Your Doll Universe

I kind of have....I guess three separate "worlds"? Two of them get roleplay with @Christina_Xx, the third does not.

My main world is the human world, which is basically our own world but happier, safer and just all around better. Like the real world, but leaving out the majority of politics, social issues, violence, war and such. There's a little bit for some realism, but most is just totally left out, as my roleplay is my escape from reality. All of these dolls know each other in some way, whether it's being as close as siblings or romantic partners, or just casual friend-of-a-friend acquaintances, but mostly, they're one big extended friend group, along with Christina's crew. This world includes all of my 1/3 human bjds except Twyla, as well as a few realistic animal dolls (mostly off topic) as their pets.

My fantasy world is based around Twyla as my main character, and a few of my others, such as my 1/4 conjoined twins and my aliens.

And my last "world" isn't really a world with any sort of story at all, but just kind of "other" as display dolls mostly, and that includes all of my bugs, anthros and Hollow Knight OCs. They don't have written stories, and their characters don't go much deeper than a name, basic personality, or maybe a paragraph backstory at most.

I love having more than one world because it gives me an excuse to just get whatever doll that appeals to me without worrying about if they'll fit in any particular story. They'll fit somewhere in there!

 

I have several worlds.
The World of Tolkien-based characters: characters mainly from the Silmarillion.
Generic Elves/Fairies who exist perhaps with the Tolkien cast, perhaps not.
My own Fantasy Story: A human boy enters a fairy world and encounters a cast of characters who will help or hinder him (in hindsight, reminds me a lot of Labyrinth but without the need to rescue a baby)
FF9 Characters - might sell them.
Revolutionary Girl Utena characters - might sell them.
Elf-Quest characters: 2 dolls based off of one my favorite comic series who fit my fantasy aesthetic as well!

 

My BJDs are a group of OCs (original characters) in one story and world - the dolls inspired the OCs and I developed their story around them. They're all connected by being a single ensemble cast - three romantic couples, one sibling pair, and friendships/rivalries to various levels.

At this stage I'm pretty engrossed in these OCs and I'm trying to tell their story through doll photography. Any new doll I buy has to fit in with the existing dolls and the story, and I have no desire to start a second story and/or a separate BJD collection. It means I don't get to buy many dolls that I'd otherwise be tempted to buy...but it's fine, I really love this crew, and it keeps my wallet sort-of safe...

 

Like several others here, my BJDs all exist in one world. It's mainly a reflection of our own, but a bit kinder and safer. Really, it all revolves around 4 of them, the Doyle kids - triplet brothers and their younger sister. Everyone else is somehow connected to the 4, be it as a romantic partner, close friend, or their one cousin. Doing it this way keeps me on track, because unless they fit well into the group, what's the point in buying a new kiddo?

 

I don't have super established worlds, but I tend to buy/keep my dolls in pairs of similar style and height, with each pair being separate from the others- it would feel weird to me if they interacted across sizes and styles. However, the two always have some kind of relationship, from friendship to family to enemies, together with their own story. I find it's much easier to showcase the doll's personalities and take better photos if there's more of them, but since I like so many different dolls, I don't have space for a third in their groups

 

When I first got into the hobby, I had three different stories and it felt a bit overwhelming. Now I’ve narrowed it down to just one, and I’m really happy with that decision. I like having all my dolls exist “in one place at the same time,” so they can interact naturally with each other. Focusing on a single story also brings clearer rules and boundaries, which I like.

 

Ah... it's complicated. My dolls mostly have their own seperate stories. Some of them are connected (my Migidolls are from the same story). Some of them I based off existing characters that I was already writing about. Most of them I just got because I liked the dolls, and the dolls then inspired characters that I wrote about after.

However, when I'm playing with them as dolls, I imagine them all being in the same world. They're all around about 16-18 in age so I imagine them being at the same school together.

I guess a good example is my Iplehouse Tatiana. In her story she lives in a futuristic world where her only family is a robot. None of my other dolls feature in that story. As a doll, she lives in the real world, and I see my Iplehouse Tania as being her sister because they look so alike.

 

Hmmm, although some of the BJD's I have were based on OC's I used to RP based on famous anime, their stories and origins eventually evolved and at times can intertwined with each other seamlessly. Makes me want to continue creating photostories again when I finally get the chance (and lots of time ) .

 

I really want to write some lore one day, but at the moment, I do not have much other than aesthetics. I only have two BJDs at the moment and one is an established character, so it'll be a work in progress!

 

From the very beginning I wanted to build my collection on diversity, so I created a single fantasy world to encompass any character my mind could create. I was fascinated by different fashion styles, and I love creating my own patterns and sewing, so coming up with a fascinating character to wear whatever style was paramount. Thus a broad based fantasy world (think something like a Tim Burton’s “Alice”) was necessary. Then I made various displays here and there throughout my home for small groupings of dolls, treating them like art instillations as part of my overall decor. This made it possible, at any given time, to move dolls from display to display for interactions. It’s given me tremendous freedom in character creation and storytelling, costume design, and in collecting all sorts of dolls that interest me.

 

Most of my larger complete dolls (not floating heads), belong to the same universe. They are OCs based on a story my bff wrote while we were both in high school. Most of my floating heads and two of my tinier humanoid dolls are fan-art character dolls, that belong to their own universe and are supposed to be the characters they represent. Not cosplayers.

When I was younger, a million years ago, I did intended for those OC dolls to interact with each other and I took photos of them together. Then I got lazier, and never got into it after. It felt like a chore, because I keep all my resin in the closet, nude and wig-less inside their boxes. Dressing and undressing, then posing more than one giant and heavy doll at the same time, just wasn't for me. I love taking (crappy) photos of my dolls, but not in groups. I don't really care if any of my dolls look like they belong together now. Although, it was something I considered when I was younger and newer in this hobby.

