I Was Bored/sleepy At Work, Needed To Stay Awake, And Felt Edgy, So I Drew Some Sketches Based On Once

I was bored/sleepy at work, needed to stay awake, and felt edgy, so I drew some sketches based on Once Bitten, Twice Dead. Major spoilers ahead, in both the drawings and the descriptions/explanations. Proceed at your own risk.

Yeah, you can tell I'm excited for Halloween. ^^"

All drawings are completely freehand and pen-based. No rough pencil drafts, no opportunity to erase if I made a mistake. The only pen used was my awesome but cheap 10-color pen I got at a museum a few years ago.

Also, mild to moderate content warning for Draculaura: blood

Draculaura - The Ghoul at the Crossroad

After Dracula's death due to medical negligence, Draculaura begins to lose her vampiric traits. Her fangs slowly dull into normal canine teeth. Garlic and sunlight no longer hurt her. Her skin loses its pinkish pallor. She gains dark circles under her eyes as her circadian rhythm shifts from nocturnal to diurnal. She is losing her monster self...but in a way, it doesn't bother her. Her mother was human; maybe this is just a sign that she should follow in her mother's footsteps and give humanity a try.

But her body is screaming out for blood. Her eyes turn a ravenous red as she finds herself unable to stop staring at the neck of Poe, a bubbly normie boy she meets at a cemetery. As tensions rise at Monster High, and as time until her full transformation into a human runs out, she must pick her path.

Poe survives, but the two may never cross paths again.

Frankie - The Ghoul Who Wants to Fix Everything

Frankie just wants everyone to be happy. She smothers Draculaura with affection in an attempt to alleviate the latter's grief. She wishes everyone--monsters and normies, students and faculty, every group in the student body--could just set aside their differences and stop fighting.

But kind is not always repaid in kind. For all her well wishes, she is kidnapped during a break-in and held for ransom by a group of anti-monster extremists. Her favorite group of ghouls are able to rescue her, but her days with her captors are long and terrifying.

Imagine if she hadn't been so lucky.

Clawdeen and Lagoona - The Ghouls in the Crossfire

Clawdeen and Lagoona don't want to cause any trouble. They just want to hang out with their friends, live their lives, and work toward achieving their greatest dreams. A future fashion designer and an aspiring world-class athlete... What an ambitious duo.

But the chaos at Monster High will not tolerate any bystanders. Clawdeen is on the front lines of a social battle with Cleo, practically snarling as she watches the mummy mimic her father's arrogance. As for Lagoona? She is scared out of her wits after being burned in the swimming pool, even thinking of transferring elsewhere.

You know things are bad when these two feel restless.

Deuce and Cleo - The Couple Who Lost Their Way

Maybe Monster High's most famous couple isn't so dynastic. Cleo finds herself torn between expressing her honest self and supporting her father's bid for Dracula's spot on the school board. Her desire for her father's affection wins out, and she breaks off from Deuce to seal the deal.

Deuce holds stone-firm in his opposition to Ramses, but he slithers away heartbroken and seeks comfort from the rest of the crew. He still loves Cleo and wants the best for her...but is this for the best?

Teenage love is as complex as it is volatile.

Ghoulia - The Invisible Backbone

As the chaos ensues, Ghoulia commits herself to researching just what is going on with Draculaura; we know that she's becoming human, but why? And why is the school falling apart at the same time? It takes a while, but with her dedication and bright mind, she is able to discover the link between these events and a possible way to save everyone.

Ghoulia may be quiet and understated, but without her, all of monsterkind could have been placed in grave danger.

It's that time of the year again :D

@autismswagreblogs

Round 2 Side A

I know Marcy is going to win at this rate, but I just want to give a shoutout to my boy Sig. He's great, especially in that one bonus chapter of Puyo Puyo Tetris.

You know the one. That one, with Schezo. Sig's line delivery is just perfect.

Round 1 Part 2

Update: I've already reached Book #4 (Back and Deader Than Ever). I think I can safely say that this book series is mostly mindless fun.

Pros:

Secondary plot threads like the ghouls' weekly spa days are honestly pretty cute.

The monsters (or "R.A.D.s") feel reasonably in-character and well-written most of the time.

The ways each monster type has to blend in with normie society are consistent, relevant, creative at times, and generally well-done.

Candace is a bit more than the stereotypical "dumb blonde." Not that much, since she's a secondary character at most, but enough to make her more fun than annoying.

We stan Brett as our resident monster-lover. The dude legitimately finds bolts and green skin attractive.

Jackson and Holt ("D.J.") exist and are important. This is sadly not consistent in most Monster High media.

Sirens are bird women.

The foreshadowing leading up to Melody's big plot twist is present as early as the first book. I like that.

The Wolfs' monthly transformation and pre-transition symptoms (especially the appetite and irritability) speak to me as a PMS-haver. I think that's what Harrison was going for, so...yeah. Good job.

Cons:

Melody is basically the "Not Like Other Girls" female YA protagonist. Dark hair, frumpy clothes, was ostracized for her appearance in the past, described as effortlessly pretty in the present, quiet until she needs to deliver some plot-relevant sass, secretly "special"... Yeesh.

Bekka's writing takes a hard turn for the cartoonish after the first book.

So many outdated pop culture references. So many.

Holt being flirty? Reasonable, given his characterization in other places. Him being an outright pervert at points? Really freaking weird.

An odd amount of revenge-kissing and other petty relationship stuff

Not enough Lagoona. The higher-ups really did hate her from the beginning. :p

About to read the first Monster High YA novel by Lisi Harrison. I had #2-4 when I was younger, and frankly, I don't remember much. Wish me luck.

I got my first Classic Mode 9.9 last night!

This was Peach's route. I had to use a ticket to continue with Master Hand and Crazy Hand, but thankfully, Bowser got me to 9.9 beforehand. King K. Rool was also generous enough to die to a lucky down-B Bob-Omb.

I'm still struggling with Daisy's route; I've only made it to 9.8. Zelda and Lucina are generally fine, but it's a rollercoaster after that. Rosalina is either super annoying, juggling me like there's no tomorrow, or I'm able to KO her in 30 seconds using the walk-off. I don't know how to manage Corrin's range yet, so she still scares me, but I can gimmick her with Toad and items. The Miis are a 50/50, either dying in rapid succession or ganging up on me with hive mind levels of coordination. And if I make it past the Miis with an intensity of 9.0 or higher, Peach goes sicko mode and does crazy combos that I don't even know how to do yet.

I'll get there. Eventually. I hope.

I'll probably take a break and go for the Palutena and Snake achievements in the meantime. They have lax difficulty requirements, so they shouldn't be too bad (even though I've never played as them).