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Author Topic: Tech: My Avatar, My Self  (Read 6205 times)

MadZealot

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Re: My Avatar, My Self
« Reply #15 on: January 20, 2018, 01:36:25 am »
No great deep reason, I'm afraid - I just love that stuff.

Nifty skullcrotch is nifty. Also I dig high-contrast B&W stuff.
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MadZealot

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Re: My Avatar, My Self
« Reply #16 on: January 20, 2018, 02:01:36 am »
Why did you pick it, and does it hold any special significance?

Not usually. My choices are equal parts whimsy and smartassery, usually reflecting my mindset at the time. (Ditto for my ever-shifting siggy.) I change em frequently.

But there're exceptions. At times I've used Masonic icons when I'm feeling manly, and sometimes the 1 of Cups from Courtney Davis' Celtic Tarot when I'm feeling devotional.
I also had an old grainy phone pic of my athame' blade and wooden paten, poorly-but-coolly lit by candle light. Wonder where the hell that went.

The current one is a logo for VNV Nation, one of my favorite artists. I saw em on tour and got to meet the front man. Kind of a high point in my life. My current siggy is inspired by a lyric.
Incidentally, he and my son share the same first name. So.
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TheGreenWizard

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Re: My Avatar, My Self
« Reply #17 on: January 20, 2018, 01:06:56 pm »
Tell us about your avatar! Why did you pick it, and does it hold any special significance?

My Username and Avatar are linked - obviously - but the reasons for why I chose both are different.

My username is based on my spiritual practice, and what I try to focus on in my life: Nature and the environment. While I know that these have more than just green in their color palette - such as reds, blues, yellows, purples, and so on - most people I know identify green with nature/environment. The wizard aspect connects, again, to my spirituality, and my affection for anything related to the Mage-class - be it sorcerers, wizards, witches, mages, arcanists, etc - and how I naturally gravitate towards these types of characters when I'm playing any kind of games (video games and, recently, Pathfinder).

My avatar's meaning, however, is disconnected from this background - something I realized while typing this post. The image is that of the Wizard of Oz looking out during one of the scenes of that movie. When we first meet him, he seems to be very big, very scary, very important, and very flashy. Yet, at the end of the movie, we see that is what the society of Oz has made him into, and what he needed to play up to; in other words, the society of Oz puts expectations on the Wizard, and he is forced to fulfill them, otherwise he would be (or may have been) castigated and ostracized for not fulfilling it.

Now, how does that connect with me? Originally, I chose the image because I wanted something that was Green and had a Wizard in it, and BAM there it was. However, the avatar really connects with me as a person, and my life journey thus far: my family (parents and paternal grandparents) has placed a lot of expectations on me, since I was the first born son/child, and I have tried to meet these expectations. (These included the typical things one would expect, such as the son will make a lot of money, will have a lucrative career as a doctor/businessman/lawyer, he'll be a priest (paternal grandma was pushing HARD for that one), and always pushing to have the best grades in the class, amongst others.) It was in college that I had a choice to make: my health or my family's expectations - I chose the former, but still chose to fit into the expectations when my health was back on track.

It was only thanks to a talk with my maternal grandmother that I realised that this is my life, and that I need to live it the way that I want to - and not to the expectations of others. It's been a bit rough sailing, but I can see calmer waters ahead of me. Just like the Wizard of Oz, once we're told that we don't have to live up to what others want, and reassured that the world will not end because we chose not to, we can actually live our lives the way we want.

TL;DR: Chose my avatar because it has green in it, and the character is a wizard in one of my liked movies (not particularly my favorite, but whatever).
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go

Uneryx

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Re: My Avatar, My Self
« Reply #18 on: January 20, 2018, 02:48:49 pm »

The current one is a logo for VNV Nation, one of my favorite artists. I saw em on tour and got to meet the front man. Kind of a high point in my life. My current siggy is inspired by a lyric.
Incidentally, he and my son share the same first name. So.

I've been meaning to flail at you for the VNV icon for a while. I friggin' love their music so it's nice to see another fan :D

Uneryx

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Re: My Avatar, My Self
« Reply #19 on: January 20, 2018, 03:27:47 pm »
I'm probably going to change it soon

Ta-daaaaaaa

I realized I had this lurking on my hard drive - it's a cropped version of this: full version here

As I explain in the post I linked, the eight-pointed star is a symbol that speaks to me. I also REALLY like the color teal.

Altair

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Re: My Avatar, My Self
« Reply #20 on: January 20, 2018, 07:18:03 pm »
it's a cropped version of this: full version here

I can't speak for others, Uneryx, but the link isn't working for me.
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

Uneryx

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Re: My Avatar, My Self
« Reply #21 on: January 20, 2018, 07:22:19 pm »
Ta-daaaaaaa

I realized I had this lurking on my hard drive - it's a cropped version of this: full version here

As I explain in the post I linked, the eight-pointed star is a symbol that speaks to me. I also REALLY like the color teal.

Well crud. How's this? full version here

Altair

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Re: My Avatar, My Self
« Reply #22 on: January 22, 2018, 01:14:38 pm »
Well crud. How's this? full version here

Lovely! I esp. like the phases of the moon, which unfortunately are lost in the avatar.
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

Amphibian

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Re: My Avatar, My Self
« Reply #23 on: February 01, 2018, 05:09:15 pm »
Tell us about your avatar! Why did you pick it, and does it hold any special significance?

Frogs have held a place in my heart since i was...five or six years old; originally it was just a terrible pun based on my walletname but i keep seeing more symbolism the older i get.

