#xena marathon

[girl4music]

INTERVIEWER: “Renee, what do you think that Gabrielle saw in Xena that made her want to leave everything she knew behind?”

RENEE: “You know, it’s what I still see in Lucy. And she can say she’s not Xena and many ways she’s not.

*to Lucy*

Don’t roll your eyes.

*back to the interviewer*

But she has a leader in her. She’s strong. It’s just a quality that I admire in women, in strong women. So I can definitely see how Gabrielle just said, ‘Oh, that’s my ticket. That is who I want to be like.’ So there’s definitely that quality in me that just says I admire Lucy and all that she does. Especially with the environment.”

LUCY: “I’m a very reluctant leader. I’ll only do it if nobody else will step up. I’ll do whatever. But um, and the other question is, why did Xena take her along? She said ‘I’m an outsider in my own home, take me.’ And it was that being an outsider. We all feel like we’re slightly fraudulent, you know? Yeah, I think that’s part of human nature. So something in her appeal made Xena pull her up on the back of a horse and take her away from her home and everything she ever knew. To a world of adventure and danger. Also, you don’t know what’s going on in the mind of the strong, silent one unless you have the sounding board of the best friend.”

I’ve always said this. I’ve always said it’s the feeling of being an outsider that is what brought them together. I mean obviously, Xena, herself. The origin of her name in Greek is “stranger”. She was seeking a sort of companionship without recognizing that she was. And as for Gabrielle - she just wanted to get away from the boring conservative lifestyle that she led in Potidaea.

But it is them being outsiders that is what made them find that ‘home’ in each other. They’re a found family.

[messier51]

"have you seen this tv show" i was born in the 80s. we did not just Watch Entire Shows back in the day, they were just On TV sometimes. please be more explicit in your polls

do you mean - have you seen at least one episode? - have you seen a few episodes? maybe randomly. maybe not full episodes because you were flipping thru channels and missed the first 10 minutes or didn't change back fast enough after an ad break - have you seen enough episodes to know what's going on with the show but maybe not all consecutive or in order (did you watch a marathon on tnt? did you catch episodes whenever it was on but didn't go back and binge watch the rest?) - have you seen at least one full season in entirety (you binge watched it on a streaming service/own the season ie on dvd) - have you watched most of the show in its entirety but rage quit or got distracted before the final season(s)? - have you watched the entire show episode 1 thru the finale all seasons (streaming service/own the show on ie dvd) - so many other possibilities???? - also did i have to be paying enough attention to write a response essay or can it just be On while I was doing other stuff and I sorta know what happened what even counts as "watching" a show anyway

[vacantvisage]

stubbornly refusing to remain sick i made it to my intended halfway point on Oathbound. gunna try and wrap up a few pieces, draft out the second half a bit better, and hopefully start actually posting the damn thing

[nightmarist]

Allergies are wrecking me so bad

_(´ཀ`」 ∠) _

[imawholeassmood]

What's in a Name

"Oh rao, I can't believe it." Kara works to contain her excitement as she nears the tiny shadowy figure stalking her in the unkempt grass outside her apartment. "This is really happening," she squeaks, "the cat distribution system has finally picked me."

The little void peers up at her with mischievous green eyes, it's backside wriggling with anticipation. Kara crouches and waits for the impending attack.

It comes with a burst of energy that burns hot and fast, then fizzles just as quickly as the black cat halts it's attack and stares at Kara with all the regret and panic of a teenage girl who just told her best friend she's in love with her. Not wanting to scare the cat, Kara hesitates, but the thought of this little cutie spending another minute on the streets compels her to scoop it into her arms and promptly rub her nose into its face.

"Right," she says and holds the cat at arms length, a quizzical gaze on its face. "Bath first."

***

Kara takes care to get the water temperature just right. Scratchy does not appreciate the effort. Claws scrape against her skin as Shadow fights against her, desperate to escape the soapy water. Kara hadn't actually found any fleas on Toothless during her physical exam to evaluate the cat's condition, and for that, she was grateful. She couldn't stand the idea of this baby being in any worse condition. A little prick digs into her finger and she mumbles, "ok, not Toothless."

She rinses the last of the suds and begins to wipe Bones with a towel. While the fight may have ended, Kara can't help but think it's a temporary reprieve, if the look on Merlin's face tells her anything. Those green eyes bite through her, clearly plotting revenge. Kara thinks it might be a good night for an all night movie marathon.

She wraps a dry towel around the still scowling cat and a tiny paw pokes out of the opening near its head, trapped like it got stuck mid escape. A disappointed huff let's out from the wet nose and Kara giggles at the adorableness.

"Here," she says," let me help you with that." She works to tuck the paw in the towel but not before dropping a kiss on the pink toe beans. "Beans," she tests the name. The cat throws a scowl at her. "Well if you have a name you prefer, feel free to share it."

