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the-lavender-creator · 9 months

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could I please have some more of my favorite pathetic wet cat- I mean Toralei? Preferably something angsty. I just want her to suffer. A lot. Preferably thunder angst. If you can’t tell by now I’m a whore for thunder angst. And proud of it. Anyway. I want angst. Like a gallon of it. Oooo let me think. Okay so remember when you wrote the thunder fic and there was a line where Clawdeen was all like ‘I don’t know who told you it was bad to be afraid. But they’re wrong’. Or something like that.

WELL TIME TO FIND OUT! So! I’m obviously gonna blame Raterina- Oop I mean Caterina (no I don’t. Im lying) anyway. Let’s say Raterina shows up to check on her daughters progress. Idk like a literal queen leader of the were society would. Make sure the school is up to her daughter’s standards and all.

Well you guessed it! Theirs another storm! Except this time Toralei can’t slink away to her room with Clawdeen. Cause her mom is here! And like. The boo crew is too. And the group hadn’t been like. Officially told Toralei is scare of thunder or anything. But like. They kinda just. Know from past experiences. (Like the origin fic) and just other times toralei has been on edge specifically during a storm. And they might make a comment about it whenever toraleis being especially mean, but they never like truly make fun of her for it. Cause that would be so unlike monster high.

Buuuuut Caterina notices Toralei’s clear discomfort with the storm and immediately berates her. Probably very loudly and meanly. Basically shaming the fear out of her. Probably some stupid high class talk about how rulers don’t fear sounds or what not. Emotional manipulating bullshit on how it’s weak and bad to feel. That stuff.

And like. Toralei was already on edge and now her moms berrating her for it. So she’s probably a good five seconds from crying. And the Boo crew has seen all of this and they all kinda unanimously think ‘Ok. We don’t really like toralei but we all agree we don’t like her mom much more’ so they all kinda burst into action. Half of them slide in to defend Toralei. The others secretly create some distraction. And then once Raterina is thoroughly distracted, that’s when Clawdeen slides in and slips away with Toralei unnoticed. Where they deal with the storm together. (Oh and Clawdeen of course has to stare very clearly that everything toraleis mom just said was utter bullshit and fear is not weak and Toralei is not a weak monster for feeling it).

Famn. That was long. So sorry about that. Did I mention I love thunder angst?

you of course don’t have to write this. I just thought it would be a fun new part of the Toradeen series (featuring the boo crew somewhat accepting toralei as their own and defending the fuck out of her)

Much love! Thanks for putting up with my rambly prompts! ❤️❤️❤️

This one was originally meant to apply to my Furious Fur and Calming Claws series, but I decided to do something a little different! (Also, please send future prompts to my writing blog @vwritesawholelothm!)

Many thanks to @hodgepodgeoffandoms for beta reading!

Fandom: Monster High (Cartoon 2022) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Toralei Stripe/Clawdeen Wolf, Minor Cleo de Nile/Frankie Stein Characters: Toralei Stripe, Clawdeen Wolf, Catarina Stripe, Frankie Stein, Lagoona Blue, Meowlody (Monster High), Purrsephone (Monster High), Cleo de Nile, Draculaura (Monster High), Headless Headmistress Bloodgood Additional Tags: Thunder and Lightning, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Catarina Stripe is a Bad Mother, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Childhood Trauma, Childhood Memories, now that i think about it this is basically the plot of Descendants lmao, canon is a mere suggestion at best

Summary: The talisman owed to Catarina Stripe pops back up when Serena Wolf's daughter finds her way to Monster High. Like mother like daughter, Toralei takes it upon herself to snatch the pendant right under Clawdeen's nose, to present to her mother in a bid for love.

How fitting that her means of stealing involves inspiring a certain love, as well.

#mr-walkingrainbow #and next time um. be a bit more polite when asking for updates #thanks for following the delevlopment of this fic! I'm very tired lmao #this is what I get for taking up a big project while also working on a bunch of other ones lol #toradeen #toralei x clawdeen #toralei stripe

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isleofdarkness · 1 year

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What infuriates you most about Descendants? From the plots to characters (from the books and movies)

"You're telling me we're stuck like this until Lagoona fixes some freaky flaw? Which one?! She has so many!" - Toralei Stripe, Great Scarrier Reef

Now you might be wondering how a Monster High quote relates to my answer, but that's how I felt. How could I name only one thing that infuriates me? All of them infuriate me in equal amounts. That's why it took me a while to answer this, because I was debating. Until I realized that most of my grievences fell under one thing;

The lack of any genuine thought and effort being put in.

