In which Fawn is today's guest blogger....

Hi.

It's me, Fawn. Caroline thought I should be the one to tell my story so - here I am.

I think Caroline already told you that I moved here from the Wylde Kingdom. (If you want to know how I arrived in the Wylde Kingdom, Miranda told the story here.)

Shel keeps wondering if I was afraid, but I wasn't. For one thing, Wendy and I talked it over and we both decided that I needed a new home. And like I told Shel, I knew she wouldn't just send me anywhere or worse, consign me somewhere. I knew she'd make sure she found the right place for me.

You see, I'm not like most BJDs.

I'm sure you've noticed my crutches by now. I can't stand up, much less walk, without them. My knee joints have no stability at all. Even tightening my stringing and sueding them didn't help.

There's nothing to keep them from turning side-to-side in a way that no knee joint was even intended to turn....

It looks painful, but it's not - at least, not until I faceplant or land on my rear end or something.

So my options are either stay on a doll stand or use crutches. I'm not about to stay frozen on a doll stand. I spent too long stuck on a stand or in a box with my first person. To quote this old song John-John likes, I may not go very fast, but I get pretty far.

But I realize that not every doll person is going to accept that. It's just the way things are. My first person didn't accept it, which is part of how I wound up at DDE. It was all for the better, though.










As for my new life in New York....

I was looking forward to seeing Amiee and Alexis again. Turns out there are a small group of Woodlees living here, too. These two were two of the first to make the journey from Colorado.

There's even a resident bunny, although Edward doesn't like to travel as much as Gage did. I think he'd like it better if his first real trip hadn't ended with him and Tim Morris getting lost in India.









I will admit that I was a little nervous about how Caroline would feel about me moving out here. But she's just wonderful. And yeah, she's right - "Pretty In Pink" is a really good song, although like Maddy pointed out, she's really misinterpreting it.

And Shel is the biggest sweetheart - damaged, but sweet. Then again, you don't go through the sort of things he went through and come out in one piece. And no, he thinks of me as the sister he had and lost and found again. John-John has been trying to track down Abagail, Shel's real sister, but so far no luck. John-John is hysterical, by the way, He's got this perfectly sort of deadpan British sense of humor. (He's also hoping I can help him improve Shel's taste in shoes. Straight Eye for the Queer Guy?)


So I'm here, and looking forward to my new life in New York. Yes, I'm going to miss the Kingdom, but, to quote one of the songs Caroline listens to, everything passes and changes and comes to an end. It was time to move on.

I can't wait to see what happens next.....

In which you thought Fawn couldn't be any prettier....

Remember John-John saying she should go back to brunette?

He knows his stuff.

I think the wig is technically a little bit too big - it's an 8/9, if I remember correctly - but it works. John-John did have to trim the bangs just a little bit (being able to see is important, you know!) but it stays on well. Maddy said that if it needs it, she can sew a bit of elastic in the back to gather it in.

Sorry for the not-so-great lighting - it's really dark and cloudy today, but at least it's above freezing - now. We had a pretty goof burst of rain, snow, sleet and freezing rain move through earlier - just when we started back from Poughkeepsie, and it got really, really slick up by the county airport. We ended up stuck behind an accident for almost twenty minutes (and watched someone coming around the curve way too fast nearly cause another one.) Luckily the roads were better once we got about five more miles, or we would have had to wait it out in the McDonald's lot.

And we didn't even find any good books at Barnes & Noble..... :(

In which it's quiet - for now....

"Perfect. Very Katniss Everdeen." John-John is so happy to have something besides yarn to work on for a change. "Speaking of whom, have you ever considered going back to brunette?"

"Do you think I should?" Fawn looked at him. I don't think she was expecting to have a personal stylist waiting for her here, but that's John-John for you. He loves nothing more than making people (and dolls) think they're beautiful.

