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David B. Jacobs writes...

And NOW I realize that I already asked about Electro and the gene-cleanser! Silly me!
FORGIVE ME, ALMIGHTY GREG WEISMAN!!!!!

Greg responds...

Wow. Not only did you not check the archives to see if someone else had posted your question, you didn't even check your own memory to see if YOU had already posted the question?

And people wonder why it takes me so long to catch up on the question backlog.

But you're forgiven. <grumble, grumble>

Response recorded on November 19, 2009

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FAIR WARNING

ASK GREG's question-asking function will temporarily go off line at the end of November to allow me to catch up on the over 400 question backlog.


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BEIJMATE writes...

Do you know any other sites that are similar to Ask Greg such as an Ask Timm site with DCAU questions? Or any other site where you ask director questions?

Greg responds...

I don't, but that does not mean they don't exist. Hunt around, I guess.

Response recorded on October 16, 2009

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Noah Wotring writes...

Dude, Mr.weisman, I totally didn't read the archives and didn't realize how many people asked about season 3 of TSSM, totally sorry. But I was wondering how frustrating it is to deal with idiot fans like me on a daily basis?

Greg responds...

Semi...

Response recorded on October 02, 2009

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LOL writes...

hey dude how come you have to take all this "WILL THERE BE A THIRD SEASON?! WILL X THING OR Y CHARACTER BE IN IT?!" crap. i mean seriously. this is GARGOYLES. SPIDER-MAN has no place here. if i were you i'd just put on the front page to stop asking spiderman questions especially about future seasons and characters. this is for GARGOYLES only and frankly i'm sick of them burning you out with questions unrelated to GARGOYLES. so please dude, do yourself a favor and stop answering spiderman questions. thanks and you rock.

Greg responds...

This site is for people who want to ask me questions. The Spectacular Spider-Man is a perfectly legitimate thing to ask me about. I love the show and I'm happy to discuss it. I'll admit some of the questions have gotten repetitive, but that's certainly been true of Gargoyles as well, so I'm not going to rule out questions on Spidey on THAT basis.

Frankly, your heart may have been in the right place, but it's fairly presumptuous of you to declare what is and isn't a legit topic here.

Response recorded on September 17, 2009

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clyde writes...

Hey Greg! Earlier I've asked you if you hate Carnage. You didn't answer my question yet and you don't have to because I heard that rumor was fake. I'm sorry for not checking if my question was answered. So don't when you get my questions, don't answer question #2 but answer all the other questions left. Thanks and I hope this message reaches you before you answer my questions.

Greg responds...

There's no way a LATER post would reach me before the earlier post. That's just not how ASK GREG works.

Response recorded on July 31, 2009

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Joe writes...

this is kinda weird question but when you answer "No comment" is it like "Oh my god, the question is so stupid" (because I've seen some pretty dumb being asked) or "No comment because if I answer I might spoil something"?

Greg responds...

I'm not particularly consistent in my evasions.

Response recorded on July 08, 2009

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Wendy Self writes...

To whom it may concern,

My name is Wendy Self and i am a Second Year Student of Animation and Design at the University of Sunderland, UK. I am currently preparing the research for my dissertation, which i want to base on violence and censorship in children's animation. I was keen on looking at how both aspects are applied to 'message' episodes and mature themed story lines.
I was hoping that i would be able to ask Mr Weisman some questions on the writing and content of the Gargoyles series as it is one of the main examples that i am using for mature writing and intelligent subject matter in a children’s TV show.

I understand that this is probably an unusual request but I would greatly appreciate any help you could offer. However I do realise that Mr Weisman is busy with his own work so if it is inconvenient for me to speak to him directly then I fully understand.
My university contact is wendy.self@sunderland.ac.uk

Thank you very much for looking at my question and I hope to hear back from you soon.
Sincerely,
Wendy Self

Greg responds...

You couldn't post your questions here?

Response recorded on July 07, 2009

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ASK GREG is back, MARCH 23, 2009.

Ask Greg will once again open for question submission on March 23, 2009, which is coincidentally the date of The Spectacular Spider-Man's premiere on DisneyXD. (Okay, so maybe it's not exactly a coincidence.)

I would ask -- even beg -- that you carefully read the submission guidelines before posting here. In particular, PLEASE check the archives and the questions-already-asked sections before posting a question that's already been asked and/or asked AND answered. Try to avoid FLOODING Ask Greg, as it will only serve to slow down my ability to respond in a timely fashion. As always, comments are encouraged and appreciated... on Spidey or Gargs or whatever.

Thanks in advance...


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Alberto Loera writes...

I just heard that Season 2 Volume 2 was now listed on Amazon.com, I checked and sure enough it was there. Has Disney contacted you about this or asked you to participate in any way? I really hope this pans out and gets released.

Greg responds...

Guys... please check to make sure the question your posting wasn't JUST posted.

Response recorded on July 30, 2008

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UNSOLICITED SUBMISSION

To the person who sent Gargoyle story ideas to my house...

1. Okay, first, I don't know how the hell you got my home address, but I'll say it was VERY disconcerting to be receiving unsolicited materials there. Please do NOT do this again. I ask everyone NOT to search out my personal information. I don't post them for a reason. I know in this day and age it's not that hard to find, but why look? Just to creep me out and make me regret being as open as I am with fans?

2. As soon as I realized what I had in my hand, I put it through the shredder without reading it. This is nothing personal. I do NOT read fanfiction or look at original ideas based on Gargoyles or any other properties I may be involved in. I have my own ideas -- tons of them; I don't need yours. But the main reason is to protect myself from lawsuits. You send me an idea. I don't use it, don' t even read it, but later something similar appears in the comic and you think I've ripped you off and you sue. The ONLY protection I can have against something like that is to have a BLANKET policy NEVER to read this stuff. As long as EVERYONE knows I NEVER read this stuff, if it came to court, I have some measure of safety.

So please, for both the above reasons, DO NOT DO THIS AGAIN!! And for anyone else considering this approach -- and/or thinking I've just given them a great idea... CONSIDER AND THINK AGAIN!! Obey the ASK GREG rules and please keep the correspondence ON ASK GREG where it belongs.

Thank you,

GREG


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Man Mountain writes...

Hey Greg. First I want to say I love the comic, the artwork, and the story so far and hope it continues on and on. Second, same goes for Spiderman! You are hitting everything that IS Spiderman while still making it your own. Finally to my question, I don't know if you have any comments (or time), but could you comment on your Spiderman episodes as you do for Gargoyles? I always love behind the scenes insights. As always, thanks for your time and effort.

Greg responds...

I think it's too soon to be doing full rambles on Spidey. You (or at least I) need a bit of distance, hindsight, to make the rambles worthwhile. Also, I don't want to be dropping tons of spoilers, and I don't want to inhibit myself either. And time IS another factor. I still need to do two or three Gargoyles rambles. And I'm just swamped. But someday.

Response recorded on April 18, 2008

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Todd Jensen writes...

I noticed that you're nearing the end of the "This Day in Gargoyles Universe History" feature; you began (according to the archives) on April 7 last year, and it's March 21 now. So there's less than three weeks left until it comes to an end.

I'll miss it. I enjoyed that feature, especially your inclusion of real-world history connected to events in "Gargoyles" (such as the lives and deaths of various people in 11th century England such as Canute, Edward the Confessor, and Harold Godwinson, the Parisian catacombs, and the Kennedy assassination). And it even introduced new information that often got our attention (Gruoch's suicide, for example, or Quincy Hemings getting his present job just one day after the Kennedy assassination - you just know that's going to encourage the conspiracy theories!).

At least we have the whole year's cycle now (or will, in another eighteen days). I'd like to thank you for this feature at "Ask Greg".

Greg responds...

You're welcome. It's been fun. We'll take a rest from it for a few years, and then maybe revisit the feature.

Response recorded on April 16, 2008

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Aldrius writes...

Okay, there's my spider-man ramble. Now here's a question about Gargoyles.

One character who always intrigued me was Desdemona. Great design (I love her wings) and great voice. (The regal, but very tough tone of CCH Pounder was great.) But one thing that always bothered me was... well... she always just kinda struck me as a more moral Coldstone. She was well written, and she obviously served her purpose in the storyline, but to me, it was almost as if she wasn't meeting her potential. Often being stuck in Coldstone's head in the few episodes she was in. Which brings me to my question.

Now that Coldfire is free of Coldstone's brain, will we begin to see her in other arenas? Possibly interacting with other characters outside of her three brothers?

And as a side-question, would you mind if I posted some rambles on old episodes of Gargoyles or has that ship sailed?

Greg responds...

You can always post rambles, assuming the posting function's open at all. As for Coldfire, give me enough issues and I'll get to everything eventually.

Response recorded on March 10, 2008

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DarkAngel writes...

Sorry about the typing mistakes, I wanted to know if you liked some of the other ideas people had in their fanfics on how Elisa and Goliath eventually get together.

Greg responds...

See my previous answer...

Response recorded on February 07, 2008

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DarkAngel writes...

Hey Greg this is my first time asking a question so forgive me if it's a repeat. I have always wanted to know what you thought about elisa and goliath fanfics, have ever liked some of other people's ideas on how goliath and elisa eventually get together?

Greg responds...

I don't ever read fanfics. To find out why, check out the ASK GREG FAQ. (Because, indeed, your question has been asked many times before.)

Response recorded on February 07, 2008

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Battle Beast writes...

Greg;

For one thing, I have TWO copies of Each Issue and the Trade Paperback, plus I am doing my part to sell DVDs. I buy them for Presents when ever I can, and I spread the word. I am doing my part.

But I wanted to thank you for all of your hard work the last two years! Thank you! ^_^

Anyway, I was wondering if you read the comments in the comment room or you try to avoid it (so you don't get too many original ideas.)

You must have received 10,000 questions from fans... has it been hard to keep your own ideas for future issues, or have fan questions influenced your own ideas, even though they are kept "NO original idea-ish"?

Just currious!

Greg responds...

I stop by the comment room occasionally, but now that Ask Greg is open more frequently, I tend to rely on this forum for fan contact.

Have I been influenced by fan questions? Well, Todd and I are very careful to purge original ideas from this space, but I suppose questions themselves indicate interest in a certain topic, and perhaps that's influenced me a tad. But frankly, I've had these stories percolating for so long now, many of them are pretty darn clear in my head already and have been for some time.

Response recorded on January 31, 2008

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Anonymous writes...

You might say I'm a little obsessive with this website because of my interest in Gargoyles. I read a lot of other peoples questions in "Unanswered Questions" and then keep a watch to see when you answer them in "Latest Responses". I noticed that sometimes questions submitted in "Unanswered Questions" will be removed from the web site altogether without even a "not saying at this time" response from you. I figure these questions are removed because they don't follow the guidelines you made for the website. I figure its got to be really annoying when someone submits something you don't think is appropriate to answer and have to remove it from the website. Do you feel irritated when it happens?

Greg responds...

