The Demigods, yay or nay?

[D-Rock]

Regarding how Keene came back from Heaven, I'm in the boat that it was actually a near-death experience. As for the demigods, it is indeed part "I'm easy to please," and part "they're just as flawed as we can be and are still figuring themselves and the world out."

[Keeperixx]

Regarding how Keene came back from Heaven, I'm in the boat that it was actually a near-death experience. As for the demigods, it is indeed part "I'm easy to please," and part "they're just as flawed as we can be and are still figuring themselves and the world out."

You're "in the boat"? Are you saying there's technically no official explanation in the comic that explains why Keene returned from heaven? I haven't seen anything else that legitimately encourages the reader to fill the gaps of a plot themselves.

And there's that "they're just as flawed as we can be and are still figuring themselves and the world out." card again, while that seems like kind way to give the demigods the benefit of the doubt, I must repeat that I didn't find anything in the comic itself that could've helped me get that impression on Pete or Dragon.

The closest moment I found was a moment where Dragon apologized to Peanut trying to set him up to fall in love with her instead of Tarot. And even then she didn't use that moment to apologize for all the other times prior where she and/or Pete kept dragging Peanut or the rest of the cast into their shenanigans.

Even then, I didn't see any payoff from that in the "Heaven Is Not Enough", not even so much as begging Kitsune to let her provide reparations to the main cast for the celestial crap they got dragged into before starting her life as a mortal.

The closest to proper character development from both Pete and Dragon was when they left Heaven to start lives as mortals. And that was only a PROMISE of character development, if there's an arc where we actually get to see this development, I have yet to see it.

[Obbl]

the plothole near the end where I don't think it was properly explained how and why Keene was able to return to the land of the living

Regarding how Keene came back from Heaven, I'm in the boat that it was actually a near-death experience.

You're "in the boat"? Are you saying there's technically no official explanation in the comic that explains why Keene returned from heaven? I haven't seen anything else that legitimately encourages the reader to fill the gaps of a plot themselves.

Considering you are the only person I have seen who was at all confused by this beyond perhaps getting this "near-death experience" explanation from someone, I'm not sure the problem rests with the comic. Consider also that the only way any interaction between celestials and mortals has ended is with a "wake up" moment (aside from Heaven's Not Enough where not doing so was played for laughs). This isn't meant to be confusing so much as you don't actually need to know the details to understand the broad strokes. Also, yeah, near-death experience fits the bill to a T.

I'm not sure [Kitsune]'s as good-hearted as you give him credit for. What I've seen points to him acting for the sake of his own desired ends that just incidentally benefit main cast. I haven't really seen anything that implies he's been intentionally acting solely for anyone's benefit other than his own. Though it's possible I overlooked something that was supposed to give me that more benign impression.

This is maybe my biggest point of failure to understand you. You do not appear to be giving any benefit of the doubt to these characters. I go back to my earlier point that I've talked to some who seem incapable of viewing the celestials in a good light because any "meddling" that they do feels bad/wrong/immoral no matter how little or lightly. But well, the text of the comic indicates that what they're doing can be disruptive but ultimately isn't judged to be wrong. If you don't agree with the text, that's fine, but that is indeed the text of this comic.
And since that's the text of the comic, Kitsune's trickstery helpfulness is pretty clearly meant to be taken as a benefit to the mortals. He takes a "help others to help themselves" attitude, directing the outcome by pushing mortals to act in ways that benefit themselves and sometimes him as well. This to me is extremely obviously the text of the comic, and maybe it's just that I'm more familiar with the trickster archetype, or maybe it just happens to make sense to me naturally in a way that it doesn't for others, but I really struggle to understand anyone who doesn't at least read Kitsune as a good person.

And there's that "they're just as flawed as we can be and are still figuring themselves and the world out." card again, while that seems like kind way to give the demigods the benefit of the doubt, I must repeat that I didn't find anything in the comic itself that could've helped me get that impression on Pete or Dragon.

