#since a huge part of the zombie lore is 'these look like people but arent and you need to defend yourself because they Wont Stop'

[dateamonster]

first look at the monster high g3 animated series

alright rather than bombard u all with a series of posts im just gonna go in for a second watch and put a play by play of my impressions under the cut. reader beware: its going to be long and stupid as hell.

watch along with me

0:18 the new design for the school is kind of amazing. like part of me misses the more traditional spooky-gothic-castle but like i cant deny that the big lightning bolts look cool af and i do think it has more character than the g2 which imo just kind of looked like. a school.

0:33 new spectra is soo cute lol she wasnt anywhere near my fav in the old series but smth about the big flowy purple curls is rly charming me this time around

0:47 ghost ms frizzle??

1:10 i rly like a lot of these background monster designs. this zombie girl in particular is very cute and also i think i spied a werewolf boy in the back who i liked.

1:19 still obsessed with this cleo design. hope future dolls get better at capturing her charm and in general they stop being so weird abt her race and skin color. also for all that ive seen folks worry that this gens cutesier design will mean taking out the more horror-adjacent elements for the sake of better fitting the typical Girl Toy brand, im so happy to see mh3 doesnt shy away from a bit of tasteful gore <3

1:29 YUMMERS

2:01 BRITISH TORALEI LMAO?? idek why this is just killing me for some reason. its such a little thing but i feel like it gives her a totally different vibe. maybe its the anglophobe in me.

2:08 i wasnt sure where to put this part but im still sort of struggling with this concept of monsters hating witches, especially considering in this version witches arent like a separate monster-adjacent species (rip casta fierce) rather witchcraft just seems to be something anyone can learn to do? i dont entirely hate it i just dont get it i guess. i do think itd be fun if later there was like a witch high rival school. possible opening for the long awaited ever after high crossover event? anyone?

2:17 FUCK THE HATERS LAGOONA IS SOOOO CUTE i love that she immediately jumps to imagining a star-crossed monster x witch romance which is such a teen girl move imo. and that then she seems to like remember halfway in that we all hate witches for some reason and gets so immediately morbid with it i LOVE it go bestie go

2:45 i know its just a vampire joke but in before g1 purists get mad abt the idea of g3 draculaura actually biting ppl even though shes a vegan in g1. i mean i think theyll probably keep that trait since its a handy way to avoid blood in a kids show and its sorta quirky-endearing to boot but i think itd rule if they let draculaura bite some people this time around tbhhh.

3:00 choklat milk snake B)

3:20 ride or die ghoulies dont even question why their bud needs u to catch a living snack this is why frankie is a real one

3:55 im so obsessed with this frankie. i love that they found draculauras stash and were like neat :-) now to not mention this to anybody :-) iconic behavior

5:08 its just processing for me now that draculaura has this like huge portrait of her dad just in her room. i do think its cute that her character is more perfect-daddys-girl-but-with-a-secret (a trope i largely enjoy a Lot) this time around but thats still wild behavior.

5:11 ok i know i said this when the sneak peak came out but the idea that heath is an actual demon and son of the literal DEVIL this time around, confirming that hell is real in monster high lore, is making me insane. i genuinely love it. wish theyd given heath some cute lil horns or a tail.

5:15 THAT THING WITH THEIR EYES!!!! frankie is so damn cool.

5:37 dracula being this like celebrity in the monster world i think is an interesting take but i feel like im gonna get so annoyed if his character starts showing up a lot. idk i dont hate it its just a weird vibe.

6:05 it took a while to click since clawdeen doesnt talk a lot in this ep but it is kind of weird hearing her (and draculaura) without an accent. i kinda found g1 draculauras voice a little grating at times so i dont mind that and i do rly like how clawdeen sounds more like an actual kid but idk i miss the accent

6:28 theres not a whole lot to say on deuce since hes only here for side gags in this ep but just wanted to go on the record with: i think hes cute

6:42 weirdly super enamored with the food-creatures, especially the burger lol. reminds me of bugsnax. also this whole fight sequence rly displays how far mh animation has come from rigid flash animations of a handful of stock characters. its neat.

7:13 bat!draculaura is adorableeee

8:23 now i rly thought she was abt to say living foods go to hell in this nickolodeon kids cartoon ghjfdjhd

8:35 the headmistress is so cute too wtf it IS snack time snack time so tru bestie

8:56 fghjkjhgf sorry that resolution is ridiculous. im not complaining mind you i just. like. wow. also side note but i think the intercom being based on the monster high skull-with-bow logo is a cute throwback. didnt realize before but i feel like it hasnt been as central in the marketing in a while. its still def around but not as much i dont think.

9:08 lol ok i know its probably just another reference to dracula being bad with technology (cute trait for him tbh) but when i first saw this i couldnt help over-analyzing with my Lore Brain and wondering if it was also a reference to vampires not showing up on camera. but then i realized the kid he takes a pic with also has fangs and bat wings and shows up fine so thats probably not it, especially since drac canonically shows up fine in video.