Usually our terrific moderator Todd Jensen catches rulebreakers before they even get to me, but every once in a while someone slips past, and I have to delete the question. It's not fun, but it's no big deal either.

Response recorded on January 16, 2008

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letica writes...

what is tis siteabout

Greg responds...

Gargoyles, mostly.

Response recorded on January 10, 2008

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Valintino writes...

Hello, Your site is great. Regards, Valintino Guxxi

Greg responds...

Thanks. It's really Gorebash's site of course. I'm just a squatter.

Response recorded on June 06, 2007

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Matt writes...

Hey Greg,

First off, I wanted to say thank you for publishing my Issue #2 review in "Etched In Stone". It was really a great surprise for me and I feel very honored and lucky to have ended up there.

I know you have been dissapointed that few people have written into the comic, but I think the reason is pretty obvious. Why write to the comic with little hope of getting an answer when you can write to "Ask Greg" and be guaranteed an answer of some sort? We are all big fans of the series and the comics, but I think most of us have gotten too used to this format for giving you feedback, asking questions, etc. "Etched in Stone" is great for announcements that the more hardcore fans may not be aware of, and I think you are using it well in that capacity, but, I dunno what it's place can be after all these years of Ask Greg.

But I'm glad I found my way on to the page anyway. Made my day.

Also, I wanted to say that I've really been enjoying your "This day in Gargoyles's Universe history" posts. It's nice to fill in some blanks of things that are unlikely to ever show up in future episodes. I did wonder, however, if there was any event that took place on May 11th. That day is my birthday and I was totally busy with birthday plans so I couldn't drive up to Chicago to see you (though I considered cancelling plans to do so). And because you were gone, no post was made about the day. So, I was wondering if anything happened on that day that you'd like to share.

If not, that's cool. I feel like I've been a spoiled Gargoyles fan already this week.

Thanks again for everything, Greg. I'll see you at the Gathering.

-Matt

Greg responds...

All days in May that I had something for were covered. Sorry.

Response recorded on June 01, 2007

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Anonymous writes...

What years were Titania and Oberon's children (with each other) born?

Greg responds...

I'm not answering that at this time.

Also, it may be an immature prejudice, but I'm always going to be less likely to reveal things to an "Anonymous" poster. I know that makes little sense, as I don't know the identities of most screen names, and anyone can post any name with near impugnity anyway... and yet...

Response recorded on May 14, 2007

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Laura 'ad astra' Sack writes...

Adendum-
I love the "you did check the archives?" pop up.

Greg responds...

I'll take your word on that...

Response recorded on May 08, 2007

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Gabriel writes...

Hey Greg
Congrats on getting caught up with the que (at least for the moment).

Picked up Issues 2 and 3 today. (almost missed them, as Golden Apple had them in the Kids section while I was expecting them to be in the Alterntaive section, but I found them, so all is well).

Anyway I love the image on the last page! I'm hoping for a few rockin' panels of Talon vs. Thailog in issue 4, seeing as how they are 2 of my favorite characters, both visually and psychologicaly.
There were quite a few references to series history, most I caught, but for a few I had to really dredge though my memory (and the ask greg archives) to get them, since I haven't seen any of the second half of season 2 since it aired. (and yes I am spreading the word about both the comic and the DVD's that are out in the continuing hope that the sales numbers will reach the levels BVHV requires for that last set to be released.)

I love the Illuminati machinations that you're setting up. I always enjoy "wheels within wheels".

Okay here's a question since this is "Ask Greg":
Are the comic sales numbers reaching levels that will ensure production beyond the "Clan Building" arc? The greenlight for "Bad Guys" makes me think that numbers are doing good, but I don't want to take anything for granted. Especially after many of us blindly assumed we'd get Season 2 vol. 2.

One final note- You've had a rather expensive influence on my DVD impulse buying habits. I picked up Ben 10 season 1 on DVD having seen none of the show, solely on your recomendation at the Gathering last year. Totally worth it, by the way. I also picked up Gummi Bears Vol. 1, but that was an equal part personal nostalgia as much as that series influence on you for Gargoyles.

Anyway keep up the good work, looking forward to future issues of Gargoyles.

Oh also congrats on the Spider-Man gig, I'm totally stoked for that series! (Are you gonna set up a place to ask you about that series so we don't bog down this site with non-Garg questions? like that one :) )

Ciao,
Gabriel

Greg responds...

I know I'm not totally caught up (again), but I don't feel too bad about it now. 65 messages, only a few weeks behind. We're at least in the ballpark. But managing one ASK GREG site is plenty. So Spider-Questions'll have to come here as well.

I don't know how we're doing sales-wise, to be honest. I think the phrase "don't take anything for granted" is wise. I don't think we're in any immediate danger of cancellation, but it seems to me that this is a business of fairly thin margins.

Response recorded on April 23, 2007

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DONE... for now...

Wow. They said it couldn't be done! But I did it! I caught up!!!!!

The ASK GREG queue is empty! I'm going to take a week or so off. Then we will open the queue again in time for the release of issue #3 of the Gargoyles comic book on March 28th. How long we leave it open will depend on how quickly the site floods.

I'll talk about this more when we open, but please question responsibly.


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Phoenician writes...

So here I am with my first Post since getting the first comic, Clan Building, Chapter I. After several months, I now have Chapter II: The Journey, and I'm happy to see the regardless the wait, the story continues!!

I love this part of "The Journey" probably for its great lines, particularly Goliath's "Honestly, I was never quite sure," when talking about Vinnie and Macbeth's "Madam, they BURNED witches like you in the Middle Ages!!" (I can still here John Rhys-Davies' outburst quite clear even though I haven't seen that episode on TV in a good year. If Season II: Volume II ever comes out on DVD, I'd love that episode to be a bonus feature . . . just to hear that outburst.

Great to see Margot Yale again as well!

I also love the little treats that you've included in the issue, particularly Xanatos & Owen's conversation about Mr. Duval. LOVE Xanatos' reply to Owen, and I LOVE how Owen takes it in stride -- can't wait to see him turn into Puck one day, should he get the chance to teach Alex another lesson!

And I've mentioned this in the Comment Room, but I love how Hudson had the subtle honor of "turning on" Chapter II and then he also gets to "turned it off" as well. Still feels like a TV show twelve years later!!

That's basically it, Greg. I can't wait for Chapter III and I also can't wait for the destined release of Season II: Volume II (We've got this far, its not going to end now!)

Cross your fingers that I'll have been able to go to a Gathering by the time you read this!

Greg responds...

All right, let's start with this: WHOAH! I'm now only three months behind here at ASK GREG! I wonder what's the furthest behind I've ever been?

Anyway...

That bit with Hudson was one of the reasons I was so disappointed with the Goliath Chronicles edit of "The Journey". They reordered scenes so that Hudson turning off the set did not come last, destroying the bookend of the show. Plus that awful naration.... ugh.

As you may know, the long awaited Gargoyles #3 is coming out this month: March 28th, 2007, to be specific. I'm nervous and psyched to finally have a brand new canon story about to hit the stores. Hope you like it! And I hope I do see you in Pigeon Forge!

Response recorded on March 09, 2007

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Makhasu writes...

Have you changed any of your original plans for future plots recently? Are there any answers you've given on Ask Greg that are no longer correct?

Greg responds...

I'm sure there are a ton of answers that are no longer correct. Heck, I'm sure that there were a few answers that were incorrect back when I first typed them.

I have made a conscious decision not to change anything "revealed" at ASK GREG, simply because I've revealed it already. If I still like the idea and it still feels right and makes sense for the characters and I haven't thought of a better notion then I'll just use what I have and live with the fact that the fans won't be surprised by anything (except perhaps how the idea is executed).

But having said that, I have always maintained that nothing is truly canon unless it appears in an official "episode" which at this point for me includes the 65 tv eps of the first two seasons of the show and the two issues of the SLG published comic. (Soon to be first three issues.) I also feel pretty secure about events in issues 4-7, which are all fully scripted. I don't anticipate anything changing them, but until they hit the stands, they are NOT canon. Call them canon-waiting-in-the wings. Whereas ASK GREG material is canon-in-training at best.

Response recorded on February 25, 2007

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Russell writes...

I know this isn't exactly the right place for this, and I've read your "guidelines" for these questions, but I'm a writer and I'd like to meet with you to discuss some ideas I had for a potential Gargoyles movie. Please get back to me with the pertinent contact information. My e-mail address is pantheon17@yahoo.com.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Russell

*** Site Admin -- PLEASE forward this on to Mr. Weisman. Thank you. ***

Greg responds...

You've read the guidelines... and ignored them.

<sigh>

Look the guidelines are there for a reason, and they apply to everyone.

And I don't take pitches (or read fanfiction) on ANYTHING Gargoyles related, because -- as it clearly states in the guidelines -- I have my own ideas, and I hope to make those ideas a reality someday, and I don't want to risk getting sued.

So (a) I don't contact anyone personally by e-mail through this site, because if I did it for one, I'd have to do it for all, and where would it end? And (b) why would I reward you for breaking the rules?

Response recorded on December 07, 2006

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HurleyBurleysDone writes...

Mr. Weisman,

I have noticed talk of possible ideas for the return of gargoyles, and i was just wondering if this is the site where we could find out first if one of the ideas have been approved for continuing the story of gargoels? Thanks.

Greg responds...

This is a good site for that. I've never been shy about using it to promote my stuff -- especially GARGOYLES.

And you have picked up the Gargoyles comic book, right?

And both DVD sets, right?

And you've made plans to attend the Gathering, right?

See. It works.

Response recorded on September 21, 2006

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Patricia Lovelady writes...

While utilizing the nifty SEARCH function, I decided to look up responses for "the whisper". I came up with this:

Question received on Mon, August 07, 2000 03:01:14 AM
Vasy writes...
1.What did titania whisper into fox's ear at he end of the gathering part2

Greg responds...
1. Do you think they'll be wondering about this in Ask Greg four years from now?
Response recorded on August 23, 2000

And given the most recent Q&A on that subject was recently posted.... 4+ years after that Q&A was done.... I think your answer holds true.. heh :) We were still wondering that in Ask Greg.. in 2004 :)

The fandom that you didn't anticipate has bugged you about something that you didn't think you would have been bugged about.

Keep it up, it's fun being confused, etc. :D

Greg responds...

My pleasure. (Most of the time.)

Response recorded on September 12, 2006

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CHRONOLOGY REVISED

CHRONOLOGY REVISED

In the wake of completing the script to issue #3 of the comic book, I decided to take a careful look at my Gargoyles Timeline.

I wound up doing a whole new draft of the document. (It's now 249 pages long.) I actually incorporated some corrections suggested here at ASK GREG by folks like Aris and Matt and Todd and Kathy. Aris, as a few of you may recall, pointed out an error in my math, that shifted Angela's hatching back to 1058 from 1078. So I fixed that.

