King: Let me answer it this way. Remember the physics problem I asked you earlier?fenrirblack wrote:
King: Don't worry Marion, I understand. I too am guilty of staying up until 3 a.m. playing on my Sega Genesis.
Marion: Wait. A Sega Genesis? Isn't that from the eighties? How old are you?
King: Okay, first technically it came out in 89 and I'm talking about when I was playing it in the nineties.
Marion: That doesn't answer my question.
[
Still think it might be helpful bringing in Spo. Snarky as he is, being close to Marion in size, he might make the poor acorn-snatcher feel more at ease. King and Marion don't seem to be hitting it off.trekkie wrote:Well, we’ve got another clue as to how and when Marion was transformed. I’m glad Fox is calling Marion by his name, I’m sure it relaxed the squirrel. I do like how Fox is trying to calm Marion with his words and expression. Don’t worry Marion, I’m sure you’ll get to make up the exam, being transformed into a squirrel should count as an illness or injury. To defend Marion a little he was determined to go to school, he didn’t immediately think “hey I’m a squirrel, sick day!”, so he was a diligent student, even if he wasn’t the best, and it is possible that he studied for the exam on some prior evenings. I’m wondering how much sleep the poor guy got as he got only about four hours of sleep the night the previous night, and we don’t really know how muck sleep he’s gotten tonight.
If you were studying till that hour it's fine, but, why lie about that? 
I don't know how works that game, but it sounds frustrating. 
Yeah, King, that's another human proof. 
I'd be worried he might start hitting on Marion. He has a thing for taller girls lol. Would make for a hilarious conversation though.NHWestoN wrote: Still think it might be helpful bringing in Spo. Snarky as he is, being close to Marion in size, he might make the poor acorn-snatcher feel more at ease. King and Marion don't seem to be hitting it off.
."
On the assumption that our favorite pooches dont figure this all out tonight, I expect at least one throwaway strip someday like this. Maybe one of the ferrets will become infatuated.Sir Chestnut wrote:I'd be worried he might start hitting on Marion. He has a thing for taller girls lol. Would make for a hilarious conversation though.NHWestoN wrote: Still think it might be helpful bringing in Spo. Snarky as he is, being close to Marion in size, he might make the poor acorn-snatcher feel more at ease. King and Marion don't seem to be hitting it off.
."
dr_eirik wrote:On the assumption that our favorite pooches dont figure this all out tonight, I expect at least one throwaway strip someday like this. Maybe one of the ferrets will become infatuated.Sir Chestnut wrote:I'd be worried he might start hitting on Marion. He has a thing for taller girls lol. Would make for a hilarious conversation though.NHWestoN wrote: Still think it might be helpful bringing in Spo. Snarky as he is, being close to Marion in size, he might make the poor acorn-snatcher feel more at ease. King and Marion don't seem to be hitting it off.
."
We've been speculating like crazy on that one since Fido showed up, and more so with them in the same room.Xane wrote:Now I'm curious if Fido knows King was Joel. And just how much Fox and Sabrina told him about the whole mess.
As much I don't believe Eudoant is behind this, it is fun to think of him as doing this for revenge. But at the same time, we've never seen him with any kind of powers or even if he survived the lava wave. The only thing he had going for him was his size and his whip. Dino-Demon had more going for him power wise (floating, acid saliva, glowing eyes and the booming voice calling "the deal has been struck." If Eudoant is going to be apart of the story, I rather believe that it is simply to retrieve the Dino-Demon rather than have anything to do with Marion's transformation.NHWestoN wrote:Still think it might be helpful bringing in Spo. Snarky as he is, being close to Marion in size, he might make the poor acorn-snatcher feel more at ease. King and Marion don't seem to be hitting it off.trekkie wrote:Well, we’ve got another clue as to how and when Marion was transformed. I’m glad Fox is calling Marion by his name, I’m sure it relaxed the squirrel. I do like how Fox is trying to calm Marion with his words and expression. Don’t worry Marion, I’m sure you’ll get to make up the exam, being transformed into a squirrel should count as an illness or injury. To defend Marion a little he was determined to go to school, he didn’t immediately think “hey I’m a squirrel, sick day!”, so he was a diligent student, even if he wasn’t the best, and it is possible that he studied for the exam on some prior evenings. I’m wondering how much sleep the poor guy got as he got only about four hours of sleep the night the previous night, and we don’t really know how muck sleep he’s gotten tonight.
