Yesterday I took my first shot 2.5mg. I don’t really feel any different. I have never really had a big “food noise” issue, but have struggled with my weight my entire life. My starting weight is 170 and I am 5’3. I feel like if this doesn’t work, nothing will lol! I have noticed that a lot of people on here talk about very extreme fitness routines or very closely tracking calories.
Honestly, I hadn’t intended on that. I intended to work out as my schedule allowed and see how I felt on the medication. Now I am wondering if I will even see results. I work a lot and at my desk, so it’s not always realistic to workout daily because I work two jobs. I will make the effort if that’s what I need to do, but I am worried it won’t be sustainable with my schedule.
So far I haven’t had side effects. I had a head ache, but could be from sleeping weird. Felt a bit jittery, but could be from caffeine…? Or not. Dunno.
It will be interesting to see how I feel as I progress. Fingers crossed that I am just lucky and don’t have side effects and that I will still see the results I am hoping for. I am so happy for all the people this has been a game changer for. I really hope that I will finally get to a place where I don’t look in the mirror and hate what I see or feel great then see a candid photo and it derails my entire day.

I started having a crush on my bf when we were both in 11th grade. We were both a year older than the other kids so we were already 18. Like every person who has a crush on someone, I started fantasizing about him. Holding hands, hugging, kissing and other things. He was running around my mind the whole time.
We were both part of a group of friends consisting of both girls and guys, so that's how I started getting to know him. I can't remember how we started talking about sex but in a conversation he said that he's not a virgin, which absolutely crushed one of my dreams. I wanted my first time to be with a virgin guy. I was a little surprised because he didn't really seem like the type of person to already have done something like that. He's very childish and didn't seem that interested in anything other than his friends and playing games. It honestly crushed me and made me rethink the whole situation.
We eventually started dating at the beginning of December 2021. Within the first week i asked him about the "not being a virgin" thing. (Yes, I know it's not really a good thing to talk about so early in the relationship). He told me that he wasn't a virgin but has only done it twice with only one girl in the past. He told me every last detail: why, how and where it happened. They never dated, they just had fun together. Those details ended up making me even more sad.
He ended up taking my virginity about a month later. After seeing a photo of this girl, it was clear that she had a more mature face than me and a more attractive body than me. You know, bigger breasts and hips. She was posing in the photos and it was clear that she wasn't insecure at all.
I was never insecure about my body. I was fine with my breast size and I don't see myself as fat, but I am insecure about my wide hips and masculine shoulders. After seeing her picture I always find myself comparing myself to her and I fear that my bf is doing the same, even though he has told me many times that I have a beautiful body and that he loves it.
I am not a seductive person. Any time I'm in the mood I won't initiate anything untill it's clear my bf is in the mood aswell. I read through messages between my bf and his friends. They were from a long time ago but he was telling them how much it turned him on when he and this girl were spooning and she would start rubbing against him. I was questioning weither he finds me boring since I don't try to be seductive at all. In short, she has a more open sex drive than me and I fear it's effecting how he feels about me.
Not only am I sad that I'm not his "first" because it crushed my dream, but it made me very insecure about myself and our relationship. Not being his "first" haunts me still and I feel even worse knowing that the girl who was his "first" is much more attractive than me.
He doesn't really like talking about her since his experience with her was a huge regret, but due to other events I fear he stills thinks about her.

An old buddy of mine named Alex, committed suicide a year ago now. And I still feel like I have no right to grieve him. We always went to school together, but never talked that much or had official introductions until graduating. Another friend of mine brought us together, making a group friendship that I felt was unbreakable. Yes, we were still young and had no idea how to go about life. But we all dealt with issues and set them aside while we hung out. We were always happy, in my eyes.
At this point Alex and his family were like my own. I was never at my own house, everyone was cool with me being gay, they fed me, and I would clean with them. I felt the family and that was all I wanted. There were things I may have noticed, like everyone was chill that I slept in Alex's bed. Nothing happened, I just saw it as sleeping. It's been so many years, idk who first suggested me to sleep there, but it wasn't me. I just felt safe, that I know.
My Father: (Some of us had jobs, I didn't. It was hard to get one early in a small town. This caused issues later when my dad kicked me out. And before I could move in with them, he already called my mom and had me moving cities away. You see, he divorced her after cheating, then married another woman. This woman tells him to dump me and they moved out of state. Upon long term damage to my personal family, we just acted like shareholders. "If you don't have a purpose, then you're out". He was a lot nicer than her, but him and I have had a phone call on birthdays only for 10 years now. The moment I mentioned car problems, for a car that I bought on my own, he sent me an empty glass terrarium kit for succulents. The gays would laugh at that one.)
My Mother: (I actually became very depressed, my mom wasn't the best person either. She was where all the anger came from in the family. Her bloodline made my brother into a rage machine that has to take lithium pills to be normal. Even when I didn't have a "partner" to live there with, I always tried to get some kind of roommate. I couldnt be left alone. I had to show my long term friends the damage being done and I've been treated like a joke over it. I tell you, this woman ruined every job I've had by rubbing her nose in it. It's one thing to tell your kid that he can eat from your food and he has to get his own. But to tell him he can't cook? Can't use your fridge, or your pantree, no stove, oven, toaster or even tv? I can't use the dishwasher or washing machine cuz I'll break it. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THIS LADY NEEDS? Her 300lb butt needs my assistance, standing tall at 120lbs lean! I walked every single day to work in the arizona heat, and this lady wants rent, and any time I want something I have to pay for it, great lesson mom! You were getting money from me while YOU sat down. Thanks for teaching me to look for a way to bounce, cuz that's exactly what I did to everyone I ever loved!)
Next thing you know, I was 26, working a job I hated. It's the most money I ever made, but it wasnt enough.
I never knew he did it. I found out too late, way too late. His sister tried to messege me. I thought she was gonna give me crap again for not coming around. I found out 2 months later on Facebook, people posted memorial and I lost my mind. I can't explain how I felt. The inner shame of him leaving this world. I felt so wrong inside because of him, everything came flooding back. It's like memories after being drunk to me. What did I do? Where did I go? I went through every single thought in my head about him. I tried and tried to remember signs of his sadness.
No matter how deep I go I can only think of 2 times he did something suspicious.
On night before I left, we just laid down. There was no way he could've been asleep. It's was like 5 minutes. He rolled over and hugged me. I never hated it, I even accepted it. He'd never hugged me before and we'd been strong friends for at least a year. If anything were to happen I felt ready. But then he just stopped hugging me. It was like a minute? Okay. Confusing, but also never spoken of again... I think.
The second time, I wish I wasn't so wasted, we were just hanging out and I got dizzy, so we went for a walk. Already sounding gay lol I can't believe I didn't see it. He should've been louder! But he said everything he could to me without being embarrassed. We talked a little about his past, and how everyone gets through that. I did my best as a wasted person to give my bro the most loving advice. He was suddenly so sad, and my ass wasn't handling it right. I told him his knee injury wasn't gonna hold him back, and that his thought on failure were technically made up. Something on those lines. This was still like 8 years ago, sorry.
At 26, I'm not satisfied with life. I lived in the arizona room, paying insane rent to mom, still couldn't eat. I only ate at work to survive cuz she gave me little space. Here I am complaining about myself and I find out he offed himself in his new apartment. I guess there was a girl that broke up with him, but his family wouldn't tell me his actual reasons.
I tried telling his sister about the things he said to me and did. I told her I felt no negative feelings and I truly had no idea what he wanted. But something in her was different after she found out. She made sly comments, like, "you know what what's like". Her mom, who was my 2nd mom, glared TF outa me and said nothing. I had never seen such disgust from her and she walked away from me. I have spoken to any of these people since everything happened. Sis invited me to a memorial they were having, but I knew those eyes, I saw nothing good coming out of me attending. Acting like I'm family to them is dishonored to them, they treated me like family. I feel like I deserted them..

I took interim occupancy a couple of months ago in my pre-con condo and I recently came to learn that the HVAC in my unit was leaking water behind my living room wall (which is a shared wall with my spare room) and under the floor. They ended up having to rip out all the flooring in my living room and punch a couple of holes in the living room and spare room walls. When I asked, they reassured me that no mold was found and insisted that the leak was found and addressed quickly enough that no mold would've grown. I decided to check every nook and cranky thoroughly because something about their blasé tone made me feel uneasy. After poking around for a minute, I noticed black specs behind the baseboard in my spare room. I called the builder rep back up, showed them the photos that I took, and in that moment their friendly demeanour changed as they said, "I can't comment on anything".
Since then, we've exchanged a couple of emails that have gotten progressively contentious. Their stance now is that I negligently left the leak unreported for an extended period of time, and that the extent of the damages are not covered under warranty but that they will still do the repairs out of pure courtesy. And that they have video proof of how, "the concentration of water in the living room under the floorboards was evident upon touch and/or footsteps". They strongly insisted that I watch this video so that I could see for myself just how obvious this leak that I was leaving unreported was. Yet...when it came time for them to produce the video, they said "Video format is unavailable. Apologies for the confusion and/or miscommunication." HUH?!
I also asked them to provide me with a Service Report so I could understand what exactly was wrong with my HVAC to begin with (you as a homeowner are entitled to this). They confirmed that they had one and agreed to email this over along with the video. But again, when it came time for them to produce this Service Report, they didn't.
I have them on record saying that I'm not the only unit in this building experiencing this. They made it crystal clear that they will not be providing any sort of compensation and to essentially lawyer up if I want to keep talking. Amazing.
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1. Guidance on how to correctly place the Lift Rod back into its original position. 2. An explanation of the purpose of this part within the camera’s mechanism. 

I’m going to go in order, but for starters, I’m F21, and I’ll go by Evie.
When I was 11, I had a friend, we’ll call her Katherine. One day, we got into a huge fight and stopped talking. Me, being immature, I decided to make burnefake social media accounts to try and talk to her as different people. As I portrayed these “different people,” I would text her and ask her “Oh yeah, I went to that school a few years before you did. Do you know this girl named Evie by any chance? We were good friends, I didn’t get a chance to make friends with other people. She was so nice.” Eventually, Katherine found out about all these fake accounts I made, didn’t say anything and just blocked me. On New Year’s Eve 2022, I rejoined Instagram after deleting my account for a personal break, and I saw her account on my explore page. I reached out to her and told her that I was so sorry for all the hell I put her through, that the “I was 12 and stupid” excuse is no excuse at all, and I will hold myself accountable for my wrongdoings. I wanted to talk to her, deeply, one-on-one. We didn’t have to become friends or anything, I just wanted to clear the air and make amends. To my surprise, she blocked me. Happy New Year’s to me, I guess.
When I was 13, I met this girl online, we’ll call her Nichole. We met randomly through a One Direction group chat on Kik and became best friends, we talked every single day for 2 years. Just like Katherine, I wanted to make another account and text Nichole, ask her about me since “I talk about her all the time,” and see what she would say about me in return. Like Katherine, Nichole found out eventually, sent me a super long message on Kik. She was so angry, and blocked me on every single social media. I’ve tried to reach out to her about a year or two later, and she never answered. But last year, her Facebook popped up. I took this as a chance, and sent her a really long, remorseful text. I told her how deeply sorry I was, how I should have never hurt her and betrayed her trust the way I did, that she meant the absolute world to me. I wanted to be the bigger person, an adult if you will, and handle things the right way. I felt a deeper sorrow for Nichole than I did with Katherine for some reason, and I was truly trying to make things right. The text was so long that I had to break it into three paragraphs. I waited and waited, and I saw that her profile disappeared. I thought maybe she deleted her account, but it turns out she blocked me. I took this incredibly hard.
Then, when I was 15, I met this guy, we’ll call him Luke. We met randomly through Omegle, and moved things to Kik and Snapchat. I deeply felt connected to him, we both really, really liked each other. But I knew that having such a big crush on each other would be impossible because he lives in another country. We both went through a lot together, I was there when he attempted to commit suicide himself, and he told me about how he was sexually assaulted twice in his life. But he told me that I was helping him to stay and make it through another day. One day as I was doing one of those “ask me anything” things on Snapchat, someone asked me if I had a boyfriend. I mean, I knew I liked Luke so much, but like I said, it’s not like we physically could’ve been together, so I said I didn’t have a boyfriend. Before I knew it, Luke blocked me, which I’m presuming because I said I don’t have a boyfriend. He blocked me on Snapchat, Instagram, and he deactivated his Kik. But as I said before, I made a new Instagram. I finally remembered his Instagram and tried to reach out to him. I wanted to get back in touch, I wanted to know why he blocked me. I want to know why we stopped talking all of a sudden. All of the memories we made, digitally, were somehow gone. Like I was nothing. I sent him a message, I told him how I think about him more than I should, and I just wanted an explanation. I don’t care what happened between us, all I wanted was to have Luke back in my life. I waited and waited all day to see if he would answer, while occasionally looking at his Instagram story. It was so good to see a picture of him on his story, smiling. I missed him so much and was just relieved to know he was alive. The next day that evening, which was last night, I checked to see if he would answer. But knowing my luck, he blocked me.
I feel so stupid and pathetic, man. I want to make things right, I want to apologize for those I done wrong. It wasn’t easy to admit my careless idiotic mistakes. It wasn’t easy to reach out to these people. It wasn’t easy to hold myself accountable for catfishing Katherine and Nichole. It wasn’t easy to think I’ve done something wrong to Luke for him to block me completely out of nowhere. This guilt, even though I am 21 now, eats me up. I’ve ruined and damaged friendships and relationships that meant so much to me.
And I’ll never be able to get them back. But then again, it’s nobody’s fault but my own.

