September 29th, 2020
29 Sept 2020 · page 1023 of 1306
Free house passes stringent inspection.
Next Kickstarter will launch on the 16th October!
Cast: Benjamin Thackerey, Heinrich Wolfe, Jack O'Malley, Nicola Barber, Nyree
Comments (72)
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Mal likes it! That's a good sign. Must not be getting any bad auras from it.
Does Widdershins need a witch? No! We can handle the seven deadlys on our own! Except that one time we couldn't. But every other time, we probably didn't need them!
To be fair, Seven Deadlies were able to get loose bc of the new witch came in Widdershins. (Not saying about Lust released by the-witch-before-this-one.)
But it hardly matters for the museum writings (it was closed before the Incident), and I think it was about "Witches are dangerous" mostly.
It's possible that the posters on the walls are left over from an exhibit about "Historical views of witches." Although, as another commenter put it...it's a good thing Mal can't read.
Never mind a witch. Given the amount of trouble it causes, it’s time magic was banned altogether!
Absolutely! Alcohol prohibition should also be outlawed again and what is with these positively indecent folks legalizing marijuana. SCANDALOUS, I tell you!
MAGIC POWER?! NO THANKS!
good thing Mal's kinda used to being disliked, eh?
So, uh... it's a good thing that Mal can't read, huh?
Yes.
Also, a good thing that Nyree can read.
"I like it" - And he doesn't even know yet that the curtains are blue!
I love O'Malley's development!
yeah, he's really come into his own self, hasn't he? makes me so happy for him.
Can Ben summon the spirit of his desire for cleanliness to help him clean?
(Thinking about it, the answer is probably "no, but Sid could".)
I sincerely doubt that Sid can summon any spirit having to do with tidiness under any circumstances -- he just can't form a suitable emotional bond to one of them. Ben, on the other hand? Let's just say that it's said that he once summoned the spirit of bureaucracy.
Sid's really good at bonding with people who have very different natures than his--he cracked Harry's shell, Verity's, and he certainly formed some kind of bond with Macavity. That's his biggest strength as a wizard and a person. He'd be able to find some common ground with the spirit, or maybe appeal to it as someone who's positively hopeless without its help.
Ben could probably bond with a spirit of cleanliness easier than most other spirits, but it wouldn't necessarily occur to him to summon it in the first place.
pretty sure Knotty is an actual character and not a spirit
That was " close to making me to a spit take. XD
Mal can ask the bugger-ups to help. Not saying how much help they'd be... but for the O'Malley, they'd try.
omg purple hippo of happiness... with all of the feather dusters in a little tornado of chaotic bliss.
Ben did summon Sloth. He's a better wizard than people give him credit for.
Also a better wizard than he gives himself credit for, I think.
The view down from the first floor strikes me as a great place to dramatically welcome visitors and angry mobs alike!
Looking forward to that kickstarter ;)
I guess even Mal appreciates a good view.
I'm guessing those are there as part of a display about historical attitudes towards witches. Or it's the most polite, dainty vandalism ever.
Given that the Widdershins Historical Society left the signs behind, I also think that they were part of a display blessed with an overplus of examples.
I wonder what the rest of the house is like. If it was an actual house before it was a museum, then it must have a kitchen and bedrooms somewhere. Is there any furniture left besides display cases, or will they have to blow Mal's first paycheck on chairs, tables, and beds (and a desk for Ben)?
indeed! I wants to sees the rest of the houses!
Sweet! I'll be ready for the Kickstarter.
Not sure they need the help of the mighty KICKSTARTER to do a spring cleaning...
After Ms Nyree's comment in the last panel of the previous page, I was hoping Captain Barber was going to say "Hunter's Folly, 8 o'clock, Thursday. Wear shoes".
i LIKE it! but it would be out of cagey character for it to be that easy.
Yeah, sounds more like something Nyree would say to Nicola.
Something I just noticed: Wolfe's outfit is blue for this storyline, and I wonder if that was him subconsciously trying to be more appealing to Mal? He wore green until near the end of Green-Eyed Monster, then switched to brown until the start of this chapter. Noticed it when I saw the curtains were also Mal's blue.
for a poor traveler, Wolfe certainly manages a range of complete outfits. Perhaps he's been secretly interning with a tailor on the side? That would be plot-convenient for other characters, going forward, and I do like a bit of practical realism in my fantasy. One of my friends who is also super annoyed about the delayed third Rothfuss novel continuously praises the realism of Kvothe's efforts to obtain currency, and the frequent lack thereof.
well, they got a paycheck from the whatsername for a while, and he makes money by playing his violin. Given his skills in this latter category (didn't he say he played at a nice orchestral hall, recently?), I can imagine he'd have money for a new coat rather than just bread.
