“Xenasubtexttalk”

Abstract

This article examines how some lesbian fans of the television adventure fantasy series Xena: Warrior Princess (X:WP) (1995–2001) became visible through the development of online fandom and the production of explicit lesbian Internet fan fiction. The self-identity of lesbian fans who are part of the “xenasubtextalk” (XSTT) fan group is explored and celebrated through social networks of lesbian fandom through the “Xenaverse.” Lesbian fans have written copious amounts of fan fiction online enabling a form of lesbian political discourse and activism as well as social and cultural discourses shared throughout the platform of the Internet. Many lesbian fans have been supported to create and write Xena lesbian fan fiction by engaging with various lesbian fan writers from the Xenaverse who offer their advice to develop lesbian fan fiction services for free to “newbie” writers. Their explicit lesbian fan fiction narratives are reproduced and distributed as lesbian stories about the two main characters Xena and Gabrielle from the original television series. I interviewed three women from “xenasubtextalk” who gain pleasure exploring their lesbian identities and fandom through the fan group.