Rehearsed Virtues

Ao3

[classicalcanvas]

Judith and her Maidservant (1614) by Artemisia Gentileschi

[whimsicalfairytales]

The “nobody” scene in the odyssey is absolutely not just a clever pun—it’s a character defining moment for Odysseus because he refuses to be nobody. He devised an incredible plan that worked and he could have saved his men and returned home much sooner but he just had to yell to the cyclops that he isn’t nobody—he’s Odysseus, king of Ithaca so now Poseidon knows who to curse which severely fucks up the rest of the journey.

The “nobody” scene highlights both Odysseus’s cleverness but also his arrogance and those two traits define Odysseus throughout the entire story. It’s a foundational aspect of Odysseus’s character and cutting the scene displays a shocking level of ignorance and disregard for the themes in the source material.

[metamorphesque]

In Armenian, when we want to say “damn you” or “go to hell”, we use the expressions "գրողը քեզ տանի" [groxy qez tani] or "գնա գրողի ծոցը" [gna (kori) groxi tsocy], which translate to “may the writer take you away” or “go and get lost in the writer’s embrace” in English. You might wonder, “Who is this writer-person?” and “Why is it considered a curse?”

According to traditional Armenian belief, Grox (the writer) is a spirit who records a person's deeds during their lifetime, determining the purity of their soul. This concept may be linked to Tir, the god of writing and literature in Armenian mythology. In some interpretations, it was believed that anyone whose name Tir wrote in his notebook would die. This is where the curse "may the writer take you" originates.

During the Christian era, Grox was mistakenly represented as a Christian spirit who no longer recorded human deeds but instead determined each person's fate, inscribing it on their foreheads. Over time, Grox came to be depicted as an evil spirit, sometimes identified with Satan. Thus, the curse "get lost in Grox’s embrace," which originally signified death, took on a more negative connotation. However, this was not originally characteristic of Grox in Armenian traditional beliefs.

So, if you want to get creative with your curses, instead of saying “go to hell,” you can use the phrase “get lost in the writer’s embrace”.

[metamorphesque]

'things there are no words for, but should be', tatheve simonyan

[stormsbourne]

one day it'll happen to you. you will stay up a bit too late playing a video game and not get to bed on time. I've done it before, you'll think. I'll be fine. but no. you will make it through most of the next day and then at about 2pm you will feel like a reanimated corpse whose sim meters are all completely fucked and nothing hurts exactly but everything does feel very bad. and you'll think oh yeah. I'm not twenty anymore

[theinfiknight]

Love when you try to take a screenshot but fuck up the timing of the volume down lock button combo and are left sitting there with slightly softer music and a black screen and you just have to sit there looking at your reflection on the locked phone and contemplate your failure for a bit

[fermencja]

Billy Russo (Ben Barnes) and Dinah Madani (Amber Rose Revah). The Punisher, Season 1, Ep. 8.

… an addition to @i-got-the-feels‘s post about this particular scene. 

[jadedbug]

one of the things i so love about the unselected journals of emma m. lion is that she doesn’t shy away from the uglier realities of life. anger that cuts to the bone. grief that chokes and starves you. painfully awkward conversations with friends and strangers alike. uncertainty that keeps you up at night. injustices suffered and borne at the hands of relatives and people who should know better. messy, real pain that isn’t healed by one sermon and is the product of a lifetime of not just personal hurts but institutional hurts. people who dodge questions and avoid looking in the mirror because the truth is too painful. people who put up walls because they can’t even bear the idea of someone really seeing them. the characters carry such real, lived in pasts that lend a gratifying level of interiority to their emotions and experiences.

