"You take the roof, you're good on roofs"

The other day I was taking some pictures of Dürrenmatt (like this one:)

and realized that, Dürrenmatt especially is hard to pose. I wanted a body for him that was tall and looked buff, so I put him on an Angel of Dream body, which works great for that purpose, however is far from perfect when it comes to posing.

It's not like that doesn't fit his character. He really is the kind of man who leans back against a wall and watches other people work. Still, maybe I should make more of an effort to go to greater length with his posing. As you can see in this compilation of pictures of him, I might be overdoing it a bit:

Yeah, it's all lounging and leaning. 

Or maybe I'll just cleverly hang a lampshade as Torchwood did in "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" when they finally addressed the fact that Capt. Jack Harkness always stands on the tops of Cardiff's tallest buildings - coat flapping behind him in a breeze, eyes gazing into the distance - when Ianto suggests that he will search the topmost floor while Jack takes the roof, saying "You're good on roofs".

Someone like you - The Daydreamer

Phineas is back! Huzzah! Navci matched his skin tone to Souldoll's NS so that he would look good on his Soulkid body and then she gave him a face-up. He looks spectacular, of course.

He's still missing his arms and his headback, so taking these pictures was sort of hard. He kept trying to keel over and none of the wigs would fit right. I like the idea of dreads on him a lot but I'm not happy with this wig. 

With a random green fur wig. I couldn't style it any better as it kept falling off. Still, fur looks good on most boys, no matter what.

A beautiful mohair wig that fades from pink to orange to blonde. It doesn't fit him at all and I had to hold it over his head. The wig itself is too girly but I'm really leaning towards making him a ginger, though. I always wanted a ginger doll and was pretty disappointed when none of them turned out to be one.

And just for the fun of it:

  

I love his grumpiness and how moody and hurt he looks. But trust me, he's not someone you would want to cross...

Mini Dollmeet

I've been in the hobby since December 2009 but I only went to my first dollmeet yesterday. There were only 4 of us but that meant that we had much more time to get top know and like each other. Suffice it to say, it won't be the last time we meet.

The weather was awful but we decided to venture outside with the tinies:

Setting them up in the wind was hard work.

All the tinies! I knew that everyone was going to bring their Soom dolls, so Siltár, my Keny was the one chosen to go along. Taco belongs to Aurelius; Trachy, Yrie and Aloa belong to Sakura-Streifchen and Chinatsu.

Those two bonded at the last minute. While Taco originally belonged to Chinatsu and Sakura-Streifchen, he stayed behind with Aurelius.

Even Silt managed to make friends!

The two incredible pretty girls. Birdie and pony - I couldn't get enough of these two.

Gorgeous custom blushing. Isn't she amazing?

My camera is definately not meant for inside pictures with fading daylight and limited artificial light. Hardly any of the pictures I took turned out at all. 

Aurelius' Chalco-Chrom hybrid with Chinatsu and Sakura-Streifchen's DoD Delphine, Soom Yrie and Aloa.

Shaky close-up of Chalco. He isn't going to keep the blue eyes, but still - wow!

Aurelius' new Taco playing underneath the skirt of Chinatsu and Sakrua-Streifchen's Dream of Doll Delphine.

The MSDs were hanging out together. Aurelius' Nor twins sitting between Santana and Yanír.

Feetsies!!

Tell me everything is gonna be alright

When Ava was little, her mother used to walk up and down the hallway with her baby brother trying to sing him to sleep.

People smile and tell me I'm the lucky one, and we've just begun,
Think I'm gonna have a son.
Even when he was older she sat down on the edge of Micah’s bed every night and sang to him.

He will be like he and me, as free as a dove, conceived in love,
Sun is gonna shine above.
One evening when Ava was nine, she was in the bathroom brushing her teeth, listening through the closed door. Her mother’s voice sounded shaky.

