[dedications] This story started with a dream (literally, I was quite asleep) over the summer. I wrote the first two pages back in July, then promptly forgot about and/or ignored the story for the next four months. After being physically attacked by my muse, I began writing again in early November. As a testament to my extreme obsession with this story, I have written over 70 pages in the past four weeks. And thus, I give you what I have always affectionately called "dragonsync." There is absolutely no way this story could have been written without Allen_Sama; the woman is a walking Pern Encyclopedia. Many, many an IM conversation started with "Allen, do you think they'd…" or "Allen, why…. how…. huh?" Her endless patience and willingness to share her knowledge are greatly appreciated. Much thanks and love also to Mariah, Regina, Miss Kitty, and Nemoinis who read, encouraged, and pushed. If you happen to catch a stray pop star wandering through, it's all on purpose. Likewise to any LJ user names converted to dragon names. I am a shout out whore. Every dragon's name comes from someone I know. The prominence of some names has more to do with the convertibility of that name than anything else. I have made a list, [here], of all the names converted. And, finally, it should be stated with some authority that I am not Anne McCaffrey. This is her universe; I am merely borrowing it for a little while. The dragons, the Weyrs, the mating flights, and the Holders are her creation. She has never, to my knowledge, had a boy Impress a gold dragon, and would probably be appalled at my idea. For that, I am sorry, but I just couldn't resist. There were several circumstances I wanted to include that Anne McCaffrey never really discusses, so I made them up. I have no idea, really, of the training regimen of a queen rider, or how a queen's first mating flight is handled if she isn't up for Weyrwoman (or man, in this case-heh). Likewise, I sort of fudged how old the dragon would be for the first mating flight, as well as what a weyrling would do during Threadfall. And, you know, just what everyone's reaction would be to a boy Impressing a queen. But that is the point of the story, after all. [return to story index]