From the Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams: “Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
Here’s a troll doll who is in the process of becoming real, thanks to the love of one Foxie Chimpanzee: