#upon reflection all 6 of these men are either catholic or raised catholic likely

[triviareads]

hi! do you have recs for m/m contemporary romance with lots of good sex, or m/m erotica? thank you! :)

Hi! I do have some recs! I don't read a lot of contemporary m/m (recently went on a Kate Meader hockey player/firefighter binge but none of them really hit for me) but here are some stand-outs:

Saint by Sierra Simone: I'm perpetually reccing this woman's books and for good reason. This one was a lot more slow burn than the first two in the Priest series (equally contemplative though, if not even more) but the pay-off was FANTASTIC. It's all about Aiden, who is now a monk, reconnecting with his now-engaged ex boyfriend Elijah. They go on a road trip to visit monasteries that have breweries I believe. I do need to reread but I distinctly remember vows of silence and chastity (and yes, a chastity cage was used).

The Prince by Tiffany Reisz: I'd strongly recommend reading her Original Sinners series in order (this is the 3rd) but this is the book that delves into the genesis Soren and Kingsley's relationship at their New England Catholic boarding school (!!). Brilliantly written. Younger Soren is a delight and terrifying to read (but Kingsley is.... deeply into that). Please heed the trigger warnings before you read because there is dubcon and mentions of rape/incest.

Wow, I just recced 2 Catholic-centric books. Huh. Well here's a third (more Catholic-adjacent but Soren is a priest so-):

The Return by Tiffany Reisz: Read The Prince, then read The Chateau (if you want; I didn't), then read The Return. Soren and Kingsley are older in this one, their relationship is.... less shaky, I'd say, compared to the present-day scenes in The Prince. Soren and Kingsley in France visiting an old, uh, acquaintance, and you get to see their more mature relationship (Soren's mellowed with age). The classic Tiffany banter is still there, as always, as are the classic Tiffany sex scenes (meaning, mind the TWs).

Mafia Target by Mila Finelli: I read Mafia Mistress my junior year of college and I'd been waiting for Giulio to get a book of his own since then and this was fucking fantastic. Giulio is the son of a mafioso and Alessio is the assassin sent to, well, assassinate him. Can an assassin turn into a simp? The answer is a resounding YES. The sex between these two is excellent (and plentiful since you did ask for "lots of good sex"), and tbh it's just very funny to see these two falling for one another despite all the death threats (on all sides; there's the assassination sitch, there's external mafia shit, daddy does a boyfriend beatdown at some point, etc.).

[cursefelled]

really  LONG  CHARACTER  SURVEY.

RULES.  repost ,   don’t  reblog  ! good  luck  !

BASICS.

FULL  NAME: Trevor Cristian Belmont

NICKNAME/S: Cub (as used by his mother)

AGE: 23

BIRTHDAY: August 19th

ETHNIC  GROUP: Romanian

NATIONALITY: French Romanian

LANGUAGE/S: Romanian, French, Greek, Gaelic, Breton

SEXUAL  ORIENTATION: Pansexual (polyamorous)

ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION: Panromantic (polyromantic)

RELATIONSHIP  STATUS: Single (later married to Sypha Belnades)

CLASS: Upper middle class

HOME TOWN / AREA:   Born in the valleys of the Bucegi Mountains, south of Brașov at the border between Wallachia and Transylvania.

CURRENT  HOME: House Belmont, still located near the Bucegi Mountains

PROFESSION: Monster Hunter

PHYSICAL.

HAIR: Long, straight and shoulder length, parted slightly off to the right and a deep rich brown. Smooth in texture, soft and with a lot of shine as well as being thick in volume.

EYES: Pale steel blue, upturned in shape with pronounced and long eyelashes.

NOSE:  Straight and relatively narrow, but otherwise average

FACE:  Diamond shaped.

LIPS:  Slightly downturned lip shape when at rest, slightly more pronounced cupid’s bow

COMPLEXION: Olive in the warmer month when he spends more time in the sun, though generally somewhat fair with a warm undertone.

BLEMISHES: Freckles that cluster on the small of his back and between his shoulder blades

SCARS: A large scar spanning the length of his face on the left hand side, a prominent scar running diagonally from collarbone to the side of his ribs over the right pectoral, and an entry/exit wound scar on his left pectoral and beside his shoulder blade on his back. Numerous other small scars.

TATTOOS:  A runic tattoo in the shape of the Othala rune that all Belmonts have to use certain artefacts Leon brought with them into Wallachia.

PIERCINGS: Nipple piercings (post-CoD)

HEIGHT:   6′0″ (185 cm)

WEIGHT: 176 lbs (80 kg)

BUILD:  Tall, muscular and lean.

FEATURES:  Strong jaw and cheekbones but a rounder, softer chin, strong angular brows.

ALLERGIES: None

USUAL  HAIR  STYLE: Usually worn down loose, sometimes tied back/up when at work with labor-intensive tasks or it’s too hot to have it down and in or around his face.

USUAL  FACE  LOOK:  Often either stern, cool and focused with slightly furrowed brows, closed lips and an intense gaze or proud, smirking and confident with arched brows and an air of challenge in his expression.

