #utena get behind me

[blg1987]

Masterlist of S&L fic by me!

Clois -

Whump -

Other fics

Where We Come From

Description: Jon Kent is getting used to life in the spotlight - but for just one night, he wants to do something normal again, like any other kid. Can he get through a planetarium show without anyone spotting him? And will the astronomy club field trip be the perfect chance for him to spend some time with this crush?

Word count: 6,000

Chapters: One Shot

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64822651

It Blooms At Night

Description: Jordan's been working on something in secret at the fortress. A mysterious night time project he's kept hidden, even from his brother... until tonight.

Word count: 2,414

Chapters: One Shot

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65218948

Undercover Spring Break

Description: It's the last spring break before college, and Jon and Jordan decide it's time to go to a real party again.

They could both do with a break from their superhero lives, even for just one night... but will a pair of glasses - and a hat - be enough to keep their secret identities safe?

And what will they do when someone with a grudge decides to make keeping their secret even harder?

Word count: 1,250

Chapters: 1/?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65050063/chapters/167270134

The Only Mask He'd Ever Known

Description: A little bit of Clark's POV from the 4x07 diner reveal scene.

Word count: 333

Chapters: One Shot

https://archiveofourown.org/works/62322010

It Went By So Fast

Description: Clark reflects on life in Smallville and what the future holds as the Kent family say goodbye to the farmhouse for good. (Post finale speculation, and my own attempt to say goodbye to the show... in fic form).

Word count: 1,923

Chapters: One Shot

https://archiveofourown.org/works/60965845

Keep Him Safe

Description: Jonathan Kent loves his adopted son with all his heart - but he worries about him. Mostly that he won't be able to keep him safe.

That fear becomes a stark reality when a recent storm turns up a strange green rock - and his little boy suddenly becomes sick.

Word count: 2,218

Chapters: One Shot

https://archiveofourown.org/works/49496248

I Think I Need A Meeting...

Description: After the shocking revelation at the end of episode 3x10, Kyle's thoughts turn to a drink. Can attending an AA meeting help him process the events of the day - even if he can't share all the details?

Word count: 7,154

Chapters: 3/3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/47630176/chapters/120049660

Tire Swings Have Feelings Too

Description: The tire swing has been Jonathan's friend since he was a little boy, but lately he hasn't had much time for him. Is there room in the teenager's life for a battered old pile of rubber? The tire swing doesn't think so...

But will he be proven wrong?

Word count: 2,817

Chapters: One Shot

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46668844

Dad's First Save

Description: After finding out their dad is Superman, Jonathan and Jordan Kent want to know everything about his secret life - including the first time he used his powers to save someone.

Word count: 2,645

Chapters: One Shot

https://archiveofourown.org/works/44975458

Human Kindness: Through Clark Kent's Eyes

Description: Clark's POV in moments of human kindness. Experiences he holds in his memory that solidify his faith in the human race and help him deal with all the evil and darkness he encounters in the world.

Word count: 1,332

Chapters: 4/?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/44224895/chapters/111212735

A White Christmas in Smallville

Description: Jordan and Sarah prepare to perform at the Smallville High Christmas show. Meanwhile, Lois and Clark get into the Christmas spirit and Jonathan struggles to do the same.

Word count: 2,666

Chapters: One Shot

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43716897

Lies That Bind: A Rewrite

Description: Because the only way I can process my frustration about the last episode is to completely rewrite it. Enjoy! This re-write begins with Lana and Clark's conversation post reveal, followed by an additional Clois scene that I think a lot of us craved. More to come hopefully if I have time before the next episode airs!

Word count: 9,351

Chapters: 4/?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/39385944/chapters/98566350

[kavardakmaria]

So, this is that big post about my Faust/M&M/Fight Club/Hannibal universe I mentioned. I still hesitate on what I should call it (Faustverse? Devil club?)

Brainworms include:

1) My interpretation of Woland

2) Fight Club M&M AU

3) My interpretation of the master

4) Hannibal crossover

Woland is a character from a novel by Michail Bulgakov called “The master and Margarita”. He is heavily implied to be Goethe’s Mephistopheles and the novel itself is inspired by “Faust”. So these two books are on the same timeline (according to my headcannons).

My interpretation of Woland/Mephistopheles is that he is not a fallen angel, but is instead a part of Primordial Chaos from which God and his order were born. He disconnected from the main body some time ago and now exists in the material world as a force of entropy. He is neither good nor evil, but he is categorized as a demon because of his constant need to ensue chaos. He is not a part of Hell’s hierarchy and has a friendly relationship with God, because I don’t like when these type of characters lose their autonomy.

When he existed in the Primordial Chaos he was subjected to constantly changing powerful emotions and other extreme experiences and got used to them (iPad kid moment). So now, trapped in the more calm and organized environment, he is constantly bored and tries to replicate those experiences to feel something. He can feel all human emotions, but they are so mild for him, that he views them more like an annoying distraction, than actual feelings.

Woland doesn’t consider himself as a whole identity, but he looks and acts like one because he contrasts the environment opposite to his nature. So, technically, he wasn’t born so he isn’t afraid of death (he’ll disappear in a billion years or so)

In his free time he likes to find sad philosophers who are unsatisfied with their lives and manipulate them into something more entertaining. But it is pretty hard to find educated and ambitious people who are not attached to anybody and are willing to leave their previous lives behind (Faust was the last one and he got to heaven, so now he’s sitting there in a constant state of euphoria, lost his ambition and pride, essentially becoming a shell of himself)

Woland thought that having a couple legions of hell to help with his chaotic shenanigans would be good for his professional development, so in the beginning of the XVIth century he makes a deal with Lucifer to be in charge of hell for a couple of centuries and Lucifer agreed because he was drunk.

Elements of Fight Club in my M&M AU:

Margarita is not a part of the main plot. I have plans for her storyline, which would be pretty similar to the original with her becoming a witch, but with different motivations and more character development.

Woland interacts with the master without his servants. I have a 9000 word fanfic written in russian about their first encounter.

Here’s the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57835000/chapters/147206677

For those who don’t speak russian here’s a short summary. It is important, because most of my M&M fanart depicting the master is based on the Fight Club AU, rather than on the actual events (boring straight romance with him being a depressed self insert without any depth).

In a nutshell the master is an apathetic historian/archivist whose whole life is based on his work in the Moscow Planetarium, which isn’t enjoyable anymore, but the rest of the world is even more undesirable. He exists in a sort of coma, feeling nothing, reading and writing instinctively with professionalism but without any interest.

Then he meets Woland, gets in an existential crisis, gets fired, attempts to jump off a bridge, gets interrupted by Woland, attacks him in resentment and they fight. Master experiences true anger for the first time. They end up lying on the ground, covered in dust and blood, laughing at each other. Later they agree to meet again and to repeat the fight. Sergei Berdyaev (the master) rejects his name and Woland suggests that he could go by the name Steingut (a kind of clay, the symbol of an ongoing rebirth).

After that Steingut wins a lot of money in a lottery (very very coincidentally totally not demonic help), so he stops worrying about working and just waits for Woland’s return, admiring his bruises and blood stains on his clothes.

But Woland doesn’t appear for weeks. Steingut's body is almost recovered and he is starting to forget the memories connected to those injuries, which deeply terrifies him. He feels incomplete, feels like he is going insane sitting in a room alone with nobody to talk to and nothing to do.

He decides to write down the events that shaped him, but realizes that he is unworthy of mentioning someone of that significance directly. By doing that he would defile the truth and its importance with his subjective judgment. So he switches up the names and writes about the director of Variety theater and his administrator fighting because of a misunderstanding, later organizing “The Fighting citizens club” together.

Only after he finishes writing, he hears a whisper in his ear asking him what he wanted to achieve with this story. “I wanted to survive” the master finishes his rebirth exhausted and sleep deprived. Woland treats him to dinner. As a reward Woland offers the master to make a wish. He wishes for Woland to visit him more often. They make plans to plant a copy of the master’s book on the table of the real administrator of Variety theater to see what would happen.

So, let’s talk about the master (Sergei Berdyaev -> Steingut -> the master):

After the rebirth the master’s main goal is to survive. But his meaning of “surviving” was warped into “constantly moving and changing”, so in that sense being around Woland is the perfect way to survive. But if Woland decides to spend time with someone, they need to be intelligent and entertaining. Because of that the master is always scared of not being enough, so he has to constantly educate himself to come up with interesting ways to ensue chaos. This time Woland stumbled not on a sad philosopher, but on an intelligent animal desperately trying to adapt.

He doesn’t strive for much, but he is willing to go to great lengths to achieve his survival.

The master is terrified of Woland just as much as he dreads Woland’s absence. He is very careful with his words around him, which Woland is annoyed by. To get rid of the master’s cowardice Woland angers him. Then the master becomes petty and forgets that he is speaking with someone so powerful and dangerous, which in turn leads to more meaningful and truthful interactions.

Fun fact: the master is unaware that his main goal is to survive. He thinks he is constantly moving and changing because he is looking for a purpose (because it is a more normal thing to do). There would be a separate fic about him realizing that through extreme chaos exposure. He goes through literal torture willingly just to prove Woland wrong (with Woland still being right in the end).

Woland plans to destroy the master’s desire for purpose, leaving with just a strong desire to live while believing that there is nothing worth living for.

And then get him into heaven. Like, if heaven is all about unchanging bliss, than the master who technically fought the Devil and lived without that much sin could get there and be immune to this pleasant hipnosis. He could be the only one awake and cause all sorts of trouble (even unwillingly).

The master isn’t aware of this scheme and doesn’t even want to go to heaven because of his incompatibility with peace and absence of change.

Hannibal crossover stuff:

Use of technology is not crucial to the plot of Hannibal so 1930s AU is pretty reasonable. It happens after the end of the series, everyone is alive and well, just in hiding. Hannibal would try to kill the master for ruining an opera performance as part of their own show with Woland, but he doesn’t know about Woland’s existence yet.

