The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret - 124: Going Postal Pt. 1 (Die of the Gnats)

Episode Date: September 10, 2023

The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret is a podcast in which your hosts, Joanna Hagan and Francine Carrel, read and recap every book from Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series in chronological order. This week, Part 1 of our recap of “Going Postal”. Apostrophe’s! Fripperie’s! Pigeon’s!Find us on the internet:Discord invite link Twitter: @MakeYeFretPodInstagram: @TheTruthShallMakeYeFretFacebook: @TheTruthShallMakeYeFretEmail: [e-mail]: www.patreon.com/thetruthshallmakeyefretWant to follow your hosts and their internet doings? Follow Joanna on twitter @joannahagan and follow Francine @francibambi Things we blathered on about:Two-Hats Television - Joanna’s SubstackPlease don’t distract me - Francine’s SubstackNo Such Thing As A Peanut Hall of Fame - audioboomGoing Postal – You're Wrong About - Podtail Monty Python - Woody and Tinny Words - YouTubeAround The World In Eighty Days: List of contents - Free Online Library [see chapter headings]Going Postal - Discworld Wiki Sator Square - Wikipedia United States Postal Service Creed - WikipediaFirm linked to Crooked House owner was taken to court - BBC NewsThere was only one loser in this Royal Mail privatisation: the taxpayer - The GuardianGNU Terry PratchettTablut | Hnefatafl: the Game of the Vikings [Note: I referred to the Post Office as being privatised – I should have said Royal Mail. - F]Music: Chris Collins, indiemusicbox.com

I've got a baby rabbit. Congratulations on pocket rabbit. Yeah. So Jack brought home, my darling husband, Jack, brought home a rabbit because he found it in the middle of a footpath, sorted, had been left there by a predator, still thinks it was, it was absolutely soaking wet,

put it in his pockets so it could die quietly, basically, instead of being eaten by another dog. And it didn't. So you have a baby rabbit. Yeah, I've been looking after a baby rabbit for a few days while trying to get really to find a better home for it, because I'm not suited to bringing up a small animal I know nothing about.

I've kept it alive thus far. I'm not as optimistic as I was, because it's not eaten very well today, but it's being dropped off tomorrow. So cross-mongers, oh, this pocket rabbit, it's a very cute little rabbit. It is, it's adorable, which does make it all easier. Got this warm air. Yeah, apologies listeners, for the amount of time is my brain stops. I'd say the word swampy

underboop during this recording. But it's really fucking hot. Love that. Love that for you. Yeah, love it. This is cold down a bit, right? Because it's dark-ish now and it's at least cooling down at night. What's the nice thing about having a heat wave in September in September. It's kind of August. True. I love September like India and summer evenings. I wrote a poem about them once. You do? I like that poem.

The windows in this room do technically open but because of where I have stuff in front of them, it's kind of more repain than it's worth. No, it's fine. I'll just die. I'm not moving those boxes. Sorry about it. Yeah. Get a man into fine. I'll just die. I'm not moving those boxes. It's so hard about it. Yep. Get a man into fan me with a palm frond, but no one's volunteered so far, which I'm quite upset about.

What is the world coming to you? Yeah. Palm frond-based chivalry is dead. Yep. I blame feminism. I do. I don't, I'm just agreeing with you, because I'm trying to concentrate on my drink. For apologies listeners, if you can hear diet, coke cans and ice-clinking, but we have

to do what we have to do. It's fine. It's, uh, finally to, you know, to integrate people into our... Inertion. That's what I mean. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you, everybody. I'm a writer. How's your week? It's been okay. It's been fun. I, uh,. How's your week? It's been okay. It's been fun. I launched my substack finally. He did. Look at you plugging it. I completely forgot to fly mine. Francine's got one too. So yeah, we'll link double.

Yeah, prioritise Joanna. She's likely to write to the update hers. But Joanna, what's your school? Two hats television. Two hats television. And what's this first article about? It's a two-p television. And what's this first article about? It's a two-pasta. So the first part's up now. The second part was going to come out today, but it was too hot.

And everything I wrote turned to mush is history of, sorry, I just loved it in the static, like a melted article. It sounds like something like that. Oh, what's his name? Brian something, the poet who does the cool. Brian Buster. Fine, but yeah, yeah. Yeah, that sounds like a to that. Oh, what's his name? Brian something said the poet, who does the cool. Brian Buster. Five feet gay.

Yeah, that sounds like a Brian Buster thing. Yes, just think of my work as a dripping ice cream. But part one was about writer's strike. Yeah, it's a history of Hollywood, labor movement, specifically like writer's and actor's strikes. So part one covered everything from 1924 to around 2000 and part two is going to talk about 2007 and then what's happening now?

Now, Joanna, I know a surprising amount about this topic. Yeah, all right. So, this was originally a rabbit hole for Patreon, and I decided to write it up into an askle. Literally no judgment, that's entirely my plan for my next one. But, yeah, no, that was me just trying to sneakly plug the Patreon actually. Yes. We do little episodes on stuff we're interested in, but don't have time to go on massive tangents.

That's right, that's right, listen, sometimes we cut short out tangents. Sometimes. This is us being controlled and edited occasionally five times. Unless you're a patron and then you also get the un-top episodes. Yeah because for some reason some people on that. And we appreciate it. But yeah, so the subject is going to be about TV history and also like reviews of stuff that's currently on or stuff that was on two weeks ago because I ended up working on a piece about and just like that. I'm very excited because you've been telling me about your planned articles on various

topics to do with this for some time, so I'm looking forward to reading them. Now we actually have to write them in France, and it's horrible. I know, I know, it's terrible, but yeah, you'll have to get used to it. No. Yeah, this was like, because I kind of let myself zone out a bit for August, because like I just wrote a whole fucking book, and it's summer, and I had a lot of baby-sissing and stuff and this was fine. It's fine, be French. Yeah, it's no. But yeah, this was my week where I was absolutely getting properly back on it like daily yoga again, going for a walk every day, like putting work in every day and it's dirty fucking degrees outside.

The tone of voice you say is like someone flying your lads now, getting fucking back on it lad. We're getting battered. We're doing yoga. We're going for nice little walks. We're all fucking mental health. Yes, now I've gone Jeremy Clarkson. That's unfortunate. I'm sorry. Just don't do that france. You never go Jeremy Clarkson. Yeah. Jim's a completely different subject. Did you listen to that, Francine, never go, Jeremy Clarkson. Yeah. To a completely different subject, did you listen to that episode of No Such Thing as a Fish with Neil Damon? I haven't listened to it yet.

No, I'm behind on all the podcasts I listened to. I'm going to shove it to the top of your today list because it's got stuff about how humans make stories and about the history of beekeeping. So yeah, right. That's the best wish. Yeah, that's extremely much. Oh, since that's where I'm wondering.'ve still got a book to talk about. Yeah. After a long time

away from the disc world, it feels like it feels like it's been ages. If you think like June was the last disc world book we did, but that was science for disc worlds. Yeah, it's May since we last did a proper I would call a proper run. Yeah. And even that, that was half full of sky, which is a great book, but it is one of the younger readers one. So I'd say it's been like April, since we did a grown up discworld book. Yeah, it was an April and other science. Oh, yeah, maybe. I don't remember. No, I don't remember, like the first eight months of this year. No, I mean, yeah.

I'm better, order third. That's what we need to do. We do need to order third. But yeah, before we do that, do you want to make a podcast? Okay, yeah, let's make a podcast first, and then we'll, then we'll order the cool games. Yeah. [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ Hello and welcome to the Tushamaiki Frea Apocostum, which we are reading and recapping every book from Toe Pratch's Discworld series One of Stime in Cornelogic, Glouder, I'm Joanna Hagen and I'm Francine Carroll and it's time. We're talking about going postal. Oh

Yes, we're back on Discworld. The 40 somethings. I've lost no There's only 41 books 33rdrd Discworld Novel. Yes. I love how you always try to say that without looking it up when you know I've got it written here for the intro. Yeah. Just adds to our sense of whimsy. Oh yeah, no. No on spoilers before we crack on, we are a spoiler light podcast.

