#do you still include the third person in the 'send to' option?

[dinosaur-mayonnaise]

three way emails are so ANNOYING

you add a third person and suddenly none of the regular social rules apply.

and don't even get me STARTED on cc's. i can never be a corporate girlie bc to me these are the horrors.

[moonlitstoriess]

Passionate Storms- Ruhn Danaan x Reader (1/2)

A/n: Hey guys! So I decided to make this small 2 part series for my Ruhn girlies, hope you enjoy<3

Warnings: angst and yeah that’s pretty much it😔

She was tired. Absolutely wrecked. The whole day has been horrible from start to finish. First, she was late for work at the Crescent City Art Museum, causing her boss to give her an extra three hour shift into the night. Y/n thought she could deal with it only to realize how wrong she was when her day went from bad to worse.

Spilling her coffe onto one of the workers by accident, recording the wrong date for the official visit by some professional artists, dealing with snobbish, rich and rude visitors who lashed out on her when she said that they can't get too close to the paintings, one of them even calling her 'a lowlife who has no right to talk to them'.

You could say that by the end of it all, y/n was absolutely drained. The worst part was when one of her close co-workers rudely told her off for 'speaking too much' during their break. Well, it's not like y/n could do anything about that. She has always been very bubbly and talkative towards those whom she trusts. Including, her mate, Ruhn Danaan. He loved her bubbly personality, always tellin\ her how that was one of the most attractive things about her and how she should never apologize for it.

So y/n thought that maybe a quick call to her boyfriend would fix everything....wrong. Ruhn never picked any of her calls up, always sending her to voicemail. And just after her 15th unanswered call, when y/n was about to say 'screw it' and head to find her mate, she received a text.

Ruhn✨🖤

Busy. Don’t call.

Strange, usually he would pick up her call at minimum the third ring or inform her beforehand that he would be busy. Whatever, she didn't dwell on it much because maybe he just forgot? Maybe he also had a packed day like her? Whatever the case is, she was sure that once home, they would both catch up with each other before going to sleep in each other's arms.

Y/n's mood improved greatly at the thought of that as she prepared to leave the museum late into the the night. She got into her car and began driving when all of a sudden, in the middle of a dark road, the car's engine stopped.

No, no, no! Not this too, please!

Her multiple tries to restart the engine were all fruitless as the car clearly wouldn't budge. Because this road wasn't the main one, but rather a side road, there were no other cars here and the streetlamps were flickering non stop. Helpless, y/n tried calling her mate once again only to be sent to voicemail.

Great. What now?

All the car repair places would be closed, her only option being to leave the car here and then call the car technicians tomorrow to come pick it up. She spent the next fifteen minutes pushing the vehicle into the side of the road and sending a prayer up to the Gods for it to still be here when the mechanics arrive tomorrow.

Once the car was in a good place, she sighed and picked her important stuff out of her car and into her bag before turning around and walking all the way home, hoping to find a taxi on the way.

Forty-five minutes later, body drenched in sweat, legs sore and shaking from walking so much and chest heaving up and down, y/n finally opened the door to her and Ruhn's apartment only to be met with darkness.

Was Ruhn still not home? Where was he? Maybe he was asleep? But he never goes to sleep without her beside him.

She dragged her feet towards their shared bedroom, turning on the lights to see an empty bed.

Hmmm he hasn't arrived yet, then. Whatever's holding him back, must really be important.

With a sigh, y/n headed towards the bathroom, taking her clothes off and then turning the shower on before entering it and relaxing in the serenity of a nice hot shower after a long and brutal day.

Once out, she felt her stomach grumble as she realized how she hasn't eaten anything yet, deciding to make herself and Ruhn something because knowing Ruhn, he probably hasn't eaten anything either.

Humming to herself, y/n began taking out her ingredients for Ruhn''s favorite dish of hers, pasta. She hummed and hummed as her hands kept working on preparing her beloved's favorite meal, lips lifting up in a smile at the thought of his surprise when he sees this meal.

An hour later, she had the pasta ready and served into two plates. Y/n was busy with pouring the wine into the two glass cups when the door opened and in came her beloved, looking all frustrated and annoyed.

Y/n smiled brightly at the sight of him as she put the now filled glasses down and came towards him, opening her arms wide. "Ruhn, my love, how are you?" She said while hugging him, only to not recieve a hug back as he shook her off and bent down to undo his boots.

"Fine."

Okay....something was wrong but- "I am sure once you eat this warm meal, all the stress from your day will go away. And look, it's your favorite!"

But, for the first time during the duration of their year long relationship, Ruhn refused to eat her meal, saying, "Not hungry."

Something was definitely wrong. Ruhn never refuses her meals.

And so, as her mate turned around and headed towards their room, y/n trailed after him, wishing to let him know that she is here for him.

"Love, you know that I am here for you, right? If something happened, you can always talk to me, I will always listen to whatever-"

"Oh for Urd's sake, y/n! Can't you just shut up even for once? Always talking nonstop! I can see why Nixie called you a chattering monkey today, you just won't shut up! And why were you calling me nonstop? It's not like you have anything important going on except talking about useless things so just leave me alone right now!"

Her heart shattered into a million pieces. This was the final nail in the coffin, the cherry on top of her horrendous day.

Her voice shook as she said, "N-nixie? As- as in my ex-best friend? W-where did you see her?"

Ruhn sighed, "At the bar."

"You were at the bar with Nixie?!"

"And what if I was?!"

"W-what?"

"What. If. I. Was?!"

Y/n's lips wobbled as she only managed to whisper a small "I can't believe you."

He just shook his head and said, "I can't do this right now." Before pushing past her and heading towards the door. "I hope that once I am back, you will finally learn to give me my deserved space." He took his coat and shut the door behind him.

She was in shock. Nothing can excuse this behavior. What is this? How could he? Did he always find her annoying? Did he always think this way about her? Maybe- maybe he had a rough day but no, she had a rough day too and you don't see her going around cursing everyone.

With tears that began to fall the second he left the apartment, y/n darted towards their room, taking out a bag and throwing in whatever she found, cursing him through it all.

Finally, once done, she took out a small piece of paper and wrote down something before heading towards the door.

He wanted space? She would give him his space.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ineffable-endearments]

Hello, everyone!

In light of Neil Gaiman's comment that Amazon is close to officially renewing Good Omens but hasn't done so yet, I think those of us who can should start sending physical postcards to Amazon Studios!

The TL;DR of this post is that you can easily send a postcard from MyPostcard.com for about $3 (USD, I'm sure other currencies can vary). The Web site will print and mail it for you, so you don't have to do any printing or mailing yourself. The postage is included in the $3.

If you don't already have an image or card you want to use, you can just use one of mine above. Some of them are small because of small source images, but the site seems to resize them appropriately for the card. There are bigger versions in a Google Drive folder that you shouldn't have to be logged in to see.

You can send the postcards asking for a third season of Good Omens addressed to Jennifer Salke and Vernon Sanders, co-heads of Amazon Studios, at:

AMAZON STUDIOS 1620 26TH STREET, SUITE 4000N SANTA MONICA, CA 90404 USA

@fuckyeahgoodomens was the first to post this contact information for Amazon, so thank you, Ixi.

If it's something you don't mind, I would very deeply appreciate reblogs on this, since it works better if lots of people see it! No pressure if you don't want to, though.

And if you have Questions, click through below for my reasoning on all this.

Why should we send postcards to Amazon Studios?

We've made lots of noise online about renewal, and we've done a lot of streaming Good Omens. But I haven't seen much discussion of sending physical mail or, specifically, postcards.

Mail takes up space in the real world. It's slightly harder to ignore than email. It's way more attention-grabbing than posts on X or Tumblr or any other social media site. Because postage is required, physical mail can also appear more "committed."

Postcards specifically are great because of their convenience for the recipient. No one has to open them to read them. All it takes is a quick glance to see what we're asking for, and realistically, a quick glance is the best we can ask for in a corporate office. That's why I'm emphasizing postcards over regular letters (although really, anything helps).

Is sending postcards really going to motivate Amazon to make more Good Omens?

Postcard and letter-writing campaigns have helped get shows renewed in the past. Star Trek: The Original Series is a good example of a series that got another season after a letter-writing campaign. This article has more examples.

We don't actually know what's going on in Good Omens's case. Maybe postcards would make a difference; maybe they wouldn't. We can only make our most determined effort at making sure we're heard, and sending mail is part of that.

The cost of sending a postcard is too much for me.

I understand that sending a postcard will not be an option for many of us. This post isn't intended to try to push you into spending money you don't have. If you still want to find a way to participate, you can also send an email to cs-reply@amazon.com with your comments about wanting Good Omens 3. It's not physical mail, but it is still a personal message from a customer.

In fact, people who are sending postcards might want to follow up with an email, too.

Do we have to use your postcard designs?

No! Not necessarily! You can use anything.

As long as the message you write includes how much you want Good Omens 3, your postcard's image doesn't necessarily have to relate. You could send a souvenir postcard that says "Greetings from Los Angeles, CA / Tadfield, England / etc" from your local post office and just write your message on the back.

Technically, even a plain index card should be thick enough to mail as a postcard, at least by USPS standards. Just write your desire for Good Omens 3 on it, put a stamp and Amazon's address on it, and make sure it's at least 90mm x 127mm (3.5in x 5in).

Isn't Amazon Studios going to notice a bunch of postcards being mailed from the same Web site?

I'm sure they will. But the messages will each be unique, and again, they'll know each card represents a person who had to order the card and postage themselves.

Speaking of unique messages, what should I write?

One sentence is enough. Definitely indicate that you want Season 3 of Good Omens. If you want to add more, you could also write a sentence or two about how much you love the series so far.

Above all, be polite and straightforward! Remember that sarcasm and jokes often do not come across well in print, so it may be best to stick with simple statements that can be taken at face value.

