#Terminus Factor

[bringbackwendellvaughn]

[wyrm-with-a-why]

I blame Terminus for Megatron’s manipulative behaviour he got when he grew up(I’m insane about protecting my babygirl from her allegations)

[elgaberino-mcoc]

QUESTION

Jean Grey is top 50, but for the 1990s Jim Lee version

Jean Grey the MCOC NPC is ranked poorly

We already delisted Jean Grey (X-Men Red) as redundant

Should we remove this listing, too?

Poll

worth noting: 

the Wishlist also lists Dark Phoenix, Madelyne Pryor (Jean's sorcerer clone), and similar characters like Rachel Summers/Grey and Hope. That's a lot of Jean-ish-ness

Kabam just finally made Jessica Jones playable. She was an even older NPC

[disturbingstar]

TV/Comic Death Comparisons

Otis

• In “Save the Last One” Otis is left to be devoured by walkers after being shot in the leg by Shane Walsh.

• In the comics, Otis is devoured by walkers in the Prison. He is put down by Rick Grimes after reanimation.

Sophia Peletier

• In “Pretty Much Dead Already”, Sophia is revealed to have been bitten by a zombie and reanimated, and is later shot in the head by Rick Grimes after reanimation.

• In the comics, Sophia is still alive.

Dale Horvath

• In “Judge, Jury, Executioner”, Dale is disemboweled by a walker on Hershel's farm and mercifully shot in the head by Daryl Dixon.

• In the comics, Dale dies much later during the group's conflict with the Hunters, after being sustaining a bite from a walker. He is shot in the head by Andrea before reanimation. His death is similar to that of Bob Stookey from the TV Series.

Shane Walsh

• In “Better Angels”, Shane is stabbed to death by Rick Grimes, and is shot in the head by Carl Grimes after he reanimates.

• In the comics, Shane's death happens much sooner, roughly a day after the attack on the Atlanta camp. Instead of being premeditated like in the show, Shane's attempt on Rick's life is a “spur of the moment” event, brought on by Shane losing his mind due to several factors. Unlike the show, Shane is shot in the neck by Carl Grimes. After discovering that people reanimate regardless of the circumstances of their deaths, Rick travels to the Atlanta campsite to put Shane down, shooting him in the head.

Lori Grimes

• In “Killer Within”, Lori dies during a C-Section giving birth to Judith Grimes. She is shot by Carl Grimes before reanimation.

• In the comics, Lori survives giving birth to Judith, and isn't killed until the Governor's second assault on the prison, when she is shot and killed by Lilly Caul. This also results in the death of Judith, who is crushed by Lori's corpse, unlike the show where Judith is still alive.

Andrea Harrison

• In “Welcome to the Tombs”, Andrea is bitten by an undead Milton Mamet, whom Philip Blake stabbed and left in a room with a tied-up Andrea. Rather than die from infection, Andrea chooses to take her own life by shooting herself in the head.

• In the comics, Andrea dies much later during the war with the Whisperers. While leading a giant heard away from Alexandria, she is bitten on the neck while saving Eugene. She eventually dies from infection and is stabbed in the head by Rick Grimes after she reanimates.

Hershel Greene

• In “Too Far Gone”, Hershel is decapitated by Philip Blake after Rick refuses to vacate the prison. In “After”, he is put down by Michonne, who stabs him in the head.

• In the comics, Hershel gives up on life after his son Billy is killed during the second prison assault. He is executed by Brian Blake, who shoots him in the head.

Philip Blake

• In “Too Far Gone”, Philip is stabbed through the back by Michonne Hawthorne, and is later shot in the head by Lilly Chambler as he lay dying.

• In the comics, Brian Blake is killed by Lilly Caul, who shoots him in the head and kicks his body into a group of zombies.

Gareth

• In “Four Walls and a Roof”, Gareth is hacked to death by Rick Grimes.

• In the comics Chris, Gareth's comic counterpart, is brutally slaughtered by Rick Grimes, Andrea, Abraham Ford, and Michonne Hawthorne.

Bob Stookey

• In “Strangers”, Bob is bitten on the shoulder by a walker. To spare Sasha from watching his slowly die, he decides to walk out into the woods, where he is knocked out by one of the Terminus remnants. He wakes up, only to discover his leg has been eaten by the Termites. When Bob reveals he's been bitten, Gareth decides to return him to the church. He eventually succumbs to infection in “Four Walls and a Roof”, and is put down by Tyreese Williams before reanimation.

• In the comics, Bob is a former army medic living in Woodbury, who patched up the Governor after the latter endured brutal torture at the hands of Michonne Hawthorne. In the novel series, Bob continues to serve as the town's doctor following the second prison assault until his death of a heart attack. He is then put down by Lilly Caul before reanimation.

Tyreese Williams

• In “What Happened and What's Going On”, Tyreese is bitten on the arm by Noah's zombified brother. His arm is sliced off by Michonne to stop the infection from spreading, but Tyreese dies due to blood loss anyway. He is stabbed in the head by Michonne before reanimation.

• In the comics, Tyreese dies sooner, during the second prison assault. He is decapitated by Brian Blake after Rick refuses to vacate the prison. His zombified head is later stabbed by Michonne Hawthorne. His death is similar to that of Hershel Greene from the TV Series.

Ron Anderson

• In “No Way Out”, Ron holds Rick at gunpoint after witnessing Rick hack off Jessie's hand to save Carl. He is stabbed through the chest by Michonne, which causes him to reflexively fire his gun and shoot Carl's eye out.

• In the comics, Ron is devoured by zombies when he starts panicking and making too much noise. Carl's eye is accidentally shot out by Douglas instead. His death is similar to that of Sam Anderson.

Abraham Ford

• In “Last Day on Earth”, Abraham is picked by Negan Smith to be executed. Negan smashes Abraham's head with his baseball bat, Lucille, off-screen.

• In the comics, Abraham is shot in the back of the head and through the eye with a crossbow bolt fired by Dwight. His death is similar to that of Denise Cloyd.

Glenn Rhee

• In “The Day Will Come When You Won't Be”, Negan Smith smashes Glenn's head with Lucille after Daryl attacks him.

• In the comics, Glenn's death is similar, but happens under slightly different circumstances, as Glenn is the one who is chosen by Negan to be executed.

Olivia

• In “Hearts Still Beating”, Olivia is shot in the face by Arat as retribution for Rosita trying to kill Negan.

• In the comics, Olivia dies much later during the conflict with the Whisperers, when she is decapitated by Alpha.

Carl Grimes

• In “The King, the Widow, and Rick”, Carl is bitten by a walker while taking Siddiq back to Alexandria. In “Honour,” Carl shoots himself in the head after saying goodbye to his friends and family.

• In the comics, Carl survives the entire duration of the series.

Paul “Jesus” Rovia

• In “Evolution”, Paul is stabbed through the heart by an unnamed Whisperer.

• In the comics, Paul Monroe is still alive.

Alpha

• In “Walk With Us”, Alpha has her throat slit by Negan, who then decapitates her and brings her head to Carol. Her head is later recovered and put down by Beta.

• In the comics, Alpha's death is pretty much identical, although the circumstances of her death are slightly different. Negan doesn't lure Alpha away by claiming to have captured Lydia, but she instead approaches him after banishing him to sleep outside the Whisperers' camp. He also brings Alpha's head to Rick instead of Carol. In addition, Alpha's head is not known to have been put down afterwards.

Rosita Espinosa

• In “Rest in Peace”, Rosita is bitten on the shoulder and succumbs to the infection. She is then put down by Eugene before reanimation.

• In the comics, Rosita is one of the pike victims.

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 3, Omega DLC:

-This DLC is fairly meh for me. It has many interesting concepts, but it primarily plays out as a long extended corridor shooter. That gets old fast.

That’s disappointing as Omega in ME2 adds a lot of flavor and lore to the Mass Effect universe. I would have loved to have seen more of that in the DLC.

Instead, you mostly just shoot your way through environments that are slightly different than the main game. There’s barely any additional world building.

-The excuse to have Shepard leave their squad mates behind is weak.

Aria has objections to them? Really? Aria, the queen of Omega has objections to what – a couple of Alliance soldiers, a turian ex-vigilante, an AI, the Shadow Broker (everyone else knows, I’m sure Aria does), and possibly a quarian Admiral?

Given the forces she’s up against, she should be insisting that they all tag along.

-I think one of the reasons Aria insisted Shepard come with her was for the psychological factor. It’d be a huge boost to the morale of the Omega people to know that Shepard had come to free them.

However, it’s hard to say for sure because after showing off Shepard to Petrovsky that angle is dropped. You’d think Aria would make a bigger deal of mentioning Shepard, say, in her speech to the Omega people about half way through the game.

