Breezy Melodies and Blossom Silhouettes

 Hello again to the residents of Miraland! Pardon my lateness to this post, things were unexpectedly draining for me in real life. But I am back to cover the last 1.2 banners! Which I've come to definitely learn that you really never know what to expect from 4 star banners with their lore, so here goes nothing!

 

Let's start with Breezy Melodies' Verdant Melodies, which I didn't know this outfit had a cute little effect to it! I love that when you pick up particular flowers the handheld bouquet will change, that's really cute. I did look into the lore for this outfit and I feel... a bit mixed about it, it feels along the usual line of the thought that you certainly wouldn't harm anything to call it canon, but it also has no real spoken canon backing. 

But honestly describing the experience that this woman in the story is going over here, you could say this is Nikki or not if you wanted to. But I will say in favor of the idea of Nikki, there is a part of the lore in the secondary and tertiary outfits that speaks of missing others, and reunions with them. Which does lead me to a question I've often had about Nikki...how much does she miss her home?

Infinity Nikki as a whole is built to be cozy and sweet, it's not really built to make us always stop and think about the bigger picture. 

But if you read the lore to Verdant Melodies: Farewell and Verdant Melodies: Journey's End... would she feel this way about it, you think? We unfortunately have no way of knowing, and in truth we may never know. Infinity Nikki's story currently feels like it's not built to look back on how Nikki got here to begin with, despite how annoying that fact is. But I do enjoy the idea of this outfit existing in Nikki's wardrobe, for the emotional implications it has for her.

Sadly this doesn't really give it much for points because this is starting to get away from my by the book rules, and more getting into just plain vibes. But I feel it's worth talking about regardless.

 

Ranking: 1.5 / 5

-  Holds no story connection to Nikki at this time 

~ You could say the lore relates to her vaguely if you wanted to

I'm a bit curious about Breezy Melodies' Deep Echoes now in light of that previous realization, but as we start with Sweet Metal, I find myself coming up short on what to say. It's inspired by rock music, with Tan Youyou and Dada in the comments having an appreciation for it. That's about it honestly.

Ranking: 1 / 5

-  Holds no story connection to Nikki

 Next up we have Bug Commander, which again doesn't really share much for thoughts. Dada and Marques Jr. comment about styling with it and its fabric.

Ranking: 1 / 5

-  Holds no story connection to Nikki

 Now for the last Deep Echoes piece for Breezy Melodies, we have Midday Sun... which is actually a little like Dawn's First Light in terms of tone. The top's description is as follows: Outstretch your arms, face the sun in the sky, and feel its intense and scorching light.

Honestly I don't find that to be a farfetched thing for Nikki to use for an outfit piece description, if she hypothetically made this. Which there could be a vague hint at that, the same way there was for Dawn's First Light.

 Now Nonoy not really being up to date with fashion kind of checks out either way, but this could vaguely hint at a way of styling clothes that Nikki is bringing to Miraland. I sadly don't feel like looking at every npc in Florawish to make sure none of them have similar buttons, I kinda doubt they do and even if they did; I don't think I have the computing power to load that kind of detail. If someone else wants to confirm if they do or don't by all means!

 I'll give it a couple points for story possibility, but it doesn't have much.

Ranking: 1.5 / 5

- Has no outward lore connection to Nikki, but you could read into it like it does.

 Next we move on to Blossom Silhouettes' Whispers of Bliss, another outfit that I thought had no ability. But it turns out it has a basket version of the same function Verdant Melodies has! Really cute, though I'm a bit divided on its lore. 

 Strange phrasing here and there, like it can't make up its mind whether the wearer/creator is an artist or a writer. I am willing to forgive this though and give it points for not having lore that contradicts Nikki or just doesn't sound like her... at first.

I mean even the comments could be seen as talking to Nikki, and the first recolor?

 

 Get a load of the pink hair on Whispers of Bliss: Sweetness! Even if it's a small detail I always love when Nikki's pink hair comes back officially; even if this is a little darker.

 

 However it's here where things go downhill I'm afraid, because the descriptions start getting more specific. Could this experience still relate back to Nikki somehow? 

Unfortunately it appears the verdict is likely no. The last glow up version is further descriptions like this, and honestly I'm cheering for these ladies and their close relationship, whatever sort of relationship it is. But the lore for the other recolors recontextualizes the first outfit, sadly seemingly removing it from Nikki lore-wise as it's not like she is this artist in particular. She is an artist, but not this one.