What address should the cards go to?

The co-heads of Amazon Studios appear to be Vernon Sanders and Jennifer Salke; you can address them by name, although I'm guessing it will be someone else who does the reading/glancing.

Amazon Studios's address is:

AMAZON STUDIOS 1620 26TH STREET, SUITE 4000N SANTA MONICA, CA 90404 USA

Where did you get these images?

The images for the nightingale postcard and the Crowley postcard are screencaps from directedbypiper.

The Please Do Not Lick the Walls and Fell the Marvelous posters were downloads from the Amazon X-Ray feature.

The Nice and Accurate Prophecies postcard was adapted from cover art I did for A Nice and Interpretive Fanzine. Most of it is my own, although the mottled background is an extremely blurred version of a free stock texture from Pixabay, users chrisfiedler and/or humusak.

The bookshop postcard is a promotional image from Amazon used in a Den of Geek article.

[viamutationis]

OH GREY WARDEN, WE'RE REALLY IN IT NOW.

ID in alt text, notes and oc infodump under the cut! PLEASE ask me about them they're my new babygirl of the week

Yeah. Ben-Hassrath Cousland is wild, I know. This was one of those 3 am thoughts that became a beloved oc and now they're my canon protag. Basically: She was being trained to be House Cousland's left hand to spy within the noble courts and intercept threats to her family's rule, and a large part of that meant being covertly sent to Orlais to train as a bard. Buuuut the bardmaster she studied under was an undercover Hissrad, and she wound up being converted to the Qun by her. Teenage Laurentia was in a spot where, like every kid, she was questioning the Andrastian beliefs she was raised with and all the unfair things she noticed in her society, so she was very open to the Qun.

Her role once she was sent back home was basically just to send reports detailing the inner workings of the Ferelden nobility and to be aware of any Tal-Vashoth activity in the area. Pretty benign shit, and the former task is what she was doing for her family anyway. Still recruited by the Wardens the normal way, via Duncan doing his "come with me if you want to live" shtick after the fam dies. None of the Blight Crew find her out save for Leliana, because Leli knows everything. She only reveals it to Sten just as he's about to hop on a ship back home LMAOOO.

They're genuinely very compassionate and sweet. A lil whimsical. Highly loyal and protective. Very lawful good (emphasis on lawful). It's a weird sort of internal reconciling - they are genuinely kind to most people and love listening to others' issues and helping them out. It just so happens that this makes them an excellent spy, because they're exactly the sort of person people feel comfortable opening up to, and they see no issue with passing relevant information on to the powers they spy for. The kindness is genuine, but it's also a tool, if that makes sense. Their duty comes before any attachments. On that Master Coercion grindset.

No romance because they're aro, but they do have a little homoerotic espionage cat and mouse goin on with Leliana (singing campfire songs and trading stories and braiding each others' hair included). They get along with all their companions besides Morrigan and Oghren, and even Morrigan is more just.. cordial passive aggression.

They exist in the same worldstate as my Orlesian Warden-Commander Gavriel! He's a veteran warden who joins them on the road after Lothering because his ass snuck into Ferelden to help the Wardens solo, and then he'll later become the WC while they become Arlessa because they have more political experience and he has more military experience.

They generally make the nicey nice choices, albeit not where magic is concerned, and even then it's purely out of an abundance of caution. They do NOT annul the Circle, they do that secret third option where you tell Greagoir there could still be blood mages so he puts the mages into quarantine and Wynne still joins you but the game counts it as siding with the Templars. They let Isolde kill Connor, rip lil dude. (Not like they have a choice, they would rather that than the blood magic anyway, but they kill Jowan soooooo.) Besides that, all nicey choices. Bhelen on the throne, Anvil destroyed, Zathrian reconciles and everybody lives, Ashes are not tainted, Loghain recruited, Alistair and Anora rule jointly, Gavriel and Morrigan know they'd never agree to the Dark Ritual so they do it behind Laurentia's back and nobody dies lmao.

Small notes on their disabilities: Wynne was the healer that did their cleft lip surgeries as a kid!! Their last surgery was when they were 6, so they do remember her :D & their hearing aids are lyrium-infused lazurite, the runes are all enchantments that combine to make it collect and amplify sound like an actual HA does. I love bullshitting magic technology.

Their mabari is named Princess, because they got her when they were 10, okay.

[bhaalsdeepbat]

Some Astarion Endings Thoughts. This is mostly just analysis ramblings and going over the endings and how Ascended Astarion and Spawn Astarion differ.

You have the free the spawn ending, where the cycle of abuse is ended and the Player Character chose to give the other spawn a chance to either be the monster they were made to be OR try to be more than that. And it isn't a perfect solution because, yes, they're rabid, starving vampires. There is always a chance that choice goes wrong, especially if player choices led to the Gur being wiped out AND the other 6 spawn being killed during the ritual.

Mercy killing, not sacrificing the spawn, is seen as an equally good choice, though it's complicated for the reasons stated above. None of the Spawn are there by choice and mercy-killing them takes away the freedom and autonomy that Astarion was very lucky to have even experienced. It's a hard decision, but the characters recognize it was either this or risk unleashing a HOARD of ravenous Spawn. The Underdark is uniquely qualified to be home to 7000+ hungry Vampire Spawn, but not everyone is going to go down there. In fact, if you send the spawn there, you find out not all of them even make it to where they decide to settle.

Mercy killing the spawn ensures no one else can be hurt by any of the spawn, whether it be their bloodthirst or violence as a reaction to the cruelty they experienced. However, the spawn made by Cazador ARE all innocent people. If you play Oath of Devotion Paladin and mercy kill the spawn, you will break your Oath because every single victim of his is just that. A victim. Astarion has a few moments throughout the story where he tries to convince the player - and himself - that not all of Cazador's victims could be innocents, but they very much are.

Astarion desperately doesn't want to see himself in them. The spawn in the cells are a reflection of what he was like when Cazador had him locked in that tomb or when Cazador had him starving on bugs and rats, and he has NO idea what he looks like anymore. I'm not even sure he's fully convinced he doesn't look partially like that tbh

The third option for Astarion's spawn ending is to just leave the other spawn in their prisons, which is seen as a really fucking cruel fate. Killing them is better than just leaving them there to starve for the rest of their eternal lives. This is also Astarion's cruelest choice, the one he makes to spite the player AND the other spawn because of how helpless he feels if he's not properly convinced to give up the power that was just within his grasp. If he cannot be fully free of Cazador and the pain he caused, then none of the other spawn can, either.

Regardless of the player's decision on what to do with the spawn, if Astarion is kept a spawn, he's able to empathize with the other victims of Cazador and see himself in them. He is forced to contend with the fact that NONE of them deserved to be caught in Cazador's cruelty. In his Spawn ending, he sees the other spawn for what they are: victims of a cruel man trying to play power games by using people as pawns and currency.

Ascension is meant to represent locking into the cycle of abuse. For Astarion, this first step is achieved by sacrificing over seven thousand souls. This move alone changes the Spawn from representations of himself, and the depths of the horrors he experienced, into currency to trade for the power to ensure he will never be in that position ever again. Rather than victims of the same horrors, they become a necessary price to pay in service of elevating him to a station above their own.

And he does see himself as a being above everyone else once he Ascends. He sees mortals as cattle. Potential pets or food, but animals that need to be herded all the same.

This includes Tav/Durge.

The whole plan to seduce Tav/Durge was born from the person Astarion was while still reeling from two centuries of of Hell. It was habits and survival instincts from living under Cazador that start to unravel when the reality of it all starts to set in. You catch peeks of who he is behind his carefully constructed mask of charm and prepared scripts, poison delivered with sweet words and a perfectly composed smile.

When he confesses, he wants to give Tav/Durge something real, but it also a mirror to what will happen in his diverging pathways. If he remains Spawn, he can give them something real. They're equal, loving partners. Ascended Astarion sees their partner as a potential pet to be loved, lavished, but ultimately owned.

The ownership is for a couple of reasons. One is so that he can ensure he has someone who will never turn on him. It's clear he has an alignment shift to being straight up evil and wants to conquer...and he talks about it in front of Faerun's best monster hunters. He needs to make sure Tav/Durge isn't included in that. He also wants to make sure they never leave him. Since he never faces what Cazador did, nor does he face the fact that things ARE changing and it's generally a good thing for people to grow and relationships to change with that growth, he wants to make sure things remain in stasis. Spawn Astarion trusts Tav/Durge to not do anything to hurt him and trusts the future they have together, whatever that may be. Turning them into a Spawn when Astarion Ascends ensures that there IS no change. Ever. Tav/Durge and the relationship are quite literally frozen in time.

Once Astarion Ascends, he stops seeing any of his companions as anything but potential pawns. His Origin Ascended ending provides an excellent glimpse at how he views the companions. Their collective strength is just ripe for plucking and he isn't afraid to make them spawn by force. I think the coldness the player can comment on after he Ascends is because he no longer feels any kinship toward the companions. He can create a script and run through it, but there won't be warmth where his beating heart is still rotted to its core.

Ascending him also starts him on the path to becoming another Cazador. If you go into the room with Vellioth's skull AFTER the ritual, rather than before, you get specific interactions with the various items that are WILDLY different from Spawnstarion (who also reacts differently depending on if it's before or after the ritual).

Astarion shows hesitation if taken into the room BEFORE the ritual, because he's forced to see the names of the people he has to sacrifice to ascend AND he sees how pathetic Cazador is when it comes to Vellioth. If you interact with the list of names or Vellioth's skull after choosing NOT to ascend, Astarion shows more remorse and empathy.

and as a side note THAT is who he is beneath the burden of his pain, when he is able start freeing himself from it. cazador's symbol is the knot of rats. Astarion sees the knot and cannot see himself in it, even though he himself is just one of the rats who happened to escape.

