Rûbie (Witch of the Alder Forest)

Face-up artist(s):

Me

Body blushing artist(s):

Me

Reason for choice:

Rûbie was my first doll and therefore I was not very picky. Later I got into the habit of buying my dolls after I already invented the characters, but with Rûbie it was simply my love for non-human dolls.

Best Points:

I especially like that the cat paws also have claws. It gave me the option to color their claws like I would have done with fingernails.

This Zuzu Delf Persi was my first Bjd. I bought her second-hand on ebay and then fixed her up.

Wig:

selfmade and styled. I wanted a braided hairstyle with beads for my witch.

Favourite colours:

dark green, a sunny yellow and a deep red

Fashion style(s):

Medieval and clothing from the early 19th century (her youth and her prime as a witch)

Key fashion accessory:

The Dreamcatcher with raspberries (by LittleAtticStore on Etsy)

At first I was not sure whether she should wear clothes at all, since she is essentially a cat. But then I decided that she will have a very nature-loving style of clothing, consisting of dresses and waistcoats to wear on top, to emphasize that she used to be human. Perhaps I will borrow style elements from the german "Biedermeier" period for later garments. I found this cute fabric with birds and berries on Etsy.

Name story:

It always takes me a while to decide on a name. Rûbie is named after the ruby because in my fantasy universe all witches have the names of gems. The red colour of the ruby represents that the core of her magic lies in her ability to truly love.

Character age:

525 human years (born in 1310. It's 1835 in my story)

Character gender:

female

Offsite roleplay:

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

"I am Rûbie, guardian of the Alder Forest and the heart of its magic. I was born in 1310 as the eldest daughter of a charcoal burner and an Unterirdische (faeries that dwell underground). My magically gifted mother taught us to use the natural enchantment power of stone and metal to create something new. So thanks to my ancestry I was at least half-human, like my sisters, until that fateful day.
When on June 21, 1749 the last witch was burned at the Marienberg fortress near Würzburg, I and my siblings had to watch helplessly and, after centuries of persecution, had become tired of life among mortals. We swore to the Sonnenkönigin (literally: 'Sun Queen') that we would protect the last forests that the humans had not yet destroyed and which she loved like her children, if she would give us a shape that could hide us from the eyes of men. Thus I am to this day for most eyes merely a stray cat. Only those who do not shy away from magic will see me for what I am."

"Ich bin Rûbie, Wächterin des Erlenwaldes und das Herz seiner Magie. Geboren bin ich im Jahre 1310 als älteste Tochter eines Köhlers und einer Unterirdischen. Meine magisch begabte Mutter lehrte uns, die natürliche Zauberkraft der Gesteine und Metalle zu nutzen, um Neues zu schaffen. Dank meiner Abstammung war ich also zumindest zur Hälfte ein Mensch, wie auch meine Schwestern, bis zu jenem verhängnisvollen Tag.
Als am 21. Juni 1749 die letzte Hexe auf der Festung Marienberg bei Würzburg verbrannt wurde, mussten ich und meine Geschwister tatenlos zusehen und waren nach Jahrhunderten der Verfolgung das Leben unter den Sterblichen leid geworden. Wir schworen der Sonnenkönigin, dass wir die letzten Wälder, die die Menschen noch nicht zerstört hatten und welche sie wie ihre Kinder liebte, beschützen würden, wenn sie uns eine Gestalt geben würde, die uns vor den Augen der Menschen verbergen kann. So bin ich bis zum heutigen Tage für die meisten Augen nur eine streunende Katze. Nur die, welche ihre Augen vor der Magie nicht verschließen, werden mich als das sehen, was ich bin."

The room she is standing in is a movable display with two walls, which I set up in my shelf especially for her. The walls are made of simply painted cardboard, on which smaller pieces of cardboard were glued as bricks. Because the back wall of the display is set up a bit away from the forest picture on the back of the shelf, you can look out of the window at the forest behind it from different angles and depending on where you take the picture from, you can see different parts of the forest.. In the future, I plan to install LED lamps to illuminate the whole thing from the outside and inside.



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