Obsolete: [OLD] The Writers' Workshop Rulebook & Information Hub

[unrepentantAuthor]

Announcements and Teasers
The Oneshot Competition is now in its final week! Get pumped, get finished! And remember, you can start posting your stories in the final 48 hours, i.e. 23:59 GMT on Friday 6th. (Put more simply: Saturday morning, UK time.)

New releases
In the Face of Adversity by @Felly
Cyrus Falks: Ace Attorney by @BackSet

New chapters
Chapter 25 of PMD: Pathways of Aspiration by @p-bugle TEEN: - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Pathways of Aspiration
Chapter 11 of PMD: Instruments of Creation by @The Desert Cat TEEN: - Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Instruments of Creation
Chapter 59 of PMD: Hands of Creation by @namohysip TEEN: - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation
Chapter 2 of Digimon Savers: Gaomon's Quest by @Jared DiCarlo MATURE: - Digimon Savers: Gaomon’s Quest
Week 405a of Live from the Fireside by @LightningTopaz EVERYONE: - Live From the Fireside: Season 16 (Week 405a: The Legend of Callan, part 1)
Interlude, Episode 78b and 79a of Pokemon Shine Diamond by @LightningTopaz EVERYONE: - Pokemon Shine Diamond
Letter 26 of Flying in the Dark by @diamondpearl876 TEEN: - Flying in the Dark
Chapter 15 of The Legendarian Chronicles by @Chibi Pika TEEN: - The Legendarian Chronicles

Completed stories!
None this week.

Review Game
Patrick Haines would like a review of chapter 3 or 4 of The Archsage War.

Remember, reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +2 points in the Review League!

Word of the Week
desert (n.): that which is deserved or merited; a just punishment or reward. [Wiktionary]

After obsessing over words, she ultimately got her just deserts.

To receive one’s ‘just deserts’ is a typically misspelled idiom; like many such idioms, partly because the reason why it exists is not well known. This sense of desert comes from Middle English via the French deservir (‘To deserve’). Outside the idiom, this sense is no longer commonly used. So while your just deserts may well be dessert – and I hope they will be – they are not quite the same word.

 

[namohysip]

We've got a lot of new stories this week thanks to the competition, so I'll need to get to maximum reading power to go through all those entries!

Announcements and Teasers
The writing portion of the oneshot contest is concluded! If you've signed on as a judge, now is the time to start reading!

Contest entries
Since we've had a large turnout for the contest, let's group 'em all up here. Best of luck to all participating!
The Chemist of Grandbell by @lapisora
Dispatch Deferred by @unrepentantAuthor
Hear That Which I Desire by @Beth Pavell
hey hey, what can I do by @PeaceSign
Hope You're Proud by @Felly
kunāne by @kintsugi
Mail for Welltown by @canisaries
Prayers Unheard by @namohysip
SWAP! by @Cresselia92
To See Your Smile by @UselessBytes

New releases
Places We Call Home by @windskull

New chapters
Chapter 60 of PMD: Hands of Creation by @namohysip TEEN: - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation
Chapters 3 and 4 of Digimon Savers: Gaomon's Quest by @Jared DiCarlo MATURE: - Digimon Savers: Gaomon’s Quest
Chapter 16 of The Legendarian Chronicles by @Chibi Pika TEEN: - The Legendarian Chronicles
Chapter 2 of In the Face of Adversity by @Felly TEEN: - In the Face of Adversity [Once Upon a Time]
Interlude and Episode 79b of Pokemon Shine Diamond by @LightningTopaz EVERYONE: - Pokemon Shine Diamond

Completed stories!
None this week!

Review Game
Patrick Haines would like a review of chapter 3 or 4 of The Archsage War.

Remember, reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +2 points in the Review League!

Word of the Week
banalise (v.): To make banal or commonplace. [Wiktionary]

Funny cat pictures have long been banalised by Facebook.

A comparatively recent word, banalise dates from the mid-20th century. Another word that deserves a new lease of life in post-millennial culture, it has endless applications for memes, themes, and other digital impedimenta run into the ground through repetition.

 

[Misfit Angel]

Another week, another newsletter!

Announcements
A reminder to everyone that the Summer 2019 Oneshot Contest's final deadline for voting is Sunday September 22nd, noon GMT! If you haven't voted, you may wish to now!

New Releases
Nothing to announce this week!

New Chapters

• Episode 80 of @LightningTopaz's Pokemon Shine Diamond
• Week 405b of @LightningTopaz's Pokemon Shine Diamond
• Chapter 4 of @JFrombaugh's The Joseph & Alice Podcast
• Chapter 17 of @Chibi Pika's The Legendarian Chronicles
• Chapter 2 of @windskull's Places We Call Home
• Chapter 3 of @Felly's In the Face of Adversity

Completed stories!
Nothing to announce this week!

