Happy New Year!

Hey everyone!

I've been super busy with family stuff and being hellishly ill the past couple days, but I did want to make a little post for New Years'! I'm super excited about the doll plans I have for this year, and I'll be talking about that as my first post of 2018.

This post is also a small announcement! I'll be doing a 30 for 30 craft challenge in the month of January, which I know is 31 days, but hey, day off? For those of you who haven't heard of 30 for 30 challenges, essentially what that means is that I'll be working on some craft, of some kind, for at least 30 minutes every day for 30 days. I decided to do this in January because, for the first half of the month, I'm on a true break. In the summer, I work-- hard and a lot-- but there's not work here during the winter, so I have plenty of time to devote to crafts. I'll be posting regular updates on that, and I'd love to invite other people to participate as well. If you do, I'd love to see what you create!

See you next year!

~Theo

BJD End of the Year Tag

Hello!

I'm doing the BJD End of the Year tag today. I had a hard time finding the original, not filled out, or anyone who did one specific tag on YouTube, but I found this one on tumblr. It seems to be a few years old, but it's what I could find, so let's do this thing!

1. How long have you been in the BJD hobby?

I’ll have been in the hobby for a year at the end of this upcoming January! So 11 months currently, but I've known about and been low grade interested in BJDs since 2014.

2. How many dolls do you have at home? 

I currently have four full dolls at home, I’m waiting on a few though! I’ve got my big DollZone box coming in the new year that I’m super excited for, as well as the Dearmine Chopin in cherry skin coming in late to mid February. I’ve kiiiind of got five, but my only SD girl is a bag of parts until I get back to school and have elastic. Which is disappointing, but sometimes how the cookie crumbles.

3. What are their names and sculpts?

Bridget is a ResinSoul Mei in white, Amelia is a ResinSoul Rong in dark tan, Gretchen is a ResinSoul Yu in green, and Lucy is an Asleep Eidolon in normal skin! I also have Cassandra, my bag of parts Impldoll Iris in normal skin.

4. Which doll have you had the longest? How long has it been? 

I’ve had Bridget since January 27th! She was originally styled very very differently, she was going to be frilly and femme. So she's had quite an aesthetic journey so far!

5. Which doll is your favorite?

I actually don’t know that I have a favorite! Bridget’s aesthetic is my personal favorite, and I love finding or making clothes for her, but I LOVE Amelia’s poseability (as well as her aesthetic, honestly, and she tends to be easier to shop for). Gretchen’s green resin delights me, and she makes a great desk buddy, as does Lucy, who’s also super cute and has been much easier to make a style plan for. I keep trying to answer this question definitively and not being able to, so.

6. Are you waiting on any dolls now? If yes, which one(s)? 

Yes! I sort of addressed this, but I’m waiting on a big box from DollZone which will contain a body for Jonah (the B45-018), a Penny, and a Niu Niu! That’s all paid for, and I also have a Dearmine Bean Chopin on layaway with Denver Doll who I'm very excited for. She's the cherry skin fullset with the cute little dress!

7. What is your grail doll? 

​I wish I’d found the questions sooner because I literally just did a post on this, but my major grails are Summerbird Viola and Luts Kid Delf Moonlit Song Bory! The Bory variant in particular is the one I consider my grail above all other grails, it's an absolutely gorgeous sculpt that would be beyond perfect for my character Gil.

8. Did you learn to do something new because of this hobby? (e.g. photography, painting, sewing) 

I’ve learned a lot about sewing and pattern design! I’ve really struggled with pattern drafting in the past, so it’s a skill I’m very proud to have gained. At some point in the future I'd like to do a post on pattern drafting for people who've never done it before or who've had bad results with it, my working title is "Pattern Drafting For Dumbasses (Like Me!)"

9. Have you made any friends you might otherwise not have because of this hobby? 

For sure! I’ve made a lot of friends in the hobby through my local BJD group, which has been super great. It’s a very welcoming group of people and I honestly would’ve had a much harder time at the beginning without them. One of my newbie issues was getting Bridget's head back on after taking it off to change her eyes for the first time, and it was actually someone in the group who tipped me off to how to get it back on.

10. What are your doll plans for this coming year?

I have a HUGE post on this coming up, but the major elements are getting face ups for some of my heads and working on wardrobes. Also in my doll plans are applying to do a BJD panel at PortCon and, hopefully, grails not popping up, no new dolls until at least June! My wallet needs a break and a refocus in the new year.

Sorry this post was a little late, we’ve been fighting with our internet and it’s been a little wonky around here. I have internet on my laptop for the first time since 3 yesterday.

