Well, wombats do have in their favor that 1) they do not worship any gods – so there’s no nonsense about one gender or the other having precedence and 2) they’ve clearly had a long, long time to work things out, and they’re a very methodical and detail-oriented species (as befits a species that spends most of its life underground, doing serious digging) – they’ve figured out what works and what doesn’t work for them.
What interests me is that Grim-Eyes is familiar enough with the idea of contracts to come up with that “subparagraph F, section 12” thing. It doesn’t seem like there’d be such a concept in a society with oral traditions and cave paintings.
Also, “one to five years with option to renew”.
Well, I guess I know why wombat marriage is structured like this…they’re worried about gold diggers.
Am I the only one thinking Digger and her wombat society is missing out on something? Not to say I don’t love them, but that’s just it… Shouldn’t there be at least a little bit talk of that – love – in this whole affair? No, I’m sticking with Ed on this one. Bond for love, don’t sign contracts.
Jatopian:
In a non – dimorphic or weakly dimorphic society (whereas the hyenas are fairly strongly dimorphic; referring here to all measurable gender differences) then the only way one gender can be considered superior is by favour of the gods, or by something else that does not rely primarily on evidence.
YES!! That is how marriage *should* be set up, so that there’s no shame in realizing that you’ve matured in separate directions and need to part. I first encountered this concept in Clarke’s “Childhood’s End” and have been enamored of it ever since. And yes, “love is always deciding to renew”.
Interesting timescale- most divorces now a days (this is going on the evidence i have in Britain) happen after about five years… which from a unemotional and detached archeological perspective is the amount of time it takes to raise a child to the point were a single parent can mange them. Considering a lot of pre-modern cultures breast-feed until age two as a form of contraception as if you are breast feeding it slightly alters your hormone levels and makes you less fertile (Unless you are male, in which case it makes you a freak) five years is enough time to ween a child, teach it to speak, walk and obey the basic norms of your culture and let the older siblings/ other childred help take care of it from there.
Speaking as someone raised in a single parent family, I would not RECOMMEND a split after five years… hell no, its just i’m just saying it is a very… organic… cut of point. It does not surprise me as much as either four or six would have. and I presume wombats are sensible enough to have reasonable strict alimony/child support payment laws and decent custody rules if only because you don’t want an angry teenager who’s parents don’t talk growing up stuck in a confined space with everyone else and ready access to pick-axes. I’m not knocking the hyenas for being spontaneous and romantic, I’m just thinking that although we know they too have some form of divorce law (“can always return to hearth of your sister”) i would prefer to live in a system were it could all be sorted ot properly beforehand
Also congrats Jon, love IS always choosing to renew, and as for “not in public”… well, no public displays of emotion please, we’re British! When my flat’s boiler failed and flooded the house with carbon monoxide and it was evacuated and the fire and ambulance came round my father called. I asked how he found out so soon; he was calling to ask if i had remembered to post my council tax exemption form. When he asked “found out about what so soon?” all I could think to say was “there’s been some inconvenience, but hopefully it’s sorted now.”
Lee, “Childhood’s End” isn’t the only book with that concept, Robert A. Heinlein’s short story “The Puppet Masters” also used it. Even had the guy who gave out the licenses warn the protagonists about the hazards of getting a lifetime contract (in that it was very troublesome to undo), and offered the significantly shorter ones.
Okay, I’m new to this comic, and I have to say it’s one of the best I’ve ever run into. Elements of ‘daww’ seem to be liberally mixed with more dark, disturbing imagery and the lighthearted vein seems to run all through it.
This, however, is my current favorite strip. Just… Just… Wow. The expressions, as mentioned elsewhere, are great, but the ones in this are probably the best I’ve seen so far.
Grim Eyes definitely has the mocking expression and posture her words would suggest.
hhhmmmm, I know this like a year late, but Ellemerr’s comment got me thinking . . .
Just because Wombats prefer to organize everything with contracts doesn’t mean they’re not romantic/don’t recognize romantic love – from Digger’s comment about not meeting anyone she would want “enter into a binding contract with,” it sounds like wombats don’t go in for arranged marriages or even convience-only marriages (at least not exclusively). They just, um, recognize the possibility that romantic love is not always as permanent as we would like to imagine it is.
Some day, she will meet a special wombat that she does really want to enter a binding agreement with . . .
I like that they both have their arms crossed whilst they’re taking the piss out of each other. Its an elaborate It-seems-like-I’m-having-a-go-at-you-but-look-I-can’t-hit-you-with-my-arms-like-this kinda thing.
well it works for wombats but don’t think it works for people. Anyone who thinks marriage should be a commitment thats for 5 years should remember that you can date as long as you want. You can date someone for five years with no concern but if you’re not serious enough to stay with a person then don’t marry them, its not really that difficult you know?
