June 15th, 2018
15 Jun 2018 · page 803 of 1306
Cast: Benjamin Thackerey, Harriet Barber, Heinrich Wolfe, Jack O'Malley, Sidney Malik, Verity Cunningham
Comments (78)
Events
ThoughtBubble
14 Nov 2026 – 15 Nov 2026
Harrogate Convention Centre
Manchester Megacon
31 Jul 2027 – 1 Aug 2027
Manchester Central
Hmm Looks like Harry can't bring to admit her feelings for Sid to another OR even admitted it to herself . I really like how Mal says Ben's the bravest bloke he knows and in a whisper hope he can't hear me.
And how they both pull basically the same face for that moment.
Which means he probably did. :-)
EDIT: Well, admit them in public before she's actually admitted them to Sid.
Is it that she won’t admit it or that she is stopping herself from “gushing”?
Harry isn’t one for soppiness, and finding herself listing off all the things she likes about Sid might be going too far into soppiness and out of her comfort zone.
And I also felt like she was stopping herself because of the whole messed-up Lux-vision thing that she just broke out of. Maybe not, maybe it's just me. But maybe at this point it's starting to hit her what kind of feelings she has for him.
Yeah, I agree. Particularly since she would then have to agree that what Lux dangled in front of her was, in face, very much like what she really does want. I mean, think about it. It wasn't enough for Lux to put Harry in a romantic relationship with Sid, it had to put a cherry on top of it by having Harry be courted by Sid.
Somehow, I don't know how comfortable Harry would be with that scenario. And I really don't know how comfortable she'd be if she was thinking in the back of her head that she'd actually rather like that, thank you very much.
Well, I think Harry wanting to be in a relationship with Sid is one thing- being in those terribly stereotyped romantic scenarios is another. Part of the reason Harry broke out so quickly is they were really neither her nor Sid.
But realization or no, that's a distraction. There's work to be done.
Well, hm, you know, I was kinda thinking more along the lines of like, because, she just busted out of that nightmare where Sid wasn't Sid. So now she might be more appreciative of the real Sid because of how he compares to Lux's fake Sid. Like, realizing how much more worth having Sid is than Mr. Generic Suitor. She had those romantic scenarios dangled in front of her -- but the wrong ones with the fake guy. My idea was, perhaps thoughts of better romantic scenarios with the real guy might possibly manifest by way of contrast...
Oh, I got that. I'm just being perverse.
Although I also suspect that my interpretation might also play a role. I'm not sure how well we really know Harry deep down, but I'm really sure that Harry really doesn't know Harry deep down.
Interesting thought...
I really liked that in the Lux-vision segment, it wasn't only Sid he got wrong. Harry didn't look quite like Harry, either. It was more than the out-of-character clothing. The face was also subtly... off. There was an overlay of 'generic female'.
The visual difference after she broke out was, like, "AH! Now HERE is the Harry we know!"
It's especially funny when contrasted with how openly he praises Wolfe.
Also, I love the alliteration going on there.
The fourth panel is... good.
Reading: "...th' bravest bloke I ever met."
And then I started to choke up, and had to look away from the page for a minute...
What gets me is that as they stand there naming off traits their friends possess that would be helpful here Mal doesn't mention Ben's brains, which would be the answer most people would give because Ben is The Smart One and some of that would definitely be useful here. He mentions Ben's courage, which shows you just how much Mal respects that about him.
It's especially great because it and the "be careful" scene are the first times we've heard them say they care directly. Usually it's more round about, like Mal saying it's Ben's fault they were able to defeat Wrath or Ben trying to teach Mal magic
I'm not crying, you're crying!
God, I love all these characters.
Seconded.
Is it... time for the Virtues to Assemble? :D
If it turns out that all along the heroes have corresponded to the Seven Virtues [https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_virtues "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_virtues"), I think I'm going to lose it!
I tend to doubt it; their characters are more complicated than that.
Plus there's only six of them.
As Greed pointed out, Humans have "so many layers".... while the Sins are one-dimensional. We find all of the virtues in our heroes, but not a simple one-to-one correspondence.
Pretty much every time this gets mentioned, it makes me want a scene similar to that scene in Buffy when the gang uses a spell to send pieces of themselves to Buffy for use in fighting the season's big bad. This page is really not doing anything to deter this.
"An' Wolfe's just...everythin'."
Spoken like a true Heterosexual Life Partner.
