About Tiarnach

Tiarnach
Click on the "About" Label for more of my characters and info about the dolls that portray them!

Tiarnach is one of my Court of Dun Elisedd group, but he's an unfinished doll currently in need of a better version of his faceup.

Company and sculpt: SOOM Chrom head/ Granado Nuevo NS body
Height: 65 cm?
Resin colour: NS
Modifications: Hybrid.
Faceup: Me
Eyes: Custom by Shelley
Wig: Mohair shown, made by me.

Name (and nicknames): Tiarnach, Prince of the Wildwood, Lord of Shadows, The Blood-Drinker.
Age: ancient.
Birthday: unknown
Family and/or relationships: He is madly, obsessively in love with Siofra. He only wants her, she wants whoever she fancies today. This causes him no end of angst and frustration.

Occupation: Dark ruler of the night? Harassing these upstart Men and their petty Kings and Lords who think to tame the land, etc.
Pets: A young monster he keeps collared by magic.

Personality: Vindictive, jealous, clever, possessive, malicious, passionate, poetic, observant.
Hobbies: Frightening Men, drinking blood, working dark magic, lurking through the night looking for fools who don't have the sense to stay by a fire and bar their doors.

Likes:  Other people's fear, old forests, dark places, windy nights, etc.
Dislikes: Cold iron and steel, whoever Siofra is flirting with, people who show him no respect, the New Religions brought here by men that teach them not to be afraid and not to pay worship to the dark.

Other/misc. Tiarnach is one of the fae, Prince of the Wildwood, and means to make sure these mortals know it. He wants a return to the days of fear in the dark.

Naming a Tiny People

I'm trying to figure out a name for this little teeny fairy people I'm using Fairyland Puki pukis to portray. They are inspired heavily by Nomes/Gnomes and the Nac Mac Feegle from the books of Terry Pratchett, and the Borrowers from the books by Mary Norton.
Brownie brings the association of chores done for a saucer of milk. These guys don't DO chores.
Gnome is taken, as seen above.
Hob has possibilities, although traditionally they were household helpers too.
Pixie makes people think of sparkly flittery things with bug wings and giggles. These are Not that kind of fairy.
Same with Sprite, although these days more children and adults think of that as a syrupy soda drink from a vending machine, not a mythic creature.

Meme- Jenny Marx's Survey

This thingy dates from the 1860s and was written by Jenny Marx, Karl Marx's daughter. She sent it to her exciting communist pals to fill out, apparently for the sheer fun of it.Here's the answers of a few of my Doll characters from Dun Elisedd, if we assume/pretend we could get them to answer these.

Answers for Kevya, my IH Barron hybrid.

The quality you like best in a man:
Integrity. Honesty, character and keeping his word.

The quality you like best in a woman:
Kindness.

Your chief characteristic:
People say I'm dangerous.

Your idea of happiness:
A hillside by the sea, a flock to watch after, and no wolves coming. Either that, or a windy afternoon out in the forest with Lir, hunting.

Your idea of misery:
The cell on the island of Rilvomar where I spent so many years chained and treated like an animal.

The vice you detest the most:
Sadism.

The vice you excuse the most:
Cowardice. Some things are too much to ask anyone to face.

Your chief aversion:
I don't like chains, or being tied up.

Your favourite literary or historical character:
Athero made the peace with Elisedd, the first King.

Your favourite occupation:
Being Lir's Guard.

Your favourite writer:
Ian has been writing down some old Verdani stories.

Your favourite flower:
Crocus. It blooms in the snow.

Your favourite colour:
Blue

Your favourite dish:
Lamb stew and Verdani flat bread

Your favourite motto:
Serve

Answers for Prince Lir, my Soom Lupin

The quality you like best in a man:
Honesty. The air is so thick with ulterior motives around here I could cut it with a knife.

The quality you like best in a woman:
Patience, and a tolerance for my idiosyncracies.

Your chief characteristic:
I like to hope I am thoughtful.

Your idea of happiness:
An evening by the fire with a good book or a fine story, good music, and close friends around.

Your idea of misery:
I felt rather sorry for myself when I came home to find my family gone and our homeland so ravaged, but I've also seen the state of things further south, like on Rilvomar, and the condition of rampant crime and slavery there was horrifying.

The vice you detest the most:
A hunger for power over other men. The man who wants power is the man who least deserves to have it. Heh, I guess that bodes well for my own reign.

The vice you excuse the most:
Cowardice. I agree with Kevya- Some things are just horrible, and you can't fault a man for simply not being able to face them.

Your chief aversion:
Seeing others in pain or in trouble. I have to help as much as I can, I can't leave them like that.

