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Inspiration for a Character?

Nov 17, 2006


    1. I wish i could get ideas from dreams. They'd probably be more organized and plot-worthy than any ideas i get while i'm awake XD

      I just wish my plots....well, were plots haha Although, i suppose thats because my characters arent too well developed. I generally have a character..then she changes severly over time. I'm hoping that doesnt happen to my dolls, not as drastically as some of my characters, at least. I hope i can stick to my plans XD
       
    2. I'm picking my doll(s) with the intention of matching them up to be one of my comic book characters... so I pretty much have several characters set depending on what I pick...

      I daydream a lot... my ideas kind of pop into my head as the day goes on... Or like something happens to me and I got "this would be interesting in a story..." My life isn't really that exciting, but I love to exaggerate my experience to write into a character, so on some level I know what I am talking about, but on some level I don't...
       
    3. I know I can't match dolls to pre-existing characters of mine (for one: that'd be WAY too many dolls, lol, and second: I have a very stylized visual of them, that totally doesn't match how the dolls look). Buuut I do hope, once I get my first doll, that I'll be able to work out a good character based off of him.
      I also daydream a lot, almost constantly, which is where I get most if not all of my ideas (I also get inspired by the most random things, even random comments I hear/say). So anyway, I'm pretty confident that my imagination will be able to come up with something, lol XD
       
    4. I had just been thinking about this for no real reason...
      When your doll has a personality, does it just come to the doll on its own?
      Are their outside factors?
      Do you grant the doll a personality and impart it with spirit on your own?
      How do you think it develops?


      I will give some examples to help start everyone off~

      Do you think the doll companies' behavior affects how you see your doll? Like, lets say you want a bad-boy doll, but when the doll is sent to you he/she is sent with a nice card and holding a silk rose. Does that impart a different personality to the doll than perhaps you had expected?
      Or what if they had bad shipping or were unco-operative with you? Does that make you dislike the doll? Or attach bad feelings to it?
      Or what if someone else plays with your doll, and they make him/her act very different than you would like? Does their forcing a image onto the doll damage their personality?
      Or do you think that, the personality is totally decided by the dolls owner? Perhaps only influenced subtly by you or maybe as much as being able to say you could instantly change your doll's personality on a whim?

      What constitutes a doll's personality traits and such? Where does it all come from? What do you think?
       
    5. my dolls are characters from various stories and comics i have created

      so..it would come from how any comic author creates characters..just because ive placed that character onto a doll doesnt make it any differant. outside factors dont effect them because their personalitys are strong and already exist and i dont really give a fudge what company theyre from or what the company does because theyre my characters, regardless of having a body or not. their personality is completely influenced by me
       
    6. First of all, I myself am the person that creates the characters. Some of them were made of personality-traits I like to see, some of them are created because they have a purpose in my story Puppetmaster (they can't all be gentil daisy-loving gypsies).
      But I find it depends on the mold you choose how the dolls personality becomes visible. Zana, for example,was supposed to be this free spirit that was also a fierce creature. She could stand her ground against Kayne. I needed that character-trait, because Kayne's not the easiest person in the world and needed to be controlled. But by choosing the Lishe mold I did get the gentil gypsy, but she wasn't a match for hím. Zana changed, and became her own person.
      And as for Kayne, he became much more cynical and much more a bully then I imagined him at first.

      I do think that this is what makes creating characters so charming. You only control part of the building-proces. These little persons will constantly surprise you by doing things you'd never thought they'd be doing.
       
    7. This sounds like it belongs more to the General Discussion than under Debates.

      Personally, I create my own doll characters like how I create any other characters for my stories. The more I write, the more I expand on the characters, so I draw from many sources (real life experiences, my imagination, etc). Doll personalities can be a bit more changeable depending on the sculpt they come in because a photo of a sculpt is not always the same as the sculpt in real life, but the broad outline of the character remains the same for me. And while I shape a doll's personality with my imagination and creativity, I'm not sure I know how to impart my spirit on to him.
       
