{{comic
| number = 1141
| date = November 30, 2012
| title = Two Years
| image = two years.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = She won the first half of all our chemo Scrabble games, but then her IV drugs started kicking in and I *dominated*.
}}

== Explanation ==

This comic marks the second year of [[Randall Munroe]]'s wife's battle with cancer, and appears to depict actual events from those two years, though this type of progression could be common in many couples' experiences. Randall's wife's cancer has been the subject of [[:Category:Cancer|several previous comics]].

Some explanations:
* Panel 1: Randall's wife-to-be (at that point) receives a diagnosis over the phone as Randall sits by her side supportively.
* Panel 2: Undergoing {{w|chemotherapy}} through an IV. Because of the hair loss that results from chemotherapy, many patients opt to shave their heads when they undergo chemotherapy. Her hair grows back over the course of the following panels.
* Panel 3: The two of them spending time with one-another, and no one else. This is very important for couples in a situation like that. Nature is a good resort for many, as long as health permits.
* Panel 4: The couple are waiting for the results of a scan; it appears a phone is on the middle of the table that they are waiting to ring.
* Panel 5: More chemotherapy. The couple are playing {{w|Scrabble}}, as referenced in the title text, which is a very popular board game in which players use letter tiles to spell words in a cross-word style. She uses the fact that she has cancer as leverage to get Randall to ignore the fact that the word she has played (zarg) is not a real word.
* Panel 6: Someone suggests they come for a visit next year, but all they can think about are the words "next year", suggesting their fears that they won't be able to go anywhere, or that one of them might even be dead by next year.
* Panel 7: Randall and his fiancé get married.
* Panel 8: The couple watching humpback whales. See panel 3.
* Panel 9: Randall is paraphrasing a line from the song "{{w|Still Alive}}" ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_S0PGu-cH4 video]) from the video game ''{{w|Portal}}'' (''"I'm doing science and I'm still alive"'').
* Panel 11: Randall and his wife have dinner to celebrate the fact that she has made it two years since her biopsy.
The title text is referring to a possible side-effect of chemotherapy drugs, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemotherapy#Neurological_adverse_effects inability to concentrate].

==Transcript==
:[Randall and Megan sitting on a bed. She's on the phone with a nurse (shown in inset), who is looking at a clipboard.]
:Nurse: [illegible]
:Megan: Oh God

:[Randall and Megan sitting at their laptops. Megan is hooked up to an IV pump and her head is shaved.]
:IV pump: ...BEEEP...BEEEP...BEEEP...

:[Randall and Megan rowing a canoe in a lake/mountain setting. Megan is wearing a beanie.]

:[Randall and Megan sitting at a table staring at a phone. A clock is mounted behind them. Her head is stubbly.]
:Megan: How long can it take to read a scan!?

:[Randall and Megan playing scrabble. Megan is again hooked up to an IV pump. She has longer stubbles.]
:Randall: "Zarg" isn't a word.
:Megan: But ''Caaancer''.
:Randall: ...Ok, fine.

:[Randall and Megan talking to a friend. A large thought bubble is above their heads. She's wearing a beanie.]
:Friend: So next year you should come visit us up in the mountain - [cut off by thought bubble]
:Randall and Megan: "Next year"

:[Randall and Megan getting married. He's wearing a bow-tie; she a white dress. A heart is above their heads. Megan's hair is growing back a little.]

:[Randall and Megan standing on the coast, watching a whale jump out of the water. She's wearing a beanie.]

:[Randall standing behind Megan, who is sitting at a desk using a laptop. Her hair has grown back a little more.]
:Randall: Hey-
:Randall: You're doing science,
:Randall: And you're still alive.
:Megan: Yeah!

:[Randall and Megan sitting under a tree.]
:Randall: It's really only been two years?
:Megan: They were big years.

