Dolls inner personnae (mature ?)

I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

Eloquently put, sir. I think a lot of us have had Beyond moments when we come up with a trait, action, look, etc. for a doll that we just hadn't intended before: "Wow, I didn't know you had a brother." "He started out gay, but...." "I intended for you to be a blonde, so how come you won't take off that red wig? You're really a redhead, aren't you!" ^^

That "divine spark" moment you're speaking of certainly doesn't happen in a purely-intellectual vacuum. Emotional/spiritual involvement [in anything] happens when you're not looking, and it reveals itself when you say "Wow, where'd that come from?". Whether these results are from tapping into your own subconscious (i.e. as in therapy) or from a connection to that untamed human spirit, AND whether you're even remotely theist, the creative process almost always carries with it a whiff of the divine. Because it doesn't seem to come from ourselves, it feels like a gift, and this makes us ridiculously happy. I personally call it "taking dictation from the Beyond".

 

I don't think you're crazy at all, and I feel somewhat the same as you do. All of my dolls have personalities/characters/what have you. The ones that did not start as pre-existing characters developed slowly over time. I had some various ideas about my first doll while I was waiting for him to arrive, but when I got him he went in some other directions as did my first two girls.

The pre-existing characters have been really interesting to get bodies for. I had some that were very well developed prior, but I also had some minor character that ended up with bodies. Suddenly, the one that I had a terrible time writing about or developing became an open book--I hadn't even planned on getting him a body, but when I saw the UH06 sculpt from Unidoll I knew that it was him and I had the biggest must have NOW moments I've ever had in this hobby.

Cait was the same way. In the original story she was sketched out, but roughly. She had been just another one of Lorry's nutty family members, but when I got her a body suddenly she seemed to just explode into life.

It sometimes feels that I start the character development process, but that something happens along the way where my dolls take on a life of their own, and the process of further knowing their characters becomes almost a two way street. I think this, to me, is what makes these dolls so special to me and something beyond just another collectible to sit on a shelf and collect dust. It's this spark that they seem to have--it's like a catalyst that works on the imagination and causes the outcome (their personalities) to be something more.

Or at least that's the way it is for me.

 

I agree with this. I've been an artist and drawing pictures for years, and there is often that moment when I finish one of them that something just surprises me, and I look at this beautiful picture in front of me and think "Did I seriously made this?". Maybe it sounds egotistical to be enthralled by my own artwork, but there is a part of me that never feels like I am the one that completely did it. It's just as you said, that feeling of some kind of "inspiration from beyond" that you just can't put your finger on happens everytime for me. I feel like I am completely in awe of something else's work, and also astounded that this thing has used me as the hand that releases this kind of work into the world. I feel extremely lucky, everyone has their own view of the world and their life thus far, but not everyone has the ability to show it to others. I believe that something must have created us, and when we create, it makes us able to connect to that thing better, because we know what it is like.

Sorry if that got a little too spiritual for everyone.

When I first ordered a BJD, I didn't know what I was getting into. At this point I don't think I could be convinced that my dolls don't have their own personality. Connecting to what I was talking about before, when a person spends so much time and energy pouring the resin, sanding it, stringing the doll, and the whole while the doll looks so much like a little person, blank and bald and filled with so much potential, maybe in that moment it does become something certain and continues to become more and more itself, just like we do as we go through life. It's hard for me to exactly explain, but when I trip on something when I walk past my dolls and I can almost feel one of them giggling at me, I can't deny that they have something going on there.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

 

I don't think you're crazy. I think some people are gifted to see a mold, play with it for a while and slowly figure out that "hey, he/she seems like a narcissist" or if the mold has long hair you'd say he was a down to earth, had tenderly eyes you'd say he/she was a quiet ect.. These dolls have so much personality already before you customize them or dress them!

I really think it's a natural thing to "label" or give reason to why your doll is your doll.

On the other note, I am 50/50. Both see these dolls as an artistic interesting object (I can think of a few molds that I'd like to pose and keep them in a glass case cause they are so unique perfect the way they are) and I also see them as a blank canvas for creating a "individual". It's hard not to.

 

Oh, I certainly agree with this! That can happen looking in the database of just about any sculpt. I wasn't trying to say that particular sculpts are predisposed to any particular "style" or "vision", but I do think it plays a big part. I think it's the artist's subconscious combined with the raw materials (the sculpt in this case) that creates the finished product. In my case, I thought the sculpt for my Domuya Sophie was too gentle-looking for an insane character, but I've seen Sophies that definitely don't look gentle or sweet. Their owners saw something else there. It's all part of the beauty of a hobby that involves creativity and creation.

A quick example... a certain sculpt may be prone to "cleavage-diving" (love that turn of phrase, btw!). One owner might see it as a trait of a pervy character, while another may just see the character as a charming klutz.

Though I do think part of that creation process is subconscious rather than conscious, I do believe that the process comes from within the owner/artist instead of from outside forces.

LOL, that is true, and brilliantly put! I do agree that this happens, as anyone who has participated in NaNoWriMo can attest! On very little sleep, late at night, in a caffeine-induced frenzy of typing, I have come up with some very strange ideas. Sometimes they are awful, sometimes genius. In the rush of creating a novel in 30 days, it really does seem like the story's characters form their own personalities and do things you completely hadn't intended. And the reasoning behind those "Beyond" moments is all up to speculation... for me, I choose to think it's my subconscious having brilliant moments of insight.

 

My boy definately has a personality- I haven't even got him home yet, he's a quiet, studious, solemn person, with a wild streak and a bad temper- it's just...him. I think that's really just the thing about BJDs, it's so much easier to see that personality jumping out at you, and taking shape on it's own. Maybe we do make them an extension of ourselves- but not entirely, one of the things I look for most in dolls I'd like to buy is that personality- I look at the sculpt and see what kind of personality jumps out at me. Some I like, and some I don't, just like with people. I'm not saying that dolls are real people, I'm just saying that they definately give off personalities.