    8. I usually create my dolls personality and character. If the doll company follow my instructions about the make up usually the doll arrive with the expression and mood that I was looking for.... sometimes the companies have not followed the instructions than I have received a doll with a face totally different from my plans... when it happens I usually change the head or the make up, to have the doll with the right face for his character ^^

      I have experienced the case in wich I have sold a doll and the new owner has used the same character I have created, but after few months the doll personality has dramatically changed (I disliked it a lot -.-) and so this is the proof that the personality and character only depends on the owner, not on the doll ^^
       
    9. I have had personalities come from many different ways. My first big doll Shi Shi was somewhat blank, I thought he was going to be a romantic gothic type and pver the years he's turned out to be a playful child. The next one Xavier was a known character with a carefully selected mold, as was his wife Jibriel.

      Of the twins Jareth came with a ready made personality for what ever mold he was going to be. Taffy is still adapting or perhaps I am and need a recharge from his muse. I can see where bonding issues come from.

      Tiny Luci was a case of not caring which mold, she is stubburn and determined and I'm in love with her. Lucifer was a character before and has surprised me in his developement in how sweet and gentle his soul is. I thought his face up would be much darker but it wouldn't fit him.
       
    10. Like many others, my dolls are based after preexisting original characters which is why I have been very, very careful in trying to find the sculpt that suits them just right. This is also the reason why both my first dolls have come to me without a face-up. I know alot of personality shines through with a face-up alone, and I didn't want to be distracted with a face-up that didn't correctly represent my boys.

      I try not to let company pics sway my decision, but it is sometimes little things that will get me. For example, the DoD pics of of Kirill and Ivan caught my attention in how mischevious Kirill looked, the snarkiness I wanted in my particular character. That was a major factor in how I fell in love with him. However, the way they portray Ivan with Kirill, it suggests they are a couple. Something my boys are definately not, so it is one aspect I ignore. I also know in some of the LE Ivan pics they show him as being just as snarky as Kirill, another thing I choose to ignore as my Ivan has a very sad, gentle persona.

      I don't like to admit it, but unfortunately my relationship with the company does seem to be having bad effects with how I bond with my doll. I know it's a silly thing to do and it's something I really hope will wear away soon. But I had such a stressful experience when adopting Nazomi, I notice now that Fakia's home, a doll I bought secondhand, he's been ignored quite a bit. Nazomi was my first doll so I still love him dearly, but it was such a rocky introduction into the hobby I can't help but associate those bad feelings with him. I think though that once I just start to work with him and customize him, that will go away.

      I do not however, believe that the doll itself is going to sway my decision on how their personalities are. I know some people who say they just couldn't turn their doll into a certain character, as the doll just insisted they were someone else. This method just doesn't work for me. I buy a doll for a specific character, and even before they get to me, they are already that character. I have a very specific collection in mind, and I don't have enough money to keep spending on new dolls in hopes that it'll be the 'right one'. I'm in the firm mindset that with enough work, the doll you chose to be a character, can become that character. After all, there was something of that character in that doll that sparked you enough to adopt in the first place, right? I know some people might disagree with me on that, and that's fine, just how I feel on that x3
       
    11. For me I never even start thinking about names or personalites until I get the doll. I don't base my dolls on pre-existing characters, I base the characters on the dolls.
      There are lots of dolls that I think are lovely, but only a few that really call to me. When I first tried giving my first doll a personality based on a character, it didn't go over well. She looked like how I pictured the character, but it just wasn't her.
      Sure, I create their stories, but it's based on whatever personality they come with. (okay, I know that sounds kinda crazy XDD)
       
    12. I also did not base my dolls' personalities on pre-existing characters. I am a writer, however, and used to characters talking to me, so I wasn't the least surprised that my imagination started working the moment I saw the specific molds with the particular faceups on the websites (though why those two molds and those two faceups, now that's an interesting question!). Based on the expressions on their faces my mind started making associations with traits, just like when you walk past a stranger you think "she looks like a sweet old lady" or he looks "brusque and businesslike". Then, once I got them and their RL faces perfectly matched the personalities I'd ascribed to them, my imagination continued to elaborate, until I was saying things like "He doesn't like this outfit," or "She'd love this toy." In a similar way, I could tell you the likes, dislikes, history and so on of the characters that populate the book I'm working on. We are pattern-making and anthropomorphizing creatures--isn't it fascinating?
       