Your favourite literary or historical character:
Elisedd, my famous ancestor and the founder of my Royal Lineage. He built this castle I call home.

Your favourite occupation:
Learning. I love to read.

Your favourite writer:
Cadogan the Chronicler wrote some of our better histories.

Your favourite flower:
My mother had a rose garden, and even after she was gone the servants kept it up. It made Father happy to see her roses bloom every year.

Your favourite colour:
Green

Your favourite dish:
Almond pudding

Your favourite motto:
Knowledge is the key to the world. 


Answers for Davan, My Iplehouse Taregan

The quality you like best in a man:
Strength, and the sense to obey

The quality you like best in a woman:
A buxom figure and a certain something when seduced.

Your chief characteristic:
I am rather clever, I do admit. I enjoy thinking.

Your idea of happiness:
My little empire expanding, my servants carrying out my orders, fine parties, a woman on my arm and in my bed, and a good vintage of wine.

Your idea of misery:
Being a penniless filthy peasant.

The vice you detest the most:
Incompetence. I have no use for useless people.

The vice you excuse the most:
Hedonism is merely what the repressed envy and the honest enjoy.

Your chief aversion:
I do not enjoy being dirty. I prefer to be well groomed and clean.

Your favourite literary or historical character:
Me. I am making history.

Your favourite occupation:
Merchant Lord. It's a lucrative position, and I rule my island like a king.

Your favourite writer:
Teris Shan wrote a beautiful collection of poems, as well as a definitive work on the effects of various methods of torture.

Your favourite flower:
River Lilies, or perhaps jasmine.

Your favourite colour:
Red, or gold.

Your favourite dish:
Young quail in spiced wine and orange sauce.

About Davan

Click on the "About" Label for more of my characters and info about the dolls that portray them!

 Better pics will be forthcoming, but since Blogspot has gone and changed everything around I will need time to get those pics ready anyhow.

Name: Davan
From the Court of Dun Elisedd storyline

Type: Iplehouse Taregan Elemental Guardian Fullset (Split) Superhero Body, Mobility Jointed, Lt Brown skin.

Birthday/arrival: March 2012

Wig: Handspun wool by me, needs replacing with a better one. I need to find some handspun or something like it in thinner form.

Eyes: default Glib acrylic, currently. Also mean to replace these, but every pair I get is too yellow or too orange. I need golden honey colored eyes!

Customization: just blushing and faceup by me.

Location: He's the antagonist of my Dun Elisedd story, the one person Kevya hates more than anything, and the man Lir recused Kevya from.

Likes: women, fine wine, wealth, efficiency, arcane arts and magic, power in any worthy form

Dislikes: foolish people who try to stand up to him or think he is stupid. Being dirty- he's almost comically fastidious about his personal cleanliness.

Personality: Merciless, calm, sadistic, imperturbable, cruel, hedonistic, possessive. A pleasure seeker. He has a driving need to dominate or destroy anyone or anything he decides to own.

Relationships: As to his love life, there are various women he has had his way with and cast aside when they no longer pleased him. He has no family, nor friends per se so much as allies and employees.


Any additional info/backstory: He is the person who enslaved Kevya and made him into a fighter for the arena games. He more or less governs his own small island, a hub of trade and commerce of every kind including slave markets. He dabbles in magic and uses it to mess with people or punish those who he feels deserve it. He knows Kevya better than anyone else alive, having spent many an hour toying with his slave's mind.

About Farron

Mold: Fairyland Littlefee Elf El, in NS
Name: Farron the Small God
Race: He's a very small god of a very small world, which he says consists mostly of birds.
Personality: A bit on the pompous side, proud and arrogant when he remembers he wants to be, but he can be quiet and reflective
Likes: Playing games with Stella, poetry, being right, being first, being a god
Dislikes: Being told he's wrong, being doubted, getting beaten by Stella at games
Wig: By me, fake fur
Eyes: 14 mm Custom gold leaf eyes
Faceup/Blushing: both by me.
Outfit: originally belonged to a Legolas dolly.

Dolls and Colors

★Do your dolls have colour schemes?
Oh, yes. Most of my dolls make up a Medieval fantasy Court, and color and fabric choices in one's clothes were a very important way of describing wealth and social status in the Middle Ages. You just glance at a person and you can tell what rank they probably are and how wealthy they are.

I also dress them according to personality and complexion in colors that "make sense" for their character.

