Housepets!

Okay, first Good for Steward for actually being a full on super villain lunatic. Yay.

Second, seriously guys, that is the last time I let you make me question what is clearly obvious and that Steward was the villain all along.

Thirdly, no Lana. Disappointing.

Fourth, we never did get to know how he did it. Or how many there are. OR if and where are the others he may have changed.

I really like this as an ending for this arc. There are still a pike of unanswered wmquestiona, but at least we know that Marion and Lois are accepted by their families and are content to move on with their lives

Oh, and Lois does have a dog.

I’m bit conflicted on this ending; I do hope it gets actually resolved later down the line

HOLY GUACAMOLE! That was a top notch strip!

Kudos to those who guessed Steward helpers right!

And finally Happy holidays to everyone in this amazing forum!

Poor Marion and Lois stuck in their animal forms, but at least we know Steward has an accomplice, Trinket.

I wonder if Cody knows?

The fears of men continue as Badgers
drift from resentment to crime.
Striking back at those who failed him
after patiently biding his time.
So there are others to come in his war,
more victims of how he was 'right'?
Something needs to be done on this;
the Badger has became a real blight.
So they've adapted and found the fun
in being who they weren't meant to be?
I guess the true fun of the season
is to be found up a big Christmas tree?

fenrirblack wrote:Okay, first Good for Steward for actually being a full on super villain lunatic. Yay.

Second, seriously guys, that is the last time I let you make me question what is clearly obvious and that Steward was the villain all along.

Thirdly, no Lana. Disappointing.

Fourth, we never did get to know how he did it. Or how many there are. OR if and where are the others he may have changed.

I have a theory on the fourth. He had the bird use the shiny at the zoo probably. How he got it back from the bird... Probably thanks to a lot of Cory.

Dissension wrote:[ We Don't Need No Stinking Badger ]

Title Text: ow my brittle hand

How, indeed, could you disappoint him, Keene? You're not as bad as people think.

1. Marion using a smartwatch in place of a phone is adorable and clever. (Marion riding in Lois's hood is even more adorable.)

2. Fox is gonna have sexy scars next time we see him, just sayin'.

3. The lore fanatics will be pleased to learn who Devo's owner is.

4. Merry Christmas; take care of yourselves and each other (or else)!

I was just looking over that strike to the face. I just hope Fox has an eye the next time we see him. And Devo has been in two strips up to now, and one was apparently the guests at King and Bailys wedding. Was he even tagged there before now?

Oh, and I forgot, merry Christmas to all you filthy animals.

Well that wraps up any remaining ambiguity about Steward's villain status. The only question now is how exactly Steward used the coin to cause these transformations, how he managed some kind of delayed response.

And how to reverse the transformations, that probably needs to be a priority question to be answered right there. If there's going to be a lot more ex-human animals (with or without gender-swaps), it stands to reason that not all of them, or even the majority, are going to handle it as well as Marion has.

Wellp,he did it. He scarred Fox. Hes irredeemable now,folks. more transformations in the future.

Merry Christmas

Sucks for Marion,still,but I hope he still returns to normal someday. At least Lois can keep him company. <3

I love those outfits in the end! They’re adorable. And the dog - so cute! I wonder what he’s saying?

There’s a problem with Steward’s plan - Keene could just institute union dues for all working participants of the ECP to help cover its costs.

Okay, wow, I like this ending... looks like Marion and Lois are hanging around a while?
By the way, Rick, not to be facetious, but this is the best HP! strip I've read!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Or should I say.... Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!

On a side note, you're gonna have some really nasty scars, Fox.
--
So Trinket was the bird we saw,
I wonder if Cory's in on this too?
Steward slashes Fox with his claw,
And what are they to do?

The badger flees, the coin is gone,
What next? Fox, are you okay?
New beginnings have begun to dawn,
As animals our pair will stay.

It's good they've been accepted,
They both still have each other,
Though I wonder if the badger will be intercepted,
Or will he stay under cover?

Wow. Super huge page. I love it. My only regret is that I wasted so much mental energy wondering how this could avoid a rushed ending in an impossibly short time frame. I will not make that mistake again. Way too much effort.

At the moment, I really don't have anything else to add. Christmas comes early tomorrow - well, with this it kinda already came early, but you know what I mean - so I'll have to say my full thoughts later. Which is good because I'm gonna need time to gather them. They went all over the place, the hyperactive little gremlins . . .

Thank you, Rick for giving us the greatest gift of all. Steward is crazy and the antagonist. The one thing I've been preaching for over a year.

Also this is very well done. Lois and Marion are so cute.

They'll change back one day. Them coming to peace with it and looking on the bright side is honestly the best gift they can give themselves. But for right now, they can't do anything about their situation and this gives Keene a reason to *cough go to Egypt* and actually get off his tail and do something productive.