    13. Ooh. Hm. Well I guess...
      I guess it's "I created them," but not really.. I was highly influenced by the doll itself.. Trying to let them create their own... I set the basic foundation (happy, cool, etc), and.. they do the rest ^^;;
      (I never dreamed Hiroshi would be the jealous type, but he is).

      It's all really mental though, isn't it? (mental = psychological, not crazy lol)
       
    14. It comes from the doll, what its personality is. Pretty easy to pick up on, if you are a doll person.
       
    15. I would normally base my dolls off already-existing (original!) characters, but even though I don't have any dolls yet, they still developed their personalities nonetheless.

      Hodoo became Aleksandr, who I ended up using as a character for something else. (Essentially, the doll became a character) I then realized how much I really liked him from then on, and now I'm constantly feeling like I have some brat staring at me from the Luts page, saying, "Come, take me home, NOW. I want to experiment on your stuffed animals, kekekekeke..." It's really annoying, because I feel so sad that I don't quite have the money to buy him yet. :(

      Emily, the Paran girl I want so badly, developed mostly from a character. She seemed to fit the character so much, that now every time I see the doll, I can't help but think of he character! I probably won't really know until I get either, however I understand the majority of their personalities now.

      But judging from how long it may be until I get Aleksandr, I have this gut feeling he'll end up acting more impatient than I expected. It's strange, isn't it? He's been haunting me for quite a while, actually. So has Emily, but I have to wait a month until she begins to really bother me... >_>;

      I think that there is some psychological meaning to this. I mean, I have many other characters I write about, and they bug me all the time...! Er, although only one of them, I have really found a doll for... (Emperor Xenos = Sabik. :3)

      In the case of a couple of other characters I have, they would be too hard to make dolls out of. I'd have to end up getting Minimee heads molded for some...

      In the end, I really don't know how the personality develops. Because I'm never really sure how my characters will be until I write about them or roleplay as them, even! In some ways, they turn out differently than expected. For example: stern, serious, Emperor Xenos can be really silly sometimes... I mean he can be downright goofy! In some cases, it's really hard for me to bear it, actually. :O
       
    16. In my case, Dormiens, my Ryo, had a long developed character before I had even thought of him as a doll. I'd created him to be cast as a main character in one of my original fiction stories, so a lot of his personality would stem from there. When I first brought him home, I realized how soft the original Ryo face-up looked, and over the course of time, I've played with his face-up to obtain his current look and personality. Someone soft and quiet with that little, knowing smile, yet who can easily become very, very scary if it calls for it.

      Jinks' personality, on the other hand, actually stemmed from playing the Sims 2! I had ordered him from Luts and was waiting for him, so I recreated him as a Sim which are known to be promiscuous little things. His profession of being a doctor also comes from the Sims 2. Jinks was never a story character of my own, and sort of evolved from the El when he first arrived into what he is now.

      Of course, they're both still changing. They're far from perfect, and so their personalities are still developing as time moves on, very similar to humans.
       
