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shadlad24 · 2 years

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Episodic Ficlet #20: Hint

Hey, all. I’m still a bit out of sorts but trying my best. Coming in at 675 words, here is the ficlet for “Ties That Bind”:

“Well; I owe you one…”

“Come on! Loosen up, Gabrielle!” Xena laughed drunkenly. “Tonight’s about letting loose and having fun!”

Grimacing as she swallowed her ale, the girl shook her head. “Well, I’m not having fun…”

“Aw, you’re too uptight. Just live a little!”

“Ha! I can’t believe that you of all people are saying that! To me, of all people!”

Xena harrumphed. Then she took her friend’s mug, clunking it onto the table and pulling Gabrielle up from the bench. “Come on,” she mumbled.

The blonde’s breath caught in her chest when, in lieu of leading her away from the bar, or, at least, letting go of her as they lost themselves in the crush of people around them, Xena’s hands slid down from her shoulders to grasp her hips.

One released the girl only to wrap around her waist to pull her flush against her hero. A bronze breastplate imprinted its design into Gabrielle’s back as the pair swayed to the music. Hot breath tickled the bard’s neck and sent shivers up and down her spine. “You are so beautiful, Gabrielle. So radiant. …Sometimes, I’m not sure that you’re real.”

The air sticking in the girl’s throat gained the company of a lump, and tears sprung up behind green-blue eyes. Every muscle under fair skin pulled taut. “You don’t meant that, Xena. It’s the wine talking.”

“No, I do mean it! You’re special. You’re so special, Gabrielle…”

The bard fled the crowded tavern.

Xena froze upon finding Gabrielle speaking to Argo and petting her mane. Her heart shattered at the same time as her friend’s facade did, the girl throwing her arms around the mare’s neck and sobbing into it. Uneven fingernails dug into sword-calloused palms as the woman took a deep breath. “Hey… Gabrielle, I’m sorry.” The warrior princess gasped and swiped at the tear that had actually made it past the net of her eyelashes. “But I told you I’m no good for you! I-”

Gabrielle released the horse to whirl around and then flung herself at the brunette.

“What- What are you-”

“I hate Ares,” the girl hissed fiercely. “I hate him! And I’ve never hated anyone before!”

Xena chuckled shakily. “Well, this is not what I was expecting.”

“He ruins everything! Why can’t he just leave you alone? He-”

She sighed, finally, slowly—loosely—hugging Gabrielle back. “He’s not used to not getting his way. Obviously, he doesn’t know how to deal with that.”

Her friend’s death grip tightened. “Well, he’d better get used to it! He can’t have you! You’re m- d-different now! Gods, learn to take a hint!”

“And what hint would that be?”

Before Xena could push Gabrielle behind herself, the girl spun around once more. The warrior gaped when her companion shoved the appearing figure away as hard as she could.

In an instant, Gabrielle was whacking every bit of Ares she could reach with her new staff. “She doesn’t want you! Back off, Ares. I mean it!”

The god of war tossed back his head to guffaw. His hands flew up in mock surrender a minute later. “Oh; oh, no! A gnat is hitting me, and it really, really tickles!” He tried to flick the girl away but could not. “What the-”

His sister teleported to his side. “Can’t touch my chosen, Ares,” she said in a chuckle.

Gabrielle squeaked. “Artemis!”

The goddess smiled. “Hello, princess.”

“Sis!”

“Let it go, bro. You lost. Leave them be.”

“You-” Ares turned back to his adversary. “You are monumentally annoying!” Then he smirked. “Whatever. See you around, babe,” he said in a blown kiss at Xena before disappearing.

“Ooh!”

Artemis interrupted Gabrielle’s pique of temper. “Be careful, princess. I won’t always be able to protect you from him.”

The future leader of her Amazons grunted. “Fine. But he’d better-”

“You’re beautiful when you’re angry,” Xena blurted, still a bit gobsmacked.

The goddess of the hunt tutted her tongue. “Right,” she said after a moment, returning unnoticed to Mount Olympus as the two mortals mutely stared into each other’s souls.

Meh. I still think this one is weird. Too out-of-character maybe? Too subtle like last time? If you’re a bit thrown by GXe here, then please know that to my sensibilities, Ares’s tactics screw with Xena a lot more than she lets on; and, being early in the show, she’d more easily fall into old habits. Meanwhile, poor Gabrielle wants Xena’s attraction to her to be something real, and it is, but she also knew that Xena was just looking for a shallow distraction from her sorrows back in the tavern.

#xwp #xena #xena warrior princess #xena and gabrielle #gabrielle #xena fanfiction #xenafic #drabbles #ficlets #ares

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discordia-rxmnants-nsfw · 5 months

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bdsm (Pechat & Xena)

"Well, I've never really done anything like that before, but I know I wouldn't be able to tie anyone up like that..."

"Like hell I'd be getting tied up! I'm the one with the big tail, so shouldn't I be the one binding people?"

#anonymous #ic xena #ic pechat #{ thinly veiled } nsfwish

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aflawedfashion · 2 years

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Xena: Warrior Princess 1x20 - The Ties That Bind (1996)

#xena #xenaedit #xena: warrior princess #lucy lawless #renee o'connor #xena and gabrielle #gabrielle #otp #aflawedfashiongif #affxena #xena: season 1 #xena: the ties that bind

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larinah · 4 years

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#stargate sg1 #the ties that bind #vala mal doran #claudia black #wallace shawn #larinahgif #season 9 sure had a lot of leather!#perhaps claudia black got them a good deal on old hercules and xena costumes?

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xebecatt2002 · 3 years

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"Gabrielle, Tell him. Do the Bard thing" Chariots of War

From the very first episode Gabrielle is introduced as a storyteller and straight away it is hard not to be impressed with the level of authenticity the writers give to Gabrielle’s skills as a Bard. Many of these stories she tells are based on fragments of authentic myths.

