#saraalison

[donnajosh]

I can’t wait for the gif sets inspired by the latest podcast!!

i’m excited to start working on them - thank you!!

[beturass]

saraalison replied to your post: my brother just told me that he would have...

At least he didn’t say Josh and Amy.

right? that’s what i said too

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

You’ve mentioned this before, but in what ways do you think Josh and Amy are different from each other? I tend to think of Amy as a female Josh, but that might be a writing issue more than anything else. Also, do you think they could’ve made it if they had learned how to keep their work separate from their relationship, or were they always doomed?

Josh and Amy definitely have a lot in common, in terms of being passionate workaholics who agree on a lot of issues. But I think what matters more is that they’re also really different types of people, who approach politics differently. And that’s why they were really doomed. 

If they had been able to keep work and their private lives separate their relationship could probably have limped along for a while longer. But as she made clear in her last canon conversation with Josh, she had no interest in ‘rescuing’ him–which was an element of their dynamic that had nothing to do with the work fights. Amy was not, from any evidence we’ve seen, the nurturing, cautious type. And Josh, God love him, had delicate places, where he was broken and self-blaming and guilty. Even without meaning to, Amy tended to poke at those places and hurt him when she got frustrated. 

Meanwhile, she was better off with someone less competitive than she was. ‘He doesn’t race me anywhere,’ she told Josh about her s7 boyfriend. ‘It’s civilized. You should try it.’ While I think she genuinely enjoyed the work sparring between them–she loved the challenge, and what a worthy rival he was–she couldn’t turn it off. She didn’t know how, because for her it was the most important thing. It poisoned everything else between them. So her only real shot at happiness was breaking the cycle of dating guys who worked in her world at all. 

And as for their political differences? I could go into great detail about that, because I adore Amy and writing essays about her is fun for me. But she summed up the reason why she and Josh could never work politically in one sentence. ‘I wasn’t made to serve at someone else’s pleasure,’ she said, with a touch of amusement and bitterness toward herself and the whole situation.

It would be easier for everyone, especially Amy, if she were. She could be devoted to a man, President Bartlet, more than to a cause. She could be a part of things the way Josh was, a part of the West Wing family, fighting together–rather than fighting alone and running up against the unfortunate realities of centrist government. Maybe her life would be calmer and more content.

But somebody has to poke leaders with sticks to keep them honest. 

Luckily, her wood sculptor boyfriend can probably provide her with extra sticks.

[joshuallyman]

saraalison replied to your post: saraalison replied to your post “*straightens...

I don’t think Josh took it as a joke either. I think Donna mostly meant it as one, but she also wanted to deflate his ego a bit.

in general, i kind of.. don’t like donna’s attitude towards him in a lot of respects after she quits. i don’t think she was wrong to quit by any means, but to say all she did was order him food and stuff and how he never gave her anything interesting to do... that just wasn’t true at all. 

[elphabacee]

saraalison reblogged your post:imagine the west wing weekly had a single nuanced...

Have they gotten worse lately? They usually don’t criticize him but bless he deserves it.

I assume OP was talking about their “No Exit” episode, where their big takeaway with the Josh-Kate stuff was Josh having his friendly overtures constantly rebuffed by Kate and how satisfying they seemed to find it. I don’t know if it’s worse, but it does keep happening and it can get annoying.

[demico-art]

saraalison reblogged your post:I’m not pulling an all-nighter, since I already...

I watched it already too. No spoiler talk, but did you like it?

Yes! But I expected it to be longer :)

[comepraisetheinfanta]

saraalison reblogged your post: GAWD, how is Norman Deputy Communications...

Just out of curiosity, why do you call Sam “ Norman?” Did I miss something? Ha ha

My dislike for him is so intense that I use his middle name, I feel like that name perfectly captures my contempt for him. Also I don’t tag my Norman-hate as Sam Seaborn because I’m not enough of an ass to fill that tag with my contempt (I also try to avoid tagging any of my intense Norman-hate posts with ‘The West Wing’, though I may occasionally slip up due to tagging West Wing things out of habit)

[romansroys]

saraalison replied to your post “when leo asks josh if he’s staying in washington for the holidays and...”

Weren't him and Amy sort of on-again/off-again after season 3?

yeah they definitely were they’re just such a side thing that i always forget they’re on/off until i’m actually watching the eps and their relationship is never addressed but is always There

[lorelaigilmoure]

I just wanted to tell you that I love all your TWW posts. Josh and Donna in particular are life-ruining!!!

aaaah, thank you! as soon as i finish tww i’ll make a donna/josh fanvid!!

[acheesepizza]

@saraalison @athenna71 I mean yeah josh and Donna are OTP but also the chemistry between Josh and Joey is undeniable, no other romantic interest of josh had him so flustered every step of the way, they belong together

[peace-love-colbert]

I was tagged by the lovely @court0fbooks​. Thank you!

Rules: tag seven people you want to get to know better.

Relationship Status: Single and searching for my own LemonLyman ;)

Favorite color: deep pinks

Favorite foods: sushi (spicy tuna roll), seafood, Mexican food, Lindt Lindor truffles, and the occasional Philly cheesesteak made just right!

