TGS Full Comment Room

Add Comment | Previous Week | Text-Only Comment Room | Comment Room Information

TGS WebSite | TGS MirrorSite | Current Episode

Revel> <<or else all there is left to do is Solitare and porn>>: And what's wrong with porn?
<<If only a hundred and forty-four thousand are saved what makes you so special?>>: "I told him I was looking for a religion that gives better odds." "God does not play dice with the universe. Apparently, it's more like Keno." -Ian And J.M., Mac Hall.

Lain> <<gunjack officially proposed and all that stuff>>: Congratulations, but what's all that stuff? He also did the dishes?

DPH> <>: Eh, my handwriting's horrid too, and I managed to not be marked off for misunderatandings with minimal effort.

Na zdorov'ya.
Gside - [gside@comcast.net]
Fair Haven, NJ
Sunday, September 28, 2003 11:19:37 PM
IP: 68.37.159.199

Blah, I don't know what it is about this week but I'm tired. I't 8 pm and I feel like going to bed already. Must be the weather.

I'll post more later.
Jaden - [jaden1444@aol.com]
Sunday, September 28, 2003 11:18:51 PM
IP: 4.3.67.45

Ed<Well, he's resurrected isn't he? It wasn't like they could ever keep it a secret - as soon as Voldemort summoned the Death Eaters, Snape would know. It wasn't an unqualified success, but neither were Harry's (where Voldemort always got away).>

I'm referring to the said part where he poisoned himself by using the flesh of his boy enemy for his resurrection and let us not forget that the Dark Lord wasted over six months just to kidnap boy when he could have done it any time during the school year with his spy.

Todd Jensen<First Voldemort, then Sauron, yeech. Who are the people here going to nominate next for President, Cthulhu? (No, been done.) >

How about Dr. Doom with Magneto as his running mate? I think both would qualify as men with vision and experience that could drive us into new and unseen directions. Also both men are pro-torture which is a definite plus in my book.
Question
Sunday, September 28, 2003 10:42:38 PM
IP: 216.170.210.215

**WARNING: INCOMING RANT**

Stupid, stupid teacher. I have to *handwrite* this stupid homework assignment because typing it isn't allowed. Aside from the people I've sent mail to or visited in person, nobody is quite aware as to . . how bad my handwriting really is. To achieve "nice" handwriting takes a lot of time for me and doesn't come . . naturally.

**END RANT**

Silver - I'm beginning to suspect there's a mathematical relationship between activity in tgs and frequency of regular posts in the tgs cr (things not related to tgs).

Lain - <in other news: gunjack officially proposed and all that stuff and well be formally tying the knot around christmas-time.> *Makes mental note to think about attending the wedding ceremony in person* Where in Texas?

Bad news - My passenger side front tire was ready to have a blow out so I bought two new front tires. I'm pretty upset with the sales tax rate: 7.40% on the tires. Last time I had count the tax rate was 6.5%.

DPH
overloaded, with, homework
Sunday, September 28, 2003 10:34:15 PM
IP: 204.94.193.61

Fire Storm: Up near Mt. Pleasent.. exactly in the center of the mitton. Roughly two and half hours from Detoit. Gatriot county area to be exact.
Silver
Sunday, September 28, 2003 10:25:35 PM
IP: 216.93.113.70

Silver: Hey, what part of Michigan are you from?
Fire Storm
Metro Detroit, Mi
Sunday, September 28, 2003 10:14:38 PM
IP: 65.114.91.3

um Hello, I figured I better post at least once in the TGS CR now that I'm on art staff.
Came on art staff a few months ago.. I've been in the fandom since....forever? uh.. '98ish.. I don't post much in the fourms, not like I used to. Most people know me through the Gathering, some of the chat rooms, Clan Steelclaw(where Vashkoda, Karen and Ed know me from) and places I've put up my art.

just being a little more..urm.. social... I kinda like to be in shadows sometimes.

Dunno, just felt like saying "hi" today :)
Silver - [silver@voyager.net]
Michigan, USA
Sunday, September 28, 2003 10:07:56 PM
IP: 216.93.113.70

I wouldnt want Valdemort or Sauron for the simple reason that they want it too much... I mean the people I prefer to see in power are the people who do not CRAVE that power to the depths of their dark soul... But enough about Hillary Clinton....

silvadel
Sunday, September 28, 2003 09:40:28 PM
IP: 24.225.133.97

lain:<<gunjack officially proposed and all that stuff and well be formally tying the knot around christmas-time.>>

congratulations!!!
Leo
Sunday, September 28, 2003 09:36:49 PM
IP: 172.166.221.224

moving.. tomorrow.. uugh.

in other news: gunjack officially proposed and all that stuff and well be formally tying the knot around christmas-time.

the end.

see you all in texas.
lain
Sunday, September 28, 2003 07:05:15 PM
IP: 67.69.172.126

First Voldemort, then Sauron, yeech. Who are the people here going to nominate next for President, Cthulhu? (No, been done.)

If these are the candidates that we're in for in the 2004 presidential campaign, then I'm voting for repealing the Declaration of Independence and asking the British if they'll take us back. Even being ruled from London under a "taxation without representation" policy is better than having a Dark Lord in the White House. :)
Todd Jensen - [merlyn1@mindspring.com]
St. Louis, MO
Sunday, September 28, 2003 07:02:57 PM
IP: 171.75.195.39

*plops*

Well the weekend has already gone. I have managed to get two parts out of 15 I need for this semester done for painting. Got a long way to go.
So my parents go to Galveston for the weekend for a Bike Rally. From what I heard it was pretty good, my mother thought it was too loud though. Heh.
However on the down side of things I have been told that my brother had his car stolen. They found it, but the theaf or most likly more than one, had plowed it into a brick wall and abandonded it. No, unfortunatley, they did not die becuase they managed to loot the thing as well. For those of you who did not know, my brother is also a baseball player, coach, and instructor. So he keeps all his equipment in his car, including 13 baseball bats, a bucket of balls, his 300 dollar glove that took him moths to break in right and other nick nacks along with all his CD's. What the hell are they going to do with all the stuff, who knows. He is of course more upset about the equipment than the car. Life sucks sometimes.

Moment of silence for Robert Palmer.

GregX- It does not matter who makes it to the white house, the power will corrupt them. Though I'm always worried about canidates such as Sauron with the darkness over the planet goal. I mean, after that's accomplished then what? You have to keep some good guys alive or else all there is left to do is Solitare and porn.

Aaron- It's only when the NFL decideds to uses as much fan service as the good and dead XFL that we should start to worry.

MoonCat- I had sushi in Kansas City, was my first time having sushi too.

Niamhgold- <<Oh, yeah...and Art Spiegelman is a pr!ck>> It's the ones that have lousy work and still have an ego the size of the room and are pr!cks that confuse me.

"If only a hundred and forty-four thousand are saved what makes you so special?"

-My former roommate Mark(the Catholic monk)to a Jehovas Witness-
Revel - [samrx5@cs.com]
denton, tx
Sunday, September 28, 2003 04:55:41 PM
IP: 129.120.237.111

(D'oh! Obviously I meant to say ricketts, not scurvy... )
Ed
Sunday, September 28, 2003 02:24:34 PM
IP: 213.187.39.66

Greg: I’m not sure about Sauron running the USA. Granted, he’s an experienced politician particularly known for his pioneering health-care policies (which have kept his closest allies alive practically forever!). I’m sure he’d keep a well-funded army, improve the transport system, and has proved in Mordor that he’s capable of planning for the long-term, especially compared to Rivendell and Moria, which were badly hit by boom and bust in the Second Age. I suppose he’s the free trade candidate, although there's a risk that the press might dig up those reports from Isengard about insider dealing on tobacco and Shire exports. I'd also be concerned about homeland security given reports of vigilantism being prolific in Mordor, and his meteorological policies are likely to harm agriculture and cause health problems like scurvy that he may not have planned for.
Ed
Sunday, September 28, 2003 11:07:10 AM
IP: 213.187.39.66

fish
Anonymous
Sunday, September 28, 2003 06:19:27 AM
IP: 207.6.149.113

Morning!
anyone watch old reruns?
sean
Sunday, September 28, 2003 03:39:48 AM
IP: 207.6.149.113

I say Sauron should run for President in 2004.

Hmm, Sauron vs Voldemort? Who would make a better Prez?
Greg Bishansky
Sunday, September 28, 2003 02:26:47 AM
IP: 216.179.3.65

Patrick> <<keep track of the words that need accents and ask the person doing the HTML to insert them>>: I didn't know that was my job. And anyway, I took French, so I couln't get all Spanish accents without a list.

Fire Storm> <<But really, you can't blow anything up with them and they don't even make useable detonators>>: As long as they can be used to impress the uninitiated, it's good enough to use for recruiting.

DPH> <>: That wasn't Todd's.

Na zdorov'ya.
Gside - [gside@comcast.net]
Fair Haven, NJ
Sunday, September 28, 2003 12:37:57 AM
IP: 68.37.159.199

Patrick - <So if nothing else, keep track of the words that need accents and ask the person doing the HTML to insert them.> Hmm. *pulls out a mirror* I remember that "Ride the Wild Winds" had some accented words in it because when I did the html work on it, those characters stood out.

*scampers off to go to sleep, do homework, and perhaps, enjoy life*
DPH
barely, mentally, present
Sunday, September 28, 2003 12:25:43 AM
IP: 204.94.193.25

Unfortunately, I haven't yet found out how to work the accent marks on my keyboard, although I have occasionally attempted to find out. I would like to thank Kathy and Patrick for their comments, though.

And Ed's correct about our currently being short-staffed. In fact, if it wasn't for him, "Pendragon" might well not be out yet at all. We really owe a lot to him here.
Todd Jensen - [merlyn1@mindspring.com]
St. Louis, MO
Saturday, September 27, 2003 09:04:45 PM
IP: 171.75.245.225

Gside: <noun: a chemical substance that undergoes a rapid chemical change>
Ok, fine. TECHNICAILLY it is an explosive. But really, you can't blow anything up with them and they don't even make useable detonators.

Question: <Effective? The idiot has lost five times against a freaking kid>
Pretty much true, but he keeps going, and even with the losses, he is generally 'winning' (He's alive again, he has his troops, he is getting more support).
Sure, the good guys are advancing too, but if it wasn't for the fact that the good guys will most likely win in Harry Potter, I'd say he has a chance this time.

<HARRY POTTER SPOILERS!>

Ed: <You could say he won 'Goblet' and he didn't appear in 'Azkaban' although you could chalk that up as a win too since he got his servant back.>
And did he really lose in Phoenix? I mean, <SPOILER DELETED> died! Did Voldemort really lose anyone? Nope! And just the FEAR that he could come back scared the Ministry so much that they severely limited what the pro-Hogwarts group could do!
From what I can tell, the real Voldemort only lost twice to Potter (Chamber only had a reflection of V's younger self and not the real full-fledged V):
When V tried to kill Potter when he was 1 year old, and in Stone, and to be honest, V was just a shadow of himself then.

Let's look at the books:
Stone: Potter defeated V in the past, and prevented V from coming back to life.
Chamber: Potter defeated a backup of V
Prisoner: V got his servant back. The Deatheaters appear to be on V's side a little (and more in later books)
Goblet: V is resurrected, his followers are back with him
Phoenix: The ministry is so scared that Dumbledore may be getting support because of the RUMORS that V is coming back that they clamp down on Hogwarts, meanwhile V's forces get larger by the addition of the giants, a few other species start to come to V's side, and let's not forget that <SPOILER DELETED> was killed by V!

