Thematically speaking, the most important thing Terry Pratchett taught me was the concept of militant decency. The idea that you can look at the world and its flaws and its injustices and its cruelties and get deeply, intensely angry, and that you can turn that into energy for doing the right thing and making the world a better place. He taught me that the anger itself is not the part I should be fighting. Nobody in my life ever said that before.
More lessons from Pratchett:
Good isn’t always nice (i.e. sometimes appearing nice is a luxury you can’t afford if you want to do the right thing) (this refers to setting bones and fighting evil, not to being pointlessly horrible)
Evil can appear very nice indeed (watch out for people who smile while they deny your basic humanity)
People can suck, be rude and actively work against their own best interests, but personkind is still something we must protect so they can keep being wonderful in between all the stupid
“Person” is always a broader category than you think
It’s not about who’s best for the job - it’s about who shows up and does it
Be very aware of how you treat those in your power; you will be judged on it
Respect women, which explicitly includes trans women (with or without beards and steel-toed boots)
Kings: no. Hard-boiled eggs: yes
No one - not military leaders, not kings, not patricians, not gods - no one is beyond consequences or above justice
Addendum: those who think they are are often the worst of the worst
Kids understand more than we think and sometimes the best way to protect innocence is to arm them with knowledge, confidence, and skill
How you’re born is intrinsically less important and less relevant than who you make yourself into
I can’t put it into a pithy sentence but that bit where Magrat is like “let’s toss [Lily] off the tower” and Nanny answers with “go ahead then” and Magrat hesitates bc it’s easier to do something like that together than to make the decision alone… impactful.
Miles, introducing his parents to the Spider Squad: This is my girlfriend Gwen, and this is my boyfriend Hobie, and this is Hobie’s and my boyfriend Pavitr, and this is Pavitr’s girlfriend Gayatri, and this is my second dad Peter, and this is Peter’s wife MJ, and this is Peter’s husband Miguel-
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