#the scooby gang indeed

[5bi5]

Matching pants <3

[aklaustaleteller]

The Sweetest Heart

When Klaus ruins a good chat with a very sincere girl he's been obsessing over for some time now, he has some making up to do.

Warnings - slightly yandere!Klaus, if you squint, and a good ol' make-out session, which does lead tos omething more (no p in v!).

Word Count - 4.2k

Masterlist | Please reblog the work to share!

Long time no see, besties? I hope you didn't forget me!! I've been trying to get back into writing after a full month of practicals and exams, so this is indeed a word-vomit kind of fic (it is very fast paced!), hahah. I hope you'll be entertained regardless! <3

Klaus had had a long day. He felt like bashing his head against a wall or shoving his fist through someone's chest. But he did neither of those painful deeds and instead found himself headed to the Mystic Grill.

He decided to walk there at a rather slow pace, wanting to clear his head so that he'll be able to fully enjoy his drinks there.

The air was bitingly cold against wherever his skin was exposed, and it was so strong that it managed to sneak into and engulf him even inside his coat. But he didn't shiver, or even flinch – instead, he shut his eyes for a second or two, and tried to focus on what he could smell and feel.

Before he knew it, he could hear the low buzz of his destination – the frequent sounds of beer bottles clinking together, people talking each other's ears off after finally getting together after a while, and students trying to get a group project discussion done without having to repeat themselves five times because of the loud chatter.

He felt that he was smiling by the time he could smell the scent of ...well, alcohol and a variety of colognes. Some fried food and a lot of blood.

But when he walked through the door, and saw the true reason for his smile, he felt conscious enough to hide it or else seeming totally weird and out of it.

He bit his lip and walked over to the bar, mumbling his usual order to the tender before he sat on one of the stools. Slowly, he turned his neck to look behind him, and a gleaming smile found its way on his mouth when he realised that she had already been looking at him.

She'd been nodding to something her friend was saying, while looking at him. Klaus nodded lightly and slowly turned back around when she smiled back right away and turned away a little shyly.

Klaus' mind was usually always busy building strategies, making back up plans, being paranoid and trying to figure out who was betraying him. But for the past few weeks, she had taken up more than half of the space in his brain, and his heart had begun beating at a slightly faster rate – perhaps by a point five.

He had seen her hanging with Caroline and Bonnie, and quite often with Alaric Saltzman and Logan Fell. And each time that he'd approach any of her mates, she'd quickly back out and leave the space. Almost as if she didn't want to even be breathing the same air as him.

But all of the times that she was unaware of his looming presence, it was like she was the sweetest heart to be walking the earth.

So, perhaps she was afraid of him, Klaus had thought trying to come to a conclusion, remembering the sound of her escalated heart beats whenever he was around. But that wouldn't make sense as she had no reason to fear him, since as far as he knew, she didn't know anything about the inner-goings of her distant friend group.

Distant because he saw her with others more than he saw her with any of the Scooby-gang's members.

She'd be walking along with Caroline and Bonnie, and the moment she would see him around the corner, she would essentially scutter off. When he would interrupt her sessions with Alaric, she would scatter to gather her stuff and scurry off while making sure that she didn't brush against him as she passed him in the doorway.

And when he would crash her conversations with Logan at the bar, she would look quite pissed off, but still, she would be gone with the next gust of wind.

Sometimes Klaus’ wandering eyes would fixate on Y/n for a little too long and he would occasionally catch a boy gazing at her, or another one looking at her for a brief second before he would mutter something in his friend’s ear, something along the lines of, “she just needs to look at me once with a smile, and I’ll literally take her back to my house.”

He wasn’t sure then why his teeth would grit till he was pulled out of his rage by a hand on his shoulder, often of someone equally infuriating such as Damon or Alaric. 

He would just be quite outraged that the one girl he had his eyes on, he had to share with a couple others. And it didn’t even make sense, because no one even knew that he was even aware of her presence, let alone the fact that he would often be searching for her in places he knew she must be present. 

But maybe, it was her behaviour that had his interest piqued. He wanted to know many things about her, such as: why she avoided him, and why did he catch her hanging with the two older men so often. Maybe it was because he wanted her to be hanging out with him instead, maybe it was because he was curious and that was the most he had seen of her till date.

Since then, he had his eyes on her whenever she was around. And so far he had noticed a few other things such as, she only wore her prescribed glasses when she was alone, or attending a lecture, she had a sensitive skin that turned red if she rubbed it too harshly, and that she often read more than just one book at a time. 

A couple days prior, three to be exact, he was disappointedly walking out of Alaric's class. He had been hoping to crash one of her sessions again. But she hadn't been there – Klaus had even made sure to check if it was the usual time that she was there. The colour pink had washed over his cheeks in embarrassment, and he'd turned into the hallway that led to the library, giving himself another chance and hoping he'd catch her there.

He opened the gate just slightly ajar, enough for him to peak his head through. And just as he had hoped, she was standing right there, looking like a deer caught in headlights with her big eyes in the dim lighting of the library.

Biting back a smile, he walked inside, closing the door behind him.

"Hi," he mumbled, walking forward with his hands in his coat's pockets.

She looked around her to ensure that he was asking her. Still, she pointed at herself and whispered, "me?"

Klaus chuckled, then nodded.

She waved back at him then, and, "hi," she smiled.

"Uh, I've seen you around a couple times actually, but never caught your name," he whispered, sticking his hand out.

"Y/n," she nodded with a small laugh before wrapping her hand around his' easily, and Klaus couldn't ignore just how soft and warm it was. Or maybe he'd felt that about her laughter, he wasn't sure.

"I'm Klaus, it's nice to finally meet you," he smiled. "It wouldn't have taken this long if you hadn't been avoiding me," he shrugged.

She looked at the ground, embarrassed. "I wasn't avoiding you," she mumbled, turning to put a book back on the shelf. "I'm sorry that that's what it looked like."

The smile was still playing around on her mouth, but this one was covered in hues of truth that she was holding back.

"Oh? My eyes must have been deceiving me every time you ran off when I came around," he pointed out, amused.

"Well, I don't know," she exclaimed, "you just make me nervous!"

Klaus looked at her incredulously. "You didn't even know my name until a few minutes ago, and you say that I made you nervous? That doesn't make any sense, now does it?"

"I know! But --" she hesitated, "I don't know," she deflated like a balloon.

Klaus sighed, shrugging. "I -- are you nervous right now?" He could hear very well that she was, but he still wanted to hear what she had to say.

"I mean, kind of?" She trailed off. "But not as much as you usually do!"

"Alright, baby steps, perhaps." He laughed, and then harder when she doubled over and put her hand on his arm for support.

"Wait, am I holding you back?" He quickly asked.

"I mean, yes you are, but it's fine," she shrugged. "I don't want to go to class anyways," she said, grinning.

"I didn't take you for a bad student," he feigned being shocked.

"I'm not! It's just, I've already covered what he's going to teach in class today," she smiled, embarrassed again.

"Is that why I see you around Alaric so often?" Klaus gasped. "Are you trying to leave you batchmates behind?"

Y/n laughed as if he was talking crap after taking five shots.

"Well, I'd rather put it as, I want to learn everything in my lifetime, and right now, it means I know what's written in most textbooks, more well than my peers do," she shrugged.

Klaus nodded, as if saying, 'sure, why not!'. "And what about Logan?"

"You have quite a wandering eye, don't you?" She teased him first, but when Klaus gave her a look, she sighed.

"Well, I've been wanting to know more about Journalism, especially the things that people don't really tell you at face value, you know? I'm just taking advantage of my situation and running after Logan after any new thing I learn."

Klaus could already tell that this was a busy girl, who liked to make each second of her day count. And suddenly, he felt bad for chatting to her without any preset intentions.

And then, Y/n checked her wristwatch.

"I ...have to go," she said, as if it was the most embarrassing thing she'd ever had to say in her entire life.

"Oh, okay, yeah, of course!" Klaus face palmed himself in his mind for stumbling over his words so hard.

She lingered, and then passed him a quick smile. And she'd just reached the door's handle when he cleared his throat instantly.

"Y/n!" She turned, and saw that one of his hands was in the air, almost as if reaching out to her.

"I was thinking maybe we could get some coffee? Or whatever you like to drink, and you know... I'd like to get to know you," he finished off quite shyly, and pinched himself for it from inside his coat's pocket.

"I'd love to," she replied loudly. She knew that there was no one other than them in the room right now. "Find me when you get the chance," she said before leaving.

And it had been a full week since their first and last true encounter – and Klaus was just now seeing her again.

He felt bad, realising that she might have felt as if he'd somehow played her. But he'd had to go back to New Orleans to solve a matter suddenly, and the moment he'd stepped foot back in Mystic Falls, he'd walked straight to the Grill.

Even when he was away, he'd felt the urge to look at her, at the very least. And that had been when he'd truly known that he needed to just make her his’.

"Don’t you think our drinks might have gone bad by now?" Klaus heard her say before he saw her, sliding onto the seat right beside him.

"Oh, I had to leave town for a little bit," Klaus immediately answered, brushing his nose. "Spontaneously too," he added, then gulped dryly. 

She only nodded, before taking a sip of her coffee. The maroon colour on her lips was faint, like she had rubbed it to look more like a gradient, and he suddenly felt thirsty.

"Seems like you missed me," he shrugged with a smirk, looking at her from the corner of his eye as he took a gulp of his own drink.

She gasped, looking at him accusingly.

"No, I didn't!" She exclaimed, eyes wide.

"And who are you lying to, yourself or me?" Klaus raised a brow, placing his elbow on the bar and leaning his temple on his palm, looking at her with his full attention.

She had left the top two buttons of the cropped shirt open, and only because of the pendant that was leading his gaze further down, Klaus noticed the lace of her black bra peeking through. He was relieved to see that she didn’t notice, busy tucking her hair behind her ear.

"I- I'm not lying," she answered, caught a little off-guard. “I don’t care enough to lie,” she said, but without looking him in the eyes.

"Whatever you say," Klaus feigned nonchalance, and checked his wrist watch, hoping she'd say something that he could then tease her about.

But instead, he saw her sigh in his periphery.

"Okay," she mumbled, placing her empty glass on the bar and slid off the seat. Fixing the hem of her shirt, she walked back to her table, chewing the inside of her cheek.

Oh god, Klaus shouldn't have been so mean. He had forgotten just how gentle and sensitive her nature was. He face-palmed internally, mad that he had ruined such a good meeting.

Looking behind him with a deep frown, he was panicking how he could save the situation when he saw her hug all of her friends to her side, while fixing her tote on her other shoulder.

Her hair was tied in a neat bun, but wisps had still managed to escape. Gold hoops dangled from her ears, and his eyes travelled down the expanse of her neck.

Klaus blinked, and focused.

"I mean I do have to submit an essay tonight, and get some readings done before midnight," she spoke guiltily, curling in on herself under the upset gaze of the friends.

"I'm sorry, I'll make up soon," she pouted, letting a girl press a kiss on her cheek before she was rushing out of the bar, leaving behind a chatter and before Klaus could bury his face deep in his palms, the girls' eyes flashed to him for a brief second.

To be real, they weren't even close. Barely acquaintances, but for some reason, Klaus felt as though he was on the very edge of losing something ...exceptional. So he needed to do something, and do it quickly.

He had to reach her before she slammed the door on him. Finishing the last bit of his drink, he rushed back home, to ensure nothing would come up to interrupt him later in the night.

Klaus was well aware that Y/n lived with her parents, who truly loved her dearly. She was the only one so far who he had seen with a usual pair of parents, let alone with a close relationship with them as well. And he also knew that they would never expect their golden daughter to even be holding hands with a boy let alone being alone with a man in her room.

So he knew that he could shoot his shot tonight, and the both of them would come out the other side, uncaught. 

When the crickets had begun chirping, and the moon was the only source of light, Klaus made his way to her house. From outside he saw that her room was still lit up, albeit a little dimly. 

He climbed right up to her window, and was amazed to find her window open ajar, and the curtains that were usually covering it, were drawn just a little to the side – enough for him to peek inside. As the curtains bellowed because of the strong wind, Klaus felt as though he heard cello begin playing inside of his heart the moment he caught a glimpse of her. 

But then he waited, and realised that the music was coming from her laptop instead. Leaning in a little bit more, he saw that she was sitting on the floor, swamped amongst papers with the end of a pen caught between her teeth. 

As she was studying from a paper in front of her, and then shifting her attention back on her laptop to type something, Klaus felt the urge to free her bottom lip from where it was held by her canines. 

Unable to control himself any longer, but still having the mind to not startle her, Klaus knocked on the window. 

She looked up, still a little distracted because of her papers, but when she saw him sitting on her window sill, her eyes blew wide.

Her mouth dropped open but before she could’ve yelped, Klaus had his hand cupped in front of her mouth. “It’s me!” He whispered, his heart thudding as her round eyes stared back into his’. 

Her breathing calmed, and she let her figure slump back down. 

“Dear god, you scared the shit out of me,” she shook her head, eyes closed and her hand placed over her heart. 

“Don’t use bad words,” he teased, finally sitting down on the floor with her. 

He rested his back against the foot of her bed, and spread his legs in front of him, locking them at the ankles. 

“Wh- what the hell are you even doing here? Isn’t this trespassing?” She asked, and then squinted her eyes. “Should I scream right now?”

Laughter escaped him before he could control it. “Why are you so sweet, my love?” He asked her, simply smiling now.

She looked a little offended. 

“You can call it a trespass or a break in, if you want to. I think I’d call this apologising,” he shrugged.

A little puzzled, Y/n raised an eyebrow. “Apologising? …For?”

“For the way I spoke to you earlier,” he said, rolling his lips in. He needed to tread carefully here. 

Realisation seemed to dawn upon her then, and she skipped the ad that had interrupted the cello music to buy herself some time. “Yeah about that, um,” she swallowed, embarrassment creeping in. “You don’t need to apologise for that, um, I think I overreacted a little.”

This answer gave him the confidence that it would be way easier to make her his’, than he had originally thought. 