(M18)
This happened Friday, matched with this girl on chatting app she had 20 in her bio. Got her snap and we started talking. She said she was 20 on snap too so thought it was real. So we exchanged pics and she then made a collage of my picture and a text message at top saying "this guy was sending nude pictures to 15 year old girls" which I wasn't. of course blocked the number contacted the police spoke to them they were nice about it and said that If any photos get released they'll get involved. The thing is I'm scared if they do go out and people thing I'm a pedo or something which I'm not.
I took screenshots of everything so I do have proof but it's just you all know how the world is even if you proven innocent, people still see you guilty.
Any advice/reassurance.

swirl around my heart, redirecting my mind,
to halfway forged paths and illusions in kind.
What is this to you - what were we?
What was true?
There was a weight in your eyes
mirroring the depth of my feeling...
I honestly don't know how to let go of you.
But you don't wish to hear from me
and I'm desperate to know why,
Is your heart beyond broken -
or was it all just a lie?
Perhaps something else beyond verbal description
a simpler truth, with no one at fault,
and tragedy, our brief affair's ascription.
Were these wishes born in lonesome delusion?
Supposedly, moving on is a sign of maturity
but these dreams don't feel like an illusion.
So why am I left alone with my thoughts,
not knowing whether you've been fine,
or saddled with pain - just as lost.
When I allow myself to crumble apart,
to freefall into the rifts of this ache,
shadowy whispers reach straight to my heart;
they speak of desires with less selfish heartbreak.
I know that we aren't meant to be
At least, not right now, not anytime soon -
can't you see?
That is all I want, truly,
to discuss my failures to do right by you,
every fear and demon that kept hidden what was true.
You deserve above all to hear
this heartfelt language of affection
as I hope, above all, to reach in -
and finally, dissolve your fear.
The adoration I hold for you
is nothing but pure and true
your beauty, unparalleled in my eyes
and your presence in my life,
the most elevating surprise.
The joy you brought into my life;
the love you deserve was not within my capacity
so disguised my heart was in strife.
My sadness was mine alone to bear,
yet I projected its destruction
onto our tender affair.
I hope you see it now
that you were not at fault.
And you deserve gentle love;
sweeter roads to surpass the lies of broken default.

genuine question. as a full-time student every time i see an influencer i'm so curious as to how they plan on making any sort of longterm living without any degree or meaningful qualifications. when tiktok A) is banned, as is in the process of currently being facilitated by Congress, or B) eventually just joins the ranks of Pinterest, Facebook and Snapchat as an outdated platform for a bygone generation, what are these influencers going to do to earn a profit? are they all just going to go get minimum wage jobs? if so, how would they continue to afford their now-extravagant lifestyles? do these people have no foresight lol

swirl around my heart, redirecting my mind,
to halfway forged paths, and illusions, in kind.
What is this to you - what were we?
What was true?
There was a weight in your eyes
mirroring the depth of my feeling...
I honestly don't know how to let go of you.
But you don't wish to hear from me
and I'm desperate to know why,
Is your heart beyond broken -
or was it all just a lie?
Perhaps something else beyond verbal description
a simpler truth, with no one at fault,
and tragedy, our brief affair's ascription.
Were these wishes born in lonesome delusion?
Supposedly, moving on is a sign of maturity
but these dreams don't feel like an illusion.
So why am I left alone with my thoughts,
not knowing whether you've been fine,
or saddled with pain - just as lost.
When I allow myself to crumble apart,
to freefall into the rifts of this ache,
shadowy whispers reach straight to my heart;
speaking less selfish desires of heartbreak.
I know that we aren't meant to be
At least, not right now, not anytime soon -
can't you see?
That is all I want, truly,
to discuss my failure to do right by you,
every fear and demon that kept hidden what was true.
You deserve above all to hear
this heartfelt language of affection
as I hope, above all, to reach in -
and finally, dissolve your fear.
The adoration I hold for you
is nothing but pure and true
your beauty, unparalleled in my eyes
and your presence in my life,
the most elevating surprise.
The joy you brought into my life;
the love you deserve was not within my capacity
so disguised my heart was in strife.
My sadness was mine alone to bear,
yet I projected its destruction
onto our tender affair.
I hope you see it now
that you were not at fault.
And you deserve gentle love;
sweeter roads to surpass the lies of broken default.

Hey everyone! I launched a debut book June 1st and I wanted to share some lessons I learned for debuting as a complete nobody.
The stats: I sold 22 copies (15 ebooks, 7 physical), got 568 kindle reads (about 1.5 of the book length), and 5 reviews. I hit the Amazon bestseller page for LGBT+ sci-fi a few times, so I am technically an Amazon bestseller!
Pre-game - ARCS
I didn't do any pre-order period because nobody knows who I am anyway, but I did send out ARCs 2 weeks ahead of the launch. I messaged 70 in-genre influencers, 5 got back, and 2 left a review. I expect a few more reviews to come later. A few made social media posts, but there was no bump in sales the day of the posts, and views were low. (If you're paying attention to the social media landscape, views across the board for small and medium-sized influencers are down).
I submitted my ARC to various Facebook groups and Voracious Readers Only. From there I got 1 reviewer who "doesn't do" Amazon reviews and a drive-by 2-star rating.
The rest of my reviews came from beta readers that I personally contacted. I did not ask friends or family for reviews because they don't read this genre anyway.
Lessons learned: Messaging influencers is a ton of work, and returns are minimal. They can be a good source of reviews but don't expect sales from their posts. Additionally, message them early; 1 month at least. ARC groups are mainly populated by people looking for free crap and a good half of them won't even download the file anyway (I tracked clicks). Some will read the whole thing, download your free novella, and then still not leave a review.
Personally sending messages to people on Discord, Reddit, and wherever else is the best way to get those reviews. People say you're not supposed to pester readers, but it honestly returned the best results for me. It seems that the personal element adds some pressure for them to actually write a review. Additionally, they tend to write better-quality reviews than total strangers. I'll keep you updated as more reviews come in.
The package - Cover, content, and metadata
My cover cost $1000+ and took 40 or so hours of my own time to paint the background, balance the colors, and format. This is going to be overkill for most authors, but in the LGBT SFF space, covers with 2 full-body characters are the standard.
The book took me several years to polish and went through two rounds of professional editing. I'm going to be honest, I don't think all the money spent on professional editors had as much of an effect on the final product as all the beta-reading did. Even the proofread was returned with errors despite that I went to a reputable (and expensive) agency. I've now found a personal contact who's an excellent proofreader, but based on my experience, the only person you can trust to do the job right is yourself. Take the time to do the boring work of learning how to use commas, hyphens, and all that, because no one will put as much effort into polishing your work as you will.
For Amazon keywords and categories, I spent days researching and debating. I ended up spreading my categories thin between sci-fi > dystopian, romance > vampires, and LGBT > sci-fi, but I think my most traction has come from the smallest of those three, the LGBT+ > sci-fi category. Additionally, I used nearly all of my keyword space, which got me added to several additional categories like cyberpunk, but after more thought, I realized that trimming off the less-searched terms and concentrating my focus was a better strategy. Additionally, I did use a subtitle, which many people recommend not doing, but adding that subtitle allowed me to rank first page for some critical terms like "gay dystopian" and "vampire dystopian" without even putting those in my keywords.
I set the novel price to $.99 for the first week to lower the bar to entry. I've since raised it to $2.99 to stay below my competitors, and I'll let y'all know how it changes sales.
Lessons learned: Spend those marketing dollars on your cover art first. Take your time planning your meta-data and keywords. A modest sub-title won't get you banned.
Post-launch - Social media marketing
I had big plans for marketing. I bought props, I took a week off of work, and I put my whole heart into it. All my social media efforts resulted in 46 clicks (I tracked this through affiliate links) and one sale--one sale of someone else's book, lol.
Here's an example of one of the several book trailers I made: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7qK0xAPUPe/
I really thought these were going to pop off, but for each one, I got negligible views on Instagram and Facebook, 250 impressions on TikTok, and 1k on YouTube shorts. You can also see that I have a number of low-effort posts on my social media, and they got the same views as my high-effort ones. TikTok especially surprised me, because I made far crappier videos 2 years ago and could get up to 10k impressions.
I think I may have gotten 1-2 sales from recommending my book on Reddit and 1 from someone I talked to in the comments of Instagram.
Lessons learned: Social media marketing is probably a waste of time for a debut. It seems like a place people go to follow you after they've read your book. TikTok is dead for most genres, but YouTube shorts might be a valid route. Instagram is best for static images, but it's a slow-build game. Facebook only works if you already have a network that's interested in your genre (but my demo isn't big on there). Again, any sales will be through one-on-one interactions with people. If you really want to try social media marketing, make bucket-loads of low-effort content. A video with hours of planning and editing will get the same views as a low-effort trope post.
Busting out your wallet - Paid ads
I experimented with Instagram boosts, Facebook ads, and Amazon ads. I didn't bother with TikTok ads or anything that was pay-per-impression. For $2, I boosted a few Instagram posts, which claimed to get me 8 clicks, but my affiliate links did not report those clicks, so I honestly think these may be a scam. I'm still experimenting with Facebook ads, so I'll report back on those later.
As for Amazon ads, I directly targeted about 250 similar novels and 400 key terms. Many of these books and terms are highly-niche and extremely applicable to my novel, but because they are so niche, they never got many impressions. Moreover, I could target a queer sci-fi vampire novel that is a 1-for-1 comp of mine, but if I wasn't willing to pay $.90 for a click, I couldn't compete with the general vampire erotica bidding on that spot. There was one exception, the category LGBTQ+ Science Fiction. General advice is that buying ads on categories is a bad idea, but all of my 3 sales were from this category. I also experimented with UK, Canada, and Australia ads, but they didn't return any sales.
For general statistics, I got 1800 impressions, 12 clicks at $0.40, and 3 sales. For the first three days of activity, Amazon wouldn't give me hardly any impressions, so I basically had to "earn" the right to pay for those clicks.
Lessons learned: Amazon ads on niche terms/books/categories will provide your best cost-per-click. Category ads for niche categories can be a good investment. I think when people search for a category, they don't have a particular book in mind, so it can be easier to close the sale. I've gotten clicks on competitor's books, but never a single sale; I assume the customer just bought the book they were looking for in the first place.
Final takeaways
So, out of 22 sales, I estimate 3 were from beta readers, 3 were from friends/happy ARC readers, 3 were from ads, and maybe 3 were from personal recommendations online. Where did the other 13 come from? My best guess is Amazon itself. My "customers also viewed" is finally getting into a place that makes sense, and I know I've got a super shiny cover. I wish I had more reviews, but I think the fact that the few I have are very detailed is saving me.
This leaves me with one final takeaway: The best use of your time and money is on polishing your Amazon sales page to a high shine. Perfect your blurb and metadata. Spend money on the cover before spending on ads. Create A+ content and a proper author bio before spending time on social media.
Also, remember that you can ask your betas or friends for quotes to put in your product description. Ask them right after they read it too, because if you come back a month later, they might never get around to it.