This one in particular I settled on because it's one of the smaller varieties, and in a picture that actually provides the sense of scale for such; many of the others are small but not obviously so. And that...inconspicuousness is something that is somewhat of a defining trait of mine (for better and worse).
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TheGreenWizard

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Re: My Avatar, My Self
« Reply #24 on: February 11, 2018, 04:37:23 pm »
My Username and Avatar are linked - obviously - but the reasons for why I chose both are different.

My username is based on my spiritual practice, and what I try to focus on in my life: Nature and the environment. While I know that these have more than just green in their color palette - such as reds, blues, yellows, purples, and so on - most people I know identify green with nature/environment. The wizard aspect connects, again, to my spirituality, and my affection for anything related to the Mage-class - be it sorcerers, wizards, witches, mages, arcanists, etc - and how I naturally gravitate towards these types of characters when I'm playing any kind of games (video games and, recently, Pathfinder).

My avatar's meaning, however, is disconnected from this background - something I realized while typing this post. The image is that of the Wizard of Oz looking out during one of the scenes of that movie. When we first meet him, he seems to be very big, very scary, very important, and very flashy. Yet, at the end of the movie, we see that is what the society of Oz has made him into, and what he needed to play up to; in other words, the society of Oz puts expectations on the Wizard, and he is forced to fulfill them, otherwise he would be (or may have been) castigated and ostracized for not fulfilling it.

Now, how does that connect with me? Originally, I chose the image because I wanted something that was Green and had a Wizard in it, and BAM there it was. However, the avatar really connects with me as a person, and my life journey thus far: my family (parents and paternal grandparents) has placed a lot of expectations on me, since I was the first born son/child, and I have tried to meet these expectations. (These included the typical things one would expect, such as the son will make a lot of money, will have a lucrative career as a doctor/businessman/lawyer, he'll be a priest (paternal grandma was pushing HARD for that one), and always pushing to have the best grades in the class, amongst others.) It was in college that I had a choice to make: my health or my family's expectations - I chose the former, but still chose to fit into the expectations when my health was back on track.

It was only thanks to a talk with my maternal grandmother that I realised that this is my life, and that I need to live it the way that I want to - and not to the expectations of others. It's been a bit rough sailing, but I can see calmer waters ahead of me. Just like the Wizard of Oz, once we're told that we don't have to live up to what others want, and reassured that the world will not end because we chose not to, we can actually live our lives the way we want.

TL;DR: Chose my avatar because it has green in it, and the character is a wizard in one of my liked movies (not particularly my favorite, but whatever).
So I'm watching the Wizard of Oz now... And I just realized that my avatar is of the city guard. Lordy I'm out of it.

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ehbowen

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Re: My Avatar, My Self
« Reply #25 on: February 12, 2018, 02:08:23 am »
So I'm watching the Wizard of Oz now... And I just realized that my avatar is of the city guard. Lordy I'm out of it.

Hey, same actor...Frank Morgan played The Wizard and the Gatekeeper. And the palace Guard. And the Carriage Driver. And Professor Marvel.

[Guy got around, didn't he?!]
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Where's the KABOOM? There was supposed to have been an Earth-shattering KABOOM!
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meno silencio

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Re: My Avatar, My Self
« Reply #26 on: February 12, 2018, 11:21:08 am »
Flipping through one of the threads today, my attention was grabbed by the cascade of visuals from everyone's avatars, striking both in the individual imagery and in their diversity. I'm sure we've done this before, but I don't think in a long time, so...

Tell us about your avatar! Why did you pick it, and does it hold any special significance?

No super deep reason for mine. I love photography, and I needed an icon/banner for my blog. I was super pleased with the little photo shoot. I know it's not super original (witches= candles) but Candles are important to me. : D They were one of the first things I started acquiring and working with when I started on my journey into paganism.

JupiterSkies

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Re: My Avatar, My Self
« Reply #27 on: February 14, 2018, 08:45:39 pm »
Tell us about your avatar! Why did you pick it, and does it hold any special significance?

I don't have one consistent avatar photo I use.  I'm usually using whatever picture of me I have around.  I am totally digging everyone's avatars and explanations of them though!  I guess for me, I'm just... who I am, and I don't feel like hiding it.

JupiterSkies on the other hand... this, or variations on this have been my online handle for probably as long as I've been a witch.  I'm a Sagittarius-cusp (greetings from a Solstice baby!), and have always strongly felt drawn to and admired Jupiter.  It has just constantly mesmerized me and given me luck from a very young age. And the "Skies" part... I've always wondered what it would be like to fall through the atmosphere of Jupiter.  What would it be like to view Jupiter's sky? 

Steam locomotive PM 1225. Which I first encountered as a high school student in East Lansing for the 1979 National Junior Classical League Convention. The major reason I chose Michigan State University for my first (unsuccessful) attempt at college...if I'd spent as much time studying as I did working as a volunteer on the restoration project, I might have graduated. Twenty-plus years later, I actually got to drive it under the "Engineer for an Hour" program conducted by the Steam Railroading Institute.

I love this.  I grew up in Grand Haven, MI, where PM 1223 lives.  I climbed all over PM 1223 and it's accompanying cars when I was a kid, which they no longer let you do to my knowledge.  This has not stopped high school seniors every year from jumping the fence to get photos with the engine, which is almost as iconic and necessary as getting photos taken by the lighthouse, pier, and Lake Michigan itself (I skipped the engine out of respect, but my mother made me get soooo many taken on the beach at the state park).
Eclectic witch - crystal, deity, animal focused work.
I write, mostly poetry.

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