We have the lack of continuity, how the books struggle to match up with the movies while nothing from the books is ever mentioned in the movies. The really interesting characters from the books and/or the really interesting dynamics they could present, we see none of them.

We have the racism. Li Liang and Li Susu have a German and *supremely* disrespectful and unlucky name respectively. The misogynoir, how they treated Uma, Celia, Audrey, and Freddie. Celia wasn't even bad, she was mischievous bordering on a bit naughty, but they treated her like she was a Villain villain. Uma was right and I will die on this hill. Audrey was humiliated, cheated on, and spelled into doing something she didn't want to. Freddie was actually better behaved than Mal, like sheesh. Queen Leah being the "old, bitter bitch" when she was traumatized and had every right to react as she did in the first movie (while Aurora, the good one, was white with a black mom and biracial daughter.) Ursula being nasty. Cruella being "crazy." There are probably more but I've forgotten them. Carlos, moving off of misogynoir, was treated like a baby. Facilier and Coach were the only two genuinely okay black people in the movies, and they said maybe three lines each and got two seconds of screen time. An Indigenous actor playing an Arabian man. Evie being Latina never being discussed (aside from her possibly falling into the spicy Latina trope in the first movie and book.) It was just so racist, like wow. I could do better even without research, and I hope to do a lot better with a lot of research Disney should have done.

It's not realistic. Jafar tried to rape a fifteen-year-old girl, the same age as his son. Claude tried to rape a sixteen-year-old, who could be the same age as his daughter for all we know. There are children on an Isle of rapists and murderers and people who torture others just for the hell of it, but Disney does not acknowledge how the three of them probably encountered someone who went through it, if not them going through it (Jafar totally would, just saying,) once. No food insecurity, no PTSD (let alone C-PTSD,) no kleptophobia, nothing showing the trauma and constant state of survival they lived in for their entire lives.

The villains are not the Villains. They are cartoony even by Disney standards. Evil Queen would have tried to carve out Evie's heart at least once (she did in mine.) Hades would never cheat on his wife (I headcanon that Maleficent did a love spell.) Hell, most of them wouldn't have survived childhood because their parents are Villains.

How did the wild magic never leak onto the Isle?

Mal has a half-brother. Why was that never bought up?

Why is everyone speaking in such heavy Ebonics at times?

Why did Li Liang have cornrows in the second movie? Her hair doesn't need protective styles like that and she's probably damaging it, on top of it just being not good.

The fucking names. Hadie. Harriet and Harry. Jay and Jade. Claudine. LeFou Deux. The Gastons I give a pass for because Gaston would really be Like That. Yzla. Disney, c'mon.

I already touched on this but where did Mad Maddy and her crew go? Where's Anxelin? And Li Susu? Hadie? Jade and Diego? Freddie and CJ? Where did they go? What did you do to them, Mal?

Mal drugged her boyfriend and I'm one of those people who counts nonconsensual kissing as SA, so she SA'ed him. This is never bought up even though holy shit, that's problematic.

Uma, Audrey, and Maddy had every right to hate Mal. Celia had every right to drop the Ember into a bird bath.

Mal tried to hurt and kill Evie.

Jafar hit Jay at least once in the books. Maleficent ignored Mal until she wanted to exploit her. Evie was starved and forced to reduce herself to a walking cunt to please her mother. A slave in ancient Rome would have been on a pleasure cruise for what Carlos was going through. But they are all dying to see their parents. Make it make sense, Disney. I would kill the person who hurt me *once* if I had half the chance, so why are they sprinting down the bridge to see their parents?

Bringing the Barrier down was a shit idea and Auradon is doomed, Disney. Maleficent was ready to enslave everyone and now she's free? C'mon.

Kids died on the Isle. Unless the Barrier keeps the kids alive. Either way, should probably mention that because some of these people would kill their kids.

Honestly, to keep from ranting for five more pages, there would be so much fucked up shit going on on the Isle and Disney makes it seem like there was just a touch of mischief going on there.

Mal is not a good protag and should not have been marketed as such.

Snow White would never insult Evie's styles like that. Cinderella would never raise her son like that. Alice would never raise her daughter like that.

Beast was legit doing a quiet genocide on the Isle, at least on the children.

How's the Underworld running without Hades? Is Thanatos doing it? He get bumped from guy with one job to managing the hardest domain to manage? What about Persephone? What's she doing? Auradon seems to be in constant spring so it looks like she doesn't get to manage the Underworld.

