It is I, the member formerly known as Aralith, and progenitor of this social group, returned after his long absence to ZU.

Okay, but seriously, I'm back, and I want to get this group really going now. So, a couple of things I want to do. First! I want to get together a list of any and all writings, past or present, completed or in-progress that people want to show off. I am planning on compiling a list of all of these stories, essays, fan fictions, poems, and whatever else you may have written in the first post. Anyone who wants their stories in this list, please post the name here, with a link.

I also want you all to post ANY suggestions, even if you think them to be stupid, nonsensical, unpopular, or what have you. If you have ANY suggestion on how this group can be bettered or what you would like to see here that already isn't, please please PLEASE mention it.

And finally, if any members know any writers on ZU that you think might be interested, please invite them to join this group.

It is my intention to get this group really going, with all kinds of discussions going on various aspects of writing. And to do this, we need members and progress. I cannot do this alone. I need you, the members of this group, to help me in this endeavor. So please, go forth to all corners of ZU and do what you can. It's time to make this group even more awesome. Writers! Prepare for glory!

Sweet. I'll be happy to help in any way.

I'm not sure if I wrote anything much, but I've come up with pretty interesting story plots.

i will wrie my best!i was done with a writing it was all edited and revised!but some kid stole it now i will have to start all over

I'll try to go over my Zelda fan-fic a bit more before posting it, but count me in =D. I think I may add in a few normal stories I've been working on as well, but they are really early in development. Let the resurrection commence!

Welcome back, Aralith...er...Shinespark! Seems everyone is changing their names nowadays.

Well, I've been working more and more on my graphic art and have improved much since I made the original logo for the group, so if you need any headers, banners, stickers, or icons, just let me know! Check out my portfolio here: http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/...nel-oasis.html

As for writing, my fan fics, my short stories, and my poetry thread have all been moved into the forum showcases and I've been hard at work on my novel.

Alright people, awesome stuff.

Doran, er... Mendicus, let's get started on some some new banners (like the one I still have in my sig). Also, if you want, go ahead and make a main picture for the site. The one I have up now is merely a picture I found somewhere on the net that I thought would look good.

Okay, so I thought long and hard last night about some stuff we can do to really make this group awesome. Instead of just doing it though, I want to see what you, the people think of this stuff. First and foremost, I want this to be a group of the people, and before I make any major changes, I want to get the opinions of you, the members. So without further ado, here's what I've thought of doing to make this place awesome:

First off, I would like to have a group of officers that make up a council. The job of this council would be to essentially do what the moderators do on the main site. Make sure members are following the rules and such (which I'll bring up later for your viewing pleasure). I'd also like to have a council meeting to talk about what each officer has been doing over whatever period of time I choose to have each meeting (I'm thinking bi-weekly, but that might be too much of a time commitment, I'll see later).

The council's most important job however would be a chain of command if I go absent again. Mendicus valiantly tried to keep this group afloat whilst I was gone, but was unable to get a mod to change him to group leader, which made it very hard. I am going to talk with Holly about putting up a contingency plan for if I've been inactive to long, that power will be transferred to the next officer. I'd like to have between four and six council members. Mendicus, because of your valiant efforts, I would like to extend an invitation to you to have a place on this council, if you would like. Anyone else who wants to be on the council, just say so, and I will view your credentials and decide if you should be on it.

Alright, next, I want to eventually get several discussion topics going:

1. The first of these would obviously be an Advice Thread where members could ask for tips and advice on aspects of their story. We could just keep the "Writer's Corner" discussion already going and rename it, or we could start a whole new one that's a little more organized. It's up to you people.

2. Also, I'd like to have a Group Update thread. Here is where myself and the other officers would update you, the members on what we have going on for the WC (that's Writer's Corner, not water closet ). I'd also like to announce various contests in here as well. Some of them will be the main ones held in the ZU Art and Writing section, but I'd also like to get some WC exclusive contests going eventually as well. Mendicus' fifty word short story idea was a good one. I'd like to do other things like that.

3. A New Members thread. This one's pretty self-explanatory.

4. Literature Discussion thread. I was thinking that, if you guys think this is a feature you'd actually use and not just some useless addition to the group, here members could discuss their favorite established literature and authors of.