“No, I should’ve talked to you sweetly, that is what you deserve,” he started. “I was a twit for behaving like that, and I’m very sorry.”

At this point, her ears were burning red and she was chewing on the inside of her cheek again. “It’s okay, Klaus. I forgive you, really,” she smiled.

Silence overtook them for a while, and Klaus could sense her attention slipping back onto her papers. So he leaned in, and moved all of the papers aside. 

Y/n gasped, beginning to protest when Klaus shushed her with his finger on her lips. 

“I’d put them in an order,” she pouted, a small frown in between her brows. God she got upset and embarrassed way too easily, and each time Klaus felt like his heart was alive again.

Klaus trailed his finger down her chin, and then brought it back into his lap. “I don’t think I can hide this any longer, I uh,” he licked his lips, and took a small breath. “I really like you, Y/n.”

Her eyes widened, and gradually, a smile pulled the corners of her mouth upwards. “You do?” She asked while grinning, her excitement seeping into Klaus. 

He began smiling too. “Yeah,” he nodded. “I really fucking do.”

Y/n buried her face into her hands. “Oh god, I cannot believe this.”

Klaus was grinning now, and he shifted close enough to take hold of her wrists to pull them away. “Look at me, love,” he said softly. 

And Y/n did, her eyes shining like he had put stars in them and her face was so red he could feel warmth just by hovering his hands over her cheeks. 

“Do you feel the same?” He asked, looking into her eyes, and when she nodded furiously, Klaus bit his lip.

“I really really like you as well, Klaus,” she giggled, and Klaus went back to lean against the bed. 

He watched her for a few seconds, and she looked back into his eyes, her smile stretched from ear to ear. 

“Come closer now, would you?” He said with a teasing lilt in his voice, and he grabbed her hand when she got up on her knees to move towards him. 

And when she was sitting beside him, Klaus brushed the back of his hand against her cheek before cupping it in one hand. “Can I kiss you?” He asked, his voice raspier and quieter now that she was so close he could smell the cologne she had put on earlier in the evening.

Y/n nodded, eyes fluttering. “Please,” she told him softly, her breath just a little exhilarated

And overwhelmed by her answer, Klaus drew her in and smashed his mouth onto her. His entire body felt like it was on fire, and a rasp escaped his throat when Y/n placed a hand on his chest. 

“God, you taste so good,” he muttered against her mouth to let her take a couple of breaths before he was kissing her again, his fingers entangled in her hair with his palm placed on the edge of her jaw.  

Her hand travelled upwards, leaving goosebumps behind and travelled behind his neck to curl her fingers around the baby hairs on the nape of his neck. 

He bit down on her bottom lip before pushing his tongue into her mouth, and a whimper escaped her mouth. She let him take control, and Klaus began exploring her mouth. 

She backed away to catch her breath, but Klaus was quick to latch onto her neck. He left a trail of saliva along her jaw before marking spots on the span of her neck. She moaned, her breaths heavy and laced with want as Klaus sucked right above her collarbone. 

“Straddle me, sweetheart,” Klaus grunted against her skin, a particular type of high coursing through his body as he pressed his nose further into her skin.

She did just as he said and the moment he felt her heat radiate onto his boner, he knew he was gone for the night. 

“Klaus?” She called his name gently, and he looked up into her eyes right away. 

“I- I’m a virgin,” she told him, her breath shaky. 

“It’s okay sweetheart, we can go further another day, yes? Whenever you want to?” He told her, and she nodded so sweetly Klaus had to take a deep breath to ground himself. 

“But can I just kiss you a little longer, my love?” He asked, eyes then trailing over the hickeys he had given her. He would really need to jerk himself off the moment he reached his home.

“Uh huh,” she mumbled, her voice cracking. “Please.”

“God, you love to beg, don’t you?” He chuckled, tracing her jaw. “I’ll give you what you want, sweet girl. Whatever you want,” he whispered, and this time Y/n was the one to start the kiss. 

Their heads bobbed as they pressed themselves further into each other and it was only in a few seconds that Klaus felt movement against his crotch. 

He stopped to look down, and saw Y/n’s hips falter to a stop. “Did I do something wrong?” She asked him worriedly.

“Were you grinding on me, sweetheart?” 

“Y-yeah, I think so,” she muttered, hands beginning to fiddle. 

“You’ll be the death of me,” Klaus grunted before he drew her into a kiss again. And this time, one his hands remained tangled in her hair while the other one began to travel down her waist and on her hips.

Then he began to grind her onto him, and pushed himself up towards her clothed cunt. Slowly, he created a pace and it wasn’t long before she was increasing the pace herself. 

Small whimpers and moans began to escape her as Klaus continued kissing her. He himself felt getting closer and he had just been thinking of holding himself back when he heard her say his name. 

“Please, Klaus,” she whimpered again, and Klaus moved to press kisses and bites across her chest instead. 

“Yes, my love?” He asked her, still drawing her stuttering hips into a pace. 

“I think, I think I’m going to come,” she mumbled, and Klaus knew there was no stopping himself now. 

“Yeah, sweet girl? Come for me then, make me happy,” he rasped before nipping above her other collarbone. 

And right then, Y/n bit down on her bottom lip as her body began to shake. Stuttering against Klaus’ unforgiving pace, she fell into shambles on top of him. A lone tear slid out of one of her eyes, and Klaus eyes were glinting at this sight of her. 

He freed her bottom lip, and kissed her harshly one last time before he felt the knot in his belly break loose. God, he had made a mess of himself in front of this angel girl, and still he kept moving her hips until the both of them had ridden their highs. 

She pressed her face in his neck then, and wrapped her arms around his torso, still sitting on top of him. 

“God, I really fucking like you,” she said meekly, clutching him a little tighter. 

“I know my love,” Klaus smiled, brushing his hands through her hair, and inhaling the faint smell of vanilla. “I really like you as well, my love,” he said in a deep voice, and pressed a small kiss on her ear.

[coraniaid]

I have any number of issues with how the show (mis)treats Jenny Calendar while she's alive (from mostly abandoning the initial technopagan aspect of her character after the first season in favour of making her entire personality simply being Giles' Girlfriend; the clearly unplanned retcon her character gets in Surprise and all the attendant racism around that; the fact her supposed betrayal of the Scooby Gang amounts to very, very little once you actually sit down and think about it) and -- while I think on balance her death in Passion was a good writing choice which improved the season (and Robia La Morte was probably going to leave the show anyway in hindsight, though nobody knew that at the time) -- it kind of offends me she gets buried under the wrong name and then largely forgotten by everyone who knew her. (While I wish I could, I can't see any evidence at all on screen for the fan readings where her death is meant to have a lasting impact on Giles or Buffy or indeed anybody else: I think that's just imagining a better version of the show than the one that actually exists.)

But, that being said, that scene in Amends where Angel visits Giles and (the First masquerading as) the ghost of Jenny is there, but Giles can't see her? Yeah, unfortunately I think that's really effective.

[elizabethemerald]

Inside the Mystery Machine

I was inspired by @emmakubert 's art on the gang on the way to another mystery. I particularly liked the conspiracy board on the wall. I hope you enjoy this!

Interviewer: Max Stevenson: I’m here interviewing Mystery Inc, the group of young adults who managed to solve the Mystery of the Blair’s Haunted Mansion. So tell me, what inspires a group such as yourselves to solve crimes like this? 

The group is gathered around the open back doors of their vehicle, dubbed the Mystery Machine. 

Fred Jones: Well we don’t usually go out of our way to solve crimes, we want to solve mysteries. 

Daphne Blake: Yeah, it just turns out, a lot of the ghosts and creepy things are just creepy guys in masks. 

Velma Dinkley: Through the use of complex technologies, smoke and mirrors, and more than a little gullibility from the locals, they can pass themselves off as something truly haunted. 

Shaggy Rogers: Like, I’d prefer we not solve crimes or mysteries at all, but these things just happen to us.

Scooby-doo: Ruh-huh. Real rary ruff. [Uh-huh. Real scary stuff.]

I am momentarily blown away by their dog, Scooby-doo responding to my question. 

Me: You have a talking dog?!?

The group seem immediately dismissive, even the dog rolls his eyes.

FJ: Oh we’ve done a dozen interviews about Scooby already. Yeah, he can talk. Some things are just like that.

The group seems ready to leave, Blake and Dinkley already beginning to pack their belongings into the van while Rogers has gathered what looks like the entire pantry from the Blair Manor. Jones keeps his attention on me, but clearly looks like he is finished speaking on the matter. However, I am still interested in speaking with them. Looking around quickly I settle on the van they are packing. 

Me: Before you leave, I’m curious about your van, you travel around in it, correct? 

FJ: Oh yeah! She’s my baby! We’ve all worked together to fix her up, and keep her functioning. 

I can practically see the excitement from Jones to discuss the van in depth. The others are also more interested. 

Me: Why don’t you tell me all about her? With the four of you living in the van, do things ever get crowded?

Blake and Dinkley open the back doors wider, while Rogers continues packing away the food into a cabinet built into the side of the van’s wall. 

DB: Not really, we keep the back pretty open so when we stop for the night we have plenty of space for an inflatable mattress. 

FJ: And if we need a little more space we have the front two seats as well. 

Blake laughs and Dinkley giggles. 

VD: Freddy usually sleeps up there, he likes to keep watch to make sure nothing sneaks up on us. 

FJ: It’s come in handy a few times!

SR: It sure has Freddy, though Scoob here will wake us if anything bad happens. 

Me: It looks like the interior is pretty heavily modified, you even have a kitchen back here?

They do indeed have what appears to be a mini kitchen built into the wall. There is a single burner stove top, a mini fridge, and several cabinets. 

DB: Well Shaggy, this is your area, why don’t you explain?

SR: You know man, eating properly on the road is hard, so we gotta do what we can. The fridge and the rest of the lights inside run off solar panels that Velma installed. I usually try to prep a couple of meals whenever we stop in a new area so we have stuff as we travel. 

VD: The biggest problem is keeping this glutton and Scooby from eating it all!

The others laugh and Rogers smiles. Doo laughs and has a quite tall sandwich in his paws which he then eats in one gulp. The rest laugh like this is expected. 

FJ: Next up we have the armory! Daphne and I put this together so we would have all the trap things we could need to catch a crook or a spook. We’ve got ropes, nets, some projectors of our own, a jar of soap to make things slippery. 

Me: Freddy, you don’t actually have any weapons in your armory?

FJ: Please call me Fred. Freddy is for if we’re dating. 

Me: O…k…? 

DB: We have one weapon! I have a bat I keep in the front just in case someone tries to mess with us.

FJ: The thing is, we’re not monster hunters, or even like crime fighters or anything like that. We’re mystery solvers. 

VD: We could carry silver weapons, or salt, or holy water, or whatever the local rumors might say will banish or harm the ghoul of the hour. But again, most of what we face are rich weirdos in masks. All of that would be a waste, and we would already have to replace the holy water whenever it expires. 

SR: Holy water expires? Does it lose its holiness or does it like go stale? 

VD: Uh, it stays as holy as it was before, but it loses potency. But again, would be useless against like 67.3% of those we face. 

Me: Wow you sure know a lot about holy water.

DB: That brings us neatly to the next section of the van! 

FJ: Yeah Velms! Show em the library. 

Jones has come to lean on Blake’s shoulders while Dinkely blushes. 

VD: Yes I suppose our library is my brain child. 

She climbs into the back of the van to show a modest library opposite the rack of ropes and trap equipment. Several of the books look to be older than all of us combined. 

VD: These are books that I have gathered during our adventures. 

FJ: snickers You mean stolen! 

VD: Borrowed! I borrowed them! 

DB: Babe, i think borrowed means you plan on returning them at some point. 

VD: Anyways! While most of the mysteries we solve end up being caused by some land owner annoyed that he has to pay property taxes, or that he can’t legally exhort even more money from the local underprivileged persons-

DB: Your inner Marxist is showing again.

SR: I’m mean, she is right.

VD: As I was saying before these hooligans interrupted me, there is a small portion of the mysteries we encounter that are truly paranormal in nature, and having literature on their nature is invaluable, hence our collection of supernatural tomes. Of course, my actual library is here on my tablet in e-reader format. 

DB: And if you had a choice the whole van would be filled with books and we would have to sleep on the roof. 

SD: Rit’s not so rad. [It's not so bad.]

VD: And if you had your way, we would all sleep in one big bed at the Ritz!

FJ: Last up for the van tour is our map! 

Jones points to what can only be described as a combination conspiracy board and map of the country. There are red strings going every which way, newspaper clippings, and thumb tacks all over the place. 

DB: All of us work on this together. We don’t want to drive from one end of the country to the other chasing mysteries without a plan. 

VD: Daphne and I work together to track and verify rumors and stories that might be related to mysteries that might need our investigations. 

DB: Freddy then adds in the places we need to go to maintain the van, gas stations, pit stops, shops and stuff. 

FJ: My dad gave me a big atlas in case I ever ran into car trouble. 

VD: Then Shaggy adds the spots to maintain us, like food stops.

SR: And like, not haunted spots. We gotta relax sometimes, man.

SD: Rot that rit ralways rorks. [Not that it always works.]

SR: That’s true, sometimes mysteries just happen around us even when we aren’t searching for them. 

VD: Then I put it all into an algorithm to chart the most efficient path. This way we can get to as many mysteries as possible without having to put unnecessary miles on the van or stress on us. 

Me: Wow you really are a news worth bunch. So, Daphne, Velma, do you ever feel like you don’t have any privacy while traveling with the boys? 

The two women look at each other, confused. 

DB: Why would we need privacy? 

FJ: Hey gang, if we want to make our next stop by sundown, we should head out soon. 

Rogers finishes settling the food in the kitchenette and Blake and Dinkley clamber into the back. Doo runs around to the front of the van to sit in the passenger seat while Jones takes the drivers. 

SR: Like, thanks for the questions, man. See ya! 

Truly the members of Mystery Inc are an intrepid lot, and there are a few mysteries about the members themselves that still remain to be solved. Max Stevenson, signing off.

