midnight whisperings | lion and faux

[hypnowave]

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[hypnowave]

name:
lion [ LEE-on ] versailles

gender:
agender, they/he

personality:
excitable
childish
closed-off
temperamental
sheepish

name:
faux

gender:
genderless, it

personality:
morose
melancholic
chaotic
patient
quiet

username: aviate
owner of one doll, addi

something about lion that they don't want anyone else to know:

that they're the one who's been stealing letter magnets from the fridge. lion has always been fascinated by words, and has always collected things with letters on them. name tags, cards, tickets, newspaper clippings, and so on. lion isn't deaf, but they are hard of hearing and are an onomatopoeia enthusiast; they usually use the letters they collect to spell out such words. meow, woof, clang, creak, crash, and so on.

lion's obsession with words is also the reason why they only wear shirts with words on them; their favorite being a maroon-red shirt that says 'what.' a close second is a blue shirt that simply says 'AAAAAA' and pretty much summarizes how they feel, lion jokes. their shadow, faux, does kind of share the same obsession, though it is much more quiet about it. it hunts for things with letters on them, but lets lion use them.

[hypnowave]

personalities

lion is a pretty sweet doll. they're easily excited by things, especially letter-related things. they enjoy all sorts of activities, though there's only so much a doll can do at once. despite the fact that they're always looking to get their hands on something, and that they're as fun-loving as a puppy, they try to hide it behind a facade. when lion is with anyone else other than their shadow, faux, they try to keep a 'cool' outlook, frowning and looking bored about most things. they only open up and act like their true bubbly self to their small circle of friends, and even then it isn't a common sight. they act a lot 'saltier' and temperamental when they're with others, often getting flustered when anyone mentions their letter obsession. to their friends, letters don't matter that much to lion. little did they know how many times a day lion would try to steal anything with so much as illegible chicken-scratch on it.

faux, on the other hand, is a lot quieter and calmer than lion when in the norm. its thoughts usually wander farther than it itself does, since it normally perches on lion's hat for hours on end. sometimes, it will wander off from lion in search of things, but it will let lion do whatever they want with whatever it finds. faux is rather melancholic, making it very different from lion in ways, but it doesn't mean it always feels unhappy. it gets very excited when it finds something it considers special, like a badge or a ribbon with words - basically anything it can wear. it considers these things very rare. lion will happily let it wear what it wants. faux can get into a frenzy when it sees things like those, and will repeatedly tug at lion's sleeves and pants in order to get their attention. in any other situation, it is much more patient and will allow lion to come over at their own pace instead.

[hypnowave]

lion
letters, words
post-its
candlelight
frills, flowers
the color red

faux
hair scent
notebooks
big fires
the dark
its 'teeth'

lion
cold/snow
big dogs
oily things
fur/hairs
wet ink

faux
getting lost
squirrels
needles
loud music
teasing

an explanation

lion's likes are pretty much summarized as anything letter
related and warm, both temperature-wise and color-wise.
they're particularly fond of post-its ever since they came
to this one house and saw a family with post-its on their
wall with all sorts of colors and text, like cool quotes and
reminders. they like anything warm-colored like their de-
fault shirt, and have a fascination with anything pink and
/or frilly because they read somewhere about how cool
pink was as a bridge between the color spectrum's ends.
any of faux's likes kind of tie in with lion's in a way, ex-
cept it also really likes its cool teeth markings; what a
narcissist faux is.

their dislikes are really just a bunch of pet peeves and
such. lion isn't fond of the cold. even though they're a
doll and don't really feel the cold, it makes their joints
ache a lot. and as for their dislike for big dogs and fur,
let's just say they got caught in a mess once. they dis-
like wet ink on paper because it always makes a huge
mess and is just an overall hassle. faux dislikes get-
ting lost as it was once left behind by lion on accident
and it took them forever to reunite. in that time,
faux ended up with some unpleasant encounters with
squirrels and later needles. it hopes to never get lost
again from lion. it also gets annoyed by the presence
of loud music and people teasing lion.

they prefer to forget their bad experiences.

