Stuff I've Read - Argh Pirates!! Xena Pirates!!

[trancer21]

Eons ago, I was in a Xena Pirate mood and anomalys kindly pointed me in the direction of some Xena Pirate fic. Eons later? I finally read them. I would like to say up front that I'm not a particular fan of 'Sins of the Past' type uber Xena. Give me pixie-haired, sais stabbing, orange bodiced Gabrielle any day of the week. I guess I just prefer fics where

Comments

[leavethesky]

the holy innocent wrote pirate!Xena?!?!? Thank you so much for telling me! how did I miss that?!
Like you, I have a kink for pirate stories, but they're almost always disappointing for many of the reasons you point out (Xena often begins her pirating life as a victim, the author seems to know little to nothing about how pirate ships worked (usually egalitarian rather than strictly hierarchical)etc).

Also, love that you review more than rec here.

[trancer21]

...but they're almost always disappointing for many of the reasons you point out

What I found odd, or interesting, is the stories start out with giving the Uber Xena this dark past then 'pulling their punches' when describing her present. She's never a 'bad' pirate - she only attacks slaver ships, no one's killed who didn't attack first, her crew are free to pillage but forbidden to rape. And I'm like 'then what the fuck are you angsting over?'. Because there's really no reason for the uber Xena *not* to fall in love with Gabrielle.

Which is why I liked "High Seas". Sure, Vivian/Xena won't force herself on her female captives but she's also not above tying them down and sexing them up.

[ralst]

Oooh, pirates... Yummy.

[ein_myria]

Pirates are totally hot, and I agree with everything you said. Too bad Merry Shannon's Branded Ann got published, yeah? Otherwise it would also top this list. :D

[trancer21]

Heh, yeah, once I saw the phrase 'dark side of her own' I knew this wasn't a story for me.

[anonymous]

http://www.academyofbards.org/fanfic/i/inyx_treasure.html

[trancer21]

Thanks! I've added this to my ever-growing 'toread' pile.

[shaych_03]

thank you, thank you for reasoned, insightful reviews/recs. maybe i should add, "honest" to that, as well.

there's nothing worse than opening up what sounds like a promising story to find yah! argh! blargle! soulmate loctite gluebond globber slobber, if what you really want is story.

all styles have their place... but sheesh, some fic some come with a suspension of disbelief warning.

[trancer21]

Lol, true dat. I will say the first three stories aren't really 'bad' as much as 'flawed'. I think I would have been more forgiving if they'd been my particular cup of Xena tea. Doesn't mean they aren't problematic, I'm just hoping I didn't give the impression that they were bad.

[shaych_03]

oh no, you explained them quite well. i'm really not into pirate xena. there's only been one or two that i really, really liked... and one was never finished or, as far as i know, posted for the general public.

but i do try to avoid the stories that are either 1) poor missy good clones or 2) so peppered with horrible grammar and spelling mistakes that my eight year old cousin could write something better.

it's awesome to see the "good" recs and reviews coming out of the woodwork.