State of the Neko address: week 78, part 2

song+ Musical Ride- Hanson- Shout It Out (this is fantastic and everyone should listen to it!)
book+ nothing presently
quest+ making the moving thing realistic
upper+ art lesson today with Bonnie & the kids
downer+ i need money, for lots of things
attire+ pajamas (i'll be getting dressed in a while though)
drink+ milk! i love milk..

i find myself thinking about dolls lately (surprise surprise). i'm a fan of well-done mods to make something unique, and i love inhuman fantasy sculpts like the monthly dolls Soom puts out.. in theory. i've come to realize that i find myself caring more about the face and size, and less about the fantasy parts since it comes down to alternate legs, maybe-wings, and a head with squinted eyes, elf ears, and maybe a horn or two. they're well-done, and generally quite lovely, but i find myself wishing that the designs would push it a little further. i get that they don't so Soom can still sell a standard wardrobe for them, but really i feel that now it's hardly worth looking. don't get me wrong, i LOVE my Adamelli girls, and i'm super-happy i managed to order them, but really they're standard Soom: hooves and a sleepy head with elf ears and horn, and wings. i've realized that even with inhuman features, most of the time it's the outfit selling the concept for me, and since the outfits are frequently OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive, it doesn't really seem worth it very much. the only doll that's really struck me with unique "woah"-ness (besides Vesuvia and her multi-jointed scorpion tail) has been Cass the fish queen. i was REALLY close to ordering her for myself when she was released, but i realized that what i loved were her finny arms, the seashell-ears, and her costume. her face was kinda blah and i really didn't like the execution of the finny feet and scaley legs. i'd have reversed it to match the arms; scaley feet and fins from the calves.

so to realize my affection for modding, and my desire both to do something more complicated and to have a truly unique doll, i've decided that i wanna mod myself a one-off fantasy doll: Amphitrite- Queen of the Ocean. when i started really thinking about this i figured it was a chance to get a facial sculpt i've always really liked and finally have a reason to order her, so i went straight to Fairyland and pulled up MiniFee Lishe. MSD is my preferred scale to work in, and with sufficiently regal costuming and modding a goddess wouldn't really have to be huge. i then realized that she's really not quite right for the image i have, so i pulled up the other sizes available and looked at every basic female available before settling instead on FeePle 65 Chloe (somehow MNF Chloe just isn't as regal). i'm still working on drawing up the changes i wanna make to her, but basically it'll be my slightly more thematically aggressive version of how i'd do Cass. fins from the calves and forearms less ethereal/floaty and more severe/finny, slight scaling on hands and feet to blend with the fins attaching, gills at the ribs- not the neck like you'd think, (really for a BIG fish, like a person-sized one, gills at the neck wouldn't allow enough air) ears modded to resemble the fin attachments, (because as COOL as the seashell ears are, i'm not gonna try and rip em off). then after all the modding, i wanna dye her entire body a sea foam color, and blush her fins a violet tone and her scales teal to blend. i'll want violet hair for her (i'll probably look into dying a lighter wig honestly), a long style though i'm undecided on straight or wavy as yet. i'll finally be using the Cuprit ice crown on her, along with that outfit (that doesn't in any way fit my Iple girls, but WILL fit her) until i can sew something more ocean-goddess. silver fetish wear and a sparkly cape is fine temporarily, but i'll want something that looks more regal and watery long-term. xD for jewelry and ornamentation, i wanna follow through on the concept i had for the Cass i never ordered: she's been underwater for so long playing with sunken treasure that it's bonded to her in places. i'd add swarovski crystals in places to look like they'd fused to her flesh, and i have an idea for an elaborate lacy filigree-and-gemstone necklace fusing to her chest. like it'd be antique-looking, except for one or two places where her skin would absorb it a little. i'm planning on doing similar filigree-type ornamental modding at the base of the ice crown to play up the shape of it. also to make it look more jewel-ish and less icy, it'd just be gold swirls and shaping, with a few extra jewels dotted here and there for impact.

my other idea that's been germinating is doing a dragon knight. like not a knight going out to slay one, but a knight that's Draconian in lineage, and since settling on my Amphitrite, i've realized that would be even more fun if i made him her son, and an aquatic dragon. for him i have yet to decide on a facial sculpt, but my idea for him is finny-ears like i want for my queen, then scaly additions to arms/legs/hands/feet and claws on the hands. i'd want slight scaling on the forehead too, around stubby just-coming-in-horns.. kinda like dragon puberty. xD the sculpts i like most for him at this point are MiniFee vampire elf Woosoo, or JID Colin from Iplehouse. i love the little fangs on Woosoo, but i'd be tweaking the eye shape quite a bit. with Colin i love the face and the body, but the ankle joint would limit my modding capability. i love all my Iple dolls, but that ankle joint is kinda a HUGE problem for a high-fantasy modification. it only works locked in that one specific orientation, and a classic capable-of-rotating foot would give me breathing room on the scaling and clawing. whatever sculpt i end up choosing though, i'm thinking i'll dye him a steely blue-grey before blushing to accentuate.

i'm still a LONG long way from being able to afford to do any of this, but even just thinking about it and planning it out is really fun. i know i planned Xavin in detail for two years before i ordered her, so i'm really okay with long-term doll planning. xD i don't wanna risk second-guessing a choice i've made, so even after i have money again (whenever that ends up being), i'm still likely to take this project slow and steady.