[0pawprint0]

All the autographs I got! The only person on my list I didn’t get was Matthew. His lines were long throughout the whole con. But I got a picture with him and he complimented my Shaggy cosplay, so I still consider it a win! He was super kind.

The Hazbin gang were all so sweet and talking to them was so much fun! They all seemed to love my Sir Pentious cosplay! Erika even asked for a pic to show Alex. He didn’t respond while I was there, but he’s a very busy person, so I get it completely ^^

I nearly cried when I got to meet Rob. I have looked up to him for so long and it was so amazing to finally meet him. He was as wonderful as you’d expect. It was super hard to choose which poster for him to sign because he plays so many characters I love. I ended up picking Donnie because TMNT 2012 is my favorite version and I never see anything for it. I was telling him about how even some of his super specific roles like Eric from The Little Mermaid 2 have stuck with me and he gave me a hug! He also addressed me in Donnie’s voice and knew how to spell my name without me even needing to tell him! Most people don’t spell it right. He also complimented my cosplay and asked me how to make it and everything (I was Sir Pentious that day). It was such a good time. I would talk with him all day if I could. I unfortunately didn’t get a picture with him because I didn’t have enough money (things tend to go wrong when I’m trying to save money and I had to pay to fix some things the month before fhfhfhdn). But I’m hoping to see him again one day and next time I will get a picture!

Grey was so fun to talk to! She actually had her hair put up with a pin to look like Azula (Avatar: The Last Airbender), another character she plays. She excitedly addressed me as Shaggy (the cosplay I was wearing that day), telling my sister and I to "throw Scooby Snacks at any monsters you see!" and told us not to unmask anyone :’) she’s so silly and fun I love herrr! She gave us a hug, too! Frank was super nice and loved the poster my sister brought for him to sign (she got it from an artist at the con) and he even did Scooby’s voice to us!

My sister is a big fan of Cameron Monaghan, so we went to his panel. She was able to get a pic and autograph with him, too! I don’t have the pictures with her because I don’t think she’d want me to post her face here lol.

I didn’t get an autograph from him because of money, but I also got to meet Johnny Yong Bosch! He’s most known for Ichigo from Bleach, but what I was excited for was talking to him about Danganronpa (he is Hajime and Rantaro)!

This is my haul I got from comic con (excluding the things that came with my ticket). I did, indeed, come home with 4 Miku figures. But one was free! Because at that booth it was buy 2, get 1 free.

I also got a Neighthan Rot doll for fairly cheap (they go as high as $70 online). Tbh a Monster High doll is the last thing I expected to get at a con, but I’m pretty down with it lol. Especially because it’s in great condition and still had his journal!

For the Harry Potter sticker and pin, we got those for free at a free Harry Potter trivia we went to because HP is my sister’s favorite book series. She also won a book she doesn’t have! It was like a Dumbledore side story (note: neither of us support or like Rowling as a person. She did not get any money out of us, as this was free).

The mushroom sticker was given to me by an artist as I passed their table! Their info is there on the sticker if you’re interested in their work!

The stickerssss! They make me so happy. There was so many more this artist had that I wanted, but I didn’t have the money for it, unfortunately. I got Ciel, Sebastian, Grell, and Undertaker (Black Butler), Bill, Stan, Wendy, Dipper, Mabel, and Waddles (Gravity Falls - they didn’t have Soos or Ford rip), Craig and Tweek (South Park), Sir Pentious (Hazbin Hotel), Stolas (Helluva Boss), Rampo (Bungou Stray Dogs), and Amaimon (Blue Exorcist).

This stuff came with my ticket! I LOVE the poster!

I didn’t get these, but I thought they were really funny.

Post 2/2

[operaphantasmic]

Scooby-Doo is not merely a children’s cartoon; it is an existential tapestry, woven with the frayed threads of human folly and the spectral whispers of our own mortality. Each episode unravels a deeply symbolic journey, where masks are stripped away—figuratively and literally—to reveal the grotesque banality of evil: not ghouls, not ghosts, but greedy landlords and corrupt businessmen.

In this way, Scooby-Doo transcends its medium, offering a poignant critique of capitalism and the insatiable hunger for power that haunts humanity more profoundly than any specter. The gang themselves are archetypes of the modern condition: Fred, the idealized leader, crumbling under the weight of patriarchal expectations; Daphne, the Venus in a post-feminist purgatory; Velma, the Cassandra of intellect ignored; Shaggy, the postmodern wanderer lost in a haze of consumption and fear. And then there’s Scooby, a saintly cipher, a canine Christ figure embodying unconditional love and loyalty in a world of deceit.

To dismiss Scooby-Doo as mere entertainment is to dismiss the very essence of human striving. For what are we, if not perpetually unmasking the illusions thrust upon us? What are we, if not scared creatures stumbling through the dark, seeking solace in our ragtag communities, clutching desperately to the hope that, perhaps, the monster isn’t real?

Zoinks, indeed.

[girl4music]

Healthy codependency.

That’s a really good way of putting it.

I often talk about how codependency depicted in this show is bad or negative surrounding the characters of Willow, Riley and even Xander. But codependency in itself is not bad or negative. There is heathy versions just as there are unhealthy versions. And yes, despite how much I can’t stand the way the Scoobies treat Buffy sometimes, she’s definitely better off with them in her life than without them. And vice versa of course.

The main problem I have with Season 7 is really how they don’t consider this even half as much as they used to even though it’s the season where they need to work as a team the most. I mean the ‘father figure’ starts to act like your average Council Watcher again and a lot is taken away from Buffy and Giles’ dynamic because of it. The intelligent nerdy girl and best friend is suffering with her own self-control issues and therefore can’t be as useful as she probably wants to be to the Slayer. Plus their relationship is in shambles following the events of Season 6 and doesn’t get properly reconciled. It’s sort of just skimmed over as a “necessary” requirement to the final plot. And as for Xander… well… perpetual victim mode is just something that never really seems to change for him and as for how that informs his relationship with Buffy… well, let’s just say he deserved to say what he did in ‘Empty Places’ as much as I hate that episode.

I don’t know. They’re all just sort of ‘Scooby Gang but less’ in this final season. They’re so distant and empty. It’s not enjoyable to watch. It’s frustrating because everything just feels forced rather than natural. The organically built significant character interaction just isn’t there between really any of the main characters and because they bring in a load of other characters (the potentials) that may be the focus of the season but don’t really get proper development either, it all plays out like one big chaotic mess. But not like the way it does with Season 6 - which the point is for it to play out like one big chaotic mess for the sake of the main character’s representation and development (both negative and positive). In other words: it feels unintentional and therefore unnecessary. Like the writers didn’t know what they wanted to do but because it was the season to end off the entire show, just did what they thought might be entertaining and compelling but, to me, ended up being anything but.

Yeah, Buffy is one of the greatest superheroines ever. But only when they they knew what they were doing. And I’m not convinced they always did. Still, it’s a hell of a lot better than what we get today with female superheroines - which as you’ve pointed out - may as well be cardboard cut outs given the lack of emotional vulnerability they display on screen.

You’ve got to hand it to Gellar - she definitely knew how to portray a very relatable and human superheroine. And you can see how she was stronger for it, not weaker. That is indeed the problem with depiction of “feminism” on TV today. Which is why I just turn it off. It is not inspiring or motivating to watch. It’s fucking insulting. Well-written characters have layers… depth… nuance. They fluctuate because real people fluctuate. They’re flawed because real people are flawed. Females characters in particular get shafted of all of this characterisation because it’s “feminism” written by people who don’t know or understand how important keeping the balance is.

Sure most of it is because of how she’s written. But Gellar understood the assignment. I just wish they ended the show the way they began it. As a family. You have the parallel shots of Buffy, Willow and Xander walking off side by side together and Giles staying behind and making a witty comment about how “the Earth is doomed” with this rag-tag lot in ‘The Harvest’ and ‘Chosen’ which is meant to be as a tribute to how far they’ve come but that they’re still the same as they always were and it just doesn’t land in the same way because of how much they’re NOT “together” in it. Other people might think that that’s a satisfying conclusion to a wonderful character-driven saga but I don’t feel it because it’s contrived. I like the idea. I like the message. I just don’t like the execution of it all.

[kendelias]

love her already! can you tell me what's her relationship with the scobbie gang like?

its been ages since i've opened my ask box this was so long ago im so sorry LKDNFKLNFKN BUT yes indeed here's a lil bit ab margo and the scoobies!

buffy - margo... loves buffy. so much. that's her bud. when no one else wants to talk to her besides oz buffy's like "!!! but you're so cool and your fashion style is iconic and why do you hang out with these loser dudes who don't appreciate you." she meets her through oz and then brings her into the gang. buffy is always trying to get margo to come out of her shell and love herself the way she is so loved. meanwhile margo kind of recognizes buffy's fundamental... brokenness? it's kind of recognition of the self through the other. like oh we are both extremely fucked up in different ways but nonetheless we are both broken. so they kind of bridge that gap of like. one of them trying to normalize and one of them trying to recognize. you need both!!

willow - it's kind of hard to dislike willow... for a while anyway. no but like margo has always been pro girls supporting girls so even when the guy she's in love with starts dating willow she's like. alright well im gonna like this girl if oz likes her. so she and willow are friends!! at first! and then when willow cheats on him with xander... oh boy hell hath no fury like margo scorned. perma-ice queen from then on out. the girls are fighting and buffy is putting them in their get along shirt (spoiler: they do not)

xander - xander is... fine. she thinks xander is fine. at times she finds him very annoying but ya know sometimes he's funny. she has a lot of things going on with cordelia (we'll get into it <3) so when they're dating she kind of withdraws from him a little bit but like. they're never really beefing. until the whole cheating scandal he gets it just as bad as willow.

giles - loves him. that's dad dude. she hates her parents so she needs some authority in her life. thank god for giles.

angel - basically 'buffy why is this weird angsty dude hanging around you. how old is he. oh he's a vampire. hm. oh he took your virginity and it made him evil. yeah let's kill this guy.'

cordelia - okay.... look. childhood friends to enemies back to ???. that's it. that's the whole thing. like they were besties and then they fell out when margo was diagnosed and then cordelia started bullying her. so they really fucking hated each other and then buffy also forced them into their get along shirt and it KIND OF worked. like cordelia was gradually becoming a better person and eventually even kind of apologized so like. i would never call them friends but they work their way into normalcy.

oz - her soulmate, her best friend, her forlifer. she loves that mf. best friends first (the only person who would talk to her and who totally accepted her for who she is) to lovers later.... i adore them sm

[laura-sanchez-mlp]

MSA X Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost Chapter 8: Customers are in horror and shock at Shaggy and Scooby eating foods, The rest of the Mystery Teams ate Restaurants/Meets Daisy’s Descendant of Sasha, Other Descendant of Marlin/Tourists are not good for many hours of 2 Ghosts, they have given up and out of locations

**A woman gasps and the customers in horror, as the people in the restaurant are looking at Scooby and Shaggy eating like a bunch of pigs, John, Jaxson with other mystery teams eating some food, John and Kirby are eating Roast turkey, as Jack returns, bringing them more food**

Jack: **laughs nervously** I never seen anything like this. Are you at least tasting my food?

They nod and swallow the food in their stuffed mouths

Shaggy: It's the best food we ever had.

Scooby-Doo: Delicious.

John: Looks good, Right kirby?

Kirby: **cute noises** (Yep) **eats one piece of roast turkey**

Jaxson, Josh and other mystery teams: Indeed

**Scooby and Jaxson drinks the tomato soups and then the man runs out of the restaurant in disgust as the gang arrives**

Daphne: So, how's the food?

Starla: Yeah?

Shaggy: Pretty darn good.

Velma Dinkley: Is there anything left in the kitchen?

Laura: or not?

Sarah: Indeed

Jack: I'll be right back, guys. I'm gonna make a run at the market.

**Jack then leaves**

Fred: It's getting dark, guys. Let's go see if that "ghost" is gonna make an appearance

Maisy: Yeah, it getting dark outside

Shaggy: Like we loved to. But we haven't had our dessert yet

Scooby-Doo: Yeah, yeah

John: Me too

Kirby: **cute noises** (Me three)

Josh, Jaxson and Other Mystery Team Members: Us Four

Daphne Blake: Okay, but after you're finished. Meet us at the puritan village

Laura: Yeah

Sarah: I agree

Lewis, Vivi, Mystery, Arthur, Daniela and others: Yep

Velma: Ben's already gone ahead.

Matilda: and Flik too

Shaggy: Great! Like if the ghost gets there. Just start screaming without us

John: So kirby, what you would like dessert?

Kirby: **cute noise** (Apple Pie)

John: **kind laugh** okay, kirby

**Scooby and Jaxson tries to eat the chicken leg from Shaggy and he dodges Scooby and Jaxson's bite on the chicken**

Shaggy: Hey!

Josh: Don't do that

**At night, we see many people in the puritan village**

Tourist 1: Come on, we've been waiting here an hour. The ghost is a no show.

Tourist 2: Maybe she'll show up in the concert tomorrow.

**Then they all leave except for the gang, mystery teams and girls' clue club team**

Ben: Too bad. I was going to have a little chat with my ghostly ancestor. I wanted to ask here where she'd hid her journal

Flik: Yeah

Daphne: Boy, Ben seems to be pretty obsessed with that book.

Starla: Oh my goodness, I guess you both are right about that

Fred: I'll say

Laura, Sarah, Lewis, Arthur, Daniela, Vivi, Mystery, Cera, Maisy, Ecole, Mike and others: Yep

Ben: We should all leave too

Flik: Yeah

Daphne Blake: We should give it a chance, Ben, Flik

Starla: I agree

Marco: Yep

Fred Jones: Yeah, it's probably a hokey bedsheet with a wire or something. This could be funny

Lewis: Or not

For @sfcabanasstarcgs and @mysteryideasgroup

My msa x sd ocs sonas and My new m,=sa x sd Ocs Sona belongs to Me

Her msa x sd ocs sonas and Her new msa x sd Ocs Sona belongs to @sfcabanasstarcgs and @mysteryideasgroup

Mystery Skulls Animated MSA belongs to Ben and MysteryBen27 of YouTube YT Series Shows

Scooby Doo SD belongs to WB (Warner Bros) and HB (Hanna Barbera) of Animated Movies and TV Series Shows

[popculturebuffet]

Next up for Warner Bros Animation, favorite character from the 2019-21 era (which was also the point when they start pivoting to streaming and put most of their shows on streaming at that point, notable Max): DC Super Hero Girls 2019, Scooby Doo and Guess Who, Green Eggs and Ham 2019, Harley Quinn, ThunderCats Roar (currently the last show they produced for Cartoon Network, the rest either being on Adult Swim or premiering on Max first before CN reruns them), Looney Tunes Cartoons, Animaniacs 2020, Tom & Jerry in New York, and Jellystone?

