Xena Media Review Article by Lunacy:

THE XENA FAN FIC EXPERIENCE

By Lunacy

(lunacy@dc.seflin.org)

#24 (08-11-97) Copyright held by author

(Used with permission. Boldface emphasis added)

Bat Morda, Wishes, Word Warrior, Hobbes - if you've

been involved online in the Xenaverse for any length of

time chances are good these names are as familiar to

you as Stephen King, Danielle Steele, Anne Rice or Tom

Clancy - such is the impact Xena fan fiction and the

bards that write it have had on fans.

Fan fiction, as the term implies, generally refers to

works of fiction written by viewers of a particular

film or television series and featuring the same

characters, often the same settings and circumstances

but in story lines which are the original creation of

the fans. Fans have probably been writing these stories

since television and the movies first began.

The first fan fiction to become popular was STAR TREK

fan fic based on the original series. Since then, fans

of science fiction and fantasy series have been among

the most prolific writers which is not surprising

considering they tend to be among the most avid of

fans. In today's electronic age where the Internet has

become the perfect medium through which to share fan

fic, science fiction/fantasy series remain the most

popular sources in large part because this is what

computer users like to watch.

XWP fan fiction started appearing on the Net shortly

after the show's debut in September 1995. In those

early days, works were primarily posted on the

MCA/Universal Xena NetForum with a few also appearing

in the existing XWP mailing lists and the alt.tv.xena

USENET group.

Despite seeing only one or two new stories a week, fans

of the show instantly developed a liking for fan

fiction, demanding more and more stories and poems.

Soon a growing number of XWP web sites began hosting

fan fiction as the number of works and bards grew. In

the last year, an ever-growing demand and the increase

in popularity of the show has led to an unprecedented

explosion in XWP fan fic. Along with that has come a

blossoming of new genres, new types of plots and new

writers, known as bards in Xenadom.

The number of new works is incredible. Some 225 works

were linked to Xenos' XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS FAN

FICTION INDEX (http://www.xenafiction.com/) when it

premiered in January 1997. Seven months later, Xenos

listed links to 881 works written by 327 different

bards -- an increase of close to 400% in the number of

stories offered. In the beginning, fans could expect to

see four to ten new stories per month. Today we

regularly see 100 new stories a month.

XWP fan fiction is available in many different formats,

including short stories, parodies, poems, vignettes,

skits and even full-length screenplays and novels

hundreds of pages long. The works cover different

genres from adventure, mystery and humor to drama and

romance. Drama and romance are the most popular with

bards and readers alike.

Two major audience categories exist - general fiction

and alternative or alt. fiction. Alternative (alt.)

fiction consists of stories in which the main

characters are depicted as more than friends. A

romantic relationship is either implied or clearly

depicted. Other types of fandom in the past have

produced alternative fan fiction, including STAR TREK

fandom, which possibly gave birth to the genre in the

form of slash fiction. The term slash developed out of

the use of slashes to indicate what characters were

involved in a romantic relationship (i.e. K/S would

indicate a Kirk/Spock alt. or slash story).

With XWP fan fiction the inclusion of subtext in the TV

series hinting at the possibility of Xena and Gabrielle

being more than friends, has prompted a growing number

of bards to represent the characters as being

romantically involved. The alt. stories run the gamut

from very graphic erotic tales to ones in which the

romance is barely implied. Few in number when XWP fan

fiction first started appearing, alt. stories now

regularly make up half or more of the new fan fic

posted on the Web every month.

XWP stories can also be categorized by plot elements.

Hurt/comfort stories make up a large percentage of the

available fiction and are among the most popular

stories with fans. In hurt/comfort tales one of the

main characters, either Xena or Gabrielle, is injured

while the other provides comfort. Hurt/comfort

situations are popular because they make the characters

vulnerable prompting emotional revelations that would

be unlikely otherwise.

