2019/09/18 - Meet And Greet

[trekkie]

Yeah, that's the last thing Marion needs, especially with having to take his finals.

[Buster]

Is there much point to a backpack that small? There's no way he can have any papers in there.

Maybe its actually a cellphone case?

[dr_eirik]

Oh, is there alt text today? I cant see it on my phone and it's not in the first post.

"you didn't drink any orange soda on the way here did you, it does different things to animals for no discernible reason"

Now I cant remember, is that the effect on all animals or unique to King?

And I love the callback.

[GameCobra]

... waait a minute.

"My life as a teenage squirrel"
*Marion fixes his life problems as a squirrel for now and goes back to school only to be humiliated.*
...
...
...
I can't help but feel Marion (or us, the audience) is about to get an unexpected surprise Friday.

[Ash Greytree]

I have to disagree about it being more "compelling" because there is nothing to do with that. Rick might as well end the chapter now if no one was going to know about Marion. Plus everyone finding out sets up the "Grand future" for the comic as a whole which is something that wouldn't happen if the beans hadn't been spilled. Not to mention it would be hard to explain why a random squirrel is in class for four days, taking the final exams, and Marion is still missing for two weeks. Just from a storytelling standpoint and a logic standpoint this was Rick's best call. This sets the comic on a new path that means big(ger) changes than what would/could have happened if Marion's change was kept secret. There are going to be consequences to this was the best way for Marion to regain his life. And this does give us insight to Keene's "thing" and answers the question of whether or not the secret would be revealed. Now other therians like Thomas, Steward, King (eh), *coughLois*coughtevenually* to be able to follow Marion's example and find normalcy in an abnormal situation.

Marion could've taken the exams at home with Miles proctoring them, and received his diploma that way. There's a lot that can be compelling about a character wanting their life back but simply not being able to get it back right then and there because of the ramifications, both for society and for that character's life. Revealing to the world that Marion's a squirrel and the flurry of questions that his fellow students, the parents of those students, and society at large are going to ask could very well cause a lot of chaos. And looking at HousePets as a whole, I think that kind of reveal is something that should've been saved for nearer to the end of the comic as a whole rather than used now. If Marion or any of the other people who've gotten/will get turned into animals want to find normalcy, as in regaining their routines as private citizens with personal lives and no government agencies or paparazzi or Celestials interfering, their chance may have very well passed with this reveal. How is King supposed to serve as Marion's personal guru/Yoda when the status-quo for humans-turned animals becomes something he never had to deal with?

This I agree with. He should interact with the other pets even if he is not under the spotlight. Any dignity to be reclaimed will probably come from how Keene wants to use him for the ECP.

Whatever Keene has planned for him, especially now that his secret is out, can't be good for his dignity. Been thinking about it, and the chances are high that he's going to become the focal point/living MacGuffin for a lot of characters and merely continue reacting to things, ferried from here to there as part of another grand arc of magic(k) and mystery. This is what I was worried about a few months back.

It would've been great to have an arc or two devoted to some adjustment time for Marion. He graduates high school after taking his exams at home with Miles proctoring. The world at large is none the wiser about his former humanity. He takes college classes online under his own name (since on the Internet, nobody knows you're a squirrel) and spends his free time around the neighborhood, where he begins to interact with the rest of the animals of Babylon Gardens and builds up interpersonal relationships with them. There would be some conflicts, yes, but ones where the stakes are low and mainly played for laughs while simultaneously getting some meaningful development for Marion and others, like what the hot springs arc did. Marion gains a routine, friends he can turn to among the animals, and a new status-quo is formed. A status-quo that can then be shaken up by the next big arc involving the supernatural and/or Celestial, and where Marion's newfound relationships with the animals can be tested and further strengthened/fall apart as the arc goes on. That would've been compelling.

... waait a minute.

"My life as a teenage squirrel"
*Marion fixes his life problems as a squirrel for now and goes back to school only to be humiliated.*
...
...
...
I can't help but feel Marion (or us, the audience) is about to get an unexpected surprise Friday.

If this turns out to be a dream sequence from Kitsune, it'll be interesting to see how long the comic has been a dream, and if Kitsune will lend him a hand somehow.

