2018-08-6 [DMFA #1858] Keeping them at arm's length

[Treesong]

It's hard to keep in mind that Aliph is a murderous megalomaniac when he gives Regina such good advice, but that last panel helps. I laughed out loud, and I do not do that often.

[Maxwell Füchs-Kojote]

Murderous megalomaniac, but also good at parenting!

Within limits.

No hugs.

[e_voyager]

Personally I just love the characterization. It says to me the Dark Pegasus is" saying look kid I love you but that doesn't mean I want to be touched by you or anyone really."

[Tapewolf]

Panel 3 intrigues me.  If you're able to withstand peer pressure, doesn't that also prove your strength?
(Also, that's the plot of one of my side-stories.  Nice to see I was in the right ballpark there)

[Lying Foo]

...when did the cartoon villain Aliph get more reasonable than Kria?

This insight into "rampages" is odd... previously, it had been suggested that demons suffered from the same problem as Cubi, albeit less so, being genuinely prone to kill the occasional door-to-door salesman or overzealous spy, or wipe out an outpost for political gains, but now it seems that demons, by and large, really are as bad as their reputation, and Aliph may be among the better ones.  Rather, now it seems that their culture is "don't get caught" - a demon brags of killing ten beings, ten beings are dead, but no one can link the two, and everybody can get on with their business.  Of course, it's also suggested that some if not most demons might be lying...

[Jenka]

It's amazing how many ways there are to say "I love you". Even without Alph using those exact words.

[HaDDea]

Panel 3 intrigues me.  If you're able to withstand peer pressure, doesn't that also prove your strength?
(Also, that's the plot of one of my side-stories.  Nice to see I was in the right ballpark there)

In my experience, it does not (who admires those loner losers anyway?), unless you are explicit in explaining your reasoning, and even then that's still no guarantee. Some people will only respect what they define as power, even if that definition is extraordinarily narrow and harmful. Worse still, some of those people also hold great positions of power and will thus pressure people to continue to emulate that definition.

But the saddest thing is that those persons that are ambivalent to either side tend to end up enforcing the designs of those pushy few, especially those power "gatekeepers". After all, you may hold no position on the matter, but if one side distinctly gets you where you want to go and the other doesn't, why would you choose the latter?


Aliph has always struck me as a very cool, level-headed Demon (odd though he may be, post-post-revival). Was he portrayed as something else prior to the "Dan's first Adventure" arc? I haven't read all of DFMA, I admit.

[Dracologist]

So in a way, after reading the comic.  She can choose to please her bloodline and create fear and chaos against others and likely lose her job and any chance of accomplishing her dreams in fashion, OR she can reject her blood's traditions and seek out her life goals.  Betray ones family or ones self.

[Tapewolf]

So in a way, after reading the comic.  She can choose to please her bloodline and create fear and chaos against others and likely lose her job and any chance of accomplishing her dreams in fashion, OR she can reject her blood's traditions and seek out her life goals.  Betray ones family or ones self.

On the other hand, she has most of 50 years to decide.  A lot could change in that time, especially given the upheaval Mab is trying to engineer.

[Kazy]

I'm kind of worried Biggs is going to end up killing her after she's become a pacifist.

[Lying Foo]

Good old Maxim 12.

[Titanium Dragon]

...when did the cartoon villain Aliph get more reasonable than Kria?

Aliph is dead on the inside, which is why he's such a cartoonish villain in a sense - he just doesn't care. It's not that he's actively malicious so much as that things are just... there. Hence why he treats his relationship with her like a duty rather than anything else. Ironically, this likely makes him a better parental figure than other demons, because rather than being emotionally driven, he's filling the role that he is "supposed" to fill - and because whatever he actually bothers to do, he tries to do well, he does a good job at it.

But if he decided to kill you as part of his plan, he'd just do it, and not care or feel any remorse about it. He just doesn't see any reason to go out of his way to play up being evil and whatnot, because, well, that's dumb.

As he said in an earlier comic, why boast about what you're doing when you can just do things that prove you're better than other people?

That's his priority, and I think he thinks that way because he just doesn't really care about other people, save perhaps a few family members (he did seem to be concerned over Kria and Lorenda after his run-in with Dan).

