2025-08-07 DMFA #2160 - Greenhouse, pinkhouse

[Tapewolf]

I'm impressed at how the tools have retained their colour.  Either they have some kind of enchanted paint, or they're being kept in meticulously good condition.

[Hariman]

When you want to hate someone but they're taking better care of your sister than your parents ever were, did, or could.

What was it that Lorenda said?  "Uncle Aliph has done a lot of bad things, but being a bad uncle isn't one of them."  (Paraphrased.)

[Radagast]

When you want to hate someone but they're taking better care of your sister than your parents ever were, did, or could.

What was it that Lorenda said?  "Uncle Aliph has done a lot of bad things, but being a bad uncle isn't one of them."  (Paraphrased.)

Here you go.

"You know my uncle as Dark Pegasus, whereas I know him as Uncle Aliph. He taught me to ride a bike, went to my dance recitals, and was in some ways like a father to me.

I know my family has done some pretty terrible things...but being a terrible family was not one of them."

[Hariman]

When you want to hate someone but they're taking better care of your sister than your parents ever were, did, or could.

What was it that Lorenda said?  "Uncle Aliph has done a lot of bad things, but being a bad uncle isn't one of them."  (Paraphrased.)

Here you go.

"You know my uncle as Dark Pegasus, whereas I know him as Uncle Aliph. He taught me to ride a bike, went to my dance recitals, and was in some ways like a father to me.

I know my family has done some pretty terrible things...but being a terrible family was not one of them."

*Thumbs up.* That's the quote!

The early foreshadowing that Dark Pegasus might be evil, and he might be a monster, but he is a good uncle to his nieces and nephews.

...

Coincidentally, I've been watching clips from Venture Bros lately, and Red Death reminds me of Aliph.

[Cassi-kun]

So Tolas's "rivalry" with Aliph may be more from Tolas being his father's son than any actual real reason. I'm interested now in what sort of relationship Tolas has with Kria.

[Viking ZX]

When you want to hate someone but they're taking better care of your sister than your parents ever were, did, or could.

What was it that Lorenda said?  "Uncle Aliph has done a lot of bad things, but being a bad uncle isn't one of them."  (Paraphrased.)

Here you go.

"You know my uncle as Dark Pegasus, whereas I know him as Uncle Aliph. He taught me to ride a bike, went to my dance recitals, and was in some ways like a father to me.

I know my family has done some pretty terrible things...but being a terrible family was not one of them."

*Thumbs up.* That's the quote!

The early foreshadowing that Dark Pegasus might be evil, and he might be a monster, but he is a good uncle to his nieces and nephews.

...

Coincidentally, I've been watching clips from Venture Bros lately, and Red Death reminds me of Aliph.

Honestly, we're not seeing him do nearly as much "evil" these days either. Again, my mind goes back to Kria stating that each time her brother has come back he's been less and of the "himself" that she remembers. Kria attributes it to him possibly losing a part of his soul each time, but to me it kind of feels like Aliph is becoming less and less culturally demon-like. He's a lot chiller and more merciful in his current state, for example, than the younger Dark Pegasus we've seen. He's always been pragmatic, yes, and he still is definitely leaning evil, but at least from what we're seeing currently, even outside his family he's coming off more as lawful evil with caveats than the more neutral evil he use to be.

He's, dare I say it, sort of being sort of "good" sometimes on account of whatever's leaving impressions on him from the afterlife?

[Anders71]

When you want to hate someone but they're taking better care of your sister than your parents ever were, did, or could.

What was it that Lorenda said?  "Uncle Aliph has done a lot of bad things, but being a bad uncle isn't one of them."  (Paraphrased.)

Here you go.

"You know my uncle as Dark Pegasus, whereas I know him as Uncle Aliph. He taught me to ride a bike, went to my dance recitals, and was in some ways like a father to me.

I know my family has done some pretty terrible things...but being a terrible family was not one of them."

*Thumbs up.* That's the quote!

The early foreshadowing that Dark Pegasus might be evil, and he might be a monster, but he is a good uncle to his nieces and nephews.

...

Coincidentally, I've been watching clips from Venture Bros lately, and Red Death reminds me of Aliph.

Honestly, we're not seeing him do nearly as much "evil" these days either. Again, my mind goes back to Kria stating that each time her brother has come back he's been less and of the "himself" that she remembers. Kria attributes it to him possibly losing a part of his soul each time, but to me it kind of feels like Aliph is becoming less and less culturally demon-like. He's a lot chiller and more merciful in his current state, for example, than the younger Dark Pegasus we've seen. He's always been pragmatic, yes, and he still is definitely leaning evil, but at least from what we're seeing currently, even outside his family he's coming off more as lawful evil with caveats than the more neutral evil he use to be.

He's, dare I say it, sort of being sort of "good" sometimes on account of whatever's leaving impressions on him from the afterlife?

