December 5th, 2017
5 Dec 2017 · page 753 of 1306
zzz
Cast: Benjamin Thackerey, Heinrich Wolfe, Ms Fairbairn, Sidney Malik, Verity Cunningham
Comments (87)
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Oh my gawd. Vee has a butterfly knife comb thing.
Of course! Hair-care, preening and showing off? The trick would be hiding their existence from her! xD
Oh, my. Verity let her hair down, Sid is sad about his fail, Ben got a few minutes of sleep.
And Fairbairn is alive, it's good.
She let it down, in the hottest way she could. Because V.
I was looking more at the fact that, of course, she has a switchblade comb among her gadgets
Took me a little while to figure out what it was. At first I thought it was some bizarre multipurpose hair barrette.
Me too!
She probably has one of those as well, for special occasions.
Not a switchblade but a buttterfly/balisong comb. [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_knife "https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_knife")
Now the only question is can she do tricks with it?
[https://youtu.be/-G833lONSao](https://youtu.be/-G833lONSao "https://youtu.be/-G833lONSao")
You know she's doing a cool open flick trick right there for sure
Of course, silly of me to have asked.
Oh my, indeed! Letting down her hair like that in public, in front of gentlemen? A tad risque, isn't it?!
But such hair!
It's worth to be let by all means! :)
Vi letting down her hair,
Acedia showing her ankles,
Wolfe with his shirt undone,
And we haven't even gotten Lust yet!
Doubtless that, without the competition for resources from the others, Luxuria is growing in influence. Hence all the hardcore nudity (by 19th century standards, anyway).
Then why is Envy the one responsible for most of the scandal?
Well Sid, at least you didn't try to cut anybody in half this time.
Ms Fairbairn is back, ready to renew her campaign to Save the World by getting all this dangerous magic banned. Being imprisoned by the authorities will only make her a Martyr to the Cause!
Depends. Do people know she used magic to cause all that trouble around town?
False News!
That phrase gives me cold shudders of loathing...
Impersonated Media! Simulated Announcements! Fabricated Public Messages!
Confabulated proclamations! Information fourberie! Fictitious updates! Knowledge forgery!
It wouldn't be the first time... [http://www.widdershinscomic...](http://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/may-30th-2012/ "http://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/may-30th-2012/")
Mr Thackerey should get one of those coats for his professional calls. Not so sure about the evil maniacal expression though...
Don’t think we didn’t notice Ms Cunningham pushing out her chest for Herr Wolfe’s benefit. Or Herr Wolfe pretending not to notice. Or Ms Cunningham pretending not to notice that Herr Wolfe was noticing...
A Verity/Wolfe pairing has potential. And maybe she'll be less jealous of Harry/Sid if she's not alone.
I have grown to like Verity a lot more, over the course of this story. And certainly Wolfe isn't in a position to go permanently gadding about the countryside anyway. And, hey, he and Ben could probably help Verity out with some jobs! And vice versa.
I dunno. I think there's something already going on between Wolfe and Florrie. :-/
True, but Florrie is married. And in case Mr. DeMontfort doesn't turn out to be a Big Bad and removed by the plot (as some of us are hoping/expecting) it's good sense to have a backup ship. :P
(I mean, nothing personal Mr. DeMontfort, but you're REALLY suspicious... and in the way...)
I know that the foreshadowing and speculating have us all wondering if the mysterious Mr. DeMontfort is Luxuria himself.
I just want to mention that Grampa Henry and Grandma Izzy would have recognized Luxuria long ago... unless they have never met Mr. DeMontfort (highly unlikely), or perhaps he is extremely well-disguised.
But didn't he get back his shape-shifting power from the Heart, or did I misread that?
Mr. DeMontfort doesn't have to be Luxuria, he could just be a henchmen and get caught up in the fall out. Or if he doesn't get caught up, conspiring with a deadly sin to kill you and your family is probably grounds for divorce!
Or perhaps Mr DeMontfort is a rich but unattractive man, who Florrie married for his money. Now she treats him with contempt, going to prestigious balls on her own and dancing with handsome Prussians, while he stays at home, nursing the delusion that she still loves him.
But he is never at home...
Ah, but is he never at home, or is he never 'at home'?
