Housepets!

Obbl wrote:Um... High schools usually let you (at the very least) retake the year if you fail... Like that's still an extra year, but there is no way this can completely ruin his life even if he misses this year's finals

A teenager boy wakes up as a squirrel.
Only his girlfriend knows what happened.

But worst of all.....
Far worst of all.......

It's finals week on his senior year at high-school!
If he doesn't change back to normal before the weekend, he will have to go to summer school!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Rick Griffin Studios presents:
In association with Karishad Entertainment:

Housepets!:
Final(s) Quest

Silly Zealot wrote: A teenager boy wakes up as a squirrel.
Only his girlfriend knows what happened.

But worst of all.....
Far worst of all.......

It's finals week on his senior year at high-school!
If he doesn't change back to normal before the weekend, he will have to go to summer school!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Rick Griffin Studios presents:
In association with Karishad Entertainment:

Housepets!:
Final(s) Quest

When you put it like that, it does feel like Rick is laying the whole "teenage" thing kinda thick. Honestly at this point I'm surprised puberty hasn't been brought up. I want to say that Marion is more mature for his age but I'm not a very good judge of that kind of stuff.

It's been ten years since I graduated High school and let me tell you, if there was even the possibility that I would have to repeat my classes or deal with the overwhelming stupidity of high school any longer than I already had too, I would be freaking out so much.

TheOne wrote:

biddyfox wrote:...gender, being a social construct...

I ask politely for the political statements about gender to cease and desist.

General note to all. A person's personal identity is their own. Sharing it is completely politically neutral regardless of whether or not it lines up with your expectations. We expect that all of our members will treat others the way they want others to treat them, including referring to people by the gender they identify as.

In short, be respectful.

fenrirblack wrote: When you put it like that, it does feel like Rick is laying the whole "teenage" thing kinda thick. .

Do not worry, I am just joking.

Although the part where Marion tries to go to school anyway and crushes himself with his own backpack was gold.

Realistically, any school will let a student come back in to take a missed final in order to graduate without too many questions asked. Life happens, you get the flu, there's a family emergency, all sorts of things, and life tends not to respect schedules. Adults know this; most have been through that sort of thing in their own life, even if it didn't happen during finals week. Teenagers, however, are a bit newer to the world and prone to panic, not realizing that this sort of thing is actually pretty common.

Well, having to retake finals is fairly common. The squirrel thing not so much. However, I think unexpectedly turning into a squirrel probably counts as a medical emergency. And even if they don't believe it, hallucinating about turning into a squirrel is also something of a medical emergency. And of course, becoming a missing person is also a good excuse for having missed your final and having to retake it. In that case, they might even waive it.

~~

Now, having said all that, my bets are on Marion desperately trying to get into school to take his exams, squirrel and all. And of course the teachers aren't about to allow some random squirrel to take Marion's final for him - he has to complete them himself!

All our test anxieties will be for naught if our squirrel is stopped for a driving infraction - Cameo by Officer Lundburg, mebbee?

NHWestoN wrote:All our test anxieties will be for naught if our squirrel is stopped for a driving infraction - Cameo by Officer Lundburg, mebbee?

He's safe from that one at least. Hard to get a driving infraction when you can't reach the steering wheel OR the pedals. That car isn't going anywhere! Unless he did something like release the parking break while he was trying to drive and it rolls out into the street.

Wouldn't that only work if it was on a hill?

I really hope Lois was just messing with Marion in that text, because if the characters can see things in the comic the readers can't, then the fact that the wolves have been going to school/work pantsless has implications that I REALLY don't want to think about!

Mr. Whisper wrote:I really hope Lois was just messing with Marion in that text, because if the characters can see things in the comic the readers can't, then the fact that the wolves have been going to school/work pantsless has implications that I REALLY don't want to think about!

Well, too bad. Just because you can't see it through the lens of a PG art style doesn't mean it ain't there.

Where do you think King and Bailey's puppies came from, the Stork?

