#the west wing weekly

[twwpress]

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.  

Donna Moss Daily: January 7 | January 8 | January 9 | January 10 | January 11 | January 12 | January 13

Daily Josh Lyman: January 7 | January 8 | January 9 | January 10 | January 11 | January 12 | January 13

No Context BWhit: January 7 | January 8 | January 9 | January 10 | January 11 | January 12 | January 13

@twwarchive: January 7 | January 8 | January 9 | January 10 | January 11 | January 12 | January 13

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

[holy-anxiety-batman]

West wing season two episode nine “Galileo” my fucking best friend. I love it when tww does space I love space I love how Sam Seaborn talks about space I love the stamp choosing plot I love the green bean plot I love the hope that space exploration instills in people I love the Galileo mission I love our space rovers I love space oh my god I need to look at more jwst pictures and have some water and watch west wing season two episode nine “Galileo”

#this is your weekly reminder #go research the artemis missions #learn about them and get excited #anyway I'm on a west wing rewatch #space

[headbandsandflats]

“It was like A Chorus Line fucked Our Town.”

Bradley Whitford, talking about his Juilliard class meeting up 31 years later, on WTF with Marc Maron

#today in #things i didnt know i needed #but definitely needed #bradley whitford #he really does have a way with words #marc maron #I’ve been in a bradley whitford renaissance since rewatching some of the west wing over christmas and I don’t hate it #his marc maron & west wing weekly podcast appearances are all gold and I love them v much #and this quote in particular destroyed me #bc those were two of my very favorite things as a teen #and he was one of my very favorite things as a young adult #and idk hearing him talk about them fucking was pleasing to me WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME #(also would that I could go back in time to see his *naked* off broadway debut in the 80s) #alas I was a few years from being born #ANYWAY #bradley whitford is the best and so josh lyman irl and I love him a lot #(also petition for a west wing reunion on a streamer bc josh would say fuck like A LOT and I’d enjoy that) #loml #wtf with marc maron #he really does some excellent interviews #josh lyman #the west wing

[zvaigzdelasas]

[AlJazeera is Qatari State Media]

[5:18 GMT - 7:52 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

[5:18 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

The leader of Hamas’s military wing says the group has launched a new operation against Israel. In a rare public statement, Mohammed Deif said that 5,000 rockets had been fired into Israel early Saturday to begin “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm”. Israel also reported an infiltration from Gaza. “We’ve decided to say enough is enough,” Deif said as he urged all Palestinians to confront Israel.[...]

[5:26 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

Here are some more lines by the statement of Mohammed Deif, head of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas: “We have already warned the enemy before. The occupation committed hundreds of massacres against civilians. Hundreds of martyrs and wounded died this year due to the crimes of the occupation. “We announce the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, and we announce that the first strike, which targeted enemy positions, airports, and miltary fortifications, exceeded 5,000 missiles and shells.”[...]

[5:45 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

More than 5,000 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel in the first 20 minutes of the operation, Hamas’s armed wing has said. “We decided to put an end to all the crimes of the occupation (Israel), their time for rampaging without being held accountable is over,” the group said. Israel said it had activated its Iron Dome defence system.[...]]

[5:49 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

The Israeli army says it has declared a “state of readiness for war”.[...]

[5:50 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

Saleh al-Arouri, deputy chief of Hamas in the occupied West Bank, has issued a call to arms.[...] “The West Bank is the final word in this battle, and it can open a clash with all the settlements in the West Bank. We call on our people to participate in the battle of Al-Aqsa Flood.”[...]

[5:53 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

The Israeli army says it has started an operation aimed at Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. “There are many pictures circulating on social media especially Palestinian Telegram channels showing Israeli soldiers in Gaza, but as captives,” Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem said.[...]

[6:05 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

Videos circulating on social media have shown Palestinian fighters driving Israeli army vehicles into Gaza.

[6:06 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

“On the streets, we’ve also seen the military vehicles in Gaza with Palestinian youth in the vehicles roaming about the streets happily,” she said. “The Israeli response to all this is going to be different from other times because nothing that has come out of Gaza before has been this strong. This is a first in the history of Gaza, for soldiers to go into Israeli towns, hold armed confrontations,” she added.[...]

[6:09 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

Rockets are still being launched from Gaza towards Israel. The sound of Israel’s Iron Dome defence system being activated in response can be heard.[...]

[6:12 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

Hamas fighters have taken control of the police station in Israel’s Sderot and a number of people have been injured in a fire exchange, the Israel Broadcasting Authority has reported.[...]

[6:14 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

Organisers of protests against the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul plan have cancelled their weekly demonstration scheduled for Saturday night.

“We stand with the residents of Israel and give full support to [the security forces],” the protest organisers said in a statement quoted by the Israeli media. They also called on the people who were planning to participate in the protest “to play their part to safeguard the security and health of the residents of Israel”.[…]

[6:18 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group has said it is “part of this battle”. “Our cadres stand alongside their brothers in Hamas, shoulder to shoulder, until victory,” a spokesperson said.[…]

[6:20 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

Israeli Defence Minister Joav Gallant has approved the mobilisation of reservists, according to his office.[…]

[6:35 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr says that Hamas’s call for others to join their operation against Israel could be interpreted as a reminder to Tel Aviv that if attacks against Gaza continue, there will be a response from other fronts.[...] “So far there has been no response from the armed groups in Lebanon. But what have we seen in the past? There has been coordination every time there is a flare-up, or heightened tension in Palestinian territories,” she added.[...]

[6:43 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

Stephanie Hallett, the charge d’affaires at the US embassy in Jerusalem, has slammed the rocket attacks from Gaza against Israel. “I condemn the indiscriminate rocket fire by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians,” she said in a statement on social media platform X. “I am in contact with Israeli officials, and fully support Israel’s right to defend itself from such terrorist acts,” she added.[...]

[7:13 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

Reporting from the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera’s Youmna ElSayed says that rockets are still being fired “very intensely” from the area. “We’ve seen pictures and videos of Israeli soldiers being killed and videos of Palestinian fighters celebrating around Israeli armed vehicles set on fire,” she said. “We also received a video showing two Israeli soldiers being captured. The video shows that the soldiers are alive and confrontations are still taking place inside those Israeli towns,” she added.[...]

[7:11 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

Hundreds of residents in the Gaza Strip have fled their homes to move away from the border with Israel, an AFP correspondent has reported. Men, women and children were seen carrying blankets and food items as they left their homes, mostly in the northeastern part of the Palestinian territory, the reporter said.

