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What the heck?! I wrote my reviews but they aren't here... dang. I must not have published them.

Overall I really wanted something more Haute couture. Not every challenge has to tell a story. This is a fashion competition after all, not Runway.

My reviews are what can be posted for the critique.

Pianette (Jiang Li)
6/10
I want to be able to see her dress more. All the details get blended together and lost in the crowded background.

elphiethesane (Ophelia)
7/10
Happy to see more colors than what is found in the watermeat.
The outfit is fine. It's well balanced. Not loving the green tea on her head.

sufjan stebens (Robin)
5/10
Very clown-like outfit from the big bow and the large sleeves to the striped stockings. Way too much blue. Also, never cover the outfit with background details. This is a competition based on the outfit, not the story.

RENstrawberry (Rae)
8/10
A bit too much blue but the earrings were a great idea.

The Dread Wolf (Isabelle)
7/10
Well balanced but I hate those boot sneakers. Nice choice to focus on the green and orange instead of blue.

Pianette (Jiang Li)
7/10
Wow that is one of the most stunning backgrounds, I can't believe I haven't come across the dolphins before. This whole thing is kind of beyond beautiful, especially for focusing on the watermeat. Jiang Li looks every bit like the protector she was intended to be. The watermeat does stand out a bit, but it's mostly just because of the different pixelization style I think and the eyes. But I love this enough that I don't really care.

This is just beautiful. The watermeat doesn't super fit in as well as I might like to see, but it is far from bad and mostly blends into the back.

elphiethesane (Ophelia)
9/10
I love this one. I love it with the watermeat, and would love it without. Having Ophelia holding a bunch of other plushies makes the watermeat blend in more. The chosen color scheme is also super flattering on Ophelia. It's all blended together well. The blue in the skirt ties in to the watermeat, but does look just a little bit odd.

I can't believe you did this in such a short period of time. This looks great, and the addition of other plush animals really helps the watermeat feel like it belongs.

sufjan stebens (Robin)
4/10
I like the idea of a ghost girl with her toy, but I just don't...don't really like this. It is a little weird to have the fog at the bottom too, makes her just kind of disappear. And I wish there was something to make the watermeat feel more connected. The one thing I love is the story behind why the watermeat looks the way it does.

Love the story you came up with behind the watermeat, though it doesn't really feel connected to Robin. The fog also erases a bit more of her legs than I think it should.

RENstrawberry (Rae)
8/10
I really like the color composition of this entry. It really helped blend the watermeat into the rest of the look, and I loved the story she had in her description. It made it make sense to be on her head. I like the earrings opposing the eyes of the watermeat, though they do stand out a bit. The movement of the pose was great.

The color composition and lighting employed here really helped put your entry into the next level. Things are layered well, and has a great sense of movement.

The Dread Wolf (Isabelle)
6/10
The watermeat stands out a bit, but with the description it really makes sense to have it kind of emphasized. I like all the orange and green, it is layered really well together, though her hand poses disappear a bit. The backdrop also feels exactly like that, a backdrop at a photo studio rather than a background that Isabelle is actually present in.

You paired the orange and green together well, and ties in well to the watermeat eyes. The black border around the background makes it look more like a photo shop back drop rather than a convention Isabelle is at.

Poor Sufjan. They were usually in the top 25% but just never broke through to win a round.

I am obviously biased towards Ren winning this one. I feel like they really sold the look and put a lot of thought into it. I like the idea behind it moreso than a girl who is obsessed with plushies. Im not sold on the monster idea just because she slapped on a tail and horns.
Really, I just prefer the dynamic pose over the static one.

I agree that Ren deserves some recognition.

Hey, I noticed today is the last day to enter the semi-final but it looks like neither elphie nor ren has entered yet.

Its not the end of the day yet so I dont know what will happen but have they reached out to you?

Challenge 12: Welcome to the Four Seasons

I don't have a lot of time to do this, so I apologize if I don't respond quickly to any replies to this.

Pianette:
Pros: I got fall from this right away. The colors are classics. I appreciate the attempt to balance the avatar with the foxes on one side and the headpiece on the other. I think it has a nice, spooky-season energy.
Cons: There is a lot going on with the headpiece and only about half of it works. This avatar suffers from any-model syndrome. I could put any model in it and the effect would be the same, Jiang Li is not utilized here. The clothes are wearing her. Also, seasons are one of those themes where a background is basically free assistance. Not using a fall bg is like not using the free space on a bingo card.

Dread Wolf:
Pros: I actually like the outfit (as in the top and bottom styles), and the sunglasses almost feel like a must for summer. I picked up on the summer imagery after a moment, though it did take some reasoning. I really like the dock, I think the background was the best choice in the look.
Cons: I couldn't tell if this was spring or summer at first because the colors are very bright and almost pastel, and the flower headpiece and chick-yellow hairband threw me off. If the background was easter eggs in the grass instead of a dock, I'd have bought it as spring. Her other arm got lost in her hair or behind her back. Also the backpack and floating water bottle (?) look very strange and add nothing to the look. Those long socks look hot for summer. Silhouette is once again not doing anything for the model. That hair is so big it has to be balanced by bottom items or a wider stance. It has to be.

Elphie:
Pros: The look is very pretty and I feel like it actually suits the model. I love the colors and feel like if more time had been put into the look it could evoke spring without relying on the typical use of greens/trees.
Cons: Sadly the proper time was not applied and without some flowers in the background or a river or any scene to set us up, this just says "cliche fairy" more than spring by far.