[Part 2]
The twenty men, Lady Maege, and Ser Rolph continued up the paths in the lightless caves of Casterly Rock, huffing and puffing, but still silent as much as they could hold. One loud word at the wrong place at the wrong time may be their doom. In single file, the group followed Ser Spicer’s point with one lit torch. The stench was terrible and the dampness made it worse. Guarding the rear, Olyvar’s eyes were clouded in darkness at times where the torchlight was too far ahead to shine back. He relied on Ser Goose in front of him to lead the way, as Goose relied on Leo for the same.
Suddenly a whisper could be heard from the darkness at the front of the line. “Duck.” Then another slightly louder, “Duck” … and then another, and then another … each “Duck” a little louder than before. Is there a duck here in the sewers? Olyvar thought.
“Duck.”
“Duck.”
“Duck.”
“Duck.”
Finally Leo turned around and told Goose, “Hello … Duck.”
Goose replied with pride, “I am no Duck!” Instantly as the tall knight crept forward, he thumped his head on an unlit rusty beam that was lowered onto their path. He fell backwards into a puddle of wet cold stool, ass first, toes off the ground, and staining his breeches. “Awww shit!”
Ser Olyvar helped the soiled knight up as his squire, Leo, told everyone in front what happened. They all forgot their stealth, and began to laugh.
“Come on Goose, you are slowing us down!” someone said.
“Ducks can move faster than you, Goose! You have to catch up and chase after us now!” a voice that sounded like Scrooge, said.
“You have to be more nimble and more quick Goose!” another one japed.
“All over my life, I have travelled land and sea. From my experiences, I learned that I would rather be more lucky!” the unclean bandit knight replied with the truth. “Or get lucky! Heh!” the daffy Goose added cheerfully.
“But you are no duck, right Goose?” Ser Raynard’s voice called.
They continued to laugh and began moving forward again. Ser Barnabus the stinking Goose with his honor stained, stood up and pointed his chin high. “Aye my lords, this bird you cannot change!” He shook his tailfeather, took himself low, and was ready to go.
As the thunderstorm clouds outside shifted, a pale grey blade of light emerged from a crack in the walls and shone the brown spot where Goose had fallen. It illuminated a tiny golden speck. Looking back and curious, Goose placed both hands through the muck, underneath the lumpy object and pulled. He lifted up a slimy brown sphere, the size of an orange, and rubbed off the slush. Goose held the carved rock to the thin line of the dying light and widened his large eyes.
Gold, unmistakable. “Goose, did you just lay a golden egg?” Olyvar japing quietly.
“I guess I did!” Goose whispered in glee. Ser Barnabus began singing to it softly. “I know that you don’t know it, but you’re a find so fine! And I’m going to show you that now you’re a mined of mine! My treasure, that is what you are! My precious, you’re my golden star! Hehehe!” He hugged it. Goose looked back to Olyvar. “Don’t tell the Black Sparrow!” He continued to giggle, despite scarring his face at the forehead. “Leo, come over here! Say hello to my little friend!”
His young squire came back, ducked under and asked. “Say hello to who? The Black Sparrow? He isn’t very little in person.”
“No you stupid sweet boy, definitely avoid the Black Sparrow! That captain is not my friend, my friend. We have to fool that fool.” He showed an astonished Leo the little golden egg before he hid it again from sight. They continued up the path towards their objective with Ser Goose the tall hedge knight finally ducking under, his pants stained in brown.
Olyvar had lost count of how far they ascended as they reached one of Ser Rolph Spicer’s checkpoints. They rested there for a few moments where the paths forked into several other directions. He then instructed Ser Olyvar Frey, Lady Mormont and Leo to wait here until the rest returned. In the meanwhile, they were to familiarize themselves with the area in case they needed a detour.
Not long after the group left them, Olyvar heard another man speaking through the rocky walls. Maege followed the voice through one of the forks, and found a hole that appeared to spy into a cell of the castle’s dungeons. She peeked through and spoke in disgust “Gods! What the hell! No!” She left the area and began looking for an entrance into the dungeons from the hidden hallways. Olyvar peeped through the hole and saw what seems to be an old maester in robes, with many rings around his neck. Inside, he harbored a boy and a girl who appeared to be twins, no older than ten. The boy had his shirt off, while the maester sniffed the girl’s hair and had a hand cupped at her clothed chest.
What in Seven Hells? Olyvar thought.
The elderly maester spoke to them, as they trembled like leaves. “Thank you children for helping me. I am Maester Valarik, this is very very important research for, um, the Citadel. Now let’s begin.”
Suddenly out of nowhere, Lady Maege Mormont burst open the dungeon door. “Let’s not!”
The shocked maester jolted to his feet, confused. “Are you their mother?”
“A MOTHER!” the She-Bear claimed in her crony crackling voice as she walked up to Valarik. Here she stood as Lady Mormont kicked the maester in between the legs, his screams alive with pain. His eyes began to tear as he fell backwards to the ground. Lady Mormont dropped down to him and drew her dagger. “Shut your mouth or I’ll make an eunuch out of you!” The maester still in agony replied with a silent nod. She lied to the twins, saying she was a washerwoman employed to the castle. “What the maester did was wrong and I will have the castellan punish him.” She urged the siblings to go home, but not tell anyone what had happened until they were outside of Casterly Rock. After they left, Maege in her barbaric tone told the maester, “You dusty fuck! Get in there!” as she led him into the hidden hallways behind the dungeon.
Ser Olyvar greeted the hostage, “Not another word Maester Valarik. She may geld you but I will shove my dagger up your arse.”
They continued to wait at the checkpoint, anxious for the Blackfish’s return with Queen Jeyne and Lord Edmure. Leo brushed back a lock of his ash-blond hair that fell down across one eye. Lady Mormont continued to stare at Valarik’s crotch while holding her naked dagger, twirling it at the pointy end for boredom. The silent maester was well aware, and would not return his eyes to meet hers.
Suddenly they heard a woman’s moan echoing in the distance. Torchlight illuminated the foot of the pathway and brightening the walls with each passing moment. Escorted by Goose, a thin girl with a mop of chestnut hair emerged. She was pretty like the daisy sewn on her gown that was covering a flat chest. “Eleyna!” Olyvar was animated. They hugged as he asked, “So what happened to your breasts?”
“I ate them.” She said in her high cheery voice. She stuck her small chest out, chin in the air, fists at the end of her narrow hips and twerked it for two beats. “How you like them apples?”
Olyvar smiled at the inside joke.
The Useless Goose then grabbed Leo and tapped Eleyna’s shoulders from behind. “Hi, have you met Leo?” Barnabus vanished in an instant.
She turned around and introduced herself. “Hello Leo, I’m Eleyna, the Queen’s sister.”
Leo was star-struck. “Are you a princess?”
“I guess I am a princess,” she said sarcastically. “Are you here to rescue me?”
Leo nodded up and down, trying to contain his excitement.
“Leo O’ Leo … my hero!” She kissed him on the cheeks, and Leo’s face began to blush, red as apples.
His brothers Raff, Donal, and Mikkal had emerged from the rocky opening just in time to watch. They wrapped their arms around one another, and nodded proudly at their youngest brother.
The others soon followed, pouring out of the tunnel entrance. Olyvar greeted his brother-in-law Lord Edmure Tully. “My sister is waiting for you back at the ship, with my future nephew or niece. Be a good father to your child.”
“And you be a good uncle. It is a honor to have you at our side, Ser Olyvar,” Lord Edmure replied respectfully.
Lady Sybell Spicer came down with her brother Ser Rolph, clutching a moaning Queen Jeyne Stark on both sides. She was garbed in simple loose fitted robes, pretending to serve as Eleyna’s plumped handmaiden. Olyvar was ecstatic. Jeyne’s mother then announced, “She is in labor!”
“What?!” As Olyvar and Maege said in unison. “Now!?”
Olyvar ran to Jeyne, straight to his sister’s arms and she kissed him on the forehead. “I kept my promise,” Olyvar told her.
Jeyne was feverish, sweating and mumbling words. “You did, I knew you were somewhere beyond the sea. I was here waiting for all of you, to sneak onto golden sand and rock. I was watching all the ships sailing by, not knowing which one will be my daring escape.” She looked towards her other brother Raynald. “I just knew my Ray lied somewhere over the ocean, and my Olly lied somewhere over the sea … both my brothers fighting to come back to me. Up in this castle mountain where it meets the heavens above, out where lightning splits the sea, I could still feel you two watching me. Through the wind, the chilly sea, and the rain … and now the storm and the flood. I felt your approach like the fires in your blood! I need … I need …”
“We need to go!” Ser Olyvar finished for her.
As the others began going into the next tunnel, the Queen in the North shook all the right-hands of the strangers that came to rescue her, while each man placed a left-palm on her round belly for a soft instant. With Jory, Jess, Ser Spicer, Ser Brynden and her brother Ser Raynard, she gave a hug each. She then trailed all of them with Olyvar and Raynard holding her weight. They descended down the path they came from, back to the LionsJape, WinterStorm and BattleWolf. Queen Jeyne Stark continued to scream. Oh, bloody shit. This will be the death of us. The descent will be much faster, but it was still a long way to go. With the Queen moaning in labor, they decided to light two more torch lights. Being heard here is just as unfortunate as being seen. But the darkness in front of him still faded in and out, confusing Olyvar’s eyes in blur. For a moment, the knight fantasized about golden dragons down here in the empty gold mines and sewers of Casterly Rock, to illuminate the rest of the route with flames … expediting the rescue.
Where in the hell is Lord Gawen Westerling? His trumpets and drums? It would at least muffle out Jeyne’s cry. At any moment, they could be heard … and then they could be trapped.
Then the Blackfish noticed Maester Valarik was in their party. “Who in the Seven Hells are you?”
Lady Maege told Ser Brynden and allowed the quivering maester to speak. “I am the maester of Casterly Rock. I don’t know what is going on here. Pl- … please let me go, I won’t say a word. I … I am innocent, I was just treating the children for an illness.”
“You said it was for research,” Maege interrupted.
“Um … bb … both,” the maester lied.
“In a dungeon? No tools nor vials?” Maege questioned rhetorically.
The maester had no answer for that. He looked back to the Blackfish. “Ser, you must understand-“
The Blackfish cuts him off. “Must I? I heard enough of your sorcery, Maester. Shut your mouth or I’ll throw you out of a window.”
The group was nearing the sea’s level, until they encountered the original path that dipped up and down. It was filled with flooded water from the storm surges. Ser Brynden Tully cursed at the sea trap. Olyvar knows the Blackfish could swim under it like he did at the moat of Riverrun, but not the others. They began to retreat and regroup.
Ser Rolph approached Ser Brynden, not shaken nor stirred, and offered a detour. “Follow me, this way leads to the kitchen of that courtyard at the base of the cliffs. At that courtyard, there is a large sewer drain that would lead us back to the paths of the rowboats. It is risky, we may be spotted.”
“We may be sitting ducks,” Goose added to the complaint.
“We have no choice,” said the Blackfish.
They followed Ser Rolph, with his niece still moaning.
They reached the hidden entrance to the kitchen and began to secure the area with weapons & shields drawn. It was empty. No gatherings or weddings were to be held outdoor this evenfall, especially with the thunderstorm. Olyvar peeked outside. Overcast clouds threw down rain-water onto dirt and stone, as the setting sun was half bathe into the ocean’s clear golden horizon. The courtyard by the sea was no bigger than the feast hall at the Twins. Stone pathways met at the middle, leading into a circular floor-drain that was exposed at the center of the yard. Twenty feet high granite pillars the size of tree trunks supported the open rectangular balcony above the ground level, overlooking the ocean. The kitchen doors were connected to the bottom level, but Olyvar was unsure what would lurk above them on the second floor balconies, with its four feet high parapet and six feet of platform width. Lightning flashed the columns bright white as the wet grass turned into mud.
Ser Brynden paced around the kitchen for a moment, trying to hide his shaking hands. He assessed the situation and regrouped the band of brothers. “Bows and arrows,” he commanded … and they obeyed. “Each men take cover behind a pillar. Sprint to it and establish a defensive stance with an arrow nocked to the string of your bow. Keep your eyes open. Rico will run to the middle alone, pull out the drain cover and retreat back. Alesander! Ray! Run to the opened drain and descend down the ladder. Once it is clear, let us know. We’ll bring Jeyne down first, followed by her sister and mother, and then Edmure.”
“Brothers!” as they assemble behind the closed double doors in single line. “Nock!”
From a window, Maester Valarik spied over to the drain, and then tried to block the traffic at the kitchen exit. “This is absurd! I have friends in court and I can vouch for you! Give yourselves up! This is madness, this is ludicrous!”
The She-Bear grabbed him. “Move maester, get out of the way!” She threw him to the corner by the pantry. Lady Mormont drew her dagger, gleaming silvery-blue for an instant as a crack of thunder boomed through the window. She pressed the flat of her blade onto his crotch and the terrified maester began to piss himself. Lady Maege disgusted, leaned back and threatened, “We have not killed anyone yet. You stay here like a good quiet dog and oblige, or this bear lady will rock your head away with a club when she comes back!”
Ser Brynden opened the double doors as Ben and Benjen held it. The Blackfish ran out first, around the perimeter to the furthest side of the terrace, forty yards away with bow & arrow in hand. The other men followed and fell into their positions, squishing their footsteps on the mud and stone.
Rico, Phyl, and Sam the Shredder followed the Blackfish to the southern side and took cover behind a column each. Scrooge, Donal, Raff, Mikkal and Leo sprinted for the eastern pillars as June, Jory, Jess, Fess and Lord Galbart Glover took the west. Ben and Benjen left their kitchen doors to joined Ser Goose and Ser Rolph Spicer at the closest posts of the north.
Queen Jeyne, Lady Maege, Lady Eleyna, Lady Sybell, and Lord Edmure stayed inside the kitchen with Ser Olyvar … as Ser Raynard and Alesander were ready to their task.
Rico unarmed, darted from his column towards the center of the courtyard and tore open the drain cover with ease. He flung it over the mountainous wall and into the sea as he headed back to his pillar, re-arming himself with the bow.
Alesander Frey and Ser Raynald Westerling, dashed towards the open drain and attempted to descend. Their shields, quivers and bows were caught at the circular entrance, so they discarded them at the base before going below. After Ser Raynald gave the clearance, Olyvar and Maege discarded their weapons and escorted Jeyne slowly and gently towards their escape, their clothes soaking in the rain. Olyvar kept Honor slung center at his back. Raynald offered himself as Jeyne sat on her older brother’s shoulders as they descended down the twenty foot ladder. Olyvar was doing everything he could to keep Jeyne stable from above as rain-water trickled down the drain.
When they reached the bottom, Olyvar noticed a weirwood tree staring right at him. A godswood? Here? The cavern was surrounded by roots and several rocky openings as well. He paid it no more mind and walked Jeyne towards a sewer entrance where Alesander was waiting for them. “The rowboats are not far! I see them, just a few more paces from here. I’ll keep a lookout on that exit.” He scouted ahead again.
Jeyne could not advance any further and fell lightly to the ground. “I can’t move anymore.”
Lady Maege came down the ladder and positioned herself between Jeyne’s legs. “Push your Grace! Push! Push!”
The rumbling of the thunderstorm was getting much louder.
Leo surprisingly came down with Eleyna and told Olyvar, “I think I hear a few soldiers moving on the second floor balcony. The parapets won’t allow us to see what’s hidden behind it.”
No not now. “It could be just the thunderstorm,” Olyvar hoped.
Lady Sybell and Lord Edmure Tully soon followed down the ladder. “I believe there are Lannister soldiers getting into positions above us. They must be waiting for more of their reinforcement to arrive,” Edmure sounded sure.
Olyvar cursed.
The Blackfish came down next. “We need to leave now. The storm surges will steal our rowboats as well.”
Jeyne was still moaning. Maege was still instructing, “Push! Push! Push!”
Olyvar began panicking in this awful shit-storm of a mess. “We need to go now! The soldiers are coming! The thunderstorm is coming!”
“WINTER IS COMING BETWEEN HER GRACES LEGS!” Maege screamed back.
Olyvar could not help but to chuckled for a beat before being serious again. “Bloody shit. Winter needs to be going!”
“Look son, I’m not your mother. You go figure it out yourself,” Lady Maege protested.
Olyvar felt like a fool below the Rock, looking back at all the wrong paths that got him lost here. If I just lied to my father of my intentions, and informed his Grace not to come to the Twins, we would not be here now at some shit sewer in the Westerlands. Jeyne would be crying in childbirth at Winterfell after Robb had retaken it from the Ironborn. King, Queen and babe Stark would be safe and sound. And me … I would be their Kingsguard knight … Ser Olyvar Frey … the Kingsavior.
“Ray, go find Alesander and summon him to return here to help. He is not far.”
Olyvar looked toward his Queen as Maege Mormont continued working in between Jeyne’s thighs, awaiting for the wolf-pup that their world was here for. Let us pray it is only one babe. A pair of twins would surely mean the doom of them. There was nothing Olyvar realistically wanted more now than Lord Gawen’s trumpets, and his young son Rollam’s drum rolls. Where is our diversion to get the Lannister soldiers to march away from us?
Goose tried to come down the ladder next, but the big man was stuck on top even with his weapons and shield forfeited. His golden egg had bulged out from his pocket, stopping him from entering the small circular drain. He was trying to work it out of his clothes.
Olyvar kneeled down next to his Queen, trying to facilitate this shit storm anyway he could. He went to feel for the letter he wrote to his father, but instead found the colorful bright feather that Captain Samullu gave to him earlier. He offered it to Queen Stark for some comfort.
“A gift? It is so beautiful Olyvar,” she said in discomfort. “I have a gift for you as well.” She summoned her mother and removed a thin cloak from her purse. Queen Jeyne Stark took it and unveiled it to Olyvar. It was the castle of the Twins, colored in grey, seated on a field red hot as a chilled blue stream flowed under the bridge. Olyvar motioned to give her his back, and she attached the cloak onto him. “I knitted it myself.”
“It is gorgeous my Queen. What does it mean? The water under the bridge?”
“It means forgiveness here, so you can move on. Now promise me Olyvar, don’t leave us again. Protect us. Protect your King’s child. We must never separate again.”
Ser Olyvar Frey gave the Queen his word.
Goose had finally removed the golden rock from his hidden pocket, and held it with his hand. At the moment useless, the knight threw down the golden egg to Leo, as it flashed bright from the lightning above. The knight started down and down the ladder.
Suddenly a voice roared from above. “This is Ser Forley Prester! Drop your weapons! Drop them!”
Ser Barnabus started to curse as he stood on the ladder halfway. He took a deep breath in disappointment. “Come on Leo, we have work to do.” He ascended.
Leo gave the golden egg to a shocked Lady Mormont and took a step towards the ladder, but he then turned around to Eleyna. He kissed her on the lips. The princess fought back and held Leo’s blond head with both her hands, forcing more of herself onto him. Their tongues danced a secret hidden inside their mouths, taking each other’s breath away over and over again. Olyvar did not think they would ever let go, until Eleyna did, shedding a tear. Leo turned back to the ladder. Ice in his veins and without another word, he began to climb.
Ser Brynden shared a look with Ser Olyvar. “I’m not kissing you!” He began walking towards the ladder as well, with Lord Edmure Tully trailing. He shoved his nephew aside. “Your lady wife is waiting for you on that ship with your child! Protect them! Keep the Tully name alive! Fly away now! That is an order! Take Queen Jeyne Stark to the ship and protect her family too!” The Blackfish conjured a duty that Edmure could not decline. He gave his uncle a sad agreeing nod. While climbing up, the Blackfish then looked at Olyvar. “Ser Frey, guard this ladder!”
Though not giving any direct orders to the Seashell Knight, Ser Raynald Westerling kissed his sisters and mother. They begged him not to go, but Ray flew to the top as well.
Ser Olyvar got up and began to follow, but the crying Queen tugged his cloak. “Olyvar, you promised me.”
“Goodbye Jeyne. I have to do my duty.”
“Just hang on a minute. Listen and promise me Ser Frey. Don’t be a fool. If you are in trouble, don’t try to be brave, just fly, fly away. Find me.”
Olyvar Frey got to his knees again and kissed her forehead. “Okay. Jeyne, my Queen … I’ll be back. I promise.”
“We need to move her to the rowboats,” Alesander Frey suggested. Olyvar hugged his brother, and ordered him to carry Jeyne’s weight to the exit with Lord Edmure’s help. Sybell and Eleyna Westerling held up Jeyne’s thighs as Lady Mormont spearheaded the path with her torchlight in one hand and the golden egg curled on the other.
“You better be right behind us,” Maege commanded.
“I will,” Olyvar hoped.
The new knight approached the base of the wet ladder and began to climb. He reached halfway and stopped to listen above. The thunderstorm roared its fury, and the Blackfish was already speaking.
[Part 4]

