I love the adoption stories. My wife works with some TNR and cat adoption groups in our area, so maybe I'm a little biased! That means we foster kittens occasionally, and all three of our crew were failed attempts at fostering.
Zuzu is a "cat" breed. One day, the guys that were always hanging out at the gas station by our apartment in Chicago were selling kittens. They had one left, and wanted $60. The let my wife hold her, at which point in time she told them they couldn't be doing stuff like this, and she was going to give them $20 and take the cat. If they didn't take the deal, she was going to call the cops. And if she ever saw them doing that kind of thing again, she would just call the cops. Now Zuzu's a fat, spoiled, lazy girl who will take any form of attention from just about anyone and frequently snores even if she's awake.
Louis was a set up. My wife fostered a litter of snowshoes and he was the one "nobody wanted to adopt." Probably because he was never on the adoption roster. Does she know I know this? Probably. Does she care? Probably not. He's a very sweet boy (usually) and kind of skittish, but loves to roll around in dirt and he's not above getting creative about finding some (seen above). He maintains his innocence in this matter, as well as all similar incidents.
Beans is another set up, I'm pretty sure - nother "failed" foster. She's a tortie - loud, sassy, bossy and clearly the "head cat" despite being the baby. Seen here taking her turn sitting in the box (that she mostly destroyed). Our old cat Oliver (RIP) is at the back of the line.