:[Randall and Megan at a fancy restaurant being served. Her hair has grown back more.]
:Waiter: Happy... Anniversary?
:Megan: Biopsy-versary!
:Waiter: ...eww.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:Cancer]]

Talk:1141: Two Years

2012-11-30T21:17:59Z

CityZen:

Talk:1141: Two Years

2012-11-30T17:47:25Z

CityZen:

2012-09-28T20:07:18Z

CityZen: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1114
| date = September 28, 2012
| title = Metallurgy
| image = metallurgy.png
| titletext = This exotic blade was wrought from a different fallen star. The meteorite was a carbonaceous chondrite, so it's basically a lump of gravel glued into the shape of a sword. A SPACE sword!
| imagesize =
}}

==Explanation==
The comic explains how weapons would really behave if they were made out of unusual materials. In fantasy stories, using unusual materials for weapons traditionally makes the weapons more powerful and cooler despite limited explanation for exactly why materials of extraterrestrial origin are so superior to their earthen counterparts.

On the other hand, iron from meteorites was often mixed with "terrestial" iron in the early stages of human development to create relatively high quality steel for swords. Undeveloped metalworking techniques at the time meant that extraterrestrial metal was often more refined and plentiful than man-made metal ingots.[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0016703767901408 Research] has shown that meteorites have an abundance of the chemical element Antimony (Sb) which by itself is a very brittle metal and therefore swords forged from metals harvested from meteorites are not as strong as lore may make one think.

The second panel is a reference to stories set in Middle Earth and the sword is Sting, which glows blue when Orcs are near. Sting used to belong to Bilbo Baggins, when he grew old he gave it to Frodo Baggins as a gift. The dagger in question, though, glows because of the radioactive properties of Actinium (Ac) which is also highly toxic. Definitely not a dagger you would want to carry around for your every day battles.

The word "Eldritch" in the third panel means sinister, or ghostly.

The fourth panel mentions that the weapon gives a +2 to a player's attribute. This is a reference to role-playing games in which it is common to find items that are able to improve one's character by increasing desirable attributes. In this case, however, +2 to cancer risk would definitely not be considered a desirable attribute to increase.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Megan are in a weapon store talking to a bearded salesman wearing a hat.]

:[Salesman holds up a sword]
:Salesman: This sword was forged from a fallen star. Antimony impurities make the blade surpassingly ''brittle'' and ''weak''.

:[Salesman holds up a dagger]
:Salesman: And this dagger is made of metal from a far-off kingdom. It glows blue.
:Off-panel: When orcs are near?

:Salesman: No, always. Radiation from the Actinium content.
:Megan: ...Does it have eldritch powers?

:Salesman: It gives the wearer +2 to cancer risk.
:Cueball: I think we should find another shop.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:1114: Metallurgy

2012-09-28T20:06:36Z

CityZen:

"extraterrestrial metal was often more refined and plentiful than man-made metal ingots." -I'd love to read about this. Citation needed! --[[User:Buggz|Buggz]] ([[User talk:Buggz|talk]]) 08:59, 28 September 2012 (UTC)
:Sure. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_meteorite. It was mostly cultures with little industry picking up meteorites and finding that the stuff lying on the ground was miles better than the awful fragile metal that they were making from rocks. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]] ([[User talk:Davidy22|talk]]) 09:06, 28 September 2012 (UTC)

In fantasy stories, the world is usually much more complicated place. Meteorite, which may have easily traveled billions kilometres going through places with environment greatly different from anything available on the planet, can easily develop interresting properties. Still, for every super-cool super-effective sword, there must be many other meteorites whose properties make them LESS usefull for weapons.
Even in our universe, meteorites may went through temperatures and magnetical fields much greater that available for preindustrial civilization. -- [[Special:Contributions/89.177.52.2|89.177.52.2]] 10:42, 28 September 2012 (UTC)

That salesman was likely to sell a flashlight as a lightsabre.--[[User:DelendaEst|DelendaEst]] ([[User talk:DelendaEst|talk]]) 11:20, 28 September 2012 (UTC)

It is possible that Randall drew inspiration from the piece of news that was making rounds yesterday, best exemplified by an article in The Register titled [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/27/tibetan_alien_statue_discovered_by_nazis/|Tibetan STATUE found by 1930s NAZI expedition is of ALIEN ORIGIN]. Many publications ran a similar headline, stating that the statue, and not the material it is made from, is of extraterrestrial origin. [[User:Mem|mem]] ([[User talk:Mem|talk]]) 13:46, 28 September 2012 (UTC)

The explanation should perhaps also address how in various computer/fantasy games one will often come across a weapons dealer, a non-player character who will happily sell you whatever he has in stock. [[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 20:06, 28 September 2012 (UTC)