...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Going Postal
- 1512 statements
- 296 feature instances
- 310 referencing feature instances
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The 33rd Discworld book, Going Postal centers around Moist von Lipwig, a new main character for the Discworld. A self-admitted con man, the book opens with Lipwig (under the pseudonym Albert Spangler) awaiting execution, because he finally got caught. Albert Spangler is hanged, buried, and gets a nice little paragraph in the Tanty Bugle.Moist von Lipwig, however, wakes up in Lord Vetinari's office, receives a pleasant speech about the nature of angels, and is "offered" a job as the new Postmaster in charge of the mostly-defunct Ankh-Morpork Post Office. True to form, the first thing he does once he's loose is to run as far away as he can. The next morning, he wakes up when the golem Vetinari set as his parole officer crashes through the door, bodily picks him up along with the horse he acquired, and carries them both back to Ankh-Morpork.Despite the complete incompetence of the existing Post staff,note (Stanley Howler, a slightly deranged boy obsessed with pins, and Tolliver Groat, an old man who believes very strongly in his homemade medicines and despite his advanced age holds the rank of Junior Postman when Moist first meets him because none of the previous Postmasters lasted long enough to promote him) Moist manages to begin rebuilding the Post Office via the application of a liberal helping of Refuge in Audacity. It helps that the Grand Trunk clacks system note a semaphore tower chain which allows messages to be transmitted great distances very quickly is under new management, a gang of voracious corporate backstabbers who are running it into the ground. Moist's rivalry with Reacher Gilt, the leader of the corporate moneygrubbers, and his budding romance with Adora Belle Dearheart note a cynical, chain-smoking young woman who has been known to drive her spike-heeled shoes through people's feet when provoked provide a bit of backdrop as Moist essentially invents a new system of currency,note by introducing stamps, which people start to use instead of coins single-handedly restores the Ankh-Morpork Post Office, rescues a cat (and two men) from a burning building, summons divine intervention, and exposes the crooked dealings of Gilt and his accomplices to the world.Did we mention that Moist is a really big believer in Refuge in Audacity? And that he saved a cat?An adaptation aired on Sky One on May 30 2010.Preceded by Monstrous Regiment, followed by Thud!. The next book in the Moist von Lipwig series is Making Money.Not to be confused with Going Postal, which is a trope. | |
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Going Postal | isPartOf |
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Going Postal / int_121b3725 | type |
Age Lift | |
Going Postal / int_121b3725 | comment |
Age Lift: In the book, when Moist gives a man a long undelivered acceptance to his marriage proposal, it's been forty years, and he and his former sweetheart have both since been married and widowed. In the series, it's only been a few years, and the two are still in their twenties or thirties and unattached. | |
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Going Postal / int_127fc252 | type |
Creator Cameo | |
Going Postal / int_127fc252 | comment |
Creator Cameo: Terry Pratchett shows up as an unnamed postman at the end. | |
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Going Postal / int_13556074 | type |
Brotherhood of Funny Hats | |
Going Postal / int_13556074 | comment |
Brotherhood of Funny Hats: The Order of the Post, a secret society of postmen. Moist has joined several of these groups before (he even created a few himself), and assumes that their initiation test won't be anything dangerous, only to realise they're taking it very seriously. | |
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Going Postal / int_13f7da6 | type |
Instant Expert | |
Going Postal / int_13f7da6 | comment |
Instant Expert: Subverted; Moist has carefully honed the skill of very rapidly learning just enough about a topic to fake being an expert to non-experts and pass as a less-knowledgeable enthusiast to experts who don't ask too many questions. | |
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Going Postal / int_14b85a5f | type |
Fat Idiot | |
Going Postal / int_14b85a5f | comment |
Fat Idiot: A first impression of Crispin Horsefry, one of the owners of the Grand Trunk, is that he is if not fat then definitely well on the way there, or that he is a mix of an incredibly stupid piglet with a very anxious little dog. While unfair, this impression is in no way wrong. | |
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Going Postal / int_14ed6ab7 | type |
Does This Remind You of Anything? | |
Going Postal / int_14ed6ab7 | comment |
Does This Remind You of Anything?: For many British readers, what Gilt does to the Grand Trunk had a great deal of resonance with what happened to Britain's railways after they were privatised in the 1990s. Especially since the real-world Grand Trunk was a British-owned Canadian railway company. | |
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Going Postal / int_16ad6f7f | type |
"It" Is Dehumanizing | |
Going Postal / int_16ad6f7f | comment |
Vetinari quietly but firmly corrects Moist every time he refers to Mr. Pump as "it," and treats the golem with respect. | |
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Going Postal / int_16dda55f | type |
Simple Solution Won't Work | |
Going Postal / int_16dda55f | comment |
Simple Solution Won't Work: Long ago, Bloody Stupid Johnson was hired to build a mail sorting machine for the post office. However, he decided to make things easier on himself by having Pi equal three. Somehow, this worked and the machine was completed, but this warped reality so the device began receiving mail that shouldn't exist, and it posed the threat of destroying the entire universe altogether. Ultimately, this led to the dissolution of the postal service until Vetinari had Moist resurrect it many years later. | |
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Going Postal / int_17501df2 | type |
Cool Old Guy | |
Going Postal / int_17501df2 | comment |
Cool Old Guy: Subverted with "Grandad", the tower-master of clacks tower 181, who supposedly "had been everywhere and knew everything", watching over all the younger staff, including the thirteen-year old girl prodigy, Princess. It's easy to miss the offhand mention that, despite his nickname, he's only twenty-six. | |
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Going Postal / int_1777688d | type |
Genre Savvy | |
Going Postal / int_1777688d | comment |
Genre Savvy: Moist Von Lipwig knows very well how things are supposed to go... and plays the part of the hero, because he is a con artist, and taking advantage of what people expect to see is his major skill. So when he hears that the cat is stuck in the burning building after getting everyone else out safely, he knows that there's only one choice. If he wants to continue this story, he must run back in to save the cat "because that's what the hero does". | |
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Going Postal / int_1796e460 | type |
Death Means Humanity | |
Going Postal / int_1796e460 | comment |
Death Means Humanity: It's a mark of Moist von Lipwig's Character Development that he mourns the death of the Golem Anghammarad, as he initially sees them as nothing more than objects. Unknown to him, Death takes Anghammarad to the afterlife, same as any living creature. | |
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Going Postal / int_18d15922 | type |
Title Drop | |
Going Postal / int_18d15922 | comment |
Title Drop: Notably, this is the only book in the main Discworld series to avert this. | |
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Going Postal / int_191a3673 | type |
Graceful Loser | |
Going Postal / int_191a3673 | comment |
More classically, Gilt and Moist recognise each other for what they truly are more or less at first sight, when they meet at Le Foie Heureux. Moist is left in stunned awe, tempted to offer himself as an apprentice to learn how to do things like the three card trick with entire banks. Gilt, off-balance by the fact that Moist isn't in the Post Office (where Mr Gryle is looking for him) and - it is implied - impressed by the gall and skill it took to successfully forge an invite from Gilt to the extremely posh restaurant they're at, graciously offers to pay their bill. At the end, recognising that he has been beaten by the better con-man, Gilt sends Moist his intentionally pirate-like parrot. | |
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Going Postal / int_1c398324 | type |
Death from Above | |
Going Postal / int_1c398324 | comment |
Death from Above: A favored tactic of wild banshees like Mr. Gryle. | |
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Going Postal / int_1d5786ff | type |
Looks Like Orlok | |
Going Postal / int_1d5786ff | comment |
Looks Like Orlok: Mr. Gryle. | |
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Going Postal / int_1e7c47ab | type |
Stealth Pun | |
Going Postal / int_1e7c47ab | comment |
Stealth Pun: Reacher Gilt dresses like a pirate and has a parrot that says "Twelve and a half percent!" In fractions, of course, 12.5 percent equals 1/8th, or "pieces of eight". At the end, Gilt leaves his parrot to Moist. Also, see This Is My Side. For non-commonwealth readers, a Stanley Knife is a box cutter or utility knife. | |
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Going Postal / int_1ea248b4 | type |
Neat Freak | |
Going Postal / int_1ea248b4 | comment |
Neat Freak: Stanley Howler. You might say he's as neat as a pin. | |
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Going Postal / int_20f689e9 | type |
Adaptational Villainy | |
Going Postal / int_20f689e9 | comment |
Adaptational Villainy: Although he was a straight villain anyway, Mr. Gryle's set of victims has been expanded to include all of the previous postmasters, because the original explanation that they were killed by the hallucinatory post office was changed. Since they died by falling or fright, and Gryle is a scary flying banshee, it works rather neatly. Vetinari goes from being simply unconcerned whether Moist lives or dies (it's why he sent Moist after a few postmen and clerks died in the position, because Moist is expendable) to threatening to have him hung if he loses the bet with Gilt. This is rather out-of-character for Vetinari. For one thing, he could always find more uses for Moist; for another, getting the Watch and the hangman involved might reveal to the city that the postmaster was a criminal. It's also throwing away his best chance of reigning in the Clacks, especially since Moist is the only person who's had any success at rejuvinating the Post Office so far. Mr. Pump's oddly specific calculation of how many people Moist has killed is upped from 2.338 people in the books to 22.8 people. | |
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Going Postal / int_216dab44 | type |
Framing the Guilty Party | |
Going Postal / int_216dab44 | comment |
Framing the Guilty Party: Moist enables Vetinari to investigate the Grand Trunk by forging a message from "the dead" that blames the Trunk's Board for fraud, embezzlement, and murder, and then using the Smoking Gnu's expertise to hack the message in place of the Trunk's code, so that the fake message will be read in front of Vetinari and the Watch. | |
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Going Postal / int_22cf536c | type |
Chekhov's Gun | |
Going Postal / int_22cf536c | comment |
Chekhov's Gun: Early on, Moist notes how people assume someone with a firm handshake and a steady gaze is honest, and how easy those are to fake. When Moist meets Reacher Gilt, he sees right through Gilt's facade by recognizing the man as having the firm handshake and steady gaze of a Consummate Liar who's practiced for years. The dilapidated wizard's tower between Ankh-Morpork and Sto Lat. Unremarkable enough that it hasn't been described on that road in any book before or since, making its mention partway through the book significant. There is a small scene involving the clacks tower 181 where a young girl named Alice is learning the trade, receiving and sending messages at an expert rate. One message comes in with no original sender listed and she is told about the concept of those who died on the towers sending final messages back home. Moist exposes Gilt's corrupt business by forging one such message. Vetinari uses this piece of clacks lore to declare the message trustworthy and its accusations worth investigating. Stanley's obsession with pins, which gives Moist the idea of using many pins on sheets of paper to create easily-cut stamps. The... unpleasant results of climbing onto the Mail Sorting Machine. Mr. Gryle learns this the hard way. | |
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Going Postal / int_23473ae7 | type |
Adaptation Expansion | |
Going Postal / int_23473ae7 | comment |
Adaptation Expansion: The filmmakers are deadly determined to give Adora Belle a larger part in the story, with varied results. Adora trying to get the golems to strike is silly, as it requires Ankh-Morpork's leading golem expert failing to understand the nature of golems. Adora devising the Woodpecker herself, though, is so brilliant it makes the viewer regret the author hadn't thought to put it in the book. The filmmakers also chose to have Moist become more unambiguously repentant, rather than retaining the original idea that, whatever else Moist von Lipwig is, he is still a con artist. (This does gradually happen in the books but isn't solidified until Raising Steam). Since the ultimate con he runs (that he can give up everything and go back to being an itinerant con man, which allows him to not do so) is on himself and entirely in his head, it would be hard to do. Tying in with the above point, in this film Moist's fake bonds con is shown to have caused the economic crisis, closing several banks and giving Gilt the opportunity to buy the Trunk, so he has a lot more reason to be repentant. On top of that, the letters, rather than hallucinating the glorious past of the post office, directly show Moist the harm his schemes caused. The film adds a short prologue showing Moist's career and apprehension by the Watch. The book starts with Moist already in prison and awaiting execution. The Watch officers who arrest Moist are led by Angua, who has several unnamed appearances in the book but never interacts with Moist directly. Horsefry has a lot more screentime, and serves as Gilt's Bumbling Sidekick instead of the one-note pencil-pusher he was in the book. Gilt also personally beats him to death, rather than having Mr. Gryle kill him. | |
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Going Postal / int_23781532 | type |
Ironic Name | |
Going Postal / int_23781532 | comment |
Ironic Name: Adora Belle Dearheart is anything but adorable. Her late brother (affectionately) called her "Killer". Her love interest, Moist von Lipwig, calls her "Spike". Mind you, she's a wonderful person, just not a very likable one (in contrast to Moist, who is, at least pre-character development, not a good person, but incredibly likable). | |
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Going Postal / int_24067bb9 | type |
Related in the Adaptation | |
Going Postal / int_24067bb9 | comment |
Related in the Adaptation: Mr Pony is the grandfather of Princess. | |
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Going Postal / int_2439b588 | type |
As the Good Book Says... | |
Going Postal / int_2439b588 | comment |
As the Good Book Says...: The undelivered letters (almost) quote John 1:1 to Moist: "In the beginning there was a Word…" | |
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Going Postal / int_26ac510e | type |
Mythology Gag | |
Going Postal / int_26ac510e | comment |
Mythology Gag: In several earlier books, it is observed that using multiple exclamation marks is a sign of a deranged mind. In this book, Dave's Pin Exchange (the pin equivalent of a comic book store) styles itself as the "Home of Acuphilia!!!!!" For bonus points, five exclamation points is the exact figure mentioned for being the sign of a deranged mind. | |
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Going Postal / int_26d1f65f | type |
Verbal Tic | |
Going Postal / int_26d1f65f | comment |
Verbal Tic: Groat has a tendency to repeat, sir, repeat his words. | |
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Going Postal / int_26e7f210 | type |
This Is My Side | |
Going Postal / int_26e7f210 | comment |
This Is My Side: Groat and Stanley's living quarters are an example of this. Stanley maintains the border with a very sharp knife. The table is divided into two halves, but since they only have one salt cellar it gets its own little 'demilitarized zone', a white circle in the middle. | |
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Going Postal / int_27636a1 | type |
Hellish Horse | |
Going Postal / int_27636a1 | comment |
Hellish Horse: Boris, an extremely ornery stallion that hasn't been broken yet and which the stable master provides for Moist. It was meant to be a bluff, but Moist called it and used Boris anyway. | |
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Going Postal / int_28c1d543 | type |
Defrosting Ice Queen | |
Going Postal / int_28c1d543 | comment |
Defrosting Ice Queen/Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Adora Belle Dearheart. Or "Spike", as Moist affectionately calls her. | |
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Going Postal / int_295087bf | type |
Non-Indicative Name | |
Going Postal / int_295087bf | comment |
Non-Indicative Name: You might be forgiven for thinking a guy named "Grandad" is a Cool Old Guy, despite being a mere twenty-six years old - the same age as Moist von Lipwig. | |
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Going Postal / int_2a090d00 | type |
Lampshade Hanging | |
Going Postal / int_2a090d00 | comment |
Lampshade Hanging: Prominently, Ridcully's attempt to remember a particular wizard — "Thingummy, got a funny name." Like that'll help narrow it down... | |
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Going Postal / int_2a7b0247 | type |
Could Say It, But... | |
Going Postal / int_2a7b0247 | comment |
Could Say It, But...: The Bond One Liners Moist could have said are mentioned, but not used, which actually meant that Pratchett got to include more than one. | |
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Going Postal / int_2b374ed1 | type |
It's Not You, It's Me | |
Going Postal / int_2b374ed1 | comment |
It's Not You, It's Me: Moist to Adora. Quite appropriately, she replies, "Oh! Cliches, as well, now I really am insulted." | |
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Going Postal / int_2c1f1138 | type |
He Who Fights Monsters | |
Going Postal / int_2c1f1138 | comment |
He Who Fights Monsters: Towards the end, Moist fears that he is no better than Reacher Gilt. However—unbeknownst to Moist—the ending reveals that the Patrician caught Gilt, offered him the same chance for rehabilitation, and Gilt...refused. Moist discovers that it is very important to him that he isn't just like Reacher. How much unlike Reacher he actually is depends on your point of view. The Golems see it as only a matter of degree, but that doesn't stop them from thinking he can make Adora Belle Dearheart happy. | |
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Going Postal / int_2cd6b637 | type |
Fantastic Nuke | |
Going Postal / int_2cd6b637 | comment |
Fantastic Nuke: In a Continuity Nod to earlier accounts of the Mage Wars, such as Sourcery: | |
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Going Postal / int_2d428543 | type |
Eyes Never Lie | |
Going Postal / int_2d428543 | comment |
Eyes Never Lie: Although supernatural entities in other books play this straight (as the eyes of even gods can't be cloaked with illusion magic), this is subverted and lampshaded when it comes to ordinary dishonest humans. A "firm handshake and a steady gaze" are the most basic tools in Moist's kit to the point where he does it instinctively. Both men he gives the treatment to confidently say that he's clearly an honest man. On the other hand, getting this from Reacher Gilt is what makes Moist recognize him as a con artist on a level he could only dream of. | |
Going Postal / int_2d428543 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
Going Postal / int_2d428543 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_2d428543 | |
Going Postal / int_2d4d16d9 | type |
I Know You Know I Know | |