[7:29 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

Akiva Eldar, a columnist at the Israeli daily Haaretz, says the attack by Hamas should be a wake-up call for Israel. “You can’t go about normalising relations with Arab countries while also trying to expand into Palestinian territories,” he told Al Jazeera. “The image of status quo that you [Israel] can keep Gaza under blockade, you can keep expanding the settlements, and the Palestinian will sit back and say we approve your normalisation with the Gulf countries as long as workers from Gaza can make some money, isn’t going to work,” he added.[...]

[7:29 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

We now have the statement by Ismail Haniya, the head of Hamas’ political bureau[...]

“The enemy besieging Gaza has planned to surprise it and escalate the aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip, in addition to the settlement and aggression that continues every moment in the West Bank, which seeks to uproot our people and expel them from their land, and the crimes of the occupation against our people in the 1948s, as it stands behind all the killing and assassination operations there, and the occupation’s continuation of detaining our prisoners for decades, and reneging on agreements when he re-arrested those liberated from the swap deal. “For all of this, we are waging a battle of honour, resistance and dignity to defend Al-Aqsa, under the title that was announced by Brother Commander-in-Chief Abu Khaled Al-Deif, “Al-Aqsa Flood”. This flood began in Gaza and will extend to the West Bank and abroad, and every place where our people and nation are present.”[...]

[7:47 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

Israeli ambassador to the US calls “the free world to unequivocally condemn” the attacks by Hamas and support Israel’s “right to self-defence”.[...]

[7:50 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

President of the European Council Charles Michel says “EU stands in solidarity with Israeli people”. “Strongly condemn the indiscriminate attacks launched against #Israel and its people this morning inflicting terror and violence against innocent citizens,” he wrote on Twitter.[...]

[7:52 GMT, 7 Oct 23]

Israeli army launches ‘Operation Iron Swords’ against the Hamas group in the Gaza Strip, in response to attacks from the territory. Israeli raids have started, as witnesses tell Reuters news agency that explosions are heard in the Gaza city.

[bunkoos-mole-enthusiast]

Weekly Jungkook Fanfic Recs:

Some fine JK fics for your reading pleasure. Please show your appreciation to all the wonderful authors :)

Over The Odds: Billionaire CEO Jungkook makes you an offer you’d be a fool to refuse.  https://jungk0oksthighs.tumblr.com/post/682441385035644928/over-the-odds-collection-completed-ceojungkook

Dungeons & Dick: Your DnD group meets weekly and this time your DM, who also happens to be your boyfriend, plans on killing one of your party members until you thwart his plan leaving him pissed off and embarrassed. But Jungkook is not so secret about how much it turns him on when all the others have left.  https://jungkookiebus.tumblr.com/post/190268088251/dungeons-and-dick-jjk

Just Friends: The transition from best friends to best friends with benefits is never easy, especially when there’s a daddy kink involved. https://kinktae.tumblr.com/post/172263702969/just-friends-m

Bitchin': The 80s were a time of choices. Which perm was right for you? What color neon would you wear next? None of these choices, however, were more questionable than a certain deal you made with Jeon Jungkook. https://kinktae.tumblr.com/post/185646704844/bitchin-m Blackjack: Bangtan is one of the most vicious mafia on the West Coast, only six members are known by name though, with a mysterious seventh member dubbed as "The Shadow". You become indebted to the worst of the worst - how to get out? https://kpopfanfictrash.tumblr.com/post/165138875526/blackjack-master-list Ember Burning: The dragon riders of Duret Ghal are known across the continent: fierce warrors who take to the skies on their winged beasts led by their king Jungkook. You are the last dragon queen of Ashya, ruler of a dying species able to transform from human to dragon. When a foe emerges threatening both kingdoms, you find yourself forced to broker a peace with your former enemy. https://kpopfanfictrash.tumblr.com/post/643137431841947648/ember-burning-m A Holiday Snowdown: The Inn On The Hill is in trouble, you need money and you need it fast. Namjoon proposes a weeklong social media blitz with celebrity guest Jeon Jungkook: two-time Olympic gold medalist, world-class snowboarder and the nation's sweetheart. You happen to have met Jungkook before and sincerely hoped you'd never see him again. https://kpopfanfictrash.tumblr.com/post/671401371365507072/a-holiday-snowdown-m Paralian: A very loose retelling of The Little Mermaid. Pirate x Merfolk au. https://kpopfanfictrash.tumblr.com/post/186345871706/paralian The Monogamy Diaries: Namjoon is getting married and somewhere between the laughter and drinks, everyone has the same realization: Jungkook has never been in a serious relationship. In the name of all that is holy it is decided to find Jeon Jungkook a girlfriend. https://kpopfanfictrash.tumblr.com/post/190709693371/the-monogamy-monologues Love To Hate: Your mother ropes you into a blind date with playboy billionaire Jeon Jungkook. He stands for everything you loathe about the world you left behind, but you can't deny the spark of attraction between you. Intrigued by the promise of mutual satisfaction, you agree to one night in bed… and quickly realize you're in far, far deeper than you ever intended. https://kpopfanfictrash.tumblr.com/post/661587797603401728/love-to-hate-master-list

#bts jeon jungkook fanfic #jungkook fic recs #jungkook imagines #jungkook smut #jungkook fanfic #jungkook fic #bts jungkook #jungkook #jungkook x reader #jungkook x y/n #jungkook x oc #jungkook x you #bts fanfic #bts jungkook fanfic #bts fic recs #bts smut #bts imagines

[blissfulip]

Dopamine

on AO3

Viktor x f!reader

Rating: Explicit

Tags: enemies to lovers, slow burn, angst, dubious science, mostly canon compliant, no use of y/n, chemist!reader, eventual smut, masturbation

Cw: Allusion to sexual themes, just general bickering on this one

Words: 1.8k

[A/N: I know this one took forever, sorry about that lmao, tags and content warnings to be updated in each chapter, updates weekly(ish). (also, let me know if you want to be tagged in fic updates!)]

Tags: @ihopeinevergetsoberr

Previous Next

Chapter 5: Rise to the occasion

“Wait,Viktor—” You said, trying to catch up to him since he stormed out of the Hextech lab, “We can’t just walk back in there together as if nothing happened.”

“Nothing happened.”

“I’m talking about us doing something well-nigh against academy rules; they will ask questions.”

“Oh, eh—you go in first."

The opportunity to counter was stolen from you and substituted by the cold touch of Viktor’s hands upon your back, jostling your body effortlessly through the library door. He came in behind you shortly after, and you thought the interval in between both of you walking in was not long enough to make a dent in the opinion of everyone watching.

