L-R: Georgie and Afia.
Balderdash!
is a webcomic by Victoria Grace Elliott. It tells the story of two witches, Georgie and Afia, whose paths in life lead them both to the village of Löffel. Georgie is a baker in training, hoping to learn under the tutelage of the baker Fausto. Afia is a university student struggling with her thesis, who has left the city to learn about magic hands-on.Provides examples of:
- Alt Text: Has this occasionally and infrequently.
- Amplifier Artifact: Witchstones and other enchanted materials can assist with magic.
- Brick Joke: Georgie's oversized bread roll. She makes it during her first morning at the bakery, and Afia later walks in on Mar puzzling over it. Later still, Mar serves it to Afia and Georgie.
- Delayed Narrator Introduction: Georgie's section of the story is narrated in third person. Afia's is narrated by herself in first person, and she remains the narrator once the two meet. Presumably she was the narrator for Georgie's section as well, though she had yet to be introduced then.
- Either/Or Title: It's had two. The first one was Balderdash! or, the baker's apprentice. When Afia was introduced, it became Balderdash! or, a tale of two witches.
- Familiar: Afia has one, a crow named Vivi.
- Fiery Salamander: Afia's grandma has one. Sometimes it gives off flames, which is useful for a campfire. Afia calls it a little dragon, but it's implied they're separate species.
- Food Porn: There are extras about food recipes.
- Mundane Utility: Where Georgie is from, magic is used for baking.
- The Rant: The section below a page is regularly used to add to the story with a paragraph or two of prose. For example it may describe something about the characters' thoughts and feelings, something from a character's past, or a piece of world-building.
- Recurring Dreams: While on her grandma's boat, Afia starts having dreams about seeking out strange, shadowy things. Her grandma, recognizing the description of the shadows as that of the Evervoid, says the dreams are actually witchsight.
- Seers: Afia's grandma is one — she has what's called "witchsight". It seems Afia may have inherited this trait from her.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Georgie and Afia independently personify Georgie's oversized bread roll. Georgie calls it a child, and Afia thinks of it as stronger than the other rolls.
- Title Drop: On page 4, when Georgie's dad is criticizing something and calls it "balderdash".
- Wizarding School: Afia's university teaches magical theory.
