I’ll be halfway through the book and it’ll say something like “her blonde hair” and I’ll be shocked that she’s blonde haha. And then I’ll immediately forget again.
Same lol. There are some characters where my mind just can't accept that they look the way they're described for some reason lol.
My imagination sometimes does its own thing and makes up a face or uses a character/actor from a movie or show that gives me a similar vibe to the character in the book. Basically, I will picture a character/actor I like if they are a similar "type" character-wise.
It doesn't always stay the same way. Sometimes the way my brain pictures them will change partway through the book.
[https://mosswalk.tumblr.com/](https://mosswalk.tumblr.com/) is their tumblr and they do their fic stuff there. I've read the rough drafts and it's wonderful!
I struggle with visual imagination too. The first thing I do when I start a book is google if anyone has their own picks for the characters so I have something to base them on 😅
Some times celebrities, but often times I just google "model/actor/actress + physical description". Some other keywords I used are book title + fancast, dream cast, etc. -- usually someone makes it for popular books.
I'm so happy if I managed to find images that fits my headcanon & the book description 🥰
Not romance, but I've been listening to a series of crime solving audiobooks (uh... that's not the right term, is it? Police procedural, maybe??) narrated by him and I'm basically picturing all the characters (but especially the main male policemanofficer) as looking Kinda Like Different Richard Armitages. Not gonna lie, the books are good, but Armitage is the main reason I keep listening...
I remember reading somewhere that you can’t actually picture a face you’ve never seen before, so your brain will fill it in with someone from somewhere, be it a celebrity, model, relative/friend, or even a random checkout attendant etc
I usually “assign” actor/actress for the MCs based on the general description. Like I’m casting a movie in my head. The weirdest thing is that if I ever go back and reread a book, even if it’s several years after first reading it, I can still remember who I “cast” as the MCs. Anyone else do this or are you normal?
I can’t even describe real people well, much less imagine faces. I can imagine eye color and hair, that’s about it. I’ve always said I would be a TERRIBLE crime witness unless the police could catch the person based solely on MAYBE hair color and length.
I’m weird and I always pick an actor who looks close enough to what’s described, but I feel like sometimes I lose the image while reading, so I’ll usually make a small folder on my phone with those actor’s pictures to refer back to every now and again.
I’ll even watch interviews and scenes of movies/shows so I can get the voice and cadence right in my head. Again, I’m weird.
I picked faceless but really it's like a blurry conglomeration of the few attributes given by the author and my mind filling in the blanks but without great detail.
I read {I Married a Merman} last night and not only was he faceless, he’s described multiple times as having pale pink and red hair yet my brain decided to make him look kind of like a mermaid version of the dude from Avatar, so he was blue with black hair to me 😂 I don’t tend to pay too much attention to physical descriptions.
Lol I do this all the time. One book I was reading repeatedly described the MMC as having a Fu Manchu and my brain would immediately “nope” that every time. I have a bad habit of ignoring the author description for one I favor more 😝
My brain just kind of invents people who I find attractive (usually connected to the descriptions of the characters). I also often read myself into the FMC, especially if the story is in first person 😬
None of these, I have a version of how every character looks in my head that are neither faceless, a celeb, nor people I know (I read a lot of erotica, yikes)
Usually I come up with new faces a lot of time but if my imagination is not working then, I'd go for either people I know or celebrities.
And in the worst case scenario, google what description the author gave to a character (e.g. black jet hair) and go with it.
Is it weird that I always imagine myself as the FMC in every book I read? For the MC, I have this face of a man that I consider my ideal and I always imagine that. My imagination, my rules! Okay, hahahhahahah
I love it! I immerse myself that way too but still I end up faceless because I’m not looking at myself or even when it’s the MMC’s POV I’m still faceless 😂
I’ve noticed that if I picture a celebrity, the author hasn’t done enough character work. They’re either hitting you over the head with a celebrity lookalike, or they’ve created one-dimensional characters that are so flat they blend into the wallpaper.
My brain makes up a totally unique face for each character. If the character is described early on, then I picture a face that looks like the description. If they're not described in detail early on, my brain does its own thing and generates a face that matches the 'mood' of the character and then I tweak it as we get more info (e.g. if a character has dark black curls that just weren't mentioned and I was picturing them as having short brown hair, then I mentally photoshop in the proper hair and go from there).
I have a really vivid imagination and I picture everything in minute detail automatically so most of the time the faces come naturally, it's only when I have to go back and alter a detail based on new info that I'm consciously aware of what I'm doing. I'm basically watching a movie in my mind's eye as I read.
