Bigass Xena rec Part I

[leavethesky]

Okay, this is going to be a BIG rec, so I'm going to try to keep the commentary to a minimum. Please understand that I am NOT a 'real' fan. I have seen less than 5 mins of the show, so take that into account when you read my recs. Also, I"m pretty new to this fandom, so I may overlook some classics. [/disclaimer]

This will be the first in a series of Xena posts, so don't sue me if your fav fic isn't on it.

First is Mel/Janice Series by theholyinnocent. I've already recced this once so I'll just say it again: this is one of the best pieces of fic in any fandom. Actually, it's better than a lot of published work out there. Just go. Read. And join the theholyinnocent fan club.

What Mother Never Told Me by Lesley Ann Miller is PG-13 is an incredibly well-written story that manages to believably bring Xena back into Gabrielle's life. This is a wonderfully plotted story that really blew me away. Plus, Ragnarok!! bonus!

After the Volcano by Mary Morgan is just exquisite. After the volcano (the one that took out Minoan culture I assume) and the resulting tsunami, Gabrielle searches for her missing partner.

Alpha and Omega by Acid (ac1d6urn) is R. This is the de-glamorized Xena: Warrior Princess. Acid strips all of the TV glamor out of Xena and instead offers us a world of gritty realism. Xena is scarred and ugly in Gabrielle's innocent eyes, her blue eyes strange and alien. The world is harsh and unforgiving and what little happiness they can find is in each other...and there's not much of that. This is a truly amazing little fic that feels so real. Because a warrior should be scarred and emotionless. I really wish I could find more of Acid's fic.

Purest Love by Seana James is a sweet and sexy fic that deals with Xena's resurrection as an innocent whose forgotten her bloodthirsty past. It deals with a lot more than that, of course and Ms. James handles these two with reverence and care.

If you're looking for PWP (and I know most of you are:) here are a few of my favorite contenders:

Heaven Down Here and its sequel Wildfire, both by Rebecca Hall are NC-17. There is a plot in here somewhere, but it's not really important. Let's face it, these fics are all about teh SEXing and damn, is it hot. Warning: for the first two thirds of Heaven Down Here, Ms. Hall makes the shuttered/shuddered mistake and it can be maddening if you're a grammar freak. I recommend copying and pasting into MS Word and find/replacing shuttered. For serious. But it's worth it for the GOGA!!

Warlord by Pink Rabbit is NC-17. Gabrielle fantasizes about the Conqueror and Xena helps her make her fantasies come true. Hot, hot, hot!!!

I'll get to the uber fic and more novel-length classic and Mel/Janice in the next rec. Back to paper-writing!

eta - *g* I knew there were going to be comments and corrections to this (because Xena peeps pwn their fandom!), so here we go. First, phryneateleusis informs me that Acid, is actually ac1d6urn. You can view Acid's "Alpha and Omega" (and leave feedback!) here. Thank you phryneateleusis !!!

theholyinnocent tells me that her Mel/Janice is not actually called Time Waster, that's the name of the site. So I've corrected that. It's actually a series of interconnected Mel/Janice with different titles. Now if I can just talk tehholy into giving me some of her own recs...

Comments

[frogfarm]

Quel awesomeness. This was the fandom that made me a fanatic, and while I've somewhat reluctantly come to accept that Buffy was a better overall show, it doesn't detract in the slightest from Xena's countless -- and outstanding -- achievements. Looking forward to more of your recs, and hope to have my own on there by the end of the year.

(Oh yeah, that Willow/Faith thing is coming along nicely, too. Any day now, I swear...)

[theholyinnocent.livejournal.com]

You must be psychic, giving me another rec--on the day before my birthday, no less! :) Thanks!

I love your picks here--ALL of Mary Morgan's stories are awesome and beautiful. And Seana James is a really good, solid fic writer too. (She wrote a really good little Mel & Janice story a while back, the name of which escapes me now, darn it.) "Alpha and Omega" I've not heard of, but it sounds pretty good, so I'm off to read.

{Very minor quibble: The name of my website is the Time-Waster, not the M/J series itself. In fact, I never came up with a title for that series...so I'm open to suggestions. :) }

[leavethesky.livejournal.com]

I wrote a long response to this that was promptly eaten by my browser. *grumble*

Happy Birthday!! does that mean you're a Virgo too?

I changed the Time-Waster thingie. sorry about that. Now I'm crazy to find that Mary Morgan Mel/Janice fic. It's not at the Royal Academy that I can find. hmmmm

got any more recs for me?

[theholyinnocent.livejournal.com]

Thanks! No, by the grace of God, or my parents' sense of timing, I'm a Libra.

Now I'm crazy to find that Mary Morgan Mel/Janice fic.

Well, you'll never find it because it doesn't exist. :) Sorry, I meant to say the author of said fic was Seana James and you can find it here.

And this is another good Jan & Mel story, probably among the best I've read.

For classic Xena, you can't go wrong with baermer: The Eleusinian Mysteries & The Peloponnesian War are both very long and very great. Also, her story Cage of Muses is great if you can find it.

[leavethesky.livejournal.com]

ahhhhhhh, yes! My evil plan worked. You know this was all to get xena recs out of you (and a couple of other xena fans on my list who haven't chimed in yet). *g*

HUGE thanks for the recs. I can't wait to read them. The best part is that one of your recs is set (or starts anyway) at my grad school. heh.

[theholyinnocent.livejournal.com]

I thought I had given you some recs earlier...or maybe I meant to, but just forgot.

One more: Anything by B. Morgan (search for her at the Athenauem). Her "Apocalypse" story is excellent, albeit unfinished.

p.s.

[theholyinnocent.livejournal.com]

And you should read this smut classic too.

Re: p.s.

[adastranot.livejournal.com]

Sweetie, you are too kind. Smut is just erotica with a happier ending (ifyouknowwhatimeanandithinkyoudo)!

Re: p.s.

[theholyinnocent.livejournal.com]

As always, darling, you are so quotable, getting right to the heart of the matter. Why CBS picked Katie over you, I'll never know!

About Acid

[phryneateleusis.livejournal.com]

Alpha and Omega by Acidburn/ac1d6urn is sort of an anomaly, I think. Acid writes primarily in the Harry Potter fandom, and is also quite the artist with much HP sketches and drawings. Here is a link to her livejournal.

http://ac1d6urn.livejournal.com/

Cheers.
Phryne

Re: About Acid

[leavethesky.livejournal.com]

thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Re: About Acid

[phryneateleusis.livejournal.com]

thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Erm...you're quite welcome, of course. It's no trouble at all