Obviously heavy spoilers for the book going postal, but we will avoid spoiling any major future events in the Discworld series. And of course we are saving any and all discussion of the final Discord novel, The Shepherd's Crown, until we get there. So you dear listener can come on the journey with us. Walking it four miles an hour, perpetually, unceasingly, unsleepingly, which actually sums up how we make this podcast. Also content warning, if you're one of those people that can't stand to

hear the word moist, grow up. I'm sorry, you're going to have to get over it for this one. But I've put it in the summary a ton so that we can use some immersion therapy. I don't think we've got anything to follow up on. Or if we have, we've forgotten. We have. It's been too long, I'm sorry guys. So, Francine, do you want to introduce us to the book Going Postal? Certainly. So, Going Postal is the 33rd book in the Disg weld series. It was released in the UK anyway on the 21st of September 2004. One of Pratchett's quotes about writing Going Postal was that he doesn't know how it was written because he was on beta blockers for the first half of 2004 and they sat on his brain like a warm flannel which slowed him down a lot apparently and yet it's such a good book. The title going postal

for anyone who might not be aware is a reference to a phenomenon in the US where there a few very highly publicised cases of postal workers unfortunately going into their workplace and shooting their colleagues. There is a good you're wrong about episode about this isn't there? You're wrong about. Yeah I think so I was about to say between all the podcasts we both listened to at least one has done a good episode on the going postal phenomenon. Pretty sure it's somewhere in the Michael Hobbes extended universe but obviously that's the reference double meaning because it is about the post office. One of the characters will be talking about,

as possibly a good example of the stereotypical idea of the kind of employee that went postal. It was on the shortlist for both the Nebula and the Loaks Awards, and it would have been shortlisted for the Hugo Awards, except obviously the Hugo Awards stole all those letters out of the Sunnet. It's because Frankship withdrew it because he felt that the stress would basically row in the Worldcon for him, which was the event that was on at the same time. Yeah, that'll be the event when they do the Hugo's. I was it fantastic. I thought that was the case and then I realized

it didn't actually say that in the forum post I was looking at. But yes, yes, I withdrew going post all the reason was I wanted to enjoy the world gone. It's not been a good 18 months and I just know that the Japanese meal I had with friends that night did me more good than an evening of suspense. Smiley face, terrible. Excellent. And it does sound like I was looking at some of his older posts about it and it does not feel good about it like from the start. So I think that was for the best. And I think the one other notable thing I wanted to note before we go into it is that this is a chaptered novel, the first adult chaptered.

I love how when we say the adult-discworld novels, it sounds like we're calling them spicy. I hate that fucking word for raunchy-works. Raunchy-works, raunchy-works Yeah, Ronchy's much better, isn't it? Nice spicy. What do you see? Yeah. Spicy's all tinny. Yeah.

Karago. Oh, that's, I'm gonna have to link that sketch now, sorry. That's fine. Ifling on the croquet hoop. But yes, agreed. But I can't think of a better way, the standard, the disquelled. Yeah. Not aimeder Readers, but probably still fine for Younger Readers to read Discworld books.

Yeah. And they've got, interestingly, the cool little, not summary, exactly, but foreshadowing little teaser words, which is very Jules Vernean. Ah, is that someone who did that technique? Yeah. I couldn't think of a good example. I was wondering if there was a word for that. I don't know whether Jules Verne was the first or even the pop-cular one, but I do know that he did.

Fair enough. This is also one of my favorite disc-willed books, and I think it's one of yours as well, and a lot of people's. I think it's the start of a new, like the third disc-willed era, third and final. Yeah, I would say so. Yeah, if we like rules of threes, we like splitting things into first, middle and final acts, and I would say this is Yeah, if we like rules of threes, we like splitting things into first middle and final acts,

and I would say this is Anc more pork in the third act. Yes, and it's good fun. I think it's actually quite a good starting point for Discworld, although it's really late on. Yeah, it's a really good introduction to it, and you don't need a ton of context from the previous books. In fact, I read it quite early into reading Discworld because it was one that my friend had. And it's kind of fun reading it like that.

I didn't really know who Vestinari was. I didn't know what they were talking about with the Welles in the watch. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, in a similar way to how Vettinari, the Petrician was first introduced to him, this vague matter of state, except now, obviously, we're much better at it. Yes. I think it's really cool

intro and the second instead of the like five endings or there might be five endings, he's done the five intros. Yes, he doesn't have a multiple intro book. Yeah, before I go too far into that, you do want to summarize what happens in this the first third up to you and including chapter four. Yes, part one goes up to and includes chapter four, Francine, one time. Never let it go now. She is never let it. You forget it. That's right.

In this section, 9,000 years ago, and anchor almost his and camera ad, I didn't check if there's a way to pronounce that. One month ago, a Kluxman falls. In chapter one, Albert Spangler, also known as Moist von Lipfig, is waiting to be hanged. After autographing the ex-fixiation implement and despite his only crime being moving numbers, he drops an Albert Spangler dies. Lipfig doesn't, however, and finds himself in front of Lord Vestinari being offered an angel and the job of postmaster general.

He takes the job and then comes with a parole officer. On a cheap horse, moist heads out of the city and after a few tricks he gets his head down, his slumber is rudely interrupted, however by his parole officer, Mr. Pump, the golem. After another chat with Mr. Vestinari, moist goes to work. The post office is a bit pigeonly and there's only Groton Stanley to work with. There's piles of letters and Grote has his reasons, but he's not being totally honest. New clacks of the real competition, Moist learns the history of Mr. Pump and sleeps in the dead letters. Grope reads the regulations and Stanley remembers the chalk outline of the last postmaster. In chapter three, Moist goes out. He learns about pins and buys something pointy and stops to deliver an old letter before popping into the column trust

for a pamphlet and learning that the last postmaster only left a month ago. Meanwhile, Grope visits the rooftop pigeon fanciers to collect the rent. Fettinari is considering the smoking glue and semaphore. He meets with representatives of the grand trunk to discuss embezzlement and deer hearts on timely death. After informing the trunk of the post office, Fettinari quietly orders an obvious investigation of Crispin horse fry. In chapter 4, Moist asks about post past postmasters, I did this to myself. Red Lorry, yellow Lorry, past postmasters. Post past masters, and learns of the werewolf in the watch. Stanley has a wobble until Moist produces

a pin. He's off to look for a sign with a crowbar. Moist reclaims the post office signage from Ugo's, and as they're being hung, he realizes he could make a profit. The recipient of the old letter comes by to thank him and invite him to a wedding while a passerby mentions a cost. Groke's been promoted, but Moist is angry. Stanley almost gets violent for a golem intercession and some moral discussion. And meanwhile, over at Tower 181, a message has passed over the overhead. So helicopter and line cloth watch. Any? Many? Well, I'm giving the overhead helicopter. So it's overhead. So the metaphorical message helicopter. Yes, got it.

Helicopter in a bottle. Nice. And for loincloth I'm going with groats definitely not a syrup. Mm. Yeah, I'm wearing a solid enough to be a cloth. It's not covering his loin but... Well, it's probably my end of the day. Yeah. Sorry. Quotes. Do you want to go first? This is quite a long one. I am asking for forgiveness not permission here, but I really love the spits open up all day.