Gods are inherently magical being and no Barrier, no one (possibly Hecate herself, but we never hear about her,) could stop them from doing magic.

Fae and djinni are inherently magic. Cecaelias (and I'm betting mermaids) need to be born underwater. Nothing can take the magic out of the ocean. How did they prevent that, Disney? Tell me.

And-

I think I've ranted for long enough. There's so many plot holes that I can't even strain pasta through it because the pasta would fall out. There's so much disrespect for other cultures that I can't even think of an analogy. There's so little creativity that I was writing better stories before I knew how to write. Descendants is a spite project made to put EAH out of business and sell dolls and it shows. Disney, do better.

"Sometimes fanfiction is a love letter to canon. Sometimes it's ninety-five things canon has done wrong nailed to canon's door." And mine is definitely the latter.

#rant post #i'm so fucking mad #at disney #the darkness speaks #swearing #tw sa ment #rape ment #child abuse #child death #food insecurity #trauma #racism tw #misogynoir #tell me if i need to tag anything else

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nixotinix · 7 months

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4, 13, and 20 from the MH list thing...

ok boos im gonna start with 13/20 because i have some THOUGHTS on 4.

13: How do you feel about the live action movies?

-they're giving old disney channel movies. they arent GOOD by any means, theyre actually really really bad. but for what its worth i liked sitting through the first one just because i could point out certain things and go "that's bad". the second one was mindnumbingly boring though.-

20: Random character headcanon!

-Ahem. Frankie makes tiny dolls of their friends and sews them tiny clothes. They have all of the dolls on their desk. Draculaura has nails with red bottoms. Clawdeen teaches the boo crew about different human holidays and they all celebrate in their own little monster ways. Lagoona is CRACKED at pumpkin carving. oh and deuce is bisexual. -

4: Are there any aspects of G3 that you dislike?

-Hoo BOY this is about to get long. You can opt out now if you don't wanna read my super long winded thoughts. But if you do, keep reading.

I have 2 major grievances with G3. First is the overall sanitization of EVERYTHING. (I'm mostly talking about the cartoon here, the movies do this surprisingly well.) One of the reasons I liked G1 so much is that it actually tackled real-world problems. Bullying, racism, sexism, unhealthy family dynamics. And it had actual villains like Valentine, Nefera, Whisp, etc etc. G3 has a horrendous lack of both.

So far in the G3 cartoon, the biggest conflict we've had is Draculaura coming clean about witchcraft, which is an allegory for coming out of the closet. And that is a super important issue and coming out of the closet is a huge deal to a lot of people. But the conflict with Dracula is resolved in exactly one episode, and the only other person who isn't cool with it is Toralei. But A: Toralei doesn't count as a villain because none of her actions have genuine lasting consequences and she isn't an actual threat + she gets a mini redemption arc and B: she also comes to accept the witchcraft in that same episode.

Another aspect of this, and who I believe are the biggest offenders of the sanitization of MH G3, is the recharacterization of Nefera and Manny. Sure, seeing Nef be nice to Cleo is great. Seeing Manny as this shy nerd kid is great. But I liked the dynamic a lot better in G1. Most of Cleo's problems and character development came from her troubles with her father and sister, and both of those are absent in G3, which leads to Cleo being a very static character with no real character progression outside of her romance with Frankie. Same with Manny. The only real "bully" character is Toralei, and like I said, she got a mini-redemption. There's no Gory Fangtell, no mean girl Toralei Stripe who actively goes out of her way to sabotage the ghouls in actually meaningful ways, and there's no Manny Taur. I liked Manny being somewhat of a bully in G1 since it introduced people to that idea. Monster High is all about being unique, but there's still bad eggs in the mix. I still like G3, but I feel like it needs to incorporate more story beats from G1. The show execs could definitely do a better job at introducing these things like bad parents, bad siblings, and bullies to prep kids for the real world, because things like that and worse exist. And shielding kids from it does more harm than good in my opinion.

Now for my second issue, which is what I've dubbed the Dracudollar effect. It's no secret that Draculaura is a wildly popular character, and arguably the most recognizable from the franchise. And this isn't all Mattel's fault, but they do share partial blame. In Generation 3, outside of single doll releases, Draculaura has been in every. single. doll line. I don't think this needs to be the case. I would love to see more Cleo, or Deuce, or Lagoona. But they've all been sidelined in favor of Draculaura. And Draculaura's dolls tend to be more expensive, too. Again, not entirely Mattel's fault. But I just think it's ridiculous when she goes for 5, 10, even 50 dollars more than other dolls (in the case of VH Draculaura vs SIS frankie, not g3 but worth mentioning).