Last song I listened to: Everyone by Van Morrison (Always reminds me of the bittersweet last shot of The Royal Tenenbaums)

Last movie I watched: Hidden Figures - I was late to the party. Incredible movie!

Favorite Artists/Singers: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Sam Cooke, The Beatles, Tom Petty, Janis Joplin, Smokey Robinson...basically a lot of hippy-dippy shit that existed before I did and Dave Matthews Band, Lauryn Hill, The Swell Season

Top 3 TV Shows: Aside from my late night loves - The West Wing (obvs!)), It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Mad Men

Books I’m currently reading: I’m on a Daily Show kick - The Daily Show (The Book): An Oral History by Chris Smith. Next up - Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

I tag: @vodka-and-daydreams​, @pour-des-raisons​, @wigfield​, @deputydeputy-chiefofstaff​, @beturass​, @saraalison​, @athenna71​ and anyone else who would like to do it!

[donnajosh]

I hear you. The “Arctic Radar” one is definitely worth listening to, though. I didn’t listen to the entire thing, but the part with Richard Schiff was good plus the aforementioned comments about Josh/Donna near the end. If you don’t mind my asking, what specific things bugged you?

I’m gonna put this under a read more since it became kind of long and it’s not positive. 

Disclaimer: I’m not trying to start discourse or drama or anything like that! This is just my personal reasoning for not listening to the podcast week to week anymore.

I loved Richard’s interview! He’s so, so great. I tend to stick to the episodes where they have cast and crew members on that I want to hear. Eli Attie for example is always a personal favorite of mine. I love when they have him on.

I don’t mind to explain. I was listening to the podcast religiously up until they got to the end of season 2/the start of season 3. It got to where it was almost like I was making myself listen to it every week, which is ridiculous and why I stopped listening. They tend to hyper-focus on things that I just… don’t think are important at all, while almost completely ignoring or glossing over entire story lines in some episodes. I would listen to it thinking, “Someone needs to be sitting there to remind them about (whatever story line they weren’t paying enough attention to that week).” I am all for getting super into specific things about The West Wing, I do it all the time, there just needs to be some sort of balance when you’re doing a show examining every episode, in my opinion. I just feel that they don’t dig into things where they could and should, while going into intense detail about, at times, inconsequential things. That style works for a lot of people clearly since their show is so popular, but it just wasn’t for me, and that’s okay! To each their own!

Also, I would find myself just plain disagreeing with their inferences and conclusions about characters and plots – like complete differences of understanding the show, which again is fine. Not everyone needs to agree on everything all the time. But at times it felt like they were just missing the point of episodes and characters that I hold very dear to me and it was incredibly tiresome. I’m a big believer in “if this thing that made you happy no longer does so, distance yourself” so that’s what I did with the podcast. 

I love The West Wing, aggressively so, and so I tend to take all of this to heart – while I recognize that a lot of people don’t. They can just listen to the podcast as what it is: a podcast about a tv show, but I care so intensely about the show and take it all far, far too personally for that. :)

[beturass]

saraalison replied to your post “So a Thing that makes me really sad is that in War Crimes, Donna never...”

I think Josh actually WAS mad at her for sleeping with Cliff,though. He didn’t have a right to be,but he was.

that’s a reasonable interpretation to make. I guess I read it less as “pissed” and more as “jealousy buried beneath sixteen hundred layers of denial”

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

You’re welcome!! I liked your post about Josh with Mandy, Amy, and Donna. I wanted to add that the WAY Donna talks to Josh makes her a good match for him too. Her approach is less combative, and I think he responds to that. His battles with Amy are great fun to watch(because chemistry) but ineffective. His stuff with Mandy goes over like a lead balloon.

You’re so right about this. Donna argues with Josh like they’re in a debate club–counterpoints, asking him to explain his position, wanting to understand his side even when her view is different. 

Her main goal is to learn, because she knows he has more experience and knowledge than she does and Donna’s not sensitive about that. So their banter can naturally be less combative than when he’s arguing with Mandy or Amy. 

I mean, there’s nothing wrong with the way Amy is more challenging in her approach, because she’s already well-versed in what they’re talking about–she isn’t looking to learn from Josh, she’s looking to change his mind. But because she doesn’t persuade so much as attack, I’m not sure she ever changes Josh’s mind on anything. (Unlike, say, Ainsley with Sam.) 

Mandy argues with Josh like they used to date and she still kind of wants him to die because it didn’t work out…so yeah, that’s neither effective nor super fun to watch.

In conclusion, how a difference of opinion is presented to Josh actually matters, and Donna is good at doing so without kicking his ego. 

[joshuallyman]

saraalison replied to your post “*straightens papers* *taps them on desk* today’s topic is *adjusts...”

It was snarky, but I really do think Donna’s comment about Will being a good teacher was a joke.

i know you’re probably right, but josh just looks so sad afterwards i find it hard to think he took it as a joke. 

[comepraisetheinfanta]

saraalison reblogged your post:I HATE Josh/Amy but I love love love how stupid...

It helps that that same scene is a hilarious one for Josh/Donna too.

yeah it’s an incredibly adorable moment between those two goobers as well hahaha