March 2nd, 2018
2 Mar 2018 · page 777 of 1306
Did he even notice- nah, nah he didn't.
Cast: Harriet Barber, Jack O'Malley
Comments (64)
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Ms Barber was actually going to listen to him? Wonder if she would like to buy some of my shares in a perpetual motion machine?
I liked your original reference to the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Here is the states, we are usually trying to sell someone the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. :-)
I remembered that the Clifton Suspension Bridge won’t be complete until 1864. Still, AU and all that... But looking at its history, the original competition for the design was in 1829, so I could have kept with the original.
Well, to be fair, his previous deal with her was on the up and up.
Both Sid and Harry dealt fairly with Greed, and then gave him more than he expected. I suspected that Greed sorta likes Sid; now I suspect that extends to "small red one", too. I wonder if he doesn't like what Lust has in store for them.
O'Malley... you've levelled up!
He doesn't need the incantations at all! And also, he has the drive to banish the Deadlies from the world now. No one needs to push and pull him anymore. He is truly growing into his role as a guardian of his world. :')
Avaritia might not be able to make the score it wanted, but darned if it won't at least get the satisfaction of potentially derailing Luxuria's plans so it doesn't get the bigger market share...!
Always have a hedge. ;)
That's her pipe. I wonder what using it will do and if she'll have to go without a smoke until it's needed. I suppose we'll find out soon enough.
Rather than the pipe itself, I think Avarice is alluding to the fact that humans are multi-faceted in their spirits when compared to the Sins (who are purely one drive or emotion). He would be warning Harry to use this to her advantage when dealing with Luxuria.
Don’t panic. I think that’s Ms Barber’s old pipe that they were using as a conduit. She still has her new one if when she needs to smoke.
Is that his crown going into the pipe?
Harry looks both impressed and startled by Mal's newfound steel and power in panel 5. It's fun. : )
Hmmm.
Avarice is an interesting person.
Might even be interesting to know and hang with as long as he can't get inside your head...
...apart from the ‘bones to dust’ thing. If you do go down the pub with him, make sure you don’t knock his pint over.
Harry is going to be the one to do something stupid with Luxuria isn't she. The more deadlies they bind, the more powerful and confident Mal seems to be getting, and the more doubtful and hesitant Harry is. They are getting into her head.
> The more deadlies they bind, the more powerful and confident Mal seems to be getting
Thinking about Sloth that was the last before this one and Mal's reactions at it, I wouldn't say so. In my view of things, then Mal overcame (with Harry's help) his inner barriers that prevented him from embracing his nature and his calling in full extent. Now, we see the result of it.
About Harry, well... she had an experience of a successful deal with a Deadly that Mal hadn't. At contrary, he had very bad experience with Envy (and he saw the man who did make a deal with it). More, I think, his instinct of witch speaks strongly against the idea of non-binding a Deadly. (And maybe, a bit of realisation that freeing of Deadlies became possible only because he came into Widdershins.) It's very good, because all this story begins from the witch who was manipulated by Lust. (And, unlike Harry, Mal doesn't know about that part.)
Mal is amazing, especially in the third panel.
Still, I can't stop thinking about that all of this was supposed to be a teamwork.
This is teamwork. In this case, Harry was falling for the trick and O'Malley saved her & them. Similar to how Sloth trapped Mal, & Harry saved him.
Yeah, but Harry let Mal make his choice in the process of saving. And Mal just did the right (in his opinion) thing, nevermind what Harry thought about that. This is all the difference in the world, in my view of things.
I don't say Mal was wrong in doing that (and I amn't sure it wasn't just an impulsive reaction), I just wonder what now he needs Harry for. If he is able to do everything they need without her, he know better than her what he should do and Harry can't stop him in any case.
I can see both of their points of view. On one hand, I really want to hear what Greed has to say. On the other hand, I really do not want to give it what it wants particularly since I do not know if the information it is offering is actually as valuable as Greed wants us to think it is.
Well, they could listen Greed's info and bind it after that, couldn't they? :)
But no, heroes don't do things like this. And I wouldn't be surprised if they actually couldn't do that, for one or other reason.
the only way to hear what greed has to say would be to free it and omally dosent want to risk it
Go Mal! They haven't desummoned Greed yet; it is only bound. Harry hasn't done her part yet. That will be important, I expect.
She did not say them, but it's gone like the rest.
Okay, good to know. We'll imagine Harry saying it in the unshown 8th panel.
I'll kind of miss Greed; it was an interesting character.
Don't imagine her saying it, as she didn't say it :) weird, huh?
And yes I'll miss Greed a little too!
You are making it seem that it is likely to be very important at a later time that in this case Mal was able to bind and desummon Greed without Harry's help. It makes me think that Mal may no longer need anyone else to assist him in casting any spells. It will be interesting to see to where you are taking this story flow.
Who said "Lust for power?" Not me, certainly. :)
omg, are you suggesting that Mal might actually want something?
I've been thinking that Mal has a potentially unhealthy lack of any kind of desire, which might be useful in his fight against lust in a similar way to Ben's lack of pride. But maybe his friendships have helped him to occasionally want things, which is good for him but maybe less useful for beating the Deadly.
Now I'm wondering if the trap Greed is alluding to is related to the Sins all representing normal human emotions/needs, so that it's not actually good for them to be completely gone. But their banishment and binding doesn't seem to stop people feeling them to some extent, since Verity is still proud, and Ben got to have a nice sleep after defeating Sloth. So I'm not sure that works.
> I've been thinking that Mal has a potentially unhealthy lack of any kind of desire, which might be useful in his fight against lust in a similar way to Ben's lack of pride.
