Welcome back, all, from the terror of the Bronyhood. The last of the Bronies have been put down, and once more we can resume our pursuit of... evil, and all that. :p

I've been sick the last few days and have been quite sparse, and as the end of the semester approaches, I will become a bit busier for the next month with grading and the like. I'll still be around on IRC a few hours a day, but the easiest way to reach me, as always, is email. Email is more reliable than any other communication form in getting a response out of me. There are other options - such as IRC, or as I mention below, Telegram - but email is the best way to get ahold of me if needed!

This has been a quiet last couple weeks for my office; both the new Test of Lore and some major upcoming changes received some work, but both are still pending some editing and approval before they can be shared. Meleu did update some more policies, and we should be taking aim at the Nepotism policy next.

On to a few other major topics...

All the Guides?

We've recently had a couple of great new membership-driven fictional resource guides come out. However, because the Brotherhood is undergoing some major changes fictionally in the coming months (as the Voice has detailed in his recent reports), and because many projects and guides were proposed to a past administration than that which is in charge now, the Grand Master and I are hereby declaring that any future guides created by the membership will not be recognized as "official" guides without express written permission of the Grand Master - if you are at all confused on if your guide/project falls under this statement, please reach out immediately via email.

This is not designed to be punitive towards the various membership guides being written at different levels; by all means, continue to work on resources for yourselves! But official club products need to fit into our current and future systems, and so we have to be careful with what products we label as official guides from here on out. Thus, you may continue working on your guides, but do not assume they will be officially recognized as Brotherhood-wide if you haven't first checked with the Grand Master and myself.

New Fiction Competition: Cannon Fodder

The Recruitment Tribune is running a new competition called Cannon Fodder. The first of these competitions offers a chance to write about undertaking a mission as the Inquisitor from Star Wars: Rebels! This is an excellent opportunity to contribute to fiction that the wider Star Wars fandom can enjoy; most of our storylines are a bit specific to us, and this opportunity is really a great way for us to showcase what we can do. So hop on over to the competition page and check it out!

Telegram

Recently, several members have been tossing around a new mobile application that doesn't require sharing of phone numbers. This is kind of cool to me, because as awesome as you dudes are, I'm a little hesitant to share too much of my personal information, and I know I'm not alone there. This has drawn me to Telegram, a cross-platform application that functions almost identically to WhatsApp, save that you can add people from either a username they set, or their phone number. Telegram takes privacy very seriously, appears to be a non-commercial app, and allows access to messages across a variety of platforms simultaneously. Overall, it seems pretty sweet for a mobile communication solution. A few of our Consuls and prominent leaders have already picked up the app, so if you are looking for another way to keep in contact in the Brotherhood, check it out. Feel free to add me @DJB_Mav.

Official Brotherhood Communication

Speaking of Telegram and mobile communication, I feel I should remind everybody that right now, our official communication platforms are IRC and email. While many of us are utilizing mobile communication, in no way is this meant as a replacement for IRC and email. :)

Happenings around the Brotherhood

I'll be using this section to highlight major Brotherhood news, appointments, or things I thought were cool and worth mentioning from around the club. It will appear periodically, and may cover more than one week.

• The Brotherhood was briefly taken over by Bronies...
  
• Andrelious is running an X-Wing Alliance tournament.
  
• Aabs reviewed Heir to the Jedi
  
• The Recruitment Tribune posted an amazing TIE Fighter-based short film.
  
• All Elders - From Adept on up - now are eligible for Legacy titles.
  

TL;DR

• End of semester approaches; Mav may be a bit more sparse over IRC than usual!
  
• Write as the Inquisitor in the first Cannon Fodder!
  
• Add Mav on Telegram @DJB_Mav
• Guides will not necessarily always be recognized as official - notify GM of the guide if you haven't!
  

Telaris "Mav" Cantor

Deputy Grand Master