I kinda like Eudoant as the malefactor here, maybe just to get her back in the game. (Oh, right, Eudoant's male - still can't get that right.)
Cerberus: "Okay, Infernal, you take the pot tonight. That means you get to prank a mortal. Remember, nothing fatal or seriously dastardly. Celestials have to clean up after you Pandemonians."
Eudoant: "Sheesh, you're a barrel of laughs, pup. How'bout transforming a human into a critter? We've done that before, always good for a giggle."
Cerberus: "Sounds pretty safe. Nothing too mean, though."
Eudoant: "Can I target some neurotic like your gryphon pal did?"
Cerberus: "Okay with you, Kitsune? You've handled these cases before?"
Kitsune: "Why not? But no more dogs or cats, they're getting boring. How about a butterfly?"
Eudoant: "A what!? Come'on, I don't get to do this that often! Make it a crocodile … or a vulture."
Cerberus: "No, we're going for cute and harmless here. Maybe a bunny..."
Eudoant: "Or a dino-demon. They're really cute and so unpredictable. That'ud be fun."
Cerberus: "You do NOT want to bring up dino-demons, Eudoant!"
Eudoant: "Celestials - no senses of humor. Alright, how about a raccoon or a chipmunk or a squirrel? Something hyperactive and mildly deranged, safe enough right?"
Kitsune: "Yeah, school's starting for mortal adolescents - that could be really wild, but not harmful."
Cerberus: "Okay, I dealt so I get to choose - make it a squirrel."
Eudoant: "... and I'll pick someone in Babylon Gardens - maybe I can get a little payback after those fur burns I got from those Temple intruders."
Kitsune: "Tsk tsk, shouldn't carry grudges, Eudoant. They're spiritual chains, you know …."
Eudoant: " I … like … chains … GK. We … make … them … for … fun … And … for … export."
Not proven either way. Insufficient evidence.Silly Zealot wrote:Okay, then. Let us recap:
Theories
Is Steward A Villain: YES.
Steward's Goal: Revenge or Regaining his Old Life
Did He Change Marion: No
You guys are all terrifying.dr_eirik wrote:On the assumption that our favorite pooches dont figure this all out tonight, I expect at least one throwaway strip someday like this. Maybe one of the ferrets will become infatuated.Sir Chestnut wrote: I'd be worried he might start hitting on Marion. He has a thing for taller girls lol. Would make for a hilarious conversation though.
404 evidence not found.Argent wrote:Not proven either way. Insufficient evidence.Silly Zealot wrote:Okay, then. Let us recap:
Theories
Is Steward A Villain: YES.
Steward's Goal: Revenge or Regaining his Old Life
Did He Change Marion: No
Hey don't blame me. It's says "theories" up top not facts for a reason.Silly Zealot wrote:404 evidence not found.Argent wrote:Not proven either way. Insufficient evidence.Silly Zealot wrote:Okay, then. Let us recap:
Theories
Is Steward A Villain: YES.
Steward's Goal: Revenge or Regaining his Old Life
Did He Change Marion: No
Hey, blame the source text, not the copy-paster. *grin*
I love this idea. It also would make Steward a red herring; our badger simply being a pragmatist rather than an antagonist would be neat twist.Mr. Whisper wrote:My bets are on Eudoant being the one who changed Marion. It would take the instincts of a beast to track down and retrieve those three escapees, and since the actual animals seem to be under the protection of Heaven, he would need to exploit a loophole: Pick out a human who lives nearby and tap into their basest, most primal instincts to turn them into the agent he needs!
