The judges will receive a pm from me with further instructions.
The contestants should discuss the entries in this thread.
FOR THE JUDGES DEADLINE: Sunday, December 14th 4pm EST
Episode 7: Entries Part 1
Capital B
Quote:
Originally posted by Capital B
The idea of "branding" on ATRL has always been something on my mind. Way back in the days when I ran the Charm School game, there was a major focus on strengthening your brand and how it was presented to other ATRL users. In fact, it inspired the Branding challenge on Top Member, and Matty had me take part as a guest judge. As I'm on ATRL longer and longer, I've thought about how one's brand can change over time. Rather than dig out whatever I said about my brand last time it was discussed, I decided to stop and reflect on where I am today. After some thinking, I've settled on "sensible".
Let me explain.
As an older member on ATRL, I find that I tend to put more thought and care into my online interactions than some of the younger members. That's not a sweeping generalization, as there are always outliers, but I think you'd all likely agree. There seems to be a desire to fit in on ATRL, and newer members tend to mistakenly think that this can be achieved only through making a name for yourself by being over the top, dragging others, and generally being messy. I disagree. As long as I've been on ATRL I try to present myself as a sensible member. I don't care if I could be "better known" if I got banned 10 times or posted something outrageous and inappropriate - I'm content the way I am and am not seeking validation of others. I'd argue that your online interactions are an extension of your real life persona - and I strive to use good judgement and be mature, restrained, and mindful - or as my brand states: sensible. I hope to use my posts, avatar, and profile content to provide further evidence of my brand.
My Posts
If you're looking for crazy posts full of hit gifs and stinging drags, move along. Those aren't, and have never been, me. I've chosen three posts to submit that I believe reflect my "sensible" brand. The following posts illustrate the careful thought I put into presenting myself as someone who uses good judgement and a lens of respect/kindness towards their online interactions.
Simple, classic, clean. It's just me. I've had this avatar forever, and have no desire to switch it up. Again, while some posters rush to swap out their avatars for whatever is current and in, I'm happy to stick with my simple yet classic avatar. I think my approach to my avatar is entirely reflective of being sensible. This certainly reflects my desire to just be me and not cater to the ATRL trends in some sort of effort to be known or get noticed.
My Profile
Yes, my profile is blank, and no - I'm not rushing to make it look all nice for this challenge. In fact, I think my blank profile speaks volumes to my brand. As a sensible poster, I have no desire to fill my ATRL profile with personal details. I've always been cognizant to maintain some form of anonymity here on ATRL and not over-share details about my personal life. I think that fits in with my sensible approach to online interactions. While I may be dragged for a blank profile, I'm not about to fill it up. I'm happy to be known as Capital B (or boyonce!) but I don't think it's wise to have ATRL knowing my name, where I live, what I do, etc. I have no desire for overlap between my real life details and my ATRL posting - I think that reflects my sensible nature: mature, restrained, and mindful.
Superiore
Quote:
Originally posted by Superiore
The first thing my avatar represents is an artist I'm a stan/fan of, in this case Lady Gaga, even though, at times, I've worn troll-ish avis too. Other than for Gaga herself, I chose this exact scene because it contains some of the sides and things I like the most about her: a silly and playful attitude, her being happy and giving a smile (sorry for the cheesyness), and the famous blond wig with the long bangs. This combination gives to the avatar, an ATRLer's major business card, a cute and still unique look.
I think my branding is the one of a nice and friendly member with his playful moments or at least this is what I think is the impression that other people in the site have of me. Actually, the avatar I'm wearing now kinda resembles my personality, now that I'm thinking about it. Furthermore, I'm sure by now the other contestants of the game, and the judges too, may have noticed this is what I am, since I'm very active in the thread and I think I've interacted with everybody. I have fun igniting faux quarrels or shady sequences of posts with the members I'm friends with or that I like the most but, in reality, my actual shading skills are in the weakest tier of this site and always end up being light-hearted since no anger resides in my heart. I'm quite outgoing, and helpful when I can, too and this is what helped me the most in creating amazing friendships that I would've never thought I could do online (no need to mention, the hoes know who they are). To finish, these are the main aspects of my personality and I suppose you realized it as well.
I made my personal picks from some posts I made in this thread because this way you'll know what I'm talking about and not see them just as random words.