Okay so we can take out Harley Quinn (I know suprising coming from me being a fan of both venture bros and dc comics), Thundercats Roar, Looney Tunes Cartoons and Tom and Jerry in New York (Again suprising coming from me but neither looked all that intresting.. through the day the earth blew up looks dope)

Dc Super Hero Girls: Diana, being enthusastic, adorable yet still herself. It helps they adapted her adopted mom in all but name Julia from the comics. The show itself is.. okay. I love the animation style, ti's vibrant and intresting and the main cast is likeable, Lauren Faust has a knack for that and picking a faviorite was indeed hard, revamping the characters as both more humorous but still layred and essentially following up Lauren Faust's shorts for DC Nation. And while I haven't seen the episode they did adapt my boy ted kord well. It's a nice female focused adaptation without feeling pandering for the most part. It lets our heroines be throughly huamn and throughly hilarous while also kicking plenty of ass.

That said there's that most part: some characters are made into just plain assholes. It works for Hal Jordan as Hal has some toxic masculinity in him, but you also get Clark being a bit of a showoff and Dick Grayson being a giant spoiled prick. I'm not askign for dickbabs, this series isn't about romance and Babs has romantic tension with harely instead in this continuity. We're good. But being a fan of dicks you don't have to make him the world's biggest asshole and even jason or damien wouldn't of really fit the snotty brat they try to make robin into. I haven't seen harely but it seems like they already did the robin as a brat thing better with damien. I"m also annoyed at wasting the rest of the titans. But that's a me thing and I get it if ti dosen't bother everyone. The show on the whole was solid, is something I hope streams again so I can give a second chance.

Scooby Doo and Guess Who: Morgan Freeman, who narrates his whole episode. The Last scooby doo series till last year and the last traditional one for now as both Velma and GoGo Mystery Machine! take diffrent routes. (The latter is just in concept art and announcment at the time of this but an anime take on scooby and shaggy riding with a new gag in japan isn't same as it ever was. It is awesome)

Guess Who is decent, keeping the wackiness from Be Cool, including Axl Rose being indiana jones, Billy Dee Willams running a cool school, the gang's own voice actors guest starring and of course as @jess-the-vampire likes to bring up Christan Slater being the monster to try and hook up with his high school crush in a musical episode. It's a fun series that can be forgetable bu thas more than enough good guest spots to be great. It's a bit of a step down from the last two, but still not bad at all. Though I do resent it trying to make hold the phone Fred's catchphrase. He used it a few times in other series but it's never going to be a thing fredrick!

Green Eggs and Ham: I revewied a few episodes of this and it was.. fine. The series just didn't do it for me as it felt like it was siding too hard against guy. It was still decent and i'm glad it got two seasons.

Animaniacs 2020: I talked about this before, and looks like I will again. Faviorites wise it's easily Starbox and Cindy, which not only has a great theme song, but is also a better version of buttons nad mindy, as Starbox gets abused a lot.. but is also trying to conquer earth, so a little girl blathering to him and putting him through stuff ifnnocently fits better than with Mindy's terrible mom or Elmyra from the sister show.

The show itself is.. fine. The problem is a lack of variety. The bulk of episodes are a warners segment or two, pinky and the brain then more warners. The segments aren't bad, the warners are still fresh and while some segments fail due to trying to hard to be topical in a medium where that's really hard to pull off if you don't have south park production times (Futurama falls into this trap a lot in it's two revivials, though the current hulu era is mostly better about it), with the trump jokes feeling tired. Especially looking back on them now after he went on a rant about immigrants eating dogs and previously this year called a fictional cannibal a fine human being with the assumption he's a real person. The new segments are great, but aren't used enough and the old ones are gone for reasons that aren't clear. While they might've been waiting on reception, that's a bad move when you don't have a ton of segments. Pinky and the Brain is great, and carriede i'ts own series, but gets tiring when binging, something they simply didn't think of and hurt the show. The shows fine but it's also a reboot that I liked at first but when season 2 iddn't bother ot evolve, just couldn't stick with.

Jellystone: Jabberjaw, whose a fantastic rework and while her gimmick of chasing men could get old, it's seen as an issue in universe and not a healthy thing, to the point of bein gthe focus of a season 3 episode. The show as a whole.. is amazing. one of the best reboots and one of the proofs youc an do a good one, mashing CH Greenblat's wacky tendencies with classic hannah barbera characters. PIcking a faviorite is tough from sardonic loopy loop, to the awkard voiced by greenblaht himself boo boo to doggy daddy whose apparently lived thorugh every disney movie. The series is packed with love for hannah barbera's rich history, cameos and great voice acting. It's hilarous, wonderful and well worth your time. I still need to finish season 3 but so far it's great.

[mel-vaz]

Beware The Beast From Below

The gang was celebrating their victory in the dimly lit cell of the Crystal Cove Police Department. Vitus cheered, "Another mystery bites the dust!" while Scooby joyously exclaimed, "Yeah, celebrate!" Y/n added, "It's official we are the best mystery-solving team ever."

However, Sheriff Stone abruptly interrupted their joyous moment, his badge gleaming under the light of the station. "Better idea," he growled, shutting the cell door with a resounding thud.

Fred, feeling frustrated, retorted, "Aw, come on, sheriff." But Sheriff Stone's stern demeanor silenced him. "Just cork it. Do you see this badge? Know why it's here?"

Vitus's voice echoed through the cell, "It came with the shirt?" Sheriff Stone retorted, his face stern, "It's here because if there's a crime, I solve it."

Y/n, with a tinge of sarcasm, questioned, "When have you ever solved a crime?"

Sheriff Stone, his hand on the cell door, responded, "Oh, and by the way, I've called all your parents, who, by now, I've got on speed dial." He leaned closer to Fred and Y/n, his voice dripping with sternness. "Oh, say hi to you Dad, the Mayor for me will you"

The room fell into a tense silence as Sheriff Stone exited with a firm stride.

Damien, unable to contain his discontent, leaned on the cell bars and sighed, "Just once, it would be nice if someone thanked us for solving a mystery."

Fred offered a small smile, attempting to lighten the mood. "Good thing we're not in this to be liked."

Outside Crystal Cove Spook Museum. Vitus is a tour guide for a group of Crystal Cove tourists.

Vitus addressed a group of Crystal Cove tourists with a bored tone. "Welcome to the Crystal Cove haunted tour," he began. "I'm your ghoulish guide, Vitus" he continued to recount the town's eerie history. "The first documented case of the curse of Crystal Cove dates back to 1630 when a garrison of Spanish conquistadors mysteriously vanished from the harbor."

The female tourist couldn't help but express her fear. "Oh, that is so scary!" she gasped. "Where did they go?"

"What part of the word 'mystery' didn't you understand?" he said, his voice tinged with a touch of annoyance. Vitus nodded, "Indeed, the curse struck yet again in 1765 when an entire town of missionaries met the same mysterious fate."

His voice carried a hint of intrigue as he continued, "For a while, things were relatively calm until 100 years later when Cletus Darrow discovered gold and renamed the town Crystal Cove."

he paused for effect, reveling in the growing tension of his audience. "Many believed the curse had been lifted until one Halloween when the entire Darrow family vanished without a trace." Vitus played a tape of a family screaming

"Moving on" Vitus led his group of tourists into the museum's exhibits, his voice echoing through the expansive hall. "Since the disappearance of the Darrow family, Crystal Cove has become a hotspot for paranormal activity," he said.

He gestured towards the monsters, where ancient artifacts from past mysteries were displayed. "You might recognize some of our more famous visitors," he continued. "Ghostly deep sea diver Captain Cutler, the enigmatic Miner '49er, the mischievous Charlie the Haunted Robot, and last but not least, the terrifying Space Kook, not me"

A male tourist suddenly exclaimed, "Oh! How frightening!" The female tourist, equally spooked, added with a shiver, "Oh! Absolutely blood-curdling." "Not really," Vitus interjected calmly, causing the tourists to turn towards him with curiosity. "They all turned out to be fakes." The tourists gasp and talk amongst themselves

"Yep." Vitus spoke with a smile on his face "Captain Cutler was just some guy who was hijacking boats. Miner '49er's real name was Hank. Charlie belonged to Mr. Jenkins, who thought it would be easier to run an amusement park with a crazy robot. And Space Kook? Oh, don't get me started! Ooh!"

Angie and Dale Dinkley, Vitus's parents, cover his mouth "Thank you, Vitus. Well, that concludes the terror-ific tour." Dale stated. "Don't forget to stop in at the haunted snack shop for souvenirs and your complimentary undead sipper cup." Angie encouraged.

As the tourists ran off Angie chided Him "What do you think you were doing" "Are you trying to destroy our business" complained his Dad exasperated Vitus said, "I was just being honest." " Those were isolated incidents in Crystal Cove's otherwise-unblemished supernatural past of hauntings and paranormal happenings." said Dad "That's Your generation's belief, not mine. In my generation, we only got one thing on our minds"

In Jones Mansion. Fred is tying his ascot while looking in the mirror and Y/n is sitting on the bed.  

"Solving mysteries and building traps," Fred replied, his voice tinged with happiness. "That's two things." Mayor Jones annoyed, "You know what I mean, Dad. We all just want answers. Is that wrong?" "We're helping people Dad what's wrong with that?" Y/n said trying to defend her brother. 

"Fred Y/n. The Mayor's kids are supposed to set an example." Fred, feeling misunderstood, sighed.  "I'm trying, Dad. Just yesterday, I entered one of my traps in the district science fair. And while it didn't exactly fit the scientific criteria"

Mayor Jones placed a hand on their shoulders "I just don't want you kids to make a mistake you'll regret."

"You mean like making a bad trap?" Fred spoke confused "No! Life is not all about traps. It's also about...

At Rogers Mansion. Shaggy and Scooby have a giant stack of pancakes they are putting things on.

"Pancakes. And bacon." Scoob said "And sausages, and orange juice." Shaggy continued They took turns feeding each other. Paula Rogers chimed in, her voice filled with concern. "Don't forget to chew," she reminded her son.

Colton Rogers added, "And breathe."

Shaggy, his mouth full, replied, "Mmm. Thanks, Mom and Dad."

Scooby mimicked his sentiment, "Yeah. Thanks, Mom and Dad."

Paula crossed her arms, Colton's brows furrowing. "Your mother and I are worried about this mystery phase you're going through. We're not saying find new friends, we're..."

Paula finished his sentence, "Yes, we are. Find new friends

"Oh, you guys have got nothing to worry about, man. Me and Scooby always play it safe. If there's danger," Shaggy said nonchalantly "We run fast. Really fast." Scooby reassured "And as for our friends, if you guys just gave them a chance, you'd see"

In Blake Mansion. Daphne is sitting with her parents, Nan and Barty Blake.

"The gang is misunderstood. We're just solving mysteries. All the kids are doing it." Damien objected "No, they're not." Nan and Barty snapped

"And what about this Fred Jones? Certainly, there must be other boys." Nan Stated annoyed "Not like Fred. He's, like, one of those geniuses that no one understands until they're dead. He sees things differently, and he wants to catch those different things in his traps." cooed Damien

"Honey, we just want you to go on to have a rich career, like your sisters." Barty points at Daphne's sisters standing by Daisy, Dawn, Dorothy, and Delilah.

They heard a honk and Damien looked outside "Oh, that's Fred and the gang. Gotta go. I don't wanna be late for school! Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad! Bye, Daisy! Bye, Dawn! Bye, Dorothy! Bye, Delilah!"

In The sewers. Three workers are using jackhammers, except for 1 worker, who was unabashedly slurping a strange green slush from a cup.

Deep beneath the streets of Crystal Cove, three sewer workers were going about their usual maintenance routine. The air was damp and musty, filled with the echoes of dripping water and their footsteps.

"Hey, you sure you guys don't want any of this Fruitmeir's smoothie?" Worker 1 called out to his colleagues, his voice bouncing off the curved walls. "Oh, it's delic-" His words were cut short by a sudden yelp as he unexpectedly stumbled through what should have been a solid wall.

The dust settled around him as he picked himself up, bewildered. "What the whozit? Which one of you broke that wall?" he demanded, looking accusingly at his fellow workers.

Worker 2 held up his hands defensively. "Wha- we barely touched it."

As the trio peered into the darkness beyond the crumbled wall, Worker 3 ventured a guess. "Is that another sewer?"

"Impossible!" Worker 1 scoffed. "There's only one sewer, and we're in it- unless..."

Worker 2's eyes widened with excitement. "...We've broken into another dimension?"

Rolling his eyes, Worker 1 retorted, "No, idiot. We've busted through to one of the old Crystal Cove caves."

Curiosity piqued, and the workers ventured into the newly discovered cavern. Their flashlights cut through the gloom, revealing a sight that made them pause - a stack of barrels, oozing an eerie green substance.

Worker 2, ever the bold one, approached a barrel and attempted to twist off its lid. When it wouldn't budge, he knocked on it twice. To everyone's surprise, the barrel shifted slightly.

"Huh? I think there's something in there," Worker 2 said, his voice tinged with both excitement and apprehension. "What should we do?"

Worker 1, seemingly oblivious to potential danger, pointed out the obvious. "Well, it's pretty clear, isn't it? Those are radioactive symbols- meaning whatever's inside is dangerous." Then, in a moment of questionable judgment, he added, "Meaning we need to open it right away. We don't want whatever's in there to mess up our schedule."

