To get away from the endings for a while, Iv'e been thinking about the opening a bit. The story may possibly be published independently of SJ, in which case it needs a bit more exposition for new readers. I needed an extra character for the opening scene, so I came up with a roommate for Leona. Later I reconsidered because some of the plots work better if Leona doesn't have anyone to miss her, so I changed it to a friend. Anyway, in an early version I made a point of Leona considering her friend as "one of Them", so I came up with a leopard girl with the temporary name of Spotzie. (duh) Characters introduced, roll plot. In the opening shot Spotzie sits in the background (presumably in Leona's place, as she's about to get a phone call) doing her claws or something. The foreground is dominated by Leona who's howling with rage as she demolishes a magazine (presumably with Tiffany on the cover, though it is a bit too late to tell at this point). Spotzie looks at Leona and asks: "She did it again, huh?" Leona calms down half a notch, walks over to Spotzie and brandishes the remains of the magazine. "You bet your spotty little.... rear she did. Look!" Spotzie looks at the bundle of paper and thinks "Great, another $12.50 out the window!" Out loud she adds: "Uh, have you got a 'before' picture? You know, as in before you flew off the handle and reduced the thing to atoms?" "Never mind." Leona tosses the paper wad into an overflowing recycling bin and paces a bit. "You know who I mean anyway. Gods above and below, how I hate that woman! Just thinking of her makes my blood boil..." "Boil?" Spotzie raises an eyebrow. "Leona dear, you're positively reeking with brimstone. It's a wonder you don't drop dead from bile poisoning." She starts sweeping up paper shreds and stuffing them into the overflowing bin. "Why are you so hell bent on being a model anyway? Have you considered an office job?" "Moi?" Leona snorts. "Can you picture me as a secretary?" Spotzie shakes her head. "Not really. But I've got a very clear image of you as a document shredder." Leona glowers menacingly at her friend fora few moments, then she cracks up and bursts into laughter. Danger averted... "Spotzie, you're the living end!" (Uh, what does that mean exactly?) "Ah, ah!" Spotzie raises a correcting finger. "The living *spotted* end!" "Yeah, lucky you..." If space and pacing permits, there may be more exposition here, and Leona gets to explain some of her background, but I'll leave that to her creator for now. the action commences with the phone ringing, and it just occured to me that this scene could take place anywhere if Leona has a mobile phone (cell phone to you Americans). Anyway, the phone rings, and the conversation runs mostly as outlined earlier. One exposition idea I get is that when Woody says his name, Leona repeats "Woody?" and he replies, "Yes, Woody Wolf, your agent." This is just to inform new readers who he is, of course, and then Leona gets to explain that she knows who he is, she just wasn't expecting to hear from him because she thought he was out of town or something. This is actually the origin point of the arcade joke I described as an independent strip earlier. Getting down to business, Woody forgets who he's talking to for a moment, and starts saying "Face it Tiger (you just hit the jackpot)" but Leona cuts him off with "Dont call me Tige!!" Halfway through the conversation we switch to Spotzie's POV, so the last thing we "hear" Woody say is that there is a catch. Then we get to see the leopard's reactions to Leona's part of the exchange. "Oh. What is it? "Dye my fur?? "I see. What pattern? "Say again??? "That's what I thought you said. "I'll... think about it. "Bye." She hangs up and remains sitting with her hand on the receiver (or the mobile in her hand), staring blankly into space as if she doesn't believe what she just heard. Finally Spotzie's curiosity gets the better of her, and she pads over to ask quietly: "What pattern?" "Polkadot..." Cue main titles: <> A polkadot "what if" tail from the Suburban Jungle starring Leona Lion The main part then commences with a large panel where the "new look" Leona is posing for Wally and Prof, the latter pretending to be a casting director or something. (He is of course the one who knows best exactly what Dotty must look like.) ---- A little note on this scene: I decided to tone down Leona's hatred of anyone spotted or striped a bit - she is after all about to join them! But even though the tigress isn't mentioned by name so far, Leona's hatred for Tiffany will become important in at least one of the endings, so I kept that and even increased it a little. Okay, that's the end of this bit so far...