October 10th, 2017
10 Oct 2017 · page 738 of 1306
Pep talk.
Cast: Benjamin Thackerey, Verity Cunningham
Comments (54)
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Ms Cunningham, a word of advice. Step one in raising the morale of Mr Thackerey - stop calling him by that humiliating derisive name.
Well, there's nothing inherently humiliating or derisive about it. I'd surmise, in fact, that it's a well established dynamic between the two of them. Ben was merely embarrassed to have his family pet-name uttered in front of his professional associates as it undermined his aura of authority and professionalism. But among family he probably is quite OK with it.
Of course, I could be wrong.
Agreed. More than that, Ben accepted Mal's calling him in this way, I don't think that's a problem with Verity.
Her protective attitude to her "little cousin" is somewhat another matter, but I really think Ben accepts that, too.
>Ben was merely embarrassed to have his family pet-name uttered in front of his professional associates
...one of whom he knew was going to pounce on it as something new to tease him about!
I think you're right that he doesn't mind Vee calling him Benji; they were obviously close as children, and still get along well most of the time. Old nicknames tend to hang on among family long after they've been dropped elsewhere.
I think you're right, especially since he knew Mal was going to pounce on that. I also think he was more upset by the fact that she literally lifted him off his feet with a hug, ruffled his hair like you would a little kid, and basically went "oh look how grown up you are" in front of his employees.
And he's sensitive about his height, so the fact that the much-taller Verity can pick him up off his feet probably didn't help.
I should have thought, Herr Sturzkampf, that you of all people would have understood the difference between formal and informal forms of address, and the circumstances in which they variously are called for. ; )
Hm... I think I will take the fifth on that. Not that the 5th amendment actually applies here in Mechanicsburg.
Oh, fifth amendments happen all the time! Some minions are just clumsy like that. xD
He smiled! For just a small minute, but still! Exhausted as he is :)
Thanks to Vee :)
I don't know what I love more about this strip; Verity trying to pull Ben out of his funk and how she succeeds in getting him to smile, Thackerey + Cunningham family backstory, or how much they resemble each other in panel 6. I also love, in an ow, that hurts because it's good story telling way, the little character detail that is Ben's grin not faltering while he puts himself down because (I suspect) to him he's just stating a fact but when Verity goes to address it his whole posture/expression radiates how very much he does want to talk about this.
Considering where this strip seems to be leading to, I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with future strips mirroring Verity trying to pull Ben out of this headspace with Harry trying to pull Mal out of his. Possibly defeating Sloth in the process.
It feels like he's hiding something, and also I still want to know what Sidney told her. I just want more pages of this.
I think he's anxious about meeting Sloth again- very literally facing an enormous mistake he made.
While I don't doubt that Ben blames himself for the Sloth debacle I'm not sure what exact mistake he made. Doing the summon for the evil lady was obviously bad, but that was done before itshe had done anything suspect and she had the proper forms. Botching the desummon wasn't his fault since he was trying to do magic in a burning building while being physically attacked. Hopefully Verity will point this out.
I think formally Ben is aware of all this you've just pointed out.
The trouble is, it doesn't work for him to make him feel better :( It's a real psychological issue that he has.
Knowing him, he feels embarrassed he didn't catch on to be used quicker, and about letting her being an authority figure override his better instincts about leaving a Deadly Sin summoned without following up/insisting on desummoning.
Exactly.
Of course, if he had insisted on desummoning Sloth himself, Fairbairn would have fed him to the Deadly just then and it wouldn't have been better for anyone.
well yeah, but he still put himself up for the task of desummoning sloth and he failed, due to factors out of his controll yes but he still failed and I think that's a major source of ben's angst
Understatement of the year, Ver'
Oh, Verity may do subtle when she wants. Such an emotional page.
There is an interesting parallel with Barber family where we, too, see family ties between grandparents and grandchildren, not between parents and children.
Has anyone else around here seen the webshow RWBY? If not, I'd encourage you to go watch it because I have a feeling you'd like it since you like Widdershins (although this being a family friendly forum I'd encourage you to be careful in the rest of Roosterteeth's youtube channels because some of their stuff is definitely not kid friendly). But I bring it up because I've always imagined the Thackery family to have a dynamic similar to the Schnee family from that show. There are points where you can see they care about each other, but overall very very formal and perfectionist and emotionally cold. The Cunninghams I see more like Verity and Ben; serious, sarcastic, and practical but still a lot of caring.
And now I want to know more about "Grandma". Who did Victor marry?
:)
I've just said Heylir privately: It's interesting, who was this Grandma, who could keep up with lanky sportive Victor during long walks?
Maybe she's a tall lady like Izzy!
The power of cousin bonding! It's good to see Ben with a natural, relaxed stance and expression for a few panels instead of the arms-folded, shoulders-hunched, not-looking-at-anybody pose he's been in for the last however-many pages. (Nice detail with his legs shaking a little in panel 2, btw.)
