The NEW Forum Newsletter!

Here we are, issue seven! Marking half a year that I, =bohobella, have been your loyal journalist for! Here to keep you up to date once a month with what's going down in the realm of the Forums!

It seems September is, much like August was, a month for change - but not in the "good way". More than a fair share of our fellow forumers and beloved deviants have taken their leave this month. However, we're not empty handed: Read on to see the bright side of things for the month of September in the forums.

The Forum News

Goodbye, Old Friend

The summer closed, and while we were glad to see nooblets rush on back to school, the end of the dreaded summer season brought on more leaves than we had expected. lolly's departure from staff here was difficult enough, but deviants still struggle to cope with a major community lost.

`VernonX9000.

Vernon was beloved by many across the forums, undeniably one of the most favorite @s around. It was painful to many when `VernonX9000 announced early September he was quitting the team, and hardest of all, deviantART all together. While it's safe to say we can all respect and accept that Vernon has his reasons for the leave, it's still a great loss.

`VernonX9000 was known for his drunken posts, unlocking locked threads for the lulz, and so much more. He was hero to the regulars! The forums will be an emptier place without Vern around. We wish him the best away from deviantART and with his art.

One thing's certain, it's sad to think the Forum Newsletter sticky wont get an amusing update with Vernon's help for the first time in months, and that dear wombat avatar wont be scattered across the comments here

To know the full story, see Vernon's own words here: [link]

The dramallama stands tall: Teruchan's Ban

Earlier this month, notable man woman heshe thing tranny it pedophile =Teruchan was banned. Celebrations were rampant throughout the forums, with the occasional sad teenage boy complaining. However, hearts were crushed when =Teruchan was unbanned after less than a day.

Ban celebration:
[link]
[link]

Tears Post-Unban:
[link]
[link]

Various rumors circled as to why the ban ever took place. Plenty of people started petitions - both in attempts to get him back, and get rid of him once he was unbanned. Even a petition was started in hopes of getting !ShadowGamers back - Which, when you look at =Teruchan's track record, seems perfectly just and fair.

The Forums see a new police team?

With `VernonX9000 being not the only MN@ retiring this month, there were surely many a positions to fill. Perhaps this is why many of our dear senior forum whores have suddenly changed their symbol. @FixMeKnow, @nokari, @martypunker and @p-u-r-i-n are just a handful of the new volunteer staff members toting around big red locks.

The plus side? Less stupid posts, these guys are fast at catching fails.
The bad side? Less stupid posts, these guys are fast at catching fails.

Newsbreaking Event!

Let it be known that at 11:02 PM, September 06 2008, =elvensecrecy was not David Bowie.

May it be reminded that since the events on the evening of September 06 2008, =elvensecrecy has returned to being David Bowie.

MurkMarch 2008? Don't think so.

It's scary to see the list of deviants who've left a big mark on this community - and are now trying to get the Hell away. It's scarier to think that one of those deviants would be the famed `MurkHellsing.

To imagine a Halloween without a Murk March... It feels funny.

Try as we might to respect everyone's decisions here, it pains us to say goodbye to our men...

Murk's last words? [link]

The Tables Turn

It's quite the note-worthy day when lolly's own thread gets locked.

More Farewells...

Would have to go to =Shale-Sage, a primarily deviants regular who'll be leaving deviantART for a good while, if not forever. The newsletter salutes his decision and personal reasons for doing so, and we must wish him the best in... The real world, offline.

The forums will feel different without his seizure-causing avatar splattered all over the place. For more on the story, click here to hear it from the man himself.

Laying down the Law

Complaints has recently got a set of rules set down by $Tachy-on to "help" the Complaints forum. Most notably, no counter threads or all-caps titles allowed. *ReallyAngry is suffering.

