Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire

[Oracle_Hunter]

And yes, I'm talking about Luna. But now I'm looking at you, people who couldn't figure it out. You know who you are.

::curses heartily::

Luna! Why didn't I think of her? I knew it couldn't be Dom, and it fits perfectly! Particularly the part that the Travoria family only produces girls who are evil, except for Luna - who should go by her mother's maiden name - Do'Urden

[rubakhin]

Okay, if this chick ends up being yet another female character who is related to Luna in some way, I will hitchhike to Mookie's house and throw constructive criticism through his window.

It's like Mookie thinks that women all come from the same commune or something. They don't live in hives, goddamn it.

Additionally: it cracks me up that the chick with the clipboard apparently did a blood analysis or something. Damn, he's not aiming anywhere near the pseudo fantasy world shtick anymore, is he? You are not worldbuilding if your universe's technology and attitudes are exactly the same as 21st century America, only with scry- or seer- or moon- in front of everything.

ETA: Although I will admit to liking how clipboard girl seems kinda ticked by Szark's inner monologue. It's cute. Wouldn't you get pissed if someone started staring into space in mute horror while you were trying to have a conversation?

[Chronicled]

Spoiler

Show

That is awesome.

Although the chance that I may subconsciously associate Mookie's excuse for art and story with the amazingness that is Ghost in the Shell fills me with a sort of dread.

[Turcano]

Okay, if this chick ends up being yet another female character who is related to Luna in some way, I will hitchhike to Mookie's house and throw constructive criticism through his window.

Just remember when making that constructive criticism to add some motor oil to the gasoline. It makes it stick better.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Okay, if this chick ends up being yet another female character who is related to Luna in some way, I will hitchhike to Mookie's house and throw constructive criticism through his window.

Hey... do you think Luna's going to invite any of her family to the wedding? Sure, we don't know how weddings work in DD (I bet Crystal Dragon Jesus, personally) and Luna has no qualms with murdering her siblings, but who is going to sit on her side? If OH is a Travoria, then she's totally showing up in a dress, which she will rip off (to reveal her combat garb) to assassinate Dom at the altar.

Oh man, if we're lucky, Mookie will go through every Wedding Trope ever before the end of this Arc... unless he decides to resolve the wedding like he did the Succession to Miranda.

[ElfLad]

This arc will only be acceptable if Geoffrey Rush marries them at sea.

[Turcano]

Oh man, if we're lucky, Mookie will go through every Wedding Trope ever before the end of this Arc...

You mean unlucky, right?

[ElfLad]

Oh, joy.

Mookie-in-drag survived. That says bounds about how effective Oracle Hunter is.

You have the drop on an unsuspecting victim with little physical strength and you are heavily armed. The victim survives.

Worst. Assassin. Ever.

[Johnny Blade]

And yes, I'm talking about Luna. But now I'm looking at you, people who couldn't figure it out. You know who you are.

Heh, yeah...but I'm relieved, actually. I was just getting ready for yet another infidelity arc in which it is revealed that the Oracle Hunter is the offspring of Miranda and Karnak.

Oh, and today's strip left me with nothing but a blank stare on my face. Small world, eh?

[Raroy]

Well, I think mookie let the shemale live because it was an insert character. I'm sure it has nothing to do with incompetence.

[ElfLad]

Well, I think mookie let the shemale live because it was an insert character. I'm sure it has nothing to do with incompetence.

So, are you saying Mookie is competent?

[High-Chancellor]

Quilt may possibly be the one semi-redeeming characteristic this comic has to offer.

Though he seems to have lost his Chosen super powers...

[Raroy]

No, the competence of the Oracle hunter. Mookie is so incompetent that he is unable to show a character being competent. It's obvious he is trying to show her as a "real vilan" but he has to take care of the spawns of lord dominus first.

[averagejoe]

You have the drop on an unsuspecting victim with little physical strength and you are heavily armed. The victim survives.

Worst. Assassin. Ever.

Pretty much exactly what ran through my mind when I read it. Ugh. Oracle Hunter is turning out to be a villain even less badass than Snowsong. Quite a feat indeed.

[Turcano]

Oh God.

Part of me died inside.

[slayerx]

Well, I think mookie let the shemale live because it was an insert character.

Don't forget, she also has a friendly relationship with dominic... so ofcourse she would survive. If you are close to Lord Dominius you will gain his divine protection... unless your a racists... or Blue...

[rubakhin]

WHY

*slams head on desk*

DO THEY ALL

*slams head on desk*

KNOW EACH OTHER

*slams head on desk*

(Also, knock it off with the shemale stuff, would you? There are T members on the board who would probably find it offensive.)

[Johnny Blade]

Pretty much exactly what ran through my mind when I read it. Ugh. Oracle Hunter is turning out to be a villain even less badass than Snowsong. Quite a feat indeed.

