All these years, seeing the term only in sans-serif print, I assumed it was “LWA.” Was even ready to construct a song parody along the lines of “I fought the Lwa, and the Lwa won.” Followed the link you posted, which took me to a site that was in a sans font (of course), copied/pasted into a word processor so I could change to a serif font (not easy on a phone), and… yeah, it’s an “I,” as in “me, myself, and.” Which opens up the possibility of jokes locating the Vudou spirit world in a midwestern state normally associated with corn.
The things you learn on the internet…
BTW, who made the decision to standardize on a font where a capital i and lower-case L look the same?
I think this is a thing where it is both. I’ve seen Lwa, Loa, and Iwa Louisiana creole culture probably gets the L from Grench, like at one point it was perhaps L’Iwa (the L’ is just “the”). While Haitian creole culture did not pull the article into the word.
Don’t quote me on this though, I a no expert
It is supposed to come from “loi” (law), so the [l] would be mandatory. I don’t think I know of any créole radical change through scriptural proximity/assimilation rather than a phonetic one. Also in Bénin or Togo it was lwa [lwa]… That’s about my knowledge of it, I could have called the vodou museum that is nearby but they’re closed…
When I was in Haiti several years ago, they pronounced it “ee-wa”. Hardly anyone in our area could read or write, so I can only guess from the pronunciation that it was spelled iwa, as it is in the article I cited above.
Highly unlikely to ever come up again, in my opinion.
I mean, they’ve already got Tip with a concealed pistol on him at all times, Unity is a walking disaster area, Nick can remotely fly in his helicopter armed with rotary cannons, Sweetheart could knock over a cup of coffee at any moment, and Dr. Lee can whip up any number of mad science devices McGuyver style as needed.
What exactly is Remy going to accomplish in a dramatic and plot relevant fashion by unexpectedly pulling out a scimitar? He can… brandish it menacingly? Cut something with it? Uhh… take it to Antiques Roadshow to get it appraised, since it’s engraved and therefor might have value?
None of that really screams “sudden-but-foreshadowed dramatic development”.
The rattle could make a comeback easy, either as a gag “You’ve still got that thing?!?” or even as a true Chekov’s Gun, “Of course! The rattle! Quickly, perform the exorcism before it’s too late!”. Or both.
It certainly can be ceremonial. You just have to be careful about it. And probably don’t want to use it in any ceremonies where you might get ridden by one of the more mischievous or careless Loa.
Maybe it was ceremonial once, but Remy prefers to work with spirits who respond better to rattles than to swords now. Or maybe he’s just keeping it around so he can deal with whoever it is who’s coming for him.
This is turning into a paranatural comic lol. Spirits are things that where never human and ghost are dead humans, and people who can see them has super powers. Huzzah.
Tell her about the twinkie.
Like your show? It’s all fluff and filler.
That’s a big twinkie.
What about the twinkie?
What’s he saying in the first panel? /wa?
Lwa (also transcribed as loa) are spirits in Vodou.
Lwa, or Loa, are spirits which deign to interact with Man. They can be helpful or vengeful and must always be treated with respect.
In Haitian vodou, it is spelled Iwa (that’s “eye double-u ay”), just as it’s spelled in the first panel.
https://www.learnreligions.com/spirits-in-african-diaspora-religions-95926
All these years, seeing the term only in sans-serif print, I assumed it was “LWA.” Was even ready to construct a song parody along the lines of “I fought the Lwa, and the Lwa won.” Followed the link you posted, which took me to a site that was in a sans font (of course), copied/pasted into a word processor so I could change to a serif font (not easy on a phone), and… yeah, it’s an “I,” as in “me, myself, and.” Which opens up the possibility of jokes locating the Vudou spirit world in a midwestern state normally associated with corn.
The things you learn on the internet…
BTW, who made the decision to standardize on a font where a capital i and lower-case L look the same?
That’s why I type everything.
I think this is a thing where it is both. I’ve seen Lwa, Loa, and Iwa Louisiana creole culture probably gets the L from Grench, like at one point it was perhaps L’Iwa (the L’ is just “the”). While Haitian creole culture did not pull the article into the word.
Don’t quote me on this though, I a no expert
It is supposed to come from “loi” (law), so the [l] would be mandatory. I don’t think I know of any créole radical change through scriptural proximity/assimilation rather than a phonetic one. Also in Bénin or Togo it was lwa [lwa]… That’s about my knowledge of it, I could have called the vodou museum that is nearby but they’re closed…
When I was in Haiti several years ago, they pronounced it “ee-wa”. Hardly anyone in our area could read or write, so I can only guess from the pronunciation that it was spelled iwa, as it is in the article I cited above.
Good to know.
I’ve only ever seen them called ‘loa’ (L-O-A).
Ulp! We’ve got a Chekov’s Scimitar on the wall, people! Remember that!
Highly unlikely to ever come up again, in my opinion.
I mean, they’ve already got Tip with a concealed pistol on him at all times, Unity is a walking disaster area, Nick can remotely fly in his helicopter armed with rotary cannons, Sweetheart could knock over a cup of coffee at any moment, and Dr. Lee can whip up any number of mad science devices McGuyver style as needed.
What exactly is Remy going to accomplish in a dramatic and plot relevant fashion by unexpectedly pulling out a scimitar? He can… brandish it menacingly? Cut something with it? Uhh… take it to Antiques Roadshow to get it appraised, since it’s engraved and therefor might have value?
None of that really screams “sudden-but-foreshadowed dramatic development”.
Sure, sure, but how about the rattle?
The rattle could make a comeback easy, either as a gag “You’ve still got that thing?!?” or even as a true Chekov’s Gun, “Of course! The rattle! Quickly, perform the exorcism before it’s too late!”. Or both.
Remember, he uses it only for non-ceremonial purposes. Such as triage and harvesting 😉
And home defense.
Possibly haircuts and topiary, depending on his level of skill.
Oh, hey Remy (There goes my theory about where the dream started. (Unless we’re doing the whole Inception thing))!
Remy’s “I Walked With a Zombie” T-shirt. Does it mean the movie, or does it mean he’s walking with a zombie?
Both. Unity’s shirt has a misquote from Pet Semetary.
It certainly can be ceremonial. You just have to be careful about it. And probably don’t want to use it in any ceremonies where you might get ridden by one of the more mischievous or careless Loa.
Maybe it was ceremonial once, but Remy prefers to work with spirits who respond better to rattles than to swords now. Or maybe he’s just keeping it around so he can deal with whoever it is who’s coming for him.
Voodoo Man and Unity
Were talking up a prattle.
Then Voodoo Man showed Unity
His slightly larger rattle.
Does anyone else think that “I’m coming for you” might actually be “I’m coming for Yu,” as in Jonah?
Dunno. Who, besides his old flame-war enemy Nick, is that mad at him?
The ghosts of all those dead Jonahs from alternate timelines?
This is turning into a paranatural comic lol. Spirits are things that where never human and ghost are dead humans, and people who can see them has super powers. Huzzah.
The setting has always had supernatural elements. Dave in Narbonic goes to hell for a while, and one of the demons became a recurring character.
“it’s not the size of the rattle, it’s how you shake it.”