With a sense of foreboding, Worker 1 held up his flashlight while the other two pried open a container with crowbars. The metal groaned as it gave way, and Worker 2 leaned in for a closer look.

"Hey, I think I see someth--" His words transformed into a blood-curdling scream that echoed through the chamber.

In the confined space of the cave, growls and screams reverberated, leaving the fate of the workers unknown. Whatever they had unleashed in their careless haste was now free, promising to bring chaos to the unsuspecting town of Crystal Cove above.

The Mystery Machine rolled down the road, its vibrant paint job catching the sun. Fred and Damien occupied the front seats, with Fred at the wheel. Scooby's head hung out the passenger window, tongue flapping in the breeze. In the back, Vitus, Shaggy, and Y/n sat comfortably

The Mystery Machine rolled down the street, its occupants unaware of the chaos about to unfold. Inside, Vitus turned to Shaggy, his brow furrowed in concern. Y/n on her phone turned away from Vitus and Shaggy.

"Why didn't you text me last night? I waited up for you," Vitus asked, his voice tinged with disappointment.

Shaggy swallowed his mouthful of food nervously. "Um, like, me and Scoob ordered a pizza, and then we just fell asleep watching a Vincent Van Ghoul movie."

"Okay, apology accepted," Vitus said, his expression softening. He playfully walked his fingers up Shaggy's chest. "But I still missed you..."

Suddenly, Vitus grabbed Shaggy's shirt, pulling him close with puckered lips. Shaggy made a sound of confusion and discomfort, gently removing Vitus's hands.

"Not here, Vitus-- not in public, what if Y/n see" Shaggy pleaded.

"Why? Damien, Fred, and Y/n are going to find out sooner or later," Vitus countered.

"I'm not worried about them!" Shaggy explained. "It's Scooby-Doo; he's my best friend. I wanna break it to him, like, gently. I'm just waiting for the right time!"

"How about now - hey, Scoob-" Vitus began, but was abruptly cut off.

A manhole cover suddenly rocketed into the air, followed by billowing green gas. Fred slammed on the brakes as everyone shrieked. The projectile narrowly missed the van, embedding itself in the pavement. Y/n jumped into Vitus's arms scarred.

A fierce growl echoed through the air as it thickened with green mist. A shadowy figure emerged from the sewers, growling viciously. Damien screamed, diving across Scooby to roll up the window just as the creature's hand slammed against it.

The beast, with glowing green claws, suddenly shot out a radioactive-looking substance. It grabbed the Mystery Machine, shaking it violently as everyone screamed in terror. Then, as quickly as it attacked, the creature dropped the van and stalked off, disappearing into the shadows.

"Like, what was that?!" Shaggy whimpered, his voice quavering.

Fred, his eyes wide with excitement, declared, "It looks like a mystery to me, and I think that's just a little more important than school!"

The gang sat in stunned silence, their hearts racing as they tried to process what had just happened. Another adventure had found them, whether they were ready for it or not.

The gang cautiously made their way through the damp, musty tunnel that connected the sewer to the old Crystal Cove caves. Fred led the way, his flashlight beam cutting through the darkness, revealing glistening walls and uneven ground.

As they ventured deeper, the air grew thicker, filled with an unfamiliar, acrid scent. The beam of Fred's flashlight suddenly caught something unusual, causing the group to pause.

There, not far ahead, stood three large barrels. They were coated in an eerie, green substance that seemed to glow faintly in the dim light. Each barrel bore a familiar yet ominous symbol - the trefoil warning of radioactive material.

Exchanging wary glances, the gang slowly approached the barrels. The green ooze dripped slowly down their sides, pooling on the cave floor. The sight was both fascinating and unsettling, prompting a mix of curiosity and caution among the friends as they drew nearer to investigate this strange discovery.

The gang crept through the dimly lit cave, their footsteps echoing off the damp walls. Vitus, ever the observant one, knelt to examine the Barrels scattered on the ground.

"These are military," he muttered, adjusting his glasses. "From the oxidation, probably 30, or 40, years old."

Damien, feeling adventurous, pulled out a second flashlight and ventured a few feet from the others. His beam of light caught something shiny lying on the object floor. He scooped it up, excitement building in his chest.

"Hey! Fred, I found something!" Damien called out, his voice bouncing off the cave walls. Y/n came over to see the strange object.

As she examined the magnifying glass-shaped object, "It looks like a locket" Y/n said her fingers accidentally pressed something on the side. It popped open, revealing a sepia-toned picture of a boy and girl inside. A tinny melody began to play, filling the eerie silence of the cave.

Fred hurried over, his eyes lighting up at the potential clue. "Could be important. Good work, Damien!"

"Thanks, Fred; you're so sweet--" Damien began, but when he looked up again, the blonde had already dashed off to investigate further. "It's okay...we can talk--later," he sighed to himself. y/n patted Damien on the back "he does appreciate you" Y/n got on her tippy toes and gave Damien a quick kiss on his cheek.

Meanwhile, Scooby sniffed around curiously, while Shaggy picked up one of the discarded worker's hard hats. Suddenly, an unsettling dripping sound reached their ears. Fred swung his flashlight upward, illuminating a horrifying sight: three workers, mummified and cocooned to the cave ceiling by sickly green slime.

Scooby's terrified howl echoed through the cavern, sending shivers down everyone's spines. The mystery had just taken a dark and dangerous turn.

Outside the sewer opening, the Crystal Cove Police Officers quickly cordoned off the area with yellow tape. Paramedics hurried forward with stretchers, their movements careful and deliberate as they approached the victims. The workers, still encased in the mysterious green substance, were gently loaded into the waiting ambulance.

The gang stood nervously at the edge of the crime scene, watching as Sheriff Stone approached with a scowl on his face.

"All right, you see what happens when you kids stick your noses where they don't belong? People get cocooned!" the Sheriff bellowed, his mustache bristling with irritation.

Shaggy raised his hands defensively. "Like, man, we found them like that."

Damien stepped forward, trying to explain. "Sheriff, there was a monster-"

"Quiet," Sheriff Stone cut him off. "From this point forward, this is a crime scene and future tourist attraction. Stay out of it." Y/n looked at Sheriff Stone like he was crazy "You not seriously going to make it a tourist attraction for all we know that monster has killed three people"

Vitus rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath, "I got his 'stay out of it' right here."

Fred, ever the leader, attempted to take control of the situation. "Let me talk to him," he said confidently.

Damien nodded, relief washing over his face. "Don't worry. Fred will make him understand." Damien pulled Y/n into his arms she sighed cuddling into Damien "Let's hope so" Y/n said worriedly

But to everyone's surprise, Fred had other plans. While the others were distracted, he managed to steal one of the cocooned bodies. He quickly made his way to where Shaggy and Scooby were waiting by the Mystery Machine.

"Shaggy, start the car," Fred commanded, his voice low and urgent.

Shaggy's eyes widened in confusion. "Wait. I thought you were going to talk to him."

Fred shrugged, a mischievous glint in his eye. "He wasn't in a listening mood."

Vitus jogged up to them, an impressed smirk on his face. "So you stole a body? Rockin'."

Without further discussion, Fred heaved the cocooned body into the back of the Mystery Machine's. The gang exchanged looks of excitement and trepidation, knowing their investigation had just taken a turn into dangerous territory. As they piled into the van, the sound of Sheriff Stone's angry shouts faded into the distance, drowned out by the roar of the Mystery Machine's engine.

" So what do you plan to do now Captain" y/n said to Fred. " Don't worry Sis. I know just who can help us."

The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead in the stuffy classroom of Crystal Cove High School. Professor Emmanuel Raffalo stood at the front, his back to the sea of disinterested faces as he scrawled "photosynthesis" across the blackboard in neat, looping handwriting. The chalk squeaked occasionally

Professor Raffalo surveyed his class with waning hope. "All right. Who can tell me what photosynthesis is?" he asked. A flurry of hands shot up, but before he could call on anyone, he added wearily, "And please don't say 'plant farts.'" The hands dropped just as quickly as they'd risen.

Suddenly, the classroom door burst open. Fred, Vitus, Damien, and Shaggy stumbled in, lugging a bizarre, cocoon-wrapped figure. "Professor Raffalo?" Fred panted. "We need your help."

Chaos erupted as students fled the room, their screams echoing down the hallway. Raffalo pinched the bridge of his nose. "Couldn't you kids have waited for break?"

Ignoring the commotion, the gang laid out their strange cargo. Raffalo, his curiosity piqued despite his exasperation, pulled out a stethoscope and began to examine the cocooned body.

Shaggy gulped nervously. "Is he...?" Y/n continued " he's still alive right?"

"yes," Ruffalo assured her. "He's alive. But he appears to be in some sort of dehydrated stasis. I don't quite know what that means, but I'm guessing it's temporary."

As the group huddled around the mysterious figure, Scooby-Doo wandered off, his nose leading him to an enclosure box housing a squirrel. His eyes lit up at the sight of a small bowl. "Mmm. Scooby Snacks," he mumbled, reaching in to snatch the treats. The squirrel, enraged at the theft, let out a piercing screech.

Back at the examination, Damien pressed for answers. "Do you know what could have done this?"

Raffalo frowned, deep in thought. "The cocoon material looks organic, but I'll need to do further tests."

Behind them, unnoticed, Scooby yelped as the angry squirrel launched itself at him in a flurry of fur and claws.

Raffalo suddenly looked up, suspicion dawning on his face. "The sheriff okayed this?"

Fred's laugh was a touch too high-pitched as he hurriedly ushered the group towards the door. "Uh, of course, he did. What, do you think we stole a body? That's-- that's rich. Ha ha."

As they filed out, leaving a bewildered Raffalo behind, Scooby stumbled after them, his fur ruffled and his dignity in tatters from his squirrel encounter.

The gang found themselves in the cheerful, pastel-colored interior of Fruitmeir's, the latest sensation in Crystal Cove. The air was thick with the sweet scent of desserts and the rubbery aroma of balloons. Franklin Fruitmeir, the eccentric owner, his fingers deftly twisting colorful balloons into shapes.

"Welcome, everyone, to Fruitmeir's," he called out with infectious enthusiasm. "Remember, it's not ice cream. It's not yogurt. Would anyone like a shrimping boat made out of circus balloons?"

Vitus furrowed his brow, staring skeptically at the green concoction in his cup. "I don't get it. All this fuss over-- What is this stuff again?"

Before anyone could answer, Shaggy and Scooby bounded over, a tray piled high with mounds of the mysterious green dessert balanced precariously between them.

"You heard Franklin Fruitmeir," Shaggy said with a grin. "It's a secret! That's why they call it--"

"Fruitmeir's!" Scooby and Shaggy chorused, before diving face-first into their treats.

Y/n spoons some of her Fruitmeir's dessert "Here have some of mine Vitus" You spoon-feed Vitus some of your dessert then clean the right side of his face that had a bit of Fruitmeir's dessert on it.

The sound of their enthusiastic slurping and smacking filled the air, drawing amused and slightly disgusted looks from the other patrons. The rest of the gang watched in a mix of fascination and horror as their friends devoured the green soft-serve with gusto, leaving them to wonder just what made Fruitmeir's so irresistible – and whether they wanted to know the secret ingredient after all. Has the gang left Fruitmeir

Fred's eyes lit up with excitement as he pondered their latest mystery. "Hey, you know, if that cocoon does turn out to be organic, we might have a real honest-to-goodness monster in Crystal Cove."

Vitus, ever the analytical one, chimed in, "My guess? The cocoon is a multicelled mutation, probably a result of radiated allotropes and free radical implosion." He turned to Shaggy, a hint of affection in his voice. "What do you think, Shaggy?"

Shaggy, oblivious to Vitus's tone, grinned sheepishly. "Uhh, I think I want more Fruitmeir's!"

"Yeah, me, too!" Scooby chortled, and the duo darted back into the restaurant.

Damien, noticing the interaction, approached Vitus curiously. "Vitus, is there something going on between you and Shaggy?"

Vitus's face flushed as he quickly denied it. "No. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Why would anything ever be going on between me and Shaggy?" He stormed off, arms crossed defensively. " I should go after him and make sure that everything is all right; meet you back at the house Big Bro later Damien" Y/n chases after Vitus but not before hugging Fred goodbye and Damien a quick kiss on the cheek.

Fred and Damien exchanged knowing glances before Damien seized the moment. "Well, looks like it's just us, all alone," he said, leading Fred towards the Mystery Machine. "Maybe we could go for a drive, talk about that pretty locket I found. Wonder what it would be like to get such a romantic present."

Fred, however, remained oblivious to Damien's hints. "Oh, come on, Damien. You know you don't care about that romantic stuff. That's why we're such good friends. I'll drop you at home. I want to get started on a new trap for the monster."

Damien's shoulders slumped as he climbed into the van. "OK. Good luck with that," he sighed, disappointment evident in his voice.

As Fred started the engine and pulled away, a menacing snarl echoed in the distance. Deep in the sewers below, a pair of glowing pink eyes pierced the darkness, hinting at the danger that lurked beneath Crystal Cove's streets.

The clock ticked steadily in the empty halls of Crystal Cove High School as night settled in. Inside his classroom, Professor Raffalo leaned over his microscope, engrossed in studying the enigmatic cocooned body. The silence was broken only by the occasional scratch of his pen and the soft whir of scientific equipment.

Suddenly, a faint squishing noise caught his attention. Raffalo's head jerked up, his eyes darting nervously around the room. "Huh? Someone there?" he called out, his voice echoing in the stillness.

A menacing shadow crept across the frosted glass of the classroom door. Raffalo's heart raced as he cautiously approached, peering out into the dimly lit hallway. To his relief, it was just the janitor, methodically mopping the floors. The janitor looked up and offered a friendly wave, which Raffalo returned with a nervous chuckle before retreating to his classroom.

Moments later, a blood-curdling scream shattered the quiet night. The janitor dropped his mop with a clatter and sprinted toward the source of the sound, his footsteps thundering through the empty corridor. He burst through the classroom door, ready to help, only to find... nothing.