"The blonde is lovely - don't get me wrong - but I loved the way brunette brought out your complexion in those pictures you showed me. I'd keep the length and basic style, though. Maybe just a little more of a wave, not much. If it doesn't work we can always switch it back." He smiled. "That's what I like about working on yarn and BJDs. No catastrophes, no drama. You can always re-wig if the worst happens. Not like trying to fix some poor Barbie who comes to you in tears after a buzzcut. Sometimes you can reroot, sometimes you can't."

"Have you ever done faceups?" (For those who aren't familiar with BJDs, those beautiful faces are all hand-painted, either at the factory or after they arrive at their new home. It's called just that - a faceup. See, I'm learning...)

"Not really, I'm licensed - I had to learn basic faceups and makeup as part of my training - but I haven't really done much since." He looked around as Shel came in. "I do remember an emergency case that came in once, though. A poor Bratz doll whose person had done some Kabuki/KISS style experimenting with nail polish and then used remover to take it off. Of course the poor doll's entire face came off with it. It was a good thing she couldn't see what had happened. They waited until last to redo her eyes - that way, by the time she saw herself again, she was almost back to normal."

"Were they able to fix it?" Fawn said.

"Perfectly. They even gave her the violet eyes she'd always dreamed of. She looked even better by the time they got through with her. And her poor little person was so grateful. She hadn't meant any harm, of course. She just didn't know how dangerous acetone is. But it all turned out all right."

"What was the place you attended again?" Maddy said.

"Académie des Stylistes de Poupée New York." You should have heard how weird that sounded with him trying to do a French accent over his Mancunian one. "I wanted to learn how to work with all dolls, even though I specialize in contemporaries. My roommate had completed the basic course and had come back to get a license to work specifically on Jumeaus. She was just amazing with what she could do. There wasn't much she couldn't fix. I really learned a lot from her. We still talk all the time. She's over in France now."

"And I thought you Hittys traveled a lot," Fawn said to me.

"Some of us do, some not so much," I said.

"Were you scared about having to leave the Wylde Kingdom?" Shel said all at once. "I mean, after what happened the first time..."

"Shel!" Sometimes I don't know about him. "I'm not sure that's any of your business."

"It's okay," Fawn said gently. "And no, I wasn't. I knew Wendy wasn't going to just send me anywhere. I knew that she'd find the right place for me."

"Hello, everyone. You must be Fawn. Caroline told me you'd arrived."

Yes, in case you were wondering, my fella is still very much around. :) He's been up at Miskatonic the past week. He was supposed to come back sooner, but "Pax" got in the way. Darn winter....

"You're John Ashton Smith?" she said.

He nodded. "I was supposed to be back Friday, but that didn't happen. We just finally got dug out enough up in Arkham for me to...

 ....uh, hello?"

What can I say? Chicks dig him.

"Dinah, you know better. Wait until you're invited," Fawn scolded gently.

He laughed. "Dr. Armitage asked me to ask you if it would be all right for him to contact you. He's rather interested in getting your perspective on something that's come up regarding the Dr. West situation."

"The professor at Miskatonic?" It's a good thing she'd read this blog before she came here. because trying to explain some of this stuff....

He nodded. "You're familiar with the Fae, having spent so much time with pixies. He doesn't really have an expert regarding the Light and Dark Courts."

"He's welcome to, of course, but I don't see how I could help him very much."

"Well, the thing is - you remember that Dr. West vanished right around Halloween?"

"Not really. But that was when we had to pack up and get out, too. The Unseelie had found out about us and we had to run."

John looked concerned. "Dr. Armitage thinks that Dr. West may have had their help."

Fawn shook her head. "They might have taken him for their own reasons, but if this Dr. West tries to use them for his own ends, he's in for a very ugly surprise. You don't want to mess with them. They might let him think he's gotten the better of them, but only because they're setting him up."

"Would he be able to turn them on us or something?" Shel said nervously."

"Not unless they decide to for whatever reason, but they really wouldn't have a reason," she said. "He's the one who's going to be in a lot of trouble."

"You don't think that he tipped them off about the Wylde Kingdom, do you?" John-John said.

"No. And hey wouldn't have listened to him if he had. They really don't think much of humans, in any form. I don't know what happened with that."

"Should we be worried?" Shel said.

"Only if we somehow get caught in the middle," she said. "But you're familiar with the Old Ones, right? Cthulhu and company?"

John (my fella) nodded.

"The only thing the Unseelie really fear is the Old Ones. The many realms of this earth are one thing, but the Old Ones come from the realms outside earth. The Unseelie can't touch them. And the Old Ones don't appreciate their attempts as messing with them." She smiled. more or less. "You do learn some things living with pixies, you know."

Hmmm. Food for thought. And I think I'm off to find that butterfly wing charm, now....

In which it's a quiet Sunday night....

"I remember this video. Miri looked it up on YouTube after you were talking about it."

"So what do you think?" It was the famous "Heaven" video, of course.

"Poor guys. I bet they really regretted it. It looks cold."

"I think everyone got sick after they filmed it. It took three days."

"The guitarist is the one you like so much?"

"Yeah, that's him right there," I said as we heard an all-too familiar rumble coming up the street.

"Oh please tell me that isn't a snowplow...." Maddy went to look out the back door. I can't repeat what her reaction was when she turned on the back light, since I'm trying to keep this somewhat PG. "We have almost two inches."

"I thought it wasn't supposed to snow," Fawn said.

"It wasn't. And I'm getting really tired of shoveling. This is five days in a row..."

~*~


This is our photo entry for this week - "Shadows."

And this was last week's - "Light Painting." I think I spent about forty-five minutes sitting on that glass macaw while Maddy tried to get the shot.










~*~



And just a shot of sleeping baby gerbils to close out the night....

In which Shel thinks it's his birthday and....you know.

Insert appropriate/inappropriate language here....

By the way, we had thundersnow last night when the second wave started through. Yes, as in lightning and thunder and a huge snow squall.








While we're waiting to be plowed out....

"Hey guys, want to play?"

 "What's wrong?"

"Hey, you two know you're not supposed to be up here!"

(They're housetrained, but we're still working on the concept of "just because it's edible (like shoes, clothing, the rug and books, for example) doesn't mean it's food.")







The feline evil eye....

Now where were we?














~*~

"You know, I think today is technically my birthday," Shel was saying. He was in the sewing/dining room talking to Fawn. "I don't like to do much about it, though..."

"Why not?" she said.

He shrugged. "I'm not like Caroline. The first thing she remembers is Maddy playing "Pretty In Pink" while she was getting the final touches put on her face. The first thing I remember is my creator having a huge fight with her husband because - well, I'm not sure what he did or didn't do, but it was something involving him not getting her what she wanted on Valentine's Day. Never mind that she hadn't told him what it was; he was just apparently supposed to know somehow. After he went slamming out of the house, she got a couple of her friends to come over and sit around while she cried about how mean he was and all that because he  - whatever..."

"How was he supposed to know if she didn't tell him?" Fawn said.

"Exactly. Of course, my first boyfriend did the same thing to me. Except - you know."

"Shel, Maddy's right. Stop torturing yourself thinking about how things used to be. You're here now. And now is better, right?"

"Incoming!"

(I think she saw John-John about to pounce, but didn't say anything.)

"Happy Valentine's/birthday, handsome!"

You think Shel really needs to answer that last question? :)

In which - oh man, not again and some random photos.....

Was there ever a more inappropriately named storm than Pax here? More like Winter Storm Fuit. (Supposedly Latin for "war," but even if it's not. it still sounds like swearing....)

"What's Latin for d-bag?" Shel said. He's been sitting in the window all morning watching the snow. Right now there's not a whole heck of a lot else to watch, given that we really can't see across the street.

