#like fred and velma are such fun characters to write

[scoobydoowhatareyou]

I officially finished Be Cool Scooby Doo.

Oh my god.

I tried to avoid spoilers, and I don’t think I got all of my thoughts down because I couldn’t be bothered to take notes this time. Skip to the bottom for a quick breakdown, sorry this is so long

Shaggy:

ACTUALLY SMART! ACTUALLY SOLVES MYSTERIES! There is an episode in What’s New Scooby Doo where Shaggy and Velma have to “switch places” because she’s scared of clowns, and Shaggy tries to solve the mystery and fails. There are at least three episodes where Shaggy shows that he’s both smart and enjoys mysteries. It makes you feel like he really does want to be there. There’s even an episode where he tries to leave because one of Fred’s traps fails and the monster beats the shit out of Shaggy, but he comes back because he loves his friends.

He’s also the only member of the gang who doesn’t have some sort of parental issues in this one.

Scooby:

They explore his “dogness” quite a bit in this, but it’s done in a way that leaves you with more questions-

He doesn’t know how to interact with dogs, he spends an episode angry at Shaggy for calling him “his dog”, Daphne tries to get him in somewhere using a fake service dog vest, and he crossdresses a lot. He and Shaggy spend a lot of time pointing out and poking fun at the formula of the show (and every single iteration of Scooby Doo), but it doesn’t feel like the creators hate Scooby Doo, and they still follow the formula. They just point out that it’s there.

Velma:

She has more of a personality than just “uptight nerd”, which I love. She’s scared of the ocean and clowns, she loves video games but hates how she can become absorbed by them, she has dilemmas and chooses her friends over success and money every time. She loves renaissance fairs but wishes they were more accurate, SO SHE MAKES ONE ENTIRELY ACCURATE. I love her so much.

Daphne:

SHE’S NOT USELESS!! The whole show seems to be trying to prove otherwise, actually. They make her really eccentric, which can be annoying, especially in the beginning, but as it goes on the writers seem to figure her out a bit more. Regardless, she proves her usefulness in every episode, constantly fighting the damsel in distress accusations.

And she has mommy issues, OH MY GOD does she have mommy issues. And they’re relatable as hell. Her mom is crazy, probably where she gets some of her crazy from, but her mom is also just very strict and so many crazy rules. And it’s dealt with pretty well for being a recurring joke, I feel that the way she feels about her mom is pretty accurate for her age and everything.

FRED:

Oh my god, I actually loved Fred in this. He’s never been my favorite character, but this show makes it so genuinely hard to choose a favorite. He is obsessed with mysteries, and you keep thinking you know why as you get glimpses into his childhood, but the real reason is fucking great. I have a feeling people probably didn’t like the Professor Huh storyline, but I LOVED IT. He’s also kind of crazy, just in a more quiet and realistic way than Daphne, because he’s obsessive and everything is about mysteries. He needs therapy for sure, but oh my god I loved him in this. He really does care so much. I want to talk about Professor Huh, but if you haven’t seen the show, you need to watch it for yourself.

He also has insane parental issues, but you don’t really get to hear about his parents at all until like the end, whereas you never meet Daphne’s mom, you just hear about her. He also has a lot of issues regarding other stuff in his childhood. The man just needs therapy-

My thoughts:

Watch it watch it watch it watch it. The art style put me off for a really long time, but it’s actually really good. I’m rewatching it as I type this. I’m off to write fanfiction, go watch it.

TLDR:

Daphne is weird and funny and has mommy issues, also she’s actually friends with everyone and you can tell. Shaggy is smart and likes mysteries, he’s just scared. Scooby even has a fleshed out personality. Fred needs therapy, loves his friends and has an almost unhealthy obsession with mysteries. Velma has likes and dislikes, fears, and proves again and again how much she loves her friends. They love each other!!! They’re best friends!!! It’s awesome!!!

[popculturebuffet]

Finally for Warner Bros Animation, favorite character from their latest animated shows from 2021 onward (though things have been turbulent for them since this is when Zaslav entered the picture to ruin everything): Little Ellen, Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs, Bugs Bunny Builders, Batwheels, Velma, Gremlins Secrets of the Mogwai, My Adventures with Superman, Tiny Toons Looniversity, Kite Man Hell Yeah, and Batman Caped Crusader?

Yup David Zaslav: Warner Brothers Mummy Curse. And okay elemnating some more: LIttle Ellen< YDD, Bugs Bunny Builders, Gremlins and Kite Man Hell Yeah. THe latter i've gone back and forth on about trying as like harley I like the concept, but it feels like they go too broad with it. Could be wrong.

Velma: The final scooby doo show for now, i'm relived and amazed we're getting another one an dfittingly best boy wins again: this is Fred's third win. Fred is just the most consiently entertaining of the group, with fred as a spoiled man baby who can't function somehow working. He also is the first fred we've got proof killed a man. So there's that.

The show itself.. welllll

Yeah having seen part of season 1 with @jess-the-vampire after we put it off, and i'm slow balling it as too much of this show infurates me... this show is bad. Maybe it gets better, big maybe, but the first few episodes are pure torture. Now some of the backlash was just racist dogwhistling. Making the gang not as white as the purest driven snow was a good choice and the cast ofr them are all great: Mindy Kahling has great comedic timing (and didn't write this mess), Constance Wu does her best as Daphne and Sam Richardson isn't great as shaggy, but has been proven elsehwere he's a comedic god

The problem is the writing. The writing falls into ALLLL the traps of adult animation, from stupidly dark jokes just to be edgy, to sexualizing minors. HOly crap does this series not get how to write minors in a way that isn't creepy. We get fanservice stuff with daphne and some other teens at the school, a LOT of jokes about Fred's penis and the infamous bit of velma bragging about her ass. I'm not saying a teen show can't talk about or joke about sex, it'd be dishonest not to at least hint at it, but you shoudln't objectify minors and I don't think that should be that hard a thing to grasp in 2023/2024.

The writing is mean spirited, not funnya nd velma oscelates between way too put upon and kind of an asshole. It's also very clear the creators have not watched anything past where are you. Look am I asking them to do this?

No. You don't have to watch every episode of the franchise ever and I get they probably don't have time for that. Me and jess have binged large swaths of the franchise entirely for fun and at our own pace. But google.. exists. You can google the franchise, comb through the wikis, maybe watch a handful of eps from each series. You can do research to make sure you and your writers don't retread old jokes that have been told a million times. HA HA SHAGGY ISN'T A STONER, isn't funny. Mkaing Shaggy nothign LIKE the character isn't funny. The Franchise has already done most obvservations this series tries. The Scooby Doo Franchise is entirely meta and it's what makes it work: i'ts aware of i'ts own tropes and finds ways to play with them in each series. This is just a good setup, the gang in an adult series with real murders, that wastes it on stupid shit. It's bad and hopefully won't get renewed

My Adventures with Superman: Now this is the shit. Full disclosure a tthe time of this article I haven't watched season 2. Procastinations a bitch. Anyways Jimmy. Clark and Lois are both close, ebing a good soft boy and his excited yet complex partner in both sense of the words, but Jimmy is probably the best version of this character. After in name only attempts form supergirl (Which I need to watch at some point) and batman v superman (Which didn't even name him on screen) this feels like jimmy: Getting into weird shit (If not the todd chavez levels silver age jimmy did), being kinda funny.. but also being a kind vunerable guy. He's a good friend to clark, sharp (him having figured it out is brilliang and i'm tired of jimmy not knowing half the time), and a good straight man to his nervous and overconfident besties, while being just irresponsible and overenthuastic enough at times to still feel like a person.

This show is fantastic, a well done reboot of superman that takes the character to his core to tell a great immigrant story, a story that grows more and more timley. Is the "superman as an alien in both senses" metaphor new? No Superman Smashes the Klan also used this well and I wouldn't be shocked if it was an influence on the crew given the similar narrative of Clark being actively scared of his alien heritage. Is it subtle? no. But given what's going on as I write this, Trump and his beta male making up bullshit about immigrants that's putting lives at risk, it feels entirely warranted and timely.

Having a young clark works as while superman in STAS was starting his career, this clark really feels young, scared of what he is and grappling with questions DCAU clark was more at peace with when he starte dth eplanet. Lois is a good counterpoint, wanting the truth sometimes to ohard and trying to ballance being supportive with her own ambition and Jimmy.. again Jimmy goat. The show has beautiful action, designs and astetic and is a joy to watch, getting the hopeful core of supes down to a science.

The show isn't perfect: The designs for the bulk of the villian are pretty bland and lack color, which makes sense in universe but at the same time... spraypaint exists. Clark keeps his colors flying high, but the villians mostly wear grey tactical gear, with Deathstroke being one of the only ones with an actual costume. I'm not saying yo ucan't anime it up, king kai mxy looks dope, but you can do better and have in the same series. But it's flaws are minor comapred to just how great an adaptation this is and how much a breath of fresh air it feels. Stoked for season 3 and for my boy.

Tiny Toons Loonversity: Plucky. Sweetie was close and I love her.. but making plucky a theater kid was fucking genius, a way to seperate him from his ol dself (basically daffy but a teenager) while still keeping Plucky's ego fully in tact. My punk daughter is a close second though.