OK, while I may be against some theories, this is one I would LOVE to see play out! Though I would alter the ending to where Bahumat changes Marion back but punishes Kitsune for not getting involved sooner as...well I personally think they, the Celestials, wouldn't deny Marion the chance to be human again because of this one minor slip-up on his part.Ash Greytree wrote:Okay, so Marion only got 4 hours of sleep. That leaves a smaller time window for anybody to sneak into his house and transform him with a coin or whatever. Let’s look at Marion’s bedroom again. Hypothetical: Marion was so into the game (probably with headphones and mic on) that he managed to miss a certain badger or someone else sneaking into his room to slip a coin in his bed. Then, exhausted, he takes off his jeans, slides into bed and conks out near-instantly, and his hand or leg or whatever touches the coin and he gets squirrelified. Maybe the coin was slipped under his pillow and Marion is one of those people who sleeps on his side with one hand under the pillow...
I love this idea. It also would make Steward a red herring; our badger simply being a pragmatist rather than an antagonist would be neat twist.Mr. Whisper wrote:My bets are on Eudoant being the one who changed Marion. It would take the instincts of a beast to track down and retrieve those three escapees, and since the actual animals seem to be under the protection of Heaven, he would need to exploit a loophole: Pick out a human who lives nearby and tap into their basest, most primal instincts to turn them into the agent he needs!
I just got a neat thought about where this arc could go long-term if this Eudoant theory turns out to be true: What if Marion ends up permanently a squirrel because he gets tempted and takes Eudoant’s offer? Like, a dream sequence gets started, we think it’s Kitsune, but instead it’s Eudoant. He offers Marion the chance to turn back to human if he can get a hold of Keene and Breele with some magic thing. Marion goes with it at first, but has second thoughts over time and helps stop Eudoant when the demon tries doing something really nasty.
After all’s said and done, Kitsune shows up and says “Sorry, you took a deal with a devil. As punishment, Heaven Rules don’t allow me to change you back, even if you helped stop them.” Lois, who’s been with Marion thick and thin through his whole character arc, objects strongly to this, and in response, Kitsune decides to offer Lois a boon where she’s allowed to turn into a squirrel herself permanently, so they can stay together as a couple, and she accepts.
I wonder where these "flashcards" are. I think someone mentioned this before but maybe being squirrelified was a good thing. I mean four hours of sleep and you know he did not study enough for that exam. Now he has the perfect excuse not to take it or at least take it later when he has nothing else to do except study. I mean he ain't playing anymore games with those tiny paws and arms.Ash Greytree wrote:Okay, so Marion only got 4 hours of sleep. That leaves a smaller time window for anybody to sneak into his house and transform him with a coin or whatever. Let’s look at Marion’s bedroom again. .
Forget Eudoant and let's make the true antagonist be Kitsune's evil twin. The Nogitsune. Dum dum dum. It makes too much sense not to have a evil Kitsune running around. It completes the Yin Yan symbolism. And everything Kitsune did was in preparation for a huge confrontation with Nogitsune where the fate of the world, Heaven, and Hell are in the balance.Ash Greytree wrote:I love this idea. It also would make Steward a red herring; our badger simply being a pragmatist rather than an antagonist would be neat twist.Mr. Whisper wrote:My bets are on Eudoant being the one who changed Marion. It would take the instincts of a beast to track down and retrieve those three escapees, and since the actual animals seem to be under the protection of Heaven, he would need to exploit a loophole: Pick out a human who lives nearby and tap into their basest, most primal instincts to turn them into the agent he needs!
I just got a neat thought about where this arc could go long-term if this Eudoant theory turns out to be true: What if Marion ends up permanently a squirrel because he gets tempted and takes Eudoant’s offer? Like, a dream sequence gets started, we think it’s Kitsune, but instead it’s Eudoant. He offers Marion the chance to turn back to human if he can get a hold of Keene and Breele with some magic thing. Marion goes with it at first, but has second thoughts over time and helps stop Eudoant when the demon tries doing something really nasty.