In response to Kasamadhuri77- that's EXACTLY why I think dolls do have perosnalities! Everyone's take is different- because no one has a personality that's one dimention or just one thing- I'm many different people all rolled into one unique combination- that's basically it! There are a ton of versions of the Lati Doll red boys whom I'm utterly obsessing over right now, and I love seeing all the different aspects of them- to me they're all just different angles of that doll's personality- what he evokes to different people and such. Personalities are multidimentional- that's pretty much the bottom line to all this ^^

 

i really like how everyone has different takes on this topic. to be honest, when i heard people talk about their dolls having souls and talking to them, my intial reaction was these people are crazy. XD

but it's been over a year now with my girl, and i feel as though there is something else there that i don't have with stuffed animals, yes i am 19 and still have studded animals, i love them!

similar to what was said in the quote of above, i buy dolls that resemble characters that i have been developing since i was in 3rd grade, i guess O_O. sometimes i feel like i am in the minority in that situation, because it seems like most people buy dolls who inspire them, and then the dolls come home and that's when the creative process begins to occur?

but anyways, i think that my girl definitely has some type of personality, and i also feel as though all of my characters are an extension of me, even if we are very different.

i think that humans have a natural ability to place importance into something seemingly inanimate, and have it become something more. an example would be a favorite toy from childhood. it's a natural exploration process that we all learn as young children, the form of imaginative play has been shown to improve the brain of children and i am sure that it is still true for adults.

anyways i never thought that my girl had a personality beyond the one that i had given her, but i feel as though there is something special about the dolls themselves? even if it can only be seen or felt by the owner? i think it is similar to anything of importance. but the fact that these dolls so closely resemble humans, i think, makes the urge even stronger to get to know them in some way.

yea i have no idea what i just typed, XD i should go to bed~

 

Ever since I was a small kid, any important toy of mine had a personality. I wouldn't say things to them out loud; it was more like an exchange of words through the mind.

I am 21 now, and I still do this with my stuffed animals, especially my stuffed bat. There are some days where he really really wants to come with me to school because he loves to learn. It sounds crazy, but I usually end up bringing him with me.

I do not own any BJDs yet, but considering the way I am with stuffed animals and other dolls I've had in the past, I can't see them without a personality or feelings.

 

When I was a kid, I once had that kind of belief, that when I ate, all my toys ate, too.

But then I told this to some kid (when I was still a kid), and they thought I was gross. That pissed me off, of course, but I never really held that feeling after that.

I was never someone to talk out loud to my toys, or imaginary friends. I guess you could call the conversations telepathic, for fear if anyone heard me, they'd think i was bonkers.

And even now, if millions of people said it was ok to talk to my dolls or think however I did, I don't think I'd feel free enough to go back to thinking that way again.

 

It's a shame to lose that quality. It's a part of our childhood that we project personalities onto inanimate objects, they become little friends in a way. To grow older and lose that is sad, I think. Perhaps giving a doll a personality is a part of regaining a lost youthful feeling. But I understand that we all do it to some extent. After all when we look at the dolls we are either attracted or unattracted to them, but why should there be a difference? Probably because we feel that some faces have more personality than others. How far we take that is up to the individual. If we simply feel comfortable with that doll in our company that's ok and if we also feel the need to talk to it (either verbally or telepathically) then that is up to the person who owns the doll. I certainly wouldn't feel that someone was silly or crazy for doing it.

I don't own a doll yet but I've searched long and hard for the one that I want to make my first one. I've chosen one that appeals to me because his face is somehow more appealing than any other I've seen so far. I doubt that I will talk to him much but I suspect that on my own I will at least say "hello" as I pass him from time to time.

 

I definitely believe dolls have their own personality. Its debatable, to me, whether that personality is effected by face-up, eyes, wig, or design. But all three of my boys have different personalities, and my girl definitely has her own personality that's very different from the boys. A lot of doll owners that I've talked to speak to and attribute personalities and quirks to their dolls. We could argue that its human nature to anthropomorphisize things that are human-like or that we just like. Or we could just say we're having fun, and ignore all the scientific mumbo-jumbo. Either way.

 

It is perfectly safe for people to anthropomorphise. Maybe some of you remember Pet Rocks. They came in little boxes and were given personalities. Japanese have tiny computers that can hang from key chains that are considered play pets. The pet has to be "fed" and "bathed" and "petted" at various times or it declines.

It isn't necessary to label people who enjoy this activity. Labels hurt. The world is big enough for everyone to be as they wish. Once when I was in the back yard digging a grave for my beloved pet, my neighbor came over and saw the tears running down my face. At that time I believed that death was the end. She said something to me that I've remembered all these years later. She said, "Have beliefs that comfort you."

If treating your dolls as little people gives you enjoyment, then so be it. If you'd rather treat them as if they are artistic sculptures devoid of personality and suitable only for display, then do it. Leave the criticism out of your life.

The only person you have to live up to is yourself. Be happy.

 

Well, you know, to paraphrase from a well known movie... " Your subconcious is constantly creating; Sometimes when you make designs, you feel like they're already there, as if you are discovering it.'

I'm no psychology major, but I know this to be true. Your dolls probably have their personality completely built somewhere in your mind, and your consciousness is discovering it. You know those times when a name for a doll comes and as soon as you hear it, you think, ' It's perfect!' Yep. That too.

Also, a reaction you think a doll would have to a situation? Also part of that. You think his/her face looks more angry, happy, old, young, because it registers in your brain that it SHOULD be that way, so your perception is tailored as such. ^____^

Long-winded opinion, over. XD