USUAL  CLOTHING: When at rest at home, generally just a pair of high waisted pants with a belt and a loose fitting shirt with rolled back sleeves that he wears open on his chest. His hunting outfit as we all know consists of a numerous elaborate parts like chains, belts, thigh-high boots, a shirt with a wide collar and ruffled sleeves, a leather corset/bodice with laces and straps, a cross-body belt and his signature split tail coat.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR/S: His fear used to be that of losing his home and his family when they were driven out of society by the church, fearing worse consequences would come upon them for their perceived wrong-doings. His fear as an adult is that the fickle natures of men might once again twist the fortune of his family to repeat the same mistakes once Dracula is defeated and within the peace that follows, people again forget they had once depended on the Belmonts for safety. He does not want history to repeat again so as that his children will suffer the ostracism that he did.

ASPIRATION/S: To help preserve and cement the Belmont name as one that is honourable and worthy in the eyes of their people, to raise a family of his own to continue the Belmont bloodline and to pursue greater knowledge to add to his family’s archive. He is very interested in learning all varieties of skills and practices to bolster the Belmont’s already impressive collection of writings and wisdoms.

POSITIVE  TRAITS: Loyal, generous, courageous, strong-willed, compassionate, protective, intelligent, considerate

NEGATIVE  TRAITS:  Competitive, stubborn, cocky, brash, hot-tempered, curt, impatient, commanding

ZODIAC:  Leo

TEMPERAMENT:   Choleric

SOUL  TYPE / S:   Warrior

ANIMALS: Stallion, bull, wolf, falcon

VICE  HABIT/S: Trevor’s largest fault is that he is an adamant fixer. When something is bothering someone he cares about, he has a habit of jumping in to try and solve it or hush up the person’s concerns by telling them what he thinks is the solution or otherwise trying too hard to reassure them that the problem is not as great as it seems. While this is well intentioned, often what the person wants is just to be heard and to reflect on the problem with him, not for Trevor to try to shoot it down as quickly as possible. A someone who often is required to take control of most situations, it can be a little difficult for Trevor to temper his desire to immediately fix a problem rather than letting himself and the person mull over it properly.

FAITH: Catholic

GHOSTS?: Yes.

AFTERLIFE?:  Yes

REINCARNATION?:  Very likely.

ALIENS?:  Maybe?

POLITICAL  ALIGNMENT:  Lawful Good

ECONOMIC  PREFERENCE:  Despite the opulence of Belmont Manor’s appearance, Trevor lives by considerably humbler means in a lot of his day to day life, hunting and preparing food for himself, helping to make most of the things he and his family need and tending to their livestock and animals himself.

SOCIOPOLITICAL  POSITION:  N/A

EDUCATION  LEVEL: Well and thoroughly educated in several manners of combat and hunting, fluent in a handful of languages while being somewhat competent in others, educated in numerous knightly values and teachings that were passed down from Leon through to his descendants. Efficient with magic and several weapons with some understanding of alchemy.

FAMILY.

FATHER:  Living, age 40

MOTHER:  Living, age 45

SIBLINGS: None

EXTENDED  FAMILY:   None that he is aware of

NAME  MEANING/S:  Trevor translates to “from the large village”, whereas Belmont translates to “beautiful mountains.”

HISTORICAL  CONNECTION?:  Connected to Leon Belmont who was once hailed as the greatest knight in all of France, the historical patriarch to their clan who abandoned his title and knighthood to begin a legacy of vampire hunters.

FAVOURITES.

BOOK:  His ancestor’s journals.

MOVIE:  He hasn’t had the pleasure.

5 SONGS: 1, Mars by Sleeping at last, 2. Wolf by First Aid Kit, 3. The Valley by The Oh Hello’s, 4. Steel for Humans by Marcin Przybyłowicz, 5. Iron by Woodkid

DEITY: Hades

MONTH:  August

SEASON:  Summer

PLACE:  Mountains, forests, glades, meadows, the observatory of Belmont Manor

WEATHER: Warm and balmy weather in the early summer

SOUND:  The sound of birds and wind in the trees, the rivers in the woodland, the sound of the fire crackling in the hearth, conversations from another room.

SCENT/S:   Spice, pine, mountain air, cooking, herbs.

TASTE/S:  Bold, sharp, whole, rich and savoury flavours.

FEEL/S:   Cool hands on his skin, fresh cotton, warm leather, hands in his hair, water running over his hands, caresses to his scars, a breeze through the open window while he lays in bed, sun on his skin.

ANIMAL/S:  Dogs and horses

NUMBER:  10

COLOUR:  Deep earthy tones, browns, beiges, moss or olive greens, warm greys.

[hazinhoodies]

Mal En Point (part i)

KOH!Harrison x Angel!Reader

A/N: this is just the series moodboard now because i love it that much (made by @wazzupmrstark in case you were wondering, she’s amazing) find the teaser in my masterlist :)

Warnings: shit talking the catholic church

Word Count: 1.6k!

You had to think about what would get you out the fastest. Any sin would for sure but it could take a while. You could wear shatnez and it’d take at least a month for anyone to even notice, and even longer for you to be reprimanded. Seven deadly sins it is.

Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Pride, Sloth, Wrath. They’d get you banished faster than you could list them off. It was difficult for you to be envious of anyone in heaven. You didn’t want anything that they had. Whether it was tangible or not, you resented Heaven, so the other six would have to do.

Committing multiple deadly sins is punishable by death, rightfully so, they are the deadly sins after all. Death wasn’t something you wanted. You wanted to get to Hell. Have t=for as long as you could remember. Long enough for it to matter.

