Loq's Home for Imaginary Queers

I've seen some people suggest that you can read Vetinari as a self-conscious transitional figure, someone who is building up the institutions of the city so that they'll be strong enough to weather a shift to more democratic governance once he leaves power. I think that's too strong a read - the evidence for it is mostly absence of any discussion of succession - but it is true that one of Vetinari's main goals through the series is the implementation of the kind of systems a democracy would need.

I think Pratchett's general position is that improving the world isn't as quick and easy as overthrowing the tyrant in a glorious revolution. Genuine improvement is a long, hard slog, where you'll have to compromise with systems already in place, because they're often too interwoven into the fabric of society to tear out all at once. But also that systems are made up of people, who are messy and complicated and selfish and kind and brave and stupid and insightful and rarely entirely evil or entirely good, and the worst thing you can do is forget that people are people.

I think Pratchett's critique of revolutionary movements is precisely that: that they focus too much on systems and ideology and not enough on the people who live in them. Night Watch is pretty explicit that revolutions often just recreate the same systems of oppression with different people in charge, and that if you dismantle a system without having anything to replace it, that void will end up being filled by a new system of more or less the same shape.

Turtle Quilt by Laurraine Yuyama

Rocky mocks Grace when he says that Rocky is distracting him by starting complex conversations while he's Trying To Do Science. "Human brain have to stop activity just because talking question? Useless! One track mind!"

Then Grace is on hour six of his "trying to recreate skittles" hyperfocus and Rocky is like What The Fuck. Statement.