-I do love how Aria is dead set on taking the station back or die trying. Her initial plan was to crash into it!

-Look, the upgraded defenses suck now but you’ll appreciate them once they’re yours.

-Why does Batarian State Arms have a shop on Omega? Given it’s a lawless station in the Terminus Systems, seems an odd location for a branch.

-Shepard asking about the rendezvous point and Aria answering is one of the most difficult parts of the DLC to swallow. Both are incredibly stupid. They must have known it was possible they were under surveillance.

If Aria had just kept quiet, a good chunk of the fighting could have been avoided.

-The game just throws medi-gel at you during this entire DLC. I gained multiple levels, and I credit at least one or two of those to the medi-gel alone.

-And here we see Cerberus’ human supremacist beliefs in full color. Nonhumans must be supervised, armed nonhumans will be shot on sight… Lovely.

The game keeps insisting Petrovsky has a code and is honorable, but I’m not seeing too many redeeming factors.

-Ugh. I’m not a fan of the female turian design. Why are their eyes shaped differently? Why is there skin around their eyes? Why doesn’t their crest cover their head? The crest serves a functional purpose on turians. It protects them them from the sun. It should be the same on males and females. The eyes are sunk into the crest to protect them.

For my sanity I assume this is a result of turians being dispersed across colony worlds for so long and crests can vary greatly across males and females.

As for the eyes… Ugh.

I suppose I should be grateful that the Bioware didn’t give them breasts. Bare minimum.

-That said, I do love Nyreen herself. She’s a fantastic character and it’s a shame she does not survive the DLC.

-Aria and Nyreen must have been very, very close for Aria to show her so many of her secrets.

Perhaps since Nyreen “oozes virtue” Aria felt she could be trusted with them.

-And Nyreen stayed behind even after they broke up, and managed to slip under Aria’s radar. Very impressive.

-I love the injured Talons. They remind me a lot of cats with the way they curl in on themselves.

For giant clawed birds they’re surprisingly cute.

-What’s up with the face paint on so many of the turian Talons?

Turian face paint is supposed to colony markings. However, many have paint that looks similar to the Talons symbol.

I suppose it’s possible that some take on gang markings to symbolize that they’ve abandoned loyalty to their world and belong to their gang now.

Very odd thing for Nyreen to do, however. And you’d think if her paint had changed that Aria would remark on it.

-The Talons include humans as well. Good. Hopefully in the future Omega will remember that not all humans were with Cerberus.

-I quite like the gun salute Talons do to Nyreen. Is that the only time the game features it?

-Aria’s midgame speech is okay. Not great, not awful.

Kirrahe’s hold the line speech was better.

-Aria’s a cynic, but she seems to want to believe in a better world. Why else would she have grown so close to Nyreen?

And while she bitches, she listens to a paragon Shepard.

-Nyreen says that when her biotics manifested she was practically locked away.

I’d love to know more about turian biotics. The game mentions that they’re isolated from other turians; I bet they have a very interesting subculture.

Such subcultures are often insular. How well do late developing biotics integrate into it? Is that one of the reasons Nyreen became so frustrated?

-Aria says the war will start when the force field comes down. Nyreen says the war started months ago.

Well, that’s probably the closes ME3 will ever come to giving us a time frame. The war takes at least a few months.

-Aria’s willing to sacrifice multiple wards to bring the force fields down. Not surprising, but disappointing.

Petrovsky attempts to use this to persuade me that Aria shouldn’t be in charge, but given the whole “human supremacy” agenda he has he can go fuck himself.

At least Aria’s equally shitty to everyone.

-I hate disabling the bombs. Easily the hardest part of the DLC.

And given my game crashed on the first attempt, it apparently agrees.

-Aaand we learn that Cerberus has been converting people into adjutants with control implants so they can create an army of them. Because of course they have. Cerberus loves trying to control monsters.

Petrovsky has a code, my ass.

-And what is with adjutants being able to convert any being into another adjutant via a virus?

The game just glosses over this, but that sounds very important.

It’s definitely Reaper adjacent, at least. It reminds me of the virus the Collectors spread on Omega.

-There’s a turian labeled as a “civilian” in full armor.

Did the team that created the Omega DLC just not have access to the casual wear assets for turians?

-The mad prophet is a nice call back.

I’d have loved to have seen the Patriarch, too. He should have been leading his own resistance cell.

-Nyreen dying is a damn shame. Excellently done, but I’d have preferred if she lived. She provided a nice balance to Aria.

-In the final battle, the Afterlife doors opened at some point. I charged through them to kill the enemy and the doors closed behind me. Couldn’t reopen them.

Bizarre bug I’ve never heard of before.

Game didn’t even crash. I had to reload my last save.

-If Petrovsky weren’t such a smug bastard, I’d let him live.

As it is, bastard’s dead.

You shouldn’t experiment on people.

-Aria’s ending speech is much better than the mid game speech.

Especially the last line – “We are Omega”.

Very good contrast to her ME2 line “I am Omega”.

[notalkingbusiness]

The Book of Carol & The Heroine's Journey - Part 3: The Ascent

The only way is up! The Ascent is where our heroine gets her happy ending.

Carriger's major beats for The Ascent include (1) the heroine succeeding in her search and creating a new or reborn familial network, and (2) the heroine negotiating and compromising for the benefit of all.

Let's think about how these beats could be used in The Book of Carol.

(1) Success in the heroine's search results in a new or reborn familial network.

The beat we're all waiting for! The moment when the heroine reunites with her loved one - the moment when Carol reunites with Daryl.

I think it's really important for us to pay close attention to how Carriger talks about this beat: the heroine's familial network is reborn when she reunites with her loved one. In other words, there's a spiritual shift in the heroine's relationship with her loved one. A deeper and more profound connection is forged. The heroine's relationship with her loved one changes for the better. We can't say that Carol's had a full Heroine's Journey if her relationship with Daryl remains unchanged - we need to see emotional growth.

This reunion has been a long time coming, both in-universe and in real life. It feels like we've been waiting an eternity for Carol and Daryl to reunite so it's absolutely critical that this scene blows us all away. It should feel overwhelming, like a great tidal wave of emotional catharsis.

Emotionally rewarding reunion scenes place a heavy emphasis on physicality. These scenes are richly detailed, and every touch is imbued with deep significance.

The Terminus reunion is a great example of a reunion done right and it's a masterclass in physicality. There are so many physical details in this reunion, too many to catch the first time around. With each rewatch you can appreciate all of the different component parts of the reunion: Caryl swaying together, the delight on Carol's face when Daryl picks her up, Daryl cradling Carol's head, Daryl resting his head on Carol's shoulder and Carol's fleeting touch of his face before he pulls away. You're struck by how these two can't get enough of each other; they always want to be closer. They can't stop drinking each other in and you don't want to stop drinking them in either.

Scenes like the Terminus reunion have a high rewatch factor because they're emotionally authentic: these scenes inspire us to keep revisiting them because they feel true to the characters, and we feel good watching them.

Reunions like these are the gift that keeps giving for fandom. How many gifs, videos, metas, and fics were born from this scene alone?

We all love the Terminus reunion because it's so physical and unequivocal. Caryl's mutual joy and relief is plain for all to see.

We need another wholehearted reaction from Daryl when he reunites with Carol in TBOC. His reaction should reflect the scale of Carol's journey: it needs to be big and it needs to break new ground.

We need both words and actions - we need strong physical and emotional responses from Daryl and Carol.

We need something that's going to be forever seared into our collective memory.

We need to see something which leaves both the audience and Carol with no doubt as to where Daryl's heart lies.

Reader, we need a Caryl reunion kiss.

(But you already knew that.)

Like I've said previously, if TBOC is taking Carol's emotions seriously, she's going to be emotionally vulnerable throughout her journey. Daryl can only give Carol the reassurances she so badly needs if he's in touch with his emotions.

I want to see Daryl restored to his emotionally intelligent self - I want to see the "man of honor".

I want to see Daryl being brave for both of them in an emotional capacity.

Not much fazes Caryl, they could fight their way through a sea of walkers before breakfast, but showing how they really feel? Talking about their feelings?

Petrifying for the pair of them.

Daryl was brave in taking the first step and telling Carol he loved her. He needs to be brave again in TBOC. He's got to initiate the kiss. He's got to show how grateful he is to have Carol in his life. He needs to show her just how much he loves her.

You've probably thought about Caryl's reunion a lot. Everyone will envisage Caryl going canon differently, but I'm sure we can all agree that the kiss should be heartfelt and sweepingly romantic. For my part, I want to see a kiss like the one described in The Princess Bride: “Since the invention of the kiss, there have only been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind.”

We can only get "a kiss to leave all others behind" if McReedus are allowed to capitalize on their amazing chemistry, if the show allows them to just go for it.

