#monster high g3 critical

[they-them-that]

Sorry it's another angry Monster High post lol, but some of y'all insulting the new voices for some of G3's characters really need to reevaluate yourselves. 💀

Those are literally real people's voices and not just for the VA's. It doesn't matter if you like G1's voices more, you don't need to be rude about the new ones??

[lvnamuraart]

New merch, maybe?? Would you be interested in keychains or button pins?

[akascow]

i dont really like the male MH dolls (their ankle articulation and waist to shoulder proportions creeps me out) but do u think theyll make a g3 gil doll lol

i know hes still like a side character of a side character but hed be kinda neat maybe idk

ooh or a finnagan one i think his new wheelchair is sick asf (and hes in a surprising number of episodes this gen)

[scrumptiousobjectcollector]

[okiidokii]

Monster High Redesigns (For Fun!) Part 1/?

Okay, remember that Monster High Redesign/AU/For Funsies thing I was doing? So I did draw the first batch of characters/ my hypothetical first wave of dolls (except Deuce :[ sorry. It's just, and I mean this in the least misandristic way possible, I don't know how to draw men or make their fashion enjoyable.)

But not only do I HATE drawing the Monster High art style, but Fashion Design also isn't really my niche? Like I gave/give Mattel shit for making the G3 versions of characters unfashionable (and to an extent I still do, like you have the resources and connections of a mega-corporation at your disposal) but redrawing and editing those designs over and over again really made me realize how hard that is to do.

So I decided to take this "AU" of mine in a different approach, less of "What if I had the opportunity to make my own generation of Monster High dolls" and more of "What if I was in charge of a Monster High show reboot" so it was a lot more character design focused (Something I'm slightly more confident in my skills with)

[reverse-harem-protag]

still thinking about the missed opportunity of having all the characters in monster high with sexualities that fit with the characters. clawdeen being lesbian and having friendly competition/wingman moments with clawd. frankie being they/them works amazing but what about being pansexual? excited to be a teenager and wanting to experience everything. cleo thinking everyone is just not attractive for thousands of years (because she's way out of her league) and then she's revealed to just be demisexual. draculaura being not allowed to date until she's 1600 so she dreams of a fairytale romance only to find it's not what she was looking for!

[freaky-flawless]

Okay, ngl, I feel like Darko Dark's art is a little too good.

It's gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but also incredibly detailed. So much so that it makes the dolls look really underwhelming by comparison.

The old art was bad, and undoubtedly needed to be changed because it looked downright unprofessional (not to mention it was traced) but because it looked so bad, it made the dolls look better imo.

There needs to be a middle ground, and Darko's art should be reserved for the special releases, like it was before with the collector Voltageous doll, or simplified to be less detailed and more accurate to the dolls.

[soulless-bex]

i dont get the hate for monster high g3. like, have you seen them??? they’re so cool! sure, it’s different, and sure there are some mishaps, but it was bound to happen. if y’all really expect them to put together a perfect reboot, i think you should lower your standards.

[borom1r]

my absolutely delightful children whom I all love dearly

[starrylayle]

no it's not "forced diversity", you just hate seeing minority leads.

I really didn't want to comment on this, but as someone who has recently rediscovered monster high and loves the new show, I've seen so much criticism that isn't exactly...constructive?

I've seen a lot of people say that making Frankie non-binary is 'forced', 'lazy' and 'uninspired', when that is just simply not true?? Let's unpack their character for a moment. They are made of a ton of different dead body parts, some male and some female. If you were to use the 'biology excuse' it wouldn't even make sense in this context -- they literally have male and female organs!! Also alot of nonbinary people feel as though they have lots of parts to themselves,, what better way to portray that than through a monster character struggling with the same thing? It's literally such a cool allegory!! Creators have been using magic/fantasy to describe/symbolise real world issues and feelings for ages,, why is it such a big deal creators do this for more marginalised people. [also,, the orginal Frankenstein creature was heavily queer coded in the first place so its a sweet easter egg).

I also see people say,, 'oh why couldn't they just have made a new character be non-binary instead of changing the pronouns of a former one'. I hate this argument so much because it sounds like it's in good faith, but really what they're trying to say is "stay away from my white cishet characters and go make one of the irrelevant side characters queer or or just make a whole new show starring them that I have no interest in watching'. Just admit you don't want to see queer characters as leads.