See you Saturday!

~Theo

Happy Holidays!

Hello everyone!

I'm from a Christmas family, so I'm mid-holiday whirlwind! It's been wicked snowy here the last few days, and the roads are basically solid ice right now, so we're in a bit of a lull until the big day! We're supposed to get a foot on Christmas itself, and I know I shouldn't be, but I'm actually looking forward to it. The fact that we're snowed in means I've got some good time to just sit and work on doll projects. I also just got in my secondhand Asleep Eidolon Chocolate-- who I've decided to name Lucy- so I'm thinking of spending some good time with her. Even though she came with a bunch of stuff, including a wig, I'd like to make her a short little wig out of the fiber I bought for Jonah's wig, as well as make some decisions about her eyes. Once I've made a decision, I can order a new pair for her.

I'm also planning some cute Christmas and winter-themed doll photos! I want to do a shoot with Amelia and Bridget in their Christmas best, including, hopefully, one with the same scarf wrapped around both of them. I've also got plans for one with Gretchen and Lucy, as well as a group photo for the end of the year! I've struggled to find a post of the End of the Year BJD tag, so at this point my plan is just to rewatch SightHoundLady's video from last year and write them down? If you have a link to the original tag, though, please feel free to share!

Sorry for the super short post, I wound up going to a holiday party at a friend's despite the roads! Next up is the end of the year tag, and there should be a box opening for Lucy coming down the pike soon!

See you next time!

~Theo

Grails

Hello!

As promised, today's post is about grail dolls! I'm from a Christmas-celebrating family, so this month has been a lot of 'What do you want for Christmas?' While I have plenty of non-doll things to make up a good list, the question does have me thinking about the dolls I really want but who are, for various reasons, unattainable.

So What Is a Grail Doll?

A "grail doll," by purist definition, is a doll that's expensive and out of production, limited or otherwise hard to get and currently out of your reach. By a looser definition, it's a doll you really really want-- still usually with the element of currently being out of reach, but it might be because it's "just" out of your budget rather than being hard to get. Both definitions are fine, of course, and I've actually decided to split this up into sections based on which definition I'm working off of when I call the doll in question a grail.

So, without further ado, let's get into what my grail dolls are!

Loose Definition Grails

Those dainty legs! <3
(Source: Doll Chateau)

Doll Chateau Elizabeth is really the first one that comes to mind here! She's little and pretty, but as a college student I move back and forth a lot, and I'd be super nervous about something happening to one of her legs in transit. On top of that, she's a $500 YoSD ($480 if you want to split hairs about it). She's super pretty, and I have a potential character plan for her-- leaning pretty heavily towards a dark mori-styled fortune teller, I'd probably want to pick up some small spheres so she could have a crystal ball for photos and maybe print some tiny tarot cards or make itty bitty runes-- and I'd love to own her someday! It's just not likely to happen any time soon, especially when I have characters more integral to my story that need shelling first.

Snowborn!
(Source: DollChateau)

And what do you know, another Doll Chateau! He's also absolutely gorgeous-- I know a lot of people don't feel this way, but I absolutely love his smile and especially his nose. I'd love to see him with big round glasses, especially styled all cozy like he is in his stock images. When I envision what I'd do with one and talk doll plans with my friends in the hobby, I tend to use the word 'librarian' a lot-- I can't not picture him in a sweater. But, like Elizabeth, he's out of my price range for now, and, unlike her, he's massive. I have pretty limited space in terms of doll stuff, and in terms of conserving that space, I'd rather be able to Tetris in a bunch of dolls 30 centimeters smaller than him and smaller than try to figure out how to maneuver him into my doll drawer. I'd want him on their human body, which at least negates the centaur legs issues, but he's still not something I'll be able to buy for a good solid while

A Little In the Middle of the Definitions Grails:

(Source: Flower and Junior)

Flower and Junior's Mizi.W! She wasn't particularly expensive when she was available-- she was a $90 head-- but she's currently unavailable and unlikely to become available soon. I also haven't seen her on the secondhand market at all, but, of course, that doesn't necessarily mean she's super unavailable, just that nobody's selling on DoA currently. I'm also not as attached to any particular idea for her the way I am with other dolls I consider grails, so while I love the sculpt a lot, she's also not quite as graily, if that's a term, as the other dolls in this little list.

*Update: since I started this post, a last chance order for Mizi.W opened. This is atrocious timing for me, and since I have no real plan for what I would do with a Mizi.W, I'm going to be good and pass on this one.

