ATRL's Next TOP MEMBER Cycle 7 | EP6: The Entries!
ATRL's Next topmember Cycle 7
EPISODE 6: SMILEYS
WHAT TO DO WITH THE ENTRIES: I want each of you to PM me who you think had the best entry and the worst entry. You cannot say yourself!
I would like the two names into me by
Thursday April 26, 2012
@ 9 PM US Central Time
THE ENTRIES
Quote:
Originally posted by Vulps
:vulps:
I made this little one myself, using the base of a jpg. icon I stumbled upon on Avril Bandaids. I animated it, tweaked the colour scheme and made a few other minor adjustments (or major, I suppose, given that it's like 15x15 pixels), and voila!
Why I think this smiley could make it in the big leagues (throwing in a sporting metaphor there, a rare day for me indeed) is because it just has so many diverse uses. Sure, we have quite a few already that are seemingly attached to every sentence on ATRL, such as , and a few others, but they don't actually convey different meanings each time.
:vulps: on the other hand, does. What makes it so unique is that it allows you to joke about yourself as well. If you've said something stupid, or made a mistake somewhere, :vulps: is just an easy way to admit to it and brush it off. I think that's why I like it so much, because whenever I goof up (as I may have with that sporting metaphor - I'm having my doubts about it now) I just laugh along and continue with my day. I think that's how this smiley really reflects me.
But this smiley has a second side to it as well. Honestly, I don't think there's another smiley as effortlessly condescending as this one. And you just know the good people of ATRL will love it. But for the sake of those who aren't too fond of smiley-flooded posts, I think it'll be quite hard to overuse :vulps:. It can be used either to point out a blatantly ignorant post, or as an intentionally poor hider of shade - but to be effective, you have to pick the right words, and I think that'll control the use of it to normal levels in regular threads (you gotta wait for that home-run kinda ball...or something. Sorry, I'll stop the baseball comparisons). However, it also just works for a silly conversation between friends that's all in good fun. I'll attempt to demonstrate all sides of it in the following conversation:
Quote:
Originally posted by Geo
Has Monkey been banned from the thread yet?
Quote:
Originally posted by Matty
I tried, but I think I ended up deleting Devin's account instead.
Quote:
Originally posted by Geo
Whatever will we do without his wit and active participation?
Quote:
Originally posted by Matty
Well, we could bring Monkey back.
I had what I think was a clever reference to innings to signify the end of this entry, but seeing as I had to look up the word to make sure I got it right, I think I'll pass, just to be safe.
~fin
Quote:
Originally posted by Quiqui4eva
:qui:
Ahh... those days when I didn't give a damn about what others thought of me. I enjoyed taking the spotlight. You could call me the Lady Gaga of my Elementary school. I was always striving to be the center of attention, whether it was by slaying educational activities, treating everyone with care, and dancing like there was no tomorrow. Whenever an instigator was on my pedestal, I shoved them back where they belonged in the class ranking (last).
1. My Intelligence
I was the smartest kid in almost all my Elementary classes running from Pre-K to 5th grade. Infact, my friend and I were the only Pre-K kids to immdiately move up to the Kindergarten grade. While others were whispering in eachother's ears, chewing gum, laughing etc., I glued my eyes on the textbook to make sure there was an 'A+' imprinted on that report card. For activites, we used whiteboards to write an answer to the question my teacher asked. And guess who was always the first one with that board raised up at the highest altitude? The kids were clearly intimidated. They all formed a group and attempted to reach my level, but sadly failed.
2. My personality
I was definetly the class clown and made up the most hilarious (now corny as hell) jokes. For example:
What did the cow say when he grazed in the high grass?
I'm gonna MOO the lawn
I treated with everyone with kindness and respect, especially the adults, like my mama taught me, no matter how evil someone was. If someone had no money to buy lunch, I'd hand them a couple bucks. If someone wanted a cuddly, soft teddy bear for Christmas, I'd buy it for them.
I was always prepared to partay at the end of the school day. Infact, my friend would play the song Country Grammar to get me going like an energy drink. The teachers payed me so much attention like I was the only child in the classroom. They set up a huge party for me on my birthday, and even dedicated the last day of school to me by playing my absolute favorite song/dance at the time, The Ketchup Song. I remember poppin' my ass like I was just delivered out of Bey's coochie. Next thing I knew, kids were lining down the block to learn some choreo.
