Dominic Deegan, thread VI, Wyrd Snarksters

[Evil DM Mark3]

I see. So what we have here is a line up to a wholesome lesson in disabled (or possibly HIV+) people having the same rights as the rest of us. Roll out the legal battles, the confused premises and the hitherto utterly unseen yet apparently universal movement, quite possibly "resistant pride".

Quick question, how does the ability to be immune to magic enable you to "abuse a position of power" exactly?

[Gez]

Quick question, how does the ability to be immune to magic enable you to "abuse a position of power" exactly?

You can't be scried upon, so if you lie in court nobody can know it. Oh wait, divination isn't acceptable evidence.

[Winterwind]

Shipping time's over, I fear, but I have to remark nevertheless that, personally, I think Sparkov would maximize the possible mental trauma

If this is wrong then I don't want to be right.

I concur.

What makes you think dex (or anyone else for that matter) killed himself? This is Mookie we're talking about, he has a habit of making us think something in one scene and then suddenly it turns into something harmless in the next.

Hardly anyone here assumes he actually tried to commit suicide (and even if he did, he'll probably be fine anyway).

Today's strip: Wow. This... was incredibly idiotic.
Nevermind if the town has to pay more for him being healed, unless there are some insane insurance policies in place, this should not play much of a role. How often does he get injured, for eff's sake?
And this line about "abuse of power" is just stupid. If it was against the law to employ resistants in government service she couldn't have hired him in the first place and, if she did by mistake, she would have used that as her main argument, forgoing the other nonsense. Therefore, it's clearly not, which means it is not enforced and no more but some minor policy or tradition she could ignore if she just chose to.

In short, she has not given a single convincing reason to fire Dex yet. Major fail, Mookie.

[lord_khaine]

i dont know, i thought the current evidence did in fact support the "callahan has been ruled by idiots for generations" theori?

and in that case it makes about as much sense as everything else, and prepares the readers for when Dominic gets enough of it and takes over the country.

[Rappy]

The posture of the unlucky couple in the last panel reminds me of a certain Batman cover...

Also, wow! She can force people to commit suicide with her guilt trips! Even I cannot do that...without a 1-gallon guzzle of soda first.

Now, on to serious business. The above sarcasm aside, there is no reason that the "I'm letting you go speech" would logically force a kill, so there must be some other reason Dex the Hanged One committed suicide. Most likely a convoluted and idiotic reason. Unless he's not dead, and he suddenly gained the power of flight. Or it was a planned suicide. Or I'm insane and this is all a dream.

[mmcc]

My guess: He's doing pull-ups. And from what I can tell from the artwork and Pam's reaction, naked except for socks and shoes.

[Clockwork_Seal]

Yeah, he's not dead. Even Terracciano isn't THAT bad of a writer.

And this section of 'law' is right up there with 'It is illegal to own multiple businesses' for the wtf factor.

[Gez]

Major fail, Mookie.

I know! Isn't he a genius?

[colonelslime]

Heh. One of the Fanfics is called the Mary Sue Hunters.

[Winterwind]

I know! Isn't he a genius?

Why, yes, yes he is.
Truly, the strips have been of a remarkably horrible quality lately - from carefully maneuvering the strip around all possible plot, over the Stupidest Conspiracy In The World and yesterday's rather... unique dialogue, up to today's complete lack of any sense whatsoever, I must say Mookie has truly been surpassing himself over and over again.

[Johnny Blade]

Why would Dex hang himself over this? It makes no sense. It has to be a deliberate misdirection by Mookie for teh drama. Besides, I really really don't want to see him handle the delicate topic of suicide.

DIE, DEX, DIE!!!



Too bad he probably didn't hang himself.

I concur.

So do I.



Oh, and while I'm unsurprisingly not the first to mention it, I have to say that this "resistants can abuse positions of power" line cracks me up every time I read it. It just keeps getting better and better.
Really, this is a world where people fly home from work, stone elementals buid houses, criminals can just teleport in and out without much effort etc., and someone who happens to be resistant can't be hired as a cop because he could abuse this advantage? (I suppose that it's at least assumed to be beneficial when fighting a wizard. As ElfLad said, that's not even necessarily the case.)

"No, sheriff, you won't get a gun. You could utilize it to abuse your power."

[Myrdhale]

So being a Resistant is not allowed in the civil service, but you can get resistant cloathing and jewelery likity split? so... how is that not giving the possibility of abuse of power?
AS for the healing thing, WTH where you BEFORE being Mayor, Pam? Or is being a traditional doctor or Nurse sneered upon because you don'e have 'the gift' or whatever the eff Magic comes from, thereby invalidating the whole effing proffesion.

My guess? these laws come about as a result of the new 'battlecaster' army. they put laws into effect to prevent people from resisting them. FAcism, to which Dom will have to commit a revolution.

But that, as cliche and poorly set up as it would be, seems beyond his ability to plan ahead.

[Winterwind]

"No, sheriff, you won't get a gun. You could utilize it to abuse your power."

Screw the gun, here in Mookielogicland we won't have our sheriffs have two legs or, in fact, be capable of any locomotion at all! That would be totally unfair towards the criminals!