Wait, what part of that is not part of the impression you get of them? "They're flawed" seems pretty clear. They're main flaw is selfishness and entitlement. Since anyone can be selfish and entitled to similar degrees as Pete and Dragon, that covers the "just as flawed as we can be" part. The "still figuring themselves out" part is literally the ending of The Galifrax Protocol, and hinted at throughout The Trial in Heaven and the aftermath of Heaven is Not Enough. So I don't know how that wouldn't be your impression of them. You're still free to not like them. They're selfish and entitled and that often makes them jerks. But Pete's wry cynisism is still cute to me and Dragon's desire to understand mortals makes me want to stick with her through her selfishness. In other words, they come across as teenagers still figuring everything out, and I find their flaws both annoying and endearing.

You keep saying there's nothing in the comic that gives you an impression that you should give any benefit of the doubt, but it continues to come across to me like you just aren't willing to extend any. And hey, Dragon and Pete are the least liked. It's fine not to like them. I just don't think I understand what you're not understanding. The comic you describe often does not seem to not match with the comic I'm reading, so it's hard to do anything other than point to the comic and say go read it again? Rick may not explain things more than once (especially in the earlier stages of the comic), but he does explain things. The information is there.

[Harry Johnathan]

As a Native American who grew up with trickster stories, I never had a problem with Kitsune's behvaior, and was in fact confused by some of y'all's beef with him.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Kitsune had the perfect opportunity to screw both King and Bailey over before the pups were born when Pete and Dragon were reincarnated. All he had to do was make them be born their pups. King would be a LOT worse off than he is now if that was the case. Maybe even having an actual breakdown. Kitsune's aim when he is not having fun is trying to get characters to learn a lesson somehow no matter how mean and obnoxious it might be. It would definitely be in his best interest to have King and Bailey look over the two former Gods instead of doing it himself but he decided after all they had been through it wouldn't be fair. So while he might be self-serving, he unlike Pete and Dragon who are selfish is considerate.

[Keeperixx]

Kitsune had the perfect opportunity to screw both King and Bailey over before the pups were born when Pete and Dragon were reincarnated. All he had to do was make them be born their pups. King would be a LOT worse off than he is now if that was the case. Maybe even having an actual breakdown. Kitsune's aim when he is not having fun is trying to get characters to learn a lesson somehow no matter how mean and obnoxious it might be. It would definitely be in his best interest to have King and Bailey look over the two former Gods instead of doing it himself but he decided after all they had been through it wouldn't be fair. So while he might be self-serving, he unlike Pete and Dragon who are selfish is considerate.

Sounds like something from an arc I haven't gotten to yet, so I'll take your word for it.

Wait, what part of that is not part of the impression you get of them? "They're flawed" seems pretty clear. They're main flaw is selfishness and entitlement. Since anyone can be selfish and entitled to similar degrees as Pete and Dragon, that covers the "just as flawed as we can be" part. The "still figuring themselves out" part is literally the ending of The Galifrax Protocol, and hinted at throughout The Trial in Heaven and the aftermath of Heaven is Not Enough. So I don't know how that wouldn't be your impression of them. You're still free to not like them. They're selfish and entitled and that often makes them jerks. But Pete's wry cynisism is still cute to me and Dragon's desire to understand mortals makes me want to stick with her through her selfishness. In other words, they come across as teenagers still figuring everything out, and I find their flaws both annoying and endearing.

In a way, Obbl, I think your post helped me figure out the heart of the reason why I'm failing to see Pete and Dragon the way Rick intended.

It boils down to all that exposition that's been prevalent in arcs where the demigods played major roles. Let me try to put this in perspective;

In comic arcs where the focus was on the mortal anthro characters, Rick generally has done a good job keeping everything straightforward, concise, and easy to understand. It helps that unlike the Demigods, the main cast didn't drown their personality traits in walls of exposition.

Which is a big reason the whole demigod tabletop game arc and the celestial bureaucracy exposition ended up throwing me off-balance; it clashed greatly with how the rest of the comic was written. (yes, you said you got through it just fine, but the fact I couldn't is part of the point). Which is why I might've skimmed past some strips that had these walls of exposition. My thought was "This overly complicated celestial bureaucracy mumbo-jumbo wasn't why I was interested in this comic, so why should I care?"