'Chariots of War', the second episode of the series, opens on Gabrielle telling Xena a story as they make their way to the bar in a village tavern. Though we only catch the ending of her story, there is still interesting details to unpick.

G: “And so, Zeus, in his appreciation, turned the two lovers into oak trees. And then do you know what happened?”

X: “Somebody built a boat out of them?”

G: “No-- their branches intertwined, and they spent the rest of their days in each other’s embrace.”

There are a lot of stories in Greek myth involving 'metamorphoses', the Greek word for ‘transformations’, with both gods and mortals turning into other things like plants or animals. The only story that comes close to the one Gabrielle tells is the story of Baucis and Philemon.

The complete version of the myth is only found in the work ‘Metamorphoses'. It is a collection of myths woven together into a narrative through their common theme of transformation. It was written by the Roman poet Ovid who lived between 43 BC and 17 AD, a period of Roman history which saw the end of the Roman Republic and the reign of the first Emperor, Augustus.

The gods Zeus and Hermes (known here in their Roman forms, Jupiter and Mercury) disguise themselves as mortals and travel across Greece. When they seek hospitality from the mortals they encounter, they find themselves turned away from every household until the come upon the simple home of Philemon and Baucis.

‘Looking for shelter and rest, they called at a thousand

homesteads;

a thousand doors were bolted against them. One

house, however,

did make them welcome, a humble abode with a roof

of straw

and marsh reed, one that new its duty to the gods and men.

Here good Philemon an Baucis had happily passed

their youth

and here they had reached old age, enduring their

poverty lightly

by owning it freely and being content with the little

they had.’

Ovid, Metamorphoses, 8.628-635

Here the couple greet the strangers and offer up what little they have, providing them with the best of the meagre food and wine unknowing their true divine identities. Ovid goes in to quite a bit of detail describing the hospitality the couple offer especially the dishes that make up their feast during. While they entertain their guests the cups magically refill with wine.

‘Meanwhile, whenever the mixing-bowl got empty,

it seemed

To refill of its own accord, with the wine welling up by

itself.

Stunned and scared by this wonder, Philemon,

trembling, and Baucis

lifted their upturn hands to heaven and fervently

prayed

For forgiveness after serving so poorly prepared a repast.’

Ovid, Metamorphoses, 8.679-682

Fearing they have offended their divine guest they seek to appease them by sacrificing their only goose. This leads to a comical scene with the elderly couple chasing the goose and failing to catch it. It appears to run towards to gods for safety which seems to work as the gods command them to spare the bird as they are grateful for what they have already provided.

They then proclaim that the couple will be spared from the punishment they will inflict of their impious neighbours who refused to honour the Greek custom of hospitality known as xenia (ξενία), a word derived from the Greek word for stranger xenos(ξένος). Sometimes referred to as 'ritualized friendship' the custom was based on generosity, courtesy and gift-giving that strengthen ties between people. In earlier times when it was thought that the gods walked among mortals it was even more important to respect these customs to avoid incurring the wrath of a visiting god. It would became seen as a moral obligation for both Guest and Host to show respect to each other.

Returning to Ovid's story, the couple leave their home with the gods and head to the safety mountains. There they witness the flood the gods send down to wipe out their impious neighbours. Nothing is spared except the couple’s home which undergoes its own transformation as it becomes a temple to the gods.

The gods offer to grant the couple anything they desire as reward. After deliberating with each other Philemon and Baucis ask to be guardians of the new temple and also, that when the time comes for them to die, that they die together so they don’t have to suffer the loss of their partner. After many years happy years together they are transformed into Trees. Philemon an Oak and Baucis a linden.

"We

ask

to be priests and to guard your temple; and since we

have passed our years

together in peace, let the same hour carry us off, so I

need not

look on my dear wife’s grave, nor she have to bury my

body."

Their wish was granted; as long as life was allowed

them, they served

as the temple’s guardians. When time had taken its

final toll,

and while they were casually standing in front of the

steps of the building,

telling the sanctuary’s history, both Philemon and

Baucis

witnessed their partner sprouting leaves on their worn

old limbs

As the tops of the trees spread over their lip sand concealed

them forever.

Still to this day the peasants of Phrygia point to the oak

and the linden nearby which once where the forms of

Philemon and Baucis.’ Ovid, Metamorphoses, 8.712-720

The devotion the couple have for each other is really endearing. You can really see why this story would appeal to a young Gabrielle who left her home and arranged marriage to find the true place she feels she belongs.

It is also an interesting choice of story to share with Xena, someone she’s just met who is aloof and independent. She’s eager to befriend the warrior but is finding her emotionally distant. This emotional distance is reflected in the physical distance between them. In these early episodes they have clearly defined personal spaces, such as sperate bedrolls, and they spend a lot of time apart as Gabrielle is left behind in a 'safe' location. You could read into this that just as Xena tries to keep distance between her and Gabrielle physically to protect her, she is trying to keep her emotionally distant for safety reasons as well. In some ways Gabrielle may understand this which is why she choses to tell this particular story to Xena. The old couple might seem weak and vulnerable but they are given strength by the devotion and support they have for each other. Gabrielle is trying to show her new friend that caring isn't a weakness but a source of strength by using this story as an example.

X: “What’s the point?”

G: “Come on, Xena. I believe everyone will find their tree in the forest someday-- even you.”

X: “I find the strongest trees in the forest stand alone.”

G: “You don’t have to be strong all the time, Xena; sometimes it’s good for the soul to be soft.”

This moment beautifully foreshadows the relationship that grows between Xena and Gabrielle throughout the series as both become entwined emotionally, spiritually and physically in a multiple of ways. There are moments that the imagery of the myth is invoked in such a way that Xena and Gabrielle symbolically become the lovers. Intentional or not by the writers it is a fantastic coincidence.

One episode that subtly does this is ‘The Abyss’ during one of its poignant cave scenes. After an encounter with cannibals Xena and an injured Gabrielle become tapped in a cave that is rapidly flooding. As Xena tries to get them out, Gabrielle tells Xena her final wish, that she wants to be buried with Xena.