So far, it looks like V is winning the war, even though Potter is winning the battles.

I think my vote is going for the winner of this war. "Voldemor in '04!"

</HARRY POTTER SPOILERS!>
Fire Storm
Saturday, September 27, 2003 06:52:16 PM
IP: 65.114.91.3

Question: Well, he's resurrected isn't he? It wasn't like they could ever keep it a secret - as soon as Voldemort summoned the Death Eaters, Snape would know. It wasn't an unqualified success, but neither were Harry's (where Voldemort always got away).
Ed
Saturday, September 27, 2003 06:25:14 PM
IP: 213.187.39.66

Ed<That's not really true. Voldemort lost three times against a kid, and the spirit of his youth lost once. You could say he won 'Goblet'>

Botching ones own resurrection and letting the said child necessary for that resurrection to get away and tell your mortal enemy is not my idea of victory.
Question
Saturday, September 27, 2003 06:06:36 PM
IP: 144.92.164.204

Question: That's not really true. Voldemort lost three times against a kid, and the spirit of his youth lost once. You could say he won 'Goblet' and he didn't appear in 'Azkaban' although you could chalk that up as a win too since he got his servant back.

Vash: If Gavin is who I think you mean, he's also on 'Enterprise' this season.

Taleweaver: It's great to see you reviewing TGS again. Dulcinea will be a recurring character, she just won't be hanging out at base quite so often. But then, neither will Arthur.

Kathy: Actually, the problem is that there isn't really a 'Pendragon' edits staff. Todd and I look over each others' stories (with some occasional help from Rodlox) and offer comments/corrections, but since we conceived, outlined and wrote much of the season we're probably a bit too close to it (especially with so many stories this time).

While I'm at it though, I'd like to give a shout out to Emambu who has been a lifesaver on the edits front for several episodes so far this season. I suppose editing is a bit of a thankless job because you're more likely to notice when it's not done well than when it is but I sometimes wish the editors were credited. I know his comments and suggestions helped me significantly improve "The Mists of Eynhallow" (it was a comment of his that inspired me to add in brief nightmare scenes for Peter and Lydia) and I believe the same is true for the other stories he's worked on. So huge thanks to Emambu!
Ed
Saturday, September 27, 2003 03:26:00 PM
IP: 213.187.39.66

Todd > What word processor are you using? Most of them DO allow you to type accented characters using special combinations of keys... you just have to read through the help files to learn how. Lke Kathy said, it DOES matter. The word resume means "to start again" but the word résumé means "a list of credentials." So if nothing else, keep track of the words that need accents and ask the person doing the HTML to insert them.
Patrick
Saturday, September 27, 2003 01:32:13 PM
IP: 65.43.165.179

Fire Storm <Sure, he may be ruthless, but his methods sure are effective!
And, he is popular! >

Effective? The idiot has lost five times against a freaking kid.
Question
Saturday, September 27, 2003 01:00:20 PM
IP: 144.92.164.204

Todd > Accents and tildes aren't just there to make Spanish (or any other language look exotic)they change the meanings of words. Leaving the accent mark off the last a in the word "esta" for example, changes its meaning from 'he, she, it, is" to "this". And an n with a tilde over it is a separate letter in the Spanish alphabet then one without. So leaving it off for convenience sake is mispelling the word which is, I still contend, sloppy editting.
kathy
Saturday, September 27, 2003 10:04:28 AM
IP: 66.82.194.97

WEE morning everyone!
i LOVE CAFFiNE!
Time check
Anonymous
Saturday, September 27, 2003 04:36:46 AM
IP: 207.6.149.113

I've barely left my room today..only left for a drink downstairs and to pee and clean my dishes. I would have gone grocery shopping, but it was too gloomy out (I have to walk to the store. It's not far, but I wasn't in the mood to go).

I've spend all day pondering the latest mystery on Neopets.com . Needless to say, I haven't gotten very far...

Plus I've been hoping Foxx would come on, so I can crack the whip and get her to send me the CH 4 outline of her pic (I'm the new beta mentioned in her note).

And now it's off to bed..I need to go shopping ealy and hitc the bus to the mall, I have to exchange my broken N64 for a new one.
Andrea - [takarifreak@dark-stars.net]
Saturday, September 27, 2003 01:53:23 AM
IP: 130.111.154.169

Fire Storm> <<Ammonium Iodide (bang snaps) go boom (kinda) and are NOT a legitimate explosiv>>: noun: a chemical substance that undergoes a rapid chemical change (with the production of gas) on being heated or struck. No chemical change at all? Otherwise, exothermicity and gases seem to be optional.

Na zdorov'ya.
Gside - [gside@comcast.net]
Fair Haven, NJ
Saturday, September 27, 2003 01:06:56 AM
IP: 68.37.159.199

Bored at work. They FINALLY rebuilt my machine, but since I didn’t think they would actually do it, I haven't backed up my favorites in over a month, so that sucks.

Graymonk: <That it is>
Well, then I shall say that was a job well done.

Ed: <And I'm sure I would remember it because the colours are stunning>
You were probably so stunned that you forgot!

Gside: <Anything that goes boom is a legitimate explosive>
Ammonium Iodide (bang snaps) go boom (kinda) and are NOT a legitimate explosive

Josh: <He gets my vote>
Sure, he may be ruthless, but his methods sure are effective!
And, he is popular!
<That's just wrong. The whole concept of a 40-year-old trapped in a 15-year-old's body is just asking for trouble. Of the statutory variety.>
But, since he IS biologically 15, he would be tried as a 15 year old. Fun fun fun!
< They'll change it for Ahnold. Didn't you see Demolition Man?>
63rd amendment!

Robert Palmer died, so that sucks.
Fire Storm
Friday, September 26, 2003 08:09:34 PM
IP: 65.114.91.3

Howdy all,

Thought I'd drop off my review of the latest Pendragon before the weekend starts.

Review
Pendragon: The Dragon's Treasure

When it involves dragons and especially my boy Queztalcoatl, I've got to take a peek. Overall, an enjoyable tale, but a bit slow in places.

The Pros: Dragons as individuals; some good, some bad. I always love when that thought permeates characters. It opens the door to some depth and falliability. Nothing lets the air out of the tires than calling something evil, simply because it is <insert type>. That maybe why I have a hard time getting into Tolkien.

I didn't find Quetzalcoatl's appearence in Spain as jarring as it could have been. After all, we've seen a Roman spirit in Scotland, a Norse fire giant in Wales and an Irish fae hanging out in London and that's just in this season.

Another aspect worhty of points was trying to weave duty and being true to yourself into the story. I may be wrong, but this is the first hint at the spiritual quest Arthur mentioned in the beginning. The point fades a bit since it doesn't make a strong appearence in the story. No one really has to act to their true nature in defiance of logic or reason.

The Cons: The addition of a dragon doesn't save the story from being filler. I'm glad to see Arthur and company finally abroad and I like Quetzal, but it doesn't break out of the myth-of-the-week mold.

Montrose puts in an adequate performance as guest villain. He seemed a little too invested in this treasure hunt. If he was strapped for cash it might make sense, but from all indication he'd just go back to running his multinational company. Oh the tragedy!

Villains like Adrians and Montrose don't put the heroes in jeopardy, but they are malleable for what the story needs.

The pacing felt slow. It was about half way before Montrose makes his move. And in the end, they just pull a Bushido style closing. It works, but sort of a let down where conflicts are concerned. I mean the mercenaries had particle rifles, but nary a shot.

One question: is this the exit for Dulcinea? While we learned a little more about her (ya!) it seems like she's going to stay in Spain. I feel mixed on this. She hasn't distinguished herself beyond recurring character, and her absence doesn't look like it would impact the King's men greatly. But then who has? I appreciate the screen time. It balance things between the old characters and Mary, but leaves me feeling mixed.

I'll see ya next time.

End of Review
Taleweaver
Friday, September 26, 2003 07:44:15 PM
IP: 24.205.177.107

KATHY - Thanks, but we didn't actually use any actual Spanish in the story; the issue was more over the accent marks.

ALEX - We didn't bring in Roland's sword mainly because it never occurred to us to include it. However, the story wasn't focused around him anyway, but around Quetzalcoatl, so I doubt that there would have been room for it even if we had remembered it.
Todd Jensen - [merlyn1@mindspring.com]
St. Louis, MO
Friday, September 26, 2003 07:35:18 PM
IP: 171.75.245.146

Todd, sweetie - if you don't have anybody to translate for you (and a big old wet noodle spanking to who ever is editting TGS these days for not supplying the foreign verbage you couldn't manage) remember Babelfish http://babelfish.altavista.com/ or click. It works pretty well for most basic translations and covers lots of languages. And you can cut and paste!

I've had my own mama cat and kitten trials over the last few weeks. Since we've moved here we've spayed and neutered and relocated to the animal shelter many, many, cats varying in temperment from completely domesticated to down right hostile.

But there were two cats ( a male and a female, natch) that were too wily to trap. The girl, Spice, had her second litter of kittens which even though she doesn't trust me enough to approach her or touch her, she does trust me to take care of her kittens when they're hurt or need additional feeding. So I have. Figuring this was my best shot for catching her, I optimistically made her a spay appt. Now, I was hoping to use the kittens as bait- they've been in a large kennel on the front porch, but then the clinic changed her appointment so I was kind of out of luck on that score. So last night I set the trap and this morning - to my surprise - the other cat, Liam was caught cooling his jets and very annoyed.

Spice on the other hand, had come into the house (through the window we leave open for our original gang of cats to enter/exit) for an early breakfast and visit with the two kittens who haven't found homes yet. A quick chase around the kitchen and she was ready to travel too.

So yay! Big relief off my mind. Now, if I can just find homes for those two little guys.

Breaktime over. Good weekend everybody!
kathy
Friday, September 26, 2003 03:13:09 PM
IP: 66.82.194.97

Hey. i just thought I'd drop in and say that I really enjoy reading the gargoyles and other stories you are writing here. I especially like how I am able to recognize the characters from the old series through the writing. I haven't finished reading all of Dark Ages and Pendragon, but I loved Gargoyles and TimeDancer.

Anyways, I was just wondering one thing. When you started speaking about Roland, I thought that you would eventually bring up Durandal (or Durandana), his sword. but I didn't see it anywhere. Was there a reason for this? Or is there enough talk about all the other old magical artifacts that were made through the ages in the series, and you thought that adding another one would become repetitive (considering the previous episodes contained the Godslayer). Through, Durandal wasn't as magical as Excalibur, but it is said to carry christian relics.

Anyways, thanks for making such great stories, and I'll be waiting next tuesday for another installment of Pendragon!
Alex - [dnarn_kuuk@hotmail.com]
Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada
Friday, September 26, 2003 02:47:38 PM
IP: 209.226.98.185

Todd> <<Unfortunately, the keyboard for my computer doesn't have tildes or other Spanish accent marks>>: Which is when one learns the wonders of character map, and alt-numkeys combinations.

Na zdorov'ya.
Gside - [gside@comcast.net]
Fair Haven, NJ
Thursday, September 25, 2003 11:54:14 PM
IP: 68.37.159.199

Woooo Hoooo!
Tomorrow nite I'm gonna see REM! 2nd Row!! (for me this is like the pope coming to town). That and I have a cool excuse for going back to Chicago! I can't wait!

