You know, it’s kinda boring around here. Being alone and all that, only showing up when a new chapter or update is released for one of my stories...

Maybe I should find myself a clique, a posse, you know? My own gang, a band of brothers. How about, “The Narratives*”, a group who loves quirky narrator like characters? Yeah, that’s a good one.

You know what, I think I’ll make myself an Unofficial Group. Now to go off into the forums and start this baby up!

...As soon as Author gives the green light, that is. Where is he by the way? He should be here by now.

Anyways, you must be wondering what the heck an Unofficial Group is by now, right? Good, cuz you’re in luck. Today’s topic is exactly that.

First off, why don’t I give you a brief history of the groups on RRL.

In the beginning, there were none. After some time, there was one: A review group, not quite tried, not quite true. Fast forward a bit, to 2016, the winter brought new groups, both green...

This isn’t working, rhyming and telling something is dumb. Back to my normal voice.

Well, as RRL grew, so did its community. The first that I know of to emerge was The Group, a review group who does, well, reviews. Some things didn’t work out and some clarification of operations was called for, but more on them later. The next two developed in January of 2016 and are similarly themed. The whole Un-Official Group status also came about at this time, the only requirement for this status being a minimum of five members and one of the RRL staff willing to vouch for them. More information** on each is as follows.

The Group started in mid 2015 with the aim of reviewing just about any and every popular story its members read. After a few months of unregulated reviewing, problems naturally arose. Their mission statement was to provide thorough and honest reviews, but several major ones came off as scathing, critical, and not at all helpful with the perceived bashing of stories left and right. The current star ratings (soon to be defunct with the release of RRL V3.0) were similarly scathing, averaging in the 2’s and 3’s at best. I believe that some were even removed due to their unregulated nature. It was time to set some ground rules.

Star ratings for any and all Group reviews were removed, rules of operation were set in place, and guidelines for reviewing were also laid down. Today, The Group no longer comes off as a snobbish group and performs credible reviews upon request; no more random review drops for unsuspecting stories. Their current activity seems to have slowed down, but they are still an active group.

On a minor note, while The Group is technically not an “Unofficial Group”, I consider them a part of the groups for the simple fact that it’s a group and part of the RRL community.

For a time, no new groups or organizations showed up until some like minded authors joined together and formed The Phantasmal Architects. As a result of their momentum, Scribble also came into being.

The Architect’s statement is “a group of authors here on RoyalRoadl who are dedicated to writing works that are atypical of this website,” and Scribble is a “group of people dedicated to improving the quality of their work.” Both are currently active and doing their thing.

I believe that there was one more, older group than these, but it’s become inactive and Author wasn’t exactly active on RRL other than to read at the time.

In addition to the Unofficial Groups, there may be several hosted off-site of RRL. The only confirmed one is The Den (of Madness), of which Author is a member. They are primarily hosted on google docs and develop their stories together at times to receive feedback. I believe that about one third of its members bear the “Den” name somewhere in their titles.

A few of its notable members include Warhawx (Insania Online, (Re)Install, Spiritsmith); VRDraco (Clockwork, The Nebula, 9001: A Dungeon Ship Odyssey); Jormlung (Re: Hamster); Penna02 (Re: Ferret, Accidental Time God); & JohnPlume (“The Den's Demon Lord” & mega commenter)... That is all the information my producer provided me on the Den at this time until they so choose to produce a more public font in the RRL community.

Hmm… I think that’s about it for now on the subject. Don’t forget that you can also create your own Unofficial Group in RRL. All you need is five members and a willing staff member.

…

Where is Author? Seriously.

“Mmm, ar yush look’n fer me?”

My goodness, Author! What are you doing? It’s Tuesday night on a school night! Are you okay?

“Guh? I’m fin, sherioushly.” He gives a thumbs up as his eyes and head droop forward.

Look at you! You clearly need sleep so get to bed. Have you been using writing and reading as an excuse to procrastinate again?

“...Maaaay-beeeee.”

Author, get to bed. You need your energy for classes tomorrow.

“*Unintelligible murmuring*”

I’ll get you to bed in a moment so just hold on.

Sorry folks, that’s a wrap for this installment of Trending News (According to Me). Feel free to enjoy the music I’ve placed at the bottom of this and prior installments. As always, thanks for reading and don’t forget to comment if you have any questions or suggestions regarding the content of Trending News or even if you just want to drop by and say hi to me or Author. See you next time!

*PM me if you’re seriously thinking of making this

**I apologize for any inaccuracies. Simply comment below if you believe there is erroneous information provided in this segment. I will review and fix it as soon as possible.

Reminds me of this:Spoiler :

*Disclaimer* Spoiler : Trending News (According to Narrator) is in no way, shape, or form endorsed by the RRL staff and should be treated as such. I repeat, my and Narrator’s word IS NOT the voice of RRL or its staff and should never be treated as an official source, ever.