2019/06/14 - Nonut

[Amazee Dayzee]

I keep on forgetting that Marion is now a gender-flipped squirrel and get confused when the "she" pronoun is used.

Also, I have quite a hard time reading his dialogue in my head as a female voice so I still use a male voice. >_>

[Obbl]

That's probably fine. I'm sure he'd appreciate that you continue to hear his voice as male

[fenrirblack]

Something I realized is that Truck and Falstaff haven't put two and two together to ask the obvious questions of A. how is it that a squirrel has a nut allergy and B. How has said squirrel survived this long without being able to eat nuts or scrounge for food. I wonder how long it will take for that to click. If it does ever click then Marion is going to have to explain that he used to be human and while he's at it explain that he is really male even if his body tells a different story.

I'm of the opinion that Rick doesn't do anything that big without some reason in mind. So far, it's been a bit of a joke and another stressor for Marion. I'm not saying that we're going to see her abruptly decide to go native and start a squirrel family, but I strongly suspect there is some planned payoff for this part of things, even if it's not something we see for some time.

I think the planned payoff for him being a female squirrel is going to happen around either the climax or conclusion of his main character arc, and I agree that we won't be seeing it for quite some time. It has to be one of three things:
-He stays a female squirrel for one reason or another
-He decides to change back and becomes a friend to the pets and other animals
-He gets the ability to change between male human and female squirrel

As I've said before, what I'm personally hoping for is the first one, with the reason being that Lois gets turned into a squirrel too and only one of them is able to be changed back for one reason or another, and they'd both rather be with each other as female squirrels than leave one of them behind. This gives Marion's character arc a happy albeit bittersweet ending, gives the comic two new recurring characters of a species that's never gotten a lot of on-panel time, and the comic would have (I think?) its first lesbian relationship.

It still does raise the question of why bother with the gender-swap. I keep thinking about it and there doesn't seem to be a logical reason for it at the moment which kinda makes me think it was solely for the reason of being a stressor and/or another trait that would make Marion's case harder to believe if he did try to explain to someone that he used to be human. Even when it comes to the coin there was never a gender-swap before now which would make it harder for people to believe that Marion is telling the truth or that the coin was involved. Going from that logic it would again make more sense to say that the coin was NOT involved and that someone was pulling the strings.
Why? Because it gives Marion incentive to work towards changing back to human. If you look at everything that has happened from the eyes of a devious mastermind it makes sense. What would be the worse possible choice to change someone like Marion into while still allowing him to actually do stuff (unlike say a mouse or frog). I mean he's small, helpless, and has a nut allergy. Squirrel would be the perfect animal if you wanted him to do everything in his power to change back and the gender swap is just the icing on the cake in case Marion decided to deal with his squirreliness. He handled waking up as a squirrel better than finding out he was suddenly female.
At this point I wouldn't be surprised if some shadowy figure popped out of nowhere and offered Marion his manhood and human body back if he did this or that while confessing that they were the ones who took it away.
Continuing this logic, I'm convinced that Marion is going to change back to human but might have to either change back and forth at the whim of the devious mastermind in order to complete whatever the mastermind's goal is because a human would still be more useful to whoever then a squirrel. Think about it like this. Marion suffers so much during this arc that by the end of it he's ready to do anything to avoid being turned back into a squirrel. Of course that ruins my "Marion is the hero" scenario I had cooking but works in a special way that also contrasts against King's story since he was the hero of the day. Marion becomes the unwilling villain of this tale. I didn't want to believe when people pointed out that Marion could become a villain but looking at this it seems very possible which makes me think "carp!" Judging from the looks he's giving those two, yeah he definitely is more villian-ish.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I do wanna just wait a little bit and get more information from this arc before I assume which direction Marion is gonna go in. I hope that THEY (so I don't get the gender pronoun wrong. ) don't become the villain of this piece though.

[dr_eirik]

I do wanna just wait a little bit and get more information from this arc before I assume which direction Marion is gonna go in. I hope that THEY (so I don't get the gender pronoun wrong. ) don't become the villain of this piece though.

We dont know that much about him yet, but I have a hard time seeing him going all the way through with an evil plan. I could see him starting down that path if it presented as the only option, especially if someone like Lois get entangled up in this. I just suspect he'd give up his humanity if it meant hurting others to regain it.

