[DripDrip]

No one watched the season enough to give her coins

[Superpower]

Originally posted by Subomie

ghnesbfd Bebe got nothing, Ru said they never gave out the check on the Lost Season.

Remember that episode when they had to interview Chaz Bono and one of the contestants asked him "do you have HIV?"

[Subomie]

Originally posted by Superpower

Remember that episode when they had to interview Chaz Bono and one of the contestants asked him "do you have HIV?"

m the episode where Akashia doesn't stand up to welcome her guests, sticks her ass in their face and walks out before them

[umich]

Where's Matty?

[Achilles.]

Originally posted by umich

Where's Matty?

At a convention for A-lister paid sisters.

[Matty]

I guess I never mentioned that I would be at work both yesterday/Friday and today/Saturday. My bad.
Like I literally just got home like 10 minutes ago.

Expect late updates for judges comments and the results. I'm going to finish up my comments and update before going to bed, so expect them after maintenance.

[Aurora]

Let me check this thread in an hour then.

[Matty]

---

EPISODE 8: ATRL DO'S & DON'TS

THE COMMENTS

CITRUS says...

BombThis was cutely put together, and your tips hit all the major areas. That said, I don’t particularly like that you included examples of the bad posts. I know how dumb and hypocritical that sounds, so let me explain. It sorta feels like telling a toddler not to eat from a cookie jar and then putting the jar in plain sight. Do you see what I mean? Also wish Micky and Donald had been present in smaller icons throughout because I’m stupid and got the Dos and Donts mixed up when I looked at the columns.

SamThis is beautifully designed, of course, but it’s lacking. This felt like the Dos and Donts of Being Sam, not for members in general. Like with the colored signature stuff, minimalist signatures, having reaction GIFs on hand…I’m not saying I disagree with those points, just that I don’t think they’re really that important that they should’ve been included in this instead of going into more detail of how not to get warned, being conscious of how you come across, etc.

Superpower
Love the irony of “Don’t be a pedant….Not a Harvard classroom.” You’re a clever one. Anyways, these tips were all 100% accurate. The list felt a little sparse, but, the more I thought about it, I realized it’s not a bad thing in your case. You covered more than most this challenge with half as many words. Look at you inching your way towards becoming a frontrunner.

Subomie
I haven’t seen an entry this good from you since your branding submission. Casual, serviceable wit, and informal but still authoritative. Great job.
Era – That gift bag is really cute and I want one delivered to my doorstep ASAP, and it should be filled with shampoo for girls whose wigs are snatched. Also, this entry is boring. I told you last week that you were getting close to being predictable. This week, you were. The “reaching out” to members of good reputation isn’t something I know of anyone ever doing, and members shouldn’t have to lie about who they prefer as an artist. This is your flop era.

JakeKills
Did you forget about this and throw it together last minute? Actually, don’t answer that. I’d rather believe that than consider that this is something you submitted after careful review. Wooo, where do I start? This is GOOD advice, honestly. It’s just presented in a horribly obnoxious way without enough detail. Be thankful that Supa liked you, because I read his comments and ended up revising my score for you because I agreed with some of his points.

Bey_Rihstan
This is mostly sound advice, and I like that it’s from your own perspective as a “messy” (well, messier than some) member instead of from the point of view of some perfect, squeaky-member. However, I think you could’ve done without the abbreviations and other txt lingo. A little too casual. I also wish there was something more interesting to make this stick out among the other entries.

SUPASPAZ says...

A Bomb
Strange, comma punctuation, aside, this entry is nicely done. You figured out a sensible way to work in your Disney motif, and you selected good tips that keep an eye on the bigger picture even as they draw from specific examples. (Great self-deprecating touch with that epic Katie drag.) I might have switched around the order of the lessons for a better flow, but the disrespectful discourse is the bane of my ATRL existence, so I’m also glad that you put it at #1.

Sam
Your presentation is, once again, impeccable. It’s one thing to have design skill, but I also adore your clean, bold aesthetic. The parallel shape theme was a really effective choice. If only the content of your entry lived up to it. Framing your tips around becoming a #certified ATRLegend was an interesting idea, but the actual advice feels rather thin.

Superpower
Given the layout and the number of tips you came up with, it would have been cool if you had curated your list a bit more, perhaps matching up related dos and don’ts so that you could read it across or top-to-bottom. I like the moments where you let your humor shine through (“This is a pop culture forum, not a Harvard classroom,” “ain’t nobody got time for that!”), but compared to some of the other entries this week, yours didn’t seem to have as strong of a perspective.

