Grrl Power #392 – One liner post mortem
Now that I’ve had time to think about it, I maybe should have arranged this sequence to end on the last page and that hot one liner, but I couldn’t help contrasting that scene with Deus being a goofball in front of his henches. I admit I’m also a fan of those rare scenes in movies where they don’t cut at the optimal moment, and you get to see what happens right after the big cool moment. I imagine a lot of the times there’s a bunch of henchmen chuckling smugly, then it winds down, followed by an awkward silence, then the boss exiting stage left, but it’s like 70 feet to get to his ready room, and the only sound is his loud ass footsteps.
I did also want to show Deus bringing the prince around, at least in that moment. The fact that Chtillia at least is watching home movies with them two rows back might have had something to do with his quick acquiescence as well.
For those of you waiting for the return of Sydney and her antics, fear not. A few pages and we’ll be back with her and the rest of the crew. I spent this week penciling Sydney’s return and she’s in fine form if I do say so myself.
This page colored by Keith, who pointed out that Deus sort of looks like David Boreanaz, which I can see, but is totally unintentional.
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It also shows, perhaps, a slightly softer side of Idinge – perhaps he was such a harsh ruler because he thought he had to be to make a better place for his family in a dog eat dog world when he was, effectively, a Chihuahua among wolves. Maybe he wanted his son to be a smarter, less demonic alternative and sent him off for a proper education, to be more like the ruler he’d like to see himself as.
Sorta like the sparkly vampire being more appealing after meeting Vlad the Impaler.
Probably not, but it does seem to round these characters out a bit and make them a little less a stereotype.
It’s possible but Saddam Hussein’s daughters thought he was a wonderful dad. [Godwin’s law alert] Even Hitler had a woman who loved him. [/Godwin’s law alert] Very few of the people that we have demonized have been so evil that there weren’t people who loved them or thought that they weren’t doing the best they could. Everyone is a hero in their own story.
Indinge probably was a softie towards his son (who was probably willfully blind to the faults of his father) but that doesn’t make him any less of a Vlad The Impaler type.
Glad someone brought up Vlad
He is an example of a benevolent (but brutal) Dictator: there was very little crime in his country because everyone knew the penalty was extreme (there is a story about a public well in the middle of one of the towns, and it had a golden cup for anyone to drink out of, that cup was never stolen)
Those stories about ‘forests made of men’? Those were used against the Turks, his little slip of a country was, at that time, the only route they had into Europe and he was the only defender keeping them out (the rest of Europe was gorging itself on decadence), several times he requested aid, every time he was turned down. It would have been easy for him to have fled and saved himself, but he knew what would happen to his people if the Turks got through
He was Europe’s ONLY line of defence, and he was vilified by the very people he was protecting!!!
How can one be both benevolent and brutal? He isn’t like paranoid kill them all Stalin. But for benevolent to work means no brutality at all. Just other means of enforcing dictatorship. Dictatorships aren’t generally known for free lance crime, the govt holds that monopoly.
Vlad Tespesh the “Dracul” was a protector but ultimately failed. His body is gone from its place so nothing remains. Dracul or Dragon was a title connected to a semi-secret society he was a part of that supported the idea of protecting the lands of Romania as it was called then.
Vlad Dracul was The Impaler’s father (Dracula means “Son of Dracul”)
Believe at that time, it was called “Walachia”, “Romania” came much later
He was benevolent if you obeyed the laws (the laws were fairly reasonable, the punishments were on the extreme end though, that’s why there was little crime), he was brutal if you angered him (like an envoy from the Turks who refused to remove his hat in the presence of a ruler, so he had the hat nailed to his head)
The story about the Turks who had their hats nailed to their heads actually happened to some Genoese. At the time it was custom for them to wear caps under their hats which they wouldn’t take off for anybody. Vlad thought this was disrespectful, so he killed them in a suitable fashion. If he was just, then it was in the sense of “poetic justice”.
I’m also somewhat skeptical of the theory that his laws led to Walachia having less crime than neighboring countries. The consistency with which crime is punished, and public faith in the justice system have much more impact on crime rates than the severity of punishments. Vlad just sounds the era’s typical, whimsical tyrant, killing as he pleased.
I can’t say how it was in neighboring countries, but from what I’ve read, it was a HUGE decline in the country proper. And yeah, wasn’t exaggerating about that whole thing of him being seen as a hero back where he ruled, at least last things I read about his history. I suppose that could have changed in the past decade- stranger things have happened.