Sorry its late, but happy birthday Josh. Happy birthday Revel. :) :) *a happy face for each of you*

I can't wait! I can't wait!
*crawls into the corner of her apartment to tremble with excitement*
later!

Dezi
Thursday, September 25, 2003 11:22:50 PM
IP: 68.58.158.101

A few more responses to Vashkoda's comments on "The Dragon's Treasure."

1. Actually, I had assumed that "Thomas Quince" would be passing himself off as English rather than Spanish (the surname was derived not from Spanish, but from Peter Quince in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" - the main reason why I chose it was to give him a surname that would mildly evoke "Quetzalcoatl" without making it too obvious.) Sorry for not making it clearer.

I'll admit that the Darien Montrose business had some plotholes in it; unfortunately, our Edits staff for "Pendragon" is a small one, and with so few people working on it, we had less probability of catching them in time. (We had one Edits review which made many of the same points that you did; alas, the reviewer wasn't able to get it in on time due to undergoing a bout with the flu which meant that, by the time he was able to finish the review and send it in, the story had already been released.)

(And I'll confess that I had a few problems being able to take Darien Montrose seriously after his little encounter with Demona and Angela at the end of "Lethe".)

Most of Quetzalcoatl's characterization was worked out by Nicodemus, who particularly stressed that while Quetzalcoatl in some way encouraged the Spanish conquistadors' destruction of the Aztec empire, he did not directly cause it; again, I fear that I didn't manage to make it clear enough in the story. I did see his role being subtle, more accompanying them in disguise to make certain that everything went through without a hitch than directly stirring up Columbus to sail west in 1492 or Cortez to go to Mexico and pay a little call on Montezuma in 1519.

The Roland business got in mainly because I couldn't resist bringing Roland and Roncesvalles into a story about King Arthur visiting the Pyrenees. Arthur and his knights of the Round Table are the most famous figures of medieval chivalric romance nowadays. But Roland and his stand at Roncesvalles are also a major part of medieval chivalric romance, and showed up in such a light even earlier than Arthur did (a Norman minstrel named Taillefer actually sang extracts from the Song of Roland at the Battle of Hastings, about seventy years before Geoffrey of Monmouth popularized King Arthur in "The History of the Kings of Britain"). So I thought that it would be neat if Arthur could somehow pay his respects to Roland. As for your point about Roland's refusal to sound his horn and send for Charlemagne; well, thought is still divided as to whether he'd done the right thing or not. Maybe one reason why I didn't do so good a job of arguing for Roland's deed being heroic was that my own "gut response" to it was a lot closer to Merlin's than it was to Arthur and Dulcinea's. At any rate, if you'd like to know more about the original legend, I suggest a good translation of the Song of Roland (the one that I have is the Mentor Books translation by Robert Harrison).

And, yep, there were some deliberate echoes of "The Hobbit" in the story (although I'm not sure now if Merlin's remark about stealing a cup was derived from "The Hobbit", from "Beowulf", or from both); I came up with the idea during Breakdowns after we decided upon "The Dragon's Treasure" being about Darien being after "dragon-treasure"; I decided that echoes of "The Hobbit" would fit nicely into a story that would be, in part, a parody of "hunting for the dragon's gold and jewels."

At any rate, thanks for your review, and I hope that next week's story won't have the plotholes that bothered you in this week's story.
Todd Jensen - [merlyn1@mindspring.com]
St. Louis, MO
Thursday, September 25, 2003 07:27:07 PM
IP: 171.75.195.83

Phire Kitty - <HI DPH miss ya! :oP ;o) anyways mizz youz email me kays?> DPH has been extremely drowsy lately due to a combination of a couple of drugs and a sleep deficit so it might be a few days before you get another response from dph.
dph's hologram
AR, USA
Thursday, September 25, 2003 07:03:08 PM
IP: 204.94.193.62

Josh: [That must have been ugly.] it was. but things are better now.

*Does an interpretive dance to the great talent that is Hudson, in thanks for his help. and his chaps.*

[Phire Cat] : Lain is still alive. Bad Guys is not posted online due to it still being in the "being written" stage; Pendragon is the series being released right now.

Aaron!
*Pounces on his feet, pretending she is Proxy*
Lynati
online from home!, Hudson rules!
Thursday, September 25, 2003 05:04:54 PM
IP: 65.64.100.247

Hey why can't I read any of the Bad GUys stuff yet??? And Lain are you still alive? Email me and tell me how your doing. I'm lonely in my new place and no one but the Mexicin' has come to see me and my new place ;_; oh yeah the Stirp boo loser said he may be coming by in November and I thought I might do the "how to host" a murder was wondering if you were interested in still comeing to that if I do...oh yeah I may have a phone by the end of next week...oh and HI DPH miss ya! :oP ;o) anyways mizz youz email me kays? byesa
Phire Kitty
NOwhere, Novoflux, Onlythelonely
Thursday, September 25, 2003 03:38:51 PM
IP: 198.96.80.15

whoops, i dont remember what i was going to say but thi was not it
sean
Thursday, September 25, 2003 03:16:02 PM
IP: 207.6.190.83

thi
sean
Thursday, September 25, 2003 02:39:15 PM
IP: 207.6.190.83

VASHKODA - Unfortunately, the keyboard for my computer doesn't have tildes or other Spanish accent marks. Sorry about that.
Todd Jensen - [merlyn1@mindspring.com]
St. Louis, MO
Thursday, September 25, 2003 06:43:15 AM
IP: 171.75.194.82

Hm, in the line where I say, "Why would Mr. Q go there personally...", I meant "why would Montrose go there personally...?"
Vkhsdoaa
Thursday, September 25, 2003 03:36:48 AM
IP: 129.98.127.164

Wow, first 'Angel', then '24', and now 'Jake 2.0'. Gavin's actor seems pretty lucky at getting bit parts.

******************
TGS: tDT> Ack! Something that I found very annoying was the lack of tildes and accents. I imagine that Mr. Quince's name was actually intended to sound more like the Spanish number 15 than the English word 'mince', but it took me a while to make the connection. I know Ed hates writing dialects and I don't know if Todd is the same, but it would have added a lot more character to the guy if you'd had him toss in a Spanish expression here and there. Even Zafiro said 'amigos' in the show. =P And I think his name should also be 'Tomas' instead of 'Thomas'. But enough about language.

I think Montrose should have been a lot more suspicious about the map. How would Mr. Q have gotten his hands on such a thing, and why wouldn't anyone else have used the map before now? Why would Mr. Q go there personally and risk it being a waste of his valuable time? (shouldn't he have demanded that Mr. Q check it out personally before bringing it to his attention?). Granted, Montrose isn't Xanatos, but in this story he was portrayed as a blundering idiot, little better than Lucius. I groaned when he put on a fake mustache and expected his disguise to fool Arthur (a bit too classic a cartoon villain blunder). Even his lackeys didn't show him any respect (just as with Lucius), so how are we readers supposed to respect him?

I enjoy unexpected twists in stories, so I liked having the Quetzalcoatl show up in Spain. I am somewhat disappointed that Zafiro's kind are not the origin of the legend, however. I agree with others here that it's role in history seems a bit over-exaggerated. I did not like having the Spanish conquest of South America be attributed to the dragon's meddling (even though Mr. Q. tried to downplay his own role, the story makes it seem otherwise). I mean, this is a large chunk of history here, and a bloody and humiliating one at that. How would you react to a fic where slavery or WWI were said to be caused by some mishap by a fae? It just doesn't sit well with me.

It was nice seeing Merlin youthful again, but I don't see why a dragon's presence would bring prosperity to a region. As for the dragon's presence, I'm still not sure I understand its reasoning. First it wants to help mankind, then it runs away in shame and hides in a mountain. What I don't understand is whether it *wants* company or is trying to *avoid* attention. It writes books to help educate people, but when visitors come to its mountain it hides. It calls itself a hermit, but then travels far from home for long periods of time seeking people like Montrose who might eventually come looking for it. It's one thing to be ashamed and isolate oneself as puishment for past misdeeds; it's another to actually *enjoy* being alone and threaten to kill anyone who comes knocking. I don't get it. Why even fabricate the map in the first place? Why not just move if it's afraid someone might actually figure out the secret to its hidden -empty- cave (speaking of which, why even leave symbols there to find? And when the cave did appear, wouldn't some of the villagers have gotten suspicious? I'd figure at least a few of them knew the area well enough to realize there hadn't been a cave there before).

The whole dragon-mountain thing made me think of 'The Hibbit'. I was waiting for someone to suggest that they read the map by moonlight. ;)

I didn't like how no one but Mary had a problem with Roland's suicide attack. Was there a reason why he didn't call for help, other than foolish pride? What is the lesson being taught to poor Mary, here? That to be a true knight, it's better to go down fighting than admit you need help? I liked how the connection was made to what Coldstone once said about 'mere survival' not being enough, but I did *not* see any good reason why Roland wouldn't have called for reinforcements. Were his reinforcements guarding something more important than the lives of Roland and his men, perhaps? (I hope so. Meaningless death sucks).

I liked how the issue of Mary's education was brought up, and it was nice to see her able to defend herself rather than becoming the typical helpless female hostage.

So in other words, an enjoyable read, but it would have been nice to have the confusing points above made a bit more clear.
*******************
Voakdhsa
Thursday, September 25, 2003 03:34:00 AM
IP: 129.98.127.164

Josh> <<As you hate me, I'll let it slide>>
Aren't you dead yet? ;)

<<Even if I work my butt off?>>
Yep, sounds like ritual sacrifice to me.

<>
Excuses, feh. (This is my first time ever using "feh". I'm very excited about it.)

<<As the person making the assertion, the burden of proof is on you.>>
Prove it.

<<It's possible.>>
No, it's not. That would irrevocably sprain several key laws of physics.

<<It would help you feel better.>>
Muahahahah!!!
____________________
Kaioto> <<A horse isn't going to be able to carry a stone gargoyle on its back.>>
Ouch. That would be... awkward.

Bud-Clare - [budclare@yahoo.com]
Thursday, September 25, 2003 02:15:29 AM
IP: 66.67.201.63

Imzadi> <<That must have been ugly>>: Not necessarially, things can implode neatly. It's only if they continue through to the other side does it get ugly.
<<You'll find that I'm very good about keeping quiet about NDA stuff>>: I know. It just takes someone as insane as I am to jump from an assertion of belief in nanomachines to something you'd seen in the bowels of Apple R&D.

Na zdorov'ya.
Gside - [gside@comcast.net]
Fair Haven, NJ
Wednesday, September 24, 2003 11:41:37 PM
IP: 68.37.159.199

KAIOTO - Good point about the bit regarding Quetzalcoatl and maize. When I was writing that bit, I was simply putting down what I knew about the Quetzalcoatl legend (I'll confess I'm less familiar with Mesoamerican legend than Arthurian legend), without critically evaluating it. Well, this is how we learn.