X [Whispers]: "Gabrielle-- Gabrielle-- here-- here. The time's

come. We're getting you out of here, all right?"

G: "Oh."

X: "All right."

G: "Xena, I have a-- a last wish."

X: "I don't want to hear of it."

G: "No-- I'm serious. You don't want to know?"

X: "What is it, then?"

G: "I don't-- want to be buried-- with the Amazons."

X: "All right. Well, in fifty years, when the time comes."

G: "Xena-- I wanna lie with you-- with your family? In

Amphipolis."

X: "What about your family?"

G: "I love them-- but I'm a part of you. I want it to be like

that forever. I love you."

It is the climax of a series of intimate moments that are grounded in their love and devotion to each other. Gabrielle’s words cement their soulmate relationship. They are meant to be, and will be, together forever like the lovers of her story.

The context of this moment adds another layer to this allusion. As Gabrielle is affirming to Xena that she is a part of her, the warrior princess is preparing to save her injured partner by tying her to herself using vines. This nicely invokes images of Gabrielle’s story of the two lovers who becoming trees and entwining together. Also it connects with Ovid's tale of Philemon and Baucis as like the mythic couple, Xena cannot bear to witness the death of her partner. As Philemon and Baucis were spared that fate by being transformed into trees, Xena is using a plant to physically entwine her and Gabrielle to save her from death.

This climb up the ravine walls to escape the rising water could be reminiscent of Philemon's and Baucis' arduous climb up the mountain to escape the flood or just another coincidence. What perhaps isn't is that it is love and devotion that binds each couple together for eternity. Just like the lovers in the story Gabrielle tells in season one, and the myth it is based upon, Xena and Gabrielle will be together for eternity in each other's embrace.

Throughout the series there are a number of different ways Xena and Gabrielle become entwined together. As the emotional distance between them shrinks, the physical space seen in earlier episodes disappears and they begin to embrace each other. Not only is there a myriad of touches and hugs to connect them but while sitting, walking and even fighting they become inseparable.

They become so close that they pick up traits from each other and almost merge into one. This is such a vast topic to discuss it really needs its own post to explore in detail but the importance for this discussion is the idea that they merge into one entity. The idea that they become one is the connection with the myths and invokes the imagery of metamorphosis.

This metamorphosis becomes literal later in the series. In season 5’s ‘Succession’ during Ares’ contest to determine a worthy successor to Xena as his Chosen, he places Gabrielle and Xena into the same body. At dawn they discover that Gabrielle metamorphoses in to Xena and dusk, Xena into Gabrielle. This nicely alludes to Gabrielle’s story as they transform, much like the couple becoming entwine trees, two individuals become one entwined in each others bodies.

This physical metamorphoses happens in the series when it has become fully established that these two are soulmates, destined to be together for eternity. They are truly devoted to each other that they cannot be separated, just as the lovers cannot bear to be parted from each other even when they are transformed into trees.

As Gabrielle predicted at the end of her story, they both found their tree in the forest in each other.

Sources

Ovid, Metamorphoses

Whoosh.org, Episode Transcripts

Screen captures by myself

Thanks to Simjay on the Discord Xena group for the Gifs!

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xenagabrielleforever · 7 years

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Ties That Bind

#Ties That Bind #Xena #Xena Warrior Princess #Xena & Gabrielle #Gabrielle #Lucy Lawless #Renee O'Connor #tom atkins

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drabbles-of-writing · 4 years

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Bonesborough’s Resident Troublemaker

This is part of my Four Years AU

AO3

Masterpost

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bonesborough, even by Boiling Isles standards, was never an incredibly normal place.

First of all, it was the home of Emperor Belos. A town housing a man with such power was bound to be recognizable by name alone.

Second of all, it seems to have a knack for attracting trouble. Even more so than other towns. Small or big, Bonesborough has it. From a thought-to-be extinct basilisk attacking the local school to a cursed owl beast appearing every once in a while to a random human girl of all people staging a prison breakout.

Speaking of the human girl…

Last, but not least, Bonesborough held some of the most powerful and strangest witches the Boiling Isles had ever seen.

The two most notable ones being The Owl Lady, a covenless witch that was once the strongest witch alive. Advanced in wild magic and sharing a half-curse with her sister, also known as the former Emperor’s Coven leader. Until her magic died out. Though there are rumors she is finding a way to regain it.

And then there was her apprentice.

A human girl who appeared out of nowhere and learned her own form of magic. In just a single month she had been banned from Hexside School of Magic and Demonics, somehow managed to enroll in said school, convinced the principal to let students study multiple tracks, befriended the Bat Queen, defeated Grometheus, and fought Emperor Belos himself. And she survived.

To the rest of the Boiling Isles, Bonesborough was a battleground of the strangest people with even stranger stories.

To Bonesborough, however, it was any other morning with the residents of The Owl House. And their most common troublemaker the past few years; The Owlet.

“Owlet, that better not be you.”

Slowly, very slowly, a black and white owl mask poked up on the other end of the stand.

“Hey,” The Owlet waved shyly, slowly pulling her purple hood off.

“Owlet, no.” The greengrocer warned, grabbing her produce at the edge of the stand and pulling it closer today.

“Please?” The Owlet begged, her mask's eyes going as big in her puppy-dog look that everyone knew Eda must have taught her.

“No, bad Owlet.” The greengrocer teased, lightly swatting at the thief's hand as she tried to reach for the vegetables. “Go steal from someone else. Or, you know, pay?”

“But I’m saving!” The Owlet whined. “You see, I had an idea--

“I hate to sound rude but I frankly don’t want to know or be involved with whatever idea you’ve concocted.” The greengrocer butt-in. “I have a business to keep.”

The Owlet whimpered and dramatically lay her chin on the table, staring longing at the vegetables. The greengrocer looked between her produce and the girl for a few moments before sighing and shaking her head.

