Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire, Mk. XXXVIII: This Show Blew My Boogeyman

[Dexam]

Oh, this is just *too* hilarious!
When I look at that strip, I can't help but hear a Sailor Moon-esque "magical princess transformation sequence theme music" in my mind's ear.

[Gez]

Apparently, psychoplanar swords don't have their hilts melt-merging into the swordsman's hand while being wielded.


I guess that as far as Dominion logic goes, it shows that Dominic is indeed not a true swordsman. If he had soldiered on until the lesson about how the sword should be thought of as an extension of your body, then he would have psychoplanarly summoned a real Dominion sword: one where the hilt and pommel entirely disappear in hammerspace so that the blade and guard get instead magically grafted to the balled fist.

[M84]

I'm happy Dominic is wearing clothes again. That's the only good thing about today's strip.

As for the rest of it...why? Why have Dominic save the day with swordsmanship when there are already swordsmen in this arc? I get that being in the psychoplane essentially lets Dominic weaponize his adolescent fantasies of being a barbarian hero/superhero/swordmaster, but it's still stupid.

[Trazoi]

I guess that as far as Dominion logic goes, it shows that Dominic is indeed not a true swordsman. If he had soldiered on until the lesson about how the sword should be thought of as an extension of your body, then he would have psychoplanarly summoned a real Dominion sword: one where the hilt and pommel entirely disappear in hammerspace so that the blade and guard get instead magically grafted to the balled fist.

He still managed to summon a sword that has the blade always face the fourth wall, so that's got to count for something.

I skimmed the SA thread to see their reaction and someone brought up a good point: the only rule we've seen in psychoplanes is that powerful seers like Dom can be whatever they've can strongly fantasise. Except now he's up against Celesto, also a powerful seer, who once fantasised about being able to burn the entire world. I guess Celesto is just that stupid.

Edit for below: What surprises me the most is Mookie can rattle off the complete list of Dominic transformations and still thinks this is a great climax for an arc.

[Palmer]

Let the smugging, begin!

With bonus Mookie newspost in every box!

And so Dominic continues his psychoplanar transformations. If these keep up I could start an action figure line. Champion of Balance Dominic! Mighty Dominic! Black Magic Dominic! Destroyer Mask Dominic! And introducing new Swordsman Dominic!

It is almost impossible (for me) to come up with a sword design for something an oracle would wield without it looking like the freaking Sword of Omens. The hilt is the only place a crystal ball looks good, and once you put it there... you get something that looks like the Sword of Omens. Oh well.

Don't forget that the summer sale continues in the SEER'S CATALOG until the end of August!

That's all from me for now.
Rock on.

Imagination is hard.

[Zaq]

Champion of Balance Dominic! Mighty Dominic! Black Magic Dominic! Destroyer Mask Dominic! And introducing new Swordsman Dominic!

. . . They fight crime.

[Kageru]

Champion of Balance Dominic! Mighty Dominic! Black Magic Dominic! Destroyer Mask Dominic! And introducing new Swordsman Dominic!

Calling it now: Somehow in the last fight against the king he will either combine all forms in a single one or dominics mind self will be split again only that this time every part turns into one of his superforms.

[Castel]

So he could will clothing at any time but just chose not to?

Also, I am too naive. To think that way back when Scarlatti said Dominic looked good holding a sword, I actually thought that Dominic would never engage in a swordfight, and Mookie'd just taken advantage of that time to draw Dominic striking a pose with a sword. How foolish I was.

Edit:

It appears that in the mindscape (or whatever it's called) confidence and emotions translate to strength.
But despite once thinking that he is a swordman, Dominic KNOWS that his actual skill sucks, so he shouldn't have confidence in his skill with the sword.

Hey, if the man can convince himself he's a lobster, he can convince himself he's a competent swordsman.

[T-O-E]

If Dom ends up still being awful with a sword, I might forgive this.

It won't though.

[random11]

So he could will clothing at any time but just chose not to?

Until now, he was next to a kid, so he didn't need cloths.
Wait... that sounds bad...

Anyway, as long as we don't see Dominic sword-fight while being naked, I don't care what the reason is, I'm just happy that my sanity is saved for now.

[Turcano]

This is worse than beam spam.

Remember the First Law of DD Snarkery: "No matter how low you set the bar, Mookie will always find a way to disappoint you."

[Trazoi]

Remember the First Law of DD Snarkery: "No matter how low you set the bar, Mookie will always find a way to disappoint you."

We buried the bar, so Dominic dug it up and turned it into Thundercats' Sword of Omens.

[Bobikus]

Yeah this managed to be even worse than anything I was predicting, and I didn't even think there WAS a bar anymore.

[Johnny Blade]

I remember when Dominic needed some kind of outside help to actually gain additional power in the psychoplanes. Back then, he couldn't just remember what a delusional wannabe he used to be when he was a teenager and somehow be empowered by the thought. It was either magic steroids or putting on the lobster mask.
The events of those days seem so reasonable now...



On that note:

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[rocketpony]

I guess this clarifies how all of Dominic's psychoplanar powerups work? You had to think you were something once, and then you can be it.
SO as a child, fantasized about being He-Man? He-Dom.
Being Super Sonic? Hedgehog Dom.
Pretending to be Lobster Cop? Actually Lobster Cop.
Once briefly entertained the notion that somehow talent with a sword is something that you're born with, and not something that you train exhaustively for? Leather sleeveless vest ahoy!

Bonus: I really like the seventh panel, you guys. I really like the seventh panel. Dominic with this ridiculous smug smirk, and Szark with his look of complete boredom. I imagine this is what Dominic's entire puberty was, just those faces in various settings.