[fenrirblack]

I do wanna just wait a little bit and get more information from this arc before I assume which direction Marion is gonna go in. I hope that THEY (so I don't get the gender pronoun wrong. ) don't become the villain of this piece though.

It's "he/him". Rick said so. Marion still considers himself "male." Marion will probably end up correctly them before too long.

We dont know that much about him yet, but I have a hard time seeing him going all the way through with an evil plan. I could see him starting down that path if it presented as the only option, especially if someone like Lois get entangled up in this. I just suspect he'd give up his humanity if it meant hurting others to regain it.

He's a hurt, damaged, desperate teenager. Teens aren't known for their great judgement skills. True we don't know enough about him but if the plan is presented as "not evil" then he may go along with it if it meant being human again. A good example of this is "Needful Things" by Stephen King. Good book and the premise is that the townspeople did all these seemingly "harmless" tasks for specific trinkets that they desired more than anything and those tasks ended up snowballing to the point the entire town was brought into anarchy.

[Ash Greytree]

Marion has so far shown that he has a good head on his shoulders. Currently, he seems preoccupied with getting food rather than retreating into an existential crisis, which is good. He’s taking this one step at a time. Marion’s displayed no indication that he’s anywhere near damaged or desperate at this point. Desperate enough for basic survival to help some raccoons steal food, yes, but will he get desperate enough to go along with something that he knows could get other people & animals hurt or worse in order to regain his humanity? Not likely, in my opinion. I can see Marion getting tricked into doing nefarious things initially (probably by Steward or Craig & Draig), but eventually realizing that what he’s doing is wrong either through discovering it himself or with the help of the pets. Housepets! is a relatively tame webcomic with an overall lighthearted tone that can get sad or grim at times; a Stephen King novel it ain’t.

[Ale Donkey]

Hey all! First timer here. Nice to meet you all. Awesome comic Rick!

So one thing about this latest strip that I do have to ponder about is if Marion really does have a tree nut allergy, or did prior to his transformation. If he* truly does have a tree nut allergy then why would he have grabbed the box of granola cereal in "Cereal Killer" http://www.housepetscomic.com/comic/201 ... al-killer/? Most brand name granola cereals either have nuts in them or "may contain nuts" due to the facility where it was processed. Having friends who have food allergies I know how life threatening they can be and I would be hard pressed to find the food they are allergic to in their pantry. I know it's just a comic and maybe in the Housepets!-verse all granola is nut free, but it still makes me wonder.

*even with the change I would think that they would still identify as male at this point

Cheers!

[D-Rock]

Could always be a brand that states that their facilities don't process tree nuts.

[dr_eirik]

Hey all! First timer here. Nice to meet you all. Awesome comic Rick!

So one thing about this latest strip that I do have to ponder about is if Marion really does have a tree nut allergy, or did prior to his transformation. If he* truly does have a tree nut allergy then why would he have grabbed the box of granola cereal in "Cereal Killer" http://www.housepetscomic.com/comic/201 ... al-killer/? Most brand name granola cereals either have nuts in them or "may contain nuts" due to the facility where it was processed. Having friends who have food allergies I know how life threatening they can be and I would be hard pressed to find the food they are allergic to in their pantry. I know it's just a comic and maybe in the Housepets!-verse all granola is nut free, but it still makes me wonder.

*even with the change I would think that they would still identify as male at this point

Cheers!

It's possible that hes lying to the raccoons to score easy food, but I doubt it. He instantly dosen't trust them, or at least realized quickly they aren't exactly a credit to their species. He also wasn't planning on meeting up with any ferals at all, much less being woken up by them. There also seems to be nuts around to est, since he got clocked by an acorn earlier. Even if eating acorns makes him feel like hes going to go native, if hes hungry enough then he'd have tried them.

At the moment, I think Marion is far more worried about the squirrel thing than the gender thing.

[bjchan95]

For those of you confused on the gender thing think of it this way: Marion is a male trapped in the body of a female squirrel. Rick has stated we should continue using male pronouns since he's still a male mentally

[Argent]

Most brand name granola cereals either have nuts in them or "may contain nuts" due to the facility where it was processed.

I have family with food allergies and it's amazing how close they get with food-sensitivity-safe fakes.

