I'm A Marionette [Vivian]

[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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May 26th, 2027

Potterwatch wasn't of interest to Juniper but it had its place at Witch TV and pulled in viewers. In comparison, her own work was typically played in the middle of the day for children, where numbers and ratings were already low to begin with. While she believed she generated quality content for viewers, it was Potterwatch and the other top shows that kept the station alive. Everyone knew that, and it sometimes irked her when something great she wrote got approved, went live, and didn't even come close. She knew she had a shelf-life, as weird as that sounded, compared to an ever evolving talk show that had basically zero competition out there. Maybe that was why it sucked in viewers. Regardless, Vivian was a genius for taking hold of the industry in the way she had. That was no small feat, and despite not watching Potterwatch, Juniper knew it was a worthy accomplishment. If only her stuff had better ratings...

Because of this, she had been asked to work with Vivian on something. Assuming it was an educational broadcast of some sorts, she was carrying binders of notes and potential ideas she had brewed up the night before that could fit into a show like Potterwatch. If it wasn't, then they tapped the wrong writer for such a thing. She only knew what children liked to watch and Transfiguration. Anything outside of that and she was basically a lost cause. As she lugged her work down the hallway towards the offices that the Potterwatch team inhabited, she realized that she had only ever been in there once or twice, usually to drop off mail that accidentally ended up on her desk. Her little corner desk of paradise where she could play by her own rules was vastly different from having an entire section dedicated to one show.

Realizing as she approached the door that she couldn't knock with her arms full, she placed her belongings on the ground and immediately cast a levitation charm on them. Sometimes she wondered why she didn't do that more often. It wasn't like it was a strange occurrence in the building to see notes zooming from one office to the next, or charmed tea kettles finding whomever summoned them. Maybe struggling to carry everything was her subconscious trying to physically exhaust her brain before trying to match Vivian's energy. Yeah, that was definitely it. Knuckles hovering in front of the Potterwatch door, Juniper knocked on it solidly a few times before trying the handle to go in.

Vivian River Jordan ● 424 ● Cirice by Ghost

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Vivian River Jordan]

26 May 2027

Vivian got bored with routine. She never liked to do the same thing twice, whether it was the kind of coffee she ordered from the cart outside HQ, or the stories she would tell at parties, or even the kind of content she liked to bring to her show. Sure, there were some things about Potterwatch that would always stay the same – it was named after the great HP, so it did need to tie back to the Potter family in some way. Sometimes that meant bringing one of the Potter gang as a guest (James loved every opportunity to show off what he considered his many talents), or just sticking to ole reliable – making up fun gossip about Harry that wasn’t mean-spirited like the Skeeter types out there that were just looking to sell a story at any cost.

But keeping Potterwatch Potter-focused wasn’t hard, and Viv still got a lot of wiggle room for what she could do with her show. The producers didn’t much care, as long as her ratings stayed high, and her brain was a chaotic funland of wacky ideas and episode pitches that never ran out. She’d gotten asked a few times what her big secret was, by random people on the street or interns at Witch TV trying to break into the industry themselves. Some people answered the question themselves, the Mean Girls type that claimed it was Viv’s easy access to the Potter family (which she’d been born into) or just pure genetic talent from her father (which was also just given to her). Viv, who’d never seemed to lack courage before, hadn’t quite found it in her to refute these reports…because honestly, maybe they were right. A little bit. Even if she was quite convinced that her real 'secret' was that Viv never ruled anything out. A good idea could come from anywhere, and her brain was always open to it.

Either way, she had a lot to prove – that her success wasn’t a fluke, and that she wasn’t just coasting on her father’s legacy. That fact kept Viv working hard and motivated to constantly seek out the next big thing to put on her show. Keeping in line with her rather out-of-hand Muggle obsession, Viv had been wandering aimlessly around Muggle London looking for inspiration. In true Viv form, she’d been distracted by a puppet show and watched for an entire twenty minutes before a sudden downpour of rain had sent her scurrying home for a cuppa tea. Still, it had set her muse on fire and she hadn’t stopped thinking about puppets ever since. Now the gods above (senior producers) had finally listened to her somewhat unorthodox idea and sent her an expert to put together Potterwatch’s next episode. An episode just for kids! The basics were there, but the idea still needed some refinement. To that end, her crew had managed to pull some apparently brainiac writer for Witch TV's educational programming to come consult with her.