Subomie
I got all excited when I saw “Express Yourself” and a picture of Madonna, because I thought you had done some cute pop star theme throughout your entry. Alas, ’twas not to be, but it’s a strong effort nonetheless. Your tips give a comprehensive sense of what it takes to be a good citizen of the ATRL community, and your distinctive voice makes the advice fun, even if I’m forced to read it over those somewhat tacky diagonal stripes.

Era
Your entry starts well, but it trails off. As always, I could praise your creative and beautifully-designed layout. Ultimately, though, the gift bag theme doesn’t carry through; the post would be essentially the same without it. And the advice section was a bit lackluster. A couple of the tips were weirdly focused more on what others think of you rather than making the most of your ATRL experience. At least you ended punchy with a cute #R8 joke.

JakeKills
It doesn’t look the best, but your Buzzfeed approach to the challenge stands out as one of the more memorable and effective entries this week. I like that you paired up the dos and don’ts, giving your advice a sense of cohesion and development. What really struck me, though, is this effortless confidence you brought to the challenge; you know ATRL, and get ATRL, well enough that you can speak authoritatively and joke about it in equal measure, sometimes in the same breath.

Bey_Rihstan
Oof. This is not the greatest impression to make in your first week back; I can feel how rushed your entry was. (Do’s and Do’s? Always take the extra minute to proofread!) That said, you came up with some good tips that demonstrate a deep familiarity with the forum, a usefulness for new members and nice sense of humor, even if you completely disregarded your own advice to keep it concise. (Maybe don’t put it first next time if it’s not that important?)

UMICH says...

A Bomb
These are VERY key in the development of an ATRL persona, and I think you did a great job with your examples (minus that subtle Katy drag, but I get what you were doing). I think you brought up a good point when members try to be other members (i.e. Nicole). Members really need to learn to be themselves, because they’ll get lost in the crowd of folks very quickly. Good job.

Sam
I like how you’ve stuck with your brand and kept things very simple. I appreciate that you realize that many people aren’t here to reach a bunch of texts - they want the straight-to-the-point facts. I do feel that members should branch out and explore other ATRL subforums instead of being glued to one, so you bring out a very great point. Very good use of colors and associating them with the dos/dont’s.

Superpower
Some of these are good tips of dos and don’ts. Like Sam, you kept it short and sweet, but you did it in your own way. To me, I feel like these are automatic for people to already know (i.e. double-check spelling, be helpful). Some bits seemed more like a lecture than a genuine advice-giving session.

Subomie
Like Superpower’s, I think a lot of your advice/tips are things people should already know about before joining or participating on any music forum. What I did like was that you specifically touched upon the worst AVI thread and how members can ask for help, because I’ve seen a lot of people get butthurt about having bad avis.

Era
Great layout as always, but I think you fell a bit short in the challenge. I think you provided up with good dos and don’ts but they’re very much applicable to any forum (even the R8 jab ). Remember that this is a place where some people don’t like to read a lot of content, so it’s possible that someone could overlook your points and not read it all. Thanks for the "Choose Your Battles" promo, though.

JakeKills
I liked your entry because your dos and don’ts are direct, and these are the types of things that people will actually read. However, I did get slight Buzzed teas after reading through your entire entry. Moreover, nobody really reads the rules here, so that one might be a lost cause.

Bey_Rihstan
Wait, I didn’t realize that I had brilliant shade. Let me continue to do what I’m doing then. Back to your entry - you had a lot of great tips, but I think you could have organized them a bit better. There were some things that could have been lumped together to illustrate one common do/don’t, such as “be messy in moderation/have posts of substance.” They’re nearly the same thing when you think about it. the dirtydiana drag caught me off guard, but that’s also an important tip.

Stay tuned for what Cupid & Matty have said...




Fierce and Love
- Matty

[Matty]

---

EPISODE 8: ATRL'S DO'S & DON'TS

THE COMMENTS

CUPID says...

A Bomb
That opening paragraph was worded very strangely, it was a little confusing. In fact, I didn't really like the wording in any of this. It was way too informal and messy. I think you picked good examples for do's and don't's, but the explanations were just way off the mark for me. This felt confusing and I didn't really enjoy it.

Sam
For me, this was all style and no substance. Whilst I can appreciate a nice looking entry, it has to have an integral heart to it. This didn't really feel like a "Do's and Don't's" it was more like a "Welcome to ATRL you must all fit in" post. I love non-gif avis! Formatted posts are often cute too! There just really wasn't much useful information in this. I'm disappointed.