Other things have changed as well. BUT NOTHING CANON HAS CHANGED, i.e. nothing has changed from the first 65 episodes of the T.V. series or the first issue of the comic (or the second or third either, frankly -- though you guys haven't seen them yet). Even "The Last" (Team Atlantis episode featuring Demona and on view at Gatherings) is still holding its own. And I didn't change anything just for the sake of changing things -- not even to surprise you despite the spoilers I've already given out.

But some things have changed. So old info currently in the Archives at Ask Greg may or may not be dead on accurate now. But I think the biggest change is that 1058 thing. So nothing too major, change-wise. Lots of new stuff added. Hopefully fun stuff.

Just thought I should let you know.


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Gorebash writes...

8th Annual Gathering of the Gargoyles
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
August 6-8, 2004

My con journal. It's long (winded).

Thursday, August 5, 2004 (Abridged)

Driving from just south of Boston, MA to Montreal, Quebec. Left home around 6:30am. Picked up Vashkoda and her friend Sean (we met at the 2003 con) in the Bronx on my way. Didn't take the I-80 exit in Albany and went 200 miles west through New York before we figured out the error. Drove 200 miles east. Got back on I-80 and headed north torwards Montreal. Got in around midnight.

Friday, August 6, 2004

Vashkoda, Sean and I had breakfast in the hotel restaurant. We then headed over to the registration desk to pickup our badges and materials. We had a couple hours before the first session of the day, so we went in search of a universal remote.

Sean had brought his Playstation 2 with him in hopes of hooking it up to the TV in our room. However the hotel took every step they could to not allow hooking up external devices to the TV. We figured if we got a universal remote, we could then change over to the line input on the TV and bypass the hotel's attempt to stop such things.

Next door to the hotel was a Staples... or whatever it was they called Staples in Canada. No remotes, although I did pick up a silver Sharpie in hopes of getting Keith David to sign an issue of the Gargoyles comic book I had brought along.

We then headed west from the hotel trying to locate a Radio Shack a clerk at the Staples had said was nearby. We didn't find anything and turned around. As we passed under a bridge on the way back I was molested by one of the local fowl, deciding to use my shoulder as a convenient perch. Vash rescued me from the vile creature, and on we went.

Crosswalks in Montreal are much different than anything I was use to. For starters, you didn't have to push a button to get the lights to go red so we could cross. Seems Montreal has a thing for one-way streets, which allows a person to cross on any red light perpendicular to the direction you're crossing. They even provide a little counter on some corners to tell you how much time you have to cross. Very handy.

We then went east from the hotel to check out what was over on the other side. During our trip we found a Subway and a pasta shop, so food wasn't going to be an issue. Vash is big on pasta and so we planned to return later for dinner.

We got back to the hotel in time for our first session of the day. Greg was hosting a session on voice acting, partly in preparation for the radio play auditions that would follow. On our way in I ran into Greg and said hi. At the 2003 con I missed this session because I arrived Friday evening. Now I would finally get to attend the session.

Keith David was suppose to co-host the session, but we learned he had been delayed while shooting for the new film "Transporter 2" in Miami. No worries.

A little ways into the session the DVD film crew showed up. I tried to take it in stride, but was incredibly excited. The presence of the film crew showed that, yes, there really was going to be a DVD, and yes they really are going to do a documentary on the con. Of course we knew this ahead of time, but seeing the crew there in person cemented the reality of it all.

After some stories and a few pointers, Greg had people get up and read from some scripts he had with him. I got in on the last one. After the session ended, auditions for the radio play began. A bunch of us lined up outside of the room while Greg and Crzy Jen set things up. Like last year (and previous cons) four packets were given to the first four people in line. Each packet had a page of dialogged for a single character. As we moved forward in line and copy a copy of this packet, we would have to pick a character to read for when we auditioned for Greg.

With the packet also came a piece of paper where you had to fill out your info and if you could do a certain accent or bark or meow. The bottom half of that paper was for Greg to fill out during the audition. It included spaces to mark how well you performed based on various criteria. It also included a list of all the parts using 2-letter abbreviations to obfuscate which parts were which. It's a fun puzzle to look at those 2-letter abbreviations, try to identify which represent what characters, and figure out what the radio play will be. (Greg keeps the radio play content a secret until the show.)

I saw Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 listed amongst the parts and instantly put together that these had to be quarrymen parts. Since the only episode Greg wrote that had Quarrymen in it was "The Journey" I guessed we'd be doing a version of "The Journey". Vash was able to identify far more characters based on the 2-letter abbreviations than I and helped confirm my hunch when she figured out that JC was John Castaway and VG was Vinnie Grigori, aka Vinnie from the episode "Vendettas". Both characters are in "The Journey" so at that point we felt that we had a pretty good guess.

Last year I had auditioned with Xanatos' dialogged, which I had picked at the last minute with no chance to review it to get a feel for the lines. This year I'd have time to prepare. I finally settled on Lexington's lines just as the DVD crew came over and asked if they could film us rehearsing for the audition. I think everyone was a little apprehensive and/or insecure about performing for the cameras, but a couple people mustered up the guts to do it. One of whom had read Lex's lines. Then all eyes were on me to perform for the camera too. WTF? Okay. For whatever reason, I didn't feel I could do Lex's lines since they already had that on tape now. So I switched over to Broadway and read for the camera.

Finally it came time for my turn to audition. I'd get away from the film crew and not have to worry about being on camera. Nope. The film crew followed me into the room to tape my audition. Swell. But I could focus on the script and ignore what was around me, which I did. I thought I did well enough to have a decent chance at getting a part which didn't involve just grunting (as was the case last year).

After my audition I waited around with Vash and Sean while IRC Goliath did his thing. Vash and Sean didn't seem to be into auditioning for the radio play, but there were something like 31 parts, the most for any radio play performed at a Gathering thus far. Several others there as well as myself tried to convince them to audition, but it wasn't happening.

Sean wanted Internet access and rumor had it that the hotel had a couple floors of newly-renovated "premier" rooms that would cost us about 25 bucks more a night, but had Internet access. So we talked to the people at the front desk and got our room upgraded. We were now on the 22nd floor and had a great view looking west from the hotel.

At the Opening Ceremonies, Karine got up and welcomed us to the con and introduced the staff. This year's staff put on a great con, I haven't heard one bad thing. Keeping 200 guests happy is certainly not an easy job. Thanks guys!

CrzyD presented me with this years fan guest of honor award. I had no clue this was coming until about halfway through her intro, she mentioned chat rooms and Vash nudged me. It was really cool, but I feel there are a large number of people who've done a lot more for the fandom than myself, and so I felt a bit awkward. I tried to somewhat convey that in a little piece I said after getting the award. I was trying to acknowledge that s8's 'success' is wholly due to Ask Greg and the content Greg provides to this fandom. It's his willingness to share new insight and information on the Gargoyles universe that keeps the spark alive. And of COURSE it's also everyone who visits the site, who posts to the comment room, who hit the chat room, who post questions to Ask Greg. It's the fans willingness to contribute content, THAT's the other half. I totally missed this while I was at the podium, and realized about 10 seconds after sitting down what an idiot I was. It's Greg and the fans, contributing and feeding off of each other, THAT's why s8 exists in the form it does.

But it was still cool to get the award.

Opening ceremonies got taken over by the clan olympics. The first event was your basic stuff-balls-down-shirt-with-holes sort of thing. The losing team would be eliminated. However a special "7-up" ball (I think... or it may have been a different "power-up" ball) that was found by one team could have been used to save the losing team from elimination. That wasn't happening. Very cold.

I juggled for the cameras.

Chris Rogers got up and talked about what was in store for Gathering 2005. This may have happened after Greg did his stuff because Siryn talked about working on the mascot picture during the Team Atlantis episode... but I'm getting ahead of myself. Gathering 2005 will be in Las Vegas as the Palace Station hotel and casino. Rooms will cost $89 a night. The mascot was created by Siryn with the suggestion of "What would Frank Sinatra look like as a gargoyle?". She calls him "blue eyes" but Chris planned to have a naming contest for the mascot. He also talked about registering the Gathering as a certain type of organization in which membership dues (gathering registration) would be tax-deductible. I'm sure we'll get more info on that in the coming months.

Onto the main course. Greg was about to get up so I grabbed a clean tape and tossed it into the video camera I had just bought, specifically so I could tape the events of the con.

Greg Weisman, creator of Gargoyles, gets up to the podium and begins his intro. He then cuts short and yells out "Ladies and gentlemen, Keith David", directing everybody to the back of the room. Everybody turned and ... Keith wasn't there. A sweet callback to the 1997 Gathering where he pulled the same stunt.

Greg played an audio tape of some people who worked on Gargoyles saying hi to the fans. The people on tape were Frank Paur (producer), Keith David (voice of Goliath), Bob Kline (director), Dave Schwartz (storyboard artist), Troy Adomitis (storyboard artist), Vic Cook (storyboard artist), Ed Asner (voice of Hudson), and Crispin Freeman (voice actor for various animated series). A big thanks to Carol Wagner who was responsible for going around and getting these guys on tape. It was a real treat.

Greg gave us the news on the DVD. He announced the release date, December 7, and that the 5-part "Awakening" would have a commentary track that included Greg, Keith David, and Frank Paur. It would also include a (15 minute?) documentary on the Gathering con, which is why the film crew was there. There will be advertising for the release on Toon Disney and ABC Family.

Greg went into the standard material at this point. The pitch. The re-pitch(es). The promotions leading up to the show. The "it's better than Barney" story. The video pitches for "New Olympians" and "Dark Ages" as well as the lieca reel for "Bad Guys". Anyone whose attended at least one Gathering is well acquainted with this material, but it's always fun to hear the stories again. It's part tradition, part pre-history story telling, and I always enjoy it.

Greg played the voice track for an episode of "Team Atlantis" called "The Last" in which Demona and one of the hunters make an appearance. "Team Atlantis" was based on the movie "Atlantis" but was canceled after "Atlantis" had disappointedly (to Disney) box office numbers. But not before a few episodes were recorded! It was a nice inside-look at the animation process, and especially nice to hear that the grunts and groans we've had to do during past radio plays sound just as funny when done by the professionals.

After Penning Ceremonies, Vash, Sean, IRC Goliath, Wingless, Dan and I headed out to that pasta place we'd found earlier for dinner. On the way I found an ATM machine that was on a network that my ATM card could use and snagged my first bit of Canadian cash. Crazy stuff, especially with the shiny holograms in the corners of the their $20 bills.

The pasta place was really sweet. You picked your choice of pasta from a list of about 20 or so and then picked your sauce from a list of maybe 35 or so. The chef would put the meal together and cook it right in front of you. This night I had angel hair pasta with the Orleans sauce, which was basically chicken in some sort of cajun sauce. The guy gave me a dumbfounded stare at how I pronounced Orleans. Vash, who speaks French very well, would later tell me that it's pronounced a little like "Or-lee-oh" in French. Whups.

