Dominic Deegan, Mk. XLVII: A Flat World From Recycled Scrap

[AgentofOdd]

I know Mookie solves his protagonist's problems by re-writing the world and this is a particularly bad case (there's absolutely no reason for Miranda to have put in a secret entrance). But bad enough as that is, I think what gets me more is the plan is just "gather up the most powerful characters and throw them at Dave". Like Dave couldn't have possibly foreseen a response by the Maestro or the Quiral mages or even the Eld.

Since everyone in Mookie's universe shares his views on what is cool, it's probably safe to assume Miranda built a secret entrance simply because the thought of an ancient fortress of knowledge with a secret point of entrance was just too awesome to pass up. Also, since there's many paths to knowledge it's all poetic and stuff (at least one assumes for Mookie).

[Johnny Blade]

"We can assault the sanctum from a secret entrance that David doesn't know about!"

...Seriously, this is starting to sound like bad fanfiction.

I seriously laughed my way through that update.

Their plan honestly is to go through a secret entrance and then it's pew pew laser time.
And let's just pretend for a moment that this is really the great showdown here, because really, it might as well be - or it might not, I've given up any attempts to try and decipher how Mookie operates.
Anyway, if it is...I will have no words. Only laughter.

Have some great battle outside as a distraction, and another battle inside, and that's it. No actual planning, or calling in Team Deegan's honorary members to use their individual strengths to beat a vastly superior enemy, no, straight up battle royale.


And this isn't even the only highly Mookie thing in this update. For some reason, Luna considers it a big deal who'll wear Ara's cloak, and of course she's right, because it is an inexhaustible ****ing wellspring of plot powers.
(Nimmel looks like he finds this about as convincing as I do in the last panel, which means not all that much.)

[Cavelcade]

I think this is the best I Love Dominque I've ever read. That's something, at least, right!?

This update is bad, Mookie, and you should feel bad. >:(


Edit: He had the other archmages mind controlled long before then. Did they also not know about it??????

[T-O-E]

This might be the worst written Deegan strip. So basically the worst earnest piece of fiction.

Donovan is a genuine sociopath.

I should have probably waited to suggest A Tark of the Klones as a thread title. We all knew it was coming.

Expect to see every Deegan-aligned character fight against the king, plus for minor characters like Punchy to return and get ruined. And that Baron von Burglary guy (traitor?) There will be so many "linky reminders."

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Expect to see every Deegan-aligned character fight against the king, plus for minor characters like Punchy to return and get ruined. And that Baron von Burglary guy (traitor?) There will be so many "linky reminders."

King DJ getting punched in the balls is a thing that could just about realistically happen. Don't abandon hope yet.

[T-O-E]

Right in the eyeballs.

[Traab]

I just wanted to throw my hat into the, "This is stupid" ring as well. Seriously, why would miranda install her own secret entrance into the magi sanctum? She has a key to the front door, its not like she ever expected to be barred from going there. Not only that, but thats the kind of thing that would piss me off personally. "Hey, thanks for letting me join. Please ignore the construction crews doing work on your house, its nothing important, really"

Of course, it also brings to mind the question of, if miranda made her own secret entrance just because, how about the rest of the mages? The entire frigging sanctum is likely only standing because of magic since the entire foundation has been undermined by dozens of secret entrances over the years. You cant lean against a wall ANYWHERE without falling into a hidden entrance way. Dont touch the artwork, because 75% of it will trigger another bit of wall panel to open up. The other 25% are secret self destruct triggers.

Back to the secret entrance thing. Why would miranda do it? She is allowed to go there whenever she likes. Should she get booted out for some reason, sneaking into the meeting place for the strongest archmagi of a half dozen dimensions seems like a bad idea. There is literally no other reason to place a secret entrance in this place other than, "Just in case evil terrorists take over the nakatomi plaza and I have to sneak in for an ambush to defeat the bad guys."

[Wraith]

... really? A secret entrance? The target area is only two meters wide. It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system.

Remind us, Miranda; how many Boffins died to bring you this information?

Oh, and one other thing? KING DAVID IS A SEER OR THE HIGHEST ORDER JUST BENEATH DOMINIC!!! WHY ARE YOU ASSUMING THAT HE DOESN'T KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT EVERYTHING!?!?!

Please, Mookie; stop making your major antagonist into a moron. It doesn't make your heroes look uber-competent, it just makes resolving the story tedious. Plot devices shouldn't just drop into protagonist's hands one after another like rain. Hidden entrances don't work like that. And so help you if this comic ends with someone beam-spamming Snuggly's "Hidden Weak Spot".

