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A classic pterry formulation. That was him at his absolute height, just coming into the full extent of his powers (which he'd run with for many years, to be fair)

Elves are in Lords & Ladies Dangerous creatures are in The Last Continent (XXXX)

I assume you're referring to the quoted post, and it does indeed seem that way... sort of.

This was always one of my favorite Pratchettisms.

There’s one kind of iron that can go anywhere.

Lords & Ladies is very very very good and that passage in particular really stuck with me.

I remember reading this … I was working in Germany and had a terrible cold/fever. Shivering, shaking, could not sleep. Stayed up all night reading it and fell into a blissful sleep as dawn broke. I think it might be my absolute favourite.

One of my favourite Pratchett quotes.

I love this quote so much. One of the reasons Lords and Ladies is up there in my top 5. This quote, the one from Hogfather where Death says humans need fantasy to be human, and of course the scene in Maskerade where Greebo becomes human and it describes his sheer aura are just... peak 🤌🤌

About to start that one!

This is my favorite thing he ever wrote

The greatest song about Elves www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ0U...

Just re-reading this right now - there's a quotable passage on every page

This quote changed something fundamental in my brain the first time I read it.

Of course, MND being wrong in that way may have been what saved us, per one of the Science of Discworld books...

As a kid, I'd had a haphazard exposure to Discworld via the two novels that I found in two different classes, two of his worst frankly (Sourcery and Eric) but the third I somehow bumped into was Lords and Ladies and it rewired my brain completely. I was never the same after

"They beget terror" goes so hard.

They then decide to use that rage & fight back. & when you look at all the witchcraft we see through out the books, you can easily imagine they'd be created as part of a war against beings that use mind tricks, illusion & manipulation against their victims. triaging wounds, stealth, fighting glamour

me, brought up on elves in Tam Lin border ballads and irish myth books in the library looking at 'High' Elves in american fantasy. '.... I'm not seeing anything here about them literally STEALING people.' (tolkein I just read as snobs)

The part of this that always sticks with me is how he switches from saying that words are snakes to saying that words hide snakes. Just to make sure you’re paying attention.

I one I have never reread, there is a sinister undertone & it gave me the absolute willies Maybe it's the daoine sidhe of it all - Irish fairies are not to be messed with, they're not Tinkerbell, & Terry captured the vibe so perfectly, I enjoyed it but never, deliberately, picked it up.again

This passage. Chills. Just an absolute keystone of DW. The importance of words.

It'll last long enough. And she's been doing that all her life…

…plus an elderly carpenter I met at a Ren Faire many years ago who told me that he learned early on that the correct answer to “can you build cupboards?” is “of course I can build cupboards; I’ll get back to you on Monday with a quote” and then spent the weekend learning how to build cupboards.

"Jason with hitting the elves with the first thing he could get his hands on..." "Another elf? "Right."

Sources differ! The different stories in the Silmarillion have different authors and thingol’s characterization varies significantly between them! The Thingol of the Children of Húrin story is a paragon of virtue and wisdom.

Not ALL the elves. Just Fëanor. And all his sons except maybe Maglor. And anyone who threw in with them. Also Eöl, the only elvish sex offender.

You could argue that Thranduil, for example, was not altogether good ...

man, fey creatures in general are dicks you could have just asked nicely for me to leave your enchanted mushroom ring, you didn't have to turn me into a sentient elm tree cursed to watch my family mourn my disappearance until they too die ffs I just wanted a quiet place to read

Yes, and because they were humanesque, he also made them a culture in terminal decline.

I read Lords and Ladies for the first time this year, simultaneously reading The Fellowship of the Ring and the brainwashy qualities of Pratchett elves were not entirely off from how hobbits completely and utterly adore elves in Tolkien. Not a perfect fit, but an interesting juxtaposition

Reminiscent of Richard Dadd's iconography.

Swapping your child with a brood parasite because it's funny

Fairies as dangerous conmen (confae?).

While true, I think it's worth noting that's just how a lot of old fables, fairy tales and mythoses were. The gods were awful too.

See also: the Nac Mac Feegle

These are the kinds of elves that steal children in the night and replace them with changlings.

Same here, I've been reading everything in release order for the first time and it wasn't until I read Lords & Ladiesast month that I really vibed with one.

"They got no wossname. Starts with M." Lords and Ladies is my favorite Discworld novel. 🥰

"They'd smash up the world if they thought it would make a pretty noise."