Next time we see them I'll assume they'll be some other unfortunate soul transformed that they'll help with. Fingers crossed for Bronson.

Okay follow-up questions: The how he changed Marion thing isn't important or why he was chosen (Mostly because the simplest answer is the right one) but why Lois? I mean the timing of her transformation couldn't have been a coincidence. They were talking to Thomas but only Poncho and Lana knew they were there. If Trinket was following them then she would have had to fly back to Steward tell him what was happening, have him give her the coin, and have her fly all the way back just to use it on her. Still voting Lana had something to do with it. I mean it doesn't make too much sense if Steward is trying to destroy the ECP and Lana isn't (unless she is also but why would she be running it then unless that is a deception. This is turning way too complicated but that's why I like it. She's playing everyone for fools. Let's go with that.) Who else is there? I mean Steward's comment earlier still makes me think there are others out there and that Marion was not the first.

Sadly I really didn't expect him to get away like that. I really wanted him locked in the fungeon. I seems so obvious now but for him to literally claw Fox, he fell farther than even I expected.

Douglas Collier wrote:I love those outfits in the end! They’re adorable. And the dog - so cute! I wonder what he’s saying?

There’s a problem with Steward’s plan - Keene could just institute union dues for all working participants of the ECP to help cover its costs.

Devo: Squirrel! Squirrel! Squirrel!
Lois: Calm down! I already told you that's Marion! Stop yelling at him!

Man, what an excellent arc. I totally called the bird being the coin carrier, but now we know it was under a certain badger's direction.

I do hope Marion and Lois get at least the *opportunity* to turn back, even if they reject it. It still feels super bittersweet regarding their situation, especially since it wasn't just species but gender as well.

Anyway, happy holidays yall! Hope everyone has a great one!

Here is the thing I still don't exactly get, how was this plan of Stewards was ever going to work? Again there is no way that he could turn enough people into animals to bankrupt the ECP without people noticing that a lot of people are being turned into animals and then wanting to help them. This would get the ECP a major influx of cash and assistance even if it is poorly managed. It would still take time to get any other kind of organization up to take its place so they would need to have it around and it would give Lana and Keene time to turn the books around. A better plan would be to overload them with actual wild animals which people would have no reason to help; even if he is doing a combination of both its still a bad plan, since again; people will notice and help. Though maybe slower then if it was just humans I really doubt he could bankrupt them fast enough.

Well, Lois and Marion seem to have accepted their situation a bit better/faster than King did. Probably helps when it seems like there's literally no hope of changing back and you have no choice but to accept.
I do want to see some resolution in that they (or others inevitably affected) get the chance to change back to normal, or at least back to their proper gender. Something about how this arc ended just doesn't sit right with me.

Okay, lets look at this again.
Marion and Lois
Unable to change back Marion and Lois resign to adapting to their new bodies and new chapter in their lives CHECK
--They go to college or decide to do an online program like Miles come fall.
--They decide to skip college until they are back to normal and help with the new ECP members
--They find regular jobs thanks to the ECP

The Keene Part
Keene promises to fix things after he gets the rest of the therians changed by the coin someplace stable to live aka the Boarding House CHECK
-Keene also has to deal with the consequences of Steward's actions as well as avoiding taking too much blame for the fact that the coin that caused this mess was technically his.
-Keene searches for a magical solution to Fix Steward's mess which ultimately leads him to Egypt. .

The Steward Part
Steward is done for the most part having been caught and unmasked as the villain Scooby Doo style CHECK
-Steward wasn't working alone and the partner is still out there CHECK
-This is only a temporary setback and Steward still has a major role to play down the line. CHECK

Next time I come up with a insane and implausible theory, you all better believe me. I was wrong about a lot of things mainly that Steward wasn't directly responsible mainly because we didn't have a clue in the comic that said otherwise, but right about a lot more especially near the end when the pieces started falling into place. Like any good detective and writer the clues started adding up.

Okay here's my new Lana theory (You don't actually have to believe this one but hear me out). Lana teamed up with Steward to bring down the ECP but she's secretly playing him to recruit members to the ECP with the coin and taking advantage of Steward's fall from sanity. She plays along with his plan and coerce him to use the coin on specific targets like Lois when they were talking to Thomas. But unlike Steward's plan to bankrupt the Miltons, Lana goes behind his back to get a bunch on investors and government officials to help support it and not only does the ECP take off, Milton Industries starts raking it in. She is seen as the true mastermind and strategic genius of the family and not Keene therefore earning the respect and admiration she craved for years. Taking in random humans who were turned into animals is good PR.

dr_eirik wrote:I was just looking over that strike to the face. I just hope Fox has an eye the next time we see him.

I almost included "or an eyepatch" and figured you might be able to give a better opinion than I.

