I think it’s because he was trying to do the good thing but didn’t know how. He wanted Veronica to be safe but bc he wasn’t mentally okay he didn’t know what else to do but kill them.
Shaw Productions There really was no deep reason in the movie. I guess it was just because he "lost" ? And yes the movie is FAR more messed up than the musical. He didn't really love her at all and actually intended to kill her as well until she faked her suicide.
But also, he's separating himself from his father. His mother committed suicide by walking into the building before he blew it up. Jd died not killing the one he loved, his father did.
Heather McNamara: *Sounds Worried because she thought Veronica killed herself* Duke: *Says "YoU lOoK liKe hEll" to someone she thought killed themselves*
Everyone I know in real life who says that Veronica telling him to say hi to god is savage and snarky I look and them weird like? Wot. I don't know about you but to me her saying that is like her saying "Okay there's nothing I can do about you dying, but I have faith that ur a good person at heart and can make it into heaven" and I cry every time I watch this
*DISCLAIMER Your interpretation is yours and all, and I'm glad you think happy :) Buuuut this is after JD was gonna blow up the whole school. I don't think he's going to no paradise and if he is, it's gonna take a lot of work making up what he's done. I don't think what she said was snarky or savage, but it seemed to me JD was almost looking for some comfort from her; waiting for her to tell him it's okay and that she forgives him and she still loves him. But at the end of the day, Veronica isn't going to tell him it's all alright and she forgives him. He's going to have to deal with his decisions and he's not getting an "it's all okay I forgive" from her.
TBH, I think she meant it as in "Goodbye" in a sentimental way or even just "I can't do anything about you dying, I love you, but I have to let go." I cried everytime.... JD is my favorite character, really..
He sings "Our love is God" expecting the same response from Veronica, which he always got before. He's making one last play for the control he craves. Her eventual response of "Say hi to God" is both forgiving (she could have said "say hi to the devil") but also carries a note of "I'm finally free of you, you have no control over me anymore."
I've been doing nothing but watching Heathers animatics for the past three hours and this is the first one to make me get teary. I love the highlighting of the relationship in this, cause honestly the thing I love best about this particular song is that it does prove that, fucked up as he is, and fucked up as his concept of love is, he really does love Veronica, and he wasn't just spouting platitudes when he said he'd die for her. The apparitions are a unique touch that really sell the scene, but I have to say JD's collapse at 'I worship you' keeps getting me good.
It paints an ugly picture of the line, "I would die for you". I love it when artists contort concepts like this. Obsesion is the key to creating a fleshed out character, one that takes lines like this one seriously.
At :04 you can really see how he realizes that it is too late for him, and how that he is almost angry with himself. He really realizes that there is no hope but he can still save Veronica. Although many people don't see it those few conflicting frames in the beginning really show how he wishes he could still be with Veronica, but deep inside knows it wont work out.
What she says: I'm fine. What she means: JD *LITERALLY* DID NOT DESERVE TO DIE AND HE SIMPLY DESERVED TO GET HELP AND BE WRAPPED IN A NICE LITTLE BLANKET WITH ALL THE SLUSHES HE COULD WANT AND NICE BOOKS-
"Say hi to God."Hold up. HOLD. UP. She doesn't think he's going to hell after all this. My. HEART. We all know Heather Chandler is in Hell. Ram and Kurt are...probably heaven? I don't think they were SO bad that they were in hell. They were just gross. But JD. JD KILLED AND THREATENED BUG HE DID IT OUT OF LOVE AND GOODNESS. Following his moral compass which was just screwed up and didn't align properly.....Veronica knows that. Oh God she knows that....UGLY CRIES.
Isperada this is not like Heaven Works. Sex without marriage, drugs, drinks, its all things that dont make God happy. Heather was worse, she's intimidate and make other gross things. The two guys are just weirdo guys who thinks life is just girls and sex. Can someone enter in Heaven with this kind of mind?
Miri Miri Kayu :: ??? I'm bit confused. I was just saying that they weren't actually taking about heaven and God. Just a representation that both their love and he is dead.