DRS Megathread // WTF is happening with GameStop!? // PleasrDAO/Wu-Tang Megathread

Hello Superstonk!
What a week! And all signs point to the next few weeks being equally interesting. Between the rollercoaster price action, all the new people subscribing (Over 1 Million subs!!!), DFV returning, DFV posting here, DFV returning to his YouTube channel, shareholder's meeting next week... well it's just been a lot going on!
There are a couple of housekeeping items that we have to talk about, especially for some of the new people here.

Brigading

So, if you're new here, one of the things you're (unfortunately) going to get familiar with is brigading. Brigading is defined as: when a group of users, generally outsiders to the targeted subreddit, "invade" a specific subreddit and flood it with downvotes or upvotes in order to damage karma dynamics on the targeted sub; spam the sub with posts and comments to further their own agenda; or perform other disruptive behavior.
Put simply, Superstonk has been put in its own little isolation bubble. Here, we are unable to do certain things that other subs can, such as tagging users and crossposting to other subreddits. We're not able to talk about other communities freely. It's not our choice as a mod team or community, but it's a consequence of prior issues that this community has created for Reddit. As a result, it's NOT ok to post content here about other subs. You can't post screenshots of other subs. You can't celebrate your ban from another sub. You can't show images of other subs with you dunking on users who have a bear thesis towards GME. It is a systemic risk to Superstonk to post content like that here, and all you do is give the mod team more content that we have to remove (along with more ulcers). Brigading is a way to speedrun yourself to a ban from this community.
Similarly, there are some subs out there in the Reddit investing world that have publicly announced that they do not permit discussion of GME. That's their choice. There is to be no interfering with their sub on behalf of GME or Superstonk. It's not ok to go to other subs and encourage people to come to Superstonk, or to attack or berate other sub mods. That could get you banned in other subs, and if you have an extensive post history here, it can create the perception that Superstonk is a problem that Reddit needs to fix. Bottom line, whether you like it or not, we have to keep Superstonk talk on Superstonk, and sort of pretend that other subs simply don't exist.
We have been provided screenshots of comments from users that are being attributed to Superstonk that contain vitriol and threats, and those sorts of comments are simply not ok. Frankly, we don't think that true good-faith participants of Superstonk would make these sorts of comments on other subs.
We don't condone any nature of trolling or harassment, and if you observe ANY evidence that it is happening within our community, tag !mods! or report it and we will take immediate action. We appreciate your commitment to fostering positive and constructive spaces within our walls.
We know the specifics of brigading can be confusing. Just remember to follow the rules in whatever community(ies) you may participate in besides Superstonk, and make sure you don't discuss your adventures in the wider world of Reddit while you are here. We have to stay in our bubble.
https://i.redd.it/e3e5cy5jjm5d1.gif

New Mods

Welcoming Diznavis and welcoming back _Exordium to the mod team!
Here are a couple quotes from them:
Diz - "I've been watching GME since 1/27/21, bought my first shares on 2/1/21, which was also my first ever stock purchase. I became part of an advisory team of sorts at the Jungle a couple years ago, mostly by being in the right place at the right time, and was eventually added as a mod over there. When I saw the SCC being created, it seemed similar to the team I had been part of at the Jungle, so I joined it so I could help out with this sub as well. I never expected to be asked to join the mod team, it wasn't even on my radar when I joined the SCC, but when it happened, I accepted and here I am."
Exo - "No Luma, I'm too busy to talk to you right now. I'm helping my mom build a garden bed and a bunch of yard work right now, feel free to write what you please about me." Exo is an amazing person, and we're excited that after a long hiatus from the mod team he was interested in jumping back in for a little while.

DFV Doxxing Posts

We've seen an uptick in a new category of weird posts. It's unclear if they are intended to be sweet, or creepy or funny or what, but we've noticed a HUGE uptick in pictures of DFVs family, including his wife/sibling(s). We remove those on sight. They're totally unrelated to his activity as an investor and streamer, and his family and friends deserve their privacy. Posting their photos... honestly it's a little creepy and violates their privacy. Don't do it.
https://i.redd.it/cle19hwkjm5d1.gif

!Bet!

Announcing a new tag - !Bet!
In any comment, on any post, if you see a bet, make sure it is recorded.
Starting now, we have a new mod tag: !Bet! which will alert mods to any bet that somebody has made.
Maybe it's your bet, and you want to make it official. Maybe it's somebody else's bet and you want to make sure they... deliver.
Some bets are... how do I word this... some bets are best delivered on your own NSFW profile (and not on Superstonk). However, a bet is a bet. Make sure, if you make one, you're clear about the terms.
!Bet! will help us make them binding... and maybe make a "Bet Megathread" or something fun along the way.
(An unrelated gif.)
Be safe out there Superstonk. Next week should be spicy! Buckle Up!

