2015/10/26 - [DMFA #1615] Genre Savvy Villian

[MT Hazard]

Once again D.P demonstrates that he is aware of (at least some of) the pitfalls a villain can fall into. Hopeful Reg will listen, but considering it took D.P this long to learn...

[VAE]

I love Regina's statement in the last panel.

And well... you know how it goes. Once is an accident, twice is misfortune, thrice is enemy action. I think DP began to see a pattern when things went wrong the same way multiple times.

[Tapewolf]

Presumably, DP could use the same techniques that revive him, on Regina.  Though that would subject her to the same soul-damage that's affected him too.  I wonder if DP is aware of it?  Kria is, but who knows if she's told him...

[Angel]

... Did Aliph just admit he has a problem with anger and grudges? He's one VERY mature demon. :o

Then again he's always had a very smart head on his shoulders. Not a good one but a smart one.

[mithril]

the difference between Dp and regina is basically maturity..
DP's rivalry with Dan is a professional one. DP keeps trying to take over the world, Dan, as an adventurer, keeps trying to stop him. while both do have a bit of emotion involved (Dan because of how DP killed his friend, DP because dying really really hurts) you'll notice that neither really works purely on emotions.. DP has never tried to strike at Lost Lake in an effort to hurt Dan's uninvolved fiends and family, and Dan hasn't done the same for DP's family. and when an opportunity to remove Dan as a threat to his plans in a non-violent way came up, he took it. (even if Dan wasn't fond of the idea. though presumably DP had to make some concessions as well)

Regina on the otherhand is all about the emotion. there is absolutely no non-emotional basis for the rivalry, its all about how Regina dislikes how Lorenda has this "awesome" family and (to regina) doesn't "deserve it". being made a maid in the Soulstealer house where Lorenda is the "favored daughter" certainly didn't help. this Wing thing just makes the pettiness of the grudge blatant. Regina is a slave to fashion, and Lorenda accidentally ends up the latest fashion setter.. a fashion that pretty much only Lorenda can be without major surgery or patches. it's totally pointless and it's rendered Regina pretty much useless to DP.. i suspect DP was willing to ignore it while Regina was of help, and now he's figured it's time to fix the issue.

i'm actually curious to see how DP fixes things.

[HaDDea]

Regina on the otherhand is all about the emotion. there is absolutely no non-emotional basis for the rivalry, its all about how Regina dislikes how Lorenda has this "awesome" family and (to regina) doesn't "deserve it". being made a maid in the Soulstealer house where Lorenda is the "favored daughter" certainly didn't help. this Wing thing just makes the pettiness of the grudge blatant. Regina is a slave to fashion, and Lorenda accidentally ends up the latest fashion setter.. a fashion that pretty much only Lorenda can be without major surgery or patches. it's totally pointless and it's rendered Regina pretty much useless to DP.. i suspect DP was willing to ignore it while Regina was of help, and now he's figured it's time to fix the issue.

i'm actually curious to see how DP fixes things.

Well, murder is an option... 
Hopefully, it will not come to Lorenda and Regina trying to kill one another. or DP trying to off Regina.

Hmm... how does one instill selflessness into a race whose members only respect strength when compared to themselves...

Come to think of it, why isn't Regina dead yet? Why are DP and Kria willing to put up with her? They certainly don't seem to care very much for her, at least not personally. But they do seem to care a great deal about her staying alive; it almost seems like some kind of obligation. What happened to her parents, that she has fallen under the legal care of her aunt and uncle?

[Nightmask]

Regina on the otherhand is all about the emotion. there is absolutely no non-emotional basis for the rivalry, its all about how Regina dislikes how Lorenda has this "awesome" family and (to regina) doesn't "deserve it". being made a maid in the Soulstealer house where Lorenda is the "favored daughter" certainly didn't help. this Wing thing just makes the pettiness of the grudge blatant. Regina is a slave to fashion, and Lorenda accidentally ends up the latest fashion setter.. a fashion that pretty much only Lorenda can be without major surgery or patches. it's totally pointless and it's rendered Regina pretty much useless to DP.. i suspect DP was willing to ignore it while Regina was of help, and now he's figured it's time to fix the issue.

i'm actually curious to see how DP fixes things.

Well, murder is an option... 
Hopefully, it will not come to Lorenda and Regina trying to kill one another. or DP trying to off Regina.

Hmm... how does one instill selflessness into a race whose members only respect strength when compared to themselves...

Come to think of it, why isn't Regina dead yet? Why are DP and Kria willing to put up with her? They certainly don't seem to care very much for her, at least not personally. But they do seem to care a great deal about her staying alive; it almost seems like some kind of obligation. What happened to her parents, that she has fallen under the legal care of her aunt and uncle?

Because Regina's family, family's that important to them (not that Kria wasn't willing to sell out DP's last resurrection but as she admits each time he's revived it's like there's less of him that returns so likely didn't see leaving him to his last death that he brought on himself to be betraying family).  Plus she's more in the annoying twit category rather than the got-to-go category with her behavior.

[Tuyu]

... Did Aliph just admit he has a problem with anger and grudges? He's one VERY mature demon. :o

Hmmm...nah. He admits that his obsessions and grudges have gotten him killed, but that doesn't make them a problem, that just means he hasn't yet made proper allowance for them in his plans...

[justacritic]

I wonder if we would ever see how the degradation of his soul through constant resurrections has affected him. Besides how does soul degradation work anyway?

[HaDDea]

Because Regina's family, family's that important to them (not that Kria wasn't willing to sell out DP's last resurrection but as she admits each time he's revived it's like there's less of him that returns so likely didn't see leaving him to his last death that he brought on himself to be betraying family).  Plus she's more in the annoying twit category rather than the got-to-go category with her behavior.

