#one of the best tww writers ever

[romana-after-dark]

Blessed Be The Fruit

Commander!Joel Miller x Handmaid!Reader

Series masterlist

Summary: A few decades into Gilead’s conception, you head into your first posting as a handmaid after an affair with a guardian landed you in trouble. Determined to keep your head low in order to keep your son safe, you take on the moniker of OfJoel. Commander Miller has very little to do with you and mrs. Miller regards you with disgust, however you find solace in an unlikely friendship with Commander Miller’s daughter from a handmaid 14 years ago, Ellie who just got done with wives school. You and your friend, Ofthomas start teacher her and her friend Reilly under her mothers nose. Slowly, Commander Miller begins spending time with you and you begin to learn more about the man he was before and an affair begins outside the confines of the ceremony. Although initially you go along with it out if survival, you find yourself falling for the version of Joel you saw in these late night rendezvous.

Which Joel is really him, and how will he react when his own daughters secrets are revealed?

Content and Warnings: DARK JOEL! DUB CON!

Although no violent rape happens like in TWW, reader is under systemic misogyny and a society of ritualized sex abuse. Everything other than the violent rape scenes, everything that happen in either The Handmaids Tale book or show are liable to happen here including but not limited to discussion of rape, child abuse, child marriage, ritualized sexual abuse, sexual abuse in general, acts of violence, major character deaths, mentions of miscarriage but never shown and never pregnancies we know of. Big ole homophobia warning, specifically in regards to lesbophobia. As for Joel, PIV sex, breeding kink, degrading (slut, whore etc but thing like Raider!joel) forced breeding and breeding kink, power dynamics, Joel is not the good guy but he’s also not the worst, slightly rough sex but not violent. Warnings are liable to be added as the story goes but I’ll always update. As always if I miss something please tell me, but i extensively label my warnings and in the end media consumption is your own choice. If you would like to know if this is a happy ending or not you can message me and I’ll tell you that way I don’t spoil for everyone but you can decide if this is for you.

Immersability: Reader has long hair, can conceive children theoretically. At one point, she has to pose as Ellie's mother and I know this can be loaded in terms of skin tone. I am no genetics expert but I know dark skinned parents can have white passing children, like Lional Richie and Nicole Richie. It's up to you to see if this is going to take you out of the story or not.

Support writers, reblog and leave comments!

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Aunt Lydia said your first posting would be a difficult one, but that she took pride is matching up Handmaids to the right households and said she thinks it will be a solid posting. A peaceful household is the best conditions to conceive a child in, after all. Stress isn’t good for the baby, dear.

She gave you all the details, everything you needed to know. You would known as Ofjoel for the time of your posting; three years unless you conceive, God willing. Commander Miller was known as a fair man and a good father to the child he had, a 14 year old named Elizabeth who had only recently returned from wives school. Gildead had been eagerly awaiting news of her being betrothed, but Commander Miller was very particular. Nothing but the best for his daughter. Elizabeth was the product of a handmaid that had been posted with him 15 years ago at the advent of Gilead; one of the first 3 successful children of the new state. Their family had a bit of celebrity in that sense. Joel had declined handmaids for years ever since, saying he had his child and it was only fair that others got a chance. A good man, dear, always thinking of his countrymen. 

Mrs. Miller, she warned, can be a bit particular. But that shouldn’t be a problem for a well behaved girl like you, dear. You were well behaved, that was true. After you were taken away from your life with your husband, your son was taken and given to an unknown high ranking family. All you wanted to do was be passive and quiet and behave so no harm came to your son.

“Ah, welcome. Blessed be the fruit.” A beautiful woman in blue with dark hair braided back greeted you at the porch. Behind her was a young girl, Elizabeth you assumed, who looked less than thrilled to be there and behind her was a Martha. In front of Mrs. Miller, however, you see him. He was tall, handsome, a strong alkaline nose and medium brown curls slicked back in an attempt to tame them. 

Aunt Lydia spoke for you. You weren’t to speak unless spoken too. “Thank you, may the lord open! Mrs. Miller, Commander Miller. Oh, Elizabeth! Look how you’ve grown!” Lydia greeted the teenager who refused to put on a smile.

“Elizabeth, be polite.” Her mother chided, but it wasn’t until Commander Miller whispered a small ‘Ellie’ that the girl put on a small and curtsied.

Mrs. Miller invited aunt Lydia in for tea, but she declined, saying goodbye to you and telling you to be good before you were ushered inside. As Mrs. Miller introduced the household, you felt Commander Miller’s intense stare on you, his hands clasped tightly behind his back.

“Our daughter, Elizabeth, is to be betrothed soon, God willing.”

Elizabeth groaned. “Great.”

“Your attitude is exactly why we can’t find you a match, young lady.” Mrs. Miller snapped, turning to her daughter with a glare. “That and the fact you keep sneaking second helpings-”

At that, Commander Miller walked over to where his wife was berating the girl. “She hasn’t found a match because I haven't found anyone suitable for her. She’s a shining star of Gilead, Gina, and I’m not going to send her off to just anyone.”

You watched as Mrs. Miller glared at him before her eyes fluttered over to you, and suddenly you felt like the outside you were. 

Commander Miller kissed the crown of Elizabeth’s hair, gently nudging her off. “Go to your room, I’ll walk you to Reilly’s after I’m done here, alright?” Women couldn’t walk alone, God forbid. It was for your safety, right?

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, but agreed and left the room, the commander looking back to his wife. “You have to stop berating her like that, she’s a good kid.”

Mrs. Miller walked a step closer. “She’s a brat, she’ll never have a successful marriage if she can’t submit to her-”

“Woman, I told you to drop it!” Commander Miller’s voice raised up just a little, enough to tell his wife to leave it alone.

With a huff, Mrs. Miller left the room mumbling that he can deal with the help, and how this is why they were getting a new handmaid and baby in the first place.

As she walked away, Commander Miller scrubbed his face and sighed, eventually looking over towards you and seeming startled by your presence. He sighed again. The way he looked at you… he didn’t look past you like everyone else seemed to do, he didn’t look at you like furniture. “Ellie’s going through a phase right now. Gilead has seemed to forget that teenagers are still teenagers, no matter the birthing crisis.”

You want to ask him whose fault that was. You want to remind him that he was one of the sons of Jacob who created this entire system… but you weren’t looking to die today. 

“She’s a good kid, smart.” He pressed on, like he was looking for a response. Smart was an odd choice of words. Women weren’t meant to be smart, they were meant to be pretty, fertile, godly, kind, demure.

You down cast your eyes. “Of course, sir.”

Commander Miller urged you along showing you all the parts of the house. The bottom floor held the kitchen where you would be helping the Martha, Lisa, the dining room, parlor, all the miscellaneous living areas and way in the back was Commander Miller’s office. Upstairs was a second bathroom, the master suite, Elizabeth’s room (or Ellie, as he called her), and Lisa’s room and then yours towards the end. He excused himself there.

“Make yourself as comfortable as possible.” He urged. It  was strange, the way he acted was not how you had expected. For such a  prominent commander  whose daughter was almost like royalty, you expect a harsher man; someone to match his wife’s strict standards. However, it seemed he was… almost normal, whatever that meant. “I’m going to walk my daughter to her friend’s house, but I’ll be back if you have any questions. Lisa would probably appreciate some help with dinner for once.”

“Yes commander”

You were in elementary school when Gilead was formed. Your parents were christian and church goers so you were allowed to grow up with them in the lower class regions and were married off to another man of lower stock, and it was years before you became pregnant with your son. Problem was that this son looked nothing like his father, and a paternity test revealed your secret, landing you in the position you were at now.

The day dragged on. Between you and Lisa, there wasn’t much to do to keep the household clean for the three other people that lived there, even with Mrs. Miller’s strict standards. Tomorrow you would meet your walking partner, and hopefully have activities to fill more of your day until your first ceremony.

That night, you woke up to use the bathroom, but when you walked out you were met face to face with Commander Miller. He was even taller like this, even dressed down out of his boots. White tee shirt and dark pants were under his long road and his previously slicked back hair was unfurled into soft, messy curls. His face was still sweaty; he smelled like sex. You hadn’t really thought if Commander’s still fucked their wives… but you suppossed there was no reason not to. Gina was beautiful, after all, and so was Commander Miller.

He towered over you, breaths almost shared in the close confines of the hallway. “Sorry.” He murmured in a whisper and moved, heading downstairs to his office or a midnight snack. A little shaken at being so close to a man, a man of such rank and power… that very power emanated off him in wafts of manly musk. You ran into Elizabeth as you exited the bathroom and she looked as startled to see you as you did Commander Miller.

“Excuse me.” She said as she slipped past and you re-entered your room, only to peek out as she was tiptoeing down the stairs and turning towards Commander Miller’s office. It was strange to see, but you supposed fathers were fathers, no matter the horrors they created for other women. Did he realize he was setting his own daughter up for this life? Especially a girl as headstrong as she seemed to be?

The sun was bright, the early fall only requiring  your long sleeve dress as you stood outside but behind the gate of your new home, Mrs. Miller standing beside you to make the introduction. Your walking partner was your next door neighbors handmaid.

“Ofthomas is my brother-in-law’s handmaiden. I assume you’ll meet their family this week, we usually keep weekly dinner’s at each other’s homes every Friday, we host this week. Tommy- Commander Miller, I mean, is certainly… interesting. Very kind, but don’t like me catch him being kind to you alone.” Mrs. Miller shot you a warning eye and you understood. Despite having wives and handmaids to fuck, men were never satisfied. 

“Ofthomas, there you are. You’re late.”

Ofthomas curtsied. “Apologies, Ma’am”

“Hm. This is Ofjoel, our new handmaiden.”

You bow your head and Ofthomas bows back, and Mrs. Miller opened the gate, allowing you to begin your walk to the store. To say you were nervous was an understatement. You could never tell who an eye was, and certainly couldn’t tell who a true believer was. Did Ofthomas believe everything she had been taught? It was never safe to say anything, never safe to question or complain to a single person lest they turn you-

“So what’s your real name?” Ofthomas asked.

You jolt, turning to her in shock. “Excuse me?!” Wide-eyes, you wonder if this is a trap, she had to be trapping you, right?

Ofthomas smiled at you, it was friendly but teasing as if she knew you’d react like this. Her dark hair peaked out of her wimple, as uncontrollable as she was, it seemed. “My name’s Angela.”

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@my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @dins-riduur-anthe @morallyinept @fan-fiction-floozy @med494 @taliarose12 @flvrdoll @k-ra @sam-2me @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @moriartyyouwhore @hereforthepedrofanfic @alwaysmicado @noisynightmarepoetry @kyloispunk

[heathtrash]

When you're working on TWW fanfic, how do you get like new inspiration or even just the motivation to keep going?

(p.s. thank you for keeping the fandom alive!!)

inspiration/ideas are something i almost never have a problem with. i come up with new scenarios for these gays almost constantly and it's everything in me to not just constantly begin new wips and crossovers and aus that have never been explored! and there's so much media to draw from with tww with all eight books, the shows, the movie, the spinoffs - idk but even like vanilla 2017 or 1998 stuff is always giving me life, maybe because i'm an insatiable multishipper with no chill and an adoration of rarepairs.

i also make sure i "read around" tww. i watch things or listen to audiobooks with a related genre or vibe, especially if i'm exploring au or want to go for a specific tone. keeping your brain active and making connections like this helps so much with inspiration and plot. it's like going on a silly little mental health walk, but instead of nature or whatever, you're opening your brain up to new possibilities. even something completely unrelated can spark something! it makes the worlds you write feel a bit richer as you're writing them.

motivation is something different, because i struggle with a lot of self-confidence in my own writing (lol, cptsd. i'm in therapy). comments on my works do really help with that. but these days people seem to feel weird about leaving comments on works that aren't like a week old??? bruh people still talk about books that are decades or centuries old. and we have some lovely people still in the fandom who are willing to read some of my work, and that is amazing to me!!

but of course, there are fics i've started that i am not sure will ever see the light of day because i feel like they're not good enough, or works that i've put up that very few people were interested in (rip to pippa university years my beloved. never escaped single digits on the kudos for 10k of fic). those embarrassments and failures hold me back so much because they confirm my own negative thoughts about my writing and make me not want to put my energy into this. i have a full plan of chapter 13 of a clock with no hands, but i keep giving myself imposter syndrome over my ability to write it well enough. idk. rationally, i know that the types of story i write are sometimes not what people want to read. i think it's important to talk about (please i am NOT fishing) because i'm sure there are many people who feel the same way. some people even look up to me as a writer?? but i cannot emphasise enough that it's a miracle that anything goes online with my mental health being how it is.

anyway, enough about me! mostly i try to think primarily of the fandom and what's best for us right now. that's why i'm running the drabble exchange, which i think will be a really fun way to get little sparks of inspiration going for everyone, as well as hopefully providing a chance for new writers to dip their toe into whatever ship they like! please sign up to join in - this is the last weekend before i close sign-ups!

i'm certainly not solely responsible for keeping the fandom alive though!!! there are some incredible artists who are doing a much better job of that than me with the recent influx of art - as well as all those who are writing new fics that are providing after the slump we had with the conclusion of the 2017 series. it was really hard to recover the fandom after s3, and i know i've had a small part to play in that with the twitter group chat evolving into reviving the discord. but i couldn't have done any of that if no one else was around to join in!

(also side note - general invitation extended to anyone who wants to join the discord!)

[unseenacademic]

20 questions for fic writers

I was tagged by my dear, talented friend @mihrsuri Thanks, friend! 💜💜💜💜 1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 13 at the moment 😅

2. What's your total Ao3 word count? 28,823

3. What fandoms do you write for? The West Wing.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? The First Lady - my ongoing fic where I answer the most important question in the world: what was Abbey Bartlet doing during the episodes she didn't appear in?

Josh and the Jackass - what happened right before Governor Bartlet decided to follow Josh to the airport in In the Shadow of Two Gunmen.

Breathe - a post-ep for Dead Irish Writers. Her birthday party is over, and Abbey Bartlet must face the New Hampshire Medical Board.