“The interval in between both of us walking in was not long enough to make a dent in the opinion of everyone watching.”

“No one gives a hoot about where we might have gone; stop concerning yourself with their opinion."

It was virtually an ambuscade. When you sat back right where your book had been left and Viktor was on the chair opposite you, a friend and a foe together in liue of curiosity came without a warning and joined you. Asher seemed increasingly more annoyed than Lara, whom you suspected was simply thirsty for some quality gossip.

“So… you snuck out together, where to?” She asked with a shit-eating grin creeping up across her face.

“The dorms.” You astonishingly managed to answer in unison.

“Whose?” Asher shot at you immediately after, not leaving any time for thinking.

“Listen you—” Viktor started, and you were sure his intentions were going to take him somewhere he’d regret, so you interjected.

“We just needed to get some of our work instruments; it's not a big deal,” you said awkwardly.

“I thought your dorm was on the west wing; why did you go together?” Lara questioned you (and correctly, alas).

“You know what they say: ‘you shouldn’t count your birds before you hit them with a stone’.” You said, in the most deadpan way you could find in you.

“She needed help choosing which one of the books would be better for the presentation she is planning, and I needed help carrying some of the heavier volumes. We…killed two birds with one stone.” He said, entirely unconvinced but long resigned.

“Right, and you accepted his help with your work?” Said Asher with a cynical eyebrow raise.

“Well, the arrogance, fear of public speaking, long-term sickly obsession with work, and his careless neglect of social cues make up for an almost tolerable knowledge of many useful subjects.”

Viktor looked at you with knitted brows, his mouth agape, as if he at some point had the intention of saying something but gave up on it as the hint of faint praise in your statement made him befuddled enough to not know what to say.

“Uh, fine, just let us know you’ll be out next time; we have to make the week one report for Heimerdinger, and you two were nowhere to be found for like an hour."

“We could’ve been here earlier, but as you are both aware, she is chronologically challenged.”

"Wha—we were running against the clock because someone had to stop by the restroom on our way back.” You said, the pitch of your voice was getting higher as the irritation grew.

“I wonder why.”

“I know why, and I don’t particularly understand why you are saying it like it was my fault.”

By that point, both Asher and Lara, after sharing a look of reproach with each other, had quietly stood up and gone back to their respective work tables, leaving the two of you to quarrel in private.

“I’m sure in hindsight you can see clearly that dragging me into a small closet was regrettably ill-advised; you have such a talent for slip-ups that one could almost think you do it on purpose.”

“You think I wanted you to rise to the occasion, on purpose?” You said in a slightly mocking tone.

“You are certainly taking the opportunity to rag on me because of it.”

“If I wanted to make fun of you for that, I would've done it on the way here, Viktor, and just so you know, if I wanted to be the cause of your late-afternoon wood, a cleaning closet wouldn’t be my choice of scenery.”

“Stop calling it those names; it’s horrid—in fact, just quit talking about it; it’s giving me a tension headache."

"Oh, I apologize. Am I being too silly about the thing that you just reminded me about? I’ll make sure to talk about you b-o-n-e-r more solemnly in the future."

“I’m sorry if I thought you’d be able to take things seriously; that wasn’t my intention.”

“I am. I can take things so seriously that I will go back to my work over there, where I don’t have to hear you sniffle every two seconds, the heel of your shoe clanking on the floor, and your pen clicking repeatedly.” You said with a sour expression as you removed his journals from your bag and walked over to the other side of the library.

“Choice of scenery; who does she think she is?" Viktor mumbled quietly to himself before noticing the unintentional clicking of his pen and quietly putting it down on the table with an almost imperceptible pout.

----------------------------------------------

Both the second and third meetings, as well as the halfway report with Heimerdinger, went sufficiently well, with your own presentation already in the final stages. It had been a particularly lazy morning; your eyes had nearly not opened, pushed closed by the heavy lids of a sleepless night, and the burgeoning symptoms of what you suspected could turn into the flu, when you decided to skip the last meeting and give your speech the finishing touches in the comfort of your own bed.

Since everything had been finished and you figured everyone would assume you were sick or had other commitments, you didn't tell anybody, hoping your absence would be disregarded. You soon learned that was a misjudgment on your part when you heard someone knock on the door to your dorm room well into the afternoon.

 “I can’t believe you got sick too!” Lara said as soon as you cracked the door open.

“Too?”

“Cirian is terribly sick as well; there must be some sort of epidemic!”

“I’m sorry… who?” 

“Cirian, from Biology.” She said, absentmindedly, as she scrambled in the kitchen for something, “Where do you keep your mugs? I’ll brew you some tea.”

"Ah, yes, top left.” So that’s his name. “I’m quite alright, though; I just needed some rest.”

“That’s good to hear because Heimerdinger said you and Viktor would have to fill in for him.”

“You have to be kidding me.” You said throwing your body back on your bed dramatically.

“I thought you’d be ecstatic,” she said as she came back with two mugs and a puzzled expression, to which you responded with one to match. "Well, you’d have an excuse to spend more time with him.”

“And why on Heimerdinger’s fluffy mustache would I want that?”

"Well, you two are dating, no?”

"No, we’re fucking not. Where did you get that idea?”

“You’re pulling my leg now, come on." She said with a small chuckle, and when you did not laugh but looked at her with concern, she continued. “Well… He seemed to be quite into you that day you were at my place, and you were very flirty.”

“I was drunk!” You said trying to defend yourself and trying to ignore what she had said about him being into you; it wasn’t a thought you wanted to consider at that moment.

“Fair, but then, I thought all that banter you two have was just playful bickering.”

“It’s most certainly not; I despise him, and he hates me with a passion.”

“With a passion, alright.” She said with a cheeky smirk that she tried to hide by taking a sip of the tea.

“What do you know that I don’t?”

“I know something that neither of you do, apparently. But I  digress." She said, gulping the last bit of tea and leaving the mug on the sink before turning back to you. “I’d go talk to Heimerdinger before he leaves for the day, if I were you."

She left shortly after, leaving you to ruminate about more than one of the things that were said.  She couldn’t possibly be making any sense, could she? Perhaps you should have asked what she meant by Viktor being ‘into you’ that night, but then again, you had noticed a slight change in his physiognomy.