There’s a reason he’s still hailed as a hero where he used to rule to this day. Though I can see why it would be considered oxymoronic, it all depends on whether or not you adhered to the rather reasonable laws he had set up. I’d certainly be grateful for the person enforcing the laws that allowed me to walk through the streets without having to worry about being murdered everywhere I go >.>
He’s also considered something of a folk hero to the people in the region, much like a number of people in the US admire Jesse James.
Personally, I admire him too, in that he was one of the few people to scare the excrement out of the Ottoman Turks–who had a reputation for being totally fearless until they ran against Vlad. Sure, he was cruel, but he had reason to be (growing up amongst the Turks, possibly abused in more ways than one, thrown to the wolves by his so-called ‘allies’, and needing to keep discipline and order in his country under dangerous and desperate circumstances). I don’t condone all of his actions, but I can sympathize with him. I have no idea what I would have done in his place, but I fear I probably would have turned to equally drastic tactics out of sheer desperation.
CONGRATULATIONS, Dave!
My primary D&D antagonist/morally ambiguous good guy character that I’ve planned for a while was coincidentally similar in personality, and now I can’t have her personality NOT be significantly inspired by Deus!
https://i.imgur.com/5bFfn8t.jpg
She looks kinda like Kuvira from Legend of Korra
Aye, Kuvira is one of the main inspirations appearance-wise, though Adhya here is in her 40’s.
Other than that, they don’t share much in terms of personality. As I mentioned, she’s more like Deus in that regard.
That is exactly what happened to my campaign when Dragon Age: Inquisition came out. Had a whole plot where a massive magical explosion from a failed ritual rips rifts between planes all across the world, but NOW everyone will think I’ve taken it from DA:I.
Very well-made! Good lighting too :)
Nice end to the scene.
Deus has probably just improved the lives of almost everyone in the tiny little country.
Well, except for one guy, but he did not want to play nice anyway.
And that guys play mates, they will be asked to politely leave the playground (which, POO, would be a mistake, and Deus should take a lesson from the great Chaka Zulu: kill the dog that is cowering at your feet, least it return as a jackal and go for your throat!)
Wooo! Chaka Zulu reference! I’d buy you a drink if I could XD
Thus the “almost.” They just went from a bloodthirsty dictator that had no clue how to actually run his country to a greedy dictator that know how to run an economy. Not a perfect solution, but I didn’t see any of the good guys rushing in and fixing things.
that’s cuz there are no good guys at that lvl of govment, it requires a certain amount of ruthlessness to succeed in getting ahold of the reins of a country
I was distracted so I forgot to mention it the other day, but since you mention Sydney: if she were in the DFW area, I could _so_ see her not wanting to miss the Zest Fest hot-foods convention (which I’ll happen to be going to this weekend looking for new sources of hot stuff for myself :).
Given her interests, which would take priority: comics or chiles/spicy-food? [I know, the answer for real fans of both will always be “both”, just curious for your take.]
On the other hand, I guess the opportunity to be part of the super-hero team trumps all else.
Hmm, if I can spare an hour or two I’d love to stop by that and have a look around. Proooobably not buy anything though.
Me & my old, healed-over ulcer would probably agree with not buying anything…
yep, this verifies it, Deus is more of an antihero than a villain. Sure he kills people, but when you get right down to it his victims are a heck of a lot more villain then he is and he has defined goals with the purpose of actually doing good for others. He really isn’t a hero or even close to the hero type, and he is definitely not a villain in the true sense of the word, but he fits the province of the antihero almost word for word.
I think he kind of has a Dr. Doom quality to him.
Dr. Doom believes that in order to save the world he has to conquer it.
And past experience shows that, being conquered by Dr. Doom is a great improvement.
No more poverty, no more hunger, diseases eradicated…
Makes me wonder if Dr. Doom would be more successful if he were actually charismatic. It’s always his own self-defeating and toxic personality that defeats him. Especially when he’s achieved ultimate power.
Dr. Doom has gone through several iterations. My favorite are the ones where he always wins. Why? Because he causes a big scene distracts people with the melodramatic act but elsewhere he gets part 237/1000 of his real master plan. Like when he kidnaps Hornet and Invisible woman in one of the shows. They get rescued but Doom already has his prize. Information proving Invisible woman is a skrull. Like that’s Dr. Doom.
