A lot of "thank you sire, can I have another hot poker up the jacksy?"*

[bending_sickle]

On Thursday, I dressed up according to casual Vatican protocol (a black knee-length skirt and black jacket) and went with my parents to the Vatican. We'd been invited to a concert offered by the Italian President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, to the Pope, on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the current Pontificate.

The concert was in the Paul VI Audience Hall, and wow, it is one huge and gorgeous hall.





I felt a bit out of place, being surrounded by diplomats, politicians and people of the cloth, and a bit awed by the grandness of it all. I'd been at the balcony for Christmas mass with a similar crowd, but this felt a lot more personal, more "the club" kind of thing.



Sickle, slightly awkward. I'm sitting right next to the red carpet, with a clear divider between me and the Pope's path.

The orchestra and choir was on a stage, in front of the statute La Resurrezione ("The Resurrection") by Pericle Fazzini, which was wonderfully lit throughout to match the music's mood.





Everyone was in a hubbub until the Swiss Guard started showing up, indicating that the Pope was about to enter and the event would start. When he did, we all stood up and clapped as he walked down the central, red-carpeted aisle to his seat at the end, where the President would join him. Security wasn't obvious, but it was very much there. Although, of course, all the people in the room had been pre-aproved and checked and all that.



I was the designated photographer for my family, but between the lighting and the steady walk of the Pope, I couldn't get good enough photographs. Besides, I wanted to enjoy the moment and not have to worry about camera work. Thankfully, the Pope walked the aisle a few times.



The President then stood up to give the opening speech.



The concert itself was Vivaldi's Credo RV 591 and Rossini's Stabat Mater. The director was Jesús López Cobos, whom my parent's remebered seeing years ago in concert, back when he had a ponytal.



Then, concert over, orchestra represent!



Now it was the Pope's turn to say a few words.









Photo ops!



The mezzosoprano José Maria Lo Monaco - directly to the left of the Pope - looked especially moved by the Pope's presence. She was all teary-eyed and hands-to-face-in-squeeful-disbelief.

Sickle's Brief Review of Supernatural's "The Man Who Would Be King" 6x20:

• I couldn't watch this episode without pausing and jotting down dialogue and notes. I hardly ever do that, and I was engrossed with the episode to boot, but I really needed to take a breath and process during the episode.
• The episode title kept making me think of two things: 1) X-Men's final scene (or was that the second movie?), where Xavier starts his class discussion on the book, and 2) The Libertine's "The Man Who Would Be King".
• That said, the song ought to be an episodic fanvid. (It's a button I can't switch off, I'm sorry.) These lyrics, for example, work:
  