You weren’t as drunk as you claimed to be, and it was this small change—the blush all over his face when he saw you—that made you look at him through your eyelashes so suggestively. It was the small gasp hitched on his throat that made you swing your hips when you walked slowly to where he stood. It was his white knuckles and his fingers clasped together in a tight fist around his vest that made you lower your voice into a purr when you said his name. You wanted to provoke him; his reaction was so akin to one of fury that you relished the possibility of making him hate you more.

There was no reason to bend over the table to write, not in the way you did, at least. You just wanted to, although you still tried to convince yourself that it had the same motivations as everything else you had done that night.

If you didn't know of further proof that backed up Lara's theory (which she herself was unaware of), it would have been reasonable to conclude that she had made an unfortunate misinterpretation of the situation. You caught yourself grinning at the memory of it—how you had been enjoying the scent of Viktor’s perfume and the feeling of his chest pressing against you—even before you noticed what the proximity of your bodies was doing to him.

Raise to the occasion was such a good one; he really can’t appreciate a good joke.

”B-o-n-e-r” You spelled it out loud to yourself with a hearty chuckle.

And even after you did notice it, a smug little voice in your head was telling you to lean closer, to see how far you could take it before he either said something unspeakably rude to you or took it the opposite way, but you had to be circumspect. You were the picture of practicality, yet he still had the gall to get angry at you. 

My fault…ha. If I had been doing it on purpose, that closet would’ve become too small for what he’d want to do with—

You had to physically shake that thought away and remind yourself that regardless of how fun it was to mess with him, Viktor was still incredibly insufferable to work in the same vicinity as, let alone with, so it’d be better to talk to Heimerdinger and get this whole debacle sorted out.

You did, however, spend the entirety of the way there thinking about the scent of saffron and leather.

#viktor #arcane viktor #viktor arcane #viktor fanfic #viktor x reader

[munsonmuses]

Noise Complaint

Modern day AU

College Boy Eddie Munson x RA Reader

Inspiration credit to my dear friend Bug, who listens to my ramblings about being an RA at my teeny little university. And dropped the idea of Eddie being a resident. Thank you @munson-blurbs

Warnings: Shameless smut with light buildup, definitively just a bunch of hate fucking, p in v, oral (reader receiving) reader has female anatomy but isn’t referred to directly as a woman, light choking, creampies, light amateur bondage, Eddie is a shithead and kind of a bully (and kind of a kinky mf)

Word Count: 2.6k

This is mostly to tide y’all over until the next chapter of Spiritual Reserves

——

You carefully walked your weekly Thursday night rounds of the building, each floor more boring than the last. A menial task between desk shifts, programs, door decs, duty phone calls and staff meetings. Lightly drumming your hands along your hips as you listened to your music through your earbuds. Humming along to Moonwalker as you finished your rounds on the fifth floor. Keying into your room and flipping down on your bed, going to close your eyes.

Until violently interrupted by the incessant ringing of your duty phone, picking up and frowning deeply to yourself. “Thank you for calling the Creel Hall Duty Phone, what seems to be the problem?” You spoke in a customer service voice, carefully waiting before hearing a familiar sigh as you quirked a brow. “Nancy?”

Your coworker, Nancy Wheeler worked the front desk while you did rounds, and called you every Thursday around midnight. Each time it was the same thing.

“Hey um, Jason Carver called again, about being unable to stay in his dorm room, as his roommate is playing music too loudly, as always…” she spoke softly as you pushed yourself to sit up, sighing in frustration.

“Room three forty nine right? Down the west wing…it’s Eddie Munson? Again?” You asked, earning a confirming hum as you wished her goodbye and pushed to your feet. Slipping on your house shoes and making the trek down to the third floor.

As you descended the stairs, the loud screeching of an electric guitar through a well abused amp grew louder. Causing your brain to rattle as you grit your teeth. Pushing down the hall and stopping at the door. There was a white board stuck to the front, with a messily scrawled poll on it, something that changed each week. Likely Munson’s doing. Although a bit of a social reject, he took attention in any way he could get it. Much to your chagrin as you pounded on the door.

And again…

And again.

By the third knock, the playing stopped as the door flew open, Eddie Munson stood with a shit eating grin. Currently chewing on spearmint gum that wafted on his breath as you crinkled your nose. Wearing nothing more than black sweats wearing the schools logo, his rings, and his hair in a low bun. Tattoos littering his arms and chest, a tattoo of gnashing fangs on his ribs as you rolled your eyes.

“To what do I owe the pleasure? Did someone narc again, or do you just wanna see me that bad, trying to sneak a free concert mmm?” He asked with a grin as you cleared your throat.

“You do this every goddamn Thursday. If it’s not loudly playing music? It’s you and your idiot friends racing the halls. Or you holding the main lobby hostage, or losing your id and getting locked out. It’s only ever on Thursdays. If anyone wants to see anyone bad, it’s you wanting to see me-“ you hissed as you jutted your chin towards the inside of his room. Signaling you wanted to be let in as he gallantly threw his arm out, gesturing for you to enter as he bowed lightly. Earning a sneer from you as he relished in your contempt. He drew a sort of joy from your anger in him, the attention was invigorating. In being refused love so much by his peers in high school, he’d learned to adore the hate that was sent his way.

Hate festers, it meant he was always in the minds who despised him, like a catchy commercial jingle from the early 2000’s.

He watched as you poked around his half of the room. Littered with posters, lewd art, and piles of clean and dirty clothes. The light smell of sweat, spearmint and pine coming with him as you scoffed lightly at him.

His amp was in the center of the floor right by the foot of his bed, something you clearly missed as you fell, landing flat on your stomach and chin on the cold tile with a sturdy thud. Groaning in pain as Eddie’s smile faltered and he immediately walked over, offering a hand to help you up.

“Holy shit I am so sorry, are you okay?” He asked as he held his hand out to you, watching as you took his forearm in your hand, before yanking him down as he met the same fate. Harshly hitting the floor as you laughed at him harshly. Snorting at him as he held his mouth, his two front teeth having lightly punctured his lip. Not enough to split it, but enough to draw blood.

“You are the only resident I have problems with…” you started as you glared at him harshly. “You’re loud, messy, pushy, you torment the hall-“ you continued as he glowered at you while sitting up.

Licking the blood from his bottom lip, he looked at you bitterly as he quietly listened, cutting you off.

“You’re a prissy, shrill, overly sensitive brat-“ he hissed, big eyes dark as he looked you over as you hummed.

“I’m doing my job Munson, I get paid to do this-“ you hissed as you looked at his lips. Full, pouty, with the crimson stain of fresh blood.

“You need to get fucking laid, maybe then you’ll pull the stick out of your ass-“ he snapped as he leaned in closer. “Stuck up bitch.”

