In rereading Discworld, I marvel at how lucky we were that Sir PTerry lived to give us such a fitting send off to that universe: and how that send off is much richer if you view Raising Steam and The Shepherd's Crown as a dual goodbye.

Steam gives us "big ideas" Pratchett at his finest: what happens when you introduce a world-changing roundworld idea to Discworld (the railways). It showcases a host of favourite main characters (Moist, Vimes, Vetinari and the Night Watch) plus some beloved minor characters (Harry, the Low King) and develops their relationships in new and interesting ways (see how Moist, who has never had time for the police, is forced to reassess Vimes, and vice versa). It moves key issues forward - gender politics in the dwarves, how certain species are treated - and revisits old stories (Vertinari's secret double, the golden golems). Plus we get some genuinely exciting set pieces, and happy endings all round. It would, on its own, be a fitting finale.

Then we get Shepherd. A small scale, intimate book about one old woman's death and one young woman's destiny. About how a life can ripple through the world, but without pulling focus from those in her smaller circle. It's not scared of big ideas - from the gender dynamics of witches to the relationship between faeries and the world - but it ultimately feels focused on one compact group of (mostly) women. While Steam felt like a big, showy leaving party, Shepherd feels like a farewell between friends, bittersweet but lovely all the same.

Together, they reflect the strengths of Discworld, its ability to tackle big ideas but to do so by tying them to characters who feel like people you know, making them small enough to grasp. Read them in close sittings, and they fit together beautifully.

I think it's a shame that there was never a discworld book involving Moist Von Lipwig facing the elves. Because I would pay so much money to see that. The elves are dangerous and some of them have seriously powerful magic, but for the most part they're creatures of glamour. They entrance, trick, deceive, and intimidate. But the thing is, Moist is even better at it than they are. Moist's primary skills are just his sheer audacity and charisma. The elves are creatures of stories, and Moist knows how to spin a story better than anyone. Plus, it's mentioned elves often try to use their glamour to overwhelm humans with sheer feelings of inadequacy and inferiority. And while Moist doesn't like plenty of things about himself, he's incredibly good at hiding it. As I said, he's a man with audacity. It could also draw an interesting parallel showing how elves aren't much more than he is, just magical con-artists but at least he's trying to be better now. Bonus: Adora Belle Dearheart vs the elves. She has an even more ironclad sense of self-confidence than Moist. Plus she has golems, which would likely be unaffected by both elf glamour and elf swords, and goblins which were formerly enslaved by the elves and are a vengeful people with access to a lot of iron. It would also be funny if they were hyper-sensitive to her cigar smoke or something

good news loyal followers: i am back on the Disc. just finished Raising Steam, enjoyed it a lot, easily the Discworld book most likely to fuck a car. i really liked the graphic descriptions of how a train can kill people i thought htat was really cool

Next i must decide if i'm going to the wizards or to death

New Discworld thought: So, Charlie, a character introduced in The Truth, looks exactly like Lord Vetinari. Like exactly like him. So much like him that Charlie was used to try and frame Lord Vetinari in an attempt to remove him from office. The attempt failed, but Charlie was able to get work as a Lord Vetinari impersonator. Kids parties and the like. But he can also fill in for Lord Vetinari, as he did in Raising Steam. In Raising Steam, it is revealed that Charlie has a wife.

So somewhere out there, is a woman who is married to a man who looks like Lord Vetinari. What's that relationship like? Do they roleplay? Do... Do you think... that sometimes he... pretends to be Lord Vetinari... in the bedroom?

What if she doesn't like it, but one time, when they were in bed, and he went 'don't let me detain you.' In the Vetinari voice and she shut that shit down.

Does he sometimes try and use the Vetinari voice to get out of fights. Anyone who knows about marriage can tell you that that doesn't work for long. She very well could be immune to him.

She could be talking with Lord Vetinari, and he tries the 'Don't let me detain you.' Trick, but she's just 'don't you use that voice on me.'

What kind of woman marries a man that looks exactly like The Tyrant of Ank-Morpork?

Who is she?

