What comes first - the backstory or the doll?

For me, my two girls arrived before their backstories. I had thought about it for a while, but I wasn't absolutely sure until I saw them. For my girl Rain, I saw her sweet smile and brown eyes and instantly I knew that she was a very silent girl. For my girl Coraline, I knew she was shy and hurt the second I saw her expression. As for my boy, the look in his eyes told me everything I needed to know, even before I saw him with my own two eyes.

 

I'd kind of like to wait to get my doll and let him or her tell me what their life is going to be like, their personality and everything like that. If I ever had a set story with another doll and wanted to add them in, then they'd probably have a pre-determined back story. But really, every doll is different and may not fit into the plans you have for them. I'm open for anything.

 

For me, the doll comes first. I usually don't develop backstories.

 

My girl doesn't have a backstory really. Her general personality, look, and style were loosely inspired by a fictional character that I like a lot, but she is not a character doll, so the fictional story she was inspired by is not her story. She hasn't been with me that long, so maybe she'll eventually grow a backstory--- but what's far, far more likely to happen is that her story will just be the story of her life as my doll. My second doll, who I'm currently waiting for, is so far the same way--- personality/look/style inspired by a beloved fictional character, but not meant to be an actual character doll and doesn't really have a story. I just tend to look at my doll's characters as "miniature people that live with me" more than "figures of characters that inhabit a detailed storyline", so as such I develop definite personalities for them but not necessarily stories.

 

Many of my crew are resin avatars for favorite tabletop RPG or role-played MMO characters. For those guys, the names and character backgrounds all existed long before the dolls did, and they tend to be the most detailed of the bunch. Others were only created after I had the doll in-hand, and they range in complexity all the way from sketchy general ideas only up to some fairly extensive world-building. I even have a few here who don't have backgrounds at all. They're more like personified concepts than detailed individuals.

 

Same here! I don't know why but the idea of backstories are not appealing to me.

 

The doll! I find a particular doll I can't live without, then once she arrives she comes to life with her backstory and name once I've seen her with my other dolls to know how she fits in.

 

I don't have a doll yet, but I believe that bazkstories can develop at anytime, but I prefer them before the doll. I've got a basic personality for my eventual doll, but no official story yet.

 

Dolls come first for me. Some develop backstories or specific personalities after they arrive; some don't. I never shop for dolls with preconceived characters in mind. Only even thought about it once, but never did it.

 

Dolls first then back story - it's almost like when I see them they just jump out and tell me their name and who they are. Although now that my main story is quite robust, I am finding that this may shift to back story first and then doll. That said, I'm not looking to shell all of the characters in my story unless they demand it to be so.

 

I start with a basic concept and then develop more once I have the doll in hand.

 

I first got into the dolls as aesthetic objects and as a development of my interest in the doll photography of Hans Bellmer and Ryoichi Yoshida and the Japanese art bjd scene. After I had the doll some time a story began to develop out of a desire to figure out how to photograph her, what style clothing, props etc. I think before she arrived I had started to develop some aspects of her character. It was pretty vague until I recently ordered more dolls. I was wondering what the interaction between them would be and my interest in certain things started to push a story forward. Once I started getting into it and digging into historical details it started really taking off. I still think I will order dolls for my interest in how they look aesthetically but at this point I have a larger narrative that I can put them into as characters. When I first started out I didn't really get the back story thing at all but now I have a much deeper grasp on it. It's become pretty exciting. I've never played games of any sort so I don't have any experience with that but developing a large fictional narrative dovetails with literary interests. I think I would have stayed with one doll or two but with the story I see possibilities both for writing and photography with a larger cast. So I'm just getting underway. I think it will always be doll first but we'll see what happens as time goes on.

 

It depends for me. Spur of the moment dolls the doll is first, for highly planned dolls, the back story is first. Like my Angel Studio Vera, I have had her since 2007 and she just finally let me figure out who she was supposed to be, which is an Aion character I have had since 2010, same with my Bobobie Pixie. It is amazing how some of these dolls take forever to figure out who they are, even if you had plans before they ever came.

 

definitely doll before backstory for me
I don't have characters/a story that I base my dolls off, I choose them for their beauty
my first doll didn't even have a name until she'd been with me for a week ^^;

I'm slowly kind of working on a backstory for her (and my future dolls) now that she's been here for a while and I'm getting to know her personality and character better, and I do have characters planned for future dolls but all of that came after/because of my first doll

 

For me it was the doll. I feel in love with her sculpt. Her back story isn't altogether yet but she did finally tell me her name. Even without the backstory I still love her. It isn't really necessary to me for her to have one. If she develops one great but if not I'll be happy either way.

 

hmmm...... thats a good question! well i have some doll who had a backstory before they got to me but there are some other dolls they came without one. so yeah i kinda have a good mix of both things. needless to say i love them all the same of course!

 

The doll. No interest here in composing background stories or shelling characters. I like to dress, pose and photograph the doll and have it live with me in the real world in the present, rather than a fictitious place and time.

 

Great question, great answers! I've done both with relative success XP Though I've been most successful with finding the doll first. Then I put her on layaway and got working on her story. In this case though I kind of saw her sculpt and her story hit me. So it was kind of simultaneous...anybody else experience anything like that??

 

This is exactly what I was trying to explain and exactly how I interact with my dolls--- I think you put that much more clearly than I did! I do tend to imagine personalities for them as I play around with them and design their wardrobes, but the only story they have is their day-to-day "life" as my doll. It's cool to see that I'm not the only one who interacts with their dolls this way!

 

I don't have a full blown story for my dolls, so I'd have to say the doll comes first. Or rather, the personality or the style I'd like next. The stories fall in place after.