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I just noticed a question you answered concerning Duval/Percival. If I had not seen the two names adjacent to one another I would never have seen any potential connection. I know that the name Percival is derived from parsi - fal or "pure fool."
I have no idea what Duval means, although I now see the structural similarity in the name.
I also have absolutely no recollection of these characters from your story. I only know the names from the context of Arthurian legend.
I like fools. It bothers me that I did not see the meaning to be decoded in the name Duval before now. I shall need to go investigate it.
Perhaps you will save me from the effort? Or at least acknowledge if you intended a connection?
Punchinello
You mean the -val suffix? Yes, I did intend the connection.
As far as I can recall, the name Percival never occurs in the 66 episodes of Gargoyles that I was involved in. The revelation about him came from a contest we held here at ASK GREG. "Name the Arthurian Survivors". I believe Todd won that one, though I can't recall if he was the first to guess Percival.
Duval is mentioned only once in the series. In "The Journey". My last episode and the first episode of the Goliath Chronicles.
if you havn't launched the next contest by the time you get this, when are you going to? what is it going to be?
can winners of other contest still try to win upcoming contest? i don't want to win if i should let it go to others... hmmm
I'm taking a much needed contest break for awhile. But don't worry, we will have another one.
Past winners can enter.
What is the next contest going to be? Does it in anyway resemble the clan contest?
NO. God no.
We're going to take a little contest rest for a bit. I do know the next contest though.
I'll start it when I'm caught up.
FINALLY! It's over!
Matt got the last correct answer (though it was the only answer he got), and we're all very grateful. He gets a prize.
The other prize goes to the individual who got the most answers correct first. Here are the results...
TIED FOR EIGHTEENTH PLACE:
Dracolich - 1
Faieq - 1
Fireball - 1
Matt - 1
Melissa - 1
The Guppi - 1
The Mighty Thor - 1
Vashkoda - 1
TIED FOR FIFTEENTH PLACE:
CZ - 2
Graymonk - 2
Slow - 2
IN FOURTEENTH PLACE: Bud-Clare - 4
IN THIRTEENTH PLACE: Coyote the Bando - 5
IN TWELFTH PLACE: Shari B. - 6
IN ELEVENTH PLACE: Leva - 7
IN TENTH PLACE: Todd Jensen - 8
TIED FOR EIGHT PLACE:
Aris Katsaris - 12
Demonskyre - 12
IN SEVENTH PLACE: Kalafarski - 31
IN SIXTH PLACE: DragonWolf - 32
IN FIFTH PLACE: Ray Kremer - 33
IN FOURTH PLACE: Galvatron - 35
IN THIRD PLACE: Kelly L. Creighton/Kya White Sapphire - 42
In SECOND PLACE: Adam - 101
AND IN FIRST PLACE: Phil - 183
Phil got nearly 35% of the answers single-handedly.
So the winners are matt and Phil. But I'd like to thank everyone who participated.
As for the prizes, I'm first wondering if either matt or Phil are coming to the Gathering, so that I can hand-deliver their prizes. If not, I'll mail them out after the Gathering. (Too swamped to deal with it now.)
AND NOW THE COMPLETED BLANK-FILLED CONTEST:
GARGOYLES 2198
(Fill-in-the-Blank Contest / 9-21-00)
Written by
Greg Weisman
One thousand years ago…
Superstition and the sword ruled.
It was a time of darkness.
It was a world of fear.
It was the age... of gargoyles!
Stone by day, warriors by night,
We were betrayed by the humans we had sworn to protect,
Frozen in stone by a magic spell for a thousand years.
Finally... the spell was broken, and we lived again!
But our struggle was far from over...
For the last two hundred years we have faced the future,
Navigating an uneasy truce with the human race.
But now the planet Earth itself is under attack!
Humanity is helpless!
And we may be your last hope for freedom…
We are defenders of the night!
We are protectors of this world!
The year is 2198.
And we… are GARGOYLES!