Discovering this amazing smiley really reminded me of the current peak of my life. I think it totally represents me, as my electrifying personality and maturity is shown throughout this site. I'm sure other ATRL'ers can relate to this as well, as many make downright silly threads to get their desired 5 minutes of the spotlight. And for these members, don't expect the sudden relevancy to last. It's all cleared out in the blink of an eye.
-----------------------
For any of you that are clueless to the music I metioned in my essay, here they are:
Quote:
Originally posted by Ammer
:ammer:
The smiley I have selected is of a face with his eyes closed, and clapping gracefully. I wanted to pick a smiley which represented my personality - maturity and sophisticated. A large part of one's image is not only what you think you represent, but what other people actually think you represent. In a recent ATRL confession, I was deemed as "pretentious" which is an adjective that I find is mis-attributed to more mature individuals. Nonetheless, in order to truly become ATRL's Next Top Member, you need to be conscious of your labels and find a way to own the negativity and use it to further boost your reputation and image. Thus, I decided to intertwine this description into my personality, and picked a smiley which I felt represented how I feel about myself (maturity and sophistication) and how others feel about me (pretentious). I feel the emoticon does a solid job at communicating both sides of the coin without subscribing to a particular point of view.
Quote:
Originally posted by DvnR
introducing :dvnr:
Say hello to :dvnr:, the next big thing. Back when the Irrelevants Unite thread was at its peak, I found this emoticon and tried to create a name for myself with it. Overall it's a very friendly emoticon. That's what I intended it to be. It could be used for shade, but it would have to be very slick in execution of it would just come off as tacky. For example:
Quote:
Quote:
Originally posted by Owl
How's Talk That Talk doing on the Billboard 200?
Just as well as Biophilia's doing in the App Store.
I wanna keep this entry short and sweet because honestly I think it's just a combination of very welcoming and very potent in what it can be used for, especially one-liner posts. It's simple, effective, and would fit in with the ATRL smiley family.
Quote:
Originally posted by TheGeoKing
Honestly, I cannot believe this smiley has not been added to atrl. I have saved this smiley for over a year at least. It's the perfect "shade" smiley.
It's so simple, but so usable. With the constant shady talk that goes on in threads such as NHB or SYG, this would be the perfect smiley to use. I'm not a narcissist when it comes to naming things after myself, so I think the perfect name for this smiley would simply be :fan: The name isn't taken and it's a short word that perfectly represents the smiley.
This smiley could easily be the next smiley to take over atrl. It is perfect for shady conversations between members over artists as well as for other things. It won't fade into obscurity like the following smilies:
:fan: is the perfect smiley that could easily be the next big hit on atrl.
Quote:
Originally posted by Owl
:!owl:
Quote:
Originally posted by Evun
:hipster:
( or :evun: )
Inspired by :alexz2:,
:hipster: provides an emoticon for all those Lana-loving, Marina-maniac ATRLers.
With its thick-rimmed glasses, stylish fedora, thrifted plaid shirt, and ironic smoking addiction,
:hipster: perfectly captures the nonconformist, intellectual 20-something artist lifestyle.
Want to judge people with your superior indie cred?
Wait, so you've never heard of Charli XCX?
Want to tell someone you're serious about your music experience?
I only buy vinyl.
Want to introduce ATRL to your favorite Pitchfork discovery?
Y'all should get into her early work.
Want to ironically mock hipsters for trying too hard to be cool cool and ironic?
You're soooo cool and ironic.
Hand made by Evun, :hipster: is destined to be an undeniable hit!
Or underperform so it can maintain its indie cred.
(The white background issue will be fixed at a later day, appreciate the DIY aesthetics of it for now)
I despise Nicki now. I used to actually like her when she wasn't a sell-out, but I hate her now.
now when you said it, come to think thats how we started it. Hmmm you wouldn't dare saying that in front of my Shayne homie Vulps.
We know Ke$ha got to where he/she is by .... off of Dr.Luke. and Shayne won his fame fair and square not saying he did ....anything to get to where he is now.
haha I cannot wait to hear what you say about Gaga.
I despise Nicki not for selling out but shutting twitter. Stupidity at its greatest.
now when you said it, come to think thats how we started it. Hmmm you wouldn't dare saying that in front of my Shayne homie Vulps.
