![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impyIt's been a little bit since we talked about Monster High, yes? Let's fix that.
This is Amanita Nightshade. Her doll popped up a little while ago and fans were mixed. Some thought the doll was pretty, but in no way said "Corpse Flower" to them. Some loved her, some hated her, and some just went "enh."
As a doll, I think she's pretty and will pick her up.
As a character, however...
Going any further will require spoilers, so keep that in mind. Ready?
We have Cleo's Gloom and Bloom Diary which gives you a massive piece of her backstory, like why she's so afraid of the dark. Also, how she became a mummy.
In the interests of not requiring you to go link-hopping, the short(er) version is this:
Cleo's uncle and her father's trusted adviser worked together to try and kill the royal family (Cleo, Nefera, and their parents). The magical wraps that were meant to kill them (even though the advisor said they would keep them safe from harm) only made them sleep... for 1,300 years. Also, they now keep the DeNiles alive and y'know, mummies.
There's an earthquake and Amanita wakes up and is the one to tell the DeNiles about the wraps, the betrayal, and the time lapse. When the occupants of the tomb hear a caravan outside, Amanita manages to slip through one of the very small openings (yay for plant monster?) and escape with the promise to bring help.
She never does.
Amanita's Diary proves that she didn't forget the DeNiles, she just never bothered to tell anyone because it didn't serve any of her needs. It would have cost her nothing to say something but it would have gained her nothing, so she didn't bother.
Fandom reacts in a pretty realistic way: Poor Cleo and Nefera, to lose their mother that way.
Then the webisodes hit:
(There's a part 1 but it's more of a head against the wall thing for the whole Lorna/Lagoona/Gil triangle that NO ONE ASKED FOR)
Annnnnnnnd there it is, in Bad Tomb-mates, played out, only now with mixing other ghouls in to the fall out. Frankie's well meaning but clueless, and Draculaura's been repeatedly shown to be exceptionally self centered (why do writers do this? Start to boil characters down to irritating traits that do not do well under any scrutiny?) and Clawdeen... well, I expect better from her, actually.
Fandom reacts with "WTF? When someone leaves your friend for dead, you don't try and make friends with them and you sure as hell don't try to make THEM be friends!"
and "Amanita's just very, very, very self centered. She didn't mean to do anything bad, she was just caught up in the awesomeness of being Amanita. And isn't being mean intentionally (Nefera/Cleo) worse than being mean unintentionally?"
Shots are fired. Fandom blows up. This is not a good look for our three main ghouls.
I don't have a thing against people liking Amanita if they recognize that she's not meant to be a super sympathetic character. Love your villains, people. Embrace them! But don't try and excuse their awful behavior when there's no excuse, k?
Personally, I think Amanita's antics are worse than most people are claiming. Amanita didn't leave the DeNiles for dead. She knew full well what they were and that the only way they would die would be if they committed suicide. (She's the one who told them about the magic wraps and not to take them off, remember?) So no, she didn't leave them for dead. She left them to go insane, locked in a tomb for however long it took for someone else to find them.*
She had a zillion opportunities to tell Medusa or anyone else in the caravan that there were people locked in a tomb and never did because it wouldn't get her anything. That is what makes it worse. She didn't forget, she just didn't see any point because Amanita doesn't do anything unless there's something in it for her.
So, yes, I'm hoping the MH writers fix things because it's just messed up for F/D/C to be more upset about Amanita stealing Draculaura's stuff (after Cleo warned them, no less) than they were about Amanita ditching Cleo's family.
*- Now, if someone would use this argument to say that Amanita's 'trapped' in her flower form for 1300 years at a shot and therefor didn't realize that it might drive people who aren't used to it nuts... I could buy that. I could also buy that having to go through that more than once drove her nuts, hence the villain antics.
This is Amanita Nightshade. Her doll popped up a little while ago and fans were mixed. Some thought the doll was pretty, but in no way said "Corpse Flower" to them. Some loved her, some hated her, and some just went "enh."
As a doll, I think she's pretty and will pick her up.
As a character, however...
Going any further will require spoilers, so keep that in mind. Ready?
We have Cleo's Gloom and Bloom Diary which gives you a massive piece of her backstory, like why she's so afraid of the dark. Also, how she became a mummy.
In the interests of not requiring you to go link-hopping, the short(er) version is this:
Cleo's uncle and her father's trusted adviser worked together to try and kill the royal family (Cleo, Nefera, and their parents). The magical wraps that were meant to kill them (even though the advisor said they would keep them safe from harm) only made them sleep... for 1,300 years. Also, they now keep the DeNiles alive and y'know, mummies.
There's an earthquake and Amanita wakes up and is the one to tell the DeNiles about the wraps, the betrayal, and the time lapse. When the occupants of the tomb hear a caravan outside, Amanita manages to slip through one of the very small openings (yay for plant monster?) and escape with the promise to bring help.
She never does.
Amanita's Diary proves that she didn't forget the DeNiles, she just never bothered to tell anyone because it didn't serve any of her needs. It would have cost her nothing to say something but it would have gained her nothing, so she didn't bother.
Fandom reacts in a pretty realistic way: Poor Cleo and Nefera, to lose their mother that way.
Then the webisodes hit:
(There's a part 1 but it's more of a head against the wall thing for the whole Lorna/Lagoona/Gil triangle that NO ONE ASKED FOR)
Annnnnnnnd there it is, in Bad Tomb-mates, played out, only now with mixing other ghouls in to the fall out. Frankie's well meaning but clueless, and Draculaura's been repeatedly shown to be exceptionally self centered (why do writers do this? Start to boil characters down to irritating traits that do not do well under any scrutiny?) and Clawdeen... well, I expect better from her, actually.
Fandom reacts with "WTF? When someone leaves your friend for dead, you don't try and make friends with them and you sure as hell don't try to make THEM be friends!"
and "Amanita's just very, very, very self centered. She didn't mean to do anything bad, she was just caught up in the awesomeness of being Amanita. And isn't being mean intentionally (Nefera/Cleo) worse than being mean unintentionally?"
Shots are fired. Fandom blows up. This is not a good look for our three main ghouls.
I don't have a thing against people liking Amanita if they recognize that she's not meant to be a super sympathetic character. Love your villains, people. Embrace them! But don't try and excuse their awful behavior when there's no excuse, k?
Personally, I think Amanita's antics are worse than most people are claiming. Amanita didn't leave the DeNiles for dead. She knew full well what they were and that the only way they would die would be if they committed suicide. (She's the one who told them about the magic wraps and not to take them off, remember?) So no, she didn't leave them for dead. She left them to go insane, locked in a tomb for however long it took for someone else to find them.*
She had a zillion opportunities to tell Medusa or anyone else in the caravan that there were people locked in a tomb and never did because it wouldn't get her anything. That is what makes it worse. She didn't forget, she just didn't see any point because Amanita doesn't do anything unless there's something in it for her.
So, yes, I'm hoping the MH writers fix things because it's just messed up for F/D/C to be more upset about Amanita stealing Draculaura's stuff (after Cleo warned them, no less) than they were about Amanita ditching Cleo's family.
*- Now, if someone would use this argument to say that Amanita's 'trapped' in her flower form for 1300 years at a shot and therefor didn't realize that it might drive people who aren't used to it nuts... I could buy that. I could also buy that having to go through that more than once drove her nuts, hence the villain antics.