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Do you feel that ABJD's compensate for something you don't have IRL?

Aug 15, 2007

    1. Like others here, I use my BJDs to compensate for only one thing that I feel is lacking for me -- they are my creative outlet, like none I have ever had before. I don't envy my characters, because really they are quite ordinary people -- not glamorous or fantastic or supernatural. They don't wear high fashion clothes or hobnob with movie stars, and they are not elves or vampires or fairies.

      But... their characters are all mine. I created them, and I write and photograph their stories. I used to write fiction, but somehow having little three dimensional representations of the characters makes all the difference in the world. And the dolls inspired me to write again. But they were never intended to be representations of existing characters I had from before. They are more complete and well-rounded characters than any others I have ever created before in my life.

      Linda S.
      galatia9
       
    2. I'm an artist, and above all a writer; I can only really write from what I know, what I've experienced, and what I feel is realistic. I write stories that are often quite surrealistic, but I try to do it from a perspective, or perceived and responded to how one would realistically respond to such things.

      My one doll is a representation of one of my characters, who isn't supposed to be pretty, and in fact doesn't physically resemble me, but does resemble me personally, as all of my characters are to some extent aspects of myself, with bad and good qualities that balance them.

      I don't feel that I write or own dolls to really compensate, but I do both to express something about me.

      ...I agree with everything in the above post, really ^^.
       
    3. I don't think a little bit of living vicariously though our hobbies is a bad thing, of course, as long as it doesn't take the crazy route. But going "Gee, I wish I was that pretty/fashionable/funky/whatever" at something that you had a hand in creating (art, writing, or in this case a nicely proportioned lump of expensive plastic with an expensive wardrobe) is perfectly okay and kind of unavoidable.

      For me though, it's mostly just fashion. I'm very uncolorful. Very very, I feel very uncomfortable in most colors besides black, but I really enjoy pastels, whites, beiges, and pale colors, I just don't wear them. So that's what my dolls wardrobes lean too. I can enjoy it greatly without leaving my comfort bubble.
       
    4. For me bjd's are used as a creative outlet. I love taking photos and these dolls allow me to do that when I can't get out of the house.

      As long as you're not using them to replace people, I think you're okay. Once you start to view these dolls as having souls and as living, breathing beings you have an issue that needs to be taken care of.
       
    5. I dress relatively similarly to the ways my dolls do. They are more extensions of me than compensations. I guess I am that rare teenager who is satisfied with her looks (well as much as humanly possible for a teenage girl). I would like to have that kind of instant satisfaction with hair changes, but that's not why I love these dolls. I was the kid who discarded her Barbies because they were unworthy, evil kid I was. The only thing my dolls compensate for is that I'm not a gay man, I guess.
       
    6. My doll has better social skills than me, isn't that sad? If my doll wants friends I can just buy her some, you can't do that with people..

      So I guess I lack friendships with people, and I make up for it by making my doll social with other dolls. :arainclou Somehow it feels less lonely. *shrug*
       
    7. For me it is true. She represents a lot of things in my life that i never had and wish i could someday be.

      But on same note that is not the only reason they are simply just amazing and wonderful to be around.

      Love,
      Lilly A. Noodle, Queen Of The Waffle
      =^_^=
       
    8. Me too. They're like art that you can hold and dress. Perhaps what I mean to say is they're art I can participate in. When I look at them they make me smile. And I'm meeting so many interesting and different people through the hobby.
      But do they compensate for something lacking within me? I'm not sure. Perhaps because of my decision not to have children they have become the outlet through which I buy cute little things for cute little people and dress them up. :lol:
       
    9. yes, deffinetly. I'm a very uptight person as well as being very head over heart and completely acheivement oriented. i love art but prefer a more stable job. My doll's character is opposite me: calm and living a relaxed life and being more of an artist. In my mind she doesn't have as many external pressures and is better able to "go with the flow." I think this also has a lot to do with the fact that i struggle with insomnia and keep getting really sick and after lots of tests still don't know the cause. My doll's stable personality gives me a feeling of balance and comfort.
      o geex that really sounded emo. i'm totally a happy person most the time XD
       
    10. People find it strange that I love my dolls to such an extent.

      I feel that people use their dolls as a extension of themselves in a way. For example, take my Lucifer. He is a gothic vampire who basically runs around seducing young girls. Now I am nothing in the above but is my skin unholy white? yeah. Do I like wearing EGL sometimes? hells yes. He is merely what I would be if you amplified certain characteristics of myself. Now Matic is the delicate girly type with a hidden wild side. A little of me as well? surely.

      I don't feel there is anything lacking within myself. In fact, sometimes I am off the wall and I realize there are too many conflicting ideas! Its more like I pause a part of my life and encase it in a doll that never changes.

      To get to the point, I would say that your artist friend uses what she envisions to be her "beautiful" side and amplifies itself in the dolls.