Holy crap, now that you mention Snowsong...with Quilt in the picture now, I could totally picture this arc to end as following:

Quilt confronts the Oracle Hunter, probably at the wedding.
So, naturally, they have a little chat for 8-16 panels, in the middle of the fight that breaks out.
It is then revealed that the Oracle Hunter is out for seers because she hates them for making everyone a slave of his presumed destiny. Perhaps with some tragic story added. Oracle_Hunter already suggested something like that, and he should know, right?
Anyway, Quilt then explains to her that he, who was meant to be a mindless killer, an automaton, was actually shown a way to live his own life by the Deegans, which includes Dominic, the all-seeing oracle. (Not that I could remember Dominic and Quilt exchanging words once, but who gives a damn?)
The Oracle Hunter then breaks down and cries her heart out.
After the wedding and a few days of talking heads with lots of words, it is revealed that she was shipped off to Aberghast.
The End. Everyone happy.

(Edited for raping the English language. Too early or what, precious little brain of mine?)

[Gez]

So.

After Dommie-Sue and Nimmie-Su, we now have Zanzie-Su, the shemale clone of Dominic?


Just. Great.

[averagejoe]

So.

After Dommie-Sue and Nimmie-Su, we now have Zanzie-Su, the shemale clone of Dominic?


Just. Great.

Together they form the Holy Trinity.

Also, Rubakhin already asked to stop with the shemale stuff, and as much as I dislike having to spell his name, I agree with his reasoning.

[rubakhin]

Together they form the Holy Trinity.

Also, Rubakhin already asked to stop with the shemale stuff, and as much as I dislike having to spell his name, I agree with his reasoning.

*snrk* What, mine? For what it's worth, it's actually spelled Рубахин.

[averagejoe]

*snrk* What, mine? For what it's worth, it's actually spelled Рубахин.

Fair enough. At the same time, I've never seen a romantization of a language that struck me as wholly satisfying.

[Karellen]

Arright, so Mookie's Marty Stu is going to go see his cameo self-insert in the hospital. That is... trippy. Surely their meeting should result in some kind of Time Paradox or other cosmic major kaboom, resulting in the destruction of Mookieverse?

Well, I can hope, can't I.

Also, the Oracle Hunter probably let Zanzibar live, because she's actually killing all these other seers to lure Dominic out, who is doubtlessly her real target, regardless of whether she's actually his long-lost sister or sister-in-law or whatever or not. Of course, if she wanted him to die she probably could have found him and killed him before he realized someone was offing seers, making things much easier; if she's taunting him, it would have made so much sense to kill or maim Szark out of spite. But hey, Plot Armor leading to an Idiot Plot, who really expected more of Mookie?

[Gez]

Also, Rubakhin already asked to stop with the shemale stuff, and as much as I dislike having to spell his name, I agree with his reasoning.

It's not my fault is Madam Zanzibar is officially Mookie-in-drag.

Madam Zanzibar [...] is... me. A couple of years ago I dressed (in drag) as a fortune teller for Halloween and called myself Madam Zanzibar. I carried around a pair of crystal balls and asked people if they wanted to see their future... in my balls. I found the "character" so amusing that I'd always wanted to put her in the strip. So there she was.

Oh, and just noticed her first name is Zelda. Dominic Deegan, Zelda Zanzibar. I suppose Celesto is evil because his family name is Morgan rather than Corgan. Also, I suppose Szark Sturz is a seer too, as well as the four witches and wizards who founded Hogwarts.

[rubakhin]

Fair enough. At the same time, I've never seen a romantization of a language that struck me as wholly satisfying.

Ach, this is true. Rubakhin is about as good as I'm going to get in Latin letters, though. Maybe Rubahin or Rubachin would be closer to the intended pronunciation.

At least I'm not aiming towards French. Man, you should see what happens to perfectly normal Russian names when they transliterate them for the French alphabet. For instance, the name Сергей - Sergei/Sergey/Sergej - becomes Sergueï. Good God. (Of course, the French language doesn't fare much better in Cyrillic.)

It's not my fault is Madam Zanzibar is officially Mookie-in-drag.

Yeah, I know. That's not the point. Look, it's like saying it's okay to call Martin Luther King Jr. a **** because he's officially black. The word itself is derisive, don't use it.

[Gez]

At least I'm not aiming towards French. Man, you should see what happens to perfectly normal Russian names when they transliterate them for the French alphabet. For instance, the name Сергей - Sergei/Sergey/Sergej - becomes Sergueï. Good God.

My favorite is how Путин (that is to say, Putin, if I got the Cyrillic right) becomes Poutine.

But, you know, you don't need to change the alphabet to get weird transliterations. Take a French name like Marion or Ludovic and try to find an English transliteration that would keep their pronunciation... It's no use! It would probably be easier to transliterate them into Russian, come to think of it.

[Twin2]

So instead of us seeing what might pass for proper authorities attempt to find a murderer we get to see a necromatic golem playing sherlock holmes. This will surely end well.