Warlord/slave stories have also become very popular

with fans. In the warlord/slave scenario, amnesia,

time travel or the gods are usually responsible for

causing Xena to revert to her warlord personality - a

development which tends to set up very dramatic

confrontations with a Gabrielle who suddenly means

nothing to her.

XWP fan fic, like most other types of fan fiction,

includes crossover stories. These are tales which in

addition to the characters from XWP also include

characters and situations from other TV shows and/or

films. Examples include Rachel2's THE DEMON which pits

the Warrior Princess against the deadly monster from

the film PREDATOR and Brant Forseng's TIMES a

XWP/X-Files crossover which has Callisto meeting those

intrepid FBI agents Mulder and Scully.

A new type of story that is growing in popularity is

what is called the "Uber-Xena" story. "Uber" is a

German term that literally means "over," but which is

used in academia to refer to the fundamental essence of

a concept or an idea or a character. An Uber-Xena story

is one which takes the essence of the characters in XWP

and places these in another time, another place,

another reality.

The TV series itself provided us with its own Uber-Xena

episode in the XENA SCROLLS. A story involving the

characters of Mel and Janice *is* an Uber-Xena story

because these characters retain essential qualities of

the original Xena and Gabrielle while existing in

another time (1940's). In an Uber-Xena story, the

characters do not have to be mirror images of the

originals they are based on. Both physically and

spiritually there can be differences but again, the

essence of the originals must be there. For example,

Mel is very different from Xena as is Janice from

Gabrielle but three things define them as Uber

representations. First, Mel and Janice look exactly

like their ancestors. They also are identified as being

descendants of the warrior and bard, and they share the

same type of bond.

The Xena and Gab representations in an Uber-Xena story

generally resemble the originals, although they don't

have to look exactly like them. In most Uber-Xena

stories they are presented as either descendants of the

warrior and bard or reincarnations but again these

aren't prerequisites. Suffice it to say that if you're

a fan of the TV series, the characters in an Uber-Xena

story will be familiar to you even if they aren't

exactly Xena and/or Gabrielle.

Fans of the TV series are often unaware of the

existence of fan fiction when they first go online but

are immediately hooked once they discover it. So what

is it about fan fiction that makes it so popular?

For one thing, fan fiction does not have the

restrictions TV has. Bards can include in their stories

whatever they want without having to answer to censors

or adhere to the continuity of the series itself. Fan

fiction is not restricted either to a one-hour time

format. Among the most popular XWP stories on the Net

are the novels by Melissa Good (A WARRIOR BY ANY OTHER

NAME, AT A DISTANCE, HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS) which

are all close to 200 pages in text format, and M.

Parnell's as yet unfinished ORIGINS already well past

200 pages in length.

Although bards generally try to stay true to the TV

series in terms of the history and characterizations,

they are also free to alter these at will to suit their

stories. A particularly interesting development of XWP

fan fiction is that it has actually added to the

mythology of XWP. Ask any reader of the fan fic about

Xena and Gabrielle and you will likely hear that the

bard likes to eat a lot, that she helps Xena with her

nightmares and that the Warrior Princess, ever

cautious, prefers to sit at the back of taverns in a

dark spot. These are things that you see time and time

again in the fan fiction, but which have never been

part of the characterizations in the TV series.

Although the show has made it clear that Gabrielle

likes certain types of food -- nutbread for one -- it

has never shown her eating "a lot" or made references

to this. In the TV series the bard has never been shown

helping Xena with her nightmares. The one episode in

which Gabrielle wakes Xena from a nightmare is INTIMATE

STRANGERS (#31), but as it turned out - that in itself

was part of Xena's nightmare. When the warrior actually

wakes up, Gabrielle is sleeping like a log. As to

Xena's supposed affinity for dark corners at the back

of taverns, in just about every episode where Xena ---

visits a tavern, CRADLE OF HOPE (#04), CALLISTO (#22),

and MORTAL BELOVED (#16) among others, she sits right

in the middle of the room or at the bar.

