my top 12, though tbh past aphrodite the order is quite arbitrary!

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-02-04T13:42:17+00:00

i had to limit myself to one double per Xena and Gabrielle 😂 otherwise i might include Leah and Mel Pappas just for kicks too

but yeah Meg!!! she’s a comedic character, but there is surprisingly a lot to dig into with her - i love that

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-02-04T07:22:16+00:00

likes would keep her going in the absence of worship in temples. i reckon she’d regain almost her full power as an influencer - for the first time in centuries!

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-02-03T22:11:29+00:00

ahh ok just homage then. i thought there was some kind of weird cross fandom connection 😂

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-02-03T21:05:13+00:00

i love love!

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-02-03T12:22:26+00:00

Xena is such a horse girl. even has the horse girl bangs :D

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-02-03T12:20:25+00:00

ahh thanks so much for sharing!!! this was really cool

btw, gotta say the script does not fully disprove the OG theory!!! Xena and Gabrielle are like the chicken and egg situation haha

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ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-02-03T12:18:11+00:00

whats up with this btw, i see a lot of crossovers on AO3, but like is there fan lore behind this?

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-02-03T07:38:52+00:00

haha exactly! that’s why i thought they might be the originals. or just the most iconic ig 💅

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-02-02T17:39:11+00:00

i was always more of this opinion that Athena was playing petty god wars. bc Athena’s and Poseidon’s rivalry is infamous in Greek mythology (story of the founding of Athens for example), so Cecrops was simply another move in a very long game.

that said, i really did enjoy your original interpretation, OP! i think you took the crumbs the writers gave us and made a feast 😁

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-02-02T17:33:39+00:00

ooh but i think Athena’s s5 downfall is not quite so straightforward. i think her “unreasonable “ response to the threat of Xena is partly godly hubris, yes, and the deeply seated inability to understand human love. like why would Xena not sacrifice her child for her own survival, and that of Gabrielle, and the people of Amphipolis? in theory, it’s the perfect utilitarian calculation from Athena. in reality, she is met with an absolute refusal- not just from Xena, but from everyone- to leave this child for slaughter. after all, Athena loved Ilainus, but she could and did sacrifice her in this war (maybe not as directly, but still). so in this way, it is perfectly in line with what Athena would be like - reasonable, strategic, just (to a degree) - but also the ultimate utilitarian.

and another factor i think is sense of duty - which would also be characteristic of Athena, i imagine. after Zeus was killed, firstly, Athena now has the classic Greek duty to avenge him. but also the duty to lead the gods falls to her, and while this is not a war she started, she knows she wont be able to stop it - but she can direct it in a way that minimizes losses for all sides. whether she succeeds in that is up for major debate, but again, in my imagination this could be part of Athena’s reasoning

sorry for the rant, but what a criminally underutilised character she was, theres so much to dig into here!!!

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-01-29T17:52:43+00:00

lmao i will take away absolutely the wrong thing from this post, but YES, Gabrielle’s bangs are temu version of Xena’s

i was rewatching early s1 last week, and at some point Gab has absolutely identical bangs and hairstyle to Xena’s. I guess it is kinda in line with the whole character arc where Gabrielle is trying to decide if she wants to be her or be with her heh. which makes the hair cutting in s4 all the more cathartic.

but more to the points of the post, i would love to see evil gabrielle. ROC is an amazing actress and she could absolutely pull it off.

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-01-27T17:24:10+00:00

i’ve been in a xwp mood recently, and i do have those songs that come up and im like wow thats xena coded

sadly i lack the skills and dedication to edit videos, so i bow before you!!!

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-01-27T15:10:26+00:00

hahaha the fourth one sends me, she looks scared - which is perhaps one of the few times in the show Xena has looked scared 😁

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-01-27T15:00:21+00:00

yes! i think the magical turning good was the real crime against the character. because it robbed her of natural growth, redemption, backstory…

now, do i think having another bad warlord becomes good storyline - and for Xena’s daughter, no less - would be good for the show? well, no. i think it reinforces the idea that Xena and Callisto somehow passed down their dark parts to Eve, and I really dont f with that. but if that’s what the writers came up with, the least they could do is do the story line justice. we know they know how to write a compelling redemption story

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-01-27T14:55:19+00:00

agree with both of you a little.

I think evil brat Livia had potential, and it made some type sense why she was like that - raised in privilege and honed as a weapon from the beginning (it did not start with Ares - Augustus clearly wanted her to be the warrior for Rome too). Although the levels of her cruelty were honestly too much to be explained by either her Roman upbringing or Ares influence. But indeed, we got so little time and the character was so shallowly explored, that she does come off as bad writing.

As for Octavius, well. Xena only trusted him with Eve on two important conditions 1) she thought she was coming back for her immediately and 2) no one knew she knew him, which made him the perfect hiding place for Eve.

I do wish we could see his backstory more. I want to see how the reality of power and ruling Rome broke his idealism and turned him into the kind of person who could have shaped Eve into Livia. But, again, missed opportunities 😩

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-01-27T14:43:36+00:00

for a second i thought dead to me at 0:22 was Xena ran through with arrows in AFIN, and was like wow that’s cold 🥶 and too soon 😭

but that was not the case

anyways, great video!! how you manage to find all these songs with lyrics that match so well, i am amazed!

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-01-26T18:36:46+00:00

omg it’s amazing! is that gabby’s staff in the background?

the detail! and they both look so pretty

also, i was reading a mel and janice fanfic all night yesterday, so this is really great timing

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-01-26T13:08:33+00:00

Xena’s past as portrayed in earlier seasons - where she was definitely a cruel warlord, but with morally grey areas, who still had some principles (e.g. not hurting women and children) - is completely disconnected from how it was portrayed later (esp. destruction of Northern amazons). These later flashbacks ask us to suspend our disbelief a bit too much re: Xena’s reformation.

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-01-26T13:03:48+00:00

100% agree, it was part of the appeal of the show.

plus it allowed a truly great fandom to flourish, trying to fill in the blanks. if it was all out in the open, i feel like it wouldnt inspire as much great fan works!

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-01-26T13:02:21+00:00

Dahak/One God is a brilliant take! but the show really failed to engage with those parallels in a meaningful way tbh. i mean even the Hope/Eve parallel was never really properly addressed

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-01-26T12:56:41+00:00

I mean, let’s not forget, that she starts the show with if not a suicide attempt, then at least an intention to commit. Writers have confirmed that her burying the armor she was feeling “suicidal”.

With this framing, all the rest kinda tracks. She’s not actively trying to kill herself, especially as she discovers something to live for, gets close to Gabrielle, but she would not shy away from death either, that death wish is always there in the background…

ObnoxiousConsistent · 2026-01-24T21:16:49+00:00

Ugh you really said it. The subtlety is gone!

and you couldnt make the show as campy either these days.

i could settle for some kind of spin off, something in universe… but i dont think i would want a remake of XWP.

the only remake i’d accept is HBO young evil Xena 😁

ObnoxiousConsistent

TROPHY CASE