#like people might like monster high more but people seem to like cerise better as a rrh yknow?

[fairytale-poll]

ROUND 1A! MATCH 7 OUT OF 8

Propaganda Under the Cut:

Cerise Hood:

She’s the child of the red riding hood and the big bad wolf. Don’t question it to okay. Also she was the first character I thought of when I saw this!

She’s the daughter of red riding hood and the big bad wolf! She’s a werewolf!

Love her design very much. She gets a lot of great outfits. Also, another version of Red Riding Hood that incorporates both the girl and the wolf together.

1: ever after high was iconic and amazing and so well written and i'm really bitter that it was cancelled so i think cerise deserves this win (i do too) 2: her design is really good. like no one else could EVER if you ask me 3: wolf girl. do i NEED to say more. ...honestly, my brain cannot bring out any more words so fingers crossed someone else submits her and she gets some ACTUAL GOOD propaganda (sorry cerise forgive me)

She’s a badass red riding hood with a secret (her dad is the big bad wolf)

She's the daughter of Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, so she has wolf ears and is really strong. She's supposed to be the next Red Riding Hood so she should count.

She's the daughter of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf making her a daughter of forbidden love and thus a double representation of Little Red Riding Hood's age-old story of maturity and adolescence.

She's really cool! She was born from a forbidden romance between the wolf (don't worry he turns into a human lmao) and Little Red Riding Hood and has to hide her heritage from other people which I think is really interesting. Also her hood is really pretty.

She's the daughter of red riding hood and is meant to take over that role when it's her time

she slays so hard!! while technically shes not THE little red riding hood, she is her daughter and the FUTURE little red riding hood. shes also half wolf, which is really cool!! and yea. she slays.

idk she’s just cool & definitely gay

She’s meant to be the next Red Riding Hood but her whole bit is that not only is her mom Red Riding Hood, her father is the Big Bad Wolf and she needs to keep it a secret. The best of both worlds. The tween girls went crazy for the wolf thing. Had a pretty doll and cool outfits. Has an older sister who’s meant to be the next Big Bad Wolf (Ramona Badwolf) who she comes into conflict with. Identity crisis! She was everything to eleven year old me

She’s half wolf, she has cool white streaks in her hair, she’s a jock with super speed and I like her a lot.

she turned me lesbian.

Fan favourite, my first lesbian crush on a character

She is a daughter of previous Little Red Riding Hood and Big Bad Wolf, how cool is that

She’s a furry yeuwu

she’s the daughter of red riding hood and the big bad wolf. she’s a wolf girl. i love her

Little Dead Riding Hood:

gay. Werewolf.

Clawdeen Wolf is a werewolf, and therefore Monster High's "daughter of a werewolf". For the Scarily Ever After doll line, the monster high students were reimagined as famous fairy tale characters. Clawdeen was based on the story of Red Riding Hood, making this werewolf into the main character of the story instead of the villain! It's a cute way to show her as a girl who likes playing dress up and reading fairy tales as well as being freaky and fierce.

[bitterbuttercups]

Review: Monster High’s Posea Reef and Kala Mer’ri

So, last week, I was at the local five and under store and I found a whole shelf of Posea Reefs and Kala Mer’ris. I’ve never owned a Monster High before- and, actually, I don’t think I’ve ever held an unboxed one in my hands before, either. I was excited at the opportunity to get them for $5 and bought both. 

Image heavy doll review under the cut!

I didn’t really intend to review them when I bought them, but after I got them out of their boxes and played with them I knew I had to talk about them- so, I’m sorry I don’t have any photos of their packaging, but, I can talk about it just a little bit.

I was wowed by the packaging on Monster Highs. I buy a lot of My Little Ponies and Transformers and they’re generally pretty conservatively packaged, but- these girls had beautiful plastic windows and really nice cardboard tabs holding it together. I managed to keep most of the packaging intact and everything! I thought their little diaries were a delightful touch. I read a few pages and set it aside for a rainy day. I really do love the puns in Monster High, I think they’re very fun and clever. 

Let’s start with Kala Mer’ri!

Initially I wasn’t sure I wanted to pick Kala up- purple isn’t my favourite colour and I’m not a fan of the big joint beneath her waist. 

I also dislike the spots on her lips.