To Viv’s great shame, she didn’t know everyone who worked at Witch TV – probably because the get-to-know-you retreats tended to fall on the full moon. And Viv was quite obviously indisposed at a certain time of the month, every month. So she didn’t know who this Juniper McGonagall was, but since she worked in educational programming…well, Viv assumed she must be a warm and fuzzy person. You know, the motherly type who was quite good with kids. Viv was busy fiddling with a sock – not just any sock of course, but one with buttons for eyes – when she heard a knock on the door. She brightened immediately and bounced over to open the door before the handle had even fully turned. “Woah,” Viv laughed as she looked around at all the floating items making a slow orbit around who she assumed must be Juniper, “You brought the whole office! Lemme guess, you bring your own silverware to other people’s houses too, right?” She stepped aside to let her in, still beaming at her own clever observation.

juniper minerva mcgonagall

[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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She often found that there was a divide in people her age when it came to using magic for simple things. Her parents (and basically all of their peers) solely relied on their wands for everything. Juniper had found that tedious when she was younger, but now she sort of got it. Why make ten trips back and forth between her desk and the Potterwatch office when she could make all of the materials float? If only she had thought about it beforehand, because now that her arms were free from carrying anything she could feel the strain that had been building up on them. Being proficient in transfiguration and what children liked to watch on television did not translate to being physically strong unfortunately. And it felt like she was always lugging her materials to and from meetings. Probably because she the producers required visuals most of the time. Strangely, they were usually entertained by the same things her target audience was. So lots of colors and fun, simple spells.

With the Potterwatch door opening in front of her, she immediately recognized Vivian. It was hard not to when she was basically the face of the office these days. At least that was how she viewed her coworkers. “No?” she answered in a confused manner to the question about bringing her own utensils around with her. Then again, she didn’t do much of that to begin with. “I’m not really sure what your focus is going to be yet, so I tried to bring as much as possible,” Juniper explained as she squeezed into the office, her floating stack of books and binders trying to get in front of her at the same time. Pushing them ahead, they paused while trying to figure out where to go next. And that was exactly why she disliked levitation charms that followed the caster. Always rude but never knowing where to go without a nudge from her.

Despite having said she didn’t know what Vivian wanted to work on through Potterwatch, Juniper had definitely tailored her selection of materials to match some of the more recent shows that had gone up. The only problem was that she wasn’t exactly sure on what they were going to be doing. Thus, the giant stack. “Is there anywhere specific you want me to put all this?” she asked as the floating books started to move back towards her, trying to bump into her as if to tell her to keep moving. Another gentle push kept them at arm’s length, but she could already see them starting to slowly creep back out of her peripheral vision.

Vivian River Jordan ● 440 ● Wrath of the Necromancer by Mire Lore

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Vivian River Jordan]

Hmmm, Viv thought to herself contemplatively at Juniper’s rather disappointing answer – it was simple, to the point, and it relied on logic and solid reasoning. None of the creative chaos or snarkiness that Viv had been hoping for, or maybe just assumed would be there in a writer for children’s shows. She didn’t let that fact deter her, however, instead just nodding her head like a bobblehead as she opened the door wider and let Juniper and her office supply entourage float in. The producers had given Potterwatch a good bit of space for everything related to the production of the show. She knew it was convenient in order to accommodate the rotating door of writers, interns, and other production staff that whirled in and out on a daily basis.

On Viv’s end, she’d done her best to deck the place out and make it both fun and inspirational. Bean bag chairs for when she couldn’t stand to sit in a real chair anymore, funky-colored rugs that practically screamed at you to look at them, and whiteboards just plastered with potential ideas for future episodes and the mechanics of planning them. “Oh, just…over there?” Viv gestured vaguely towards the dedicated cork-board she’d started for a puppet show episode, featuring little doodles of potential puppet designs and the vague outline of a storyboard template. Viv took out her wand so she could give it a quick flick and watch empty coffee cups and half-finished muffins neatly sweep themselves into the trash and leave desk space for Juniper’s army of binders and supplies. She’d certainly come prepared.

