Long story short, a wind storm removed a handful of sections of tin roof allowing rain to leak into my house, which has ruined my dining room and belongings. For back story, it appears as if the dining room was an addition to the original blueprint of the house at some point long before I bought it.
When the contractors were gutting the room, they came across a litany of things not up to current code. A third party engineer came out and inspected it, giving a detailed list of things not up to code/require further inspection.
Direct list of things from the engineer’s report “We observed the following: -The addition framing does not match typical IRC framing methods. Permit research of the property did not show any permits for this type of work. -No hurricane ties are present at the roof rafter bearing. -The exterior wood studs are not continuous to the sill plate and the sill plate is stacked with gaps and offsets. Improper load path at wall framing. -The sill plates are not mechanically fastened to the foundation walls. Additionally, they do not match typical IRC detailing. -The floor joists rest directly on soil. The joists and sheathing are rotting from the top down. -The joists are not mechanically fastened to the foundation wall. -The foundation walls are ungrouted -The following architectural/MEP items were noted: -No apparent vapor barrier below the joists -Not adequate crawl space depth, per IRC code -No crawl space venting, appeared to be damp conditions below floor system -Floor and wall finishes appeared compromised due to the inability of proper air flow. -Unclear how the roof would be vented – if unvented, improper insulation techniques utilized -The roof slopes and roof intersections between them, as well as at the chimney, present inadequate water paths for drainage -Juncture of asphalt roofing to metal roofing is missing a high/low transition strip, therefore relying on adhesive sealants – prone to failure”
I have Law and ordinance (code upgrades) in my policy up to $40K, but my adjuster stated that they won’t cover any of the upgrades to things such as the improper foundation or framing since “they were not directly damaged from the peril” and instead currently plan on just covering the costs of redoing the drywall, flooring, and subfloor.
Perhaps I’m mistaken, but isn’t this exactly what code upgrades are for? If not in this specific instance, then when exactly are they used? I’m genuinely curious, because section 3 below makes me feel as if I’m entitled to utilize that portion of the policy given that I pay for it. The following text is directly from my insurance policy, specifically the law and ordinance subsection.
“Ordinance Or Law Coverage- If a loss by a PERIL WE INSURE AGAINST occurs to covered property, or the building containing the covered property, "we" will pay for the increased costs incurred due to the enforcement of any ordinance or law that is in force at the time of the loss. The maximum amount "we" will pay in any one loss is the amount shown on the "Declarations.” Payment is in addition to the amount of insurance applying to the loss.
"You" may use this coverage for: 1. the construction, demolition, renovation or repair of the portion of the building damaged by a PERIL WE INSURE AGAINST; 2. the demolition and reconstruction of the undamaged portion of the building if the entire building must be demolished because of damage by a PERIL WE INSURE AGAINST: 3. the removal or replacement of the undamaged portion of the building because of the repair or replacement of the portion of the building damaged by a PERIL WE INSURE AGAINST; 4. or the removal of debris resulting from the construction, demolition, renovation, repair or replacement of Item 1. 2. or 3.
Ordinance Or Law Coverage does not include coverage for: -loss in value to any covered building due to the requirements of any ordinance or law; or -the cost to comply with any ordinance or law requiring the testing, monitoring, cleaning up, removing, containing, treating, detoxifying, neutralizing, responding to or assessing the effects of any solid, liquid, gaseous or thermal irritant, pollutant or contaminant in or on any covered building.”
Will somebody please help me break down exactly what that all means? Am I just being strong armed by my adjuster in order to keep the total claim amount low, or am I truly the one that has to foot the bill on those things?
Thank you in advance, kind experts of the Redditverse <3

Im buying a DS for my birthday coming later this year. I love collecting "old" games and is one of my dreams to own one. I've been eyeing one in a used stuff store ( i dont know what theyre called in the US) and i already have a list, but more the merrier. Here it is:
New super mario bros
Super mario 64 DS
Sonic rush
Sonic colors
Mario kart DS
Resident Evil Deadly silence
Pokemon white
Pokemon black 2
Pokemon platinum
Rythm heaven
Kirby super star ultra
Mario e Luigi bowser inside story
GTA chinatown
Tetris DS
Ace attorney
LEGO indiana jones
Rayman DS

Dementium - The Ward

Nanco museum
And maybe another LEGO or Spiderman game idk. I think a licensed game fits in a collection
Not to mention it comes with a GBA slot, wich i want
Pokemon emerald
Sonic advance 2
Sonic battle
Godzilla domination
Maybe some of GBA video for the memes?
Anyway. I love 2D and 3D platformers, colleathon or not. Also, i dislike RPG´s but a fan of horror games. Also tell me if one of them is ass. Thanks in advance. (also Heartgold or Soulsilver?)

Guy who's never had a girl best friend so far here! Tryna search for my very first out here in the sub. I'm a guy who's got a wonderful stress-free life, a great job, supportive parents, an adventurous spirit, and a heart to find happiness in even the smallest things in life...I just got out of a long term relationship recently due to something terrible (where my ex used the fact that i didn't have any experience with women before her as an excuse and tried covering up her toxic and mean actions by saying "this is quite normal for women to be this way" - which i completely disagree), and Neverthless i've been recovering amazingly well. I have a lot of interests ranging from good books (Novels,poetry, short stories and world classics), good movies, boxing, swimming,hiking,travelling, long drives ( i own two cars), golfing, horse riding, mountain climbing...and the list goes on.
Age (as long as you're above 20) and location are not matters of concern when it comes to having a friendship , and every place in this world is a flight's distance away, and i'd love to bridge the gap if we get along well! So, feel free to hit me up in my chats if you think i'm your type of person and let's get to know each other! Hoping to hear from y'all. Have a wonderful day/night wherever you're from!😇✌🏻✨
(P.S. please don't think the account is sketchy cuz it's new! It's a throwaway and i'm here for only a limited period of time. I'm open to revealing everything about me when we connect and get along well!)

Game	System	Condition
Centipede	Gameboy	Loose
Ice Hockey	NES	Loose
Skate or Die	NES	Loose
Super Mario and Duck Hunt	NES	Loose
Namco Museum 64	N64	Loose, untested
Kirby 64 (Hoshi no Kirby 64)	N64	Loose
Hey You Pikachu (Pikachu Genki Dechu)	N64	Loose
マリオパーティ - Mario Party (Japanese)	N64	Loose
Mario Party 3 (Japanese)	N64	Loose
Mario Golf (Japanese)	N64	Loose
Pokemon Stadium Gold Silver (Japanese)	N64	Loose
Yoshi's Story (Japanese)	N64	Loose
Danganronpa Decadence Collectors Edition	Switch	CIB
Sonic Mania	Switch	Case and Slipcover only
Super Robot Wars 30	Switch	NIB
Namco Museum	PS2	Loose
Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time	PSP	Loose (game store stickers)
Assassins Creed III Liberation	PS Vita	Loose
BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma	PS Vita	Loose
Chaos:Child	PS Vita	Loose
Danganronpa 2	PS Vita	Loose
Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth (JP Version)	PS Vita	Loose
Eiyuu Densetsu: Sen no Kiseki	PS Vita	Loose
Muramasa Rebirth	PS Vita	Loose
Need for Speed: Most Wanted	PS Vita	Loose
Persona 4 Golden	PS Vita	Loose
Root Letter	PS Vita	Loose
SD Gundam G Generation Genesis	PS Vita	Loose
Soul Sacrifice Delta	PS Vita	Loose
Tokyo Xanadu	PS Vita	Loose
Ys: Memories of Celceta	PS Vita	Loose
Fifa 14	PS4	CiB
Ghost Trick (JP Import)	PS4	CIB
Marvel Avengers	PS4	NIB
Sega Genesis Classics	PS4	CIB
AEW Fight Forever	PS5	CIB
Wolfenstein Old/New	Xbox One	CiB
Monster Hunter World	Xbox One	CiB
NHL 96	Genesis	Loose

Misc items
Gameboy Four Player Adapter DMG-07
Gamestop Gamecube Controllers
Nintendo 3ds off brand charger.
Xbox 360 Media Remote (short)
Xbox 360 Media Remote (long)
Mario Golf Super Rush Pin Set
Xbox Core Wireless controller, white (has a black battery back for a rechargable battery. Standard batteries still fit)
Black Nintendo Wii (bad disc drive), softmod installed (no games included) includes 1 Wii remote, RCA cables, power adapter and 2 Gamestop Gamecube controllers
SoftModded Wii (bad disc drive), power, AV, WiiMote (no games included)
SOUNDTRACKS

• Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
• Borderlands Original Soundtrack
• Borderlands 2 Original Soundrtrack

Wants:

• Nine Persons Nine Hours Nine Doors
• Zero Time Dilemna
• Blood Bowl 3
• Famicom Detective Club
• Fairy Fencer F: Refrain Chord
• Return of Obia Dinn
• The Centenial Case: Shijima Story
• Wolf Among Us
• Playstation Vita consoles
• Playstation Vita games
• Steam Games
• Your list

Kaneshiro’s showed what he’s capable of for a good while now for us to know this. He only ever makes Isagi show out when it’s “safe” to do so.

Basic Isagi patterns

Usually any of these 3 scenario’s happen:

1. ⁠Everyone else gets moments and/or goals then Isagi’s the last goal merchant (almost every game)
   
2. ⁠Isagi scores first soley to highlight he improved his shooting (First 3v3, Ubers, PxG)
   
3. ⁠A character that went GOAL-LESS gets character development and scores over Isagi. Rin and Bachira scored first then failed when it mattered more. So you can’t compare Kaiser to them, you HAVE to look at Barou/Yuki as references
   

Most of Isagi’s games follow pattern 1. 3 occasions it showcased pattern 2.

It took a steak of L’s for Isagi to be allowed a brace in two separate occasions

The only 2 times Isagi got a brace was when Kaneshiro deemed it safe to do so:

• 3v3: Barou is being used for scenario 3, the previous game Isagi was useless AND being lumped together with Naruhaya while Barou and Nagi got 4 goals. Bachira carried Isagi the match before that. He was a bum for 2 games, so Kaneshiro gave him a brace
  
• Ubers: Kaiser (the rival of the arc) has 3 goals, Barou got a brace, Isagi went goal-less for 2 games, pulling scenario 3 with Yuki in the game before. More than safe enough to give him a brace to even compete with Kaiser’s goal count. And now they both have 3.
  

Now, Isagi will likely get a brace vs PxG, despite his streak of W’s, so this “Isagi has to be humbled for 2 games before more than 1 goal” pattern may break
But honestly, when you actually think about the type of author Kaneshiro is, you realize Isagi’s hattrick can’t happen this game. Kaneshiro’s incapable of it. It will happen when he thinks it’s “safe” to do that.

Safe Hattrick options

• Japan vs Germany (duh)
  
• Best 16. You know, that round that Japan has NEVER cleared? Idk if that’s different for u20 as well but it’s true for the pro WC. You see how important that match will be? At the same time, this could also be the best game for variety of goals so even this is unlikely
  
• Random group stage round: Just because it’s the easiest. No other reason
  

These are the safest options for Kaneshiro. Even then he’ll still make Isagi go goal-less for the match before it just to make it safer. Not really sure when the manga ends so let’s keep the scope till the u20 WC until we know where Kaneshiro takes the story after

Why we shouldn’t even believe in a hattrick

I get that back in the Manshine match with Yuki, we could’ve wrote off Barou as a one time thing. Not anymore. Kaneshiro almost solidified it. If Kaiser scores next it’s a hard written rule at that point. I’d go as far as to say it kills enjoyment going forward when we see this pattern a 4th time in the future, as we would know Kaneshiro’s incapable of anything else. He doesn’t do bold moves with Isagi especially not at the expense of a character of focus.
Isagi talked about a hat trick. He also said “I’ll change the world with my goalS” or something like that in the u20 match and ended up as the last goal merchant AGAIN. You can write off his words easily. Sure there’s more “narrative weight” here but Isagi thinking he needs a hattrick to consider himself “above” Rin is a flaw in itself. Even if he got a hattrick now he won’t be Top scorer.

Why others show out easier while Isagi is always “play it safe”

Rin, Nagi, Barou and Shidou were established as cracked so they do big moves as “status quo”. Isagi’s never and maybe will never.

Counter argument

Isagi wasn’t consistently reliable up till Manshine match as a player and up until Ubers as a scorer. Now when he’s finally considered good he’s in an arc with a hard set 3 goal limit, on a team where his rival is an important NG11 who also needs development. And maybe in a larger scope these basic patterns will fizzle out now that Isagi should be good enough to be more consistent

My opinion of Kaneshiro IF Isagi got a hattrick

If Kaneshiro gives Isagi the hattrick, he’s broken his basic patterns for once, which I’d be interested in. I’d take back everything I’ve said. Since imo Kaneshiro is predictable. I don’t see how anyone can say a hat trick is predictable when if you’ve read the patterns Kaneshiro has constantly put out you’d know this would be the most unusual thing he’s ever done. Legit a miracle since it’s borderline impossible. What’s subjective is whether or not that result is boring or underwhelming but I’m not diving into any of that. Think what you want. Half the fandom wants it the other half despises it so whatever honestly
But since the manga’s started I haven’t been wrong with what I said about Isagi just winning when it’s safe. Isagi even scoring back to back is more than we should be asking for which is why if Isagi scored next I’m fine with Kaiser scoring last

This is all from the Internet. A click away from any phone.

