First things first: shame on you for not watching Veronica Mars. Shame.

That is a horrible description of Martian Manhunter; it's obviously not a self-insert, though it does borrow the oft-used ploy of the protagonist having detailed knowledge of the future plot.

Martian Manhunter is far from perfect, but it is still an enjoyable read. MedianCat really brings Veronica Mars to life as a living, breathing character, and definitely not as a thin veneer over an author surrogate as weaker writers would. The Veronica Mars and Buffy universes are fused for this crossover, and they more or less work well together, with most of the uncomfortable inconsistencies being laid at the feet of the demonic god-like character who has spliced these timelines together.

Now that I think about it, if any character is the author's surrogate, then it would be the demon-god who occasionally pops in to torment and test Veronica Mars in this fused universe.

The basic premise is extraordinarily weak: Veronica Mars is a BTVS fan whom made the common folly of claiming that she'd do things better in the Buffy-verse than the canon characters. Some passing demon-god takes that as a challenge and throws Mars into the Buffy-verse while merging enough of the Veronica Mars-verse into it that Mars' existence in Sunnydale is natural and unquestioned: she's always lived in Sunnydale, her dad used to be the sheriff there before being fired (for the same reasons as in the Veronica Mars TV show), etc. Once you get past that, there are only a couple of other bumps in the road to suspension of disbelief. The story improves as it progresses, and I know that I'm looking forward to new chapters every day.

Veronica Mars is still a private detective (of sorts) who shares a lot of witty banter with her PI father, as in the show. MedianCat doesn't shy away from writing good father-daughter dialogue with just the right touches of humour and patriarchal concern. Veronica is troubled by both her inability to act (limited by the demon-god), and conversely by the potentially horrific consequences from things that she attempts to improve. We've recently seen a large number of people killed, including a character who plays pivotal roles in future events. Veronica is just as manipulative of those around her as she is in the TV series, except that she seems to value whatever friendships she maintains slightly more than she did in canon, probably due to lesson's learned. She's also a bit less cold-blooded than I recall.

I have more things to criticise and praise about Martian Manhunter, but that'll do for now. If you've watched Veronica Mars and Buffy then this is a fic that I can recommend, providing that you can pass the aforementioned weak bits which are mostly in the early chapters.

 

It's not looking good for the Veronica Mars movie.

From July 2009:

- http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/07/02/ask-ausiello-spoilers-on-lost-house-24-and-more/