Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire, Mk. XLI: No Morals! No Quarter! All Brutal!

[Coidzor]

Hey if you don't like loads of words I bet you don't like BOOKS either. You know who else don't like books? Babies and the illiterate.

The sycophants. Ugh. I feel ill after reading them. ...And now I shudder at the thought of people being sycophants towards Mookie.

[lord_khaine]

I'm curious as to whether Miranda is going to stand up for her husband-to-be. I know this is being played for comedy, but taken from the drama side her parents are clearly going too far. Callan clearly has no laws against mages harassing ordinary muggles, so it's up to Samantha Miranda to stand up for Darrin Donovan.

Actualy this does put some other interesting things forward, since i thinks its pretty clear the mages of Callan forms a A-class, where everyone else is second class citizens.
Whats makes it special though is that the mages really is superior to normal citizens, in the way they can casualy rewrite reality to suit their whims.

That aside, i also do hope that this is the place where Donovan and Miranda makes a stand against her parents.

[TheArsenal]

Hey if you don't like loads of words I bet you don't like BOOKS either. You know who else don't like books? Babies and the illiterate.

MWAHAHAHAH! Hes right! I DESPISE books! And im still in 1st grade because im illiterate!

And isn't this the author not a fan?

[Wraith]

I'm curious as to whether Miranda is going to stand up for her husband-to-be. I know this is being played for comedy, but taken from the drama side her parents are clearly going too far. Callan clearly has no laws against mages harassing ordinary muggles, so it's up to Samantha Miranda to stand up for Darrin Donovan.

Actually, I'm kind of hoping that Donovan does it himself by challenging his In-Laws-to-be to a duel - after all, he cut his initial into some guy's clothes and was legally challenged to a fight (possibly to the death if they so chose, given what we know of Szark's hobbies), surely the same applies to being blasted by a fireball?

I think it'd be a good moment to see a character like Donovan - the 'Muggle' amongst a cast of world-altering wizards - to suddenly stand up and go "Okay, here's why I'm awesome; this is a sword fight, if you use magic then you're a coward and a cheat and thus a hypocrite for telling me that I am not good enough for Miranda" and then do a full Zorro on the guy. Except maybe with less kissing. Maybe.

Alternatively, a full Classic Zorro on the guy.

Net result: Donovan proves his determination to be with Miranda, as well as his integrity and honour for abiding by the rules of the duel, as well as his moral superiority if the wizards have to resort to cheating. It also proves him a dedicated swordsman, an art that takes years to learn and decades to master, and not the transient, flighty, half-arsed vagrant that they thought he was.
And it would be fun to see Donovan showing off ith a sword, cracking jokes and embarrassing the guy who'd been tormenting him. Catharsis for so many webcomic writers and readers alike, no?

[Trazoi]

Actually, I'm kind of hoping that Donovan does it himself by challenging his In-Laws-to-be to a duel.

Another form of the Test of Taking? How romantic.

[Bobikus]

Hey if you don't like loads of words I bet you don't like BOOKS either. You know who else don't like books? Babies and the illiterate.

Yeah, his response to that review made me really dislike the guy, since the criticism is pretty spot on.

[rocketpony]

At this point, man, he could have just cut his losses and eloped. How could it have gotten worse? Also then we could have gotten some kind of motivation behind Miranda's hate-on for eloping, like "I did it because my parents were terrible and controlling, so to me that's what eloping means, so Dominic you have to do exactly as I say so I'll know you don't think I'm terrible and controlling." I'm a fan of that logic because it kind of contradicts itself right at the end and man a main character with some kind of flaw would be pretty good right about now.

[Glass Mouse]

At this point, man, he could have just cut his losses and eloped. How could it have gotten worse? Also then we could have gotten some kind of motivation behind Miranda's hate-on for eloping, like "I did it because my parents were terrible and controlling, so to me that's what eloping means, so Dominic you have to do exactly as I say so I'll know you don't think I'm terrible and controlling." I'm a fan of that logic because it kind of contradicts itself right at the end and man a main character with some kind of flaw would be pretty good right about now.

That's probably what's gonna happen, except Mookie won't notice the contradiction.

[T-O-E]

Yeah, his response to that review made me really dislike the guy, since the criticism is pretty spot on.

Also I'm pretty sure the review came from SomethingAwful, where "poo poo" is a filter. It's the worst response to criticism I've ever read.

[Bobikus]

Also I'm pretty sure the review came from SomethingAwful, where "poo poo" is a filter. It's the worst response to criticism I've ever read.

Yeah, poo-poo/gently caress/etc are swear filters if you're looking at a page while not logged in.

