A Tribute to a Pirate and a Friend

[Chescat]

A Tribute to a Pirate and a Friend.
by Ladyvader on Thu Apr 09, 2009 2:23 pm

It is with such great sadness that I write this post to announce the loss of a good friend of mine, and one of the original members of Destinys Hand. My dear friend Orochi. She passed away a couple months ago from a surfing accident. I am sure that she was doing something that she loved passionately.

But that is the thing with Little Dragon Erin/Orochi everything she did in her short life she did with passion and a drive that I have never seen before in any person. She not only raised the bar for herself she raised it for everyone that she knew. I always considered myself lucky to know her.

She became a legend on VMK, there was not many people that did not know of her name on the game. Her high scores were always what all the VMK'r aspired to reach, and she helped many a player along the way, touching the lives of many in that Virtual Magic Kingdom. LDE was a rockstar for sure.

When POTCO began there was a handful of us that stayed together from VMK to form Destiny's Hand, in fact Orochi gave us our name. And gave us our logo. It was a perfect name for us. And now even more poignant. Destiny's Hand has taken away my friend Erin.

The world has turned into a funny place, where we are all finding friendships through virtual resources. Online games, Forums, etc, etc. And there are many of us that have never laid eyes on each other, much the same as I had never met Erin in real life.

But even though we never get that opportunity it does not lesson the fact that there are feelings of true friendship that bond us all as real friends. I love my virtual friends as much as any that I have here in my real world. And it is that bond that now makes me sit here crying over my loss. The loss of a young lady that at times I felt like she was my little sister, and her problems were mine, her triumphs were my joy. When she moved away, she never got to know how much I was going to miss her. But her opportunity to go and do something so wonderful I was just so happy for her. I never got to tell her goodbye. And now here I am saying goodbye for a last time.

So Erin, my little pirate sister. I love you. Aloha sweet pirate. Thank you for sailing with me for the short time we were allowed.

[Chescat]

I feel very fortunate to have met her in VMK, continued to play with her on pirates, and to be able to call her a friend. This news has been devasting but has done one thing. I've been on the phone all day and talked to all those VMKers that I still have as friends and we've all cried together at this loss. It has brought us together.

I'm at a lose for words here (I know, rare huh) and so thankful that Ladyvader wrote such a beautiful tribute and let me share it with all of you.

We love you Erin and you'll always been in our hearts.

[Blue Genie]

I'm not really good in words for something like this but here it goes. Like Lady Vader had said I never got to meet Dragon and boy I really did I ever wanted to meet her. She was a very good friend and fun to hang out and tease with her when the day she gave Doll her Inferno dance magic pin. I was there and how she would play the game like she didn't do it a Inferno Fairy did and how mush I knew it was her and how for a little bit I was a little mad at her but only pretending I was which she knew it. On the final days when I was tryingto fine her on VMK to get her in my VMK photo group it took me awild to track her down. I am also happy that she gave my DocRock a Inferno pin to give to me send both me and DocRock where close to each other in the game. I did on the last few days on another website found her at. I really don't know if they know that she has pass away. I am really shock to hear the news that Cat call me and told me. It's so weird first wake up hearing about the Angels ball player kick by a dunk driver and then like I said get a call from Cat and tell me about this. Dragon If you are seening this from above heaven I will miss seeing you and here I just got you on Myspace not to long ago. Here is my final photo with her.

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...nds/Dragon.jpg

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...iends/vmkf.jpg


R.I.P. My friend. Best I can do for a Dragon.

[Marla]

Well dear friends I am in shock. I read about Erin in another site. And as I was waiting for this site to load I called Chescat so she could tell me this was not true. Unfortunately she was not home from work yet. Then I found this. I remember the videos of Erin in real life and the wonderful soul we all met in VMK. Her karate videos, and the amazing performance she did in Hollywood. She will surely be missed. Aloha dear Erin.

[JPL]

I was in total shock and disbelief when Traci called me earlier today.
I never met Erin in person but still treasure the time we spent together in VMK. She was always generous and willing to help a friend. She truly was a special person and will be missed by all her friends and she made lots of them. So thanks for letting us share in your life.