The cat meows at her, and it draws a laugh from Kara whose whole body relaxes and swells with love. She drops a kiss on the furry forehead.

"I'll work on my pronunciation."

***

With Noodle cleaned and dried and now hiding under Kara's bed, licking herself to perfection, Kara works on preparing what amounts to a small buffet for each of them. She sets the takeout boxes on the table for herself and a plate of various wet and dry cat foods on the floor for Zephyr.

"Dinner's ready," she calls out, then wonders if she should take the plate to the bedroom instead. Building trust with cats sent by the universe can take time, and Kara's mind spirals with thoughts of what horrors Anubis might have endured while living on the streets. She's halfway to planning Calypso's catio to ease the transition from rugged outdoor cat to spoiled house cat when she spots the dark figure lurking along the wall. Kara freezes.

She debates her best course of action - does she offer her hand with a pspsps or do nothing? They stare at each other. After a moment where nothing happens, Kara averts her eyes, sending her gaze to the ceiling where she spots a spider in the corner. Great she thinks, let's hope Raven doesn't have an appetite for arachnids.

Kara's pulled from her thoughts by crunching near her feet. She sneaks a peak and sees Shuri ferociously air chomping a mouthful of dry food. A face-splitting grin splashes across her face.

After watching Potsticker test each of the offerings, finishing all but two samples, Kara once again attempts to build rapport.

"You don't have any allergies do you?"

Xena cocks her head and looks at her. Kara swears if this cat were human, there'd be a quirked brow to go along with that look.

"You're very expressive," she muses. "I wonder what you're thinking."

Unice meows at her, and Kara wishes she spoke cat.

***

She's struggling to stay focused on the movie with Ripley hiding away somewhere in her apartment. Kara hasn't seen the cat for hours and worries the progress she thought she made at dinner might have just been her hopeful imagination.

By the time breakfast rolls around, Kara's convinced Peony is plotting to kill her. Neither of them slept. Kara kept an eye out with her x-ray vision and noticed Nala spent the entire night exploring, poking and prodding with her pink-toed mitts at every window, door, latch, hatch, or moving part that might lead to a way out of the apartment. Every few hours, Jynx would check on Kara, looking almost annoyed to find her awake and looking back.

Kahlua's nowhere to be found when Kara's ready to head out to CatCo. She unlocks the door and calls out, "I'll be back soon, Calliope."

A flash of black streaks across the room and knocks into Kara's legs as soon as the door cracks open. Kara catches herself and stumbles into the hallway. Mittens is running around the hall, knocking into door after door. At the end of the hall, she stops in front of the elevator, looks it up and down, then turns back to Kara.

Little Yoda's ribs vibrate with heavy puffs and her eyes are wide. Kara approaches her slowly.

"It's ok, Izzy," she purrs. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Green eyes dart around. As if realizing there's nowhere to go, the fight leaves her.

"I know you're scared," Kara says, "this is a new place and we're still getting to know each other. But, if you'll give me a chance," she swallows, "I promise you will never again know a day without love."

The look on Dotty's face softens and it melts Kara's heart. The cat looks back at the elevator one more time before walking towards Kara. Grace, with all her regal elegance, brushes against Kara's ankle. It's the greatest moment of Kara's life.

***

"What is that?" Alex asks when Kara arrives at the DEO.

"This," Kara says, straightening herself and hooking her thumbs behind the shoulder straps at her chest, "is Griffin." The name is met with an immediate meow of objection. Kara looks down at the cat strapped to her chest then looks back up to Alex. "We're still deciding on a name."

***

It goes like that for a week with Kara toting the cat around with her. Bumblebee tries to run away at least once a day and continues to deny Kara's ideas for names. The day Dino curls up with Kara while an episode of Golden Girls plays on television is the day Kara thinks her heart might explode out of her chest.

With Athena's head buried in the crook of her neck, Kara strokes gently along her side.

"I love you, Tess," she breathes into black fur. A soft thrum purrs against her.

***

Kara enters the DEO panicked and sick with fear.

"She's gone, Alex," she manages to say through garbled, teary heaves. "I have to find her."

"Who?" Alex says and squeezes Kara's arms both to steady her and calm her.

"Ma'am's," Vasquez interrupts, "you might want to see this." She holds out a remote and turns on a television.

A news report shows an aerial view of a glass skyscraper with a large "L" emblazoned on the face. The ticker reads "Missing CEO found safe."

Before Alex or Kara can ask, a commotion stirs near the door. Agents scurry and someone yells, "you can't go in there."

Alex straightens herself to face the approaching party and sets a hand on her hip holster.

Kara wipes tears from her soaked cheeks.

