I'm always curious as to what made people choose their pbs?

Post the picture or the WHY - that made you chose your characters pb!



For Emily Rudd / Benevolence - she is a cutie, and her eyes remind me of my mums! Not exactly a resounding reason, but that's why she got the tap!
She is stunning


Maddie
THIS PICTURE - it was the sort of sweet, simple girl that suited Maddies attitude -even though the model has all sorts of edgy piercings and tattoos that are very much not maddie

Murdock
I made him because I wanted to use Kristofer Hivju as a pb! <3

Meserimus Valenduris - He was picked because he was the most dumbledorey looking man without actually using a Dumbledore actor! XD

  

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Lady is a wonder

Generally I pick my PBs based on (1) do I like how their face looks, and (2) do they have more than a single photoshoot worth of pictures.

THAT BEING SAID, I have a just a few that I was more ~particular about.

@"Helga Scamander" — In hindsight I realized that I unconsciously took a lot of inspiration from Lydia Bennet from Pride and Prejudice when crafting her personality, and after spending a month binging Victoria with Jenna Coleman as Queen Victoria, I stumbled across Death Comes to Pemberly where Jenna Coleman played Lydia Bennet. Naturally I was convinced that Jenna was the perfect Helga!

Justice Rookwood — My 2018 obsession with Anne With An E. Anyone can tell you about it. If I had discovered AWAE now, I probably would have never made Justice and instead used Lucas Zumann as Cameron's PB, but fortunately Justice had a chance to exist :P

As a general rule I don't like using PBs that I've seen in a lot of shows/movies because I'll struggle to separate my character from the PB's prior roles when deciding personality traits. I've legitimately never seen Handsome Whitledge's PB (Ansel Elgort) in anything and the first time I heard his voice I made a weird face and turned it off. I think that's why I use a lot more models than other people might, they're like blank canvasses xD

  

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— set by MJ <3 —

Ooo fun! (Leaving out the ones without a story)

Ophelia/Aubrey Plaza - Ophelia was originally supposed to be a try hard deb who never did anything right so the crazy vibe in Aubrey's photos was appealing (especially where she looks like she's obsessively staring at a hot guy from a corner) - though the character has evolved so much it hardly makes any sense now but I love her PB anyway.

Alfred/Matt Healy - I literally searched "famous people with crazy unruly hair" and went from there. I am now a big fan of The 1975 but I had never heard of them prior to finding Alfred's PB

Thom/Brandon Flowers- I had been hunting for a new PB forever and was not finding anyone I liked and then I went to a Killers concert and was like "that's it, that's exactly his energy up on stage right now!" So I literally switched during the car ride home.

Gideon/Rafe Spall - MJ found him for me after I described his vibe as "lovably unkempt"

Ford/Ben Rosenfield - Bree found him because he has "young and I don't know what I'm doing vibes" and also I'm a sucker for curly hair

Ernest/ David Tennant- does not actually have a story, it was just the suggested PB, but I just wanted to say I'd had an itch for a time-wizard DoM person forever and I did not pick his specialty because he's The Doctor.

  

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MJ made this <3

Seneca - Lily Rose Depp
Before Lily, I pictured her as Florence Pugh, but she was taken. I had used Lily Ross Depp for a brief time so I remembered her as a PB choice for a teen girl. She had the right colours and haughty face expressions, so I went with her. She fits Seneca rly well I think!

Ellory - Hera Hilmar
I struggled for a long time to find the right on for her. Her first pb, back when she was a 15 year old student had been Bella Thorne. I went through various redheads until I settled for Hera.

Fun fact, but Ellory wasn't supposed to be a redhead in the beginning. I described her hair as reddish brown, but she kept being called a redhead IC so in time I wrote that as official.

I don't remember where i saw Hera first. I didn't use her for Ellory straight away because teen me needed validation to do literally anything lol. In the end I used her as Ellory and I'm really happy because I can't imagine anyone else! Also, teen me cared so much about whether a potential PB has a million pictures, as though I'd be changing their set every 2 days lol. I was hesitant about Hera for that reason, but I no longer care.

Ruby - Jasmine Sanders
Her on before Jasmine was Zendaya but when I returned she was taken. I wasn't very sold about her tbh, but it's so hard to find young biracial PBS. Especially in the past there were like 2 people you could choose from haha.

Before Zendaya Lynn and I had used Amandla Stenberg for the twins, but while she worked during their pre teen years, she didn't do it for me the older Ruby got.

