Story Ramblings ch. 1
By Cosmic Inspiration
Disclaimer: The Gargoyles animated series is the property of the Walt Disney Company and its affiliate Buena Vista, and the Gargoyles Saga fan written and collaborated stories are the work of TGS staff. No copyright infringement is intended here nor authorized by the copy holders. All Original characters are the property of the fan fiction author Cosmic Inspiration.
A/N: Inspired by some of the ramblings of some fan fiction authors such as Kimberly T. and Christine Morgan, I have taken some of my thoughts about my stories and decided to share some of them with my readers who are interested, for it may help my creative brain to focus more as it wanders from one idea to another.
As a Gargoyles fan I read almost all of the stories written by the TGS staff, having read about a Gargoyles fans website I did not know existed until late 2009. As a kid I did not mind The Goliath Chronicles so much simply because at the time it meant the continuation of the series and I wanted to know what happened next. Having finally found the fans website, I took to reading the fan written Gargoyles Saga stories and became impressed and entranced, yet I had made up my own characters long before then and wanted to integrate them into my own Gargoyles stories. However, I can be a bit of a purist about shows and movies that I like and had to drop potential characters such as my own mate for Brooklyn, or how I would bring new clan members into the Manhattan Clan such as a ridiculous idea of just magically bringing a dozen gargoyle statues to life and they had 2D personalities.
I then read more of the fan fiction stories by dozens more fan fiction authors and enjoyed a lot of what I read, and this made me realize that fan fiction in any form can allow a potential author to be as flexible and crazy as they wanted to be. Some of my favorite fan fiction authors came to be The Barracuda, Kimberly T., SN, Firebird, Star Williams, and Christine Morgan.
However, I still count among my most favorite fan fiction to be of the Gargoyles Saga, for it was as close as the original show as most fans wanted before the publication of the SLG comics in 2007-2009. And so I chose to try and continue my own version of TGS and even write about my own original characters, many who have a special place in my heart, and resolve story lines that did not have a chance to continue. Also, there is just so much to explore, I may never stop.
Here I begin writing about my thoughts on We Live Again episodes 1-6, and be warned of a few Spoiler Alerts if you have not yet read these stories.
1. Gifts: In many a Gargoyles fan fiction sagas I have read about Goliath and Elisa finally tying the knot, which is often a romantic thrill. It was wonderful to read about them committing to each other finally as more or less a series finale in TGS in the episode Unions, and may have been a wonderful high note for the series. However, there were still many plot threads I'm sure the writers had intended to continue with, but why they had stopped I don't think anyone but the TGS staff knows. Anyway, I decided this was my chance to continue the series my way, and I always say that that I want to keep to the original spirit of the series and try to blend my own style with Greg Weisman's original ideas and the spirit of TGS. As this was my first episode, I thought very carefully about what I was going to write into it, as I try to do with all of my stories. I wanted a simple story about G&E's wedding reception, as well as an introduction story but not repeat too much from the original series' Awakening saga, as most of these characters were already well known and some changes had happened since that time. I also assumed that some characters from TGS were already known by some fans by now as well. As well as writing about a fun party and messing with the characters for some whimsical and romantic moments, there are some hints at future plot lines, many that I am still working on, and the songs If You're Not the One and Wind Beneath My Wings I just thought they fit G&E so much they needed to be written into the story for the romantic tone. On a personal note, these are songs I hope will be played at my own wedding some day.
2. Trust: This second story had me a bit worried at first because I thought I would be going all over the place without a real tie-in plot to pull things together, until I thought of the character Darius, from TGS, as another villain bent on revenge coming to Manhattan, and another unknown gargoyle, and that helped me write the story a lot better. Here I wanted to explore the different forms trust had and what the tests would be between curtain characters, as a mystery arose about two new gargoyles. Here I wanted to begin the resolve of the strain between Brooklyn and Lexington, who I thought was beginning to act like a real whiner, though I understood he was having a lot of issues. But that is no excuse to begin being estranged from his rookery brother. I've always believed no matter how much people in a family may change or disappoint, they will always love you and a family always looks out for each other and forgives mistakes. I then decided to be a little bit different and have Maria Chavez hint at knowing Elisa's secret and do the fanon tie of introducing Elisa's police captain to the clan in a future story, and that she may have known practically from the beginning. With the many issues of trust to be explored, I could not ignore exploring the potential between Demona's human persona, Dominique Destine, and her only human friend Andrea Calhoun, more of which I will write about in future stories. For the details read TGS: Contingencies. I know any readers I have will be thrilled about a Demona story line. I also wanted to hint at future Illuminati stories with Matt and his issues with Hacker and relationship with Sara Jasper, because no doubt they will take the next step soon. I also introduced two new characters, Randal Montoya, the goofy young rooky with the puppy love crush on Elisa, and no doubt he will be trouble for her, and Typhon, who I will tell more of later. We also see the formation of a sinister alliance with Thailog, whom I see as the main antagonist of my series in an 'old' Xanatos and Lex Luthor kind of fashion, a sociopathic villain that revels in his arrogance and the misery he causes, yet sees a silver lining if things don't quite go as planned. However, it doesn't mean he isn't prone to an occasional complaint of frustration like a typical cartoon villain with 'Curses, Foiled Again!' and 'I'll get you next time, so and so!', but I don't want any of my antagonists to be so clichéd or troped. I see my stories are going to get more complex as my series progresses, but hopefully I can make them work.
