He could hear his granny speaking. ‘No one’s too poor to buy soap.’ Of course, many people were. But in Cockbill Street they bought soap just the same. The table might not have any food on it but, by gods, it was well scrubbed. That was Cockbill Street, where what you mainly ate was your pride.

-- Terry Pratchett - Feet Of Clay

Vimes hears nice music and his first thought is 'must tell wife. wife likes music'. And he sprints to get her. He doesn't stop to think. He interrupts her afternoon gossip circle. He is vibrating as he waits for her to come. His head pulled out a huge flashing sign with 'wife's special interest!!! she would like this!!!' and that was it for him

Why does Vimes being short seem to come as a surprise to some people?

Remember that not only is he called Vetinari's Terrier (terriers tend to be small dogs), but in The Fifth Elephant, Vimes initially fails to recognize the irony during a rant in which he mentions "Eight-stone" (112 lb. or 50.8 kg) fighters and uses the term "bantamweight". Even if his genetics would have allowed him to be taller, his background does not support the idea of him being anything but short.

Sam Vimes grew up not just in the Shades, but on Cockbill Street, a place where people couldn't afford to eat regularly. He and his mother probably faced hunger more frequently than some of their neighbors (though perhaps not as frequently as larger families) because Mrs. Vimes wouldn't accept money that was made immorally and because she was a single mother who didn't have the income of a husband to help cover expenses.

Consider how, in Night Watch, Vimes (as Keel) was shocked to see how skinny his younger self was, and that his younger self said that he joined the watch because a friend had told him that there was free food, a uniform, and that he could occasionally make an extra dollar. This shows a surprising difference between adult and young Vimes: with his adult and soon-to-be-father self being taken aback by the sorry sight of himself as a kid as well as his younger self openly and readily talking to a near stranger about how, at 17 years old, he's just now starting to get a sense of food security. Furthermore, in Guards!Guards!, it is stated that "He couldn't help remembering how much he'd wanted a puppy when he was a little boy. Mind you, they'd been starving - anything with meat on it would have done", which shows the extent of the hunger he faced in his youth.

Sam Vimes isn't someone of an average height that seems short simply because he spends so much time around tall people (such as Carrot, Sybil, and Vetinari), he is short. Vimes grew up without access to healthy or adequate quantities of food, therefore his growth was stunted by malnourishment, which likely means that he would be below the average height of a human citizen of Ankh-Morpork.

the unbelievable tragedy of feet of clay drives me nuts. every time im just consumed by the plight of the golems and what dorfl says to carrot when hes asked what he wants.... he says "respite" .. idk man i really get so fucked up over it. and when vimes goes to the funeral in cockbill street . (horse image) man

Unlike the Shades, though, Cockbill Street was clean, with the haunting, empty cleanliness you get when people can't afford to waste dirt. For Cockbill Street was where people lived who were worse than poor, because they didn't know how poor they were. If you asked them they would probably say something like "mustn't grumble' or 'we've always kept uz heads above water and we don't owe nobody nowt'.

He could hear his granny speaking. 'No one's too poor to buy soap.' Of course, many people were. But in Cockbill Street they bought soap just the same. The table might not have any food on it but, by gods, it was well scrubbed. That was Cockbill Street, where what you ate mainly was your pride.

What a mess the world was in, Vimes reflected. Constable Visit had told him the meek would inherit it, and what had the poor devils done to deserve that?

Cockbill Street people would stand aside to let the meek through. For what kept them in Cockbill Street, mentally and physically, was their vague comprehension that there were rules. And they went through life filled with a quiet, distracted dread that they weren't quite obeying them.

People said that there was one law for the rich and one law for the poor, but it wasn't true. There was no law for those who made the law, and no law for the incorrigibly lawless. All the laws and rules were for those people stupid enough to think like Cockbill Street people.

I've finally finished Feet of Clay and I am losing my mind over how GOOD this book is, how many incredible quotes there are, like

'The candles killed two other people, ' said Carrot.

Carry started to panic again. 'Who?'

'An old lady and a baby in Cockbill Street.'