[sailforvalinor]

He’s a vicar, he’s a reprobate, he reads Shakespeare and poetry in church, he has his mail sent to the local pub, he speaks Latin, Irish Gaelic, and who knows what else, he knows everything and everyone’s business (if you think you’ve kept a secret from him no you haven’t), he has a strange effect on cats, he’s friends with the local ghost, he’s a genius, he went to both Cambridge and Oxford, he’s soft-spoken, he’s the kindest man alive, he’s a boxer, he never lost a fight at school, he has strong opinions on chairs, he’s magic(?), he’s fae(??), he’s blessed, he’s cursed, he’s a fox, he’s lightning, he’s The Mighty Nigel Hawkes and Nigel isn’t even his real name

[a-ramblinrose]

“If you were any of the other girls I know, I would warn you to be on your guard.” “Oh?” I asked, stopping. “But as I am not?” Then came Roland's smile. “St. George is not the only one who can slay a dragon, Emma Lion. I've seen you wield a sword.” It was, perhaps, the most wonderful compliment I've ever been paid.”

― Beth Brower, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 2

[sailforvalinor]

At this point I’m 100 percent willing to believe that Hawkes is operating in a completely different genre from the rest of the story when he’s off-page. He’s off in his own Victorian version of Stranger Things or something most of the time slaying eldritch horrors in the back streets of London in the name of the Lord and only occasionally crosses over into Emma’s comedy of manners to offer sage advice and a sermon on Sundays and then off he goes again

[fictionadventurer]

Emma M. Lion character thoughts

Declan Lion, you've got a lot to answer for. Emma's situation is totally your fault. I can understand letting Mr. Flat stay in the house if you're not going to live there, but giving him full access to the accounts?? Are you actually a moron????

I was surprised to see Aunt Eugenia in Book One doing things that seemed (at least to Emma) to signify that she's genuinely fond of her. The later books seem to emphasize how she objects to everything about Emma's existence.

This one's only a tentative theory, since I've only reread three books, but I think Emma might want Pierce to fit in with their group of four more than he actually does fit. He's hostile to/wary of Hawkes even after their moment of connection in the graveyard in Book 4. He likes and fits in with Maggie, who doesn't understand Islington or fit in with his life there. There are just a few too many things that don't quite fit.

Another tentative theory: Islington shows Emma how things should be, Pierce helps Emma see how they are, Hawkes shows her how they could be.

Islington has very high standards of morality and propriety--how one should act. But this also means he has a level of idealism--he can see when things are wrong and wants things to be right. Home should be a place where you can relax. Friends should be people you can trust. He does his best to bring about his ideals, but that means he can also be a bit crushed when the sorrows of life destroy that ideal. This also means that he's the most conservative member of the group, oriented to the past.

Pierce sees things as they are. He's a photographer who captures the unflinching reality of places and people. He helps Emma in her grief because he forces her to face the truth that she is grieving, and it's hurting her, and she needs to do something about it. But his focus on reality, especially grim reality, can keep him trapped. This is just how things are, and we can't do anything about it. This is just who I am and you have to take me as I am. He's a thoroughly modern man, a man of the times.

Hawkes shows Emma possibilities. He gives her the Imperterritus lion that makes her want to be undaunted. He inspires her to dream about the kind of future she wants. He's kind of timeless, but also a bit more future-oriented than the other two. But he's also a bit trapped by the future, because he seems to be haunted by a seemingly inescapable fate.

[sailforvalinor]

It is truly hilarious and delightful to me that the member of this friendgroup who is most likely to solve problems via fisticuffs is statistically the vicar, and by a very wide margin

[fictionadventurer]

Actually, it would be really funny if it turned out that Hawkes wasn't actually an Anglican priest, he just got roped into a Curayl situation of having to impersonate a clergyman and improvise a sermon, except, oops, the old vicar ran off to America and I'm in too deep so now I have to keep up the ruse. And the other Reprobates Ten are totally in on it, and that's why they're so amused and make a point of showing up to heckle his sermons. What poetry is he gonna bring out to desperately throw together this week's sermon? This is the most fun any of them have ever had, and Hawkes is slowly dying.

[randombookquotes]

the unselected journals of emma m. lion: vol. 2- beth brower

[jerry-the-leech]

i would go to your sweethearts and ex lovers funeral and fistfight his brother for you but you’re not nerdy enough to understand

[ashtabharya-deactivated20240717]