This may sound selfish but I really hope that by the end of this saga Marion goes back to being male but remains a squirrel. Like he meets up with Kitsune and due to whatever magic/force caused this transformation he can't go back to being human (yet) but Kitsune at least switches his gender back not unlike how Kitsune saved King from Pete and gave him back the ability to say his actual name.

That's one of the reasons I like the early stages of Housepets! arcs. There's so many possible ways this story could go and they're all so interesting in their own right.

leinglo wrote:Well, too bad. Just because you can't see it through the lens of a PG art style doesn't mean it ain't there.

Where do you think King and Bailey's puppies came from, the Stork?

It's not the fact they exist. It's that they can be seen. Imagine you've always been in an environment where you always work with people who are dressed and now suddenly your coworkers or your classmates or your teacher is naked from the waist down. You don't think you would feel a little weird?

Mr. Whisper wrote:

leinglo wrote:Well, too bad. Just because you can't see it through the lens of a PG art style doesn't mean it ain't there.

Where do you think King and Bailey's puppies came from, the Stork?

It's not the fact they exist. It's that they can be seen. Imagine you've always been in an environment where you always work with people who are dressed and now suddenly your coworkers or your classmates or your teacher is naked from the waist down. You don't think you would feel a little weird?

Not necessarily. In the Housepets universe, animals are always naked, just like in real life. When you see a squirrel on the bird feeder you don't think "OMG! I can see his --" (even though you clearly can!), you think "Look at that cute little greedy-whiskers stuffing his face!" It's all about what is normal.

So when you suddenly end up with a wolf as your teacher, the weird thing isn't that he's naked from the waist down. It's that he's dressed from the waist up! And that he's a wolf, as your teacher.

Keldor wrote:

Mr. Whisper wrote:

leinglo wrote:Well, too bad. Just because you can't see it through the lens of a PG art style doesn't mean it ain't there.

Where do you think King and Bailey's puppies came from, the Stork?

It's not the fact they exist. It's that they can be seen. Imagine you've always been in an environment where you always work with people who are dressed and now suddenly your coworkers or your classmates or your teacher is naked from the waist down. You don't think you would feel a little weird?

Not necessarily. In the Housepets universe, animals are always naked, just like in real life. When you see a squirrel on the bird feeder you don't think "OMG! I can see his --" (even though you clearly can!), you think "Look at that cute little greedy-whiskers stuffing his face!" It's all about what is normal.

So when you suddenly end up with a wolf as your teacher, the weird thing isn't that he's naked from the waist down. It's that he's dressed from the waist up! And that he's a wolf, as your teacher.

...and that he has fairly good taste in four-in-hand ties. (Pueblo's probably too young to be in his class but Marion might have been ....... hmmmm.)

I just assumed that in HP! universe animals are "fluffy enough" that you can't really see anything, regardless of the art style, to confuse the likes of Peanut and the Bigglesworths.

Obbl wrote:That's one of the reasons I like the early stages of Housepets! arcs. There's so many possible ways this story could go and they're all so interesting in their own right.

And it's almost never the way you expect it to go.

But for real. We've been ignoring the biggest, most important mystery of all.
Marion said he had two weeks of school left. But Lois said it was finals week. So what were they going to be doing next week?

Pumkin6 wrote:

Obbl wrote:That's one of the reasons I like the early stages of Housepets! arcs. There's so many possible ways this story could go and they're all so interesting in their own right.

And it's almost never the way you expect it to go.

But for real. We've been ignoring the biggest, most important mystery of all.
Marion said he had two weeks of school left. But Lois said it was finals week. So what were they going to be doing next week?

I asked the same question on Discord. Thank Dog someone else sees it too.

Well, whatever it was, I don't think they're going to be doing that anymore...

You know, I've been thinking a dreadful thought....

What if the transformation was not only not caused by the coin, but it's also contagious and whoever Marion touches gets turned into an animal too?

A thought. What if she's not trolling him but her 'testing' him in a way she made up on the spot? Looking to judge his reaction to the 'become a girl' thing to try and tell if this really is him telling the truth? He may have just passed the test...

