#it’s giving Xena Warrior Princess realness

[emblazons]

MILLIE BOBBY BROWN in DAMSEL (x)

[girl4music]

KATHERINE FUGATE: “I came to Rob and R.J. with a very specific belief on their series. Their series touched me deeply because it was about a woman’s search for redemption based on something in her life that she felt was a bad choice or wrong. So she was righting a wrong for herself and that period is commonly referred to as the Evil Xena period. And I came to Rob and R.J. in a room and looked at them and said ‘what I’d like to do is have Xena realize that all of that was necessary. As opposed to hating that part of herself to look at life as a balance of all things.’

What I think so many people do is sit in judgement about the choices they’ve made instead of realizing they all led them somewhere. And the Warrior Princess that Xena became would have never come about had there not been the Evil Xena period in her life. And for her to see both of them I proposed an alternate timeline in which she never became the Evil Xena and chose a different path which then never led her to the Warrior Princess - which it didn’t. And as I started thinking about that I thought wouldn’t it be interesting to do each character that way. A twist on all of their fate and choices in life. And if I remember correctly Gabrielle had always wanted to be a playwright and dreamt of going to Greece and being a famous playwright. So I thought ‘well, we’ll give her that dream, give Xena the dream she had in ‘Destiny’ when she wanted to be an Empress and rule with Caesar. Give her that dream. But let’s see what they’re missing at the end of the day.’ So I made them both successful in what they thought they wanted career-wise and goal-wise only to find out they didn’t have each other and that was the greater thing that was meant to be. So by that lesson I was hoping Xena and everyone would apply to their lives sort of a kindness to themselves for realizing every step they made had a reason. And that’s kind of how I pitched it.

Paying attention to and accepting all of the bad things that you, or actually the things that you call bad, and realizing they got you where you needed to be and ultimately, for Xena, where she needed to be was a person who recognized Gabrielle. And that’s how being the Warrior Princess got her to recognize Gabrielle when she saw her.

When we went in there we realized that now you have a specific timeline if you take off from ‘Destiny’. And I also started thinking like who is most interested in power in this show other than Caesar? He was always about power and Xena of course in certain incarnations and Alti was the other person who actually sought power in every form. And that’s how we got Alti. And I also realized Alti was a better conduit between the two worlds. She was our mystic and our sharmaness in the series and she’s the only person who - through some sort of mystical power could get you to see both images and both lifetimes. So that’s how we used her.

I think the thing about Alti that was interesting to me was everyone’s lives were linked in this show. Caesar was going to crucify Xena in any lifetime, Xena was going to meet Gabrielle in any lifetime and Alti was going to die because of Xena in any lifetime. This was a big surprise to her. She thought she’d finally won and she conquered her own destiny so to speak, just like Caesar thought he conquered his destiny by killing Brutus, who had killed him in the regular life - in the real life I guess we could say - and yet that didn’t work because his destiny was to die by an unexpected hand. It was the irony of Caesar - Julius Caesar’s - life. So here comes Alti, the trusted person he didn’t suspect, just like Brutus was. Well, with Alti, she was going to die by Xena’s hand. This time she crucifies Xena and looks at her and thinks she finally won only to realize in the last second of her life that Gabrielle and Xena’s love still was her demise, just like was always meant to be.

I absolutely think Xena had an effect on the way shows were later portrayed with women. Especially women action heroes. They’re just all over the place now. Even Tomb Raider, you know came afterwards. Alias came afterwards. Charmed I think even came afterwards. I don’t want to misquote something. But certainly it’s much more common now and accepted now and women are kicking ass all over the place. Xena - I think later,… it will be one of those retrospect shows where people realize how groundbreaking it was because I don’t know that they quite get it yet.”

This show is ultimately about the strong and substantial themes of redemption, forgiveness, vengeance, love, balance and justice and it’s great when the writers for the episodes see that and do what they can to add to those themes ‘cause those episodes are honestly the best. They’re the ones that really work and hit hard because they’re profound in the ways in which they teach you so many lessons.

And to choose to wrap these reiterated themes around female characters and have female-driven narratives in which to tell incredibly in-depth and compelling stories all about these themes is just 👌

Katherine Fugate should have had more episodes.

What a mind this woman has. Wowzas. 👏👏👏

So good. And she’s right. People still don’t quite get it. While it’s a cult show - I feel a lot of the reasons as to why it should be more appreciated aren’t understood. This is a 20-something year old show and it’s still relevant to watch today. It’s a timeless show in this way because a lot of shows are still catching up to it. How it portrays women in leading or authoritative roles. Queer women at that. It really is very special.

Look I know I’m biased because my niche is always going to be women-led and WLW supernatural/fantasy. But I still have yet to come across anything that surpasses Xena in its educational storytelling period. Nevermind including women-led and WLW. Like there’s nothing that matches up to the substance I get out of this show - its Universe and its characters.

Imagine being taught something as profound as this through a TV show about badass female fighters.

About appreciating the balance of all things in life through two female characters deeply in love and righting wrongs by fighting the greater good fight.

But it’s not just the women-led and WLW representation that is what makes this show so groundbreaking and profound and a delight to watch.

It’s just absolutely insane to me that this show exists even today. I’m constantly in awe of its substance and I could cry a damn river for this generation of TV art/entertainment because they’ll never come close to it.

It’s the writing in general. It’s REALLY fucking GOOD. I could listen to these interviews by the writers all day. Their passion and conscientiousness just floors me.

Like where is any of this in the TV industry today?

Nowhere! And it’s because of how much the landscape of TV show making has changed. And it hasn’t changed in a good way. Not in my opinion. It’s almost a chore to slog through the shortest shows now because of how absolutely lifeless they are. How completely devoid of substance. Depth of meaning. Perhaps it’s largely because Xena let you create the meaning for yourself through personal interpretation. But nevertheless even the cannon and explicit stuff was just better in every way than what we have now.

TV art/entertainment really has took a huge dive bomb since Xena, Buffy and Charmed were airing.

As I said - It’s not just the representation. It’s the storytelling within that representation and vice versa. It’s all the exceptional writing for that representation.

I don’t know if that makes any sense.

I’ll stop rambling. I know what I mean.

[krisbianbitchface]

Ok so to warm my heart a little from the coldness of knowing I will have to wait 2 years to see dear Rhaenyra again I have started watching Game of Thrones,I was not very fond of it when it came out however now I am older and just desiring to binge watch anything to get myself to sleep and I have a few thoughts I need to get out of my head or maybe opinions,it might me a little over the top since of course I am a lesbian drama queen and I live to complain,im only in season 3 almost ending the season...

I fucking hate that kid bran,he takes soooo much screen time just to retell dreams and look like that snarky kid that throws random stuff on the ground in Walmart with a stupid look on his face (I really Wish Jamie would have killed his ass)

Melissandre is the most interesting character of the series,so witty and cruel in the best way,I was shocked when she killed that king with her baby demon and absolutely smitten,I love cruel women.

