December 3rd, 2019
3 Dec 2019 · page 948 of 1306
I mean... obviously.
Cast: Benjamin Thackerey, Eliza Swift
Comments (73)
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Gren... Kill!
:Gren proceeds to beg for treats.:
Are these more of the thief kings goons? Has he escaped again? Or is this someone new on the field? (Someone who probably won't like obviously not Harry being brought to him)
I certainly have "Macavity goons" vibes here, but I doubt if he is really able to remember the name of some female assistant of Sydney Lancelot Oliver Malik. ;)
Also I want to believe the gaol of Widdershins isn't so [cardboard](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CardboardPrison "https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CardboardPrison").
Well, we know for a fact that a single hangman and a few drops of insomnia medicine is enough to free a death row inmate with absolutely no problems. We also know that the guards don't check on each other, else someone would have discovered the sleeping guy. We also know that there is only one guard per cell and they wear the keys on their belt, clearly visible.
I'm afraid that cardboard might actually be stronger that that jail.
Oh no! How utterly unexpected!
FINALLY, some generic criminals. i missed those. i think no one in this comic is held at gunpoint nearly enough
Man-with-gun, however, looks to have some personality. His expression in the last panel is not the one you would expect from a typical henchman. "You honestly thought you had a choice about this? Huh. Precious, that is."
… and thats why you should probably stick to the none-sarcastic truth the first time around, things tend to escalate in ventures like this… fortunately, because this is fun! XD
Western accents, a grey military coat...
I don't know what year this is, but I smell Confederates.
Mid-1830s, if I recall. Unless the history of this universe is more divergent than I thought (and with the political and social climate in England being as different as it is, it very well might be), there shouldn't be any Confederates for thirty-odd more years.
According to this comic [https://widdershinscomic.co...](https://widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/february-19th-2016 "https://widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/february-19th-2016") chapter 5 ended March 14, 1834. Allow a day or two to organize the dinner where Henry and Izzy tell them about Lust, the next day for Curtain Call, about a month to the start of Hangman's Knott, a day for the main action, about a month to the epilogue, and some small amount of time to the start of this chapter. We are probably somewhere between mid May and mid June of 1834.
Harry's diary (extra pages of vol. 3) gives the date of the dinner (in the invitation) as 22nd March.
Yeah, assuming it roughly mirrors real-world history, we've gotta get to at least the Compromise of 1850 before people even begin to get that idea.
How are you getting American, or indeed any kind of accent off of these? "Ya" instead of "You," but we've seen characters from various parts of the British Isles use that. "Dumbass" feels out of place, but felt more like an anachronism than a regional thing. (Though maybe "dumbass" is just older than I thought.)
Calling Eliza "Babe" strikes me as perhaps an Americanism (or Australian). The word was used as slang around this time period, but with the rest of his dialogue, it just feels like we're hearing a guy from the Bronx or Boston streets rather than those of London.
Being from Massachusetts, "babe" doesn't feel entirely right if you're going for Bostonian (at least not for someone who isn't your girlfriend, wife, mistress, or similar). Though maybe that's just a function of my sheltered upbringing.
I was thinking the big American Irish community in Boston may have incorporated it, but that wouldn't have been there in the 1830s.
Unless a malform caused the Great Potato Transmogrification that chased half the population across the Atlantic a half century earlier....
I mean, I can see the possibility of american accents, but where did you get confederates from? It seems awfully specific.
There's the first of those facepalms XD
Did people say "babe" back then? Other than when referring to actual infants, of course.
Sounds like a time paradox....QUICK...look for a big blue box!
Or a heavily modified horseless carriage.
Bessie!
I'll admit, I'd been thinking more of a DeLorean, but that works too. :-)
'Addended rules for the dashing malform buster on first encountering someone'
- if asked if you are a god, say yes
- if asked if you are a famous investigator or other nosy person, say no
That should keep you out of troubles nine times out of ten.
What if you are asked if you are the God of Investigation and Nosiness?
"Wouldn't YOU like to know?"
"Not yet"
Wolfe jinxed it so well, with his "He shall be fine for a little while".
Ahahaha didn't he though!
"The boss wants to meet ya. Bring your babe or your dog or whatever you need": it sounds more like "the boss wants you do some job for him" than "The boss owes you a grudge".