Somewhat offtop here, but I don't think Ben totally lacked pride at usual times of his. (Not in the way Wolfe is devoid of envy, for example.) Put aside everything else, his "even O'Malley" was very remarkable. :)
In my view of things, in the University he intentionally destroyed his remnants of pride and it is why that was so hurtful for him, then and some time after.
Well, Mal certainly wanted his Sight back in ch 5, even if he didn't admit that openly. :)
In general, I think now, when he accepted his nature as a witch, it might go with some unexpected effects. :) But my words were more of joke than anything else.
Alright, we are entering ComicCon5! That's right, people, ComicCon5! Between the Major Discrepancies, the Beneficence of Greed, and the impending Situation with Lust, we're gonna need it! Get your emergency supplies ready, board up your windows, and have your boundaries completely salted! Rock salt in 50lb bags will be available at the emergency distribution center.
Nevertheless Greed is not desummoned by Harry, only bind, - ALL HAIL MAL!!!
Hoooray for Mal!
Actually, Greed is desummoned, too, according to Kate. Mal has leveled up! He didn't need Harry to do his job this time.
Ah! It's great!!!
Mr. Jack O'Malley is really coming into his own, isn't he? Well done!
I really like Mal's face in panel 3. It has a kind of quiet, serious determination we haven't seen from him before, and it makes him look more mature somehow.
If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it... :-/
Oh well, never mind that idea then. XD
Mal may not have noticed, but I think Harry did, and was certainly caught by surprise!
I find it interesting that the one he has a strong emotional reaction to isn't the one that was twice involved in messing up his life in a direction-changing way (Sloth), or either of the two he'd previously had less-than-friendly interactions with (Wrath, Envy), or even the one that attacked him upon arrival (Pride), but rather the oh-so-reasonable bargain-making Greed. It might be a matter of timing as he grows into himself, or it might be as a balance to Harry's reaction, but I have to wonder if there's a history there we haven't specifically seen.
At the same time, while the one who strong-armed him into staying in Widdershins had summoned Sloth, with his vision he'd probably connect her more strongly with Greed or Lust (for power). And, of course, there's the fact that Greed's the most human-like in many ways, and Mal pretty much hates people in general.
I wonder what Greed means by "small red ones"? Mal seemed to be upset when Greed mentioned these back in the previous panel. Is Kate making an indirect reference to The Matrix and the choices Mal and the others may need to make?
"Small red one" is Greed's address to Harry: [https://www.widdershinscomi...](https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/january-27th-2012/ "https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/january-27th-2012/") (the third panel).
Thank you. I would agree with that reference, but Mal was not there to hear Greed say it. It just seems to me that Greed is making an alternate reference to something in Mal's past about which we currently know little or nothing. Else, it may be about Harry being needed to perform some specific function sometime in the near future. I just do not trust this Greed character.
Using neuter pronouns for people is also confusing for me.
I don't think Mal's reaction has anything to do with Greed's name for the short, red-haired Harry. It's Greed's whole proposition, and the fact that Harry seems to be considering it, that upset him.
Wow... did he just give them something for free? Lust's actual plan must be pretty dire. O.O
He made an offer. He showed he had a thing to trade for... more. If you mean "use it" at the end, I think he's suggesting smoking from the pipe might let her unleash him... which is just temptation.
Greed kinda sorta echoes something Lust said in "Find the Lady": to spirits, humans are a confusing amalgam of arbitrarily assembled and ever shifting parts. Lust dismissed humans as being a chaotic, jumbled mess whose conflicting drives ultimately work against their own interests. Greed here is just baffled by humans: we're apparently mind-bendingly complex when compared to spirits. Almost like the emotional equivalent of a 2D vs 3D. Spirits can't really figure humans out because we work in a way that's just fundamentally beyond the context they exist in.
Greed's kind of a fascinating character to me. rather than appalled or confounded by human nature (like lust and pride) or even wholly misunderstanding of it (like envy) he almost seems to be fascinated by human complexity. always seemed really interesting character to me, and i'm noticing it again on re-read.
Heh...in the midst of the surprise of Mal doing the binding and desummoning all by himself....there's the surprise that Greed's trying to give Harry advice on how to fight Lust, even against his own nature.
I read that GEH! sfx like a pig squealing.
Well, I admit to not remembering the previous deal. But Harry may have personal reasons for wanting to know what kind of deal may be struck. She has a beloved and seriously wounded grandfather that she can't be with right now, doesn't she?
Harry offered her life in addition to Sid's life for Greed's giving them time to find the statue.
About personal reasons... maybe, Harry is more wary of Lux than Mal is because she heard its story.
Maybe she should share some of that knowledge with him. Knowledge is power, after all.
So far Harry hasn't done anything beyond her part of the the group effort to justify Alexa's reaction: [https://www.widdershinscomi...](https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/march-3rd-2014/ "https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/march-3rd-2014/")
- So stand by for the juicy stuff...
Never take the oh-so-reasonable deal that the [Affably Evil](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AffablyEvil "http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AffablyEvil") character offers you in order to make your short-term goals easier. It'll always come back to bite you on the sit-upon.
That's such an absolute rule that it might turn out to be wrong sometimes...
Usually at the absolutely worst time, too.
Oh, I like that idea.
Hi! I just finished binge-reading your comic and am so excited to be caught up!
Yay, congrats on making it through, hope you had fun!
Look! He doesn't even try. Like he's outright telling them to use him to stop lust. I really feel like he's just testing Sid and the others. I feel it in my bones he's different than the other sins.