08.01

1. How is it already August?!
2. August is a HEFTY month. Please read all announcements carefully to ensure you don't miss anything!
3. I have chunked them using ribbons to make them more approachable? Let me know how you feel about that here!

Activity Check

Another activity check come and gone!

The list of inactive accounts has been compiled and deactivations and list maintenance are underway :) If you lost a character you'd like back, you may post in Maintenance starting Wednesday, August 4th If you have no currently active characters you can post in maintenance immediately! If you lost a character before the AC, you can post there whenever you'd like!

Student Updates

Tragically, it is that time of year again: all students MUST have their accounts updated! We are also looking to process any dropouts, recruit school staff, flesh out our quidditch teams, and more! All pertinent information for this process can be found here.

Posting Wizard

Lynn (Reuben Crouch) has won July's Posting Wizard competition with a competition total of 147 posts—well done! signups for August will remain open until Wednesday afternoon for those interested in competing. Remember—you have nothing to lose, except maybe a bit of pride ;)

Summer Raffle

Welcome to the second drawing of our summer raffle! The following are taking home prizes today, and will be getting PMs with further details when I am a more functional human being.

• Set from Lady: Fallin (Sisse Thompsett)
  
• Immortality Discount: Lauren (Marlena Scamander)
  
• Featured Want Ad: Bee (Holly Scrimgeour)
  
• Against the Odds: Elaine (Bernadette Fernsby)
  
• Occupations Lock: Emma (Melody Crouch)
  
• Moodboard OR set from MJ: Amy (Hermia Bonaccord)
  
• Profile Upgrade from Bree: Kelly (Sweetie Whitledge)
  
• WW Feature from Amy: Bee (Elsie Kirke)
  
• Set or Coding from Olive: Kit (Roberto Devine)
  

Events & Challenges

Writing Challenge

MJ's Sherlock Holmes-inspired August WC is now live! Just like last month, I'll also be giving a raffle entry to each member who completes it :)

Charming Sunday

This month, YOU have a voice in when, exactly, Charming Sunday will fall! The poll is scheduled to close Tuesday, or it is if I set it up right xD Please get your pick(s) in by then! The official date for August's Charming Sunday will be announced this week.

Camp Charming

Camp Charming is live! Players will receive their current post and activity totals in the next couple of days; keep your eyes peeled as well for more OOC activities to attend! Please remember that you must have a thread started and completed this summer in order to complete the CC challenge. If you have not done so already, please ensure you link your thread in the Camp Charming area!

Charming Cinema Bracket

Until Friday we will be taking nominations for the Charming Cinema Bracket! These are movies featuring Charming PBs—and the winner will be the focus of a Movie Night!

  

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

08.05

CHARMING DISCORD? For more than a year (admittedly VERY off and on), the staff team has been discussing incorporating Discord more formally onto Charming. We recognize that some members already have this and would love to be able to use it here, while others are self proclaimed Old Folk who are happy with the way things are—even among our staff team, there is a fair amount of variation ;) It is time, however, to solicit some member feedback on the topic before considering moving forward.

The staff are unanimous in the following:

• It should not replace the Cbox—this is an important part of creating a welcoming environment for guests & new members, and the Cbox is the more streamlined option for chatting when using Charming on a computer (no extra tabs or applications required)
  
• Its incorporation should allow members to opt out of using it without 'missing out' on what makes Charming Charming
  

Beyond this (and even on this), however, we are very eager to hear what YOU think. We will be accepting member feedback via THIS GOOGLE FORM until end of day Sunday, August 15th. We thank you for your feedback!

  

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— Aldous walks with a cane and pronounced limp as the result of a splinching accident. —

— graphics by lady ❤ —

08.16

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the potential Charming Discord! Staff are looking over & annotating feedback in advance of the ZOOM TOWN HALL which will take place this Sunday, August 22nd @ 6pm EST—this lines up with Charming Sunday, so hopefully you'll already be on ;) This counts as a "Charming Social" for Camp Charming.

Speaking of Charming Sunday, just like you got to choose the date this month, you'll also get to decide how raffle entries are earned. Make sure you get your vote in before the weekend!

  

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— #PrettiesByMJ —

08.30

A few notes as we wrap up August:

Activity Check

The August AC is one week from today. As per the usual form please ensure:

• Your mini-profile is filled in
  
• All of your characters have been listed in the Character Directory—check back on your entries to make sure they were processed properly! Anyone reactivated this month will need to be placed back on. 
  
• Characters made before the last AC have posted at least once this month
  
• Profile has been filled in if not done during acceptance
  
• Your character's height is displayed in their mini-profile—if you reactivate an account, this needs doing!
  
• Student updates have been processed
  

Student Quidditch

Student quidditch tryouts are underway! Tryouts for the Ravenclaw and Slytherin teams were posted today, and Hufflepuff & Gryffindor will go up ASAP! Any delay on that front is my fault, surprising approximately zero people >.>

There are a number of positions that want filling. Remember that in order to try out, you must sign up first! Signups run until September 9th, and tryouts until September 10th.

Profile Change

We have made an addition to our profiles & application! Moving forward, all players will be asked to specify their characters' genders. For many characters, this will be a straightforward "Male" or "Female", but our non-binary, trans, or otherwise ambiguous characters will also be able to note their perceived gender and/or provide more explanation as needed!

Generally, this will be done via the application template. All accounts will also need to do this in the UCP next time they do an update. This is not currently reflected on character profiles because Olive needs to code it in, but will be ASAP <3

September Looms

There will be another announcement this Wednesday with more updates. In the meantime, please note that...

• Time is running out to complete MJ's August Writing Challenge
  
• Kayte (me) and Bee (Elsie Kirke) are going back to work this week (#justteacherthings), and Olive (Ursula Black) is moving this month. Please be extra kind to the staff team >.>
  
• You can now sign up for September Posting Wizard!
  
• We are taking submissions for IC events in September as well
  
• I have gifted everyone a bonus raffle entry because YOLO. Please note that I will be doing the draw the weekend after the AC this time around.
  

  

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He/Him/His by those around her.
She/Her/Hers OOC and in her own narration.