[dr_eirik]

... waait a minute.

"My life as a teenage squirrel"
*Marion fixes his life problems as a squirrel for now and goes back to school only to be humiliated.*
...
...
...
I can't help but feel Marion (or us, the audience) is about to get an unexpected surprise Friday.

If this turns out to be a dream sequence from Kitsune, it'll be interesting to see how long the comic has been a dream, and if Kitsune will lend him a hand somehow.

I feel ashamed that I'm not certain about what GameCobra is referencing. I have assumed that the title was a reference to the Michael Landon film "I was a Teenage Werewolf" but that ends with the title character kinda dead. Not sure that's the surprise mentioned.

I'm a little surprised that Kitsune hasn't already popped up or been mentioned, neither have Tarot or Sabrina. I suppose that this could be Marion having a nightmare about the next day at school, but earlier than that seems unlikely. Besides, Miles never attended a human high school and has only been a teacher a short time. He likely never considered the potential consequences of blabbing this out.

[Frank]

... waait a minute.

"My life as a teenage squirrel"
*Marion fixes his life problems as a squirrel for now and goes back to school only to be humiliated.*

I feel ashamed that I'm not certain about what GameCobra is referencing. I have assumed that the title was a reference to the Michael Landon film "I was a Teenage Werewolf" but that ends with the title character kinda dead. Not sure that's the surprise mentioned.

My life as a Teenage Robot, one of the best cartoons to come out of Nickelodeon's experimental phase... and also the one with the worst release schedule (something like season 2 being finished 3 years before it was allowed to air)

As per the intro, Jenny is a superhero robot made to fight Godzilla monsters and deflect meteors, but must attend school as a regular teenager because... well the first episode shows her programmer is socially awkward, and that's bad for a superhero's PR, so learning algorithms for the win!

If you can find it, it's worth watching. The jokes and the animation are surprisingly timeless considering when it was made. Not much in the fuzzy animals category, though.

[Cesco]

Ah, what a nice treatment for the new animals of ECP. So, Miles works at the same school of Marion. Well, what a smart move, Miles. And, looks like then he said the squirrel's name... Why take initiatives without listen the interested guy before?
Those pens are too big for a little squirrel, anyway.

[dr_eirik]

I just looked at the strip again... did the dialogue change? I could have sworn Marion said he had 4 days left, not six. Or was I sleep deprived reading the comic again?

[Cesco]

I just looked at the strip again... did the dialogue change? I could have sworn Marion said he had 4 days left, not six. Or was I sleep deprived reading the comic again?

This time, I haven't got to read the strip right after its publishing, but it must be as you say. Valerio's Italian translation, usually done after few hours the comic publishing, says "four days" ("quattro giorni"), indeed.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Well if the students know that Marion is now a GIRL squirrel, he won't have to worry about getting his butt kicked.

[fenrirblack]

Remember, the alternative is magic(k) is real.

Sweet sweet lovable geeks. So much denial. Plus they are more sci-fi geeks than fantasy geeks. And I wouldn't say they are the most brightest of the characters.

Bill: You kind of remind me of him. In fact, you remind me a lot of him. I haven't thought about him in ten years but I swear you even sound like him.

If King sounded like Joel Fox would've recognized it immediately if this is how he reacts to just the name Joel a year and a half later.

That was a joke and it has already been established several times that King and Joel still sound the same. Plus like you said in the above comment, the mere fact that Joel and King sounded the same would not be enough to convince Fox that early on that it was possible that Joel and King we're the same person because the mere idea would be unbelievable . The thought could have crossed Fox's mind only to be immediately dismissed as impossible and a coincidence. Considering the alternative would be admitting magic is real.

I just looked at the strip again... did the dialogue change? I could have sworn Marion said he had 4 days left, not six. Or was I sleep deprived reading the comic again?

I get four days when I use safari but six when I use the other browsers.

Now I have to update my earlier post.

Okay so if my timing is correct and we assume this all started on a monday and it's now Tues of the following week. Eight days has passed since Marion became a squirrel. I guess this did take a little longer to set up than I would have thought or just the right amount of wheeling and dealing from Lana and Keene. I would Hope Julia is at least on board with all of this by now.