For one month, you ate everything in sight, definitely more than you should’ve. It was almost difficult, it made you feel sick for the first days as your body adjusted to its new diet. Your birthday passed. You accepted the gifts and gave little thank you, except to those that were truly amazing, which there never was. Lust had seemed difficult at first, not wanting to bring another person down with you, you opted for your own hand. Whatever works. There were days when you never left the house. Stayed in, too lazy to go out. People began to notice when you raised your voice at the man who had accidentally bumped into you and apologized immediately. As well as when you yelled at a mother who couldn’t seem to get her child in control. Admittedly, you had felt guilty at first. But this was a good thing. You were sure of it.

It went against everything you had ever been taught growing up. Your father, being a clergy member, denied any of what you were doing.  He refused to believe that his daughter could be anything but perfect. You knew the clergy was watching. They always did. Especially once people had stopped talking to you and had started talking about you.

A modern day Lucifer. You’d heard it yourself, while other angels’ eyes fell upon you, your head held high, shoulders pushed back, chin up, wings spread wide behind you.

You held yourself higher the more you heard your name fall from people’s lips and slip into others ears, you took pride in how you looked. Pride. The sin that had sent Lucifer himself down to the fiery pits of Hell. He knew he was pretty, you did too. Could that really be that bad?

Your cold stares and pursed lips towards others only changed when you had been called upon to present yourself to the clergy and justify your action. Your smile grew wide.

You entered the clergy’s office. The large white doors were heavy, the gold handle was cold against your skin. Everything was cold in heaven.

Inside you were met with a long hallway, doors almost exactly like those you had just entered were at the end of the marble pillar-lined hallway. People rushed in and out of various doors on the edge of the room, behind the lines of pillars.

You started up at the painted ceiling. A blue sky painted with every member of the clergy. You picked out your father easily, even from the high ceilings. In his arms was you. It’d been painted thousands of years ago, when you were nearly 150 years old, 6 months old in human years, your wings were centuries away from growing in. Time passes fast in Heaven and Hell. One year in either realm equated to 295 human years. You never understood why you always counted in human years.

You smoothed out your dress as one of the workers escorted you to the large doors in the back. You didn’t need an escort, it was the end of the hall. Besides, you’d been here a billion times as a child.

The golden inlays in the door reflected the light as the opened before you reached it you forced your wings to stay still, fighting the urge for them to flutter excitedly. You entered the room, stepping up onto the small platform in the centre of the room, before the five men who sat at desks that towered over you. In the centre, your father.

“Did you get promoted, father?” You smile up at him, your voice echoed off the walls, making it seem louder than it actually was.

“I wish it was permanent Y/N” He used your full name. Normally he’d call you sweetheart, ducky when you were younger, but occasionally more recently. His favourite was Dove, or Little Dove. You couldn’t pinpoint when he’d started using it, only that he used it more than your real name. “It’s only because this case has to do with you” It was hard to tell from how far away you were, but his eyes were glassy, his eyes red rimmed, his cheeks starting to flush a similar colour. He thanked God that he was far enough away that you couldn’t tell.

The man on his right, Patriarch Abraham, turns to him, you see him say something but you can’t hear what’s said. You notice that your dad’s wings drop for a split second before he fixes his posture, turning towards you.

“Y/N Y/L/N” His voice booms over the room, it hurts your ears slightly. “You’ve been summoned to justify your crime of sinning to the third degree” his voice cracks on ‘sinning’. You never thought about your impact on other people’s lives. But this is all you’ve wanted for centuries. Even if you did care, you’re far too deep now to turn back.

“You have been charged on account of gluttony, greed, lust, sloth, wrath, and pride. How do you plead?”

You know that they know everything. No matter what you say, you’ll get punished. Banished. You take in a deep breath; “Guilty”

Your father shakes his head. Even from so far away you can tell that he’s upset. He probably- no, definitely -prayed that it wasn’t true. That these accusations were meant for someone else.

“You are aware that committing even one of the deadly sins is punishable by banishment to Earth. You would have your wings clipped and be forced to live among the human race” Patriarch Isaac spits out from his desk to your left, the platform spins so you’re directly facing him, his voice continued to echo through the room.

“Yes Patriarch Isaac I am aware”

“Then why do it if you know what the repercussions are?” Patriarch Jacob speaks just as angrily. The platform spins again, your eyes meet his.

“Sir I-“ The platform spins again, you grip the railing and tuck in your wings as they almost catch wind, nearly knocking you over.

“Do you know how this looks on your family? You’ve tarnished the name” Patriarch Richard.

“Sir” It spins once more, you think you might get whiplash if everyone starts shouting over each other like they seem to be so close to doing.

“Do you know how this looks on all of us Ms. Y/L/N?” Patriarch Abraham.

The platform spins back and forth between various desks. All five of the Patriarchs seated above you start shouting. You can hear bits of what everyone saying, piecing together full sentences. The aggressive spinning hurts your head, it feels difficult to breathe.

“Even Lucifer had never committed all seven”

“We haven’t had third degree sinning in multiple millenniums Y/N what have you done”

“You should be banished”

“You are not the daughter I raised” Your father’s voice is heard over the others as they stop. The platform stopping just in front of him you take a deep breath. You fix your hair and ruffle your wings, attempt to get the feathers to lay more comfortably.