After dinner we headed headed back to the room to chill for a little bit until Greg's blue mug-a-guest at 11pm. The mug-a-guest was pretty tame, although some curious screen caps from a couple episodes of Gargoyles were making the rounds. A question about Angela and Gabriel came up but Greg said the two had more of a brother/sister relationship than anything else. Some fun with tails. But for the most part, it was more regular mug-a-guest with lots of stories about the development of the show.

After the mug-a-guest I crawled back into bed and fell asleep quickly.

Saturday, August 7, 2004

I didn't have any plans until the 12:30 Greg Weisman mug-a-guest. Vash and Sean, at some point, took off to attend the radio play auditions that were happening earlier that morning. Vash had finally broken down and auditioned. I met her and Sean during auditions and we three decided to take off in search of an electronics store. Sean was still looking to find a universal remote for the TV in the hotel room.

We set out into Montreal and soon found a computer hardware store. We browsed for a bit and eventually asked one of the clerks if they knew where the nearest Radio Shack was. We were finally pointed in the right direction and made our way to a nearby underground plaza.

Underground?! Apparently this is common in Montreal. You'll walk into the lobby of some nearby building (in our case, the Royal Bank of Canada I think it was) and you'll find stairs or an escalator, off in one corner of the lobby, leading down into the underground mall. If there are signs that mark where these entrances are, I didn't see them.

In the underground mall we found a bunch of shops typical to any US mall I'd been to, including the elusive Radio Shack. Sean bought his remote and I grabbed some lunch at a Subway. On the way back Vash stopped at a McDonalds with a mad craving for fries.

We were back at the hotel in time for Greg's mug-a-guest.

At these types of events, the mug-a-guests, I usually have nothing that I feel is relevant to ask. I much prefer to take the more passive role of sitting back and enjoying the stories that Greg has to tell. But while I was rattling around potential questions in my head, a conversation Vash and I had on the drive up popped into mind.

We had been talking about the Gargoyles:2198 spin-off. I'm mostly interested in the LXMs which I see as having huge potential, both in their concept, and in their use as a plot device. In a pre-Space Spawn world, I see them serving very good purposes and serving very dark purposes. I see a parallel between the LXMs and distributed computing, with all the pros and cons that come with DC. It would come down the intentions of the person who controlled the LXMs. It also rattles the brain a bit to figure out just what the nature of the Lex/Xanatos relationship is or was.

But, more to the point, Vash brings up Nick Maza. Where does he come from? Elisa and Goliath are a couple, and they can't have kids, so who else is there? Beth Maza? I spent the trip up with the notion it could have only been a descendant of Beth Maza. Derek's a mutant. Elisa's parents, we might assume, have no other kids, and we have yet to hear of any cousins to Elisa, Beth & Derek. So I figured it had to be one of the three, and Beth was the only one "available" to have kids. The kink in that idea is that if Beth were to marry, traditionally, she'd take her husband's last name, and so would any kids. So how does Nick get the Maza name?

Then at the blue mug-a-guest, someone had brought up E&G having kids. Vash had brought up in the car that Greg had said (at some point) that E&G would probably adopt a kid, but that the adoption, or the relationship, or something relating to that kid would have sadness and serendipity.. or something like that.

Anyways, Greg responds to the E&G kids question by bringing up the adoption angle, and his response seemed pretty cemented in the idea that E&G would definitely adopt. So as I'm sitting at the Saturday mug-a-guest with Greg, I start putting 2 and 2 together. If E&G adopt, what is that kid's last name going to be? Goliath doesn't have one (...well, not in the sense that I'm talking about). Would the kid take Elisa's last name? How would the general public react to news that she and Goliath had adopted a kid? Some sticky points.

What if the kid takes Elisa's last name? Now we've got a way for the Maza name to carry down a few generations to G2198. So I started working out on a way I could ask this to Greg without being direct. It seems that approach sometimes works better at getting an answer out of Greg than just being direct.

Just as I was putting it together, Carol Wagner came over and let me know that the Gargoyles DVD crew were interviewing fans and that I should probably go see those guys within the next half-hour or so.

But before I left, I asked my question. Does G2198's Nick Maza have an ancestor, born around this time (2004 +/- 5 years) who is adopted? Greg thought about it for a moment and said yes. HAH! Vash was there with me and I think we were the only two who realized what Greg had just revealed. With that I stood up and took off to see the DVD crew. Perhaps a bit too dramatically, but I just had my big moment for the day, so I was buzzing.

In the ballroom where Opening Ceremonies were held, the DVD crew had setup a white screen which they were interviewing fans in front of. I arrived in time to see one guy (whose name I'm blanking on, even after I had time to talk with him after the masquerade... DOH!) take of his shirt and reveal the Demona tattoo across his chest. Those of us watching all bet that that particular moment will be making it on the DVD.

A couple more people went up for interviews, including Becca Morgan. The DVD guys started talking about breaking for lunch, but were able to get me in before the took off. There wasn't anything big about the interview. Just typical questions that they seemed to ask all the fans. I'm guessing they'll have a quick montage of responses to their "Who is your favorite gargoyle?" question. I said Broadway, and when asked why, quoted Broadway's "slow and steady" mantra. But I doubt that'll make it on the DVD as I stumbled across the words.

They needed a separate "Who's your favorite bad guy?" so I could go off on Fang and how much I love that character. Jim Belushi's delivery, and Fang's great one-liners combine to make some of the most memorable moments in any Gargoyles episode. (Probably overshadowed by only the "Here's Puck" scene from "The Mirror").

So after the DVD bit, I headed back up to catch the tail end of Greg's mug-a-guest. I was feeling overly-confident in my earlier success that I tried to get Greg to answer whether or not Fox is alive in G2198. I did so by asking if Alexander Xanatos IV's mother is alive in 2198. AX IV is the same as baby Alex from the original series. Remember that Alex is 1/4th fae, and as such, has a different 'life cycle'. Fox is 1/2 fae. So if 1/4th fae can have an extended life, wouldn't 1/2 fae mean twice as long a life? (Assuming no unnatural causes in death.) Then it would make sense that she's alive in G2198, and Greg's lack of an answer makes me think that she is, but that she's in some kind of ... odd situation or position. Because I don't see why she wouldn't get involved in fighting the Space Spawn if she were alive, but we get no mention of her in the G2198 synopsis Greg's provided. So her role is either subdued or simply not there because of some other, unknown, factor.

And I think that Fox's position in G2198 somehow relates to what Titania whispered in Fox's ear somehow. But... theories aside...

Greg wouldn't answer my Fox question. So I was batting .500, which is better than I expected.

But in my own head, I think the answer is "Yes" followed by a very big "but".

And way back in the dark recesses of my mind, the alternate answer to "What did Titania whisper to Fox?" is something to do with Titania's past relationship with Xanatos.

But Greg's right. Leaving some things unanswered can be more fun.

So after the mug-a-guest came the radio play rehearsals. I was lucky enough to get selected for the radio play this year. While a group of us were waiting for Greg to show up I got to be the meat in a Siryn and CrzyD sammich. Very nice.

Jen later (post-con) showed me an old pic from the 98 con where I was also the meat in a S&C sammich. Of course I was in drag, Jen had body paint, and Siryn had a horn. At the rehearsals, Jen didn't have body paint, and Siryn had no horn.

Greg showed up and handed out scripts to everyone for "The Journey". My earlier hunch had been proven correct. I was given the part of Matt Bluestone. No grunts and growls for me, this year I had real words! Vash got the part of Maria Chavez and so we had a scene together.

We went through the script once with Greg providing feedback on our performances.

Then it was time for the show. Greg had been worried that with 31 parts, there'd be nobody left to attend the show itself, but we had a great turnout. Riverdale did a great Vinnie and easily stole the show. The guy who played John Castaway (was his name Eric?) nailed his performance of John Castway and the scenes between him and Riverdale as Vinnie, I thought, were some of the best we've had in any radio play.

After the radio play we headed back to the room to get ready for the banquet.

At the banquet there was still no sign of Keith David, although rumor had it that he was on his way and would make it in time for the masquerade. At our table was Vash, Sean, IRC Goliath, Silver and her mom. The banquet started off with a shrimp cocktail which only Sean ate. I inspected mine, but I'm not a big shrimp guy. But we did have some dinner rolls the rest of us filled up on them. We think one of the roll types served at our table had bits of olive in it. And we think those olives caused a green discoloration on the outside of the rolls. This is what we think. But we also think we may have had a small anti-biotics factory in our bread basket as well.

There was also a salad, which I'm told the hotel does not normally serve with the dressing that came with it. Apparently, while taste-testing things out, the con staff enjoyed the salad we had, but liked the dressing from another salad they had taste-tested. The hotel was willing to accommodate. Pretty cool.

The main course was quail, which was very tasty. During this time Keith David arrived! He was seated and the staff began to serve him his meal. Greg started moderating questions for Keith, who would answer between bites. Greg was also willing to take questions, but I think everyone was focused on Keith. I found Keith to be incredibly open, willing to share, and very very friendly. The guy could read names out of a phone book and I think we'd all still hang on his every word.

Dessert was either with "seasonal fruit charlotte strawberry coulis" or "three-chocolate Bavarian cake with raspberry coulis" depending on .. luck, really. I had the three-chocolate one and it was damn nice. Best dessert I've had in a long time.

All throughout dessert Keith David continued to take questions. In the ballroom next to ours there was another party going on, during which they broke out the karaoke machine. So while we were all trying to listen to Keith talk, we were subjected to some less-than-stellar karaoke performances, barely muffled by the partition between the two rooms. At one point Keith yelled out "Somebody kill that horse!", during (I think) somebody's rendition of that Celine Dion song from Titanic (and, holy crap, was it bad).

We got to hear the story about the origins of Jalapena, and how there was a mini-revolt among the production staff to stop Greg from using it, lead by Frank Paur (I believe). Keith gave the name of the singer he got "Jalapena!" from, but I've already forgotten it. I wish I'd brought my video camera with me to the banquet.

After the banquet we had a break while the room was cleared and prepared for the masquerade.

The ballroom's lights were dimmed for some reason (maybe at the DVD crew's request?) so what I was able to video tape came out particularly odd (in terms of light).

I grabbed a seat to the side of the area where the cosplayers would be performing. The judges for the masquerade were Greg, Keith, the hotel manager and his wife. The hotel manager seemed to get really into it. The manager's wife seemed like a deer in headlights.

During the first skit, I discovered I was in a crappy place to video tape from. All I was getting were peoples sides. So I moved around to the back of the ballroom and started taping from there. I was in a nice place as I was able to get people as the entered and stood on stage.