I like how you ask for forgiveness not permission before you start. And there was brass and copper everywhere, polished up like gold. There was balconies, sir, or round the big hall on every floor, made of iron, like lace. And all the counters were made of rare wood, my dad said. And people, this place was packed. The doors never stopped swinging even at night oh at nights

out in the big backyard you should have been there the lights the coaches come and going the horses steaming I'll say you should have seen it sir the men running the teams out they have this thing sir this device you get a coach in out the yard in one minute sir one minute the bussel sir the bussel and fast this is you could come from dolly sistersle, sir, the bustle, and fuss. This is, you could come from dolly sisters or even down in the shambles and post a letter to yourself and you'd have to run like the blazes, sir. The very blazes to beat the postman to your door.

And the uniform, sir, royal blue, with brass buttons, you should have seen them. I just love that moment so much. Yeah, it's great. I love how you can equally effectively see the post office, those grotesque describing it and group describing it. Yes. And there's something so wistful and so adoring in him.

Yeah. Yeah. Minds equally long, I'd say. Yeah. See a pin and pick it up and all day long you'll have a pin. True words never spoken. Yes, I was going to pick that anyway but it's double interest because I always see and that was a Pratchett original.

But apparently it was around for a while beforehand. Pratchett said he heard it in a stage show when he was about eight and just thought it was a perfectly normal saying it's a bit dull. And then he'd heard of it later, Kenneth Williams, Anthony Newley, all that stuff. But I love that. That also comes in just a bit I really like, which is Stanley talking about how people get into pin collecting and the true joy of finding one in the street or something. And as someone who is an urban

collects things, that's very relatable. Magpie vibes. Well, it's like, I, I, one of the things I collect is like first edition Terry Fracture books. And I often find those in the street. Between the cobblestone. I've never found one in a cobblestone, but I've had a lot of it.

I've had a lot of it. I've had a lot of it. I've had a lot of it. No, but like I could go on like a book or something and I could just order the ones I don't have, but the fun is finding them at the back of a dusty bookshop. Absolutely, absolutely. I don't even collect first editions like that or anything, but I have a similar feeling

just finding odd books. Yes, the kind of stuff we always buy for each other. Yes, seeking those out online is not the same as going and robbing around a bookshop and finding one in the corner of a shelf somewhere. Oh. Anyway, so let's dive into the character. Shall we start with moist? Sure thing.

Mr. Von Litvig. Are we starting with Bangler? Well, yeah, I guess technically we start with Bangler. RIP, F5 in the chat. Yeah. He's dead now. Lip Vig, obviously a bit lip wiggy, which is a mustache. Very good for a calm man.

Yes. When we dressed up as Discord characters of Halloween, I was moist on lip vig. So I wore a false mustache that was mildly damp from the beer I was drinking and that was my moist lip wigvig. So I wore a false mustache that was mildly damp from the Bureau was drinking and that was my moist lip week. Yeah. What a night. I was really proud of that. Yeah. What a night. Anyway, sorry. Named moist fun lip-vig by doting if unwise parents. Something that Dorobel says later on about the town of lipfig actually makes me think that I know we talked before

about the bond being the inability thing and it looks like most fun Lipfig is a from aristocratic stock. There's something I really like actually is that we never really get a backstory for him. We don't get like some tragic upbringing or anything. He's just there. He's very good at being a con man and it's completely acceptable. And something I love about this book in general is how quickly, like Toe Pratchett establishes these really three dimensional characters. It's not like he's been bad at it before, but I think it just really shines in this book. Yeah, absolutely. And it's considering quite a few of like, Lippinc's traits could be compared to Rinswinds, for example, like when he's talking, you know, his various techniques for just running off.

Yeah, better than anything else. He really doesn't feel like, how do you always put it at an echo of a copypaste? Yeah. And another iteration of the previous character, anyway, he's not a topic or a... He's not a new character played by the same actor. Thank you. I did say when we back when we were talking about the truth that I felt like there was some inklings of another character in there and I was talking about this book and was fun lip-vig. I don't think William DeWord is a precursor to my fun lip-vig and stuff, but it felt like the truth kind of tests the waters for this book. It's a bit of a warm-up to it, if that makes sense.

Yeah, well, in duards, maybe got some of the same instincts. Yeah, just in a very different direction. Yeah, obviously, to word, we know who comes from an ability, we don't have anything like that with one lipvig apart from the bottom. There's a little bit with both of them learning about they're being a werewolf in the watch. Oh yeah. Which is a fun just thing to carry over. But yeah, just the little details you get of his character early on, like the fact that he gave all the prison guards fruit baskets. Yes, not the same one. I would just take the pineapple off, you know, and I want to send a leaf. Lovely little forest comfort.

Yeah, no, he's definitely a, he's a people pleaser. He knows what he's doing. Yeah. And he quotes Shakespeare as he falls. And then his last words were, I commend my soul to when he got to confine it, which is a, what is it? I commend my soul into the hands of God, my creator,

which is from Shakespeare's will. Yeah, which is a nice little very practical twist on that one I would say. Yes, and a nice little foreshadow. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, smoking news all live in the shop. We're gonna have to establish how we say GNU because I, I'm just gonna say GNU. Okay, good. I'm sure. I'm not establish how we say GNU because I... I'm just going to say GNU. Okay, good.

I'm not going to try and say GNU. Smoking GNU. No. Sounds terrible. The joke works better in now. Yeah, definitely. But yeah, I think I... Yeah, fuck, it's really hard because I know the character so well.

And that's weird to say because we do all of them. But maybe that's the point of this character isn't it, is that he is established as this. You know, I exist, I am the status quo. Yeah, I am he is average. He's not very tall or very short. Yeah. I love the moments when he goes out and he's obviously I completely underscores to his voice on litigame. He felt as though he'd stepped out out and he's obviously completely under-skies to his voice on litigame. He felt as though he'd stepped out naked and he'd never really had to be himself before. Yeah and it's interesting because that point he's not having to act any differently. All the thing it's just that he doesn't have an immediate backstory.

Yeah, it's like he's not character acting. Oh, what's the word for that? that's like he's not character acting. Oh, what's the word for that? When he's acting, when he's method acting, thank you. Oh, dear, my brain. There's something really charming about his character as well, because we're seeing his internal monologue. And obviously, like the idea is he's kind of charming. He's a con man, con man, a charming. Yeah. I love stories about charming con man. But it's the fact that we're seeing his inner monologue, as he's trying fact that we're seeing him in a monologue as he's trying to work out if there's a con there and what to do with it. Yeah, yeah.

And there's something, I don't know, like vulnerable about that that makes him extra charming. Yeah, definitely. I like that. Right, we're going to talk about him more as we go along, I think. Yeah, we will. Should we go on to his new boss, Vestinari, not as charming. No, just for a veterinary a lot of ways, but I'm not sure I call him charming. I think he'd be offended if he did.

Dignified, refined. Dignified. Chivis along the hanging. Yes. Yes. I think I like in this book, I feel like Vestinari gets just a little bit more personality. Yeah, he's definitely come in with the full knowledge he's reversing that trope of, oh, it'll run, demanding the trope. The last second reprieve from being hanged, and yet it turns out it was just a few seconds after the last second reprieve from being hanged. He's being a little shit there and I support it, but it's kind of fun to see Vettinari, like seeing some of the kind of machinations, like there's a bit where drum notes agonizing over improper folders and he's had to bulk them out with

like big research and it's a nice little behind the scenes moment of what Vettinari does to upset people. I reckon this bit was probably the start of the drum not standing. Yeah. Hey, I've been standing drum not for a long time. I've been a devoted drum not standing. You have, but this particular exchange you can see was the start of many a tumbler. Yep, obsession. I also still stand by my completely unjustified head cannon that drum not is secretly a slag because no one can stop me Sure, go for it, man. Yep, slatty drum not Sure, there's fan fiction. I don't want to read it. No, you don't

Dear, but yeah, so um Yes, I I I enjoyed drum not so extra personality as well. I know we've been building up to it for a little bit, but it's it's very It's nice. It have a little bit of water. It really does matter to him. It does matter. When Vestinari gets very philosophical, like later on, and Drumlock says, I always thought filing boxes could be less flimsy. Yes, and I think that you know, Vestinari needs the energy. I think there's also a fun bit of taking bits literally, the moist dust there.

