#callisto manages to end this before we get the chance to see how far gabby will push it

[keyofjetwolf]

WHO IS NOT TO LOVE IN THIS ENTIRE EXCHANGE

Callisto flipping through so many emotions, quickly and constantly. She’s a wheel in a slot machine, spinning so fast you have the impression of forms, you can vaguely make out the possibilities, but you never know where it’s going land and what you’re going to get.

Gabrielle, a seething pit of hatred, boiling over and not caring if the only thing she can burn is herself, she can’t even TRY to know where to begin to process all the things she’s feeling about Callisto. It’s no wonder, really, that Gabrielle embraced pacifism so hard, and how ultimately doomed it was for her.

And then Xena, her eyes flicking back and forth between the two of them. The threat to Gabrielle is closing in on all sides, including from Gabrielle herself. Leading me to what may be my favourite bit:

XENA SITTING THE FUCK DOWN AND LETTING THEM WORK IT OUT

Xena’s talked Gabrielle into going this far, and it speaks volumes for both of them that they got here without a hell of a lot of drama. There’s nothing Xena can say now, though. These are Gabrielle’s issues, this is Gabrielle’s fight. Xena can be, and will be, on-hand to make sure it doesn’t go too far, but she can’t tell Gabby how to come to terms with this. This confrontation between these two is long overdue, and Xena knows from intense personal experience that the only way out is through. So she sits, and watches, and trusts Gabrielle to figure it out, and stays ready to catch her if she starts to fall.

#jet wolf watches xena #xena ep 2x14 #callisto manages to end this before we get the chance to see how far gabby will push it #which i think is a brilliant writing move #because it leaves the whole thing a question mark #how far would gabrielle go? #how far would xena let her? #it's another opportunity they don't realize they lose #for gabrielle to have really stumbled but also really had to deal with things #and xena to have her eyes opened just that little bit more #i love love love all of this #up to and including that xena knows when to step back and not shield gabrielle #but part of that is that xena has absolutely no idea how bad it can get #once again they dance on the edge with no idea how close to it they are