Doom, when done right, is larger than life figure, brilliant, egotistic and vain, magnanimous provided you are not that curse RICHARDS or otherwise oppose his plans and utterly ruthless if you do oppose him.
He is selfish and evil, yet, some small part should root for him, if only to find out what would happen (and, as shown previously, it might actually be a good thing).
Mostly a good ruler to his people, not because of any moral principle, but because they are his.
The reason he does well by his people is kind of demented though, everything he has and does he insists shows his glory; so his people doing well and being happy shows how great he is and builds his ego.
-if only every Megalomaniac despot had that view of their subjects.
great job of totally trying to change the actual issue at hand. Doom is not Deus, nice try though. Dr Doom is a villain and nothing but a villain, sure he has his moments, but the Deus character isn’t anything like Dr Doom. First off he isn’t trying to take over the world (at least that we can see at this point) his goal is to take control of one country and make it better so people will follow him instead of having to fight everyone else. In point of fact he took out an evil warlord and put the place in the control of the warlord’s less evil son. He isn’t even taking full control of the country in question. He is however making it a better place and leaving it in the family of the same family controlling it before. Dr Doom would rule without using a go between. Now yes he is financing the country, and if it is an issue of finance he is in control because that’s his area. This even goes by the deal he set up. Again he isn’t in full control and he removed threats to the people of the country. Now Dr Doom wouldn’t do that, not in that way, he becomes the threat and maintains a threat. Deus is actually trying to make things better and removes threats that make things worse. If you want the perfect example of what Deus is I suggest you look up a character named Elric. Elric was the first example of the true antihero. His persona lines up in several ways with the personality of Deus, except Elric had a magic sword keeping him alive by draining off people he kills with it and transfering their life essence into him. In point of fact the sword made Elric a god, especially when he killed a god with the sword sucking it’s soul into him thereby making him a god in turn. But agin Dr Doom is not an antihero, not even an example of an antihero and that is what Deus seems to be. Now as for being a megalomaniac, yes, Deus is at least close to that category, only close, let’s face it, is telling the truth a sign of a megalomaniac? if you really think about his words and what he says, has he actually lied about anything? So far as we know, the answer to this is no, he hasn’t. Now as for a massive ego, most definitely. But Deus doesn’t really have the whole Dr Doom vibe, otherwise he wouldn’t have a scientist going around making devices for him to complete specific goals he can’t do on his own.
Believe people were comparing their morality, not their alignment or goals
But if a hero and an antihero come into physical contact does the world explode?
Or at a restaurant does the hero order the pasta and the antihero order the anti-pasta?
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1787
No, they usually fight. the Hero thinks of the anti-hero as a villain, and the Anti-hero thinks of the hero as a naïve goody good who is making things worse in the world by coddling “villains” and criminals.
In other words, the universe will explode in alfredo goodness. SCIENCE.
The world would only explode if the hero & the anti-hero also happened to be identical twins…
;)
you mean identical twins from different dimensions, one from a positive ionic dimension, and the other from a negative ionic dimension, in which case the one crossing over would also be pulling the opposite matter toward him in an equal mass which would then explode in a mass index of equal proportions from the two dimensions then smashing a hole through both dimensions compounding space and time and creating a hole between the converging realities.
If they weren’t otherwise identical, then they couldn’t be opposites. Just like how black is the opposite of white and not chair. You have to exist on far sides of the same spectrum before you can explode when you touch somebody.
Have you ever seen a chair explode because it touched black?
I have a habit of pondering these same things, like so…right after your big speech and cut-away, what exactly did you do? Its like, its like Cobra Commander has this huge melodramatic speech at the Joes, they are escorted away, and the scene cuts to them…its like…so…does he just sit in his chair afterwords and do nothing? Ask whose going out for lunch? Brag about his big speech he totally improvised because he had no idea they’d actually catch these guys today?
Ok, now I both hate and love that character.
Guess we’ll have to see more before I decide.
As a person I don’t like him. As a character he’s absolutely fantastic.
I actually like him both as a person and a character.
“Now, this is all the money Niska gave us in advance…”
Haha, yes, definitely sort of the undertone to this scene.
You should at the end of Deus blurb: and other times as quite dorky.
And has anyone else commented on the irony of a man named Deus saying he does not love God too much? Anyone?
Deus does not love God too much.
Deus is Latin for God.
Therefore, Deus does not love himself too much.
LOGIC!
And yes. There were numerous comments to that effect on the previous comic.