The bards of the Xenaverse range in writing experience

from amateur writers to professional authors who have

had non-XWP works published. For some, writing XWP fan

fic is simply a hobby they have fun with. For others

it's a very serious creative endeavor. They spend hours

on their stories, and they crave feedback.

Both the bards and their readers are serious about fan

fic. For example, the use of nicknames has been a hot

topic in the past. Bards and readers have discussed

whether Xena would ever REALLY call her companion

"Gabby" or "Gab". Whether the two main characters

should ever be depicted as "giggling" was another hot

issue. It seems some fans are fine with Xena

"chuckling" or "laughing" but have serious reservations

about her "giggling." One discussion was over the term

"big dumb warrior" first coined by the XWP bard

Oversoul in her story FOREIGN INFLUENCES. The term,

used affectionately, has proven so popular among bards

that it has popped up again and again in other stories

but it too is has spurred discussions as to whether

Xena should really be referred to as a big dumb

warrior.

For many online fans, the fiction has become a crucial

part of the Xena experience. In fact, there are even

people who became fans first of the fiction and then of

the TV series itself. The fan fiction adds to the

enjoyment of the show by allowing fans to explore

situations and themes the TV series does not. In fan

fiction anything is possible. If fans hate a character

on the TV series, short of complaining to the powers

that be, there is nothing they can do. As bards,

however, they can write a story in which the character

is killed, or they can ignore the character all

together. For fans of the subtext in XWP, alternative

fan fiction offers a way in which they can fully

explore the romantic possibilities of the relationship.

Some people say they are surprised that the creators of

television series like XWP allow fans to use their

copyrighted characters in unauthorized fiction.

However, fan fiction poses little threat to Renaissance

Pictures or Universal because the fan fic writers never

make a profit from the stories and almost always make

it clear in disclaimers that the characters are not

their own creations. Moreover, as XWP has proven, fan

fic can serve to increase and maintain interest in the

series and the characters. During those long summer

months of reruns when fans are deep in the throes of

XWS (Xena Withdrawal Syndrome) nothing serves to dull

the pain as well as a nicely written fan fic story

about the warrior and the bard.

Today the number of Web sites hosting XWP fan fic

continues to grow as does the number of stories and the

number of bards. Fans have organized their own fan fic

contests and are now giving awards to favorite stories.

Reviews of new fiction are available as are hard copy

magazines devoted to the stories. XWP fan fiction also

is beginning to appear in languages other than English.

At conventions and Xenafests, discussions of fan

fiction are commonplace. Guest speakers and bards host

writing workshops. The bards and the Webmasters who

host the popular fan fic sites have become celebrities

in their own right. Today fans who attend conventions

looking forward to meeting names like B.L. Miller, Tim

Wellman, L.N. James, Dax and others almost as much as

they want to see Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor.

XWP is a television series that has touched the

imagination and the hearts of its viewers as few other

shows have in recent years. The characters and the

overall story have a depth to them that inspires

viewer's creativity. That has resulted in some of the

cleverest and most well-written fan fiction available

today. Beyond the talent of the people who bring us the

television series, XWP fan fiction is a true gift for

the fans. Like the show itself, fan fiction just keeps

getting better and better!

----------------------------------------------

Lunacy's Fan Fiction Reports are available at:

http://xenite.simplenet.com/lunacy/index.html

----------------------------------------------

Special thanks to Xenos for providing the statistics

used in this article, to Kym Masera Taborn for a very

detailed explanation of the Uber-Xena concept, and to

all the bards and fellow readers in the Xenaverse who

have shared with me in the past year their thoughts and

observations regarding fan fiction.

