Housepets!

He wn't be let in the zoo. He's only a common Badger. Still, as long as he stays away from Britain, he's sett for life.

Smooth move, Ex-lax. Now you two are going to be stuck together.

Not to mention, all that gold is still buried in the temple. If the coins are still cursed, then that could present a problem for whoever comes across it.

... It wouldn't be bad if that coin allowed you to keep your job. Otherwise, share that coin :3

Orrrrrrrrr....what if the curse works in reverse? What if it also turns animals into humans? Suppose Ralph and the boys are casing the scene, going through Steward's things and come across the coin? WHAM! Fido is now a human.

So, the Temple is rubble but Keene's "souvenirs" - a cursed coin and a dino-Demon- are now loosened in the Gardens.....? Very careless of our uber-rich ferret.

...and whole new story lines!

Champion Wallace wrote:Has Thomas been carrying that coin in his mouth the whole time? Wow, that's impressive. Why do they both of them look so surprised? It has been established that the treasure is cursed and turns people into animals.

It was also established that Temple based magicks end when taken out of the Temple. The hats that gave everyone Powers turned back to hats outside. Thomas was changed inside the temple, maybe the coin acted like a focus for the curse and kept it with him.

Odd that it would work on Steward though,he didn't actually take the coin, he only caught it. Sure the rule was no human hands, but he wasn't attempting to steal it. Pete's opening monologue started with attention human thief. (or was it former human thief?), I'm thinking that if the badger returns the coin to the rubble pile he could reverse the curse like in Pirates of the Caribbean.


And I agree, it does seem to have at least cured the terror ivy.

NHWestoN wrote: So, the Temple is rubble but Keene's "souvenirs" - a cursed coin and a dino-Demon- are now loosened in the Gardens.....? Very careless of our uber-rich ferret.

Or the demon touches the coin and gets turned into a critter with no demon abilities just a bit of chaos like a certain fox who used to live in the Temple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL6CDFn2i3I

So why did Thomas look surprised? What did he EXPECT would happen?

Iceheart wrote:What would happen if an animal tried to steal the gold?

He'd get a bunch of curséd gold!

You know who needs a bag of curséd gold?

Karishad.

Champion Wallace wrote:

King wrote:I can't eat what I want, I can't go where I want, It's the same thing as prison!

I find it interesting how on board you guys are with the idea of justice being served to these two via the curse.

Ironic justice has its own rules.

Welsh Halfwit wrote:He wn't be let in the zoo. He's only a common Badger. Still, as long as he stays away from Britain, he's sett for life.

I see what you did there.

But his facial stripes are between his eyes, so I think he's an American badger, not an English badger.

NHWestoN wrote:Orrrrrrrrr....what if the curse works in reverse? What if it also turns animals into humans?

We actually know the wording of the curse, it's to prevent human hands from touching the money.

TeflonCougar wrote:It was also established that Temple based magicks end when taken out of the Temple.

It's not a temple based magic, it's a curse Pete put on the money to satisfy the original owner's (Henry Milton's, presumably) requirement that it remain out of human hands.

Champion Wallace wrote:Who needs due process when you have a man in a cap to determine right from wrong...
Though you're right, this is a comic so we have access to more information then a jury would, so we know they were working together to commit larceny.

comic logic and real world logic need not align. Not only do we have access to more information than a real court would, we know it to be absolute fact, rather than potentially biased testimonies and theories. Thus forming an objective opinion is easier.

We've also seen Thomas be a ########## enough times to have formed rather negative subjective oppinions of him, enough to not care how he ends up.

either way, opinions will abound. Besides, Due process is an illusion, courts tend to be about as crooked as anything else.

as to the other culprit, there's also reason to believe that Stewart may have worked with other enemies of Keene in the past, like a certain PTA member. There was always some suspicion that the big fella had a 'friend' close to keene, and steward clearly can't be trusted.

RokukeShiba wrote:At lest he got hands!

"Pete! Where are you, you molting flea-bag? Why does he get thumbs and I don't?!"

Made me laugh when I needed it.

I'm severely tempted to borrow some of that nice imagery in panel 4 for use as an avatar here

That coin could prove a dangerous weapon, in the wrong hands. O.o

THEORY: The coin turns the human into the last animal they touched. Thomas was with Sofia. Maybe Steward bumped past a badger on his way out of the forest.

