Blogging Again

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Hello, dear and lovely readers! 

I began an unexpected blogging hiatus with a picture of my Raven Queen repaint, and it seems proper to end this break with another picture of her. 

The lovely Crimson Peak inspired dress she is wearing was made by the talented Wiener-Blut.  

Hopefully, in the near future, I will have more Crimson Peak and BJD things to share.
 
Thanks always for reading.

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EAH Raven Queen & The Edgar Allan Poe Photography Challenge

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Dear and lovely readers, here is my second entry in the Edgar Allan Poe Photography Challenge.  For the last month, I kept thinking about the phrase for theme two : "spirits moving musically to a lute's well-tuned law."  What a beautifully eerie image.

My interpretation is more on the cute side of gothic.  Raven Queen is playing her guitar, rather than a lute, and summoning some spirits with her magic.  As attentive watchers of EAH will know, Raven Queen has been seen to have excellent control of her dark magic while playing the guitar. 

Raven Queen and her guitar were both repainted by me, the spirit faces are my BJD Supia Rosy.  The mosquito bite I incurred while taking this picture is still healing.  As always, thank you for looking. :0)

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Gothic BJD Tales: Edgar Allan Poe's "The Bridal Ballad"

The ring is on my hand, 
   

And the wreath is on my brow; 


Satin and jewels grand 


Are all at my command, 
   

And I am happy now

And my lord he loves me well; 
   

But, when first he breathed his vow, 


I felt my bosom swell— 


For the words rang as a knell, 
   

And the voice seemed his who fell 


In the battle down the dell, 
   

And who is happy now

But he spoke to re-assure me, 
    

And he kissed my pallid brow, 


While a reverie came o'er me, 


And to the church-yard bore me, 


And I sighed to him before me, 


Thinking him dead D'Elormie, 


"Oh, I am happy now!"

And thus the words were spoken, 
    

And this the plighted vow, 


And, though my faith be broken, 


And, though my heart be broken, 


Here is a ring, as token 
    

That I am happy now

Would God I could awaken! 


For I dream I know not how! 


And my soul is sorely shaken 


Lest an evil step be taken,— 


Lest the dead who is forsaken 
    

May not be happy now

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Notes:  This is my interpretation of theme IV of the Edgar Allan Poe photography challenge that I mentioned in my last entry.  I hadn't planned to illustrate the whole poem, but once I uploaded my pictures, a photostory seemed the best way to show the movement from superficial safety to real or imagined danger.   

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The Edgar Allan Poe BJD Photography Challenge

Hello dear and lovely readers, since my collaborative adaptation of "The Raven" has proven so troublesome, my partner (and author of this guest entry) created a smaller-scale challenge.  I'm sharing it here because I doubt I'm the only one who finds the subject matter inspiring.  The themes are as follows:

I. "It was night in the lonesome October of my most immemorial year"

II. "Spirits moving musically to a lute's well-tuned law"

III. "my life and my bride, in the sepulchre there by the sea, in her tomb by the sounding sea"

IV. "And I sighed to him before me, thinking him dead D'Elormie"

V. "A dirge for her the doubly dead in that she died so young"

VI. "I am dying, yet I shall live."

VII. "And he was a passionate, and wild, and moody man, who became lost in reveries so that he would not see that the light which fell so ghastly in that lone turret withered the health and the spirits of his bride, who pined visibly to all but him."

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 I've been given leave to interpret the Poe quotes as I see fit, so we'll see how this new project goes.  Some things might lend themselves better to a contextual BJD illustration than others.  If any one happens to read this and decides to take on the photo challenge too, I'd love to see the results.  Thanks for reading, as always! :0)

 

 

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Canadian Gothic

Early this spring, I went on a trip and, while looking for a waterfall, happened upon one of the most haunting places I've ever seen.

Unfortunately, I could only get a few pictures of Roderick and his raven here.  The rest of the area was somewhat difficult to access, so it wasn't practical to take a BJD along.  However, I wanted to share what pictures of Roderick I could manage.
 

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Guest Post: The Snow Queen by Wiener-Blut

Once upon a time... Ah, that is not true, for the lady that is the hero of the story exists apart from time. 

She travels all around the globe, as fast as light, as silent as dusk, as cold as glaciers. For she is the Snow Queen, Lady of Ice and Cold, Great Duchess of Winter, The One That Sends Frost.

Alas, she was terribly lonely. Whenever and wherever she appeared, people always shut the doors and closed the windows, gathered around the fireplace and waited for her to go away.