And even though we ain't got money, I'm so in love with ya honey,
And everything will bring a chain of love.
For once Micah didn’t ask for a repeat. He hadn’t spoken all day. When her mother came out of his room there were tears shining in her eyes. That night she disappeared.

And in the morning when I rise, you bring a tear of joy to my eyes,
And tell me everything is gonna be alright.

(Strictly speaking this isn't a real drabble as it contains more than 100 words, but subtract the lyrics and there you go. "Danny's Song" was written by Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina who first performed it. Later it was covered by Anne Murray and lots of other talented people.)

Silent

He let his hand run over the white sheet he had hung over the bed. When they were little, Micah and his sister used to build pillow forts, hiding from the world as he was doing now. 

Downstairs he could hear his father making himself tea. He would leave something for Micah, but wouldn’t come looking for him if he didn’t show up. Micah didn’t blame him. A man who used to not believe in the supernatural couldn’t deal with the way his son communicated. Micah saw him flinch whenever he spoke to him.
 
So he chose to remain silent.

Profile -Tint

Name: Tint
Age: came into being 10 years ago, has the mind of an adolescent
Relative: Ava (Mistress)
Hobbies: causing mischief, doing whatever the heck he wants
Powers: can appear anywhere at will (including the realm of fairies), possesses the magick of sprites
Type: Fairyland Pukipuki Pongpong
Face-up: navci
Wig: by me
Eyes: Blue glass eyes in 8mm

Tint is Ava’s Sprite and therefore she should be his Mistress. While sprites are tiny, they are powerful beings, albeit hard to control. Much to Ava’s dismay, Tint is particularly headstrong and refuses to follow her orders unless they are brought forward as a request. Even though they don’t always see eye to eye, Tint loves Ava dearly.

Profile - Ava

Name: Ava Alana Degenhertz
Age: 17
Relatives: Micah (younger brother), Tint (Sprite)
Hobbies: Glipball, collecting and pressing wild flowers
Power: She is the first one to have been admitted to the Edgecombe Academy for the Gifted on account of having a Sprite. Until recently, Sprites were not considered a gift and a person with a Sprite was not considered to be what the public calls a "Glip".
Type: Souldoll Soulkid Ahee
Face-up: navci
Wig: JPop - Kana in rosegold 6-7
Eyes: HGC - Mauve - D400 (low lens) in 14mm

Ava is a strong willed person and can be stubborn at times. Once she has made up her mind, she will rarely change it. Shunned as a child by her peers because of her Sprite (which are considered to be unlucky), she doesn't trust strangers easily. Once she becomes your friend, however, she will lay down her life for you.
She loves competing with other people but is short-tempered when she loses. She is one of the best Glipball players in school but unfortunately doesn’t get along with her house’s captain, Phineas, which tends to cause problems.
She has a deep connection with her brother and feels very protective towards him. However, since Micah isn’t old enough to enroll in Edgecombe Academy for the Gifted, they can only see each other during the holidays.
Unlike Santana, she hasn’t made a lot of progress controlling her powers, as Tint, her sprite, doesn’t like to be controlled.

Profile - Santana

Name: Santana Theresa Priest
Née: Santana Theresa Stevens
Age: 16
Relatives: Phineas (older brother)
Hobbies: Writing for the school newspaper, reading, investigating
Power: Santana can cool down her surroundings.
Type: Blue Fairy Tiny Fairy Emilie
Face-up: navci
Wig: Cancan – R53a in Dark green mix 8
Eyes: Light blue glass eyes 14mm (for now)

Santana has always been a bit overlooked in her family. Her brother’s powers make her stand in his shadow. However, she's not one to hold a grudge because of that, and loves her brother dearly nonetheless.
She's been best friends with Ava ever since they met and seems to brighten up the life of everyone she meets. A constant source of optimism, she hardly ever thinks badly of someone. 
Santana does not retain body heat as easily as other humans do. At times she needs to constantly absorb heat, which in effect cools down her surroundings. Within a few years at the Edgecombe Academy for the Gifted she has learned to focus her ability so as to cool objects at her will.