On Romance is Dead: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Romantic Comedy, writer Scott Meslow notes: "There is something so delightful about watching two people fall in love. Especially if it's two actors who have chemistry. And I think chemistry is all important [...] it needs to be two people who seem like they actually like each other [...] Not to be corny about it, but that's a special effect that you can't replicate on a computer. That is real people having a real interaction on screen and you can feel it."

Meslow may worry about being corny. I have no such qualms - McReedus' chemistry is a special effect that you can't replicate on a computer. That's why the copycat Caryl beats in DD didn't work for anyone; you can't create chemistry by algorithm. You can't swap out characters/actors/storylines and expect us to feel the same way we did about Carol/Caryl. Not when we've been watching something unique and remarkable developing between two characters and two actors for over 150 episodes.

I want to see and feel that realness Meslow talks about when Caryl reunite. I want something unforgettable for Caryl and something where McReedus can shine. I want a reunion scene that we're going to watch over and over again because it's *perfect*.

I'm hoping Norman makes very expressive choices because Carol needs to see Daryl's emotions unmistakably playing out on his face.

Personally, I think it would be really powerful to see Daryl cry, either upon Caryl's reunion or when he finally has a heart to heart with Carol. And I do mean actually cry, rather than just being tearful.

We've seen Daryl close to tears in the "No Sanctuary" and "New Best Friends" reunions, but I don't think he's properly cried in front of Carol before. As video essayist Pop Culture Detective highlights in Boys Don't Cry (Except When They Do), it's extremely rare for men to cry in a healthy way in film/TV: male vulnerability has historically been met with shame and contempt. I want to see Daryl cry not because I want to see one of my favorite characters upset, but because I think he deserves to experience the whole emotional spectrum. Thus far we've only seen Daryl cry during/after majorly traumatic incidents (usually after witnessing horrifically violent deaths) and I think that's a real shame.

I want to see Daryl's happy tears, his tears of relief, his tears of emotional catharsis. If it's okay for Carol to cry, then it should be okay for Daryl to cry too. In fact, Daryl crying in a healthy way would actually be validating for Carol because it's testament to how safe she makes him feel. Daryl can cry in front of Carol and not feel ashamed because he can be vulnerable in front of the woman he loves.

Some scenes in TWD stopped me in my tracks. I'd be sitting there thinking, "Look how far they've all come!" In those moments, I'd feel weirdly proud of these fictional characters who'd changed for the better. I'd like to get that same feeling when watching TBOC as we witness Caryl enter a new era of emotional vulnerability and intimacy.

Caryl's passionate reunion would end all ambiguity and be the start of something new. I've placed a lot of emphasis on the moment of canon here, but it should go without saying that we're going to need carefully crafted follow-through. The writing needs to be just as strong as the performances. I'm craving strong dialogue - let Carol and Daryl finally use their words to explain how they feel about one another. Let them talk about what they want for their future together.

Carol and Daryl want to be together in every way - their romantic arc should include sexual intimacy (although I think we'll have to wait until S3 for that). TWD was always quite modest when it came to showing sex on screen so I'm not expecting anything too crazy, but we do deserve parity with the other big ships (Gleggie and Richonne). There's obviously less time to play with in the spinoffs, but I still think a really rich and rewarding romantic arc is possible if TPTB use their time wisely. Carol and Daryl becoming sexually intimate is a big deal and the story should treat it as such. Carol and Daryl always kept some degree of emotional distance from their previous sexual partners, they've always held themselves back and they've never really allowed themselves to be emotionally vulnerable in a relationship. I want to see Caryl's sex scenes handled respectfully and sensitively, I want these scenes to feel emotionally authentic for Carol and Daryl. Naturally, we should also get fun call backs to Caryl's iconic sexual/romantic references from the flagship show, e.g. Daryl goes down first.

A romantic arc for Caryl would be like a kiss of life for Carylers. It would be a triumphant moment for all of us - something unequivocally good for Caryl fans everywhere. We deserve a win. Carol and Daryl deserve a win too.

Caryl's romantic arc would also push back against the abuse hurled at Melissa, Carol, and Carylers. Many Carylers have received hate from other parts of the fandom and this abuse is steeped in deeply harmful misogynistic, sexist, and ageist rhetoric. This hate goes beyond ship wars. It points to something very insidious about how women are treated, how they're supposed to be invisible and undesirable once they reach an arbitrary age threshold. I want TPTB to prove just how wrong those people are. I want them to celebrate Carol and Caryl. I want them to show a heroine who loves and is loved in return. I want them to proudly showcase their leading lady. I want them to call out the misogynistic abuse thrown at Melissa/Carol/Carol fans. I want them to elevate Melissa's voice so we can have a fantastic heroine's arc for Carol.

(2) The heroine negotiating and compromising for the benefit of all.

As you'll know by now, the heroine is not concerned with glory/revenge/retribution. She just wants to get her loved one back and move on with her life. Carol's probably not going to be negotiating/compromising with the people who took Daryl, but she could use her diplomacy skills with Daryl's new friends in France. I didn't watch S1 of the spinoff, but I understand that some of Daryl's new friends were trying to get him to stay with them rather than go home. It should be abundantly clear to Isabelle & co. that Daryl has no intention of staying in France when they see him reunited with Carol. They'll be sad to lose a friend, but Carol could soften the blow by offering them a sweet trade deal with the Commonwealth. Isabelle just wants what's best for her people, right? Strengthening the bonds between communities would help Isabelle's people enormously. I much prefer the idea of two women coming together to help each other than a woman expecting a stranger to come in and fix all of her problems for her. I haven't heard great things about Isabelle, but I'm really hoping she's given more agency and dignity in TBOC. There's absolutely no narrative need to pit Isabelle and Carol against each other. As our heroine, Carol can empower Isabelle AND bring Daryl home. She can find a solution where everyone wins.

Final Thoughts on The Ascent

Ultimately, The Ascent is gearing up towards the heroine's happy ending. We need to ask ourselves, what does a happy ending look like for Carol? What do we want for her after TBOC?

Simply put, Carol's happy ending is having Daryl by her side. It's being with him in every sense of the word. It's being free to express her love for him.

Carol wants new adventures with Daryl, and I want to see those adventures on my screen.

Years ago, Carol and Daryl talked about running away together. I hope, after they've returned home and reunited with their family, they are able to do just that.

Let them explore the world on their own terms.

Let them explore it together.

Let them be equal and loving partners every step of the way.

And there we have it! We've covered all the major stages of the Heroine's Journey.

My aim in writing these metas wasn't to be overly prescriptive, but to show that TBOC could have an amazing arc for Carol/Caryl. We just need TPTB to prioritize emotional authenticity and elevate their heroines (both on screen and bts).

They've got one chance to put Caryl and Carylers back on track.

Let's hope they take it.

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: The Terminus Factor - Second Half

1990

WAR of the GARGANTUAS

Is that the proper plural? Huh.

Halfway into the Terminus Factor I still don't know what factor that is. I guess the real circumstance, fact, or influence that contributes to a result or outcome was the friends we made along the way.

Shrug.

In the first half of this annual event, we covered the annuals for Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor. The Captain America annual had Terminus spore launch out of a volcano and infect some fish. When a town and an Iron Man ate the fish, they became rabid. Captain America lured them up a mountain where the cold cured the infection.

BUT: in the Iron Man annual, Iron Man and Machine Man fought a bear that was also infected by the Terminus-tainted fish. No longer weak to cold, the two heroes have to defeat the Termini Bear with some molten metal. After much struggle to defeat just that one bear, they discover that dozens of other animals have been affected.

In the Thor annual, Iron Man asks Thor to protect San Francisco from a big group of Termini. Thor brings Hercules and then ditches him in San Fran to go out into space and beat up on the original Terminus for a while. Thor gets exposition dumped on and Mjolnir stolen, which OG Terminus uses to return to Earth. Meanwhile, Hercules tries to stop a bunch of Termini that have invaded a nuclear power station to eat tasty radiation. He's not able to stop them before they all combine into one new Terminus. Just in time for OG to arrive.

And that's where we are. The Terminus spores infected animals which ate titanium and radiation and merged into a new Terminus but also the original is back.

Let's get these gargantuas warring.

So where have the West Coast Avengers been while all of this has been happening? Back at home.

Specifically, Hank Pym has been using lasers to bring the robot Human Torch back to life after Evil 'n Crazy Wanda turned him off.

After flaring up like that, Jim Hammond Human Torch turns down the temp and asks if somebody could tell him the date. Only, he has a tendency to wake up decades later.

Jim is told that he hasn't been offline that long and brought up to speed on the Wanda situation. Wanda is fine, Magneto and Immortus were dealt with, and she's taking some time to rest with Quicksilver watching her.

Speak of the devil, Quicksilver shows up and tells everyone there's an emergency summon from Hercules in San Francisco.

