#salzella

[pratchettquotes]

"Er, gentlemen," said Mr. Bucket. "Ahem. All right. Cards on the table, eh? I'm a simple man, me. No beating about the bush, speak as you find, call a spade a spade--"

"Do give us your forthright views," said Salzella. Definitely that kind of owner, he thought. Self-made man proud of his handiwork. Confuses bluffness and honesty with merely being rude. I wouldn't mind betting a dollar that he thinks he can tell a man's character by testing the firmness of his handshake and looking deeply into his eyes.

Terry Pratchett, Maskerade

#mr bucket #salzella #maskerade #discworld #terry pratchett #character description #forthright #rude #honest #self made man #overconfident #people #people reading #judge of character #cards on the table #call a spade a spade

[iamthespineofmybook]

“Good grief, man! Important? What’d I ever have achieved in the cheese business, I’d like to know, if I’d said that money wasn’t important?” “There are people out on the stage right now, sir, who’d say that you would probably have made better cheeses.”

Mr. Bucket and Salzella, Maskerade, Discworld Book 18

#discworld #mr. bucket #salzella #money #passion #maskerade

[rosakajo]

The team (riders Neea Wimmer and Maria Sorelius and groom Emma Kallio) checking schedule at the hostel room in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Minttu Kivimaa taking a nap

Calvero Terranora Jumping League competition (EQ)

Maria Sorelius and Teiturin Johtotähti, they won the 1,20m class

Neea Wimmer and Sarasteen Salzella, 2nd in 1,60m class

Neea Wimmer and Sarasteen Merlot, 1st in 1.40- 1.45m class

First lap of honour for young Merlot. All the clapping was too much for him...

The day off

Time to leave

#saraste #equiality sims #equus sims #show entries #Neea Wimmer #Maria Sorelius #Minttu Kivimaa #Emma Kallio #Sarasteen Merlot #Sarasteen Salzella #Teiturin Johtotähti #sims 3 finnhorse

[facetsofthecloset]

Top 5 non-protagonist discworld characters?

Otto Chriek x5

Lol but seriously:

1. Otto: I love vampires and dorks and he’s a vampire dork but also so so smart and clever and trying so hard!! He’s such a good guy!!! And he works for it!!! That conversation he has with Vimes in Thud! about how he presents himself as silly and harmless so people won’t be afraid of him! Ahhh 😭🖤 Even when he’s mentioned in passing I always go from 🙂 to 😍🥰 immediately lol

2. Drumknott: the pencil stealing war between him and Moist is adorable 😭 Hyper competent super nerd weirdo I love him. He shows up at the end of G!G! (Iirc) like “I live here now” and everyone including Vetinari is like “yes you do” and he’s there to the end. Good old Drumknott

3. Salzella (from Maskerade): evil. But fuck he was hilarious, the dry sarcasm was right up my alley. I love that bit when they’re talking about how Dr. Undershaft was killed that’s like “something something he was hung” “Hanged. Dead meat is hung, people are hanged.” And Salzella goes “Ah yes? Then he was strangled to death, and then he was hung.” And Mr. Bucket is like “…you have issues :/“ AND IT’S TRUE BUT HE’S FUNNY OK

Aurgh this is hard bc I’m also kinda trying to avoid picking common fan favorites even if they’re technically not protagonists or like borderline not protagonists (like Adora, Ridcully, Cherri, Angua etc) (even though Otto kinda could be said to be protagonist-adjacent by this definition lol) ummm

4. Pin & Tulip: a two-for-one because more than either of them on their own I love their dynamic. Definitely high up there on my best Discworld villains. They contrast and complement each other well.

