Just realized that because L-space contains books that haven’t been written, books that can’t be written, and books that should never be written… this means that somewhere in there are the Discworld books we never got. The books Terry had ideas for but never started, the books that were half-formed ideas on a hard drive that is now significantly thinner that it needs to be to function 🚜, and the books he hadn’t even conceived of yet.
It’s nice to think of them sitting quietly on a shelf somewhere in L-Space, plotting amongst themselves to be written somehow.
I realized that I never posted about my wedding here, and here I can do it with LOTS OF WORDS so who wants to hear about my very Good Omens and Terry Pratchett themed wedding to the angel of my dreams?
Last spring about this time, my partner and I got engaged <3 We met because of Good Omens and we both knew it would need to feature heavily in our wedding. And we started discussing themes because that's what happens when you have a small taste for the dramatic.
After debating for quite awhile, we settled on a Terry Pratchett-esque L-Space theme for the wedding. And we realized that we wanted a more traditional ceremony for my partners elderly mother, but would like one that was well...for us. So instead of a traditional ceremony, we booked a small room for the official ceremony and then put most of the wedding budget into renting a place that could accommodate our small guest list for the weekend and invited them to venture with us into L-space for a second ceremony and weekend of nonsense.
To set the mood, we started with some decidedly Good Omens themed cards, with art from the wonderful @acsalvafanart
On the back of a QR code was a carrd with some links that gave the attendees important information like a map of the location, weekend plans, and a video invite from a very special Cameo
Oh! I should mention on the QR code was also a wonderful video by the fantastic Maggie Service (isn't she an absolute delight?)
Having laid the groundwork, Ali and I felt like we had an awful lot to live up to and we got to work. When our guests arrived for the official wedding ceremony, they were welcomed with a simple pamphlet to help them along their way
We had a beautiful legal ceremony, albeit with a few hiccups about names (what's a trans wedding without some name confusion...). Legally, I became Ali's. (No, we didn't actually theme our wedding outfits to Good Omens, believe it or not. It is, apparently, so ingrained in our beings at this point that we did this naturally and went oops)
And from there we were off to the weekend venue! That Ali and I had had access to the night before. And had prepared, with a little bit of extra assistance. Before we got to any sort of nonsense, in true British fashion it was time for CAKE! Look at this absolutely gorgeous cake. All the characters were made by Ali because it turns out if you contact one of the cake figure makers and say "Hi, I'd like an orangutan, this particular angel and demon, and a yellow Bentley" they think you're a bit crazy. Ali worked on these for days leading up to our wedding barely sleeping, and I think they are so perfect for us. One friend said they thought we leaned fully into the Good Omens themeing before realizing our initials are also A&C :) There was also a small second cake for me that Ali wrangled a friend to help arrange, as I can't have dairy or eggs.
Next we had set up a series of Escape Rooms for our guests. We borrowed Hex (yes, that is a Terry Pratchett autograph, Hex was shown to him at a con many years ago by my brother-in-law who crafted him!) to give a voice message from Lady Sybil Vimes.
Our guests dutifully sent on their mission, we prepared food and then snuck away for the evening confident we'd left them with lots of good company and plenty of entertainment with the six different escape rooms we'd put out, all with a different literary theme.
We arrived the next morning to the fact that some of them had figured out they needed to find Jesus but weren't quite sure how to. Throughout Saturday, they continued their quest and they all did eventually find Cameo Jesus
Each of the rooms, in the end, led to Jesus who told them they had to put all the clues together. We kept asking them if they'd found Jesus
We also included some small Jesus (Jesi? Jesuses?) to help them along the way.
As well as some other cameos to help them along the way from Cupid and Temu Kermit
Also a shout out to Temu Kermit and Cupid for also helping us along with the escape rooms (and my phone won't let me download Cupid, I'll ad
That evening we had the ceremony that we considered our own. You see, queer weddings in the current age are still a bit...questionable. With politics and the world being what they are, we knew we had to do the legal thing (I mean, I also needed a visa so it was necessary) but we wanted to do something that was our own statement as well.
