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Today's issue includes:

1. Feature Article--The Passionate Friends
2. Xena Joke/Xena quote
3. Xena News--The Pasadena Convention
4. Featured FanFic and Short Review--Before the Dawn of Time
5. Featured Xena Website--The Australian Xena Information Page
6. Feedback
7. Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information
8. Credits

The Passionate Friends Part I by E.J. Rain
	The fair damsel rescues...the fair damsel. The maiden is distressed over the maiden in distress. "Gays are always reading their own wish fulfillment into everything." So said quirky (and very fey) critic, Lawrence Quirk. Perhaps so. What else did we have in popular media? A furtive suggestive naughty taboo 'aside' here and there, now and then. Those moments, some of us lived for, guilty pleasures, usually accompanied by two women embracing, one a bit too fervently, close-up on her conflicted features as she closes her eyes in unrequited forbidden passion, bites her lip to hold herself back from it and, this is always the dead giveaway, major clue to the clueless; musical key...on the soundtrack some 'perverse' atonal cue that hints at the nature of the emotion presented. OH, I get it, it's a lesbian thing. And the women in questionable status are usually 'old maid' types, brittle and sapphic schoolmarms and essentially,
and of necessity, frigid. This goes back to Hollywood films in the 60s ( few 50s) and European films a bit earlier--more 'adult' as usual. Dark suggestions from Lauren Bacall in Young Man with a Horn or Barbara Stanwyck in Walk on the Wild Side. The French classic Diaboliques. Margaret Leighton in Seven Women (over much younger Sue Lyon) though Anne Bancroft is the thoroughly butch character depicted, Grayson Hall (Oscar nom.) in Night of the Iguana (over Sue Lyon--the nymphet from Kubrick's Lolita, remember). There are many other examples. And then the popular music, much of it by gay composers, Secret Love, (sung by a butch Doris Day in Calamity Jane) and We Kiss in a Shadow, Nature Boy, and Somewhere, that we take as our private anthems.
But genuine sub-text has been raised to an art form by Lucy and Renee as Xena and Gabrielle. Lucy, from the beginning, knowing exactly what she is doing, has played Xena as if she is falling in and then deeply in love with Gabrielle. This is not reading into it what we want to see. It is abundantly clear in her eyes, in her manner. One doesn't need the gayger counter to detect it. IT's there. Goddess bless the woman for her honorable, fearless portrayal. It is the only one that would have made any sense. This is a show about amazons made at the end of the millennium afterall. It is essentially a love story. And everyone knows it. Especially the producers, writers, and stars. It becomes more and more about Gabrielle's journey, her future, Xena's past and the present road they travel together. As Renee has said, it is a profound relationship, a marriage. Is there something of a sexual nature between them? Why wouldn't there be? This kind of passionate attachment does not exist without a physical outlet for it to express itself fully. Gabrielle would not have betrayed her 'best friend' out of that "green-eyed monster" jealousy only because of a simple rivalry between 'girlfriends,' old and new (bosom friends, gal pals...) if it were only a platonic relationship. And let's remember Plato was gay. Let's redefine "platonic" in that sense and have the last word afterall! (Continued in the next issue.)

2) Xena Quote

"If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die as I am, a warrior with a sword in my hand."-- Xena from The Price

A Word from Our Sponsors

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Before the Dawn of Time--by BladeMast http://ausxip.com/fanfiction/b/beforethedawn.html

Review: This FanFic was very funny but also extremely symbolic of Xena and Gabrielle's essence of spirit.

I give Before the Dawn of Time *****

Mary D's webpage seems to be one of, if not the most imformative site out there in the Xenaverse. It has the lastest information about our favorite show and our girls. Mary D also takes great care of a lot of the great bards out there. This site contains great information, rumors, fantastic stories, and great pics. So if you're in the mood for Xena, Gabby or anything else that has to do with the show, Mary D will have what you are looking for.

The Australian Xena Information Page http://xenite.simplenet.com

6) Feedback

If you have any comments, suggests for content, or articles to submit to this newsletter, then please contact Lady Adrell at exine@exine.tvheaven.com

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8) Credits

The Xena E-Xine Staff:
Chief Editor/Head Writer: Lady Adrell
Editor/Writer: Bacchae2
FanFic Critic: Creda
Website Analyst: Silver

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*****	A must read if you are a Xenite!
****	It is worth your while to read.
***	It's better than watching Dawson's Creek
**	Maybe Dawson's Creek isn't so bad to watch afterall.
*	If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all...this is a good time to keep my mouth shut then.