Also super fun to voice! I’ve recorded a few Discworld books for fun and to force my friend to get into them (lol), and I had a blast doing the voices for these two. Mr. Pin losing it is a super fun character to play ahhh

5. Mr. Bent: he is fascinating. Another one that’s fun to voice. And one of the best twists of any story ever of all time 🤡 I hope he’s very happy with Miss Drapes, or as I head canon her post marriage, Mrs. Bent-Drapes. (This is something I thought of when writing a ficlet of Moist and Adora’s wedding (shameless ao3 plug) as a dumb throwaway joke but now it’s kinda cemented in my brain lol)

#thanks for the ask! #this was fun to think about #fuck I shoulda gone to bed an hour ago but I wanted to do this lol #discworld #my top reread Discworld books have got to be making money unseen academicals the truth and maskerade

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Something Something Phangirl Meets Discworld

Back when I was an undergrad, I had procrastinated a couple of first-year core classes (required stuff that has jack shit to do with your major but is supposed to make you a "well-rounded student" for everyone who wasn't educated in the US) to the point where we were at the beginning of year four, we took a couple over the summer, but now we're staring down having to take Art Appreciation for an entire final term and I did not WANT to. So instead I took a two-week intensive "Wintermester" art appreciation course in a classroom whose carpets squished in Fairbanks, Alaska in December. The fact that it didn't become a horror movie is a miracle. BUT. YOU GUYS. This class introduced me to The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall, and thanks to how awesome that was, I finally went out and got the one Witches novel I hadn't bothered with at that point. Let's talk Maskerade.

Maskerade might be the Discworld book with which I've had the most dynamic relationship because I am currently what I would consider a "fallen" or "lapsed" theatre kid. However, when I picked up Maskerade for the first time, I was a "desperately trying to hold on to theatre with both hands and both feet despite ongoing and worsening health issues and a school theatre that has nearly succeeded in killing me three separate times but I don't want to let go" theatre kid. So on first read, I loved Agnes, I loved Nanny and Granny, Greebo is never not a standout, and I was fully over here like, "YES, THEATRE IS THE MIRACLE OF A THOUSAND THINGS FAILING TO GO WRONG!" I wasn't a huge fan of how Christine was characterized, and frankly I found the art/business dichotomy irksome.

I was barely 22 and an idiot. I have since grown some.

On subsequent reads in and beyond graduate school, I can see the love behind the pointed critiques, and I had run into the odd Christine or two, so I was far more willing to sympathize with Agnes--the single point of sensibility and practicality in a flamboyantly dramatical cats system that is often toxic. And while I liked the Nanny, Granny, and Enrico Basilica subplot on initial reads, now it is perhaps my entirely favorite part of the book. Adding the managed chaos that is the Witches to a theatre is amazing, and we get some really fantastic insights into how Nanny and Granny can leverage witchcraft beyond Lancre. It has a different flavor in Ankh Morpork, and what that ends up meaning for Walter Plinge is literally the difference between life and death.

The loving parodic use of theatrical tropes and traditions is honestly delightful throughout. I realize that saying, "Hey, so Sir Terry Pratchett was kind of amazing" on the internet is the oldest of old news, but honestly it bears repeating because Discworld is incredible.

Nanny Ogg's cookbook manages to be both hilarious and a scathing indictment of how poorly authors are paid--something that honestly just keeps gettting MORE relevant. I also love the low-key Producers-eqsue mixed with Shakespearean twinning aspects of having Nanny be the writer and Granny the accountant foiling off of Salzella and Bucket. Like, had their positions been reversed, the Ankh Morpork Opera House would have been flush with cash practically overnight and the cookbook would have ended up scammed. It's a really lovely, subtle little peice of foiling that 1000% was not required to make this book great, but I love that it's there.

So theatre kid phangirl me wasn't the biggest fan of this book, but grown-ass adult me with a little more life on her claims this as one of her top five all-time favorite Discworld books. I'm going to leave it here and realtively spoiler-free for those of you who might be on the fence about picking up the book. I highly recommend that you do, but I also recommend watching The Phantom of the Opera (either the Royal Albert Hall one or an actual stage production; don't START with the movie) before reading Maskerade, just to fully get the levels of allusion, parody, and homage.

