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What's the story behind your GAF AV & user name?

dr_octagon

Banned
Season 2 Reaction GIF by The Boys
 
Hmm, interesting thread, I like it. A little bit of a story here… Well, I am a rapper, and have been for about 25 years now. Have done quite a few local shows throughout the years in metro Detroit, and other locations on the East Coast of the states. I don’t do much anymore, but have been on one hundred or so tracks and multiple albums throughout the years. I am also a lifelong die hard Final Fantasy fan, hence the avatar of Vivi. I also ran into some issues with alcohol and drugs throughout the early 2000s. In 2013, on my 5 year sobriety date (over 13 years clean now), I decided to release an album about my journey through drugs and alcohol, plus my recovery. I also wanted to make sure that I made the album based on who I am. The majority of the beats were produced using classic RPG samples, and I used it as an opportunity to share my story. My stage name was Collab, and still is, but I also was joking with my brother and cousins one day trying to come up with funny and stupid rap names. I randomly came up with Cash Longfellow. While I have never used it on an album or song, I thought it would be cool to use as my gamer tag. So from that, cash_longfellow was born many years ago. That’s my name here, obviously lol, as well as my Steam and Xbox tags. I don’t think there is a _ on Xbox though. I don’t know if this is allowed (mods please delete the link if it’s not), but if you want to listen through the album I talked about, you can at collab.bandcamp.com …I recommend listening from the intro to the outro in order if you do. You will recognize some Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy samples mixed in, among others.
 
Avatar: I really dig Billy Hatcher's aesthetic and pose as shown in my avatar, I at some point want to beat Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, of my backlog it's in my games to beat

Username: Progenitor Virus was a retcon of the Clay Virus from RE 96 for future REs to expand upon it, most notably in RE Zero and RE 3.5 which got scrapped thus didn't get used there in the end product, RE4. Since I mentioned RE3.5, a Castle was in it, which I think was featured in the first version of my icon for GAF. So being the RE3.5 freak that I am, I combined the two RE3.5 related terms, Progenitor from the virus and the Castle setting to form the username, ProgentiorCastle :]
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
Avatar: I really dig Billy Hatcher's aesthetic and pose as shown in my avatar, I at some point want to beat Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, of my backlog it's in my games to beat

Username: Progenitor Virus was a retcon of the Clay Virus from RE 96 for future REs to expand upon it, most notably in RE Zero and RE 3.5 which got scrapped thus didn't get used there in the end product, RE4. Since I mentioned RE3.5, a Castle was in it, which I think was featured in the first version of my icon for GAF. So being the RE3.5 freak that I am, I combined the two RE3.5 related terms, Progenitor from the virus and the Castle setting to form the username, ProgentiorCastle :]
What the devil? You could write a book on your user name. But seriously, neat origin.
 

Jennings

Member
One time I typed my sister-in-law's name wrong in a text and it auto-corrected to Jennings, which was apparently the funniest thing in the world to her because she thought it made her sound like a professional VP or CEO or something. And since it amused me too it was on my mind at the time I made my account.

As for the avatar, I have enjoyed the innocence and purity of video gaming since childhood, back before the politics and other drama began to crush the edges of the hobby. But I didn't want to select anything that would imply I was taking sides with a specific favorite game or console platform, like a Mario, or a Master Chef, or an Aloy. And this avatar seemed much more timeless than any of those types of selections. I could just set it and forget it.

But if you really want the dirt on me, you'd ask why I've been assigned the particular title that I have.
 
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Faust

Perpetually Tired
Staff Member
What about the mods? Mod of War is pretty self explanatory but @DGrayson and Faust Faust

Story behind those AVs and names?

The name is based on Goethe’s Faust. I adore learning and exploring, so I felt an intimate connection with the character who felt lost after spending years learning all he could but not truly experiencing life.

As for the avatar, there are 3 components to it.
  1. Blue/White is my favorite colour scheme (to the point that I try and design everything in that color scheme).
  2. Final Fantasy is also my favorite game franchise, so I got an avatar commissioned loosely based on Bismark, a summon from the series.
  3. Since I love exploring, I have the flying whale over top of the cardinal directions.
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
One time I typed my sister-in-law's name wrong in a text and it auto-corrected to Jennings, which was apparently the funniest thing in the world to her because she thought it made her sound like a professional VP or CEO or something. And since it amused me too it was on my mind at the time I made my account.

As for the avatar, I have enjoyed the innocence and purity of video gaming since childhood, back before the politics and other drama began to crush the edges of the hobby. But I didn't want to select anything that would imply I was taking sides with a specific favorite game or console platform, like a Mario, or a Master Chef, or an Aloy. And this avatar seemed much more timeless than any of those types of selections. I could just set it and forget it.

