May 18th, 2018
18 May 2018 · page 796 of 1306
So many.. hairstyles..
Cast: Harriet Barber
Comments (94)
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Well this isn't working, is it Lux?
No. It most decidedly is not. Quite predictably, too. (It really can't understand their relationship, at all.)
The last panel made me laugh. :)
A romantic dinner? No. A romantic adventure? No. So, what do you want? Oh, I know, you want the status of a married woman!
facepalm No, Lux. Just no.
But surely... Ah, on second thoughts I'm not going to say that. Ms Ashwin knows where I live and she has a big night stick.
Oh MY... :P
What makes me smile is that adventure!sid looks like King of thieves! Sid.
He still hasn’t the tried the one scenario guaranteed to capture any woman’s heart; the one where the lady sits in an armchair drinking a nice cup of tea and reading the newspaper while the man does the housework.
While I suspect that most women would find that scenario appealing (my wife certainly does), it does not seem to fit in with Luxuria's monomania about possessing the object of desire. (And in Luxuria's world view a romantic partner is definitely more of an object to be possessed than a person to be loved.)
Once Lux is bound:
Wrath: HOW COULD SCREW THAT UP? IT WAS SO EASY!
Pride: [with a haughty sniff] Were you even trying?
Greed: Looks like I've won the bet, Invy.
Envy: Yeah, yeah.... :resentful muttering:
Sloth: Whatever. Your work was boring anyway, so no surprise.
Gluttony: [too busy eating to participate in the conversation]
He's definitely doing a rush job here, if he was paying any attention he'd know that Harry and Sid are the wrong way round in panel 4.
Perhaps he's more distracted than he realises trying to deal with so many people?
I can not imagine that Harry would be so impractical as to ride side saddle either. Victorian ladies rode that way because you can not sit astride a horse in a dress, but you are much more likely to fall off of the horse when riding side saddle. Since Harry wears pants normally I would expect her to do the practical thing and sit astride when mounted rather than fiddle around with a side saddle.
Right, but in the illusion she is wearing a dress, which makes it pretty much impossible to ride any other way.
Also, I believe it is possible to make dresses "with the skirts divided" (I think that's the term) which permits riding in the normal manner.
It is definitely possible to make dresses with divided skirts (and it has been done), and it would be possible to ride a horse with a regular saddle wearing such a dress. But side saddles only become common in societies where it is improper for ladies to wear clothing that would permit one to ride astride. So while dresses with divided skirts are probably available in Widdershins, conventional young ladies probably do not use them.
Harry is fairly unconventional, so if she has to ride a horse I would imagine her preference would be to sit astride while wearing trousers. As a distant second she would wear a dress with a divided skirt and ride astride if she really had to. In a situation where she might actually have to ride side saddle I see her working really hard to avoid wearing the dress, riding the horse, or both. I also imagine that she is less experienced riding side saddle than would be typical of a woman of her age and social standing which would make her more likely to fall off than the normal (which is already significantly more likely to fall off than if one rode astride).
All of which is very long winded way of saying that finding herself riding side saddle is one more thing to break the suspension of disbelief for Harry.
If she was wearing a dress for some reason and had to ride, she'd probably grab a blade and divide the skirts herself. :P
Right idea - wrong article of clothing. Using a side-saddle makes wearing a CORSET more comfortable while on a horse. (Split skirts were invented long before the side-saddle fyi) And if you ever tried riding a horse, at a trot, with NO form of breast support at all.... you'll know why the side-saddle was invented. Although because riding astride gave you so much more control over the horse - specific "riding outfits" were also invented and widely used.
But in general - any woman that wanted simply to use a horse as transport from A->B would go with a side-saddle so they didn't have to change clothes. You are far more secure up there then you think. (Wouldn't try cross-country jumping tho)
Lux may brag about how much it has watched humanity,
but it was also affected by the experience. It has been infected
with pride and gluttony. Pride makes it overconfident in its knowledge,
and gluttony makes it so anxious to savor the fruits of its plan
that it implements a rushed job....
I think what it shows is that for all his boasting Luxuria doesn't know bus about human nature.
That is hardly a surprise. After all it sees our messy and contradictory motivations as a weakness to be scorned rather than as the defining characteristic that makes us human.