This is one of the many songs that kill me from this musical. It’s up there with Dear Evan Hansen, Les Mis, Hamilton, and a few others. Today I’m going to be breaking down this song little by little. “I am damaged, far too damaged. But you’re not beyond repair” JD has always been broken. At the start of the musical he’s cracked. A crack is fixable. But as him and V go on killing people, he begins to shatter until he’s nothing but a pile of ashes and broken pieces. A glass window that has been shattered can’t be fixed. While a tiny crack can, but if left unfixed the crack grows and grows until the object is broken beyond repair. V has been telling JD to stop killing. After she accidentally kills Heather Chandler a crack grows. JD’s crack started when he witnessed his mother die after his father blew up the building she was in. Like I said a crack is fixable while being damaged can’t. JD is telling Veronica that he’s the reason all this shit happened. He’s what made her cracked. She can be fixed he can’t. “Stick around here, make things better. You’ve beat me fair and square” JD is going to kill himself, he wants V to live to fix the damage he’s done. But the line “You’ve beat me fair and square” reminds me of what V said in Dead Girl Walking Reprise. “I wish we met before they convinced you life is war”. Now who’s they? His parents. His mother killed herself showing that she lost her battle with whatever she was mentally going through. JD’s dad isn’t any better. He’s mentally unstable. He blows stuff up to let out his anger. JD is battling his mental state. JD inherited his parents “wars”. V was trying to help him fight his war but it ended up with them fighting against each other. V was fighting JD while trying to help him. JD is telling Veronica that the fight is over and there can only be one winner in this fight. So he lets her win by dying. “Please stand back now...little further, don’t know what this thing will do” Oh god, this part is where the feels and tears start coming. JD is holding the bomb. He doesn’t know how big the explosion is going to be so he tells V to stand back. Even if he’s damaged, he still cares for her. He knows she can and will fix things but she can’t do that with him around. This is also where we see that JD realizes that he can’t be fixed. Like I said earlier, JD was damaged from the start. Veronica wasn’t, yes she felt horrible after killing Heather, she felt horrible after shooting Ram when she thought it was a prank. She became cracked. JD was acknowledging that she can be fixed he can’t. “Hope you miss me, wish you’d kiss me, then you’d know I worship you” What V says while JD is saying that kills me. Yes, he’s a bad person but she believes she can fix him even though in the back of her mind she knows she can’t. And JD caught on to that pretty quickly. JD wants to hold her one more time before he goes but he knows he can’t or else she can’t fix the mess he’s made. “I’d trade my life for yours, but once I disappear, clean up the mess down here” JD knows how much damage he’s done and V is the only one who can clean it up. Her, Heather M, and Martha become friends and put an end to the Heathers. JD said in Dead Girl Walking Reprise “The only place for Heathers and Marthas to get along is in heaven”. The Heathers always bullied Martha. JD takes note of this cause in heaven there’s no tears, no sorrow, no fighting. Martha tried to kill herself. She couldn’t take the teasing from neither Chandler nor Duke. And Duke was a bigger bitch than Chandler ever was. Duke even caused her own friend to attempt suicide. Some friend. Like I said earlier, JD has shattered and left Veronica to fix up the damage he’s done. “Our love is God” Okay is it just me or does the first time he says “Our love is God” seem sweet but then as he continues it sounds wrong. Like it’s being forced on Veronica. Well, because it is. The song “Our Love Is God” was sung when JD and Veronica killed Kurt and Ram. That was when JD’s crack started to spread and leading him to shatter. It also led V to gain a few more cracks. JD had tricked Veronica into killing Kurt and Ram by telling her the bullets they were using were “Ich Luge” bullets which translates to “I’m lying”. So no they were not tranquilizers, they were actual bullets. And something that gives me chills is at the end of “Our Love Is God” V says “Our Love Is Gone” instead of saying “Our Love Is God” with JD. This shows that she’s starting to realize that JD isn’t as stable as he was when they first met. She notices he’s starting to crack. His mental state isn’t stable. And lastly when Veronica says “Say hi to God” I want to drink dish cleaner. This makes me want to fucking die! A lot of people though think V is being bitchy by telling him to “Say hi to God” when he’s clearly going somewhere else. Veronica isn’t being bitchy, she’s saying it because she truly believes that he can go to heaven. He’s a good kid who make bad choices. He was raised in the wrong way. She believes that even though he messed up and that he’s a broken mess, he can still be a good person. That’s why she stayed with him. Even though they both knew at some point that JD couldn’t be fixed, she still wanted to have hope. But he’s human, sometimes glass is the strongest thing on the planet and other times, it’s too fragile and breaks. Humans are like glass. Some glass is made stronger than others. some people are strong, while others break at the slightest word of negativity. We can only keep our thoughts for so long until we crack. Sometimes people keep them for so long that they shatter, just like JD. And that makes this song one of the saddest a musical production can ever make.
okay, I'm going to try my hardest not to gush like last time. Again you're expressions are awesome. you really nail the way that JD feels (most just go for hate, but you've made a balance between his hated for everyone else and his love for Veronica and you can see that plain as day on his face). the ghost thing is a really good idea (kinda reminds me of the ghosts in your blog lol). in fact, with the fire and now this, you're shaping up to be one of the most creative people making these things. I also love that you animated that part at the end. most people cut it off at the explosion. also you're knocking these out really quickly. don't be afraid to take a break if you need to. we'll still be here.
