February 15th, 2022
15 Feb 2022 · page 1100 of 1306
Maybe.
Cast: Patience Rattaker, Pemberton Pryce, Tim Chiang
Comments (54)
Events
ThoughtBubble
14 Nov 2026 – 15 Nov 2026
Harrogate Convention Centre
Manchester Megacon
31 Jul 2027 – 1 Aug 2027
Manchester Central
"Oh, come now. Only reason the Brits ain't done the same is they got one already!"
...Man's not wrong.
"The sun never set on the British flag."
"Because God don't trust it in the dark," as the Irishman said
No, don't understand. Just because we have one, doesn't mean we shouldn't have two. Anyway, as Codebracker said on the last page, the word we are looking for here is 'salvage'. :-)
Which reminds me, isn’t it time we sent a gunboat on a diplomatic mission to Tapu Tohunga Motu?
:-)
I beg your pardon. This anchor will be towed, not sal- actually, salvaged is the perfectly correct legal definition. Carry on.
And the only reason the Americans haven't stolen all three known anchors yet is because they don't know yet if it can be done. Hence this attempt.
Or they understand magic better than you?
"Embrace the healing power of 'And.'"
Back in those times, it was a free-for-all "acquiris quodcumque rapis". If this works he won't stop at one, and neither would any other country.
Poor Tim's face is the 'I need a rational adult' face. He's out of luck on that ship!
Well, there's his cousin, about as close as he's gonna get.
Yes, his cousin... who tried to blow up the anchor in Widdershins... Our dude may be a magnet for super villains.
Rehabbing super villain.
He is the rational adult
That is the part that bothers him the most.
This is my favorite thing to say to people who need an adult.
So there's the bathyscape, ready to go anchor fishing. It occurs to me that if they do get a bite the closer Lei gets to the anchor, or rather, the anchor gets to her, the stronger her magical abilities become:
[https://www.widdershinscomi...](https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/february-1st-2013 "https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/february-1st-2013")
... although they may all come in a rush as we know that magic doesn't work well over/through water.
Cheerio,
Ooh, interesting point!
This is making me think of uranium that should have been left safely underground....
Although, as a native of Mechanicsburg, I admire Pryce for not worrying about trivialities such as unforeseeable freak accidents and unpredictable side effects, I still think this is a Bad Plan. I mean, how is he going to get any return on his investment? He'll need to have some way of controlling the Anchor so he can generate income from it. In Widdershins, it seems every wizard can use magic so how will he restrict access? Perhaps he has patents on magical devices that the anchor will enable. Or perhaps he's a patriot who isn't in it for the money but just wants to Make America Great.
I mean, if he does usher in a New Age of Magic and Technology, he could run for President.
Eh, his daughter is a schmott gal, for sure it will be fine.
He could move it to a location surrounded by land he already owns and make bank in real-estate, rentals, tuition for American Hogwarts, gift shops, he could call it Pembertonland and charge admittance.
You’re hired.
This does sound like a plan where he ends up losing his hat.
If I have one criticism of Widdershins, it is that there are not enough hats.
I thought I recognized that dental-work in your avatar-image... Let's see now... Checking my 'Mechanicsburg Phrasebook'... "Nov Shmoz Ka Pop?"
"Perhaps"
Patience is so chuffed to be going bathysphere diving. Certainly no regrets about the women she left in the steam room.
I'd call her cold as ice, but she seems really passionate about her work!
Colonialism 2!
This time it’s magical!
Not really. Just salvage/theft since, as far as we can tell, there are no people to extend dominion over.
...but it does not do to leave a giant octopus out of your calculations.
Just because there aren't any people who are directly impacted by extractive colonialism doesn't make it not colonialism. There are plenty of uninhabited islands in the Pacific Ocean, that doesn't make the colonialism of Pacific Islanders less impactful. Financially speaking, one of the traits of colonialism is making money off of something that would have gone to the local community, which doesn't require slavery or indentured servitude. The general line of thought that goes behind rationalizing colonialism is "We can make much better use of this resource than any of the local/nearby people because we are smarter and more resourceful", which is basically what Mr Pryce was saying about the fourth anchor.