#terry pratchett #sir terry pratchett #discworld #maskerade #the witches #granny weatherwax #nanny ogg #agnes nitt #phantom of the opera #absurdist fantasy #books & libraries #books and reading #books and novels #books #book recommendations

[monstrous-tournament]

Next tournament announcement!

Hear ye, hear ye!

The next tournament will be the

Lancre and the Chalk Characters Tournament!!

This tournament will feature side characters from all Witches and Tiffany Aching books EXCEPT any witches (because we already had that tournament!)

We're going to add a few characters that aren't from Lancre or the Chalk but do feature as side characters in Witches books, such as Ella Saturday and Walter Plinge, as "honorary Lancrastrians/Chalk inhabitants".

I'll post the current list under the readmore; please let me know who else to put in there - we have too many for a 16 character bracket, but not enough yet for a 32 character one. It's in alphabetical order, not any kind of seed order. Put the characters that you think should be in here too in the replies, send me an ask, whatever works for you!

Baron Saturday

Casanunda

Daft Wullie

Duchess Felmet

Duke Felmet

Ella Saturday

Greebo

Hodgesaargh

Jason Ogg

Jeannie, kelda of the Feegles

Mightily Oats

Mr Pounder

Mr. Salzella

Rob Anybody

Roland de Chumsfanleigh (Pronounced Chuffley - it's not his fault)

Shawn Ogg

Toad (from the Tiffany Aching books)

Verence II

Vlad de Magpyr

Walter Plinge

#not a bracket #bracket prep #discworld tournament #discworld brackets #discworld bracket #discworld polls #discworld poll #lancre and the chalk

[britcision]

I’ve been listening to these books since I cut my first teeth but it somehow only just really sank in that the Opera Ghost only started killing people 6 months before Maskerade starts

Spoilers below the cut I dunno

I’ll bet money that was right when Salzella worked out who the ghost was within like, a month, and people fucking lost their shit very very quickly??

(But also, it’s opera, it requires people to be high strung and over the top reactions are almost expected)

(And he totally was already embezzling that’s how he caught Walter in the first place)

It’s just

What else changed that rapidly?

Why were the previous owners so quick to run?

What pushed Salzella over the edge? Just the opportunity? The chance to rewrite his own part?

Cuz yeah yeah yeah dramatic death speech, but none of THAT changed 6 months ago. That’s been his life for a decade or more.

What was the inciting incident that pushed him over the edge?

It’s just weirdly recent for things to have started going bad with no trace of how it actually happened

Agnes would have almost already reached the city, she was there for months before joining the opera

(Must have left right after Lords and Ladies or near enough, to have reached Ankh Morpork in the gap between midsummer and the beginning of autumn for months)

Maybe someone got too close to Salzella’s embezzling

A seamstress who stitched herself to a wall, and so on

Maybe the owners began to suspect, or just thought they’d be next

Six months before the autumn and Maskerade, it was the beginning of spring on the Disc

Magrat, Nanny, and Granny got back maybe a month before midsummer, and they were in Ankh Morpork at some point between Genua and Lancre (despite it being in the opposite direction from the Ramtops)

It’s implied Ankh Morpork was one of their last stops, since Magrat comments that The Letter to Verence must have arrived before they left Ankh Morpork for the wedding to be ready

And one of the Ogg boys nicked the lead off the roof of the opera house during the ghost’s tenure of villainy, so he probably saw his mum while she was in the city or barely missed her

I’m not saying it’s direct causality it’s just the famously hodgepodged timelines of the Disc lining up juiuuuuuuuuuust right

#discworld #maskerade #gnu sir terry pratchett #out here overthinking the side characters again #lords and ladies

[curarems]

Salzella: I've been to see Commander Vimes-

Me, very normal about my blorbo: *incoherent screeching*

#i wasn't expecting them to mention him at all!!! #i don't think he'll actually appear but the other watchmen stand a chance! #ema reads discworld #discworld #sam vimes

[firstofficerrose]

Salzella's death scene was marvelous. What a beautiful meta-critique of everyone who complains about opera. Magnificent.