(Source: Summerbird BJD)

Summerbird Viola is another one of these! She's so cute, and I love her unique-- at least for a doll-- body shape. I missed out on her during the first order period because I was in the land without internet-- at the job that wound up funding The Big DZ Order, actually-- and she sold out in two hours! The dolls from that first order have yet to be finished and ship home, but apparently when they do get finished and all of the first batch of Violas have gone home, a second preorder will be opening. Depending on a bunch of different things, that might not work out for me either, but she's been quite popular so far, so I doubt that will be the last we'll see of her.

"Holiest of Holies" Grail:

Yep, that sound is me ugly crying, thanks for asking!
(Source: Luts)

Ugh. Okay. I have such a love/hate relationship with this sculpt, and honestly the hate is mostly because of the love. I adore this sculpt, but it was a limited run in June of 2013, it's very unusual to see people only selling the head or even being willing to split the head from the body, and the full doll is usually pretty expensive, which would then leave me with a centaur body to sell. I'm interested specifically in the centaur version's head-- I love the elf ears because of course I do, and for me his expression looks just smug enough to be perfect, and the unicorn horn is ideal for Gil-- which further narrows my options. I seem to have scrounged up a suitable stand-in for the time being, and I found one on DoA I'd like to snap up once I've gotten myself sorted for next semester. Even with that, though, I'd loooooooove to have him be a Kid Delf Moonlight Song Bory someday. What a gorgeous sculpt!



Thanks for humoring this little post of me whining about the pretty dolls I want! I'm pretty sure most of my friends are sick of hearing me talk about, specifically, the KDF MS Bory and how much I want one and what I'd do with one if I had it and on and on and on.

Right now, the end of the year post plans involve talking about my Christmas plans, the end of the year tag if I can find it, and an announcement of something I've got planned for January! I might also be talking about my hybrid search adventure for Gil-- finding a body's been a mild nightmare to be totally honest-- which may turn into a little post on what to consider when planning a hybrid. I'm also now officially on winter break, which means I should have time to pre-plan some posts a little better!

Until next time!

~Theo

Collection Chat!

Hello!

I wanted to talk today about my collection so far. I'm coming up on a year in the hobby, and I'll be doing a proper post about my actual like "collection journey" when the anniversary of Bridget's arrival rolls around-- it happens to fall on a January Saturday, which works out perfectly-- but for today, I really want to just talk about my collection-- who I have, their characters if they've got one, and who I'm currently waiting on. Sorry this is so heavy on words!

Who I Have

My first doll was a ResinSoul Mei in white skin. She started super femme and a little frilly, and the only things she still has from that look, other than her default faceup, are her name, Bridget, and her purple eyes. She's turned out pretty emo/punky and more androgynous and butch than initially planned, but I love the resulting character so much more than I liked the old plan.

Six months later, in early June, my second doll arrived! She's a ResinSoul Rong in dark tan, and she's the pretty femme I had intended Bridget to be, and her character quickly established herself as the daughter of elven nobility. Her original hair plan didn't work out-- I'm 3 for 3 on original wigs not working out at this point, we'll see how it goes with Cassandra and Gretchen, I'm highkey nervous for both-- but I looooooove the wig she wears now. I need to spend some time over winter break just taking care of both of their wigs, as they're both a little ratty currently, but that's a bridge to be crossed next week. Her name's Amelia, and I actually was a little nervous about whether or not I was going to like her sculpt based on the company photos-- specifically, I was a little worried about her nose. But once I had her in front of me, her nose actually became my favorite feature. I still don't like the company photos of Rong, but I adore Amelia.

The next one in was my tan Wol head! I'm still waiting for his body-- see this post for my hybrid plans and this one for character chat-- but I'm incredibly excited to start working on his wig! He's the third one in the problem wig streak, but I'm actually really excited to make his wig! I've had a hard time finding basically everything I'm interested in for him aesthetic wise-- I squealed out loud when I found a shop on etsy that has a couple pairs of boots I'd be interested in for him-- but I'm ready to learn new things for him. I'll be drafting a pattern for tights soon, him and Amelia will be getting matching lace tights. Or maybe they'll share one pair, I'll need to check a bunch of measurements to see if they even could. I'll also be making his pants, jackets, and vests, as well as maybe some ties.