The room was eerily empty. Both Professor Raffalo and the mysterious cocooned body had vanished without a trace. Confused and unsettled, the janitor scanned the room, searching for any clue to explain the sudden disappearance. Finding nothing amiss, he shook his head in bewilderment and slowly backed out of the room, closing the door behind him.

As the janitor's footsteps faded down the hallway, the camera slowly panned upward, revealing a chilling sight. There, adhered to the ceiling, was Professor Raffalo, now encased in the same viscous, green cocoon as the body he had been studying. His eyes were wide with terror, frozen in a silent scream.

The cramped studio of K-Ghoul radio station hummed with energy as Angel Dynamite leaned into her microphone, her rich voice filling the airwaves of Crystal Cove. The glow of various dials and meters cast a warm light across her face, highlighting her vibrant expression.

As the last chords of "Zombie Housewife Blues" by The Rotten Brains faded out, Angel smoothly transitioned into her next segment. Her fingers danced across the control board, adjusting levels with practiced ease.

"Mmm, yeah, Crystal Cove," she purred into the mic, her voice a perfect blend of smooth and edgy. "That was The Rotten Brains with their single 'Zombie Housewife Blues.'"

She paused for dramatic effect, letting the title sink in for her listeners. Then, with a smile that could be heard through the airwaves, she continued, "I'm Angel Dynamite, and you're listening to K-Ghoul. 101.4 on your A.M. dial."

Outside the K-Ghoul radio station, Scooby, Vitus, Shaggy, and Damien arrived, their faces etched with concern. Shaggy rapped his knuckles against the door, drawing Angel Dynamite's attention.

"I was wondering when y'all was going to show up," Angel said, ushering them inside. "They're in the back."

The group followed Angel to the station lounge, where they found Fred curled up asleep holding on to y/n for dear life. Damien approached him gently. "How's he doing Y/n." "Not good," Y/n said worriedly.

Scooby, ever the helper, woke Fred with a friendly lick to his perfectly coiffed hair. Fred stirred, his eyes heavy with guilt. "It's no use, gang. I was the one who stole the body, and Professor Raffalo paid the price. I should have listened to my dad and stayed out of any new mysteries."

Vitus stepped forward, his voice firm but kind. "We all helped steal

the body, Fred."

Shaggy opened his mouth to object, but a swift elbow from Vitus silenced him. "Ow! OK, fine. Yes. We all took part, Freddy."

Damien knelt beside Fred, his eyes blazing with determination. "Fred Jones, you've never backed away from a mystery in your life."

As the conversation unfolded, Vitus produced a sample of the cocoon, only for Scooby to eagerly devour it, mistaking it for Fruitmeir's dessert. This sparked a revelation from Shaggy, leading the gang to realize the connection between the cocoon and Fruitmeir's mysterious treat.

Energized by this new lead, Fred snapped back to his old self. "What do we know about Franklin Fruitmeir?" he asked, his leadership skills kicking into gear.

The group huddled around a computer, digging up information on the enigmatic Fruitmeir. Vitus's eyes scanned the screen rapidly. "Franklin Fruitmeir showed up in town out of nowhere 2 months ago. Before that, nothing. He's hiring right now for female servers."

Fred's eyes lit up with the spark of a plan. "Then that's our in."

Shaggy, catching on quickly, added, "If the Y/n can get jobs at Fruitmeir's, they can snoop around and find out more."

"Great idea, Shag," Fred nodded approvingly, the wheels of his mind already turning with trap designs and mystery-solving strategies.

As the gang began to flesh out their plan, a sense of excitement filled the room. The mystery of Crystal Cove's slime mutant was far from over, and they were determined to get to the bottom of it – one scoop of Fruitmeir's at a time.

The streets of Crystal Cove were quiet in the early evening light, save for the sound of high heels clacking awkwardly on the sidewalk. Shaggy and Scooby, both dressed in ill-fitting waitress uniforms, stumbled along, clearly uncomfortable in their new attire.

Shaggy tugged at the hem of his skirt, his face a mixture of embarrassment and confusion. "Um," he giggled nervously, his voice higher than usual. "Like, uh, this isn't exactly what I had in mind." He glanced over at Vitus and Damien, who were watching with barely concealed amusement. "Why are Scooby-Doo and I dressed like girls, when Y/n is a girl?"

Beside him, Scooby waddled uncomfortably, his tail poking out from beneath a frilly skirt. "Yeah," he whined, attempting to adjust his outfit. "My skirt's too tight."

Fred, standing nearby with his arms crossed, spoke up firmly. "I'm not sending my sister in alone." His protective instincts were clearly on high alert, despite the comical sight before him.

As night fell on Fruitmeir's, Shaggy and Scooby, still awkwardly dressed as waitresses, helped Franklin Fruitmeir close up shop.

"Good night, ladies," Fruitmeir called in a singsong voice as he left. "Don't forget to lock up!"

"Good night, Mr. Fruitmeir," Shaggy and Scooby replied in comically high-pitched voices.

Once Fruitmeir was out of sight, Vitus, Fred, and Damien snuck into the restaurant. Fred took charge immediately. "All right, gang. Fan out. See if you can find anything that will tie Franklin Fruitmeir to the slime mutant."

The group split up, searching every nook and cranny. Fred peered into empty cupboards, while Vitus discovered a box of balloons in a drawer. Damien jiggled the storage room's doorknob, muttering, "Hmm. Must be a key around here somewhere." "I saw the key earlier let me go get it," Y/n told Damien.

Meanwhile, Scooby and Shaggy, unable to resist temptation, emerged from a display freezer, their mouths full of green dessert. "All clear," Scooby announced, and the pair waddled towards the storage room. In a stroke of luck, Scooby managed to pick the lock with his claw. As Shaggy swung the door open, they came face-to-face with the terrifying slime mutant. Their screams echoed through the shop as they fled.

Damien and Y/n, arriving with the keys, were puzzled to find the door already open. "That's strange. This closet was locked a minute ago." Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind them. "Hey! What gives? somebody, help! Let me out!"

Outside, Fred and Vitus struggled to open the door. When they finally succeeded, Shaggy and Scooby came barreling out, crashing into Damien and Y/n.

"Are you two insane?" Vitus exclaimed.

"Mo-mo-monster! Like, right behind us!" Shaggy stammered.

Fred looked skeptical. "Monster? There's no monster."

Suddenly, Vitus realized someone was missing. "Jinkies. Where's Damien and Y/n?"

The group called out, searching. "Y/n! Damien?"

"Here! We're down here! I'm OK, but Y/n hit her head pretty hard" Damien's voice echoed from below. The gang rushed to find him, discovering he had fallen into the Crystal Cove caves. Damien is holding Y/n in his lap who was passed out.

"But you better get down here," Damien added excitedly. "I think I found something."

The scene in Fruitmeir's was now a mix of tension and anticipation. Fred, Vitus and, Shaggy clumied through the hole that Damien and Y/n fell through. Under Frutimeir's were the Crystal Cove caves.

"Guys check this out" Damien now carrying Y/n in his arms pointed up to a hole "It looks like someone has been digging" Vitus whips out his GPS "According to the GPS this is Crystal Cove Bank"

"But why would a slime monster bust a hole in Fruitmier to get to the bank" Shaggy questioned confused. "Maybe it's hungry" Scooby responded "Yeah hungry for money," Fred said. Vitus smiled "I smell a trap coming on." "What happened?" Y/n asked sounding confused and tried " You hit your head baby but don't worry your Big brother get a plan," Fred said confidently

In the dark, wet, and, dirty caves, The Slime Monster was walking around when Fred came up yelling "Hey ugly over here" The monster turned around and started shooting slime at Fred when Vitus called "No stupid over here" "Wrong again over here" Damien called out make the slime monster chases him. The others were setting up Fred's elaborate trap when Damien came running up but that's when the slime monster caught him in and Fred taped got them instead of the monster.

Damien and Y/n look over at everyone trapped in the cage but when they turn their heads back around there is the monster. The monster chases them back up to the hole through Fruitmeir's and to the door but the monster traps them. Damien and you crawl underneath its legs and try to run away but it shoots the sticky Fruitmeir's dessert trapping their feet Damian leans over Y/n trying to protect her.

But the gang sown up and Shoot more of Fruitmeir's desserts at the monster trapping it to the wall behind Damien and Y/n. That's when they looked over and saw everyone they had come to save them " Fredie you came to save me" damien ran up to fred holding on to is arm "not now Damien I need to find out why my trap didn't work" Fred turn away form Damien walking away when Shaiff Stone and Mayor Jones walked in " What in tarnation is going on here" said the Sheriff "Why is the town's newest tourist attraction Cocooned to the wall Fred Y/n" mayor Jones disappointedly said "Dad you don't understand thats not a monster" Fred sayed trying to calm down his dad " Oh talking clams Fred then who is it" then everyone says at the same time Franklin Fruitmeir" "That's impossible" says the sheriff "Franklin Fruitmeir is the one who called us about the break-in" "what?" again said everyone at the same time that when Fran Fruitmeir walked in " I was at my house when the silent alarm went off what's going on and who is that monster" "if the monster isn't Franklin Fruitmeir than who is it" Shaggy asked confused that when Scobby took off the monsters mask to reveal " Professor Raffalo?" the mystery gang questioned "but why Professor?" Y/n asked

"That's right I was trying to scare people away from the sewers I dug my way into the bank so I could get rich But you already have a job as a teacher why do you need more money" "he has a job as a teacher," Y/n said looking to the other has that says it all "I discovered that the Crystal Cove caves and the sewers were connected by accident when collecting spores for my class and when I discovered that the case went right underneath the bank that's when I put my plan into actionFruitmeyers gave me secret access to the sewers and that's why I decided to frame Mr balloon Boy by using his disgusting dessert I also stage my disappearance to throw off Amy hint of my involvement And it would have worked too if it weren't for you you" interrupted by Sheriff "meddling" "yes meddling kids didn't get in my way"

"what about this locket that we found near your digging," Damien asked "I've never seen that thing before," he said very rudely

"Well I guess we own you kids thanks but you lost the town a serious dream of revenue," Sheriff said sounding angry

At the K-Ghoul station, some funky music was playing and the gang was hanging out Damien and Y/n are sitting on the Couch with Y/n curled up on his lap. Vitus was looking for some more records. Angel and Fred were watching Scooby and Shaggy dance. "What's that matter Dam you asked Concerned "I just don't get it if this locket didn't belong to Professor Raffalo then who?" when Shaggy answered the calling machine " Like K-Ghoul 101.4 what can we scare up for you, Daddy-O" when a disguised voice mysteriously said "You're all doomed" "Like uh who-who is this" Shaggy responded nervously "you can call me Mr.E you should never have brought that locket out of the cave you don't know what you've uncovered" "Uncovered, uncovered what?" Damien asked "A truth that should have remained hidden; the truth behind the curse of Crystal Cove the real mystery has just begun" "Scobby Dooby Doo"

A/N holy shit this is 6359 words that's insane. So how was the first episode should I make Vitus, Damien, and Y/n get together by the first or second season this has taken me three days to write, and two of them were my days off from work. Let me know what you think in the comments.

[faithl3hane]

🦇 Drusilla as a Scooby 🦇

An au where Drusilla is a Slayer as posited by that one theory that suggests her psychic abilities in canon are linked to her Slayer “potentiality”. I wanted to take it a step further and imagine her as a member of the Scoobies.

- Drusilla would be that goth kid who avidly delves into vampire fiction, including Anne Rice novels, and swoon over the titular vampire characters. A part of her can’t help fantasise the concept of an eternal love she believes vampires revel in.

- Her fashion choices would reflect her gothic tastes, paying homage to the allure of the '80s. She would tease her hair and favour a predominantly red and black wardrobe. 

- Drusilla would be endearingly quirky to her friends. ‘That weird kid’ who excitedly babbles away about her favourite topics of the day. When stressed out she might recite her favourite poems to calm her nerves. Indeed, her propensity for memorisation would make her a valuable asset to the Scooby Gang's research endeavours.

- Much like Willow she would lack experience in the dating scene. However, her bold, quirky style would undeniably attract a considerable amount of attention from her peers. 

- Drusilla's parents find themselves exasperated at her late-night escapades to The Bronze to dance the night away. Initially Drusilla would be shy, but once the right song/band plays she would shed her reservations and let her body move with an eccentric mind of its own.

- Definitely a hopeless romantic with a tendency to fall head-over-heels far too easily. Assuming she hadn’t yet known Spike, she might have crushed on Xander only for her gaze to shift towards Willow. The sight of Willow performing her witchcraft with adorable enthusiasm would make Dru’s heart beat an exquisite sigh of longing and protectiveness. Drusilla would find ways to make Willow notice her, and would even assist her in spells because of her own affinity for the craft. Willow might have had reservations of her own about Drusilla (assuming this timeline followed her crush on Xander), but would gradually warm up to her once she perceives her to be no threat.

- To Drusilla's dismay, her initial advances towards Xander would be met with awkwardness, as he might perceive her intentions as strange.

- Giles would dote over Drusilla’s affinity for music of his youth, finding it nice to talk to someone similarly cultured. Though would regard her as often lost in her own world. However, her manners and politeness would earn her a place of respect within the Scooby Gang, even if Giles would at times shake his head at her whimsicality.

- There would be a sense of competition between both Buffy and Drusilla, especially if others turn to the other for Slayer related tasks. They would constantly compare themselves to one another, grappling with their own insecurities and perceiving the other as better. The fact they share the same Birthday would further amplify their respective unease. Subsequently, Drusilla’s emotions would begin to mirror Buffy's sentiments upon growing jealous of the friendship between Buffy and Willow, longing for a similar connection with the latter. 

- Buffy and Drusilla do however harbour a genuine care for one another despite their jealousy. Naturally they would have an understanding of the burdens they carry as concomitant of being a Slayer, and recognise each other’s strength of character.

[coraniaid]

AU: Gwendolyn Post is either not evil, or decides to play the long game instead of going straight for the magic glove.