If you stick a brim up my ass, I could probably sweep the floor too, and so veterinary takes it literally, and then drum not starts taking it literally too. And he's not that naive and stupid. No, no, he can jump on board the thought experiment for the sake of a bit of psychological torture. Exactly. I do enjoy veterinary's just taking things literally, trick it, such an asshole move. It is, and it's very fun to read.

It's horrible in person. Oh, God. And then rocketing back down the ranks. We have a Mr. Pump. I really love in his intro, but the it's big. It's a V or W taking it literally up. V get Mr.

switching view. Imagine that in like a golem voice. Now Mr. Pump is still an owned golem, isn't he? Is he? Yeah. So it's just an employed golem. I think from what I understand, he like belongs to the golem trust and is on higher to the government. Right. And the golem trust like save up and is on higher to the government. Right.

And the Golem Trust like save up and buy Golem's. Yes, yes. I, yes, I wasn't sure if that had happened for him yet, because he's got that Nari's words in his head, which seems very personal for a... For a freed Golem, yeah. Yeah. I mean, you make exceptions. This is the first time we've really had Golem stuff since feet of clay,

and in feet of clay it was owning themselves the gave me the ability to speak so I don't know where we are with that. Oh yeah, that's a good point. Yeah. We're allowed to write Connobbit, it's been several books. Yeah, I feel like he's so, but it's quite nice, the explanation of basically everything that's been happening with Golem since Feet of Friars, like, Feet of Clay. But now the Golem's were freeing themselves. It was the quietest, most socially responsible revolution in history. They were property, so they saved up and bought themselves. And I think it's very nice, A, how quickly it's handled. Yep, that's what they've been doing.

I like that it's been kind of percolating in Fracture's mind for a few years here, who like, I've got to tie up that loose end. Yeah, what can I do with these guys? I really like as well. I know we haven't got to a door yet, but when Moist goes to the Gollum Trust, and he's like, we call him Mr. Pum, oh, do you feel good about that, do you? Yeah, yeah. And goes on to the rant about the patchanizing language

and how it just, it doesn't help. Yeah. And completely unwarranted in this case. Yes. But I've definitely seen a lot of similar conversations about like, how do we definitely address, you know, this group of people or that group of people and so group of people being like, can we have some legal rights? Gonna like rather think us together instead of clapping.

Yeah. Okay, well, maybe that's not important in the grand scheme of things. Okay, well, maybe that's not important in the grand scheme of things. Or on the other hand, of course, that's an overreported phenomenon. Oh, yeah, very much. Instead of actual issues things, you know, so, so, so, so, but I can definitely see why Dorobel snapped. And I can definitely see feeling very stupid after doing so and realizing the first and front of you was literally just like, but I don't give a fuck. No, no, no, you've got me wrong. I'm not overcomming so I don't care at all.

Just correcting you. And this idea of by our own hand or none, I like that there's like a very strong sense of pride within that. Yeah, you definitely, that's definitely like an extension of the, the feature class stuff as well, isn't it? Yeah, they were all of that. Mad writing in the basement. Yeah, and this is sort of what they came down to. Yeah, love it. So, do you post mad writing in the basement? Yeah, I feel like that's a new basement group. It is. It absolutely is. What we just promoted now, isn't he? Well, I'm sorry, yes, of course he has. He's got on probation.

On probation. I really like one of... This is a little bit after we meet him, but I just feel like it really sums up the idea, the quate saying that he moist felt that sense of shifting ground, who experience, when he realised that you're teething with someone whose world is connected with your own only by their fingertips.

Yeah, and it says after that that growth is not so much like a hermit, like a shipwrecked mariner living in this dry desert of a building, Mother World outside moves on an all sanity evaporates. Sanity evaporates from the sea. What is the salt? The salt of insanity? Oh, the salt of insanity to go in our tincture of the night. Perfect. Perfect, beautiful. I also just like the description a bit of the short, bristle type that suggested that its owner had been interrupted halfway through eating a headshot. Yes. Very evocative. But I love his character, you know, I'll pick that quote for a reason I love how

how in love with this idea of a proud post office he is, his like his tearful gratitude and moist when he insists on staying on this, you know, this was a great place once we were postmen. Yeah, not a sin, sir, not a sin worse than a sin, it was against regulations. And his devotion to these regulations and like yeah no the buildings falling apart but the Inquals are full and the lanterns are on. Yeah so where's my thank you. More to fucking one. And the care he shows over Stanley. I know you get the feeling it's not just because he doesn't want Stanley to brain somebody that's you know he cares about him. Yeah, in a very, very divided way, the description of the divided locker room as a set up for Sianley's introduction.

I know it's amazing and the salt in the demilitarized zone. Absolutely perfect. And a bit that goes right into Stanley, unless one of the scraps of paper from the grubby side was a funny shape, it seemed that somebody with care and precision and presumably a razor blade had cut off the corner of it which had gone too far. And I love that. I do. And I also like that you never made to have some kind of flashback about a huge argument that caused it. It's much funnier if you just imagine it. And it's very funny that both of them are very happy with Stanley just cutting off the edges of the rubbish. Yep, that is the acceptable way to do it. So yes, Stanley, who was raised by peas,

which is a line that never stops me from like gut wrenching laughter. Oh, I see, it's the family died of gnats for me. Especially as we get it again later. I think it's because it's the comedy thing that like, I know and I both do it as well where you sort of start off something really normal and then you start as dead pan as you can throwing in more and more ridiculous ones like you know the old season from next door she drives a Toyota, she summons Bell Shemmaroth on the weekend, she's got new highlights yeah it's fun yeah like like the senior anglers anti-dying of Pineapples as well. Yeah, exactly. I love the senior anglers Auntie. And yeah, his head was all over the wall, although I've been down there.

That bit, I thought, again, as always, Praptic Perfect, bring down from the tension, with a meaningful moment as well, not a random little, whatever. Yeah. But that was definitely a bringing home to me, like what horror vibes this book has, which maybe I haven't concentrated on before. Like obviously that's the writing in the night

and there's like the sleepless busier, the golden figure and all of that. But that moment of there is absolutely all screaming. Like you can see that in a horror movie. Yeah. That's the bit of reluctant exposition. Oh, reluctant exposition, good bad name. Oh yeah.

But yeah, I think that the like pace of the reveal as well is very good in this one. It is, I think it's dumb pit. No, it gives it to you slowly, it spreads out, and then it's much like it's head, or look. And not like Mr. Mutable, which is the floor all in one go. Yeah exactly. He's so clever it works on so many levels. Fucking hell do I not write. Can we please talk about my girlfriend Adora Beldea Hart? Yes please tell me all about your girlfriend Adora Beldea Hart. Yes, please tell me all about your girlfriend Adora Beldea Hart. Well, we're in love. I'm thinking in October wedding, obviously. Yeah, yeah, very good. On an oct day.

On an oct day. Yes. No, I love her. She's one of my favourite characters. I've been really looking forward to getting to this book to talk about her, the woman who smoked a cigarette as if she had a grudge against it. Yeah, absolutely. There is, I think we've said we're not going to talk about the adaptation until Christmas, but she's played by Claire for in the adaptation and I think it's actually really perfect casting.

