"He's a crook and a scoundrel." "I thought you liked him." "Oh I LIKE him just fine."
"{...} Indeed, I enjoyed my life as Stoker Blake and all the new little skills it has taught me. Excellent implement, the shovel. And as for the other stokers, I think I made friends there, yes, there was a acertain camaraderie among us. All said, a little holiday from the weighty business of hte city, and I dare say I might be predisposed to
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Yes! Regret would imply that, if he were to do it over again, he'd give up what he's gained for what he had to sacrifice. I don't think he feels that way, or would even seriously consider the possibility. But even if you wouldn't give up what you have for what you might have had, there's still that touch of "Those other things would also have been nice." And several of those involve not taking on the responsibility for the city.
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He grows up with, so he's much more comfortable with "Listen to what they say and don't demand the impossible, but also don't hesitate to ask for things within their job description, and don't act like best buddies."
(Yeah, she made the classic mistake of someone who hadn't thought they'd have many prospects and latched onto the first guy who was nice to her. And yes, Dorfl and Gladys! So sweet!)
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That kind of reputation ends up making him a very sought after employee later on- he has a reputation for respect and treating his servants well, and he always pays and tips handsomely, too. He also puts into effect a lot of labor laws about the treatment of servants in general, giving them rights to protest ill-treatment and- again- have the law on their side. It might not do much to change minds, but it creates options. (And Angua will be Commander by then, but everyone knows she was trained by Commander Vimes, and his son is the one who led to the law to being put into place, so they know they can trust the Watch. Even though Sam is retired by then- or more likely dead but that's not something I want to think about so I'll just say retired- he still has a big impact on how the people view the Watch ( ... )
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Yes, having the young Duke of Ankh-Morpork throw his social and political influence behind treating servants decently makes a huge difference.
(Interesting. I was thinking that trolls, having different anatomy, would have less sensitivity to touch, and pain receptors that were calibrated around what was actually potentially damaging to someone made of silicon, so they'd have evolved to find the normal range of friendly human light touching nearly imperceptible, and things that humans would find damaging can be affectionate. Golems didn't evolve, but they would have been built with the sense of touch humans found useful - capable of delicate enough work to wash dishes without shattering them, not vulnerable to pain and therefore not able to be hurt by sticking their fingers in cauldrons of molten metal. So possibly intense pounding feels good mostly because they like touch and there's no pain to interfere with the preference for intensity?)
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Maybe there's a varnish that gives them a nice ceramic gleam that does as their equivalent of massage oil? Nothing wrong with making sure your clay looks nice, after all.
(Since social grooming is a thing, maybe the golem equivalent is helping each other mend any nicks and chips? Obviously they can take care of that themselves but maybe having your partner do it for you is the same as, like, having someone brush your hair or wash your back for you.)
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Ooh, I like all of that! Going over your loved one for any nicks, chips and cracks, then applying a nice coat of glaze (I'm thinking for ceramics, it would probably be a glaze?) seems like a good way to express love to a golem.
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Also, since Gladys reads a lot about women so she can figure out how to be a woman and a Golem woman at that, and having Dorfl there to talk about what she reads is a big help too! Because the counter girls are supportive but they're coming at womanhood from a different direction, and Dorfl doesn't have exactly the right lens but he has a similar enough one that he understands the unique problems Gladys faces specifically as a Golem. (Dorfl is very supportive of her, and whatever she eventually decides is the "right way" to be a Golem woman, he'll accept it.)
Yep! They don't really have a such thing as physical intimacy, but they decided they needed something physical to set their relationship apart from all their friendships, to mark it as clearly romantic, and a bit of reading turned up social grooming and they decided that made sense, it was personal and useful, too. (Being useful is very important to Golems, after all.)
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Now I'm picturing them developing a list of options for physical affection and intimacy and working down the list one by one all "This Is Unsatisfying For Me. How Do You Feel?" "I Do No Enjoy It Either" until they find one that works.
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