And so it ends, and The Hunter

by Gary Webber, The Hunter

So. That's it. Two years of planning, preparation, work, investment in time and effort and energy. Gone. Done. Finished. Thanks. It was fun.





No, that's not right. Rewind, rethink, replay.

So. That's it. Two years of planning, preperation, work, investment in time and effort and energy. Not gone, not done, and not finished. Invested in the future. Shared equally between the hearts and minds of all who attended. Attendees, guests and committee alike have taken with them a small percentage of what went in to the event. Not the money, not the planning, not the preparation, although these things were huge investments in and of themselves. They've gone away with just a little bit of Discworld in their hearts. And this bit of Discworld is better than any other investment they will ever make. The value of Discworld will only ever go up. Disclaimers need not apply.

I attended the Hedgehog Party, and as is my wont I observed, and I saw this investment first-hand. Shevek was doing his usual faultless job of providing music that seamlessly slid from the 1960s (my era) to the here and now (probably your era) and in the middle of the floor, balloons flying and occasionally popping, was Distilled Discworld Fandom.

For those who don't know, a brief history lesson. Many years ago, when I still had dark hair and some of my own teeth, there existed on the internet something called newsgroups, which were basically publically accessible emails. Like an online noticeboard with feedback. One such group was called Alt.Fan.Pratchett. In this group people posted stuff. It was occasionally about Terry Pratchett. He posted too, for a while. More often it was about cake, chocolate, music, chicken, computers, Star Trek, underwear, more chocolate...It was filled with people from all over the globe. It was filled with people from all different ethnic groups. It was filled with people from almost all political perspective, religeous affiliations...it was a people soup. There were, however, two constants. An affection for Terry Pratchett, and a total acceptance of people for who and what they were. It had no choice. It was, as I say, a people soup. People had disagreements, certainly. But they were, for the most part, resolved. Yes, there were the occasional falling-out, but these too were, for the most part, resolved. It may have been a people soup, but it was made out of people, and they have a habit of being human...And you can see for yourself, It still exits. (The actual history of Alt.Fan.Pratchett is even more bizarre, the reason for its existance a fairy-tale, and the result of this fairy tale is a story for another day)

A group of AFPers, as they called themselves, organised meets, where they got to...well...meet. They got kinda out of hand, and before you knew it, a Convention was born. And once something has been done once, it is a tradition...And it grew. People got together. People did the things people do once they have got together. And having done the things people do, new people were born. And they were infused and enthused with Discworld, and the AFP mindset and philosophy.

And this is the investment.

I sat and watched, and I got a bit of a lump in my throat. There were young people dancing happily, un-self-consciously, totally secure with themselves, and totally comfortable in a diverse company of ages and orientation. They were unjudgemental, they were unbiassed, they were the Next Generation of AFPers. They were the legacy of the old guard. We had passed on to them the security, the open-mindedness that we had developed. And it is an investment to nurture. Our planet, this roundworld, needs people like them for our future, and for theirs.

Terry mentioned in the closing ceremony the cohesiveness of Discworld fandom. The ability to pull together, whether for our own or other people's benefit. He's the person who invests the most, but I hope we're returning that investment with interest.

So. That's it. Two years, four, ten fourteen years of planning, of preparation, of investment in time, energy...
If you are one of the many people brought together by Terry Pratchett and Discworld, and your kids are now following in your footsteps, take a moment to look at them. Your investment in our future. Be proud of them. Be extra proud of them. Oh, and take the time to feel a little smug. Your love of the Discworld genre means you get an extra percentage interest on your investment.

So. That's it. Two years of planning, preparation, work, investment in time and effort and energy.Gone. Done. Finished? Is it heck! Brian just pressed *Pause*...

See you in 2 years