Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire

[Tekraen]

Well, I have for a long time been maintaining the theory that the entire comic is, in fact, just a wish-fantasy in the mind of a broken and mad homeless guy, dying in the gutter of some dark backstreet in Lynn's Brook, wherein he pictures himself how a life might have looked like in which he had some importance (i.e. everything revolves around him), he still has a family (Greg, Miranda, Donovan) and a girlfriend (Luna), and wherein he is a hero saving the world. That's why all of them are so perfect and immaculate, and why he is so incredibly Awesome. All the tragic stuff happening, where he fails to succeed, is how his subconciousness depicts the bitter reality slowly seeping through into his mind as the hour of his ultimate demise draws closer.
All the Lovecraftian nonsense of the past few arcs? His fever is rising...

And, yes, today's strip is not so much bad per se as it is utterly redundant (which is bad, but could be worse).

I have just the guy.

[Turcano]

I was thrown off by the third panel myself as well. It took me another look at the comic to realize who it was. It's probably due to lack of anything going on that I just skimmed it.

Don't feel bad. It's almost impossible to differentiate characters of the same species, sex, race and hair color without context. Mookie's art is special like that.

I don't even know what they need to talk about. Dominic was angry at a guy and made a scene, Luna didn't like that he made a scene, Dominic didn't like that she didn't like that he made a scene. That should have been the end of that, as in the next day. Healthy people don't continue being upset over such things into the next day. Sleep should have taken care of that problem.

The next argument was the same. Arguments over stupid things like that happen all the time in a relationship. Nobody has to sit down and 'talk it out.'

The third argument was contrived, because they didn't need to 'talk about it.' Again, just waiting for the next day would have made them forget about it anyways. Why Dominic can't tell Luna why he is tapping stones is beyond me. There is no way that he has to do it out in the open, apparently right in front of Luna. The first time she could have sought him out, but the fact that it happened again suggest that it's on a foot-path or something that they commonly use.

Normal people would forget about this crap in a day. At most there would be awkwardness the next, but since neither one was being venomous about it there is no reason to hold a grudge.

If I had the option of assuming that a competent writer was writing this, I would take this as a sign that the relationship is in dire straits. In real life, couples whose relationship is in real trouble fight over the stupidest things; this is because there are a lot of unresolved issues, which is what they're really fighting about. One of the signs of this is bringing up stuff that's completely irrelevant to both the situation at hand and what initially triggered the hostilities (like the "puppet-master" crack). So if anyone else was writing this, I would predict an imminent break-up.

[Khosan]

If I had the option of assuming that a competent writer was writing this, I would take this as a sign that the relationship is in dire straits. In real life, couples whose relationship is in real trouble fight over the stupidest things; this is because there are a lot of unresolved issues, which is what they're really fighting about. One of the signs of this is bringing up stuff that's completely irrelevant to both the situation at hand and what initially triggered the hostilities (like the "puppet-master" crack). So if anyone else was writing this, I would predict an imminent break-up.

Dominic Sue is half of Mookie's self-insertion though, so I imagine about a year after the fact he's illustrating his break-up with his girlfriend.

[Mewtarthio]

I have just the guy.

I... I don't get it. Is that comic supposed to be a joke? Am I missing some sort of context?

[sihnfahl]

I... I don't get it. Is that comic supposed to be a joke? Am I missing some sort of context?

That was the VGCats in-comic death of Dr. Hobo.

[Mewtarthio]

That was the VGCats in-comic death of Dr. Hobo.

I... I don't get it. Is that comic supposed to be a joke? Am I missing some sort of context?

[NEO|Phyte]

I... I don't get it. Is that comic supposed to be a joke? Am I missing some sort of context?

I don't know if Dr. Hobo ever had context to miss.

[Turcano]

Dominic Sue is half of Mookie's self-insertion though, so I imagine about a year after the fact he's illustrating his break-up with his girlfriend.

That would make his holiday ad a little strange.

[Gez]

It came form another book?