Looniversity is a reboot I REALLY need to finish and a great show. The show revamps the setting for college, updates the characters for the 2020s and gives them a fresh coat of paint while keeping who they are: Babs and Buster are still tricksters, Hamilton's still a clean freak, and Plucky's still an egotisit, but the added layers of the two being siblings (Which is still a weird choice but one that somehow works and gives the more more to do), and Hamilton being a legacy student who isn't great at the looney antics. They also take sweety from "not quite as bad but still awful tweety", to " queer punk rocker clearly in love with her roomate whose hilarious and you will repeat everything she says". The series clearly loves the original , it simply takes a more structured appraoch to vary it up and it works. It also gave us the pencil reaper.

Sharpen your pencils with his death blades kids!

Batman Caped Crusader: Clayface. Fun gimmick, great look and a hell of an episode. Caped Crusader is an excellent show and i'm pleased as punch to talk about it before the end of the year list. Caped Crusader is a lot like it's spirtual predecessor BTAS ,having paul dini work on it, a habit for good mostly standalone episodes, and some really big tearjerkers. But it zigs in a lot palces: The setting is the 40's (if one that's more diverse and less homophobic) instead of just using the astetics, the designs rather than boil a character down to their core go back to their roots, and it's allowed to do all the stuff standards wouldn't allow: death, child endagerment and more than implied corruption. The result is dark, moody an dtruly excellent. It's a show that isn't afraid to try new things, a more standofish bruce, even by his standards, a vastly diffrent but still engaging harley, Barbra Gordon not as a vigilante but a defense attorney. It's so damn good and I recommend finding it and watching it.

[scoobydoominuscoobydoo]

Oh my gosh-I thought you were dead! Shoutout to whoever that sent you that question as a thank you for letting me know :D

Alright, back to the question! How do you think Freddie and Velma's process of realizing their feelings for each other (in my opinion they'd deny it themselves for a while) would be like? And how would they (finally) confess? Do you think they will need a bit of encouragement from the rest of the gang?

Feel free to write as much as you'll need, I won't mind it! ♥️

Yeah we're still alive and I definitely wish I could be more active but creating content is super time consuming and honestly if I'm in the mood the watch Scooby then I'll watch one of the movies while doing my homework or something. But I am still totally passionate about Shaphne and Frelma and I'm super glad that other people are as well! It may take me forever to write fics but I am always eager to provide in other ways.

As for the actual question...

Freddie and Velma are definitely a slow burn with a capital SB and I will argue this to the end of my days. I know that I typically portray Shag and Daph as a sort of stretched out pining because of the fact that they are two totally different people. Because of that both of them have doubts regarding whether the other is even a little into them (spoiler alert: they are). It's the classic, "Why would she like me when she could literally have anyone she wants?" And vice versa. But that's more for a pinch of drama and it always works out right at the end.

But Fred and Velma might as well be stretched out twice as long because they are both IDIOTS. Especially Velma who definitely knows damn well what's going but chooses to ignore it. In most of my writing I have it so that Velma is aware of her feelings but - like anon said - she denies them vehemently. I can imagine her figuring out is a slow process too, I mean they've all known each other since they were kids. No matter which iteration of the show you watch, Fred and Velma are typically the defacto detective duo. They're the ones that have an active interest in mystery solving while Shag and Daph are kinda just along for the ride. I'm sure that because of them acting as partners, they have a deeper understanding of each other. Like Velma knows how Fred thinks and he knows how she thinks and that all comes from the fact that they work together a lot. So even though it's easy to label Fred as the basic white boy that leads the charge, Velma has seen where his passions lie and gets how his brain works. And I'm sure that all it would take is her staring at him just a little too long for something to click in her head. She watches him try and sing along to the radio while driving them no doubt towards their next crazy adventure and she realizes she likes this. Sitting in the front seat with him.

And this is just a total no bueno for Velma because falling in love with big blonde jocks isn't her thing. She started high school early and needed to claw her way through the status quo and all of the silly high school conventions to gain respect. Velma Dinkley doesn't care about what everyone else is doing and walks to the beat of her own drum. To start trying to pursue a relationship with Mr. Popular would immediately render her a hypocrite and that's something she can't stand. So - like a moron - she ignores her feelings and expects them to go away. All the while growing closer to him.

Freddie on the other hand is an odd hat. He's like the trifecta of oblivious, has tunnel-vision, and sucks at spelling out what he wants. Which is just a nightmare when you're the lead in your own romance. It's not even like denial that we're dealing with here it's the Jones boy having trouble interpreting his own feelings. I like to think it's almost like an Ouran High School Host Club situation where he's Tamaki and Velma is his Haruhi. The gang are his best friends and they're all like a surrogate family for one another and Fred feels responsible for keeping everyone together. Velma is one of his best friends and if that were to change the the dynamic of their family would be all messed up. And it's not like she's given any sort of sign that she's into him anyway so it all works out fine! Velma is his short, snarky best friend who likes to solve mysteries with him. And make him laugh. And be honest with him when nobody else will. And is somehow patient enough to teach him to play chess. There comes a point where all of his feelings for her are so close to being discovered, but they're trapped behind a wall labeled, "Family."

The two of them seem to be at a permanent stalemate.

And then Shag and Daph start going out. Both parties are instantly effected. Freddie because the family dynamic he's been clinging to has just completely shifted and it's totally out of his control. Velma because she sees how Ms. Follow Every Societal Convention has started locking lips with Mr. Screw Society I Am Who I Am. And neither of them really sacrifice their beliefs in the process of falling in love with each other. The main thing they get from it is they're more understanding of the other's position. Velma realizes that her being in love with Fred doesn't automatically mean she needs to become more like Daphne in order to suit the world he lives in. Fred realizes he can be with her without the entire Mystery Inc. gang caving in on itself. But now they still have one major hurdle to jump over.

They still think they're both trapped in the friend zone. And neither of them are willing to risk the partnership they've cultivated through several years of friendship.

And that's where Daphne comes in. She's the kind of girl that likes to make everyone's business her business and sees no harm in playing a little Cupid. Shaggy has absolutely zero interest getting involved in his friends' love lives so he opts to play the innocent bystander. I think after some prodding on both sides (over the course of maybe a year or two) the detective duo finally decide to give romance a shot.

Of course it's nothing like Shag and Daph who dive in head first and almost start building their life together immediately. They take it slow and steady, figuring it out one small step at a time. And that works just fine for both of them.

[insomniac-arrest]

it is literally so frustrating when media can’t write women, I just want to shake some of these writers so badly since it’s not that hard.

take Daphne from Scooby Doo for instance

she consistently has her characterization drastically changed from one iteration to the next, sometimes she’s the newly minted Action Girl or sometimes the air-headed diva. You can watch a video about it here which goes into “The Problem of Daphne”.

Now, western media is STILL trying to grapple with the character whose personality in the gang is just described as “girl” which has been prevalent for decades.

Which is some dumb fuck shit as you might expect.

My frustration with Daphne however is that THE ANSWER IS RIGHT THERE. Most screenwriters know that the key to any kind of ensemble is balancing. You want a smart guy, a big guy, a loose canon, etc. Different people for different problems (and with different weaknesses).

Most characters whose personality is “girl” function as the moral compass of a group. The main problem being that when this role becomes so bland, one-dimensional and ONLY applied to one type of character. And frankly, Scooby Doo works better as a moral compass since he’s like, a dog. Dogs are good.

Plus, Daphne has already HAD a personality that balances out the group in arguably the best Scooby Doo movie “Zombie Island”

Velma works as the smart guy, Fred is the leader, and Shaggy/Scooby are the comic relief or heart of the work. And Daphne can be the believer.

We know this dynamic works as Daphne can be the believer to Velma’s sceptic, Scully-Mulder style (or Buzzfeed Unsolved). You see, while Shaggy can also be the believer since he is literally running into all of the monsters, he’s not seeking these ghosts or anything in order to prove something.

If Daphne is the believer and actively trying to investigate the supernatural as “real” she would also have a reason to get captured all the time. She can still like fashion and learn to be an Action Girl and explore other facets of her personality too.

Bada boom bada bing, you have a well-balanced group and a character who has a function and defined personality outside of her gender. And you no longer have to keep changing her personality from one work to the next! Woo

as an aside, I think we need to stop babying these male writers who make excuses for why they don’t include or can’t write fun and well-rounded women. If you can’t write for 50% of the population that doesn’t “give you a blind spot” man, it just makes you a bad writer.

[idolomantises]

talking abt that one thing in velma thats on my mind a lot for the past few days (that turned into a big incoherent rambling about gay rep in media)

i'm seeing jokes about how the queer representation in mystery inc being so much better than the queer representation in velma and honestly it makes me want to go on a whole tangent about my thoughts on queer representation nowadays vs the more subtle examples decades prior.