Well, it told Henry Barber "I don't [know anything about love]": [https://www.widdershinscomi...](https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/january-5th-2015/ "https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/january-5th-2015/")
Fits, since part of objectifying someone is that you ignore, distort, or don't even get to notice essential aspects of them.
This whole strip makes me even more certain he only cares about keeping her there long enough so she can't be the support Mal needed during the last few strips.
I get the impression that Lux just kind of skims the relationships before getting to "the good parts".
Lux is a bad fanfic writer at heart.
I wonder if Lux is going to try a more direct approach, with an attempt of kissing Harry... and a test of its ability to sense physical pain. :/
You never know. It might enjoy that. :-/
Oh... This is not going to end well for him.
It. Luxuria has no true gender, only masks.
Getting a little desperate, there, Lux? How about whisperwhisperwhisper...
Sid!Luxuria: ......Er, what?! ...But... that's... ...I'll give it a try...
Scene change: nice town house, late evening, lamps are lit. Sid!Luxuria stands in the hallway in a frilly apron. Harry unlocks front door and enters with Gren on lead and large bag of evidence 'n' stuff.
Sid!Luxuria: takes bag from her, puts it on hall table, helps her off with her jacket and weapons
Harry: lets Gren off lead
Gren: scoots off to the kitchen and her feeding bowl
Sid!Luxuria: Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes, dear. stoops to help her off with her shoes
Harry: hangs up lead Can you hold off on that? I'd like to get some of this organised... if this is what I think it might be- deep frown
Sid!Luxuria: flustered grin, fusses Of course, dear! I'll get this up to your study now! awkward pause
Harry: not-unhappy sigh exchanges pecks on cheeks with him heads off in direction of downstairs lavatory
Sid!Luxuria: ahem! puts shoes in shoe-rack, pulls out, holds up comfy slippers
Harry: :-) walks back, lets him help her on with slippers
Sid!Luxuria: beams, gathers up things, heads to Harry's study
Harry: goes and washes hands
Sid!Luxuria: puts bag on her desk, lights lamps, puts weapons on rack, selects pipe from pipe rack, fills
Harry: enters in her slippers, accepts proffered pipe and conjured light, lights pipe
Gren (in kitchen): finishes meal, eyes cooking
Sid!Luxuria: ! Gren! I'd better go and make sure dinner doesn't get devoured, darling! :-)
Harry: :-) settles pipe in her mouth, turns to desk and work
Sid!Luxuria: hurries to kitchen So, when does the torrid desire and passion come in?
Almost certainly not tonight. And you might want to check out the single beds in your bedroom...
Sid!Luxuria: ... FINE!!! I give up!! There's nothing here I can work with...
Harry: appears at door to study Are you sure? You're doing pretty well, actually... strokes polished door frame appreciatively I could get very used to this.
Mal: staggers into scene Yeah, likewise. 'There room for a lodger 'ere?
Sid!Luxuria: Alright, there's nothing here that I'm PREPARED to work with!! How can you be so boring?! So mundane?! Gah!! lets illusion fade
Harry: Wait, can't I finish the pipe first? pulls disquietedly at fading pipe This is really good... :-( oh well... levels rifle
Luxuria: :-( :-p
>:=)>
Well, cooking Sid is authentic, at least. :)
I would feel a bit safer if Sid were cooking more than I would Harry, but I'm really not so sure about him either... Actually I remember there was once an answer about cast members cooking, but I can't seem to find that page in the archives anymore?
There was no Sid at that page (as the question was about a pie baked for Mal from friendship :)), but [there](https://katedrawscomics.tumblr.com/post/125212408557/what-creative-outlets-do-the-main-characters-have "https://katedrawscomics.tumblr.com/post/125212408557/what-creative-outlets-do-the-main-characters-have") Kate says: "Sid loves to cook for people..."
Ah! That would be exciting. His cooking's all experimentation and no recipes, I bet.
I find the easy way to find the Q & A pages is to go to the last page in a chapter and click next. They tagged as something different but all tagged the same way so clicking the tag will get tou to all of them.
Yes, that's true... but I think there was one set of Q & A pages in the middle of this current chapter, and now I can't find it...