“If you really need to steal something,” She said slowly, noticing the way the Owlet perked up. “I know of a certain someone who can definitely afford it…”

“Stealing from the rich? Even better!” The Owlet exclaimed, jumping up excitedly. “Where do I find them?”

The greengrocer, surprised and mildly amused, pointed further down the marketplace.

“He sells somewhere down there, closer to the richer side of town. He’s got a big banner that’s cluttered with saying how ‘fresh’ and ‘organic’ his produce is.” The greengrocer huffed.

“Normally I wouldn’t care so much, but the guy literally uses magic to grow his produce and only makes his son do it on the side. I’m not exactly worried about his financial status.” She grumbled.

“Well then, I will be delighted to be of help.” The Owlet grinned, pulling her white staff off of her back. “Thanks for the tip!”

“Now you be careful out there, young lady!” The greengrocer warned as the Owlet rose into the air. “You’re still just an Owlet!”

“Pfft, since when did that ever stop me?” The Owlet replied.

She saluted the greengrocer before flying off, vanishing among the growing morning crowd.

The countdown for morning shenanigans had begun.

“Miss Blight?”

“Owlet again?”

“Yes, Miss Blight.”

Amity sighed and rubbed at her temples from where she sat at her desk.

“What did she do this time?”

“Stolen produce,” The guard said. “We have her bound as we speak.”

“Is that Amity in there?” A voice called from outside the tent.

“Think you can handle her this time?” The guard asked, a smug tone in his voice.

“And what’s that supposed to mean, Keene?” Amity demanded, a little too quickly, as she stood up from her desk.

“Nothing, Miss Blight.” The guard said simply, turning his head to the side. “Good luck trying to wrangle her.”

“Thank you,” Amity growled through gritted teeth, grabbing her gray beaked mask from where it hung on the wall and slipped out of the tent.

“Amity!” Owlet grinned.

The thief had her wrists bound together with rope and was being led from said rope by one of the newer guards.

Poor guy.

“I’ve taken all of her glyphs, Miss Blight!” The young guard said happily, waving around a handful of paper cards with glee.

“Good job, Laris.” Amity sighed, knowing very well there was no way he had gotten all of her glyphs.

“Where’s her palisman?” She asked, walking up to Owlet and looking down at her, pulling her best ‘Really?’ face.

“Over here, Miss Blight.” One of the other guards said, holding up Owlet’s staff...with no palisman on the end.

“That’s a staff without a palisman, Xena.” Amity deadpanned.

“What? Where--?” The guard, Xena, began looking around frantically for the snow-white owl, who had somehow escaped her grasp.

“Where’s Snowy, Luz?” Amity sighed, turning back to the Owlet, who was looking very smug.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” The Owlet said smugly. “I’m not talking. You’ll have to torture it out of me.”

“I can arrange that!” Xena called gleefully from where she was still searching for the palisman.

“No! No, Xena, we are not doing that.” Amity said sternly.

“Aw,” Xena mumbled.

“Titan save me,” Amity mumbled. “Look, why were you stealing produce?” Amity turned back to the Owlet. “I know why you stole from that guy, but vegetables? Can’t Eda steal her own?”

“Pfft, and let me miss out on all the fun?” The Owlet grinned. “And I’m saving.”

“...is this seriously about the glyph tattoos?”

“Yeah,”

“Oh for the love of--” Amity pinched the bridge of her nose, remembering just where she was and who was watching. Best to not reveal more to a whole squadron of Emperor’s Coven guards.

“You’re impossible,” She grumbled.

“I know,” The Owlet smiled. “Anyway, it was nice chatting with you, and especially you,” She nodded to Laris. “But Lilith’s gonna be mad again if news of my capture makes the news. Again.”

“Hey, you’re not going--”

“Laris!” Keene shouted. “Duck!”

The new guard only froze up before a screech sounded from above. The Emperor’s guards all looked up just in time to see a large snow-white owl swoop down.

It knocked right into Laris’ head, almost knocking off his beaked mask as Amity wisely took a few startled steps back.

With Laris’ hold on the Owlet's bindings loosened, she managed to jerk out of his hold. She dug both her tied wrists into her cloak and revealed a hidden pocket within the cape itself and drew a fire glyph.

“Get her!” Xena shouted as Amity pulled on her mask, becoming invisible among the swarm of guards as she moved further to the back.

She’d tried ‘fighting’ the Owlet before, and it did not end well.

The Owlet only smiled and tapped the glyph, burning the restraints off her wrists and sliding out of the way of a guard lunging for her.

The Owlet darted through the crowd of guards, leaping and kicking a few to get momentum to where Laris was frantically trying to gather up all the stolen glyphs he’d dropped.

“Thanks for holding these,” The Owlet grinned, causing him to jerk his head upwards.

The white owl swooped down again, shrieking as it kicked and clawed at Laris’ mask, making him yelp and stumble back.

Owlet ducked to the side as a guard threw a spear that impaled through one of her plant glyphs.

“Hey, rude!” The Owlet snapped, grabbing multiple glyphs off the ground. “Now I can’t use that one.” She complained before grabbing a new plant glyph and tossing it at one of the guards.

It lit up upon impact and a massive vine exploded from their forehead, reaching out and entangling many of the other guards.

“C’mon now, don’t be shy.” The Owlet said, stepping back and scooping up more glyphs in her other hand and spreading them both out like fans, showing what she had to the guards.

“Who wants to go next?”

“Ten snails say that she’s late again.”

“She is not going to be late again.”

Among the many other things the residents of Bonesborough dealt with were certain...thrill-seekers. Namely kids who had discovered the newest hiding spot of the Owl House and tried to have a little fun. Which ranged from waiting to see if they could catch a glimpse of one of the residents or trying to break in. Yes, that happened.

Twice.

The Owl House may have gotten a new hiding spot every month, but it was never overly far from Bonesborough. And Hooty did his job well.

During break-ins, that is.

“Jorah, I’m telling you, Owlet is definitely going to be late. My uncle said she got caught by the Emperor’s Coven again.”

