Monday, August 13, 2012

Alex II. FAILdoll. Epic-long post.

A few of you, if you followed my now dead Live Journal, may know that of my dolls, Alex II is the bane of my existence. He and I have had serious issues, pretty much from start to finish.

It started way back after I'd gotten Alex I (Dollmore Kara Klum and my first BJD)...He had just gone off for his first custom faceup and was gone for a few months. I had no idea how totally attached I'd gotten to him in so short amount of time, and was ready to chew off my own arms in separation anxiety (he remains the only doll I get this way over). Right after I'd bought him, Dollmore had released the Thinking version, which is the same as the normal, but with even sleepier eyes (I think the normal one looks half asleep! Lol). Dollmore didn't sell heads separately at the time, but I really wanted the Thinking head as an "extra" head for Alex...and if I'm honest, I just wanted Alex whole again, and I figured if the head got here fast, I'd at least have one to tide me over til the Real Alex got home.

I begged Dollmore in a note to sell me the head, and after grilling me on what I planned to do with it, they did! Then of course two months later they started selling them on the website legitimately XD
But hey, I was first!! I got him a custom faceup (free!! And people wonder why DM is my favorite company) and a million years later, he showed up. After Alex I had been home and happily on his body for a month lol. I tried.

I didn't care much for the faceup he came with, and partially removed it intending to redo it myself....but I'd never done a faceup at that point and didn't want to mutilate my "baby" (the fictional concept of Alex, not necessarily the doll) so it never got done and he stayed a partially blank head and then a totally blank head in a drawer for months. When I got requests for a Kara Klum head on a different body, I used him instead of Alex I, and took many humiliating photos. And a few head comparisons, and at least one photo of him in a chair with Alex I.
I attempted to sell him twice, changed my mind both times, and he continued to be called "The Head" and live in a drawer.

Then I finally sat down and did his faceup. By then I'd done a few more and I wasn't as afraid (but I wouldn't attempt to do Alex I for another two years)...it turned out...ok. Great for what I could do then, but now I look back and cringe XD

Since at the time it was my best work, I was all excited to slap him on Alex I's body (Alex II was, at the time, the LE WS one that I'd recently gotten from Dollmore after they finally made me a WS Kara Klum. TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH!! I wasn't planning on any more Kara Klums so I figured it would just be Alex I, Alex II and the head forever...lol). When I brought Alex I out for the head switch, I....couldn't do it.  He is stupidly sacred to me, I couldn't change his head even to his own (other) head! So I whined until my roommate suggested I just buy another body.

Yep, this is how it starts. Or continues, since I already had two at home at that time anyway.

While I was waiting on this new body (which would be an entire year newer than it's head, and in Dollmore's new resin formula) his faceup chipped off. =_=
I redid it, but imo it wasn't the same...Whatever, I got it done, and it was ready for the body.

smalex-fall1
Alex II back in the day. Gawd that's bad.

So I had Alex I and II, but in my head, the two NS Alexes were "first" in the timeline of Alexlife, and I technically had that head first anyway, so in a confusing-to-my-irl-friends move I changed Alex II to III and made The Head Alex II. This is when I started numbering their hands....people were complaining. I don't know why...I can tell them apart just fine! XD

In doing Alex II's faceup I'd stayed true to what I considered Alex to look like, so he was similar in look to Alex I. After a decent amount of time, I realized I didn't like him. I wasn't bonding, to use a familiar bjd term. There was something off about him. I figured that I'd done it all wrong, the whole point in having three of the same doll was to make them all different, even if they're the same....so I tried something totally different and gave him a new face, very unlike my usual faceup style and much closer to what I do now.

And he looked like this
smALEXII3
 I was...very happy with him at that point. I loved this look, it was SO Alex, sickly and exhausted (which he is much of the time), and the best faceup I'd ever done. I'd given him the first natural mani-pedi I'd ever done and adored his hands and feet. I was also finding out that this current Adam body was different than the other two I had. It felt skinnier, and moved better and he usually looked better in photos than the other two. He looked better in their clothes than they did! without me ever saying so out loud, I kinda considered him my favorite. About this same time I was not liking Alex I anymore (turned out to be his faceup, once I finally got over myself and did it for the first time, he became my favorite again) so Alex II got all the play for a while.

Then disaster. I started doing his numerous tattoos and scarring. Most of the tatts were not an issue but that damn rose....it almost killed me. I had to redo it constantly, the MSC would run or flake or crystallize....it was awful.
smALEXII1
Yeah, he knows he's a bitch. *kicks him*

Then I did the most horrible thing I've ever done to any of my dolls...I was working on him, finished for the night and put him back together, and stood him up behind me, leaning on my desk. I was in a swivel chair, and for some reason I had a huge, heavy pair of metal scissors in my hand...I whirled in the chair and smacked him right in the face with the scissors *death*

If you could have heard the noise that made....I thought for sure I broke him. I looked him over and found a little chip in his faceup on his nose...and since I hadn't been happy with his lips anyway, removed the lower part and redid it...which took another couple days, sweat, tears, probably some blood since I tend to injure myself on dolls and finally he was perfect.