I understand why divorce is needed, I just think that its stupid how high the rate of divorce is, and how hard it is on children. Even a well adjusted child probably will suffer some from a divorce, its just how it is.
But if in wombat society thats a norm, then you don’t have that expectation of having two parents or whatnot. Its just an issue of a different society and culture entirely. Its an ideal simple society that could never exist among sentient beings.
oh and theres such a thing as a civil union which is just a contract joining two people. People just have religion so ingrained to our culture that the concept of anything less than marriage is foreign.
On my first readthrough (I am a terrible latecomer, I know), it strikes me that ‘the wombat way’ also would have been a good method to prevent what happened to Ed… Getting away – even if everyone tells you to – still would be harder than ‘well the five years are up, it was a nice time, but…’. Especially if there is no stigma attached to not renewing (as FDigger seems to suggest).
It’s all good. Just be ready with some sort of ad-lib about a flower that reeks of rotting flesh and only flowers once in a lifetime (which does exist), and about how your lady (or gentleman) is that unique to you, and you’re – well, if not sorted, at least you’ve probably confused them enough to get away while they figure it out. Or you may well get a suitably Digger-esque reply, and know that you’re even better suited to each other than you thought!
I wish I was a wombat. They have everything worked out so nicely and neatly. I -really- wish I was a wombat.
I love wombats.
Wombat rhymes with bureaucrat. Not really, but it ought to.
Possibly my favorite strip thus far.
!
Ok. Wombats are Presbyterians. Everything must be done “decently and in order”.
Well, wombats do have in their favor that 1) they do not worship any gods – so there’s no nonsense about one gender or the other having precedence and 2) they’ve clearly had a long, long time to work things out, and they’re a very methodical and detail-oriented species (as befits a species that spends most of its life underground, doing serious digging) – they’ve figured out what works and what doesn’t work for them.
HA! So perfect. Marriage really should just be a legal contract. It would fix so many things… 😀
What interests me is that Grim-Eyes is familiar enough with the idea of contracts to come up with that “subparagraph F, section 12” thing. It doesn’t seem like there’d be such a concept in a society with oral traditions and cave paintings.
Also, “one to five years with option to renew”.
Well, I guess I know why wombat marriage is structured like this…they’re worried about gold diggers.
I can see Boneclaw Mother relying on subparagraphs and sections of tradtion. lol
Wow. Life in the world of wombats is so perfectly organized. If only humans could be that practical XD
Ix: I fail to see how being religious would necessarily imply that one gender would get precedence.
Haven: I love you. Or your “gold diggers” comment, at least.
Too funny. Being as how I’m a crone, the comments are funny, too.
Am I the only one thinking Digger and her wombat society is missing out on something? Not to say I don’t love them, but that’s just it… Shouldn’t there be at least a little bit talk of that – love – in this whole affair? No, I’m sticking with Ed on this one. Bond for love, don’t sign contracts.
I think they keep the mushy parts hidden: “well, not in *public*.”
Love is always choosing to renew.
This is awesome. Awesomely awesomely awesome.
Please excuse me, I’m normally far more articulate. I am presently overwhelmed by awesome.
Jatopian:
In a non – dimorphic or weakly dimorphic society (whereas the hyenas are fairly strongly dimorphic; referring here to all measurable gender differences) then the only way one gender can be considered superior is by favour of the gods, or by something else that does not rely primarily on evidence.
This is definitely one of my favorite pages. “My darling, my carrion-scented flower, you gnaw at my liver”
Zig: Good, but not even close to: what was it again? “Hyena God on Dubious Life Support”. IMO
My…carrion-scented…flower?
*Explodes from suppressed laughter.*
YES!! That is how marriage *should* be set up, so that there’s no shame in realizing that you’ve matured in separate directions and need to part. I first encountered this concept in Clarke’s “Childhood’s End” and have been enamored of it ever since. And yes, “love is always deciding to renew”.
Interesting timescale- most divorces now a days (this is going on the evidence i have in Britain) happen after about five years… which from a unemotional and detached archeological perspective is the amount of time it takes to raise a child to the point were a single parent can mange them. Considering a lot of pre-modern cultures breast-feed until age two as a form of contraception as if you are breast feeding it slightly alters your hormone levels and makes you less fertile (Unless you are male, in which case it makes you a freak) five years is enough time to ween a child, teach it to speak, walk and obey the basic norms of your culture and let the older siblings/ other childred help take care of it from there.