Granted, I'll admit it kinda ended up biting me in the butt when more arcs came up that featured the demigods dragging the main cast into more of their affairs, but do you see my point?

Heck, I suspect even Rick saw the hefty exposition as a problem, hence how the "The 4 Animals You Meet In Heaven" was written more concisely. Consequentially, it also made it easier for me to get a grasp on Cerberus's characterization and allowed me to like her as a character more easily.

If the mortal anthro characters were able to get their personalities (both their positive and negative traits) across with just the two or three sentences in their first appearances and/or maybe some brief visual cues, why shouldn't I have held Pete or Dragon to the same standard?


Another major reason I failed see Pete or Dragon as likable characters might also have something to do with Pete's first appearance.

When I saw his first meeting was King, he presented himself as some trollish garment bag who enjoying toying with King yet had very little (if anything) balancing that trait out. Which gave me the lasting impression I wasn't suppose to sympathize with him.

In hindsight, it probably wasn't a good first impression. So much so that it left me viewing the appearance of later demigods with more suspicion and cynicism than Rick probably intended for me to do so. But given how low-key crapsack the Housepets World presented itself as, the impression of the demigods being largely jerks fitted all too well with everything else going on in the grand scheme of things.

It was kinda distressing me that I failed to view Pete or Dragon with the interpretations Rick wanted me to follow. Especially since I'm trying (and, demigods aside, think I'm mostly succeeding) to enjoy the comic the way he intended me to. But if some of the posts here are anything to go by, I haven't lost much narratively in failing to sympathize with those two. So I'm taking comfort in that at least.

[Amazee Dayzee]

The reason why you haven't lost anything in failing to view the two of them sympathetically is because there is no way that Rick actually wants you to view them specifically. Rick wanted you to come up with your own conclusions about them. It was always up to the reader. If Rick wanted you to sympathize with them and you couldn't then that might be a problem but its not here because Rick just wants you to make your own determination.

[Keeperixx]

The reason why you haven't lost anything in failing to view the two of them sympathetically is because there is no way that Rick actually wants you to view them specifically. Rick wanted you to come up with your own conclusions about them. It was always up to the reader. If Rick wanted you to sympathize with them and you couldn't then that might be a problem but its not here because Rick just wants you to make your own determination.

If that's officially the case, I wish I knew this earlier. Might help explain why Obbl and I kept going nowhere with each other whenever we locked horns over this discussion.

[Leotamer]

The demi-gods are mysterious characters which we slowly learn about, and initially appear benevolent (Pete in the Grove and Dragon by proxy of Tarot) but take antagonistic roles (Pete in general and Dragon in the Gallifrax Protocol) and revealed to be immature, entitled and prone to cheating.

The cosmic game and the workings of heaven are confusing, but I think that Pete and Dragon are more interesting characters when re-reading the comics, because you focus more on the character dynamics after getting a gist of the more complicated rules surrounding it, and it helps to see the scenes in a new context. We don't learn that Pete and Dragon are siblings until the end of Heaven's Not Enough for example. Housepets 5000 BC also shows that Dragon is also willing to cheat, and that happens after Heaven's Not Enough.

[Obbl]

Yeah, no, why would you sympathize with Pete while he's being a jerk? Both Dragon and Pete are often jerks, Pete's first character description by another character is literally that he is "kind of a jerk", which bears out. But jerks can be entertaining, as he was to me during A Wonderful Dog's Life and any subsequent appearances. As I said, wry cynicism can go a long way in a character. And him being a jerk is why it was so satisfying to see him humbled at the end of Heaven's Not Enough. I like Pete, but he is a very flawed character, and I also hold out hope that he can grow. The only part of your take that I've ever really disagreed with is when you say that Pete and Dragon aren't compelling characters at all

[Amazee Dayzee]

I take it as Pete and Dragon (but more so Pete admittedly) are actually characters that people love to hate. They don't outright hate him, but they love his villain but hate how he acts if that makes any sense. He is entertaining but because you hate how he acts and comes across. If that makes sense.