GRAYMONK - I recall that the information about Lucius being given the boot for his UFO theories was given in "The Watching Eye" and "Ploys".
Todd Jensen - [merlyn1@mindspring.com]
St. Louis, MO
Wednesday, September 24, 2003 07:16:28 PM
IP: 171.75.195.85

Graymonk: Yeah, Sybil’s another terrific character that’s been underused for a long time. She’ll be back. ;)

I think in some ways though, the nature of the Grail quest itself has dictated which villains are prominent. Season 4 is very personal. The characters are frequently trying to make peace with their past while trying to understand their place in the present. This doesn’t immediately suit characters like Sybil, Lucius and Montrose who are all concerned in different ways with the pursuit and nature of power. Sybil believes that might is right. Lucius believes that might is not for ordinary humans to wield. Montrose believes that might is for the highest bidder to wield (himself). So far, Arthur has had no particular answer to these contentions because he’s too busy bouncing from quest to quest as his enemies do nasty things to him. I think this has led us into asking questions about who Arthur is and what his role is rather than matching him against specific villains. I hope that over the course of the season you’ll see a lot of the long-standing issues that face Arthur as a person resolved. I suppose to do this we’ve had to dodge or push back parts of ‘Pendragon’ that deal with Arthur as a king and a figure in his own right. Unlike ‘Gargoyles’ we used the ‘Arthur is revealed’ plot twist to make the character more internal rather than forcing him into the world immediately. It’s not that these issues aren’t interesting or that we don't plan to address them, it's just that season 4 seemed to head in a slightly different direction.

Anyway, that’s just me rambling. Todd probably has a completely different take on this. Hopefully you’ll draw your own conclusions too when you see the rest of the season.

Kaioto: I do realise that, and what makes the situation so bleak is that the Conservatives are anonymous and the Liberal Democrats pernicious. But that doesn’t make any of Labour’s actions more palatable. Plus, Blair is something of a heavyweight to Labour. It seems unlikely that Brown, Clarke, Cook, Reid or anyone else could seriously recapture Blair’s stage presence. A third of Blair’s party already actively vote against him so sooner of later there will probably be a night of the long knives. (The popular myth is that Blair promised Brown, the Chancellor, the party after two terms but the odds of this happening are obviously pretty slim.) I think without Blair it’s likely that Labour would find itself in limbo for a period, like the Conservatives under John Major. But the trouble is, the Conservatives are still in limbo, so I can see Labour staying in power indefinitely with fewer and fewer supporters (his party doesn’t even have a quarter of the national vote at present).

Greg: Bush might be a dick (I don’t know much about his domestic policies so I can’t really judge him very well), but he banned the Real IRA in America and I’ve got to respect that (especially after Clinton). But it’s definitely a far cry from the good old days of Bush Sr. being kept in line by Thatcher. :)
Ed
Wednesday, September 24, 2003 06:19:44 PM
IP: 213.187.39.66

Todd - Re: UFOS in TGS; Interesting. So I assume the UFO sightings that got George Harrison thrown out of the military were third race related as well? Lucius' ties to Madoc and Grimalkin make a lot more sense now, and it was nice of you to cut ol' Nokkar some slack. What story was this revealed in?

I have to admit though I am a teensy bit disappointed. One of the reasons Lucius caught my interest was my mistaken belief in a Space-Spawn connection. Being a long time Trekkie the Space-Spawn and Nokkar's race are an elemnt of the Gargoyle universe I'm quite interested in ("Dragon's Stone" is one of my favorite DARK AGES stories because I'm almost certain the octopus heads were aliens). Fourtunatley, after this discussion I've come to see there's plenty of other interesting facets to his character

Ed - <<This, incidentally, is why reader feedback rocks. ^_^>> Hearing back from the authors rocks too ;) I'd nearly written Lucius off as a lost cause but after discussing him with you guys I'm more eager to see him than ever.

So anyone wanna chat about the Queen of Northgalis? :)
Graymonk - [mmckinnongra@hotmail.com]
Wednesday, September 24, 2003 11:54:38 AM
IP: 198.164.140.219

Just popping in to say that I'm still alive, and Lord Voldemort can't run for president, as he's too busy owning the NFL's Potomac-Basin Indigenous Persons. (Which are coached by Dobby) ;)

Aaron - [JCarnage@Yahoo.com]
Wednesday, September 24, 2003 10:43:50 AM
IP: 66.139.49.253

Josh >> You overlook something significant - a single year is always the short-term. Heck, 5 years is short-term. Serious corporate investment is all about the long term. Depending on the infrastructure behind the company, it has a larger or smaller capacity to wait out losses. For instance, when a new company or division starts it is very rare indeed for it to see profit in the short-term. It must - eventually - show a return on investment of a particular level or it is a failed investment. People took that gamble with Amazon.com for a long time.

In the case of larger companies, shareholders still hold on to companies that can't turn a profit the way they are run when it looks likely that another company will want to purchase the failing firm for its assets. Such an event generates a lot more cash for the old shareholders than trying to get fair market value for inventory and infrastructure - especially for businesses like Telecommunications. Selling off fiber-optic cabling and used orbital transmitters piecemeal is just unwise.

But for most non-gigantic businesses, the inevitable outcome of low profit margins over a term that exceeds the shareholder's patience is liquidation. It is a lot easier with smaller, privately held corporations than huge, publically traded properties.

Worse yet, in many companies, debt financing is the only way to establish the necessary infrastructure to try and become profitable. If they fail, creditors will force the liquidation of the company. Again, this is especially threatening for small and medium-sized business.

And, oddly enough, Josh, when big companies run at losses for years at a time, more taxes simply come out of the hides or medium and small businesses (and their employees).

Ed >> Re: Blair

That's inevitably what you get for letting preceived "do-gooder" socialists run your country into the ground. If Labour and their ilk keep this up, the U.K. is going to wind up with the same governmental albatros around its neck as Germany and France. Doomed I tell you - DOOOMED!

Seriously though, keep in mind that Blair is only a reflection of the majority of representatives that the the voters put in power. If you remove the one man, but leave his party untouched, you'll just get more of the same.

Re: Pendragon episode * some spoilers *>>

Has to agree with josh here. A horse isn't going to be able to carry a stone gargoyle on its back. No way. End of discussion.

I actually enjoyed the relationship between the Toltec, Aztec, and Spanish tying in to the dragon. However, I think the whole intervention thing is played up way too much. Helping them create an accurate calendar - that's fine. Teaching them how to plant corn? Come on, guys.

Seeds fall somewhere.
Plants grow there.

That's basic pattern recognition. No dragons or fairies required. After that, trial and error with irrigation works wonders. Why the heck would a dragon or a fairie know anything about FARMING in the dirty anyway? They don't plant crops. I could see an insightful and ancient creature being able to help improve on human methods like irrigation or fertilization - but not inventing the fundamentals. It just doesn't work.

I'll write this off in the "Dragons and Fay have big egos and like to boast a lot" file.

As for the general feel of the episode, I felt it kept true to "Gargoyles" form and that's never a bad thing, IMO.
Kaioto - [kaioto@yahoo.com]
Boston, MA, USA
Wednesday, September 24, 2003 10:29:51 AM
IP: 208.204.155.241

Kathy -- **^_^** waaauuugghhhh... I feel loved

I'm not sure how much Japanse culture in Kansas today depends on WWII relocated camps, but we do have a lot of ties to Japan through trade and marketing. The following page sums it up pretty well...

http://www.kansascity.us.emb-japan.go.jp/About/kansas.htm

Lawrence KS is where our one of our biggest state universities is located, Kasnas University, and it sports an interesting multicultural mix of food and college population related business.

Josh - Getting fresh fish doesn't seem to be a problem. Transport of fresh meat and produce of any sort is pretty good, and I've never known Kansas to lack in quality or quantity of ingredients. Yes, if a restaurant kills the fish right there in the restaraunt it's probably fresher, but even in the coastal towns your Sushi ingredients, the fish, is probably several hours dead, but kept refrigerated/chilled until it's prepped for eating. With today's blessing of fast and easy transport and refrigeration, you can get fish of reasonable and quality freshness even here in Kansas. Also, a lot of sushi isn't dependent on raw fish, but includes shrimp (cooked) salmon (smoked) octopus (always cooked) eel (cooked) and many other ingredients including Roe (fish eggs) -- dressings and sauces and fresh vegetables and of course... the rice.

Good Sushi is an art, combining pleasing tastes with visual pleasure. Good sushi chefs are well trained in the art of making sushi. Its not just raw fish. However even our raw fish is pretty fresh.

Darn... now I'm craving sushi and it's only 5 am... eep!