Fat chance :) She's not red-haired.
And she had a spanner instead of flowers in her hair. :)
Wolfe does seem to prefer red-heads, but a preference for red-heads does not necessarily mean he won't date anyone else (especially if she gives him reason to think she's interested). After all he prefers women but in one of the character Q&As said "I suppose if I were to meet the correctt person, it would be foolish to let something like gender get in the way?" [http://www.widdershinscomic...](http://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/character-questions-4/ "http://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/character-questions-4/")
If he is willing to be consider the possibility of being flexible about gender he ought to be willing to be flexible about hair color.
Still, at the question about his ideal spouse he clearly discribes Florrie. :)
Btw, I remember Kate telling once in her Tumblr that Wolfe isn't bi. Well, Wolfe can think otherwise. :))
Yeah, that ideal spouse sounds like Florrie despite Wolfe's "no one in particular, of course." But as others have noted something would have to happen to Mr. DeMontfort for that ship to have a chance.
It's possible that Luxuia married Florrie to keep track of Izzy's blood line and that the reason "Mr. DeMontfort" is absent so much is to minimize the chance of someone noticing something is amiss. Luxuria did get its shape shifting powers back, but Henry interacted with it quite a bit and Izzy overheard some of those interactions. They both know that Luxuria is a shape shifter and prolonged exposure could like to them noticing something is off which might eventually allow one of them to figure it out. So the absence of "Mr. DeMontfort" could be simple prudence on Luxuria's part.
On the other hand, Mr. DeMontfort could just be some rich guy (possibly very minor nobility as well) who is absent a lot because his responsibilities and/or interests keep him out of town a lot. There could also be an element of socially embarrassment - just because he liked Florrie enough to marry her doesn't mean he wants to be known to associate with her family.
If Mr. DeMontfort is just some rich guy who is not associated with the deadlies Florie will probably stay married to him, which will leave Wolfe available. I think Wolfe would at least consider having a relationship with Verity if she pursues him (and let's face it, if Verity decides she is interested in a guy she will try to start things herself, she won't wait for him to do so).
Yes, however, compare Wolfe's interactions with Verity in this chapter to his flirtations with three (count 'em, three) red-haired women earlier in the comic... flexible or not, he definitely has a type.
While the Wolfe/Verity ship is growing on me I'm still very partial to Wolfe/Ben, and I'm partial to either over Wolfe/Florrie. Although overall I'd prefer more of the cousins and Team Buggerup Family Feels, if there's only enough chapter time for one or the other.
snrrk
I think what you think as anatomy is merely garment. And it always reminds me of a strutting pigeon:
Though if the cast were pigeons and Verity had such plumage it would still be in character.
Butterlfy knife...not ? :D
I wonder if Vee and/or Wolfe propped Ben up against the tree and took his glasses off for him, or if he woke up long enough to get settled there himself, then conked out again. I'm glad he's finally getting some rest - as Vee said, he's more than earned it!
I think Vee was occupied with Ms Fairbairn.
I definitely can see how Wolfe and Sid get Ben up and carry him to the tree as he mutters through sleep, "You shouldn't... I'm fine to sleep here..."
Given the fact that Ms. Fairbairn has gone about a year without sleep it's probably a safe bet that she'll still be asleep when Verity comes back to collect her.
But what if someone spirits her away before then?
Vee should take something from her, as a proof she catched Ms Fairbairn first. :)
The fact that there was even a bounty on the presumed-dead Ms Fairbairn in the first place makes me suspect that Nicola was the one behind it. She was suspicious all along about the lack of a body, and she'd want to make sure every contingency was covered just in case.
Then she'll have to deal with No Face.
Ben has definitely earned his nap, and letting the others get a moment to decompress after the stress of encountering 5 deadly sins in one day probably isn't a bad thing either. Especially since they're getting really close to the confrontation with Luxuria which will probably be especially stressful.
Oh Sid, you are such a paragon of adorkableness. <3
Someone needs to remind him how very very useful he's been today. He may not have helped on this one but he's been invaluable for some of the others, and I'm still waiting for him to be the one to take down Greed.
Ben could remind Sid that he saved Ben's life dragging him away from Pride in time, but Ben is asleep, alas.