Hey I just saw this comment, so sorry! I went to school at Ringling College of Art and Design as a computer animation student for 2 years and I'm taking a gap year right now- I'm not sure if I'll get back into the program this summer though, but if I do, I will finish my degree for sure c:
Bee Phenix but at least most of them died of old age ;-; except Washington (some sort of throat disease) and Aaron Burr (stroke) and the obvious Alexander and his boyf
The end always breaks my heart. She was so close to saving him. In the end he knew it was best to let Veronica live her life and have a bright future but the only way for that to happen he would have to be gone. In the end I truly believe he was good and loved her. Also in the musical he was in love with her but in the movie I believe he was just using her. Also earlier when he says "Our love is god" he uses that to say you love me Veronica and I will keep killing for no matter what you say. At the end I feel like it means you loved me when nobody else did and even though I'm a murder and psycho you put up with me and I'm sorry for all the pain and trouble I caused so I'm getting rid of the troubles and pains I've caused so they can't carry on. So our love is god.
Can I just say how much I’ve loved the usage of the dark magic JD and the light spirit Veronica in all these animatics? They’re so well thought out and deep! For example in Meant to be yours the darkness is sweeping through Veronica’s door overtaking her to represent JD trying to get her to kill everybody with him. And in Dead girl walking reprise the light tries to overtake JD as Veronica desperately tries to get him to be good again. That was something I kept noticing with this and I LOVED IT. Props to you man! Bravo!
The light and how he bows when he says he worships her. Your animatics have such great symbolism. Definitely one of the best animatic creators and I've seen dozens and dozens.
This is a lot more different than other animators, especially the connection of this song and your "Meant to be Yours". Since the one you made focused more on his madness and lack of self-control of forcing Veronica to do what he wants, his care for Veronica in this song definitely stands out compared to the rest. Good job! :) EDIT: What. This blew up um oops EDIT2: Okay but also, when JD says "Please stand back now. Little further", it has a different "vibe" to it? Like, in the actual show, when JD says that, the audience kinda laughs. But here, it's more like emphasizing how JD really does care for Veronica, even though he wants her to love him the same way he does to her (idk these are just my thoughts ;0 and my earlier comment has over 1000+ likes hOW. that's a lot of people o-o). EDIT3: Woa too many likes for me to handle o.o sorry about all the edits lol
I'm pretty much an emotionless person when it comes to sad endings, but damn.. this really made me burst into tears. You are by far the only person doing animatics that conveyed each of the character's feelings well. Plus, every animatic you do is not only based off the musical, but also the movie, which I really dig. I'm being honest here, but you deserve more than what you get.
JD: I'll trade my life for yours Veronica: oh my god! JD: and once I disappear Veronica: wait hold on! JD: clean up the mes- *veronica grabs the bomb and throws it very, very far and it explodes* JD: fuck Veronica: your welcome
+Indigo Simpson YES PLEASE. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YES. Sorry I'm way too into psycho couples... *Nods to Harley and Joker... And Louis and Lestat... Veronica and JD XD* Honestly I was disappointed that neither movie nor musical ended that way. I felt it was building up to it. I mean, it's supposed to be an occult film/musical right?
MY GOD, this is so beautiful yet so sad. I literally cried. This moment when JD grabs Veronica's ghostly hand... my god his expression, he was so desperate to hold her hand, and then her happy smile vanished to reveal her real crying face and I was like OMG THE FEELS I CAN'T You are a master at showing emotions. We can clearly see how Veronika hesitates between love and hate. And my god I love how you show JD's emotions , both here and in your Meant to be yours. Fuck, I need some kind of healing after watching this, my heart is into pieces. I need some happy AU. NOW
They did a much better job with the musical than the movie, in the movie they still despised each other, however in the musical JD and Veronica still genuinely love each other and it breaks my heart that those two will never be together. Ever...