Okay ... let's say Post was still kicked out of the Council for (mis)use of dark magic, but she knows that if she's careful it will take the Scooby Gang a while to figure that out. Indeed, we know Giles hasn't thought of asking the Council for confirmation of Post's claims, and we also know the Council don't plan to actually send a replacement Watcher for Faith. The Council won't visit Sunnydale at all until the events of Helpless, and it's not as if Giles seems to discuss Faith's need for a permanent Watcher with Travers in canon.

Post initially was in town just for the glove, but she reconsiders after she talks to Faith in the motel and realizes the potential she represents. Before knocking Giles out and trying to kill Angel, she hasn't really done anything suspicious at all. So when Giles calls her in to his office and tells her they have a plan to destroy the glove she came all this way for, Post tries her best to look pleased and quietly finishes her tea. Faith and Xander still decide to take matters into their own hands, but the library is empty when they arrive looking for weapons. So rather than splitting up they both head to the mansion, where they run into Angel and Giles and Post. Post is [as in canon] a bit nonplussed to realize that Angel is a vampire (and she's even more surprised when she realizes he's that Angelus), but she sticks with her new plan and (between Giles and Post telling her it's all okay), I don't think Faith is quite ready to attack Angel in front of witnesses. Privately, after the glove is taken care of, Post tells Faith she understands her concerns and admits she didn't realize Angel was a vampire ("Mr Giles' choice of allies are quite utterly unfathomable to me"), but she praises Faith for her good judgment in coming to her Watcher for orders before doing anything rash (they both know, of course, that this isn't what Faith was doing at all, but Faith is more than willing to persuade herself she was if it will win her the approval of her newest surrogate parental figure).

With no big fight or falling out at the end of Revelations, Buffy thinks things with Faith are still going well, even if Faith is angry about her hiding Angel. But behind the scenes, Post has worked out by now that Faith's ties to Buffy are the only competition she has, so she pretty quickly gets to work undermining them as much as she can. Wondering out loud why Giles seems so willing to bend the rules for Buffy and whether Buffy realizes just how dangeous Angelus is, dragging Faith out of town on private training exercises, doing whatever she can to play to Faith's (painfully obvious) inferiority complex. By Amends, when Buffy invites Faith over for Christmas, Faith really isn't lying when she turns Buffy down because she has other plans. (Post invites her over to her house for the first time that Christmas, and though they both find the experience pretty awkward for their own reasons, Faith is moved enough to talk about Diana, who she wasn't good enough to protect, and to try to pretend she's not crying when she promises "Gwen" she won't ever let her Watcher down again.)

Post is almost caught off-guard when Giles talks to her about Buffy's upcoming Cruciamentum [I think the charitable take is that Giles -- and all first time Watchers -- didn't know about the Cruciamentum in advance either], but she agrees to take Faith out of town so she won't cause any problems. Of course, she's smart enough to realize that the game is pretty much up at this point -- no way Giles isn't going to mention her to Travers at least in passing, even if the Council haven't brought a real replacement Watcher yet -- so she decides to make the best of it. Once she and Faith are set up in wherever they've gone for training, Post (while pretending not to know when Buffy's birthday is), does her best to look serious and concerned for her Slayer's well-being while she warns her that as Faith's birthday is coming up soon the Council might be planning to subject her to the Cruciamentum ("a primitive and outdated practice that of course I will have no part in ... though I fear Mr Giles is something of a traditionalist in these matters").

What Post is really hoping for is that they get back to town to find Buffy dead and for Faith to be too furious and heartbroken to do anything but blame Giles and completely refuse to listen to anything the Council tells her ever again [Post wouldn't mind if she took care of Quentin Travers either; she never really cared for him even when she was really a Watcher]. She wasn't expecting Faith to immediately rush back to Sunnydale and arrive just in time to rescue Buffy and her mom from Zachary Kralik, but it all works out pretty well anyway. Giles is fired, so he's no more of a Watcher than she is now, and if Travers starts going on about some supposed thefts and a few cursed rituals she might have been caught doing it's not as if either of the Slayers are going to take his side over hers. Of course she's prepared to bend the rules if it means saving people and stopping monsters. Why, she's just proved that. She doesn't even mind too much when Faith and Buffy start patrolling together again. Maybe Buffy's angry enough at Giles that she'll listen to her over him. (That part doesn't last, sadly for Post.) But Faith is done with the Council, now -- she's not going to let them take her powers away, and she's not going to listen to Wesley for a second. She doesn't need an official Watcher anyway. She's got Mrs Post, and Mrs Post has her back. She saved Buffy's life, didn't she?

That being said, Bad Girls plays out a lot like it does in canon, at least at first (Faith might not listen to Wesley, but if Gwen thinks it's a good idea to look for Balthazar's amulet...). Faith still accidentally kills Allan Finch, and she still freaks out, but this time she doesn't just dump the body and try to convince herself she's made the problem go away. She dumps the body and then goes to see her new mom Watcher, who she knows will be able to make the problem go away. And Mrs Post knows exactly what to tell Faith: she shouldn't feel bad about killing some random interloper, she's a Slayer and accidents happen and it's not as if he were some paragon of virtue. Why, it's quite possible he was in league with Mayor Wilkins, who they've just learned is working hand in hand with vampires, so Faith probably did the right thing by killing him. It's a shame she couldn't do a better job of hiding the evidence, but ... well, perhaps Post was expecting too much of her. She knows Faith prefers hanging out with her friend Buffy to training properly, after all. No wonder the two of them got into trouble without proper supervision. ("It's quite unfair, isn't it, that Mr Giles is planning to cover for his Slayer and put all the blame on you. I don't know how he can countenace the thought of shipping you off to England to be tried by the Council, which ... oh. Didn't Buffy warn you about that, Faith? Well, perhaps she didn't know.") By the time Wesley's Council friends arrive, Faith and Gwendolyn Post are long gone. Boats leave from the docks everyday, after all, and the world is full of vampires to kill and dangerous (and valuable) magical artefacts to secure for safe-keeping. And maybe Mrs Post doesn't have a cool cursed glove that can shoot lightning, but she's got something better. She's got a rogue Slayer who'll do whatever she wants her to do, no questions asked, and all she has to do in exchange is occasionally pretend to give a damn about her.

[pissthena]

God May Forgive, But I Won’t

Meet Me In The Hallway

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Chapter two! I hope this one is better than the last, though I am still rusty! Please let me know any criticism or comments you may have!

You can also read it on my AO3!

Previous Chapter!

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House was an understatement. It was more akin to a mansion, perhaps something Crowley would lounge around in, had it been kept clean and tidy. Castiel peered up at the building as it loomed above them, trapping them in its shadow. Crowley let out a whistle as he eyed the house. “Not bad, feathers. A true mystery mansion. Soon enough I’m sure the Mystery Gang will be here to inherit the place.” “Why would a bunch of teenagers need a mansion?” The taller man’s eyebrows knitted as he looked down at the other man in confusion. Crowley only laughed at the question as he strolled towards the front door. With a gentle push, the door swung open, practically falling off its hinges. “Come now, Scooby. We better search for clues!” He called out, entering the Wendy Hill Mansion. “I am no dog. I’m an angel of the lord.” Castiel mumbled, yet still obediently following the other man’s orders. 

“So, Freddie stole a haunted bible which was nowhere at the scene. If it indeed did transport itself back here, then what? Do we burn it? Would that not be blasphemy?” Crowley talked aloud as he picked up books from the shelf, discarding them behind him as he looked through them. “God would forgive us if we burned The Holy Book in order to help humanity. If it is indeed The Bible it has attached itself to.” Castiel navigated around the growing pile of discarded books, narrowly dodging one as the demon continued his search. “Have you found it?” The angel’s voice echoed out behind him. “Oh yes, I just figured it would be more fun to keep searching!” The demon’s voice dripped with sarcasm as he glanced back at Castiel. “No. I haven’t. Then I wouldn’t be searching, now would I, halo?” “Oh, I just figured that maybe, someone like you, wouldn’t know what the bible even looks like.” The angel snarked, pushing the smaller man into a shelf. “You know, with all the blasphemy and all.” He gripped Crowley’s lapels, holding him against the shelf with a smug look. A smirk crept over the demon’s lips as his eyes locked onto the other’s. “Oh, I can show you blasphemy, angel.” He purred, eyes darkening dangerously. “Something unholy and filthy, just the two of us.” The demon was cut short by the angel pushing himself off of him, a wonderfully deadpan look covering his face. “I will not hear of this, Crowley.” He growled as he distanced himself from the smaller man. “No, but I suppose others would hear it, of course.” The demon’s smirk widened as he wiggled his brows. He hardly had time to move before ‘Seventy-Eight Ways To Clean Your Sink’ hit him square in his face. “Cleanse your thoughts with that.” Castiel mumbled as he went back to the bookshelf, searching through it, hoping to find The Bible. “Didn’t know you liked it rough, feathers.” Crowley mumbled as he rubbed his forehead, peering down at the book at his feet. He was only met with a stern glance in response. “Well, if I can take a guess here.” The demon began, drawing the angel’s attention to him. “She was religious, no? Then the book might be somewhere she spent a lot of time and wanted to be safe.” Seeing as the angel did not take his hint, he rolled his eyes and continued. “The bedroom, angel. It’s probably on the nightstand.” “Of course.” Castiel nodded in agreement. “That makes sense.” “Of course, I am a genius after all.” Crowley smirked to himself as he turned around to look at the stairs. “Now we just have to find the bloody room…”

[arthur-the-knight]

You indeed have talent.

And I would gladly read a crossover of the great Holmes and Watson with the Scooby gang.

Mystery Inc. meet Holmes and Watson!

I am having a lot of fun with this Victorian Scooby Doo au!!

[spiderdreamer-blog]

Batman: The Brave and the Bold: The Top 15 Episodes (SPOILERS AHEAD)

Batman: The Brave and the Bold caused slight askance glances among comics and animation nerds when its initial bright-as-shit promo art was released. "Really?" seemed to be the prevailing reaction even though the series was being headed up by James Tucker, a proven DCAU veteran of shows like Justice League. Especially considering that the promised Silver Age (or "that 50s-60s period where shit got REALLY weird") tone and aesthetic was so out of step with anything produced in the superhero animation landscape since Batman: The Animated Series had reshaped it. I was cautiously optimistic, especially when trailers and previews started coming out, and when Diedrich Bader was cast as Batman given he was by then a more-than-proven vocal talent on shows like Disney's Hercules and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. All fears were allayed with the series premiere on November 13, 2008, "Rise of the Blue Beetle!", which paired Batman with Jaime Reyes (Will Friedle), the recently introduced successor to the Blue Beetle legacy in the comics. The show was bright, colorful, and campy, yes, but there was a genuine wit and heart to the series, and the action scenes were first-rate, as if Superfriends had finally gained a budget and fight choreography that amounted to more than "the heroes stiffly restrain the villains".

The show continued for 65 episodes across three seasons, ending in November 2011, and I recently revisited them all. To my pleasant surprise, it holds up rather marvelously, barring some inevitable questionable bits of humor (I doubt it was ill-intentioned, but the thankfully-briefly-appearing Mrs. Manface is wincingly transphobic in retrospect) and a certain old-fashioned genteel "men are like This, women are like That" writing style. Nevertheless, I was inspired to rank and review what I feel are my top 15 episodes of the series, which I hope you will enjoy below:

Honorable Mentions:

Scooby-Doo & Batman: The Brave and the Bold: A DTV movie released in 2018, seven years after the series' end, this expands on a crossover briefly seen in the series (which we'll cover on the list proper) into a full-blown feature. As a reunion piece that recollects much of the cast and crew, one could be tempted to dismiss it as pure fanservice, and I suppose it is to a degree. But these two franchises have always fit well together thanks to Batman's penchant for detective work, and the mystery here, while easy to follow, has some pleasant twists and turns indeed. And even beyond that, the pleasures are myriad: Velma geeking out over being in the Batcave; Fred digging himself deeper in trying to explain that they're a "gang" but not THAT kind of gang; Martian Manhunter's cookie addiction rearing its ugly head against Shaggy; Scooby being able to drive the Mystery Machine but being bad at directions; and so on. The visuals are as bright and bouncy as ever, the voice performances are all on target, and while I don't think it's the best Scooby OR Batman DTV, it's a delight from start to finish.

The Space Ghost cold open to Bold Beginnings!: The episode itself is fairly average if entertaining, telling us how Green Arrow, Plastic Man, and Aquaman handled their first team-ups with Batman. But the cold open, possibly the longest in the entire series, is basically a lost episode of Space Ghost co-starring Batman. As a kid who grew up on both the janky Hanna-Barbera action series of the 60s and 70s, and subsequently a teenager and college student who grew up on their smart-assed parodies via Adult Swim, this is basically tailor made for me. The Alex Toth character designs and spacefaring backgrounds are recreated to an absurdly faithful degree, the HB library sound effects are on full display, and we even get the late, great Gary Owens reprising Space Ghost one last time.

THE TOP 15

15. The Golden Age of Justice!

This is admittedly a soft "personal" favorite. There are probably better episodes and, gun to my head, you could convince me to put something else in this spot. (The Super-Batman of Planet X! is a good candidate). But there's so much here that appeals to me as a DC comics and TV nerd: the sense of history with the appearance of the Justice Society tying back to WWII heroics; guest voices like R. Lee Ermey and William Katt, the Greatest American Hero himself; Clancy Brown adopting a more Germanic tone than his usual Luthor as Per Degaton; and it's a personal story for Black Canary, frustrated by what she sees as babying old guard sexism. And while it's revealed there's a deeper reason that Wildcat in particular tries to protect her from danger, I like that she's allowed to still be frustrated even with understanding that and gets to save the day. (Also there's some good humor shown in that Batman, the supposed golden boy, gets nitpicked as much as she does by the old-timers that takes the edge off).

14. Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases!