Socrates was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought.
An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon. These accounts are written as dialogues, in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre.
Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible, a situation known as the Socratic problem. Socrates was a polarizing figure in Athenian society. In 399 BC, he was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth. After a trial that lasted a day, he was sentenced to death. He spent his last day in prison, refusing offers to help him escape.
There were four charges that were brought against Socrates. They were that he argued the weaker claim over the stronger claim, that he argue the physical over the metaphysical, that he was against the gods and that he was corrupting the youth.
Socrates was found guilty by a jury of 501 Athenians and was sentenced to drink a deadly poison, named hemlock. Many scholars have argued that the charges against Socrates were politically motivated and have understood his trial and conviction as an attack upon freedom of speech and an indictment of democracy.

The Last Moments of Maegor’s Reign, losing against a misogynistic society led by petty and ambitious nobles and against the Faith of the Seven, a religion that enforces gender roles and inequality between men and women.

By 48 AC Maegor's tyranny could no longer be borne by the realm. At Storm's End Aenys I's last surviving son, Prince Jaehaerys, put forth his claim to the throne, supported by Lord Rogar Baratheon, who was named Protector of the Realm and Hand of the King by the prince. Jaehaerys had two dragons on his side, his own mount Vermithor and his sister's mount Silverwing, against Maegor's Balerion. Learning of her brother's claim, Queen Rhaena Targaryen fled from Maegor in the night, escaping on her dragon Dreamfyre with the Valyrian blade Blackfyre, and her daughter, Princess Aerea, adding a third dragon to her brothers cause. Lord Edwell Celtigar resigned his position as Hand and returned to Claw Isle and Grand Maester Benifer secretly escaped on a ship to Pentos. Ser Olyver Bracken and Ser Raymund Mallery, two of Maegor's Kingsguard, also deserted him. Lord Daemon Velaryon, the admiral of the royal fleet, was the first of the great lords to forsake Maegor, taking the royal fleet with him, and many other lords followed his example. The great houses of Lannister, Tyrell, and Arryn came out against Maegor and in the riverlands House Tully gave support to Septon Moon and Ser Joffrey Doggett, the leaders of the Poor Fellows.
Maegor called his banners in response, but few answered, giving Maegor an army of barely four thousand soldiers. Despite this, Maegor refused to surrender. At the end of the war council, Maegor remained behind alone in the throne room to brood. He was found dead the next morning by Queen Elinor, seated on the Iron Throne with his robes covered in blood and his wrists slashed. A spike from one of the swords on the throne behind him was impaled through the back of his neck. How Maegor died was never discovered. Some say he had been killed by Queen Elinor, others that he had been killed by a knight of his own Kingsguard. Yet others say he had been killed by a builder who escaped the slaughter three years earlier and desired revenge, and many believe that Maegor had been killed by the throne itself. Others believe that Maegor killed himself by opening his wrists on the blades of the Iron Throne.

The fate of Maegor’s loyal supporters.

Owen Bush was a knight of the Kingsguard during the reign of King Maegor I Targaryen. When Maegor suspected Queen Tyanna of the Tower of betrayal, he had Owen and his sworn brother, Ser Maladon Moore, bring her to the dungeons, where she confessed.
Maegor the Cruel gradually lost political support, resulting in a rival threat in his nephew, Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen. Two of his Kingsguard defected to Jaehaerys, and Maegor lost a third guard when Owen was found dead outside a brothel in 48 AC, his member cut off and stuffed in his mouth.
Maladon Moore was a knight from House Moore and a member of the Kingsguard during the reign of King Maegor I Targaryen. When the king suspected Queen Tyanna of the Tower of treason, Maladon and Owen were dispatched to seize the queen and deliver her to the dungeons, where Maegor was said to have slain her while Maladon was present.
After Maegor died in 48 AC and his nephew King Jaehaerys I Targaryen took the Iron Throne, Maladon was accused of being involved in the death of Queen Ceryse, allegedly restraining her when Ser Owen accidentally killed her. Maladon denied these charges, insisting she died of "shrewishness". While the charges were never proven, Maladon lost his head for his involvement in Queen Tyanna's death, of which he was guilty.
When Queen Tyanna of the Tower admitted to poisoning Queen Alys Harroway during her pregnancy, Tyanna promised the same would happen to Elinor. Tyanna was proven correct when Elinor gave birth to a stillborn abomination said to have been born eyeless and with small wings. Elinor was one of the two wives who survived the king, the other being Queen Rhaena Targaryen.
After King Maegor's death, Lord Daemon Velaryon proposed that King Jaehaerys I Targaryen marry Queen Elinor to reconcile with Maegor's supporters when a bride was being considered for the king, but nothing came of the proposal. After Jaehaerys's ascent, Elinor departed King's Landing dressed in the robes of a penitent. She visited her two elder sons at the Eyrie and Highgarden before retiring to her father's seat at the Three Towers with her youngest son.
Later, King Jaehaerys commanded Elinor to go forth and spread his Doctrine of Exceptionalism to the peoples of the Seven Kingdoms, as well as the goodness of Jaehaerys and Alysanne, becoming one of the Seven Speakers. Her queenly raiment became shabbier and more threadbare each day, and she eventually gave up all claims to nobility, becoming Mother Elinor at the great motherhouse in Lannisport.
House Rosby was one of the first houses to yield peacefully to House Targaryen during Aegon's Conquest, surrendering to Rhaenys Targaryen and Meraxes. The Rosby lands became part of the crownlands surrounding King's Landing. Lord Jon Rosby was named Warden of the Sands by King Aegon I Targaryen during the First Dornish War, but Jon was killed in the Defenestration of Sunspear.
Ser Rayford Rosby defended King Maegor I Targaryen during his trial of seven, but Rayford was slain during the fighting. Lord Rosby remained loyal to the king even as his downfall became certain, and was one of the last to see the king alive. In the chaos that followed the discovery of Maegor's body, Lord Rosby drank a cup of hemlock to join his king in death. His young son received forgiveness from King Jaehaerys I Targaryen at Dragonstone.
In 47 AC, King Maegor was dealing with the issue of his lack of heirs, despite having already married three women. Lord Daemon Velaryon, Rhaena's uncle and a member of Maegor's small council, advised Maegor to wed Rhaena, to unite their claims and prevent new rebellions, and to gain her as a hostage against any potential schemes of Dowager Queen Alyssa. Later that year, Maegor summoned Rhaena to King's Landing, and she did not defy him. At the Red Keep, Maegor married Rhaena in a triple ceremony, together with Elinor Costayne and Jeyne Westerling. As the three women were all widows of men Maegor had killed, they became known as the "Black Brides". Immediately following the wedding, Maegor declared Rhaena's elder daughter Aerea as his heir until he had sons of his own, while disinheriting Rhaena's youngest brother Jaehaerys in the same decree.
After Maegor’s death, discussion arose as to who had the better claim to the Iron Throne. There were some who suggested that Rhaena's claim, as the firstborn child of King Aenys I Targaryen and Queen Alyssa Velaryon, was the strongest. Her gender argued against her, however, and Rhaena herself had come to loathe King's Landing and its court. The claims of her daughters were argued for as well. If Maegor was to be considered a usurper, the true king would have been Rhaena's first husband, Aegon, who had claimed the throne before Jaehaerys had. As such, some suggested the throne should pass to one of his daughters by Rhaena, Aerea or Rhaella.
As time passed, Rhaena began to resent the fact that her claim to the throne, and that of her daughters, had been dismissed in favor of Jaehaerys, to whom she began to refer as "my baby brother". In addition, Rhaena begrudged her mother for promoting Jaehaerys's claim over her own.
Ser Walton Towers was granted Harrenhal by King Maegor I Targaryen in 44 AC after winning a melee in Lord Harroway's Town, but Walton died soon after from his wounds. Harrenhal thus passed to his eldest son. Lord Jordan remained loyal to Maegor during the king's wars, and Lord Rosby were the last to see the king alive before Maegor's death on the Iron Throne. Along with Lords Darklyn and Staunton, Jordan yielded the Red Keep to Prince Jaehaerys, Princess Rhaena, and Princess Alysanne Targaryen. The three lords were sent to the black cells, but were eventually pardoned by King Jaehaerys I after surrendering some of their land.
Jordan eventually died of a chest congestion. Harrenhal passed to Jordan's last surviving son, Maegor Towers, as Jordan's older sons had all died fighting for King Maegor.
Maegor's father, Lord Jordan Towers, was one of the last lords of the Seven Kingdoms who remained loyal to King Maegor I Targaryen. All of Jordan's sons died fighting in the king's wars, with the exception of young Maegor.
Maegor became Lord Towers after the death of his father due to a chest congestion. When King Jaehaerys I Targaryen began a royal progress in 53 AC to celebrate the new year, his first stop was to see the new Lord of Harrenhal, then only nine years of age.
Maegor was an impoverished lord who resided in the Tower of Dread with only a cook and three men-at-arms. Since the rest of Harrenhal was empty, King Jaehaerys settled his widowed sister, Rhaena Targaryen, in the Widow's Tower in 56 AC. Maegor and Rhaena eventually became friends, and she cared for his servants after Maegor passed away in 61 AC. Harrenhal was granted to House Strong after Rhaena passed away in 73 AC.
Maegor was sickly and poor.
Socrates speaks his last words to Crito: "Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt". Asclepius was the Greek god for curing illness, and it is likely that Socrates' last words were implied to mean that death is the cure, and freedom of the soul from the body.
Asclepius, Greco-Roman god of medicine, son of Apollo (god of healing, truth, and prophecy) and the mortal princess Coronis. The Centaur Chiron taught him the art of healing. At length Zeus (the king of the gods), afraid that Asclepius might render all men immortal, slew him with a thunderbolt.
Zeus saw Asclepius & his medical skills as a threat to the eternal division between humanity & the gods. Asclepius met a tragic end when he was killed by a thunderbolt thrown by Zeus.
Socrates ultimately does not fear death because of his innocence, he believes that death is not feared because it may be one of the greatest blessings of the soul.
The reasons for Socrates not escaping when he had the chance the night prior; are made explicit before the Laws make their speech. Because escape defies the will of the Athenians, it requires stealth and bribery, shameful practices that are unjustified in the current situation.
Socrates Feared Democracies Would Elect Demagogues. The term arose in Greece in the fifth century BCE, right around Socrates's time, and is often used negatively. Socrates himself was extremely worried that the democratic format would give rise to a demagoguery.
Demagogues are political leaders who seek support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument.
Modern demagogues include Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and Joseph McCarthy, all of whom built mass followings the same way that Cleon did: by exciting the passions of the masses against customs and norms of the aristocratic elites of their times.

This is why Maegor and Socrates died. They challenged authority and lost. They were silenced by the powerful lords and by the elected council of Athens whom were given power by the common people.
They were “heroes”.
“My own heroes are the dreamers, those men and women who tried to make the world a better place than when they found it, whether in small ways or great ones. Some succeeded, some failed, most had mixed results... but it is the effort that's heroic, as I see it. Win or lose, I admire those who fight the good fight.
George R.R. Martin.
King Maegor had married all his brides and gave them Queenly status.

Jeyne was married to Lord Alyn Tarbeck. She was widowed when Alyn died during the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye in 43 AC. Jeyne was pregnant when her husband died, and gave him a posthumous son a few months later.

In 47 AC, Jeyne was being courted by a younger son of Lyman Lannister, the Lord of Casterly Rock, when King Maegor I Targaryen sent for her to be wed to him. She married Maegor in a ceremony at King's Landing, along with Lady Elinor Costayne and Princess Rhaena Targaryen. As all three women had been widowed due to Maegor, they became known as the "Black Brides". The stories told of the wedding night claim that Jeyne was given a fertility potion by Queen Tyanna of the Tower, and either drank it, or threw it in Tyanna's face. After the wedding, Queen Jeyne's son was confirmed as Lord of Tarbeck Hall, and sent to Casterly Rock to be raised as a ward of Lyman Lannister.

Lord Edwell Celtigar, the Hand of the King, announced half a year after the wedding that Queen Jeyne was pregnant, and Queen Elinor's pregnancy was announced shortly afterwards. Maegor, joyful, showered both his wives with gifts and honors, and granted new lands and offices to their fathers, brothers, and uncles. Unfortunately, Jeyne's labor began three months early, and she gave birth to a stillborn child, monstrous, lacking arms and legs but possessing both male and female genitalia. Jeyne herself died soon after.