First and foremost, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Second, I'm surprised they didn't go back to Kitsune to say "OK, we found out why, how does that help?" but I guess we can't see everything that happened in those six months yet

Third, i feel like the ending is ...appropriate, it works with the story, but... you know, it's not the ending I would've wanted.

I really did enjoy this arc quite a bit though. Marion and Lois are great new additions to the comic and I can't wait to see more of them in the future. It will be neat to get a more human perspective on the pets and wild animals world that isn't Kings

I wonder if Cory is involved as well. I think this is the first time Trinket has appeared without him nearby.

Rikunda wrote:

fenrirblack wrote:Okay, first Good for Steward for actually being a full on super villain lunatic. Yay.

Second, seriously guys, that is the last time I let you make me question what is clearly obvious and that Steward was the villain all along.

Thirdly, no Lana. Disappointing.

Fourth, we never did get to know how he did it. Or how many there are. OR if and where are the others he may have changed.

I have a theory on the fourth. He had the bird use the shiny at the zoo probably. How he got it back from the bird... Probably thanks to a lot of Cory.

Looking back at the panel where Lois first transforms there is a bird in the background. It has to be Trinket. Though how she was able to get the coin into contact with Lois without either her or Poncho noticing is still a mystery.

Anyone else think its odd, Steward said "Hope you like your Christmas present..." in the middle of June? At the time that was taking place it makes no sense.

Also I do hope Lois's parents were more understanding than Julia. Like easier to convince and less tears and let's be honest, drama.

Now that it is all over there one more thing I want to say tonight. The simplest solution was the most obvious. It was Steward with the coin like everyone expected for revenge on Keene like I and others expected. That is the true take away. We spent seven months twisting ourselves in knots when we should have been focusing on the simply solution because that's all it really is. I think it took six months into this arc for me to realize that. We don't need all the answers or be given very subtle clues (they would have helped though) to find out who dun it. We definitely didn't need to question was was clearly obvious (I'm not getting over that anytime soon). That is the biggest take away. True it was fun but stressful at times to come up with complicated and over the top theories. Something to keep in mind for when we pick up with Marion, Lois, and Steward in the future.

Well, there’s the clarification. That wording and the circumstances really did have me believing that Steward was a red herring all along. Now we wait to see when Bronson and Mr. Porter show up at Keene’s doorstep...

Lois & Marion are truly thick as thieves. I’m glad that they have each other. Marion having come (mostly) to terms with his fuzziness in those six months is also really nice. It probably helps that he has someone like Lois right there by his side.

On the subject of their wardrobes: I adore Marion’s Christmas sweater; the fact that you can see the stitching of the reindeer because it’s so small is a really good detail. Lois’s pink hoodie and blue scarf are a nice look for her as a winter ensemble. I guess she decided to ditch the bandanna, though, or maybe she just didn’t wear it that night because it didn’t match her outfit.

I picked a good time to get into Housepets; this was a really fun first arc to experience reading page by page with y’all. A new status quo, two new regular characters that are species outside the usual domestic cats and dogs (and even better, one of them is a squirrel!), and a plethora of potential future arcs now opened up... it’s gonna be exciting to theorize and speculate and joke around with everyone in the future! I still smile at how I kinda-sorta called it on Lois turning into a bobcat....

Merry Christmas, everybody!

He scratched Fox's face. The badger must die.

Also if Trinket's in on this, then where's Cory?

If Steward could evade detection for six months then why was he so easy to "apprehend"? One way to avoid rushing would be to have more panels in a strip. At 17 panels and 10 lines, this one strip is longer than some arcs (such as Zap! or Getting Physical).

fenrirblack wrote:Okay, first Good for Steward for actually being a full on super villain lunatic. Yay.

Second, seriously guys, that is the last time I let you make me question what is clearly obvious and that Steward was the villain all along.

Thirdly, no Lana. Disappointing.

Fourth, we never did get to know how he did it. Or how many there are. OR if and where are the others he may have changed.

You can never be too sure when it comes to this comic and questioning stuff is a health attitude. Besides, your third point really undercuts your second.

dr_eirik wrote:And Devo has been in two strips up to now, and one was apparently the guests at King and Bailys wedding. Was he even tagged there before now?

He was.

fenrirblack wrote:Anyone else think its odd, Steward said "Hope you like your Christmas present..." in the middle of June? At the time that was taking place it makes no sense.

I found that odd as well.

Vanice wrote:Also if Trinket's in on this, then where's Cory?

He might be a shadowy figure in the Treehouse.

Kitsune is everywhere at all times. How do we know he didn’t follow them and de-curse the coin? He has nothing to gain from his "bosses" allowing Pete's curse to mess with more and more souls.

Obviously everyone accepted Marion and Lois are animals now. So... now what?