I also think that sometimes cishet ppl (or non-marginalised ppl in general but i've mostly been seeing an attack on the queer characters hence the example) forget that we also grew up watching monster high?? and related to the characters?? And we would be so excited if we saw our favourite characters with similar traits to us?? Like sheesh,, cishet ppl have so much representation like let us have this pls 😭 😭

Actually speaking of representation in Monster High, g1 was already pretty diverse and inclusive, and its nice to see g3 follow in its legacy and become even more inclusive as times change! Like, they really said 'fuck you' to all the conservatives and included a drag queen character, a non-binary main character, autistic side character and so many more!! It makes me so happy to see and its probably why its one of my comfort show rn amidst the rise of the anti-lgbt rhetoric, especially concerning children's media.

So respectfully, to all those people claiming that the new monster high is "forced diversity" --- fuck you xxx

[hokiidokii]

The redesigns by @lutinsdolls reminded me to finally finish the concepts I had for redesigning the Garden Mysteries Line. A breakdown/ design rant about it under the cut

So I don't like Garden Mysteries, in fact, I have multiple problems with it. The pitch of the line sounded like it would be cottage-core-esque, or at the very least formal, but that did not happen. I believe G3 is severely lacking in Formal Wear doll lines. All it has is Monster Ball and if you really squint Monster Fest and Fearidescent (btw what boring line names), whereas G1 had multiple (Dawn of The Dance, Scarily Ever After, Draculaura's Sweet 1600, Ghoul's Rule, Haunt The Cabbash, Sweet Screams AND Gloom and Bloom. That's 7!)

It's also just a really poor attempt at the Skulltimate Secrets line. Reducing the character count to three limits the variation and similarities of the designs. The outfits have very limited mix-and-match qualities; there's a clearly superior outfit.

And a consistent problem I've had with Skulltimate Secrets is the lack of silhouette or construction variation. I've been complaining about it since Fearidescent, and it was particularly egregious in the 4th wave, but tbf, there's not a lot of variation you could do with a ballerina outfit. But the newest wave was just really lazy.

So I had new design objectives

It's no longer a Skulltimate Secrets Line: No second outfit or large plastic hunk of lockers. It's just one High-Quality outfit, A Bag, and ONE Accessory. Not more stuffing a box with multiple easily losable trinkets to jack up the price

I based each ghoul on a specific flower and tried to reflect it on the outfit silhouette (it was really hard to do for Venus though :( )

I put Lagoona back into the line and added Spectra so it could go back to a five-character line. I know retailers say that four-to-three-character lines sell better, but I really like bigger cast lines, and I wanted to try designing G3 Spectra considering she only has one doll

There are still reoccurring motifs/fabrics like previous Skulltimate Secrets lines (all the ghouls have some headpiece/jewelry, sheer arm clothing made from the same material of the blouses from the OG Garden Mysteries, all the shoes are part molded-plastic, part translucent plastic like Dawn of the Dance Lagoona)But I really focused on giving each of them very different silhouettes and outfit constructions.

I don't think these are perfect or objectively better than the original, and I think there are a lot of ways to improve my designs (like I'm not vibing with the Venus for example), this is just a way to visualize my criticisms.

[mooniemilkieway]

is it just me or did the monster high fandom get like insanely toxic as soon as g3 happened. like before even g2 was released it was such a chill and peaceful fandom w a couple of bad apples. then g2 came along and…yeah the reaction to it was bad, not gonna deny that. but most ppl just ignored it and went along their day.

but then g3 happened and hmmm let’s see: sending death threats/harassing the people behind both the live action movies and animation, homophobia/transphobia (especially on Frankie like holy fuck), racism (but she’s gween 😢😢😢😢 stfu cracker), ableism, fatphobia (no onision just bc someone has thick thighs does not mean they’re obese), and overall just…yikes.

i have my criticisms w g3. it isn’t the perfect generation/reboot but holy fuck are the locals giving it such a bad name because it stands for diversity and accepting people regardless of identity. i think i explained my criticisms already, but honestly being prejudice and speaking over ppl who are represented in g3 is shameful and you deserved to be mocked for it.

tldr, monster high fandom was cool before TikTok’s brain-rotted “im so mean 😛” bitches got their greasy hands on it. Like sis you can’t even ask the counter guy for a pack of ketchup calm down pookie

[cosmomoore]

Lenore Loomington is an incredibly boring doll that lacks any semblance of what makes a Monster High character, a Monster High character.

