February 26th, 2019
26 Feb 2019 · page 878 of 1306
Aaaawkward.
Gonna have to skip Friday's update this week so I can sort out my work schedule (and hopefully my head). Apologies for the brief pause, and thanks for understanding.
Cast: Vincent Knott, Will Sharpe
Comments (66)
Events
ThoughtBubble
14 Nov 2026 – 15 Nov 2026
Harrogate Convention Centre
Manchester Megacon
31 Jul 2027 – 1 Aug 2027
Manchester Central
So he's getting the death penalty mostly out of representing himself like a moron and a judge trying to be petulant about the death penalty likely ending soon? Yeesh.
Tho I'm surprised if he's rich that didn't keep him off the block? Or his parents insisting on hiring an expensive lawyer? Tho maybe this is just chatter, I mean I doubt he was failing and I bet he was working with the doctor.
Maybe his parents are glad to be rid of him? Horrible thought, but given that they aren't coming...
Clearly something else is going on. I wouldn't be surprised if the judge was Infused to make sure they hung Sharpe, because Flack wants him dead.
Eliza's words that the judge is a friend of Mayor Hackett made me suspicious about her, though.
The real issue seems to be the loss of the essay?
[https://widdershinscomic.co...](https://widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/november-16th-2018 "https://widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/november-16th-2018")
Without it, they can't prove Sharpe didn't test his theory, and Knotty observes that "losing an unsafe magical object or document, that changes everything!"
I mean it's not like there aren't hanging judges, I'm not going to assume everyone doing anything shady is controlled. Especially since the way they're talking, it's not unexpected from this judge.
Ouch.
Interesting, two speech bubbles ("It's weird..." and "Well that tells you...") looks "brownish" to me unlike the rest of others. Why those?
Also the meaning of the exchange in the third panel lost on me. :/ I can guess what "a revision" is, but its connection with "rich dad" is beyond me.
Well, a Revision is a chance to repeat a test/take an extra test in order to improve your grade. I'm going to assume that the University doesn't usually allow that, but the teachers have been bribed by Sharpe's Father to make an exception.
Oh, I see now, thanks for your explanation!
"revision" rather than "a revision". It's British for what I believe you might call "cramming" - she's helping him with extra study sessions to pull his grades up. The suggestion is that he's getting preferential treatment in the hope of remuneration.
Cramming is just what I'd call intense studying for an exam. We call it "remedial" (or "bonehead" crudely) if you need extra sessions or semesters to pass a class that you're failing or if you have to take a class lower than the basic level.
Sort of? He seems to be getting this extra tutoring from Flack to avoid failing in the first place (ostensibly, Flack is seeming more suspicious by the minute). That's a bit more like the way we use extra credit here in the States.
Yes, revision is what you'd do to prepare for a test or exam. You're "re-looking" at the material.
Learned that from reading Harry Potter.
Cramming generally doesn't involve a teacher or tutor, at least in the American vernacular.
Nor in the UK, in general. But you might have revision sessions with a partner or revision classes/tutorials with a tutor, in the run-up to exams.
We don't have specific words for those. I've only ever heard them called "tutoring sessions" or "extra help." :)
Not necessarily personal remuneration. Rather, I think he's suggesting that kids of rich parents get preferential treatment at the University as a matter of unspoken policy, in hopes of a contribution to the University's finances.
You know... I don't think this speaker actually has any inside information. It might not be true that Sharpe was failing. He's a voice of cynical and malicious student rumours, showing what Sharpe had to deal with from his fellow students.
It looks to me like the speech bubbles in the bottom row of panels are all slightly see-through - probably to indicate that the sound is coming from a distance.
It seems it is. I thought about that effect, but got a bit confused with the details.
Usage: In study methods, the UK uses the word "revise" where Americans would say "review." So all the blond-haired know-it-all student is saying is that Flack was giving Sharpe extra study help so he wouldn't fail, because he has a rich dad.
How wonderful.
So members of his class think he was failing the course rather than being dangerously brilliant? This (among so many other things) doesn't tally!
Really? Because I think we've all personally met at least one person who can be described as "idiot who thinks they're a genius."
Oh, certainly. But most of them haven't developed a brilliant (if morally dubious at best) new technique in their chosen fields.
Probably part of why Eliza thinks they should check out Flack. He's under the influence, it might just be he thinks he's invented it.
Hadn't thought of that. Excellent point.
I wondered about that - influencing him to think he'd invented it would presumably be simpler than influencing the whole class to think he hadn't (and his classmates' speech bubbles don't show signs of influence that I can see).
But Flack wanting him dead makes more sense if he did invent it. Maybe they're just so used to his blathering that they didn't pick up how special this particular bit of blathering was!
Now I went to the flashback scene ( [https://widdershinscomic.co...](https://widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/november-9th-2018 "https://widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/november-9th-2018") ) and realised that it seems that all four were there, and the Facepalmed Boy is the guy saying about "blather".