Ascended Astarion, on the other hand, is flippant. There's a list of names of ALL the spawn he sacrificed to ascended, and he just. He doesn't take seriously AT ALL that he just sent all those souls to be tormented in the Hells. Ascended Astarion never sees himself as a rat to begin with. He sees himself as a victim, but the others caught in Cazador's trap were all unfortunates and other bad words he can use to make them seem less deserving of empathy (empathy that he no longer has, when he ascends imo)

Astarion spent the first two acts feeling like he needed to rely on them for protection because he never felt his own strength was enough, even though his kit is fucking BROKEN. Ascending him affirms that he wasn't strong enough to protect them in any meaningful way as is, and also that no part of him was enough as just a spawn. He doesn't want to continue to rely on the player for protection, but Ascended Astarion is more than happy to make the most powerful beings in Faerun his spawn so they can keep him protected. All that power from the ritual, and he wants an army of powerful Spawn to do the dirty work for him.

As an extension of this, turning romanced Tav/Durge into a spawn is to make sure he has complete control over the one person he views as stronger than himself. Slaying Cazador is something he always credits to the player. Ascended Astarion is constantly haunted by Cazador and what he did. Tav/Durge was the one being stronger than him, which makes them a threat if they ever turn on him. Now, he knows he has one person he can always trust.

He even starts laying out the building blocks to potentially set rules similar to the ones Cazador had for his spawn. The way he starts mentioning them is very manipulative, too. They're statements made to seem like he's just expressing the depth of his devotion (still creepy), but he's really setting up being able to reiterate the rules without it being weird once the tadpoles are dealt with. He's fully aware that the tadpole will prevent Spawn!Player from being completely under his control. It's why you can break up with him before the end, but then he refuses to let the player go at the very end.

Spawn ending, when not romanced, Astarion decides to just travel by himself and become a hero. He doesn't find another group to travel with. He goes by himself. Spawn Astarion recognizes his own strength, embraces his Vampirism, not as something that taints him, but as a power to be unleashed on the real monsters. HE does the dirty work.

I love love love exploring both endings and I love the way Astarion's character can grow depending on player choice, then completely branch into two different ways once you hit the Ascension vs Spawn choice.

ty for reading my ramblings. I know this wasn't a straightforward analysis or anything, and def doesn't have an actual conclusion or like. point beyond character exploration. a lot of these thoughts are just me thinking character through so i can write them better. i want to explore these aspects of him, but I do ramble things first to get general characterization thoughts out.

[olderthannetfic]

Is there anything more pathetic than big name influencers posting the names of small accounts who criticize them, so their rabid followers go after them?

Even if the person said something shitty, if it's not illegal, but violates TOS report them. I swear to God, you've got a big audience, you need to fucking do better than get into stupid slapfights on the internet. I've now seen a growing trend of influencers who will take screenshots of the name of a person they dislike, most cases I've seen is incredibly petty shit. Then the influencer will shame them, and... tadaaaa, now that small name fucker is getting death, rape, abuse, and harassment sent their way, in some cases even doxxing, even physical violence.

And of course, then the influencer has three reactions: 1) "Oh no, I never expected this...." (Playing dumb.) 2) "Well it's their own fault!" (Relativizing.) 3) They deserved it. (Blame) (I get blame the most, at least it's honest. Still don't fucking do it.)

Here's the thing, and my opinion on this. Even if they wrote something incredibly shitty and mean, this is a problem between you and that person. Don't include your followers, especially since the outcome of rabid fannishness is incredibly obvious. Most of the time it's also one of two types of haters 1 Regular criticism: Fucking deal with it, you're a person of public interest, that shit happens. 2 Insults, mean comments, or otherwise more shitty behavior. Report them to the website. Block and report. If they keep coming back there are more options. Some times I've also seen people name and shame people who wrote this stuff private chats, which brings up the question what kinda weirdo sends private chats to an influencer, and why the influencer even cares that someone spoke shit about them behind closed doors? Or people even sending information about private real life talks, which is even more fucked up? What the fuck are you doing? Playing secret police? Yeah there's a third type the 3 Sending illegal CP and gore, or death threats. Block, report, and take the legal route. But literally most of the time, and I mean almost always, it's not the number 3, like it's probably the smallest group of all, instead it's like type 1 or 2.

--

[hello-nichya-here]

I'm new to the ASOIAF Fandom and love your insights so I was curious how working as Cersei's sworn shield impacted Sandor? We know he spent many of his younger years in her service before being assigned to Joff, though iirc we never see them interact on page. There seems to be a certain Sansa/Cersei parallel and their influence on him.

I wouldn't say Cersei herself has had an impact on Sandor, at least not as an individual with an actual dynamic with him (because she doesn't really have one for reasons I'll explain later) but rather as another part of a system, and house, that Sandor despises.

House Clegane is under the authority of House Lannister from it's creation - which was literally about a man and his dogs saving a Lord from a lioness. Sandor grew up knowing he owed respect and loyalty to these people - to people whose crimes include murder and rape against other people AND themselves, as well as kingslaying, treason and incest, yet still end up as royalty because they're rich as fuck, to the point that even the crown ends up owing them money.

More importantly, while they employ Sandor as their guard, they do the same to Gregor. The evil older brother that disfigured and nearly killed Sandor as a child for the crime of playing with one of his toys - a toy Gregor didn't even want and threw aside. The extremely violent and downright sadistic man that is known for raping and killing anyone on his path.

Sandor had a sister, and it's very possible Gregor murdered her. And it is a fact that his own father covered up for Gregor after the disfigurement/attempted murder against him. Gregor was also knighted by Rhaegar Targaryen, the supposed "perfect" prince that was killed after (allegedly) kidnaping and raping Lyanna Stark.

Gregor was knighted by the person whose wife and children he would murder, on Tywin Lannister's orders. And he's just walking around, facing no justice because NO ONE is interested in punishing him for it, certainly not the Lannisters who greatly benefit from having such a terrifying man, or monster, working for them.

All of that sends a clear message to Sandor, one he picked up on and embraced from a very young age: cruelty, violence, selfishness and cynism is the only thing that is rewarded in the world. So, he lets the Lannisters turn him into their attack dog that will protect them, and do any vile thing they want, as long as he has shelter, food and money to waste on wine and prostitutes. Deep down he hates himself for it, but he pushes any shame and regret he feels aside for the sake of surviving.

And then in comes Sansa Stark. Daughter of a VERY important Lord/Hand of the King. The future QUEEN. An 11-year-old girl that is fucking terrified of him because he looks scary and acts scary.

Sandor expects from her the same he expects from the Lannisters, aka nothing. After all, in the words of Tywin when he found Sandor replaced Barristan Selmy in the king's guard “You feed your dog bones under the table, you do not seat him beside you on the high bench."

Instead Sansa calls Sandor "Ser" even though he is not a knight, and tells him he rode gallantly that day. Sure, Sandor knows she's just saying that to be polite and Sansa CAN be unfair and even a little cruel to people sometimes (just ask Arya and Jon), but that is still WAY more than a man that constantly gets called a dog and treated like one would ever expect from someone that high up on the hierarchy of their society.

Still, he calls her out on being "just a little bird" that is simply playing the role of proper lady much like he is playing the role of heartless hound. He is downright hostile to her, makes her cry by forcing her to really look at his horribly disfigured face - and tells her about what Gregor did to him, and how everyone allowed him to get away with it. He expects her to either cower in fear even more then go back to playing her role of "polite young lady", or to grow a bit more cynical and jaded like him.

Sansa picks a third option.

The silence went on and on, so long that she began to grow afraid once more, but she was afraid for him now, not for herself. She found his massive shoulder with her hand. “He was no true knight,” she whispered to him.

Sansa Stark, the proper little lady, the future queen, the future lady Lannister, is telling Sandor that he is RIGHT. That what Gregor did is awful and that he doesn't deserve all the glory he has gotten, that they system is unfair.

But she's also proving that he's wrong to believe that acknowledging the inherent awfulness of such a situation means you have to embrace it as normal, that you can only respond to hate with more hate - because here she is, validating all of his anger, cynism and resentment, but she's doing it through compassion.

She doesn't want someone to take on a sword and kill Gregor just because "that's the way the world works" and she isn't giving Sandor an excuse for his violent tendencies - but she is saying Gregor needs to be stopped and Sandor deserves justice as a victim.

And that rocks Sandor's world so much violently that in nearly every other chapter in which he and Sansa interact he's acting as HER loyal guard, trying to protect her from any threat as best as he can (even yelling at the king to stop hitting her) and covering up for her whenever she slips up and needs an alibi to justify what she said/did - even though the Lannister's are his supposed masters, and Sandor has said that a Hound will die for you, but never lie to you.

He isn't loyal to the Lannister anymore, but he is loyal to Sansa, and the reason why CAN actually be explained with a direct parallel between Sansa and Cersei.

Sansa used to look up to the queen and was genuinely hurt when she found out that Cersei never gave a damn about her and thought she was just a stupid little girl.

During the battle of Blackwater, all the important women are given shelter in the palace - and Cersei is looking down on them for being scared, for turning to each other for support, and for the fact that, if they survive, they'll HAVE to pretend she was oh so compassionate and gave them strength by being strong herself.

Cersei cannot inspire genuine loyalty and admiration, be it from the ladies and lords in the court, or from guards like Sandor. Everyone just pretends. Because as the queen she is rich and powerful. For now. They pretend to worship the ground she walks on out of FEAR of the potential consequences. But once she's not as powerful, no one will be by her side, because everyone HATES her.

Meanwhile, Sansa, who is now able to see Cersei for what she is, has the right idea in mind. In her own words, if she were queen, she'd make people LOVE her.