Makes sense. Justa makina sure.
Ugh, the guy’s like Tony Stark without a conscience. He’d see his weapons in the hands of terrorists and not think “Oh god, what has my company done?” he’d think “Hm, I probably didn’t get paid for those. Oh and this might not look good for my company’s image).
That honestly just sounds like good business. No profit and bad public relations? Fix that mess quick.
Off topic, guns getting in the hands of violent people is one of the reasons I really wish the NRA didn’t almost literally shoot down the idea of smart guns.
Smart guns are dumb. The tech isn’t even close to working in any kind of reliable fashion, and do you really want to see the squabble over who’s going to pay to retro-fit the 100 million guns sold just since Obama took office?
Apologies, but it seems I have have given the impression that smart guns were going to be a one hit fix. Those things don’t exist.
Yes, it’s not perfect or fully reliable yet, yes it would cost a huge amount of money to retrofit every gun in existence, even if people could get their hands on them. But these things get no better at all if we decide not to work with an idea because starts with flaws. Working with a flawed invention and fine tuning it, continuing to work with it is the very essence of how science works. It’s how agriculture began, it’s how black powder first began it’s application in weaponry and it’s how we managed to make every last meaningful advancement in the last 2000 years.
By simply denying the idea entirely, what is decided is to stay with the current situation because change is scary. Change is inevitable, but whether it is for better or for worse depends on us.
Believe anifreik‘s point was, that something like ‘smart guns’ needs to be fully tested and working before being released into the grubby sweaty paws of the greater unwashed masses of already gun-toting loons, certainly before being deployed to the soldiers (people already kvetch and moan and complain about the vests that don’t always work)
At least you didn’t give him a nasty toupee comb-over and short stubby fingers… …or did you?
When you put it that way I suddenly can’t look at him without seeing Donald Trump, despite the lack of nasty comb-over.
Boreanz would actually be a pretty good choice for a live-action Deus.
Firstly – I am now fully on Deus’s side and have no fears regarding Harem’s dealings with him. The man has style, damnit!
Secondly – CQC Mask guy is now my second favorite character. (Still can’t take Dabbler’s spot, but he’s lacking the cuteness, sexiness, 4 arms and hooves to do that for reasons beyond his control.)
Hypno boobs…
“Muscles that human females don’t have”
SUPER KEGELS ! ! !
and you can’t get mad at her for how she acts see a girls got to eat
Even Audrey II? o_O
All of my yes.
Got to admit I like Deus, he is like a hero yet a villain at the same time. Its hard not to like a guy who knows how to play the cards right.
Anti-hero, like Wolverine use to be, and Punisher
Cthillia here studies under the McNinjas on how to each through a mask.
You do realise that that is not a form fitting mask, but closer to a bandana (ie very loosely covering the face)
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand suddenly the goofball is back O-o
I like this guy. I’m glad I make his suits.
I know its slim… but Deus sorta seems like Badish Sydney. Swear to god if they end up dating, I’m gonna bust a gut. Also Sy’duce children would be AMAZING!
#sy’duce its a thing now
Deus Scoville. Remember, she’d make him take her name.
YES
SHIPPING
Creepy, if it turns out they are already related… o_O
sydney deus scoville the first. scarred by his daughter when she lept with nails and teeth and rage from her mother’s womb.
:D
I was waiting for something like panel 4 to happen. THAT’S the Deus I know. :D
Well DOOM is in fact very charismatic. It’s just that DOOM is also utterly obsessed with Riiiicharrrrdssssss! If it weren’t for everything that follows from that, DOOM would be very much the antihero instead of the BBEG.
He is, after all, determined that nobody should mange to conquer the world, for that is the sole provence of DOOM.
… And he actually managed it bloodlessly once (the ‘Emperor Doom’ graphic novel – he used the Purple Man’s mind control on the entire planet).
Unfortunately, once he was past the initial celebration and reorganizing, six-months-plus of actually RUNNING the world proved to be a major chore (just think of all the paperwork!). So much so that he basically threw the inevitable battle with the good guys.
He did so another time using mind control nano machines, or virus, or something, not completely sure.
Then got bored, released MAgneto and gave him his choice of a team to oppose him.
They won, and earth 616 went back to the big pile of crap we know and hate.
It’s more that Richards is jealous of Doom and will do everything he can to see Doom defeated
You know, now I have the image of Deus keeping a photomancer on the payroll just to ensure that his lighting is always right when delivering lines.