“Idiot.” You hissed back, getting closer as you bumped the tip of your nose with his own, earning a growl from Eddie.

Your skin was prickling with heat as you stared him down. Trying not to fold as you felt his breath fanning across your lips.

Before you could fully process, he pushed his lips against yours. Harsh and feverish as you groaned into his mouth. The light taste of iron mingling with the spearmint in his mouth as you shuddered lightly. Letting him pull you in tight by your sweatshirt as you ran a hand up the back of his neck. Undoing his bun as you tangled your fingers into the base of his scalp, brown trellises of hair tangling around your fingers.

“I fucking hate you,” you hissed as you pulled back for air, glaring at him as he rolled his eyes. Discarding his gum and pulling you to stand with him.

Backing you up, he pushed you up against the metal and wood bed frame that held his shambles of bedding. Continuing his kissing at you as he pawed at your sweatshirt, getting it off and over your head as you shuddered. His hands so warm opposed to the cold trapped within the room.

“For a total bitch? You have great tits…” he murmured as he lightly took hold of them. Large and calloused hands groping and squeezing, earning soft whines and heavy breaths from you as he laughed. His thumb and forefinger taking hold of your stiffening nipples, lightly pinching and twisting as you whined out his name, clearly worked up as he laughed lightly to himself.

“You’re a lot nicer to listen too when you’re not bitching at me…” he mumbled in your ear, lightly nipping at the lobe as you shuddered harshly.

Trailing your hands down his chest, you worked your fingers down, stopping over the stiff outline of his cock as you lightly ran your hand over him and earned a light but deep groan from him. Working your other hand into his waistband as you went to work his sweats off. Earning a harsh pinch on your left nipple as you looked at him.

“We’re doing this my way. I’m in charge now.” He insisted harshly. “Now, up on the bed.” He pat your hip to motivate you, watching as you used the step stool to get up and sit on the mattress. Watching as he rooted around in his closet quietly.

He apparently found what he was searching for, coming over with a well worn black belt in hand. Quietly climbing into the bed alongside you as he hummed.

In silence, he took your wrists, wrapping the belt around them firmly, and around the wooden bar at his headboard. Pulling tight as he checked to make sure they weren’t so tight he’d cut off circulation. Once sure, he hummed in approval and lightly pat your cheek. “Good, you look so pretty like this…” he cooed down at you, watching as you chewed on your lower lip and nodded lightly. The confidence in you dwindling.

“You’re a lot prettier when you’re not making everyone’s ears bleed you cu-“ you were cut off by a harsh kiss, his hand lightly making its way up your stomach and chest. A gentle pressure applied to the sides of your throat. A gentle choking sensation applied as you moaned lightly into his mouth. Feeling his cock twitching against your thigh as you gave into the kiss.

Eddie pulled back for air, lightly patting your cheek as he released his light hold on your throat. Sliding his way back down to the edge of the bed.

His hands took hold of your waistband, working off your shorts and underwear agonizingly slow. Eyes trained on yours as you whined lightly.

“Hurry the fuck up-“ you hissed out as Eddie smacked your inner thighs lightly. Glaring at you as he rolled his eyes. “You’re so fucking impatient…” he muttered before working his hand further in, humming as he lightly cupped you in his hand. Running his middle finger up your slit. Stopping at your clit as he worked in small, circular motions. Watching your face as your lashes fluttered and your mouth formed a soft ‘o’ shape. “There we go, see? I can do a lot more with these hands besides playing guitar like a fucking god…” he hummed out softly as he continued. Drawing soft moans from you as he nodded.

Applying a bit more pressure to the sensitive bundle of nerves, he laughed lightly as he gently worked on getting you relaxed. He was a dick, but he was considerate. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt you.

“You look so fucking gorgeous like this…all pink in the face, mouth open…let’s give them some real noise to complain about,” you could see him cringe a bit at his statement, cocky and a bit cheesy.

He pulled your legs apart slowly, bowing his head down as he placed soft and deep kisses along your inner thighs and trailing inwards. His lips stopping at your clit as he pressed a slow and deep kiss to it, humming lightly as he tentatively listened for your reaction. Wanting to make sure you weren’t uncomfortable or unhappy with his actions.

“Eddie don’t tease…fucking hell.” You hissed as he laughed lightly. Taking it a step further as he lightly sucked on your clit, circling it slowly with his tongue and applying tentative amounts of pressure. Earning a full moan from you as he carefully worked on his middle finger. Pressing in slowly as he curled and flexed his finger. Getting you to cum first was his goal.

He kept his ministrations going, refusing to let up unless asked as he laughed lightly. Sending vibrations through you as you arched your back lightly, pressing further into his face. “Fuck! Eddie keep going-“ you demanded as he eased in a second finger. Beginning the slow thrusting and curling. Flexing his fingers apart as he increased the pressure on your clit. Feeling your walls flutter around his fingers as he sped up. Getting a bit overeager as your thighs clamped around his head and squeezed.

Your eyes rolled back as you cried out desperately, babbling. Eddie was right, you did need to get laid. The stress of the job was melting off your shoulders as the knot in your lower abdomen came undone. Earning a desperate cry from you as you came, soaking his mouth and chin as he hummed. Pulling his fingers out as he worked in his tongue slowly, humming as he made his way back up and eventually pulled away entirely. Sitting up as he looked at you.

“So fucking good…” he eased both fingers into your mouth, urging you to taste yourself as he hummed. “See sweetheart,” he crooned, laughing lightly to himself as he pulled his digits from your obedient mouth. Patting your cheek lightly and getting to work on removing his own bottoms.

His cock was undeniably hard, unable to be ignored as he hummed and slowly stroked himself. His other hand grabbing your chin and tilting your head down to get a look at him.

“Watch me. Don’t take your eyes off of me, I want you to watch me fuck you…” he ordered as you nodded your head lightly, watching as he lined himself up, and got to work.

Pushing into you, he groaned lightly. Watching as your mouth fell slack and lashes fluttered. Grinning in pride as he eased in inch by inch. Panting and rambling praise as he bottomed out within you. Holding your hips firmly in his hands as he lightly rolled his hips.

“So fucking gorgeous, you take my cock so well honey…” he took hold of your calves. Bending your legs up and back before pulling them upwards over his shoulders. Pressing light kisses to your ankles and calves, before biting down lightly as he took a deep and long thrust.