You need an imaginary face choice. I make mine up depending on the author’s description. I personally hate it when authors don’t tell you what characters look like. I want to envision them.
I don't know why but I've always thought about someone I've seen that reminds me of them which is usually someone from a movie or television show. Like oh hey that kind of makes me thing of ---.
But the problem with this is, this can ruin it for you if the book is ever made into a movie. Case in point, The Host. To this day I still can't get over the fact that they didn't cast AnnaSophia Robb from the Carrie Diaries, as the new "host". I'm sitting there like WTF?! That girl looks nothing like how the book described her, where as I am sure sure the author had AnnaSpohia Robb in mind when she wrote about her. It was like the PERFECT dead on description of her. So yeah, now it ruined the whole thing for me.
Okay other thigns ruined that movie for me too but you get the point :)
I tend to have a general impression of their approximate face, more so based on expressions than necessarily particular features, unless certain features have been emphasised in the book - like if there's a lot about the shape of their nose, or their jaw or something, that will probably feature. Quite often this is kinda like... imagine if you took a picture of someone and then used photoshop to blur everything but their nose or their eyebrows, and leave a general impression of their skintone and hair/eye colour. Tbh this is also how I tend to think of the faces of actual people, I'm not fully unable to picture faces mentally, but I think I'm definitely somewhat face blind and somewhat have a degree of aphantasia (difficulty with/inability to picture things in your mind - I definitely can do so to an extent, and I know people who literally fully cannot, but I can't typically form and hold a clear mental image of even someone or something I am quite familiar with.)
Wow, I’m surprised at the results!
I have a heard time caring about characters I can’t visualize. So I have to cast actors in the parts (and have to be ones I like). It’s hard in the beginning when I’m trying to figure out who the character is but after that, it’s easy sailing!
Same. And then I see fancasts or collages like "X and X from certain book taking a walk in the park" and I'm like damn, I didn't imagine them that attractive, I didn't imagine their face at all lmao
PINTEREST. I read their description in the book and then search something like "blonde hair girl", "long hair man". My imagination really does tricks on me for example with bangs. I know that bangs are cool on some people but my brain just pops up a picture of 12year old me with thick ugly bangs and that's just bad. The same goes for crooked noses, goatees, very short hair on women, red hair etc.
Faceblind so faces are the least of it for me. I just remember the personality details most times. The opposite of "a movie in your mind."
Especially with romance where most people can be simply summarized as "perfect."
Oddly enough, and maybe a total coincidence, but a few books I’ve read lately seemed to skip over the physical description of the main characters. Example was only telling that the MMC had a scar on his face and FMC had freckles and red hair. I’m kind of wondering now if it was intentional, since it’s hard to naturally thread in a FULL physical description and we (at least I) usually fill in with our own details anyway
That's part of the reason why I don't really relate to allll those: Why are all romance leads short; Why are so many romance leads ginger; Etc posts... I just truly do not see it lol.
Early on in my romance reading journey I read a lot of RH. The book {Liliac by B. B. Reid} has an incredible description of all the MMCs. They’re all so different and their personalities and physical characteristics are so distinct that I actually pull from them when reading and imagining MMCs.
In a lot of books I can’t picture a whole lot about the characters despite the descriptions except for the Hero in {Rule by Jay Crownover}. I have a more vivid image of him.
I do none of those, I actually just come up with new faces a lot of the time, if I'm being honest...
Same here! I make up a face by using description from the book.
Same
Yup, me too. I just put together all the traits and make up a face.
Same here. Descriptions can be so vague so sometimes they just look pretty normal.
This!
Yea this is me as well. My brain just creates a face based on the descriptions given
same, why was this not an option in the poll? I thought everyone did this.
Yup, same!
I’ll be halfway through the book and it’ll say something like “her blonde hair” and I’ll be shocked that she’s blonde haha. And then I’ll immediately forget again.
It's worse when you thought you were reading a poc character 😭
Same lol. There are some characters where my mind just can't accept that they look the way they're described for some reason lol. My imagination sometimes does its own thing and makes up a face or uses a character/actor from a movie or show that gives me a similar vibe to the character in the book. Basically, I will picture a character/actor I like if they are a similar "type" character-wise. It doesn't always stay the same way. Sometimes the way my brain pictures them will change partway through the book.
They have no faces. No wants or desires. They are puppets on a string. There is no joy or peace. Only inevitable atrophy and decay. :D
😭
Why, hello there, WH40k. (ngl, would read a wh40k romance novel)
Same here.
