#xena warrior princess the musical episode

[ashyy-slashyy]

hi lgbtq community(xenites)

#xena warrior princess #ted raimi #jace xena #xena warrior princess the musical episode #joxer #joxer the mighty #joxer xena #sams stupid scribbles #xenites #my art

[girl4music]

I was hoping it would be referenced alongside ‘Once More, With Feeling’ as it is very similar to it. 🫤

I wonder how many musical enthusiasts have actually seen that episode - or even watched any of Xena at all.

Because a lot of what Buffy did, Xena actually did first.

#buffy the vampire slayer #once more with feeling #xena warrior princess #the bitter suite #the musical episode #musical episodes #analysis #sarah z

[rosyhue-nightss]

Well I finished season 4 of Xena and I can say that I'm 99% sure the writers were on drugs back then. Nothing could have prepared me for that season finale episode. I definitely couldn't have predicted it considering the previous one. Even so, it was gay, which I really appreciate.

#xena the warrior princess #Xena and Gabrielle dying dramatically and the next episode is just lots of comedy AND ends with a musical number lol #no spoilers pls

[choir-of-ex-girlfriends]

"I never dreamed that any barriers would rise

Or that I'd ever see the stranger in your eyes

Our hearts were hurting both the same

The hurt was tearing up our souls

The fury in us made us blind

We couldn't see beyond the hate

If we can turn again to love

If we can heal these open wounds

We'll leave this hatred far behind

So not a trace of hate remains

We'll overcome our damaged pasts

And we'll grow stronger side by side

To stand together through the storm

We're safe 'cause love will be our guide"

- Hearts Are Hurting (Pt. 2) from Xena: Warrior Princess, the Bitter Suite; sung by Lucy Lawless and Susan Wood, Xena in Bold and both together in orange

#xena: warrior princess #xena #gabrielle #lucy lawless #susan wood #(not the actress for gabrielle that's renee o'connor) #musical episode #feels weird having orange on there but the only other distinguishable formatting was strikethrough and that's not really fitting #lyrics #songs #music #song lyrics #song #the bitter suite

[strangesmallbard]

tell us some xena trivia

FORGOT to answer this yesterday, hello!!

here is all the xena warrior princess trivia i can remember off the top of my head:

a popular x/g author (called a “subtexter” back then) named melissa goode wrote at least two episodes in season 6! “when fates collide” and “legacy.”

at a recentish xenacon (i think 2016?) lucy lawless and reneé o’connor read a scripted proposal between xena/gabrielle, then lucy dipped reneé and smooched her sweetly on the mouth in front of a cheering audience.

in s6, there was supposed to be an episode where xena/gabrielle met sappho and she looked Exactly like gabrielle a la xena +meg and diana. it was also a musical episode

lucy lawless uses her real singing voice for “the bitter suite” and reneé o’connor is dubbed over. (lucy also sings in concert sometimes! idk if recently though)

in “fins, femmes, and gems” gabrielle originally was going to develop an obsession with xena instead of herself. however, the writers felt this would turn x/g into a joke and didn’t want to disrespect their lgbt fans. (this cast/crew wasn’t just good for the 90’s, they’re literally like. the gold standard for How to Treat Your Unexpectedly LGBT Fanbase)

hudson leick did this commentary series years ago and at one point said “listen to your wife, xena!” while watching a xena/gabrielle scene LMAO. she’s also famous for doing the callisto war cry at cons.

karl urban played like. three different characters throughout his time on xena. let’s see if i can remember them all. there’s caesar obviously, then UHHH esau? a bible guy. then this random guy in the amazon high spin-off pilot that was cancelled then later became a clipshow xena ep. i guess that counts as another piece of trivia

eve canonically has three moms and no dads. peace and love on planet earth

#xena: warrior princess #xwp #anonymous #ask

[somfte]

For the WIP game, count me intrigued by "Symposium" (I had to look up the word!). Now, what could this be about? 👀🔍

Ahh thank you for asking about this one! I have given up on this one for a while because the audio is giving me such a headache and I needed a break from that. Revisiting it for this ask is making me want to pick it up again, though!

The title is a reference to a portion of Plato's Symposium that has often been used (perhaps erroneously) to refer to the concept of soulmates.

I uh... I grew up watching a LOT of the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess TV shows. In episode 1.08 of Xena, Hercules and his friend/sidekick Iolaus join up with Xena and Gabrielle because, "Prometheus has been captured by the gods. The bards say that if Prometheus is ever bound, then mankind starts to lose the gifts he gave us, like fire, and the ability to heal ourselves."

Near the end of the episode, Iolaus is dying because he has been wounded and his body can no longer repair itself. To pass the time in the dark while they wait for Hercules and Xena to save the day, Gabrielle (an aspiring bard) tells Iolaus a story. For whatever reason, her story really stuck with me as a kid. And of course, now, I have to make everything about Black Sails, and part of Black Sails is very much about partners and who we are and are not with other people.

There are no visuals for this WIP yet (as I said, the audio is really fighting me) but, if you like, please enjoy this audio snippet of Gabrielle's story with backing music chosen by me.

[audio description: a soft piano lament plays behind a young woman's voice. She says:

Let me tell you another story. Once a long, long time ago, all people had four legs and two heads. And then the gods threw down thunderbolts and split everyone into two. Each half then had two legs and one head.

But the separation left both sides with a desperate yearning to be reunited …because they each shared the same soul.

And ever since then, all people spend their lives searching for the other half of their soul.

/end description]

#ask game #hms-tardimpala #thank you for tagging me and for sending the ask <3

[bnomiko]

Nocturne S2 (and beyond?) predictions

(I started writing this before they dropped the S2 trailer, so… yeah. Good timing? I guess I'll address that at the very end of the post.)

Some of these I think have a good shot at happening, some are just very random, and some are me just messing around otherwise (though the last one would be amazeballs). This would make for a fun bingo board tho.

**SPOILERS** ahoy for Castlevania: Nocturne, S1.

Immediate start to S2 will be Richter & co. all showing up at Juste's to regroup, for lack of anywhere better to go.

Juste will tragically die, probably protecting Richter, because two Belmonts is one too many. This of course just makes Richter sad.

Maria gains a Seiryuu summon in a predictable "oh shit, we suddenly have need for a dragon spewing ice" sort of moment.

Richter finds a stopwatch. *cue Za Warudo sound effect*

Edouard becomes the founder of a night creature village somewhere. A very operatic village. Think musical episodes of "Xena: Warrior Princess."

The abbot meets his predictably banal end, probably crushed in the burning rubble of his church or something.

Tera begs to be staked, probably by Richter since that'll just make him sad again, because she doesn't want to exist as a vampire.

In that same vein, the aimless crying count will continue with like 1-2 scenes per episode. This has the side effect of making Alucard seem downright NOT depressing in comparison, because he did all his crying 300 years ago. Until he suddenly has a flashback of his days with Trevor and Sypha, then I guess he can join in on the crying too. At least he cries pretty unlike the majority of this cast.

Annette obviously has to get knocked up because apparently Belmonts are constantly on the verge of going extinct (you'd think they'd prioritize producing more than 1 kid a generation). If she starts cursing and screaming, "You did this to me!", or if Richter suddenly says, "I love you," over the side of a cliff, expect a baby in the next 7-8 months or so. I've heard Trefor is a wonderful name.

I want Olrox & Mizrak to just fuck off the storyline at some point and get a Morana & Striga type ending. But realistically… do gay men ever get a happy ending? No, because only lesbians get to live -_- So one has to die, probably while trying to protect the other : (

Conversely, I want a scenario where Richter and Olrox have to work together to accomplish something, and they only manage to pull it off because Richter's telling himself repeatedly he'll just kill the bastard afterwards. He doesn't, of course, because the shrieking of the fangirls would be deafening.

And what I think would be REALLY fun (since the original animation appears to hold up as canon for Nocturne), what if we get a "Daddy's home" moment and Dracula joins in for whatever passes as the final fight against Carmilla Erzsebet (assuming she's the end boss)? He doesn't necessarily have to fight for the humans, but perhaps he might be a bit miffed that someone (his niece, in game canon, though they appear to be completely unrelated here) has taken his place on the top of the hierarchy. I would love to see what he could do one-on-one, without holding back.

Post Nocturne S2 teaser trailer viewing

Are Speakers delicious or collectible or something?

Are we really leaving Alucard and Maria alone without a chaperone?