There's this weird debate that goes on online about what is "good" queer representation, and one of the most notable and honestly annoying examples is that queer representation has to be so subtle that you could easily miss it/ignore it. i've always hated that take because its a claim mostly said by straight people who are uncomfortable with seeing characters who are openly queer and/or state their identity, but they present it as some sort of push for subtle and nuanced writing. personally i do prefer it when a character just, identifies as how they are without explaining their identity, but that doesn't mean flat out explaining your orientation is inherently bad representation. its why i will always defend the very clunky and awkward high guardian spice scene. it is absolutely poorly directed and written, but that doesn't make it "bad representation". however, I do consider the character who explains that he's trans bad representation because he is flat, uninteresting and very clearly a creator self insert. he doesn't feel like a well rounded character who's also a trans man, but just an incredibly sanitized example of trans representation.

i have many, many issues with helluva boss/hazbin hotel and i do genuinely find some depictions of queer characters just flat out offensive (you can argue with me about how angel dust being written like your average 90s gay stereotype is woke actually because he has trauma, i dont care), but i do admire and appreciate that the series doesn't want to sanitize its queer characters, even if its done poorly. though i could go into a whole rant about how i find it very telling that female characters that are queer are far less sexualized or allowed to be problematic compared to their queer male counterparts.

anyways back to velma. that show does something that i've always found pretty irritating in queer representation which is just this weird lack of faith in its audience. characters can't have a slow burn anymore. internalized thoughts, anger, frustration, longing. you have to immediately know that two characters are gay for each other, even if they're lifelong enemies. its like when modern horror movies open with the gore because they're scared people are going to be bored or leave early. there's no subtlety or chemistry between daphne and velma, they're just lovers because idk, its two girls who hate each other and who doesn't love that.

then i think about how mystery inc handled velma and her sexuality, how she was allowed to be well rounded and nuanced before you slowly realize that "oh, she doesn't like boys". i know her whole thing with shaggy is controversial among fans but i always loved how she does do something pretty unlikable but not immoral. yeah, it is shitty to force shaggy to choose between her and his dog, but i can understand her line of thinking and empathize with her. and i do like how they become friends in the end despite their awkward break up. It's always fun rewatching it and realizing that their incredibly awkward and cringe relationship was meant to be awkward and cringe. it was supposed to be weird and difficult to watch, because those two weren't meant to date each other. you could see how hard velma was trying to make the relationship work despite the fact that you never get the vibe that either character was full invested in it, unlike daphne and fred's relationship.

then you had velma and her relationship with marcie, which started off as sort of a catty rivalry (not full on attempted murder, i mean holy shit hbo velma) that slowly grows to where you're completely convinced that these two did gradually like each other. and i do really enjoy stuff like that, more subtle writing like that. which doesn't just apply to queer rep btw, my favorite ships are relationships that feel understated, something you have to really dig for and pay attention to. its why i consider bubbline the best f/f representation in cartoon. because its subtle, but not too subtle where it feels out of no where when they kiss, and nuanced in ways that enhances the relationship AND characters.

there's a good amount of relationships i see in cartoons where the creator, who is usually queer themselves, often wants to depict queer relationships, but is weirdly adverse to depicting the uglier aspects of that character, and refuses to add subtlety to it. steven universe is a show i've always felt conflicted on its handling of queer representation because on the one hand i appreciate writing lesbians that are messy, traumatized and make constant mistakes. but on the other hand, the show goes out of its way to ignore these issues and/or make excuses for it, making the decision to make these characters messy and complicated genuinely baffling (this is also one of the big issues i have with catradora and stolitz).

it makes me think back to my own work too. i really enjoy making fluffy, easily digestible gay content for my followers and myself because it puts me in a good headspace. But even now and then i like exploring those little nuances too, because i don't really enjoy stories with little conflict. Because of that acknowledgement of how satisfying it is to write fluffy, queer rep, you end up putting yourself in other creator's shoes. you're so used to media that either dehumanizes gay people or tells people that they don't exist that you push yourself to make the most in your face queer rep you can but its at the cost of an interesting and subtle characters. characters that don't really have arcs or places to learn and grow.

With bugtopia i made a joke about how i want some of my queer rep to feel like you're being queerbaited. It's not literal, obviously, but mixed in with characters who are already married and in same gender relationships, i really want to write dynamics that feel subtle enough for a bit of a slow burn. even if you know they're going to end up together, to at least value the characters on their own before centering them on their relationships. queerbaiting is something that deserves all the criticism it can get, but it is embarrassing when queerbaiting feels genuinely more interesting than actual queer rep because queerbaiting has that factor of "maybe they won't get together" that adds that bit of intrigue, vs so many shows that repeatedly hammer in your head "don't worry guys, they're gonna be lesbian lovers".

mystery inc (and many other shows) being forced to keep a relationship obvious while subtle to get through censorship really forced creators to be creative with their storytelling and not center characters around their relationship and identity. but nowadays i think shows like to take the easy way out. for me, i always thought the most impactful example of queer representation in steven universe is "Rose's Scabbard". I genuinely don't enjoy that episode because it's a good example of the show thinking that trauma is an excuse for shitty behavior, but i cant deny that an entire episode of pearl breaking down and finally accepting that she wasn't the center of rose's world. it's the crew being forced to be creative and push through censors to telling a compelling story about a traumatized lesbian slowly realizing that she basically deluded herself into thinking she was someone's savior.

I think it's silly to try to place good queer representation in one box. like subtle queer rep is good, but also queer rep where a character flat out states that their gay. where I think it falls apart is when it either reinforces stereotypes without properly deconstructing or expanding on them, makes the characters so overly kind and non-controversial that the relationship is just boring, or try to make your messy and complicated characters but the narrative refuses to hold them accountable or at least acknowledge that they're doing something wrong. and to clarify on that last part, i'm not asking for some hays code nonsense where every bad person goes to prison and/or promises to stop being a bad person again. i mean the narrative doesnt just fucking sugarcoat their behavior. i don't want to see helluva boss ignore the fact that stolas made blitzo call him out for only using him for sex and then pathetically rush to justify their relationship by giving them a bizarrely sanitized and sweet backstory. and i don't want to see catra literally end the fucking universe and only do something good because she's straight up out of options and the show just decides that that was her redemption and she doesn't need to do anything to atone for what she did (including repeatedly abusing and verbally berating adora).

anyways velma has none of those interesting qualities and i'm pretty sure daphne and velma kissed because the creator is a weird pervert who thinks two girls kissing is hot.

[sunjakes]

born again ; park sunghoon

pairing: sunghoon x gn!reader genre: suggestive (minors dni !!), a teeny bit of fluff towards the end kinda warnings: mentions of alcohol, hoon is a cocky little shit, one night stand type of vibes, allusions to a mean dom hoon but with no actual smut, cussing, pet names (darling and doll but he also calls mc a slut😵‍💫), sunghoon taking his costume role too seriously and liking to bite, mc lowkey falls into subspace ?? idk, teeny bit of choking, not proofread word count: 1.8k a/n: i don’t care that it’s january .. spooky season is ALWAYS 🙄 ever since i started to consider writing more suggestive things for hyung line this idea has been screaming from the back of my mind … hope all the hoon whores love this 🫶 ALSO THIS IS NAMED AFTER DRACULA BY F(X) BC THAT SONG SLAYS AND I MISS THEM

despite loving the halloween season, you were never one for costume parties. as a kid, you loved watching your friends and classmates dress up as their favorite characters — parents having small get togethers while their kids wander around neighborhoods, accompanied by older siblings and cousins as they try to see who can collect the most candy.

going into early adulthood, the ambience surrounding the holiday changed drastically. people are still throwing parties, but unlike the ones from your childhood, these ones are filled with loud music, costumes that are barely actual costumes, and gallons upon gallons of alcohol. it just never seemed to pique your interest.

your friends were practically dragging you to this party being thrown by the most popular guy in he area, heeseung. you’ve heard too many stories about him, some of which you could never bring yourself to rehash. just thinking about his track record brings a burning to your face. pulling at the fabric that’s clinging to your abdomen, you huff at the discomfort your costume is causing you.

the pounding music from inside heeseung’s home can be heard as soon as you get out of your friend’s car, and you can already feel a headache forming behind your eyelids. you hesitate to head inside for a millisecond before you’re being dragged by your wrist, your friends far too impatient to wait around.

“c’mon, y/n, it’ll be fun!! you just gotta live a little while we’re still young!”

you roll your eyes as you follow behind them, the music getting infinitely louder as you walk through the door. instantaneously, your friends leave you by the door as they go to hunt out the guys they’ll spend their night with. as you begrudgingly make your way towards the kitchen to make what will likely be your only drink of the night, you look around at the other attendees and the costumes they chose to don.

you aren’t shocked at the amount of repetitive costumes worn throughout the party — a least a half dozen of velmas, daphnes, shaggys, and freds; countless witches, vampires, and even a few comic characters like spiderman and harley quinn; and the amount of girls and guys alike dressed as those ‘mean girls’ style sexy animals makes you scoff.

however, there’s a single person who catches your attention. he’s one of many people wearing some version of a vampire costume — but, unlike the others, you notice he isn’t wearing those fake, plastic fangs — and you aren’t sure if it’s the costume or if you genuinely don’t know him; but you cannot seem to pull any name out of your memory to match his face.

he seemed to be completely on his own just like you were, and you wondered if he came with friends that abandoned him like yours had just moments ago. however, your train of thought gets derailed rather quickly as his eyes meet yours and you feel your face flushing as you look away. you rush into the kitchen to make a stronger concoction than you originally intended, missing the smirk that graced his lips when he caught you staring.