However, =mngamojemo has an alternative set of laws that would surely benefit the forums moreso:

You do not talk about Fight Club.
You do talk about not talking about fight flub.
You do not post a thread with an all-caps title or you get a big fat .
You do not argue with =PaulStrealer.
Nobody is to be found not drinking after 10 PM.
There is NO rule six.
No forum regular is to mistreat the n00bs in any way if there's anybody watching.
The forums are meant to be fun for everyone, and, to ensure this, all users are required to supply their fair share of lulz and drama.
You do not talk about Clit Ghfub.
Users are required to make at least one plz mural per five posts. Failure to obey this rule will result in user being depicted as longcat or with bouncing breasts.
These rules are growing more restrictive by the minute.
Nevermind the bollocks, here's the Complaints forum.
Memes and obscure references are to be packed into all posts as densely as possible. This rule is meant to prevent people from noticing if you do not have a sense of humor.
All lists are to end with two bullet points, the first reading "?????", and the second reading "profit". This rule is to be enforced even if you have not seen the episode of South Park with the underpants gnomes.
Teruchan will survive the nuclear holocaust, and Twilight and Anime will soon be as inescapable as gravity.
?????
Profit.

(Thanks go to Monty Python, *Ikio and *LocitatheSilent: no thanks at all go to $Tachy-on.)

Use these rules wisely, forumers. But, if you'd like to make a comparison, click here for the official rules by Tachy-on.

Let your emotions out...

A few emoticons have been seeing revamps slowly. Most notably, , , and . Try them out for yourself! That's not to forget that we also gained for lolly.

More news breaking than just some graphics changes, however, would have to be £EmoticonHQ's announcement of an EMOTICON DICTIONARY to replace our current Emoticon Legend. What's that you say? Click here to find out!

deviantART Film

Turned 1 year old September 30th, 2008!

Festivities were to be had in #deviantARTFilm, full of trivia and prizes. Film collab challenges in Gallery Directors' journals were also seen.

Because of deviantART's 'invitation only' system, 1731 of our deviants have exclusive access to film submission! The number slowly grows.

Bans & Suspensions

BANNED
This is a ban-evader, folks. In fact, this user has had three accounts make it into this here section of the newsletter - The initial banned account, the second account caught for ban-evasion, and now this one. The biggest flaw here? For one, implying via the name slot of their account that they had alt accounts, and for two - idential avatars. I mean, come on. It's a pretty crappy avatar - Why risk bans like that?
BANNED
The exact date and reason for !heathinv's ban is unknown. In his activity, we can see !heathinv revived a thread from 2003 ironically complaining about people who don't let threads die ([link]). His last thread made was in complaints, [link] . According to his userpage, we can find him around in an alt account.
BANNED
Not a regular, but did wander into Help With Life asking for help - She was having boyfriend problems with a boy she'd been dating since - OMG GRADE 4!!!1!!1!!! Yours truly simply punched her displayed e-mail - since her age was not shown - into google, only to find a closed account that - guess what! Was banned for being underage just a couple months ago. The user's flawed claims of being of age, then being ALMOST of age, then being 2 - 3 years away from being of aged, made her no pity - she's gone now.
BANNED
Reason unknown, it's with a heavy heart that we say fairwell to !ScapeGoat98 ScapeGoat was one of the Forum Newsletter's top contributors, and not receiving e-mails from the dear goat anymore makes for an emptier inbox. If you're out there, my dear Goat, here's a salute for you. I personally hope to hear from you again one day.
BANNED
A troll! A troll! We have ourselves a troll!
See the amazing trolling action! [link] [link] [link]
BANNED
This was most likely a result of his thread seen here: [link]
BANNED
BANNED
BANNED
BANNED
BANNED
BANNED
The aforementionned six accounts were all made by the same person, all making threads about the admins, as well as particularly insulting @FixMeKnow. These threads were generally similar to this one, for example: [link]
BANNED
Could you believe !cumshotplz was a troll account? An example of their thread masterpieces: [link]
BANNED
Digging and digging, the only possible reason for ban could have been for ~eleven01's yoda thread, seen here: [link]
BANNED
I wonder why !whaleporn was banned? A sampling of his work: [link] [link]
BANNED
!SuperKLC was reported to have stolen *Bambi-iii's avatar and manipulated, in what one would say, "not nicely". He made a thread about how he was thinking of stealing artwork, seen here: [link] and was most likely banned for a comment left on *Bambi-iii's journal, here: [link] . !BabyBoomer is !SuperKLC
s new trolling account, and is still messing with our poor *Bambi-iii.
BANNED
=CapnGarrett is not pleased, as seen here: [link] . His ban is probably for ban evasion, though it's not certain. !The-Enemy-Guns is begging of us to appeal his ban.
BANNED
Likely due to excessive trolling and/or harassment, both of which !wigglepuppy was known to cause. [link] would be an example of his trolling. However, it would seem some people enjoyed his brand of trolling. Take, for example, ~Iscariot-Priest's take on !wigglepuppy's work:
"<sub>The topic was utterly tasteless- to quote him, "autistic kids are creepy as hell and i think the world would be better off without them".

