I ended up creating a dreamwidth account, since it seems like this is primarily where you prefer to post/discuss your work. I'll have to figure out how to do friendslists and all that on this website- I've actually never heard of it before. I did hover over every word, but I've never seen the Big Lebowski, so I probably missed several references there. I did go look up the basic plot of the movie after the characters were discussing it, but I doubt that was even close to covering it.
Honestly, I liked Veronica's unraveling at the end- I assume you mean after the incident on the boat, not just after the school. That abrupt personality shift felt very true to her character, at least for me. After all, Veronica has a history of going through traumatic events and then reinventing herself to survive the aftermath. It was a survival pattern that worked before- I found it rather curious, everyone seemed so shocked, insisting Veronica could never be happy if she wasn't investigating. But I can't remember seeing any evidence (and I could be wrong, I haven't seen it that recently) of Veronica being particularly enterprising or assertive before she was raped/Lilly died/her mother left. No strapless red satin for Veronica until she got tough after a bunch of bad things happened to her. The big difference between those things and the things that happened in your story, is, as you said, she had to be much more passive in this story.
Plus- yeah, it might have been more realistic for Veronica to turn super tough girl and try to rely on only herself even more. But that got covered pretty thoroughly in the TV show. She did it over and over. In order to force a change, some sort of traumatic experience was necessary.
One thing that I wonder about more was how the physical changes Veronica went through were affecting all of her mental issues. Cutting her hair short was a big deal in the show- her whole demeanor changed, having the long straight hair was a clear sign of passive, naive, Veronica. In your story, the red hair really signified her becoming Connie, and I felt like not changing it back right away would probably really affect how she saw herself. Having that image would be a constant reminder- and then the reinforcement when she realized that not being Veronica was what saved her life at the funeral... aie yie.
I just realized the existence of VM fandom, and I'm sad that it's apparently dying out, but it makes sense. Things like Harry Potter, Buffy, Star Wars and other super popular fandoms that keep on chugging don't just have more widespread popularity- they have a built in universe with complex mythology and way more leniency about what can happen. I'm not knocking the stories that people write for those fandoms, but I imagine it's much easier to go out and use a playground that someone has already set up than try and built one before you can even start trying to invent new games. Working in a "real" universe is much harder for authors, I would suspect. Especially stories that have plots- and I agree, I miss the show. Sure, Logan and Veronica had an interesting relationship, but that wasn't why I loved it. She was a much more interesting (and likable) detective than girlfriend.
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2011-07-16 08:06 am (UTC)Honestly, I liked Veronica's unraveling at the end- I assume you mean after the incident on the boat, not just after the school. That abrupt personality shift felt very true to her character, at least for me. After all, Veronica has a history of going through traumatic events and then reinventing herself to survive the aftermath. It was a survival pattern that worked before- I found it rather curious, everyone seemed so shocked, insisting Veronica could never be happy if she wasn't investigating. But I can't remember seeing any evidence (and I could be wrong, I haven't seen it that recently) of Veronica being particularly enterprising or assertive before she was raped/Lilly died/her mother left. No strapless red satin for Veronica until she got tough after a bunch of bad things happened to her. The big difference between those things and the things that happened in your story, is, as you said, she had to be much more passive in this story.
Plus- yeah, it might have been more realistic for Veronica to turn super tough girl and try to rely on only herself even more. But that got covered pretty thoroughly in the TV show. She did it over and over. In order to force a change, some sort of traumatic experience was necessary.
One thing that I wonder about more was how the physical changes Veronica went through were affecting all of her mental issues. Cutting her hair short was a big deal in the show- her whole demeanor changed, having the long straight hair was a clear sign of passive, naive, Veronica. In your story, the red hair really signified her becoming Connie, and I felt like not changing it back right away would probably really affect how she saw herself. Having that image would be a constant reminder- and then the reinforcement when she realized that not being Veronica was what saved her life at the funeral... aie yie.
I just realized the existence of VM fandom, and I'm sad that it's apparently dying out, but it makes sense. Things like Harry Potter, Buffy, Star Wars and other super popular fandoms that keep on chugging don't just have more widespread popularity- they have a built in universe with complex mythology and way more leniency about what can happen. I'm not knocking the stories that people write for those fandoms, but I imagine it's much easier to go out and use a playground that someone has already set up than try and built one before you can even start trying to invent new games. Working in a "real" universe is much harder for authors, I would suspect. Especially stories that have plots- and I agree, I miss the show. Sure, Logan and Veronica had an interesting relationship, but that wasn't why I loved it. She was a much more interesting (and likable) detective than girlfriend.