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{I received the most wonderful ask from bookishdea a few days ago and I figured stow some of my other stuff for the moment and dive back into PA, and this seemed perfect for that. I cut out some of the more specific questions, because I know a lot of people are watching for the first time and haven't seen those episodes, and because I can tell you guys everything {though it would be faster probably}. Dea, if you still really want to know the answers to those questions, let me know and I'll PM you.}

bookishdea asked: "I'm 1/2 way through s04... ....{and} Goldfish vs Goldfish (Crackers) and Psychic vs Physicist and CJ vs Charlie prank war and Toby, Josh and Donna's cross-country road trip are just some absolute gems that had me cackling. But what I really wanted to ask about is how you're planning on dealing with the familial relationships in PA. Steve only has his ma, Bucky doesn't have family, and besides being motivation behind a lot of Jed's decisions, the whole season one plot wouldn't exist without Charlie and Zoey. So I was wondering on how you were planning on dealing with the lack of family. (Also I am now terrified on how you're going to kill SPOILER}. Dang it, this show is making me care too much, I'm not supposed to care, but here I am internally analyzing character motivations. THe more I watch, the more I adore your casting decisions, btw. But really, families - how does that play out in PA?"

Spoilers/meta {??} behind the cut:

So I got to episode 5 of season one and realized that I had made a huge mistake. I didn't have a Zoey. And for those of you past season one, you know that this is a pretty huge problem.

I promptly freaked out.

I thought about bringing in Rebecca Barnes. I thought about bringing in an OC. I thought about scraping the original plot arc in West Wing and making up a whole new arc to justify Rosslyn.

And that last thought really pissed me off. A lot. Because Rosslyn is when you really see how much these people mean to each other. There's a reason we get flashback scenes during the crisis. We see where they were {which frankly, mostly sucked for everyone except Leo and Jed} and where they are now. And even if "now" is an ER waiting room and a White House in panic, you as an audience member know that is exactly where every single character would choose to be. With these people. With their family. Because if it's one thing I get out of West Wing, and out of MCU, it's family. More to the point, it's found family.

Yes, Jed has Abbey and Zoey and his older daughters, and I'm not knocking that dynamic at all because wow, what a powerhouse that family is for one another. Abbey and Jed's relationship is so cohesive and empathic and the level of understanding between them floors me. What a high-wire act, to be Abbey, Jed's wife, and First Lady and Dr. Abigail Bartlet. To be able for her to say "I'm pissed as hell at you but you have to handle this Thing" in season two. To have that conversation about Zoey's medical forms. Dead Irish Writers. Just. The Bartlets give me tons of feelings.

But that's only Jed's blood relations. He calls, or another character references, Jed claiming the following people as his family: Leo. Charlie. CJ. Josh. Toby. Sam.

But Penny, that's the entire core cast. Yes, yes it is.

"These people that would walk through fire for you." Leo tells Jed in season one. And it's only been eighteen episodes, you haven't seen the flashback episodes yet, but you believe it. Josh would burn every bridge in the tristate area. CJ would lie to the press every day if she had to, if Jed had a good enough reason. Toby. The very idea that anyone thinks Toby would ever, ever not support the President? Especially when he's right?

And it's not a one-way street. They all love each other. Josh tries to protect Leo to the point of perjury and increasingly grey backdoor politicking. CJ and Toby. Toby and Sam. Sam and Josh. Josh and Donna. Leo and Josh and Leo and Toby and Charlie and Jed, the strength in this found family is what made the show great.

And once I remembered that, I quit panicking.

Because yes, Steve only has Sarah. And Bucky's family is gone. And Tony's parents are gone. But they have each other. Bucky has Steve and Sarah and Natasha and Tony. He has Sam and the Commandos supporting him in the background. Tony has Pepper and Bruce and Bucky and Clint. Natasha has Clint and Bucky and Sarah. Bruce has Tony and Peter and Clint. Clint has Nat, and Tony, and so on. Peter has Aunt May, and MJ and Sarah and Steve and Bucky. They have each other. They have their family. The fought to find them and they're all going to fight to keep them, and that's what makes everything worth it at the end of the day.

{Meta aside, the mechanics of the familial roles have been divided up among the cast, with much help from bonesbuckleup and ink-phoenix. And a huge, huge shoutout to Xmas Anon who inadvertently helped clear up a huge plothole I was running into for the first year arc. So while there is no Zoey, there is a Zoey proxy for this arc, or an Abbey proxy for this, and so on.}

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