And that love Sandor has for Sansa's innocence and kindness, for her values as a Stark, for her determination to not let the Lannisters turn into something she's not, pushes him to change his loyalty, and no one will ever be able to steal it away through money or threats.

Sandor is, at heart, a romantic in every sense of the word. Sansa is the fair maiden he loves and is in love with, and is both her fool and her brave knight - like in the story of Florian and Jonquil, a song he once tried to force her to sing AND one she said she'd sing gladly.

[homuraakemis]

When I go looking for Dark discussions on the internet, I keep seeing people saying that Adam won or that Adam was right, and I really disagree with that.

First of all, Adam wasn't right. His solution to "end suffering" was total annihilation, the destruction of both worlds and all life in it. Adam didn't know about a third world, he didn't know that there was a way to untie the knot and still keep one world alive, but he was willing to destroy both worlds anyway. He was ok with destroying all the worlds that he thought existed. All because he and a few people were caught in the time loop. The thing is: the people who suffered because of the time loop were just a handful when compared to all of the people in the entire world. Yes, the time loop was terrible for them, but there were still plenty of people in the world who lived normal and good lives. Who is Adam to decide if all these people in the world deserve to die or not? Who is he to decide whether they have a right to existence or not?

The thing is, Eva is also a terrible person who did terrible things to perpetuate the loop. But if there was no third world, if the only options they had were either keep the loop or destroy all life and existence, then I'm 100% on Eva's side. Just because there's suffering in the world, doesn't mean that there aren't good things, like happiness and love. Just because people are destined to die at some point, doesn't mean that people can't enjoy the time that they do have alive. Just because there's no real free will, doesn't mean that people can't appreciate their lives. Eva's goal recognized just that: that life is still good, even with all the bad things that happen. Meanwhile, Adam's goal was purely nihilistic.

I also see people saying that "technically", Adam won and Eva lost, because Adam's goal was to destroy the two worlds and Eva's goal was to protect her son. But I don't agree with that either. Because Adam's goal was not just to "destroy both worlds" or "destroy the knot": he explicitly says that his goal is total annihilation, eternal darkness, he believes this is the true paradise, and he doesn't get that in the end. The origin world will still exist, and just because the time loop doesn't exist anymore, doesn't mean that this world won't also be full of suffering just like the other two worlds. Suffering is just part of life. So Adam never really achieved his goal of eternal darkness: he achieved his goal of untying the knot, but he had to accept that he wouldn't eradicate suffering, he wouldn't defeat time, and one world would still exist.

Eva didn't "lose" either. Sure, she had one personal goal of keeping her son alive (just like Adam had his own personal goal of ending his own existence, and Claudia had a personal goal of saving Regina), but she also had a more idealistic goal, which was to preserve life (just like Adam and Claudia also had their own idealistic goals beside just their personal goals). She explicitly says that this is her goal when she gives her speech to Erit Lux when she sends them on their missions: "Every darkness is followed by light. With every death comes a life." She is recognizing that yes, there is darkness and death, but there's also life and that's worth preserving. When she convinces Young Martha to kill Jonas, she says "If you want Jonas to live, if you want all of them to live, then we must do what has always been done". She doesn't appeal to Martha using just her son (that she just met), she appeals to her by saying that for "all of them" to live, this is what must be done. Her goal might include her son, but this isn't just about her son, it's about preserving all life. So yes, in the end, Eva doesn't achieve her own personal goal of preserving her son's life, but she does achieve her goal of preserving life through the continued existence of the origin world (and she and Adam both accept their fate of disappearing and face it peacefully).

In the end, neither Eva or Adam win or lose entirely: Adam achieves his personal goal of ending his own existence and his goal of destroying the knot, but not his goal of eternal darkness. Eva achieves her goal of preserving life, but not her goal of protecting her son.

Also, I think it's important to point out that Claudia was more aligned with Eva than with Adam (because I constantly see people saying that Claudia and Adam had "the same goal", which couldn't be further from the truth). Claudia explicitly rejects Adam's point of view when she tells Jonas that Adam "doesn't want to fix things, he wants to destroy them forever". When she first talks to her younger self, the one command she gives to herself is "you must stop Adam". Before she starts to think that there might be a way to untie the knot without destroying life, she was going along with Eva's plans, because she preferred preserving life over Adam's goal of destroying everything.

In the end, neither Adam or Eva truly win. The ones who win are Claudia, young Jonas and young Martha, the ones who hadn't lost hope that they could untie the knot while also saving the world. Claudia wins because she doesn't lose hope, unlike Eva and Adam.

Finally, I guess you could debate on whether the show wants to argue that eternal darkness is a good thing or not. You could argue that the show does want us to see eternal darkness as a good thing, especially considering Hannah's speech about nothingness and darkness in the last scene, and the fact that the show is called Dark. But right after Hannah says that her dream of darkness and nothingness felt like a good thing, the show ends with Hannah musing that she wants to name her son Jonas. The show ends by giving us hope that maybe Jonas will exist somehow, by reminding us of a new life, a new baby about to be born. So I'd argue that the show wants us to consider both sides. And anyway, regardless of the intended message, I still consider that Adam was wrong, regardless of whether he was "partially correct" about erasing the two worlds.

[darkfictionjude]

Etymology nonnie here!

It's a very interesting dilemma to have, the one between having specific traits or numerical stats. Although I don't know if they are necessarily exclusive.

The thing is, as someone who knows next to nothing about coding, and has relied on Tumblr and every tutorial I have been able to find, I have no idea how to handle traits. I thought about including them, but have found nothing (then again, since I don't know about coding, it makes it harder for me to actually find things about it. Unlike with Literature and Linguistics, since I studied that on college, lol).

So, the only thing I can think about, would be to have just a numerical value system (since they aren't that hard to implement, although so far I have only used it to determine relationships and not personality, so I may be wrong) and having set ranges that show a specific trait. So, for example:

There is a bar, let's say. 0 is serious, and 100 is funny. Then, what I would do, is to have about 5, or maybe more, categories. So 0-20 can show as 'deadly serious'. 21-40 is 'mostly serious'. 41-60 is 'balanced'. 61-80 is 'quite funny'. And 81-100 being 'very funny'. Or something more personalized and thought out than this.

I think that can work as follows:

1. It can easily show how the MC ends up fluctuating. Maybe they can choose to be funny at the beginning, but then just go with serious dialogue and action options, so the bar changes their status. Tracking this could also mean character may react to MC's supposed change in demeanor.

2. You can have some nuance for dialogue options. Say you have a deadly serious character, and they choose a funny option. You could use a if statement in which it indicates that everyone looks at MC as if they grew a third head. Unable to understand if that was meant to be a joke or not. Yet, if it continues happening, such reactions stop. This means more work, however.

Basically, I would just fake the traits. You don't need to show the bar with the numerical value fluctuations, as far as I know. So the player can easily think you are just using traits. But you still get the benefits of numerical values.

I think of this based on a relationship bar tutorial of @idrellegames I found. Sure, that was for how to show relationships developing. But I think you can still use it easily for other aspects of a game, like personality traits and the like.

But maybe you have a different idea of what to do that may work better. I'm just saying what I would do from my own inexperience.

This also makes me remember a question I had yet never got to ask. Do you have hidden stats on WWC? Because I know you show how a RO feels about Crowny, but you don't have visible player stats. As far as I remember. Yet, given we have choices based on personality... I would suppose you track them, right? Like, it's not hard to have some things going on the background.

For example, in my IF, I plan to have the relationship page only show once you have met all the characters that are tracked. And have two separate relationship pages because the prologue (that is more of a chapter 0, it's basically a mini IF on it's own, send help) takes place in a very remote past and the rest of the story takes place during the 80's. Because of this, the "present" relationships are going to be shown basically close to chapter 1 resolution. While the "past" relationships are going to appear during the middle of the prologue.

But I guess you already know how to do that, so I don't know why I brought it up. In any case, I'm curious about how you handle things on WWC. Of course, you are free to remain discreet about it. Having things hidden does help with the mystique of your IF, so it's not like I want to disrupt that if you aren't okay with it.

Yeah I personally hate numerical stats 😭 it completely takes me out of a game as I become too focused on getting the right choices to boost certain stats and instead of having fun I’m just getting annoyed and many times they don’t reflect how slowly people change from being funny to serious and vice versa

But what you mention is kind of what I said for the traits anyway, that after certain choices repeatedly picked the traits would change and thus it could be noticed by the characters (although all my MCs have at least one defined trait, like Luce is quicker with a smile than Crowny)

I have certain hidden stats that are there but I’m waiting to finish season 1 to really add to them. There’s a very important stat that will influence Crowny’s demeanour and course of action in season 2 and the relationship stats the mostly are meant to influence the description of what the characters feel for Crowny romantically or platonically. Apart from that I don’t have anything else because to me this game has always been choice based

[companion-of-the-dragonmark]

HTTYD Books Fanfic Poll

Hello, my fellow Dragonmarkers! Today, I've decided to make a poll. There are several ideas I'd like to work on, however, I'm struggling to choose which one to start on first. Granted, I have a feeling I know what you guys want me to work on first, but I still want to ask anyways. 😏

So before you vote, I'd like to list down the options below and a little summary as to what each choice will be about.

Poll will end on Hiccup's birthday on February 29th. So spread the word. 🙏🏻😉

『 All of these story ideas will try to cling to canon events as much as it can, or at least be loyal to it as canon-inspired. 』

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Thuggory's Saga

This story will be on Thuggory's POV throughout the Books and what was going on behind the scenes when Thuggory wasn't around.

Thuggory Name Parody Series

This work will be a one-shot series consolidated into one story that has Thuggory doing various things based on what his name is (i.e. Thuggory will be thuggish, Muggory will be drinking a mug or mugging somebody, Chuggory will be chugging ale, etc).