Another fun fact: Hannibal canonically admires Mephistopheles and despises Faust.

So Hannibal stalks the master and attacks him in his living room, the master fights back with Woland sitting behind the dining table unnoticed. He telepathically warns the master about surprise attacks but doesn’t intervene because he knows that the master likes the adrenaline.

When both opponents are tired and can’t fight anymore he stands up and politely apologizes for the inconvenience they caused in the opera, inviting Hannibal and Will for dinner.

All of them meet each other soon enough. Hannibal can’t stop fangirling over Woland (Meph) and both the master and Will are jealous. The master and Will bond over their attachment to their literal and metaphorical devil and the stress involved in caring so much about him. The master still dislikes Hannibal for trying to kill him over a prank, but Hannibal noticed enough similarities with Will to change his mind. Woland is intrigued with all of them equally, planning to turn their relationship into endless entertainment.

I hope you enjoyed reading this abomination! I’ll post my Woland/ the master fanart soon. Feel free to leave your opinions and suggestions in the comments!

[edsbacktattoo]

☼ new positivity game ☼ tag your fave people on this website and say something nice about each of them ❥

HIII ANON! yes yes i love to spread love and positivity

i’ve had this sitting in my inbox for a couple of days until i wasn’t working and/or exhausted so now it’s got my full attention. time to dive right the fuck in. get ready to be loved on folks

(i just got halfway through this post and realised how long it’s gonna be lmfao whoops. all the compliments are under the cut ♥️ i have a whole lot of love to give.)

i’m gonna start this with @tisziny. everyone has to know by now how much they mean to me. so supportive and kind and wonderful. always the first person in line to offer help or advice, or the first to say something nice. silly and hilarious, but so warm and open as well. my day wouldn’t be complete without talking to them now. and i wouldn’t have gotten this far in the fic writing scene without their unrestrained support and enthusiasm. i owe them a great debt (it’s my heart and they already have it). my sweetest cheese ♥️

@skysofrey do NOT. get me started on Kaitlin. i will genuinely cry. i will weep. she’s so funny and sweet and nice and pretty. and so unabashedly supportive and so fuckin’ funny. oh my god. do you ever just th…. surjwbueeh just think about your friends (or your wife 6 times over) and hehdiw… idiewj start weeping????? she’s so cool. like she’s way out of my league but we’re gonna set the world record for most times married you watch. i’ll show you all

@blakbonnet ohggg. Meow. you’re so so funny and so evil to me. but i forgive you because i love you so dearly. so creative and talented and wonderful. ill even overlook the beard situation for you. we can’t all be perfect (like me) but you come pretty damn close. can’t wait to settle down in a mansion and adopt like 7 dogs with you love 💕

@stedebonnets ARA!!!!!! everyone look. ara without a word of exaggeration is one of THEE NICEST people I have ever had the absolute pleasure of knowing. puts everyone else first, cares so so much about the people around her. will sometimes just drop into my inbox and say the sweetest most genuine thing and it reminds me that there is in fact goodness on this barren and hideous planet. the world would be a kinder place if there were more people like Ara around. it’s you me and Arthur against the world Ara and we’re gonna MAKE IT!!!!

@bunnyandthejets Bun. ougyggghh it’s Bun Time. I love you forever and ever and ever. unbelievably hilarious and so so kind. every time i see you in my notifs or in my inbox my heart does a whole song and dance. you’ve made me laugh more times than I can count and I am so so grateful for your endless support. if Big John was real you’d be his favourite <3

@vampirebutterflies ASTER!!! my favourite queer in crime!!! absolute darling angel from heaven. still waiting for our planetarium date babe. the way i kept seeing you being fuckin hilarious and sexy in my notes and went THATS IT!!!!!!! WE HAVE TO BE FRIENDS FOREVER and then made a blood pact with you. to the grave babe mwah <3

@epersonae so so kind and so supportive and delightful. been here since day one, cheering me on and being so open and sincere. there are few in the world as good and as kind as you. such a skilled and thoughtful writer as well!!! writes some of the most wonderful fic I’ve ever read and if you’re not here for Hungry for love, ready to drown what are you even doing

@xoxoemynn ohghhhh you’re just so full of love marianne. so full of love and light and beans and i am obsessed with you. so friendly and thoughtful and so NICE!!!! i dunno what we did to deserve you for real. it takes practice to be as sweet as you are and my friend you are a master of your craft <3

@blackbeardskneebrace miles. my beloved angel miles. you’re so so skilled (one of the most impressive artists on All Of The Internet) and so thoughtful and sweet and sincere. you’re way too cool and funny and smart for me but here we are. i would fight god for you bud. i’d win btw i have insane person rage <3

@leatherdaddyteach oh MANNNN don’t get me started on Joey. sexiest most wonderful mfer in these whole entire woods. hilarious and kind with also the most elite taste in music (not even my opinion that’s just objective fact babe mwah) also we are kissing right on the mouth. i’d give you all my teeth if i could. like i don’t need them babe they’re yours now

@chocolatepot cassidy is one of those people who are just effortlessly kind and thoughtful. so ready to share everyone’s creative endeavours and also persists in being an absolutely incredible writer. i’ve said it once i’ll say it again but More Nicer is one of my favourite one shots. it’s so so cute and i think about it every day.

@wearfinethingsalltoowell Joy my beloved. so nice and thoughtful and sweet. a fellow olu enjoyer to the maximum and a fellow Team Bared Until We Die. We got each other’s backs out here in the trenches. i forgive you for all the times your angst posts have made me cry <3 (no i don’t i hold a grudge. think of my organs)

@nofeelingisfinall Zed my darling my dear my angel. you’re so sexy and smart and kind and 💍 what if we smooch forever. you make my heart go so fast (bc i’m in love with you). another person with yummy delicious music taste and also your web weavings make me cry and weep. like i love you why must you hurt me. i just want peace

@sassygwaine adrian you are so so nice and sweet. like when i picture you i picture a forest that’s full of greenery and life after a little bit of rain ya know? that’s the kind of person you are. so full of love and sincerity and also you’re hilarious and smart and always correct. i’m building us a blanket fort. the door’s the blue cushion

@flightoftheconnie fr you’re way too cool for me. i know this down to my bones. but idc, you me and kaitlin are getting married come spring. let’s run away together and hijack some cars and rob some banks and then make out. i’ll kill all your enemies for you send me a list of names and it’ll be done. mwah <3

@snake-snack-stede oh man. outtghhffg man. Olivia. you’re seriously one of the most creative and delightful people on this shit-hole app. every single post you make is pure gold. don’t get me started on your tags. like being that effortlessly funny is such a skill and you’ve mastered it. but also you are so so kind and sweet too. i’m convinced you could rule the world and i think you’d do it perfectly. i have a huge crush on you btw can you tell?

@jellybeanium124 another person with a godly sense of humour. how dare you all be funnier than me. nina you’re so nice and also you’ve never been wrong ever. all of your takes are objectively correct. how does it feel being cooler and sexier than the rest of us?

@awkward-fallen-angel ohhh heather you’re so sweet!!! and super creative as well!!! always super happy to have a little chat you’re always so enthusiastic and excited about the things you love and care about. so much love for you my dear friend

@sherlockig hi alexz!!!! a stede bonnet lover first and a person second. you’re such an absolute delight, and you’re always cheering on and supporting your friends which i really admire. certified hot as well. come here i gotta give you a smooch

@cheersmequeers kate!!! hi hi!!! you’re so genuine and fun and nice, and i’m always so so happy to see you in my notifs. you’ve got so much love in your heart and i think that’s beautiful. a thousand smooches for you <3

if i've forgotten anyone (and I'm sure I probably have) then pls punch me in the head :) put me straight in the bin fr. just know that even if you aren't on this list that I am very in love with you and I think we should fuck nasty <3

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

For The Summer: Hermeto Pascoal / Airto Moreira / Flora Purim

Hey, a special treat for you today — a guest post from David "Observations of Deviance" Mittleman that digs into the Hermeto Pascoal / Airto Moreira / Flora Purim universe. For more, David is a great follow in various places — Twitter, YouTube and WFMU. Take it away!

Albert Ayler proclaimed, “Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe.” Like nothing else, the music of Brazil makes the scorching summer days tolerable and even joyous. Brazilian musical healers include “O Bruxo,” the Wizard, aka Hermeto Pascoal, and the meteoric musical couple that shot from his orbit, Airto Moreira and Flora Purim. The Wizard is still going strong, living up to his sobriquet. On June 22, 2022 Pascoal celebrated his 86th birthday. Purim has also been active in 2022, releasing her first new studio album in fifteen years, which features her husband, legendary percussionist, Airto.

There is no way to capture Pascoal’s true range in a few words, but suffice it to say that he is something like Sun Ra crossed with Frank Zappa crossed with every sort of Brazilian musical style crossed with Miles Davis, with whom he recorded on “Live-Evil.” Pascoal’s live concerts are legendary. The 2004 performance I saw in Chicago remains one of the most magical events I’ve ever witnessed. Pascoal emanated bliss, love and joy. For those not lucky enough to capture the magic live, some recent reissues, and You Tube uploads, will send you into outer space.

In February, Far Out Recordings released a previously unissued Pascoal live performance from 1981, “Planetário da Gávea.” Appropriately recorded in a planetarium, the album contains everything Pascoal is known for - riotous improvisations, deep Brazilian rhythms and memorable melodies. The album’s second track, “Samba Do Belaqua,” gives you a taste of Pascoal’s sorcery.

In 1965, Pascoal and Airto teamed up with Humberto Clayber to record the Sambrasa Trio’s sole album, “Em Som Maior,” reissued in March by VampiSoul. The album has many brilliant moments, but the stand out track is “João Sem Braço.” After a brief mid-tempo introduction by the full trio, Airto breaks in with a thunderous drum clap, then the full trio breaks into full gallop. It is a tour de force of percussion ability and simpatico jazz trio improvisational communication.

Besides these official releases, the You Tube channel bigfootpegrande, has been uploading some amazing live Hermeto performances; here are just a few.

Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo / Pori Jazz Festival, Finland, July 15, 1984

The creative and technical dexterity displayed by Pascoal and group at the Pori Jazz Festival is unbelievable. Powerful and unforgettable.

Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo / Zagreb, Croatia, October 1990

More killer video. Sadly, it runs less than 20 minutes. Includes Hermeto interview in Portuguese with Croatian subtitles.

Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo / Chicago 1991

Per the video’s notes: “Epic, Wild!!” I concur.

Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo / Vienna, May 27, 2022

A very recent two hour live performance from Austria.

Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo (with Luciana Souza) / Central Park, NYC, June 21, 1997

Another rare US performance. “Opening for Hermeto was Medeski Martin and Wood. Dozens of ignorant tapers, with racks over racks and all kind of expensive mics displaying in the air, taped MMW and left when they finished. I don´t remember anyone staying [for Hermeto]."

Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo (w/ Naná Vasconcelos, Egberto Gismonti, Hugo Fattoruso) / Buenos Aires, 1981

Pascoal with other Brazilian heavyweights.

Hermeto Pascoal & Grupo / Antibes, Juan-les-Pins, France, June, 19, 1986

Pascoal and group jamming heavy in France.

Both Purim and Airto have had a long musical relationship with Pascoal. Hermeto played on both Purim and Airto’s solo albums, and the couple frequently perform Pascoal’s compositions. Purim continues this musical tradition on her new solo album, “If You Will,” released in April by Strut. A family affair, the album includes her daughter Diana Purim and husband Airto.

The album’s peaks include a new rendition of "500 Miles High,” Chick Corea’s classic jazz fusion composition, originally recorded in 1972 by Corea’s band Return to Forever, with Purim on vocals. The song’s lyrics express how listeners will feel; like everyone who hears her, they will be enraptured by her voice.

You'll see just one look and you'll know

She's so tender and warm

You'll recognize this is love

You'll find yourself on another plane

500 miles high

The bigfootpegrande You Tube channel has also uploaded several phenomenal live Airto and Purim live performances. Prime examples of her outside singing can be heard in the live performances linked below. While Purim’s remarkable vocal abilities are grounded in every phase of Jazz, she pushes the boundaries of traditional jazz into the stratosphere. Her repertoire includes an astounding array of extended vocal techniques, somewhat akin to Jazz scat singing, but far beyond what even the most adventurous Bebop artist would attempt.

Airto & Flora (feat. Hugo Fattoruso) / Boston, April 24, 1973

Incredible live performance. Includes versions of two Pascoal compositions (“Uri (The Wind)” and “O Gaio da Roseira”). The track “Xibaba” has a fire storm guitar solo from David Amaro that touches on Sonny Sharrock at its peak.

Flora Purim & Airto Moreira (feat. Nivaldo Ornelas) / Avery Fisher Hall, June 28, 1978

Another rare, early live performance from Airto and Purim. Includes a performance of “500 Miles High.”

Flora Purim & Airto Moreira (feat. George Duke) / Hollywood Bowl, June 16, 1979

Airto and Purium joined by legendary keyboard player George Duke. Another live version of “500 Miles High.”

Flora Purim Live at Terminal Island, March 3, 1975

As a bonus, here is one more phenomenal Flora Purim live performance. Purim was busted for coke in 1974 and spent sixteen months in a US prison. Towards the end of her incarceration, prison officials allowed Purim to bring in well known Jazz musicians to play for the inmates: Cannonball Adderley, George Duke, Airto Moreira, Miroslav Vitouš, Raul de Souza and Leon "Ndugu" Chancler.

The live prison performance was broadcast over the radio. Apparently she played one concert for the female inmates and one concert for the male inmates. Part of the performance has been uploaded to You Tube. Despite some audio flaws, it’s one of the best live from prison performances you will ever hear. Be sure to listen to the end for a short interview with Purim.

I hope the music of Pascoal, Airto and Purim brings you as much joy, healing and happiness this summer as it has brought me.

[yukiobeyme]

Could you please do the demon brothers finding MC's sketchbook being full of sketches of them? Love you writing! ⊂((・▽・))⊃

Sorry, I’ve been taking forever, but I’m finally in the mood to write and it turned out I had this mostly done so ya yee! I hope you enjoy it!

Lucifer:

Lucifer doesn’t snoop, it’s not in his nature. But when he saw you had left your sketchbook out and in the common area, he couldn’t help but stroll by casually and take a glance.

He was taken back when he saw sketches of him, he felt his face heat up but was quick to leave the room because he didn’t want to be caught.

He wouldn’t confront you about it either, he would wait to see if you came to him first.

He wanted to learn more about your drawings and see more of it, what he didn’t expect how often you actually left the sketchbook around and open.

So, he made it a habit to always walk by it and check to see if you left it in the common room. Each time he walked by it was a new sketch of him, this time it looked like you had started it during a council meeting and he was stunned how you captured him, but you also had pictures of his eyes, nose and lips scattered around the page as well.

What he didn’t expect was for you to come in and give an awkward cough behind him. He turned around wide-eye and felt himself blush when he saw you standing there.

You were quick to scramble and grab your sketchbook

Mammon:

Mammon is a known snoop when Levi and he were in your room waiting for you. He couldn’t help but look through your belongings, Levi thought it was to see if you had any valuables, but it was to try to learn more about you.

He knew you were into drawing in your sketchbook; he had seen your work in your sketchbook during class or lunch. You rarely sat near him when you drew in your sketchbook.

He didn’t expect to see sketches of him in the book when he finally opened it. He flushed immediately; it was different poses. Him in class when you sat behind him or off to the side. Or when you attended student council meetings, old photoshoots. You had sketches of him smiling, laughing and even blushing.

Levi noticed instantly and tried to look at the sketchbook, but Mammon was quick to keep it out of reach and thankfully that’s when you entered so Levi stopped and Mammon could set your sketchbook, hoping it was unnoticed.

The next time he caught you drawing, he would stroll over and ask what you were drawing and when you blushed and was quick to cover the sketch, he felt like he had won. He would beg and plead with you to let him see it.

It was another sketch of him, but this one tugged at Mammon heart, it was his Demon form, you had added color to this one and it was gorgeous, and Mammon felt his heart stuttered.

Mammon was flushed and speechless, he knew it was filled with sketches of him, but he couldn’t help but react the same way.

“You know, you could always ask. I could um pose for you?” Mammon finally stuttered, looking away from you.

“Sure,” your voice was high pitched, and your face had turned red.

So later you would meet up in his room and you both nervously stood and looked at each other not knowing what to do.

“How do you want me?” Mammon asked and eyes widened at the implication.

You would gain some confidence and ask if you could draw him shirtless.

He agrees and stays flushed the whole time, from the tips of his ears into his chest, you made sure to include it.

 Leviathan:

Levi didn’t mean to snoop, but you left your sketchbook in his room after an anime marathon

At first, he saw sketches of the anime characters, seeing the detail and how beautiful they looked

His face flushed when he saw the first sketch of him

It was him curled up, completely focused on the anime

How his eyes were wide open, engrossed and his mouth agape

He didn’t hear you knock or crack his door open

You were mortified to see he had your sketchbook in his hands

Levi? You said quietly, your voice was slightly shaky

He jumped and flinched at the sound of your voice, slamming the book shut

He immediately started to stutter out countless apologizes

While you were embarrassed you reassured him it was okay, but you wished he asked

He shyly commented on how good your work was

Which caused you to give him a beaming smile

You offered to draw him Zaramela or Henry 1.0

He frames it and keeps it in his room and smiles whenever he sees it

Satan:

It ended up in possession by accident

You both were in the library

You left and when Satan left, he gathered all the books, including your sketchbook

Later he would go through the pile books

He froze when he saw it

He knew the right thing would be to return it immediately

But instead, he decided to hold onto it

Gave you a reason to come see him

He decided he would look at it

He grabbed the book he was looking for and went to read it

But the thought of looking in your sketchbook kept nagging him

A small peak wouldn’t harm anything right?

The first few pages must have been of the human world and your friends

He looked over your friends, how brightly they smiled

Some of their names were written down

And it seemed you let them write and doodle beside their picture

He smiled at them, he felt like he learned so much more about you then

He decided to remember to ask about your human friends

He got engrossed though and couldn’t stop flipping through the pages

Then it transitioned to Devildom

You drew flowers you saw writing down the names

The next page made it freeze

It was a sketch of himself

It was during a student meeting

You captured his scolding face; he felt the urge to stop there but continue at the same time

The next page was called Satan Study

It was different sketches of his eyes, nose, face shape, his smile and his hair

He snapped the book shut and threw it as if it burned him when he heard a knock and you called out to him

“Have you seen my sketchbook? I had it when we were studying together.

