ATRL's Next Top Member Cycle 13 | EP1: The Entries!!
EPISODE 1: PRESENTATION
WHAT TO DO WITH THE ENTRIES: With the poll above (please be patient, I need to get this one deleted and replaced), please say who you think had the BEST entry this week!
@Contestants - do not say yourself this time; they will be public!
DEADLINE
Saturday July 25, 2015
@ 10 PM US Central Time
(48 hours and 38 minutes from the time this was posted)
THE ENTRIES
Quote:
Originally posted by JakeKills
ANTM Cycle 13, Episode 1: Presentation
Part 1: The Username
When I joined ATRL in 2011, I was completely enamored with the music of a new pop artist named Natalia Kills. And so, “Kills” quickly became part of my online identity. I was already using the name on twitter at the time that I registered for ATRL, so I have to admit that I didn’t put much thought into the choosing of my username.
But I have since put a lot of thought into whether or not to change it. It’s something that I’ve contemplated for a long time, both because I’ve been a bit uncomfortable with having my real name in my username, and because I’ve never really stanned for Natalia Kills enough for it to make sense that my name alludes to her. I’ve even dreamt up dozens of potential new names with Swiftian roots.
Now, in 2015, the artist formerly known as Natalia Kills has announced her intention of changing her name—but I’ve decided that my username is here to stay. It’s simple and recognizable, and I’ve been told that it distinguishes me amongst Taylor’s fans. I’m still not entirely thrilled to have my real name so strongly associated with my profile, but I love that to most of the people that I interact with here, I’m just Jake. It feels more personal—more like something akin to a real friendship—to be called by my own name.
In the aftermath of Natalia Kills’s meltdown on X Factor: New Zealand, I joked that I deserved a free name change so that I would no longer have to be associated with her. Several members responded, surprised to learn that my name was actually a reference to her. This led to the realization that I’ve somehow managed to detach myself from her, despite the fact that her surname is in my username.
JakeKills is somewhat of an odd little username for me. Not only is “Kills” a reference to an artist that I rarely pay attention to anymore, but it’s a word that’s really too hard, too mean, for my personality. And yet, JakeKills is simply who I am. I don’t think that I’ve outgrown my username—to me, that suggests a need to shed it and evolve into something new. Instead, I feel like I’ve transcended it. “Kills” may be in my username, and it likely always will be, but it’s just there. It identifies me without defining me, my interests, or my personality.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Part 2: The Avatar
I've worn my fair share of Taylor Swift avatars through the years, but this is a particular favorite of mine. I find it endlessly hilarious. There's Taylor Swift, rendering a grown male fan unconscious—doing so with the kinda condescending gesture of patting his head like he's a puppy. There's a whole crowd of people staring at him on the ground, in awe of Her power. There She is, unbothered as She casually twirls away to finish Her performance of "Love Story." There's the camera, returning to focus on Her instead of the boy who is, for all intents and purposes, laying dead on the stadium floor.
Aside from the fact that every frame of this GIF amuses me, I also like to wear this avatar to remind myself and others of Her divine powers. It just goes to show that no man is safe from the Lord's almighty touch. The fans who witnessed this holy miracle merely looked on in reverence, and that blessed guy will never ever ever forget the night Taylor Swift killed him with Her bare hands. It was a moment that deserves to be preserved for posterity, and I'm doing my part to ensure that it is.
Testimonial from ANTM Cycle 12 runner-up Vespertine
For context, I had just changed to a Shania Twain avatar to celebrate the release of her first album in a decade.
Quote:
Your iconic avi better come back after that.
I didn't even recognize you without the Lord.
Quote:
Originally posted by Theus
Theus’ is a nickname for Matthew in Portuguese; I discovered this while studying the language last year, I usually use the name “Tails” in other forums but while creating my account here the name Theus came into my mind and I thought using something different for at least one time would be cool.
And yes there is a connection with my avi! One of the meanings of my name is that we [people with the name Matthew] tend to follow professions where we can serve other people, here on ATRL I enjoy helping other members on making gifs like I said on my first application, helping with chart stats etc while in real life I work at as manager at coffee store and sometimes I work as a waiter too.