“I’m sorry father” He only sighs in response, picking up the quill. He rubs his temple as he stares down at the desk.

“I suppose that perhaps we could reduce the punishment due to the specifics of this case”

“You know we can’t do that. She’s your daughter. It’ll be favouritism” Patriarch Isaac speaks up You expect the platform to turn but it doesn’t. “If anyone else had crimes as severe of these, they would be executed or banished to Hell without a second thought. Left for King Frederick to handle”

“Maybe she can just be banished to Earth? We can-“ He was pleading, cut off by Patriarch Abraham.

“We cannot”

“Father, do not treat me differently than others purely because I am your daughter. I acted out. I sinned. I deserve the banishment” You kept your face stoic. You watched as your father inhaled, signing the paper, the other four signed something on their desks as well.

“Y/N Y/L/N. You have hereby been banished to Hell. Effective by Midnight tonight” A loud bang rung through the room. You nodded, biting back a smile as the platform spun once more, practically forcing you off of it and out the door, where you were escorted out of the building.

You glanced up at the ceiling, the one you’d memorized every detail of. But for the first time, something seemed off about it, you couldn’t quite pin it. You stared at for as long as you could before you were out of the building, etching it into your mind and trying to spot any difference from the one you remembered, but you couldn’t

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[changspain]

Getting arty in Barcelona

I woke up the next day to the Spanish woman’s bare boobs and was suddenly awake. Her partner, who I could see in the reflection of a mirror, was still lounged in bed and laughed when he saw my reaction to her. I had been forced into their sex life whether I liked it or not. She then looked up to see me looking at her and she gave me a dirty stare – I felt that this was a grave misjustice considering they had openly had loud sex in a room of 12 other people, at that point she may as well have asked me to get involved.[1] Luke then came to my bed and said that we should go out and do something. I quickly showered, changed and joined the others in the communal area. I asked the receptionist where the best place to get a cheap bite to eat was and she directed us to a café round the corner. This was our first opportunity to speak Spanish in a real life situation, JUGB entered first and was essentially told what he was having by the waitress and I’m pretty sure he had no idea what it was. The rest of us sat down and she came over to our table – we ordered the sandwich of the day without meat and Luke was annoyingly congratulated by the waitress on his flawless Spanish. My attitude to speaking to someone in Spanish is to blunder in with a huge amount of confidence and leave the conversation utterly bewildered with a deep sense of shame. Whereas Luke carefully prepares the conversation in his head and is patient like a sniper in a nest – he then strikes with precision and accuracy. I’m not quite sure what JUGB plans to do but it always seems to be: say something, panic, say the phrase again in English but with a heavy Spanish accent so thick nobody involved in the situation knows what he is on about. Luke is most definitely the best with me and JUGB lagging behind, but we are still better than Seamus’: “Can I ‘av a botlle of warta mate?”.

After breakfast we went back to the hostel to plan our day. We decided that the best course of action was to head to Sagrada Familia then to Park Guell and finally to the beachfront. We walked to the Sagrada Familia which took about 15 minutes (under my careful leadership and map skills). It is hard to describe our reaction to the Sagrada Familia other than: “Yep, there it is.”. It’s a strange feeling when you actually see a heavily photographed and documented place in reality – I always think it will be somehow better or more awe inspiring but turns out pictures are pretty good at capturing reality[2] so I always find it slightly underwhelming. The Sagrada Familia itself is interesting, it feels like it should be placed at the centre of a theme park or on the set of an alien apocalypse blockbuster. Whatever Gaudi wanted to do the city of Barcelona clearly let him like some sort of Sim City player. I thought that the modernist curves and slightly abrasive spikes represented the Catholic Church more effectively than the regimented and bold architecture of British cathedrals. I felt there was a symmetry between the surrealism of the Sagrada Famila and the surrealism of a fictitious set of principles controlling much of society – just as the Sagrada Famila felt like a governing alien mothership, the Catholic Church very much fufilled the same role. My musings were interrupted by a man selling fake Ray-Bans on a cotton cloth; he said they were very nice and they weren’t bad to be fair to the lad.

