faceclaims?

[manicpixiedreamtarantula]

Hey, so I was wondering how people on this site feel about using faceclaims for characters (i.e. using a celebrity as the face of the character). I've been RPing on tumblr for the past several years, which treats using FC's as a given due to the way the RPs are set up, but I was wondering how people felt about them in other styles of RP. 

 

[Sunbather]

Almost all roleplays use faceclaims, be it photos of famous people, artwork, or anime stuff. The only thing I've seen receive negative reactions is if you use one of those really overused ones, like Emily Rudd.

 

[manicpixiedreamtarantula]

@Sunbather That's super interesting. I wonder if overused FC's are different for every site? 

 

[RatFlail]

I've only used faceclaims by request. Of course, RP for me is about the writing, and I'd rather come up with a good physical description than use a photo. I've played with creating my own artwork, so I might be able to use art instead one day. There's also been a couple people that I've seen use game character generators for faceclaims.


You can RP how you like to RP. I just prefer the creativity that comes with creating a brand new person and figuring out the most distinctive parts of their appearance to highlight in my prose. RP is text based, so it feels more seamless to me if the description is text as well.


There's also the related character sheet vs. in-play reveal debate, but I like to give my partner enough to ensure compatibility between the characters. Nothing is worse than having to gloss over the reasons that characters like each other.

 

[Sunbather]

@Sunbather That's super interesting. I wonder if overused FC's are different for every site? 

I feel like it's mostly the type of roleplay? I've not seen a lot of commonly used faceclaims it sections like fantasy or futuristic, but the realistic/modern section has a lot of these very good looking social media personalities. It's possible though. That being said, I might have made it sound a little more common than it really is. There's about 4-5 strongly overused ones, but it's not, like, extremely/annoyingly frequent.

 

[manicpixiedreamtarantula]

@Sunbather That makes sense. On tumblr it's a huge issue. Just about every roleplay you see has a Selena Gomez or Kendall Jenner RP. The RPs on that site are super visual so it can get real repetitive real fast. 

 

[Chordling]

I reverse search all of my images to avoid using a nameable face claim as much as possible.  I suppose you could say that I feel more comfortable using the image knowing that the internet can't put a name to the face, so to speak.  I always think of an appearance first.  I never take inspiration from a photo.  I use my imagination first and I want the image that I find to be perfect.  So to say the least, I spend a lot of time and energy looking for the right one.  I do not want the image to be a well-known model or celebrity.  I think that takes away from a character that I am working very hard on to develop.

 

[manicpixiedreamtarantula]

@Musician That's super interesting. I tend to do the opposite. I usually have a vague idea of a personality in mind and then pick a celebrity or some such as the faceclaim before I do even further development. For me its easier cause I don't have to worry about the character's looks, and can just focus on the personality. 

 

[cadence]

I just want to throw in the fact that it annoys me so much when I see Dylan O'Brien and Lucky Blue Smith used as faceclaims. I see them all the time. 

 

[AlbaGuBrath]

I personally don't like to use them because I feel a little creepy searching for somebody's face to snatch and put on a page, but I can deal with other people using them (especially if the alternative is an anime picture, those are the worst). I think one issue with them is sort of what was mentioned before with them being overused. If I understand correctly, a faceclaim is usually of an actor, model, or some other sort of celebrity, right? So then people take these faces and use them to populate a high school or town, which isn't really realistic. That's not really a big thing, but I find it a bit annoying.


I usually prefer a written description or a drawing for my characters whenever possible. But, I usually write more in the fantasy genre than realistic/modern, so the occasion for me to need a photo is pretty rare.

 

[_Line 213]

I suppose I'm one of the fortunate few that has the ability to draw the characters that I'm playing, so I generally tend to incorporate a character's looks into their overall package to a reasonably high degree.


I will say, however, that from my personal experience looking at other people's faceclaims, it seems that the majority of those used seem to be what I would consider "stereotypically attractive" people of Caucasian or Asian descent (Korean specifically, which seems oddly popular), generally young. Bonus points for filters, bonus points for "awkward laugh / cute smile" GIFs, bonus points if it looks like a "candid" pose specifically set up to be posted on someone's Instagram.


There might be more than this out in the wider world of faceclaims; in truth, I can't say much about them, because I prefer to deal with roleplays in which I don't have to deal with them at all (drawn images are more my thing), so I can only speak from the personal experience I've gathered from merely glancing through other roleplays.

 

[JRPG]

I don't mind face claims at all. I've no problem with any face claims, even if they're overused, or a particular style of art/photo.

 

[Borkus Lazorus]

I like to normally use artistic renditions that aren't realted to any celebrity at all for my face claims. 