He quickly moved around his room, acting to search for it in his piles of books before going where he threw it

He gave it to you with a slight blush and sent you on your way

 Asmodeus:

Asmodeus saw you draw constantly, he needed to see what you were drawing

Maybe it was mischievous to steal your sketchbook

If you questioned him, he would say it was in his demon nature

He went to his room to look at it in private

He started to flicker through the notebook and was thrilled to see drawings of him

Of course, you chose him to be your subject, he was gorgeous

Couldn’t help but a little turned on, he is a narcissistic

He took pictures and posted it to Devilgram, tagging you in it

That’s when you knew he took your sketchbook

You had mixed emotions of being livid and embarrassed

That was your private drawing, rough sketches that were messy

It wasn’t meant to be shared

You immediately marched to his room to get it back

You snatched it from him, without any words

You didn’t want to talk to him, while you were mad you didn’t want to say anything you would regret

Asmodeus would be dense and not understand your emotions and wouldn’t think to apologize

A week of silence and avoiding him, had him coming to you and asking what is wrong

“You really don’t know?” you couldn’t help but feel hurt

Instead of making him guess, you let him in your room and sit and your bed

And you talked about your feelings about the events

When it clicked he felt bad

He told you he just wanted to brag about you

Beelzebub:

You were drawing in the cafeteria, sitting across from Beelz

You seemed engrossed in the drawing but you and Beelz were used to just keeping each other company so he didn’t mind the silence

Lucifer ended up calling you away for a meeting, that you completely forgot about that

In your rush to leave, you left your sketchbook

Beelz called to you but you were already gone

He grabbed it and treated it as it was a baby

He knew how important it was to you

But he was curious about what drawing you were so engrossed in

Flipping through the pages finding different moments you captured

He froze when he saw sketches of him

It was page after page

Of different moments

While he was working out, eating, laughing or smiling

He was so surprised he dropped the food he was holding

He was shocked and immediately tried to clean it up

But it was too late, and he stained the page

He felt horrible

When he saw you, he wasn’t going to tell you, but how you brightened up when you saw he had it

He confessed and looked close to tears

You were grateful he apologized and quickly looked at the damage

It wasn’t on any of the sketches and was only limited to that page

So, you didn’t mind too much because nothing was ruined

He still offered to buy you food anyways to apologize

Belphegor

You left the sketchbook in the planetarium

He napped while you were drawing

He figured you were drawing the night sky

Something you often talked about how often you loved it

But when he saw a sketch of his sleep form instead, he had mixed emotions

How you managed to capture his features and he was surprised he looked peacefully when he slept

He started going through the other pages

He froze when he saw a drawing of him in his demon form

Unlike the sleeping drawing, he looked angry and evil

You had written a single sentence on the page

“When do the nightmares stop?”

Belphegor immediately recognized that this must have been how he looked when he killed you

His gut twisted, he had changed so much towards you

But you still had your fears

You were having nightmares because of him

When he gave you back your sketchbook

He pulled you into an uncharacteristic hug

Without mentioning the drawing

He promised to you he would keep you safe and never hurt you on purpose again.

[theikoshq-archive]

LUPERCALIA.

the exact origins of this pagan festival are uncertain, but it was thought that in ancient times LUPERCALIA took place to honor the she-wolf who raised romulus and remus, the founder of rome, and please the roman fertility god LUPERCUS

while traditionally held from february 13th to 15th, it is not to be confused with the later christian tradition celebrating saint valentine — it was not a celebration of pure and courtly love, but instead an intense, sexually-charged, and even perhaps bloody one filled with animal sacrifice and naked ritual

most notable to the festival was the random matchmaking ; during lupercalia, it is said that the men randomly chose a woman’s name from a jar to be coupled with them for the duration of the festival in the hopes of warding off evil spirits and infertility

NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 2021.

this would, in all likelihood, not be something in your mind in the modern day. a celebration that died out ages ago, lupercalia hardly finds a place in the memory of any contemporary new yorker. 

however — that doesn’t stop a beautifully sealed red envelope from showing up on your doorstep, delicate filigree addressed to you specifically and bearing a striking resemblance to an invite long since pushed into the back of your mind

and you think back to the gala, that hedonistic mischief filled night, and the mysterious benefactors behind it. it was well done, lavish and over the top, and idly you recall being asked if you’d be interested in any future events. it hadn’t seemed like a big deal at the time, because it was an exciting evening and what's the harm, who wouldn’t want another night of magic, it wasn’t like you had to foot any bill — so you’d agreed, put down your name without much thought, and moved on with your life. it wasn’t until now, months later, you feel a spark of recognition 

the origins of the sender are not any more clear than they were the first time around ; the invite claims you’re paired to go on some sort of quasi-date with another member, claims it’s so everyone who said they were interested in more events can get to know each other in a more intimate setting than the gala, but otherwise is void of much more explanation. a little off-putting maybe, but the reality of it stares up at you from a perfumed piece of parchment — you’ve already been matched. what are you supposed to do now, be the asshole that stands them up ?

OOC.

the event will take place IC at any time between FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12TH, and SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14TH — though, your muses will have received the notice in the mail sometime before this, as well as the contact information for their partners

OOC, the event will start on SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13TH. we’ll give you until the following TUESDAY to plot, plan, and start threads with your writing partners, but we’d like for your starters to be posted by then ! feel free to take as long as you need with the actual completion of the threads, though ! 

we’ve chosen an event of this kind to promote our anti-bubble rping stance. we want to create and uphold an environment where everyone plots with as many people as possible, that’s why we think randomly paired events like this could have a positive influence on the climate we have here 

on another note, especially if your character is in a relationship or aromantic / asexual, there is absolutely no obligation to make the thread romantic in nature. although valentine’s day and lupercalia definitely were, we’re not forcing you to have threads that are similar in nature when you’re not comfortable with such things for whatever reason. the pairings and locations are meant to work more as a framework or jumping point — feel free to make it as platonic, or even antagonistic, as you want, have your pair ditch the location they’re at completely midway through, etc. make the thread your own !

finally, please post any event content under #theikosevent002, including showing off any outfits if you so wish, and any event starters under #theikoseventstarter !

PAIRINGS + LOCATIONS.

minni / helena + new york science centre

parker / shepherd + tour at the museum of modern art

miranda / lucie + area 53 laser tag

percy / yujin + chambers pottery

alex / prim + 5 bar karaoke lounge

rosalie / omar + salsa classes at baila society

harley / devon + tour at the red hook winery

henry / amelie +  indoor picnic at the botanical gardens

taeil / kenji + central park zoo

ash / jane + fine dining at coeurs affamés

cass / damien +  cozymeal cooking classes

phineas / levi + frames bowling lounge

poppy / chris + hayden planetarium

zelda / stella + go karting at naskart

alice / mackenzie + new york aquarium

mingyu / zak + ice skating at rockefeller centre

willow / forest + pier 25 mini golf

hadrian / hana + board games night at winners corner

katherine / hajun + escape the room nyc

hunter / felipe + two-bit’s retro arcade

astar / azim + murder mystery at the metropolitan museum of art

mei / ara + rock climbing at the central rock gym

[brookee-bee]

Karasuno High as Aesthetics and Playlists

3rd Year, Wing Spiker, Captain : Daichi Sawamura # 1

Earth tones, Dark Academia, Leather bound notebooks, wicker furniture, beige and dark green t-shirts, dark colored sweaters and hoodies, fitted brown pants and leather belts, black details, a few dark leafy house plants, simple meals of rice, avocado, clean sneakers, gym bag in the back of his car, protein powder on the counter, coffee mugs and matcha tea, encouragement and validation one-on-one, probably posts gym thirst traps on his story

Harder Than You Think - Public Enemy

Winner’s Circle - Anderson.Paak

Fell in Love With a Girl - The White Stripes

No Church in the Wild - Jay Z

Chelsea Dagger - The Fratellis

3rd Year, Setter : Koshi Sugawara # 2

Sky tones, light blue and bright white clouds, organized stationary and notepads, laying in the sun on a hammock, underneath a seashell, a warm cup of tea, making video compilations of memories, thrift stores, would do the dishes/laundry for you if you’re feeling stressed 

Shampoo Bottles - Peach Pit

Close to You- Day Glow

Loving You is a Mountain - Isaia Huron

Honey - Kehlani

At My Worst - Pink Sweat$

3rd Year, Ace : Asahi Azumane # 3

Beige and white, oat milk lattes, long flowing wheat grass, a hike through the mountains, weekend camping trips, ambitious baking, large bulky hands and calloused fingers, doodling through class, wants to be the little spoon sometimes, enjoys when you do face masks together at night

Fire Escape - Foster the People

The Bakery - Arctic Monkeys

Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked - Cage the Elephant

She Moves In Her Own Way - the Kooks

Ivy - Taylor Swift

2nd Year, Libero : Yu Nishinoya # 4

E-boy, short sleeve printed shirts and acid washed jeans, striped long sleeve shirts, hot orange flames, throws shit off bridges, likes to piss people off, loves spicy ramen, tattoos, embraces rejection, chipped painted finger nails, would record both of you doing internet challenges, his email notifications are in the thousands, sporadic texting 

Evil Fantasy - Freddie Dredd 

Wet Dreamz - J. Cole

Power Tools - Jack Harlow

REEL IT IN - Amine

Best Friend - Saweetie, Doja Cat

2nd Year, Wing Spiker : Ryunosuke Tanaka # 5

Skater, collection of worn beanies, silver chains and rings, tattoos scattered up the arm, overcast skies, dirty puddles in the city, thick well made army jacket, in class even though others are talking the teacher yells at him, accidentally punches the wall, sends horny memes from Twitter, really good listener, somebody you’d like to get drunk or high with

Beverly Hills - Weezer

Panic Station - Muse

Somebody Told Me - The Killers

Nice Guys Finish Last - Green Day

acting like that - Yungblud, Machine Gun Kelly

1st Year, Setter : Tobio Kageyama # 9

Alternative, midnight drives through a city, modern art museums, clean white collared shirts, black trench coats, quiet meditation in the morning, worn down combat boots, hates being pranked, tangled headphones, has a lot of pet peeves he complains about, likes to be away from technology to be in the moment, takes note of what song is playing so he can send it to you later

Yeah Right - Joji

Die Alone - FINNEAS 

Show Me How - Men I Trust

Places We Won’t Walk - Bruno Major

Sharing Beds - The Japanese House

1st Year, Middle Blocker, Decoy : Shoyo Hinata

Soft Boy, loves wildflowers, picnic dates, walks through a nature reserve,  collects seashells and rocks for his windowsill, tried to make bread but failed, sends you goodnight/morning texts everyday, bike riding dates, plays with your hair because why else is it there

Feel Special - TWICE

Daydreamer - MYLK

Only a Fool - Galantis

Kill vs Main - Grimes

Treat People with Kindness - Harry Styles

1st Year, Middle Blocker : Kei Tsukishima

Grunge, white collared shirts, simple healthy meals, messy notes with scribbled and poorly drawn diagrams, books with lots of tagged places he wants to remember, existentialism, organized bookshelves with smart decor, CD collection organized by genre, probably a Frank Ocean stan, listens to podcasts about space and quantum physics, is probably a huge star wars fan, planetarium and natural history museum dates, surprises you with overpriced coffee