One detail that is in its favor though, is the fact that Whispers of Bliss did get another one of those cute little comics. It shows Nikki directly using the outfit and is a scenario that does make sense! So in that regard, you could totally call it canon if you wanted to.

Ranking: 2.5 / 5

-  Doesn't have enough story connection to Nikki at this time

~ Has outside content that is maybe canon

Also shown here: my mood lately, me too girl!

Let's move on to Blossom Silhouettes' Deep Echoes, starting with Fluttering Wings. The description maybe relates it to the Pearl Wings butterfly? Honestly the real question about this piece in the comments.
 

Who is Bebe talking to here? It sounds like maybe she's talking to someone or talking to herself I suppose. I am willing to give this a point for the fact I could very easily see this as her talking to Nikki though.

Ranking: 1.5 / 5

~ Holds connection to Nikki if you want to view it that way

 Next we move on to Joyful Adornment, which is...certainly interesting in concept. The description goes like this: "Add a hint of bells to the bubbly symphony, infusing extra joy into the hearts of the charming critters!"

 Then the comments bring in...Timis suddenly! The mention of bubbles and short skirts almost makes this sound like a bonus piece for Bubbly Voyage to me. If I ever get it I may have to see how the pieces work together, and I may give this a vague lore pass for the moment. We have no evidence at the moment of anyone else using Bubbly Voyage, so...is it just a Nikki outfit? Maybe this isn't really even meant to be read into that way, but I'm doing it!

Ranking: 1.5 / 5 

 ~ Holds connection to Nikki if you want to view it that way

 Sadly we now close out this post on a bit of a letdown, as Well Hydrated is just a simple water bottle with no connection at all. The comments introduce lore about the Daisy Inn seeing a fisherman fainted outside the inn once, and how because of that they always keep water on hand for them now. But that has no relevancy to our girl I'm afraid.

Ranking: 1 / 5

- Holds no story connection to Nikki

With that we depart from 1.2 banners! Again sorry for my lateness on this one, I'm going to try to catch up in terms of scheduling here. I do love this page and love rambling about my thoughts so, I intend to keep going! Will see you all at the end of the week at the latest!

Skyward Bouquets and Fireworks Prelude

 Hello there again residents of Miraland! Pardon the late post, I wasn't feeling so great last week so I wasn't in the best state to ramble about my thoughts here. But now finally we can get to the Firework Isles' based Resonance Banners! Which I'm going to be honest, this is where I go oof because this is where my personal rule system takes a hit again. To be fair I hadn't fully established these rules when the Firework Isles came out, I was still ironing them out. But if you've played the Firework Isles' quests and saw my earlier screenshot of the glow up menu, I don't blame you if you kinda raised an eyebrow at me. Let's go ahead and address the very cute balloons and confetti-based elephant in the room.

So, here we go with Fireworks Prelude's Dance Till Dawn. In which its canonically fails my rules on two major fronts, right out of the gate. I really don't even need to go over any specific details, because canon laid out the details to this outfit already! Dance Till Dawn was designed by the historical stylist Dexter, and when Nikki receives it as a gift it's basically for only a minute from Scintillada. He didn't plan on giving Nikki a gift for her help in inspiring Marques Jr., but she was fully immersed in the story he was telling. I don't blame him for the fact he felt like he had to do something for her, especially with all the assistance she was offering completely on the spot!

 BUT MAN, HER FACE HERE BROKE MY HEART.

That was the biggest persuasion for me to change direction on what I would've probably done during these Resonance Banners. You just can't set her looking like she's having the time of her life in front of me, and then take it away; showing Nikki being heartbroken about the fact it's gone. I am too invested in this bubblegum pink barbie girl to let this stand. At the time I regarded both of the 5 star banner outfits as equally canon seeming due to the fact they're both shown on screen, but in hindsight Stardust Flare actually stands out stronger in the story. Dance Till Dawn faded, there's no reason to believe that Nikki gets it back. Even if that means this face remains to be how she feels about the matter. 

 There is one curiosity I discovered though when reading through Dance Till Dawn's lore (which is all Dexter themed honestly), and it's that Dance Till Dawn: Nightlight, has its own art?

