[0480] A Dark And Stormy Night X
└ posted on Thursday, 9 May 2013, by Novil
Don’t miss these amazing animated shorts by Cerberus.
- Lily: Good morning, Woo.
- Woo: Lily?
- Lily: Sandra’s in school. How are you?
- Woo: I’m… … okay.
- Lily: Woo,… you saved my life!
- Woo: I did?
- Lily: Yes, you did. Even if I had survived the lightning strike, the boulders would have crushed me. Woo, …
- Lily: … would you like to be the father of all my kits?(*)
- Caption: (*) = A sacred expression of affection among raccoons who usually don’t mate for life.
Ahimo-weh ahimo-weh ahimo-weh
Let’s all say it together:
D’AAAAAAWWWWWWWW
Here’s a short story that has nothing to do with the arc:
Once upon a time there was an observer, he sat upon a rock observing the land around him and aiding passing travellers with his knowledge of the land. One day a large flock of sheep passed by the observer’s rock, he noticed that the sheep were heading to a cliff and they would surely die if they did not change their direction. He stopped one of the sheep and warned it of the danger ahead, the sheep replied: “I am following the flock and the flock knows where it’s going.” The sheep scurried back to join its place in the flock. The observer stopped another sheep and gave it the same warning to which he received the same reply. The observer continued to do this until the last sheep had passed him by, each time the sheep he spoke to replied with the same answer. As the observer watched the sheep walk over the edge of the cliff one by one, determined to follow their flock, he realised that day the power of faith was stronger than the power of truth.
WOO!
On more serious note, I wonder if there’s a raccoon wedding tradition. I don’t think it will be like human wedding. I imnagine more like a gathering of raccoons in the forest, some running around in circle, screaming/squeaking together for See-o-ahtlah-ma-kas-kay (cioatlamacasque), devouring a buffet of food and then scatter like mad when the human come to check what the hell with all the ruckus.
so does this mean lily is going to move in?
aaaaaand that’s explain the Youtube video…….
Well, his premonition was bit early, but I doubt anyone would complain about that.
I am reminded slightly of Inuasyha with that monk-person who kept saying “Will you bear my children?” …But, personally, I think I’ve watched too much anime if that’s what pops into my head!
As a professional comic reader, I’m going to have to see some kind of scientific reference documenting the use of this…sacred phrase. Lol
aaand after responding “Yes” Woo wakes up. In heaven. After being struck by lightning and becoming temporarily delusional in his final moments.
Sorry, thats just the sort of negative thing I think of when I look at possible meanings/ending behind anything. I don’t have anything against woo :v
I just need to put a negative spin on things
Coming up:
Woo: (addressing assembled raccoons in woodland clearing) Hear ye, hear ye! Let it be known that I have taken this female and she has taken me to be sole and exclusive partners in a sacred mating for life. Let it be known by all who harbour desires for either of us, that this solemn oath was made before See-o-ahtlah-ma-kas-kay, and thus is unbreakable. And let it be known to all those guys who I see flexing their muscles and brandishing their claws, that this oath was also witnessed by Sandra here, who, like all humans, is ARMED WITH A GUN AND WILL SHOOT YOU DEAD!!!
—-
Sandra: Sooo, does this mean I’m- that the Commonwealth of Northia is going to acquire a force of agile young raccoons to do my- it’s government’s bidding?
Woo: Yes.
Sandra: Yeeeeeeee! -I mean, excellent!
Well, at least Lily isn’t freaked out by Sandra and her huge square den. I guess there’s nothing keeping her from being around at this point. I am assuming, however, that only Woo can talk to Sandra… Novil, is this true?
I didn’t even realize that the boulder-shelter thing collapsed, haha
Does this mean she already has kits?
Who aren’t necessarily his?
This is so adorable, I think I might just explode.
AllPurposeGuru wrote:
Only Woo [so far as we know] can speak English. All the other animals just have a translation Convention so we can know what they’re saying..
dawwwww ^^ way to go woo
Wait wait… Did she just say that before he saved her life she might have cheated on him?
@ Trimutius:
If you know anything about animals, you know that they mate with a different mate every mating season. No real animal mates for life, only humans. There is no “cheating on” in nature.
@ AllPurposeGuru:
I actually believe that it has been implied that all animals can talk to humans, they just choose not to.
With one life saved, many more will follow. =3
Cute book ending. Now to find out if Sandra’s room will survive being zerged by mysterious disappearances all of a sudden.
Congratulations WOO!! :3
Way to go Woo! Now, let’s find out what is wrong with Larisa!
Ok everyone, all together now: 3… 2… 1… D’AAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!
@ ekimmak:
It took me a minute to figure out that was how Woo saved Lily–and it wasn’t early: it drew her out from under the rocks just moments before the tree above them was struck, and the rocks fell….
not true several animals mate for life. like swans and if a swans mate dies they will not find a new one and will normally die of lonelyness.@ Lucario:
read this story arch listening to Tazans two worlds.
