Leannan / Ingrid MacKinnon

Face-up artist(s):

Pauli Faceup Studio

Date of acquisition:

30/08/2018

Provenance:

Bought from Souldoll through BJD Dreams

Reason for choice:

I love the head to body ratio and general Souldoll aesthetics. Juno's face immediately caught my attention, she's not your average perfect beauty, but she is very captivating.

Best Points:

Her face is incredibly versatile. Even the slightest change of angle or lighting influences her expression. She can be sweet, nostalgic, intimidating, sleepy, scary... Taking pictures of her is never boring!

Worst Points:

Out of the box, she needs sueding and restringing, especially in the arms section. Not a big issue, to be honest ^^

Eyes:

SOULinaBOX

Wig:

natural alpaca fiber (made by me)

Favourite colours:

écru, black, white

Fashion style(s):

casual, mori

Name story:

Her official name reflects both her human parents. She was named "Ingrid" by her father who's Norwegian. "MacKinnon" is her Scottish mother's surname (her parents never married and never intended to).

Leannan is the name her real mother gave her, it means "sweetheart" in Scottish Gaelic. Her mother is a Sìth (an elf-like creature) and had to give the newborn Leannan away in order to protect her.

Character age:

late teens / early twenties

Character gender:

Female

Offsite roleplay:

This doll's character is not available for offsite roleplay.

Throughout her life, Ingrid has always felt out of place. She couldn't love the person who was supposed to be her mother, although she really tried and did her best to be a good kid. She kind of failed at faking love, but her "mother" had similar issues, so neither of them really noticed how the other part was struggling.

Ingrid has never had any friends. She couldn't feel anything for people other than how alien they seemed to her. Extremely introverted, she would do anything to make sure nobody has any business with her. She always did her chores, studied hard, kept her room clean and never came home late - so that her mother would have next to no reason to talk to her. It worked pretty well for them both, but it also made them both depressed. Ingrid felt enslaved by the urge to avoid human contact at all costs and, at the same time, her loneliness was killing her. There was always something elusive at the edge of her memory, something she couldn't grasp, but she desperately tried to reach it. Almost as if there was a great secret hidden from her, something that would end her torment and explain why she felt the way she felt, but it was absolutely out of her reach.

The only person she really bonded with is her "father". He's always been the black sheep of his family, unable to excel it the family profession (there's a line of famous architects on his father's side). Nobody's ever shamed him directly, but he was gradually alienated by all his relatives. They even tactfully removed him from their home town by gifting him a "pretty and remote cottage house" to make sure their name wouldn't be associated with his bland projects. Character-wise, he's very similar to Ingrid and they've always had a good mutual understanding. Every summer holidays she'd spend at his house in Norway where they'd be perfectly comfortable not talking for weeks. Both of them really enjoy this silent company, there is no avoidance, no tension between them, only acceptance and absolute lack of personal demands.

Ingrid moved from Scotland to her father's place soon after reaching adulthood. Both she and her "mother" were relieved by this decision, though they pretended not to be.

She has no idea that her real mother is a Sìth, she doesn't even know they are more than just folklore. Her birth was really unfortunate - she was her mother's firstborn and, at the same time, the first child born after Samhain. Such kids were meant to be offered to Crom Cruach, who would devour them (nobody ever witnessed it, but children left in his cave past the sunset would disappear before sunrise). Her mother begged the Sìth king to spare the baby, and as he had a soft spot for the woman (and the kid was most likely his), he came up with a solution: another child might take the newborn's place, as long as it's born on the same day as her. As there were no suitable Sìth babies to choose from, the child needed to be a human. From the moment of exchange, the human child would be considered to be a Sìth and the Sìth child would be considered to be a human. The mother would take care of the changeling and treat it as her own until the night of the offering. She was to grief after the changeling was consumed, so that Crom Cruach would be fully satisfied with the ritual. She should never consider her real baby as one of her kind and, thus, never try to contact her - for the sake of the Sìth and the baby itself.

And so, Leannan was replaced with Gwen MacKinnon. Gwen's mother was the only human who noticed, but even then she tried to convince herself it was only the effect of some post-birth trauma. She couldn't make herself to call this baby Gwen anymore, so she let the "father" choose the first name. She would try hard to love the child, but to no avail. And Leannan would never guess she is indeed a stranger among humans - forced to endure this life for the sake of just being alive.

Leannan's story has only just began... and I have a lot in store for her ^^