[Substitution]

So what does everyone think he should do instead?

[Squark]

Remind us, Miranda; how many Boffins died to bring you this information?

Oh, and one other thing? KING DAVID IS A SEER OR THE HIGHEST ORDER JUST BENEATH DOMINIC!!! WHY ARE YOU ASSUMING THAT HE DOESN'T KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT EVERYTHING!?!?!

Please, Mookie; stop making your major antagonist into a moron. It doesn't make your heroes look uber-competent, it just makes resolving the story tedious. Plot devices shouldn't just drop into protagonist's hands one after another like rain. Hidden entrances don't work like that. And so help you if this comic ends with someone beam-spamming Snuggly's "Hidden Weak Spot".

The King has never been a seer. We have always been at war with Eurasia Maltak.


I can't believe I still find this joke funny.

[Cavelcade]

So what does everyone think he should do instead?

Off the top of my head, here is a minor alteration to make this better:

"Have all our friends put on a big distracting battle on outside while we magically tunnel into the sanctum."



I'm sure I could come up with as many other ways to make it better as you could like, but seriously, this is just too ridiculous to do anything but laugh.

[Wraith]

So what does everyone think he should do instead?

Would it be too much to hope that they desperately have to find Celesto again, since 1) he is a seer equal in power to Dominic and they need to know King DJ's plans, and 2) he knows how to breach the Wards around the palace, which suggests that he can do the same to the Sanctum so that Miranda can teleport inside?

Y'know... Using an established ability to solve a problem and create tension by forcing Miranda to negotiate with Celesto for her son's safety, rather than pulling something new and improbable out of thin air?

[AgentofOdd]

So what does everyone think he should do instead?

The Aug 22 strip mentioned that Dave unnaturally tethered the Heart of Magic to Callan. Instead of focusing on fighting Dave who is (in theory) a superior foe, I'm thinking it'll be more logical to focus on undoing Dave's work and help the Magic establish it's link to the orcish lands. THEN you can rally the forces of light and have the requisite battle of the beam spams.

[Mr. McGician]

See, guys, this is why you always post a link to the comic before discussing it. I didn't get to laugh at the terrible writing because I had it spoiled ahead of time

Regarding the strip, this is just about the worst possible ultimate climax for this comic: Just a bigger version of the generic, boring, confusing lazerfights that Mookie's already been drawing. How about having them try to sneak in quietly?

The only thing that might be worse is having Dominic solve everything with nonsensical lobstermask magibabble. But at least then the comic might end quickly. And this upcoming battle royale just makes Dominic's surrender even more stupid and pointless.

[MReav]

Quick question: do the other archmages know about this entrance?

If they do, wouldn't it be a concern that DJ knows about it since he's spent the last while mind-controlling them?

If they don't, how did she build it without them noticing?

[Oracle_Hunter]

Quick question: do the other archmages know about this entrance?

If they do, wouldn't it be a concern that DJ knows about it since he's spent the last while mind-controlling them?

If they don't, how did she build it without them noticing?

DJ obviously just sent the Archmagi on fetch-quests as soon as he Assumed Control. I mean, why bother asking the most-powerful wizards in the multiverse about what's been going on since you last rapped with them?

[PhantomFox]

Honestly, I would have gone with that the secret passage is DJ's, and that he didn't know that Miranda knew about it. Because what use is a stronghold for an evil overlord if you don't have a secret escape route to flew through while taunting the heroes?

[Traab]

Honestly, I would have gone with that the secret passage is DJ's, and that he didn't know that Miranda knew about it. Because what use is a stronghold for an evil overlord if you don't have a secret escape route to flew through while taunting the heroes?

Yeah, if miranda FOUND a secret entrance/escape tunnel, that would have made more sense. She could say something like, "Considering its condition, I dont think anyone has entered it in over a hundred years. Its doubtful the king knows about it." Spin us a small flashback tale of how she was wandering the furthest corners of the sanctum and she stumbled across it in a one in a million chance discovery, blah blah blah. The odds that dj knows about it would be about the same as her having built the damn thing, and it would make way more sense than, "Well, I was bored, the mantis mage hadnt shown up yet, so i figured, why not? And went and built a secret entrance to the place for the hell of it."

[Welf]

You know what would have been awesome? Some foreshadowing. This grand finale has been in the making for several, something decisive like a secret escape tunnel should have been mentioned far in advance.

Fanon time:
My suggestion for a reason: How about it wasn't supposed to be a secret path, but a special way to get faster to her home dimension? And since it was just something for herself, she never bothered to tell her colleagues.

Also: this is sad. Mookie once more squandered an opportunity.