Hmm, back to the Belmont Hold manor? I think we've seen this S2 before…

OLROX WHERE ARE YOU we need you don't make Alucard carry the entire damn show on his back it has to hurt by this point *froths*

#castlevania #castlevania nocturne #nocturne spoilers #nocturne season 2 trailer

[shanie-the-komania-toyaddict]

Shanie's Creation Masterlist!

Updated 04/18/24

Masterlist of all the fanworks I have out there.

Quick Link: My Steenerico Disney Fic, "The Happiest Luchador on Earth" is located HERE, while the rest of the in-universe stories, "Of Masks, Mice, and Men" are located HERE.

For anyone interested, both THLoE and OMMaM make up what I refer to as "The Generico!verse" due to the fact that the entire universe hinges on the singular notion that El Generico is NOT Sami Zayn and, in fact, Sami Zayn never existed in this universe, nor does Kevin Owens. There are only Steen and Generico in this universe and the stories are about the two of them meeting, falling in love, realizing they are in love, realizing how much they need each other, and really, just the two of them navigating the world together as best friends and eventual lovers, trying to get by despite their various neurodivergencies.

The rest of the fanworks are beneath cut

Music Videos

Wrestling

Wrestling - Zowens/Steenerico - You Grew On Me

Wresting - Zowens/Steenerico - Open Arms

WWE - Shane McMahon - Kings

WWE - Shane McMahon - Feet On The Ground

WWE - Shane McMahon - I Am The Fire

WWE - Shane McMahon - You're Gonna Go Far Kid

WWE - Shane McMahon - Written In The Stars

Doctor Who

Doctor Who - The Pond Family - Elevation

Doctor Who - The Pond Family - Who Wants To Live Forever

Doctor Who - The Brigadier Tribute - Hero

Doctor Who - The Companions - Never Say Goodbye

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Buffy - Dark Willow - Down With The Sickness

Buffy Episodic - "Superstar" - The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest

Other Videos

Xena Warrior Princess - Video Vixen Remake - I Need A Hero

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Don't Stop Me Now

M*A*S*H - Weathered

How I Met Your Mother - What's My Age Again?

Fanfiction

Zowens/Steenerico Fanfics

To Earthquakes, Lovers, and Newfound Friends

Finding Paradise

Depression, Dissociation, and 'Mania

Stay

The Sunshine and The Rain (Poem)

Siempre te Amaré (I Will Always Love You)

Saved (6-Part Series)

He Used To Be Mine (Will Be 20-Part Series) - WIP

The Happiest Luchador On Earth (Steenerico Disney Fic) - WIP

A Sacred Place (AU) - WIP

Other Fanfiction

Doctor Who - Magickally Different

WWE/Doctor Who - Journey's Beginning

How I Met Your Mother - Six

Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog - Apologies

WWE - Death of A Fangirl (And Rebirth of A Friend)

WWE - A One Fangirl Army

Original Works

The Rain Can't Hurt You Now

Four Men, Four Souls

Other Stuff

This one doesn't really have a set place or link for it, but the tag is "Shanie's Artwork"

If you're looking for my custom figures, that's under "Shanie's Custom Figures"

If you're looking for the comics-style stories of my action figures, look under "The Yep Husband Chronicles"

If you're looking for my dream journal writeups, that's under "Shanie's Dream Journal"

My old blog is @shanie-the-toyaddict and you will find most of this stuff posted there too.

#Masterlist #Shanie's fanworks #Shanie's fanfic #Shanie's Artwork #Shanie's Custom Figures #The Yep Husband Chronicles #Shanie's Insane Dream Fic #Shanie's Dream Journal

[ladymalchav]

[self-loathing-angel-of-thursday2]

Beautiful Spouse’s Rewatch Thoughts SPN 08x03 Heartache

“That was some deep writing. He hit a dog. Took it to the vet. Slept with the vet. Only needed one set” “Is he going to have a heart attack or something?” “Shit” “Fkn Indiana Jones style right there”

“ALI MAA” “what the fuck” and laughter

Laughter

“Sam is being so boring right now. It’s not like you have anything else going on” “I’m so confused. Did the lady die or did he just leave?” Sam was a deadbeat and left the lady like we saw last episode

“We don’t have peach pits here” “The People of Minnesota don’t grow peaches, as far as I know” “They’re really selling that” “thats a lot of eyeball” “They’re having a lot of fun with the rack focus on that one” “what a heartless bitch” “they missed their opportunity to make fun of everyone from Minnesota have that one accent” “Ok” “um” “I don’t know how he would have had time to breathe in before screaming. The screaming didn’t come from the same person at the same time” “How is that…the phone wouldn’t know what the fuck. It needs to know what language you’re using originally too” “Is it a possessed or cursed donor or some shit? That’d be awesome” “the place looks like the inside of an old country buffet” “thats what they all say” “I feel like we’ve seen this alley before” “not that guy’s heart” “to be fair, it looked like he had hella heart disease” “What’s it called when it’s something syndrome?” “Stockholm Syndrome?” “Dean hates being a hunter but he does it anyway” “thats a lot of blood stuff” “yup. Sure” “is it Lucifer or something?” “the occult” “When the aliens find that, it’ll be a brick named Brick” “It’ll be an obvious brick label” “Cacao” “options. Stocks. Bonds. Future investments” “no problem” “that’s a lot of brick” “more like stone I guess. It looked like actual rocks” “Is she Brick’s lover? I thought that was his mom” “Were they married?” “I thought he was a young dude” “Williams used that livery color today (Qatar GP 2023)” “box o fan mail” “Who the fuck is Betsey?” “Look at that fkn TV man” “Mid-20s huh?” “these guys are fucked. Dean said all of that, and Sam said sure that’s believable” “Is it a pipe organ? Or a digital one?” “what a bitch move” “oh yeah, she’s in my house” “the bunny hole. Exotic angel fire” “Two occult-obsessed weirdos walk into a strip club and threaten a stripper with a knife. Where are we? Florida? Christ’s sakes” “what a fkn greasy horror show” “scary music” “I didn’t see that coming” “I feel like Dean is into this somehow” “that was easy” “Oh he hit her in the heart” “crazy ass lady” “Dean gets what it’s like to be Xena Warrior Princess” “I’m with Dean on this one. Sam says that a lot” “You already tried that once in college, man” “slight the bitch some more” 🎶let’s start a riot🎶

“How come we don’t see her again?”

#beautifulspouserewatchesspn #supernatural rewatch #supernatural #supernatural s8

[ravenya003]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Teacher's Pet, S01E04

It’s our first Xander-centric episode and... it’s not great.

The episode starts off with what is clearly Xander’s daydream, evidenced by the fact that Buffy is suddenly helpless in the face of an aggressive vampire. Xander saves her and then leaps up on the stage to finish his guitar solo. I guess the nicest thing I can say is... it could have been worse?

Back in reality, the Scoobies are in biology class and Dr Gregory (who we glimpsed briefly in the previous episode) targets Buffy for an on-the-spot question about how ants communicate. Willow does her best to give her the answer from behind his back, but Buffy has a ditzy moment and says “B.O.” instead of “smell.” C’mon Buffy, that was an easy one!

The writers have an extremely limited window of opportunity to make us feel sad about Dr Gregory’s imminent death, and for my money, do a pretty good job when he approaches Buffy after class and gives her unexpected words of encouragement instead of the expected scolding. It culminates with him saying: “let’s make them eat that permanent record.” Aww.

So when he inevitably gets dragged off by a giant tentacle two seconds later, it’s a bummer.

The whole thing also sets up the moral of the episode: do your homework. This is quickly followed by its central theme: the sexual prowess of teenage boys (or rather, their anxiety over the lack of it). Xander is at the Bronze, trying and failing to look cool, and overhearing fellow student Blayne bragging about his conquests in such a way that makes it clear he’s never had any.

(Most of the season one episodes are heavy-handed metaphors for teenage dramas, but this one’s even heavier than usual).

Xander’s masculinity is in trouble, so he takes advantage of Buffy and Willow’s arrival to put his arms around them – Willow is all for this, but Buffy is distracted by the arrival of Angel.

And hey! This is the first time Xander and Willow see him! I’d forgotten all about this scene. There’s no interaction between them so far, but Xander definitely clocks him as a handsome threat, especially when he gives his jacket to Buffy on noticing that she’s cold.

Though that might just be a ploy to get her to notice the wound on his arm, and he warns her about a vampire she nicknames “Fork Guy.”

The following day, a new teacher arrives to take Dr Gregory’s place. As befits her attractiveness, she walks up in slow motion while sexy music plays, and both Xander and Blayne are rendered helpless.

