Irreality is closing its doors this Saturday, and Squink’s asked me to reproduce his “Exit Speech” here for posterity.
I dare say that the last few days for me have been filled with a variety of emotions. There are simply too many things I wish to express than I will ever be able to write in one place, so I will do my best, and the rest of my story can be told over campfires and midnight drinks in shady bars.
This adventure started seven years ago, on a rainy evening in the UK. Although filled with intent and the firey eyes of creation, I do not think, back then, that I could have possibly foreseen the future that was in store for us all. So seven years later, I’m sitting in Vancouver, Canada, on a warm summer’s day, looking back over all the things we have seen and done together, in awe, and with a great deal of humility.
Irreality has been, and always will be about the people. We represent a bizarre cross-section of society – the strange few who ended up on the metaphorical airship, irreality, travelling the world, meeting new friends, and having fantastic adventures. We have found understanding, fellowship, wisdom, tolerance, and to some extent, ourselves. We have seen the best and worst aspects of the human consciousness, in our friends, enemies, strangers, and lovers.
Certain people – people who felt that irreality no longer accurately represented their views of what irreality ‘should be’, claimed that irreality was no longer about the love anymore. To these people, as my final, crushing checkmate, I say this: irreality was about the entire spectrum of human existence. Without the lows to contrast the highs – the shadows to our being, we deny our very humanity. To believe we can live in an environment entirely devoid of strife and negativity is to live in delusion, denying the truth of who we are.
And with that in mind, I will unveil to you the greatest secret of all, that which I have kept to myself – and only myself, for all of these long years. There are four hexagrams in the irreality logo, and the word “irreality”. Each of these four hexagrams represent the building blocks of life, our most basic biological components – Adenine and Thymine, Cytosine and Guanine (ATGC) – the heterocyclic organic compounds that make up our very DNA. This is, then, our irreal existence.
This place, irreality.net, is not shutting down because of a lack of money. It’s not due to any of the drama or the ridiculous amount of attention it requires to maintain.
Irreality is to be unplugged because this era is coming to an end. It is the right time for this to happen, for the cycle of life to continue, and for the wheels of fortune to spin round one more time. As all things must inevitably end, all things must also be brought into existence.
I believe the things we have done here, the people who have been brought together, the relationships forged, knowledge exchanged, precedents set and in-jokes made (why haven’t we heard from chaolion yet?), will echo onwards through time. I can’t speak for everyone else, but I’m certain that in a hundred years from now, I will look back on this Era of Irreality with a tear in my eye and a great sense of awe.
As a final note, this is not the end. Irreality is becoming decentralized, and as long as someone remembers what it feels like, it may regrow from that seed into the future.
With this, I take a bow, leave the stage, and return behind the curtain from which I arrived.
I hope with all my being that you have enjoyed this creation as much as I have, and I will see you all in the new era.
– Squink
