A Station Eight Fan Web Site

Gargoyles

The Phoenix Gate

Comment Room Archive

Comments for the week ending August 14, 2016

Index : Hide Images

BRAINIAC> Looks fine on my end.
Algernon
Denn die Todten reiten Schnell.

Algernon, stop using the fancy-style punctuation. You're breaking the GargWiki now, too.

http://gargwiki.net/index.php?title=User:Algernon&action=edit

Replace all the apostrophes in there with this one (') and the quotation marks with these ("). After that, your link should be functional again and your posts in here should stop blanking out as well.

Brainiac - [OSUBrainiac at gmail dot com]
There is balance in all things. Live in symmetry with the world around you. If you must blow things up and steal from those around you, THAT'S WHAT RPGS ARE FOR!

While we're on the subject of all things vampiric. About a year back I offered to "revamp" the Real World section of Drac's GargWiki page, feeling it was overly Vlad centric considering most scholars these days consider the link between the fictional vampire and the historical warlord rather iffy. But... life got in the way and I kinda forgot about it. Until now at least, but since I started mostly from scratch, I wanted to run it by some folks before updating...

http://gargwiki.net/User:Algernon

Thoughts?

Algernon
Denn die Todten reiten Schnell.


Algernon
Denn die Todten reiten Schnell.

As the years have gone on, my opinion on Xanatos and his truce with the Gargoyles has evolved.

When Hunter's Moon first aired I saw Xanatos as reformed and feeling he owed the Manhattan Clan for the trouble he caused them. If you asked me a decade ago, I would've said that Xanatos hadn't reformed. he was still Xanatos. But he felt a debt to Goliath and he isn't one to leave debts unpaid.

Now I'm of the opinion that while Xanatos does feel indebted to the Clan for helping to save Alex and that is the ostensible reason he gives for offering up his home, the real reason is that the saving of Alex showed him just how useful the Clan would be to hang out at the Eyrie. He said early on in the series that he wanted them for either research purposes or for a personal mercenary team. He had Thailog to work with and the way that turned out for Xanatos probably made him abandon his plans for research on the gargoyles (aside what he and Sevarius were already able to acquire) and the Pack/Coyote, the Xanatos Goon Squad, the Steel/Iron Clan and even Coldsteel have all done a decent job of being his stooges without all the effort of getting the Manhattan Clan to begrudgingly fill the role.

No, I think he sees the clan's true usefulness in protecting his home, his HQ and his family. A service they are all too willing to provide for free (aside from, perhaps, room and board). He has seen many of the security and defense systems of the Eyrie Building fail and he has watched Goliath and his clan succeed. He knows a good bargain when he sees one.

So, he's still Xanatos. He's offered them a home in return for mutual protection. He won't go out of his way to harass his own home security. But if they get in his way, he's still going to do what he wants.

Matt - [Saint Charles, Missouri, USA]
"For SCIENCE, which, as my associate Fang indicated, must move ever forward." - Sevarius

To be fair, it's not as if the Eyrie Building's defenses have an especially good track record.

The energy field was admittedly effective at keeping Oberon out, but (A) he destroyed the generators powering it, and (B) if we assume those were rebuilt, the field still clearly doesn't deploy automatically. Without any kind of warning of an attack, it wouldn't really do much.

And the less said about those automated laser turrets...

Masterdramon - [kmc12009 at mymail dot pomona dot edu]
"Neath the Standard of the Iris!" - Juliet Fiammata Arst De Capulet

Though Doyle's successful break-in is (thankfully) not canon. (As I've mentioned before, while everyone brings up how out-of-character Fox was in "Ransom", there's also the question of how a mere politician - and a challenger, rather than an incumbent, at that - was able to pull off a breach of Xanatos's defenses. Most likely an oversight of the writers - though there's always the possibility of "Doyle had help from behind the scenes".)
Todd Jensen
Hufflepuffs are really good finders

Greg B> Don't forget Oberon going all Godzilla on the place.
Algernon
Denn die Todten reiten Schnell.

