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So I'm watching the hockey final and like I can't take this kind of excitement? Why isn't it over already?
While I really enjoyed the development of the Veronica/Logan relationship and thought they were an exciting interaction, I don't believe that relationship was something that would endure as a long term commitment. During the show Logan was always angry with an "I don't care" attitude while Veronica was the judgmental voice of reason (emphasis on judgmental). The truth is, like most people, Veronica did not ever know what she wanted in a relationship. For instance, she wanted a guy like Pez, but when she got Pez she blew him off for Logan. She wanted Logan to change, but when he did change she didn't like that either. Veronica may have loved Pez, Logan, and even Duncan but she was too uncompromising regarding what she considered to be acceptable foibles in others and too mercurial regarding what she wanted for herself. While I enjoyed her romantic interactions within the storyline, I never possessed any belief that she would run off happily into the sunset with any of them. My expectation was that in the end she would take over the family detective business and develop a less committed relationship with Weevil (no, not Wallace - he was way too tame for her).
No hardcore fandom has ever died so quickly and so completely as Veronica Mars. This is the story of its murder.
They should study Veronica Mars in Hollywood. I'm serious. It's an incredible story of how to go from "loud, passionate fanbase with its own fandom name that campaigns and advocates constantly for it" to "absolutely zero fucking interest" damn near OVERNIGHT with just ONE epically terri-bad decision.
If you weren't there, you don't understand: From 2007 to 2014, the fandom — the "Marshmallows," as they called themselves — were everywhere in the Internet's geek spaces, my friends. They routinely beat the drum about the series' three seasons and its excellence, lamented its cancellation, pushed others to give the show a try, and always - ALWAYS - proudly and loudly called for the series to be revived.
FULL DISCLOSURE/CONFESSION: I've not even watched that much Veronica Mars, frankly... ? Yeah, I'm sorry! it does seem pretty good from like the four-or-five hours I've experienced firsthand. I just never took the time to sit down with it. Regardless, I find fandoms and their dynamics — both how they operate internally and how they display to others externally — deeply fascinating. And I honestly find them easier to study from the outside than the inside. Like, if I'm IN a fandom, I'm more likely to stay in my corner and ignore places that seem negative. But being on the outside lets me just... absorb what's out there, looking into every forum without judgment. It's like studying pop-culture sociology or something? And it helps that I'm very close to some serious(-ly burnt) Marshmallows. It makes it so much easier to find and absorb the gamut of the fandom.
Besides: There is NO fandom story I've ever seen that's anything like what happened to Veronica Mars and the Marshmallows.
(Time to insert a brief explainer for the uninitiated: Veronica Mars was a TV series that aired from 2004-2007 on the now-deceased UPN network wherein Kristen Bell played the titular character, a high school girl whose single dad was a private detective in the fictional community of Neptune, California. She grew up working "unofficially" as his assistant, which meant that she herself was effectively a teenage private detective.
The three core elements of the series were: 1) Veronica investigating each week's big mystery with plenty of quips and snark, 2) Watching Veronica's various relationships develop and shift, with most of the focus given to a) her relationship to her father and b) Her romantic pursuits (which began as the Veronica/Duncan/Logan triangle before eventually becoming focused on the slow-burn, off-on Veronica/Logan love story), and 3) The gradual development of that season's "mytharc" — the overarching BIG MYSTERY that doesn't get resolved or wrapped until the season finale. So it went over the course of two seasons that took place in high school and the third, shorter season that was at the start of Veronica's collegiate career.)
Just how big and how passionate were the Marshmallows? WELL! When series creator Rob Thomas (not the Matchbox 20 guy) and star Kristen Bell announced the Kickstarter campaign for the Veronica Mars movie in March 2013, it achieved its heretofore-unprecedented goal of TWO MILLION GODDAMN DOLLARS within less than 12 hours. At that time, it was the biggest Kickstarter goal to ever succeed — and certainly the fastest to reach that kind of height. Fans fell OVER themselves to pay out for it. Hell, my own significant other was DEEP in the tank for VM at the time and invested enough to get multiple t-shirts as backer rewards as well as a disk copy of the movie when it eventually came home.
And AFTER the movie hit in 2014? It was thankfully beloved and embraced! The once-teenage characters were adults who were actually out living on their own and working for a living, but the fandom had grown up with them, so it wasn't like they were begging for them to stay young students. They embraced Adult Veronica and her new adventure. The fandom rejoiced loudly and continued to be all over the geek side of the Internet... where they, of course, still wanted more. Sure, there were new novels in the aftermath (which were written by the creator of the series), but most of the Marshmallows were calling for more movies or a streaming revival.
And then, at long last... season four was actually announced. And there was much (premature) rejoicing yet again.