  Well I hear the words you say...
  But my heart has gone astray
  I watched friendship slip away
  But it wasn't s'posed to be that way
• Castiel: "Let me tell you my story. Let me tell you everything." - I'm not sure I want you to, darling. I want to know what you did, and I want to know why, but I'm scared I won't like it.
• Awkward car scene is awkward.
• Sam's on his own hunt? My ass, Dean. And your own codependent one.
• Man, both Castiel and Dean are lying to each other and it breaks my heart.
• Dean: "You'll call, right? If you get into real trouble?" - Ow, ♥. That right there is Dean begging Castiel to come clean. "You would call. You would tell me. Tell me now, and it'll be alright."
• Trying to figure out the dynamics between Crowley and Castiel is one long headache. I keep trying to figure out who's on-top got the upper hand. (Bad slashy brain! Well, good, but not now.) So it was Castiel who wanted the Mother? Is he the one calling the shots now? Despite Crowley's bossy, "You're distracted. That makes me nervouse," it sure seems like Cas is in charge.
• Castiel: "I'm holding up my end." - Oh, angel dearest...
• Crowley: "Forgive me, but I think you might have a little conflict of interest here." - Ya think? The whole everything of Castiel working with Crowley is a conflict of interest, is rubbing against the very grain of the angel. Keep you eyes on the prize, right, Cas? Ends vs. Means? *heart aches*
• Crowley: "...the Winchester's guardian." - ♥ Yes he is. Their very own guardian angel.
• Castiel: "...taught me how to stand up, what to stand for, and what generally happens when you do." - That last clause is so sad, how he learned suicidal determination from the boys.
• Castiel: "Sometimes we're lucky enough to be given a warning. This should've been mine." - Remember how you were asking God for a sign? Yeah, apparently even you think he's already given you one. Don't get greedy and ask for another one.
• That said, Absent Father theme is breaking my heart.
• Crowley: "Am I the only game piece on the board who doesn't underestimate those denim-wrapped nightmares?!" - How much do I love Crowley not underestimating the Winchesters? So much. Listing off the Big Bad they've killed? Reminds me of just how awesome they've been. Crowley being all McShouty? WIN.
• Castiel: "Just find Purgatory. If you don't, the both of us will die again and again until the end of time." - o.0 What does that mean, angel? What does that mean?!?
• Bobby's been doing a lot of torture recently... Torching the demon's bones, trying to get Mother's location, and now with this demon. I don't like it, and I don't like how okay he is with it. Or the boys, for that matter. Where's the Dean who said, "Torture? Oh, so, we're-we're torturing again." The Dean who was so horried at his future self going that way? Or even his present self, in On the Head of a Pin, who'd almost rather let the apocalypse go on if it meant not torturing.
• Castiel: "And the worst part of it... Dean, trying so hard to be loyal, with every instinct telling him otherwise." - It is the worst part, or at least the most painful part of the episode. Dean's rock-hardsolid faith in Castiel is breaking my heart. There's so few people he believes in 100%, that him just begging for some reason Crowley is alive other than Castiel's betrayal, hurts.
• Castiel's Fuck! eyeroll when the demon gave up Ellsworth's name was greatly loved.
• 0.0 Castiel. Grabbed. Demon smoke. Ladies and gentlemen, we can has badass. (It also reminded me of leonidaslion's The Fetters of Fenrir and made me very, very happy.)
• Castiel: "I did it to protect the boys. Or to protect myself. I don't know anymore." - The boys. THE BOYS. *draws hearts around the words and squees* *cries a little over Castiel's doubt*
• Castiel: "...when my motives used to be so pure." - *heart breaks* Castiel being so self-aware of his fall - or should that be Fall - is painful.
• Castiel: "I'm back." - Castiel's happy jaunty little almost-smile when he made it to heaven alive? Adorable. It's like he's about to break out in Numfar's Dance of Joy.
• The angels looking on Castiel as the new Chosen One - the Angel Who Lived - is both sad and scary. Sad, because of the position it puts Castiel in, and scary, because of the position he might be tempted to take.
• Castiel: "God wants you to have freedom."
  Rachel: What does he want us to do with it? - *Dalek voice* I DEMAND ORDERS! ...ahem. Honestly, though, this exchange is incredibly sad.
• Castiel: "Freedom is a length of rope. God wants you to hang yourself with it." - *head tilt* Are you saying you think God is letting you out to dry, Cas? That he's pulling your wings off one feather at a time like a child with a fly? That now that you have free will - a human trait - yet are still an angel, you're doomed? *cries*
• Castiel: [to Raphael] "You never look like you're joking." - Bwahaha! Oh, I needed that.
• Sam holding his shotgun over his shoulder is damn hot, just FYI.
• Bobby: "We talked about this, Dean."
  Sam: "Yeah, Dean-"
  Dean: "No, you talked about this. I listened. This is Cas, guys." - Break my heart some more, why don't you, Dean?
• Sam's one-eyed peek after his prayer to Cas was adorably taken from Dean. Oh, little brother ♥
• Dean: "Cas is busy :( " - Oh, Dean... You never really thought Cas would ever say no to you, did you?
