Defying Expectations

 When people encounter Vincent Gray, do they respond more to his sculpt's realism or to the sense of quiet vulnerability you've built into his character?

 

Sometimes, Vinnie goes shopping with me.

     You know, I would have to jokingly say his sculpt is overpowering. That cute little nose, those pouty lips and those chubby little cheeks always seem to make everyone fall in love with him almost immediately instead of finding him creepy or scary like I had originally expected. Which is all well and good, I think. Because even though I personally enjoy horror themed Reborns, I find I am not such a big fan of randomly scaring people when I go out with my dolls. When I go out with one of my dolls, I generally prefer to be left to chill. Not that I will be unfriendly if someone asks about my dolls! I actually really like that. I just do not enjoy scared people when I am not expecting or looking for it. So the soft, adorable, sleeping appearance of Vinnie's sculpt sort of helps me avoid that with him when we go out or when people come in to look at my nursery room. I do not think people notice any quiet vulnerability, unless you mean the quiet vulnerability of a sleeping infant. I really do not have enough clothing or prop pieces yet to properly convey any of my character's stories when I go out with them. 

 

    Also, I would like to take a moment here to explain- when I go out with my dolls, I never treat them like real children. Yes, I have sometimes been tempted to roleplay in public just because the roleplay is fun, but I have not done that yet. Typically, my dolls just sit in the cart seat on a baby blanket, pacifier on or off, with a bottle of fake formula sitting in the cup holder the entire time. So I have never been "feeding" into the realism of any of my dolls when someone finally notices them in public and in fact, I have never even drawn attention to them in public for that matter either. People just look down at my dolls in the cart and assume they are real babies, sometimes until I tell them otherwise, which usually does not take long because as soon as I notice someone looking, I let them know that it is a doll they are looking at. Some people have been a bit slow on the uptake though. I remember this one hilarious time with Cain at Sam's Club... There was this older lady browsing in front of me. When she turned, she laid eyes on Cain and she immediately got all soft and said something along the lines of, "Oh, he's adorable!", to which I replied, "Thank you, he's a doll!". This woman did not realize I was being literal. She smiled and said, "I can see that, he's so quiet and well behaved for a baby.". I had to repeat it several times before she realized I was being literal. I found it quite amusing, especially when her face devolved into shock as she finally understood my meaning. This is not too different from the reaction that Vinnie usually gets. People just really love the soft sweetness of the sleeping expression on his sculpt.