"Never see her again." Yeah right.

Bunners

LOL. Now, now. Don't give any possible plot lines away.

Cliches are not spoilers.

Bunners

Actually, that meeting scene was added almost a year after I originally wrote Chapter 3, back when I was writing the story in first person rather than third. In a few chapters, you'll see where I had originally had Michael meeting Ophelia.

I forgot to include this in the description. I want to thank A_Blue_Deer for allowing me to use their name as the name of the restaurant that Michael and the Panthera family go for their welcoming dinner.

(Again, I'm arriving three+ years after the fact, and don't mean to just bump the comments for no reason. No reply is necessary, but for anyone else reading your story now/later, I wanted to offer a few perspectives.)

The parallels (or lack thereof) in anthro stories always intrigues me. If the story actually has people/humans co-existing with anthros, it becomes even more interesting.

World building by itself is a daunting task. I always reflect on how Mr. Tolkien managed his 'Middle Earth' Universe, and KNOW I'll never even come close, even if I still had forty or more years to do it?!



One of the things I've dabbled in has involved genetics and splicing to achieve the 'Anthro-verse' settings and stories I've written. None of them are completed or really well built. Mostly just idea I had, characters that sprang to mind and I wanted to get them down on paper (REAL paper, with pencil, 'cause I'm an OLDE B*tch! lol ). I may never do more with any of it, but knowing they're there, still waiting for their Stories to be told, keeps me going.

I like how you've built the family dynamic, both the good aspects, and the bad. I relate so closely to this. Born the only daughter, Momma being Catholic (And my mandatory Catholic Indoctrination from K-8th Grade), saw me living a never-ending gauntlet of expectations, 'Proper dress/manners/behavior-with-the-other-gender,' to the point I literally became a rebel against ALL of it. Had she just taught me her values, explained why she felt they were so important, but then answered MY differing views and respected them? I'd likely have lived a totally different life. Well, she's long gone, and no reconciliation was ever made or even possible in her later years. That's just how life goes sometimes.

So, you've got me hooked on many levels, from varying perspectives and challenges, and I LOVE it!

Thanks. To hear a reader state that they're hooked on my story is vindication of my ability as a writer. Yes, I did create my Humanimals to be the result of gene splicing and, as you either have already read or will read soon, there was a good reason for it. I've had several people tell me unequivocally that interspecies breeding is impossible even with anthros even with my explanation of how it is possible. It irritates me when they do this but I just shrug it off and think, "If they disagree with what's in my story, why are they continuing to read it?" LOL.

Thanks again for reading this and commenting. Comments help me to grow as a writer. I hope you continue to be impressed with the story and, since you're early in the story, I'll let you know that I've got a few surprises in later chapters. I hope you enjoy them when they occur.

Here's the thing about all the 'Nay Sayers' in the world (Esp. those that plague people who DARE think outside the box!): It wasn't all that long ago, EVERYONE believed the world was 'Flat' (And sadly, there are still willful idiots who proclaim it is. alas...). No one believed 'Steam Power' would ever truly become something (Or internal combustion anything for that matter). People didn't believe humans would ever fly. Some people still believe the planet Earth is only a few thousands (Or at best, tens of) of years old, and that dinosaurs are imaginary/not real.
I've literally dug up fossils, and found them throughout my travels. I highly doubt someone is responsible for littering their remains all over the planet?!

You get where I'm going with this one, no doubt.

Gene splicing CHEATS Natural Laws, and there's some damned disturbing evidence/leads that governments have not only been engaging in it, but have/are actually PRODUCING LIVING HYBRIDS from it. Simpler organisms of course are 'Easier' to manipulate (Viruses, Bacteria, etc.), but I have zero doubt they've been jockeying with much higher/more complex life forms (Including the two/four/many-legged kind).

So, what's 'Impossible' today, becomes 'Commonplace' in the future.
Heck, some things that were possible 'Before,' we can't do now! (Egyptian pyramids are a prime example, but there's tons of others throughout the globe.)

That is undeniable, and history proves it.

I enjoy Sci-Fi/Fantasy for precisely that- IT ISN'T (yet) REAL, so the Authors can take huge leaps, and if they're good, they'll still be believable even if its out of our reach at the moment.

So, never let 'Those people' discourage you in anything you do. I take that sort of tripe, fold it neatly and put it in my back pocket, to remind me that what I like/believe in matters enough to irritate THEM, and use that as motivation to continue doing so!

You know, it's funny you mentioned that "IT ISN'T (yet) REAL". In the book, "A Princess of Mars", Dejah Thoris tells John Carter that the Barsoomians (Martians) know all about life on Earth because they have taken photos of everything. Clear photos from 34 million miles. This story was written at a time in which photos from more than 15 feet were usually quite blurry. (I know, I've got some family photos from that era.) And today, we can take photos from 100+ miles away and they're crystal clear.

It's really sorta scary how well Sci-Fi FORETELLS technology, isn't it?

Yep. I even read that the great Mark Twain once wrote in a story about how a photograph was sent along telegraph wires long before it was possible to do so. And let's not forget how Jules Verne wrote about a submarine before the first true submarine was actually built.

Growing up, watching the original Star Trek/Buck Rogers/Battlestar Galactica, I often thought about how cool it would be to have a vehicle/vessel 'Talk' to you, answer questions, handheld computer tablets, weaponry, and 'Faster-than-light' engines that took those characters to different stars and planets.
I grew up reading the old 'Classics', and Verne/Asimov were at the top of my list, after Tolkien of course (Though that's traveling down a totally different route of 'Fantasy'.). Heck, even in Tolkien's work, there were the examples of 'Magical' devices that people could use to communicate across great distance, and share images. The globes, or 'Palintir' (Which got Pippin into so much trouble!).

I could spend days reminiscing/talking about such things!

Am still reading through the Chapters, but trying to not pester ya with long replies at the end of each (I'm making a 'List' instead! lol )

Well, I must let you know that I doubt you watched the "original" Buck Rogers. The original Buck Rogers was a movie serial back in the 1930s and 40s. It was also a comic book earlier than that. But, I don't want you to think I'm criticizing; it's just something I know.

As far as pestering me with long replies to each of my chapters, don't let that bother you. Having someone tell me what they think of one of my chapters is the highlight of my writing. I love knowing what readers think of my writing. So, please don't hesitate to let me know immediately what you think of the chapter you just read.

WHOOPS!
Yep, ya caught me flat-footed 'bout the 'Original' Buck Rodgers! I've watched many of those wonderful B/W episodes, but that wasn't the Series I was thinking of when my phalanges were making that reply (Above)!

I shall go back to the next Chapter then, and continue with the comments, since you don't mind!

LOL. I had a feeling you were referring to the TV series starring Gil Gerard as Buck. Oh, and don't worry about your phalanges making that mistake. If I had a dollar for each mistake mine have made recently, I could retire and not worry about income for at least 30 years. LOL.