XWP GENERAL & ALTERNATIVE FAN FICTION SITES:

Tom's Xena Page - Fan Fiction

http://www.xenafan.com

Xena: Warrior Princess - The Lost Scrolls (Zander's

site)

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/5038/index.html

Xena: Warrior Princess Information Page

http://xenite.simplenet.com/fanfic.html

Lynka's Xena Alternative Fiction:

http://lynka.simplenet.com/

Callisto's Tales

http://www.mnsi.net/~tower/callistopage.htm

Wakar's Xena:Warrior Princess Page

http://www.sonic.net/LightStreams/Xena.html

Baermer's Xena: Warrior Princess FanFic

http://www.telepath.com/baermer/

Literatura de Ficcion (XWP fan fiction in Spanish)

http://www.la-concha.com/xena/ficcion.htm

Absolutely Xenacrazed

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/3290/index.h

tml

Mad Dog's Fan Fiction (Mel/Janice Fan Fiction)

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/7045/madfic.html

The Arts of the Clan MacGab

http://xena.cosom.co.nz/takaro/macgab/gablit.htm

Tendre's Tablet (temporarily down)

http://www.rio.com/~crazymax/tendre.html

Snoop's Fan Fiction

http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/1305/fanfic

.html

The Amazon Press

http://melissa.simplenet.com/fanfiction.html

Adventures (Mel/Janice Fan Fic)

http://www.sonic.net/LightStreams/AAfanfic.html

Fanfic of the Xenaverse

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/4806/fanfic.html

XWP GENERAL FAN FICTION SITES:

Sci-Fi Central Fan Fiction Archives

http://www.scificentral.simplenet.com/fiction/mythology

_fiction.html

The Right Stuff

http://www.gruenewald.com/

Gabbygab's Look at XWP

http://gab.simplenet.com/xena/

Wendy's Fan Fiction Page

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/3932/fiction.h

tml

Xena Warrior Princess

http://www.bejay.com/xena.htm

Cathbad's Xena Page

http://ansa.simplenet.com/cathbad/cathxena.html

Rebekah's Cave of Choirs

http://www.bejay.com/rebekah/

Xena: Warrior Princess

http://www.bejay.com/xena.htm

Starwarrior's Xena: Warrior Princess Page

http://nj5.injersey.com/~wgf/Xena/xena.html

CJ's Xena Fiction

http://www.cjcs.com/fan_scribe/

Kiva Sulderus' Fan Fiction

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/8606/fanfic.ht

ml

The Men of Xena

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Lot/8351/xenamen.htm

l

Woz's Stories Page:

(No longer updated)

http://www.concentric.net/~jwoznack/stories/

XWP ALTERNATIVE FAN FICTION SITES:

Miss Gabrielle's Home for Wandering Bards:

http://members.aol.com/xenasbard/index.html

LJ's Xenerotica:

http://members.aol.com/labrysxena/xenerotica.htm

Obsession's Home Page:

http://members.aol.com/QMelosa/XR2/index.htm

Tim's XWP Alternative Fan Fiction Page:

http://xwp-altfic.simplenet.com/index.html

Oylmpus:

http://members.aol.com/tennstats/stories.htm

Halcyon

http://members.aol.com/athemis/halcyon/halcyon.htm

Jester's Bard Pavillion

http://members.aol.com/Psy456/Bard.html

The Scroll Society - Alternative Fan Fiction

http://208.200.38.2:80/swordnstaff/Fan%20Fiction/altern

at.htm

Xena Fan Fiction by Themiscrya

http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Heights/5665/fic

tion.html

D. Joan Leib's Xena Stuff

http://www.channel1.com/users/pisces/writings/xena/

Katrina's Fan Fiction Site

http://bearblue.simplenet.com/xenafic.html

Calliope's Library

http://members.aol.com/REDMSTHING/index.html

XWP FAN FICTION INDEXES:

Xena: Warrior Princess Fan Fiction Index

http://www.xenafiction.com/

Xena: Warrior Princess Fan Fiction Library

http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~horus/syco/lib.htm

XWP CONTEST WEB SITES:

First Xenite Bard Contest

http://web.mountain.net/~lruble/xena.htm

Second Xenite Bard Contest (temporarily down)

http://www.xenite.com/bard/winners.htm