Let's assume it's now Friday. He took two days off because of the initial change and the next to do ECP stuff. That would means he changed on a Weds. If Rick changed changed it to add more time Marion would spend at school, I would expect/hope we are actually going to delve into his school life now and see it in more detail.

[NHWestoN]

I just looked at the strip again... did the dialogue change? I could have sworn Marion said he had 4 days left, not six. Or was I sleep deprived reading the comic again?

This time, I haven't got to read the strip right after its publishing, but it must be as you say. Valerio's Italian translation, usually done after few hours the comic publishing, says "four days" ("quattro giorni"), indeed.

Extra days for final exams maybe?

[dr_eirik]

Remember, the alternative is magic(k) is real.

Sweet sweet lovable geeks. So much denial. Plus they are more sci-fi geeks than fantasy geeks. And I wouldn't say they are the most brightest of the characters.

I wonder if they'll have a retroactive heart attack when they realize it was all real. That, and Lester had a pretty intense experience thanks to Kitsune.

Let's assume it's now Friday. He took two days off because of the initial change and the next to do ECP stuff. That would means he changed on a Weds. If Rick changed changed it to add more time Marion would spend at school, I would expect/hope we are actually going to delve into his school life now and see it in more detail.

Yeah, even if four days was a mis-step that he fixed, if he was going to leap over the last days of school you'd think he wouldn't bother. The other thing that give us is a weekend, too. If this is a Friday, that gives all sorts of shenanigans time to happen before Monday. If any other student or staff at the school changes, who wants to bet that Marion is blamed?

[fenrirblack]

Marion could've taken the exams at home with Miles proctoring them, and received his diploma that way. There's a lot that can be compelling about a character wanting their life back but simply not being able to get it back right then and there because of the ramifications, both for society and for that character's life. Revealing to the world that Marion's a squirrel and the flurry of questions that his fellow students, the parents of those students, and society at large are going to ask could very well cause a lot of chaos. And looking at HousePets as a whole, I think that kind of reveal is something that should've been saved for nearer to the end of the comic as a whole rather than used now. If Marion or any of the other people who've gotten/will get turned into animals want to find normalcy, as in regaining their routines as private citizens with personal lives and no government agencies or paparazzi or Celestials interfering, their chance may have very well passed with this reveal. How is King supposed to serve as Marion's personal guru/Yoda when the status-quo for humans-turned animals becomes something he never had to deal with?

The thing about the comic and storytelling in general is that he has to change and evolve. I said this before but this opens the door to bigger things beyond just Marion and the main pets. That doesn't mean that this will change the lives of the other characters or their wacky adventures in Babylon Gardens but does change the overarching storyline that intertwines them all together which is a good thing. This is no different from when Game was occurring or after it ended. Characters will still be developed and showcased even as the human society as a whole falls apart then rebuilds itself with this new reality. Plus this is refreshing because it is not what King did which is still something important to consider. King kept it a secret and see how well that worked so there was is point in copying everything he did but with Marion. As far as King's role, he can still help Marion as a guru because he is still the only one in Marion's life who has dealt with this situation. Marion's life is still changing and in a constant state of flux. King was correct that Marion will need therapy even though he's back home and back in school for six days (apparently). King simply as an emotional shoulder to support Marion with Keene's insanity could be incredibly beneficial for them both. Clearly King still has come issues too. In a lot of ways, King is more important than ever because no one, not Marion, or the rest of the human population knows who to deal with this so King's expertise will be invaluable.

This I agree with. He should interact with the other pets even if he is not under the spotlight. Any dignity to be reclaimed will probably come from how Keene wants to use him for the ECP.

Whatever Keene has planned for him, especially now that his secret is out, can't be good for his dignity. Been thinking about it, and the chances are high that he's going to become the focal point/living MacGuffin for a lot of characters and merely continue reacting to things, ferried from here to there as part of another grand arc of magic(k) and mystery. This is what I was worried about a few months back.