We then took the Metro to Park Guell. Whilst on the train Seamus nearly fell asleep, he was working off the back of a 3 day trip to Canada during which, there is photographic evidence of him drinking champagne on stage with DJ Quik. On top of this I’m pretty sure he was battling a stomach bug which he had contracted whilst jumping off bridges – I’m painting a very dynamic character for Seamus but it’s also important to know he spends almost every day sat in a small wooden cabin making music. When at Park Guell we found out it was 7 euros for entry which sickened me to the pit of my being, we all agreed this was a decadent luxury we could ill afford on our budget 20 day trip. As we meandered towards the park we found that you didn’t actually have to pay to have a walk around, only to be let into a sort of inner circle a bit like that circle at the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury that cunts pay for. As we weren’t cunts nor rich we simply walked round the free part of park. As we passed more Gaudi art, men were selling various tat on the side of the path which ranged from bird whistles to a dancing Spongebob[3]. Ivy was enticed by everything they were selling but, like a kid in a candy store, she didn’t possess enough individual wealth to splash out. We reached the centre of the park and were confronted with a brown, contorted set of pillars and, to a certain generation, they were inescapably similar to the Jungle Run set[4]. I did my best kids TV host impression and welcomed the participants to the challenge, then shouted “Right guys let’s go!” and sprinted into the distance. 20m further ahead I turned, expecting to see at least 2 of my friends but was faced by a stony scowl from an elderly American woman and thought that neither she nor my friends were going to get any sick personal games consoles. I waited on a ledge for the four of them to catch up, to be fair to Seamus he was an absolute husk of a man by this point and the going was slow. We gradually hiked up to the highest point. At the zenith of the park was an ant hill shaped raised platform with a path circling it and a crucifix at the top, tourists gathered to take pictures of the Barcelona skyline as the park overlooked the entire city. Dusty rooftops stretched towards a glistening blue sea, an occasional modern skyscraper or spire burst through the desert of red tiling. At the water front a leviathan cruise liner basked in the sunlight surrounded by glass buildings and beaches. Right in the centre of Barcelona was a wooded hill with a magnificent 1800s building sat upon it, I assumed it was some sort of palace or old government building.[5] In the foreground a slightly rundown building had anarchist messages scrawled all over it and women’s faces painted on the walls in the style of British fun fair rides’ art; the style where all the bikini clad women are slightly blurred and heavily airbrushed but really get you in the mood for adrenaline when you’re 2 bottles of Frosty Jack’s deep.[6] The anarchist logo took centrepiece whilst “Fuck the Police” and “Capitalist slaves” lay either side of it. I found it ironic that the people inside the anarchist housing association only knew the cultural significance of the phrase: “Fuck the Police” because of globalist capitalism but if I met them I wouldn’t have mentioned it due to the possible repercussions of getting a lit cigarette rammed in the eye.

Whilst taking in this view, behind me the men selling bric-a-brac had been replaced with a middle aged man wearing zebra leggings playing the guitar. There was never really a tune as such, more of an improvised musical stream of consciousness; like a deranged Miles Davis he would use the chance procedure of different audience members to dictate his performance. This improvisation normally took the form of calling a woman beautiful then screaming “MEOW!” at her for 30 seconds – if you search ‘Turkish man yelling at egg’ on YouTube you will very much get the flavour of this musical display. After taking some pictures and literally running past Miles Davis we took the Metro down to the Dessannes station and walked out onto an avenue right next to the ocean. Me and JUGB saw a signpost for the Maritime Museum and thought it would be a good idea because it would firstly be cool and would be a good opportunity for Seamus to have rest because at that point, around 3pm, he was only present physically and his mind had left him somewhere in the maze of underground train tunnels. Before this resurrection, we needed lunch. We headed for a small supermarket and bought some bread and cheese, Ivy had a liquid lunch of an Estrella which set her back a whopping 85 cents. After walking out into the street I wondered why everyone wasn’t rolling around on the floor knee deep in their own excrement and vomit with alcohol prices so low. I also wondered about the rehydration qualities of beer considering my refreshing orange juice was a whole euro more expensive than Ivy’s beer – I assumed they weren’t very good but a euro is a euro. We ate lunch to the sound of what we assumed was a heroin addict on a heavy come down’s screams. Somebody gave him some juice and he fell asleep shortly after. Luke explained that if he was rich enough to be a heroin addict he would be, I looked at the passed out man and wasn’t so sure.

After lunch, we attempted to head to the Maritime Museum but on our way we passed a modern, white building with its doors open, I’m not sure how or why we entered it we were just drawn to it and we slowly filed in then past the reception then past a curtain into an enormous dark room. Green and purple lights softly scintillated across the room from spotlights way up on the ceiling. Atmospheric ambient music reverberated around the cave room. Seamus identified one of the songs as belonging to Flying Lotus but other than that the music sounded alien. In the centre of the room were 4 leather sofas. Me, Luke and Seamus laid down and Seamus instantly fell asleep. The whole room was entirely peaceful, the experience would not be out of place in an art film about existence or a stylised educational depiction of the beginning of the universe – I wouldn’t bat an eye if I found out the room was based on a Kubrickian vision of death. JUGB and Ivy either became bored or curious and took a glass elevator to the next floor or more fittingly: transcended to higher state of being (that was located on the second floor). After maybe 20 minutes me and Luke rose from our dazed state, decided that trying to wake Seamus from his coma would do more harm than good also transcended to the second floor. The first exhibition was a series of subverted mathematical graphs, the antithesis between pure artistic expression and numerical boundary was interesting but didn’t change my life. The next room consisted of frosted plastic boxes on walls containing gradually changing light schemes. The overall effect was one of harmony and it was aesthetically pleasing but after 30 minutes of atmospheric tranquillity you probably could have shown me and Luke a bouncing ball and we would have came in our pants. The next room was in the same vain as the previous room filled with coloured boxes except this time the pattern of colours projected onto the walls were remotely controlled by two iPads that patrons could play with. None of mine and Luke’s creations were particularly meaningful but the immersion of the installation was enjoyable and we stayed for maybe 10 minutes just smashing our fingers on a bit of glass. The final room was a 45 minute film that seemed to explore the relationship between eye and camera. The entire film was subtitled in Spanish but half of the voiceover was in English and the other half in French. The film itself was a Victorian style physiological autopsy assessment in which a doctor mechanically examined a naked bearded man. The bulk of the film was broken up by shots of a roaming modern camera and other cameramen also with cameras. The English voiceovers were clearly intended to be placed together to form an intellectual essay from a machine’s point of view. The essay included humorous truisms about the fallacies of human experience and an unrelenting rhetoric of technological superiority. It was difficult to understand what the French essay was about but it dealt with many of the same issues, perhaps from the human perspective. The nature of the film was relatively poignant but the thing we all took away from it was the naked guy had massive balls. We went back to the ground floor and found Seamus where we left him, picking him up was similar to the climax of a Studio Ghibli film where the hero must find somebody’s soul deep within a dreamscape and return it to their body – we gave him the kiss of life and left for the beach.

