How lucky are we to be Josh and Donna shippers? Not only did our beloved White House staffers get their happy ending in The West Wing series finale in 2006, but their romance has stood the test of time. Twenty-five years after the show’s 1999 premiere, the actors who brought Josh Lyman and Donna Moss to life, Bradley Whitford and Janel Moloney, still bask in the love their characters share. Even more importantly, fans still watch, discuss, and create art around this iconic boss/assistant ship.
The fanfic for Josh/Donna is particularly near and dear to my heart. When the on-screen slow-burn gets to be too much, and I desperately need those two crazy kids to JUST KISS ALREADY, fic is always there to deliver. And while many stories published during the show’s original run have been lost to the sands of time (i.e. platforms like GeoCities shutting down), the bulk of my favorites are still around to make us smile. Best of all, there are incredible new stories to read all the time.
So the next time you find yourself craving a Josh/Donna fix, I vote you check out one of these 12 fics.
New(er) Favorites
“wading through” by thesemovingparts
Donna’s always been there for Josh, and when a family tragedy leaves her shattered, he is there for her too. A heartwrenching hurt/comfort fic for anyone who couldn’t get enough of Josh’s tender loving care of Donna during her hospital stay in Germany.
“but i knew you” by swancharmings
What if Josh and Donna had embarked on an extra spicy friends-with-benefits arrangement the day they met on the campaign trail? How much of their dynamic would have changed—and how much would have stayed exactly the same?
“nothing that i wouldn’t do (to make you feel my love)” by joshatella (shuuuliet)
Joshua Lyman did not stop for red lights when Donna needed him halfway around the world. And this is the conversation Donna and Josh definitely should’ve had when she woke up from surgery in Germany. A sweet and oh-so satisfying ficlet.
“Guide Me into the Morning Light” by spinninginfinity
It’s one thing to spontaneously fly off to Hawaii together for a romantic vacation. It’s another to return to the real world and navigate life—not to mention nosy coworkers—as a new couple. Luckily Josh and Donna are too head over heels to really mind in this charming piece that bridges the period between “Transition” and “Inauguration Day.”
“a stoic mind and a bleeding heart” by greatestheights
Poor Joshua doesn’t have just one realization he’s hopelessly in love with his assistant—he has five. Donna’s aware of her own feelings that whole time, of course. A beautiful collection of slice-of-life vignettes about Josh and Donna yearning for each other from the first Bartlet campaign through Santos’s inauguration, when they finally got it together.
“where the lovelight gleams” by JessBakesCakes
Donna brings Josh home for Christmas in a sweet, sexy post-canon story that serves as a toe-curlingly perfect epilogue to the show.
Classics of the Genre
“The Age of Aquarius” by Speranza
Imagine if, in an early season of The West Wing, Josh simply snapped, told Donna he loved her more than air, and proposed they get married THAT SAME DAY to stick it to the press. Then stop imagining it and start reading Speranza’s fic. And when you need more, head right on over to the equally delightful “A Van, A Plane, A Car, and A Bus.”
A Winning Strategy Series by JoMarch & RyoSen
Let’s be real: Josh’s near-death experience in Rosslyn ought to have led him and Donna to confess their feelings. They do exactly that in this legendary 15-part series, though not before hatching a bonkers scheme to “take the moral high road” and avoid a political scandal that could damage their careers. Buckle up for THE Josh/Donna marriage of convenience fic.
“The Bomb Drop” by yanatya
A truth bomb from Lou triggers a bath bomb mishap by Josh, which in turn leads to some very, very sexy moments between Josh and Donna.
“A Different Kind of Day” by apocryphile
In an alternate universe, Donna’s with Josh the day of the shooting in Rosslyn. It changes everything between them…or, at least, speeds up the inevitable.
“Drunk” by Punk & Sab
Josh is three sheets to the wind and Donna has a plan to deal with him. You could easily see this bantery, UST-laden fic as a deleted scene from Season 4. CJ really is the captain of the great ship Josh/Donna.
What’s next? you ask. Well, one of the many benefits of joining a decades-old fandom is that there is no shortage of fanfic recommendations! In fact, fellow Josh/Donna shipper caz963 has compiled some of the very best fic rec lists on the internet, like this one from 2005. And while some of the links in Caz’s LiveJournal posts have broken over the years, a good number of the stories can still be found in other places, like Archive of Our Own, with a little sleuthing.
Be sure to favorite the Josh/Donna tag on ao3 too! You will find there’s no shortage of must-read new fic to devour.
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