Not to mention the idea of "land untouched by humans" is a very colonial one. Many indigenous island groups were sea-farers in some way, so who's to say that people haven't already utilized/been impacted this anchor?
That's a very, very loose interpretation of "c0lonialism". Specific exploration of another nation/people must occur for the concept of colonialism to even be applied.
The fourth anchor, as far as we know, belongs to no people. It belongs to itself, which I suspect Mr. Pryce is about to find out.
There are things larger than humanity's self-absorbed political concepts. Especially in the world in which humanity exists and exploits.
I mean, technically yes, there has been no invasion or direct theft. But I’m not saying that the anchor “belongs” to anyone, in fact the idea of something like land or (in this case) the anchor as property belonging to a person or group is a pretty colonial one. In order to colonize or expand an empire, you need to be able to enforce the idea that a land is under your control. What I am saying is that Pryce and his gang are assuming that this anchor is up for grabs, as no one has claimed it and made “good use of it” yet (again, colonial idea). If there are people who utilize the anchor in some way, most likely they view it as an important cultural site like the way the people of Widdershins view that anchor. Not exactly something that belongs to them as individuals but as it’s own entity that’s a part of the community
Also, I know this is like a funny discussion about magic and the meta of the Widdershins Cinematic Universe, but like, you know calling colonialism “humanity’s self absorbed political concept” is kind of wild right? Like, yeah, in the grand scheme of the cosmos, our existence as humans is pretty insignificant, but it colonialism is still a violent thing that has killed millions of people throughout history. That’s not insignificant on our level as people.
I see what you are saying and not disagreeing at the actions happening because this is an example of outsiders coming in and "putting something to better use" or "Not fully using your resources" or "land untouched by humans".
The thing is this also describes imperialism in the hard, soft, and other forms. Yes, this is a fuzzy term and imperialism and colonialism come together in many way including some perceptions on the Chinese relationship with Africa. However what Pryce is doing is extending control over a potential economic resource and removing it for use elsewhere and that is well within the definition of imperialism:
"The policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas."
This is the Merriam Webster dictionary definition.
That’s fair! tbh, the difference between imperialism and colonialism can be pretty vague (and is commonly debated in academia), especially when talking about the material impacts. And you’re right that they go hand in hand, so you absolutely could call what Pryce is doing imperialist.
"Guys in the engine room got a pool going about whether moving the anchor will release a kraken. Want in?"
It's not piracy if you found it, right?
I should add the closest real world equivalent would be deep sea drilling has a bad history of going terribly wrong.
Every time Pryce reveals anything to Tim, I feel a shiver... warning bells going off. Nothing overt is happening, but I can't help but feel that he is either in danger, or about to be. Be safe!
Pemberton Pryce would really get along with William Boltyn.
This increasingly feels like the run-up to a Dalek invasion...
A Dr Who cartoon?
The Power of the Daleks is one of the lost stories (it got erased and only the audio survived). It got animated for a DVD release, and a clip of that is what you see here.
Ah it was one of those.
What would Tim know about people who try to destabilize anchors? Maybe Pemberton needs to read Chapter 3.
Someone's being really Greedy with eyes on the prize and not thinking this through. Hm...
Then again does anyone know what actually happens if you destabilize an Anchor?
You get one or more witches coming round to yell at you, I bet.
aww he thinks he's above the consequences of his hubris. Adorable.
Like, y'know, Earth breaking apart
I can't believe it's taken me so long to notice, but... there's one particularly simple reason why Pemberton wouldn't mind bragging about his master plan. I mean, is it really stealing if none of the non-complicit witnesses survive?
Or maybe he's just riding a magick confidence high.
a side effect of the Certainty Engine, I expect.