Jon Snow is the most boring character I have EVER witnessed in the story of television and trust me I've been there since Xena Warrior Princess graced the screens,just no goals,no path,no big dick or small dick energy,no energy AT ALL,just a big fat ugly Hero complex that I just can't stand because the actor has the same expression everytime no matter what happens,even having a boner with a cute girl cuddling his dick he is 😐 like gtfo of my face

Cersei is second to Melissandre in the scale of bad bitches,she is just so fucking resented and hot,everything she says sounds like wind chimes even if she is sending a child to his death,I cant help but want her to hate fuck me and call me a fagg0t and then tell me Im the worst fuck she's ever had and just use me again.

Dragons...Should I say more? I started the series of House of the Dragon because I just love dragons,and a particular scene is just edged in my mind like iron,Daenerys saving her little dragons from that sorcerers dungeon and their cute little faces watching her almost like trying to say "Momma! You're here! we missed you!" I think is the cutest scene ever.

Daenerys...She serving cunt,she ate and licked the plate,she served and left no crumbs,the director said cut and she heard CUNT and went with it, she caused a motherquake of 9.99 in the cunt scale,she's mother, and no other than the Mother of Dragons, I just love her,she is what Cleopatra VII was before hollywood found her and turned her into a makeup propaganda fashionista, a true strategist and conqueror.

Kal Drogo,I just mourned his death,he was so cute and murderous, i wept real tears for sweet Daenerys, I think the actor was really good and he needed more screen time, his scenes were charged with masculity and power,something we really lack these days in television.

Sansa, she is a beauty,the kind of beauty fantasy writers try to describe and there is just no way that human exists and then there is her...But she is so fucking traumatized and set aside just like every other woman in that universe,hell,even in life,I feel for her...And also wanna date her,i won't lie

Aria is a tough little woman,I think they really need to step up her action scenes because I think she serves well as a hope in the darkness kind of character however I do wish the actress was more prone to make a proper action sequence ala Eleven from Stranger Things,you can say what you want about miss Millie Bobby Brown but she is one of the few actresses willing to make many changes ln television for years to come with her characters.

Jamie Lannister is an interesting fighter and I wish it was possible to swap his fight scenes with Aria since i think it was proper giving the context,anyway he has good fighting sequences that I think were ment for someone else.

The sex scenes... This was a series HBO really set the bar high for nudity,there is so much nudity,sometimes unnecessary and cruel for the actresses involved and at the same time, is not surprising considering this series was made by two straight men,this always happens in the industry although these days is harder due to the constant intimacy coordination, but yeah in those times I can't imagine how unerving it was for actresses to bare it all for a couple of coins in a popular series.

Enough with my ramblings,I declare myself a fan of game of thrones only for Daenerys and her cute little dragons 💖

[fibula-rasa]

Favorite New-to-me Films—March ‘24

(listed in order pictured above, L to R)

READ on BELOW the JUMP!

Forbidden Fruit (1921)

[letterboxd | imdb]

C.B. DeMille and Jeanie MacPherson’s second swing at this modernized Cinderella story about overcoming a bad husband, now with eye-popping fantasy sequences designed by Natacha Rambova. [Gif sets incoming!]

Mary Maddock (Agnes Ayres) does seamstress work and takes in laundry to support her layabout, no-goodnik husband. Her wealthy clients (Kathlyn Williams & Theodore Roberts) hatch a scheme to use a social event to settle a business deal with handsome young entrepreneur Nelson Rogers (Forrest Stanley). Mary accepts the job to keep Rogers occupied, with the unintended consequence of the two falling in love. When Mary’s husband makes a surprise appearance, the jig is up. But, after her husband’s chicanery has deadly consequences, Mary and Rogers are free to live happily ever after. CW: a pet bird is killed.

---

The Woman King (2022)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Giving an epic treatment to fitting subject matter, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Maria Bello, and Dana Stevens tell the story of the Agojie, a real-life group of warriors from the kingdom of Dahomey in West Africa, and General Nanisca (Viola Davis), a fictional leader of the warriors. The Woman King has a creative approach to history, to which a lot of critical attention has been paid—it’s certainly worth seeking education on relevant historical topics. 

That said, it was a gutsy and risky proposition to tell a story tied into the Transatlantic slave trade focused entirely on the West African and Portuguese side for an American (and English speaking) audience. Also, as an avid fan of Xena: Warrior Princess and the Eddas/sagas of Iceland and Scandinavia, I appreciated the filmmakers taking a legendary approach to this location and time period. In its deliberately extra-historical engagement with history, The Woman King also brought to mind for me Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène‘s Ceddo (1971), which I highly recommend. (Obviously the films have wildly different tones/styles tho!) 

As you might imagine from the description, heavy CWs for violence (including SA), blood, and slavery.

---

Why Change Your Wife? (1920)

[letterboxd | imdb]

A month ago, I wouldn’t have believed you if you told me that I’d be putting not one but two DeMille movies on my new-to-me favorites list! I initially watched them as reference for the cosplay I mentioned in the last monthly round-up post, but ended up enjoying both! Often there are elements of DeMille’s films that hamper my ability to enjoy them fully, whether it’s goofy class politics (hello Saturday Night), racist depictions (hi The Woman God Forgot, which I also watched for the first time this past month), or that I simply rarely enjoy christian bible epics. 

That’s not to say Why Change Your Wife? is somehow perfect—it features pretty sexist attitudes. But, having learned a little bit about DeMille’s unconventional marriage, I see it less of a story of wives failing and more of a story about how two people who have a solid partnership can lose themselves when they lose each other. Here I’m referring to the first part of the film, before Swanson’s Beth and Meighan’s Robert get divorced. Beth isn’t being true to herself when she’s on her mental-improvement kick—there are sufficient details thrown in that show that she and Robert have drifted apart and she’s responding to it by morphing into a maiden aunt type. The film could’ve made Robert’s role in their marriage’s demise a little more overt, but I do think DeMille and screenwriters Olga Printzlau, Sada Cowan, and William DeMille must have been concerned about the American public’s response to a story that normalizes divorce in 1920. For context, we didn’t have no-fault divorce here in the US until the 1970s.

Anyway, why should you watch it? Gloria Swanson and Bebe Daniels offer fun and energetic characterizations as the two Mrs. Gordons, and they share a pretty wild fight scene. The costumes by Natacha Rambova are funky and interesting. The film features an absolutely adorable dog too! (If anyone recognizes the dog please LMK!) [Gif sets for this film are also on the way!]

---

Intohimon vallassa (1947)

[letterboxd | imdb | ELONET]

Teuvo Tulio don’t miss. 