In my mind, I was thinking that once Marion has a purpose with the ECP and a goal to accomplish he won't be reacting to every little thing and therefore can begin to develop and adapt and come to terms with his situation. Find the place where he belongs so to speak and use his new form for good instead of as a catalyst of embarrassment.

It would've been great to have an arc or two devoted to some adjustment time for Marion. He graduates high school after taking his exams at home with Miles proctoring. The world at large is none the wiser about his former humanity. He takes college classes online under his own name (since on the Internet, nobody knows you're a squirrel) and spends his free time around the neighborhood, where he begins to interact with the rest of the animals of Babylon Gardens and builds up interpersonal relationships with them. There would be some conflicts, yes, but ones where the stakes are low and mainly played for laughs while simultaneously getting some meaningful development for Marion and others, like what the hot springs arc did. Marion gains a routine, friends he can turn to among the animals, and a new status-quo is formed. A status-quo that can then be shaken up by the next big arc involving the supernatural and/or Celestial, and where Marion's newfound relationships with the animals can be tested and further strengthened/fall apart as the arc goes on. That would've been compelling.

This to me is all still possible. There is nothing about revealing to world about magic or human-animal transformation that would prevent these things from occurring but revealing the truth allows for the overarching storyline to develop and change as a whole instead of remaining static. Marion can still do all these things without the burden of lying to everyone he meets and coming up with really bad lies. Looking back at King, he had his reasons for keeping it a secret (he was a wanted criminal) but at the same time, it prevented a lot of development that could have happened earlier on especially with his friends if he was upfront about it.

Let's assume it's now Friday. He took two days off because of the initial change and the next to do ECP stuff. That would means he changed on a Weds. If Rick changed changed it to add more time Marion would spend at school, I would expect/hope we are actually going to delve into his school life now and see it in more detail.

Yeah, even if four days was a mis-step that he fixed, if he was going to leap over the last days of school you'd think he wouldn't bother. The other thing that give us is a weekend, too. If this is a Friday, that gives all sorts of shenanigans time to happen before Monday. If any other student or staff at the school changes, who wants to bet that Marion is blamed?

Lois shows up to school Monday as an animal and the rumors and jokes spread like wildfire. Marion has kooties!
Jokes aside I do hope we spend some time at school to watch it burn and see more of Lois and Marion interacting.

[dr_eirik]

Just to check things, I loaded the comic on my phone and initially saw that it had the four day quote. I dumped the cache and it reloaded to six, so it was definitely a change.

Lois shows up to school Monday as an animal and the rumors and jokes spread like wildfire. Marion has kooties!
Jokes aside I do hope we spend some time at school to watch it burn and see more of Lois and Marion interacting.

I think if Marion is simply seen with any animal, rumors could spread. By Monday, half the school will be rumored to be transformed!

But if anyone else changes, and make that especially so for Lois, then his high school time is likely over. If not the community, then I think Marion himself would self-quarantine until they knew what was going on.

[fenrirblack]

Lois shows up to school Monday as an animal and the rumors and jokes spread like wildfire. Marion has kooties!
Jokes aside I do hope we spend some time at school to watch it burn and see more of Lois and Marion interacting.

I think if Marion is simply seen with any animal, rumors could spread. By Monday, half the school will be rumored to be transformed!

But if anyone else changes, and make that especially so for Lois, then his high school time is likely over. If not the community, then I think Marion himself would self-quarantine until they knew what was going on.

That is my fear right now. If Steward does unleash the power of the coin on people, everyone is going to go after Marion. That's an arc unto itself where Fox and Fido and Mungo are going to have to prove his innocence. Real Stories of the K9PD 2

[dr_eirik]

That is my fear right now. If Steward does unleash the power of the coin on people, everyone is going to go after Marion. That's an arc unto itself where Fox and Fido and Mungo are going to have to prove his innocence. Real Stories of the K9PD 2

Steward nothing, we still don''t know what tranformed Marion. Whatever or whoever it is could still be out there.