Review Game
Patrick Haines would like a review of chapter 3 or 4 of The Archsage War.

Remember, reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +2 points in the Review League!

Word of the Week

Copacetic

copacetic (adj.): in excellent order [Oxford English Dictionary]

When we became freaky beatniks our life was copacetic.

Where does copacetic come from? Nobody really knows. The word seems to have become popular during the early 20th century in America. Various theories to its origin have been put forward – perhaps it comes from the Cajun coup esètique, or maybe New Yorker Italian copasetti, or perhaps it’s an African-American word. Ironically, then, the origins of copacetic are anything but.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Announcements
And the results are in! You can find the winners of the Summer Oneshot Competition here. Thanks to everyone who participated, either as author, judge, or voter. I know it's something we've all heard from me before, but we mods plan these things while you all make them work.

New Releases
Broken Things from @Persephone
Light Through the Blinds, by @roule

New Chapters
Episode 82: Dealing With Defensive Types of Pokémon Shine Diamond, by @LightningTopaz
Chapter 7: Locating the Source of Land of the Roses, by @Misfit Angel
Chapter Twenty Nine: Invicta of The Long Walk, by Beth Pavell
Hariyama from The Alola Pokédex, by Persephone
Chapter 61 - Enemy of the Enemy, of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation, by @namohysip
Chapter 3: Customary of Places We Call Home, by @windskull
Chapter 18: The Titans of the Elements, of The Legendarian Chronicles, by @Chibi Pika

Completed stories!
Nothing to announce this week!

Review Game
Patrick Haines would like a review of chapter 3 or 4 of The Archsage War.

Remember, reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +2 points in the Review League!

Word of the Week

overmorrow (adv.): On the day after tomorrow [Wiktionary].

I’ll have to finish it off overmorrow now.

Sometimes, you have to wonder just why words fell out of favour. Overmorrow is formed in basically the same way as tomorrow, from morrow (‘The next day’ or ‘morning’), and is a much snappier way of saying ‘the day after tomorrow’ - and yet it’s obsolete, in much the same way as ereyesterday (‘The day before yesterday’).

 

[Cresselia92]

Someone got a bit early for the Glimwood Tangle streaming...​

Announcements and Teasers

Hello, everyone! The mod team is still waiting for your feedback about the Summer Oneshot Competition. Did you like it? Or maybe you didn't like it? Was the time too little for the prompt? Or good enough? Do you have suggestions for future themes? Feel free to give your opinions and feedback here. We'll be more than glad to take your comments and work on future events!

New releases

All For Our Emperor by @Beth Pavell

New chapters

Episodes 82 and 83a of Pokemon Shine Diamond by @LightningTopaz
Week 405c of Live From the Fireside by @LightningTopaz
Chapter 12 of PMD: Instruments of Creation by @The Desert Cat
Interlude of Land of the Roses by @Misfit Angel
"The FireLord Part Two" of Short Story Compilation by @Patrick Haines
Chapter 60 of Pokemon: A Marvelous Journey by @Juliko
Chapter 19 of The Legendarian Chronicles by @Chibi Pika
Special Episode 5 of PMD: Hands of Creation by @namohysip

Completed stories!

Nothing of note this week.

Review Game

Patrick Haines would like a review of chapter 3 or 4 of The Archsage War.

Remember, reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +2 points in the Review League! In this case, however, the one who unsticks the game will receive an additional +10 points, for a total of +12!

Word of the Week

enervate (v.): make (someone) feel drained of energy or vitality.
(adj.): lacking in energy or vitality. [Oxford English Dictionary]

Nothing quite so enervated her as being forced to hang out with drunk co-workers.

The enervate response was typical for a weekend.

Sometimes you just want a more complete synonym for tired. Alongside exhausted and shattered, Latin gives us enervate, a word used in medical contexts to mean the removal of a nerve, which is revealing. Enervate is insidious, creeping, debilitating tiredness, the sort that demands more than coffee to remedy.

 

[LightningTopaz]

24 hours for one new Pokemon? The Trio were not impressed.​

Announcements and Teasers
Nothing this week!