#maskerade #witches novels #discworld #gnu terry pratchett #rose reads #rose rambles

[aeshnacyanea2000]

‘Oh, theatre,’ said Salzella. ‘Theatre doesn’t even approach it. Opera isn’t theatre with singing and dancing. Opera’s opera. You might think a production like Lohenshaak is full of passion, but it’s a sandpit of toddlers compared to what goes on behind the scenes. The singers all loathe the sight of one another, the chorus despises the singers, they both hate the orchestra, and everyone fears the conductor; the staff on one prompt side won’t talk to the staff on the opposite prompt side, the dancers are all crazed from hunger in any case, and that’s only the start of it.’

Terry Pratchett - Maskerade

#Terry Pratchett #discworld quotes #GNU Terry Pratchett #quotes #Maskerade #Salzella #opera

[mr-eccentricist]

"And all those exclamation marks, you notice? Five? A sure sign of someone who wears his underpants on his head."

- From "Maskerade" by Terry Pratchett.

#sir terry pratchett #terry pratchett #maskerade #discworld #salzella

[pratchettquotes]

"I don't understand! Is this man mad?"

Salzella put an arm around his shoulders and led him away from the crowd. "Well now," he said, as kindly as he could. "A man who wears evening dress all the time, lurks in the shadows and occasionally kills people. Then he sends little notes, writing maniacal laughter. Five exclamation marks again, I notice. We have to ask ourselves: is this the career of a sane man?"

Terry Pratchett, Maskerade

#mr bucket #salzella #maskerade #discworld #terry pratchett #sanity #drama #opera #theater #phantom of the opera #murder #maniacal laughter #punctuation #the career of a sane man #!!!!!

[noirandchocolate]

‘The trouble is, you see, that if you DO know Right from Wrong you can’t choose Wrong.  You just can’t do it and live.  So…if I was a bad witch I could make Mister Salzella’s muscles turn against his bones and break them where he stood…if I was bad.  I could do things inside his head, change the shape he thinks he is, and he’d be down on what’d been his knees and begging to be turned into a frog…if I was bad.  I could leave him with a mind like a scrambled egg, listening to colors and hearing smells…if I was bad.  Oh, yes.'  There was another sigh, deeper and more heartfelt.  'But I can’t do none of that stuff.  That wouldn’t be Right.’ She gave a deprecating little chuckle.  And if Nanny Ogg had been listening, she would have resolved as follows: that no maddened cackle from Black Aliss of infamous memory, no evil little giggle from some crazed vampyre whose morals were worse than his spelling, no side-splitting guffaw from the most inventive torturer, was quite so unnerving as a happy little chuckle from a Granny Weatherwax about to do what’s best.

--Terry Pratchett, “Maskerade” (Granny’s a good witch but that doesn’t mean she’s nice!!!)

#terry pratchett #gnu terry pratchett #discworld #maskerade

[rosakajo]

Show Jumping team practice in the late evening: Maria and Jossu, Neea and Santtu, Saga and Lasse.

#Saraste #Maria Sorelius #Teiturin Johtotähti #Neea Wimmer #Sarasteen Salzella #Saga Vange #Teiturin Lasihelmi #ts3 finnish warmblood #Sims 3 finnhorses #sims 3 finnhorse #everyday life #show jumping #ts3 horses #equiality sims #Equus-Sims #cavallo sims

[la-niolue]

Ahahahahaha! Ahahahaha! Aahahaha!

BEWARE!!!!!

