#Mr. Nutt

[everythingisok3000]

Book Review

I've decided to review books on here casually. So sue me.

I read "Unseen Academicals" by Terry Pratchett, which I swore was called "Unseen Academics" but I guess not. I had the book for like two months and didn't read it because I was busy with college and work.

Another classic Pratchett banger. I like how a lot of books end up not being about "the thing", but still wrap around to being about "the thing". Like, you'd think the whole book would be about how the wizards are going to be doing "football" (I forgive Pratchett the crime of being British), and it is, but it mostly becomes about Mr. Nutt and the people around him. This straight up becomes a "Good Will Hunting" type story with a savant finally getting the opportunity to be themselves and succeed through it.

I think there's a lot of stuff here about mental or physical disability (in Mr. Nutt's case, superability that therefore makes him differently abled). The way he talks and understands things is different from other people, and it becomes a thing he's able to "attain worth from", but the novel also talks about in brief about how "attaining worth" is sort of unnecessary, like how it would apparently require constant justification, and results in the mistreatment of others. I really like how Mr. Nutt gets a love story with Glenda and is able to one-up the person that raised him up believing he needed to do things simply to gain worth, and not, as he does in the end, to succeed for himself.

There's a bunch of good stuff here. They should be out here making Pratchett's works into a million movies and TV shows and podcasts but now they want to redo Harry Potter or something. Morons. This would work really well as a movie too, I think.

My favorite character beside our main cast is Dr. Hix, who was apparently in "Making Money" (and I CANNOT remember if I've read that or not). I love his official requirements to "be evil and edgy", despite what he might otherwise want. I think there's a scene where he turns this around to be helpful while also still basically being a grown-up "it's not a phase mom" emo kid that thinks dead people are "cool or something".

Highly recommend, freaking, I don't know, five tin cans out of five, one of them half filled.

[deezmrnutt]

Mr. Nutt's Mic Drops, Part One: "Come on, if you think you're hard enough."

And this was a literal 'mic drop' too (though the mic was technically megaphone).

[aeshnacyanea2000]

‘He let you down, Mister Trev. He wasn’t the small boy’s god. It turned out that he was only a man. But he was not only a man. Everyone who has ever watched a game in this city has heard of Dave Likely. If he was a fool, then any man who has ever climbed a mountain or swum a torrent is a fool. If he was a fool then so was the man who first tried to tame fire. If he was a fool then so was the man who tried the first oyster, he was a fool, too – although I’m bound to remark that, given the division of labour in early hunter-gatherer cultures, he was probably a woman as well. Perhaps only a fool gets out of bed. But, after death, some fools shine like stars, and your father is such a one. After death, people forget the foolishness, but they do remember the shine. You could not have done anything. You could not have stopped him. If you could have stopped him he would not have been Dave Likely, a name that means football to thousands of people.’

Terry Pratchett - Unseen Academicals

[jellazticious]

I was given one scrape of free time in this hellish schedule, now here's the gang

seperate pngs under the cut

[dimity-lawn]

There was a polite cough. She recognized it as belonging to Nutt, who had the politest cough there could possibly be. “Yes, Mister Nutt?” “Mister Trev has sent me with this letter for Miss Juliet, Miss Glenda,” said Nutt, who had apparently been waiting by the steps. He held it out as if it were some double-edged sword. — Terry Pratchett, Unseen Academicals

[spamuelsonofspamothy]

Reread Unseen Academicals recently and I've been thinking about that scene towards the end between Nutt and Ladyship and Vetinari. More after the break because there are spoilers.

So, Nutt's an orc. Everyone knows that orcs are savage beasts that tear people's heads off, and Margolotta is desperately trying to make sure he comes up "civilized". Thematically, there's links to the Uberwald League of Temperance, which was at least partially her project, since Margolotta's taking a non-human race famous among humans for being evil, dangerous, and generally bad news and trying to reform it. Her instruction for Nutt to "teach [the remaining wild orcs] civilized behavior" follows naturally from her attempts to do the same with vampires.

And then Nutt fires back with, "And who would you send to teach the humans?"

He earns a "brief outburst of laughter" from Vetinari, which is usually reserved for Vimes. There's no mention of Margolotta's direct reaction, but for the last few lines she's been described as "taken aback" and "[saying something] coldly", so she can't be too amused by this comment. But why is she so unimpressed with Nutt's asides about humans?

It's because, for all she tried, his situation isn't actually like the Black Ribboner vampires. In that case, Margolotta more or less succeeded in making her the vampires into reasonable facsimiles of humans, although with a few weird habits. In the quest for acceptance, Margolotta believed it necessary to emulate humans, to redirect entirely the thirst for blood and control into other passions. But Nutt? He's been raised to be a human orc, to be part of the civilized world, and how does he find true acceptance and happiness?

