Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire, Mk. XLIV: Stunt Bro and Hella Jayden

[Mr. McGician]

Mookie, remember the cliffhanger at the end of the last year? How TIM is now the Harbinger or something? It's been several days in comic since then. Why isn't Dominic dead yet?

Mookie did throw in a "...if he hasn't already been attacked yet" in panel 5, but this is just his usual way addressing the narrative flaws that we point out: Give a nod to the flaw, but never solve it.

[T-O-E]

There is nothing stopping Airmage from following Stunt back to Dom's house to kill them both. Dominic and Stunt owe their lives to really crappy writing.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Dominic and Stunt owe their lives to really crappy writing.

Isn't that true for everyone 3rd Caste or higher?

[random11]

There is nothing stopping Airmage from following Stunt back to Dom's house to kill them both. Dominic and Stunt owe their lives to really crappy writing.

Why bother tracking Stunt?

MAYBE I can buy the fact that Stunt managed to sneak out of the desert unnoticed (despite the lack of sneaking), but if the necklace is so important, aren't the Deegans the obvious choice to smuggle the necklace to?
Dom is in his own house, isn't it the first place to look for him?

[Myrdhale]

I'm Still trying to piece together how, if apparently the Archmages are all either dead and now on puppet strings or just on puppet strings, why Dom and company would be in anyway a challenging Obstacle to King DJ.

He has the 4 most powerful mages in existance (or even outside of it) at his beck and call. Why doesn't he just obliterate all of Barthis and be done with it.

[mwchase]

I'm Still trying to piece together how, if apparently the Archmages are all either dead and now on puppet strings or just on puppet strings, why Dom and company would be in anyway a challenging Obstacle to King DJ.

He has the 4 most powerful mages in existance (or even outside of it) at his beck and call. Why doesn't he just obliterate all of Barthis and be done with it.

Because Dominic is an Outsider Seer, and therefore capable of forseeing the true path of reality. Expect this to come up only if Mookie realizes "Hey, wait, normal, non-main-character seers should start being wrong, unless DJ is subverting them."

[elros]

Originally Posted by Mookie's newspost
At the last few conventions I've attended a few people pointed out that it's been months since we've seen Dominic and Luna. About five months now that it's May! I think Stunt, Jayden, Milov, Nimmel and Katya have carried the spotlight well in Dominic and Luna's "absence," and I'm glad many of you didn't seem to mind. It tells me you fine folks are invested not only in the fates of the main characters, but in much of the supporting cast as well, and for that I am very grateful.

How does Mookie know this? Based on the few encounters he has with fanboys at conventions? The bigger issue is how everyone is so sick of Dominic and Luna that we welcome any break from them, even if those arcs are pretty crappy.

[guttering flame]

Because Dominic is an Outsider Seer, and therefore capable of forseeing the true path of reality. Expect this to come up only if Mookie realizes "Hey, wait, normal, non-main-character seers should start being wrong, unless DJ is subverting them."

All the other seers were killed or de-seered by the Oracle Hunter before Domi defeated her. Only Dominic, Celesto and DJ remain at large.

[Oracle_Hunter]

All the other seers were killed or de-seered by the Oracle Hunter before Domi defeated her. Only Dominic, Celesto and DJ remain at large.

Ah, if only that were true instead of Serk The Jerk hiring Barnet (sans anti-Seer spell) to do a hit on Dominic for petty revenge. It would have given this story a sort of... continuity.

[rocketpony]

What do you mean you don't know why you were targeted Milov what do you mean did Jayden forget to mention that she was at ground zero of the first archmagi attack, the one where he was looking for an artifact that couldn't be found because it was taken away, and that Rillian said

like, with his mouth, in small words, that are found in the common language,

Jayden was the obvious choice for a courier.

Don't any of you fools think?

[random11]

What do you mean you don't know why you were targeted Milov what do you mean did Jayden forget to mention that she was at ground zero of the first archmagi attack, the one where he was looking for an artifact that couldn't be found because it was taken away, and that Rillian said

like, with his mouth, in small words, that are found in the common language,

Jayden was the obvious choice for a courier.

Don't any of you fools think?

