September 4th, 2020
4 Sept 2020 · page 1017 of 1306
Oh hey!
Cast: Benjamin Thackerey, Eliza Swift, Heinrich Wolfe, Jack O'Malley, Vincent Knott, Yasmin Rana
Comments (102)
Events
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14 Nov 2026 – 15 Nov 2026
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31 Jul 2027 – 1 Aug 2027
Manchester Central
Mal: "Wait, I get something out of this too???"
Called it.
Also, the way that Ben bodily throws himself between his friend and percieved danger adorably reminds me of one of my cats.
Yes! Just like a cat!
Perceived danger? You must mean self-evident; these are lawyers we're talking about here.
As a lawyer.... I resemble that statement. A just society would have no need of me. But until that magical day arrives, a cutthroat is how one defends oneself from cutthroats.
Tom Paxton saw a scary article in a magazine and it inspired him to write a song called "One Million Lawyers":
Well, i saw him live almost thirty years ago ['91? '92} ... and he did that song and then said
You know what they say, everyone hates lawyers and doctors until they need one.
Technically, that is how one practices offense against cutthroats. The best defense is not dealing with them at all.
To be fair, he didn't act before he perceived them as a danger.
When it comes to danger, Ben would take a deposition for Mal! That's real friendship.
Ah, my favorite lawyer. He's proven not to let any client hang out to dry. He'll tie up any loose ends and execute his duties with the utmost professionalism.
If this was Reddit then I believe the appropriate response would be r/AngryUpvote.
[https://www.youtube.com/wat...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6crh_VhFh4s "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6crh_VhFh4s")
hssss
I am very much looking forward to seeing Knotty, Eliza and Will in O'Malley Vision ^_^
OH MAN!
[Enter Knotty]
Knotty: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. And also lawyers.
[Pulls out a sheaf of papers; smiles]
Two can play at that game.
Well hellooo Knot! Eliza sure had a ace right behind the door! :p
... and my nose was right, the smell of lawyers was thick!
... and love how O'Malley shies away from the legalese like it was a sabretoothed tiger! XD
Legalize is scary under normal conditions! It's a whole 'nother story when you can't read and it almost killed your best friend!
No, she had an ace next to her (he's the witch), not behind the door.
The stipend is 5 shillings a month. It hasn’t been increased since 1593.
But alas, the additional expenses connected to said stipend have increased to 6 shillings. Per week.
Vincent! Now we can get him integrated into the main cast. Cookies to those who called it.
Just wondering how Eliza knew Mal would need a lawyer , especially a lawyer who works for free ? Like how Ben and Wolfe both get defensive over the lawyers.
"That's when I realized what that smell was. Politics. On the whole, I'd rather it was necromancy."
When Eliza discovered that Ben knew the new witch, she told Will she wanted to see Knotty and ask him to look into something. I guess this is what she asked for.
And as for Ben and Wolfe getting defensive over lawyers, they did have some contract trouble when they first met...
Mal isn't going to sign anything ever again.
Eliza has a great filing system, a tendency to research stuff and an interest for all things anchor-related. She probably read everything there is to read regarding witches... including, perhaps, laws.
To be fair, is there anything that goes on in Widdershins that Eliza doesn't know about? (Especially now that she has access to police resources and information, haha)
Eliza was in here ahead of time, because she has a connection to Rana (from chapter 8). I wouldn't be surprised if she had this whole thing choreographed in her head ahead of time, including telling Ben to say something about Mal needing a lawyer so that Vincent could have his "cue."
"I summon Lawyer! Moo hoo bwah hah!"
"Fool. We ALL have Lawyers!"
aaah; he's back <3
Also gee, when someone you don't know says that there's something you must sign, immediately, you really know you should do the opposite.
BABY BOY
Looks like we're getting the gang back together! Way to go Notty!
I was NOT prepared for Knotty to show up!! Oh my goodness, this makes me so happy!
same, i squeed out loud
Things I love about this page:
Ben physically shielding Mal and Wolfe
Ben using his briefcase as his own shield.
