#monster high threeboot

[strangestcase]

Genuinely if G3 is going to further develop on the whole Jekyll and Hyde as a metaphor for the trap of "passing privilege"/how people see mixed heritage folks thing from G1, which I just know they'll fuck up because of course they will, I would love for Mr. Hyde to show up (preferably being given the Bruno Madrigal "not as bad as they seem" treatment! idk I just find it funny) and FUCKING FINALLY GET A CANON MONSTER HIGH DESIGN! Dracula already got two!

Also please bring Jackson and Holt back. I'm equal parts hyped for them to show up (if they do) (maybe they're introduced in the cartoon if they don't already show up in the movie?) and TERRIFIED. For the love of ALL THAT IS HOLY NICKELODEON, DON'T MESS THEM UP (even though I just know they'll fuck up, just watch). And if they don't: then mattel is YET AGAIN missing a great opportunity. yes I'm aware I am biased.

...maybe I'm being too much of an optimist here but the way things are shaping up, if the movie is going to be mediocre at best, at the very least it might as well be an interesting trainwreck.

im sooooo pirating it.

[sparklyaxolotlstudent]

It's a weird mix of stop-motion and CGI, so cringe and SO CATCHY.

I unironically love it. It's cute and awkward, and totally a vibe.

Also: HOLY #$%& GHOULIA! She looks awesome.

And the random bits of spanish and the mention of tamales... OMG CLAWDEEN IS MEXICAN! :D

[sebeth]

Legion of Super-Heroes #5 (Bendis)

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

The issue picks up where the previous issue ended: the confrontation with the Science Police. Brainiac 5 convinces the Science Police to stand down. Superboy (Jon) is told to finish the orientation packet.

The Legion speculates on why the President of the United Planets sicced the police on the Legion. Is it because of Mordru? Aquaman’s Trident? Imprisoning the ruler of Rimbor in their basement? A combination of all three?

Shadow Lass talks trash about the Invisible Kid. Jacques Foccart, the “Invisible Gentleman” is sick of the disrespect and quits the Legion. Bendis included an actual canon person of color only to have them appear and quit in one panel? Was there a point to this?

Jacques was never a favorite of mine mostly because he was relegated to the back to mutter a random French phrase. I did enjoy Jacques’ role in the “5 Years Later” era. He became a respected leader of the resistance and had an adorable relationship with Infectious Lass. I would love to see more of that Jacques.

Brainy sends Ultra Boy, Dawnstar, and Shadow Lass to find the Trident. Jo isn’t happy because he wants to remain and deal with his father. Brainy tells the group that if they see Timber Wolf, Monster Boy, or Wildfire to grab them. I’m pretty sure we saw either Timber Wolf or Monster Boy a few pages ago. The Legionnaire had the colors of Timber Wolf and the chest symbol vaguely looked like Brin’s. The person’s build was too bulky for Brin and his head had a Frankenstein-type appearance so I’m assuming it was Monster Boy.

Brainy confronts Chameleon Boy on his secret: Reep’s mother is the president of the United Planets. This has roots in previous continuities as Reep was revealed to be the son of RJ Brande’s son (the Legion’s founder and financial backer) in the original version. RJ Brande also served as the President of the United Planets (the reboot if I remember correctly). Bendis may have also taken inspiration form Lyle Norg’s story in the threeboot – he was revealed to be the son of a high-ranking Science Police officer during a SP-Legion confrontation.

Reep says he has a complicated relationship with his mother, but they are on speaking terms. He just wanted to get out from under her reputation.

We turn to Bouncing Boy and Superboy. Chuck reveals his father was trash. Did we know much of Chuck’s parents in the previous continuities.

Jon resumes Computo’s orientation program. We witness the UP President announcing the formation of the Legion of Super-Heroes. Oh, and we discover the President’s name is R.J. Brande. RJ is female instead of male as in the previous continuities, but does gender mean much to a race of shape-shifters?

RJ references previous heroic teams like the Justice League and the Teen Titans. Crav the General Nah and President Omacc of Rimbor aren’t fans of the idea. Is Ommac a reference to OMAC? OMAC, or One Man Army Corps, started out as a Jack Kirby creation. It was not part of the Fourth World/New Gods line but one of his sci-fi flavored ideas like Ben Boxer and Kamandi.