Close behind him was my green Yu! She was an impulse buy, and while the purchase itself could've been worse, the ripple effects I'm starting to see on my collection plan are bad news. Maybe 'bad news' is a little dramatic, but long story short-- I fucking love this tiny. She doesn't take up a lot of space, she's easily stored and stashed, and she's just so damn cute. I love her tiny little elf ears, I love her little teeny hands, and you'd better believe I absolutely love her feet. And tiny clothes are so cute! Granted, I'll probably get salty the second I have a mission to style a tiny as anything other than a fairy princess or a small child, but god I want like a dozen of these little bitty beans. More on this in "Who I'm Waiting On," fortunately/unfortunately. I'm currently calling her Gretchen, and taking a picture of her with a unakite sphere while I was home for Thanksgiving has me wanting to take a zillion pictures of tinies and crystals.

And last but literally not least, my NS Impldoll Iris. She's still in a bag of parts, and I need to get new elastic for her. But I do have character thoughts for her, and I'm pretty set on how I'll be styling her. I'm a little nervous, to be totally honest, she's a 'do I like this size?' test and the answer might be no. I never really know where to hold SDs, but that also might be an issue of inexperience with them. I've played with other people's at meets, but never for long, and there's something about something being someone else's doll that makes me a lot more careful-- kind of like I was with Bridget as a brand new newbie, honestly. So having my own to mess with could be helpful here, but we'll see.

Who I'm Waiting On

Jonah's body is part of a big DZ order! In addition to his body, I've got a Penny coming, and she'll have a faceup because a friend and I wanted a Niu Niu to split(I was about $40 short of the event threshold and I prefer dolls with faces)! She's the tiny version from the summer event, so he gets the body, I'm keeping the head, and he's got a Pukifee whose body my Niu Niu will hopefully be stealing. I don't say hopefully because I anticipate anything going sideways with us, it's more a question of whether or not necks will need modding. I'm not anticipating a need for it, but until I've got her body, I won't really be sure. 

The Niu Niu is going to be a little pixy girl, and I got so accustomed to called her "PG" in her head that her name wound up being Paige. I'm intending to have her be very cutesy and pastel, but we'll see! She might decide she needs a different aesthetic. I've been really 50/50 on her hair color-- I keep flipflopping between red and blonde. Either way, I definitely want curls for days on her.

And the Penny's going to wear fairy kei and possibly sweet Lolita. It feels kind of cliche, given how many pastel dolls are out there, but I wear fairy kei and I'd love to have a doll whose aesthetic matches mine. I'm also really excited to create a doll who actually wears fairy kei, rather than just. What people outside the fashion think it looks like, which I see a lot of. I'm really feeling a giant twintails split wig with a million tiny things in it for her, Mint on Card has a Code Noir one in her size in stock, so we shall see. I'd love to style her super OTT, but she'll definitely have to start with a more casual style while I build up a wardrobe for her. She doesn't have a planned name or character yet, but that hasn't posed a problem for me yet, so I doubt it will this time. I do know I want her to be a friend of Bridget's, but other than that I don't have much yet.

Here's where we start to get into the bad news caused by Gretchen. This one I also a little bit have my friend Tyler to blame for, because it's his fault I know she exists in the first place. Denver Doll Emporium tends to get small amounts from limited runs to have in stock and sell, and he sent me the photos of Dearmine's Chopin Bean in cherry skin from them and I fell in love instantly.  A tiny pink dragon with ears that look like bows? Sign me the hell up. I don't have a name for her yet, but I'm planning to look into dragons of myth and literature to choose from. She's got two more layaway payments on her, which will be funded in part by the sale of the Snail Larry I got in a deeply disappointing Mint on Card surprise bag. But hey, it obviously wasn't a total bust-- Larry sold, the YoSD boots I got in it sold, the eyes weren't too bad, and the technicolor Marie Antoinette wig has found itself a new home.

In further 'oops' news, I have a super cute Asleep Eidolon Chocolate coming to me in the new year as well! She's secondhand as well, and will be my oldest doll by a long shot, as she was made in 2010! She's definitely a 'the glory of the secondhand market,' she's super cute, she was under $100, and she's coming with easily $40 of extras, including clothes, socks, and a wig. I'm already very tempted to make her a little insect fairy-- one of her dresses is bee-themed, another is ladybug-themed-- and I'm thinking of giving her some sort of flower name. Maybe Daisy, but I'm going to see how I feel about it when she gets here. My tinies are able to exist in the same story as my MSDs because I've got a fantasy story with elves, and I'm so so so looking forward to taking pictures of my MSDs with my tinies for things other than just to compare sizes for a friend. 

I think that's all for today! I'm planning for Wednesday's post to be about grails, see you then!

~Theo

Stringing Nightmares

Hello!