“d’you spot your victim, hoon?”

sunghoon looks over to heeseung, his cocky smirk not leaving his lips. heeseung watches you as you turn the corner, playfully patting sunghoon’s shoulder with a knowing glint in his eyes. chuckling quietly at his friend’s expression, he just shakes his head as he walks back to the main group of partygoers, bidding sunghoon a quiet good luck. nodding as heeseung walks off, sunghoon decides to give you a minute before he heads to meet you in the kitchen, a plan beginning to formulate in his mind.

having already forgotten what various liquors you combined in your cup, you clench your eyes shut as you down its contents in a single go. the burning sensation the drink leaves in your throat seemingly calms you down as you will yourself to not think about the strange interaction you just had. despite it just being a seconds worth of eye contact, you felt your heart racing at the mental image of his face — which has already seemed to burn its way behind your eyelids.

you let the alcohol settle in your stomach for a few moments and you feel your body tense as a strong cologne floods your senses. you could've sworn you were the only person in the kitchen, so you try to rationalize how someone at a party like this managed to appear so quietly. as you weigh your options between ignoring their presence or trying to strike an inevitably boring conversation, you notice how the person feels a lot closer than they were before.

you turn around and meet eyes with the same guy that caught your interest when you first entered the party. you try to hide how your breath hitches in your throat as you're able to get a better look at him than you did before. you swear that the beauty marks on his cheek and nose bridge were placed perfectly, and add a striking handsomeness to his face. a small smirk plays on his lips as you unabashedly check him out, and you notice how one of his fang-like canines pokes along his tinted bottom lip.

"i wasn't expecting to see someone show up to this party dressed like that.."

you roll your eyes at his comment, turning around to grab a bottle of water as you fight the urge to pour more liquor into your cup.

"says the one of twenty vampires in the damn house.. at least my costume isn't so predictable, dracula-"

sunghoon only chuckles at your response, and you turn around to look at him again. you feel your body begin to burn as his eyes trail down your figure, suddenly feeling self conscious. he takes a couple steps towards you, and you back up until your body bumps into the counter. your words get caught in your throat as his hands ghost along your waist before gently holding onto the marble at your sides. looking down at you with a near sadistic smile, you can picture his eyes turning a deep shade of red as he leans close to your ear, his lips grazing against the skin of your earlobe.

“i’m not your typical dracula, darling..”

the gravelly tone in sunghoon's voice pulls a soft whimper from your lips, and you hear him let out another low chuckle as he lets one of his sharp canines run against the skin of your ear, pulling away just enough to look you in the eyes. his breath gently fans against your face, and you fight the urge to rest your hands against his chest. regaining some of your composure, you make eye contact with him again as a smug grin of your own tugs on your lips.

"prove it then, mr. cullen-"

your drink cup is long forgotten as sunghoon grabs your arm firmly — yet gentle enough to not hurt you. your mind floods with thoughts and mental images as you note how the muscles in his arm flex with his various movements. leading you to an empty room in heeseung's home, he hastily shuts and locks the door before pushing you against it, his head diving down to start pressing kisses along your jawline and neck.

your mouth gapes open in a gasp as you feel sunghoon slowly bite down onto your neck. his teeth sink into your skin, and a moan bubbles in your throat as you clutch to the shirt on his chest. sucking against the spot for a few moments, he pulls away to observe as the skin flushes a dark shade of red. he only watches for a moment, though, as he begins the same attack on different spots on both sides of your neck.

once fully content, one of his hands slowly makes his way to gently hold onto your bruised neck as he pulls you into a deep and messy kiss. you reciprocate in milliseconds, your grip on sunghoon's shirt loosening as you rest your hands flat on his abdomen, a whine falling into his lips as you feel his nails gently press into the base of your neck. as your lips part, sunghoon takes the opportunity to slip his tongue into your mouth, exploring it with a fervor. more quiet moans tumble from your lips at the newfound sensation, and you wrap your arms around his neck, carding your fingers through the hair at the base of his neck. you quickly get overwhelmed by the current situation, and sunghoon pulls away once you and him are both panting for air.

with a cocky smirk on his face, his gaze flits from your blown out eyes to your red, swollen lips that are glistening from his and your combined saliva. looking into his eyes which have darkened with lust, you gently tug at strands of his hair in a wordless beg to continue what's been started. sunghoon only chuckles and drops his hand from your neck so he can rest both of his hands on your waist, and the loss of contact makes you instinctively whine.

"what is it, doll? i've barely done a thing, yet you've already turned into a dazed slut."

sunghoon's faux sympathy drops instantaneously with how he spits out the last word, and the way he tugs you closer to him so that both of your hips are pressed together causes another near pornographic moan to fall from between your lips.

"getting you so worked up before you even know my name.. what am i going to do with you, hm?"

you can only manage to respond with near silent pleads, and sunghoon takes a step back from you with a wicked grin, reveling in the way you cry for him at the lack of contact. instead of heading back over to you, he only opens his arms teasingly, cocking his head to the side as he looks at you.

"if you aren't gonna use your words, doll, then you'll need to show me what you want yourself~"

making your way over to sunghoon, you say nothing as you lightly grip onto his shirt again. you bury your face in the crook of his neck as his hands ghost along your waist, pressing wet kisses along the column of his neck as his cologne once again floods your senses. tauntingly cooing at your sudden clinginess, sunghoon slowly moves the two of you towards the empty bed.

as he sits down and pulls you to stand between his legs, he enjoys how you look at him with a blank, doe-eyed expression. the way you're seemingly entranced by sunghoon's every move fills his chest with pride, and all he can do is picture the things he wants to do both with and to you. gently running his hands along your waist and torso, sunghoon presses a gentle kiss to your lips.

"god, darling, you are going to drive me absolutely insane..."

[nemmet]

It’s pretty cool how Fred and Daphne were originally the “boring” ones, and in all the efforts to rectify that over the decades, they ended up becoming the most well-rounded characters of the group. They each have a billion skills and interests and that’s pretty neat

i’m so sorry anon— this post has been in my inbox for a while now (and i would have posted it sooner too, if it weren’t for my meddling executive dysfunction!).

but you hit the nail on the head here!! having them initially be the least defined characters of the gang allowed future scooby adaptations to just run wild with them, and their unpredictable nature makes them feel a lot more human and relatable as a consequence (although this isn’t to say that shaggy/velma/scooby aren’t relatable, the history of their writing has just been a little more consistent!).

someone in the comments of one of my fred compilation videos said that fred was like “a multi-tool in the form of a person” and while yes that’s hilarious, they have an excellent point! i would 100% extend that metaphor to daphne, too. the two of them have always learned a skill from some niche summer camp or own some inexplicable object that saves the day, and it’s so fun to see what direction writers take with them in each instalment!

[lemon-box]

My ideal scooby doo gang dynamic and their respective guiding personality traits:

Fred: AUTISTIC HIMBO WITH PARENTAL ISSUES & A SPECIAL INTEREST IN TRAPS! Pretty obvious, I basically think the mystery inc version of Fred is the most perfect one, minus the obsessive behavior he had towards Daphne in early season 2… I don’t think enough people talk about that side of MI Fred? It was honestly pretty uncomfortable, I think we could write it differently while still keeping the “I have abandonment/attachment issues w my girlfriend and it’s impacting us both” message. Either way, Fred is the himbo leader who owns the mystery machine, loves his friends, is reliable, and serves as comedic relief as well. He’s interested in mysteries because they’re the best way to make use of his traps & test out new ones.

Daphne: Daphne needs to be the one with social skills. That’s the one thing she has that the others don’t: she can network, has connections, and can use her parents’ infinite pool of money to just make any accommodations happen? Despite that she’s still very sweet, considerate, and one of the main 3 clue finders (them being Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby). I don’t really mind her being in love with Fred or Velma (sorry Shaphne shippers), but I don’t think love interests should be necessary for any of the characters. In one of Daphne’s character profiles released in 1999, it stated that her life ambition is to become a mystery novel author. AND I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THAT I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH!!! That is such an easy yet clever way to not only give her more depth as a character but curiosity & motivation for these dangerous situations as well, I think it’s such a shame that no scooby doo media that I’ve seen has utilized that for her :(. Daphne is a people person, is resourceful, athletic, and the resident fashion expert. She’s interested in mysteries because they help & inspire her with her writing.

Velma: Velma is the dork nerd with a tumblr blog on mysteries/unsolved cases and is an absolute academic weapon. You KNOW she took AP chemistry in freshman year and got at least a 4 on the exam. She’s super smart, confident, her only hobbies are studying and solving mysteries, and I think she has the least social skills out of everyone which makes it a really fun dynamic with Daphne! She’s very observant, serious, and despite how hard it is for her to show affection, she really loves her friends, they’re her found family after all. I don’t really like iterations of Velma where she thinks everyone around her is an idiot and it feels like she actually hates the gang. If we can portray her as a teen with trouble showing affection instead of a teen who actually doesn’t feel it, I think the anger issues she had in MI could work really well. Velma is a nerd with sass, biggest believer in ghosts/monsters, walking encyclopedia, and dependent on her friends to get through when she can’t find a solution. She’s interested in mysteries because she is a naturally curious person who’s hungry for knowledge and for a chance to study the supernatural.