This episode very much frames Blayne as a male Cordelia (jock instead of a cheerleader, but with the same undercutting, dismissive attitude toward the Scoobies) and specifically a foil to Xander as Cordelia is to Buffy. It’s a shame we don’t see him again after this, though I like to imagine he made it to Graduation Day and fought in the battle there.

Natalie French is played by the very beautiful Musetta Vander, and glancing over her IMDB she’s still working – though during the late nineties/early noughties she was in a lot of genre stuff: Xena Warrior Princess, Babylon 5, Highlander, Star Trek, Star Gate...

Her first lesson to the class is some straight-up exposition about how the praying mantis lays eggs (way to give your secret away!) though I find it interesting that she argues the insect (and by extension, her) is not evil – just acting according to nature’s design. As far as I recall, this particular Monster of the Week isn’t technically a demon... just a big bug.

In the cafeteria, the Scoobies are handed lunch trays by someone off-screen – I only mention this because... do you think this is the lunch-lady who goes nuts in “Earshot” and tries to poison everyone?

Cordelia marches into the kitchen to make a special dietary lunch for herself and opens the fridge to reveal Dr Gregory’s headless corpse. Charisma Carpenter does a good job with Cordelia’s hysteria in this moment, though I have to wonder why the She-Mantis kept Gregory’s body on-campus. It doesn’t fit the MO of her other three victims, who she lures to the privacy of her house. And wouldn't she want to lay her eggs in a safe place?

I suppose she simply doesn’t think anyone would believe a giant insect is on the loose and that she’s entirely above suspicion (which I suppose would also explain her casualness in giving the class a lecture on praying mantises).

Regrouping in the library, the Scoobies discuss the murder. Buffy has tears on her cheeks and Giles says that he liked Dr Gregory too. Aww. Also, it intrigues me that Giles probably does have to interact with the Sunnydale High facility on a regular basis – little chats in the staffroom and so on. That’s a glimpse of his life (and his relationships with other adults) that we never get to see.

Detective Buffy points out Gregory was wearing the same clothes – specifically his lab coat – from the last time she saw him, which suggests he was killed at school. Skipping ahead, she's also observant enough to notice that Miss French was carrying groceries when she sees her outside Weatherly Park, suggesting that she lives nearby.

The gang floats the possibility that this death has something to do with the enigmatic warning Angel delivered about “Fork Guy” the other night – are they connected? (They’re not, but I like it when characters are wrong about things in logical ways).

Giles has heard of a vampire such as the one Angel described, stating that he works for the Master and cut off his hand in penance for displeasing him. The gang are smart enough to realize that what happened to Gregory doesn’t really fit this MO... so could it be there are two monsters out there? (Yes).

Their only lead is that a drunk was killed the other night in Weatherly Park, so naturally Buffy goes to investigate despite Giles ordering her not to. Which is a little weird come to think of it. Isn’t it her job to investigate these types of things? But still very telling that she went of her own accord.

She bumps into a drunk who tells her to go home (it’s kind of unclear, but I think this is actually an undercover cop) who is swiftly followed by a pretty big vampire with a claw in place of a hand. Buffy tussles with him for a bit, only for him to scarper when – holy shit, the police arrive! This is one of... I dunno, four times the police force appear in the entire series?

It makes sense the writers chose to keep them on the periphery (I have an explanation for this, but it’ll keep) so it always comes as a shock whenever you see them actually doing their job.

The Claw makes a run for it with Buffy in pursuit, only for her to witness a strange scene: the vampire is spooked by a woman walking home with her groceries, and when she turns around – it’s Miss French.

Giles is cross that Buffy disobeyed him, then interested when she tells the story of a big scary vampire being driven off by the mere presence of a substitute biology teacher. I love that Giles immediately believes her story without question (Merlin still leaves its scars) and promises to research more.

We get something of a filler scene, in which Principal Flutie waylays Buffy on her way to class and forcibly escorts her to the crisis councillor’s office. Cordelia is already inside, getting her second scene of the episode in which she tries to argue that at least Dr Gregory’s death has been good for her diet. Buffy’s face is priceless:

Late to class, Buffy looks through the window in the door and sees Miss French perform a “full Exorcist twist” of her head in order to look behind her. Willow is computer hacking and informs them that Blayne has been missing since the previous night. Did his parents call the cops? Probably not, since parents – like the police – barely exist in this show.

We get a real clunker of a line in which Willow asks Buffy: “what are you going to do?” and she dramatically announces: “my homework.” Look, it’s early days. Moral anvils are going to be dropped.

Conveniently, Xander is not here to share in all this important research and moralizing about how homework helps you learn stuff, and accepts Miss French’s invitation to her house that night.

We get another kinda-filler scene in which Miss French prepares a sandwich full of bugs for herself, and it’s worth noting because it’s very cute the way the close-up on her hands demonstrates that the actress hated touching those bugs. She does it so quickly and yet so carefully, with as little physical contact as possible.

Buffy has done her homework and reached her conclusion: Miss French is a praying mantis. All the evidence puts to it – the headless corpse, the rotating head, the fear she instilled in the Claw... and of course, her fashion sense.

Her conclusion inspires Giles to make a call to a contact called Carlyle Ferris who specialized in fairy tales and bugs (before he went mad) while Buffy rushes to warn Xander.

It does not go well. Granted, her insistence that a woman he’s being somewhat chemically induced by is actually “a big old bug” isn’t the most convincing argument in the world, but it soon veers into Xander’s personal insecurity and jealousy when he brings up Angel. Dude. Come on.

I obviously don’t have a problem with characters having flaws (the showrunners of the live-action Avatar the Last Airbender have recently stated they’re toning down Sokka’s chauvinism, which is eye-rolling since one of the central tenants of that character is he grows OUT of it) but in this case it’s difficult to separate “accurate depiction of teenage boy” from “still not cool behaviour though” from “how cognizant is Joss Whedon to the fact that this level of entitlement IS bad behaviour?” from “he nearly gets eaten a few scenes later, so clearly we’re meant to be on Buffy’s side here.”

It's an entanglement of authorial intent and dated nineties concepts and Watsonian/Doylist interpretations of the material – so let’s just go with: Xander is wrong to let his insecurities about women guide his behaviour in this instance, and his arc will eventually culminate in a really lovely scene with Dawn in season seven in which he admits that being the one without superpowers is tough but he sticks around anyway because he loves his friends.

This scene is his first step on the way to that self-actualization.

Xander reaches Natalie French’s house, who opens the door in a suggestive dress and offers him a martini. It does not cross his mind that there’s anything wrong with this, though he starts to get a clue when he overhears Blayne yelling for help from the basement.

Giles is having a hilarious one-sided conversation with Carlyle Ferris on the phone, assuring him that he was right about everything “except for your mother coming back as a Pekinese.” It’s a tragedy that we never meet this character in-person.

In any case, Giles fills them in: that there is precedence to the existence of a giant She-Mantis, who he explicitly compares to creatures like the Greek sirens and the Celtic sea-maidens – I like it when the wider reaches of human mythologies are integrated into the world-building. (Also, maybe this was the show’s nod to the succubus, a creature mentioned in the pilot episode and then never actually seen in the show itself).

Buffy orders some recordings of bat sonar from the “video library” (that was a thing that existed in the nineties) and they all head for Natalie French’s house. Turns out that the inhabitant is a little old lady and retired teacher in her nineties whose identity the She-Mantis has stolen.

She’s a very funny character, who takes the opportunity to overshare details of her life with the three complete strangers on her doorstep – though I like the implication that some residents of Sunnydale manage to have a perfectly nice little life while living atop the Hellmouth. This Miss French has probably had a few brushes with the weird and supernatural during her time, but clearly made it to retirement age intact.

In another of this episode’s most grating scenes, Willow suggests they start knocking on doors, only for Buffy to insist that they don’t have time. But what they DO have time for is Buffy to leap into the sewers, find the Claw, and walk him like a dog around the neighbourhood until he reacts badly to one of the houses, thereby demonstrating that the She-Mantis is inside. Suuuure.

(I’m guessing that this early on, and after the vampire-free episode “Witch”, the writers’ room decided they just really needed to shoehorn a vampire into the mix somehow).

Xander wakes up in a cage in the She-Mantis’s cellar, only to find a panic-stricken Blayne jabbering about what the creature is about to do to them. It involves eggs, “throbbing,” rape and beheading.