Going Postal / int_2d4d16d9 | comment |
Vetinari maintains a largely hands-off approach to Moist in the book; he only interacts with him when he has a point to make, or when he feels like pulling an I Know You Know I Know. In the adaptation, Vetinari has Moist arrested a second time after he "finds" his old stash for no obvious reason, and threatens to have Moist hung if he loses the bet with the Clacks. This is a far cry from the books Vetinari, who generally only has people killed for good reasons and would never throw away a competent, tightly-leashed underling like Moist over a mostly-meaningless bet. Making this even more egregious is that it happens after Moist has rejuvenated the Post Office and begun causing the Clacks serious problems, making Vetinari's explanation of Moist having outlived his usefulness fall flat. | |
Going Postal / int_2d4d16d9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_2d4d16d9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_2d4d16d9 | |
Going Postal / int_2f379796 | type |
BreadMilkEggsSquick | |
Going Postal / int_2f379796 | comment |
Bread Milk Eggs Squick: While discussing the City Watch's "diversity" with Moist, Mr. Groat drops this gem. | |
Going Postal / int_2f379796 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_2f379796 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_2f379796 | |
Going Postal / int_309c05ec | type |
Teleporter Accident | |
Going Postal / int_309c05ec | comment |
The... unpleasant results of climbing onto the Mail Sorting Machine. Mr. Gryle learns this the hard way. | |
Going Postal / int_309c05ec | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_309c05ec | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_309c05ec | |
Going Postal / int_31083edb | type |
Logic Bomb | |
Going Postal / int_31083edb | comment |
The night before the Clacks-vs-Post Office race, he dreams of the Clacks towers burning as the operators blindly forward the "Woodpecker" killer message, even detailing how many towers fall before anyone realises what is going on, which he snaps out of with the realisation that the plan is too dangerous and would allow Gilt to win by declaring the message had been tampered with. | |
Going Postal / int_31083edb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_31083edb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_31083edb | |
Going Postal / int_319e4a2f | type |
Even Evil Has Standards | |
Going Postal / int_319e4a2f | comment |
Even Evil Has Standards: Deconstructed; despite being an unashamed Con Man and criminal Moist believes himself to not be a particularly bad person because he has certain standards (never killing people, only pulling his cons on those who 'deserve' it, and so forth). During his "The Reason You Suck" Speech, however, Mr. Pump brutally informs him that his standards didn't stop him from ruining innocent lives, hastening deaths (he didn't need to actually hold the blade or even be aware they existed to kill people) and generally making the world a worse place; just because he didn't consider himself to be a particularly evil person doesn't mean that his actions weren't harmful and evil in their way, whether he was aware of it or not. It's especially visible when it turns out Adora Belle used to work for a bank that Moist had swindled, and his internal monologue is full of despairing protest that "this is not fair" (for him) and that "you're not supposed to meet these people afterwards"—thinking he is better than other criminals is only possible as long as he keeps a serious layer of denial. And then played straight with the "Not a hammer" line. And Vetinari and Gilt share a moment of this regarding blithering idiot Horsefry. | |
Going Postal / int_319e4a2f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_319e4a2f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_319e4a2f | |
Going Postal / int_31f9cec9 | type |
Critical Staffing Shortage | |
Going Postal / int_31f9cec9 | comment |
Critical Staffing Shortage: It is revealed that the Royal Post Office in Ankh-Morpork, formerly a city institution employing thousands, has atrophied with the years to a point where only two remain - an elderly eccentric and a young man who could be described as a little bit strange. The job of the new manager is to get it up and running again - with a staff of only two men, a cat, and ideally his parole officer. | |
Going Postal / int_31f9cec9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_31f9cec9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_31f9cec9 | |
Going Postal / int_324ef023 | type |
Mercury's Wings | |
Going Postal / int_324ef023 | comment |
Mercury's Wings: The Spirit of the Post is a golden statue with a winged helmet, winged sandals and a winged fig leaf. Moist, as Postmaster and possible avatar, gets a gold postman's hat with real pigeon wings attached to it, and a matching pair of boots◊. (There's also some kind of elasticated arrangement, but he decides to forgo this.) | |
Going Postal / int_324ef023 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_324ef023 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_324ef023 | |
Going Postal / int_3266ed59 | type |
Incredibly Obvious Tail | |
Going Postal / int_3266ed59 | comment |
Incredibly Obvious Tail: Used to great effect by Vetinari. If you see his spy, it's a spy he wants you to see. | |
Going Postal / int_3266ed59 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_3266ed59 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_3266ed59 | |
Going Postal / int_326a44a1 | type |
Create Your Own Villain | |
Going Postal / int_326a44a1 | comment |
Create Your Own Villain: Adora explains that her father lost his business, the original Clacks system, because the bank he loaned money from was victim to fake bond fraud, that Moist started. Guess who took over the Clacks system and is trying to kill Moist? | |
Going Postal / int_326a44a1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_326a44a1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_326a44a1 | |
Going Postal / int_33d5b7f2 | type |
Adapted Out | |
Going Postal / int_33d5b7f2 | comment |
Adapted Out: Several minor characters are completely absent, such as the elder golem Anghammarad and the entire board of the Grand Trunk. The Mail Sorting Machine is also absent. | |
Going Postal / int_33d5b7f2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_33d5b7f2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_33d5b7f2 | |
Going Postal / int_362bdb30 | type |
Out-Gambitted | |
Going Postal / int_362bdb30 | comment |
Out-Gambitted: Gilt is a Magnificent Bastard, no doubt about it. Unfortunately for him, he's still not as good as Vetinari. | |
Going Postal / int_362bdb30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_362bdb30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_362bdb30 | |
Going Postal / int_369a1bf6 | type |
Death Faked for You | |
Going Postal / int_369a1bf6 | comment |
Death Faked for You: Vetinari gives Moist a fresh start, but only if he's willing to do a little job. | |
Going Postal / int_369a1bf6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_369a1bf6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_369a1bf6 | |
Going Postal / int_370df1f9 | type |
Pony Express Rider | |
Going Postal / int_370df1f9 | comment |
Pony Express Rider: Moist's race against the clacks. Moist also ensures himself a little leeway in the final contest by ensuring that it truly is clacks vs. carriage, so that the Trunk cannot use their horses to ferry the message if a tower breaks down. (He notes that they could beat him without using a single tower by running a pony express.) | |
Going Postal / int_370df1f9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_370df1f9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_370df1f9 | |
Going Postal / int_384e9bac | type |
Fantastical Social Services | |
Going Postal / int_384e9bac | comment |
Fantastical Social Services: The first of the subseries about Ankh-Morpork's industrialisation, starting with Moist's impressment into revitalising the postal service. | |
Going Postal / int_384e9bac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_384e9bac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_384e9bac | |
Going Postal / int_38d02d44 | type |
Batman Gambit | |
Going Postal / int_38d02d44 | comment |
Batman Gambit: Moist tricks Gilt into engineering his own downfall with a gaudy and entirely nonmagical broom. | |
Going Postal / int_38d02d44 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_38d02d44 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_38d02d44 | |
Going Postal / int_396e1c2a | type |
Face Death with Dignity | |
Going Postal / int_396e1c2a | comment |
Face Death with Dignity: Once Moist finally accepts that no, he's not going to receive a miraculous last-second reprieve from the gallows, he becomes surprisingly calm and actually manages some dignified, memorable last words. Fortunately for him, he received a post-death reprieve instead. | |
Going Postal / int_396e1c2a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_396e1c2a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_396e1c2a | |
Going Postal / int_3974efe4 | type |
Requisite Royal Regalia | |
Going Postal / int_3974efe4 | comment |
Requisite Royal Regalia: Morporkia is wearing one (a Vermine cape) on some of the stamp illustrations in the book (at least the hardcover versions). | |
Going Postal / int_3974efe4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_3974efe4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_3974efe4 | |
Going Postal / int_39798793 | type |
Ludicrous Precision | |
Going Postal / int_39798793 | comment |
Mr. Pump's oddly specific calculation of how many people Moist has killed is upped from 2.338 people in the books to 22.8 people. | |
Going Postal / int_39798793 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_39798793 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_39798793 | |
Going Postal / int_3a02ad13 | type |
Elder Employee | |
Going Postal / int_3a02ad13 | comment |
Elder Employee: Junior Postman Groat is, in fact, the oldest employee still serving at the Ankh-Morpork Post Office, but the Post Office has been without a Postmaster for so long that there was nobody to promote him. Also are the other, even older postmen who induct Moist as Postmaster General, and later still Anghammarad, a golem several thousand years old whose last job was delivering a message to an island that sank into the sea (and is waiting for it to come back up, carving the message into a new clay tablet when the old one crumbles) and who gets given the rank of Extremely Senior Postman. | |
Going Postal / int_3a02ad13 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_3a02ad13 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_3a02ad13 | |
Going Postal / int_3b113b7 | type |
Character Development | |
Going Postal / int_3b113b7 | comment |
Character Development: Moist starts the book as an unrepentant Con Artist who doesn't particularly care about the Post Office and views himself as a Lovable Rogue. By the end of the book, he's come to appreciate not only the Post Office, but also the Clacks; even when Mr. Pump tells him he won't be following him anymore and Moist realizes he has a solid chance of getting away free, he decides to remain. | |
Going Postal / int_3b113b7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_3b113b7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_3b113b7 | |
Going Postal / int_3c0a4666 | type |
Noodle Incident | |
Going Postal / int_3c0a4666 | comment |
Noodle Incident: Stanley's upbringing: All we know is he was raised by peas. Not on, by. (We do learn that peas are noted for their thoroughness, but that's about it.) | |
Going Postal / int_3c0a4666 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_3c0a4666 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_3c0a4666 | |
Going Postal / int_3cfeeb48 | type |
I Die Free | |
Going Postal / int_3cfeeb48 | comment |
I Die Free: Anghammarad. In his death, he finds himself free of all orders, commands, and duties. He can simply sit and do nothing if it is his choice...and he chooses to do just that, sitting on the sand in the black desert. Later, Reacher Gilt takes this trope to its logical conclusion by choosing death over a government job. Vetinari comments afterwards that he admires a man who believes so strongly in freedom. | |
Going Postal / int_3cfeeb48 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_3cfeeb48 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_3cfeeb48 | |
Going Postal / int_3d038b36 | type |
Rhetorical Question Blunder | |
Going Postal / int_3d038b36 | comment |
Rhetorical Question Blunder: When Moist wonders "What's the worst that could happen" if he goes through the Postman's Walk, Mr. Groat helpfully replies "The worst that could happen is you lose all your fingers on one hand, are crippled for life, and break half the bones in your body. Oh, and then they don't let you join." When Pump displays ignorance about certain aspects of local culture, Moist asks if he's been at the bottom of a hole for a hundred years. Pump replies that actually, he's been at the bottom of a well for over two hundred years. Pump isn't his given name; it's his former job description. | |
Going Postal / int_3d038b36 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_3d038b36 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_3d038b36 | |
Going Postal / int_3e11c4b0 | type |
Under New Management | |
Going Postal / int_3e11c4b0 | comment |
Under New Management: Moist Von Lipwig as the new management of the post office, and Gilt and his cronies at the Grand Trunk. | |
Going Postal / int_3e11c4b0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_3e11c4b0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_3e11c4b0 | |
Going Postal / int_3f45f1e6 | type |
Adaptational Heroism | |
Going Postal / int_3f45f1e6 | comment |
Adaptational Heroism: Mr. Pony, whose saving ledgers and giving them to Adora helped to bring down Reacher Gilt. In the book, he did something similar by keeping detailed records about how the board constantly refused his recommendations for needed maintenance, but that subplot (and the board itself) was mostly cut. | |
Going Postal / int_3f45f1e6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_3f45f1e6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_3f45f1e6 | |
Going Postal / int_3fb6b526 | type |
Delayed Reaction | |
Going Postal / int_3fb6b526 | comment |
Delayed Reaction: An implied one. Princess, the thirteen year old working a clacks tower, notices that Grandad, the oldest worker (at twenty-six years old), is always there when she's working with one of the younger, male workers, and that one day she will put two and two together. | |
Going Postal / int_3fb6b526 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_3fb6b526 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_3fb6b526 | |
Going Postal / int_40652d02 | type |
The One Thing I Don't Hate About You | |
Going Postal / int_40652d02 | comment |
The One Thing I Don't Hate About You: Vetinari and Gilt share a mutual one of these after a third character shows his profound ignorance about the game "Thud". | |
Going Postal / int_40652d02 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_40652d02 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_40652d02 | |
Going Postal / int_40bb59d0 | type |
Blatant Lies | |
Going Postal / int_40bb59d0 | comment |
Blatant Lies: After just narrowly avoiding one of Stanley's Little Moments, Moist sees Mr. Pump standing behind Stanley, his fist raised, clearly prepared to bash his brains out in Moist's defense. Mr. Pump insists he was just wanting to ask Moist a question. Fortunately, Stanley is oblivious enough to believe this. Not wanting the Watch to pry into his dispute with Reacher Gilt or into his own background, Moist tells them — in a bright, over-innocent voice — that, my goodness, he thought the corpse of Mr. Gryle the banshee was just "a big pigeon", even though Captain Carrot has already told him it was a banshee. Seeing the Watch werewolf wink at him as it pads away seals the deal. | |
Going Postal / int_40bb59d0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_40bb59d0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_40bb59d0 | |
Going Postal / int_40f90c7c | type |
Moody Mount | |
Going Postal / int_40f90c7c | comment |
Moody Mount: Moist rides one of these to another city to help save the postal system. He is given one because he asked the stable to not bring him an old decrepit horse, so the workers bring him one which has actually bitten people. Sensing a chance for flair, Moist accepts with gusto to improve his appearance to the crowd. After he arrives, the horse escapes its new handlers and is roaming the plains now. | |
Going Postal / int_40f90c7c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_40f90c7c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_40f90c7c | |
Going Postal / int_4192763e | type |
Malaproper | |
Going Postal / int_4192763e | comment |
Malaproper: Vetinari tells Moist he's danced "the sisal two-step" instead of "the hemp fandango". He then goes on to confuse "the Agatean Wall" with "the glass ceiling" when talking to the board members. (That one is very deliberate.) | |
Going Postal / int_4192763e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_4192763e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_4192763e | |
Going Postal / int_433cee4c | type |
Tricked to Death | |
Going Postal / int_433cee4c | comment |
Tricked to Death: Lord Vetinari offers (at different times) to let both Moist Von Lipwig and Reacher Gilt the opportunity to leave through a specific door, promising them "freedom" if they do. Moist is genre-savvy enough to suspect a trap and refuse. Reacher is strongly implied to have chosen death rather than work for Vetinari. | |
Going Postal / int_433cee4c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_433cee4c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_433cee4c | |
Going Postal / int_443b78cd | type |
Tranquil Fury | |
Going Postal / int_443b78cd | comment |
Tranquil Fury: Just before the Clacks-vs-Post Office race, Moist successfully baits Reacher Gilt to the point that he passes right through visible anger and into "the calm, limpid waters of utter, visceral fury". | |
Going Postal / int_443b78cd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_443b78cd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_443b78cd | |
Going Postal / int_45609583 | type |
Pun With Pi | |
Going Postal / int_45609583 | comment |
Pun With Pi: There is a bit of a confusion for some characters (and for the reader) as to how the curse of the Post Office was related to a pie. It turns out it was related to the number pi (Bloody Stupid Johnson built a letter-sorting machine in which the pi equaled exactly three, and mayhem ensued). | |
Going Postal / int_45609583 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_45609583 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_45609583 | |
Going Postal / int_4604fd4d | type |
Worthy Opponent | |
Going Postal / int_4604fd4d | comment |
Worthy Opponent: Speaking relatively, Vetinari and Reacher Gilt "loathe...every aspect of [each other]'s personal philosophy to a depth unplumbable by any line", each also grant the other that they are not Crispin Horsefry. More classically, Gilt and Moist recognise each other for what they truly are more or less at first sight, when they meet at Le Foie Heureux. Moist is left in stunned awe, tempted to offer himself as an apprentice to learn how to do things like the three card trick with entire banks. Gilt, off-balance by the fact that Moist isn't in the Post Office (where Mr Gryle is looking for him) and - it is implied - impressed by the gall and skill it took to successfully forge an invite from Gilt to the extremely posh restaurant they're at, graciously offers to pay their bill. At the end, recognising that he has been beaten by the better con-man, Gilt sends Moist his intentionally pirate-like parrot. | |
Going Postal / int_4604fd4d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_4604fd4d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_4604fd4d | |
Going Postal / int_474e3977 | type |
You Have Failed Me | |
Going Postal / int_474e3977 | comment |
You Have Failed Me: Inverted. Horsefry is beaten to death by his boss for doing his job too well, in a rare moment of competence. | |
Going Postal / int_474e3977 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_474e3977 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_474e3977 | |
Going Postal / int_47769748 | type |
WithAllDueRespect | |
Going Postal / int_47769748 | comment |