OMAC was radically altered when it was part of the “Infinite Crisis” tie-ins. They were multiple OMAC machine-like beings. Sasha Bordeaux (Bruce Wayne’s former bodyguard) was partially changed into an OMAC. The New 52 had a version of OMAC but I never read it so I don’t know the details.

Does President Omacc or Braal now have connections to OMAC? Do we need another connection to the 20th/21st century?

RJ pitches the idea to Imra, Garth, and Rokk. Garth has no idea who the Justice League is as “They don’t teach any Earth on my planet”.  Rokk fanboys out: “The original Superman and the Batman from Planet Gotham. And there was a Thangarian classic with those awesome wings.” Rokk’s knowledge makes sense as he was a big-time 20th/21st century historian in previous continuities.

Garth also notes his planet “barely teach us to read our first language”. I don’t recall illiteracy being a problem on Winath in previous era. Mostly I recall a twins-majority population and a focus on agriculture.

RJ notes Jon Kent invented the United Planets. Do you know how old Jon would have to be to have formed the United Planets? I understand the lifespan of a Kryptonian varies from the different eras but Jon would be ancient. And why are the Legion allowing Jon to view this? Wouldn’t that be an outside source influencing the course of his life? I seem to recall the Legion not telling Clark of his life in the past so they wouldn’t impact the course of his 20th century life.

Rokk, Imra, and Garth agree to form the Legion. Sgt Blokk of the Science Police walks by and Rokk offers him membership. Blokk agrees. I’m not positive he is aware of what he agrees to.

I love Blok, he’s so sweet, gentle, and endlessly curious about those weirdo organic beings he hangs with.

The trio then travels to Colu to recruit Brainiac 5 (Querl Dox).

 Brainy agrees and reveals his knowledge of the past heroic era impacts the future. I’m not typing out the whole page of dialogue but I will this quote: ��When earth broke into pieces so did its already rebooted and revised history and timeline. Earth could not be more important to us and our survival and yet…it’s all broken. To be translated, interpreted, misinterpreted.”

I could rant on the hot mess that is DC’s continuity but I’ll save that for another post.

Brainy announces Jon Kent is the one to teach them how to hero. Seriously? I understand Bendis was writing the Superman titles at the time but Jon is not at the point in his career where he could be a mentor to other heroes. He’s still a rookie himself

Brainy reveals Jon will be “the one true Superman”  Yeah, that Clark guy? He’s nothing!

Jon is overwhelmed after this info dump. Imra attempts to reassure Jon but is interrupted by Brainy announcing: “All legionnaires! They found the Trident! It’s here. Evacuate immediately!”

Legion Roster Formation Order:

Cosmic Boy (founder)

Saturn Girl (founder)

Lightning Lad (founder)

Blok

Brainiac 5

The big change is Blok joining the group immediately after its formation. In the original continuity, he was a late Silver Age/early Bronze Age addition.

Pros:

Rokk the 20th/21st Century historian-fanboy!

Blokk! More child-like than normal but still a sweet, gentle soul.

Cons:

The heavy focus on “Jon the savior”. Bendis is telling, not showing, why Jon is necessary. The only thing Jon has done so far is knock out Crav – which Mon-El accomplished in a previous issue.

Rokk as uncertain leader. He was useless in the Legion-Science Police showdown. Bendis should read the Threeboot to see how Cosmic Boy handles the Science Police.

The story moves at a snail pace. I know Bendis loves the decompression style but this would have been accomplished in less than two issues in the 1980s.

Paul Levitz’s retro-boot run wasn’t great but all future Legion creators should refer to his classic runs on the Legion to see how he seamlessly interwove a large cast with multiple plots and kept the plots moving at a fast pace. He also had great character interactions and defined personalities for the members of the team.