Not sure it's so much a better option, though. What kind of job the boss of these goons can have for a bounty hunter? Find the witch?
Plot twist! O_O
...
No, I'm referring to the upcoming thing where the boss is pastry-chef who made a cake to thank Harriet for doing such a fine job, but they just hired the most stupid lackeys they could find.
"Yes, I told you to be persistent, but not to bring them at gunpoint! You idiots!"
"Buv boss. How was we suppos'da 'now?"
Very optimism
"I told you to take care of them, not take care of them!"
Now I imagine Wolfe and Sid coming back to the office, with Wolfe being like "Ben, we got Mal's things, can search for him now! But maybe we should make another think? Ben! Ben?"
When they realised Ben got missed.
Sid: Fine, which one of your friends we should look for first?
Wolfe (resolutely): Mal! He must know what happened!
But the version "Wolfe and Sid see Ben, Eliza and tied-up criminals" is good, too. :)
I wonder if the fact that one of the people they are kidnapping is a police detective makes things worse for them (legally speaking). Although I suspect she will go along with this at least until she finds out what it is all about.
Often the (relatively) low crime such as money laundering or kidnapping hide a more organized crime group, so it is actually quite clever to go with it.
"Harry" is being kidnapped. "Fifi" is being invited.
ooo.
what you said.
Oh, I'm certain she'll go along. She's having the time of her life.
I should inform you that pointing a gun at my head will incur an additional fee.
Well, that escalated quickly.
I do love how both of them are not remotely afraid of guns by this point. They're exasperated or intrigued but not afraid.
Well, Eliza has (or had) her own and is not afraid to use it indoors. As for Ben, compared to mixing it up with the Deadly Sins, a gun is entirely too mundane.
I love how "completely blasé about being in the middle of a holdup/hostage situation" has become a recurring Widdershins Protagonist Thing by this point. Carrying on Sid's fine tradition!
I'm not a fan of this recurring situation, but maybe you're right, maybe at this point I should consider that it's mostly played for laughs and it's a bit of a tongue in cheek.
The question is, why does "the boss" want Harry? Is it because she's a bounty hunter, or does someone besides Eliza suspect her of being the witch?
How lucky, to be kidnapped right in front of a police officer
Normal reaction to being on the wrong end of a gun: Terror
Eliza: Fascinating!
Ben: Of course this nonsense has to happen to ME
Eliza and Sidney would get along so well.
"May I try it on this globe over here?"
The thick plottens…
Or something. 😀
Goons MUST get: a bounty hunter and a wizard.
Goons DO get: a wizard and a police detective.
Not a great difference, yeah? :)
I mean not that I'm going to disparage the teamwork potential of this pair of fools but the Harry/Sidney combo is well tested.
"Barber" & Fifi: you've tried the best, now try the rest!
Oh la la.... XD
Ben just wants to have ONE day when he's not in mortal danger. Is that too much to ask?
Tired: worrying about silly things like are these confederates, Is babe a word back then, why the boss wants them... Inspired: realising this now means 'babe' is an acceptable term of endearment in benliza fics
Anyone calling the real Ms Barber ‘babe’ will be taking his teeth home in his pocket.
Dang right, I'm tired!
Oh, wait. That's not what you meant.
Ohhh we get a basic text book badie?
Going on previous form, I'm expecting The Boss to be a she.
Ms. Acedia? ;)
BEN: Oh, why is it always ME?
ELIZA: Oooohhh! An Adventure!
You'd think there would be anti-combustion spells placed in an office like this.
Hmm, I wonder if you could infuse a room with dampness to that effect...
I SWEAR the guy with the gun looks familiar! >.< EDIT Ah! He looks a little like Knotty's dad! But not quite. Reminded me of him.
LOL, yea, that's about where this had to go. I wonder if the boss will be a recurring villain. I know who I'm rooting for! :)
Identify Theft gets u held hostage and possibly kidnapped, remember that kids.
I can't help but think our fine visitors didn't pick up on the dagger glaring between Ben and Eliza in panel 1.
Or, at least, Ben is likely glaring daggers. Based on what appears to be an upwardly-crooked mouth, Eliza is "yeah, whatcha gonna do about it?" smiling.
"Oh la la"
Trans: "That WAS a gun in your pocket!"
i demand to know how eliza gets more charming every time she shows up. like, you'd think there'd be a limit, right?