Shaggy (and scooby): Shaggy is the anxiety ridden, emotion driven anchor of the group. Yet despite his overwhelming feelings he’s the one who keeps everyone grounded. Everyone else gets so carried away with investigations, clues, and their ambition that they forget where the line is sometimes. But Shaggy is unaffected by that, at the end of the day he seeks security and safety, and he can remind everyone to stop and consider new perspectives. That makes him great at finding clues, him and scooby are always looking where the others aren’t, especially using scoob’s sense of smell and shaggy’s sense of taste. In the 2020 scoob movie they described them as the heart of the group, and in one scene daphne said “with shaggy and scooby gone there was no one to remind us to eat lunch…” AND THAT’S EXACTLY IT. THEY’RE COMEDIC RELIEF, THEY BRING EVERYONE TOGETHER, AND THEYRE GOOD AT FINDING CLUES. I also love iterations of Shaggy where he’s a chef. It’s not his lifelong passion, but he loves food so he loves making it, both for himself and everyone else. He believes food tastes better when shared with others. Shaggy is interested in mysteries because despite the dangerous situations, he feels emotionally safe around his friends, and he also likes traveling if it means he gets to add more food profiles to his palette! Solving mysteries allows him to grow not only as a person, but grow out of his very sheltered life which left him rather naive about the world, but he doesn’t know that yet :) thats where the character development comes in.

Short Scooby part: Along with Shaggy Scooby is a big part of the heart. He’s basically everyone’s emotional support dog, especially shaggy’s, and as a dog he can’t help but go where his weird nose takes him. He brings everyone together, is loyal to his empathy, and he’s interested in mysteries because he’s just happy to be around his friends. I think MI gave him a much bigger and more important role than scooby has ever had before, and frankly I think that’s an excellent use of his character, he makes for a great plot device, I need writers to utilize that.

[nerdfighterwhatevernumbers]

if i were gonna rewrite Scrappy Doo how I’d do it would depend on the tone of the series so let me go by existing versions without him first

What’s New Scooby Doo- ‘Bring your nephew to work day’ with Shaggy’s uncle at a food factory and Scrappy tags along with Scooby. Rest of the gang is also there. Scrappy’s just there as a one-off helping solve the mystery. Scrappy is similar to his original role, just more understated and less physically strong, his enthusiasm is because it’s his first mystery and is paralleled by Shaggy’s misguided enthusiasm for his uncle’s food based job.

Scooby Doo and Guess Who?- Scrappy as a guest. He can be exactly the same because he’s already a caricature of himself, but maybe a little more self awareness in the writing.

Mystery Inc.- Towards the end of the series, the one off joke of Scrappy having a statue in the mystery museum comes back. The gang is shocked to find Scrappy in a slightly off state in the lair of the villain and we get our flashback, revealing the gang would occasionally babysit Scrappy when they were around 14 (unimportant, but Daphne has braces). Scrappy moves more like an actual puppy, bouncing around each of the gang members with a lot of energy and enthusiasm that rubs off on them and they love that he’s excited to go solve a new mystery with them. Velma is mostly annoyed but grudgingly appreciates that he doesn’t need to be bribed to help out, Daphne thinks he’s fun and sweet, and Fred loves that he wants to help test out traps. They’re new to mysteries, but they’ve never seemed dangerous before, so they don’t see a problem in him coming. At some point in the mystery, they got separated from Scrappy and he died in an accident, likely from a building collapse or a car crash. They vowed to never speak of it again, until now when they’re seeing him revived before them by the bad guy who used magic. He’s come back somewhat wrong (and it is very uncomfortable), but still has a love for his gang and a strong force of will.

Be Cool, Scooby Doo- Scrappy is Scooby’s very annoying nephew he is openly bothered about having to watch for the weekend. Scrappy is oblivious to Scooby’s clear lack of energy for him and the whole joke of the character is how annoying babysitting is. Scrappy ends up saying something, still oblivious to how Scooby’s felt this whole time, about how he wants to be brave and cool like his mystery solving uncle and Scooby’s heart grows 3 sizes. The arc culminates in a hero moment for Scooby when he saves Scrappy from the monster of the week.

[tumblezwei]

mind giving some more detailed thoughts about "velma"? i saw a pretty unflattering review and some people said it was by a hater so it was biased, but i don't wanna sit through something genuinely terrible. fwiw, i liked "mystery incorporated" for a darker iteration of scooby

Oh definitely. I wanna make it clear first off that literally nothing is wrong with making the cast more diverse. It's a complete nonissue that unfortunately needs to be mentioned to make sure everyone knows I'm not a fucking asshole.

And uh, putting this under a cut because wow I had more words than I thought I would.

Pretty much everything outside of absolutely superficial nonsense is just bad. The writing is the most obvious and most damning for me. The first episode opens with Daphne and her friends in the school locker rooms showering and the literal first conversation is them lampshading how pilot episodes always have more gratuitous nudity and sex than the rest of the show. And it's not a one off joke, it's a whole several minutes long bit where they argue about the pros and cons of it. And after Daphne gets stopped by Velma from drowning her friend in a puddle for disagreeing with her, Velma asks "what about race-blind casting? What do you think about that?" We get an answer from Daphne and then the dead body is found.

And that's about what you'll get from the humor. For some reason I expected better than constant sex jokes, nudity, and bit-sized versions of arguments the creators see on Twitter, but you won't get much else. In the same episode is a pregnant woman being photographed naked with her baby pressing against her stomach enough to see the outline because. Funny. And the rare time a joke ever lands it's followed up by another joke lampshading teen mystery show tropes. It's just not funny.

And aside from that is the atrocious pacing. Absolutely nothing is given any room to breathe, and it always feels like you're being flung wildly from plot point to plot point with no emotional attachment to anything going on. Fred gets introduced, he's racist and misogynistic btw, and literally two scenes later he's telling us his character motivations. Just, states point blank that his deal is trying to be Masculine enough for his dad. And then he leaves. And then we get Velma's backstory with her missing mom. And before we have even the rest of the episode to get invested in her search, it's revealed that her mom just left and there was no mystery.

Like, yeah, maybe it's a bait and switch, but the way information is conveyed in this show is so blunt and without a single hint of artistry or care that it felt like a slap in the face.

None of these characters feel like themselves and none of them are fun to watch. Velma is just kind of mean to everyone all the time, Fred has become White Privilege personified, Daphne is Popular Mean Girl, and Sha-sorry Norville is the sad sack friend that has an unrequited crush played for laughs. Also he hates drugs. Haha.

And I'm not saying you can't do fresh takes on these characters, but imo the things that make them feel like themselves just aren't there. Shaggy isn't a desperate nerd afraid that he's a beta male, he's a chill dude that's loved by his friends and loves to have a good time. And oh god I just realized that we didn't even see Norville eat anything. but anyways, Daphne's character is always at it's best when she's a ditzy rich girl who's surprisingly competent. Like the best humor from her comes from how she's basically Barbie in every sense of the definition. Fred is an ally, fuck you. Like I get you went with the White Privilege stereotype because he's the only blue-eyed blind-haired character, but Fred Jones is a fucking himbo and always will be.

The secondary characters are nothing. Just black holes for bad jokes. The plot is stupid point blank.

And there's Velma's hallucinations that are thought to be conjured from her guilt at her mother's disappearance. But never once are they treated seriously. We get one scene where the horror of it gets built up only to be immediately made into a joke. The scary stuff in this show has no tension. Nothing is ever given proper tension, nothing ever gets lingered on. We see a horrifying image of a viney arm wriggling it's way into Velma's heart and then they make a joke. Velma runs through a horror house made from her own mind only a joke to be made about Norville's feelings for her. Which he has. Velma also has a crush on Fred btw. And despite the obvious end goal of Velma/Daphne, the two have no chemistry between them.

And there's no Scooby Doo. Because apparently that's what makes the franchise a kids show. Sure. Why not?

Just. Don't watch this. If you're a Scooby Doo fan you're not gonna get anything out of it. Go rewatch Mystery Incorporated instead if you want to see these characters treated with respect.

[theblackdragon-studios]

Watched Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated for the first time today…

I know it’s really old by now, but with the horrible rise of that new one for “adults” I wanted to watch it since I’d heard good things. So…here are my thoughts as I watched:

-I love each character’s introduction:

* Velma the cynical tour guide who is also so bossy and pushy, especially with her relationship with Shaggy (I’ll get to that)

* Fred the trap-obsessed himbo…and his dad is the mayor here? Interesting.

* Daphne having sisters?! And all are super successful? That’s really cool! They’re pretty but they all have successful careers…nice touch. And it isn’t thrown in your face too long. A brief joke and background detail that might come back. (No spoilers though)

I love her voice too. It’s nice to hear Grey DeLisle’s voice and I think it fits Daphne here very well.

* Shaggy and Scooby once again eating everything as always, but the parents look very similar to Shaggy which is nice. It helps pull away from the fan joke Shaggy’s a stoner

-Patrick Warburton as the chief of police…perfect. I love his voice and though that mustache doesn’t fit it, that’s okay. XD

-Nice Easter eggs nodding back to the old shows too! Not only the most famous monsters from the original cartoon, but there was also the clown-jester looking one from the first live-action Scooby Doo movie. The one they unmasked at the very beginning before the tone shift of everyone separating.

-I knew when I saw the shade of green of the fruitmeir stuff it was connected to the goo…gross.

-Scooby is part cat??? (He extended a talon to open a lock somehow???)

-The joke about why a high school teacher would need more money. XD Too real…but very funny

-Shaggy and Velma are painful to watch…oof… And I know the twist there, so I know why. But it’s so obvious Shaggy isn’t that into Velma and that she’s trying too hard to be a couple. I don’t know why yet, but no spoilers.