Are you waiting for me?

It's Christmas morning (well, more around mid-day really), I'm watching my brother play Skyrim and looking around on teh internets. Inevitably, I end up on doll sites, among them Pipos. I might have mentioned a couple of times how much I like both Rooney and Derek. So when I went to window shop and stare at Derek, trying to remind myself that R.Pi.s are hard to clothes-shop for, I so did not put him into the shopping cart just to see how much he would amount to with beast hands, tail part and EMS. I assure you, I did not.

Oh Derek.

Picture by Pipos

So while I was not doing all that, I found a teaser on BJD Collectasy that I had previously missed. While the new cat girl wasn't that interesting to me, something else caught my eye:

They are bringing back Rooney! So now I'm trying to ignore the fact, that some of my dolls are in need of new eyes and I've been meaning to not purchase any new ones until I've gotten them all school uniforms. Pipos Layaway program, here I come. ;D

Questionnaire Continued: Living

Living:

Curtain open/closed?

Phineas: I don't think I've ever consciously thought about that. I think the curtain in our room is always open.

Santana: Hm, when it's dark out, I like them closed. During the day I like them open.

Yanír: Open! Being inside so often makes me feel claustrophobic, so when I'm in my room, I like having as much light as possible.

Ava: I like the voile closed and the curtain open.

Sleep in the dark? With lights?

Phineas: To be honest, I like a little light.

Santana: I like to read at night and often fall asleep with the light on. I can't remember when I last fell asleep without the light on.

Yanír: I don't have a preference either way. One of my brothers has night terrors, so I don't mind sleeping with the light on.

Ava: I rather sleep without light, but Santana reads until late at night and leaves it on.

Do you shower often?

Phineas: I don't know. Is once a day "often"?

Santana: Err... yes?

Yanír: I prefer baths.

Ava: I exercise a lot, so sometimes I shower twice a day. I suppose that's a bit more often than I should.

When do you shower? Morning? Night? Anytime?

Phineas: I prefer taking a shower in the morning. I have trouble waking up and cold shower certainly helps.

Santana: Whenever I find the time. The bathrooms can be pretty full in the mornings, so sometimes I take a shower at night instead.

Yanír: I like taking a bath at night. It helps me relax and go to sleep.

Ava: I like taking a shower in the morning, but if you don't get up early enough, you have to wait in line to get free a shower stall.

Do you sing in the shower?

Phineas: Hehe, no.

Santana: Once, one of the girls started singing in the shower and then another one joined in and pretty soon we were all singing a round.

Yanír: My singing voice is awful, so no.

Ava: Oh yes. When I'm alone that is.

Are you a homebody? Or more of an outdoor person?

Phineas: I enjoy being outside, though I don't mind playing Glipball inside when the weather is lousy.

Santana: I like being outside when the weather is nice. Nothing beats sitting on a bench with a good book. But during fall or winter I prefer being indoors.

Yanír: I'm an outdoor person. It amazes me how much time humans spend inside buildings. I wish more classes would take place outside.

Ava: Definitely outdoor. I love being outside, it doesn't matter what the weather is like.

Your favourite spot at home:

Phineas: At home the kitchen. In school? The Glipball court.

Santana: The library in school, or if it's nice outside, one of the benches. When I'm home I like sitting in the kitchen. It's the warmest room in the house because of the open fireplace.

Yanír: Here in school I like the grounds.

Ava: I like being in our garden. When I'm in school I also prefer being outside.

If an emergency happens, what is the first thing you grab to leave?

Phineas: I don't think I have anything that is so valuable that I'd run back in a burning building for it.

Santana: My camera. It took me so long to save up for it and it's the most valuable thing I have. I'd also grab my guitar.

Yanír: Hm, I think I'd see if everyone was safe first. I always wear my necklace which is my most priced possession, so I don't really have to grab anything in case of an emergency.