 Posted on the official twitter account, Dance Till Dawn: Nightlight ends up having a small point of canonicity to it because of this. Crazy that even Momo's Cloak: Confetti gets points for canonicity here! I hadn't seen him with any of the 5 star cloaks so far outside of usual promotion images and videos. This even made me backtrack to make sure I hadn't missed anything in terms of the outfits and recolors I've gone over so far, which as far as I can tell I haven't? Though reader if you know of some official art that has gone unnoticed to me do share it!

Honestly the only thing that makes this almost insult to injury to me, is that Dance Till Dawn is one of the outfits that I got very early in terms of pulls on the banner. So I don't own this recolor, when for a lot of my banner goals since the Firework Season, I've been getting at least the first recolor. Save for one outfit, we'll get there when we get there.

 So man. Not Nikki designed, not actually given, and the only point of canonicity Dance Till Dawn gets is only for its first recolor. Much like Wings of Wishes' story justification you could say that Scintillada perhaps gives Nikki the full outfit at some point permanently, but that's not shown on screen, of course.

 

Ranking: 1.5 / 5 

- Fades away quickly in canon on screen, Nikki is not shown being able to keep it.

~ Curiously the first recolor has official art.

Hi out there if you spotted my hourglass during the Revelry Season here!

 

Next up we have Fireworks Prelude's associated 4 star, Enduring Bond. Which to be honest I didn't pay close attention to the lore of up until I was doing this post, which had me do a little reading into 'The Guard and the Mysterious Stranger' styling challenges. I didn't have very leveled up outfits going into the Firework Season, so I didn't get to finish all of these challenges before the season was up. So this was a good prompt to finally go and finish those! Closing out on Dance Till Dawn actually felt very fitting no less, even if it's an outfit for Dexter, not Safire or Calida. 

Either way I enjoy that Enduring Bond is an outfit that seems to represent Calida, especially her connection with Safire. Not to read too much into things but also like... they were written a bit like 'gal pals', right? Just gals being pals, no romantic tension here, when practically the climax of the styling challenge was a romantic defined one. They read like a lesbian Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon to me, which is cute.

But despite the sweet story and fun Whimsicality of spawning cards, Nikki is never shown with this outfit in the story whatsoever. So you know the drill.

 Ranking: 1 / 5

- Holds no story connection to Nikki at this time

Was neat to have a real excuse to take a photo with it though, and nice to learn they fixed the glitch that made it spawn cards forever. 

 With this we move into Skyward Bouquets' Stardust Flare, the (not to be punny) infinitely more canon outfit than Dance Till Dawn. Oof it pains me to say that, not even because I don't like Stardust Flare, quite the contrary! I was sad that I just didn't have the means to do both banners at the time. The thing that makes me sad is just the fact that Dance Till Dawn had a real place in the storyline for the Firework Season, while Stardust Flare appears for just a moment at the end. It has the more proper place in Nikki's wardrobe though, as I said Dance Till Dawn fades canonically; Stardust Flare is never shown fading away on screen or is mentioned to have done so. It exists in Nikki's wardrobe just as much as Starfall Radiance, she gets it as she touches the cooled firework spark and you could read that as her inspiration for the outfit.

 Though the lore does contradict this interpretation a bit, potentially. As most of the versions of Stardust Flare include details that relate back to Miraland's creator of the firework, Vita's ancestor, Ginata. You could read this as Nikki potentially just feeling really inspired as a result of Ginata's (and potentially Vita's) work if you wanted to though really. Where the outfit isn't really shown anywhere besides with Nikki, and it's not implied to belong to another character outside of the compendium, I think it's just safe to call this outfit canon unless something contradicts this later. 

  Ranking: 5 / 5

 + Directly shown on Nikki in an in-game cutscene

~ The compendium lore mostly relates it to Ginata, but for now I won't dock it any points for that.

 

 Lastly for today where Enduring Bond was based on Calida, Midnight Vigil is based on Safire. I didn't even know this until today but the lore spells it out very clearly, she must've really loved floofs with the way this outfit's ability works. They were quite a pair those two honestly, comparing these two outfits to one another. 

That being said I wish I had more to say, Nikki is never shown using Midnight Vigil during the Firework Season and its compendium lore talks about a particular person. That steers it away from Nikki very easily without question.

Ranking: 1 / 5

-  Holds no story connection to Nikki at this time

Girl don't sic your floof on me it's not my fault it's not canon!