[Johnny Blade]

Bonus: I really like the seventh panel, you guys. I really like the seventh panel. Dominic with this ridiculous smug smirk, and Szark with his look of complete boredom. I imagine this is what Dominic's entire puberty was, just those faces in various settings.

This is almost certainly what happened ten seconds before this comic's last panel.

[Lillith]

For *headdesk* goodness *headdesk* sakes *headdesk* will *headdesk* the *headdesk* idiocracy *headdesk* never *headdesk* stop? *headdesk*

Great now I have a headache. And it wasn't from the desk.

[guttering flame]

It would have been hilarious if DD didn't actually take itself seriously.

[Glass Mouse]

Bwahahahahaha!!!

Oh god--

Hahahahahahahahahah hahahaha hahaha hahaahahahaha!!!

This is PRECIOUS!

[Oracle_Hunter]

So... what the heck was up with KARNAK! ?

If Dominic is capable of (mostly) Unlimited Mental Powers because of his ability to fantasize, how could a man who dreamed he would one day become King of Hell not beat him?

I agree with Trazoi that Celesto should just win here judging by the rules of Psychomindscapes as we know them were it not for Rule Zero: Dominic Always Wins

[Zaq]

I agree with Trazoi that Celesto should just win here judging by the rules of Psychomindscapes as we know them were it not for Rule Zero: Dominic Always Wins

Ah, but you forget . . . Celesto doesn't have wicked bitchin' shades! Ow, that kind of hurt.

[Mr. McGician]

Yes! I knew it! Another square for me!

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Top left: A problem is solved off-screen with no explanation given.
Top center: Mookie takes one of his own metaphors too literally.
Top right: Chance and Heliner have to work together.
Center left: The King has a plan that’s at least as stupid as Celesto’s.
Center: Spark does something vaguely useful.
Center right: Lobster Dom shows up again.
Bottom left: Mookie creates a Voodoo Shark when trying to patch up a plot hole.
Bottom center: Dominic has to use a sword for some reason.
Bottom right: A strip brings up a problem that was just pointed out in one of the forums.

Mookie just has to do what he's already been doing one more time, and I have a Bingo!

[Garland]

This update has blown my boogeyman. I can't think anything to say about this... I will say this much at least: he could have conjured clothes at any time.

He could have conjured clothes at any time.

He could have conjured clothes at any time.

He cOuld hAVe conJured clothes at any time.

He cOuld hAVe conJured clothes at any time.

[BlackDragonKing]

...So I'm in the minority that I thought that was way better than anything I was expecting Dominic to do today? I always feel so out of place in this thread.

Yes, it's more Dominic saving the day with psychic cosplay, but given that the typical form of active criticism for Dominic's problem-solving is always "Oh, look, he's going to beamspam ", followed by "Oh, he didn't beam spam, but I hate this anyway ", it wasn't going to be well-received no matter WHAT he did.

Compared to nearly every other solution Dominic's pulled off when doing fights in the psychoplanes, this one is much better than most of the things he could have done.

As for why Celesto isn't using psychic cosplay the way Dominic is, well, he's using it to mimic an eldritch abomination, and at the moment dealing with that thing and DJ Callan is higher on Celesto's list of priorities than world-burning, that's all.

Honestly, you guys would've preferred boring ol' beam spam that you would have hated anyway to this? Thematic transformations are at least 20% cooler than beam spam any day.

[Dandria]

I know it's old, but this is realy upsetting me as of right now:

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"Some orcs say the same about our views of light and darkness"

"Light will always fight against the darkness!"


Why? I mean, if light and darkness are not part of their sistem of belief, then why the hell are their bigwits using them to talk about their good magic, bad magic? Shouldn't they talk about fire and ice?

[Glass Mouse]

...So I'm in the minority that I thought that was way better than anything I was expecting Dominic to do today? I always feel so out of place in this thread.

Oh no, I'm with you. Granted, in a mostly ironic way, but this update is pretty much gold compared to anything else that could've happened!

I love how it ties into previously established stuff while still being a shining Mookie Shark. It fits thematically, but it still feels nonsensical. And Dom looks... so... dorky. What's not to love?

[Kizor]

Why? I mean, if light and darkness are not part of their sistem of belief, then why the hell are their bigwits using them to talk about their good magic, bad magic? Shouldn't they talk about fire and ice?

That actually seems reasonable. Orcs don't use light and darkness as shorthand for good and evil, but for a good reason - they're visible characteristics of the two supernatural forces that control their lives. Bikta Chief shouldn't be talking about ice because he isn't (just) going on about how good he is, he's making a statement about the nature of the Akta.

[Dandria]

That actually seems reasonable. Orcs don't use light and darkness as shorthand for good and evil, but for a good reason - they're visible characteristics of the two supernatural forces that control their lives. Bikta Chief shouldn't be talking about ice because he isn't (just) going on about how good he is, he's making a statement about the nature of the Akta.

But if they ARE visible characterstics of the forces that control their lives, then why do "some orcs say the same about our views of light and darkness"? For them that shouldn't be an odd thing to base a faith on.

And since the chief does truly believes that "Akta is good and Nakta is bad" (and he keeps going on and on and on about it, dammit!), then why he's not using their own dicotonomy about holy and unholy instead than just saying: "my magic sparkles, yours does not"?

[Traab]

Ill give this to mookie, he is REALLY good at coming up with something I dont expect. I was so psyched! I saw the DOME OF DESTRUCTION forming in the last comic, and then he threw a curveball at us. Now he turned into FRICKING AURON!

[ninja_penguin]

FRICKING AURON!

Eh, I feel like that's a stretch. the only thing that really comes close is just the glasses.