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So it might look like I'm a big Alien movie nerd (I am), but deep down inside I'm also a Terminator nerd, and I like to talk about it. This thread chains off of the GBS "Aliens" thread, I figured it made more sense to talk about it in GBS because there's a lot more to Terminator than just the movies, and I think it's fun to explore. WHAT IS TERMINATOR: At its core, it's a series of movies about a hyperintelligent artificial intelligence that chooses to wipe out mankind with nuclear force. However, humanity is just a little too hard to defeat, so it resorts to time travel fuckery to seal the deal and eliminate its opponent in the past before it has a chance to materialize in the present (or future. It's complicated). Said artificial intelligence (Skynet) tries to use robot assassins (Terminators) to change the past to assure its survival in the future. I can only pray you've seen at least the first two Terminator movies by the time you're reading this. If you haven't, drop what you're doing and watch them and then report back. THE MOVIES: There are six Terminator movies, of varying degrees of quality. Full disclosure, I like them all and will step up to bat for all of them, for various reasons. I think they all have a lot to offer and can stand on their own merits, even if the first two movies are essentially unimpeachable. THE TV SHOW: Oh yes, there's a TV show. It even got two seasons. It made some interesting concessions because of the TV show budget (as well as some interesting licensing fuckery that derailed how things were depicted) but what could have been a total shitshow ended up being quite solid entertainment with interesting usage of time travel, Skynet, and Terminators. THE EXPANDED UNIVERSE: There's a lot going on here and has been for decades, including: THE NOVELS: There are a lot of Terminator novels. There are novelizations of the movies. There are two novelizations of the first movie alone, in fact - this came about because the publishing company got one dude to write a novelization of 'The Terminator' while James Cameron was sleeping on the couch of his friend Randall Frakes, who he promised would get to write the novelization of 'The Terminator'. So we got two concurrent novelizations of 'The Terminator' as James Cameron tried to quietly stop the publication of one of them in favor of his friend, but it didn't really work so there were two books out there at the same time. It was all very confusing, and both books mostly tell the same story, but I think it's pretty neat that there are two books out at the same time due to James Cameron losing control of his own creation. Beyond that, there's a trilogy of novels meant to act as a sequel to Terminator 2 (T2) that leads into the future war, there's a trilogy of novels meant to act as a sequel to T2 that just sort of throws more Terminators at John Connor without addressing the future war. there's a pair of novels that chain off of Terminator 3 that talk about the future war but incorporate elements from that movie, and there's a quartet of novels centered around 'Terminator: Salvation' that focuses on the state of the Future War in 2018 and thereabouts. THE COMICS: Oh man, are there a lot of comics. NOW Comics had the license originally, and started out with future war stuff based on the first movie. The second movie hadn't come out yet, so their comics were filled with very off-the-wall (but interesting) ideas like Terminators abducting children and then establishing camps that sort of recreated pre-Judgment Day life but were meant to indoctrinate the children into thinking the Terminators were good guys. Stuff like schools with Terminator teachers and neighborhoods including Terminator police officers, meant to teach the kids that Skynet was good and Terminators weren't a threat. I'm not saying this was a good idea or executed particularly well, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't an interesting angle to approach the subject matter, and oh boy did the NOW Comics take a swing at it. NOW Comics ended up doing a (quite good) comic book covering Kyle Reese going back in time as described in the first movie, and then they did a (VERY good) comic story called "The Burning Earth" that covered the Future War lingering on and the final days of Skynet. It was drawn by (then) comics newcomer Alex Ross and it's very good. Dark Horse Comics had the license for a good while, and ran a storyline following the events of the first movie where the human Resistance tries to send soldiers back in time to assassinate key humans who would create Skynet, and Skynet sends Terminators to stop them. It actually chains off of a deleted scene from the first movie and it's pretty clever. Malibu Comics did a pair of comic book storylines chaining off of Terminator 2, one was set in "the present" and followed the events of Terminator 2, and the other was set in the future and showed how John Connor leads the human resistance to defeat Skynet and send Kyle Reese and the Terminator from T2 back in time. There were also some Terminator 3 comics that similarly covered the Future War from that movie and how the T-X got sent back in time. But the real crown jewel is the Terminator Salvation comics, which chronicle the Future War following from that movie and onward. The comics are great, and manage to chain off of 'Terminator Salvation' in a satisfying way while tying into the future events established in the first three movies, and leading to a satisfying ending to the war even if it cribs a little bit from The Matrix Revolutions. If you were underwhelmed with 'Terminator Salvation' or are interested in seeing how the war could play out, I very heartily encourage you to check them out. I'm going to throw in a token mention of the "Aliens vs Predator vs Terminator" comic series only to say avoid it like the