Love It if We Made It - the 1975

Bonfire - Childish Gambino

Godspeed - Frank Ocean

Kelso - Matty Wood$

STFU! -Rina

1st Year, Pinch Server : Tadashi Yamaguchi

 Light academia, cozy socks, big blankets, lots of plants and a cat around the house, stacks of books on the floor, experiments with makeup and fashion, on weekends will work on a DIY project, needs constant reassurance but hates attention, drinks tea with honey and cream, wants to spend time with you whenever but doesn’t want to be a bother

A Phone Call in Amsterdam - Valley

Moon Song - Phoebe Bridgers 

Tired - bebadoobee

Brazil - Declan McKenna

Tonight (I Wish I was Your Boy) - The 1975

3rd Year, Manager : Kiyoko Shimuzi

Minimalism, oversized hoodies with tights, white sneakers, ripped light wash jeans, probably works at a retail store in the mall, likes to buy name brand clothing, big fan of the olympics, detail oriented, really good at budgeting, fan of stationary, fresh haircuts, would write you notes and surprise you with your favorite meal every now and then

Tomboy - Princess Nokia

Check- Queen Herby

Who’s Gonna Save U Now? - Rina Sawayama

Fuck Me in Shibuya - Ashnikko

Baby Girl - Chloe x Halle

1st Year, Manager : Hitoka Yachi

Pastel, pink clouds, runs a secret stan account, wears lots of trendy and stylish clothing, doodles on napkins, dewy makeup, lots of pink blush, fake lashes, cat eyed liner, makes her lunch aesthetically pleasing, cool edits for her pictures, sends the best memes in the group chat, if it reminds her of you she’ll buy it and surprise you the next day, loves to be matching with you, makes you learn kpop dances with her, has a fuzzy keychain

NASA - Ariana Grande

Ice Cream Cake - Red Velvet

Do Me - Kim Petras

The Boys - Girl’s Generation

FANCY- TWICE

Coach Ukai

Does not know what it means to have an aesthetic, messy hair, cigarettes, canned coffee, white t shirts, baggy sweatpants, cheap meals, likes newspapers but won’t pay for it, probably borrows cash from you a lot but never pays you back, constantly watching sports clips on twitter, likes old cars and guitars, probably used to draw dicks in bathroom stalls, hates the government, has lots of stories from his twenties, makes a great breakfast when he has the time, wants you to get a matching tattoo with him, 

Habit - Still Woozy

Cool With You - Her’s

Lover’s Rock - TV Girl

 Outta My Mind - Monsune

You’re Gonna Live Forever In Me - John Mayer

Coach Takeda

Minimalism, sweaters over collared shirts, clean sneakers, morning meditation and workouts, fresh laundry, loves warm sheets after a wash, bonsai tree, great at making drinks, goes out of his way to make sure you’re heard and respected, knows how to knit and sew, believes in karma, annoyed if you are one your phone when with them

Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl) - Looking Glass

 Come and Get Your Love- Redbone

She’s So High- Tal Bachman

Wonderwall- Oasis

Vienna- Billy Joel

@brookemasterson on spotify if you’d like the playlist ♡

[planetary-problems]

Hey, proshippers, radqueers and the like, how about you quit breaking DNIs to scrounge anti's blogs to harass them?

Or, maybe, you don't have anything better to do?

And maybe, just maybe, you, I dunno, go for someone else? Or do you know that your arguments are stupid and have no real basis? You don't go after people who have a DROP of anything "controversial" (none of it ever is) and attack them instead? Hm???

Maybe someone who still has soul in them? Or is that too far for even the most heartless of you?

Stop claiming to be "anti harassment" and then harass normal people.

[planetary-problems]

That's real, unfortunately 🥀

My inbox recently has had some.... visitors

God dammit my game bugged out a anyway I'm bored so let's see what devious anons I'll get this time

[kalyan-gullapalli]

Post # 131

A bridge, its history and its mythology...

In 1860, a British Indian Naval Officer, Alfred Dundas Taylor, proposed that the time and distance taken by ships traveling from the west coast of India to its east coast and vice versa could be cut down significantly, if a sufficiently wide and deep passage was made connecting the Gulf of Mannar and The Palk Strait, separating the Indian mainland from Sri Lanka. Because of the shallow waters in the Gulf and the Strait, ships had to circumnavigate 400 nautical miles more, around Sri Lanka, taking them upto 30 more hours and a commensurate increase in cost. From 1860 till Indian independence in 1947, nine proposals were made and evaluated. But no action was taken.

In 1955, the independent Indian government set up a committee called the Sethusamudram Project Committee. After evaluating the costs and benefits, this committee found the project feasible and viable. Five more proposals and technical reports followed. But no action still, till 2005, when Dr. Manmohan Singh, the then Prime Minister, inaugurated the project, 145 years after the original proposal was made.

The project, budgeted at INR 2600 crores, was supposed to take 3 years, and was supposed to dredge a canal 165 km long, 300 meters wide and sufficiently deep to let cargo ships traverse that route.

Today is 2020. Fifteen years have passed and still no Setusamudram canal. Why? Because, right from its inception, the project had a few issues:

1. About 65 % of the ships in that area come from Africa and Europe. For them, the time saving was not 30 hours, but just 8 hours.

2. The channel could take only 30000 tonnage vessels. But most of the new ships, which are of 60000 tonnage and tankers, which are 150000 tonnes or more, cannot use the canal.

3. The project would disturb the ecological balance and destroy corals and kill marine life. It would also destroy conch trade worth INR 150 crores annually.

But the biggest issue was - the Sethusamudram canal would cut through and destroy what was left of the mythological Ram Sethu or Adam's bridge. And that would be disastrous to the political fortunes of the government that did that.

So what exactly is the story of the Ram Sethu or Adam's bridge? And why is it so sensitive? Therein lies a tale.

The Ram Sethu is today, a 50 km long chain of limestone shoals, between a village called Dhanushkodi, on Rameswaram Island (also called Pamban Island), in Tamil Nadu, India, and another village called Talaimannar on Mannar Island, in Sri Lanka. The bridge is believed to have been made by Lord Rama and his Vanara army to reach Lanka and rescue his wife, Sita from the evil king, Ravana. The Sri Lankan muslims, on the other hand, believe that Aadhaam, their first Islamic leader, walked over this bridge by foot from India to Lanka and thus this bridge has a holy connotation for them. Aadhaam got morphed to Adam, because the British found it easier to pronounce. Hence, this bridge was also called Adam's bridge. But for most Indians, especially Hindus, this bridge is Rama Setu or Nala Setu (because it was built by Nala, the architect-monkey in Rama's army).

That makes it mythological, right? Why worry about mythology in the 21st century?

Because that also makes the issue religious. In India, religious issues become political issues. Right wing parties like BJP and organizations like VHP put their foot down and said, "How can you break a bridge built by Ram?" Secular parties said, "Since Ram is mythological, Ram Sethu is mythological too."

I also grew up believing Ram and Ramayan to be undoubtedly mythological. But recently, I read a book called Historical Ram, written by D K Hari and his wife, D K Hemahari (who run an organization called Bharat Gyan), wherein they attempt to provide scientific and logical proof that Ram and Ramayan are historical.

The various arguments they put forward are as follows:

1. They say Ramayana and Mahabharata are called Itihasa in Sanskrit. Itihasa = Iti + hasa. Meaning - It happened like this = History.

They say that until the British came to India, Ramayana and Mahabharata were indeed considered to be have happened. The British classified these epics as mythology.

2. They use a technology called archaeo-astrology and make some powerful propositions. Archaeo-astrology is a technique of charting the future or past sky using a scientific tool called planetarium software. This tool helps to arrive at planetary positions, given a date in future or past. Vice-versa, given a set of planetary configurations, the tool can help identify the date in future or past, when the planetary configuration will or could have occurred.

This software was apparently developed by NASA to estimate the planetary positions of Voyager missions that would take 10-12 years to reach their destinations. Now, declassified, it is available for public use. Reminds me of how the internet was a classified invention of the US defence before it was made publicly available.

The authors refer to one Mr. Pushkar Bhatnagar, who used the original Sanskrit text of Ramayana and this technique to date the era of Lord Ram. For example, the birth of Rama is explained in detail by Valmiki.

This information, when fed into the software, tells us that Ram was born on 10th January, 5114 BC, at 12.30 pm, as per the Gregorian calendar!

This way, all major events in Ramayan were dated. Fantastic, isn't it?

Notice how the dating shows that Ram gets exiled when he was 25 years old, and how the Khar-Dushan episode happens in the 12th year of exile. Pretty consistent results, eh?

3. The geographic locations in Ramayan are actual places that exist even today - some of them have the same names then and now.

4. There is one school of thought that says that Ram Setu could be a natural phenomenon. The book refutes this possibility by saying that the layers of the bridge are so discrete that they can only he man-made.

None of these arguments are conclusive by themselves. But honestly guys, put together, there is a strong case that, after all, Ram and Ramayan may not be mere mythology. Maybe they are history - Itihas!

If they are, I would agree with Dr. Hari and his wife that Ram Sethu should be a protected monument. I will join them in demanding for a UNESCO world heritage site declaration for this piece of geography. Already in the past 500 years, a large part of it was lost to a cyclone. It is said that till 1480 AD, the bridge was a meter over sea level and one could walk from India to Sri Lanka over it.

And I look forward to the current BJP led NDA government and its minister, Nitin Gadkari's proposal that a bridge should be made from India to Sri Lanka, instead of a canal. This fits beautifully with this government's Look East foreign policy, whereby they are connecting all our neighbouring countries, as a counter to China and its aggressive intent.

[scienceofmasseffect]

Canon Turian terminology post

0Today’s post was brought to you by a dive into the original run of Cerberus Daily News, active during the first year from Mass Effect 2′s launch.