A Bit Desperate - part three of a series of three-sentence fics about Abbey and Jed in the aftermath of Zoey's kidnapping.

Anything Else I Need to Know - Five times the staff of Bartlet for America interrupted a barbecuing session and one time CJ interrupted a different kind of session. Takes place during the First Bartlet Campaign.

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes, I do. I do my best to respond to every comment I get, as fast as I can. It's a two-way street, we, as fic authors, often complain (and rightly so) about the lack of feedback, the lack of comments and kudos, but we don't respond to comments. As a reader, I am more likely to comment on a fic from an author who's replied to my comments earlier. But I guess I get so few comments that I can easily respond to all of them 🤷‍♀️ and since there are like 7 people who care about what I write, the least I can do is respond to their very kind comments 💜💜

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I guess it's Anything Else I Need to Know. The ending isn't too angsty by itself, but if you put it into context and you know the overarching plot of first few seasons of TWW, it's definitely angsty. Honorable mentions: With Pomp and Parade & And the Silence Haunts our Bedchamber - they both deal with the aftermath of Zoey's kidnapping.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? White Christmas. And Something for Us to Remember too also qualifies. You have to read them to know why 😊😉

8. Do you get hate on fics? Luckily, I'm not popular or interesting enough for that 😅

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes! Oh, all kinds! The worst thing I've ever written came before I started my fanfic writing career (I used to be involved in forum RP, I'm less active there now) and... nope, I'm not going to write about it here. Too cursed. 🙈🙈 If you want to see some sane smut I've written, check out Game On, Boyfriend! I hope I'll write another barbecuing fic soon, so stay tuned.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? I don't. But I'd love to see a TWW/NCIS crossover.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? I hope not.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? No, but if anyone's interested, go ahead.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, I haven't. The closest thing to co-writing fics was RP-ing which is sort of similar, but not really lol. It might be fun, so if anyone's interested in writing with me, let me know.

14. What's your all time favorite ship? Abbey/Jed! There are many ships I love, but I have to go with my horny nerds.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? There was a WIP I started last year, the first fic I posted, but I ended up deleting it, so it's not very likely that I'll ever finish it.

16. What are your writing strengths? I'm really, really good at research lol! If I'm writing a fic set in the 1960s, I'll make sure that they're eating food, wearing clothes, listening to music etc. that was popular in that period. You won't catch any of my characters wearing historically inaccurate shoes. I'm also really good at digging up random canon details and writing thousands of words around them.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Plot lmao. I write fics about nothing, it's just banter and nerdiness, with the characters and/or the author showing off 🤣🤣

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Hmmm... I don't know, don't think I've ever needed to do it, but I guess it depends on what I want to achieve, I might write it in English and add a dialogue tag like "she said in French" or something.

19. First fandom you wrote for? The first fandom I published a fic for was The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, but the first fandom I wrote for was Harry Potter.

20. Favorite fic you've written? Can't choose only one, so have a few of them:

Breathe: Once again, Abbey is reminded how cruel the world can be towards women. 

No one asked Jed what he was wearing when he took the censure. 

Anything Else I Need to Know: Josh finally opens the door to his room and slumps on his unmade bed.

Next time, he’s going to pay attention. He’s going to pay attention to Mrs. Landingham’s notes on the Governor's schedule. And he’s going to pay attention to Mrs. Landingham’s instructions, so he’ll know what her notes on the Governor’s schedule actually mean. Next time, he’s going to pay attention.

Had Josh been paying attention, he would’ve noticed when the Governor dashed across the hall and up the stairs right after lunch. Had he been paying attention, he would’ve noticed Leo’s smirk that followed the Governor’s departure. Had he been paying attention, perhaps he would’ve noticed the soft, rhythmic squeaking of the bed and muffled gasps and groans coming from the Bartlets’ suite right before he opened the door.

Well, too bad that Josh wasn’t paying attention.

And Something for Us to Remember too: “I take it your conversation with Doug didn’t go well?”

“I spoke slowly and I didn’t use big words, but I couldn’t talk him out of marrying Liz. Maybe I should’ve taken him on a hike. A six-hour hike through Vermont wilderness in the dead of winter would’ve changed his mind.”

“It wasn’t a six-hour anything! I was there, Jed, you were only gone for two hours.”

“You weren’t there, Abigail, you were baking with your mother, while I was fighting for dear life, braving the cold and wolves and bears.” He sighs and adds, “Guess it’s too late to take Doug hiking now and leave him for the bears.”

White Christmas: “’She – New Hampshire – is one of the two best states in the Union. Vermont’s the other’, said Robert Frost, your favorite poet, who also happened to be the poet laureate of Vermont.” Abbey made a dramatic pause and gave Jed a pointed look.

“She’s one of the two best states in the Union. Vermont’s the other.” She continued her performance. “And the two… the two lie like wedges, thick end to thin end and thin end to thick end.”

Jed chuckled.

“Sweet Knees, we’ll lie like wedges, thick end to thin end and thin end to thick end any time you want,” he leered at her, “on our bed, in front of the fireplace, on the kitchen table…” his smirk grew when Abbey’s lips curved into a little smile and her cheeks flushed, “but Robert Frost named his poetry collection New Hampshire, not Vermont.”

“Well, I’m going to write the words ‘Freedom and Unity’ on the pie and you’re going to eat them!”

The First Lady: “Mrs. Landingham withholds food from me,” he complained.

“Because I asked her to.”

“Yeah, cause you don’t want me eating real food like steaks or hamburgers. She won’t let me have a banana.”

“I’m sure you did something to piss her off.” Abbey shrugged.

“Do you two enjoy torturing me?”

“Yes,” she said innocently.

Tagging (no pressure!): @claudiajcregg @onekisstotakewithme @hondagirll @miabicicletta @librarianmouse @holy-ships-x-red-lips

💜💜💜💜💜💜

[onekisstotakewithme]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 🤍

you AND @youngpettyqueen both sent me this which 💜 this just means ten deranged self-recs because. deranged. i'd like to pretend this will be a diverse collection of recs, but. lmao.

1. None of Us are More Than Caretakers (The West Wing)

I wrote this whole story in about six weeks, and I loved every minute of it! About my only real complaint for season 7 of TWW is the transition stuff was so largely focused on the incoming administration, and I wanted to focus more on CJ and Danny (and the secret relationship!) and it overall turned into a little thing about legacy. And all because Gerald Ford happened to die during that time frame IRL! The alternative title is "what if I spent this whole fic setting up the events of Institutional Memory".

A snippet:

“Off the record?” Danny laughs, leaning back against the headboard. “How exactly would you expect me to quote you on this, CJ? The president’s chief of staff, while sitting in this reporter’s bed eating ice cream after sex, was quoted as saying…” CJ smiles too. “Force of habit.” “Sure.”

2. Don't Bet Your Future (M*A*S*H)

My most indulgent, most SILLY passion project. The combination of my love for M*A*S*H + Back to the Future = "Don't Bet Your Future". Essentially, it's a retelling of Back to the Future only BJ is Marty, Daniel is Doc, and... in 1955, Hawkeye is Daniel's son whom BJ has never heard of. This was the best thing I've ever written if only because it was so much fun. You should all write a fic based on your favourite movie, actually. 🥰🥺 (someday, sequels...)

Snippet:

And then a minute later, “What year is it?” BJ scoffs a little, turning on his side. He can just see the outline of Hawkeye in the dim of the room, a negative space with a warm voice, “Don’t laugh, I’m serious.” “It’s 1955.” “And who’s the president?” “Ronald Reagan,” BJ says grumpily. “Can I go back to sleep now, or are you gonna keep making me think about Ronald Regan?” “Is he a good president?” Hawkeye asks curiously. BJ thinks of AIDS and grimaces, his reply a little shorter than he means it to be. “No.”

3. What Unites Us (M*A*S*H)

One of my favourite gen fics I've written for MASH! Essentially, all of the letters sent back to the 4077 post-party. 🥰

4. Ties That Bind (Star Trek: TOS)

The Journey to Babel tag because Jim and Spock accidentally being linked by Amok Time and only finding out because Sarek lets it slip can be so personal (my first K/S day fic)

5. xenia (M*A*S*H)

The first time Peg meets Hawkeye, as seen through a classical lens (aka I wrote this one December while procrastinating studying for a classics final. Triad-ish, Peg's POV.

[claudiasjeancregg]

Actually I would be interested in your thoights on the CJ/Josh parallels with Josh and his older sister Jeanie?

oh my GOD thank you!! hi! putting this under a cut because... it’s a thousand words... i did not mean for that to happen.

okay so- cj is basically josh’s older sister. she playfully kicks/shoves/hits him like a sister (aka those three random gifs set in various places over seven seasons where she kicks the back of his leg and they both crack up. SIBLINGS.) she teases him, she makes sure he’s not too much of an asshole, and she loves him. i’m a sucker for found family, just like anyone else who watches this show. 

but josh doesn’t let many people in. he has major survivor’s guilt from a fire when he was, like, SIX YEARS OLD that killed his nine year old sister. and he thinks it’s his fault- which is insane and traumatic and heartbreaking, he absolutely should have gone to therapy. 

(concept- spinoff of tww that’s just them in therapy. because it is SO necessary. i love these nerds so much and i want them to BE HEALTHY OKAY?) 

so josh grows up with that trauma as a part of his life- we don't really know what he was like as a kid/teen but i have a hc that he was mostly loud and boisterous at school, but at home he tried to be quiet and low-maintenace because he didn’t want to disappoint his parents anymore.

(and we’re back to josh blaming himself for the fire... my poor baby i love him so much. ps go look at @smallblueandloud‘s adhd josh hc it’s on my mind a lot and is totally canon in my brain.) 

SO. WHERE DOES CJ COME IN? are you just going to rant about your josh lyman feelings forever? (yes.)

so josh meets cj when he’s an adult, he’s out of college and is a lot more well-adjusted in general but is still kind of restless and isn’t very happy with his life. (sidenote- leo’s “compulsive fixer who walks around with so much guilt that everyone he loves will die and it’ll be his fault” line in 3.10 is SPOT. ON. and i love that so much, even though it makes me cry.)

he joins the bartlet for america campaign, meets toby WHO WILL ALSO BE LIKE HIS BROTHER AND BOY DO I HAVE THOUGHTS ON THAT and meets cj. she instantly feels familiar to him, but he doesn't know what it is. and at first, she’s not really warming up to him- he seems immature and juvenile, and not anything she hasn't seen in a guy a million times before. but they slowly get to know each other, and as the whole team gets closer, cj learns that josh is so much more than what he lets on. he cares so much about the people he loves and would do ANYTHING to protect them. 

a few months into the campaign she suspects something is wrong, because of hushed phone calls that sam tells her not to interrupt, and she heard him crying through the walls while she was trying to sleep. so she drags him into a side street and sits him down, and she tells him about her mom and how she died from breast cancer when she was a kid. (because she’s been here before with HER brothers- even though they’re older, it’s the same. sometimes, you have to open up before they’ll open up to you.) and he tells her about his dad, and how he’s dying, and how he left. and cj tells him he isn’t the center of the universe, that he doesn’t have that much power. she tells him that you can’t save everyone. and he says, “i could have saved her.” before she can ask him what the hell that means, he’s on his feet, already moving towards the next thing.

their interaction in “the crackpots and these women” where he's freaking out about the nsc card gives me LIFE because!! “you’re very sweet sometimes, you really are” may be my favorite quote ever. that’s josh lyman right there. and she talks him down from his rant, with logic and common sense, and love. and she reminds him that it’s okay to be worried, but its going to be OKAY! and she makes him feel so much better about the whole thing, because she’s kind of his SISTER and she knows how to do that. 

and later, like when he’s playing around and she kicks him or taps him or rolls her eyes fondly... peak sibling behavior. “we love you josh!” “it helps not to know him” ONCE AGAIN. SIBLINGS.

and SEASON SIX AND THE BET. when she’s trying to get him to stop eating sweets- it’s absolutely hilarious- “belly up to the griddle, grizelda”- for one, but also... it comes out of worry and concern and cj not wanting him to kill himself by living like a twenty five year old. 

and the COS job- he knows she’s going to be great, and he supports her... but he thought he was the logical choice. and it’s obvious how much that hurts him, but i think it hurts her even more because he leaves. (and it’s not about that but there is a definite part of his choice to leave that comes when he realizes he’s not NEEDED anymore. which obviously isn’t true... but. still.) i think it really hurts cj that he left her just when she could have used him- they would have worked SO WELL together, god! yes, i’m still mad that we didn’t get closure on this cj/josh and josh/toby rift that happened after he left- i’m just at the beginning of s7 tho so hopefully that happens! but i doubt it lol. and josh calls her and asks for advice because he needs her- with family, it doesn't matter. you pick up the phone and you help. 

so i got super off topic there, i didn’t talk about joanie as much because we don't know much about her! but i just think that for josh, part of the reason he loves cj so much is that she reminds him so much of joanie. she takes that place in his life without replacing her, and that MATTERS to him. ALSO the names- i have a hc that i got from someone else’s fic that cj’s nickname is  jeanie... and his sister’s name is joanie... i’m sorry i had to mention it.

FUCK that was literally 1k, this was insanely long i’m so sorry. i just love these two so much- if anyone EVER wants to talk about tww i will love you forever i’m in love with this show.

[twwpress]

Creator Spotlight #20: worldsofdreamers

Welcome back to the TWW Author Spotlight! For every spotlight, we’ll ask each featured author the same ten questions (as well as questions you submitted on Twitter!). This week we’re sitting down with @worldsofdreamers (worldsofdreamers on ao3)!

1) What are your top 5 desert island fics by other authors? 

Healthcare Reform by hufflepuffhermione This fic is one of those that had me itching to read each update as soon as the notification hit my inbox. Absolutely everything I could have wanted in a season six au and more. The angst and romance are perfectly balanced and the transition from marriage of convenience to more had me tossing my phone across the couch more than I care to admit. Captures the magic of Josh and Donna beautifully and truly just how much of a dumbass that man is when it comes to his feelings.

just stay this little by mikaylawrites a sweet fluffy filled post canon josh and donna and their babies fic. So sweet and heartwarming I cry every time I read it. Happy families are my weakness and my oh my are they happy here. The perfect pick me up fic.