9:50 the "bat out" reoccurring line is so incredibly cheesy it makes sense hes quoting it from some 70s b-movie he was in. but that doesnt make it any less cringey to me. also i know i said he kinda annoys me and he does but i do desperately wanna know how this bitch got into show business. drac backstory please. dracstory, if you will.

10:30 YOUR HONOR THEYRE JUST CUTIE BABIE BESTIES <333333

10:45 im reeeeally excited to see how this plot develops. i honestly assumed this series would be more like the web shorts except longer and more developed. as in, episodic and largely unrelated to one another, but im soo hype to see them doing something more serialized with overarching conflict and stakes. also we <3 classic troublemaking cant mind her own damn business toralei. like girl you have no reason for acting like this. she is simply a messy bitch.

final thoughts: really really liked it. love the visuals and the ways the new characterization plays with old beloved traits. love that this series has more of a familiar cartoon hijinks vibe rather than leaning too hard into it being like a Teen Girl Show just because the toys are first and foremost a fashion doll line. i dont know if im articulating that well i just mean i like that the girls are allowed to have like a full range of motion and action and emotion, and that they can be like gross and funny in addition to pretty. i think g1 had a good start in this regard but was definitely limited both by the animation and the expectation to follow that niche established by like barbie/bratz animated works (no hate to any of those either tho)

there are changes that ill need to get used to obviously, but i feel like the franchise is heading in a strong new direction. i saw some folks complaining that the bits about draculauras witchcraft and clawdeens half monster/half human felt like they were introduced as a means to employ annoying Fantasy Racism tropes, and thats a really valid criticism, but its also kind of something monster high has always done (with regards to monster/human conflict, certain monsters being discriminated against for certain traits, jackson jekylls entire character, etc).

i get the concern, but i feel like in a series so centered on embracing differences its kind of impossible to not include issues of discrimination, and it being a kids fantasy series, that does sometimes translate in a way that feels wonky or oversimplified at best. tho tbh monster highs execution regarding the subject always kind of felt to me like one of the better ones. idk. im just feeling good about this first look and excited to see how the show and the monster high franchise as a whole develops further as we move forward.

anyway stan g3 lagoona she deserves better than the g1 purists have been giving her.

#monster high #long fuckin post abt this animated show for babbies

[monsterpie]

mh questionnaire by @cryptoriascollectiblog !!!

I'm on mobile so I can't do a read more sorry

1) Introduce yourself and tell us how long you’ve been collecting Monster High dolls!

call me blue! i got my first doll (gooliope jellington) in late december 2015, but i began really collecting in earnest starting in 2016, so call it about 3 years 

2) How many MH dolls do you have?

very definitely over 200 probably at this point..... most of them are on display, but a few thrifted and boxed dolls are hidden away 

3) Is Monster High your favorite doll line? Why or why not?

that.... is really hard to answer. it’s definitely the doll line i enioy collecting the most, and i can pretty much say ‘yes, it IS my favorite!’ but there’s that little voice at the back of my head that’s saying ‘but you owe your love of dolls to barbie...’

4) Who’s your favorite MH ghoul?

ohhhh man i love howleen. i love her so much she’s so wonderful. 

5) Favorite Manster?

mm..... hoodude? heath? or.... honestly i do have a huge soft spot in my heart for jackson (even tho he is. a lot. and many of the people i’ve seen who are fans of his are. even more. not everybody tho!!! just. a sad majority....)

6) Do you own any dolls of your favorite ghoul and/or manster? How many?

i own a version of every howleen doll (inlcuding the reboot doll), and it was definitely one of the proudest moments in my collecting, finally having one of each. i have also thrifted at least 3 i think? and i have 2+ repaints of her. i have one heath doll (he was my second/third doll), one jackson that was thrifted, and no hoodude since he was an sdcc exclusive :( but i don’t think hes a great looking doll anyway, like i wasnt expecting hard plastic obviously but i was hoping for more than just a stuffed doll ya feel?

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

i own the school playset (my niece gave it to me when she didnt want it anymore), the catacombs playset (still in box bc i dont have room for it lol), the 13 wishes dj set i guess its called?? and 2 of the fdc playsets. also draculaura’s car and bed, both cleo and frankie’s vanities, and the cam design lab, but idk if any of those count lol 

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

ouch, okay, just make me choose then.... uhhhh i cant really rank them? i guess i would put frankie at the top but shes more default for me than anything else honestly. i dont really care for spectra tho so shes at the bottom whoopsie. also if operetta is also included (which it doesnt say she is but.) then i dont really care for her either tbqh anyway, yea i got several dolls of each lol

9) Favorite character with only one doll release?

off the top of my head im thinkin neighthan, but honestly all of the fusions are good and also all single release doll charas are good. OH i really like cupid too tho and also finnegan 

10) Character with too many dolls (in your opinion?)

spectra. idk i just!!! really dont like her i mean she has nice dolls but i can not make myself care about her. 

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)

ok. i HATE gil. but i think his design was super good in gsr and i would have loved to see him as a doll. 