So, as you may know if you read my commentary about which posts are next, I recently received a secondhand Impldoll Iris. She's lovely, and her resin is of high quality, but she came unstrung and hoo boy.

Today the Boston community had a meet! This marked left leg stringing attempt number four, and it should've been good! Two people offered their help, and one of them even had a restringing tool (which seems super handy and I kinda want one).

No one could do it. She came with elastic, but the one for her legs isn't long enough, so at this point I just need to buy new elastic. It's not like it's an expensive thing, but I was hoping to have her be strung and ready to go after today so I could finish the post about her, so it's pretty irritating. So now she's a completely unstrung bag of parts, and her review's been pushed off for at least another week.

See you Wednesday!

~Theo

Silly Wants: Doll Underwear

Hello!

Sorry for no post on Saturday, it was a weird week and I haven't had much chance to write. So instead of the box opening post I've been working on-- I really want photos of her together and the ability to talk about her posing before I post it and trying to string her has been a nightmare-- here's a "silly wants" post.

Doll underwear. It's impractical, unnecessary, and so cute, and I'd love to have at least a pair for each of my dolls. Maybe this is a weird thing, but I like thinking about what kind of underwear my dolls would wear if they were people. I think it's a neat little character detail, and I think doll underwear is adorable-- like most doll clothes, honestly-- so it's something I'd like to have at some point, but don't presently because I'm still building up things I consider wardrobe "essentials" for my dolls, so right now, while cute, it's pretty low on my priority list. So, without further ado, a little post of undergarments I like for each of my dolls!

Bridget:

Bridget really does not do feminine, and I feel like she'd be most comfortable in boxers and a tank top! Alice's Collection has some nice options for boxers, but I've also been loving some designs from etsy. This one, from Shiraya's Wardrobe, is my current favorite. I love the stock image design, but it's not currently listed as an option, so I'll either wait, message the seller (it's an option on some other listings, so maybe?), or just order in black if I do decide to buy it. The same seller also does tank tops, and a black one would be ideal. Starrshine Designs, also on etsy, does some PJ sets that could potentially be used as underwear, but they're surprise sets, which is a little bit of a non-option for me.

They'd be so perfect for my little emo baby
(Source: Shiraya's Wardrobe)

Amelia:

Amelia, on the other hand, very much does feminine. If I bought underwear for her, I'd definitely prefer to just do matching sets. Honestly, I don't love most of the options I've found from the major places I usually go to for doll clothes-- I have scoured etsy, I have seen everything-- but I really like this Fairyland set for Minifees, which should fit her:

I love florals on her
(Source: Fairyland)

I've also poked in some other places, and MR.D:D has some options I like as well. Their newer things are more expensive, but some of their re-releases are more in the "Fairyland expensive" range rather than "excuse me while I cry" range. I like this set a lot for her!

I. Mentioned I love florals on her
(Source: MR.D:D)

Cassandra:

Cassandra wears Gothic Lolita, so I tend to think of her in black bloomers and an overbust corset. I've had a really hard time finding just a simple black overbust corset for SD girls, but I'm still hunting. I've had okay luck trying to find bloomers, but it's a little weird-- most people don't seem to make bloomers for SDs, and the people who do mostly make fancy ones or ones with odd patterns, not simple pairs. For overbust corsets, I really dig this one from Seventh Soul on etsy:

So pretty!
(Source: Seventh Soul)

And for bloomers, I found this cute "and chemise" set from Sweet Gyrl Two on etsy! I don't know that I'd have a use for the chemise, but I could potentially use it as a night shirt.

(Source: Sweet Gyrl Two)

Hopefully by Saturday I'll have Cassandra properly strung! If she is, expect a post about her, otherwise, I'm thinking a general collection post.

See you then!
~Theo

Chubby BJDs?

Hey everyone!

I feel like I open posts with "full disclosure" a lot, but full disclosure, I was going to have the title of this post be "Summerbird Viola" but I'm hoping to save that entry title for getting one.

Hopefully. 

Someday.

But I do want to talk about something I find a little frustrating in the hobby-- lack of body diversity! The main place we tend to see anything even close to it is female busts and in level of muscle on male bodies, but what I want is fat bodies. I want to see chubby bodies, in all sizes, from the little 12-17 cm tinies all the way up to 70+ cm behemoths. And I'm not talking about the Big Baby/Holiday's Child size-- they're cute, but they're proportioned like young children, not like typical MSDs. I'm talking about dolls who are typical for their scale but aren't your typical "slim and pretty" or "absolutely r i p p e d" but instead are on the chubby side!