The more I think about it, the less I comprehend how Mookie could come up with nonsense this bad. So the sheriffs could abuse their power because they cannot be attacked by magic? Guess what, the sheriffs in the real world cannot be attacked by magic either! Even if wizards did not still have massive advantages (which they do), this would still only bring it down to mundanes against mundanes, which is the default situation anyway!
And to screw this whole thing up even more, until recently, Callan seemed to rely more on mundane power anyway, so additional rules to ensure wizards trump resistants would hardly have been in their own interest.
How does Mookie not see this?! How?!

[Johnny Blade]

So being a Resistant is not allowed in the civil service, but you can get resistant cloathing and jewelery likity split? so... how is that not giving the possibility of abuse of power?

Actually, that stuff seems to be restricted.

And we all know it's to preserve Nerd Supremacy. They weren't named S. mookiei magus for nothing.

How does Mookie not see this?! How?!

Mookie's thought process:
"Hm...I need a reason why Pam would fire Dex. Okay, think, Mookie, what are Dex' defining character traits? Hm, well, he kinda looks like Dominic...no, that won't do. What else? Ha! Yes! He's resistant! That's it! But why could that be so bad? Hm...that's a tough one. Okay, so Dex is a sheriff, and when a sheriff does something wrong, what is it most of the time?
...
...
...
He's abusing his power! Resistants are abusing their power! Good lord, I'm a genius!"

[Winterwind]

Mookie's thought process:
"Hm...I need a reason why Pam would fire Dex. Okay, think, Mookie, what are Dex' defining character traits? Hm, well, he kinda looks like Dominic...no, that won't do. What else? Ha! Yes! He's resistant! That's it! But why could that be so bad? Hm...that's a tough one. Okay, so Dex is a sheriff, and when a sheriff does something wrong, what is it most of the time?
...
...
...
He's abusing his power! Resistants are abusing their power! Good lord, I'm a genius!"

Yeah, that sounds about like what must be going on in his head.

But what kind of doublethink does it take to come up with b******t like this and yet fail to think about how it fails to make any sense whatsoever?

That's it. Dominic may be First Caste, but Mookie is Inner Party.

[Gez]

Mookie's thought process:
"Hm...I need a reason why Pam would fire Dex. Okay, think, Mookie, what are Dex' defining character traits? [...]"

You've missed a step:
"Hm...I need a reason why Pam would fire Dex. Did Dex do something wrong? No, he's not a bad guy so it's impossible. Oh, I know, Callanian law! Dex is illegal! That's brilliant! Now, why would Dex be illegal? Okay, think, Mookie, what are Dex' defining character traits? (etc.)"

[Trazoi]

Wait, so Dex actually does something other than hanging around drinking coffee?

[Winterwind]

Wait, so Dex actually does something other than hanging around drinking coffee?

Well, he brings down criminals... or, more like, he arrests criminals after the First Caste brings them down (I think the end of the Neilen arc was the last opportunity for the Deus Dex Machina*1 to shine)

*1 When you feel compelled to include at least two or three different plays on the words 'Deus Ex Machina' in your writing, even before the snarkers start coming up with their own, you should seriously think about your writing for a bit.

[Paragraph]

Wait, so Dex actually does something other than hanging around drinking coffee?

Hanging around NOT drinking coffee, obviously .

So why did I laugh out loud after today's comic? I didn't do this for a long time except in Strip Slays...

Simon

[Winterwind]

So why did I laugh out loud after today's comic? I didn't do this for a long time except in Strip Slays...

Hysteria induced by desperation?

[Enlong]

Wait, so Dex actually does something other than hanging around drinking coffee?

Yeah. He also hangs without drinking coffee.

[Ganurath]

Yeah, he's not dead. Even Terracciano isn't THAT bad of a writer.

He's friends with B^uckley.

[Wraith]

I reflected on the past few strips. What do we have there?

A once jolly necromancer, hardened by the world, his responsibilities and the fact that all of his friends have died recently (one even twice). Now cold, lonely and dour, he is a tragic figure desperately trying to find joy in life again.

And then we have a white mage, a practicioner of the school directly opposed to necromancy, a cheerful, innocent and slightly immature youth, always nice, always trying to help the people around him. Always cheering them up. Yet, he is alone too, as he is single again.

Can it be coincidence that Mookie showed us those two characters who complement each other so well directly after each other? No, I say!


Black and White Magic.
Yin and Yang.
The perfect pairing.
Gregorian.

Sorry to return to such an old post (old for a thread that moves this fast, anyway) but I can't help but point this out. The truly, utterly disturbing thing about this wonderful bit of reasoning?

Gregorian is the name of a band, who have done a rather emotional cover of Evanescence's song "My Immortal".
Here: Click on the link and listen to it for yourself. Now, imagine that it's Rillian doing the singing, and tell me that it's not perfect for this picture?

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...Haunting

[InkEyes]

Today is a sad day for all of Dominion

I just realized-Dex's beard also committed suicide.

Let's gather around for a moment of silence to honor a fallen hero.