I wouldn't say that the musical is better than the movie because of that. It's simply a different perspective on how things ended. I think the movie einging had something and the musical ending had something
Has anyone else noticed the running metaphor in the animator's Heather's Series of Veronica's energy being glowing and pure, like when she tries to reason with JD in "Seventeen", but his is dark and corrupted? And the Heather's are red, like in "Lifeboat"? A good example of JD's energy is in "Our Love is God" or "Meant to Be." He can be seen overpowering Veronica's desperate attempt to glow and heal him in the animator's interpretation many times, and I think it's a BEAUTIFUL visualization for JD slowly becoming more corrupt and broken, how Veronica can only help so much before he was a lost cause. JD is truly the make of a tragic character who simply needed MAJOR psychological help, and it breaks my heart knowing he never got that ending.
I have NEVER cried at an animatic before this one your Heathers animatics are to die for. I can't believe how creative and stupidly talented you are! instant subscribe
**Takes hand** **Rips it out** **Throws it full force through the earth downwards** "NEVER! I WISH THEY COULD'VE LIVED HAPPELY TOGETHER! THIS ENDING PISSES ME OFF! I AIN'T SATASFIED! I WILL NEVER BE SATASFIED! SATASFIED! SATASFIED! HISTORY HAS IT'S EYES ON... Different musical so sorry good day all...
Okay... so. I've watched many different versions of this song, and even if I'm a dude who cries pretty easily, I had never even tears in my eyes... Before this one. I was seriously about to cry... I watched some of your animatics recently and your understanding of the characters, the way you convey their emotions, the fluidity of the movements (even if they're animatics and not fully-animated videos)... Wow. Your animatics are a treasure to the Heathers fans out there let me tell you. You helped me to grasp JD's character more (and I cannot be more thankful for it because I'd like to play him someday) So thank you, very much. I'm going to subscribe right after I post this comment.
Can someone explain why 'Say hi to God' is so powerful? what does it even mean I've seen a lot of people talk about it. The most I can gather is that Veronica is saying their love is not god but that doesn't really satisfy me.
hes dying for their love, something they both thought was powerful and beautiful. he worships her, he killed people just because they were mean to her. he was going to blow up the school because he felt that if he cpuldnt have her then nobody could. hes really fucked up in the head (duh) but the theme through the movie/musical is that shes this innocent girl in the middle of bullies, her love life, and then JDs murdering as well. he sees her as above the horrible things in the world so when she was going to die to stop the bomb hed still rather her be alive. he knows hes doing awful things but it wasnt until the point where she has the bomb that he knows he needs to stop ruining her/her life. he dies for their love and shes telling him to say hi to god, hes dying and she thinks hed go to Heaven but also she wants him to remember their relationship. if he wasnt a homicidal maniac then they would've been good together. he cant be saved, like he says, but he can protect her innocence by killing himself. thats why he wanted to kill heather and the others, to protect her. hes realizing that hes he one hurting her and even though shes doing all this to stop him they both know that they love eachother.
Even after all the things he's done, Veronica still thinks that JD will go to Heaven, that JD is a good person at heart. He's really messed up, but his love for her is real.
Took me roughly around 5 years to realize when JD keeps repeating “Our love is god” over and over he’s waiting for Veronica to say it after him like she did in Our Love is God
This is one of the best I am damaged animatics I've seen?? Because JD and Veronica's relationship isn't romanticised in this one and the expressions are 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼 and JD is suitably delusional And Veronica is perfectly conflicted between her clear past love for him and her present hate? I just, I really like this one. Your animatics are so creative??? The two 'ghosts' were SUPER unique and honestly you have some of the best quality animatics I've seen so far!!!! Thank you so much for contributing to this fandom
No, it's not. I feel the same way. Mainly because it's such a sensitive subject for me and I really liked him as a character. As well as I am very emotional at times.
Foxy Cash I can picture myself trying to: JD: Our love is God... Veronica: Say hi to God- Me: NAH, BITCH! **snatches bomb** JD: That thing is gonna blow up in two seconds. Me: Yeah, but you and Veronica need your happily ever after from Seventeen to happen-- Bomb: TOO LATE. *_BOOOOOOMMMMMMM_*
This is the best fucking animatic i have ever seen mainly because of these reasons: 1. The animation is very fluid and the color palate is simplistic but portrays the message very nice 2. The symbolism is honestly done so well and outshines every other animatic i have seen of this 3. THIS MADE ME FEEL EMOTION I honestly got a little choked up, JD is my favorte character and seeing him portrayed in this way made my heart move, I also love the way you drew the tears and not overly exagerate the tears (unlike some animatics) I am so mpressed and please do not stop making these! I can't wait to see what you do in the future and consider me a new fan of your work!