Yes, Veronica Mars returned for a fourth season on Hulu in 2019. It was just eight episodes, and it was heavily centered on one season-long mystery instead of sprinkling that amongst a bunch of smaller ones, but it would still feature the same ol' Veronica. They promised a new, more "adult" mystery/investigation plus a strong focus on Veronica and Logan's love story.
New Hulu purchased the rights to the first three seasons and hyped up its presence on the platform while marketing the return for the new run. The marketing team played up the most popular quips from the show's history plus put out TONS of stuff centered on the Logan/Veronica ship to pump up the fans.
The season was dropped all at once using the classic Netflix "binge" model in July 2019. And then... afterwards?
There was a brief explosion of LOUD RAGE from the Marshmallows at what series creator Rob Thomas had to done to burn and spite the fandom and ruin his own goodwill.
SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4: See, at the end of the movie, Veronica and Logan finally entered into a long-term relationship. In season four, they've been dating for years, and Logan proposes marriage. But of course there has to be drama/obstacles: In this case, Veronica isn't sure she's ready to marry... or capable of being in a marriage. Ah, but of course she eventually realizes how much Logan means to her. The two are married, and, in the season finale... Logan is killed by a car bomb in the penultimate scene. The final scene is a flashfoward to a year later, where Veronica leaves Neptune alone.
For most fandoms, that'd be a memorable point of pain. A big ol' speed bump that ultimately throws some people off the bus, leaving only the die-hards. But the fact that fans had been invested in this relationship for literally 15 years and that Hulu (and creator Rob Thomas) had heavily marketed the new season as being a big romantic event for the ship... it was too much. Unlike the aftermath of the Star Wars sequels, there was no lingering group of die-hard fans who were open to whatever was next — at least no significant one. I did some Googling and could only find TWO people who still wanted another season.
Funnily enough? Critics LOVED this. Hell, Vanity Fair infamously penned an editorial about how Veronica Mars had "finally grown up" with this finale. I suppose all the other murders and deaths and drug overdoses and r*pe weren't "mature" enough before now for... some... reason. (The same editorial also featured the author openly hating on Veronica ever being in a relationship because it causes "arrested development" and declaring that the movie -- which was acclaimed by both critics AND fans alike, I remind you -- was a lame dud. So. The writer must be a reeeaaaal fun person.)
But a series doesn't live based on critical acclaim, as it turns out. The fandom was murdered overnight. "Marshmallows" stopped appearing in geek spaces online entirely. No one expressed interest in seeing the next season or the next movie. The constant flow of fan AMVs on YouTube and fanfics on AO3 dried up to nothing or damn nearly so.
Since 2019 ? Nothing. Chirping crickets. An intensely dedicated fandom of 12 years was just... vaporized.
I've never seen anything like it before OR since.
That's why it's so fucking fascinating.
So what went wrong?
Creator Rob Thomas was adamant about two things: ONE, the series was intended to be a noir show, which meant there couldn't be any happiness for its protagonist. And TWO, the death of Logan was necessary to evolve and grow the series.
Thomas thought that having Veronica in a relationship would be holding her back, and that a marriage would absolutely kill the series and leave her stagnant. It never even occurred to him that marriage isn't the end of a character's life and growth. It never occurred to him that plenty of drama can be had AFTER someone is married, or that development/growth could be that the characters mature enough to be capable of maintaining a committed relationship. Thomas' view of his own universe was so myopic that he couldn't conceive of any possible way that Veronica could still be a private detective involved in life-threatening investigations AND be married at the same time. Futhermore, he felt that fans just wanted Veronica to become a pregnant housewife, which is about as far from what Marshmallows were after as you can get without straight-up killing Veronica and/or Logan. He managed to do the only thing wronger than what he wrongly thought was their insistence.
On top of the above, Rob Thomas only viewed "noir" as a vehicle for total fatalism... despite the fact that many of the most famous noir stories are cynical and full of moral ambiguity, but they still feature a positive outcome. The Big Sleep still has the protagonist get the girl. The Set-Up arguably ends with the happiest possible ending in spite of the beating the hero receives.
Perhaps most importantly? Despite Thomas own insistence that Veronica Mars was always "noir," the majority of both TV critics and fans did not think that designation ever truly applied. I suspect that's the reason why Thomas decided to go as dark and fatalistic as possible: He wanted to be noir, and he was being told that he wasn't. So he went so far into noir that he killed his own most popular property.
He was adamant that it was the only way for the series to grow. But as it turns out, it was instead the only way for the series to permanently end. Without that season four finale, a passionate group of fans would still be begging for more. With it? It's over. Nobody fucking cares now.
That's kind of amazing.
