and things went downhill from there

I got a comment recently on a story that I posted late last year. I was genuinely pleased and surprised to get a comment on the story - especially a positive one - given that it deals with dark themes like homophobia and workplace violence. Also, posting a furry story on AO3 is like posting into a void - it has a very minor presence there. Finally, the story drifts between drama and comedy, so I imagine it would be a tough read if one favoured one over the other.

One of the things that this person mentioned was that they felt like the characters in the story felt very real (I mean, within the realm of them being anthropomorphic animals).

I admitted to them that part of the reason for that is because most of the characters in the story are based on real people. I have found that the easiest way to bring a person to life in a story is to base them on a real, living person. I change the names and situations, but the voice and personalities are plagiarized from real, living beings.

I remember hearing a radio interview with an author many years ago who, when she was praised for the same thing (having believable characters), admitted to the same thing. She said that the characters in her stories - good and bad - were based on real people. She warned, "meeting me in person is tacit permission to appear as a character in one of my stories. The more of an impression you leave on me, the more likely you are to show up."

(For the record, it's this story. It's probably the most ambitious piece I've written to date, so I've always considered it more of a passion project than a story that's likely to garner broad appeal.)

"Hey, I've got a question for you. We asked you to set up this user for secure access to this application way back in July and he still can't use it. What are the chances of getting his security set up?"

"I recognize the name. I'm pretty sure I set him up with full security, but let me check. Hm, it looks like he's turned up for everything. Did he need supervisor security, or just regular?"

"I don't know, I'll check. (Minutes pass.) Hi, I checked and he just needs regular security. He's trying to apply miscellaneous charges, but when he puts an X in that box and hits ENTER, it tells him that he doesn't have adequate security."

"Hm, that's odd. Maybe it's an FSAC issue, because security is controlled via FSAC. What FSAC is he entering for the billing centre when he signs into the application?" (Explain it a few more times before he finally understands enough to go and ask.)

"Okay, here is the FSAC that he is using, and it gives him the error every time he chooses function he wants and hits ENTER."

"Odd... he's set up with all the security he needs at that FSAC and the rest of his security profile looks good. Leave it with me and I'll see if there's something else borked with his ID."

The shift manager trundles off to do whatever it is that shift managers do, and plonq continues to puzzle over the matter. Finally he signs in using the problematic UserID to see if he can replicate the error. He calls up the application and jumps to the main screen. His eyes scan down to the Functions menu on the screen:

Functions .......................... PF8
( ) Dispatch
( ) Miscellaneous Charges

"He's just trying to apply miscellaneous charges, but when he puts an X in that box and hits ENTER, it tells him that he doesn't have adequate security."

plonq puts an X in the box and hovers his hand over the ENTER key, but he hesitates as his eyes continue to dwell on the menu.

"...but when he puts an X in that box and hits ENTER..."

As he continues to stare at the screen, he feels another bit of his soul wither away.

"...and hits ENTER..."

On a hunch, plonq tries hitting the PF8 key instead. He sighs and toddles off in search of the shift supervisor. "I think I may have figured out his problem here..."