New releases
Mercy No More by @gloch
750p an Hour by @p-bugle
Mirror Adventures: A Tragedy of False Smiles by @InfiniteBakuphoon

New chapters
Chapter 5 of Digimon Savers: Gaomon's Quest by @Jared DiCarlo MATURE: - Digimon Savers: Gaomon’s Quest
Chapter 4 of In the Face of Adversity by @Felly TEEN: - In the Face of Adversity [Once Upon a Time]
Chapter 20 of The Legendarian Chronicles by @Chibi Pika TEEN: - The Legendarian Chronicles
Week 405d of Live from the Fireside by @LightningTopaz EVERYONE: - Live From the Fireside: Season 16 (Week 405d: The Legend of Callan, part 4)
"Normal 1.3" of Broken Things by @Persephone MATURE: - Broken Things
Letter 27 of Flying in the Dark by @diamondpearl876 TEEN: - Flying in the Dark
Chapter 4 of Places We Call Home by @windskull TEEN: - Places We Call Home

Completed stories!
Nothing of note this week.

Review Game
Patrick Haines would like a review of chapter 3 or 4 of The Archsage War.

Remember, reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +2 points in the Review League! In this case, however, the one who unsticks the game will receive an additional +10 points, for a total of +12!

Word of the Week: Schadenfreude

schadenfreude (n.): pleasure derived from another person’s misfortune. [Oxford English Dictionary]

German has a certain mimetic reputation as a language with a word for absolutely everything, often cited as a rich source of loanwords for English. Schadenfreude, from schaden (‘harm’) and freude (‘joy’), fills a genuine conceptual gap, giving us some useful shorthand for the spiteful humour that comes from seeing someone else have a bad day. Although, perhaps not always ignobly. Schadenfreude isn’t necessarily limited to the pleasure that comes from seeing someone’s undeserved misfortune.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

It's October, everyone! Get spooky!

Announcements and Teasers
Our review game changes. The Review League point bonus for leaving a review as part of the Review Game is now +6 points. Also, if the game stalls for a month then one of the moderators will pick up a request - so if you are procrastinating be aware you may be sniped!

New releases
Guardian Angel From Hell by @UnofficialBlaine
Brownies, Hope, Despair and Destruction by @MunchlaxKing88
The War In Heaven by @ProphetL
Cyrus Falks: Ace Attorney by @BackSet

New chapters
Bonus Chapter #4 of Pokemon: A Marvelous Journey by @Juliko TEEN: - Pokemon: A Marvelous Journey
Chapter 21 of The Legendarian Chronicles by @Chibi Pika TEEN: - The Legendarian Chronicles
Week 302e of Live From The Fireside by @LightningTopaz EVERYONE: - Live From the Fireside: Season 16 (Week 405e: The Legend of Callan, part 5)
Interlude and Episode 83b of Pokemon Shine Diamond by @LightningTopaz EVERYONE: - Pokemon Shine Diamond
Gengar of The Alola Pokedex by @Persephone EVERYONE: - The Alola Pokedex
Normal 1.4 of Broken Things by @Persephone MATURE: - Broken Things
Chapter 62 of PMD: Hands of Creation TEEN: - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation
The FireLord Part 3 of Short Story Compilation by @Patrick Haines EVERYONE: - Short Story Compilation (The FireLord-Part Two)

Completed stories!
Nothing of note this week.

Review Game
Patrick Haines would like a review of chapter 3 or 4 of The Archsage War.

Remember, reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +6 points in the Review League! In this case, however, the one who unsticks the game will receive an additional +10 points!

Word of the Week – Okay

okay (excl.): used to express agreement or acceptance.
(adj.): satisfactory but not especially good.
(adv.): in a satisfactory manner or to a satisfactory extent. [Oxford English Dictionary].

According to the OED, O.K apparently first appeared in 1839, and for almost as long people have offered competing theories as to its etymology. It could be an abbreviation for “all correct”, but some theorise it’s related to the Chocktaw okeh (“it is so”). The OED shows that both okay and okeh were in use at the same time in the 1920s. Which is correct? The truth is, nobody really knows, okeh?

 

[Juliko]

It's actually bonus chapter #4, not five.

 

[namohysip]

Sliggoo's soulless, blind eyes haunt you in this spooky month of horrors... Let's get going, everyone!

Announcements and Teasers
Nothing to note this week.

New releases
Pokemon: The Tales of Two Js by @Grass Type Gardenia

New chapters
Episode 84a of Pokemon Shine Diamond by @LightningTopaz EVERYONE: - Pokemon Shine Diamond
Week 406 of Live from the Fireside by @LightningTopaz EVERYONE: - Live From the Fireside: Season 16 (Week 406: The Beast Slayer)
Chapter 16 of The Worldslayers by @Sike Saner TEEN: - The Worldslayers
Chapter 30 of The Long Walk by @Beth Pavell TEEN: - The Long Walk
Chapter 2 of Guardian Angel From Hell by @UnofficialBlaine TEEN: - Guardian Angel From Hell
"Drifblim" of The Alola Pokedex by @Persephone EVERYONE: - The Alola Pokedex
"Normal 1.5" of Broken Things by @Persephone MATURE: - Broken Things
Chapter 13 of PMD: Instruments of Creation by @The Desert Cat TEEN: - Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Instruments of Creation
Chapter 63 of PMD: Hands of Creation by @namohysip TEEN: - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation
Chapters 22 and 23 of The Legendarian Chronicles by @Chibi Pika TEEN: - The Legendarian Chronicles
Numerous updates to Cyrus Falks: Ace Attorney by @BackSet TEEN: - Cyrus Falks: Ace Attorney (An Interactive Fanfic) (Back in Buisness)