 
With that though I draw this post to a close, feeling it's a bit funny that so far the two 5/5 ranked outfits are both 'star' titled / themed. Fitting for Nikki I suppose! Though now I need Skyward Bouquets to come back so I can get the dress properly this time, especially where I abandoned what was actually more canon in favor of a dress that just plain makes Nikki happy. I honestly don't have any regrets, I love Dance Till Dawn and I love being able to see Nikki's cute animations with it. But it does make me undeniably long now for getting the canon dress that I skipped before, cause that's just how I play!

While it may not have a high ranking despite its extra small point for art, I'm not ending this post without prompting you all to look at her cute animation when you open the outfit in the wardrobe.

In the words of JelloApocalypse's pokemon movies video: SHE IS SO CUTE LET HER BE HAPPY.

See you in Miraland! We'll cover the next 1.2 banners this Friday. 

Celestial Wishes, Starlit Wishfin, and Ribbon Reverie

 Hello again to the residents of Miraland! Ready to take a trip back to the Wish Festival? Admittedly I'm a little intimidated by how much there will be to go over, we'll see if we can get through all of it fast.

 We might as well start with the big name outfit of the Shooting Star Season, Wings of Wishes. My first actual 5 star outfit no less! I went all out getting this thing even as my rules were starting to kind of settle in, because I felt like it had decent justification. Wings of Wishes isn't just a pretty outfit for the sake of it, confirmed in-universe it's an outfit used to operate the Grand Crane. What with Nikki kind of having easy access to the Dream Warehouse now I felt like it would just make sense for her to have this outfit! 

But the thing that I was ignoring at the time, is the fact that you canonically give this outfit back to the faewish sprite that lets you borrow it. There's no magical moment involving it, you just borrow Wings of Wishes and that's all. I feel like I can see a narrative in which Nonoy gives a copy of the outfit to Nikki, but just because the narrative seems likely, doesn't make it canon. So it's time for me to do a bit more reading, to see if it's more justified than I thought, or if it really gets knocked further down in terms of canonicity to Nikki's wardrobe.

The verdict after reading? It's unfortunately more vague than I would like.

 

Both the first version of the outfit and the makeup refer to a nameless 'she', which could refer very easily to Nikki. I think it seems especially likely with the makeup where she's the one actively using it here, but with the outfit? No way to know, it could just as likely be related to Nonoy, as looking after the Dream Warehouse is her job more than it is Nikki's. 

The rest of the outfit versions give no further hints either, they talk mostly about the history of the Dream Warehouse and how wishes are handled. I kind of knew this outcome was coming but it is still a little sad.

 Ranking: 2.5 / 5

- Nothing in lore suggests she keeps this outfit after she borrows it during the Wish Festival briefly

~ Decent story justification to suggest she could've eventually gotten a copy, but this is not shown in-game

 Honestly such a crazy contrast to Celestial Wishes' associated 4 star, Starfall Radiance. Which I have no problem believing to be an outfit that Nikki 100% has in canon. When everyone is celebrating the Wish Festival at the Dream Warehouse, it seems like the faewish sprites grant Nikki this outfit magically. She's never seen having to give it back, and she's shown with it outright on screen. Honestly I don't even need any more justification than that, but lets take a look anyway for funsies.

 

 Sadly still pretty vague, this could be about anyone choosing to wear the outfit. 

Even Dada makes it a little unclear about if this outfit is specific to Nikki, or if anyone can wear it and summon shooting stars. 

Oh well, even if it's unclear we still have a whole cutscene justification and that's more than enough to me.

 Ranking: 5 / 5

+ Directly shown being given to Nikki in an in-game cutscene

 

 Next we head over to the first 4 star banner Starlit Wishfin's Daughter of the Lake; which largely doesn't seem to be a Nikki outfit. The lore seems to lend itself more to a story about a Ribbon Eel becoming a human. If you wanted to headcanon Nikki having a past life as a Ribbon Eel turning into a human, you could argue this. But even in the extra art made for Daughter of the Lake and Pink Ribbon Waltz, both outfits are shown in a dream for Momo.

 

 Ranking: 1 / 5

-  Holds no story connection to Nikki at this time

She'll get her proper fishy outfit later lol.