It is fun to see the awesome group and full scaled diorama scene photos, others take. It's just that I'm a lazy, weak old fart. (;

 

The main gang of SD sized and a few smaller (younger relatives) ones are all children in the same, large Victorian/edwardianish extended family - cousins, siblings, and half-siblings. I have a couple of pairs of sisters based-on-or-inspired-by characters from books. The rest form little groups (mostly of friends, occasional siblings) according to size/scale, or are stand alones who do still interact with others because in the "real" world they all live in my house, and are displayed wherever there's space, so aren't necessarily together in those groups when not being played with so interact between the groups simply by dint of proximity (two from different time periods have formed a friendship as they usually sit together when on display ion my livingroom, for example).

Teddy

 

My dolls come from several different continuties, like my novel, an RPG I played in for a couple of years, some video games, etc. Their continuties still exist, but they also exist in a common world as I have no desire to create separate dioramas and keep dolls from different continuties separate from each other when I play with them.

 

Pretty early on I created a story that all my dolls can fit into. It's called the Safe House, and it started because my first boy was adopted and had had multiple owners and came to me with damage and my bleeding heart just wanted him to feel safe and loved. So basically I was just calling my house a safe house, but it ended up building up into this bigger story that's quite involved now. Who falls under the Safe House story umbrella are listed in my profile as residents or Guardians, but even those in other categories can and have interacted with this story. For example, dolls who's characters are from something else specifically (like a shelled DnD character) can interact with the normal residents or ask one of the Guardians for help, etc, but usually will not. I use the Guardians as a way to help control the chaos and keep everyone in check and getting along. They have their own story as well and honestly, its by far my favorite.

That all said, each of my dolls has their own individual character and story. Some connect with each other, and some absolutely do not. But they all live under the same roof so for some it's home, a dorm, a flop house, or even an alternate dimensional space. Nothing is too strict around here, as it's all just fun and drama games.

 

I have a few worlds that my dolls are sorted into in my profile. 4 worlds is a fantasy universe about people with wings, who live in multiple realms, and a war between gods. The children of Auratus are all the kids of one god, and the shrike are the hired assassins belonging to his arch enemy.

Hell, Strahd and DnD are all one universe—they’re all the characters I have that fit in the dungeons and dragons settings I DM and play in. Not all of these characters ever meet—Liriel, for instance, is dead in most Hell timelines.

then comes my paradise lost/vampire setting—they’re all one universe. The originals are the OG denizens of hell, and then there are horsemen of the apocalypse, and then there’s the main series canon vampires, like Addi and Val. These are characters either canon to Milton’s Paradise Lost, or created for my vampire setting.

There are also a handful of outliers—I have some fan characters—I made Spike and Dru from Buffy, the way I see them. I made Rose and Holly from a friend’s monster of the week campaign, I’m making Neferet and Lynette from house of night (which, as an English major, I don’t love that I can’t get away from!) and then a little animal doll of one of my late pets—a panther chameleon named Loki. Those characters don’t belong to any particular universe, but most of them hang out with my vampires

 

So far both of my dolls are shelling OCs for a Chinese fantasy-inspired universe that I roleplay in with my friend. They also have a few dolls of OCs from the same universe, but aren't on DOA. I'm trying to stick to shelling characters for future purposes, but one of my dolls I did buy before having a concrete character because I fell so in love with the head, and just turned him into one later...

 

I've only needed to shell the two main characters of my contemporary romance / drama story which takes place in cosmopolitan NYC. But if money and space were no object to me, shelling more of my OCs would still be challenging—namely that black doll sculpts are disappointingly too few, and the glaring lack of body diversity. I would love for Iplehouse to bring back Ashanti and their ebony resin for example.

 

Ashanti, I totally agree on—I’d buy her in a heartbeat, but ebony resin is available every second month through doll choice, so that is still available!!

 

They live in a double world?

Behind the scenes:

They are like my little actors and some of them have more then one role. But this gives me personality the behind the scenes interactions that don't show up in my posted doll story. It's like a layer behind the story. It's based more off of poses that they naturally fall into when sitting for the pictures to go into the story, or how they sit on the shelves next to on and another when not being photographed. Weather they constantly slap at each other behind the scenes, (hands pushing each other away) or hugging with each other (always falling together).

Behind the scenes, some of them sit in indifference next to each other, while other glare, and others appear in engaging conversations. I don't pose them like this, they just do this naturally, and it's funny because the same things usually happens to the same dolls over and over. I somehow ended up with a few couples behind the scenes that I don't see coming to light in the main story. At least not anytime soon, and some of my couples in the story don't feel it at all behind the scenes.

In the posted story:

It's pretty consistent. It's a modern urban fantasy drama series. They all live in the same city. The students all attend the same high school, some of them work at the same place. They go to the same places as each other. They might go together, or run into each other randomly in the park, on the street, at the library, where ever. Some of them know very dark secrets about the world that they live in, while others are oblivious to the real stuff going on and live in a carefree world. They have their set romances, and their break ups. Good relationships with parents and not so great relationships with parents, the usual drama stuff.

The story has slowly taken a darker turn. It used to be more carefree and light, but horror elements are slowly creeping in. I enjoy the supernatural elements, vampires, faeries, fox spirits, psychics, and the such. I don't know why I didn't start the story off that way, but having it slowly move into the story as some of the characters discover the hidden world around them. Or, that some knew all along and kept it all a secret because they are a part of the supernatural world is kind of fun. The noble vampires being the main focus of the story, while other lives continue around them.

For a third layer, some of the dolls play actors in the main posted story. I am planning on them doing a version of 'Dracula' for fun where the doll actors, playing actors in the main story, are characters in the 'Dracula' story.

... and I rambled on about my doll story.