How very.
So, here we are! We survived senior year! You know - you know, things didn't have to be this way. We could've been okay, we could've been... (sigh) I can't take back what happened or what I did. I can't go back in time, and fix this whole mess we've gotten ourselves into. It's not even "we" anymore. Everyone else is... dead. Everyone else is dead! I'm the only one left who can say how everything fell apart. You know it's one thing to want someone out of your life, but it's another thing to serve them a wake-up cup full of liquid drainer! Or - or shoot them and make it look like a forbidden gay suicidal love pact of lust—! ...Someone once told me that, even though they were damaged, that I wasn't beyond repair and that I could make things better. That person said a lot of stupid, stupid things but... that person was right about that one thing. We're all damaged, but just because something is broken doesn't mean it can't be beautiful. It's my responsibility to make things better here. I'm the only one left that can fix this.
— Veronica Sawyer, Episode One; Dear Diary
The Veronica Exclusive is a modern-day fan adaptation of the cult classic movie Heathers, with strong influences from the musical as well. The show is done by the "online web troupe" StreamVaudeville, although the show has since been removed from the StreamVaudeville lineup due to "creative differences". The show is now part of Malvolio 15 Productions.
Veronica Sawyer is a high school senior who just wants one thing: to get through her last year of high school in one piece. Recording everything that happens to her and posting it on YouTube, she plans to fly under the radar as always. The Heathers, however, have other plans. The Heathers rule the school with a perfectly manicured fist, and Veronica finds herself swept up in their world of gossip, backstabbing, and cruel pranks directed at the lower caste of students - including Martha, Veronica's best friend. Veronica is deeply unhappy, but endures it for the sake of her social status. That is where Jane Dean comes in. Jane, or "J.D.", and Veronica fall for each other quickly, and J.D. promises Veronica that they can make the Heathers pay. But when the bodies start piling up, Veronica realizes she may have gotten in a bit over her head...
The show ran for thirteen episodes, from June 19, 2015 to December 30, 2015, and can be watched here
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There's a character page here. All character tropes should go here.
Dear Diary, This webseries contains the following tropes...
- Adaptational Jerkass: In her cameo, Betty Finn goes from Veronica's best friend to a random Jerkass making fun of Martha for her suicide attempt.
- Adults Are Useless: The only explanation for how the teens of Westerberg are able to do what they do without being caught.
- Axes at School: It's mentioned that J.D. brought a gun loaded with blanks to school with her, and fired at Kurt and Ram in the cafeteria.
- Bittersweet Ending: Four people are dead, Martha's attempted suicide, Heather McNamara is probably still depressed from what's happened, Heather Duke is presumably still in power, and Veronica's traumatized by her experiences. But on the upside, J.D. is dead, meaning all the danger has passed, and Veronica's determined to become a better person, and urges her audience to do the same.
- Black Comedy: Just like the movie and the musical before it, this series has no shortage of dark humor.
- The Cameo: Fans of the show and other members of StreamVaudeville (casts of other shows, crew members, etc.) appear in episodes 4 and 8. Some also appear in the form of voiceovers in episode 12.
- Cerebus Syndrome: Following the deaths of Kurt and Ram, the show takes a nosedive from darkly humorous to deadly serious, though with some jokes to lighten things here and there.
- Color-Coded Characters: Just like the original.
- Veronica, the unhappy member of high school royalty, wears blue and purple.
- J.D., the dark and broody serial killer, wears black.
- Heather Chandler, the alpha bitch, wears red.
- Heather Duke, who's envious of Chandler's power, wears green.
- Heather McNamara, who's scared of the other two, wears yellow.
- Martha, the sweetest character, wears pink.
- Continuity Cameo: Betty Finn, Veronica's best friend from the movie also appears in the same episode, as one of the commenters talking about Martha's suicide attempt.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Both Veronica and Jane comment, on separate occasions, on how things really, really didn't have to turn out the way they did, and in fact could've easily turned out differently. Though of course, the two have vastly different ideas on how they should've avoided this.
- Darker and Edgier: Than the musical. There's less Camp, J.D. doesn't come off as sympathetic (though she's not without her likable qualities), and (obviously) there's no singing.
- Demoted to Extra: She didn't have a big role to begin with, but Miss Fleming goes from the most prominent adult character to The Ghost with only a single mention in episode 9. This is justified due to the fact that the show never takes place at Westerburg High, where she would be most likely to contact Veronica.