There are very likely similar posts existing already out there to mine. I hope mine can add something novel to the available offerings.

Outside interactions between Shepard and turians they came across, the terrorist attack on Vallum and following war on Taetrus brought us a lot of turian concepts and terms as part of news articles covering the conflict. This is a list of them with explanations.

Bareface - Turian individual who lacks facial paint of their birth or homeworld. Early in turian history when they began to establish extra-palavenian colonies, these colonies developed their own identities, cultures and symbols to display that. Facepaint was one obvious way of displaying one’s loyalties to their homes. Lack of facepaint meant unwillingness to commit. Barefaced individuals represented the unknown and were threats. Politicians were quickly saddled with this slur.

Meaning of being bareface was covered in the Codex on turian culture.

Cabal - Turian special military unit consisting solely of soldiers with biotic capability.

Wiktionary defition: A usually secret exclusive organization of individuals gathered for a political purpose. A secret plot.

Turian cabalists are a concept of some notoriety, as they distinctly differ from their non-biotic peers. Hierarchy society generally encourages towards honesty and straightforwardness, and the Cabals’ break from this towards subterfuge, separation and at times isolation marks them as comparable to barefaces in terms of social status. In canonical case of Nyreen Kandros, she was re-assigned to the Cabals due to her biotics manifesting, but was underutilized due to their undeveloped nature. She did not realize her powers’ full potential until Aria T’Loak’s tutelage.

Cabals were first mentioned in Cerberus Daily News article from June 10th 2010.

Claw salute - A salute done with hand, or just the claw. Possibly witnessed in Mass Effect 3 during Shepard’s operations on Menae and Tuchanka.

Claw salute was first verbally mentioned in Cerberus Daily News article from April 30th 2010.

Carifinum - Emergency management agency responsible for public crises on Taetrus. Unknown whether this is canonically generic term for all Hierarchy emergency management agencies or solely the Taetrian instance’s name. Some Earth equivalent agencies: FEMA in the United States of America, Ministry of Emergency Situations/EMERCOM/MChS in the Russian Federation.

Most likely inspired by latin word Caritas, meaning something dear, expensive or charity.

Carifinum was criticized first in the Cerberus Daily News article from May 14th 2010.

Enrarium, (The) - Old post office of Vallum city, serving as museum in contemporary times. Source material presentation seems conflicting, the name Enrarium is presented with the, denoting its unique, and then translated as “old postal office” which is a generic descriptor.

Enrarium directly has no existing translation in real world languages. However, Wiktionary tells us that -rium suffix is used to indicate the setting where a given activity is carried out: for example, auditorium, gymnasium, planetarium. So enra or enrar is implied to be something post or messaging related activity.

A turian child was rescued from ruins of the Enrarium in the Cerberus Daily News article from May 7th 2010.

Facinus - Separatist-slash-terrorist group campaigning for Elurian continent’s independence from Taetrus and its colonial Hierarchy administration. Became infamous when they subverted a commercial freighter’s FTL plotter and set it to accelerate into the colony’s capital city of Vallum.

Facinus translates directly from Latin, meaning a deed or an act, or more specifically crime, wickedness or an evil deed.

Investigations fingered Facinus being the culprit in the Cerberus Daily News article from May 4th 2010.

Hielae - A throwball sports court. Were utilized as makeshift storage spaces for turian remains in aftermath of Vallum blast.

Wiktionary and Latin offer no material. Original construct mimicking latin structure.

Rescue services resorted to using hielae courts in the Cerberus Daily News article from May 2nd 2010.

Haemona Medical Center - Healthcare provision establishment with capacity for 1500 patients, vastly overwhelmed in aftermath of Vallum blast after survivors sought help therein. Served as scene for grizzly activity of harvesting organs from the blast casualties.

Haemona itself means nothing, but haemo means pertaining to blood in ancient Greek, as seen in medical contexts like in haemophilia.

Haemona Medical Center was mentioned in above May 2nd entry and then later in Cerberus Daily News article from May 9th 2010.

Laudatix - Ministry of citizenship rankings. Generic term, as it was presented in the article as “the colony’s Laudatix”. Manages official records and processes promotions and demotions of citizen rankings within its jurisdiction. Also organizes oseruns, or ceremonies where the citizenship rank promotions are publicly proclaimed and entered into effect.

Latin verb laudo, meaning “I praise/commend/eulogize/compliment” conjugates to laudatis, amongst other forms.

Taetrian Laudatix resumed normal operations in the Cerberus Daily News article from May 11th 2010.

Mexta - A traditional turian sword with both ceremonial and practical uses, such as dueling.

Appears to be an invented word.

Turian general Partinax wanted to fight the Facinus figurehead with a mexta in the Cerberus Daily News article from June 3rd 2010.

Oserun - Citizenship rank promotion ceremony. Official ceremonies are arranged by the local Laudatix.

Appears to be an invented word.

See Laudatix for the article where it was first mentioned.

Radiatum, (The) - The Taetrian parliament building. Possibly also a generic name for turian parliaments, but use of the leans heavily on unique building name. Earthly equivalents: The Russian State Duma building, Brazilian National Congress building.

From Latin radiatus, past participle of radiare (“to radiate, furnish with spokes, give out rays, radiate, shine”), from radius (“a spoke, ray”).

It all began in the Cerberus Daily News article from April 28th 2010.

Sevnis, (The) - A building in Vallum that served as emergency government headquarters after the blast. Was targeted by an aircar bombing attempt.

Appears to be an invented word.

The Sevnis made headlines in the Cerberus Daily News article for June 1st 2010.

Signis, (The) - Office of the primarch of Taetrus. Was obliberated in the Vallum blast, and later rebuilt. Seems to denote an unique building.

Fom Latin signum (genitive signī);a mark, sign, emblem, a miracle, (Medieval Latin) a signum (medieval tower bell used particularly for ringing the 8 canonical hours).

Was destroyed in the Cerberus Daily News article from April 29th 2010, and later rebuilt in August 8th.

Viceroy - A Hierarchy political role. A primarch’s second-in-command.

See Signis for the April 29th 2010 article where it was featured.

[proofthatihaveaheart]

June Fic Recs

Posting this a day late because I didn’t have time to proofread yesterday, but hey, it’s been 6 months and I’ve done a rec list for each month so at least I’ve accomplished something. 

[1 Borderlands, 9 Brooklyn Nine-Nine, 1 Marvel]

Borderlands

Tell Me, Did You See The News Last Night? by snufflyphoenix (Lilith/Roland, 996): It's all Lilith's fault. Set after Lilith and Roland return from Helios, Lilith does some introspection. [This is such a lovely hurt/comfort piece, examining Lilith’s mind after the events on Elpis. We get to see her vulnerabilities as well as Roland’s strength and determination. And I always love me some Lilith/Roland cuddling.] 

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

all the way home i’ll be warm by dogworldchampion (Jake/Amy, 7k): Jake Peralta has never enjoyed the outdoors. Sure, that one Cub Scouts camping trip in first grade was pretty fun, but adult Jake Peralta prefers snow plows, massage chairs, modern insulation, and easy-access delivery food. Which makes the fact that he agreed to spend Christmas in a cabin in the middle of nowhere in upstate New York with his new wife’s family a remarkable testament to just how much he loves said new wife. [I want to drown myself in this fic, in all the love and joy that fills every nook and cranny of it. There are so many small, delightful details woven throughout the fic and you really get the sense of how much the Santiagos all love each other. This fic has a lot of heart and it made me feel so warm and everyone should read it.]

and all my world is losing light by Clones_and_gallifrey (Jake/Amy, 20k): "Day one is listening to Captain Holt telling them not to give up hope, but then overhearing him calling Karen, and telling her in a quiet voice that her son has been sentenced to 15 years, telling her not to cry. Day one is spent filled with fear, and tears, and she punches a wall in their bedroom (because it is still theirs) so hard that the skin on her knuckles splits open. Day one is a cold side of the bed and a thick silence filling up the space where Jake used to be. Day one is overwhelming, plain and simple." There are over five-thousand days in fifteen years. It takes Amy ten of them to figure it out. [AHHH THIS FIC!!!! Amy finds out she’s pregnant while Jake’s in prison and it’s every bit as painful - but every bit as joyful - as you might expect. Bonus points for buckets of moments with the rest of the squad. It’s all very good.]

it was always me and you by echoes_of_realities (Jake/Amy, 17k): When he was young, Jake thought that love was inevitable. And then Amy Santiago crashes into his life and he realizes he doesn’t have a clue what love is, but somehow it’s okay. But their partnership and friendship doesn’t happen right away, God no. In the beginning he can’t stand her, and he’s pretty sure that she thinks he’s the worst thing to ever happen to her. Or: Part one of a three-part series of firsts between Jake and Amy from pre-canon to just before season 1. [I love fics that explore Jake and Amy’s pre-canon relationship and this one gives us that in spades. It does a really wonderful job growing the friendship between them, as they learn about each other and grow closer. Full of their characteristic banter as well as plenty of sincere moments.]

lay your dreams in a flower bed (let that sun shine in your hair) by Clones_and_gallifrey (Jake/Amy, 8k): "Sometimes, when he wakes up, he forgets he’s a dad of two (two!) for twenty seconds or so, and it feels like there’s something missing, something seriously and catastrophically wrong. And then he remembers the look in Leo’s eyes the first time they took him to the planetarium, and the shaky way Mia learned to take her first steps." It’s a Sunday in Spring, and Jake’s juggling fatherhood with the knowledge that the greatest chapter of his life to date is coming to a close. [ALL THE FAMILY FEELS! This is a sequel to and all my world is losing light, so you should read that one first and then you should read this one. It will melt your heart.]

there on a balcony in summer air by philthestone (Jake/Amy, 2k): Jake’s pretty sure that that movie doesn’t actually exist, but the concept of it is kind of terrifying, because what if he is Random Wrong Fiance No. 23? Except instead of Matthew McConaughey ruining things, the ceiling falls in, or Amy gets abducted by aliens. Or worst, Charles gets abducted by aliens. Or even worst, Gina’s baby gets abducted by aliens.That would definitely be the worst of all, Jake thinks, because Gina would never let any of them forget that her progeny was probably the youngest person ever to do space travel. [Jake and Amy get married and it is so very soft and gentle and lovely and them.]

we watched the sun set over the castle on the hill by elsaclack (Jake/Amy, 5k): “I don’t think I’m allowed to be happy.” [Em is a master at making me feel things with her writing and she does it again here. I cried. I cried hard. Part of that was because I read the fic while emotionally vulnerable because Depression™ but the other part was because she just digs into Jake’s vulnerabilities - and Amy’s feelings on the matter - so well. And my boy gets to be happy. He does. And it’s beautiful. And I cry yet again for how happy I am for them.] 

