DARIENCRUTE.COM TERMS OF USE Version: 1.0 Effective Date: July 24, 2026 Last Updated: July 24, 2026 1. ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS These Terms of Use, referred to as the "Terms," govern your access to and use of DarienCrute.com, including its public pages, account features, private profiles, book ratings and reviews, contact forms, digital business-card materials, downloadable files, educational materials, author and book information, and other content or services provided through the website. DarienCrute.com is operated by Darien Cruté. In these Terms, "DarienCrute.com," the "Site," "we," "us," and "our" refer to the Site and its operator. "You" and "your" refer to the person accessing or using the Site. By creating an account, checking the box indicating your agreement, or continuing to use an account after being presented with these Terms, you agree to be bound by them. If you do not agree to these Terms, do not create an account or use account-restricted features. You may still access publicly available portions of the Site unless otherwise restricted. The Privacy Policy separately explains how personal information is collected, used, stored, disclosed, and protected. By creating or using an account, you also acknowledge that you have received and reviewed the Privacy Policy and Data Retention Policy. 2. AGE ELIGIBILITY You must be at least 16 years old to create or use a DarienCrute.com account. DarienCrute.com does not currently request or store your date of birth during account registration. By creating an account, you represent that: - You are at least 16 years old; - You are legally permitted to use the Site; - The information you provide is accurate; and - You will comply with these Terms. If you are 16 or 17 years old, you also represent that your parent or legal guardian has permitted you to use the Site and has had an opportunity to review these Terms with you. Users under 16 may not create or use an account. If we reasonably believe that an account belongs to someone under 16, we may suspend or terminate the account and delete associated information in accordance with the Privacy Policy and Data Retention Policy. We may request reasonable information when necessary to investigate suspected age misrepresentation. We will seek to avoid collecting more information than reasonably necessary for that purpose. 3. THE SITE AND ITS CURRENT FEATURES DarienCrute.com is an author and educator website that includes information about Darien Cruté, published and upcoming works, educational materials, the Echoes of the Wickborne Flame series, and related professional and creative content. Current Site and account features may include: - Public author, educator, book, series, and professional information; - Account creation and password-based authentication; - Private user profiles; - Book ratings and written reviews; - Password-reset and account-management tools; - Contact forms; - Digital business-card and contact-card downloads; - Legal-policy acceptance records; and - Other features identified on the Site. Profiles are private and are not publicly searchable, publicly shareable, or available through a user directory. The Site does not currently provide private messaging, direct user-to-user communication, public profile pages, friend lists, or user-search features. The Site may link to WickborneWorld.com, which is a separate website governed by its own terms, privacy policy, and data-retention practices. We may introduce, modify, restrict, or discontinue features in the future. Material changes affecting user rights, public visibility, personal information, payments, or community interaction may require updated Terms, updated privacy notices, or additional consent. 4. ACCOUNT REGISTRATION To create an account, you must provide accurate and complete information requested by the signup form. You agree to: - Choose a username that complies with these Terms; - Provide an email address that belongs to you or that you are authorized to use; - Truthfully affirm that you meet the minimum age requirement; - Maintain accurate account information; - Protect your login credentials; - Use only your own account; - Notify us promptly if you suspect unauthorized access; and - Follow any security instructions presented by the Site. Unless we approve otherwise, each person may maintain only one account. You may not create an account: - For another person without authorization; - While under the minimum account age; - Using another person's email address without permission; - To evade a suspension or termination; - To manipulate ratings or reviews; - To impersonate another person, organization, employee, fictional character, or public figure; or - For automated, fraudulent, deceptive, or unlawful purposes. 