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princesssarcastia · 13 days

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thinking about the tragedy of The West Wing tonight. thinking about how jed bartlet convinced josh lyman to work for him, before they ever met, by telling the truth even when it cost him political points. thinking about how bartlet massively betrayed the trust of the people working for him, and also kind of did defraud the american public!

thinking about how even when american liberals write their wet dream political fantasy they still can't get anything done. thinking about how the bartlet white house got so stymied politically the show spent more and more time writing convoluted military plotlines, because they'd hit the ceiling of their own political imagination.

let bartlet be bartlet, they said, and bartlet wanted to lie. he compromised on his agenda and his values. he promoted moderate positions and people. he sat there and watched everything he'd worked for be unwritten by a maverick republican speaker.

the most interesting moment in the back half of the show is when bartlet attains some kind of meta-level awareness of his own ineffectiveness and sends the government into a shutdown because he can't bear to play politics by the rules anymore. but it only lasts for a few episodes before it's back to business as usual.

"Filling another seat on the court may be the only lasting thing I do in this office," Bartlet says, and he's right. yes, they negotiated that deal on social security, but they couldn't take credit for it and that was it! that was their one thing!

no, don't go after the KKK and other white supremacist groups. no, don't publish that study about the necessity of sex education. don't do anything. espouse some grand ideals and watch as they're slowing crushed by the political machinery that YOU are operating.

it's best epitomized long before aaron sorkin left, in a half-overheard exchange happening in another room.

BARTLET: I couldn't disagree more, Cal. As long as these people are funding their public school districts with property taxes, neither the value of the schools nor the value of their property is going to go up. It's a vicious circle. It's terrible and it has to be stopped. CAL: So we're going to do something about it. BARTLET: I wouldn't go that far.

That's a real issue that we need a real solution for. But instead of reaching for the stars, the west wing decided to stay right here in the dirt where our current system has left us. and here we still sit, together, over twenty years later.

#west wing #we are trapped by our own lack of radical imagination #not that any of these problems are the fault of the west wing lol #im not charging them with that #but it is emblematic of everything that's wrong with liberals

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the-one-where-casey-watches-tv · 1 year

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The West Wing episode 4.20 "Evidence of Things Not Seen"

Have you ever noticed how the biggest names behind the camera tend to have close relationships with a handful of actors who are in everything they make? Aaron Sorkin is no exception, and honestly, I feel like I understand why. His work is so specific, just like Tarantino’s or Scorsese’s, and when you have such an identifiable style, I think it either clicks with you or it doesn’t. When you find people who click with you, whose brains meld seamlessly with yours, it really is a euphoric feeling and I imagine you’d want to keep those people close.

The West Wing, and Aaron Sorkin, click with me. Sometimes I watch a show and the thrill is having no idea what’s about to happen; I’m along for the ride in a vehicle that I barely recognize, let alone know how to drive. I would never be so bold as to think I could have taken the wheel of The West Wing, but to keep the comparison going, putting an episode on feels like getting into your mom’s car. You know all its little nuances, where the cupholders are, and how it’s going to feel on the road (and when to grab the handlebar).

“Evidence of Things Not Seen” has everything I love about The West Wing; it’s a fun one, but an inspiring one too, and it even guest stars- get this- Matthew Perry, fresh off of Friends. All the characters are mostly off the clock in this episode, so it’s time for a good poker game. Leo and the President are excited to kick back over a game of cards; Leo even has a full spread prepared, and tbh nothing makes me laugh like his reverent demand of CJ to “oooh squeeze this piece of rye bread”.

But the relaxation will of course be interrupted. The President will have to step in and out to negotiate with Kaliningrad- their government spotted an unmanned spy plane that we were flying over there, and Bartlet needs to talk them into giving it back. Our cover story: it was an environmental mission studying coastal erosion (Chinese spy balloon anyone?). Josh will have to do some back and forth too, interviewing a candidate to replace Ainsley Hayes as associate counsel.

Amid all of this, it’s the equinox, and CJ is convinced that at “the exact moment of the equinox” you can stand an egg on its end, and it won’t tip over. She’s carrying an egg around, but she hasn’t pulled it off yet and skepticism abounds.

