Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire, Mk. XLVI: A Tark of the Klones, Electric Boogaloo

[rocketpony]

It is now my personal canon that Nimmel has been suffering from hypoxia this whole entire time, and that's why he has just been so thumpingly stupid. Also, he's been extremely drunk.

Seriously, how did Nimmel not even once think to himself, "oh, wait, I'm a wizard, I can try wizardly tricks."
How can he have lived as long as he has.

How

[Johnny Blade]

I expect that, tomorrow, Nimmel will have to give Dominic a detailed status report and describe what the Tempest is like. He will notice that, for some reason, he can't make out what's going on to his right side and wonder why that could be.



This will also be the Friday cliffhanger.



After reading the strip again:

Originally Posted by rocketpony

How can he have lived as long as he has.

How

Seriously now, these winds can actually suffocate you because of their sheer force...I'm not sure exactly how much that takes, but I'm gonna say enough to kill you whether you can breathe or not.

So. HOW?

[T-O-E]

Surprise: The Tempest is where the Klones dispose of their rubbish.

[Ninjadeadbeard]

My first slay ever. Not sure how these work, but here it is.

Spoiler

[AgentofOdd]

If only Mookie ended the strip ended with Nimmel telling off Dominic by saying something like "I KNOW DOMINIC, I'M IN MY ELEMENT AFTER ALL." Anything but that self satisfied ATTABOY... UGH.

[Cavelcade]

It took me a long time to get over how utterly stupid this strip is. Ugh. Nimmel is completely awful. It's hard to even articulate how blindingly idiotic that was.

[Johnny Blade]

Originally Posted by Ninjadeadbeard

My first slay ever. Not sure how these work, but here it is.

Spoiler

Man, panel 4 is golden. In the slay's context as well as just on its own.

[Trazoi]

Double Deegan (Sneaky Gate)
Future Link

We sure are spending a lot of the final year of DD on getting Nimmel home.

[Arakune]

Is it really supposed to work that way?

[Trazoi]

Originally Posted by Arakune

Is it really supposed to work that way?

According to the whole arc describing how second sight works - maybe? According to Dominic, the hard part is distinguishing one Stunt-face and featureless white void from another.

Of course these two are oracles, which is Second Sight + Sue, so I guess Katya also has the ability to "just know" everything like Dominic does.

[random11]

Originally Posted by Trazoi

Double Deegan (Sneaky Gate)
Future Link

Not much to say about the strip.
Convenient things happened around Nimmel all the time, Katya's new power is just another one.

Originally Posted by Trazoi

We sure are spending a lot of the final year of DD on getting Nimmel home.

Total of two weeks on this part, and at least some of the focus was on Katya.
You can say a lot of bad things about the crappy methodology of "problem solved in 2 strips top", but at least it makes things faster...

[Rhapsh]

Originally Posted by random11

You can say a lot of bad things about the crappy methodology of "problem solved in 2 strips top", but at least it makes things faster...

Well, the fundamental problem is Mookie spends stupid amounts of time on pretty irreverent garbage, such as Desert to Die and this, but then wraps up what we perceive as huge plot deals in one or two strips. I mean, did we really need Nimmel's non action adventures? How does this move the overall narrative forward? We certainly didn't need this to find out about the heart of magic, since Dominic apparently already can guess. (with 100% accuracy)

And it brings the actions of the antagonists to a screeching halt. Consider Beast/King just launched a massive attack on the world's largest religious center. This means we're finally in end game. But no, they are just taking a break while this side plot takes center stage.

[Trazoi]

Originally Posted by Rhapsh

Well, the fundamental problem is Mookie spends stupid amounts of time on pretty irreverent garbage, such as Desert to Die and this, but then wraps up what we perceive as huge plot deals in one or two strips. I mean, did we really need Nimmel's non action adventures? How does this move the overall narrative forward? We certainly didn't need this to find out about the heart of magic, since Dominic apparently already can guess. (with 100% accuracy)

Exactly this. Two weeks isn't that much by itself, but if Mookie wants to stick by his deadline he only has about forty left. If Nimmel and Katya were the main characters, then this level of pacing might be justified. But it's far too slow for a pair of minor characters in a cast where at least two dozen still need to take their place in the story.

