When do you prefer to think of a character?

I buy dolls first and then give them characters. I like to have an idea before they arrive, but usually I have to wait until they are home. Sometimes they determine their own characters. If I force one onto a doll, it never works. Often they will seem different when they are actually home and being dressed in different ways...

Some dolls are much more difficult about telling me who they are... It's rare that I have a full story before they arrive.

 

i tried thinking up a character for Sven before i got him, but nothing ever came to me. it wasn't until after i got him that his name came to me, then slowly a character started developing. but, it wasn't until a dream i had, where Sven was a demon disguised as a doll(that starred Sebastian and Ciel from Black Butler/Kurshoshitsuji), that the biggest part of his character came to light.

 

I had my first BJD become a character all on his own and got integrated into a story universe of mine alongside my other OCs, my 2nd I thought of a character first, and she rejected it and made herself her own personality, and the 3rd I let decide for himself as well And thankfully hes a softy xD

 

To be honest it's not working for me, buying a doll to suit the character of my oc's. I'm still having doubts on Vallejo. Once the dolls arrive and I hold them and feel them, it comes to me. For Kain and Sid the name was there the moment I decided in getting them. I rather let them grow on me and let them develop on their own, then decide up front. I enjoy it best that way.

 

I would love to just buy every doll I think has a gorgeous sculpt, but when I've done that in the past without having a proper character for them first, I just had to get rid of them because they didn't fit in with the family. :c It's quite sad actually because not too long ago I bought two absolutely gorgeous heads in a kind of impulse buy and now they're not fitting in at all with my family. I really don't want to get rid of them but it just feels like they don't have a rightful spot over here. :c

 

Everytime I get a BJD I fall for it because I see an already given or own creation character I really want to have in it so 'Before actually getting the Doll', the same moment I see the BJD and feel that way, in the cases of all the members of my crew.

 

I'll think of a character first, then find the suitable doll for it..

 

I answered this question in another forum but I basically said:

When I first got into BJD's I came at with a business-like mind. "My doll is mere props for me to make historical costumes for." I had planned on just using her as a life-like mini-model and that was it.

Ha! As I started looking at more blogs, forums, and photo stories my mind let go and a story flowed. Though my dollies are in processing I have named them and a pretty good story for Ay'Lah. Kachu is still shallow but I know where I'm going with him.

 

I prefer thinking of the characters before I buy the doll, but sometimes that doesn't work out. My first doll I had a personality and a name before she was in the mail- before I even decided to definitely buy her. But she was perfect. Granted, once she got here, the personality changed a little, but she was pretty well thought out prior.

My second doll is a different story. I bought her, but I can't even think of a new name for her, let alone a character. Dx I figure when she gets here, I'll know. C:

 

Before. No doubts! I already know who will come (name, character, appearance included), maybe it will be some little things that can change, but nothing major.

 

Usually it is waaay before getting the doll, as most of my characters already have a story behind them.
Sometimes, however, I just buy the doll I really like without any character preplanned for her *coughSoomMDscough* and see what happens once they arrive

 

Since I don't have a doll yet, I cant say anything about changing the character after I get it, but when I look at dolls online, the ones I feel more attached to I make backgrounds and personalities for. There's one doll I was showing my boyfriend, a Luts Bory girl and he was asking why she looked so sad so I replied, because she needs a home. So we began making up a story for her how shes an orphaned child and shes a flute prodigy and a rich family adopts her and buys her all these nice performance outfits... ect and we went through all the clothing options under Kid Delf and picked them all out. I think by being able to create a back story and personality to the doll makes me more opt to buying it that some doll I just find really pretty

 

I used to just purchase or intend to purchase my dolls without any sort of character in mind. But now that they have developed one over the time of me owning them, I look for dolls that click. Like, when I look at them no, I have to know who they can be in the current world of my dolls and whether or not they'd fit in before even considering to purchase them. With knowing who they can be, a character is made!

 

I create most of my characters after I commit to buying a doll, but before getting them. This is possible because I buy almost all my dolls with long layaway periods, giving me 7-9 months to plan my doll's character before it arrives home. I have had a couple of characters that I created before I even had a doll planned for them, but I intentionally avoided planning how those characters would look, so I wouldn't have too much trouble finding a doll that would suit the character.

 

before I received Nadeko I hadn't even given any thought to what her name would be let alone her character ^^;
I had a vague idea of what I wanted her to be like but pretty much it was just that I wanted her to be a lolita

months after she arrived was when I began to give her a character

 

Most of my characters come waaaaaaay before the doll; like, a lot of roleplay and story planning earlier. Some have happened because of the doll, though, which is equally fine, but the charaters are fully formed by the time the doll comes home.