Viv threw herself into an empty chair and let herself spin in a circle before turning to face Juniper again. Drizzle sadly wasn’t here for the moment, since she had an appointment at the pet groomer’s before their next show, which left her hands feeling oddly empty and unsure what to do with themselves. So Viv cleared her throat and let herself soak in the corkboard for inspiration. “All right, then? Ready to go?” Viv checked, waited approximately two seconds, and then launched into a full explanation. “Anyway, we’ve already got the star of our show. This is Harry Puppet. He’s going to defeat Voldemort, name TBD. It’s just gotta happen in twenty minutes, that's the tricky bit. Kids, right?” Viv held up the half-finished sock (which looked a little pathetic, now that she was showing it to someone else) and a much nicer looking doodle she’d made of how she wanted Harry Puppet to look for the show. Yes, the gaps between her imagination and reality could be…quite impossible to cross, sometimes.

juniper minerva mcgonagall

[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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The Potterwatch office definitely showed its importance for the station as a whole: the entire space was cozy and honestly looked like it fit more in her wheelhouse with child entertainment than it did with Potterwatch's ever changing and evolving material. Or maybe that did make it more applicable? Because now they were tag teaming whatever this new program was going to be. Following Vivian's instructions, Juniper floated her materials over towards a cork board that had drawings on it. There were little figures on it, and she tried to figure out what it was without any further explanation. Was this what they were going to be working on? An extra desk was also immediately cleaned off, and a portion of her belongings spread themselves out across it as well. Even their desks were bigger here! She made a mental note to remember to ask for a budget increase during the next annual meeting, mostly so she could get more space and an extra bookshelf or two for everything she had accumulated over the years. Organization was key after all, and finding what she needed quickly would make situations like these a lot easier to pull material for.

Juniper took a seat at the desk that had been cleaned off for her, watching as her coworker spun around in her own chair a few times. Merlin that was a lot of energy for a meeting. But it made sense with everything that Potterwatch accomplished and got praise for. Someone had to have enthusiasm, and Vivian clearly had loads of it. Before she could respond that she was ready, Vivian jumped right into the explanation, stating that she wanted to do a puppet show and showing off a sock that she had named Harry Puppet. Juniper blinked a few times at the sock puppet, now realizing that the drawings on the board were probably part of it too. It was honestly a good idea, and puppets were a proven winner with muggle children. Americans had Sesame Street and The Muppets, so why couldn't magical children have this? "I feel a little silly bringing all my stuff now...I think that it's a brilliant idea. But do you think there's a budget to maybe making the puppets a little more realistic? Nothing against socks, but kids sort of hate them."

Vivian River Jordan ● 387 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Vivian River Jordan]

Okay, this was one of the best parts that Viv loved about her job. Well, really, she loved it all – the scheming, the random strokes of inspiration at three in the morning, nursing an extra-sweet Butterbeer (with an extra five shots of cream) while she whisper-shouted at Temperance why it was literally life-and-death necessary that an idea should be sent to the producers for approval. Oh yeah, and she also loved the moment that the little red knob lit up and Viv could just release all that pent-up energy into her goal – making each show the best one she’d ever done. But really, the best part was watching an idea become a show. Starting with a little nugget of inspiration and adding to it until you had something you could be proud of. Or slightly sheepish about whenever someone brings it up, like the failed attempt to bring Abraxans into the studio.

Juniper seemed deep in thought as she neatly arranged her things and primly took a seat on the chair Viv pointed out. It made the girl itch to ask what the children’s writer was thinking, because she had quite a serious face and didn’t easily share any of the thoughts clearly whirling through her mind. But she supposed there was still time – they were only two minutes into their first meeting, after all – so Viv bit her tongue and picked up a rubber band ball instead. Which she quickly put down again because she’d forgotten that Harry Puppet was still on her hand and now it looked like the Sock Who Lived liked to eat rubber bands. Which she knew for a fact wasn’t true, because she’d seen her personal hero eat a lot of things but never office supplies.

