A - Z Challenge: V is for Virtues & Vices and Varmit, they call me

IS FOR

VIRTUES & VICES

PART I:

        WHAT IS IT?

Vices are something that is considered immoral in society while virtues are the direct opposite of this.  A small caveat might be inserted at this point to warn that  too much of one will eventually lead directly to the other.  Finishing, as we no doubt can imagine with a stunning realism, to a sort of philosophical Ouroboros.[1]

         WHERE DO YOU GET IT?

Although you might search the world over the only thing you'll have to show for it, at the end of the day, is a worn out passport and a dinner date with a rather nice customs officer who promises to bring his sexiest rubber gloves.

Ultimately Virtue and Vice are to be found in your actions and attitudes towards yourself and those with whom you share the world.

         USING IT IN REAL LIFE:

There are so many virtues and vices that to list them all would be impossible.  Your best bet is to pester a priest until he breaks down and agrees to your demands to tell you about them all.  

Unofficial experiments on a variety of theologians have revealed that this will take about a week although much of this is down to the individual priest and the exact methods used [2]

However for those of you without ready access to the clergy here is a small list of both vices and virtues. [3]

Christianity:

Virtues

• Faith
• Hope
• Love

Vices

• blasphemy (holiness betrayed)
• apostasy (faith betrayed)
• despair (hope betrayed)
• hatred (love betrayed)

Hinduism:

Virtues

• Sattva (goodness, maintenance, stillness, intelligence)
• Rajas (passion, creation, energy, activity)
• Tamas (ignorance, restraint, intertia, destruction)

Vices

• Anger
• Lust
• Envy
• Loss of Judgement
• Incapacity to bear other peoples good
• Malice
• Pride
• Jealousy
• Hate
• Unkindness
• Covetousness

BUDDHISM:

Virtues

• Maitri (loving kindness towards all)
• Karuna (compassion.  The hope that a person's sufferings will diminish)
• Mudita (sympathetic joy)
• Upeksha (learning to accept both loss and gain with detachment for oneself and others)

Vices

• Absence of shame
• Absence of embarrassment
• Jealousy
• Parsimony
• Remorse
• Drowsiness
• Distraction
• Torpor
• Anger
• Concealment of wrongdoing

        USING  IT IN WRITING:

• Any hero or any character you write is going to have a mixture of vice and virtue inside them and it's going to be up to you, as the writer, to describe the situation where one attribute wins out over the other.
• It could be that your hero takes a stand against something that they know to be wrong.
• Standing by while something is happening might lead to a confrontation.  Perhaps with the law, the church or the something itself.
• A magical twist might be to have the embodiment of the virtue/vice be brought forth into the world.  Feel free to crank the wierdness levels to 11 as the avatar of the Absence of shame wrecks young Toshi's simple college existence [4]

        MIGHT ONE TAKE OVER THE WORLD WITH IT? [5]

PART II:

V

is also for

VARMIT, THEY CALL ME

As you dip your toe into the strange and murky waters of the Blogosphere.  You'll run into some people who are instantly cool.  Every time they have a new post it's going to make you laugh, think or go wow!  

Sometimes all three!

From these hollows is her blog and you should visit. [6]

1. This is Latin humour and they said it couldn't be done!
2. This is bad humour and they said it shouldn't be done! 
3. I think I've managed to snag the major ones but if you have any more suggestions then feel free to comment.
4. The real joke being that college students have no shame anyway.
5. When asked for a summary of the Jeish religion in the most concise terms Rabbi Hillel the Elder replied "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.  That is the whole Torah.  The rest is the explanation; go and learn"
6. Visit in such numbers as to crash the servers for the entire internet.  It'd be a very subtle prank but sometimes they're the best kind.

The Visibly Vicious Vulture, who wrote some Verses to a Veal-cutlet in a Volume bound in Vellum.

The Visibly Vicious Vulture,
who wrote some Verses to a Veal-cutlet in a
Volume bound in Vellum.