A woman with alabaster skin, jet black hair, and deep red lips marches straight towards her. The tailored black suit commands the attention of every pair of eyes. Pale pink heels clack against the linoleum. Kara swallows the lump in her throat.

The woman stops inches before Kara, uncaring of the weapons pointed at her. Green eyes bore into Kara.

At long last, red lips curl into a smirk and a strong eyebrow quirks. She moves her head next to Kara's, so close Kara can feel the warmth of her breath against her ear when she purrs the words, "my name is Lena."

[stelladonna]

I’m watching Xena for the first time, now, in my 30s, since I was a very little girl. My mom used to watch it all the time, almost obsessively— she loved it so much—and I would groan bc I was little and would rather watch cartoons. Anyway, my memory of Xena is ethereal at best, except for a few things, including: 1) Callisto and the body switching episode where I had a “funny” feeling watching her as Xena. That was because I was a baby gay and she was my first on-screen crush, and 2) that I never made time to actually sit down and watch Xena as an adult for some strange reason I now realize is childhood trauma that is now healed.

At the end of the series, when Xena and Gabrielle get together, I distinctly remember my mother’s homophobic reaction and the way she immediately turned against the show, never watching it or mentioning it again. In that moment I did not feel safe. Something inside of me closed up, and it took years into adulthood before I was ready to accept my queerness. It was that moment that shut down the possibility of me exploring that funny feeling.

It’s healing for me now because I recently moved back in with my mother after heartbreak and the end of a LT relationship (ofc a lesbian one) while I transition into a new job in an old place and rebuild my life. For context, my mother knows, but let’s not get into my coming out story 🤪.

The point is that I decided to start watching Xena and have just finished that body switching episode. When I started watching it, I reflexively recoiled when my mom walked in like I was a sneaky teenager doing something wrong. I had to remind myself that I am in fact a complete adult and that I no longer care what she or anyone thinks of my lifestyle.

Anyway, she saw it on the screen and said “do you know I used to watch Xena? It was my favor show,” and I said “yes, I know. I remember.” Then she sat down and watched it with me. Then she went to her room and proceeded to watch the whole thing on her own (she has impressive marathoning skills I could never dream of matching). Then she came out and told me the show has so many lessons about how to be a good person. Then she asked me to let her know when I get to the “Asian” part (forgive me but I don’t yet know what that means. I’m paraphrasing her, a Thai woman).

It’s healing for me bc, even though I know my mom has accepted this part of who I am, this small act, this radical change of heart toward Xena and her eagerness to share it with me and again to embrace it herself means so much ❤️‍🩹

[theosconfessions]

Love is Embarrassing

The Challenge

Theos back. and being as shady as ever. he had his reasons for being absent which will come to light a little bit later on. This challenge was just who can last the longest on the treadmill without quitting. falling down was okies as long as they got back on . HOWEVER.. Lamar what was down in the basement .. like what was down there my love. he was so fixated. Apparently Elia and Xena had some hidden talents i wasnt aware of and those two can MARATHON on those things and kept going long after. Congrats babies. and youre welcome for not making it another fishing challenge,scar.

@fl0ptrait @bubblepopsims @duusheen @simvanie @dumplingtrait

[pastafossa]

10 Characters ❆ 10 Fandoms ❆ 10 Tags

Thank you to @farfromstrange, @shouldbestudying41, and @bellaxgiornata for the tags! I had to think about this one for a bit. I'm going to try to avoid shared universes/fandoms otherwise this list would be 50% Marvel

1. Matt Murdock - Daredevil. If you could put a ring on a hyperfixation, this is the one I'd pick. My favorite of all characters (surprising precisely no one considering the word count of TRT), he's my comfort character, and it's a fandom I return to again and again ever since I first jumped in in 2015.

2. Din Djarin - The Mandalorian. This was the show, ironically, that kicked off my Pedro Pascal obsession - I'd seen him in other things and liked him but for some reason didn't realize they were all the same person. I love Din's character, he's my taciturn shiny space cowboy, bless him, I want to give his poor back massage after carrying all that armor.

3. The Tenth Doctor - Doctor Who. I still remember flipping through channels when I was younger and stopping on some weird show that had a giant Satan guy being yelled and monologued at by a messy-haired man in an orange jumpsuit (this part here specifically). I had no idea what was going on but I just couldn't stop watching Ten as he rambled and talked himself around. Turned out there was a marathon on so I just kept watching, loved him (and David) ever since.

4. Leslie Knope - Parks and Rec. Leslie feels like someone took a section of my soul and then made a parody of her but it's so close to reality no one's entirely sure if it is a parody, 10 STARS OF 10.