This is more a collection of shorts than a full episode, but they are certainly marvelously entertaining ones. Any time Bat-Mite shows up is guaranteed to be great, and the dearly missed Paul Reubens is pitch-perfect as a master of ceremonies into the deeply weird turbonerd areas of Batman's history. The first short is Bat-Boy and Rubin, a near-exact adaptation of a famous 50s MAD Magazine parody. It replicates Wally Wood's art style to a fanatical degree in bouncy animation, while Frank Welker and Jeff Bennett (sounding more than a little like Jerry Lewis) hit exactly the right goofball notes as the title characters. Next up is Bat-Manga, which was a real thing that came out during the 60s as Batman hit a pop culture craze in Japan thanks to the Adam West series. The art style is honestly quite distinct and wonderfully 60s, but the real treat here is the purposefully crappy, breathless Speed Racer-style dubbing, complete with a lampshaded avoidance of saying that Lord Death Man is, well, dead when it's quite obvious his demise happened onscreen. And last but not least is the aforementioned Scooby-Doo teamup in homage to their first team-up on the 70s cartoon The New Scooby-Doo Movies. Unlike the DTV, done in the main BATB style, this is produced and animated as if it actually did happen in the 70s, with faded colors and a few animation errors (my favorite detail is Bat-Mite snarking on Batman's neck color getting messed up, but failing to notice the inverted chest logo). It's a real treat, and we get a moment of awesome as Bat-Mite overrides the 70s censorship standards to let Batman and Robin have a real fight scene with Joker and Penguin, with even Scooby and Shaggy joining in on the fun. Plus Weird Al makes an appearance in all his polka-loving glory, what's not to love?

13. The Siege of Starro! Parts One and Two

This is probably the closest the series ever gets to the tone of something like Justice League Unlimited: apocalyptic stakes, C-list heroes having to be the ones to save the day, and a genuine sense of sacrifice. Who knew they could get audiences to tear up over friggin' B'wana Beast, of all characters? Starro's always a great choice for stories like this given his zombie inclinations (any time they start in on the STARRO LIVES chant is appropriately creepy as hell), I like the twist they add to a Galactus-and-Silver-Surfer-esque relationship with his minion the Faceless Hunter, and the stakes build up over the two-parter to make things feel truly darkest before the dawn as all the heroes' options dwindle. And yes, B'wana Beast laying it all on the line has real weight, especially aided by Kevin Michael Richardson's lovable, working-class performance.

12. The Knights of Tomorrow!

Feeling something like a lost Batman Beyond episode, this takes us into a possible future where Bruce marries Selina Kyle and they both retire from costumed heroics, raising a son in Damian as Dick Grayson takes up the Bat-mantle. This is just a good, meaty character-and-action episode, with the grinding wheel of fate and tragedy affecting all here. Patrick Cavanaugh gives an excellent performance as a callow, uncertain Damian who nevertheless rises to the occasion when it's called for, and the final twist of just who's been telling this story called Alan Moore's epigraph in his great Superman story Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow: "This is an imaginary story. Aren't they all?"

(Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Marc Worden as "Joker Jr." in terms of performances. Worden has done good voicework before, but he so thoroughly changes his usual gruff tones to imitate Jeff Bennett's Joker performance that I genuinely thought it was Jeff on a first viewing. Major props.)

11. Deep Cover for Batman!/Game Over For Owlman!: Our first foray into the DC multiverse, this two-parter deals with Batman matching wits and fists with Owlman, his Crime Syndicate counterpart. Usually I find these kinds of stories more interesting when there's more moral grayness in the less-than-heroic counterparts, but the Crime Syndicate being unapologetic bastard-coated bastards absolutely works for this show tonally. The first part involves Batman going undercover as Owlman to infilitrate the Syndicate, which has fun in the usual sense of "aw shit Han and Luke are disguised as Stormtroopers, will they get found out?" And part 2 with Batman on the run, forced to team up with Joker of all people, is fun in the opposite direction, with both episodes climaxing in big blow-out splash panel fight sequences. A pure expression of bashing action figures against each other.

It's also the first big showcase for Jeff Bennett as the Joker in this series, both as the heroic alt-Red Hood who rejected madness and chose to rise above it, and Prime!Joker as the goofiest, most gimmicky 50s Joker of them all. I confess to being rather tired of edgelord serial killer Joker (you're never going to be better than Heath Ledger, for one), so having him be a full-on clown is retro-refreshing. And Bennett, one of the great VAs of his generation, more than rises to the occasion with his sing-songy tone and hyena cackle. His Red Hood is quite an intriguing performance in and of itself, not completely abandoning the base Joker voice, but playing around with what it might sound like as a hero.

10. Fall of the Blue Beetle!

As noted in the Starro rundown, BATB is primarily a bright, colorful show, but it is hardly free from pathos or drama. This was the first big indicator of such, that characters could or would die, with the death of the previous Blue Beetle Ted Kord looming large over the proceedings. Jaime's insecurity over living up to the legend and wondering if it was pure random chance that led the scarab to him is expertly portrayed, with Friedle in top form on the acting front (I like a moment where he throws a bit of Batman's previous coldness back at him in particular). Even our villain, Ted's uncle Jarvis Kord, plays well into the themes, with Tim Matheson making us believe the sincerity of his goals (world peace) and the extreme methods he'd take to achieve them. (He also gets one really funny moment with "No missiles in the lab, please!") And while it reaches the conclusions we expect (Jaime is a true hero doing Ted's legacy proud), it does so sweetly and with no small charm.

(Sidenote: Season 2's The Menace of Madniks! is an excellent follow-up to this episode, with Wil Wheaton getting more to do as Ted between himself, Booster Gold, and Batman as a trio, and giving the latter two some good emotional closure over their friend's death).

9. Requiem For A Scarlet Speedster

The Flash is just awesome. He's perhaps only next to Spider-Man in terms of the pure cool factor of his powers and how versatile can be. This episode, penned by Gargoyles/Spectacular Spider-Man/Young Justice veteran Greg Weisman, completely understands that. Even with the initial heavy subject matter of Barry Allen's presumed death, it's pure FUN first and foremost. The drama is dealt with well but unobtrusively (it takes one Batman pep talk to prod Wally to stop being a horse's ass to Jay over the whole affair), and there's humor in how even the Rogues of Central City are in mourning for Barry but refuse to admit it. And we have proper Flash-ian shenanigans with going so fast you can travel through time, with Professor Zoom a more than capable smugly punchable villain for the proceedings, especially in a bitchin' action climactic race-fight with him and Barry. (It's also the first time John Wesley Shipp, who played Barry in the cheesily enjoyable 1990 live action series, dips his toes back into the Flash-verse, albeit in quite a different form than what he'd do on the second live action show a couple years after this. His great work here makes me wish he'd done a little more villainy on that tbh). Manages to be a better Flash story in 20 minutes than 2 hours of Ezra Miller Ezra Miller-ing it up amongst horrible deepfakes and wasting Michael Keaton AND Michael Shannon's valuable time.

8. Legends of the Dark Mite!

As noted, all of Bat-Mite's appearances are great, and his debut is no exception. Paul Reubens manages to ride the line between being an annoying fanboy and a lovable one, especially in the all-timer Comic-Con scene where he defends the series' tone and aesthetic on behalf of the creative team, and a climax that pays explicit homage to the classic Daffy Duck short The Great Piggy Bank Robbery. It's a fun episode for Batman himself, much in the same way Mxyzpltk episodes tend to be for Superman, as he finds himself beset by strangeness but also more than canny enough to manipulate the little troll. Add in bouncy, creative visuals like biker Santas and rabid Easter bunnies, and you've got a winner.

7. Journey to the Center of the Bat!

Aquaman quickly became the breakout character the series through a multitude of factors like John DiMaggio's OUTRAGEOUS performance and writing him as a comedically awesome blowhard who does stuff like write memoirs about every single adventure he has. That makes him ideal for episodes like this, a buddy comedy with Ryan Choi's Atom as they go inside Batman's bloodstream Honey I Shrunk The Kids/Fantastic Voyage-style to save him from dying via Chemo getting him in the face with nasty radioactive shit. James Sie makes for an excellent buttoned-up straight man as Choi, bouncing off DiMaggio's hammery with aplomb (my favorite bit is him translating science talk into a deeply frustrated "This doohickey beeps when the cooties are near"). And while the story arc leans where you'd expect in terms of them learning from each other, the tension mounts nicely as Batman continues to try to fight Chemo and his master the Brain (Dee Bradley Baker with a hilariously goofball Monty Python-level French accent) against doctor's orders.

6. Battle of the Superheroes!

The use of certain characters in superhero media can often be weird and tied up in legal red tape, so it wasn't necessarily surprising that the show couldn't use big deal characters like Superman and Wonder Woman until its third and final season. This was arguably to its benefit, as we got to build out the obscure or B-and-C-list heroes core to the cast. And it means that when we DO finally introduce Superman, we can do a full-blown Superdickery episode. Every joke you can think of from those old misleading covers is here: Lois's marriage schemes to get Superman to reveal his true identity, Jimmy Olsen as a magnet for misfortune, and Superman just being hilariously, childishly petty under the influence of Red Kryptonite. Veteran voice actor Roger Rose gives the man of steel a perfect old-school radio announcer tone that suits both genuine heroics and the comedic douchebaggery (how he chastises Lois for the marriage schemes has me on the floor every time). And on top of that, we get a genuinely exciting throwdown between him and Batman that homages their famous brawl in The Dark Knight Returns, even offering a poignant moment when Batman asks him what Ma Kent would think of this behavior and it breaks through for just a moment.

5. Mitefall!

I wouldn't call the final season of BATB bad by any stretch, but certain habits were starting to creep in that nearly any long-running show takes on if it goes on long enough. Characters get flanderized (Aquaman is a little dumber and goofier than before), the plots get wilder, and some of the emotional core falls by the wayside. So perhaps it's appropriate that the series finale metatextually takes stock of things. Bat-Mite, our erstwhile fanboy, has grown bored of the show, wanting a return to a darker, grittier Batman. So he takes it upon himself to get the show cancelled by making it jump the shark: gleefully adding characters like a love interest or a cute kid (as well as a Bat-ified Scrappy Doo, everyone's favorite punching bag); ridiculous toy tie-ins (the way Diedrich Bader repeatedly says "Neon Talking Super Street Batluge!" kills me); and, most egregious of all, replacing Aquaman's voice with Ted McGinley (who gets one of the funniest moments in the episode as a result of this). But Ambush Bug, essentially DC's Deadpool in terms of being aware of the fourth wall, feels he must work to stop this hackery and seeks out Batman to make him aware of his status as a fictional character to save the show. (In another wonderful bit of meta-casting, Ambush Bug is voiced by Henry Winkler, the original shark-jumper himself.)

And yet, despite all this inside baseball humor and vintage TV references, things reach a real poignancy by the end. Ambush Bug impresses on Batman that, fictional or not, what he does matters to people, as well as a brilliant moment where he points out how wrong things have gotten for Batman to use guns. Despite their best efforts, the show is cancelled, with even Bat-Mite being erased from existence because he certainly couldn't fit into a darker-toned Batman series. And the final scene has all the heroes reunite at a wrap party as the "set" gets torn down, with Bug and Batman reflecting that at least he had a great run. Batman turns to us, promising that until the next time we meet, he'll still be out there, fighting injustice and protecting the innocent.

"Goodnight."

4. The Last Patrol!

Ah, the Doom Patrol, or "the team where everyone is kind of a dick and weird shit happens to them constantly, including dying a lot." This episode reflects that basically dead-on, with our titular Patrol members being prickly dickheads, foes like Animal Vegetable Mineral Man, and a climactic death. Yet despite the surface level surrealism, this ends up as pretty emotionally affecting because of the questions it asks about heroism, the stakes and the costs. The ending is especially a knock-out as our resident assholes, when the chips are down, choose to do the right thing to save fourteen "pathetically ordinary" people in the face of termination, and the world responds in solidarity. It's a good show for Batman too, as he picks at the team's insecurities and brings them back together for their final stand.

3. Chill of the Night!

One of the most acclaimed episodes of the show, and rightly so. It plays out like a lost Batman: The Animated Series episode between the moody lighting, dark subject matter, Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill's presences as the Phantom Stranger and Spectre respectively, and Paul Dini on writing duties. But because this is Brave and the Bold, we also get Adam West and Julie Newmar voicing Thomas and Martha Wayne, and Bruce and Thomas get to beat up some gangsters together complete with an "old chum". There's some great tension here as Batman flirts with a darker path, Bader doing some his best work of the series as he furiously confronts his parents' killer and we see Bruce Wayne unmasked for the first time. And the final notes are grimly ironic as justice is served...or perhaps vengeance, who can say.

I also want to give a shout-out to Peter Onorati's work as Joe Chill. Onorati is a great long-time "tough guy" actor on any number of cop shows and more recently on projects like This Is Us as Jack's abusive father. He uses that skillset wonderfully here as the hardened, aging criminal, but also gets to mine other depths like his bewildered realization of just who Batman is and what he means, panic as he tries to solicit the other villains for help, and weary acceptance as he dies.

2. Aquaman's Outrageous Adventure!

This, by contrast, is perhaps the most purely hilarious episode of the show. Superheroes having to do mundane everyday things is a rich vein of humor, and forcing the boisterous man of action that is Aquaman to go on a family road trip vacation is a killer premise just by itself. It's funny when he tries to sneak off to do hero work like he needs a fix (I love that Jaime doesn't question it in their encounter and is just thrilled for the team-up opportunity, as usual), and perhaps funnier still when he resolves to actually try to enjoy his family vacation. (A moment of silent commiseration between a fellow dad-on-the-road is a highlight.) Despite all this, Arthur is still a genuinely loving husband and father, and the script takes pains to not make his wife Mera an obnoxious harridan, and Arthur Jr. is merely a disaffected sullen teenager who perks right up when he gets to join in on a supervillain fight.

Also they use the Superfriends transition noise, which is awesome.

Mayhem of the Music Meister!

I mean, could it be anything else? The best direction and animation of the series. Neil Patrick Harris deepening and expanding on his Dr. Horrible work to be a one-shot musically inclined supervillain for the ages. Superheroes and supervillains in a kick-line. An industrial metal number about death traps. Batman saves the day through autotune. Villains and heroes alike complaining in song how Batman drives them bats. And a genuinely sweet love song that gets a reprise to close us out. Pure, perfect Brave and the Bold.