May 8th, 2018
8 May 2018 · page 793 of 1306
...
Cast: Heinrich Wolfe, Jack O'Malley, Mr Luxuria
Comments (82)
Events
ThoughtBubble
14 Nov 2026 – 15 Nov 2026
Harrogate Convention Centre
Manchester Megacon
31 Jul 2027 – 1 Aug 2027
Manchester Central
Oh, he/she is accumulating SO much Bad Karma with Mal...
Lust. Lust for power?
Deadly Sin Megatron Assemble!
Oh good: Harry is going to have something interesting to do to justify her lasting fame.
Have you tried punching him in the face? It's a face that looks like it'd be delightful to punch.
Given that there is more than one hostage, I wouldn't take the risk. Lux can destroy one of them, just for "teaching Mal the lesson".
You're right, but this does not negate the desire to punch it. Or, rather to kick it in its smug mug. С вертушки.
Oooh, this looks like an interesting Russian phrase, is it an idiom? What does it mean?
It's rather a slang :)
Means a blow called ushiro. Or "Chuck Norris' blow".
This: [https://youtu.be/_iAYPEFQ2Nw](https://youtu.be/_iAYPEFQ2Nw "https://youtu.be/_iAYPEFQ2Nw")
(Sorry...)
Oh wow...! Yeah...Lux surely deserves that kind of boot to the face XP
Hooo-boy! That's a nasty plan you've got there, Lust. Can't wait for Harry to surprise the heck out you and put a stop to it.
Mm. We'll have to see it play out a bit first, though, before Chekhov's respite goes BANG and thwarting proceeds.
Eeeeeasy, Mal. Don't rush this. Someone mentioned earlier that he could use a break. I heartily second that. Anything to get away from Lux and his demands.
Wait, so if Lux absorbs the power of the other sins, would he also take their aspects? If no, where would that leave the other sins, and what does power entail when dealing with emotions? If yes, would Lux still be Lux, or would he become something else?
Quick, Mal! While he's busy gloating!
Now, for some reason I suspect other Deadly Sins aren't aware of this last part of Lux's plan. :/
Greed suspected, I think. It told Harry that binding it would be playing into Luxuria's hands. [https://www.widdershinscomi...](https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/february-27th-2018/ "https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/february-27th-2018/")
I just think that if Greed really knew that "absorb their powers" part, it could warn and help Harry with Mal "for free", Greed it is or not.
Though maybe, Deadlies are too "creatures of principle" for that.
It did specifically say it's not in his nature to give things away, so I suspect that it would have, if only it had human level complexity, where something like Fear or Survival Instinct or even Spite in a pinch could override Greed and allow the information to be simply handed over. But Greed literally cannot give something without receiving something more valuable in return. And apparently Not Being Absorbed Into Deadly Sin Megatron (literally the Devil?) is not enough of a recompense.
so you are saying that if envy was smarter it would have warned them out of spite?
Possibly. Unless it didn't think that taking Lux down was enough. That is, it didn't want to be on equal footing to Lux, stuffed into a shiny bauble. It would want to be in a BETTER position than Lux. And I guess it figured that it could do that better free? I'm not sure. The others don't seem to be as smart as Avaritia or Lux.
> And apparently Not Being Absorbed Into Deadly Sin Megatron (literally the Devil?) is not enough of a recompense.
It seems so. Also, maybe it still would have tried to make another deal on some different terms but Mal didn't give it a chance.
And it did give Harry a tip, after all.
It's what greed would do if he could. :)
Mal: ...Sure. grabs lamp oil can, unbinds Sloth, helps it merge with Luxuria Alright... yawn That's enough work for now. Smoke break? starts making roll-up
Mr. Luxslothia: Absolutely. glances around I expect we can knock off early as well. Your foreman girl isn't likely to come around and tell us off... laughs
Mal: laughs Yeah... ye can always leave taking over the world 'til tomorrow...
>:=)>
Upvote for "Mr Luxslothia" 🤭
I'm feeling some kind of sacrifice coming. Anyone else think the same?