The heir to the biggest farm in the county, Aino (Regina Linnanheimo), is forced into an arranged marriage, but the man she really loves, Olavi (Kullervo Kalske), sticks around and becomes the town blacksmith. Years pass and Aino’s husband becomes an alcoholic and an abuser. Olavi keeps his distance as Aino’s marriage implodes in a particularly disturbing fashion. CW: domestic abuse, alcoholism, implied death of dog

---

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Look at me watching more than one movie this year that was made in this century! Anyways, I’ve been a turtle fan as long as I can remember (photographic evidence below) and I love that the comics have been re-adapted so well in the last 15 or so years for younger generations. (The 2012 show is very cute btw, worth checking out especially if you have kids.)

This take features a unique and kinetic animation style with an accessible story touching on what makes someone an outcast and how both adults and kids can navigate that. Mutant Mayhem features probably my new favorite depictions of April and of Splinter. Also, even though the non-turtle characters are almost all celebrity voice actors, the voice acting quality is very high.

---

Montana Moon (1930)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Sweet romantic story with comedic elements about a millionaire’s willful daughter (Joan Crawford) who, fleeing an awkward situation on a train ride with her family, runs into a cowboy (Johnny Mack Brown). The two quickly fall in love and are married, but the newlyweds face challenges when the differences in their lifestyles come into sharp relief. I love Crawford’s costuming and styling in this and her performance elevates the material. There are extended sequences with classic country-western music tho, so if that grates on you, you might want to take a pass on this one.

---

Leda – The Fantastic Adventure of Yohko (1985)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Yoko Asagiri is a young girl struggling to confess her feelings to the boy she likes. She decides to confess via a song she composed herself, but the song turns out to be a key to another world. Yoko teams up with a talking dog and a tiny warrior girl with a giant robot to fight the villainous Zell, who wants to use Yoko’s song to conquer her world. The animation and designs are top-notch as is the music. I personally enjoyed all of the Oz vibes suffused throughout the OVA.

---

Tomatos Another Day (1934)

[letterboxd | imdb | Eastman House]

Also known as “It Never Happened,” this is ostensibly a short film about a woman carrying on an affair and said affair being discovered by her husband. What Tomatos Another Day actually is is a send up of early talkies conceived and executed by independent filmmaker James Sibley Watson Jr. and collaborator Alec Wilder. If you’ve been around my blog for a while, you probably already know that I love Watson’s Fall of the House of Usher (1928) [Gifs/Stills]. However, I haven’t seen much else of his work! Thankfully, Eastman House has preserved and digitized a couple of his films and I plan on watching more soon. The link above has the short film with an introduction and outtakes!

---

Past Lives (2023)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Past Lives is a quiet but emotionally-rich love story by Celine Song that spans decades but also a single eventful week. I loved the way that the story was structured and how much the film relied on thoughtful pauses to communicate complicated emotions. The actors, Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro, all put in great work here. If you haven’t seen it yet, but plan to watch it, prepare to cry a bit.

---

The Mind Reader (1933)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Warren William plays a carny with a different gimmick for every town in the midwest. When the Depression affects his take, he and his cohorts, Frank (Alan Jenkins) and Sam (Clarence Muse), come up with a new scheme: fortune telling. As Chandra the Great, the crew start to rake it in, but when Chandra falls for an upright citizen (Constance Cummings), the scheme and their freedom is put in jeopardy.

I’m not accustomed to William playing this particular brand of sleazebag, but he really kills it as Chandra/Chandler/Munro. I appreciated how creative and adventurous the cinematography and editing is—not an especially common trait for pre-code films. I also made some still sets for the film!

---

Honorable Mention: Hard to Handle (1933) [letterboxd | imdb]

This film gets honorable mention because while I didn’t think it was particularly good, a few call outs are deserved. The bad: the plot was unnecessarily convoluted and the recurring sequences with fat people were iffy at best. The better: Ruth Donnelly shines as the comedically base mother of Mary Brian and she even gets to do a bit of physical comedy. Donnelly, Brian, and Cagney have a nice chemistry together throughout. In terms of costuming, the matching outfits of Brian and Donnelly are funny, but made funnier by the sheer quantity of mother-daughter ensembles they wear. The neutral: the film is packed with topical Depression-era references: notably Florida investment swindles and trends like dance marathons and the grapefruit diet. All-in-all, the filmmakers could have done less and achieved more.

---

The only big post I completed this month was a massive undertaking: Lost, but Not Forgotten: Omar Khayyam / A Lover’s Oath and a timeline for the film’s production and release.

Otherwise, I made themed gif and still sets from:

Torture Garden (1967)

The Marriage Circle (1924)

Le Altre (1969)

The Mind Reader (1933)

As for April, the cosplay I mentioned should be up very soon. If I have the time, both Lost, but Not Forgotten and How’d They Do That should have new installments posted and I have a few movies/shows on my themed gif/still agenda.

---

☕Appreciate my work? Buy me a coffee! ☕

[episodeoftv]

Prelims, Vote 6 of 8

The top 4 finales will move on to be included in the main bracket

Propaganda is under the cut, may include spoilers

Dancing with the Stars - 31.11 Finale

The winner had been pre-decided before the season even began which rendered the entire season pointless. I also watched on the West coast so I went into the episode knowing just how rigged it actually was because the results were already posted online. I don’t expect these shows to be 100% authentic but I at least expect the finale to use actual votes instead of having the winner put it in her contract that she wins.

Leverage: Redemption - 2.12 The Museum Makeover Job / 2.13 The Crowning Achievement Job

I just Cop Daughter. What ever happened to the “good” cop just being some rando I liked those days.

Medium - 7.13 Me Without You

I'll be honest, I watched this show with my mom as a child and I don't remember too many details, but I DO remember being filled with absolute rage over the fact that they killed the main character's husband so abruptly and how they handled the fall out. This was the series finale and instead of giving a nice, wholesome ending, the creators decided to say F you to the fans and make everyone miserable for... no real reason, honestly. It wasn't even well written or well acted, from what I recall. It was just... bad. It's been almost 13 years and I am still filled with absolute rage over this stupid ending. I honestly don't care if no one else votes for this, I just want it to be known it's a Bad finale.

Nancy Drew - 4.13 The Light Between Lives

The entire final season sucked honestly. They didn’t give a proper ending to most of the plot lines simply because they didn’t give themselves enough time. And they knew it was going to be the final season so it made no sense to do that.

Roseanne - 9.23 / 9.24 Into That Good Night

Just focusing on the (at the time) series finale and not all the terrible things Roseanne decided to say and be later. This finale sucked. It was built to retcon the entire (admittedly bad) season that came before it as a bizarre fantasy of the titular character after her Husband died. They quickly and randomly undid different characters' development and swapped around couples just because.

Torchwood - 4.10 The Blood Line

Captain Jack's magical blood is necessary to heal a evil vagina running through the core of the Earth, and Bill Pullman's on hand as a cackling supervillain pedophile who dies screaming about how he's going to chase little girls in Hell. But the worst part is, somehow, all of that is boring.

Xena Warrior Princess - 6.21 A Friend in Need

They undid an entire series of redemption work with one that could only be redeemed with her death an unending torment

[queenvhagar]

let's play a game: list at least 5 alternative fantasy series (past or present) to watch instead of hotd.

