LogFAQs > #972810825

Honorable Mention: Journal Moore
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The character that would have been #128 is Journal Moore!

Twenty-two and perhaps the most together woman of her age, Journal Moore works as the Presidents communications director, having gone from White House intern to the expression of presidential speech in a span of 72 hours. Journal is a non-nonsense go-getter, cutthroat in her efficiency and highly competent. As the speech writer and policy czar for the President, Journal is one of his closest confidants, a fact that is becoming all too real for those who join the Presidents reconstruction task force.

While Journal at this moment really only interacts with Xander, the relationship between the two immediately slipped into something comfortable, like a well-worn pair of shoes. There is a natural chemistry there, one that feels like it's always been there. The patter and back-and-forth is rapid-fire and natural, and any dialogue always has a real crispness to it, a real snap. Based and rooted in a classic West Wing-style Sorkinian political perspective, Journal's confidence matches Xander's own, and when they butt heads, it always pertains to just how much authority each of them has and how much both want to see President Horne's administration survive and remain successful.

It should be mentioned that President Horne's staff is largely liberal despite Horne himself being the last relic of a campaign set in 2008 - a moderate Republican. Never elected, Horne was the Speaker of the House during President Lex Luthor's administration. After both Luthor and Pete Ross (his VP) were ousted form power, Horne was next in the line of succession. Though Horne himself never seemed to have aspirations for the Oval Office, he's slipped into a natural wartime leadership position out of necessity; however, this also led to a host of hand-me-downs from the previous administration remaining in position during the odd, unexpected transition of power as a result. Journal has something to prove because of this. Not only is she the wrong party, a liberal independent in a conservative Republican's executive staff, but she has so little experience that she's defensive due to it.

I love the characters who have something to prove. Not only is there a desire to be successful that drives Journal well-past the point of simple performance, but Journal knows that there are no alternatives. These are the times that try men's souls, after all. Most of Washington is dead, captured or Equated. The House and Senate are gone. The Supreme Court is gone. The Cabinet is gone. What remains are a handful of admittedly low-level personnel from the wrong administration, forced to ban together to achieve great things with few resources amidst the gathering storm of a final, existential crisis. Journal may be conniving, she may be all about Eve.

But she's also a true patriot, rising to meet that final crisis with the earnest aplomb of a young woman who simply won't accept 'no' for an answer.

The next honorable mention is a mention that went undrafted!