Even Dex himself is honoring the loss of his beard... with naked pull-ups.

[Morty]

Ack. This makes so little sense I want to pluck my eyeballs out. If it's possible for something to make negative amounts of sense, this comic manages to do it with terrifying ease.
I just wonder if it's just a random bit of silliness in order to force some drama or an opportunity for Dominic to go on another self-righteous rant about how Callainian laws and government are stupid and unfair.

[sihnfahl]

an opportunity for Dominic to go on another self-righteous rant about how Callainian laws and government are stupid and unfair.

This. Curse message length limit.

[HidaTsuzua]

And to screw this whole thing up even more, until recently, Callan seemed to rely more on mundane power anyway, so additional rules to ensure wizards trump resistants would hardly have been in their own interest.
How does Mookie not see this?! How?!

You know I was going to write an argument supporting that while the law is stupid it could make sense why it would exist. Basically, while a resistant can't really abuse his powers, you can make a good story about it. Take this:

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Poor innocent Mary the Mage was hanging out in the bar demanding free drinks as is her right. Mean drunk Rick the Resistant comes up to her and punches her in the face, bypassing her bounce spell shield. Distracted by being punched in the face, she shoots him with a fireball that Rick ignores. Rick punches her in the face again and again.

Sure Mark the Mage has a ton of ways to stop Rick the Resistant, but that doesn't stop the whole "that could happen to me!" aspect of the story. Mages rather than changing their tactics to deal with whatever small percent of the population that is resistant choose to marginalize resistants instead. It's security theater ultimately, but that can cause laws to be made.

That is until you (Winterwind) pointed out that the governing body of Callan is mundane! Unless they're puppets of a mage cabal, I don't know what to say. Myrdhale has an idea, but I don't think it's the case.

My guess? these laws come about as a result of the new 'battlecaster' army. they put laws into effect to prevent people from resisting them. FAcism, to which Dom will have to commit a revolution.

This would make sense as part of a "make sure nothing stops the battlecaster army!" plan. However this sounds like it's been around for a while and not something new imposed on her. If it was, she should have pointed it out (it's out of my hands Dex). Thus leading to the whole "I'm not sure what to say" issue above.

Lastly, I think it's Gregory who's in the last panel. He actually hung himself as part of a Halloween decoration. He's okay though.

[Oracle_Hunter]

I'm still confused over the third panel, and I don't know if it's just because I don't know enough about how the Deeganverse works.

You should be confused, and exactly for those reasons. This is another case of Mookie not understanding government - or as we like to say "GOVERNMENT DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY!"

Now, this can't be an old law because Pam has hired Dex for awhile now - if the "taxes" were ever a problem, she would probably have fired him when the town was still a smoking pile of rubble and they had no money.

So let's assume this is a new law. The most plausible explanation for the law is to allow the Battlecasters free reign over the land - the "taxes" are used to discourage cities (or businesses) from employing "resistants," which means that local militias won't be able to stop their magical might. All the fluff Pam is spouting is just smoke & mirrors by the Battlecaster Cabal to "justify" the new law.

However, Mookie isn't going to make this the case. He's just going to have the law on the books to justify MOAR DRAMA.

[Gez]

Eureka! I got it! This is an Incredibly Lazy Pun!

See, the Callan Government is corrupt and fascist (so as to provide a soapbox for Mookie). What is the natural enemy of fascist dictatorships everywhere? Resistants, of course!

Good one, Mookie. Good one.


Note: If the desire to have Battlecasters unhampered duty by annoying magic-proof peasants during the exercise of their daily oppression duty, then surely the government would want said magic-proof guys on its side, rather than on the other. So if it's about the battlecasters, it is even more retarded.

[Winterwind]

That is until you (Winterwind) pointed out that the governing body of Callan is mundane! Unless they're puppets of a mage cabal, I don't know what to say. Myrdhale has an idea, but I don't think it's the case.

To be fair, it is possible that the king himself or a high number of the most important officials are mages. However, I seem to recall (though I have no clue where this might have come up) that Siggy and his father were close relatives of the king, and they possessed no magic whatsoever. And since, if the Deegans are any indication, magic is hereditary, this makes a magical king unlikely. Okay, it's possible that the magic entered the bloodline after the Damaskes split off (after all the Deegan brothers got their magic from the maternal line as well), but there is nothing pointing to that.
More importantly, however, is that the Royal Knights appear to have been a mostly mundane force. Sure, we were told that being capable of magic helped rising in the ranks, but the vast majority of all knights we saw showed no capability of magic and seemed to have been chosen for their physical prowess instead. If the king really was a wizard and so very much favourising mages over mundanes I doubt he would have originally chosen a mostly mundane army over one composed of battlecasters if the latter was a logistically viable option as well - which, as we know, it is.

Eureka! I got it! This is an Incredibly Lazy Pun!

See, the Callan Government is corrupt and fascist (so as to provide a soapbox for Mookie). What is the natural enemy of fascist dictatorships everywhere? Resistants, of course!

Good one, Mookie. Good one.

Ow. You know, until now, my brain had not been hurting yet. >_<