[Gez]

There are lots of others, too, like "lovely" for "lame". And you don't get "gently carressing" but "loving".

Kinda threw me off in another SA thread where the word lovely was actually used to mean lovely. It does induce a sort of doublethink. "Wait, what does he suddenly tell that this thing is lame after all the praise he lavished bef... Oh wait, it just wasn't actually filtered."

[Traab]

The sycophants. Ugh. I feel ill after reading them. ...And now I shudder at the thought of people being sycophants towards Mookie.

I wish the comments werent closed so I could yell at him for claiming Nickelback sucks. Nickelback doesnt suck, HE SUCKS!

[Mr. McGician]

Hey, guys, stop criticizing Mookie for drawing all his characters with snouts! You know what else has snouts? Puppies! If you hate snouts, then you must hate puppies as well!

[Arakune]

Hey, guys, stop criticizing Mookie for drawing all his characters with snouts! You know what else has snouts? Puppies! If you hate snouts, then you must hate puppies as well!

Move along citzen, there is nothing to see here. Kill him! He knows our secret!

[Oracle_Hunter]

Oh man, is this going to be a recurring deal? I really hope so. Masterful use of "this is the source of the quote", as well.

Heh. 50% of Lessons From Webcomics now cites DD. Excellent

I like that guy and what he's doing. They're good points, with good references, and with helpful advice. While I'm having a bit of a quibble with the underlying reasons for "thinking about it" (isn't murder particularly heinous? Yet bloodsplatter can be played for laughs. Why the difference? What does it say about people generally?) he's spot-on with the need to think about what you're writing and why you're writing it. Regardless of subject, self-examination (and being receptive to criticism) is essential for making a good product.

Re: Comic
Tastes Like Diabetes

[Nerd-o-rama]

Another form of the Test of Taking? How romantic.

Well, Donovan did spend a lot of time hanging out in Orc culture...

[Toast1862]

Hey if you don't like loads of words I bet you don't like BOOKS either. You know who else don't like books? Babies and the illiterate.

.... I never cared about subnormality before reading this. I didn't like it, but I didn't hate it. Now I hate it. What a pretentious dickweed. Comics are not books, and having ****loads of words do not make bad books into good books.

[Wraith]

Well, Donovan did spend a lot of time hanging out in Orc culture...

Not yet! That comes later, when the Deegan-Duo are making their first trip to Maltak and meet Karnak/fight in the first War.

It's not Orc culture, this is just how DONOVAN thinks.....

[colonelslime]

.... I never cared about subnormality before reading this. I didn't like it, but I didn't hate it. Now I hate it. What a pretentious dickweed. Comics are not books, and having ****loads of words do not make bad books into good books.

Oh, the author is pretentious, I don't disagree. I still find enjoyment in his comics though. It's not a defense of wordiness in general, but I've always found that it worked for subnormality (in many cases). I don't really view it as a webcomic though, more of a weird experimental art show that plays with the infinite canvas a lot.

I guess since I classify it differently, the text doesn't bother me as much as it would otherwise. Huh, I never though about that before. Human brains are weird.

[Mono Vertigo]

Thank all of you for introducing me to yet another mediocre webcomic!
(No, not DD. I didn't have the sense to quit reading before the Snowsong fiasco. That would be Subnormality. Wasted two hours to find out the reason I was wasting those two hours. But it's the wrong thread to dwell on its flaws.)
And less sarcastically, thanks for introducing me to Learn From Webcomics, as it's going to help me more than just webcomics.

[Fawkes]

I wish the comments werent closed so I could yell at him for claiming Nickelback sucks. Nickelback doesnt suck, HE SUCKS!

To be fair, Nickleback does kind of suck.

I feel it is important that people know that I'm the kind of person that hates things that are easy to hate.

[colonelslime]

To be fair, Nickleback does kind of suck.

I feel it is important that people know that I'm the kind of person that hates things that are easy to hate.

Nickleback sucks because Chad Kroeger is incapable of varying his voice. Took me the longest time to realize why their music was so grating, until it hit me that the voice never varied in pitch or tone, just kind of a disinterested gravelly growl.


As a Canadian, I apologize for unleashing such a creature upon the music world.

[Traab]

Nickleback sucks because Chad Kroeger is incapable of varying his voice. Took me the longest time to realize why their music was so grating, until it hit me that the voice never varied in pitch or tone, just kind of a disinterested gravelly growl.


As a Canadian, I apologize for unleashing such a creature upon the music world.

Hmph, better him than beiber.

[Trazoi]

Kinda threw me off in another SA thread where the word lovely was actually used to mean lovely. It does induce a sort of doublethink. "Wait, what does he suddenly tell that this thing is lame after all the praise he lavished bef... Oh wait, it just wasn't actually filtered."