[Ale Donkey]

At the moment, I think Marion is far more worried about the squirrel thing than the gender thing.

I totally agree with you. It's just, well... you know... pronouns!

I have family with food allergies and it's amazing how close they get with food-sensitivity-safe fakes.

OK, I think I can roll with that idea. I did do a search and found at least one granola cereal product that claims to be nut free, Gavin's Cinnamon Granola. Just in general though I would suspect all granola as not being safe for nut allergies. I guess that makes me granola bias.

[dr_eirik]

At the moment, I think Marion is far more worried about the squirrel thing than the gender thing.

I totally agree with you. It's just, well... you know... pronouns!

I know, but consider that Bahamut (aka Rick) has spoken. Unless we see Marion start to refer to himself as female, I think we stick with the designated pronouns. I also wouldn't expect any of the animals in HP to conform without being told.

Wouldn't shock me if this comes up with whoever he ends up traveling with. He tries to correct them, they get very confused, and either they accept it or Marion gives up trying to correct them because it's not a hill he's ready to die on at the moment.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Pronouns in general and how people use them to refer to themselves kind of confuses me. My female sibling sometimes uses "they/them" but recently is now using male pronouns. So I do wanna figure it out so I don't unintentionally insult my female sibling.

[NHWestoN]

Pronouns in general and how people use them to refer to themselves kind of confuses me. My female sibling sometimes uses "they/them" but recently is now using male pronouns. So I do wanna figure it out so I don't unintentionally insult my female sibling.

I might be a little obtuse, Amazee, so I apologize if I am … but why not ask her directly? She'd probably appreciate your openness, and it sounds like a conversation worth having.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Well I don't really see my sibling that much anymore since she just moved out a few months ago and even when she was living here, we really didn't have a lot to do with each other.

[Champion Wallace]

(I wonder if Marion's fibbing about the allergy?)

He's been quite honest and straightforward with regards to everything else, so he's likely telling the truth here. The only thing he'd have reason to lie or keep secrets about at this point in time is his former humanity, so as to not alienate anybody who might be able to help him with food and shelter.

Actually, there's another reason he might lie.

He's desperate. He needs help and the best way to get strangers to help you? Make them feel sorry for you.

If Marion is unable to find nuts or otherwise crack them open, that would be reason to lie, but I don't think a squirrel not knowing how to forage is any less believable than a squirrel that is allergic to tree nuts. Again, I don't actually think he's lying.

I do understand Marion's concern, but now I'm really wondering if Marion still has that allergy.
Think about it, not only is Marion now a squirrel, he is even a female squirrel (if Lois was right) so...what else has changed?

I don't think he still has it either, but if he does it would be really bad for it to trigger when he has no one to go to.

The racoon said "her". The gender changing is confirmed

Mmmmmmmebbeee. I'm not comfortable taking Truck's judgment on anything as authoritative.

What are you holding out for, a notarized birth certificate for the rodent? Part of Rick Griffin's style is to not say something explicitly if he can make it clear implicitly in fewer words. It helps keep the pace from ever bogging down too much.

Even when it comes to the coin there was never a gender-swap before now

Yes, but we have a sample size of 2. Statistically it's entirely reasonable that the coin could've randomly given those two their gender but not Marion.

...If you look at everything that has happened from the eyes of a devious mastermind it makes sense...

Not everyone was born with the same eyes as you.

[Argent]

Even when it comes to the coin there was never a gender-swap before now

Yes, but we have a sample size of 2.

Also, do we actually know that Steward is a male badger? We can assume Thomas is a camel dude because Sophia thinks he's hot but even that's not a guarantee.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Sophia could be just like Bruno in that he is a male with a female name since it wouldn't be unheard of.

[D-Rock]

I recall seeing people speculate that Bruno is short for Brunhilde, which is used as a female name. Or it really is Bruno because it sounded funny. shrug

[Amazee Dayzee]

Well I never heard of somebody with the name Brunhilde so I honestly can't comment on it.

[Argent]

Well I never heard of somebody with the name Brunhilde so I honestly can't comment on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9awvAMQ0hts

[Amazee Dayzee]

Sorry. I should have clarified. I never heard of anybody being named Brunhilde in person with the nickname Bruno. And I would think that they would be more likely to use the nickname Hilda or ever Bruna.