I liked Jasmine Sanders, she looked like he could be the daughter of a black woman and Michael Fassbinder, seeing that she's half black and half German.

Cecily - Chloe Grace Moretz
I think I've shared the story in the past about how 14 year old me thought that Sleepy Hollow Christina Ricci is fitting for a 10 year old lol.

Kayte suggested Chloe so I went with her. I've been using her for 10 years now and I couldn't imagine anyone else. Thankfully she continues to have a career so I probably won't need to change her haha.

Elon - Craig Roberts
I needed a dude that can pass for a 15 year old and looks like a simp. He had this "male lead in a movie where the male director has a manic pixie dream girl cure his depression" so I went with him.

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   Sophie Ruskin

Fun fact about me: the character usually comes after the face! There are a couple of exceptions on this list, though.

Sophie was a product of actually wanting to use Kacey Rohl for someone but not having any real muse ideas. As she was my first character back, Kelly told me about the previous incarnation of her, Naomi, and I fell in love with the idea. Hilariously, Kacey's younger than Sophie's supposed to be.

Angelique was literally born from Carnival Row. I love Tamzin, that's one of my favorite shows right now (so much so I've rewatched if five times), and the character just kind of came together.

Lillian was the first of this Avery branch to come to mind, and I found Sarah perfect. She has this ideal blend of things I can't really put my finger on.

Naeva has gone through a PB change recently. Previously, I had Normani Kordei for her, who has very few workable images, and is actually not biracial, as Kat Graham - the PB for Naeva's elder sisters - is. When I decided to bring her back, I went looking for biracial PBs and found Ella Balinska. She hasn't been in many films, but she's also had somewhat of a modeling career. The only issue I've run into is finding gifs where she isn't handling a firearm, because she was in the new Charlie's Angels. xD A huge reason I chose her? She looks a lot like Kat. XD

Shona was initially conceived as just a redhead. I knew I wanted her to be a red. I had Isolda Dychauk down for her PB in my spreadsheet (I have a character spreadsheet, surprise!), but then I watched Bridgerton. And Penelope was perfect. Also curvy representation!

Vanessa was born from Emmy's portrayal of Christine. There's no denying it. That's why Vanessa's a soprano. xD

  

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Acacia Ruskin/Ellie Bamber: She originally had the face of the girl who played Fox Face in the Hunger Games, but that chick had barely any pics and I really like changing Acacia's set semi-seasonally. I have no recollection as to who suggested Ellie, but her gifs are so cute and she's just really how I'd see Acacia.

Ace Lukeson/Keneti (KJ) Apa: Ace was legit a wanted of my own back on old site. On new site, I originally was killing off Guinevere for real, but I wanted a Lukeson. I picked him for my adopteds because I saw a majority of the siblings with red hair like their dad and Riverdale was constantly having commercials for it's first or second season.

Alina MacRae/Francesca Capaldi: Teens are legit so hard for me to find, especially red heads. Her mother at the time, before I retconned her, was a red head and I think that was one of the requirements for Alina. I wanted to find someone with more pictures but I am too lazy.

Earth Beck/Candice Accola: I'm gonna admit something to y'all. I have a Vampire Diaries obsession. Legit, the reason why I picked this face, and the reason why I will forever be sad that even though Jupiter's current playby works way better, I don't get to have another favorite VD lady on this family.

Godric Bellwether/Thomas Brodie-Sangster: I legit hate trying to find young PBs, Thomas has a forever young face, and Jen and Elaine convinced me to use him. Legit, and this dude just looks short to me. Is that weird?

Hestia Fairchild/Lizzie Greene: She has legit changed PBs three times, and I still don't think I'm satisfied. First she was a brunette, then a red head (I don't have an obsession, you have an obsession), and now she's blonde. Just you wait, I'll actively seek out some young chick with purple hair for her next PB.

Liliana Selwyn/Diana Farkhullina: I legit wanted to give her Sabrina Carpenter (ya know, before I made Opal) and was told no. I legit had Fallin find me a PB and Diana is amazing so it works.

Maxima Goshawk/Kyla Matthews: Pretty sure I shouted out in the CBox and MJ gave me two Anne with an E PBs, so her twin is the other one. Maybe it was Bree. One of y'all. But do you see that gif in her profile? That's literally why I chose her for Maxie. She legit looks so prim and proper in that gif.