Yrs sincerely

The Opera Ghost

~~~

"What sort of person," said Salzella patiently, "sits down and writes a maniacal laugh? And all those exclamation marks, you notice? Five? A sure sign of someone who wears his underpants on his head. Opera can do that to a man."

Maskerade

#gnu pterry #discworld #quote #maskerade

[rataplani]

“Feet of Clay is a fascinating book, and an enthralling script, and I was very excited when invited to direct it. It is a timely play speaking as it does about identity, freedom and truth, all wrapped inside a fun murder mystery.” 

~ Shaun King, Director’s Notes.

Since there’s been a lot of negativity at the moment about a certain adaptation that doesn’t care about its source material, I thought I’d share something more positive. 

So in case there are any Discworld fans in Queensland who don’t know this, there’s this little indie theatre called the Brisbane Arts Theatre that’s been working through all the Discworld books over a number of years now (also atm it’s doing an adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s Dodger).

A few weeks back I went to see their production of Feet of Clay and it was pretty good! (and run in line with QLD Covid policy) As it was weeks ago I don’t remember all the details, but one thing I found pretty hilarious was that for soundtrack moments they generally used music that sounded like they’d gotten it from 80s cop comedies. Also I think they did alright with Cheery’s character arc as basically a transgender woman’s coming out story, though I'm hesitatingly ambivalent about the few moments of Cis Awkward Supportiveness(tm) from other characters on stage (though importantly the laughs were directed at them, not Cheery) and of course there were Carrot’s dwarf culture gender issues for a bit until he got his prejudices sorted out.

Although I knew the plot coming in, it was still fun to watch the mystery unfold, and it was funny how over-the-top blatantly evil Dragon was in his introduction scene just for the drama. Dorfl’s storyline cut out the Dorfl vs All The Priests bit and most of his run through the town, but was still good (and I like the design differences between him and the King Golem you can see in the photo below). Overall it was quite funny and a pretty faithful adaptation; can’t wait until next year.

Adaptation-wise, there were a couple of parts where they were able to use the visual element through a couple of physical comedy jokes (Vetinari: I’m Fine Now *passes out five seconds later*) or using props to point out how Carry’s new crest looks very similar to the Assassin’s Guild crest)

On a meta level, a few characters had their gender changed for cast reasons, including ‘Dr’ (Lord) Downey (played by a lady who I swear could play Susan when they get to her books), Drumknott, and Arthur Carrey (the candle maker), who became Artemis Carry to keep the “Art Brought Forth the Candle” pun intact.

Also not only did the guy who played Carrot played Salzella last year when they did Maskerade, but Vetinari’s actor doubled as Nobby so I got a double serve of mental whiplash there.

Here’s the cast photo! (Due to Covid restrictions a lot of cast members played two or three roles, so not all characters are shown, but I’ve bolded the ones that are)

Cast List left to right (then front row left to right):

Simon Lyell as Dorfl Daniel Baker as King Golem & Detritus Julian Hobson as Dragon King of Arms John Grey as Lord Vetinari & Corporal Nobbs Isobel Smith as Doughnut Jimmy, Mr Slant, & ‘French Maid’ Caitlin Smith as Drumknott, Mildred Easy, & Pardessus (of the College of Heralds) Paul Fear as Gerhardt Sock & Wengel Raddley Lucette Eggleton as Dr Downey, Prebble Skink & Mrs Kanacki Steve Durber as Constable Visit & Mr Boggis Daniel Grey as Commander Vimes Stuart Fisher as Sergeant Colon Alastair Wallace as Father Tubelcek, Mr Hopkinson, & Professor Whiteface Samantha Mclaughlin as (Artemis) Carry Tallulah M. E. Gray as Rosie Palm (and Assistant Director) Amanda Lay as Constable (Cheery) Littlebottom Sasha Barclay as Constable Angua Callum Pulsford as Captain Carrot

#discworld #feet of clay #theatre #terry pratchett #rataplani rambles #vaguely a review? #i literally watched it weeks ago these were just bits that stood out when i yelled at my brain a bit #gnu terry pratchett #long post