Seriously. TV. Show. Not life or death.

[secrets_and_lie]

(warning: I use the F word. Don't read if that bothers you.)

Guys, guys. Take a chill pill. It's a TV show. Rob Thomas is not the devil incarnate. It's highly unlikely that he deliberately wants to destroy everything you once loved about the show. And I seriously doubt he hates Logan. Seriously. Doubt. It. If he wanted to sabotage the

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[secrets_and_lie]

Hello, voice of perspective. I was hoping I would see you around today.

Hee. Can that be my new username? I love it!

I agree wholeheartedly with you that the FBI idea is his way of trying to rekindle his excitement. It totally reads that way to me. And there's much about this season that in retrospect absolutely reeks of writer boredom. (And there you have my thoughts on the switch in formats in a nutshell. :) ) But I'm still not sure how he feels about Logan/Veronica in the long run. I can read things at least two ways. More on that in the FBI post, but in essence, I feel an overwhelming need to know whether RT is planning to ask JD onto the FBI show. I don't care if it gets greenlit or not, I just want to know if that's his plan! I lust for that bit of information. It shapes my reaction to his choices THIS season. I want to know, dammit!

In truth, I'm okay that people are rabid about stories and fiction. I believe in that, for lots of reasons.

As a writer, I'm delighted that this is the case. I want people to invest in my world, my characters. I want them to have trouble putting my book down and to dream of my characters at night. But also, as a creator myself, it's a little scary to see the angry lynch mob forming. God help JK Rowling if she kills Harry. That fandom will probably draw and quarter her and then cut out her liver just for good measure.

Well, (and I know you know I think this already too), to me, the show seems to articulate those tendencies pretty well.

I don't know if you and I have actually talked about conscious vs. subconsious intent in this regard. What I suspect is that he comes up with ideas he thinks will have some kind of painful resonance for Veronica (doesn't always work out that way, due to clumsy writing). These ideas just happen to be of a certain ilk. (I say "just happen," but trust me, my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek.) Writers tend to keep coming back to the same tropes, the same issues, until and unless they've worked them out in their own psyches. I think RT has some serious subconscious issues around women and power and sexuality, but I would bet real money that he has no idea that he has said issues.

But I'm relieved to hear that your source reports that RT's created a much more supportive environment on VM than we've heard elsewhere; it makes me ill to think of women writers quitting the show because the work environment was inhospitable to them.

Well, I'm sure the writer's room is a bratty, crass boy's club, and therefore very unpleasant for women. This is often true in mostly-male writer's rooms, and it's kind of (very) icky, even if all the guys are nice guys. But my friend (a woman) is elsewhere and hasn't reported any sexism or ickiness.

[nessaassen]

, I feel an overwhelming need to know whether RT is planning to ask JD onto the FBI show.

If RT was planning on asking JD, wouldn't he have put JD in the mini-trailer he shot for the network? Or leaked that he was hoping to bring both of them forward? He knows how popular JD and Logan are. (I also wonder if the network will try and make him keep JD, no matter what he wants, if they greenlight the format shift.)

I think RT has some serious subconscious issues around women and power and sexuality, but I would bet real money that he has no idea that he has said issues.

My snarky answer to this is that his therapist must have told him (back when he was having all those sexual jealousy issues), but that he didn't believe her. :) Otherwise, I see what you mean. I guess whether his misogyny is conscious or subconscious doesn't make much difference to me these days, since it's so clearly shaping the text in the way you've described.

God help JK Rowling if she kills Harry. That fandom will probably draw and quarter her and then cut out her liver just for good measure.

Probably. (Though some of them will be a lot more upset if she kills off Snape or Draco) :) And they'll hold funerals and write eulogies and alternate endings and all sorts of things. (I really love fiction fans. I really really do.) But for at least some of them, there'll be respect mixed in with the grief and the anger, respect for her storytelling (and I pretty much believe her statements about having plotted the whole series out beforehand) and for her love for her characters. I wish I could feel that way about VM. But I don't. I'll always be grateful to RT for creating Logan and Veronica, but I can't/don't respect him as a storyteller anymore.

[secrets_and_lie]

If RT was planning on asking JD, wouldn't he have put JD in the mini-trailer he shot for the network? Or leaked that he was hoping to bring both of them forward?

I don't think he's happy about the fact that ANY of it leaked. So I doubt he's thinking about fan response right now. That'll come later, if the FBI show actually gets picked up. Right now he's got to be all about his song and dance to the network.

And no, I don't think he'd put JD in the trailer. He's trying to sell the network on the concept of Veronica as FBI agent, so he'll want to write a short storyline with her agenting to show what that looks like (according to Maka at TWoP, it's 8-10 minutes long, which is about right for that). They already know what the dynamic between Veronica and Logan looks like. In many variations, even.

(But yes, I think it's VERY likely that even if he doesn't intend to keep JD, the network will make that one of their stipulations. They're no dummies. I just really want to know if it would be his idea or would be forced on him. It makes a big difference to me.)

But for at least some of them, there'll be respect mixed in with the grief and the anger, respect for her storytelling (and I pretty much believe her statements about having plotted the whole series out beforehand) and for her love for her characters. I wish I could feel that way about VM. But I don't. I'll always be grateful to RT for creating Logan and Veronica, but I can't/don't respect him as a storyteller anymore.

I do agree that Rowling does seem to have the whole series planned out in advance. My feelings about her storytelling skills are... mixed. But they always were, so that hasn't changed over time.

My big problem w/ RT is that the first season now seems like such a fluke. And he seems to have absolutely no idea what he did right.