'Were they important?' said Carry

Carrot nodded to himself. 'I was almost feeling sorry for you, ' he said. 'Right up to that point.'

LIKE?????? THE WHOLE POINT OF THE STORY IN ONE EXCHANGE. THE CONSTANG PRATCHETT THESIS THAT EVERYONE IS IMPORTANT. NO PEOPLE ARE "LESSER" THAN OTHER PEOPLE AND THEY ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THINGS AND IT FELT LIKE SUCH A "SAYING THE QUIET PART OUT LOUD" MOMENT AND I AM SCREAMING

And Vetinari??? Having already figured out that it was the candles???!? But he didn't want to spoil Vimes' fun because he's his FRIEND!?!?!?

And the exchange with Drumknott, Vetinari rather thinks he did invent Vimes, oh my Lord. I love that quote and I forgot it was in this book

And this book is the introduction of Cheery/Cheri, my beloved, and she and Angua becoming friends, and Carrot beginning to unlearn his cultural... transphobia, for lack of a better word

And like, I adore Angua, she's always been one of my favourite Discworld women, but in rereading the Watch books, I'd forgotten how fatalistic she is about being in Ankh-Morpork and having a life there and being with Carrot and i'm like Angua. Darling. Make it work. I've read ahead in the timeline, I know you stay, quit being pessimistic

Anyway, I'm feeling a little emotional rn, as I always do after finishing a Discworld book, and I think (as I work through Steven Brust's first three Jhereg books and also Mercedes Lackey's Arrows trilogy again) I'm going to start either The Truth next or maybe Jingo?

Game of Thrones/Discworld crossover:

Some strange Unseen University magic goes awry. The Disc and the world of Game of Thrones somehow gets connected. News travels back and forth, including some rumors.

Someone (likely someone in Ankh-Morpork who is fed up that the Assassin’s Guild won’t take a contract out on Vimes) contacts the House of Black and White. They offer to pay double what the Guild asks for a high-level contract. The Faceless Men accept. Offering this name and this life to the God of Death is a just sacrifice.

It’s a pity they didn’t expect the pointy elbows and well-honed paranoia of an upjumped copper from Cockbill Street. How could they have known that the Guarding Dark trumps the Many-Faced God?

Vimes is just annoyed that dropping the Faceless Man back at the House of Black and White was so far out of his way. (The Assassin’s Guild wouldn’t take this particular assassin.) He almost missed his 6:00pm story time with Young Sam (and that’s just plain unacceptable). The fact that he had to do it more than once was an intolerable fact.

Suffice it to say, the Faceless Men quickly learn why you do not accept Sam Vimes’ name.

"The candles killed two other people," said Carrot.

Carry started to panic again. "Who?"

"An old lady and a baby in Cockbill Street."

"Were they important?" said Carry.

Carrot nodded to himself. "I was almost feeling sorry for you," he said. "Right up to that point."

Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

sam vimes is so fucking funny. every time his fear of being a class traitor is brought up it’s as a joke. like CAN you imagine sam vimes from cockbill street ever choosing the rich and powerful over the poor and weak, no matter now annoying he may find either group at the moment? it’s ridiculous. sam vimes is a class infiltrator

Book Review: Feet of Clay

—by Terry Pratchett

This is another of my favourite Discworld novels. It’s got the usual slew of quips & barbs, a constant thesis on justice & the nature of People, and general Discworld-ness. Instead of writing paragraphs about this, here’s a gut-wrenching quote:

'He said we could get the golem to do anything,' Carry mumbled. 'Like making poisoned candles?' said Carrot. 'Yes, but he said it'd just keep Vetinari out of the way,' said Carry. He seemed to be getting a tenuous grip on himself. 'And he's not dead, 'cos I'd have heard,' he said. 'I shouldn't think making him ill is a crime, so you can't—' 'The candles killed two other people,' said Carrot. Carry started to panic again. 'Who?' 'An old lady and a baby in Cockbill Street.' 'Were they important?' said Carry. Carrot nodded to himself. 'I was almost feeling sorry for you,' he said. 'Right up to that point. You're a lucky man, Mr Carry.' 'You think so?' 'Oh, yes. We got to you before Commander Vimes did...’