He actually looks like Thomas in panel 2.

Instead of the "Midas touch", it's the "Milton touch."

Champion Wallace wrote:Has Thomas been carrying that coin in his mouth the whole time? Wow, that's impressive. Why do they both of them look so surprised? It has been established that the treasure is cursed and turns people into animals.

And Thomas even uses airquotes for “share”, so it seemed like he was aware of what would happen.

To the person that asked what happens if an animal touches the gold? Nothing. That was the point of the curse. HUMAN hands aren't allowed to touch it.

https://www.housepetscomic.com/comic/20 ... reful-now/

Beware the curse of animal transformation which also conveniently makes your clothes disappear! XD

vulpinator wrote:

Champion Wallace wrote:Has Thomas been carrying that coin in his mouth the whole time? Wow, that's impressive. Why do they both of them look so surprised? It has been established that the treasure is cursed and turns people into animals.

And Thomas even uses airquotes for “share”, so it seemed like he was aware of what would happen.

I don't think he intended to curse Steward: that's why he said "don't spend it all in one place". Plus, he does look surprised in the last panel.
Also, I like those two's new forms =D

Also really digging the claws on him. Can't help but want him to start calling people "bub", despite him being a badger.

Inclined to agree with you, Soerix. Thomas probably wanted to just be sarcastic, although carrying that coin in his mouth through all that turmoil required some real determination. Curses are surprising....

Just another thought: does he still have the itchin' terror hives under his fur? Because they may need to shave him to treat that. You know, if being turned into a badger wasn't enough.

I'm actually very happy with how this arc is turning out in terms of long term effects. One of my favorite things about stories is when there's change, whether literal (in this case) or in reference to actual growth and development for the characters. Part of the reason this arc excited me so much originally was it's hook of resolving the Human/Animal Rights issue, which seemed like it had a lot of potential for interesting developments. While it didn't have the ending that I expected (unless Keene has some master plan to fix the rights issue in these next few updates) so much other great stuff happened (Breel and Keene getting together, the Temple being destroyed, Thomas and Steward's fate, the Forgotten being a really cool villain) that I am really happy with how everything turned out.

While it's sometimes slow in the plot department, I do appreciate that Housepets does have somewhat of a changing status quo, as most Newspaper-Style comics tend to be very consistent in their plot. The idea that things are going to develop over time is enough on it's own to draw me in to stories.

Also, Badgers are cute, so yay for Steward.

Soerix wrote:Beware the curse of animal transformation which also conveniently makes your clothes disappear! XD

vulpinator wrote:

Champion Wallace wrote:Has Thomas been carrying that coin in his mouth the whole time? Wow, that's impressive. Why do they both of them look so surprised? It has been established that the treasure is cursed and turns people into animals.

And Thomas even uses airquotes for “share”, so it seemed like he was aware of what would happen.

I don't think he intended to curse Steward: that's why he said "don't spend it all in one place". Plus, he does look surprised in the last panel.
Also, I like those two's new forms =D

Sooooooo... what was the point of the quotation marks?

Eheheh, Thomas (unconsciously) wanted to share a bit of his curse to Steward. It was better if you didn't save neither a coin from all that cursed treasure. Steward the badger, that's good, it's the first time of an animal of this specie here. Yeah, at least, you two can go to a zoo instead of a prison, isn't it better?

Was Keene still in the Room when he TF'd? If not, than I'd say he has a shot at getting his Job back, albeit with a new Identity...

...maybe after parole and community service.

Should have turned Steward into a snake or a rat, since he is basically one as a person.

Oooh, a badger!
Have we ever actually seen any badgers before in Housepets?

Champion Wallace wrote:Has Thomas been carrying that coin in his mouth the whole time? Wow, that's impressive. Why do they both of them look so surprised? It has been established that the treasure is cursed and turns people into animals.

I think Thomas was expecting Steward to become a camel also, or for nothing to happen at all. When Steward changed into a badger instead, it was a surprise.

SuperStar wrote:THEORY: The coin turns the human into the last animal they touched. Thomas was with Sofia. Maybe Steward bumped past a badger on his way out of the forest.