this whole song is so devastating to me but the line “hope you miss me, wish you’d kiss me” makes me so sad. but also seeing veronica and JD happy together at 0:52 made me cry 😭
*kicks down already broken door* GOD DAMMIT YOU'RE GOOD 1) THE SMOKEY SHIT YOUR FIRE AND SMOKE EFFECTS ARE THE ACTUAL SHIT LIKE HOW GIVE ME YOUR TALENT 2) THE GLOWY SPIRIT DUDES OK GOD DAMN MY HEART THERE IT GOES AND THERE YOU GO WITH YOUR 100% ORIGINALITY LIKE WTF STOP BEING GOOD AT SHIT HONESTLY 3) THE GAY OH MY GOD THAT LITTLE BIT OF DIALOGUE AT THE END BETWEEN DUKE AND MCNAMARA "so courtney's hot. does that make me gay?" "Yeah congrats" THAT WAS AMAZING AND ALL MY HEADCANNONS ARE SATISFIED FIN. I really gotta stop breaking that door...
The fact that his reprise of 17 only includes the negative parts is such a subtle good piece of writing. J.D took the "I am damaged" and Veronica took the hope.
Okay, I had an interesting thought, I have been looking at the symbolism in the color red in heathers, and I noticed all the characters with predominantly red designs died (i.e. Heather C, Kurt, and Ram) all died. So I found it interesting when JD's spirit was red. Who knows maybe I'm looking too far into this.
God. The musical did an absolutely amazing job with making JD the way they did. They make sure you know exactly why he’s doing what he’s doing. They make sure you feel bad for him. But they also make sure you know that he was in no way a good person. Just. This entire musical was amazing. Every single song is amazing, and the numbers that are supposed to be powerful (Lifeboat, Kindergarten Boyfriend, Meant to be Yours, Dead Girl Walking reprise, and I am Damaged) all make you feel the emotion they are conveying. And your series of animatics also do a really good job of conveying the emotions as well.
This is literally the first version of I am damaged that I've thoroughly enjoyed. Not that the others aren't good, but it's genuinely difficult to accurately portray this song without giving JD a sense of sympathy. I feel like this take allows JD to be humanized to an extent before realizing that he's still the broken, terrifying man he was in "meant to be yours". love your take on this from the bottom of my heart! Cheers, love.
Thank you very much! I'm glad that you noticed that, I really wanted to make sure that the animatic gave off that impression! I wanted to show how his desperate grasp for the imaginary Veronica shows that even while he might have loved her, his love was possessive and unhealthy, which she realizes right at the end. I'm glad that you picked up on that!
I love this animatic so much. The best part, aside from the appiritions, is that you are the only person that I've seen who did the little bit at the end after the explosion. Everyone else I've seen just cuts it after the boom, so I'll keep this one close to heart~
I started crying.. because, 1. The Apparitions, and 2. JD could have lived, Veronica and him could have just ran away and left the bomb there. The fact the he knew he made a mistake at that point, and he thought he deserved to die, makes me so..sad..
An interesting detail here is that in the movie, when Veronics says she just got back from hell, it's almost triumphant in a way, she made it, she's back. In the musical, she's curt and she's hurt. JD was messed up but she loved him, and he just died right in front of her proclaiming his love for her.....that's going to mess someone up
this is a rlly emotional song and u convey their sadness so!!! well!!!!! and i love how u use your own original ideas and combine them with things in both the musical and movie! im so happy 2 have found u and ur like one of my favorite artists now!!!!!!! thank u so much ur like an inspiration 2 me omg Ur art is so good and so adlkfad Btw i love ur AU its rlly clever i hope u always draw forever and ever Ur soooo talented
You can see Veronica’s growth and realization that JD isn’t all that great and healthy for her in this song. She didn’t say “our love is god” back to him, showing that she learned and now knows better. In a way you can hear the desperation in JDs voice when he’s realizing she won’t say it back to him, which is heartbreaking but he also knew that he wasn’t good for her. That might be another reason he killed himself. Because say what you want about JD, but he did love Veronica, so in his mind getting rid of himself is getting rid of the problems he produces for Veronica. Super sad. Love the deep stuff. Love the angst. Absolutely incredible. 🫶🫶🫶
I haven't listened to Heather's im about 5 months because I was too obsessed and need to take a break (Pun intended) and get into other musicals. I'm watching a bunch of animatics and literally *ALL THE NOSTALGIA*
jd is such a well thought out obsessive bf, he has an actual personality he is likable and well i guess he is "damaged" too which ties the whole character together. he definitely loved veronica but he was too far in and couldnot really let her in or get help. i like how people wish it all ended in shine a light but this feels so much more powerful.