SATURDAY FAN FICTION REPORT - 5/24/97 [Previous report was for 5/22/97] Hello Guys! We hit a GOLDMINE yesterday and today as far as XWP fan fiction is oncerned - A TON OF INCREDIBLE NEW STORIES BY SOME OF MOST GIFTED BARDS IN THE XENAVERSE!! I'm in fan fic Heaven! Before we get to the stories, an announcement - there's a *NEW* site for XWP alternative fan fiction now available. It is called SEASON OF THE GODS and features an ongoing XWP alt. series by the same name which puts Xena and Gabrielle in a contemporary setting, interacting with some modern young women who are still trying to find themselves, exloring their sexuality and searching for happiness. The site is located at: http://whoosh.org/katrina/xena.html Now, for the new stories. Drumroll please!!! GENERAL FICTION: OLD LESSONS (by Baermer) When her family is involved in a terrible accident, Gabrielle goes back home with Xena to try to help them through their injuries. In doing so they will have to deal with the hostility the bard's family feel for the Warrior Princess and with an even greater challenge as a threat from the past surfaces that will endanger their very lives. Nice tale with moments of suspense and with lots of those emotional scenes that are the favorite of many a Xenite. http://www.xenafan.com/fiction ALTERNATIVE FICTION: ORIGINS (by M. Parnell) Chapters 15-17 are now available. I cannot BEGIN to tell you how FANTASTIC this story is!!!! With each new chapter I am more amazed, more on the edge of my seat, more enthralled than ever before. This is writing at ITS BEST! The story has Xena searching for the truth about her father and confronting, with Gabrielle's help, some very painful memories from her past. In these latest entries into the saga, the King of Prestia presents Xena with an ultimatum she has little choice in. Forced to accept a deadly mission, the Warrior Princess first is determined to see Gabrielle safe and away from Prestia. It is while taking the bard to Amazonia that Xena sees the depth of the girl's despair over her recent coldness - but it is a coldness the warrior cannot help for it is born of a fear deep inside her - the fear of trusting, the fear of sharing herself with another...the fear of love. Parnell's depiction of the Xena/Gab relationship in this work is simply phenomenal - very deep, very psychological, very special. As usual with Parnell fiction, the plot is original, clever and wonderfully intriguing. NOTE: In previous reviews of this story I have listed it under GENERAL FICTION but these latest chapters seem to be definitely moving the story in an alt. direction so I am now listing it under ALTERNATIVE FICTION. This is a definite MUST READ! HIGHLY RECOMMEDED!!! Previously reviewed on 4/3/97, 4/19/97 and 5/12/97 http://www.geocities.com/Area51/5038/fiction.html BARGAIN HUNTING (by Della Street) With a sense of humor all her own, Della's stories NEVER fail to delight. In this new offering, Xena goes to see a slaver about a new girl he has for sale - a little spitfire with red-gold hair who hails from the land of Potidea. Get your funny bone ready for this one! http://members.aol.com/tuxiebear/XR2/XR2.htm HAPPILY EVER AFTER (by Della Street) Oh GODS! If you're drinking something while reading this STAY AWAY from the keyboard because it will likely get drenched when you break out in fits of laughter! Xena and Gabby have finally done the deed! They have MARRIED...Hercules and Iolus. The couples are very happy only the boys can't quite understand why JUST as they're returning from some LONG mission that turned out to be a false alarm, their wives are then called on a LONG mission of their own - and to places like Niagarus NO LESS! Only a brilliant, wicked mind could have come up with this jewel! http://members.aol.com/tuxiebear/XR2/XR2.htm INSIDE JOB (by Della Street) This is my personal favorite Della story and that's saying A LOT since I find all her fiction OUTSTANDING! The combination of humor, suspense, romance and passion in this results in a story guaranteed to touch your heart. With Xena acting the part of the ruthless warlord and Gabrielle masquerading as her slave, the two infiltrate the castle of a ruthless king to search for an elusive peace treaty. Unbeknownst to them, their role- playing is going to reveal feelings they can no longer deny, turning friends into much more and risking both their mission and their lives. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! http://members.aol.com/tuxiebear/XR2/XR2.htm TROUBLE (Della Street) Dare I say it - but YES! - Another winner for Della! Excellent story that has Gabby going back home when she learns her mother is ill. While in Potidea she discovers that an old nemesis of Xena and hers is back and plotting to join forces with another warlord to attack King Gregor, the monarch who adopted the baby in the episode CRADLE OF HOPE. The Warrior Princess and bard then set in motion a plan to try to stop the warlords - all the while trying to deal with the resentment Gabrielle's father feels for Xena and the frustration at not being able to openly show what they feel for one another. Sweet tale with lots of emotion. http://members.aol.com/tuxiebear/XR2/XR2.htm SACRED GROUND (by Della Street) Gabrielle tries to convince Xena to help a group of pacifists who refuse to fight the raiders intent on enslaving them all. One major problem is that the Warrior Princess doesn't have much patience with people who refuse to help themselves. Well-thought out story with some very passionate scenes. http://members.aol.com/tuxiebear/XR2/XR2.htm SACRIFICE (by Della Street) In a departure from the lighter stories she has become such a master at, Della brings us here a very dark, emotional piece that has a devastated Gabrielle having to deal with a terrible choice Xena has made - a choice the bard refuses to accept but which she'll soon come to understand when she is forced to make a terrible decision of her own. Very well-written, gripping drama. http://members.aol.com/tuxiebear/XR2/XR2.htm TWO HEARTS, ONE WHOLE (by Jamie Boughen) The Warrior Bard brings us a heck of a good story in this new effort featuring Ares up to his old tricks again. Certain that Xena will never fully respect her as a simple bard, Gabrielle gives in to her anger and depression, accepting Ares' offer to gift her with the skills of a warrior. In doing so, however, she falls right into the god's trap for it is not a mere warrior that he intends to make of her - but a viscious warlord in the very mold of the Warrior Princess he once treasured. This is a different type of story that does not idealize the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle but rather depicts it as one with problems the two must work out if they ever hope to find happiness. http://www.xenafan.com/fiction A SOUL FULL OF TEARS (by Jamie Boughen) Two hits in one night for the Warrior Bard - in this second Boughen tale Xena and Gabrielle happen across a village just desimated by a local warlord. While helping the survivors and burying the dead, Xena is plagued with memories of her own past and finds herself once again wanting to understand what it was that turned her into the Warrior Princess. The situation becomes an even more familiar one when she and Gabrielle find the camp of the local raiders and discover that they're leader is a female warlord very much like the young Xena of Amphipolis. http://www.xenafan.com/fiction OUBLIETTE (by RBornstein) Featuring some fantastic action sequences, this entertaining story is by a talented new addition to the world of XWP fan fiction. The tale has Xena and Gabrielle coming to the aid of a monarch whose kingdom is being threatened by a vicious warlord - a man who was once part of Xena's army and who has a score to settle with the Warrior Princess. Toward that end, he has drawn up a plan that will bring him close to his former commander...and the feisty bard she adores. http://www.eve.net/~timwellman/altfic.html HER DEVOTED WARRIOR (by N.L. Rockwell) There are nine chapters of this story completed so far and each seems to be increasing the suspense and the sense of foreboding in this tale. The story has Xena coming face to face with Chandra - a female warrior who once promised her soul and her sword in the service of the Warrior Princess and who's psychotic obsession with Xena is now manifesting itself in a bloody spree. http://www.eve.net/~timwellman/altfic.html For those of you reading this post who are not familiar with the term alternative (alt.), it refers to ADULT stories that add a romantic element to the relationship between Xena and Gabby, depiciting them as more than just friends. -------------------------------------------------------------- Reports and individual reviews archived at MaryD's XWP INFORMATION PAGE https://lunacyreviews.ausxip.com/index.html Reports posted on the Xena NetForum: http://www.universalstudios.com/tv/netforum/topics/mca.tv.xena --------------------------------------------------------------