R.I.P Littledragon your Inferno will burn in our hearts forever

[SparkleMeTink]

I just got an IM from Chescat. Wow! What can I say about Little...I don't think I have ever known anybody more determined and more self-motivating than Erin. I never got the pleasure of meeting her in real life, but I think, like mentioned previously, we feel like we all were her friend. Your family here, Erin will miss you greatly, RIP... Aloha

[MonkeyBoyJoe]

For those that don't know me, I knew Erin since we were in Jr. High. Although she was only a year younger than me, she's always been that little sister I never had. Since I've known her, she's always been a gamer. I think of all the time I've spent hanging out with her, more than 75% of it was either at an arcade or playing console/computer games. I guess I kind of suckered her into VMK during one fateful trip to Disneyland, and that of course down the road led to POTCO.

After VMK closed, it's all she would talk about. Her friends there and how much she would miss them and all the fun times. The game, she could care less about. I think that's why she really didn't want to spend time on VMK during it's closing days. It hurt her a lot to know that a world where she met so many wonderful friends was closing forever. Contrary to what many thought, she didn't care about all the stuff she got. It was just something to keep her busy while she hung out with some great people. I knew the side of her that also was a perfectionist. Competition was always her strength. And not necessarily against anybody else, but against herself. She would set goals for herself and then push herself to reach them. It wasn't about being the best or being popular. It was about seeing what she was capable of.

Moving to POTCO, she was disappointed that the social aspect wasn't the same as VMK's. She was happy that many of her VMK friends were still reachable however. But of course, that perfectionist in her pushed her to play through to the end game. I remember she stopped playing POTCO to focus on the closing days of VMK. And when she returned she kicked herself a lot seeing many of her friends having already reached 40, while she was left behind at 20. It wasn't a rivalry or a race to reach that cap, but rather just her competing against herself. She was known within DH and Seafurys as one who would try to solo everything. She always wanted to see what she was capable of on her own before asking others for help. On the flip side, she would drop everything if asked for help from another.

And of course that was her in other aspects of life too. Dance and Martial Arts were her other passions. And she attacked them with the same energy as she did in games. A very infectious one full of fun and excitement. I think that's what made her so special. And what attracted many to her, myself included. You couldn't help but get sucked into her world. She always had a fun take on life. Even if she was mad or upset about something, it was still entertaining to hear her rant about it. It was who she was. (Anybody who's read her blogs knows what I mean.)

Less than two months ago, Erin was surfing, caught a huge wave that sucked her under, hit some rocks, went into a coma and was rushed to the hospital. She never came out of it. And although it seems like a tragic accident, don't feel as though she didn't deserve to die that way. It's the way she wanted to go. She always talked about life as an adventure. And attacked it with a lot of energy. Her passions were dancing, martial arts and surfing. She had just started her rise as a stuntwoman in the film and tv industry. She liked living on the edge and knew the risks she took. Yeah, she still had a lot of life ahead of her, but the life she did live was never wasted as far as I saw. She took full advantage of every second of it.

The last time I talked to her, about a week or so before the accident, we actually spent a good chunk of time talking about getting back on Pirates. I myself have been busy playing World of Warcraft. She was taking time away from the gaming scene to surf and just enjoy life unplugged. But in the end I think we had every intention of coming back at some point.

I do remember once, while VMK was still at its peak, we came up with a hypothetical, what if LittleDragonErin ceased to exist. She brought up the question of how all these people who followed her around would take it, as she knew most of them were kids. She wondered how her closest friends would find out. She liked being anonymous behind the avatar. Yes, much of her life lately was spent kind of in the spotlight, dancing on stage, in music videos, filming movies and tv shows...but she liked to keep her gaming persona seperate from her real life.

I think deep down inside, she liked the anonymity that came from helping those around her without anybody truly knowing who she was. She always was one of the nicest people you'd ever meet and constantly doing random acts of kindness. She always believed that things came full circle in life. How you treated others would some day come back to you. She felt blessed to always come across so many wonderful and giving people in the gaming world whose faces she would never see. Whose voices she would never hear. Practically strangers yet as close as any family member. As often as she talked about all of you, it was clear that she treasured every friendship, regardless of having never actually met the person behind the avatar. And from the response to this news, I'm happy that the feeling was mutual.

[terri.m]

I don't know what to say. The kids and I are in shock. Erin was always so kind and friendly to us in VMK. It's such a shame to lose someone so full of life. She will be missed by us all.

