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𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝕮𝖍𝖗𝖔𝖓𝖎𝖈𝖑𝖊: 𝕴𝖘𝖘𝖚𝖊 𝐗𝐗𝐈
 
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭!
Greetings, comrades! This month’s newsletter is a bit shorter than usual, so that we can highlight something quite exciting for the future of the Chronicle...
Since August 11th, 2022, the Chronicle has been our beacon of creativity, collaboration, and teamwork. After 20 superb issues completed so far, it is evident that much has changed within the Franciscan House... and as Franciscan evolves, so must our newsletter! That's why we're excited to announce that we are planning on revamping our beloved newsletter to elevate it to the best it can be! 
If you’re a Franciscan Member, head over to this topic here where we will be discussing new ideas, new sections and redesigns for future issues. Whether you're a long-time author or a newcomer with several ideas, your feedback and help will be much appreciated! For every viewer reading this (Franciscan or not) your feedback would be extremely helpful for this transformation as well! Please vote in the poll above to indicate your favorite and least favorite sections, so we can have a better idea of what readers enjoy reading the most.
 
𝕳𝖔𝖚𝖘𝖊 𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖈𝖘
(As of April 11th, 2024.)
Highest member count: 206 members.
Current member count: 173 members.
Current topic count: 420 topics.
Current post count: 92.8k posts.
Most popular topic (excluding "Full House Chat"): "Sus chat" with 175.6k views and 36.9k replies.
 
𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝕳𝖚𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖘 𝕸𝖚𝖘𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘
𝕸𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖘
 





 
Compiled by @Ravenclawed:


 
𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝕬𝖉𝖛𝖎𝖈𝖊
Compiled by @Shaggy
"A potato a day keeps the Gulag away"  ~ @Isabelle
"There's nothing humorous about your humerus. Stop laughing." ~ @Bluebell
 
𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝕴𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖛𝖎𝖊𝖜𝖘
With @Shaggy as interviewer
Q. 1. If you were trapped on a deserted island, and you could only bring 5 objects with you...What would you bring?
"A waterbottle, a snack bag (preferably one of those dried crunchy apples), a Bible, a flashlight, and a compass!" ~ @Aqua_Lily
"Well if there is no restriction on what objects I can bring exactly, then I will bring a sailboat, a compass, a radio, a water filter, and a knife." ~ @the
Q. 2. What is an interesting fact about you?
"I once wrote a book in the space of 2 months..." ~ @Aqua_Lily
"I have triple eyelids." ~ @the
Q. 3. What is your favorite Ice Cream Flavor?
"Hmm...I like chocolate chip cookie dough and salted caramel a lot, but as for a classic flavor, then vanilla 😋" ~ @Aqua_Lily
"Bubblegum." ~ @the
 
𝕴𝖓 𝕮𝖔𝖓𝖈𝖑𝖚𝖘𝖎𝖔𝖓
This concludes our April 2024 issue. Don’t forget to vote in the poll above, and maybe even leave a comment to share your feedback if you want to lend a hand in shaping the future of the Chronicle! Thank you for reading and God bless. 

(Image credit: picture @Sherlock Holmes, logo @Cocococo)
𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝕮𝖍𝖗𝖔𝖓𝖎𝖈𝖑𝖊: 𝕴𝖘𝖘𝖚𝖊 𝐗𝐗
𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖋𝖆𝖈𝖊
Welcome, Potatoes, to the twentieth issue of The Franciscan Chronicle, an effort by the superb members of our House to create a monthly Franciscan newsletter. We've made it halfway through Lent, and Easter swiftly approaches, already visible on our calendars. If you wish to write for an issue, please tag @PinkDonut7, @Eragon Shadeslayer, @AddisonH, or myself, in the Author Coordination topic that is pinned in the House Commons. Now sit back and relax, and we hope you enjoy reading the rest of the Franciscan Chronicle.
𝕹𝖊𝖜 𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝕮𝖔𝖒𝖗𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖘
Our newest Franciscans who have joined since February:
@Liam Mac @HiMom64 @Gandalf @Bluebell @DeusMeusEtOmnia @LilChavs08 
Welcome once again to our glorious house, comrades!
𝕳𝖔𝖚𝖘𝖊 𝕰𝖛𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖘
Sub-dictator @Sherlock Holmes was promoted to a Moderator! Congratulations, comrade, we're sure you'll do a terrific job! Franciscan once again has three House Leaders as @Lady Blakeney was promoted to Franciscan House Leader. Franciscan has it's very own Theme Song, the link to it can be found in This topic 𝕳𝖔𝖚𝖘𝖊 𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖈𝖘
(As of 3/11/2024)
Highest member count: 206 members
Current member count: 168 members
Current topic count: 416 topics
Current post count: 90.6k posts.
Most popular topic: "Sus chat" with 172.1k views and 36.2k replies.
 
𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝕬𝖈𝖍𝖎𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖘
Compiled by @Ravenclawed
@Ravenclawedrecently revamped his blog here and is hosting a Pokémon VGC tournament here.
@Revali is going through his OA Brotherhood this weekend.
both @Ravenclawed and @Revaliare moving to Texas next month.
and (out of spite towards AI) @TLM Server is calling for all Franciscans to help him write a better Franciscan Theme Song here.
 
𝕬 𝕸𝖊𝖉𝖎𝖙𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓
By @Chocolate Morsel
This March, just like almost every other year, we are celebrating Lent. Note that word, "celebrating." For surely, that is what we are doing: we are celebrating Lent. Why? Isn`t Lent a time of fasting and penance and almsgiving? Well, yes, it definitely is. But if you look in the Book of Psalms in the Holy Bible, you will see that what Our Lord really desires is a "sacrifice of thanksgiving." Wait, what? Thanksgiving? Really? How is that a sacrifice? Don`t Americans normally celebrate that at the end of November? Well, think about it for a moment. Most of you have siblings. Haven`t you ever been annoyed by them? If, instead of allowing that feeling of annoyance to grow, or simply letting it dwell inside of you, you immediately thanked God in your heart for that very person who is annoying you, and smiled at the person in front of you, well, that would be a great example of a sacrifice of thanksgiving. It certainly is a sacrifice, and, yet, at the same time, you are smiling and thanking God and celebrating the person before you. So, Lent can definitely be both a celebration and a season of penitance.
"Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High; / and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me." (Psalm 50[49]: 14-15)
Dear Jesus, aid us in this Lenten season as we look forward to Your Passion, that we may offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving in accord with Your saving Sacrifice, that of Your Life. Amen.
 
𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝕳𝖚𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖘 𝕸𝖚𝖘𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘






 
𝕾𝖍𝖔𝖗𝖙 𝕾𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞
The Franciscan House Leaders ~ World-Savers
~Part 3~
By @Chocolate Morsel
(With Permission from the House Leaders and Due Credit to her Brother, Who Invented the Villain All Those Years Ago)
The darkness has spread. Only one light remains… Yours.
House Leaders PinkDonut7 and Eragon Shadeslayer look around themselves in confusion. Sherlock Holmes has entirely disappeared, a girl is trapped in a cage which is somehow hanging from the lava ceiling, and a cloaked figure is leaning against the cave wall, scribbling furiously. The cyborg is still there, but equally bewildered.
“What…” Eragon Shadeslayer says.
“Where…” PinkDonut7 wonders.
“Hi,” I say, briefly glancing up from my notebook. I get no response besides baffled stares. Sighing, I look up the word ‘confused’ in a thesaurus, continue writing, and say, “Clearly you need a catching up. Well, for starters, you are my characters, as the real Eragon Shadeslayer already knows.” I hesitate, then correct myself. “As the real person with the username ‘Eragon Shadeslayer’ already knows.”
“But I`m—” the boy starts.
“No, actually. You guys are Shadoyuverns, same as Lady Blakeney here—she`s not talking because she`s been gagged. But Fred isn`t, because he has no actual self,” I say.
“I`m not real?” the cyborg gulps. “I, the Evil Chipmunk, am not real??”
“No, sorry, my brother made you up. Also,” I add, turning to the three House Leaders, “the Shadoyuvern of Sherlock Holmes was sent through the time-space portal into the quantum realm of Modland. He`s kind of stuck in a time-space contortion. Continuation! Continuation. Definitely not contortion. Seriously. So, uhm—"
“So Sherlock Holmes is a Moderator now?” PinkDonut7 asks.
“Yeah, y-you know that in real life, but the Shadoyuverns of yourselves don`t—didn`t, just like you didn`t know that Lady Blakeny is now a Franciscan House Leader with you. It`s for the benefit of our readers,” I explain, still writing as I speak.
“I am very confused,” Fred, the Evil Cyboric Chipmunk, says bluntly.
I sigh again and momentarily pause in my writing to explain further.
“Look,” I say, “of course you are my characters, otherwise how could Eragon Shadeslayer still be alive when labeled as ‘bleeding to death’ a month ago?”
“What??” the afore mentioned exclaims.
“Dude, this should not be so hard,” I mutter. “Okay, guys, I`m not talking anymore. Save the world or I`ll write that the ceiling collapses. Done. End of story. Literally.”
“Well, are you going to try and stop me or what?!” the cyborg demands of the Leaders. The chipmunk adds politely, “I won`t hurt you if you don`t fight me.”
“But we`ll die if we don`t fight you,” PinkDonut7 points out.
“How?” the villain questions.
“Because you`ll hit the giant death button!” Eragon Shadeslayer shouts.
“So?” the villain asks with a shrug of his robotic arms.
“So we`ll die either way and might as well try to stop you!” PinkDonut7 and Eragon Shadeslayer exclaim as Lady Blakeney vigorously nods her head in agreement from behind bars.
“Ohh,” the cyborg says. “Waaait. Are you threatening me, the one and only Evil Chipmunk?!?”
“They are,” I affirm.
“I thought you weren`t talking,” Eragon Shadeslayer says pointedly with a small smile.
“Shush, you. I`m the Author of This Story. I can do anything I want.”
“Riiight,” my characters say doubtfully. In the cage, Lady Blakeney looks at me with equal, albeit silent, doubt.
“GET BACK TO THE STORY ALREADY OR I WILL DISSIPATE THE CEILING!!” I exclaim in exasperation.
“Okay, okay!” they say hurriedly.
Reverting back to story mode, the chipmunk turns to the two uncaged Franciscan House Leaders, laughing an evil, high-pitched laugh.
“You see this forcefield? The button controls it. Destroy the button, save your world from exploding… And die. My suit is lava proof; your clothes are not. There is no escape for you, nor for your caged companion. Only destruction and DEATH. Mwahahahahahahaha!!”
“Then we`ll make it count,” PinkDonut7 decides. “Eragon Shadeslayer, break open the door and run for your life.”
“What! I can`t leave you two here with a psychotic cyborg,” the boy protests. “I`ve got a sword. My left shoulder hurts but I`m right-handed. Let me fight.”
PinkDonut7 hesitates, nods, and hurries into the shadows.
 Eragon Shadeslayer takes a deep breath and retrieves his sword from where it lays on the ground. He had read enough books to have a general idea on how swordplay works, although he has never wielded a sword. But one thing that he thinks he can be sure of is that I will not write in too much pain for him, us being friends. How wrong! I hurt my favorite characters most.
The evil cyboric chipmunk snarls. Blades of steel shout out of its robotic hands. It`s two swords versus one. The epic duel is on.
The chipmunk charges. The boy braces himself. Their swords clash. He deflects on blade. The other slices his right arm. Shouting in pain, he releases his hold on his own sword. It falls, point downwards, straight through his foot. He yells again and begins tugging at the sword, the blade of which is stuck in the rock underneath his foot. The chipmunk pauses.
“I think that I will stop fighting you now,” it says slowly, turning back to the center of the room. “WHAT—?!?”
PinkDonut7 jumps up and fires two stone-hard donuts (talk about overcooked :P) at the cyborg. Its metallic hands are knocked off, rendering it incapable of button-pressing.
But the worst is yet to come. Its hands are quickly replaced with…
“Machine guns,” PinkDonut7 gasps. “RUN!!!” she shouts.
“I can`t!!” Eragon Shadeslayer yells in desperation.
Glancing up through pain-strained eyes, the boy looks right into the face of gaping death.
A series of shots resonate in the cavern…
To Be Continued…
 
𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝕬𝖉𝖛𝖎𝖈𝖊
There's nothing humorous about your humerus. Stop laughing.
~ @Bluebell
"A potato a day keeps the Gulag away" 
~ @Isabelle
𝕾𝖆𝖎𝖓𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕸𝖔𝖓𝖙𝖍
By @Chocolate Morsel
Edmund Campion looked out at England, his old home, as he leaned over the rail of the boat. He longed for England`s shores, to help the persecuted Catholics of his homeland, to die for them if necessary. He soon would…
The year was 1579. Father Campion was finally sailing home—with Brother Ralph, also a Jesuit—after having been gone for a whole decade. Upon looking at him, one would not guess that he was actually a Catholic priest. He looked like a jewel merchant. Even Brother Ralph was in disguise—he was dressed as Edmund`s man, his servant, to assist him in his trade. But religious they were, and outlaws because of that. Still, they managed to pass the coast guard and, finally, they set foot on their beloved England again. Oh, if only England thought of them as so beloved! In so short a time, Campion would be unrighteously trialed, tortured, and martyred…
Now past the guard, Father Campion—that is, “Mr. Edmunds,”—quickly met up with a brave member of the Catholic Club—that is, a group of young men devoted to protecting priests—and joined with Father Persons, who had come to England dressed as a soldier. They soon had to part, though, one to one place and the other to another. Still, both practiced the same work—God`s work. They brought the Good News in a time of persecution and despair, Love in a time of hate.
Father Campion journeyed from one Catholic home to another, always avoiding his pursuers, led by his former patron, Lord Leicester. How it must have hurt him to have a former friend chase him so! But he was never caught, not yet…
During his missions, Father Campion—a marvelous writer—wrote encouragements to his flock, beginning with ‘Campion`s Brag,’ his final testament which was, ironically, not intended to be read until he was imprisoned by Leicester or another pursuer. However, the man hiding it could not resist reading it, and, after reading it, he could not resist sharing it; after hearing it, his friends could not resist sharing it either, and soon it was spread across all of England…
Still, Leicester could not catch Campion, not until a ‘Catholic’ traitor appeared…
Two years after landing in England, Father Edmund Campion was betrayed by a man who claimed to be Catholic, attended Mass, and said good things of the underground priests… but with evil intentions at heart. This man was no other than the treacherous George Eliot, and it was he who betrayed Campion and finally gave Leicester the chance to close his net around the brave Jesuit…
Father Campion was imprisoned, tortured before trial, given a fake trial in which he had no lawyer, no Bible for reference, and still had to quote from Scripture to his defense—not that they would have listened to it anyway! Nay, they had already decided what the verdict would be long before Edmund even returned to England…
Continuously tortured in all sorts of horrible ways, Campion had to undergo three such “trials” before he was finally condemned.
On December 1st, 1581, Campion the Champion returned to his true homeland—Heaven, where the warmest welcome imaginable—nay, warmer than that—met him. He was dragged behind a plodding horse, hung until he nearly died, taken down just before he suffocated, bisected alive, and then beheaded and quartered.
But after meeting this brutal death, this brave father had more than earthly life to look forward to, and he set a great example for us all.
Saint Edmund Campion, pray for us!
𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝕲𝖆𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝕹𝖊𝖜𝖘
 
@Ravenclawed Lit all 120 Lightroots in the Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, clearing the entire map, and caught 9 shinies in Pokemon Violet (as well as pulling 3 shinies in the TCG).
@Revali Technically beat Undertale hard mode in just 47 minutes.
𝕴𝖓 𝕮𝖔𝖓𝖈𝖑𝖚𝖘𝖎𝖔𝖓
We hope you enjoyed this edition of the Franciscan Chronicle. Thank you very much to all the Franciscans who contributed to the Chronicle. Until next month, God bless!