Maybe the time for summoning something...
Oh, poor Mal! Usually when we see him clutching his head or covering his eyes like that, it means he has a headache, but this time I think it's emotional agony. True to its nature, Lux knew exactly where it could hurt him most. (And I don't think it's coincidence that the two cages visible in the next-to-last panel are the ones with Wolfe and Ben in them...)
"...the lack of purpose, the turmoil..." I wonder if malforms feel something like that in the world of humans.
TV Tropes figures the experience of a spirit in the human world is analogous to a human transported to Cthulhu-land: nothing makes sense, it's all a seemingly chaotic mess, and the beings you encounter have way too many limbs and parts arranged in ways that really, really shouldn't work but somehow do.
And the master plan is revealed. Now to foil it. :)
Um, WHAT?!?
And by their powers combined we shall become: MEGASIN!!!!
Megasin? How about the Original Sin? The Ultimate Sin? Or simply....Sin?
Lucifer?
Lucifer's sin was loving humanity too much. Satan would work quite well though
Nnnno... his sin was to resent humanity the love bestowed on it by its Creator, as well as the order to serve humanity.
Not unlike a previously only child being confronted with a new sibling and being told they need to help take care of "the creature stealing mommy and daddy's love".
Depends. Who is the target audience again?
Huh, I've often wondered: are spirits made of bits of human emotion that have congealed together or are human emotions made up of spirits? Lux's threat to literally unravel Wolfe would seem to suggest the latter. Interesting.
My former theory was that humans were like generators, so Wolfe generates such-and-such amount of Serenity per second, and if not used as part of magic or similar, it just sort of seeps out into the world and eventually joins with other loose Serenity to make the Spirit of Serenity. The relationship might be the other way around or it might be a sort of symbiosis or cycle.
In one of my fanfics, a character thought that spirits come from humans, but he is profane in this field. :)
I can assume that spirits are primary (as Platonic eidos) but I really doubt that.
I have it from the VoG that the spirits arise from human emotions.
Oh, thanks, now I recall that!
wouldn't taking on the other sins make him more human?
I mean hear me out. It wouldn't make him human, cause no human is soley the sum of their sins, but he's pretty one note when compared to humans. So wouldn't absorbing the other sins make him more diverse like humans are capable of being? That being said what would happen if he were to absorb the seven heavenly virtues as well? I mean god knows they are present and accounted for thanks to the group. If he were to absorb all 7 sins and all 7 virtues.... would he become human?
Makes me wonder if summoning a Virtue is as much a bad thing to do as summoning a sin - according to traditional Christianity (at least around the 1300s), having too much of a virtue was just as bad as having too much of a sin. For example, wasn't being too humble as bad as being too proud?
Not at all. Virtue lies at the mean, but there is no mean of virtue. Too much of a certain behavior ceases to be virtuous - you can never have too much virtue as such.
True, but I would like to point out that traditional Christian and Classical virtue - which lies at a mean between vices and relies on prudence to decide where the mean is for any individual - is based on a different idea of vice that this comic has. "Pride" here was opposed by self-loathing, which would traditionally be considered just the other extreme on the scale of pride. So, maybe there are two sets of "sins."
Somehow, I can't imagine summoning a virtue is generally seen as a good thing any way you cut it. If they are some form of always good angelic beings, for instance, then you are proposing to summon such a thing, trap it in a circle, and force it to make a deal. Not exactly the actions that a paragon of virtue would take. I'd prefer to believe that there is a certain magnitude of summon (class seven summons or something) that is simply frowned upon no matter what is being called. With this in mind, it's possible to believe that such things as the old Greek gods still exist - it's just that no-one is allowed to talk to them anymore. In fact some of the deadlies might actually be forms of the Greek gods (Hades becomes greed, Venus/Eros becomes Lust, etc.) with their bad reputation in part Christian propaganda, and in part truly deserved.