As always, his trolling is incredibly detailed, even when it doesn't look like it.

1. Perfect spelling and grammar, save for his capitalization. Intentionally done to draw out grammar Nazis, then he eviscerates them and their petty off-topicness.

2. Referencing a real new source, even though he doesn't link it. Here's the news source, btw [link]

3. Referencing an old TV series, in this case it was St. elsewhere's finale. Nice touch.

Not that I condone what he's done, but it's not everyday that I see a troll that makes me ashamed of my fellow complaints-goers.</sub>" - ~Iscariot-Priest

Forum Feature

~lordogreus!

Think of anything in a tophat, anything.
But you KNOW the funniest animal to see in a tophat - and the one that would pull it off the best - is a monkey. Better yet, a tophating toting monkey with a classy monocle. That's ~lordogreus's undeniably recognizable avatar that you wont soon forget.

As the monocle would imply, ~lordogreus majors in being a Complaints regular. Notoriously hated by Wal-Mart Greeters, ~lordogreus is one of Complaints' very talented deviants. If you haven't seen his gallery, you're missing out.

Featurette

A lot of forumers have taken it upon themselves to make forum-focused deviations, which lately, have been sent in madly. Got forum art? We want to see.

ComplainTavern

A home for Complaints regulars to gather and chug. =CapnGarrett brings to us that home: ComplainTavern, with 40 Complaints regulars shown enjoying themselves one fine evening.

Deviant Appreciation Day

Plenty of contests were to be had in celebration of Deviant Appreciation Day this fine year, and with that, some were very much forum involved.

Seen here: [link] , the contest was to create a piece of literature using Complaints Regulars as the cast of characters, making it take place in one of the forums.

FIRST PLACE

=kikibaci

SECOND PLACE

*Kikeri-Ki

THIRD PLACE

=IkilledMyElegance

*ReallyAngry Breeds

No one's too sure if this is to be celebrated or not.
But our sources clearly show us that *ReallyAngry has produced children, because I am their mother.

Little angry hippies are upon us because someone doesn't know proper condom use. Will these be more cherished little babies that regulars coo and aww over?

Probably not.

However, you can't deny it - They have kickass hair.

Memes

MONOCLES, EVERYWHERE!
It's become a staple of Complaints Forum regulars to wear a monocle in one's avatar. The increase in monocle wearers is shockingly high.

Otherwise, we still fucking love innuendos. Not like that'll ever change though, deep down we're all horny 16 year old boys, with plenty of acne and no prom date.

Of course, the big joy of the month is , lolly's pride and joy. It's become perfectly a-okay to just randomly shout ANYTHING so long as you end it with a good few 's. Because truly, is god amongst... Other wheat-like plants.