Ava: I have a framed picture of my Mum with my brother when he was little. I'd hate to lose it.

Do you have a library? Music collection?

Phineas: I have a lot of sheet music that I brought with me to school. We have a piano in the common room on which I like to play.

Santana: I have quite a lot of books but I don't think you can call them a library.

Yanír: My people have little need for written accounts, so I never saw a proper library until I came to school.

Ava: I have neither, though Santana has made a little library out of our room.

Do you have a collection of anything?

Phineas: I have a collection of sheet music.

Santana: I suppose I have a lot of books, but it's not like I collect them.

Yanír: Hm, I don't quite understand the human need to collect things.

Ava: When I find pretty wild flowers I pick them and press them to put them into my album. I guess, you can call that a collection.

Do you snore while you’re sleeping?

Phineas: I hope not. Though I don't know for sure.

Santana: Ava says no. I've asked her.

Yanír: My brother claims that I do snore. Although I think he's saying it to wind me up.

Ava: According to Santana I don't.

Other relevant random facts?

Phineas: I wish we were allowed to bring pets to school. I miss our cat.

Santana: I always love winter in school. Everything is so nicely decorated for Yule.

Yanír: Being away from home is an interesting experience, but I never thought, I would miss my family as much as I do.

Ava: I'm quite glad that Santana is my roommate. I can't imagine living with anyone else.

New clothes and a wig trade

Tint got new clothes from Spampy. Finally he looks like a real sprite!

I'm eternally unsatisfied with the wig situation for most of my dolls. For some reason the perfect wigs remain forever elusive. Playing around with Ava's old Sailor Moon-like wig, I thought it might look good on Rosalie. It certainly makes the two of them look more alike. 

I'm actually pretty happy with the wig on Rose. Now to find a wig for Ginny...

Questionnaire of Living

Navci asked me, if I felt like filling out a questionnaire for my dolls. Of course! But because it's a very long one, I think I'll do it in parts as it takes a while to find the right thing for each character. This was a nice challenge and I have to admit I hadn't given much thought to most things in the questionnaire before. Very useful exercise in getting to know one's characters. 

So here is the first part: Food. The participants are Phineas, Santana, Yanír and Ava.

 
Picky/Adventurous?
Phineas: I guess, I'll try anything as long as isn't overcooked or slimy. My stepfather loves gruel and porage, the consistenc alone makes me sick to my stomach.
Santana: Ooh, I love trying new dishes! The more exotic, the better.
Yanír: Being away from home for the first time, I find that people here eat lots of things my family wouldn't consider proper sustentation. I had to get used to eating certain things that I didn't know before. Does that make me adventurous? Probably not, I'm just adaptable.
Ava: I'm definitely picky. That doesn't mean that I won't ever try anything new, but I'm probably more cautious with new food than other people.

Your favourite herb/spice?
Phineas: I'll say Oregano.
Santana: Peppermint.
Yanír: I find it hard to chose. There are so many useful herbs and spices out there. Jacob's Ladder can cure headaches, Marjoram is antiseptic, Pellitory-of-the-wall is good when treating wounds, Roseroot prevents fatigue, Sanicle can help with a sore throat or when you have a rash...
Ava: Cinnamon and Nutmeg.

How do you like your eggs done?
Phineas: Fried, with sausages. No bacon, just sausages.
Santana: Soft-boiled. And I won't eat egg salad. That's just icky.
Yanír: I don't quite know, yet. Apparently there are so many different ways to eat eggs.
Ava: I like scrambled eggs, or hard-boiled. But only if they are still hot. Cold hard-boiled eggs taste like old socks.

Your typical breakfast?
Phineas: Fried eggs with sausages and then baked beans and toast. Perfect way to start the day.
Santana: Toast with marmalade. I love my Mum's oatcakes, but unfortunately there's nothing quite like them here in school.
Yanír: I've grown quite fond of pancakes with chocolate chips. Hmmm.
Ava: Bread with cheese or jam, so Käsebrot or Marmeladenbrot.

