The strip's taller than usual.

Piro speaks:
dom did that just to annoy me. I'm going to smack him about that later today

Dom speaks:
"Glad to hear we're on the same side."
From m-w.com
irony
2 a : the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning b : a usually humorous or sardonic literary style or form characterized by irony c : an ironic expression or utterance
Not suggesting anything definitively, but just putting a possibility out there that they're perhaps wiser to each other than they let on...

In these close-ups of the previous strip's panels, you can clearly see Ed's "PS3" shirt, and that Dom's Sega jacket mysteriously changes to Sony in the last panel.
Since this strip is labeled as a Shirt Guy Dom strip, does that mean it's not officially part of the storyline?

Piro speaks:
Lets just say that one of the biggest problems with dom's strip is how plainly it lays out a story idea and concept. It's an explanation strip, its not happening in story. and it lays down a concept that really should not have been so overtly stated because it takes all of the mystery out of what two mysterious characters are doing going to japan. What's said in it is expected to be true, but you should keep in mind who's saying it. Do you really think Dom and Ed would want you or anyone or each other to know what they are ever REALLY doing? Obfuscation, folks. :)
The SGD in question is exactly why you never spell out specific things in a developing story, even if you feel that idea is fully worked out. Dom was just pulling on the basic concept for his SGD, but the details of how things pan out are not something that had been fully developed yet. One of the reasons i keep the story mostly to myself is that i'm still working out the details, and i reserve the right to change even major things (there is, for example, one huge element to the story that i'm considering changing, but i'm not sure yet) if i feel that it is better for the story. It's funny how in the end, if you let yourself work this way, things end up clicking together better than if you stuck to some sort of rigid structure for the story.
There are whole arcs and even major directions in the story that have developed and shifted over time. Is this bad writing? Of course it is. I'm an ametur, i have no fsking clue what i'm doing. I've been learning how to do this as i go :) Yet, the most interesting developments in MT are the ones that have sort of organically happened. As a result, things change here and there, and the overall story has become (oddly enough) tighter and more solid over time. Sure, it's only natural that there will be elements of the story that don't get handled well. Things get dropped, certain threads peter out and die... i have a tendency to start more things than i can actually finish. Why does this happen? it's all part of trying to find the story's path. Not every path actually goes somewhere. Don't tell me that's bad. Life is like that too.
It was really bad in the beginning. That's the problem with trying to develop a story as you are doing it. You end up ad libbing a lot.
In relation to Dom's strip... did it ever occur to you that maybe dom's initial purpose was no more than to twart ed in whatever he was doing? Perhaps thats just one of Dom's standing jobs. Ed is after ping, so therefore so is dom. Why should dom put any work into it? All he has to do is shoot ed and take ping as soon as finds her and goes to take her to sony HQ. In the meantime, he's got plenty of time to poke around and do other things, like, say, act on this little discovery of his. he can deal with ed after ed has done all the work.
Oh, and i must say... one must take everything i say with a grain of salt. I've been known to use the fact that no one can hear the layered sarcasm in my voice when i say something totally misleading. Nothing is more irritatating that having someone explain a story to you. Stories should be experienced, not explained. Details should be gleaned, not revealed. Authors should never ever ever ever be trusted.
:P

Piro speaks:
also, never underestimate my ability to screw things up. :P Also, there is a trick to screwing things up, but twisting things around to make yourself look like you planned it and are therefore brilliant. I don't get away with that very much :)
:P

Dom speaks:
The funniest thing is, it's been so long since I did that strip that I don't even remember why anymore :)

Dom speaks:
What can I say? I was being honest there, because I honestly don't remember the conversation I had with Fred about that strip, other than that we had one.