happy to be here!

hi! i'm lily. my username is baihewawa (you can also call me baihe) because i'm currently learning chinese/mandarin and would really like to move there someday, even if it ends up only being for a few years. i have no idea how to pull that off, but maybe one day i can do it!

i'd also really love to make videos about valorant, talking about character relationships and their connections to each other! i have the idea to maybe use my smart doll to represent myself with a combination of stop-motion, footage of valorant cinematics, and little basic images using the characters' key art to represent them in certain situations. maybe putting the doll in to represent myself will be too much of a mix to make it work, but i won't know if i don't try!

now i should probably introduce the smart doll in question, so here she is!

this is doll's model is valiant (anime style)! she's still in the underwear she shipped with, unfortunately. i have ordered her a new wig and clothes from Dollsnshop on Etsy, and luckily the package has now gotten to the U.S., but i'm a little bummed i've had her for about a month now and haven't gotten to take her anywhere in public because i'd be embarrassed if she was just in her undies... and i've not been particularly inspired to start sewing any patterns out of a touch of laziness.

my main problem, however, is that i have no idea what to name her! i want her name to be pretty and meaningful, but i just can't come up with something. maybe it could be chinese, since i want to go there someday. would that be disrespectful to the creators of the doll, since it is from Japan? i never know how people will perceive things like this or if i'm being rude instead of respectful like i want to be. (i am also worried about all of this because i have an anxiety disorder that lives rent-free in my brain and i do not want people to be mad at me.)

i haven't been able to think of anything yet. if anybody has suggestions or advice, i would really appreciate it! i'm also very much an amateur at taking photos of dolls, so advice on that would be great, too!

when i get her new outfits and wig, i will post more images of her.

thank you for reading!

19 minutes ago, baihewawa said:

would that be disrespectful to the creators of the doll, since it is from Japan?

The creator of Smart Doll is British/Malaysian Chinese, so I don’t think he’d mind too much 😉 

But really, you can name your doll whatever you want. Hobbies should be a source of happiness, not anxiety 😊 

3 minutes ago, ragnamuffin said:

Hobbies should be a source of happiness, not anxiety 😊 

i appreciate that! ❤️ i'm trying to be a bit more confident, but i find the easiest way to feel better is to ask questions about what is "allowed". unfortunately, the real world doesn't have a rulebook for me to play by, so i have to play it by ear, which is a little scary. but thank you for the information about the creator! i am happy to learn something so cool like that!!

12 hours ago, baihewawa said:

my main problem, however, is that i have no idea what to name her!

Welcome! Trying to pick a name is a big thing for me too so I can relate to that struggle 😅 In my experience I just gave myself some time to think about what style and general character theming or "vibe" my doll has and eventually stumbled upon a fitting name for them that way. I'm sure you will pick something lovely for your doll when the time is right and I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with her  Also I wouldn't worry too much about what is and what isn't "allowed", I can be quite anxious too for similar reasons but people here are generally a great help if you are ever unsure or worried about anything and everything doll related

Personally, when it comes to naming characters, I comb through baby naming sites. A lot of them will let you sort by country/language of origin, and will show you the meaning of the name!

Welcome. All my doll have their default names except for the custom ones, plus one I have two of (Kirika and Kazuha). Kazuha is named after a member of KPop group Le sserafim.

I used to work in China but that's another (very long) story. PM me if you want to know more as I used to work as an English teacher there. I'm HSK2 but now I'd prefer to learn Japanese because I watch so much anime. There were tonnes of people taking HSK1 but only 3 taking HSK2. I'm terrible at languages except for C++ and other computer languages lol.

Check out my doll channel (Kawaii Dolls.TV) - I tested a few things but puppetry ended up being the most successful. Actually that's not quite true because Figma Miku got way more views than my big dolls. YouTube is a very fickle audience 🙄. Vinyl dolls is a really small niche too so unboxings will never get a tonne of views. On the other hand my other channel (nerd stuff) got monetized today... soon we'll have more money to buy even more dolls.