5. Garrus Vakarian (along with F!Commander Shepard, because there is no Shepard without Vakarian) - Mass Effect. This is the greatest game in existence and I love this dorky awkward sweetheart of a space raptor and my Commander Shepard and their romance and their banter, everyone leave me alone I'm emotional about this

6. Alistair Theirin - Dragon Age. He is my snarky lil sensitive warden boy, my first real intro to game romance and bioware games in general, I love him your honor

7. John Constantine - Constantine. YOU HAD THE PERFECT ACTOR FOR HIM AND YA'LL BLEW IT, BRING HIM BACK, HE WAS THE EMBODIMENT OF CONSTANTINE, ALSO I LOVE THIS WRETCHED SNARKY CON ARTIST DUMPSTER FIRE OF A MAN

8. Rick and Evie - The Mummy. They are a pair that cannot be separated, they are marriage goals, THEY ARE PERFECTION, I NEED NO OTHER REASONS, HE FUCKING GAVE HER THE ARCHAEOLOGY TOOLS

9. Xena - Xena. I feel like you if you mapped all of my fandom experience back through my life, you'd eventually get back to me as a kid watching Xena which was 70% camp and 100% fucking AMAZING, also I FUCKING TOLD YOU DIANA, I TOLD YOU XENA AND GABRIELLE FUCKING LIKE LIKED EACH OTHER, ARE YOU LISTENING DIANGA ARRE YOU LISTENING YOU BTICH YOU MADE FUN OF ME BUT I TOLD YOU

10. Ellen Ripley - Alien/Aliens. RIPLEY MY BELOVED, RIPLEY MY DARLING, RIPLEY MY BADASS QUEEN, I have absolutely included tiny shades of her in my own fem characters, I fucking ADORE her

No pressure tags: @wonderlandmind4 @kiwwia-wiwwia @becks-things @ancientbeing10 @bunnelbie @peterman-spideyparker @1988-fiend and anyone else who wants to!

[celticcatgirl2]

“…between you and me I’m not ACTUALLY defeated by the bad guy…I just didn’t get ANY sleep last night after that Xena Warrior Princess marathon so I’m using this little moment as an excuse to take a Power Nap…”

[marley-manson]

scattered thoughts on season 2 of xena after marathoning it over a few nights.

-- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun is so fun lmao, it didn't even occur to me that the vampire ladies could've been hypnotizing Gab until I saw it mentioned in a tumblr post lol, I 100% just took it as Gabrielle being attracted to them. I mean one of them even has a buzzcut.

-- Xena is great because it's a true genderswapped cheesy genre show, complete with extremely bland one episode love interests who die to provide our heroes with manpain. Also Xena totally subconsciously let Callisto kill Perdicus, come on. Loved Gab's rage afterwards <3

-- Lucy Lawless and Hudson Leick are excellent at playing each other. Hudson Leick is so good as Xena that I always forget Lucy Lawless isn't actually in Ten Little Warlords lol, and Lucy Lawless' Callisto is great too, especially when she's playing Callisto pretending to be Xena.

-- Love Ares' first episode as a mortal too. Love that he's scared of rats, a decent fighter but still needs Xena to save him a few times, and the moment where he contemplates having actual blood on his hands for the first time is *chef kiss*

-- I'd skipped Miss Amphipolis when I first watched Xena because I'd heard it was transphobic, and then saw a post praising the episode for its progressiveness so I was like hm I guess I'll give it a shot. Honestly, it had its good elements, but yeah I think the criticism is warranted. Awesome if it's true that Karen Dior was openly HIV+ when she and Lucy Lawless kissed here, love that. And if the idea was that Miss Artiphys was more a drag queen than a trans woman it's not too bad I guess? But if she was meant to be trans then yikes, terrible depiction, lots of 'he's really a man' shit (plus the name c'mon). And the lack of clarity doesn't help either way.

Also Gabrielle's mild homophobia was a weird choice, and I didn't like that she only won after every other woman turned down the crown lol - I get the point that none of them really wanted it or enjoyed the pageant while Artiphys did, but I feel like that point could've been made without putting her in last place.

Kudos to the director for objectifying her just as much as any other woman though lol.

-- They should've given a little bit more time to Xena and M'lila's relationship in Destiny, since her death is the catalyst for her going evil, but unfortunately it felt like a very arbitrary final straw. It was funny though that M'lila died for her because she just knew it wasn't Xena's time to die yet lol. Like c'mon, at least imply they got close off-screen.

-- Also Xena 🤝 Dennis Reynolds: because of the implication. I'm actually torn on how much that's intended lol, because on the one hand they certainly do not frame Xena as an actual rapist here, she's still sympathetic and Caesar's still the ruthless villian. But on the other hand the predator/prey metaphor when she was coming onto him was incredibly on the nose (she even says "cutting off his path of retreat" like, yikes girl); Xena later points out that crucifying her was an overreaction and thinks she must've fucked with his head; Caesar has psychosexual nightmares about her in another later ep (ie killing him mid sex basic instinct style); and Caesar's "all those who prey on Rome" line is basically the payoff to his earlier "I am Rome" thing, essentially a coded way of phrasing "prey on me," which fits the sex thing more than the hostage thing, since that was literally preying on Rome.