Completed stories!
Nothing of note this week.

Review Game
Patrick Haines would like a review of chapter 3 or 4 of The Archsage War.

Remember, reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +6 points in the Review League! In this case, however, the one who unsticks the game will receive an additional +10 points!

Word of the Week – Fremdschämen

fremdschämen (v.): to feel ashamed about something someone else has done; to be embarrassed because someone else has embarrassed himself (and doesn’t notice). [Wiktionary]

To feel fremdschämen at the sight of a colleague’s Facebook posts is the quintessence of team-building.

Perhaps fremdschämen can be thought of as vicarious embarrassment. If schadenfreude is the basis of spiteful humour, fremdschämen is the basis of cringe comedy. Fremdschämen isn’t quite cringeworthy, which doesn’t specify the rather sweet condition that the cringe comes from something someone else has done.

 

[Misfit Angel]

Another week, another newsletter!

Announcements
Nothing of note this week! Be on the lookout, however, as a winter event will soon be upon us...

New Releases

• Good as Gold by @CrazyCreeperKid
• Yu-Gi-Oh! Temporal Memories by @UselessBytes

New Chapters

• Chapter 26 of @p-bugle's PMD: Pathways of Aspiration
• Chapter 6 of @Jared DiCarlo's Digimon Savers: Gaomon's Quest
• Chapter 5 of @windskull's Places We Call Home
• Interlude of @LightningTopaz's Pokemon Shine Diamond
• Numerous updates to @BackSet's Cyrus Falks: Ace Attorney
• Honchkrow of @Persephone's Alola Pokedex
• Normal 1.6 of @Persephone's Broken Things
• Chapter 64 of @namohysip's PMD: Hands of Creation

Completed stories!
Nothing to announce this week!

Review Game
Beth Pavell would like a review of the Maiden's Peak chapter of Kanto: There and Back Again.

Remember, all reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +6 points in the Review League!

Word of the Week: Teem

teem (v.): 1. to be full of or swarming with.
2 (of water, especially rain) pour down, fall heavily [Oxford English Dictionary]
3 to bring forth young, as an animal; to produce fruit, as a plant; to bear; to be pregnant; to conceive; to multiply.
4 to empty [Wiktionary].
Sometimes, when you unpack the rare or obsolete senses of words, all sorts of meanings tumble out. Teem comes to English in two ways. Firstly, from the Old English teman, ‘to bear or support’, which also gives us the homophone team. Secondly, from the Norse tœma, ‘to empty’.

 

[Beth Pavell]

November is here, and winter is coming ...

Announcements and Teasers
Keep an eye out soon for news of the Workshop Winter event - we'll be giving you all plenty of lead time on this so there'll be a chance for everyone to participate.

New releases
The Slenderman by @Greninjaman

New chapters
Part 5, Chapter 27 of A Blond Ray of Sunshine by @Antoshi
Chapter 24 of The Legendarian Chronicles by @Chibi Pika
Chapter 2 of Mirror Universe Adventures: A Tragedy of False Smiles by @InfiniteBakuphoon
Update to A Tale of Two Js by @Grass Type Gardenia
Numerous updates to Cyrus Falks: Ace Attorney by @BackSet
"shibboleth" of saffron gods by @kintsgui
Week 407a of Live From the Fireside by @LightningTopaz
Episode 84b of Pokemon Shine Diamond
Chapter 14 of PMD: Instruments of Creation by @The Desert Cat
"Crobat" of The Alola Pokedex by @Persephone
Chapter 65 of PMD: Hands of Creation by @namohysip

Completed stories!
With Letters 28 through 33, @diamondpearl876 has committed heresy by finally completing Flying in the Dark! Congratulations!

Review Game
Beth Pavell would like a review of the Maiden's Peak chapter of Kanto: There and Back Again.

Remember, all reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +6 points in the Review League!

Word of the Week

pudding (n.): 1. a cooked sweet dish served after the main course of a meal.
2. a sweet or savoury steamed dish made with suet and flour; the intestines of a pig or sheep stuffed with oatmeal, spices, and meat and boiled [Oxford English Dictionary].