In 1996, humanity and the world at large discovered there were gargoyles living among them. Fortunately for the human race, Gargoyles are by nature a protective species. Unfortunately for the gargoyle race, humanity is by nature an intolerant species. Humans did not welcome having to share their world with other sentient creatures. Many were quick to label the gargoyles as beasts, monsters, demons or worse. Gargoyles were denied basic "human" rights. They were discriminated against. Experimented upon. Attacked. Caged. And sometimes destroyed.
Despite this, GOLIATH, the leader of the gargoyles, maintained hope that one day humans and gargoyles would live in peace. Eventually, that day came. The "GARGOYLE MINORITY PROTECTION ACT" was adopted by the UNITED NATIONS. Gargoyles were granted full "sentient rights". Though Gargoyle clans were scattered across the globe, they were collectively granted special status as an indigenous nation. Hunting Gargoyles became a crime.
True acceptance, however, is not so easily legislated. At best, Gargoyles were still barely tolerated by their human neighbors. Real peace would have to wait.
But the gargoyles would take what they could get. The species, once on the verge of extinction, began to make a comeback. Clans that were thriving helped to repopulate those that were not. By 2188, TWELVE CLANS comprised the GARGOYLE NATION. Each was strong in number and tradition. Now it was time to expand again. As a potent act of symbolism, every clan brought its GARGOYLE EGGS to QUEEN FLORENCE ISLAND, off the West Coast of Canada. The eggs would hatch together to demonstrate gargoyle unity. Some of the hatchlings would eventually return to the other Twelve Clans. But many would stay to form the basis of a new clan. A thirteenth clan.
Someone should have told the gargoyles that thirteen is NOT a lucky number.
March 21st, 2198. Queen Florence Island. From around the globe, human Heads of State and all Twelve Gargoyle Clan Leaders have come to this small island for the HATCHING. They wait within the caldera of the Island's dormant volcano to witness the new generation of gargoyles bursting out of their shells. Meanwhile, Samson, a young gargoyle warrior is stuck on ceremonial guard duty at the base of the mountain. Out of nowhere, an immense SPACESHIP materializes above the volcano. It emits a blinding beam of light that stabs down into the caldera. Samson races up the slope, but it's too late. The caldera is empty. No eggs. No gargoyles. No humans. No World Leaders!
Simultaneously, another giant spacecraft hovers over Antarctica. Another beam stabs downward. And Earth's MASTER MATRIX Computer -- the operating system for nearly everything on the planet -- vanishes.
It all happens so fast, there's no time to react. Earth is paralyzed and leaderless when the alien SPACE-SPAWN invades. In less than twenty-four hours, the planet is occupied, absorbed into the SPACE-SPAWN EMPIRE. There is very little loss of life. Very little damage done. Unless freedom matters to you.
It matters to Samson, the new leader of the RESISTENCE. One by one, he gathers his team…
SAMSON - Samson of the Manhattan Clan hatched in 2158. Though his coloring is different, it's obvious to anyone who'd care to look that he is descended from Goliath. Still no one knows how many biological generations removed from Goliath he is. He might be the biological grandson of either Artus or Gwenyvere, Angela and Broadway's first two biological children, or he might be the biological son of Lancelot, their third born. Frankly, it doesn't really matter. There were many eggs in that rookery. All raised collectively by the Manhattan Clan.
By 2198, Samson is forty years old, but only twenty biologically. He has been trained as a Gargoyle Warrior both in Manhattan and in Ishimura. He demonstrated enough promise to have recently been named Second-In-Command of the Manhattan Clan. Now, a reluctant Samson must become leader not just of his clan, but of the entire Resistance.
DELILAH - Delilah of the Labyrinth Clan is a half-breed. Mostly Gargoyle… but part Human as well. Her ancestors include her namesake, the Delilah that Anton Sevarius cloned by combining the DNA of ELISA MAZA with that of DEMONA. Being genetically part of both races has left Delilah feeling like she's not truly a part of either. Upon learning of her "heritage", humans seem to react with fear and even disgust. And Delilah has never been confident that the gargoyles she was raised with don't feel the same way. All this has made her tough on the outside, but desperately insecure on the inside. Nevertheless, she's a fierce young Gargoyle Warrior (the same age as Samson), and Samson makes her his Second in the Resistance.
