Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire

[Winterwind]

Kurald Galain has already addressed all the other points, so I'll just add this one:

People are never always good, nice, kind, compassionate and unerstanding. Even if they are a lot of the time. Nobody is perfect, even if you're someone with magical powers who has saved the world.

If that was what is the case in Dominic Deegan, that would be perfectly fine. We're all for flawed, non-perfect characters. But it isn't. For a flaw to really be a flaw, it must be treated as one, too: People in the universe must react negatively to it. Must point the flaw to the character in question. Must get angry at her/him for it. Mookie, however, does not realise what flaws his characters have himself. Today's strip is a perfect example of that - Luna has just performed an atrocity, yet it is not addressed by anone, and surely never will.
And thus we have supposedly good characters acting in evil ways without falling, reevaluating their ethics or even being questioned by anybody. They are just being praised for their evil deeds. And that is what makes this unrealistic and awfully bad writing.

[sihnfahl]

So, let's see...

Milov: I shouldn't have done that! I'm a bad person for killing your illusion!

Jayden: I'm worse! Sure, you just ripped the throat out of an illusion you thought was me, but I'm a worse person for cheating on you!

Milov: ...

This is why druggies shouldn't write soap operas.

[Darkmyst]

But of course! Making a mistake in the past and covering it up so as not to hurt your partner's feelings and/or create a rift in an otherwise strong relationship is INFINITELY worse than rage-driven murder!

[ElfLad]

God, it's so creepy how Jayden begs to be taken back by somebody who just killed her.

I mean, I'm sure Milov didn't mean to kill her, but having just witnessed that, I'm sure she wouldn't be begging to go back to him.

[Winterwind]

I mean, I'm sure Milov didn't mean to kill her, but having just witnessed that, I'm sure she wouldn't be begging to go back to him.

You are assuming Mookie would have a level of empathy and understanding of humans there which is almost as high as that of your average hippopotamus.

[Tekraen]

God, it's so creepy how Jayden begs to be taken back by somebody who just killed her.

I mean, I'm sure Milov didn't mean to kill her, but having just witnessed that, I'm sure she wouldn't be begging to go back to him.

"Please, Officer! He only hit me because he loves me!"

Yeah, I thought I've heard this schtick elsewhere.

[sihnfahl]

You are assuming Mookie would have a level of empathy and understanding of humans there which is almost as high as that of your average hippopotamus.

You, sir, are insulting all hippopotami by equating them with Mookie.

"Please, Officer! He only hit me because he loves me!" Yeah, I thought I've heard this schtick elsewhere.

And it gets old fast.

[Tekraen]

Agreed. The boy needs a writer that isn't him.

[Winterwind]

You, sir, are insulting all hippopotami by equating them with Mookie.

Hey, who says I do? I would never do such a vile thing to a hippopotamus!
It was ElfLad who---
---no, you're right, it was all my fault! MY FAULT!!!

[Tekraen]

Hey, who says I do? I would never do such a vile thing to a hippopotamus!
It was ElfLad who---
---no, you're right, it was all my fault! MY FAULT!!!

Repeat after me: I don't have a problem, Mookie do-wait, we've already done this.

[Winterwind]

Repeat after me: I don't have a problem, Mookie do-wait, we've already done this.

Yeah, besides, there is no forgiveness in the Deeganverse, there is only HELL! And it's waiting for EVERYONE!

[Morty]

Yeah, besides, there is no forgiveness in the Deeganverse, there is only HELL! And it's waiting for EVERYONE!

Unless you're of the Deegan family, or are associated with them in any way. In this case, you can do what you want, noone will say anything. Being female emo crazy cultist also works.

[ElfLad]

Agreed. The boy needs a writer that isn't him.

Who is me.

And I should have an artist who isn't him.

[Winterwind]

Unless you're of the Deegan family, or are associated with them in any way. In this case, you can do what you want, noone will say anything. Being female emo crazy cultist also works.