Tea/Coffee? How do you like them?
Phineas: Darjeeling. Black tea, not green or white. I like it with milk but no sugar.
Santana: I prefer peppermint tea with two sugars. I don't like black tea or coffee, neither of them taste good.
Yanír: Nothing can beat an infusion of woodruff. That's my favourite hot beverage.
Ava: Coffee with lots of milk.

Your favourite dessert?
Phineas: I don't have much of a sweet tooth. Does cheese count as a dessert?
Santana: Cookies! Or chocolate. Or ice cream. Anything sweet really.
Yanír: I like to smoke pipe-weed after dinner, but in school this is frowned upon. A teacher confiscated my pipe on my second day and I landed in detention for a week. So, no, I don't have a favourite dessert.
Ava: Peppernuts. Are they a dessert?

Do you eat your favourite thing in the dish first? Or last? Alternate?
Phineas: Last.
Santana: Definitely alternate!
Yanír: First.
Ava: Last.

Your comfort food?
Phineas: Hmm, my Mum makes roast venison. Best dish in the world. When I'm in school, I'd say spaghetti.
Santana: My Mum's roast venison. I can't wait for our Christmas dinner.
Yanír: Food that comforts me? I don't know, isn't that what a hot beverage is supposed to do? Then I'll say an infusion of woodruff.
Ava: Probably pizza with lots of cheese. That or warm cookies that come fresh out of the oven.

Your favourite drink (alcoholic)?
Phineas: I don't care for alcohol at all.
Santana: All I've ever tried is red wine and I didn't much care for it.
Yanír: My mother's sister makes a very good brandywine.
Ava: Maibowle, May wine. My father makes it every year for May Day.

Herbivore or Carnivore?
Phineas: Omnivore. I love meat but it tastes better with vegetables.
Santana: I don't know. I guess, I could live without meat but I couldn't without fruit or vegetables. Does that make me a Herbivore?
Yanír: Herbivore. I don't understand how humans can eat meat. I know, I'm supposed to observe and not judge, but it makes me sad how humans treat animals and the world around them.
Ava: I haven't given it much thought. I guess, when it comes down to it, I really like both, meat and vegetables.

Favourite meat?
-> How do you like it?
Phineas: Venison. Roasted. With potatoes and beans.
Santana: Hm, venison? At least the way my Mum makes it.
Yanír: No meat!
Ava: I don't know, steak, probably. I like mine medium.

Favourite non-meat? (fruit/veggie)?
Phineas: Beans - doesn't matter if they are green, red or white. Beans are great.
Santana: Cucumbers; I like them in salads. I also love Tomatoes! In salads, as tomato sauce, as tomato soup, in stews... Anywhere really.
Yanír: Erm, depends if you are asking about roots, bulbs, stem shoots, seeds, leaves, sprouts, buds... And those are only the vegetables. If you ask for fruit, you need to tell me, if you mean berries, stone fruit...
Ava: My favourite fruit? Banana. For vegetables I like pretty much anything you can find on a pizza.

One thing you can never give up?
Phineas: Food-wise? Hmm, maybe spaghetti.
Santana: Any sweets really. I just love cookies and chocolate.
Yanír: Well, I'd like to say pipe-weed, but I've had to give that up. Other than that, I don't know.
Ava: Pizza, I think.

Favourite snack?
Phineas: Crisps.
Santana: Cookies.
Yanír: Sycamore drops.
Ava: Do chips count as a snack or as a meal? In winter I'd have to say cookies, though. Hmm, Peppernuts!

Do you use tabacco?
Phineas: No.
Santana: No.
Yanír: I smoke pipe-weed.
Ava: Never. My father smokes, I really dislike the smell.