[Part 1]
My king. The sad memories faded into blurred flashbacks.
Olyvar cherished the sweet time as his grace’s squire. Though two years older, it made no matter. A warrior king was training Olyvar the way of knighthood, almost any boy’s dream. He remembered on slow days, Robb Stark would spend time with him, teaching the art of the long sword and shield. He can still remember the cloudy day at the Crag’s courtyard and his Northern accent as he swung his blade at the squire. “Keep your shield up Olyvar. Keep it up.”
“It’s too heavy.” Olyvar replied as Robb swung on.
“If it wasn’t heavy, it wouldn’t stop a sword. So get it up.”
They sparred and sparred in the courtyard. Robb Stark was dancing with him, hilts in hands. After he knocked Olyvar to the dirt for the twentieth time, he lifted him back up.
“Come, drive at me.” Robb then grabbed Olyvar gently by the back of his neck. “Look Olly, keep your shield up or I’ll ring your head like a bell.”
Olyvar never forgot that moment, his Grace’s right-hand touch, the way Robb looked into his eyes and called him ‘Olly’. No one has ever called him that and he liked it very much. They continued to dance. Rain began to fall, turning dirt into mud. Olyvar darted at him. Robb stepped aside, deflecting the stab off his shield and twirled around forward in a natural motion, his cloak spinning in the air. Before Olyvar knew it, Robb had his rear, his sword ready to thrust or slash any part of him. He glanced back and knew he was lost. The dance paused there and Olyvar turned around to meet Robb’s beautiful blue eyes. He could melt in them.
“You had me your Grace.”
“Come Olly, it’s your turn.” A winter wind came blowing in from across the sea. A breeze lingered there, brushed Robb’s auburn hair. “Now, dance with me!”
It almost felt like a sin to be as excited as Olly was at that moment.
“I’ll drive to you now. Try to do what I just did. In mud like this, don’t forget to plant your foot before each movement. And remember, you have to keep your shield up.”
As Olyvar and Robb got into their positions, his older half-nephew Ser Ryman Frey suddenly appeared and intervened. He grabbed Olyvar like a little green boy and pulled him towards the exit. NO! Olyvar’s word caught in his mouth.
Robb spoke up for him. “What are you doing? Olyvar is my squire and a grown man. He can do what he wants and speaks for himself.”
“My grandfather has declared a suspension of your alliance with House Frey,” Ryman said. “You have broken a sacred vow. If you would not have his daughter or granddaughter as your queen, you certainly cannot have his son as your squire.”
Robb was expecting Olyvar to say something, but the squire froze. More Frey guardsmen came in and dragged him away from the courtyard, his heels lifeless on the ground, leaving twin mud tracks on his departure. Robb stared at him sweet, sad, and silent. A bolt of lightning flashed across the rainy skies, its reflection off the King’s sword blinding Olyvar. That was the last time he saw Robb alive.
When news of his King returning to the Twins for the wedding between Lord Edmure Tully and his sister Roslin, Olyvar could not contain his excitement, to hear the voice of his call.
Since that rainy courtyard day, Olyvar had been on his own for long enough. He hoped maybe Robb could show him again that dance that he loved. Maybe. Olyvar had been going through withdrawals. Not seeing his Grace was just too much. He could turn me on with the slightest touch. But since the Red Wedding, Olyvar’s courtyard has been cold and empty. Fuck anyone who judges me. He couldn’t see clearly now that Robb was forever gone. Olyvar was still blinded by Robb’s last light. He couldn’t sleep, still yearning for his touch. In his heart, rain constantly fell, drowning him in the nights. I was his squire, Olyvar cried as his soul twisted. And I failed him. I was the only one that night he could trust.
After the slaughter, Merrett Frey, a kin of his, greeted him as he released Olyvar from the dungeons. “I’m sorry Olyvar that we had to lock you up, Perwyn and Alesander too. But you must do your duty for your family. You are a Frey, a man of an honorable house. This stain left by Robb Stark and his bitch mother Catelyn Tully should not go unpunished. Lady Catelyn also killed Jinglebells. She even japed ‘a son for a son*‘* to our Lord father as she slit his throat.”
A son for a son. Olyvar Frey looked at Merrett sullenly, his voice choking up, “I must go for a walk.” Olyvar walked and walked … passing the burnt tents, passing the dead soldiers with Northern and Riverland sigils sewn on their garments, and passing Grey Wind’s headless body. He was far enough from home, but he could still hear the cheap cheers of the Frey and Bolton soldiers.
He fell to his knees and began to cry. My king. My sweet king. Olyvar swore vengeance. Though he will never consider kinslaying as it was a curse among the gods, it would not stop him from facilitating others who seek revenge against his own family, the ones who were directly involved.
Suddenly at the side of the river, a dying man was crawling towards him. Soaked in water, mud and blood, he cried out in a ghastly voice “Olyvar!”
“Who, who are you?” Olyvar sprinted to aid and for recognition. “Raynald?” Without hesitation Olyvar replied, “My brother!” He placed himself under Raynald’s shoulder and lifted him up. “We need to find a maester.”
On the way back to camp, Olyvar and Raynald encountered two sentries of his Frey household guards, far from any other eyes can see.
“So what do you have here my Lord Olyvar?” one asked.
“A dying lone wolf? Let us put him out of his misery,” the other replied as they stared at Ser Raynald Westerling’s dampened seashell surcoat.
Olyvar lowered himself and laid Ser Raynald on the ground, and arose in a tone cold as stone. “No. Not a lone wolf.”
Olyvar unsheathed his sword and killed both Frey guards before they could reach their weapons. He then swapped Raynald’s wet Westerling clothing for one of the dead men, and found a maester.
Ser Raynald Westerling stayed with Olyvar at the Twins under disguise. He even trimmed off his brushy moustache. Weeks later after Ray had fully healed, he asked Olyvar to go with him to look for Maege Mormont and Galbart Glover at their secret hideout, as per the original plan before the wedding.
One night, Olyvar Frey simply walked out of the Twins again, this time with Ray. No one would care where Olyvar was going. Truth be told, his Frey family would be more content if more spawnlings of their lord father would leave the castle to find their own destiny, especially if they were unlikely heirs deep behind the line of succession.
Aboard one of the Northern galleys floating outside of Seagard, the Seashell Knight had to explain how this son of Walder Frey earned his trust, as Lady Mormont held Olyvar by the throat with a dagger. The skin around her eyes had been raked and blackened with tears and nails, her teeth bit with furious anger. She had been like this for weeks. Olyvar stared at her face and he felt like he could die here and now, if that was what it meant for Lady Mormont to forgive him, as he knows no gold would ever substitute for her grief. “I am sorry about your daughter Dacey. I lost my brother too. Benfred was a good man, I swear to you by all the gods old and new, that he did not have a part in the slaughter. Benfred would have done everything he could to grab an innocent woman like Dacey, and bring her safe from harm.” Olyvar meant it.
Mormont sheathed her dagger, her hands still shaking. “I’ll kill them all! Anyone who was a part of this!”
“No.” Olyvar replied. “We have to get the girls back. And then you can kill them all.”
At the siege of Riverrun, Olyvar Frey freely roamed Ryman’s uncoordinated camp. No one cared. One night alone, he swam across the moat and climbed up the castle with spikes. Only thirty feet up, the Tully guards had heard him clanking and aimed their crossbows from above. “Identify yourself!”
He whispered, “I am Olyvar Frey, son of Walder Frey, former squire to his King, Robb Stark. I come unarmed and offer myself as a hostage. I know the Blackfish, please let him know I am here.”
“Stay where you are.”
Olyvar clung to the castle’s wall half way down to death and half way up to forgiveness. Finally Ser Brynden Tully appeared and told Olyvar to come up quietly. As Olyvar threw himself over the parapet and onto the floor, the Blackfish kicked away his spikes and immediately kneed his body to the ground, holding a dagger at his throat. Shit, not again! Damn this mayhaps, why was I unblessed to be born a Frey?
“What are you doing here, Olyvar Frey?” Ser Tully demanded.
Olyvar told them the truth and handed him Lady Maege’s letter from a waterproof compartment in his garment. The letter was coded with secret words that he and she only knew. The Blackfish cracked the seal, unrolled the parchment and read. Afterwards he released the grip from the bottom and the message curled up on its own, eager to protect the secrets.
“The paper curls, at least you didn’t try to deceive me with the age of the parchment.” He then asked Olyvar, “So, you killed some of your own men did you?”
“To save Ser Westerling, yes.” The Blackfish looked at his eyes and nodded in approval. “May I see her now?” Olyvar inquired.
The Tully guards led Olyvar to her room. Some left the area, but others stayed and watched, still suspicious of the unarmed Frey. She was in her solar, knitting her needle works. He fell down to one knee towards his niece-in-law (by Olyvar’s brother-in-law, Lord Edmure Tully), “My Queen.”
“Olyvar!” Without a hint of hesitation or mistrust, she dropped her needle, ran towards him, and wrapped her loose skinny arms strongly under his’. She poured her heart, soul and grief-filled life into a Rose By the name of Olyvar Frey. He reciprocated, placing his arms around her shoulders as Jeyne Westerling-Stark continued to hold tight. Her orange sized breasts pushed against his chest, as the Queen’s chestnut mop of brown hair sat below Olyvar’s clean-shaven chin.
“Robb.” It was all she needed to say as they shared a sob. Nothing hurt more than that moment when he shared the same pain with Jeyne. Olyvar dipped his head to hers, their salty tears finally uniting and slowly dancing together as their faces pressed cheek to cheek.
“He is in the heavens now, I believe, singing from above.” Olyvar prayed. “He will be waiting for us. No doubt we will see him again some day, but we must make him wait.”
“I miss him so much,” Jeyne cried. She was always cheerful with Olyvar since they first met. Though he was curious whether she truly loved Robb or just wanted to be a queen, she has repeatedly been kind to him, so sweet. She never intervened when Robb trained Olyvar at swordplay and he was grateful for that. When they wed, Olyvar knew Robb could never be his brother, but Jeyne did not seem to mind letting him continue to squire beside her much younger brother, Rollam Westerling. Robb had allowed Olyvar to protect the queen sometimes, along with the other household guards, though he was still training at arms. Olyvar and Jeyne would talk constantly, mostly about their King. Even when Jeyne rambles about him, she would always shy away from talking about Robb’s bed manners. But Olyvar insisted he did not mind hearing it. Jeyne felt like a sister to him, just as much or more as Roslin.
“I miss him too,” Olyvar replied. “Did you really love him?”
She cried a little bit louder and squeezed Olyvar even harder. “With all my heart.”
Olyvar wanted to confess too, but he could not do it here, not with everyone watching. He only hoped Jeyne would ask him the same, and she did. “Did you really love him, Olyvar?”
He tightened his grip on Jeyne’s shoulders. “More than you ever know.”
She gently reached for his hands and lowered them. “Olyvar, you were his squire. He is gone now. But you still have a duty to us. You must protect us. We must never separate again. Promise me Olyvar. Promise me.”
“No. I cannot. Not yet. I must leave you, just this one last time, for your safety and your family’s.”
“You are part of my family,” the Queen proclaimed. Tears rolled down again, their hands still held together at their hips.
“I need to leave Riverrun tonight. And I promise you, we will reunite again and I will keep you safe.”
They talked for hours about the good times, the horror, and what the future lies. They talked about Robb, crying to the sadness of him, exulting at his bravery and his glories, laughing at the silly juvenile things the teenager king did to entertain them, and about falling in love with him all over again. And then they cried some more.
Later on that night, Ser Brynden visited Jeyne and Olyvar, with Lady Eleyna and Lady Sybell watching. “Olyvar, you were the King’s squire and though he is no longer with us, you are still owed a knighthood. Let the gods curse me if I ever knighted a Frey, but you are no Frey I have ever known. What you are about to do would be considered treason to your family.”
“But my lord father was treasonous to my King. I do not get to choose my father or which family I was born into. But here right now, is the family I want to be with.”
“Will you honor your new family? Will you honor your duty to your late King, his Queen and his House, the Starks of Winterfell?”
“I do,” Olyvar replied with pride.
The Blackfish unsheathed his sword, the blade alive with moonlight gleaming from the window balcony. “Shit I think I’m doing this wrong. I was supposed to say that later. Anyways, kneel Olyvar Frey.”
Olyvar got to one knee as Queen Stark and all the others watched. Ser Brynden Tully, the legendary warrior Blackfish, placed the flat of his sword on Olyvar’s shoulder.
“I charge you to be brave and … aww shit the knighting words escape me. I’m embarrassing myself. Anyways um. Family! Honor! Duty!” He placed the blade on the other shoulder. “Shit, I forgot the rest of the speech. Forgive me. But Olyvar of House Frey, I name you a knight! Now rise!”
And arose the new knight stood, and proud he was. King Robb Stark could have never fulfilled his promise of a knighthood, but it was his father that took it away from him. But being knighted by the Blackfish was more than anything Olyvar wanted right now, besides keeping Queen Jeyne and his family safe. To him, it was forgiveness.
The Queen approached him with a longsword in scabbard, flat on both hands. “Our late King had a gift for you Ser Olyvar Frey, at least he would have wanted you to have it.”
Before Ser Olyvar received it, he already knew what it was. Robb’s sword. “No, I cannot. I am unworthy of this gift, his Grace’s sword.”
“This is King Robb Stark’s sword, and I am his Queen wife. I charge you to protect your family with his own sword.”
Queen Jeyne Stark made an offer that Ser Olyvar cannot refuse. He took the sword from her forgiving hands.
“What will you call it?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
“A name. Robb never named his sword. But a good sword should have a good name.”
“I was told by my half-brothers that only cun–, I mean only women name their swords. I will let you name it, my Grace. How should we honor our late King Robb Stark?”
“It is honor,” Jeyne replied.
Confused, Olyvar asked, “What is honor?”
“A sword. This sword.”
Before the sun had dawned, Ser Olyvar Frey with Honor slung on his back, climbed down the castle walls with rope, swam under the moat again, and departed the birthplace of his King, Robb Stark, as a knight.
He returned to the Twins, keeping his knighthood a secret. When Riverrun had fallen to Ser Jaime Lannister, Edmure Tully had agreed to be a prisoner at Casterly Rock. Roslin Tully volunteered to join her husband, giving them a chance to raise a family together, even as hostages. Olyvar, their brother Perwyn and half-nephew Alesander all agreed to escort Lady Tully to the Westerlands. Although they told their half-family they would take the land-route for their journey; Olyvar, Perwyn, Alesander and Roslin had a different Frey destiny in mind. After the Kingslayer’s threat to Roslin’s unborn child, there was no day they would ever stay at Casterly Rock nor return to the Twins. They departed for the coast and reunited with Ser Brynden Tully, Lady Maege Mormont and Lord Galbart Glover aboard the Motherfunker.
Before Ser Brynden escaped Riverrun alone, he and Lord Tully reviewed all their options during Edmure’s short visit. An escape on land had many risks to be recaptured or killed, but at sea it was far fewer … and having a faster ship helped. They would allow Edmure and Jeyne to be peacefully escorted by their captors to Casterly Rock as hostages, only to be rescued from the shoreline. Lady Sybell Spicer swore her brother Ser Rolph would lead the way inside the caves. “Honor, not honors,” were House Westerling’s words. And Robb Stark showed more honor to Lady Sybell’s family than any of the other Westermen could. King Robb made her daughter a Queen, while King Tommen gifted Ser Rolph with the cursed ruins of Castamere from the notorious Lannister song. This honor was more of an insult than a reward.
One night aboard the Motherfunker, Olyvar took out a fresh new flat parchment to write a letter that was meant for his father. He held his feathered quill upright, but did not know how to start. He was fidgeting as he stared up around his cabin. He began to tap the pointy end of the quill and pricked his other hand by chance. Frey blood began to trickle from the wound along with a stinging pain. Cashing in on the moment, he then knew what to say. He dipped the blood smeared quill into the black inkpot, and began to pour his soul & anger onto the kin he no longer wanted.
Father, I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel. I focus on the pain, the only thing that is real. The needle tears a hole. This old familiar family sting. I try to forget it all the way. But I remember everything. I find myself asking … “What have I become? My sweetest King? Will everyone I love go away in the end?” And Father, you can have it all. My empire of dirt. I will let you down. I will make it hurt. If I could start again, many miles back at home that night. To save my King, I would sacrifice myself. I would find a way. Your son Olyvar.
He rolled the parchment and laid a tablespoon of wax from his tallow candle at the edge. Olyvar pressed the button with his bleeding thumb, filling the stamp in a marble of white, red and pink; sealing it with his own blood. He placed the rolled parchment in his breast pocket, hoping to leave it somewhere in Casterly Rock and eventually reaching his father’s hands.
On the deck of the Motherfunker a few nights before … crewmen, Riverlands and Northern loyalists sang, drank, and cheered to the music of the masterplan. Though most wanted to spill blood to avenge the Red Wedding, humiliating their enemies would be the sweeter revenge: the story that sings in songs. But not all were there for vengeance. Some were just there for the adventure.
The Captain of the Motherfunker was there for the honor of joining their song. He wanted to look into the eyes of the lion, be a part of the thrill of the fight, rising up against our rivals. He also owed Ser Rolph Spicer a favor from their long smuggling history together at sea. If he helped rescue his niece Jeyne from the rocky castle, he would consider the debt paid, and the Black Sparrow was happy to oblige.
“So we are here to rescue this princess? No?” Samullu spoke in the broken Common Tongue
“No, not a princess, she is a queen,” Olyvar chatted.
“In the Summer Isles, a princess and a widowed queen is the same person. My father was king, but he died when I was a babe. My princess mother was the one who raised me after my uncle took the throne. I loved my mother. I named my swanship for her after she died a few years ago.”
“Motherfunker?” Olyvar asked. “What is a funker?”
“Where I am from, fighting and dancing is called the same thing. We call it funk. We funk to fight, we funk to dance, and we also funk to love. And the skill of our funk we always inherit from our mother’s side. I got it from my mama.” The black single-eyed captain pleaded. “Yo got yo from yo mama too. ‘Motherfunker’ is just a homage to one’s mother for giving us this art of our body’s motions.”
Olyvar never knew his mother, but he was very intrigued to hear more about Samullu’s and their culture. They chatted for quite a while.
Olyvar thanked him for helping them. But Samullu insisted it was the right thing to do after hearing about the horrors of the Red Wedding. “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers! And yo will know I am the Captain when I lay my vengeance upon thee!”
Olyvar never knew the Black Sparrow was so pious to the gods of avengers.
Sharing rum together, Olyvar sung to him about his own story in depth. Captain Black Sparrow was impressed about his journey so far and he gave Olyvar a small jar of dirt. “This is soil from my empire back in the Summer Isle. I have a whole barrel of it to remind me of home. Here, take this other small gift as well.” He then took out a bird’s feather, long as a flute, bright and colorful. “We Summer Isle people have feathered cloaks, yo see it on all of us. But feathers like this one were meant for some of the bravest and baddest motherfunkers out there. I want yo to take it Ser Olyvar. Let it be yo warrior’s funk.”
Olyvar took it with his hand and gave it a warm stare. The feather was colored like a fading rainbow top to bottom, but the stem was yellow like a lemon. “Thank you.” The gifts were quite odd. By value it was not much, but it seemed like it meant a lot to the exiled prince, the type of gifts worth remembering.
“So what do yo need besides a miracle?” Samullu asked.
“Weapons. Bows and arrows. Lots of arrows.” Olyvar was serious.
“Aye, and I have a lot. Yo know, no one has ever done anything like what yo and the Blackfish’s men are about to do.”
“And that is why it will work.”
The plan was to allow Lord Edmure Tully and Queen Jeyne Stark to safely travel to Casterly Rock unmolested, under the command of Ser Forley Prester and his four hundred men. Lord Gawen Westerling and his son Rollam were to return to the Crag, but Lady Sybell was to stay with Jeyne, maintaining what deceptions she can conjure. Her bluff with Ser Jaime Lannister worked, earning the slightest trust from them before their escape at Casterly Rock. An attempt to rescue them on their path down the River Road would invite the Lannisters to execute the hostages on the spot, failing the objective’s purpose. To stealthily hunt down each soldier one by one would have proven even then, a mission of the impossible. Stirring fear in the hearts of the Lannister soldiers was the only solution, the effective psychological weapon. Ser Prester’s men have been haunted by the ghosts of the Brotherhood without Banners throughout the Riverlands, and the Blackfish would use that to his advantage. With the help of their fastest horse, Bubbles, mounted by Justin Smallister, a distant cousin to House Mallister of Seagard, he would tie empty nooses on trees ahead of Ser Forley’s route. The hope of the hoax would keep the Lannisters on edge, making it difficult to rest. Only when they reached the castle of Casterly Rock, they would drop their guards down, thinking the hard part was over. But on the exact evenfall on the day of their arrival, Lord Gawen Westerling and our small land forces, hidden in the eastern woods outside, would sound the trumpets and drums, drawing the weary soldiers to arms again. But the Blackfish was to infiltrate Casterly Rock from the western sea. Ser Rolph Spicer, our secret agent inside, will bond with Jeyne’s guards, drinking with them throughout their journey. Only on the hour of the escape, Ser Spicer would drug the guards’ ale, allowing them to fall asleep during the diversionary music. The Blackfish and his squad would provide armed escort, if needed. Ser Spicer would also help them navigate inside the caves, rescuing his niece Jeyne and their family back to the Motherfunker. By then, it would be too dark for the Lannisters to give chase into the ocean, if they even realized Queen Stark had flown off.
“I need twenty good men,” the Blackfish had demanded. A few hundreds of the remaining Stark loyalists and outlaws gathered at the docks, where the Motherfunker was anchored.
“And one more woman too!” the She-Bear crone proclaimed.
The men laughed in agreement as Ser Brynden continued. “I need volunteers only. Soldiers who want this fate to fuck them from behind in their arses! For the twenty one of us, we will be in harm’s way, make no mistake about it. I do not expect us to be discovered, but if we were, our escape will not be easy like our brothers working the diversion in the woods. I need men quick on their feet, proficient with the bow, and skilled at close-quarter hand-to-hand combat. Who are my brave men that will be knocking on the Lannister’s doors?”
Ser Olyvar Frey thundered in first and raised his hand. Jeyne’s words echoed in his thoughts, Promise me Olyvar, promise me.
Alesander Frey surprised him. “No you fool! You are not a skilled fighter. Put your hand down!” Olyvar told his nephew.
“I am a grown man, and I will not miss this adventure for nothing,” Alesander protested to his uncle.
“You are just a singer.”
“Then I want to be a witness to this great deed and be the first singer of our new song.”
Olyvar could not stop his brother & nephew from doing something so stupid.
Ser Raynald Westerling the Seashell Knight raised his hand too, eager to save his sisters Jeyne and Eleyna, and his mother Sybell.
Others began to join. Some had their reasons, some had their vengeance, some just wanted to try something new.
Fess stepped up. He was a long lost uncle to Ser Addam Marbrand after a lengthy voyage at sea. But Ser Addam refused to believe him, denying him a small chunk of land near Ashemark that Fess was entitled to own. He called his uncle an imposter and casted him out of the region. Fess swore he was a Marbrand, and swore he would unleash a storm on their household if they did not give his piece of land back. To the future of reclaiming his name by shaming theirs, Fess Marbrand was recruited into our efforts against the Lannisters and their bannermen.
The Summer Islander, Ben, and his Westerosi-born son, Benjen, were farmers from the Neck. Years ago, Lord Rickard Stark had welcomed the immigrant and his wife, granting them farm lands to flourish in. They grew rice in the marsh and exported it from White Harbor. They were so grateful to House Stark that they quite frankly named their son “Benjen” for Lord Stark’s youngest child of similar age. Since then, their hard earned work with their rough black hands in the cold had paid off in prosperity. After being widowed, Ben and his son ran the farm, just the two of them … until a few Ironborn men took Moat Cailin and all their harvest this past year. Their will and pride refused to let them take it again. So instead of growing new rice, they let it wither away and left the land … trapping the jaws of the Ironborn to hunger. Now Ben and Benjen were reborn into Ser Brynden’s band, for the honor of House Stark. “With great honor comes a great ass whooping!” Ben had declared.
Jess and Jory were two brothers that served House Westerling as guards at the Crag, personally protecting the Westerling sisters, Jeyne and Eleyna. They had watched them grow up since birth. Participating in their rescue was their duty, a duty they took without hesitation for the girls who were like nieces to them.
Phyl was a crewmate of royal blood on the Motherfunker. Back on another Summer Isle kingdom, his older king brother passed away as his young prince nephew took fresh rule. After Phyl forbade his nephew-king to order an attack on a rival neighboring island, he screamed at him, “You are not my father!” and flew out of the throne room, slamming its double doors. Soon after, the boy-king ordered for his uncle’s exile. Free like a bird, Phyl flew away himself to a ship with his friend, the Black Sparrow, looking for a new adventure.
Sam, June, and Rico were all hard loyal Tully soldiers that were ready to follow the Blackfish to the end of the world. Sam used to be a tall fat leviathan of a man, until one day June told Sam, “You never had the making of a first-class athlete like Rico here.” From then on, Sam, offended, lost several stones over the years as the three served patriotically together to House Tully. Now tall, lean and muscular, Sam was a force not to be reckoned with. They nicknamed him Sam the Shredder, but for shredding his fat as his body was now packed with muscular meat.
The hedge knight Ser Barnabus the Goose volunteered along with his new squire Leo, a boy of fourteen, whom he met that same day. Goose was a tall man, big shoulders, wide hips with greying blond hair. Though he grew up as an orphan, Ser Barnabus often boasted about being the grandson of some legendary tall hedge knight that he never chanced to meet. The other orphans used to laugh at him, calling him the Useless Goose. But ever since he suited up in his knightly armor decades ago, Ser Barnabus assured he was a useful Goose helping the small folks around the Riverlands. Olyvar wondered if Barnabus was his real name, or if he was even a knight.
Leo’s older brothers wanted to join the action as well … so Mikkal, Raff, and Donal stepped forward. Their uncle Scrooge, a man in his fifties, will chip in his services too. The four brothers and uncle were known as the Pissa family. They once owned a tavern serving their mother’s recipe of baked thin crispy bread, spun circular into a flat pie, served with tomato sauce and cheese above. Their uncle Scrooge improved his sister’s recipe by adding sliced duck sausages on top of the cheese, and charging customers extra for the option. Olyvar and the men on the Motherfunker had sampled and enjoyed the cuisine they baked aboard. Captain Samullu claimed that pissa was indeed a tasty dish, and suggested adding slices of pineapples on top of it too. The Pissa brothers gave Samullu Jaqenssen a cold stare as if the gesture was treason to the recipe. Back when they owned the tavern with their mother, the family often boasted about their food to the point where their competitors despised them. Their opponents would try to mimic cooking the same dish, but others would complain it tasted no different than bread. Afraid of losing their revenue, they insulted their mother’s crispy dish by calling it “pissa,” slandering it by saying it tasted like piss. But the brothers took the name their enemies gave them and wore it like armor, never allowing it to hurt them. Raff returned their insult by calling their adversary’s food being something that comes out of a cow’s bung hole. That humiliation stuck. For a while, men and women from all over the Riverlands continued to rallied in long lines to the Pissa tavern for a delicious slice of pissa. Sadly one day, the Mountain and his men came to destroy their tavern during the war, and took their mother. They never saw her again. Despite the sad drama, the Pissa family were a cheerful bunch, save for their pessimistic uncle. Olyvar could only hope they would find their mother safe and sound some day.
On the first day aboard the Motherfunker, Leo had never been on a ship his entire life. He bolted to the stern of the galley, stood on the middle rail with his arms spread out and screamed, “I’m the king of the world!”
Olyvar had to grab the blond teen down before he fell overboard. “Nice try Leo,” Olyvar said. “But you are too lowborn to be royalty. You are better off marrying a queen to be a king, or at least start with a princess.”
Ser Barnabus the Goose appeared and offered his help. He was in need of a squire for some reason, and Leo was quite eager. “Leo, I’m going to teach you how to live.” Goose swung his arm around the teenager’s neck and rested it there. “You want to be a king and win the ladies? Learn how to squire for a knight first. Unchain and fetch me my stallion from the docks, I’ll show you a trick. I’ll show you how to ride it on this rocking ship!” Leo did as he was ordered.
“And when will I ever need that skill?” Leo questioned as he brought the horse up to the deck from the ramp.
“What was it you were looking for again on this journey? Your destiny? Your death?” Goose mounted.
“Naked princesses,” Leo said.
“Well this move would make any maiden, royal or lowborn, shed their clothes off for you.” The knight pulled down the reins as the stallion stood tall on its two hind legs, looking like a work of art meant for eternal statues of the gods.
Samullu appeared and asked Leo, “Is that Goose on a horse? On my boat? Why is Goose on a horse on my boat?!” The stallion came down, hooves thundering the top of the deck.
“Aye Captain, Ser Goose was teaching me how to pick up women.”
“Shiitt Leo, that’s all you had to say.” Samullu wrapped his right arm around the neck of the youth and offered his counsel, his left hand danced in the air as he spoke to solidify his argument. “If yo want naked women, fuck land. Don’t be a knight. Be a captain of a galley. The best pick up line to catch any woman yo can, is ‘I own a ship’.” Samullu raised his bearded chin. “After this mission is over, come with me and we’ll sail the seas. Meet women from all over the world. And they love a captain. Do yo concur? Leo, each lady is just a flower, another rose by another name that smell just as sweet, waiting to be plucked.”
Goose winced at the word and protested. “The only maids you meet sailing seas are mermaids. Don’t be fooled by the Black Sparrow. Some of them may be pretty on the top half, but you won’t like what they got below. It probably stinks down there too. But the captain doesn’t mind, he seems to enjoy bedding mermaids!”
Whether sea, air or land … the Black Sparrow or Goose … Leo will probably have to fly with one of them after the mission, Olyvar thought.
The night before the rescue, the raiders and the crewmen drunkenly sang and cheered to music, rum, ale and pissa. Drowning in the glory of their task on the morrow, they reminisce about the harsh archery and lethal weapons training Lord Glover had given them over the past weeks back on land … while questioning how large Lady Mormont’s sacs truly were. Lady Roslin Tully, approached everyone and asked if they would write their names on the book she held. “It’s for the memories,” she said. They all did. A signature on each page for each man and Maege. Some drew their own personal coat of arms. When it was Olyvar’s turn, he hesitated about sketching the two towers. He wanted to separate himself from the murderous lore of House Frey. He decided to draw his towers, with a Stark wolf running on top of the bridge, and a Tully trout jumping below it. He signed his name, Ser Olyvar of House Frey, squire to the late King Robb Stark, knighted by Ser Brynden Tully.
He wondered if he will be written into history as a great knight some day. A knight that could not save his king, Olyvar thought sadly. He would not be the only one though. Word had travelled for Ser Loras Tyrell, the Knight of Flowers, and his gallant assault at Dragonstone. He was gravely wounded, but no word on this brave knight’s final fate. Like Olyvar, Ser Loras had failed to protect his first King, Renly Baratheon, a man that the Knight of Flower was rumored to have truly loved. Though his King was gone, he continued to be bathe in the glory of battle. Despite being on the opposing side of the war, Ser Olyvar would be gay if he had the chance to meet Ser Loras, if he still lives, chatting with him about the kings they loved and lost.
Later on that night, Captain Samullu Jaqenssen shared a drunken game of cvyasse with Ser Barnabus for a golden dragon. When Goose doubled down after his first loss, he fell again, owing the Black Sparrow a pair of golden dragons by the end of it. When Samullu demanded Goose to pay up his reward immediately, Goose pretended not to understand his loose Summer Isle accent, giving him a wild chase.
“Wat?”
“Yo loose Goose, yo owe me the gold,” the Captain demanded in his queer Common Tongue.
“Wat?”
“The gold yo fool. The gold! Yo pay me.”
“Wat?”
“Wat country yo from?”
“Wat?”
“Do they not speak the Common Tongue in Wat?”
“Wat?”
“Common Tongue mother Goose!”
“Wat?”
“Say wat again! I dare yo, I double dare yo! I’ll throw yo overboard off the Motherfunker!”
Goose paused for a moment, until his pride could not resist. “Wat? Wat? Wat? Wat? Wat?” Goose said ‘what‘ so many times, it sounded like he was quacking, each one louder than before. “Wat? Wat? Wat? Wat? Wat?”
In a nick of fury, Samullu Jaqenssen flipped over the cyvasse table, stood up and drew his short blade. His remaining good eye raged like a storm, as steam seeped through the black leather patch of the other. “Yo cold ass honking Goose! Yo son o’ a whore! Yo bandit! I will gut yo from balls to brains to see what gooses is made of. I better find yo sacs golden before I take yo skull to gild gold! Either way, I will have my gold from yo!”
Goose suddenly comprehended everything, stood up with all his height and threatened. “Goodness gracious, do you kiss your mother with that mouth? Go ahead and try, but you will only find below me great balls of fire!” He grabbed his own crotch and pumped it once into the air. “And after your failed attempt, I will claw out your last remaining eye, leaving you blind for the rest of your sorry life!”
The others flocked towards the scene, holding the two back as they inched towards each other.
Jess tried to stop them. “Gods, have mercy!”
Sam the Shredder intervened as well. “That is enough! I want you two to stop!”
Jory said, “Cut it out!”
“Will yo shut up!” screamed Phyl, who had hustled a wager on the game.
Mikkal grabbed the drunken Goose, threw him to the floor, and told him to just beat it.
At the end, they all just laugh it off like all drunk men do. Smiling, spilling ale out of their cups, retching out into the sea the rum they drank, before drinking some more again. They were having one last good time before the mission. But today they had a job to do.
The twenty men, Lady Maege, and Ser Rolph continued up the paths in the lightless caves of Casterly Rock, huffing and puffing, but still silent as much as they could hold. One loud word at the wrong place at the wrong time may be their doom. In single file, the group followed Ser Spicer’s point with one lit torch. The stench was terrible and the dampness made it worse. Guarding the rear, Olyvar’s eyes were clouded in darkness at times where the torchlight was too far ahead to shine back. He relied on Ser Goose in front of him to lead the way, as Goose relied on Leo for the same.
[Part 3]

