Creatures of rote that they are, it is perhaps no surprise that the making of a doll is also in and of itself largely routine.
However creative one might be in form or function, the basic components never change:
A Frame.
A Core.
And the Flux to animate it.
A Frame is simple enough. There may be as many forms as there are dolls, but they are fundamentally all the same, from basic, mass-produced, multi-function models to the delicate specialization of ancient scribes or the bristling masses of armaments that are mobile emplacements.
Enough structural integrity to support its mass, appropriate articulation for the format in question...
Porcelain is, of course, the traditional material, but anything with sufficient insulating capabilities can work.
It's all very boring and settled engineering.
Cores, well, Cores are at once the best and least understood element. Everyone knows the basics: a crystal is tempered in Flame to create a Vessel. The Vessel can then be shaped, cut, and polished to create a Core.
This can be done with more or less skillful of a touch, but as much as some would like you to believe otherwise, really anyone is capable of it. The worst that happens is you strike too hard and shatter the crystal, but then you just are left with several less functional Cores.
Flux. Well...no other element has seen less experimentation, less creativity in implementation.
Simple kinesis is the obvious answer, of course. But many a doll has been innervated with wind or water as well. Anything one could think of to supply motive force them motive.
Such limited minds, lacking even the barest hint of imagination.
Me, I have larger dreams, a greater vision.
The truth is that any sort of magic can work. It isn't force that's required, only the presence of Flux itself.
And so it was that dolls became my canvas.
Naturally of course, it began with Frames.
One I made of wood, sturdy enough to seem eternal until the first scratch. The poor thing managed to skip the revelation until the rot set in, but oh, the panic that followed once it did...
I've tried ice as well, and let me tell you, never have I seen such frenetic, desperate energy as that one. It was so terribly determined to accomplish something, anything, before it melted away.
Truly inspiring to witness.
Another I made of the finest spun glass, so delicate the slightest impact would shatter it. Beautiful to behold, moving with such grace, such deliberate caution, lest it fracture.
It made it nearly a year before a moment's distraction lead to disaster.
But I grew bored soon enough, and that was when true inspiration struck me: why not experiment with Flux?
So I brought them to life with anything and everything I could think of, eschewing all traditional thought on the matter.
Earth was a disappointment, I must admit. Sure, it rendered its movements plodding and methodical, each mere step requiring monumental effort, but the thing mostly just laid about and slept, lacking the energy to complete even the most basic of tasks.
Worthless.
Fire, well, now that was far more inspired. There is such artistic merit in pushing ever onwards in the face of suffering, and the whimpers that accompanied its every motion brought tears to my eyes.
Still, something was missing.
Burning pain lacks a certain immediacy, and the long-term degradation of the Frame by exposure to the flames was unacceptable. Fire simply comes on too slowly and lingers too long, and the particularly willful would simply push through the flames to accomplish their goal.
Still, it was another step towards my final masterpiece, my magnum opus.
Lightning. Crackling electricity arcing out from the core, splintering ever-finer to each tiny joint.
The slightest twitch of a finger sends a bolt down the entire limb, an immediate, startling pain that fades soon to tingling.
And in between motions? Refractory numbness. Enough for it to forget and hope the next attempt at movement doesn't bring annihilating pain.
Why? What do you mean why?
Because it's a creative outlet.
And because I can, obviously.
Plus it's fascinating to see how long before they give up entirely and die. There's a different sort of magic in that for me, in watching them accept it isn't worth it.
They always do.
Oh please, don't look at me like that.
I just want to know if it's possible. Possible not to give up. I need to prove that it's not.
So I can rest, at last.
~👺