That's pretty close to the plot in "An Occurrence at Owl's Creek Bridge." (It's a short story which you can easily find on the web, as it's in the public domain now.)

[rubakhin]

I love that Dominic's reaction to being called a smug jerk is "Hey, it's not my fault I know more than everybody else does!"

[Heliomance]

Can I ask something? All you people that hate DD so much, and loudly decry it in the streets - why do you continue reading it? You could, y'know, just sorta delete it from your bookmarks.

[rubakhin]

Honestly? I get more entertainment out of all the snark than I would probably get from Dominic Deegan if it were a good strip.

Also, it's interesting to read as a writer. For the same reason why in writing groups you're encouraged to listen to the critiques directed at other members as well. You learn a lot whenever you see the flaws in a work of fiction being dissected like this. You get a better feel for what works, what doesn't, and why.

[Chronicled]

Honestly? I get more entertainment out of all the snark than I would probably get from Dominic Deegan if it were a good strip.

Also, it's interesting to read as a writer. For the same reason why in writing groups you're encouraged to listen to the critiques directed at other members as well. You learn a lot whenever you see the flaws in a work of fiction being dissected like this. You get a better feel for what works, what doesn't, and why.

Quoted for Truth.

[Karellen]

Gee, I wonder how they managed to deal with these irreconcilable personal differences without having a single argument up until like, a week ago.

[Jerthanis]

So as much as I want to deride this story arc and how it's playing out, and nitpick at how one or another thing is wrong or unbelievable... I keep coming back to the Milov/Jayden breakup, and thinking about how much more believable and how much better written this one is so far. If I hadn't just seen that travesty of a mental abortion of a storyline, I'd say this is bad writing, and that the relationship isn't ending over believable conflicts... but looking at it with eyes and soul scarred by the Milov/Jayden arc, I can't honestly say I'm NOT enjoying this arc more.

Which makes me wonder... is this some sick game? Did Michael Terracciano purposefully write the whole Winter Archipelago storyline so mind-searingly bad just so the next arc would seem better by comparison? Did he realize that his writing was terrible, so the only way to get us to buy an emotional breakup of two main characters was to first throw enough garbage in the form of writing in piles so large our vision was obscured and distorted? A breakup so poorly written that the most basic, broad strokes of "We've grown apart/we annoy each other" would be considered sufficient in comparison? If so, I'm very sad.

I'm Spiderman.

With the proportional ability to tell between Dominic Deegan characters of a spider! (Spiders are really good at it... ask anyone)

[Winterwind]

Can I ask something? All you people that hate DD so much, and loudly decry it in the streets - why do you continue reading it? You could, y'know, just sorta delete it from your bookmarks.

Most (all?) of us used to enjoy reading DD and, when it went bad, stayed in the hope it might recover. Meanwhile, we kept discussing the comic, which invariably ended in mocking its failings. Over time, we found that mocking the comic is far more funny and enjoyable than the comic ever was even before its great fall. I presume you did not read this thread, else you would have noticed what this thread has spawned. There were many sides long parodies of Dominic's over-manipulativeness comparing the comic to 1984. There were parodies on his Mary Sue'ness, drawing an analogy to the Inquisition. There were such things as the Encyclopaedia Dominica, or just utterly bizarre and mind-blowing stories and explanations for the comic's logical fallacies. The strip slay thread, undeniably funny, is just the other side of the same coin, where this thread is the other - more of the same parody, except now in words, not in images.
Delete it from our bookmarks? Are you freakin' kidding me? Why the hell would we want to block ourselves from the fun which is this thread?

So as much as I want to deride this story arc and how it's playing out, and nitpick at how one or another thing is wrong or unbelievable... I keep coming back to the Milov/Jayden breakup, and thinking about how much more believable and how much better written this one is so far. If I hadn't just seen that travesty of a mental abortion of a storyline, I'd say this is bad writing, and that the relationship isn't ending over believable conflicts... but looking at it with eyes and soul scarred by the Milov/Jayden arc, I can't honestly say I'm NOT enjoying this arc more. [...]