But if you really want the dirt on me, you'd ask why I've been assigned the particular title that I have.
Cool story, seems like auto-correct has given credit to more than just user names. The picture sort of captures a generation of children of times past too. I know console gaming is still around but most kids I've seen today play neither. Seems cell phone games are where you'll find most kids spending time (mobile gaming).
The name is based on Goethe’s Faust. I adore learning and exploring, so I felt an intimate connection with the character who felt lost after spending years learning all he could but not truly experiencing life.

As for the avatar, there are 3 components to it.
  1. Blue/White is my favorite colour scheme (to the point that I try and design everything in that color scheme).
  2. Final Fantasy is also my favorite game franchise, so I got an avatar commissioned loosely based on Bismark, a summon from the series.
  3. Since I love exploring, I have the flying whale over top of the cardinal directions.
This took quite a bit of time to make in a manner which shows creativity. Thanks for sharing!
Avatar:



Username:


I saw you mention the user name in another thread recently but the AV is altogether something new.
 
Cool story, seems like auto-correct has given credit to more than just user names. The picture sort of captures a generation of children of times past too. I know console gaming is still around but most kids I've seen today play neither. Seems cell phone games are where you'll find most kids spending time (mobile gaming).

This took quite a bit of time to make in a manner which shows creativity. Thanks for sharing!

I saw you mention the user name in another thread recently but the AV is altogether something new.
yea my last avatar was a shot of Jinx from Arcane (league of legends)
 
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Happosai

Hold onto your panties
Username is a portmanteau of two game developer companies long gone, mostly active up to the 90s, early 2000s.

As for avatar I’m rocking saint javelin right now due to the Ukrainian war, but my usual avatar is the loom guy from monkey island.
Never knew where your user name came from. Bitmap alone sounds 90's. There were a number of 90's P.C. game developers who'd add 'builders' to their title too. The AV is fitting for the time too but I recognize your trademark monkey island one more than anything else.
 

Happosai

Hold onto your panties
My avatar is from a satirical edit of a retarded Jon McNaughton painting.

The name is a play on the name of Icarus’ father.

btw mods if you want to change my name to Kidd THICCARUS now is probably a good time
I thought your AV was of Vladmir Putin leaning down and crying...I was way off there. Careful, the mods may slap on a tag instead. There used to be the option to change user name in profile preferences. teezzy teezzy was Fantastik Tuna when I joined for instance. I think when you changed user name in the past it would appear below your main user name too. I remember one of the clique guys who changed his like every month back in 2020/21.
 

Thaedolus

Gold Member
I thought your AV was of Vladmir Putin leaning down and crying...I was way off there. Careful, the mods may slap on a tag instead. There used to be the option to change user name in profile preferences. teezzy teezzy was Fantastik Tuna when I joined for instance. I think when you changed user name in the past it would appear below your main user name too. I remember one of the clique guys who changed his like every month back in 2020/21.
Nope, the avatar predates Putin going full 21st century Hitler by 15 years or so.
 

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
Never knew where your user name came from. Bitmap alone sounds 90's. There were a number of 90's P.C. game developers who'd add 'builders' to their title too. The AV is fitting for the time too but I recognize your trademark monkey island one more than anything else.

Don’t worry, once the Ukrainian finish mopping up the orcs Loom guy will make a triumphant return 😉

You’re right that my “forum identity” has a 90’s flavor and I’m happy about that - a golden decade of gaming we still celebrate today.
 
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teezzy

Banned
I thought your AV was of Vladmir Putin leaning down and crying...I was way off there. Careful, the mods may slap on a tag instead. There used to be the option to change user name in profile preferences. teezzy teezzy was Fantastik Tuna when I joined for instance. I think when you changed user name in the past it would appear below your main user name too. I remember one of the clique guys who changed his like every month back in 2020/21.

That's not my user name, that's my tag
 

rogr rogr

Member
If I remember well, the image was a suggestion during the sign in process here, which I accepted since I like the SW prequels and its droids...and I like the way it is spying on the posts with the binoculars.

roger roger is what they say all the time, and it looks like my real name.
 

Grildon Tundy

Gold Member
Whenever I play/replay the Soulsborne games, I come up with a new character name by starting with a letter and adding random syllables onto it until it's a "name".

I'll do one right now for "r". R...interio Dondle. Rinterio Dondleton.

Grildon Tundy was my Demons Souls remake character's name, and it was fresh on my mind when signing up for GAF.

My AV was generated by the text-to-image AI program Stable Diffusion when I put in Demon Souls as the prompt.
 
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Kev Kev

Member
‘Kev’ was not available, so I added another ‘Kev’

My avatar is Captain Ahab. I became fascinated with his character while studying different heroes, and their journeys, in a creative writing class. I always considered Ahab to be a side character in Moby Dick, with Ishmael or perhaps the whale itself being the lead.