 

[Husk]

Face Claims are a guideline for me and often done on request or if my partner has a face claim, otherwise the image I've built is entirely in my head. I like artistic face claims a lot so long as I can source the artist. 
Sometimes I feel awkward using photos of others but overall, since it's just a guideline and done over PMs strictly, it's not a huge fuss.

 

[Collidias Rex]

I don't like them. I came from places that never used faceclaims, so the term "FC" was absolutely foreign for a while. Then I made the connection - and then came to the opinion that they were stupid.

 

[The Mechanist]

I personally do not like using real people as a face claim, I normally use drawn artwork or give a fairly detailed description of the individual and leave the rest open to interpretation. Half the time knowing what the character looks like doesn't affect the rp in any shape or form. Now what I really hate is when people use a crap ton of pictures, or animated Gifs to where I spend a good amount of time scrolling and I'm still on their CS because of their lack of self control when it comes to their pictures. Not only that sometimes it causes the page to slow down because I only use my phone for rpn, so all those Gifs and stuff slow it the hell down and make the page look funny by extending way past the "borders" of the page. Sometimes it's even just straight up crashed the page and I have reload the site. So I dislike face claims, half the time there is no point in using one, I only use pictures if I'm playing as a different race or species.

 

[call me rae]

Honestly it will vary between Roleplays and people. I mostly do 1x1s and people will run the gamut from requesting real person face claims, anime face claims, written descriptions, etc.


Your best bet is to read the rules or interest check for the roleplay(er). If they don't mention face claims at all likely they don't care what you use. If they do then you'll know what to use. If your unsure I'd just ask.

 

[Windsock]

I despise them

 

[punkinblackk]

Personally I prefer drawn ones. Especially considering I mostly join fantasy type RPs. (Also, I have issues finding real face claims that match what I'm after in my head.) I typically design a characters personality and looks hand in hand, but sometimes I find a picture and it's sort of like.... 


I need to make this character. This image speaks to me. 

 

[manicpixiedreamtarantula]

I personally do not like using real people as a face claim, I normally use drawn artwork or give a fairly detailed description of the individual and leave the rest open to interpretation. Half the time knowing what the character looks like doesn't affect the rp in any shape or form. Now what I really hate is when people use a crap ton of pictures, or animated Gifs to where I spend a good amount of time scrolling and I'm still on their CS because of their lack of self control when it comes to their pictures. Not only that sometimes it causes the page to slow down because I only use my phone for rpn, so all those Gifs and stuff slow it the hell down and make the page look funny by extending way past the "borders" of the page. Sometimes it's even just straight up crashed the page and I have reload the site. So I dislike face claims, half the time there is no point in using one, I only use pictures if I'm playing as a different race or species.

It's interesting to see the difference, because in RP communities on tumblr, using gifs and pictures is a huge part of it because you often make a new account for your character and half of the RP is writing and the other half is using tumblr as your character's social media in terms of character development. I guess the fact this site doesn't really support images as much really affects the way FC's are viewed. 

 

[Ticci Toby Rogers]

I'll be honest, I'm that weirdo who uses cosplay images for my FCs... I'll find a cosplayer with the physical attributes I want, and the costume that fits the character. That being said, I do a lot of fandom RPs, but I also will use cosplay pictures as FCs for my OCs...

 

[The Mechanist]

It's interesting to see the difference, because in RP communities on tumblr, using gifs and pictures is a huge part of it because you often make a new account for your character and half of the RP is writing and the other half is using tumblr as your character's social media in terms of character development. I guess the fact this site doesn't really support images as much really affects the way FC's are viewed. 

I ain't big on social media either, I prefer to just use my character for what he was intended, to satisfy the role that I gave him. I've made a lot of characters  in my time here, only rarely do I actually recycle them, I do like to save my character sheets though, it's nice to be able to look over them and see how different they are, or how similar they are.

 

[manicpixiedreamtarantula]

@The Mechanist I don't know. I think social media is an interesting way to get into a character's head. It kind of forces you to think in terms of like "okay what's happening in this character's every day life outside of the story?" I get an idea of what sort of music they listen to, who they're friends are, what they do every day, what they're willing to share with others and what's kept private. It helps me a lot with character development. 

 

[The Mechanist]

@The Mechanist I don't know. I think social media is an interesting way to get into a character's head. It kind of forces you to think in terms of like "okay what's happening in this character's every day life outside of the story?" I get an idea of what sort of music they listen to, who they're friends are, what they do every day, what they're willing to share with others and what's kept private. It helps me a lot with character development. 

I've always hated social media ^ ^" but the rp's I do are mainly medieval high fantasy, slightly serious, I don't see any of that applying to an rp where the most technologically advanced thing there is is the crossbow 

 

[manicpixiedreamtarantula]

@The Mechanist That makes sense. I guess it depends on what kind of RP you're doing. I tend to stick with modern day/slice of life RPs, and my characters are usually late teens/early 20s, so social media makes sense in that case.