Characters [April Fools]Transitions: A Guide to Moving from Star Wars to The West Wing

Transitions: A Guide to Moving from Star Wars to The West Wing​

Like there is a transition of power in politics, there too will be a transition from Star Wars fanfic to The West Wing fanfic. This thread is here to help you with that transition. This thread will introduce you to the major cast of characters you may be interested in writing, though it does not include all characters as there are just way too many! Feel free to list the characters you think should be included.

It will also serve as a place to get advice on characterization and discuss the characters. As the transition continues, if people want to start individual character or ship threads, you are welcome to do so.



Below will contain some spoilers for The West Wing, read with caution.






The Barlet Administration

Josiah ‘Jed’ Bartlett - President of the United States 1999-2007
Nobel Laureate in Economics
Occasionally known as Uncle Fluffy and Joe Bethersonton (with two T's and an H in there)




Dr. Abigail Bartlet - First Lady of the United States
Thoracic Surgeon
Defender of women's right. Not afraid to stand up to anyone.



Leo McGary - White House Chief of Staff - 1999-2005
Former Secretary of Labor
He'll jump in the hole with you because he's been there and knows the way out.



Josh Lyman- White House Deputy Chief of Staff 1999-2005
Graduate of Harvard and Yale, creator of a secret plan to fight inflation
Subject of LemonLyman.com




Toby Ziegler - White House Communications Director 1999 - 2006
Always seems grumpy, but there when you need him.
Discovers truth of life: babies come with hats






Sam Seaborn - White House Deputy Communications Director 1999-2003
Good guy, good friend, can make even a birthday message sound like a work of art.
Most notable West Wing reference in Hamilton




C.J. Cregg - White House Press Secretary 1999-2005
White House Chief of Staff 2005-2007
Sole woman in the senior staff. Great at her job, but others (Josh) think they can do it. They can't.
If you're nice to her, she might do The Jackal




Charlie Young - Personal Assistant to President Bartlet
Came for a messenger job, gained a family.
HE GAVE HIM THE KNIFE!!




Donna Moss - Senior Assistant to Josh Lyman Deputy
AKA: Deputy Deputy Chief of Staff
So good at her job she hired herself.
The only assistant who is main cast.




Will Bailey - White House Deputy Communications Director 2005
Seemingly has magical abilities: see getting a dead candidate elected and literally making it rain




Dolores Landingham - Executive Secretary for President Bartlet
A universal truth: Mrs. Landingham Is the best.


Margaret Hooper- Senior Assistant to White House Chief of Staff (Leo McGarry and CJ Cregg)
If you need to know something in the White House, she's your source.




Ed and Larry - White House Congressional Liaisons
No one can tell them apart


Ginger - Communications Aid
Getter of Popcorn

 

The Santos Administration


Matthew Santos - President of the United States 2007-
U.S. House of Representatives 2001-2007
The Real Thing
Modeled on a then Senator Obama
Yes, that's Jimmy Smits



Helen Santos - First Lady of the United States 2007-
Spunky, sassy, should have had more character development.


Josh Lyman - White House Chief of Staff - 2007-
Still Josh, just more in charge. Basically one giant ball of stress.


Sam Seaborn - White House Deputy Chief of Staff - 2007-
Wait... Sam came back?! Of course he did, Josh asked.


Louise Thornton - White House Communications Director - 2007-
Snark. Snark. Snark.


Amy Gardner - White House Director of Legislative Affairs 2007-
Fighter of women's rights, sometimes to a fault.
Basically the female version of Josh Lyman


Donna Moss - Chief of Staff for the First Lady 2007-
Offered Press Secretary for President Santos, turned it down to be FLOTUS CoS
Donna's come a long way since a woman who drove halfway across the country with nothing but her car and hired herself.

 

INDEX OF DISCUSSIONS
Possibly of Challenges

Discussion One
Who is your favorite canon West Wing Character? Who is your your favorite to write?
If you've never seen the West Wing or are only passingly familiar, who do you think will be the most fun to write?

 

Discussion 1:
Who is your favorite canon West Wing Character? Who is your your favorite to write?
If you've never seen the West Wing or are only passingly familiar, who do you think will be the most fun to write?

 

My favorite has to be Toby, I see a lot of parallels between my life and his and appreciate the values he champions. That said I think I'd have an easier time writing Josh than Toby.

 

Oh yeah, I feel like a lot of times Toby is my spirit animal.

I wish I was as brave as him, though. He takes a stand for what he believes in, even if it means going against everyone he respects and admires.

Though there are times Josh is also my spirit animal.



Who is your favorite canon West Wing Character?
There really isn't a WW character I don't like (except for Mandy, but who counts her), so it's always hard to say a favorite. But it has to be Josh. He's passionate, smart, good at his job, but he's also so awkward and an emotional mess.

Donna is also a favorite, kinda like Toby, I wish I was as brave as she is. She drove across the country and hired herself on a campaign for President. When Josh told her the campaign wasn't the place to find yourself and she replied "Why not? Why can't it be that?" it's something I'd never do in real life but wish I would. She pushes to make her life better (though I didn't fully agree with how she did it, and it kinda upset me). She's smart, but she also knows what she doesn't know and wants to learn.

Who is your your favorite to write?
It's still got to be Josh, because he's so snarky, awkward, and an emotional mess. On the surface he's a cocky, argumentative, workaholic, but he's much deeper than he appears on the surface and it's due to the little snippets of his life we got to hear about: his sister dying in a fire when she was babysitting him, his grandfather being imprisoned at Birkenau, his dad dying on one of the biggest nights of his life. And of course the things we get to see: getting shot, PTSD, Leo on another biggest night of his life.