To people who want an exploration of sociopolitics concerning the realities of life under the control of a fascist empire and those who rebel against its pursuit of ultimate power, a show that explores gray characters with complex motivations and isn't afraid to reveal some ugly truth about humanity, I recommend Andor (you do not need any prior Star Wars experience, nor do I necessarily recommend anything outside of the first two trilogies of movies, and definitely not any of the other Disney shows or movies) (seriously this show takes the audience seriously and doesn't treat you like you're dumb which is extremely rare nowadays) (it also boasts Andy Serkis in live action in maybe my favorite role of his - he is an underrated powerhouse of an actor).

To fans of drama and comedy combined who want a story of empowerment, love, friendship, and fighting your inner demons personified as real life monsters you have to defeat, all set in the late 90s and early 00s, I recommend Buffy the Vampire Slayer (its creator is problematic for a plethora of reasons but the art that the team of creatives put together from his idea is worth experiencing, in my opinion) (I actually have a tattoo related to this show).

To all the sapphics who can read the subtext that persists through TV censorship and have a soft spot for 90s television, Xena Warrior Princess will give you an amazing queer love story (officially recognized in the writing subtextually and by the actresses themselves).

To all the shippers who wish the plot was fluffy and fit to make happy endings, I'm classifying Bridgerton as a fantasy series for its historical inaccuracies and colorblind casting (great if you love it, but it's not real history, just fantasy of what things might have been if they were different) (this fits a more historical fantasy vibe and is fairly lighthearted).

And for people interesting in having their brain chemistry altered forever for likely the worse, who want to witness the gayest most profound pairing of two people that managed to transcend the writing of the show despite constant attempts to minimize it or shut it down and mid-2000s homophobia so strong that it circles right back around to being gay, in an overall story of generational trauma, family, and love, a show that will cause you to have psychic damage whenever you hear a certain Kansas song play on the radio, I do not recommend Supernatural.

[sparkliest-bard-bracket]

Round 3 ✨Winners and Losers✨!

Everyone, please give a round of applause to these bravest of bards, who after each defeating two other fantastic bards in previous rounds, met their end in Round 3:

David Bowie (Real Life)

Edgin Darvis (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves)

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem (The Muppets)

Binary Bard (Poptropica)

Hannah Montana (Hannah Montana)

Loquatius Seelie (Critical Role)

Mettaton (Undertale)

Gerard Way (Real Life)

Kass (Legend of Zelda/Breath of the Wild)

Kaylie Shorthalt (Critical Role)

Gabrielle the Battling Bard (Xena: The Warrior Princess)

Neil Cicierega/Lemon Demon (Real Life)

Oscar Wilde (Rusty Quill Gaming)

The Amazing Devil (Real Life)

Scanlan Shorthalt (Critical Role)

Dorian Storm (Critical Role)

And please congratulate and wish good luck to these valiant bards who have survived the bard-off this round!:

Finrod (the Silmarillion)

Apollo (Greek Mythology)

“Weird Al” Yankovic (Real Life)

Raz'ul, Son of Daz'ul (BomBARDed)

Leliana (Dragon Age)

Neil Banging Out the Tunes (Tumblr)

William Shakespeare (Real Life)

Rick Astley (Real Life)

Lúthien Tinúviel (The Silmarillion)

Miss Piggy (The Muppets)

Tom Bombadil (The Lord of the Rings)

Jaskier/Dandelion (The Witcher)

Freddie Mercury (Real Life)

Jack Black (Real Life)

Maglor (The Silmarillion)

Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan (Tales of Arcadia: Wizards)

[jennyandvastraflint]

Xena Reactions S2Ep14

YAYYY EPHINY is queen

"Does an Amazon Queen beat a Warrior Princess" sjfhdhdbd

OH SH*T

"Thought I was dead, didn't you"

That's a bad idea, Valeska

OOOOH, WHITE EYES. Is she taller?

Xena pushing Gabrielle down

Oh damn she's OP

Xena just wants Gabrielle safe 😭

RETREAT.

Oh she's weakening... She can't go on forever

Xena saved Ephiny as well!

THE SHOULDER GRAB

Gabrielle will for sure suggest a "Give me to her then you can all live" plan

Ngl I wish I could pull off boots like that

Now Valeska is queen of a bunch of burning huts and smoke ig

The amazons wanna fightttt

XENA DISLOCATED HER ARM? And put it back in... 😂

HAND ON SHOULDERRRR they're so touchy

"I've never been hunted" T_T

A rat? Whooo... CALLISTO!???

Wait when did Callisto turn immortal. Did that happen in Hercules or...

"I know how much this hurts you" "No you don't" THEY'RE FIGHTING, NOOOO T_T

Poor traumatised Gabrielle

Velaska is stalking the forest

NOOOO EPHINY. This is 100% a ruse

AHAHAHA THEY TRAPPED HER. Or... Not XD

Gabrielle is worried for her gf :(

Callisto gained a scar, hu

She looks a bit more unhinged than usual

"You may be immortal, but I can still do damage" Hihihihiii

Oh Callisto likes the ambrosia

SHE SAID TWO WHISTLES FOR A REASON

"Oh me too, thanks for asking"

ANY NEW HUSBANDS wow that's fucking rude

Ooookay she just stabbed herself... She's very... Eh XD

SHE TELLS THE STORY OF CIRRA, CALLISTO'S VILLAGE

There are so many emotions here

Velaska the goddess of chaos

OI DON'T DISS ARTEMIS

"Ahaaa, and then it's you and me and the Ambrosia"

Callisto is enjoying this a bit too much XDD "Now?? :3"

SHE CAN HEAR GABRIELLE'S FAST HEARTBEAT

"She just switched sides..." -_- Great

"And who are you?" "I'm insulted"

Callisto is gonna get mad and attack her like that sbdgdhd

Sword fightttt

OH SHIIIIIT

Callisto is so pissed Valeska tried to kill her sjdfhdh

Aaaand she's buried for the time being. I feel like that won't stop her for long...

"Patience is a virtue" and she leaves. XD

NSDHDHHDDHHDDV HOW IS CALLISTO SITTING POLISHING HER SWORD

Uh Callisto is gonna be rude

CALLISTO IS SO AWFUL... Urghhh

"Just played a game of truth or dare and she's not very good at it."

Every time they discuss a plan in detail it WILL go differently. Simple story telling

"It's your precious little Gabrielle she wants" sbdhdhd "I know..." T_T

Shfhfd is she tornadoing herself

"Looks a little like home, remember"

Sacrificial lamb sjfhds

OOP THERE SHE IS

Noooooooo... Xena will run to her rescue

"Don't let go, I'm coming" yeah that

THEY'RE SO CLOSE SO HUGGING SO HOLD

The calm before the storm...

