Avvies, identity and change

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I've tried a few different avvies, but I don't know that I've yet hit upon the 'right' one. Who knows? I may go back to doing without one.

There's something to be said for "the right one." Caesar has filled that role for me for some time, from the slightly comic aspect to the grouchy old curmudgeon to the hint of assumed royalty to the delectable (and happy coincidental) shade of purple background.

Catching sight of this thread a couple days ago--but not having the time to post--I was honestly baffled that no one had ever started such a thread before. Avatars are, after all, so terribly central to our mental pictures of Downers. Perhaps this is less obvious in the days post-Facebook and since we've had a regularly updated Downs-photo page, but if you take a gander through the "How Do You Imagine Other BDers?" thread, you'll see that our mental images are (or were) chalk full of avatar-based imagery.

I know that, back in the early days, my image of Lhunardawen was decidedly influenced that that Rohirric, blonde image of Éowyn against the blue sky, counter to all truth, and it's only the studious efforts of Hookbill's "Phantom and Alien" comic that have allowed to segue my mental image of the phantom into his Photo page portrait.

It's a shock, if ever one of the old-timers changes. Hookbill changes just slowly enough that it always takes me a good month to adjust, and if Davem, Lalwendë, or Heren ever change, I'll probably have a heart-attack.

That being said... I'm a hypocrite. If something better comes along, Caesar is gone. It's just that, picking up on the "just right" theme... he's going to be a really high watermark to flood over.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

There's something to be said for "the right one." Caesar has filled that role for me for some time, from the slightly comic aspect to the grouchy old curmudgeon to the hint of assumed royalty to the delectable (and happy coincidental) shade of purple background.

. . . .

That being said... I'm a hypocrite. If something better comes along, Caesar is gone. It's just that, picking up on the "just right" theme... he's going to be a really high watermark to flood over.

Well, there's always the possibility of an alternate just right for avatar (like comic) relief: Hooky's sleeveless Father Formy.

[The Might]

Well, from all the avvies I have had the current one is the one describing me as a Tolkien fan the best - it looks like the Tree of Gondor on the one hand, since I am a fan of Gondor and also like Telperion, since I have always somehow liked Teleperion. Since my sign is Leo and Teleperion is connected to the sun, I guess that kind of makes sense.

And the TM initials just stand for my name - The Might... pretty simple really.

[Morsul the Dark]

http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showpos...&postcount=723

best describes my avvie process

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

It grates when someone changes their avatar. Old avatars are like old photographs, images that you know and are comfortable with. But then, I do fear change.

I love my avatar because the colours are so unique on here that it stands out. I changed it once for a few days (to black and white) and it felt so wrong I changed it right back.

[miriena]

I personally recognize people by their avatars faster than I do by their names. Especially because there's already a bunch of words on the page, and the picture stands out more. I like seeing familiar avatars, but variety is the spice of life or something. And I definitely grow to associate people with the images, it's always weird to me when there's an obvious mismatch between someone's writing style, thoughts and opinions, and their avatars. And if someone uses an avatar with some person in it, I (quite naively, but involuntarily) almost expect the forum user to look kind of like that person

I always use the same picture for pretty much everything that needs an icon. It represents me quite well since it's my face I don't change self-representing user pictures often, once every few years or so (booooring). I like grabbing on to familiar things on teh Internets.

And I've had the name "Miriena" follow me around for *years*, more than 10 for sure. Yes, I suppose it may seem boring, but I can no longer imagine using another name for a forum where I plan to actually participate, it wouldn't be "me".

[Morai]

I used to change my avvie a ton, but I think that was before there were pixel limits. At first I used a bunch of Elijah Wood pictures, before my crush on him waned and I grew tired of being mistaken for a male.

There was a time when I had a picture of a lady wearing a mask. It seemed to work well with the black background, and it seemed to fit with people's assumptions about me.

I suppose I've kept this one so long because it literally is me! It's a picture of me taking a picture of the Mediterranean sea. At the same time, it's subtle enough to allow me more privacy. All said and done, I mostly haven't changed it because I'm too lazy to search for 60 x 60 pixel pictures on the internet.

It always takes me a bit to adjust to another BDer's avvie change. At the same time, I like to see the variety. My desktop background changes once a week at least.

[skip spence]

Originally Posted by miriena

And I definitely grow to associate people with the images, it's always weird to me when there's an obvious mismatch between someone's writing style, thoughts and opinions, and their avatars. And if someone uses an avatar with some person in it, I (quite naively, but involuntarily) almost expect the forum user to look kind of like that person

I always use the same picture for pretty much everything that needs an icon. It represents me quite well since it's my face I don't change self-representing user pictures often, once every few years or so (booooring). I like grabbing on to familiar things on teh Internets.

My mental pictures of posters are also very influenced by their avatar, especially when it depicts a face. When I think of alatar, I think of a young and handsome dude who rides a motorcycle in a leather jacket. Esty is the princess in Shrek, Mith is that pale woman on the painting and Rune is a Karl Marx-looking guy (although now I know he's Ron Weasley rather ).

In your case I see an unadorned picture of an attractive woman, and I think I would feel cheated if that weren't in fact you. With stylized images you can sort of accept that the person in question doesn't actually look like the pic, but with a plain photo that's harder. You're not a man, are you?

And welcome to the downs!