June 22nd, 2018
22 Jun 2018 · page 805 of 1306
Breathe out.
Cast: Harriet Barber, Mr Luxuria
Comments (84)
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Ha-HAH!
oops...
Your avatar is entirely on point for this strip. ^_^
YES!
MĀORI WITCH ADVENTURES
So the island witch is the next one we see. I wonder if we'll get to see the world from their eyes, would it look the same as how mal sees the world or if each witches view is different? The last time we saw through a different witches eyes it was a flashback told by someone who wasn't there in a stylized manner so I'm not sure how accurate it is.
... and she was never seen again...
Oh, Sturzkampf, the Witches are supposed to visit Mal. Island Witch is sure to bring Harry with her (or him).
Sure? The island witch doesn't welcome uninvited guests. :-)
Well, but is she uninvited? That open door seems kind of like an... invitation.
Invitation to what, though? It might be slightly more than tea with crumpets, then saunter back.
Exactly. If Mountain Witch is aware of what's happening, it's more than likely Island Witch knows as well. Harry just has to say, "I come from City Witch" and she should be fine.
Yes !
The imbued objects have fallen and lost their auras. That means the auras weren't inherent but due to Luxuria's attention. Can this be used? Probably.
Alternatively, they appear to have fallen at the same time that the door slammed shut, so perhaps whatever was happening required the presence of someone from Harry's bloodline.
In my head, in panel five I can hear her saying "Ta, love." I love it.
That smug little farewell wave. I dunno, Harry, I think you're more like your Grandad than you think.
LOL, simultaneous post! Great minds, and all that.
And here I was just thinking "oh, snap"! My lord :| We're long lost twins. It's the only explanation.
I keep finding them all over the interwebs!
THAT is an exit. Nicely done!
Eh, I think Henry would go for a rather more theatrical way of expressing the sentiment. Like literally sticking out his tongue or flipping the bird or something.
"It's called the Sandwich Island Good-Luck Symbol, Luxuria. Least, that's what the Yanks call it. Ta!"
I'm a Yank and I have no idea what you're talking about.
The Hawaiian Good-Luck Sign: [https://www.atlasobscura.co...](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/north-korean-officials-had-no-idea-what-their-hostages-were-signaling-in-this-photo "https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/north-korean-officials-had-no-idea-what-their-hostages-were-signaling-in-this-photo")
Or, as Canadians call if, the Salmon Arm Salute
[https://www.upi.com/Archive...](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/08/09/Prime-Minister-Pierre-Trudeau-faced-demonstrators-heaving-tomatoes-and/2710397713600/ "https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/08/09/Prime-Minister-Pierre-Trudeau-faced-demonstrators-heaving-tomatoes-and/2710397713600/")
there'd be fingerguns, it'd be terribly undignified
Oh, she had so much fun giving him that little wave!
Saunter, saunter.
I love Luxuria's expression in panel 4, and Harry's wave in 5. Hope she enjoys her time with the Island Witch. :)
Yes. Ohh, yes. :D
I love how as soon as the Two Minutes Respite expires, Lux finishes the sentence that was interrupted before they notice what just happened.
"These pitiful bindings, they bend and break so easily."
Hey Lux, didn't anyone tell you that it is pushing your luck to start gloating before your victory is actually complete?
This idea is related to point 6 on the evil overlord list:
"I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament before killing them."
Point 20 also seems appropriate here:
"Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly."
Not that either of these is exactly what Luxuria's doing, but it seems fair to say that it is not paying as much attention as it could be because it has almost won.
Rapa Nui?
The villain screaming in desperation: sweet, sweet music.
Monologuing has laid low so very many villains.
Yes, but this was monologuing with an intermission....
EDIT: Actually, it wasn't even monologuing. Lux was in the process of undoing the bindings when Harry froze everything. He was just commenting on what he was doing as he was doing it.
I'm not sure he was undoing the bindings -- he needed Harry to do that. I think he was just monologuing.
Not that it mattered: without Harry, nothing was going to happen anyway.
I was thinking more that, if it'd gotten to the point faster and not spent so much time ranting about how messed up humans are or rubbing his "victory" in Mal's face, it might've actually accomplished its plan before Harry had time to break out of the Tacky Romance Montage and pull the proverbial rug out from under it.
He lost his smugness. It's good. It' very good!
I could be waaaaay off about this....but the decor on the gates could be symbolic of heaven and hell...and Harry just walked through to the gates of hell....again I could way off about that...
Don't think so. The yellow door is Tibetan, the red one Polynesian.
Indeed, I think the doors are reflective of their respective witches. Note that Mal's is a roughly sketched blue.
Oh... OH! I just had a thought -- that may be wildly wrong. That mysterious barely-there fourth door. I was wondering what that witch's special nature could be. There's Mountain, Island, City, and... what?
My mind wandered to the magic-tech time travel featured in Piece of Cake. That's an integral part of this whole story. What if the fourth witch is Time Witch? Three physical here-and-now witches, and the Fourth Dimension!
It kind of feels right. Not expecting any confirmation; that would be a spoiler. If that's where it's all going, we won't find out until the story gets there... which may not even be until the NEXT story. So, possibly years.
I'm just posting the notion here on a Sunday evening for the record so that if it does turn out to be right I will be able to point to this comment as the reason for my pleased grin! And if it doesn't, if the fourth witch is something else entirely... oh well. The comment just joins the many other times on the record that I've been wrong.
Huh. Interesting idea. I just figured that either the fourth Witch was super secretive or the fourth Anchor is somewhere that no humans at all have ever been to. hence the door is blank; whoever the Fourth Witch is at a given time has never actually had a chance to connect to their Anchor properly.