The Trio have learnt not to let Mal sign things without reading them first.
Smug Eliza.
To be fair, Ben did sign his own contract without noticing "trade your sleep" part then. He learnt the lesson, it seems.
Not being able to read probably didn't help. Then again, how many of us press the [OK] button without reading the Terms and Conditions when installing a new piece of software.
Yeah, I always wonder if I'm signing away the rights to my first born child somewhere in the fine print.
Not really a problem if you never plan on having kids
Even then, only a problem if you plan on keeping kids.
There's a website called ToSDR (formerly "TL:DR ToS") which has summaries of key points from popular websites' ToS agreements.
I always read the terms and conditions, and I absolutely always read the privacy policy, 'cause that's where they get you nowadays.
I've also line-item vetoed medical liability waivers on more than one occasion, which is apparently something they actually let you do. I check each time just to make sure the particular practice I'm in at the moment allows it, and they always say yes.
It just occurred to me: Knotty must have a certain reputation among Widdershins' legal community. "Wait, that's... what's the Unknotter doing here?"
"Careful, Delores! He knows the weirding way!"
Upvoted for "Unknotter":D
Upvoted for weirding way.
I love it too, but I'm not sure there's been quite enough time for his reputation to filter through the community. I mean, it's only been a couple of weeks since then and, ok, a news article about the whole thing might have gone out, but who knows what the article said.
Don't get me wrong, Knotty is a great chap and all that, but I can't help feeling that getting a student lawyer to look over the contracts and licences that will define the rest of your life is a bit like the offer by my old university of free dental treatment performed by the students.
Contrapoint: Chapter 8. He was four for four at cheating the hangman, with no formal instruction and only his natural skill at finding loopholes to fall back on. Imagine what he'll be like with training.
Let's hope his knowledge of civil law is as good as his criminal law.
Point taken. Worse: it's practically magical law.
I thought his handling of magical law was pretty good, if technically extrajudicial
At the very least, his research abilities are top-tier.
I wonder if Knotty will run loops around them, or if he'll let them keep adding rope to hang themselves with? With regards to the ladder, I should hope knot. That could result in a tangled mess. It's better to have a solid platform to stand on. But you must take care to avoid any trapdoors while you attempt to sway them. When push comes to shove though, don't get too hung up on trying to be perfect... just pull the right levers and things should fall into place.
For the record, I got VERY good dental work done by the students in my university's dental program, for a quarter the cost of a regular dentist. This wasn't just a checkup either; I had to have an implant done.
And the student optometrists here are like, the best. I switched back to them by choice.
In my experience student = person with skillz who's not too bored to pay attention yet
I briefly attended a community college which had a program for aspiring masseuses, which meant that if you showed up on certain days you could get a free massage.
I can't speak to the quality, as I was dependent on public transportation back then and even worse at time management than I am now, so I was never able to make it to campus on those days, but it was apparently quite popular.
Another marvelous page. I adore panel three! Our three caballeros.
"Law student? Does he know enough to help?"
"Hang if I know."
I mean, it does seem like a pretty good idea to pay for a super important magic person to live in your city, if they control an important magic thing that is going to be there no matter what you do. Better to have the witch like your city.
When a role comes with "duties" and "obligations" that the city says they "must" do, I would hope the city would pay the person in that role, because that sure sounds a lot like a job!
I suspect that criminal laws and the collection of laws, edicts and such pertaining to magic and witches are two very different legal specialties.
Although I would not be surprised if there is some overlap.
That being said, as Vincent mentioned, he is still a student. Nothing stopping him from dabbing in these two different fields of law.
Also, looking at that ream of papers, I'm beginning to understand why there hasn't been a witch in Widdershins for a while....
Knotty!
Knotty!! My sweet boy saves the day!
I love how much more sure of himself he is now. He’s on his own ground here, and it shows.
I wonder what Knott and Eliza look like to O'Malley.