For tinies, I know DollChateau has the "Sleepy Body" aka B-10, which I couldn't find on their site but DDE lists as its own option. It is the body their Sleepy is on, so if you've got a hunger for a tiny with a cute little tummy and are looking for something to hybrid onto, maybe that's a place to go!

YoSDs tend to have the most possibilities for chubby little bodies. My personal theory is that it's because they tend to be styled as children, so it's more socially acceptable for them to have some baby fat. They're also bigger than tinies, which leaves more room to make them chubby, especially in their arms and legs. I've seen several cute, chubby YoSD bodies, and honestly I love all of them.

I actually have yet to see a genuinely fat SD. I have, however, seen people use the terrifying delightful pregnant Angel of Dream as an SD with a little belly. I've seen people sand the bust flat to shell male characters. I definitely wouldn't call her a fat SD by any stretch of the imagination, but I suppose she's a start?

Fun fact: I tried to upload the very cursed image of the AoD pregnant doll and couldn't. There were "problems uploading the image." If you haven't already seen it, you can check it out for yourself here.

Alright, and now the doll I'm really here to talk about, the gorgeous Summerbird Viola. Like a lot of people, I missed the first preorder for her. I was in the land without internet at my summer camp job, plus she sold out in two hours. She's 40 centimeters of pleasant plumpness, and Summerbird even provided a sizing guide for finding clothes for her, as she tends to fit better into cropped SD clothes, or looser MSD clothes. I'm hoping to get one in the next preorder-- which, according to the Summerbird FAQ, should be in the first few months of 2018, shortly after the first preorder's dolls go out. I'm really excited to start seeing owner pics of her, as well as to potentially get my mitts on one of my own.

LOOK AT HER

And, perhaps more relevantly, the success she's been met with so far delights and excites me. I'm hopeful that her success will lead to more body diversity in the hobby, and I am especially hoping to see more fat dolls in the future.

Can you think of fat dolls I missed? Do you have a particular body type you'd like to see more of in the future? Tell me all about it in the comments!

Until next time!

Character Chat: Jonah

Hello everyone!

I want to do little things about my doll's characters, and I'm aiming to do them around once a month. I'm most excited to do one about my character Gil, but I also figured I should start with a character I actually have at least partially shelled, so I'm doing Jonah's character chat today! Fair warning, I'm really bad at staying on track when I get going, so this is a bit ramble-y and all over the place.

My dolls' universe has four kingdoms, each associated with one of the four elements. Jonah is the prince of earth, and the middle of three children. His older sibling is his sister, Hannah, and his young sibling is his brother, Lawrence, who was initially the crown prince. Jonah is trans, because who would I be if the first male character I shelled wasn't trans, and came out when he was around fifteen. This isn't an issue for the Earth Kingdom, who embraced their new crown prince with open arms. It's a job he was somewhat under-prepared for, but he's been learning quickly, and he's pleased with himself and how far he's come.

In general, Jonah's a pretty happy, confident guy. His family is supportive, including the brother he replaced as crown prince. Lawrence strikes me as infinitely more anxious than Jonah, so there wasn't really that same drive to be king someday, and there was definitely a sense of relief when Jonah became the crown prince. He'll be ready to be king when the time comes, Lawrence wouldn't have been.

I've also been getting hints of a romantic relationship between Jonah and Gil, the prince of air. I tend to categorically refuse to make straight characters, and once I actually had Jonah's head, I started to get the immediate "Okay, your other dolls have friends and significant others, I want a boyfriend" from him. I didn't have one planned for him initially, but as I got a little deeper into his character and he decided he wanted to be 110% Prince Charming, Gil started to pop up a bit and say he might be interested. And now that I have a potential sculpt for Gil in mind for 2018, that's starting to potentially be quite feasible. Jonah's definitely a sweet charmer, and I think Gil's definitely a guy who can appreciate being romanced. I have hints of story for them, and honestly even I'm excited to see how that's going to develop.

Jonah's also very dapper. I've been working on developing his fashion sense, and I know he definitely loves suits and ties, and his definition of 'dressed down' is still pretty fancy. His color palette takes cues from mori kei, with browns and off-whites, along with greens, being the majority of his wardrobe. I'm leaning towards mori-inspired fabric choices as well, I'll be needing lots of white and off-white lace to make his clothes. He's taller than most of my squad-- he'll be my tallest MSD when his body gets here, and should come out about 5 centimeters taller than my girls-- and I'm hoping to be able to accentuate that with his clothing choices.

