Guards! Guards! Was Not The First Discworld Book I Read But It Is The One That Punched My Angsty, Edgy

Guards! Guards! was not the first Discworld book I read but it is the one that punched my angsty, edgy thirteen-year-old self in the face. I have never had a book hit me like that since. Nothing has ever picked me up by the scruff of the neck and shown me my own face in the mirror that way.

I was angsting around, all “the world is terrible” and “people are evil” and “humans are a blight upon the earth” and “everyone is stupid” and Vimes showed up and said, “Yeah, and?”

So what? So they’re stupid and petty - save them anyway. So they’re selfish - save them anyway. So it’s all fucked and there’s never going to be a happy ending - save them anyway. Do it anyway. You don’t get to opt out of caring just because they’re grubby and ignorant and reactionary and petty because so are you and that’s all we’ve got.

No other book has ever changed my worldview in one blow before or since. I reckon that’s something that can only happen to you when you’re a teenager anyway. But I’ve never quite gotten over it.

staring into the middle distance. how is the worst thing to happen in july to me NOT my cat dying.

ok but we're all missing the important question here... WHO in the vatican has taught the spanish-speaking pope how to say faggotry in italian. how on earth did it come up. was it a prank. was it political sabotage. is there homosexual tomfoolery afoot in santa marta. I need to know more

Being a fan of the Mets is like being a fan of Sisyphus. One must imagine being happy so one doesn’t kill themselves.

Nicklas Bäckström on Swedish Stereotypes