━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ＬＩＮＫＳ
- [ ＩＮＦＯ ]
xxBall jointed dolls are literal dolls (generally around 10"-12" tall) that have been abandoned in some way or another. The abandonment can often draw in a Shadow- a spirit-like creature (it can touch and move things, but can make itself untouchable and phase through things) created from abandoned objects (typically the only thing on its form that is white). Shadows find these abandoned dolls and make "contracts" with them in a symbiotic relationship. Contracts bind the doll to the Shadow, and in return for the life the Shadow gives the doll, it needs love and affection in return (this is the abandoned object within the shadow that wants the love). Only the Doll that forms a contract with the Shadow can touch that particular Shadow, but if the Doll has a significant other, then the lover, too, may also touch the doll's Shadow.
xxShadows cannot live very long without dolls, because they need love, which is why they can spend their whole 'lives' searching, and Dolls can't live without their Shadows keeping them 'alive'. That being said, dolls do not actually live, but can speak and think and move as a living human. While they cannot eat, bleed, breed, etc, they can be burned or shattered and damaged. If well taken care of, they can last a very long time, which is why age is meaningless to dolls.
xxThe formation of Shadows is something much yet debated, but is normally summarized as a 'lost hope' or 'dream'. When a human of special qualities has a goal, one so important and deeply connected to the themselves, it takes the form of an ethereal sentient wisp. Although this may be true, humans are only able to form one in the length of their entire life, it is rare for it to happen twice. From there, two things can happen to form Shadows. If the human who originally possessed the dream dies before it can be completed, a Shadow takes shape. However, a human can also forget, or lose hope in their goal, and a Shadow can also form from this method (this method often kills its creator- a broken heart).
xxDolls come in all shapes, sizes, genders, sexualities, etc. No two come to life that are exactly the same. The average doll only has one Shadow since they only need to sign a contract with that one Shadow in order to come to life. However, on rare occasions, two Shadows will decide on the exact same Doll, at the exact same time, and decide to share the Doll. Or, the opposite; one Shadow takes on the burden of giving life to two dolls. Shadows can be any size, but compare them to your doll. If, on the reference sheet, their shadow is much shorter than your doll, then choose an appropriate height based on that. Unless specifically said, shadow's cannot change in size.
Humans know of Dolls, but it's considered more of a fairy tail to them, since Dolls are rare in themselves.
