StoryWonker

StoryWonker

80p

146 comments posted · 13 followers · following 1

5 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Night Watc... · 1 reply · +20 points

This. Captains Rust and Tilden and Swing don't have the desire to march into the Oblong Office and arrest Lord Winder for his crimes, and even a hypothetical Captain Keel couldn't arrest Lord Snapcase, not without igniting another civil war. But Commander Vimes *has* arrested Lord Vetinari, multiple times. And a Commander Angua or Carrot (although Carrot might not be the best example given his... heritage) could do the same - not because the Watch is larger or more powerful than it was in Winder's day (in fact I'd probably guess it's still smaller than it was during Winder's time), but because it's gained legitimacy under Vimes.

And it's gained legitimacy not just because Vimes is virtuous, but because he's filled its positions of institutional authority with similarly good people who carry out just policing every day. Carrot and Angua and Detritus and Cheery and all the rest; Ankh-Morpork coppers don't refuse bribes just because Mister Vimes Would Go Spare - they refuse them because Captain Carrot Would Be Angry And Disappointed, because Sergeant Angua Would Growl At Us, because Sergeant Detritus Would Attempt Irony. Those things have become, *will* become, That's Just Not How We Do Things. The Assassins no longer consider Vetinari or Vimes an acceptable target; how long until it becomes unthinkable to take a contract on the Patrician or the Commander of the Watch? Ankh-Morpork will be all the more stable for that.

And that, I think, is what Pratchett's saying here: not that virtuous people in positions of power will inherently fix all the problems, but that virtuous people can change the norms of institutions and societies. Carcer has power in Winder and Snapcase's city, because people will *just follow orders*; in Vetinari and Vimes' city, those orders wouldn't be followed because the people at the top and all through the hierarchy have set a precedent that you question and refuse to follow illegal orders.

7 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Feet of Cl... · 0 replies · +9 points

I don't know that it's a pun, so much as the most literal (albeit archaic) possible usage of the word.

7 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Feet of Cl... · 0 replies · +4 points

Vf gung gur 'znqr hfr bs fbzr fntr naq bavba' ovg? Orpnhfr juvyr V trg gur vebavp erirefny Cengpurgg jnf tbvat sbe gurer, V guvax gur gbar qbrf pebff gur yvar.

7 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Feet of Cl... · 1 reply · +4 points

Bernadotte was so anti-royalist that he had 'DEATH TO ALL KINGS' tattooed up one arm. He would wear long sleeves for the entirety of his reign.

7 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Maskerade'... · 1 reply · +41 points

The Vimes-Weatherwax Difference Of Views on how to enforce law would be magnificent to watch. On a TV screen. From within a fallout shelter. Two hundred miles away.

7 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Maskerade'... · 1 reply · +12 points

"Pna'g svaq vg abj, ohg V guvax V bapr fnj fbzrbar fhttrfg Tbngoretre --> Thgraoret. "

Gung bar vf zhpu zber cbvagrq jura jr trg gb Gur Gehgu - 'Tbbqzbhagnva' vf n yvgreny genafyngvba bs 'Thgraoret'.

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Men at Arm... · 0 replies · +4 points

Well, it was a national thing, it was just that that specific site dealt with Gloucestershire police. What I find interesting is that firearms were forbidden, but swords were issued.

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Men at Arm... · 2 replies · +4 points

In the 19th century, British police were in some cases issued swords: http://goo.gl/Y2Ejus

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Men at Arm... · 0 replies · +9 points

Cengpurgg'f irel tbbq ng gur fhogyr vafvahngvba gung'f va znal jnlf zber ubeevslvat guna bhgevtug fgngrzrag bs snpg - va guvf xvaq bs guvat, naq va grezf bs zber cflpubybtvpny ubeebe, nf jryy. Vg jbexf jryy orpnhfr abguvat ur pbhyq pbzr hc jvgu jbhyq or nf njshy nf gur guvatf jr pbawher sbe bhefryirf - orpnhfr bhe bja vzntvangvbaf ner gnvyberq gb fpner/ubeevsl hf gur zbfg.

8 years ago @ Mark Reads - Mark Reads 'Lords and ... · 0 replies · +17 points

Doesn't the 'you have to live the life you have' theme tie in with the glamour, too? The elves present a version of the world that's beguiling and entrancing, but ultimately it's hollow and not one that can sustain humanity. Humanity might sigh over the possibilities of elves, but they have to live this dull, elf-less life because that's what being human is about.