The Lightwood Family- Gideon And Sophie, Eugenia, Barbara And Thomas. 

laurie thinking he's in love with Adrian after surgery is funny to me because the literal next thing we read after he says 'it was she all the time whom he had really wanted' is just 'her hands have nice bones'

and it's also very lackluster when you compare this random detail with how he describes Ralph's hands after he sees his injury for the first time 😭😭

9 Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better

Thank you @rottenlaertes for tagging me!

3 Ships You Like:

Laurie Odell/Ralph Lanyon (The Charioteer)

Laurie Odell/Andrew Raynes (also The Charioteer)

I cannot think of a third tbh, maybe Ralph Lanyon/Alec Deacon? (Also the Charioteer -- can you tell I've read it recently?)

First Ship Ever: I don’t really remember. I know it's locked in my memory somewhere, but I probably haven't thought about wherever it's from in forever, so it's not coming to me now

Last Song You Heard: Sang-Hyun’s Prayer by Jo Yeong-wook, from the movie ‘Thirst'

Favorite Children Book: The Giver by Lois Lowry!

Currently Reading: The Phaedrus, so I can reread the Charioteer right after lol

Currently Watching: The Legend of Korra!

Currently Consuming: I’m having tea!

Currently Craving: Coffee!

honestly, all the people I would want to tag in this have already done it so anyone else who wants to can!

Gustave Caillebotte (French, 1848-1894), Le Petit bras de la Seine à Argenteuil, c.1890. Oil on canvas, 81 x 62.3 cm.

“I drink dew for wine, and hearken to The voices of the birds, and dance To the rhythmic swaying of the grass.

I am the lover’s gift; I am the wedding wreath; I am the memory of a moment of happiness; I am the last gift of the living to the dead; I am a part of joy and a part of sorrow.

But I look up high to see only the light, And never look down to see my shadow. This is wisdom which man must learn.”

- Song of the Flower by Khalil Gibran

cassandra just give alastair one (1) friend 😭😭

I wonder what Alastair and Cordelia would think of Emma. I like to think there are bits of Alastair that shine through in Emma and that Jem eventually tells her about them.

“Give me to be beautiful within,” Socrates had prayed, “and for me let outward and inward things be reconciled together.” (99)

A little tribute piece to what is probably, definitely my favorite comfort novel, The Charioteer by Mary Renault.

TC tag game Thank you for the questions and for tagging me @renaultphile Rules: Answer the questions and tag other TC fans

"He would not fucking say that" only they did and it's canon. When/who?

I don’t think I’ve read it enough to have a sense of something like this. I really disliked Laurie’s scenes with Adrian though. So it’s not so much ‘he wouldn’t say that’ as ‘I would prefer to ignore the fact that he said/did that.'

2. Did they kiss in the study? Yes/no + why you are 100% correct about this.

I think they did. The first time I read it, I didn't really wonder if something had happened, only what had happened: I didn’t know if they’d only kissed or done anything more. Later, it seemed to be confirmed by Ralph’s letter that they’d not done ‘anything more,’ I just assumed it was a kiss, and I don’t really think the dialogue following the ellipses makes much sense without anything having happened. “Now you see what I mean, Spud. It would never have done, would it? Well, goodbye.” What could Laurie have seen if there was nothing besides a hug or handshake or something? What would never have done? Why ask him to ‘come here’ at all?

3. Mandatory question about Ralph's alleged tattoos.

I really don’t think he’d have any, but if he did I think it'd probably be something nautical.

4. 53 vs 59 edition: quote a line or paragraph that is better in the edition you like the least.

I don’t know which of them I read and I definitely haven’t read another addition, so I can’t answer this. Apparently, the earlier one had more detail and dialogue, so if I haven’t I’d love to read it

5. Which TC character would feel right at home here on tumblr dot com?

Sandy, I think he'd be great on here.

6. Tag yourself at Alec's birthday party.

Laurie reading a book or Laurie just at the beginning, sitting around awkwardly, listening to people’s conversations and wondering how on earth he ended up there.

7. Post a TC meme

The first I ever saw (on the Mary Renault tag) and still the funniest to me, I think because I understand it perfectly

8. Easy to talk about who deserved better. Who deserved worse?

Straike, I hate him with a fiery passion. The man had a dog put down, not because he was sick or anything but simply because he couldn’t be bothered to care for him. Vicar? Ridiculous.

9. You can break the fourth wall (at any point in the novel) and say a single sentence to our protagonist, Laurie Odell. What do you say?

'This is not Ancient Greece, stop being weird,' at the exact moment Andrew is telling him his traumatic life-story and Laurie is preoccupied worrying about Dave. Also related to the question, but not really asked for: if I could I’d also tell Andrew he doesn’t have to feel ashamed of how he feels about Laurie. Well, more accurately, I’d give him a modern copy of ‘Quaker Faith & Practice’ and have the relevant passages highlighted, so I know he won’t miss them. It makes me very sad for both Andrew and Dave that their whole lives could've been very different (and much happier) if they were born four or five generations later.

9. What's a question you have about TC? One you haven't found an answer for yet.

I can't think of any, besides wondering how Mary Renault could've written it because it's so good. I love the use of subtext, the way she describes emotions you've felt before but never would've been able to put into words on your own. In terms of characters and story, I do have a random question about Bunny: was it supposed to be implied that he was a perpetrator of sexual assault? I got that idea when I was reading the car scene between him and Laurie but I was unsure.

I don't know who to tag! I think all of the Charioteer accounts I know have already been tagged, but if anyone hasn't and wants to, I'd love to read your response!

if Cordelia really did give Cortana to Alastair, that would solve the mystery of how the blade stays in the Carstairs family and reaches Emma. Cordelia might even be able to wield it later on (assuming she finds a way out of her situation) but I think she might just tell Alastair to keep it in the end, if not for himself then for their sibling.