davidd's Smart Dolls

[Alliecat]

I think Neon made some good points.
Um yeah, I do think you're overthinking it a bit... in photos of real people, they don't always look perfectly posed, sometimes they're awkward, sometimes their clothes don't fit perfectly; I haven't looked very often at where the shoulder seams of my sweaters go...
They say social media is one of the biggest sources of dissatisfaction in people's lives, when we start comparing others' shiny lives to our own. Or in this case, shiny photos. Personally, I get really annoyed when other people's garishly overprocessed (to my eye) photos get all the "likes" on facebook, and I can't sell a scenic calendar to locals to save my life anymore. So I pretty much quit looking at them.
It's good to have photographic role models, and people whose work you aspire to match, but, I think you will enjoy it a lot more if you seek out what makes YOU happy to photograph. Trying to copy a photo you admire is a good exercise, to a point. If you learn something about composition or posing that you can really apply to improve your own work, it's a good thing. But when it creates negative energy & leaves you feeling bummed about yourself and your photography, maybe it's time to stop.
As you said, you haven't taken many photos of them yet. So, there's still some work to do with learning how they pose and how they feel, as Neon said. Give it some time and keep shooting!
What makes a doll photo look like a real little person doing something rather than an awkwardly posed toy can be a subtle difference, like are feet on the floor or a few mm off it sticking out awkwardly, are hands in the position that a real person's would be... I think you know all these things, because when you go off and do your own thing with them, the photos are great. And I thought this was a good effort too, really.
If you were going for "oh, hey, what's up?"... maybe Triv's photo is the instant after that, when people get stiff and awkward as they realize they're being photographed.
It's true your light isn't great here. That's just a function of shooting indoors. Try a piece of white paper or a white shirt or fabric, positioned below her & in front of the camera, to bounce a little light into her face. Or don't shoot indoors with dull low-contrast light (says the person who now finds it too cold to shoot outside).
I saw your point about the belt after you mentioned it, but not before. Yes, it does look a little big for her, but that might be just the way it's made. For me, it's the loops; they're a bit out of scale with the rest of the belt.
I thought the cross-eyed tendency was cute too, but, glad you've discovered how to change it and I hope you get a result to your liking. Yeah, just tacky stuff in BJD heads. I think eventually it dries out... I hope Annie's never does because I imagine having a mess if I have to try to reset them
With all the curves-&-angles analysis, I wondered, have you studied classical Greek sculpture or something? Yes, if you're creating fine art, these are things to consider, but... it's doll photography. I do think you're overthinking and being too hard on yourself.
I see a lot of doll photos that I really admire the lighting, or the use of DOF, & know that "mine don't look like that". I think the best response is to briefly admire, then go "oh well" and continue to pursue your own style.
Your photos are good! Sure, work on making them better, if you want, but to YOUR standard and in a way that you can look at a photo you took a year or 2 ago & say "they're better now"... not because they don't look like someone else's.
1) Have fun with it!
2) If you're not having fun, go eat some chocolate, take a walk, and return to 1).