Loopy's costume of a character named Korul, and his performance done to his song "The Gargoyle Who's Afraid of Heights" stole the show. It was a great costume, with functional wings, and the performance was fun. Jade Griffin came in as Elisa in her yellow (Belle) dress from the episode "Eye of the Beholder" and wowed the crowd as she tore the skirt off (nice) much like Elisa in said episode. Flanker came in as the Hunter, complete with a sword (a fencing foil I think). There was a Fox/Xanatos couple where Xanatos carried Fox down to the stage area. Their costumes were also from "Eye of the Beholder" so Fox was in just a trench coat while X had his jet pack on. There was a classy looking Fox in a black evening dress played by Annie (I think). There was an Ophelia who I think showed up late and missed the judging portion. Patrick Toman was done up as Puck. Karine (con-chair) was done up as pregnant Fox from the episode "Walkabout". Karine, herself, is a few months pregnant. Siryn was dressed as young Tom (the only one in drag this year, I believe). There was a sweet Echidna costume, complete with snake tail and a snake-form of danglies (old school s8 chat ppl knows about danglies). Cindy was done up as Titania (who knew Titania could sing?!), a Princess Katherine, and a Macbeth and Gruoch. There were some original character costumes whose names are just absolutely escaping me. One was a nurse; there was a gargoyle lady who had these spring-loaded wings which were sweet, ... I'm easily missing at least 10 more people. Sorry, my memory is crap.

After the masquerade, things transitioned into a sort of karaoke/dance party. This is probably the part of the con I most enjoyed. I got to meet and talk with a ton of other fans, many of whom I've met only online before this night.

Keith David came back down and did a song for us acapella. He said during the banquet he's wanted to always do a movie about Nat King Cole, and he could! It was a great song to listen to, and very memorable moment, made all the more so by Arno getting grabassed while slow dancing with another guy during the whole thing. Oh, and that's on camera too. Nice.

One guy got up (is this Eric?... someone was named Eric, and it totally threw me off) and did a parody of "Blame Canada!" from the South Park movie called "Blame Gargoyles" which was hilarious.

MAui is crazy. At some point she convinces somebody to play YMCA and tries to get me up to dance. Feh! I don't dance, at least there aren't any videos to prove it, despite urban myths of a certain "goats go to hell" song. Anyways, I didn't know the words to the song (as people started singing along) nor did I have any clue what the 'dance' was. Batting .000, finally back to my normal average.

But I wasn't the only one. And very quickly, the lyrics we sang became "something" for every word besides the refrain. Ah, mass crazy. This is what the con is all about.

A lot of people stuck around well into evening. Just before I left, Greg went over to this giant sketch pad (if you can all it that) and drew a gargoyle in orange marker. Where this thing is now I'd love to know. I think it was his own misc. gargoyle, although it did look like Brooklyn, wearing a pair of sunglasses.

Finally exhausted from the day, I headed back to the room to sleep.

Sunday, August 8, 2004

Having stayed up until 2am the night before, I slept in late on Sunday. I woke up around 10:30am. Vash and Sean had already woken up and taken off for who knows where. I was left to fend for myself. I got myself together and headed down in hopes of catching the first of two Keith David mug-a-guests.

The mug-a-guest was to take place in the same room where the art show and dealer room were located. When I showed up I discovered Keith had missed his first mug-a-guest. Later I was told this happened simply because he hadn't been informed about the mug-a-guest and didn't know he was scheduled to show up. No worries, there was still the afternoon mug-a-guest, and Closing Ceremonies.

I still hadn't found Vash and Sean and I wasn't up for lunch, so I decided to hit the art show. The art this year was some of the best stuff I've seen yet. Even Greg's kids got into the act and have a few pieces on display. The "wtf" of the show goes to Stormy's 'Caught in the Act'. Basically she took some of the Kenner Gargoyles figures and put them in dresses. Odd? Shocking? Different? I don't know, but I sure as hell won't be getting THAT image out of my head anytime soon. A lot of the con staff are exception artists and more than once I had to be reminded by IRC Goliath (who was there checking out the art as well) that I couldn't vote for them. I dug the etchings which I believe were made by Y2Hecate. I was very close to buying one and trying to put that in as a window on my computer case. I definitely wanted to buy a piece of art this year. I had a few extra bucks and I wanted to do my piece to support the artists in the fandom, so I was on the hunt. Most of the art that was up for sale were done through silent auctions. However the piece that caught my eye wasn't, it had a flat buy price, and so I quickly snatched it up. It's a profile of Demona's face done by Andrea Zucconi. I'd love to know what Andrea was thinking as she drew this. (I should probably e-mail her.) What I see when I look at it is a moment of vulnerability and perhaps sadness in her face. It's one of those things you just really never see or expect to see from Demona, which makes it all the more interesting. When I'm looking at it, I don't see the cold-hearted, walled-up Demona seen throughout much of the show, but someone who actually feels emotion. I dunno. I dig it. I've got to take it to a place and get it framed.

Still a few minutes before the mug-a-guest so I headed outside the door, onto the terrace, where I saw BrooklynX. I finally got a chance to check out BrooklynX's stash of cells. As he told to me, what Vic Cook (storyboard artist for the show) said at last year's con was true, he has more Gargoyles cels than Disney. BX even has the cel used in some marketing materials that shows the main cast lined up together. It's the same image of Owen, Xanatos, Demona, Goliath and Elisa that I've had on the front page of s8 for the past couple years. Incredible. He also had a couple cels from "Eye of the Beholder" which is a personal favorite of mine. He also has another book of cels from other shows and artwork that he's either commissioned or had given to him as a gift. The guy knows his artchicks.

Karlyl and Silver were also there and I sat down and hung out with them for a few. There were some oddball balloons floating around so I grabbed a couple to give a minor reenactment of the '98 con. Although these balloons were a bit on the large size, not that I minded, much.

I headed back into the art/dealer room to await Keith's eventual appearance. While I was waiting I was finally clued into who the line of 10 or so people sitting behind one of the tables were. They were the authors of the Phoenix Gate Anthology and they were signing copies of the book. Never one to turn down the chance for a good souvenir, I grabbed myself a copy and proceeded down the line getting autographs of all the authors. Stormy and Whitbourne were both in line and I they really made it an especially treasured souvenir as they both wrote comments about how they met each other through s8 and that they're planning on getting married. It's especially cool to hear about people who met through the fandom and developed a close relationship. I wonder, 20 years from now, how many kids there will be simply because this fandom exists. (Not to put any pressure on Stormy and Whit, hah.) And do we include Keith David's kids in that? He and his wife had their first date during the first Gathering back in 1997, as Greg tells it. Pretty cool.

Keith showed up to the mug-a-guest and went around the room shaking hands, checking out the artwork that was on display, and talking to the Phoenix Gate Anthology people. He was a real class-act, taking his time to meet everyone in the room. He seemed genuinely interested in the artwork and PGA stuffs. Very cool guy.

I was too busy paying attention to my camera, trying to get everything on tape, to hear everything he said. And I am presently away from my tapes of the mug-a-guest, so I don't have much to say about what was said. I can say that Keith was very open, very willing to talk and go into great depth on whatever he was asked. I remember his first question was about the cologne he was wearing, which a lady or two seemed to enjoy. He said he couldn't remember every show specifically, when asked about his favorite episode. He said one of his favorite lines from the show was "I've lost everything, even my revenge!", which Goliath yells out in Awakening (part 2 I think). He talked a bit about his interpretation of the line and what it meant to him. He also talked about the lack of killing in the show and how important he felt that was. "We beat [the bad guys] up pretty good, but we never killed anyone.", I think was what he said. He talked about other movies he's been in, told a story or two about filming "Men At Work" with Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez. He was very cool, very willing to talk, and it was really enjoyable.

After the mug-a-guest I caught up with Vash and Sean who had shown up for the mug as well. I paid for the art piece I had bought and we went back up to our room for a few minutes while we waited for Closing Ceremonies.

This would be the first time I was able to attend closing ceremonies as at previous cons I would have to leave early on Sunday to catch my bus or train home. Since I was leaving on Monday, I could stay and catch all the Sunday events. Karine got up and said a few words, got the crowed pumped for the 2005 con, and thanked the con staff and volunteers. The whole crew really did a great job putting together and managing the con. Greg wasn't around for the closing ceremonies as he had to leave early to be with his family and celebrate his daughter's birthday.

After closing ceremonies, Keith was available to sign autographs. I had brought with me a copy of issue #1 of the Gargoyles comic put out by Marvel, with the giant Goliath on the cover (and a bumpy cover too). I also had with me one of those new silver Sharpie markers that I picked up at the Staples (equivalent) next door to the hotel. I handed him the book to sign and he took a few moments to look through the comic. He seemed to get a kick out of it. I then asked him for a second autograph for a friend, and to sign it "Hey Dave, where were you?!!". An odd request no doubt, but he was very cool and signed it. It's for a friend whose autograph collection is made up of those collected by his friends, each one saying "Hey Dave, where were you?!!". It had started as a goof when he missed a signing by Kevin Smith way back in the day, and it's just snowballed since. He's got a Captain Atom book I had Greg sign last year as well.

Vash and IRC Goliath also had things to get signed. Vash had her picture taken with Keith, as did IRC Goliath. He gave Keith a t-shirt as well. I forget which one it was, but it had a line-drawing of a gargoyle (Goliath?) on the front. I think Step L.. I can't spell her last name, Raptor Woman, I think she had drawn it.

Anyways, with our autographed swag in hand, we got together, (Vash, Sean, myself, IRC Goliath, Wingless and Dan) and we headed out to the pasta place for dinner, again. This time through I ordered angel hair with the teriyaki sauce, which had dark-meat chicken in it. It was mighty tasty.

When we got back there was a group of people trying to get 30+ people together for a game of laser tag at a nearby place. But I declined. I wanted to get to bed fairly early so we could leave early the next morning. On our way back to the room, IRC Goliath stopped by the con suite to see if he could swing a couple of non-staff passes into their postmortem party. We continued on to our room. IRC Goliath showed up an hour or two later. We hung out for a while, then IRC Goliath took off, I watched TV for a little while, then went to bed.

Monday, August 9, 2004 (Abridged)

Drive home was fairly uneventful. Left Montreal around 11am. Dropped Vash and Sean off in the Bronx around 6pm. Got home just before 10pm. Slept. A lot.

Greg responds...

Gorebash, I can't think of anyone who deserved a fan guest of honor award more than you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here answering questions here at ASK GREG.

Response recorded on June 20, 2006

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BACK IN BUSINESS... briefly

Happy New Year!

Gorebash, Todd and I are briefly opening the submit function here at ASK GREG. I plan on posting some ramblings soon on "The Gathering, Part One" and "The Gathering, Part Two" and "Vendettas". And I'd love to get your rambles on those episodes as well.

More than that, I'd like to get your response to the new DVD that came out last month.

I also don't mind getting a few legit new questions, but PLEASE... be reasonable. As of now, I'm still nearly two years behind in answering questions. Gore is planning a major retrofit of the site, but until then, it doesn't help to flood ASK GREG with questions that have already been answered or that could be answered much more rapidly in the comment room.

We'll be closing the submit function down at the end of January, 2006. (I don't want to get too much further behind.)

Thanks and looking forward to hearing from you about that DVD,

Greg


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Chris "Vertigo1" Coleman writes...