Mookie isn't spending his weeks wisely. He's either going to run overtime or hilariously rush things at the end.

Besides, I don't see the point of making Katya an Oracle. What is she going to do story-wise that Dominic won't or can't?

[SaintRidley]

Katya's just having a bit of trouble getting used to becoming all-powerful. Her runtishness will be cured next, to make her an acceptable mate.

[Trazoi]

So I thought the main point of this strip was show Katya gaining her powers as an oracle, a Very Important Thing in Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire, but nope:

Originally Posted by Mookie's newspost

Much stronger than he realized.

With everything going wrong for our heroes lately, I thought it would be nice to have the week end on a somewhat higher note than usual. Last Friday's comic had a similar layout, with the ominous Tempest swirling below. Now Nimmel is in the heart of the storm and looking stronger than he realized.

As always, it's all about the Mookinserts.

[T-O-E]

No, Nimmel, you do not look awesome. I am unimpressed.

What was the point of Katya being clairaudient (?) if she was just going to become clairvoyant a few strips later?

Trick question: So Dominic could help her.

Originally Posted by Trazoi

Besides, I don't see the point of making Katya an Oracle. What is she going to do story-wise that Dominic won't or can't?

How are we supposed to know how great Dominic is if there's no-one to compare him to?

[random11]

Originally Posted by Trazoi

So I thought the main point of this strip was show Katya gaining her powers as an oracle, a Very Important Thing in Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire, but nope:


As always, it's all about the Mookinserts.

"With everything going wrong for our heroes lately"?!

ONE side character, and a few random people died.
In any other story, villain doing something bad and having temporary advantage would have been called "a plot".
But in DD, apparently it is considered to be forbidden, so once it was done we need to make the heroes stronger and better again, just to calm the tension...

[Penquin47]

Is it just me, or does the art not quite match the words?

It says he's supposed to look awesome. He looks like he's in need of a new pair of pants, to me.

[elros]

Ya, it happens in real life. But it doesn't make for a healthy longterm relationship. That's what makes it so frustrating that this appears to be the only relationship Mookie thinks exists.

This is the part that bothers me the most (yes, even more than the crappy plot and other problems). Mookie keeps writing characters that are in co-dependent relationships and makes it seem like that is healthy. Worse, each character picks up new magical powers during the relationship, which makes the entire thing even more creepy.

The best example is Luna and Dominic (who is the ultimate narcissist), but the Nimmel-Katya dynamic is even weirder. Nimmel was a bully in their world, and he is preying on someone who literally was an outcast with unrequited love for Milov. Seriously, how can he not see how screwed up that is?

[Mr. McGician]

Originally Posted by Trazoi

Exactly this. Two weeks isn't that much by itself, but if Mookie wants to stick by his deadline he only has about forty left. If Nimmel and Katya were the main characters, then this level of pacing might be justified. But it's far too slow for a pair of minor characters in a cast where at least two dozen still need to take their place in the story.

Mookie isn't spending his weeks wisely. He's either going to run overtime or hilariously rush things at the end.

Besides, I don't see the point of making Katya an Oracle. What is she going to do story-wise that Dominic won't or can't?

I don't see the point to any of this stupid subplot. Nimmel finding the Eld was pointless, because Dominic already knew everything they told him. Katya becoming a seer was pointless, because Dominic took the wheel the first chance he could get his grubby hands on it. And this stupid tempest is pointless, because again, Dominic did everything. The side characters and everything they do are rendered useless because Dominic always has to steal the show.

[Johnny Blade]

Originally Posted by Trazoi

Mookie isn't spending his weeks wisely.

Mookie isn't spending his days wisely, either, honestly. Today's strip accomplishes nothing that couldn't have been accomplished by making the big panel of Nimmel in the storm, supposedly looking strong, the last one of yesterday's strip and bringing up Katya's developing second sight in one panel in a later update.
Instead, a full comic gets wasted on this.

[Rhapsh]

Originally Posted by Mookie's Newspost

Much stronger than he realized.

With everything going wrong for our heroes lately, I thought it would be nice to have the week end on a somewhat higher note than usual. Last Friday's comic had a similar layout, with the ominous Tempest swirling below. Now Nimmel is in the heart of the storm and looking stronger than he realized.