I have a hard time not using "lovely" in a non-sarcastic sense these days.

While I'm having a bit of a quibble with the underlying reasons for "thinking about it" (isn't murder particularly heinous? Yet bloodsplatter can be played for laughs. Why the difference? What does it say about people generally?)

Because rape is handled a heck of a lot worse, often flippantly thrown in for extra gritty points or to point out an irredeemable bad guy with little thought for the actual rape victims who will be reading or viewing. Murder at least has the dramatic change of removing a character from the story. It's a lot easier to write a sympathetic hero who committed justified murder than the horrible loops Mookie jumped through to attempt to write justified rape.

I might be writing too much for a quibble, but it was mainly for that last sentence. DD provides perfect negative examples for everything.

(Also if we're going to be using pronouns for the Learn from Webcomics author, I'm 90% sure she's a woman.)

[TheArsenal]

I have the perfect explanation for why rape is 99% usualy a bad idea.

The main point is: It sucks out every piece of humor in the media like a dark hole. Seriously. All comedic relief, all camp, all whackiness goes into a dark void and is never seen again.

If they DO include humor in the movie all you can think of is "WHAT- There including humor into THIS!". Its impossible to shift the atmosphere to comedic without feeling awkward and just outright terrible unless rape issue is resolved. Your stil not allowed humor. Merely a less bumpy road.

And thats how Rape is. Its a huge boulder in the road. Dumping it creates debris and rubble that you can never really clear off no matter if you round the boulder or drop it from a lesser hight.

Thats why if your road doesn't really have bumps in it beforehand it will just be jarring past the boulder.

It works best in stories that are already bumpy and have no humor and can adress the situation seriously.

Thats why even in the best of stories rape is just so jarring.

Murder is also an important topic and it can be played for lols, for nothing or for disturbing depending on the context and method.

If in Commando Arnold Slowly Tortured his enemies to death it would be disturbing.

[Coidzor]

^: Indeed. This is why the idea/subject of rape jokes confuses me to no end. I think I've yet to actually see or hear one of these things that speaking out against seems to have gone viral amongst my female contacts with even vaguely feminist inclination.

...Wait.

Wait...

Is that what the hands of salvation meme really is?

And here I thought it was just mocking mookie but now I'm scared, horrified, and confused....

And less sarcastically, thanks for introducing me to Learn From Webcomics, as it's going to help me more than just webcomics.

I'd just like to second that. Pretty interesting stuff and reminds me that I should probably start writing again before I become illiterate.

[TheArsenal]

Oh it is. Its simply mocking the hoops mookie made for this to "sorta" make sense. That made more place in a like a grimdark tale. Where the world is SO messed up only this can be the peak of brighntess.

But nope. This is DD BITCHES!

[mwchase]

So, I guess the focus is absurdism. Melna and Stonewater live in a world where things happen for no good reason, and that scene is just the epitome of it from a sympathetic-to-their-plight viewpoint. At least chaosploding doesn't linger with you for years.

So, appending the hands of salvation to any vaguely relevant sequence is like saying "Bad writing could happen to any of them."

Alternatively, just imagine it with a red-yellow flashing THIS IS STUPID! on it.

[Trazoi]

Is that what the hands of salvation meme really is?

And here I thought it was just mocking mookie but now I'm scared, horrified, and confused....

It's entirely about mocking Mookie. It's in the same vein as the ghastly miscarriage jokes made at CADs expense.

[Johnny Blade]

I find Mookie's attempt at creating a "sexy rapist" - that he phrased it like that is hilarious, by the way - no more or less creepy than his way of having morally grey characters like Celesto murder villains so they get their totally deserved punishment but the heroes don't have to dirty their hands. (Which means it is really creepy, but doesn't really stand out to me.)

Even the way Stonewater was instantly forgiven could, while it's of course several kinds of terrible, still be attributed to Mookie's shortcomings as a writer to at least some degree.
EDIT: I'm mainly referring to his general pacing issues, here. He might have just wanted to move on quickly and given no thought to the implications.

But there's no excuse for having Melna first call him her husband several times - and the occasions or thoughts behind it don't matter at all here - and then fall in love with him.
I still have no idea what madness possessed him there.



As for the comic Mookie apparently uploaded at some point today, bluh.
I do wonder how bad they made Donovan feel with that, though. Are we still in the realm of "a lot" or have we moved on to "just...wow"? Did they possibly even put him in a ridiculous dress and laugh at him?
Apart from those questions, however, I really don't care. Can we please go back to Jayden? I want to see how pathetic she can get.