Perhaps... but the demons are not above killing family that get in the way of their ambitions. I just hope Regina can master her impulses before her remaining family decide she's outstayed her welcome and has become a liability.

I wonder if we would ever see how the degradation of his soul through constant resurrections has affected him. Besides how does soul degradation work anyway?

There was a letter from Zezzuva that answered that - basically a soul in a body was like sand bound up in a closed container made of wet dough. you can extract most of the sand from the dough, but some gets inevitably stuck and is lost in the transfer. you can decant the sand to a new container, but you've lost some of the sand in the process (plus more sand will get stuck in the new container). You can try to put the sand back in its original container, but that too is a messy process and sand is lost. Thus more and more of the soul is lost with each transfer, each resurrection. In addition, magic has a residual effect (Jyrras was quite interested in it), and it seems that whatever type of magic residua results from soulsteal-type magic has toxic effects on Beings/Creatures resulting in sterility (see the Angels), insanity (especially with extensive use), and possibly inhibiting Ascension in the 'cubi races.

Devin seems to be a special case where (going back to the analogy), if all the sand has been lost and the container has sat long enough to lose most/all the old sand grains that were originally in it, the correct magical command will simply refill any available empty vessel with a new allotment of sand (I suppose akin to how an unborn being or creature will gain a soul -new body, new soul). it just so happens that most bodies tend not to last long enough for the original soul residua to subside without magical intervention.

[Reeves_Dove]

Regina on the otherhand is all about the emotion. there is absolutely no non-emotional basis for the rivalry, its all about how Regina dislikes how Lorenda has this "awesome" family and (to regina) doesn't "deserve it". being made a maid in the Soulstealer house where Lorenda is the "favored daughter" certainly didn't help. this Wing thing just makes the pettiness of the grudge blatant. Regina is a slave to fashion, and Lorenda accidentally ends up the latest fashion setter.. a fashion that pretty much only Lorenda can be without major surgery or patches. it's totally pointless and it's rendered Regina pretty much useless to DP.. i suspect DP was willing to ignore it while Regina was of help, and now he's figured it's time to fix the issue.

i'm actually curious to see how DP fixes things.

Come to think of it, why isn't Regina dead yet? Why are DP and Kria willing to put up with her? They certainly don't seem to care very much for her, at least not personally. But they do seem to care a great deal about her staying alive; it almost seems like some kind of obligation. What happened to her parents, that she has fallen under the legal care of her aunt and uncle?

If I'm remembering right, I believe it was stated that Regina's parents shipped her out to Kria's in order to get her somewhere safe, with the implication that Kria (and DP) don't know the whole story behind why Regina needed to get out of Lost Lake in a hurry and be kept somewhere where she'd be protected under the wing of a much more powerful demon - just that Regina did something they've been led to believe was a bit stupid for her to do.

Following the dinner at Kria's, both Kria and DP know that something is up between Regina and Dan, but DP certainly doesn't know what since Regina isn't about to tell the truth. I suspect that this is because the truth would make her look not like a kid who made a foolish mistake (I think they figure she did something equivalent to property damage) but as someone who did something especially abhorrent; I suspect this because what we know is that Regina killed Wildy's mom, and had been (prior to that) someone that Dan (and presumably Wildy) trusted, and I'm betting that Regina was staying at Wildy's place. Kria would certainly respect straight-up murder - I'm not so sure she'd respect what's essentially backstabbing and abuse of hospitality rules.

I'm not sure any demon would respect that. It's not a show of strength, after all, it's a show of (at best) cunning and guile.

Kria probably also doesn't know, since I think Dan stomped off pretty soon afterwards and didn't want to talk about it, and I suspect that if Kria knew, she'd have told DP. And if DP knew and disapproved, Regina would probably have turned up, gift-wrapped, on the doorstep of the Lost Lake Inn.

[Tapewolf]

If I'm remembering right, I believe it was stated that Regina's parents shipped her out to Kria's in order to get her somewhere safe, with the implication that Kria (and DP) don't know the whole story behind why Regina needed to get out of Lost Lake in a hurry and be kept somewhere where she'd be protected under the wing of a much more powerful demon - just that Regina did something they've been led to believe was a bit stupid for her to do.

I can't remember who originally suggested it, but it is possible that this:
http://missmab.com/Comics/Vol_287.php

...is Kria dealing with the legal mess that Regina left behind, rather than a massacre of her own doing.  In which case she'd know exactly what Regina did.

[Reeves_Dove]

Hm. It's definitely possible! But this: http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_976.php suggests that Kria's still fuzzy on the finer details like "did Regina leave anyone who might've sworn vengeance upon her". I feel like Kria would've remembered something like that, if she knew about it.

[Prroul]

Actually, the most dangerous part of his genre savviness?

He is perhaps the ONLY entity outside of the Cubi Clan Leader Council, Abel, and Dan's immediate family who knows that his mother is Destania, and the implications of this relationship, as demonstrated here. This is... enormously huge. One word to Hizell and the mother of all wrenches will be thrown.

And yes, I do curse the archive-walk, which is in many ways worse than a wiki-walk, which this spawned.

[Tapewolf]

Actually, the most dangerous part of his genre savviness?

He is perhaps the ONLY entity outside of the Cubi Clan Leader Council, Abel, and Dan's immediate family who knows that his mother is Destania, and the implications of this relationship, as demonstrated here. This is... enormously huge. One word to Hizell and the mother of all wrenches will be thrown.

Given that the Soulstealer mansion seems to have a statue of a dragon being eaten by a horse, I'm not sure DP would have any love for Hizell.