Fishlegs' Second Impossible Quest

(Post Book 12) Fishlegs drags Hiccup into yet ANOTHER Impossible Quest when Fishlegs seems to have forgotten his lesson and was caught sending love poems to Barbara the Barbarian. Suffering scallops, Fishlegs! Didn't Hiccup just say to NOT do this again?! 💢😠😒😑🙄🤦‍♂️

Actually, wouldn't it be hilarious if that's how Hiccup got married because everyone thinks that the love letters were HIS and not Fishlegs, causing him to marry Barbara or some other chick. lol 🤣

Exile on Cannibal Isle

(Book 1) What if the adults had decided to banish their youth that evening after their failure, regardless of the thunderstorm? Our hapless youths end up becoming Outcasts — not on the Mainland, as planned, but on Cannibal Isle instead: an island filled with natives and Outcasts who had a fondness for human flesh. How will Hiccup, Thuggory, and Co. escape their current predicament? And will they return in time before the Green Death roasts their Tribes to well-done human kabobs?

The Tale of Two Swords

Told from Endeavor's POV (and sometimes from Stormblade's), this story delves into their respective origins, how they came into the hands of their respective owners, and the events leading up to the conflict between Alvin the Treacherous and Hiccup the Third. Two swords, two grudges, two wills, two forces, and two ideologies will clash for supremacy!

Hiccup's Saga

(Post Book 12) This story will focus on Hiccup's story AFTER his ascension as the 13th King of the Renewed Kingdom of the Wilderwest. As well as his achievements, his experiences, his struggles, and his life milestones. This will try to stay loyal to the books and to the books' epilogues.

Hiccup the First's Saga

Told from Hiccup's POV until he meets Wodensfang, which will then transition to Wodensfang's POV ever afterwards. This will get into the details of his birth, the war with the Uglithugs, the Hooligans getting ousted from the Mainland and their migration to Berk; it will get to Hiccup's childhood and adolescence, the start of the brutal Human-Dragon Wars, and how he eventually meets Wodensfang; then his defeat of Merciless/Green Death, the founding of the Kingdom of the Wilderwest, and his achievements and milestone events as King, until his death.

Hiccup the Second's Saga

This will focus on Hiccup the Second's life from birth to the time of his death, including his life with his adopted draconian family, and his reunion with his father and family, and his struggles ever afterwards. I plan on this being told from his POV. Not sure whether to have this be a third-person narrator like what the Books were, or to have it be in the first-person in the manner of Hiccup writing an autobiography.

What do you guys think?

Hiccup's Young Chief AU

This story idea dives into what would happen if Hiccup had to become the new Chief of Berk early on in his youth. From this point, we have several options to choose from.

1) Have this be a sequel to "Exile on Cannibal Isle" if the ending ends up being tragic for the adults, and Thuggory and Hiccup are left to pick up the pieces after slaying the Green Death.

2) Have this set in Book 2, if Stoick dies in the fight against Alvin, as a consequence of the curse of Grimbeard's treasure.

3) Have this set in Book 7, when Madguts the Murderous was about to execute Big Bertha and Stoick in revenge, and Hiccup failed to return on time.

4) Have this set in Book 9, when Stoick is missing (via Excellinor the Witch), and Hiccup never finds him again.

5) Have this set in Book 9 when all the adults are missing or perished, and the Warriors-to-Be are the only ones left in the School (aside from the Outcasts, obviously), and so everyone has to fight together in order to escape.

6) Have this set in Books 10/11 when Stoick dies in battle and Hiccup is forced to lead his Tribe in their fight against both Alvinsmen and Dragons.

Old Wrinkly's Saga

(Pre-HTTYD) This focuses on Old Wrinkly's POV, from his origins, to his life, to the events of Humungous Hotshot and his daughter, to her eventual marriage to Stoick, to how he came to live with the Hooligans, aaaaaall the way to Hiccup becoming King.

Valhallarama's Saga

(Pre-HTTYD) This story focuses on Val's POV from her birth, to her romance with Humungous, to her marriage to Stoick, to her son Hiccup's birth, to her many MANY Quests, aaaaaall the way to her death.

Alvin's Saga (or Saga of the Outcasts)

(Pre-HTTYD) This focuses on Alvin's origins: from his birth, to his upbringing, to how he turned his Tribe into one of the most "modern" and dangerous Tribes in the Archipelago, how he came across the Legend of the King's Lost Things, his fateful encounter with his future arch-nemesis Hiccup, and his gradual elevation to ultimate power. I might have this story end once he meets with Hiccup. Or maybe I end it with his death. That's up to you guys.

Snotface Snotlout's Saga

(Pre-HTTYD / HTTYD) This story focuses on Snotface Snotlout's origins: from his birth, to Hiccup's birth, to the origin of his rivalry with him, and so on — right up to his death! (Or I could keep him alive instead?)

Norbert the Nutjob's Saga

(Book 4) This story is about Norbert's origins: His birth and childhood, his father's death, his dream to go to the New World, and turning the Hysterics into the greatest Viking Tribe in the Archipelago; his fateful encounter and feud with Hiccup the Third, and his eventual downfall. And then his return!

Deadly Shadow's Saga

(Book 10) This story is about the Deadly Shadow's origins: From birth to hatchling, to their fateful encounter with their mistress, Fishlegs' mother; her meeting Alvin and giving birth to his child; the death of Termagant and the Disappearance of her only child; of their eventual conversion to Furious' rebellion, and of their reunion with Fishlegs; and much more.

Furious' Saga

(Book 8) This story is on Furious' origins: His birth, to his meeting with Hiccup the Second, his life with him, facing his 'brother's' death, imprisonment, his meeting with Hiccup the Third, his escape, his rebellion, and finally his departure.

The Viking Tribes of the Barbaric Archipelago

This is a nonfiction fanfic that dives into the geography, history, culture, and customs of every Viking Tribe in the Archipelago (in the Books). You can look at this as a Guide to the Archipelago (an All You Need to Know About X book), or as a history book composed by a future historian. Take your pick.

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Thank you very much for your support! I look forward to the results of your votes, and I'll let you guys know what the top 3 choices were by the end of February 29th.

Long Live the Wilderwest!

— Companion of the Dragonmark

[authorhjk1]

I’m just testing my luck as the original Femdom Yoona requester.. But I hope you can include armpit worship.. If not all good.. But I really wouldn’t mind paying to see it soon also..

I'm going to include that, since you asked. I just wanted to say that I've never written that before, therefore the end result might not be what you expected quality wise.

While I've thought about it here and there occasionally, I'm not so sure about the paying thing. I know some writers do that and despite this being a hobby for me, I wouldn't say no to some extra money on the side. It's just that, so far, I haven't considered myself good enough to be able to demand money for my writing. And I'm afraid, that people are gonna stop requesting, if I offer to favor requests that have been payed for, because not everyone might have the money for it, or is not willing to pay for that, which is totally understandable.

So, since I've gotten a private message or two about this topic already, here is your chance to vote guys.

Just note, that I wouldn't be asking for a lot of money. Don't have a specific number in mind yet and, if it does comes down to it, it would probably depend on how long the request should be, but I don't expect you guys to have to pay more than ten bucks. That's actually quite a lot for this, in my opinion. Plus, I would limit the amount of fics that can be prioritized. Maybe five for example. And then I would focus on the rest of the requests for a week or two, before the five slots are open again.

Haven't thought about the paying itself, how that's gonna work, but I don't want to start to worry about that, until you guys actually voted. Maybe through Kofi. Have seen a couple of writers use that one.

More information + third option

Just note that I'm the person that's ultimately deciding what I'm gonna do, so don't be surprised if I do the opposite of what the majority voted for. And for the future, since I don't know how much more busy my life will get, I might consider this to be an option to continue writing, even if I have barely free time, so I have more motivation. So even if the majority votes for no change, I might still do it in the future, depending on how it goes.

Anon, for you in particular, feel free to send me a message and we can talk about this. Since you offered and this poll is gonna take a while (to give everyone a chance to vote), it would have the same outcome for you, whatever option wins, since I would have to wait for the result first.

Stay healthy, guys!

[danafeelingsick]

i have one kinda old art of a.yato puking into his boba tea cup, which sadly i didn't think of including in this fic :/ but here it is

BAD MILK

In which Kamisato Ayato accidentally has spoiled milk while out with Thoma.

ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢ nausea, food poisoning, mentions of social anxiety, fear of crowds, descriptions of food, vomiting, fever, stomach noises

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ 3,6k~

A deep scowl formed on Ayato's face as he took another sip of his boba tea. He hadn't noticed the taste at first. The drink had been gentle on his stomach, and cold most importantly.

He bitterly regretted leaving the Kamisato estate at the height of summer, wearing his coat over the kimono. It was far too hot, too bright for a man who rarely showed himself to the public. But given recent events and the efforts to build good public relations, he was out of options. It was a feeling he truly detested.

The streets of Hanamizaka were packed full of onlookers, people who wanted to see the Tenryou commissioner in person, and some even wanted to confirm he was who he said to be. Ayato hid a great deal of secrets behind that calming, almost cynical smile. Today he didn't have the patience to wear it. He continued to scowl as he passed by the crowd, deep in thought, his lips around the straw of his drink.

The milk must've been sour. That should've been a worry in his mind in the first place, given the fact he had just picked it off some street vendor. But given how little he had for breakfast, his poor decision was at least justified.

The odd aftertaste had his mouth watering in a less-than-appetizing way, making him need another sip to wash it off in a cycle that took two-thirds of the drink to break.

Ayato held up the half-empty cup before his eyes and shook it. There were plenty of pearls left, although he remembered swallowing enough of them. While its color and consistency were off, it would be a shame to simply throw it off.

“Thoma”, the commissioner called, eyeing the blonde young man walking alongside him.

