Serial 11

The Planet of Genetic Misadventure  is the 11th proposed serial in the Spectral Shadows series. It is preceded by Serial 10 - Malice in the Shadows and succeeded by Serial 12 - For the Love of Mystery. Serial 11 is notable for being the only serial in the series to have been developed spontaneously on the internet with the assistance of participants from the Furry Fandom and to be illustrated profusely by Tigers-Kitten Creations. It is also the only serial to be presented as a true soap opera with an unlimited number of episodes allowing for the interwoven storylines of over 140 characters.

Plot
Protagonist Christine James is transported to the far distant future where she finds herself on the planet Cygnus which is populated by half animal people who resemble anthropomorphic cartoons in just about every way, including some that defy the expectations of nature, producing life forms that are unnaturally elastic, have no external reproductive organs to necessitate clothing, and have no uniform appearance.

Christine finds herself among old friends, including Sir Jon - the elderly incarnation of Jon Ommander, and Perry Rhoades - who proves to be a reincarnation of Rael Ommandeer which effectively reunites the trio of main protagonists from Serial 2. Christine explores her new world and makes many interesting friends among the cartoonish animal people. She even goes so far as to have herself transformed into a fox girl and changes her name to Christine Rhoades in order to fit in.

Christine then goes through several phases in her adventure, at first being scared of intimacy with the half animal alien types, then being determined to be true to only one lover which she finds next to impossible in her new Cygnusian body, and then attempting to deal with her new family after finally finding a mate.

In the midst of all this Christine finds herself attempting several careers to support herself, including healer and night club dancer. She also finds herself in and out of the drama of the people around her, numerous social controversies, wars and other potentially dangerous situations, all of which stem for various misunderstandings the animal people have come up with to make sense of the elder race of humans they evolved from.

List of Episodes
For the complete list of episodes see List of Serial 11 Episodes.

Serial 11 is by far the longest running proposed serial in Spectral Shadows thus far. Originally intended to be only 25 or so episodes long a multitude of expansive plot and character ideas ended up extending and expanding the serial far longer than ever expected. Currently there are 170 Episodes, though this number does not include multi-part episodes. The Author estimates that S11 may finish around 300 episodes.

Conception
Serial 11 is based on ideas The Author developed in the mid 1980’s while watching The Get Along Gang – the idea being to develop a similar group of anthropomorphic cartoon characters and portray them seriously as a science fiction concept for adults, rather than a children’s cartoon. Thus the initial conception of Serial 11 was to explore the many aspects of cartoon animals that are often taken for granted in comedic situations and offer seriously plausible justifications for them.

The serial also includes parodies of various titles, genres and events that have been of interest to The Author, such as “I Love A Mystery,” “The Wizard Of Oz,” Anime Fandom, Furry Fandom, internet culture, Second Life, Progressive Rock Fandom and many others.

Due to the oddity of writing the serial spontaneously online, the serial became something of a chronicle of The Author’s online experiences during the years it was in production. Thus, various story arcs are at times autobiographical in an allegorical sense, and a secondary concept was added of exploring the positive and negatives of living in an internet based culture.

Yet a third dominating concept was added due to The Author becoming involved with various religious and political controversies on the net during the writing of this serial. The Author was actually challenged by a member of Furry Fandom to put something in the serial that would deal with issues of sexuality and the politics thereof. This plus some of the surreal religious arguments The Author became involved in added the concept of contrasting the serious portrayal of cartoon animals with the cartoonish nature underlying religion and politics. Thus, the cartoon animals aren’t funny, but everything their society compels them to build their lives around is ridiculous in the extreme.