By accepting himself not as human, but as an orc.

Nutt's comment about "teach[ing] the humans" isn't just a funny aside about human nature. Deliberate or not, it's a slap in the face to everything Margolotta's worked for since at least The Fifth Elephant. For her, humanity is a goal to aspire to; for Nutt, who's lived among the people of Ankh-Morpork and seen their moods, their mobs, their stupidity and even their kindness, humanity is an amusement.

Thank you for taking the time to read my rambling thoughts, and good night.

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s2 episode 20 thoughts

oh man! i really loved this episode. no aliens, no overarching plot, just some silly shenanigans and yeah, some murder, but in a far more lighthearted fashion than in other cases. filler episodes i love you soooo much <3

from the beginning, i thought the prompt sounded really good... shoutout to people who work in sideshows and other touring entertainment industries, y’all are real for that 

we open with some kids laughing under a full moon… nothing could be scarier… except SOMEONE WATCHING THEM!

and whoever it is, they are approaching the pool with feet out. where are their parents to safeguard them from stranger danger, i ask into my screen!

OH he is the dad!! what was once scary has now turned heartwarming. he splashes about in the pool with them and says they need to get ready for bed. aww. 

BUT NOW SOMEONE IS WATCHING HIM IN THE POOL!! NOOO the heartwarming session HAS BEEN CANCELLED... is he being EATEN???

(as he is killed, the camera shows a van with the words “alligator man” on it... at first i'm thinking that the alligator man was the creature who just Ate this guy, but turns out the father WAS alligator man, so named for his skin condition. rest in peace mister alligator, the world is a worse place for ur loss)

and now the agents are looking into his murder :(

(also, in the opening credits, we see that one of the guest stars is named “the enigma”... I’ll have to look into their work)

mulder says there have been a lot of murders in this fashion over the last 28 years, and they have been going all over the country!!! it seems to involve some sort of round bite mark. must be time to go investigate.

they roll up the the alligator man's funeral. honestly it is sad! and we see that the widow slash mother of the kids is a bearded lady and she is absolutely serving but this is a very sorrow-filled moment for them all

and interrupting the moment in which his community remembers the warmth he brought to their town, his casket starts moving… and someone emerges from the ground… and stabs himself in the chest with a spike???? HUH???

so the deceased was an escape artist but was forced into the sideshow circuit because of his skin condition… scully says she didn’t know sideshows were still a thing… which is honestly fair because it is a very vintage sort of entertainment. and they have a Not So Great history.

BUT if the people who live in this town in the summer are all traveling performers.. and if they have been touring for years... and the murders go on for years… hmm, it seems things are starting to add up

mulder notices a drawing of a creature on the menu of the restaurant they are sitting in, and he asks who drew it. why, the sheriff says, it's the artist named hepcat, of course! cut to him tending to his freaky mermaid. he describes his scary maze business as “a tabernacle of terror” 

mulder asks what the drawing on the menu was, and i was thinking, hmm, looks like the fiji mermaid, and hepcat says it is the fiji mermaid, and mulder doesn't seem to recognize it?? i assume this is one of those situations where he acts like he doesn't know what is going on to get more information because i feel like that is Exactly the sort of thing he has read about at length. like i had him pegged as a guy who could write a dissertation on the subject at the drop of a hat. so i think he's lying but narrative wise it isn't fully revealed. 

scully: “what’s the fiji mermaid?” hepcat: “it’s the fiji mermaid!” <- thanks this clears up a lot <3

mulder is acting surprised to hear that the top half of the fiji mermaid was a monkey, which i again assume to be an act? but he says that the tracks at the murder look monkey-ish. so perhaps there is a correlation...? between the very active murder case and that time PT barnum sewed a monkey and a fish together? hey, the dots aren't connecting for me, but i don't work for the fbi so what do i know

they go to get a place to stay and the guy operating the rental place, a kind and verbose fellow with dwarfism named mr. nutt, gives them their keys. and mulder asks if had worked in the circus, (and since everyone they have met so far has in fact done so, i feel that this was a fair question, but maybe i also deserved what follows), and mr. nutt really lays into him about making judgements, and maybe some people with dwarfism want to manage hotels...

and as all of this goes down scully just observes. wow. she let him flounder. lmao.

the man carrying their bags is named lanny, and he has a conjoined twin sort of situation, it's not entirely clear- but he says mr. nutt got him to work there because he believed it was undignified to work in the circus. hmm.

back to hepcat at his studio… listening to some groovy music... and something crawls in his window… looking like the fiji mermaid. and it BITES him.

next morning. mulder going for a jog. in a sweatshirt and sweatpants in florida heat. what in the hell was he thinking??? let’s analyze that while a man chomping a fish emerges from the river. we receive no real clarification on what is going on in either of their minds.