REN:
Pros: That background is stunning, the colors work with Rae to a T, and I dig the fluffy cape so much! Obviously says winter.
Cons: I feel like winter is the easiest season to do on Gaia because there are so many shades of blue. That said, royal icing is so over used for winter looks it's hard not to yawn a little. I also loathe that the gloves match everything else because Rae's head looks like it is floating. REN is running into the same problem as Pia, the model scarcely matters because she is drowning in clothes. More forgivable because it's winter? Sure, but I'm not sure if the skill is better or if it's just luck of the draw. I wish they had gone all in and put a big fuzzy hat on too so I could hand-wave the over-bulk.


Final thoughts: Some nice elements to all the looks, but overall I had hoped for more effort in the semi-finals. But at the same time I know this cycle has been more lackluster, and I'm partially responsible for that since the pacing of judging and such has lulled. I feel like the energy has gone out a bit and it reflects on the entries.

Anyway, ranting aside, honestly I'm really torn here. I feel like the winner should be either Ren or Pia because they clearly applied some effort to layering and, even when cliche, they tried to bring their season home for us. I don't really feel like one was especially better than the other, so I'm grateful for multiple judges. sweatdrop

On the other end, Dread and Elphie were very weak this round. Elphie's entire look is wholly unfinished, while Dread's is there but borderline a mess.

IF this were not the semi-finals, I would say Elphie should go home. An unfinished look is basically no look at all. However, Dread's outfit is not good. And taking the whole competition into account, I would feel remiss to send Elphie, who has been a top contender all cycle, home in place of someone whose looks have been hot-and-cold all cycle.

Dread is a good player, but my vote is that this is their last round.

Pianette
Over all I love the creativity of turning the models into the Scooby Doo crew and dressing them up fancy. I wouldn't have thought to do that in a million years. And it was pretty clear who each of the models was supposed to be, which is always the goal if you're going to tackle something like that. The use of the same background was a nice little note to help ground the looks to all be from the same place, as well as the general rule of thumb to have a crown on the head and a larger bottom. However some of these looks just really don't work for me, which I'll get into down below, and it feels...lacking. As long as was given for the finale, and knowing what incredibly strong looks Pianette can do, I expected more.

Jiang Li; Jiang Li is a beautiful model, and Velma suits her well. She can carry glasses without looking awkward, and this color scheme is great on her. Feels a bit familiar, we've seen a similar look on her before, but it isn't exactly the same by any means. I'm not sure I like the white points that fall behind the skirt, there isn't enough detail to them for them to be a benefit beyond drawing some white to that area, which I don't know if that was needed. This is probably the most cohesive look, which is ideal for the main model.
Jessica; ...this is a weird look, but considering it is Shaggy that isn't the worst thing. The proportions are odd. The glowing legs and dark skirt makes for some weird angles. Also not sure the glasses were needed? I dunno. I see where she was going with this, I guess, but just doesn't really work out well.
Lucia; Good choice for Fred, and I like that Pianette took him being a guy into consideration and kept a very masculine energy for this look. The crown is a bit sassy which is great for Fred, and I love how the scarf ties in to his signature ascot as well as flows into Jiang Li's orange scheme. I really love the colors of this one, especially the leg/boot/skirt combination works for me. While Jiang Li is probably the stronger look technically, this one is my favourite of the collection.
Abby; This is Scooby. I know brown is a hard color, but this many shades of brown and black doesn't really work for me - especially at this point - and it looks messy. The arms get weirder the longer I look at it. The neck ruffle was a good way to tie in Scooby's collar. Not sure the glasses were needed, though I understand them for the cohesion of the collection. I feel like there are better ear items, but I like that she added an ear headband and the crown.
Robin; Hands down this is my least favourite. I don't see Robin as Daphne, at all. Like I get why she chose Abby for Scooby because she has the most Scooby coloring and tones. But I 10000000% would have switched Robin and Abby for these roles. Robin should have been Scooby, would have looked more dynamic, and Abby would have made a better Daphne I think. The headband and hair combo isn't my favourite here, crown feels like an out of place choice too. Like iconic Daphne elements are there, but it just...it just isn't working for me.

Final score; 44/60


elphiethesane
Oh good god, the description is so freaking long. It's good and detailed, and I like it, but it is long. The backgrounds work well and help to tie everything together without being the exact same background each time. This is a very cohesive collection though, at first glance you can tell they go together and that they come from the same designer.

Ophelia; This is a stunning look. Elphie has shown time and time again that she knows how to make Ophelia look amazing, but this is a great look that I think could translate to multiple models and I like that too. This is a great look for textures and layers without looking heavy.
Jen; I get why the choices made were made, but it just doesn't have the same punch as some of the other looks. Especially when Ophelia and Bryce are so strong, have some dynamic blending of colors, Jen just looks lackluster. There are a lot of catharsis items out there that could have been used to break it up a little even, and a lot of items and colors that compliment catharsis that could have added an edge. I like the look, just..feels like more could be done, especially for the finale.
Bryce; This is a great look for Bryce, and a great take on both Western and unconventional red carpet wear. The colors are great on her, it's really just a great look.
Ginny; The sheer see through skirt is weirding me out, especially paired with the background and legs are it is. I think part of it is having so much dark up top and light down below. I get where she was going with the skirt though, and like her thought process of a short skirt to be an unconventional balance of Bryce.
Uma; So simple, so few items. Which isn't the worst thing, but again, when some of the other looks are layered so well and constructed so entirely, it leaves her feeling lacking. But damn if this isn't a good style for Uma. I go back and forth on the hat.

Final score; 47/60