plague. I'm an Aliens/Predator expanded universe completionist and apologist and I an telling you that it's dogshit. I own the first two issues and every once in a while the completionist bug in me pokes its head up to say "hey maybe you should buy the other issues" and so I re-read what I've got and I'm reminded that no, I shouldn't buy the rest of it. It's THAT bad. THE VIDEO GAMES: There have been Terminator videogames for decades, of varying degrees of quality. Terminator 3 got three, one was real lovely, one was a multiplayer-centric game focused on the Future War that was dead on arrival, and a third literally called "The Redemption" that served as an apology for the first two and had you playing as a Terminator fighting your way through the Future War and some elements of the third movie. It literally had a dedicated button for spouting off Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes. There were several first person shooters made by Bethesda (yes, that Bethesda) back in the 90s that were quite solid, called "Terminator: 2029", "Terminator: Future Shock", and "Terminator: Skynet". They had you fighting in the Future War against Skynet machines, and they're pretty solid. More recently, there's "Terminator: Resistance", which feels like a spiritual successor to Future Shock and has you exploring the nuclear wasteland and fighting off Skynet robots. It's quite good, and very much nails the "future war" aesthetic established by the first two Terminator movies. THE RPG: There's a Terminator RPG written by the same guy who did the (awesome) Alien movie RPG. It lets you play as a Resistance soldier in the Future War, or travel back in time to fight Terminators in the 80s or in the time period of your choosing. There's a new Terminator 2 expansion that just came out that covers the second movie, as well. Sidebar, I'm friends with the author of the RPG and got him to sign my copy of the core book, he wrote "gently caress YOU, rear end in a top hat" on the inside cover. Mission accomplished. MERCHANDISE: Oh man is there a lot of merchandise. Action figures, statues, art prints, prop replicas, all kinds of stuff. I have a lot of it, I've got a small army of endoskeletons by various manufacturers at varying scales. BONUS STREET CRED: I was the moderator of the official Terminator3.com forums, back in the day. No seriously. that was me. They were looking for a moderator and I volunteered myself, and they chose me to run the place. I got some neat movie swag for my trouble, and I got the inside peek on some stuff as the movie was being released, otherwise I kept the peace as turbonerds argued about whether the new movie would ruin the franchise or not. So let's talk about the Terminator franchise! Let's get into stupid debates about timelines and time travel, let's talk about the good and bad movies (they're all good IMHO), let's talk about the stuff outside of the movies. Terminator is cool and has a lot to offer, and I've got lots of ideas about Terminator projects, from crossovers to Future War stuff to anthology time travel series. I can't be the only person here who thinks Terminator is cool, so let's talk about it.
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Mar 23, 2024 07:15
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| # ? Apr 28, 2024 23:15 |
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*rattles bottle Laundry day? Nothing clean??
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Mar 23, 2024 07:24
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I'll BE BACK! (maybe... I might forget)
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Mar 23, 2024 07:30
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redshirt posted:*rattles bottle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHiZNeADqKs
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Mar 23, 2024 07:42
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What tha hell?? *lightning strikes an old man's dumpster
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Mar 23, 2024 07:52
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I can't support Kyle Reese, not after he stole that hobo's pants, "That son of a bitch took my pants." the hobo wailed. I can't stand that, was like watching a dog get kicked. I understand it's serious business and the whole world is at stake, but there are lines you just don't cross.
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Mar 23, 2024 08:08
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redshirt posted:What tha hell?? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wh_XlfHaHY I be saying that poo poo to myself when I'm confused all the time. The way he says it is just right. It's too real. Just great acting from that dude driving the dump truck.
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Mar 23, 2024 08:12
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Lil Swamp Booger Baby posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wh_XlfHaHY Terminator is better than Terminator 2. Alien is better than Aliens.
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Mar 23, 2024 08:15
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Mumpy Puffinz posted:Terminator is better than Terminator 2. Alien is better than Aliens. I actually agree but I generally prefer atmosphere and grit over bombast. Aliens and Terminator 2 are still insanely good tho.
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Mar 23, 2024 08:18
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The ending scene of Alien is imo just some of the best poo poo ever. Insanely intense, the presence of the Alien coiled up in the wall like some freaky rear end animal crawled into your woodwork and you're trying not to provoke it - that rules hard. The lighting, her trying to stay calm by singing - all just perfect poo poo. That movie is straight up perfect imo.