With All Due Respect: In Reacher's first scene, he repeatedly peppers his speech with the words "all respect" to Vetinari. Vetinari clearly realises the meaning behind the phrase, and simply comments that it's gratifying to be shown such respect. | |
Going Postal / int_47769748 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_47769748 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_47769748 | |
Going Postal / int_47b21ca6 | type |
Stress Vomit | |
Going Postal / int_47b21ca6 | comment |
Stress Vomit: After Moist von Lipwig kills an assassin in self defence, the text notes that it would be the perfect time for a Bond One-Liner. Instead, Moist just becomes noisily sick. | |
Going Postal / int_47b21ca6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_47b21ca6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_47b21ca6 | |
Going Postal / int_48081842 | type |
The Stinger | |
Going Postal / int_48081842 | comment |
The Stinger: After the long end-credits have rolled. Groat and Stanley return sore and exhausted after their round-trip to Uberwald in the mail coach, but elated because they bet all their money on Moist to win the race at 50-1. Then they suddenly realise they've left the betting slip back in Uberwald... | |
Going Postal / int_48081842 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_48081842 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_48081842 | |
Going Postal / int_4977559e | type |
Our Angels Are Different | |
Going Postal / int_4977559e | comment |
Our Angels Are Different: Played with. Vetinary presents himself rather cynically as the "Angel of Redemption" and offers Moist a second chance after he "died". Vetinari's definition is that this type of angel will appear at a point in a ""man's career where he has made such a foul mess of his life that he contemplates suicide and will give him the opportunity to go back at the moment it all went wrong and make the right choice."" Obviously Vetinari is not an angel but he's very much a tyrant who uses this story to forcibly recruit Moist Von Lipwig. Moist is presented several times as an "Angel", aka: a Messenger, a Symbol of hope, a Representative of the gods and a Force of good. Naturally, he isn't any of those. By the end of the book, he becomes all four. | |
Going Postal / int_4977559e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_4977559e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_4977559e | |
Going Postal / int_4a3e547f | type |
Leaning on the Fourth Wall | |
Going Postal / int_4a3e547f | comment |
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Gilt, having to explain his pun on "prophet" and "profit": | |
Going Postal / int_4a3e547f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_4a3e547f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_4a3e547f | |
Going Postal / int_4aaffbd5 | type |
I Never Said It Was Poison | |
Going Postal / int_4aaffbd5 | comment |
I Never Said It Was Poison: Crispin Horsefry positively runs full-tilt into these on a regular basis. During the meeting between Vetinari and the Grand Trunk executives, he protests the slightest hint of any wrongdoing by insisting what they have done is perfectly legal, and even drops this colossal clanger: Reacher Gilt makes a similar revealing remark when he asks Moist how Mr. Groat was recovering after the attack. Only a few people know there was an attack. | |
Going Postal / int_4aaffbd5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_4aaffbd5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_4aaffbd5 | |
Going Postal / int_4bfcfa7c | type |
Kansas City Shuffle | |
Going Postal / int_4bfcfa7c | comment |
Kansas City Shuffle: Moist tricks Gilt into thinking he was planning to use a flying broomstick to cheat at the race, and Gilt leaps to prevent it. Not only was the real plan unrelated, but the concession Gilt made to get flying banned made it pretty much impossible to counter. The Board thinks that Gilt is a shady corporate raider who helped them steal the Trunk for a share of the profits. This blinds them to his skimming money, deliberately running the company into the ground so he can make even more money selling it, and using the connection to steal from their other business interests as well. | |
Going Postal / int_4bfcfa7c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_4bfcfa7c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_4bfcfa7c | |
Going Postal / int_4cb90f31 | type |
Three Laws-Compliant | |
Going Postal / int_4cb90f31 | comment |
Three Laws-Compliant: Moist assumed golems are, and in a sense they are, but with a twist: they actually are not allowed to harm a human being…unless ordered to do so by a duly constituted authority. This essentially inverts the Laws, making it more important to obey (certain) humans than to protect humans. | |
Going Postal / int_4cb90f31 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_4cb90f31 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_4cb90f31 | |
Going Postal / int_4cecb933 | type |
Signs of Disrepair | |
Going Postal / int_4cecb933 | comment |
Signs of Disrepair: The sign outside the Post Office headquarters reading "NEITHER RAIN NOR SNOW NOR GLO M OF NI T WILL STAY THESE MES ENGERS ABO T THEIR DUTY" are brought up again. It turns out the missing letters found their way onto a shop sign labeled HUGOS, without the apostrophe. | |
Going Postal / int_4cecb933 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_4cecb933 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_4cecb933 | |
Going Postal / int_4d0f7f79 | type |
Employee of the Month | |
Going Postal / int_4d0f7f79 | comment |
Employee of the Month: Spoofed, along with the We Care trope, at one point in the book: | |
Going Postal / int_4d0f7f79 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_4d0f7f79 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_4d0f7f79 | |
Going Postal / int_4e95743e | type |
Cutlery Escape Aid | |
Going Postal / int_4e95743e | comment |
Cutlery Escape Aid: Moist von Lipwig manages to conceal a spoon in his cell, which he uses to gradually chip away at the ancient mortar around one of the blocks in the wall. He finishes on the night before he's due to be hanged, only to find a freshly mortared block right behind it, with a shiny new spoon in the gap. Lord Vetinari regards false hope as a healthy prisoner activity; there are plenty of other classic prison escapes in the cell, none of which work. | |
Going Postal / int_4e95743e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_4e95743e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_4e95743e | |
Going Postal / int_4f84cdef | type |
Smug Snake | |
Going Postal / int_4f84cdef | comment |
Smug Snake: In contrast to the book's polished Magnificent Bastard, the Reacher Gilt of the adaptation is pale, greasy and charisma-free (as well as losing his "con artist with vision" angle for a straight Corrupt Corporate Executive role). This has the side effect of making him a much less intelligent villain; in the original he knew full well his policies would drive the business into the ground and stood to make a fortune by doing so, but in this version it would ruin him. | |
Going Postal / int_4f84cdef | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_4f84cdef | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_4f84cdef | |
Going Postal / int_4fa3a61f | type |
The Barnum | |
Going Postal / int_4fa3a61f | comment |
The Barnum: Reacher Gilt. Moist has elements of this as well, though he does feel some guilt over his actions when directly confronted with the harm he's caused. | |
Going Postal / int_4fa3a61f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_4fa3a61f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_4fa3a61f | |
Going Postal / int_508d91a2 | type |
Pre-Mortem One-Liner | |
Going Postal / int_508d91a2 | comment |
Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Gryle (and Lipwig in return) tried to make this, but it didn't work for either of them. | |
Going Postal / int_508d91a2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_508d91a2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_508d91a2 | |
Going Postal / int_51640e80 | type |
Bond One-Liner | |
Going Postal / int_51640e80 | comment |
Bond One-Liner: Parodied; After killing a would-be assassin with the mail sorter, the narration observes that this would have been a perfect time to say something clever like "That's what I call 'sorted'!" But since Moist isn't the heroic type, he just gets noisily sick instead. | |
Going Postal / int_51640e80 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_51640e80 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_51640e80 | |
Going Postal / int_5178a0b3 | type |
Three... Two... One... | |
Going Postal / int_5178a0b3 | comment |
Three... Two... One...: As in the book, Moist finds out the missing letters of the sign outside the Post Office headquarters ended up on the sign of a hairdresser salon labeled "HUGOS", without the apostrophe. When the employee refuses to let him talk to Mr. Hugo, he leaves the message that he'd hope to avoid it, but they might get in trouble with Lord Vetinari. As Moist exits, he's counting to three before being anxiously called back. | |
Going Postal / int_5178a0b3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_5178a0b3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_5178a0b3 | |
Going Postal / int_53224e46 | type |
Bookends | |
Going Postal / int_53224e46 | comment |
Bookends: At the end of the book, Vetinari offers a job to Reacher Gilt, just like he offered one to Moist von Lipwig at the start of the book. Though Gilt ends up taking Vetinari's offer to "walk right out that door, and I won't bother you again" and unlike Moist he didn't stop to check for the bottomless pit first. | |
Going Postal / int_53224e46 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_53224e46 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_53224e46 | |
Going Postal / int_53f5119f | type |
The Dragon | |
Going Postal / int_53f5119f | comment |
The Dragon: Gryle to Gilt. | |
Going Postal / int_53f5119f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_53f5119f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_53f5119f | |
Going Postal / int_5407b177 | type |
First-Episode Resurrection | |
Going Postal / int_5407b177 | comment |
First-Episode Resurrection: The story begins with Moist Von Lipwig, in his identity as Albert Spangler, being executed by hanging. After his execution, Moist wakes up and is surprised to learn that Lord Vetinari colluded with the hangman to make him Only Mostly Dead. So, while Albert Spangler is still legally deceased, Moist gets a second chance on life. | |
Going Postal / int_5407b177 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_5407b177 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_5407b177 | |
Going Postal / int_55023d83 | type |
Just Smile and Nod | |
Going Postal / int_55023d83 | comment |
Just Smile and Nod: A clacks worker tries to explain the technicals to Moist. Occasionally, as technical polysyllabic words fly past him, he catches one or two he recognizes. Like "the". | |
Going Postal / int_55023d83 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_55023d83 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_55023d83 | |
Going Postal / int_557a31ce | type |
Actual Pacifist | |
Going Postal / int_557a31ce | comment |
Actual Pacifist: Moist never, ever used violence in his criminal career. Weapons make him nervous. Though Mr. Pump deconstructs his assumption that this made him not such a bad person by pointing out that his actions had devastating effects on people despite his not physically harming anyone. | |
Going Postal / int_557a31ce | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_557a31ce | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_557a31ce | |
Going Postal / int_55c79f7c | type |
Death Trap | |
Going Postal / int_55c79f7c | comment |
Death Trap: When Vetinari is meeting his new Boxed Crook Moist von Lipwig, he tells Moist that if he doesn't like the offer he can simply walk out that door. When Moist goes to check, the door has nothing behind it - and that includes a floor. | |
Going Postal / int_55c79f7c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_55c79f7c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_55c79f7c | |
Going Postal / int_5663a595 | type |
Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole | |
Going Postal / int_5663a595 | comment |
Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: The subplot about what happened to the previous postmasters is skipped by revealing they were killed by Reacher Gilt's banshee assassin. However, the only reason the Post Office is standing in the book is that Gilt doesn't see it as a threat; as soon as he does, he doesn't mess around killing postmasters, he burns the place to the ground. In addition, a rearrangement of scenes means that TV Gilt has to kill Horsefry personally, when the man is visiting his office, rather than employing the hard-to-track Mr Gryle to swoop down and kill him in his own home. Despite the TV version retaining Ankh-Morpork's capable and determined Watch (and its bloodhound-like werewolf), this crime apparently goes unsolved. Angua twice arrests Moist for breaking his parole by leaving the city, but for some reason there was no problem earlier when he took a horse to Sto Lat. (In the book, it's made clear he can leave the city as long as he's on Post Office business, which applies all three times.) It's also not clear why this is even Angua's job; Mr Pump is still his parole officer, and collects him when he actually tries to escape. | |
Going Postal / int_5663a595 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_5663a595 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_5663a595 | |
Going Postal / int_568b9d5 | type |
Orphaned Etymology | |
Going Postal / int_568b9d5 | comment |
Orphaned Etymology: A rather jarring example from Pterry, who is usually very on the ball with words and their origins; when Moist first tries on the golden suit Mr Pump had made for him and looks at himself in the mirror, he comments "Wow, El Dorado or what?" | |
Going Postal / int_568b9d5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_568b9d5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_568b9d5 | |
Going Postal / int_578a2681 | type |
Treacherous Spirit Chase | |
Going Postal / int_578a2681 | comment |
Treacherous Spirit Chase: The Ankh-Morpork Post Office wraps unsuspecting postmasters entirely in a beguiling vision of the building's opulent past. Unfortunately for them, this includes images of floors and walkways that have long since rotted away. Moist von Lipwig nearly takes a very long tumble by almost stepping onto a balcony that had long ago ceased to be. | |
Going Postal / int_578a2681 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_578a2681 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_578a2681 | |
Going Postal / int_57917bb0 | type |
Immortality Through Memory | |
Going Postal / int_57917bb0 | comment |
Immortality Through Memory: Workers on the Clacks towers circulate the names of their dead throughout the network without end so they can live on in the Clacks. | |
Going Postal / int_57917bb0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_57917bb0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_57917bb0 | |
Going Postal / int_57b74bd4 | type |
Achievements in Ignorance | |
Going Postal / int_57b74bd4 | comment |
Achievements in Ignorance: At the end of the initiation trial that the old postmen run for Moist, they sic several massive dogs upon him, whom he recognizes from their bark as Lipwigzer dogs — which his grandfather raised. He handles the challenge with perfect confidence by using the commands that all purebred Lipwigzers are trained with... only to learn afterwards that they were not Lipwigzers at all, but Ankh-Morpork junkyard dogs with no training whatsoever who only obeyed out of sheer bafflement. The Mail Sorting Machine in the Post Office's cellars includes a circular wheel whose diameter-to-circumference ratio - that is, Pi - is exactly three, not 3.141 et cetera. This is, of course, impossible, but nobody seems to have told Mr. Johnson that. | |
Going Postal / int_57b74bd4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_57b74bd4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_57b74bd4 | |
Going Postal / int_586624e5 | type |
Genius Loci | |
Going Postal / int_586624e5 | comment |
Genius Loci: Professor Pelc notes to Moist that the same way the University's library distorts time and space on a massive scale due to the accumulation of words, so did the Post Office the instant they started accumulating the mail, creating a different phenomenon called a gevaisa - a "tomb of living words", while Mr Pump refers to it slightly differently as a "tomb of unheard words". Pelc notes that the hallucinations and distortions inside the Post Office should gradually decrease as the mail is delivered, though given the sheer tonnage of the undelivered mail, Moist is highly skeptical of this. | |
Going Postal / int_586624e5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_586624e5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_586624e5 | |
Going Postal / int_59907e4f | type |
Police Are Useless | |
Going Postal / int_59907e4f | comment |
Police Are Useless: Worse: they're quite competent and dangerously clever. This annoys Moist, as he is used to dealing with cops in other cities, who are taking the lead from but haven't quite got a handle on Sam Vimes's style of policing. Moist spends the novel obfuscating things for them so they'll not look too closely and realize Alfred Spangler didn't quite die. | |
Going Postal / int_59907e4f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_59907e4f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_59907e4f | |
Going Postal / int_5a40d6a | type |
Adaptation Distillation | |
Going Postal / int_5a40d6a | comment |
Adaptation Distillation: Unlike with the Colour of Magic adaptation, a lot of things were implemented in a different way to the book rather than simply left out. Mr. Gryle's climactic fight with Moist takes place in the middle of the burning post office, instead of in the cellar. He dies by being incinerated by the Post Office itself, rather than being spliced by the mail sorting machine. In the book, the deaths of Moist's predecessors were genuinely accidents, caused by the psychoactive properties of the Post Office. In the film, they were unambiguous assassinations directed by Gilt and carried out by Mr. Gryle. | |
Going Postal / int_5a40d6a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_5a40d6a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_5a40d6a | |
Going Postal / int_5af55436 | type |
Forced to Watch | |
Going Postal / int_5af55436 | comment |
Forced to Watch: Lipwig's dreams involve the letters forcing him to watch the consequences of his actions portrayed as silent movies, complete in some cases with dialogue cards. | |
Going Postal / int_5af55436 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_5af55436 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_5af55436 | |
Going Postal / int_5b3e927f | type |
All-Natural Snake Oil | |
Going Postal / int_5b3e927f | comment |
All-Natural Snake Oil: The logic, such as it is, behind Tolliver Groat's homemade medicines, which are made from all-natural ingredients such as sulphur, saltpetre, charcoal, arsenic, and dead voles. Amazingly, the doctor who examined him found him to be in remarkably good health—possibly indestructible. He was just absolutely disgusting (since he doesn't believe in bathing). And his hairpiece tried to make a break for it. They also had to surgically remove his pants, which were then field-detonated. | |
Going Postal / int_5b3e927f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_5b3e927f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_5b3e927f | |
Going Postal / int_5d716d61 | type |
Ground by Gears | |
Going Postal / int_5d716d61 | comment |
Ground by Gears: Mr. Gryle is quite thoroughly done in by an experimental mail-sorting engine, thanks to a central flywheel so poorly designed that it rotates through its own space-time frame. Alien Geometries plus an off-balanced banshee equals a [Gloop] and a sticky smear. | |
Going Postal / int_5d716d61 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_5d716d61 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_5d716d61 | |
Going Postal / int_605b8f40 | type |
Bumbling Sidekick | |
Going Postal / int_605b8f40 | comment |
Horsefry has a lot more screentime, and serves as Gilt's Bumbling Sidekick instead of the one-note pencil-pusher he was in the book. Gilt also personally beats him to death, rather than having Mr. Gryle kill him. | |
Going Postal / int_605b8f40 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_605b8f40 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_605b8f40 | |
Going Postal / int_60fb097 | type |
Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat | |
Going Postal / int_60fb097 | comment |
Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: If Gilt had spent a tenth of the money and effort he expended on sabotaging the post office on ensuring that the clacks was working properly, he'd have won hands down. | |
Going Postal / int_60fb097 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_60fb097 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_60fb097 | |
Going Postal / int_6143ce68 | type |
Dine and Dash | |
Going Postal / int_6143ce68 | comment |
Dine and Dash: Moist has some unspecified plan for doing this when he takes Adora to the ritziest restaurant in Ankh-Morpork. In the end, they do escape paying the bill, but ironically thanks to the villain of the novel rather than anything Moist intentionally does. | |
Going Postal / int_6143ce68 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_6143ce68 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_6143ce68 | |
Going Postal / int_625cfe89 | type |
Emergency Stash | |
Going Postal / int_625cfe89 | comment |
Emergency Stash: Moist keeps various tools of the trade — forgery supplies, make-up and a change of clothes, lockpicks, even safehouses — stashed all over the city. He also has amassed 150 thousand dollars in assorted currencies over the course of his career as a con man. He later digs it up, claims that it's a gift from the gods and uses it to rebuild the Post Office. | |
Going Postal / int_625cfe89 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_625cfe89 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_625cfe89 | |
Going Postal / int_6293c185 | type |
Sequel Hook | |
Going Postal / int_6293c185 | comment |
Sequel Hook: A minor one in the epilogue: The Patrician offers Reacher Gilt the choice between running the Royal Mint or death. He chooses death. | |
Going Postal / int_6293c185 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_6293c185 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_6293c185 | |
Going Postal / int_62fd5552 | type |
Bavarian Fire Drill | |
Going Postal / int_62fd5552 | comment |
Bavarian Fire Drill: Moist pulls off one or two during the course of the book. | |
Going Postal / int_62fd5552 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_62fd5552 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_62fd5552 | |
Going Postal / int_6306ceb6 | type |
Hat of Authority | |
Going Postal / int_6306ceb6 | comment |
Hat of Authority: The wingéd gold hat that comes with being Postmaster. It also came with some winged sandals and a(n also winged) fig-leaf thong, which Moist wisely passes up. | |
Going Postal / int_6306ceb6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_6306ceb6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_6306ceb6 | |
Going Postal / int_64e2c7c7 | type |
Lying Finger Cross | |
Going Postal / int_64e2c7c7 | comment |
Lying Finger Cross: Moist makes Adora swear to keep her cool and to avoid violence just before dropping a bomb on her. She agrees, and he confesses he's the forger whose checks cost her her earlier job. She takes a moment to reflect, and asks whether she was crossing her fingers. Unfortunately for her, Moist was very deliberately looking at her hands just to avoid this specific trope, and she swallows her wrath for a second until he explains himself. | |
Going Postal / int_64e2c7c7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_64e2c7c7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_64e2c7c7 | |
Going Postal / int_670db7d7 | type |
Formula-Breaking Episode | |
Going Postal / int_670db7d7 | comment |
Formula-Breaking Episode: This book introduced a new protagonist who proved very popular with fandom (somewhat revitalising the series) as well as being built around a serious point about privatisation—previous Discworld novels sometimes have serious points to make but they always took a back seat to the humour and never dominated the whole book (with the arguable exception of Equal Rites, Small Gods, Jingo, and Night Watch). In addition, there is a style change to the layout of the novel, with Pratchett including chapters for the first time in the main series since The Light Fantastic (partly in response to a critic who mocked his work for lacking chapters). | |
Going Postal / int_670db7d7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_670db7d7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_670db7d7 | |
Going Postal / int_678a72a9 | type |
And a Diet Coke | |
Going Postal / int_678a72a9 | comment |
And a Diet Coke: Well, in Sacharissa's case, two figgins and a skinny Klatchian coffee. Given the properties of Klatchian Coffee (it makes you so sober some Go Mad from the Revelation), the figgins aren't going to help. | |
Going Postal / int_678a72a9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_678a72a9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_678a72a9 | |
Going Postal / int_67fedd35 | type |
Bizarrchitecture | |
Going Postal / int_67fedd35 | comment |
Bizarrchitecture: The Ankh-Morpork Post Office is quite a large building, but it seems to contain corridors that run for miles in every direction. This may have something to do with the power of words to warp space. | |
Going Postal / int_67fedd35 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_67fedd35 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_67fedd35 | |
Going Postal / int_69b31908 | type |
Disturbing Statistic | |
Going Postal / int_69b31908 | comment |
Disturbing Statistic: Mr. Pump calculates the damage Moist has done to peoples' lives with his cons. In total, he's effectively killed 2.338 people. It merges with "The Reason You Suck" Speech since Moist thinks of his cons as never having hurt anyone — or at least no one who didn't deserve it. | |
Going Postal / int_69b31908 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_69b31908 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_69b31908 | |
Going Postal / int_6a696742 | type |
The Power of Love | |
Going Postal / int_6a696742 | comment |
The Power of Love: In his second last words, Moist preaches about it. And about Love Redeems, too. | |
Going Postal / int_6a696742 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_6a696742 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_6a696742 | |
Going Postal / int_6bda9a30 | type |
Meaningful Name | |
Going Postal / int_6bda9a30 | comment |
Meaningful Name: There's some competing Epileptic Trees regarding Moist and Reacher's names. Pratchett, as a master of multilevel wordplay, probably intended more than one or even all of them. Reacher Gilt: Aside from the obvious meaning—he's "reaching" for your "gilt" (i.e. gold; Gilt mentions to a servant that he was a bit surprised he got away with that one). The pirate act is just flavor, but the name spells it out; see also the Stealth Pun below—there are two main competing theories. It's either a reference to Long John Silver, or a Take That! against John Galt. There is, given that it's Pratchett, known for layering his wordplay, the very real possibility that it's both. In favor of Long John: the character's appearance (he deliberately looks like a Pirate), he's someone with an impressively long, er, reach, and "silver" vs. "gilt" (gold). It also fits in with the other Dickens-style names in the book. In favor of John Galt: aside from his ruthlessly rules-free capitalist approach to business and the similarity of their last names, the air of mystery he cultivates around himself prompts some to ask "Who is Reacher Gilt?" More obviously, given how brazen Reacher is about his crimes, his name literally proclaims his "gilt". Moist turns out to have a heart of gold whereas Reacher's friendly demeanor is only gild (i.e. gold painted or plated), "gilt" being the past participle of "gild". Lipwig implies a false mustache, indicating that Moist is a Master of Disguise. Another theory has it that the name Moist is intended to call to mind "Slippery Jim", the hero of The Stainless Steel Rat series, who is another Boxed Crook. It could also be based on Victor Lustig, a Con Man who sold the Eiffel Tower... twice. Finally, it's similar to the real German city of Leipzig, which fits with Moist's background in Ãœberwald. Many surnames come from one's place of birth, usually those of noble descent. Adora Belle Dearheart is supposed to call to mind Ada Lovelace, one of the pioneers of computing. The Smoking Gnu isn't just a punny misspelling, and the whole story calls to mind the fall of Ma Bell, and IBM's days as the Evil Empire. There are a lot of Meaningful Names in this book, even for a Pratchett work. The Smoking Gnu is also a Shout-Out to The Bromeliad in which the Nome confuses the words Gun and Gnu at one point (and confuses everyone he's talking to). Stanley Howler recalls Stanley Gibbons, the London stamp dealers, "howler" and "gibbons" both being kinds of primates. A water pump is a machine that forces water uphill. Mr Pump is a machine that pushes Moist to be better. | |
Going Postal / int_6bda9a30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_6bda9a30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_6bda9a30 | |
Going Postal / int_6d7026fa | type |
Punny Name | |
Going Postal / int_6d7026fa | comment |
Anoia, goddess of Things That Get Stuck In Kitchen Drawers. | |
Going Postal / int_6d7026fa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_6d7026fa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_6d7026fa | |
Going Postal / int_70d53103 | type |
The Not-So-Harmless Punishment | |
Going Postal / int_70d53103 | comment |
The Not-So-Harmless Punishment: Moist Von Lipwig is offered (as an alternative to being hanged, again) the job of Postmaster General. It's a job for life, just quite possibly not for long, as it's already claimed the lives of several other "volunteers." Of course, Vetinari isn't going to be so crass as to force him to take the job, and tells Moist he can walk out of the room whenever he likes. Moist takes the time to confirm his suspicions that there is a long drop beyond the door, but the choice is still there. | |
Going Postal / int_70d53103 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_70d53103 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_70d53103 | |
Going Postal / int_711714da | type |
Opposites Attract | |
Going Postal / int_711714da | comment |
Opposites Attract: Moist von Lipwig: Conman, forced into public service, liar, and optimist with some cynic in. Adora Belle Dearheart: Golem trust chairwoman, chose her job voluntarily (more or less, after losing her last job thanks to Moist), incapable of lying (bar sarcasm), and cynic with some optimism deep inside. | |
Going Postal / int_711714da | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_711714da | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_711714da | |
Going Postal / int_716d9138 | type |
Bar Brawl | |
Going Postal / int_716d9138 | comment |
Bar Brawl: Highly organized, with a scoring system and tactics that seem to be based on a combination of rugby and professional wrestling. People expect things of bar brawls after all. | |
Going Postal / int_716d9138 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_716d9138 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_716d9138 | |
Going Postal / int_7170f25a | type |
T-Word Euphemism | |
Going Postal / int_7170f25a | comment |
T-Word Euphemism: Moist's rant when he realizes what Gilt is doing apparently includes the K-word, the L-word, the T-word, two different S-words, the V-word and the Y-word. | |
Going Postal / int_7170f25a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_7170f25a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_7170f25a | |
Going Postal / int_72455542 | type |
Adaptational Intelligence | |
Going Postal / int_72455542 | comment |
Adaptational Intelligence: Horsefry in the book was so stupid that in the Smart People Play Chess scene his only contribution was that as a child he got a piece stuck up his nose and seemed to think this meaningful commentary. In the special he's completely competent, just not savvy enough not to keep a second set of books with accurate records. In particular, his justification for keeping the books here (that he needs accurate records somewhere if he's going to be able to properly conceal Gilt's illicit spending) actually makes sense, whereas his justification in the novel emphasized that he was a Cloudcuckoolander. | |
Going Postal / int_72455542 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_72455542 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_72455542 | |
Going Postal / int_725583e8 | type |
Good Feels Good | |
Going Postal / int_725583e8 | comment |
Good Feels Good: Played straight (in Lipwig's part) for most of the time, but subverted in a dialogue of Moist and Mr. Pump. | |
Going Postal / int_725583e8 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
Going Postal / int_725583e8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_725583e8 | |
Going Postal / int_730d3664 | type |
Adaptational Angst Upgrade | |
Going Postal / int_730d3664 | comment |
Adaptational Angst Upgrade: With Moist and Adora, to the extent we see her crying and him saying: "I deserve to die!" The adaptation puts a lot more emphasis on Moist's guilt in general; as part of this, the number of people Mr. Pump calculates he has killed is about ten times what it was in the book. | |
Going Postal / int_730d3664 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_730d3664 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_730d3664 | |
Going Postal / int_7351b2bf | type |
Asymmetric Multiplayer | |
Going Postal / int_7351b2bf | comment |
Asymmetric Multiplayer: Discussed. Thud has one player controlling a few slow but powerful trolls and the other controlling multiple fast but independently weak dwarfs (which Thud later established also have combo abilities). Vetinari and Gilt size each other up (and foreshadow much of the plot) by talking about their preferred sides. Crispin Horsefry also demonstrates his profound ignorance by saying "the dwarfs always win," something which a subsequent novel would reveal as the mark of an amateur player with a limited understanding of the game. | |
Going Postal / int_7351b2bf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_7351b2bf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_7351b2bf | |
Going Postal / int_73c9a109 | type |
Butlerspace | |
Going Postal / int_73c9a109 | comment |
Butlerspace: Igors again. Reacher Gilt's Igor does this several times, and Reacher puts a bear trap behind him as a test. The Igor, however, being no stranger to "masters of an inquiring mind", gets around it. | |
Going Postal / int_73c9a109 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_73c9a109 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_73c9a109 | |
Going Postal / int_740f59b4 | type |
ColorCodedForYourConvenience | |
Going Postal / int_740f59b4 | comment |
The creators seemed to go Color-Coded for Your Convenience-route, fearing that a dark-haired, more menacing Vetinari could be mistaken for the villain by a casual viewer. | |
Going Postal / int_740f59b4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_740f59b4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_740f59b4 | |
Going Postal / int_7453bc5b | type |
Spared by the Adaptation | |
Going Postal / int_7453bc5b | comment |
Spared by the Adaptation: Subverted: Horsefry lasts longer than he does in the book, outliving Mr Gryle, who killed him in the original. Then, Reacher Gilt realises that Horsefry has recorded all the assassinations in his accounts books (since Gilt had to pay Mr Gryle for each assassination). Gilt then beats Horsefry to death with his cane and disposes of the body. | |
Going Postal / int_7453bc5b | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
Going Postal / int_7453bc5b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_7453bc5b | |
Going Postal / int_7464705c | type |
Arc Words | |
Going Postal / int_7464705c | comment |
Arc Words: "You should've been there! You should've seen it!" “Let me tell you about angels…� | |
Going Postal / int_7464705c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_7464705c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_7464705c | |
Going Postal / int_7481a085 | type |
Offerings to the Gods | |
Going Postal / int_7481a085 | comment |
Offerings to the Gods: Parodied with the Church of Offler, said to pay special attention to any prayers that come with sausages. It's a good deal for the priests too (depending on seniority - the most junior priest is noted to get about as much of the sausage as Offler Himself, which is to say, the smell). | |
Going Postal / int_7481a085 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_7481a085 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_7481a085 | |
Going Postal / int_76b4b7dd | type |
The Comically Serious | |
Going Postal / int_76b4b7dd | comment |
Vetinari, true to form, takes him at his word and asks his secretary for a broom. | |
Going Postal / int_76b4b7dd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_76b4b7dd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_76b4b7dd | |
Going Postal / int_76c42cce | type |
Pronouncing My Name for You | |
Going Postal / int_76c42cce | comment |
Pronouncing My Name for You: Even when confronted with a determined golem parole officer, Moist von Lipwig (a Meaningful Name if pronounced as spelled, since he's known for wearing false mustaches) can muster enough righteous indignation to remind said golem parole officer that his name is pronounced "Lipvig" with a V. | |
Going Postal / int_76c42cce | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_76c42cce | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_76c42cce | |
Going Postal / int_7886d4d0 | type |
December–December Romance | |
Going Postal / int_7886d4d0 | comment |
December–December Romance: Moist delivers an old letter, which results in a pair of childhood sweethearts, now both elderly and widowed, hooking up again. | |
Going Postal / int_7886d4d0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_7886d4d0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_7886d4d0 | |
Going Postal / int_78c5ce7e | type |
Screw the Rules, I Make Them! | |
Going Postal / int_78c5ce7e | comment |
Vetinari has one, reflecting on the nature of freedom and whether it's all it's cracked up to be. At least he has an excuse - who's going to tell Vetinari to stop monologuing? | |
Going Postal / int_78c5ce7e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_78c5ce7e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_78c5ce7e | |
Going Postal / int_78d103c3 | type |
Exposition of Immortality | |
Going Postal / int_78d103c3 | comment |
Exposition of Immortality: The golem Anghammarad, built over 20,000 years ago and still functioning, remembers times, events, places, and languages that nothing else on the Disc does. | |
Going Postal / int_78d103c3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_78d103c3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_78d103c3 | |
Going Postal / int_7916f22e | type |
Creepy Changing Painting | |
Going Postal / int_7916f22e | comment |
Creepy Changing Painting: Due to the imp-based technology used to print the stamps, around one in five has a small deviation from the original image. For instance, the one depicting the Tower of Art has a man throwing himself from the tower. | |
Going Postal / int_7916f22e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_7916f22e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_7916f22e | |
Going Postal / int_794095d7 | type |
Boxed Crook | |
Going Postal / int_794095d7 | comment |
Boxed Crook: Moist is a confidence artist forced into a government job, because his cunning criminal mind is exactly what Vetinari needs to both sell people on the idea of the post office and take down Reacher Gilt. | |
Going Postal / int_794095d7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_794095d7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_794095d7 | |
Going Postal / int_7a54c458 | type |
Mock Millionaire | |
Going Postal / int_7a54c458 | comment |
Mock Millionaire: Reacher Gilt is arguably an example of this trope. He conducts himself in a very lavish manner, but that may be part of his masquerade. He himself believes that wealth is an illusion, and stole the Grand Trunk through embezzlement and accounting tricks. It's never clear how much actual liquidity he actually has; in the end, when he is caught by Vetinari after fleeing the city, he seems dishevelled and impoverished. That may be disguise, or just a side-effect of spending an unspecified amount of time in the hands of Vetinari's Clerks before being brought before Vetinari and, quite literally, finding himself "in for the long drop". | |
