#createcins

Since The Return I've been wanting to make some dip n pip dolls but I was having a hard time deciding on outfits that are both fun and iconic but also not a nightmare or impossible to do in yarn. I was originally just trying to find something quintessentially Phil (like the Dan stripey jumper) that wasn't plaid but couldn't think of anything.

I'd also been toying around with the idea of making Sister Daniel for a while but Father Philip has always been phlonde and I don't have a shade of yarn that is paler than the skin colour I intended to use for him that was not just white- and then I remembered the devil outfit, so here we are.

I did try to make Sister Daniel's fishnets but they did not work out so instead she has the white and black thighhighs from @queenusagiblog's Phanimation- Slime and Sadness Sinamon Rolls

I wanted to give them a token/symbol of each other and originally it was going to be a red heart earring for Dan (because I gave Phil's tail a heart tip) and a yellow cross bracelet for Phil but I opted for Dan's small hoop earring instead and the cross did not work in yarn when it's not anchored to the doll.

I've actually wanted to make Joe many times over the years since I found xem through Super Hostile in 2012. Xyr videos taught me how to play Minecraft and I've always wanted to commemorate that because it became such a big part of my life, I just didn't want to make Minecraft Steve with an @ on his shirt, yanno? Especially with how much xe has affected my attitude on life.

We talk about "keep jumping on boxes" a lot but the thing that always stuck out to me the most in the early years was Autumnification (and the other iterations of it). Just the concept that even in a static world you do not have to be beholden to that stasis- you can implement small changes to create a story or to do something nice for your community or even simulate the passage of time if you're willing to put in the effort. It really means a lot to me (especially with how the world is right now) to remember that even small changes build up into something bigger and can make a world of difference.

I hadn't been intending to make these dolls so soon but then the election happened and I found myself at a loss of how to handle it so I started crocheting. I'm so grateful to Joe (and Cleo) for streaming the TCG signing during those days. I'm almost never able catch the streams live nowadays (and xe has stopped letting us access vods, which I used to watch all the time) so I'm very glad I was able to listen to these ones because even if it was an awful realization how things were going it was comforting to know we aren't alone.

After making the Halloween Baking dolls I wanted to make more dnp dolls but had no concrete outfit ideas until I saw @danrifics 's meet and greet pics of them with Kuromi and My Melody headbands. The idea of making them in themed outfits would not leave my head so I caved and here we are.

I wanted the dolls to be a good balance of reflective and opposing of each other so they'd still look like a matching pair while being unique to their own styles, allowing for Phil's outfit to be relatively simple whilst Dan's has a lot of little embellishments. This also let Phil have a bolder light pink whilst Dan's is a very pale almost white (though both of the lighter pinks are a bit pale in the pics compared to the actual dolls, sorry about that).

Often when My Melody has head decoration she gets lop ears and I thought that'd be cute for Phil, especially because I wanted to give him a crown (give! Phil! a grape!). This is partially due to his 2024 Birthday Stream's outfit being inspiration for the doll's outfit (and a happy belated birthday to him!) in place of the cape My Melody normally has. The lop ears also reads very puppy-ish in contrast to Dan/Kuromi's kitty-ish appearance (even though both of them are rabbits).

I was originally going to give him a black heart decal where My Melody usually has a flower but it distracted from the crown so I put it on his shirt because he does like graphic tees and it gives him an additional black accessory (which was helpful because the black belt I was going to give him looked awful).

Dan has a similar heart decal in pink in place of the skull decal Kuromi normally has- I did try making the hood have the point at the top of the face but it made his curls look weird. I considered adding a pink bow as well but it looked excessive.

I had planned to give Dan fingerless gloves but they looked weird with the sleeves so instead I gave him a black bracelet opposite his earring and eventually gave Phil one on his opposing hand to match. Coincidentally those are their dominant hands.

Kuromi already has a devil tail so instead of My Melody's bunny tail I gave Phil (precious baby) angel wings. Their top half outfits are both technically removable but Dan's head is too big to actually do so. Their underwear is the other's primary colour, just for fun (though that's only visible in the wip pics)

I'm really pleased with how the hair turned out- I got Dan's fringe to listen to me this time because I used a less stiff yarn so it swoops better and Phil's got his roots visible slightly from the back. And also the only reason why Phil's doll was completed at all was thanks to @yharnamsnewslug 's suggestion I use a darker pink for the shorts instead of the same light pink as the overshirt because I definitely would've run out of yarn. I really lucked out finding the dark pink in my scrap yarn, it was just barely enough for the shorts.

I technically made these to celebrate Phil's birthday and the end of the Terrible Influence Tour but managed to finish them and take the pics just as the sun set on Feb 13 which also feels very appropriate considering all of the pink and hearts, so Happy Valentine's Day!

In honor of Valentine's Day I've included a bonus pic of them about to smooch :3