Quicksilver: "He claims to have been battling hordes of metallic beasts he calls Termini -- and to need our help. He said Iron Man was familiar with the creatures."

Quicksilver offers to go along and help, despite not being active with the Avengers. And Machine Man offers to help too - he's still upset that they killed his good friend, Imposter Peter Spaulding.

Everyone runs off to a Quinjet, leaving robot Human Torch to muse "Out of cold storage for two minutes -- and we're off and running! My new life as an Avenger promises to be anything but dull!"

In the Quinjet, Quicksilver remembers more of Hercules' message. That the Termini have merged into a single 150 foot tall one. And that it has started fighting another giant guy called Terminus.

That kind of feels important, Quicksilver!

Hercules: "By the Medusa's serpentine locks!"

You can say that again, Hercules!

Although... impressive and terrible sight as it may be to have two giant men fighting through the city... I can't help but notice that compared to the more bestial new Terminus, OG Terminus kind of has a pouting baby face.

Also, the Terminuseses have words.

OG Terminus: "So, wormling -- you are the SPAWN of Terminus -- the MANY who are become the ONE. I have returned from far space, having slain a THUNDER GOD and incorporated his HAMMER into my own body! -- To learn WHICH of us shall inherit the vengeful mantle of our long-dead creator race!" New Terminus: "Then you should have stayed hidden behind some darking star, Terminus -- 'FATHER'! For you have journeyed all this vast distance -- only to face OBLITERATION at the hand of your 'SON'." OG Terminus: "HAVE I? We shall see!"

And New Terminus rips off his tail to use as a lance. Alas and for shame. I kinda liked that New Terminus had a tail. Set him apart from the OG while giving him an equivalent of the lance to use.

Also, is this just the Terminus lifecycle? Based on stuff that happens in this issue and based on how Terminus spreading his spore inside Earth was described last time, I'm pretty sure we can conclude he's never gotten around to trying to reproduce.

And if reproduction means that you have to fight whatever new Terminus wins the race to eat lots and grow big, then I can see why Terminus hasn't spored all over other planets.

Honestly, it'd be more interesting if Terminus wasn't the original Terminus. That this process has happened many times over long eons but since every Terminus seems to have implanted memories, each one just continues on the Terminus mission.

Also, if Terminus is an anti-Celestial weapon that goes to planets that the Celestials have tinkered with and ransacks the place, you'd think that making more Terminuses by sporing the planet before he leaves would be standard procedure. It'd make him like a virus. More and more Terminuses, spreading throughout space and trying to undermine the grand Celestial plan.

But I don't get the indication that's what's up. I think there's only ever been one Terminus, minus the faker the Avengers fought in the Savage Land, and that this is the first time Terminus has bothered to spore.

Anyway, the West Coast Avengers Quinjet lands nearby, to Hercules' elation.

Hercules: "Mayhap they can take me to some vantage point whence I can enter the fray."

I love Hercules and his priorities.

Iron Man asks where Thor is, since he was supposed to be here. And Hercules has to relay that Thor fucked off into space and that OG Terminus has boasted that he killed Thor and ate Mjolnir.

Hank Pym points out that the enchantments on Mjolnir should have prevented that. Like some kind of pedantic nerd, speaking for the readers.

Hercules hand-waves the complaint by saying Terminus is "no ordinary foeman."

Everyone got that? No writing letters complaining about it!

Iron Man laments that he couldn't stop the Termini when they were spores or robot animals. US Agent tells him to stop crying, they're Avengers and they'll bring down those giant space men! He doesn't know how! He just knows that the problem will get solved and the Avengers will be involved!

As it happens, Hank Pym has an idea. He takes out a pair of tiny lenses from his pockets of mystery and then enlarges them to be each bigger than a man.

Then instead of explaining what his plan is, he tells the Avengers they'll see when both are in position.

Hank has Iron Man and Machine Man take one lens southwest of the new Terminus. And Wonder Man and robot Human Torch fly the other to the south southeast of original Terminus.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Avengers get in the Quinjet.

Hercules is hype to be fighting alongside the Avengers again. Not sure how he came back from blowing up along with the High Evolutionary but I'm glad he's here.

Wasp is more negative about the situation but US Agent tells her "The G-Man who appointed me to watchdog this combo want those two Kong-types wasted, so that's what we're gonna do -- period. Somehow."

I wonder when Walker had the chance to get orders from Washington in the middle of all this mess. Maybe he's just speculating.

Also in the Quinjet, Quicksilver comments how fortunate it was that the Avengers were able to find such a capable leader as Hank Pym.

Which just makes Hawkeye bitterly think that he's the one that founded the team and nobody has asked him to become the leader again.

My guy, you ragequit the team. And went to go manage another team. Who I assume you're currently neglecting.

The two lens teams arrive in position. Then there's a bright flash of light and the two Terminuses start moving past each other.

Hank Explains It All. Those lenses create reflection images of the opposing Terminus so both are pursuing mirages.

Which isn't going to fool them for long but it should buy time.

And by won't last long I mean. Like. A page. The more bestial new Terminus switches to more cosmic senses and realizes the ruse.

He immediately turns on Wonder Man and robot Human Torch in a rage and blasts the lenses to smithereens.

Wonder Man zooms up and punches new Terminus in the teeth. He manages to knock out a tooth. Robot Human Torch throws some fireballs. To no effect.

Human Torch figures new Terminus must still have a weakness but it's not fire and ice anymore. He creates a bunch of Human Torch fire duplicates to buy time while he tries to figure it out.

Meanwhile, standing on the wing of the Quinjet, Hercules remembers taking down the fake Terminus in the Savage Land and figures he can handle new Terminus the same way.

He jumps from the Quinjet to strike new Terminus in the chest and hopefully rip open his armor but womp womp he just bounces off.

And since he bounced right in new Terminus' path, US Agent says someone will need to do a distraction so Hercules has time to get his senses and get out of the way.

Wonder Man decides to do the distraction because US Agent is kinda out of his depth here.

If you wanted to get US Agent to try something stupid, apparently the best way is by telling him not to.

The Agent jumps from the Quinjet and lands on new Terminus' back. Where he can't do anything at all except try to hang on. Idiot.

Wonder Man: "I learned some time ago, Torch -- the US Agent may be something of a blowhard -- but he's a brave blowhard."

Sure. But it doesn't matter if he's brave if he's putting himself into bad situations just to prove he can and then is an active hindrance to the group effort.

And he is.

He falls off Terminus and has to be saved by Wonder Man.

Meanwhile, Wasp has been left behind to fly the Quinjet. But she decides, eh auto-pilot, and abandons ship. She uses her shrinking to fly underneath New Terminus' armor but just finds him hollow and full of seething energy.

Wasp quickly nopes out of there.

Meanwhile, more Terminus yelling.

New Terminus: "I have wasted time enough -- being led astray by these insignificant human mites. He led me inland -- while my parent was lured seaward -- but I shall swiftly reach him -- and then -- AND THEN -- !"

Now the two Terminuses are heading back at each other.

OG Terminus takes a shot at the Quinjet that Hank Pym and Hawkeye are in. The jet goes into a crash and Hawkeye and Hank Pym have to bail on Hawkeye's sky-cycle.

Hank Pym: "We lose more Quinjets this way!"

I feel like it has become more common recently.

Hawkeye quips that having to replace all these Quinjets is probably responsible for a couple of Tony Stark's bankruptcies.

Terminus is about to walk on a mountainside road heading to Big Sur so Hawkeye shoots a rocket arrow at the big lug. It doesn't do any damage but it does get his attention.

Another lance blast grounds the sky-cycle and then Quicksilver has to NYOOM by to save Hank and Hawk from being Terminally stomped.

Quicksilver is very proud of what a useful boy he is but Hawkeye is just wondering if he can get Tony Stark to pay for him to get a new sky-cycle. And Hank is like good job us, we stopped him from stepping on traffic by making him try to step on us!

Iron Man and Machine Man swoop in for a last ditch effort to keep the OG Terminus from advancing. But Iron Man's "repulsor rays are doing him as much harm as a water pistol" and Machine Man doesn't have anything more potent in his arsenal so he's not even trying. And New Terminus is similarly unfazed by the robot Human Torch's fireballs.

Nothing the Avengers can do can keep the Terminuses from a big, explosive clash.

US Agent says who cares, Let Them Fight. But Hank Pym argues that if Terminus came back to Earth just to fight his grown up son, there's a reason behind it.

AND ALSO, two giant space men punching each other is causing the ground to shake. And California already has enough problems with that!

OG Terminus: "The energy expendirue of us both is now at its PEAK, Terminus-spawn. You have inherited my programming -- and thus you know what that MEANS!" New Terminus: "YES -- !"