As one of my Widdershins fanfics deals with summoning of a virtue, I wish to tell my thoughts about this. :)
The summoned virtue there says, actually, "I'm glad of your summon, I am called in your world less often than I'd want to." It is supposed that as this virtue likes to help people (s)he is willing to make their bidding. It helps (s)he was asked to "fight" their Deadly opponent (not in direct way as Courage fights Glluttony in "Piece of Cake", but still).
Also, I thinks Lux says the truth on this page, about all spirits wanting human influence, and that virtue uses their summon for making the summoner more virtuous, though he doesn't ask for that. :) The difference is, virtues can't force humans into themselves, they can't frighten, trap and beguile as the Deadlies do.
Certainly, that virtue looks like "an angelic being" of kind, and (s)he is treated with respect and maybe a bit of fear (not of the spirit itself but what (s)he represents), but in the end of things the spirit is a spirit and bound by the summons of man, and it is just as it is.
In general, I think it's the ethics of wizardry (and a part of learning process) to treat summoned spirits not as slaves but helpers you call for making things you can't do yourself. Helpers you must pay with offering.
It's remarkable that Ben trying to desummon Sloth says in one moment, "In amicitia...": [https://www.widdershinscomi...](https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/september-24th-2012/ "https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/september-24th-2012/") :)
Does Luxuria still have the spirits of the Team Benji lassoed? Because I can't figure out why else not to just stuff Lux into his necklace and worry about fixing the whole "404 Soul Not Found" problem. (If they are, indeed, lassoed, then the risk is that binding Lux will ALSO bind the four of them. And I don't think Verity would be very happy being jewelry.
>Team Benji
Don’t let him hear you call it that!
I get the impression Lux at least has some control over them, or at the very least Mal is suddenly unsure he can bind Lux before Lux can do something to them.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what the cages represent...
And that's why Greed tried to reveal Lust's plan to Mal. Of all the Deadlies, he'd be the one to figure it out, and of them all, he'd definitely fight being absorbed.
"Greed" probably includes being miserly, yeah.
Well Greed would want all the things for Greed of course. if Luxuria takes the things from Greed then Greed has less things- which wouldn't do at all.
Which means they could probably get Envy and Pride on site, as well. Rather fitting, since Elodie and her gf were the ones who "betrayed" him last time!
I keep thinking back to when Rosie pulled Nora's courage from her to fight Gluttony in Piece of Cake. We've seen Mal take Wolfe's serenity to fight Wrath. The spirits Lux has caged still have those attributes within them. So, maybe Mal needs to free them and have them help in his battle with Lux, especially if the Sins are loosed again. Harry is actually the most powerful of all the Barber sisters; freeing her from Lux's control is really important, too.
Now, where are the other witches? Mal could sure use some advice... and back-up!
> Now, where are the other witches?
Optimistically. Maybe they are going to come at festive dinner.
Actually, where is Harry? She seems to have vanished...
Lux must be keeping her trapped in the Pink Fantasy World of Doom.
But, like, not even her unconscious body is visible, which is weird to me, idk
As an experienced poker player, O'Malley should be trying a bit of bluff. 'Those guys? Bah, Wolfe's an arrogant do-gooder, I can't stand that pompous little git Benji and I don't even remember the name of that ugly woman in the bloomers. Now, you going' to get in the box, or we gonna do this the hard way?'
The problem is, Lux has the same advantage here that O'Malley had in his poker games, seeing through others' bluff. :/
Ah but can Mr Luxuria really 'read' O'Malley, or is he just bluffing?
Either way, I don't see the Omalley being the sort to bluff with something he holds that valuable?
See, I really want the answer to this because Lux included Ben in with Wolfe when he talked about people Mal held dear, but not Ve or Sid. Which means that that either A.) Lux has been watching them, on It's own or through the other Sins, enough to observe the friendship behind the bickering or B.) Lux can read Mal's emotions.
It seems entirely possible that Mal isn’t actually very good at playing cards/bluffing - he relies too heavily on his ability to read the other players, and he can’t do that here. Wolfe’s reaction when Mal got caught cheating (“Gott im Himmel, Mal, not again...”) suggests that the doubling-their-money-at-cards strategy had gone south more than once before.