[1] I probably would have.

[2] Who’d have thought it? Not me, personally.

[3] These items were equally impressive. I still don’t know how the Spongebob was dancing.

[4] Not sure exactly which series this specific set item appeared in but I know it was when the angry white dude hosted the show before Michael Underwood got involved and it all went a little bit soft – if those kids aren’t getting those monkeys quick enough they need to fucking know.

[5] This isn’t a travel guide and I am not an expert.

[6] I assume this is the case because there MUST be a reason for this art choice.

[pamphletstoinspire]

Psalm 87 - Interpreted

Daily Plenary Indulgence

Per Vatican II, one of the ways to gain a daily plenary indulgence is to read Scripture for ½ hour per day. For Pamphlets to Inspire (PTI), the Scripture readings that inspire us the most are the Psalms. Reading the Psalms and understanding their meaning can sometimes be challenging. In an attempt to draw more individuals to not only read the Psalms, but to understand their meaning, PTI has found an analysis of their meaning by St. Cardinal Robert Bellarmine. The method that will be employed is to list the chapter and verse, and then provide an explanation of that verse. Your interest in this subject will determine how often we will chat about this topic. The Bible that will be used is the official Bible of the Catholic Church and used by the Vatican, that is, the Douay-Rheims or Latin Vulgate version.

A prayer of one under grievous affliction: it agrees to Christ in His passion, and alludes to His death and burial.

1. O Lord the God of my salvation: I have cried in the day, and in the night before thee.

1. “O Lord the God of my salvation: I have cried in the day, and in the night before thee.” The Prophet, speaking in the person of Christ, repeats and expresses his various terms what our Lord expressed when hanging on the cross, “my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” In order to show the greatness of his sufferings He then, begins with a prayer to God the Father, saying, “O Lord,, the God of my salvation,” from whom, through a speedy resurrection I hope for salvation. ”I have cried in the day and in the night before thee.” He did so on the day of his passion, when he cried on the cross, “my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” And on the night before, when he thrice cried out in the garden, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.”

2. Let my prayer come in before thee: incline thy ear to my petition.

2. “Let my prayer come in before thee: incline thy ear to my petition.” Hear my prayer, I beseech you. Such is the meaning of this verse, full of metaphorical language. “Let my prayer come in before you;” as an orator would be admitted to plead a cause. “Incline thy ear to my petition.” Gave a favorable audience to said orator when he shall have been admitted.

3. For my soul is filled with evils; and my life hath drawn nigh to hell.

3. “For my soul is filled with evils; and my life hath drawn nigh to hell.” This refers to the time when our Savior exclaimed, “my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” For, then, Christ’s soul was evidently “full of evils,” by reason of the great pains all over his body, by reason of his feeling for his mother, who stood by; and then, especially, “his life was drawn nigh to hell;” for he was just about to die, and to go down to the hell where all the souls of the faithful were shut up.

4. I am counted among them that go down to the pit: I am become as a man without help.

4. “I am counted among them that go down to the pit: I am become as a man without help.” Having mentioned the grievous bodily pains that brought him nigh unto death, he now alludes to the contempt and ignominy he suffered in man’s opinion on his death; for they looked upon him as an ordinary mortal, who died reluctantly, who could in no wise help himself, and had nobody else to help him; whereas, though among the dead, he was not subject to death, nor to the captivity of the devil, and could die when he chose, and rise when he chose. “I am counted among them that go down to the pit.” People thought that I had gone down to where the souls are, as all mortals have gone down, forcibly and against my will, and, therefore, looked upon me as no more than any other mortal. “I am become,” in the opinion of the world, “as a man without help;” for they insulted me, wagging their heads, and saying, “he saved others, himself he cannot save.”

5. Free among the dead. Like the slain sleeping in the sepulchers, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cast off from thy hand.

5. “Free among the dead. Like the slain sleeping in the sepulchers, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cast off from thy hand.” Death has dominion over all except myself, I alone am free, and nobody can put me to death against my will; as our Savior says, John 10, “and I have power to lay my life down, and I have power to take it up again.” “Like the slain.” He tells further what men thought about him. They looked upon him “like the slain sleeping in the sepulchers;” “like so many who died of their wounds, and lay in their graves in the sleep of death.” “Whom thou rememberest no more;” whom you, O Lord, care for no longer, as being no longer under your charge as human beings, which he repeats and explains by saying, “and they are cast off from thy hand;” you have forgotten them, and think no more of them, for they are cast off from your providential hand, as having no further existence.

6. They have laid me in the lower pit; in the dark places, and in the shadow of death.

6. “They have laid me in the lower pit; in the dark places, and in the shadow of death.” My enemies, who put me to death, caused my soul to descend to the lower pit, while my body lay in the sepulcher, and the lower pit may be described as “the dark places, and in the shadow of death.” See Psalm 24, 4 hereon.

