Dominoes are small, flat blocks used as gaming pieces. Often, they feature a line in the middle to divide them visually into two squares, called ends. Each end is marked with a number of spots, also known as pips. The number of pips on one end can range from six to none at all, indicating a lower or higher rank or weight. The term domino can also refer to the whole set of stacked tiles or the game itself.
In terms of storytelling, Domino can be an apt metaphor for many of the issues that authors face when plotting their novels. Whether you write off the cuff or use a very structured outline, plotting a story comes down to answering the question of what happens next. It is crucial that your scenes advance the story in a logical way and that they have enough detail to make sense, but they should not feel too long (heavy on details or minutiae) or too short (missing vital plot points).
Just as a domino can fall over if a single piece is moved, so can a story. If a single scene does not logically connect to the one that came before it, or if an emotional beat is missed, the reader may lose interest in the story.
Like a domino, a story should also have enough momentum to carry the reader to the final climax. However, a story that is too long or bogged down by too much exposition can be cumbersome and difficult to read.
In both real life and in fiction, there is something mesmerizing about the effect of a domino: one small movement knocks over everything else in its path. It is the same effect that drives a lot of us to spend hours building and stacking dominoes. The thrill of seeing that last little domino fall is why so many people enjoy this pastime.
While we usually think of dominoes as a game, scientists have discovered that they have more practical applications than we might realize. In fact, University of British Columbia physicist Lorne Whitehead has shown that dominoes can actually knock over objects up to one and a half times their size.
Domino
Unlike other mutants, Domino’s ability to luck in dangerous situations is not a mystical power that she can control or use intentionally. Rather, it is an unconsciously triggered talent that she activates when her emotions get heightened and she places herself in danger. This has proven useful several times, such as when she caused lightning to strike two Prime Sentinels during Operation: Zero Tolerance or when she assassinated the terrorist Flagsmasher in Rumekistan. More recently, Domino has joined Cable in his search for the new Weapon X Program and its secret Neverland base. She and Jesse Aaronson fought the assassin Blockade, whom Cable vengefully wiped the mind of, but Dom was left with an implant that inhibited her powers. She and Aaronson worked together to disable the implant, which allowed her to rejoin X-Force.