See, I still feel like maybe this could be our cosplay per if you want to be a Dorabelle dare heart. I'll happily be moist fun lip-vig. Yeah, but again, I also want to be moist fun lip-vig. I'm wondering if I could like, victor Victoria it. Oh, yeah. The thing is, John, the thing is, I don't think I can have a wear of Victorian style skirt. So, yeah, you can do half and half. That's what I meant by victor Victoria. Oh, I see. I'm sorry, but I'm just going to have to go. Oh, half, half, half. Yeah, no, I'm thinking a bit more sane. Yeah. Oh, were you thinking like top and bottom half?

Yeah, yeah. No, Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, god no. Also the reference that works for me is the Dean from Community. Because I've uncultured swine. I have to go to the bank today. I've just come too far this time. Ring a ding-deen. Anyway, De deening on.

Do you want me to do a how often I sing the come on I'm deen and my hands are so clean while I'm washing my hands? Hopefully, every time. Anyway, right, God, Adora Beldeer hearts makes a cigarette like she's got a grudge against it. Lidded, what is it? There's a definite film at Adora Belde Earhart that a lid was only barely holding down and tile woman full of anger.

Absolutely. And it would have been the lazy option to call her Pandora. Although we have had a Pandora, of course. We have had a Pandora. Um, I love the, yeah, just giving her the boy name suit type thing. Yes. Um, I, no, I don't really like this. I really like the character.

I love the barely contained fury. I like the immediate disdain of moisten him immediately being attracted to her because I like that sort of thing. Yeah. Oh, no, absolutely. Every time. Fucking crazy at Scarford and Greg Folling in love with Rebecca. Yep.

Just fucking out of lipstick. Sorry, I wasn't listening. Perfect. We'll talk about her more in the next couple of sections. She's not actually in this one for very long, but we can't not much my girlfriend. I'm really looking forward to also eventually. Anyway, and again, as you say, it takes very little time to get an idea of who she is. Yeah, even though we don't have, we will get some more of her backstory and we don't have a lot of it now, but you already get the fact she's massively overworked in this reasonably selfless position that she's in. She's sick of everyone being

patronising our soul and not doing anything about it. She's got a massive chip on her shoulder with her name. Also, her brother's dead. We're already far from any man who's dead. Also her brother's dead. We're already family members dead. Yeah. It doesn't sound like it's not spelled out, but the names are there. Right, the Grand Trump group. Again, we'll talk about these a bit more when we get into the later sections, but I can't ignore them.

And there's some really fun bits in this meeting they have with the veterinary. Mr. Slant's representing them, so you know shady shits happening. Uh-huh. Mr. Slant is not a motif. Yeah, the slant is not my teeth. Yeah, he's never representing the good guys. No. Uh, I like how he's a known entity of a villain as well. Yeah.

Like he and slant, he and Vettnery have like a mutual understanding. Yes, absolutely. Of we both do not approve of each other and entirely know what the other's going to say next. And we will both run this joint forever. And I love Mr. Gil's introduction, Richard Gil immediately, just not toading to veterinary, like calling him out.

You don't come to my parties, all work and no play. Just slightly less different than the other ones. Yeah, and although in a similar way to horse fry, he gets that moment of everybody else going, he doesn't give a fuck. He doesn't notice that he's suddenly very far away from his colleagues. Well, I think he does notice. I don't think he cares. That's true. He. He's probably a bit more professional. He's probably a bit more professional. He's probably a bit more professional. He's probably a bit more professional.

We've also got the utter uselessness of humanity that is Crispin Horses Fry. Crispin, it's never gonna work, is it? Not someone called Crispin Horses Fry. I love the moment when Crispin's been kind of dumb about this game that they're talking about, the Vestinari's playing, which funny enough is like, also called the thud, and there's a book called that that we're gonna talk about.

Anyway, he's been really stupid about it, and Fesinarian guilt explainer, look, exchange a look. While I loathe you in every aspect of your personal philosophy to a depth unplomable by any line, I'll credit you at least with not being Crispin Horses Fry. Which I must try and remember, even if it's just the last bit, I'll credit you at least with not being Crispin Halls fry, but you're on my last fucking nerve. It's the way it's not said out loud, I need to work out how to convey that in a look. I think you can. Yeah.

I think I could with you. But if we need to cite me in every aspect of my personal philosophy to adapt to the plumible of a library line, of course. Not that you know of. No, I don't. I love you deeply. No, thank you, good. I was trying to think of something funny and responsive, but I'd sound very defensive. If I went against your personal philosophy,

so it would probably be a really shit human. I mean, I am, but for like different reasons. Mm-hmm. Yeah, no, that's fair. Speaking of being shit humans. Yeah, so it sets up exactly what this group has done to financially fuck with the clocks, which is a very nice set up for what comes through all the rest of the book.

Yeah, it's again, kind of echoes of previous books with like the, oh, Guards, Guards, Guards, Guards, Dragon. Yeah, yeah, Guards, Guards, Dragon. And guards, guards, dragon. Yeah, yeah, guards, guards, dragon. And men and arms probably as well, just the shadowy aristocrats, but now it's corporate. Yeah, it's gone, it's gone to the corporate CEO style, but it's still kind of bureaucracy is a villain. Yeah, yeah, your accuracy is a villain. Yeah, this time they're not trying to lock fentanyl away for the whole time. Because it's illegal, they don't need to. What a fun development.

And then there's a few really good side characters, which is the thing we've been talking about. He says that these characters so well and a couple of sentences. He's got Wilkinson, the guard, who's just immediately so supportive of, and thankful for the fruit baskets and explains occupational therapy. Daniel OneDrop trooper, who wants to sign the rope and is very proud of being good at his job. I love a charming executioner. I think because I've been watching disencharming recently and Nullfielding voices the executioner in that and he's quite a nice character. Oh cool, I've been watching Taskmaster Still and I'm on the series with Nullfielding. Oh nice such a charmer, here's. Oh, there. But I think there's just something, you can immediately, like, a couple of sentences

with Daniel Wondrock Trooper and you're like, oh, I know this guy and I've been, he has a lovely time and he goes out and he tells the wife what a good jovy did at work today and he sort of puts his feet up and has his cup of tea. Absolutely, yep. We know him from TV and real life. He's a very good, realistic trope. And you've got the lads up in the loft as well with beards and certain funny things to each other Woodpeckers. Yeah, which is another good foreshadowing. Yeah tap tap tap. I actually I put my obscure reference

First of all as the stuff the woodpeckers were talking about. No, not the woodpeckers specifically But like the new people and I was gonna look into what they were on about as well. I've not done that, but I will say now the discworld.fandom.com website has done a really good list of like all the various like a Clacks jargon that's throughout, so I'm going to link to that for everybody rather than trying to read it all out because that'll be done. So locations, locations, we've got a deep sea bit, you know, I fucking love a bit of deep sea. And I see, I see, sometimes an anchor drops all the, no, that doesn't scare. I was trying to think of a rhyme for moisture, oyster. Oh, yeah, that's moist. That's moist.

That's moist. Staked from me. All right. The heat is at all to somewhat listeners, but we'll get through it. Some of some of listeners. What's the actual quote? Sometimes an anchor drops all the way to the dark cold calmness of the Abyssal plane and disturbs the stillness of the centuries by throwing up a card of silt. And the whole, the undersea current of silt, is that, like, that deep data is that thing?

Yeah, I think so. Cool, we should look that up, that sounds fun. Yeah. I didn't start looking up under the sea staff on the basis of the data. No, it was. Well then, yeah. Sorry, for anyone who doesn't know, listen, Joanna is extremely into deep C stuff and would not have come out of that particular rabbit hole in time for the episode, so she made the right choice. Yeah.

And then the post office. And then the post office. Nagging me a whale fall. I want to go see a whale fall first thing. So badly, I have no idea. Whale fall. Excellent, banning. The post office.