[hypnowave]

daily life

this odd duo is always on the lookout for anything with words on it, but of course that isn't the entirety of their lives.it still takes up a majority of them though; being a doll who has already discovered the dollhouse, lion actually doesn't spend too much time there and rather enjoys running from one suburban house to another, seeing what they could potentially snatch away. their stash of items, however, is indeed in their personal room in the dollhouse. lion and faux are like a dragon when it comes to their constantly growing hoard of items, and giving anything up is a foreign concept to them both. they just sit around with their things, keeping them clean.

faux likes the dollhouse more than lion does; it usually spends its time rummaging in the piles of items they've collected, and usually separates the things it found from the things lion found. it divides things only to mix them back together, though. it likes to think of itself and lion as a team, after all. after it's tired itself out, it goes over to snuggle with lion. the majority of their dollhouse room aside from their hoard is quite simple; just a bed, a bedside table, a desk and a chair, and so on. just like a college student's room, actually. lion sometimes hangs out outside their room to meet other shadows, hoping to find some friendly faces each time.

outside the dollhouse, in the human realm, lion and faux also enjoy spending their time in the less crowded places, like the forests. they do enjoy hanging out with fellow doll and shadow addi and snapple, who somehow manage to remain even more childish than lion and faux. while lion and addi usually share stories, snapple and faux just enjoy chasing each other. lion is a little intimidated by addi's fencing sword, but otherwise, he seems nice enough for lion to call him a good friend. lion talks about his most recent 'heist' as they would call it, and addi talks about his sparring sessions with other sword-bearing dolls. meanwhile, their shadows just enjoy a good game of chase.

every night lion and faux spend outside the dollhouse is different. sometimes they crash in with addi, which usually ends up in a few jokes and sword flicks, and sometimes they scuffle in human attics trying to find somewhere comfortable enough to hold them both for a few hours before they take off again. sometimes they run into dogs or squirrels hostile enough to cost them their bedtimes, and other times they find a cozy girl's shelf to sleep on. each night is told in different words, and as they pour out of lion's mouth in a story they might be telling addi or a friend, they can't help but feel a close bond towards their own strange lifestyle.

[hypnowave]

history

essentially, the day the contract was signed was the beginning of everything for lion and faux. lion started off as a doll kept in a library, and faux as just another accessory for them. when the contract became a thing, lion and faux slipped away from that library and began their travels. they never forgot their roots, as evident by their love of all things literate. they would steal pins and newspaper clippings, but lion's pockets quickly became too heavy to carry everything they had their hands on.

at first, their home was the attic of a small family in a small flat. the duo would stash all their things there, but they had to make sure their hoard didn't grow too quickly, because there was always a feeling in their guts that they would eventually have to leave this attic. they didn't want any humans finding out about them. each night from then on, they would always travel a little farther away, mapping the areas in their heads as they went. they would always return to their attic, but they were always hoping to find somewhere else they could go to.

during this period in their lives that consisted of scouring and many searches, many lessons were learned. lion and faux got separated at one point, and after a bad run-in with squirrels, faux came back with needles poking through it. a month or two after, they had some unpleasant experiences with a big dog, and there were also several incidents where lion and faux almost got caught by humans, like when they tried to steal a small letter from the desk of an old man who wrote with a quill or when lion tripped and almost got spotted by a young boy who was too busy with his phone to notice the ball-jointed doll and their strange, hopping hat.

about four months after the contract was signed, the duo finally found the dollhouse. it was everything they had ever wanted, and as soon as they got their own room, they were overjoyed. it didn't take them too long to move all their items to their room, and they started making friends with other dolls and shadows there. lion quickly realized how long they had gone without proper interaction. they were super excited to tell stories about their experiences with faux. the shadow itself preferred to stay near its doll, but it still found a strange sort of fondness towards other shadows. it felt like it was finally at peace.

their schedule changed as soon as they moved into the dollhouse. they would check in there around once a fortnight, spending the other nights in all sorts of odd places to sleep. they met friends like addi and snap, grew their pile, became closer as doll and shadow, and their experiences definitely won't stop there. they still have a long way to go!

[hypnowave]

lion's relationships




relationships in general

lion is very cheery and therefore, most of their relationships with others are built upon this sort of happiness, just a lot more low-key. they can sort of infect others with how happy-go-lucky they are, and usually end up being a positive influence on others they truly trust. while it gets a little old sometimes when lion cracks up the occasional joke or something, in the end he's usually the one holding up the stick of a friendship. not that they actually mind, since they're always concerned for the well-being of their friends. being as sweet as they are, they're also overly enthusiastic, and can get very annoying because of it. they can be a little 'exhausting' to be with, for lack of a better term, and they do have a slight tendency to 'corner' whoever they're talking to by pinning them down in conversation without meaning to. they really mean well, it's just hard for them to simmer down sometimes. when they're around individuals they don't trust as well as friends like addison, though, they can appear very different from their bubbly exterior. they become a lot quieter and make it out to be that letters aren't that much of an obsession; instead, merely a hobby.



faux
faux is cool. that's what lion would say if you asked them outright, that is. they will try to hide the affection they feel, although there's really no need to. like most dolls, lion truly and deeply loves their shadow, and while faux can be a drag sometimes, what's love without a few hurdles? communication is one barrier they have had trouble getting past, but they manage just fine, and their shared hobby of searching for letter-related things can be a big help. one time, faux and lion had a rather interesting session of scrabble, and afterwards faux started sifting through the letters. it was a very special type of conversation, but unnecessary. they understood each other enough.