Paul> "I stand by my argument that he's not going to deliberately endanger Alex."

I don't recall anybody arguing that he would. Xanatos always has back up plans, and is very confident in them and himself. He still lives there at the castle with his family despite it, quite frankly, not being the most secure place on Earth.

Demona knows secret ways in and out. Thailog is not afraid to invade the place. Raven is going to pull something there, too. Who knows what else could happen?

Xanatos doesn't sweat this stuff much. If he wants to do business with Dracula, he's going to. He'll be prepared. Or maybe he won't. Maybe he'll miscalculate. But it's not deliberately putting anyone in danger.

Greg Bishansky

As I said, I was mistaken, at least about David's interest in immortality.

Except to the extent that seeking immortality might endanger Alex; I stand by my argument that he's not going to deliberately endanger Alex.

Paul - [nampahcfluap at yahoo dot com]

David knowing that or not has zilch to do with his desire to be immortal.
Greg Bishansky

I guess I got the idea from the fact that Alex is still going to be alive and well in 2198, so one could say that David is going to achieve vicarious immortality.

I didn't account for the fact that David couldn't possibly know that.

Paul - [nampahcfluap at yahoo dot com]

These are a very pointed questions: http://www.s8.org/gargoyles/askgreg/search.php?qid=21223.
Green Lantern's Nightlight

I think we jumped to the conclusion that Xanatos had given up his old ways because he'd made peace with the gargoyles. What we forgot was that his attempts to capture and control them in the early days of the series were just a part of his plans, a means rather than an end; his real goal was to increase his wealth, power, and influence, and to obtain immortality. There was no mention of his abandoning them.

That was probably one of the points about Xanatos; his life didn't revolve around defeating the protagonist, unlike a lot of antagonists in animated series. With your average cartoon villain, you could believe that "giving up trying to get rid of the hero = abandoning his villainous ways". With Xanatos, that wasn't the case.

Todd Jensen
Hufflepuffs are really good finders

Algernon> Non-standard character, I take it?
Brainiac - [OSUBrainiac at gmail dot com]
There is balance in all things. Live in symmetry with the world around you. If you must blow things up and steal from those around you, THAT'S WHAT RPGS ARE FOR!

PAUL> "Didn't Xanatos lose interest in immortality after Alex was born?"

No. Where did you get that idea?

Greg Bishansky

PAUL/TODD> I concede Xanatos is unlikely do anything to risk jeopardizing Alex. Especially if Gargverse Drac shares his novel counterpart's appetites...

[SPOILER] "Are we to have nothing to-night?" said one of them, with a low laugh, as she pointed to the bag which he had thrown upon the floor, and which moved as though there were some living thing within it. For answer he nodded his head. One of the women jumped forward and opened it. If my ears did not deceive me there was a gasp and a low wail, as of a half-smothered child. The women closed round, whilst I was aghast with horror; but as I looked they disappeared, and with them the dreadful bag. There was no door near them, and they could not have passed me without my noticing. They simply seemed to fade into the rays of the moonlight and pass out through the window, for I could see outside the dim, shadowy forms for a moment before they entirely faded away.

-Johnathan Harker's Journal [/SPOILER]

Algernon
Denn die Todten reiten Schnell.

Test
Algernon
Denn die Todten reiten Schnell.


Algernon
Denn die Todten reiten Schnell.

I have a t-shirt from the first Gathering of the Gargoyles that was held in New York in 1997. It is signed by Keith David and Greg Weisman. Artwork by the famous Raptor Women. Size L. Never worn. I am putting it up on eBay this Sunday night for a "Buy it Now" price of a whopping 5 bucks. That amount doesn't quite cover eBay's fee, the padded envelope and shipping (inside continental US) but I just want to find it a good home. Search under Disney + gargoyles + event t-shirt. (If you can't find it, it is probably already bought.)
Jean Latimer

We don't know yet if Xanatos has lost interest in immortality. He certainly hasn't lost interest in scheming, in light of the Stone of Destiny incident, and so it's likely that he might still be plotting to become immortal. If we'd gotten more stories during the SLG revival, we'd probably know for certain.

