[center][h2]Winner – Never Forget by [@Keyguyperson]![/h2][/center]
 With five votes (and two tiebreaker points), it’s no surprise that this monumental entry took the big cake. Talk about setting the bar high! 

[center][h2][s]Runner up[/s][/h2][/center]

Well, hey, so the tiebreaker votes aren’t really helping us out on this point, heh… And since there isn’t a clear runner-up in the popular vote, we’re going to call it an honorable mention, and recognize everybody who earned a vote from the adoring public. So take a minute to congratulate the following authors on their accomplishment:

[b]For Blue Skies[/b] – [@Dark Wind]
[b]Go West[/b] – [@Jozarin]
[b]Novocain[/b] – [@Apokalipse]
[b]Kings[/b] – [@Byrd Man]
[b]Still Waiting[/b] – [@ayzrules]
[b]What do you say?[/b] – [@Alice]
[b]Raggle-Taggle Gypsy[/b] – [@silverwolfangel]
[b]Steppin’ Out[/b] – [@Darcs]
[b]Kataigida[/b] – [@Blitz]


Before I get to the staff picks, let’s take a moment to thank the guys working on this contest’s crew – I know I’m sort of absconding with most of the credit, just because my name goes in front of the ‘officialized’ posts, but these folks are making it all happen. [@Darcs], [@Roflsmazoy], [@Clark], [@Mr_pink], and [@Lovleand] worked their tails off to bring this contest to life, and they deserve just as many thumbs-ups and medal-shaped-thingy thanks as you can give them. And one final shout-out to [@Jorick] and the rest of the planning committee, as well as [@Brovo] and [@Kaga] and all the Writer of the Month team members that came before. And of course [@Mahz] and [@HeySeuss] and the rest of the forum staff for their continued support. AND TO YOU, of course, for reading, writing, reviewing, and saying nice things about each other's work. You're the most important part. OKAY! I’m droning. I do that sometimes. Let’s have the staff picks!

[i][b]Inside Baseball[/b] – Most liberal use of obscure musical terms[/i]
The staff selected [b]‘Raggle-Taggle Gypsy,’[/b] by [@silverwolfangel], who also earned an honorable mention.

[i][b]Idlest Delilah[/b] -- You deviated the least from the original story of the song.[/i]
In this closely-contested bonus category, the staff decided on [b]‘At the English Fair’[/b] by [@Kirah]. It was, after all, as lovely as a bunch of coconuts, and just as magical too.

[i][b]George Co-stanza[/b] - Awarded for the shortest, angriest verse. *drops mic*[/i]
Nobody dropped the mic quite as hard as [@Apokalipse] in [b]“Novocaine,”[/b] which also earned him an honorable mention in the vote.

[i][b]Poetic Justice[/b] - Use the same rhyme scheme or cadence as the song.[/i]
In perhaps our most deliberated category (right up there with Idlest Delilah anyway), we decided to recognize the brilliant pacing of [b]‘Kataigida’[/b] by [@Blitz], whose poetry matched his musical score in pacing, tone, and awe. ‘Kataigida’ also earned an honorable mention in the vote.

[center][h2]BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE![/h2][/center]

As we talked over our choices, we quickly came to the realization that our categories weren’t quite capable of recognizing all the effort that went into these entries. In particular, the song [b]‘Homesick,’[/b] written [i]and performed[/i] by [@Kakashi Hatake], stuck out to the crew as over-and-above the contest’s expectations of effort and excellence, in a unique and surprising way. So, to reward this creative ingenuity, and to inspire future contestants to similar valiant acts of uniqueness, we are establishing a tradition that will (hopefully!) recur every now and again throughout the life of RPGC, and that is (tentatively!) THE TOAST! This trophy (ahem, when the trophy system is up, cough cough) will not be given out every contest – it will be granted only to super-special pieces that take the theme and run with it [i]beyond[/i] what the crew imagined possible. It’s a very special award and hopefully, a coveted trophy – but more than that, it’s recognizing a fantastic bit of work by a dedicated member. So once again, congratulations to [@Kakashi Hatake], the first-ever winner of the RPGC TOAST!

(incidentally as the first winner, Kakashi gets a say in what we’re actually calling this award, so THE TOAST may turn into a rhinoceros with a toupe or something, POINT IS, it’s special, right? Right!)

[center][h2]NOW FOR THE SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT![/h2][/center]

You'll notice that the subforum reads "Writing Contests," plural. That's because when I sat down with Mahz and the moderators, we all agreed that this little section is here for the writers, the members, and anybody who wanted to put something together for the community would always be welcome. That's why I'm excited to announce that for the next few weeks, we're shifting our attention to a new contest for you all to enjoy. [@Terminal] has been putting together a competition called "The Twelve Labors," a series of challenges designed to stretch writers beyond their comfort zones and develop new skills, or refine practiced ones. "The Twelve Labors" will begin [i]right now[/i], and we here at RPGC are are just [i]tickled[/i] that we get to be a small part of the grand introduction. But of course Terminal can explain it all better than I can, so -- take a moment to enjoy the results here, and of course carry on any discussions you like about the winners, about what you wrote, what you said about a piece, or anything else that may seem worthwhile. But when you've got a moment, pop on over to The Twelve Labors -- have a look around, see what they're all about, and of course [b]write something[/b] -- I know I will! RPGC will return on April 30th with a [i]powerful[/i] new installment. We'll be working alongside Terminal and all the Twelve Labors folks to bring you the best contest experience RPG can offer. 

Sound like fun? Remember you can sign up to help at any time. We could always use more creative people behind the scenes, and if this contest taught us anything, it's that we've got [i]loads[/i] of creative people around here! Alright, enough from mdk, [b]go write something[/b] already!