About Greed: I agree about Sid, and I suspect that Verity asks for future trouble, with her "Speaking for yourself".
>I suspect that Verity asks for future trouble, with her "Speaking for yourself".
I dunno - that sounds more like asking for trouble with Pride, and we've already covered that...
Sid is in a bit of a similar situation to Ben here - needing to get his self-esteem back by facing down the Deadly he dealt with the first time around. The key difference is Sid's buoyant nature; he feels bad about himself right now, but it probably won't last as long or hit him as hard as it did for the more high-strung Ben, so the need for redemption won't be quite as drastic. I'm still looking forward to seeing him face Greed, though!
It seems to me Sid isn't happy with his character trait that had caused his poor performance in the University and now made him fail before Sloth, in general. He felt bad enough about the former to lie, after all.
I was hoping Verity would have learned a bit more from the encounter with Pride. Although she might have; she might be at least partially joking here. After all, she knows that Ben is the one who had to shoot the dart and defeat Sloth.
How does Vee's hair ... thing ... whatchamacallit ... work?
A detail I didn't spot until recently is that Vee's glasses chain seems to attach somewhere in her hair - and sure enough, there's the end hanging loose in panel 5, waiting for her to hook it back on once she has her hair rebraided.
Thank you. I was trying to figure that bit out.
MOST. PRECIOUS. BEN!
And Verity with a switch blade comb, I just... I love those two. X3
I would like to propose a Kickstarter for the production of Verity's über cool butterfly knife/comb. Who's with me?
(Illegal, you say? WHERE IS YOUR SENSE OF ADVENTURE, I SAY.)
(Verity agrees.)
They actually exist, as I found out in my google image search adventure to work out how those things flip open!
Honestly, the lock on those combs is more trouble than its worth.
And...is that brass?
Nice.
Pulls up a Blanket around Ben Sweet Dreams. ^w^
Good nap, team
Good work, everyone! Sleeping Ben is adorable. And ah, poor Sidney worrying.
Let's see, who's next? Oh, Greed?
... yeah, don't worry, Sid. I think you've got THIS one in the bag, actually.
Somehow, I'd always thought of Sid as this total gangling string bean of a man, but it looks like Wolfe is almost as tall as he is. Is Sid shorter than I thought, or is Wolfe just that tall?
Wolfe's 6'2", Sid's 6'1", they're each the tallest in their own stories usually so having them next to each other messes with my sense of perspective!
Two things the last couple of pages have had me thinking about.
The first is that it's interesting to see what constitutes as having "that certain spark" (as it was put on one of the Q&A pages) that draws magic to a person. Neither of the the two people we've seen with spirits larger than life seem to have magic, but Ben, with his smaller aura full of determined spirit and intellectual curiosity, does. As does good hearted, creative, chaotic Sid.
Two, Ben stated during the encounter with Pride that he has no friends, only people who are obligated to be around him. But even thinking that he both very deliberately chose to stay in the burning building with Wolfe and Mal and made a point to tell Mal he would prefer it if Mal made it through safely, which just hurts because it's obvious he doesn't think they care about him as much as he cares about them. Even worse is that considering that his remarks about her sticking with him during the hikes out of pity it seems he put Verity in that category as well.
About the second point: people don't always feel/think straight in process of dealing with Deadlies. We can remember Mal with his "I'll stay here, here I have a choice" who seemed to totally forget that he had a choice, Wolfe proposed Mal to leave Widdershins if he wanted.
In the same way, at that moment Ben seemed to forget that Mal not only saved his life in ch 2 and tried to distract Voss for giving Ben a chance to run away in ch 5, Mal invited him to take a part in "making trouble" (searching Voss' brewery) that is even more important thing. :) Or what Mal and Wolfe replied at his "Be careful" to Mal - and Ben smiled then, supposedly because he felt they cared about him as much as he cared about them.
About Verity, again, Ben smiled warmly saying the line with "out of pity", so I don't think he felt bad about it. It is rather that Verity is a family member and so, in Ben's perspective, her caring about him isn't his merit. (That "No friends!" line implied "I'm unworthy to have them".)
But Heylir, remember that what Mal said (about choice), he said under the influence of Sloth. While Ben's statement, to Pride, was while resisting and weakening Pride. So it's more likely that that statement had to be something that he truly thinks.