What if we ruin it all, and love like fools by EveningRose (Jake/Amy, 9k):  Amy Santiago, World's most Amazing Detective slash Genius, a title so elite that only a handful of people know about it (and which she happens to share with two other people) is on a mission. Her goal is to complete cooking classes and successfully bake good cupcakes, and she's determined to succeed. Only problem is, Amy's not really great at baking. Which gives Gina and Rosa the perfect in to torment Amy-pleasing Jake, who'll eat whatever she makes. Except sometimes, situations turn out way better than you could possibly imagine. [THIS IS THE CUTEST FIC!!!! It’s honestly as sweet as cupcakes and just as enjoyable - if not more so. It also has some funny moments that made me laugh just like the show does.]

you can tell me when it’s over if the high was the worth the pain by elsaclack (Jake/Amy, 35k): Once upon a time, there was a knight in shining pantsuit armor who rescued a fair prince from an evil hawk's detention center... Or, Amy has never been one to lie down at the face of injustice; this is especially true when the one facing injustice happens to be the love of her life. Post s4 finale fic, in 4 movements. [WHAT A FANTASTIC, INCREDIBLE FIC! It’s certainly in my top 5 of B99 fics and everyone should absolutely read it. You’ll feel so many emotions and it’ll be a wild rollercoaster and the ending will be so satisfying and good. Plus there’s this life-changing speech that honestly just made me pause while reading to stare off into the void and think. SO GOOD!]

you’re a sky full of stars by oceanvirus (Jake/Amy, 2k): Jake's always known of Amy's love for astronomy, but it's a whole other experience to see her in such a state of complete awe. The look in her eyes as she studies the skies carefully is nothing short of wonder, and it causes a comforting sense of warmth and something else – something unidentifiable, yet still pleasant – to settle in his stomach. (Later on, when she turns that same gaze towards him, that something will solidify into uninhibited affection.) Jake discovers Amy's secret stargazing spot, but he can't seem to focus on constellations as much as he can focus on the one excitedly pointing them out. [Adorable, like so incredibly adorable, I love it. Also bonus points for astronomy!!!]

Marvel

Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold; by summerdayghost (Gwen/MJ, 3k): "'In life, love gnawed my skin // To this white bone; // What love did then, love does now: // Gnaws me through.'" - Dialouge Between Ghost and Priest by Sylvia Plath. Or in which Mary Jane can't find her mascara. [I love Gwen/MJ with all my heart and I love this fic a lot. It has this lovely haunting quality while also capturing the light-hearted moments beautifully. It hurts and it’s very good]

[boonesfarmsangria]

Sufjan Stevens: Spokesman for Sanity

With his collaborative new album Planetarium out soon, the sage singer-songwriter talks about the attack on common sense, dealing with personal dread, and retaining dignity in an undignified era.

“The universe is telling me to leave New York.”

Sufjan Stevens is lamenting the fate of his old office and recording studio in Brooklyn, which he was unceremoniously kicked out of while on tour for his last album, when his landlord decided to renovate. Sitting in his publicist’s penthouse suite in Midtown Manhattan, the generally zen 41-year-old singer-songwriter doesn’t seem too broken up about this inconvenience, though. As most of his equipment gathers dust in a storage locker, he’s now working from a pared-down setup in his own apartment. That’s where he mixed Planetarium, the cosmically-inclined new LP he made alongside the National’s Bryce Dessner, composer Nico Muhly, and drummer James McAlister.

Originally created as a commissioned work, the Planetarium project made its live debut in 2012, but it wasn’t until last fall that all the principles found time to put everything together into a proper recording, adding plenty of last-minute improvisation and experimentation along the way. The result is a far-flung opus that jetpacks from piano balladry, to Auto-Tuned fantasias, to bizzaro EDM, with Stevens wailing about an entire constellation of Roman and Greek gods, from which the planets got their names, throughout. Slowly twirling his eyeglasses in his hands, the singer says he found inspiration for his Planetarium vocals inLaurie Anderson and early Peter Gabriel, and also cites the music of Jim Henson classics Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal as well as prog forefathers Pink Floyd, Rush, and Yes when talking about the project. The whole thing is pretty out-there.

“It felt like a relief to be working on something that wasn’t personal after reiterating a story about death and mortality and loss every night,” he tells me, referencing the tour behind 2015’s Carrie & Lowell, a wrenching ode to his late mother. 

Planetarium is what Stevens calls a “hobby project,” the kind of relatively minor creative exercise he’s been known to take up between all-encompassing solo endeavors. And it’s not the only one he’s working on at the moment. There’s his score for the new ballet The Decalogue, the original songs he contributed to the film Call Me By Your Name, a mixtape featuring Carrie & Lowell bonuses, a concert film, along with a series of recent outspoken blog posts involving his own Christian faith and how it can be bastardized through the lens of our chaotic current political moment. One of those pieces was even repurposed as an op-ed in the Washington Post entitled “Stop repeating the heresy of declaring the United States a ‘Christian nation.’”

Wearing a trucker hat, camo pants, and a T-shirt repping the Brooklyn noise-rock band Sannhet, Stevens is casual and candid as he talks about the strange reality we all now live in, why it’s important for artists to speak out, and howPlanetarium isn’t really about the planets after all.

Pitchfork: You originally performed Planetarium live in 2012—why release the project as an album now?

Sufjan Stevens: We didn’t intend on waiting so long to make it available, but I’m glad we did, because it makes a lot of sense now—it feels relevant to where we are in the world to be thinking about really fundamental, primal things like peace and war, good and evil, the sacred and the profane. Because in the worlds of Roman and Greek mythology, there’s such an investigation of meaning.

If you just read the Planetarium lyrics, with all your allusions to gods and goddesses, you wouldn’t even really know the planets were involved.

Yeah, well, it really isn’t about the solar system. That’s just a superficial concept, a way of organizing it. When we were developing ideas for Planetarium, we were basically all just contributing sketches, and then collaborating and recording them, and then categorizing them. We had to give them names to post on the Dropbox, so we just started using astrology terms, and that actually influenced me when I started writing the lyrics—I just started riffing off of astrology, and then eventually that segued into mythology. Then I thought, Fuck it, let’s just sing about the planets. It’ll give us something very solid and substantial and iconic to meditate on while we develop this project.

We couldn’t call it The Planets, though, because Gustav Holst’s The Planets is just so historic, important, and canonical. So we called it Planetarium, which is like a man-made environment. Anything could happen in a planetarium: They do performances in there, there could be presentations about dark matter and energy, or a specific planet, or even about the history of the Earth. It was a nice open-ended opportunity for us to think big.

And then to construct all the lyrics I had to think really small and specific, to minerals, gases, helium, hydrogen, the red dust on the face of Mars. I remember carrying around a dog-eared reference dictionary of Greek and Roman mythology, highlighting all kinds of strange four-syllable words to use in the songs. Sometimes it would just be an obsession over a phrase, or a word. In the song “Venus,” the description of Venus’ buttocks is “callipygian,” which means “well-shaped ass.” I was like, “I’ve got to use that word.”

Roman and Greek mythology is based on magic and fantasy, but also combined with science and astronomy. It’s like fable and science. It’s an exciting and strange explanation of the universe.

At this point, it feels like ideas of science and faith are often at odds with each other—did you see the recent March for Science?

It’s so strange that that’s necessary. There’s a polarization that’s occurring now that is really oversimplified: There is a God or there isn’t a God. We’ve lost the management of accommodation for multiple readings of the world. I think it’s because social media, TV, and everything creates a chaos that’s somehow cultivated this weird duality of you either believe or you don’t believe. You just become isolated in your opinions.

You’ve always let your work do the heavy lifting as far as your overall worldview, but considering your recent blog posts touching on immigration and faith and decency, do you feel more comfortable putting yourself out there in that way right now?

I do feel that, now more than ever, we have to take responsibility for ourselves and our beliefs, and be able to manage our own personal doctrine. We have a responsibility to communicate that now because there does seem to be an attack on common sense and dignity. My work speaks for certain convictions and persuasions, and I don’t want to muddle that with any soapboxing or politicizing, but at the same time it’s important to provide reminders of what’s valuable, just in case we’ve really sunk so low that we’ve forgotten the true essence of what it means to be a human and to be humane.

My work speaks for that, but now it’s important for artists and musicians to stop and take stock of what we’re saying and doing, and how we’re living. Does it measure up? Is it substantial? Does it matter? Is it meaningful? Whether I like it or not, my role is to communicate my beliefs, my convictions, my stories, and my own personal narrative to a listener. There’s a responsibility in that mode of communication. I can no longer be frivolous about what I say, and what I sing, and how I speak.

Yeah, it was just a blog rant.

But nothing is just a blog rant anymore.

Yeah, if a Tumblr rant becomes an op-ed piece, then what does that say about the world we live in? We have a president who’s tweeting nonsense. The bar has been lowered, so I might as well get involved. It’s like, shit or get off the pot, really—say something meaningful or get out of the way and let someone else say it. That’s how I feel now. I have nothing to lose. So what if I lose some fans? It’s fine.

You’ve built up this reputation as a credible human being and artist over the years—are you OK with the idea of people looking to you as a kind of spiritual guide?