Given that the flashback doesn't quite match how he's describing it, I'd think the it's showing what actually happened.
Which means Flack noticed something, anyway.
He's the patsy. Flack invented it, but she's pinning it all on him.
If you are talking about influencing him using the invention, then I don't really get how she manipulated memories using something that manipulates emotions.
Mmm... by making him trust her absolutely and telling him her version of the events? I don't know if it would work, though.
But he doesn't have influence-colored speech bubbles when he is telling them that he invented it, so I'll probably sit out on this theory :)
He's just smart enough to be dangerous, and just dumb enough not to realize it.
Have a nice rest! Hope your head will be ok ;)
Sharpe's reaction escapes me...
Something along the lines of a rueful "Heh. Figures that on top of it all no one's even upset that I'll be gone."
"Geniuses are only really appreciated after they're dead."
I am still intrigued by Will's "she's the only one who..." And think that he was going to say something like "cared about me enough to..."
Or maybe, "Heh. If only! Wouldn't be in this fix now if BlondHair was right."
Maybe the way he acts is to cover a deep insecurity in the mistaken belief that he can "win friends and influence people" that way, and this is a "heh, now this won't work with Knotty either, he'll look down on me like everyone else, it figures" and this is as close as he can come to outwardly expressing a sense of failure and embarrassment? Not realizing that Knotty doesn't work that way and will now be more empathetic?
Do try not to snigger Mr Knott. It isn't polite.
Panel 5 doesn't seem like "trying not to laugh" to me. Not sure what's going on in Knott's head.
Also props for using an awesome and thoroughly underutilized word in its proper context. <3
Ah you mean 'polite'. An old fashioned word which, like 'duty', has sadly fallen into disuse.
Assuming you weren't talking about bits of wood used to hold up the roof of a mine shaft, I had to look up 'props'. And they say webcomics are not educational.
You always crack me up, buddy.
I can't decide if Knotty is having a fresh attack of "Oh god am I actually going to have to hang someone?" or feeling bad on Will's behalf.
Or perhaps he's terrified to hear even Will's family takes coldly his close execution?
I had thought about the latter, especially given Sharpe's words before how he couldn't imagine anyone dislike him. Or maybe his words to Knott on the previous page, "I know it's nothing personal".
I wonder now if some part of Sharpe's attitude is just a facade and how big this part could be...
Also, the more he gets to know the guy, the harder it'll be to pull the lever.
I read it as Knotty being seriously alarmed that Sharpe is so possessed that he doesn't even react to what the real Sharpe would take severe umbrage to.
He's a good multitasker.
I stand by my comment last strip, but for different reasons now.
I was totally wrong in my thought of what they were overhearing.
If nobody's going they can just say he was executed and nobody will know the difference ;)
They'll know when he comes back to school and they hear him talking.
"When Your Majesty says "Let a thing be done", it’s as good as done, practically it is done, because Your Majesty’s will is law. Your Majesty says "Kill a gentleman", and the gentleman is to be killed, consequently that gentleman is as good as dead, practically he is dead, and if he is dead, why not say so?"
is that from Gilbert & Sullivan?
Yes - The Mikado, I think.
Yup, pretty much the end of The Mikado.
Why do I feel a clawing sense of pure sadness.
Wow you guys are all A+ Ghouls.Who laughs at a person's execution?
I admit Will is a bit of a fathead but I kind of have a weak spot for "Jerks with a heart of Gold." so I like him!
"S'not like anyone actually liked him." Yeah but no one hated him either and he's going to DIE for a really stupid reason. Heartless cretins! shiver
Lots of speculation here: What if he really is a poor student and the "lost" paper he wrote is really bad? Flack could have been using him as a lab rat during the "revision" sessions and set him up to give "his" in-class report so that he would arouse suspicion and then take the rap. That leaves her clear to operate however she wants--and if there's a paper with genuine content, she wrote it.
And she may want him dead because he inadvertently got the power to control people and she couldn't take it away from him.
Meanwhile, the ties between the hanging judge and the incumbent mayor are worth noting. If nobody has personal sympathy for the convict, and everyone is terrified of what he can do, the people who are protesting capital punishment are not going to find much support among the people gathered at the hanging. That can only benefit the mayor, who wants to discredit his opponent's position against capital punishment.
A flack is someone who works in public relations, professionally attempting to affect people's opinions of the person they're working for.
She'd definitely be interested in that spell, regardless of whether she invented it or not. I can imagine that the Mayor would be interested as well. It's the perfect propaganda tool, and we've seen that it works. The question is, does it have to be cast individually, or can it work on groups? Also, if Sharpe invented it, did he originally just want to make people like him (eww) and it was Flack who saw its horrific potential?
P.S. "flak" means (metaphorically) severe criticism, which seems to be the most common result so far. The only positive use I recall is Sharpe himself trying to defend Flack.
Yet another reason not to talk bad about people behind their backs. You never know when they may be hiding in the vents. With a gun, not that he'll use it.