5. USERNAMES Your username must not: - Impersonate another person or organization; - Falsely suggest an official relationship with Darien Cruté, DarienCrute.com, WickborneWorld.com, or the Wickborne series; - Contain another person's private information; - Contain threats, harassment, hate speech, or slurs; - Contain graphic sexual language; - Sexualize or exploit minors; - Promote illegal activity; - Infringe a trademark, copyright, publicity right, or other right; - Be designed to deceive users or administrators; or - Otherwise violate these Terms. We may require a username to be changed or may suspend an account when reasonably necessary to protect users, prevent confusion, comply with law, or enforce these Terms. 6. ACCOUNT SECURITY You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for activity occurring through your account to the extent permitted by law. You must not: - Share your password or password-reset link; - Allow another person to use your account; - Attempt to obtain another user's credentials; - Circumvent login, session, form-security, or authentication protections; - Use automated tools to test passwords or usernames; - Conduct credential-stuffing or brute-force activity; - Interfere with password-reset or login systems; or - Attempt to access administrative or restricted portions of the Site without authorization. You must contact support@dariencrute.com promptly if you believe that: - Someone has accessed your account without permission; - Your credentials have been exposed; - A password-reset message was requested without your knowledge; - Your email address has been changed without permission; or - Your account is otherwise at risk. We may temporarily lock, restrict, deactivate, or suspend an account when reasonably necessary to investigate or respond to a security concern. 7. REVIEWS AND RATINGS Registered users may be permitted to submit ratings and written reviews of books listed on the Site. A review must reflect your honest opinion and must relate to the book being reviewed. Negative reviews and criticism are permitted. You will not be penalized merely because a review is unfavorable, critical, or expresses an opinion with which we disagree. You may not submit a review that: - You know is false or materially misleading; - Was purchased, sold, traded, or generated as part of a deceptive review arrangement; - Was submitted through multiple accounts to manipulate a rating; - Misrepresents whether you read or experienced the book; - Contains spam or unrelated promotional material; - Contains malware, malicious links, or deceptive instructions; - Infringes another person's intellectual-property rights; - Copies substantial portions of another review or publication; - Reveals another person's private or identifying information; - Contains threats, targeted harassment, or unlawful discrimination; - Contains pornography or graphic sexual material; - Sexualizes, exploits, or endangers minors; - Encourages self-harm, violence, abuse, or illegal conduct; - Is unrelated to the book or the reader's experience; - Attempts to manipulate Site systems; or - Otherwise violates these Terms or applicable law. Discussion of mature themes, violence, relationships, sexuality, trauma, or other subject matter appearing in a book is not automatically prohibited. Such discussion must remain relevant, non-exploitative, and appropriate for a public review area intended for users aged 16 and older. We may remove or restrict a review for violations of these Terms, fraud prevention, privacy protection, legal compliance, security, or technical administration. We will not remove a review solely because it is negative or critical. 8. PUBLIC DISPLAY AND INTERNAL ASSOCIATION OF REVIEWS A published review may display: - The selected book; - The star rating; - The written review; and - The date or relative timing of submission. The Site does not currently display the reviewer's username, email address, private profile, or other identifying account information alongside the review. Reviews remain internally associated with the submitting account for administration, moderation, security, abuse prevention, user requests, and enforcement of these Terms. The lack of a publicly displayed username does not make the review confidential. The review text itself may be publicly visible. Do not include your full name, email address, phone number, home address, school, workplace, social-media account, exact location, financial information, medical information, or other sensitive information in a review. You must not include private or identifying information about another person without a lawful basis and appropriate permission. 9. OWNERSHIP AND LICENSE FOR USER REVIEWS You retain any intellectual-property rights that you lawfully hold in the original content of a review you submit. By submitting a review, you grant DarienCrute.com a limited, nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to: - Store the review; - Reproduce it on the Site; - Display it with the reviewed book; - Reformat it for different screen sizes or technical systems; - Correct purely technical formatting problems; - Preserve it temporarily in backups; - Moderate it; - Investigate reported violations; and - Remove it when appropriate. This license is limited to operating, maintaining, securing, and presenting the Site and its review features. We will not claim ownership of your honest review merely because you submitted it through the Site. We will not materially change the meaning of your review or present altered language as though you wrote it. We will not use your review in paid off-site advertising, printed promotional materials, or endorsements attributed to you without additional permission. The active-display portion of this license ends when the review is permanently deleted, except that limited copies may remain temporarily in backups, security records, legal records, or evidence relating to a dispute or violation. 10. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Unless otherwise stated, the Site and its original content are owned by Darien Cruté or used with permission. Protected content may include: - Text; - Books and excerpts; - Fictional lore; - Character and place descriptions; - Wickborne terminology and worldbuilding; - Artwork and illustrations; - Logos and graphics; - Page designs; - Source code and software; - Databases; - Audio or video; - Educational materials; - Professional writings; - Downloads; and - The selection, arrangement, and presentation of Site content. The removal of interactive Wickborne features from DarienCrute.com does not transfer ownership of the Echoes of the Wickborne Flame series, the Wickborne world, its lore, names, terminology, designs, or other underlying intellectual property. Names, logos, designs, phrases, and other source identifiers may function as trademarks or trade dress, whether or not formally registered. Except for the limited permissions expressly provided in these Terms, you may not: - Copy; - Reproduce; - Republish; - Distribute; - Sell; - License; - Translate; - Adapt; - Publicly perform; - Publicly display; - Scrape; - Create derivative works from; - Train a machine-learning system on; - Remove ownership notices from; or - Commercially exploit Site content without prior written permission or another lawful basis. Nothing in these Terms limits rights you may have under copyright law, including fair use, or other rights that cannot lawfully be waived. 11. COPYRIGHT AND OTHER RIGHTS COMPLAINTS You may contact us if you believe that content available through the Site infringes your copyright, trademark, privacy right, publicity right, or another legal right. A complaint should include: - Your name and contact information; - Identification of the protected work or right; - Identification and location of the material at issue; - A good-faith explanation of the alleged violation; - A statement that the information in the complaint is accurate; and - Any additional information reasonably necessary to investigate. Send complaints to: support@dariencrute.com Subject Line: Rights Complaint Submitting a knowingly false or misleading complaint may have legal consequences. We may remove or restrict content while investigating a complaint. Removal does not necessarily mean that we agree that a legal violation occurred. 12. ACCEPTABLE USE You may use the Site only for lawful, personal, and authorized purposes. You must not: - Violate any law or regulation; - Interfere with another person's use of the Site; - Harass, threaten, stalk, exploit, or intimidate another person; - Promote hatred or unlawful discrimination; - Sexualize or exploit minors; - Distribute pornography or illegal sexual content; - Encourage violence, self-harm, abuse, or criminal activity; - Submit fraudulent reviews or ratings; - Impersonate another person or organization; - Collect or attempt to collect user information without authorization; - Attempt to identify an otherwise unidentified reviewer; - Publish another person's private information; - Send spam or unauthorized commercial messages; - Upload or transmit malware or malicious code; - Probe, scan, or test Site vulnerabilities without written authorization; - Bypass security, access restrictions, rate limits, form protections, or authentication controls; - Access another user's account; - Access administrative systems without authorization; - Reverse engineer Site software except where the law expressly permits it; - Extract credentials, keys, private configuration, or restricted administrative information; - Use automated bots, crawlers, scrapers, or agents without permission; - Overload or disrupt the Site or its service providers; - Frame or mirror substantial portions of the Site; - Use Site content to train or evaluate an artificial intelligence model without permission; - Create accounts in bulk; - Evade a suspension or termination; or - Assist another person in doing any prohibited act. 13. SAFETY AND EMERGENCIES DarienCrute.com is not an emergency, crisis-response, counseling, medical, or law-enforcement service. Do not use a review, contact form, or other Site feature to request emergency assistance. If you or someone else may be in immediate danger, contact local emergency services or an appropriate crisis service directly. We may contact appropriate authorities or take other protective action when we reasonably believe it is necessary to address an imminent threat, suspected exploitation, serious abuse, unlawful activity, or a legal obligation. Any disclosure of information will be handled in accordance with applicable law and the Privacy Policy. 