“Yes, my Lord?” Thoma replied promptly, peeking at him with an expectant look that quickly morphed into curiosity. He could tell something was out of place just from his unassuming tone. Ayato dangled his cup in front of him and gave it another shake, sending the milky tea inside into a spiral. “Do you want me to throw it out for you?”

”I want you to try it for me”, Ayato clarified, his expression held a strange air of contempt? Thoma could never quite describe it, but he recognized it from the several times he had been assigned to taste test. “I'd like to confirm something.”

Sighing, he stirred the tea with the straw, wondering what was so wrong with it for Ayato to need a second opinion. The ice had completely melted and the milk tea was now lukewarm and thin, with mushy bubbles covering the bottom of the cup.

Thoma held his breath and took a careful sip, noticing the watery consistency right away. The taste was almost salty, or rather, sour. He couldn’t quite place it, the few times he had this beverage it was sweet and smooth, nothing like it.

Still uneasy, especially with Ayato’s gaze glued to him, he took another long sip and froze as he felt something solid slide to his tongue. Instinctively he tried to chew, thinking it was a tapioca pearl, but the much stronger sour taste threw him off. He stopped walking and held a trembling fist to his mouth.

“What’s wrong with it?” Ayato tilted his head to the side in feigned confusion, tightening his smile.

Against his better judgment, Thoma gulped down the lumpy milk tea and immediately covered his mouth, trying not to gag.

“I-I think… it’s spoiled”, he mumbled behind his fingers, swallowing again in an attempt to clear the acidic taste. Looking at Ayato, he realized he was frowning, his face pinched in disgust. “My lord, don't tell me you drank all of it…”

Ayato nodded slowly, giving Thoma an apologetic smile that quickly died out. It didn't come as a surprise, but he still couldn't help losing more of his color when he saw his assistant squirm. He looked over his shoulder, meeting several pairs of eyes watching him closely, and shuddered.

“I-I'll be fine”, he grimaced, his lips pressed thin as he tried to hide his disgust. “It's nothing serious…”

He was lying, of course, the thought of getting sick was already an unpleasant one. Just the thought of leaving his home had left him without appetite, now being sick away from it… Crowds were always a point of concern for Ayato, they made him feel lightheaded, which was why his public appearances were few and far between.

A shuddering sigh left his mouth and he swallowed, suspecting the knot on his stomach was made out of anxiety rather than nausea.

“Come, let us find a quiet place to rest”, Ayato said finally and resumed walking quickly, not even waiting for Thoma. Part of him wanted to jog until he was sure he was out of view, but that would only draw more suspicion.

“M'lord, please wait”, Thoma joined him on the brisk walk, throwing away the empty cup at the first garbage bin he found.

He looked at Ayato, noticing that the commissioner's light purple eyes were affixed to the street in front of them, darting around in an almost frantic state. Thoma opened his mouth to speak, his name halfway through his lips when Ayato turned a corner.

He stopped at the entrance, hesitant at what he was going to find. Ayato had taken a seat at the small bench, looking out into the scenery beyond the wooden railing that separated Inazuma city from the flowing canal. It would've been a calming visual if the commissioner wasn't slumped forward, his shoulders locked into a tense position while one arm wrapped around his middle.

“M'lord…”

Thoma walked up to him, trying to think of something that could calm him down. Ayato lifted his eyes and strengthened his pose, trying to look collected even though his face was pale and glistening. He couldn't tell if it was from the heat, or the start of a fever.

“My lord… What are you feeling exactly? Could you tell me?” Thoma asked, his tone was gentle, and it was clear he was only trying to help, but part of him still didn't want to pry.

“I'll be fine, I just… needed to sit down”, he repeated stubbornly, trying to wave him off. Ayato knew he couldn't keep denying it, his gaze fell to the ground, and pressed his lips tight. “My apologies, I'm just… ugh, how could I have been so careless?”

Thoma carefully took a seat beside him, offering a sympathetic smile. No matter how much he wanted to pull the commissioner into a warm hug and comfort him, he kept his hands to himself.

“It was my fault, I should've tried it before you”, he shook his head, following Ayato's gaze to the floor.

“Then you'd be the one sick to your stomach”, the commissioner gave a humorless laugh. “Well, I suppose you do have a stronger constitution than me… You've been able to just walk it off without—”

He suddenly went quiet, pressing his lips shut and swallowing again. Thoma was about to say something when the sound of a muffled wet gurgle cut him off, his eyes drifting to Ayato's belly hidden behind his tightly wrapped arms. He leaned forward, his expression pinched with disgust.

”I'm sorry. Just the thought of… ugh”, he trailed off into a groan and brought a hand to his mouth. He was trembling too, Thoma noticed, and the palms of his gloves were humid. “I'd like to avoid it… if I can.”

Thoma nodded slowly, aware of what he was asking, and he also wouldn't say it. Ayato vomited quite often for someone who ate so poorly, the times Thoma had to witness were rough on both of them, although he'd always manage to keep his composure. Among poisoning attempts and frequent migraines, he surely had seen the worst of him already, but at least it taught him how to deal with these situations as cleanly as possible.

“My lord, I think we should return home”, he suggested after a moment, looking around the empty area. Now he realized why Ayato had come here, the sound of the running river must've been soothing to him.

“I would love to”, Ayato responded with a hint of cynicism, the thought brought him a sense of urgency he had to shake away. “But, if anyone were to see me…”

Thoma knew exactly what he meant, the possibility of Ayato being stopped by a swarm of people was a very real possibility, and not one they could afford while he looked that sick. Still, just the idea of having to give into nausea away from the safety of his home sent Ayato further spiraling.

“My lord, you are sweating quite a lot”, Thoma pointed out, which prompted Ayato to wipe his forehead with the back of his hand, like he hadn't noticed himself. Thoma dug through the pockets of his jacket until he found a folded handkerchief and handed it to him. “Here.”

Ayato took it and held the piece of fabric up to his mouth. The light scent of Thoma's perfume was a pleasant one, he closed his eyes and drew in a slow breath, trying to calm his stomach.

He mumbled a weak thank you and patted his forehead with the cloth, it did little to refresh him, however. The heat was starting to weigh on his senses, even as they sat in the shade, Ayato felt like he was being cooked alive.

“Is there anything else I can do?”, Thoma asked, and by the tone of his voice, Ayato could tell his own panic was rubbing off on him. “Would you like some water to drink?”

“I suppose it would help…”, Ayato agreed, although he spoke as if it was a desperate measure. He raised his head to look at Thoma, immediately regretting it when his expression was struck with pity. “Will you be long? I would rather not be alone…”

Thoma frowned, taking in the commissioner's watery eyes and his trembling lips like he was trying to hold in tears.

“I promise it will only be a minute”, he responded, reaching over to put a hand on his back out of instinct, but stopping midway as he realized he might not appreciate it.

“If you must”, Ayato responded dryly, not making any mention of Thoma's attempt at comforting him.

“I'll be back before you know it, my lord”, the blonde man said, and waited for a confirmation, but Ayato remained in silence, trembling. He finally stood up and walked out of the alley, making sure to glance over his shoulder once or twice until Ayato was completely out of his vision. Then he could hurry.

He didn't like this, leaving him all by himself while at his most vulnerable, it was asking to be attacked. Both of them knew it, that was why the commissioner seemed on the verge of panic. Thoma picked up the speed when the thought crossed his mind, nearly stumbling over himself as he made his way to the shopping district.

A slurred groan left Ayato's lips, preceding the drawn-out burble his stomach produced. With nothing else to focus his attention on, he had become adept at telling when the noises would come up, and the nauseating pull they brought along.

He braced for it this time, managing to lock his throat before the acidic bile had the chance to reach his tongue. Once it was over, he swallowed, trying to kill that awful burning lingering in the back of his throat. He wasn't sure for how long he could keep this up if Thoma would take any longer.

Ayato hated this. He was a capable warrior, a vision bearer, and still, he couldn't shake off the feeling that something was going to pounce at him at any moment. If it happened, he wouldn't even have the time to draw his blade or call upon his element. All of his energy was going into holding himself from heaving.

Thoma's voice was what brought him out of it. He bothered to raise his head, acknowledging the young housekeeper with a weak nod. Aside from his messy hair and the crooked headband, his presence alone was enough for Ayato to relax, even if just for a moment.

However, he tensed back again when his stomach decided to make itself heard, a soft moan escaping his lips as that familiar ache sprouted in his gut. Thoma was by his side almost instantly, both hands hovering over his shoulders, ready to catch him if he were to fall.

“My lord, a-are you in pain? Is your stomach hurting now?”, he asked, his voice faintly airy from the surprise.

Ayato hummed weakly, tempted to just lean forward and let Thoma hold him until it was over. He hadn't moved since he left, his arms were still tightly wrapped around his middle, trying to muffle the noises from his stomach.

“I don't know when it started–”, Ayato mumbled, opening his mouth for the first time after a while, he didn't account for the overflow of saliva. A syrup-like trickle fell from his lips, and he hurriedly wiped it off using the handkerchief Thoma had given him. “Excuse me…”

“How, how is the pain? Should we go—”

“Thoma…”, Ayato's voice was thick with nausea as he cut him off. He curled further into himself, pressing his chin to his chest and swallowing audibly. It was evident he was nearing his limit, even if he didn't want to admit it, vomiting now could make things better. ”I don't think I can keep holding it for much longer.”

Thoma nodded slowly, glancing at the bottle of water he had left on the bench. It was already too late to just try and walk it off, that seemed like the best course of action.

“A-Alright”, he replied, looking around for somewhere he could take him, his eyes landed on the wooden fence separating the ledge from the cannel below. The idea didn't please him, but it seemed like their only option. “Come on, I'll help you up.”

It took a few seconds of preparation, but eventually Ayato rose to his feet, his legs were shaking. Thoma laced his arm around his neck and guided him a few steps ahead, only letting go of the man when he was safely clinging to the fence for support.