Odette Tailler/Katerina (Kat) Graham: Read VD obsession above. I legit play TV best friends and Odette legit hates Earth's fam on site. I love that so much.

Rosie Binns/Yvonne Strahovski: I legit grew up watching Chuck, and I adore Sarah so much. And I'd recently binged Handmaiden's Tale. And I noticed Kayte had changed Evelyn's PB and I was all like "Yes, my time to shine!". Bless you Kayte, for changing Evey's PB for me and making my dreams come true! <3

Saturn Smith/Colin Ford: Was legit a rando PB I found for Saturn's wanted.

Sweetie Whitledge/Sammi Hanratty: Came from Bree's wanteds. Legit can't imagine any other face for her, Sammi is perfect for Sweetie. Except I'm worried about Sweetie's future years because Sammi goes blonde and it doesn't really work for her, at least when I think of Sweetie.

Will Avery/Zachary Levi: I finally have found the perfect dude for Zach's face and it makes me so happy! I legit could never see this guy as Warwick, Gerald, or even Ace. Their personalities just don't fit and now I have Will and he legit works. I finally have both leads from Chuck for my PBs and it makes me happy.

  

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Magic by Elaine!

So generally I have the problem of finding a PB I like and then make a character to fit them... it's how Baxter, Syd, Tabi and several others have come to live XD I tend to require a large picture base because I like new sets, but it doesn't always work out that way.


Elsie - the character has been around herself for like... 13-14 years and I've always described how blue her eyes are, so thankfully ageless Alexis Bledel fits XD.

Eavan - I used Bonnie Wright originally and used Lindsay Hansen for a different character, dropped her and was like "WELP" Lindsay had more pictures.

Eugene - got a huge retcon in the move and when I aged him down, I wanted somebody who could feasibly look like a young version of Newt's dad and hi, it's adorable Tom Holland to the rescue! Tom is a little young, but I think both Eugene and Newt have a youthful appearance, so I ran with it.

Jesse - when picking a Hatchitt sibling PB I tried to match eyes and hair with Beanie's PB for Gabe, and Zac Efron fit the bill. Thankfully he's ditch the long, shaggy haircut and continues to meet my taste for my age, so I'm rolling with him.

Mason - simply a love for Matthew Lewis and he fit an awkward, nerdy sort of character lol. I wish had more pictures though!

Sloane - I forget how I found Lily Kruk, but she just seemed to fit. I do have a grown up PB already picked out for Sloane if I get there, but Lily is her age, so I may not need her lol.


8/10 times I like the face and make them fit somewhere. That's usually my MO.

  

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MJ always makes her so pretty

I usually have a character in mind before I find a face, but, sometimes, a face sparks a character. Or it happens concurrently because my brain is weird.

Billie: She was originally Jacob Tremblay who I chose because of the mischief in his eyes. However, I knew I'd need someone who appeared slightly more female as Billie aged. Sophia Lillis in 'I'm Not Okay With This' looked like what I imagine grown up Billie would one day, so I went to see if there were pictures of her younger. She's in so many things where she appears androgynous when she was young, so she seemed pretty perfect.

Zach: I had 'bearded sweetheart' in my head. Colin Morgan has kind eyes, which was the deciding factor.

Eli: I really liked the playby Kayte had originally suggested (the boy from Durrells in Corfu), but he didn't fit the quiet guy I had in my head. Robbie Kay always has this serious look to him, and I love how his ears stick out.

Wallace: Murtagh from Outlander! He just fit the character so well. Bee convinced me with the words "eccentric old man," and I knew exactly which playby I would use.

Deanna: I needed someone nosy, and the post office woman from Larkrise to Candleford kept coming to mind, so I chose her.

Archer, Ned, and Thomas: They're Kayte adopts, and, honestly, their PBs were perfect so I went with them! (Esp Archer and Thomas)

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   Elsie Kirke

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MJ, yet again working her magic.  <3 <3 Thank you

A majority of my face claims tend to be some sort of model I follow or celeb whose roles in obsessed with. I also usually have an image of the characters appearance in my head and find a face claim that matches that.

I have too many to talk of them all but might talk of the rest another day.

Clarissa was originally Liv Tyler because I was obsessed with her at the time but I kept going ugh but shes too old for a 13 year old. So I searched for a girl with dark hair and blue eyes and asked a rp help forum for suggestions - Julia Goldani-Telles was one and she continues to be perfect for Clary.

For Monty I was obsessed with Magnus Bane from Shadowhunters and his aesthetic fit my muse for Monty perfectly.

