The emblem I designed.  It's the family crest of a character in a story I wrote.

Various incarnations of Osaka

A photoshopped picture of me.

White Mage to celebrate the Virtual Console release of Final Fantasy

Bindle the Gopher.  To have a seemingly official admin presence on the site to new users.  That and he's awesome.

Coopersville said:

I don't really use many avatars consistantly.

The one I have now is my Doomworld avatar. I wanted something that was iconic of Doom, but not used by anyone else in the forum. An up-side-down ouchface icon did the job. I've had it for maybe two years.

Before that, the longest lasting avatar I ever had was a picture of a Lost Soul from an early Doom 3 preview. I didn't really like it, but I had it for five years or more years because Doomworld's custom avatar function was broken.

Yeah your current one works well.

Ravenprose said:

I have avatars disabled, so I have no idea what you guys are using anymore.

I change my avatar every so often. My current avatar was inspired by a dicussion we had a while back about where video games as we know them now really started: NES or Pre-Nes. I felt like a cranky old man defending his youth, so I changed my avatar Cranky Kong; seems to fit me well.

 Yeah, it works, but you should have a hamster.

ASK_Story said:

I usually just have video game or anime avatars, like the one here. It's my favorite Robotech series, the Next Generation which is called Genesis Climber Mospeada in Japan.

It's just a shot of all the characters in the series during the final episode.

At GS, well, it's Princess Mononoke, of course.

Nothing special.

My user name on the other hand....

 You can start the thread about user names.  I'm trying to remember one that you had for the longest time at GS... can you help me out here?

i've lost most of mine after my previous computer left us for good.  i usually choose something that is important to me personally or politically.

some of the ones i remember using (not just here but also lastfm):

1.  the Drexciyan warrior:

i really love that image.  Drexciya was the main musical outlet of Detroit legend James Stinson who gifted the world with some of the greatest electronic music ever conceived and a whole imaginary back-story or context to go with it.  it would take very long to get into but an incredible source for those interested in Drexciyan music or mythology is:

http://www.drexciyaresearchlab.blogspot.com/

2.  1968 Mexico City Olympics: Black Power Salute

this to me is the most important picture in recent history.  Tommie Smith won the 200m race with Australian Peter Norman second and fellow American John Carlos finishing third.  Tommie Smith and John Carlos went on the podium shoe-less and wearing black socks to represent black poverty.  Tommie Smith wore a black scarf around his neck representing black pride while John Carlos wore beads which he said were "were for those individuals that were lynched, or killed and that no-one said a prayer for, that were hung and tarred. It was for those thrown off the side of the boats in the middle passage".  The black gloves and raised fists represent black power.  All three wore badges of OPHR (Olympic Project for Human Rights).  Needless to say not just the careers but the lives of all three were completely ruined after that and they lived ostracised and in poverty for many years.  Peter Norman died in 2006 after years of depression and alcoholism, Tommie Smith and John Carlos were pall-bearers at his funeral.

3.  Leaving Niger

the picture of a boy showing his joy after passing the Niger border.  Every year many attempt to escape Niger and emigrate for hopes of a better life.  i found this in an incredible photo report on Niger Emigration on the BBC and this picture especially made a great impression on me.

4.  Cover of The Roots - Things Fall Apart

I'm currently using this as my profile photo on last.fm (with the black strip on top cut off).  It's a photo from the civil rights movement and the greatest record cover ever.  No need for words really.

5. Chicago South Side/Sunday Best

My current one here.  a photo taken in 1941 in chicago's south side.  i love it.

6. "Torpedo head" dog (iga said this not me)

no backstory or anything to this.  it's just my favourite breed of dog and i hope to be able to have one at some stage in my life.  nothing more to it.