Yeah. Which declares on the front, neither rain nor snow nor glom of knit, etc. A lot of knit, which we've seen before, they mentioned the glom of knit many books ago, or at least one or two. I think so. And then obviously don't ask about Mrs. Cake. I really want to know what Mrs. Cake specifically did to the post office. Have we got where the glum of Nick comes from, by the way?

Yes, I have. So, this is kind of the informal US Postal Service motto, neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these careers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. So, the reason it became this informal motto is because it is on the building for the New York Post Office, the architect for it there. The actual passage, quite itself, comes from, is a passage from a translation of Herodotus' histories, Herodotus specifically Herodotus.

I'm never gonna say it right. No, I love it. I like that, let's do that. Specifically, the translation was taught here Palmer, describing the courier service of the ancient Persian Empire. It said that as many days as there are on the whole journey, so many of the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day's journey. And these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed.

But my favourite bit, I got this from the Wikipedia page for this like informal motto. This slogan is not a formal commitment and in fact the USPS made a laymail during bad weather with like a fucked ton of citations. That is the most passive aggressive Wikipedia sentence I have ever seen. You can imagine every editor adding a citation whenever they have their post-lied. I love it, but yeah, I love the descriptions of the post office. Incredibly evocative descriptions of pitchening crusted piles. Yeah, it's very, oh God, you really can't see it, can't you? Anyone who's been around a long abandoned building has a vague idea,

although obviously I've never seen anything quite that covered in paper. No, uh, there's a great line about the letters everywhere. The sorting room almost as big as the main hall had drifts reaching to 20 feet in places here and their filing cabinets rose out of the paper, see like icebergs. God. What a line. Fucking nightmare, isn't it? Oh, yeah, no, I mean, it stresses me out of everything about it for too long. And then where else have we got?

We go to Dave's Pinnix Change. Mmm. Yeah. Now, this gives me very, um, uh, practice, oh, the place he used to go to get is sci-fi comic books, five. Yeah, I was thinking that as well. They're describing the guys in there. They look a bit like Stanley. They were all male, clearly women weren't natural pinheads. I thought this is kind of a love letter

to those weird little bookshops of Pratchess youth and I think also kind of a loving ribbing of like the kevins. Yeah, absolutely. And of course, he's talking about the, you know, places to get sci-fi comics from was also mainly a purveyor of adult materials. Yes. But I don't mean books about chapters. And in this case, Dave is, you know, a little bit reluctant to say, oh, you want the

under-account stuff to you. All right. Yeah. I don't have nails in here. We got kidneys in here. a little bit reluctant to say, oh, you want the undercount stuff to you. All right. Don't have nails in here. We get kiddies in here. I fucking love it. Like I said, with the Stanley, but it's taking the piece in a really loving way. Yeah, absolutely.

And you know, he was that way about stuff to exactly. Yeah. And yeah, lastly, we have a towel one eight one and Princess Roger and Grandad, which I'll talk about like what happens in the Tower a bit more later, but God is just really beautiful and such a really good visceral description of what the clax has become because it's been kind of an abstract concept. Before now, we had like the mini versions of it where you have like gargoyles using semaphora and stuff like that. And then we had the idea

of it as a political tool. That was the reason the Anglemore Booker got involved in the war and Monster's Regimen is because of the Clax towers. But we had quite a lot of it in the Wevel fun as well, the first elephant. Fifth elephant, yeah. Yeah, it is a really nice concept we've seen develop over you know, yeah, years and Yeah, one podcast time I'm being in like a living Clax Tower as opposed to like the Clax Tower They briefly go in a mulchless regiment and seeing how it becomes a lifestyle Yeah, it's kind of like you get the idea it seems like a mix of like early computer hacker tech nerd

Vives and like lighthouse keeper,, tech nerd vibes, and like lighthouse keeper, you know? Yeah, or like oil rigs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That sense of like communal isolation. Yeah, that makes it. And even like shepherding hearts things, I'm just trying to think of like,

it feels so real, I feel like you must be thinking of something specific, you know, where the kids would go and help, like maybe fishing vessel, I don't know. Yeah, I feel like it's something that of something specific, you know, where the kids would go and help, like maybe fishing, that's all I don't know. Yeah, I feel like it's something that's got an accessibility to it. So not like an oil rig, we need to like get onto the oil rig but something that you could physically walk up to.

Yeah, it's like, yeah. Tip of my brain, it'll come back. Yes. Right. A little bit we liked. What do we like? What do we like? What do we like? What do we like? Similies.

We like things. We like things. We like things. We like things. As usual, practice puts in these four similes in here. I pick out a couple of my favorites. We've got, well, I'll start with the, he inhabited the post office like a very small snail in a very large shell.

Very cute. So it's to the slightly more poetic. The light was shining through the outer glass. The filter was water so that it would go out if it was dropped. It made the lanterns look like the light. So some a bit of fish from the squidie, iron hard depths. Oh lovely. And then back to the mollusk, now moist felt like a peeled prawn. That's such a good line. Yeah. Yeah, there's a little, a little, a little one.

There's also just some really fun, like just two fun words together or really brilliant little turns of phrase. Devious cartography. Yes, I had that down, it sounds like a Lankan name. Yeah, it does a bit, doesn't it? Ha, ha, ha. Best a Lankan name. Yeah, it does a bit, doesn't it? Bestiella T-Cartus cousin.

There's Vestinari's Cisals Two Step as opposed to the Hemp Fundango. Yeah. And just a sentence I deeply love and have been just saying to myself all week, Aggie wants to barry frippories. Aggie wants to buy frippries. Yeah. Aggie wants to buy frippries. I'm not going to argue. Yeah. Let Aggie buy as many frippries as she likes God damn it.

Absolutely. Ah, I want to buy some frippries. I might purchase a frippery or two tomorrow. Hey, because little treats and B because it sounds a little bit like ice cream. Yeah, I feel like I'm going to use the excuse that I want to buy frippories to get a nice caramel macchiato tomorrow. That's not me. A frppery. A frppery. A frppuccino frippery. Roads. Roads, yes. There are many. They died on the yellow wood. How many must a man walk down in front? Oh, several. They all lead to Rome, anyway. He stood in a little square where eight roads met and

chose to go home via Market Street. It was as good a way as any other, which I thought was a wonderful visual metaphor, especially as it came on the tail end of some existential crises about, you know, can you change things in the universe and the letters and all of that. Yes, there's eight roads diverge in a little square. Yes. And there's a little bit of a very nice. And they're too well-discworld as well. Oh, yes, of course, yes. I learned something about Sattor Square that I'm not sure if we ever put into the podcast by saw somebody on Facebook post it today. It's a unique word square. The square is formed by the

five Latin words, Satore, RFO, Tenet, Opera and Rotas. And so there's all like a palindromic. And that people are very excited by it and there was one in Pompeii. Oh, marvelous. Yeah, that's very cool. Also known as the Templar Magic Square. Excellent. Yeah. But yes, eight roads diverging in a square is quite nice as well because normally it would be four. Yeah, usually, yeah. So you're thinking about all the different what's its and how's?

What's its and how's is all I think about? Yeah, what's its and how's my favorite crime fighting duo? Anyway, swap, swapalk? Swalk? Sealed with a loving kiss. I always loved that. I love it. I love it. It was nice. The Discworld fandom thing you can actually,

I found a couple of round-well-dolled sentatives on there. I'm sure this later tomorrow, but... So Holland, hope I love lasts and never dies. Italy, I'll truly always love you. And Norwich, Nick is off, ready when I come home. Fract it leads it up to the reader to come up with an appropriate saying for Lanker and Clatch. I was wondering, are you up to the challenge? Off the top we head for, yeah, I'm sorry. See me later. Listeners, send in your best.