[Jerthanis]

If I were to put on a dress, I wouldn't be a shemale, I'd be a crossdresser. Just sayin'...

Anyway, if I were to try and fix the current story, I'd have the OH be a mercenary in the employ of Celesto, who discovered that a person working under the orders of an Oracle like him is immune to the visions of other Oracles. He's sending her out to murder oracles so they can't forsee and stop the next stage in his plan, which involves the use of Magic to gain mental control of the new Battlemages in positions as bodyguards surrounding the king and his council by exploiting some heretofore unheard of magic, which is only super effective against people who use magic themselves.

His goal is to murder them all and bring about chaos in the kingdom, and at the same time, foster some sort of peasant rebellion, attempting to remake Callan in a way that is less lame in his eyes through strife and turmoil and civil war. His stance is that he was on the right track before, that chaos could change the world for the better, but he needed to do it on a more human scale, than a cosmic one.

Dominic will fake his own death at his wedding by the hand of the OH in order to tempt Celesto to move into the open, which will give Dominic the oracular knowledge of Celesto's actions, if not his motives. He convinces Hansi to steal his way into the capital building secretly, convincing him that he has a duty to protect his king. The council and the king have just come to their decision to outlaw civilian mages when Celesto walks in and takes control of the Battlemage knights, ready to turn them on the King and Council. Hansi bravely steps in, though is intervention is short lived, and he is soon captured by the vastly superior numbers of Battlemages.

At this point, the Dominus steps forward and explains how that disturbance gave the king and council ample time to escape down a secret passageway, which Dominic blocked from Celesto's sight in the same way Celesto had blocked the OH from Dominic's sight earlier... and will explain that he got the idea from Celesto himself. Dominic will demand he give himself up, but Celesto explains that's not his intent... and orders his Battlemages to kill Hansi, which they do. Celesto taunts Dominic, and explains that he has most of the mages in the city under his direct influence now, and that it'll be simple to tear down the castle brick by brick until he finds and kills the King anyway, despite his interruption, and that all Dom managed was to get Hansi killed... at which point the OH will jump out of the shadows and stab Celesto through the chest.

Celesto would then demand to know why Dominic opposed him, when the country was about to become a harsh dictatorship, lording over its citizenry with absolute power, and denying any but those in government the keys to magical power... and that the Oracle Hunter was the first of the King's secret police to hunt down and murder any magic users who weren't compliant with this plan... that soon Dominic's world would be hell, and it was him that caused it. Celesto's last words would be, "You have never understood, fool. I am the hero of this story, you're just the misguided villain."

Later, it'd be made clear that Dominic simply offered the OH more money than Celesto did, and that the betrayal was one simply in the interest of money. Hansi becomes a symbol of what happens to the common person when dangerous criminals are allowed magic, and uses that upsurge in public opinion to enact the law banning civilian mages, and the people themselves burn the Mage School to the ground. (likely a mob instigated by government agents)

I'd drop the "OH looks just like a Deegan!" plotline, except maybe to throw in something to say that she has a special magic that makes her seem familiar to anyone who sees her, to seem more trustworthy, and less identifiable by her victims.

Then the next plot arc would involve Dominic fleeing Callan with his friends and family, and they move to Maltak to finally friggin' deal with whatever the heck is going on there... to deal with the Necromatic Obelisk Jacob has raised, ready to muster the souls of all the dead of Maltak to his own ends.

I'd also have Luna break up with Dominic, on the grounds that he didn't mind ruining their wedding to further his goals. She'd make it clear she admired him, and thought of him as a hero... but couldn't be with him anymore, because in asking too much of himself, he also asked too much of her... she stays a close friend, and ally in Dominic's new life as Oracle on the Run.

Man, maybe I'm reading too much Dominic Deegan, because I can already tell this "fix" of mine includes 50 billion talking heads.

[Tekraen]

Oh man, if we're lucky, Mookie will go through every Wedding Trope ever before the end of this Arc... unless he decides to resolve the wedding like he did the Succession to Miranda.

As a disinterested afterthought, likely to cause multiple problems in the future since there's zero development with it?


...That sounds right on track for this particular wedding.

[Winterwind]

From a Domiologist's point of view, this Madame Zelda Zanzibar is a most interesting being. So far, she is but a measly Fifth Caste character... and yet, she is also a Mookinsertion! How can that be?`What place does such a creature occupy in evolution and the Caste System? Is the Caste System *gasp* not complete?

As for the OH's semblance to someone - my guess is that she will turn out to be Dex' sister. Dex' supposedly looks similarly to Dominic (who is the first person Szark would think of, not the rather unfamiliar to him Dex), and he is an immune - maybe, somehow, the OH is both immune and a magic-user at the same time? This might explain it all.
Yes, it is a bit clever for Mookie, but hey, it could happen, right?

@Jerthanis: Not bad... but as written, all the revealment of new information comes in the form of after-the-fact exposition. I'm sure there would be some way to reveal the truth with more tension and showing, instead of telling.