[theinsanecrayonbox]

some reboot MH thoughts

the Cleo doll leak: i think it looks fairly ok, from the low quality it is. yeah the face looks more like the WtMH reboot with larger eyes maybe. i’m glad to see that her mummy wraps are back to being clothing items rather than molded detailing. but the thing i’m frowny faced at is that she’s in a dress. the cool and unique thing with Cleo was how she was usually in pants/leggings. WtMH made her wear dresses, and it’s a bit of a shame to see that continuing

the Frankie and Clawdeen animation designs: -i like the Frankie. i think the addition of blue in her hair is great. the prosthetic leg is fine, it suits her origin (though one would think you wouldn’t build a simulacrum from mixed media, but semantics). Frankie actually faired the best design wise i think in WtMH, so if they carry elements, it won’t be so bad -Clawdeen...eh...i kinda agree with the thought that she’s too purple. i personally never liked the fully lavender haired versions of her (save FdC because it kinda worked with the grayscale); if it was royal purple maybe...i’m also getting more Howleen vibes from her than Clawdeen. i mean, fully colored hair, the glasses, that’s Howleen...

the Movie promo/teaser: again my “they took Howleen and made her Clawdeen” vibes are there as we see Clawdeen with a skateboard. Clawdeen was athletic, but Howleen was the skater punk more. Draculaura doing magic? uh...ok...please don’t say it’s because she’s Romani tied (because in Dracula he employed them) because that’d be terrible. i don’t really remember anything else, other than there’s Deuce. but overall the whole thing really screamed Descendants at me, just the loo and vibe and tone, and the “edgy magic teens go to high school” thing is what they did, so...

so...are we calling this anything specific? 22 Reboot? just Reboot while the first reboot is WtMH? Threeboot, since this is the 3rd incarnation?

[cometcrystal]

yall: omg the reboot/threeboot/live action movie looks SOOOO BAD they didn’t even TRY!!! this is a disgrace to the original monster high this is so sad they RUINED DEUCE AND DRACULAURA

the preboot:

[strangestcase]

ok it was about time I give you guys my honest opinions on the G3 designs (the cartoon ones) because it's such a mixed bag I really can't just say "it's good" or "it's bad"

CLAWDEEN- the design is super cute but it doesn't say "Clawdeen Wolf" to me. G1 and G2 Clawdeen was a fashionista and I don't like how it seems like G3 Clawdeen isn't. It takes away a lot of her personality, which was very watered down for the movie, so I hope her character arc in the show involves her gaining the confidence the OG Clawdeen was known for. Also the hair should be darker- that much purple feels distracting. Some touches of green wouldn't be bad, also. I love that she's Afrolatina, but hate that her skin is getting lightened left and right. All in all, I can say "good, but not good enough".

DRACULAURA- she's flawless. Ok, not really, but I like her. The new clothes are rather underwhelming compared to the G1 and G2 looks but they're still good. I love the addition of the hat, the split dye, and her being Filipino and plus size, but I miss the pigtails. I also feel like her personality, too, should be explored more in the show. The movie had her go from aloof to friendly and sweet as she opened up to Clawdeen and Frankie, and that was AMAZING. Final verdict: G1 and G2 Draculaura looked great but were a little grating; G3 Draculaura is more likable (to me) but her outfit doesn't go nearly as hard.

FRANKIE- personality and design wise? Frankie is the saving grace of the reboot. Making them a secondary protagonist allows the burden of being relatable to be lifted from their shoulders, and that's how Frankie really starts to shine. The same had happened in G2. Making Frankie a more "dorky nerd" type of character is a great choice. Also: trans! But dear god, I want to kick the Universal execs on the ribs- Frankie isn't the same without green skin, neck bolts, and a big ole square Frankenstein head. That's just... wrong. Still, the design is cute and the clothes are great, but the neons throw me off. Personally, I think Frankie works best with dark colors and goth fashions. So yay to the overall character, nay to the new outfit. It's not too bad, but it isn't something I'd make Frankie wear, at least... not all the time? I think some elements of the G3 outfit can easily be blended in with the G1 outfit, but they're so different, it just clashes.

DEUCE- I miss the red accents and the lack of sleeves, but other than that, Deuce's design really has come around. He's way more snakelike and has a more defined signature color. Plus the glasses not being opaque, while taking away some mystery to his eyes, really make him more expressive. And that jacket? Amazing. As for his personality- I think the movie was trying to develop Deuce as something more than Cleo's boyfriend, but somewhat failed. He's nowhere as punk as G1 Deuce, and a lot of things about him felt like the writers fumbling to make him "cute". I don't know; I hope the cartoon doesn't go that direction and instead allows him to develop in a more natural way.