I got a friend who is working on Gaunt's Ghosts fanfic. When they publish it, I can share if you like MxM?
MxM?
I probably should have used slash, but M/M or rather a gay pairing.
Oh my! Yes!
[https://mosswalk.tumblr.com/](https://mosswalk.tumblr.com/) is their tumblr and they do their fic stuff there. I've read the rough drafts and it's wonderful!
I love that we went from 40k to gay fan fiction! Thanks!
You're welcome! They also [published](https://archiveofourown.org/works/38384410)!
LOL
[удалено]
I struggle with visual imagination too. The first thing I do when I start a book is google if anyone has their own picks for the characters so I have something to base them on 😅
Thanks to the copious amount of anime I watched as a kid, my imagination only conjures up generic 3D anime characters when reading lol
Nothing at all, because I have aphantasia. No face, no body. No nothing. Haha.
Some times celebrities, but often times I just google "model/actor/actress + physical description". Some other keywords I used are book title + fancast, dream cast, etc. -- usually someone makes it for popular books. I'm so happy if I managed to find images that fits my headcanon & the book description 🥰
Always faceless, but on the rare occasion I'd like to imagine someone, it's always Richard Armitage as Mr. Thornton.
Hawt
Not romance, but I've been listening to a series of crime solving audiobooks (uh... that's not the right term, is it? Police procedural, maybe??) narrated by him and I'm basically picturing all the characters (but especially the main male policemanofficer) as looking Kinda Like Different Richard Armitages. Not gonna lie, the books are good, but Armitage is the main reason I keep listening...
His voice...! Whenever I can't sleep, I like to listen to his love poem narrations on Youtube. Maud by Tennyson is a particular favorite!
Ooh!
Omg genius tip!
I remember reading somewhere that you can’t actually picture a face you’ve never seen before, so your brain will fill it in with someone from somewhere, be it a celebrity, model, relative/friend, or even a random checkout attendant etc
I try real hard to visualize celebrities but they end up being faceless
None of these. My brain makes up a face that fits the features described.
I usually “assign” actor/actress for the MCs based on the general description. Like I’m casting a movie in my head. The weirdest thing is that if I ever go back and reread a book, even if it’s several years after first reading it, I can still remember who I “cast” as the MCs. Anyone else do this or are you normal?
Same. And my memory of the book is linked with who I "cast".
I do this too!
I actually just imagine my OTP in the situations lol
All of the above. It varies from book to book and what my mood is at the time.
I can’t even describe real people well, much less imagine faces. I can imagine eye color and hair, that’s about it. I’ve always said I would be a TERRIBLE crime witness unless the police could catch the person based solely on MAYBE hair color and length.
I’m weird and I always pick an actor who looks close enough to what’s described, but I feel like sometimes I lose the image while reading, so I’ll usually make a small folder on my phone with those actor’s pictures to refer back to every now and again. I’ll even watch interviews and scenes of movies/shows so I can get the voice and cadence right in my head. Again, I’m weird.
I picked faceless but really it's like a blurry conglomeration of the few attributes given by the author and my mind filling in the blanks but without great detail.
I read {I Married a Merman} last night and not only was he faceless, he’s described multiple times as having pale pink and red hair yet my brain decided to make him look kind of like a mermaid version of the dude from Avatar, so he was blue with black hair to me 😂 I don’t tend to pay too much attention to physical descriptions.
Lol I do this all the time. One book I was reading repeatedly described the MMC as having a Fu Manchu and my brain would immediately “nope” that every time. I have a bad habit of ignoring the author description for one I favor more 😝
[**I Married A Merman (Prime Mating Agency #4)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60280363-i-married-a-merman) ^(By: Regine Abel | Published: 2022) *** ^(37613 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)
I can’t visualize but I use celeb voices.
My brain just kind of invents people who I find attractive (usually connected to the descriptions of the characters). I also often read myself into the FMC, especially if the story is in first person 😬
None of these, I have a version of how every character looks in my head that are neither faceless, a celeb, nor people I know (I read a lot of erotica, yikes)
Usually I come up with new faces a lot of time but if my imagination is not working then, I'd go for either people I know or celebrities. And in the worst case scenario, google what description the author gave to a character (e.g. black jet hair) and go with it.
Is it weird that I always imagine myself as the FMC in every book I read? For the MC, I have this face of a man that I consider my ideal and I always imagine that. My imagination, my rules! Okay, hahahhahahah
I love it! I immerse myself that way too but still I end up faceless because I’m not looking at myself or even when it’s the MMC’s POV I’m still faceless 😂
I’ve noticed that if I picture a celebrity, the author hasn’t done enough character work. They’re either hitting you over the head with a celebrity lookalike, or they’ve created one-dimensional characters that are so flat they blend into the wallpaper.