Anyways. There are my grievances with MHG3. I really like g3 overall!! but there's definitely a few things that id prefer a different way

#monster high #ask game #monster high g3 #monster high generation 3 #had a great time typing this out wow

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cryptoriascollectiblog · 5 years

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Monster High doll collecting Questionnaire - answered

Finally had time to take photos for this thing. Hope it’s worth the wait!

1) Introduce yourself and tell us how long you’ve been collecting Monster High dolls! Hey y’all! My name’s Tori and I’ve been collecting Monster High since I think...either the end of 2014 or early 2015. Before S5 of the webisodes aired.

2) How many MH dolls do you have?

Can I just say “a lot” and leave it at that? I kid I kid. I have like 27 Monster High dolls. That may not seem like a lot but I swear I just had 13 like four dolls ago...fingers crossed I didn’t forget to count anyone. That’s a sign of too many dolls :’D I also have two vinyl MH figures (Frankie and Draculaura) and a Rock Candy Draculaura figure.

3) Is Monster High your favorite doll line? Why or why not? Yes. Yes it is. Forever and ever. Took me a little while to realize it but as I accumulated dolls I realized most of my passion for collecting (as well as creative inspiration) revolved almost entirely around Monster High. That line is perfect for me in every way: tied to/inspired by classic Monsters, bold and edgy gothic fashion, a unique art style...I can’t tell you how much I’ve evolved as a creative individual since embracing my love of Monster High.

4) Who’s your favorite MH ghoul?

I wish Cupid had stuck around in MH a little longer. I would’ve loved an elaborate dress (and makeup) for her!

5) Favorite Manster? My favorite Manster is actually Andy Beast from Skull Shores. Since he never reappeared in more than background shots and Mattel never produced a doll of him I’ll go with this guy:

6) Do you own any dolls of your favorite ghoul and/or manster? How many? I own one Deuce doll, his Boo York doll. He came with Cleo and I love Boo York Cleo so I had to get both. I actually hate how the writing team handled Deuce and their relationship in the movie: as far as I’m concerned it isn’t canon. (He fell so far from Ghouls Rule! Definitely the best part of that movie including his friendship with Frankie.)

I own many Frankie and Draculaura dolls. Stay tuned for pics~

7) Do you own any playsets? If so which one(s)? If not, is there a reason?

I found this at a thrift store. It didn’t have any accessories though. Still, I’m glad I own it <3 Considering I photograph Draculaura more than any of my other dolls. I do wish I had another playset--either the catacombs or the Deadlux high school: they’d make such great backdrops for photography! Sadly I have no space.

8) Of the original main ghouls (including Ghoulia, Spectra and Abbey) which is your favorite? Got any dolls of them?

TA~DA! I’d actually also love to add Ghouls Rule Frankie to my collection but she’s not an immediate must-have.

9) Favorite character with only one doll release?

I know there were technically two but they’re essentially the same doll so it doesn’t count.

10) Character with too many dolls (in your opinion?) Uh...Toralei honestly. I don’t like her, I’ve never liked her but she pops up a lot more than I expected. Is this so there’s a matching bully in some of these sets or is she that popular and I’m the odd one out?

11) Any character you would’ve liked to see in a doll line that didn’t make it? (i.e. Lagoona in Sweet Screams or Draculaura in Power Ghouls, etc) Apart from another C.A. Cupid doll in like Dawn of the Dance or Dot Dead Gorgeous (can you imagine??) I would’ve loved to see Draculaura in Freak du Chic. I’m aware she had a Scarnival doll but that’s not the same thing. I want a doll with a similar design to her circus mini. I also think adding Lagoona to the “Scarily Ever After” line would’ve been neat (a la Little Mermaid, of course.) I know we saw her as a Mermaid in Great Scarier Reef” but I would’ve loved to see one with a fairytale twist.

Also more Sweet Screams dolls. Best line ever <3

12) Any ideas you would’ve liked to see in a doll line? An eighties glam-rock n roll band stylized after Jem and the Holograms but with a gothic edge. I’m not talking Fierce Rockers, I mean all of the core ghouls (with Ghoulia as like the manager) along with a better-designed Clawdeen. I didn’t mind what we got but she wasn’t “outrageous” enough for me.

Also a “vintage-themed” line as an homage to the ghouls’ famous parents (including Operetta.)