[Keeperixx]

Considering you are the only person I have seen who was at all confused by this beyond perhaps getting this "near-death experience" explanation from someone, I'm not sure the problem rests with the comic. Consider also that the only way any interaction between celestials and mortals has ended is with a "wake up" moment (aside from Heaven's Not Enough where not doing so was played for laughs). This isn't meant to be confusing so much as you don't actually need to know the details to understand the broad strokes. Also, yeah, near-death experience fits the bill to a T

I didn't need to know the details? Sorry, Obbl, but I have to argue that yes, I kinda did.

Yes, the whole "wake up" thing is kinda the running gag for the Demigods, but taking into account how that particular arc had Cerberus, among other characters, trying to break it to Keene that he's dead, only for last two strips to suddenly say "surprise! You're coming back to Earth now!" Without any proper build-up or foreshadowing that I could find to idea that he could actually not be dead.

Heck, I'd even argue it'd funnier if Cerberus suddenly popped up and said to Keene; "Surprise! Turns out you're technically not dead! So you can back to Earth, 'Kay? 'Kay! Now wake up!"

See? A minor tweak in dialog could've given proper clarity to Keene's return and narratively would've taken away nothing from the arc's story.

To say an explanation on why Keene was able to go back to living wasn't needed is a bit like if Tolkien said we didn't need to know how Gandalf survived his fall with the Balrog, pretty sure most of us wouldn't have treated such an omission of info as irrelevant.

[Leotamer]

We don't need a precise answer for why this happened, only that it did. And we have previous experience with celestials and a heavenly memento that appears in the next arc that confirms that events did happen. If you have the context of near death experience, and are familiar with the concept of people temporally entering the afterlife when they are about to die, but ultimately survive, then this doesn't seem any more out of the ordinary than any of the other supernatural elements of the strip.

And the plausible answer that the arc gives us is that sometimes Heaven sometimes just misfiles their paper-work, with Cerberus stating that they sometimes just write down the cause of death as "entropy", which is basically someone saying someone is dead because they died.

As for this not being foreshadowed, rereading it we have when Keene is talking his father he says "Well, I'm dead. That kinda derails plans" to which he responses "Less than you might think!"

There is also the alternative interpretation that isn't that he wasn't dead, but that he wasn't suppose to be dead. But whether it was because he wasn't dead, or wasn't suppose to be dead, the reason why left Heaven was that Cerberus checked the Halls of Record and determined that he should be on earth. The exact mechanics of why he was in Heaven to begin with and what Cerberus found in the Halls of Record aren't important to the story unless they become important latter.

[Keeperixx]

We don't need a precise answer for why this happened, only that it did. And we have previous experience with celestials and a heavenly memento that appears in the next arc that confirms that events did happen. If you have the context of near death experience, and are familiar with the concept of people temporally entering the afterlife when they are about to die, but ultimately survive, then this doesn't seem any more out of the ordinary than any of the other supernatural elements of the strip.

And the plausible answer that the arc gives us is that sometimes Heaven sometimes just misfiles their paper-work, with Cerberus stating that they sometimes just write down the cause of death as "entropy", which is basically someone saying someone is dead because they died.

As for this not being foreshadowed, rereading it we have when Keene is talking his father he says "Well, I'm dead. That kinda derails plans" to which he responses "Less than you might think!"

There is also the alternative interpretation that isn't that he wasn't dead, but that he wasn't suppose to be dead. But whether it was because he wasn't dead, or wasn't suppose to be dead, the reason why left Heaven was that Cerberus checked the Halls of Record and determined that he should be on earth. The exact mechanics of why he was in Heaven to begin with and what Cerberus found in the Halls of Record aren't important to the story unless they become important latter.

I reread that arc to verify some of the details you mentioned, so I thank you for at least trying to explain how you got those interpretations.

But that's just it, I still don't get why Keene's return needed to be "interpreted". Why was I not supposed to want an official explanation from the comic on why Keene was able to leave Heaven? Especially when the prior arcs were mostly straightforward with their plots and their relevant details?