Pudding demonstrates how words can slyly drift away from their original meaning over time. Pudding is perhaps being slowly supplanted by dessert, and indeed in modern British English the terms are more or less interchangeable. Puddings were originally similar to sausages, the word deriving from the Old French boudin – which is why black pudding is recognisably a sausage.

 

[Cresselia92]

Countdown to Sword / Shield: 4 days left!​

Announcements and Teasers

“For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen.”

― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy​

New releases

None this week.

New chapters

Normal 1.7 of Broken Things by @Persephone
Chapter 25 of The Legendarian Chronicles by @Chibi Pika
Chapter 5 of In the Face of Adversity [Once Upon a Time] by @Felly
Chapter 27 of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Pathways of Aspiration by @p-bugle
Chapter 28 of A Blond Ray of Sunshine by @Antoshi
A new installment of Yu-Gi-Oh! Temporal Memories by @UselessBytes
Week 407b of Life From the Fireside by @LightningTopaz
Episode 85a of Pokemon Shine Diamond by @LightningTopaz
Chapter 98 of How to Conquer Kanto in Eight Easy Steps by @AceTrainer14
Numerous updates to Cyrus Falks: Ace Attorney by @BackSet

Completed stories!

None this week.

Review Game

Beth Pavell would like a review of the Maiden's Peak chapter of Kanto: There and Back Again.

Remember, all reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +6 points in the Review League!

Word of the Week

sublime (adj): 1. of very great excellence or beauty.
2. (of a person’s attitude or demeanour) extreme or unparalleled.
(n.): producing an overwhelming sense of awe or other high emotion through being vast or grand.
(v.): 1. change directly into vapour when heated, typically forming a solid deposit again on cooling.
2. elevate to a high degree of moral or spiritual purity or excellence.

Sublime is an especially pliant word, capable of being pushed into service wherever connotations of supreme excellence are needed. Sublime suggests an almost religious level of excellence, even when no god is in the picture.

 

[LightningTopaz]

There, there, Brock--Pokemon Sword and Shield will still be there when you're done reading this!​

Announcements and Teasers
The fanfic Secret Santa is coming up very soon! Stay tuned for more details.

New Releases
Love and Support, by @MetalMetroid997 EVERYONE: - Love and Support

New Chapters
Chapter 29 of A Blond Ray of Sunshine, by @Antoshi TEEN: - A Blond Ray of Sunshine (11/17/2019: Chapter 29)
Chapter 66 - From All Sides of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation, by @namohysip TEEN: - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation
An update to Cyrus Falks: Ace Attorney, by @BackSet TEEN: - Cyrus Falks: Ace Attorney (An Interactive Fanfic) (Back in Buisness)
Many updates to Pokemon: The Tale of Two J's, by @Grass Type Gardenia EVERYONE: - [Fanzine] Pokemon: The Tale of Two Js
Chapter Thirty One - The Port of Crashing Waves of The Long Walk, by @Beth Pavell TEEN: - The Long Walk
Chapter 6 - Tying Up Loose Ends, of In the Face of Adversity, by @Felly
Normal 1.8: The Rules of Broken Things, by @Persephone
Noivern, from The Alola Pokédex, by @Persephone

Completed Stories
@Sike Saner has finished her second story, The Worldslayers TEEN: - The Worldslayers [COMPLETE]

Review Game
Beth Pavell would like a review of the Maiden's Peak chapter of Kanto: There and Back Again.

Remember, all reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +6 points in the Review League!

Word of the Week

gallimaufry (n.): a confused jumble or medley of things [Oxford English Dictionary]

It’s a farrago, a hodgepodge, a jumble, a bouillabaisse, a medley, a pot-pourri. And let’s be honest, gallimaufry is a funny word. The OED cites its origin as a 16th century loanword from the French galimafrée, ‘unappetising dish’; Wiktionary gives an alternate etymology as from the French calimafree, ‘stew of various kinds of meats’. Possibly both have at least some truth to them.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

​

Hallo there everyone. It's quiet at the moment, no doubt due to the twin timesinks of NaNoWriMo and the newly-released Pokémon Sword and Shield versions. Those of you who are undertaking either, I wish you luck and a good time.

Why have I been quiet? Oh, no great reason. Just ill for nigh on a month. I'm more or less recovered, but still taking it easy and having some recuperative cat-naps. Such is my wintertime policy.

Announcements and Teasers
We will soon be getting underway with the Secret Santa event! It's only a month til Xmas today, which is practically right now. Get ready! For those of you who don't remember last year's event, participants were each randomly assigned another participant's fanfic to review. Give a review; get a review! It was a success, and we're pleased to be doing it again.