Yichud by Lily_Padd_23 a short lovely Sam and Josh fic that takes place after they get married. One of the first fics I read with this pairing as I was exploring the archive in this fandom, long before I ever considered writing fanfic again or for this fandom. I really love how it captures their dynamic and the jokey, easy-going nature of their love. The way it’s clear that they are best friends and lovers is something special and reminds me so much of my own relationship. They are absolute dorks and I love them so much it hurts.

brothers in arms by hufflepuffhermione A character study of Josh that is so unbelievably gorgeous it rips your heart out and knits you back together. I reread it recently and it’s just as poignant and impactful as the first time. In my book it’s required reading for anyone who loves Josh, found family, and interconnected stories. I could go on and on about how much I love chosen family but I’ll refrain if y’all just go read this fic as soon as possible. Have tissues nearby because you’ll need them.

for every year’s a souvenir by crossingdelancey A CJ and Toby fic with some background Josh and Donna. It has everything I love in a story from The West Wing universe, chosen family, Josh being CJ’s annoying little brother, plus a second chance romance for CJ and Toby with a family to boot, and a happy ending for all of them. What more could you possibly want? Other than more that is, an absolutely stunning fic all around.

2) Do you have a favorite character to write? Favorite ship(s) to write? Are there characters or ships you'd like to write more of?

I like writing Sam a lot, he is on-screen a lot but we don’t always see into his head like we do with some of the others. He’s a good canvas to play with and create a backstory that serves for whatever story you want to tell. Plus the information we do have about him creates touchstones to build from. His complex family structure and background as a writer are something that all my narrators typically share across original and fan works so he’s very easy for me to fall into writing. The typical advice is write what you know after all (even if I don’t particularly think that’s great advice all the time).

Currently I only write Sam/Josh and that’s really fun for me but once this story cycle reaches a logical conclusion I’m open to writing other pairings if the right idea comes along. I find the dynamic between Toby and Congresswoman Wyatt fascinating, especially in my current watch through of the series.

3) Tell us about your writing process (setup/location? Night or day? Snacks/beverages? Computer/phone/notebook? Music or silence? Anything else you want to share is welcome!)

Generally my ideal writing circumstances are the same when it comes to original fiction or fanfiction. Block out all the noise around me with noise canceling headphones and a character playlist. As someone with ADHD it’s vital to be able to tune into what I'm doing with as little outside distraction as possible. I use google docs for the actual story because I can write and edit on multiple devices without having to worry about flash drives and then physical notes in a designated book depending on the project. I have to have music, at least two beverages, usually one that’s caffeinated, and if at all possible a blank wall ahead of me.

My process for West Wing fics specifically starts with watching the source material that overlaps with wherever the AU is headed and cherry picking the moments that are relevant in the larger context of this universe as well as backrought things going on in the administration. Typically this also serves as a way back to a Sorkin-esque style from my original fiction. I also make a point of tracking Sam/Josh and any other relevant characters, specifically the interactions they have with each other. I also love researching moments of real world politics both of the time the story occurs and present day and leaving them around as easter eggs for the government dorks of the world like me.

Typically there are also a few songs from my obnoxiously large music library that become the soundtrack of a piece and that’s how the “title track” comes out. With my most recent fic Secrets (Just to keep you) the title track was Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift. The whole time I was writing this story I was listening to a lot of the unreleased tracks as well as Adore You from Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson’s album Walls, and Taylor Swift’s reputation which just beautifully fit the feeling of a secret love that you’re desperately trying to keep under wraps, the heat and tension that bubbles over when you’re finally alone with that person and the secrets we all carry around.

 4) What writing advice do you have for others who may be reading this?

You can’t force inspiration or at least I can’t. She sort of just comes to you, I've found the more I read, listen to, and watch the more she finds me.

At least that’s what happened when I considered writing in this fandom. I’d just watched Season 1 episode 19 Let Bartlet Be Bartlet the night before and was in the car on the way to get groceries or something and was listening to the Harry Styles and the line “Kiss her and don’t tell” from his song Keep Driving got stuck and all through the store I was thinking about that episode and what would change if we as the audience knew Sam was bisexual and had this unexplored history of allyship? Why was he the one in the room with the guys from the DOD taking the meeting about DADT? It sort of snowballed from there into a character study in my notes app and then a fic of the same name came out.

 5) From where do you usually draw your inspiration? (Other forms of media, music, tropes, etc?)

Usually fleeting moments in the canon mixed with a song lyric and the question what if?

Sam and Josh having a cat that Josh is at odds with in my universe came from the line about Josh yelling at Donna’s roommate’s cats. It made my partner laugh the first time we watched the series together and now every time the line comes up he brings it up.

The whole idea of exploring a long term relationship between Josh and Sam has been ping ponging around for years in my mind because of the interactions they have at Gage-Whitney and on the street outside.

I’ve been a fan of the show for nearly two decades so I have a lot of history with the characters and there are sometimes when a song just clicks for them or a moment in the show.

 6) What is the fic you've written that you're most proud of and why?

Probably Secrets (just to keep you). It’s my longest fanwork to date and I really enjoyed writing a summer romance over the summer. I’m a sucker for romances that are equal parts tender and spicy and while there are things I’d change about the process I’m proud of the fact I actually put it out in the world.

 7) What's the fic trope/concept/AU you'd read 1000 of? What's the fic trope/concept/AU you'd write 1000 of?

I’m a sucker for a friends to lovers arc and a clandestine romance. I will watch or read the “oh shit… I love them” moment over and over again.

I love a second chance romance and will read or write them until the end of my days. I love exploring how you find your way back to someone who hurt you and who you also hurt. The negotiations of it and the exercise in trust it takes to open yourself up to the potential of being hurt again.

When it comes to writing I’m a big fan of stories that deep dive into the small moments in canon and attempt to bring more depth to characters.

 8) Is there anything you'd like to try writing-wise that you haven't yet?

I don’t typically write m/f main pairings in anything I do but I’d love to write something about Toby and Andy pre-canon. I think if the right idea came along it could be a really interesting character study. It would also give me the opportunity to humanize and flesh out the grumpy men of The West Wing which is one of my favorite things to do. Also I love Andy so much she always steals the scene for me.

 9) What's your go-to Starbucks/coffee shop/other drink order?

Always the largest available size of cold brew or iced coffee, with one or two packets of sweet and low. If I'm feeling fancy I add a splash of oat milk and a pump or two of cinnamon syrup.

Whenever possible, Dunkin or a mom and pop shop over Starbucks. I have chronically bad luck with Starbucks beans being burnt or my drink being undrinkable in some other way like getting dairy milk instead of plant milk. I've stopped risking it.

 10) Do you have any current projects you'd like to promote or anything upcoming you'd like to tell us about?

My ongoing AU series Love of my life has five entries currently with at least two more on the way. Whichever tumbles out faster will be the next update tentatively scheduled sometime before Valentine’s.

The first one, Holy Orange Bottles, a multi-chapter post-rosslyn recovery story through the eyes of Donna, Sam, and Josh’s mom. It explores the sheer amount of tragedy that has hit the Lyman family and how the four of them (and Harry the cat) work together towards a new normal. It’s pretty emotionally taxing for obvious reasons so I’ve been tackling it in small chunks.The title comes from the Taylor Swift song Soon You’ll Get Better and the chapter titles come from The Mountain Goats song Matthew 25:21

I also have a one-shot that covers the portland trip in season two titled A Clock That’s Ticking. It’s the first one I’m writing from Josh’s Pov and covers the meeting with Congressman Skinner and what would change if he knew about the election night conversation between the President and Dr. Jacobs. I also wondered what would change if after hearing the display of period/party typical allyship how Josh would address the assignment. And without giving too much away what would happen if Josh revealed his identity to Leo and the president. The title for this one comes from Holding onto Heartache by Louis Tomlinson which from the first listen hit me as such a Josh song and instantly became the title track to the piece despite the fic being nothing more than a series of scribbled notes when that album dropped in November. 

 Submitted questions:

From @S4MWILS0N: fave ep ? fave season ? fave plot arc ? fave character ? fave character duo (platonic and romantic) ? actor you’d most like to meet irl ? plot line you wish you could get rid of ? funniest and most poignant one liner ?

Episode: Five Votes Down (Season 1 Episode 4) Ultimate comfort episode and I watched it so much during the 2020 election cycle after hard campaign vol days that I can still quote it word for word.

Season: Season 2 without question.

Plot Arc: It’s tied between the MS storyline and the post-in the shadow of two gunmen PTSD arc.

Favorite character: When it comes to a favorite character it feels nearly impossible to pick just one. It fluctuates so much depending on where I am in the series or if someone is asking senior staff/assistant level or recurring character. Right now though it’s probably CJ, but I will always be a Josh fan with all that I am. From the first episode I watched nearly two decades ago he’s always been a forever favorite. I love that disaster of a man so much.

Romantic Duo: I think it’s nearly impossible to walk away from a viewing of The West Wing without a deep affection for Josh and Donna, even as someone who strictly writes in an alternate timeline where they never were or will be together.

Platonic Duo: Currently it’s Margaret and Leo, it changes a lot but I love watching them so much.

Actor: Allison, I would probably collapse to be fair but Allison.

As much as it would be cool meeting Bradley or Richard would be way too much for me.

Plot line you’d get rid of: Toby and the leak, because what the hell was that.

One liner: either “There’s literally no one in the world I don’t hate right now” or “I’m so sick of congress I could vomit”.

Infinitely applicable to modern American politics, especially recently with the speaker vote. Also the grumpy nature of Toby Ziegler in that episode speaks to my soul on such a deep level.

 From the editors (borrowed from a past Q&A, originally asked by @donnamossburner): what’s a fic that’s been sitting in the back of your mind forever and you hope one day you can finally write it?

A somebody’s going to emergency, somebody’s going to jail Sam/Josh alternating pov deep dive because the scene where Leo tells Sam to go home and that Josh told Leo about Sam’s parents haunts me. I can just imagine Josh telling Leo as a last effort of trying to reach Sam. It’s well documented throughout the series that Josh looks at Leo as a sort of father figure so I see him going to him for advice and it all comes tumbling out, his fears and doubts and how he just wants to help but can’t. In my mind it parallels The Crackpots and these women with the N.S.C. card and the conversations Josh has with various folks about it and how lost he is.

Thanks again to worldsofdreamers!! And thanks to everyone who submitted questions. If you’d like to be featured in a future Creator Spotlight, message us here, email weeklypressbriefing@gmail.com or DM us on Twitter!

xx, What’s next?

[smallblueandloud]

HEY HI WHAT'S UP so i'm almost at the point where i can FINALLY read the tww sense8 au, i'm so excited, you have no idea. so anyway- whenever you're in the mood to write for this verse- how did early cj/andy/toby work? how did they meet, and figure out they were in the same cluster (yes including will i'm so in love with him as a part of this)? what were/are the individual relationships like within it? literally talk about anything- any relationship- within this au, i love the concept so much. ❤

(the sense8 au in question)

hmm, okay, so as i mentioned to you i actually had written a bit about their relationship in some snippets that will probably never be posted. but i don’t LIKE what i wrote, so i’m gonna change it, and we’re all just gonna pretend it was like this the whole time lmao.

andy and toby met first, as always, in boston because i am predictable. in this au you don’t know you’re in the same cluster until you make eye contact without being on blockers (which are telepathy-supressing pills, essentially), so they had no idea it was coming, but toby is running a campaign that one of andy’s college friends is working on and andy’s there because her friend was supposed to go to lunch with her an HOUR ago and toby glances up from the papers he’s holding, and-

well. that’s that. toby isn’t so militant about refusing to get close to andy, although he does still feel a bit odd about their age gap and still doesn’t agree to date her for a while. richard schiff is 6 years older than kathleen york, so i’m gonna say that andy was 24 and toby was 29. but, as andy points out: she’s just as smart as he is, and besides, something in their souls said they were equals, and there’s nothing he can do to avoid it. so they date.

they come up with some ground rules for their relationship. no blockers while they’re together in person. no blockers without a good reason, because they both like being connected. if one of them finds one of the other members of their cluster - because the cluster isn’t complete, they know, they don’t know how big it’s going to be but they know it’s not JUST the two of them - they have to call the other IMMEDIATELY. both of them are idealists like that. they know they’re going to share their lives with their other cluster mates, even if it’s not quite romantic.

and then about a year later, when toby is 30 and andy is 25, toby gets introduced to the new press representative of his latest campaign, a 26-year-old cj. and i think they actually even manage to get into an argument before they make eye contact - but it happens, and toby takes a step to the right into the office where andy has a meeting today.

“i found her,” he says. “the third one.”

andy, forgoing any other kind of conversation - that would only waste time - turns to the politician she’s meeting with. “i’m so sorry, something’s just come up,” she says. “we found another member of our cluster.”

“oh, of course,” says the politician. he smiles at her. “we’ll reschedule, naturally. and- good luck.”

andy thanks him and hightails it out of there. back at the campaign, cj and toby are still staring at each other. toby says, “you’re-” and cj says, “come here,” and grabs his arm to pull him into a broom closet, because you KNOW that was cj’s first reaction.

toby’s still kind of staring at her, because let’s be honest, young allison janney. cj says, “are there any more?”

toby says, “what?”

“in the cluster. have you found any others?”

toby blinks. “yeah, i’ve- yeah. she’s on her way. my girlf- my partner, andy. wait, wait, does that- have YOU found any others?”

cj shakes her head. “not yet. i’m cj, by the way.”