I'm pretty sure she specifically stated that he seemed to be becoming more obsessed with the whole taking over H'ann thing (I. E. more sterotypically demon like) with each resurrection, but that was a long while so the plot point may have been altered.

[WhyNot?]

Honestly, we're not seeing him do nearly as much "evil" these days either. Again, my mind goes back to Kria stating that each time her brother has come back he's been less and of the "himself" that she remembers. Kria attributes it to him possibly losing a part of his soul each time, but to me it kind of feels like Aliph is becoming less and less culturally demon-like. He's a lot chiller and more merciful in his current state, for example, than the younger Dark Pegasus we've seen. He's always been pragmatic, yes, and he still is definitely leaning evil, but at least from what we're seeing currently, even outside his family he's coming off more as lawful evil with caveats than the more neutral evil he use to be.

He's, dare I say it, sort of being sort of "good" sometimes on account of whatever's leaving impressions on him from the afterlife?

It is an interesting theory but, while it'd be a neat recontextualization of a forgotten bit of canon, I do think it has trouble explaining away the thing it itself was created to explain away: The really early cartoon supervillan version of DP.

There are also one or two bits of DP in the few times we saw them before they got focus that do make me think it was going to be more acknowledged, but by the time they (and Regina) got their own scenes their concept had already solidified into who they are now, minus on-screen character development of course.

But, yes, I do think there are scenes where you see how it might have played out (while still ultimately heading in this direction for the two of them), such as DP having odd outbursts ("Insolent fool! I shirt for no one!") or him just not being able to comprehend that Dan stops him when he threatens innocent peoples lives...because he threatens innocent peoples lives and can only rationalize it as some obsessive blood lust towards him that, ironically, he thinks will be dangerous to innocent people. Which is funny because, not only is it something modern DP wouldn't have trouble understanding, he later gets that part of Dan enough to use it as part of the deals to protect Reg, and uses her inability to hurt people as extra justification, when the Dan he earlier described would not care.

Okay that Dan bit kinda became it's own thing, and the point I was trying to make isn't self-evident, that DP gains his sense of worldly understanding in a way that feels retroactive but originally seemed like it might have been planned to grow along with Regina, so I'll just wraparound to saying I think it's just a plot point that didn't fit anymore when it came to actually putting pen to paper.

[samidare]

I think it really is as simple as death mellowing him out, combined with the relatively recent colossal "failure" of his undead plan.

His pride has taken a beating from more than just Dan killing him... and he's finding ways to recover without it.

[Arcblade]

Mmm, that's some tasty cognitive dissonance Tolas has going there... 

[Hariman]

It's possible that Dark Pegasus is becoming less demony/less aggressive with each death.

But I think the bigger issue is that DP wants his next plan to NOT fail because Dan or someone else stabbed him. 

[Starcat5]

Honestly, we're not seeing him do nearly as much "evil" these days either. Again, my mind goes back to Kira stating that each time her brother has come back he's been less and of the "himself" that she remembers. Kria attributes it to him possibly losing a part of his soul each time, but to me it kind of feels like Aliph is becoming less and less culturally demon-like. He's a lot chiller and more merciful in his current state, for example, than the younger Dark Pegasus we've seen. He's always been pragmatic, yes, and he still is definitely leaning evil, but at least from what we're seeing currently, even outside his family he's coming off more as lawful evil with caveats than the more neutral evil he use to be.

He's, dare I say it, sort of being sort of "good" sometimes on account of whatever's leaving impressions on him from the afterlife?

As others have noted, he was actually acting MORE demon-like after each revival. ...until this most recent one. I have a theory as to why. Namely, the person who revives him influences his personality. Kria brings him back? He acts more traditionally demon-y and gets more theatrical. Regina brings him back? He is all pragmatic again, but less evil in his ambitions. Not good per se, just not as overtly evil as he has been in early strips. Mab help us all if Dan ever has to return him to the land of the living. I don't even want to know how that would mess with his head. 

[e_voyager]

I've always paid alifh as more of a lawful evil than a maniacal oh I'm going to conquer or destroy everything evil. It's kind of funny how he's like oh you want to hate me but can't? Most find that very easy to do.

[Cassi-kun]

I've always paid alifh as more of a lawful evil than a maniacal oh I'm going to conquer or destroy everything evil. It's kind of funny how he's like oh you want to hate me but can't? Most find that very easy to do.

I read it as being said in a sarcastic tone hahaha 

[ProfesseurRenard]

I've always paid alifh as more of a lawful evil than a maniacal oh I'm going to conquer or destroy everything evil. It's kind of funny how he's like oh you want to hate me but can't? Most find that very easy to do.

I read it as being said in a sarcastic tone hahaha 

As did I, though since I modeled my Aliph voice off of Tapewolf's rendition from the Radio Project, his sarcastic tone is a little hard to distinguish from his regular tone.