So yeah, tldr, Jonah's the happy and confident prince of earth, he's at the very least crushed on by the prince of air, and he's definitely a pretty stable character within the story I have going for my dolls. He's defined much less by who he is on his own than by who he is with others, and I'm excited to write about him going forward!

Until next time!

Theo

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello!

With Thanksgiving coming up, I figured it'd be a good time to do a "hobby gratitude" kind of post. So, here's five little hobby things I'm thankful for, in no particular order:

1. My local community

Doll table at a recent meet... 💖💖💖

I'm very fortunate to have a local doll community. We meet up once a month, usually on the second Saturday, and it's been awesome getting to know other collectors in person. Not everyone makes it every month, but we have a solid core group of people who geek out over dolls once a month, and it's always wonderful to see everyone again. It's also great for people like me who are newer to the hobby to have a group of more experienced collectors to turn to with my questions, as well as just to get insight on different companies from.

2. Sculptors

This almost feels too obvious, but I'm so thankful for the incredible sculptors this community is full of. I love seeing your WIP photos and getting to know your styles, from well-known folks to people just getting started. I admire the hell out of your skills, and a lot of you bring diverse faces and body types we likely otherwise wouldn't be seeing, and that's awesome.

3. Jewelers

Holy shit, guys. Words can't describe how blown away I am by the incredible jewelers in this hobby. Whether it's necklaces, bracelets, or the astoundingly ornate rings and crowns I've seen some people make, there's just so much absolutely amazing skill poured into each tiny piece. Metal work is probably not a skill I'm likely to ever be able to pick up, for a variety of reasons, and I'm so so thankful for those who have it and are willing to share it with the rest of us.

4. Craft Stores

I hate having to order everything online. I need to look at colors in person, and I like to be able to feel fabrics. One of the things I kind of hate about living in Boston is my lack of access to craft stores, I have a Michael's and a JoAnn's at home, both easily accessible, but not here. Either way, though, I appreciate their existence when I'm home, and it's nice to be able to stock up with a quarter of a yard of flannel rather than three yards, the online minimum for JoAnn's.

5. Doll YouTubers

I really appreciate the fact that so many people with more time, energy, and presentability (and less awkwardness in front of a camera) are willing to make videos about the hobby and their experiences in it. I love hearing everyone's stories, and video tutorials are great. I have plans to try making wigs soon, and I'm definitely only going to be able to potentially pull it off because video tutorials are a thing.

And that's all for today! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Yu! (Box Opening/Review)

Hello hello!

I did something kind of dumb in late September-- I not-not impulse bought a doll. It could've been worse than it was-- god only knows how many more expensive dolls exist-- but it was still far from my smartest retail therapy move. She would've happened anyways, as she's here to be besties with the tiny I'll be getting with my DollZone order, but my timing definitely could've been better.

Regardless.

She's a green ResinSoul Yu, and I got her with a face up! She was, as I expect with ResinSoul by now, packaged very nicely in this little bag.

I. Kinda dig the old lady fabic

She was wrapped safely and arrived undamaged. One thing I really appreciate is that ResinSoul consistently under-declares the value of their dolls on customs forms. I live in the US, but I know how much import fees hurt some of my EU friends, so like. That's nice.

Just ResinSoul things: "Yep. $7" (Her shipping was more than that!)

She also shipped quite quickly! Once I finished my short little layaway, she shipped right out. I got my notice on November 12th, and received her yesterday (November 17th). She got stuck in customs for a bit both on her way out of China and on her way into the US, but that's tended to be the way it goes with doll stuff for me, and Black Friday (shudder) is soon. I actually did a panel on BJDs for a school org last night, but unfortunately our mail room hadn't processed her yet and refused to be helpful about it, so I actually picked her up right after my panel ended. But I did still get her quickly, and that's what counts!

And look what a cutie she is! I don't have clothes finished for her yet, but I have plans to throw together a quick little dress out of some brown faux suede I have on hand. I meant to use it for a swap project that wound up being too ambitious for me, so now it's just around, and I'll have it for future projects! And it's gonna be so cute on her. For now, though, she gets one of Amelia's tee shirts.

It is. Pretty huge on her.

She seems to pose okay! She can stand, as you can see, and she can sit as well. She seems to have the same trick knee as my other single-jointed ResinSoul, Bridget, but she seems to be alright so far! I may try to restring her a little tighter, but that's a project for another day, I think.

She's so cute

Her resin seems pretty typical of ResinSoul. It's certainly not the best resin ever, but she's just fine. I adore the color, though, it's a nice green that I think my camera actually did a pretty decent job capturing.