*sings the pancake song to get brain back on breakfast*

~~~
Five crispy pancakes in a frying pan,
Flip them and toss them and catch them if you can.
Along came a mooncat
For a pancake one day
Sprinkled it with sugar and took it away.

Four crispy pancakes in a frying pan...

Mooncat
>^,,^<

Mooncat
Wednesday, September 24, 2003 06:21:27 AM
IP: 68.102.0.23

First midterm coming up already, so I'm a-studying.

Saw Underworld last night. It was awesome. Great soundtrack, excellent action, no talking down to the audience.

***TGS SPOILERS***

"with Griff in his stone sleep strapped carefully upon the horse’s back" - NO!

"I taught them how to plant and grow corn or maize" - No one would ever say this.

The story was well written and interesting. I especially liked how Montrose was able to rouse the villagers into hiking up the mountain to attack the dragon. Not particularly realistic, but very true to the "paranoid stupid masses" that plague the gargoyles universe. Quince seemed very random, though. He seemed to know much about things that had little relationship to him (like, say, the grail), while being very influential half a world away (what on earth was he doing in Spain?).

***END TGS SPOILERS***

Fire Storm: <<Voldemort>>: He gets my vote.
<<do you think that young Jack hooking up with Cassandra will create the next step?>>: That's just wrong. The whole concept of a 40-year-old trapped in a 15-year-old's body is just asking for trouble. Of the statutory variety.

Todd Jensen: <<Voldemort can't run for president because he's English>>: They'll change it for Ahnold. Didn't you see Demolition Man?

Lynati: <<my computer imploded two days ago>>: That must have been ugly.

Kaioto: <<A company that can't will be liquidated so the shareholders can put their money elsewhere>>: What about all the companies that lose money quarter after quarter? Motorola?

Bud Clare: <<A few days late. Whatever>>: As you hate me, I'll let it slide ;-)
<<That can't be natural>>: Even if I work my butt off?
<<If you'd just throw your damn laundry in the hamper like a normal person>>: I do! But then the hamper gets full, and...
<<How do you know I didn't?>>: It doesn't matter. As the person making the assertion, the burden of proof is on you.
<<Are you claiming to have slacked off even more than I did?>>: It's possible.
<>: It would help you feel better.

Gside: <<That's what you get for going to grad school>>: Especially at a top-rated PhD program.
<<here I thought you made an offhand comment supported by secret knowledge you learned in Apple that you could not reveal>>: You'll find that I'm very good about keeping quiet about NDA stuff.

Kathy: <<sushi good or otherwise: Didn't a fair number of Japanese end up in Kansas due to WWII and the relocation camps?>>: Even if they did, good sushi requires fresh fish.

Windows© 98(n) - 32-bit extensions and graphical shell for a 16-bit patch to an 8-bit operating system originally coded for a 4-bit microprocessor, written by a 2-bit company that can't stand 1 bit of competition.
-Unknown

Josh - [ATkicktothenutsDOTcom]
Berkeley, CA, US of A
Wednesday, September 24, 2003 01:33:25 AM
IP: 64.170.153.165

Fire Storm> <<Well, they DO use fertilizer bombs for strip mining, so it is a legitimate explosive>>: Anything that goes boom is a legitimate explosive.

Niamhgold> <<Good work. Jerk-off personality>>: I've heard that tends to happen.

Na zdorov'ya.
Gside - [gside@comcast.net]
Fair Haven, NJ
Wednesday, September 24, 2003 12:48:45 AM
IP: 68.37.159.199

Ed> And, he's Bush's poodle ;)
Greg Bishansky
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 06:33:37 PM
IP: 199.93.82.181

ed>> <<smeared weapons inspector Dr. David Kelly to the point that he committed suicide>> ..i think you might have forgotten the "apparently" in there..
..plus, yeah, what you said ;)

plus, gunjacks pissed cos he presided over an effective ban of firearms ownership in britain. (come on now, he IS "GUN"jack..)
lain
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 06:30:11 PM
IP: 65.93.89.97

Probably. That reminds me - who was the schmuck in America that nicked an entire speech by Neil Kinnock (the UK Labour party leader in the late 80s)? I remember hearing about it, but I don't remember when. Don't think it was Gore but I presume it was a Democrat. Quite the retard anyway - if you're going to pinch a speech, at least pinch it from someone who *won!* ;)
Ed
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 05:53:44 PM
IP: 213.187.39.66

ED:<<He said “read my lips: no new taxes”:>> And He plagiarized that from George H. Bush. ;-)
Leo
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 05:47:01 PM
IP: 68.96.8.12

Question: Where to begin? The increase of crime, trebling of violent crime, fall in detection rates and widespread closure of police stations since 1997? Implementing the biggest tax rise in peacetime Europe in his first term in office (by 2007 government spending is planned to be *165%* of what it was in 1998!)? This includes taxes on pensions that now make it a better alternative to spend than to save for retirement, incidentally. What about his failure to implement any improvements in public transport even though he persists in pricing people off the roads with petrol taxes and off the buses and trains with fare hikes? Replacing the tried and tested A-level exam for 18 year olds with a system that, among many other flaws, potentially allows for a lower-scoring person to get a higher grade (and it's the grade that the universities see) than a higher-scoring one? Charging students tuition fees up-front and then deciding to introduce a graduate tax as well? The state of the NHS? The failure to clamp down on illegal immigration so that the government not only has "no idea" (as the Home Secretary admitted yesterday) how many people are now in the country, has no way of stopping those ejected coming back many times over with different forged papers, but also now is unable to clamp down on the flourishing black market, and needs to take doctors from OAPs to prove to immigrants whose applications are being processed? Genuine asylum seekers, needless to say, are lost in the rush – as so often in Blair's Britain, the system rewards the corrupt, not the needy. I could also cite his willingness to irreversibly salt away powers to the European Union, despite its government taking place behind closed doors, its democratic legitimacy being extremely tenuous, its rank unpopularity with the British people and its economic, political and social climate being frequently incompatible with British interests, even though Britain is the second biggest contributor to EU coffers. Do we really need a supranational body to regulate the size of ladder rungs in the UK, or that bans our beef because of BSE even though British Beef is less likely to be infected than French or German beef? Perhaps the way that he wants to replace the House of Lords – the second chamber – with a chamber that he appoints. Imagine the President of the USA not only being able to fire any member in the House of Representatives that votes against him but also choosing the Senate! He also has populated the seniority of the BBC with Labour supporters (although it backfired over the Iraq war, one British paper is now able to fill a daily column with examples of BBC bias). What about the destruction of the reputation of government – the trebling of the number of spin-doctors at 10 Downing Street, or the way that they smeared weapons inspector Dr. David Kelly to the point that he committed suicide – all to try and cover up a lie over WMDs? Or the way they continued to be caught lying in the inquiry following his death? He said “read my lips: no new taxes”: there were. He said “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”: he wasn’t. He said “things can only get better”: he lied. He’s accepted bribes, he’s allowed terrorists to take seats in parliament, he’s gerrymandered and fiddled the election system to his precise requirements. I could go on but at the end of the day the better question to ask might be "what hasn't he done"?
Ed
London, England
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 05:38:51 PM
IP: 213.187.39.66

Lurking Echo<By the way, was the idea of an Atlantean spear inspired by the one in Milo’s Return? I wonder where they banished the Godslayer, too - hopefully not the same place Apep is in! >

Seems more like the TGS staff ripped off the general story from the Spear of Destiny legend with a touch from Marvel's The Black Knight.

On the subject of TGS, how exactly can Quetzalcoatl be a dragon if his brother Huitzilopochtli in the aztec stories is one of the Twelve Dark Lords of the Unseelie Court in TGS or is this just another case where the legends of the real world differed from those in TGS?

Ed<The Dark Lord: ... is already running the UK. The same pale face, beady eyes, sinister grin... And if you writer the name Tony Blair in the air and rearrange the letters you get "Tony B Liar".>

And what exactly did Blair do to you to make you dislike him so much?
Question
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 03:50:21 PM
IP: 144.92.164.204

Lurking Echo: I noticed the coincidences at the heart of several of this season's adventures too. I'm pretty sure I wrote a line giving a speculative explanation for it in one of my episodes, but I can't remember which. One that hasn't aired yet I guess (unless anyone remembers it).

Graymonk: Interesting points about Lucius, although I'm not sure he's that inconsistent. He's always looking towards a higher power of some form, whether it's a political body or a superior being. But I dare say this will be played out in future episodes with him - especially now that you've brought this side of his personality to our attention!

This, incidentally, is why reader feedback rocks. ^_^

The Dark Lord: ... is already running the UK. The same pale face, beady eyes, sinister grin... And if you writer the name Tony Blair in the air and rearrange the letters you get "Tony B Liar".

Firestorm: Thanks for commenting even on a story you enjoyed. :) Silver came on the staff recently, and I agree that her work looks amazing.

Come to think of it, I must be going senile since I don't remember seeing that image coloured. And I'm sure I would remember it because the colours are stunning. Ah well.
Ed
London, England
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 02:48:14 PM
IP: 213.187.39.66

Greetings all...

Just FYI, the deadline for submissions for the Winter Issue of AVALON MISTS is coming OCTOBER 15th. If you have fanfics, fan art, or even just suggestions or tidbits to share, please send them in to be included in the next issue.

Our featured articles will be dealing with Gargoyle RPGs and other games inspired by the series, Gargoyle Tattoos (who's got them, and how do you get them?), An new character Indepth, and our other regular articles and themed pieces.

Plues we're still accepting entries into our Fan Contests (which we are extending to allow everyone a chance to get involved). We're running conests on Gathering photos, poetry and limericks that follow the "Coming Seasons" theme, a general art and photo contests, and our main "Back to School" contest: the winner of which will be awarded a prize!

We've had a great response to the first issue, but we won't be able to do this without your support. Send in your fanfics and art, send us suggestions and comments. We're waiting to hear from you! Everything can be sent to either me (at my address below) or to Siryn.

Thanks for your time and attention... Remember, the deadline is OCTOBER 15th!

Maintain and Check Six!

Stephen R. Sobotka Jr. - [ssobotka33616_AT_yahoo.com]
Tampa, FL
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 11:26:04 AM
IP: 24.164.29.133

Yay! It finally rained. Although it rained so much that the bridge to our house nearly dissapeared.

I like Mooncat. She's got that joi de vive that is missing from so many these days.

Re sushi good or otherwise: Didn't a fair number of Japanese end up in Kansas due to WWII and the relocation camps?

Bud Clare > Of course I'm ignorant about lots of things. And the beauty is there's no shame in it. Everybody is ignorant about something. Just off the top of my head I know very little about how to fix a car built after 1985. I used to know enough about cars to do all my own basic wrenching. Now I just take them to the mechanic and pay. How to pick stocks for short term speculation and how to hunt deer. But, with time and study I could learn and become reasonably competent in all those things and then I would be slightly less ignorant than I was before.

And as to my comment to Greg - maybe it could have been worded better, but the damage was already done and I was talking to him. Live and learn.

So, who's taking advantage of all these amazing Halloween stores to plan their Gathering costumes?
kathy
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 09:57:11 AM
IP: 66.82.194.97

Ack! Been so long since I've posted. I'll try for later todayor tomorrow ;)

Oh, yeah...and Art Spiegelman is a pr!ck ;) Good work. Jerk-off personality.
Niamhgold
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 09:03:26 AM
IP: 206.41.203.26

GRAYMONK - Thanks for your comments. One thing that I should bring up, however, is that Lucius doesn't (in my opinion) have anything to do with the Space-Spawn. His UFO theories were connected to the Third Race instead; I can freely explain that here because we've already revealed it in the stories so I'm not giving any future plans away.