After all’s said and done, Kitsune shows up and says “Sorry, you took a deal with a devil. As punishment, Heaven Rules don’t allow me to change you back, even if you helped stop them.” Lois, who’s been with Marion thick and thin through his whole character arc, objects strongly to this, and in response, Kitsune decides to offer Lois a boon where she’s allowed to turn into a squirrel herself permanently, so they can stay together as a couple, and she accepts.
You're assuming she wasn't playing with him...fenrirblack wrote:I do hope Lois is listening on this conversation, shaking her head, and thinking, "Seriously with the Overwatch again. He told me he was going to study last night and not play. I specifically told him not to do that."
You dont see the whole desk, they could be there. More likely in the backpack.fenrirblack wrote: I wonder where these "flashcards" are. I think someone mentioned this before but maybe being squirrelified was a good thing. I mean four hours of sleep and you know he did not study enough for that exam. Now he has the perfect excuse not to take it or at least take it later when he has nothing else to do except study. I mean he ain't playing anymore games with those tiny paws and arms.
Considering her reaction at the police station, I doubt she would be playing Overwatch at 3 a.m. or even was awake at 3 a.m.dr_eirik wrote:You're assuming she wasn't playing with him...fenrirblack wrote:I do hope Lois is listening on this conversation, shaking her head, and thinking, "Seriously with the Overwatch again. He told me he was going to study last night and not play. I specifically told him not to do that."
This sounds pretty awesome, but, unfortunately, I cannot be swayed. I have already been introduced to Eudoant, and I must have more of him.fenrirblack wrote:Forget Eudoant and let's make the true antagonist be Kitsune's evil twin. The Nogitsune. Dum dum dum. It makes too much sense not to have a evil Kitsune running around. It completes the Yin Yan symbolism. And everything Kitsune did was in preparation for a huge confrontation with Nogitsune where the fate of the world, Heaven, and Hell are in the balance.
I'm glad I'm not the Dean who has to adjudicate his excuse letter......Amazee Dayzee wrote:From the alt text and knowing who is the one that puts it in, I think it is safe to assume we know how a certain squirrel spent his time studying the day before his finals.
Why would Eudoant need an agent? If he has the power to turn Marion into a squirrel, couldn't he use his power to solve the problem himself? We didn't see much of him so this analysis could be wrong, but he didn't strike me as someone who would choose this course of action from many for the benifit of the mortal or for fun like Great Kitsune.Mr. Whisper wrote:My bets are on Eudoant being the one who changed Marion. It would take the instincts of a beast to track down and retrieve those three escapees, and since the actual animals seem to be under the protection of Heaven, he would need to exploit a loophole: Pick out a human who lives nearby and tap into their basest, most primal instincts to turn them into the agent he needs!
Indeed.OrWasIt.EXE wrote:if I recall, isn't he also shown holding the pencil with his left in Pet Peeve?Ryusuta wrote:Ohhh... check it out! Fox is left-handed! =D
Marion has appeared rather large this arc.Just look at how little clearance there is between the top of his legs and the bottom of the table. He was a little longer than his backpack from head to tail, but now his torso and head are almost the length of the chair back by themselves. It's possible this is dog-sized furniture, but the simpler solution is by sitting down his short legs don't hold him back as much (I doubt his feet are even on the floor).dr_eirik wrote:Hes not on a book, you'd see it in the wide shots. He keeps standing up, I think, when hes worked up.Sir Chestnut wrote:I'm wondering if Marion might be sitting on a book or something. But Marion was a little shy of being up to Jessica's neck, and King is a little bit shorter than Jessica.dr_eirik wrote: Either King is even shorter than I thought or Marion is bigger. Or both
Marion seems to be only about a squirrel-head shorter than King.
I think I need to see most of the cast arrested and in a lineup. Then we can find out how tall everyone is.
It's a little out dated, but there are these:Sir Chestnut wrote:I think the closest we'll get is when Rick did the cast drawings in his regular art style. But it would be nice to see.dr_eirik wrote: I think I need to see most of the cast arrested and in a lineup. Then we can find out how tall everyone is.
