The 'Shroom:Issue 163/Staff Notes
Welcome to the ooky-spooky month of October, readers of The 'Shroom! When this issue releases, the month will already be halfway over, and it's the rapid speed at which this year is dissapearing that I find the spookiest. The tail end of 2020 is moving faster than our very own Lakituthequick, and he has quick right in his name! You can hear me wax more on that subject in the Strategy Wing Director's notes, though. Besides, I need to turn up the volume on Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death if I ever hope to hear it over whatever strange sounds are coming out of Roserade's office and out of Ninja Squid's mouth. I swear, it's like he's been speaking an entirely different language every since we returned from the farm...
Speaking of our trip out to Moo Moo Farms, this issue contains the 'Shroomfest highlights, your chance to see whether chickens or pigs prevailed in our last 'Shroomfest and to see how your efforts caused the story to end. We had a wonderful burst of participation this time around, and with it, we were introduced to some very fun and interesting facts about chickens and pigs alike. Your participation made this event very special and very fun, so please make sure to check out the results. Some of you might even have a cameo or two in there...
As a final note before you dash off to read the words of my wonderful Sub-Director and the rest of the paper, you might notice something different about Staff Section of the Month this month. After some discussion, we've decided that the rankings take the focus away from SSOTM's mission and discourage participation among the staff. Since SSOTM should be first and foremost about highlighting specific elements that improve a section's quality so that our other writers can reflect on them and learn new techniques, we've decided the rankings aren't necessary. SSOTM will continue onwards, highlighting sections we feel have done something worth pointing out, in this slightly altered format.
Now, that's enough from me. Go forth and get the treats all of our writers have prepared for you, with no fear of tricks!
—Hooded Pitohui, Director
Greetings, beautiful 'Shroom readers! Things are pretty great up here in the Director's Office. I've had "Calling All The Monsters" by China Anne McClain on loop for the past two days. Anything to get into that Halloween spirit! I'm assuming Pitohui doesn't mind. He started shouting towards me yesterday, but I couldn't hear what he was saying over the music, so I'm choosing to believe it was his thanks.
Pitohui has handled just about everything this issue has to handle announcement-wise. I would like to remind you, however, that this December is our special Shroob-themed issue! An alien invasion certainly seems like the perfect way to cap off 2020. We're encouraging our writers to be thinking of some fun themes for their sections, primarily relating to Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time or anything aliens-related, babies-related, or related to time travel. If hearing about this sparks a moment of inspiration for you, and you aren't currently an active writer for The 'Shroom, we recommend you think about introducing a fun guest section for the issue! We're always happy to accept one-off guest sections, and this December will be no different. Hope to see your submission there!
I've gotta go back to stirring my witch's cauldron now. I've been working on my potion-brewing skills while I've been stuck inside! I need to figure out this love potion before December rolls around. I still have yet to kiss under a mistletoe before...
—Roserade, Sub-Director
Staff Section of the Month for September 2020
| STAFF-VOTED SECTION OF THE MONTH | ||
|---|---|---|
| Section | Writer | Reasoning |
| 'Shroom FM | MrConcreteDonkey (talk) | It's not long or in-depth, but that's not a problem. The critique element shines through just fine, and the nice, tight organization and table format makes it easy to get a quick impression of each album and move on. In an interesting twist, this section shines the most when MCD takes time to explain the weaknesses of each album, the way he highlights specific elements - from names of albums to lyrics of specific songs - and gives some explanation as to why they don't work in his eyes. |
| Parallax | Ray Trace (talk) and Bazooka Mario (talk) | This is a very complicated subject, and it's hard to to break it up into small chunks, but this section is off to an admirable start. There's little better place to start than the basic tools one needs to do the job, and this provides a great layout of the options available, what their issues and strengths are, and whether or not price will be an obstacle. We're very interested to see where the section goes from here, but this laid out a great base to ease people into the subject. |
| The 'Shroom: Issue 163 | |
|---|---|
| Staff sections | Staff Notes • The 'Shroom Spotlight • 'Shroomfest Highlights |
| Features | Fake News • Fun Stuff • Palette Swap • Pipe Plaza • Critic Corner • Strategy Wing |