Viv waved her hand dismissively at the totally unnecessary apology. “It’s an ace idea. Bet my mum wishes I was so organized.” It occurred to Vivian, as she watched Juniper neatly go through her things, that maybe she ought to find a marker or something too. She patted herself down, frowned slightly, and peeled the sock off as she muttered, “Bugger, just had my quill on me…” She almost missed the tentative question about budget (ah yes, the sacred b-word in the entertainment industry) and Viv shot a puzzled look at Juniper. She’d heard the producers of the show talk about costs among themselves, but no one had ever brought it up with her. “Oh yeah, fair chance. I mean, whatever you want,” she said dismissively, trying to disguise the slightly discomfited tone that came with the realization that she’d never quite thought about money before. But she brightened again at the shop talk, even if it was only to say that socks weren’t cool. She put on a mock serious expression and fought the urge to grin as she said, “Alright, gimme the facts. What’re all the young’uns watching these days?”

juniper minerva mcgonagall

[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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Watching Vivian try to find a quill was sort of funny, considering she'd only just finished mentioning her issue with being organized. The Potterwatch office as a whole didn't seem too bad - Juniper's own desk was normally a mountain of binders and notebooks, the only time she was ever visible at her desk being when her materials were elsewhere (like today). Her own tower of chaos was in places she knew though, maybe that being the difference between herself and what Vivian seemed to be referring to. Her mess was exactly how it needed to be, loose papers and random, nonsensical post-it notes included. Not to mention the use of her hand and arm as an extended notepad. It seemed a bit amateurish and definitely dangerous due to the ink easily washing off, but she'd managed well enough over the last few years. Creatives, which apparently she was included in, were an odd bunch to begin with. Thoughts and plans scribbled on her skin in the absence of paper or a napkin was more normal than she'd ever imagined. The lack of a writing utensil was definitely something she'd never be caught without though.

Ultimately, Juniper was here to provide the material for whatever this show ended up being. Or segment. She wasn't quite sure what the standard practice was for Potterwatch implementing ideas. Her normal routine for a new project was to pitch and then develop the pilot. With an already established show and format, she assumed this was just going to be slotted in however Vivian saw fit. If so, that jumped over so many hurdles that were normally in the way. Especially if the budget was gone going to be an issue. Juniper wasn't privy to what other departments had, or really to her own until she got close to reaching it, so it was hard to gauge. Potterwatch was fairly popular though, so maybe it was high enough that spending exorbitant amounts on an educational puppet show would barely make a dent.

In regards to what children seemed to like, that was easier for her to go over. "In terms of what we produce ourselves, parents tend to like programming that simplifies magic in a fun way. I imagine most younger families are tuning in, so keeping it up to date with modern magic usage but trickling in easy to learn lessons always helps. Apparently a lot are shown old muggle shows as well, so that builds on their, I guess you'd call it worldly experiences?" It was hard to understand exactly what children liked, outside of goofy characters that said funny, simple words. A puppet show would be fairly easy to do with that in mind. "So following your idea, we would want to make it as simple as possible, make fun of Voldemort's character without making him super scary, and Harry needs to be relatable in the sense that a toddler can understand him."

Vivian River Jordan ● 491 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Vivian River Jordan]

There were plenty of bureaucratic obstacles to go before this idea could become a reality, but honestly – Viv wasn’t psychologically ready to deal with them. It was the exact reason so many middle-aged men had been assigned to be her producers…the higher-ups at the station didn’t seem convinced that a kid with no experience (namely herself) could pull off such a big concept (namely, rebooting a household name like Potterwatch). So she’d gotten the greenlight, because who could really tell her no, but with a lot of little caveats attached. The biggest one was the heapings of producers they’d added to her staff with the idea that they could be a restraining influence whenever it seemed like she might spiral out of control. Her early successes had silenced the vultures for now, but it was only a matter of time.

They hadn’t nixed the idea of adding children-oriented programming to the show, but she hadn’t exactly briefed them on Harry Puppet yet. Viv didn’t foresee any problems, but she knew…sooner or later, she’d find that red line. But until then, she didn’t want to worry about it too much. No, she wanted to focus on what she did best – making the magic happen. So she listened attentively to Juniper’s explanation on the methodology that the station had come up with. It didn’t sound too tricky in theory, but Viv knew the balance could be hard to find in real life. Your show had to be digestible, easily broken down into small bites, but it still had to carry a punch with its message. People (and she was sure parents were like this too) wanted to boil down your concept into one sentence. Family is the most important thing of all. Believe in yourself and anything can happen. If it was too simple, they got bored. If it was too complicated, they didn’t want it.