Going Postal / int_7a54c458 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_7a54c458 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_7a54c458 | |
Going Postal / int_7aa858c1 | type |
Consummate Liar | |
Going Postal / int_7aa858c1 | comment |
Early on, Moist notes how people assume someone with a firm handshake and a steady gaze is honest, and how easy those are to fake. When Moist meets Reacher Gilt, he sees right through Gilt's facade by recognizing the man as having the firm handshake and steady gaze of a Consummate Liar who's practiced for years. | |
Going Postal / int_7aa858c1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_7aa858c1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_7aa858c1 | |
Going Postal / int_7b0448b6 | type |
Paperworkaholic | |
Going Postal / int_7b0448b6 | comment |
Paperworkaholic: Crispin Horsefry. In the book, he's just a somewhat dim member of Gilt's club of rich hangers-on, who tries to soothe his conscience about the whole "embezzling money and running the company into the ground" thing by keeping records of what money they stole, so that once they have enough they can put it back and it'd be like there wasn't any crime at all. In the TV film he's obsessed with balancing numbers, to the point that he keeps detailed notes of his company's illegal deals. When Gilt finds out about this, he's so incensed he kills him and tries to burn the records. Nevertheless, the books are rescued and used to oust the corrupt board members. | |
Going Postal / int_7b0448b6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_7b0448b6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_7b0448b6 | |
Going Postal / int_7bd44eb9 | type |
Smart People Play Chess | |
Going Postal / int_7bd44eb9 | comment |
Smart People Play Chess: Vetinari and Gilt assess each other with their Thud tactics. Also, Crispin Horsefry's dismissal of the game (not that he didn't play it, but that he couldn't see past the obvious to the intricacies) is an(other) indication of his low intellect. | |
Going Postal / int_7bd44eb9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_7bd44eb9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_7bd44eb9 | |
Going Postal / int_7c0bfb83 | type |
Obviously Evil | |
Going Postal / int_7c0bfb83 | comment |
Obviously Evil: Reacher Gilt virtually advertises the true nature of his business practices by dressing similarly to a pirate, complete with an eyepatch and a cockatoo on his shoulder. Which, for bonus points, is taught to say "Twelve-and-a half-percent!". Converted to fractions that's 1/8, or a "piece of eight". | |
Going Postal / int_7c0bfb83 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_7c0bfb83 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_7c0bfb83 | |
Going Postal / int_7d68f571 | type |
...Or So I Heard | |
Going Postal / int_7d68f571 | comment |
...Or So I Heard: Moist has to say this a few times when he realizes he's revealed more knowledge than he should have of criminal enterprise. "They're the devil to forge, I know that...well, that's what I've heard." | |
Going Postal / int_7d68f571 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_7d68f571 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_7d68f571 | |
Going Postal / int_7d89315b | type |
"The Reason You Suck" Speech | |
Going Postal / int_7d89315b | comment |
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Mr. Pump, demolishing Moist Von Lipwig's comforting vision of himself as a criminal with standards by pointing out that through his cons and scams he did not need to physically touch or even be aware of the existence of people to ruin their lives and hasten their deaths. | |
Going Postal / int_7d89315b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_7d89315b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_7d89315b | |
Going Postal / int_7e07f634 | type |
Paranoia Fuel | |
Going Postal / int_7e07f634 | comment |
Paranoia Fuel: In-Universe- The knowledge that his golem parole officer can kill if ordered by a suitable authority (such as the Patrician) combined with the graphic demises of previous Postmasters leads Moist to suspect that such golems were responsible for ridding the Post Office of unsatisfactory Postmasters. Groat's insistence that at least one of them died in an "industrial accident" furthers this, as golems are generally regarded as tools. It's revealed later that the deaths were caused by a completely unrelated phenomenon. | |
Going Postal / int_7e07f634 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_7e07f634 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_7e07f634 | |
Going Postal / int_7eb49b31 | type |
Almost Kiss | |
Going Postal / int_7eb49b31 | comment |
Almost Kiss: Happened thrice, between Moist and Adora. She deliberately stopped the first and third ones, a concurrence of circumstances interrupted the second one. | |
Going Postal / int_7eb49b31 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_7eb49b31 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_7eb49b31 | |
Going Postal / int_808cbaeb | type |
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking | |
Going Postal / int_808cbaeb | comment |
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: The flashbacks show how Lipwig's cons drove a farmer to suicide, sent a bank clerk to prison, destroyed the bank and ruined the Dearheart family... and drove Adora to start smoking cigarettes. Also, the movie's tagline is "A Tale of Love and Revenge...And Stamps." The list of Lipwig's crimes include Littering with Extreme Prejudice. | |
Going Postal / int_808cbaeb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_808cbaeb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_808cbaeb | |
Going Postal / int_81574019 | type |
Creature of Habit | |
Going Postal / int_81574019 | comment |
Creature of Habit: Tiddles the ancient cat is so set in his ways, moving the furniture into his daily path through the Post Office will leave him pathetically butting his head against the obstacle. Certainly a little thing like the building being on fire won't change his routine. | |
Going Postal / int_81574019 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_81574019 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_81574019 | |
Going Postal / int_823c6e3e | type |
Large Ham | |
Going Postal / int_823c6e3e | comment |
Large Ham: Gilt. Boy howdy, Reacher Gilt. Not that we expected anything else. And he's played by David Suchet! Also, in a very sharp change from the tight-lipped version in the novel, Mr. Gryle. | |
Going Postal / int_823c6e3e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_823c6e3e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_823c6e3e | |
Going Postal / int_84df9a79 | type |
Second-Face Smoke | |
Going Postal / int_84df9a79 | comment |
Second-Face Smoke: Adora, occasionally. | |
Going Postal / int_84df9a79 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_84df9a79 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_84df9a79 | |
Going Postal / int_878d235d | type |
Couldn't Find a Lighter | |
Going Postal / int_878d235d | comment |
Couldn't Find a Lighter: Watching outside the burning post office, Adora Belle Dearheart catches a burning piece of paper that flutters past and uses it to light a cigarette. | |
Going Postal / int_878d235d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_878d235d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_878d235d | |
Going Postal / int_87bb6874 | type |
Villain with Good Publicity | |
Going Postal / int_87bb6874 | comment |
Villain with Good Publicity: Gilt, to the point where even he is incredulous about it. | |
Going Postal / int_87bb6874 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_87bb6874 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_87bb6874 | |
Going Postal / int_87ede6fc | type |
That Man Is Dead | |
Going Postal / int_87ede6fc | comment |
That Man Is Dead: | |
Going Postal / int_87ede6fc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_87ede6fc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_87ede6fc | |
Going Postal / int_89631688 | type |
The Chosen One | |
Going Postal / int_89631688 | comment |
The Chosen One: Subverted, in that the neglected Mail is so desperate that they'll Choose anyone who happens to be available. | |
Going Postal / int_89631688 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
Going Postal / int_89631688 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_89631688 | |
Going Postal / int_8a0cfe56 | type |
Merchant Prince | |
Going Postal / int_8a0cfe56 | comment |
Merchant Prince: Reacher Gilt is a powerful swindler and conman who is attempting to use his wealth (assuming he actually has any...) and power to displace the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork (though see below). | |
Going Postal / int_8a0cfe56 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_8a0cfe56 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_8a0cfe56 | |
Going Postal / int_8ae880f7 | type |
Deconstruction | |
Going Postal / int_8ae880f7 | comment |
Deconstruction: Of the Lovable Rogue character type. Mr. Pump points out the ways in which even nonviolent criminals who feel they have standards can cause suffering and evil all over the world: | |
Going Postal / int_8ae880f7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_8ae880f7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_8ae880f7 | |
Going Postal / int_8ca20b69 | type |
Out-of-Character Moment | |
Going Postal / int_8ca20b69 | comment |
Out-of-Character Moment: Seeing Angua referring to anyone as "lunch" and changing in public (as she's seen doing in the trailer) is very jarring compared to her representation in the books, where she's a vegetarian who hates the impulses brought on by being a werewolf, and the only time she makes a corny joke about it was Self-Deprecation. The books also state that changing in public is considered highly impolite in were society, to the point where she doesn't even let her lover Carrot see her while she's changing shapes. While the watch having a Werewolf is common knowledge, the fact that the werewolf is Angua (and not Nobby) is not. Also, given that her clothes don't transform with her, she just stripped naked in the middle of a tavern to make a point, something the Watch goes to great pains to avoid in the books. Also Mustrum Ridcully talking about the nature of words. The Ridcully seen in the books and, indeed, the other adaptations, is a big, hearty man who bellows in almost every situation and uses phrases like "damn silly fool". The Ridcully in this version stays soft-spoken and talks like a professor. This is because he's serving the role of Professor Pelc, which raises the question of why they didn't just call the character Professor Pelc. Vetinari maintains a largely hands-off approach to Moist in the book; he only interacts with him when he has a point to make, or when he feels like pulling an I Know You Know I Know. In the adaptation, Vetinari has Moist arrested a second time after he "finds" his old stash for no obvious reason, and threatens to have Moist hung if he loses the bet with the Clacks. This is a far cry from the books Vetinari, who generally only has people killed for good reasons and would never throw away a competent, tightly-leashed underling like Moist over a mostly-meaningless bet. Making this even more egregious is that it happens after Moist has rejuvenated the Post Office and begun causing the Clacks serious problems, making Vetinari's explanation of Moist having outlived his usefulness fall flat. | |
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Going Postal / int_8dea4592 | type |
Prayer Is a Last Resort | |
Going Postal / int_8dea4592 | comment |
Prayer Is a Last Resort: Played with and subverted. After Reacher Gilt has the Post Office burned down and Vetinari will not provide the funds needed for restoration, Moist fakes this trope, hard. With smartly-written and stamped letters to the gods in hand, Moist goes to three different temples, praying to various gods for a large sum of money to help rebuild the Post Office. After that, he fakes a vision, falls to his knees screaming and praying to "give thanks" for the phony revelation, and "discovers" the huge stash of gold and other currency that he'd buried in the fields before the book begins: his ill-gotten money from all his cons. | |
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Going Postal / int_90e31482 | type |
Laser-Guided Karma | |
Going Postal / int_90e31482 | comment |
Laser-Guided Karma: The fact that Lipwig had to face the consequences of his own crime which indirectly had caused ruining Adora's family and the death of her father is quite a sharp example. | |
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Going Postal / int_91438937 | type |
Gonky Femme | |
Going Postal / int_91438937 | comment |
Gonky Femme: They put a golem into a dress and rename it "Gladys", in order to make it proper for "her" to clean the ladies' bathroom. The golem promptly starts to act very stereotypically girly, which actually makes a degree of sense, given that it's essentially a matter of programming. | |
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Going Postal / int_91438937 | |
Going Postal / int_928ca2cc | type |
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness | |
Going Postal / int_928ca2cc | comment |
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Vetinari says this to Moist before the big race. That's why he added the "if you lose then you will be hanged" condition. | |
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Going Postal / int_928ca2cc | |
Going Postal / int_9303d6d1 | type |
Battle Amongst the Flames | |
Going Postal / int_9303d6d1 | comment |
Battle Amongst the Flames: Mr. Gryle and Moist's final confrontation. Unlike the books, where the two fought in the smokey-but-not-actively-burning basement, here they go up against each other in the middle of the roaring mail-fire Gryle started. | |
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Going Postal / int_9303d6d1 | |
Going Postal / int_937fc70c | type |
Chalk Outline | |
Going Postal / int_937fc70c | comment |
Chalk Outline: One of the previous postmasters spied into the sorting machine, and several outlines of his remains were all over the sorting office. | |
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Going Postal / int_94edf56d | type |
||
Going Postal / int_94edf56d | comment |
"You!" Squared: The bar brawl version is known as the "Double Andrew", and is worth quite a lot of points. Bar brawls in Ankh-Morpork have become somewhat formalized. There are scoring rules, judging, official teams, and extensive brawl planning. They even have an Igor on standby to stitch back on anything that happens to get cut off (and they recommended having your name tattooed on extremities to make sure he stitches the right bits back on you). The impression is more of sport or folk dancing, or particularly stylised martial arts. Of course, any resemblence to the choreographed and pre-arranged outcome of a typical Professional Wrestling bout, possibly of the cheap-and-cheerful old-school British style, is all in the mind of the beholder. | |
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Going Postal / int_94edf56d | |
Going Postal / int_953626a3 | type |
Literalist Snarking | |
Going Postal / int_953626a3 | comment |
Literalist Snarking: Vetinari does this to Moist. | |
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Going Postal / int_953626a3 | |
Going Postal / int_9591377d | type |
Heel Realization | |
Going Postal / int_9591377d | comment |
Heel Realization: Moist, following Mr. Pump's "The Reason You Suck" Speech and a long look in the mirror. | |
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Going Postal / int_970c790a | type |
Big Bad | |
Going Postal / int_970c790a | comment |
Both Reacher Gilt and Moist Von Lipwig are big fans of this trope, but in different ways. Reacher Gilt is so obvious about being a scoundrel that people trust him. Moist, meanwhile, has both the wits and the sheer guts to push his luck as far as he needs to in order to sell a con. Reacher gives them something they hope isn't true, Moist gives them something they hope is true. | |
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Going Postal / int_985e118a | type |
Odd Couple | |
Going Postal / int_985e118a | comment |
Odd Couple: Groat and Stanley. Among other things, they have carefully divided their living quarters with tape, and Stanley makes a point to cut off the corners of paper that accidentally crosses to his side to enforce neatness. | |
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Going Postal / int_985e118a | |
Going Postal / int_98a63dc6 | type |
Time Abyss | |
Going Postal / int_98a63dc6 | comment |
Time Abyss: The golem Anghammarad, built over 20,000 years ago and still functioning, remembers times, events, places, and languages that nothing else on the Disc does. He's carrying a message on a tablet strapped to his arm. He intends to deliver it. To do so, he has to wait for time to start over. To quote Ms. Dearheart: "Golems aren't afraid of forever. They aren't afraid of anything." | |
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Going Postal / int_9919369d | type |
Con Man | |
Going Postal / int_9919369d | comment |
It could also be based on Victor Lustig, a Con Man who sold the Eiffel Tower... twice. | |
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Going Postal / int_9919369d | |
Going Postal / int_9951519 | type |
Water Tower Down | |
Going Postal / int_9951519 | comment |
Water Tower Down: During a fire at the Post Office, the rainwater tank on its roof (which acts as a counterweight for its freight elevator) breaks free and falls into the fire, causing a massive steam explosion that kills the golem Anghammarad. It's noted that neither water nor fire would have been enough on its own. | |
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Going Postal / int_9b04a8d1 | type |
This Is Not a Floor | |
Going Postal / int_9b04a8d1 | comment |
In the book, the deaths of Moist's predecessors were genuinely accidents, caused by the psychoactive properties of the Post Office. In the film, they were unambiguous assassinations directed by Gilt and carried out by Mr. Gryle. | |
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Going Postal / int_9b04a8d1 | |
Going Postal / int_9b54d536 | type |
Evil Counterpart | |
Going Postal / int_9b54d536 | comment |
Evil Counterpart: Reacher Gilt, to Moist von Lipwig. Vetinari knows this. This may be the reason why he tries to recruit Moist von Lipwig. And may also be the reason why he tries to recruit Reacher Gilt...and also why Reacher Gilt fails the test that Moist had passed. | |
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Going Postal / int_9b54d536 | |
Going Postal / int_9c1f758a | type |
Kill It with Fire | |
Going Postal / int_9c1f758a | comment |
Kill It with Fire: How Mr. Gryle dies, combined with the power of letters from the post office. | |
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Going Postal / int_9c1f758a | |
Going Postal / int_9ca24902 | type |
Heroic Fire Rescue | |
Going Postal / int_9ca24902 | comment |
Heroic Fire Rescue: After rescuing everyone else who was in the burning building, Moist has to run back in to rescue the stupid cat. | |
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Going Postal / int_9ca24902 | |
Going Postal / int_9d12bbc1 | type |
Foreshadowing | |
Going Postal / int_9d12bbc1 | comment |
Foreshadowing: Reacher Gilt is amused by Igor's story of how an ex-employer died by thoughtlessly stepping into his own spike-lined pit. Presumably he ceased to find this so amusing by the end of the book, at least for a fraction of a second. A long-ranged example: When he's wondering how Moist is going to win the great transcontinental race, Vetinari asks him if he might dig up some extremely fast magical horse buried nearby. Moist says of course not. But in the next Discworld book featuring Moist von Lipwig, this exact thing happens. | |
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Going Postal / int_9d12bbc1 | |
Going Postal / int_9dab0a6e | type |
Continuity Nod | |
Going Postal / int_9dab0a6e | comment |