14. CONTENT INTENDED FOR USERS AGED 16 AND OLDER The Site and the Echoes of the Wickborne Flame series may include fantasy violence, death, grief, conflict, romance, mature themes, or other material intended for an audience aged 16 and older. The 16+ designation does not guarantee that every item will be suitable for every individual user. Users, parents, and guardians are responsible for deciding whether particular content is appropriate for them or for a minor in their care. 15. CONTACT FORMS AND COMMUNICATIONS You may use the Site's contact form or designated email address for legitimate questions, support requests, professional inquiries, rights complaints, privacy requests, or other appropriate communication. You must not use contact features to: - Send spam; - Send threats or harassment; - Transmit malware; - Impersonate another person; - Make knowingly false accusations; - Submit unlawful material; - Advertise unrelated goods or services; or - Attempt to bypass account restrictions. By creating an account, you agree that we may send you transactional or service-related communications, including: - Password-reset messages; - Security alerts; - Policy-change notices; - Responses to your requests; and - Notices concerning your account or submitted content. Transactional messages are not marketing messages and may be necessary to operate your account. We will not send marketing emails without an appropriate legal basis and any consent required by law. 16. WICKBORNEWORLD.COM AND OTHER EXTERNAL SERVICES The Site may link to or reference separate services, including: - WickborneWorld.com; - Wick & Word Books or another storefront; - Booksellers and ebook platforms; - Payment processors used by external sellers; - Social-media platforms; - Hosting and email providers; and - Other external websites. WickborneWorld.com is a separate website with separate features, account records, terms, privacy notices, and data-retention practices. A DarienCrute.com account does not automatically create a WickborneWorld.com account, and acceptance of these Terms does not constitute acceptance of WickborneWorld.com's terms. A link does not necessarily mean that we control every activity of the linked service. Your use of an external service is governed by that service's terms, privacy policy, purchase rules, refund rules, and other agreements. DarienCrute.com does not currently process payments, calculate sales tax, fulfill orders, or ship books through the DarienCrute.com account system. Unless the Site expressly states otherwise, purchases linked from DarienCrute.com are transactions between you and the applicable seller or service. We are not responsible for: - External-service availability; - External content; - Payment processing performed by another provider; - Shipping or delivery by another provider; - Refund decisions made by another provider; - External security; - External data practices; or - Losses caused by your use of an external service, except to the extent responsibility cannot lawfully be excluded. 17. SITE AVAILABILITY AND CHANGES We may modify, update, suspend, restrict, or discontinue any part of the Site. We do not guarantee that: - The Site will always be available; - Every feature will remain available; - The Site will be error-free; - User content will never be lost; - External services will remain compatible; - A particular device or browser will continue to be supported; or - Public information will always remain unchanged. We may perform maintenance, install updates, change service providers, address security issues, or temporarily disable features without advance notice when reasonably necessary. Where practical, we may provide notice of material planned disruptions or permanent feature closures. 18. MODERATION, SUSPENSION, AND TERMINATION We may investigate suspected violations of these Terms. We may take actions including: - Issuing a warning; - Removing content; - Requiring a username change; - Restricting a feature; - Temporarily locking an account; - Deactivating an account; - Permanently terminating an account; - Blocking abusive technical activity; - Preserving relevant evidence; - Reporting unlawful conduct; or - Taking other reasonable protective action. We may act without advance notice when reasonably necessary to: - Protect a person; - Protect the Site; - Address a security threat; - Prevent fraud or abuse; - Preserve evidence; - Comply with law; - Respond to an emergency; or - Prevent continued violations. When circumstances permit, we may provide a general explanation of the action taken. You may contact support@dariencrute.com to request review of an account restriction. We are not required to restore an account when we reasonably conclude that continued access creates a security, legal, safety, operational, or abuse risk. 19. ACCOUNT CLOSURE AND DELETION You may request closure or deletion of your account as described in the Privacy Policy. Closing