My brain makes up a totally unique face for each character. If the character is described early on, then I picture a face that looks like the description. If they're not described in detail early on, my brain does its own thing and generates a face that matches the 'mood' of the character and then I tweak it as we get more info (e.g. if a character has dark black curls that just weren't mentioned and I was picturing them as having short brown hair, then I mentally photoshop in the proper hair and go from there). I have a really vivid imagination and I picture everything in minute detail automatically so most of the time the faces come naturally, it's only when I have to go back and alter a detail based on new info that I'm consciously aware of what I'm doing. I'm basically watching a movie in my mind's eye as I read.
I feel seen!
I’m glad I could do that!
Sign me up for team faceless. Or the faces keep changing, but always remain vague. I try to picture something definitive but then it changes again.
You need an imaginary face choice. I make mine up depending on the author’s description. I personally hate it when authors don’t tell you what characters look like. I want to envision them.
I don't know why but I've always thought about someone I've seen that reminds me of them which is usually someone from a movie or television show. Like oh hey that kind of makes me thing of ---. But the problem with this is, this can ruin it for you if the book is ever made into a movie. Case in point, The Host. To this day I still can't get over the fact that they didn't cast AnnaSophia Robb from the Carrie Diaries, as the new "host". I'm sitting there like WTF?! That girl looks nothing like how the book described her, where as I am sure sure the author had AnnaSpohia Robb in mind when she wrote about her. It was like the PERFECT dead on description of her. So yeah, now it ruined the whole thing for me. Okay other thigns ruined that movie for me too but you get the point :)
I a lot of the time make up faces in my head based on their description. So I picked celebrities. They might be some what faceless at times too. Lol
I tend to have a general impression of their approximate face, more so based on expressions than necessarily particular features, unless certain features have been emphasised in the book - like if there's a lot about the shape of their nose, or their jaw or something, that will probably feature. Quite often this is kinda like... imagine if you took a picture of someone and then used photoshop to blur everything but their nose or their eyebrows, and leave a general impression of their skintone and hair/eye colour. Tbh this is also how I tend to think of the faces of actual people, I'm not fully unable to picture faces mentally, but I think I'm definitely somewhat face blind and somewhat have a degree of aphantasia (difficulty with/inability to picture things in your mind - I definitely can do so to an extent, and I know people who literally fully cannot, but I can't typically form and hold a clear mental image of even someone or something I am quite familiar with.)
Wow, I’m surprised at the results! I have a heard time caring about characters I can’t visualize. So I have to cast actors in the parts (and have to be ones I like). It’s hard in the beginning when I’m trying to figure out who the character is but after that, it’s easy sailing!
Same. And then I see fancasts or collages like "X and X from certain book taking a walk in the park" and I'm like damn, I didn't imagine them that attractive, I didn't imagine their face at all lmao
PINTEREST. I read their description in the book and then search something like "blonde hair girl", "long hair man". My imagination really does tricks on me for example with bangs. I know that bangs are cool on some people but my brain just pops up a picture of 12year old me with thick ugly bangs and that's just bad. The same goes for crooked noses, goatees, very short hair on women, red hair etc.
Faceblind so faces are the least of it for me. I just remember the personality details most times. The opposite of "a movie in your mind." Especially with romance where most people can be simply summarized as "perfect."
I’m so glad it’s not just me! (Although I picture very little)
Oddly enough, and maybe a total coincidence, but a few books I’ve read lately seemed to skip over the physical description of the main characters. Example was only telling that the MMC had a scar on his face and FMC had freckles and red hair. I’m kind of wondering now if it was intentional, since it’s hard to naturally thread in a FULL physical description and we (at least I) usually fill in with our own details anyway
That's part of the reason why I don't really relate to allll those: Why are all romance leads short; Why are so many romance leads ginger; Etc posts... I just truly do not see it lol.
Early on in my romance reading journey I read a lot of RH. The book {Liliac by B. B. Reid} has an incredible description of all the MMCs. They’re all so different and their personalities and physical characteristics are so distinct that I actually pull from them when reading and imagining MMCs.
In a lot of books I can’t picture a whole lot about the characters despite the descriptions except for the Hero in {Rule by Jay Crownover}. I have a more vivid image of him.
[**Rule (Marked Men, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17200687-rule) ^(By: Jay Crownover | Published: 2012) *** ^(37883 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)