<Marion and Lois are studying together in Marions' room, him sitting on a desk and looking over her notes.>
Marion: I'm not sure I'm getting this equation. I know I had a solution in my notes. Can you dig it out for me?
Lois: In your old backpack, right? Which folder?
Marion: Red one. I'm sorry to make you do this stuff for me, I'm just not adapted to all this yet.
Lois: Don't apologize, I'm happy to help. I only wish I understood what you were going though better. <Poof> Woah... Marion? Why does your room look 10 times bigger all of a sudden?

[GameCobra]

That is my fear right now. If Steward does unleash the power of the coin on people, everyone is going to go after Marion. That's an arc unto itself where Fox and Fido and Mungo are going to have to prove his innocence. Real Stories of the K9PD 2

Doubt the coin has that kind of effect, but hey, Rick - prove me wrong :3

What i'm getting the funny feeling here is that Rick is going to pull a classy school moment on us and have Marion be revealed to get along with a group of pets at school who defend him from the school bully. Considering he's at a different school or class, that's entirely possible.

[dr_eirik]

That is my fear right now. If Steward does unleash the power of the coin on people, everyone is going to go after Marion. That's an arc unto itself where Fox and Fido and Mungo are going to have to prove his innocence. Real Stories of the K9PD 2

Doubt the coin has that kind of effect, but hey, Rick - prove me wrong :3

What i'm getting the funny feeling here is that Rick is going to pull a classy school moment on us and have Marion be revealed to get along with a group of pets at school who defend him from the school bully. Considering he's at a different school or class, that's entirely possible.

I don't think he's at a different school. There wouldn't seem to be much point to that.

I do like the idea that he gets defended by, at the least, the passel of wolf cubs at the school. I kind of envision a bully holding Marion by the tail, then a tap on the shoulder to reveal three wolves with arms crossed, ears back and staring eyes.

[fenrirblack]

That is my fear right now. If Steward does unleash the power of the coin on people, everyone is going to go after Marion. That's an arc unto itself where Fox and Fido and Mungo are going to have to prove his innocence. Real Stories of the K9PD 2

Doubt the coin has that kind of effect, but hey, Rick - prove me wrong :3

I can see Steward lurking in the sewers as some rando comes by and he holds out the coin and says "Here. Take it." That is how my mind works.

What i'm getting the funny feeling here is that Rick is going to pull a classy school moment on us and have Marion be revealed to get along with a group of pets at school who defend him from the school bully. Considering he's at a different school or class, that's entirely possible.

What? Why would he be at a different school or class? Also I think does confirm that Miles is a full-time teacher now is he has his own homeroom.

[GameCobra]

Actually, scratch that about the new school and class thing. I misinterpreted the ECP thing meaning he had to go to another school/class. x3

[dr_eirik]

I can see Steward lurking in the sewers as some rando comes by and he holds out the coin and says "Here. Take it." That is how my mind works.

Maybe we discovered the source of Locklys Curious Coin Conundrum.

I am still beginning to suspect there's another level to Steward. There's nothing overt in the comic, but it feels like he's got something going on with Keene, not against him.

[Ash Greytree]

This to me is all still possible. There is nothing about revealing to world about magic or human-animal transformation that would prevent these things from occurring but revealing the truth allows for the overarching storyline to develop and change as a whole instead of remaining static. Marion can still do all these things without the burden of lying to everyone he meets and coming up with really bad lies. Looking back at King, he had his reasons for keeping it a secret (he was a wanted criminal) but at the same time, it prevented a lot of development that could have happened earlier on especially with his friends if he was upfront about it.

You're right. A lot of the same kind of arcs where the stakes are low or nonexistent and just serve to show the characters having fun and getting development can still happen. Marion can still build up interpersonal relationships with other characters in Babylon Gardens. But I'm curious as to how Marion would be participating in those arcs, what kind of relationships those will be, and who they'll be with now that 1) everyone will know he's a human-turned-squirrel and 2) Keene has some kind of plan that requires Marion in the ECP; signs point toward it revolving around getting humans to develop empathy for what animals without rights have to go through, but it's still largely unclear.

