Good morning/afternoon/evening fair readers.
I just noticed that HPCBTS part 3 is now in the abandoned fics archive. As much as I hate to do this, I think I am content to leave it that way."Pet Project" is my weakest entry in the series, and I have backed myself into the dreaded "story-telling corner." I try to come back and finish what I started, but what seemed like good ideas at the time turned out to fail in practice. Now that so much time passed between updates -- and my attitudes towards my mistakes have worsened -- I feel that it's finally time to accept defeat.
I apologize for this, especially to you guys that wrote characters for the story. I admit it's not fair for new and old readers alike. I thank you all for your support of my stories, the comments and helpful criticisms along the way always kept me coming back to update.
Okay, that ends all of the bad news. Time for some good news to lighten the mood a little. I hate being a downer.
First, rather than leave you guys hanging like so many canceled projects do, what follows is a brief synopsis of my planned events for this story. Just to give you guys a bit of an idea where I wanted the story to go. Note that not all story arcs will be expanded upon, just major ones touched on during the stay at the island. You might also see why I decided to just scrap things entirely.
-Each of the submitted characters were about to receive an update dedicated to their involvement on the island. Starting with Torii and ending with Luna.
-Three major factions were to form on the island: For cats only, For dogs only, and species integration. Of course that's the oversimplified version, but that's how much I will describe for brevity's sake.
-Keene's master plan involved a gambit that played two different sides: a corporate machine he angered and the animals he allied himself with.
-The corporate machine? Animal-Food distributors that took a major hit when the animal rights movement succeeded. They lost tons of money when animals started making their own cash and chose to spend it on things (foods included) other than kibble. With no time to adapt to the sudden flux in demographic, factories across the US started closing down. (You know, like the closed factory where Jon and Snow go on a date.)
-Keene's fortunes were in the stocks, and a hefty portion of his stocks were in the very same animal-food distributors his animal rights advocacy inadvertently harmed. With stockholders backing out, the Milton's were running out of money and time. In his desperation for a solution, his research led to a certain Jackal his father was once associated with.
-Turns out there was more to the Animal Experiment's failure than simple politics. It was engineered. You see, Nair was onto something. A demi-god known only as "The Phoenix." A chaotic creature with two conflicting personalities, a side that reveled in destruction and another that reveled in the strength of those willing to fight and grow from the conflict. Appeasing both its natures granted one the blessing of the phoenix: a single dimension altering wish.
-He needed money he did not have, so he played to both sides of the conflict. To the corporations, he proposed that he dump all of the animals on an island and engineer failure to prove that animal-rights was a mistake. Perhaps then things might take a step back and they could start earning back their losses. To the animals, he offered a supposed chance at prove once and for all they could handle their newfound freedom.
-Bino was one of several "wrenches" to be thrown into the machine, one that would fuel conflict. He was to start a movement that banned cats from establishments and to rally up several candidates that "slipped by" in the selection process to do his bidding.
-With Alana's help, Peanut eventually discovers Keene's attempts to throw the island into chaos. He tries to get the information back home, but is captured and held prisoner on the island.
-Alana begrudgingly enlists the help of Grape, C.J., and her old flame to try and save the Animal Rights movement from collapsing, but things escalate when a fight breaks out in a restaurant between a mixed-species and Bino's supporters. Security tries to intervene, and the craziness spreads. Several of the fan submitted characters are shown to be taking sides in the conflict. Some help our heroes with the breakout, others hinder it.
-The story branches off in two, with our heroes attempting to navigate the chaos of the city, and the fan characters aligning with factions and fighting.
-On Grape's story path, she manages to convince Miles to help her by giving her the key to Peanut's cell, Alana manages to sneak her in close. Right as they reach Peanut, the unthinkable happens on the other story path.
-The fan characters and the respective factions inadvertently start a fire in the chaos and it spreads like crazy. It quickly becomes too intense to contain and they all realize that their petty squabbles led to the unthinkable. They all band together to try and save as many people as they can.
-The fire quickly spreads to the cells where Peanut is held and a gas explosion causes parts of the floor to collapse. Milo pushes Alana to safety and takes the brunt of an explosion and is killed during the fall.
-The crew finds themselves in a cave below the city and Peanut is badly injured in the fall. He's too hurt to move and in mortal danger, so CJ stays with Peanut, Alana realizes no good can come of moping over Milo's death and agrees to try and save Peanut. She and Grape navigate the cave. It's dark, slippery, dangerous and constantly falling apart. Grape discovers the spirit of The Phoenix amid their struggle. The chaos above sates one side, and her desire to see her husband to safety, even if it means working with a sworn enemy, sates the other.
- She gets a single blessing of the Phoenix, and in a moment of clarity she wishes for everything to work out okay for everyone involved. "I just want everyone to be okay."
-Not only do Peanut's wounds miraculously heal, a heavy rainstorm starts outside and the fire is extinguished. Alana, with hopeful intentions, runs to try and find Milo once more. Instead his spirit visits her, he tells her it's too late for him, but due to his sacrifice and Grape's wish, he can rest in peace on the other side. They tearfully reminisce and embrace one last time. His final parting words with her? "I've met your future kids, they're much nicer than mom, I can already tell."
-A long time skip happens: and a few brief events are touched on. The project is exposed for what it really was. Keene and his conspirators are imprisoned for their reckless endangerment of innocent people. Peanut's and CJ's efforts land his News Paper a Pulitzer Prize, and lands them a huge promotion at work.
-Alana returns to Babylon gardens to see the father of her children, which turns out to be Max. She comes back to beg him to take care of their kids. Max, quick to deny her, sees them and realizes that they are in fact his. They both agree that Alana is in no position to raise children: technically a fugitive and on the leash of a demi-god trapped in the body of a mortal. Max agrees to shelter the kittens, and asks her to visit them once in awhile. They share an actual, heartfelt goodbye. Something both a surprised by. With her gone, he remarks that Jay's never going to forgive him.
-The story ends with Jon and Snow sitting on top of the roof top of the sandwich house. They talk about how everything is still changing.
"I can't lie Snow, it scares me." He says.
"Me too, but change is always painful at first."
"You think things will ever settle down?"
"I don't think so. And really, who wants things to settle down? It'll get boring fast otherwise."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
"I know I'm right. If I've learned anything from you crazy pet-friendly neighborhood animals, it's that no matter how bad it gets, we will always have our friends and family to bring the good back."
"Sheesh, that sounds like something a dog would say."
"Guess you're rubbing off on me. Does that mean you might be as smart as a cat some day?"
"Maybe, if I'm lucky."
"Hey one can dream."
The scene closes with them star gazing together, content.
So with that out of the way, another smidgen of good news. If I ever come back to writing stories here on the forums again, I will not disregard all of the character developments I've made with these stories. If anything I might just pick things up again with some slice of life stuff between Jon, Snow, Denver, and Lupa. Maybe even introduce Alana's litter. I also might do a few one off stories based on the characters submitted to me, in hopes of giving back to you guys for the time you spent on creating them.
Thanks again everyone for your support over the years and I will be back soon to convert this thread into a sort of place to post a series of One-Off "episodes."