Hmm, maybe it didn't get tagged?
Because this chapter is so long we had a mid chapter Q&A that Kate can not put before the chapter due to spoilers and that she does not want to leave in the middle because it interrupts the story. She said she will put it after the end of this chapter once it finishes. There was a link in one of the comments for a previous comic, but I do not remember when.
27th March. The links are:
and [https://www.widdershinscomi...](https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/qanda2.jpg "https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/qanda2.jpg")
Thanks guys! Wow, it was worth looking at that first page and noting Gren's impression of Sid for (hilarious) comparison to the fake Sid on this page.
Innnteresting. So either Lux can't see Harry's deepest desires very well, or he can but he's flubbing the Sidney impression so badly that it's coming off all wrong anyway. I'm leaning towards the former since these are all fairly stereotypical romantic scenarios, but then what's stymieing his ability to get a lock on her lust? He did pretty well in wooing Wolfe (who is, admittedly, the easiest one in the cast, but still).
Maybe, Lux believes that "the perfect someone" is what anyone wants and Harry would prefer Lux's version of Sidney before real one. Because it can't realise that one can love an "imperfect" person, the way they are.
> He did pretty well in wooing Wolfe (who is, admittedly, the easiest one in the cast, but still).
And it did choose the right scenario with Wolfe, "a beautiful woman asks a gentleman for help and moral support". Still, even with it, Lux had to hit Wolfe with its power directly to get the information it needs.
Luxuria may have the most direct experience of humans out of the dirty seven, but it definitely does not understand them best. It lacks patience and the willingness to acquire useful coping mechanisms - unlike Invidia and Avaritia, who are all about taking on things that help them get ahead.
Adding some additional thoughts to Heylir's response: Plus Wolfe's situation was a classic scenario, very predictable for the era. And it was someone Wolfe didn't know, so there was no expected behavior from the 'woman'. So that was easy for Lux. Harry & Sid, on the other hand, have an existing relationship that is not the stereotypical type that Lux would know how to deal with. And Lux is definitely flubbing Sid in every way possible.
Luxuria is rather banal at "heart"; a biological urge overclocked and twisted into evil. It's a minor miracle and probably a testament to its long experience on Widdershins-Earth that it's even capable of regurgitating cliché's of romance.
This is it. Romance ain't all about lust, y'all. A deep romance like what Harry and Sid are heading toward starts out with knowing and respecting and liking the person's unique personality... and Sid's personality is waaaaayyyy too unique for Lux to get a hold on real quick lol
I'm very glad Sid isn't that full of himself
I think Harry will also be quite relieved to get back to the real Sid after this!
The very second he accidentally bumps into a lamppost and apologises, she'll suddenly relax. xD
OR trips over his own feet, or starts fanboying about his new-not-new magpie friend, or... yeah. :P
Oh wow that is going to be adorable.
he really should get some glasses
Who wants a perfect someone. Whats the fun in that?
Silently recalls the scene with Ben saying that Wolfe is perfect. :)
whispers But Wolfe's been proven to be perfectly _im_perfect. :P
All of "Sid"'s outfits helpfully obscure his neck from any potential identifying marks...
Which is not going to help when he gets punched so hard his noggin is knocked clean off.
and im surprised harry isnt face palming the entire comic!
No, you're not, Luxuria.
You're too smarmy to be Harry's perfect someone.
Called it. smug smug smug
Also, out-and-out breaking his own fourth wall? Are we sure this is really a high-class demon? I ask because he's making ROOKIE ***ing mistakes left and right. Cripe Almighty, *I could do better.
You could certainly do better, because you're a human, while it's a one-dimensional spirit.
Awww, I just realized when they eventually get married, Harry will almost certainly be rocking a tux with Sid.
Not if Mrs de Montfort and Mrs Barber senior have anything to do with it.
Which they might not, if there's a quiet little ceremony at some obscure registry somewhere.
But Mr Malik’s parents will be so disappointed if they don’t get to go to a big fancy wedding.
But then she still wouldn't be in a tux. She'd be in perfectly ordinary, comfortable everyday clothes.
Oh Lux, as if I needed any more proof that you and romantic attraction are not the same thing. Hah. We humans can see so easily that this is not Sid -- he has nothing of Sid's personality, nothing of what makes Sid attractive to Harry -- but I bet you can't even tell the difference between this and the real Sid.