However, in a classic Xander move, he’s managed to force out one of the bars in the cage and plays along with the She-Mantis beckoning to him... before whacking her with his makeshift weapon and making a run for it. He doesn’t get far, and the worst is about to happen when Buffy bursts through the window.

She starts with insect spray and then the recording of the bat sonar. In another clunker, she feels the need to spell it out: “Bat sonar makes your whole nervous system go to hell.” Yes, I’m sure that the She-Mantis writhing in pain is AWARE of this fact, Buffy.

The monster is finished off with a machete, and the boys are saved. In a nice moment, Blayne genuinely thanks Buffy for the save, and then disappears into the darkness of one-shot characters.

Motor-mouth Willow feels the need to point out that the She-Mantis only targeted virgins, and I get the feeling this isn’t an innocent slip of the tongue, but something that Willow wanted to make sure that Buffy knew. She can be a sly one, sometimes.

With Buffy’s machete, Xander takes out the rest of the Mantis eggs.

Much like Cordelia, Angel only gets two scenes this episode, but Buffy confirms the death of the Claw (she staked him with a picket fence) and gives a quiet “oh boy” as he walks away. Yeah, she’s in trouble.

The following day, we meet Dr Gregory’s less-inspiring replacement, but Buffy gets a nice little moment to honour the teacher who believed in her (and whose “do your homework” reminder saved the day) by gently putting his glasses back in his lab coat hanging in the cupboard.

We then pan down to a remaining clutch of eggs concealed at the back of the cupboard – one of which is already hatching. But don’t worry, we never see or hear about this ever again. For such a continuity-heavy show, it’s a bit weird.

This episode stands out because the monster is so different from practically every other villain in the show’s seven-year run. The She-Mantis has more in common with the more sci-fi tinged elements of the show (the internet demon, the resurrected Frankenstein-like jock, the fish boys, the various evil robots) than the old school vampires, demons, witches and werewolves, but it still feels more like something out of a cheesy black-and-white serial called “Attack of the Giant Insects” or something. Nothing like the She-Mantis ever comes up again – something that’s not demonic in nature, nor attracted to the magic of the Hellmouth, but just a creature acting according to its own nature.

It's not unwatchable, but it’s safe to say that this episode is the weakest of season one – and for that reason, not one that gets referenced very often (if at all) in future episodes.

Miscellaneous Observation:

The lore surrounding the She-Mantis suggests that Dr Gregory... was also a virgin? I mean, it’s not out of the question, especially if he was asexual or something. But there was an easy alternative to this odd implication, and that’s having the She-Mantis kill him in order to take his place as a substitute teacher (which she needed to get into closer proximity with the actual virgins).

That said, this would have denied Buffy some of the necessary clues she needed to identify Miss French for who she really was (namely, the lack of a head on Dr Gregory’s corpse).

So, did everyone learn that the moral of this story was to do your homework? It was pretty vague, I’m not sure they mentioned it enough times.

The episode does much better with the metaphor of predatory adults around minors, and the show was rather ahead of its time in demonstrating that a woman making sexual advances on teenage boys is just as dodgy as visa-versa.

Xander’s middle name is established as Lavelle, something that I’m pretty sure is never mentioned again.

Giles mentioned that the Claw cut off his own hand after displeasing the Master – I kind of want to know the story behind that. Of course, knowing the Master, it was probably something frivolous. He talked out of turn or something.

Giles calls what Buffy did at Weatherly Park “hunting” instead of “patrolling.” Heh. 

For a guy constantly worrying about his masculinity, Xander is man enough to tell Buffy to her face that she was right and he was wrong. Too many dudes don’t realize that this sort of thing is what REALLY makes you a man.

The writers clearly still haven’t figured out Angel’s deal, and so play it safe by having him appear, spout some cryptic warnings, and then disappear again. The chemistry between him and Buffy is stirring up though...

Best Line: Buffy: “She could be anywhere!” Miss French: “No dear, I’m right here.” I don’t know why it’s funny, but it is.

Best Subversion: Dr Gregory is nice and supportive, instead of a big meanie. Then he dies.

Minor Character I’d Most Like to See In-Person: Carlyle Ferris. He sounded hilarious!

Death Toll: Dr Gregory. The drunk at Weatherly Park. One off-screen individual that Blayne saw getting killed by the She-Mantis, so I won’t count it. The Claw. The She-Mantis.

Grand Total: Six civilians, seven villains.

#rav's watching log #buffy the vampire slayer #rav's buffy rewatch #buffy season one

[girl4music]

MY TOP 10 FAVOURITE EPISODES OF ‘XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS’ AND WHY I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

(CONTAINS A LOT OF SPOILERS)

'Xena: Warrior Princess’ is a very influential, inspiring and impactful TV show for me. It is my favourite piece of art/entertainment of all-time and it is the backbone and foundation behind my entire philosophy as a human being on this planet. All the show is great, but it’s the episodes that have given me deep life lessons and helped me understand more about myself and the world around me that matter the most to me. I will give a lengthy explanation as to why each one of these specific favourite episodes in my TOP 10 mean so much to me or what it is about them it’s taught me that has made me a better and more evolved version of myself. There is 134 episodes all in all. From most favourite to least favourite, here are my TOP 10 most favourite episodes of 'Xena: Warrior Princess’ and why I love them so much.

1. S03E12: THE BITTER SUITE

‘The Bitter Suite’ is a musical episode. It combines my love for music and drama into one excellently written, produced, directed and composed episode of the show. But that’s not entirely the reason why it makes the very top of my list, although that’s a huge factor. ‘The Rift’ (as Xenites call it) between Xena and Gabrielle all throughout Season 3 is dealt with and put to rest in this episode. The writers use Yin and Yang and the polarities of love/hate, good/evil and peace/war to represent the importance of friendship, honesty, forgiveness and the ability to put someone you love and care about over yourself in their time of need despite whatever animosity you feel towards them due to past circumstances and situations that broke your heart. They use Yin and Yang several times in the show to give such strong and substantial messages, however, this time takes the winning spot for me. The friendship between Xena and Gabrielle is put to the ultimate test when they fall into this dimension of reality called ‘Illusia’. In this strange, whimsical and colourful place everything is designed to be expressed in song and theatrics. It’s such a clever, artistic and extremely thought-provoking episode. There is a lot it taught me that I unconsciously crafted into my own philosophy of life throughout the years. Also, it was the very first episode I ever saw of the show. They were airing Season 3 in the United Kingdom when I came across it at 5 years old in 1997. Its lessons have remained with me since then but I definitely understand it a lot better now I am a grown adult. If there was ever any episode that you should watch of Xena to introduce you to it… and you really don’t care about spoilers… make it this one. I promise you… you won’t regret it.

2. S03E14: FORGIVEN

‘Forgiven’ deals with the themes of forgiveness and redemption. As you may know, the entire concept to the show is about a Warrior Princess named Xena who fights for the good of mankind to redeem herself from her past sins and be forgiven by the world of which she caused immense damage and pain to. So redemption and forgiveness are the biggest and most reiterated themes and overall messages in the show. But never more so prominent and profound than in this episode. We meet a young girl named Tara that reminds Xena of how she used to be before she became an evil warlord. Lost and confused, hanging around the wrong people, doesn’t understand the difference between right and wrong. She picks a fight with Gabrielle to show Xena she’d make a better sidekick. Initially this girl really pissed me off. I thought she was very arrogant and well out of her league to think that she could replace Gabrielle in Xena’s life. But like Gabrielle, I warmed up to her when she crumbled down in tears and confessed that she hates the way she is and wants to change herself. Become a good person. Just as Gabrielle does in the episode, I judged her too quickly. She had a story that hit me hard due to the way I treated people in my own life. It was a real wake up call to me at the time. One I really needed cause gods know I couldn’t be reached otherwise. I was so far beyond real help.

There’s a line in the episode that has really stuck with me throughout the years and still is something I remind myself of even now as often as possible.

XENA: “You are what you do. You can recreate yourself every second of your life.”

3. S01E22: CALLISTO

‘Callisto’ is about a new character we meet late in Season 1. This character becomes the main antagonist of 'Xena: Warrior Princess’ and my favourite character besides the main two leads in the entire show. In the episode before it, ‘The Greater Good’, Xena gets shot in the neck with a poisoned dart and it is revealed to us in this episode who it was that targeted her. Now I don’t just want to talk about the character but also the actress that portrays her as well because that is a massive reason why this episode stands out so much to me over others in Season 1. Hudson Leick plays Callisto and delivers such a remarkable acting performance that gives her character layers and layers of depth, expression and personality. She’s easily on-par with the leads, if not better. I love watching her perform. She’s fantastic!