Welsh Halfwit wrote:A thought. What if she's not trolling him but her 'testing' him in a way she made up on the spot? Looking to judge his reaction to the 'become a girl' thing to try and tell if this really is him telling the truth? He may have just passed the test...

And what if she's ALSO one as well?

Aww it's so cute he wears the bracelet as a necklace~

Silly Zealot wrote:You know, I've been thinking a dreadful thought....

What if the transformation was not only not caused by the coin, but it's also contagious and whoever Marion touches gets turned into an animal too?

That would be pretty bizarre and spiral out of control pretty quickly.

Pumkin6 wrote:

Obbl wrote:That's one of the reasons I like the early stages of Housepets! arcs. There's so many possible ways this story could go and they're all so interesting in their own right.

And it's almost never the way you expect it to go.

But for real. We've been ignoring the biggest, most important mystery of all.
Marion said he had two weeks of school left. But Lois said it was finals week. So what were they going to be doing next week?

Well, I have heard of situations in large high schools/universities where Finals Week is staggered to make things easier for the faculty. I would imagine that they'd be off the hook for the dead week, or maybe just hanging out in the classrooms texting or socializing or whatever.

Sleet wrote:Aww it's so cute he wears the bracelet as a necklace~

Silly Zealot wrote:You know, I've been thinking a dreadful thought....

What if the transformation was not only not caused by the coin, but it's also contagious and whoever Marion touches gets turned into an animal too?

That would be pretty bizarre and spiral out of control pretty quickly.

Wow, that'd take us spiraling beyond Gallifax - could turn into a whole new universe. Would there be a single transformation or would a "victim" change multiple times, every time he or she came into contact with a "carrier"? Would the "changeling" also acquire the capacity to change others? Yikes.............

Silly Zealot wrote:You know, I've been thinking a dreadful thought....

What if the transformation was not only not caused by the coin, but it's also contagious and whoever Marion touches gets turned into an animal too?

Then I hope he's not the type to dive into mosh pits...

I would hope that people could change others by touching them if they were already an animal but not so much about constantly changing species because you are trying to get used to your new species and as soon as you do, oooops, you get turned into ANOTHER species. XD

I think they would just learn from the first time it happens and then avoid touching anyone else.

But would others avoid touching you ? Think of the anarchy!! Or ... maybe ... don't.

NHWestoN wrote:

Sleet wrote:Aww it's so cute he wears the bracelet as a necklace~

Silly Zealot wrote:You know, I've been thinking a dreadful thought....

What if the transformation was not only not caused by the coin, but it's also contagious and whoever Marion touches gets turned into an animal too?

That would be pretty bizarre and spiral out of control pretty quickly.

Wow, that'd take us spiraling beyond Gallifax - could turn into a whole new universe. Would there be a single transformation or would a "victim" change multiple times, every time he or she came into contact with a "carrier"? Would the "changeling" also acquire the capacity to change others? Yikes.............

Would would everyone be able to pass the curse or would it be limited only to “patient 0”? Babylon Gardens would be put under quarantine and then it falls into anarchy. If that was the goal then why would patient 0 be a squirrel instead of something cute, familiar, and approachable? These are the thoughts that go through my mind.

Cute, familiar and approachable couldn't be a better description of a squirrel.

Okay, maybe not the approachable part, but that's because they keep running away.

fenrirblack wrote:

NHWestoN wrote:

Sleet wrote:That would be pretty bizarre and spiral out of control pretty quickly.

Wow, that'd take us spiraling beyond Gallifax - could turn into a whole new universe. Would there be a single transformation or would a "victim" change multiple times, every time he or she came into contact with a "carrier"? Would the "changeling" also acquire the capacity to change others? Yikes.............

Would would everyone be able to pass the curse or would it be limited only to “patient 0”? Babylon Gardens would be put under quarantine and then it falls into anarchy. If that was the goal then why would patient 0 be a squirrel instead of something cute, familiar, and approachable? These are the thoughts that go through my mind.