In 48 AC, Tyanna of the Tower confessed to having poisoned Jeyne's child in the womb.
This is all on the awoiaf wiki.
George is a better writer than we’ve given him credit for.
At the end of Maegor’s reign, House Baratheon, Lannister, Tyrell and Arryn rebelled against Maegor. Maegor had sent the young son of his fourth wife (Jeyne Westerling) as a ward(hostage) to House Lannister. Then he sent the two eldest sons of his sixth wife (Elinor Costayne) as wards(hostages) to House Tyrell and House Arryn. When the great houses rebelled, Lord Daemon Velaryon, the brother of Alyssa Velaryon, escaped with the Royal Fleet and left King’s Landing.
Maegor called his banners to fight against the threat but they were too few and Elinor Costayne begged him to surrender to save her two eldest sons and the son of the long deceased Jeyne Westerling. He banned her from the council room and refused to surrender and his lords and him and Rhaena made battle plans well into the night.
At the end of the war council, Maegor dismissed everyone and stayed alone in the throne room to brood.
The following morning, Elinor Costayne found the King dead, his wrists slashed and throat impaled on the back of the Iron Throne.
Lord Rosby was one of the last people to see his king alive and drank a cup of hemlock to follow him in death.
Lord Jordan Towers named his last son Maegor and died of a chest conjection after Jaehaerys’ ascension to the Throne.
Elinor Costayne left King’s Landing while donning the clothes of a penitent and eventually renounced all claims to nobility and became the owner of a Motherhouse in Lannisport.
Ser Maladon Moore was executed for his involvement in Queen Tyanna’s death whom had confessed to poisoning King Maegor’s wives.
Queen Rhaena was expelled from King’s Landing and her claim to the Throne was ignored because of her gender.
Ser Owen Bush was found dead in a brothel with his cock stuffed in his mouth.

