The predictability of the plot isn't really a fault of the author so much as it represents a limitation of the medium they were working with. I can't say the tone really worked for me, tho. The BAM TWIST straight into conclusion fails to properly convey...much of anything beyond natural emotional response. There's plenty of material here for speculation and discussion, but to echo Kiena, there really isn't anything conclusive at all to derive from the story. Certainly it could carry some promise as a series, though.
Re:Tags while it's always a welcome discussion and so on, in this case there won't be any changes. Perhaps next time we'll be better off posting that first, since it does seem like these tag discussions become rather circular after a while.