Nah, that’s what Vale with her spotlight and giant mirror is for.
Among whatever other duties she has.
You… do realise that that never happened, don’t you? o_O
I am amazed how good you can make the badguy look…
or how bad you can make a goodguy look?
I’m still confused…
Good work.
What are me calling that guy? Chummy? Anyway, it sounds like he may be more than just a paid thug. That statement makes him sound like a true believer. Deus can be a charismatic guy and it kind of seems to me like Chummy got swayed by whatever arguments were used to recruit him. Maybe Deus promised to let him run Norway or something . . .
I wonder if the far reaching goals Chummy was told about where Deus’s real goals.
Or maybe he just appreciates an employer who thinks further than the next quarter.
Unfortunately, the rules of every comic-verse seem to require that the ‘bad’ guy has to have his distinguishing physical abnormality. Lex Luthor had access to every kind of science and magic in the DC universe and still couldn’t find a way to grow a head of hair. Doom even after gaining near absolute cosmic powers on more than one occasion still couldn’t fix his own face. Deus has had access to supers (and possibly spellcasters and/or aliens) for at least a decade or two. And yet he still has that big-ole scar in the middle of his face. Either the event/thing that gave it to him made it impossible to remove or he is keeping it as some sort of badge of honor.
Remember the old British sci-fi show Blake’s 7? One of the chief bad guys was a guy named Travis who’d had part of his face disfigured by the hero. When Travis was told by his boss that they could reconstruct his features to make him look normal again, Travis refused. It made him more memorable, more distinctive – nobody could mistake him for anybody else.
Perhaps Deus was thinking along the same lines?
Hell, I’m not assuming he’s above having made the scars deliberately, just in order to become thought of as “Deus Ex”. It fits his personality and desire to be seen as a larger-than-life fellow.
On the anti-hero/villain discussion, I’d say the jury’s still out. Read the footnote of the comic, for one thing. We live in the era of Forest Gump; tweaking the lips on Indinge Sr. and dubbing in some extra dialogue is certainly within Deus’ means.
I did wonder why Victor von Doom didn’t fix his face when he stole the power cosmic from the Silver Surfer. He was quite the handsome young man before that lab accident caused by his impatience then blamed Reed Richards for it. It seemed to be the only reason why he hated RR and the FF and everyone else. I would have asked the Silver Surfer to make him whole again as he was before the injury. I think he hated yet liked his injury, he was use to it and it had some use to him at least psychologically.
Hm… Is that white masked / cowled guy “for whom the death tolls”?
He does seem to have the same set of humor and did not show any Superpower… yet.
No, no it’s not, this is Chum-li (or ‘Chummy’ to his friends), Chun-li’s cousin
I was thinking, Task Apprentice.
Who? o_O
I believe Rhuen’s referring to this guy.
Oh yes, him
After reading some comments about the goofiness of Deus, do we know whether he is related to Sydney yet? Father, or an uncle maybe?
Deus is very unlikely to be related to Sydney, I think. Just because they both have access to the silly gene proves nothing! :D
Yeah, was just being silly as well, but wouldn’t it be funny if, when they meet (specially ‘on the battle field’) she says “Hey Uncle Thad, what are you doing here? How is Aunt Tina?” :D
Uncle Thad: “Just fine, dear. She was just asking about you the other day! If you survive this, you’ll have to come over for dinner.”
I am thinking that they only share an author.
Spoil sport! :P
It’s not like we didn’t know this was going to happen, but the son is a bit of a wild card in this for him. The son could be by all means, an actual decent human being and a decent ruler. Their is the problem of him also being as morally bankrupt as his father too. What happens if he needed(s) to vacate him too? He’d have to install his own leader who would actually follow his orders and that’s much harder to do in practice as well as being much harder to explain.
If that happened, Deus would simply pull up stakes and find another fresh new war-torn country to help
I gotta say, I am really loving Deus as a character. He acts exactly how I play my characters in DnD. Incredibly political, but entirely willing to be merciless and than switch right back to being cooperative. Big fan, can not wait to see more of him.
Question to DaveB:
How long has it been since you advertised your patreon? You gatta push that boat a little man, you deserve it.
For those who don’t know: This comic is funded by patreon: https://www.patreon.com/davebarrack?ty=h
Wait, a little man pushing a boat? That wouldn’t happen to be a little old man, in a pink boat, would it? o_O
…..Oh my god… he’s not going to become MR. Scoville is he?