ZAFIRO - Zafiro of the Mayan Clan hails from the rain forests of Guatemala. He's a descendent of Obsidiana and the Zafiro from "The Green". He has feathered wings, reptilian features and skin the color of sapphires. From the waist down, he looks like a giant snake. He's Samson's contemporary and close friend. Samson, Delilah and Zafiro all trained together as Gargoyle Warriors, studying bushido in Ishimura; they have a Three Musketeers kind of rapport. Zafiro isn't quite the fighter that the other two are, but he has other strengths. He's more spiritual, more intellectual, more book-smart. He has also been entrusted with his clan's ancient and sacred Sapphire Amulet; this magical Mayan talisman prevents him from turning to stone during the day.
GUARDIAN - Seventeen year old Nicholas Natsilane Maza is a scion of both the Natsilane and Maza families (which technically makes him a distant relative of Delilah's). Nick was raised among gargoyles and has taken the family tradition to heart. He too has traveled to Ishimura to join the ORDER OF THE GUARDIAN. He has trained as a Gargoyle Warrior, embracing the Gargoyle Way of Protection & Service. He's as much a gargoyle as a guy can be and not have wings. He's eager, perhaps a little too eager, for a chance to prove that he can hold his own with any other gargoyle. Only he's not a gargoyle. He's one hundred percent human, with a human being's unique strengths and weaknesses.
SENTINEL - NOKKAR (the original model for the mysterious moai statues of Easter Island) landed on Earth centuries ago to stand sentinel and protect our world from the Space-Spawn. But by the time the Space-Spawn actually arrived, their technology so far surpassed his, he was completely caught off guard. Now, there's nothing he can do but join Samson's Resistance cell and try to pitch in. Nokkar is deeply shamed by his failure to protect his adoptive world. He would gladly sacrifice his life to redeem himself.
OWEN BURNETT - OWEN BURNETT was Chief of Staff of the United Nations. An indispensable aide to Secretary General ALEXANDER FOX XANATOS IV. In fact Owen has been an indispensable aide to the Xanatos family since before Alexander was born. But now the Secretary General is gone. Taken by the Space-Spawn and put in stasis with the rest of the world's leaders. The new acting Secretary has surrendered the planet to the enemy. He has no use for Owen's quiet efficiency and intensity. And Owen has no use for a man who won't fight. So Owen has left public service to rejoin the private sector. Secretly, he has placed all the resources of the Lexington-Xanatos Corporation at Samson's disposal. Of course, we all know that Owen is really the Puck. But since he already failed to protect his charge, and certainly has no opportunity to teach him anything at the moment, he's stuck as Owen, stone hand and all.
LXM - LXM (a product of the Lexington-Xanatos Corporation) stands for Lexington-Xanatos-Matrix, a line of robotic personal assistants that were all but ubiquitous in 2198. Almost everyone who was anyone had one of the cute little, five-foot tall, Lexington-shaped chrome robots. Each robot was directly connected via satellite to the Master Matrix in Antarctica, giving each one the ability to instantaneously summon any or all of mankind's collective knowledge. But when the Space-Spawn attacked, one of their first acts was to steal the Master Matrix. Now each LXM is on its own. Each one still has a powerful computer brain with crude artificial intelligence and long-term adaptive programming. But now, knowledge is finite, and experience is becoming the best teacher. Actually, two of these robots, LXM-994 and LXM-1057 will play a role in our series. When we open, these robots will be all but indistinguishable from each other. Automatons, merely. But as the series progresses, each will slowly develop its own personality.
DEMONA - For over a thousand years, Demona has plotted against humanity, blaming them for crimes against the gargoyle race. Now that a greater threat, the Space-Spawn, has reared it's many ugly heads, Demona has reluctantly joined Samson's Resistance cell. But no one, including Demona herself, is fully confident that she'll continue to fight on the side of the angels. This may be her last chance at redemption... or her final opportunity to annihilate the human race. Still, Samson felt it necessary to actively recruit her. It's hard to pass up the help of a warrior who's survived a millennium's worth of battles, a sorceress who knows how to combine ancient magic with modern technology. And then there's that bit about her turning into a human during the day. The only question is how she will use her talents. For now, she's siding with the Resistance. But can that last?
