July 23rd, 2025
23 Jul 2025 · page 1252 of 1306
Cast: Elaine Barber, Frederick Barber, Gren, Harriet Barber, Henry Barber, Isabelle Holt
Comments (18)
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Something I was thinking about since Hangman’s Knot: can’t you just summon Honesty during a trial or major interrogation?
As for today’s comic, even if they have it in their possession, how would they have stolen it in the first place? No, this feels like Baron Bertrand still, though why I don’t know. Would laugh my beard off if this ends with Baroness Harriet Barber though.
Honesty isn’t a sin.
Or is it?
You can summon more things than just sins, though. Remember the trains using Impatience, I believe. And the Purple Hippo of Happiness, and so on.
There's two schools of thought on that…
Sidney summoned Curiousity to bargain for the Map of Sins, and Rosie Bell summoned Courage in Piece of Cake, so I’m guessing any mental concept can be summoned as a spirit, and items can be imbued with them. I’ve wondered also if there are physical concepts that can be summoned, like enchanting a blanket with Warmth, or a door with Strength.
It isn’t public knowledge that the crown even has been stolen, much less when and how. The Barbers would have to have an airtight alibi 24/7 for the last couple weeks(?) to dispel the suspicion right here and now.
I was more referring to the capabilities. I assumed the Royal Crown is heavily guarded, and the Barbers don’t have to resources to bypass them. Any decent investigation would peg them as fall guys.
I find it hard to argue against the “they’ll be judged fall guys” part, if for no other reason than the crown’s still sitting on its cushion like on a pedestal, rather than having a suitably large lady’s hat or somesuch covering it to make accidental detection a wee bit less likely. 😉
Otherwise, her majesty-to-be did say that only her personal retinue could have stolen it (21-Apr-2023), but undeniable fact is that someone managed and said retinue hasn’t even been looked at so far, beyond the twins. With no idea what special capabilities were used to pull that off, it’s hard to guesstimate how (un)likely it is that the Barbers might have hired appropriate flunkies to execute a plan of theirs …
I love Henry and Izzy guarding the door. They may not get on very well with their son and daughter-in-law, but they’re not going to stand back and let them be attacked by a mob either.
Has no-one called the police? Even if Captain Barber has gone swanning off to a South Sea Island in the middle of a crisis. Again.
…oh no
Of all the people to frame, why them? I mean, sure, they’re mean to their own daughter and disrespectful of their own parents and probably miserably boorish people to be around, but still…
I suspect it’s because they’re considered lower-class and not proper gentry - Henry renounced his status as son of a baron and Fredrick works for a living (the Barber family tree on the About page says he’s an accountant).
A point to consider for everyone wondering why spirits aren’t summoned more frequently, you need to offer the spirit something in return for their help i.e. Sid gave Curiosity a secret in exchange for the map showing the location of the Sins (Curtain Call) and Rosie telling Courage about Alexa’s facing Gluttony by herself (Piece of Cake).
you also require a source of that emotion, and how much honesty do you truly think is in this room at this moment? :V
Gren? Izzy? Harry? Not sure I trust ‘enry.
Oh man, you’re in my home city and I can’t afford to go! Damn, oh well, I hope you have a great time, maybe I shall see you at thoughtbubble instead.
aw, sorry..! I'll be back at Manchester as long as they'll have me, so maybe another year. and yes I'll also be very present at Thought Bubble, so I'm sure you'll spot me sooner or later!