Welcome to the epilogue for "In Our World: An Otter Prequel". This was a long story and I thank those of you who made it all the way through very much. Whether you followed it week-by-week or read through it all at once, thanks for sticking around this long. As is typical of my epilogues, I am here to share information about this story and tease the next.
So, Marlene and Emily's parents. This is an idea I got way back in September 2014, most likely. I planned out my general ideas for the story and then worked on it. As usual, I picked the names for all OC's very carefully. I picked the names Sebastien and Diana because they evoke a very good air about them. For the OC's at the aquarium, I chose those names because I felt they are very good and go together well in a different way than Sebastien and Diana, even though they appeared briefly.
It was always my intention that Sebastien and Diana would start out as militarized Otters. However, I was planning to start with the birth of Marlene and work back from there. But I personally feel it worked out much better that I chose the opposite. There was more character development for my two main characters in this story. And I guess both Sebastien and Diana and Marlene and Emily have something in common. Parental loss. However, Sebastien and Diana are clearly alive, even if Marlene and Emily don't know it.
I also chose the Monterey Bay Aquarium for a specific reason. If I had set it anywhere else between Northern California and Los Angeles, that would have conflicted with the story line in Book 4 of getting everyone back together, creating a paradox. So making them go to there was the best option, as it is the closest thing to San Francisco, where a lot of the story takes place near. While they are close to the action, they are also far enough away that it would take too long to get there, especially with suspicions higher in our world than theirs of where the animals go.
So for Marlene's scandal, I went with something innocent to try and keep her mostly in character. I was thinking of her deliberately ruining other Otter's tries, but decided against that quickly. Marlene may be determined to win, but she's not crazy. After all, in the show, she references it only once and vaguely. So it's essentially open to every individual fan's interpretation.
Finally, it wasn't always my plan to send Sebastien and Diana to our world, but as I got closer to writing the end of this story, it made more and more sense. And Bob seemed to be the perfect means to that end, circling back to the first few chapters. It was fun to go back and figure out how they would react to seeing Marlene and Emily again, at least on the news and such.
Now here comes the news you've been waiting for. I am in fact working on a new story. However, due to the amount of feedback, I have decided not to move forward with In Our World for awhile. Instead I have created a new, independent story. Here is a good summary of it:
Skipper has returned from a special solo mission. But someone else has also transferred to the zoo. Villain after villain attacks. What will be revealed about some of the residents?
It's both an action story and has a certain air of mystery about it. I don't have a set date for when I will release it, as school has kept me from updating it as much as I would like. But rest assured, it will be out before the summer is over.
In conclusion, thank you for reading this book, those of you that did. I hope you will now dissect it for any plot points I may or may not use in future stories. Have a great existence!
Day Planning Began: September 1, 2014
Finish Date: May 23, 2015 (edits after too)