However, I thought her four arms looked like a lot of fun, and for five dollars I figured at worst I would sell her my next collector con.

Fortunately, though, I was completely blown away and while I like Posea’s blue more than Kala’s purple, I love playing with Kala.

I like her profile. She has a wide, flat nose I think is very cute. I also like that her eyes are round and pronouncedby not buggy. I also like her forehead shape- I often find with dolls that I think their foreheads are too long or short and it pulls the whole face into uncanny valley territory.

I also really like the little divet in the middle of her bottom lip- it makes it just a little soft and pouty. I don’t like her lipstick- I think the pink clashes with the purple and I really think the spots look unpleasant. I wish they were at least symmetric, but they aren’t, and they’re much heavier on the left side.

She has very pretty eyes with light blue irises and large, dark blue pupils. She has orange and salmon, fin-shaped eye makeup and very large black upper and lower eyelashes, as well as some little pink and yellow spots on the inside of her inside nose bridge, and its all on top of a light purple.... blobby shape.

I would have thought I wouldn’t like the dark blue pupil, but, I think it looks fine. I really like the pink and orange fin-like makeup, I think it’s very pronounced and in character and the orange really contrasts with the purple in a nice way. I’m not sure how I feel about the large light purple spots. I feel like something better could have been done, but at the same time, I do think it looks better with than without.

What I don’t like is the... squiggly orange french fries she has for eyebrows. Why? Why do they look like that? I’m utterly boggled.

I’m a little confused by her ear shape, as well. It’s like a dish, almost, with a very flat bottom. Is it supposed to look like a suction cup? It doesn’t look like an ear at all. I’m not sure.

I do like the squareness of her jaw and her strong chin, though. I think it does give her a very strong profile- I think I like her nose the best. It’s very cute.

I tend to prefer slimmer faces in my dolls, but I feel like it works really nicely here. I actually thought when I saw her in the box that her hair was an afro, I was a little disappointed when I got her out of the box and realized it was just a frizzy ponytail.

I I had some fun playing with shadows, too.

And I really like how her squareish cheekbones sharpen the light! It’s really fun.

Monster High faces just seem to have so much depth. Not so much molding it looks weird or buggy but they aren’t flat like Equestria Girls figures, which I have a few of and honestly kind of hate. 

Her arms are what I bought her for, though, and I found them much easier to pose than I had anticipated.

I was also under the impression that monster highs could not easily touch their faces- I am not sure if I was simply led astray or if the molding of these dolls is a little different, because she easily touches her face.

I’m also noticing quite suddenly in this photo which I did not realize when I was taking her picture that Kala’s left upper wrist has been stained by her accessory. That’s very unfortunate.

First thing I did was take off her armbands and the prickly little belt she’s wearing. It’s very soft material. I don’t really like it, aesthetically, but it does help her open front- coat? dress? lay flat.

I do think she looks better without her many plastic accessories. She looks a little more floaty and cool, but, there’s nothing wrong with having a few more accessories lying around.

Under her coat she’s wearing a little band as a top. I’m not sure what the pattern- it’s like a cross between a reef and lisa frank cheetah print. it’s held on with soft  plastic straps. She has these little ridges on her shoulders- I wish they’d left them off, they’re kind of annoying to work around and don’t look particularly interesting, anyway.

It’s held on with velcro at the back. I think the velcro piece is a little too big, but, I really love her shoulders back there! They’re molded really nicely.

Hm.

Hmm. :/

You know, I really like that Kala has a thicker profile than other monster high dolls- she’s wider her back is filled out more, which I think is good. I know lots of people like the stretchy skinny arch of monster highs molds, but I don’t. I dislike HOW wide Kala’s hips get, but I can live with it.

Her torso joint is great, because it lets her turn to the side.

And, well. All the way around, actually. Very monstery!

I wish there was a gradient or something between the light purple of her torso and the dark purple of her midsection and tail. It seems very sudden.

I’m also not sure how I feel about the bright yellow tentacles. I think they’re pretty, and they look better from the front with the patterned gradient, but from the back they look very strange, It really draws attention away from the rest of the doll.

I do love them, though- I think the curves feel really dynamic and natural, like real coiling tentacles frozen miid-movement. I also like that she stands on them! I was a little turned off when I first got her, because I would have rather had a traditional mermaid tail, but, when I let myself get used to the idea I found it very easy to have her stand unassisted because of them. They dont offer her a great range of motion or many poses, but, they are super duper stable.

also super duper detailed, tbh.

