No, said Aziraphale, it's ineffable.

jonphaedrus

notre dame is burning.

this is ok.

it has happened before. it will happen again. it has been lost before. it will be lost again. and again. and again. and again. art and architecture are transient, and temporary, and 850 years may seem like a lot to the individual, who will live maybe 100 if they are very lucky and very healthy, but even the pyramids at saqqara have only existed for about 6000 years and that’s still not all that much, if you consider the grand scheme of things.

yes, this is terrible. as someone who is deeply religious and literally a professional historian with a focus on art and architecture, this is terrible. im mourning. im gutted. im horrified and upset and miserable. but.

it’s not over.

victor hugo wrote hunchback because notre dame du paris was in the process of collapsing and falling apart, and revitalized the entire world’s focus and love for this church, and that was not even 200 years ago. it led to it being renovated.

the roof has fallen in. the scars of fires are on its buttresses. the rose window has fallen out. the beams and piers have collapsed. the spire has toppled. the stones have suffered, and will suffer again, but it is not gone.

renovation work is essential. sometimes things collapse and burn and break and have to come back. it’s not a terrorist attack, it’s renovation, an accident, but we have so much evidence, history, carefully documented everything on one of the most studied places in the world.

it’s not the end.

johannesviii

Hey so, French person here. And also an ex History student. I’m here to say: Please listen to o.p. above.

Obviously everyone is shocked but here’s a few important key facts:

The roof is completely gone. Part of it dated back from the 13th century but the rest was from the 19th. The stone arch roof under the top roof is fine.
One of the three main stained glass rose windows has fallen out. Most of the other stained glass windows are okay.
The spire has fallen down and that’s the saddest part. BUT! It was in the process of being restored and the 16 statues that were there were removed just four days ago! So they’re fine.
The main structure is still here and nothing has “burned down” unlike what some people have been saying.
The “treasure” (sacred objects) is safe.

Notre Dame is still there. It’s just damaged. Almost nothing was lost today, and nobody was wounded either. It’s scary, but it’s gonna be okay.

johannesviii

To the people that keep calling me stupid in the comments:

Yes, I know, the fire is still not completely out and the damage still needs to be fully evaluated. This comment is based on the live coverages I’ve been watching all evening.
However the worst is behind us even if the firemen have been saying it’s a “difficult fire” (”un feu difficile”).
On the topic of works of art that were inside:

johannesviii

UPDATE (10:20 pm):

Apparently the fire is still going in the north tower. The firemen seem worried there’s possible structural damage there.

The fire is also still going at the back of the roof.

It currently looks like this:

johannesviii

UPDATE (10:44 pm):

Firemen at the entrance (source: REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer). We can see inside the cathedral. The stone arch roof has apparently been damaged in some places but as you can see the inside of the main structure isn’t on fire so far.

The firemen are doing all they can. One of them has apparently been wounded.

johannesviii

UPDATE (11:05 pm):

“Le feu a baissé en intensité. On peut penser que la structure de Notre-Dame est sauvée, notamment le beffroi nord”, a déclaré le secrétaire d'Etat auprès du ministre de l'Intérieur Laurent Nunez.

La structure de Notre-Dame de Paris “est sauvée et préservée dans sa globalité” a précisé le responsable des pompiers. Mais les deux-tiers de la toiture seraient en revanche partis en fumée.

“The fire’s intensity has decreased. We think the general structure of Notre-Dame is saved, including the north tower,” declared the Secretary of State to the interior minister Laurent Nunez.

The structure of Notre-Dame de Paris “has been saved and preserved in general” added the chief fireman. But two-thirds of the roof have gone up in flames.”

tinsnip

I wish that one could highlight passages in a fic and make a note on them, like with a Kindle.

And I wish there were an option to turn on everybody else’s highlighted sections and notes, so you could watch it light up with everybody’s agony and ecstasy.

xzacloudx

(I think one could do that if they link to the story in a Google Document, and allow permissions for users to leave comments but not edit otherwise. Although I hear that’s not very secure sadly.)

That’d be so cool, like Nico Video except for digital stories! :D For those who don’t know, it’s a Japanese video streaming website where users type in comments/reactions to scenes as they happen. Resulting in like, screenfulls of “wwwww” or “88888″ (lololol) when something funny happens, deluges of “Oh no!” or “YES!!!” or “That was amazing!!!” at momentous parts, etc. It’s so much fun!

Though sadly it hasn’t caught on too well in English. They kept getting so many English commenters coming in that the site now has an English version (though it’s still not too user-friendly to the unfamiliar), but there isn’t generally enough of an audience per video to get the same fun deluges as with the Japanese language setting.

Still, feel free to check it out in either language, though you need to make an account first. To see each language stream of comments, you have to change your language settings at the bottom of most pages (under the gray bar in a pull-down menu). https://www.nicovideo.jp

See, that’s what the app is perfect for.