Kate got tired of drawing pages full of many characters. So much work.
<grin>
Wow, Verity finally managed to actually impress me, good going Vee! : D : D
So many warm fuzzy feelings all over this page! <3 <3 <3 (It makes for a nice change from the last page...)
I love Ben's smile. Always.
He smiles very seldom, only when accidentally forgets to be dull Jack from the saying.
And when he does... It's a warm sincere open smile of a child... Not Mal-like smirk at all.
So far we've seen him smiling twice. If I am not mistaken.
Here - and there: [http://www.widdershinscomic...](http://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/december-16th-2014/ "http://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/december-16th-2014/")
I think it tells us a lot about Ben...
It's interesting to note both cases occur in direst circumstances. What reminds "Sid's danger mode" a bit :)
There's another Ben smile in the last panel here, which seems to confirm your point about dire circumstances: [http://www.widdershinscomic...](http://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/september-16th-2016/ "http://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/september-16th-2016/")
Yeah, and I've forgotten his triumphant smile after they tied Ira with Mal.
"We are fantastic!"
So, I was mistaken :) (About only two occasions.)
Ooh, I forgot about that one too! That was a good smile.
I cherish them :) Like rarities.
A self-deprecating sense of humor goes a long way! ; ) See also here:
[http://www.widdershinscomic...](http://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/july-7th-2017/ "http://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/july-7th-2017/")
D'awww, she really does care about him after all.
It is so nice to have you back! Hope your fall is going well. <3
Is it bad I relate to Ben too much?
Honestly, I suspect that Verity feels much like Ben does. Victor Cunningham is/was an accomplished Wizard and Engineer. The Twins are both accomplished Wizards. Even Ben was born with the wizard talent. Verity, I'm guessing, not so much.
Her line to Harry when she first showed up "You replaced ME with a Wizard!" says a lot about how she feels about them. And now it seems like she grew up with three of them and learned much of her engineering from Victor...but couldn't do everything he did or even everything else that the other children did.
It explains a lot about why she acts so superior and confident. It masks her inner insecurities...insecurities which mean she might be partially responsible for Ben's current issues as well, since he seems like he'd make a good emotional punching bag for young Verity when she was feeling bad.
=== she might be partially responsible for Ben's current issues as well, since he seems like he'd make a good emotional punching bag for young Verity when she was feeling bad. ===
I think she was rather protective to Ben, protecting him (as well as herself) from the cocky brilliant Twins, wich probably often boasted before their less gifted brother and their completely devoid of wizard talent cousin. And always backed one another too, as it befitted to twins.
Upd.: If he had been an emotional punching bag for young Verity, she couldn't bring him now to smile.
Agreed. It seems like Ben has always been the cousin she's closest to, even though I suspect she's nearer the twins' age than his.
You have a good point here. I've been having a little trouble squaring Vee's obvious dislike of wizards with her equally obvious fondness for her little cousin Benji, but I hadn't thought about her being the only one of Victor's grandchildren without magical talent. That does explain a lot.
:)
Ow... I think, ermmm... anatomically you are right :) I missed them too.
Love the small hesitation in that last panel. Verity knows she stepping into raw nerve territory.
:)
If I am not mistaken, I've seen the other day your comment about the OCD of somebody named Ezra :)
Do you think Ben has something like it too?
My favorite Mal smile is in the third panel on this page: [http://www.widdershinscomic...](http://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/august-8th-2014/ "http://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/august-8th-2014/")
"Just like our childhood hikes. The endless walking, the others wandering out of sight, the constant threat of being eaten by a gigant walrus..."
Yeah, this! I've never written it as OCD, he's neat as a quirk rather than a compulsion.
Thank you! It's rather... reassuring :)
Lol! Well, neatness can just be an inherent personality trait as well, perhaps even despite one's upbringing... For example, everyone in my family is messy, and usually no one (besides me) is too bothered by it. Then there's me, who cleans out desks (or anything, really) for enjoyment. I'm sure it surprised my mother a bit when I was about six or seven and announced that I had been scrubbing the bathroom walls, just to see how clean I could get them. I just love to see things clean, that's all! XD
I can almost hear the exasperation in Verity's voice in that last panel.
I don't hear her as exasperated there. More... concerned about Ben, and wanting to broach a touchy subject without triggering his usual defense shields.
Always! High Five! xD
(Thank you, occipital cortices for being able to process the words, concepts and word order behind the combination of "high" and "five" in every meaningful way. Am grateful for the support of the retinas, optic nerves and visual cortices -- but, wish the temporal ones would butt out: I don't need the hockey-related emotional baggage, thanks.) ;P
I wonder if the family is going to think more of Vee and Ben after they save the world.
The "tired eyes" both of them have on this page is a great touch. Nothing really clever in mind, just wanted to add that.