Doesn't make sense, even by DD standards.
Noodles chose to attack not when Jayden was on the way, or when he spied at them a day earlier, but right when everyone were awake, together and more alert?

I'm guessing the reason was the ritual (which could also be disturbed in an easier way too), or something that will never be explained at all.

[Trazoi]

If it wasn't linked to in the newspost, it wasn't important. I doubt Mookie remembers that Jayden was the decoy at all. Jayden certainly never brought it up, although admittedly she could hardly get a word edgewise with Milov and Nimmel around. (Note how Milov infodumps a speech bubble beginning with "Jayden said" with Jayden just standing there in the same damn panel.)

I'm figuring the archmages are going after powerful seers or mages as a preemptive attack for the King & Beast's plan. They won't go after Miranda first, even though she's clearly the most powerful and also the easiest to overcome because they could simply summon her to a meeting at the Fortress of Super Mages and gang up on her there, because Mookie is fantastically bad at writing villains.

[Traab]

If it wasn't linked to in the newspost, it wasn't important. I doubt Mookie remembers that Jayden was the decoy at all. Jayden certainly never brought it up, although admittedly she could hardly get a word edgewise with Milov and Nimmel around. (Note how Milov infodumps a speech bubble beginning with "Jayden said" with Jayden just standing there in the same damn panel.)

I'm figuring the archmages are going after powerful seers or mages as a preemptive attack for the King & Beast's plan. They won't go after Miranda first, even though she's clearly the most powerful and also the easiest to overcome because they could simply summon her to a meeting at the Fortress of Super Mages and gang up on her there, because Mookie is fantastically bad at writing villains.

I can forgive the "jayden said" info dump in this case because, even if it isnt the actual reason it was written that way, it makes sense to do it. "Hi, im the cheating whore that broke your sons heart. Im going to explain why i brought terrible danger back to your home and you are going to calmly listen and accept it all without tearing me to bits in an incandescent rage." Yeah, i doubt they would be willing to listen to anything jayden has to say directly.

Of course the real reason is that there are men in the room so the womenfolk need to shut up.

[Trazoi]

I can forgive the "jayden said" info dump in this case because, even if it isnt the actual reason it was written that way, it makes sense to do it. "Hi, im the cheating whore that broke your sons heart. Im going to explain why i brought terrible danger back to your home and you are going to calmly listen and accept it all without tearing me to bits in an incandescent rage." Yeah, i doubt they would be willing to listen to anything jayden has to say directly.

Except Papa Milov queries the whole group in Panel 1, not Milov specifically. And it wouldn't matter either way if they thought that way: Milov talking about something Jayden said is the same as Jayden actually saying it.

The other reason why it bugs me, which is more the main reason, is that Mookie doesn't appear to go through an editing phase to trim down his dialog and think about the most effective way to communicate in webcomic format. So much of what is said is totally unnecessary. "Jayden said" is an inidicator of this - if Mookie did a edit for what he could cut, that should be a flag for considering whether Jayden herself should be saying those lines.

Here's a really quick run through to trim the fat from the comic:

Spoiler

Show

Panel 1:
Papa Milov: Can someone explain to me just what the hell happened out there?

• Don't need "to me", it's obvious who they're explaining it to.
• I'll leave "the hell" as it adds needed emphasis.
• "Out there" is implicit. Cut.

Panel 2:
Milov: We were attacked, father. I'm not certain, but I believe our attacker may have been it was one of the Circle Archmagi.

• Don't need three different ways to show Milov is unsure: "I'm not certain", "I believe", "may have been". Even two might be overkill but it can sell that Milov's that uncertain.
• That the archmagi was the attacker should be clear from the "We were attacked" sentence.

Panel 3:
Milov: Jayden said another Archmage attacked in Eldariat. We don't know why this is happening, or why we were targeted.
Consider:
Jayden: Another Archmage atacked in Eldariat.
Milov: We don't know why. Or why us.

• Having Jayden say that line breaks up Miov's talking and cuts back on words.
• An awful lot of the second sentence is puffery that can be trimmed all the way back.

Panel 4:
Milov: We also don't know what happened to Nimmel Feenix, but I know who can help us find him and shed some light on all this..
Consider:
Katya: And Nimmel...
Milov: ...is gone. We don't know what happened, but I know who can find out...