“Oh, we can definitely do that. I’m thinking Voldemort needs some incompetent Death Eaters to dial down ‘pure evil’ to ‘mild inconvenience.’ You know how it is, goofy minion with all the best evil intentions but can never quite get the job done.” She was thinking out-loud, but Viv spun out of her chair a moment later to scribble ideas on the board. Everyone knew enough of Harry’s story to recount the highlights, and she jot down a couple ideas for scenes. It was a children’s show, after all, and clumsy Death Eaters repeatedly dropping a prophecy…yeah, she could already picture it. That would get a good laugh. “And for our main guy…seems easy enough to stick close to reality. Adults never listen to the kids, right?” Of course, it had been much more dramatic than that, but the concept was a common enough theme in kids’ shows. Viv wanted her show to do something new (instead of being like every other show on the channel), but she knew you still had to include a couple of the more basic tropes to make it palatable to a wide audience. They’d find their magical innovation for the story somewhere.

juniper minerva mcgonagall

[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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"Someone needs to be the punching bag I suppose," Juniper agreed after a pause to think all of that through. One of the most dangerous wizards known to magic kind and his followers reduced to that of a sock puppet show? It basically wrote itself. Having a little dash of semi-accurate history that could easily be explained again to children once they got older, and in greater detail. She sort of wished that she'd had the shows Witch TV was now making when she was that age. Did that make them pioneers for doing this? It was starting to feel that way to her.

"At the same time, it can't be so outlandish that we'll get complaints. I mean, there's a subsection of parents that are always going to whine about what we put on...but it has to be educational at the end of the day." What she was worried about the most was watering down history. They could make fun of Voldemort as much as they wanted, and really they should, but that didn't remove the dark stain he had left. Real people had been killed by him and his followers.

Traversing that to make children understand what was important but also very real might be tricky. That sort of thing was in the hands of the producers though. Everything ultimately lived and died by them. Right now, the two of them were merely brainstorming. Juniper didn't doubt that her colleague had more say in this sort of thing though. She'd always had the impression that what Vivian wanted, she got for her show. "I think it was the opposite for me. All the adults wanted to me to stop talking the second I could." And who could blame them? She had been an insufferable know-it-all once she was able to read, and that carried on through to the end of school. Mixing in her horrible personality back then and it was no wonder even the professors tried to placate her. Or maybe that was just the McGonagall name...

Vivian River Jordan ● 340 ● Song by Artist

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[Vivian River Jordan]

It pleased Viv to see that Juniper seemed to be taking to the idea and she gave a little whoop of excitement as she added a couple more ideas to the board. She honestly hadn’t been sure how the pitch meeting would go. Juniper McGonagall had a very specific reputation around the station, and she was sure it was well-earned. No-nonsense creative genius. Viv had somewhat assumed that a children’s show writer would be the maternal type, but Juniper didn’t quite radiate the warm and fuzzy vibes. Still, her record spoke for herself and Viv always wanted the best for her show. Potterwatch wasn’t just a professional investment for her. No, it was deeply personal. The show had its own role in wizarding history, and her dad had always spoken very fondly of his days with the Weasley twins. Viv wanted to do right by them.

So she nodded along at Juniper’s warning about the parents, but it was an idle sort of agreement – like ‘I hear you but it won’t be a problem.’ They could keep it grounded in reality, that would probably be for the best anyway. Viv didn’t want to go all the way to air just for Harry to take offense. But she thought about Juniper’s observation – it had to be educational. Viv nodded and tossed herself back into her chair. She gave a slow spin but stopped contemplatively while facing Juniper again. “I have a message in mind,” Viv said slowly. Usually – well, usually the thought-to-words ratio for Viv was zero. She said exactly what was on her mind and shot it off at a ridiculously fast pace. But she took her time to choose her words because it seemed important enough this time for her to try.