Hi Greg. I'm glad to hear that Gargoyles is *FINALLY* getting its well deserved release to DVD. I've enjoyed every episode ever since they first aired, and ever since I saw the 'final' episode, have desperately been wanting more. (kinda shocking to hear this from a 22 year old isn't it? ;)) I do have a couple of questions though.

1. Will the 'banned' episode "Deadly Force" be released in the season 1 boxset?
2. Will we get to see the entire episodes? (The series has been repeating on Toon Disney for some time now, but the horrible edit jobs are blatantly obvious. Its obvious that the episodes in their entirety aren't being shown.)
3. Will we get to see the episodes in widescreen? (I'm a big pusher for 16x9 only formats.)

I apologize if any of these have already been answered as I haven't had time to search the archives.

Greg responds...

Guys, guys, you have to look ahead at the questions already asked. I have RECENTLY answered this question multiple times. RECENTLY. Even a quick perusal would have revealed that you needn't have bothered typing this up.

And seriously, what's the point of apologizing for not taking the time to check ahead or check the archives. Instead, why not TAKE the time? Or if you don't have the time, then hold off asking your question until you can take the time -- saving everyone time. All you've really succeeded in doing is delayed new questions from getting answered, adding to the nearly two year delay that will likely prevent you from even seeing this response to your question. And, Chris, I don't mean to pick on you personally. But your post, nice as it was, is emblematic of why ASK GREG is so far behind and why the question-asking function is shut down now. I'm not absolving myself, but I'm also not getting much cooperation.

1. And so again, YES, it was.

2. Again, yes.

3. Again, the episodes were NEVER made for widescreen. So what would be the point in putting them in widescreen now? They were ALWAYS formatted for a standard television screen.

Response recorded on November 17, 2005

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Zel writes...

Has any one "in charge" at Disney commented about your activity on this site? I would think that Disney would generally frown upon disscusion of the sexual behavior of Disney liscenced characters. On the other hand the livelyness of this site this nong after the show is more or less gone should get their more positive attention.

Greg responds...

I don't know that anyone at Disney is taking the time to actually READ the site all that much to grok the totality of the content. But they are aware of the site and appreciate that the fandom is alive and well and ... hopefully... in possession of money to spend on the property. (That, as always, is their priority.)

Response recorded on October 26, 2005

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Siren writes...

This isn't a question, but more a comment, perhaps a suggestion. It's unbelievable the amount of people who post what essentially are usless questions. Ones you know they already know and are just trying to be smartass about or one's who are obviously too lazy to look it up for themselves. It annoys me to no end. And I don't want to signal out anyone so I won't list the names or questions they ask, you know who they are and they know who they are. A best example is asking what a certain character's name is. How hard is it to look it up? There are 100s of Gargoyles sites. Have you ever thought about having someone extra to weed through the unimportant and "cute" questions just so you can get to the important ones that serious people really want to know? I think if the person is too lazy to at least make an attempt at finding it out for themselves, then perhaps they shouldn't be posting in the first place. I think if you really want to know something, you look it up first and ask questions later. Not to mention there IS a comment room here, that is pretty much a message boards for fans to discuss the show. Why not ask questions like, "What's the name of the young white haired gargoyle?", there? I think a lot of these people are just out to pull your leg, thinking themselves cute or just so desperatly want attention, they'll take anything they can get. It's just a pet peeve of mine and it wastes time for you and for us, the serious fans and readers. I just wanted to make a small rant. I hope I didn't waste your time. ;-)

Greg responds...

You did a little, actually. But that's okay. I admire the irony.

Anyway, as many of you know, Gore and Todd and I have plans to revise the way we do business on this site, with Todd and maybe a couple other people answering already answered questions.

But Gorebash hasn't had time to implement the new system. Someday, though...

Response recorded on September 22, 2005

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Saiyuki writes...

Aren't you get bore sometimes to answer question about Gargoyle?

Greg responds...

Sometimes. This question's kinda boring.

Response recorded on July 06, 2005

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Vic writes...

This skirst the line of suggestion, what the hell.
You seem to be getting a lot of posts of this nature:

"Why was Gargoyles cancled?"
"Can you bring Gargoyles back?"
"What's a gargoyle?"
"Sometimes when i stop breathing things go black and I fall asleep. Why?"
... and so on. Why not ignore such clueless posts? Really, these people need to check the FAQ< don't coddle them. Regular readers don't want to look at such idiotic blather, and it seems to be frustrating you, if anything can be taken from the tone of your posts sometimes.

Greg responds...

Vic,

With all due respect, what makes you think that YOUR post isn't equally annoying. Did you have a question? A comment? No. You just want to tell me how to run ASK GREG. Do you HONESTLY think that your suggestion hasn't occured to me? That it's a novel idea?

We have a plan for fixing this site. But the plan is dependent on Gorebash getting enough real world time to make it happen. Until then, I don't WANT to change the rules. I don't want to alienate potential newcomers. That's IMPORTANT to me.

So, yeah, from my tone, you can get that some questions are less... appreciated than others. But that's life.

And despite the above attitude-from-me, thanks for trying.

Greg

Response recorded on June 22, 2005

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Sonique writes...

ARUGH I can't take it anymore

Far be it from me to tell a webmaster/mistress how to do their job... but serously, what needs to be done is

1. Someone has to go through all those questions and take out the ones that have been all ready answered

2. Someone has to go through and take out all the crap questions like "what is a gargoyle" and "Do you have pictures?" and such

3. Uhm... well 1 and 2 basically

Look I know I'm new to the community but I'd be happy to volunteer to fix this problem. Greg will never get through the questions. It's fine that he answers 1 or two a day but so many are "Check the archives" or "it's in the FAQ" and... it's getting so frustrating... please, someone has to do this. I don't know why it's taking so long to fix ask Greg but I'm telling you one webmaster/mistress to another, something has to be done here.

Greg responds...

We'd all like that. And we're all eager to proceed. I have many volunteers. But we're all dependent on Gorebash - IT'S HIS SITE, and I'm grateful to simply be a part of it. Until he's ready to proceed, we'll just muddle through.

Response recorded on May 26, 2005

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Mooncat >^,,^< writes...

Noticed a lot of recent questions by "Anonymous" that are deliberately stupid... My question is would the site admin filter out questions posted by "Anonymous" to save everyone from a waste of time?

I'm not sure if the admins the site has conversed with Greg about this problem, but it would be nice if there was a filter or questions page moderator to get rid of the obvious attempts to troll.

With the regular debates over this sort of thing in the message board, I am wondering if there has been any real move to create a filter (or set up a moderator) for questions that are already answered in ASK GREG and questions that are just from a jack*** trying to waste time Greg's time.

Knowing Greg has a limited amount of time to allocate to Ask Greg, and can only answers a few 'questions' at a time, that rare and valued resouce gets eaten up with every 'joke' question and the ones by people who don't bother to read the archives first. I'm hoping that some screening will be done in the future, because I am always eager to see some new thought or insight from Greg on Gargoyles and his other work.

Thanks Greg, for taking the time for questions and keeping the fandom active with your participation!

Mooncat

Greg responds...

Right now, Todd, our moderator has very strict rules -- imposed by me -- as to what he is and isn't allowed to kick. I appreciate the strongly worded feelings, Mooncat, but I'm not prepared to change the rules of this site until Gorebash has had the opportunity to fully take ASK GREG to the next level.

Response recorded on April 13, 2005

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Station Nine Guy writes...

Why is this forum set up so inadequately. Instead of listing praise and fan ideas why not cut it clean so its easier to find out what your answer to a question is?

Why include all the questions you won't answer or won't answer directly?

Wouldn't be much more efficient to have a list of questions you will not answer so people don't keep asking almost the same question? I mean write a list with things like;
* Will not answer anything about subject Y
* Will not answer anything about subject X
* Will answer all questions regarding subject Z except for those involving his origins.

I really would like to know what you think about things and how you define different parts of the Gargoyles universe but when there is more fluff and off topic material than actual questions and answers its hard and tedious to find the facts.

Greg responds...

Wow. Sorry. We're doing our best here. Your suggestion is of course WILDLY impractical. There is a list of rules, stating what is ABSOLUTELY off limits, but I don't feel like limiting it any more than that or trying to anticipate every possible question that might get asked. Heck, why open it up to questions at all? Why not let me guess at what you want to know about?

In any case, we (myself, Gorebash and Todd) are all aware that the system is flawed. Gorebash is in the middle of revamping it. He's made some great strides, since you posted, and he has even more ideas that he just needs to find time to implement. Hopefully, your experience here is and will continue to improve.

Response recorded on December 16, 2004

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matt writes...

third year in a row taht i've posted the first question of the new year...

hey greg, when will you be caught up enough that you get to this question????

or when will we finally get a new Ask greg program running... *sigh* 2003 maybe guys??

Greg responds...

Well, the good news is I finally got through 2002.

Today is November 19, 2004. And I'm answering the first question of 2003.

Ask Greg has improved some over the last few months, but we still have work to do.

Response recorded on November 19, 2004

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Enigma writes...

Why do people keep asking what Titiana said to Fox at the end of "The Gathering" (I think that was the episode name)??? It's in the FAQ and Greg has already said that he won't give us an answer. Why can't people respect that?!? I'm sure that if he ever wants to tell us he will, until then stop bugging him about it!

Greg responds...

Or maybe just not ask quite so frequently. The trick to getting me to answer anything I'm resistant to, like Lex's mate, is to "catch" me in the right mood. If I'm constantly on guard, because I'm being asked non-stop, than I'm never going to be in the mood.

Response recorded on November 12, 2004

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REBORN!!

As I'm sure many of you have noticed, Gorebash has rebooted ASK GREG in a major way. It's still a work in progress, so feel free (politely) to offer your input to Gore.

But don't forget to thank him as well for his hard, hard work.

Thanks, Gore! It's very much appreciated.

Gregs


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The Nique writes...

Hi there, I just wanted to say Gargoyles is my second favorite TV show of all time... and also, at the top of the Ask Greg page it says "Quesions answered archive"

I thought you might want to changed that to "Questions Answered Archie" ;) Just wanted to point that out, thanks.

Greg responds...

Gorebash is currently reworking the entire site, so it's probably a moot point. But I'll let him know about the typo. Thanks.

Response recorded on July 26, 2004

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Announcement for August...

Hey gang,

Just wanted to let everyone know that Gorebash, Todd & I will be re-opening the Question Submission function for the month of August 2004.

Gore is working on revising the whole site. We're not 100% sure that the new version will be ready by then, but either way, you'll be able to submit questions and rambles from August 1st to August 31st.

I'm going to ask (and pray) that people NOT post frivolously. I'm still over two years behind on answering questions. Try and do your homework just a bit before posting a question. Check the Archives or at least the FAQ. Heck, it wouldn't hurt to pre-post your question at the Station 8 Comment Room. Give your fellow fans a chance to direct you to the answer, before you post it for me. Keep in mind that it will take me a LONG time to get to your questions, so if you can get them answered another way, it'll be MUCH FASTER for all concerned.