i'm working on a novel and would like to know if anyone could tell me any improvements i could make to the first chapter and prologue
Prologue
The day had started the same way it had for the past two years. The only difference was that I was going home. The hallway was crowded with people walking to and from their classes. Everyone was crowded next to each other so the halls were making the area feel claustrophobic. All the people talking mixed with the summer heat made me feel like I was locked in a sauna. I walked with Preston to the last class we would ever have together and as usual he was smiling. I never got why he always smiled even in situations where people should be sad he still smiled. He knew what today meant for me and he tried to keep light of the situation. I kept my head down away from what was ahead of me. My mind was too clouded about returning to see my family to notice anything in front of me. I walked into another student. It felt like I had walked into a wall. I knew immediately I had walked into tree. I stumble onto the ground and the commotion around me slows down to make room for us. He turned his bulky body around and apologized profusely without saying a word even though I had walked into him. He helped me off of the ground before hurrying down the hall.
“Alexandria, are you doing okay?” Preston said he had tilted his body downward so I had to look down to look him in his eyes. The way he was standing made him look like an idiot but he didn't seem to care. The way he acted made me laugh, which caused his smile to widen.
“I'm doing fine, just got lost in my head.”
“Thinking about how you’ll leave soon,” he said
“Was it that obvious?” He was the only person I told about me being an exchange student. I came to spend high school in Newkinawa and he was the only person I ever hung out with.
“I see what you mean,” he said “Newkinawa is a beautiful place with beautiful people to live in it…myself included”
“You wish,” I say with a smile we continue walking through the hallway “I'm just not excited to go back yet”
After I say that his smile grows wider “So you will miss me after all”
“I wouldn't say that much” I responded whilst smiling.
We had made it to our last class only to see it closed with a sign labeled “Uma incident” Uma was a student known for messing with the chemistry lab and destroying school property in the process. I've never actually met her but Preston says “She's a little weird but still nice”
“Guess class is canceled for today,” Preston remarked with a smile “Wanna go out to the court till the bell rings.”
“Sure let's go” I respond
The place we ate every day was outside. It used to be a tennis court before I moved in. Now they put trees and flowers all over the place. Preston really liked the blue color of the flowers but it just never clicked for me. I look over at Preston and he's staring up at the sky. There are a number of clouds in almost enough to block the sun but it still pokes its rays through and lands on Preston's face. The clouds swim in front of the sun till they block out the sun's light. Preston faces towards me.
“I'm gonna miss you Alexandria” he says
“You know you can just call me Alex,” I replied. I start to smile again. “I'll miss you too!" He smiles toward me again as we get up to leave as the clouds start to clump together and rain slowly falls. As we're walking back to the school there's a loud tearing sound followed by screams as the ground shakes.
The ground tears itself apart as the dirt and stone erupt from the ground. The sky blackens and a pale blue light escapes the earth. Then creatures erupt from the ground in a violent ejection from the earth creating a white pillar diffusing as they reach higher in the air. Some are clawing their way out of the cracks like maggots out of a corpse. People are swept into the updraft screaming for their lives.
The creatures descend like a tidal wave and tear apart any people caught in their path. They storm out of the crack in hundreds as more cracks in the earth form. Me and Preston started running away as people were screaming behind us. A girl running next to us has her legs slashed by a creature. The monster begins to tear open her chest as she chokes on her own blood. The monster shovels her lungs and innards into its decrepit mouth. Me and Preston keep running until we're met at the entrance of the school and we catch the attention of a monster as it begins to savagely rush toward us. The monster resembles ghosts my father told me about. But this one looks monstrously horrific. It floats in the air and opens its mouth so wide it nearly replaces its entire torso; its jaws hold savage teeth each the same old gray color of its body. Its eyes glow a rotten yellow color through the dark. It stretches out its arms showing its giant hands and claws like fingers. It swipes at us leaving a giant claw mark on the door behind us but Preston ducks my body down to avoid the attack. We run around it as the monster swaps its focus to another bystander. Screaming past us. Me and Preston run into the parking lot as people scream around us. We hide next to a car.
“What the hell is happening!?” I yell to Preston. More of the creatures fly over us and swoop down to people like vultures on roadkill devouring the fleeing people.
Preston starts to breathe heavily ”we need to get out of here and someplace safer”. As we were talking one of the monster phases through the car we were hiding next to forcing us to run into the street.
“Lets go to your house till things cool down” i say to Preston through panted breaths
“Wait couldn't we head to your house instead” Preston says.
“Why would that matter your house is closer anyways” i respond
“But-” Preston is interrupted by two creatures swooping above us to grab another person. The two monsters begin to pull the person apart while he writhes in pain before having his flesh be torn in half and having his organs be devoured.
“Come on lets go!!” I say as I grab his hand and run even faster.
By the time we reach Preston's house any living person is gone. On the street are just corpses laying torn and mutilated on the roads and sidewalk. The air in the neighborhood feels cold despite the season being summer. When I walk down the street I can still hear the occasional horrific wail the monsters give off. We move closer to Preston's house and I can see him sweating. He looked more worried than before when the creatures were chasing us and he kept darting his eyes away from his home.
“Preston, are you feeling okay?” he doesn't respond to my question and keeps darting his eyes. He walks slowly behind me and as I reach for the door handle and when I touch it it feels nearly freezing. I wrap my hoodie around my hand and slowly open the door. The house is quiet so me and Preston creep further into his house. The inside is cold and damp as if we were locked in a freezer. The further we move into the house the louder a subtle chewing sound is heard.
“It sounds like rats are eating a dead cow over there” I whisper. Preston continues to stay silent behind me. We slowly walk closer towards the kitchen and the sound gets louder and louder and louder until we reach the room.
We're met with a rancid smell of vomit and blood. My blood starts to run cold and every instinct in my body is telling me to run. I can feel Preston breathing get heavier as we get closer. We turn the corner and see Preston's mom lying on the ground dead with one of the creatures hunched over slurping her intestines. The sight causes me to vomit alerting the monster to our presence. The creature turns around and its mouth turns into a mortifying grin as it flies into Preston's moms body. The corpse begins to rise and spur splashing blood over the kitchen. When the corpse stops spasming it picks itself up from the ground and with glazed over eyes it holds its intestines in its hand and gives us the same grin it did when it was outside her body. The possessed corpse lunges at me and starts to chase me around the kitchen. The body is running into the walls and cabinets spraying its blood and other loose organs around the area as I'm avoiding its assault. The corpse leans over and ejects one of its loose intestines towards me, wrapping me in it. It pulls me towards it so fast I'm flung towards the ground. The corpse limbers over to me and raises its free hand aiming for my head. The creature's deranged smile causes the corpse’s cheeks to tear apart. It places both of its bloodied and demented hands on my face and starts to press my skull into the ground. I struggle to breathe. The room starts to get dark and blood escapes my head.
Until Preston jumps on top of his mothers corpse with a kitchen knife and repeatedly stabs it in the head. The possessed body tries to shake him off but he keeps stabbing, blood gets in on his face and tears start to escape his eyes. The creature violently ejects from the corpse's mouth causing her head to nearly explode and Preston stops stabbing the body. The body falls over in a splash of blood and organs. The monster leaves phasing through the roof leaving Preston crying over his mother's body. As the blood mixes with the tears he collapses to his knees crying. I walk over and hug him as the air around us turns bitter and the chill of death leaves the room and us with it.
Chapter 1 Eclipse
It's been 2 months since the apocalypse started. We've kept ourselves alive by looting grocery stores and houses, we hide from the creatures as we have no way to fight back against them. Preston came up with the idea to call them glanter’s. He’s looking better since we left his family home but I can tell something is wrong with him that he's not telling me. Everytime I ask him about it he tells me it's no big deal. I asked him earlier today and he just told me
“don't worry about it, I'm over it” without even looking at me. Now we're walking through the street and I'm walking behind Preston, I can barely see his head past the giant bag we're both carrying on our backs we use to carry supplies. I look up at the sky and it's still pitch black except for the moon giving us any amount of light. Preston turns around to face me.
“Let's check out that house, it might have some cool stuff in it” he points to a white house to our right. The house is a two story building with steps leading to the front door. There's a generator poking out from the backyard. The driveway is empty save for a couple of dried blood stains and tire marks. It's similar to the other houses in the neighborhood except for a couple broken windows.
“Sure why not” We head over to the house and I see something shining on the side of the house in the corner of my eye. I turn my head to look at it closer but it quickly disappears before I can see it clearly.
“Probably squirrel or something” I mumble to myself. Preston walks up the stairs to the house and I walk up the steps behind him as a breeze blows past my face. Preston tries to turn the door knob but the door is locked. I start to pull out a lockpick I grabbed at the store earlier. I motion towards Preston to move out of the way as I kneel down to pick the lock. It takes me a couple of minutes to unlock the door so I walk inside the house and Preston follows behind me while closing and locking the door. The doorway of the house leads to a dark room so I take a flashlight out of my bag to illuminate the area. Were put into the living room and bookshelves are on the walls and a large TV sat in front of a large black couch with smaller chairs surrounding it. Dust is covering every surface of the room and spiderwebs litter the corners of the walls. The area smells like moth balls and there's a lack of blood anywhere nearby.
“Guess the owners got out before the Glanter’s got in, '' I say to Preston. When he doesn't respond I turn around and he's already looking further into the house. When I find him he's managed to find a flight of stairs that lead to a lower portion of the house.
“I'll check on him later,” I think to myself as I headed towards the kitchen to see if we could restock on food. I walk past a bedroom and remark on how childish it looked. The walls were painted with blue and green stripes and a bunk bed sat on the right wall. There's a chest at the foot of the bed so I walk over and lift the top off of it. The box is layered with children's toys, a multitude of dolls, bears, and figures all jut out of the box. I notice a small robot toy and inspect it in my hands.
The cold metal makes my hand shiver and the sharp body shape makes the robot bigger than my hand. There's red lining around the robot's buttons surrounded by the cold gray of the robot's “skin”. It reminds me of a toy my little brother had. My heart feels heavy as I worry about what happened to my family. If they're alive, dead, or worse…possessed. The thoughts send a chill down my spine but I push them aside for now. I put the toy in my bag and exit the bedroom.
I can see the kitchen is down the hallway so I walk down the hall and enter. The kitchen is pretty clean except for a couple of dishes in the sink and the dust. There's a table seated for 3 people in the center of the room. I start opening the cabinets in search for any food or water. There's boxes of cereal leftover on top of shelves and a mix of chip bags and cookies in neat boxes stationed in the cabinets.
“Score,” I say to myself as I begin to put the snacks into my bag. When the cabinets are empty I look inside the fridge. The inside of the fridge ran out of power so most of the food inside is rotted. There are a couple of bottles of water in the front so I shove those in my bag. There's also a bag of oranges that still seem to be healthy in the back. I grab them and toss them on the table. There's rotten sandwich meat hidden in the drawer of the fridge.it smells like a dumpster outside of a butcher shop. I wrinkle my nose at the smell. I look around the kitchen for any bread with no luck.
I continue to look through the fridge until I hear Preston scream from another room. Immediately I bolt out of the kitchen leaving my bag behind and run towards the lower part of the house. I run down the stairs and nearly trip on the steps. The stairs lead to a big room. There are posters to tv shows and movies I don't recognize. The walls are painted black and there's a bear skin rug on the floor. I notice Preston standing next to a really big TV hyperventilating. I walk over to him and ask him.
“Are you ok? What happened?”
He talks through deep breaths “I… saw a… spider.”
“What?!” I respond in confusion.
“It was really big and I had jumped at my face”
“Sure it was.” I say while laughing “Let's go upstairs there's some food in the fridge we can eat”
“Wait, I think you should check this out.” He says while pointing towards one of the walls. I grab Preston's flashlight off the floor and face it towards the wall. Hanging halfway off the wall is a large map labeled Newkiwana scavenger hunt of 76.
“I think we should take it,” Preston says “You can read a map right?”
“A little but I'm not the best at it,” I say to him “can you read a map?”
“it shouldn’t be too hard it’s mainly pictures any way I'm sure I can figure it out”
I walk over to the wall where the map is hung there are trophies covering tables and shelved in their own personal cases one of them reads “1st place 100-meter swimming competition for 1986 Zack Hemmingway” and another one reads “2nd place 100-meter swimming competition for 1989 Zack Hemmingway”
“Guess this guy really liked swimming,” Preston remarks while staring at a wall of newspaper clippings. All of them are about the same person in swimming competitions. All labeled different things like “a new record for Zack “the dolphin” Hemmingway”,
‘Zach Hemmingway our star plans for the future” all the newspapers are about this kind he has paler skin and a bulky enough build to swim pretty well. Most of the pictures have him coming out of the water in a pool, his long black hair soaked and sitting at his shoulders. Another one has him sitting at a desk over a pile of books and his hair in a knot , “vicious wipeout ends the Dolphins career”, and “ex-swim champ Zack Hemmingway found in a drunken stupor outside strip club.
“Everyone has their own hobbies I guess,” I say as I take the map off of the wall and fold it up. “Sucks what happened to Zack though” I walked over to Preston’s bag and put the rolled map in one of the pockets. I walk back up the stairs and Preston grabs his bag and follows behind me.
We make our way towards the kitchen and Preston starts looking through the fridge for anything to eat. I grab an orange from the table and throw it at his head. The fruit bounces off his head and rolls on the floor. He turns around and grabs the fruit from the floor
“Why did you throw an orange at me?”
“It's the only food we have unless you plan on eating spoiled a sandwich“ He starts to peel it while walking towards the table. We both take a seat and start to eat the oranges from the bag. He plants his feet on top of the table and bites into the fully peeled orange. I grab a water bottle from a bag and start to drink from it as Preston says.
“I saw a dvd player in that man cave downstairs we could watch a movie if it still has power”
“Sure it could be fun.” Me and Preston spend the rest of our time eating until the bag of oranges is emptied and we head back downstairs. Preston grabs the DVD player from under the table and blows the dust off the top of it; he plugs it into the wall as I plop myself onto the couch. He plugs the DVD player into the TV and sits on the recliner next to me. He presses a few buttons on the remote and the TV lights up. I squint my eyes at how bright it is. It's the most amount of light I've seen that didn't come from a flashlight. I notice there's a box filled with DVDs. I pull the box over towards me. I ruffle through the box and see movies like Silence of the Lambs, Terminator 2, and Home alone.
“Dude some of these came out just before the world turned inside out” I say to him.
“Really? Let's play one.” He responds. I toss him Terminator 2 and he puts it into the DVD player.
We spend the next couple hours watching movies and laughing together. It's some of our only moments of peace we’ve had since the end of the world and to me it's the most fun I've had yet. We're putting in the next DVD when there's a loud crash outside and the TV shuts off. Preston goes behind it to see if it's still plugged in.
“I think the generator outside is busted” i say
“It seems that way” Preston replies while backing away from the tv” i'm gonna go check it out”
“Don't worry I got it” I say as I hop out of my chair. Preston waves goodbye as I head up the stairs. I make my way back through the hallway leading to the living room and front door. I reach the door and start to turn the knob. I open the door wide as a car speeds down the street. I step out of the door to see what had happened when I hear the screech of a glanter. It cuts through the sky like an unholy opera singer. A group of them fly by and chase the car as I rush back inside the house. I slam the door shut and look through the window as I see a couple of smaller glanters grab and shake the car violently looking for the driver. They tear at it, ripping off doors and breaking the windows. The driver screams as the seats cover with blood and he's ripped out of the car as multiple smaller glanters tear and bite off parts of his body like piranha's until his body is completely devoured. I run back to the man cave to warn Preston about what had happened. I spot him laying in his chair spinning a DVD disc on his finger.
“It's not safe outside right now”
“Why not?
“There's glanter's outside, they just ate a dude in his car”
“Did they see you come inside?”
“I don't think so , they flew off before I went inside.”
“well we're not dead so I'm gonna say they didn't see you. But let's stay here for a couple more hours just to be safe”
“Sounds good i'm gonna go find the master bedroom.” I start to walk back up the stairs to the house
“ Hold on why do you get the master bedroom” Preston says while walking after me.
“Because I'm gonna find it first” I say as I start to run to find the bedroom. He chases after me in pursuit of the bedroom. Me and Preston run around the house looking for the master bedroom. We look through room after room finding closets, the garage, a bathroom and a door leading to a balcony in the back of the house. I manage to run into the bedroom and yell out to Preston.``Found it!!”
He comes walking into the room breathing heavily from the running. We both check out the room. The walls are painted a cream yellow and the bed takes up most of the room's center. The bed has burgundy sheets poking out from its bottom and a quilt with multi-colored floral designs lay sprawled out on top of it. There's a wardrobe built into the wall and a black leather couch sits comfortably on the left wall.
“Dibs on the bed” I say as I jump on top of it. I stretch out on top of the quilt and search for a comfortable part to sleep in.
“Where am I supposed to sleep then?” Preston complains
“You can sleep on the couch it looks soft enough” I respond while pointing towards the couch “I saw some spare blankets in one of the closets”
“Alright i’ll be right back” he mumbles to himself “why do i always get the couch”
“ I'll be right here if you need me,” i call after him. I sit up on the bed and start to look around the room more. I notice the entrance to the wardrobe is cracked open slightly. I hop out of the bed and grab a flashlight from my bag as I walk into the wardrobe. I turn on my flashlight and stare in awe at how many clothes are in there. The room is only half as big as the bedroom but it's still bigger than any closet I've ever had. The wardrobe is full of shirts, dresses, pants, and shoes for men and women. I immediately start to look through the shoes to see if any fit my size. I throw a pair of black high heels behind me as Preston finds me in the wardrobe. He looks around before asking me.
“What are you doing?”
“Finding a new pair of clothes to wear cause I've been wearing the same pair of jeans for waaaaay too long”
“Fair enough. Is there any guy stuff in there?”
“Yeah right there” I hook my thumb behind me to point to the other end of the closet.
“I'm sure they won't mind if we take a couple of things…they're probably dead by now anyways,” Preston says with a slight grin on his face. The way he said made me spin my head to look at him but he was already on the opposite end of the wardrobe looking at suits.
I shake away the thought and continue looking for any pair of sneakers in my size. 40 minutes pass before I walk out of the wardrobe holding a new pair of jeans and a black guns-N-roses t-shirt. I toss the clothes on top of the bed and check to see if the shower in the bathroom still works. I turn the dial and wait for a moment. The shower head chokes a little before water comes pouring out. I reach my hand under the showerhead to feel the water. The water is cold, it causes my hand to shiver when I take it out. I shake the water off and say to myself.
“Good enough” as I start to take off my old clothes and get in the shower. The cold water bounces off my skin, it sends shivers down my spine but I still get the old dirt from the last few months off of me. I step out and see a couple of dry towels hanging off of the door. I grab one and dry my body off and grab another to wrap around my head and dry my hair. I step out of the bathroom and Preston is still inside the wardrobe. I put on my new clothes while his back is turned and walk over towards him when I'm finished.
“Still haven't found anything,” I ask him
He turns around “Nothing yet, the only thing interesting was this coat.” He holds a leather coat up to me. The coat is made of black leather and has a skull covered with blue flames on the back. There's a black shirt inside the coat with a skeleton hand making a thumbs-up embroidered on the front.
“ That's pretty cool, it's better than what you're wearing right now at least” he's outfitted in a blue hoodie with holes on the chest and tears at the sleeves. He also has a shirt with a faded picture of a blue flower printed on it.
“I guess you're right” he gets up from the floor and exits the wardrobe. He lays the clothes on the couch along next to the blanket and pillow he brought into the room.
“The shower works so you can get yourself clean In there,” I say to him
“You know, a shower sounds really good right now.” He gets up from the floor and grabs a pair of pajama pants that were laying next to him. He leaves the wardrobe and enters the bathroom, closing the door behind him. After a moment the water turns on and I hop on the bed to get ready to sleep. I squirm myself into the quilt and rest my head against one of the pillows. I shut my eyes and fall asleep listening to the passive sound of the shower like rain on a car.
I'm in a void. It feels like I'm standing in a puddle of water that reaches to my knees. I wade my way forward looking around for anything in the darkness. In the distance I can see 3 figures l. I moved closer to them and their silhouettes get clearer. I realize they are my dad and brothers. I start to run towards them kicking up water behind me until something grabs my leg. It pulls down violently forcing me under the water without a breath of air. I kick at the thing grabbing me until something grabs my other leg. I look down and see two glanter's each with a monstrous smile on their faces. They stare back at me and one of them tugs my leg harder than before and tears it off of my body. The water around me turns red as the glanter laugh's. The other smiles wider as it starts to fling me around the water forcing any air left in my lungs to be forced out as I scream in pain. The glanter throws me away and I can see my family slowly fade into the distance as I'm flown away.
I struggle to swim back to where I was, one of my legs is missing and the other is broken. The glanter's find me again and I try to get to the surface to escape them. I'm flapping my arms in any attempt to escape as one of the glanter's flies in front of me and grabs my arm. I look at the monster with tears in my eyes as it bites my arm and tears my body away from it. It flings my body away and with my remaining arm I clutch the wound as the water floods into my body leaving me in the void I started in. I look around and the glanter's seem to have left. I turn behind me and see my family again, this time I'm closer than before.
I grit my teeth and drag my body towards them slowly as I leave a trail of blood and tears behind me. I finally reach my family and grab one of my father's shoes. I stare up and he looks at me. His stare causes me to feel cold as a grotesque smile grows on his face. I stare in shock as my brothers each have the same look as my father.
I shoot up from my sleep panting heavily in a cold sweat.
“It was just a dream..just a dream…just a dream” I look at my hands as tears fall into them. I look around the room and see Preston sleeping peacefully on the couch. The room feels frozen in place as a chill runs down my spine. I get out of the bed and walk out of the bedroom. I make my way through the dark hallway and find the entrance to the balcony I saw earlier. I creak open the screen door and head outside. The Balcony is pretty large, about the size of the kitchen in the house. There are some chairs knocked over next to a table and I pick one up to sit on it. I look out into the expanse of the neighborhood, houses lined up next to each other, dozens broken apart by roads, and dead bodies scattered across the roads.
I look up in the sky and sit back in the chair. The sky looks empty except for the moon giving this world its only source of light. Without the moon, we’d be left in darkness. It hangs in the sky alone, no stars, no clouds, nothing but itself, and the void of the sky. I think back about the dream I had. My dad and my brother's all dead and possessed and then they kill me. I start to tear up thinking about it. I try to wipe away the tears but it’s no use. I'm too scared for my family. I don't know where they are if they're alive if they're worried about me I don't know anything! I start to quietly cry into my hands. I don't know how long I'm sitting there until I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn my head to face it and I see Preston. He was smiling and looking at me. I turn away to wipe my tears and he walks next to me.
“I heard you sneaking out of the bedroom so I followed you to see where you were going.” he says “but that's not my question.” he pauses and looks at me “my question is what’s got you feeling so down?” he leans over the railing of the balcony
“It's nothing, I just came out here to clear my head.” I say as more tears escape from my eyes in big slow drops that ride down the sides of my face.
“if you don't feel like telling me you don't have to but i'll be here if you ever change your mind”. He looks up at the moon before turning to face me and his smile widens “I'll always be here with you…trust me I'm not going anywhere”
I stare up at him and wipe away my tears as a smile grows on my face to match his. I get up and stare over the balcony with him. “So where are we heading next?” I say to him, Preston pulls the map we got from the man cave downstairs out from his pocket.
“After I got out of the shower I decided to take a look at the map for anything interesting we could see.”
“Ok did you find anything?” i ask
“I did,” he points at a spot on the right of the map. “We should head to the museum”
“I didn't want to go to a museum before the apocalypse why would i want to go now?'' I ask him.
“Well the best part of museums is the cool stuff right”
“Yeah what about it”
“The only problem is that you could only look at the fossils and armor but you could never take them.”
“So you want to rob a museum?” Prestons eyes light up at the question
“Exactly they might have a really cool sword I could use, or I could sharpen a dinosaur tooth and use that as a weapon, there might be a cursed shield that can summon the dead to fight for you. This opportunity is too good to pass up. We need to go!”
“That does seem pretty cool but wouldn't carrying that stuff weigh us down. What if a glanter is chasing us and we can't run fast enough because of the stuff we took from the museum.”
“We’ll only take things that are light. Even then I could just block the glanter with my newly acquired 2000 year old shield.”
“Fair enough we can go in a couple hours” I yawn and stretch out my arms. “Cause I'm feeling way too tired to walk all the way over there right now.”
“Alright i'm heading back to my couch and THEN we’ll head out to the museum” he leaves the balcony and heads back to the master bedroom leaving me alone on the balcony.
“Thanks Preston I'm not leaving either” I say into the sky. I turn around and walk back inside the house, closing the balcony door behind me. I walk back into the bedroom and Preston is hunched over and holding a flashlight looking at the map. He’s drawing lines through roads and marking X’s in different areas.
“What are the X’s for?” i ask him
“They’re places that glanter’s usually stay around. I'm marking them off so we remember not to go through them, or at least be more cautious.”
“Cool. Did you find where we are right now?” He points to an area where the lines all converge out of.
“Right around here is where the neighborhood ends. So if we follow this path we can make it to the museum in one piece” I pat him on the back and take the map from his hands.
“Get some sleep Preston, we have a full day tomorrow” he grins to himself before laying down on the couch. I put the map back into my bag and hop on the bed to get to sleep. I cover my body in the quilt and roll over facing away from Preston as he falls asleep. I nestle myself into the bed and slowly fall asleep to get ready for the next day.
I'm awoken by Preston shaking the bed I'm sleeping on. My eyes open and the room is foggy, I wipe away the sleep from my eyes and focus my attention towards Preston. He's practically jumping out of his skin with excitement, he's already fully dressed for the trip and shaking the bed with a wide smile on his face.
“Ok ok i'm up the air feels heavy as a groggy feeling fills my body. I wipe my eyes and the room starts to clear up. I turn to face Preston. He's still shaking my bed to wake me up, he’s already fully dressed and nearly jumping out of his skin in excitement.
“Ok ok, i'm up you can stop shaking the bed” i say
“Then get up we’ve got a long walk ahead of us” he says as he stops shaking the mattress. He grabs the map from my bag and points to one of the red lines.
“We're gonna follow this way to the museum. We’ll move past the hotel around the ice skating rink and around the park. We’ll mainly stick to walking through the streets, we might have to go rooftop hopping to avoid any glanter’s if we see them but i'm sure we won’t reach that point.” he explains
“Wait, wait, wait, why are avoiding the skating rink and the park” i ask
“ everytime we go near the park there's weird noises and light coming out of it”
“And why can't we go to the ice skating rink?”
“I didn't think it would be important”
“It couldn't hurt to check it out at least”
“Fine we could make a detour”
“Ok and how do you plan on getting on top of roofs?”
“I'm sure we'll figure it out when we get to it”
“Ok man as long as you’re sure '' I yawn and step out of the bed. Preston starts to put the map in his bag. I walk into the bathroom with my clothes and change out of my pajamas. Minutes later I walk out and see Preston sitting on the couch twiddling his thumbs.
“Finally you're out” he smiles at me before handing me my bag and slinging it over his shoulder. We took a last look inside the kitchen to see if we missed anything. Afterwards we leave for the outside. The cold air bites at my face but Preston walks down the stairs, his face buried in the map. I jog to catch up to him as we both head into the street.
“Hey Preston, could I see the map?”
“Sure” he hands over the map and continues walking. I look at the map and the numerous lines drawn on roads. I look at the corner of the map and notice a small map key with numerous symbols for different areas like a library, school, hospital, and more. There's even a way to tell how far away each location is. The text reads “1 inch=5 miles” I quickly count how far we are from the museum.
“Dude this museum is like 100 miles away.”
“Yep it'll be a long walk, it'll take us a while to get there”
“Did you plan on us walking there the whole time?”
“We might find bikes or something.” he pauses “well i did think we would walk the whole way”
“This is gonna take us weeks to get there!”
“Did you have anything else planned?”
“Well…i guess not but we should still try to find some bikes or something”
“Ok if we see any way to travel faster we’ll take it”
“Alright cool” I hand him the map back and he folds it back up and puts it in his bag. We walk further until we leave the gated neighborhood we started in. Preston takes the map back out and looks at it before he turns right and continues walking. I follow him staring forward at the expanse of the road. The outside of the neighborhood is surrounded by roads all leading to different parts of Newkinawa. We walk past a sign that reads “Coretown 20 miles ahead” I nudge Preston towards the sign and he checks the map again.
“Yep, the museum’s in Coretown. Would you believe the residents were pretty proud of it. Should be a fun place to explore” he says
“Yeah but it’ll take us a million years to get there.” i complain
“Lighten up, I'm sure it will be worth it”. We continue walking down the road slowly making our way to Coretown.