She is 100% an OC of her designer, which wouldn't be a problem, but the character exists for the sole purpose to sell merchandise, which I recognize is the entire point, but she feels like such an obvious cash grab.

Lenore doesn't fit into the larger narrative, she's just a ghost, but barely? Her design language doesn't reflect what is expected of ghost designs within the MH G1 universe and her colors already belong to other characters. Her outfit isn't worth the price (the lack of hems on a doll that costs $75 USD is simply unacceptable) and it also looks like it was "inspired" by a certain LOL OMG doll.

If anything she is proof that her designer cannot design within the brand identity that Monster High G1 established. It's unfortunate because someone with as much industry experience as Rebeculame (I'll go into why I call her that later*) is unable to adhere to those guidelines. If I were to not able to adhere to the brand identity of clients in my design field, I wouldn't be employed.

She legitimately looks like if someone fed a description of Amanita into an image generator (sans green skin).

Given all of that, it's not really surprising that she hasn't sold out yet. Personally, I think the most interesting things about her are her pet (that looks like a Fakemon) and her lantern. Her shoes are underwhelming by G1 standards and Mattel's old "the premium display packaging justifies the price" does not apply here.

Anyways, I know critiques of MH have been done to death, but I figured I'd put my two cents about Lenore out into the open. If you like her, that is great! It's honestly wonderful that she is still available and didn't sell out to upsellers immediately.

I'll never not be critical of Monster High (and furthermore Mattel as a whole). For all the good that G3 has done, there is plenty of bad (and outright sus). Their handling of the G1 brand has been all over the place, but it has largely uninteresting (to me personally) at best and incredibly underwhelming at worst. Their handling of G1 drops has been incredibly frustrating and Mattel Creations' as a whole (on the doll side of things) is a joke.

I'll never get over the fact that G1 was revived with licensed tie-ins featuring a homophobic clown and the ghosts of murdered children. If that wasn't sign of how I've felt about its revival as a whole, I don't know what is.

*The main reason I call her that is because she signed large amounts of SDCC exclusive dolls that were obviously going to be resold by upsellers and, when criticized for it, acted entirely unprofessional. Well that and how dirty she did G3 Clawdeen...

[akascow]

another g1v3 discourse rant :/

‘g3 is too childlike now’ need i remind yall theyre 15?? thats how 15 year olds act bro😭😭 if anything g1 was way too adult

also the show is targeted towards kids ofc theyre gonna seem childlike in the eyes of an adult

and the reason the fashion was ‘dulled down’ a bit is probably bc most modern 15 year olds arent obsessed with 2010s fashion that yall so desperately crave HAHA

[sillyprettyfairy]

Not gonna lie the recent trend of scrutinizing g3 monster high's logic (monsters being born and not having been humans who died, draculaura's natural hair color being pink, witchcraft being considered a human thing, etc.) is very much giving the same energy as like cinemasins or when people criticize the logic of disney movies' magic or whatever. Like I refuse to believe we're having full-blown debates and dissertations written about the nonsensicality of a world that includes actual fucking monsters and magic. Like what's going on.

[t4tails]

i’m not a monster high fan (i was always more into eah lol) but i remember clawdeen being my favorite of the og mh generation and seeing this made me kinda disappointed so i gotta ask u, isn’t she the main character in g3? if they got rid of her sisters and changed her interest in fashion, then what do they have her doing now? what makes her the main character?

im dont follow g3 lore really but i do think that pic is kind of doing g3 clawdeen a disservice. she still has an interest in fashion! its just the doll designers arent great at portraying that. and the "making her half human" was actually their way of doing a biracial storyline, which while you can criticize mattel for doing that to the one Black mc, its weird to frame it as like... making her boring imo. and while they did get rid of clawdia, and howleen is no longer related to her, clawd is still her brother! shes not the same as g1 clawdeen for sure but she still like, has stuff going on lmao