Continuity Nod: The von Lipwig family are active in the (highly schismatic) Potato Church, implying that Mr Tulip may actually have been remembering his religion accurately. Under the above mentioned "glo m of ni t" lettering on the post office is graffiti that says not to ask about, among other things, Mrs. Cake, who appeared in Reaper Man. (The post office sign and the rest were also pointed out by Vimes to Carrot in Men at Arms.) Mr. Pony's suspicions about University students tampering with the clacks system could be a nod to The Science of Discworld II, in which Hex gets hooked up to the network and begins using it to send messages without paying for them. Possibly a coincidence, but when they examine B.S. Johnson's machine, the wizards declare that destroying it could destroy the entire universe in one go. After the post master takes a wrench to it, the wizards come back and declare the universe was destroyed in one go, but popped right back into existence immediately afterwards before anyone could notice. Looks like Lobsang had his eye on the situation. The chapter between 7 and 9 is numbered 7a. There's a very good chance the little old man idly sweeping the floor in the temple of Offler is Lu-Tze from Small Gods and Thief of Time. Moist is quite shaken up to learn that the Watch has a werewolf in their ranks, and Angua makes a few appearances, although she's never referred to by name. Several other members of the City Watch make short appearances, including Vimes and Carrot, and Nobbs is mentioned. The elderly greengrocer to whom Moist delivers a letter is a veteran of the Klatchian Foreign Legion, and has the same memory problems about this as the garrison from Soul Music. Mr. Pony's description of how a clacks tower's mechanism was sabotaged involves a swage armature jumping off an elliptical bearing. This is exactly the outcome that occurred when Death sabotaged the combination harvester in Reaper Man. | |
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Going Postal / int_9dab0a6e | |
Going Postal / int_9ea277d2 | type |
Stealing from Thieves | |
Going Postal / int_9ea277d2 | comment |
Stealing from Thieves: Deconstructed. Moist von Lipwig spent most of his life convinced he was doing this on the grounds of "you can't fool an honest man", concentrating on Violin Scams or only stealing from large businesses. However, he comes to realize that he was still hurting innocent people in the process, culminating in The Reveal that his Love Interest lost her job as a bank teller when she was blamed after he tricked her into accepting a bad check before they'd properly met — seeing only the faceless employee of his mark at the time. | |
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Going Postal / int_9ea277d2 | |
Going Postal / int_a4414a05 | type |
Adaptation Dye-Job | |
Going Postal / int_a4414a05 | comment |
Adaptation Dye-Job: Or adaptation lack of a dye job. Charles Dance plays a blonde Vetinari, which is a shame, since he's otherwise pretty perfect in the role. Amusingly, in the book Adora actually says "They say he dyes his hair, you know". The creators seemed to go Color-Coded for Your Convenience-route, fearing that a dark-haired, more menacing Vetinari could be mistaken for the villain by a casual viewer. | |
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Going Postal / int_a4414a05 | |
Going Postal / int_a4b3fe1c | type |
Twisted Echo Cut | |
Going Postal / int_a4b3fe1c | comment |
Twisted Echo Cut: We cut from Gilt having a meeting with his staff to Moist and Adora Dearheart having lunch together: | |
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Going Postal / int_a4b3fe1c | |
Going Postal / int_a6cda066 | type |
Rule of Three | |
Going Postal / int_a6cda066 | comment |
Rule of Three: Lipwig has three "dreams" about the effects of his past crime deeds, not only because it is a magic number, but as a Shout-Out to A Christmas Carol (stated by the director's commentary). | |
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Going Postal / int_a6cda066 | |
Going Postal / int_a7382a73 | type |
Imagine Spot | |
Going Postal / int_a7382a73 | comment |
Imagine Spot: Moist has a couple: The night before the Clacks-vs-Post Office race, he dreams of the Clacks towers burning as the operators blindly forward the "Woodpecker" killer message, even detailing how many towers fall before anyone realises what is going on, which he snaps out of with the realisation that the plan is too dangerous and would allow Gilt to win by declaring the message had been tampered with. When Moist realises Adora Belle has fallen in love with him, he imagines, in the space of a paragraph, fleeing the city and going back to his old life as a con artist, but discovering the joy is gone and his skills are failing him, and eventually dying in some forsaken slum of an inn, before he snaps back to reality. | |
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Going Postal / int_a7382a73 | |
Going Postal / int_a7aef9ff | type |
Obfuscating Stupidity | |
Going Postal / int_a7aef9ff | comment |
The chairmen of the board at first fall for Vetinari's Obfuscating Stupidity—after all, he was classically educated. Then they remember where that classical education comes from. | |
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Going Postal / int_a7aef9ff | |
Going Postal / int_a8559a9f | type |
RealLife | |
Going Postal / int_a8559a9f | comment |
Stanley Howler, pin-fanatic-turned-stamps-guy, is named for Stanley Gibbons, a Real Life company that sells collectible postage stamps and stamp-collecting supplies. | |
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Going Postal / int_a8559a9f | |
Going Postal / int_a8d6bd1f | type |
Reality-Breaking Paradox | |
Going Postal / int_a8d6bd1f | comment |
Reality-Breaking Paradox: The mail sorting engine in the basement of the post office was designed by Bloody Stupid Johnson, who built the wheels inside using measurements where pi equaled exactly 3 (thinking "three and a bit" was untidy). This is of course impossible, but because he's BS Johnson he did it anyway. As a result, a small bit of the universe around the engine is twisted up, causing the machine to spit out letters that have yet to be written, or should have been written and weren't, or were written in a different reality, even after it was turned off. The wizards of UU analyzed it and decided that trying to destroy it would also destroy the entire universe all in one go. A Post Office employee eventually decides to beat the thing with a crowbar until it stops spitting out letters. When called out for his actions, he explains that after he hit it the first time, he saw the wizards running away as fast as they could; thus, he figured that, unless the wizards had another universe to run to, they weren't entirely sure that destroying the sorting engine would take the universe with it. | |
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Going Postal / int_a9de87d2 | type |
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass | |
Going Postal / int_a9de87d2 | comment |
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: A strictly non-combat example. Mr. Groat is an extremely quirky old man with an ambiguously-sapient toupee, but he proves to be very valuable to Moist when it comes to reinvigorating the post office. Despite his eccentricities, he not only does well when Moist makes him interim postmaster, but proposes several ideas that wind up being very valuable to the fledgling Ankh-Morporkian postal service. | |
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Going Postal / int_aa517da5 | type |
Forged Message | |
Going Postal / int_aa517da5 | comment |
Forged Message: Moist von Lipwig secures an immediate reservation for himself and his girlfriend at the poshest and most expensive restaurant in Ankh-Morpork by forging a letter from financier Reacher Gilt. Gilt, a master con-man himself, recognises a worthy opponent by graciously offering to pay their bill... For his plan to win the clacks race, Moist has the Smoking Gnu forge a message from those who died working under the harsh conditions of the Trunk, proclaiming how and why they died while implicating the Board and Reacher Gilt in their deaths. | |
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Going Postal / int_aa517da5 | |
Going Postal / int_abb9ebaa | type |
Dramatic Pause | |
Going Postal / int_abb9ebaa | comment |
Dramatic Pause: One is required to pause before saying ... The Woodpecker. | |
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Going Postal / int_abc55125 | type |
Character Filibuster | |
Going Postal / int_abc55125 | comment |
Character Filibuster: As is somewhat-common in the later Discworld novels, there are a few to be found. Mr. Pump goes on a minor one when he tears down Moist's self-image of being a Lovable Rogue, pointing out exactly how many people he's harmed or outright gotten killed without ever needing to touch or even meet them. Vetinari has one, reflecting on the nature of freedom and whether it's all it's cracked up to be. At least he has an excuse - who's going to tell Vetinari to stop monologuing? | |
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Going Postal / int_abc55125 | |
Going Postal / int_acf33d00 | type |
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain | |
Going Postal / int_acf33d00 | comment |
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: In having the Post Office burned down, Gilt both motivates Moist to finally shake off his past, lets him get some good PR, and actually relieves him of a significant problem - namely, what to do with the enormous piles of letters, some of which don't belong to this universe, or are might-have-sent, and so could be incredibly disruptive if received by its inhabitants and quite difficult to tell apart from 'native' ones. | |
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Going Postal / int_acf33d00 | |
Going Postal / int_ad1db87c | type |
Oh, Crap! | |
Going Postal / int_ad1db87c | comment |
Oh, Crap!: Moist's reaction when he sees the cartoon in the Times about his new penny stamp. "Maybe Mr. Trooper can squeeze me in." For reference: The penny stamp has a profile picture of Lord Vetinari; the cartoon shows two wags discussing "licking the Patrician's backside"; Mr. Trooper is Lord Vetinari's executioner. The chairmen of the board at first fall for Vetinari's Obfuscating Stupidity—after all, he was classically educated. Then they remember where that classical education comes from. | |
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Going Postal / int_ad1db87c | |
Going Postal / int_afe5728 | type |
Promotion, Not Punishment | |
Going Postal / int_afe5728 | comment |
Promotion, Not Punishment: Albert/Moist is captured for fraud and hanged... to within half an inch of his life. Vetinari then offers him the position of Postmaster, knowing that his specific skills are what is needed to get the Post Office up and running again. | |
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Going Postal / int_b09c818 | type |
"Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word | |
Going Postal / int_b09c818 | comment |
"Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: | |
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Going Postal / int_b09c818 | |
Going Postal / int_b10f0160 | type |
Starting a New Life | |
Going Postal / int_b10f0160 | comment |
Starting a New Life: Moist is forced to start over after supposedly being executed for his crimes. He's not entirely on his own, because Lord Vetinari has decided to make him the new Postmaster, which means that he's starting out with a job and a small apartment, but it's still an adjustment for him, because he's not used to making an honest living and has to get over his instinct for cheating other people. | |
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Going Postal / int_b10f0160 | |
Going Postal / int_b1dde8fd | type |
Loophole Abuse | |
Going Postal / int_b1dde8fd | comment |
Loophole Abuse: Ridcully displays this in fine form as he is the agreed to neutral party to the final race between Post and Clacks. He was asked to select something for them to deliver. He picks a thick textbook with lots of colored pictures and diagrams, which requires tedious encoding to be sent on the Clacks. | |
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1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_b1dde8fd | |
Going Postal / int_b2279346 | type |
RetCon | |
Going Postal / int_b2279346 | comment |
Retcon: In Reaper Man, Mr. Ixolite is described as the "last living banshee". Guess nobody told the narrative about Mr. Gryle. But to be fair, he's a wild banshee. | |
Going Postal / int_b2279346 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_b2279346 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_b2279346 | |
Going Postal / int_b3b162c8 | type |
Honesty Is the Best Policy | |
Going Postal / int_b3b162c8 | comment |
Honesty Is the Best Policy: A desperate Moist goes to Adora, the only person in the city who will realize he's being entirely serious when he says he's unable to think of any way to actually win the race with the Grand Trunk, and fully confesses to the role he played in the loss of her earlier job. While irritated, she keeps her promise to keep level-headed and actually gives Moist a possibility that winds up being critical in his plan. | |
Going Postal / int_b3b162c8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_b3b162c8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_b3b162c8 | |
Going Postal / int_b3bdf232 | type |
Alien Geometries | |
Going Postal / int_b3bdf232 | comment |
Alien Geometries: The Sorting Engine, designed by "Bloody Stupid" Johnson to have a wheel with a pi equal to exactly three, which bends reality to the point that it occasionally puts out letters from the past, the future, or even from alternate realities (ones where the check really was in the post, for example). | |
Going Postal / int_b3bdf232 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_b3bdf232 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_b3bdf232 | |
Going Postal / int_b3d1b7e3 | type |
Genius Bonus | |
Going Postal / int_b3d1b7e3 | comment |
Also, the statues of Bissonomy and Tubso, two Virtues honored by so few people that no one even knows what they're supposed to represent anymore. (There is presumably no Genius Bonus here; these are just funny-sounding words Pratchett made up with no meaning.) | |
Going Postal / int_b3d1b7e3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_b3d1b7e3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_b3d1b7e3 | |
Going Postal / int_b4d3489e | type |
Severely Specialized Store | |
Going Postal / int_b4d3489e | comment |
Severely Specialized Store: Dave's Pin Exchange sells pins, with the owner being very adamant that he doesn't sell nails. | |
Going Postal / int_b4d3489e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_b4d3489e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_b4d3489e | |
Going Postal / int_b58b4e3c | type |
Too Dumb to Live | |
Going Postal / int_b58b4e3c | comment |
Too Dumb to Live: Gilt accuses Horsefry of being this before beating him to death for recording the assassinations in his ledger. | |
Going Postal / int_b58b4e3c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_b58b4e3c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_b58b4e3c | |
Going Postal / int_b5914444 | type |
Noodle Implements | |
Going Postal / int_b5914444 | comment |
Noodle Implements: Whatever it is bissonomy is, the statue of its respective grace is carrying a kettle. | |
Going Postal / int_b5914444 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_b5914444 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_b5914444 | |
Going Postal / int_b731fa6e | type |
I Cannot Self-Terminate | |
Going Postal / int_b731fa6e | comment |
I Cannot Self-Terminate: Mr. Pump. When Moist, angered by Mr. Pump's "The Reason You Suck" Speech, orders the golem to screw his own head off, Pump plays back a message from Vetinari that he cannot be ordered to destroy himself. And warns him not to try it again. | |
Going Postal / int_b731fa6e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_b731fa6e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_b731fa6e | |
Going Postal / int_b9d334b2 | type |
Aerith and Bob | |
Going Postal / int_b9d334b2 | comment |
Aerith and Bob: The main characters in this book are Moist von Lipwig, Adora Belle Dearheart, Reacher Gilt, Tolliver Groat, Pump 19 (also known as Mr Pump) and... Stanley. | |
Going Postal / int_b9d334b2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_b9d334b2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_b9d334b2 | |
Going Postal / int_ba5bd7 | type |
Ignored Expert | |
Going Postal / int_ba5bd7 | comment |
Ignored Expert: Pony has been telling the Board about what effect their cuts to maintenance are going to have from the very beginning. He was savvy enough to cover himself from the inevitable fallout by documenting everything. Played with in that the Board actually agreed to his proposed overhaul of the system once problems started piling up; the main issue is that Gilt, acting as the middle man, stole most of the money (it's in his interest to make the business fail) and then smoothly convinces Pony that "budget cuts" (i.e. the stolen money) took away his budget and to accept the pittance that Gilt left. | |
Going Postal / int_ba5bd7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_ba5bd7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_ba5bd7 | |
Going Postal / int_baa1d4b | type |
I Can Explain | |
Going Postal / int_baa1d4b | comment |
I Can Explain: But Adora didn't give him a chance. | |
Going Postal / int_baa1d4b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_baa1d4b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_baa1d4b | |
Going Postal / int_bce728ca | type |
Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal | |
Going Postal / int_bce728ca | comment |
Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Mr. Pony turns over the evidence to bring down Reacher Gilt after the latter almost throws his niece off a clacks tower. | |
Going Postal / int_bce728ca | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_bce728ca | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_bce728ca | |
Going Postal / int_bd4264a3 | type |
Slasher Smile | |
Going Postal / int_bd4264a3 | comment |
Slasher Smile: Stanley, at the beginning. | |
Going Postal / int_bd4264a3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_bd4264a3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_bd4264a3 | |
Going Postal / int_bf8daa02 | type |
Better with Non-Human Company | |
Going Postal / int_bf8daa02 | comment |
Better with Non-Human Company: Adora Belle Dearheart, who likes golems rather more than she likes humans. | |
Going Postal / int_bf8daa02 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_bf8daa02 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_bf8daa02 | |
Going Postal / int_c0bfb059 | type |
Against My Religion | |
Going Postal / int_c0bfb059 | comment |
Against My Religion: Moist has a fear of his undisguised face appearing in the paper and thus claims that any photography of him is this trope. When pressed, he adlibs that he doesn't actually believe being photographed will remove a piece of his soul, but he doesn't think you should treat religion like a "buffet". | |
Going Postal / int_c0bfb059 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c0bfb059 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c0bfb059 | |
Going Postal / int_c0d598fe | type |
Evil Gloating | |
Going Postal / int_c0d598fe | comment |
Evil Gloating: Mr. Gryle, along with "Time to shut up shop, Postmaster!" and "The Dearheart boy screamed like a pig! SCREAMED LIKE A PIG!!" | |
Going Postal / int_c0d598fe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c0d598fe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c0d598fe | |
Going Postal / int_c1d1d6ad | type |
Who Names Their Kid "Dude"? | |
Going Postal / int_c1d1d6ad | comment |
Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: When Moist introduces himself, Adora remarks that his name is unusual and asks if his parents were "stupid" or "cruel". | |
Going Postal / int_c1d1d6ad | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c1d1d6ad | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c1d1d6ad | |
Going Postal / int_c2c15b23 | type |
Bait-and-Switch Comment | |
Going Postal / int_c2c15b23 | comment |
Bait-and-Switch Comment: Vetinari does this to the Grand Trunk board members. When the wizard expert on the Post Office tells Moist that the two Post Office chandeliers have ended up in the Assassin's Guild and one in the Opera House, Moist wisely decides to hold off on getting them back, as it might be dangerous. The wizard expert agrees, since some of those sopranos have a kick like a mule. | |
Going Postal / int_c2c15b23 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c2c15b23 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c2c15b23 | |
Going Postal / int_c2cedc1c | type |
Big "NO!" | |
Going Postal / int_c2cedc1c | comment |
Big "NO!" (and Little "No"): Lipwig's reactions at his "dreams". | |
Going Postal / int_c2cedc1c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c2cedc1c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c2cedc1c | |
Going Postal / int_c2d04a04 | type |
Names to Trust Immediately | |