Your head fell back, eyes rolling back as you moaned desperately. Unable to fight the pleasure that washed over you in overwhelming waves. Moaning desperately as you clenched your fists and whined desperately. “Don’t fucking stop, good god-“ you growled out as you took each bruising thrust. Eddie was filled with lust and stamina, his hips knocking into the backs of your thighs as you grinned. “So good-“ you whined lightly.

Eddie laughed to himself as he listened, his thrusts deep and overdrawn as he rocked into you. Each thrust felt deeper than the last, the pressure building up was addicting. His necklace thumping with each thrust against his chest. Your breasts lightly bouncing as he drank in the sight of you. You were gorgeous underneath him. Fucked out and pliant as he pat your cheek.

“Don’t stop looking at me sweetheart. Look at what you do to me…look at how good you make me feel.” He ordered as he felt himself getting worked up, losing a bit of control as he grinned to himself:

He leaned forward, pressing your legs into your chest as he angled your hips upwards. Causing him to reach deeper inside you, grinning. “You’re squeezing me real good, see, you can be real nice to have around…nicer to look at from this angle at least~” he cooed in a patronizing manner as he grinned.

The cacophony of moans, thrusts, panting, and the creaking of the mattress felt ridiculously loud. Flooding your brain and making your brain feel like putty as the pressure in your abdomen grew. Stomach growing tight as you whined.

“Eddie? I’m gonna cum-“ you whined as he laughed lightly.

“Not yet honey, not till I say…” he insisted as he kept his thrusts going. Making sure to hold you firmly in place beneath him. He was drunk on you.

“I’m getting close sweetheart, so what you’re gonna do is cum with me…okay? Can you do that?” He punctuated each question with a harsh thrust as you nodded your head obediently. “Good-“ he hummed as he carefully sped up, leaning down ad he pressed impossibly deeper.

Nose to nose with you, he hummed. His breaths growing ragged as he held onto your chin. “Now-“ he pushed.

You let go, whining as a searing white wave of pleasure rolled over you. Your orgasm rocking you as you whined. Coming back from your delirium as you felt the heat of his own orgasm filling you. His light rutting causing some to spill over as you whined and groaned.

Pressing a light kiss to your lips, Eddie hummed. “Same time next Thursday?”

——

Taglist: Open

@munson-blurbs

#eddie stranger things #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x reader

[twwpress]

Weekly Press Briefing #72: November 5th - 11th

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 November 5 - 11, 2023! 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 7: The State Dinner aired on November 10, 1999.

Season 2, Episode 6: The Lame Duck Congress aired on November 8, 2000.

Season 3, Episode 5: War Crimes aired on November 7, 2001.

Season 4, Episode 7: Election Night aired on November 6, 2002.

Season 5, Episode 6: Disaster Relief aired on November 5, 2003.

Season 6, Episode 4: Liftoff aired on November 10, 2004.

Season 7, Episode 7: Live Debate Episode aired on November 6, 2005.

Photos/Videos:

Here’s what was posted from November 5 - November 11:

Allison Janney posted a reel of Christopher Walken dancing (from a Fatboy Slim video) along with a message celebrating the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Amy Landecker posted photos of herself, Brad, and their former Transparent castmate Paula Newsome at the opening night of Alex Edelman’s show Just For Us. 

Bradley Whitord posted a promo image for Alex Edelman’s show Just For Us along with glowing praise. 

Dule Hill posted an announcement and celebration post about the SAG-AFTRA strike being over. 

Dule Hill posted a video of himself tap dancing on the helipad on the roof of the St. Regis Mexico City. 

Janel Moloney posted a photo of her beagle Ollie curled up on an outfit she had laid out. 

Mary McCormack posted a photo of herself limbering up before a day of walking the picket line, a photo of herself walking with her “WB warriors” Ever Carradine and Elizabeth Wachsberg, and a photo of herself with her “union strong sisters” (including Allison Janney) along with a message of solidarity. 

Peter James Smith posted photos from backstage/behind the scenes on Upload (3rd season now streaming on Amazon Prime): 1 | 2 | 3 

Donna Moss Daily: November 5 | November 6 | November 7 | November 8 | November 9 | November 10 | November 11

Daily Josh Lyman: November 5 | November 6 | November 7 | November 8 | November 9 | November 10 | November 11

No Context BWhit: November 5 | November 6 | November 7 | November 8 | November 10 | November 11

@twwarchive: November 9 

Edits/Artwork:

#ABBEYBARTLET: showing a little décolletage… by @livsbenson [VIDEO EDIT]  season 2 joshdonna you were everything to me!! by @nacejisbon [VIDEO EDIT]

Editors’ Choice: 

We are taking a week off and will be back with fresh recommendations next time! 

Fics:

Presenting your weekly roundup of fics posted in the tag for The West Wing on Archive of Our Own. 

Josh/Donna

Errors and Omissions by Chinesepapercut | Rated M | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

Domestic Days by spooky_spacegirl | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

Come Back, Be Here by MatthewsMary | Rated E | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete [Editor’s Note: While this fic is listed on AO3 as complete, it has continued to update and appears to be a WIP]

On the Trail by Tyrols | Rated G | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | In Progress

it’s tough to feign indifference, baby by coldswaters | Rated T | Josh Lyman/Donna Moss | Complete 

Other Pairings/Gen Fic

Getting Both by E_Rocc | Rated G | Christopher Mulready, Roy Ashland, Jed Bartlet (No Pairings Listed) | Complete

it started off with a kiss... now it ended up like this by imawkwardlysoc | Rated G | Sam Seaborn/Original Female Character | In Progress

right or wrong by helsinkibaby | Rated G | Ainsley Hayes/Leo McGarry | Complete

The Language of Tomorrow by silasfinch for justdreaming88 | Rated T | Ellie Bartlet/Original Female Character(s) | In Progress

PA Stories by pipisafoat | Rated T | Josh Lyman (No Pairings Listed) | In Progress

Two For the Road by onekisstotakewithme for miabicicletta, Luppiters, daylight_angel | Rated G | C.J. Cregg & Toby Ziegler (No Pairings Listed) | Complete

Breathe by GlitteringNiffler | Rated T | Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | Complete

The Vice Presidency  by pipisafoat | Rated G | Leo McGarry/Original Female Character(s) | Complete

Come Apart by krazykitkat | Rated M | Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg | Complete

Multiple Pairings

War & Peace by miabicicletta for krazykitkat, onekisstotakewithme | Rated T | Danny Concannon/C. J. Cregg, Josh Lyman/Donna Moss, Andrea Wyatt/Toby Ziegler, Abbey Bartlet/Jed Bartlet | In Progress 

THE WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING TEAM CAN BE REACHED VIA THE FOLLOWING METHODS:

Twitter: @TWWPress

Email: [email protected]

Feel free to let us know if we missed something, if you have an event you’d like us to promote, or if you have an item that you’d like included in the next briefing!

xx, What’s next?