BROOKLYN - Brooklyn is a young gargoyle warrior from our own present day. In our second episode, he'll timedance forward to 2198. The future is as new and strange to him as it is to our audience, and often Brooklyn will be the point of view character to introduce us all to this brave new world. Brooklyn does hope to return to his own time someday, and so makes a special effort not to learn too much about his own "future". But he has no intention of abandoning Samson or Earth in their time of need. Someday, however, he may have to make a choice.
FU-DOG - FU-DOG is a Gargoyle Beast bred by the Xanadu Clan in China, who arrives in 2198 with Brooklyn. Fu-Dog is fiercely loyal (especially to Brooklyn). The ultimate watchdog.
[NOTE: Eventually, the large cast will be split in half. Nokkar will take Demona, Zafiro, Guardian and LXM-1057 into space to hit the Space-Spawn where they live. Samson, Delilah, Brooklyn, Fu-Dog, Owen and LXM-994 will remain on Earth, thwarting the aliens at every turn and engaging in many non-Space-Spawn stories.]
Anyway, those are our heroes. (Other characters will be added over time.) Here's who they're up against…
THE SPACE-SPAWN - Our main antagonists. This alien race was literally "spawned in space", born amidst the fury of an exploding star. For thousands of years, they have expanded their Empire in all directions, and nothing has been able to stand in their way. Their technology is far superior to anything we had on Earth. They possess faster-than-light space travel, cloaking devices, powerful force shields and molecular transporters. They also have weapons capable of destroying the entire planet in a matter of minutes. This creates a dilemma for Samson's Resistance. If Earth becomes more trouble than it's worth, the invaders will simply evacuate the globe and annihilate it.
THE QUARRYMEN - Decades ago, the Quarrymen organization fell out of favor. They were no longer "politically correct". But the events of March 21st, 2198 changed all that. Because most of the world's leaders were abducted while attending the Gargoyle Hatching, many humans became convinced -- at least in part due to Quarrymen propaganda -- that the Gargoyles had conspired and collaborated with the aliens. Now the Quarrymen are making a comeback. They don't much care for the Space-Spawn, but their scapegoat of choice is still the Gargoyles.
THE ILLUMINATI - Of course, the Gargoyles are not collaborators. But THE ILLUMINATI SOCIETY is. The Society is an ancient fraternal organization made up of almost all the true movers and shakers on planet Earth. Many of the world leaders abducted by the Space-Spawn were secretly members of the Illuminati -- proof that the Society definitely did NOT have advanced warning of the invasion. But once the occupation was complete, the Illuminati wasted no time capitalizing on it. They negotiated a secret treaty with the aliens, promising to infiltrate, sabotage and expose any sign of resistance. In exchange, the Space-Spawn promised to release those world leaders that the Society was prepared to vouch for. This devil's agreement was the beginning of a profitable arrangement for all concerned -- and the onset of a major headache for the Resistance.
COYOTE-X - COYOTE-X is a super-advanced robot with a highly evolved and Machiavellian artificial intelligence. He has multiple robot and cyborg operatives, and any number of android bodies that can accommodate his software. Once upon a time, Coyote-X had designs on taking over the world. But that was before the Space-Spawn showed up and rebooted his operating parameters. Now anything less than total control of the entire galaxy would strike him as under-achieving.
And that's the series in a nutshell.
GARGOYLES 2198. The future is now!
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So Greg, have you decided what the next contest is going to be? The topic may help motivate people to finish this one.
I have a few ideas, but will probably take a breather first.
Is the next contest goinng to be another fill in the blank? If so which series? Timedancer? Pendragon?
No.
