The Story of Serena's Smile

Several weeks ago, I brought home a beautiful Dollfie Dream that I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would own. I posted a little photo of her lovely smile and immediately people started to guess - but I wasn't ready to reveal her story yet. The time just wasn't right yet.

 

With today being the start of August, I feel that it's time to finally introduce this precious girl - meet Serena! ♥

 

Around this time last year, I started planning a doll meetup in London with DD owners that I'd met over Twitter. It was a big deal for me: it was the my first time meeting other DD owners, my first time taking a DD out in public - and overseas no less!! and I was essentially meeting some casual strangers

 

I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but what actually came to pass was an awesome little meetup in London with D.ark Dollhouse, her husband Fransgaard, Jezatron and GabrielVH, and it was the first of several wonderful meetups that we had when I had to good fortune to be in London for work. It was the success of this meeting that encouraged me to go out and meet other doll owners in my local community.

 

 

At that first meeting last August, GabrielVH brought his cute DDS Akira - and I've blamed him for the adoption of my own Akira later- and D.ark brought her beautiful Yuki Morikawa. Up until then, I had never seen a Yuki in person - I'd seen lovely photos from Danny Choo's Yuki and puppy52's Aki but seeing one in person is quite different - she was gorgeous! I've heard people describe her as "the poster girl for Dollfie Dreams" and I'm inclined to agree. Here's a photo from that first lunch outing in London: Jezatron's Yoko, DarkDollhouse's Yuki, GabrielVH's Akira and my Moe.

 

At the time, I just admired Yuki's loveliness but being practical, I couldn't put her on my wishlist because the aftermarket markup prices on Yuki's were so ridiculous! She wasn't even a unicorn - she was a distant dream. I remember chatting with Wolfheinrich about the "value" of Yuki last fall, and he bluntly told me that unless I was really attached to the character she wasn't worth the crazy markup, especially since she had been a pre-order doll (i.e. anyone who wanted her could have had one). It was brutally honest, but it was what I needed to hear, and I went on with acquiring other dolls and Yuki went onto the "I'll maybe have a shot at getting this doll when pigs fly" list.

 

Through a series of unfortunate events that I'd rather not go into in detail right now, I was given the opportunity to adopt Yuki Morikawa - but not just any Yuki, D.ark's Yuki. The same lovely Yuki that I met last August. (The cute little Rin Tohsaka necklace is something that D.ark made - isn't it cute?)

 

After much thought, I decided to rename this doll Serena. She's been on my desk for the past few weeks now, and she is a lovely reminder of the wonderful friend that is no longer with us.

 

I still think of D.ark everyday - she touched a lot of people in this hobby and I'm grateful to have known her, and to be able to take care of one of her girls.

 

Serena is extremely precious to me and I will keep her always.

 

 

- ♥ Archangeli

 

PS.

When I first posted pics of Serena's smile, quite a few people guessed who she was. In case you're wondering why I have had Yuki Morikawa related clothing items listed for sale, they are duplicate items that I now have. I tracked down these items when I was in Japan in early May, but I don't need 2 of these sets, which is why I listed the ones I found at Mandarake for adoption >__<"

Edited August 1, 2012 by Guest

Wow, I'm so happy for you! Yuki is one of my unicorns for sure. I love her smile so much, congrats on getting such a sweet girl!

 

Her Rin necklace is adorable

Now THAT is an adorable Yuki..erm Serena, even if you got her because of less than happy reasons. But that probably makes her all the more special when you have an emotional connection to her

Although the reasons behind your being able to adopt her may not be happy ones, it is nice to know that she was able to be adopted into a home where not only will she be loved and cared for, but also the memory of her original home will live on.

I saw this on twitter, very touching and lovely

What a beautiful history behind such a beautiful girl who has a charming smile. She is going to be very happy with you , just from your post you can see how much you already cherish her

She is finally unveiled! Congrats again on getting her, I know she's very important to... especially since she belonged to D.Ark. If anyone deserves her, it's you.

 

That is terrible about D.Ark tho, I had no idea. She was the first person that I ever talked to about custom made lcothing and she was an excellent person to deal with. She was very nice and super sweet. I'm very glad to have met her and also to have been able to buy some clothing from her.

 

She will be missed.

 

 

 

Billy

Congrats, Serena is beautiful. I didn't know D.ark well, just from Twitter, but I always enjoyed her posts. I'm glad you were able to give her Yuki a home in Canada.

 

Can't wait to see more pictures of her!

Aww, Thats such a sweet and touching story. I'm sorry that you lost a dear friend, but remember to hold onto the memories that bought you closer together and cherish them always.

 

Congrats on your new girl, Serena is a very pretty girl and I love her name.

I remember D.ark from twitter. Although I only chatted a bit, she was very helpful about dollfies.

I was devastated when I heard of her passing....

 

 

Serena is a great way to remember such a sweet person, I'm glad she went to a very loving home.

Congrats!

I've become a softie in my advanced age, so the story of how Serena came to be yours made me well up just a little.

 

Congrats on getting her and I think it's wonderful that you're keeping D.ark's memories alive by having Serena with you.

My deepest condolences on your friend D.ark

 

And I would like to give you a big congrats on being able to get this lovely girl. With her story she is going to be even more special to you.

 

That is really sad that had to happen. But you have Serena (love the name) now to help remind you of the happier times. I couldn't think of a better person for Serena to have gone to.

Thank you everyone for taking a moment to read Serena's story and to think of D.ark.

 

Even if you knew her only casually on Twitter or on the forums your kind words are very touching.

 

I hope to share more lovely photos of Serena with you soon.

what a beautiful story, what a special girl attached to some lovely memories

I read this over Twitter as well as here and it's a really touching story of how you've come to own Serena. I'm glad that you had the chance to become good friends with D.ark through the love of DDs you both shared and through that friendship came many more. I'm happy that you were able to adopt D.ark's Yuki to keep with you, always reminding you of that very special friendship.

What a sweet story; your Serena is gorgeous~

I didn't ever speak with D.ark, but I looked up the name and realized I had seen her website and whatnot before. I am sorry for the loss of your friend.

 

I think it is very special that you have her Yuki, and I'm sure you'll take great care of her. Your girls have always looked fantastic whenever I've seen their photos. I can't wait to see more pictures of Serena.

Muhahah~ so I guessed right. >D

 

Congratulation on the adoption. It's always interesting to hear the back stories behind each girl, but this was very touching. I have never heard of D.ark until I read this (Maybe because I joined the hobby later?). Wish I could have met her, she sounds like a wonder person and a good friend.

 

Serena is pretty in just about anything.