13) Is there a “grail” MH doll for you? If so do you own it? I feel like my grail dolls keep changing. For a long time it was Collector Draculaura, then OG draculaura, then Dawn of the Dance Draculaura...then Ghouls Rule Frankie and the whole Sweet Screams crew. I guess I can’t make up my mind ^^; Truthfully I have most of these now so I’m pretty content with my collection. I still want a couple older dolls (CLAWDEEN and maybe OG Lagoona) as I’ve said and I must have all the Sweet Screams dolls. Beyond that I’m good.

14) Thoughts on the cancelled Ever After High crossover? Okay so I will be forever annoyed Mattel didn’t wait to reboot everything until after the crossover. That said what I saw in the storyboards and posts floating around didn’t really impress me. There’s so much potential here and I feel like Mattel took the easiest route possible with it. If you’re going to crossover these two lines a) go ALL out with the designs and b) INVOLVE C.A. CUPID. Plus we’ll never know now if Astra Nova is the blue fairy/her daughter.

15) Thoughts on the 2016 reboot faces?

Why Mattel. Why was this necessary.

With Vampirina and now Super Monsters you really should’ve stuck with your older audience. Or saved the “Monster Family” line exclusively for said younger audience and just scaled down the original line to remind your older crowd, collectors included, why we love this line.

Heck, at this point I’d be happy with detailed collector-only lines released on like Amazon. A limited line is better than no Monster High at all, especially if it’s highly detailed and exceptionally spooky.

16) Thoughts on the 2016 “Monster Family” line?

So I like the idea behind this line but loathe the articulation. I held off buying Alivia and Kelpie for a long time because I hoped for better quality with later releases. Whoops. All of this said there was potential here to attract a younger crowd exclusively with a brighter and less-articulated family line. Siblings or not they could’ve avoided directly crossing over by merely mentioning the OG ghouls, instead focusing on friendships and relationships with their parents. That’s what I’d have done at least.

17) How bout the SDCC exclusives? What was your favorite? Do you own any? No and I wish I did ;-; While I wasn’t as impressed with them as the Ever After High exclusives I would’ve loved a Hexiciah doll. He’s actually my favorite “manster.” (Heck! You could’ve incorporated him into the crossover, being as he’s half fairy!) I should check ebay...

18) How about Amazon exclusives? I have two! The amazing and unique Draculaura who as far as I’m concerned is the best MH doll ever released and Zomby Gaga. The others never impressed me or lived up to the same quality promised in the first exclusive. I just couldn’t pass up a Lady Gaga monster!

19) Favorite Frankie Stein doll?

Aaah this is tough. All the Frankies I own are my favorite ^^; Sweet Screams, Freaky Fusion, her classroom doll I turned into a fearleading one, and while I don’t own her original doll (mine is the 2014 release) I love that one two. I also like Wave 2 Frankie and as I said Ghouls Rule. (Honestly though I thiiiiink Sweet Screams is number one...which is funny because I did not want her when I first started collecting. For whatever reason I thought I’d be happy with one doll of each character. Again I say: whoops)

20) Favorite Draculaura doll?

21) Favorite Clawdeen Wolf doll? Freak du Chic, her OG doll and I think Boo York. I’m so mad her outfit isn’t more stylish. Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it to buy her and like one of her fashion packs...but that’s actually more expensive on Amazon than her original doll!

22) Favorite Cleo de Nile doll?

Originally Dawn of the Dance wasn’t a favorite but now that I own the doll I realize just how much she stands out (why wasn’t purple lipstick used more often???)

23) Favorite Lagoona Blue doll? Skull Shores, her OG doll and I think Dawn of the Dance. I’m not a big fan of the mohawk but I appreciate the detail in her outfit...plus I love blue makeup.

24) Favorite Ghoulia Yelps doll?

I also like Sweet Screams (although she’s my least favorite of the line) and Dawn of the Dance. Honestly maybe I should’ve set my sights on that whole line XD Except I’m not the biggest fan of the Clawdeen and Frankie.

25) Favorite Spectra Vondergeist doll? I’m not as familiar with Spectra’s dolls but I think either Dot Dead Goregeous or Ghouls Night Out.

26) Favorite Abbey Bombinable doll? Sweet Screams <3

27) Favorite Venus McFlytrapp doll? Zombie Shake

28) Favorite Rochelle Goyle doll? Zombie Shake

29) Favorite Operetta doll? Either or OG doll or Scaritage (the latter kind of reminds me of Lucille Ball for whatever reason)

30) Favorite Toralei Stripe doll? I’m really not a fan of her dolls (Orange is such a hard color to compliment correctly) but I do kind of like the stark design in her Fierce Rockers doll.

