How do you know if a doll loves you?

I think that it depends pretty much of the tough you give to it. Either way I think it works for any object : you put your emotions into a thing and this thing is like a mirror.

As for the dolls...
For most of them we give them a personality so, depend of their way of thinking, if they're alive, maybe they'll have the sensation to be stuck like you mentioned or, on the contrary, will be happy to be with their owner. As for myself, I love to think that my characters love me like a mother, even if they have a bad personality.

 

I also think it depends on the "life" or character you give to the character, and how you treat them and so on. I'd like to think they adore me just like I adore them, although they might probably be miffed at me for not spending as much time with them. Of course, that is just me thinking. Sometimes I wonder what they would think of me too if they were real (I blame the game, Nameless, for this LOL ).

I tend to romanticize (or over-imagine or over-dramatize) things. Sometimes, I take little things that happened while I'm playing with them or working on them as their way of telling me what they are thinking, like when I get pissed trying to change one of my doll's hand and the string snaps back causing my finger to get hurt (doll abusing master!? ) I'd wonder if he's telling me to be more gentle or if he's pissed as well LOL! Or when I am working on them and I am so proud of them for turning out the way I imagined, I feel like they are reciprocating that love when I'm looking at their little faces, or when I'm sad, it feels like they look a little sadder too, as if they are sad with me.

Of course, the reality is I'm just projecting my own thoughts and feelings on them, and making those emotions feel like it's theirs, even if it's really just my own. But well, a girl can dream (and imagine), right? Besides, even if they are just mere "objects", don't you think that their eyes (or even expressions) are so expressive that one might sometimes wonder if there is really "life" behind those beautiful eyes of theirs.

 

This is an interesting question to me because while I write characters for them, I really just think of the doll itself as an object that gives the character a material presence. I don't think of them as living beings, so I don't consider that they could have any emotions towards me. Even their characters are separate from my life, they aren't aware of my existence.

That being said, sometimes a doll I'm not crazy about has a way of making me rethink, like if it's extra cuddly or lays against me just perfectly, it can feel like it's meant to be.

 

When they start demanding things from you,

Like they want a special place to sit and be in your sights. Demanding all kinds of clothing, expensive brand clothing, accessories, wigs, eyes and all kinds of shoes.

...and most of all attention, they love attention from their human guardians.

 

I believe my boys love me, hence why I purchased them. It was fate telling me a doll needed me to love & care for him.
The ones I don't bond with are the boys that were misdirected to me & intended for someone else to love.
I need to spend more time with my boys but I have a habit of something else intervening in that thought process.

My boys are better dressed then me & I love to see them everyday. A few still need a tweak here or there or a redone faceup or a new wig but other then that it's fate to love them & I know they love me!

 

I do definitely feel loved sometimes... like, just because a doll is an inanimate object doesn't mean you can't get that feeling from one-- we pour so much love and energy in that we're bound to get something back in a way (it kind of makes me think of the Velveteen Rabbit and the process of becoming Real by being loved enough).

Like... sometimes a tiny resin hand fits around my finger in a way that just feels like comfort when I need it. Or seeing a cheerful little face peeking out of the closet at me from his shelf, kind of like a reminder that he'll be right there for me whenever I need doll time.

 

I like this question. It's a fun question.

I have no idea if my dolls can/do love me back. There's nothing that I could definitively say would be proof that they do or don't BUT I would like to imagine it in this way; I think my dolls love me back because they are still with me. I haven't been compelled strongly enough to sell them off or give them away. I don't look at them and think that they would rather be elsewhere. I can imagine at the moment that they aren't big fans of mine. It's been months since I've focused on them. I've promised many that they'd have a new outfit or eyes or wig or a cleaning or photo's. So do they love me...I think for now they are being very patient.

 

I don't wanna sound too cynical but as far as I'm concerned... They're dolls. They're made of resin, and can neither love nor hate me. That's how I feel, anyhow!

 

Well, they didn't murder me in my sleep like every doll in horror movies yet, so I guess I'm A-okay

 

Honestly? Dolls are not capable of loving you, because they're inanimate objects. It's really that simple for me. My family and friends and even my dog are capable of loving me because they are alive and capable of feeling and expressing emotion. My dolls are not.

I mean, I get that some people project emotions onto their dolls. Even I do that, and I'll say things like "He doesn't like that" or "he's in a good/bad mood today", but all of this is in a purely fictional sense. It's fun to play with dolls and pretend they are alive or that they have personalities, thoughts and ideas of their own, but at the end of the day they're just objects.

On the second part of the question, I've never seen my dolls move on their own other than falling over or failing to hold a pose I've put them in. I may get frustated with them falling or not posing correctly, and say they did it "on purpose" but I in no way actually believe they did it of their own free will. They don't have free will, because in order to have free will they have to be able to think and reason, at least to some degree, and of course in order to do that they'd have to be alive.

So yeah... my dolls don't love me, and that's totally fine. I don't love them either.

 

if they are alive, I guess my dolls love me I have been caring for them and showing them love all the time but again that is if they are alive xD

 

My second girl either came way too tightly strung or, when you think about it, it's entirely possible that upon finding herself in an unfamiliar locale that she wanted to curl up into a fetal ball.

Also this. I always loved that book when I was little.

 

Can everyone please stop anthropomorphising dolls?

They hate it when you do that

 

None of mine has tried to kill me in my sleep, yet, sooo ... :P

 

Mine tolerate me, as the keeper of the credit cards.

 

I know my doll loves me when her head comes off with no trouble and her joints hold the poses I put them in. Also, if she doesn't stain from outfits, but that's not a requirement. XD