[MonkeyBoyJoe]

Erin had a ton...A TON...of screen caps stored on her hard drive. Took a while to go through them all. Unfortunately, I couldn't include everything. And even from the ones I wanted to include, I had to still cut some out. Hopefully this is enough of a sampling of her 3 years in VMK.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huqvbIJW_4g

[Notes: The boy in yellow was the first toon she actually created, YellowChimpJay. Her "storage" alt was DanceDanceRin, which I couldn't find a pic of, but she was dressed in the pink cap/shirt outfit in on of LDE's pics. The opening pic is something she created for fun based on a Lilo & Stitch ad. The pic of her with the arcade machine was her layout for her userpages on several forums. She created that long before Disney put the arcade standups in the park. She always joked that they stole that idea from her. The signature pics are the signatures she used over at VMKMagic. Songs are Remember When (Disney's 50th Anniversary Theme Song) by LeAnn Rimes and My Name is Lincoln from The Island soundtrack.]

[Blue Genie]

That is very beautful Joe I saw myself on part 446 on the picture. I was in the Jafar hat or should I said Genie Jafar. Thx for showing it.

[jjramsey]

What a shock! Prayers for her family...

[Ghost * Hostess]

We were very sad to hear the news of Little Dragon Erin's passing. I remember her very well from VMK as does my daughter. She was always very nice. Its amazing how heavy my heart feels for someone only know from an online game. I hope her family finds peace.
Little Ms Attitude
Pink Snow Princess

[bigpapiortiz34]

I cant say how shocked and at a loss for words I am right now. Erin was such an amazing person, with so much determination. I will always remember her sense of humor, and all of the shows that she would put on for all of VMK. Erin, we all love you.

Thoughts and prayers

[varcity]

You know, I read about it, felt really bad, but it didn't really hit me what has happened. Now I read through Joe's posts, watched patti and Joe's videos, and I realize how much LDE did affect me in my life and how important she was to the community. You will be missed.

And if this quote from Joe doesn't define missing VMK, I don't know what does (Read the red line)

Her "storage" alt was DanceDanceRin, which I couldn't find a pic of, but she was dressed in the pink cap/shirt outfit in on of LDE's pics.

[MonkeyBoyJoe]

And if this quote from Joe doesn't define missing VMK, I don't know what does (Read the red line)

I wrote up a tribute on a couple other forums and I realized I did that several times as well as "to" instead of "two". VMK instincts die hard. :P

[JPL]

Once upon a time, a little girl had a dream to live in a better world and to make those lives she came across better by it. In her world, she saw the impossible as possible. She was an entertainer, yet she was humble. Her success was measured not by trophies or accolades, by the smiles she shaped on the faces of those around her. Her personal greatness was nothing compared to the joy she placed in others. She valued life, and knew each moment was as precious as the last or the next. She lived life on the edge, knowing no matter what, we are all destined to meet an end at some point. She held nothing back, always pushing, always reaching. She lived what others only dreamed.

And in the virtual world, it was no different. She seized every moment. Every opportunity. She learned. She taught. She inspired. And she was truly a friend to many. How fitting that the virtual world she was most remembered in was Disney's VMK. "It's kind of fun to do the impossible," Walt Disney once said. And she did that occassion after occassion.

We never truly know how far the ripples of our actions reach. And she never believed in coincidence. A year since its closing, many who have gone off their seperate ways have returned with the news of her passing. Reading through the various forums, having received many messages of support, it's clear, that her ripples stretched far and wide. Even in her absense, she can still inspire. A community can be judged by how much it cares for its members. She loved this community dearly, and it's clear, she was loved in turn.

Erin, I can only hope you're looking down on this with a smile on your face. You lived your dream and made the world around you better. The joy and fun you inspired will never be forgotten. I love you and await the day we meet again...my dear friend and sister.

-Tanya (VMK: Katanya)

This was posted earlier and I reposted in a more suitable manner.

[satchel01]

I'm in shock and so sad to hear this. I don't know if you remember me, but jeremyv (my hubby now) and I (Sebou) were in Team Believe with you(monkeyboyjoe) and LDE.
Before I knew her, I felt intimidated by Erin's mad gaming skills lol, but once I got to know her she was such a sweetheart and not intimidating at all. I felt priviledged to be on that team with you guys! It was such a fun time and I miss VMK and ALL of you so much!!