#Vicky my closeted lesbian queen

[whitetaileddeer]

ok listen here nerd, i need some toxic lesbian shit right now or i'm gonna lose it.

please

please

please

can u tell us about vicky and athena and their relationship! i have to know what it was like and if u could share some moments between them!!

thanks love u

ty for the ask, you’re my biggest fan <3

Very soon I’ll do actual character intros so things make a bit more sense. Since their relationship seems to be your fav I've written a lot just for you.

Vicky looks back on her childhood and thinks of grass stained knees and gingham picnic blankets, of pink ribbons in blonde hair and soft brown hands in hers. She doesn’t remember how she, Dawn and Athena came to be friends, but Dawn, always superstitious, called it fate. They shared everything, secrets and clothes and toys. They shared their passwords to their library computer accounts and  shared worlds on whatever games they played. They spent almost every playtime as if it was raining, staying inside to read over each others shoulders or playing games with intricate rules only they knew. Vicky passed clips and bows from her hair to Athena’s, careful of her curls, and always told her she looked pretty. 

To focus solely on Vicky and Athena, their relationship was cut from the purest cloth. Athena had always felt like a jagged edge, a jigsaw piece with a curling corner. Vicky, with hair that shocked the sun and a row of perfect pearl teeth, slipped her hand into Athena’s and softened her. When Athena scraped her knee, Vicky was behind her with a wet paper towel. When Athena lost a toy in the yard, Vicky offered her hers without a second Thought. When Athena’s Mam started rocking their little family, Vicky opened her arms and her home to her.

It’s easy to assume that Vicky always has a crush on her, that she knew from day one that what she felt was romantic, but it wasn’t. Their relationship for the longest time was soft and innocent, Vicky holding no intentions other than wanting to see Athena smile.

It’s in this fashion that their relationship shifted in secondary school.

Vicky blended in seamlessly to the quickly forming popular crowd, etching out a name for herself as untouchable and outspoken. She formed a tight group around her, how couldn’t she? Vicky was perfect, well read and strong spoken. She was magnetic. The world around her rolled off her back like water. Dawn was quick to catch up, and Athena felt she was jogging behind. Athena felt once more like a sore thumb, obvious and untethered. It was Vicky who held her hand and told her she wouldn’t want to be anywhere without her, who carved out a space for her. 

The idea that something as trivial as school or popularity would separate her from Athena scared Vicky.

Vicky was very protective over Athena, always keeping a close eye on her, and this overprotectiveness led Vicky to the conclusion that the best way to keep an eye on Athen and to stay aware of all aspects of her life was to have her date her brother, Liam, rather than one of the boys from school who she did not know and did not like. (Subconsciously, the idea of Athena dating anyone made Vicky feel uncomfortable, even when Dawn was beginning to gain the attentions of the boys in their year it never affected her the way it did with Athena. Of course for us its easy to imagine this is because Vicky had a crush on Athena, but she didn’t recognise this and chalked it up to her wanting to protect Athena.)

Vicky pushed Athena towards Liam. Liam (Who is three years older than the girls) had shown interest in Athena for a long time, since she hit puberty essentially, and needed no convincing in beginning a relationship with her. (Being so young, 14, Vicky and Athena saw no issue with dating someone older, someone as trustworthy as Vicky’s brother) Vicky felt so much more secure knowing Athena was with her brother, that she was privy to the progression and all aspects of their relationship. Essentially, Vicky began dating Athena vicariously through her brother, unbeknownst to any of them. She was so invested in their relationship because it felt like it was hers, though she did not realise this at the time.

When, in Vicky’s eyes, Athena breaks up with Liam out of nowhere, she is understandably hurt and confused, feeling as if she herself has just been abandoned by Athena. It’s by unfortunate chance that Liam is the first to speak to Vicky, rather than Athena. He explains to her his theory, which then spirals into a presumed fact, that Athena cheated on him with that new boy Giovanni and left Liam for him. (Vicky was already uncomfortable with the friendship forming between Athena and Gio, seeing him as a threat to her relationship with Athena.)