[Arcblade]

I actually read him as apathetic here, rather than sarcastic. I don't think Tolas' opinion matters to Aliph except in how it might affect Regina. So more like "huh that's weird" rather than "haha you fool"

[Cassi-kun]

I actually read him as apathetic here, rather than sarcastic. I don't think Tolas' opinion matters to Aliph except in how it might affect Regina. So more like "huh that's weird" rather than "haha you fool"

That makes sense too! He is rather deadpan in delivery so it is a little tough to tell.

[Anders71]

I actually read him as apathetic here, rather than sarcastic. I don't think Tolas' opinion matters to Aliph except in how it might affect Regina. So more like "huh that's weird" rather than "haha you fool"

That makes sense too! He is rather deadpan in delivery so it is a little tough to tell.

I think he's one of those people where you can just never tell if he's sarcastic or not

[joshofspam]

Honestly, we're not seeing him do nearly as much "evil" these days either. Again, my mind goes back to Kira stating that each time her brother has come back he's been less and of the "himself" that she remembers. Kria attributes it to him possibly losing a part of his soul each time, but to me it kind of feels like Aliph is becoming less and less culturally demon-like. He's a lot chiller and more merciful in his current state, for example, than the younger Dark Pegasus we've seen. He's always been pragmatic, yes, and he still is definitely leaning evil, but at least from what we're seeing currently, even outside his family he's coming off more as lawful evil with caveats than the more neutral evil he use to be.

He's, dare I say it, sort of being sort of "good" sometimes on account of whatever's leaving impressions on him from the afterlife?

As others have noted, he was actually acting MORE demon-like after each revival. ...until this most recent one. I have a theory as to why. Namely, the person who revives him influences his personality. Kria brings him back? He acts more traditionally demon-y and gets more theatrical. Regina brings him back? He is all pragmatic again, but less evil in his ambitions. Not good per se, just not as overtly evil as he has been in early strips. Mab help us all if Dan ever has to return him to the land of the living. I don't even want to know how that would mess with his head. 

I've started to wonder if it is more of a random thing like a slot machine.

Comparing him to his last run at life, it seems like he's more stable because he hasn't tried to sacrifice any Faes this time around.

Also getting back to what Kria said about DP, it is interesting to consider all this and Kria still sought him for advice on what to do about Hizell.

[Hariman]

I was rereading the arc/chapter where Dan ends up going to Kria's house and encountering Regina, and it makes me wonder if the person doing the ritual affects Aliph/Dark Pegasus when he's brought back each time.

Kria resurrected Aliph the first two times, and by that point she'd mellowed a notable amount from her earlier years.

But it was Regina this most recent times, and if the person resurrecting Aliph has an influence, Regina's much less "demony" of a person than Kria is.


I do think it's more likely that dying changes Aliph either due to the nature of the ritual, or a flaw in the ritual, or because he's subconsciously remembering something about being dead though.

[e_voyager]

It would be interesting if it is his own experiences being dead that caused him to change. It's also entirely possible that part of the personality of the person that is using the summoning to revive him from the dead might be rubbing off on him. Honestly before this post I just thought of this Edo tensei you're reaching into the grave and pulling someone back to life temporarily.

As for Mr roboto.."vengeance from the grave kills the people he once saved..."

[Arcblade]

I have a different theory entirely. If you recall Devin, and how they're not quite sure if it's his same soul in Undead Devin as it was in Being Devin?

My guess is that being dead slowly erases or makes life experience fade, leaving a blank slate. So Devin was dead long enough to lose his memories, but not so long he lost his entire personality. He's still sassy, but without the cruel edge he had in his first life.

Aliph, on the other hand, hasn't stayed dead quite so long, and so mostly what's faded is what little care he had for demonic dramatics and expectations. 

[Carmeops]

Mmm, that's some tasty cognitive dissonance Tolas has going there... 

he isn't dissonant, he just poorly phrased it

he doesn't want to hate DP, he already do, that's a fact

what he want, is to be JUSTIFIED in his hatred for DP

he want solid ground and reasoning for his hate, not just "because he is taking care of someone i want to take care of instead"

[Arcblade]

He does already hate Aliph, yes. Except Aliph is doing things he likes and approves of, such as being good family to Regina.

Which is making Tolas angry because it's pitting two of his beliefs against each other. "Aliph is bad" vs. "Aliph is good." That is cognitive dissonance, and it's delicious.

[Glenn Griffon]

Anyone else suspect that by the end we'll see DP and Dan, Regina and Wildy, fighting as allies in the major dust up to come?

[Anders71]

Anyone else suspect that by the end we'll see DP and Dan, Regina and Wildy, fighting as allies in the major dust up to come?

Honestly at this point I'd settle just for seeing Wildy. It seems like we haven't seen her in a while

[Radagast]

Honestly at this point I'd settle just for seeing Wildy. It seems like we haven't seen her in a while

We saw her around 20 pages ago for a loredrop (which starts here, picks up again here).