“toby ziegler.”

andy breaks SEVERAL traffic laws but gets to the campaign in a record ten minutes, which by the way are possibly the most awkward ten minutes of both cj and toby’s lives. she makes a beeline for the broom closet and makes instant eye contact with cj, because she is NOT going to lose this connection.

later, cj will think that that’s about when she fell in love.

it’s 1985, and bartlet is elected in 1998, so they still have a ways to go. they eventually fall into a collective relationship, as andy and toby realize that their relationship is never going to be able to return to a pre-cj dynamic. they met her a year after each other, but she’s just as important to the relationship as the two of them are.

cj moves to california eventually, fed up and cynical about the public sector. she takes a job with a media consultation firm, as she does in every world, they’re better at communication in this au. hard to be bad at it when you share a soul, bodies, talents. andy and toby move back to andy’s home state of maryland and andy starts to get closer to her goal of running for congress, while toby just keeps losing campaigns for honest politicians. i’ll say that cj moves to california in 1992, and toby and andy get married in 1993.

it’s a lot easier for you to stay in contact when you’re in a cluster. cj watches tv with toby and andy every night. it’s less of a breakup, in this au, and more of cj saying “i want to go work in california, and we have to be more careful”. she’ll only do romantic things in the psycellium, which is where, say, andy would perceive her if cj was visiting telepathically. no one else can see her, is the point. but she sits on their couch and watches tv with them and heckles toby when he makes dinner and goes to lunches with andy, where she sits on one side of the table and eats while andy makes herself at home in the other chair.

and it’s not great but it WORKS, and it works until jed bartlet calls them all in and cj closes herself off even MORE for the sake of andy’s career and andy and toby’s marriage falls apart. and then we get to their approximate relationships in canon.

toby and andy are divorced and spend a couple of years not speaking, but they’re still CLUSTERMATES and that MEANS something. they still hold to their rule of no blockers when in the same room and, once they start talking again (i think around mid s1), they start talking to each other for comfort and catharsis. oftentimes they’ll argue to get out their frustration with everyone else in their lives. it works.

toby and cj are as non-flirty as cj can manage, which is to say that they’re at canon levels of flirting. i would say it’s PRETTY FLIRTY. they’re keeping their cluster under wraps, and they’re even pretty good at it. senior staff knows because one time they got REALLY drunk during the campaign and had a conversation at normal volume about the boston globe. from opposite ends of a bar. but most of the press doesn’t know, except MAYBE danny, and they do their best to keep it that way. exceptions are at rosslyn and other situations like that.

neither of them generally take blockers, so toby’s attempts at briefing are SLIGHTLY less catastrophic than in canon, since cj can stand next to him and quietly advise. she doesn’t take over his body to do it, though, and they try to limit her advice, since it can get really obvious really quickly. toby takes blockers whenever they hide something from cj.

and cj and andy... are the most romantic of the three, just because cj and toby can get away with flirting and cj KNOWS that toby knows she loves him, but andy has always been better about physical affection - and they generally see each other in the psycellium, anyway. (look, i just want them to KISS.) if marriage equality existed at the time, they’d have probably gotten married and toby would’ve had a Crisis about it, but it didn’t and they don’t. they only very rarely see each other in public, generally at balls and the like, during which they both have to pretend they’re not about to burst out laughing. someone ALWAYS tries to introduce them, assuming they’ve never met before, and it’s worth it for the simultaneous “oh, no, we’ve met.” it’s explained by “cj was toby’s best friend while he was dating andy”, but you and i know the Truth.

okay, and then sam goes to california and meets a spirited young speechwriter and sends him back to the west wing, and he walks into toby’s office first.

toby looks up, meets will’s eyes, and something clicks into place. the last piece of the puzzle. the last member of their cluster. and toby goes, “oh no.”

will says, “uh- can we just. uh.”

“come in,” says toby, sighing and waving a hand. “we’ll handle that later. you have an appointment, right?”

they have their canon conversation, in which toby critiques will’s writing and refuses his help on the inauguration speech, and blah blah blah we get to the end of the episode where they’ve both revealed that they respect each other.

it’s the middle of the night, two days after they met, they’re sitting in the mess hall writing, when will goes, “and the cluster thing?”

“what?” says toby, glancing up. “oh, yeah. there’s two more of us. i’ve gotta introduce you.”

“i went home and looked it up,” says will. “there’s nothing on your cluster anywhere.”

“yeah, well, that’s on purpose,” says toby. “and it’s yours too, now. do you know cj cregg?”

he introduces will to cj the next morning, then gets andy to come into the west wing so she can pass will in the hallway and meet eyes with him. they’re very serious about keeping their cluster under wraps, and it would look REALLY suspicious if toby ziegler’s ex-wife came to the white house to meet the california speechwriter that sam seaborn recommended after two months of casual acquaintance. donna is the only one who notices it, but that’s another story.

the dynamics: toby and will are basically the same as in canon, complete with the s6-7 Rift™. toby isn’t as comfortable with will, hasn’t known him for as long, but they understand each other. they’re both writers. it’s something that andy and cj don’t know, even if they love toby more than will ever will.

as for cj and andy, they basically adopt will as their brother and move on. will and cj can’t be seen getting too cozy, but they talk through problems with each other a lot. andy and will can’t be seen in public together at ALL, but they make it a point to sit with each other in the evenings while they’re doing paperwork or reading or writing. it goes more easily with company, and they want to get to know each other.

and everything’s well and good and happy until toby commits treason. but that’s another story altogether.

[oddcoupler222]

Akskdkdk I’m not crying I just got some tww feelings in my eyes and to the rest of tww fans you’re welcome (I’m the biggest one of them all) let it be multi chapter 🤲🏻

did i take one person asking for something and turn it into a spinoff semi romance novel? i… may have.

Eliza -

Colleen -

(for funsies)

 Fall 2018

Eliza wouldn’t say she loved her work study job in the registrar’s office. But she had friends with various other jobs throughout campus, and she knew because of their tales that her job wasn’t the worst.

Would she love to trade with her new friend, Sara, and have the job in the printing lab in the library, where she would just have to un-jam the printer and restock it with paper, then sit on her laptop? Of course. But she was also nosy as fuck and she got a lot of insider info from her supervisor here. Plus, she got all of the registration codes early. So who was the real winner?

Still Sara.

“Hello? Hi. I’m sorry, are you busy? I’m - I’m not trying to be obnoxious, but I really really have to get into a class, and I have nowhere else to go to ask. I’ve tried the professor, I’ve tried her TA. I’ve asked all of the upperclassmen I know. And this is the final stop before I may very well have a breakdown.”

A frantic, pleading voice interrupted her IG scrolling. It was technically one of her two fifteen minute breaks that she got during her five hour shift. She intended to tell the interloper that she would have to wait until the other side of the office didn’t have a line, because where her desk was, was technically closed.

But Eliza had never seen an angel in real life before. And she was such a simple, simple lesbian.

Never in her life had she ever been struck like this, though. The tousled blonde hair that she could see was usually nice and orderly. The clothes that screamed an upper-middle class (at the very least) background, though trendy.

Blue eyes crystal clear but starting to brim with tears.

“I’m not busy. What can I do for you?”

“Thank the gods! In order to graduate on time with my major and both of my minors, I need to double up on some courses. Which means I have to take some courses before I’m technically supposed to. So, I got permission to take Ethnicity and Identity with Dr. Oakhart next semester, even though it’s a semester early. Because I need to take Cultures of Essos the semester after, and it’s a prereq. But it took forever to get permission to take Oakhart’s class early; I had to basically camp out in her office,” a little laugh fluttered out, anxiously. “And now? She gave me permission but told me she wouldn’t let me jump the waitlist. I just. I really need to get into that class. Can you even just tell me how long the waitlist is, maybe? Please?”

Someone was wound extremely tightly. It wasn’t usually something Eliza, as a laidback person, enjoyed. But she was already charmed.

“Let me check.”

She typed in her credentials into the system as she surreptitiously glanced up at the girl. Her cheeks were flushed and seven hells. She was cute.

“You really camped out in her office?”

“Huh?” A fleeting smile flashed over her face, and it warmed everything inside of her. “Oh. Well, I know it sounds crazy in retrospect. I can just sometimes get very focused.”

“I gotcha.” Eliza did not, in fact, relate. But her pretending to put this girl at ease.

She pulled up Oakhart’s Gender and Identity class for the spring – and yikes, there was a waitlist a mile long.

“That’s not a good face.”

“Ouch.” She kidded.

“Gods! No, your face isn’t -”

She stopped her before she could ramble anymore. Especially because she wasn’t sure she could handle some sort of mangled compliment from this gorgeous creature without stumbling over herself. “It’s cool. Uh, yeah, no the waitlist isn’t bad.” She lied through her teeth.

“It’s not?” The could-be model’s voice was as incredulous as it should be, as she tried to lean over the counter to see the computer. Like she had to see to believe.

And Eliza quickly turned the computer more toward herself, “Uh, you can’t - against policy-” once again, the lies.

“Sorry. That was probably crossing a line.” She blew out a deep breath and her shoulders deflated. “I guess, can you just put me on the bottom of the list?”

“Yeah,” she lied, fully intending on breaking the rules, as she clicked the top of the waitlist to flag her into the class. “I just need… your name.”

She very much wanted to learn her name.

“Colleen Durand. D-U-R-A-N-D,” she spelled it, and Eliza could very easily see that she’d spelled her name or heard it spelled just so in order to get places in life many times.

She typed her name into the first place on the wait list. “I imagine you will probably hear about this class sometime soon. Don’t fill this block on your class schedule.”

An all too brief, but brightly blazing smile stole her breath. “Thanks so much.” Colleen checked her wrist, a nice looking silver watch glinting in the light coming in from the window. “Gods, I have to go. All right. Thanks again.”

“You’re welcome!” She called after her.

Colleen Durand. She loved the registrar’s office.

Spring 2019

Approaches to Comparative Literature… was a joke.

Colleen rarely thought of classes like that, because all she had in her head was her mother’s voice, saying, “If I’m paying for you to go to a public institution“ - even though it wasn’t in the top 5 universities in the nation (god forbid she go to a public university, even if it was ranked as one of the top ten colleges in the country) - “You’d better be bringing back nothing short of straight A’s.”

She was a junior in college, was on track to graduate at the top of her class even with having two minors - she took 6 classes a semester, not counting the summer and winter semester courses she took. And she took all of them seriously - took color coded notes by hand, sat in the front of the class.

But this course… she just couldn’t. She tried for the first two weeks, learned that the professor left much of his job up to the TA, and then said TA had hit on her in an extremely slimy way and she - well, after that she started slipping into the back row. Just this one class wouldn’t hurt.

She was the only one in her row and sitting in the back gave her a whole new perspective.

It especially gave her a perspective on the girl she’d only known as Nice Girl at the registrar office who doesn’t think I’m crazy before now, and now she knew her name - Eliza.

Eliza, she’d learned from sitting in the front, types vigorously during every class on her laptop and occasionally makes very funny commentary.

It was only in switching her seat to sit behind Eliza that she realized she isn’t taking notes on her laptop, but was instead just being very active on various social medias. Mostly twitter.

@elizathesapphicSCREAMING my TA just announced that some of our earliest lgbt writers were great friends and roommates. i could teach this course better lmao

She wasn’t wrong.

@elizathesapphica limerick -there once was a TA from hellwhose hair is rock solid from gelhis voice is nasally and gratinghis ignorance is so fucking frustratinglet’s not forget he’s smarmy as well

Colleen had genuinely had to smother a laugh from that one. And, it turned out, from many others. The semester passed in a blur of moments - her twentieth birthday, an intense and stressful visit from her mom, juggling 6 courses and her first practicum - but Eliza stands out.

They don’t talk, because… well, what would they even talk about? They seem like really different people and Eliza is super lively, but she learns a lot about her.

If it wasn’t obvious from her twitter handle (obviously), she’s a lesbian. Who very much loves Margaery Tyrell - someone Colleen vaguely knows is a recently out politician - and Sansa Stark - who Colleen is very familiar with, because of the writings she’d done and the classes she’d taken that Sansa had TA’d for before she’d finished her master’s - and their very public relationship.

As well as many, many other lesbian celebrities and television shows that Colleen does not watch or follow, but is still entertained by because Eliza is entertaining.

At the end of the semester, she follows Eliza’s twitter on the account she never uses that is basically untraceable to her. It has her name on it, sure, but nothing else. No pictures. No retweets.

But Eliza’s twitter is good for a laugh and sometimes she needs that.

Fall 2019

“Ohhhh my godddd, Sara. Can you believe it’s her?” Eliza wrapped her arm around her best friend’s shoulders, pulling her close - as if they could shrink back against the wall behind them.

They were going home the following day for winter break and so it seemed like everyone who had an off campus apartment was throwing a party. Which was great because Eliza hadn’t gone out this semester much at all. There had been too much work and too much - uhhh well, being lazy and not wanting to leave her dorm when she could binge watch shows with Sara.

Sara elbowed her in the side accidentally as they fell back against the wall. “It’s who?”

She pointed across the large living area full of tipsy-to-drunk college students, to the front door. “Colleen! She - I don’t think she ever comes out? Why do you think she is right now?”

Sara’s eyes rolled before she jostled their shoulders. “Oh you mean your cruuuush. I don’t know, it’s the end of the semester. Everyone’s out. It’s not a big deal.”

Eliza ignored her and stared at Colleen as she and a friend Eliza recognized didn’t know the name of - she was a master social media creep but that didn’t help when someone didn’t have social medias - chatted and made their way across the room.

And her heart started racing. “Oh my gods. Oh. She’s coming over here. Do you think she -”

“We’re right next to the drinks, why do you think she’s coming over?” Sara’s retort quickly popped her rapidly inflating hopes, and she trained a critical eye on Colleen-Gorgeous-Durand. “That is dream crush girl?”

Eliza spun so quickly to face Sara that she nearly sloshed her vodka cranberry over the rim of her cup. “How can you say it like - like that? Look at her!”

“I mean. She is pretty. In a buttoned up way.” Sara turned to face her, having to tilt her head up just enough to quirk an eyebrow. “Is that your type? You haven’t dated much in our eight month friendship tenure.”

Eliza scoffed. “No! No. I don’t have a… type.” She started slapping Sara’s arm, “Ohhhh gods, she’s coming, she’s coming, she’s -”

Sara caught her hand and held it tight, hissing, “Calm down, you look insane.”