But I got to thinking what Ahab’s back story was. What did he dream of being/doing as a kid? What was his original heroes journey, before he got distracted by the white whale? Did he have other plans with his life that had nothing to do with Moby Dick?

After some thought and rumination I concluded that Moby Dick was the story of the failed hero, Captain Ahab. It was the conclusion of the story of a man who became so damaged during his heroes quest, that he was unable or unwilling to finish his original journey, whatever that was.

In the end, Ahab’s lust for revenge lead to his undoing, and he died without completing his original goal, and perhaps didn’t even complete his side quest for revenge.

I think that moral is really applicable to many of us. When we are young we are filled with ideas and dreams, and along the way the world gets at us, damaging us emotionally and mentally, sometimes even physically. But I think it’s important we don’t lose ourselves and lose sight of our original dreams and goals, lest we go down with the ship as a result of letting our damage control us.

My damage has controlled me for sometime now, but I’ve always fought to keep reaching for my original goal. So I have pictures of Ahab here and there in places in my life to remind me of that lesson.
 
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Happosai

Hold onto your panties
‘Kev’ was not available, so I added another ‘Kev’

My avatar is Captain Ahab. I became fascinated with his character while studying different heroes, and their journeys, in a creative writing class. I always considered Ahab to be a side character in Moby Dick, with Ishmael or perhaps the whale itself being the the lead.

But I got to thinking what Ahab’s back story was. What did he dream of being/doing as a kid? What was his original heroes journey, before he got distracted by the white whale? Did he have other plans with his life that had nothing to do with Moby Dick?

After some thought and rumination I concluded that Moby Dick was the story of the failed hero, Captain Ahab. It was the conclusion of the story of a man who became so damaged during his heroes quest, that he was unable or unwilling to finish his original journey, whatever that was.

In the end, Ahab’s lust for revenge lead to his undoing, and he died without completing his original goal, and perhaps didn’t even complete his side quest for revenge.

I think that moral is really applicable to many of us. When we are young we are filled with ideas and dreams, and along the way the world gets at us, damaging us emotionally and mentally, sometimes even physically. But I think it’s important we don’t lose ourselves and lose sight of our original dreams and goals, lest we go down with the ship as a result of letting our damage control us.

My damage has controlled me for sometime now, but I’ve always fought to keep reaching for my original goal. So I have pictures of Ahab here and there in places in my life to remind me of that lesson.
That's pretty deep on the back story. Thank you for sharing that too. I've been there too -- when I immigrated out of the U.S. in 2016 that's when I noticed things start coming together. I grew up in Illinois and thought I'd live there the rest of my life like my parents. I never thought I'd visit a foreign country, let along move to one, get married there and be living there 6-years later. The 28-years I grew up in the U.S. -- I never could really find myself and struggled a lot. Many times I nearly gave up. I never forget that.
 

GymWolf

Member
‘Kev’ was not available, so I added another ‘Kev’

My avatar is Captain Ahab. I became fascinated with his character while studying different heroes, and their journeys, in a creative writing class. I always considered Ahab to be a side character in Moby Dick, with Ishmael or perhaps the whale itself being the lead.

But I got to thinking what Ahab’s back story was. What did he dream of being/doing as a kid? What was his original heroes journey, before he got distracted by the white whale? Did he have other plans with his life that had nothing to do with Moby Dick?

After some thought and rumination I concluded that Moby Dick was the story of the failed hero, Captain Ahab. It was the conclusion of the story of a man who became so damaged during his heroes quest, that he was unable or unwilling to finish his original journey, whatever that was.

In the end, Ahab’s lust for revenge lead to his undoing, and he died without completing his original goal, and perhaps didn’t even complete his side quest for revenge.

I think that moral is really applicable to many of us. When we are young we are filled with ideas and dreams, and along the way the world gets at us, damaging us emotionally and mentally, sometimes even physically. But I think it’s important we don’t lose ourselves and lose sight of our original dreams and goals, lest we go down with the ship as a result of letting our damage control us.

My damage has controlled me for sometime now, but I’ve always fought to keep reaching for my original goal. So I have pictures of Ahab here and there in places in my life to remind me of that lesson.
Do you also write down a 400 page essay when they ask you what's your favourite candybar?
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Do you also write down a 400 page essay when they ask you what's your favourite candybar?
Listen as a young man, I would often think fondly on the chocolate industry. As an adult, I’m now more aware of the social and environmental impact the industry has. Over the next 50,000 word essay, I will unfold the deep and unresolved anguish in my childhood and how it relates to the chocolate industry.
 

GymWolf

Member
Listen as a young man, I would often think fondly on the chocolate industry. As an adult, I’m now more aware of the social and environmental impact the industry has. Over the next 50,000 word essay, I will unfold the deep and unresolved anguish in my childhood and how it relates to the chocolate industry.
I could watch a movie based on a book based on this story.
 
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