I do that all the time! Normally as their avatar.

Yeah, me too. I guess cause it's the only thing you can go by. Especially th people who rarely ever change it. Just putting this out there, I look nothing like my current avatar!

Yea, I picture people as their avvie. And then I realize, "oh, I was picturing that person as a guy and they're a girl."

It happens to me every time I go on a vacation. I can't help it, I always picture the campground and area in my mind before I have any clue what it really looks like. Thankfully, the places usually look better in reality.
Except the hot springs in Canada, I pictured sitting in hot water all alone surrounded by mountainous cliffs, and instead it looked just like a public pool and was very crowded .
And yeah sometimes I picture people looking like their avatars, or sometimes like other people I know .

I picture people looking like their avatars all the time. Which tends to be weird when a guy has a girl avatar or vice versa. (That said, I still tend to use guys as my avatar... Needless to say, I am a girl, let's just clear that up right now. )

I rarely ever picture people like their sig. If I did that, their heads would probably be kind of rectangular shaped.

I usually do picture people as their avatars; I'm not sure why! Really, I do not look like a glass pitcher (that doesn't sound very eloquent).

^^ Actually, I picture you looking like Galadriel... Is she the one holding the pitcher? If so, that could be why. Your username might have something to do with it too.

Interesting... I wonder how many people picture me as Smeagol? Well, at least I didn't pick Gollum as my avatar. I would hate for people to picture me like that...

Since now we know that people picture us as our avatar, now (Muahaha ) we can control how people view us. Just find a picture of either the most handsome man or the most beautiful woman, turn their pic into an avatar, and Boom! You've got it made. No more having to worry about outward appearances. That is... until you leave your computer...

~Riella

Interesting... I wonder how many people picture me as Smeagol? Well, at least I didn't pick Gollum as my avatar. I would hate for people to picture me like that...

I do think of Smeagol but I'm sure that you don't look like him! ANd I never thought so! By this avatar I was not tricked...

Though you are a RLH (real live hobbit) in my book!

Interesting... I wonder how many people picture me as Smeagol? Well, at least I didn't pick Gollum as my avatar. I would hate for people to picture me like that...

Sad to say, I do picture you like Smeagol half the time, although I know you don't look like that. At least it's not Gollum! And actually, you are one of the rare exceptions where I picture the sig as well - usually your avatar and sig both pop into my mind when I think of you (partly because I just love your Pippin siggy! ) The other half of the time I picture you like one of the pictures I saw you post in the Hair & Eye Color thread.

I wonder how many people picture me like Robin Hood from the BBC TV show since that was my avatar for a while, and probably will be again.

Well...I certainly look nothing like Aslan

This is a topic that I actually find very fascinating, because I have a very hard time actually thinking of how to put my feelings about it in words, so reading other people's written thoughts on the matter stimulates my mind.

I'll usually subconsciously picture everybody as their avatar unless I know the person really well or their avatar isn't of a face, because I have nothing else to visually connect them with in my mind.

A weird sort of idea that popped into my head a while ago is if instead of having fancy, colorful avatars and signatures that we could edit however we like, the forum instead had a mandatory policy of an unedited photo of your face being your avatar. Assuming that child safety is not an issue in this alternate world, I find it interesting to contemplate how the feel of the forum would change. I can't even find ways to describe how I think the mood would change...there would be far fewer instances of rudeness...perhaps a bit more personal interaction and connection...but maybe a lot more discrimination of people who are "ugly", not discrimination by others, but by the people who consider themselves to be ugly themselves, being shy to post because their photo will be put next to people they consider far more attractive?

I don't know if that even made sense, but that's what I get when I try to put a train of thought into words.

^^ That makes perfect sense, Minotaur. And that would be interesting... I am certainly glad, though, that it is not mandatory policy to post your own pic. I like our creative avatars! And it would be sad for the ones who don't like how they look. But it would be interesting to see how interactions would change, (and of course, how everyone looks ).

Haha, and it's alright, guys, if you picture me like Smeagol. After all, Smeagol doesn't look bad -- Gollum does. Smeagol looks like Andy Serkis, and there's nothing wrong with that! Although, of course, being a girl myself, I don't look like Andy Serkis either...

And actually, you are one of the rare exceptions where I picture the sig as well - usually your avatar and sig both pop into my mind when I think of you (partly because I just love your Pippin siggy! ) The other half of the time I picture you like one of the pictures I saw you post in the Hair & Eye Color thread.
I wonder how many people picture me like Robin Hood from the BBC TV show since that was my avatar for a while, and probably will be again.

Aww thanks! (About liking the Pippin sig) I'm rather fond of it too. I love Pippin! And that screenshot always makes me laugh, so I enjoy seeing it when I make a new post. Heehee I guess I don't mind being pictured as Pippin... I kind of look like I could be related to Billy Boyd in real life. (Although I'm not sure you can tell that from the pic I posted in Hair and Eye Color) And of course, by now, a lot of you probably know I look just like a Hobbit.

And yes, I do picture you like that Robin Hood avvie, MountainFireFlower. And other times, when I see you, a mental image comes into my head of a flower on the top of a mountain...

~Riella

I, too, tend to see people as their avatars; even people I know! If they have no avatars, I see their sigs.

There are a few exceptions, particularly mods or people who tend to have a sort of authority or advantage over others; I see Coracle as herself, what she really looks like. I see Kate as a young redheaded woman (don't know why), and Bookwyrm in my mind looks like Rupert Grint with brown hair.

Interesting topic.

Once when I was in the hospital for a pre-surgery appointment, I was in the office and thinking about what my doctor would look like. I expected someone very average, so I was slightly surprised to see him come in. He had very bright red hair, and a bright red beard. (I love red hair, btw, it just surprised me.)