3.Legends: This title I just had to used for one of my episodes somehow, and I have heard of an episode title like this used to introduce 'characters from the past' to a show's contemporary main characters, and who I could use I did not know yet. There is also the matter of how Gargoyles is almost always having ancient legends and myths integrated into its theme for almost every episode. Long story short, it isn't always easy discovering an old myth may be true in some way, making 'truth stranger than fiction.' I then got the idea of introducing another 'Shakespearean' character into the Gargoyles universe based off of one of Greg Weisman's canon-in-training ideas for more future stories. If anyone has guessed at whom the character is supposed to be, congratulations. Here, Maria Chavez is formerly introduced to the clan and told many stories and has a magical encounter, which I'm sure would be overwhelming to anyone even if you're told about it in advance. However it's not going to be very easy for her to be a clan ally. Also, at the beginning I had Shari from SLG Comics begin telling a story to Thailog, for she is an intriguing character being 'partial to long stories', and I know we'll see more of her, and it looks like Darius has another grudge to hold.
4. Collisions: This story is something special to me, which I'm you sure you can tell from how long and detailed it is. Plenty of fan fiction authors introduced a child for Goliath and Elisa in some way and this became my version of her. Called the Fledgling in this story, I tried to make her be rebellious but fiery, witty, sarcastic, and fun, though I worry I also made her sound too much of a whiny bitch. However, being a teenager I believe everyone whines and complains in their teen years every now and then, even people who had rarely done it. Basically, she allowed me to express how I felt during my teen years at times when I felt the most frustrated and alienated. Who can't relate to that? As well as a time-travel story and introducing a future daughter, I explored the alliance between Coldsteel, Darius, and Typhon, which as you can see did not work out so well, as well as reveal the 'Thailog tag' at the end as all three are as yet unaware of his manipulations. To explain the title, it does seem a little obvious as characters are crashing into each other during battles, but it's also about collisions of opinions and personalities, and in a way a collision of worlds such as the present and future with Goliath and Destiny, the living and technology with Othello, Desdemona, and Coldsteel, and the subplot of the real world and magic with Elisa and Alonso Proselli. With as yet more hints at future stories, such as what may happen between Typhon and Demona, what Darius' intentions are for the battle ax, and who Alonso Proselli really is, just keep reading because I have plans for all of them as well as what will happen to the Fledgling after she returns home.
5&6. Expect the Unexpected Pt. 1-2: This was originally intended to be a single story but became so long I had to split it into two separate stories that in a way happen simultaneously to each other. Here more new characters are introduced and I explore the rising gang war in the city to set as a major back story for my upcoming stories of my saga, just as the Quarrymen were a major back story for TGS Gargoyles series first season. It was pretty fun coming up with colorful mob names for new characters such as 'Cool Hand Luke' whose named for the classic movie of the same name, and 'Baby Face Frankie' whom I named for the infamous Baby Face Nelson. For my Yakuza characters, Hiruko is named for a figure from Japanese mythology and I enjoyed how he liked to mess with Tommy, who is originally from TGS. Where Hiruko's loyalty really lies at this time I can't say, but we'll see more of him. I tried to keep the sexual innuendo to a minimum, because I am not very comfortable with writing such scenes, and I have very strong feelings and opinions towards such subjective displays, but I am not writing this to preach. Just know that on occasion I will try to write more mature stories and make them interesting, but I want to express my feelings about things such as love, sex, passion, and desire in these types of stories. Anyway, some fun scenes I liked to write were the scenes in part 1 with Brooklyn messing with the strip club's control panel and blundering with it, the interaction with Tony Dracon and Elisa with their old rivalry, and scenes with the new policewoman Lutessa Quinn. Watch out for more of her, because she is not who she appears to be. In part 2, I explore further into the loose alliance with Thailog, and the other three gargoyles in this ragtag team, all very different from each other in many ways. Each is given a task to do that they are made to believe will be essential to their alliance but not all are enthusiastic about it, and things don't go quite as planned as two of them get into a bit of trouble and have to deal with interference from our favorite local clan, while one reencounters someone he's intrigue with. More new characters are introduced, a personal favorite is Silvia Dracon whom I want to use as a tie in for my stories I'm writing in a crossover with an urban fantasy book series I like, and future plot lines are hinted at, and I hope you will continue to read my stories to see what happens next.
STAY TUNED FOR MORE EXCITING ADVENTURES WITH THE MANHATTAN CLAN! SAME GARGOYLE TIME, SAME GARGOYLE CHANNEL!