My best guess is that it's based on personality. Badgers are known for being very aggressive, so perhaps Steward has that type of personality. Although they can move fast, most people think of camels as slow, fat, and lazy. That seems like Thomas.

OrWasIt.EXE wrote:Oooh, a badger!
Have we ever actually seen any badgers before in Housepets?

Not that I know of, no. The only character even close would be Itsuki, but he's a tanuki (which have some similarity but are of a different genus altogether).

People wrote:Lots've reasons why they wouldn't have expected the curse to work exactly like that.

Alright, I understand now why Thomas didn't see that coming, but why does badger Steward have such a shocked expression? At this point, he shouldn't even know he's a badger. It took both Joel and Thomas an entire strip before they realized what happened. From All the King's Men, part 2, we saw that from King's perspective "when Pete had first transformed him into a dog he hadn't even noticed, not until after he realized how drafty the court room was". Despite the different morphology, it doesn't feel all that different from being human.

Maybe he's surprised because he's now 4 feet in the air and falling.

That didn't happen with Thomas or Joel.

Champion Wallace wrote:

People wrote:Lots've reasons why they wouldn't have expected the curse to work exactly like that.

Alright, I understand now why Thomas didn't see that coming, but why does badger Steward have such a shocked expression? At this point, he shouldn't even know he's a badger. It took both Joel and Thomas an entire strip before they realized what happened. From All the King's Men, part 2, we saw that from King's perspective "when Pete had first transformed him into a dog he hadn't even noticed, not until after he realized how drafty the court room was". Despite the different morphology, it doesn't feel all that different from being human.

Here, the position changed. When Joel became King, he was standing, and his feet remained on the ground after the change. (I think the same was true for Thomas?) Steward, however, was leaning against the tabletop when transformed. Becoming so much shorter so suddenly probably threw off his balance, causing his feet to fly up and the shocked expression.

Champion Wallace wrote:

People wrote:Lots've reasons why they wouldn't have expected the curse to work exactly like that.

Alright, I understand now why Thomas didn't see that coming, but why does badger Steward have such a shocked expression? At this point, he shouldn't even know he's a badger. It took both Joel and Thomas an entire strip before they realized what happened. From All the King's Men, part 2, we saw that from King's perspective "when Pete had first transformed him into a dog he hadn't even noticed, not until after he realized how drafty the court room was". Despite the different morphology, it doesn't feel all that different from being human.

Thomas and Joel were not paying attention when they were transformed. Steward was. He was looking right at the coin when he transformed.

Ryusuta wrote:

OrWasIt.EXE wrote:Oooh, a badger!
Have we ever actually seen any badgers before in Housepets?

Not that I know of, no. The only character even close would be Itsuki, but he's a tanuki (which have some similarity but are of a different genus altogether).

I think the raccoons and ferrets are much closer to badgers than Itsuki would be. Tanuki are actually canines.

Gregourii wrote:Should have turned Steward into a snake or a rat, since he is basically one as a person.

Aw give the guy a break! If you were forced into a job just so your name could constantly be made fun of, you'd be bitter too.

Argent wrote:

Ryusuta wrote:

OrWasIt.EXE wrote:Oooh, a badger!
Have we ever actually seen any badgers before in Housepets?

Not that I know of, no. The only character even close would be Itsuki, but he's a tanuki (which have some similarity but are of a different genus altogether).

I think the raccoons and ferrets are much closer to badgers than Itsuki would be. Tanuki are actually canines.

Hence what I said about the genus. I was talking about appearance in-comic, though.

I am laughing so hard. XD

So did Steward know a badger in his life? I mean Joel hated dogs and knew some and then became King. Thomas has Sofia and then became a camel. What badger does Steward know that affected his life?

Well, accountants frequently "badger" folks about their finances....

I must bet that He knew this would happen and brought the coin on purpose. Though now that I think about it, wouldn't He be free to dig the treasure up now the Temple is out of power and destroyed? Oh wait, at this point, He'd have no use for it, having no anthro-capacities and all (UPDATE: and besides, I just said He brought the coin on purpose to curse Steward, so no). Still, smooth move, Keene. Smooth move! You won me over for Your cause. Now, will Keene investigate what connections did Pete have with the Forgotten?

Badger badger badger badger. MUSHROOM MUSHROOM!