All of Sorkin’s characters speak with what’s become his trademark cadence and tone so at times I see them as somewhat interchangeable- he just likes the sound of a group. But “Evidence of Things Not Seen” highlights the individual personalities and ideological differences that actually are present and consistent once you get past the similar speech pattern.

We’re launched into the title sequence with Bartlet giving the egg thing- and this coastal erosion cover story- a shot, but the egg topples over. His subsequently loaded “yeah, this isn’t gonna work” is about a lot more than the equinox. Compared to CJ, he’s always been a pragmatic optimist, entertaining every romantic idea but not expecting all of them to pan out. CJ, meanwhile, will always stick her neck out to vouch for the idealistic solution, even when it’s not even in the realm of realistic. She’s also usually right. In a previous episode, when everyone else guessed that the president’s approval rating had remained the same at best, she wagered that they had gone up 5 points, a number so preposterous Leo wouldn’t even repeat it to the President. Turns out she was lowballing. She’s also the voice of the iconic line “it’s about going to the blackboard and raising your hand- if you think you get it wrong sometimes, why don’t you come down here and see how the big boys do it.”

Toby’s even more complex than either of them, which I’d go so far as to say is the reason he also has the most complex individual relationship with almost every other character. He and Bartlet are a story for another day, but Toby and CJ’s deep, often wordless friendship really run wild in this episode. Toby’s created the image of himself as the pessimistic curmudgeon, but it’s a defense mechanism for the red hot idealism he’s carrying around. He’s so often disappointed, and he’s tired of it, but he can’t help but see so much potential in the world, even if he won’t admit it.

Will’s being in the Air Force won’t come up again after this episode, but it comes up in this one to serve the theme of Toby and CJ’s dueling worldviews. He’s heading to Wyoming to address a situation in which two launch crew officers who were slow to react to a threat of an incoming missile from North Korea. Turns out it was a good thing they asked some questions before enacting protocol, because it wasn’t a missile- it was a meteor from space. But they’re still being court-martialed because if it had been a missile, they wouldn’t have reacted in time. Toby can’t help but burst out laughing at this story (“Why do we think at this point that North Korea is attacking the East Coast of the United States?” “There are transcripts that show that surprise was expressed at that”). Then he turns it on CJ: “We failed on both a mechanical and human level. So tell me again what you have faith in”.

“Us. Because with what little free time he has, Will is going to Wyoming to defend one of these guys, and I don’t think it is failing on a human level”. Instead of responding, Toby lays down his cards, expecting to win the hand. But, in another symbolic move that speaks to a lot more than poker, CJ lays out a full house, sweeping up the chips in her unexpected win.

While this weighty discussion hung in the air, Will, Toby, and CJ had another thing to attend to- a bet amongst men that the other couldn’t hurl a playing card into the podium from the fifth row in the press room. They head down there, with CJ tagging along hoping to see them both fail- no one’s taking her very seriously tonight, after all. Instead of settling that debate, they’re interrupted by three gunshots slamming into the press room window. Will’s military training kicks in and he drops to the floor and rattles off ballistics to the secret service agents that instantly burst in, but CJ freezes. It’s Toby who pulls her to the ground in the heat of the moment.

I don’t love this being the second time CJ’s been “saved” by a man in this show (Sam did the same thing at Roslyn), but this interaction with Toby feels a lot more organic than that did, and so does the way they address it. On the whole, everything about an active shooter and subsequent crash of the building is a tired plot at this point. I’d actually go as far as to say this entire episode is pretty unoriginal- a criticism I read when doing some research on this episode. But I think the familiarity of the situation is exactly the thing that gives this episode that fun, cozy, President-in-a-sweatshirt feel. We’ve done the defcon 1 “can you believe it?!” active shooter plot before, so now we’re able to have some fun with it (“fun” on The West Wing is a relative term).

The secret service herds Toby, CJ, Will, and Josh into the oval office to make sure there’s eyes on everyone. Charlie and Debbie are already accounted for, but they don’t have code word clearance, so they’re not allowed in the Oval, where the spy plane discussion is still ongoing. At least, according to the Secret Service. Bartlet good naturedly explains that “if Charlie heard there were bullets, he’s gonna overpower whoever’s trying to—” and he’s cut off by Charlie, sure enough, bursting into the room. The President grins, we grin, he pulls Charlie in close and promises he’s okay. Satisfied, Charlie marches right back out. Then Bartlet says “I’m surprised you guys managed to keep Fiderer in her chair, I’d have thought she’d be the first one to- oh no here we are!” as she too fights her way in the room, looking the President up and down and declaring that she will be back to take his blood pressure shortly.

