I was more asking “Why would she care”. Though, looking at this strip again and seeing that she asked that right after being told “One can only hope” about adoption being quick, I suppose she may have been considering marriage as a faster alternative
In real hyenas, females are rather larger and – well – just read about it. They have one weird setup. Suffice to say that they were considered hermaphroditic by the greeks, and that females are dominant in their society by a lot.
As Ursula is so very good at writing, she made an explanation towards this in the bit about – and here is the key – “She – is – fiercer”. That is, females are fiercer.
Apart from Ed, I am fairly sure that this is the first male hyena she has met.
In the shot of all the elders when they are all commenting on digger just before bone claw mother walks down the ladder… i think i may have spotted how Ursula draws maleness in hyenas. look at his cheeks in the shot. All of the females have a fairly district, if not always strong, jawline. Him and Ed have sort of fluffy hamster cheeks… some kind of facial hair pattern difference. Just a thought, could be dead wrong.
Plus he was the only one holding something, and it wasn’t a spear.
Being the Owl Caller appears to be the oldest of the group, the gender of his voice is probably the hardest to identify. He probably sounds similar to Bone Mother, in fact, who is probably just as old, possibly older.
It’s not necessarily shyness, Ryn. BunnyRock has pointed it out a couple of times. They’re all wearing clothes, though, so it would be rather hard to tell. 😛
and the terms, Distaff counterpart (the female counterpart of an established male character) and Spear counterpart (the male counterpart to an established female)
A Distaff is a device using in spinning wool, and so is traditional female. Far more interestingly, we seem to have here is a Spear/Staff counterpart with females using the spear imagery, where both sexes use phallic symbolism (of course) but where as females carry spears owl caller here seems to have a staff, which in it’s appetence is basically the same as a spear but symbolically lacking in power.
Nice use of Freudian imagery within the context of hyena social structure Ursula!
Owl Caller and Boneclaw Mother are both pretty awesome.
I wonder why she asked if Owl Caller was male?
Maybe she sensed some similarities to Ed? The males seem to be slightly smaller, filling non-hunter roles.
I was more asking “Why would she care”. Though, looking at this strip again and seeing that she asked that right after being told “One can only hope” about adoption being quick, I suppose she may have been considering marriage as a faster alternative
Shouldn’t that be “whom” you ask?
bwaaaaaahahaha – ‘I am not senile. I just talk to my self because…..” Oh too true, too true. hee hee.
I love the bickering between Boneclaw Mother and Shadebones. It’s so petty and cute!
In real hyenas, females are rather larger and – well – just read about it. They have one weird setup. Suffice to say that they were considered hermaphroditic by the greeks, and that females are dominant in their society by a lot.
As Ursula is so very good at writing, she made an explanation towards this in the bit about – and here is the key – “She – is – fiercer”. That is, females are fiercer.
Apart from Ed, I am fairly sure that this is the first male hyena she has met.
“Why do you always talk to yourself?”
“Oh, I simply have a penchant for intelligent conversation.”
In the shot of all the elders when they are all commenting on digger just before bone claw mother walks down the ladder… i think i may have spotted how Ursula draws maleness in hyenas. look at his cheeks in the shot. All of the females have a fairly district, if not always strong, jawline. Him and Ed have sort of fluffy hamster cheeks… some kind of facial hair pattern difference. Just a thought, could be dead wrong.
Plus he was the only one holding something, and it wasn’t a spear.
Being the Owl Caller appears to be the oldest of the group, the gender of his voice is probably the hardest to identify. He probably sounds similar to Bone Mother, in fact, who is probably just as old, possibly older.
I bet Owl Caller is the shaman of the group. I like him already.
Wow. Owl Crawler is short for a hyena.
I love how everyone in the comments has been too shy so far to say that female hyenas have a false penis.
I remember he said digger was short 🙂
It’s not necessarily shyness, Ryn. BunnyRock has pointed it out a couple of times. They’re all wearing clothes, though, so it would be rather hard to tell. 😛
Having just trawled TV tropes again, may I draw attention to the following page…
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DistaffCounterpart
and the terms, Distaff counterpart (the female counterpart of an established male character) and Spear counterpart (the male counterpart to an established female)
A Distaff is a device using in spinning wool, and so is traditional female. Far more interestingly, we seem to have here is a Spear/Staff counterpart with females using the spear imagery, where both sexes use phallic symbolism (of course) but where as females carry spears owl caller here seems to have a staff, which in it’s appetence is basically the same as a spear but symbolically lacking in power.
Nice use of Freudian imagery within the context of hyena social structure Ursula!
Maybe Owl Caller just needs a walking stick? He IS leaning on it, far as I can tell, not just holding it.
So you’re saying sometimes a stick is just a stick?
😉
@Holly: I was just thinking that myself.
Beast Wars ftw!