• Giving Katya a line involves her in the scene.
• "Shed some light on all this" is pointless. Cut.

The last four panels are okay IMO, at least for conveying the info they're meant to.

This is just a simple one pass edit that takes less than a minute if you're not explaining every little thing. Mookie's comics are screaming for this. When you're continually making panels that are more than 50% speech bubble, it's a big indicator that something is wrong.

[rocketpony]

Doesn't make sense, even by DD standards.
Noodles chose to attack not when Jayden was on the way, or when he spied at them a day earlier, but right when everyone were awake, together and more alert?

Actually, yeah, this touches on how absurd it is that Stunt and Jayden arrived at their destinations entirely completely unmolested, considering that the archmagi are supposed to be chasing them down.
Or that they even got out of the desert without the the archmage noticing.

Or just, once again, why Dominic Deegan and his entire miserable city is not a smoking crater.

Villains.

[uncool]

Sneaky Gate
Future link
...So apparently the lost treasure is recognizable on sight now, after this update. Riiiiiight.
=Uncool-

[random11]

Sneaky Gate
Future link
...So apparently the lost treasure is recognizable on sight now, after this update. Riiiiiight.
=Uncool-

I can understand that Stunt does not know things that are considered to be general knowledge in fields like religion or magic.

I cannot understand however, how the lost treasure became general knowledge. Did Rillian just entertain all the pilgrims by showing them the necklace, giving them a pep talk and a cup of tea when they went TO DIE?

[Trazoi]

[...So apparently the lost treasure is recognizable on sight now, after this update. Riiiiiight.
=Uncool-

"Now that's the cup necklace of a carpenter crazy dame who went into the desert to diiiieeeeeee!!!!!"

Aaaaaaand we're at the part where Dominic uses one of his two main seer powers, namely the one to get stuff info dumped instantly into his brain so he doesn't have to do any icky legwork figuring out what to do himself.

Then we'll have some nonsense before Dominic uses his second main power, "See the Truth, Insta-Win Suckers, It's Great to Be King Sue".

Then more Facebath.

[random11]

If it wasn't linked to in the newspost, it wasn't important. I doubt Mookie remembers that Jayden was the decoy at all.

The entire "decoy" concept was stupid from the first second.

They didn't use any method, magic or mundane, to hide themselves.
There didn't really have any way to delay or outsmart an archmage, so the entire concept of splitting up was based on "there is no way an archmage can follow and kill TWO people!" which is ridicules.

Not to mention that they DIDN'T EVEN SPLIT UP!!!!! They remained together all the way through the desert, until they reached the nearest airship.

[Trazoi]

Not to mention that they DIDN'T EVEN SPLIT UP!!!!! They remained together all the way through the desert, until they reached the nearest airship.

My favourite part was when both of them emerged together from the sand in a magic bubble.

[TheLaughingMan]

Sneaky Gate
Future link
...So apparently the lost treasure is recognizable on sight now, after this update. Riiiiiight.
=Uncool-

Instead of grasping the plot trinket and continuing our "plot thread," Dominic instead decides to trip out for no reason.

Oh my glob, if the treasure ends up being forged from fantasy!LSD and we spend the next arc on a drug PSA that would actually redeem this year's run for me.
And that's terrible.

[T-O-E]

The Archmagi are definitely addicted to magic. Noodel was a genuine junkie. Did you see how swollen his eyeballs were?

It's the only way to explain how incompetent they are.

[random11]

The Archmagi are definitely addicted to magic. Noodel was a genuine junkie. Did you see how swollen his eyeballs were?

It's the only way to explain how incompetent they are.

That might also explain the cookie fixation.
Probably need for munchies, or maybe "herbal cookies".

[Traab]

New theory, the lost treasure has protections from remote scrying on it. Basically, you cant see it, or anything around it when you try. That explains why noone has been able to "find" this treasure for so long. It also explains why jayden and stunt didnt get attacked in the desert, and jayden only got attacked, (even though it was everyone else who got hurt) well after they split up. If stunt gets too far away from the necklace, expect manta ray to show back up again. Or perhaps they will check all of the deegans hangout spots until they find one they cant scry and go there to attack. Dom can do his vision thing because visions are TOTALLY different from scrying. And uh, maybe he is inside the radius of effect so they no longer block his gift? I dunno. Anyways, it also explains why dom had no idea stunt was coming.