Or being/having been possessed, though there tend to be side-effects to this. Still, it's enough for everybody to let you get away with murder. Literally.

[sihnfahl]

Or being/having been possessed, though there tend to be side-effects to this. Still, it's enough for everybody to let you get away with murder. Literally.

Immediately made lyrics pop into my head...

For Milov:
"I never look back cause I don't even want to... and I don't need to, because I'm getting away with murder..."

For Jayden...

"And I'm addicted to your punishments, and I'm your master, and I am craving this disaster..."

[Winterwind]

I was referring to Szark, actually, but this fits, too.

[sihnfahl]

I was referring to Szark, actually, but this fits, too.

Apropos, no?

It's the Star Trek Syndrome all over again. People can be forgiven easily if they were mind controlled by a malicious entity, tricked into it by a conniving opponent, or were actually the victims of The Evil Twin.

Quite frankly, at this point, I'm finding myself enjoying Suicide for Hire too much. I seem to enjoy it MORE after reading DD...

[Tekraen]

Apropos, no?

It's the Star Trek Syndrome all over again. People can be forgiven easily if they were mind controlled by a malicious entity, tricked into it by a conniving opponent, or were actually the victims of The Evil Twin.

Quite frankly, at this point, I'm finding myself enjoying Suicide for Hire too much. I seem to enjoy it MORE after reading DD...

Evil twin? I have seen no one with goatees lately.

[sihnfahl]

Evil twin? I have seen no one with goatees lately.

Then that's some rather impressive chin fungus Milov has. (Course, it may just be a chin beard, but personally, I think Milov's just unable to grow a proper 'stache.)

[Kurald Galain]

WTH? It is who who should be apologizing for his disgraceful lack of self-control?

[Winterwind]

WTH? It is who who should be apologizing for his disgraceful lack of self-control?

Just try not to think about it.

[AmberVael]

Just try not to think about it.

That's a good stand to take when reading this comic.
I refer to Dominic Deegan as my daily dose of brain death.

[Winterwind]

You're telling me!
Though occasionally it spawns things of genius. I recently re-read averagejoe's One Panel Arcs from page 1 of this thread. They are still absolutely glorious.

[Twin2]

Jesus. Milov just took off Jayden's head. Moreover, they anticipated him taking off Jayden's head and made an illusion in order to protect her.

And this, er, isn't going to cause any problems in their relationship at all?

Am I the only one beginning to think Dark Helmet's evil triumphs because good is stupid is beginning to apply to this arc?

[Mewtarthio]

Around 99.999999999 (repeating of course)% of this forum appears to be reacting negatively to the latest DD strip, so I must of course react positively. The number one complaint here seems to be along the lines of "omg wtf cruel illusion use Dominic sux and Luna is a biatch". Now i'll admit that killing a lover who has betrayed you in a fit of rage and then realising what you've done, only to then find out it was an illusion, would be a real psychological sucker-punch. But Milov was about to kill Dominic. Would it have been preferrable for Luna to hit Milov with some powerful attack spell, thus incapacitating him? Lets think about that. Most spells designed for powerful force have a fairly wide dispersal radius. Meaning its likely Dominic would get hit too. Also, as a spellwolf, it's been shown that Milov can negate direct attack spells anyway. Thirdly, knocking him down physically would just mean he'd wake up later just as angry, and the cycle would likely repeat itself.

Showing him that realistic, horrible illusion was cruel. But it was also logically the best way to shut him down. Its not like they were just dealing with a pissed off boyfriend. They were dealing with a pissed off boyfriend in the form of a magic-weilding werewolf in the midst of a pyscopathic feral rage frenzy. And sure it'll have reprecussions, but I dont think its the "worst plot move ever" most people are making it out to be. So it's not nice, its not kind, its callous and cruel. Well to make a decent story, sometimes you have to be. People are never always good, nice, kind, compassionate and unerstanding. Even if they are a lot of the time. Nobody is perfect, even if you're someone with magical powers who has saved the world. Maybe this movement in plot was a mistake, but frankly I dont see anything wrong with it. It's just like similar events that happen all the time, only with magic powers, werewolves and the legions of hell mixed in.

