My dear Flabbits, Featherheads, and Fendril-riders, I have been so glad and so honored to be your librarian. Over the last five years it has been a delight to watch you develop friendships, create worlds together, and discuss everything under the sun, from Wingfeather and other books, to dead languages and silly games, to good and difficult experiences in our own lives. It's been good to get to know you, not just as readers but as people. I have made some very dear, lifelong friends here myself, and I'm so glad to know, even as this phase comes to a close, that so many of you wonderful forum-dwellers have also found ways to stay connected.
As Andrew said last week, things change, in the internet and in our own lives, and we aren't currently able to maintain a full community here at the site. But the site will continue, even though the forums must close. All the content we've built over the years will remain up until the new site launches later this summer, and we've got LOTS of ideas spinning for how to make it awesome. Whatever it ends up looking like, I'm excited to share it with you.
I would leave you with two blessings today. One, which I shared in the forum last week, and one which was shared in return.
One of my favorite poets, T.S. Eliot, says in his Four Quartets, “Not fare well, but fare forward, voyagers.” :-) We are all leaving this forum different than when we arrove. We are losing the forum itself, but we can’t lose what we gained here. We can go forward and bring it forward with us. (It is okay to be sad, though. I feel both sad and excited myself.)
And in the words of one Mischievous Thwapling:
May the Maker watch over you, wherever your footsteps fall. Whether you stumble in the darkest valleys, or stand atop the highest mountain, remember, He loves you.
With the fondest fare forwards,
Song Maiden Thwapling.
Now we are off on another adventure, flung wide into the world. :-) Dear friends: Can I help you?
—Madame Sidler