12) Any ideas you would’ve liked to see in a doll line?

oh worm ive been thinkin on this for YEARS actually, but get this: “Boogie Fever” - a disco inspired doll line. obv has twyla in it. also what if a line where they were in famous movies - frankie and gooliope in ghostbusters, and then other classics like casablanca and breakfast at tiffanys (i actually hate that movie tbqh but it is a classic) etc 

13) Is there a “grail” MH doll for you? If so do you own it?

mmmmmm pretty much all of the sdcc dolls, but i would love to have the home ick heath some day, since that’s the closest to a sig doll they have for him. i dont have him, but i do have one sdcc exclusive doll (the ghostbusters frankie) 

14) Thoughts on the cancelled Ever After High crossover?

neutral. once upon a time i was excited about it, but honestly i could care less now. part of the problem is that i would want the crossover to go a very specifici way, and part of it is that the eah fans are rabid. 

15) Thoughts on the 2016 reboot faces?

i mean. they are cute! super cute! but. they really arent the monster high i fell in love with, you know?

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

weak. bad. the dolls are cute enough but the line is NOTHING. they didnt even make alivia look like her movie counterpart so like, what was the point. 

17) How bout the SDCC exclusives? What was your favorite? Do you own any?

mmm i LOVE all of the sdcc exclusives but i think the deadfast ghoulia, valentine and whisp, and hexacaiah and robecca are all super good. 

18) How about Amazon exclusives?

ADULT DRACULAURA!!!! god i love her so much she really is so fucking gorgeous and i regret every day that i didnt buy her for like $50 when i got the chance. i do have like 2 of the skelita amazon exclusives tho 

19) Favorite Frankie Stein doll?

im gonna assume for all of these favorite doll questions that the sig look is out for the count bc i love the sigs so much lol. aaaanyway, her classroom look is SUPER cute. also sweet screams 

20) Favorite Draculaura doll?

sweet screams, original dead tired (her pigtails!!! so cute!!!), forbitten love/school’s out, roadster playset, i heart shoes, die-ner, art class (any time she has yellow automatically makes it a good doll), sweet screams, draculocker, monster exchange, maul monsteristas, amazon collector, gsr..... she really has so many amazing dolls 

21) Favorite Clawdeen Wolf doll?

dotd, sweet 1600, ghouls rule, 13 wishes, ghoul sports, fierce rockers

22) Favorite Cleo de Nile doll?

skull shore, student disembodied council, byby, gloom and bloom 

23) Favorite Lagoona Blue doll?

DOTD, school’s out, skull shores, 13 wishes, monster exchange

24) Favorite Ghoulia Yelps doll?

dead tired, dotd, deadfast, skull shores, dot dead gorgeous, scaris, scooter playset , sweet screams 

25) Favorite Spectra Vondergeist doll?

ghoul’s night out, maul monsteristas 

26) Favorite Abbey Bombinable doll?

ihf, sweet screams 

27) Favorite Venus McFlytrapp doll?

zombie shake, ihf, gloom and bloom, fierce rockers 

28) Favorite Rochelle Goyle doll?

DANCE CLASS, swim class, ghoul chat, haunted, fdc 

29) Favorite Operetta doll?

dot dead gorgeous, picture day, fca

30) Favorite Toralei Stripe doll?

ghoul sports, freaky field trip, fdc 

31) Favorite Jinafire Long doll?

gloom and bloom, fdc 

32) Favorite Skelita Calaveras doll?

scarnival, collector, 

33) Favorite Howleen Wolf doll?

HER ORIGINAL SIG WITH THE ORANGE AFRO!!!!! all of them are good tho, that one is just the absolute best without a doubt . 

34) Favorite Twyla Bogeyman doll?

fdc, coffin bean, new scaremester 

35) What do you do with your dolls? (Display them, take photos of them, etc)

i display them! occasionally i take pics, and sometimes i move them around, but they’re usually just displayed 

36) Is Monster High the only doll line you collect? Why or why not?

no, but it was the line that got me into collecting in the first place! i collect barbies, eah, dcshg, lalaloopsy, and so many more. basically, if i see a doll i like, i get it (if i have the funds to obviously). honestly i buy/collect anything i like ya know?

37) Do you still collect Monster High dolls? (i.e. scour the internet and/or secondhand stores?)

mmm... kind of? i thrift them when i see them, but i’m more into ooak dolls now tbqh. there are a few still on my list tho that i would love to buy, fuly complete and all that good stuff. 

38) There’s a lot of new Monster doll/toy lines out now: thoughts if any?

no real thoughts, because i cant think of any monster doll lines out rn? i mean, im sure there are some, i just cant think of them right now

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

uhhhhh everywhere??? threir character designs, lore, the fact that in original preboot canon normies and monsters actually know about each other, the lore, the messages it put out about embracing your freaky flaws and all that. monster high is/was just. such a completely amazing and wonderful series. 

#mine #didn't proofread this before posting it what's up ✌ #long post