Overall it’s a fun show so far. I got a few chuckles and though for this first episode of the reveal of the teacher as the culprit was…weird…since the group never suspected him to begin with so maybe the scene where he stages being a victim himself was for us and not the one-brain cell group (Velma usually has the brain cell), but it was fun. I liked it. lol

Bonus thought under cut…

I have a theory about why the show, Velma was made now too…

Mindy Kailyn hated this reboot of the show so much she thought “I can do better, and make it adult” and so we got the adult trash that is her show. It’s just the complete opposite of everything that Mystery Inc is:

-Fred is the most hated on (by characters) person and an unlikeable idiot of a kid whose father is embarrassed by him. Said father is also rich and important. Mystery Inc has Fred as a lovable himbo oblivious to Daphne’s feelings but with a father that is worried about him but not cruel.

-Daphne is a stuck up bitch that only becomes less of one when the forced writing of her being with Velma starts. Her parents are the ones they try to make likable, but no one in the show is. Where in Mystery Inc the parents want Daphne to drop her friend group and stop obsessing over Fred and make something of herself.

-Norville has an unrequited crush on Velma, and she is relentlessly cruel about it. This is the opposite of Mystery Inc where Shaggy is the one hesitant on how he feels and Velma is pushing to become public about their relationship.

-Velma isn’t just brutally honest, she’s judgmental and hateful toward everyone. Especially Norville, who doesn’t get the hint and keeps trying to get her to like him. Until he sees her kissing Daphne. Then he meets a black girl that people suspect replaced Scooby. Maybe a middle finger to Warner Bros for not letting the show use him.

Because yeah, they said no to Velma using Scooby in their show. It wasn’t because it wasn’t adult enough if they include him.

That’s just my theory, since it seems Velma went out of its way to be the opposite of Mystery Incorporated.

[scoobydoozies]

the racism was uncomforable in the headless horror my other problem with it was how the guy just took his wife putting him in the hositpal as no big dea.... it just felt so unbelievable..

relationships in this show are very..strange to me... we got velma abusing shaggy/ velma the smart one being jealous of scooby/ fred showing zero interest in daphne until the plot demands it/ daphne/velma alone come off too pushy that it gets uncomfortable/ and thats just season 1

season 2 i wont spoil much cause im not sure how far ya are. im only about 5-6 eps in but i ididnt want to see a jealous fred act like a crazed ex but they decided woo its comedy to kidnap your ex girlfriend/ and again we have a women being weird to shaggy but an old women so its 100 times worse and just played off as a joke.. this show is just mean to shaggy

so how this show was recommended after velma is beyond me.. at best the background animation is good and we got the voice of kronk/ and frank welker is having fun i think tis amazing he can still do him so well at 70 / but they can only do so much to make it bearable with all the romance drama/ plot twists it reminds me of a cw show but animated

yeah like that's what i mean when i say this show really just isn't written well. there are some really cool concepts, but rarely are they executed to their fullest potential. characters make choices not based on their own personality and goals, but for the convenience of the plot and creation of conflict, which often leads to some really unfortunate side effects when you actually think about what's happening. as an example i wanna break down the fred and daphne thing, but this kind of writing is present throughout the whole first season (which is all i've seen so far, though i've heard a decent amount of things about season 2, but i'll try to stick to what i've personally watched for the most part)

like, at first fred shows no interest in daphne beyond friendship, but is a pretty good friend to her, while daphne is head over heels for fred to the point that she has basically no personality outside of that. yet, there isn't anything about fred that she actually likes. in the first episode she says that he's like one of those geniuses that's isn't appreciated in their time, but it's clear from later episodes that her and the rest of the gang think that he's stupid. beyond that, everything he says is annoying or boring to her unless it's him showing her romantic affection, and even then, only in certain ways.

later in season 1, fred suddenly switches from having no romantic interest in daphne to being in love with her, for no discernible reason. we know he didn't just secretly have a crush on her before, because we know that when he shows interest in someone he becomes incredibly jealous and possessive, and in episode 3 (before he liked her) he was totally supportive of her going on the date with rung. she ends gets so upset about him not reciprocating her feelings in the way she wants (as if she's owed that or something) and for having the audacity to like things that aren't her, that she writes a diss track about him and rejects him when he actually DOES reciprocate her feelings.

then there's that whole thing where he asks her on a date to the trap museum, and she gets really mad about it… for some reason? it's apparently because he makes everything about traps instead of her? she then gets all googly-eyed over a teacher, fred gets jealous, and then daphne says that she has the teacher's phone number and that they're planning on going on a date… at the trap museum. which either means: 1. she doesn't actually mind learning about traps and she's just annoyed that he's continuing to have an interest in the thing he's interested in for no reason, or 2. she's lying about having a date with the teacher, and is just saying that to hurt him. also, side note, the show never addresses or even implies that there's anything wrong with the teacher/student relationship aspect of all this. like, at all. the issue being presented here is that daphne's making fred jealous, because they liiiike each other~. at the end of the episode he calls her his girlfriend, and suddenly she's totally not mad at him anymore and is like "oh i would LOVE to go to the trap museum with you"… even though he was LITERALLY asking her out on a date at the beginning of the episode! which means he thinks of her as his girlfriend! nothing changed! she just changed her mind because it was time for that conflict to be over.

then fred and daphne are together and it's pretty much fine for a while, but then fred starts acting really controlling about her, almost verging on stalker territory. he starts making a list of all her habits and whereabouts, keeping track of her schedule and trying to control her and their relationship. she becomes (rightfully) uncomfortable with this, and says to velma it's giving her trust issues. she doesn't really talk about it to him directly, instead she asks a spirit board about the issue in front of him and he notices. later they actually DO talk about it, he apologizes for his behavior and it's chalked up to him being overprotective because of his issues over his absent mom. the one that scooby said was hot. that part's not relevant but i think it bears mentioning. anyway i actually felt like the way this conflict between them was handled fairly decently for this show. fred has an obsessive personality so this being a character flaw makes sense, daphne not talking to him about it right away and being a little immature about addressing it makes sense fits because she's a teenager, and they did talk about it and work it out. the problem doesn't come from this specific episode but the fact that fred… doesn't actually stop being controlling about daphne in later episodes (like i know about the kidnapping thing and doll with her real hair and the getting mad at/bullying marcie for not being daphne… ugh. don't even get me started on the way the gang treats marcie.)

then fred ends up proposing to daphne out of nowhere (they're still in high school btw), saying he wants her to solve mysteries with her forever, and she's over the moon about it. she gets really into it and starts planning right away, wanting to one-up her sisters and all that. when she tries to talk to fred about wedding stuff though, he's totally disinterested, and she continues to be disinterested in anything about him that doesn't revolve around her. great basis for a future marriage /s. they end up telling their parents who don't approve, velma and shaggy get mad at them for not telling them about the engagement, yada yada, whatever. at the end of season finale when the truth comes out about fred's past, he calls the engagement off completely because he wants to find his real parents, alone. the guy who is supposedly all about the team and wanted them to all move in together after high school and to solve mysteries together with daphne forever… wants to solve the mystery of locating his parents on his own. why??? well obviously because the writers want to separate them all for the dramatic ending, of course! and they didn't bother to set up any real justification for that beforehand that would actually make sense.

what's worse though is if you think about that ending from a totally in-universe perspective, it makes fred look REALLY bad. like, he proposed to daphne to keep her bound to him forever, but the second it felt more convenient to not have her around, he throws her in the garbage? AND continues to be obsessive and controlling about her later?

i think fred being controlling can be a good character flaw to have, in fact be cool scooby-doo did that really well in my opinion, but when you apply that character flaw to a romantic relationship, i think you have to be REALLY careful about how you portray that, and the show doesn't exactly have the best track record when it comes to condemning toxic behavior like that. plus, the level of control can only go up to a certain point severity and persist for a certain amount of time before it stops being an innocent mistake.

and this is just. how the show is written. in general. characters do nonsensical things for the convenience of the writers, which often paints them as being petty, fickle, and shallow. they often do mean or selfish things purely for the purpose of creating conflict and nothing else, which makes them come off as being bad people. im not opposed to shows where the characters are deeply flawed or even the villains, but it really doesn't feel like it's on purpose with the main 5. their bad behavior is often justified or left uncriticized or unpunished

when velma's hitting shaggy (and doing so hard enough to hurt him) for talking the way he talks, fred and daphne completely ignore it. the only one who cares about it is shaggy, who's later villainized for breaking up with the girl who abused him, demeaned him, and tried control him, after she gave him an ultimatum to get rid of his best friend! a member of their team! do fred or daphne ever tell her, "hey, scooby's our pal, and asking shaggy to get rid of him is really selfish of you"? nope! she continues to go on and on about how "he left her for a dog" for the whole rest of the season, and plenty of other characters throughout the show sympathize with her or mock shaggy for his (correct) choice. nobody ever stands up for him or defends him at all.

there's not even any discernible reason why any of them are interested in each other romantically. hell, there's no discernible reason why any of them are friends at all! well, besides velma and daphne bonding over their shared entitlement to the boys they're into, and similar shallow romance drama and other stereotypical ~girl things~. i wouldn't even say they all share a love for mystery solving-- shaggy and daphne don't seem like they could care less about that, and even fred and velma don't feel like they like it as much as every other iteration of those characters i've come across. fred mostly just cares about setting traps and nine times out of ten velma would rather angst over shaggy or get a pedicure with daphne than focus on the mystery. they solve mysteries together because that's what's dictated by the show they're in. that's it. they're not even very good at it! in the first half of season 1 mr. e is holding their hands, guiding them through some of the most obvious and clear-cut mysteries i've seen from this franchise. the writers try to make them look smarter by deliberately not showing key clues to the audience (who can probably figure it out anyway by ruling out the obvious red herrings and paying attention to the basic structure, even if they're given 0 clues or motives that actually incriminate the character), and this just makes the reveals feel cheap, and further highlights how ridiculous some of the explanations are.

and i could just keep going, really, but i won't because this is already getting really long.

like i said, there's some cool concepts and ideas here, and every once in a while there will be an episode or scene or line that's pretty good. the backgrounds are nice, same with the designs of a lot of the monsters. i liked the episode with the orc biker gang, i thought the frighthound was really creepy, i like there being an overarching plot and getting to see the gang's school and home lives, i like there being an old mystery incorporated, i like fred being autistic (even if the representation there is flawed), i love fred jones sr (i guess since they make all the characters selfish assholes, it turns out that when that's what they're supposed to do, they do a pretty good job), etc. if this show had different writers, ones that think things through, can write women, that don't perpetuate toxic relationship dynamics or sexualize teenagers, that know how to craft mysteries with proper pacing and intrigue, that have a grasp on humor beyond cynical mean-spiritedness (which sometimes bleeds into outright bigotry), it probably WOULD be the best scooby-doo show.

and yeah, it's really ironic that this was the show everyone was recommending as an alternative to hbo's velma, because it seems like they share a lot of the same problems, velma's just a lot less subtle about it.