This isn't some minor detail like "Why wasn't Ratchet from Ratchet and Clank wearing a shirt in the first game?"

We're talking about the life or death status of a major character, and Keene isn't Kenny from South Park where the deliberate lack of an explanation is part of the joke (and even then Kenny was eventually given an explanation on why he kept coming back from the dead).

[D-Rock]

It could likely be that Rick didn't believe it was necessary for the concept of near-death experiences to be explained, as they are a documented event in real life.

[Keeperixx]

It could likely be that Rick didn't believe it was necessary for the concept of near-death experiences to be explained, as they are a documented event in real life.

It's not the concept itself that needed explanation, it's the universe not being presented in the comic that's the problem.

Edit: besides, there's a difference between taking stock of things in real life and things that happen in someone's written fictional world, and the Housepets Universe obviously falls into latter category.

[D-Rock]

I think that's it. He didn't think it was necessary.

[Keeperixx]

I think that's it. He didn't think it was necessary.

If that's your only remaining defense of this plothole (and one without any official sources to back it), we'll clearly at an impasse.

Let's try a different angle, did Rick, to your knowledge, express any displeasure toward Keene at any point after writing him into the comic?

[D-Rock]

It might be better to ask him about that.

[Obbl]

Again, you're the only one I've seen who was this confused. I guess it wasn't clear to you, but that doesn't necessarily mean the comic isn't expressing the idea clearly enough. Keene was assumed dead by everyone in heaven simply because he was there in heaven, but we never actually got official word that he was dead. So, when Cerberus just sends him back with the standard "wake up", the only conclusion that makes any sense is that he wasn't actually dead (and this is supported by the hover text for that strip as well), and when he wakes up in a sinking car moments from his demise, this conclusion is only strengthened. Is the issue that you don't like ambiguity in any form? I mean, I don't find this to be all that ambiguous. He clearly wasn't meant to be dead (as he said when he first talked to Cerberus). To me this is minor ambiguity. Presicely why he was in heaven isn't super important to me, just that he was there even though he wasn't actually/technically dead. I don't see that anything really needs changing

Let's try a different angle, did Rick, to your knowledge, express any displeasure toward Keene at any point after writing him into the comic?

What direction is this question going? Rick hasn't to my knowledge expressed "displeasure" toward any of his characters. If I knew where this different angle was heading, perhaps I could explain more fully (though, yeah, Rick'd be the one with the most knowledge of what's in his head)

[Amazee Dayzee]

Just because someone expresses displeasure at a certain character in a comic they are making doesn't mean that they are gonna brush that character aside and never work on them again. It just means that they won't be used as much but they can still be important to the comic. But as Obbl said, there is no evidence to support that Rick feels that way about Keene.

[Keeperixx]

Again, you're the only one I've seen who was this confused. I guess it wasn't clear to you, but that doesn't necessarily mean the comic isn't expressing the idea clearly enough. Keene was assumed dead by everyone in heaven simply because he was there in heaven, but we never actually got official word that he was dead. So, when Cerberus just sends him back with the standard "wake up", the only conclusion that makes any sense is that he wasn't actually dead (and this is supported by the hover text for that strip as well), and when he wakes up in a sinking car moments from his demise, this conclusion is only strengthened. Is the issue that you don't like ambiguity in any form? I mean, I don't find this to be all that ambiguous. He clearly wasn't meant to be dead (as he said when he first talked to Cerberus). To me this is minor ambiguity. Presicely why he was in heaven isn't super important to me, just that he was there even though he wasn't actually/technically dead. I don't see that anything really needs changing

Let's try a different angle, did Rick, to your knowledge, express any displeasure toward Keene at any point after writing him into the comic?

What direction is this question going? Rick hasn't to my knowledge expressed "displeasure" toward any of his characters. If I knew where this different angle was heading, perhaps I could explain more fully (though, yeah, Rick'd be the one with the most knowledge of what's in his head)

Like I said before, the other story arcs in the comic were straightforward explaining their plots and conveying the important details I'm supposed to follow. Even the prior arcs involving the Celestials didn't skimp out telling me what I was supposed to know about what's going on.