Quite frankly, I consider this one to be much worse written than the Milov/Jayden breakup. In both cases the flaws in the relationship were not apparent until the break-up, but in the M/J case this was natural - it's normal that an affair would be unknown, so it's fine that we learned of it at the same time as the characters, which lead to the immediate break-up. Also, Milov's and Jayden's hurt silence was much preferable to this juvenile bickering. And no, this is not the same as in a broken marriage where the people argue about every detail, because it started just a few strips ago - before that, we never saw Dominic and Luna having any issues with each other whatsoever - and also, because Luna is 100% right here. Just look at today's strip and read their respective accusations. Luna's are so spot on that they might have been taken straight out of this thread. Dominic's answers? Well, for starters, what is the relation between having uncontrollable visions and acting smug? Just because he knows more than others doesn't mean he has to act like he's better than them, or keep the knowledge learnt secret from them - he could just as well simply and humbly share his knowledge! Or his accusations of how Luna breaks down over any small fault of hers - just look when that happened the last two times. The last was at the end of the Milov/Jayden arc. The one before? The one before was way back during the Storm of Souls arc! How is this supposedly blowing her faults out of proportion?!
No, they are just argueing because they are being forced to by Mookie, not out of their own characters, and at least on Dominic's part all his arguments are utter BS. Milov and Jayden at least had Jayden's affair with Siggy as believable reason for their break-up. Dominic and Luna are just breaking up out of the blue. This is horrible writing.

(Note, I doubt they will break up - I rather suppose that, after spending this arc apart, something will happen that will drive them back together)

[AmberVael]

Amazing, I was wrong and they didn't have a nice magical talk.
On the other hand, the comic still shows all the depth of a wading pool.
Maybe I'd cut Mookie some slack if I knew he had no possible experience in this sort of thing, but I know for a fact he does. That perspective makes me wonder if:
1) Mookie has no earthly idea as to how to convey emotions and events, but has a good grasp on WHAT he's trying to portray.
2) Mookie's girlfriend broke up with him because he was immature and mentally deficient.

I'm afraid cynicism leads me to believe that it is more likely the latter.

[Arakune]

Amazing, I was wrong and they didn't have a nice magical talk.
On the other hand, the comic still shows all the depth of a wading pool.
Maybe I'd cut Mookie some slack if I knew he had no possible experience in this sort of thing, but I know for a fact he does. That perspective makes me wonder if:
1) Mookie has no earthly idea as to how to convey emotions and events, but has a good grasp on WHAT he's trying to portray.
2) Mookie's girlfriend broke up with him because he was immature and mentally deficient.

I'm afraid cynicism common sense leads me to believe that it is more likely the latter.

Fixed for you

[Winterwind]

Well... I don't want to make it seem like a personal attack on Mookie, and I don't know him personally, so my opinion is worth little here, but judging from his writing (both the comic and the blogs) and his treatment of criticism, I share this suspicion.

[Tekraen]

I... I don't get it. Is that comic supposed to be a joke? Am I missing some sort of context?

Well, if you look at this, and think that the world of Dominic Deegan could be going on in his head...

...Well it sorta fits, don't it?

[Friv]

Can I ask something? All you people that hate DD so much, and loudly decry it in the streets - why do you continue reading it? You could, y'know, just sorta delete it from your bookmarks.

I take it you've never watched Mystery Science Theatre 3000.


Basically, train wrecks are funny. For all the wrong reasons, mind you, but they're entertaining.

[sihnfahl]

2) Mookie's girlfriend broke up with him because he was immature and mentally deficient.

I'm afraid cynicism leads me to believe that it is more likely the latter.

I'm leaning more towards immaturity than mental deficiency. He does seem to have knowledge of multiple subjects, but a rather simplistic view on them. So while he has knowledge, it's not tempered by perspective or experience.