Ayato stared at the flowing water below, grimacing as he realized what he was about to do. His uncut bangs fell on his eyes as he leaned over, clumps of pale blue hair gluing to his sweaty skin. He held a strand behind his ear and turned to Thoma:

“Could you hold my hair for me?”, he asked timidly.

“Of course”, Thoma didn't hesitate this time, and positioned himself behind the commissioner, delicately arranging the strands into a short ponytail. Ayato was overdue for a cut, that length was too little for him to need a hair tie, but just enough to be a bother. Carefully, he landed the other hand on his back, feeling him tense even more under his touch. “Try to breathe, okay?”

Ayato nodded, his eyes locked on the cannel below, the thought of anyone seeing him kept coming to the front of his mind, he could only hope no one would pass by there. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, swallowing a bit of saliva that felt too thick on his tongue. His stomach groaned, urging him to just give in and get it over with.

He leaned even further and parted his lips, letting the saliva string out of his mouth. It didn't take that long for him to start gagging, his stomach hadn’t stopped churning for even a moment, letting him know it wasn’t taking well to the spoiled food he had forced down. He heaved a shuddering sigh and gagged again, graphically this time, he could practically hear the liquid rising in his throat.

“Here it comes…”, he said to Thoma as a warning, concerned for the poor housekeeper who had to be there yet again to see it.

Ayato’s shoulders heaved and his stomach followed, he felt it lunge upwards, sending boiling bile up his throat. He nearly choked as his throat convulsed, producing a few short gurgles before he was able to let out a thin trickle of milky bile.

For such a warning, Thoma thought the spell would be more violent, but he knew well it wasn’t over yet. Gently, he rubbed Ayato’s back in small circles, noticing the sweat dampening his clothes, the way it outlined his muscles and the way they moved as he continued to gag. Even in the shade, Thoma was starting to feel hot as well, despite the light fabrics of his clothes, he could only imagine how uncomfortable the Yashiro commissioner must’ve been feeling.

“Ughhh… guh”, Ayato let out a miserable groan and muffled a burp behind his lips, scorching the inside of his mouth with the taste of hot acid. It was revolting, the sickly sweet taste of the tea lingered on his tongue, completely overtaken by rotten milk.

He couldn’t be feeling worse if he tried, now that he had started vomiting, his stomach was writhing, making every breath turn into a heave. He could feel the contents tossing inside, the boiling acid swimming in the back of his throat.

“It’s going to be alright”, Thoma tried to reassure him, although his voice didn’t convey any confidence.

Ayato shook his head, not at the notion, but at the pathetic attempt at comforting. He appreciated it, internally, but now what he needed was silence, and maybe something to help speed things along.

“Thoma… could you hand me that water you brought?”

“Uh, yes, of course”, he quickly replied, carefully letting go of Ayato’s hair and picking up the bottle he left on the bench. He opened it before handing it to the commissioner, his fingers lingered on his for a moment, afraid his shaky hands were going to drop it.

Ayato took a deep breath followed by a quick swig, it looked like it pained him to swallow it, but soon he was drinking more. Thoma wasn’t sure what he was trying to achieve, to help with the nausea he would have to drink it slowly, but Ayato was quickly downing the bottle in big gulps. Suddenly, he pulled back, shoving the half-empty bottle into his hand before turning to the ledge.

“M’lord!” Thoma shouted, watching Ayato lunge for the railing and opening his mouth, letting out a long wet burp. “You should tell me when you’re going to do these things!”

Ayato paid no mind to his reprimand, and focused on the added pressure building in his upper stomach, suddenly reaching its tipping point as he tried to burp again. A surge of murky water gurgled out of his mouth, nearly the same lukewarm temperature as it had been when he drank it, now tasting like acidic milk.

Thoma was calling him again, hurriedly pulling his hair away from the corners of his mouth, and sliding the other hand to Ayato’s chest. The man was heaving so violently he wasn’t sure if he would be able to hold himself up.

What a horrible idea that was. Ayato’s stomach purged itself over the ledge once again, forcing up a rush of white murky water out of him, he could tell the taste was becoming more concentrated, the texture thicker as it flew past his tongue. He gagged as it tapered off, coughing harshly to try and rid his throat of the lumps of tapioca and milk curdles. Thoma patted his back with more force, trying to help him.

Ayato started to retch, the sounds scratched his throat, more violent than the gags, but now he couldn’t stop. His ears were ringing with his racing thoughts, the threat of someone walking in, someone hearing him, seeing him. Ayato pressed himself further over the ledge, the railing digging into his stomach, forcing a wet acidic belch out of him.

“Try to breathe, m’lord, try to—”, Ayato wasn’t listening to him.

He barely had the chance to open his mouth before he was vomiting again, a gush of white liquid spraying out of him like a hose. It came up so forcefully it sprayed out of his nose, leaving Ayato gasping for air when it finally stopped.

“My archons…”, Thoma whispered, holding Ayato close as the man seemingly deflated over the ledge, small burps and hiccups still shaking him against his chest.

Ayato groaned weakly, and clutched his stomach, trying to breath slowly and finally calm himself down.

“I need to… go home”, he huffed and spat, looking wide eye at the mess he had made down at the cannel. Somehow he had managed to miss the flowing water, and most of his vomit, the lumpy puddles of spoiled milk and chewed tapioca, ended up staining the walls around it.

“Here, rinse your mouth out”, Thoma offered him the rest of the bottle, and the handkerchief he had left on the bench.

Ayato took the water and thought of drinking more of it, but the thought had him fighting another gag. He swished a mouthful of it and spat, going to return the bottle to Thoma, but the young man simply reached out, wiping the vomit off his chin with the handkerchief.

“How do you feel now, my lord?” Thoma asked, his voice was so gentle it didn’t even sound like he had just witnessed the commissioner puke up a storm.

“I… I think I’m fine now”, he replied, laying a shaky hand on his belly, still gurgling under his fingertips. “We should call a doctor as soon as we get home. I cannot afford to be sick at a time like this.”

“Understood... Do you think you can walk?”

“Of course Thoma”, he shrugged, and slowly let go of him, standing up on his own. He would make it, it would be fine. Ayato was sure at this point, he was in for a long night.

[recurringwriter]

curry, as my designated ML friend, do you happen to know anything about the recent nanowrimo controversy? the MLs in my region have basically disbanded the group because of the new contract but i guess i’m out of the loop cause i haven’t heard about it before. i’m curious as to how other regions are handling it!

askjdkfjgh okay so i started on a long-winded and disorganized rant about stuff then remembered i had been much more concise when i explained the agreement to my region. here is an edited version of the message i shared with them, please forgive the proper capitalization and formal tone

NaNoWriMo HQ has decided to revamp the ML program, and at the start of the month sent us the updated ML agreement. All three of us have agreed that we are not comfortable signing the new contract, and will be stepping down as official ML's. We would like it if it were temporary, but HQ has indicated that they aren't interested in member feedback and that they want us to take it or leave it. As it was given to us, the agreement:

Provides contradictory and unclear terms of what our responsibilities will be, and nothing about what we can expect from HQ to support us.

Expects that we complete 'training' before we can learn more of what our responsibilities will even be, and gives no explanation of what this will ask of us.

Requires that we give personal data to ID.me, a third-party identity verification site that would store our information for at minimum 3 years and is considered by tech experts to be a poor choice for ID verification.

Demands increased presence on the forums as unpaid moderators, including during off-season.

Mentions confusing rules about people under 18 participating in the event. We are supposed to report them so that they can be banned, and the wording of the agreement implies that they cannot be permitted in any community events.

Asks that we send more e-mails per week during November, and doesn't account for regions with multiple MLs.

Forbids us from discussing anything sent to us from HQ with anyone, including our regions, other regions, or even fellow MLs.

Forbids us from fundraising directly for our regions, and offers no indication that HQ has plans to fund venues, goodie bags, or any other materials that MLs provide for their regions.

Some concerns have been addressed in a FAQ from the interim Executive Director, but it is uncomfortable that they were not worded clearly in the agreement from the start, and as of now we have not been given information on how much the agreement might change. They claim that there are no legal liabilities for MLs who sign, but the wording of the agreement suggests otherwise. We are being asked to trust HQ, but at this point HQ is giving us no reason to believe them.

...... What would change? We would not get stickers and posters from HQ for Kick-Off and TGIO, but we could still host them so long as we didn't use the official logo or name. The regional page on the official site might cease to exist, but our Discord would continue as it has been and we would still be able to organize 'unofficial' in-person and virtual write-ins. It will be harder to reach out to new members, who might not realize that they could find community nearby. It's unfortunate, but at the moment, this feels like the only option.

After sending that ^ they gave us the 'updated agreement preview' which we were expected to sign on the 1st (fitting it being on april fool's). i actually have No Idea if i was supposed to e-mail them if i was coming back so that they'd give me the Actual Agreement or if i just failed to get the actual agreement in an e-mail because by that point they'd already wiped all ML's of their status on the site so probably their already-fucked e-mail list was finally laid to rest. in any case there's no way i'd sign because the changes amounted to them saying 'trust us!!! it'll be covered in training!!!' and then didn't even say like. 'training will be done via [method].' they probably think we all live near HQ and can go in person idk.

so TLDR they want us to act as full-time moderators but are certainly not going to be paying us. they've replied to people's well-thought-out concerns and suggestions the way that my manipulative bog witch aunt would. and they got rid of All Of Us right before april camp, before last year's agreement expired. I guess they will blame us all for being toxic when the ML's who they promised would 'soon repopulate your regions' simply do not appear.

and like yeah a lot of people are really bitter about it, but the obfuscating and condescending replies really make me apprehensive about how volunteers willing to sign on are going to be treated. even if they had changed the aspects of the agreement that i found most alarming, i wouldn't want to be micromanaged and thrown under the bus knowing how they put this whole change forward in the first place. and then not be paid! that's what keeps getting me! like i'm not getting paid for this!

most people in my region seem to be in agreement that they'll use the site for goal-tracking, but won't be donating ever again. i've been trying to come up with fun activities to help bring everyone together through the year and keep spirits up, but really...after the forums/site switch a couple years ago people just stopped using our regional forum. it used to be really active but once the site changed, posting dropped right off. hq kept pushing us to try and make their dumb forums worth the money but it was so hard to use that nothing i did worked and i had better things to do with my time anyway. like writing askdjgh.

anyway i hope that writing is going well for you despite all the weirdness happening and that you can stay in touch with your region! and if there's anything i was unclear on or you'd want me to elaborate about let me know, there was A Lot last month and it's hard to keep it all straight in my mind.