Mal's not heterosexual, but yeah, that's a platonic love so strong he's embarrassed to admit it :)
He's asexual, but that doesn't mean non-heterosexual - we don't know which gender he would be attracted to if he was attracted to anybody. But the rest is absolutely true - Wolfe is everything to him.
Also asexual doesn’t imply aromantic. Can’t remember WoG though, so not sure if Mal’s aro/ace or just ace.
I think Kate said once he's aro-ace.
He is yeah.
Being aro-ace doesn't stop one enjoying having very specific companions. You just don't particularly want cuddles or kisses along for the ride.
Relationships are built on a lot of foundations, after all. :)
Absolutely!
It used to be called "chastity." For some, it is easy to live a chaste life. Monasteries used be filled with such people. St. Paul reckoned this as a special gift given those who were called to serve the Church.
It makes sense that such a person would be called and gifted to serve as the Witch of Widdershins, striving against the Deadly Sins.
=============================
Of all of the famous, heroic buddy-pairs in history, myth, and literature, Mal & Wolfe remind me a lot of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Anthony of Padua.
"He's asexual, but that doesn't mean non-heterosexual"
That is...literally what it means, though. Also non-any other kind of sexual.
The problem is there really isn't any equivalent phrase which isn't cis-normative.
I was thinking of the “hetero” part - there are asexual people who have non-sexual attractions to the same gender (homoromantic) and other genders (heteroromantic). Not that those exactly apply to Mal either...
These two fit the TV Tropes listing for Heterosexual Life Partners perfectly. The listing even says that it is not required for either part of the pair to actually be heterosexual (although Kate has stated that Wolfe is) for the friendship to fit this trope.
That's the trope I meant to use in the initial comment.
I think that many of the people who are tweaking you know that. The problem with the TV Tropes article title is that it's powerfully cis-normative: if you're non-binary, then asserting that you're a heterosexual life partner is...problematic.
I always liked "platonic life partner" for the exact reason of this discussion. (Plus, it also applies to mixed gender pairs with incompatible orientations, or who just aren't romantically interested in each other.)
My favorite is still found family.
Verity is... half woman, half blueprint.
<verity> Blueprint for SUCCESS!</verity>
The Schematic Woman
Oh, that's so cute! I love how the characters got to grow together and develop genuine affection for each other, that's the mark of a good story!
Ben’s not brave, per se. It just seems like he’s tired of the world and all it’s surprises, so he just dispassionately goes through the day so he can sleep at the end of it.
Ben’s Daily To-Do List:
-Get eggs
-Handle buggerup in local apothecary
-Write reply letter to people sending mail to house for previous tenant
-Handle one of Deadly Sins
-Sit on bench at park for an hour
-Browse bookshop
-Prepare dinner
I really doubt the word "dispassionately" accurately describes Ben and his actions. He might look like that in Sloth's mist, but he was at the verge of absolute tiredness, then.
I think Mal thought about Ben's readiness to take responsibilty and follow his duty (may be, in bit of contrast to Mal himself). And physical courage, too. Mal saw how Ben was climbing out of the window being not "natural athlete", after all.
Agreed! Ben cares a great deal about doing his duty and doing it well. That fierce determination is what keeps him going despite believing he's not good enough.
I think Ben just has a real bad case of Arthur Dent Syndrome
Remember Mr Thackerey ran into a collapsing theatre and a burning building to desummon dangerous summons.
Ben is strong with Fortitude. This is the virtue that carries soldiers into battle, and also the virtue that carries laborers through the day. He has shown this often, but especially when he summoned his final strength to fire Verity's sleep dart and defeat Sloth.
Fortitude is also what drives people in monotonous jobs for more than 12 hours a day doing menial tasks repeatedly. It is the ability to mindlessly act despite bodily safety features flashing red. It is as much a virtue as it is a curse.
If you want to be happy, then seek wisdom.
Fortitude is not a "curse."
Steady workers in tedious jobs are not "mindless." They are making a heroic self-sacrifice to support their families.
Soldiers never go "mindlessly" into battle. They are very mindful! They risk themselves for love of that which they are defending.
None of Kate's heroes are acting mindlessly. All of them (perhaps even Verity) are acting unselfishly. That is what makes them so lovable and heroic.
Anything in excess is a poison, even virtue. And fortitude, in the way I’m talking about it, is going through soul-crushing monotony for something that has become routine. I wouldn’t say it is heroic, but rather dedicatedness. A soldier does not remember every bullet they fire, do they? Firing the gun becomes part of the job, and they don’t get overly sentimental every time the trigger is pulled. THAT is the kind of “mindless” I’m talking about (also known as ‘sensory adaption’ in psychology).
