When the Plucky Idealism of The West Wing Fails, Write Something Original

Here's what that fanfiction became.

No one needs to read another depressing post-mortem about how America chose fascism and a blathering felon/rapist/con man/traitor over one of the most qualified people to ever run for the highest office. There are plenty of those. I've read them. They are a great reminder that those of us who chose competency are not alone. 

So here’s another one! But there’s a lil treat at the end.

I'm so severely disappointed by what was revealed by this election, when the majority of voters (who are not even the majority of the American population) chose this repulsive husk of a person for completely myopic, selfish, and willfully ignorant reasons. It meant that more people didn't care about anyone but themselves. It meant that people were okay with bullying, racism, misogyny, and all the things that we are taught are not okay when we're children. It meant that people completely forgot that a pandemic happened. It meant that people are fine when someone who loses an election tries to steal it back and incites a riot at the nation's Capitol. 

Putting this motherfucker back in the White House also means that there is no more respect for the country's most treasured founding institutions. He doesn't care about them. Neither do the people in his party. They claim to be the most patriotic people in the nation while they try to burn Washington, D.C. to the ground. 

I woke up on Tuesday trying to be Sam Seaborn instead of Toby Ziegler. Idealistic, hopeful Sam who writes with the hope of the American Dream and reaching for the stars. Toby refuses to tempt fate because Toby is jaded and realistic. Does he also write with the hope of the American Dream? Sure, but he knows all too well it's just a dream and it pays to approach everything with a healthy dose of skepticism. In the end, I chose to keep Sam as my boyfriend/angel on my shoulder while I felt my heart trying to tear itself out of my chest while I gave in to my inner Toby and watched our cursed destiny unravel.  

I woke up Wednesday and I was Josh Lyman, ready to exact vengeance on an electorate that was too stupid to know that the guy they just elected doesn't give a flying fuck about them, but eggs were expensive and they were mad about all the "woke." While neither Josh nor I have the energy to engage in actual violence, there was plenty of bodily tension that yearned to scream into the void and an absolute unwillingness to be nice to anyone ever again.

After what happened on Tuesday, I have to believe that America simply does not want democracy. Every single person is a nation of one, and that's all that matters. It's not how the country was founded, as a nation of the people, by the people, for the people. They want it to belong to an autocrat whom they think will somehow "fix" everything they believe is a problem. No compromise, no bipartisanship, no checks and balances. So I think this experiment is over. Americans don't want it. They rejected it.

That makes it very hard to think about The West Wing because the backdrop of its character-driven stories is the celebration of American institutions and public service. But voters just elected someone who has no interest in being a public servant, and they have no interest in being part of a citizenry. The message of The West Wing is a relic now. It makes for a nostalgia watch instead of anything we can aspire to, even just as individuals. 

So, no West Wing fanfiction this week. I can't bring myself to tell any stories in that world because I don't write science fiction/fantasy. But here's the thing now: all that fanfiction was written so I could find an original story, and I found one. And I started writing it. It's called Get the Gazelle. And now that the villains are going to be back in power, I need to be in a world where they have consequences. I also want to see a woman take them down. (And in case you're wondering, that woman started out as Ainsley Hayes in the fanfic but becomes a whole new person.) 

I'm more motivated than ever to write this because all of this rage needs to be channeled into something, and it's going to be a world in which scumbags like Trump and his ilk actually pay for the crimes they commit, the people they hurt, and the damage they cause. 

“If I’m gonna lose, I’d like to lose doing something.”

Here's the catch: I'm going to make any post with excerpts from Get the Gazelle paid. And if no one wants to pay, that's okay. I'm not trying to build an audience or get rich. This is my dumb, little outlet to play and tell stories. But this is original writing, and there's going to be a price of admission. My own work is worth that much. Even if it's not that good. People can still charge money for crap if it's their crap. 

So, here's your first installment of my crap, the prologue to Get the Gazelle. 

(Content warning: This alludes to sexual assault and sex trafficking.)