The basic concept that I had was that, in the TGS Universe, UFO-related phenomena isn't related to aliens (Nokkar is currently the only alien in the solar system; we figured that he's got enough of an image problem already for mistaking gargoyles for an alien race allied to the Space-Spawn without also allowing extra-terrestrials to be slipping past his monitoring system all over the place), but was rather the result of various pieces of Third Race activity (when it was genuinely paranormal as opposed to simple hoaxes or misinterpretations of natural phenomena). Lucius had correctly figured out that the Third Race (both Seelies and Unseelies) were behind the UFO phenomenon, and had decided to make his theory public.

The Illuminati, however, had found out about Lucius's theory; they were aware of the Third Race being connected to UFOs, but don't want the public to know that the Third Race actually exists. (Indeed, I suspect that the Illuminati in the TGS Universe have been subtly encouraging the public to see UFOs as the product of extra-terrestrials as a misdirection tactic - and may have even helped the spread of the popular belief about government cover-ups regarding aliens.) So they quickly got Lucius discredited (which probably wouldn't have been too difficult to do given that his colleagues would have had a very hard time swallowing his arguments that "fairies" actually exist.)

And we'll see about sorting out Lucius's characterization better for next season, if we do a Season Five for "Pendragon" (which both I and Ed Reynolds hope to do).
Todd Jensen - [merlyn1@mindspring.com]
St. Louis, MO
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 07:51:01 AM
IP: 171.75.194.85

Firestorm - <> That it is :)

Todd - <<There are occasions when I dream about finding some way of doing a "Pendragon Take Two" . . . as in, rebooting the continuity from scratch>> While an "Ultimate Pendragon" does sound interesting I'm not all that keen on the idea of a reboot. Not only, as you say, is it not all that feasible at the moment, I'm not sure it's all that necessary. Sometimes trying to fix a problem with a character can lead to some fairly interesting stories.

For example, in James Robinson's STARMAN comic book (and a big SPOILER WARNING for those who might be reading it) there is a supporting character called the Shade who is as important to Starman as Merlin is to Arthur. The Shade is an old Flash villain but Robinson turns him into a friend and sometimes mentor to the hero by claiming that the Shade never battled the Flash out of malice or hatred but because he was bored and was looking for someone powerful enough to challenge him. Robinson's Shade comes across as a slightly amoral but harmless trickster, sort of a cross between Puck and Algernon from "The Importance of Being Ernest."

However this playful version of the Shade is inconsistent with earlier versions of the character where he did things like participate in the murder of superheros and try to destroy the world. Instead of rebooting continuity to write these stories out of existance Robinson tried to adress these inconsistencies by creating a new villain, the Shade's enemy Culp who could take control of the Shade at periodic intervals and had tried to frame him for murder and attempted world desturction. This explanation not only resolved the character inconsitencies but resulted in a story called the Grand Guignol, a gripping epic tale that changed the lives of everysingle character, killed several off and served as the incredible climax of the Starman saga.
imagine a story with the impact of "Hunter's Moon" and the emotional punch of "Future Tense." By creating an explanation for his character problems in the continuity Robinson managed to create an incredible story.

You TGS guys are creative folks, I'm sure you could come up with a fairly entertaining way of integrating Lucius' different traits. The Romanophilia, slave mentality and potential Space-Spawn connection are all interesting in their own right, they just need to gel together better.
Graymonk
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 07:16:24 AM
IP: 198.164.140.127

TGS story good. Silver is good. Is he/she a new staff artist?

MINOR SPOILERS:

Interesting how you got a Mesoamerican legend into Pendragon, without them actually having to go to America.

End Spoilers!

Jaden: <Believe me, some of us are suffering right along side you>
I'm just bored. YOU are suffering. Sorry to hear that.

Josh: <Stargate SG-1>
Hey, I just saw the episode with Jack's clone... odd thought... if Jack is a step in our evolution, do you think that young Jack hooking up with Cassandra will create the next step?
<CAT FIGHT!>
Unless, of course, it happens during the day, which would mean that the fight has gone to the dogs.

Todd: <Fortunately, Voldemort can't run for president because he's English.>
Details, details. Hey, that's what the 63rd Amendment to the Constitution is for.

Graymonk: <has sudden mental image of the cast of PENDRAGON being guests on the Jerry Springer show>
JERRY! JERRY! JERRY!
NOT the publicity he wants, I can guarantee that!
<Although what I said was Mary should NOT have been foaming at the mouth>
I know, but my way is funner.

Gside: <No, but I'm sure they'd be good enough for the newbies, especially if you bill them as improvised.>
Hmm... maybe... Well, they DO use fertilizer bombs for strip mining, so it is a legitimate explosive...
Fire Storm
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 04:29:01 AM
IP: 65.114.91.3

Fire Storm> <>: No, but I'm sure they'd be good enough for the newbies, especially if you bill them as improvised.

Imzadi> <<These are engineering courses, they just behave like math courses>>: That's what you get for going to grad school.
<<Not that I know of. I was talking about humanity developing nanites>>: And here I thought you made an offhand comment supported by secret knowledge you learned in Apple that you could not reveal. And maybe now you're trying to throw me off the track.

Bud Clare> <<Maybe you smell a little _too_ purdy>>: It's possible.

Na zdorov'ya.
Gside - [gside@comcast.net]
Fair Haven, NJ
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 12:58:57 AM
IP: 68.37.159.199

Ack... forgot to post for awhile...
___________________
Josh> Happy Birthday. A few days late. Whatever.

<>
Er... which type?

<<Why would it be forbidden?>>
It just sounds like dark magic, getting your homework done early. That can't be natural. ;)

<<It keeps me out of relationships with nagging and/or domineering women.>>
If you'd just throw your damn laundry in the hamper like a normal person, they wouldn't have to nag you in the first place. :P

<<How do you know?>>
How do you know I didn't? (Are you claiming to have slacked off even more than I did? Because I typed it _way_ before you posted...)

<<The world would be a better place if people looked up words in dictionaries>>
I wonder if nailing a dictionary to their foreheads would help? Not that I care, it just sounds like fun.
______________________
Gside> <<But I make sure to smell purdy when I interview.>>
Maybe you smell a little _too_ purdy.
_____________________
Andrea> <>
They can smell your fear.
___________________
kathy> <<There's nothing wrong with calling someone ignorant.>>
You enjoy being called ignorant, then? And you also called the question stupid. You really think that you made her feel any more welcome than Greg did?
Bud-Clare - [budclare@yahoo.com]
Tuesday, September 23, 2003 12:04:15 AM
IP: 66.67.201.63

TGS proudly presents a Pendragon Season 4 story . . .

The Dragon's Treasure

Written by Todd Jensen

Outline by Todd Jensen and Nicodemus

Original artwork by Silver

Click my name, go to the link at the top of the cr that says "Current Episode", or visit
http://tgs.gargoyles-fans.org/ce.html to read this week's story.
DPH - [<--Click here to read this week's story]
Monday, September 22, 2003 11:59:54 PM
IP: 204.94.193.69

GRAYMONK - Yes, that's much of the problem that we have with Lucius - we had different ideas about him at different times that weren't quite compatible. There are occasions when I dream about finding some way of doing a "Pendragon Take Two" that would bear the same relation to this "Pendragon" that Ultimate Marvel does to the original Marvel - as in, rebooting the continuity from scratch, with the insights that we'd gotten into the characters that we didn't have when we began TGS, and seeing if this time around, we could make people like Lucius more self-consistent. But it doesn't strike me as a realistic goal at present.
Todd Jensen - [merlyn1@mindspring.com]
St. Louis, MO
Monday, September 22, 2003 06:41:19 PM
IP: 171.75.194.83

*peeks in*
Yup, the GFA has been purged from those spamming stories. I would like to say that I didn't delete this stories from zensorship - Vannesa is free to re-upload them properly, and I would even encourage her to do so. Just please - the description field is NOT the place to put your story into :/

Unfortunately I also had to disable voting for stories, as it has been brought to my attention that somebody out there deliberately 'downvotes' stories. Up to now, the whole voting system was based on a system of honesty - seems I have to change this. Unfortunately, this change is nothing I can do in a hurry, and therefore, to stop further damage to stories already posted, I had to disable the voting system.

Thank you, whoever you are. You just managed to give me a lot of work.

*disappears, still grumbling*
Guandalug la'Fay - [guandalug@gargoyles-fans.org]
Monday, September 22, 2003 05:07:04 PM
IP: 145.254.105.186

Ugh ... nothing quite ruins a week like a sinus infection leap-frogging a run with the flu. Normally I don't bother my doctor with suck foolishness as the flu, but when I got clear of the Flu symptoms and woke up the next day with the unique sensation of a million tiny fish-hooks pulling at the soft tissue at and around my eye-sockets and the bridge of my nose, I figured it was time to see a professional.

Pretty good thing that I did that. The doctor said that the sinus infection was threatening my tonsils and a few more days might have doomed them to removal. He perscribed some antibiotics for the sinus infection which took a while to kick in. In the meantime, he told me to take 800mg of Ibuprofen 3-4 times a day.

I think that's more Ibuprofen than I've ever taken in my life.

Thank God for making smart people, thereby leading the wonderful discoveries like Ibuprofen. Seriously, I hardly take Asprin for anything, but this was getting to the point where I though my head was going to explode like "Scanners."

But, this are a lot better now.

Speaking of better, I enjoyed this second episode of the 2-parter much more than last week. "The Godslayer, part 2" was riddled with enjoyable plot hooks and hanging threads, something I love to see.

Speaking of making one's head hurt, I got to read a transcript of an interview between Tony Snow and Sen. Joseph Biden. One section just completely boggled my mind. You know, I don't mind making the Hidiously Rich Individual Persons of the United States pick up a little more of the tab for keeping the country (and the world) running in a nice orderly fashion. God only knows that the Heinz and Kennedy family fortunes are completely wasted on their current owners.

But it seems nobody is on that page with me, not even tax-happy Joe Biden.

<< Interview snippet >>

BIDEN: By the way, that's not true, Tony. You've got to make $365,000 a year to get into my game here. Now, if they're making $365,000 a year running a 7-11, God love them, and they should pay.

SNOW: Well, as you know, businesses are taxed as individuals, and therefore they come under the plan that you're outlining.

Let me ask...

BIDEN: Partnerships aren't (ph).

SNOW: Let me ask you this question: You've talked about the patriotism of the top 1 percent. This means that you are not going to pay, correct? You're not going to pay any extra...

BIDEN: That's correct. No, I wouldn't pay any — at my salary, which is what, $150,000, I wouldn't pay any more money than anyone else in that category.

Look, here's — it's real simple, Tony. You guys try to make — this is a bunch of malarkey you guys try to do all the time about class warfare.

<< End Snippet >>

I was flat out stunned that he could scoot on past this into more rhetoric without losing a beat. The fact that "Rich People" includes business entities is one of the Democratic Party and Big Media's biggest hush-hush issues. It is one of the things I dislike the most about our tax-codes in the United States.

How many corporations in America made a profit of over $365,000 last year? Heck, even during the recession, their were tons of them. Any business over a certain number of employees and shareholders is going to need to make that much just to see any return on investment. A company that can't will be liquidated so the shareholders can put their money elsewhere.

And all those employees are going to be out of jobs.

And it isn't like the shareholders are all fat-cats living in gold-plated mansions either. A huge volume of shareholders are State, Local, and Union pension funds. Another huge ground are Mutual Funds that represent thousands and thousands of Americans saving for or living out their retirement, or 529 Plans to save for college.

Their are so many stake-holders in so many businesses. The idea that you can slam on every survivable business with over about 50 employes and 3 shareholders when you say, "Tax cut for the Rich," or "Tax increase for the Rich" ... it just boggles my mind to contemplate the level to which people will sink in public obfuscation.

Of course, the Graduated Income Tax has always tested my faith in our governments as well. Let's punish the people who earn the most, because they deserve it. Nevermind the fact that those who earn the most may not - have - the most. Nevermind the fact that the filthy rich don't actually - need - significant income since they already have hordes of wealth. No, just go along your merry way crucifying prospective first-time home-buyers, people saving for retirement, people trying to pay expensive medical bills, or people trying to own a business.

