It's as dark a tale as was ever told

[austin_dern]

Almost nine years since chipuni assaulted me in the mathematics library and got me into Brazilian Dreams II, I'd thought I'd run out of new experiences on mucks. Not so; yesterday Misty_Crom in FurryMuck's Giants Club (probably my favorite hangout on FurryMuck, for its crowd's skill blending social and roleplay experiences, many of them surreal) whispered to me, ``Sorry for not asking your permission for using you as a char' in Family Hero, hope you liked it anyway though.''

I didn't mind because I had no idea what he was talking about. It turns out the forums at macrophile.com and something called BiGFurs (quirky capitalization deliberate) collect among other things original stories; and I've been woven in to some of them. He explained, ``you're sort of a detective - only a cameo (or walkon -you have lines), to my Batmanlike superhero.'' For the first time of which I'm aware not involving blither, I've been pirated!

I've mentioned before my realization that my mucking style is that of an old-time radio character; I didn't expect I'd be cast in the role of Richard Diamond, Private Detective¹. I remain skeptical about the ability of a giant, quadruped, luminous coati to be an effective private eye, but it's better than the unimaginative assignment of bounty hunter Alan Dean Foster gave his representative of the species.

As for what the stories are like ... I don't know; I didn't have much time last night to figure my way through the forums so I have no idea whether I'd be pleased, horrified, or -- worst of all -- jealous at how someone else writes Austin Dern. I can understand the appeal; Austin's generally funnier, smarter, more cheery, and wiser than I am, and the things that make him fun to play would surely make him fun to show in fiction. Still, it's creepy to think there's a version of me that's escaped my control, even if it is as a spear-carrier.

In other news I've discovered my ever-shaky ability to draw something improves dramatically if I aim for a ``shaggy,'' shaky-line style. Creatures may look unkempt, but they look a lot more alive than they do with clean lines.

[1] Richard Diamond was created by Blake Edwards and played on radio by Dick Powell. Powell appeared in an interesting-sounding movie, about a German shepherd reincarnated as a private eye, called You Never Can Tell. One of his lines is, ``Oh Goldie, these are humans we're dealing with. You can't tell them the truth and expect them to believe it,'' which does sound like me. Diamond was played on television by David Janssen, and one of his secretaries was Mary Tyler Moore.

Trivia: The Transcontinental Railroad tracks at Promontory Summit, Utah, were torn up for scrap metal in World War II. Source: Nothing Like It In The World: The Men Who Built The Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869, Stephen E. Ambrose.

Currently Reading: The Story of English, Robert McCrum, Robert MacNeil, and William Cran.

Comments

[gafennec.livejournal.com]

I know the song that your title came from! Great movie and a great song! :) Personally; I think I'd be freaked out if my character was used without permission in a way I'd not approve. *HUG*

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I knew this difficult challenge of picking song lyrics for subject lines would pay off someday. Thanks.

I might yet be horrified if I can ever find the stories; but if it is as described just walking on and delivering a piece of plot-relevant information and exiting the story again it's hard to get too worked up about it. It would've been nicer to be asked ahead of time, but I'm fairly confident the author had good intentions.

[gafennec.livejournal.com]

It would definetly been nicer if asked first. And esp. if he wants to make a profit off the story. Still; you're correct that it was probably with good intentions and nothing to be horrified over.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Hee hee ... like a furry could make a profit off of anything fur-based ... well, you could, if you could license Bigears plush toys, but the rest of us haven't got a chance.

[gafennec.livejournal.com]

I have no chance either, but then again...I never tried to make money off anything fur-based. :)

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Well, true, but at least rain_luong was able to make $91,000 off it last year, according to the IRS ...

And for all the fuss it turned out the scenes with Austin in them had nothing to do with the story, which was about Misty_Crom becoming his daughter's pet.

[gafennec.livejournal.com]

Still; you can say you made a cameo. Unless it was bad fanfic than you can deny everything. :)

[oliver-otter.livejournal.com]

I've often wondered, with that nose, wouldn't coatis be far better than some mouldy old dog at sniffing out bombs, drugs, corpses, and survivors buried in wreckage... Not quite detective work, but close. :-)

[butterfluff.livejournal.com]

Don't turkey vultures allegedly have the best sense of smell? Of course, do you really want to see a buzzard hanging around where your loved one might be trapped?

[oliver-otter.livejournal.com]

Well, they *do* have the most incentive to find the soon-to-be deceased. :-) Although perhaps not the most incentive to find them in time. :-/

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Interesting thought ... I've heard that turkey vultures are supposed to have much better senses of smell than any mammal, but I also suspect that pretty near all comparisons of ``best sense of [ whatever ] of all the animals'' consists mostly of untested folklore passed down from the days when the first giraffe was introduced to North America.

I have to admit a tribe of rescue coatis would be a fantastic sight, although I don't have any idea how easy it'd be to get a group to work with humans, or to find humans who can take care of them ... there is a lot of experience in taking care of dogs after all. I do know coatis were used in the children's hospital at the University of Michigan/Ann Arbor (in the 1950s) to bring joy to children just by virtue of being cheerful, amiable, living things in an otherwise grim ward.

(Well, I have a book -- Familiar Animals of North America -- claiming such. When I wrote to Ann Arbor a few years ago they said they had no records on hand of it, but couldn't say the book was wrong.)

[blither.livejournal.com]

If you do find the stories, point us at 'em.

Arrr! *trying not to be jealous about other-pirating*

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Found one at least. I'm sure there's more to come.