“I’m not giving up my snails that easily!” The boy snapped, glaring at his other three friends. “I still have three minutes left.”

“You stubborn idiot,” One of his friends shook her head.

“Frances, I dare you to go talk to the tube bird.” A second girl grinned.

“I am not doing that.” Frances shook her head. “First of all, I’ll be caught. Second of all, that thing terrifies me.”

“Then why did you come?” Jorah raised a brow.

“Because you guys would bully me if I didn’t,” She grumbled.

“She’s not wrong,” The fourth kid shrugged.

“It’s just because you’re a wimp.” The second girl taunted.

“Would it kill you both to shut up?”

There was a snap and a thump from far off in the trees, and all four kids went quiet. They ducked down in the bushes that were only a few meters from the house.

Frances slowly stuck her head between the bushes and looked around.

Mere moments later, a figure flew out from the trees and crashed to the ground in front of the Owl House, groaning as her staff clattered onto the front porch.

“Hi, Luz!” Hooty greeted.

“Am I late?” The Owlet worried, taking off her needless mask and hanging it around her neck.

“Hmmm, nope! You got here with a minute to spare.” Hooty said cheerfully.

“I’ll take it,” Luz sighed with relief. “Sorry, Snowy.” She apologized to her palisman, picking up her staff and stroking the birds head.

Snowy chirped and turned her head away grumpily, but didn’t refuse the pets.

“I WIN!” Jorah cheered before slapping his hands back over his mouth.

Luz whirled around, staff raised and body tense as Frances darted back into the bush as her, and everyone else, gave Jorah furious glares and terrified looks.

“Who’s there?” Luz demanded, raising her staff.

“Some kids were betting in the bushes,” Hooty said, head coming out of the door slightly. “They thought you were going to be late again.”

“Oh,” Luz instantly relaxed, looking mildly annoyed at the worst. “Well, since they’re game is over and I’ve got a certain someone who’s going to be visiting and berating me soon, do you mind escorting them off?” She asked the door bird.

“Would I?” Hooty said excitedly.

“No, no! We’ll leave, we’ll leave!” Frances shouted, quickly getting up and already backing away.

“Too late!” Hooty chirped before extending his neck straight-on towards the kids.

They screamed and began bolting back through the woods, Hooty talking gleefully all the way.

“Sorry, kids,” Luz winced, a tad regretful as she placed Snowy back on her staff. She then opened the front door and stepped inside.

“You’re late,”

Luz sighed and looked towards the couch, where Lilith was ‘casually’ having a cup of tea.

“No, I’m not. I had one minute to spare. Could you not hear Hooty?” Luz said, hanging her mask on a hook by the door and resting her staff next to it.

“It was a very close call.” Lilith said simply. “You left, what, over three hours ago? You only went to get vegetables and spoons.”

“...well I got the spoons,” Luz said, sheepishly pulling out a handful of silver spoons from a pocket in her cape.

“Good enough for me!”

King scampered into the living room and climbed up Luz’s leg to snatch the spoons from her hand. She didn’t bother to react or stop him as he dropped back to the ground and hurried into the kitchen.

“Nice to see you still alive, kid,” Eda greeted much more casually as she poked her head in. “No vegetables, though?”

“Sorry, you’ll have to get them yourself.” Luz apologized. “I kinda...maybe…” She glanced at Lilith and weighed her options for a moment. “...got caught by the Emperor’s Coven.”

“Again?” Eda and Lilith accused.

“They got the jump on me!” Luz defended. “Besides, it was only Amity’s group again. Nothing to be worried about.”

“Kid, at this point, I’m convinced you want to be caught just to bug Amity,” Eda snickered, shaking her head.

“Well, it’s not true all the time…”

“You both are ridiculous,” Lilith shook her head. “Eda, you need better control over your apprentice.”

“Says you,” Eda rolled her eyes. “In case you haven’t noticed, not every kid is like Amity.”

The front door slammed open, startling the inhabitants as they whirled around. Even King poked his head out of the kitchen.

A rather grumpy Amity stood in the doorway, mask pushed up on her head. She hadn’t even bothered to change.

“Speak of the devil,” Eda muttered.

“Hey, Amity,” Luz waved shyly.

“Again with the glyph tattoos?” She demanded, shutting the door.

“You’re still on about those?” Lilith blinked.

“They could be useful!” Luz insisted, sitting on the couch, opposite of Lilith. “I may have a lot of pockets and places I can stash glyphs, but the tattoo glyphs could be useful! Especially with the stronger ones.”

“We don’t know what something like that is gonna do to you, kid.” Eda shook her head. “This type of magic hasn’t been used in forever, it’s unlikely you could use magic with those glyphs without causing harm.”

“We don’t know that,” Luz said, scooting further into the corner as Amity exhaustedly sat on the couch between her and Lilith. “It could end up being really useful! And if it ends up being a bad idea, I can get a tattoo over it to cancel out the glyph.”

“You're barely seventeen, Luz. It’s illegal.” Amity pointed out.

“Since when has that ever stopped me?” Luz raised a brow. “And can’t I get them with permission from Eda? Or is that just a human realm thing?”

“How much have you saved for one already?” Eda asked.

“Almost two hundred,” Luz said proudly. “I wanted to try and get a less-dangerous spell first. Like a fire or a whirlwind glyph.”

“A fire glyph?” Lilith exclaimed.

“Would you rather I have a glyph that will shoot a spike of ice from my skin?” Luz raised a brow.

“Luz, for Titans sake, my parents are rich ,” Amity groaned, running a hand down her face. “I can pay for any of your tattoos you don’t have to excessively steal while you save.”

“It’s your parents who are rich, Amity. Not you,” Luz reminded. “I’m not forcing you to talk to them for snails for my sake. What kind of degenerate asks her girlfriend's parents for snails to get tattoos?”

“First of all, you’re not forcing me.” Amity raised a hand. “Second of all, I meant I would ask Ed and Em to be the ones to ask for the money. I promised I’d never speak to my parents again, and I’m upholding that.”