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Mar 23, 2024 08:20
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Lil Swamp Booger Baby posted:I actually agree but I generally prefer atmosphere and grit over bombast. Aliens and Terminator 2 are still insanely good tho. they are all great movies, but I like suspense over action. Just a personal preference
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Mar 23, 2024 08:21
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Lil Swamp Booger Baby posted:I can't support Kyle Reese, not after he stole that hobo's pants, "That son of a bitch took my pants." the hobo wailed. I can't stand that, was like watching a dog get kicked. I understand it's serious business and the whole world is at stake, but there are lines you just don't cross. Kyle Reese rawdogged Sarah Connor after going commando in those hobo pants.
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Mar 23, 2024 08:26
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I think Alien still just sells the xenomorph itself the best. It feels dangerous as everloving poo poo in that movie, which is greatly helped by the actors doing an incredible job of being terrified. Veronica Cartwright does terror so well lol. Also people always poo poo on it like "Oh it's obviously just moving like some guy in a suit" but that enhances it for me? The alien in the first movie is also the one that feels like a really weird, inscrutable mirror of humanity. It has our proportions, it has the weird skull face under its dome head, it's freakishly lanky, it's like if bugs had developed into human shape but kept all the remorselessness and single-minded instinctual drives.
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Mar 23, 2024 08:26
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Parkingtigers posted:Kyle Reese rawdogged Sarah Connor after going commando in those hobo pants. Sara Conner was a wild chick
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Mar 23, 2024 08:27
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The queen is cool as gently caress too and has her own presence, which is a lot bigger, but it's like the difference between a bear trying to whup ur rear end and getting stalked by a mountain cat.
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Mar 23, 2024 08:28
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Parkingtigers posted:Kyle Reese rawdogged Sarah Connor after going commando in those hobo pants. It's also canon that the Terminator smelled like poo poo.
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Mar 23, 2024 08:28
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Lil Swamp Booger Baby posted:It's also canon that the Terminator smelled like poo poo. also some toddler put ice cream in her pocket
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Mar 23, 2024 08:30
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Can Terminators gently caress, like do they have dicks
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Mar 23, 2024 09:01
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Lil Swamp Booger Baby posted:I can't support Kyle Reese, not after he stole that hobo's pants, "That son of a bitch took my pants." the hobo wailed. I can't stand that, was like watching a dog get kicked. I understand it's serious business and the whole world is at stake, but there are lines you just don't cross. Stole his pants and then went right into a department store full of pants. Why does he even care if the past police see his dong, they're all dead already.
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Mar 23, 2024 09:09
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Toxic Mental posted:Can Terminators gently caress, like do they have dicks I googled it but just got a pic of the incredible hulk getting hosed in the butt.
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Mar 23, 2024 09:11
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Toxic Mental posted:Can Terminators gently caress, like do they have dicks remember when the lady terminator in T3: Rise of the Machines inflated her boobs? they can do anything
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Mar 23, 2024 09:16
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Toxic Mental posted:Can Terminators gently caress, like do they have dicks In the opening of T2 I'm pretty sure the looks the ladies at the bar give Arnold confirm that they do
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Mar 23, 2024 09:42
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Lil Swamp Booger Baby posted:I think Alien still just sells the xenomorph itself the best. It feels dangerous as everloving poo poo in that movie, which is greatly helped by the actors doing an incredible job of being terrified. Veronica Cartwright does terror so well lol. Also people always poo poo on it like "Oh it's obviously just moving like some guy in a suit" but that enhances it for me? The alien in the first movie is also the one that feels like a really weird, inscrutable mirror of humanity. It has our proportions, it has the weird skull face under its dome head, it's freakishly lanky, it's like if bugs had developed into human shape but kept all the remorselessness and single-minded instinctual drives. Absolutely, there's this one weird scene of about five frames where it looks like the guy in the costume is doing jazz hands, but other than that the original xenomorph design is pretty much perfect and all the attempts to "improve" it for the sequels just gradually brought it closer to a generic bug monster
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Mar 23, 2024 09:46
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Lil Swamp Booger Baby posted:The queen is cool as gently caress too and has her own presence, which is a lot bigger, but it's like the difference between a bear trying to whup ur rear end and getting stalked by a mountain cat. There's a terminator queen??