We know Ke$ha got to where he/she is by .... off of Dr.Luke. and Shayne won his fame fair and square not saying he did ....anything to get to where he is now.
haha I cannot wait to hear what you say about Gaga.
I despise Nicki not for selling out but shutting twitter. Stupidity at its greatest.
I just did.
I think you mad because Shayne doesn't chart.
I like Gaga.
AGREE. She has been so annoying lately.
Taking the world by storm, one dirty video at a time.
No Promises, and then began my stanning after I got into Breathless. And after Avril flopped across the globe I had even more time for him.
Don't expose us yet bb.
Well it's kinda sad actually Shayne used to be an icon but he's flopping hard like Avril.
You could tell his videos are gonna get dirtier after the last video of Gotta Be Somebody.
Your Avril comment had me tripping HARD!!
Hmm interesting, probably same with me since Sept 2007.
expose what? I didn't know Julian is a common name in subcontinental India.
I just did.
I think you mad because Shayne doesn't chart.
I like Gaga.
AGREE. She has been so annoying lately.
I;m just mad cuz you shade Shayne when he hasn't released an album in 2 year now.
Well you stan for flop artist Natalie Kills (which Wonderland > Free) stretch that dollar bill stretch that dollar bill.
You just did what? by putting a .... > .... doesn't count as a good shade it's just that you know how to do 2nd grade math
I like Gaga still though her last album under-performed.
I'm glad you AGREED on something.
Well it's kinda sad actually Shayne used to be an icon but he's flopping hard like Avril.
You could tell his videos are gonna get dirtier after the last video of Gotta Be Somebody.
Your Avril comment had me tripping HARD!!
Hmm interesting, probably same with me since Sept 2007.
expose what? I didn't know Julian is a common name in subcontinental India.
Expose that it's the two of us that have been rock-steady for 7 months now.
Shayne will still go down in history for his unmatched sales and killer vocals. I'm sure he'll return to the scene next year, all he needs is an X-Factor performance and hopefully Simon will allow it.
Also, Sri Lanka is in no way associated with India. We're our own country and people.
I glued my eyes on the textbook to make sure there was an 'A+' imprinted on that report card. [...] The teachers payed me so much attention like I was the only child in the classroom.
I;m just mad cuz you shade Shayne when he hasn't released an album in 2 year now.
Well you stan for flop artist Natalie Kills (which Wonderland > Free) stretch that dollar bill stretch that dollar bill.
You just did what? by putting a .... > .... doesn't count as a good shade it's just that you know how to do 2nd grade math
I like Gaga still though her last album under-performed.
I'm glad you AGREED on something.
Even if he did release something, he wouldn't even reach the Top 150. Oop.
I don't stan for that hoe.
Expose that it's the two of us that have been rock-steady for 7 months now.
Shayne will still go down in history for his unmatched sales and killer vocals. I'm sure he'll return to the scene next year, all he needs is an X-Factor performance and hopefully Simon will allow it.
Also, Sri Lanka is in no way associated with India. We're our own country and people.
I'm sure Shayne will go DOWN somewhere if you know what I mean.
If Sir Lanka is no way associated with India, then if someone says "I've been to Sri Lanka," then another person says "cool, where's that?" and then that first person has to reply "it's near India."
Ugh, damn you Owl you pigeon-brained FOOL. You had potential to make a good comeback and you **** it up.
PS: I wasn't overly satisfied with these entries minus two or so. This challenge was.. eh. Had a very good concept, I just think it just wasn't done right by amazingly of the members. Oh well. I didn't do great either.
I'm sure Shayne will go DOWN somewhere if you know what I mean.
If Sir Lanka is no way associated with India, then if someone says "I've been to Sri Lanka," then another person says "cool, where's that?" and then that first person has to reply "it's near India."
I'm counting on it.
I don't say that, I tell them it's near the Maldives.
(like we had almost 2 years ago) 
, 
and a few others, but they don't actually convey different meanings each time.
Back when the Irrelevants Unite thread was at its peak, I found this emoticon and tried to create a name for myself with it. Overall it's a very friendly emoticon. That's what I intended it to be. It could be used for shade, but it would have to be very slick in execution of it would just come off as tacky. For example:
This challenge was.. eh. Had a very good concept, I just think it just wasn't done right by amazingly of the members. Oh well. I didn't do great either.