Even better, smile measured in light years.
Lucario wrote:
Lots of real animals mate for life, although it’s not too common. Several bird species, for example, mate for life, and there are plenty of species that will at least stay with one partner for a long time.
Lucario wrote:
To be perfectly honest, humans are animals. We are ‘real animals’. For reference:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Subclass: Theria
Infraclass: Eutheria
Order: Primates
Suborder: Anthropoidea
Superfamily: Hominoidea
Family: Hominidae
Genus: Homo
Species: sapiens
Due to the ‘Kingdom’ portion of classification, we are animals. Also, as ‘somebody’ posted, other species do in fact mate for life. Mating for life is, indeed, not the most common trait of animals. Hopefully the information provided here and in ‘somebody’s’ post will help another person avoid similar mistakes. *Yeesh, with a person named ‘somebody’ involved talking about hypothetical people becomes a real pain!*
Lucario wrote:
And not all humans by any means. Some of us do, but I know quite a few people who have divorced. Very much a cultural norm rather than a species characteristic!
@ AckAckAck:
Why did you have to get that song stuck in my head again?
@ AllPurposeGuru:
Yes, it is. Woo’s able to talk to humans with his special collar. Hmmm, I wonder if Lili could be understood if the collar was put on here.
Darn it, my head started spinning, as if it was right by me! Powree, Novil, thank you a lot!
@ Lucario:
Incorrect. Monogamy is a staple part of many species’ life cycles, not just humans. Life mating is, admittedly, mostly only found in the higher mammals and such, but some species such as woodlice also do it. It’s also not really possible to generalise “all animals” in that way – not all animals have seasons for mating, not all of them find a new mate every time they wish to procreate, et cetera – and then you have stuff like herring which just release the necessary fluids into the ocean and mating be damned.
Although I’m pretty sure the majority of human societies are obligate polygamous at time of writing anyway so the point is somewhat null.
@ AllPurposeGuru:
he can, watch the comic from the beginning!
Daaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww! This comic gives me teh feelz!
Woohoo! Fluff power!
D’OOOOHHHHHHH
On the other hand… Way to go, Woo!
@ Lucario: Actually some animals do mate for life.
@ EVERYONE IN THE MONOGAMY VS OTHERWISE DEBATE
Someone has done a whole series of pictoral essays on some of the more notable variations on this in nature. Unfortunately, they don’t appear to have grouped them together in any way, so you’ll just have to mine through the “Browse More Like This” listing.
father ALL of the kits!
#insert stupid meme image here
Daaaaaaawwww….
regarding the side chat on “lifelong mates” I suppose I’ll pipe up with another voice of “there are animals that mate for life” and “some animals are much better at it than us, the human animals”.
Raccoons just happen to be on the sizable list that well… doesn’t pair-bond really… at all…
You are on the internet so wiki it. There is always room for learning!
So ya, back to our adorable programming.
D’AAWWW!
so when do we get to start seeing you draw adorable little kits? OMG! they weigh ~70 grams (2.5 oz) at birth! You NEED to draw them.
I was like “Awwww!”, then I noticed “All my kits”. And I like “she was gona have several mates?” And then I just went back to awwing.
@ Bizkit:
As has been mentioned previously, Woo’s collar doesn’t enable him to speak to humans. He is inherently capable of it, and has done so on many occasions when he wasn’t wearing his collar. When he spoke of “vocal apparatus” early in the strip, he indicated his larynx, which is supported by his comments about being dissected if his secret were found out.
Now, what will be interesting is if Woo and Lily have kits, will the kits be able to speak to humans?
Also, regarding “ALL my kits” – Lily’s only about a year or so old and has been under the protection of Timor as well as Woo, so it’s unlikely that she’s had kits to date.
God, I read way too much into this strip… then again, I love it so…
Good resolved at the X, which also is the number of kids they’ll have by what we know thus far.
@ Lucario:
No, strong mating bonds occur in some species, and are well documented. Swans and Penguins are two that come to mind.
Others are polyamorous by habit like Lions and Wolves where the Pack Alpha gets to have his way with all the eligible ladies – at least till he isn’t the Alpha anymore. Or someone sneaks in a quickie while the Alpha isn’t around – but that’s dangerous, because the Nose knows.
I have an odd question.
Woo indicated that something about his vocal chords allowed him to be able to speak English and talk to humans.
That implies a genetic mutation, much like the ones that -in a very long sequence of such – are supposed to result in evolution.
Does that mean it is inheritable? And that some of his kids will be able to as well?
@ Cloudiie:
When was this implied? Cause im pretty sure it was implied that only Woo could talk fairly early on. Oh btw that plot point never makes sense.. If animals could talk to humans, why the heck wouldn’t they? What, is there some secret code saying, “No matter how desperate you are, never talk to humans. they are poopy heads and dont deserve to converse with us.”
@ Barrage7667:
yes