Speaking of detail, I love her hands. They have these adorable little suction cups on the fingers.

To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of the flawed hands most monster highs have. I really dislike the heads of Ever After High dolls, but I adore their hand sculpts- very gentle. I’d post a photo, but I don’t have any Ever After High dolls. I think one day I might buy a Cerise, though.

At this point I took her hair down and spent about twenty minutes trying to beat it into submission. it was pretty tangly at the ends, and very poofy. Some hair came out, unfortunately, when I combed it. Not enough to be especially noticeable- but, hair never comes out when I brush my ponies, so, I was disappointed.

poof!

Yeah it was... really not going to lay even remotely flat. That’s fine, I didn’t really want her to have straight hair, anyway. I think later when I have time I’ll boil some water and give her that pretty afro I initially thought she’d had.

for now, though, it’s a little unmanageable so I have to do something with it.

I ended up putting it back up in a pony tail, but thatfelt a little lackluster, so I took down the sides of her head and made some neat skinny braids.

I crossed them in an x on the top of her head and then tucked them into the underside of her hairband.

She came with her strapless top, her sheer coat (I just noticed the squid pattern! How cute), her spiky little belt, two arm bands, one bangle, and two earrings. I am not a fan of jewelry myself and have never liked wearing it. I think her bangle is cute, but, apparently it stains, which is unfortunate. Many bright pink things do. I really like her strapless top the best! I think its bright and fun.

I’m really impressed by her poseability. Her shoulders bend at very tight angles and her elbows bend at almost ninety degrees. Her hands rotate really well, too!

They also spin all the way back! They get in the way of eachother far less than I would have anticipated.

Her torso can even rotate to the left and right a little bit.

She can also tilt just a little bit backwards.

I had thought that her pronounced hip joint would allow her to sit nicely, but, no such luck it appears. She sits very awkwardly, held in place by the weight of her tail.

You can definitely get some nice looking shots if you work for it, I think, but, it doesn’t look great in person.

All in all, I really like Kala. I don’t like her waist joint or her eyebrows but I love her wide body and four arms and cute nose. I think maybe I’ll try and find her a better outfit.

Time to talk about Posea. She has a different silhouette but a similar build.

The first thing I love is her face shape. She has a very sharpley angled face a a triangular chin. I think its very pretty and lets me see her neck. I think her nose is very small and sharp, though, and I prefer Kala’s. 

I think her eyes look very nice and soft, too, and this 3/4 profile looks quite elegant.

I’m not a huge fan of her hands, though. I don’t like webbed hands. I guess that’s a personal thing, but I just don’t think they’re very aesthetically pleasing.

Her makeup is nice, though. I like the dark lipstick, I feel like it matches her hair really well- I wish it was reflected somewhere in the upper portion of her face, though. Perhaps her eyebrows? Because I don’t know why they’re purple when her hair is maroon and green. Her eyes have a very soft look because of the medium blue pupils and the light blue lower lashlines. I think its very pretty! The soft green undertones in her iris are very elegant. She has very very light freckles the same colour as her very very light eyeshadow, too, that are really cute- I dislike her very dark freckles under her eyes, though. I find them very distracting and kind of out of the colour scheme.

You might be able to see her freckles better in this photo.

I let her hair down at this point. I’m not a fan of the pulled back style for her.

It didn’t take much brushing to get Posea’s hair to behave- it sort of already wanted to fall in all the right directions.

I really wanted to try and find a way to have some of her hair fall a bit forward to cover the plugs, but...

I guess I forgot what rooted hair looked like. It’s rooted very thickly, but it is still plugs, so it is noticeable.

I tried pulling her hair back in some thick braids, but, I wasn’t super happy with that.

I ended up just putting her hair in a loose pony tail with her hair ornament on the band.

Whichm by the way, I really like. I think maybe it’s supposed to be coral? I’m not certain what’s at the center. It looks like a little crown- the round kind? I think it’s probably some kind of sea creature. I think it works as a little bow here.

Posea has only one piece of clothing, her shirt. I took it off and I was surprised by how much detail was on her body!