[hellomynameisbisexual]

My parents regularly sent me articles over the next several months explaining that attraction to the same gender was artificial, a new fad, and dangerous. All factually incorrect. While I had initially been very comfortable and confident that I had found a label that described my experiences and feelings, under this constant barrage I was forced into a cycle of constant self-doubt. This self-doubt included new doubts toward my sexual orientation, but also my relationship with my religion, my relationship with my family, my ability to be faithful to a significant other, and more. Over time, and by establishing boundaries with my family, I eventually overcame those doubts. The self-imposed isolation and self-doubt is a pain that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. I count myself lucky for being able to resolve it without any permanent harm done to myself or my relationships.

Within the LGBTQ community I have experienced a less dramatic form of prejudice, but one that still isolates me and tries to control my identity. I have strongly felt pressure that I am not queer enough to belong, unless I date men or genderqueer people regularly. I feel pressure that if I only date people of the opposite gender, then aren’t I just really straight? If I’m not queer enough, then should I really have any authority or say about LGBTQ issues and representation? People think that I have it off easy, because I could just stay in the closet and hide forever and get married to someone of the opposite gender and just vanish. To that I ask, since when has living in the closet become a cool and lucky option? I will be judged no matter who I chose to be in a relationship in. Suddenly who I date has become a symbol of status within the community.

I don’t know when it became the business of anyone who I choose to date, but the fact is that by being bisexual I will live under constant scrutiny by people to see just how queer I am. People in the LGBTQ community will try to gate-keep and isolate me, and others, if we do not match their favorite vision of our identity. People outside of the community will be curious if I fit the stereotypes, send unsolicited invites to be part of a threesome, question if I am just trying to be cool or part of a fad, and judge how valid I am in my identity. Biphobia is controlling and invalidating. It is the attempt to force a person to match your view of who they should be, especially in a way that is convenient for you. Biphobia is the erasure of the third letter of the acronym, remembering people only as gay or straight. Biphobia is wrong. It is dangerous. It is the sexualizing and objectification of people for selfish motives.

The B is the third letter of the acronym, and I claim my right to remain in the LGBTQ community and live authentically.

[acepandemi]

Tw: phobias, dentist

I'm currently considering the sheer annoyance that comes with developing a phobia later in life.

Like, I was able to do this Thing for years without issue, and now I suddenly can't anymore? What kind of nonsense is this?

It's the dentist, in my case. For 30 years I had no issue whatsoever going to the dentist, not even a hint of nervousness or apprehension. Which was a good thing, as I have problem teeth (prone to cavities and refusing to grow straight) and needed a LOT of dental work over the years. I've had more cavities filled than I can count, had three different kinds of braces in my early teens (including the external kind, fun times), still have retainers (which have broken twice so far), had a root canal treatment once and even had two of my wisdom teeth removed (I only have/had three and the third refuses to descend, but that also means it doesn't cause issues... yet). No problem at all. Easy peasy lemon sqeezy.

And now I can't even look up some info on my dentist's web page without having the worst panic attack in years? What the flippin' flip?

I've had arachnophobia (fear of spiders) all my life, never really put any thought into it, it was just a part of me. But this, this is something different. It's just happening and getting worse, and yeah there's anxiety and tears and stress.

But it's also just so, so annoying!!! It's just the dentist! The dentist is nice, the dentist is there to help you, going to the dentist has never been a problem ever, and now suddenly it is? This is just stupid!

And the worst part is, it's not even anyones fault. Nobody did anything wrong, The Incident was just sheer dumb luck, but it somehow ruined everything.

(I needed yet another cavity filled about two years ago, and for some reason the anesthetic stopped working mid-procedure. They gave me two more doses, which didn't make any difference, and couldn't give me anymore because, you know, health concerns. But they had to finish the filling, they couldn't send me home with a gaping hole in my tooth. Everyone was so nice and apologetic, but that didn't help because it hurt. So. Bad. I was literally screaming in the chair [think I traumatized a few people in the waiting room that day]. Filling did get finished and I was sent home with so many apologies, and I really don't hold it against the dentist or anyone else, or even dentists in general. But, as is usually the case with me, there was a delayed reaction.)

And now I apparently have a phobia of the dentist. I get tense before my appointments, I've had meltdowns in The Chair because everything about the dentist is now triggering, I've even nearly hit the poor dentist, who is a very nice woman and didn't deserve that. because she startled me with a piece of equipment I was unfamiliar with (she didn't know that, fight or flight response kicked in). Last time the dental hygienist couldn't finish cleaning my teeth because I couldn't take it anymore and had a panic attack. And I've already re-scheduled my latest periodical check-up twice because the thought of going gives me such bad anxiety.

I never used to be like this, and I can't stand it! I wonder if this is how Mum felt after she developed claustrophobia?

(Yes, I know I need to deal with this. I've discussed it with my counselor and we're looking into options. There's apparently a specialized dentist/therapist sort of person at the local hospital that she accompanies another client to that might be able to help. I've already switched dentists when I moved back to my hometown, so that's not the solution.)

I just needed to vent about my annoyance with the situation. I never realized that particular emotion could be involved with developing a phobia.

[deadpresidents]

Do you agree with the idea that one of the more politically astute things Biden could've done in early 2021 was push for an amendment that limited presidents (including himself) to a single term?

I ask this as someone who feels that a Biden-Trump rematch in 2024 is very much not in the national interest. Such an amendment would've guaranteed two different nominees next year, and more broadly, I think there are arguments for limiting presidents to just one term (second terms have been pretty awful in the modern era, if we consider Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, and G.W. Bush).

Btw, I realize presidents don't have a formal role in the amendment process, but I think if Biden had gotten enough Dems behind it, there might have been enough support in Congress to send it to the states. In early 2021, the GOP would've almost been happy to have Trump term-limited, and ambitious Republicans like Scott, Cruz, and Rubio probably would've supported such an amendment.

That's an interesting question. From our perspective, I can totally understand the reasoning behind it, too. And that would have been a better time to attempt it for the reasons you pointed out.

However, I just think it's nearly impossible to amend the Constitution, especially in the political climate we've been living in for the past decade. It's also difficult to imagine any President actively seeking to impose further term limits on themselves. These are people who work practically the entire lives in order to get into that particular job, so it would require a superhuman act of selflessness to get them to advocate for changing the Constitution so that they only serve one term. We can't even get modern Presidents (or serious candidates for the Presidency) to voluntarily pledge to only serve a single term, so I just don't see any of them trying to change the Constitution to legally prohibit running for re-election. President Biden had been seeking the Presidency for at least 35 years, with three official campaigns for the job, before he finally was elected in 2020. I don't think there was ever a realistic chance of him voluntarily giving up a chance at a second term. And I wouldn't be so sure that ambitious legislators who have obviously been eyeing the Presidency for years would have supported a single term limit. You know how there are people who are opposed to raising taxes on the super wealthy because they are still holding out hope that they'll someday strike it rich? I'm guessing there would be a similar line of thinking and members of Congress with Presidential aspirations wouldn't want to support a single term limit just in case they eventually find themselves in the White House.

I've written about this before, but my personal opinion is actually in support of eliminating Presidential term limits altogether. As I've said in the past, the Founders did not explicitly place term limits on the President, and while most Presidents before FDR followed George Washington's tradition of serving two terms and retiring, term limits weren't imposed until after World War II. The Constitution was amended 21 times for over 150 years before Presidential term limits were finally instituted. And, even then, it was largely because Franklin D. Roosevelt won four straight Presidential elections. I question whether the Founders would see it as a proper balance of power to place term limits on the Executive Branch, but not on the Legislative or Judicial branches. So, my personal belief has been that there should either be term limits on the President, Congress, AND the Supreme Court, or there should be no limits at all. Of course, that might result in someone shitty, like Donald Trump, running for a third term, but it also provides options that voters otherwise wouldn't have. Imposing a two-term limit on Presidents may prohibit a terrible President from being elected a third time, but it also might prevent someone proven to be a good, responsible, popular leader from continuing in office.

Ultimately, the decision should be left to the voters, but I sure would feel better about 2024 if Barack Obama could be on the ballot again. We place limits on who can be candidates for what is arguably the most powerful and important job in the world, and then we complain because we don't like our choices. We prohibit the only people in the world who have actually DONE the job of President (and seemingly should have some understanding and experience on how to do that job) from being President for more than two four-year terms. Yet, nearly all of our Supreme Court Justices leave the bench by dying, and many of the most powerful legislators (in both parties) are alarmingly old and frail -- and probably running for re-election. Barack Obama has been term-limited from running for President since leaving office in 2017. Obama was 55 years old when he left office; he'll be 63 on the next Inauguration Day, in 2025 -- eight years after leaving office and sixteen years after his first inauguration. That's still younger than Ronald Reagan (69), George H.W. Bush (64), Donald Trump (70), and Joe Biden (78) were when they were first inaugurated as President!

So, if we're going to amend the Constitution regarding term limits, I say get rid of all of them or impose them on every branch of the federal government.