Speaking as someone raised in a single parent family, I would not RECOMMEND a split after five years… hell no, its just i’m just saying it is a very… organic… cut of point. It does not surprise me as much as either four or six would have. and I presume wombats are sensible enough to have reasonable strict alimony/child support payment laws and decent custody rules if only because you don’t want an angry teenager who’s parents don’t talk growing up stuck in a confined space with everyone else and ready access to pick-axes. I’m not knocking the hyenas for being spontaneous and romantic, I’m just thinking that although we know they too have some form of divorce law (“can always return to hearth of your sister”) i would prefer to live in a system were it could all be sorted ot properly beforehand
Also congrats Jon, love IS always choosing to renew, and as for “not in public”… well, no public displays of emotion please, we’re British! When my flat’s boiler failed and flooded the house with carbon monoxide and it was evacuated and the fire and ambulance came round my father called. I asked how he found out so soon; he was calling to ask if i had remembered to post my council tax exemption form. When he asked “found out about what so soon?” all I could think to say was “there’s been some inconvenience, but hopefully it’s sorted now.”
In hindsight I need to phrase things better.
Lee, “Childhood’s End” isn’t the only book with that concept, Robert A. Heinlein’s short story “The Puppet Masters” also used it. Even had the guy who gave out the licenses warn the protagonists about the hazards of getting a lifetime contract (in that it was very troublesome to undo), and offered the significantly shorter ones.
BunnyRock — I want to be your friend.
I love Grim Eye’s expression when she’s talking about how wombats propose. And Digger’s reply just makes it better!
libertarians of the dirt
Okay, I’m new to this comic, and I have to say it’s one of the best I’ve ever run into. Elements of ‘daww’ seem to be liberally mixed with more dark, disturbing imagery and the lighthearted vein seems to run all through it.
This, however, is my current favorite strip. Just… Just… Wow. The expressions, as mentioned elsewhere, are great, but the ones in this are probably the best I’ve seen so far.
Grim Eyes definitely has the mocking expression and posture her words would suggest.
Huh. That’s how Vikings did it too. Seriously, I read a transcript of a Viking marriage and it sounded like the minutes taken at a company merger.
hhhmmmm, I know this like a year late, but Ellemerr’s comment got me thinking . . .
Just because Wombats prefer to organize everything with contracts doesn’t mean they’re not romantic/don’t recognize romantic love – from Digger’s comment about not meeting anyone she would want “enter into a binding contract with,” it sounds like wombats don’t go in for arranged marriages or even convience-only marriages (at least not exclusively). They just, um, recognize the possibility that romantic love is not always as permanent as we would like to imagine it is.
Some day, she will meet a special wombat that she does really want to enter a binding agreement with . . .
I like that they both have their arms crossed whilst they’re taking the piss out of each other. Its an elaborate It-seems-like-I’m-having-a-go-at-you-but-look-I-can’t-hit-you-with-my-arms-like-this kinda thing.
well it works for wombats but don’t think it works for people. Anyone who thinks marriage should be a commitment thats for 5 years should remember that you can date as long as you want. You can date someone for five years with no concern but if you’re not serious enough to stay with a person then don’t marry them, its not really that difficult you know?
I understand why divorce is needed, I just think that its stupid how high the rate of divorce is, and how hard it is on children. Even a well adjusted child probably will suffer some from a divorce, its just how it is.
But if in wombat society thats a norm, then you don’t have that expectation of having two parents or whatnot. Its just an issue of a different society and culture entirely. Its an ideal simple society that could never exist among sentient beings.
oh and theres such a thing as a civil union which is just a contract joining two people. People just have religion so ingrained to our culture that the concept of anything less than marriage is foreign.
sorry for the double post 😡
Are wombats in our universe serially monogamous like this implies?
On my first readthrough (I am a terrible latecomer, I know), it strikes me that ‘the wombat way’ also would have been a good method to prevent what happened to Ed… Getting away – even if everyone tells you to – still would be harder than ‘well the five years are up, it was a nice time, but…’. Especially if there is no stigma attached to not renewing (as FDigger seems to suggest).
I am so whispering that into the ear of my next date. I don’t care what happens, I will do it.
Oh, please, please do. And film it.
You know, maybe I should, too. I’m sure not enough people get “my carrion-scented flower” whispered into their ear these days.
It’s all good. Just be ready with some sort of ad-lib about a flower that reeks of rotting flesh and only flowers once in a lifetime (which does exist), and about how your lady (or gentleman) is that unique to you, and you’re – well, if not sorted, at least you’ve probably confused them enough to get away while they figure it out. Or you may well get a suitably Digger-esque reply, and know that you’re even better suited to each other than you thought!
Yes! 😀 😀 😀
I. Love. This. Comic.
Just as things are getting hot and heavy, whip out a five page contract. You know, like you do.