No sharing this post please.
Hello everyone! As the title says my MIL wants to visit. My LO (toddler) has a birthday coming up and she asked to give a present in person. Sounds normal, right? Ofc there's more to it. Mainly venting and background below, but I do need help with a reply to my MIL at the end if you'd like to skip.
Background: I've known my MIL for nearly 10 years. She has put in low effort to get to know me for the first 8 years and it's become even more strained in the last 2 years because I feel she thinks having a grandchild means she can do whatever she wants as a grandma. Yes, distance has played a role in some ways, but our relationship is strained due to toxic behavior. She idolizes her only son, and has made subtle and not so subtle actions and comments to make it known that I'm not as important as her children (I should also note that I'm the only DIL, and none of her other children have dated anyone for years. We are also the only ones to have a child/pregnant.) Some examples, one Christmas she gave me a mug with photos of DH's face all cut out on it and asked him while giggling "Son, what do you think of the gift for DIL? Don't you just hate me?!" She never asked me if I liked it or tried to see what I may like. Another time she opened my mail addressed to me in my name, and claimed she opened it because she thought it was a gift receipt for a gift she sent me (she never sent me a gift, still waiting for it lol). When I called her out on this it lead to a conversation that she wants to be closer but I'm not a daughter or friend, so she doesn't know what relationship to have. She could've started by wishing me a happy mother's day to the mother of her only grandchild, but that would be silly of her! So I know she has no intentions of having a relationship with me. I'm just purely access to her grandchild.
Many of her comments are usually backhanded or mixed in with normal conversations, where I don't realize in the moment how hurtful they are until I take time to process afterwards after feeling off put by them, so in the past I've had a hard time standing up for myself in the moment. They were also the type of comments my DH couldn't see at first as hurtful and could easily give her an excuse for ("oh she didn't mean it like that,...she meant it this way..."). Now it's much better with DH seeing his parents (FIL is even worse, he rated me a 5/10 because he doesn't know who I am as a person after 10 years) actions as hurtful and he's working on standing up more, even though it is hard for him because he's a non conflict personality/people pleaser.
Everything has changed once my first LO was born. I've found my backbone and DH has been a much bigger support. We live across the country from my in laws (which my FIL says all the time he doesn't want to live in the same city as his children) so I've only seen MIL about once a year since we moved back from abroad. FIL has never met my LO and has no desire to, but gets upset if we don't let MIL come visit when she wants to. She's the type of MIL that thinks because in the past she can visit her son or her other children whenever she wants to that she can do the same now (she's booked tickets to visit us before without asking/confirming dates to visit).
Since my LO was born, it is very obvious MIL is regretting or frustrated that she can't have the relationship she wants with my LO. I put my foot down a lot with her because to me, my LO won't grow up to see this is how you treat someone and consider it normal. He will learn that when people (even if they are related) are hurtful, you are allowed to set up boundaries to protect yourself and only allow healthy relationships. With this, I've set up more boundaries and MIL emotionally can't handle it, with my husband backing me up. She has thrown tantrums because she doesn't receive enough videos or photos of my LO or when she's not the first one to see them. For my LO's first birthday we asked for no gifts (we had a "virtual party" since everyone lives far away from us) and live in a small apartment. She sent several gifts with a note reading "sorry not sorry sent the gifts xx" and when we called her out on it she cried saying we are taking the joy away from her from being a grandparent. I've learned that no matter how much we explain or try to reason our side to her, she doesn't care and even uses that to weaponise my words against me. For example, when I explained to her why we can't just send photos on a whim to her because we have a lot going on and the difficulties with PPD etc, she told me "I'm so sorry you're struggling with parenthood. I can only sympathize a small portion when I was briefly a single mother for 2 years." 🙄
Currently: My MIL wants to visit. It's been over a year since she last visited. If it were totally up to me, I would say no 100%, but I do have my DH to think about and am allowing her to be here 1 day (I'm fine with DH spending another day with her, but LO and I will only see her 1 day), working around my LO's schedule. DH is completely on board and supportive. He even said I can say no, but I don't want him to resent me because we do plan on moving countries in the next few years where he will see them even less. I'm also due to give birth in a few months and will not be allowing visitors for a long period afterwards because it's only my husband and I, and I want to make sure I have a full recovery while taking care of 2 kids under 3 without dealing with toxic inlaws. So I figured let's get this visit over with now, as long as things are on my terms.
So I would like help with my reply to make it firm but also gets the point across. I have a tendency to ramble (overthinking and being a conditioned people pleaser doesn't help) and these days I just don't care about being nice anymore lol, so if it needs to be nicer let me know. TIA from an exhausted pregnant momma ❤️
"Hi MIL. If you'd like to visit we are free -date- before I enter my 3rd trimester. LO and I need to get flu shots, so pending on that and as long as everyone is healthy we can keep that date open. If you/FIL or anyone gets sick prior, we will have to cancel (I've had gastro 4x this pregnancy and my immune system is compromised). Will you and FIL be visiting or just you?"