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

[twwpride]

TWW Pride is intended to encourage creation of queer fanworks and help to form community and support for queer creators in The West Wing fandom.

The first The West Wing Pride Week will begin on Sunday, September 17th, 2023 and run for seven days! Any fanwork posted within these dates and tagged with #twwpride23 or included in our Ao3 Collection will be included as part of the event. At the end of every day, we’ll be posting round-ups of everything created, in addition to an end-of-week masterpost. Anyone who participates in all seven days of Pride Week will be added to our Hall of Fame!

Event Info & Guidelines

For Pride Week, two prompts will be provided per day. These prompts are primarily intended to generate inspiration, so feel free to use one, both, or neither, and in whatever order or combination you want!

If you do choose to follow the prompts, they will be filed under whatever day(s) their prompts fall under for easy reference. If you post on Tumblr, don’t forget to tag your work with #twwpride23 - any tagged posts will be reblogged unless otherwise requested.

The prompt list will be reposted weekly as we count down to the beginning of the event. During Pride Week, prompt reminders will be posted at the beginning of each day, and round-ups will be posted at midnight EST.

In order to keep TWW Pride accessible to everyone, we request that you add alt-text or an image description to any visuals.

This information, as well as a plaintext version of the prompts list, can be found on our desktop site here.

FAQ

What do you consider a queer fanwork?

Whatever you consider to be queer - and in whatever form (fic, poetry, gifs, edits, art, etc) - so do we. This is an inclusionary event, and here will be no policing of identity or creation. While any maturity rating is welcome, all we ask is that content is appropriately tagged for its platform (AO3 or Tumblr).

Do I have to wait until the week begins to start writing/drawing/editing?

You can begin creating as soon as you’re ready, but only content posted during the week will be counted for archival purposes.

How closely do I have to follow the prompts?

The prompts are inspirational, not compulsory. Any queer fanwork is welcome this week, regardless of if they fit into the prompts!

How do I make sure you can find my work when I post it?

If you’re posting on tumblr, be sure to use the tag #twwpride23 so we can reblog and promote it! On Ao3, you can find The West Wing Pride Week collection here!

A question we missed? Ask us right here!

#the west wing #tww #tww fic #west wing fanfic #twwpride23 #josh lyman #donna moss #sam seaborn #cj cregg #toby ziegler #image description in alt #please boost and share!

[ithastobethiswhitehouse]

Martin Sheen, John Spencer, Allison Janney and Dulé Hill were filmed on a tarmac at Dulles Airport. However, the plane they emerge from wasn't Air Force One but Virgin Atlantic complete with a painting on its side that was digitally removed in the editing room and replaced by a presidential seal. So, if they couldn't get Air Force One, why drag the cast from California to Washington? 'The actors' teeth wouldn't chatter as convincingly,' Thomas Schlamme told Entertainment Weekly.

Excerpt from Inside Bartlet's White House: An Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to The West Wing by Keith Topping

#thomas schlamme #martin sheen #john spencer #allison janney #dulé hill #the west wing #1.14

[words-are-fireproof]

Weekly Writing Round Up - 11/28 -12/4

Fics: (more like chapters of fics)

Like Ribbons on Wrists - Chapter 4

A Silence Full of Sound - Chapter 1

#the west wing #josh lyman #pedro pascal #leo mcgarry #donna moss #Marcus Moreno #marcus moreno x oc #marcus moreno fanfiction #we can be heroes fic #we can be heroes #the west wing fanfic #fanfiction #sam writes #icymi #weekly fic round up

[onekisstotakewithme]

how did you get into sports night?

WELL.

I've watched the west wing through twice now, and desperately wanted to explore the rest of the Sorkinverse (TM). Couldn't decide what to start with, so just went with Sports Night.

(Plus, Malina references it a lot on west wing weekly. Maybe now I'll understand).

And of course it's Aaron Sorkin, so it's great!

#anon asks

[hollygl125]

On rabbit holes and fanfic (in my own life):

*This is a note I wrote for AO3/FFN, but I’ve been meaning for a while to write a post on how I—a member of the Oregon Trail generation—wound up signing up for Tumblr in January 2022, and this kind of hints at that, so I thought I might as well share it here, too.*

What follows is a TMI note on why I can’t make any promises on when the next chapter of this story will be up; please read or don’t, as pleases you.  I would like to state first, though, what I also state at the bottom of this note: thank you so, so, so very much for reading; your kind support means more than I can tell you.

So, I’m, ah… not very good at all this.

Two years ago now, as I was doing a “CSI as love story” rewatch and falling far, far, far down the GSR rabbit hole, I was also falling deep into ADHD burnout and overwhelming anxiety (without, at the time, realizing that I had either ADHD or a lifetime of anxiety).  By the time spring 2022 rolled around, I was lacking executive functioning abilities for even basic tasks, while my mind sought solace or dopamine or whatever it was with—you guessed it—these two lovely science nerds.

I read hundreds and hundreds of GSR fics, without managing to leave a single, solitary comment/review.  (I wanted to comment!  I couldn’t!  I’m not saying commenting would have killed me, but I just couldn’t do it; I wouldn’t have been able to continue reading if it were required, and obsessing over these two science nerds was basically all my mind could handle.  So when I tell you that I get that commenting can be too much sometimes, I get it.  I should also note my eternal gratitude to all the amazing GSR fic writers who—unknowingly—helped me during this time.)

I occasionally questioned whether I might try writing something about these science nerds, but I always dismissed that pretty quickly.  I’d never willingly undertaken a creative writing project in my life (unless you count my last dog’s Instagram).  For added context, until 2022, I had last (and first, for that matter) previously read fan fiction in the mid-2000s, when my favourites on The West Wing were taking their own sweet time.  So in January 2022, while desperate for more GSR content, I was like, “Is fanfic still a thing?  Is there GSR fanfic?”  I literally started by googling “GSR fan fiction.”  I’d never even heard of AO3 or FFN; I think the fic for The West Wing had been on Yahoo! Groups.

But I had all these romantic scenarios and headcanons and such constantly running through my head, and I was getting tired of having to recreate the dialogue for them every night as I fell asleep.  So eventually, in late June 2022, I thought maybe I should try writing something down—at some point in the future, once I’d had more time to prepare.  Naturally the next day my brain was like, no, now, now, we’re doing this now.  I had no conscious say in the matter.  I wasn’t sure whether I was going to post anything, but apparently I was going to write it.