In a beat amidst the commotion, CJ asks Toby if he knew that a day on the moon and a year on the moon were the same thing. He did. The moment hangs there. Then she says, “I thought my reflexes before, in the press room, were cat-like.” And then we cut away. I love how little we have to say in this episode, and it’s our familiarity with these people, these rooms, and this situation that really let us all just play here in “Evidence of Things Not Seen”.

And nowhere is this episode having more fun than it is with Josh and the unexpectedly incredible chemistry he has with Matthew Perry’s Joe Quincy. Throughout this entire episode he’s back and forth between advising the President and interviewing new associate counsel Joe Quincy. Joe is quiet, collected, funny, and overqualified, but something is off about him, and Josh can’t figure out what. In an aside to Donna, Josh muses that “it’s the strangest feeling. It’s like… a really good baseball player is standing in the other team’s locker room for the first time.” To which Donna says, “I don’t understand, are you writing poetry about this now?”

But his gut is onto something, and he’s trying to figure out what- amidst it all, though, he’s also starting to like him. Josh is amused that the vetting team made Joe fill out the psychological part of the questionnaire- something he can relate to, and I’ll come right back to that in a second. Josh asks a question I think we all probably wonder when filling out forms like this but have never thought to put into words:

“Question 1: a) I do not feel sad; b) I feel sad; c) I am sad all the time and I can’t snap out of it; d) I am so sad or unhappy that I want to kill myself. You chose a) I do not feel sad.”

“Yes.”

“Good. Ever?”

“No.”

“No, you don’t ever feel sad, or…?”

“No, there are times when I feel sad.”

“Yet you checked the first box, why is that?”

“It said, ‘I do not feel sad’ and I didn’t at the time I checked it.”

This exchange, and their whole dynamic, feels both funny and poignant, but the tables turn when the shooting happens in the very next scene. Donna is instantaneous in checking on Josh, worried about the shooting stirring up his PTSD and telling him, against his wishes, that she is going to be giving his therapist a heads up that he might be calling later.

When Josh explains the building crash to Joe, he says he didn’t hear the shots, but “I heard a brass quintet playing The First Noel, so I just assumed someone somewhere was locked and loaded.” Joe doesn’t hesitate to reply with “You know, not for nothing, but the people that I talk to don’t believe that story, and the people that you’d like don’t care.” He doesn’t say it unkindly, but like I said, funny and poignant.

But it’s not only the sentiment that throws Josh off, it’s the wording. Finally, Josh puts it together- Joe is a republican. Once his secret is out, Joe explains that he’s gotten himself in bad standing with the rest of the party by voicing an unpopular opinion, but he wants to work at the White House because, of course, he has a sense of duty. The whole thing is a soft, respectful, and incredibly loaded homage to both Ainsley Hayes and arguably the show’s best episode, “Noel”. And, just like Ainsley, Joe finds himself fitting right in, even as Josh tries to fight it. He recommends him to Leo and gets him the job.

I really love this episode for all the same reasons I think it often flies under the radar of West Wing greatest hits. It’s not remarkable, it’s not doing anything we haven’t done before, but it has its finger right on the pulse of every one of these characters. It’s exactly our deep familiarity with everyone and everything that lets the slightest touch hold so much significance, depth, and humor. It just takes half a sentence for a character to say something profound about another, or to call back to nostalgic characters and plot points. And I almost forgot to mention- we end with CJ standing an egg on its end. I well up every time.

#the west wing #evidence of things not seen #matthew perry #joe quincy #bradley whitford #josh lyman #allison janney #cj cregg #richard schiff #toby ziegler #martin sheen #jed bartlet #tww #josh malina #will bailey #tv criticism #tv review

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mihrsuri · 3 months

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TWW Ballet AU.

Jed Bartlet is the new director of, let us for this purpose say ABT. He’s a former principal at the Royal Ballet.

Abbey Bartlet went to medical school and danced for the Paris Opera, what like it’s hard? (Jed is still somehow terrible at French)

I haven’t entirely decided but I think Leo might be a choreographer - he’s a great dancer but he was always far more interested in the crafting off stage side of things.