Kevya, (Iplehouse Barron) for instance, is a servant, so he almost never wears bright colors, as those would be expensive. He is, however, a personal servant to the Prince, so his clothes are of fine sturdy quality and very good workmanship, and he gets to wear a little blue, an expensive color, which would have been bought for him by his employer so that he presents a good image. It is still a blue woven jerkin, handmade in his people's fashion, but with nice colors, so it is appropriate to his station while still showing that he works for someone wealthy. (Also, he has blue eyes and looks great in blue and earth tones.)

Prince Lir (Soom Lupin) and Princess Elinore (Migidoll Jina), being royalty, are the only dolls I have who will be seen wearing deep purple. It was very difficult to dye cloth to that shade and very expensive, so as royalty they're able to afford it. They are also some of the only dolls who will be seen wearing deep-plush velvet, as that's also a very expensive thing.
They also wear a lot of green because it is the color of their kingdom's banner, and as sovereigns they represent the kingdom. (Luckily, it also looks very good on them both.)

Lady Fiachra, (Nobility/Souldoll hybrid,) wears some colors that are extremely loud and kind of clash. She's from a nation heavily inspired by ancient Celtic cultures, and she shows her noble rank by wearing the brightest of colors- checked reds and golds, bright blues, and so on. The Celts were in love with bright colors and anything showy. Fiachra herself is not a wallflowery sort of person and bold color statements fit her well.

Tiarnach (Soom Chrom on eventual Granado body) is a fae Prince of a dangerous temperament, so he wears dark rich colors, in fabrics that have been distressed or antiqued to give the impression he is very, very old in spite of his young face. Like he belongs to a former era.

★Do you prefer a doll to have matching colours?
I dress all my dolls within their rank and station, but also according to their personality and their complexion, in colors that "make sense" for their character. So, no, I don't have dolls with green hair, green eyes and green clothes. For instance: Donovan, my redheaded, seablue-eyed Akando, wears nothing that is not either green or blue, and never dark. He just looks great in those colors and it describes a peaceful, thoughtful personality.

★Have the colours in factory photos/owner photos swayed your buying decisions?
Nah, never really notice 'em. I try to imagine how the doll would look blank, or look at blank pictures to imagine whether the doll fits a character of mine.

★Were you ever upset/delighted with a random wig/eye combination you received?
Not really. I usually end up selling them off.

★Do you tend to have favourite colour sets for dolls?
Yeah. Each one, as described above, has certain colors they look good in, so they each end up with their own color palette I choose from when making their clothes.

Dolly work update- pics coming later!

Now that it's Spring, a lot of the dolls are going to get reblushing, restringing, and more clothes to complete my Court of Dun Elisedd...

So Siofra my Light Tan Resinsoul Yun has a gorgeous new body, courtesy of the color matching skills of the doll company Angell-Studio, and just needs a little more blushing and a finish on her faceup.
She looks amazing! Angell-Studio sanded her seams for free, and sent her strung with silicone kips in the joints. She poses incredibly well with a rib height joint and thigh mobility joints that have locks inside them. This is one of the most beautiful SD female bodies I've ever seen. It's somewhat slender but not skinny- toned and graceful. The resin is of a very high quality, and utterly smooth. Angell-Studio has a new customer for life!

Today I strung my new Unoa-Minifee hybrid as well. Her name is Aithne, and her character will be part of the same story as Hands and Scythe, my other mid-sized dolls. They're in an urban fantasy story I've called "Otherworld". She is a fae blooded witch girl who is a free spirit exploring the world of Men. I had to string her pretty tightly, and it will take some serious blush work to get her Unoa head to match the Fairyland Minifee A-Line body, but she'll be so pretty once she's done.

I am working on re-doing my Littlefee Elf El's faceup. I got that mostly done today. It needs a few more touches and then the eyebrow and lash lines.

Note to Self: Do Not Order Custom Work From Nobility Doll

I was part of Humbug's ( a user on Den of Angels BJD Forum) Custom Female Muscle Body Order.

My misgivings started when I was not impressed with Nobility Doll's sculptor's ability to do work outside their comfort zone. Nobility just could not seem to grasp that we wanted a BULKY female with muscle. They kept showing us designs that looked like a starved Hollywood model with a little muscle pinned on, and we kept sending them back with, "No, could you make her MUSCULAR please? Like in all the pictures we sent?" It went on for a few months of revisions. Oct 2010 to the next year was the total time for design and casting of the dolls. The final design was not what I had hoped, and not what Humbug's drawings had shown, but it was close, so I was willing to settle.