Hmmm. "Found a page but it won't load."

"Darn. I was kind of hoping for a new insult," Maddy said.


 ~*~

"This is what's been causing all those storms over in the UK," John-John was telling Fawn when we went back into the other room. "They form here, go out to sea and end up over there. Of course, according to one MP, it's all my and Shel's fault."

"How?" she said.

"According to this muppet - whose name I have forgotten - all the storms are punishment from God for allowing gay couples to get married. Well, not that we're married, yet, but...."

"You should tell him that if he apologizes for being such an idiot, you'll make it an early spring," she said.

(FYI - John-John's from Manchester, England. "Muppet" is apparently Mancunian for "idiot." No offense meant to the real Muppets...)

~*~


"What do you think of this print? I think it'll look nice on you." I looked around. "Hey Mad, this wasn't a fat quarter, was it?"

"No, it's a yard. I still have a lot of it." She looked at Fawn. "Do you want a dress or a skirt out of it?"

Fawn looked at me. "You don't mind?"

"Why would I mind?" Humans might get a little worked up over something like that, but for us dolls, it means you both have good taste.

~*~

The Icicle of Damocles, currently hanging off the back of the house. It happens to be less than five feet off the snow...

From a different angle, this morning.....



















~*~

And Fawn's first new skirt. I think Maddy has one like it. She said she's had the fabric in her stash for awhile. The original plan was to make an overskirt out of some matching purple lace, but Fawn and Maddy both decided they didn't want to cover up the print that much. I think the lace will end up being a matching jacket or blouse instead.

In which Fawn arrives!

Yes, she's here! All the way from Colorado. And just in time, too, from the looks of the weather forecast. (We're not getting the ice storm, just snow and maybe some sleet.)











John-John in particular was anxious to meet her. He was made from a pattern that was apparently inspired by the BJDs like Fawn. As it turns out, they're about the same size. She's even going to be able to wear some of the clothes Maddy made for the larger dolls.

Meeting Zaphod.

Jasper, however, was feeling a bit antisocial this afternoon.











However....

 Not all the introductions went as smoothly.

I think Cat is liking this turn of events, though.

WANT.....

And yours truly filling Fawn in on the hot music news. *Big grin*











Thank you again, Wendy and Miri! We already love having Fawn as part of our family!

In which it's my birthday and we try designing another pattern....

Didn't it do this last year on my birthday, too?

However, last year was unexpected and didn't really hang around. This year, however - let's just say that I think "Nika" translates roughly to "cold gray dreary bucket of suck."

(John-John, BTW, keeps calling this one "La Femme Nikita." And why the heck was I thinking Nastassja Kinski was in that movie?)



"Uh, Maddy? Seriously?"

"This is supposed to be how most doll designers draft patterns," she said.

"Okay, so does this mean I have a doppelganger somewhere made of paper towels? Please say no..." For some reason I was thinking of Alien Resurrection, when Ripley finds out that not only is she now a clone, there are a whole bunch of other Ripleys that didn't quite turn out right floating around in jars.

"Clothing patterns," she said. "I already used enough of the pink batiste on that first version that didn't come out right."

"It wasn't that bad." Trimming a circle skirt with satin ribbon at the hem had seemed like a good idea at the time.

"For a Frisbee," she said. "Try that on. See what you think."

"Ummm. Hmmm. Well----" She looked somewhat unconvinced. "Hmmm. Turn around. Let me see the back."

"Okay..." That didn't sound encouraging. "So how come I can take a clothing pattern and do just about anything with it, but I can't design one from scratch?"

"Didn't you design the pattern you made me from?"

"Yeah, but - dolls are easier. I can make you guys no problem, but dressing you is another matter sometimes."

So we went back to a pattern we've used before, raised the waistline and - look, someday it WILL get warm again and I will be able to wear this, okay? You can't hang around here forever, winter. Mark my words....