• Castiel: Of course, Crowley wouldn't like it, but on the other hand, they were my friends." - \o/ He's so straighforward sometimes, it's adorable.
• Castiel: "...Superman going to the Dark Side." - Oh snap! Oldest mistake in the book, Cas! Dean's face when he caught that made me think one thought: RUN, Castiel. Run like fuck.
• Crowley: "You can't have friends. Not anymore." - It brings home just how alone Castiel has been all this time. Even with soldiers, even with Rachel as his lieutennant, even with his Crowley as his strategic partner and necessary evil, he's got no one. Had he told the boys first, had he loved Dean - yes, loved, damnit - just a little bit less and dragged him out of retirement, things might've been different. But now it's just him trying to keep himself together and afloat.
• Crowley: "Happy endings for all of us, with all possible entendres." - Have I mentioned how much I love Crowley's innuendos?
• Crowley: "God's favourite buddy boy. You've got what they call 'sex appeal'." - Yes. Yes he does. Unf. (The conflicted angst is just icing on the cake for me.)
• Castiel: "You're asking me to be the next Lucifer." - Aslkdjflskdf! I love that Castiel caught onto that angle so fast, and I'm sad that the audience was right. Well, not so much sad as terrified for what it all means.
• Crowley: "Fifty thousand souls from the pit. You can take them up to Heaven." - Castiel questions the admittance of Raphael's borrowed Heaven - Ken Lay's. Crowley says Castiel can take the souls in hell to heaven. What if Ken Lay's admittance was orchestrated or his Hell-bound verdict over-ruled by Raphael? What if other souls have been moved around too?
• Castiel: "The long road of good intentions." - Look for Sam's shoe. I hear he lost it on the way to Hell. Wow, that was harsh of me. Sorry, angelcakes!
• Seeing the boys put Castiel in an angel-circle breaks my heart. And I can see it does the same to Dean's.
• Castiel: "Just let me go, let me out, and I can-" - His desperation to get out of the circle, how much it hurts him to be so visibly in the wrong, in the eyes of the Winchesters, is heartbeaking.
• Apparently I cannot overuse the word "heartbreaking" enough in this review. Everything is heartbreaking.
• Dean: "You gotta look at me, man." - Castiel instantly does so, and his freaked-out floundering stops. Oh ♥ He's your anchor and moral compass and I mean that even in a non-shippy way.
• Dean: "Look me in the eye and tell me you're not working for Crowley." - He couldn't beg any more if he were down on his knees. And Castiel can't lie. And Dean's face when he loks away is the face of a broken heart, whereas Sam looks sadly resigned and Bobby merely annoyed.
• Sam: "Trust you? How in the hell are we supposed to trust you now?"
  Castiel: "I'm still me. I'm still your friend." - I just... *cries* The utter conviction that that will forgive everything, that that will make it okay... He really is a child - a "wayward orphan" - who still belives in words with capital letters, like Honour and Loyalty and Friendship.
• Sam: "Well, no offense, but you did a pretty piss-poor job of it." - Like I said to mrscastielftw: Um, Sam, what part of "near-impossible" do you not understand? You're lucky you've got all your fingers and toes! And Castiel's face at that is the face of one who's just been stabbed in the chest.
• Does the fact that Castiel couldn't bring out Sam's soul explain why he doesn't have an angel-handprint? And is that also why Castiel and Dean have a more profound bond?
• Sam: "Did you bring me back souless...on purpose?"
  Castiel: "How could you think that?"
  Sam: "Well, I'm thinking a lot of things right now, Cas."
  Castiel: [cannot even verbalize how this makes him feel] - I can, though. See my heart. See it break.
• Dean: "No, you had a choice. You just made the wrong one." - He made the best choice he could, Dean. Don't you dare beat him up over that.
• Dean: "Why else would you keep this whole thing secret, huh? Unless you knew that is was wrong." - Part of me agrees, but the other part says that maybe he was trying to protect you. Just a thought.
• Castiel: "It sounds so simple when you say it like that. Where were you when I needed to hear it?" - Castiel's face and voice saying this hurts me. And you know Dean, Castiel: he's all about the small picture. And sometimes you need to see the trees and not the forest so you don't chop them all down.
• Dean: "I was there. Where were you?" - While it was Castiel's choice not to involve Dean in the deal, it was Dean's decision to retire from hunting, and Castiel was just respecting that. It doesn't sound like Dean once gave thought to how Castiel was holding up, being sheriff of Heaven. (Not that I blame him, being out of his mind with grief.) But the thing is, Dean wasn't there.
• Castiel: "I can't turn back now. I can't." - What ball have you started rolling, angel?
• Dean: "It's not too late! Damnit, Cas, we can fix this!"
  Castiel: "Dean, it's not broken." - I have two reactions to this: 1) Please be talking about your relationship, pleasepleaseplease, 2) How's the view up there from your high-horse, boys? You think that with a five-minute recap you know better about Castiel's troubles and plans than he does? Give the angel a little credit.
