I IS PROBLY DEAD - A Discworld Blog

Truth, justice, reasonably priced love, and a hard boiled egg!

[image described: a polished silver helmet sits on a wooden table. The helmet has a flat brim all around and a rounded dome with metal rivets running front to back. There is a sprig of lilac on the helmet.]

Moss had grown over the wooden markers of the other six, but it had been scraped off the central one, revealing the name: JOHN KEEL. And carved underneath by someone who had taken some pains, was: How Do They Rise Up. A huge wreath of lilac flowers, bound with purple ribbon, had been placed on the grave. On top of it, tied round with another piece of purple ribbon, was an egg. “Mrs Palm and Mrs Battye and some of the girls were up here earlier,” said Dibbler. “And of course Madam always makes sure there’s the egg.” “It’s nice, the way they always remember,” said Sergeant Colon. The three stood in silence. They were not, on the whole, men with a vocabulary designed for times like this. After awhile, though, Nobby felt moved to speak. “He gave me a spoon once,” he said, to the air in general. “Yeah, I know,” said Colon. “My dad pinched it off me when he come out of prison, but it was my spoon,” said Nobby persistently. “That means a lot to a kid, your own spoon.” “Come to that, he was the first person to make me a sergeant,” said Colon. “Got busted again, of course, but I knew I could do it again then. He was a good copper.” “He bought a pie off me, first week I was starting out,” said Dibbler. “Ate it all. Didn’t spit out anything.” There was more silence. After awhile, Sergeant Colon cleared his throat, a general signal to indicate that some sort of appropriate moment was now over. There was a general relaxation of muscles. - Terry Pratchett, Night Watch

(image credit: Orsolya Nagy. Image description: a large handmade lilac wreath hangs from a lilac bush)

There are a lot of emotional scenes in Night Watch and this one in particular always gets me because of the Sheer Fundamental Vimes-ness™, so I had to draw it in order to mark the Glorious 25th of May. Shhhh, I know this moment actually takes place at night, but I’m new to backgrounds and daylight is easier to draw.

(Image description: fan art of Vimes sitting outside on a bench next to a lilac bush. He is wearing his Watch uniform with chainmail and breastplate and his sword is leaning against the bench next to him. He is wearing an eyepatch and looking at his silver cigar case. He appears to be crying.)

Truth! Justice! Freedom! Reasonably Priced Love! And A Hard Boiled Egg! Remember the glorious 25th of May!

(image description: a large sign which reads ‘treacle mine road’ adorned with purple lilac flowers)

They were building a barricade in Whalebone Lane. It wasn’t a particularly good one, being made up mostly of overturned market stalls, a small cart and quite a lot of household furniture, but it was a Symbol. - Terry Pratchett, Night Watch

Remember the Glorious 25th of May!

(image described: a black and white photograph of a barricade made from furniture and pallets across a modern street. In the foreground, a small child in suspenders throws their arms out wide in excitement)

The occupants of these graves had died for something. In the sunset glow, in the rising of the moon, in the taste of the cigar, in the warmth that comes from sheer exhaustion, Vimes saw it. History finds a way. The nature of events had changed but the nature of the dead had not. It had been a mean, shameful little fight that ended them, a flyspecked footnote of history, but they hadn’t been mean or shameful men. They hadn’t run and they could have run with honour. They’d stayed and he wondered if the path had seemed as clear to them then as it did to him now. They’d stayed not because they wanted to be heroes, but because they chose to think of it as their job, and it was in front of them. […] John Keel, Billy Wiglet, Horace Nancyball, Dai Dickins, Cecil ‘Snouty’ Clapman, Ned Coates and, technically, Reg Shoe. Probably there were no more than twenty people in the city now who knew all the names, because there were no statues, no monuments, nothing written down anywhere. You had to have been there. He felt privileged to have been there twice. - Terry Pratchett, Night Watch

(Image Credit: Doris Potter. Image Described: A single worn gravestone stands alone in a carpet of some kind of purple flower.)

Countdown to the Glorious 25th, Day 5: Ned Coates, one of the actual revolutionaries.

Ned was a really interesting character in Night Watch, and he’s one of the folks whose story in the original timeline that I’d be most interested to know. He wouldn’t have been driven away from Treacle Mine Road by a man impersonating his old sergeant from Pseudopolis, so did he succeed in radicalising his fellow Watchmen? Was he Keel’s right hand man when the barricades went up? Or did he play some other role in the events of the Glorious Revolution? There’s a lot of interesting questions with Ned that are a lot of fun to think about.