She has all these little spines or nodes along her skin. That’s definitely a sea creature thing and it’s really neat. I kind of liked running my thumb over her tummy, it was a weird texture. I like how ornate it is, too, its not just an even coating. It’s a cool and elegant pattern that looks distinctly intentional- I’ve seen many patterns that looked random or accidental, but this one is symmetrical and pretty.

I also like Posea’s torso better here- they look like pieces that go together, unlike Kala, who’s top and bottom pieces look very different.

Posea, too, can tilt a little to the left and right. I feel a bit spoiled that these were my first two, I’m worried when I get a standard Monster High that doesn’t have this point of articulation I’ll be disappointed.

You know, I like Posea more from the front than I do Kala but I significantly prefer Kala’s portrait. Posea’s face looks to be slopped downward far too much. Also, her eyes are much flatter and her forehead feels too long- perhaps this is a personal aesthetic problem, but, I like her from the front more. 

I do love her cute little fishy ears, though.

The kelp accessory covering her tail is really cool. I am really disapointed that her little animal friends are attached the way they are. some of them have little hooks like the seahorse but others don’t appear to have anything to attach them to the tail. I left the clear plastic rubber bands on because I’m very worried about losing these little pieces. It strikes me as not the best design for a doll intended for children- There’s not much you can do with them because of the way they (don’t) attach, and they’re so small you can lose them very easily. 

Her kelp skirt makes it very difficult to move her tail- it’s soft plastic but not very soft. However, it looks so nice that frankly I think it’s a fine tradeoff.

And there she is nekkie. I like the detail on her bottom half- its very kelpy. The idea of a kelp octopus is strange I suppose but it works. I wish that perhaps her three “feet” were a little more symmetrical- perhaps not with the same swirls but, at least with the same height.

Posea can change her height easier than Kala can by bending her “legs” down at the ball joints. 

Now, they painted a bit of green on the front of her midsection in a downward arch but they also painted a little point on her lower back, too. I guess she has a little butt.

She looks pretty similar from the back as she does on the front, though. Which is fine.

Posea’s limbs were very stiff- especially at the shoulders. I found them difficult to move at all and it wasn’t terrifically pleasant.

Here’s all the clothes she came with. Her seaweed skirt (with friends), her top, her coral top, her earrings, her armbands, and her hair ornament. I really lover her top- I think the colours are really cool and fun. it looks very halloweeny without the rest of her, actually. I don’t like her coral top, though. I think it looks a little silly and accidental or random- which I suppose it’s supposed to, because it’s supposed to look like coral, but I don’t think that’s very fashionable.

You know, actually, I think they would probably look better if they switched tops.

WOW. Posea looks really cool in this outfit, actually. 

The open front jacket and the strapless tube top? She looks very chill. 

Unfortunately because Kala is so much wider than her.... they can’t swap clothes very well.

Unfortunately, as you can see, her jacket is very loose and oversized.

the tube top is far too big.

It’s just sort of hanging there loosely. I guess Kala will need her shirt back.

Before that, though, I wanted to see what Kala looked like in Posea’s shirt. I couldn’t even really get it on!

It’s really unfortunate, too. I think the purple orange and green colours go far better with Kala than with Posea.

But... I can’t even get it to velcro all the way in the back, and her shoulders are kind of stuck because the fabric is pulled so tight. :(

I wish they’d both been thicker, or both thinner. I like the thickness of the upper body on Kala but her butt just looks ridiculous. Posea’s looks much better.

After this I started playing with them and doing some cute poses, because I’ve never really had dolls this poseable and articulated before.

They were really fun to play with! I want to dig up some props later and play with them more. 

So, final thoughts.

When I bought these, I had expected them to cure my Monster High craving. As an avid collector of My Little Pony toys (500 and counting), many people I know collect Monster High dolls. The more I saw them, the more I wanted them, but there were still features of them I disliked- the flared hands, the the hyper arched backs, the unarticulated ankles, the hunched necks. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I found that once they were in my hands, these things were not as big of a problem as I would have expected them to be. I found that I loved posing them and I loved their thick, silky hair. These two especially I found to be fun and interesting toys- I love the extra arms, and I love the seaweed motif. 

I really think I’ll be getting more of these in the future should they come my way. They’re just so poseable and colourful and fun.