Interview!

bohobella's interview with @FixMeKnow

I feel playing a good ol' game of devTWISTER is the best way to get to know a few fellow deviants. And, what better way to get to know someone than to start drilling them with interview-like questions? But, instead of asking one of my fellow Twister players, with whom my limbs were tangled with, I turned to the moderator of our game: The woman making sure no one died playing Twister, @FixMeKnow.

"Hey @FixMeKnow!" I called. I could see her getting a red padlock ready, worried I was about to start trolling her. "How long have you been foruming for?"

The padlock got put down, for now. "I started sometime in 2005. Several months after I joined.

@FixMeKnow had only just become a moderator this month. "Were you asked to become an @, or did you ask?"

"I was ask," she smiled, seeming to be quite honored by the fact.

"What do you think about recent staff departures, such as `VernonX9000?" Twister just wasn't the same without booze around.

"Makes me sad, actually. I would have loved to have Vernon around more."

Wouldn't we all. "How do you feel about the new set of @s?"

I looked to them. @nokari and @p-u-r-i-n were just two of them, making sure no one was shouting in a caps-lock haze while playing twister.

"I find them extremely fun, actually."

"What's the lulziest thing you've locked thus far?"

"A girl who kept posting her msn info and the like in the DevMeets." @FixMeKnow frowned. DevMeets has far too many locks.

"Are people already bitching to you about how, 'BAWW! YOU LOCKED MY THREAD AND PEOPLE ARE MEAN TO ME!" ?"

"Several, every day!"

Playing twister and taking notes wasn't easy... But it would be easy for Superman. "Does being an @ feel like Superman?"

"No, not at all. Which actually surprised me a bit. It was a much bigger shock and weirdness when I became a senior."

"...Are you sure?"

"Yes."

With that, I collapsed, ruining a perfectly good twister game and crushing `timmy64 in the progress.
We can only hope he's okay.

Best of the Forums!

Threads

These Shows Are What Make Our Generation Of Kids Confused by =WarthogDemon
People who say staff doesn't get the job done. by =zaiger420
Are they allowed to say that in a kid's show? by ~Lilnanny
Eat Hannah Montana's Bag of Dicks by =Aret
Change one Word by =Abfc
My date with 'laurart by :devbigcazz:
COMPLAINTS FORUM POSTING GUIDELINES by :devbigcazz:
The concept scares me by =HisnameisDaveyoufool
When you are in our Emergency Room, we are the fucking law by =whitetrashpalace

Comments

Mickey isn't fictional! He touched me in Disneyland. by ~Hermux-Tantamoq
My wife says I think it's wrong. by `VernonX9000
iF yOu DoNt LiKe NoOdLe sTuFfS, jUsT sAy So. by ~Hermux-Tantamoq
It's like a dog punching a butterfly for causing a hurricane three thousand years later, only in the past. by ~Art-of-Hilt
I would have to poop on a real piece of toast and take a picture to make it really good. And sadly, I don't have to poop right now by lolly
I ran outside naked one night when I was drunk. My cat was on the roof. So I was outside, naked at 2 in the morning, yelling "MOO!" at the sky.. [...] by `MegMcMuffin
The boobytruck. Yes, a big, beautiful pair sitting right on top of the truck like two lumps of peach jello with a red gum drop in the center. They jiggle gaily as the truck bounces over the bumpy road. by ~A-S-m-i-t-h
I hear Larry "the toe tapper" Craig likes to come up to the U of I and lurk in bathroom stalls after grueling legislative sessions. I hear that if you offer him your anus that he will tapdance "its raining men" for you. Don't quote me on this - it is only what I hear. by ~Tryptonique
[...]Will the REAL Jesus H. Christ please stand up?[...] by =SylverKitsune
[...] His MacBook pro exploded. He fell to the floor as the spacebar impaled his right eye. He reached for his cell phone to call 911, but the phone had melted into a puddle of black gel with scattered bubbles that screamed "bad joke, bad joke.[...]" by =HisnameisDaveyoufool
My artwork brings all the girls to the yard, damn right its better than yours, damn right its better than yours, i could teach you, but i could get charged.- Teruchan. by ~PearlHeart
Serious cat reports on the scene! by ~Agent-Sarah & ~IceIsNice286
Maybe people would play woody games! Boneball! Wang Tag! Ballyball! How Much Weight Can Your Penis Hold?! by ~A-S-m-i-t-h
Congratulations! You are now black! You can participate in the following activities[...] by =M-PlayC3ll