Colleen approached them with a nervous looking smile. “Hey. Can I ask where you got your drink?” She surveyed the table in front of her, dubiously, “I just don’t really see the mixer I want -”

It was like an automatic reaction. Eliza’s hand shot out and offered her cup, “Take it! Still full. Just made it. Made tons of them. See?” She held it up so the rim reflected the dim light. “I didn’t take a sip yet or anything. I can go make another cup.”

Those sky blue eyes were so brilliantly light and she gave the slightest twitch of an eyebrow as she accepted Eliza’s drink. “Um… thanks?”

“Yeah. No prob. Enjoy.” She grinned, knowing it was too bright for the moment, but whatever.

She felt triumphant, even when Sara collapsed against her in a fit of giggles as Colleen walked away. “Holy shit. I see now why you haven’t dated.”

“Um, what is that supposed to mean? She sought me out.” Now that she replayed the interaction, though, she could… sort of… see where she’d gone wrong.

Oh, fuck.

Sara only laughed harder, letting Eliza’s hand go and wrapping it around her waist in a hug. “Listen.” She tried to calm her laughter. “Listen. What I just witnessed means one of two things: your crush is an absolute idiot who took a drink from you, a weird ass stranger at a party. Or she actually somewhat recognizes you, too, and doesn’t think you’re a creepy stranger.”

“Oh, fuck. Now I need to find more cranberry juice.”

Spring 2020

“Who’s that girl over there? She keeps looking at us.” Colleen’s friend and flatmate, Natalia, commented. They were in the dining hall, which is a rarity since they hadn’t lived on campus since they were freshmen.

“What girl?”

“Pretty, dark hair, dark eyes. She has like 4 piercings up her ear. She has a rainbow pin on her backpack. Seems gay.”

Pretty with dark hair and eyes, the earrings, and the dead giveaway rainbow pin already tells her it’s most likely Eliza Harlow, even before she turns and looks. Colleen rolls her eyes. “How does she seem gay? Besides the rainbow pin,” she adds on, even though she knows - of course Eliza Harlow is gay.

Her still very active twitter is still hilarious and very, very full of lesbian pop culture. It’s gotten almost kind of frustrating, the fact that Eliza never really posts anything about herself on her twitter. Colleen definitely knows she is a lesbian more than anything - she posted something just last night about a pro soccer player and proclaimed that her lesbian heart wasn’t going to survive her coming out.

But she never posts anything about her own life. It’s not like Colleen cares? But she can’t help but be intrigued. It’s weird. But maybe that’s just the culture they live in these days.

She still turns and looks where Natalia is pointing, anyway. Sure enough, Eliza is sitting - backpack perched on the table next to her bagel, rainbow pin on display - with her ever present friend whose name Colleen knows is Sara (thanks, twitter). Pretty with her dark hair curling, as usual, over her shoulders.

And, Natalia was right. She’s throwing looks over at them.

Eliza had spoken to her for the first time, without having to do so for a class project, last week. She’d tossed her backpack over her shoulder super casually - Colleen had noticed out of the corner of her eye, as she’d packed up her own bag - and approached her.

“Can I borrow your notes?”

Colleen was always loathe to part with her notes. She took pride in them - even color coded them - and she doubted that strangers would take as much care with them as they deserved.

But Eliza… well, she didn’t really know her. But she didn’t feel like a stranger either. Especially with her eyes looking all hopeful and nervous. She wondered if Eliza had fallen behind in class with all of the work she was doing on her social medias. Or on her work for the internship she had at the Red Keep (thanks, twitter).

She’d handed over her notebook with a smile that was genuine.

“Whatever. The rainbow pin is why she seems gay, fine. But she’s coming over here.” Natalia brings her back to the moment, making a face at the meatloaf she’s eating before she pushes the tray away. 

Colleen sat up straighter, dropping her own fork. “That’s Eliza. We’re in Valyrian Lit class together.”

Eliza walked even closer, looking… apprehensive. Her big, expressive eyes were downcast, as she worried at her generous bottom lip. Which was weird because no, she didn’t know Eliza personally. But she kind of did know her personality. And she was not apprehensive.

It took a moment for Colleen to notice the notebook in her hands. And that it wasn’t the same green one - always green notebooks for lit classes - she’d given Eliza three days ago.

“Hey! Colleen! Hey. Uhhh. I have… your notebook.” Eliza held out the notebook toward her, shifting back and forth on her feet. “Your notes were - great. Such a help.”

“No problem, but…” Colleen eyed the notebook - a mint green as opposed to her hunter green. “That’s not mine.”

“No, it is! I - it is.” Eliza cleared her throat and slid it down onto the table. “It’s definitely yours, now. Um. The thing is. My obnoxious roommate  - I didn’t choose her? I was supposed to live with my friend, but then housing got all messed up and. It’s a whole thing,” she waved her hand, and Colleen, despite being so anal about what the fuck happened to her notebook, couldn’t help but be entertained. “The point is, she spilled her coffee all over your notebook.”

“What?!” All the gods, her notes. All her time and color coordination. And that had all of her handouts and - fuck. Dr. Lannister was not an easy professor to pass, his exams were notoriously difficult -

“Ohhhh, shit,” Natalia whispered.

Eliza quickly flipped the notebook open, frantically pointing at the pages. “No! Wait. I, I dried out your notebook and spent all last night re-writing your notes. I tried finding a matching notebook, but this was the only green one they had at the store. And I bought colored pens, because I figured out the color system, too. It’s all there. I swear. And I made copies of all of the handouts and put them in the back. Thanks. For the notes. I’ll never ask again, I swear.”

She hitched her backpack over her shoulder without another word and spun on her heel.

Colleen leaned over the table to peek at her notes and… wow. Eliza really did figure out her color coding system, even down to the obsessive tonal color changes for different types of literature. And. She skimmed her eyes quickly over the page - Eliza definitely left some insightful notes in here that Colleen herself had missed.

She turned her head to see if she could even call out her thanks to Eliza, but she was too far away. All she could see was the other girl slapping her palm against her forehead as she turned to leave the hall.

It made her smile.

Fall 2020

Professor Stark tapped her hands on her desk, “And as much as I know group projects aren’t everyone’s favorite thing, the sad reality is that we have to work with people in real life that we don’t get to choose. So, you will all individually document what you do in this project and then evaluate each other’s contributions at the end. You have your groups, the rubrik, and some examples to start with. Even though the project isn’t due for over a month, I would highly recommend starting it early.”

Eliza wouldn’t say she loved group work by any means, especially when the groups were assigned.

Colleen caught her eye and asked, “You want to come to my place this weekend to get started? I really don’t like to wait until the last minute for these kinds of things.”

Eliza was pretty sure she was going to write Sansa Stark a thank you letter.

[peterbishop]

I’ve heard a lot of people say that tww really goes down hill after season 4, which i am fast approaching, is it true?? Should i be dreading it? I’m scared i won’t be able to watch the earlier seasons in the same way

people say that because aaron sorkin leaves after season 4. he wrote the entire show up at that point. that’s right. he wrote all 88 episodes which a) is crazy and b) no other tv writer has ever done. ever. his voice is extremely distinct and no one can ever replicate it, so yes, you notice a big difference between the first 4 seasons and the latter 3 seasons. one writer suddenly becomes twenty writers.

i will say this: season five is rough. if you find yourself disappointed, you are not the only one. however, ep 5x17 is one of the best eps of the whole show and the end of s5 sets up the gaza arc. if you ship josh/donna, i think you will like the gaza arc. i certainly do.

once you get to season 6 and the santos’ campaign arc, the show picks up substantially. this arc extends from 6x09 all the way to the end of the show. i like it a lot. if you like josh, then you will really enjoy these episodes. the episodes that take place back at the white house are weaker and forgettable imo, but i don’t even think about it because the campaign arc carries seasons 6 and 7. 

tl;dr. yes the show is different after season 4. no it doesn’t ever truly get as good again. but, there are moments i enjoy substantially and my view of the show did not change. 

[fallenandrogyne]

What I want if there's a tww s4

(this is all just for fun and a place to put my thoughts. i’m not expecting any of this to be realized on the show)

- to see hecate wearing pants. she’s worn a blouse before so there’s no reason why she can’t wear pants with a blouse instead of a skirt. i just want her (and raquel) to be comfortable. same goes for pippa/amanda if she can hopefully return. pls stop with the skin-tight constricting outfits!!! and while we’re talking about clothing, bring back mildred’s fingerless gloves and her striped scarf.

- the actress who played teen hecate to return, so she can interact with a new teen actress to be cast as teen pippa so we can learn how their characters got their "pipsqueak" and "hiccup" nicknames. or really just learn anything about the time they spent together as kids.

- hecate explains to pippa why she didn’t show up to the display, and why she left her all those years ago. tells her everything about the confinement, indigo, possible fear of unrequited feelings that made it easier to let her go, I'm just saying...

- an explanation as to why pippa and hecate had such an emotionally charged reaction to both of them saying they missed each other. just how close were they when their friendship was at its prime? why did pippa so badly want to build a successful authoritative team with hecate? well, we already know why but it sure would be wonderful to hear them say they have love for each other!

- hecate visits pippa at pentangles's academy. I would prefer the entire episode to take place there with no B plot at cackle’s. If I had my way i'd never have hecate anywhere near cackle's again. mildred, and of course since no one would hear the end of it if she wasn't invited, felicity, can accompany hecate to penatangle's.

- ummmmmmm, perhaps hecate could buy a house, castle, cottage, or where ever it is that witches live in??? 'cause now that her confinement is over she's homeless during holidays, and in-between terms. or she could, you know, stay with pippa, I'm not picky~~

- morgana! it was lovely to see hecate holding tabby those few seconds, but i really want to see how she interacts with her own familiar.

- more dimity centric episodes/backstory. how she became star of the sky. an entire dimity centric season would be best.

- more dimity/Julie interactions. to have an arc where hecate chills on the adamant following of the witches code/traditional magic and learns to get along with julie, which i fooled myself into thinking we were gonna get in s3 with hecate assigned as her mentor. maybe hecate could see how much dimity has taken a liking to julie and asks dimity why she gives that woman the time of day. dimity could explain that she accepts people for who they are, regardless of things that are out of their control. that she saw something special in julie.

- gwen and rowan webb go off to retire to enjoy their married life together, allowing the school to once again return to having an all women staff. and while we're at it, have the great wizard be overthrown by an even greater, more capable witch.

- all 5 years of students and everyone on the teaching staff have a meeting where they're taught about consent and how certain potions/spells are off limits as they can take away the consent of the person that the magical outcome is intended for.

- since ethel cleared out hecate's entire potions lab, I thought it would be cool to see a potions class take place outside where everyone helps miss hardbroom gather new ingredients to replenish her inventory. of course Hecate could summon ingredients in half the time it'd take her students to gather them, but it's also her style to take the opportunity to teach her girls a lesson. as long as they all forage in somewhere other than hollow wood, of course.

- ethel to be humbled and finally face serious consequences. such as a suspension, and while she’s spending that time at home maybe she can fix her relationship with her mother.

- more hard-hitting topics like the gender inequality in the vespertilio episode. obvs my first choice would be lgbt represention in both the teachers and the students. for the teachers it would be amazing to have hecate and pippa’s lesbianism confirmed, and/or dimity possibly being bisexual or a lesbian as well (i’m just basing their sexuality on the majority of the fandom’s headcanons). and i know i’ve seen some people ID felicity as bisexual, which was practically proven in the spelling bee episode since she fantasized over miss pentangle, and the wizard competitor in the same dreamy inflection. so a way that could be explored could be her possibly having crush on drusilla (just for example because she transferred schools) without realizing what she was really feeling so she doesn’t know why she misses her so much. and they could have hecate/dimity/pippa accidentally overhear felicity saying how smart and pretty she thought drusilla, and how she’s confused why she misses her. and they could be thinking like, “wow girl are you really that oblivious??” but then they’d remember what they were like at that age and realize, yes, she really could be that oblivious. then that teacher could pull her aside privately and say they know from personal experience that it’s okay for witches to have feelings for other witches. s4 will be airing in 2020, there’s no excuse as to why lgbt characters shouldn’t be allowed on kids shows. but then again i don’t know if i want the writers showing sapphic women because i was just burned by w&g so they’d probably ignore hecate’s lesbian tendencies & her long-standing following of sapphic women outside of the show to confirm that she’s ‘’‘straight’’’ and make her homophobic, therefore ridicule a student potentially showing interest in another girl. and that.... is not something i can live with, the love potion episode was traumatic enough.

[regalpotato]

13 and 37

13. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

Write for yourself. Be self indulgent. There’ll be at least one person who’ll enjoy it.

I know it’s hard to follow that advice (and I will constantly check kudos and comments on my fics), but as someone who hardly ever publishes stuff anyway, I can definitely say writing for yourself is a great way to improve your writing. 

(Also, ignore the fuckers that say you should never use says/said).

37. Talk about your current wips.

Whoo boy. Okay.

So.

I currently have two proper Hicsqueak fics in the works (and many other fandoms, but considering we share the TWW fandom, I thought I’d go with that)

The first one is a fucking beast, that I hate more and more each day. It started as me wanting to write about how they got their dumb, stupid nicknames (and don’t let me calling them dumb and stupid confuse you, I would die for their nicknames) and it’s become a monster.

It’s called ‘i broke my own heart loving you’ and is a Pippa-centric fic starting from her Selection Day and traversing her life up to current day. Obviously, there’s mucho mucho Hecate and Hicsqueak in it too.

The second one is a post-Bad Magic Hicsqueak fic. And I started writing it before I got my own headcanons surrounding Bad Magic/Indigo Moon sorted, so it doesn’t even fit my headcanons now. It’s okay though, I should probably try and finish it…but it’s very emotional and mushy so…

OH WAIT I FORGOT I’m also writing a fake!marriage hicsqueak fic, but it’s like 900 of trash atm so doesn’t really count lmao

40 Questions — Meme for Fic Writers

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

I too am in a TWW rewatch, because well I enjoy torturing myself by watching competent articulate political types. (That and the great tv) I'm really struggling with Will. He seems like such an creep the further it goes on yet all the female characters seem to like him. I feel like I'm missing something. Do you have any views on him?