Going Postal / int_c2d04a04 | comment |
Names to Trust Immediately: Parodied with Adora Belle Dearheart, who grew up to a be a cynical chain-smoker with, in her own words, no sense of humour whatsoever. | |
Going Postal / int_c2d04a04 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c2d04a04 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c2d04a04 | |
Going Postal / int_c37fb907 | type |
Walk, Don't Swim | |
Going Postal / int_c37fb907 | comment |
Walk, Don't Swim: Vetinari explains to Moist that even fleeing to a different continent would not help him to escape his Golem parole officer. It knows where he is, all the time, without having to observe him, regardless of how far away he is or how he masks himself; it does not tire, eat, drink, sleep, breathe or stop at all on any account, and would thus be able to walk under any body of water eventually. Four miles an hour without stopping is six hundred and seventy-two miles in a week note While there are eight days in a week, Mr. Pump does have a day off where he won't have to pursue Moist. But there's no need to tell Moist this, and while most golems are very diligent in observing their days off...and there's always the chance that one might choose to make an exception. It adds up. Eventually the officer would catch him by sheer implacability. | |
Going Postal / int_c37fb907 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c37fb907 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c37fb907 | |
Going Postal / int_c38afac1 | type |
Otaku | |
Going Postal / int_c38afac1 | comment |
Otaku: Stanley is so obsessed with pins that even the other pin collectors in the city think he's "a bit weird about pins". After Lipwig invents the postage stamp, Stanley eventually transfers this obsession into stamps and stamp collecting, devoting all his time to categorizing and detailing everything about the stamps, which leads to Moist making him head of the division. | |
Going Postal / int_c38afac1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c38afac1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c38afac1 | |
Going Postal / int_c3b51bb3 | type |
You Are Better Than You Think You Are | |
Going Postal / int_c3b51bb3 | comment |
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: | |
Going Postal / int_c3b51bb3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c3b51bb3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c3b51bb3 | |
Going Postal / int_c3c18143 | type |
Hope Spot | |
Going Postal / int_c3c18143 | comment |
Vetinari believes that the greatest of all treasures is hope; providing people with hope is healthy. Not, you understand, any actually chance of success, just the hope of success. Sometimes he does it just to twist the knife, as when he asks Vimes to escort some people out... and into some cells. | |
Going Postal / int_c3c18143 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c3c18143 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c3c18143 | |
Going Postal / int_c4db6423 | type |
Yank the Dog's Chain | |
Going Postal / int_c4db6423 | comment |
Yank the Dog's Chain: At the beginning, just as Moist is beginning to hope that Drumknott's arriving with a stay of execution, he instead tells the executioner to get on with it; it's getting late. | |
Going Postal / int_c4db6423 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c4db6423 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c4db6423 | |
Going Postal / int_c5237cf | type |
Ridiculously Average Guy | |
Going Postal / int_c5237cf | comment |
Ridiculously Average Guy: Moist notes that he is almost never noticed precisely because his face is so average and unremarkable that no one can place him even if they've seen him. | |
Going Postal / int_c5237cf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c5237cf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c5237cf | |
Going Postal / int_c59d7452 | type |
Unfulfilled Purpose Misery | |
Going Postal / int_c59d7452 | comment |
Unfulfilled Purpose Misery: Anghammarad is a nineteen-thousand-year-old golem who was supposed to deliver a warning that the sea goddess was angry to a city, but the city was underwater by the time he got there. Fortunately, golems believe time is cyclical, so he only needs to wait until the universe resets and he can finally deliver his message (which he has repeatedly retranscribed over the millenia). When he dies in the Post Office fire, he tells Death he is perfectly happy waiting where he is, as not having to do anything is the golems' definition of freedom. | |
Going Postal / int_c59d7452 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c59d7452 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c59d7452 | |
Going Postal / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
Going Postal / int_c75df49a | comment |
Shout-Out: As the director's commentary says, the nice old lady with a clackgram in the beginning of the film is an allusion to The Ladykillers. | |
Going Postal / int_c75df49a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c75df49a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c75df49a | |
Going Postal / int_c82e751f | type |
Unspoken Plan Guarantee | |
Going Postal / int_c82e751f | comment |
Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Moist eventually decides not to go with the Smoking GNU's plan, which was described in detail. The message he sends instead, for maximum dramatic effect, is hidden from the reader until after it's been received. (This is entirely in character with Moist, who is the consummate showman.) | |
Going Postal / int_c82e751f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c82e751f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c82e751f | |
Going Postal / int_c9597a03 | type |
Self-Deprecation | |
Going Postal / int_c9597a03 | comment |
Seeing Angua referring to anyone as "lunch" and changing in public (as she's seen doing in the trailer) is very jarring compared to her representation in the books, where she's a vegetarian who hates the impulses brought on by being a werewolf, and the only time she makes a corny joke about it was Self-Deprecation. The books also state that changing in public is considered highly impolite in were society, to the point where she doesn't even let her lover Carrot see her while she's changing shapes. While the watch having a Werewolf is common knowledge, the fact that the werewolf is Angua (and not Nobby) is not. Also, given that her clothes don't transform with her, she just stripped naked in the middle of a tavern to make a point, something the Watch goes to great pains to avoid in the books. | |
Going Postal / int_c9597a03 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c9597a03 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c9597a03 | |
Going Postal / int_c99e7ed8 | type |
HotScoop | |
Going Postal / int_c99e7ed8 | comment |
Hot Scoop: Sacharissa, very much so. | |
Going Postal / int_c99e7ed8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_c99e7ed8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_c99e7ed8 | |
Going Postal / int_cbe687ab | type |
Corrupt Corporate Executive | |
Going Postal / int_cbe687ab | comment |
Corrupt Corporate Executive: The Board of the Grand Trunk. | |
Going Postal / int_cbe687ab | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_cbe687ab | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_cbe687ab | |
Going Postal / int_cc6f4612 | type |
Beyond the Impossible | |
Going Postal / int_cc6f4612 | comment |
Beyond the Impossible: Deconstructed. Moist knows it's impossible for the postal service to beat the clacks in a long distance race, so instead of trying to beat the laws of physics he works with them to win the race. He implants an Engineered Public Confession into the Clacks message that gets Gilt arrested. | |
Going Postal / int_cc6f4612 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_cc6f4612 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_cc6f4612 | |
Going Postal / int_ccdd6905 | type |
Epileptic Trees | |
Going Postal / int_ccdd6905 | comment |
There's some competing Epileptic Trees regarding Moist and Reacher's names. Pratchett, as a master of multilevel wordplay, probably intended more than one or even all of them. | |
Going Postal / int_ccdd6905 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_ccdd6905 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_ccdd6905 | |
Going Postal / int_cd8aa3e8 | type |
Smoking Is Glamorous | |
Going Postal / int_cd8aa3e8 | comment |
Smoking Is Glamorous: Adora Belle Dearhart smokes constantly. Moist finds himself quite attracted to what she does with a cigarette and describes kissing her as like kissing an ash tray, but in a good way. | |
Going Postal / int_cd8aa3e8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_cd8aa3e8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_cd8aa3e8 | |
Going Postal / int_cda0c781 | type |
Revealing Skill | |
Going Postal / int_cda0c781 | comment |
Revealing Skill: A steady handshake is famously one of the ways that people assess whether you're trustworthy or not. And Moist consequently practiced his handshake in order to fool people into giving him money. But when Moist shook Reacher Gilt's hand, he came to the chilling realisation that Reacher Gilt was a master conman who had perfected the steady handshake at a level that dwarfed Moist's efforts. The book even notes that in other circumstances, Moist would have dropped everything to become Reacher Gilt's apprentice. | |
Going Postal / int_cda0c781 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_cda0c781 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_cda0c781 | |
Going Postal / int_d013cd12 | type |
Lovable Rogue | |
Going Postal / int_d013cd12 | comment |
Lovable Rogue: As a Con Man, Moist only committed totally non-violent crimes. Viciously deconstructed by Pump calculating (to three decimal points) the number of people he had indirectly killed. | |
Going Postal / int_d013cd12 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_d013cd12 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_d013cd12 | |
Going Postal / int_d08595d3 | type |
Broken Bird | |
Going Postal / int_d08595d3 | comment |
Broken Bird: Adora, who was always pretty tsundere in the novel (her brother nicknamed her "Killer" after all). | |
Going Postal / int_d08595d3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_d08595d3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_d08595d3 | |
Going Postal / int_d1cedb73 | type |
Slap-Slap-Kiss | |
Going Postal / int_d1cedb73 | comment |
Slap-Slap-Kiss: Adora Belle and Lipwig have a bit more of a... combative relationship in this adaptation. | |
Going Postal / int_d1cedb73 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_d1cedb73 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_d1cedb73 | |
Going Postal / int_d45c0b86 | type |
Refuge in Audacity | |
Going Postal / int_d45c0b86 | comment |
Refuge in Audacity/Devil in Plain Sight: Both Reacher Gilt and Moist Von Lipwig are big fans of this trope, but in different ways. Reacher Gilt is so obvious about being a scoundrel that people trust him. Moist, meanwhile, has both the wits and the sheer guts to push his luck as far as he needs to in order to sell a con. Reacher gives them something they hope isn't true, Moist gives them something they hope is true. Also, one of the Smoking Gnu wears a horned helmet to be inconspicuous, because nobody who sees him in it would suspect he's trying to pass unnoticed. Moist is less impressed with that particular display of the trope. | |
Going Postal / int_d45c0b86 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_d45c0b86 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_d45c0b86 | |
Going Postal / int_d48c0702 | type |
That's What I Would Do | |
Going Postal / int_d48c0702 | comment |
That's What I Would Do: Moist about Reacher Gilt's plans for the Grand Trunk. | |
Going Postal / int_d48c0702 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_d48c0702 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_d48c0702 | |
Going Postal / int_d54c5d44 | type |
Man Versus Machine | |
Going Postal / int_d54c5d44 | comment |
Man Versus Machine: Snail Mail versus the Telegram, although it's more a case of upholding a competitive market than proving that Ludd Was Right. | |
Going Postal / int_d54c5d44 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_d54c5d44 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_d54c5d44 | |
Going Postal / int_d64491d8 | type |
Meaningless Meaningful Words | |
Going Postal / int_d64491d8 | comment |
Moist seems to have a problem with this; when he reads the letter Gilt had published in the Times (full of corporate doublespeak and Meaningless Meaningful Words), he discovers that he's been cursing at length the whole time in front of his employees. This apparently included a few words so vulgar that they don't even exist in our language, and to his horror, he finds his very proper secretary glaring at him...until it's clarified he's talking about Gilt. | |
Going Postal / int_d64491d8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_d64491d8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_d64491d8 | |
Going Postal / int_d848560f | type |
Unusual Euphemism | |
Going Postal / int_d848560f | comment |
Unusual Euphemism: For death. The Order of the Post is explained as making sure a postman’s family is cared for when he’s “Returned to Sender.� | |
Going Postal / int_d848560f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_d848560f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_d848560f | |
Going Postal / int_d8f3dc8 | type |
Eternal Recurrence | |
Going Postal / int_d8f3dc8 | comment |
Eternal Recurrence: This appears to be an article of faith with the golems, or at least the oldest golem, Anghammarad. He failed in his mission to deliver a message several thousand years ago. Being immortal and nigh-indestructible, he resolves to wait for the universe to reboot and do it right the second time around. | |
Going Postal / int_d8f3dc8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_d8f3dc8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_d8f3dc8 | |
Going Postal / int_d959a5f3 | type |
Contempt Crossfire | |
Going Postal / int_d959a5f3 | comment |
Contempt Crossfire: Gilt and Vetinari pause in their hatred of each other after Upper-Class Twit Horsefry (one of the clacks executives) demonstrates his crass ignorance of Thud (used to demonstrate that Smart People Play Chess): | |
Going Postal / int_d959a5f3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_d959a5f3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_d959a5f3 | |
Going Postal / int_d9cf40fa | type |
Screw This, I'm Outta Here | |
Going Postal / int_d9cf40fa | comment |
Reacher Gilt's Igor realizes what's about to go down, and decides to get out while the getting's good. As he's about to leave, Gilt's personal cook gives him a balaclava she knitted for him as a goodbye present; in turn, and in violation of their codes of conduct, the Igor warns her that she should get out of town too. | |
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Going Postal / int_da76ae0b | type |
Dead End Job | |
Going Postal / int_da76ae0b | comment |
Dead End Job: The position of Postmaster General. Vetinari gives the job to Moist Von Lipwig as an alternative to being hanged, on the off-chance that he might actually succeed in reviving the Post Office, but generally expecting him to be killed, as the job had already claimed the lives of some of Vetinari's clerks. | |
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Going Postal / int_dab2f3ee | type |
Good Smoking, Evil Smoking | |
Going Postal / int_dab2f3ee | comment |
Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: The adaptation makers couldn't erase Adora's cigarette addiction, but they did give it a backstory: she took up the habit because of the stress brought on by losing her job and seeing her family ruined. This is a touch Anvilicious, as there weren't any Drugs Are Bad implications attached to Adora's smoking in the original book. | |
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Going Postal / int_db212ca9 | type |
Did I Just Say That Out Loud? | |
Going Postal / int_db212ca9 | comment |
Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Vetinari, true to form, takes him at his word and asks his secretary for a broom. There's another more serious one where Moist accidentally blurts out the typical lines to the end of Adora Dearheart's enraptured description of when her family owned the Grand Trunk. It's a rather somber reminder of how the book presents the double-edged sword of being so taken with something. Moist seems to have a problem with this; when he reads the letter Gilt had published in the Times (full of corporate doublespeak and Meaningless Meaningful Words), he discovers that he's been cursing at length the whole time in front of his employees. This apparently included a few words so vulgar that they don't even exist in our language, and to his horror, he finds his very proper secretary glaring at him...until it's clarified he's talking about Gilt. | |
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Going Postal / int_dbab18ef | type |
Morally Bankrupt Banker | |
Going Postal / int_dbab18ef | comment |
Morally Bankrupt Banker: Discussed; Moist believes himself to be a decent person because the only people he pulled his cons on were those who "deserved it". Mr. Pump, however, points out that many bankers, when they lose something, tend to recover their losses by taking from other people — and these morally bankrupt people aren't usually fussy about whether the people they're taking it from deserve it. | |
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Going Postal / int_dbab18ef | |
Going Postal / int_dc0ca62a | type |
Public Execution | |
Going Postal / int_dc0ca62a | comment |
Public Execution: The book opens with a faked public execution. Moist (the accused, who doesn't know it's faked) is asked to sign the rope before hand, since it will then be worth more to collectors. He's also expected to come up with some last words, that being traditional. He goes with "I commend my soul to any god that can find it.", after being told that his first choice—"I wasn't actually expecting to die."—is acceptable but not memorable. | |
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Going Postal / int_dc0ca62a | |
Going Postal / int_dd45df38 | type |
Unfortunate Names | |
Going Postal / int_dd45df38 | comment |
Unfortunate Names: Moist von Lipwig (who was named so by "unwise but doting parents" and has heard every possible joke on his real name) and Adora Belle Dearheart (who claims to have "no sense of humor whatsoever" after growing up with a name like that). No wonder they end up together. | |
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Going Postal / int_dd5faec5 | type |
Only Mostly Dead | |
Going Postal / int_dd5faec5 | comment |
Only Mostly Dead: How Moist was allowed to be hanged by the neck until dead, but still alive afterward. Lord Vetinari tells him that hanging is a very exact science, that the hangman he employs is a true master who could write a book, and he was hanged "to within half an inch of his life." | |
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Going Postal / int_dd5faec5 | |
Going Postal / int_dded28f2 | type |
Playful Hacker | |
Going Postal / int_dded28f2 | comment |
Playful Hacker: The Pun Smoking GNU, at first. | |
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Going Postal / int_dded28f2 | |
Going Postal / int_de70f5a4 | type |
Continuity Cameo | |
Going Postal / int_de70f5a4 | comment |
Continuity Cameo: Otto von Chriek, the Ankh-Morpork Times' vampire iconographer from The Truth, silently accompanies reporter Sacharissa Crisplock in a couple of scenes. | |
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Going Postal / int_defec730 | type |
Tiger by the Tail | |
Going Postal / int_defec730 | comment |
Tiger by the Tail: By the time the Board of Directors learns Reacher Gilt's true nature, they learn he also has dirt on all of them thanks to Crispin Horsefry's blabbing. They realize not only are they riding a tiger, but the tiger knows where they live. | |
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Going Postal / int_defec730 | |
Going Postal / int_df4d868c | type |
Battleaxe Nurse | |
Going Postal / int_df4d868c | comment |
Battleaxe Nurse: The matron Moist encounters when trying to get Groat out of hospital. She even says she refuses to release him and Moist has to point out that patients are not "released" from hospital, they are "discharged." Even Dr. Lawn's method of dealing with the nursing staff is to give them chocolate and run in the opposite direction. | |
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Going Postal / int_df4d868c | |