Other relevant random facts?
Phineas: An apple a day keeps the doctor away?
Santana: Rainbow sprinkles FTW!
Yanír: Don't eat anything that has a soul.
Ava: Hurray for Peppernuts.

Worry

Having a room mate with a sprite could be a frightening, funny and surprising thing, Santana mused, watching Ava and Tint make up after their fight. While the superstition surrounding sprites was mostly unfounded, she certainly did not envy Ava. There were lots of pupils at Edgecome Academy for the Gifted who were burdened by their powers rather than being happy about them. However, sometimes she felt that Ava had gotten the short end of the stick, because she was not only shunned by the people without powers (which was relatively normal experience for any Glip) but faced prejudice even here at school.

Her own powers had been hard to control at first. So hard, indeed that she had almost died twice as a child. Like most Glibs the first signs of her gift had appeared when she was six years old. She had always gotten cold rather easily but one day during a rather warm summer day, the chills started. She couldn’t stop shivering and had gone to see her father who was talking on the phone. She tugged at his sleeve, her teeth chattering violently by then.

Her father didn’t even turn around when he covered the receiver to quickly admonished her. She knew that it was no use to try to talk to him. When he was busy managing her brother’s future all other things needed to wait. She should have gone to looking for her mother then, but the frost that had taken over her body had become so overwhelming that all she could do was huddle up in a corner of her father’s office, hoping that he would be done with his phone call soon.

The last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was the dazzling reflection on the ceiling that came from the pond in front of her father’s study. The buzzing sound of a dragonfly beating its wings against the window panes followed her into the darkness.

The second time had been just as scary. Noticing the chill that had taken hold of her had nothing to do with the frosty winter day outside, she had panicked. The fear of the frost made her look for a source of warmth with little regard for her safety. She ran into the kitchen and pulled up a stool to  reach the gas stove. It took her a few tries to strike a match with her shaking hands. Then she opened up the gas of all four burners and lit them quickly.

Even though she was standing quite close to the fire, the cold wouldn’t leave her. Holding her hands all but into the flame she suddenly felt a strange current running through her body, from her fingertips all the way down to her toes. It was almost as if her skin had become absorbent like a sponge. She felt the warmth of the fire being sucked from the flame and into her body and abruptly the frost in her veins was replaced with the blaze of a firestorm. She started to yell in agony.

Her mother came in only seconds later, realizing her daughter had tried to ward off the cold with fire, she snatched her away from the stove only to pull back her hand quickly from Santana’s scalding skin. Hesitating for only a second, she dragged her over to the door, picked her up and laid her on top of the hard-packed snow in the backyard.

Santana shook her head quickly to get rid of the memory of her mother’s panic-stricken look. A squealing sound make her look up. Ava was tickling Tint who was sitting on top of her head.

“I give up, I give up!” the little sprite chortled.

“Alright”, Ava conceded and let him go. She looked much happier now that she had made up with Tint. Sneakily Santana lifted her camera to her eye and pressed the release.

“Hey!” the two of them said in unison. “This was a private moment”, Ava complained.

“Yes, personal and private” Tint backed her up. With a slight “Pop” he suddenly disappeared from Ava’s head and appeared again on Santana’s knee. He drew himself up to his full height and put his hand on his hips looking up at her.

“Very personal and private!” Ava said copying Tint’s pose next to her.

“Damn paparazzi! What about my privacy?” Santana smiled at their mock-indignant faces.

“Oh, stop complaining. This is just going into the family album.” She carefully put the camera back into her school bag.

“Speaking of family, how his Micah?” she asked. Imperceptibly the mood had changed. Ava and Tint shared a quick look.

“I’m going to see, if he’s online tonight.” Ava said quietly.

- - -

After dinner in the dining hall, Ava went upstairs but didn’t stay long in the common room with the others. The dormitory was empty as most people were occupied with homework or lounging in the big armchairs in front of the fire. She got out her laptop and settled on her bed. 
An hour later she was still waiting for her brother to come online. As she couldn’t call Micah, the only way to keep in contact with him were regular conversations via instant messenger.

