Darth Tark is being eaten by a sentient WMD made of pure, undiluted chaos. You have to admit, there are worse ways to open. And the irony is ironic! Ironic cut-panel!
Luna, despite not having had any officially official teaching (what with being tusky and all)
has magically qualified to study with the Advanced Mages in Advanced Magical Instruction. BY THE MAGIC OF PLOT! SHE! HAS! THE POWEEEERRRR! *cue transformation sequence*
And Spark mercilessly mocks every last one of Luna's neuroses and emotional problems. On the one hand, I'm torn between laughing, and being appalled that such a close companion of the Dominus would do something. The DOminus is
right there Spark. That's his iob. I'm torn about this piece of character work, on the one hand: Luna's recognised that she' about as helpful as a bicycle to a fish, on the other hand, harsh is harsh; and Spark was harsh. But at the same time, I think it's a little Sue-ish. WHile I'd say Luna was competent or average with her spellwork, she doesn't seem Advanced Magical Instruction quality. Perhaps Intermediate.
It turns out that Mama Machina is basically the Saviour and Reievnator of the entire town of Quiral (I'm having
Chamber of Secrets flashbacks to Professor QUirrel) and she's a pretty damn powerful mage. I'm guessing Fifth Circle Mage is the highest level of Magery around, so the town must be pretty happy with the Deegans right?
They're celebrities.
Oh.
Hell.. No. Pointless Secondary Sub-plot Powers Go!
So, not content with a
Climactic Battle between the forces of Law and Order and Chaos, we have Drama with a capital Dee.
[Insert swearwords of choice]. As much as I see where Mouthy Cow is coming from - I'm thinking she lost a child in the attack - that's . . . wow.
1) She didn't know her students were in danger when she left.
2) When she
did find out, it was when TIM was already in Sexual Kink City, so vengeance was literally a few minutes and a couple of spells away.
3) She's a nonhetero-phobe. Or she's iust insulting someone who was on the bare periphery of what was happening until the very end.
4) If I read my comic right, Tim was ordered to kill
Mama Machina. I think her being absent from an entire school of panicky young magicians is a good thing.
5) Because of the previous point, let me point out that
if she knew beforehand (which we know she didn't because we had an entire reaction comic (I forget the page, and must to bed soon) about her receiving the news)
6) AN. INFERNOMANCER. WITH. THE. POWER. GLOVES. OF. A. DEMON. LORD. WAS. LOOSE. IN. CALLAN. THAT IS THE KIND OF THING AN ARCHMAGE OF THE FIFTH CIRCLE DEALS WITH.
7) Because of 6), I think it was entirely iustifiable for Mama Machina to go save the company from TIM. And,oh, I don't know
countless innocents.
8) Mama Machina got her revenge. I somehow doubt that banishing someone (who is enternal?) to an outer plane - where I have no doubt that the Dominiverse's equivalent of the Great Old Ones lives - is a normal punishment. Mama Machina went above and beyond the call of duty in beating TIM to a witless pulp. With assisstance.
And that was me defending a Deegan's actions. In comic-time, it's been about eight or nine days since it happened right?
For a week Mama Machina's middle child was in a coma from which he might never have woken up!
Mouthy Cow is now one of my most hated characters.
In one page!
[Insert more swearwords here]. The problem with this forum is that while I could fully explain and detail my reactions to Mouthy Cow in that page, the general populace is more than intelligent enough to understand or find out what I would say. Suffice to say this is a bad thing.
Amongst my hypothetical tirade would have been words and phrases plundered from one thousand years of English literature, and various European languages. Such a rant is an art, and I may yet make an individual post in which my very censored feelings are made clear.
This entire character is a wallbanger. She serves no purpose but to get the reader to sympathis with the Deegans.
Mookie's character has more than fulfilled her purpose. She calls Mama Machina an "unfit mother" - yet the previous comic one of the arguements was 'she went off to save her son from dying'. Making her a fit, if perhaps overzealous mother. She is racist, disablist, nonheterophobic and she insults Elanovan!
Admittedly Wallbanger the Mouthy Cow does have a point when it comes to the Dominus. But that incident was at most thirteen days ago. Seven of which were spent in a coma, and two or three in Porno Land, the rest as travelling. Hardly homeless or drifter. I will point out that the Dominus was only greatly offended when she started insulting him.
Luna leaps to Mama Machina's defence! She is a proponent of balanced arguments, weighing up the pros and cons! Logic! Good sense! Good thing Luna and Mama Machina like each other.