This is the connection with my Jessica’s avi! – But – we are sometimes quick-tempered which is also represented on the final frames of my avi, I enjoy helping other members as long you “don’t abuse too much of your power.”
One last thing that my avi represents is my music taste, well not necessarily my entire music taste but it represents what kind of artists I like, take Jessica for example: She might be very popular in real life [or at least was at some point] but not many members here stan for her music same things goes to Shania and Foxes with some exceptions like Taylor and Carly [which is literally the complete opposite of what I said for Shania.] and that’s it! These are the reasons and meanings behind my username and my avi, easy to remember like most five letter usernames are, is very simple and it represents my personality.
Quote:
Originally posted by Bey_Rihstan
EPISODE 1
PRESENTATION
USERNAME:
Ya know what, i'm not even going to beat around the bush when explaining my username & the origins of it. In Cycle 11 I told you guys that I rushed & made my username at 12 AM on New Year's Day last year when I joined, which is very true.I didn't think that I would be able to join on time and I honestly thought that you could change it whenever you wanted to. (The naive mind of a new member) But anyway, let's fast forward to the self explanatory meaning of my username. It's meant to represent two thirds of the women I stan for! Beyonce & Rihanna have inspired me ever since I can remember & I wanted to let ATRL know that Yes, you can stan for both. My username is considered to be very messy & has been mentioned threads like "Good members with bad usernames", for example. The underscore has especially come under fire. Everyone hates it, but I kinda like it. When I joined, I didn't think of making my name "Bey Rih stan", because that's what it would've been had I actually thought it through. If you think about it, the underscore kinda gives it personality & notice-ability. It stands out in a crowd. It's like a fire red head in an audience full of blonde members. So while it may not be everyone's cup of tea, most people notice it. I personally feel like It represents perfect imperfection & overcoming your flaws, as cheesy as that may sound. Most importantly, It makes me not only one of the most notable Beyonce/Rihanna hybrid stans, but one of the most notable all throughout the forum. It's actually my username that inspired me to set myself apart from others & especially the other 2014ers.
AVATAR
Whew Lordy, I did NOT expect to talk about my username that in depth. Let's move on to my avi. As you can see, it's Brandy, the queen of life, music, harmonies & the lower register. Most importantly though, she's my fave & the woman I defend on here daily. With Beyonce & Rihanna being referenced in my username, I felt that people needed to know that I stanned for Brandy & initially she was supposed to be my avi for like a week or two. That is until I saw the overwhelming response it got when I first "wore" it in June of 2014. It was being posted all around the forum. It was the new "it pic" for a period of time. It's a part of the .png movement that I lowkey started with my infamous ANTM 11 smilie entry. Ya'll might find it familiar:
I remember going back to my previous Whitney avi (You know, the shady one from the movie Sparkle?) & being bombarded with wall posts asking my "Why did you change the Brandy avi?!!?" At first I felt that it was my obligation to have wear it. Since then, it has become by far my most known, iconic & notable avi while i've been here. If I've posted in a thread, You will usually see Brandy & pearly whites posted shortly after. I don't wanna sound a cocky or anything, but It is definitely one of the most iconic avi's on the forum & in this competition on Rider & Buddy match or surpass its "iconicness". I mean there have been blogs dedicated to it & if you search for nearly any thread related to the most iconic avis here, my name will be frequently mentioned (also i'd like to note that in the thread I just referenced, most of those avis that don't work are the Brandy.png avi. It expired or something lmaoz) There are a lot of threads I could post that praise it.
Anyway, sorry if I rambled, but I think I got my point across & I think that this is by far my best entry since being in this competition.
Thank you for your time.
Quote:
Originally posted by T-Swizz
The rumors are terrible & cruel
but honey most of them are true.
It's time to come clean. T-Swizz was not my first account, Yoncé was. When registration opened & the gates were flooded with loose bottoms wasting away this site's bandwidth with horrid usernames they dubbed "creative" in order to try & stand out from the crowd, I knew my time was limited. I wanted something simple, yet attention-grabbing; something memorable but not generic. Keep in mind this was around two weeks after one of the most revered & awarded pop album dropped, so obviously Yoncé was all on my mouth like liquor. After a mere 6 posts in the New Member Orientation thread, Katie had enough of my tomfoolery & banned my account. However that half hour I spent on Yoncé's account was the most fun I've had all day & I sure as hell wasn't about to give that up anytime soon; so I thought it would be a clever idea to concoct a new online persona where my fave was on the opposite end of the pop spectrum, & thus T-Swizz was born.
