I really enjoyed the realism & believability of this story because of how true you stayed to the characters and their reactions. Very well written. :)

Thank you. I'm glad it gave you pleasure. For me finding the right 'voice' for a character is the first step in writing them, whether it's something of my own or an 'impersonation'.

Excellently written, and probably the most realistic story of this type that I've ever read.

Well Done!!!

REALLY very good. It feels like the way the adults talk in the back rooms of power.

Thank you. It's the way I've always imagined they would. Well, after watching THE WEST WING anyway....

That was... interesting. Well done. I hope your schedule and muse will allow you to write and post more chapters on more stories sometime soon. Keep up the good work. Zafaran {mailto:} zafaran {at} fastmail {dot} fm

I'm going to use an adjective I rarely use to describe a piece of fan fiction -- fascinating. This was a truly interesting and well thought out story. It brought up aspects of morality in the BtVS universe that I never before considered. I enjoyed it very much. Thank you for writing it.

That was excellent! I loved how Giles dealt with Matt Santos.

What a believable rendition of the supernatural world being exposed to the next president.

An enjoyable read. Could easily see possibilities for future follow up. Any chance of more? Lots of little interesting bits -- particularly the look at the councils relationship with thith the British Crown. You've definitely made me curious about what Willow's black up spell would have been...

Excellent job of capturing the darker side of finding out about the Watchers and Slayers. Really impressive, and I loved the bit at the end about Santos NOW only being pissed at the Watchers Council the way he's pissed at the French, and in time it might only be the way he's pissed at the British, or (God willing) the Canadians. Great job of dealing with the realpolitik of the "secret cold war" against the forces of Hell, as well as the theological questions a devout Catholic (or Christian of any denomination) would have to raise.

Interesting. I had a different take on the relation between the Catholic Church and the Watchers' Council; remember Brother Luca?

Not in the slightest. Who he?

That was very very interesting. To see another, more political side, of the Council was very neat - and it all fits very nicely and logically into the Council's history, backstory, and probable place in the world. Thanks for sharing this.

That was interesting. I wonder what the final decision was? And yes the Watchers Council is scary, especially to a politician.

Nice to see alt.conspiracy.sunnydale and False Jonathan Syndrome ride again.

Someone started to write a story about Willow being involved in the papal succession once, but it seems to have fizzled out. Shame, that might have been quite fun.

This talk was insightful, and tactful too. The end with Riley doesn't surprise me, and i wonder what that failsafe was.
Even Willow could only modify it, not really understand it.

Perfectly believable and exactly as it probably would happen.

The sort of armed neutrality as they discuss the issue is perfect, and the way that you didn't have Santos trying to reform, or take over the council role was good.

What I particularly liked though was the part where Giles was questioning whether he was damned.

A great story.