AND there it is

"I'm the bait"

"SACRIFICING YOU IS NOT PART OF THE PLAN" aaaaaah

Yeah I too would like to dump Callisto AND Velaska

"Go away" Noooo, Xena

"Yes. I don't want to die." yessss

Gabrielle nicks the Ambrosia

Pls Callisto is so unhinged I love her sbdhdd in the same way as Missy XD

Uh oh. Now we have two goddesses

"Here comes trouble" I will not inspect why I heard Here comes mother at first...

Oop they both fell in

HOLY SHIT XENA They somehow climbed back up. NICE

"For eternity I hope" Oh absolutely they'll come back

"If I can't forgive her I can't move on" real

Niceee, those two will absolutely come back again.

[tartrazeen]

Huh?

Whuh?!

Seanin is the Mystic Knight of Swamp, a new character which will debut this fall. Seanin was discovered from the same piece of scroll, that the rest of the knights were foretold in. Only one thing is different, Seanin is evil. Queen Maeve learns of him and decides that he will be perfect to fight against the good Mystic Knights. Seanin's elemental call is Death Below Me. His weapons is a wicked scimitar and his armour is steel plate and chainmail. He definately will give the Mystic Knights a good fight.

Who the fuck is this? 🤣

Joseph shared a few thoughts on his newest gig as Seanin, commenting "I think the writers figured Maeve didn't have a shot with 5 knights against her." He describes Seanin as "a villain. :)", "quite unique", with armor made of real steel instead of the fiberglass used in his castmates' costumes. "[Steel is] more evil looking I guess," says Joseph. "..don't feel bad if you don't like my character." Seanin is apparently as evil as they come. He sounds like the kind of guy his fans will love to hate. Look for Seanin, the Mystic Knight of Swamp to debut in the Mystic Knights of Tir-Na-Nog this fall.

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA 🤣

From the site: "Seanin was discovered from the same piece of scroll, that the rest of the knights were foretold in. Only one thing is different, Seanin is evil. Queen Maeve learns of him and decides that he will be perfect to fight against the good Mystic Knights. Seanin's elemental call is Death Below Me. His weapons is a wicked scimitar and his armour is steel plate and chainmail."

No, I don't think this is real. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 It doesn't even make sense - first off, this show is too kid-friendly to hate "Death Below Me" in there. They don't even say the word 'kill'.

Second, they already have a 'below'. It's Angus. 'Earth beneath me'. If they were willing to re-use directions, they would had Garrett say 'Forest around me' too, which is way cooler than 'before'. There also wouldn't be talks about Lugad being the sixth Mystic Knight saying, 'Light behind me.'

Also they spelled 'definitely' wrong.

Also this is from an early 2000s angelfire site.

Also Maeve's been exiled at this point.

I absolutely, 100% love the idea, but this is some early internet fan-casting. I'm really glad they didn't go with it too, because that's exactly the lame "Do the first season over again" plot I wouldn't want. 😝

With that said - omg, look at this website, I love it! 🥹

And old-timey internet fanfic, for which only chapter 5 exists! 🥹 It's a crossover with Xena the Warrior Princess! 💖

I feel like an archaeologist 🤣

[timeandspacenovelist]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag, @eriadu-in-the-wildwood!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

77 currently. Writing is one of my ways to relax so I've written a lot over the last three years.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

A nice roundy 446,376 (so far)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Doctor Who and some occasional jaunts into the world of WWE

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

You Must Remember This (one of my all time faves) 2. Bus Ride (unexpected, but still a fun one) 3. An Impossible Reunion (another all time fave) 4. Wounds (This was a cute one shot but it did so damn well) 5. Hopeless Romantic (another all time fave)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

As much as I can. I want people to feel as welcome in my comments, as I've felt in others.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I'd say Replay. The ending does have closure but it's certainly not happy.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'll say With You, I'll Stay As Long As Possible. It gave Yaz and 13 their relationship that they deserved with the promise of it being a decade long.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I do not, no.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I don't, no. Don't think I have the skill for it.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I have in the past, yes! Doctor Nightmare features Rhea Ripley meeting the 13th Doctor, The Victorian Visitation has 13 and Clara meeting Queen Victoria (more specifically the version from the 2016 show), The Impossible Nobody had Clara meeting Rey from Star Wars, Bus Ride had 13 meeting Johanna Constantine from the Sandman and Warrior...Princess...Doctor had 13 and Yaz meeting Xena and Gabrielle. In terms of craziest? Probably Doctor Nightmare for how different both universes are.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have! The on-going For The Woman Who Has Everything was written by myself and @anotherfrench. She's given me free rein to finish it however, so I'm on my own now!

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Might be a tie with Thasmin and Whouffaldi at this point.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I've had this idea of the Doctor and Yaz and Clara heading back to the 90s, and stopping an alien who is using anti-aging cream to suck the youth from people. But I've never been able to make any sufficient headway with it. No matter how much I try.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Personally, I've no idea. But I've been told my dialogue is very realistic and sensible.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions are just not my thing. I cannot naturally do it and need all the help I can get. Which involves getting help books.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I've done it before, but just for small moments.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Gotta be Doctor Who.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Jeez, that's a hard one. Umm...I'll give a finished and unfinished one (you'll understand in a sec). In terms of finished, it has to be You Must Remember This. Just a really fun concept that I really wanted to get right and I exceeded my own expectations for it. It feels so real and so powerful while still feeling true to both characters and their histories. Unfinished wise? Has to be Heaven Knows I've Tried. My first proper AU and it's been bundles of fun. I've come to just adore the characters and it feels like such a labor of love. I feel writing it has made me a better writer as it has gone on and for that, it has to be my favorite

I'll tag @lex144, @colemansdimple and @sweetbraveclara. Excited to see what you guys talk about! Thanks again for the tag, @eriadu-in-the-wildwood !

[danielleitloudernow]

This came up on my FYP feed and I thought it would be super fun to do in honor of NaNoWriMo.

20 Questions

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 30: 2 series, 5 WIPs, and a whole bunch of one shots 😁

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

134,500. Not sure how I hit an even number, but that's fun!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly Korrasami (The Legend of Korra) and JEmily (Criminal Minds), but I have written for WarriorBard (Xena Warrior Princess), Ramvers (Captain Marvel), and Pricefield (Life is Strange). I'm working on originals, too, but that's neither here nor there.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Fuck Was I

The Consequences of Jello

Profiles and Princesses

Measure the Coefficient of Static Friction Between Us

The Violets in the Mountains Have Broken Rocks

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Always. I always respond to comments. It's so fun interacting with readers, and often, other writers. I've made a few friends from it and it's been so great. I have been known to drop off the face of the earth so I don't answer for a long ass time, but j always answer. Plus, I think it's a great way to show appreciation for those taking the time to interact. I love those emails telling me a fic has a comment. I poured so much of myself and my time into something and someone took the time to say something about it! It's pure magic.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I think my fics are all HEAs, honestly. But there's a healthy dosing of angst throughout a lot of them.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably any of them, but Fuck Was I if I had to choose.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I did and I have. A fellow writer once called it "flaming troll shit" and since I changed my perspective to see it that way, I A) am considerably less bothered, and B) haven't really noticed it since.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do write smut. I write the type of smut I want to read and it's always evolving. I don't really do like, BDSM (love to read it, don't have much urge to write it, though), but I'll throw in some kink once in a while. Really, I guess I just like to write real sex. The emotions, the connection, the want.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Honestly, no. It's never really been something on my radar. It feels like a lot to keep track of or to meld and that's just a lot. Kudos to those who can and do, though.