Well, wolves aren't exactly cute, familiar, and approachable, but that didn't stop people from petting them before. I know it was at the zoo but come on. What if someone tries to forcibly remove him from the school if he decides to go?

And I'll agree with Silly Zealot because Marion is adorable. Squirrels are far less threatening than wolves.

leinglo wrote:

Obbl wrote:Um... High schools usually let you (at the very least) retake the year if you fail... Like that's still an extra year, but there is no way this can completely ruin his life even if he misses this year's finals

And even if he doesn't graduate he could still just get a GED, which has the same functional value, if not the prestige, of a graduation.

Something people don't always realize is while the students obviously want out of school and to graduate, the teachers and staff also want the students to graduate successfully.

fenrirblack wrote:Honestly at this point I'm surprised puberty hasn't been brought up. I want to say that Marion is more mature for his age but I'm not a very good judge of that kind of stuff.

'When they said during puberty you would grow more body hair and that your body is changing, I didn't think they meant like this!'

Argent wrote:I just assumed that in HP! universe animals are "fluffy enough" that you can't really see anything, regardless of the art style, to confuse the likes of Peanut and the Bigglesworths.

I don't think it works that successfully in practice, but even still there's the problem of how could Lois tell but Max couldn't. I feel like we're just talking in circles with this point, but I don't expect any future strips to make it clearer.

Pumkin6 wrote:But for real. We've been ignoring the biggest, most important mystery of all.
Marion said he had two weeks of school left. But Lois said it was finals week. So what were they going to be doing next week?

They could turn in papers or other big homework projects, but generally the after-final school time is less strenuous than that. They might fill out course evaluations, learn material the teachers think is important but isn't on the state-mandated tests, or otherwise chill out with other students before graduation and summer.

Welsh Halfwit wrote:A thought. What if she's not trolling him but her 'testing' him in a way she made up on the spot? Looking to judge his reaction to the 'become a girl' thing to try and tell if this really is him telling the truth? He may have just passed the test...

If it was a test if would be hard to see what Marion's true reaction is over texting. The only perceived effect of him fainting was he stopped responding.

Pumkin6 wrote:

Obbl wrote:That's one of the reasons I like the early stages of Housepets! arcs. There's so many possible ways this story could go and they're all so interesting in their own right.

And it's almost never the way you expect it to go.

But for real. We've been ignoring the biggest, most important mystery of all.
Marion said he had two weeks of school left. But Lois said it was finals week. So what were they going to be doing next week?

In my High School (and college, though I haven't graduated yet) seniors had finals early so they could prepare for graduation.

Which is weird because in my high school EVERYBODY takes their finals at the same time and then seniors prepare for graduation.

(Comment moved to newer thread)

Postcard wrote:Well, wolves aren't exactly cute, familiar, and approachable

I would totally pet a wolf.

Champion Wallace wrote:

Welsh Halfwit wrote:A thought. What if she's not trolling him but her 'testing' him in a way she made up on the spot? Looking to judge his reaction to the 'become a girl' thing to try and tell if this really is him telling the truth? He may have just passed the test...

If it was a test if would be hard to see what Marion's true reaction is over texting. The only perceived effect of him fainting was he stopped responding.

Exactly the correct reaction. He wasn't ready for that. If he'd been 'trying to fool her', he'd have had an answer ready.

Catching up on this thread...

fenrirblack wrote:This may sound selfish but I really hope that by the end of this saga Marion goes back to being male but remains a squirrel. Like he meets up with Kitsune and due to whatever magic/force caused this transformation he can't go back to being human (yet) but Kitsune at least switches his gender back not unlike how Kitsune saved King from Pete and gave him back the ability to say his actual name.

For Marion's case (if he can't go back to being human) then they should at least get this one thing. I already got into it for this post that I'm not gonna get into it again. Marion must be overwhelmed so much right about now, maybe even more than us the viewer can see at the moment.