“It’s about hope, innit? Not everyone is the Chosen One, but we all fight our own battles. And sometimes we’re so caught up in those that we don’t see anyone else’s. But that’s what Harry is, isn’t he? Proof that things can get better, and that we can help each other to do it.” He didn’t talk about his past much. It had taken the Potter kids a little while to understand that their dad was famous, and Viv herself hadn’t fully absorbed the fact until she was older. But when he did share – his stories had an impact on her because they weren’t just about the glorious victories. He always emphasized his friends, and the amazing things they’d done together, and the brighter future they’d all wanted. It seemed like an important message to send to the kids of this generation…considering the dark times that had come now (and hopefully gone).

juniper minerva mcgonagall

[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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Despite their areas of work being somewhat different, they still both worked in media and knew the best ways to navigate viewership. Potter Watch and what Juniper frequently worked in couldn't be further from each other. But they both still had detractors, and somehow the parents were always the worst. Opinions on how their poor little warlocks and wicca can't be exposed to magic too early, as if mummy and daddy weren't constantly using it around them. Blame it on the television though! Merlin. One look at muggle television history and she easily found that the same thing had happened with them at first too, albeit a little different. The truly secluded magical folk were the worst, as they thought everything caused brain rot. There was no saving them. So a puppet show ultimately wouldn't do anything to the numbers.

Juniper listened intently as Vivian explained the full message she was thinking about. Now that was something! "Merlin, that's good," she agreed instantly. Maybe a tad complex for toddlers, but older kids watching would understand. And if not, their parents would have a hard time disagreeing with it. "I think we all need a bit of that after these last few years," Juniper added. Whether or not the terror caused over the last three or four years was remotely close to what most of their parents experienced under Voldemort wasn't really a thing to compare. Trauma wasn't supposed to be like that.

"So I guess my next question is what you want me to do. Obviously I can provide you with everything you need in terms of research and whatever...but I think you might have the writing portion down already." If it came down to it, she had no problem putting her expertise in it. But Vivian seemed to have everything under control. Maybe this meeting was more of an executive decision by the producers to keep it all kid friendly.

Vivian River Jordan ● 321 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Vivian River Jordan]

Viv stared at the board and wondered where the red lines would be. It was a brilliant idea, and sort of strange that nobody else had tried to adapt the story to the screen already – likely due to HP’s never-ending battle for privacy against the big publishing houses. But the fact that it was new meant that there’d be doubts, lots of doubts from the producers and all the big-wigs at the stations that would wanna run their risk analyses and focus groups first. And anyway, even Viv knew that there were some things you just couldn’t joke about. Potterwatch was a light and easy show, but the memorial episodes for the Battle of Hogwarts each year…well, that was just off-limits.

So Harry Puppet and his epic fight against Moldy Voldy would have to be done super carefully. But there were exactly zero doubts in Viv’s mind that Juniper would know exactly when to rein things in and keep her balanced. She clearly had a creative imagination – or else you wouldn’t last a day in this business – but she also seemed to have that inner voice that warned you when something was a less-than-good idea. Technically Viv had it too, but she actively chose to ignore it on a daily basis. Juniper seemed interested in the idea and Viv lit up at the thought of moving one little step forward in this massive enterprise. “Aces. People could do with a laugh after the bloody depressing stuff the Prophet’s printed lately,” she agreed, rubbing her hands excitedly and tossing the marker to join the colony of loose pens on her desk.

She spun in her chair again to buy some time to consider Juniper’s question. Because even if Viv did have a few storylines spinning through her mind right now, and storyboarding sounded like a simple matter of locking herself up with a pack of screenwriters for a few nights – well, if only it was that easy. “I mean look, believe it or not but I’ve had a rotten time getting anything greenlighted by the stuffed suits on my segment. Think I’m a toddler who’s gotten loose from her leash, y’know?” Viv spared an eyeroll for her ‘handlers’ and moved on. “But you know how things work here, how to avoid the angry fan mail before it happens. And, y’know, keep us focused. I’m rubbish at stayed organized, but I don’t wanna give ‘em an excuse to shut this down before it reaches the air. So…” she shrugged but shot a pointed look at Juniper and the carefully labeled mobile office she’d levitated with her.

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[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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A look of understanding washed over Juniper's face as Vivian explained exactly what she needed from this partnership. The bureaucratic part of the job had always sucked. Sometimes she literally had to shove it down the producer's throats to get them to understand how significantly popular an idea would be. Had there been flops? Sure. Not everything happened to work out with the audience as well as some shows did. Were the ones that failed typically ideas coming down from the top? Most of the time. They had very little understanding on children's programming, which was why she had been given the majority of that work load. It was almost too much for one person, as she had spent months at the start only researching muggle material to try and get a grasp on what worked and what didn't. Sock puppets, or some iteration of them, was bound to work. One of the longest running syndicated muggle children's show had puppets. In her eyes, it was a fool proof way to keep kids attention. Not to mention that she thought using actual humans to operate them would be better than charms. In her opinion, it made it more 'real'. If this took off and magic was used, then that would really stick out.