OG Terminus knocks New Terminus' lance from his hands and then throws his own lance away. OG knocks new to the ground and then blasts him with some kind of energy.

... Then New Terminus shrinks and OG Terminus eats him.

Yes. Yes, I just said that and yes, it did happen.

Then Terminus glows, explodes, and evolves.

Yeah, remember how all those mini-Terminuses fought each other and then globbed into bigger Terminuses? Well. That. Is. Apparently. How. Terminus. Evolves. Into. Bigger. Terminus? Ultimate Terminus?

Although, if you got two stage-5 Terminuses to fight, you could probably get a Super Ultimate Terminus, or something.

Again, I wonder why Earth is the first time Terminus spread his spores. It seems a natural part of his development is to make more Terminuses and have them merge to get bigger Terminuseses.

Lot of questions being raised. For example: how will the Avengers fight Ultimate Terminus when they couldn't even handle a pair of stage-4s?

Hopefully, by calling in more Avengers. Because Iron Man called the East Coast team and let them know what happened and that Ultimate Terminus is heading East for some reason.

So the two teams are going to meet in the middle and try to kick his ass.

To be concluded... RIGHT NOW.

DESTROY ALL MONSTERS!

You're behind the times, cover. There's only one of them now. One ate the other and then they merged. Like Buu.

Also, way to spoil that Thor isn't dead! Geez!

So, after Terminus ate Terminus and became what several people insistently term Ulterminus or Ultra Terminus, he ditches California and heads East towards St. Louis.

The East and West Coast Avengers teams rush to try to intercept him but know that the big guy just flies faster than a Quinjet. Cap even grouses that they need to update the staple jet for the 90s.

Hank Pym, based on very little evidence, correctly guesses that Ultra Terminus is headed to St. Louis because he wants to eat America from its rough midpoint.

Since Terminus is We Have Galactus at Home.

The West Coast team has Hank Pym, Wasp, Hawkeye, Hercules, US Agent, Machine Man, Iron Man, robot Human Torch, and Wonder Man.

The East Coast team has Captain America, Sersi, Starfox, Vision, Quasar, She-Hulk, and Captain Monica Marvel with her powers restored.

Sersi thanks her for 'tagging along' which Monica objects to, since she's an Avenger too.

Quasar: "The Captain's got a point, Sersi. After all, she was not only an Avenger, but team leader, long before you and I were signed on." Sersi: "And I was an Eternal, Quasar, while both of your ancestors were apes. So what else is new?" Captain Marvel: "I'm not here to play dueling credentials with either of you."

Inside the East Coast's team jet, Captain America is also perturbed that the closest team to St. Louis is... the Great Lakes Avengers.

Captain America: "Lord help us --"

Hey, now, that's not fair. They've been in action a grand total of one times and they really did a good job with it. Sure, they're a goofy bunch but they're not really worth an eye roll at this point!

Honestly, I'm just happy to see them being used. Byrne introduced them with great fanfare and then never really used them for much. And then he left the book but before he did, he had Hawkeye ditch them to come hang out with the West Coast Avengers again.

The poor Great Lakes Avengers are just so excited that they got called into action by Hawkeye and assume that means the real Avengers finally accept them.

The team finds Ultra Terminus floating above St. Louis. Unfortunately, while the GLA is using Big Bertha's private jet and not a Quinjet, legally it counts as a Quinjet and so gets destroyed.

Terminus just. Grabs it while it's jetting past. Leaving the fuselage skrunched in his hand and the jet engines continuing on their journey unburdened.

The Great Lakes Avengers bail out a Doorman portal in the side of the plane and poor Dinah Soar has to lower herself, Big Bertha, and Mockingbird down to the Gateway Arch.

Somehow, after bailing out of the plane, Mr Immortal, Flatman, and Doorman wound up hanging from Ultra Terminus.

Mr Immortal even managed to be hanging from Terminus' helmet and blows him a raspberry.

Which gets him clapped between two giant hands.

Mr Immortal's whole thing is that he's immortal so he laughs it off. Sure, he was basically salsa for about ten seconds but eh, he's got lives to spare.

Ultra Terminus decides he's done with "this superfluity of idiocy!" and decides to focus on the task at hand. He puts a force field around himself and prepares to EAT AMERICA.

(Mr Immortal got dropped but his girlfriend Dinah Soar catches him and flies him down to the arch.)

Mockingbird is just starting to despair that the Great Lakes Avengers failed to save the world when Hawkeye (and the West Coast Avengers) show up. And ever the guy who knows just what to say, Hawkeye tells her she did a good job as a delaying action, which was all he was expecting, honestly.

Mockingbird: "What do you mean -- 'delaying action'? Is that what our new group is to you -- so much cannon fodder?" Hawkeye: "Now look, Bobbi, I --" Mockingbird: "You probably took all the credit for training them, too -- after you dumped us for the West Coast crowd!"

She's right to be pissed.

The only reason why she was leading these goobers is because Hawkeye was depressed after he rage quit the West Coast team. And then he decided, without consulting her, that they were take over the Great Lakes Avengers. And then the instant it looked like he could slide back into his leadership role on the West Coast Avengers, he ditched the Great Lakes Avengers.

But time and place. As Wasp is quick to remind Mockingbird.

Hank Pym repeats his theory that Ultra Terminus is going to use his lance to drain the entire continent of North America of energy and elements. And when the East Coast team suddenly shows up, Vision seconds his theory.

A dude as big as a double-sized Ultra Terminus would require a good plan to deal with, even with threeish Avengers teams. Unfortunately, Vision estimates Terminus will finish preliminary yum yum eat 'em up probing in a few seconds. There's no time for planning, only for rushing in and punching.

Aw, Dinah got into the big group shot! Proud of her!

Also, I only just noticed that the two coastal Avengers teams initialed their Quinjets.

Meanwhile, out in space, Thor isn't dead. It takes a little more than being stranded in space to kill this tough Asgardian son of an Odin. However, he is stranded in space, which isn't an ideal circumstance.

Luckily, Thor somehow managed to angle his body to slightly influence his trajectory when Terminus yeeted (yote?) him into space. So instead of drifting forever, like some dumb Terminus, Thor collides full force with a small planetoid and gets knocked the fuck out.

Look, this is actually an improvement on his situation.

Back on Earth, the strong, flying fighty guys try to get to Terminus but are held at bay by his force field. The slim comfort is that by forcing him to send more energy out of his lance, they've delayed him starting his meal.

But the energy is shaking St Louis so the non-flying or less-punchy guys are saving people from the effects. Captain America and US Agent blocking falling rubble and directing people where to flee. Wasp blasting falling rubble into smaller rubble. Robot Human Torch doing the same thing. She-Hulk holding up an entire building so people can evacuate.

You know, hero stuff.

Meanwhile, the other heroes have been making not a lot of impact. The punchy guys can't get close enough to punch. And Sersi's powers don't work on Terminus because if they worked we wouldn't have a plot.

Quasar finally suggests that they just try doing what he did last time. Which was that he used the Quantum Bands to create a platform under Terminus and then Quasar and Captain Universe Spider-Man yeeted (yote?) Terminus into space.

I have no idea why that wasn't the first thing he suggested trying. Sure, they don't have Captain Universe Spider-Man but they've got a lot of muscle available between Starfox, Quasar, Sersi, Iron Man, Wonder Man, uh maybe Machine Man can help too. Point being, it's worth a try.

So they try.

And, no. Nothing. Dang it. This Terminus is twice as big as the one Quasar fought and thanks to the square-cube law many times more massive. And growing more massive as Ultra Terminus has basically ignored the heroes trying to push him off the planet. Instead, Ultra Terminus has started eating North America and has grown one hundred feet taller already.

Meanwhile, space.

Thor recovers from landing headfirst on a planetoid, finds that there is a slight atmosphere, and so climbs up on a cliff and starts saying... something.

Back on Earth, the Avengers are back to trying to find a way past Terminus' force field so they can punch him. Honestly, they'd be happy even drawing attention since that might mean he stopped eating America so fast.

Quasar: "Ants! He's treating us like ants -- not even worthy of his notice -- !"

Captain Marvel tries... uh... well, apparently she has new powers. She can surround herself with a "dimensional interface" which lets her fly really fast, hit really hard, and not splatter from the impact. So she flies really fast at Ultra Terminus and hits him really hard... and bounces off.

Wonder Man wrestles Terminus' thumb, trying to get him to drop his lance... but gets flicked away.

Quasar suggests that all of the Avengers hit Terminus at the same time in the hopes that they'll overwhelm his force field.

Sersi: "You sure that will work?" Quasar: "No -- but the situation's getting desperate!" Sersi: "Sounds good to me!"

Oh, wow, they really are just trying anything. What's there to lose?

Everyone hits him as hard as they can and, hey, something happens!