Support Vladimir Mineev
Fitting in the rest of the romance/bromance of the M9 and NPCs just makes the whole situation better:
Nott canonically is in love with Caleb and everyone knows it and is kind of cool with it (Yeza, who drinks his respect women juice and knows what kind of woman his wife is, supports it and actually kind of gets it cause who knew self-destructing anxious wrecks hiding absolute chaotic dumbassery was his type??? Not him!). So sometimes Nott will just. kiss Caleb on the mouth in greeting and goodnight and all that happens is Caleb gets flustered and Jester demands one as well
“Nott we run a detective agency together everyone knows that fulfils the homoerotic quota for mouth kisses now lay one on me”
Fjord is good. He’s fine with no mouth kisses from Nott (but sometimes their bantering/arguing just gets.,,,,,,real intense,,,oh boy)
It also means Luke is brought up knowing who his biological parents are but since he is born from the trickster womb of Nott and grew up with the M9, as years go by he sometimes introduces other M9 members as his parents. Fellow friends and other parents are bewildered by the tirade of powerful and influential figures who all apparently sired this little halfing Luke please this giant goth woman with wings is not your mother,,,,,please,,,stop calling her Ma Yash
No one in the M9 really knows what weird connection Caduceus and Fjord have with the Wild Mother and each other, and Ducey doesn’t swing any way, but there is something very married in their morning meditation sessions, week-long “discover yourself” trips and the fact that Fjord may love Jester and Caleb but he is most vulnerable with the other cleric. They are often mistaken for husbands by any religious faction they encounter and honestly they keep getting free shit out of it so who cares???
While Jester may have the curse of accidentally seducing any WLW who comes her way (Yasha and Beau both have accepted themselves as the foundation of said curse and love it), Fjord is bisexual bait and has his own curse of seducing any Dom/Top within a mile radius, usually by getting his ass beat in the process. Avantika was not a fluke when Darrow and his duel Fight Pit/Spa date shows otherwise
Honestly though, it’s Caleb who happens to incidentally seduce the most people, and it is usually other wizard twinks with crippling issues with authority. Essek is always welcome in the tower and often in the bed as well if he’s up for it :))))
*Meanwhile, two thirds of the triad, Fjord and Caleb, grabbing onto Beau* sir, ma’am, people who know better, this is my emotional support lesbian
*Jester, grabbing the other arm* And this is my occasional bed partner and blue bestie
*grabs onto Yasha* and this is her wife and my other female friend who I occasionally kiss on the mouth
Jester’s mum is delighted by her daughter’s many and wonderful partners but her father is A Gentleman and has had Enough of his daughter crashing his places to throw impromptu “sleepovers” we cant keep replace the furniture Jessie we just cant
Honestly, people from outside the group has given up on figuring out what the fuck in happening in the M9 and chalk it up to the kind of shit that happens when you live co-dependently with people you saved the world with
(The fact that there’s been rumours of a similar group on a different continent just cements the fact. It’s been decades and some of them are important political figures,,,,,and one is apparently dead??? But sometimes he shows up on the wings of ravens or some shit and people have to accept him and his antlered wife and their purple bf starting some shit in public almost immediately,,,gross)
y’all are missing out on the funniest relationship dynamic of CR2
Forget about the tangled web of love that stretches between the M9 (barring Caduceus our aroace king of staying out of drama), I would love if the love triangle between Fjord, Jester and Caleb just somehow naturally fell into a little triad all on its own.
Like no dramatic love confessions, they do that shit constantly with each other in secret little ways, but just Jester coming home to her mother like
Jester: mama I want to introduce my partners to you
The Ruby: ah yes that handsome orc boy that you kept going on about, he was so–
The Ruby: wait, partners???
Jester: lmao yeah I have Fjord, who rejected an eldritch monster he was accidentally raising to get close with Mother Nature herself, but that hobo wizard who eventually cleaned himself up and became one of the most powerful casters around is also my bf.
The Ruby, the actual sex god on this plane of existence and all others: hell yeah my daughter deserves the best, get ‘em my baby girl.
The dynamics of it are so funny as well. Like, Caleb is a highly respected wizard now under the tutelage of several powerful figures, so any time he goes to some sort of elbow-rubbing-fancy-pancy wizard event he of course brings his beaus.
And people are like??? “Ah yes, members of the iconic and world-saving group you are part of Mr Widogast, they must be of such high pedigree.”
And then someone recognises Fjord as Captain Tusktooth who had some sort of fake accent going on for years at a time (and didn’t he sleep with that Captain lady who was horny for water or something??? And then get her killed by the pirate king? There was something about a forbidden eldritch god?) and is praying that Mr Widogast’s other partner is normal–
but the first thing that Jester tells anyone is: “have y’all heard about my mother, best lay in the land? I am the daughter of the greastest sexer around and my childhood imaginary friend is my personal god, anyway how are you?”
Even better, out of the three, the tiny blue tiefling is the only one who can pick up and hoist their partners around, making the comical sight of long-cat and long-suffering Caleb being slung bonelessly over one shoulder, while a blushing Fjord is held like a football under the other as Jester parades them down the street in her cute frilly dresses.
Fucking FjordxJesterxCaleb is where the good shit is at wake up sheeple