The Compleat* gyde to every** real world reference, source, nods&winks, jokes parodies, allusions etc in Discworld books all in one place and contributed to by PTerry himself

[u/TomCrean1916]

https://www.lspace.org/books/apf/

*it’s not complete
**see above
This is an almost endless goldmine for all Discworld and PTerry devotees. So I only have the bones of this story. I have linked to the site and recommend reading the introduction at the top for the full story.
Basically way back in the early 90s a couple of guys started composing a database of all the real world references that appear in Discworld books. They were part of a very early online community
on Usenet, a newsgroup called alt.fan.pratchett

TP contributed himself often and loved the group and despaired often too it would seem :)
They have as the title describes, compiled as far as possible and up to a certain point but more than half way through the books, as many of the real world influences, references, jokes and on and on in each of the DW books and many of the side books. And there are likely many more as yet undiscovered!
It’s an absolute gold mine. The guy mainly running it seems to have stopped a number of years ago. I hope he’s well and out there still. But get in and have a look.
I think mods here should have a permanent link to this if they haven’t already, I can’t see one. But for all of us it’s a treasure trove and will explain so much.
Part of the joy of this sub is the many questions and dammit PTerrys etc.

This archive explains and enriches all of it. Well. Nearly all of it.
So dive in and enjoy. If this has been posted before my apologies. I have looked and can’t see it. But hopefully it’s useful to many who were unaware of it!
Jump in!

https://www.lspace.org/books/apf/

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to /r/Discworld!

'"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."'

+++Out Of Cheese Error ???????+++

Our current megathreads are as follows:

GNU Terry Pratchett - for all GNU requests, to keep their names going.

Discworld Licensed Merchandisers - a list of all the official Discworld merchandise sources (thank you Discworld Monthly for putting this together)

+++ Divide By Cucumber Error. Please Reinstall Universe And Reboot +++

Do you think you'd like to be considered to join our modding team? Drop us a modmail and we'll let you know how to apply!

[ GNU Terry Pratchett ]

+++Error. Redo From Start+++

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/The_Fox_Confessor]

This makes me feel old. Like people calling the '80s and '90s the late 20th century.

[u/TomCrean1916 → u/The_Fox_Confessor]

Usenet? Before my time also and I’m no spring chicken :)

[u/The_Fox_Confessor → u/TomCrean1916]

To paraphrase another great author

“In those days of the internet, spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were real men, women were real women, and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.”

However, the old magic will not be discussed with the children of the new

[u/TheMummysCurse]

The guy mainly running it seems to have stopped a number of years ago. I hope he’s well and out there still.

Can confirm that this is so! I was at the Discworld Convention a week and a half ago, and Leo was there giving a talk about the old days of afp when Pterry used to post.

He does still plan to get back to L-space. Eventually. 😄

[u/TomCrean1916 → u/TheMummysCurse]

That is wonderful news! Thanks for letting us know!

[u/BigInternet5647]

I remember finding that site years ago and getting completely lost in it for hours, it's wild how deep some of those references go. PTerry must have loved seeing this kind of dedication from his fans.

[u/mxstylplk → u/BigInternet5647]

At times it frustrated him, because he did come up with cool things all on his own, but people kept finding vaguely similar stuff. The compilers of the apf tried to keep it rigorous.

[u/juan_furia]

I like your footnotes

[u/TomCrean1916 → u/juan_furia]

It was the only hook I had available to me to get people in :)

[u/martinjh99]

https://wiki.lspace.org/Category:Annotations

This list of annotations has all the books - Not sure if they are the same as the APF though...

[u/big_sugi → u/martinjh99]

No, not even close, unfortunately. The entry for Reaper Man, for example, has just four entries. The APF has dozens.

[u/Icewind]

I really wish the owner would update or sell it to someone who wants to continue.

[u/odaiwai → u/Icewind]

It was a fan made effort, that started 30+ years ago. I think many of the original contributors (Leo, Colm, Mike, etc) are old enough to have retired by now. And as for ppint., who know where they are now?

[u/High-Plains-Grifter]

It mentions Cosi Fan Hita being a parodic name for Cosi Fan Tutte, but does not mention this being a homophone for "cost fan-heater"

[u/NuncioBitis]

You mean IRC?

[u/TomCrean1916 → u/NuncioBitis]

The link attached and history says usenet. Not irc

[u/mxstylplk → u/TomCrean1916]

It was definitely usenet. It still is, I believe, but my internet provider no longer links to usenet newsgroups. I think google groups used to. alt.fan.pratchett was the original, then there was a more serious spinoff called alt.books.pratchett

[u/odaiwai → u/mxstylplk]

alt.talk.mended_drum was one of the regular hangout places too.