[spacephrasing]

Best version of each Mystery Inc member and why?

alright i have given this so much thought

shaggy - live action movies: listen, matthew lillard is absolutely fucking amazing, and he plays shaggy so well. I think this version stands out to me bc not only is it so iconic, but also bc it gives shaggy and scooby such an integral part without giving them a completely separate story line from the rest of the gang. I just think these movies highlight him really well

daphne - be cool: weird girl daphne rights!!! it's not that i don't like hyper-feminine versions of daphne, i just think that while writing her that way, they tend to make her the mean pretty girl, and those versions miss the mark with her character. daphne is sweet, loving, and kind, and i love that this version shows that off. it's def the most different version of daphne and i love the direction they took

fred - mystery incorporated: l i s t e n, even tho he's clueless when it comes to daphne and he's got a shit ton of emotional issues, he is an absolute sweetheart in this version. he's so nice to and wants to help everyone he meets until given a reason not to and i love that for him. runner up for this one was be cool bc he's also a sweetheart and also such a dork

velma - be cool: I think this is the perfect combination of sarcastic, curious, and friendly velma. I feel this way abt the new movies as well. It def has to do with how kate miccuci plays her and I just <333 runner up for this is lost city of gold. i think alicia d’ariano does an amazing job of combing linda cardelini and kate, while being so fun (cannot wait for more of you guys to see that show holy shit)

[looney-mooney]

Okay so I actually watched the Velma show and I. I don’t entirely hate it! Yes, the opening monologue fuckin SUCKED and the writing is just sorta… NOT GOOD, but it is an absolutely GORGEOUS show visually and you can really tell the artists put their hearts and souls into it. Edit: please pirate it if you do decide to watch it, don’t give HBO your money. And if you have the opportunity, please watch Mysteries Incorporated instead! It is a genuinely much better show! Velma might be pretty, but it still has all the major pitfalls of bad adult swim content, and should be treated as such. And keep in mind if you decide to read this that I am an incurable optimist who is good at seeing the best in bad content. Anyway.

More thoughts under the cut:

I feel like I started enjoying it a lot more when I realized that these characters are shitty because they’re teenagers and they haven’t really had a chance to figure themselves out yet. Fred started as a shitty misogynist, but that’s because he was trying to impress his absolutely godawful father and earn his love by conforming to his expectations. The more he starts hanging out with Velma, the more he starts shunning those toxic masculinity teachings, and starts becoming the genuine, thoughtful, kind himbo we all know and love.

Daphne starts out as a standard “mean girl,” but that’s because she has abandonment issues from her birth parents leaving her and Velma doesn’t let her say anything before making her own assumptions about Daphne’s situation. When in reality, Daphne’s an adrenaline junkie, trying to figure out who her birth parents are in an effort to figure out why she’s so WEIRD - why she loves danger so much, why her hair’s this orange (?), why she’s so effortlessly manipulative and why she just feels like she doesn’t fit in. She has adventures of her own, selling drugs to afford a private investigator, exploring gem-filled caverns to find gangs who might know something, and she’s just. Interesting! Also, her relationship with Velma is really nuanced and fun to watch play out on screen. Because there is an intense mutual attraction, but they both know they’re not ready for a relationship like that until they can learn to be friends again, and they both respect that. And like, they talk about it! They’re both honest about their feelings for eachother, and I’m gonna admit, it’s a little refreshing to see. It’s not a “will they won’t they” so much as it is a “they’re not ready to and they know it”.

Speaking of Velma, she’s a cynical jerk who thinks she knows everything at first, but the more the show goes on, the more she learns to actually listen to other people and take other perspectives into account, and the more she realizes it’s okay to admit when you don’t know anything at all. Because she does screw up. A lot. The narrative in no way justifies her shitty opinions! She’s scared to admit when she doesn’t know something, but she’s slowly learning to accept the inherent mystery of everyday life. Which, is hard! She has a habit of assuming things to fill in the gaps, and like. On one level, it makes her a huge asshole, but on the other hand… she kind of Literally Has To.

Velma, in this show, has a disability where whenever she tries to solve a mystery, there is the possibility that she could start having potentially fatal trauma-induced hallucinations. Shock and/or distractions seem to be the best way to combat these hallucinogenic episodes. The characters around her treat her disability with respect, even as they show concern for her health and wellbeing. They are willing to do almost whatever it takes to combat these hallucinations. Methods used include Norville making her laugh, Daphne giving her her first kiss, and her father telling her he believes her. These don’t always work, and sometimes they’re so intense her heart actually stops and they have to resuscitate her. At the same time, the characters don’t let their concern turn to pity, and they aren’t afraid to put her in her place when she goes too far, because she IS a jerk! The narrative knows this!!! It doesn’t excuse it! Her need to assume she knows everything means she is HORRIBLE at taking the experiences of others into account, or admitting when she’s wrong about something! But she is slowly learning that she doesn’t know everything. That the experiences of others differ from her own experience, and that she CAN be wrong, and that’s OKAY.

Norville starts out insecure and a pushover, but the more the show goes on the more he learns to stand up for himself - and then when he takes it too far and tries to be a “bad boy,” he acknowledges his mistakes and starts learning how to find a healthy balance. His dad’s a guidance counselor, and his mom’s the school principal, and I think he’s becoming sort of a leader in his own right. Norville doesn’t start out as a shit person, so his character arc is more nuanced, but I think he’s learning and growing just as much as everyone else.

Overall, these characters are misguided, underdeveloped, horny, stubborn, confused, deeply affected by the adults in their lives, and learning how to be better people, just like any teenager. The more the show goes on, the more they all grow. And the more they grow, the closer they get as people. The more they care about eachother, learn to listen to one another, and I think they’re slowly becoming the gang we all know and love.

They’re just… taking their time with telling the story of how it happened. Although I will admit that the story’s pretty muddled by the weird jokes and violence interspersed, though that’s unfortunately pretty par for the course for adult animation, so I’m able to ignore it for things like the stunning set design, animation, and hallucination sequences.

Also, I love Daphne’s moms! They’re sweet, they’re nerdy, they’re shit cops but like in a Deputy Durland and Sheriff Blubbs kinda way, and I feel like they’re exactly the kind of vaguely-stupid but endlessly doting adults that fit right in at a community like Crystal Cove. And adding onto that, the background characters all have such good designs! I love pausing the show and staring at the character designs in crowd shots, because every single design is memorable in their own ways, which makes the community as a whole feel real and diverse, like everyone’s the main character of their own stories too.

I feel like this is a show that put its worst foot forward, and I will admit that I honestly think they did that on purpose. Which sucks, because once you get past that initial “oh god how dare they,” there’s something good there. Yeah, the writing kinda sucks, but you can see where they’re going with it, you can follow along with the mystery elements, and this show is just so genuinely stunning in its visuals. It’s worse than a lot of Scooby doo media, but better than a lot of adult swim shows out there, and it IS genuinely going somewhere. The good parts of it are in the long game, if you’re patient enough to see it through.

I will admit I skipped the first cold open, because that opening monologue just made me cringe so much it hurt, and I don’t feel like I missed anything, sooo… yeah. I will also admit there are a lot of lines I really hate. The language these characters use feels like it’s designed to be as rage-inducing as possible, or at least are used by people who don’t entirely understand what these words mean. But also, like. Velma in this show does feel like someone who sometimes uses words she doesn’t entirely understand, but is too stubborn to admit she doesn’t entirely understand them? Which. I have met teenagers like that. Like, I’m not saying this show is amazing, or that it doesn’t deserve a lot of the criticism it’s been getting. What I’m saying is that it’s not ALL bad.

Please pirate it, because HBO max doesn’t deserve our money after what it did to animation, but maybe be a little less vitriolic in the hatred for it? It’s cynical, sure, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things to like about it. I don’t know, maybe it’s just my unrelenting optimism shining through, or maybe I just subconsciously love finding the best in bad media, but I think this show DOES have something genuine to offer. Maybe all it has to offer is amazing animation, extremely well-done set design, really fun and diverse character design, absolutely phenomenal color palettes and compositing, and a small semblance of character development, but you know what? Maybe that’s enough for me.