Of course, Witches from the Fourth Dimension also sounds fun. :-)
I believe that Kate has said something about the location of the fourth anchor back in the comments somewhere.
Personally, I like to think that the fourth anchor is out in some uninhabitable stretch of desert somewhere. That would make any witch who eventually claimed it the sand witch, if you will.
(I'll show myself out.)
Lux: "How did she LEAVE? I was just saying-!"
Mal: lights cigarette "I told ya, y'talk too much."
Possibly not the greatest choice, in order to easily get back to Widdershins. The one in Nepal would be at least on the same landmass.
However, without other knowledge, it's not really easy to get that working.
Both Witches are supposed to come visit Mal. I'm sure Island Witch will bring Harry with her (or him).
I love that little "Ta" in the wave as she strolls out.
"Strong women and strong booze. Nothin' on earth like 'em." --My Grandpa
"SLAM!"
The Island Witch felt that, if Mal's reaction to Harry playing with his door when they first got there is anything to go by.
[https://www.widdershinscomi...](https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/september-23rd-2016/ "https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/september-23rd-2016/")
I don't think Harry was the one to slam it. Island Witch may have done this on her own. Or the door may also have a mind of its own. Nobody opened them up, afler all.
Wonder what would have happen, if they had pushed him through a door instead
They were unable to affect anything that wasn't the doors or them.
TA!
I never noticed till this strip - he has a scar on his neck from his previous beheading.
...which logically means they can chop him up, tattoo the pieces, and he’d be unable to not look like a piece of modern art. If a scar remains, despite him shifting into his Lust form, then they can make his mortal life hell. I’m thinking the Osiris treatment, but with piece severed at the joints. He can be stuck with his conscience splintered into a million pieces and be unable to scream. We are human beings; we find ways. Frustration only makes our methods more creative.
What's 'Grandad's luck'? a physical totem or just a phrase?
Last volume, Find the Lady, talks a lot about Grandad's luck. It's currently running three days a week on GoComics, if you're interested.
Is it just me or is her wave goodbye made up of 2 fingers. which before it was v for victory was an English hand gesture for bugger off or get stuffed.
It still is an English gesture for a bit stronger than bugger off or get stuffed
I read in a comic once that it was originally English Longbowman for "I can kill you from all the way over here."
That is the most popular explanation behind it, that it is some kind of taunt from English longbow firing archers to French soldiers dating back to Agincourt. I have even heard people say it is because the French would cut off the fingers needed to fire of any English archer captured before any release of prisoners was negotiated, so it's an "I've still got my fingers and I will kill you with them" taunt. Unfortunately there is no proof either way but it is a legend passed on with the v sign to each generation. It's what my granddad told me and my own kids have asked me if that is where it comes from. Probably just a story but it is a popular one.
The other tale is that it's a variety of the cockold's horns (so, it's basically wishing the target to have an unfaithful partner). We probably got it from Normandy itself. Although, it could've been Brythonic, since Brittany does something similar. shrugs
Churchill codified it, though: one way = V for victory; the other, the age-old horns. The distinction as to how the hand was held when giving it was a bit more regional, before.
The cuckold's horns sound as likely as the archer fingers to me, if not more likely if you think about ways our ancestors would have enjoyed insulting people. However the archers fingers will probably always be the most quoted theory simply because ancient English heroes of the battlefield against France makes for a more stiring story that makes v sign users feel better about themselves than it coming from French speaking invaders saying "I'll have your missus/your wife sleeps around". To be honest I am not sure that it is as old as either theory claims, we don't have a lot of evidence past a certain point. Of course that doesn't rule out your cuckold theory, that doesn't have to be 1000 years old to be the original meaning behind it, and with the cuckold meaning it has more reason to resurface and become popular again after it falls out of popularity throughout the generations.
I’m not sure if that’s what Harry’s doing here, but we’ve seen Mal use that gesture more than once (for instance: [https://www.widdershinscomi...](https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/april-4th-2016/ "https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/april-4th-2016/") ).
I see more than 2 fingers.
All the artifacts lost their auras when they fell to the ground. I wonder what that meant?
Kate -- the archives for Curtain Call end with page 133, which seems to be sometime last September. One of those is wrong...and idea which?
I just haven't got around to copy pasting all of the addresses in there yet because it is a pain
You need an intern!
....Stop laughing so hard.
The music box always was an underrated SMB3 powerup
I'd thought that the music had run out in the last two panels of the previous page, but that was wrong. It hadn't, the notes were just above our field of vision. NOW it's stopped! Properly. With an emphatic CLNK.
I do so love Lux's expression in panel 5.
I had thought the same thing. Love the way the music is shown ending here, between the finishing bar of the score (sorry, I don't know the right terms) & the CLNK.
More to the point, it has proper double bars at the end.
I love it when a plan falls apart.
Haha suck it Lux! Harry's finally gonna put you in your place! It's only been, what..? Some 500 or so years..? Yep. About time, I'd say.
Curses! Foiled again!
I wonder if getting back from the Island will be a significant plot element in the second major Widdershins story arc.
Jolly good. That's all the Barber bloodline out of Widdershins. Except... where does Mr Fredrick Barber live?
I think either Harry or Nicole mentioned that their parents were already out of Widdershins late in the last chapter or early in this one.
Edit - Here it is. [https://www.widdershinscomi...](https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/april-22nd-2016/ "https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/april-22nd-2016/")
Well remembered, thanks.
clink SLAM
The sounds of an intricate villain plan getting dashed to pieces. xD
Welp it was a bold move Harry, but... bad choice. Oh how much easier this could have been if you'd done some basic anthropolical study.