addison 'addi'
lion thinks rather highly of addi, who acts a bit like an older brother to them. he's always full of interesting stories to tell lion, whether it's his most recent fencing session or something that happened in the woods. addison has the interesting habit of always carving the letter 'a' into things, and lion likes to talk about the many versions of said letter, both in pronunciation and writing. turning the letter into alpha, the lowercase, the uppercase, and so on. sometimes, addi carves in an 'L' when he carves his 'a' - and lion always takes it as a good sign. they get really flattered, because they haven't known addi for too long but he's accepted them already.



snapple trapp 'snap / snappers'
lion cannot touch snap, that is how it is between a doll and a shadow without a contract between each other. however, with snap always tugging at addi's hair or tail, it's hard not to notice the needy mousetrap. snap's antics always amuse lion, and while they don't think lowly of the shadow it is hard to show them some respect. addi knows this and tries to make lion warm up to snapple a little more, or at least treat snap like lion would treat addi. overall, while the two have a rather difficult time dealing with each other, they are still on good terms and would never bring harm to one another, knowing addi would probably have lion's head otherwise.

faux's relationships



relationships in general

faux has much more diverse relationships compared to lion, mostly because of how hard it can be for it to communicate without words. with other shadows, faux gets along with them well, but when it comes to their dolls, the relationships faux has with them are like a spectrum. some of them are annoyed by it, or indifferent by it. some find faux adorable and love the sight of it on lion's head, squealing or laughing when they realize that the hat lion is wearing turned out to be their lifelong companion. other individuals shrug it off and talk to lion as if faux wasn't there. faux doesn't really mind the lack of attention it gets, which is why it appreciates when lion understands and lets it go its own way to find stuff as long as it didn't wander too far. with other shadows, most of them just have a mutual respect, though there are indeed exceptions to these rules, for instance snapple, addi's shadow. the two of them are a lot like friends, like two puppies meeting and having fun together. they would chase each other, faux trying to avoid snapple's metal jaws while their dolls conversed.



lion
there really isn't much to elaborate on here. faux and lion have an unbreakable bond with each other. the first few weeks of being with each other ever since they signed the doll and shadow contract was admittedly rather awkward, but as soon as they got on their feet and really got accustomed to the company of one another, their relationship bloomed forth to where they are now. their conversations are rather interesting, and it is a mistake to underestimate the thoughts these two share, as many of the ideas they have are very much alike. they settle their differences fairly, though. an exchange, a healthy debate spoken in scrabble tiles isn't something you see every day.



addison
though not particularly close, addison and faux are on good terms. faux personally finds it amusing yet not surprising that lion and addi click so well as friends. faux sometimes imagines if it was addi's shadow and snap was lion's, just for fun. it likes the idea of trying to perch between addison's large, round ears, trying to fit. and it's not too hard for it to imagine snapple snapping tightly on lion's hair. faux admires addi's bravery and how he could carry a sharp fencing sword so casually - it doesn't scare faux, thankfully, despite its fear of needles. besides, faux could phase through the sword, unlike how it was too scared and forgot to do so with the needles.



snapple
these two understand each other well, and thankfully there isn't much of a need for a language in scrabble tiles for these two. the odd language they speak in usually involves snapple snapping and faux trying to run away. the fact that snapple likes to get its jaws on faux is proof enough of their friendship, since apparently they don't do it to just any shadow. faux and snapple can sometimes be found on a lower branch when lion and addi are sitting atop a tree trading stories with each other, while the two dolls conversed, their shadows would find a way to pass the time somehow. once, they even went bug-hunting, peeking into holes in the tree for beetles. such mischief!

[hypnowave]

lion's shirts



there are a couple more not pictured above; these six are the ones lion wears the most often
alongside their hoodie and trusty shadow, faux. sometimes, lion likes to tie their black jack-
et around their waist. they don't currently have any other hoodies, despite their assortment
of various word-shirts. they will probably gain other jackets/hoodies/accessories eventually.

[hypnowave]

art

by me
ay there - lion's face - faux icon - say cheese - golden days - blep
bleh - hat - i found a letter - ponder - who knows - shirts - story time

by others
art trade for avi8 by wileyfangs/eternal_flame

credits

firstly, i would like to thank .grantaire as the creator/designer of this lovely doll!
thank you so much for giving me the chance to try out for them. i would also like
to say thank you to a couple of my friends for helping me with ideas and such for
my form. no naming any names for that, but y'all know who you are. all the art in
this form was done by me unless stated otherwise.

credit for the borders goes to steven universe, song lyrics credit goes to panic!
at the disco.

[hypnowave]

thank you for reading!

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