Terminus gets yanked up into the sky and everyone that was part of that last desperate attack gets yanked up too.

Weird.

Hercules mentions that he heard Thor's voice as Terminus et al were getting carried away, although nobody else did. The greek god says that it sounded similar to a prayer Thor made (off-panel) as the two gods were heading to California.

Hank Pym theorizes that Thor was reciting a rune-spell to influence Mjolnir, which Terminus had absorbed. Which seems plausible and everyone just accepts this as the answer.

Terminus and co (Quasar, Wonder Man, Machine Man, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Sersi, Starfox) get pulled through space towards where Terminus had been stranded at the beginning of all of this.

Thor worries about his friends that got pulled along by his rune-spell and worries that they'll die when they collide with the planetoid. Because Thor's entire plan was to summon Mjolnir back to him and Terminus with it and just slam Terminus into a space rock as hard as possible.

It may have even worked before Terminus merged with Terminus.

Unfortunately, it just knocks Ultra Terminus for a loop. But at least the Avengers that got pulled along on this adventure didn't slam into a space rock as fast as possible.

And with them around, there's extra hands to help Thor with his new plan.

While Ultra Terminus tries to absorb the shattered remnants of that planetoid that he just broke with his face, Thor and the Avengers work together to pry the lance out of Ultra Terminus' hand. Then, Quasar quantum-jump boosted throws the lance further than Terminus can summon back.

Then something weird happens.

Ultra Terminus apparently is very energy inefficient. Since he didn't get to finish his meal on Earth, his body starts cannibalizing itself for energy.

Which, for some reason, causes Ultra Terminus to collapse into a black hole. Which Thor summons Mjolnir out of.

Mjolnir apparently can just survive and escape black holes. Thanks to the enchantments on it. Neat.

With his hammer back in hand, Thor is able to gather the dispersed atmosphere from the destroyed planetoid and create an air pocket for the Avengers.

Iron Man compliments Thor's plan coming together. Getting Mjolnir eaten so he could use it to pull Terminus into space? Probably definitely the plan all along. Don't look at the previous issues and think wow he doesn't look like things are going according to schedule.

Then, the Avengers head back to Earth.

That's one Terminus factored.

So in terms of a big Avengers crossover annual event... Hm... I'd say it was stronger in the first half. When the characters were having to figure out the rules to Terminus' weird life cycle. Termini spores possessing animals and making them aggressive was an interesting turn for a giant metal space dude to take.

But I don't think it gelled well with the Terminus lore exposition dump in the Thor issue. If the guy could always spore, why is this the first time he tried? His evil progenitor race is both central to his motivations and also incredibly thinly sketched.

The first two issues played up the idea that every Terminus life cycle stage would have its own weakness but apparently being thrown into space is a shared weakness between a fully grown Terminus and an Ultra Terminus. And even though it was set up in advance, Thor yanking Terminus into space through the Mjolnir he ate really is just repeating how Quasar and Spider-Man beat him.

Also, if Ultra Terminus doesn't eat for five seconds, he turns into a black hole. Weird survival tactic there.

Also also, this is a minor complaint but I wish that the teams had more of a chance to interact and hang-out. This is the first time we have the West, East, and also Great Lakes Avengers together. And the Great Lakes Avengers basically fade out of the plot as soon as the real Avengers arrive. Not a good use of your Great Lakes Avengers!

I do think it was better than Evolutionary War and Atlantis Attacks. It cleared the low bar. But it didn't reach the level of great. Ah, well, there's always next year to try again.

Next time, more West Coast Avengers.

Follow @essential-avengers because if you don't, Terminus may shoot his spores inside another volcano. We can't prove he won't. Like, reblog, and comment. All that stuff prevents Terminuseseses.

[xadianglyphs]

This is a repository of references for as many runes, symbols, and other writing as can be collected from The Dragon Prince and its supplemental materials. The intent is not to update very often unless new material is released, but please submit your own examples or requests!

TDP does not use a fantasy conlang alphabet, nor is linguistics (beyond ASL translation) a factor in designing the filler writing and decorative symbols used throughout the setting. However, because I am personally insane, I wanted a way to check if the various styles of glyphs could be grouped in any meaningful way. Which meant collecting and organizing every possible instance of writing in the entire show. So here we are.

By Appearance:

book one: moon, book two: sky, book three: sun, book four: earth, book five: ocean, book six: stars, book seven: dark, credits sketch

tales of xadia, through the moon, bloodmoon huntress, puzzle house, dreamer's nightmare

concept art

By Identified Family:

primal rune, sunforge runes, handwriting

By Culture:

human kingdoms, xadia, moonshadow elves, skywing elves, sunfire elves, earthblood elves, tidebound elves, startouch elves, order of the blood moon, celestial elves, draconic

moon nexus, sky nexus, sun nexus, earth nexus, ocean nexus, star nexus

By Primal Source:

primal sources, moon primal, sky primal, sun primal, earth primal, ocean primal, star primal

corrupted primal, dark magic, deep magic

By Surface Type/Location:

architecture, attire, books, handwriting, objects, weapons

book of aaravos, claudia's spellbook, cursed coin, dragonscale amulet, magic mirror, starscraper

Spells:

primal rune, unnamed spell

amor stella vitae, aquis spirare faucibus, arma virtutis, aspiro, aspiro frigis, eritque arcus ignis, fulgur mortifer, fulminis, historia viventem, infantis sanguine, lapis caeli, levare ventum, missilem ignem, mons aqueous, noctu igne, pluviam praesidium, sepultura caelo, stratum caligo, tenebris praesidium, terminus ad glacium, umbra chorum, ventum angulus, ventum circulo, ventus validus, venus frigoris

Meta:

meta

analysis, compilation, scene comparison

[charlesandmartine]

Sunday 20th October 2024

Sunday, a day of rest, we had the usual exercise, then after breakfast it was to assume a prone position by the hotel swimming pool. The sensible Australians arranged themselves under whatever cover or shade that could easily be acquired, merely the glint of their Ray Bans giving their location away. Meanwhile, anyone with a Made in England tag is 6 foot out on a sunbed benefitting from the mid morning sun head to foot, smothered in factor 50 whilst remarking how hot it is today. Martine pursued aqua cooling by way of breaststroke and front crawl, whilst I looked on amazed that she didn't actually sink as I know I would. Had I joined her, an international rescue operation of epic proportions would have been invoked with all manner of lifesaving equipment deployed. Better off remaining on the sunbed I felt. Swimming never was something I found coming naturally to me. Mind you, I don't think I have ever come across a more uncomfortable sunbed. It was the sort of device maybe designed in the middle ages as respite between turns on the rack.

Now, even whilst in a dazed state being conveyed here from the airport in our Uber, the driver found it necessary to express condolences that we had pretty much missed the opportunity of a lifetime to visit their local market. He brightened when he found out we would be here on Sunday and confidentially informed us that we were in luck because they repeated the whole thing today! Our cup clearly ranneth over and after researching the whole thing in a professional way discovered a number 4 bus would take us there in time for a 4 o'clock kick off. After all, this is billed as an event in the Darwinian calendar that really should not be missed!

The bus turned up on time at the terminus and a smaller than expected crowd got on considering this was such a big event in the calendar. Alighting at the field the market is held in, the waft of food was all pervasive and from all cultures, Chinese, Thai, Shri-lanka, Greek, Indian, Italian and the list goes on. We were not hungry when we arrived, but pretty soon the olfactory senses persuaded us that maybe there was room for a little morsel of something, and we had been strongly advised to try Darwin Laksa; a soup and noodle concoction with different meats and seafood with a SE Asia origin. We opted for the option, 'the lot'. Something there for everyone. We took our little bowl over to a table area where a local band called Dad's Band was setting up. Repertoire, Blues. They kicked off at 5pm and were quite OK. Various acts were set to follow such as the Darwin kids dance groups followed by more music. It was a very jolly evening but we needed to leave early because the last bus was to go by 7.30pm. It was quite nice to see indigenous folk there, either taking part in some way, or participating with their little sticks that they kind of drum with. I'm not sure I like it especially when they point their little stick at you. The area the market is held is a rather sensitive site for the Larrakia peoples, the Mindil Beach, since inadvertently during some building work, they managed to JCB up a pile of Aborigine type bones! Ancestor warning bells, down tools and build a nice new memorial instead! Phew I think we got away with that one.

Number 4 turned up on queue and off we went back to Darwin sharing the experience with a large group of Aborigines who were quite loud, very tribal and speaking their own language. (no spears) Before being made an honorary member of the tribe we alighted and checked into the 4 Pines Pub again for the end of Happy Hour, and a Croc Pale Ale.