They started shipping them out at the end of October 2011 but mine never shipped because someone else in our skin tone group told them to hold off on casting- Not only did he not tell us this, but Nobility didn't either, not until I had contacted them- They are hard to get a hold of, btw. They aren't exactly swift at answering their Q&A board, and the English is very difficult to make sense of. (more so than any other company I have dealt with. I get that it's a hard language, but if you want to use it and can't, find someone who can and pay them) They then told me they were not casting my doll because of something someone else told them. Someone not me. They also claimed to have told me so in an email, which I did receive but it had been so horribly garbled I had thought it said they were casting. They really could do with paying a better translator.

By March 2012: It took me two weeks of wait time on their answers to confirm that Yes, I did want my doll cast, and yes, go ahead and use your NS since the person who had volunteered to send them the promised resin samples had neglected to ever do so, which led to them not casting my doll without telling me they were going to hold off on my order.

Upon the arrival of the doll, in April 2012
Two of my friends who were NOT dolly people were shocked by her casting quality, or rather terrible lack thereof. She's got seams I could cut myself on and a lot of resin dust, as well as crud in her stringing channels. She arrived with both hips severely dislocated so badly when I opened the box that I thought they had half unstrung her. The S-hook was half embedded in a tangle of knots and half-buried into the resin of the neck. I had to cut the elastic with a razor to free everything up. Her resin tone is a good match to my Souldoll head, but her stringing was so screwed up I haven't been able to try the head on properly yet, and I doubt I'll be able to until I fix the SERIOUS failures in the engineering. This is the kind of quality I'd expect from a single-person operation or a cheapy-cheap company who happens to cast BJDs- Even Resinsoul and Mirodoll, low cost Chinese companies, have far better quality control than this.


TL-DR:
I am so furious with Nobility Doll for taking so long to get Humbug's lovely design even vaguely close to right, for their engineering being so faulty I'm going to have months of work to make this doll function AT ALL,
and then with making me wait for months without telling me that someone else had told them to hold my order! Topping it all off, this looks like they slapped the doll together and more or less threw her in the box and out the door!

Humbug, I cannot thank you enough for making this doll happen more or less in spite of their customer service "skills", but I am never buying anything from Nobility Doll again.

Edit 4/12: I am asking them for a partial refund. I will update this if they agree to refund some of my money.

4/17: Nobility gave me their answer:
Hello there,

I am sorry that you're not satisfied with our doll.
The doll you placed order is for group order, so it's not possible to focus on individuals specific & personal demanding for quality or preference.
As you know, cost, you paid, is 30% less than normal 60cm doll. In addition, you cannot refund because it's made by customized order.
Concerning fitting line on the body, you can simply get rid of it by sanding, and it's very easy job. If you're not confident, please send it to me. I will do sending it for free withouht shipping fee
Thank you for your understanding.

So, I can't get a partial refund or any refund because it was Custom Work. (Custom Work they screwed up on royally.)

And they believe it was okay to have horrible quality because it was a group order so they couldn't concentrate on individual quality. (THE HECK??)

And the ruined state of the casting job is okay because if I work on it myself I can fix it. (Gee golly, Thanks! A huge mod project, just what I did not pay for!)

OR I can gamble on shipping it back to them, and trust in their "excellent standard" of work to remove the seams for me. HAIL NO, thank you, I've seen the quality of your work so far. I wouldn't put a doll back into your hands if you paid me to do it.

This is the end of my dealings with Nobility Doll.

Den of angels thread with me trying to fix this doll.

Eye Alignment and Human Expressions

(Yes, I am Rosslyn, so this is my image and I can post it. Do not Pin, Share, Tumblr, Reblog, or repost without my permission, Please)

About Timmy

Click on the "About" Label for more of my characters and info about the dolls that portray them!

Type: Fairyland Pukipuki Cupid
Name: Timmy
Nickname(s): Timmo
Age: Little Kid
Birthdate: 3/17
Nationality/Species: He's a Puki like Pip
Favourite colours: Green!
Skin: NS
Hair: Coppery brown
Eyes: Glib 8mm green
Sex: Male
Look: Simple clothes, nothing scratchy or uncomfortable
Likes: grammar, Botany, drawing, reading, going outside
Dislikes: the vacuum's noise, touching people too much, stinky perfume or fabric softener
Secrets: none? He's pretty up front.
Personality: Sweet, a bit shy at first, but very smart and very honest

This is Timmy. He is saying hello, even if it doesn't look like it. Timmy doesn't really "do" eye contact- He has Asperger's Syndrome, a type of Autism.

This is something I live with and a while ago I'd toyed with the idea of having a doll who had it too, but then he showed up and surprised me. I had trouble getting him to talk and I thought he was shy, but then somehow Pip, my other little puki, got him on the topic of the springtime plants and off he went like a regular ol' chatterbox! Botany is one of his very favorite things.