But with that caveat in mind, I'm very pleased to be reopening the site to you, if only for one month. In particular, I'm anxious to get as many GATHERING 2004 DIARIES as possible. Seriously, we have close to 200 people attending this year, and my goal is to get at least 100 diaries posted at ASK GREG as an historical record. So please, that's one kind of post that I'm really looking forward to. So don't hesitate.

Thanks,

Greg


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Anna writes...

Hi there, Greg. First off, kudos to you. Great work on everything you've done. The only question I really have (the rest will be answered when you get to do your spinoffs ;-) ) is this:
Do you get irked by all the incessant Gargoyle questions rather than questions about other projects you have worked on?
Or, in Layman's Terms, do you ever want to yell out randomly: "It's over! Get a life!"?
Thanks.
-Me

Greg responds...

I don't actually. If anything, I sometimes want to yell at myself: "It's over, get a life!" But the truth is, it's not over as long as the fans keep it alive. And I very much appreciate that.

The fans and in particular the Gatherings have kept things alive long enough for me to FINALLY convince Disney to release the first season on DVD. After that, it's back in the hands of the fandom. If the DVD sells well enough there WILL BE MORE. If all of those sell through the ROOF, then the series will be back in some way, shape or form, even with original material.

Response recorded on July 21, 2004

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Lynati writes...

I would have just emailed this, but as there is no email address… whoever is in charge of the list, please leave this up for a little while at least.

"Disappointed" wrote, on July 07:
[It's about this whole "Ask Greg" thing. I love that we can come here and ask questions, but I don't love your answers.]
I do. Even when I don't get proper responses.

[suggest that if Ask Greg is a pain to you, that you simply quit.]
If he found it so much a pain, I am sure he would have by now. And I for one am glad he has not.

[You're not doing much good anyway since you don't answer our questions.]
*Points in the direction of the Questions Answered archive* Have you looked in there? At all?
The overwhelming majority of those are direct, clear answers. And quite a few of the questions currently on the waiting list are ones either already asked, or one fans could easily figure out on their own given the info already provided. We have the cast list for when most people were born, and their ages in certain years. It wouldn't hurt to take up a pencil and determine the age of a character in a certain year themselves if they wanted to know, rather than flooding the archive asking about it.
Or to spend an hour looking through the archive to see if the question they want to ask has already been answered…especially since it is going to take at least 6 months (a present) for Mr. Weisman to get to it anyway.

[So do yourself and everyone a favor...treat Ask Greg as you should be treating it or just simply drop it. But just remember whatever you do is by your choice alone. So grow up a bit, stop trying to be "funny" as you so often say when someone brings this up to you,]
He's not "trying" to be funny, he is *succeeding* at being funny.
You yourself said it- he is under no pressure to do anything for or related to "Gargoyles", and has not been for years. This entire site is for the fans, and I think we can all suffer being his entertainment now and again in return for the answers we do receive, and have a little respect for the secrets he wants to keep.

Greg responds...

Thanks Lynati. The support is truly appreciated. (I had a feeling that on occasion I succeeded at being funny. I mean if you keep throwing out jokes, occasionally, one or two of them must earn a chuckle -- at least from pity, right?)

Response recorded on May 26, 2004

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Disappointed writes...

Hi Greg, I just wanted to say I love the show. But I have a bit of a bone to pick with you...

It's about this whole "Ask Greg" thing. I love that we can come here and ask questions, but I don't love your answers. I don't think that you owe us anything, but you've got to realize that some of us come here with high hopes, and we love the show enough to ask you about it. You choose to do this, yet you shoot half of us down. I'm rather tired of looking through the archives and seeing a question I want answered, getting my hopes up, then having them dashed to pieces because you gave some smart ass answer. I much rather appreciate when you simply say "I don't know" or that "I'm not answering this now." Keep in mind that you choose to do this Ask Greg thing, no one is forcing you. And for the people that do pick at you and only ask things to make you look foolish or whatever, why waste your time on them? You could be answering other true fans' legitimate questions and not falling so damn far behind. Yes, I know I'm complaining, but if you honestly can't see my point of view I can't make you understand. I enjoy Ask Greg (or at least I am trying to) but it gets really hard when half the answers you give are callous and uncalled for. I suggest that if Ask Greg is a pain to you, that you simply quit. You're not doing much good anyway since you don't answer our questions. So do yourself and everyone a favor...treat Ask Greg as you should be treating it or just simply drop it. But just remember whatever you do is by your choice alone. So grow up a bit, stop trying to be "funny" as you so often say when someone brings this up to you, and take some responsibility. Now if you've read this all the way through, thank you. I appreciate your time, I know you are very busy. But just keep in mind what I said and take it in and consider it. Thank you.

Greg responds...

I read it all the way through. And I'll consider it, but...

Look, it's a matter of personal taste. I know for a fact that some people enjoy (at least some of) my "Smart-Ass Responses".

I often answer with "I don't know", or "I don't want to answer this now." But even that gets old, both for me and for the readers. Some of my smart-ass responses haven't been too clever, admittedly, but I've had two or three zingers in there that have gotten almost as good a response as some of my more shocking and on the level revelations.

I don't want to quit. And I'll own up to that choice. But I still reserve the right to get annoyed every once in awhile. Guess what? I'm human and frankly, sometimes it gets a little annoying in this "room".

There have been times when I've been less than gracious. And I am truly, truly sorry about that. I usually get called on it. (Often by my brother, for which I'm grateful.) When it's pointed out to me, I try to honestly cop to it. To accept my mistakes, apologize, and then hopefully move on.

I don't think it's fair to blame the backlog on me alone. Our system is flawed, admittedly. And I'm slow. But I think my temperament has much improved now that I'm only answering two or three questions a day. I tended to get more annoyed cumulatively when I'd try to sit down and power through fifty questions in a night. The truth is if some of the posters here made even a slight effort to check the FAQ or Archives before posting their questions, ASK GREG would be a better experience for all concerned.

So that's both my apologia and my defense. I'm sorry that you're disappointed. But hey, it seems to be your name, so I guess it's a bit inevitable.

Response recorded on May 20, 2004

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Heading out of town...

I'll be out of town tomorrow and all next week.

No internet access while I'm gone, so I'll be back here at ASK GREG on 2/23/04.

Have a great Valentine's Day,

Greg


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pizza girl writes...

this may nt be a good question but do u ever get mad or bord or question not ancering all these questions?

Greg responds...

Yes. Yes. Yes.

But the positives still outweigh the negatives, or else I wouldn't be doing it.

Response recorded on February 04, 2004

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Lord Sloth writes...

This comes a tad too late perhaps, but I was wondering if I'm ok to tie my questions together under a topic like memories or love or religion, even though they are questions about different characters. I haven't abused the rules at all, have I? I'll wait for your answer before I ask anything about character religion.

Greg responds...

It's basically okay if it's a truly cohesive topic AND if you're NOT asking for a laundry list, along the lines of "Please list all the objects of affection for each of the following 92 characters."

Response recorded on December 09, 2003

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swimmguy2001@aol.com writes...

could you please send me all of the screen shots or other picutes of "the weird sisters" please?
Thanks

Greg responds...

No. That's not what I do here, at least in part because I don't know how.

Response recorded on September 12, 2003

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Greg Weisman writes...

hey greg, my name is greg weisman also, sorry, but i dont have a question. i was just on yahoo and i typed in my name and you came up as one of the greg weismans. its really cool that you work for disney. its wierd too because when i was 12(maybe younger or older)and i used to watch Gargoyles all the time. it was one of my favorite shows. im 16 now. sorry to take up your time, i just thaught it was wierd that we have the same name. once again im sorry that i didnt have a question and i hope you could email me back at Gweece@aol.com bye

Greg responds...

Hey Greg, I hope you haven't been pissed off at me for 19 months waiting for my e-mail response. I only just saw your posting. (Long line.)

I'm afraid I have to make it a policy not to e-mail people directly off this site. I'm afraid that (a) the requests would never end and (b) the usefulness of ASK GREG would be damaged as a forum for all the fandom.

What city do you live in? I get calls for other Greg Weisman's all the time. When I lived in New York, I'd often have to ask a confused caller, "Are you looking for the blond Greg Weisman or the Brown-haired Greg Weisman?" Inevitably, the ones with the sexy voices were looking for the blond.

Response recorded on August 25, 2003

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Joe writes...

Hey everyone, since he is far behind on questions, lets give him a chance to catch up ok?

Greg responds...

Okay.

Response recorded on August 22, 2003

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GATHERING 2003 JOURNAL - Or how I spent my summer vacation...

Before I start, I just want to say...

1. I had a blast. Thank you, everyone for another phenomenal and memorable event in my life.

2. Now that the posting function here at ASK GREG has been re-awakened, I'd like to ask everyone who attended the Gathering to post their Gathering journals/diaries/logs here at ASK GREG. If you've got them posted elsewhere, please cut and paste them here. (Do not provide a link.) One, I'd like to read them eventually. And I even think it'll be kind of fun to be reading them months from now. I'll be nostalgic. Two, I think we should have a record here for con virgins and other newbies about just how much fun the Gathering can be. Thanks, in advance.

3. As I'm going through my journal, I'm flat out bound to forget some things and even some people. I apologize in advance. There are so many names and faces, it sometimes takes me a year or two to process people (just ask Spacebabie).

4. I'm not just going to post about the Gathering (i.e. about June 27-29th). My vacation started on June 20th and didn't end until yesterday, July 6th. So I'm going to post everything Gathering related that took place over that period. Hopefully in chunks.

5. I won't be answering any more questions until I get this done, but I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the week.

6. I'm also hoping to getting back to rambling about episodes -- about one ep a week, starting next week or the week after. That's the plan, anyway.

7. And again. Wow. Thank you all.


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Master Debator writes...

Greetings all I never post and most likely never will again. I do though, enjoy this site tremendously. Greg what you are doing here is nothing less than saintly. I love to read the posts submitted by everyone, I must say you all are kindrid brothers in spirit.

I though pride myself as a Master Debator even if I am not the one debating. I want to know Greg and from all:

Greg: is there any questions you felt would have been asked that never were, here at ask greg?

Everyone who do you think is better in thier post deliveries-
Punchinello or Vanity ?
Demona Taina or Jim R ?

I would really love to see the responses.

Greg responds...

1. Nope. Plenty of questions that I didn't expect, but no stone left unturned that I did expect.

2 & 3. I'm not going to even dignify this.

Response recorded on June 20, 2003

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Punchinello writes...

<<You idiot! Did you not read the no ideas clause on the main askgreg page or are you just pretending to be stupid!>>

I found this to be a remarkable statement.

Hello Mr. Weisman.