New Chapters
Dugtrio from The Alola Pokédex, by @Persephone EVERYONE: - The Alola Pokedex
Week 408: The Hero and the Giant of Hunting Hill from Live from the Fireside, by @LightningTopaz EVERYONE: - Live From the Fireside: Season 16 (Week 408: The Hero and the Giant of the Hunting Hill)
Chapter 61: The Quarrelsome Sisters from Pokémon: A Marvelous Journey, by @Juliko TEEN: - Pokemon: A Marvelous Journey
Normal 1.9: Did It Hurt? from Broken Things, by @Persephone MATURE: - Broken Things

Review Game
Beth Pavell would like a review of the Maiden's Peak chapter of Kanto: There and Back Again.

Remember, all reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +6 points in the Review League!

Word of the Week

sublunary (adj.): belonging to this world as contrasted with a better or spiritual one. [Oxford English Dictionary]

The concept was irrational to sublunary thinkers.

Sublunary is another Latin addition to the language, unsurprisingly with a 17th century entry. Along with its sibling superlunary (adj. belonging to a higher world; celestial), sublunary fills an odd vocabulary hole in being able to succinctly delineate the difference between the physical and the spiritual without also making an overt religious reference.

 

[namohysip]

Welcome to December! Let's start things off (or end 2019 off?) right with some announcements and releases as many of us recover from our valiant battle against NaNoWriMo...

Announcements
It's that time of year again! Don't forget to sign up for the Bulbagarden Reviewing Secret Santa to get some reading done, and to have someone else to read your work in return, too!

Be sure to sign up before December 8th here: EVENT: - Bulbagarden Reviewing Secret Santa 2019

New Releases
The Torkoal and the Scorbunny, by @Greninjaman EVERYONE: - The Torkoal and the Scorbunny

New Chapters
Chapter 30 of A Blond Ray of Sunshine, by @Antoshi TEEN: - A Blond Ray of Sunshine (11/27/2019: Chapter 30)
Chapter 15: Astronomer of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Instruments of Creation, by TEEN: - Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Instruments of Creation
Normal 1.10: Negotiations of Broken Things, by @Persephone MATURE: - Broken Things

Review Game
Beth Pavell would like a review of the Maiden's Peak chapter of Kanto: There and Back Again.

Remember, all reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +6 points in the Review League!

Word of the Week

avocation (n.): the act or process of turning into an avocado. [Oxford English Dictionary]

No, not really.

avocation (n.): a hobby or minor occupation. [Oxford English Dictionary]

Avocation comes from the Latin avocare, ‘to call away’, but revealingly, has the sense of a distraction or diversion. Your avocation, therefore, is a distraction from your vocation. For some reason avocation became a synonym for vocation in the 17th century – perhaps on the 17th century mind one’s principle occupation wasn’t necessarily a vocation as we would think of it.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Announcements
Today is the final day for sign ups to the Reviewing Secret Santa! We've had a good showing so far at eleven entries. If anyone's been procrastinating, now's the time to get in under the bar!

New Releases
Something festive from @Juliko with Rudolph the Red Nosed Deerling

New Chapters
After a little hiatus, Episode 85b: Another One Gabites The Dust! (part2) from Pokémon Shine Diamond, by @LightningTopaz
Week 409: The Shiny Tepigs, from Live From the Fireside, by @LightningTopaz
Kimberly's Prologue: The Troubled Heiress from Land of the Roses, by @Misfit Angel
Chapter 26: The Johto Force from The Legendarian Chronicles, by @Chibi Pika
Joseph & Alice Head to Hoenn!!, from The Joseph & Alice Podcast, by @JFrombaugh
Chapter Thirty Two - Shipwreck from The Long Walk, by @Beth Pavell
Normal 1.11: Local, I Hope from Broken Things, by @Persephone
Fearow from The Alola Pokédex, by @Persephone
Chapter 67 - Out of Control from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation, by @namohysip

Review Game
Beth Pavell would like a review of the Maiden's Peak chapter of Kanto: There and Back Again.

Remember, all reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +6 points in the Review League!

Word of the Week

misrule (n.): 1. the unfair or inefficient conduct of the affairs of a country or state.
2. the disruption peace; disorder.
(v.): to govern (a country or state) badly. [Oxford English Dictionary]

What a jolly time of misrule is December.

In England, the Lord of Misrule (Sometimes the Abbott or King of Misrule) was a festive appointment made to oversee the Christmas revels. Philip Stubbes decried the practice in Anatomie of Abuses, because, like most things Stubbes decried, it was fun. The misrule, it seems, was about relaxing and allowing a little chaos for the sake of fun during the holiday season.