[jinkieswouldyoulookatthis]

hii i love your banner btw. i'm curious how you feel about the episode Scoobynatural as a spn and a scooby doo fan. don't feel any pressure to answer!

The pressure to talk about both Scooby Doo and Supernatural just exists naturally inside me all the time, so sorry for the incoming explosion, but when the crazy is directly poked it tends to burst, lol.

Putting in a cut, because this is probably going to be long...

(I apologize in advance.)

So, thank you for asking! I'm kinda old, been watching Scooby Doo for well over four decades and have been a huge fan of that franchise since I was very small. I even once joined a mail order (waaaaaaaaay before the internet) fan club that issued me an official membership card and everything. Shit, I just realized as I was typing this that I'm actually wearing a Scooby Doo shirt right now, lol.

So, shortly after I finally succumbed and started watching Supernatural, at the beginning of 2015, I wanted the two shows to cross over. I kept thinking about it, writing up little drabbles and whatnot, and commissioned the piece that I use as my mobile banner/cover image. So when they announced, in late 2017 I think, that they were going to actually do a crossover episode, I was over the moon!

As for what I think of the episode, well, that's kinda complicated. To preface, I have two entirely separate rating systems for things that co-exist weirdly in my head, both my objective evaluation and my subjective opinion. These often seem to contradict each other, try not to let that get to you, like I said, it's complicated, but it's just how I roll.

So, objectively, I'll be perfectly honest, it's got some problems. Most Supernatural episodes fall solidly into the "okay" category. This is not a bad thing, I feel like I need to stress that. What makes the show as a whole good are the stand out episodes that are truly great, and there are a sizable handful of them every season. When balanced against the couple of actually bad episodes scattered throughout the 15 year run, the scales tip solidly in favor of it being an overall really good show.

So, Scoobynatural... It's cute, it's fun, but a little, I don't know, awkward doesn't quite seem right. Maybe it just feels a little too obvious? Hmm, still not the right word... maybe superficial? I don't know, it just fails to obtain suspension of disbelief and one remains very aware of the mechanizations of it being a tv show. But whatever, you know, it's a ridiculous premise, we all know that. LOL. I'm not a fan of how Dean and Sam were drawn, I don't think they did them justice. I mean, look at my banner, they could have, SHOULD have looked more like the actual actors or just been cuter. But that's really all the complaints I had about the episode. So objectively, it's a good episode. Not great, but better than just okay, solidly good.

Subjectively, though? I loved it!

What I really enjoyed about it? One, I love that Dean is as much of a fan of the show as I am. We are close in age, and one of the ways that I'm dean-coded is in how I relate to tv and movies, so it's a point of connection I feel very deeply. I don't find his attraction to Daphne creepy, I actually get it. Not that I find Daphne attractive in that way, I always kinda wanted to be Daphne, so there's that whole reader self-insert aspect for me that just scratches a weird kink, you know? And the fact that she's completely hung up on Fred is so great.

I'm also totally onboard with Velma lusting after Sam. I really don't have an investment in any cartoon character's supposed sexuality. Is she straight? Bi? A lesbian? Sure, why not, whatever works best in the moment is 100% a-ok with me. And honestly I feel that Sam should be an exception regardless because he does have dreamily broad shoulders.

Also, if you just run with the episode, it's freakin' hilarious! The way it bounces between Dean's glee at being in the Scooby Doo universe and then dark, existential horror is just *chef's kiss* so good. When the first dead body is found and it's all bloody and the guy is really dead and Dean says, "Son of a bitch." That's good stuff right there.

Cas casually dropping the fact that he's likely married to a djinn queen is a golden overlooked moment tbh.

Dean clearly saying "Hail no" instead of "Hell no" when he realized he was touching the ghost instead of Daphne, like, Jensen, babe, your Texas is showing. LOL

Running montage!!! But fucking Scrappy Doo, grr.

The spiral the Scooby gang gets sent into when Shaggy's arm gets broken and they all realize that the horror is real? Have a breakdown and then bounce out of it again so fucking fast? That is the true brilliance in this episode, btw. I loved it!

The fact that Fred's crazy trap didn't work, because it was designed to catch something corporal, but Dean had a back up plan in place because he knew it wouldn't work but chose to not argue with Fred... so funny.

Sam: Ok, that was... something.

Dean: That was the coolest thing that's ever happened to me. And that includes the Cartwright twins.

Castiel: What did you do with the Cartwright twins?

Dean: Oh... *laughs*

Dean is a pervy little creep and I just love him, ok?

Like, yes, it is all utterly ridiculous, but that actually works because both shows were often ridiculous on their own. Mashed together, it just makes sense to lean into the crazy.

tldr - So, while not the best episode, honestly not really a great episode, but it is a good episode and I just love it.

Thanks for asking 😁

[ghostchasersmagazine]

🍿?🧍‍♂️?

Thanks for asking! Answers under the cut for length purposes.

🍿 - favorite movie?

Honestly, I don't feel strongly enough about any particular Scooby movie to say one is my overall favorite. There were a few that did come to mind when thinking of an answer though, so consider this an unranked top 5 of sorts with me giving a brief reasoning for why I like each of them.

I feel like I should mention Reluctant Werewolf first since that's the one I've posted about most on this blog. This movie has always been a fun one conceptually to me, the idea of a bunch of monsters getting together to race themed cars, and as you all have noticed, the monster characters are my favorite part of the movie. I've always found Shaggy and Googie's relationship to be perfectly serviceable, and I'm just a Scrappy fan in general so I like the movies with him in it.

Ghoul School is in a similar vein for me, being another one I've always conceptually liked with the idea of monsters going to school and how something mundane like that gets adapted to a spooky setting. This movie gets some points over Reluctant Werewolf for me though simply due to the nostalgia factor, as this was one of my favorites as a kid. I liked the running gag (if I'm remembering it correctly) of Shaggy and Scooby still being scared of everything monster-based despite everything being so friendly, and also Scrappy was there so points there.

Cyber Chase was another I watched a lot as a kid, and is my favorite of the late 90s/early 00s movies. I just had a lot of fun watching it, maybe because it wasn't as intense as the other three films given that it didn't have the heavy shadows those films did and the monster didn't look as intimidating to me. The different settings the gang went through for each level were creative and I always like the ending level with the gang meeting a version of their past selves.

Monsters Unleashed, the second live action movie, is another big nostalgic one for me. It was one I saw in theaters as a kid and would quote afterwards, and I always enjoyed more than the first one. I liked seeing the creative ways the monsters would be adapted into live action and pointing out all the references I noticed. I also just liked the premise of the movie, with all these different monsters coming together and the gang having to stop them all.

Finally, a brief shout-out to Alien Invaders for having the only romantic plot line in a Scooby movie I genuinely cared about as a kid (and possibly even now). I dunno if the writing was just that good or if I just liked Crystal's design that much, but it stuck with me.

🧍‍♂️- favorite version of each member of the Gang and why?

For Scooby, Shaggy, and Velma, I'm just going with a general "Classic 1970s version" answer, since those are the versions I'm most familiar with and how I imagine the characters in my head. A quick honorable mention goes to the 1980s Scooby though, since him being Uncle Scooby and his relationship with Scrappy is great.

I do have slightly more in-depth thoughts about which version of Fred and Daphne are my favorite, however:

Fred - Be Cool Fred. I once read someone describe Be Cool Fred as a blend between the quirkier modern versions of Fred and the version of him from the 1970s, and I think that's a perfect description of why I like him. As someone who is a fan of his 1970s version, I think him being the serious Leader Guy of the group is an important part of his character. Be Cool adapts this to its more comedic style by making Fred a Straight Man, the serious one to the sillier nature of his friends. Of course, where the humor comes in is he's just as silly as his friend but he takes everything very seriously expects everyone else to as well. Fred's character in the show is basically that mysteries are something that require the upmost attention and focus, and yes it IS important that he dresses as a Vegas performer while solving them.

Honorable mention goes to 1970s Fred, which as I mentioned I am a fan of. I do think Be Cool Fred is more entertaining overall, but the original Fred is closer to how I personally imagine him in my head.

Daphne - 1980s Daphne. In particular I'm thinking about The New Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show/The New Scooby Doo Mysteries version of her since I haven't seen 13 Ghosts yet. I feel like this version is a natural evolution of her character. Like the version from the 1970s she's still a curious person who wants to help people, but now she's been able to adapt that into a full career through being a reporter. The writers were able to put her into even more of a starring role without completely changing her character.

I also like how her being a leader in this version felt like something natural for her to do instead of trying to force her into being a Hashtag Girlboss about it. She is braver than Shaggy and Scooby but more level-headed than Scrappy, so she's in a way the glue that holds the group together during mysteries. It makes sense that due to her curious nature that she would want to take charge and investigate supposedly haunted houses and if Frankenstein's Monster really exists or not. It also makes sense that she'll want to stay with the friends she's made instead of leaving them behind, insisting that Scooby and Shaggy tag along despite their cowardly natures and encouraging Scrappy to use his excitement and high-energy for proper detective work. She's a good leader both in her own personal desire to achieve her goals and how well she works with others.

Honorable mention goes to Be Cool Daphne. I found her "interest of the week" to be a very funny gag and the decision to make her a comic relief character was a bold one that managed to pay off.