It’s Leo who gets Josh Lyman, the incredibly extra rising star/disaster of ABT and Donna Moss, an extraordinarily talented corps member who has no idea she’s talented.

Sam is a soloist.

CJ Cregg, ABT principal who keeps dodging the fact she’s really attracted to one of the best ballet writers - aka Danny.

Toby is a composer.

#lil and her ridiculous aus #tv: west wing #it actually needs to be a DC based ballet company though but am using ABT for now

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melodiousoblivionao3 · 1 year

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LET TED BE TED AND LET BARTLET BE BARTLET

my two favorite shows

I will now be thinking about these parallels forever and annoying my friends with them

#Ted lasso #the west wing

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starship21zedna9 · 2 months

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Okay, Hartsfield Landing is one of the best episodes in a while. CJ and Charlie's prank war was hilarious but I'm on Charlie's side. He made a reasonable request and she decided she was above it. He was right to make the rest of her night miserable.

Bartlet's chess games with Sam and Toby. I love that Toby is never afraid to push Bartlet to be better. He's not his bestie like Leo is so he he doesn't let up. And he's right. Bartlet does need to be better.

And Bartlet like genuinely mentoring Sam in their game? That is so sweet. When he tells Sam that he will run for president one day and that he believes in him? I cried. He's really proud of Sam and Sam is so touched by his faith in him.

Not having Amy around was a plus too.

The only part I wasn't wild about was Josh wasting Donna's night by making her call that couple over and over again.

#the west wing #aaron sorkin #jed bartlet #sam seaborn #toby ziegler #cj cregg #charlie young #leo mcgarry #josh lyman #donna moss

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unseenacademic · 1 month

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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

💜💜💜💜💜💜

#20 questions for fic writers #my fic #the west wing #abbey bartlet #mrs doctor abbey first lady doctor #abbey x jed

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armadillo1976 · 1 year

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Things I had to look up in Ted Lasso S3E01

What I’m not: American or British, or very well-versed in popular culture. What I am: curious and nerdy. So, a bunch of things I had to look up, for my future reference and for your convenience if you're in a similar camp:

“Doubt can only be removed by action” is a line by Goethe, supposedly? Does anyone have the actual German version? [edited to add: so it’s either „Die Tat ist alles, nichts ist der Ruhm“ or „Mit dem Wissen wächst Zweifel" but probably it’s misattributed / just one of those things people say and not an actual quote]

“What’s the buzz? Tell me what’s happening?” is a line from Jesus Christ Superstar

Beard is reading “The Miracle of Castel di Sangro”, which is a story of the unlikely success of a ragtag minor league soccer team in Italy; actually sounds like a great read, adding it to my list

Roy “finally watched” a film called Hoosiers, a title he doesn’t understand. Fair enough, since the term refers to residents of the state of Indiana, so it’s very US-specific – but for Roy, just like for me, it’s one quick trip to google away, so clearly both he and Keeley are being google-averse in this episode

Ted says, “What’s the frequency, Roy Kent-eth?”, which is a reference to a song by R.E.M. – so not very obscure, I should have probably got it – except the song title is a reference itself (to an incident when a journalist was attacked by a person repeating “Kenneth, what is the frequency?”, because he thought television networks were beaming signals into his brain, so that’s quite a story)

I get that “let Ted be Ted / let Rupert be Rupert” mirrors “let Bartlet be Bartlet” but I never figured Keeley for a West Wing fan so it’s more of a general sentiment I think? [a great note on this in the comments!]

Ned Flanders is a character from the Simpsons who does in fact look a bit like Ted

a reference that I did catch and that I’m intensely proud of myself for: “Forever Blowing Bubbles” on the West Ham stadium is the club’s song, and the reason WHY it’s their song and how it came to be is wonderful, look it up if you don’t know it but enjoy life being weird and whimsical

#ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers #ted lasso references #now i have forever blowing bubbles stuck in my head again

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twwpress · 3 months

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Weekly Press Briefing #81

Welcome back to the Weekly Press Briefing, where we bring you highlights from The West Wing fandom each week, including new fics, ongoing challenges, and more! This briefing covers all things posted from January 7 – January 13. Did we miss something? Let us know; you can find our contact info at the bottom of this briefing!

