Fan Spotlight 2021 Day 8: Dott

Happy birthday! Well, maybe it’s not your birthday, but it’s today’s fan spotlight, Dott’s birthday! Dott is a big Scooby-Doo fan that’s active on Tumblr and Discord, as well as the ScoobyAddicts forum! She’s also created an incredible Scooby-Doo fashion Tumblr page documenting every single outfit the gang has ever worn, as well as a map logging every real-life location the gang has solved a mystery.

1. What is your name?
My name's Dott! My handle most places is cometcrystal.

2. How did you get into Scooby-Doo?
I'm a latecomer. Unlike most origin stories I've heard, I didn't get into Scooby until much later in my life; my very first Scooby media was the 2002 live action. A friend of mine at the time showed it to me when I was in college. After that, I became interested in SDMI. Then it remained a lowkey interest of mine until a few years later when Scoob came out. I watched it the day it premiered, and then 13th Ghost on the same day, and that somehow spiraled into my Covid lockdown Scooby binge. It's now my current Favorite Thing (tm), and now that I'm done with all the shows and movies, I'm working on the comics!

3. What is your favorite Scooby-Doo episode and film? Why?
My favorite movie is probably tied between Stage Fright and 13th Ghost. I just think they're neat; they're both Fred and Daphne-centric movies (my favorite characters), and they give me comforting, warm, fuzzy vibes. 13th Ghost was the movie that made me wanna watch more Scooby, so it's got a special place in my heart. And Stage Fright is just a wild ride all the way through. One of the funniest movies, IMO.

As far as episodes, that's really hard to narrow down cause there's so many of them! I love the final few episodes of SDMI, and Party Like It's 1899 is a standout from BCSD. I also like any episode of TSDS with Scooby Dum in it, as well as the Addams Family episode of the New Movies.

4. What ways are you involved in the Scooby fandom online?
I post quite a bit on Tumblr, I'm in a couple Scooby fandom Discord servers, and I'm on the ScoobyAddicts board from time to time, of course! I like to make GIFs sometimes, and I've written one or two short fanfics and made a couple AMVs. My favorite thing to do is analysis and headcanons.

5. In your opinion, what is the best series or era of Scooby?
They've each got their own pros and cons, but as far as personal favorites go, most of my picks fit into the Modern era (2010 and beyond). SDMI and BCSD are the shows closest to my heart. One thing I like about the Scooby fandom is that everyone has their own favorite series/era, and you'll never hear the same specific answer twice! There's a lot of material to work with.

6. What one Scooby-Doo series or film would you want a sequel to someday?
I'd love a Ghoul School sequel! The Grimwood Ghouls are such cool characters. It'd be so great seeing the rest of the gang react to a bunch of spooky little ghouls running up to Shaggy and Scooby, and them not being scared at all.

7. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future?
I'm not sure! I'm happy just to be along for the ride. I enjoy watching them try different takes on the characters; the gang isn't the same as they were 50 years ago, and 50 years from today, they're not gonna be the same as right now, either. Part of the fun of Scooby is that it has the ability to evolve naturally and try new things. It'll always be around in one form or another.

8. Who is your favorite member of the gang and why?
Definitely Daphne. I like her because nobody seems to know what to do with her, whether it be in canon or fanon. It was harder for people to see her personality from the retro shows because all they remembered was "she's the pretty one and got kidnapped a lot" instead of how she was spunky and bright, and more clumsy and impulsive than kidnappable. She was even the leader of the gang in the 80's! So now she's got all these different characterizations, and I think that's super interesting. The one Daphne character trait that is essential to her, though, is that she's a firecracker (and is more reckless than you would assume). She's got a natural leader instinct, and her main drive as a character is to do SOMETHING, whether it be to prove herself, be free from whatever shackles she has, or just to try everything at least once. And I'm glad to see that most versions of her maintain those things. I could write an entire paper on her character. Maybe I should one day.

9. What is your favorite villain? Why?
My favorite monster is a tie between the Space Kook and Charlie the Robot. They're both just so lovable!! And my favorite straight-up villain is Mr. E. His entire story is SO interesting to me. 

10. In your opinion, who is the best recurring (non-gang) character in the franchise?
Sorry, it's a tie again. Marcie Fleach and Scooby Dum! Marcie's an absolute icon, and Dum is a lovable goofball. I really wanna see them both come back one day. 

11. Do you have a Scooby-Doo collection? If so, what’s in it?
Boy, do I. I've got a corkboard with lots of enamel pins, and a shelf for my various figures and such. I also have a few shirts. We'll be here all day if I describe my entire collection, LOL But I do love collecting things. I'm like a dragon.

12. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years?
The characters are pretty universal and timeless; you could put the gang just about anywhere, and it'd probably seem natural. Any group of 5 friends you can find has probably already figured out which member of the gang each of them is. And it's so easy to keep it going. The basic formula of the franchise can fit so well into so many situations. The possibilities are endless!

13. What is one fun fact about you in real life?
Scooby Doo is the first thing to make me wanna practice drawing in a while. I don't know if I'll continue practicing after I'm done with my current little project, but the fact that it made me wanna try at all is impressive.

14. Please feel free to share anything else you’d like to here!
Every fandom has its rotten apples, but Scooby Doo's the first fandom I've been in for a while where I've just been able to chill out. Very glad to share an appreciation for Scooby with all the lovely people I've met! <3

While I'm at it, I'll plug my two ongoing Scooby projects. The first is my Scooby Doo Fashion blog, where I'm cataloguing every outfit the gang has worn. The second is my map logging every real life location the gang visits. If you couldn't tell, I'm a huge fan of collecting little details like that. They're both huge works in progress, but I'm still pretty proud of them!

Thanks so much to Dott again for being today’s fan spotlight! Be sure to check back tomorrow to meet another cool new Scooby-Doo fan!