I have views on everything!! :D Seriously though, nobody’s ever asked me about Will so what a great chance for an essay. (This got REALLY long, fair warning.)

First, a disclaimer. I’ve never been very active on Twitter, but when I started using it, I mostly followed TWW actors. I occasionally tweeted at them, and I never expected responses, because they were amazing actors from this show I revered, and I was a random fangirl on social media. But two of them did, and were SO nice, and it shocked me so much back in the day to realize how kind and down-to-earth TWW cast is, when I had just seen the series and hadn’t yet found tumblr or watched interviews. It really made an impression on me. Richard Schiff called me ‘very sweet’ and won my heart forever, and Joshua Malina was also totally friendly and nice, so much so that I felt bad for never really liking his character much.

That’s right, I too used to think Will was obnoxious. But once I realized the actor was kinda awesome, I reconsidered his character and gave him a chance. So I’m glad you asked me, as I’ve been on both sides with Will and really love him now.

IMO, Will Bailey came in not just as a replacement for Sam, but also as a character with very different values, who was meant to contrast with our heroes at a crucial time.

Mid-S4, when Will is first introduced, we meet him as a skilled, idealistic writer who’s also got strong organizational and leadership skills. That’s different from any of our faves, since both Sam and Toby are talented wordsmiths, and both are idealistic in their own ways, but they’re also both oriented towards behind-the-scenes work. Toby is very team-focused and loyal but he would like it if everyone would leave him alone and let him do what he’s good at–messaging and writing and trying to nudge the people around him onto the path he thinks is best. When CJ is promoted above him to become COS, he cares even less about the professional snub than Josh does, because it’s not something he wanted.

And while Sam has political aspirations, he never really shows leadership qualities. He’s an excellent second to Toby and even for Josh when needed, but he’s also shown to be the least canny and experienced of them all, and you could argue that being in front of the camera as a candidate for office doesn’t always equal being a leader, if your staff is really running the show for you, which is what Sam’s campaign looks like. Everyone around him coordinates the details and runs things to leave him space to just be The Guy. But Will Bailey is both the guy running the show behind the scenes AND the guy who can get on camera and speak about the politics and ideals of his campaign because his family and professional background made him much more well-rounded. Heck, he’s even in the armed forces on top of all that! He’s portrayed as good at all the things he does.

Now, what’s interesting to me is that Will, as he’s first introduced, is much more confident and idealistic than he is later on. Early Will goes through a serious transformation, from Toby’s new second to an independent operator who lacks the loyalty the others have to a man more than to a party. To some extent, Will’s rebellious, ‘you need me more than I need you’ attitude was there from the moment Sam showed up to his winning campaign, but I think that who Aaron Sorkin (who had worked with the actor a lot before) conceived him as changed after Sorkin left. The showrunners for S5-7 saw an opportunity in his character’s feisty campaign background and turned him into someone with even less personal loyalty and more detached pragmatism.

The fact is, that’s not what Sorkin-era TWW is about. One of the reasons the later seasons are so different is their clear-eyed look at campaign chaos and shifting loyalties and all the small on-the-ground work that we didn’t see with President Bartlet. The earlier seasons are very much about our found family of staffers and the First Family and watching them fight the status quo that constrains them because they won. They always want to do better, and be better, and as much as they acknowledge the reality that you have to win in order to change the world, the show still promises us that it’s the change that actually matters, and it isn’t worth winning if you have to sell your soul to do it.

So if there’s a spectrum along which everyone falls, based on how much they’re willing to ‘go along to get along’ versus making trouble for the sake of their beliefs, Will Bailey is on the exact opposite end from say, Amy Gardner, with our core characters in the middle. I’ve rambled about Amy before, about how her values and priorities are so different from our heroes that she’s an antagonist even as she works with them a lot of the time. Will has the same complicated relationship with the people we’ve been rooting for for years, but for drastically different reasons. Amy is at odds with the West Wing because she’ll do whatever it takes to win the argument and get what she wants, pulling the Democrats to the left whenever possible.

Will, though–especially in S5 and beyond–is at odds with the West Wing even when he’s in the West Wing, because for all his ideals, he has no problem with compromise. He sees nothing wrong with moving to the middle if it helps you win, if it gets you more power. He’s willing to look like an idiot for the White House, he’s willing to go in front of the press core and be beaten up for days if it will help the cause, he doesn’t hesitate to jump to a new campaign that he thinks could win, because winning is how you get the things you want. Probably, being a diplomat’s son has something to do with how accommodating he is, and how able Will is to justify any position, any choice. We’re told he’s very good with words, but he was probably also good at Debate in school, because he can clearly turn any situation around as needed.

Which means that while Will’s instinct is to adjust and Amy’s is to dig her heels in, they share the one quality that makes any TWW character harder to like: they answer only to themselves. Above all else, their ‘constituency of one’ is themselves rather than a specific politician or even the party. Will is a Democrat, but he’ll happily buck the party wisdom in favor of what he thinks will win. And that puts him up against Toby, the President, Josh, etc, at different times because he bases his choices on his own ideals and they’re just different from those of the Bartlet Administration, which spends 8 years fighting to stay progressive and deciding it’s better to go down fighting than do or say things they don’t believe in.

Will is also an interesting foil for Donna after she leaves the White House, and not just because they become coworkers and good friends. Along with the fact that she left Josh and struck out on her own, most of her post-Sorkin conflict with Josh is actually based on WHO she went to work for and how differently she and Josh see that decision/what it says about her and her time working under Josh. By going to work for Russell, Donna shows that she’s less concerned with finding the perfect underdog candidate and more interested in a future that keeps up Democratic progress after President Bartlet leaves office. She is never dedicated to Russell as a man, and over time becomes visibly concerned with his flaws as a man and a candidate. But tellingly, Will isn’t any more personally loyal to Russell than Donna is–and he’s the one running the man’s whole campaign!

It says a lot about Will that for all the moments when Russell shows himself to be less than honorable, Will clearly disagrees with his actions…but he stays. Because Russell was never why he left the Bartlet Administration, or why he took on the new campaign. He took it on because he’s good at winning campaigns, and in Russell he saw someone who could win, and he may have even admired the antagonistic streak that came out once Russell became VP. Russell also had no interest in the ‘cult of Bartlet’ and quickly proved that he wouldn’t even have the level of respect that Hoynes had for Josiah Bartlet as a man. Most of the characters on TWW consider that strike one against Russell and a major character flaw, but Will doesn’t. He respects the President and the office but he didn’t know Jed before the MS reveal, he sees him from more of a removed distance, and his White House job is a JOB to him more than a calling.

Again, some of this was less true during the Sorkin era. The Will Bailey who lost the ability to speak when he was officially offered Sam’s position is much more in awe of the gravity of it all, and it’s hard to see that guy jumping ship to support a moderate candidate that nobody in the White House even likes. But the hints of who he ends up as were there from the beginning, the way he tells off Sam and Toby even before he works with them–he’s always an outsider.

So the outsider factor, that makes it harder to like Will or any TWW character that doesn’t automatically get along with the others. Ainsley Hayes may be ‘the enemy’ as a Republican, but she is amiable and smoothly tries to change minds–and when she isn’t able to, she opts to live and let live. Will is harsher, more combative at times, and I don’t know if it’s just me, but that makes me feel defensive and protective towards the staffers he’s arguing with. After all, I adore them and I barely know him, how dare he?

But of course, his actions and his beliefs make perfect sense from HIS perspective. He’s had a successful career, and being a part of the Administration was never a goal of his, so he doesn’t need to go out of his way to defer to their judgement or stay quiet in the face of their superior wisdom. He was raised to know how to work people and get his way, but he was also raised with incredible privilege and confidence and if he was banished from TWW inner circle it wouldn’t be much of a loss for him. Being an outsider isn’t a problem for him, he spent his life that way as a diplomat’s son, so he never feels the need to conform the way he would have to in order to really become a part of the gang.

Honestly, the only reason he ever gels as a part of the group is because Josh leaves and Toby is fired and they need Will to speak for the White House–finally he’s the ultimate insider, he’s the Bartlet mouthpiece, and the only original senior staffer left is CJ, so once Will and Kate bond they’re the center of the staff that’s left, and he has somebody on his side. (And once he’s off the campaign trail, the show goes back to highlighting his neurotic and geeky side, because he can’t be the ‘win at all costs’ guy anymore and needed a new focus.)

So here’s why I think it can be hard to like Will: he often seems like an entitled, immune-to-criticism, antagonistic opportunist. At his worst he seems to think the means justify the ends, despite his progressive beliefs in general, and that means he’s the guy who could get almost anybody elected–which is great when it’s S3 and Bruno Gianelli is on Bartlet’s side, but less so when Russell seems like not much of an improvement on Hoynes in terms of decency and intelligence and Will has the skills to actually make that guy President.

BUT, (and I can’t guarantee this will help you but I think it’s important because Will does exist as a complex, multidimensional character, and that’s a good thing even though it means he has flaws) at his best he is an adorable dork who wants to make the world better, will take jobs because he believes they need doing even if they’re not his own personal dream, is willing to put himself in danger to save and protect others, and is not just talented but also very knowledgeable about the same kind of geeky Constitutional and political history that Jed Bartlet is.

What I’m trying to say is that Will, as much as anyone on TWW, is the product of his good and bad qualities, and both sides of that equation come from his core traits. His ability to ignore others’ criticism because he’s secure in who he is can be annoying when it’s Toby or Josh trying to talk sense into him, but it also means he survives hazing with friendly ease and stands up for the White House’s positions like a pro. He cares more about winning than fighting the narrowest version of the good fight, but he’s not wrong that winning is better for progressive goals than losing for the sake of ideological purity (hi 2016, I have not missed you). He isn’t loyal to the Bartlet Adminstration above all else–but if everyone were, then the President would be a dictator. Intra-party fighting can weaken a party but it also allows for diversity rather than a cult mentality.

So, here’s what it comes down to. Will isn’t Sam, and that means Toby could never really like or trust him, even if he had become more loyal. Will is a political relativist, which means Josh was never going to agree with his choices, as Josh has always put people first and hates having to compromise. Will is a privileged white guy (played by a Jewish actor, but never canonically established as Jewish) so CJ tolerates him but doesn’t genuinely like him for some time, because that’s just how she rolls. Leo leaves Will under Toby’s purview, and Jed has even less direct interaction with him. He spends a lot of his time battling a group of young female interns we never see again (tbh I can’t stand those scenes and if that’s where you get your creep factor, I get it). Given how disconnected he often is from the central cast, is it any wonder he’s mostly underappreciated and ignored by fans as well?

As for why the female characters on the show don’t seem bothered by him, even when you are, I think there’s a couple of possible explanations. First of all, TWW is a show that doesn’t show us that much–we have to assume that all of these characters, who practically live at work, spend a TON of time together offscreen, just by the nature of their jobs. If most of that time is similar to Will’s comedic scenes, where he’s a giant nerd with bikes in his office whose response to stress is the fetal position, then presumably his coworkers see his flawed human side, in an endearing rather than annoying way.

And secondly, we as viewers don’t have that perspective. We don’t even have the benefit of being these characters living in the early ‘00s, when it was a given that the government would be full of overconfident oblivious men and that’s just what women were expected to handle with poise and sweetness. Clearly things haven’t changed much over the years when it comes to White House staff and a backdrop of misogyny at work, but for a lot of us as viewers the world has progressed.

So Donna gets along with Will as her boss who can be kind of dense or morally ambivalent sometimes, but she’s also spent almost a decade dealing with the most powerful men in America. As an assistant, for most of that time. To her, even Will’s worst moments are barely a blip in the grand scheme of things. And CJ is totally unimpressed by Will’s smarts and talent because she works with the smartest and most talented men she’s ever known, but he serves a purpose and doesn’t get in her way, so she has no problem with him. Kate rose to power through the ranks of military men and has definitely seen, and probably injured, worse guys than Will Bailey. All the women of TWW have spent their careers dealing with men of varying character. I mean, even compared to some of Sam’s comments, Will must seem downright harmless.

TL;DR Can Will Bailey be a patronizing know-it-all who puts his own interests before party and found family? Absolutely. Is he a bad guy? Not at all. He’s just a different kind of good guy than those The West Wing conditioned us to admire and root for.

[opinions-about-tiaras]

To be fair, that particular episode also made it clear that it regarded someone taking Tribbey’s hard line to be a vital and necessary part of the policymaking process.

I don’t find The West Wing’s liberalism in the front half to have calcified and become intolerable any more than, say, I find that of liberal-for-the-time sitcoms from the 70s to have. It was a product of...

You know, I almost typed “it was a product of its time” but that’s only kind of true. It needs unpacking and explicating.

TWW went on the air back in ‘99. Bill Clinton was President when it aired. And it was made by people who’d come up under Clinton and Reagan and Carter.

When TWW was first conceived, it was in an environment in which Ruth Bader Ginsburg was recommended as an appointee by a Republican committee chair, and in which she received near-unanimous consensus. Sure, it happened in the shadow of Clinton’s impeachment, but back in the 90s the conventional wisdom (and I’m not even sure it was wrong) was that the Republican Party had a batshit insane wing that was far too powerful, but that it still had a responsible wing that needed to be worked with and respected. And TWW reflected that.

Where TWW fails is in the latter seasons. The early Bush years, I figure it gets a pass on. Bush explicitly ran as a “compassionate conservative” and his big legislative priorities, domestically speaking, were... expanding Medicare and a huge bipartisan education reform act. (And tax cuts for the rich, of course.) And 9/11 fucked us all up.

But then Sorkin left, and Wells came in, and the show sort of... didn’t move on to the new world. Seasons six and seven of TWW took place in Bush’s second term. Season seven was post-Katrina! Post-PATRIOT Act, post finding out what was happening in GITMO, post... most of the enormities of the Bush years.

And John Wells responded to this by giving us a storyline of... a non-religious, pro-choice Republican who openly disdained all of the animating shibboleths of the party winning its nomination.

