I have only used three avatars on the Barrowdowns- the first two were of a yellow tabby in a red bathing cap and suit (the only change on which was that of the scrolling text). It was a crazy picture, and because I linger like a fog in the mirth quarter, it fit rather well. I did have concerns that other users who more fully utilized the forums thought that I had only enough recall to the books, or exposure from the movies to slap names on Crazy Captions or scenarios in Be Careful What You Wish For. A silly fear indeed! But it occurred to me none-the-less.
My current one is a quickly aging piece of pop-culture (Ron "following the butterflies" from Potter Puppet Pals) and was put in place a few years ago just before the overhaul of the avatar system to disallow the use of animated .gifs. As childish as it seems to me, I don't want to give it up simply because it moves and to not have that would mean to give up a kind of bizarre and pointless privilege. Heren and I are part of an elite crowd, you realize.
Now that it has been mentioned, It seems as if those without avatars seem to be literally names without faces. I think I might actually even have a harder time remembering what that individual user has posted (in a WW game, for instance) as compared to one with an avatar... similar to the difference in having to recall something from radio or from a person in the room. For me the second option is always easier, but perhaps I'm simply require a tad more visual stimulation than the rest.
Of all of the avatar changes which shocked me the most was
Hookbill's latest one for some reason. I like the new one a lot, but it's very different to what I'm used to! It hasn't made me feel any differently about the Down's favorite Newspaper Editor, though. He's an odd duck, but by gum he's our odd duck.