• Crowley: "You know what I see here? The new God. The new Devil. Working together." - This brings me echoes of Sam, and how one should start paying attention when angels and demons agree. The angels - some of them, at least - think Castiel is the Chosen One, and Crowley thinks the same. The fact is, Castiel is, apparently, God's favourite. But then, gods aren't always benevolent, and maybe Crowley has his titles mixed up.
• Castiel: "Enough. Stop. Talking. And get out of my sight." - *shudder* Our angel's turned into cold hard steel. (Well, that or he's one second away from breaking down into tears.)
• Crowley: "What are you, Castiel? What exactly are you willing to do?" - That's his season arc in a nutshell, isn't it? He's being defined - molded by his actions. Trial by hellfire and holyfire and all that.
• Angel-proof house! I've been reading fics describing this since season 5! It's lovely to see it Kripked! Although I love that Bobby got some points wrong. Or did he? Our angel may not be 100% angel anymore. He's a fish that learned poetry, an angel who knows about freedom. He's evolved.
• Castiel: "I want you to understand." - It's all he wants, Dean. Remember the Titanic incident?
• Castiel: "I'm doing this for you, Dean. I'm doing this because of you." - Man up and take responsibility for freeing an angel, Dean. You taught the fish poetry, but you can't leave the lessons half taught. And how many times does Castiel have to say he's doing it for you, personally? That's your leverage, that's what you need to work on to understand what the angel is doing and how to stop him.
• Dean: "I'm asking you not to." - I love that Dean's still all about the small picture, the family picture. The "please, do it for me" picture.
• Dean: "Next to Sam, you and Bobby are the closest thing I have to family. That you are like a brother to me." - First off, Dean, Ben's going to smack you one. Second, you've done a piss-poor job of showing how much of a family you consider Castiel this past season. And thirdly, how adorable and telling is it that Castiel stands up a little straighter, a little prouder, at being called a brother to Dean?
• Dean: "So if I'm asking you not to do something, you gotta trust me, man."
  Castiel: "Or what?" - Let's compare that with Castiel at the dawn of terrestrial life: "I remember being at a shoreline, watching a little grey fish heave itself up on the beach. And an older brother saying, 'Don't step on that fish Castiel, big plans for that fish.'" (Was that a morally grey fish?) Here again is an older brother telling him not to do something, basically just because. ("I'm saying 'don't', just 'cause. I'm asking you not to, that's it.") And now, like Sam in Asylum, Castiel's "gettin' pretty tired of takin' your orders." Because it's only the older brother that can say "Just do it, trust me." The younger - Sam, Castiel - can beg the same, but that rarely worked for Sam, and it's not working for Castiel now.
• That said, Castiel's little yet huge moment of rebellion - saying basically, "What you gonna do 'bout it?" to his Reason personified - is both amazing and heartbreaking. Because it's not just rebellion, it's a declaration of war. Or he's letting Dean declare war on him ("Or I'll have to do what I have to do to stop you.")
• Castiel: "You can't. You're just a man. I'm an angel." - Oh, Castiel... Crowley's going to shout at you so much. "Did you not hear me say 'denim-clad nightmares', or were your feathers in your ear?" Unless he's egging Dean on in one last Call for Help, in the suicidal "stop me" sense of it.
• Dean: "I don't know. I've taken some pretty big fish." - Aslkjlskdfj! Fish! Is Castiel the fish now? Is he the one the older brother shouldn't step on now? The "big plans for that fish" fish?
• I love the editing of Castiel's final talk in the garden. It's the same editing as that used for Jimmy's screaming to Castiel, and for Dean's desperate phonecall in Born Under a Bad Sign when looking for Sam. I just love it when the dialogue continues as a voice-over and the face is silent.
• Castiel: "I believe it's what you would call a "tragedy", from the human perspective. But maybe the human perspective is limited, I don't know." - Well, this human considers it a tragedy, and certainly hopes its perspective is limited and that it isn't a tragedy. Believe me, I'm trying so hard to see the bigger picture.
• Castiel: "You have to give me a sign. Give me a sign." - It's when there's a lack of signs that we need faith, angel.
• Castiel: "Because if you don't, I'm gonna ch-" - Going to ch- what? Change? Challenge? (Oh, and Castiel? Don't threaten God. It can't ever end well for you.)
• In the promo, Castiel also says, "I'm afraid of what I'm becoming," and "Stop me!" Curiously, these lines weren't in the episode. What does that mean for where this is going? For the tone that's been set for Castiel's arc?
• I'm relieved that Castiel got to give his side of the story, that we got to learn about his betrayal of the Winchesters from his point of view. if we'd seen it from the boy's, he would've been the Villain indeed, and it really would have been presented as unforgivable instead of understandable. Sympathetic, rather than the stone the audience would have turned to along with the boys. It gives me hope for his character's arc and reunion with the boys.