11. Have you ever had a fiction stolen?

I really hope not. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but plagiarism is illegal, kids.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I'm aware of.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have not. I have a beta reader (shout out to ireallyshouldnt_behere) who tells me if I'm an idiot or gives me suggestions, but we haven't moved into the realm of actual co-author (yet). We have joked about it before, and I would love to try a co-writing fic with someone.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Honest to God, JEmily. I had this theory when Criminal Minds first started back in the day that Emily and JJ got a little too drunk one night and clothes came off, that it turned into a thing. And then Will came along and Emily had to go and break her own damn heart because she didn't think she was good enough or JJ would be in danger being with her. Which is funny, given the Lauren arc, but I digress. But also, Xena and Gabrielle, always, because I grew up on XWP and those two were so obviously in love.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

A novel I started writing 12 years ago 🤣 I love the concept and the characters and what I want to do with it, where I expect it to go. But holy fuck, it's been tedious. I have like...40k words of just bullshit that's not even really connected.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Emotions. Sometimes tension. Angst. Smut.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Dialogue. And moving from point A to point B. Sometimes grammar (and that annoys me most of all).

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I've done it, but let's be honest, it's Google translated because I'm American and for some reason we think English is the only language...

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Legend of Korra. I had read something that just made my head hurt and I thought "I can write better than that!" Spoiler alert, that's a really shitty reason to write something and no, you can't always 'write something better.' Plus, everyone is different: voice, styles, confidence, all that. Anyway, I cranked out a random idea (Living on a Spare) I thought was funny, and here we are.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

Oh, why do you make me choose? That's a really good question. I think Chaos Theory (at least at the moment). I just found a bunch of bad pick-up lines and turned them into something ridiculous.

Just for funsies, I'mma tag @thewillowtree3 @blackbird-brewster @cargopantsprentiss @ahhhsami and hope you guys do it but really it's up to you! Cheers, yo!

[girl4music]

I love how in 'Chakram' Xena couldn't remember a damn thing about most of her life because the majority of it was just so dark but she could certainly remember the first time she kissed her best friend.

Then in The Ring Trilogy when she had lost her memory completely, although she couldn't remember Gabrielle at all there was still a subconscious part of her holding on to the memory of her every time she'd interact with her chakram or some other material thing from her past that Beowulf gives her to try and draw out her recollection.

Then there's all the times where Xena would just magically appear in her signature costume again after some sort of loving scene with her. Especially in the finale after they had kissed. It floors me every time.

And the real brilliance of it is that all of it completely makes sense because it's a fantasy show and weird shit like that happens a lot.

But it really is like it symbolises that Xena cannot be the Warrior Princess without Gabrielle in her life - in her heart and her soul.

She cannot live as who she really is without her cornerstone.

It's just a short quiet nuanced detail but means a hell of a lot in terms of who they are and how they relate to each other. It's so beautiful.

Have you ever noticed it? They don't ever say anything about it. It just happens whenever Xena either isn't herself or is out of energy.

It's like Gabrielle's presence reminds or reinvigorates her again.

Talk about the significance of what it means to be soulmates.

[raisinchallah]

ok my theoretical ideas for femslash poll.. legacy tumblr era stuff swan queen the fact they keep getting forgotten is so insane to me like they were IT that show was so fucking bad but regina was IT gelphie a bit of an out of left field on but like it is real brittana as a tip of the hat to santanas IMPACT karmy faking it because faking it was a social experiment we need to admire from a distance with hazmat suits... also thinking about this bad poll i saw that put like fucking princess peach and daisy on there which hsa no femslash footprint i think u just invented that but like if we are being honest to tumblr maybe we gotta put ruby and sapphire from steven universe on there u know like they had an impact i realize talking about steven universe on this website is somehow like scary but that cannot erase their impact and then i think because i do not want to give it all to the carmilla webseries but like they were impactful in that era i think more like collage of every version of laura and carmilla throughout time korrasami OF COURSE bubbline duh! rosemary and vrisrezi for me specifically but it can be narrowed down to simply rosemary then like 90s femslash pioneers xena and gabrielle of course of course idk if it would be funny for me but i dont think theres enough xena fans to vote here to put multiple slots on there like gabrielle/aphrodite or callisto/xena or something but i know those warriors are out there now the next question is the star trek girlies cuz i think kiradax is the most popular on tumblr but seven/janeway is legacy but i dont care about it then theres weird more niche stuff like michael/georgiou or you know the absolute pioneers making the first femslash zines out there with like chapel/uhura their minds in the 70s but back to 90s icons i feel like some buffy option should be there for again posterity idk if u go with willow/tara or buffy/faith but whatever they are out there and then for meeee talia and susan from b5 tho they would get mercilessly destroyed in the first round love loses then like anime girlies anthy and utena of course of course also 90s icons haruka and michiru duuuh madoka and homura of course nana and nana maybe some niche or out of left field options too tho something that could stand a fighting chance would be like misato/ritusko from evangelion or like you know as a shoutout to lesbian shounen rivals besties jolyne and hermes from jojo part 6 but these are just like from things people have actually heard of fadsjkl;ds ok then like video game girlies i say as i pretend to know about video games but love and respect towards alphys and undyne and then idk i think it would be funny to throw something kinda silly like chell/glados in there cuz idk anything about that but i respect them so much like idk maybe the evil computer flooding your room with neurotoxin is gay #equality ok actually this is getting so long and bad and i can still think of a million more things to add but i wanna draw goodbye for now

[blogger360ncislarules]

Sofia Pernas and Justin Hartley might be married in real life, but on screen, they’ve developed more of a will-they-won’t-they dynamic.

Hartley, 47, who stars on and serves as an executive producer of CBS's new drama Tracker, plays “rewardist” Colter Shaw. He’s calm, cool, collected, and he will come fix whatever problem ... for a price. 

On Sunday night, Pernas, 34, guest starred on the show’s sixth episode, titled “Lexington,” as a rival of Colter's. Billie Matalon is a bit of a bounty hunter herself, and though she may have a special interest in Colter, she’s not letting on (that much). 

“I love this role. I love everything about it. I've always liked playing strong women, and I think those roles just kind of find me, honestly,” Pernas tells PEOPLE. “I never play the cheerleader. I don't know why. I would love to, but I don't think that's in the cards for me.”

Pernas says that she grew up watching Xena: Warrior Princess, and she’s kept that sense of inspired girl power throughout her career. 