DJ is a seer. They need a distraction. Dominic is a seer. Seers can distract other seers.
A few weeks ago Dominic offered himself for no real reason without accomplishing anything.

Put these two together, and you have a reasonable finale.

[random11]

So what does everyone think he should do instead?

Others wrote some nice suggestions, but this might fix the little funny thing that came out today, not the serious problems that we have from this scene.

This entire part of the story makes me think of the movie "Memento", where the plot kept going backwards.
First Dominic surrenders to protect his friends, then he remembers about his friends and decides to fight instead, after that the main party gathers to think of a plan, which is basically "storm the castle".

The only thing Mookie can do to fix the plot, is to invent a time machine, go back in time and re-do at least part of the plot.

Not only Dominic and Luna completely forgot Miranda until he was gone (and Luna had the nerve to be angry), they also neglected to mention any of the resources mentioned today as an alternative to Dominic's "plan" to give up and give the king exactly what he wants.

Nimmel is probably the worst in the gang.
NOW he remembers that he can contact an entire race of creatures on spaceships?! HE WAS RIGHT THERE WHEN DOMINIC SURRENDERED!

[Friv]

DJ is a seer. They need a distraction. Dominic is a seer. Seers can distract other seers.
A few weeks ago Dominic offered himself for no real reason without accomplishing anything.

Put these two together, and you have a reasonable finale.

Ah, but you forget. The king isn't a seer, because reasons.

[Welf]

Ah, but you forget. The king isn't a seer, because reasons.

Ah, I forgot that. Probably on purpose to protect myself.

[Traab]

No, he is an archmage, and to be an archmage requires, well read this The difference between dom and dj is that dom gets visions and has chosen to specialize in being a seer, while dj is like a general contractor, he knows enough about every field to do the job, but isnt an expert at everything.

[Oracle_Hunter]

No, he is an archmage, and to be an archmage requires, well read this The difference between dom and dj is that dom gets visions and has chosen to specialize in being a seer, while dj is like a general contractor, he knows enough about every field to do the job, but isnt an expert at everything.

Now now, those are the requirements for archmagi not Archmagi. They very well could be different entities entirely; if not, then Prento is as crazy as a college kid "studying to be President of the USA"

[Traab]

Now now, those are the requirements for archmagi not Archmagi. They very well could be different entities entirely; if not, then Prento is as crazy as a college kid "studying to be President of the USA"

Dont be hatin! Just because I think I may have spotted an actual bit of continuity instead of random words that only apply this month is no reason to find a reason im wrong!

[Trazoi]

So what does everyone think he should do instead?

Honestly the core ideas can be salvaged to some extent. The key issue is that Mookie has a big problem with pacing, and today's is one where he is blurting out info way too fast. I think today's strip could be fixed simply by making it all about the reveal of the secret passage. Make it a joke about how Miranda built it to smuggle in her collection of elf porn and Donovan in his banana hammock. Sure the tone would be weird but this is Dominic Deegan, that's a given.

The rest of the week could be building up the whole plan, one step at a time. Throw in some explanation and jokes. Yes, it would be a week of talking heads, but: a) that's necessary now the comic has dug itself into the current position, b) we're going to get those talking heads anyway, except with Eld and that pervert dragon talking about how awesome Deegans are and c) those Deegan praising talking heads will probably go for longer than one week.

[Valencia]

Would it be too much to hope that they desperately have to find Celesto again, since 1) he is a seer equal in power to Dominic and they need to know King DJ's plans, and 2) he knows how to breach the Wards around the palace, which suggests that he can do the same to the Sanctum so that Miranda can teleport inside?

Y'know... Using an established ability to solve a problem and create tension by forcing Miranda to negotiate with Celesto for her son's safety, rather than pulling something new and improbable out of thin air?

I happen to like this idea, since Celesto was important at one point but doesn't seem to be now. What we have here in the comic proper is... well, it hurts. It's reminding me why I stopped reading in the first place, but we're -almost- to the end... right?

[Trazoi]

Sneaky
Future

Literally everyone must be involved in the ending. There are no exceptions.

In I Love Dominique, Flight Commander Nimmel is ready for the mission.

Spoiler

Show

[Mr. McGician]

So the Eld will suddenly figure out how to return if some random guy tells them they can? And because you randomly ran into the Eld while you were wearing the cloak, it means you can use it to contact them? Good thinking, Nimmel!

[Oracle_Hunter]

Sneaky
Future

Literally everyone must be involved in the ending. There are no exceptions.

Wait... "trusted friends?" When did the Scoobies meet Katya?