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine recently about new kinds of conventions in contemporary fiction, (it was less a conversation than a herculean effort on his part to _educate me_ about some of these things which I should know more about) and the topic of literary devices imported from things that are generally considered banal or somehow inferior to literature came up. The Sunday funnies, technical manuals, etc. He brought up something that I thought you would find interesting. I wanted to find out if you had any reaction to this, as I gather that you consider introducing young people to literature very important and this is something which is (possibly) maligning the way in which they perceive it.

My friend explained the phenomenon of these "adventure card games" to me. I guess the pokemon fall into this category. (Horrifying little things) There are also all manner of these dungeons and dragons type games. Apparently a convention has developed among people who play the games of generating fiction using the cards. For instance, each player would represent a character internal to a story and the cards they play with would dictate the structure of a work of fiction they were creating and "acting out" at the same time. The interesting thing about this is that characters within this convention are frequently developed by means of a pre defined list of "character attributes." Once again, for instance, you would have a condition like

10 personality types. Pick one.
10 types of conventional behavior. Pick one.
10 types of hats. Pick one.

The idea seems to be that character development emerges from the intersection of these variables. Even though I'm certain that this kind of convention could be exploited towards an interesting end in literature, I found this sort of "amateur authors" version of writing very limiting, and the whole method of lists of typical character attributes seems to be an arbitrary convention that was being maintained for the sake of game playing. It's all very silly.

The reason I mention all of this is because my friend told me that he has observed a trend among many amateur authors and many young aspiring authors to use this same kind of convention when writing. He sees characters being treated as though the author were at a buffet, and the author were allowed one "feature" for each little spot on his tray. He sees this a lot. He teaches a creative writing class at the moment and has noticed this sentiment that people are coming into the class with, that if they string together a lot of trivia about a fictional person, a real character will emerge as if by magic. He sees them conduct this exercise a lot where they define a character with...

John lives in Wisconsin.
John works in the Madison public Library.
John likes his job okay.

He mentioned he sees this limiting perspective carry over into their observations of other peoples writing. This way of thinking seems to prevent them from really experiencing a character. It seems they can only define the character for themselves from within the context of this kind of trivia.

He asked me if I had seen this obsession over trivia instead of character anywhere else. I immediately realized that I had! It usually takes the form of...

Where did fox get her tattoo?
Who were Mab's parents?
Who were Oberon's parents?
Who were Titania's parents?
Who were anansi's parents?
Will Brooklyn have children?
How many children?
Will his children have names?
Will those names begin with a consonant or a vowel?

This is why some people so appreciate your continued participation with this board. I'm really just writing this because I would like to read any general reaction you have to it. However, I think I would not be alone in wanting to hear you comment on the kind of questions outlined above (of which you field many). I think I kind of resent the implication in some of these questions that, as the author, you should know the names and mailing addresses of all of Elisa's cousin's three times removed, along with their favorite foods and weight at birth. Is there something you think is essentially being missed with questions like these? Maybe if you were to share with your fans, the kind of dialogue you think is worthwhile and exciting, you would see the trivia questions replaced with more real dialogue about "Gargoyles."

Greg responds...

Well, let's start with the "buffet"/game-playing writing style.

I think it's awful.

Having said that, I have this friend, a garg fan who's now a pretty darn successful writer. When I read her first book, I felt that the first half of it was written in that way. As if rolls of the dice determined who each character was, what he or she could do and what happenned to them.

The second half of the book was MUCH better. She took a few of the characters from the first half and delved much deeper into their lives and their stories.

When I asked her about it, she confessed (if that's the word) that I was dead on. The first half of the book was her almost literally setting to prose a game of D&D that she had played.

I don't recommend doing that, but look at the result. The second half of the novel, inspired as it was by the first half, was wonderful. And she's moved forward with these characters into other books as well.

My point is that people get inspiration from all sorts of places. I get it from Shakespeare, for example, and Shakespeare got his from all sorts of other sources. A good writer can take something that begins as an exercise... maybe a worthwhile exercise or maybe a dubious one... and turns it into something real and meaningful.

The question -- your first question, I think -- is whether these writers ever grow out of the exercise or whether they become trapped in them. Well, the answer is obviously both. Some will transcend, as some writers always have.

But your second question is more serious. Does this process in fact impair the reader/audience. Forget that some of these guys will never be great writers, will this make them bad readers?

I don't know. But my guess is that it's the same (or similar) percentage of people who would have been bad readers in the first place. The good ones will transcend. The others won't. That's my hypothesis.

Now, bringing it more specifically to ASK GREG and the "trivia questions" I often get, well, I have mixed feelings.

In some ways, trivia is exactly what this forum is for. After all, just a minute ago I fielded a question from a guy who wanted me to lay out ALL the story arcs for Bad Guys. That's not going to happen, as I told him. This isn't a forum for storytelling. It's a forum for people to get a peak inside the box, (the box being my head).

And in fact, I know no zip codes, but I am a font of unrevealed trivia about the show. I do know more about these characters then 66 episodes has revealed. Some of it I like to keep to myself, some of it I like to tease. Some of it I don't mind revealing and have done so.

So a lot comes down to the intent of the questioner, and you can usually tell, if not in a single post then in the range of posts that that person submits. If I get 16 posts in a row asking something like, "Who is Maggie's father?" followed by "Who is Claw's father?" followed by "Who is Fang's father?" or if I get requests for laundry lists of things, "Name all the ancient heroes who have encountered Oberon," then you can bet that the questioner was looking for a question to ask, as opposed to trying to deepen his or her understanding of the show or character.

But sometimes a so-called trivial question can lead to just that. Look at your list above. Some of it seems stupid, but some of the answers to some of those questions would certainly lead to a better understanding. "Who were Oberon's parents?" Once upon a time, I hadn't revealed the answer to that. Eventually, I revealed that Oberon's mother was Mab. And that revelation, and the info I gave about Oberon's overthrowing of his mother, certainly lends something to one's understanding of his character. I haven't yet revealed who his father is. Not in the mood. But I would hope that learning that would also effect one's understanding of the character.

And again, I think you can often (though not always) tell by the question itself if that's what the questioner is seeking. A deeper understanding about some aspect of the show.

So sometimes, it does get annoying. But mostly I enjoy doing this. (I do think that doing a little a day has been a much better system than trying to do big batches of questions all at once. I get less annoyed when not burdened with the cumulative effects of annoyance.)

Do I wish this could be more of a forum for ideas and discussion? Well, yeah, duh. I've invited that in the past, and, P., I always enjoy reading and responding to your posts.

(Although what you quoted at the head of your post:

<<You idiot! Did you not read the no ideas clause on the main askgreg page or are you just pretending to be stupid!>>

I found this to be a remarkable statement.

is a bit lost on me out of context. I can't believe I wrote the first quote.)

Admittedly, we do have a problem with making this a forum right now. The FLOOD. The flood of submissions during a period when I all but ceased to answer questions (all around the time of 9/11 and following) created a backlog so immense that creating a forum is nearly impossible. Now it truly is impossible, as we have temporarily shut down the submission function. You can't respond to this response.

I'd love to try and solve this problem, and I've made suggestions. But ultimately this isn't my site, it's Gorebash's. Until he's ready, willing and able to initate a new system, we're stuck with me slowly catching up.

I hope that 18 months later you're still checking ASK GREG and reading this. I hope that you'll compose your response and hold on to it, submitting it when we finally get things back up and running. But even if you're not, even if you're long gone, thanks for raising some interesting issues.

Response recorded on June 13, 2003

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J writes...

Hey,

You ever get tired of answering all these questions? Like this one, "How come blah blah blah and blah dont blah blah blah, and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah." After reading a page or two of questions they all started to fade together into one simple demand. "TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU WILL KNOW, HAVE KNOWN AND PRESENTLY KNOW ABOUT GARGOYLES!!!" You've either got the patience of a saint or.... well I dont know what.

Thankyou for helping to create such a fantastic and fulfilling story/world. You can tell if something is great fantasy if it makes the everyday world seem all the more pale and ordinary.

And now on to the questions.......

Greg responds...

Sometimes individual questions do annoy me, I'll confess. But I generally enjoy doing this, or frankly... I wouldn't.

Response recorded on June 10, 2003

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Anonymous writes...

Who created the iron knights that guarded the Hollow Hill?

Greg responds...

You mean who forged the armor? Cause I have no idea.

If you mean who enchanted the armor, that's a different question, and I know the answer to that, (and if you take a look at the Pendragon archive... you could probably figure it out), but I'm not in the mood to tell you.

General note, no offense, but I'm less likely to reveal info to an "Anonymous" poster. I'm more likely to reveal stuff to someone who I've gotten to know -- either at one of the Gatherings or through consistent intelligent posts. Just a fact of life.

Response recorded on June 10, 2003

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Greg Bishansky writes...

Hi Greg

I'm wondering if you'll ever get around to continuing your episode rambles, I really enjoyed reading them.

Greg responds...

I'd love to get back to them, and the summer is a good time. But it seems pointless while the "Asking" function is off line, because I want people to be able to respond.

So to be honest, I'm kinda waiting on Gorebash to decide how he wants to deal with fixing the problems we have with ASK GREG.

Either that, or we wait til I've caught up. I feel like I've been working on 2001 questions forever.

Response recorded on June 03, 2003

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King Cobra3 writes...

I have a few questions concerning the Gargoyles Fan Website.

1. Do you run it? If not, then does anyone who was involved in the show's creation moderate the site?

2. What do you think of it?

3. What's your favorite section?

4. Who's your favorite fan fic author?

Greg responds...

1. No and no.
2. We're talking about Station 8, right? I love it.
3. Well, the only section I'm at regularly is ASK GREG. But I stop by the comment room every week or so... to lurk at least.
4. I don't read fanfiction for legal reasons. SEE THE FAQ.

Response recorded on May 29, 2003

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Corrie "Cormak" McDermott writes...

Hi Greg,

I noticed that you type up notes about scripts of different episodes occasionally. ie. "The Mirror", "Eye of the Beholder" etc. Are you typing these up in any particular order? Or are they just being typed up randomly? I haven't seen notes/big ramblings on Hunter's Moon. (hint hint) Although I must admit I LOVED that scene that was never animated in the third episode between Jason and Elisa in the clocktower ruins. That was a nice touch.

I also just wanted to thank you for taking the time out of your schedule to answer our questions. I've been a fan of Gargoyles since the show aired. When I found this website I was in my glory with all the new information that was archived here. (Many thanks to Gorebash for this website as well!) So I just wanted to thank you for sharing what you have. You've made an E/G Fan VERY happy and inspired. Take care

Greg responds...

You're welcome.

I was watching and rambling on the episodes in their correct animation airing order. I got through the first 42 (out of 66) episodes before I had to take a break due to other committments. Now I'm hesitant to start up again both because time is still scarce and also because we have some much discussed problems here at ASK GREG, i.e. a backlog of questions that has me responding to something you posted in November of 2001 here in April of 2003. We've discussed a number of solutions, but all are sort of waiting on Gorebash. His site.

So it'll be awhile before I get to Hunter's Moon.

Response recorded on April 16, 2003


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