- Didn't Think This Through: Start a webseries where you insult people from your school, and mention them and the school by name? Chances are, those people are going to find that webseries.
- Drama Bomb: Things get serious starting around the ninth episode, but the twelfth episode is probably the most drama-heavy of the whole series. Martha attempts suicide, Veronica starts to lose it, J.D. impersonates a dead Heather Chandler, and tells Veronica of her plans to blow up the school, threatening to kill Veronica, too, if she doesn't help her, so Veronica commits suicide... only she was faking, and goes to confront J.D., shooting her. Veronica takes the bomb so no one else gets hurt, but J.D. insists on taking it from her and blowing herself up to save Veronica. "Say hi to God" indeed!
- Dramatic Irony: We know things between Veronica and J.D. are going to go south. Veronica (or rather, the Veronica we saw at the very beginning of the series) knows, looking back, that things between her and J.D. are going to go south. The Veronica in the videos doesn't have a clue.
- Driven to Suicide: J.D. makes the deaths of her victims look like this. Martha also attempts suicide, and J.D. herself actually does end up killing herself.
- Foregone Conclusion: Fans of the original know that Heather Chandler, J.D., Ram and Kurt all die, and the reason Veronica's hurt in the beginning is because of J.D.'s bomb.
- The Ghost: Downplayed, Miss Fleming is mentioned once, but doesn't appear on-screen, due to the show's format.
- Gilligan Cut: Veronica agrees to be Ram's date, as long as Heather McNamara promises he won't get wasted. Heather promises. Cut to Veronica in her room with a very wasted Ram.
- Girl Posse: The Heathers.
- How We Got Here: The first episode opens with Veronica entering her room, beaten and bloody, with only a trenchcoat, an audio recorder, and her old videos to show for it. She then shows us her old videos, explaining the chain of events that led her to that point.
- High School Is Hell: It is Heathers.
- Instant Humiliation: Just Add YouTube!: Veronica's webseries gets her into trouble — like, for instance, the very people she's talking shit about finding it. The Heathers then try to invoke this trope, reading Veronica's diary on camera.
- Jump Scare: Be warned — if you're watching episode 12, part 2 with headphones, you may want to turn the volume down. J.D. will start yelling in your ear at a moment's notice while she's ranting.
- Law of Conservation of Detail: When each episode is ten minutes or less, you have to make every detail count.
- Lighter and Softer: Than the original film. Veronica's Self-Harm is cut, and she's portrayed as being much nicer than movie!Veronica.
- Love at First Sight: Veronica's pretty clearly already smitten with J.D. when she first mentions her in episode 2, and J.D. claims that she knew Veronica was "the one" right away. Their relationship grows very, very quickly. Of course, we all know how that turns out.
- Meaningful Echo: "You know, things didn't have to be this way."
- Mood Whiplash: Yes. Episodes go from comedic and lighthearted to depressing and frightening in a matter of seconds.
- Motive Rant: Episode 12, Part 2 is essentially a long one for Jane.
- Mythology Gag: There are plenty of nods to the musical and film, often in the form of a line spoken in a new context.
- Never Speak Ill of the Dead: Which is probably why Heather becomes so much more popular after Veronica and J.D. kill her.
- The New '10s: The action is transplanted from 1989 to 2015.
- Queer Romance: Veronica and Jane don't have a healthy relationship, but it's definitely a relationship.
- Running Gag:
- "Gal pals."
- The "personal body count."
- Setting Update: The story now takes place in 2015 instead of the 1980's setting of the movie and musical.
- Silly Rabbit, Cynicism Is for Losers!: Probably the main message of the series.
- Signing Off Catchphrase: "How very." Usually said by Veronica, but occasionally borrowed by other characters.
- Teens Are Monsters: The Heathers are the obvious example, but J.D. gives them a run for their money, being a serial killer and all.
- Vlog Series: The framing device is that we're watching Veronica's video diary.
- Waxing Lyrical: Characters will drop lines from the musical's songs into their conversations.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: What happens to Martha, Heather McNamara, or Heather Duke after the story ends is not addressed.
- World of Snark: Veronica, J.D., Heather Chandler, many of the cameos... this series is big on the snark.