I don't understand how everything is "going wrong" for the heroes. Okay, Bumper died, which personally effects Stunt. A bunch of unknown priests/priestesses died, which would personally effect Jayden (but not the named priestess). Dominic, Nimmel, Mom/Dad Deegan, Jacob, Greg, Quilt, Milov, Runt Girl, even that horrible furry abomination of Dominic's, they are all doing relatively fine.

The only real huge personal tragedy so far is for Chance Masters. So I guess "our heroes" are Chance and Stunt.

And he's only "stronger than he realized" because you wrote him to be functionally mentally disabled Mookie.

[Mewtarthio]

Originally Posted by Mr. McGician

I don't see the point to any of this stupid subplot. Nimmel finding the Eld was pointless, because Dominic already knew everything they told him. Katya becoming a seer was pointless, because Dominic took the wheel the first chance he could get his grubby hands on it. And this stupid tempest is pointless, because again, Dominic did everything.

I don't know what's worse: The possibility that Mookie is wasting so much time on Nimmel, or the possibility that this time will be crucial to beating DJ Callan. Nimmel's probably going to pick up some sort of Deus Ex Machina in the Tempest, or the Tempest will throw him into the Beast's home plane or DJ Callan's secret lab or the Heart of Magic* where he will learn Something Very Important, or maybe his return portal leads right into DJ Callan's chest cavity.

*which is the Face of God who is us.

[Sweetie Welf]

Originally Posted by Mewtarthio

I don't know what's worse: The possibility that Mookie is wasting so much time on Nimmel, or the possibility that this time will be crucial to beating DJ Callan. Nimmel's probably going to pick up some sort of Deus Ex Machina in the Tempest, or the Tempest will throw him into the Beast's home plane or DJ Callan's secret lab or the Heart of Magic* where he will learn Something Very Important, or maybe his return portal leads right into DJ Callan's chest cavity.

*which is the Face of God who is us.

Or he teleports directly to Dominic.

On a side note: today's comic isn't that bad. If it had been used to start this sequence. Then we would have gotten the idea that the Tempest is a giant storm, and that Nimmel at least has some abilities.

[AgentofOdd]

So the Tempest is a maelstrom of enormous magical energy in flux right? Where in the Material Plane do we have something similar? Ayup, the Wild Lands. Ten internet credits says that's where Nimmel will end up where he's greeted by a cameo appearance of Bort. Who'll be instrumental in beating the king. Cause why not?

[Analysis]

What weirds me out is how Katya notices her own eyes begin to look strange. There is some kind of weird reverse autism in there...

[Oracle_Hunter]

Originally Posted by Analysis

What weirds me out is how Katya notices her own eyes begin to look strange. There is some kind of weird reverse autism in there...

Huh, that's true. Maybe they just start getting foggy when they switch over -- which is something she could reasonably see.

[rocketpony]

So, I kind of figured the point of this little interlude was to introduce THE ELD to the conflict, to be an army of light to counterattack the extremely dangerous and threatening cattleblasters. So, what we've got here is Nimmel controls THE TEMPEST and calms THE TEMPEST and brings the fleet through with him back into Dominion Prime. Which would be silly, but just remember Maltak, and how it was very important that Stonewater lead an army, and are we really going to have Our Heroes stand against an army without their own army?

Unrelatedly, geez, does this make the Eld look terrible. "Oh yes, it's THE TEMPEST, a swirling cauldron of elemental chaos! Our ships daren't get any closer than this!" And then, oh hey, this guy they picked up just bends the thing over his knee. If Nimmel, Nimmel, who is working on his undergraduate degree in Werewolf Studies instead of Advanced Wizardly Tricks, can turn this thing inside out once he remembers that you can use magic to turn things inside out, a fleet full of techno-wizards can take their spaceships and put them wherever they damn well please.

[Cavelcade]

On the one hand, these strips are terrible in every way.

On the other hand, these strips become more and more hilarious as I let go of my rage.

[T-O-E]

Originally Posted by Mewtarthio

Nimmel's probably going to pick up some sort of Deus Ex Machina in the Tempest, ...

Not even necessary. He already has the Cloak of Ara's Cloak.