scully in bed. alerted to a murder by lanny. still in a robe. we get a shot of her chest and also lanny's brother that felt mutually uncomfortable. SMH no rest for her!

okay, examining the scene of the murder. mulder notices some blood on a little window and WHY DID HE TOUCH THE BLOOD NASTY!!!! NASTY!!!

they deduce that to fit in the window, the suspect would have to be a contortionist…. and they walk out to see a contortionist. it’s the spike guy that so disrespectfully ruined the funeral!!

he puts a nail up his nose in front them. and mulder pulls the nail out. probably to get some blood. not an easy watch still.

we learn here that the guy with the puzzle tattoos who was eating the fish in the river earlier is called “The Conundrum”, and the spike guy slash contortionist is dr. blockhead

dr. blockhead gives the conundrum a bunch of crickets and he gulps them up; then he offers crickets to the agents and scully TAKES one, says thanks, eats it, and leaves LMAOOO????? never let them guess your next move....

mulder is staring at her trying to figure out if he is in love with a woman that just ate a cricket and if this is something she does regularly and JUST KIDDING!!! she didn't eat it silly!!! she "reveals" the lil cricket behind mulder’s ear awww... her uncle was a magician <3

(he also does a lil slight of hand trick and pulls out the bloody nail, saying "everyone's uncle was an amateur magician", which i am sure they can bond over at a later date)

scully goes to a museum that says "freaks free, everyone else leave a donation" and she puts in some money… publicly declared non-freak 

this guy at the museum is touching her. don’t care for that. but I like that he knows lots of random information. and he won’t show his whole face, we as the audience only see him through mirrors. very cool framing device.

he says he will take her back and show her something of barnum’s for another $5 and sworn secrecy. good luck bucko; last time she was told to keep a secret (affair baby) the SECOND she was reunited with mulder the tea had been spilled LMAOOO. he hands her a paper featuring jim jim the dog faced boy, who, dare i say it, seems to be a king.

he leads her into the back rooms… scary. but her trench coat is serving though

okay, deep in the back is a trunk. and it’s empty and opens an exit door. NOOO she was scammed! it’s all part of the hustle. 

(well, that is what i THOUGHT, at least, until she realizes it leads to the sheriff's house, and things are adding up...)

mulder sees something crawling about. it’s the guy who owns the rental space, mr. nutt, under scully's trailer! he asks why he is under there and mr. nutt says he is NOT being creepy. mulder flirts with the man and he runs away LMAO... weaponized bisexuality 

agents are in the trailer having a nerd off and it’s not clear who is winning and there is romantic tension. sheriff hamilton used to be jim jim the dog faced boy???? what a reveal!!!

we are watching them watch the sheriff dig a hole during a full moon. average agent bonding activities. he buried something in the ground and goes inside. 

they are in his yard digging up what he was just digging and mulder has taken his earlier roasting to heart and says “we’re being highly discriminatory here” and clarifies that’s no reason to suspect him of being a werewolf and it’s like well. i don’t know that we both thought he was a werewolf. they pause to consider the moral weight of their actions then keep going.

uh oh! sheriff catches them!!! not a good look being caught digging something up. “We’re exhuming… your potato” is the best line that usually quick-tongued mulder could come up with, which had me losing my MIND and i proceeded to write a very long keysmash to express my amusement

“may I ask why?” (she starts monologing about serial killers taking positions in law enforcement and needing to monitor him as as suspect, and it’s convincing) (he cuts in: “we found out you used to be a dog-faced boy” STOP THIS IS SOOOO FUNNY) and she looks soooooo guilty!!

he doesn’t deny it and says he started balding on his head which put him out of a job. fair enough, gotta pay the bills.

next genius dialogue exchange: “that doesn’t explain the potato” “I got some warts on my hand” “...that doesn’t quite explain the potato” 

(i kept having to pause in rapid succession to write these lines down because i was laughing SO hard)

has anyone thought that maybe a man wants to bury a potato in his yard in peace…. like that’s how we get more potatoes…

“to get rid of warts you rub a sliced potato on your hand and bury it under a full moon” <- new life hack just dropped!!

nooooooo the conundrum is chasing the dog… dog escaped. everyone is pleased. he brings a check to mr. nutt and it’s rent!! king of paying his bills on time. but dog is still barking... NOOOOO MERMAID ATTACK ON MR. NUTT!!!

someone with bloody hands bursts into scully’s room and she must have her gun right by her pillow, and she gets it so fast, but it’s just lanny, saying he found mr. nutt dead... they truly hate to see a hard working entrepreneur in the field of hospitality winning 

the pin at the scene looked like something from dr. blockhead, so they go to his house to investigate and he is full of hooks. i made a noise like whAUUUWAUUHWAUH and mulder is looking intensely at what's going on there. blockhead goes on some cultural appropriation bs. um sir this is weird timing bur you are under arrest.

he gets out of the handcuffs- contortionist and escape artist! but the sheriff catches him by the hooks. what a KING! shoutout to this sheriff, formerly jim jim the dog faced boy, can we add him to the team? skinner are you hiring?  

just as our agents apprehend their suspect, we see that the mermaid creature is in the room with lanny!!! but... he isn't hurt?