Vicky feels that she herself has been betrayed by Athena, she’s heartbroken. When Athena fails to apologise or take accountability, Vicky is distraught. 

She doesn’t understand why Athena would do this to her, as if breaking up with and supposedly cheating on Liam is a personal affront to her. When Athena points out the odd reaction Vicky has to this entire affair, Vicky responds with aggression. 

Vicky doesn’t understand why, but it’s as if Athena broke her heart, she barely pays notice to her brother’s spiralling behaviour or reaction, fully focused on soothing her own broken heart through anger and denial. 

(Theres a lot more plot stuff around how Vicky reacts, her relationship with Gio, Athena and Liam’s relationship and the conflict between Liam and Gio but this is long enough already oops. If u wanna know anymore or more detail lmk I am willing to yap about anything.)

[back2thepalace]

Christmas Secrets

Okay so I know Christmas was over a month ago but I never finish this until really until recently but due to the lack of Parrlyn I am making it two parts (maybe more). So here is the first half of my mini fanfic.

~~

(Anne’s P.V)

Word Count- 2746

Trigger Warnings- Death, yelling, depression, or idk

Spell Checked- idk?

~~

I felt a cold stream of air hit me as I stepped out of the door. I walked a couple steps forward til i heard so yelling coming from behind me. I quickly turn around and see the door wide open. I grab the door knob pulling it shut to not let the warm air out. When it was shut I was relaxed, I was by myself in the cold crisp air. I took a breathe in, breathing in the cold air. It was refreshing to get out of the warm and stuffy house. I walked out from under the overhang covering the porch. I heard the snow crunch below my feet. I looked down to see a thin layer of snow under my feet. Little snow flakes on top of my shoes, they stood out from he black of my Doc Martens. I looked back up remembering why I was out here on Christmas Eve. I walked forward remembering that I was going to have to walk a little bit to get to the location I was going. I was going to my favorite book store it had a little cafe that i could get something to drink at. It was a nice little store on a corner a few blocks away. It had a nice homey feel, I could guess that as I had been going there since I was little. My dad used to take me there every Tuesday and on the cold days he would get me a hot chocolate. He would help me with reading at a young age. I was diagnosed with dyslexia. This is what also sparked my love of books, which a lot of my friends didn’t know about. That side of me is private locked away from the public, the sad memories, the ones that are pushed out to refrain from crying. The little bookshop was a sad memory because when I was in the 7th grade my dad passed away in a car crash. My mom was already died from complications in childbirth with my last sibling when I was 5. I haven’t seen any of my siblings for 10 years as after my dad did we were split up as my eldest sister was unable to care for me and my siblings. My dad didn’t leave something in the will about what to do with me and my sibling. I went to live with my cousin and none of my siblings came with me. It’s a sad thought that only one out of my five good friends know and that girl is also my cousin. My life went downhill from that point well emotionally. I was queen bee at school but that meant nothing mental and also damaged my mental state. Boys on me at all times and getting pulled into closets and empty rooms by boys just so they could make love to me. Which in the long run turned me lesbian but that is another problem as I have the biggest crush on one of my friend. The one I was going to a book shop late on Christmas Eve to go buy my secret Santa gift to her. I never really got the point of Christmas as I was raised Jewish, but celebrating Jewish holidays and doing the normal stuff Jews do for the religion aspects I don’t do it. None of my friends do it and I haven’t done anything for the religion sense 7th grade because my cousin’s family wasn’t Jewish or anyone else I know. I felt a small tear slide down my cheek as I saw the book shop in site. Think about stuff like this makes me really emotional, which is what I try to hide the most. I wiped the tear away scooping it away with my nail. I walked across the street getting to the front door. I pushed it open hearing the ringing of a bell over head. I walked in feeling the nice warm cozy feeling and realizing how numb my nose felt because of the cold. I walked in further smelling the smell of coffee and books, which I liked the smell of. I looked around seeing the barista that was usually there and that I talked to quite often when I was here. I gave her a small wave and she waved back. I turned down one of the isles walking into the maze of books. I looked over the short selfs to see the others in the store. One head caught my eye, a small half up bun with very curly pieces of hair coming down. I looked at the small little bun there was very little hair in it and I was sure I knew who it was. I saw the same style of hair on Cathy early. It was just my luck that my crush was here and I was shopping for her. I made my way towards her moving around the bookshelves. I reached the isle that she was in mystery novels. I had asked for mystery and romance novels for secret Santa, was it possible that she was giving to me. I walked down the aisle and stood next to her for a couple seconds.