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Mar 23, 2024 10:09
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sad question posted:There's a terminator queen?? Yea the dude he steals the clothes from in terminator 3
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Mar 23, 2024 10:12
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Toxic Mental posted:Can Terminators gently caress, like do they have dicks You can basically see Arnold's dick in T1 so yea
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Mar 23, 2024 10:13
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steinrokkan posted:Absolutely, there's this one weird scene of about five frames where it looks like the guy in the costume is doing jazz hands, but other than that the original xenomorph design is pretty much perfect and all the attempts to "improve" it for the sequels just gradually brought it closer to a generic bug monster It's the scene where Dallas gets caught in the vents and the Alien reaches towards the camera lol
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Mar 23, 2024 10:16
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1000 Sweaty Rikers posted:remember when the lady terminator in T3: Rise of the Machines inflated her boobs? they can do anything If the next Terminator movie doesn't have Arnie inflating his dick I'm gonna riot
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Mar 23, 2024 10:18
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Archer666 posted:If the next Terminator movie doesn't have Arnie inflating his dick I'm gonna riot In the first one his dong is just swinging to and fro nonchalantly, I think it's part of the inflation process.
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Mar 23, 2024 10:23
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T-800s do have dicks and they can cum, but they can’t get hard and the cum pouch has to be refilled from time to time T-1000s can do it all, and they will
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Mar 23, 2024 10:32
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Fantastic OP! Petition to add in the Terminator ride/show from Universal Studios where Arnie grabs Edward Furlong and they go forward in time to fight the T-1 Million and destroy Skynet or whatever, it's been a while since I saw it
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Mar 23, 2024 10:43
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Toxic Mental posted:Can Terminators gently caress, like do they have dicks I feel like this should be common knowledge by now.  Serious evidence of Terminator penises, do not click if you don't want to see far away, undetailed but still obvious incidental images from the Terminator movies where you can tell the terminators have penises  
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Mar 23, 2024 10:46
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T2 was my favorite movie as a kid. I don't know if a cooler movie even exists for a 7yo to experience.
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Mar 23, 2024 11:44
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST7_WqSlQJI Just want it on the first page that I bought this game full price and 30 years later I'm still loving furious.
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Mar 23, 2024 11:54
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Lil Swamp Booger Baby posted:The ending scene of Alien is imo just some of the best poo poo ever. Insanely intense, the presence of the Alien coiled up in the wall like some freaky rear end animal crawled into your woodwork and you're trying not to provoke it - that rules hard. The lighting, her trying to stay calm by singing - all just perfect poo poo. That movie is straight up perfect imo. I saw it in the theater as a kid - my first r-rated movie - and remember immediately noticing the creature's head within the walls before The Big Reveal. Was it supposed to be obvious or a surprise? Also, I saw T2 without knowing the good guy twist since I hadn't seen any ads for it. Me and a couple of friends had just dropped some acid and got a call from another person who had free tickets and went, so seeing that film on LSD was quite the ride. .. Something that's always bugged me in T2 though as that, in the first film, Kyle is alarmed by dogs barking because he says they use them to sniff out terminators. Yet in the second film, they show up at the militia camp and there's several dogs running around totally chill. None of them alert to Arnold. BiggerBoat fucked around with this message at 12:45 on Mar 23, 2024 |
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Mar 23, 2024 12:42
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Dogs of the future resistance were presumably trained to respond to terminators, dogs of pre-terminator era wouldn't be. Though I believe there are scenes where the family dog barks at the terminator in the background as a foreshadowing of the twist, so it's not consistent.
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Mar 23, 2024 12:52
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Lil Swamp Booger Baby posted:I can't support Kyle Reese, not after he stole that hobo's pants, "That son of a bitch took my pants." the hobo wailed. I can't stand that, was like watching a dog get kicked. I understand it's serious business and the whole world is at stake, but there are lines you just don't cross. The first Terminator tries to play this "is that other guy who appeared naked out of a bunch of electricity a bad guy too, or not?" game and so for the first act Kyle Reese isn't portrayed particularly sympathetically.
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Mar 23, 2024 13:04
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steinrokkan posted:Dogs of the future resistance were presumably trained to respond to terminators, dogs of pre-terminator era wouldn't be. Though I believe there are scenes where the family dog barks at the terminator in the background as a foreshadowing of the twist, so it's not consistent. I had the same thought that you did about the dogs maybe being trained but, yeah. "Wolfie" is barking at the t1000 during the phone call scene.
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Mar 23, 2024 13:36
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He's barking because the t1000 is a threat to the home and family the dog belongs to and protects, not because it's a time traveling robot
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Mar 23, 2024 13:42
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| # ? Apr 28, 2024 23:15 |
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Yeah I think Wolfie probably saw the T-1000 kill John's foster mother and knows it's an impostor. The dogs with the militia can probably smell that Arnie is mechanical, but they're probably just used to people coming by to drop off big rear end weapons and such and a walking machine in human camoflauge probably isn't that far out of the norm for them.
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Mar 23, 2024 13:58
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