Excerpt taken from my character study thesis; Section 4: A dark heart is shadowed until the light shines in.

[The introduction of the character Callisto to the show adds a much heavier layer to what is already an overwhelming story of redemption, vengeance, love, forgiveness and balance, which are to me, the main themes in the show that are reiterated repeatedly as it progresses in writing, production and direction. Callisto becomes the main villain in the show, but she isn’t your run-of-the-mill evil villain. Oh, no, no, no. I like to think of Callisto as more of an antagonist than a villain. She has an extremely complicated storyline of her own that inexplicably ties in with Xena’s because Xena murdered her family, or so that’s what she adamantly believes. It’s hard to explain or understand just how much this character is an integral reason for Xena’s reformation from being an evil warlord to a heroine for good, and how the consequences of her dark past have really screwed Callisto up and turned her into, for lack of a better word, a psychopath who is absolutely bent on destroying everything that makes Xena who she is. Starting with her reputation, and eventually escalating to the people she loves and cares about in all the world. This character is so crucial to ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’, that there is never any way to stop her even when she dies. She’s that dedicated to ruining Xena and Gabrielle’s lives. Callisto doesn’t just want to kill Xena. She wants to kill her soul because that is what Xena has done to her. It’s hard to think of Callisto as any kind of villain because you develop such sympathy for her throughout all her appearances in the show. She’s so messed up in the head that you just don’t think of her as an evil person, just an extremely depressed and misunderstood one. What happens to her, in the end, is something that needed to happen, and I was unbelievably happy did. She did terrible things, but she needed the opportunity to be saved and forgiven as Xena did, and fortunately, the show’s producers gave her the ending she deserved.

This leads me on to what happens when Callisto meets Xena face to face for the first time in the late Season 1 episode, titled ‘Callisto’, and how Gabrielle plays a part in stopping Xena from crumbling down in guilt and regret and letting her go because of it once they captured her. Xena doesn’t blame Callisto for how she ended up, knowing that it was her own fault she became that way in the first place. Even if she didn’t mean for her family to be killed in the fire her own men started against her orders all those years ago in ‘Cirra’, Callisto’s hometown, she still felt solely responsible for the consequences that followed.

There is a very important scene, which I call ‘The Promise’ scene, from this episode where Gabrielle asks Xena to promise her that if anything happened to her in their travels together, that she would not turn away from her path of atonement, and rampage like a raving blood-lusted lunatic the way Callisto was. You see for the first time Xena’s vulnerability and struggle with sensitivity. She was finding it so difficult to cry in front of Gabrielle. She tries to send her off to bed before she could see the tears streaming down her face, but Gabrielle wasn’t having it. She made sure she promised her, and that she was sincere with the words. She sees the tears and tries to brush them away from her face. Xena immediately turns away from her and tells her to go to bed, but she doesn’t move. Gabrielle just sits there by her side sharing her pain and accepting her for who she is now, which I find extremely powerful and beautiful. Xena has probably never encountered acceptance like that in her life before, or she wasn’t paying enough attention to see it. The fact that Gabrielle refuses to leave her must have thrown her off. She left herself unguarded for the very first time in her life in front of this young woman. As the flickering flames danced before them, illuminating their faces, we see the Warrior Princess’ walls down for the very first time. The Bard had succeeded in bringing out her sensitive side, if only just for a moment. This would be the beginning of a transformation so intense, it would completely change Xena’s personality and mindset forevermore. Love and forgiveness would be her saving grace, and the beautiful soul sat across from her would be the reason why it happened at all.]

Furthermore, in this episode we also meet Joxer, who becomes the main comic relief in the entire show and gave Gabrielle the chance to be taken seriously as a character instead of the “irritating blonde”, as she’s so often called by other characters in the show, much to my distaste. So because of the introduction of two incredible recurring characters, especially Callisto, this episode ranks high on my list.

4. S05E02: CHAKRAM

‘Chakram’ goes back to the Yin and Yang representation of the show. They use it as the main plotline of the episode in that there is a Light and Dark chakram and the plot was to retrieve the chakram of Light from the temple of the Tao because Xena has always had the Dark chakram and it broke earlier in the show. It’s one of the many episodes in the entire show where the character Ares: The God Of War represents Xena’s Dark side and Gabrielle Xena’s Light side. But this time with a little bit of a twist, as it is Gabrielle that directs Xena back to her Dark side again due to Xena having lost her sense-of-self and the memories of who she was in her past after the both of them were crucified at the end of Season 4 and were brought back to life again through another new character in the show, Eli, at the start of Season 5. This episode means a lot to me because it really clarifies how important it is to have balance in your life and in yourself. A balance of Light and Dark to really understand both and be whole with everything you are as a soul. All that makes you you.

There is a really great scene in the episode, that’s probably my favourite scene, where Xena is praying to some kind of deity, most likely the ‘One God’ of Eli’s religion. It is never revealed who or what exactly she’s praying to but Gabrielle notices and is concerned about her because Xena won’t defend herself when she is attacked anymore, nor does she remember anything violent or negative about herself and her past. Xena questions her whether they’re doing the right thing in restoring her darkness and how that could even be a good thing to do. Gabrielle replies in such a way that is very philosophical and wise that you don’t hear from her in quite awhile in the show. She says “I think it’s vital. I know that sounds strange, coming from me. I think you have to know the darkest part of yourself to be whole.” Xena exclaims back “But this way, I harm no one!” Gabrielle counters “But Xena, what about the people who harm others? Xena, you have this balance of lightness and darkness. Without both of those, the very best in you is defenceless.“ That scene and that dialogue helped me to realize something amazing about myself and the way I look at everything negative I do as something that takes away from who I am as a soul. But really it’s just giving the way to the rise of something much more positive and helping me to understand myself better and recognize the importance of polarity and the teachings of Yin and Yang. It’s a meaningful and motivating episode to me because it represents what I call ‘The Grey Area’ in the best way that I could never explain myself. 

Also, Xena gets a cool new and improved chakram with the Yin-Yang design when she neutralises the Light and Dark chakrams together, which brings her back to her former self again, so that was awesome too. I love the way they did this episode so much. I especially love that both lead characters evolved because of the need to be there for each other. The need to protect and defend one another. That’s precisely what their relationship is fundamentally about and they hit it on the nail with this episode. Who said Season 5 didn’t show the love between them? Look deeper. The love is there, it’s just not in the way that you expect. It’s in the themes represented. It’s in the fundamental message that someone that cares about you has to put aside what scares them about you and do what’s best for you.

5. S02E15: A DAY IN THE LIFE

‘A Day In The Life’ is a comedy episode that centers around Xena and Gabrielle’s average day of fighting for the innocent. Now while this episode is highly regarded in the fanbase because of the hilarious things Xena and Gabrielle do to each other to affectionately aggravate one another that drives them both crazy like a squabbling old married couple, it’s also got a very inspiring moral to it at the same time. That you do not need to make yourself the victim in thinking of yourself as unworthy or unappealing to the one you love, and that you have your own strength to fight your own battles and don’t necessarily need someone to defend or protect you all the time. You see, in this episode you are introduced to a couple, Minya and Hower, that fall into somewhat of an estranged relationship when Hower falls in love with Xena as soon as he meets her. Hower is the first person of the couple you get to know, but when you meet Minya, you find out she’s a big fan of the Warrior Princess, but begins to view her with disgust and jealousy when she realizes her boyfriend is attracted to her. Xena and Gabrielle, while occupied with their own married couple problems, have to sort this out and make it clear to Hower that he has no chance with Xena. Xena gives some advice to Minya on how to handle men and she becomes this strong, independent and extremely confident woman that knocks a warlord to his feet that impresses Hower and she no longer feels victimised by him or anyone else. This ignites the flame in their relationship again and Xena and Gabrielle learn to overcome their own differences in the meanwhile because of being inspired to by them.

Furthermore, Xena, the brilliant strategic thinker she is, finds a way to kill two birds with one stone by stopping both an army and defeating a giant. There is this cute little moment in the middle of the episode where she tells Gabrielle that by defeating the giant Gareth, she will be repaying an old friend back from having to fight against him for ‘The Greater Good’, which ultimately led to his death. I thought that was very endearing. It’s a great episode. Funny, yet has a lot of substance to it. At least to me it does. It’s definitely my favourite comedy episode in the entire show and it is another great introductory episode to come to know the comedy and campy side of Xena because Xena isn’t dramatic and serious all the time and that’s part of its charm as a 90’s show. 