”Were they important?” he says. Carry isn’t even one of the conspirators, he’s just a middle-man forced into a position he doesn’t like. Every time I reread this, I remember the line is coming up, and I misremember that it’s the mastermind who says it, and I’m wrong, and it floors me every time. Pratchett has a plethora of quotable quotes about the mindset of people in power etc. This...Carry isn’t an evil man. He’s just stopped caring, and somehow that’s the worst thing.

Also Pratchett says #transrights! (I love Cheri.)

The gods had made the people of Cockbill Street poor, honest and provident, Vimes reflected. They might as well have hung signs saying ‘Kick me’ on their backs and had done with it.

Terry Pratchett - Feet Of Clay

Thought of the day: Vimes and Vetinari were both raised by a band of women.

There's Madam Meserole herself, as well as there being no way she didn't have other women over all the time. (It's a matter of much speculation whether that was to fuck nasty or to plan overthrowing a government)

There's Margolotta, who, while not having a hand in raising Vetinari, absolutely had a hand in influencing him.

One of his first tyrannical acts was giving rights to sex workers. He and Rosie Palm are secret besties. He and Sybil are besties. This man grew up around women and is the rare male specimen who understands how they work without going into an instant panic mode.

Vimes doesn't understand how women work, but he cares for them all the same. Vimes, raised by a single mother, father dead. You can bet all the women on Cockbill Street were involved in his upbringing in one way or another. When Mrs Easy dies, Carrot, who knows everyone, doesn't know who she was; but Vimes does – Mrs Easy, she lived on his street, big family. To him, she is a fact of life, a staple in Ankh-Morpork.

And... Well. Widows and Orphans fund had to have come from somewhere. Let's say, growing up poor, surrounded by women who had trouble finding well-paying respectable jobs, women who can't make ends meet.

i. e., Vetinari and Vimes both grew up seeing women's struggles in society and set up to make life easier for them

Imagine: Night Watch but Keel wakes up as a zombie after the 25th and finds out that his identity was stolen. 

Back in the present Vimes is stuck listening to Reg's story about how people will steal your identity just because you're dead (it happened to a fellow zombie 30 years ago, his name was John Keel), what kind of monster would take advantage of a man who'd just died?, and what blatant vitalism it is.

This story is told even more frequently around the 25th of may.

Vimes is torn between wanting to actually meet Keel and hoping that since Keel left for another city (who wouldn’t after being killed just as you arrived) he can avoid meeting him, especially around anyone who might comment upon the resemblance between the two and remember that most zombies looked closer to themselves between life and new death (and the voice, manner of speech, habits &c.) than the man they fought with as Keel and the real Keel. At least he wouldn't need to worry about Fred Colon putting two and two together...

('Where are the hostages?' vibe: Reg=Stede and Vimes=Roach) Sam, *puts hand on Vimes’s shoulder* did you steal Keel’s identity?

And how many of you were there in the Glorious People's Republic of Treacle Mine Road?

And exactly where were you at the time of Keel’s death? I don’t know- Ha! It was 30 years ago and I was a stupid twerp! I was probably working or at home on Cockbill street with Mum and Granny...

That was Cockbill Street, where what you mainly ate was your pride.

What a mess the world was in, Vimes reflected. Constable Visit had told him the meek would inherit it, and what had the poor devils done to deserve that?

Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

absolutely devastated thinking abt that part in feet of clay where carrot doesnt know who mrs easy is. the man knows everyone from the shades to the palace but not her. maybe hes never even walked down cockbill street

I don't remember if there's any canon information on this, but I like to think that Vimes and Rincewind ran in the same circles as Ankh-Morpork kids, and eventually Rincewind runs into His Grace the Duke at a University shindig and goes "...Sam Vimes? Cockbill Street Vimes?? Last I saw you, you were facedown in a gutter outside the Mended Drum!"

And Vimes (currently much afflicted by gilt) just gives a very aggrieved shrug and is like "TIMES CHANGE I GUESS"