[Myrdhale]

New theory, the lost treasure has protections from remote scrying on it. Basically, you cant see it, or anything around it when you try. That explains why noone has been able to "find" this treasure for so long. It also explains why jayden and stunt didnt get attacked in the desert, and jayden only got attacked, (even though it was everyone else who got hurt) well after they split up. If stunt gets too far away from the necklace, expect manta ray to show back up again. Or perhaps they will check all of the deegans hangout spots until they find one they cant scry and go there to attack. Dom can do his vision thing because visions are TOTALLY different from scrying. And uh, maybe he is inside the radius of effect so they no longer block his gift? I dunno. Anyways, it also explains why dom had no idea stunt was coming.

Traab, stop solving Mookie's problems for him! Now he can just waltz in here and write a compelling narrative reason for his plot making no sense instead of flailing around trying to justify why any of this happened.

[random11]

New theory, the lost treasure has protections from remote scrying on it. Basically, you cant see it, or anything around it when you try. That explains why noone has been able to "find" this treasure for so long. It also explains why jayden and stunt didnt get attacked in the desert, and jayden only got attacked, (even though it was everyone else who got hurt) well after they split up. If stunt gets too far away from the necklace, expect manta ray to show back up again. Or perhaps they will check all of the deegans hangout spots until they find one they cant scry and go there to attack. Dom can do his vision thing because visions are TOTALLY different from scrying. And uh, maybe he is inside the radius of effect so they no longer block his gift? I dunno. Anyways, it also explains why dom had no idea stunt was coming.

According to your theory, he knew he was looking for Stunt and Jayden, but couldn't scry on them.
But why did he need to scry?
They were the only living creatures who left that cave, in a vast desert with no place to hide, when the arch mage can fly, and should know where they are heading to.

Also, Jayden was far away from the necklace during her travel to wolf-land. Why wasn't she attacked before?
One of the arch mages also spied on her during the night before, why didn't he just kill her then, or at least extract the information about the necklace?

Also, HOW COME DOMINIC ISN'T DEAD YET?!?! He's not even bothering to hide himself, and he has archmages, a king, the beast and some demons after him.

[Mr. McGician]

The Archmagi are definitely addicted to magic. Noodel was a genuine junkie. Did you see how swollen his eyeballs were?

It's the only way to explain how incompetent they are.

Hmm... That's actually an interesting story concept. Magic is like a drug. Getting more of it makes you more powerful, but you also get addicted to it and it has averse effects on your sanity.

On the strip itself, I outright laughed at panel four. Yes, the treasure has been lost for centuries and yet somehow Dominic knows what it looks like. So perhaps they still have a picture of it, but from a distance it looks like just an ordinary necklace. How did Dominic know exactly what it was on first glance? That panel is so hilarious, I'm thinking of using it as my avatar.

[M84]

Hmm... That's actually an interesting story concept. Magic is like a drug. Getting more of it makes you more powerful, but you also get addicted to it and it has averse effects on your sanity.

On the strip itself, I outright laughed at panel four. Yes, the treasure has been lost for centuries and yet somehow Dominic knows what it looks like. So perhaps they still have a picture of it, but from a distance it looks like just an ordinary necklace. How did Dominic know exactly what it was on first glance? That panel is so hilarious, I'm thinking of using it as my avatar.

I can imagine King DJ meeting them in dark alleys passing them small packets of powdered Snuggly promising that they'll get a really good magic high from them. While neglecting to tell them about the addiction/brainwashing side effects of course.

[spectralphoenix]

I don't know, suddenly deciding magic is a drug sounds like it could lead into a really awful morality tale. Anyone remember season six of Buffy?

[MReav]

I don't know, suddenly deciding magic is a drug sounds like it could lead into a really awful morality tale. Anyone remember season six of Buffy?

However much I wish to forget it.

Tara was killed by the second gunman behind the grassy knoll.