Hey everyone, Skarrow here with the guide for the Salvation's Edge red border chest!!! The video guide is going to be a lot easier to understand, so here's the link to that:
Video Guide Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzLoG_NwoiE&feature=youtu.be
When you first load up Salvation's Edge you'll be on a ledge on the outside of the monolith. In THE FIRST ROOM when you enter the monolith, there are double stairs. At the top of the double stairs, there is a wall with 8 columns of symbols. Between new runs of the raid THE ONLY column that is changing is the third from the left. **There is a chance this MAY change per week, but we won't know until Tuesday*\*
This is how we believe this puzzle works. It potentially has some moving parts, so this may need to be refined week after week. The symbols in the changing column, once again the third from the left for this week, indicate the order of resonance symbols you need to use to activate the resonance conduits in hidden rooms throughout the raid. You read the symbols bottom to top. WE CURRENTLY BELIEVE that there are 5 hidden rooms throughout the raid. However, only 3 of the rooms will be active every week. The 2 inactive rooms will have a bank that says "you are lacking". These rooms MAY be active in future weeks. The symbols in the changing column (bottom to top) are representative to the five rooms in the order they are found in the raid. So each week, only the symbols that correspond to each activated room need to be entered.
Here are the locations of the 5 hidden plate/resonance conduit rooms.
Room 1 - Corresponds to the BOTTOM symbol of the column. Active this week (6/9/24)
This is in the jump puzzle right after the symbol wall. It's closer to the beginning of the jump puzzle. It's super hard to describe these rooms since the jump puzzles tend to be very abstract. Kind of the first little alcove following the stairs to the left after jumping up the big statue thing. You have to crouch to enter the room.
Room 2 - Corresponds to the 2nd to the bottom symbol. This week it is an INACTIVE room.
This is towards the end of the 1st jump puzzle, before you jump down to first encounter's door. Directly to the left of where the subjagator's spawn towards the end of this jump section. It's between like 2 abstract vertical staircases.
Room 3 - Corresponds to the 3rd symbol from the bottom. It is ACTIVE this week.
After the first encounter. Go up the red elevator directly after 1st encounter. Climb up some huge green blocks to the front left of you. Go through a grate on the right.
Room 4 - Corresponds to the 4th symbol from the bottom. It is INACTIVE this week.
After the 2nd encounter. Directly passed a section with a TON of glowy cube spewing portals. Like 15 of them in a grid room. Directly after this there are two bridges that also have these cube portals. Normally, you'd take a right to the 3rd encounter, but the secret room is in a alcove on the wall to the left.
Room 5 - Corresponds to the top symbol in the column. These are ACTIVE this week.
This is right before the third encounter in a section that looks like a ton of tree branches growing all over orange blocks. Right as you get to this section, look up and to the left. Climb these blocks to find the last pair of resonance conductors.
So you need to find the 3 active rooms and charge their resonance conduits using the exact symbol that the rooms correspond to in the column sequence. Disregard the symbols that correspond to deactivated rooms. If you charge a pillar correctly you will see "Energy flows deeper into the monolith..." in the game chat. If you do it incorrectly, the chat will say "Energy retreats from your grasp...". If you enter the wrong symbol, the red border chest will not be able to be spawned during this run. You CANNOT mess any symbol entries up for the chest to spawn. Once all 3 correct symbols are used to charge their respective pillars, the chat will say "A boon will be granted...". Now you just need to complete the raid and the red border chest will spawn!
I will update this post if any of our theories end up being incorrect about rooms/columns switching. I'll try to answer any questions here! Go get your red borders!!
-Skarrow9