About the first point, I would like to see an ace character who isn't aro at the same time. :)
I'm sure I've read one at least somewhere, but I can't remember where. Perhaps Jane in That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis, but I'm not sure, it's been so long since I read that book. I suppose I could write one myself, since they say to "write what you know"...
I read That Hideous Strength when I didn't know the word "asexual" yet. :) I understand how one can get this impression about Jane, but I rather thought she had problems with accepting her sexuality that were resolved at the end of the book. The heroine of Till We Have Faces, well, maybe...
I definitely need to re-read both of those.
There's roughly as many alloro aces in fiction as aro aces so that's luckily a pretty easy wish to grant! [http://claudiearseneault.co...](http://claudiearseneault.com/?page_id=1320 "http://claudiearseneault.com/?page_id=1320")
Shades of A, by T A Kimpton: [http://www.discordcomics.co...](http://www.discordcomics.com/comic/shades-cover/ "http://www.discordcomics.com/comic/shades-cover/")
There's (at least) one in The Wicked + The Divine (not a huge spoiler, but I won't say who). It's a superb comic, though - how to put this - not ideal for readers who prefer creators to be as merciful to their creations as Kate is.
I just figured out why so many cartoon characters are bald.
Maaaybe taking this a little too fast, dude, at least finish an adventure first!
Harry: who are you?
Lux: I am the man your man could smell like.
(We even got a literal, bona fide "I am on a horse" panel!)
I'm what's-his-foot, your perfectly generic dream suitor, because you have perfectly generic dreams, right?
I just want to see her laugh at him. Not that we've seen Harry laugh much... but this last panel is so absurd with the whole dress and all. I can't see her doing anything else. As much as Harry favors her grandfather, she doesn't seem to have his romantic streak.
"this is not my beautiful home"
"this is not my beautiful husband"
Lux soon: "My God! What have I done?"
Goodness, this looks like torture...
Oh look, more rough sketch framework people in the background of the "wedding". Lux knows people are complicated but does not seem to have realized the implications of that for the amount of work it would have to put into its illusions for them to have any chance of being convincing.
To be fair, the really terrible impression of Sid is more jarring than the incomplete people in the background. They just emphasize that things are not right.
The idea behind the impression of Sid seems to be "If I look exactly like Sid and act 'romantically' the fiddly behavioral details will not matter". It is about as convincing as putting a pig in a tuxedo and trying to pass it off as an aristocrat.
Okay, the sensory overload seems to be effective despite the rush.
Well, effective in rising Harry's boiling point, most likely. She doesn't do frustration very well, and that's the unintentional consequence of Lux trying to push hard. Instead of breaking her down, Lux is making her rattled and ricocheted instead.
And Lux is hopefully going to experience first hand a painful demonstration of cause-and-effect.
..off-topic a bit, but I just realized Lux's voice in my head sounds exactly like Crowley from the Good Omens radio drama. Hm.
"So many...hairstyles.."
Don't you mean, so many Harry styles?
Boo hiss.
It kind of reads like he doesn't know what she wants., as if Lust prompts something in his victims to see whatever person they would like to see, but then he just tries to improv the rest and hope they're too obsessed or starry-eyed to question it.
Oh look. A perfectly punchable someone who is too snarky for their own good.
But not her perfect someone.
Luxuria has instilled loyalty in others by seducing them and offering them what they want. The flaw in Luxuria's efforts here is Harriet does not want a marriage, a night that fulfills her fantasies or romantic scene. She loves Sid as he is and that is enough. Plus, Sid's appeal comes from his personality, not his gestures. That left a huge blank space in Luxuria's analysis that he had to fill to keep Harriet distracted so he resorted to efforts to create opportunities to seduce Harriet hoping that if he is successful she will not care that the person she is dealing with is not who she thinks he is and will choose him over Sid. Again, since Harriet does not have lustful fantasies toward Sid, Luxuria can only guess regarding what she desires. Of course that failed so he may just have to use the hostage situation he created.
You are pushin' it *WAY* too hard, Lux...
"Sid" actually looks got in that hat and mask...