31) Favorite Jinafire Long doll? I’m not a big fan of her dolls either (I feel the same way about Green that I do Orange) so I’ll say her “New Scaremester” doll.

32) Favorite Skelita Calaveras doll? Scarnival! I’m still half-tempted to purchase this doll one day...provided I can find her!

33) Favorite Howleen Wolf doll? Her original doll. I wish she hadn’t switched to straight/pink hair! The orange stood out in a good way. Someday I hope I find her in a thrift store...

34) Favorite Twyla Bogeyman doll? Freak du Chic

35) What do you do with your dolls? (Display them, take photos of them, etc) I display them, sometimes change their poses and I take photos! I’m still an amateur at that but I’m learning as I go and I think I’ve improved!

36) Is Monster High the only doll line you collect? Why or why not? Sort of? It’s the only line I primarily collect now. I keep my eye on a couple others in case something catches my eye but like I said I’m low on space. Some of my other collections include: Ever After High (complete with maybe the exception of TriCastleon Lizzie Hearts one day) Super Heroes (this also includes high quality collectibles. One day I’d like Mystique but she’s only available on ebay and out of my price range right now. Plus I’ve found the production condition of each varies...) Disney Princesses/Frozen (sometimes I tell myself I should get Mulan for varying reasons but I’ve only taken photos of my Elsa doll so what does that tell you) Vampirina + Hotel Transylvania (This includes toys as well. HT seems to have wrapped up for the time being and as I’ve stated numerous times I’m fickle with Vampirina merchandise. Nonetheless both of these are technically ongoing) Equestria Girls (Done unless Hasbro releases a new Adagio Dazzle doll. Also fashion packs or a dAYDREAM SHIMMER DOLL COME ON--ahem-- I’m still planning to get rid of most of my older dolls.) I tried getting into Disney’s “Attractionistas” but only acquired two before they stopped selling in the parks. To be honest the quality dropped anyway and they’ve only got basic articulation. I’m not sure I’m going to keep the ones I have...we’ll see.

37) Do you still collect Monster High dolls? (i.e. scour the internet and/or secondhand stores?) Technically? I got three for Christmas and still poke my head in thrift stores now and then. For the most part though I’m essentially finished, I only say I keep going because there are a few older dolls I will definitely have someday.

38) There’s a lot of new Monster doll/toy lines out now: thoughts if any? H’okay so here’s the Earth--

jk jk I’m old XD

I make it a point to investigate new Monster lines: monsters are my life, nothing gives me greater creative fuel so it is my duty!

Right now there are technically three others out there although like I said, Hotel Transylvania seems to be out of stores. Don’t know if it’s still available on Amazon. The other two are Vampirina and Super Monsters. I’ve talked about them before--they’re largely for a much younger crowd, even younger than the MH reboot audience but there are some highlights for us older collectors if you love monsters as much as I do. I’m a big fan of world building and the spooky aesthetic: I love seeing how different franchises approach this. Character designs too: it can be a little tricky in the “family friendly monster” genre: a successful one balances spooky with well...friendly. I think Vampirina is most successful in this department. Super Monsters leans more towards the cutesy side. That said, I actually prefer their world set up over Vampirina. As well as the approach to being a monster which isn’t surprising since Vampirina is essentially one giant whimsical metaphor.

Super Monsters has only just joined the merchandise department which I know I’ve said before. I look forward to seeing how it evolves. Vampirina too: most of the toys, while cute, are more “toy” than doll and I’m not a big fan of gimmicks so I haven’t bought any of the singing dolls. Fingers crossed we get something a little more...elaborate? Even if it’s just a limited release (I do love the one figure/doll I have though! Best of the merchandise released so far <3)

Going back quickly to Hotel Transylvania...I maintain Jazware’s wasn’t the best choice of manufacturer. So many little things that needed a touch more thought. Although I will give them points for clothing quality and faceup!

39) And finally, what’s your favorite thing about Monster High? Can be past or present!

I think I’ve covered why I love it throughout this questionnaire: Monster High inspires me. It came into the world fresh and with a lot of creative power behind it. It turned so many heads and shook up the doll world as we know it. It brought monsters back into the light and that’s never gone away. If anything it’s blown up even more: that may not have happened without Monster High. Was the writing great? No. But the theme songs, the designs and especially the original lessons taught stood out on their own: Be yourself. Be unique. Be a monster.

Hell yeah, Monster High <3

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