Idk, I'm curious what the writers were aiming for here. Maybe some of it's just meant to suggest that Caesar has a crush and is mad about it lol, but it's eyebrow raising.

-- Also also: the montage of Gab and Xena at the end of Destiny is so ridiculously romantic <3

-- I love that Xena agrees to only possess Autolycus when he gives her permission, then bodyjacks him whenever he says no anyway. Autolycus is a delight in this ep. And I love how the show does everything it can to make it clear that it's Xena kissing Gabrielle in Autolycus' body, from Bruce Campbell's acting demonstrating exactly when he regains control of himself, to his "Seems like you two worked things out" in repsonse to the kiss, to him not noticing his hand was still on Gab's ass lmao.

-- A Day in the Life is still such a ridiculously good episode.

-- Can't believe how almost explicitly gay Blind Faith is even with the rest of season 2 to compare it to. Like okay maybe it's not quite The Quest's kiss, but something about Gabrielle's conversation with the gay dude where they both very overtly use ambiguous pronouns for the people they love feels like a step beyond. It's not just two close characters who love each other, it's lesbians situated specifically in a gay solidarity context, idk. I love it.

-- Also I cite this a lot but idc, I still fucking LOVE that Xena is temporarily rendered blind in this episode and she is still never physically challenged by anyone in a fight lmao. Like you'd think as a plotpoint it would be a way to have her uncharacteristically defenseless and reliant on this one-ep dude to defend her, right? Nope, she still outclasses him, all she needs him for is to watch out for cliff edges.

-- Also also I love that this annoying dude sees her as an idol and it's just accepted as obvious, absolutely no commentary on a dude modeling himself after a woman. She's Xena, of course aspiring warlords desperately wanna be her.

-- Ulysses here to reassure the straight audience after the tidal wave of gay we've seen in the last few episodes, but it can't even do that right because Gabrielle and Xena still 100% interact like they're hooking up and catching feelings but not exclusive.

-- The Price would be a perfect episode if it weren't for the racism in the depiction of the antagonist force, man, it's such a blot on an ideal Xena story. Also Xena is at her absolute sexiest here. I'm usually more of a Gab girl, but fuuuuuuck her hardass sadistic commander persona has me like 🥵. Hits the perfect balance of serious and dark, while her warlord flashbacks tend to be a little too exaggerated and campy to be truly sexy to me.

-- Also another episode where I love how men relate to Xena. She shows up, they find out she's Xena, and they immediately go "holy shit please take over, please command us, you're our only hope."

-- Cecrops is one of my favourite one-ep characters I think

-- Comedy of Eros is dumb but fun lol, I always enjoy how the show flips the script for Xena's occasional heterosexual turns, in the sense that she's the active participant, acting upon the men and going for what she wants. It is a relief when it stops being earnest and starts being solely for the sake of manipulation though lol, and I'm glad we have Cupid to blame for this one too. In fact, I think all the genuine reciprocated het is behind us now, right?

-- I love the fake out where Gabrielle nearly sees Xena first before Joxer gets in the way. I feel like I've seen some writer say once that they considered having Gabrielle fall in love with Xena for this episode, but they decided against it because they didn't want it to be a joke she gets over, and I am 100% behind that reasoning. It would've felt cheap imo. But the tease was cute lol, they know what the audience wants.

[girl4music]

‘To Helicon And Back’ is such a fascinating but heartbreaking episode. There’s so much to be said about the role-reversal transition in the episode and how it affects and progresses everything that follows on from it in the Spaghetti Order of the episodes.

Everything Xena wanted to avoid with Gabrielle travelling with her has happened - only, it really has nothing to do with them travelling together, but rather the obligation and responsibility of the Amazon nation. Although, you could argue that if Gabrielle didn’t meet Xena and didn’t travel with her at all, then she’d never have became an Amazon Princess. 

GABRIELLE: “Xena, you should take command. Take it!”

XENA: “The Amazons aren’t going to listen to me, Gabrielle. You’re it. You’re it!”

This is the only place where Gabrielle is the leader. Where Xena has to follow Gabrielle’s order. Where Xena has to ask for Gabrielle's permission. Where Xena has to stand outside and wait for Gabrielle. Aside from a few who were infatuated with her, the Amazons barely batted an eyelash at Xena. Some couldn't even tolerate her. Every time they visited the Amazon village, it was always "Our Queen's back!

... Oh, and Xena's with her."

