So! A little background: I used to (as in, back in 1999-2004) play on a few Pern and Alt-Pern themed MU*s. Dragonspires, Me'stad, & Rukbat were my top activities. I'm thinking back on those years and wishing I'd kept better logs/savored my time more, because darn, the online landscape has changed so much and I do miss that environment of co-authoring so much!
I had some alts, but Y'lina on Rukbat was by and far my favorite character to play. Started off as an absolute novice, power-posing spechul snowflake, but I'd like to think after a while I evolved into a normal literate human. I did a good job being oblivious as to the OOC politics/drama of MU*ing, and really don't have any negative memories about my years on Rukbat. Everyone was cool, supportive and educational. Sure there were a few characters with whom I locked horns with or avoided ICly, but for the most part it was chill, fantastic times.
I had a hiatus in the middle of my stint there, but really enjoyed taking the mantle of AWLM around 2001, and had a lot of fun on SearchCo. I only got to work with one clutch of weyrlings, before real life kicked in again and things seemed to dissolve. Less people were logging in, so I didn't log in as often, and I'm sad to say I don't really know what happened to Rukbat. It was an awesome place. Wish I'd saved those floppy disks of logs!
Anyway, Pern has always held a soft spot in my heart, and recently I've been digging around the old haunts. I can see things have changed a lot! It's to be expected, but I applaud all those hardworking writers who've been keeping the flame going all these years.
I'm hesitating to rejoin a MU* because being an adult now means I don't have hours a night to write prose and wax poetic. But I still have those itchy fingers, yanno?
I've enjoyed poking around Livejournal for the blogs of various Pern-y characters, and combing through the DA groups of Pern Art. Are there any other hangouts where the more time-strapped fans gather? Any especially good blogs or such to check out?
I will confess, I am tempted to seek out a game which will allow me to spawn my beloved Y'lina, but I know instas aren't always the way to go when jumping back into the fray.
So there you have it. I miss goofing around with friends and dragons through high school, drawing oodles of dragons and plotting shenanigans. Where do y'all satisfy that itch now, now that we're all grown up and have adult responsibilities and such?
Thanks for reading, and any thoughts shared!
Also, for an extra blast from the past, have some of my (arguably terrible) novice Perny art!
Have a VCL archive & an even older Angelfire archive of some requests and dragon rider friends. I completely forgot a lot of this existed, so the cringe factor is extra nostalgic.
Mostly Rukbat folks here, but I believe there are a few pieces of fan art from Pernworld characters. 16-year-old-me was a helluva nerd. : )
-Y'lina/Nenowyn/Nonce/Fhir'ruaidh