Even Property Taxes. You see huge fights over them in towns were I live. It is sad, is it not, that the poorest towns are always trying to raise them, but the richest people always living in towns that never raise them. Almost as if it were another scam to tax the middle-class into a hole int he name of "taxing the Rich" while the actually rich get off scott free.

I've got a plan for the would-be do-gooders of the Taxing persuation - how about a National Property Tax, a tax that only applies to individual citizens, not businesses. It'll be a tax on anyone under retirement age who holds assets outside of Retirement / 529 accounts in excess of say ... $1,000,000.00 not counting a $700,000 deduction for primary residence and say $50,000 each for the first two vehicles owned. Oh, and make it graduate so Bill Gates pays the most in the whole country, huh? With some professional detail work, this idea might be transformed to a tax on the honest-to-God rich for once.

Why are we claiming, "Steal from the Rich, give to the Poor," and then looting the church poor box? The lights may be on in Robin Hood's apartment, but there's nobody home in Sherwood Forest these days.

I think I prefered the Sinus headache. :(

Kaioto - [kaioto@yahoo.com]
Boston, MA, USA
Monday, September 22, 2003 02:37:07 PM
IP: 208.204.155.241

Josh: <<sushi>>: Is sushi really that good in Kansas?

Not everywhere in Kansas. Which is why I am so jealous that it is so good in Lawrence. Jenny is much more well traveled than I. Since her parents are both in the 6 figures a year salary range she gets to travel more than I and she's had sushi on both coasts, and in Europe, Taiwan and Korea (where sushi is really well done because of all the Japanese cross culture). She says she's never had better sushi than at that one place, and I believe her.

Even my friend Lily, who lived in Japan for two years and who has always said she doesn't really like sushi, ate with us and went into rapture. She couldn't believe it was so good.

The waiters were also incredibly gorgeous. My attention was mainly on the sushi, but my eyes were pretty happy that night. Very sorry I didn't bring my camera that day. I'd have taken pictures of the sushi, to put on my LJ and to make my friend Steve gnash his teeth in envy *^_^*

I'm going to save up my money so I can day trip again in another few months and do that again.

Mooncat
>^,,^<

Mooncat
Monday, September 22, 2003 01:48:31 PM
IP: 68.102.0.23

belated Birthday wishes to Josh and Revel.

my computer imploded two days ago, at least the part that deals with internet browsers and instant messengers. Half the time I turn on AIM my computer shuts off, and that's just 1/20th of the problem. I'm seeking help for it, but don't know when it will be fixed. blah.

Lynati
school computer lab, blah
Monday, September 22, 2003 01:46:30 PM
IP: 216.87.49.200

TODD> <<So the Dark Lord's out of the running (and who wants to see him in the White House, anyway?).>>

Oh come on, he can't be any worse than the chimp we have now ;)
Greg Bishansky
Monday, September 22, 2003 01:44:11 PM
IP: 216.179.1.183

...singleton...
emails not workin so yeah just get online..or somethin
sneakyninja124
lp, ny, usa
Monday, September 22, 2003 01:40:55 PM
IP: 24.58.147.189

Luke?, who's Luke?

Todd - Re: Lucius' motivation. Thanks for the info, I think I remember that speech now that you mention it. Lucius' actions during the SUW certianly make more sense now. However, I'm still unclear about what believing huamns are too stupid to rule themselves has to do with his Romanophilia. Does he think Rome was humanity's last chance to get their affairs in order or something? I do get the link between the name Lucius and Arthurian legend, I just don't understand why someone who claims to be the decedent of a Roman emporer and seems to long for the good old days one moment is willing to be a slave the next. And what does any of this have to do with those UFO theories that got him kicked out of University?

Firestorm - <<Graymonk: <Mary should have been faoaming at the mouth in jealousy>
Mary: "Keep your hands off of my man you HALFLING B!7*H!">> LOL! *Graymonk has sudden mental image of the cast of PENDRAGON being guests on the Jerry Springer show*
Although what I said was Mary should NOT have been foaming at the mouth :)
Graymonk - [mmckinnongra@hotmail.com]
Monday, September 22, 2003 12:02:24 PM
IP: 198.164.140.136

Fortunately, Voldemort can't run for president because he's English. You have to been born in this country as an American to become president. So the Dark Lord's out of the running (and who wants to see him in the White House, anyway?).

GRAYMONK - Good points about Mary, by the way. I'd made an effort to show her uneasiness about Nimue (and particularly the fear that Nimue might re-imprison Merlin or something like that), but I'm afraid that it didn't come out too clearly. Sorry about that.
Todd Jensen - [merlyn1@mindspring.com]
St. Louis, MO
Monday, September 22, 2003 07:45:14 AM
IP: 171.75.194.91

Well, since it's getting time to start ignoring the 2004 presidential race, I thought I would post a link to a canidate that knows how to take charge.
A canidate that even when he is down, he comes back up.
A canidate that has no hidden agenda.
And while he is currently running for govenor of California, if he does not win, I say he should go for President.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... the future president of the United States...
Voldemort
Fire Storm - [<--- Voldemort for President]
Monday, September 22, 2003 04:27:07 AM
IP: 65.114.91.3

Good birthday. Good company, good food, good booty. My roommate got me a NIN traction belt and my friend sent me a Dilbert animation cell. Then I spent all day today working on my assignments and actually got them all finished! Even had extra time to do research for my paper that's due next month.

Ooh and I got a car wash. Shiny now.

Spacebabie: <<you have to take piddly crap classes>>: That's just it, I don't. These are engineering courses, they just behave like math courses.
<<Go play with some legos>>: I do.
<>: Not concerned, as usual.

Gside: <<You were online well before '93?>>: Just about, yeah.
<<Apple's developed nanites that turns everyone's PC into Macs?>>: Not that I know of. I was talking about humanity developing nanites.
<>: I'm of the belief that everyone should work retail ONCE, and never again. It teaches valuable people skills. As a programmer, you could probably use those.
<<Maybe I could find an internship instead now>>: Most internships require that you be enrolled in school.

Graymonk: <<do you need to understand a language in order to say a few words of it?>>: No, but I'd imagine more education was require to at least be able to pronounce.

Mooncat: <<sushi>>: Is sushi really that good in Kansas? I'd imagine you don't get fish out there that's as good as it is on the coasts.

Fire Storm: <<Keep your hands off of my man you HALFLING B!7*H!>>: CAT FIGHT!

What is an Oprah?
-Teal'c (Christopher Judge), Stargate SG-1

Josh - [ATkicktothenutsDOTcom]
Berkeley, CA, US of A
Monday, September 22, 2003 03:18:57 AM
IP: 64.170.153.165

Just a quick post before I go to sleep. I invented a new math.
Math test + Political Science test + Flu = GRRRRRRRRR!

Fire Storm- Believe me, some of us are suffering right along side you.

Revel and Josh- Happy Birthday.

Later.
Jaden - [jaden1444@aol.com]
Monday, September 22, 2003 01:09:00 AM
IP: 4.46.143.210

Niamhgold: <Hang in there, buddy>
Thanks. Was exhausted when I drove myself home, but... I couldn't sleep. LM, her sister, and her friends were out shopping for wedding dresses and it was... weird coming home to an empty house and knowing that no one else was at work, and that hasn't happened in... ok, I can't remember that happening before. SO, LM came home at 3, I slept until 10, and here I am at work... again... but at least I am only here until 7am.

Graymonk: <Mary should have been faoaming at the mouth in jealousy>
Mary: "Keep your hands off of my man you HALFLING B!7*H!"

Gside: 
Yeah, but it's so hard to budget between freelance work and weekend PR work. I guess I could always improvise some explosives, but... they just don't have the bang I am looking for.
<But you start businesses to make money. I guess you just might have to talk to an investor and get some capital.>
But first I need to come up with a business plan and my designs for the winning X-Prize vehicle...
All I need is a mil or two.
<@#$!, and I wanted to avoid that>
And with good reason too.
<Maybe I could find an internship instead now>
That could work.
Just look online for jobs, even something remotely related to your field of study and go for it. Worst case is (besides not getting anywhere) is you end up with a crap job that you hate, BUT since it is a job, it looks good on a resume,
<As long as someone writes up a driver. Shouldn't be too hard, as long as you know how to write a USB driver.>
Which, ironically enough, is one of the main reasons I started to learn programming.

Well, it looks like the GFW was cleared of that spam.
Fire Storm
Monday, September 22, 2003 01:00:27 AM
IP: 65.114.91.3

Ooooo!!! Yesterday was Ren Faire day and muchly fun was had *^_^* -- afterwards, SUSHI!!!! Lawrence Kansas RULES!!!! I didn't believe my friend Jenny when she said they had the best sushi in existence, but she made a believer out of me. The sushi chef there is a GOD. The sushi was so gorgeous, and so delicious, and $100 for four people was cheap indeed because we got more than enough to stuff ourselves silly and wish for bigger tummies to stuff more delicious sushi in. Not something we can do all the time, but I'll count the moments till we can road trip there again. Lucky, lucky Jenny to live in the same town as such good sushi. *kitty mouth waters*

Ruth Thompson has a new kick ass art trio of prints, and I bought a triple matted framed set of them that I'm still purring over. Two of my friends bought just the matted sets for themselves. I think this "Once Upon A Time" set will sell out before long. Besides us they sold at least 5 other sets that same day, and probably more individual prints. The run is only 2000 prints of each picture, so I am betting maybe 6 months if that long till they are all gone.

Looking at buying a professional quality matt board cutter.

wow... faire was yesterday and I'm still tired today.

early to bed.
later
Mooncat
Mooncat
Sunday, September 21, 2003 11:48:18 PM
IP: 68.102.0.23

Fire Storm> <<But I have so much to blow up during the week that it's hard to save up for the weekend>>: I gues you're just going to have to budget for it. I mean this isn't just for fun, it's also PR.
<<First thing's first: I need money. Lots of money>>: But you start businesses to make money. I guess you just might have to talk to an investor and get some capital.
<>: @#$!, and I wanted to avoid that. Maybe I could find an internship instead now.
<<anyone think that the Rez vibrator will work on a Windows system (it IS a USB device!)>>: As long as someone writes up a driver. Shouldn't be too hard, as long as you know how to write a USB driver.

Happy birthday Revel.

Graymonk> <>: I will eat tomorrow. Asso porco diabolo gaudet.

Na zdorov'ya.
Gside - [gside@comcast.net]
Fair Haven, NJ
Sunday, September 21, 2003 11:29:41 PM
IP: 68.37.159.199

SN>> Email tomorrow.
V.
Sunday, September 21, 2003 10:56:21 PM
IP: 67.69.173.174

...singleton...
contact me...need help with an rpg...modern fantasy...you know the deal...
sneakyninja124 - [igor124@mad.scientist.com]
lp, ny, usa
Sunday, September 21, 2003 09:28:59 PM
IP: 24.58.147.189

LURKING ECHO - [By the way, was the idea of an Atlantean spear inspired by the one in Milo’s Return?]

Since I've never even seen "Milo's Return", it's not very likely. :)
Todd Jensen - [merlyn1@mindspring.com]
St. Louis, MO
Sunday, September 21, 2003 08:59:39 PM
IP: 171.75.194.98

**** Godslayer Spoilers *****
Todd Jensen > That’s true, in Season 2 Lucius always struck me as an egomaniac who wants fame and power (and vindication for being considered a crackpot), but not really one who believes he’s trying to solve the world’s problems. When he did say something about the human race being incompetent, it just seemed that he is saying that to justify himself, not that it’s the reason he’s working for the Unseelie in the first place.
Graymonk > Harthoth’s appearance didn’t seem like a deus ex machina to me, because he always messes up Isfet’s plans on purpose and her getting the Godslayer would definitely be high on his list of plans to mess up.
There are an awful lot of unlikely coincidences in the stories lately, though - like how Nimue happens to spot the spear being delivered to Monteagle, and on the same night it’s to be stolen... or how the knights encounter Surtur in Dinas Bran. This worked for the Avalon trip because Avalon “decided” to send the boat where something unusual was happening, but here these coincidences weaken the plot’s coherence.
Overall a good episode, lots of interesting bits thrown in, like finding out more about the dragons. What was written about the war between the dragons and fay before left it rather unclear why humans would have allied with the dragons, but it turns out it wasn’t an alliance with a group of people, it was with one man. A pity the story doesn’t tell what they were fighting over, though...
By the way, was the idea of an Atlantean spear inspired by the one in Milo’s Return? I wonder where they banished the Godslayer, too - hopefully not the same place Apep is in!