I’m saying Ben has put up with enough things that shatter his beliefs that he has become fairly numb to the experience.
I have no idea where you are getting this about Ben. Numb? He is crushed or defeated? Where are you seeing that?
He ran a job that took care of buggerups, some random criminal shows up who can see them without magic. Worked hard at college, and one doofus shows up who has more talent and flunked out of an even better college. He was quite susceptible to Envy back at the playhouse. His cousin is a renown bounty hunter.
And I quote "Everyone I know is better than me! [Sidney], Vee, Wolfe, even O'Malley!" and "I have no friends! Only people obligated to be around me!"
Now, if you are feeling useless, superfluous, and alone, people tend to kill their emotions as a cooping mechanism. Ben's in a suffocating situation, which cannot be good for his self-esteem. This is what I am getting at.
Yeah, and we see Ben suffering as he says these words. He wasn't numb, then. And even in Sloth's mist, he was trying to hide his feelings, but they obviously were there.
That is an emotional breakdown, when the facade cracks. There is a reason people with emotional baggage do whatever they can to avoid mulling over it. Ben may work to occupy his time; lots of people do it in RL.
> That is an emotional breakdown, when the facade cracks.
That is, and it is why I don't really think Ben felt/saw this way all the time before that. (Or after Sloth's mist, for this matter.) He repressed his feelings of certain kind and maintained the facade, definitely, but, for me, it is the long way from that to "kill their emotions".
And, long before he met Mal and Sid, he had the siblings much more talented than he is. So it was a life-long situation for him, in some sense, and, imo, he had got to cope with it, more or less. Not resolving that problem, but adapting, before this chapter. His emotional breakdown before Pride and overcoming Sloth after that changed the state of his mind, I believe.
^^ This.
If that's not brave, then what is? You have to be scared first, then step up and be brave? Nope.
He's just going through the motions. Would you say a toaster that always toasts bread brave? And no, before you ask, I'm talking about normal toasters, not the brave little one.
He is not brave every moment, all the time - nobody is. But he is brave when he thinks about what he is doing, and still keeps doing it. He is brave on that moment, on that unbearably long moment, and that is just as brave as anyone can possibly be.
"He's just going through the motions" -- that seems an odd description for someone as melodramatic as Ben.
...Suddenly a trifle warm in there, Harry?
If Ms Barber had said that first thing this morning I'd have said they're all doomed. Now... maybe not.
Luxuria is going to be FURIOUS if Mal uses the hostages as a source of strength to help him defeat it.
I can live with that.
Harry: And Sid, he's kind, and creative, and funny, and sweet- ...er, did I say that out loud? :-S
Mal: Yeah... don' think 'e heard you, though.
Sound-as-of-a-multitude-of-voices: But we did! _APPARIT NAVIS RELATIONARUM!_
Good Ship Harry x Sid: manifests in this enchanted space falls and lands on Luxuria - CLANG!
Luxuria: unfreezes OW!!!! Love hurts!!! Especially when its keel is parked right wheeze on top of you!!
Captain's hat: manifests on Harry's head
Harry: Avast ye, Luxuria! Is keel-falling enough for ye, or d'ye want me to start the engines, ye scurvy love bilge rat? watches Luxuria's power and cages fade, strides forward to catch Sid as he falls...Arr - phasmia permissum de loco isto...
Wolfe and Vee: land without difficulty
Mal: catches Ben ...(to himself) Why's the figurehead on th' ship look like Harry's sister Florrie?
Figurehead: smirk Why do you think? ;-)
>:=)>
Only part I don't get is how it turned Harry into a pirate...
While Harry is usually self-contained, quiet, and undemonstrative (not to mention professional), she still has a well developed sense of the dramatic, and would be quite capable of playing up the pirate meme (which was a thing, even back then) for fun if the occasion arose. And with with fifteen men the Love Boat on a deadly sin's chest, and a nautical cap on her head, I'd say that an occasion would definitely be considered to have arisen!
Well, okay.
Send Lust to the Friendzone!!
Harry, wow. Way to spin the situation. Impressive.
At some point, I wish O'Malley would tell Ben how much he respects him. He's more than earned it.
The real virtues were the friends we've made along the way.
snif Finally up to date, after binging for 3 days! So good!
"I'm just going to go over there, probably put my life in danger while you figure this shit out. No pressure."
Is it just me and Mal, or do all aro-ace people get that attached to their best friends