Yes. Yes. Good idea. Yeah. Do I work for us? I'm always torn between SWALK, you see all the love and kiss, sounds like beautiful and romantic and swalcus, really funny. Can I like that? I like that about it. Swalcus. It sounds like the noise of flamingo would make it try to walk any

there. Yes, then it falls over. We also got the dimwell ayrithmic rhyming slang, which is just perfect. Beautiful. Well there are various rhyming slang across the universe, the dimmlestreet rhyming slang is unique in that it doesn't rhyme. The theories are, it's quite complex and it fact follows in rules, or dimwell is well-named or it's made up to an always strangers which is the case of most such slang. Do you have the round well equivalents for your prunes? I can't think of any now because like we actually had a whole conversation about rhyming slang in the discord the other day we were trying to come up with alternative ones and chat GPT.

Actually yet the alternatives as far as disqual goes is ask chat GPT to come up with rhyming slang for you. Because it's very funny. Yeah. It can't do it, it doesn't know how. But yeah, the specific one in demoral rhyming slang, Sarah Prune's means wig. Oh, it's Sarah Prifix, isn't it? Yeah.

Yeah. And then, oh yeah, apostrophes. Hard to pronounce exactly how wrong this is. This is not as easy as Carrots, random commas. It's actually an actual thing though. The green grosses apostrophe. Yes. The random apostrophe put into plurals where they don't need to, but Pratchett has taken it to an art form in this and thrown them in every which way. Yes, in his running bit of people can pronounce pronunciation, or adequately provoked. High class, fruit and vegetables. Oh, that's pretty good, yeah, like

I do. You got the punctuation wrong in that. But I like that it then gets paid off with Hugo's not having an apostrophe because there wasn't one to Nick from the post office sign. Absolutely. It's a fun little connection there. I also like that it's like just a family trait that you stick apostrophes everywhere. Yeah. And it's in friebrees.

It is in friebrees. What does that keep you on to buy friebrees? For the rest of postrophies? So, should we go on to the bigger stuff? Oh yeah, sure. Go on, we're being efficient. I say that. We've gone as so many tangents.

We're fucking out of it. But we actually had little bits today, so it's all worked out okay. You know how much I cut from that. I thought I just would have just run out the entire boat. Got it, yeah. I've got so many fucking notes on this one, way more than most. I think maybe Nightwatch was a contender, but for different reasons, obviously. Yeah, I mean, Monster's Regiment for me, but most of those notes were just, this is really gender. Yeah.

I think like the fun thing about this part of the book and this book in general actually, because it doesn't go all the way into it, like it might, is the kind of setup for the things that Pratchett is really fucking pissed off about at the moment or in general, it's been for years, whatever. The obvious one is the privatization of things like BT. Years later, the post office, which has gone pretty much the same fucking way, which is a fun little parallel in real life there. And it ties in very well, I think, to another fun little thing that Brexit hates and hasn't really had a chance to go into properly yet. But this financial and corporate law bollocks. This kind of hiding behind shell companies

and directorships switching around and all these clever little accounting tricks and clever little legal corporate law tricks that mean that these awful fucking things you're doing are actually perfectly legal and there's nothing anybody can do about it. It's worse in America than it is here, but it's quite bad here as well. You see this kind of stuff, all for a lot of it going around with the obvious examples,

the cronyism, the PPE and everything over the pandemic. A very recent, less big example. What's worse with that? Smaller scale, but larger heart, let's say. The Crooked House pub, which was, wait, how sued can I get? Which was definitely arson, at least is being investigated for arson, and there are some interesting connections with the people who owned it. And I had a very fun, not the right word.

I had an evening digging through the various direct dictatorships, I say, no direct ships and little corporations they've all been involved in for the last decade or two, which is something if I were paid to write about, I probably would have If I were paid to write about, I'd probably would have fucking kicked myself for starting because it's awful. Yeah. Oh, God. I hate it on many levels and I feel like I'm trying to bring it back to the podcast where I was in just around here.

And I feel like coming very much from the book as well. Yes. And they just make it so that the common person doesn't have a fucking chance. Yeah. And whether that's just because nobody can be expected to understand the ins and outs of corporate law unless it's making them a very large and immoral profit, whether that's because before the game even started, you were handicapped and didn't know it because you just didn't have the money.

And I just, I really like the way he explained all of that. And also the kind of running stuff to lip breaks, which is another part of the privatization. And is also just a very treating people like things thing. Yeah, I think the running something purely for profit as opposed to running it because it's something people need. I think it's something that we've seen a lot with the rail industry as that's been prioritized as well.

Yeah. And it's the same. It's treating people like things. Yeah. And it's making the equipment and the people work until they break and treating them the same and mistreating them the same. Yes. And that's all that's going to kind of an interesting little tie-in with the golems as

well, which he's clearly, as I said, been ruminating on for several years now. And he's like, do you know what? I don't, I didn't like how I decided they were being treated then. And I still don't like it now. And I want to talk more about that. And I want to talk about, Mr. Pump had that incredible moment. Stood at the bottom of a whole 100 feet deep and pumped water for 240 years, Mr. Litvig. But now I'm ambulating in the sunlight. This is better, Mr. Litvig. This is better exclamation mark. Interesting. Punctuation very important here. Yeah, and you exclamation mark a golem. He said it was vigour.

Yeah. You don't want to be vigoured out via a large play for all of us. But yeah, it makes me feel a little bit hopeless, Joanna. Have you any hope for us? Please do, I can try. I may have some hope. Well, no, this is the thing. There is this running theme through this book of hope and this embracing of life and this embracing of vitality. And that's the thing, like just any kind of life finding life somewhere. And it's about a fucking post office. And this is the thing, like, just any kind of, like, finding life somewhere. And it's about a fucking post office. And this is the thing, like Terry Bratcher was a very angry man.

That's established and we've talked about it. And it's something their gamer, Rich about really beautifully. And like, he does have that anger in this, that anger at these corporations, this privatization, this treating people as things in, but he's also just very passionate. Yeah. Yeah. I think that really sings through right from the beginning.

I mean, it's a dark opening compared to previous books, you know. The guy dying in the second epilogue, he felt the terrible pain. We've had people die early on in books before, but this is very visceral. We're very there with him. And it's dark and it's quiet and he's alone and he felt the terrible pain in his fingers had the scream and dropped like an anchor Mm-hmm, and it ties that anchor back to the anchor that went past Angamarat Who obviously will talk about more next week? Yes um

And then you go from there to something quite funny in looking at how people use hope you have moist chipping away at the wall looking at how people use hope. You have moist chipping away at the wall and it's explained. It's occupational therapy, prevents moping and offered that greatest of all treasures, which is hope, sir. I think with feathers. And then as moist kind of things back on the cons he's been and he thinks about how he used people hopes for it. This is, you know, before you could sell glasses diamonds, he had to make people want to see diamonds and that was the trick. You changed the way people saw the world, and let them see it the way they wanted it to be. And it's not just that the book is hopeful, but that it's using this idea of how people hope, and how other people treat people who hope, how Vesonari uses it to trick someone, but also, yeah, keep the marquee apart. How moist has used it in the past,

compared to how he's kind of thinking, now he's getting hopeful, he's thinking, okay, well, now I'm stuck in the situation, I can make a profit. But it's still like by reflex, giving hope to the people like through the, you know, he didn't need to do the letter or, and yeah, I'm buying a pin Stanley was to his benefit as well, but you know, it was still a Or getting my lessons for the signing back. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And there's a great moment where as Gro and Stanley are going to sleep after they've read the regulations and Stanley sort of us, why is it like this? And the un-bilted question is why are we living like this and Groats says it's because of hubris or hubris

hubris and hubris is the and the new pie and bloody stupid Johnson yeah I keep I keep accidentally saying Boris Johnson and I'm not trying to be like clever and political her bloody stupid Johnson Boris Johnson it's just no no it's just that the name we used to saying. Yeah. Um, and you've just is almost the effect of too much hope, or too much optimism, too much confidence, which I think, you know, as well as the deep help. Exactly. They're not the same thing, they're very close cousins. And after the grand trunk meeting,

veterinary starts debating the concept of freedom. And veterinary is not a man who needs to hope. No. Vestinary is a man that is, and that means he is able to step back. We mentioned this conversations. This is when drum not would like a far box is to be less flimsy, but veterinary was to think about the difference between preventing a murder as a installment of freedom versus no man being truly free because only the maddle that divine could face true freedom.

