Veronica Mars

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Fandom
Name: Veronica Mars
Abbreviation(s): VMars, VM
Creator: Rob Thomas
Date(s): 2004-2007, 2014
Medium: Television, Film
Country of Origin: United States
External Links: IMDB, Wikipedia
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Veronica Mars is an American drama series, which aired on The WB and later The CW from 2004 to 2007. A crowd-funded film was released in March 2014, and a special 4th season aired on Hulu in 2019.

Original Series Overview

In the wealthy, seaside community of Neptune, California, the rich and powerful make the rules. Unfortunately for them, there's Veronica Mars, a smart, fearless 17-year-old apprentice private investigator dedicated to solving the town's toughest mysteries. Veronica used to be one of the popular girls, but it all came crumbling down around her after her best friend, Lilly, was murdered, and her then-sheriff father, Keith, was removed from office for naming Lilly's rich father as the lead suspect. During the day, Veronica must negotiate high school like any average teenage girl. But at night, she helps with her father's struggling, new private investigator business--and what she finds may tear the town of Neptune apart at the seams.

Film & Fourth Season

The series was not renewed for a fourth season, though in January 2009 creator Rob Thomas confirmed that plans were afoot for a VM movie.[1] On March 13, 2013, Rob Thomas launched a Kickstarter Campaign to raise funds for a Veronica Mars movie. The campaign was a success, raising $US 5,702,153 from fans of the TV series by April 12, 2013, and breaking a number of Kickstarter records.[2] The film, set 9 years after the events of the series finale, was released on March 14, 2014.

In September 2018, a fourth season was announced which would give a finale update on the characters. It was released on streaming services (Hulu, in the USA) in July 2019, reprising many of the themes and bringing back characters from the original series.

Its ending, however, proved extremely controversial, as it killed one of the main characters.

Fandom

VM fans engaged with the show in an active way from the start, for example on fan-forum Television Without Pity, which even got a shout-out in a few episode.[3]

Fanworks for the original run of the series were largely based on Livejournal, since the show's original seasons (2004-2007) predated the creation of AO3. Some of the fanworks produced during that time were reposted to AO3 later, but many have been lost as authors moved off LJ and locked or purged their accounts.

The movie and revival season each prompted a renewal of interest in the show.

Controversy

  • A major controversy in VMars fandom occurred at the end of Season 1, when the resolution of the seasonal mystery proved unsatisfactory to some fans. This led to a multifandom discussion of a culture of squee versus a culture of critique.
  • The then-unusual success of the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter campaign prompted a wave of criticism suggesting that people who were spending money this way should donate to charity instead. A number of meta pieces were written in response:
The Kickstarter raised its first million in four hours. Last night, I watched it click over the two million dollar mark. There was much rejoicing, because dude. Veronica Mars movie. I shrieked, I chair-danced, and all was right with the world...

...only not, because it turns out a lot of people are really perturbed by the fact that a movie which will have corporate backing (Rob Thomas is not the Veronica Mars intellectual property owner, which means Warner Brothers has to be involved) was asking for money on Kickstarter. Mind you, no one held a gun to my head and forced me to fund this project; no one forced me to sit here carefully considering the reward tiers and choosing the one which came with the most awesome swag. No one clicked the button for me. But somehow, my backing this movie has stolen projects from indie artists who really needed it.

And unto this do I say: bullshit.

Life is not a zero-sum game: the VERONICA MARS movie and Kickstarter, Seanan McGuire[4]

The claim that we should be doing something BETTER, more valuable with our money than supporting a beloved show is ridiculous. People make choices to spend our money on selfish purchases all the time. There is no expectation that we will forgo ever seeing a movie again, or buying a video game, or purchasing a new pair of shoes just because we want them, and donate all our spare cash to charities instead. [...]

The other main issue with this argument and the slippery slope that its proponents are dragging us down is that most projects aren't like a Veronica Mars movie. The only reason that the Veronica Mars Kickstarter was successful is because people already care about it, and they care specifically about this creator and this cast being able to continue telling this story. If a movie studio put a kickstarter for some movie that didn't already have a fanbase, no one would donate SHIT to them. People want to back creative works and artists that they already love. Kickstarter isn't a website that prints money for artists or potential artists; it's a website that allows people who want to support their favorite artists to do so directly, or for them to support an indie idea that speaks to them, and for them to get something they want. I didn't donate to the VMars movie out of some altruistic desire to make the world a better place; I donated because I want the chance to see (among other things) Logan smolder at Veronica on a big screen. This is not actually some ingenuous new way for Hollywood to take advantage of its audience, and if Hollywood is dumb enough to try it, I invite them to do so.

Veronica Mars and Kickstarter and our brave new world by mistresscurvy[5]


  • The decision to kill off a beloved character at the end of the 4th season also led to much criticism and fix-its.

Pairings

By far the most popular pairing in VMars fandom is Logan Echolls/Veronica Mars, which some fans call LoVe, in keeping with the namesmoosh tradition. (All stats as of Sept 2021 on AO3)

Other popular pairings include Weevil/Veronica (WeeVer), Veronica/Duncan, Veronica/Piz and Weevil/Logan:

Early on, there was also a significant amount of femslash, though few made it to AO3:

A small number of fanworks also exist centering on secondary characters, such as Cindy 'Mac' Mackenzie:

Crossovers

Crossovers are moderately common, especially with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural, with Veronica Mars/Dean Winchester and Veronica Mars/Buffy Summers the most common crossover ships. Two Buffy actresses had recurring roles in the show, Alyson Hannigan as Trina Echolls and Charisma Carpenter as Kendall Casablancas, and their characters are sometimes depicted as related to the Buffyverse characters. Joss Whedon was a fan of the show and had a cameo role in one episode, and Buffy is referenced in the Veronica Mars movie in the lines

"Neptune High..."
"It actually does sit on a Hellmouth..."

Examples Fanworks

Fanfiction

Podfic

Vids

Additional vids can be found at the Neptune Awards

Meta

Archives & Fannish Links

Archives

Livejournal Communities

Fansites

Other Fannish Resources

External Resources

References

  1. ^ Rob Thomas Confirms 'Veronica Mars' Movie!, accessed January 23, 2009
  2. ^ The Veronica Mars Movie Project, accessed March 14, 2014
  3. ^ Website / Television Without Pity page on TvTropes.org, accessed Sept 2021
  4. ^ Life is not a zero-sum game: the VERONICA MARS movie and Kickstarter, posted to LJ 2013-03-14; accessed Sept 19, 2021
  5. ^ Veronica Mars and Kickstarter and our brave new world by mistresscurvy, posted to LJ on 2013-03-14; accessed Sept 19, 2021
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