Life as Steve is not always completely serious. Sometimes I find time to enjoy myself with various sorts of frivolty. This page is sort of an attempt to group all of the less-serious pursuits on a single page.

MUSH

I used to roleplay. Not with dice, not on stage, but through text-based online games called MUSHes. They're sort of a cross between improvisational theatre and group storytelling. It's a (mostly) cooperative environment where you play a character, trying to be as convincing as possible as that character as you help create a scene. All in text. It has been a way to build my narrative skills and make friends around the world.

Nearly as soon as I was first online in 1992, I was on IRC chat, doing a quite unsophisticated (and very geeky) Star Trek roleplay. I was recruited to a MUSH variant called TrekMUSE by the end of 1992, then LegionMUSH, and then pulled to PernMUSH in early 1993. By that point, I stayed with MUSH (and, for the most part, the Pern theme) exclusively. After I graduated from college, my time on these games was much more limited, and I pretty much quit completely in early 2003. I still log in from time to time to say hello.

Here is a list of characters I played over these years. Some were very brief, some are relatively new, some are ancient. I tried to list the most current address, if I could find it, as of August 2006.

Chat MUSHes

On these games, no one is in a particular character. Some games have or had loose themes, but no one frowned upon you if you don't want to play in the theme. They were great places to idly chat with friends when I was at work or roleplaying elseMUSH.

Rip Hunter

Steve

Clark

Kent

Kebrlool - Yeti prince, wizard

Roleplay MUSHes

These are the games where I more or less stayed "in character," at least when my characters appeared in public.

Keljor - Tanner posted to Southern Hold, Master rank; Husband to Sonira, father to Qiesen, Xendi, Delor and J'ros

Olvir - Starcraft apprentice, Oriel outpost

J'cobi - Rider of blue Moloth, Precipice Wing at Monaco Weyr

Mintek - Starsmith apprentice at Starsmith CraftHall, native of Southern Boll Hold

O'en (formerly Olsen) - Rider of blue Golrath, Fort Weyr; father of Olvir.

Relnic - Technology Crafter

Ol Gardan - AKA "Kid Kid," ex-planetary champion of Grath, now living somewhere on Earth

Steve - Wizard (general help)

B'ros (formerly Buros) - Rider of brown Ledoth, No Weyr; formerly of Else Weyr; aspiring Harper

C'len (formerly Cullen) - Rider of Brown Hureth, No Weyr, Felea's weyrmate, former kitchen worker

Druiter - Old Uncle at Forsaken Hold, hard of hearing, paid his dues and trying to enjoy his retirement, uprooted to No Weyr

S'tin (formerly Ustin) - Acting Weyrleader, rider of Green Lianth, Who Knows Weyr, Evalyne's weyrmate, former layabout Forsaken Hold, Crom Hold, hypochondriac son of healers

Taine - Seacraft Master, Shipbuilding Subcraft, Unified Crafthall Craftsecond

W'tim - Rider of Bronze Kordanth in Ierne Weyr's Fire Wing, D'wen's half-brother, former assistant steward at Unified Crafthall and Tillek Hold

Elongated Man - Stretchable sleuth, member of Justice League Europe, building wizard

'Mazing Man - Wizard character when EM became inactive

Brin Londo - "Timber Wolf" of the Legion of Super-Heroes

Ivy - NPC, resident of Quarantine Medical Complex, possible descendant of Swamp Thing

Kent Shakespeare - LSH member and medical student at the University of Metropolis

Loomis - Legion of Super-Heroes handyman

Lyle Norg (Mordruverse) - NPC, used in Mordruverse campaign, rogue chemist

Prince Evillo - Leader of Planet Tartarus; Organized "Devil's Dozen" supervillain team

Warden Tsaquin - Warden of Takron-Galtos II prison planet; former warden of Labrynth

Cl'rek (formerly Clark) - Rider of Brown Orrith at Benden Weyr, Nich's weyrmate. Most Benden riders moved to Telgar Weyr to help that Weyr, and because of water shortages at Benden. Cl'rek was among the riders to remain. (Non-Player Character) Nirek and Carah's father, Kenla and Bartal's uncle

Dibny - Guardsman at his native Bitra Hold, former investigator and Guard Captain. Read my own "Guard Guide" for PernMUSH Guards

Doyle - NPC, former Minecrafter turned Renegade, attempted assassin of Lord Malachite of Bitra

Ganglios - Fisher of the Bitra River (deceased)

L'mis - Rider of Blue Golrath, erstwhile-Watchrider. Native of Telgar Weyr; Older brother of NPC greenrider V'lor of Benden Weyr

Nirek - NPC, Cl'rek and his weyrmate Nich's son, works on his uncle Kent's farmhold in the southern continent of Pern

Th'rok - Weyrsecond, Monaco Weyr (Monaco Wing), Rider of Bronze Rugarth, formerly of High Reaches Weyr

Bartal - NPC (formerly PC), Journeyman Harper, Voice, posted at Southern Weyr (teacher, mostly). Kent's son, Kenla's brother, Nirek's cousin, Cl'rek's nephew, formerly of Small Hold. Read compositions by Bartal and others.

Karel - Grounds Worker, Southern Weyr; brother to Lacey; son of Kayjay and C'ley

Kenla - Rider of Blue Ardanth, Firedance Wing, Southern Weyr; Former Weavercraft apprentice, Daughter of Kent and Barla (NPC), sister of Bartal, niece of Cl'rek (and Nich, in a way), cousin to Nirek, mother of Okeni

Kent - NPC, father of Kenla and Bartal, brother of Cl'rek, husband of Barla (deceased), foster father for Nirek, runs Small Hold, near Black Rock Hold, Southern Continent

Hul-Abat - Mon Calamari navigator

Tr'ouman - Romulan something or other, retired

Lar_Gand - Daxamite, AWOL from Ferengi Alliance, sided with T'khasi (Romulans?)

Baseball

Since college, my friend Tom and I have run our own low-key fantasy baseball league, the People's League. It's mostly a venue for faux-Communist propaganda with minimal statistical fuss.

I also consider myself a fan of the Seattle Mariners, although they have not been very successful recently. I grew up watching the futility of an M's team with a limited budget, and I learned to enjoy the sport for what it was. I also remember getting excited about the few breakout stars during those days. Now the team is ranked high in payroll and doesn't have much to show for it. I'm no fair-weather fan, but I miss the days when we were underdogs.

Comics

Before I was reading mainly superhero comic books, I was reading old Peanuts and Pogo collections. Man of Steel #1 in 1986 really got me going on the caped types. As I've grown up, I've branched out into other genres as well.

These days, the number of monthly "pamphlets" that I buy, especially the ones with super-heroes in them, has dwindled. Nevertheless, I definitely still read and buy lots of comics. Most of these are of the "graphic novel," collected-edition variety or the occasional serialized comic book.

Photography

Once I got my digital camera, I really started getting into photography. I'm not much for film, if only because I like the freedom of shootings lots of stuff and trying to find something good out of dozens of photos later.

www.flickr.com More of smohundro's photos