I don't presently have any issues with her. She's a little patoot-- those ears-- and I am sooooo looking forward to getting her dressed up and "finished," which for me means that a doll has the right eyes, face up, wig, and at least one outfit, including shoes and, if applicable, accessories. That doesn't mean I'm done working on their wardrobe, just that the doll itself is "done."

I have some of a background planned out for her, but not all that much of a character character? Girlie needs a name, I've been calling her The Goblette while I've been waiting for her. I kinda wanna call her Gretchen, but I get the feeling that isn't going to stick for long, so I suppose we'll see! Her tag is gonna stay "The Goblette" for now, but I'm sure that will change eventually.

Because of how things lined up with doll plans and purchases, my next big post of note will actually also be a box-opening (depending on shipping speed, that could change). See you then!

Wol! (Box Opening/Review)

Hello!

Back in July, the preorders went up for a round of professionally casted SeedArts Wol heads. I'm slowly becoming a junkie for faces with odd features-- especially noses and ears-- so she went straight onto my "oooooh, yes, that one. Soon" list (as opposed to my "ugh, someday" and "maybe?" lists). I was away and without internet for most of the preorder, which wound up being sort of a good thing, because it prevented me from potentially impulse buying. I did wind up purchasing her, but I'm still glad I waited.

Wol is a female sculpt, but the character I'm shelling is male, so I'll be referring to the head with he/him/his pronouns from here!

The original Etsy listing said the heads would most likely be shipped out in October, but unfortunately they did wind up being later than this. I received my shipping notice on November 6th, and my head arrived the 8th. This is by no means the fault of SeedArts-- she wrote that the expected working time was 4-6 weeks, and notified buyers when she received the shipping notice from Haru on October 23rd. The heads shipped extremely quickly once they reached her, and mine only took two days to arrive.

I cannot explain how hard it was to wait until I had time to shoot video and take photos to rip into this box

Pictured: sooooooo much bubble wrap

Without futher ado...

Full disclosure: my original thought was to do this as a video, so crappy still is the best we're getting here

The head came wrapped in a little plastic bag to protect it in transit, which I appreciated. It also came with this gorgeous little neck donut, which SeedArts later told me on instagram is to help keep the body on the neck.

It's so pretty that I thought it was just like. A cute little desk thing

I popped the head out of the bag and snapped a couple pictures:

I had a weird moment of "Hey, does this match ResinSoul dark tan?" It super doesn't, and I don't own their light tan to see if it matches that any better. Here's the comparison shot:

I am. Real bad at color guessing

Speaking of color comparisons, let's check out the original photo of the resin colors vs. the color of the head I got:

Source: armeleia's etsy

These were the three colors available, officially called tan, peach, and off-white. I ordered tan, which was said to be similar to DollZone tan. Honestly, I didn't check what DollZone tan is ahead of time, but I assumed that the tan in the photo would be the tan I got. As you can see, it's considerably lighter. But let's take a look at DollZone tan.

Source: Dollzone

That looks a lot closer! It still looks a little dark to me, and I'll admit it, I am a bit nervous about resin match with his body, but we'll have to wait and see. I'm getting him a Dollzone B45-018 through DDE, so we'll see what that turns up. Based on what I've heard recently, it'll probably be heading my way in February or March.

Excuse me while I die.

The resin is absolutely lovely, as you'd expect from a caster as well-loved as Haru, but of course there is one more but.

The way the faceplate fits.

The gap tho

There's some pretty noticeable gapping along the jaw and the bottom of the head. I'm hoping this will be reduced once he's on his body, or else that the neck donut will be of use. I can't currently check, as the S hooks in my girls' heads are too big to fit in his head, but we'll see in the spring. I haven't had a doll with a faceplate before, just headcaps, so if this is normal let me know.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the head! I think he'll be perfect for Jonah, the character I'm shelling, and he's super cute with the eyes he stole. They're not for him, but he can certainly keep them for now.

I'll leave you with some last photos, until next time!

A Blog Re-Vamped!

Hello!

This blog has previously been about alternative fashion (kinda. I've been bad about posting), but as I've been looking for more outlets for all the feelings about dolls, I've been leaning towards "written blog" as the way to go about it. So! All of my old posts have been removed, and this blog now stands empty. From here on, this is going to be a BJD blog, so stay tuned for updates! I'm hoping to create a collection page soon, and to post a review/package opening for my SeedArts Wol by Thanksgiving.

Until next post!

~Theo