Now Darwin is definitely not representative of Australia as a whole. It is something of a microcosm with a very strange cocktail of people. For instance a fairly normal looking pub across the road from 4 Pines had a music night on the go. Little folk singer with acoustic guitar playing nice little folky type songs. Then 3 metres away from him is the town nutter desperately trying to dance to a folk set which was extremely distracting and if the guitarist hadn't kept his dignity, the dancer could quite easily have found the lost chord over his hippy type head. It has to be said, charmingly, there are some odd people here and I wouldn't rule out there being some with 6 fingers but we still very much like the place and we feel very privileged to have spent some time in this very diverse but young place.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Alaska’s Iconic Columbia Glacier Still Retreats

The Columbia Glacier in southern Alaska has long been an archetype of the world’s most rapidly changing glaciers. Today, additional tidewater glaciers across the planet have garnered attention from scientists for their collective potential to contribute to sea level rise. In the meantime, the remainder of Columbia Glacier has continued its decades-long course of retreat and thinning.

The ice of a tidewater glacier originates on land and flows downslope into seawater, where the glacier loses mass through the calving of icebergs. Columbia’s ice descends from an icefield 3,050 meters (10,000 feet) above sea level, down the flanks of the Chugach Mountains, and into a fjord that leads into Prince William Sound. The glacier once reached south across Columbia Bay to Heather Island. But since the 1980s, it has lost more than half of its total thickness and volume, and its front has retreated more than 20 kilometers (12 miles) north into the bay.

These images (above) reveal some of the more recent changes, showing the glacier’s position during the summers of 2019 (TOP) and 2024 (LOWER). Both images were acquired with the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8.

Notable changes persist on the glacier’s Main Branch and West Branch. (The glacier split into these two branches around 2011.) The Main Branch was constricted for several years by the rocky outcrop north of the Great Nunatak, visible in 2016 in the photograph below. Christopher McNeil, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey, pointed out that the Main Branch has since pulled away from this pinning point.

“That peninsula represented a constriction point for the glacier in the 2019 image,” McNeil said. “Since retreating back, the calving face has less constraint and thus a more unstable configuration.”

The West Branch appears to have already lost its tidewater terminus by 2019, as suggested that year by Shad O’Neel, a glaciologist at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory. That means it no longer reaches fjord waters where it once spawned icebergs, as the Main Branch continues to do. “The fjord size looks relatively constant through the past few years, but you can see a lot of terrestrial retreat now,” O’Neel said. “It looks like a lot of new gravelly real estate.”

The rapid retreat of glaciers like Columbia can leave the surrounding land unstable. “Entire mountainsides once held back by a glacier’s ice can start to move, increasing the risk of landslides and subsequent tsunamis for coastal communities, local fishers, and shipping lanes,” McNeil said.

Tidewater glaciers tend to cycle between periods of advance and retreat. The position of a glacier’s terminus and its rate of retreat are influenced by factors such as fjord shape, sea level change, iceberg calving, and water and air temperature. These dynamics can mitigate or reinforce the effects of climate, making tidewater glaciers highly variable in how rapidly they respond to climate change.

Mauri Pelto, a glaciologist at Nichols College, noted that increases in melt-accelerating feedbacks have contributed to the rapid losses observed at Columbia Glacier. A similar scenario is unfolding elsewhere in Alaska, including at Taku Glacier and Muir Inlet’s East Arm. And roughly 15,000 kilometers away, tidewater glaciers in West Antarctica have come under scientific focus for the changes occurring there.

“The wider implication of tidewater glaciers like Columbia is that they have the ability to rapidly contribute to sea level rise—much faster than their land terminating counterparts,” McNeil said. “However, not all tidewater glaciers have the same configuration as Columbia Glacier, so improving our understanding of the forcings of tidewater glaciers could help further constrain sea level rise projections from these glacier changes globally.”

View the related World of Change story to see these images in context with changes at Columbia Glacier since 1986.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Wanmei Liang, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Photo “Glaciar de marea (Tidewater) - Columbia Glacier, Alaska,” by Banco de Imágenes Geológicas, is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Story by Kathryn Hansen.

[esperfruit]

I have a few questions about yugioh gredux:

1, how do the characters in act 3 arrive in the time period of post-arc v?

2, which students of Terminus Academy forged a duel contract?

3, do you have any pairings for your ocs, romantic or platonic?

It's difficult to explain especially because I haven't figured out all the technicalities yet but important factors that contributed to the time travel were Leo Akaba's dimension experiments before the start of Arc-V, Amalia (another ygo oc of mine) and El Shaddoll Construct's schemes in Arc-V and Duel Terminal and all the duel energy the spirits have stored in themselves after all their time with the humans they have contracted with

Bianca, Lien, Alex, Diana, Hazel, Esra, Jason, Marlee and Nigel. And the non-students are Rantaro, Chronos and Amalia

Kakeru has a crush on Dahlia but it's one-sided. Diana and Esra are in a romantic relationship and there are queerplatonic Jason and Nigel. The rest are all platonic friendships

[bringbackwendellvaughn]

[beholdmystuffz]

Marvel Annual - The Terminus Factor - Captain America (part 1 of five)

[elgaberino-mcoc]

POLL RESULTS — WHETHER TO KEEP THE JEAN GREY NPC / MARVEL GIRL LISTING

Summoner Poll: 8 to keep, 10 to delist Editor Poll: 4 to keep, 1 to delist, 2 abstain

Summed Results: 12 to keep, 11 to delist

Result: keep

Recent rank: 375

Go there and vote: http://shorturl.at/hNQTY

[cringecompanionapologist]

Black Guardian Trilogy Headcanon: What Did the Doctor Know?

But the confrontation with the Guardians at the end of Enlightenment, the Doctor acts as if he already knows everything about Turlough’s deal with the Black Guardian, even though we never see anyone directly explain it to him. By the time the secret is out, he already knows. So, when did that happen?

I think that by the end of Mawdryn Undead, he knew most of it, though I don’t think he knew that Turlough had been specifically sent to kill him.

Turlough makes it clear to the Doctor that he doesn’t really belong on Earth in 1983. He’s not what he seems. The Doctor pays attention to that.

Then, the Doctor sees the crystal. He reacts as if he discovered something significant, but I originally wasn’t sure he knew that it was specifically related to the Black Guardian.

So, I searched through the Black Guardian’s appearances on the TARDIS wiki. Thanks to audios and novels, the Doctor has stories that take place between The Armageddon Factor and Mawdryn Undead where he deals with the Black Guardian. In the VMA novel The Well-Mannered War, he actually deals with a guy who made a deal with the Black Guardian. The Doctor discovers a crystal just like the one Turlough has, which is apparently made of some weird material, so it’s distinctive and out of the ordinary. 

By Mawdryn Undead, the Doctor definitely would’ve known what that crystal was an what it meant. However, the guy in The Well-Mannered War wasn’t sent to kill the Doctor, just to trap him. When Five sees the crystal in Mawdryn Undead, his immediate concern is for the TARDIS. He first saw Turlough having somehow wandered into the TARDIS earlier. The most logical conclusion would be that the Black Guardian is after the TARDIS, trying to trap the Doctor again.

So, the Doctor knows that Turlough is an agent of the Black Guardian, but he doesn’t know that he’s been sent to kill him. He didn’t notice the rock murder thing.

The main reason people think the Doctor was unaware of the Black Guardian stuff is because “If the Doctor knew Turlough was working for the Black Guardian, why’d he take him on as a companion and insist to Nyssa and Tegan that he was alright?”. I think it’s the combination of not knowing what Turlough’s mission actually was and realizing that bringing Turlough with him might actually cause a problem for the Black Guardian’s plan.

The Doctor knows that Turlough is in the wrong place and/or time. If Turlough is stuck in the wrong place and/or time, the thing he’d want the most would be to escape 1983 Earth. The Doctor could guess that that’s what the Black Guardian offered him. The Black Guardian’s agent in The Well-Mannered War was an artist motivated by fame. Turlough is motivated by desperation, which though not a “good” motivation, is a better motivation than fame. This meant that Turlough himself probably wasn’t a bad person. The Doctor actually seemed to take a liking to him almost immediately, so there’s also that.

But, not only is what Turlough wants something pretty reasonable, it’s something the Doctor can give him. He wants to leave Earth. Fine. The Doctor can take him away from Earth. Turlough now has what he wants, the thing he made the deal with the Black Guardian to get. He no longer needs what the Black Guardian offered him. He has no reason to want to work for him anymore. Taking Turlough as a companion takes away some of the control the Black Guardian has over him.

So, the Doctor decides to Turlough with him and see what happens, basically. He doesn’t tell Nyssa and Tegan what he’s doing, because he doesn’t want them involved. The Doctor is the Black Guardian’s target, but if he had to go through his companions to get to him, he would.