“So, what are you looking for.” I say scaring the life out of Cathy.

“Anne?” She said not turning around in fear.

“Yeah, it’s me.” I say putting my hand on her shoulder looking down into the book she was looking at.

“Why are you here? Did you stalk me here? Cause we all know that you don’t like reading.” Cathy says in a pissed of tone pushing her shoulder back to through my hand off it. I stepped back, tears starting to pooling in my eyes. I took another step back feeling tears start to roll down my face. Another step and I was into the other book self.

“Like you would even care.” I say as more tears rush down my face as my fight or flight response kicks in. I run away from her, like all my problems. I didn’t look back, not even to see if her cute little face was looking at me. I ran as fast as I could, I felt as if my eyes waterfalled out. When I was out of the book isle I walked up to the cafe counter. When I got there the barista, Vicki, looked up at me.

“Oh, no Anne what’s wrong?” She says rushing out from behind the counter. When she gets to me she gives me a giant bear hug. I melt into the hug and push my face into her shoulder to stop that sounds of my sobs from being to loud. Her rubs my back, not asking a second time like most people would ask. She just sits there and is there for me. She pulls out a chair from the table that was beside us. We sit there in a hug for quite a while before she pulls away.

“I have to make a drink or two and then I will be back in a few.” She says before getting up. I wrap my arms around my head so that no one could see me.

“Can I get a tea and hot chocolate, please.” I hear the sounds of Cathy’s voice say. I hear a bit of shuffling before foot step heading towards me. I hear the noise of someone sitting down next to me.

“Anne, I am sorry for sounding pissed off. I help off buying my secret Santa a present and I am crazy stressed and I cannot pinpoint who it is.” Cathy says putting her hand on my elbow. Which I let stay on my elbow unlike her. I didn’t reply as I didn’t know what to say.

“Hey Annie, I am really truly-“

“Sorry! Are you really sorry, because you don't know what I have to deal with. Why does ever suition end with people, apologizing to me. Why do I always end up playing the victim. Am I actually as stupid as people think I am. Yeah probably. Just stupid little Anne with her stupid dyslexia, and her stupid life. Why can’t she just go burn in hell already.” I say yelling most things had been said to me over the years just all my energy got caught and let loose at Cathy. She sat there in shock, not knowing what to say.

“Catherine, one tea and one hot chocolate.” I hear Vicki say from behind the counter.

“That hot chocolates is for you, I was going to stay for a bit longer but you seem really mad so I am going to leave.” Cathy says getting up and walking to the counter to get her drink. Before she was able to reach the counter I got up and hugged her. I could tell that she was in utter shock in my sudden change of emotion but she wrapped her arms around me. Tears started to come out again, but this time tears of happiness. A couple seconds later I let go wiping my tears. As I looked up at Cathy I saw a look of confusion on her face.

“Anne, are you okay?” Cathy says as she stares deeply into my eyes. Her dark brown eyes staring into my hazel eyes.

“Yeah, just happy.” I say smiling. I release my arms from around Cathy’s body. She reached up gently brushing the tears off my face. My face must have been redder that a tomato when Cathy touched my face.

“Well can you explain to me, why you just burst out in tears.” Cathy asks walking back to the table that we had just been sitting at.

