January 22nd, 2019
22 Jan 2019 · page 868 of 1306
Good try, at least.
Cast: Eliza Swift, Vincent Knott, Will Sharpe
Comments (50)
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Don't tell me Wrath is finally getting her own story!
I'm sure it wrote a strongly-worded letter over getting such poor billing in the last arc.
Final Panel: Now, that's not creepy AT ALL
"No, you're Sharpe! Sharper than I expected, anyway."
Oooh! Visible (symbolic) effects of having one's character 'adjusted'?
(Bounce)
Welp, seems like someone has used his own technique to attach spirits of rage or whatever to activate when they see him.
Well I guess if you can magically condition someone to feel calm when they're up high, you can also magically condition someone to feel unyielding rage at seeing a certain overconfident face...
Probably doesn't take much conditioning. Anyone who knows him is probably most of the way there already.
Off-panel, Eliza's doing exactly the same thing, no magic involved.
In Night Life of the Gods, Thorne Smith describes one character as having a voice "...which, had it been a face, one would instinctively slap."
Sir. Do I have to report you to your superiors for working under the influence? 'Cose I'm gonna.
Now, Sharpe, what is that failsafe word you talked about?
If the safe word is banana, I will punch you
But orange you're gonna be so glad if it isn't :D
The password is always "Swordfish"
Blatherskite, nobody would use that word in normal conversation.
Hmm. What if he's been 'conditioned' not to be able to say it?
oh crap
I don't think that's the safeword.
You are a master of suspense Kate. <bow>
I hope you write a movie script someday.
Uh... I think you've, uh, got something in your eye, there, sir
So this would be a good time for that failsafe word...
As a side note, I wonder what Mal would see if he encountered someone who'd undergone Sharpe's treatment?
Eeeewww
If I had to guess, based on the description it would be whatever he normally sees when someone is under the influence of a Spirit, such as here: [https://www.widdershinscomi...](https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/may-4th-2012/ "https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/may-4th-2012/")
so probably their Aura completely saturated with the color of the influencing spirit.
That's a wizard aura. As far as "under the influence of a spirit": with Voss he just saw invidia as a separate entity. When invidia literally possesses Voss we don't see if from Witch-perspective. [This might be close](https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/december-23rd-2014/ "https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/december-23rd-2014/") but he's in color.
Edit: and I tried to check if human-Acedia (does she have a real name? she's tagged "Ms. Acedia"), she just has wizard aura in Mal-O-Vision ([ example here](https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/september-8th-2017/ "https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/september-8th-2017/")), but I'm not sure how "under the influence" she is at that point?
This is unrelated to this page, but I had an interesting Widdershins dream last night. It was an AU where Mal and Wolfe were students at a school for magic (not Widdershins University or Hogwarts). Each student was supposed to choose a specialty; Wolfe's, of course, was channeling magic through music, but Mal didn't know what he wanted to do and resisted the efforts of the teachers to make him choose, partly because the only thing he really liked doing was talking to spirits like the Purple Hippo of Happiness.
I would read this fan-fic!
Write it up, I'd love to read it
Is that magic rage or just regular rage artistically represented? Somehow I suspect the former, but we shall see...
Generally, Kate's eschewed messing with the character models directly to express emotion. If she tweaks anything, it's been more atmospheric (eg [removing the background in favor of mood-appropriate colors](https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/june-12th-2015/ "https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/june-12th-2015/")). Nothing stopping her from changing her mind of course, but I have a feeling this is meant to indicate that this man's been Sharpened.
You're way smarter at this art analysis stuff than I am. Thanks. :)
>this man’s been Sharpened.
I approve of this name for the technique.
:bows appreciatively:
Even the letters are red.
that's unusual!!! and he almost got away with it, too u_u
"...if it hadn't been for..."
Hello there, you have the icon of the creator of "War in the Shade", such a fine comic that I recommend to everyone here!
Yet, you have a different name. The name of a rising young sumo rikishi, in fact.
Anyhow, hi! If that's your comic, great work!
I am kinda surprised that Sharpe came up with that good a bluff. "Nothing to see here, sir! Just ordinary, wacky undergrad hijinks! Definitely nothing involving a prison break or illegal searches of other students' property, no sir!"
I’m sorry, but Sharpe? In that outfit? Daaaaaang.
I suspect someone has already been applying the non-humanitarian potential of Sharpe's work...
That pose in panel 5 looks really uncomfortable for Knotty; he must have the arm with the handcuffs twisted up behind his back in order for Will to put his arm around his shoulders.
Heh, I didn't even notice the little "Ow." next to his head in that panel. :-)
ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL!
(1) I must admit I feel like the porter's the kind of guy who would have said "Aren't you that one what got arrested?" - although, of course, I could be mistaken. (Indeed, that's how I parsed the sentence on the first read-through.)
(2) The glowing red eyes and altered speech bubble are very inauspicious.
Looks like the red-eye shift is getting to him. He needs to take some time off, get some more rest.
Seems the "good" doctor has been a tad busy. At least I'm guessing the guard has been treated.
I notice that the porter doesn't have a name. That usually means he's not going to be around for long.
Too bad this porter has a Sharpe memory...
I can see that she is super happy about their cover story being essentially "we brought in a prostitute." With her playing the prostitute.