“That's just the first part. What others call you, you become. It's a terrible magic that everyone can do — so do it. Call yourself what you wish to become.” ― Catherynne M. Valente, The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two
I think the question of names is an interesting one, especially where dolls are concerned. Every doll owner has their own way of doing it, and some can be equally as simple as others are complex. Myself, I think I end up mostly doing it by instinct, with a side of choice at times. My most successfully named dolls (i.e. those that were not later re-named) have been those who very plainly told me their name. This usually happens before I even lay eyes upon the doll, and is akin to how many of my characters name themselves as well. Given that the dolls often either embody or inspire characters, this is fitting.
So what do I mean by this? I'll give you an example.
Before I got Uriel (CP Delf El), I had been working on a story line for my then angelic character Drusilla. I would write bits and pieces about her background and story, but inevitably every time I did I got sidetracked by another character. Now this character didn't have a name at the time or even a fully formed identity, rather they would just burst in and steal the show, leaving me wondering "Who was that?!" Eventually I began to pay more attention to the character, and I discovered that they could be called both Uriel and Beloved (a nickname for Uri in his story). Uriel just kept popping up in my head for seemingly no reason, but I continued to come back to it. Around the same time I was looking at obtaining my El, and realized that the two coincided perfectly and poof...there was Uri.
Since then I've found that music also plays a big role in the naming of dolls. I've mentioned music's importance before in this post, but it is important to note that music doesn't just come after a character is created. Sometimes it is the impetus for a character, or a name. Dolls I've named this way include:
- Nowell who was named after a song on Tori Amos' Midwinter Graces album. The song was "What Child is This/Noel," and I happened to be listening to it as I drove home after picking Nowell up from the post office.
- Emmanuel- oddly enough his name also came from the same Tori album, stemming from the song of the same title. This was less intentional, as I already had a song picked out for him. Yet as soon as I heard this song after obtaining him, I knew it was his.
- Nashuat- This interesting little fellow's name came from a song by Alt J called "Tessellate." It's not an actual word in the song, but rather a misheard lyric. "Chunks of you will sink down to seals/Blubber rich in mourning, they'll nosh you up/Yes they'll nosh the love away but it's fair to say/You will still haunt me." The actual phrase is "nosh you up", but I always heard it as nashuat (nosh-ooo-awt). I dug around for that word for a long time until I realized it wasn't actually a word, my mind was just obsessed with it. So when my creepy boy appeared in my life, I knew it would be his.
- St. Christopher- The most recent addition to the crew came to be named such because of a song by Daughter called "The Woods." The opening lines of the song are, "I asked Saint Christopher/to find your sister/and she ran out in the woods/and she ran out in the woods." As I listened to this song I kept getting a nagging sensation that I needed to write about this character that began to form in my head. Thus St. Christopher was born in all of her glory. Her story line involves her having the practical magic-esque ability to find anyone or anything, hence why she would be asked to find someone's sister.
Names can come in a lot of different ways, but overall they are an important element of the character and doll designing process. Naming has power, and by giving my dolls these names I connect them to their characters and the stories that they portray.
No comments:
Post a Comment