Pern Nostalgia
The news of Anne McCaffrey's passing has had effect on PernMUSH. Kyrola's player paged mine Tuesday night about 6PM about it. The news had just come out and I went Googling for more news, only three sources found at that time but the first one had confirmation from Anne's publisher.
The news made me a bit sad for a while but then I realized she'd had a great life and accomplished vastly more than I or anyone I know would. Not many can have such a positive influence on so many as a great story teller, and that Anne was.
So I decided to celebrate her life and accomplishments rather than mourn. I'm sure God doesn't care much for mourning. But celebrations? You bet! Make a joyous noise!
We had a few people pop on to PernMUSH, some for confirmation, others just to revisit the Pern they remembered. Annik logged on to chat with Loren, she was saddened by the news too and we spent a while reminiscing about how we first discovered Anne. Annik at the age of 12 when her mom gave her her old copy of Dragonflight and I at age 20 (1971) when a bookstore owner convinced me Dragonflight wasn't fantasy but science fiction. We chatted about how we liked her other books and series. Annik had just read the Harper Hall trilogy. I've got it on my 'to re-read' list. Along with all of Anne's other books.
The next day I logged on my rider alt and thought about how the game had changed. More news had come out overnight, even a post by Todd explaining what happened. Went over to Red Butte to sit a while. For a while I was the only one logged in. Went back to Igen to page chat with Jascela and Shilarra's players. Old timers popping in every so often. So I started paging them to say hi, Dysira, Echo, even a guest login who turned out to be another oldtimer from 1992, Shallana!
So I went over to the Lava Lounge and invited folks to come for chatting. Jascela, Annik, Shallana and I spent a good while reading the walls and talking about the old days and Anne. Shalanna had recently found a bunch of her old logs, even some with Amberyl. She emitted this -
Guest5 says "I've got a few other gems, too. A Weyrling speech to new riders from July 20th, 1992."
Guest5 says "Oh god, and this:"
Guest5 |D'vin says "So he coded a little trap for her (they were both wizards at this
Guest5 |time ... I was still fairly new, to give you an idea of date). Next time she
Guest5 |logged on, we saw this:"
Guest5 |Krystlin snickers.. She doesn't think D'vin has any stories 'bout her.
Guest5 |Thryla has that one, printed out. :)
Guest5 |D'vin | Amberyl shouts "Guys, I'm looking for a few things I haven't had since
Guest5 |the mating flight... Has anyone seen that Gerbil we were using... He was all
Guest5 |greased up and ready to go. Come to think of it, where did the nipple clips and
Guest5 |rubber bands go? Or the blindfold?!"
Guest5 |D'vin | Amberyl shouts "Oh, there they are, next to the handcuffs, whip cream,
Guest5 |feathers, and full body wherhide suit. And look, there's the wire and the
Guest5 |battery Leona made me! Now if we can just get the Wherry out of here since he
Guest5 |wasn't big enough..."
Guest5 |D'vin | Amberyl shouts "No Jeniath, come back here, I'm not finished with your
Guest5 |tail... Since T'gerey's not here, you're the next best thing. The only thing
Guest5 |I'm wondering is if I can keep this tatoo from him any longer, the one that
Guest5 |says 'Herdbeasts are moooooore fun.'"
Guest5 |D'vin | Amberyl shouts "SH'DOW, YOU'RE GOING TO DIE."
Guest5 |D'vin | Sh'dow shouts "Heya dear... We're even now."
I floated the idea that seeing as Turnover is in a couple of weeks, it might be fun to Drink the Nine then go to Red Butte for a game memorial to Anne. Open invite to all past and present Pernmushers to log-in and help plan and play.
The news made me a bit sad for a while but then I realized she'd had a great life and accomplished vastly more than I or anyone I know would. Not many can have such a positive influence on so many as a great story teller, and that Anne was.
So I decided to celebrate her life and accomplishments rather than mourn. I'm sure God doesn't care much for mourning. But celebrations? You bet! Make a joyous noise!
We had a few people pop on to PernMUSH, some for confirmation, others just to revisit the Pern they remembered. Annik logged on to chat with Loren, she was saddened by the news too and we spent a while reminiscing about how we first discovered Anne. Annik at the age of 12 when her mom gave her her old copy of Dragonflight and I at age 20 (1971) when a bookstore owner convinced me Dragonflight wasn't fantasy but science fiction. We chatted about how we liked her other books and series. Annik had just read the Harper Hall trilogy. I've got it on my 'to re-read' list. Along with all of Anne's other books.
The next day I logged on my rider alt and thought about how the game had changed. More news had come out overnight, even a post by Todd explaining what happened. Went over to Red Butte to sit a while. For a while I was the only one logged in. Went back to Igen to page chat with Jascela and Shilarra's players. Old timers popping in every so often. So I started paging them to say hi, Dysira, Echo, even a guest login who turned out to be another oldtimer from 1992, Shallana!
So I went over to the Lava Lounge and invited folks to come for chatting. Jascela, Annik, Shallana and I spent a good while reading the walls and talking about the old days and Anne. Shalanna had recently found a bunch of her old logs, even some with Amberyl. She emitted this -
Guest5 says "I've got a few other gems, too. A Weyrling speech to new riders from July 20th, 1992."
Guest5 says "Oh god, and this:"
Guest5 |D'vin says "So he coded a little trap for her (they were both wizards at this
Guest5 |time ... I was still fairly new, to give you an idea of date). Next time she
Guest5 |logged on, we saw this:"
Guest5 |Krystlin snickers.. She doesn't think D'vin has any stories 'bout her.
Guest5 |Thryla has that one, printed out. :)
Guest5 |D'vin | Amberyl shouts "Guys, I'm looking for a few things I haven't had since
Guest5 |the mating flight... Has anyone seen that Gerbil we were using... He was all
Guest5 |greased up and ready to go. Come to think of it, where did the nipple clips and
Guest5 |rubber bands go? Or the blindfold?!"
Guest5 |D'vin | Amberyl shouts "Oh, there they are, next to the handcuffs, whip cream,
Guest5 |feathers, and full body wherhide suit. And look, there's the wire and the
Guest5 |battery Leona made me! Now if we can just get the Wherry out of here since he
Guest5 |wasn't big enough..."
Guest5 |D'vin | Amberyl shouts "No Jeniath, come back here, I'm not finished with your
Guest5 |tail... Since T'gerey's not here, you're the next best thing. The only thing
Guest5 |I'm wondering is if I can keep this tatoo from him any longer, the one that
Guest5 |says 'Herdbeasts are moooooore fun.'"
Guest5 |D'vin | Amberyl shouts "SH'DOW, YOU'RE GOING TO DIE."
Guest5 |D'vin | Sh'dow shouts "Heya dear... We're even now."
I floated the idea that seeing as Turnover is in a couple of weeks, it might be fun to Drink the Nine then go to Red Butte for a game memorial to Anne. Open invite to all past and present Pernmushers to log-in and help plan and play.