“Too bad, I’m paying for this myself.” Luz crossed her arms and turned on the couch so she was leaning against the armrest and lay her legs across Amity’s lap. “So take that, Miss Blight.”

“Shush,” Amity grumbled, cheeks pink as she glanced away.

“Hmm,” Eda thought, leaning on the other side of the couch armrest. “I guess a small one wouldn’t hurt…”

“You can’t be serious?” Lilith demanded. “You’re allowing this?”

“My kid, my rules.” Eda said, giving her sister a righteous look. “It’ll only be a small one, anyway. See how it goes before we try more.”

“You’re the best!” Luz grinned, reaching behind her to grasp at Eda, who stepped out of range.

“I know I am,” Eda said proudly.

“Amity, you’ve dated into a family of morons.” Lilith deadpanned, looking towards her apprentice and taking a sip of her tea.

“You’re part of the family, too.” Eda pointed out.

“Suffer with the rest of us, you fiend!” King called, trotting in from the kitchen and climbing up onto the couch to flop on Luz’s stomach, making her wheeze at the sudden weight.

“I regret a lot of my life choices, but especially the one that led me to this moment.” Lilith grumbled.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have cursed me when I was sleeping, huh?” Eda sneered.

“I don’t think that cemented it in--”

“Irrelevant,”

Luz, Amity and King all silently watched the women continue bantering for a few minutes before they all looked at each other with faces that said ‘well this isn’t going to end soon.’

“Anyway,” Luz sat up more and picked King up to place him on the couch head. “I told Gus I’d be meeting him at the library for more studying. He said he found some old human relics that could be enchanted.”

“Actual enchantments this time, or alleged enchantments?” King raised a brow.

“Actual enchantments, King.” Luz said, swinging her feet off Amity and getting up.

“I’ll come with,” Amity said, quickly getting to her feet as well. “Since you’re going to be using my hiding spot, as per usual.”

“Excuse you, I think the correct term is our hiding spot.” Luz teased, kissing her cheek. “But don’t you have to send in a report later?”

“Keene can take care of it,” Amity waved her hand like it was no big deal. “You’re more important.”

“Aww, you’re so sweet,” Luz teased, laying her head on Amity’s shoulder.

“Hey, flirting teenagers, could you not do this in the middle of our argument?” Eda snapped her fingers, getting the girls attention. “I’m about to win it.”

“No you are not! I am making reasonable points!” Lilith insisted.

“You’re not even arguing about the curse anymore!” King threw his small paws in the air. “You're just bringing up mild annoyances that happened last week!”

“Your point?”

Luz rolled her eyes before turning and smiling to Amity. She returned her look of smothered amusement.

“Let’s hurry before they start getting into a glyph-fight,” Luz said, grabbing the witch's hand and hurrying to the door, making sure to grab her mask and staff along the way.

“You do know that people recognize you more with the mask than without it, right?” Amity asked, flipping her own mask down.

“I know, but I think it looks cool.” Luz shrugged, bringing up her hood. “Last one to the library has to clean Hooty!” She shouted before throwing open the door and racing out.

“Wha--not fair!” Amity shouted, tearing after the Owlet as she raised her staff and flew into the air, laughing all the way.

Amity summoned her own snake staff from the air beside her and leapt onto it. But by then, the Owlet was already gone, having raced through the trees and into the town.

And aside from the occasional on-looker, nobody batted an eye.

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girl4music · 4 years

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Gabrielle’s evolution - Searching for her way

Protective and defensive Gabrielle is the best Gabrielle. It was her way all along. What she was searching for was a philosophy she was already following, but she just didn’t realize it because she was caught up in the violence and blood-lust of it all. Everything she did, including the negatives were because she wanted to protect someone she loved and cared about. It was instinct for her to be a protector and defender. It just didn’t always require her to fight or kill. In the early episodes, words were her best weapon. In later episodes when she developed enough skill to do damage, killing was something she had to consider doing to ultimately stop it from happening. The problem was she confused her will to save someone’s life with the action of taking someone’s life away. She constantly denied her instincts and warrior spirit, but when it came down to it, she did what she had to do to fight for what she believed in and dealt with the consequences later. Because she knew deep down that the wrong thing to do would be to not do anything at all. She fought for the lives of her loved ones. For her village, for her family, for her friends, for her daughter (both of them), and especially for the love of her life, Xena. Sometimes she even had to go against Xena, like in the episodes ‘Ties That Bind’, ‘The Execution’ and ‘Gabrielle’s Hope’. Her way was not ‘The Warrior’. It was the ‘The Protector’ and ‘The Defender’. But she had to become a warrior to do just that. To protect and defend the innocent. To follow her way. The way she eventually coined ‘The Way of Friendship’, and WHOOSH has an interesting article about that if you want to click on the hyperlink to pop over there and read it.

There is so much Gabrielle stuff I want to talk about because her character is just so layered and complicated. There are many different sides to her personality and her lifestyle that are shown but never detailed or explained. Her evolution is immense. To begin with she is this innocent farm girl who has never really experienced any real danger or threat in her life, until Draco and his army come along to take her village, Poteidaia, and try to sell all the women as slaves. She makes a bold choice to stand up to them and sacrifice herself in return for their safety and freedom. That was the start of her way. At least from what we see of it in the first episode of the show. To protect and defend her loved ones. Offering herself up as a sacrifice or trying to do something to save them. Anything she could think of. Back then talking was her greatest weapon.

A little later on in the show we see that peaceful and compassionate side of her tested when Callisto kills Perdicus after just marrying him. Vengeance and blood-lust shoots through her immediately. This is the first time she’s ever really dealt with what Xena deals with on a daily basis. Struggling between avenging him by killing his murderer, and being a person who vows not to kill. It scares Xena. Knowing that Gabrielle was the only one that could pull her out of that cycle of hatred and anger. She was afraid. The thoughts of “If Gabrielle can’t do it for herself, what could she do for me?” whirled around constantly in her head while watching her attack that tree with the sword. But thankfully Gabrielle was able to overcome that temptation to satiate her lust for revenge. She would not kill… not even her worst enemy.