Hi, I live in Mesa, AZ. Just got this quote for a roof and the folks seem honest, but $25k does seem pretty high compared to other numbers I've heard. Is it really *that* much more for synthetic underlayment and this roofing system. The house is about 1,900 sq ft, single story, which the guy said came out to 30 square, plus 4 square of a low slope patio roof.
The contract lists 5 year workmanship warranty, but apparently the materials have a 50 year warranty.pdf) with their GAF certification level.

It was near the end of high school. I had transferred schools for my senior year. The year things really changed. But that's a story for another time. I remember the incident to an extent but not fully. I remember he was not kind. He was self-centered. He was unsympathetic. I had gone over to his house because there was a showing of our house which had been on the market for a few weeks or months perhaps. But I was laying on my stomach on his bed, working on homework. I didn't want to be there, but I had no where else to go. I told him before I got there that I didn't want to do anything, I was just going to be there until I could go home. He told me to come over and that all that was okay with him. I don't know where my dad was. I just know I didn't have somewhere to go so I went to his house. His mom and sister and nephew lived there too, but I don't remember who was home.
Anyways, I was on his bed working on homework. He was sitting at his computer playing a video game. He came over to the bed and started touching my legs. I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. I told him I had stuff to do and I wasn't interested. I didn't want to do anything, I wasn't in the mood and I wasn't happy. He straddled me, positioning himself on my thighs. I told him no. I wasn't interested and didn't want to do anything right now. I tried to stay calm. Inside I was panicking and frozen. If I sounded panicked what would happen? would he stop or be encouraged? Would he know he had that power over me? Would be revel in it? So, I stayed calm. He started touching my inner thighs up to my glutes. He was almost systematic with it. I told him no and to stop. He didn't. I tried to turn my body so I could get him off of me (all of my muscle is in my legs and he was holding them down). He started moving my shorts aside...touching me....my underwear was moved next. He seemed almost trance like. Like this was scientific. He was experimenting and learning anatomy but in a way that he had control of. He kept touching me and trying to put his fingers into me, onto me, all over me. I remember I got even more stern and tried to squeeze my legs together so he wouldn't have access to me. I know he stopped. I don't remember how or why.
Days later, I talked to him about it. It was my fault. He thought I was joking. The squirming was just me playing. Me telling him to stop was just me being playful, afterall I "did it all the time". There's a difference when someone is making out with you when y'all should be doing something else (ie homework) and says we should really be doing something else, but they are willing participants and initiants. When you jump on someone and they've said they're not interested, they don't want this, you should stop and get off all in a serious tone and without any participation, that's not the same. That's a hard stop. That's not a fun ohhh we're being so naughtyyyy stop.
I didn't realize what it was. I didn't call it assault or unwarranted. He was just a guy doing dumb stuff. I told a friend about it and she's the one that looked at me with discomfort. Getting into college we had to take surveys where sexual assault was defined, and I sent it to her. It fit. The first of many.

Hey! I'm from Canada I'm looking to expand my friend circle and I'm hoping to find more genuine friends to play or chill with on discord and hopefully become long term friends!. I'm a variety gamer I play a lot of games on pc depending on my mood and wouldn't mind getting into new ones either if we connect!.
I would prefer if you are chill and non toxic because I only play games for fun and not a competitive gamer at all. I like to laugh and have a good time and don't really care if I lose the game the only thing that matters to me is that everyone is having fun but don't get me wrong I'm always trying my best to win haha. the game genres I'm into are Story based coop games, adventure, survival, horror, sandbox, party games, fighting, fps, rpg. I won't lie though I mainly play pve games as of right now but I play some pvp games from time to time it just depends if I like it or not. I love playing goofy indie games too.
I have work during the week so I get on in the evenings but on the weekends I'm off so I have a lot of time so I get on the afternoons and can play longer. I'm kind of a night owl and will stay up for long hours depending on how much fun we're having.
A few non gaming things I'm into are horror, true crime documentarys, wrestling, reading, writing sci fi, marvel, dc. I'm also down to just chill in vc and watch stuff it doesn't have to be games 24/7 if you want and we could stream our games, movies, shows.
A little about me is that I'm a extrovert and I have a pretty loud mouth so once I get to know you it will probably be hard to shut me up lol and I'll try and keep the conversation as cool and interesting as possible but if you're a introvert I don't mind having a quiet vc :). I get scared pretty easily I'm ngl so I'll probably get spooked sometimes in horror games so sorry about that lol. I like to joke around whenever we're in a bad situation in a game just to keep things light hearted. I think I'm pretty funny but sometimes my jokes can come off as cringy lmao. I might roast you here and there but it's all in good fun so don't take it personal feel free to roast me back XD. I'm active most days so I'm usaully down to play or just hangout in a vc. I'm a pretty open book once we get to know eachother and I'll put effort into the friendship as long as you're willing to do the same. I don't judge so everyone is welcome!. :D
Now finally on to the games list!
Current favourite games
Left 4 Dead 2
Cod zombies(all of them)
Terraria both modded and vanilla
Minecraft
Tf2
Palworld
Tekkken 8
Street fighter 6
Other games I'm willing to play
Don't Starve Together
Raft
Project Zomboid
Valheim
The Elder Scrolls Online
Stardew Vally
Dead By Daylight
Risk of Rain 2
The Outlast Trials
Lethal Company
Phasmophobia
Demonologist
Escape the Backrooms
Killing Floor 2
Remnant 2
GTA 5
Mk1
Halo Mcc
Like I said I'm a variety gamer so the list might change a bit often but I love trying out new games I also don't mind buying new games as long as your willing to teach me it lol.
Lastly I will say is that you please be 18+ and preferably in north america just so ping and timezones aren't a issue. Please have atleast 2 or 3 games that I got because I don't really like sticking to just 1 game unless it's new or we're both really into it. If I sound cool to you at all feel free to DM me and please tell me about yourself instead of just saying "hi" as its hard to connect with people who don't say much about themselves. I Look forward to seeing you all and thanks for reading! :)

I’ve improved my butterfly and underwater dolphin kick a lot over the past year but I have one big problem still that I’m not sure what the solution could be. With my dolphin kick, I feel like my back stays to bent/arched as a result of my using my hips and upper legs to kick, but I’m not really able to change it because only kicking from my lower leg would weaken the kick. The same happens with the second kick on my butterfly (the kick when the hands enter the water) and I feel like that kind of results in my legs dragging a little along with a bunch of fatigue in my lower back. I’ve tried bracing my core more when I kick but that just makes me feel really stiff and get no undulation. I’ve also tried forcing myself to stay more flat in the water but I found that this makes the amplitude of my kick much smaller and less powerful.
I don’t think it’s a problem with my strength because I routinely do things that are good for lower back strength like heavy front squats and some mountain biking, along with swimming a lot of butterfly itself which I think is good for lower back. Anybody had a similar problem or any advice?

Dear T,
You did it! Congratulations! It’s time to celebrate this wonderful achievement. After 11 years of hard work in primary and secondary school, you’re standing on the cusp of adulthood. My little girl is all grown up, ready to take her first steps into the real world and soar!
First things first, I’ve given you control over your Apple account – download whatever you want! No need to ask me. You’re a young woman now, with the power to make your own decisions. Your mama and I will naturally be less of people you have to listen to, but more of people whose advice you might consider as you embark on the next step in your life’s journey.
I am so proud of you!
Life has been tough, especially with your parents separating. Hug your mother and thank her for the strength she had to see you this far. Hug your grandmother for all the times during the holidays she would schedule classes for you. I know being at Tok Mama’s was a kind of respite from everyday life for you, a sanctuary where you could get away - and getting hit by tuition classes there... sheesh. I feel you. So many people love you enough to help you, you lucky girl!
But love can be tough. You’ll know this as you move on and move up. Growing up, I hated that Tok Mama would force me to study every day. She’d then sit and go through the textbooks line by line with me and for every wrong answer – a pinch or harsh words would come my way. I thought it was hell back then. Now, after 20 years, I appreciate every second of what she did, how she laid the foundations for the successes that your uncles, aunt, and I have achieved.
No straight As? No worries. That makes us fight harder. Use it to drive you on. You already have it in you. Your stories of how, days on end, you’d have no teachers in your kampung school, and you kids were left to fend for yourselves, yet you still achieved what you did! That screams of strength, resilience, and courage. The world is not handed to us on a plate, T. Do not let that fight leave you. No matter what comes.
Now is not the time to moan about what is past. It is what it is. Now is the time to see what you can do with the results that you have. The most important thing to understand is that SPM results only determine whether we get to where we want to be faster or slower. Yes, better results get you into better schools, which if you do well could mean a leg up when you join the working world... or not. Fast, as it could help you break into certain organizations. For most of us, we have to take a slower route to get into those places – having to prove our worth elsewhere first before we can be considered for better opportunities. Who knows, the rat race might not be for you, and you might want to do your own thing – but get a skill you can fall back on. I have teams of engineers and creatives working with me, if they don’t work for us tomorrow, they can easily pick up freelance jobs. Your dad, on the other hand, has no practical skills to fall back on. I do not want you to feel stuck in corporate life like me – it’s a gilded cage with the illusion of freedom.
Those straight As kids don’t have a clue what’s coming for them. 11,000 kids with a target painted on their backs because the other 300k plus of you guys are gunning for them. It’s just one of the many races in the marathon of life. When you run, it’s all about race management – when to sprint, when to slow down but you never, ever stop moving. Some people, they sprint too early and run out of gas after a while. Allows the pack to catch up. So never be disheartened if people overtake you early, run your race, get to the finish line, go to the next race. NEVER STOP MOVING.
Proud of you, CheekyT. I wonder if I was around, would things have been different? But that is wrong of me because it detracts from all that you achieved. Yes, some have all the extras, they go to better schools, with better teachers and the like. It is how we overcome these deficiencies that make us who we are. That’s why I love swimming – no amount of technical gear can give you an edge in the water over the person who trains harder, who is mentally stronger, who won’t stop when all those other flashy swimmers have given up and you still keep going. I pity those people who rely on technical props to get just one second ahead when someone in the most basic of gear breezes past them lap after unforgiving lap.
I hope the greatest gift you got from me is the strength to never give up no matter how far we fall – we rise higher, again and again. Never compromise. The race is not over. It just started, you’re just a couple of checkpoints in.
Never, ever stop moving.
Love you, T. Love your brothers too.
Love, Abah
P.S. Should I remove you from the Apple Family account, or do you still want to ride on the freebies? :)
P.P.S Learn to swim. Take up running. You will appreciate the time it gives you to think.