My avatar choice is simple, as it usually always is with most of mine. It's a scene taken out of the Japanese film 'Why Don't You Play In Hell ?' It's a grindhouse movie packed with all kinds of playful and clever nods and references to other movies, so since I'm a film buff I loved it. I often choose scenes from not so popular stuff on ATRL to spread the word, thus, I saw the immediate potential for my next avatar in the movie. I chose said scene because it's a primary example of how ridiculously absurd its humour is and I feel it represents my fun and light trolling persona well.
Part 2: Branding
I'm not quite sure what to make of the word 'branding' on an online forum as I don't run around this board advertising myself. I suppose what people would brand me as is the obvious tv stan in SYG and one who almost exclusively talks about either shows or movies. I usually make witty references or come for other shows I don't like while also stanning for LeJANEd Fonda.
Fun, witty & teasing would be how I'd brand the content of my posts and never one to take anything too seriously just like my current avatar.
My avatar is a representation of my favorite TV character. I wanted an avatar that stood out from others, so I decided to take one of reality tv's most memorable characters, and add a little twist to it. I haven't changed my avatar since I put my current one into effect, so it will be carried with me along my ATRL career. My avatar also goes with my brand, since New York is a mess and made you laugh at the same time. She was also sometimes sarcastic and overdramatic.
If you couldn't tell from the ****ing big-ass title, my brand is sarcastic-mess. Don't even know why the **** we have to make a damn explanation when the **** explains itself. Giving me Fairy Tale fail teas. Anyway, I'm a mess if you haven't noticed. At the same time I'm also sarcastic in real life, so I bring that over to ATRL as well. I'm a funny guy and (for the 100th time) my type of humor is sarcastic. Sprinkle a little versatile-(bottom ) and sassiness and ta-da!
Bonus Tracks & For those who don't like additional windows *cough Katie*:
Quote:
Originally posted by FunkyDinevo
rl231 since you live in ATL are you trade? Do you know Melvin?
Quote:
Originally posted by FunkyDinevo
2 bottoms/2 holes dont go together
Quote:
Originally posted by FunkyDinevo
hmm...I guess I'll do the manscaping with Nair over the weekend
Melvin
Quote:
Originally posted by Melvin
Other than just being a Nicki stan, I have the avatar(s) that I have for a reason. The reason that you see 10 avatars, is because I have a rotating avatar that changes on each refresh. Besides that, if you look at all of the avatars, you will see a common theme, They're all based on Nicki's transformation for 2014/The Pinkprint. All the way from the Beats commercial, to the simple fingerprint from The Pinkprint's cover, these avatars show evolution of Nicki as a person for this year. I recently changed my username to simply my first name, Melvin. It is a great representation of myself and my transformation on ATRL, from my crazy NICKIMINAJ phase, to my classy HERMĒS phase. It ties it all together to who and what I truly am, It's simply Melvin.
On ATRL, I don't really see the need to be messy, or always make someone laugh. It's never bad to actually leave an intellectual response to something that will actually aid in the conversation. I've noticed that because of this, some people say that my personality comes across as boring, plain, simple, and even sometimes fake. But it's the way I am, and it's how I like to portray myself online, and in real life. This can be done in super short responses, or wordy descriptive responses. Overall, I like to keep it as simple as possible, and my posts reflect it.
I could have definitely left a plethora of spaz letters to aid in my response to how fabulous the album was, but in support of my "Brand," I was able to sum up all of my thoughts in a short, concise, and eloquent post.
While I could have pulled an Allstar, and dragged DOMINO by his neck for not choosing another time/twist, I simply stated that what were having having to do, with that server, wasn't the tea.
This was one of my more wordier, posts, I included some great points on how messy the round was, and what went wrong, in my opinion. This is an example of how honest and open my brand can be.
(for the ones that don't know: second image is my good ol' avi)
~ Smack that, clap, clap, clap like you don't care
(I know you care)
My name is the Pink Care Bear ~
a. This bit was cool, mainly because of the song lyrics (the 'I know you care' bit). It got me, because ever since I've been on ATRL, I've seen so many people acting like they don't care, like they're the baddest bitch around here. I don't buy it for one second - this bit from the 7/11 video reminded me of that.
(Example #3 exemplifies what I've been trying to say here.)
b. The 7/11 video has been described as personal, fun and relaxed, while most of the 'BEYONCÉ' videos were a bit fancier. The video seems a little weird (see gif to the right) , but that's good: fancy is fun, weird is wonderful. I am weird thus wonderful - hence why I picked a gif from the 7/11 video as my avatar.
c. Honestly, like all good kids, I was just trying to fit in when picking this as my avi. Everybody seemed the love the 7/11 video, so ofcourse I wanted an avatar from it. It won't come as a surprise - but at the end of the day, I care about what people think of me. It's all part of this little thing I call ATRL puberty. I'll get back to that in the next part.
d. It is important to care. After all, happiness doesn't mean a thing, until you let it in. That last sentence is also part of my Signature.
