MF - February, 2010

Insert stuff that no one bothers to read anyway here.

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Art and Design
Kalon Ordona II: Kalon’s Portrait Studio
Undoubtedly the most popular art thread on the forums! Kalon’s Portrait Studio has blasted off since it first debuted on the 21st of September last year. Since then, it’s been a constant influx of requests and one amazing character portrait after another! From RP character images to the Knights of FOG portraits that you see in the moderator avatars, every one of the avatars created by this rising star are unique and amazing in their own right. I can only say that I’m shocked he hasn’t been featured already, so I’m here to rectify that this month! Congratulations, Kalon, you are February 2010’s Artist of the Month!

Writing and Journalism
HawktheThird: Of Man
When I went searching for this month’s Writing and Journalism feature, I wasn’t expecting to find this little gem of literary prowess. To say that I was impressed or awed would barely skim the surface when describing how I felt as I perused each line of this masterfully crafted short by HawktheThird. While it may be a small gem amidst a sea of glimmering jewels, this particular stone has been polished and shined to a blinding brilliance that left me wishing there was more!

The short story depicts a man struggling to find his way in a world ravaged by desolation. Buildings lay in ruin, mutated humanoids roaming the cityscape and preying upon the remnants of man. Our hero – antithesis of the title though he might be – is an exceptionally vivid character whose pains can be felt at every interval, struggling against the same emotions that any man or woman might expect to feel when faced with the threat of despair, solitude, and even death.

Truly, I felt this piece was far too remarkable not to earn a spot in the February Monthly Features. HawktheThird, you have more than earned your place as February 2010’s Writer of the Month!

Roleplay
Shades of Gray: Darker City Streets
This roleplay is exceptional for the intensity of each character found herein. A modern depiction of vampiric culture meets the day to day of humanity in the form of a serial killer called “The Shadow”. While Shades of Gray’s character, Samantha, certainly has an intriguing personality that brings an essence of realism to her life, the dark, twisted, yet poetic depiction of the vampiric villain played by Kaislynn is what really caught my attention.

From there, each addition to the cast has brought along a new and interesting character with a well-defined personality. The story falls together from many different angles, and as a reader of this intriguing tale, I can’t help but wonder what will come next.

As the creator of such a fantastic and gripping roleplay, Shades of Gray has earned the title of February 2010’s Roleplayer of the Month!

Member of the Month
Ryona Noel
Ryona Noel. It’s a name we all know, and it belongs to one of the kindest individuals on our lovely forums. Though she may be shy, Ryona is active in every aspect of our forums, delving into the artistic world with signatures and avatars, literary ventures the likes of Emoria, and many topics in the General Discussion area; all while making time to greet new members of the site. She is certainly a pleasure to have amongst our community, and I’m happy to present her with the title and status of February 2010’s 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.


Just so everyone is aware, ImmortalSin will retain her Member of the Month status until the end of this month, as she was only recently placed in the appropriate user group and given the golden name. At the end of the month, she will be removed from the user group and Ryona Noel will retain the status until next month's features declare a new Member of the Month! I hope you don't mind, Ryona.

Congratulations, everyone! And good job, Weiss. You did a great job with the features. You're a natural.

I lost my special ghosties and my golden name. I've grown rather attached to them over the past two months...

Goodbye, Bill.

Goodbye, Liz.

Goodbye, Sam.

Goodbye, Alex.

Goodbye, Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV.

I'll miss you all. Do take good care of them for me, Ryona.

I'm not sure if I should laugh at the name reference or lament the idea of Ed becoming a ghost.

Worry not, Loki, they will be well taken care of, I'm sure. Perhaps some day they will return to your side. [Nods.]

*Shrug* Ed is still 48 years or so from being born, I see it as a tribute to her coming. The pre-reincarnated version of herself.

@ Agenda: Edward is a seven foot tall ex-basketball pro, hindu, guru, drag queen alien from the anime series Cowboy Bebop.

Also known as Radical Edward... or Francoise Appledehli, which is her real name. She's undoubtedly the best part of the series, and her self-chosen name is only slightly less epic than that of Vash the Stampede's^†.

^†"Valentinez Alkalinella Xifax Sicidabohertz Gombigobilla Blue Stradivari Talentrent Pierre Andri Charton-Haymoss Ivanovici Baldeus George Doitzel Kaiser III" is the supposed full name of Vash the Stampede from the Trigun series, though this is obviously something he came up with on the spot.

Both of those animes are on my rather long list for ones to see.

Oi, no rest for the weary.

I decided I would start doing the Monthly Features each month between the 14th and 15th, because I felt it was unfair that the duration each member retained the MotM status depended entirely on the whim of the admin doing the features. This way, each member will have the title for a full month, or at least very close to it.