6. S04E07: LOCKED UP AND TIED DOWN

‘Locked Up And Tied Down’ has Xena dealing with the justification for her regretful past. She is convicted and tried for a murder she committed to a young woman years ago, that has only just seemed to follow her up now. I thought that was quite weird at first, but it’s explained why later on. The build-up of the episode has her boarding a boat shackled in chains and leaving a grief-stricken Gabrielle behind to carry out her sentence: life imprisonment on Shark Island. Gabrielle follows her, of course, and tries to free her while masquerading as the new healer for the prisoners. It is here the sudden event of Xena’s conviction begins to make sense, as Gabrielle discovers that the person Xena, apparently, murdered, is the one who condemned her. It’s an episode where the empathetic ways of Gabrielle transform someone into finding their power and peace again, the way she has done for Xena.

Meanwhile, the opposite is happening to Xena. She feels an immense amount of contempt in herself for all the horrible things she’s done. She’s so disgusted with herself, that she takes accountability for any kind of punishment or chore any of the prisoners are given while on Shark Island, along with her own. For me, that was an extremely painful thing to watch. My hero literally just giving up everything, including Gabrielle, because she hated herself. It was awful to watch how she just let the guards order and push her around like that and have all authority over her. But as painful and awful as it was to watch, it made me understand that forgiving yourself isn’t easy when your past sins follow you around and weigh you down when you’re trying to climb back up in your life. It’s not justice to just feel remorse for what you’ve done. You have to pay for those sins and accept the consequences of the pain and damage you’ve caused to others. You don’t get a free pass just because you believe you’ve repented for your sins. Others make that decision for you. Which means redemption is not earned and can’t be. It’s decided by others. It’s not a nice lesson to learn, but it is an important and realistic one. What’s more is you need to stop seeing yourself as a victim, because nobody is going to have mercy on you if you’ve done wrong. You have to own up to your crimes and deal with the consequences of your own actions. It’s a very dark, twisted and dramatic episode, but that’s just the kind of TV that I love to watch. That’s why this episode is one of my absolute favourites. This show is not afraid to tell the truth of the darkness of its themes or let the leads off for doing questionable things, unlike 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys’, and because of it, it is far superior to it in writing, directing and acting.

7. S06E02: THE HAUNTING OF AMPHIPOLIS 

‘The Haunting Of Amphipolis’ sees Xena, Gabrielle and the newly reformed daughter of Xena, Eve, go back to Xena’s hometown after over 25 years to find that something has gone terribly wrong. Xena’s mother, Cyrene, is dead and the entire town has been wrecked and abandoned. There is a great evil that has permeated it and wreaked havoc that turned it into a hell hole of death, torture, pain, grief and just outright carnage. 'Xena: Warrior Princess’ finally gets a HORROR story. My favourite producer, Sam Raimi, who executive produces the show along with Rob Tapert, had a lot to do with this episode and you can tell because it’s his sort of episode. His creative area of expertise. Horror, just without the comedy, although there is some well-hidden dark humour in there that only an enthusiast of the original Evil Dead film series will pick up. And I am somewhat of a fan.

Okay, so I’m cheating a bit here. This episode isn’t really all that inspiring or really teaches you anything of any importance whatsoever. It’s just… I love horror basically, and I was waiting for Xena to have some sort of episode where they show blood, guts and gore since it’s done every other genre known to man. If you read my writing about my favourite art/entertainment, you would know what I’m like with begging creators to incorporate versatility. It’s a big drawing card for me when it comes to art/entertainment. There’s not much else to say. There’s a lot of weirdness, disturbing and creepy crap that goes on in it that is right up my alley. It makes my TOP 10 because it’s just something that I enjoy watching and suits my passions for TV media in general. It’s my niche. There’s no moral or message of significance. Honestly, I am just a sick person who loves watching sick stuff. So there you have it. It is an acquired taste and not for the faint-hearted, so I probably wouldn’t recommend watching this one if you do not like or are not familiar with horror. It’s a great one to watch for Halloween though, which I’m sure was the intent behind creating and airing it.

Oh, and Xena finally teaches Gabrielle ‘The Pinch’. One of Xena’s trademarks in her “I have many skills” repertoire. Or at least she teaches her how to take ‘The Pinch’ off. Good enough for me. Xena teaches her everything she knows in the end anyway.

8. S01E24: IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?

‘Is There A Doctor In The House?’ finds our heroines, Xena and Gabrielle, in the middle of an ongoing civil war between the Mitoans and the Thessalians. They end up bumping into a friendly face in the name of Ephiny, an Amazon in Gabrielle’s tribe, who is extremely pregnant and about ready to have her baby. They capture a Mitoan commander and take refuge in a Thessalian temple where the wounded, sick and dying are being treated. This episode is very upsetting. To cut to the chase: SPOILER ALERT! Gabrielle dies. Not only do you get to see Xena’s impressive demonstrations of medical aid, surgery and respiratory reparation, but you also come to see the incredible influence Gabrielle has had on her life throughout Season 1. Xena showcases such vulnerability, compassion and even fear while begging and pleading for Gabrielle to wake up. She absolutely crumbles down in emotion the likes you’ve never seen from her in the show thus far, and you realize that this adventurous and naive young woman she helped on to the back of her horse, Argo, not too long ago, has had an unbelievable effect on her mindset and personality. She has fallen completely in love with her and her ways of empathy and understanding of ‘The Greater Good’ and she just can’t let her go peacefully. She demands for her to return to the land of the living, screaming “Don’t leave me! DON’T LEAVE ME!”. Through much persistence and determination Xena’s remarkable medical and healing skills somehow miraculously bring her back to life again. Don’t ask me how, she just does it, and Xena claims it’s entirely Gabrielle’s doing. I disagree. I think it was Xena that achieved that feat because her love for Gabrielle guided her efforts. Their relationship reaches even greater heights. At least from Xena’s point of view it does. 

Elsewhere in the episode, before that dramatic and climactic ending, that I also thought was a great addition to the theme, we go back to Ephiny and watch her talk with the Mitoan general named Marmax, who the Amazon has been put in his care. Ephiny has developed a hatred for the Mitoans because they killed her husband, but is able to tolerate Marmax because she wanted him to understand something about hatred. That the war has to end somewhere for their children’s sake. She challenges him by asking “Is bloodshed all you want them to know?” and the scene cuts out. I thought that was very powerful and it made me appreciate the episode all the more. This episode inspired me a lot and makes it on my TOP 10 because of it.

9. S02E20: THE PRICE

‘The Price’ is an episode about understanding what it means to be human and the price you pay if you’re ignorant to the truth because you’re blinded by hatred and anger. Xena and Gabrielle stumble into dangerous waters and come across The Horde. Xena remembers this barbaric tribe from when they annihilated her army sometime after the Battle of Corinth. She doesn’t have any understanding or knowledge on them other than what she knows from her past when she was the Destroyer of Nations, and claims they have no will other than to kill everything and anything they come into awareness with. They pick up a wounded soldier in their canoe and bring him into the Athenian Army battlement camp while the war still rages on. Xena becomes ruthless whenever she has an army around her and something to hate and direct her anger at and Gabrielle never likes or accepts it. While Xena is taking command of the Athenian Army to try to destroy The Horde by any means she can, Gabrielle is tending to the wounded in an old armoury unit where there are no doctors or healers and she takes the initiative to be the lead nurse to care for those who are dying and need help. This is where you come to see that Xena cannot stay on the right path for herself and would easily just as go back to her dark days if not for Gabrielle’s hold on her guilty conscience. Gabrielle argues with Xena that maybe The Horde want something and if they had it, they would leave them alone. Or maybe they could find common ground if they learn to understand their ways first. Gabrielle finds the answer when Xena captures one of them and she’s ladling water right next to the tied up Horde. He was breathlessly repeating “Kaltaka”, which is what all the dying Horde chant endlessly on the battlefield. She previously believed it was the name of their god and it was the clue she needed. It translated to water. They just wanted water because the Athenians poisoned the rivers. They didn’t want to fight anymore, they were just desperate for a way to keep themselves alive. Gabrielle defies Xena and goes out into the battlefield to feed the dying Horde weaponless and The Horde crowd around her but don’t hurt her. They notice she was just trying to help. Through this act of kindness towards the opposing side Xena comes to her senses and realizes she’s wrong about them. She goes back to the captured Horde and experiments with her newfound theory that maybe they have a code of conduct that is in common with her own. A Warrior’s Code. She understands him and releases him. Then she goes out to fight The Horde Leader who is the one causing all the trouble for the tribe and defeats him. As she’s walking away with her back turned to the entire Horde tribe, they raise their bows and arrows and Gabrielle screams out “LOOK OUT!”. They don’t target Xena. They target The Horde Leader who was screaming in anguish at being defeated. Xena was now their leader by defeating their previous leader. That was their Warrior’s Code. No real difference to the Amazons, an indigenous tribe they knew so well and wore just as much war paint.