Legal weddings in the UK have to follow a specific script (that is unfortunately gendered). They aren't as free as US weddings to come up with their own vows and wording. And if you cannot do things your own way, the correct answer is to throw what some of our friends jokingly and lovingly referred to as the illegal wedding (be gay, do crimes!) to match our legal one. As we'd already done the legal bit, we decided to do a hand binding for this one.
We were very lucky that we reached out to a special being and @mister-a-z-fell agreed to be our officiant. Out of respect for his privacy, we won't post any photos that clearly give away his identity but he was absolutely wonderful. And so we were declared by our favorite angel to be a "group of the two of us"
No, the friends who look like Terry and Rob in the back were not planned nor was that their costumes for the weekend! But this picture brings us great delight.
You only get a small glimpse of how gorgeous our outfits are here (we'll get better photos at some point) but they were hand made by an AMAZING friend who is a professional costume designer. She poured her heart and soul into both of our jackets and we absolutely adore them.
Also a giant shout out to our kids for being our flower dinosaur and assistant.
Just because you've had *two* weddings, a ridiculous amount of cake for about 25 people, and plenty of food doesn't mean the antics have to end there!
We cleared the chairs and had some dancing and then because many of our British friends had never experienced a pinata, we broke out a dumpster fire for them to beat up.
And we had to convince certain beings to not actually light it on fire...
Unfortunately, we could not keep everyone there with us forever (much as we would have liked to). Luckily they completed the escape rooms and found the code to unlock their tokens that would grant them access to leave L-Space
And surely that was the last of it... for now. :) After all, we have all their names in the guest book and there have already been some discussions about a potential Wedding Con 2.0
On the grand spectrum of things, I'm so glad we stole these moments of joy with the ones we love the most. It was amazing. Everyone who attended was an absolute joy and we couldn't have celebrated without them. Can recommend as a 10/10 way to celebrate.
And I am delighted to be writing this almost six months since our wedding. The world is on fire, but the company I am sharing it with amaze me on the regular. And Ali is the most wonderful person and amazing partner. I am so grateful for them every day.
And I still think Wedding Con 2.0 is an excellent idea...
After chasing a criminal into a second-hand bookshop, John and Sherlock find themselves not only stuck in the building, but in the L-space dimension itself.
good afternoon, all! we have a guest speaker in the Library today! he is a professor all the way from the Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork, and he's here today to give a lecture on the wonders and dangers of L-Space!
the small problem that has arisen from this, is that the Librarian, as he is known (wow, that's going to get confusing!), doesn't speak any human languages. he is, in fact, an Orangutang. so i, the Loveable, Lovecraftian Librarian, have made temporary Ape-to-English translator ear-clips for anyone who wishes to hear the lecture. Ape-to-other-language translators can be made on demand, just ask for me at the front desk!
The city of Eul Tatab resides within a massive library in which one can wander for days upon days and see nothing but shelves. The books of this archive record the details of all events that transpire within the city walls in exquisite detail--the location of every brick that is laid, the intonation of each “good morning” of the vendors at their market stalls, even the exact pattern of every splatter of pigeon droppings left on the rooftops. As one walks through the labyrinth of towering bookcases, you can faintly hear the scratching of quills on parchment as new records write themselves into existence, documenting the triumphs and trivialities of each passing day.
The sheer volume of information contained within Eul Tatab’s archives is impossible for a single mind to comprehend. A visitor could spend their entire life reading the biography of a single citizen of the city, and come to know that life as intimately as if it had been their own. Alternatively one could flit from shelf to shelf, reading a paragraph here and a paragraph there, seeing a great variety of facets of the city as fleetingly as if flashing by a train window. Most visitors read only a curated sample—much like tourists in a traditional city, they seek out accounts of the most famous landmarks and events, spending only a few days reading the sights before moving on to their next destination.
Some may ask: Can a city that exists only within the pages of an archive, even if those annals are ever growing and evolving, truly be considered real? To which I respond: Have you ever beheld with your own eyes the other cities which I have chronicled in this book? To you, they too exist only in the words I have written. Are they not real?
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Hey, remember that fantasy city prompt game that was going around a while ago? I do! You can find all of mine collected here, and I have several more in the works--expect more in the next few weeks! :)
In theory, because of the nature of L-space, absolutely everything was available to him, but that only meant that it was more or less impossible to find whatever it was you were looking for, which is the purpose of computers.