I'm not blaming Luna for conjuring up an illusion to distract Milov. I am blaming her for making that illusion look realistically dead and for not feeling the least bit of remorse afterwards.

Also, a fun game to play with Dominic Deegan is to rewrite the dialogue so the characters say what they actually did, rather than what Mookie apparently thinks they did:

"So... Milov knows everything?"
"Only that I lied to him about the fate of his best friend's soul and that his girlfriend was cheating on him."

"It was just an illusion, but I am ashamed that I brutally murdered you in a fit of passion. Such a lack of control is disgraceful."
"No, Milov. It is I who should be apologizing for my disgraceful lack of self control. I... cheated on you."

[The Linker]

I think one thing we have to realize is that, while it most likely WASN'T the best thing for Luna to do, creating an illusion and emotionally scarring him... she only had about 2 seconds to decide what to do. She ran in the room, not knowing what Milov would be like until she saw him, and made a split-second decision. She probably thought:

"Milov's in a maniacal rage! Only Jayden would be able to calm him down!"

"Wait. He might kill her. That would be bad."

"I'll send in an illusion. If he calms down, great, if not, Jayden will be fine.

She's only human. She probably had some sort of stasis spell for Milov or protective spell for Dom which would have worked much better, but she didn't think of those. We've all made mistakes. Or maybe those take longer to cast than an illusion.

I also found Dom's smug, all-knowing relpy to the illusion really weak too (he actually had the composure to search for and grab his stick, use it to stand up, and stand there like nothing happened to him? C'mon.) but I think if we showed him at the end of the strip panting wildly and saying "Oh God. Oh God. Help me, Mommy." It would have detracted from the seriousness even more than Jayden's joke did. Then it would look weak becuase we wouldn't see Jayden's reaction to her being "killed," or he'd have to fit that better into the next strip, thigns would be muddled, yadda yadda yadda.

Mookie probably sees all of these little descrepancies (sp?) but I think he just doesn't plan that far ahead to work everything out and have everything work smoothly, especially with this 7-day-a-week schedule. I think the best thing for this strip might be to move it into a 3/4-day-schedule. That way he would have another day to think about his strip, plan ahead, see whether some jokes would make sense in the current situation or not. He probably planned TODAY'S strip, with the odd apologise priorities, in advance, but came up with the illusion thing after that. Given more time he might have changed today's strip to feature that. I dunno. I could be wrong.

I think I just made about 15 enemies with my post. I'm gonna run away now.

[Mewtarthio]

"Milov's in a maniacal rage! Only Jayden would be able to calm him down!"

"Wait. He might kill her. That would be bad."

"I'll send in an illusion. If he calms down, great, if not, Jayden will be fine.

Again, I've got no problem with that line of reasoning. However, she went on like this:

"Oh, he just attacked her! I'd better make the illusion respond realistically by dying horribly."

"Oh, good, he's stopped his homicidal rampage so that he can consume himself with grief and guilt. I'd better make sure my Dommie's okay!"

[Monnock]

It's good that Luna is able to formulate such a well thought out plan in the face of a rampaging wolf that is about to crush her boyfriend, even down to blood oozing out of it after its neck was ripped out. Normal people would have been too freaked out to think that much out.

[Kurald Galain]

I believe the comic just crossed the line from being funny in a lame and stupid way, to being outright despicable.

[The Linker]

Again, I've got no problem with that line of reasoning. However, she went on like this:

"Oh, he just attacked her! I'd better make the illusion respond realistically by dying horribly."

"Oh, good, he's stopped his homicidal rampage so that he can consume himself with grief and guilt. I'd better make sure my Dommie's okay!"

Well, for the first part, if Milov hadn't thought that he'd killed Jayden, he might not have stopped. Maybe he would have, maybe not.

Can't argue the second point though