5. Story Update thread. Here members can alert the community of any new works they've begun, or any in-progress works that have been updated (as long as it's on ZU), post a link, and ask people to read and critique it. I'm hoping that this way, we can get more people giving more constructive criticism to more of the writing works on this site.

6. And finally, a Suggestions/Feedback thread. As I said before, I want the members of this group to be able to have a say on what happens in this group. This is where one can do it. Anything from a suggestion to make the group better, to a question they have that's not addressed in the group description. Also, if a member's inappropriate behavior hasn't been addresses by one of the council members, you can voice your concerns or complaints here.

Now onto some of my ideas of WC-exclusive content we can have:

1. I've already mentioned it, but I'll say it again. I want to compile a list of works that members of this group have done, or are working on, along with keeping this list updated with how far along the story is. The only way this can be done is for you, the members, to provide me with what stories you want on this list, and by posting in the story update thread, so I can keep up with how far along the story is, and edit the group description accordingly.

2. I was thinking it would be cool if we had a monthly (or, if popular enough, bi-weekly) featured work from a member of the group. This featured work would be posted at the top of the group description and would be the first thing everyone saw upon entering this group. All members would be especially encouraged to read and critique this featured work. And how would this work be selected? By you. The members. The community. The week before the featured work would rotate, we would hold a vote.

The way I want this to work is that votes are made via PM only. This way it's kept a surprise who wins. Member will PM their votes to no less than two officers, but preferably the whole WC council, to prevent bias, cheating, or favoritism on the parts of said officers. Any votes made openly ANYWHERE (i.e. officer's user pages, a WC topic, or anywhere on the main forums) will be discounted, as will any further votes made by that member during that rotation. The same fate will befall any who don't PM their vote to at least two officers.

And now the final part of my brainstorm last night, the rules of this group:

1. ALL members will remain civil in their conversation. Anyone caught insulting or demeaning another member will be dealt with accordingly.

2. Although officers of the council, other than myself, have no direct control over group status, they are still authorized to warn and penalize ill behaved members. All of them have been (or rather, will be) hand selected by me, and you are to follow their words as mine.

3. Any member who remains inactive for a period of precisely one month will have all stories or works in the compiled list will have them removed. This is to prevent people from joining the group only to have their story advertised. A bit of an incentive? Yes. But mostly, I figure that if someone isn't willing to participate in the community, they should hardly have their story advertised there.

4. Although open group feedback is encouraged, any concerns or complaints about an officer or how he or she handled a certain situation are to be sent as a PM to me and only me. I will decide if it is a matter that can be dealt with privately, or if the whole council need know. If the officer in question is myself, the member is authorized to PM one of the other officers who will in turn bring it up to me either privately or at the next council meeting at their own discretion.

5. If a member feels wronged by an officer and takes advantage of rule #4, they are to understand the following: their challenge is in no way a guaranteed method to have warning or penalties revoked. Myself and/or the council will review the incident in question and the officer's actions. If myself and/or the council feel the officer's actions were out of line, any warnings or penalties will be revoked. If, however, myself and/or the council feel the officer acted within his or her authority, any warnings or penalties will be upheld without further challenge from the member.

6. Any member found in violation of these rules will be subject to the following penalty system (rule #3 is exempt from this, as it has it's own penalty): a member's first offense will result in a warning, along with being sent a full copy of the rules. Second offense will result in no more than one demerit. Demerits work almost exactly like regular ZU infractions. They expire after a certain amount of time determined by the severity of the violation, but will remain for a period of no less than one month.

Accruing five demerits will result in a one month ban from Writer's Corner. It should be noted that warnings will be handed out only once, regardless of what the second offense is. This means that even if the second offense is for a different rule than the first, a second warning will not be issued. After the first you are given a set of the rules specifically to read and understand ALL of them, regardless of which one you violated.

Alright, everybody, that's pretty much everything I've thought up for how to make this group better and more organized. If you have anything to add, or any feedback for what I've put forth, please do so. I want this to be a group for the member's, by the member's. Your input on everything is vital to its success. So, let's get inputting.