Going Postal / int_e031b7ef | type |
Slave to PR | |
Going Postal / int_e031b7ef | comment |
Slave to PR: A concept taken from several previous books (Witches Abroad, Jingo, Carpe Jugulum) but explained and taken to its logical breaking point. Everybody is governed by their appearances and expectatives (by the force of narrativium), from the Patrician down to bar brawlers. As explained by Moist. | |
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Going Postal / int_e04c0759 | type |
Unstoppable Mailman | |
Going Postal / int_e04c0759 | comment |
Unstoppable Mailman: Anghammarad. He gets through The Postman's Walk — an obstacle course including roller skates, stray bottles and a letterbox laced with razor blades, done with a hood over one's head — by crushing everything in his path and punching a hole in the door. The other, human postmen find the display gratifying. | |
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Going Postal / int_e0804063 | type |
Even Nerds Have Standards | |
Going Postal / int_e0804063 | comment |
Even Nerds Have Standards: Stanley is so obsessed with pins that even the other pin collectors in the city think he's "a bit weird about pins". To put it in perspective, the person who says this owns a hobby shop that deals exclusively in pins, and has a tattoo which reads "Death or Pins!" | |
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Going Postal / int_e12670cd | type |
Freudian Threat | |
Going Postal / int_e12670cd | comment |
It's also hinted at in the bar scene, where Adora pins down a drunken lech's foot with one of her high heels, then points out to the man that she's sitting across from him, she has another shoe in waiting, that "in pounds per square inch, it's like being stepped on by a very pointy elephant", and thanks to unwanted childhood ballet lessons, she can kick like a mule. The man gets the hint and leaves. | |
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Going Postal / int_e12670cd | |
Going Postal / int_e2023325 | type |
StrawmanPolitical | |
Going Postal / int_e2023325 | comment |
Strawman Political: When Gilt is introduced, he speaks the language of a self-made, freedom-loving, tyranny-fighting libertarian who could have been the hero in an Ayn Rand novel. Later, it turns out he only cares about his own freedom, though he is a true believer at least that far. | |
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Going Postal / int_e2023325 | |
Going Postal / int_e2dae05d | type |
Liberty Over Prosperity | |
Going Postal / int_e2dae05d | comment |
Liberty Over Prosperity: Reacher vs Vetinari. Reacher does whatever he can get away with regardless of the law, advertises himself as a modern-day pirate, and justifies his business practices by claiming his customers always have a choice, even if it's between him and just sending a slow letter. Vetinari gears all of his resources towards ensuring the city runs smoothly, and believes the most important aspect of freedom is to take the consequences of your actions. | |
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Going Postal / int_e2dae05d | |
Going Postal / int_e35ab565 | type |
Indy Ploy | |
Going Postal / int_e35ab565 | comment |
Indy Ploy: Almost anything Moist does. | |
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Going Postal / int_e35ab565 | |
Going Postal / int_e39ce9 | type |
The Face | |
Going Postal / int_e39ce9 | comment |
The Face: Moist for the Post Office staff. It's what Vetinari hired him for. Stanley's thought to be weird even by other pin collectors, and Groat doesn't have the skills either, but Moist knows how to connect with people, motivate them, and how to promote something. | |
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Going Postal / int_e482cfa7 | type |
To the Pain | |
Going Postal / int_e482cfa7 | comment |
To the Pain: Moist von Lipwig narrates one of these to himself about what he'll do to Reacher Gilt near the end. | |
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Going Postal / int_e491684a | type |
Odd Job Gods | |
Going Postal / int_e491684a | comment |
Odd Job Gods: Anoia, goddess of Things That Get Stuck In Kitchen Drawers. Also, the statues of Bissonomy and Tubso, two Virtues honored by so few people that no one even knows what they're supposed to represent anymore. (There is presumably no Genius Bonus here; these are just funny-sounding words Pratchett made up with no meaning.) | |
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Going Postal / int_e4965307 | type |
Composite Character | |
Going Postal / int_e4965307 | comment |
Also Mustrum Ridcully talking about the nature of words. The Ridcully seen in the books and, indeed, the other adaptations, is a big, hearty man who bellows in almost every situation and uses phrases like "damn silly fool". The Ridcully in this version stays soft-spoken and talks like a professor. This is because he's serving the role of Professor Pelc, which raises the question of why they didn't just call the character Professor Pelc. | |
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Going Postal / int_e4965307 | |
Going Postal / int_e5421161 | type |
Expy | |
Going Postal / int_e5421161 | comment |
One of the signs that Reacher Gilt is a semi-Expy of John Galt is the literal stating of the question "Who is Reacher Gilt?" Well, that and his hatred of government interference in (his) free enterprise. His description during his introduction as a flashy unknown outsider who appeared out of nowhere and throws parties that is the stuff of legend brings to mind The Great Gatsby as well. | |
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Going Postal / int_e5421161 | |
Going Postal / int_e567510d | type |
Determinator | |
Going Postal / int_e567510d | comment |
Determinator: All golems fall into this, as they will obey their orders and continue working at a single job for thousands of years or until those orders are rescinded. Mr Pump is chosen as Moist's parole officer for this very reason. Pump walks all day and all night to a far-off town, just to catch Moist, then carries both Moist and his horse back to Ankh Morpork, without stopping to rest. Vetinari states that Pump will do the same, no matter where Moist runs, even if Moist flees overseas, as the "abyssal plane" won't hinder a golem at all. Anghammarad in particular. He's nineteen thousand years old and is waiting for all of history to repeat itself over millions of years just so he can deliver a message for an empire that was destroyed over a millennium ago. | |
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Going Postal / int_e567510d | |
Going Postal / int_e7db27c7 | type |
Sympathetic P.O.V. | |
Going Postal / int_e7db27c7 | comment |
Sympathetic P.O.V.: From Moist's point of view, The Ankh-Morpork Times is a useful tool, and Miss Cripslock makes for a great verbal whetstone (that is, she forces him to keep his wits sharp), but the editor-in-chief is an overly wordy, pompous stuffed shirt. Which makes for an interesting triangle of protagonists, since both Moist and de Worde are dismissive of Sam Vimes, and he's not so fond of them either. | |
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Going Postal / int_e88d37c3 | type |
Too Unhappy to Be Hungry | |
Going Postal / int_e88d37c3 | comment |
Too Unhappy to Be Hungry: In the miniseries based on the book, Moist discovers that one of his large-scale cons caused the ruin of his beloved Adora's family. He is so struck with guilt and remorse that, when he meets Adora in a restaurant, he admits he can't think about food. | |
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Going Postal / int_e88d37c3 | |
Going Postal / int_e9e35e8f | type |
Exact Words | |
Going Postal / int_e9e35e8f | comment |
Exact Words: The offer that Vetinari makes to certain people regarding employment options. | |
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Going Postal / int_e9e35e8f | |
Going Postal / int_eaa2b8f8 | type |
Bewitched Amphibians | |
Going Postal / int_eaa2b8f8 | comment |
Bewitched Amphibians: One of the bankers threatens to sue Unseen University in the heat of the moment. Archchancellor Ridcully's reply? | |
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Going Postal / int_eaa2b8f8 | |
Going Postal / int_eabeae5c | type |
The Window or the Stairs | |
Going Postal / int_eabeae5c | comment |
The Window or the Stairs: Moist von Lipwig is given a choice by Vetinari, who presents himself as an "angel" to Moist: He can take over the job of Postmaster General, or walk out a door in Vetinari's office, and Vetinari would never bother him again. Being a Genre Savvy sort of chap, Moist goes to the door, carefully peeks through it, and finds a deep pit where the floor should be. He drops a spoon into the pit, and it doesn't make a sound for a rather long time. He takes the job. At the end of the book, Reacher Gilt is offered the same choice with a job at the Mint. It isn't stated whether he walks straight out the door without pausing to look or purposefully did not consent to Vetinari's bargain (given the kind of man he was, the former is more likely), but it seems we will not be hearing from him again. | |
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Going Postal / int_eabeae5c | |
Going Postal / int_eaf5a1ac | type |
Groin Attack | |
Going Postal / int_eaf5a1ac | comment |
Groin Attack: Sustained over time from a bareback ride, but the aftermath is subtly played for laughs, what with Moist taking correspondence from within a tub of ice. It's also hinted at in the bar scene, where Adora pins down a drunken lech's foot with one of her high heels, then points out to the man that she's sitting across from him, she has another shoe in waiting, that "in pounds per square inch, it's like being stepped on by a very pointy elephant", and thanks to unwanted childhood ballet lessons, she can kick like a mule. The man gets the hint and leaves. | |
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Going Postal / int_eaf5a1ac | |
Going Postal / int_eb24d076 | type |
Freud Was Right | |
Going Postal / int_eb24d076 | comment |
Freud Was Right: As Adora Belle looks over Moist's ideas for stamp pictures, she notes that the stamp with the highest value has a picture of the tallest building in the city. | |
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Going Postal / int_eb24d076 | |
Going Postal / int_eb9bc4b6 | type |
Violin Scam | |
Going Postal / int_eb9bc4b6 | comment |
Violin Scam: One of Moist's most common tricks back when he was a crook. At the start of the book he has several glass rings and a very nearly gold coin on hand that he plans to use to make enough money to get out of town. | |
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Going Postal / int_eb9bc4b6 | |
Going Postal / int_ec3ff1f7 | type |
In Which a Trope Is Described | |
Going Postal / int_ec3ff1f7 | comment |
In Which a Trope Is Described: The chapter headings use the Victorian-style synopsis in this vein. Apparently Pratchett adopted them not only because they're thematically appropriate, but as a Take That! to a reviewer who accused him of being unable to write in chapters. | |
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Going Postal / int_ec3ff1f7 | |
Going Postal / int_ed3dc201 | type |
Addiction Displacement | |
Going Postal / int_ed3dc201 | comment |
Addiction Displacement: Stanley is completely obsessed with collecting pins, to the point where even the owner of a pin store considers him to be weird. He eventually drops his pin obsession and starts up stamp collecting. | |
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Going Postal / int_ed3dc201 | |
Going Postal / int_ee1aeda6 | type |
Mortality Grey Area | |
Going Postal / int_ee1aeda6 | comment |
Mortality Grey Area: One golem is shown to have a soul after it dies, but Death isn't sure what to do with it. The golem answers that not doing anything is the greatest freedom a golem can have, and so it stays where it is.. | |
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Going Postal / int_ee1aeda6 | |
Going Postal / int_ef276485 | type |
Battle of Wits | |
Going Postal / int_ef276485 | comment |
Battle of Wits: As Moist is a conman and dislikes physically fighting someone, he fights his battles with his mind and manipulates others. Recognizing Reacher Gilt as a dangerous conman means he must up his game if he wants to survive. | |
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Going Postal / int_ef276485 | |
Going Postal / int_f0089082 | type |
Early-Bird Cameo | |
Going Postal / int_f0089082 | comment |
Early-Bird Cameo: Vetinari is repeatedly seen playing Thud! throughout the book. | |
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Going Postal / int_f0089082 | |
Going Postal / int_f2d8e3c2 | type |
Evil Plan | |
Going Postal / int_f2d8e3c2 | comment |
Played with in typical Pratchett style with Moist's own plan for defeating Gilt as Moist admits it is an Evil Plan too, just he is going to use it in the cause of good. And given that they're Evil Counterparts they could have switched places. | |
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Going Postal / int_f2d8e3c2 | |
Going Postal / int_f37c192 | type |
Wanton Cruelty to the Common Comma | |
Going Postal / int_f37c192 | comment |
Wanton Cruelty to the Common Comma: Because "greengrocer's apostrophe" has become a phrase referring to unnecessary apostrophes (usually in plural words on shop signs, like "Apple's" or "Banana's") the greengrocer character Antimony Parker speaks with apostrophes in front of every single S he uses. Moist also comes upon a letter that's possibly from the Trope Namer Captain Carrot, given how awkwardly it's written. | |
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Going Postal / int_f37c192 | |
Going Postal / int_f61d4485 | type |
Waking Non Sequitur | |
Going Postal / int_f61d4485 | comment |
Waking Non Sequitur: Moist has one after visiting Unseen University and discovering a room full of glass jars through which voluntarily-dead wizards communicate with the living. He dreams of wizards in bottles all shouting his name, and when he is shaken awake he blurts out "some of them were covered in jam!" | |
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Going Postal / int_f61d4485 | |
Going Postal / int_f8e010ce | type |
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good | |
Going Postal / int_f8e010ce | comment |
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: During the epilogue, Vetinari gives Reacher Gilt the same "angel" speech that he gave Moist at the beginning of the book and that Reacher's reaction is one of "increased puzzlement". It's implied he is simply too crooked to understand the concept of redemption, underlining how he and Moist are very different after all. | |
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Going Postal / int_f8e010ce | |
Going Postal / int_f9f2c33 | type |
Running Gag | |
Going Postal / int_f9f2c33 | comment |
Running Gag: Hope, the greatest of all life's treasures. Not any chance at the actual thing, that would be awful daft, just the hope. | |
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Going Postal / int_fabef10f | type |
Don't Explain the Joke | |
Going Postal / int_fabef10f | comment |
Reacher Gilt dresses like a pirate and has a parrot that says "Twelve and a half percent!" In fractions, of course, 12.5 percent equals 1/8th, or "pieces of eight". | |
Going Postal / int_fabef10f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_fabef10f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_fabef10f | |
Going Postal / int_fc4a7224 | type |
Trash Landing | |
Going Postal / int_fc4a7224 | comment |
Trash Landing: Moist jumps from the window of the hotel when Mr. Pump is chasing him, only to realize that he's landed in manure. | |
Going Postal / int_fc4a7224 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_fc4a7224 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_fc4a7224 | |
Going Postal / int_fd7267dd | type |
Master of Disguise | |
Going Postal / int_fd7267dd | comment |
Lipwig implies a false mustache, indicating that Moist is a Master of Disguise. Another theory has it that the name Moist is intended to call to mind "Slippery Jim", the hero of The Stainless Steel Rat series, who is another Boxed Crook. It could also be based on Victor Lustig, a Con Man who sold the Eiffel Tower... twice. | |
Going Postal / int_fd7267dd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_fd7267dd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_fd7267dd | |
Going Postal / int_fdf22cfd | type |
Evil Is Hammy | |
Going Postal / int_fdf22cfd | comment |
Evil Is Hammy: Gilt. "I haven't finished... SOARING!" He even stands up and spreads his cape. His minion laughs in a lampshade. Mr. Gryle, when gloating to Lipwig. Right before his comeuppance. | |
Going Postal / int_fdf22cfd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_fdf22cfd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_fdf22cfd | |
Going Postal / int_fe0330fb | type |
Brick Joke | |
Going Postal / int_fe0330fb | comment |
Brick Joke: A truly astounding one following a tiny moment in Men at Arms written eleven years earlier, regarding the Post Office motto as displayed on the facade of the building. One of the first things Moist does is find out where the missing letters went to. The notion of collectors paying for used hangman's rope had previously appeared in The Last Continent, as one of Fair Go Dibbler's money-making scams.note This was an actual thing that happened after public executions. | |
Going Postal / int_fe0330fb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_fe0330fb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_fe0330fb | |
Going Postal / int_fe1c3451 | type |
Prophet Eyes | |
Going Postal / int_fe1c3451 | comment |
Prophet Eyes: Moist fakes this with turtle egg shells. | |
Going Postal / int_fe1c3451 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_fe1c3451 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_fe1c3451 | |
Going Postal / int_ff7f34c5 | type |
Pet the Dog | |
Going Postal / int_ff7f34c5 | comment |
Pet the Dog: Vetinari quietly but firmly corrects Moist every time he refers to Mr. Pump as "it," and treats the golem with respect. Reacher Gilt's Igor realizes what's about to go down, and decides to get out while the getting's good. As he's about to leave, Gilt's personal cook gives him a balaclava she knitted for him as a goodbye present; in turn, and in violation of their codes of conduct, the Igor warns her that she should get out of town too. | |
Going Postal / int_ff7f34c5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_ff7f34c5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_ff7f34c5 | |
Going Postal / int_ffad4e9f | type |
Shown Their Work | |
Going Postal / int_ffad4e9f | comment |
Shown Their Work: Moist's induction into the order of Postmen is very similar to a Masonic initiation. The whole Grand Trunk/Ma Bell plot impressed Real Life telecommunications engineers with its resemblance to the actual events (fortunately, though, AT&T never killed anyone... as far as we know). Likewise, a number of British readers noticed the distinct resemblance to the privatisation of British Rail in the 1990s - a 'trunk line' is the main line of a railway. It also resembles the (Canadian but British owned) Grand Trunk Railway. The whole concept of Moist having a race to deliver a book by clacks versus via a postal wagon is a reference to the computer science concept of the "sneakernet", the notion that for large transmissions it can be faster to physically transport a disc containing the relevant data than to transmit it via the network. | |
Going Postal / int_ffad4e9f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_ffad4e9f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_ffad4e9f | |
Going Postal / int_fff371b4 | type |
Death Seeker | |
Going Postal / int_fff371b4 | comment |
Death Seeker: The weight of his sins thrown in his face pushes Moist into this. Mr. Pump tells him to become The Atoner instead. Unconvinced at first, Moist later goes for Must Make Amends, with a bit of Reformed, but Rejected from Adora. | |
Going Postal / int_fff371b4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Going Postal / int_fff371b4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Going Postal | hasFeature |
Going Postal / int_fff371b4 | |
Going Postal / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
Going Postal / int_name | comment |
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Going Postal / int_name | featureApplicability |
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Going Postal | hasFeature |
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Going Postal / int_name | itemName |
Going Postal |
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