As Leo says in Bartet for America when Josh is trying to help him: " 'cause you walk around with so much guilt about everyone you love dying that you are a compulsive fixer?" He's driven by the things that have happened in his life and they drive him to do more, be better. He gives the NSC card that could save his life back in The Crackpots and These Women because he couldn't take his staff, friends, and his family with him in the event of nuclear war.

It's fun to explore all the facets of his character and how they formed who he is in the show and who he could be in the future.

 

I can't believe you forgot the most significant character on the show!


In all seriousness though, my favorite character is Joe Quincy. (No, I haven't seen very many episodes, why do you ask?)

 

How could I forget Josh's backpack?! That was a huge oversight on my part!


I really like Joe Quincy, I wish he'd been around more. I also loved Ainsley who he was brought in to replace, but the actress got a regular gig, so I don't blame her for leaving.

But it did show Sorkin how well Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford play off each other and he put them as co-leads of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Which I think was an underrated show that should have had more seasons. (I say only having watched it recently.)

 

Yessss!

Discussion 1
Who is your favorite canon West Wing Character?

Honestly, it probably changes from week to week and there aren't many I don't like (Mandy was just forgettable - really I completely forgot about her - and I wasn't much of a fan of Season 7 Toby). I think Charlie was my favourite character watching it the first time and he still has a special place in my heart. He was just a young kid at the start but with a good head and a loyal heart and that took him so far. He went from being an orphan to having so many family and friends and the relationship he has with Bartlet is just so beautifully done. He always remained professional but he has so much sass and a mouth on him.



But I also love Bartlet, and Josh, and Matt Santos. Both Bartlet and Santos can be fun, funny people, they bug their staff and aren't afraid to laugh, but can also turn instantly serious to deal with a crisis by listening to the people around them. They were also flawed - Bartlet with his pride and both with their overprotectiveness of their family.

And Josh for all the reasons Mav stated.

Also, she was a minor character, but the best part of the West Wing: Joey Lucas. I mean, come on, she does this when the PRESIDENT ASKS HER HER OPINON ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.



Also, these.






Who is your your favorite to write?

Well I do love writing Helen Santos. She has so much spunk and isn't afraid to spit out what was on her mind, but you know deep down she loves and supports her husband. She had the potential to be like Abbey Bartlet if she had gotten more screen time. I think I - or rather the muse likes writing characters with potential for story. Jeb and Abbey Bartlet's stories were pretty well wrapped up in season 7 and were well done and I was happy with the way their arcs ended. But Matt, Helen, Josh and Donna were really embarking on the start of a next chapter in their lives at the end of season 7 with so much more potential for stories.

I also love writing Josh, but I find him so hard to balance his brash, cocky exterior with the soft interior of someone who feels so deeply.

 

A favourite TWW character? Can I say all of them?

Okay, after a lot of head-scratching: Ainsley Hayes, Abbey Bartlet and Toby Ziegler. Toby, because he's grumpy. Ainsley, because she kicks Sam's sorry behind (even though her opinions on a lot of stuff are terrible). And Abbey, because she's the power behind the throne, and I like that

 

I love studio 60 and wish NBC would have given it more of a shot. I don't think they really had any idea on how to market the show add that the crappy time slot, the long gaps in airing episodes and confusion about if there really was a Friday night comedy show it is no wonder the ratings weren't there. But it was classic Sorkin and just a joy to watch.

 

Who is your favorite canon West Wing Character?
Well that´s hard to say, there isn´t really anyone in the main, or even recurring cast of The West Wing who I don´t like. There are so many great characters, so my favourite tends to change with every episode.
If I really had to narrow it down, I probably would say Jed Bartlet. Martin Sheen is just brilliant and steals nearly every scene he is in. He is the president we probably all want to have.

 

It actually got better ratings that first season than 30 Rock (they both premiered the same season) but Studio 60 was a lot more expensive between Aaron Sorkin and Matthew Perry. NBC had to choose one show based on SNL and they chose 30 Rock. But I agree, all those things contributed to it having lower ratings than it probably should have had.

Yeess... I love Joey Lucas. I mean, I just love Marlee Matlin and anything she's in so there is that.

As much as I always wanted Josh and Donna to get together, I desperately wanted him and Joey to have a relationship, even if it was short. They had amazing chemistry together and it would have been so much fun! (I'm convinced that Bradley Whitford has great chemistry with everyone except for Moira Kelly, though that might have been the fault of the character of Mandy.)

And Joey has one of my favorite Josh/Donna moments when Donna isn't even in the scene (it's also a great lesson on polls):

Yes, that is a perfectly acceptable answer! I love them all! Great choices, though!

 

Yeah. Most people know this but Sorkin actually intended for the President to have a fairly minor role (and the pilot reflects that). The president was supposed to be talked about a lot but only appear in 5-6 episodes a season, but then Sheen came in and gave that entrance and the rest was TV history.


And I keep meaning to watch Studio 60, and I know it is only one season, but life just makes me forget!

I just love Matlin too and, yes, as much as I wanted Josh/Donna TO JUST GET TOGETHER SOONER, I really wanted Josh/Joey to be a thing.

I mean, that chemistry.




I wish Joey Lucas plot bunnies would bite more often in general, but I really want to write a Josh/Joey AU, though I love Josh/Donna and, of course, Joey did too.

 

I will have a Chicken Wing...plZ not turkey ones...too dry and I LOVE JUICY.

Scat Wars will occur afterwards in the RFFA - Rectum Far, Far Away.

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