This wasn’t a failure of imagination, to my mind; it was a failure of reality. I can picture the writers room now: “We can’t just write Jimmy Smits running against an out-and-out monster, that’s boring and trite. We did that in Season 3 with the guy Jed was running against and people were all ‘this dude is just a dumb caricature.’ We need nuance! His opponent needs to be a real person.”

Well, it turns out the dumb reactionary that Sorkin pitted Bartlet against in Season 3 was light-years more accurate than Alan Alda four years later.

I freely admit that I might be more generous to the first three seasons (and especially season two) of TWW than they deserve, just because I love them so much. I love the characters, I love watching them interact. I still do. One of the best ensembles ever assembled. So yeah, could be some rose-colored glasses here; to my mind, the show didn’t really fall down a hole until later.

... in the process of writing this it really hit home how FAST the transformation of the Republican Party was. What’s the saying about how people go bankrupt? “It happens slowly, and then all at once?” Feels like the same thing happened there. Like, I know people are reading this and thinking “dude, the rot set in with Goldwater” but that’s not really true; it took a long time for the Party to move from “has cancer” to “IS cancer” but boy, once a critical mass was achieved it was almost like throwing a light switch.

[catherine-batty-author]

If Destiel was a M/F pairing they would have been canon years ago... or maybe not. The slow burn TV couples.

Following on from my post The Show Made Me Do it (https://thechroniclesofjudas.tumblr.com/post/166439114361/the-show-made-me-do-it), I felt the need to speak again on a topic that seems to bounce around Tumblr all the time re Destiel – if they were a M/F pairing they would have been canon years ago.

All fandoms have ships and Destiel is not only one of the biggest but one of the most passionate. As I’ve said before and many meta writer’s have said (in far more detail) before me – it is there embedded in the show. Sometimes blatant, sometimes in subtext. But it is there.

I disagree with the notion that it is guaranteed that if they were a hetro paring they would have been canon by now. There have been many hetro (canon) screen couples who have had their relationships drawn out and explored over many years. All too often in TV hetro couples are thrown together within a series or two and then torn apart before coming back together again a few series later. It is a fairly standard trope - one used time and time again by SPN - but of course, it’s not romantic (whatever!).

But sometimes writers make interesting choices and there are canon couple/ships out there that have not taken the standard path…and the Destiel parallels are everywhere. Here are a few I love:-

The Doctor and River Song/Doctor Who

This is a brilliantly written relationship because it is known by dedicated fans and GA alike that they were a couple until her death. They loved each other deeply. She was one of the few beings in the universe who knew The Doctor’s real name. He spent 1 night (on a planet where that lasted 25 years in Earth time) with her because he knew the following day she would die based on their weird timeline, and he needed a way and time to say goodbye. Then, following her death he uploaded her memory into a computer so it was there for all eternity – it’s a beautiful love story told in reverse. Following her death he has kept her photograph with him. He finds it hard to talk about her and shuts people down when they try. But their relationship was not shown in a traditional light on screen. She is known as The Doctor’s wife, they even are shown getting married – however each time their relationship is shown, it is in the guise of something else. Although River was shown “marrying” The Doctor it wasn’t actually him. This was the same when she “killed” him. This follows a general theme of their on-screen relationship. What you see is not always what happened. The Doctor and River Song is basically all subtext but even if you don’t ship them you are not told you are delusional, it is accepted because it is canon.

Donna Moss and Joshua Lynam/The West Wing

There are soooo many parallels between Josh/Donna and Dean/Cas it’s unbelievable. Seriously, if you’ve never seen the West Wing (why not, it’s awesome and some of the best screen writing, ever) do it just for this.

So in a nutshell, Donna was introduced in the pilot as the personal assistant of Josh Lyman, the duty chief of staff of the White House. She was only meant to be a minor recurring character (like all the other assistants) but her on screen chemistry (mostly snark) with Josh meant her role was stepped up in S1 and then made a main cast member for subsequent seasons. They are also a big ship from S1 ep1.

Despite their snark and sass with each other, they care for each other deeply and are a great team. Their professional and personal relationships bleed over as time goes on as well. Over the course of 7 seasons they are on the same side, opposing sides, they fall out, they support each other, they are jealous when one is a relationship with someone else. They are not a canon couple until late in the final 7th season, but before they finally get together, it is common for their other love interests to ask the other party if they are “treading on any toes”. Third parties are always assuming there is more them because of they way they are with each other. Donna is directly asked in one ep if she loves Josh – we never see/hear her answer as the ep ends but her face says it all. When Josh is shot at the end of S1 she is broken. She doesn’t leave his side. When he survives, after a brief moment of longing looks they return to their old ways.

Interestingly enough; the writers (who had no plans to make Donna into the character she was, it was fan driven) deliberately kept them apart until the last season. Once the ship was known they slowly wrote two interesting characters who gradually came together with their endgame to become canon.

This is just a TINY insight in TWW writing of Josh/Donna but even so… the Destiel parallels are everywhere.

William Riker and Deana Troi/Star Trek: TNG

This really shows my age! (FYI I was 7 when this series started, my mum was sooo excited Start Trek was coming back and wanted me to watch it too. I also loved it from the start.) This one is a little different in that in the pilot it is canon that Riker and Troi were ex’s who still had feelings for each other. Over the course of 7 seasons they were never “together” but they had this sub-textual under current. There was a lot of pining and long looks at each other with occasional kissing. Again there was a lot of jealousy if one party was involve with someone else.  When they comforted one another they refer as “Imzadi” meaning beloved. They continued in this fashion for the full 7 seasons and 2 films, only becoming canon again briefly in the 3rd film and following their marriage in the 4th film “Nemesis” -15 YEARS after the pilot.

Temperance “Bones” Brennan and Seeley Booth/Bones.

This is another couple that took 6 seasons to become canon – even then it was because the writer’s hand was forced. It was clear that the endgame was to make them a couple but their friendship was developed first. As such there were many of the traits mentioned above and shared with Dean and Cas. Their relationship was only made canon after Bones actress Emily Deschanel fell pregnant. They could have hidden it but the writer’s decided to bring their endgame forward. Writer’s are fluid like that – we can change the direction as and when required.

If in 4.01 Castiel had chosen a female vessel (and this was the ONLY) change to the narrative) no one would have an issue with believing this to be an epic love story. But because it’s two men, it’s dismissed. (Technically one man and one being of multidimensional wavelength of celestial intent without gender, but hey.)

As @tinkdw said in her post Cas and Dean could have been totally platonic, (https://tinkdw.tumblr.com/post/163833238972/cas-and-dean-could-have-been-totally-platonic) I would have loved this show even if Destiel was a “family don’t end with blood” story. The brother Dean chose. It would have been an epic love story of a platonic/familial kind and free will. But it has been MADE romantic. The actors, writers, directors, editors, set designers etc, they have MADE this a slow burn romance. It might not have initially been planned that way but that is how stories (and life) work – it’s all fluid.

Even if you take out the favourite argument for it never being canon which is “Dean is straight” (he’s not but I’m not here to dissect that, meta writers have done a much better job at that than I can ever do), you are basically saying “a person/character has no ability to change or have room for personal growth”. And let’s face it, even in canon Dean’s already subverted many of the character traits he’s known for – why not this one?

It’s not AS common to keep a couple from going canon for as long as Supernatural has Dean and Cas, but in the end, I believe they will make the wait worth it. There is precedence after all. This isn’t a long list of slow burn TV couples there are so many we all could list, but these are just some that strike me a good parallels and leaves me hopeful for the future of these two idiots.

[lorelaigilmoure]

i’ve started watching tww in march and went on hiatus in april. i was really looking forward to live blog (like i do now) and to share my thoughts about the show, but school and hiatus got in the way. i wanted to stay off tumblr but at the same time i wanted y’all to know how i feel about the show, so i decided to write down my thoughts in a word document and to share it with you when i’m back.

so if you’re curious, how this show ruined me and why i love it and if you have the patience and time, feel free to read this live blogging(?) mess:

omg this is too much. I can’t take this whole ms plotline. wth????? jed and charlie having the conversation. I have tears in my eyes. this is tooooo much. FRACK.

BRING IT ON.  YEAH.

No mrs landingham noooo. why.???? this ep gave me goosebumps. f*cking amazing. AND HELL YES HE’S RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT AGAIN. HELL YES.

okay I hate amy. I just hate her. and I want to see abbey more. ABBBEEEEEEY. WHERE’S ABBEEEY???

OMG TOBY. THAT WAS WAY OUT OF LINE. and now jed needs a therapist. I think toby missed his calling. he should be a shrink.

charlie was sassy af. don’t mess with charlie, cj, ever.

y’know sam has really grown on me. I never thought I would love him so much. but I do. precious marshmallow.

wait, but the pancreas doesn’t produce HCl. the stomach does. I really hope Abbey was sarcastic, bc otherwise it’s a pretty big mistake made by the writers. and I hope jed “see, they can’t take medical school from you” bartlet was sarcastic too. pls god.

yep, amy is still annoying.

I have a bad feeling about this ep. stirred. alcohol. leo. I don’t wike it.

jed and leo’s bromance is one of the best things in this show.

OH MY GOD. JOSH DID THE THING FOR DONNA. HE SAID HE WON’T BUT HE DID. DONNA, YOU PRECIOUS SNOWFLAKE, YOUR HAPPINESS MAKES ME CRY TEARS OF JOY. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH SWEET CHILD.

guys, Ritchie is Donald J. Trump. it’s so obvious. I cannnot believe this tv show, this season, aired 14 years ago.

jed to cj: you are part of my family. HELL YES. SHE IS. I LOVE THEM.

OH MY GOD. CJ BE SAFE FOR GOD’S SAKE.

donovan just showed up and I already ship him with cj.

okay I ship cj and donovan so much. don’t get me wrong, I love danny, but these two, right now, are RUINING ME. PERFECT.

*during the whole negative ad/tape thing*:

bruno: sam don’t talk to Kahn

sam: I’m going to talk to him

bruno: sam no

sam: sam yes

*sam does the thing* *shit’s going down*

bruno: ???????????

ANOTHER DEATH TREATH??? THEY SAW CJ IN THE MALL??? okay, it must’ve been the guy in the coat. I have a very bad feeling about this whole arc. ladjklasjdlasjdla

aaaand I still don’t like amy, at all.

I looove the chemistry between cj and donovan aljdslkdjals.

I LIKE THAT YOU’RE TALL. OMG CJ IS SUCH A DORK GIVE ME A BREAK.

jed bartlet: true or false, josh? my life would be better right now if you and your girlfriend swapt jobs? HE’S SAVAGE AF. OMG.

THEY ALMOST KISSED. CJ AND DONOVAN ALMOST KISSED. ALFJKASLJFLASJFA I NEED A KISSSSSS.

season 3 finale here I come.

it’s been a season and I don’t even know how does ritchie look like??? I’m curious. also I have a bad feeling about this whole assassination thing.

AND SIMON AND CJ KISSED THANKS GOD. THANK YOU.

okay simon just went into a store and I have a super bad feeling about it. ugggggh.

FRAAAAAAAACK THEY KILLED HIM. OMG OMG OMG LAFJKSLAKJDSFLASJF FRACK FRACK THIS FRACK. NO NOT HALLELUJAH NO GOD I’M CRYING NO THIS HURTS OMG I CAN’T

I’m so sad. he deserved better. cj deserved better I just.

AMY ADAMSSSSSSSS. WOW.

josh, donna and toby on a field trip. how cute.

mallory is so beautiful.

[AOS IS RENEWED. it’s not tww related but OMG I’M SO HAPPY. YYAAAAAAASSSSS. (and I still haven’t seen a single ep since 4x16 and I managed to avoid spoilers too. cannot wait to be back on tumblr and make philinda fanvids and aos stuff again. a little more than two months to go.)]

baby coulson on the west wing???? so freakin cute.

no, don’t talk to amy, josh, continue talking to donna. pls. can’t his relationship with amy end pls????

I WOULD VOUCH FOR DONNA WITH MY LIFE.

oh donna, my sweet potato. nicely played. josh, you deserved that prank.

wait, andy’s pregnant??? and toby’s the father??? I’m confused. aren’t they divorced or what?

OH MY GOD THEY PRANKED POOR TOBY. THIS SCENE WAS HILARIOUS. CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE. GENIUS.

jed just said to toby: “you, you big bear. come to me, I’m gonna kiss you right on the mouth.” I swear this is a really serious show. a political drama. pffffffff toby’s face is priceless. probably one of my fave scenes so far.

also pls abbey show up.  I miss you.

yay, joshua malina.

GAME ON BOYFRIEND AND SHE CUTS OFF HIS TIE. ABBEY IS A PHENOMENON. second fave scene. this show is epic you guys. cj fell through the door. as I said, a really serious show dealing with serious and important issues. THESE DORKS I SWEAR. and now jed slapt abbey’s butt. this ep is too much.

TOBY PRANKED JOSH. I LOVE THESE IDIOTS SO SO MUCH.

oh no, frack, his hand started shaking. and he needs an aspirin. I have a very very bad feeling about this.  he’s going to get worse. and so the angst begins.

I wish donna would leave this jack guy alone. I don’t like him.

poor jed and abbey, they’ve been interrupted like 10 times now. first sam, then leo and now toby. lmao

it’s so good seeing leo being happy and smiling.                

okay but josh told jack a bunch of crazy stuff about donna, bc he legit doesn’t want him to go out with her. this dumb dork I swear.

I love cj’s new haircut.

THOSE STORIES WOULD MAKE ME LIKE YOU. JOOOOOOSSSSSSSHHHHH WTH???? OMG I think this is the moment josh started to look differently at donna. THIS IS THE EXACT MOMENT HE STARTED DEVELOPING DEEPER FEELINGS FOR HER.