Moss had grown over the wooden markers of the other six, but it had been scraped off the central one, revealing the name: JOHN KEEL. And carved underneath by someone who had taken some pains, was: How Do They Rise Up. A huge wreath of lilac flowers, bound with purple ribbon, had been placed on the grave. On top of it, tied round with another piece of purple ribbon, was an egg. “Mrs Palm and Mrs Battye and some of the girls were up here earlier,” said Dibbler. “And of course Madam always makes sure there’s the egg.” “It’s nice, the way they always remember,” said Sergeant Colon. The three stood in silence. They were not, on the whole, men with a vocabulary designed for times like this. After awhile, though, Nobby felt moved to speak. “He gave me a spoon once,” he said, to the air in general. “Yeah, I know,” said Colon. “My dad pinched it off me when he come out of prison, but it was my spoon,” said Nobby persistently. “That means a lot to a kid, your own spoon.” “Come to that, he was the first person to make me a sergeant,” said Colon. “Got busted again, of course, but I knew I could do it again then. He was a good copper.” “He bought a pie off me, first week I was starting out,” said Dibbler. “Ate it all. Didn’t spit out anything.” There was more silence. After awhile, Sergeant Colon cleared his throat, a general signal to indicate that some sort of appropriate moment was now over. There was a general relaxation of muscles. - Terry Pratchett, Night Watch

(image credit: Orsolya Nagy. Image description: a large handmade lilac wreath hangs from a lilac bush)

Vimes strolled over the mossgrown gravel. In the twilight, the lilac blooms seemed to shine. Their scent hung in the air like fog. He waded through the grass and reached the grave of John Keel, where he sat on the headstone, taking care not to disturb the wreaths; he had a feeling that the sergeant would understand that a copper sometimes needed to take the weight off his feet. And he finished his cigar and stared into the sunset. - Terry Pratchett, Night Watch

(Image credit: Ingrid. Image Description: two headstones in a cemetery are overgrown by a large purple lilac bush)

happy 25th of may everyone

(image description: fanart. a massive lilac bush rises up in the background. white silhouettes show Sam Vimes, his cigar smoke leaving a silhouetted trail, and a row of crosses. The middle, largest, cross is decorate with lilac. Beneath are the words, ‘how do they rise up?’)

There are a lot of emotional scenes in Night Watch and this one in particular always gets me because of the Sheer Fundamental Vimes-ness™, so I had to draw it in order to mark the Glorious 25th of May. Shhhh, I know this moment actually takes place at night, but I’m new to backgrounds and daylight is easier to draw.

(Image description: fan art of Vimes sitting outside on a bench next to a lilac bush. He is wearing his Watch uniform with chainmail and breastplate and his sword is leaning against the bench next to him. He is wearing an eyepatch and looking at his silver cigar case. He appears to be crying.)

Truth! Justice! Freedom! Reasonably Priced Love! And A Hard Boiled Egg! Remember the glorious 25th of May!

(image description: a large sign which reads ‘treacle mine road’ adorned with purple lilac flowers)

The occupants of these graves had died for something. In the sunset glow, in the rising of the moon, in the taste of the cigar, in the warmth that comes from sheer exhaustion, Vimes saw it. History finds a way. The nature of events had changed but the nature of the dead had not. It had been a mean, shameful little fight that ended them, a flyspecked footnote of history, but they hadn’t been mean or shameful men. They hadn’t run and they could have run with honour. They’d stayed and he wondered if the path had seemed as clear to them then as it did to him now. They’d stayed not because they wanted to be heroes, but because they chose to think of it as their job, and it was in front of them. […] John Keel, Billy Wiglet, Horace Nancyball, Dai Dickins, Cecil ‘Snouty’ Clapman, Ned Coates and, technically, Reg Shoe. Probably there were no more than twenty people in the city now who knew all the names, because there were no statues, no monuments, nothing written down anywhere. You had to have been there. He felt privileged to have been there twice. - Terry Pratchett, Night Watch

(Image Credit: Doris Potter. Image Described: A single worn gravestone stands alone in a carpet of some kind of purple flower.)