CLEO- this is the one design that is all in all an improvement. Darker skin? Great. Lots of blue? Great. Golden accents? Great. The makeup? Great. The jewelry? Great. It's all great. My one gripe is that they've made her skin look weirdly metallic which.......... makes me a little scared, ngl. Please tell me it's body glitter. Dark skin Cleo but at what cost... Now as for her personality: I really do hope they don't take her down the same route as the movie in which she was just a mean girl with nothing much to her other than being snooty and eventually befriending Clawdeen. The OG Cleo had MEAT and BACKSTORY to her meanness. They better not leave that out in the cartoon.

HEATH- the design looks terrible, overall, but I'll say that 1) putting his skin on the orange side is a change for the better and 2) having his color palette have cooler tones is innovative. I certainly would not out it on his sweatshirt though. At least movie!Heath had a cohesive design, with mostly warm colors and his varsity jacket acting as balance. I can't say much about movie Heath's personality because, to make a story short, he didn't do much. He was implied to be a troublemaker, but he just showed up for a couple of scenes and that was it. I like that they will lean into exploring his temper but that would have fit Holt more... the same way Clawdeen's arc in the movie would have fit Holt more. Also I want to see how they spin the "son of Hades" thing, because I get the feeling it will be C.A. Cupid 2.0.

LAGOONA- it's been said before and I will say it again: the design is amazing, but it doesn't feel much like Lagoona. Which is strange, since from what little we saw of Lagoona's personality in the movie, she is going to be very much G1 Lagoona with a new coat of paint. Speaking of strange things, they made her be Colombian, as a nod to the original Creature of the Black Lagoon (her dad)- but her new design is more mermaid-ish? As for her clothes, they're great, though I would have gone for a different color, probably darker (the whole of G3 is in dire need of dark colors). Though the main change I'd make is making her skin aqua blue again. Or another shade of pink. This pink color is just wrong. Why not fuchsia? What's wrong with fuchsia?

TORALEI- I'm honestly wondering how they're going to make Toralei being a "conservative" monster work... but from her design, I deduce she'll just be the regular mean Toralei, just now with a hatred of humans sprinkled in. As for her family though? A mystery. Her design isn't bad, and I think it's the best one of them all along with Cleo's, with her new hair being cooler than G1's, but the outfit, while good, is still a downgrade. Purple and white don't work with her. She needs black and orange. And pants. For the love of god give her pants.

HEADLESS HEADMISTRESS- G3 headmistress was a step down from G1. Or a couple hundred steps down. Personality-wise. But design wise, this one is better. That's all I have to say. Love the axe earrings.

OVERALL OPINION: G3 designs aren't bad but they aren't good. Most of them are, while iconic, not THE iconic designs that made Monster High what it is. I don't hate them, but I don't really like them a lot. They need darker colors and edgier fashion. Some changes I consider improvements, but most of them are meh at best. In short: I don't like the reboot, in general, but I like enough things about it to be interested in seeing where it goes, particularly story-wise. There is still room for improvement and I think it would be a disservice to older fans to not listen to them.

[sparklyaxolotlstudent]

So... I have a new headcanon for the threebooth. 

Meet Frankie Gadget. 

[sparklyaxolotlstudent]

Well, I finally got the time to watch the new Monster High Movie. It’s a fun watch, 100% recommend.

But then again, I’m a fan of Disney Channel Original Movies like High School Musical and Descendants, so if you don’t like corny movies about the Power of Friendship and prefer more philosophical and deep movies, this is not for you.

SPOILERS

 Overall, the movie is fun, doesn’t take itself too seriously and it seems the actors were having a blast making it, which is always appreciated. There are a couple of cringe moments, but the new take on the characters is nice, as are some of the jokes that land really well.  

Draculaura: I like the original concept of her being the bubbliest and innocent of the group, sometimes it was a bit too much (as G2 Twyla can attest haha) although it always felt weird that she was the oldest in the group, yet behaved like the baby (Technically Cleo is the oldest, but most of that she was asleep and/or trapped in a cave, so a lack of maturity is not that odd). I like her new aloof personality and how she opened up to the Magic of Friendship™. The wording and behavior of Draculaura make me think she’s actually 16 in G3, but I could be wrong.  