“What shall I do? Truly, it is good they fear me, for I shall be feared; however, I need the presence of another creature to whom I may speak freely and expect an answer. Oh, how I wish there was a human who would appreciate winter like a do!” the Snow Queen sighed.

Now, my good reader, we have to leave the Snow Queen for awhile, for there is another person I wish to tell you about.

In a small village in the North of France lived a boy – or rather a young man, for he was no child, yet no grown man either – whose name was Julian. He was timid and quiet; he spent most of his days with books as his only companions. When his classmates started a snowball fight, he always backed away, saying that he had homework to do, and walked back home.

But he did not head home to do his homework, oh no! He stayed for long hours in the garden behind the house. It was a very special garden: one part of it was his late mother's vegetable garden, the second – her flowerbeds, and the third and last was an orchard. Julian liked that part the most. He always found the sight of snowy branches beautiful. Even as a child, he always played in there, pretending that he was a prince and the orchard was his palace. When he grew up, he found himself another pastime: he built castles of ice and snow, and decorated them with twigs, fallen leaves, or even holly berries.


That was what he was doing when the Snow Queen saw him. She had wandered there, tired of travelling and spreading the cold. As she was taking a walk around the village, she noticed the solitary boy. She wasted no time as she walked to him and asked:

“What are you doing?”

Julian looked up, noticing the lady. As he was a very polite lad, he answered:

“I am building a snow castle, madam.”

“Ah,”, she replied, “I see, but why are you doing so?”

“I do love snow, my lady,” Julian replied. He suddenly felt the cold breeze and shivered. He felt like he had already met her... He knew the stories of La Reine des Neiges, the mysterious lady wearing white and sending winter.

“Forgive me, my lady, may I ask you a question?”, he said after thinking for a while.

“Ask and you shall be answered,” she answered with a smile.
“Is it only my impression, or is the snow falling from under your coat...?”

The Snow Queen laughed, her laugh melodious and bright like the sound of clinking icicles.

“You are, indeed, a smart youngster. However, I do believe you meant to ask me whether I am the one who you think I am. I promised to answer you, and the answer is yes - I am the Snow Queen, and”, she smiled, “indeed, there snow is falling from under my coat. Now that I satisfied your curiosity, will you satisfy mine?”

“Of course, my lady,” murmured Julian, bowing his head.

“Very well. Do not be afraid, my dear. This is simply a friendly conversation between two polite and well-mannered beings. Now please tell me, have you ever thought of making a real castle in ice and snow? A palace so big it could befit a king with his whole court?”

Julian's eyes glowed.

“Oh, I have, my lady. It has been my dream since I was a child. Imagine the windows, thousands of windows made of purest ice, refracting sunlight; imagine the colonnade of icicles; the snow throne decorated with flowers of white frost... How marvelous, how magical would that look!”

The Snow Queen smiled.

“I must tell you, my dear, you have a vast imagination. Moreover, as I saw your snow castle, I can say you are talented. And – you have a spark,” she said, touching his cheek.

“I have an offering for you, young man. I would like you to come with me to my kingdom and build me a real ice palace. As an expression of my gratitude, I would  grant any of your wishes that lie within my power.”

“I will come with you, my queen”, Julian answered, “Even if you did not promise me to grant my wishes. My only wish is to be your official royal architect.”

The Snow Queen embraced him gently.  “So it shall be.”

~*~*~The End~*~*~

Somnifer's Note: Wiener-Blut is an internet friend and fellow doll and Poe appreciator.  She was kind enough to let me share her beautiful photostory on this humble little blog (my first guest post!), and I feel ever so privileged to be in collaboration with her.  I'll let her have the last word for this post.

Creator's Note:

"The Snow Queen" is one of my favorite fairy tales, although I have always felt more sympathy towards Kay and the Queen than towards Gerda. So here I am, writing my own version of the story (and taking photos in my garden :3 ).

The whole project would probably look a lot worse, or would not exist at all, if not for Somnifer. She inspired me, supported me, corrected all my grammar mistakes and added some magic to the photos :) Thank you, dear!

As for the dolls, Lorenzo's head is an Obitsu 1/6 doll female head 01 (white skin, silver hair), Julian's head is a Nenetl Dolls doll head N0001 (fleshtone skin, blonde hair). They both have Obitsu 1/6 doll 23 cm male bodies (it doesn't stop Lorenzo from pretending to be the Snow Queen ^^).

