Spiderwebs

"Luna: "There's no way. A book cannot read minds, or answer questions." Selena: "No. No, they can't. I'm just really good at guessing what you are going to do.""

Luke... has a problem.

After discovering that the three creepy girls at school are a coven of witches, he steals a spellbook from them, but discovers that there are... certain things one does not do when meeting a sentient deity. Now turned into an avatar of Selena, goddess of the moon, Luke has all the magic available to him that he might want... Except men can't be witches, as everyone tried to explain to him...

A webcomic by the artist of New Worlds, which was on hiatus but is now being continued as a bonus comic. Spiderwebs can be read in its entirety here.


 * Art Evolution: Very much so. Contrast the firstpage of New Worlds, the first page of Spiderwebs, and the latest page as of this writing.
 * Avatar: Of a sort. Luke, now Luna, is given a "piece" of Selena in order to become a witch.
 * Be Careful What You Wish For: Luke wanted magic. Selena gave him magic.
 * Bare Your Midriff: Apparently mandatory, due to the Third Law of Gender Bending
 * Gender Bender: And in a rare example of the trope, it's not played up for fanservice or comedy. (Well, much.)
 * Gender Bender Friendship: The coven is much more receptive of "Luna" than "Luke", even though he tried to blackmail then then stole a book just in time to interrupt an important spell. Except for Tix, who liked him already.
 * Genki Girl: Tix
 * Ho Yay: Sara, who gains a nice blush when going off on a tangent when Luna explains how awkward getting dressed for gym is going to be.
 * Idiot Ball: Luke, when he decided to steal a spellbook and randomly cast a spell without any supervision or support. Called out very specifically by Selena -- Luke couldn't be bothered to wait one night for the coven to explain things away from school?
 * Imaginary Friend: Baxter. Turns out he's a magical creature and after Luke grew up, the Weirdness Censor kicked in.
 * Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Tix. Helps that she's
 * Man, I Feel Like a Woman: Yup.
 * Power Tattoo / Marked Change: Luna's new body has a moon and other celestial glowing tattoos on it. Fortunately, these aren't visible when she's clothed. Unfortunately, she didn't think to swap out her rather revealing gym clothes to cover these.
 * Ret-Gone: No one remembers Luke, but everyone remembers Luna. It helps that a friendly house sprite is helping to redecorate.
 * This is also a very fragile spell -- Luna screwed it up with her father by painting her room the old color, causing him to remember Luke and making him immune to the Ret-Gone.
 * Required Secondary Powers - a fairly unusual variation but played straight nontheless.
 * Rouge Angles of Satin: And how! Virtually every comic includes at least one spelling or grammar error.
 * Although to be fair, the author has a relatively poor grasp of English. And it is still FAR better than early pages of New World which were nearly unreadable.
 * Smug Snake: Selena, although it's less malicious and more letting Luke have exactly what he asked for.
 * Strange Girl: The entire cast, although Tix stands out.
 * The Gods Must Be Lazy: Selena can't really do much other than float around and watch humanity. It's hinted that this is one of the reasons she gave Luke a figment of her power -- at least now she has something to watch!
 * The Masquerade: Magically enforced -- only those with a connection to magic can see unusual things. Luna, after having gotten her magic, sees magic creatures *everywhere*. Some of her teachers are even non-human -- some of them even sneak her back into school as "Luna" instead of "Luke", mentioning that they have to do this often enough that they've got a process for it.
 * The Tape Knew You Would Say That: Selena's book.
 * Third Law of Gender Bending: Enforced: Luke/Luna returns home to discover her room has been redecorated and all of his clothes replaced on Selena's orders. In addition, she has to at least play along a little in order to prevent the Weirdness Censor from making everyone remember Luke.
 * Transformation Comic: Only one transformation so far.
 * Weirdness Censor: No one without a touch of magic can see spirits.