Title Text: dear internet, this is a gag, which means it is humorous "on purpose"
![Image](https://i.makeagif.com/media/1-05-2017/8n9ov_.gif)
consider this.The Blue Fox wrote: ↑Fri Feb 26, 2021 5:19 am Uhhhh...![]()
Would that be considered...you know what...considering she's supposed to be a pet dog?![]()
I...uh...I'm not sure how to feel about that being featured with the actual webcomic.![]()
I can completely understand King's reaction...I don't know if Bailey's right to consider it "cute".![]()
I love you!Gavinfoxx wrote: ↑Fri Feb 26, 2021 8:33 am I'll touch it!
Many of the critters in the Housepets universe pass the Harkness Test -- even the more elaborated, stringent, detailed, and particular versions of it. Therefore, the content of the dream is not an inherently unethical act. It'd be classified as 'Xenophilia'.
With a strong difference: this specific comic indulges in making fun of that point of view, in regard to the peculiar case that is King/Joel, it is NOT supposed to break any rating and/or encourage fanshipping.D-Rock wrote: ↑Fri Feb 26, 2021 11:06 am The fact that they’re still considered “animals,” have animalistic traits, desires, instincts, and even thought processes does not help at mitigating feelings of unease. Plus, we have discouraged human/animal pairings among fans for this reason, in reference to people wanting to ship Lois and Poncho as well as the teenage wolves with human classmates.
Bold of you to assume that this is the first time I’ve had these feelings of unease. It’s been there since King first saw Bailey for me.
King thinks his mind is a c*sspoolCesco wrote: ↑Fri Feb 26, 2021 2:35 pm Uhm, overall, that's a strange but nice dream scenery, but for King, who was that human, it's such a nightmare...![]()
Eheh, come on King, Bailey finds it cute, and that's good.
At least, you've been enough brave to tell her about it.
Anyway, now the question is: why do you use two toilet brushes in the bathroom?
Very nice other comic, Valerio and Coughee Aholic!![]()
Not with Bailey around!CunningFox wrote: ↑Fri Feb 26, 2021 12:43 pm I wonder if Mungo has ever tried to give King some therapy.
NHWestoN wrote: ↑Fri Feb 26, 2021 9:19 pmNot with Bailey around!CunningFox wrote: ↑Fri Feb 26, 2021 12:43 pm I wonder if Mungo has ever tried to give King some therapy.
Wull, she and King are married and, figures the guy who just celebrated his fiftieth anniversary, your wedded partner is your primary therapist. Least that's how it's worked for us.
Bailey? Guarded? Not sure we're talking about the same dog here.NHWestoN wrote: ↑Fri Feb 26, 2021 9:50 pmWull, she and King are married and, figures the guy who just celebrated his fiftieth anniversary, your wedded partner is your primary therapist. Least that's how it's worked for us.
Now, if King wanted an outside therapist, I'm sure Bailey would support him, but I see no indication that he does. Would he choose Mungo? Dunno. Would Bailey appreciate having Mungo approach her Kingy given what she's perhaps seen between him and Fox. She might be a little guarded. Rick can handle that one.
Kudos! You nailed it exactly! it will be a good, very good moment when this theme will be explored again. HP is about PEOPLE.anhedral wrote: ↑Sat Feb 27, 2021 1:11 am This probably won't be a popular view, but it seems to me that this lovely guest strip is simply nudging open a door that HP has already held ajar for years.
For all of its comedic gold, Housepets is a text that probes continuously at how we should relate to others around us who just happen to look, well, different. It's been doing this for a long, long time – since 2011, in fact, when King's very human mind first admitted to itself that he was attracted to a female dog. In loving Bailey, in marriage and later on in fatherhood, King finds a level of fulfilment that he never once encountered as a human. At the conclusion of 'Heaven's Not Enough', when given the choice to be remade human, he chooses to remain a dog. The King-Bailey dynamic is shown to be fundamentally rock-solid, and above all, wholesome.
King rediscovers his humanity through becoming a dog, a mind-bending irony that seems to lie at the very heart and soul of HP. But in illustrating the theme of 'animals are people', he's far from being a lone example.
Throughout HP, animals are shown to be entirely capable of making their way in the human world. Res is a talented, and very successful, writer. Gale becomes a businesswoman. Miles becomes a qualified schoolteacher, entrusted to educate human kids. There's the K9 unit.
Itsuki is a skilled mechanic. Moreover, in Japan, tanuki are full citizens. In 'Heckraiser', we learn that transformed humans are to gain full rights too.
When Sasha is rescued from an abusive 'owner', she is said to be 'emancipated'. I don't think those word choices in the comic were accidental. We've encountered them before in human history.
Yes, the HP critters retain some animalistic behaviours. However, in all of the aspects that really matter, they are to all intents and purposes, human. King, Miles, Itsuki and the rest have gone out of their way to adapt to a human world. It's time for the humans to meet them halfway in that endeavour.
there you are wrong: in the HP universe, that 'line' does not exist. Don't think 'our' world, think 'that' worldAmazee Dayzee wrote: ↑Sat Feb 27, 2021 2:27 am All of that may be true but I am sure that the universe does still have standards and this might be edging DANGEROUSLY close to going over one line.![]()
Standards? Yes, absolutely, and respectfully I would suggest that those standards are precisely those defined by Rick's original content and by the content he allows to be shown in guest strips. No more and no less than that.Amazee Dayzee wrote: ↑Sat Feb 27, 2021 2:27 am All of that may be true but I am sure that the universe does still have standards and this might be edging DANGEROUSLY close to going over one line.![]()
The comic doesn't state explicitely that we should regard the HP animals as fundamentally equal to humans in their sentience, intelligence and capacity for moral behaviour. Rather, these attributes are shown to us through their thoughts and actions, their ability to give and to receive love, to be emotionally uplifted and sometimes hurt; to behave with generosity or selfishness and be fully aware of the consequences. All the human stuff, in other words.
I don't believe in following your dreams. I believe in following your purpose. Sometimes the things we want aren't the things we need.
Nothing QUITE like your step-dad moving in on your mom(!)
admit it, now you're just grasping at straws