Plz Account

Off-Site Link

Lol Creme

Suggestion

What time is it? by ^PurpelBlur

And finally...

The WORST

My Vampyric Friend by ~Kumakichi
THEM and US by ~newepoch
True patriotisim lies here by *D4an1May
I am *not* a whore, thank you... by *MasterPlanner
Leaveart out of your bulls--t! (more down with plagerisum stuff) by ~LadyHisoka
BIG DEBATE! by ~malo-hijo
Leaveart out of your bulls--t! (more down with plagerisum stuff) by ~LadyHisoka




Timmy's Pick of the Month:^{Powered by `timmy64} OMG THE HOMOSEXUALS ARE OPPRESSING US! by *LocitatheSilent

Odds & Ends

Past Forum Newsletters

A sticky created by lolly and updated by various staff members can be found here in the Deviants forum for all your past forum newsletter needs! Relive the memories you had of a time when `conorschild was still the master behind the news, and thank the staff for being so kind as to post them!

Forum Clubs!

If you want to keep up-to-date with some of deviantART's most popular forums, these clubs are a great place to start.

*DAPoliticalForum ~DAComplaintsforum ~DAMusicForum *DAReligiousForum

Submit comments & threads to the Newsletter!

Spot a hilarious thread or comment?
Think it deserves spotlight?
How about nominating a fellow forumer for the monthly feature?
Send a note to =bohobella and she'll see to it! Please include links to all threads and comments if possible.

When submitting threads, trolls, ban reports or comments try to include which it is: thread, ban, troll, comment or other, in the title of the note!

In the next issue...

NOMINATION MONTH WILL BEGIN FOR THE FORUMS AWARDS GALA!

THE FORUM AWARDS GALA

1 Month remaining until nominations for the 1st Annual Forum Awards Gala will be taken in!

Keep in mind that in NOVEMBER 2008, it'll be time to nominate users for awards similar to The Forum Newsletter Awards of 2007, with awards such as Best Thread and Comment of the Year, best avatar, best plz, and Forumer of the Year!

And in DECEMBER 2008... That's when the pressure is on and all you forumers will be called upon to CAST YOUR VOTES out of the nominations!

Sneak Peak: There will be, without a doubt, the following categories:
Forumer of the Year.
Staff of the Year.
Best N00blet (joined in 08).
Best thread.
Best comment.
Best avatar.
Best in Complaints/Deviants/HWL/Politics.
And many, many more.

Brought to you by

The letter W, the number one hundred and twenty (120!) and yours truly.

This month's word is wheat, as in :wheat:!
The letter W is for wheat!
Fun Fact: There are 120 s in lolly's journal footer.

Until next time, happy foruming.

<sub>Shout outs to this month's Forum Newsletter contributors
~Agent-Sarah | =CapnGarrett | =CittensCollar | =elvensecrecy | @FixMeKnow | ~Iscariot-Priest | *Kikeri-Ki | ~Kung-fu-girl90 | *LocitatheSilent | =mngamojemo | *ReallyAngry | ~RebelliousArchAngel | !ScapeGoat98 | ~Shadow-whisper | ~sonicherosfan | =SylverKitsune | `VernonX9000
And our top contributors:
=Assailant17 | `timmy64 | =MaliceTear | =cassiedj

Special thanks to ~LOVEintheSNOW for assistance with formatting, and =cassiedj for number of the month!</sub>