Took a day trip and wrote this around 9:30PM. Enjoy.
Everyone has those dreams they want to accomplish in a lifetime. The ones that seem so far fetched but still obtainable. In my case it has always been on my bucket list to travel every corner of Texas. I have been blessed in my 27 years of life to have gone as far north to see the Panhandle plains near Amarillo and as far east to see Huntsville surrounded by the piney woods. I’ve been able to see the Third Coast from H-Town through Corpitos, down to McAllen and Harlingen. I’ve drank on 6th Street in ATX, and have had countless nights I couldn’t remember in San Anto. I’ve seen a Cowboys game in Arlington while staying in Dallas with family, and I’ve floated down the rivers in San Marcos with friends. I know the backroads of South Texas between Uvalde and Laredo, like the back of my hand, and if I needed too, I could probably drive between El Paso and Fort Stockton blindfolded. In the past 4 years, I’ve spent the majority of the 100,000 miles I’ve driven, on Texas highways and county roads. Passing through small towns that people would never know existed, such as Dryden, Camp Wood, Orla, Goliad, and Dilley, where my son lives. There’s so many other cities and towns I could name which would take up the majority of this story and bore you but there is one area of Texas that I’ve always wanted to see with my own eyes and be able to experience it all. This place is actually a lot closer than many of the places I mentioned. It’s pretty much the next door neighbor to my hometown of El Paso.
On December 28, 2023, I was finally able to see it. Big Bend and Terlingua. As I was driving into the national park I stopped at the park’s entrance sign and took a typical picture in front of it like everyone does, but after, I turned back down the road, made a right and drove 28 miles to La Linda. I did this all without having a GPS or signal on my phone after I lost it passing Marathon which about an hour or so from the park entrance. I followed the old green highway signs down a road that you could tell was hardly used because of all the weeds and brush growing in the middle and side of the road. I was probably the only truck on the road with the expection of two trucks going the opposite direction that had passed me. I kept going until the road ended at a blocked off bridge that only a small car could drive over. The only time I had ever seen this place was through Google Maps when I’d sit there looking at random places that you’d think no one would ever go. I got off my truck and look around, it was quiet but the sound of the river is what got me. It was surreal to say that across that bridge was Mexico and the river I heard was the Rio Grande, which surprisingly had water in it and wasn’t dry like the way it is in El Paso. As I was looking at the graffiti on the bridge I noticed a part of it said “Chuco Town” which I though was weird because why would some slang from El Paso be tagged on some random bridge literally in the middle of nowhere. So I got curious and ended up making my way down underneath the bridge where I found this clear box with a small notebook in it. Several people had written in it with their names and when they had visited the bridge. It was like an Easter egg. I wrote my name in the book, put it back and went to go look for a way to get to the river but I couldn’t because of all the bushes and trees. I spent like a good hour looking around before getting back to my truck. I ended up driving about two hours to the Big Bend National Park Headquarters where I finally got signal on my phone. The drive into the Chisos Basin was beautiful. The color of the rocks and trees made it feel as if it was still the Fall season. The canyons were huge, the road curved through the mountains, the air hitting me through the windows was fresh. Seeing the amount of trees, for the mountain range being in the middle of a desert was crazy. Again, I only spent about an hour or so before driving through the park and into Terilingua. As I drove to Terlingua, the scenery changed drastically. It went from mountains covered in trees to something out of a Mad Max scene. It was nothing but desert with little plant life. I ended up stopping at a gas station where two the highways met. One would take me to Alpine and the other to the Terlingua ghost town. After fueling up, I drove through the ghost town to find a couple of restaurants open. I ended up eating some green enchiladas that were good but nothing compared to the ones found in El Paso. I continued to drive down the highway towards Presidio as the sun started to set. About half way to Presidio, I turned back around to head back. By this time it was 7pm. The sun had almost set completely. I pulled over to the side of the road so I could look at the sky. I had heard so many stories and seen so many pictures of the Terlingua night sky. I wanted to see if it was real. As I stepped out and looked up I saw more stars than I could ever imagine. Everything around me was pitch black, except the sky. There were hundreds of stars, they were brighter than ever. There were no clouds. I stayed looking at them for a good minute, actually I stayed looking up so long I ended up laying in the bed of my truck trying to take it all in. I ended having to go back into my truck because of the cold. Even with a thick hoodie and thermals underneath I couldn’t stay out any longer. I continued my drive back to the gas station where I had first put gas so I could type this out before my plan to head back into Big Bend. I only arrived about 8 hours ago, drove down to the La Linda bridge, drove through the national park, drove through the ghost town and saw a night sky many wont get to see in their lifetime but maybe on this drive back, I’ll be able to find the moon.

