Okay, subbers. There's something that's been nagging me for a goodly while now, and I wanna throw it out at you for the benefit of your subblicious
wisdom. Well, that, and I wanted an excuse to post this picture of Gabrielle:
You should all (hopefully) be familiar with the Amazon sauna sex chat from the episode Kindred Spirits. Mediocre episode: hot hot scene. There's some very interesting dialogue going on there, as well as some very, very interesting looks exchanged between our two favorite slut puppets. The spritely little Amazons start discussing sex (or whatever) which leads to some rather, um, insightful revelations about Xena and Gabrielle. The question is... is it subtext?
The first time I watched this scene, it really confused the hell out of me. On the one hand, there's this discussion going on about how great men are in the sack and "what makes a MAN a great lover," and then on the other hand, you have this whole *wink* *smirk* *choke* *giggle* thing going on between Xena and Gabrielle that just screams subtext like a whoring banshee. I remember reading a number of the commentaries on 'Whoosh' that suggested the scene was merely referring to their sexual preferences with men, which might make sense in light of Xena's "Greek fire" remarks as well as the fact that (duh) both ladies have been porked by men before. But there's a very weird energy in that scene which compels me to put on my subber goggles, and there are times where I feel like the subtext is so blatant, so obvious, I really don't think I need to wear them.
I mean, here you have a room full of hot, sweaty, nubile young Amazons. Perky!Amazon declares she'll be a virgin forever. Xena, while staring pointedly at Gabrielle, says "Forever is a long time" in a rather cryptic way that causes Gabrielle to choke on whatever the heque it is she's drinking. Hmmmm.
Xena then enlightens the wimmins on the reality that is sex with a man, and how you're either loving it or it's bupkiss. (Incidentally... I wonder which of Xena's lovers failed to meet the 'Greek Fire' test. It seemed like Borias was doing a pretty good job back in the day, and she had to have thought Marcus was worth porking the dead for. If you ask me, I think Hercules failed to deliver.) So we're obviously having a hetero discussion.
Now Gabrielle finally pipes in, saying (more or less) that "Xena was a bigger ho' than I was, BUT I think she's trying to say that some people are better lovers than others." She gives Xena a very toothy grin, which Xena promptly returns with a large smirk. Um, did you say men there, Gabrielle, or did you just say some people are better lovers? Le plot, she thickens.
So now we get to the weirdest part of all:
Perky Amazon: "What makes a man a good lover? Being gentle and kind?"
Xena: "No."
Gabrielle: "Yes."
(They share a look that says, "HUH?")
Gabrielle: (another toothy smile) "It's a complicated subject."
So... um, yeah. I think the look on Perky!Amazon's face after their little exchange pretty much summed up my reaction. It was a kind of WTF moment for me, as I wasn't entirely sure how I was supposed to interpret the thing. Was that just some random remark about their previous encounters with men-folk, or was that one of the hottest little tidbits about their subtextual sex lives that TPTB had the good graces of bestowing on our filthy minds? Like I said earlier, I can see how someone could just take the dialogue for what it's worth without assuming Xena and Gabrielle were referring to their own sex lives, but that still doesn't really explain the whole "WTF?" moment between them afterwards. I mean, if they weren't lovers, their reaction to each others' sexual preferences wouldn't make much sense to me. Moreover, it would be hard for me to buy Gabrielle as any kind of authority on the matter of sex in general if we assumed that Perdicus was the only man she'd ever slept with. (Unless she had a very thorough wedding night that involved schmexing Perdicus in as many ways as they both could manage.) The confidence she exudes when discussing the subject suggests she knows what she's talking about (i.e. she's had a little more practice other than her wedding night.) Maybe I'm reading too much into that, but geez louise, people, I'm a subber! It's what we DO, isn't it?
Anyways, if any of you have any thoughts on the subject, I'd be rather keen to hear them. My whims demand satisfaction.
(Oh, and if anyone would also like to post more scenes of Gabrielle in the sauna, don't be scared.)
You should all (hopefully) be familiar with the Amazon sauna sex chat from the episode Kindred Spirits. Mediocre episode: hot hot scene. There's some very interesting dialogue going on there, as well as some very, very interesting looks exchanged between our two favorite slut puppets. The spritely little Amazons start discussing sex (or whatever) which leads to some rather, um, insightful revelations about Xena and Gabrielle. The question is... is it subtext?
The first time I watched this scene, it really confused the hell out of me. On the one hand, there's this discussion going on about how great men are in the sack and "what makes a MAN a great lover," and then on the other hand, you have this whole *wink* *smirk* *choke* *giggle* thing going on between Xena and Gabrielle that just screams subtext like a whoring banshee. I remember reading a number of the commentaries on 'Whoosh' that suggested the scene was merely referring to their sexual preferences with men, which might make sense in light of Xena's "Greek fire" remarks as well as the fact that (duh) both ladies have been porked by men before. But there's a very weird energy in that scene which compels me to put on my subber goggles, and there are times where I feel like the subtext is so blatant, so obvious, I really don't think I need to wear them.
I mean, here you have a room full of hot, sweaty, nubile young Amazons. Perky!Amazon declares she'll be a virgin forever. Xena, while staring pointedly at Gabrielle, says "Forever is a long time" in a rather cryptic way that causes Gabrielle to choke on whatever the heque it is she's drinking. Hmmmm.
Xena then enlightens the wimmins on the reality that is sex with a man, and how you're either loving it or it's bupkiss. (Incidentally... I wonder which of Xena's lovers failed to meet the 'Greek Fire' test. It seemed like Borias was doing a pretty good job back in the day, and she had to have thought Marcus was worth porking the dead for. If you ask me, I think Hercules failed to deliver.) So we're obviously having a hetero discussion.
Now Gabrielle finally pipes in, saying (more or less) that "Xena was a bigger ho' than I was, BUT I think she's trying to say that some people are better lovers than others." She gives Xena a very toothy grin, which Xena promptly returns with a large smirk. Um, did you say men there, Gabrielle, or did you just say some people are better lovers? Le plot, she thickens.
So now we get to the weirdest part of all:
Perky Amazon: "What makes a man a good lover? Being gentle and kind?"
Xena: "No."
Gabrielle: "Yes."
(They share a look that says, "HUH?")
Gabrielle: (another toothy smile) "It's a complicated subject."
So... um, yeah. I think the look on Perky!Amazon's face after their little exchange pretty much summed up my reaction. It was a kind of WTF moment for me, as I wasn't entirely sure how I was supposed to interpret the thing. Was that just some random remark about their previous encounters with men-folk, or was that one of the hottest little tidbits about their subtextual sex lives that TPTB had the good graces of bestowing on our filthy minds? Like I said earlier, I can see how someone could just take the dialogue for what it's worth without assuming Xena and Gabrielle were referring to their own sex lives, but that still doesn't really explain the whole "WTF?" moment between them afterwards. I mean, if they weren't lovers, their reaction to each others' sexual preferences wouldn't make much sense to me. Moreover, it would be hard for me to buy Gabrielle as any kind of authority on the matter of sex in general if we assumed that Perdicus was the only man she'd ever slept with. (Unless she had a very thorough wedding night that involved schmexing Perdicus in as many ways as they both could manage.) The confidence she exudes when discussing the subject suggests she knows what she's talking about (i.e. she's had a little more practice other than her wedding night.) Maybe I'm reading too much into that, but geez louise, people, I'm a subber! It's what we DO, isn't it?
Anyways, if any of you have any thoughts on the subject, I'd be rather keen to hear them. My whims demand satisfaction.
(Oh, and if anyone would also like to post more scenes of Gabrielle in the sauna, don't be scared.)
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