7. Thy wrath is strong over me: and all thy waves thou hast brought in upon me.

7. “Thy wrath is strong over me: and all thy waves thou hast brought in upon me.” Speaking still in the person of Christ, he now makes use of two metaphors to explain the extent of his sufferings. “Thy wrath is strong over me;” your anger at the sins of mankind, or rather the justice that prompted you to inflict condign punishment on the sinner, was not only poured out upon me, but was made strong and was increased upon me, never to lose hold of me until satisfaction to the last farthing should have been exacted. This is the first metaphor by which we are given to understand that the sufferings of our Lord were as intense as was the anger of Almighty God, by reason of the sins of the whole world. A serious matter for all of us who have been redeemed to reflect on; “and all thy waves thou has brought in upon me.” Another metaphor, in which the passion of our Lord is compared to all the billows of the sea tumbling in upon, overwhelming, and dashing on the rock, one unfortunate creature struggling in the sea. For as our Lord Jesus Christ had undertaken to wipe away the sins of the whole world, it was not one or two tides of sorrow he had to bear up against, but a universal inundation of the sins of mankind.

8. Thou hast put away my acquaintance far from me: they have set me an abomination to themselves. I was delivered up, and came not forth:

8. “Thou hast put away my acquaintance far from me: they have set me an abomination to themselves. I was delivered up, and came not forth.” In addition to his sufferings came the aversion of his acquaintance, and by acquaintance we are to understand all who knew him through his conversation and his teaching, but did not believe him to be either God or the Messias, of whom it is said in John, “he came unto his own and his own received him not.” “Thou has put away my acquaintance far from me,” allowed those who knew me to shun and avoid me; they have set me an abomination to themselves,” they not only held back from me as if they did not know me, but they even execrated me as a deceiver, as a Samaritan, as one possessed by a devil, as a friend of publicans and sinners, all of which we read in the Gospels. This verse may also be applied to his disciples, who may be called his acquaintance; for St. Luke says, Chapter 23, “and all his acquaintances stood afar off;” and in Matthew 26, “and all the disciples leaving him, fled away.” “They have set me an abomination to themselves,” was accomplished and Peter, “who began to curse and swear that he knew not the man;” for, though St. Peter in reality had no such hatred of Christ in his heart, he professed it, however, when he swore so vehemently that he had no knowledge of him. Even his disciples, before they understood the mystery of his passion, and when they looked upon it as fraught with evil to him and to themselves, considered it an abomination; hence they said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews but just now sought to stone thee, and goest thou thither again?” And when St. Peter heard of his intended passion, he too looked upon it as an abomination, saying, “Lord, be it far from thee; this shall not be unto thee.” “I was delivered up, and came not forth.” I was like one shut up in a prison, without the power of leaving it until I should have suffered what had been decreed by you.

9. My eyes languished through poverty. All the day I cried to thee, O Lord: I stretched out my hands to thee.

9. “My eyes languished through poverty. All the day I cried to thee, O Lord: I stretched out my hands to thee.” The abundance of tears shed by me weakened and impoverished my eyes. “All the day I cried to thee,” and repetition of the first verse, which is explained more fully by St. Paul, when he says, Hebrew 5, “who in the days of his flesh, offering up prayers and supplications with a strong cry and tears to him that was able to save him from death, was heard for his reverence.” He is said to have cried out “all the day,” because it is explained in the first verse, he cried out both by day and by night; for as the natural day is composed of night and day, so both parts of it may be termed the whole day, though each part may not be entire. “I stretched out my hands to thee” in prayer; or, perhaps, on the cross, that by such an oblation I may obtain a speedy resurrection for myself, and freedom from death everlasting, for my Mystical Body, the Church.

10. Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Or shall physicians raise to life, and give praise to thee?

10. “Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Or shall physicians raise to life, and give praise to thee?” No explanation given.

11. Shall any one in the sepulcher declare thy mercy, and thy truth in destruction?

11. “Shall anyone in the sepulcher declare thy mercy, and thy truth in destruction?” No explanation given.

12. Shall thy wonders be known in the dark; and thy justice in the land of forgetfulness?

12. “Shall thy wonders be known in the dark; and thy justice in the land of forgetfulness?” Speaking still in the person of Christ, it assigns a reason for having asked to be saved from death. These three verses are differently explained. They may be referred to that everlasting death which Christ wished to avert from his faithful; for a reason is assigned why he prays, and wishes for the aversion of such an evil, because God does not, nor ought he, show his wonders to the damned; neither ought they rise to life everlasting, nor will they relate with praise the mercy and truth of God; and, finally, they not only will not declare them, but they will not even know them. An objection to this explanation is the introduction of sepulchers and physicians: sepulchers seem connected with dead bodies, and not with damned souls; and physicians have more connection with the body them with the soul. Another explanation refers these verses to the death of the body, which Christ for himself and for his faithful disciples, while he prays for, and wishes a speedy resurrection for himself and for them; and then the meaning would be: “Wilt thou show wonders to the dead?” I fear death, I desire to live, or that my life may be quickly restored to me and to my faithful; for, the dead, devoid of life or feeling, would in vain behold your wonderful works, that tend so much to your glory, and for which you should so deservedly be thanked, honored, and praised. “Or shall physicians arise to life, and give praise to thee?” The dead are not only devoid of life and feeling, but even all the art and skill of medicine will not raise them or give them life and feeling to render you the tribute of praise. “Shall anyone in the sepulcher declare thy mercy, and thy truth in destruction?” You do not show your wonders to the dead, because they are lying inanimate in their sepulchers, they cannot appreciate them, and therefore, you do not declare your mercy to them, or your wonders, the works of your mercy and your truth. “in destruction,” signifies here, the losing one’s life, and therefore, it is synonymous with lying in the sepulcher, where alone lie the dead. “Shall thy wonders be known in the dark, and thy justice in the land of forgetfulness.” The dead in their sepulchers will not declare your mercy of relate your wonderful things, because they know them not; nor can they know them for they live in the darkness of death, and in the land of forgetfulness, when there is no memory of the past, and consequently no sense of the present. This exclamation is confirmed by the words of King Ezechias, who certainly asked for life in this world, when he said, Isaias 38, “for hell shall not confess to thee, neither shall death praise thee, the living, the living shall give praise to thee, as I do this day.” We have a similar passage in Psalm 113, “the dead shall not praise thee, O Lord, nor any of them that go down to hell, but we that live bless the Lord.”