Quote of the Day: "I'll Take Famous Murderers for 500" by Watchout! There's Ghosts
You said you never would, but a scar's a proven fact.

Links of the Day:
Supernatural:
spn_deanw's Discussion The Man Who Would Be King
and_ed's Review The Man Who Would Be King - "'Cas, you'll call, right? If you get into real trouble?' - I don't think I've ever heard Dean talk quite that way to Cas, with that much concern.
mrscastielftw's Review The Man Who Would Be King
erivar's Review The Man Who Would Be King - "For starters, since when has Dean regarded Castiel as a family and even a brother ever since this season started? I would have liked a little bit more development on that regard. All that happened tonight was Dean telling when there was never any showing prior. [...] I can count on one finger the many times Dean has shown care towards Castiel and that makes me pity Castiel."
captainlon's Review The Man Who Would Be King - "Dean saying he looks at Cas as a brother. That's sweet enough, but I don't buy that. Neither he or Sam or Bobby treats Castiel differently then a sidekick and calls for him when they need him."
ancastar's Review The Man Who Would Be King
bardicvoice's Review Mommy Dearest - "And I could see [Castiel], in refusing to lose his position and with it, the world, believing that accepting anything that staved off the apocalypse was worth doing. When you can't afford to fail, doing the unthinkable in order to win suddenly becomes not just thinkable, but apparently vital."
amber3444's Review Mommy Dearest
mrscastiel's Review Mommy Dearest ; Fanart Doctor Who Crossover You see, my friend has a painful burning sensation...
gwendolynd's Fic Finally Alive - Brilliant and disturbing
dontbitethesun's Fic I've Been Laying Down in the Devil's Lair
swordofmymouth's Fic Let My Beloved Come Into His Garden
eonism's Fic
angel_kink's Fic Complexities
de_nugis's Fic Like Black Holes in the Sky
t_fic's Fic The Fine reality of Hunger Satisfied
vasiliki's Fic The Angel Who Dared to Tread
melissos' Fic Untying Boots
fossarian's Fic It Usually Washes Off (Castiel/Meg)
dean_sam's flocked Supernatural, The Animation: Box Set photos ; Ben Edlun Interview - 6x20
greenelysium's Fanvid Breathless (Castiel)
's Fantrailer The Man Who Would Be King
ashdoode's Fanvid Here is Gone - SPOILERS for 6x20
secretlytodream's RPFanvid The Boy Likes Them Both
MoggleCrunch's Fanvid A Baby in a Trenchcoat (Dean/Castiel) - With dialogue and adorable, hilarious win.
emilywinter's Fanmix Innocent Son (Sam)
queeneve_84's Fanmix Through the Dirt: Season 6 - YouTube Playlist only
bl00dredsies' Icons
Atomicblonde's Tumblr Edlund referred to Dean and Cas' bromance as a 'long-distance marriage' ; Fanart Sam: I wish I had a better word than "sorry"