First Previous Wiki
Penny gazed at the quartet of Elders. They were all wearing the merchandise she remembered from the last Judgment, which was exceedingly awkward. Mainly because they were wearing shirts with her face on them. But it was also oddly endearing, in a way. Until now, she hadn't seen too many Elders that were on her side.
Elders that weren't just Kashaunta or the familiar faces she already knew, like Spentha or Rho and Sai, actually showing appreciation of her, felt odd. Even if these ones went a little too far in it.
"You're even more beautiful in person, Liberator," one said.
"Uh, thanks. I appreciate that. I'm glad that you all like me. Rho and Sai told me that you all are interested in something I can give you?"
"Yeah. Maybe a short interview? We won't be like that airhead reporter. We'll ask the good questions."
"Yep, we will."
"Right then," Penny said. "Well, I'm glad to meet you."
"Thank you. Now that we're here, we'd like to know how you plan on taking care of the gang leaders."
"Well, presumably by imprisoning them. I don't think they deserve to die, even if others do. I'll leave that decision up to Justicar and his various judges in the criminal system."
Penny didn't like having to lie blatantly. She wanted to kill the slavers quite brutally, but doing that was a bad idea right now. Saying it also was a bad idea, for a similar reason. And Justicar's system was worryingly preferential to Elders, from what she'd looked up after the meeting with Pundacrawla.
"Aren't you worried that the Judges won't give proper justice?"
"I trust Justicar to do everything that is necessary."
Another lie. Justicar would do whatever he could to maintain his image. Hopefully, that wouldn't be at the cost of the Alliance's very existence.
"Got it. By the way, what's it like being human? Walking on only two legs. It seems kind of unstable. Do you fall a lot?"
A genuine curiosity from them was another breath of fresh air. It was the kind of question a quadruped would definitely ask, which put her more at ease about the nature of what they were trying to do. Even more than their evident support of her, with all the merch they were wearing. Penny felt a smile crack at the corners of her lips, unbidden.
"Not really. We can use our arms to steady ourselves pretty well. Obviously it's not as easy to balance on our two legs as it is with your four, but it's still good enough. In fact, the sprinters in the Olympics use all four limbs, since running as fast as possible also requires pumping our arms. As for what it's like to be human, it's hard to describe. For many of us, it will feel colder or warmer than Sprilnav would feel in the same temperatures, due to thinner skin. Our eyesight is more frontal than yours, given our lack of snouts, so our blindspots are a lot bigger. Our feet require shoes for rough ground, and we heal slower than you by around 20%. We can't really clack our jaws to the scale that you can, though we can make them meet."
Penny bared her teeth, showing as she opened and closed her mouth. It was nice to be able to talk about things like this.
"The Olympics?" one of them asked.
"It's a competition about athletics," Penny said. "Running, jumping, throwing, diving, swimming, skiing, snowboarding, and a lot of sports. There's specific divisions, too. Like how there's a 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, 400 meter dash, and even an 800 meter dash for those with high levels of psychic energy. Though really, psychic energy and genetic editing have been messing with the events for a while now. And there's a Winter, Summer, and Space Olympics, each with different sorts of events. They move from city to city, though the Space Olympics are pretty much always on either Luna, Ceres, or Mercury. There's a lot more information out there on various events, but it's an old cultural practice revered by the entire species. Even more so since Phoebe's increased the prize pools for everyone."
"How does your species handle space in general? I know that you guys did things way differently before First Contact."
"We did. Mining companies kept tight control on all asteroid mining, while nations controlled planets like Earth and Mars and large planetary bodies like Luna. Supposedly, a few people planned for a cloud city on Venus, but we couldn't risk having such a vulnerable population because they'd have to rely on giant balloons to survive. That would probably be the least secure way to live, given the existence of rogue organizations and all that.
As for spaceships, most of them since we really colonized Luna come equipped with spacesuit bays, zero gravity water and food packs, oxygen tanks, emergency seats, specialized anti-micrometeorite hulls, and radiation shielding. A lot of the older military ships also were equipped with big radiators until World War Three, when it all became masses of drone warfare, with the big ships kept mainly for cargo and lanes where mass drone control was impossible.
Once the Vinarii came and we got shields, we started building big again. After all, it provided a huge number of jobs, and in the post-war economies, especially with VIs in place, a lot of people needed work. But we still go and do asteroid and moon mining, star lifting, and energy gathering. We built an orbital ring around Mercury, the closest planet to Sol, to help with all of that. It doubles as a production hub, too. Now, it's all in more systems and with a lot more friends."
"Speaking of aliens, what theory does your people have on why so many creatures resemble one another? Our jaws are adapted for hard shelled creatures, and we're told that many planets have oddly similar variations of those."
"Crabs."
She guessed what they were getting at.
It is odd, isn't it? Nilnacrawla observed.
Perhaps that is another one of the Source's whims, Penny thought.
Maybe.
A few of the Elders made exclamations of shock.
"You even have a word for them that directly translates!"
Penny chuckled. "Yeah, carcinization is a bit of a meme in the science community. But I've heard the most mainstream theories since the First Contact are that the Source itself is uncreative. It has a certain template of creatures which it largely doesn't alter, though it can take in inputs from beings close to it, perhaps even influencing them."
"Influencing them?"
"Yes. Modern depictions of wendigoes, folkloric creatures from North America, a continent on Earth, are shockingly similar to the Knowers in appearance. The internet depictions of them in particular like to emphasize canine qualities, and often show them with skulls visible directly, and with dark brown or black fur. Recent depictions, as in the past 300 years, differ from their original appearances quite significantly, with the canine characteristics in particular being enhanced.
We have sorted through all known images of these creatures and found roughly 80% similarity with the Knowers and tens of thousands of images that are literally exactly the same as Knowers. The ones we searched all came before World War Three, far before even the First Contact with the Vinarii, much less the Knowers who were entirely underground at the time due to the radiation of their home star. We believe that the Source managed to influence this facet of human culture with the actual existence of a real creature.
Other examples exist, like how the Trikkec look very similar to Komodo Dragons, Vinarii look very similar to insects known as a mantis, and the Acuarfar look exactly like insects known as wasps with the single exception of their furry snouts and green instead of yellow markings. The Sprilnav species itself shares high amounts of similarity with a fictional species known as Elites in early 2000s culture, particularly with your jaws, though you all have red skin instead of grey or brown.
The Junyli, Dreedeen, and the wanderers are the main species without high amounts of appearance in our cultures at some point. This correlates with the idea of the Source being the influencer, as their predecessors all were used to fight it. Many species of the galaxy look like parts of our culture or Earth's creatures. The proximity of these examples makes this far more suspicious than if they were across the galaxy.
But since they existed first, the only answer must be that the Source brought the influence to us first and planted the ideas in our heads. As for the ones which look like Earth creatures, all of them are old enough evolutionary branches that copying from them to Earth makes more sense. Though the references centering around the early 2000s is quite odd, it is also roughly when the internet came into wide existence, so it is also possible the Source gave the ideas a push so they would propagate, for an unknown reason. Like if it seeded the ideas that propagated across the early global network Humanity used."
"Hmm. Fascinating. We've seen evidence of the 'seeding' process among some historical nations near the galactic region of Earth before. So the Source re-uses and alters depictions of life and also life itself?"
"Maybe," Penny said. "Unless the Source is more directly tied to life than we think. There's a conceptual Death, but no conceptual Life. Isn't that odd?"
"Conceptual Life died in the Source war."
How did that really work, though? Penny asked Nilnacrawla.
Imagine a conceptual being. A few of the Progenitors, as well as Narvravarana, went up to try to harvest its power. It refused, and Narvravarana used its unique abilities to try and force the deal.
Why was your civilization like this?
Excess and greed, partly. But we couldn't really do much more expansion. Vertical expansion also had its limits if we wanted to remain relevant for the remaining lifespan of the universe. So Narvravarana, along with a few of the greatest rulers and leaders of Sprilnav society, started looking to other dimensional planes. They figured it was best not to let the problem get too much worse. Or at least, that is what they say. I believe it was to harvest more resources to use against our surrounding enemies.
You didn't have any allies? Penny asked.
At that time, all the powers of the universe were enemies. All the allies eventually merged through millions of years of normalization. We happened to get on the universal stage the earliest, so other civilizations we encountered had little choice but to surrender their independence. Some fought, others didn't, but the outcome was the same.
That seems terrible.
It was, though the other universal civilizations were no better. Some of them just exterminated all alien life they found that couldn't fight back. In that sense, the pre-war Sprilnav civilization was one of the greatest, and that's why I fought for them. Obviously, I'm biased in that regard, though.
Thanks for telling me, father.
No problem, Penny.
She refocused back on the conversation at hand.
"But a thing cannot be alive if it dies. The concept of life doesn't work that way. So maybe the Source just... took in the concept of life? Or absorbed it into whatever psychic energy really is, considering that it's responsible for all of our existence?"
"That's so crazy it might actually be true," one of the Elders said. "You're incredible, Penny."
"Uh, thanks. You're all pretty great too." Her eyes drifted to the images of herself on their clothing. She couldn't really help it.
"I have a question for you."
"Yes?"
"Do you know what I'm fighting for?"
"I assume since you're asking it here, you don't just want a one word answer," an Elder said. "I would say yes, and for the liberation of the Sprilnav from the stain of slavery. Though going deeper into your history, you have also fought for other species, either in wars or just generally moving around. It does look aimless, mostly, since the galaxy's so big. But I'm sure you've got a way through that."
"In some way. Part of why I'm here isn't just about my people. It was at first, I admit that. But as I have lived here, on Justicar, for days and weeks, I've seen you less as alien. It makes it easier for sympathy and easier to break out of simple mindsets. So far, there are many problems, but there are distinct pieces. The first is that many people want to uphold slavery. I'm not sure why, but they do. It isn't profitable, and it isn't moral. Robots are cheaper in every way, and don't need food or water.
That means it's illogical or emotional. So I could try and solve the problem with violence alone, but it won't be addressing the cause, only the symptoms. I need to get to the heart of the matter. And I think it has to do with Elders' memories and the gradual woes they have accumulated going through life. I don't want to tear that away or drug them into believing they're fine. I want to find a way to outlet that productively. The second part I have identified is scale. The galaxy is enormous, and your species is incredibly numerous. I could fight planet by planet for the rest of my life, and liberation would still be difficult.
That also means I'd need a better way of doing things. Maybe an economic or political incentive. Emotional reasons will not work permanently, nor will logic, since we are in this situation. I have found several ways to address this. Sadly, since the gangs are likely monitoring this feed, I can't just outright say my strategy. All I can ask you all to do is to believe. Believe that I have a solution, and that I and those who stand with me are working on it. Believe in me because I believe in you."
None of the Elders questioned or ridiculed her words. Most of it was because they were fans of her. But one of them, an Elder named Rahautiti, had a distinct glint in his eye. Their gazes met only momentarily, but Penny could tell he knew.
And so she appeared in the mindscape, even as they concluded the interview, which would be the first of many. It was a ploy to just talk about human culture and ideals a bit more, to get it out there. Because the hivemind's theory was correct.
In the universe, ideas had power. That power could be weaponized against those who previously stood to gain. The first part of it was the image: Nova as an unbeatable bastion. Lecalicus as the Beast, a monster capable of star-crushing rage. Twilight as... whatever she did. Penny wasn't really familiar with the Progenitor's image too much, and the various names, like the Silent Night or the Smiling Darkness, were just so unbelievably edgy she cringed every time she recalled them.
But Rahautiti understood so she moved her mindscape avatar to see him.
"Hello again, Penny. I am no threat."
"I know. I'm glad that your group is led by someone as capable as you, as well as the other groups you dabble within."
"Who discovered it?"
"Phoebe. You met with Ezeonwha, and the android wanted to ensure you weren't a way for Yasihaut to kill him."
"Yeah. We did get approached about that, actually. We're supposed to kill Ezeonwha when you walk into the Judgment hall. Of course, we won't do this, and she won't be able to retaliate against us easily while there."
"Thank you for your honesty, Elder," Penny said. "It seems I'm in your debt."
"Nonsense. 2,839. That is the number of children I have had. 2,626. That is the number of children of mine which were enslaved. The remaining 213 died in unrelated incidents, with nearly half of those involving slavers killing them. I remember all of their names, and all of their faces, Penny. I want all the slavers in this universe dead."
"I cannot achieve that."
"You cannot," Rahautiti agreed. "Not with my help or even that of Kashaunta and Lecalicus. And certainly not right now. I have not lived this long to be incapable of compromise or patchwork solutions. You show great promise. I understand your aversion to killing and the circumstantial reason why you are not doing so now. I will not grow upset if you do not resume killing when the Judgment ends. Nor do I harbor a grudge against you for the speeding space entity you left outside the room to avoid uncomfortable publicity. You are incredibly young.
A sliver of a life. But you are strong, and you are mature. That sliver of your lifespan already outshines all I could do with a trillion more years, Penny. You are right in that this isn't something you can punch your way through. Trauma is part of why slavery still exists, despite it being a wholly unjust reason for the Elders to make such a sport of it. I am sure you know the story of the war, with a great hero in your head and Kashaunta at your side. My line of work is what I started to help you. Every thought about you being the Liberator, every eye that glances on you freeing slaves, helps you to gather conceptual energy. My talent happens to be great enough to sense the Pact of Blades you have, as well. If you want, I can teach you how to hide the mark on your soul and your mind."
"I would like that, yes," Penny said. "And thank you for being so reasonable. I will ask Kashaunta to protect you from what consequences come for refusing the offer on Ezeonwha."
"There are going to be attacks on him, you know. Him and your ship."
Penny felt an odd feeling in her soul. Cardi's power flared around him, and she squinted at the sky. She just barely saw a sliver of a tentacle. Most would have mistaken it for a normal speeding space entity. But here? On Justicar, with Exile obviously not being the cause?
Only one being would cause that. Fate.
Given the subject of their conversation, it was obvious what was going on.
Penny tapped Rahautiti's jaw, adding a thin mark of conceptual power so she could easily find him again. She focused on the conceptual mark she'd left on Ezeonwha. A twinge of conceptual energy came from it. It was accompanied by various impressions, like fear, pain, and acceptance.
"I have to go," Penny said. "I will be back later. Displace."
She appeared next to the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office but not next to Ezeonwha. It was carnage everywhere she looked.
"Champion!" an unknown Elder yelled. "I am Elder Na-"
Her rising fury surged, and it took all she had not to dismember him. The distant thought of the Judgment stayed her hands, though only just.
Penny's fist collided with the Elder's jaw at twice the speed of sound. A piece of his jaws flew free. Bone fragments hit the ground behind him. Hundreds of soldiers fired on her, and she slammed them to the ground with pure will. Penny tore their guns away and sent them each to pummel the Elder in front of her with as much brutality as she could. His powerful armor wasn't as capable of defense against physical attacks as it was against her psychic energy, and so he fell.
"You... cannot save him," the Elder spat. Fields of psychic suppression fell upon her, reducing her power.
"Manipulation through Determination," Penny growled. "De-"
No! Nilnacrawla said. Do not kill him! Not yet!
"What goes up will go down."
Air hardened around the Elder and accelerated rapidly.
The Elder smashed into the shield five miles above with a speed just slow enough that he wouldn't die. He fell from it and then hit it again at a more modest speed. He'd bounce on that until the Guides came to get him.
But Penny had another target. One she had to save instead of attack.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
High Judge Tassidonia awoke to the sound of explosions. He grabbed his swords, his main gun, and the personal shield he reserved for only the most dire occasions. The sky was erupting in war all around him, and buildings were already falling nearby. The spires of skyscrapers rained down upon the entrances to the Underground, crushing thousands of fleeing Sprilnav under their wide impacts.
His implant identified members of the gangs nearby, making their way to his home.
"Retribution Cycle!" Tassidonia cried. A hidden door opened, and he boarded a small hovercraft that sported a high amount of defensive and offensive technology, a gift from Justicar for dealing with all that he had related to the Judgment. Only this time, he wouldn't be on the next one. But already, the destruction was spreading.
Micro-missiles rained upon friend and foe alike. Several detonated against the layered shields. The mounted turrets on the side of his hoverbike shot lasers into the enemies his implant identified.
"Elder Tassidonia!" an Elder cried nearby. "For the crime of defying the will of-"
Tassidonia called his fury to bear. He rammed his mind into the enemy Elder, disorienting her. She reeled, about to attack, when a thick laser smashed into her chest. It pushed her against the wall, and Tassidonia kept the pressure up until her body melted. He listened to her screams impassively, occasionally sending blasts from his gun at the gangs when their members started to stray too close.
The thick red beam did its work within twenty pulses. His swords began to float beside him, keeping pace as he sped away from his home. The entire apartment complex shuddered and began to lean, its foundation being destroyed by some effect below. Tassidonia abandoned it with only minor regret. He'd known this moment would come. Everything he needed was already with him.
He linked into the Guide network, directing squadrons to attack the breaches he'd identified. Orbital strikes fell upon them in quick succession. Thick beams of light pierced through the lower planetary shields from orbital platforms, their guns honing in on Justicar's enemies. Tassidonia's implant was linked to the grid as well. So when he eyed buildings occupied with too many gang members, orbital strikes fell on them a few pulses later.
Fire and plasma rained all around him. Explosions and smoke blossomed all around him. More missiles fell from his hovercraft. A fighter ship appeared beside him, its simple stealth revealing itself to his eyes. Tassidonia waited for the pilot chamber to open, and his craft stowed itself behind him when he got in. It was fully equipped, so soon, Tassidonia was in full control of a weapon of war.
His first order of business was detecting the gangs' most fortified areas. He peppered those bases in shield-weakening mines, followed by bunker-buster missiles. Several anti-air turrets hit him, but his shields prevented them from taking him down. He dropped three high-end Butcher Androids into the fray of the largest battles.
One of the adjacent fighter wings in the separate shield sector dropped a nuke. At that moment, Tassidonia made a decision.
Whatever insanity was going on right now wasn't worth staying here on his own. He turned his ship upward, narrowly avoiding nearly fifty missiles shot from another gang fortress, which was really just the lower floors of a supermarket. Thick slabs of concrete were being set up by androids and slaves from the Underground. All he could do was watch from above and attempt to mark those that might be a problem.
Justicar's Grand Fleet was moving in, though only the carriers and their escorts were doing anything of any scale. The armies were mobilizing, and it seemed that war had finally broken out. Justicar, while isolated due to the Judgment, would have to win a war that threatened to topple his rule entirely.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Ezeonwha woke when the walls around him shuddered.
An earthquake?
Groggily, he activated the lights in the room. Phoebe's android was charging in the wall. Her limbs swayed with the motion. The walls shuddered again, and the lights went out. Thin, tiny cracks spread in the walls, increasing his worry factors massively. His implant notified him that this wasn't a dream. Distant screams reached his ears, and he went to the window.
Hordes of Sprilnav were running on the ground, tripping over each other to escape. He heard the thump of footsteps approaching from outside. The android activated, standing up.
"Move away from the doo-"
An explosion tossed him across the room. A Sprilnav carrying some sort of mouth weapon faded into view for a moment, smoke recalibrating the stealth field. And then he was gone. Phoebe smashed into the Sprilnav, her fists pummeling the assassin faster than Ezeonwha could comprehend.
Phoebe's arms turned into swords, and she stabbed the Sprilnav at least fifty times in a single pulse. She turned to grab him, but before she reached him, a second explosion sent him flying out of the now-shattered window.
The massive skyscraper loomed large, and he saw the ground beneath it ripple. Dull thumps sounded from below, and large, circular caverns opened beneath the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office. The whole building started to list forward, and Ezeonwha frantically activated his emergency personal shield as he started falling faster and faster. A bullet hit the shield. And then a second one. Gunshots echoed out in the distance, and he saw other Sprilnav falling from broken windows in the falling skyscraper. Gunfire erupted on the streets as Guides engaged a growing army of attackers bubbling up from basements of shops and businesses.
He saw spurts of blood exit the Sprilnav nearest him, bullets tearing holes through the woman's body. Piercing screams surrounded him, a terrible chorus that reminded him of the worst wars he'd fought in. But here, his training could do nothing. She was already dead, and he knew that he was the target of this whole attack. His eyes watered, and Ezeonwha felt so powerless. So useless.
A Corrector emerged from the side of the tilting skyscraper, eyes fixed on Ezeonwha. Then he looked down. Somehow, Ezeonwha knew when the orders had been sent. He knew that it was Astipra in the distance, a jetpack on his shoulders burning a thick flame beneath him.
Astipra looked back at the building and flew toward it. Ezeonwha felt the wind rushing past the shield as pressure. Astipra, far above, vaporized falling chunks of the skyscraper with blasts from his arm cannons. He pressed back against the skyscraper, the jetpack going into overdrive. The metal bent inward, and the groaning and twisting structure continued its fall. Blasts of light from Astipra again vaporized the set of falling chunks.
"Penny," he said. It was almost a prayer, really. His desperate mind was scrambling for whatever it could get. "Please, save me!"
He didn't know if she could hear him. Logically, it was impossible. And in a battle such as this, unlikely as well. Rippling explosions erupted across the facade of the falling skyscraper as rockets struck it. More explosions bloomed as lasers from distant police vehicles, Guides, and Astipra destroyed more of the fast-flying missiles and rockets. They pounded on the world around him, a horde of madness threatening to break his brain. He could feel the wind and gravity equalize as he reached terminal velocity.
And all he could see was the world descending into war around him. The 102nd Visitor Welcome Office continued to slump and lean against Astipra's best efforts. More bullets hit Ezeonwha's personal shield, and peppered the Guides moving over to save him. Air ambulances were shot from the sky. Even small fighter crafts were shot down by powerful ground lasers. EMPs thumped, disabling all the higher functions of his implant before he could think to use it.
A much larger explosion bloomed out, and Ezeonwha followed the rocket's trail to an Elder on the ground, standing in the wreckage surrounding a sudden tunnel opening. The Elder stared at him in glee, and he lined up another shot. Two Guides fell upon the Elder, who flew up using a jetpack to cut them in half with his sword. A hard light hologram lifted a large gun, pointing at Ezeonwha as he fell.
His eyes widened. Ezeonwha did everything he could. He angled his legs and arms. He pushed at the air. He even hefted the meager psychic energy he had, struggling with all his soul to escape the death he could feel was coming to him.
Guides swarmed beyond the shield appearing, while gang soldiers died by the hundreds to carpet bombing. Personal shields sprang up to block the explosions, and the Elder had survived. A thick red laser cut one of the fighters in half from the smoke. Above him, the collapsing facade of the skyscraper consumed Astipra entirely, though large gouts of plasma and thick explosions emerged from within. He could survive if it fell upon him, but Ezonwha could not.
Penny materialized far below, closer to the field of battle. A sweeping wave of gang members began disappearing. A bullet smashed into her head and her stomach, detonating in bright explosions. A personal shield flared and disappeared. Missiles and lasers slammed into Penny by the thousands as psychic energy gathered. A constant roll of words fell from her tongue, but without his implant, they were not translated.
Missiles crumbled into dust. Lasers impacted raw space in front of Penny before bending down and back to their origins, destroying automated turrets. Bullets still hit Penny and the Guides by the thousands, firing too quickly and densely for her to entirely block. But the large ordnance from the gangs continued to work against them.
Penny looked around, confusion evident on her face. But amidst the thousands of wounded and dead Sprilnav falling from the broken windows, Ezeonwha was hidden too well.
Shattering glass could be constantly heard, and he could feel the distant screams in his soul. A bullet smashed into his personal shield again, disabling it. A pulse later, he lost feeling in his legs.
He tried to reach out to her mind, but the war in the mindscape was equally intense. Too many Elders and Guides battling it out along with various suppression artifacts made it all impossible. He could sense Penny's influence, but couldn't directly reach her.
He let out a breath, knowing it to be the final one.
I'm sorry, Penny, Ezeonwha thought.
I wish you luck in the Judgment, and I am sorry I caused this to happen to you.
Penny finally appeared in front of him, eyes wide-
Blood erupted. A searing pain in his head told him his implant had just shorted out. And in the mindscape, he saw a mental attack heading for him, its brutal power evident. He closed his eyes.