Challenges/Prompts:

There are no open challenges/prompts that we know of this week. Do you have a challenge or event you’d like us to promote or know of one we’re missing? Be sure to get in touch with us! Contact info is at the bottom of this briefing.

This Week in Canon:

Welcome back to This Week in Canon, where we revisit moments in The West Wing that occurred on these dates during the show’s run.

Season 1, Episode 12: He Shall, From Time to Time aired on January 12, 2000.

Season 2, Episode 11: The Leadership Breakfast aired on January 10, 2001.

Season 3, Episode 10: H-Con 172 aired on January 9, 2002.

Season 4, Episode 12: Guns Not Butter aired on January 8, 2003.

Season 5, Episode 10: The Stormy Present aired on January 7, 2004.

Season 6, Episode 12: Opposition Research aired on January 12, 2005

Season 7, Episode 10: Running Mates aired on January 8, 2006.

Photos/Videos:

Here’s what was posted from January 7 - January 13:

Bradley Whitford posted promo for a memorial screening of Not Going Quietly, the documentary about Ady Barkan.

Dulé Hill posted photos of himself and his daughter Kennedy on a USO trip.

Josh Malina posted an AI-altered photo of himself with wings sprouting from his head.

Marlee Matlin posted a slideshow of herself and her husband having date night at The Academy’s Governors Awards.

Marlee Matlin posted a video sharing one of her favorite tattoos and celebrating 37 years of sobriety.

Melissa Fitzgerald posted promo for Modern Warrior live in LA on January 17.

Rob Lowe posted photos with the guys from NFL on Fox from his new game show, The Floor. \

Rob Lowe posted a photo from the last table read of the second season of his Netflix show, Unstable.

Rob Lowe posted a promo video for The Floor.

Rob Lowe posted a photo of himself napping with his dog Daisy.

Rob Lowe posted a video of himself singing with Robert Downey Jr. as they get ready for his episode of Rob’s podcast.

Edits/Artwork

#joshdonna: heart eyes by @nacejisbon [VIDEO EDIT] #joshdonna: options by @nacejisbon [VIDEO EDIT]

Editors’ Choice:

This week, we’re recommending fics with a found family component to them! Be sure to share your favorites as well!

fathers and sons by rearviewmirror | Rated T | Zoey Bartlet/Charlie Young, Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet/Leo McGarry | Complete | “It’s good to be a little scared. Scared means you care. Caring means you’re gonna do great.” the way old friends do by mikaylawrites for swancharmings | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | They’ve formed a natural trio at events like these; they’re the in-laws, so to speak. While everyone else is getting up to their usual antics, they’re likely to be the ones quietly observing in the corner of the room, or convening in the kitchen to catch up on each other’s lives and sneaking food when Abbey isn’t looking. Donna, Toby, Charlie, and the chaotic people they love. breathe by jazzjo | Rated G | C.J. Cregg/Andrea Wyatt, Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | She had never expected to see past her twenties, let alone this. She has her little brother and his family next door, music in all her days, and this family she's found in the midst of everything. Yes, she thinks, this is all she’ll ever need. now don’t lose your fight kid by sam_writes_fics | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | The night of the Illinois Primary. a glamorous invitation by jeaniecregg | Rated G | C. J. Cregg/Toby Ziegler | Complete | CJ joins Toby, Josh, and Sam for Thanksgiving. brothers in arms by hufflepuffhermione | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete | “Do you have any siblings, Joshua?” the teacher asked. Have. Present tense. He worried the faux wood of the desk with his fingers, his head pounding as the teacher raised his voice with another “Joshua”. Josh finally allowed a strangled, “No,” to escape, and put his head down on the desk, because saying that two letter word meant that it was true, that he was now an only child. Josh Lyman was no longer a brother, and he didn’t know who he was anymore. Josh Lyman and how he reclaims the title of brother. if you’re looking for the girl of your dreams, she’s in brooklyn with me by starsontheceiling for TheBreakfastGenie | Rated G | C. J. Cregg & Josh Lyman (No Pairings Listed) Complete | “Why do you talk to me like this?” “Because you never had a big sister, and you need one.” Snapshots of CJ and Josh, over the years.

Stay tuned for our reblog with this week's fics!

#the west wing #tww #tww fandom #tww fic #west wing #josh lyman #donna moss #cj cregg #sam seaborn #toby ziegler #found family #weekly press briefing

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