Clawdeen: Unpopular opinion, but I like she has a different personality than the stereotypical “Sassy Black Woman”, and while I will miss her interest in fashion, she seems to be a more developed individual this time around. Her budding relationship with Deuce felt well developed and not forced like many other teen movies are. I liked their vibe together, and really wouldn’t mind seeing the Live Action of them get together, and I wouldn’t mind if they decide to be Better As Friends either.

Frankie: LOVED THEM. My favorite of all, the writers and the actor did a really good job of portraying Frankie as a “newborn” experimenting things for the first time. This limits a bit the plots they can get, but I love how they were Ride or Die immediately for Clawdeen.

Cleo: I think she’s the one who changed the least of all the characters, and I’m a bit annoyed that it took Clawdeen literally saving her life to get character development, but even that didn’t feel as forced as other instances. Her friendship with Lagoona is oddly sweet, as it seems Lagoona is no different than anyone else. And her snarky lines were some of the best lines, like calling Draculaura “Bat Girl”. Also props for mentioning Heka.

Deuce: I like that he is an actual character this time around and not just Cleo’s side piece, which started since G2. And unlike G1, it seems this time around he is not the Big Man on Campus, so even that is character development for Cleo, even if they don’t get back.

The rest: I love how unhinged and deranged Lagoona was. She’s the one who got less development in the whole movie, but outright offering to eat Deuce if Cleo was mad at him made me love her. She’s a true friend right there! Ghoulia was quirky and a bit of a jerk, and I loved how she kept popping out of nowhere, specially at the graveyard. Abbey felt like she would be also a good character to focus, as all her scenes imply that she’s as new to Monster High as Frankie and Clawdeen were, but having much less trouble fitting in. She even seems to have gotten on friendly terms with Heath rather quickly… and speaking of Heath, I thought he was going to be more of a bully jerk this time around, but other than explicitly being a jock, it seems he also retained his personality from G1, and along with everyone else named here, responded to Clawdeen’s plea of help, so he can’t be that bad.

Mr. Komos… I still simp for him, so yeah.

But jokes aside, I think it’s a bit unfair how he was treated by the narrative and all of that. His father was not only expelled of Monster High, but outright banned from Monster Society, for the crime of being part human, and then outright murdered by humans. We don’t get more of his backstory, but I don’t think his childhood was all peaches, and we aren’t even sure if he was abandoned or raised by his human mom… but even if he was raised by his mom… where? It’s pretty obvious his horns are natural, so he wouldn’t have fit with humans, and he didn’t attend Monster High, so he probably has been hiding his whole life. I hope he get a redemption arc in the future (We know Deuce stoning isn’t permanent, as he himself was cured)

And… like… Monsters kind of sucks for that one. Even if his story is biased, we see that both Dracula and Headmistress Bloodgood were part of the team that expelled Mr. Hyde. And it’s also heavily implied that he was friends with Dracula and Clawdeen’s mom (I think?). And none of them even try to help him. A parallel could be made that Clawdeen would have gone the same way (Hunted by human) if Frankie and Draculaura were as shitty friends as the previous generation, but they are actually decent individuals and went looking for her. I hope this is addressed in a future movie (There was a sequel hook, se it’s highly likely we’ll get a second one) because the Headmistress and Dracula getting off as being the “Good Guys” without any consequence on their part of this crisis really left me with a bad feeling, and makes me wonder if the “war with witches” and ban on witchcraft is not some more of their bullshitty bullshit.

PLUS, the fact that Frankie’s brain has the knowledge than monster-human hybrids can have changes while they’re teenagers and become more human means than monsters-humans hybrids used to be more common at a time, enough that one of Frankie’s brain parts retained the knowledge.

Anyway, the music is also a total banger. “True Monster Heart” and “I Can Trust You” are my favorites.

[sparklyaxolotlstudent]

Cursed prediction:

Finnegan in G3 has G1 Gil's personality

[strangestcase]

what do i think of the monster high threeboot? Well… call me Holt Hyde the way I love Frankie!