For Esteban, he was the suggested face by Beans and I also though that he was perfect for Esteban. His current sig image was the image used in the wanted ad and continues to be his entire vibe.

Friendless is based off of a side character named Ancel in the Captive Prince series. Redheaded and delicate with decent set pics is hard to find. His original face claim did not have enough pictures so I switched to Fionn.

  

Gideon/Rafe Spall - MJ found him for me after I described his vibe as "lovably unkempt"

Fun fact that I found him after seeing him in a play once with Ruth Wilson, which fits my usual MO for picking faces xD I feel like I subconsciously tend to stick to British/European faces which maybe is illustrative of the media I consume, but I do like people with ~interesting faces as opposed to the staple Hollywood look? I don't like 'em too glossy. If they've got an interesting nose I am sold.

Just some bc I have too many characters, "actors I love" or "suggested pb" is shorthand for the rest~

Ari/Colin Donnell: The suggested face, but I have a soft spot for Broadway types so used him even though back then he died in s1 of all his TV roles and had next to no pictures. Then he ended up on a hospital show which solidified him as Ari's face forever.

Aubrey/Adam Nagaitis: He was on a show (yes, The Terror, always) where everyone kept calling him a rat and he's smol and pointy so using him for a rodent seemed to fit sorry Adam ilu <3

Gus/Jessie Buckley: gawky and weird and pulling dumb faces in half her pictures.

Calliope/Anna Speckhart: A model who had the pictures that her original PB (Lucy Griffiths) lacked, and I don't mind model!face for my less smiley characters, lol.

Elias/Chace Crawford: Pretty sure I chose him entirely at random because newbie me to the site absolutely did not expect to still be playing him in ten years’ time. In 2011 era he was being used over the place on HP boards as your typical UCPB Slytherin Gossip Girl type so I thought I would make him a halfblood Gryffindor to be hipster. I so rarely watch his stuff that he is now basically just Elias in my brain.

Emerett/Ben Daniels: Definitely needed a white man for this character, had none left on my potential faces list, and Ben Daniels has an excellent track record playing villains... right back to kidnapping children at the circus in Madeline (1998), the light of my childhood.

Evander/Matthew McNulty: Looking for someone to pass for Alfred's brother, picked McNulty half for the irony that he'd just played a naval lieutenant on a lost expedition, the other half because his characters literally always exude doleful energy, and even in said show he was the guy who wouldn't dress up for the carnival party because he was allergic to fun. <3

Ishmael/Riz Ahmed: This was me thinking "is it just me or does Riz Ahmed give off major vampire vibes????" Anyway, I saw it, I rolled with it, if I were in the film business this would have happened by now.

Jimmy/Roman Griffin Davis: his character epithet was "with the punchable face." Playing a kid at Hitler youth camp in his first film seemed like a good fit. That toothy smile. All of his pictures are extremely chaotic.

Jay/Dev Patel: It was a CRIME that he was not currently being used.

Jude/Ton Heukels: Wanted a face that was striking/pretty a la Enjolras rather than typically handsome, and thought he would be distinctive on the board in the floofy long hair anti-establishment counter-cultural Oscar Wilde way. That's him desperately trying to signal that he's not straight.

Myles/Johnny Flynn: Yeah he was just in Emma but the truth is I really care about one (1) of his songs from his folk musician career. Did see him in Vanity Fair, he was with Phyri's pb in the terrible BBC Les Mis, and one day I will watch him and Gus' pb in Beast.

Phyri/Lily Collins: I needed someone with ~eyebrows to go with Maisie Williams as a sister. Half the time Lily Collins looks very preppy and plays characters Phyri would like to murder but just often enough she'll go a bit goth or out there and look v witchy for me.

Trystan/Matthias Schoenaerts: Catch me trying to find someone with ~family resemblance to all those played Selwyns, esp. to the blond bastards, also me looking for someone built like a bull and suitably Zeus-ish, and The Old Guard reminding me of Schoenaerts' existence all at the same time. Serendipity.

Tyb/Darren Criss: It was 2011? Pretty much entirely for AVPM reasons. Then like five years later he freaked me out by becoming too Tyb by creating 'Elsie fest'.

Yassine/Tahar Rahim: Can't remember how I found him but I will be looking at any films directed by Jacques Audiard in future as clearly he has the same taste in faces as me.

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   Reuben Crouch

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look ANOTHER beautiful bee!set <3