I think the Amazons felt the same way Gabrielle's birth family did about Xena. That she took their pride and joy away from them. They were always abandoned and someone was left to reign in her place as Regeant so they never truly had an AMAZON QUEEN in Gabrielle.

Regardless… This is the only place where Gabrielle is the Alpha and Xena is the Omega. So when Xena says "You're it". She means her own presence is invisible to Gabrielle's tribe and that the Queen, in this moment especially, was all that could be seen. Gabrielle was it because Xena was expendable and inconsequential to the Amazons. They simply didn’t care if she was there. They only cared about Gabrielle returning to them.

It’s not ever Xena’s story when it’s an Amazon-heavy episode. It’s Gabrielle’s because Gabrielle is their own and the only reason why Xena is allowed to be there as part of their community is because she’s Gabrielle’s.

Xena has no control or authority with the Amazons and she’s absolutely fine with it because she knows she doesn’t deserve it. So she just acquiesces to the fact that the dynamic between her and Gabrielle is in opposition to how it is when they’re anywhere else and maybe some part of her actually likes the fact that within the views of the Amazon nation, Gabrielle is the hero and Xena’s the irritating tag-along sidekick. They don’t need her there and she’s fully aware of it but she knows Gabrielle needs her there because she knows she’s her whole life and she can’t possibly be the hero or the warrior without her there with them. Yeah, some part of her likes it. Loves it even because she’s happy Gabrielle is getting all the attention. But there’s a larger part of her that is absolutely fucking terrified of what that entails and does not want it to ever happen.

GABRIELLE: “I don’t want to be buried with the Amazons.”

XENA: “Alright. Well, in 50 years, when the time comes-”

GABRIELLE: “Xena, I want to lie with you, with your family, in Amphipolis.”

XENA: “What about your family?”

GABRIELLE: “I love them but I’m a part of you. I want it to be like that forever. I love you.”

I think the most tragically heartbreaking thing about this episode and its role-reversal transition is that Xena had to face the reality of her worst fear coming true in that Gabrielle is becoming more and more like her as a warrior in such a way where she always knew would be the inevitable outcome of their partnership but that Gabrielle would never have considered would because when she told her sister in the first episode that she was going to be a warrior just like Xena… she had no idea what the hell she was getting herself into. But Xena always did and Xena can’t do anything about it now. She can’t stop it. She’s absolutely helpless in preventing the transition from happening at this point. She just stands there watching the nightmare unfold before her very eyes. Looking into a mirror reflection of the sins of her past in the one conscious being in existence that saved her from her own damnation and in ending her own life before it had ever really began. Just the same as how she was forced to see it happen in ‘Remember Nothing’ and so she pulled back out of the deal with the Fates in giving her a second chance to live a simple quiet, peaceful life without bloodshed.

It is a very POWERFUL visual and dialogue that wrecks you at the end of ‘To Helicon And Back’ because you know just how painful it is for Xena to have to face the reality that this is it now. That it’s finally happened in this life and reality and it will keep happening from this moment onwards because she cannot do anything about it anymore. There’s no deal with the Fates to break. No alt-reality to change or destroy. She can’t reverse time or do anything to prevent what’s happening at and in this moment.

Gabrielle has chosen Xena over herself in every way and in so doing has forced Xena to bear witness to the sacrifice Gabrielle has made in becoming just like her.

XENA: “You won.”

GABRIELLE: “I don’t think I did. With each battle, I lose more of myself.”

XENA: “War’s tough on the soul, Gabrielle.”

GABRIELLE: “Yeah.”

It’s in this moment that they both feel this role-reversal transition as one being passing into and becoming each other because that was always the nature of their soul and therefore their inevitable fate.

[antivan-dragon]

A little update about my Xena marathon: I can't get rid of "Joxer the mighty" song off my head.

Thanks for your attention.

[localgirlbecomesobsessed]

Movie buddies

Part one:

Ren x Xena

The new alien just come out and although we all know he don’t fuck with creatures I feel like he’d be loving the Alien movies.

Again no sleep and work killed me today so here’s some fluffy times.

Xena was just meant to return the clothes she previously burrowed from Ren, her plan was to run to jabberwock and immediately flee to avoid getting any more tasks piled on her.

It was her first free day since she started here and she planned to movie marathon and cacoon herself in blankets in the cathedral.

Except, here she was in Ren’s room, eyes glued to the screen as she stood holding his clothes as Ren sat cross legged on his bed, both enthralled as they watched the final girl run for her life.

Ren glanced at her as the sequence ended, sighing as he patted the space next to him as she looked at him confused.

“I’m only ten minutes in normie-“

She plopped his clothes onto a chair before clambering onto his bed, she was glad she was already in comfy clothes, a pair of black joggers and a black hoodie with a crow skull on it. She even wore her crocs today determined to be full of cozy vibes, her fluffy socks printed with the scream masks all over them.

