Three XWP fanfiction recs to make you grin (and hopefully blush)
Like a lot of early Xena/Gabrielle fans in the 90s and early 00s, the Xena: Warrior Princess finale hit me real hard, in a maybe-not-good-way. (I won't spoil it here though, don't fret! It was just all a bit much for a kid who was really desperate for queer happy endings.) As a result, all these decades later, I don't quite have much of an appetite for angsty fanfiction set in the Xenaverse. Nope, I want the fanfic bards to make me grin and giggle.
So, here are a few old (and new!) favourites of mine I keep going back to:
Back-Up Plan by Beowolf (1997)
Summary: This fic's summary comes to us down the ages courtesy of Lunacy: "Fed-up with Joxer dotting on her like a love-sick puppy, a VERY frustrated bard comes up with the perfect solution to discourage him – one destined to prove PURE torture for a certain Warrior Princess."
Review: I hope your face muscles are ready to grin, because this is funny little ficlet is delightful – and also somewhat cathartic to those of us who find most iterations of Joxer to be pure torture to our... higher sensibilities. It's on the shorter side, but it's very cute.
The Truth May Vary by wonderluck (2014)
Summary: "When assassins are around every corner, Xena and Gabrielle employ new tactics to deal with them."
Review: This is an old favourite of mine, that I remember reading when it was published, and it still makes me giggle like an idiot. It's somehow so goofy and yet so very in-character. And while it's definitely trope-y, that's by no means a bad thing. (I confess, though, that Fake/Pretend Relationship always tickles me beyond what is probably healthy.) Also, this one is NSFW, though in a funny way, so maybe don't load this one up at your work terminal.
- Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1121959
Convince Me by thenel (2024)
Summary: "Another take on how their relationship began. Set after The Quest, otherwise it absolutely has nothing to do with the plot of the series. Just making stuff up for the fun of it!
I just re-read this entire thing and...am I on crack? I would know if I were on crack, right?"
Review: I feel almost naughty for including what is basically porn on this list (nothing against Porn Without Plot/Porn With Plot but, despite any appearances to the contrary, my goal with this list was for Humour to be the prevailing genre) except I could not stop giggling while reading this, to the point I may have pulled a muscle in my face. 🫣 So I knew I had to include it here. It's so much fun.
And, though thenel can boast many excellent lines throughout the piece (at 50 k ish words, it's definitely a long PWP), for some reason this is the one that made me giggle-choke on my drink:
“We can’t.” She kissed her anyway and laughed, “I don’t want to be so tired from having sex with my wife that I can’t make love to my wife!”
Also, as said, this is PWP, though extremely cute PWP, so don't open this one at work, okay? Okay.
- Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53688706