"I just love seeing strong women on screen, but strong women that convey vulnerability," she says. "Those are my favorite people to watch. It's like strong women can feel things. We're not machines. We just cover it."

The same sentiment is true for Pernas’sTracker character Billie, who, thanks to her shared past with Colter (the two have worked together on jobs before, though not always successfully) is just as strong-willed as she is cautious. 

“Well, I just think, who was this girl? Why do they have this history? You just become a P.I. in their life and just ask a bunch of questions. And some of them the writers give you, and some of them you just have to take your own liberty and fill in yourself,” says Pernas of how she approached the role. 

“For me, I played it like [Billie] wanted to see him on this job," she adds. "Every time she goes on one of these jobs, she's like, ‘Is Colter going to be here?’”

With that context in mind, Pernas was ready to jump in to the role head first, even if her husband’s character surprised her. 

“He's so different in this role that it was very disarming at first because I was like, 'Oh my God, you are a completely different person right now,'" she says. "There's some roles that come along that are just so different. Colter is one of those, I think for Justin, and I think it is just so cool seeing him really, really settle into this guy's skin.”

The pair have worked together before, too. They first met while they were costars on the soap opera The Young and the Restless in 2015 when Pernas joined the cast. 

“It was like riding a bike and so different at the same time because of how different he is, which honestly made my job a lot easier,” she said when asked about acting opposite Hartley yet again. “It's a lot easier to play chemistry when you feel like you don't know the person.” 

Throughout the episode, which follows the story of a missing, prized racehorse that Billie and Colter must work together to find, the two rewardists end up in quite a few compromising positions — including hiding chest-to-chest under a table, almost kissing in the car and having a tough conversation at the end of the episode. 

With the case eventually closed, Colter asks Billie out to dinner — an idea she herself had pitched earlier — but Billie shockingly declines. 

“I think she is terrified of being vulnerable, and I think if she had dinner with him, she would have to address the pink elephant in the room inside of herself and be like, ‘Oh crap, I actually like this guy,’” says Pernas of her character’s decision. “I think she is someone who probably doesn't like to address her feelings as readily as she addresses other things.” 

The good news? Fans can expect to see Billie again, but they just might have to be a little patient. 

“It'll be for sure season two,” says Pernas of her eventual return. “There's too much stuff Colter has to address before we go into the Billie of it all, I think.”

[sparkliest-bard-bracket]

Round 1 ✨Winners and Losers✨!

Everyone, please give a fond farewell to these most excellent of bards, who have been most valiantly defeated in this round:

Jareth the Goblin King (Labyrinth)

Gurney Halleck (Dune)

The Bard/Kiwi (Wandersong)

Callie Cuttlefish (Splatoon)

Apollo/Lester Papadopoulos (The Trials of Apollo)

Bill Cypher (Gravity Falls)

Max Rebo (Star Wars)

Will Scarlet (Robin Hood)

Link (The Legend of Zelda)

Katalina (Tabletop Time)

Orpheus (Greek Mythology)

Dave BruBot/The Major Player (Toontown: Corporate Clash)

Elan (Order of the Stick)

Edward Chris von Muir (Final Fantasy IV)

Christian (Moulin Rouge)

The Bard (Shovel Knight)

Man with the Harmonica (Once Upon a Time in the West)

Diedrich Knickerbocker (Headless: A Sleepy Hollow Story)

Bard the Bowman (The Hobbit)

Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer)

The Muses (Disney Hercules)

Robinton (Pern)

Cicero (Skyrim)

Michael Jackson (Real Life)

The Onceler (The Lorax)

Gamzee Makara (Homestuck)

William Shakespeare (Something Rotten)

William Shamspeare (Ace Attorney)

Brook (One Piece)

Sea Hawk (She-Ra and the Princess of Power)

Frank Sinatra (Real Life)

Lias "Cliff" Bluestone (Discworld)

Essi Daven (The Witcher)

Stefen (The Heralds of Valdemar)

Roman Sanders (Sanders Sides)

Bard (Crypt of the Necrodancer)

Steven Universe (Steven Universe)

Nydas Okiro (Critical Role)

Charlie Pace (Lost)

Kitagra (Kings of the Wyld)

Father Gabriel (The Mission)

Haer'Dalis (Baldur's Gate)

Sylvando (Dragon Quest 11)

Gieve (The Heroic Legend of Arslan)

Kubo (Kubo and the Two Strings)

Guiliastes/Gui (1/2 Prince)

Asmodean (Wheel of Time)

The Pied Piper (The Pied Piper of Hamelin)

Venti (Genshin Impact)

Franz Liszt (Classicaloid)

Eddie Munson (Stranger Things)

Hoid/Wit (Cosmere)

Noise (Roleslaying with Roman)

Rickety Stitch (Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo)

Thancred Waters (Final Fantasy XIV)

Raine Whispers (The Owl House)

Éile (The Witcher: Blood Origin)

Alastair Nobledrifter (Saving Throw - DnD Podcast)

Bill & Ted (Bill & Ted)

Imp Y Celyn (Discworld)

Bard Otter (The Last Dragonlord)

Maria von Trapp (The Sound of Music)

Demyx (Kingdom Hearts)

BMO (Adventure Time)

And give a round of applause and a pat on the back to those bards who will go on to the next round!:

David Bowie (Real Life)

Thom Merrilin (Wheel of Time)

Daeron (The Silmarillion)

Finrod (The Silmarillion)

Apollo (Greek Mythology)

Chong (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Edgin Darvis (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves)

Dimentio (Super Paper Mario)

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem (The Muppets)

Starling Birdsong (Realm of the Elderlings)

"Weird Al” Yankovic (Real Life)

Carrie Wilson (Julie and the Phantoms)

Kvothe (The Kingkiller Chronicle)

Raz'ul, Son of Daz'ul (BomBARDed)

Binary Bard (Poptropica)

Fflewddur Fflam (The Chronicles of Prydain)

Kyoami/The Fool (Ran/King Lear)

Hannah Montana (Hannah Montana)

Leliana (Dragon Age)

Sprig Plantar (Amphibia)

Neil Banging Out the Tunes (Tumblr)

Thistle/Sissel (Delicious in Dungeon)

Loquatius Seelie (Critical Role)

Oli/TheOrionSound (Empires SMP)

Megamind (Megamind)

Mettaton (Undertale)

William Shakespeare (Real Life)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Classicaloid)

Marceline the Vampire Queen (Adventure Time)

Gerard Way (Real Life)

Snufkin (Moomin)

Rick Astley (Real Life)

Alan-a-Dale (Robin Hood)

Lúthien Tinúviel (The Silmarillion)

Remus Sanders (Sanders Sides)

Kass (Legend of Zelda/Breath of the Wild)

Glenn Close (Dungeons & Daddies)

Miss Piggy (The Muppets)

Dob the Half-Orc Bard (Oxventure)

Kaylie Shorthalt (Critical Role)

Gabrielle the Battling Bard (Xena: The Warrior Princess)

Tsukasa Tenma (Project Sekai: Colorful Stage!)