Given that he's in high school right now, the first animal friends he's most likely to make are the wolf cubs; Rockstar and Sanchez. Thanks to their family's enrollment in the ECP, Marion will likely be in close contact with them even after he graduates. Beyond that? I'm not sure. Like I've said a lot, it would've been neat to see him become good friends with Falstaff & Truck. But when word gets around that he used to be human and is in the ECP, I think a lot of the treehouse folks will be off-limits to him for friend-making purposes, especially with Steward living there. And whatever Keene is going to have him doing (if he actually does require Marion to do more than just go about his daily routine, that is) could make it tough for him to become friends with anybody outside the program.

What if Keene starts scouting out more prey animals for the ECP, and Marion and them all are required to attend some kind of weekly meeting or something? That way, new characters could be introduced for Marion to become friends with.

[Champion Wallace]

I wonder what the "R R" on the wall in the last panel means. Though I do have my suspicions.

...River Ridge.

Is there much point to a backpack that small?

I guess it's for his phone. What I don't get is how he's going to write legibly with a pen the size of his arm.

I hadn't even considered that. That makes a lot of sense.

Oh, is there alt text today? I cant see it on my phone and it's not in the first post.

"you didn't drink any orange soda on the way here did you, it does different things to animals for no discernible reason"

Now I cant remember, is that the effect on all animals or unique to King?

And I love the callback.

Someone even linked this upthread when talking about the limo. Additionally, Fox's reaction towards King's drunkenness was "No, he's only had one so far." Indicating getting drunk from Orange Soda is a normal occurrence (if not from that small quantity).

And looking at HousePets as a whole, I think that kind of reveal is something that should've been saved for nearer to the end of the comic as a whole rather than used now.

I don't feel like there is a planned "end" to Housepets!. I can't find it now, but someone once posted a picture of Grape and Peanut kissing during a sunset with a caption like "This is how Housepets should end". Since that we've had Grape kiss Peanut and it wasn't the end of the comic. The cosmic game has been a part of this comic for the majority of its run so far and tied disparate arcs together, but that ended and the comic moved on. The status quo might not stay the same, but we get to enjoy whatever status quo comes from this.

I just looked at the strip again... did the dialogue change? I could have sworn Marion said he had 4 days left, not six. Or was I sleep deprived reading the comic again?

You are correct.

2019-09-18-meet-and-greet copy orrigonal.png (254.63 KiB) Viewed 7699 times

Bill: You kind of remind me of him. In fact, you remind me a lot of him. I haven't thought about him in ten years but I swear you even sound like him.

If King sounded like Joel Fox would've recognized it immediately if this is how he reacts to just the name Joel a year and a half later.

That was a joke and it has already been established several times that King and Joel still sound the same. Plus like you said in the above comment, the mere fact that Joel and King sounded the same would not be enough to convince Fox that early on that it was possible that Joel and King we're the same person because the mere idea would be unbelievable . The thought could have crossed Fox's mind only to be immediately dismissed as impossible and a coincidence. Considering the alternative would be admitting magic is real.

Fox wouldn't need to jump to the (correct) comnclusion that King was Joel. I was thinking more that Fox would freak out because he thinks that wasn't King talking and Joel was hiding nearby. As you said I said, King having the same voice as Joel would seem imposable, one way or another. We could continue to debate this endlessly, but really each side has one piece of evidence that "established" each theory. One side has logic, but the other is a literary trope. Until we get anymore evidence, there's no use debating.

[fenrirblack]

Fox wouldn't need to jump to the (correct) conclusion that King was Joel. I was thinking more that Fox would freak out because he thinks that wasn't King talking and Joel was hiding nearby. As you said I said, King having the same voice as Joel would seem imposable, one way or another. We could continue to debate this endlessly, but really each side has one piece of evidence that "established" each theory. One side has logic, but the other is a literary trope. Until we get anymore evidence, there's no use debating.

I do want to say one last thing while I'm thinking about it until the next time this argument is revived by some poor soul who unwittingly opens this can of worms. Joel said one long sentence in Fox's presence and Fox was barking the entire time Joel spoke and everything Joel said after that was during Orwell's "smothering" and while Fox was unconscious. So one could argue that Fox never even heard Joel speak at all and therefore would not be able to recognize his voice period.

