Monday, August 5, 2019

“The Case of the Purloined Prairie”

Here is a fifth (and almost certainly final) piece of Lassie fan-fiction. I’m thinking of it as distraction, diversion, respite. Click on each image for a slightly larger page. Enjoy.













All OCA Lassie posts (Pinboard)

Four more Lassie stories
“The ’Clipse” : “The Poet” : “Bon Appétit!” : “On the Road”

[The odd naming conventions for the Masonic characters — Mason, Paul Drake, Della — are my invention. “California”: wherever Calverton is, it’s not in California. “Statues of elimination”: not a typo. The “Juliett” of the NATO phonetic alphabet puzzles me too.]

comments: 8

zzi said...

... and, as you can see, we vacation together as well. Wink wink.

Michael Leddy said...

Well, yes. I wanted at least a hint of something. But in truth, they’re colleagues and friends. In the novels, the Perry–Della relationship is more complicated.

Frex said...

(Just to say, I've been too busy to sit and read this--but want to. And will!)
--Fresca

Michael Leddy said...

One of Paul’s operatives is watching to make sure. :)

Fresca said...

Well, that was a loooong lag time.
I forgot about this fic and have only now, four months later, FINALLY come back to read it!!!

First, I laughed out loud at the image of a little boy and his collie telling Perry Mason's guy not to smoke!
HA!

What a prissy little moralist Timmy appears to be, and a braggart too. Is he likable in the show? Or do you kind of want to stick something in his spokes?

I've never watched the show, but I'm guessing the idea of the trio vacationing together is slightly ridiculous?
Or, perhaps it's canon?

"Typing and shorthand both"---such accomplishments! :)

I was ultra-struck by the technological differences between then and now--represented by the phone--
Timmy is baffled by the idea of a phone in a car, how the mother is alerted by phone but the old guy doesn't use one...

ALL THE DRAMA!
Even without having seen either show, I can *see* them in my mind the way you have seamlessly smushed them together in this hilarious way---
"get on your car phone" said as Timmy rushes to get on his bike.

And so satisfactorily resolved... with a delicious lunch!

Well done! Your fic, that is, not the lunch.

I've enjoyed all your Lassie fic.
Perhaps you'd consider posting them on AO3, the fan-run site for fan creations--it won a Hugo this year, you know?
https://archiveofourown.org

Let's see... there are 399 fic on the site tagged with "Lassie".
Hm... But most are not your Lassie. Some of them use "lassie" to mean a female human, no ref to the show, and some refer to Carlton Lassiter, a character in the TV show "Psych".

So.. not sure there's much audience for your Lassie, but it might be fun to post it.
I'd say your fic would fall under the category of "gen" (no sex) and "fluff".

At any rate, congrats, and I hope you do write another one, or two...

Michael Leddy said...

Thanks for reading, Fresca. I’m happy that you found so much to enjoy in this flight of imagination. Or is it fancy?

Is Timmy likable? I’d say so. He does care about nature and forest safety, and he just about always stands up for what’s right. He is, I’ll admit, a bit of a goody-goody. I think he has courage to talk to Drake like that. He always has a line about Lassie being the best dog in the world. I’d think of it as enthusiasm rather than bragging.

Yes, the trio vacation is meant to seem a bit ridic. In the show, there’s never any sort of attachment for Perry, Della, or Paul (though Paul is always, as here, making a play for anyone who’s around, though never for Della).

I’d love for these to have more readers, but seeing what turns up when I type lassie makes me think Timmy should stay here. :)

Fresca said...

I really should watch an episode or two of Lassie. And Perry Mason too!

Yes, a lot of fic is NSFW... There are readers of fluff too:
you could put them out there and see... but I didn't see a natural home for your Lassie fic on AO3, I admit.

Michael Leddy said...

Lots of Lassie on YouTube. I’d start with “The Big Cat.” Mason? I’m a lot less particular. But the more mid-century interiors in the episode, the better.