Blue curtains baby~
I cannot WAIT to see the house in Mal-vision. I bet that's why he has such an unambiguously positive reaction...
Unless there are spirits there, it should just be shades of grey.
There's a welcoming party with all the bugger ups and a giant banner that says "You Found It, O'MALLEY!!!"
It doesn't take much for the free house to get an unambiguously positive reaction. Being a free house is enough unambiguously positive to make up for much.
I dunno that I agree that it's unambiguously positive. He's staring out the window in the last panel and has kind of a muted look on his face. I'm not sure if maybe he wants to leave.
I get the feeling that he's almost surprised at his own liking, with just a hint of fear that it's too good to be true, and the rug will be pulled out from underneath him.
Which really makes me feel for him. Poor guy. :-(
So it has some issues...
Is it mine?
Yes..?
I like it!
I have a feeling the place has LOADS of magical remnants from the previous tenants that Mal can see. Maybe the building is the sacred kingdom of Purple Hippos of Happiness!
Why are people assuming Wolfe and Ben are joining Jack in this house?
I mean, they probably are, but technically Jack is the boss now.
Well, of course they are! Mal's already made it clear that he still wants Wolfe around, even if he doesn't need him in quite the same way now, and at this point Ben basically comes as part of the set.
I can see Ben ending up as advisor / secretary / housekeeper / nursemaid to The Witch. Unless he runs off with Ms Swift of course. Wolfe will be popping round the corner to Roslyn House.
I can also see times where The Witch might want a wizard handy for on-the-fly consultation. Mal's intuitive understanding of spirits will be very useful, but people wrote all that stuff down in magical books for a reason. And, truly, Ben would do well under such circumstances, since he'd be involved in theory instead of practice.
just gotta say - this page is FULL OF WIN!
So, they're basically the Ghostbusters here. Did anyone else notice that?
I mean, that is basically what they did from chapters 2-7 :p
Petition for the theme of O'Malley and Co. to be:
[https://www.youtube.com/wat...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVYnUE04ZsA "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVYnUE04ZsA")
And Mal's face is just as adorably enthusiastic as that scene. So precious.
Out of curiosity, is there a youtube video or something that could give an example of Nyree's accent? I'd like to hear what she sounds like.
Well, she's presumably Māori so her accent is probably New Zealand English
Two thoughts....
1. Given the house's former status as a museum and that somewhat adamant sign, I wonder if the crew is going to find out how Widdershins came to be without its witch as they clean up.
2. That main room--lots of space for the Purple Hippo O' Happiness and Friends/Company/Circus
Love everything, except those silly signs. It hasn't been said yet, but I'm confident Mal will want his two compatriots to be staying in the house with him. Ben could revive the Malform-Buster business, which will be much slower than it was for a while. (allowing him time to also act as the Witch of Widdershin's personal manager). Wolfe will continue playing violin at the theater, probably headlining eventually. They will often have guests, particularly Eliza and Florrie (who accidentally finds herself in the area). Plus Mountain Witch and Island Witch, who will continue to teach Mal the tricks of being a witch. Eventually perhaps another witch will appear to apprentice with Mal.
Mal's little smile at the end just gripped my whole dang heart. He deserves happiness!
And a few more upvotes that I can't give officially! ^^^^^!
Love to play with fire. Heh.
yeah that's a good match there, innit?
I love the dynamic going from book 2, Nicola enraged by Mal and his casual "no fixed [a]bode" to her literally opening up and passing over the keys to his very own fixed abode, Her highkey frustration hasn't changed much, but it has at least changed direction....
Like--she asked "Occupation?" and he responded "If I had one of them, I'd have a bode." AND HE WAS RIGHT
OCCUPATION: WITCH
[A]BODE: WITCH HOUSE
good job, Mal, you've gained some answers if you ever need to be questioned by the police again!
I mean honestly, if it was me I'd definitely keep the signs.
Just hit me...this is probably the first place in his life that Mal can call his home. Puts a whole new spin on that last panel....
blinks Oh hey, I'm caught up!
...wait, I'm caught up?? But, but, but - I wanna read more!!
Ahem. Excuse my loss of composure. As you might've noticed, I was having the time of my life with this comic, and I am very much looking forward to what the future will bring!!
We all know the bittersweet pangs of being full concurrent with an ongoing storyline, don't worry, you're in good company.
The denouement seems like a pretty good time to get caught up. Imagine catching up in the middle of Curtain Call or something.
Oof, don't even. At leas right now no one's in imminent peril or anything...
Is it just me, or is there a great visual joke in Panel 2? Of Captain Barber putting the smooth criminal (or is that criminally smooth?) Nyree in the big house and throwing away the key (￣▽￣)
Speaking of the big house, must admit I was expecting historical facts and not propaganda posters O.o