Changing the subject, I miss violent Fox. "I'm going to tear you apart and go home," what happened to that Fox? I guess he grew up but still.

[D-Rock]

It's called "character development."

[fenrirblack]

Okay I am going to make two predictions about how the next strip(s) are going to go. A. We do a montage type strip like Fox's spa search and we see Marion struggle to adapt to doing school work as a squirrel coupled with navigating the relentless plague of questions, accusations, and comments. B. We skip the rest of the school day to find Marion at his home with his face in a pillow while either Julia or Lois ask him about his first day back at school.

[dr_eirik]

Okay I am going to make two predictions about how the next strip(s) are going to go. A. We do a montage type strip like Fox's spa search and we see Marion struggle to adapt to doing school work as a squirrel coupled with navigating the relentless plague of questions, accusations, and comments. B. We skip the rest of the school day to find Marion at his home with his face in a pillow while either Julia or Lois ask him about his first day back at school.

These are fairly uncontroversial predictions. Might even come true. I'm thinking that we're going to see some kind of (figurative) rock drop on Marion before we see the end here.

I wonder if a possible direction here is that Marion finds himself friendless (other than Lois). Possibly because his old friends don't believe that it's really Marion, partly because no one knows what to say. That would leave a path where the only ones in the neighborhood that he can talk to are the pets and ferals.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Considering this is a comic about animals and teenagers really aren't gonna be playing a huge part in it and Marion was probably transformed in order to get him to associate with animals, I'm thinking that he is gonna end up being shunned. I would take a page out of The Chaotic Wolf's book and go even darker and say Marion has the living daylights beaten out of him but I don't think that Rick is that cruel.

[Gameb18oy]

Okay I am going to make two predictions about how the next strip(s) are going to go. A. We do a montage type strip like Fox's spa search and we see Marion struggle to adapt to doing school work as a squirrel coupled with navigating the relentless plague of questions, accusations, and comments. B. We skip the rest of the school day to find Marion at his home with his face in a pillow while either Julia or Lois ask him about his first day back at school.

These are fairly uncontroversial predictions. Might even come true. I'm thinking that we're going to see some kind of (figurative) rock drop on Marion before we see the end here.

I wonder if a possible direction here is that Marion finds himself friendless (other than Lois). Possibly because his old friends don't believe that it's really Marion, partly because no one knows what to say. That would leave a path where the only ones in the neighborhood that he can talk to are the pets and ferals.

Considering he just got the worst possible exposure from their dad, I think it's safe to assume Marion will be making friends with Miles' pups, especially since at least Hawk is embarrassed by his dad. Be odd if Rick doesn't at least acknowledge them either, what with the many easy jokes you can make with a squirrel being pals with multiple large doggos

[Amazee Dayzee]

I thought that they would be seen as even weirder since they are actually adolescent wolves. Plus the fact that they would eat anything they can catch.

[dr_eirik]

I thought that they would be seen as even weirder since they are actually adolescent wolves. Plus the fact that they would eat anything they can catch.

I don't think that it would be a huge problem. These cubs have done very little, if any, hunting. I could easily see Miles tasking the cubs with bodyguard duty.

[fenrirblack]

I thought that they would be seen as even weirder since they are actually adolescent wolves. Plus the fact that they would eat anything they can catch.

They’ve matured and I don’t think have had enough exposure to the wild to for to happen. At this point they are more tame than the older generation was/is. Plus Rockstar has a job a pizza boy so if he can deliver fifty pizzas without sneaking a bite then Marion will be fine.

Considering he just got the worst possible exposure from their dad, I think it's safe to assume Marion will be making friends with Miles' pups, especially since at least Hawk is embarrassed by his dad. Be odd if Rick doesn't at least acknowledge them either, what with the many easy jokes you can make with a squirrel being pals with multiple large doggos

I would also be shocked in the cubs don’t have a role to play at this point. At this point the characters are taking turns being introduced to Marion and establishing themselves in his life. It’s like speed dating for making friends with animals.

[Amazee Dayzee]

We just need to wait a few strips after we see the cubs to see who will be the next animal introduced in the speed dating round that he will become friends with. XD