This insight into "rampages" is odd... previously, it had been suggested that demons suffered from the same problem as Cubi, albeit less so, being genuinely prone to kill the occasional door-to-door salesman or overzealous spy, or wipe out an outpost for political gains, but now it seems that demons, by and large, really are as bad as their reputation, and Aliph may be among the better ones.  Rather, now it seems that their culture is "don't get caught" - a demon brags of killing ten beings, ten beings are dead, but no one can link the two, and everybody can get on with their business.  Of course, it's also suggested that some if not most demons might be lying...

Well, the adventurers exist for a reason.

Likely also why some of the creatures are so fearful of others gaining power - they believe that the powerful should rule the weak, and intend to be the powerful, because they know what they do to the weak...

So in a way, after reading the comic.  She can choose to please her bloodline and create fear and chaos against others and likely lose her job and any chance of accomplishing her dreams in fashion, OR she can reject her blood's traditions and seek out her life goals.  Betray ones family or ones self.

It's worth remembering that she presently is working for a cubi, not a demon, and that the cubi don't buy into rampage culture. I don't think we've seen much evidence that fashion culture is dominated by demons.

The real risk to her is that her family won't give her some cush political job.

Of course, on the other hand, Kria is happy to try and help Lorenda, regardless of Lorenda's own distaste for rampage culture.

[MSpears]

She can choose to please her bloodline and create fear and chaos against others and likely lose her job and any chance of accomplishing her dreams in fashion, OR she can reject her blood's traditions and seek out her life goals.  Betray ones family or ones self.

You can't choose your family.  But you have to live with yourself for your entire life.  (And for a demon, that is potentially a very long life.  Kria's over 400, and she's still considered young!)

[Prroul]

Yanno, some things I'd like to point out. Pardon if I start rambling. Consider this post to have been created in part by Wall O' Text Inc, and Viewers Like You

First off, Aliph, while intelligent, is definitely not a 'good guy' by any means. His intent was to turn a major portion of a nation undead in preparation to take over said nation. Due to a miscalculation caused by rushing out of pride and ego, he accidentally created the Undead Race. These are not the actions of a 'good' person.

Furthermore, he is, by all accounts, still plotting on how to conquer a country, if only to prove to himself that he can do it. Also, yanno, 'clean up the industrial spill from my accident' ideology to the genocide of the Undead race. Also not the acts of a 'good' person.

Having said that, he's an exceptionally intelligent person. Perhaps a little short on *wisdom*, and definitely decided that Charisma could be a dump-stat, but intelligent and willing to learn from his previous mistakes. He's not going to go rushing in and risk screwing up a project a second time, which means it is very likely that, barring something interfering with his plans when the whole Destania plot boils over into a Beings vs Creatures World War, he's quite likely to succeed this time. I would say that such an upheval would give him an opportunity to snipe some territory, but he seems to be more of a long-term planner than an improvisational specialist.

However, he's not a moustache-twirling 'evil for the evlulz' sort of villain. He's more of an Anti-Villain. Not a hero, not even an anti-hero, an actual died-in-the-wool villain, but one who doesn't really see much value in many of the villain tropes. It's pretty clear he's read the Villains Guide to Better Living, and probably made noteworthy contributions to the document.

So, what would it be like living under him? Well, that depends on what things were like before he showed up. If you were already living under the bootheel of a malicious tyrant, you'd probably see at least small gains in quality of living. Don't get me wrong, he'd still squash any revolutionary movement swiftly and decisively, and he isn't about to permit any sort of senate or parliament to tell him what to do, however he fully understands that people who are ground mercilessly aren't good workers. As such, he will see to at least minimal living standards, and he will be equally ruthless on any of his middle-management who tries to grind people for their pockets, because his minion would, in effect, be stealing from him.

Aliph is talking from personal experience here. He doesn't seem the sort to have gone on a Rampage, and so is speaking from the experience of one who has never done so, although most Demons probably accept what he did previously AS a Rampage, even though he didn't intend it as one, and doesn't personally feel that it counts. Why? Because he considers it his responsibility to be a responsible parental figure for her since his brother certainly hasn't been. It is a familial obligation he considers to be duty-bound to execute, and therefore must be done well.