      But then again, I may just be off the wall as usual :D
       
    11. I would have to say "No." Some other people, probably, but for me - Nah.
      I bought Roland because I want to explore the world of micromaile (I'm a professional chainmailler) and dolls are a perfect "canvas" that I can work my mini metal magic upon! :lol: Also, with their strange proportions they're quite a challenge to work with, and I like artistic challenges. They also move differently, and it's fun planning things and having to take that into account.
       
    12. well sorta Holly has red hair, and one of my fondest wishes is too have red hair, also her guy freind (or is it boyfreind now?) is based on a fictious charecter i abosolutly love (acually two charecters combined) so who nows?
       
    13. I do feel that my doll does make up for somethings that I lack. Bellatrix is everything I'd like to have- curly, light hair and pretty eyes, long legs and graceful hands that don't get scuffed up from sculpture and swinging and cleaning and caring for my siblings all the time. I think the reason I might have wanted a doll for so long is because I don't really get enough time to be an idiot teenager anymore. She's sort of an escape for me- I say, "I'm going to go take care of Bella for a while, okay?" and everyone just buzzes off and leaves me alone. In many ways, in the five days I've had her, Bella's become a protector to me. I don't know what I'd do without her.
       
    14. Well...... I'm a stick >.< I was always the tiny goth girl in the corner doing the Time Warp with her weird buddies. I still am (kinda) but I started wearing colors...... dark green and navy :sweat

      My doll is always in black.... I like the color and it looks good on her. (That, and I always have black fabric laying around from my clothes) We have a lot in commen personality wise, but our upbringings are totally diffrent.

      I think I made my doll more worldly and knowing than I am, because that's how I want to be when I 'grow up'. I don't think that my doll has anything that I lack, just what I have yet to acheive.

      I don't live through my doll. I made my doll a friend. A seperate thing. Sure we have a lot in common, but we're different, too. I don't feel that she makes up for areas that I lack in, but instead she complements me.
       
    15. ...It feels that way.
      ;_; I dont get to make lots of cosplay so I guess I'm using (mydoll) so i can make him wear costumes i've always wanted to wear but too lazy to make (for myself) so yeah.
       
    16. I guess so, yeah...my dolls are always pretty and can wear and look good in anything. It is easy to get lost in the fantasy and let them live the life you wish you could.
       
    17. i suppose maybe a little, i mean i dont have a massive amount of friends etc but to be honest i would say no

      i enjoy creating and designing, and i like pretty things, hence BJDs

      its not like my BJDs HAVE to be a result of my own problems...sure i could make the link, but that doesnt really means its true ^^; i like to spend time with them and whatnot but i do have friends and other things to do

      i suppose theyre the result of me...lacking a hobby! XD
       
    18. Yes. I'd say so.

      Sadako: She is an AF Lilly...ladylike and even when she falls she's graceful. And always smiles. She is quiet and studious like I am but she has things I don't have. Because of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (rare connective tissue disorder) I don't have the best mobility. Sometimes my joints don't stay in place and I wear lots of braces to keep them where they belong. Sadako doesn't have to do that. She has problem joints like I do, her hips are really tough to keep b/c of the L shape, but she's a normal 15/16 year old girl...but still is sort of a misfit because of her odd tastes in everything :)

      Sakura: Kind of an impulse doll as my friend didn't bond with her. She's young and playful (I wasn't) She is an OrientDoll So-Ji who has pink hair and sometimes is a cherry tree :) She's cute and friendly like I was as a kid and loves her toys :D She's my inner child.

      Murasaki: I don't have my Luts Kid Delf Aru yet. She will be all purple...as that is my favorite color. She is my mystical doll as she is a fairy. People tell me I have a lot of Fae qualities and that is my mystical side in a doll.

      So I have my health, my youth, and my mysticism all in dolls. Together they make Stephanie.
       
    19. Compensate? Yes. Heavily.

      I'v been a loner as long as I can remember, and with my over careful and protecting mother (No she's not sick, I just were a sickly child, so she kind of... grew up to be a bit protective) I never really went to visit friends over night or anything. So I learned to play alone, and I had alot of dolls and blushies etc. Now I'm almost 18, and kind of feel weird with carrying a blushbear with me everywhere (Not lying here, I get nervous and scared really fast in stressy situations, so I have a blushtoy or something with me EVERYWHERE). I found BJDs and noticed that that might be the thing for me. They look really alive and can get a real, deep personality.
      It's like a safety blanket actually.
      BJDs also give me another hobby besides computers and drawing, that's fun and constructive!

      So yes, I compensate alot with BJDs. Mostly being alone when I was a kid and only having the company of dolls. (Okay, compensating that with a doll is kind of WEIRD. But it helps me to get through hard situations.)
      ALSO! It helps me to get to know new people! :3nodding:
       
    20. I know i'm considered above average when it comes to attractiveness so I don't have dolls to make myself feel more beautiful. I think I just like dressing them up in clothes I wouldn't be able to wear "in real life". I work in a high powered business environment and pretty much spend my life in suits. I guess dolls allow me to express the girly side of myself without having to do it myself.