I had a nightmare last night, Mr. Weisman, and it was about you. In it, you died, and in one of the suckiest ways, too. You fell backwards off a bunk-bed ladder and cracked your skull. It was so horrible! I saw it in slow-motion over and over again; you falling down, your mouth gaping open in a scream, then, "BOOM, CRACK," and I think there was blood coming out of your mouth when you were lying on the floor...you looked so pitiful and helpless. You weren't even that high up (about 2 or 3 feet off the ground)! I wasn't there, but somehow I saw that event (you know how weird dreams can be). I remember seeing somewhere in a comment room and on the news that you had died, and then I was flashed with the image of your horrific death. I felt so bad! I was thinking about how you weren't going to be able to answer the question I asked you yesterday, or any question for that matter. It broke my heart to think that, if a "Gargoyles" movie was going to come out, you wouldn't be there to see it or critique it; and how you'd never be able to work on another show if you were given leave to. I mean, you fall 2 or 3 measly feet off a ladder and die! What a horrible way to end your life! It must have been one of those dreams where you couldn't tell whether it was a dream or not, because I woke up thinking you were dead and how badly it sucked. I was thinking, "Wait a minute IS he dead?"...And trying to remember if someone had said you were or not. Then finally, I got over my disorientation and remembered you were NOT. Please don't think I'm crazy or anything. I'm not sure what brought this on. Probably partly because of the injury that caused Dale Earnhardt's death(a fractured skull), and that somehow incorporated itself into my dream. I really don't know why you were in it. Mr. Weisman, Dear, Sweetie, even though I don't know you personally and vice versa: would you do me a favor and PLEASE, please, BE CAREFUL around LADDERS(especially bunk-bed ladders) or ANYTHING else. Maybe you should wear a helmet or something when you climb one (yeah…I know what you're thinking, but still). If you die should from something stupid I will be VERY unhappy with you for not heeding my advice. So BE CAREFUL, please, don't make me into a psychic.
I am immune to bunkbed death, so never fear.
As kids, my sister and I -- and later, when she got older and got her own room -- my brother and I shared a bunkbed. Being the oldest, I had the top bunk.
Once, late at night, my dad heard a loud thump. He came into our room and found me sleeping on the floor. I had fallen out of the top bunk without waking. He picked me up and put me back in bed. I never woke up.
The next morning, he came into our room and found me asleep on the floor AGAIN! I had fallen again, again without waking up.
[Of course, on one level, this may explain a lot.]
So anyway, have no fear. And as for the rest of you. Don't get any ideas.
Still, I'm keeping track of ideas for future contests once this 2198 contest is over.
Write Greg Weisman's obituary sounds like morbid fun.
Ray> I posted the address to both sites in the S8 comment room a while back (sorry for not adding a link to it here). The Clans Contest Page is at: http://crossroads.dragonmists.org/fantasy/avalon/gargclans/index.html
The Contest prize is summarized at: http://crossroads.dragonmists.org/fantasy/avalon/gargclans/scripts.html
Nice work on your own page, btw. I hope that people will take advantage of it, especially if one needs to type in the entire story to get the last point.
Thanks Vash!
"It would probably help if some fan did what Vashkoda did for the clan contest and set up a website that fills in the blanks. I think that would help get this horrible monster of a contest I created over with more quickly. So, please, somebody... "
Ask and you shall receive. I've been keeping a running tab, a quick html conversion gives us:
http://bobcat.bradley.edu/~rkremer/garg/
Not fancy by any means but it gets the job done.
But how come I never heard that someone had a clan contest website? And what about this?
"(It was described as a cobra's tail in Vashkoda's prize...)"
I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering now, what's the URL where we can see this?
I don't know. Ask Vash in the comment room.
I've been staying out of the "Gargoyles 2198" contest so far (largely on account of the fact that I felt that, since I'd won one contest already, it'd be good manners to step aside and let the other fans have their turn), but after seeing your somewhat taken aback response to how the contest has gone, I thought that I'd ask you this.
In light of the results of this contest, can we safely assume that all (or nearly all) future "Ask Greg" contests will be of the "Why did Demona choose the word 'alone'" or "Why is Hyena" smiling variety, i.e., contests whose focus is on analyzing the on-screen actions of the characters, rather than of the "fill-in-the-blanks/guess-the-names" variety?
No, I wouldn't say that. I think that the Pendragon and Clan contests were sort of fun things to have going on in the background at Ask Greg. The clan thing got a bit obnoxious in the home stretch, but for most of its "run" it was fine. This one has just taken over, revealed everything too fast. Etc.
I'm truly glad that some people are enjoying it, but I wouldn't do something this mammoth ever again in this format.
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