 

[Cresselia92]

Oh oh oh!​

Announcements

The Reviewing Secret Santa is currently underway. Reminder to all participants that reviewing starts next Friday on 20th, and your reviews will be worth double points if you get them by January 10!

New Chapters

Chapter Ten - Night of Nights from Star Performer, by @Fulcrum
Chapter 68: Quiet from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation, by @namohysip
Episode 68a: Pursuing a Lofty Goal! (part 1) from Pokémon Shine Diamond, by @LightningTopaz
Week 410: The Performer Meowths from Live from the Fireside, by @LightningTopaz
Chapter 6: Umbra from Places We Call Home, by @windskull
Chapter 7: Tensions Rise from Digimon Savers: Gaomon's Quest, by @Jared DiCarlo
Chapter 27: The Revolt from The Legendarian Chronicles, by @Chibi Pika

Review Game

Beth Pavell would like a review of the Maiden's Peak chapter of Kanto: There and Back Again.

Remember, all reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +6 points in the Review League!

Word of the Week

tinselry (n.): cheap and pretentious display. [Dictionary.com]

Tinsel is probably best known as the shiny, plastic material that manifests to infest every edge in sad strings every Christmas – ironically, the word itself is far more interesting. In the Middle Ages tinsel was a type of satin combined with gold or silver thread. Tinsel derives from the Middle French estincelle (‘spangle’ or ‘spark’), which for better or worse, is a pretty good description of modern tinsel. Doubly ironic, perhaps, is tinselry as pretentious, something modern tinsel can hardly be accused of.

 

[LightningTopaz]

The Kanto Trio wish all of you guys Merry Christmas!​

Announcements
Posting for the Secret Santa has begun! Keep an eye out for your reviews!

New Releases
Nanu's Revenge from @DetectiveOsprey MATURE: - Nanu's Revenge
Never Too Far From Home from @Arbirchy TEEN: - Never Too Far From Home

New Chapters
Episode 68b: Pursuing a Lofty Goal (Part 2) of Pokémon Shine Diamond, by @LightningTopaz EVERYONE: - Pokemon Shine Diamond
Chapter 2: A Family Gathering of Rudolph the Red Nosed Deerling, by @Juliko EVERYONE: - Rudolph The Red Nosed Deerling
Chapter 6 - Joseph & Alice Interview Norman! from The Joseph & Alice Podcast, by @JFrombaugh EVERYONE: - The Joseph & Alice Podcast

Review Game
Beth Pavell would like a review of the Maiden's Peak chapter of Kanto: There and Back Again.

Remember, all reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +6 points in the Review League!

Word of the Week

Yule (n.): archaic term for Christmas [Oxford English Dictionary]

For once the OED is a little misleading, because Yule (From the Old English ġēol, and certainly older than that) was a midwinter festival celebrated across the pre-Christian Germanic world. At this time Yule referred to the midwinter season of December and January. Like many midwinter festivals and traditions, Yule ended up blending with Christmas, whether through accident or design. In this way Yule became more narrowly the Twelve Days of Christmas. Today, some Neopagans continue to celebrate Yule as a pagan midwinter festival.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

[fuck my slow internet. strong gif to follow.]

Warmest post-Solstice wishes to you all. I'm starting my long road to feeling fully held-together as the days grow longer again at last. They say it's two minutes a day, fifteen minutes a week, an hour a month of extra sunlight, at least where I live, in the UK.

I don't know about you, but it bothers me when someone asks me what I'm doing in three days. I don't have 2020 vision. Eyyyyyy.

Terrible meme-jokes aside, it's nearly 2020. Not merely the New Year, but the turn of the decade. I have high expectations for myself in the new 20s, and I hope everyone here will find that the new decade treats them well. Here's hoping.

New Releases
The New Life at Aether Paradise, by @Eeveelutionner EVERYONE: - The new life at the aether paradise
• What would happen if Gladion and Marnie were to meet each other?

Toy Story 1 Christmas Ending, by @Skalesgon EVERYONE: - Toy Story 1 Christmas Ending
• A retelling of the ending of the first Toy Story movie. Christmas-themed.

New Chapters
Bonus Chapter 5: Anything But Normal from Pokémon: A Marvelous Journey, by @Juliko TEEN: - Pokemon: A Marvelous Journey
Chapter Thirty Three - Nowhere Girl from The Long Walk, by @Beth Pavell TEEN: - The Long Walk
Chapter 28: Rally from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Pathways of Aspiration, by @p-bugle TEEN: - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Pathways of Aspiration
Chapter 70: Aftershocks from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation, by @namohysip TEEN: - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation
Chapter 16: Astronomy lesson from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Instruments of Creation, by @The Desert Cat TEEN: - Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Instruments of Creation
Part 10 of Pokémon: The Tale of Two J's, by @Grass Type Gardenia EVERYONE: - [Fanzine] Pokemon: The Tale of Two Js

Review Game
Beth Pavell would like a review of the Maiden's Peak chapter of Kanto: There and Back Again.

