Boy, howdy, uh... you want this one's advice? I'm honored but... you know, this is something I worry about, too.
I also worry about how big this response got, so, read more cut.
we've been thinking about much the same idea as Relia's wife-witch noted here, the natural tendency for there to be 'waves' within a writing or cultural movement. In particular, we find that to us at least, the particular structure of Empty Spaces' major waves in our observations creates... a sort of broader 'whole,' a puzzle put together through reading numerous stories by numerous writers - and for us at least an effective one at that.
The sort of 'first wave' that deals heavily in trauma and pain and darkness is very necessary in itself! It says that "we will not pretend anymore that things are okay and normal! There is very much pain and suffering in this life, and we're done denying it, painting over it with a thin veneer of happy endings! We will write about it, or write ever-more-twisted reflections of it, and they will be dark and messy and ugly and cathartic, and the world will be better for having them written out rather than hidden away!" It's very true that beings need this, deeply and fiercely and genuinely.
(If we may make a personal digression - even those beings who don't have the sorts of toxic relationship trauma Empty Spaces was focused on in its beginnings, likely have some sort of trauma, or at least pain in their lives. Our doll headmate Penny originated from chronic fatigue and migraines, from feeling incapable after having been told by the systems of school and work that all value comes from capability. It has said that it is a factory-made doll, rather than witch-made, as a reflection of this - we would argue that dolls can be dolls, regardless of how they became dolls.)
The 'second wave' Relia describes above, the one with more cute or funny dolls, or dolls as a more consensual kink thing, could not have existed in the form it does or with the value it does without building upon the first wave. To those who have read 'first wave' Empty Spaces stories, 'doll' is a pre-loaded signifier, an access-point to a broad spectrum of meanings, a shorthand writing device for a character who has experienced trauma, loss of autonomy, and/or loss of personhood. Thus the true importance of the second wave is revealed - dolls stay dolls, and are okay.
It's understandable that at first glance this might seem like a conflict or refutation against the 'first wave' darkness, in a way that might look to invalidate or lessen its impact. However, I think that giving it a closer examination and more pondering reveals that this isn't true - in the 'second wave,' dolls stay dolls, and are okay. Do you understand how this is a revolutionary notion in itself?
For us, the second wave read as building-upon-the-first says, "we will not pretend anymore that it is possible to go 'back to normal'! There is trauma and suffering in this life, and we demand it be recognized that the impacts of that trauma are carried on for the rest of a being's life - but at the same time, don't wholly define the rest of a being's life! Just because you're in immense pain now doesn't mean you'll never feel happy again, but then, if and when you start doing and feeling better it doesn't erase the pain you've gone through!"
To give a more concrete example of this, when we for example read AbsentWriterDoll's stories about dolls being loved and supported by their witches, we read with that pre-loaded signifier that the doll has been hurt before, that there's some reason why it is a doll even if that reason remains unseen. Often but not always, this is implied directly by Absent's stories - dolls need love and support in specific ways, feel specific sadnesses and pains. Being a doll, then, comes to mean recognizing and articulating one's own needs, boundaries, and feelings, rather than pretending to be a [person or human] who fits the "normal" mold. That's certainly a big part of what it is for our Penny at least.
(A digression - As Relia also mentions, Empty Spaces is deliberately flexible, so it's entirely possible for some magical or technological means for a doll to become a (physical) human, or other fantastical creature/symbol, to exist in some stories - but in our observation, this of course comes with its own nuances to explore, deepening rather than undercutting that idea that "dolls stay dolls")
All of this analysis and theorizing is largely to say, we second Relia's encouragement to write dolls (and of course other Empty Spaces motifs, though we didn't go as in depth with them) how that one wants, and how that one needs. We believe, genuinely, that if that one writes from its own emotions and experiences and puts thought into the nuances of it's stories, then expanding the definition of Empty Spaces can be done in a respectful, meaningful way. We'd love to see its writings one day, its perspective is valued as any other thing's!
(We would also suggest that if that one has a story it's not certain about fitting into the movement and themes, a 'safe medium' we've used is tagging it as #dollposting, #mothposting, etc. but not as #Empty Spaces itself)