The message is self-explanatory: Don’t judge a person by their race, religion, language, culture, colour, sexuality, gender, or by what you ignorantly think you know about them without getting to know or understand them. You risk losing your humanity.

10. S01E02: CHARIOTS OF WAR

‘Chariots Of War’ is about compliance and expectations from relationships that affects our choices and perceptions of reality. Xena gets herself caught up in a situation where she’s trying to stop these two warlords ravaging a settlement where a community of villagers were trying to build a new home for themselves and Xena takes an arrow to the chest and faints. A single father takes her into his home and cares for her because she saved his young son from being crushed by the newly built settlement that one of the warlords pulled down. While injured, Xena learns of this family’s plight and tries to put it right for them, promising not to use violence to do it, obeying the wishes of the one who took her in who does not want another war. She becomes very affectionate with the father and his family and finds it a struggle to leave them because of it. 

Meanwhile, Gabrielle meets one of the warlords in the inn she takes refuge in because a smelly and disgusting drunk keeps hitting on her. She tells a lie that she already has a boyfriend and he is with them in the inn. To prove it, a bold as brass Bard walks right up to this warlord and complete stranger and kisses him on the mouth and requests that he pretends he knows her to keep away from the horny drunks. They start a conversation about what they do and the warlord, who’s name is Sphaerus, tells her that he works for his father, but he makes him do things he doesn’t like and doesn’t want to do and this insightful conversation between them happens that I really love and relate to myself…

GABRIELLE: “My mother always wanted me to get married and have kids. And I remember telling her that I’d always be grateful for the way that she raised me, but she couldn’t expect me to pay for that with my future.”  

SPHAERUS: “That’s very insightful.”

GABRIELLE: “It’s a gift. Well, anyway, I came to a point in my life when I had to make a choice and I thought about who I really was, and I made it.”

I’ve written an entire article about this that was inspired by this episode and this is a piece of that article where I explain the moral to the episode because, for me, that’s part of the reason why this episode is so damn brilliant and one of the best.

[The moral to this episode is about what is expected of us to comply to by our family, our employment, our sociality and our romantic relationships and trying to apply it to who we are, how we choose to view reality and how we live by our own perceptions. I tend to think the more we empathise with the people that love or care about us and that we love and care about, the better our relationships become. The reason why I think this is because you can only walk a mile in someone’s shoes once you have begun to understand them… But that doesn’t mean you should take on their beliefs… their perceptions… or their lifestyle. You have your own to live by, and that’s how it should be. What you believe in and what lifestyle you choose to live by is what is your truth. And no one should take that away from you. Not even those closest to you.]

Another reason I love it is because the writer, Josh Becker, did something very clever with it in setting up the idea of Xena and Gabrielle being each other’s Yin and Yang before they even realize that for themselves. And he does it by using none other than their MALE COUNTERPARTS and LOVE INTERESTS. It is ingenious writing and something you will only pick up on with multiple rewatches of the show.

—————————————————————————–

That’s my TOP 10 favourite episodes of 'Xena: Warrior Princess’. It’s probably not the list that you were expecting since Gabrielle is my favourite character. You would think I would go with Gabrielle-centric episodes. But when it’s your favourite show, you don’t necessarily care about how much screen-time your favourite character has or hasn’t. What you care about is how well your favourite character is integrated into each episode and there is a lot of episodes that are extremely well written in character representation and development so it’s not a factor.

I’ve already written a hell of a lot so I’ll just end it briefly. Thank you for reading. I hope you check the show out for yourselves if you haven’t seen it and come to love it as much as I do. And if you’ve already watched the show all the way through once or more, what is your TOP 10 favourite episodes? Feel free to express why as I have done. I’d love to know how this show has impacted you the way it has impacted me.

Thank you.

- Girl4Music 

#xena warrior princess #top 10 favourite episodes #xena #lucy lawless #gabrielle #renee o'connor #the bitter suite #forgiven #callisto #chakram #a day in the life #locked up and tied down #the haunting of amphipolis #is there a doctor in the house #the price #chariots of war

[choir-of-ex-girlfriends]

"You are the most divine, delicious warrior

(Xena!)

A man can't help saluting your return

(Xena!)

And if you start my heart, it's just the way you slash and burn

Bewitching woman, straining at the armor plate

(Xena!)

You singe me with the ardor you enflame

And in my carnal heart, there's not a sorry shred of shame

You and me love war

Doesn't matter what it's for

Pandemonium reigns

And we're bludgeoning brains

Give us war, war, war

Keep it down to a roar

Words of wisdom Ares said:

When in battle, keep your head

Warriors love war, war, war!"

-War and Peace/Gab is Stabbed from Xena: Warrior Princess, "the Bitter Suite", Ares and warrior choir

#lyrics #songs #music #song lyrics #song #musical episode #xena: warrior princess #ares #the bitter suite

[barbwritesstuff]

Top 5 TV series!

I forgot I put that 'top five' thing into my queue and wasn't sure what prompted this message until I scrolled back through my blog.

Thanks for the ask, anon! I hope you're ready for some unpopular (and very dated) picks.*

5. Art Attack

Look, I was a lonely kid. For much of my childhood it was just me and my brother... and this very keen British man who taught me how to turn scrap paper, paint, and foil into my own spaceship cockpit. Ideas from this show allowed me to decorate my room as a kid, got me through high school art class, and saved my arse several times when I was a kindergarten teacher in South Korea.

One of the best informational programmes ever made. They should bring it back.

4. Air Crash Investigation

I'm sorry. I know it's cheap. I know it's tacky. I know all that. But I love this show. I love learning about and solving mysteries that aren't murders (sorry Sherlock), and the terrible acting makes it so much better. I can't watch this show with people, because I always try to guess the cause of the crash before the end of the episode and yell it out... and I don't know anything about planes to I'm usually very wrong.

Example:

Me: "It's the bulkhead! Check the bulkhead, you fools!"

Voice over: "The investigators check the bulkhead, but find nothing."

Me: "Yes! Because it's clearly the wings, like I've been saying all along."

3. Justice League Animated Series

I got into this series really late. I'd just moved out of home for the first time to go to film school and was having a hard time making friends. I don't know how it happened, but I somehow ended up watching the entirety of the DC Animated Universe during that time, which is impressive, because internet was expensive and terrible where I was living, so I had to go to the library, download episodes, and walk the 45 minutes home carrying my massive old laptop. It was a feat, but it was worth it. This show did what the Avengers couldn't, made me love superheroes.

2. Yu-Gi-Oh!

When I was 12 I was the best Yugioh player in my school. Sure, it wasn't a big school, and not everyone was into the game, but it was still a big deal for me, especially as I was also the only girl who played. The game has since evolved way beyond my skill level, but at the time, I was a god among mortals. 12 year old mortals, but still. I got up early every morning to see the latest episode, and then I went to school ready to d-d-d-d-duel.

Xena: Warrior Princess

I'm sorry. This show is just so nostalgic for me. For a while, I grew up on a farm with no actual TV signal, but we did have old VHS recordings of Xena and I watched it religiously. Lucy Lawless is amazing and this show is forever the best thing to come out of the 90s (and I say that while also, myself, being a product of the 90s). It has:

Monsters

Magic

Mayhem

Queer Love (not explicitly stated, but this wasn't queerbaiting, this was censorship, they were a couple by the mid point of the series, they just couldn't say it, so instead they made a lot of unsubtle sex jokes and came up with obscure reasons why they always had to kiss to save the world).

Aotearoa (New Zealand is the most beautiful place on the planet, I'm sorry if you disagree, you are wrong).

Tonal whiplash (not just between episodes, but sometimes in the same episode, and it was wild)

One very horny vampire episode

Xena can sometimes fly without any explanation

They met an early reincarnation of Jesus and he was a conman living in India?

You know that scene where Character A gets hurt and Character B goes absolutely feral? This.