    17. With mine, it always feels a little weird because they're all still in the early stages of development *_*

      Before I got Eden, I named her, picked out a default wig and gave her a defining look - "cute". I purposely didn't give her a character from one of my existing stories so she could develop on her own.
      When she arrived she kept her name, has several wigs - apparently she's a cosplayer as well - but "cute" has quickly evolved into "cute look, but has a bit of a mischievous side".
      She's the one who's stayed the closest to what I hoped, because I had low expectations to begin with ;)

      Mitsukuni was supposed to be a shared doll between me and my sister, based on the Ouran Host Club character Mitsukuni Haninozuki (Hunny).
      After a few weeks of him being home, we decided that the shared thing wasn't really working out because I didn't really know enough about the original character to feel comfortable about it, while she didn't really feel like he fit in with what she wanted... so I'm the one who has him the most ;)
      He's still developing in my mind, although I'm sure he'll settle much faster once I finish his clothes :doh

      Homunculus / "Culi" was originally ordered to be one of my existing characters - "Shiri", from when she would have had a physical form.
      As soon as I got her out of the box and put her head and body together I knew she was most definitely not Shiri. I didn't know who she was, and she didn't seem willing to tell me.
      While I was modding her eyes open after I decided I didn't like the closed-eye look Nanuri 07 has, I got her about 90% done and was looking over what I'd done when she suddenly announced her name. I'm CULI.
      Culi's a name I've used for a few years - only ever on games - but when I thought about it, the basic character fell into place. I started trying to get her character look right when I saw a necklace that was exactly what she'd wear - but with a green stone instead of the traditional red for the Philosopher's stone. That's when she said she needed green eyes, not the blue I'd given her. Thanks to Eden's cosplay demands, I already had the perfect eyes for her, and as soon as I'd put them in, she wouldn't let me change them again.

      Mil was very much to be a character I've had for a few years now. I'd always thought he'd be a Volks F-16, but after seeing one in person he told me that wasn't him. After seeing a DOD Lahoo in person, though, he decided that was the closest to the way he would look if he existed, and so he became bonded to that mold.
      Although I've had his character snarking away in the back of my mind for years, he's only recently decided that actually he doesn't want to be a different rendition of someone else's character, but that he wants his entire story - two worlds, LOTS of characters - rebuilt around the idea that he's an original character.
      :doh
      So since getting him home and slowly working on his story, he's decided to go quiet on me :| The man who had an answer for everything now doesn't want to talk to me at all until I'm done, although it would help immensely if he told me more about his world than me struggling and having to wait for him to tell me if it's right or not.


      I have to say, I envy everyone who gets their resins home and they just slot into place immediately :sweat I swear I'm not bringing any more home until I have their characters built and their clothes ready!
       
    18. None of my dolls had characters before they arrived but after I got them, they just seemed to tell me their names & a bit about themselves. Some did it faster than others & some were more mysterious about it. I'm still finding out new things about them & their roles in my little universe. Generally this happens when I'm just sitting looking at the dolls or even just thinking about them, a new tidbit of knowledge will pop into my head. Their universe itself it's fairly well defined but I never really know what the dolls themselves are going to do until they tell me. I've found that I can't force preconceived ideas on them.
       
    19. Well...
      I feel like a n00b because I don't have any dolls,
      but my inspiration for Miyu was Fatal Frame 2/Japanese horror in general.
      I wanted her to be really dark, maybe gothic lolita.

      As for my second doll, which may not be in the near future at all, is inspired by Edward Cullen from the Twilight Series... I'm so dazzled by him, so I want to make a doll in my interpretation of what he would look like, so I can love him even more!
      :D
      (No, I'm not obsessive, why do you ask?)
       
    20. My first doll has taken over a year to "tell me" what her story is. With the addition of my second and third dolls, the characters started to develop and become pieces of the same continuity, but it has taken quite some time. I'm not a writer or roleplayer by nature, so I don't have preconcieved characters for my dolls when they arrive. So far, I've just gotten dolls that really appeal to me visually, then worked on the character and personality over time. As I collect more dolls, I find myself coming up with characters to fit in the gaps in their storylines (for example, I got Piper, who I eventually decided was Sid's son...so now of course they need a wife/mother. And Lenore will have none of it. So I need another doll. :|)