Besides, I strongly sympathize with Ben on this point. It seems like there's a big difference between being colleagues and being friends -- even colleagues who have saved your life, or appreciate your help, or care about you not dying. That still doesn't mean that these people actually would like to spend time with you, not outside of work. Now if people were to actually enjoy spending time with you... they would be friends.
Oh, I'm sure he truly thought it at that moment, because it wouldn't hurt Pride otherwise (as we saw it did). Whether he thought it because he thought it always or because his dealing with Pride dug up his deep-hidden feelings and put him into a state of breakdown, it is a different question. Given his own "No!" (at Sid's "Are you okay?") and his later outburst near Wolfe's mirror, I tend to believe he didn't think straight then.
I think it's something like "I'm useless" (and Ben said it before Sloth's mist) and "Everyone is better than me!", the ultimate expression of fears and doubts he suppressed at usual time.
Yeah, and Ben isn't able to believe anyone can enjoy spending time with him... maybe, because he hadn't these, outside his family circle. :/ The dilemma "colleagues or friends" is quite understandable, but still, the description "people who are obligated to be around me" are a little too strong. Would Mal stay in the place where he is "obligated to be" against his wish, whatever a contract binds him? And even more important, would Ben himself enforce that contract if he supposed his "colleagues" don't like it?
All in all, I don't think Ben suffered from "No friends" thought in everyday life and... there were moments when Ben looked happy about Mal and Wolfe company, without any concern whether they feel the same about him.
Well, true, it can be much less of a constant, everyday thought, and more of a nagging and lingering doubt that resurfaces from time to time. And since Ben can be on the melodramatic side, I think he may be using the word "obligation" just in the sense that there is some external, societal tie.
But you know there is something about his personality that could cause him to worry that his likeability by others is inherently flawed. He calls his siblings well-adjusted, which means he perceives himself as not so.
> But you know there is something about his personality that could cause him to worry that his likeability by others is inherently flawed.
Yeah, what a contrast with his cousin who so stubbornly insisted that the reason of her breaking with Harry is "Harry is nobody's friend, nobody's partner". Until the recent time.
> He calls his siblings well-adjusted, which means he perceives himself as not so.
Well, he openly says at his first appearance, "I have trouble working with others" (and it was not in "because others are idiots" way).
Maybe, he accepted the idea of his not being liked/being alone like he accepted the limitations of his magic abilities. And then he met Wolfe and Mal, and there were coworking and good relationships ("specifically good" with Mal :)). So the thought about them not being his friends, too, must hurt more, as they are people he'd wish be friends with and there was a chance of it.
I suspect Ben thinks that because Mal and Wolfe are so close to each other, there isn't room for him in the friendship. He doesn't realize that Wolfe has an infinite supply of affection and loyalty for the people he likes (even extending to Voss), and that he's become one of the few people Mal trusts, no matter how much the two of them bicker.
In case of Voss, I think it's more the matter of Wolfe realising that Voss needs his help/support than real sympathy. Mal, too, needed Wolfe's care (in different way), until now.
But Ben didn't need a help usually and he hardly admitted that if he did. So, he might felt that Wolfe care less of him than of others. Possibly.
HEY ALL! If you haven't read Darken yet, DO SO while waiting for the next update! It is fabulous and by Kate as well [https://www.darkencomic.com](https://www.darkencomic.com "https://www.darkencomic.com")
She may want to reach out to her web-wrangler, as that site is insecurely configured for https:
(Fwiw, this is easily fixed. And the site loads without complaint using plain ol' http, of course. But that's a rube's game, these days)
Yeah, I don't have a web wrangler! We were trying to futz around with getting an SSL cert before those chrome changes came in, but they haven't yet, and my host is promising better letsencrypt support soon so we're kinda holding off for that. Pretty sure it'll be fine til then.
Probably the most restful sleep Ben has had in years, considering that he has the nervous disposition of someone who relies on overdoses of Advil to sleep every night.
Naw. Ben's the early-to-bed, early-to-rise type, usually. Plus, after dealing with people all day? Definitely should be tired out and falling right to sleep at night.
Aw, Verity, you big softie :)
nice balicomb