There are no greys in DDverse; it's all black and white. A person is either acting all good, or acting all bad. There's no in between. That's a childlike optimism and classification of people.

If this is a reflection of his experience with his ex, then that could explain why she left him - he let things build up, believing that if she wasn't saying anything was wrong, the relationship was fine - until all the issues she had blew up.

Heck, I remember a journal entry of his where he said that when she came back to pick up the stuff she left behind, that he couldn't talk to her. He wanted to, he just couldn't bring himself to...

[TiamatRoar]

Luna's and Dominic's observations of each other are very true. Dominic is an annoying smug jerk ass who thinks he's better than everyone else, and Lunia is a stupidly whiny girl who has to whine about everything and be depressed about the stupidest things.

Now if only this wasn't so retardedly out of character for them to say that and feel that way to each other. Because as everyone else has stated, the two have NEVER had an argument or any remote indication about this crap whatsoever FOR ALL OF THE ENTIRE WEBCOMIC'S LIFE until now. What the hell?

[Mewtarthio]

I actually do like this arc better than "Shadow of Seigfried." SoS was painful to look at. This is hilarious:

"You're such a smug know-it-all, Dominic!"
"Oh, yeah? Well you're constantly upset and have low self-esteem!"
"...My mother tried to get me to commit suicide. My ex-lover helped her. I'm covered in emotional scars and have had a life-long battle with depression!"
"And I just really do know everything! I can't help it if I'm inherently superior to everyone else!"

[Jerthanis]

Quite frankly, I consider this one to be much worse written than the Milov/Jayden breakup. In both cases the flaws in the relationship were not apparent until the break-up, but in the M/J case this was natural - it's normal that an affair would be unknown, so it's fine that we learned of it at the same time as the characters, which lead to the immediate break-up. Also, Milov's and Jayden's hurt silence was much preferable to this juvenile bickering. And no, this is not the same as in a broken marriage where the people argue about every detail, because it started just a few strips ago - before that, we never saw Dominic and Luna having any issues with each other whatsoever -

Perhaps I'm giving it the benefit because seemingly out of nowhere, two of my best friends, who are in a relationship, became "On the rocks" just recently, and it wasn't a slow climax of bickering, it was a process of them failing to appreciate the other's sacrifices and quietly holding it in. Finally at the end they started arguing constantly, which was awkward for me at the least, and they'd claim to be communicating with one another, and having healthy adult discussions, but they were just using the guise of "communication" to insult one another. Eventually they worked it out.

So that's the light I'm reading this with, so excuse me if I find it more realistic that 3-4 comics is enough buildup for semi-serious relationship trouble, because ret-conning in a series of quiet sacrifices and misunderstandings that each of them made and felt resentment about is much more believable, and IMHO, way less of a character derailment than Jayden getting shoehorned into an affair, and Milov going Super-Spellwolf-jinn-4 over it. Not that Milov and Jayden have identifiable characters or motivations or anything...

Relationships and relationship troubles are, in my experience, built on large degrees of subtlety. Affairs are not subtle, but neither is Mookie's writing. However, like Superman 3, I can write my own script as I'm watching which is much better with a few tweaks to perception and delivery. The Milov/Jayden breakup I couldn't buy because I couldn't buy that any of it actually happened, and because it was practically stated right out that they just needed a good talk to clear the air. With Dominic/Luna, they try to talk, but let themselves get in their way.

I'd also like to say that Webcomicing is kind of punishing to the format Mookie publishes with, and to the non-perfect writer. If you've ever written anything, you know 100% of your best writing comes after a series of major edits and revisions, from the change of word choice to the changing/removing of entire characters by the end. With webcomicing, you put something up, and you can't edit it, can't change what you've put out, and if you forgot to include a small detail, or left messy dialogue then you're screwed. Maybe he would've been more subtle and taken a different tack with yesterday's comic, but he did what he did and he can't change it now. Maybe he meant for Dominic and Luna to be having very minor and subtle problems throughout the WA arch, but Mookie kept not being able to find places to stick it, and as the climax approached, plumb forgot. It's entirely believable.