Hello all! It's ultrastarwarsfan again, the creator of Doki Doki: Encore and the lead dev of Doki Doki: Branching Paths! It's been a while and I hope you're all doing well! I figured if I were ever to post again in this subreddit, it'd be for completely different reasons, but some recent events have compelled me to make this post.
To start off, I want to continue to thank all of your for your continued support and appreciation of Doki Doki: Branching Paths! It means a lot to us on the team that the mod is still receiving some attention even after being released nearly a half year ago. A lot of work, love and passion went into the project and it warms our heart anytime we see a new YouTube video about the mod or even a discussion post about it.
That being said, since the mod's release we have come across a handful of videos that have used assets from Branching Paths (and not for commentary or gameplay purposes). I won't get into every single case, and truthfully there aren't many, but one such case involved the entire soundtrack of the mod being uploaded into one video, and another case where soundtracks from the mod were being used in someone's web series. Each time, credit was either already given or we contacted the uploader requesting they properly credit and they complied, which from our standpoint is fine. However, I wanted to make this post to clarify going forward what assets are allowed to be used and which aren't, as well as potentially get ahead of possible future cases where mod assets may be used.
To state this right now: we are not looking to threaten a takedown of anybody's videos or work. Frankly, that's the last thing we'd ever want to do. I'm personally a big believer in giving back to the community, and I understand that a lot of modders can't necessarily afford to pay for things like soundtracks or backgrounds, so I try to be willing to share as much as I can and in the hopes that I can help somebody achieve their dreams. I also want to state that I try to be as pro-artist as much as I can. What this means is that my general philosophy when it comes to commissions is that while I pay the artist for their work, they give me the exclusive right to use their work in mine for whatever purpose. Even though I do exercise my discretion when authorizing the use of mod assets for outside use, I at least try to touch base with the artist to make sure they're comfortable with their work being used in other fashions. That all being said, these cases don't come up very often for me.
Since the most recent case, I have touched base with my former artists that I am able to contact (which is pretty much most of them) to inform them of the situation and to get their opinions on how they'd like BP assets to be used outside of the mod going forward. Our guidelines are a reflection of their wishes in addition to what I'm personally comfortable with being used outside of BP.
As far as music goes...

• Using it as background music in videos such as skits or in your mod is fine so long as proper permission is given. Just credit the musician of the song you used and mention that it's from Doki Doki: Branching Paths. I don't care if it's in the description or in the video itself, just so long as its somewhere. For Mods, just credit the song(s) in your credits.
• DO NOT straight re-upload the tracks as standalone videos. The only reason that I'm fine with the video that has all the tracks uploaded into one video is that I've been majorly procrastinating uploading it onto my own channel and I don't want to take away people's ability to enjoy the music because of my own laziness. However going forward, unless its an instance that falls within fair use I ask that standalone music soundtracks not be uploaded onto your personal channel.
• Ask permission to remix. If you have the desire to remix one of our tracks, contact our musician DeNomalyVEVO on discord to discuss it with him. I do want to note that DeNomaly can only give that kind of permission for the tracks her personally made for the mod (the songs that he made should be listed in the credits, or you can just ask him). I'm no longer able to contact the other two musicians who worked on BP, so I'm only going to grant that privilege to DeNomaly's songs (which he ultimately has the final say on).

Music has been really the only things we've dealt with, but I do want to preemptively get ahead on the terms of use for our art assets as well:

• Backgrounds: You are welcome to use the custom made backgrounds in your mod or video, just credit the artist and the mod in some visible way (either in description of your video, in the video, or in the credits of the mod).
• CGs: I would struggle to see why anyone would want to outright use our CGs in a video (unless if it was part of the gameplay, commentary, critique, etc.) or in an independent separate mod, so the official answer on that is a no. However, I have no issues of CGs being shown in gameplay, commentary, criticism videos. If you also wanted to make a video on every CG in the mod, that'd be fine, just credit the artists and the mod somewhere visible. If you wish to use the CGs as a meme or an edit, that is fine. You don't have to credit the mod or the artist if you're going to make a meme out of the CG, but if you're going to do a fan edit or change something about the CG in general and post it publicly, you must credit the artist and the mod in your post.
• Sprites: Ask for my permission directly before using. I'm personally willing to share most of the sprites for your mod or video, but I just want to make sure that's not presented as anything official for the mod. I will NOT give permission for the Jeremy or Sam sprites under any circumstances. Jeremy is essentially my custom OC, and I promised Spaghetto that the Sam sprite would only be used for BP and I will stick to that promise. All the other custom OCs, I'm fine with them being used, just ask me first. Also ask me for permission if you'd like to edit the sprites in anyway if you plan to post them publicly. You may contact me here on reddit or on my discord: ultrastarwarsfan.
• Fan Art: Any fan art of the mod and any characters (including Jeremy and Sam) is welcomed and allowed! If you're going to post your work publicly, just credit the mod in some way and don't try to pass off the character(s) as your own OC.
• AI: I would be impressed if someone actually did this, but if you're able to generate AI art of any of the characters, just credit the mod in some way and don't try to pass off one the character(s) as your own OC.

I do want to state that I was able to touch base with every CG/sprite artist who worked on BP, and they each have the final say on how their own work is used outside of the mod.
Story/Intellectual Property:

• I have no issues with there being any potential fanfictions or BP themed skits or anything like that in videos (I don't see why anyone would want to make a mod of that, in which case all aforementioned terms apply). In fact, I encourage it! However, just make clear that if you're going to do it publicly that it is in no way, shape or form part of the official BP cannon. If it's in a private setting, I don't care what you do.
• Obviously, don't make a "BP Sequel Mod" or make a mod that's a copy or ripoff off of BP. I don't think anyone would actually do this, but it just one of those things that you have to mention. If for whatever reason you feel like your own mod is starting to resemble BP a little too much, don't hesitate to reach out to me and I can give you the official thumbs up or down.
• Myself and u/Aliasiscancer are the final arbiters on what is cannon in the official BP story. So as general advice: unless it comes from the actual mod itself or from one of us, anything else should be treated as speculation.

I believe that covers all our bases! Most of this just being preemptive but I also wanted to clarify what I'm comfortable with what can be used outside of BP.
To reiterate: the artists ultimately have the final say on how their work is used outside of BP. I personally won't be going around policing these guidelines, but if I happen to come across something that's in violation of these guidelines, I will act. So if in the event one of our artists contacts you, please respect their wishes. That being said, I know each of them to be pretty open-minded and chill, so just as long as you credit them at the end of the day I don't anticipate you having any issues.
To also share some other news: I have not made any decision on if there will be a additional content to Branching Paths. Partly because I really haven't had much time to ponder it. Without going into all that much detail, I'm going through some life/career changes right now and I've had a lot deal with. I am doing ok (could better, could be worse), but DDLC Modding has not been really on my mind. I am proud as I can be of BP and the reception its gotten since its release and I appreciate the enthusiasm for the mod! This is truly a wonderful community and I will always be around in some way, even if I'm just a silent observer.
My thinking hasn't really changed: I'm still potentially willing to do another season for the story, but my interests have leaned heavily towards pursuing something else that is non-DDLC related. I will be having a lot of free time opening up in the coming weeks and possibly months, so we'll see what happens.
Once again, thank you all for your continued support! If you have questions, comments or concerns about these guidelines or anything that was mentioned in this post, don't hesitate to reach out!
Thank you!

Hey, I'm not a frequent reddit user so I'm sorry if I do something wrong with this post, but I did have a quick question about the Wikipedia page about the list of dungeons and dragons' adventures. Specifically, this one. When I looked at the list of 5e adventures, I assumed that it had all of the "official" 5e adventures, but I was surprised to find out there are other "official" adventures out there that aren't on the list. For instance, I believe that the 'Lost Laboratory of Kwalish' adventure book is an official book, but it is not listed on the Wikipedia page. Maybe I'm wrong and it isn't an official book, in which case I apologize for making this post in the first place, but I don't want to miss out on reading about any of the official books. If there are any other lists with every official book listed, I would be very interested in that. I took a look at this page, but it was missing the adventure I mentioned before, as well as 'Hunt for Thessalhydra' and 'The Lost Dungeon of Rickedness' but added 'Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos' and 'Acquisitions Incorporated'. Not to mention neither mentions the new adventure 'Vecna: Eve of Ruin', though I assume that is because it is still new, and they may not have been updated. Even still, I find that surprising that it wasn't updated immediately at release. (Also, some of the books don't even have a Wikipedia page made yet at all which is very surprising to me, but that's another matter that I don't care to fully question at this moment.)
Anyway, long story short, if anyone has a link to a true list of all the official D&D campaign/adventure books or wants to write one out, I would sincerely appreciate it. Thank you!