As far as I know, Rick Griffin himself writes the alt texts. You might be getting them mixed up with the link texts which are few and far betweenAmazee Dayzee wrote:From the alt text and knowing who is the one that puts it in, I think it is safe to assume we know how a certain squirrel spent his time studying the day before his finals.
Based on what we've seen with The Forgotten and Keene's little dino friend, it would seem that demons cannot manifest on Earth without help from our side, so Eudoant would have no choice but to "enlist" a mortal agent for this.Champion Wallace wrote:Why would Eudoant need an agent? If he has the power to turn Marion into a squirrel, couldn't he use his power to solve the problem himself? We didn't see much of him so this analysis could be wrong, but he didn't strike me as someone who would choose this course of action from many for the benifit of the mortal or for fun like Great Kitsune.
That makes sense but still a bit of a leap. Slightly Damned had the same principle but slightly different. And we don't know for sure if that was what the "Deal" was for. It more likely meant that Keene would have no choice but to take the Dino-Demon back if he retrieved the hat. The "deal" forced Keene to take the demon not that the demon needed Keene to "manifest." If Eudoant needed an agent of any kind it would be because he simply couldn't open a doorway to Earth. So going off of the original theory, Marion could be a tool to do just that but to open another gateway, then they would need massive amounts of mana which could only be found in Egypt. That actually brings me back to an older theory that I made involving the coin and Steward. Back then I said Steward would use the coin to blackmail one of the humans to take him to Egypt so he could use the mana to change back or take over the world, but we can switch it to Eudoant and make the goal, "Open a portal to Hell." I still question why Marion was chosen since he doesn't have the means to travel overseas unless his Dad or Mom is a pilot.Mr. Whisper wrote:Based on what we've seen with The Forgotten and Keene's little dino friend, it would seem that demons cannot manifest on Earth without help from our side, so Eudoant would have no choice but to "enlist" a mortal agent for this.Champion Wallace wrote:Why would Eudoant need an agent? If he has the power to turn Marion into a squirrel, couldn't he use his power to solve the problem himself? We didn't see much of him so this analysis could be wrong, but he didn't strike me as someone who would choose this course of action from many for the benifit of the mortal or for fun like Great Kitsune.
The problem with most theories that we've all thrown around, both serious and comical, is "Why Marion?"fenrirblack wrote:
That makes sense but still a bit of a leap. Slightly Damned had the same principle but slightly different. And we don't know for sure if that was what the "Deal" was for. It more likely meant that Keene would have no choice but to take the Dino-Demon back if he retrieved the hat. The "deal" forced Keene to take the demon not that the demon needed Keene to "manifest." If Eudoant needed an agent of any kind it would be because he simply couldn't open a doorway to Earth. So going off of the original theory, Marion could be a tool to do just that but to open another gateway, then they would need massive amounts of mana which could only be found in Egypt. That actually brings me back to an older theory that I made involving the coin and Steward. Back then I said Steward would use the coin to blackmail one of the humans to take him to Egypt so he could use the mana to change back or take over the world, but we can switch it to Eudoant and make the goal, "Open a portal to Hell." I still question why Marion was chosen since he doesn't have the means to travel overseas unless his Dad or Mom is a pilot.
Yeah, that's about it. Usually that answer only gets you a "B" on a college philosophy test.NHWestoN wrote:At this point, the only answer to the question "Why Marion" is (of course) "Why not?".
Amazee Dayzee wrote:Is that what you gt when you put that answer down?