If you have any more questions, message me at wiener-blut.deviantart.com

Thanks for reading! I hope my story made your day a little brighter ;)

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Trying to Doll Again

Hello dear and lovely readers,

as a few people may have noticed, I've been away for most of the Spring and all of the Summer.  The reason for the unannounced hiatus is neither uplifting, nor particularly interesting, but I thought that a reasonable first step in moving forward might be to talk about it.

First of all, for the last two years, I've been struggling with the effects of a chronic illness and depression.  These conditions have been trying, but BJDs were always a light in the dark for me.  Even though I did not have the energy to do as much with them as I used to, I always had plans, hopes, and found continual inspiration in the local and online community. 

All of this came to halt in May.  I was working on an outfit for Elena, when her hand caught in the sleeve and snapped at the wrist joint.  Since she's in the process of being modded, I have materials that will probably fix the break.  But after this accident, I fell into a very bad slump.  For months, I avoided DoA, avoided my other BJDs, and paused all my BJD projects. 

Sometimes, I took Elena out of her box to look at her broken hand and half finished mods. Before I could start work again, I would always succumb to fear and sloth.  Even the thought of taking out my other dolls made me feel irrationally overwhelmed.  With a hobby like BJDs, one can Always say, with perfect justification, that there are more important things to spend one's limited amounts of energy on. 

True as this may be, I intend to start blogging and creating again.  My projects might need to be scaled down, or broken into smaller, less daunting pieces.  I might even share some Ever After High and lolita things too, if it helps shake off my creative stupor.  My general goal is to produce creatively, and my specific goal is to resume enjoying BJDs.

Please wish me luck :0)

BJD meet up pictures from Union Square, San Francisco

 Part I: Stavros

Stavros is a Limhwa Limho tan Mano and he belongs to the excellent JennyNemesis.  I owe huge amounts of thanks to her for not only hosting, but also helping me to organize this mini meet up in a city that is far from familiar to me. 

When editing my pictures of Stavros, I intentionally went for a faux-lomo look.  I associate that aesthetic with a youthful and casual spirit that seemed appropriate enough for a BJD like Stavros. 

Part II: The Boys in Black

Caulder "BlackPool" Swann (of the hood and bat broach) is a Volks F38/Ariadoll 18yrs and belongs to the wonderful Idrisfynn, whose tumblr can be found here.

Bishop (of the feathered hat) is a SWITCH Mara and he belongs to the awesome St. James, whose tumblr can be found here.

I thank both of them for coming to meet me and bringing their beautiful dolls.

To go with the moody, black outfits, I tended to soften and desaturate these pictures, though I'm afraid you will see I did not do this with much consistency. >.<

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Notes: Thank you again to JennyNemesis, Idrisfynn, St. James, and Farallon!   :0)

I am stretched on your grave and will lie there forever

If your hands were in mine
I'd be sure they could not sever

My apple tree, my brightness
It's time we were together 

For I smell of the earth
And am worn by the weather

When my family thinks
That I'm safely in my bed

From morn until night
I am stretched out at your head 

Calling out to the earth
With tears hot and wild

My grief for the girl
That I loved as a child

Do you remember the night we were lost
In the shade of the blackthorn
And the chill of frost 

And thanks be to Jesus
We did all that was right 

And your maiden head still
Is your pillar of light

The priests and the friars
They approach me in dread
Because I still love you
My love and you're dead

I still would be your shelter
Through rain and through storm 

And with you in your cold grave
I cannot sleep warm

So I am stretched on your grave
And will lie there forever 

If your hands were in mine
I'd be sure they could not sever 

My apple tree, my brightness
It's time we were together 

For I smell of the earth
And am worn by the weather

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 Notes: I first discovered "I Am Stretched On Your Grave" through the Abney Park song a number of years ago.  More recently, I have also discovered Sinéad O'Connor's older, but no less gorgeous rendition.  Upon having my socks knocked off, I learned that the lyrics are taken from a 17th century Irish poem.  Since then, I have wanted to do a BJD photostory as tribute.

What finally made me start the photostory was an enormous amount aggravation around my attempts to make another Edgar Allan Poe tribute.  As I mentioned in my last post, this Poe project is a collaboration, so there is some extra pressure.  I had started shooting and found that practically everything was garbage. 

Then, we had some rare snow in Vancouver, and to blow off some steam and do a less complicated project, I decided to try an interpretation of "I Am Stretched On Your Grave."  Since this is a poem, I wanted to keep things a little more abstract.  In "Ligeia," I tried to honour Poe's ambiguity.  Here, I wanted to push the ambiguity of what is real and imagined a little further. 

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