***** Spoilers end *****

Lurking Echo
Sunday, September 21, 2003 08:54:21 PM
IP: 24.191.62.218

GRAYMONK - Thanks for your comments. One note: Isfet doesn't (at least, not in my opinion) get sent all the way to Egypt by the explosion; rather, my idea was that Harthoth was residing in London at the time. Sorry that that wasn't made clear in the story.

Good point about Lucius. One regret that I have about him is that I came up with what I thought was a good idea for his motivations in "Giants in the Earth" which should really have been brought in when he was first introduced in Season Two. My idea (which he does state in "Giants in the Earth", but I don't think that it came across as all that convincing) was that Lucius had come to the conclusion that the human race was too incompetent and immature to run itself, in light of all the constant wars, crime, social injustice, political corruption, etc., and believed that the Third Race (particularly the Unseelies, since Oberon was content to let the humans look after themselves and had even forbidden his Children from interfering) would be far better suited to governing them. The idea was inspired by a scene in Lloyd Alexander's "Chronicles of Prydain" (the fifth and final book in the series, "The High King", to be precise), where King Pryderi decides to join forces with Arawn Death-Lord because he believes that Arawn will finally be able to end all the constant petty warfare plaguing Prydain. I believe that, if we had made that a core element of Lucius's motivations from the start, it would have made him a more effective and chilling character. Pity that I didn't realize that about Lucius until I was actually in the process of writing "Giants in the Earth".
Todd Jensen - [merlyn1@mindspring.com]
St. Louis, MO
Sunday, September 21, 2003 06:20:50 PM
IP: 171.75.244.156

Hmm. Apparantly, I have this sinus infection :-( , but I am trying to figure out what kind of medications I can take to minimize side effects because of the antidepressant medication I am taking. Can anybody point me in the right direction of where to look?
DPH
AR, USA
Sunday, September 21, 2003 05:08:46 PM
IP: 204.94.193.23

18th in the name of procrastination!!!
heh heh,
greymonk, i JUST started it, just read wizards chess,
it has been really good so far! but life (and homework Darn newtonian physics) are interupting my reading, (i read pendragon in the summer at a 1-3 stories a day!)
Sean
Sunday, September 21, 2003 05:04:50 PM
IP: 207.6.190.83

*bangs head* that should read "1st SPOILERS END line"

I'm shutting up now.
Graymonk
Sunday, September 21, 2003 04:15:30 PM
IP: 198.164.140.200

#$%&^*! I forgot to delete that first SPOILERS END line. If you're trying to avoid spoilers for "Rome Eternal" or "Godslayer Part 2" don't read the two paragraphs following the 12t SPOILERS END notice on my post.

My kingdom for an "edit" function!
graymonk
Sunday, September 21, 2003 04:14:08 PM
IP: 198.164.140.200

*Graymonk enters cr wearing a toga and dancing the "Let's Do the Timewapr Again" dance* I Love Art school. Parties, good music, alcohol, lax personal hygene standards, it's just a 24 hour internet connection, comic book shop and vast personal fortune away from being my version of heaven. Of course I probably be changing my tune when it comes time to hand in projects but right now it's love.

*****WARNING SPOILERS FOR PENDRAGON SEASON 4 (AND GODSLAYER 2 Especially)*****

This was a pretty good story, I enjoyed the flashbaks in particular. Todd managed to give Balinos' charge against Avallach a real epic/tragic feeling to it. I also enjoyed interesting tidbits about the Godslayer's curse and its relationship to Excalibur,their relationship made both weapons seem even more impressive in my eyes. The battle sequence by the truck was faced paced and exciting, especially the twist where the gargs turn to stone in mid battle.

Ifset managed to remain fairly entertaining and although Harthoth did show up his appearance was breif enough that it didn't overshadow her. I'm pleasantly surprised to find that she'll apparently be a recurring foe this season, I had written Godslayer off as one-shot TD/PENDRAGON crossover. I hope to learn more about Ifset (where she came from, what her beef with the Gryphon knights is etc). I'm particularily pleased to see that she is pursuing the grail and the godslayer because for her own purposes and not just because Apep wants it. In the past Ifset has come across as thug for Harthoth and a bit of a daddy's girl. it'll be interesting to see what she's like when left to her own devices.

It's also of note that Ifset's theory that the Gryphon knights are in Carbonek invalidates the Christian origin of the Grail. If the knights were searching for it before the fall of Atlantis its power obviously can't stem from Jesus Christ. I find this more intriguing than good or bad but I hope that the Grail will turn out to be of human origin or at least is not the product of the Fairies or the dragons.

However there were a few things that didn't sit quite right with me. First of all ifset being flung so far by the explosion that she lands in egypt seems a little over the top (although if she really can survive an impact at that velocity without any serious damage it does not bode well for Arthur's forces).

Secondly Harthoth's holographic message seemed like nothing more than a deus ex machina designed to save Briana and Griff from being smashed by the dragon men while Arthur fought Ifset. And speaking of the dragon men, are they minor dragons like the flashback implied or hybrids like Ifset?

Finally a little more jealousy, or at least some insecurity on Mary's part would have been welcome. Mary and Merlin may have become closer over the holidays but she's still relatively(sp?) young and imature. Nimue has more in common with Merlin (halfling, long lived, knows magic), Merlin's been in love with her before and she wouldn't look out of place on a fashion show runway. I'm not saying Mary should have been faoaming at the mouth in jealousy but a twinge of insecurity or self-conciousness(sp?) wouldn't have seemed unreasonable. At the vary least, given how protective she's been of merlin some fear that Nimue might cast him back into the tower of air would be in character.

Frell, how many times did I use the word would in that paragraph? My kingdom for a thesaurus!

All in all, "Godslayer Part 2" was a wild ride dragged down only a little by a few flaws and largely redeemed by an ending that laid the seeds for a promising conclusion to what has been a terrific season.

8.5 improbably big gas tank explosions out of ten.

*****SPOILERS END*****

Ed - <<As for Lucius... well, it's possible I went overboard with the comedy (although I never considered him buffoonish, he is a joy to write, especially since I'd been working on later, darker, episodes before I started on "Rome Eternal"). I think it worked as a balance for Molly's dark journey though, and for some of the dark episodes ahead. We're not done playing Lucius as a serious threat in his own right, but I don't think this episode was the place for it.>> Lucius behavior in RE might have served as a balance for Molly's dark journey had Molly's journey seemed dark. The story had few scenes where Molly was trapped in the stone, which granted, did a good job of conveying the fear she felt, but most of the story seemed to concern itself with Lucius and Arthur's keystone cops-esque search for Molly's body. RE came off as a light hearted romp with only a smattering of darkness here or there. Now I don't mind light hearted romps. "The Mirror" is IMIAO one of GARGOYLES' best but before Demona played Puck's straight man in the episode she'd truned Cold stone against the clan, tried to poisoned Elisa and turn Golaith into her mindless slave. She could afford to be played comically becasue we knew she was a threat and would be again. Lucuis on the other hand had last appeared in "Giants of the Earth" where he came off more as a anoyance, a catlyst to awaken a serious opponent for the good guys, much the same function he served in RE. Char came off as a deadlier foe in GOTE than Lucius, sort of like Sheego and Dr. Draken. one episode playing a serious villain comically is fine, two in a row seriously begins to undermine that villain's credibility, at least for me. I'm going to have a hard time taking Lucius seriously in the future.

Josh - <<Time wasn't spent as Mary tried to memorize words IN A LANGUAGE SHE"D NEVER HEARD OF>> Yeah but do you need to understand a language in order to say a few words of it? I don't need to know what "Je vais manger demaine" in order to say the words, i just need to know how to pronounce it. A couple of pronouciation lessons and all Mary would have to do is repeat it to herself enough times for her to recite it on command. <<It feels kind of like the difference between TV and Text isn't quite getting covered in TGS. The writers should remember that a lack of visuals means more descriptions are needed. The way a character falls when they pass out needs to be written in simile (for example). This helps the reader visualize the story and make it more fleshed-out.>> Good point.

*****END SPOILERS*****

Todd - <<GRAYMONK - Your situation seems to be getting worse. Pity.>> Actually, if anything its gotten better since I arrived here. I managed to get all the problems with my pass word that have been plaguing me fixed and I found out we have access to the labs almost around the clock.

Sean - <<i'm going ro start pendragon later after i finish dark ages!>> How are you finding DARK AGES so far? I remember it was my favorite series until I read the PENDRAGON episodes of season 2.

Meccord - Re: the link you posted <> I think it's a little bit of both.

Happy Birthday to Josh and Revel.

DPH - <<Good news: all the other baby kittens were spotted today.>> Glad to hear it!

hmmm, no Ifset Pic, guess I'll go with Harthoth.
Graymonk - [mmckinnongra@hotmail.com]
Sunday, September 21, 2003 04:10:15 PM
IP: 198.164.140.200

:::Enters dressed as a naughty shcool girl. She carries a large chocolate cup cake with a lit sparkler and a Dr Pepper float to Revel.:::
Happy Birthday!!!! :::smooch:::

Todd>>>Yeah that was me, sorry I forgot my screen name.
Spacebabie - [LadyAndromeda@smstars.zzn.com]
Orlando, Florida
Sunday, September 21, 2003 01:50:08 PM
IP: 4.72.73.90

AMGC & MGC have both been updated with more pictures.

AMGC also has a mascot Gallery now, with yummy Eva & Fiore submitted pictures. (I'll make one for MGC eventually. O.o;;)

Congrats to the winners for Most artistic and creative!!

MGC:
Most Artistic: Shinga
Most Creative: Shauntell

AMGC:
Most Artistic: Kythera
Most Creative: Shinigami

Still taking entries for the current topics on both sites.

Also, Avalon Mist Deadline for entries and submissions is October 15th. (I Can extend this, but let me know ahead of time..and take into consideration I have to CODE everything) (the next Avalon Mists is scheduled for November 1st.)

There are also some great contests on AVmists too, that involve photography, artwork, and writing contests!

And if you have ideas for Columns and junk, let me know! If you want to write something, let me know. Siryn7@aol.com
^_^ I'm honestly willing to put almost anything in the mag.

That being said, WHOEVER has Gargoyle tattoos...let me know? I would really like to have pictures, and interview you a little bit for an Avmist article.

Thanks for everyone's time and help with stuff!!

Siryn - [<--MGC & AMGC updated]
Sunday, September 21, 2003 10:47:17 AM
IP: 24.213.130.186

Curses. 11th. Perfect end to a crappy Saturday.

FS: Hang in there, buddy :)

Adios. Hoping today at the comic con fares better than yesterday.
Niamhgold
Sunday, September 21, 2003 09:50:52 AM
IP: 209.143.83.112

At work. Too tired to do much. This is hour 10 out of 12 (the person sent to relieve me called in, so I have to work an additional shift.)

Why am I saying this?

Because I want all of you to suffer with me.

On an unrelated note, anyone think that the Rez vibrator will work on a Windows system (it IS a USB device!)
Fire Storm
Sunday, September 21, 2003 09:17:41 AM
IP: 65.114.91.3

6th, so :p

Spacebabie: <Just say you like them at least>
Unga. Story good.

Good, eh?

Gside: <Well, if you're going to hold an explosives party on a weekend, you have to hold some of your explosives in reserve>
But I have so much to blow up during the week that it's hard to save up for the weekend!
<Well, get founding. I need a job>
First thing's first: I need money. Lots of money.
<But I have the first one>
And you need at LEAST one of the other two.
I hate to recommend this, but... go retail. I'm sorry, but you may need to so you have some job experience.

Look's like someone spammed the GFW (Vanessa).
Fire Storm
Sunday, September 21, 2003 08:17:00 AM
IP: 65.114.91.3

9th.
Leo
Sunday, September 21, 2003 07:54:20 AM
IP: 68.96.8.12

8th.
Ed
Sunday, September 21, 2003 05:57:21 AM
IP: 213.187.39.66

Seven. Too tired to post tonight. Thanks for the birthday wishes. My birthday did, in fact, rock.
Josh
Sunday, September 21, 2003 04:09:34 AM
IP: 66.125.228.136

6th, in the name of Spain and killer chickens!
Fire Storm and Lady Mystic
Sunday, September 21, 2003 03:10:19 AM
IP: 65.114.91.3

Fifth. Whee.
Bud-Clare
Sunday, September 21, 2003 02:50:34 AM
IP: 66.67.201.63

4th in the name of the Fay

>^,,^<
Mooncat
Sunday, September 21, 2003 02:34:16 AM
IP: 68.102.0.23

3rd.
Na zdorov'ya.
Gside - [gside@comcast.net]
Fair Haven, NJ
Sunday, September 21, 2003 02:30:19 AM
IP: 68.37.159.199

Second!
Andrea - [takarifreak@dark-stars.net]
Sunday, September 21, 2003 02:25:51 AM
IP: 130.111.154.169

*plants a flag*
Vashkoda
Sunday, September 21, 2003 02:18:19 AM
IP: 129.98.127.164