Not at all. I don’t entertain those thoughts, but I do feel a sense of duty, a responsibility in my work. I believe it does speak for truths, and for beauty and love, and eternal, hopefully dignified things. But it’s the work that’s communicating that, not me. Even though I’m the author, I sort of relinquish full responsibility of the nature of that message because it’s much larger and more complicated and more nuanced than I could ever account for. Even in Planetarium, I feel like I was desperately gathering words together to make deadline, and a lot of it is abstract, but some of it has a powerful message that even I can’t be fully responsible for. It feels like it’s in the ether.

Artists can be categorized as political leaders, and sages, and prophets, but the work outlives the vessel of the work. The poetry outlives the poet. I really believe in that. But while I’m alive, I’ll keep at it. I feel incredible gratitude to have the opportunity to create and to be part of that process. Especially now that I’m older, I don’t really feel like I have to prove myself anymore, I just have to be a steward and try to make the best work possible. If I can also be an example, great, but really it’s about the creative endeavor for me. It never feels easy, but it always feels necessary to be creating work and making music.  

It’s funny, I feel less and less a personal misery and grief now—maybe I worked that out on [Carrie & Lowell]. Now I feel a universal dread that I had never felt before. It feels like it’s not my problem, it’s our problem.

Is that better or worse?

It’s just different. It’s new and unfamiliar. I still have personal dread—believe me, I still wake up wondering why am I here and not wanting to get out of bed. But it’s so familiar now that I understand it and I can identify it and it doesn’t have any persuasion over me anymore, because I figured out how to work with it. But now there’s this new thing. The big question: Who are we? But I like that. I like using the plural pronoun now. It feels like I’m growing up.

Given the overall sense of doom surrounding a lot of the news right now, what do you think about the modern impetus to travel to Mars?

The apocalypse is overplayed, to be honest. In this project’s investigation of the solar system, I discovered that the most abundant place known in the universe is right here, right now. Our bodies contain more biodiversity than is known to exist anywhere else. We’re fucking it all up for sure, but it’s all been fucked up before, many times over. And that’s the strength and the power of this beautiful abundant space craft we live on called Earth. She’s a real survivalist, and we’re lucky to be on her team, in spite of our worst intentions. In this political climate it is easy to start feeling claustrophobic, but that’s just a sensation, it’s not reality.

Interview || Ryan Dombal || Pitchfork 📷Andrea Morrison

[pamphletstoinspire]

Catholic Physics - Reflections of a Catholic Scientist - Part 52

Laudato Si, "The Curate's Egg" I. The Excellent Parts

Story with image:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/catholic-physics-reflections-scientist-part-52-harold-baines/?published=t

Bishop: "I'm afraid you've got a bad egg, Mr Jones"; Curate: "Oh, no, my Lord, I assure you that parts of it are excellent!" - From "True Humility" by George du Maurier, originally published inPunch, 9 November 1895. (See story with image)

"(1) He [the Pope] cannot speak as a private theologian but in his official capacity as vicar of Christ and head of the Church; (2) He must officially define a doctrine relating to faith or morals (unfortunately, the pope is not infallible when it comes to science, politics, weather, and the outcome of sporting events); and (3) The pronouncement must not be directed only to a single individual or particular group of people, but it must be promulgated for the benefit of the entire Church" Patrick Madrid, The Papacy and Galileo

"Every judgment of conscience, be it right or wrong, be it about things evil in themselves or morally indifferent, is obligatory, in such wise that he who acts against his conscience always sins." St. Thomas Aquinas. III Quodlibet 27.

There has been much heat and just a little light engendered by Pope Francis's recent Encyclical, Laudato Si. Unlike many who have either praised or condemned Laudato Si, I have read the whole work, not once but three times. What I propose to do in this post is to list, with minimal comment, the sections that I find laudatory (that's a pun, son) and then in a second post, the parts that I find questionable or objectionable. The Encyclical is 184 pages, so it will be necessary to focus selectively on the material.

THE EXCELLENT PARTS

Pope Francis enjoins against abortion and the culture of death, and promotes the value of the family, as has been done in previous encyclicals by other Popes.

When we fail to acknowledge as part of reality the worth of a poor person, a human embryo, a person with disabilities – to offer just a few examples – it becomes difficult to hear the cry of nature itself; everything is connected. Item 117.

The sheer novelty involved in the emergence of a personal being within a material universe presupposes a direct action of God and a particular call to life and to relationship on the part of a “Thou” who addresses himself to another “thou" Item 81.

Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion. How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is un comfortable and creates difficulties? “If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of the new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away." Item 120, quote from Caritates in Vertate, 2009.

I would stress the great importance of the family, which is “the place in which life – the gift of God – can be properly welcomed and protected against the many attacks to which it is exposed, and can develop in accordance with what constitutes authentic human growth. In the face of the so-called culture of death, the family is the heart of the culture of life”.  Item 213

Pope Francis calls us on us to reject consumerism, not to rely solely on technology, and to focus on that which has human values.

Furthermore, when media and the digital world become omnipresent, their influence can stop people from learning how to live wisely, to think deeply and to love generously. In this context, the great sages of the past run the risk of going unheard amid the noise and distractions of an information overload. Item 47

“while it is true that an unequal distribution of the population and of available resources creates obstacles to development and a sustainable use of the environment, it must nonetheless be recognized that demographic growth is fully compatible with an integral and shared development” Quoting the Pontifical Council for Justice Peace(483). Item 50

Each of us has his or her own personal identity and is capable of entering into dialogue with others and with God himself. Our capacity to reason, to develop arguments, to be inventive, to interpret reality and to create art, along with other not yet discovered capacities, are signs of a uniqueness which transcends the spheres of physics and biology. Item 81

The basic problem goes even deeper: it is the way that humanity has taken up technology and its development according to an undifferentiated and one-dimensional paradigm. This paradigm exalts the concept of a subject who, using logical and rational procedures, progressively approaches and gains control over an external object. This subject makes every effort to establish the scientific and experimental method, which in itself is already a technique of possession, mastery and transformation. It is as if the subject were to find itself in the presence of something formless, completely open to manipulation Item 106

It cannot be maintained that empirical science provides a complete explanation of life, the interplay of all creatures and the whole of reality. This would be to breach the limits imposed by its own methodology. If we reason only within the confines of the latter, little room would be left for aesthetic sensibility, poetry, or even reason’s ability to grasp the ultimate meaning and purpose of things. Item 199

Pope Francis calls on us to enter into a relationship with Christ in the Eucharist.

It is in the Eucharist that all that has been created finds its greatest exaltation. Grace, which tends to manifest itself tangibly, found unsurpassable expression when God himself became man and gave himself as food for his creatures. The Lord, in the culmination of the mystery of the Incarnation, chose to reach our intimate depths through a fragment of matter. He comes not from above, but from within, he comes that we might find him in this world of ours. In the Eucharist, fullness is already achieved; it is the living centre of the universe, the overflowing core of love and of inexhaustible life. Joined to the incarnate Son, present in the Eucharist, the whole cosmos gives thanks to God. Indeed the Eucharist is itself an act of cosmic love. Item 236

THE PARTS THAT ARE EXCELLENT BUT MAY GO BAD

In the first sections of Laudato Si Pope Francis exhorts us to be one with nature and to realize God in His creation, emulating Saint Francis in his paean to Brother Sun and Sister Moon.   There is much beautiful in these sections, and I emphasize with them.  I recall the times more than 70 years ago when I lay underneath the big trees in Yosemite (as a summer Forest Service worker), or sat in the Griffith Planetarium marveling at the night sky in other times and other places.

He cites the works of past Popes who have been concerned about the environment, Paul VI, Saint John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and quotes at length the remarks of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew:

At the same time, Bartholomew has drawn attention to the ethical and spiritual roots of environmental problems, which require that we look for solutions not only in technology but in a change of humanity; otherwise we would be dealing merely with symptoms. He asks us to replace consumption with sacrifice, greed with generosity, wastefulness with a spirit of sharing, an asceticism which “entails learning to give, and not simply to give up. It is a way of loving, of moving gradually away from what I want to what God’s world needs..."  Item 9, Quoting from Lecture at the Monastery of Ulstein,

I can't quarrel with any of those statements.  What concerns me, however, is that they are adopted and corrupted by those who do not believe in a Creating God, but instead worship the creation--Gaia, Mother Earth.*  We see the farmers in San Joaquin Valley in California struggling to produce food--their water supply has been diverted to the San Francisco Bay to preserve (presumably) a small fish, the snail darter.  One extreme faction of the Green worshipers of Mother Earth would have human reproduction minimized or eliminated.  Thank God, Pope Francis spoke against that.

MORE TO COME

In the post to follow, I will present what Pope Francis has to say on the relation of politics and economics to the environment and climate science.  And I'll explain why I disagree with many of these positions.

*A comment on this post published in another blog (William Briggs, Statistician to the Stars) remarked that I had the order of support mixed up--Pope Francis is following the Greens and Gaia worshippers, rather than the converse.   Indeed, he had Naomi Klein, invited to Rome, to help support his campaign against global warming.  Naomi Klein holds all the popular, extreme left/radical views. She is anti-capitalist (nationalize the industries), anti-Israel, pro AGW, and very probably a pro-abortion advocate. Here’s a quote–population control relevant-from an interview:

“Well, to be honest, for a long time, I just couldn’t see a future for a child that wasn’t some, like, Mad Max climate warrior thing. And, you know, I’d joke about it with my husband, like, you want to have a little climate warrior? [laughter] And it seems like that was the best thing I could imagine for a child. I couldn’t see a future that wasn’t just incredibly grim — maybe I’d seen too much sci-fi and read too much climate science. But I just couldn’t see it. ”

So I wonder what sort of conversations Pope Francis and Naomi Klein will have about “be fruitful and multiply”…there are some inconsistencies with what is good in the Encyclical, arguing against population control, and inviting Naomi Klein to Rome.

From a series of articles written by: Bob Kurland - a Catholic Scientist