I had a lot of fun writing out so many of my thoughts and feeling and hopes and dreams for our two lovely science nerds, and pretty soon I had a draft for this series of stories (although it was only a fraction of what I have now written).  I started posting the first story in September 2022.  Luckily I got to participate in a (also luckily, not very mentally taxing) overseas professional placement for several months at the end of 2022, and this was a welcome distraction from *everything else* about my life.

When I got home in winter 2023, the anxiety returned in full force.  I got an ADHD diagnosis, but neither that nor the anxiety are effectively managed yet.  And, truth be told, posting these stories gives me a lot of anxiety.  It’s sort of been a weekly cycle of posting, feeling very anxious about it for several days, talking myself back to a place of peace, getting ready to post again, posting again, rinse, repeat.  Sometimes I’ve found myself feeling too anxious to post, and the chapter/story in question has been pushed back by a week.

So I wasn’t exactly feeling great about the posting process, but I was still determined to proceed.  I had a posting schedule that would have seen me finish posting this story by the end of November (last month) then post the remaining four shorter stories over the next couple months.  (A few of them are synced to dates/times of year: the winter holidays and February, i.e., the anniversary of the AAFS conference.) But then, with the last chapter I posted, I was just too anxious/unhappy.  This may have been because I’d slightly accelerated my posting schedule and hadn’t left myself enough time to process everything; I’m not sure.  But I found myself looking at Tumblr gifs of our two lovely science nerds and feeling sad and resentful, not happy, and I realized that, if I continued on as I was doing at the time, I was going to destroy both my deep love of the characters and my own happy place.

So I told myself that I didn’t have to keep posting now—that, as much as I was determined to have the complete series of stories posted, I could do it in months or in a year or some other time when no one was left to read it; honestly, that thought made me feel a lot better.  But then I decided maybe I didn’t have to wait quite so long—that I could try posting once per month or something like that.  On the upside, I tell myself, this should also leave time for me to respond to comments more promptly and to go engage with other writers’ stories.  (I managed to go back and read and comment on a handful of stories this summer.  Commenting still gives me a lot of anxiety; at one point I felt like I almost gave myself a panic attack.  But I’m going to try to work at it.)  As of this morning, I have responded to all comments on these stories, including to comments by guests/people who aren’t logged in (unless I thought the comment was from a bot!).

I can’t promise when the next chapter will be posted.  My goal is for next month, but it really depends on how I feel after posting this one and how I feel next month.  I do hope you’ll come back to read it, though!

If you’ve read this far—both in this series and in this note—thank you so very much!  You certainly didn’t need to know all the information in this note, but I needed to share it, if you get what I mean.

Thank you so, so, so very much for reading and for your kind kudos, comments, follows, faves, and reviews.  Supportive comments/reviews always, always, always make my day.  Your support for this series of stories is truly what has allowed me to get even this far in posting these stories, and I appreciate it all more than I can tell you. 💛💛💛

#survivors in the night: a las vegas love story #about me #adhd #anxiety #disaster person

[singofsolace]

Taking a minor break from my Ted Lasso spiraling to mention:

I've been listening to the West Wing Weekly Podcast while I clean and do chores, to help my brain actually accomplish said chores, and about 15 minutes into the Two Cathedrals (Part One) episode, I was stopped in my tracks by the discussion I was hearing.

Lawrence O'Donnell is talking about how he basically got accidentally cast as Jed Bartlet's (physically abusive) father, after simply reading the role at the table read one day like he'd done for many guest parts before in his capacity as a producer. Then he says:

"At the end of the read through, the women in the cast start coming up to me--Allison Janney first, followed by Janel Moloney--and saying pretty much the same thing, which is 'Oh my god, that was really scary what you did.' And I didn't know what I had done, because my take on this, being from my kind of tough-guy Boston Irish neighborhood, was: this is the nicest dad I've ever seen. [Josh Malina and Hrishi Hirway, who are listening, laugh]. That's who I was playing...

"You know, first of all, he's this educated man and he only hit the kid once! That is unheard of in St. Brendan's parish, where I grew up. [...] In those days, you know, this was all before any books had been written about child-rearing, and nobody knew you weren't supposed to hit them--nobody knew that...

"So, that's the world I'm from, and so really, I mean it when I say to you, this guy read to me as a guy of real erudition and class and all that stuff, several classes above the class that I grew up in, and so the notion that he just gives the kid a wack in a moment was no big deal to me, and somewhere in that, of course, was the terror that Allison Janney and Janel were seeing. Like, 'oh my god, this guy doesn't even--he does it [hits the kid], and it's second nature to him, it's like nothing.'

"And the other part I didn't know, when Tommy Schlamme saw that, he leaned in to Aaron at the end of the episode and said: 'that's what I want in Bartlet's father.’ Now, he didn't mean me--the actor--not at all. That's just the performance [he wanted] and Aaron said 'yeah, that's what we need.'"

~~~

So I'm listening to Lawrence O'Donnell tell this story while I wash some dishes, and I'm just thinking... can you imagine being Allison or Janel at that table read, thinking it was an “acting choice” that he made, only to come to the sudden realization by talking to him that it wasn't a choice at all?? Like, how chilling is that?

At first I thought: Clearly, since Allison and Janel were so disturbed by his performance at the table read, and then more disturbed by the discovery that it was not his intention to disturb anyone, there was a major cultural shift that must’ve happened between O'Donnell's childhood and theirs, but then I looked it up, and Allison is only seven years younger than Lawrence O'Donnell. They grew up in practically the same time, and were raised by the same generation of parents!

And sure, you could argue that gender might be a major factor here, (that certainly seems to be what Lawrence is suggesting, at least), and that Allison and Lawrence were likely raised by two completely different "types" of parents, but still. Something about the casual way O'Donnell discusses specifically the women being scared by his performance makes my stomach a little queasy. Is he therefore saying none of the men in the cast were disturbed? None of them felt the same way as Allison and Janel? Or is he just highlighting the 'terror' in their reactions specifically because it...what...? Surprised him that the women would be scared by a physically abusive father being portrayed by one of their producers as "the nicest dad [he'd] ever seen"?

I'm not sure I'm effectively communicating my point, or even if I have a point, I'm just feeling a bit sick to my stomach, and wanted to write it all out. Does anyone else have thoughts on this?

#the west wing #Lawrence O'Donnell #allison janney #janel moloney #abuse tw