“Well, not the only way”, she thought. “Tint?” she called out loud. “Will you please come out?” The familiar “pop” made her breathe a sigh of relief. She felt Tint’s reassuring weight on her shoulder and turned around to face him.

“Will you please go home and check on Micah?” she asked him. She didn’t have to ask twice. The sprite gave a short nod and disappeared again. Ava curled up and waited for his return. Only after a minute did she notice that he hadn’t even argued or complained about going. It only made her worry more.

Resin Tales Story Archive

Here you can find the segments of the Resin Tales storyline in chronological order. Oldest (the one you want to start with, if you want a spoiler free reading) is at the bottom, newest at the top. I will be adding all chapters to come, so you can keep track. 

Present
Worry
Calling Tint

Past 
Silent - Micah Drabble 
Tell me everything is gonna be alright - Ava Drabble
How sprites come into being

(Drabbles are very short pieces of fiction of exactly 100 words in length. I plan to do flashback drabbles for most of my characters.) 

Calling Tint

The bell rang. Seething Ava packed up her books and shoved them in her bag. Collecting herself, she faced Professor Renard and managed to say “Thank you, Professor” as school courtesy demanded at the end of the lesson. It didn’t matter that he had repeatedly told her she was wasting his valuable time when she had been unable to complete the task he had set her. Nor, that he had refrained from giving her any useful advice when she had been frustrated enough to ask for it. He had seemed gleeful when after half an hour she had had to admit that she couldn’t call her sprite at will and had instead made her write lines for the remainder of the lesson.

“He must be very disappointed that teachers can’t fail pupils for their Special Studies”, Ava thought while forcing a smile. She made her way out of the classroom as fast as she could. Most pupils enjoyed the special lessons twice every week during which an appointed teacher would help them work on their gift. Santana, her best friend, had made a lot of progress during the last semester and always counted the hours to her next Special Studies class. “Then again, she doesn’t have Professor Renard”, Ava mused walking out of the classroom.
Slowly she made her way through the packed hallways upstairs to the dormitory. She chucked her shoes under the bed and took off her school uniform to redressed in a skirt and a sweater. A few minutes later reached the heavy oak doors that led to the courtyard. Santana was already sitting by their accustomed spot on a bench trying to soak up the feeble rays of sunshine.
“How was your lesson?” Santana asked opening an eye and squinting up at her friend. When Ava gave her an annoyed look she answered with a sympathetic smile. “That bad, eh? What did he make you do this time?”

 

“Calling him out of thin air using a ‘determined and forceful tone of voice’” Ava quoted.  “Didn’t work. Tint is not a fan of forceful commands.” Ava plopped herself down next to Santana and turned around facing the air behind her.

“You there? Tint?” Nothing happened. “Tint? Please? The lesson is over. Will you please come out now?” With a slight ‘Pop’ the sprite appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

“You called?” he asked with a bright smile balancing on the wrought-iron arm rest of the bench.

“Yeah, first time about an hour ago.” Her had voice had lost all trace of its anger and she simply sounded defeated.

“Oh, I heard you”, the sprite answered twirling around like an ice-skater for a moment, cheerfully ignoring the two girls. “I just didn’t like your tone”, he concluded finally turning around, facing his mistress.

 

“I figured”, Ava replied and burrowed her face in her hands. “Do you have any idea how humiliating that is – standing in a class room, calling you for half an hour? Hoping against hope that you might show up…”, her voice filtered muffled through her hands.

“Do you have any idea, how humiliating it is to be summoned like a dog?!” The tiny sprite yelled back at her hands on his hips. He marched up and down the arm rest tearing his bright orange hair. “I guess not! Let me spell it out for you: I am not your pet! I don’t follow commands!”