Superpower
Looks cute. It's simple and straight to the point, list of do's and list of don't's. I like you do section, there's some nice selections in there. I know it's impossible to cover everything but you seem to have a nice variety. The don't section is kind of a mess though. Firstly some of the language used isn't ideal for a guide to new members, I mean, who else besides me would know what a pedant is without googling? I think you could have covered more of the essential don't's and not just the messy side. It's a good attempt though.

Subomie
Cute presentation. I actually really liked the content in this entry too. It's simple enough that it wouldn't be overwhelming to new members but it also covers pretty much all the basics. My only concern would be to take out a little of the more barbed comments and stan flavour (hunties, music of the sun age shade etc). I think it could have been beefed out a little more, but overall it was a nice attempt.

Era
As always, amazing presentation. I love that gift bag lol. I liked the Do section, except for one. The pick your company part rubbed me the wrong way. It read more as a "stay away from certain bases or you won't be popular" - if I join atrl, i'm gonna talk about whatever artists I like and I probably don't care about negative associations with bases, that's rather childish. The don't section was a complete mess, you really missed the mark with that part. It's like as the entry went along you got bored and just threw together some jokes about R8 and "don't be a try hard" repeated. Overall it's a mixed result.

JakeKills
Lol, okay some of the gifs were cute and funny. But in reality, this is one ball of ugly hunny. Your actual examples of do's and don't's were surprisingly good. But the explanations were so bare. I honestly could have done with less gifs and more writing. (Maybe a few gifs..) And that test the limits one? No henny, delete it fat. You had the bare minimum this round when it came to structure, I expected better though, especially at this stage in the game.

Bey_Rihstan
Welcome back! So reading your list and I was getting a few kii's but then I realized... this is supposed to be for new members. Are new members really going to get the dirtydiana ugly gif's reference? The umich reference? etc.. I think not! You had a lot of good examples, and I think you covered pretty much most points, but the way you explained them was more like you were aiming it at members who are already part of this forum and not newbies. It needed a little more finesse. But the structure was there.

MATTY says...

A Bomb
Literally the first thing I thought when seeing your graphics and dialogue was “So were catering to the Disney fans. In particular those fans that are too old for Playhouse Disney, but still not old enough to now the jokes of actual Disney.” Which, after reading everything, that whole pre-thought kind of brought your entry down considering your entry was really good! You gave short do’s and don’ts, but you focused on arguably the biggest 5. On top of that, the early disclaimer and the examples you provided just brought it to another level. I just wished you took away the big Disney shtick and let everything speak more. Here simplicity would have been key and would make a more bigger impact than having the newer generation of ATRL read this and think we’re talking to them as kids.

Sam
This layout. PERFECTION! Like I could see this fitting in with new ATRL scheme and design; and would be perfect to be used as an actual guide for new members to see once they join… aesthetically. As for content, I feel like it could have been better. To me, honestly, I just don’t see much importance to avatar and formatting of posts when there have been members that have had no avatar and didn’t format their posts and became fairly well known; i.e. someone like Lipton. It just all seemed more focused on like you said, the basics, than actual things you should do and things you shouldn’t do instead.

Superpower
It’s cute and affective. A lot of the do’s and don’ts are fairly spot on what people should follow. I do kind of feel like one do and one don’t kind of counteract with each other. You say do double check your spelling and grammar, but then don’t be pedant as this is a pop culture forum not Harvard. Of course being able to spell and have proper grammar is nice and all, but we’re human and make mistakes. I feel like that don’t be pedant line just fits more than worrying about double checking grammar. Of course some will make fun of you for it, but it’s not like they haven’t made that kind of mistake before as well.

Subomie
" Follow these simple tips and you'll find yourself enjoying a much more fruitful and fun ATRL existence. Even if you fall off this wagon, pick yourself up and get right back on. Sometimes we can't always be totally respectful and quality members, sometimes we just act a mess (just look at me!). That's fine, we don't have to be perfect robots all the time either. Just try to follow this list and you will see the benefits hunties.”
Why is this honestly the sweetest and truest tea I have ever sipped? Like, you’re entry and all the points were so good that after reading this, I went to go look for microphone just so I could drop it and walk off. This entry was really good! It was honest, it was real, it was true. I just do secretly wish we could take your list, put it into Sam’s design, and submit it to Athens to use when we upgrade.

Era
This gift bag for new members was WAY too large for such suggestions written on little pieces of paper. Like I’m trying to figure out an appropriate was to say this that it makes sense… Your entry just seemed too big. Let me try to explain. It started with the big ass giant gift bag and then we get these big fonts and everything just felt so in your face. I honestly struggled to read through it and from what I read you had some good things to say. You had humor and you had points. This is just a perfect case where sometimes over doing it on graphics can really KILL an entry. For that big of a gift bag I was expecting some insight that were along the lines of value of an iPod or something overly Apple priced. Everyone loves getting more bang for their buck, but this was TOO much BANG for your buck.

