Here's something for you...

 
Today I came across Xena/Gabrielle fanfic, which is stupid because I've always known it was out there, I've just never read any until today. Not bad ;) But anyway, after reading a few fics I got to thinking about when I was a kid and the kind of TV shows I liked and not at all surprisingly, Xena was way high on the list, lol. Xena and the Nanny (interestingly enough) were the two shows I loved to watch on a Saturday evening when I was a kid of about 8-9 or so and beyond. I mean, I liked Hercules and the Simpsons too, but I'd rush home from the park or wherever I was just to watch these two shows and wild horses couldn't have ever dragged me away...Which says volumes about the kind of person I'd grow up to be, lol.

But really...I know that the Nanny seems like an odd choice (move on from the voice, OK?), but you have to keep in mind that hers were the first mini skirts I had ever set my impressionable eyes on, hers was the tiniest waist I had ever seen and those legs! Well. That prepubescent stage really is an eye opener, innit? I mean, there's not quite that sexual edge to the way you feel yet, but there are definitely things that catch your eye, whether you can articulate why or in what way at that age or not. I recall thinking about the Nanny in those scenes where she'd sit on the edge of Mr. Sheffield's vast desk, cross her long legs and say funny things to him while pestering him, and I used to put myself in his place with her (or someone like her) pestering me and saying funny things to me because even though her being with Mr. Sheffield was the whole premise of the show, I didn't like to see her with guys (there's a red flag for you). I also recall loving the banter between CC (which stands for Chastity Claire, by the way) and Niles, but not more than I absolutely adored the banter between CC and Fran...Even then I lived for subtext, lol, and I think that was because I knew, instinctively, that although I couldn't articulate or name the way I felt or who/what/how I was, I knew that I wouldn't see what I felt I wanted to see on TV (and, until reasonably recently, I was right). As a B-side, this show was where I first hear Yiddish and I think this show is the reason, or at least the gateway to, for my attraction to women who look a particular way (Nigella Lawson, Fran Drescher, Natalie Portman...Seeing a theme?).

But, as much as I loved the Nanny -- and I really did -- she was no match for the Warrior Princess. No one was. There was to be no talking when Xena was on. There were to be no disruptions. Although I got the point of Gabrielle, I kind of thought that she was just an irritating distraction. I don't really recall her registering with me at all, except for stirring green jealous feelings, lol. I remember thinking that Xena could do anything, anytime, because she was such a badass (swords and leather? Badass) and she just kicked so much butt all the time. She was so cocky and kind of angry underneath which I've always responded to (I know, I know), and I knew that somewhere, deep, deep down, there was this softness underneath...If only someone could have a chance to find it!! I loved her broad shoulders (still have a really serious thing for broad shoulders), strong arms and hands, and I was oddly mesmerised by her thighs...Pfft, I don't know *shrugs*. I used to imagine, of all things, Xena crying...Which is really weird, I know, but she so seldom did on the show, you know? She'd need someone to comfort her, lol...Seriously, it was really innocent at those early ages, naturally, but I still think the crying thing is weird. 

Wow. That all went on for a while, lol...Just something that I thought of while reading these fics. I still adore both of those characters, very deeply, because they illuminated some things for me that had not yet been illuminated and I like how they seem to have shaped my attractions in certain ways (I thank Xena for my love of leather, lol).

So tell me, flist, what about you guys? What about your childhood/youthful attractions/crushes? I'm sure I'm not the only one who had them, lol. Never mind your orientation, just give me a run down on who you liked when you were kids.

xx