OMG the twin inside him IS THE MERMAID??

lanny confesses to this when he asks how it would be possible to turn his "brother" in without turning himself in...and he thinks the mermaid fellow hates him and is looking for another brother which is so SAD but he says he’ll come back

is anyone concerned about the twin crawling out of lanny? well, mulder knows he isn't the man in charge here: “scully, you’re the medical expert… I believe you” yessir it's good to remember that!

the mermaid brother appears to have run off into the "tabernacle of terror" and mulder trying to hold a little evil mermaid at gunpoint is SO comical

their asses are lost in the maze!!! scully pulls a gun on a rubber skeleton that fell from the ceiling!

she's trapped in a mirror room to serve infinite looks in all directions, and it looks like mermaid baby is caught... she fires.. but it hits the mirror!! baby mermaid brother escaped!!!

at this moment, mulder slides through a trapdoor... and it was SO funny pls tell me there's a gif set of that somewhere because i need it...

baby on the loose... bad news!!! conundrum is being eaten by the baby twin…. but what if he eats him FIRST, i ask myself, and received an answer in the form of baby being gone and conundrum rubbing his stomach!!!! yassss!!! diva down!!!

the next morning, while everyone is searching for mermaid brother, we learn lanny died that evening of a condition related to alcoholism. we learn this while dr. blockhead and the conundrum are getting ready to leave.

and dr. blockhead's going on about the future, and how nature needs freaks, and in the 21st century everyone will look perfect… "just like him" (points to Mulder majestically posing by a trailer) LMAOOOOOO “imagine going through your whole life looking like that!!!” <- yeah it must be really hard....... /s

at last, conundrum and blockhead are taking off into the great unknown... scully points out he doesn't look too good…. CONUNDRUM TALKS???? “probably something I ate", he says. LMAOOO his voice is sooo normal 😭😭😭

this episode had me laughing. we really had it all: exhuming a potato, scully's valiant attempts at lying, mulder hitting on a guy, lessons in ableism and judgement, a man who eats crickets and fish, flirting over case details, a dog, scully doing magic, mulder running in the florida heat dressed like it was a new england winter. truly i have nothing that could be added.

and did i have a secret evil mermaid twin on my list of probably monsters of the week? no, i cannot say that i did! was it the most compelling or scary of creatures? not really! but i was filled with whimsy. cannibalism saved the day. an excellent episode, and a perfect contrast to earlier in the season when scully was literally About To Die and i was crying a lot over the whole thing. ah, the duality of TV shows!

[doobledabbadoo]

various candlyand stuff i made for the past week or two !!

[jehanthepoet]

Lady Margolotta: I've given Nutt worth

Glenda: you've fucked up a perfectly good orc is what you've done. Look at him, he's got anxiety

[mirtadraws]

re-read Unseen Academicals and made a new design for Mr. Nutt

[borb-cheddorb]

Gang’s all here

[thatoneweirdowhoknowstoomuch]

Candyland Stimboard

Past special interest eating me again AUUUUUGGGGHHHH-

Credits:

{x} {x} {x}

{x} {x} {x}

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[deezmrnutt]

Mr. Nutt Mic Drop Moments, Part Two: and who would you send to civilize the humans?

and a bonus Mic Drop from right before: "is if they who should be sorry?"

I love how politely Mr. Nutt points out the hypocrisy.

Are the humans, who are just as violent and dangerous as orcs (who were created from humans) truly more civilized than orcs are?

Who decides which cultures are considered civilized, and which are not?

[aeshnacyanea2000]

It took some explaining, but the core of it, as far as Nutt could understand it, was this: All football teams in the city were rated by Dimwell in proportion to their closeness, physical, psychological or general gut feeling, to the hated Dolly Sisters. It had just evolved that way. If you went to a match between two other teams, you automatically, according to some complex and ever-changing ready-reckoner of love and hate, cheered the team most nearly allied to your native turf or, more accurately, cobbles.

Terry Pratchett - Unseen Academicals

[twofoursixohjuan]

love how Terry Pratchett really just said "stereotypical masculinity in fantasy? who's that?" and created Rincewind and Vimes and Jackrum and Cohen and Moist and Verence and Ponder and Mr Nutt and Blouse and Death

[dimity-lawn]