I love how Ben & Wolfe just jump in front of O'Malley to protect him from the dreaded documents of delegated duties
Also dang, Knotty barely arrives, and already he's gained O'Malley a house & money... not bad for a student lawyer
I hope we learn that Yasmin is one of the good eggs, and that no one is trying to exploit O'Malley. Indeed, given this is a historical position, and you dont get those by trying to abuse the genuinely powerful, that seems most likely - that the documents are about how the city will nurture the witch, in return for which they do ... what, exactly? Looking forward to finding out....
The nice things about fantasy worlds is the agency of the main characters. Unlike in this one, they have more power than institutions, laws, arseholes,...
It seems like she is trying to be at least, but you know what bureaucracy is like. And if there hasn't been a witch in years then I'm sure historical paperwork has built up over time...
"'ousing?"
"Stipend?"
Aha! The tables have been turned on the lawyers!
Good to have you back, Knotty!
I mean.. that's probably in the papers the lawyers had. She mentioned rights and said they wanted to go over things carefully. (And then immediately told him to sign, so that's not great.)
Best be careful here, Mal et al. You're dealing with a far more dangerous foe than any spirit or gung-ho American businessman... _bureaucracy_!!! (gasp)
after te last contract no one is taking any chances lmao
Vinney! :3
Woooo! Good timing for the non-evil lawyer! :D
Lawyers? good thing the Americans are already out of the picture. Each American only has three guns but they all have at least four lawyers. Speaking of them, has anyone figured out what they wanted besides their nefarious plan to chlorinate all of your chickens?.
I think they wanted O'Malley's help finding the fourth anchor, and they were in the business of imports and exports. My best guess at their endgame is some combination of:
1) Build up around the anchor and charge money for access (since it is an extremely potent magic amplifier)
2) Use the link between anchors to establish lucrative trade routes
as a lawyer, this amuses me greatly
Knotty following in the "law student saving the day" footsteps of one Elle Woods, I see! Note how the perm in panel one is intact...
I've heard of a vigilante acting as judge, jury, and executioner... but only Knotty will be your lawyer and executioner. 😋
#joking
Go gettem, Knotty!
Mmm. Yep, Ben, Wolfe, and O'Malley's facial expressions definitely have them recalling the last time they were asked to sign legal papers.
AAAHHH!! KNOTTY!! KNOTTTYYYY!
Even Wolfe is like "No Fucking way he's signing that now". ^^'
Also, I really hope we get a glimpse of O'Malley-view on everyone in the room.
Is that the first time ever that we see Wolfe with a stern face? I'm almost certain that's the first time.
Not surprising, given how it went last time any of them signed any documents. 😎
There was a moment when he confronted Voss in ch 5 (panels 3 and 4): [https://www.widdershinscomi...](https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/november-28th-2014 "https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/november-28th-2014")
AAAAAH, ALL OUR FRIENDS TOGETHER AGAIN!!
Get 'em, Knotty.
You're the witch. Can't you just, y'know...(vague finger-wiggling)?
hmmmm Just assuming he works for them because he's a witch? Sounds sketchy.
i wonder what Knott looks like in Mal-o-vision.
plus, the look of consternation that Mal gives the space above the lawyers heads is spot-on!
So Kate! Will we ever see Sam-the-Agent again? I am curious as to how he got in on this. Are they doing a movie about the Barbers? or a history? That was a scary assignment, or did they sort of know how it was going to end up?Please tell me that we are not at the end of Widdershins!
no plans right now, but who knows? and no this is not the end of widdershins! don't want to say for sure when it's wrapping up but we have a couple to go yet, and i'll give you due warning when we're on the last one.
I love it, delighted squeaking definitely happened when Knotty showed up!
I love Mal's reaction, really makes me wonder what he sees when he looks at Vincent
Ben remembers all to well what happened last time Mal signed something.
I can't <3 this installment enough! No more signing dodgy contracts! Hooray!
:-) Nice way to fit Vincent into the story!
My headcanon right now is that Mal looked at Knotty and saw a huge, well-stocked bookcase shaped like a heart in his spirit.