JakeKills
“Vin's "... Vin" is his own, and you won't ingratiate yourself to the ATRL community by being a kopykat.”
“Nobody likes a negative Nelly Furtado.”
I sense some shade…. And some confusing shade. A negative Nelly Furtado? Like what even is this?
Anywho, I thought your list was very well done and gave a lot of personality. The use of gifs was really a smart idea for me. It just brought more of this playful sense of vibe that when no members were to read this they can tell ATRL can be a humorous play. Now here is the thing I don’t like about your entry, the ending. We get it, you love Taylor. You think she’s on a level of The Lord, but for something like this that was just not needed. We play all the time that ATRL is the house that Britney built, but if a Britney stan were to put something like that on their list of what to do; it would be frowned upon as well. This list is to be for EVERYONE, not end up being catered to Taylor Swift and her stans.

BeyRih
“Don't: Get Banned
- I think this is self explanatory. You're here to contribute to discussions and kill time. If you're banned all the time, what's the point?”
If only new BeyRih knew about this, maybe she would have been further along in the comeback last cycle. I just found this kind of ironic, but maybe this was a self realization to not do this for yourself. The on the flip side, I wish this was kind of a place for you to be honest. Not just for this, but others. When compared to others in the competition, I feel like you are the one who has more history. By history I mean experience in stuff on what not to do and what to do. For that I just don’t feel like it connected much, but yet it was still effective.

Stay tuned Sunday to see who is eliminated!




Fierce and Love
- Matty

[Era]

I'm being eliminated going by these comments

[Aurora]

Yeah, very fair points. I didn't have a lot of time for my entry as I said before I submitted it and I probably spent a bit too much time on the aesthetics and not enough on the content. I'll own that.

[Superpower]

I thought about elaborating my Dos and Don'ts but I wanted to cover more and not have long paragraphs. I wanted to keep it short and concise and more like a traditional list as suggested by the challenge.
Members who elaborated their Dos and Don'ts didn't cover as much ground as I did. Both styles have good and bad things going on for them as the judges pointed out.
Thank you for the comments. Happy Saturday

[Era]

Originally posted by Sam 

Yeah, very fair points. I didn't have a lot of time for my entry as I said before I submitted it and I probably spent a bit too much time on the aesthetics and not enough on the content. I'll own that.

Kinda same but I didn't have time for both.

[Achilles.]

And that test the limits one? No henny, delete it fat.

Most of the things on my list are based on advice that I was actually giving members from the most recent registration group, and they would always ask like... "What's flamebait? How do I avoid getting warned for it?" And I feel like testing the limits is probably the best way to learn what is and isn't within the bounds of the rules. With something as subjective as flamebait, it's hard to explain to people what will and won't get them points, and I think it's easier and better to just let them **** up a bit. It's a learning experience.


And nnn Matty, the Nelly Furtado thing wasn't meant to be shade or anything, just a cute play on the traditional "negative Nelly" phrase. And the concluding Taylor thing was just meant to be an on-trend joke, given how widespread TaylorNation™ jokes have been the past few months.

[Bey_Rihstan]

dd I thought the new members had been lurking for a while before joining. I know before I joined I knew most members & their traits when posting

--

I read umich, Matty & Cupid's Comments, but i'm v afraid to read Citrus'

[Achilles.]

Originally posted by Bey_Rihstan

dd I thought the new members had been lurking for a while before joining. I know before I joined I knew most members & their traits when posting

--

I read umich, Matty & Cupid's Comments, but i'm v afraid to read Citrus'

A lot of the newbies I've seen have said that they lurked for a while... But that doesn't mean that they'd be familiar with members like dirtydiana. Hell. I hardly know about dirtydiana.

[Subomie]

My only concern would be to take out a little of the more barbed comments and stan flavour (hunties, music of the sun age shade etc).

See, tome that's just taking the personality out.

[Aurora]

Originally posted by Subomie

See, tome that's just taking the personality out.

[Subomie]

I mean, I know I come across um... harsh at times but I thought those were pretty harmless.

[Cupid]

Originally posted by JakeKills

A lot of the newbies I've seen have said that they lurked for a while... But that doesn't mean that they'd be familiar with members like dirtydiana. Hell. I hardly know about dirtydiana.

Right I'm a mod but I've probably seen that member like twice in my life.