I can't believe some of you thought he would be #1! But the fact that so many of you did speaks to the impact that he had while he posted here.
Mazen is a hard fellow to describe, because it's hard maintaining even a level of objectivity when it comes to him. A lot of people think he hung the moon; others, like me, think the exact opposite.
It's funny to go back and read some posts from when he first started; he was genuinely nice! Snarky, but nice. The snarkiness got him more attention, and he decided to go down that avenue. But the snarkiness overcame him, and he became deeply, deeply, DEEPLY unpleasant. Members - and I must stress the PLURAL - stopped posting because he had taken ATRL over. He was very funny, but there stopped being a line - he couldn't differentiate between snarking on celebrities, and snarking on other members. He went in, and he went in hard.
He was also gender****ed. He had, and still has, serious gender/identity issues. How many years did he have us believeing he was a woman - two, three? I'm still not sure. If he is a man, he might be the most self-loathing homosexual I've ever seen here (and that includes Marquis and Jordan, among others.) Soon his diatribes read as hate speech, and thankfully, he left. (after being banned multiple times.)
Best Moment: RCABabyJane. There is nothing - NOTHING - Mazen could ever do to top it.
Can't you just admit that the culture of ATRL perceptibly changed with the arrival of Solutionz and NorMal? Speaking of ...
I didn't think Solutionz really changed anything Nor was THAT BITCH though, much love, he deserves to be even higher.
Quote:
50. NorMal
2008 started as a wasteland year on ATRL. Many, MANY old members were either gone, leaving, or on the cusp of deucing out (including yours truly.) There were a lot of new faces, brought on by the switch of name (from ATRL to Popfusion and back), but none had really stepped up to the plate. There was no one to really galvanize the masses.
Until NorMal came. A streetsmart Brandy stan, he practically introduced things that everyone takes for granted now - black gay man lingo, championing of dance/pop artists, gifs. He knew enough to never let anyone get the upper hand on him, but also was willing to discuss music seriously. He could be strident (especially if you disagreed with him) and sometimes stood up for things on the sake of importance and not quality (KEN. DAHL.), but the ATRL of today could not have existed without him.
In fact, it's fair to say that #49 owes a LOT to him ....
... as decided by me, and some other longtime ATRLers. This list is meant to be all in fun, so please no one GET PRESSED. It's meant to give you all some idea of ATRL's (almost ten year) history - and (possibly) the most important 100 people (probably less, because some had to be doubles) that have passed due these shining golden internet doors.
Again, PLEASE DON'T GET PRESSED. Also, newbies - don't seriously expect to make it.
When I first arrived, I thought I was an anomaly here - a black, gay, male interested in pop music and real discussions. But once I got into the chat world, I realized there was already someone just like me.
But worse.
I was repulsed.
Scott was one of the original members, and he was (arguably) the most popular at the time. Everyone loved him (for some reason), and some even looked to him as a wiseman, a soothsayer.
I knew better.
I've thrown a lot of shade in this thread, but most of it has been mixed with/filtered threw the prism of love.
Not so much with Scott.
He was, to quote Regina George, "DISGUSTING."
And he slept with one member here.
And almost ****ed another one.
You'll have to ask Nick for details; I don't get off on bulimia.
Best Moment: Scott did give us the AMAs (the ATRL Music Awards), so, there's that.
22. Mazen
But the snarkiness overcame him, and he became deeply, deeply, DEEPLY unpleasant. Members - and I must stress the PLURAL - stopped posting because he had taken ATRL over. He was very funny, but there stopped being a line - he couldn't differentiate between snarking on celebrities, and snarking on other members. He went in, and he went in hard.
The poor girls were so weak back then, letting anything hurt their fragile little hearts.
When I first arrived, I thought I was an anomaly here - a black, gay, male interested in pop music and real discussions. But once I got into the chat world, I realized there was already someone just like me.
But worse.
I was repulsed.
Scott was one of the original members, and he was (arguably) the most popular at the time. Everyone loved him (for some reason), and some even looked to him as a wiseman, a soothsayer.
I knew better.
I've thrown a lot of shade in this thread, but most of it has been mixed with/filtered threw the prism of love.
Not so much with Scott.
He was, to quote Regina George, "DISGUSTING."
And he slept with one member here.
And almost ****ed another one.
You'll have to ask Nick for details; I don't get off on bulimia.
Best Moment: Scott did give us the AMAs (the ATRL Music Awards), so, there's that.
I should say (in an effort to be mature), that a lot of my writeups are summations about how I felt about people back THEN. I've largely settled my issues with Scott, and I get along great with Nutapon.
Don't throw too much shade my way!
And I really could've gone in way more on Mazen, but I'm a lady.
Nor was THAT BITCH though, much love, he deserves to be even higher.