Things were alright for a while there, until another situation occurred where she birthed a demon baby and felt she had to go against Xena for its survival. Now here is where the “protect and defend” part of her really came through. As a maternal instinct, she fought for that baby’s life not caring whether it was evil or not. In her mind it was a baby because it looked like one. That made her go against Xena for what seemed to be the 3rd time in the show thus far. Only this time, she was the one on the other end of it instead of Xena.

So, this and several other situations caused the infamous ‘rift’ between them. It looked like their relationship was done for completely. But it was Gabrielle’s way of dealing with it that really inspired me. That made me see her in a new way. She was indeed a warrior. Not a physical one, but an emotional one. She carried emotional strength within her the likes Xena never did. She kept in control of her emotions and did not lash out at all.

So, in the end, was it right for Gabrielle to become a physical warrior as well? Well, thinking about it. It wasn’t just right for her. It was her karma. It was an inevitability ever since the start. She thought that not succumbing to the violence at all was the right thing to do. To basically just stand there and do nothing. “Fight with love", as Eli described it. But she always knew from the very beginning that love was something you had to fight for no matter whether it was physically or not. Doing nothing was even worse than using violence to deal with the situation. It’s like seeing abuse or bullying happen to someone. Is it really the right thing to do to just do nothing? Or should you try to protect and defend them? Isn’t the ultimate act of love to sacrifice yourself, whatever you believe in, or the way you choose to follow, for the defence and protection of another? Xena even tells her later on in the show that people like her and Gabrielle exist so that innocent people who don’t know how to protect and defend themselves against danger and threat can live in peace. Gabrielle might have been useless in that regard from a couple of episodes in, when she never had any physical strength or fighting skill to even punch someone without hurting herself. But the emotional strength she carried within her and the incredible courage she had with standing up to someone who threatened her loved ones or the innocent, even if it had to be Xena, that is a true warrior! And I guess in that case… using physical ways of dealing with the situation is perfectly okay. Maybe even right.

I guess in the end it all comes down to what the heart feels it has to do. It’s right when the heart feels it is. The mind doesn’t come into it. It’s not even a decision that has to be made. It’s a gut instinct. And only if it has an ulterior motive that is selfish and malevolent, can it ever be wrong. Gabrielle deals with that throughout the entire show, but especially in the 5th and 6th season when she has the physical strength and fighting skill to do damage, and the capability to kill easily. She already had a warrior spirit within her to begin with but “The Way of the Warrior” wasn’t entirely her way. It was for Xena, but not for her. Her way was to protect and defend her loved ones or the innocent no matter how or why. It was pure instinct. It’s what her heart told her to do in the moment. For Xena. For family. For friends. For the innocent. For anyone she felt needed protecting and defending. That was always what she did from the very beginning.

Like I said, the character is just so layered and complicated. It seemed every dangerous situation or traumatic experience brought that warrior spirit forth. But she never truly went all the way with it, until someone was in need of defence and protection. That was her way. Doing whatever she had to, even if she hated to do it, to protect and defend her loved ones. To put them first over her own belief system and happiness for the “greater good”. Eventually she became okay with the violence she had to display to follow her way, but the killing never quite settled in her. She was always torn between doing something or doing nothing, but she was never a true pacifist like Eli. She tried to be one, but it was clear it just wasn’t in her to do nothing at all. She couldn’t be passive. Xena thought through everything. Everything was a mindful decision. Strategy, fighting, even killing. But Gabrielle… Her heart ruled her. And by the gods, did her heart speak when it was Xena in danger. She became her protector and defender. Her hero! Her warrior princess!

#xena warrior princess #xena and gabrielle #xena #lucy lawless #gabrielle #renee o'connor #gabrielle's evolution #searching for her way #sins of the past #death mask #gabrielle's hope #crusader #ides of march #seeds of faith #a friend in need part 2 #the way of friendship #protector and defender

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dadrielle · 4 years

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Also, I wanted to put this in a different paragraph but tumblr is impossible for me, a boomer, to use but if if I wanted to get into Xena do you have a masterlist of good eps (like my old SV masterlist lmao)? (If you do pls answer publicly so everyone can benefit and I can reblog!)

OH HO HO. This made me rub my little goblin hands together with glee.

I sort of have a masterlist-ish. I tried to make a like “top 10 essential Xena episodes” list but I kept being like “but this one is only as good as it is if you have the CONTEXT of these six other episodes, like Ides of March is SO GOOD but you need the BUILD UP and also I can’t drop this one for lore reasons” so my top 10 list is got stalled at 65 episodes long lmao oops.

A couple of these are on the list when more entertaining episodes/straight up better are left off because of Plot and Lore purposes. I’ve gone through and starred some favs, though. One downside is that you’re going to be missing most of the pure comedy episodes so you won’t understand the true tonal whiplash this show embodies, but so it goes.

If you MUST watch only a handful of episodes, I’d say top 3 episode to watch if you want to get the concept, get the appeal, and see some fan fav episodes would be Sins of the Past, A Day in the Life, and One Against An Army.