Reaction shots, the Dominus becomes
angsty and cynical - more cynical than usual.
Aaawww. Wait. Is that Lady Iayden in the middle? Confusing.
Aaaaaawwwwwwww. Say what you will, but Mama Machina cares about her children - biological or otherwise. I read something somewhere, to paraphrase and adiust for this occasion: a good teacher loves her students, and Mama Machina was a
very good teacher. Because, frankly, there's nothing scarier than a mother after some git's hurt her children.
The memorial is genuinely touching, and I wanted to hear more about these students, but Mookie's love of Domini-centrism ('the centering of everything aroung the Dominus or one whom he deems worthy') and gorn gives us a Quickie Vision. Followed by vomit.
Black Mage's hat isn't covering his face. The Dominus is now insane. And yet
more angst and Deegan trouble.
I smell Tertiary
Drama Sub-plot.
Anyone else remember when this arc was setting up for an almighty battle between Order and Chaos that was surprisingly well-plotted and backstoried? Or that Iacob of Awesome cameo'd? Or that Darth Tark is being eaten by SoS?
No?
Iust me?
Time for soap opera Drama.
Tabloids Twist Tawdry Tale To Treat Taggarty's Team. QUelle suprise. And the Dominus mopes. Wallbanger the Mouthy Cow is apparently called
Penelope the Pain, she wants the school because of its retail value.
Wallbanger. Mouthy. Cow. Despise. Detest. [More]
Shock! Surprise! The Dominus is a second generation Deegan in this fight! Didn't my previous essay mention this? Point is:
tell him what you know o he can stop the SoS
before anything happens. P.S. The Dominus is blusing when speaking to his Daddy. It's the old romance blush. I call incest! Yay!
Young!Elanovan is hot. Old Elanovan is still good looking and -
Wait.
wot.
wot.
A heavily pregnant lady is going to fight a
sentient WMD of Chaotic Destruction! It's Iacob isn't it?
No wonder he's got a couple of screws loose (and thus releasing his inherent amazingness) he's been infected by the SoS! Poor Iacob. It's all Almost-Mama Machina's fault too. Pregnant women should avoide drugs, smoking, drinking, and fighting sentient WMDs of pure chaos.
Duh.
I want to keep young Elanovan. Hug him and squeeze him and make him sing for me.
Yay!
The plot! And it starts with some
fourth wall breaking in p.4. And the Dominus goes into God-Mode again. Only
uglier.
((Hey, guys!
It's the Dominus and Luna! I mean, Mookie and Ladyfriend.))
Let me sum up this
page: ugly art, uglier art, an attempt at symbolism, "Ah. My wrists! So limp. And I'm un
FABULOUS!" Dmoinus saves the day, and again, SUperman has broken his right arm, and the DOminus can control demi-soul iars. Because he's Superman.
YOu will believe this comic rocks!
AAAAAHH!
Colour! A flashback in colour. Unusual, but seeing as the art style is usually inverted, I can't blame him. Except it's in colour.
Alta Dura is the unholy hate-child of Lady Iayden and the DOminus. I am afraid. Oh, and gloating boy is ironically proved wrong. Ironically. So Gloaty Guy runs away and lives. There are now seven teenage magicians in a room with an evil wizard-y guy with hell powers.
Anyone know Avada Kedavra?
TIM is
evil, and short black-haired guy took out TIM! Temporarily.
But still!
Heroic sacrifice? I love these guys. Going hand-to-hand and head-to-head with an evil INfernomancer with no eyes. Awesomeness. Totally deserving those memorials. Especially considering they knew they would more than likely die.
That is the stuff heroes are made of.
Three die, four survive, limbless. Wait, hold on there.
Nimmel? As in Filler Guy Nimmel?
Eyeless FIller Guy Nimmel. And he's all sad because his best girlfriend is dead.
Dark. But considering that the Ominus Dominus was about a minute away from saying "Screw you Darth Tark," it's a good way to get across a mesage.
However, Nimmel = parallel with the Dominus.
Therefore Fem!Dominus = parallel with Luna.
Foreshadowing!
We started off with such promise, and then we got sub-plotted to death. Rarhg. My main issue is with Wallbanger the Mouthy Cow. That and a heavily pregnant young mage going off to fight a sentient WMD. Hello?! Sanity?
Are Deegans the
only people who can stop thi dreadful evil? Because frankly, I wouldn't let a pregnant lady near it. WHo knows what it could do to the baby.
Well, now we know. And knowing is half the battle!