MF - March, 2010

It's that time again, folks! The March Monthly Features are here!

This little top area felt a bit bland and ignored without something to fill the gap, so I decided to make a little intro. Yes, those two sentences are the best I've got. Leave me alone!

I'm kidding. Anyway, we certainly have some delightful features this month, so I hope everyone enjoys them as much as I did!

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Art & Design
Saori -- Saori’s Corner

Saori’s art is something I’ve admired for much longer than most of the folks at FOG have known her, but now that she’s made her debut here at the forums, I have the pleasure of introducing everyone to her amazing drawing and coloring style!

While the anime-ish style may be growing in popularity, it’s rare to find a forum-goer with such a refined and polished style. Creating images to accompany her roleplay characters adds another layer of depth, even going so far as to make different outfits that provide an interesting and unique aspect to the character’s personal interactions.

Written Works & Journalism
Acid Varrakin -- To Destroy a Symbol

Acid Varrakin isn’t a name I’ve frequently seen on my excursions through the forums, but now that I’ve gotten a taste of his talent, it’s one that I’ll be watching out for from now on! When I first opened the 16,000 word file to take a gander at his completed novella, I was worried that I might have trouble perusing through the 44 pages of text, but I quickly found myself drawn in by this tale of one DI Trilby Henderson.

Once I got started, it was harder to stop! Though I’m currently only half-way through, I can tell this will be a scintillating tale until I’ve finished the last page. Acid Varrakin’s depiction of a steampunk London has left me wanting for more of the genre, exploring some of the deep potential for pipework and clunky metal apparatuses without forgetting to move forward in an engaging plot that keeps you guessing and grasping at straws.

Both his writing style and plot development are commendable for a young novelist, and I personally look forward to seeing what he’ll dazzle us with next! For now, I can only recommend that everyone check out this wonderful piece of literature whenever you have a free moment to read!

Roleplaying
Attie & Gunneh -- Kill Her If You Can

An intriguing tale of a songstress whose life is thrown into jeopardy with the murder of her father, a legendary star in the music industry; Kill Her If You Can promises to be a story of both mystery and drama, tumbling through the emotions and actions of both a distraught but headstrong pseudo-diva and her rough-edged bodyguard as they search for answers and fight for survival against Carin—rather, Viveca Stone’s would-be abductor.

Kill Her If You Can is a very active one-on-one between two talented members of FOG, and it serves as a wonderful example of what we look forward to here on the boards. With a driving plot, complete with cheesy and awkward scenarios, and interesting characters, it holds a lot of promise as a captivating and interesting tale of one starlet’s peril and her bodyguard’s resolve to protect her at all costs.

For their respective parts in creating and developing this literary gem, both Attie and Gunneh have earned the spot for this month’s Roleplay Monthly Feature!

Sound Bytes
Saori -- “Kizna”

I knew she could draw, but even I had no idea that Saori had such a great voice! While a couple of us were poking around with poetry, short songs and verbal prose, it seems Saori was determined to pull off something more challenging. While her cover of “Don’t Rain On My Parade” was a delightful treat, the gentler melody of “Kizna” from the Ar Tonelico OST earns this month’s spot in Sound Bytes for its cross-cultural influence on top of the beautiful, lulling melody and challengingly diverse vocals.

Great job, Saori! It took a lot of courage to cover those two songs, and you’ve shown us all that a bit of bravery applied to talent can lead to wonderful results.

Member of the Month
Bird of Hermes

It would be difficult to find an area of the forums where Hermes hasn’t been an active and helpful member of the FOG community! From roleplaying to Forum Games – one of which she even created – to posting up her vocalization of Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”, Hermes has covered every aspect of the boards! She even took it upon herself to help out with the member greetings by posting useful links and welcoming each new user to the forums!

For being such a wonderful member of our humble little community and going above and beyond the call of duty to help and contribute in every way imaginable, Bird of Hermes has definitely earned this month’s spot as the Member of the Month!

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Congratulations to all of our monthly winners! You’ve all earned your place in the Monthly Features by inspiring the rest of us to excel in every aspect of our daily dealings amongst the FOG.

Congratulations!!!

I will be sure to check out all of the features, considering most of them I haven't looked into yet!

Is this the part where I say I couldn't have done it without Gunneh? >:]

True story. T'was his idea. I just play with it. ^^ Go Gunneh.

Congrats everyone!

Member of the Month
Bird of Hermes

Thank you for making my time here so enjoyable! I shall wear my MOTM gold-colored name-thing with pride!

And I might even name the little ghosties while I have 'em with me.

Yay Hermes! ^^

It's a tradition now! xD Name those MOTM ghosts, MOTMs! ^^

Congratulations, all monthly features! Much heaping of yays for each and all of awesomeness with going huzzah! Huzzah!

Congratulations guys and gals!

Congrats Saori, Acid, Attie, Gunneh, Saori (again), and Hermes!

Congrats!

And this is the second time that my name has EVER been mentioned in the monthly features, but this one makes me surprisingly more happy Thank you, Weiss, and congrats to everyone else as well!

Congrats everyone!

Great job, everyone!