Anyway here’s that big list:

Season 1:

Sins of the Past*

Dreamworker

The Reckoning

Hooves and Harlots

Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts

Ties That Bind

The Greater Good*

Callisto

Is There A Doctor in the House*

Season 2:

Orphan of War

Remember Nothing*

Return of Callisto

Intimate Stranger

Ten Little Warlords

Destiny*

The Quest

A Necessary Evil

A Day in the Life*

The Price

Season 3:

The Deliverer

Gabrielle’s Hope

The Debt p1 & p2*

Maternal Instincts*

The Bitter Suite*

One Against an Army*

When In Rome*

Forget Me Not (clip show but fucking…a good and important one)

Sacrifice p1 & p2

Season 4:

Adventures in the Sin Trade

Family Affair*

A Good Day*

Crusader*

Paradise Found*

Devi

Between the Lines

The Way

The Convert

Endgame

Ides of March*

Season 5:

Fallen Angel

Chakram

Succession*

Them Bones Them Bones

Seeds of Faith*

God Fearing Child

Amphipolis Under Siege

Kindred Spirits

Looking Death in the Eye

Livia

Eve

Motherhood

Season 6:

Coming Home

Who’s Gurkhan*

Legacy

The Abyss

The Rheingold*

The Ring*

Return of the Valkyrie*

Old Ares Had a Farm*

Path of Vengeance

To Helicon and Back

When Fates Collide*

Many Happy Returns* (this one isn’t even like, plot necessary but it’s emotionally necessary given how much the next one Hurts)

A Friend in Need

You may also consider going through and listening to each episode of Xena Warrior Podcast whilst watching, because they do a damn good job giving context to episodes via what shit Rob Tapert is referencing this week and what was going on at the time of airing. There is, for instance, some stuff in season 2 that is directly a result of Lucy having a horse accident filming a promotional bit that fucking broke her pelvis in several pieces, so YOU KNOW, context helps explain decisions sometimes.

ANYWAY EVERYONE WATCH XENA PLS.

Edited to add… there re some episodes on this list that are particularly problematic as helllll but still need to be on there. I’ve gone back and italicized them.

#xena #xwp #spectroscopes #god now I wanna rewatch the whole series

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rainydaywolf · 5 years

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Ties That Bind - "Xena" by MeganLaraArt

#xena

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mcbrilliant · 7 years

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Top Sixty Best Episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess, as listed on IMDb

Episode # 54: ⚔ Ties That Bind ⚔

An old warrior claiming to be Xena's father complicates her rescue of a group of slaves.

#xena warrior princess #xwp #xena #xenaedit #lucy lawless #gabrielle #renee o'connor #ares #kevin smith #edit #*mine #xenatop60 #1x20: ties that bind

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shadlad24 · 3 years

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The Jinn of War

So, I was going to do another cracksubs episode last night and randomly chose “Crusader.” When Najara first offered control of her army to Xena I was like, “LOL. Ares, iz dat yuu?”

...

😨 IS that Ares???

But the more I watched, I thought, no; if anything, he would only have influenced her by pretending to be the jinn and lent her power throughout the episode.

Hear me out:

Ares wasn’t in the fourth season of XWP, except thousands of years after Xena’s time with the finale, I guess to honor his and Xena’s contract (“Soul Possession”). But, of course, the god of war rarely let honor get in his way and probably missed Xena too much to stay away from her for long. Perhaps Ares just got a little smarter and didn’t reveal himself for once? And, maybe, he chose to do the opposite of what he usually did—try to lure Xena back into her darkness—by showing her how being 100% light-committed can actually be a bad thing. Conversely, he might have won Xena over to his side if Najara succeeded in seducing Xena to the way of “righteously” killing all who opposed her.

Najara’s first move was to take down Gabrielle. Ares would do anything to get rid of “the annoying little blonde,” hence his setting Xena up to be wrongly imprisoned for his crimes and thus separating her from the bard (“The Reckoning”), tricking Xena into thinking a hostile town had murdered her father so that she would turn away from Gabrielle—not to mention reverse-psychology’ing Gabrielle into leaving Xena of her own accord—(“Ties That Bind”), allowing Callisto to take over Xena’s body and thus kill Gabrielle and/or manipulate Gabrielle into losing her virtue that had such hold over Xena (“Intimate Stranger”)… helping Gabrielle betray Xena nearly to the point of Xena’s death (“The Debt”/“Forget Met Not”)… playing a part in inciting Xena to murder Gabrielle (“The Bitter Suite”), on and on until he got Gabrielle to kill herself for Xena’s sake the last time he saw her (“Sacrifice II”). But maybe the real jinn interfered just in time? Hmm…

Xena froze or shivered whenever Najara got close to her or looked her in the eye. That’s totally her thing with Ares.

Najara offered Xena her army, which Xena immediately accepted. This is Ares’s dream come true, but something that only worked for him once post-series premiere, in “Ties That Bind” …whilst he was pretending to be someone else. Also, one of the main reasons that scheme fell apart was because he revealed his true identity (though, in this case, it’d be involvement) to Xena too soon. Perhaps he learned his lesson then?

If I remember correctly, then Najara was the only mortal to ever defeat Xena so thoroughly in combat. It would seem that she’d have to have supernatural help to pull that off. The only other times Xena got nearly beaten to death by humans were in “The Gauntlet” and “Who’s Gurkhan?”, when she intentionally walked into those situations and didn’t defend herself even a little bit, right? Related to this, Najara displays abilities very few other characters—most prominently Xena and Ares—possess, like grabbing arrows out of the air with her bare hands.

After that near-fatal beating, Xena got the crazy look in her eyes, odd child-like mentality, and consuming bloodlust of Warlord-Xena, Ares's protégé. Again, this is what happened in “Ties That Bind” after her father got assaulted.

Like the other people Ares tried to control, Najara went her own way in the end. She abandoned Ares’s plan to chase what she really wanted, Gabrielle. And like her predecessors, she failed. In “Ties That Bind,” Kirilus didn’t want to step aside for Xena and give her his men, fought with Ares about it, and then lost. Callisto couldn’t just wait for the body-swap with Xena to become permanent, like Ares told her to do in “Intimate Stranger,” but instead attempted to burn Cyrene and all the people of Amphipolis to death too. She, of course, did not succeed.

…I’d add pictures from the other referenced episodes to go along with each point, but maybe you all could use a break from the overabundance of images too? I’ll come back to this later? :”) Either way, why does the god of war keep taking over my posts? Is this the ninth Ares-centered one now? Halp! I dun even like the guy very much. heh

What do you guys think of this theory?

#xena #xena warrior princess #xwp #xena and gabrielle #gabrielle #fan theory #ares #xena and ares #najara #parallels

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