"I understand," she responded. She found it strange that Vivian thought the higher-ups viewed her that way, considering her show brought in a lot of money. No one else had their own private offices in the building. Merlin, Juniper's own desk was shoved in a corner surrounded by literally all of her material. Every morning it made her internally scream that she needed to add at least half a dozen filing cabinets in her next budget request. "It might be harder for them to toss it to the side if it's a joint venture as well. My producer is tad more amenable when it comes to new ideas, so I think if we pitch it to them, get the go ahead from my department and then run it up with their help, it'll be easier," Juniper suggested. She didn't know how things functioned at Potterwatch, but if the education department could get the credit with the budget of Vivian's area...she didn't see how that wouldn't be considered a win.

Vivian River Jordan ● 382 ● Song by Artist

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Vivian River Jordan]

Entertainment was a cutthroat industry, the kind of work where you had to constantly look two steps ahead of where everyone else was and use your elbows to push ahead (sometimes literally). It wasn’t really the place to make friends, because trust had a lot less meaning than a signed-and-sealed contract for most people. But you could still reach understandings. Everyone had their go-to peeps - the producers that were open to hearing something new, the set designers that could be bribed with sugar, your longtime Quidditch buddy who just happened to work in marketing. It was a big station, there were a lot of moving pieces, and everyone seemed to have silently agreed on a sink-or-swim approach. There was rarely an opportunity for a second chance at Witch TV.

But Viv thought that she and Juniper had reached a sort of understanding – if only because they both knew (and hated) how the bureaucracy worked and because they were both constantly searching for the next big thing too. At least she’d felt comfortable enough to be honest to Juniper about the position her show was in, the pressure to constantly overperform or face cancellation. It sucked when real life got in the way of inspiration, and that had been one of Viv’s constant challenges since leaving Hogwarts. How could she follow her passion when the voice of the real world was constantly in her ear, reminding her not to fail or else? It was enough to push any wizard to visit the apothecary for a Calming Draught.

“We just gotta keep the momentum,” Viv agreed, “So it doesn’t get stuck on someone’s desk. And get some of these ideas on paper so we have something to wave in people’s faces.” Her eyes drifted back over to her ideas board, which had dozens of little notes on it that altogether added up to one cohesive idea. She didn’t mind the pitch coming from a different department – if anything, that’d make it easier to get a time slot that worked better for children. Viv would keep her fingers crossed for Saturday. Really, she just wanted to see the idea come to life (and maybe have the opportunity to play a puppet or two). She’d been working on her voices for ages.

juniper minerva mcgonagall

[juniper minerva mcgonagall]

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The good thing about this effort was that Vivian had about a hundred times more enthusiasm to keep it going. Not saying that she lacked it by any means, just that Juniper knew herself and she sometimes had issues with being pushy when it came to work. Like she had just said, her producer was definitely easier to go through. She had no doubt that between the two of them they would be able to push things through though.

Taking out one of her notepads and flipping to a clean sheet, she started copying down everything that was already on the whiteboard. That wasn’t going to last forever on it, and one house elf cleaning snap later and it’d be gone forever. She was sure Vivian already had a copy but there was no harm in getting another.

“I don’t think I have much else to add at this point,” Juniper added as she continued to scribble in her shorthand. “But you’re free to peruse what I brought. There are some interesting ideas on writing for children in relation to television.” Amongst everything, the muggles definitely knew how to do media the right way. She liked how the magical world was playing a lot of catchup now, and those within Witch TV that knew what they were doing were able to capitalize on that. She certainly was. One of the most popular muggle children’s shows in America utilized puppets. It seemed only natural that Vivian would know as well.

Finishing up her notes, she looked over at her pile of books that she’d brought with her. She didn’t need them any time soon, and most of the time they just collected dust in her little corner of her office. At least here they might get some use for the time being. “Did you want to go over anything else? I guess we could schedule out another meeting next week with a full proposal, and then get the powers that be in on the next one?”

Vivian River Jordan ● 335 ● Song by Artist

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