But that would be one reason why Xanatos would be careful in dealing with Dracula; he's not about to let the Vampire-King endanger his family.

Todd Jensen
Hufflepuffs are really good finders

Didn't Xanatos lose interest in immortality after Alex was born? If only for the kid's sake, I wouldn't expect him to want Dracula anywhere near Castle Wyvern.
Paul - [nampahcfluap at yahoo dot com]

TODD> True, the only thing we really "know" about GU vampires from canon is they're vulnerable to silver in much the same way the Children are to cold iron. Even that might just be superstitious misconception on Princess Kathrine's part.

Given all the extreme stuff we've seen David do in the pursuit of immortality, from letting Demona cast a magic spell over all Manhattan to taking an Egyptian Death God hostage, I'm not so sure he'd totally rule out Undeath.

At the very least, I could see him wanting to get his hands on a vamp just so he can let Sevarius "reverse-engineer" it.

Algernon
Denn die Todten reiten Schnell.

Eh probably not, if were going by the classic strengths and weaknesses of vampirism Xanatos would see that the costs outweigh the benefits.
Matthew
This Space For Rent

I think that Xanatos would recognize that the kind of immortality being turned into a vampire would bring isn't worth it. He'd be searching for a far less costly method.

But I can imagine other reasons why he'd see an advantage to allowing Dracula a visit to the castle (assuming, that is, that Dracula needs an invitation; in the Gargoyles Universe, the notion that vampires have to be asked into your home could turn out to be another case of "Few things are accurate").

Todd Jensen
Hufflepuffs are really good finders

Greg B> Heh heh. One does have to wonder if David wants immortality bad enough to at least be tempted by vampirism?
Algernon
Denn die Todten reiten Schnell.

That last post was me.
Greg Bishansky

"Who invited him in?"

Xanatos. He has a plan.

Anonymous

So I've recently begun one of my regular rereads of Dracula and I was reminded of something Greg mentioned in one of his ramble for Awakenings Part II...

"Elisa says something like 'This is where Dracula shows up.' when she's walking through the corridors of the castle. If you take that literally (and you might as well), then you gotta figure that someday, Dracula will be roaming that very hallway." ~Greg Weisman

The not so good Count certainly wouldn't be the first villain to invade Castle Wyvern and he'd likely not be the last. But assuming Gargverse vamps follow the same basic rules as the "Stokerverse"...

Who invited him in?

Algernon
Denn die Todten reiten Schnell.

David Tennant
Doc

Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomeni, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Ourania and Calliope.
Anonymous
Mnemosyne

August the eighth - eight twice over. (August is the eighth month of the year, remember.)

MATT - I've seen that board game in stores, but I've never played it. Sounds appealing, though.

Todd Jensen
Hufflepuffs are really good finders

The SEVEN Wonders of the Ancient World: Great Pyramid of Giza, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

Which works out great because my fiance, my brother and I had a great time playing "7 Wonders" (a board game) over the weekend.

Matt - [Saint Charles, Missouri, USA]
"For SCIENCE, which, as my associate Fang indicated, must move ever forward." - Sevarius

Jonathan Harker, Mina Harker nee Murray, Dr. John Seward, Arthur Holmwood, Quincey Morris and Dr. Abraham Van Helsing.
Algernon
Denn die Todten reiten Schnell.

Saruman, Alatar, Pallando, Radagast, and Gandalf.
Paul - [nampahcfluap at yahoo dot com]

Ebonwumon, Zhuqiaomon, Azulongmon, Baihumon!
Matthew
This Space For Rent

Seraphimon, Ophanimon, and Cherubimon!
Masterdramon - [kmc12009 at mymail dot pomona dot edu]
"Neath the Standard of the Iris!" - Juliet Fiammata Arst De Capulet

Second!
Phoenician
"The suspense is terrible, I hope it lasts" -- Willy Wonka

One(1st)First!
Vinnie - [tpeano29 at hotmail dot com]