And I'm someone who's played games with elements of ambiguity like Shadow Of The Colossus or Cyberpunk 2077.

So no, ambiguity is not my problem. My problem is narrative inconsistency.

Pete or Dragon may have had ambiguous characterization, but most of the plot of the comic I've read up that to that point was anything but ambiguous.

How was I expected to suddenly hold the ending of "The 4 Animals You Meet In Heaven" to a different standard from the rest of how the comic was written?

[Obbl]

Your argument comes across as hyperbolic to me. You've mostly been saying that you found this to be unacceptably ambiguous and then thrown around criticisms of plot holes and narrative inconsistencies. But your subjective reading of this just isn't enough for such claims to hold much weight with me.
Sorry to hear it didn't work for you

[D-Rock]

Basically, Rick isn’t required to spoon-feed every minute detail.

[Keeperixx]

Basically, Rick isn’t required to spoon-feed every minute detail.

If it was something clearly trivial like what pizza Keene was ordering, I could buy that being not relevant enough to bring up.

But again, we're talking Keene's freaking vital signs, I never saw any other story treat such a factor as irrelevant. Especially one centered around bring in Heaven. It baffles me to think I wasn't supposed to question this.

I managed to get in contact with Rick about this, and he basically confirmed what most of you speculated that he didn't see the reason for Keene's arrival in Heaven or his return to Earth as necessary to state. Which still rattles my mind. (Granted he didn't explain yet why he thought that way.)

But fine, it's his comic, he has the right to write it however he sees fit. But I know if I was writing such a scenario, I would never treat the how and why of such a visit that loosely or dismissively, I'd feel my readers would be owed at least some clarity on what's going on.

[D-Rock]

He was drugged.
He started drowning.
He literally and figuratively woke up.




It's that simple.

[Obbl]

Yeah, why state something that's already pretty obvious to most people? It's important that we know that Keene isn't dead, but... well, he's not dead. What more did you want Rick to say? Why did he go to heaven briefly if he wasn't actually dead? I don't see that as an important detail. What else? Why was Keene "allowed" to leave? Well, he's not dead. He's only "mostly dead". And as we all know, mostly dead is slightly alive.
I genuinely don't see what all important detail you think is missing

[Amazee Dayzee]

The best way to describe it has already been said in the above posts trying to explain it. It was a near-death experience. Though it might have been a lot more vivid than others you read about it still explains it pretty well. Though the only thing that I wonder about is how he suddenly recovered when in most cases someone who experiences a near-death experience is worked on for a while by paramedics to get them stable. I have read through a few and I have never really heard of anybody just waking up and full recovering when they are that close to death. But I trust it is possible.

The most vivid near-death experience that we have on record is the one from Pam Reynolds if you are interested. They induced cardiac arrest and shut down her brain to remove a huge aneurysm that if it burst would have killed her. Hers is a good example of something that could happen and she did (however briefly) go to heaven.

[NHWestoN]

Not sure I'm ready to see Great Kitsune turn into a 1930s style "hen-pecked husband." Thought that went out with "Bringing Up Father. Still, the arc has just begun ......

[Amazee Dayzee]

Is he really gonna be hen-pecked if the reason why his wife is angry at him and assaulting him because him losing their kids was 100% his fault?

[jonas]

I love the demigods. x) I think the celestial stuff is best as an occasional thing, but I enjoy the weird ways in which they stir up the status quo.

[NHWestoN]

Is he really gonna be hen-pecked if the reason why his wife is angry at him and assaulting him because him losing their kids was 100% his fault?

Welll, I guess a round-house pummeling with a mace is a bit beyond hen-pecking. He's a Celestial, he can handle it. Prometheus got a lot worse.......

[Amazee Dayzee]

I was saying that I don't think this is being nagged since he actually deserves it since he didn't even think about the kits or how his partner would react to learning that they left them behind on what could be a literal hell on Earth.

[NHWestoN]

I was saying that I don't think this is being nagged since he actually deserves it since he didn't even think about the kits or how his partner would react to learning that they left them behind on what could be a literal hell on Earth.