Maybe he already is, you never know ;)
That’s something…
I think ultimately, this is something most people miss: any serious development project has to turn a profit to be self-sustaining. If it is not profitable, it does not produce enough result for the effort invested, and cannot be continued, or expanded. If Deus was NOT doing this to turn a profit, he would not be serious about accomplishing his ends. An economic improvement that is not self-sustaining is not, ultimately, lasting, and will not be continued once circumstances change, because there is no incentive to do so.
As for how he keeps the chaos at bay? Simple. The country he is building up is probably far and away the most powerful, militarily and economically, of any country in the region. And, because Deus does NOT have direct control over the entire country’s economy, it is a shift that has come from the bottom, as much as from the top. If this is the case, than Deus is securing the country through two means: simple military and economic intimidation, and through the constant and increasing immigration of people from the neighboring regions into his new country. This gives Deus a ready pool of truly fanatically dedicated individuals who can be recruited to act as spies, assassins, saboteurs, and all the other types of operatives a good intelligence agency needs.
Deus would be a tough target for ARCHON, for the simple reason that they would need a VERY solid case against him to bring him in–otherwise, it would probably be counted as an act of war. Additionally, his actions, which are frequently beneficial to all kinds of people, would often leave ARCHON with no clear cut motivation to act–sure, they might think his methods are wrong, but given his results, can they really say they MUST act? And can they really afford to bring him in–he seems to be the only person in the world who knows how to bring third-world countries out of poverty, and that is a goal that is near and dear to the hearts of many people. I liked this character before, but the more I see of him, the more I think that he’s one of my favorite characters…from anything.
I can’t believe it took me this long, but the guy sitting in the back is the same one showing up in the grid of potential villains after the press conference…
Different actually, but I see the similarities.
Um. Wow. Jesus.
Also, “weaailing”. XD I hate when that happens.
Also, guy in first panel is adorable.
So, this is over 5 years late, but I’ve been doing a reread, and the alt-text at the bottom (I think that qualifies as an alt-text, even though it isn’t a mouse-over, but then again I don’t really know the industry terminology that well) inspired me.
So, I’m a magician, as well as a guy who has studied deception more broadly largely for the sake of curiosity and academic interest (and entertainment). One trick of the trade, as it were, is never phrase things in a way that suggests there might be something to hide, or that things aren’t as they seem. I always twitch a bit whenever a magician says “an ordinary deck of cards” or “an ordinary quarter” or whatever, because if you don’t use the word “ordinary” most people wouldn’t question whether or not it *is* ordinary, but if you do, most people *will* question it. Now, this *can* be a useful red herring, like a Kansas City Shuffle (look it up), depending on the circumstances, and frankly, most of the times I’ve encountered this little faux pas they *have* been telling the truth.
The issue is, even if the deck or quarter or whatever *is* ordinary, you have set a dangerous precedent by priming them to question the authenticity of your props and the veracity of your words. Magic, like most fiction, works best when there is a willing suspension of disbelief, and so if you subtly tell them to disbelieve you, they are more likely to do so.
Now, all of that is generally a good idea when you are lying for purely entertainment purposes, y’know, don’t encourage the audience to doubt you, but it is doubly so when there are actual stakes, ie you are lying to deceive and not to entertain. This goes triply so when you aren’t lying at all but *are* trying to persuade them, like making a sale or whatever. It doesn’t matter how honest you are about what you are selling, it doesn’t matter how great the product genuinely *is*, what matters is whether your potential buyers trust you, and if you prime them to doubt you then instead of earning trust from zero, you are earning trust from the negatives, and boy is that hard.
Remember, perception *is* reality, I should know, I warp reality every day by warping people’s perceptions, so whenever possible make this fact work for you, not against you.
In this case, I think it’s a humorous use of foreshadowing. Considering what the alt-text seems to be implying, I suspect Deus is about as altruistic as Ursa “helping” the little mermaid and all those other poor unfortunate souls.
That video stuff has become significantly less convincing around two years after this comic was posted. (See “FakeApp”)
I’m really interested in seeing Deus’ character arc, I notice the caption for this comic suggests the footage was doctored. Looking at how Deus is depicted in Grrl Power, (and how people have interpreted his character on TvTropes, with the examples given), it looks like he could end up being a major villain. If there was ever a Grrl Power movie/show, I could see him being played by Mark Hamill, channeling his role as the Joker.