Doctor Who:
doctorwho's Discussion The Lodger's ship and the Silence ; Episodes Poll Results ; Poll: River-Related ; Discussion "We do you honor, you will bring the silence..." ; Discussion Theories regarding Amy and her transmitter
sadbhyl's Meta River's Timeline
such_heights' Fanvid Strict Machine (River)
snowgrouse's Picspam The John Simm Drinking Game
Atomicblonde's Tumblr And she's never comng backThe Slow-Burning Storylines of Doctor Who
Tacoface's Tumblr The Doctor's message seems to be...
TheShoelessOne's Sherlock Crossover Fic Two Doctors, A Nurse, a Detective, and a Scot
Ray Nelson's Short story Eight O'Clock in the Morning - Oh hai, the Silence!

True Blood:
Tumblr Fuck Yeah True Blood

Sherlock:
gracie_musica's Doctor Who Crossover Fic Second Fiddle (John/Donna)

Other Fandom:
9gag's Social Network Fanart You don't get to survive the apocalypse without...
Buffyverse Wiki

Multifandom:
starofthemorn's Icons - The Shadowless Sword, Primeval, Supernatural
spittingfish's Icons - Doctor Who, Torchwood, Buffy, Primeval, Queer as Folk

Random:
cleolinda's Tornado Update
wondermark's The Tinkerer's Handbook, page 7 of 8, Page 8
ontd_political's When Guys Turn Into Girls... - That article should sit in a corner and think about what it's said.
theweaselking's "Holy drinking water contaminated with arsenic is being sold illegally to Muslims by UK shops, the BBC has found."
Wachetauf's Tumblr There's a story behind every person
Tumblr's Animals with Suffed Animals
Atomicblonde's Tumblr Downton Abbey ; captain (n.) ; Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ; A troll ; Sevenpoints: "It might sound odd coming from a slash fan, but I am all for heterosexual males being able to touch each other platonically, and I get annoyed when people skew that around to saying they’re gay." ; Comic
Tacoface's Tumblr Martin Luther King, Jr., quote ; I hold my girfriend's hand because... ; Comic: Denied vs Approved Adoption Situations
Birdy's Song Skinny Love
BBC's Last WW1 combat veteran Claude Choules dies, aged 110
Geek's Game developer david Braben creates a USB stick PC for $25
Notcot's Be Your Own Souvenir - 3D printing
Yahoo News' Kenya: Elephants killed near Prince William cabin - "Save The Elephants fitted seven animals near Mount Kenya with collars over the last year to track their movements. More than half have been killed..." ; "'We're seeing a lot of Chinese nationals caught in the airport in Kenya with ivory in their luggage,' she said. 'We have to assume the Chinese are involved at some level.'"
CBC's 3-D printer has potential to make organs for transplant - OMG, I can't wait for the future!
Birdbox Studio's
YouTube's Professor Brian Cox
Animated Short: Duel
Neil Gaiman's Weasel-necked penscils. & The opinions of a pencil-necked weasel-thief
Philosiology's Surviving a Philosopher Attack
Blur Studio's Gentleman's Duel (3D short annimation)
Stolen Camera Finder

* Crowley, 6x20