Macsen wrote:Kitsune is everywhere at all times. How do we know he didn’t follow them and de-curse the coin? He has nothing to gain from his "bosses" allowing Pete's curse to mess with more and more souls.

Obviously everyone accepted Marion and Lois are animals now. So... now what?

He probably finds it amusing and enjoys seeing how mortals deal with adversity.

Well, that sure cleared up Steward’s “Villain” status, even if like most good Villain’s, his plan has holes you could drive a truck through.

So it looks like we’ll be seeing more transformees in future... & I still say Marion & Lois got lucky that they became species that could still lead (relatively) normal lives. In the Housepets verse, all animals can talk, but only pawed animals can still walk upright, have fingers & (if they want to) wear clothes, but as with Thomas, what’s to say that the coin wouldn’t make you a Camel or a Horse? Sure, you could still talk & most likely convince everyone around you of who you are, especially if the coin being around is a known thing, but living in a Human home & holding down a Human job would be difficult to impossible, even with ECP support.

Macsen wrote:Kitsune is everywhere at all times. How do we know he didn’t follow them and de-curse the coin?

Because that’s not how it works.

Or is it?

But in all seriousness I do wonder how far things have to be pushed for heaven to become involved. The first time a human was changed to an animal, it was a direct result of the actions of a Celestial, even then the only reason they got involved in the first place was that Pete directly altered King's fate.
Pete’s spell is still being used, but not directly by him. So they might not wish to get involved directly with what is technically a mortal affair, (Mortals causing trouble for mortals.) despite the fact that real magic(k) is being used.

Champion Wallace wrote:One way to avoid rushing would be to have more panels in a strip. At 17 panels and 10 lines, this one strip is longer than some arcs (such as Zap! or Getting Physical).

Quite a lot of work goes into each strip already. If the average length increased, Rick would spend even more time and energy making each comic.

Something just doesn't feel right about that conclusion to me, I can't put my finger to what it is though.

Dissension wrote:

dr_eirik wrote:I was just looking over that strike to the face. I just hope Fox has an eye the next time we see him.

I almost included "or an eyepatch" and figured you might be able to give a better opinion than I.

It is kinda my thing.

The eye is more resilient than most people realize, but there is a claw mark that looks like it raked across the cornea. I guess how bad it is depends on if Rick is trying to torment Fox more. Though, worst case, maybe he gets visited by a couple oddly colored huskies to comfort him.

I have to say that the last panel here is easily one of my favorites of the entire strip. It's not so much for the art, which is beautiful, but the dialogue. Two characters, clearly in love, who are going to stay together for the long term. Lois loves Marion no matter the package, and Marion is still a bit neurotic about his place in all this even months later, but Lois understands and accepts that.

Masterful work, and I hope that Rick feels it was worth the cramped hands. From those of use on this end of the screen, it was.

Amazing strip and ending; I wonder where this will lead us in the future, but for the time being a little slide of life to take break will be equally as good

Although a Legosi eye-scar is cool and all; why on our poor Fox?! TwT

ChekeBello wrote:Amazing strip and ending; I wonder where this will lead us in the future, but for the time being a little slide of life to take break will be equally as good

Although a Legosi eye-scar is cool and all; why on our poor Fox?! TwT

Nick Furry?

Ruska wrote:But in all seriousness I do wonder how far things have to be pushed for heaven to become involved. The first time a human was changed to an animal, it was a direct result of the actions of a Celestial, even then the only reason they got involved in the first place was that Pete directly altered King's fate.
Pete’s spell is still being used, but not directly by him. So they might not wish to get involved directly with what is technically a mortal affair, (Mortals causing trouble for mortals.) despite the fact that real magic(k) is being used.

I think you answered your own question there. Like you say, both then and now other celestials didn't get involved because of magic or changing bodies, but when Pete tried to tamper with King's Fate and his soul's destination completely divorced from transforming him into a dog. As an example of their attitude towards mortals practicing magic(k), Sabrina had natural psychic ability, but instead of someone quashing it Spirit Dragon apprenticed her so she could use more magic(k).

Dissension wrote:

Champion Wallace wrote:One way to avoid rushing would be to have more panels in a strip. At 17 panels and 10 lines, this one strip is longer than some arcs (such as Zap! or Getting Physical).

Quite a lot of work goes into each strip already. If the average length increased, Rick would spend even more time and energy making each comic.

Exactly. That's why I was surprised at first he made a strip this long, though now that it's done it's not like we're going to complain.

Great strip, first and foremost.

But my heart sank here. Unlike a chunk of the fan base, forced TF stories where we see actual consequences are not a favorite. Howl, even Kings story brought me down. And we know that things are going to potentially get so much worse.
At least Marion and Lois' relationship seems to have gotten stronger.