or deleting an account may result in loss of access to: - Your private profile; - Your review-management options; - Your submitted reviews; and - Other account-restricted content. Account deletion is subject to the Data Retention Policy. Limited information may be retained when reasonably necessary for: - Security; - Fraud prevention; - Legal compliance; - Dispute resolution; - Enforcement; - Documentation of the request; - Preservation of legal claims; - Legal-policy acceptance evidence; or - Restricted backup cycles. Before deleting the identifying account, DarienCrute.com may detach limited legal-policy acceptance evidence and retain it under a random pseudonymous identifier for the period stated in the Data Retention Policy. Deleting an account does not require us to delete content or records that we are legally required or permitted to retain. Reviews associated with a deleted account will ordinarily be deleted rather than retained as anonymous public content. 20. USER SUGGESTIONS You may voluntarily send suggestions, ideas, corrections, feature requests, or other feedback about the Site. You understand that we may already be developing similar ideas. Unless we separately agree in writing: - Suggestions are not confidential; - You are not entitled to payment or credit; - We may consider, reject, or use a suggestion; and - Sending a suggestion does not create an employment, partnership, agency, or creative-development relationship. This section does not transfer ownership of a book review or other protected user content governed by Section 9. 21. NO PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIP Using the Site, sending a message, reading educational material, or receiving a response does not create: - An attorney-client relationship; - A therapist-client relationship; - A doctor-patient relationship; - A financial-advisor relationship; - An employment relationship; - A school enrollment relationship; - A fiduciary relationship; - An agency relationship; or - Any other professional relationship. Educational and informational material is provided for general purposes and should not be treated as individualized professional advice. 22. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SITE AND ITS CONTENT, FEATURES, DOWNLOADS, AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE." WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF: - MERCHANTABILITY; - FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE; - TITLE; - NON-INFRINGEMENT; - ACCURACY; - AVAILABILITY; - SECURITY; - RELIABILITY; AND - QUIET ENJOYMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT: - THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE; - DEFECTS WILL ALWAYS BE CORRECTED; - THE SITE WILL BE FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS; - CONTENT WILL BE COMPLETE OR CURRENT; - USER CONTENT WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE; - AN EXTERNAL SERVICE WILL PERFORM AS EXPECTED; OR - USE OF THE SITE WILL PRODUCE A PARTICULAR RESULT. Some jurisdictions do not permit the exclusion of certain warranties. In those jurisdictions, the exclusions apply only to the extent permitted by law. 23. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, DARIEN CRUTÉ, DARIENCRUTE.COM, AND THEIR SERVICE PROVIDERS, REPRESENTATIVES, SUCCESSORS, AND ASSIGNS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO: - YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE; - LOSS OF DATA OR CONTENT; - ACCOUNT SUSPENSION OR TERMINATION; - USER-SUBMITTED CONTENT; - EXTERNAL SERVICES; - UNAUTHORIZED ACCOUNT ACCESS; - SERVICE INTERRUPTIONS; - DEVICE OR SOFTWARE PROBLEMS; OR - RELIANCE ON SITE CONTENT. This exclusion includes, where permitted, damages for lost profits, lost opportunities, emotional distress, reputational harm, loss of goodwill, or loss of data. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO THE SITE OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED UNITED STATES DOLLARS. These limitations do not apply to liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability arising from intentional misconduct, fraud, gross negligence where applicable, or other non-waivable legal obligations. Some jurisdictions do not permit certain limitations of liability. In those jurisdictions, the limitations apply only to the extent permitted by law. 24. INDEMNIFICATION BY ADULT USERS If you are 18 years old or older, you agree, to the extent permitted by law, to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Darien Cruté and DarienCrute.com from third-party claims, damages, judgments, liabilities, losses, and reasonable costs arising from: - Your unlawful use of the Site; - Your material violation of these Terms; - Content you submit; - Your infringement of another person's rights; - Your fraudulent or deceptive conduct; or - Your intentional misuse of Site systems. This obligation does not require you to indemnify us for our own unlawful conduct, gross negligence, or intentional wrongdoing. This indemnification section does not apply to a user who is 16 or 17 except to the extent expressly permitted by applicable law. 25. GOVERNING LAW These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to rules that would require application of another jurisdiction's laws. This choice of law does not deprive you of mandatory consumer protections that apply to you and cannot legally be waived. 26. DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND COURT ACCESS Before filing a lawsuit concerning the Site or these Terms, you and we agree to make a reasonable, good-faith effort to resolve the dispute informally. A written dispute notice should include: - Your name or username; - Contact information; - A description of the dispute; - The relevant dates; - The resolution requested; and - Supporting information reasonably necessary to understand the claim. Send notices to: support@dariencrute.com Subject Line: Legal Dispute Notice The parties should allow 30 days after receipt of a complete notice to attempt informal resolution, unless immediate legal action is reasonably necessary to prevent serious harm, preserve a claim, seek emergency relief, or comply with a deadline. If the dispute is not resolved, either party may bring the claim in a court of competent jurisdiction located in the State of New York, subject to applicable jurisdiction and venue rules. Nothing in these Terms prevents: - An eligible claim in small-claims court; - A report to a government agency; - A privacy or consumer-protection complaint; - A request for emergency injunctive relief; or - The exercise of a right that cannot lawfully be restricted. These Terms do not require arbitration and do not include a class-action waiver. 27. CHANGES TO THESE TERMS We may revise these Terms to reflect: - New features; - Changes in Site operations; - Changes to user rights or responsibilities; - Changes in law; - Security developments; - New community or commercial features; or - Changes to service providers. The version number and last-updated date will identify the current Terms. For material changes, we may provide notice through: - An account screen; - The signup or login process; - Email; - A Site notice; or - Another reasonable method. We may require you to affirmatively accept revised Terms before continuing to use account features. Changes will not retroactively authorize materially different uses of personal information where separate consent is required by law. If you do not agree to revised Terms, you may stop using account features and request account closure. 28. ELECTRONIC AGREEMENT AND RECORDS You agree that checking an acceptance box, selecting an acceptance button, or completing another clearly identified electronic acceptance process may constitute your electronic agreement to these Terms. You may save or print a copy of the Terms. We may maintain records of: - The Terms version accepted; - The Privacy Policy and Data Retention Policy versions presented; - Cryptographic hashes of the documents presented; - The date and time of acceptance; - The account involved while the account remains active; - A random pseudonymous subject identifier; - Limited protected technical evidence associated with acceptance; and - Any later account closure, policy acceptance, or dispute. These records may be used for administration, security, compliance, and dispute resolution and retained as described in the Data Retention Policy. 29. SEVERABILITY If any provision of these Terms is found invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the greatest extent permitted or separated from the remaining Terms. The remaining provisions will continue in effect. 30. NO WAIVER A failure or delay in enforcing a provision of these Terms does not waive the right to enforce that provision later. A waiver is effective only if made in writing by an authorized representative and applies only to the specific matter identified. 31. ASSIGNMENT You may not assign or transfer your account or your rights under these Terms without prior written permission. We may assign or transfer these Terms as part of a reorganization, business transfer, succession, or transfer of the Site, subject to applicable law and the Privacy Policy. 32. ENTIRE AGREEMENT These Terms, together with any additional terms expressly presented for a specific feature, constitute the agreement concerning your use of DarienCrute.com. The Privacy Policy explains our data practices. The Data Retention Policy provides additional information about retention and deletion. The Security and Breach Response Plan is an internal operational document and does not create additional contractual guarantees unless expressly stated otherwise. Terms and policies governing separate websites, including WickborneWorld.com, do not form part of this agreement. If a feature-specific term conflicts with these Terms, the feature-specific term controls only for that feature. 33. CONTACT Questions about these Terms may be directed to: Darien Cruté Website: DarienCrute.com Email: support@dariencrute.com Subject Line: Terms of Use Question Do not send passwords, authentication links, financial information, or other highly sensitive information by email.