Seeing that Ava was about to reply in a similar fashion, Santana scooped Tint up in her hand and set him down on her left shoulder out of his mistress’s reach. She’d lived with the two hotheads long enough to know when a situation needed defusing.   

 

“Ooookay, everybody take a deep breath”, she instructed, keeping a firm hand on the struggling sprite and holding the other hand out like a stop sign to an openmouthed Ava who she was sure was a second away from snatching Tint away from her.  “I’m not afraid to give timeouts to either of you” she threatened. Ava reluctantly collected herself and Santana felt the sprite slowly relax in her grasp. When she let him go, he willingly settled on her shoulder sneaking peeks at his mistress from underneath her long her.

For a moment nobody said anything until Ava issued a deep sigh. In a small voice she murmured “Sorry, Tint.” Santana shrugged her shoulder once, twice to no reaction. Finally she used her finger to nudge the little sprite. He pushed her finger away and climbed up her hair from where he jumped over to Ava’s head. In a practiced move, he lay flat on his tummy, leaned down over her forehead and looked down into her eyes. “I’m sorry, too”, he whispered.

Bonus picture:

Procrastinating

While I should be doing other things (important things among them) - procrastination is just so much more fun! So when I saw other people on DoA having pixel dolls in their signature, I decided to give it a go and make pixel versions of my resin minions:

Yanír - Santana - Phineas - Tint - Ava - Dürrenmatt - Olivia

Some are heavily changed, others turned out fine the way they were compliment of the dollmaker. Phineas's hair was impossible to get right sadly. Olivia on the far right doesn't exist in dollie form, yet. I plan to make her an Unoa Lusis madoromi mod. 

Clementine - Rosalie - Kiwi - Micah - Gineva - Siltár

Kiwi hasn't been created, yet either. She'll most likely be a Fairyland Pukipuki Niko. Clementine has made an appearance here but doesn't have her wig, eyes or face-up, yet. 

Eventually, I plan to have school uniforms for everyone attending school. Yanír is pictured without his uniform, because I wanted to show off his legs. :D

Is it getting confusing who is related to whom? Maybe I should start a chart for that...

Doll birthdays

Posting this mostly to remember, because I never took the trouble to write it down and actually had to research most dates. ._.

Clementine - March 12, 2011
Santana - December 9, 2010
Yanír and Siltár - November 3, 2010
Gineva - September 2, 2010
Rosalie - August 27, 2010
Phineas - May 24, 2010
Dürrenmatt - May 5, 2010
Tint - February 13, 2010
Micah - January (15?), 2010
Ava - December (13?), 2009

The list isn't really accurate. Dürrentmatt existed as a FP for a long while before I decided to give Phineas's old body to him (date is the arrival of his FP). Phineas on the other hand was a floating head for a while before I decided to re-shell him into his current form (date is the arrival of his body, I got his head in March 2010, I believe). I got him a new body and then had to wait for a long while before I was sure I'd get his head from Bimong. For a short while he was non-existent and for a long while after that he was only a headless zombie.

Wow, 2010 was really my year of dollies! What I didn't figure in was the cost of their "upkeep". Now I spend almost as much money on their wigs, eyes, face-ups  and clothes as I spent on the dolls themselves. This is especially true for the 50%-Sale-Dolls from Custom House. ^^

You are the one I've been waiting for today

I tried taking a few couple-y pictures of Ava and Dürrenmatt last weekend. 

One of these days...

... I'll have a day off on the weekend and lots of spare time and wonderful weather. Then I'll actually get to take pictures of all my dolls (the ever growing resin minion army) and not just rushed snapshots between bouts of rain. It will happen eventually. Until then: here are some of those rushed snapshots that I've taken these last few weeks.

 Ava on the rooftop

 Rose with her new dino hat

Dürrenmatt with new jeans

Santana just looking plain adorable

Tint's celebration of orange

Yanír deserves love too

Yanír's beautiful face-up from up close