For several months, until his faceup started flaking off AGAIN. I swear this doll....some days I want to strangle him. Or toss him out. Or something.

While trying to repair the damage I realized the problem was...more damage. Smacking him the face with scissors had hurt him, his nose was dented! How I'd never noticed, I have no idea...so I removed the whole faceup (practically in tears, it was still my favorite one I'd done) and gave his nose a boiling. I'm fairly sure the dent is totally gone, but sometimes wonder.

I redid his faceup again, but never liked it as much...something was off about the color or the eyebrows or something...

I did get around to his back scars, something I was hugely proud of...and then I ruined him again!

smALEXIIscars1

Yep. EPIC FAIL. This time it was clothes. Alex II is/was the only Alex I'd gotten this far with. III being so white is a little bit of a challenge for me color-wise, and I didn't want to do raised scars with him, plus his wing tattoo is so scary D: I've just never finished him, but II was done. DONE. And I dressed him as Snape for a Harry Potter meet. And left him dressed as Snape for a month.

He turned completely black.

In tears once again over this stupid doll I tried my best to clean him without ruining him, but he'd never be the same. He's so gross now >.<

*giant sigh*

I was ready to experiment once again, so I bought a second Thinking Kara Klum head off the MP. I was calling this head 2.5 and intended it to be II's extra head (because that worked so well the first time) because I wanted to do a different faceup on them (the Alexes as a whole) and give one various piercings that I was too afraid to do on the others because I liked their faceups....

2.5 got a look, and took over II's body. I took a total of one photo of him. lips

I liked him well enough (love those lips!!), but he wasn't Alex II, so he went back in his box.

Then I got my "ingenious" idea...Alex 2.5 would get his own body, which I would then mod the hell out of just because I could. If I liked, Alex II would get it, and 2.5 would get II's old body, and mods to open his mouth. Because I want a open-mouthed Kara Klum so bad!!! And since Dollmore seems to be done with them (I've asked for fangs, but so far, nothing) I figure I'll give it a try myself.

 AND then Doll Chateau came out. DUN DUN DUN. EPIC RE-PLAN!!!

Ugh. This post is long. I think I'll continue this tomorrow.....Prepare for more angst!! And mods. And a new faceup D:

6 comments:

  1. LOL! He is so mean to you! And, let me guess? The new body isn't going to work out because he just won't go easy on you for one second and let you not have to work even harder for something? I don't think I've come across another doll as fickle as him. Alia is now in second place and I'm attempting to do my, like, 15th faceup on her. LOL!

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    1. omg he is mean!! WORST DOLL EVER!

      I'm unsure about the new body...it's way taller than DC said it would be, and that would normally be a deal-breaker for me...but I'm trying to work with it. I didn't get a good shot of his new faceup so I'm holding off a new post til hopefully tomorrow and I can go into my usual whiney over-detailed rant.

      Good luck on your face up! I hope it works out, I'd love to see pictures when you're done :D

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  2. hahahahahahaha I can't wait to see what is next. But I love love love this post. I say this with complete love of you but it is so neurotic and train of though stream of consciousness and so how I think that I am relieved and adore that you can be as neurotic as me. (In a side note spell check tried to change those neurotics to erotic that is a whole different post) So you literally number the alex's not like point and say that is Alex I that is Alex II but you numbered them? I wanna see a pic of that!!!

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    1. LOL Spell check, WHY?? XD

      It's always fun to know you aren't alone in the world of neurotic-age :D Probably why we get along so well!! WE'RE AWESOME LIKE THAT!

      And yes, I do number them XD I, II, III, and IV have their numbers on the fingers of their left hands...which sucks since three of the four have two sets of hands. I started doing it when my IRL friends were complaining that they were confusing...I think they thought I had more or less or was changing them on a whim or something XD
      I could only find a picture of Alex I and his I, but I'll post it in the next post!

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  3. Ooh, it's really neat to hear the story behind these things! I love reading stuff like that!

    Sorry to hear that Alex II has given you trouble though! (I was getting a wee bit confused at certain points when you were talking about stuff like "and then I was going to make Alex I into Alex II or switch bodies or... something. I felt like I was reading about someone playing that game where you hide an object under a cup and then mix the three cups around and have someone guess where the object is)

    Looking forward to seeing what comes next in the saga! :D

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    1. I know it gets confusing :\ lol I guess I asked for it when I named 10 dolls the same thing XD

      But I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!

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