Ren handed her a pillow so she could get comfortable the two falling into a easy silence as the film continued.

——————————————————-

“That was terrible.”

Xena announced gobsmacked as the credits rolled, Ren sighed shuffling around to get feeling back in his legs as he started tapping away at his phone.

“There’s a sequel.”

Ren turned to her showing his phone, an equally terrible looking film dazzled the screen with a sold 1.2 star rating, she glanced from the screen to him.

“Can we watch it?”•_•

A rare smile spread across Ren’s face as he nodded in agreement.

“We need to get snacks.”

Xena hummed in agreement, checking her letterbox for the reviews of the first movie, leaning over to Ren and showing him.

“-and blankets.”•_•

Ren walked over to one of his desks drawers, pulling one out and revealing a snack drawer stocked full of an array of snacks, he had an abundance of them-all organised into different categories of sweet;spicy;brand and alphabetised-it was truly immaculate.

Ren overfilled his arms with popcorn, crisps and chocolate, glancing at Xena as she looked around his room in wonder.

“The bowl and blankets are in the drawer under the bed.”

He gestured forward as Xena leaned over pulling out at least six blankets and a huge bowl.

“You’re prepared…?”

She questioned as he dumped the popcorn and chocolate together into the bowl, before pausing to check Xena’s reaction, it was the same as always except she was drooling already trying to reach a hand in, he huffed out a laugh glad to have someone with good tastes to watch the movie with.

“I have too or that clown will take the opportunity to make me do some shitty job.”

He wrinkled his nose at the thought as he started making a nest around the headboard area of his bed, xena crawled over to help him the two working their magic as they created the most coziest area in all of Darkwick.

Ren was sitting closest to the window, he leaned over to his side opening the tiny fridge he had hidden on the side, pulling out two cokes, as he and Xena huddled into their respective areas and started the film.

———————————————————

It became a thing the two started to do every Tuesday, xena meeting him outside of his work or at jabberwock depending on what job she’s been put on for the day; they only manage to watch one film before one of them crashes out or has to be called out by their respective clowns (Haru//any of the other ghouls.) They’ve learnt to leave a pair of comfy clothes at eachothers places just so they can crash out more easily.

The two chattering about anything and everything between films and if it was a truly terrible film they’d chat and banter throughout.

Ren finally having something to look forward to daily to the point even Ritsu knows to come in on Tuesdays to get the best service from Ren or Haru knows he can ask him to take care of the sea anomalies only getting a minimal amount of sass back. Though, Ritsu sometimes hates it as he has to charge less, Ren not complaining as much as he usually does.

One evening as they were walking back to the jabberwock dorms, bags overloaded with a new stock of snacks as they excitedly chattered about what film they’d watch next.

“Hmmm~I’m in the mood for sci-fi tonight but horror, I would say alien but you can’t just watch the first one right…”

She sighed, slumping slightly as they arrived to the nature reserve.

“Hmmm, when’s your next actual day off? We could binge them all…if you want that is, not that I want to or anything it’s just-“

Xena interrupted the tsundere moment.

“I think it’s this Sunday!!”

She grinned excitedly at him, which startled him causing him to blush at her as he tried to cover his face, awkwardly holding his hand up with a shopping bag slightly hitting him as he did so. She’d been more smiley around him lately and he doesn’t know if he can handle it…

“Cool…should we do it at yours? Watching the alien films in jabberwock is just asking for some fucked up creature to start stalking the dorms…”

His blush deepened as she let out a giggle as they approached the dorms.

“Sure! I can see if there’s a projector or something I can burrow…Leo or Dante might have something?!oh…that is if you’re down and available-?”

She asked, hope swimming in her eyes as she risked a glance towards him, it wasn’t like she was asking him on a date Persay, it’s the same as they always do-there’s no reason for her to feel as nervous as she does about asking him…yet, as his cerulean eyes met hers, she felt her brain melt, malfunctioning as he smirked at her.

“For real? I wouldn’t hate that…”

A blush spread across his face as he took her bags off of her, leading her to his room and organising the snacks in his drawer. She grabbed her spare clothes and quickly got changed setting up the nest as Ren got ready their routine going as normal. Although, he took a bit longer than usual as he tried to style his hair out, he was wearing a black hoodie with a jaws print and black joggers; Xena was wearing a dark pink hoodie with a cat skull on it and black joggers also.

The two sat side by side, arms brushing against eachother as they started the movie, both wrapped in their own blankets as they shared the bowl of popcorn.

They were watching silent hill, their chatter dying out as the opening scene finished.

Xena leaned herself on him, testing the waters of how close they could be. He didn’t immediately push her away instead side eyeing her before winding his arm onto the headboard allowing her more space to snuggle herself into.