Unaware the mods could IP check accounts, I was completely dumbfounded as to how I was detected & why my second account was banned almost immediately after creation. It was only after I sent a heartfelt apology to the modsquad via Hotmail that I realized that second accounts were indeed forbidden & a bannable offense. They re-instated my T-Swizz account & I decided to keep my username as is. I saw it as a scar, & it was only later that I realized you don't learn from success; you don't learn from awards; you don't learn from fame; you only learn from wounds and scars. Sure I'm still extremely messy & rack up WPs quicker than Buddy racks up calories at his local community college on Taco Tuesdays, but I've come to the realization that there's a time & place for everything & there are always a boundary you must adhere to if you expect to be taken seriously when the time comes.
Time for my next confession........
Yes, I stole this avatar.
I originally started wearing it as a joke. However, the member I swiped it from posted on an annual basis &was barely visible on the forum to begin with. Aptly enough, I ended up winning the highly coveted "Avi of the Month" within our Beyoncé base & heaps of compliments starting pouring in. He decided to let me keep the avatar as a token of defeat & I wear it til this day as a badge of honor.
Moral of the story: Anything you can do, I can do better.
Quote:
Originally posted by Subomie
ATRL's Next Top Member 13
Episode #1: Presentation
My username comes from Pokémon, the Japanese versions specifically. Way back in 2006 when I first saw this name with new leaked Pokémon I just thought it just sounded so cool and pretty that I had to take it for myself and that's what I did. Subomie is a corruption of "tsubomi", Japanese for flower-bud. I like how simple it is, I like how it keeps people guessing and I feel like it represents a softer side of me that is sometimes lost in my posts. It's been a part of my internet history for a while and I have a lot of nostalgia and memories with it and it will hopefully stay with me for a long time to come.
Last cycle I talked about how nobody recognises the name, but since then people have done just that and it's been a starting point for some new friendships.
I'm a total avatar-hopper, never keeping one for long. I don't have recognisable avatars as a result, the only ones people might remember are the ones featuring my favourites. Therefore, I chose one with Kylie (though you may not even recognise her!). I think it matches the Japanese flower garden theme of my username really well and makes an aesthetically pleasing package.
I feel that this represents me because it's very playful and silly and not taking itself too seriously. I understand that it may not be what people expected me to choose to represent myself, but I feel the avatar, and this entry theme in general, is very tongue-in-cheek, which is exactly my sense of humour and I want to keep people surprised, which I hope this entry does.
Quote:
Originally posted by Rider
Episode 1: The One With The Presentation
1. The Avatar
Oh, man, I love my avi so much. I literally enjoy it every time I see it. It represents me and it represents that shady part, which we all love, of Rihanna. I love the contrast in the gif, I love that simple hair flick and the serious face at the end after that long smile.
It's a great reaction avi and people are definitely recognizing me by it and they also love it.
It had its iconic moment like the Christmas edition avi.
It really became a lot of my ATRL persona ever since may 2014. Shoutout again to Superiore for creating it.
2. The Username
Quote:
rider
a straight up, easy going, dont give a **** about what you think type a person.
It's exactly what I am and what my ATRL persona should represent. I couldn't wait to get ATRL+ to change my first, tragic username and I'm so glad I changed it to this one. I'm proud of it and it really represents me now. Rider also comes from my favorite 2Pac song, ”Ambitionz Az A Ridah” which is a really inspirational and hard going song.
As another ATRL member said, the username marked a big part in my evolution on ATRL and the transformation was complet with it. The first two letters of the name stands for my fave, Rihanna.
Another big part in the evolution and appreciation of Rider was my second name change to Phaedo. It was really a strategical move and made people love the username Rider a lot more after that second TRAGIC one.
So this is me on ATRL, the definition of a Rider and the avi represents my personality which is shady in a lot of cases.
Oh well. 
hahaha