But now I calculate instead of hopes. Exactly. You get the occasional miscalculation like with vines a couple times. And then you can see him recalculating instead of like feeling hopeless. Yeah, he didn't punch the wall. No. Oops. She's such a good man.

With Ali Zindzi, you know, veterinary literally gives life at the beginning of the book. He becomes an angel and gives moisture second chance and he is one angel. Many angels. Many angel references through this as well. Oh yeah, there's a really fun thing. One angle. At least one angle. Yes, that's it, because it was in chapter 2, so there was always an angle.

Oh yeah. My note is, angle, angel. This was later night, so there was always an angle. Oh, yeah. My my note is angle angel. This was later night. So that might be nothing. Well, no, you only get one angel, but there's always an angle. It works. But yeah, there's fatality. There's life coming through the whole thing.

That Mr. Pumpk, quote, you just mentioned, you know, I'm, I'm ambulating in the sunlight. This is better. Yeah. Literally the page before that moist,asked Mr. Groot, like, is this any kind of life? And Groot says, it's better than a death, sir. And then you have these letters as stagnating vitality,

because they're sat there and they're unfulfilled with their purpose, and he delivers one and things change. And the like, you can imagine them as little packets of history, deliver them in history, went one way, but if you drop them in the gap between the floorboards, it went the other, we got the trousers of time back. And I love how he, he goes through the little bit of, well, is there any point in delivering this? Surely it's too late, it's been too long, what's the point? But does it anyway? Because, you know, you can see something like that being like, oh, it's too like leave it, leave it forever, leave the way it haunted, writing. But now I clearly calculated that voice to be the one to give it a go anyway.

And a powerful curiosity. Yeah. He's so used to, even though he's literally been hanged, he's still used to being able to get away with everything and get out of things. The things, I think there's this underlying, what does it matter if delivering the lesser goes wrong? I'll be all right. Curiosity is a form of hope, is it not? Absolutely. That hope that something interesting will happen if we do this. And then you get the bit where Moist actually has to confront things, as it were. This is after he's society can make a profit of everything. And then and Mr. Pump accounts you have killed 2.3 people and gives this accounting of the lives lipic ended it by everything he did to these minute ways he calls tiny parts of deaths for people.

A most first reaction is anger. He's furious. He wants the golem to rip his own head off. And you get that, like when someone like criticises you and hits a fucking nail on the head, you dig angry, well I do. There's probably a character flaw. No, why absolutely? If someone like critic, that doesn't mean it's not a character flaw, but if it is, it's quite similar characters flaws. We're definitely unreliable now, right? I dare you. This takes me to the end of this section, which is this bit in Tower 1-8-1, and the message

that's being spent, and this is this GNU John Deer Heart thing that is being sent across the overhead, and the idea is that this message stays in the overhead, and it's not locked, and it turns around, and at the end, and it just stays there, it keeps going on and on. And obviously that has then become a thing, you know, for the Pratchett Fanon for everyone, this idea of GNU is instead of RIP, and GNU Terry Pratchett specifically, it's been built into all sorts of websites and everything, having to be arbitrary, pratch in the header. Yeah, it's an ours. I'll link to the website where they have like, the detailed instructions of how it can go into any sort of header and how it's all done. It's really beautiful that still exists.

Simplified ripples. Exactly. It is. It's a follow-on from that. Well, the quote in this is, he'd never have wanted to go home. He was a real linesman. His name is in the code, in the wind, in the rigging,

and the shutters. Haven't you ever heard the saying, a man's not dead while his name is still spoken? Do you not stand at my grave in week? But it is, it's the same, it's the reap of manco, it's the no one is truly dead until the ripples they cause in the world. And it's a weirdly poetic book for one that's so tied into practicality and logistics in a real world organization, obviously, not a white real world organization, but a very parallel one. And it's for such a fun book as well. Yeah.

Then you have this deeply poetic moment in it and obviously it's meaningful for everyone and it's very true, this idea of this name still being spoken. And the fact that Terry Pratchett almost eulogized himself in a single thing there because obviously we do all still speak his name and and probably well for a very long time. And it's this beautiful way to think of this person living on. Yes. Although it's still you know, it'd be nice if yeah, randomly fallen to his death. I'm not very much on to it. How long does it really hurt it? Although it's still you know, it'd be nicer if yeah randomly fallen to his death I Sorry, right I tried to end this on lovely moment and just fuck that was me that I'm sorry I ruined that

I know I should have clarified that one. I've seen you wrangled it. Have you got an obscure reference finial for me and can you say it? I do, and then I'm going to go and die of the gnats. I'll keep spinning around for a bit. I'm not sure I can. So it's a obscure reference finial. The game that Vettnar is playing as you noted,

stud. Oh, sorry, I shouted that, clipped it probably, stud, which the long form name is, is Nuffle, Baffle, Sniffle, Waffle, Tuffle. Beautiful. Thank you. Which is based on Tuffle games, like Northern European strategy games, and who are characterized by, yeah, with this one, having two unequal teams, which is very unusual in board games, as I'm sure you know, being a board game now yourself. And there's just lots of interesting ones and one particular one called tablet,

which was like indigenous people in the Nordic regions. And that was in play until around the 18th century, at least, and Linnaeus broke down some of the rules. Col Linnaeus, I like to bring him into everything now. Yeah, a little bit of Linnaeus. And I think you'll find the history of this game particularly interesting because Linnaeus wrote it in Latin, sorry, and somebody translated it into English in 1811. And the rules have been kind of based on that sense but it was a really bad translation and so the rules didn't quite work and so there'd been

amendments to the rules since then based on this original list translation I just thought it it was an intersection of quite a few of your interests so I'll leave the link. Amazing. Yeah. Cool. I'm getting excited about learning play thought now. I'm really looking forward to learning splythad. Right, so I think that's everything we can say about part one of going postal without this being a three hour episode. Yeah, we're just going to go our separate ways and master our exit on the sofa. I'm just going to keep saying frippories. Frippories. Love a friepory. We will be back next week with part two, which begins where this part ended at the beginning

of chapter five and goes through to the end of chapter nine. Cool. Big, big, big mid section. Big mid section. That's also what they call me. Until next week, you can, for those on Instagram, the two show make you fresh on Twitter and make you fretboard on Facebook in making a video, you can also find out on Twitter and Twitter. You can also find out on Twitter and Twitter. You can also find out on Twitter and Twitter.

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You can also find out on Twitter and Twitter And you can also now join our Discord. There'll be an invite link in the show notes. And until next time, dear listener, don't let us detain you. I'm trying to come up with a line, God. I'm not even going to fucking try right now. And it's too cold. It's too cold. It's too cold.

It's too cold. It's too cold. It's too cold. It's too cold. It's too cold. It's too cold. It's too cold. It's too cold.

It's too cold. It's too cold. It's too cold. It's too cold. It's too cold. It's too cold. It's too cold. It's too cold.

It's too cold. It's too cold. It's too cold.