Moisted up on a Monday afternoon in honor of me finally finishing his series

Feeney thought about this on the ride home as his horse trotted gently toward the sunset. He wasn't a philosopher and couldn't even spell the word, but the voice of the goblin officer rang in his head. He thought, what would happen if goblins learned everything about humans and did everything the human way because they thought it was better than the goblin way? How long would it be before they were no longer goblins and left behind everything that was goblin, even their pots? The pots were lovely, he'd bought several for his mum. Goblins took pots seriously now, they sparkled, even at night, but what happens next? Will goblins really stop taking an interest in their pots and will humans learn the serious, valuable and difficult and almost magical skill of pot making? Or will goblins become, well, just another kind of human? And which would be better?

And then he thought, maybe a policeman should stop thinking about all this because, after all, there was no crime, nothing was wrong...and yet in a subtle way, there was. Something was being stolen from the world without anybody noticing or caring.

Terry Pratchett, Raising Steam

I'm reading Terry Pratchett's "Raising Steam" right now and I honestly don't understand why we haven't praised this scene so much.

Exhausted, and in defiance of custom and practice, health and safety – but, on the other hand, with all the glory of the gods of style – to the dismay of the palace guards he rode the golem horse all the way up the steps to the door of the Oblong Office. There he was pleased to see Drumknott, who deftly opened the door and stepped backwards so quickly that Moist, by ducking, managed to trot neatly to within a foot of Lord Vetinari’s desk.

Unruffled, the Patrician lowered his coffee mug and said, 'Mister Lipwig. It is customary to knock before entering my office'

Moist flew into Vetinari's office on a golem horse and Vetinari was just like "I'm not impressed with this cockiness, but you definitely should have done it a little more politely"

I CAN'T

What could be better than being woken up at 3 a.m. by members of the palace guard? And of course, the answer was absolutely everything.

Terry Pratchett - Raising Steam

kinda heartbreaking to me that moist REPEATEDLY says he likes the kind of people who are everything he isn't. like. the fact that he's been running away from himself, truly himself, for so long that when it catches up to him, he can't help but despite it. and admire and actively LIKE the people who are everything he isn't and it just points to a self hatred and derealization so strong that its self destructive too. he'll never be those people and he'll always either feel guilty in their presence or simply just full of emotion he doesn't know how to deal with. he even says in the beginning of going postal that he LOVES honest people, loves when they shake his hand and look into his eyes to find out who he is, bc he has a whole rack of selves he can offer them. and that's the thing, isn't it. he doesn't show his real self to anyone till going postal and even then the only one he offers it to WILLINGLY is adora. until going postal he doesn't think himself capable of having a 'real' self. how gut wrenching that is. like yeah yeah he was a conman that was the whole POINT but he spent his life hiding behind layers and layers of mask and the fact that he LIKES honest people instead of despising them. god.

Behind Detritus Moist found Commander Vimes dressed as a guard, apparently thoroughly enjoying himself, if Moist correctly interpreted his twisted grimace.

Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett

I was incredibly bored at office today so I spent an hour reading through the tags under Polina Graf's illustrations and cover for Moist von Lipwig trilogy and here are some of my faves:

Yes, that's just 6 Moist descriptions. And all of them on point. Especially the "squirming ball of very alarmed gerbils" one. That's my son. I'm proud of him.

AND HE SHOULD BE ONE ACTUALLY

The otp of all time: girl who can kick ass + simp

(I'm not even joking, almost every one of my m/f otps are like this)

Truly the greatest mystery of the Disc

This just took me out for several minutes

nature is healing (I spent all day drawing moist as god intended)

i just read Going Postal in less than 18 hours. oh my god hnghhhh how have i survived so many years on this earth without Moist Von Lipwig in my life. how have i survived so many years on this earth without Discworld in my life. i’m a changed person now.

It's a little weird to be confronted with the fact of Vetinari being mortal, in the form of a crossword. Kinda bittersweet.

Raising Steam time. Feels bittersweet because it's the second to last discworld I'll read. Let's hope it's a good one.