__MoBlack’s avatar__MoBlack’s Twitter Archive—№ 19,557

                                        1. Okay we're doing it. We'll do the Velma watch threads. This is episode 1. I won't bother being "unbiased", because I don't believe in such a thing. But I do try to treat the show as I treat anything else I write about. Yes, I will be writing about the show once it is finished
                                      1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                                        Oh, and I've never done a proper watch thread on Mastodon so if you're reading this on there, feel free to let me know what I could do to improve the experience for you
                                    1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                                      For context: I am not someone who dislikes race-swapping in media (sorta obvious if you know me). I'm also not someone who is super married to source materials in adaptations. I am simply a man who likes it when stories do something interesting.
                                  1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                                    I also appreciate progressive messaging in media and do not believe politics in fiction should be "subtle". All this to say that, on paper, Velma should be something I vibe with, actually! But in practice, I have hated every clip I have seen of this show. I want to know why.
                                1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                                  CN: Velma episode 1 I do not disagree that this is what origin stories are like. But why are you telling me this instead of just being the unique story you claim you want to be?
                                  oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
                              1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                                CN: Velma episode 1 I expect this to come up many more times. But, why is she so mean. Why does she hate everyone?
                                oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
                            1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                              CN: Velma episode 1 The Mushoku Tensei school of having random sex in a show and calling it a day.
                              oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
                          1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                            CN: Velma episode 1 Wha- yes. Yes I did notice. I fucking sucks. Your point?
                            oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
                        1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                          CN: Velma episode 1 Okay so if YOU KNOW it's lame then WHY DID YOU JUST DO IT? So I suspect this will also come up a lot. But you cannot just do the thing you think I know is bad and then point that out. If you know the trope is bad just don't do the trope. Or subvert it?
                          oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
                      1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                        CN: Velma episode 1 We? Who is we? On parle français ? No
                        oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
                    1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                      CN: Velma episode 1 Okay so here's my thing. I know they kiss later because I've seen the clip. Velma and Daphne kissing would be fine normally. But they pre-empted it with this weird conversation of sexualizing lesbians for views, so now it's weird
                      oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
                  1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                    CN: Velma episode 1 Like, all this meta bullshit is actively making the representation worse. Now I don't know if YOU don't know that it's not okay to cynically use your queer characters as sexual objects for the sake of generating profit. Since you brought it up
                1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                  CN: Velma episode 1 Aside from all the nitpicking about the cockroaches fucking, I don't quite know why anyone is doing anything here, which is a feeling I hate in TV
              1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                CN: Velma episode 1 Is this a positive stereotype, show? Does show understand why cop shows are bad even?
                oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
            1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
              we'll be back in a bit. laptop is almost out of battery and I'm on the road
          1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
            CN: Velma episode 1 Why would this picture even be in a police report? Talk about clunky exposition
            oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
        1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
          CN: Velma episode 1 Another sidebar, but, as someone who was insecure about his weight in high school and aifll is to an extent, I don't care that Velma is fat. I do not like that the show is trying to make me care that she is fat. It's alienating
      1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
        CN: Velma episode 1 Like, here see? I don't think she's ugly. I don't care she's fat. But the show is like "look at how disgusting she is. I am woke for pointing this out somehow". Why can't she just exist? That would be actually subversive
        oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
    1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
      CN: Velma episode 1 Velma makes me feel the same about my body as the fat guy from Darling in the FranXX. This is about as damning a statement as I can make really. The show is still fatphobic but it tells you it knows fatphobia is wrong
  1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
    CN: Velma episode 1 For a good story about a social reject whose own bad behavior makes them alone, may I direct you to Bocchi the Rock!. Although it's interesting there's a point of comparison here. I'll work on that
    1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
      CN: Velma episode 1 Aw man, just when I was beginning to maybe tolerate this show enough to finish this thread
      oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
      1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
        CN: Velma episode 1 Why would Velma form Mystery Incorporated with what is essentially her stalker??
        oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
        1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
          CN: Velma episode 1 Mindy Kaling saw Kazuya from Rent-a-Girlfriend and went "I have the best idea"
          1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
            CN: Velma episode 1 man what is this even supposed to mean?
            oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
            1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
              Back after a break
              1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                CN: Velma episode 1 Why is Velma so bad at solving mysteries? She's not particularly smart or scientifically oriented, she's just the main character. She doesn't discover anything. Other people have leads and she just floats from place to place
                1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                  CN: Velma episode 1 So that's episode 1 done. 1/3 of it was a below average, corny mystery show and 2/3 was this obnoxious, self-aware, "look how woke we are" bullshit
                  1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                    CN: Velma episode 1 Let's forget it's Scooby Doo for a sec. Everyone is extremely unlikable. Actually, surprisingly Daphne is the least bad. Her crimes seem to be being hot, having friends, and being a repressed lesbian. The other three are just actively malicious people
                    1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                      CN: Velma episode 1 The show is extremely regressive politically speaking. So much time this show spends quoting reactionary TV Tropes pages while DOING THOSE TROPES could be spent just being the show it tells me we need more of
                      1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                        CN: Velma episode 1 My buddy Rag and I call this "pissing in the street". There's an old anime video essay about how anime will declare they are pissing in the street before doing it, as if the declaration beforehand makes whipping your dick out in the open and peeing any better
                        1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                          CN: Velma episode 1 Last thing for this thread: but I reject the idea that "being an adult" means insisting that everyone is secretly awful deep down. That is bullshit. How's the blanket idea that we're all selfish perverts any less childish than the idea that we're all saints?
                          1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                            CN: Velma episode 1 Velma is very similar to Konosuba in this way, another show that very much did not work for me. Because underneath everything is this same cynical bullshit idea that "realism" means everyone's as awful as you apparently are