This actually comes up in the novelization of Terminus. On Terminus, the Black Guardian is pissed that Turlough isn’t trying to find and kill the Doctor. Turlough says that he can’t do anything while Tegan’s around and he’s stuck with her. The Black Guardian tells him to kill Tegan. To Turlough’s credit, he makes no attempt to follow this order and tries to avoid screaming too loudly when the Black Guardian punishes him, so Tegan won’t hear, see the crystal, know too much, and die for it. 

So, yeah, it’s better if the other companions stay away from the Black Guardian stuff. The Doctor really should’ve told them that, but the Fifth Doctor hates explaining anything. Maybe not the best move on his part.

Anyway, Turlough’s second attempt to kill the Doctor (after the rock) is by sabotaging the TARDIS. This could also be interpreted as an attempt to strand the Doctor, not kill him, so the Doctor still probably doesn’t know that Turlough is the Least Deadly Assassin Ever yet. But, he does find Turlough on the floor in the TARDIS after the Black Guardian did something to him to punish him for his failure. It’s not quite clear what was going on there.

This is part of an interesting pattern. The Doctor never catches Turlough trying to kill him, but he catches the aftermath of Turlough being punished for failing to kill him twice. After the end of Terminus, there’s also the time in Enlightenment. The Black Guardian chokes Turlough and throws him to the ground. The Doctor and Tegan find him on the floor and he claims he just fell. This really doesn’t hold up, since Tegan can see bruises on his neck. While the Terminus incident was a bit confusing, this time it is blatantly clear that someone attacked Turlough and he’s covering for him. From this, the Black Guardian comes across as more of a threat to Turlough than to the Doctor. This is why the Doctor isn’t upset with Turlough at all. He’d been punished more than enough.

Turlough doesn’t attempt to kill the Doctor again after the sabotage incident. There’s also that “I’ll never serve you again!” line before Turlough jumps off the Eternal Ship in Space. The Doctor doesn’t react to this line at all, because he already knows who Turlough is addressing. Turlough is already at least trying to resist the Black Guardian. That means all the Doctor has to do is be supportive and wait for the problem to solve itself. The Guardian give Turlough a chance to choose to do the right thing and escape the deal he made and he does. The Doctor knew he could do it. The deal wasn’t doing anything good for him outside of offering him something the Doctor could just give him without asking for anything in return.

In the aftermath, Tegan still doesn’t quite get what happened and doesn’t understand why the Doctor could forgive Turlough so easily. At some point during the events of Enlightenment, the Doctor figured out that Turlough had been sent to kill him, but he didn’t care. He knew he wouldn’t go through with it. Besides, the Doctor saw what Turlough went through failing/resisting the Black Guardian. By taking away Turlough’s motivation that got him to make the deal in the first place, the Doctor could be partially responsible for the failure/resistance, so he even has reason to feel guilty about what Turlough went through and want to make it up to him. He still doesn’t explain anything to Tegan because seriously, the Fifth Doctor Hates Explaining Anything.

So, I rambled quite a bit there.

TLDR: The Doctor knew that Turlough was working for the Black Guardian before he’d even become a companion, as well as what the Black Guardian offered Turlough, but he didn’t know exactly what Turlough had been sent to do and probably saw the Black Guardian Trilogy as him rescuing Turlough from the Black Guardian, whatever the deal was.

[sunbeamstress]

i jumped on the Walking Dead train really late, but i got to finish the show with the fans and i thought it was excellent. it also marks the second or third time i've binged a piece of acclaimed media that became noteworthy for fucking over its fans - the last time was when i beat the mass effect trilogy, a decade late. i thought that was excellent too.

of course it's a lot easier when the game you're playing already has the patched-in ending option and all its DLC, and walking dead was definitely easier to get through since when season 5 ended, i could go right into season 6 without The Cliffhanger

it's clear that the show i watched wasn't the show that AMC presented. scrubbed of its social media gaffes and godawful pacing, it was honestly a thrill ride. it takes a little time to stumble its way through the first two seasons, and the third is definitely more of a slow burn of dread, but if you can punch your way through those you're rewarded with a tense thriller that rarely wastes its time - every scene demands your attention and reveals something new. the moment my life settles down again i want to binge-watch it all over again with a friend.

in my early/mid twenties, i'd fallen in love with an artsy little tech-fetishist webcomic about a few kids struggling to avert the end of the world. you might have heard of it, it was called Homestuck. it would go on to balloon into a very different sort of work from the one it began (i miss the Amiga graphics and quotes from poets/novelists), but also it was the first time i looked around to realize i was in the middle of a fandom. and in those days it wasn't a lovely sight.

my problem was i hadn't been inoculated against this sort of thing yet. from the moment i discovered the MSPA forums, it was impossible for me to experience homestuck without also crossing over to get a life feed of how the fans were enjoying it, and that was uhh, complicated. i have a lot i could say about Andrew Hussie as a creator and maybe one day he'll get his very own rambling not-quite-essay from me, but i maintain that i didn't get to enjoy Homestuck the way it deserved because i am the sort of person whose opinions can be influenced by others. you are too, don't judge.

i hold fast to my conviction that the best way to enjoy something is to enjoy it pure and alone, or with at most perhaps two friends whose tastes you can trust. all too often i've seen people try to make it through the walking dead, or better call saul, or mass effect, or homestuck, or anything, while tapped into the overwhelming torrent of fandom opinion.

it actually makes things worse.

as the internet is fond of saying: the walking dead was a hell of a lot better without a bitch in my ear telling me it sucked.

there's a lot to say about how they reused the same ol' same ol' plot: zombos force the crew to move, they get settled in, then they solve some zombo-related problems until the newest batch of Desperate And/Or Corrupt And/Or Treacherous Humans comes to prove that actually we were the monsters all along

except it's fucking dope? they bare-knuckle brawl a shitload of walkers in a prison and take it over? and then they fight a war with the neighboring town??

Terminus, to me, is a singular point in the show that stands out in my mind. it was the moment i was like "oh shit. i think actually like this show." nevermind the way they began cranking up the horror factor (watching them slit that guy's throat in the horse trough was wild), but then Carol shows up and fucking Judge Dredds the place?

and then we see Rick turn from do-gooder cop to feral den mother who is willing to rip a guy's throat out and fjksdhgfjkhgjkhg oh my GOD how did you people not like this show

and then:

it was genuinely incredible watching Rick's role in the universe transform. we see him as an agent who is only ever acted upon: first by the emergence of walkers, then by a revolving door of people he can't trust, people he shouldn't trust but does, and people who have a funny way of doing the right thing just when you expect them to fail you the most.

but it's no way to live a life after the world has ended, and he has to get tough. his role changes, quite quickly, from agent to actor, and now he is the one with the control. he's the one sniffing out your bullshit, doing that unhinged lupine head-cock of his, and sending you to hell at the end of a colt python.

maybe if i was a man, i'd feel a little of what the fans seemed to have felt when Negan showed up. maybe i would have put myself in Rick's place, and found a little vicarious pleasure in the feeling of being a respected leader, building a new home with my bare hands; maybe i would have experienced disappointment or defeat or whatever the moment a bigger guy with a bigger gun shows up.

but what i saw was a hornet's nest being stirred; the natural reaction of a world much bigger than you just when you've begun to think you might control some of it. negan wasn't some Bigger Guy, he was a symbol, a walking metaphor for how things are always going to go when men like rick try to purchase peace with violence. if it wasn't Negan it was going to be someone else. i adamantly believe the fans hated negan because negan was holding up a mirror to them.

when i go on about this show, i genuinely do love all of it (even the nightmarishly slow seasons 9 and 10), but the images in my head all come from season 5, especially when they raid the hospital back in the city. the walking dead does not disappoint with aesthetics. the sets were phenomenal.

long, dramatic shots of broken chain link fences, sun-baked highways, half-abandoned urban streets with boarded windows and nothing left but graffiti. honestly feels a little like my childhood. i'm an urbex bitch at heart and i never wanted ANYTHING so desperately as the chance to get in there with Carol and Aaron and Maggie et al, and go plumbing the tombs of Atlanta for rocket launchers and medicine.

and while i never want to see backroads or quaint country towns ever again in my life, i won't deny that the backdrops of rural georgia and virginia gave the walking dead a unique visual language, a kind of run-down western vibe that really helped cement the feeling that these were just regular salt-of-the-earth people, forced to do extraordinary things. most of my dreams now usually have the same hickory and pine trees that dotted the countrysides.

i don't really know what i was trying to accomplish when i began this post (it's the only way i know how to write baby!) but to summarize, i fucking loved this show. i genuinely hold it to be one of the seminal works of modern zombie horror and also just an incredibly good survival soap opera about what it means to be alive in a world that has violently rejected you. i'm genuinely glad i gave it a chance and i'm so grateful my brother recommended it to me. i love you, bro.