[Tekraen]

Luna's and Dominic's observations of each other are very true. Dominic is an annoying smug jerk ass who thinks he's better than everyone else, and Lunia is a stupidly whiny girl who has to whine about everything and be depressed about the stupidest things.

Now if only this wasn't so retardedly out of character for them to say that and feel that way to each other. Because as everyone else has stated, the two have NEVER had an argument or any remote indication about this crap whatsoever FOR ALL OF THE ENTIRE WEBCOMIC'S LIFE until now. What the hell?

If I had to guess, influence from Hell is causing them to bicker.

I do find it funny that today's strip reflects what we've been saying about them both for some time. It's unfortunate that Mookie's going to hamfist the presentation, but at least the gossamer isn't hiding the cracks anymore.

[averagejoe]

Can I ask something? All you people that hate DD so much, and loudly decry it in the streets - why do you continue reading it? You could, y'know, just sorta delete it from your bookmarks.

If I could appreciate this thread, and strip slays, without reading the strip, I probably would. I've tried to quit several times, but these guys keep drawing me back!

I'd also like to say that Webcomicing is kind of punishing to the format Mookie publishes with, and to the non-perfect writer. If you've ever written anything, you know 100% of your best writing comes after a series of major edits and revisions, from the change of word choice to the changing/removing of entire characters by the end. With webcomicing, you put something up, and you can't edit it, can't change what you've put out, and if you forgot to include a small detail, or left messy dialogue then you're screwed. Maybe he would've been more subtle and taken a different tack with yesterday's comic, but he did what he did and he can't change it now. Maybe he meant for Dominic and Luna to be having very minor and subtle problems throughout the WA arch, but Mookie kept not being able to find places to stick it, and as the climax approached, plumb forgot. It's entirely believable.

Well, he always could try, like, not just doing them real quick the day he's supposed to post them. Or, like, writing scripts or something. Using some form of planning ahead besides just taking characters/events mentioned in passing two years ago and building story arcs around them.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Gosh, has it been 200 posts already since our last "if you hate it, why do you read it" post?

I mean no harm, of course, but maybe - if we restart this thread later - we can post an FAQ on the first page. Y'know, a kind of code of snark? It'd be right after the Arc-Slays and the Encyclopedia Dominicia.

As to this mini-arc:
Mookie gets a thumbs up for attempting to add depth to his main characters, particularly by using issues that already existed (Dom's Marty Stu-ness and Luna's lightswitch depression) rather than making something up on the fly (Jayden's super-secret affair with Siggy).

However, he still gets a thumbs down for being unable to execute drama effectively. Between the bizarre flash points* and the art which does little to enhance the drama, the whole thing feels very narm-ful. This exact same problem occurred when Milov & Jayden reacted to Siggy's death - one panel of sad and that was it.

*
Luna: How dare you take world-threatening visions seriously!
Dom: How are you be depressed when I've done nothing to actually treat the underlying psychological issues that caused your depression, even though that was kind of the point of our relationship!)

[Kurald Galain]

Of course, we all know that Lord Dominus isn't really angry, but is faking it (ten ranks in acting skill, yadda yadda yadda) because he has foreseen that the next time Luna meets an incorrigible evil person, she will miscast a spell that will cause that evil to die, unless she is really angry at someone first. And of course evilness has to be offed by bad karma, not by a First Caste person. After she finds out that Dom has manipulated her into not killing somebody she hated, she will of course beg for forgiveness Jayden-style, and we get some saucy make-up sex.

In completely unrelated news, my new book "How to write a better story than a certain webcomic artist" is now for sale! Donate here to get your own copy.

[Turcano]

If I could appreciate this thread, and strip slays, without reading the strip, I probably would. I've tried to quit several times, but these guys keep drawing me back!

We are the Bad Peer Pressure Gang. You can stop engaging in unpleasant activities when we say you can.

Edit: Dominic fell down! Oe noes!