Leather bikinis and ninja kicks except it's ancient Greece, maybe

The musical episode was the best episode

They fight on ladders a lot and I just think that's neat

*Disclaimer: I am into more modern and normal things but I'm in a nostalgic mood, so these are the things you get to hear about today.

#tv shows #top 5

[jaimebluesq]

8 shows to know you

Tagged by @dual-domination - thank you so much!

All right, I'm going to go chronologically rather than by current importance, and yeah, I'm going to show my age a little bit. So without further ado...

1 - The Monkees

When I was a kid, I first watched the Monkees on reruns (this was the 80s), and I fell for their shenanigans and music - to this day I still hum Cheer Up Sleepy Jean some mornings. I was a Mickey Dolenz fan, but I loved all of them equally. When I got *older*, I did discover fandom and fanfic... that was a fun personal update lol.

2 - The A-Team

OMFG where do I start... Did I mention I love shenanigans? Because these boys may be former military but the show is FULL of shenanigans. I laughed my ass off, honestly. When I grew up, my opinions on certain things developed, and it's hard to watch the show the same way... but it will always have a special place in my heart.

3 - Various Saturday Morning Cartoons & Shows

All right, I can't list them all because this list is only for 8 shows, but Saturday Morning Cartoons (and Saved by the Bell) were the best things ever growing up! And I think they really helped develop my sense of humour ;)

4 - Star Trek: The Next Generation

And here we are, my first foray into true addiction and obsession. Didn't have the internet yet, which was probably a really good thing because I'd have spent all my time reading fanfic. As it is, this was when I made my first foray into it with a self-insert fic about the ship meeting a new alien species led by a young girl with blue hair and sparkling pink uniform who would draw the eyes of young Wesley Crusher... omfg I was young, okay!!! That fanfic never saw the light of day, thank goodness. But this show IS the reason I got to meet a Klingon and a Vulcan when Paramount took over Canada's Wonderland and did a Star Trek exhibit :D

5 - SeaQuest

This show was so significant in my life that I should REALLY list it twice. I watched it when it first aired, at least the first two seasons - either the 3rd never aired where I live or I missed out on it for some other reason - and loved it so so so so much. I think one of the things I initially loved about it was that it wasn't just a military vessel - it was both science and military, and the conflict between the two was often a significant plot point - well, all that and the talking dolphin. But the characters were magnificent, the episodes were engaging even when they got silly... and then years later, I got onto the internet, fell in love with TV show #6 which prominently features one of the actors, and my love for seaQuest got renewed to the point that I even wrote for fanzines back in the day, and created a little internet fan thing called "Tim O'Neill's Cunning Linguists" - yes, I do love a good pun ;)

6 - Xena: Warrior Princess

I can't describe HOW MUCH this show was important in my life. Honestly. It's the reason behind my foray into fandom. My love of Ted Raimi renewed my love of SeaQuest, and Joxer was a character that my 'loser' self related to more than anyone else, and the fact that he was accepted as part of the group meant so fucking much to me! I made awesome online friends through this fandom - JoeyRZ and CrystalBlue in particular - and to this day, I can remember Shamenka's "The Fool and the God" almost word for word because I re-read it so damned much. I'm team "The last season didn't happen except for Virgil because he's adorable". So yeah, there's no true knowing me unless you know about my love for this show.

7 - The Rise of Phoenixes

It's funny that there's such a huge time period between #6 and #7, but even though there were many shows I loved and enjoyed, none of them had a real profound effect on me... until this one. I honestly don't remember how it happened, but a few years ago someone introduced me to harem games on mobile, and the players of the game began talking about CDramas they enjoyed. At the time I was skeptical, had never really watched much from other countries before, but I spotted The Rise of Phoenixes on Netflix and I happened to have an account, so one day I thought, what the hell? I binged the whole fucking thing! And I didn't find the subtitles off-putting - in fact, I think I've come to prefer watching everything in subtitles since I'm hard of hearing, and when a show's in another language, it gives me the excuse to do so >.< But yeah, this show was my introduction to CDramas, Ni Ni was gorgeous as hell and I adored her, and it's the reason I am where I am in fandom today. Which brings me to...

8 - The Untamed / CQL

It was really hard trying to find an image that accurately reflects my feelings about this show, but I think this does it enough. Wei Wuxian's story was wonderful and engaging and addicted me instantly, and his love for Lan Wangji was evident despite them having to keep the BL quiet for the sake of the Chinese censors. But Nie Huaisang's story, that's what made me go "There's more story to be told here... I wonder what people are writing about it in the fandom. There *MUST* be a fandom for this show, right?"

*Ahem* Hundreds of fics read later, my AO3 now lists me as author to 90 fics in this fandom, I've taken part in many events (and still am!), I've pioneered ships and supported others, and I've been having the time of my life, all because of these boys. I continue to watch other CDramas - from Word of Honor to Blood of Youth - but none have engaged me as much as The Untamed, the show that I binged and then, after the reveal of the final episodes, rewatched the entire thing immediately after. If you're following me on Tumblr these days, you know how I feel about this fandom :D

If you've read this far and want to join in, consider yourself tagged :-p

[suspicious-pools-of-blood]

Tag Game

I was tagged by @i-can-even-burn-salad.

Favorite video game: I really like Oblivion and Assassin's Creed; I'll go with AC: Revelations, the third game in the Ezio trilogy. Broadly speaking I think the Ezio games are the best in the series (though I haven't yet played past AC3), but Revelations is set in İstanbul so it's way more fun for me because I can check out all the places I've been irl, and sometimes random characters yell at you in Turkish which is really funny to me now that I can understand them.

Favorite video game character: Yusuf from Revelations because he looks kind of like my brother lmao

Favorite movie or TV series: Shocking absolutely nobody who has ever looked at my main blog, Xena: Warrior Princess.

Favorite movie or TV series character: Xena herself, no question

Hobbies: leatherworking, writing, sketching, rock climbing

Obsessions: Have I mentioned Xena yet? Because whenever I'm not thinking about my OCs, I'm thinking about Xena.

Favorite genre/type of background music for whump daydreams: Usually I listen to specific songs/playlists for my OCs, since my whump daydreams tend to be about specific characters. Genre is kind of all over the place, but tends to be the type of music I would describe as "vibes" (which I'm aware does not narrow it down at all, especially given I probably have a different definition of vibing music than most).

Favorite whump trope: Ough I'm supposed to just pick one?! OK not necessarily my favorite, but one I like a lot, is whumpees whose trauma turns them into whumpers. Cycles of abuse and whatnot.

Favorite whump pairing: Edit: whoops forgot to answer this one. Uhhh can I put my own OCs? Because if so, Elvan and Asenath; more broadly though any pairing where one person gets hurt and the other person goes feral in response, be it out of defense or revenge.

First time you experienced whumperflies: That scene in Disney's Aladdin where Alaadin is in a prison cell with his wrists shackled to the wall above his head. I haven't seen that movie since I was a very little kid but that's the one scene that stuck in my mind haha

Favorite whump scene from a piece of media: A couple scenes jump to mind from Xena. The first is actually from the show Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, of which Xena: Warrior Princess is a spin-off. The episode is called "The Gauntlet" and is one of the episodes that introduces Xena as a character. As the title implies, the climax of the episode is when Xena's general overthrows her and takes her army, and her own soldiers make her run the gauntlet. Joseph LoDuca has my entire heart and soul for the soundtrack in that scene, and the direction is fuckin impeccable. The other scene is from season 6 of Xena's own show, an episode titled "Who's Gurkhan?" in which (for various plot reasons I won't get into here) Xena and Gabrielle both separately sell themselves into slavery to a sultan; Gabrielle tries to assassinate the sultan but Xena sees her about to go for him and knocks her out cold, stealing the knife, so that they would think it was her instead of Gabrielle; she also plays it off as if she was attacking Gabrielle out of jealousy, rather than there being any threat to the sultan. Anyway the relevant bit is that Xena gets taken to the dungeons and tortured at length, mostly just getting the absolute shit beat out of her, including while being hung upside down by shackles on her ankles. 10/10 incredible whump tbh, while there she also hallucinates Gabrielle bellydancing in front of her because that show is gay as all fuck.

A book you would recommend, whump or not: I would highly recommend the historical fiction Lady Slayers series by Lana Popović! There are two books (so far); Blood Countess, about Erzsébet Báthory, and Poison Priestess, about Catherine Monvoisin. They're overtly queer and very very well written (and decently whumpy tbh).

Add your own question: Favorite whump scene from a book?

I'm leaving this as an open tag as usual; if you want to do it, consider yourself tagged!

#Thanks for the tag!