As I am writing this, I still haven't crossed the magical mark of 1,000 posts. However, when I signed up for this game, I had just 47 posts.
I've been reading through my recent posts for the last few days - most of whom where in the Les ATRLers thread -, and realized that for me it really comes down to this: I do not have a brand yet.
So, does that give me a disadvantage over other contestants? Maybe. What's really exciting though, is that I still have to figure it all out. In a way, this is ATRL puberty. For your information, I ain't in puberty for real: I'm turning 22 in a few months - I'm not 16, like some members have been saying.
Let's get back to the main idea: I do not have a brand. That leaves me to the next question - am I just a regular newbie? I don't think so. This amazing other contestant I have on Whatsapp recently called me weird, however, likeable. (Thank you for that by the way, Serena.) According to the host of this amazing game I'm in, I got too much attitude. (Thank you for that, DOMINO.) What I got from Serena + DOMINO said was this - I always speak my mind. I can be annoying, but it's the ****ing internet, and as long as I don't hurt anyone, it's all good.
So... about me speaking my mind:
#1. I am a hot mess sometimes.
#2. I don't like people calling typical RedOne fodder like 'Starships' classics.
#3. As a Psychology major, I see right through people.
#4. I am genuinely interested in others, as long you're nice to me. I ain't a superficial bitch.
(Numbers match receipts.)
The Pink Care Bear
Example #1
Quote:
Originally posted by darkhorse
Quote:
Originally posted by DOMINO
Mess, I wasn't being serious.
And yes. Only if you stay long enough, though,
I don't plan on leaving anytime soon.
It's a pity bey_rihstan got banned though, because there was no way in hell I woul've been eliminated before ha..
It's just your typical RedOne fodder, he is just not a good producer (I loved him back in the day though). It's nice, but not timeless. Even Just Dance ain't timeless, only Poker Face is.
I have to say, the avatars are probably my favorite part about ATRL. Rocking a great avi it just feels good and it adds a lot to your ATRL persona.
The avi I'm choosing is the one above me. I always wanted to have a well-known avi around ATRL and this did it quite good. It was also stolen some days ago.
Why I love it?
Because I think it fits my persona on ATRL pretty good, it's cute, classy and shady at the same time and it has the right amount of sass.
Rihanna having that cute smile, the hair flick and the sudden reaction change at the end it's such a perfect combination. I also love the close-up and the contrast between her pink top, dark hair and the blue background.
It means my ATRL identity for me, and no matter if I'll change it from times to times, it will still come back, always. Shoutout to Superiore for creating it.
The Brand
Just like Rihanna and my avi I think my persona overall is described as a chameleon.
I change all the time and I tend to adapt to every situation. And I also love that there is a strong connection between my avi and myself most of the time.
Over the past two years, ATRL has been such a fun experience for me. Not only because I got to meet all these diverse people, from all over the world online, not only because I got and still get to practice my english here, but also because I think I developed a lot of personas here, online.
From being a tacky troll to being a cute troll.
From being a proud, emotional stan to being a fighting bitch.
I also tend to see this tendency of low bipolarity in myself. I also feel like I'm a polarising person for some people here. Today I got reported for just answering a thread's question while I saw so many other members calling me such a nice member. And I also make the month-end warning reports being reported by people I don't even know.
So yeah, that's what I think my brand is about, in my opinion I grew a lot as a member from 2013 when I was a Beyonce troll, and now I love her, and I still grow, but I still have these breakouts in me from times to times.
.
Serendipity
To be posted.
Since he has immunity this week it is not that important for his entry to be posted right now.
PROFILES
Sorry took a bit longer because ATRL was acting weirdly for me.
Excuse me Miss DOMINO I would like there to be Table formatting in the italicized part (in the middle) so it's not italicized
Here, I fixed it so copy-paste this
...Some people say that my personality comes across as boring, plain, simple, and even sometimes fake. But it's the way I am, and it's how I like to portray myself online, and in real life
My Posts
I'm quite outgoing, and helpful when I can, too and this is what helped me the most in creating amazing friendships that I would've never thought I could do online (no need to mention, the hoes know who they are). To finish, these are the main aspects of my personality and I suppose you realized it as well.
) and sassiness and ta-da! 