13. But I, O Lord, have cried to thee; and in the morning my prayer shall prevent thee.

13. “But I, O Lord, have cried to thee; and in the morning my prayer shall prevent thee.” No explanation given.

14. Lord, why casteth thou off my prayer: why turnest thou away thy face from me?

14. “Lord, why casteth thou off my prayer: why turnest thou away thy face from me?” He now shows that the passion of Christ was so decided on by a divine decree, that it could not be changed; and explains at greater length the brief exclamation of our Savior on the cross, “my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” But I, Lord, have cried to thee,” that the chalice of my passion may pass from me; “and in the morning my prayer shall prevent thee;” early enough, in the very morning of beginning of my passion, my prayer shall prevent or anticipate thee; for, though Christ’s prayer in the garden was offered in the night, still, that night was the morning or the beginning of his passion. “Why casteth thou off my prayer?” Why don’t you hear me? Why don’t you cause this chalice to pass from me? “Why turnest thou away thy face from me?” Why do you turn away from me as if I were a stranger? Why do you abandon me? He makes use of all these expressions to give us some idea of the enormity of the sufferings, so repugnant to his human nature; for, absolutely speaking, the Lord wished for and chose such sufferings as a remedy for the sins of mankind; and the Father always heard him in what he wished and asked for.

15. I am poor, and in labors from my youth: and being exalted have been humbled and troubled.

15. “I am poor, and in labors from my youth: and being exalted have been humbled and troubled.” For fear it may be supposed that the passion of Christ lasted only for three hours, or for one day, the Holy Ghost reveals here that his passion was constant during the whole period of his life. For, to say nothing of the chalice of his most bitter death, that was always before his eyes, he was at all times in troubles and difficulties; “I am poor and in labors from my youth;” though in the form of God I was rich and happy; for you, mankind, have I become poor and in difficulties from my childhood. And so he was; witness his birth in a stable, and his flight into Egypt; “and being exalted” on my cross, as on a throne, with my title written over my head, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews,” still “have been humbled,” even unto death, “and troubled,” at the blindness and the ruin of my people; or, “being exalted,” by the people crying out and saying, “Blessed is the king, who cometh in the name of the Lord;” and, for that reason, “have been humbled,” so as to be scourged, and suffered death on the cross; and “have been troubled,” seeing in the blindness of my people.

16. Thy wrath hath come upon me: and thy terrors have troubled me.

16. “Thy wrath hath come upon me: and thy terrors have troubled me.” He assigns a reason for having been humbled after having been so exalted, because God’s anger, by reason of the many and multifarious sins of mankind, came upon him, on Christ himself; for, as Isaias 53, says, “for the wickedness of my people have I struck him;” and, as in 1 Peter 2, says, “who in his own self bore our sins in his body upon the tree.” “Thy wrath hath come upon me,” that was about the come on the wicked, “and thy terrors,” intended for them, “have troubled me;” and hence it was that in the garden he began to fear, and to be sad, and to be heavy, terrified, as he was, by what he was about to undergo for the expiation of sin, and the satisfaction of divine justice.

17. They have come round about me like water all the day: they have compassed me about together.

17. “They have come round about me like water all the day: they have compassed me about together.” He says that the anger of God, and the terror inspired by him, was like the absorbing and swallowing of a human being, as he briefly expressed before when he said, “my soul is filled with evils,” which is more fully expressed here, when he says, they were like a sea all round about him, overwhelming and absorbing him.

18. Friend and neighbor thou hast put far from me; and my acquaintance, because of misery.

18. “Friend and neighbor thou hast put far from me: and my acquaintance, because of misery.” To this heap of misery is added the intolerable one of being alone obliged to drink the bitter chalice, with no one to share with him, to help him in this dreadful calamity. “Thou hast put far from me,” in the height of my sufferings, the “friend and neighbor;” Judas, who went farthest from him, and, from a friend and neighbor, proved an enemy. “And my acquaintance because of mercy;” the apostles themselves, for, “leaving him, they all fled;” and, though St. John and some of the women came to him, instead of diminishing, they only augmented his sorrows. How justly, then, the Lord complains in Isaias 63, “I have trodden the wine press alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a man with me. I looked about, and there was none to help; I sought, and there was none to give aid.”

End of Psalm 87