DAAAAANNNNNYYYYYYY’S BACK OMG DANNY IS BACK AND HE’S SANTA AND HE KISSED HER OMG OMG

zoey and charlie broke up?? how did I miss that?? or did it happen off screen???

danny is back and so is trouble.

the sexual tension between donna and josh intensifies aldjskjdalsjdlajdla. “Donna left?” his face. IT’S STARTING YOU GUYS. I CAN’T HANDLE IT ALFJSLDJASALFJALSKFAL

so I guess cj and danny aren’t together together.

my heart breaks for cj. seeing her dad like this. he doesn’t recognize her. *sigh* be strong cj, my sweet sass queen, be strong.i’ve been in cj shoes. my grandpa was ill too. and let me tell you, it’s so heartbreaking. he was clever as well, we couldn’t pursue him to go to a facilty, to get help. he was so stubborn too. it still hurts. but in the end, he accepted the help we offered him. he didn’t recognize us. he was so kind to us, but had no idea who we were. it was heartbreaking.

JOSH BEING JELAOUS IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS TO WITNESS. EVER.

the guys just showed up at donna’s place. this scene is pure gold.

“YOU LOOK AMAZING”GUYS I’M DONE. I’M SO DONE. THE WAY THEY LOOK AT EACH OTHER. I ADORED THEM BEFORE, BUT NOW THEY’VE BECOME THE GREATEST, PUREST AND MOST PERFECT OTP OF ALL TIME FOR ME. I’M IN SO DEEP. I CAN’T HANDLE THIS AFJSAKLFJALSFJALSKJFLASJ

Will, you precious dumb child.

sam: “hey everyone this is one of my best friends, this is donna moss” THEIR BROTP THO.

I’m gonna miss sam.

I really really wanted to see these dumb kids playing poker again. they haven’t done that since season 1. they’re adorable.

IT’S CHANDLER. CHANDLER BING IS ON THE WEST WING. THIS WILL BE AWESOMEEEEE.

listen guys, chandler is one of my all time fave characters and josh lyman is one of my all time fave characters and seeing matthew on the west wing is like a dream come true. is it just me, or does matthew perry’s voice sound a lot different, compared to his chandler voice???

OH SHIT SOMEBODY’S SHOOTING????WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?????

JOSH WAS WORRIED ABOUT DONNA. THE WAY THEY LOOK AT EACH OTHER I CAAAAAN’T HANDLE I CAN’T ALFJASKLFJLASKFJLASF THESE TWO RUINED ME

I wish charlie and zoey would get bet together again.

hoynes resigning??? wth happened????

jed to toby: “come on, give us a kiss.” this is the second time he said that to him lmao

DANNNYYYYYY’S BACK. I GET SO EXCITED WHENEVER HE’S BACK. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH.

I want toby to be happy. pls andy marry him and live happily together in your dream house.

omg he’s proposing omg. oh crap, why is she saying no??? my heart breaks for toby. look, I know he’s not the easiest person to be with and share a life with but still. he has such a big heart. this is truly heartbreaking.

YOU’RE  JUST TOO SAD FOR ME, TOBY. OH MY GOD. I CAN’T.

I just laughed out loud. ABBEY’S NEW HAIRCUT??? WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL??? I’m sorry, but it looks horrible. omg i can’t stop laughing. I can’t take her seriously. abbey, sweet unicorn, what did you do with your hair and most importantly, why???????????

zoey’s going to a party. this won’t end well. I hate jean paul so so much.

ARE YOU IN LOVE WITH JOSH???? OMGGGGG AMY.

ALDJSALKDHALSHDAL WHAT IS THIS EPISODE EVEN???? ZOEY’S MISSING??? DONNA IS IN LOVE WITH JOSH????? I’M JUST LIKE ??????!111/??!??!?!?!?!?!?!

;AJF;ASJFD;ASJDF;ASFJ;ASJF;AJDF;AJF;SJF;

toby has 2 kids now. I might cry. MAZEL TOV, TOBY.

great now his MS is getting worse. SHIT’S GOING DOWN THIS SHOW IS THE BEST AND THE WORST.

I don’t think I’ve ever said it, but I love margaret so much.        

the amount of shit going down in this ep is simply too much to handle.

Glenallen Walken creeps me out. he reminds me of jabba the hut.

it breaks my heart, seeing the bartlets being so desperate and sad

it’s so good to see, that ellie is so supportive of her father.

this ep gave me chills (5x1).

this arc is so painful.

THEY’VE FOUND HER THANKS GOD

amy still annoys me so much. I gotta check which ep will be her last. according to imdb, two more eps and she’s gone for 2 years. yesssssssssssssssssssss

and now josh’s kissing her. WHY???? JOSH, SON, PLS STOP IT.

I liked cj’s old haircut more tbh.

josh meeting the moss family. about time lmao.

cj lived together for 6 months with a guy named Ben???? what???

leo’s slowly becoming a b*tch.

donna is so beautiful.

I’d love to see jed being more presidential I guess. and leo can stop being so rude to everyone.

I feel so sorry for josh. LET ME LOVE YOU, YOU DUMB CHILD.

YES CJ. YES MY LOVE. YOU’RE THE MORAL COMPASS. YES. “I NEED YOU BACK. I NEED YOU TO LEAD.” YES, CJ, YES, THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I WANT JED TO DO.

abbey asked jed to not come to new hampshire. OMG. FIX THIS PLS. I NEED THEM BACK TOGETHER. THIS IS SO MESSED UP I HATE IT.

LEO CALLED ABBEY. SHE’S THE REAL BOSS. OMG THIS IS GOING TO BE EPIC.

it’s so good seeing jed being badass and making the tough calls. I’ve missed that.

josh bought donna a christmas gift. I’m having season 1 vibes aldjsakdjal and now she’s disappointed. but he was joking OMG THESE TWO ARE RUINING ME I CAN’T. also I need to know what the gift was.

where is ginger???

I love donna so so much.

I really don’t know where are the writers going with this rina/toby plotline.

I miss sam, danny, ginger, bruno. I miss the earlier seasons. idk something feels off. I still enjoy the show, but something’s a bit off.

okay but why is cj seeing this ben guy??? aren’t her and danny dating? or are they just that casual about it???

as I said before, tww is a very serious show, and the muppets just happen to show up at the white house. I can’t even.

[twwpress]

Creator Spotlight: Week 8

Welcome back to the TWW Author Spotlight! For every spotlight, we’ll ask each featured author the same ten questions (as well as questions you submitted on Twitter!). This week, we’re excited to be chatting with mlea7675 on Twitter and AO3!

1) What are your top 5 desert island fics by other authors?

Donna Moss’s Orphan Collective by thatTWWgirl https://archiveofourown.org/works/34705486 This is probably my favorite found family AU. It’s got a really fresh take on J/D’s family, and really brings home the found family concept. Basically, J/D got pregnant before the Inauguration, had a shotgun wedding that night, and Donna decides to start having everyone over for dinner. And if you ever want to check out the other fics in this universe (as well as fics by this author in general), go for it!

Hell was the journey but it brought me heaven by @JessBakesCakes https://archiveofourown.org/works/39284985 This was the best Rosslyn anniversary fic I’ve ever read. I love any new baby fic (their youngest is born on the anniversary), and tying it with the Rosslyn angst was perfection. It’s also hilarious when you least expect it, and ties it all together in a really sweet ending. I will read it again and again!

hey, honey, you can be my new drug (you can be my new prescription) by scarmophogophs https://archiveofourown.org/works/35990224 This is my favorite hurt/comfort fic, and I’ve read a million of them! The Donna/Helen friend/boss energy (I cannot say enough good things about their dynamic) is a brilliant bonus, and I love the sweetness of the final scene!

One Good Reason by kcat1971  https://archiveofourown.org/works/13695738 I almost picked another expectant parent J/D fic, but this is definitely the crown jewel of the genre (so far!). It takes you on an odyssey from the moment they find out to the day they hold their little girl in their arms. It’s part of a series spanning about 30 stories that begin with J/D eloping to Hawaii, but it’s also good as a stand-alone. It was the first full universe for J/D I ever read, and I fell completely in love with it. And as an added bonus, Sam and Ainsley get married! There’s something for nearly every pairing.

Expecting Felicity by spybaby47 https://archiveofourown.org/works/29083599/chapters/71391675 This is the only non-J/D fic on my list, but it well earns its place. I have come to know this author as a beta reader, WW contemporary, and as a co-writer, and there is no better Jed/Abbey surprise baby AU than Felicity Bartlet. If you’re a fan of expectant parent fics, and of Jed and Abbey, then there is no better fic than this one. 

 2) Do you have a favorite character to write? Favorite ship(s) to write? Are there characters or ships you'd like to write more of?

My absolute favorite character to write is Donna. I have so many headcanons for her (particularly that reach high and line up with my own life), it’s hard to believe. Same with my favorite ships: J/D and their family, obviously, then Sam/Ainsley, and Jed/Abbey. I’d actually really like to write more Jed/Abbey, and Matt/Helen Santos. They are unexplored territory as far as the series and fanfics go.

3) Tell us about your writing process (setup/location? Night or day? Snacks/beverages? Computer/phone/notebook? Music or silence? Anything else you want to share is welcome!) 

I usually write at my desk in my room (I do my best work when I’m sitting up and alert). In the past, I’ve started in the evenings, then work throughout the next day until it’s done, but lately I’ve gradually started early the next day and work throughout the day (again, until it’s done). I write on my laptop because it’s easier to catch mistakes that way. Sometimes I’ll listen to music if it helps me get in a zone, but sometimes writing’s all I need. 

4) What writing advice do you have for others who may be reading this?

Don’t get too beat up when you make continuity mistakes. I’ve had to tell myself that quite a few times. 

5) From where do you usually draw your inspiration? (Other forms of media, music, tropes, etc?)

My AU ideas mostly come from movies and other TV shows. My headcanons often comes from my favorite things, things that happen to me, or ideas that’ll just pop into my head. Sometimes I’ll also listen to a song and have an idea for my canon. That happened to me last year, when I first heard Martina McBride’s tribute song to women battling breast cancer, and it turned into my fic, “I’m Gonna Love You Through It”. 

 6) What is the fic you've written that you're most proud of and why?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/36336937

This is a tough one! I’d have to say the story I’m most proud of is my Sam/Ainsley fic “The Journey”. Along with the previous fic I just mentioned, this was one where I was worried about touching some raw nerves. But all my research paid off, and I got nothing but positive praise for how I handled the subject matter. 

7) What's the fic trope/concept/AU you'd read 1000 of? What's the fic trope/concept/AU you'd write 1000 of?

The fic trope I would read a thousand of are expectant parent/birth fics-any couple. I’ve always loved watching labor and birth scenes/stories, so any opportunity I can get to write a pregnancy/labor/birth story, I’m taking it! 

And as far as writing, I would write both that and wedding fics. I love doing the research for weddings, particularly those that take place in another time period.

8) Is there anything you'd like to try writing-wise that you haven't yet? 

I would love to write more pre-canon. I think it is such rich territory, and also an opportunity to show how our characters may have met up before canon. And also, I would love to develop my post-canon world even more, way post-series to see where our characters and their families ended up. 

9) What's your go-to Starbucks/coffee shop/other drink order?

I’m not much of a coffee/tea/caffeine drinker, so my favorite drink order is probably hot chocolate or lemonade. 

10) Do you have any current projects you'd like to promote or anything upcoming you'd like to tell us about?

I have a Big Block of Cheese Day Halloween fic in my plans, and of course my trope fest fics! I would also like to announce a reboot of my co-written series with Jed/Abbey writer spybaby47. That should be up in the next couple of months, as well as an AU I'm currently writing with them. 

 Submitted questions:

(Some questions may be edited to avoid repetition) 

From @Audedeu: What's the story you had the most fun writing / to write? And which one was the most "sad", like you were crying when you were typing, lol ?

I think my favorite story to write was my Gilmore Girls-style small-town AU, “It Takes A Village” (https://archiveofourown.org/works/28346970)  And the fic I had the hardest time writing, the one that was the most “sad”, was my J/D anniversary fic, “Then, Now, and Forever”, particularly the last vignette I wrote (https://archiveofourown.org/works/31939990) 

From @S4MWILSON: funniest fic you’ve ever read? saddest? most thought provoking? fave rarepair ship, underrated ep, side character? #1 song for ur ship? wildest au you’ve ever thought of? ship you’ve never written for but would love to? tww crossover w what show?

Funniest fic I’ve ever read: Conspiracy by @hufflepuffhermione https://archiveofourown.org/works/31211078 

Saddest fic I’ve ever read: Broken Glass by sekinsey68 https://archiveofourown.org/works/15106631 

Most thought-provoking: I fall apart (and I thought I was so smart) by @rosieposiepie https://archiveofourown.org/works/30626918

Underrated episode: The White House Pro-Am

Underrated side character: Carol 

#1 J/D song: “When You Say Nothing At All” by Keith Whitley 

Wildest AU: Sam/Josh AU where Donna’s their surrogate. https://archiveofourown.org/works/27547978 

Ship I’ve never written for but would love to: I’d love to write for Charlie/Zoey. 

TWW Crossover: ER, Gilmore Girls, basically any 2000s show

From @flowersinapril_: are there any other movies that you would use as the basis for an AU?

Also fave shows that aren’t TWW?

Good questions! 1) On the romcom side, I’m thinking Mamma Mia (just because I’d love to see Josh, Cliff, Jack, and/or Colin in a lineup), and on the drama side, maybe Titanic or Parenthood (movie or TV)

2) My favorite shows besides TWW are Gilmore Girls, ER, The Brady Bunch, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show 

 From @JessBakesCakes: I’m curious how you balance the existing characters and canon universes for your AUs with the characters from TWW you introduce. How do you decide what to change and what to keep from each world?

Awesome question! It changes from one AU to the next-some are much more fleshed out than others. A lot of times when my AU is based on a specific movie, I tend to stick very close to the source material. In stories like my “When Harry Met Sally” AU, everything fits perfectly! If it’s a fusion fic like “It Takes A Village” or “How to Save A Life”, then I decide based on what I think would be best for the story. And sometimes the story takes on a life of its own. For example, I wanted “How To Save a Life” to be more “Grey’s Anatomy”, but it ended up being more “ER”. Hope this answers your question!

Thanks again, Molly!

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xx, What’s next?