I'm hoping that Marion is going to tell King about a "dream" he had the night before. How about a shadowy figure crept into his thoughts and whispered into his ears. King asks what did it look like and Marion responds with.......dr_eirik wrote:The problem with most theories that we've all thrown around, both serious and comical, is "Why Marion?"fenrirblack wrote:
That makes sense but still a bit of a leap. Slightly Damned had the same principle but slightly different. And we don't know for sure if that was what the "Deal" was for. It more likely meant that Keene would have no choice but to take the Dino-Demon back if he retrieved the hat. The "deal" forced Keene to take the demon not that the demon needed Keene to "manifest." If Eudoant needed an agent of any kind it would be because he simply couldn't open a doorway to Earth. So going off of the original theory, Marion could be a tool to do just that but to open another gateway, then they would need massive amounts of mana which could only be found in Egypt. That actually brings me back to an older theory that I made involving the coin and Steward. Back then I said Steward would use the coin to blackmail one of the humans to take him to Egypt so he could use the mana to change back or take over the world, but we can switch it to Eudoant and make the goal, "Open a portal to Hell." I still question why Marion was chosen since he doesn't have the means to travel overseas unless his Dad or Mom is a pilot.
As far as we know, Marion has no connection with any of the other characters or activities that we know, other than he seems to live in Babylon Gardens. He also seems slightly disconnected from the neighborhood pets and ferals. He has no pet. His old babysitter feeds the ferals enough to know them by name, but he doesn't. He's now met four of the local K9's who live around him, he doesn't know them. He does't know King, but that's less odd.
So did Tarot and Sabrina change him in a magic(k) experiment gone wrong? He doesn't seem connected to them. Dino-demon has transformation powers and did this for some chaos reason? That could be random, but random and still in Babylon Gardens all this time? Steward turned him somehow with the coin? Why Marion? Random? Does he know Marion?
It's going to take a bit more for us to narrow down the mystery. I have a good feeling about this week of strips!
...I think I've said that before.
I speculated that we were going to see a dream sequence way back, when Marion went to (or tried to) sleep at Jessicas. Granted, I thought it was going to be Kitsune there to explain what happened. That question seems like a logical one for King to ask, since a lot of what the Celestials did was imparted though dreams. It seems like if any denzin of Heaven or any other plane of existence was involved, a dream would be, too.fenrirblack wrote:
I'm hoping that Marion is going to tell King about a "dream" he had the night before. How about a shadowy figure crept into his thoughts and whispered into his ears. King asks what did it look like and Marion responds with.......
If Marion responds with "I don't remember," I'll flip my desk.
Even if he doesn't remember his dream and only remembers being told to "wake up" I'd say it'd be a clear sign it was a Celestial.dr_eirik wrote:fenrirblack wrote: I speculated that we were going to see a dream sequence way back, when Marion went to (or tried to) sleep at Jessicas. Granted, I thought it was going to be Kitsune there to explain what happened. That question seems like a logical one for King to ask, since a lot of what the Celestials did was imparted though dreams. It seems like if any denzin of Heaven or any other plane of existence was involved, a dream would be, too.
Well, you're being philosophical about it so you musta done pretty well in the course...dr_eirik wrote:Yeah, that's about it. Usually that answer only gets you a "B" on a college philosophy test.NHWestoN wrote:At this point, the only answer to the question "Why Marion" is (of course) "Why not?".
I took Philosophy of Science. I walked into class knowing what was what. I walked out not sure if anything was real. So I guess I learned something.NHWestoN wrote:Well, you're being philosophical about it so you musta done pretty well in the course...dr_eirik wrote:Yeah, that's about it. Usually that answer only gets you a "B" on a college philosophy test.NHWestoN wrote:At this point, the only answer to the question "Why Marion" is (of course) "Why not?".
If it was a demonic entity would they use something more sinister or hard sounding like "Now Awaken" or "Your life belongs to me now."Sir Chestnut wrote:Even if he doesn't remember his dream and only remembers being told to "wake up" I'd say it'd be a clear sign it was a Celestial.dr_eirik wrote:fenrirblack wrote: I speculated that we were going to see a dream sequence way back, when Marion went to (or tried to) sleep at Jessicas. Granted, I thought it was going to be Kitsune there to explain what happened. That question seems like a logical one for King to ask, since a lot of what the Celestials did was imparted though dreams. It seems like if any denzin of Heaven or any other plane of existence was involved, a dream would be, too.