Remember, all reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +6 points in the Review League! '

Word of the Week

abstemious (adj.): indulging only very moderately in something, especially food and drink [Oxford English Dictionary]

Possibly not a word to describe many of us in the wake of Christmas – and possibly even less appropriate as the New Year is a few days away. Abstemious is the antidote to crapulence, or at least the preventative. Strangely, both words come to the English language via Latin, though in the case of abstemious this is rather more obvious.

 

[Beth Pavell]

We've made it through another year!

Announcements and Events
Well, first newsletter of the New Year! This arbitrary time seems as good as any for the mods to give a kind of update on what's been happening in the Workshop.

So it's been a bit of a rocky year. We've had some staff changes, and the staff have had Real Life issues that haven't always been kind to the running of the forum. My aim for this year is to try to get back into an even footing. Some features, such as the Review League and the Review Game, have fallen by the wayside in the last few months and I'd like to fix that. Activity in general has been a bit up and down. Trying to keep activity up is always on the agenda, of course, and we're constantly mindful of it.

I'd like to send out special thanks to @canisaries, partly for being so very patient waiting for Review League prizes, but also for repeatedly taking the time to produce art prizes for the League as well.

It's been great to see event participation this year as well. The Summer One-shot competition was a greater success than I'd hoped. and likewise there's been some nice interest in the Reviewing Secret Santa this year as well. Speaking of which, the window for claiming bonus points for Secret Santa reviews is fast closing. @UselessBytes, @unrepentantAuthor, @Cresselia92, @InfiniteBakuphoon, @Ryoma Maser, @akanthalily5036, you all might want to bear that in mind!

In the next few weeks the team will probably be discussing what events to run for the next year. And as always, this is your forum as well, so if you have ideas about events you'd like to see - or even if you want to help run them - then we're all just a PM away.

Who are you, and what do you do anyway?
There are five of us on the team, and most of our moderating means discussing and running all the little events in the Workshop. In theory we'd also resolve disputes and rule breaking, but this is such a nice subforum that this almost never comes up.

I'm Beth Pavell (Surprise!), and I head the team as Super Moderator, which sounds a lot grander than it really is. I write The Long Walk and Kanto: There and Back Again, and I also write the Word of the Week. Cresselia92 is another Super Mod; she also mods Support and Advice. LightningTopaz has been on the team longer than anyone else - you might have seen her serial Live from the Fireside. She also comes up with the Weekly Prompts. unrepentantAuthor, well, in their own words:

"Hallo, I'm uA. I'm British, I like cats, and I mostly write about pokémon having a hard time. I've been here a while, and I fancy myself a decent writer, so I'm always happy to talk shop with people. Hit me up any time if you want to discuss worldbuilding!"

And lastly namohysip is the latest member of the team, author of the 480,000 word epic Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation.

New Releases
Some lengthy thoughts about the science/history behind Regice from @elementcollector1

• A speculative article focusing on Regice

just another textbook case from @ogDG

• "I don’t want word going around the school that…” “… That the daughter of the town’s gym leader doesn’t like pokemon?” advanceshipping, tutor AU.

New Chapters
Chapters 71 - Leaders and Followers and 72 - Water and Fire from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Hands of Creation, by @namohysip
Chapter 28: Legendary Revenge from The Legendarian Chronicles, by @Chibi Pika
Chapter 7 - Joseph & Alice Interview Wally! from The Joseph and Alice Podcast, by @JFrombaugh
Part two: the night out from The new life at aether paradise, by @Eeveelutionner

Review Game
Beth Pavell would like a review of the Maiden's Peak chapter of Kanto: There and Back Again.

Remember, all reviews done as part of the Review Game are worth an extra +6 points in the Review League!

Word of the Week

facetious (adj.): treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humour; flippant [Oxford English Dictionary].

The detective spent his days making facetious remarks about his caseload.

A facetious comment helps the medicine go down, part of that family of humour that also encompasses dry, ironic, and black humour. Facetious isn’t quite the same as sarcastic, as facetiousness requires at least the intent of being funny, whereas sarcasm can be bitingly serious. Another 16th century coinage, facetious comes from the French facétieux, ultimately from the Latin facetus (‘witty’, or ‘elegant’).