She was never one to turn down an opportunity, snuggling close as Ren wrapped his arm around her, she sighed happily as he forced himself to keep his eyes on the screen and try to ignore the fast pitter patter of his heart and his racing mind as the smell of her orange scented shampoo enveloped him, it’s the one she always wore after her sparring sessions at vagastrom.

Neither of them made it to the end of the film, Xena crashing out halfway through huddled into Ren’s side as he tried to stay strong and make it to the end…he ended up falling asleep ten minutes before it ended, his head laid on-top of hers as he unconsciously snuggled into her.

He almost screamed when he awoke to the routine sound of his newly bought padlock breaking and the flash of a Camera as Haru managed to successfully take about 49 pictures of the two cuddling before Ren leaped at him, awaking Xena as she stared bleary eyed at the two men before her, Haru grinned waving at her as Ren looked almost mortified.

She was definitely glad the alien marathon will be held in the cathedral…

[ivyinforests]

Would you like to do this with me tomorrow? https://www.tumblr.com/girl4music/749938635635294208/come-join-my-spaghetti-watch-order-marathon-of?source=share

I'd like to get to know you more as a fellow Xenite.

I would honestly love to, but I haven’t actually finished Xena yet! I know most of how it ends by now, but I still have to watch the 1.5 seasons for the first time. I would love to try this once I’ve finished the show, though, because it sounds super fun!

[edibleashell]

Hi, I'm me, and I finally decided to put something about myself on here. I'm mostly here to quietly reblog things that amuse me but I'm hesitantly willing to try that Human Interaction thing.

Tl;dr: The Gits, Klaatu, sci-fi, MtG, time loops, cute animals

I reblog a lot of cute animals because I love thar nature shit.

Big television fan, currently watching Xena, I'm only on s3 so I haven't risked interacting with the fandom much. I put a lot of effort into avoiding spoilers, I like the writers being able to surprise me.

Music is a big part of my life, I'm into a wide range of music and if you're a fan of The Gits or Klaatu you should definitely reach out because I need that kind of enrichment. I also listen to all sorts of things ranging from Pink Floyd to Mitski to Jim Croce to Echo and the Bunnymen to of Montreal to Lorde to Gordon Lightfoot to Emily's Sassy Lime. I'm always open to music recs.

I love sci-fi, especially sci-fi books written before the moon landing, there's real charm in the imagination of a time when we couldn'tsay for certain that there weren't little green men on the moon (though finding unproblematic scifi from that age is a real struggle). I also heavily enjoy modern sci-fi of course. I like fantasy too, I just lean more towards the sci-fi end of the spectrum.

I'm an avid Magic the Gathering player, been playing for about twenty years so you'll definitely see that here.

My favorite fiction trope is a good time loop, I think I've seen almost every time loop movie but it's a big world.

I video game, currently playing DAI, nearing the end of my Mass Effect-Dragon Age marathon, it's only taken me like a year and a half.

I'm a queer 90's- kid USAmerican (my sincerest apologies), this is a bigotry free zone (to the best of my ability, but I am a flawed human, feel free to call me out).

Favorites (subject to change):

Music: The Gits

TV show: Sense8

Movie: Groundhog Day

Book: The Sirens of Titan

Video Game: Horizon Zero Dawn (still haven't played the second one though so no spoilers!)

Meme: "I'm not trying to rob you" Gandalf talking to a dog with a tennis ball.

[iwillrememberyoumarathon]

Bangel fans, we want to hear from you! During the run-up to the IWRY Fic Marathon in November, we’ll be getting to know each other through our Meet the Fandom series. Answer the questions here to join in.

What is your name?

Ange

Where do you hang out?

Instagram, Buffy FB groups, fanfic.net & Ao3 (NicHawkins)

Do you create any fan works?

I do write Bangel fanfic, but I'm very lazy. I haven't my updated my stories in ages. I have loads of unfinished stories on my laptop.

Funniest Bangel/Buffyverse moment?

In Earshot when Angel says, "I'm a funny guy". Deadpan.

What Buffyverse opinion would have you chased through the village with pitchforks?

When I mention to other Bangel fans that although I'm not a fan of Spuffy, I don't really mind them and I quite like Spike.

Share a headcanon you have about Bangel or the Buffyverse?

I always think IWRY spawned an AU where Angel stayed human, moved back to Sunnydale and helped Buffy fight the good fight in a more Xander type role. Whilst they had lots of smoochies and great sex in between apocalypses obviously.

How would you have given Buffy and Angel their Happily Ever After?

There's a few ways I'd give them a HEA but my absolute fave is Xena Avenger's The Journey, not the Destination take on how they build a life and a family together after NFA.

Last fic you read?

I'm addicted to a2zmom's Days of Future Past atm, her Wednesday updates are the highlight of my week!

Fill in the quiz so the fandom can meet you!