Hi! Ya’ll are fantastic listeners and I guess I’m part looking for advice and part ranting. lol
About me: I’m turning 33 at the end of August, and ten years ago I was 600 pounds. I met my wife 8 years ago, and she helped me change my life around and start making better food choices.
Between then and now I dropped down to 400 pounds! The thing is, in that time I lost my job, gotten married, haven’t worked in years now, and have gained back ~40 pounds.
I’m on a backslide, and the only thing that’s changed is that I’m not as active as I was when I was working.
So the obvious answer is to start getting active again!
But there are issues: My wife works overnights, and so my sleep cycle matches her’s because not only am I her ride, but if it didn’t match her’s, I’d basically only ever see her when she was going to work, coming home, or for a few hours before I go to bed on her days off.
So exercising during the day at the park is kind of a no go — so walking the park is an issue.
So now we’re talking 24 hour gyms! Except that for both of us to go, all of the gyms in area charge ~$60 a month, with no guest passes.
Which we simply can’t afford. So then it’s back to walking: except that I’ve got a back and leg injury that makes it near impossible for me to walk for long periods of time.
I live in a rural area, so the only viable walking is on trails, which can’t be done at night and if I walk a trail and my leg/back gives out, I’m fucked lol
I’ve considered biking, but I’m not sure how well my injuries would do with that. Regardless, bikes for my weight range are crazy expensive. :/
I’ve considered buying a bike/treadmill off Facebook marketplace, but I don’t have a car that can transport one, and that’s before even trusting a stranger to sell me something not infested with some type of bugs or if it’s even working.
The last choice is swimming. I love to swim and it’s damn near the only thing I can do without much pain. But either it’s pay $10 a day to swim or swim in water filled with fracking runoff. Plus, that’s a seasonal thing, too.
I feel like I’m out of options and I’m kinda out of hope. I don’t want to get fat again, and I want to be healthier, but it’s been a couple of months since I started looking into all of this and I’ve lost hope.
Please, any advice would help!
Before you ask: There’s a medical reason I can’t work, so we’re kind of limping along on one paycheck —- which means our options are super limited by price.

Hey everyone, Skarrow here with the guide for the Salvation's Edge red border chest!!! The video guide is going to be a lot easier to understand, so here's the link to that:
Video Guide Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzLoG_NwoiE&feature=youtu.be
When you first load up Salvation's Edge you'll be on a ledge on the outside of the monolith. In THE FIRST ROOM when you enter the monolith, there are double stairs. At the top of the double stairs, there is a wall with 8 columns of symbols. Between new runs of the raid THE ONLY column that is changing is the third from the left. **There is a chance this MAY change per week, but we won't know until Tuesday*\*
This is how we believe this puzzle works. It potentially has some moving parts, so this may need to be refined week after week. The symbols in the changing column, once again the third from the left for this week, indicate the order of resonance symbols you need to use to activate the resonance conduits in hidden rooms throughout the raid. You read the symbols bottom to top. WE CURRENTLY BELIEVE that there are 5 hidden rooms throughout the raid. However, only 3 of the rooms will be active every week. The 2 inactive rooms will have a bank that says "you are lacking". These rooms MAY be active in future weeks. The symbols in the changing column (bottom to top) are representative to the five rooms in the order they are found in the raid. So each week, only the symbols that correspond to each activated room need to be entered.
Here are the locations of the 5 hidden plate/resonance conduit rooms.
Room 1 - Corresponds to the BOTTOM symbol of the column. Active this week (6/9/24)
This is in the jump puzzle right after the symbol wall. It's closer to the beginning of the jump puzzle. It's super hard to describe these rooms since the jump puzzles tend to be very abstract. Kind of the first little alcove following the stairs to the left after jumping up the big statue thing. You have to crouch to enter the room.
Room 2 - Corresponds to the 2nd to the bottom symbol. This week it is an INACTIVE room.
This is towards the end of the 1st jump puzzle, before you jump down to first encounter's door. Directly to the left of where the subjagator's spawn towards the end of this jump section. It's between like 2 abstract vertical staircases.
Room 3 - Corresponds to the 3rd symbol from the bottom. It is ACTIVE this week.
After the first encounter. Go up the red elevator directly after 1st encounter. Climb up some huge green blocks to the front left of you. Go through a grate on the right.
Room 4 - Corresponds to the 4th symbol from the bottom. It is INACTIVE this week.
After the 2nd encounter. Directly passed a section with a TON of glowy cube spewing portals. Like 15 of them in a grid room. Directly after this there are two bridges that also have these cube portals. Normally, you'd take a right to the 3rd encounter, but the secret room is in a alcove on the wall to the left.
Room 5 - Corresponds to the top symbol in the column. These are ACTIVE this week.
This is right before the third encounter in a section that looks like a ton of tree branches growing all over orange blocks. Right as you get to this section, look up and to the left. Climb these blocks to find the last pair of resonance conductors.
So you need to find the 3 active rooms and charge their resonance conduits using the exact symbol that the rooms correspond to in the column sequence. Disregard the symbols that correspond to deactivated rooms. If you charge a pillar correctly you will see "Energy flows deeper into the monolith..." in the game chat. If you do it incorrectly, the chat will say "Energy retreats from your grasp...". If you enter the wrong symbol, the red border chest will not be able to be spawned during this run. You CANNOT mess any symbol entries up for the chest to spawn. Once all 3 correct symbols are used to charge their respective pillars, the chat will say "A boon will be granted...". Now you just need to complete the raid and the red border chest will spawn!
I will update this post if any of our theories end up being incorrect about rooms/columns switching. I'll try to answer any questions here! Go get your red borders!!
-Skarrow9

So, I got Fashion Dreamer with some low expectations after all of the “not Style Savvy” remarks, since I was huge on SS. I can definitely see how it would be disappointing for SS players who loved the story and boutique management, but my favorite part of SS was always coordinating cute outfits… which Fashion Dreamer lets me do to my heart’s content!
At times, SS felt a bit restrictive when it came to creating looks… I personally was not big on inventory limits for my boutique, and while I can see that not having any kind of currency for purchasing clothes can give the player too much freedom, I enjoy having the freedom to create as many unique outfits as I want for people in one sitting with no limitations. One thing I also like that FD does more than SS is that I feel like the outfits you create are better preserved. Sure, you can take photos in SS— but in FD, lookits you’ve created (and that others have created for you) and photos are basically all stored in one place, which is really convenient. I think Syn Sophia did a great job improving on the already adorable character designs from SS as well.
That being said, there are a few things I think FD definitely needs. First, competitions. I know they're coming eventually, and I can't wait! Another, bags… I sorely miss bags and my outfits feel so incomplete without a matching bag. It seems like such an obvious inclusion and I hope the devs put them in. The item creator also feels very bare-bones to me. It’s unfortunate we can only customize colors and not patterns (unless that’s something I’ve not unlocked).
I know a big point of contention too is the online— I actually really enjoy playing online, but I do hope the devs do something to improve on the offline play for when there’s no internet or online connectivity is discontinued.
Anyway, just wanted to share my thoughts! I love FD, even as a fan of SS, and I can see myself pouring many more hours into it. I hope the devs listen to us and don’t give up on the series just because the launch was a bit disappointing.