some beautiful fic info/backstory below the cut
josh lyman met laurel danvers at harvard university, and the pair dated for 11 months when they were 19/20. laurel loved josh, and vice versa, (they broke up so she could pursue med school/go on her own path) but had no way to contact him when she found out she was pregnant.
she figured he wouldn't want to be involved anyways, so she raised koanie on her own. a year before, josh had been drunk and explained his sisters death. so when joanie was born, she named her after his sister (having no close family of her own.)
joanie was born in 1986 and raised by laurel until she turned 12. laurel, who had never planned on being a mom and despite loving joanie was getting quite sick of it, called a lawyer and left the country for work.
joanie was left with josh in the summer of 1998 (12 yrs), around the time bartlet was elected. this was obviously and incredibly inconvenient time to acquire a child, so josh never ended up telling anyone in the west wing.well, except for sam. sam seaborn, josh's mother, and his father shortly before his death were the only ones who knew at the time.
this is obviously an insane triple whammy—surprise preteen daughter who wants nothing to do with you, loss of a parent, and an insane amount of stress at work.
joanie was angry. for a very long time. it took her two years to not totally hate her parents. when she was 14, josh slipped up.
he hasn't intended to keep joan a secret, but it was just more convenient that way. no questions. it wasn't like they went out together often because of his schedule. joan never met anyone in the west wing, and barely cared about her dad's job. in the middle of a high-stress meeting, josh asks donna to arrange for joans pick-up from school. this completely freezes the room.
sam attempts to joke the slip-up away, but josh folds and decides it's now or never. he explains everything to them.
toby can't grasp the concept of josh being a father, especially to a teenager. leo is upset, and scolds josh for hiding this and turning it into a much larger scandal than it would've been before bartlet was elected. c.j. has similar concerns, and asks a lot of questions about laurel and if josh was blackmailed. sam is also chewed out for not telling anyone. donna is most upset. she demands to meet joanie and rants about his irresponsibility.
leo forces josh to tell the president everything, which he does so reluctantly. while upset (this has created a load of drama and made everyone's jobs much harder) jed also insists on meeting his daughter and similarly chews him out for the secret. a statement is drafted and c.j. tells all during a press briefing the next day. the story headlines for a day, raising questions about 'what else this administration is hiding'.
it sparks a debate about single parenthood and some people question josh's ability to work in the white house as a single father. a lot of people also blame/attempt to track down laurel. josh wholly discourages this. of course he's a little upset at all the backlash, especially towards laurel, but jed takes the most offense because he considered josh (and therefore joan) family and he makes it clear that josh is incredibly competent even with a teenage daughter.
once things cool down after a couple days, josh brings joan in to the white house. she's shy and hides in josh's office for most of the visit. donna introduces herself first, barely capable of hiding her excitement.
she meets everyone throughout the day, here's a breakdown of first impressions and relationships throughout the show.
c.j: mostly serious because of the last few days circumstances, but she softens over time. she spends a lot of time managing the story so learns more about joanie from josh + ends up having a good conversation with her about the books they both like. c.j. becomes a major support system for joan, especially when her father goes through his ptsd/shooting arc. when c.j. becomes chief of staff joan learns a lot from her until leaving for the santos campaign with her father. when she leaves they only call to talk every once in a while. when joanie takes tobys side after the leak it's rough for a while too.
donna: donna is essentially joans mom. joan sees the chemistry between donna and her father but when she asks about it she's shut down. donna helps joan a lot when her father isn't available and coaches her through typical girl stuff. when donna quits, joan talks with her behind her dad's back but doesn't try to get donna to come back. she knows that she's been needing a promotion or a higher level of work that isn't waiting on her dad all the time.
sam: he knew already, and had "babysat" once. he'd never really had a real conversation or interaction with her outside of that, though. their relationship is stagnant as an awkward uncle-niece thing for a while until he leaves and they stop talking cold turkey. when she's in california with the santos campaign she visits him and they both apologize for never talking.
toby: he acts like he couldn't care less, but is surprised as to how josh managed to keep another human being alive for the last 2 years. joan thinks this is very funny. he's impressed with how mature/smart she is (definetly not josh's traits). in later seasons she stands beside him after the leak despite the political controversy. she also babysits huck and molly.
charlie: he does NOT gaf but after like a month he realizes that she's pretty chill despite being young. when she's not with c.j or josh, she's with him and mrs. landingham/debbie. she helps him with the zoey side plot (having her own bartlet sister love interest) and they spend a lot of time together when she gets kidnapped. i think if charlie went on to run for/become president she would be his chief of staff.
leo: they don't really interact past the first awkward handshake. it isn't until more than a year passes and both warm up to each other. he thinks she's smart and a good resource for the administration when it comes to social issues and policy in later seasons. despite never being incredibly close, josh is like his son therefore she's like a granddaughter to him.
bartlet: he quickly loves joan like a daughter. he says she's 'all the good parts of josh, and none of the immaturity.' he teaches her a lot of latin and economics and takes her advice on women's/lgbtq+ issues in later seasons.
abbey: she manages to meet the first lady (and is most excited for it beforehand) because mrs. bartlet had just returned from an international trip. abbey likes her a lot, especially later seasons when joan tells her to continue volunteering and helping people after the ms scandal when she gives up her license. she thinks joan is very rational and has a future.
sorry if there are any timeline/math mistakes that's my weakest skill!
andulkaphoto
origamiaround
ellievsbear
dailybridgerton
pixelskylines
turnnoffyourmind