I took those words of Wolfe rather as more general "Mal, don't let your big mouth get you into a fight again".
You're completely right. Mal's not necessarily a good poker player. I'm quite sure Wolfe's words there meant he'd been accused of cheating before, elsewhere.
I know Sturzkampf raised this point in jest, but it's actually a point I find quite interesting -- when characters who have certain special powers have been in the habit of relying on that power to deal with situations, and then they find themselves in a situation where that power is negated or not to their advantage -- how well do they cope with that?
Well, we hear Mal without his Sight asking "An' how're ye meant t' know what people're feelin?" It is the reason, in my opinion, why all these "I can see that, myself" "usual" people say to empaths/telepaths (in Star Trek: TNG, for example) are unfair. You can see someone lies through their body language and such, but an empath "sees" that in different way and doesn't use the channels that "an usual man" does.
About Wolfe's words... well, I see Kate upvoted Emily's comment and so, she is right. :) But I want to explain why I didn't interpret his words in this way... if just because it's more pleasant thing to write about than this page is. :/
I didn't really realise how "caught cheating" thing works with Mal's "not illegal cheating". I read few books about card games and card-cheaters, and I got it is really hard to catch a card-cheater unless he uses some stuff you can find in searching of him. (And the most of them don't, exactly for this reason.) So, just "you won all money on the table, you must be a cheater" isn't real evidence.
I took the Widdershins incident as a special case because of many magic-users there, so blaming your win-everything opponent for "magic cheating" you can't prove is quite a natural thing... though, maybe, other places use this approach, too.
As a somewhat tangential matter, I wondered... if Mal got into fights (and got beaten?) over his poker games regularly, then wouldn't Wolfe prefer stopping this practice at all? OK, I understand the reasons why he didn't, really I do. And I suppose, in the most of cases Wolfe talked them out of fighting successfully or, at least, defended Mal from serious physical harm.
I suppose that perhaps Mal wasn't accused of cheating often, but maybe it happened occasionally before that. Remember, it's not only in Widdershins that people could do magic or have seen or heard of it being done. So in the world of Widdershins, maybe not only in Widdershins itself, card players might be more likely to see someone who seems much too lucky at cards and jump to the conclusion, "They must be cheating (using magic)" than in our world. That's my guess, anyway.
>Well, we hear Mal without his Sight asking "An' how're ye meant t' know what people're feelin?"
Yes, he's never had to learn how to read expressions and body language the way most people do. No wonder he was so lost without the Sight.
In Benedict Jacka's books about Alex Verus the main character has gotten very good at using his divination ability to check the consequences of his actions before he decides what to do. Then in one book he temporarily loses his powers and finds out that he has been relying on them so heavily since his adolescence that he has trouble walking across a room without them.
This is a seriously slick plan. Luxuria played it patiently and skillfully.
It's also sick, vicious and cruel.
If the other Six of Seven get their claws on Luxuria, it'll be in deep trouble.
we can only hope.
I don't think that would even work.
Oh, Ohbeedoo
I wan'na be like you! (abee dobee dobee)
I wan'na walk like you, (ching)
Talk like you do (ching)
You'll see it's true (shobee doo)
An ape like me (shobee dobee dobee)
Can learn to be
Human too!
And what do you get with all sins combined? Pretty sh*tty human...
Mal has dragged himself to his feet, though his knees are shaking. Because of the lighter background, we can't see whether his outline is still haloed in pink. This is a terrible moment for him.
If you can rip out their souls you can put them back in their bodies! Probably. First kick that guy in the nuts and then figure it out.
I bet if Wolfe's spirit had a violin, he'd show Lux he had a purpose. Not a purpose on the grand scale, which seems to be Lux's only frame of reference, but a purpose nonetheless. In fact, each of them has a purpose--it's just that Lux finds those to be too puny to be valid.
Should have listened to Greed.