Featured Characters

 * Christine James Rhoades - Human/Red Vixen
 * Sir Jonathan Ommandeer Rhoades - Grey and White Spaniel
 * Sonja Silvetti Rhoades - Buff Cocker Spaniel
 * Perry Rhoades - Black and White Spaniel
 * Lorri Rhoades - Black and White Spaniel
 * Pamela Banks - Bare Skinned Panda Bear
 * Victoria Anderson - Blue Vixen
 * Rael Ommandeer - White Tail Deer
 * Melinda Ontonashi - Pentalian Painted Pony
 * Princess Lumira - Urusei Fairy
 * Professor Ulysses Rhoades - Human
 * Jasper Phillips - Grey Cat
 * Willow Olson - Lamb
 * Blair Montgomery - White Tailed Deer
 * Patti Patterson - Porcupine
 * Dorothy Rhoades - Buff Cocker Spaniel
 * Rocie - Humanoid Robot
 * Miyan Rutherford - Siamese Cat
 * Kacey Caddell - Pink Squirrel Skunk Hybrid
 * Jennaballina Davilla - White Angora Cat
 * Clover Lappina - Pink Rabbit
 * Jock Walsh - Palomino Horse
 * Ronald Shrives - Irish Terrier
 * Dr. Craig Reinhart - Ferret
 * Mr. Stopheles - Cat
 * Judy “Ratzo” DiCaro - Rat
 * Mr. Caddell - Purple Skunk
 * Mrs. Caddell - Red Squirrel
 * Leela Lennox - Cheetah
 * Phyllis Sumner - Purple Poodle
 * Ted Stoval - Red Deer
 * Mouse - Grey Mouse
 * Sgt. Sanko - Alligator
 * Commander Katrina - African Golden Cat
 * Police Chief Serval - Serval Cat
 * The Shadow Cat - Black Armored Feline
 * Jack Kelly - Blue Rabbit
 * Jimmy Jordon - Otter
 * Bennie The Bouncer - Bear
 * Bruno Lazzaro - Bulldog
 * Nero Lazzaro - Mastiff Dog
 * Roxy Lazzaro - German Shepherd
 * Ma Lazzaro - Collie
 * Saint Saffron - Leopard
 * Bob The Mechanic - Beaver
 * Spike Malone - Grey Wolf
 * Gene Taylor - White Lion
 * Richie Blackthorn - Raccoon
 * Mr. Nagal - Moose
 * Mrs. Nagal - Doe
 * Kenny Edricks - Koala
 * Michelle Duarte - Albino Skunk
 * Toby Firion - Doberman
 * Madame Maxine - Ermine
 * Melanie Rose - Tigress
 * Snowy Leonard - Snow Leopard
 * Duke Turner - Meerkat
 * Kriska Sobek - Alligator
 * Phira Snickers - Hyena
 * Lord Death - Raven
 * Dion-Ra - White Bird
 * Geraldo Lazzaro - Husky
 * Lukas Rhoades - Husky
 * Rick Edwards - Coyote
 * Leslie Tramaine - Lynx
 * Chico Loadstar - Sentient Truck
 * Xanthus Skylark - Sentient Car
 * Andy Cassidy - Human Avatar
 * Karen Simon - Human Avatar
 * Joy Lyons - Lioness
 * Twee Galaxy - White Rabbit/Human Avatar
 * Daria Blindside - Golden Vixen/Human Avatar
 * Officer Growlitz - Bulldog
 * Grease Coakes - Gryphon
 * Kimberly Macavoy - Human
 * Crystal Storm - Human
 * Joe Raymond - Human
 * Sergeant Stife - Pig
 * Melina Swiftwind - Black Wolfess
 * Kasim Collins - Brown Bat
 * Bixyl Shuftan - Red Fox
 * Kara Collins - Brown Bat
 * Kay Ballantine - Okapi
 * Tori Moses - Raccoon
 * Alditha Collins - White Bat
 * Jack Barclay - Blue Mouse
 * Connie Hines - Cougar
 * Milton Crofts - Elk
 * Ruby Fontain - Elephant
 * Charles Richmond - Silver Fox
 * Rob Collier - Collie
 * Jasmine Dawn - Possat
 * The Possat’s High Priestess - Unicorn
 * Dennis Baker - Ring-tailed Raccoon
 * Rogelda Zalroza - Dalmatian
 * Errol Bowie - Human Avatar
 * Reginald Deerborn - Human Avatar
 * Roll/Zero Oppsaer - Human Avatar
 * Eric Enelar - Chinchilla
 * Omman-Ra - Unseen Voice
 * The Dream Walker - Feral Coyote
 * The Queen Of Camelot
 * The Mayor Of Camelot
 * Adrian Wolfson - Black Wolf
 * Molly Squirewell - grey Squirrel
 * The Camelodian Ambassador
 * Acting Governor Tarkus
 * Makua - Incorporeal Entity
 * Amy Grayson - Cat
 * Audrey James - Human
 * Jeremy Benderski
 * Reverend Trax
 * Nikki Falinni - Green Fennec Fox
 * Rena Kurenai
 * The Witch Of The East
 * The Witch Of The West
 * The Witch Of The South
 * The Witch Of The North
 * The Wizard Of Oz
 * Dr. Archer
 * Python The Dragon - Three-Headed Mini Dragon
 * Skylark Lefavre - Winged Feline
 * Dream Catcher - Winged Green Feral Fox
 * St. James - Red Fox
 * Queen Davilla - White Cat
 * Garret Cassidy - Human
 * Ron Daily - Chipmunk
 * Maxi Rubain
 * Officer Tony - Bear
 * Hugh Howard - Dog
 * Milli The Goth Mouse - White Mouse
 * Bootsman C. Brown - Malamute
 * Bobby The Disco Bunny - Rabbit
 * Ian Payne - Red Fox
 * Michael Sagamoth - Psychedelic Moth
 * Vinna Mitchell - White Cat
 * Cozy Collins - St. Bernard
 * Chris Levin - Candy Striped Zebra