We are still kinda suspended on what's with Craig and Draig ... wonder if they know Eudoant? They did get around a lot in their Celestial forms.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I can see that they do know who he is and what he is about and how dangerous he is but because they are powerless and just kits they would try to avoid him and not get seen by him at all costs.

[Keeperixx]

Yeah, why state something that's already pretty obvious to most people? It's important that we know that Keene isn't dead, but... well, he's not dead. What more did you want Rick to say? Why did he go to heaven briefly if he wasn't actually dead? I don't see that as an important detail. What else? Why was Keene "allowed" to leave? Well, he's not dead. He's only "mostly dead". And as we all know, mostly dead is slightly alive.
I genuinely don't see what all important detail you think is missing

I think you just helped me get into the heart of my problem with that plot point.

"Why did he go to heaven briefly if he wasn't actually dead? I don't see that as an important detail."

Suppose I grant you that things like Cerberus' "entropy" line were subtleties I missed that were supposed to lean me toward seeing that Keene was at near death.

And perhaps you might be right to think I've been making the mistake of binge-reading the comic with the goal of finding answers to questions Rick either didn't expect someone to ask regarding this comic's world, or is still playing long-game with said answers I haven't reached yet.

But let's try to put this in perspective.

Suppose Rick wrote King's transformation into a dog as being just sporadic without adding any involvement from Pete whatsoever? would you have trusted Rick if he said an explanation for that wasn't important?

Or what if Rick had Pete and Dragon suddenly pulled Keene and Bailey into their tabletop game without giving any explanation for what the game was about, why they're playing it in the first place, or why they're involving Keene or Bailey? If Rick said to you none of these details were important, would you have believed him?

If your answer is 'no' to both of these, than hopefully you see what my problem with this particular plot point was.

What I've been trying to say is that there surely has to be line between "broad strokes" and "Not meeting the reader halfway". Given how the rest of the comic didn't give me this problem, I have to think Rick understands this for the most part.

The rest of you thought it was explained just fine, I thought it was underexplained for not addressing why Keene was in Heaven in the first place if he wasn't dead. Prior arcs at least had things like the demigods using their powers to summon mortals to celestial planes or Tarot casting spells to travel between realms. So why was an explanation for Keene's arrival to Heaven not meant to be considered important?

The best way to describe it has already been said in the above posts trying to explain it. It was a near-death experience. Though it might have been a lot more vivid than others you read about it still explains it pretty well. Though the only thing that I wonder about is how he suddenly recovered when in most cases someone who experiences a near-death experience is worked on for a while by paramedics to get them stable. I have read through a few and I have never really heard of anybody just waking up and full recovering when they are that close to death. But I trust it is possible.

The most vivid near-death experience that we have on record is the one from Pam Reynolds if you are interested. They induced cardiac arrest and shut down her brain to remove a huge aneurysm that if it burst would have killed her. Hers is a good example of something that could happen and she did (however briefly) go to heaven.

If I had some indicator from the comic I was supposed draw comparisons Pam Reynolds and Keene's near-death experience in that regard, I might've not raised as much of a stink about it.

Alternatively, if the comic has some indicators that things like Keene's near-death visit has happened before in-universe, and/or if Cerberus herself gave some indicator that even she doesn't fully know how it happened, I might've been fine with that too. (If either of those things were actually in the comic and I missed it, I'm perfectly willing to concede that.)

But I've been gauging this comic solely on what I could decipher of its internal logic and my understanding of Rick's narrative intentions, not how it compares to real life ('cause yeah, name one demigod or sentient anthropomorphic animal you met in real life.)

[Dissension]

It's OK to draw comparisons to real life. If there's a real-world explanation for something which isn't explained in the comic, please feel free to assume the real-world explanation applies. If you seem to be the only person having an issue, I feel that points less to a failure to "meet the reader halfway" and more to a failure to meet the material halfway.

As it seems impasse was reached some time ago, and many posts have been made reiterating the same points, the topic is closed. Thank you all for your time.