 Now to take a look at Starlit Wishfin's Deep Echoes, starting with Rippling Time. Which the only lore for it suggests it's just a watch to look at as you wait for a bite from a fish. Nothing contradictory but nothing that's any evidence at all really.

Ranking 1 / 5

-  Holds no story connection to Nikki

 

 Next up we have Collected Memories. 'A necklace strung with shells found by the water, each carrying the whispers of the lake's past.' It reminds Bebe of collecting shells by the lake with her sister, which if you interpret that as her talking to Nikki, maybe that's something? But there's nothing suggesting that.

Ranking: 1 / 5

-  Holds no story connection to Nikki

 Lastly we have Drifting Paper Boat for the Starlit Wishfin Deep Echoes, which I must say is a very cute piece. It mostly carries themes of adventure though, about an adventurer piloting a paper boat and Dada telling Stylists to be safe on their adventures. Nothing major here.

Ranking: 1 / 5 

-  Holds no story connection to Nikki

No jumpscare lore pieces this time!

 

Now lastly for 1.1, we have the Pink Ribbon Eel outfit from Ribbon Reverie, Pink Ribbon Waltz. Which uhm... does this outfit actually exist right now? I'm not even joking, the biggest reason I didn't go for this banner is entirely because of the Friendship is Bubbling sidequest from the Lucky Fishing Day event. Obviously it's in the compendium, it's got commentary and lore. But it just sounded to me like Polly from that quest, was going to make this outfit one day. So owning Pink Ribbon Waltz right now just felt... wrong to me? It felt like I was owning an outfit that has yet to really exist. 

But hey, lets see what the actual lore has to say about it.

 

Which it basically adds a performance aspect, to the story in Daughter of the Lake. Much like the outfit having the same effect of adding scales, the lore is also similar I suppose. 

 

 I will say one curiosity I found, is that Pink Ribbon Waltz: Variation does have Polly in the commentary for it. Which is a nice little nod to the sidequest I suppose.

All this aside without a place in the in-game story, and the in-game story even making a suggestion that this might not exist yet? There's no way Nikki owns this. I mean it's even featured with Daughter of the Lake in a dream for Momo in the previous comic, if you count outside content. It's a very curious outfit story-wise but it has no place in Nikki's wardrobe yet sadly.

 

Ranking: 1 / 5

-  Holds no story connection to Nikki at this time

- In-game quests suggest it might not even exist yet?

 Possibly nonexistent outfit aside, let's move on to Ribbon Reverie's Deep Echoes, starting with Sunlit Stars. Which I do really like its description: "No matter how fast you chase the stars, the sunlight will eventually emerge. Sometimes, we have to bid farewell to the night and to people."

 Plus this bit about Kilo apparently getting kind of hurt by a real shooting star! Tiny bit of Kilo lore dropped. No Nikki lore though.

Ranking: 1 / 5

 -  Holds no story connection to Nikki

Next up we have Dreamy Afternoon. Which has an... interesting description: "Long ribbons tied into a butterfly shape. The butterfly's colors are so dreamy, it seems to have flown out of a dream."
 

The writer in me wants so badly to change some of these words. Like I know Daughter of the Lake and Pink Ribbon Waltz showed up in a dream too, but you really don't have to say that word three times over this hairpiece.

  

 
Redundant description aside, Nonoy's got a bit of commentary on the colors and Mayor Grace needs a vacation. Nothing more to see here.

Ranking: 1 / 5

  -  Holds no story connection to Nikki 

 Lastly for Ribbon Reverie's Deep Echoes we have Dawn's First Light, which is mildly a curious piece.

It's interesting that this is deliberately noted as being ahead of its time, and that you could potentially view Marques Jr.'s commentary as talking to Nikki if you really wanted to. Nikki is obviously from a world that is more filled with technology than Miraland seems to have right now, so if she did make this, it would make sense. But there's nothing suggesting she did, it could've been a really forward thinking Stylist for all we know. But it is worth stopping to take a look at for sure.

Ranking: 1.5 / 5

- Has no outward lore connection to Nikki, but you could read into it like it does.

This round didn't surprise me as much as the previous one, it really just solidified things I knew and then had me getting to know pieces I didn't really know about. But it was fun to look into, and nice to be able to finally point at an outfit and say 5/5, this one gets to be real! 
 

Round of applause for Starfall Radiance, and I'll be back next week to talk about firework magic!