Tom Bombadil (The Lord of the Rings)

Steve McKenzie/Jester (Galavant)

Jaskier/Dandelion (The Witcher)

Rocky (Lackadaisy)

Neil Cicierega/Lemon Demon (Real Life)

Kermit the Bard (Tales of Tinkerdee)

Sir Robin's Minstrels (Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

Oscar Wilde (Rusty Quill Gaming)

Puss in Boots (Shrek)

Freddie Mercury (Real Life)

The Amazing Devil (Real Life)

Klavier Gavin (Ace Attorney)

Ron Stampler (Dungeons & Daddies)

Jack Black (Real Life)

Scanlan Shorthalt (Critical Role)

Hap Gladheart (Realm of the Elderlings)

Maglor (The Silmarillion)

DJ Cadence (Club Penguin)

Yara of Nowhere, the Wandering Bard (A Practical Guide to Evil)

Dorian Storm (Critical Role)

Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan (Tales of Arcadia: Wizards)

Bilbo Baggins (The Hobbit)

[girl4music]

@hero-adjacent

Does Angel choose to atone? Yes, in a sense. He chooses to be something other than a sewer rat constantly dwelling in and over his personal filth when he makes it an obligation to help the helpless and set up Angel Investigations to give him a real chance. However, he is compelled to do all of this because he has a soul and because he has nothing else to do that doesn’t involve brooding… which he still does anyway.

He has to be convinced to make the change from a useless, pathetic drunken lout and actually helpful.

Spike just does it because he feels the need to and sees the logic in doing it. In helping. You can say the chip compels him to do good. But that only plays a part initially. Eventually he chooses altruism without a guarantee of reward or benefit. Not just because he has to survive and not soley just because he loves Buffy and is desperate for her to love him back. The chip doesn’t compel him to do good at all. It just restrains him from hurting anyone physically. And only - ONLY - with external influence does the pendulum swing. Bad influence = back to doing evil. Good influence = back to doing good. He didn’t need a soul. He needed people to treat him like a fucking person!

Angel refused to even treat himself like one despite the overwhelming belief Buffy had in him. She completely separates him from his “evil” alter ego Angelus even when other protagonist characters - like Xander (his jealousy of Angel notwithstanding) - remind her that this is all the more reason Angel shouldn’t exist. I know it’s not his fault what he did as Angelus but Angel’s broodiness is a huge detriment to his capability and capacity to do good because he never lets it go that it is his fault. His guilt and self-contempt is so deep and crippling that it doesn’t really serve very well as a reason or incentive to. I get it because it’s also this way for Xena sometimes too but there’s a big difference between using all the guilt and self-contempt to back out of the quest for an honest redemption and using it to propel you forward into doing absolutely everything you can to help regardless whether you’ll receive redemption or not.

I find it ironic how a complaint against Spike in his redemption arc is that he doesn’t feel enough guilt and hatred in himself when he does fight for his soul and suddenly all of the consequences of what he has done hit him all at once. As if it makes a difference how much guilt you feel/not feel and to what level of intensity you feel it/not feel it at how much good you want and actively choose to do. It honestly doesn’t. In actual fact, it can be one of the worst distractions from it and will only get you or somebody else killed.

There’s an episode called ‘Locked Up And Tied Down’ in ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ where Xena out of nowhere gets arrested for some innocent girl she apparently murdered in her past and sent to Shark Island. The build up of the plot isn’t really important but throughout Xena’s time in Shark Island the only thing that Xena wants to do is help the other women that were arrested who were too weak to perform their gruelling duties as part of their punishment. And while this is admirable and heroic… it’s pointless. It doesn’t help anyone because there’s never going to be an end to it. She’s just going to constantly take on the pain and torture meant for others for her life imprisonment as well as the service responsibilities of her own. And the climax of the episode reveals that the girl she “murdered” survived and is the one who condemned her and is also running the entire Shark Island facility. And the reason we are told why she does this to Xena is out of a personal vendetta in that she lost her arm escaping from her sudden death Xena set up for her. Xena isn’t even paying for the crime she was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for but she doesn’t care anyway because “I’ve done a lot worse”.

Gabrielle has to be the one to tell her otherwise. And she manages to both save Xena and her “victim” by being… well… honestly just by being smart enough to recognize that punishment for punishment’s sake is stupid. It doesn’t do anything to help anyone despite how noble of a gesture it is and redemption can’t be achieved that way if that’s all you’re ever going to do anyway. All that intense brooding and all that time wallowing in your own filth while it may initially drive your motivations to do good and atone for all the evil you’ve done… there comes a point where it doesn’t help do anything but cause you to do more of it and you get stuck in a cycle of pointless pain and torture. So why that’s required for people to believe in Spike’s redemption arc is absolutely nonsensical to me. If he was just stuck in the school basement going insane from the constant barrage of guilt and regret he felt now that he has a soul, he wouldn’t have ever made the ultimate sacrifice that did actually do something to help. A lot actually. And much of that mindset was also the same before he even got a soul. It doesn’t look like he feels any guilt or regret for the things he has done when soulless but that just can’t be true because why the hell else does he choose to do good? Because I admit that initially it’s necessary to feel that way because it invokes a sense of empathy for others. But to constantly feel that way and act in accordance with those feelings is not healthy at all. It closes off those empathetic feelings eventually and you end up doing destructive things instead which hurt people. More people than just yourself. It ends up becoming counterintuitive and unproductive. It doesn’t help the helpless and it certainly doesn’t help yourself. It adds on to that cycle of hatred and violence that you may as well just be evil cause it doesn’t make a difference.

later seasons Spike righting his s2 wrongs:

* In School Hard Spike goes to Sunnydale High on Parent-teacher night and kills people. In Storyteller Spike & Buffy go to Sunnydale High to save people, she reminds him not to kill anyone.

* In Halloween, Spike tried to kill amnesiac Buffy and sent a minion to spy on her via camcorder. In Tabula Rasa Spike & Buffy have amnesia, they fight together. "no thoughts of me killing you" In Entropy Buffy asked Spike if he's been spying on her via cameras. "Do you think that I could do that?"

* In What's My Line Spike sent the Order of Taraka to kill Buffy. She stops him killing her boyfriend during a blood ritual. In Family, Spike heard Glory sent demons to kill Buffy and ends up helping her. In The Gift she has him swear to protect her sister during a blood ritual. "I made a promise"

* In Surprise Spike let The Judge (burns the good out of people) try to incinerate Buffy. In Once More With Feeling Spike saved Buffy from incineration. In Chosen Spike let's himself be incinerated, through him evil gets burnt out of the town.

* In Becoming #2 Spike abandoned Buffy when he saw Angelus about to run her head through with a sword, she caught the blade. In Spiral Spike saved Buffy when a knight was about to run her head through with a sword, he caught the blade.