“I think you have to get the drinks first.” I say giggling a little bit as I sit down.

“Okay.” Cathy says and turns walking towards the counter going to grab our drinks. I reach up around my neck looking for the thin silver chain the belonged to the necklace that I hide from the world. I pulled it out from under my shirt where I kept it. I looked down at it as I held the small pendent of the Star of David. I moved it around on my palm staring at it. It was my moms, my dad gave it to me when I was ten years old. It was the only thing I had left from my childhood, everything else I lost when my dad died.

“What’s that?” Cathy says breaking me out of my trance I was in causing me to grip the little star in my hand. I felt it’s little points poking into my hand in my firm grip. I looked up at Cathy, who was holding our drinks. She places cup in front of me and sitting down in the chair across from me. I let go of the pendant on my necklace letting it fall a bit and bounce up before starting to move in circles like most necklaces do. I brought my hands up putting them under my hair and on the back of my neck and unclipping the necklace. Holding ends I took my hands out from under my hair and clipping them back together. I gathered the whole necklace in my hand and reached out to Cathy. She put her hand out and I dropped the necklace in her palm. I watched as she drew her hand closer to her face picking the pendant up with her two fingers.

“The Star of David?” Cathy asks confused looking up at me. My eye filled with tears. That was the first time I had ever let someone see my necklace.

“Yeah.” I said looking at Cathy. She sat there silent. I could tell she was confused on why I had the necklace.

“It was my moms.” I said.

“What?” Cathy said still confused.

“The necklace, silly. It was my only inheritance that I know of.” I said mentioning to the necklace with my hand.

“Inheritance?………Oh, Annie.” Cathy said as realized what happened. She got up up and gave me a hug. After a couple seconds she pulled out going to sit down again.

“How long?” She asks.

“10 year for my dad and 15 for my mom.” I say. Cathy was silent she probably thought it was a reacent than it was.

“Wow…… why don’t you talk about this?” Cathy asks.

“Because no one would care. Probably think I am joking about it.

“Does anyone else know?” She asks another question.

“Just Kitty, her family to me in. Only me though.” I say staring at the table.

“Wait, do you have siblings?” She asks.

“Yeah, I have eight.” I said looking back up at her.

“Eight! You have eight siblings. Why don’t you talk about this!” She said grabbing my hands.

“Because I don’t know where they are. I haven’t seen them for ten year.” I say.

“Oh. So going back to the star are you-“ she starts to say before I cut her off.

“Jewish, yes I am.” I say as I feel her place the necklace back in my hand.

“Why don’t you talk about you life more often!” She asks smiling like an idiot.

“Because know cares about my feelings thinking I am joking. Plus who knows what Cath is going to think when I tell her that I am Jewish.” I say kind of laughing at my last statement.

“Well I care about your feelings.” Cathy said. I looked down at my cup of Hot Chocolate. I traced my finger on the top of the lid of the cup. I picked up the cup bring it to my mouth. I tilted the cup and the drink filled my mouth. The sweet sensation of the liquid chocolate in my mouth. I put my cup down as I swallowed the liquid. I looked up at Cathy who looked confused. So I guess I had to explain to her.

“Every Tuesday, my dad would take me to this bookstore. He would help me with my reading. Every week after I got diagnosed. He would buy me a hot chocolate and just be there for me even with me being the middle child. Until one day, he didn’t come to pick me up, so I walk her to the bookstore. That’s when I saw it, my dad’s car crashed into the pole, the one right there.” I said pointing to the pole outside the window, “I knew it was his because the license plate was ripped off the car and was right under my foot. There was an ambulance, a fire truck, police cars, cation tap, and a group of people that was confused. I ran through the crowd, pushing and shoving people out of my way. I got to the police tap and when under, the police started to yell and I yelled back, Telling them that was my father's car. I remember the tears rushing down my face and the police letting me through to see my dad. He was dying they didn’t take home to the hospital because he would have died before he got there. I was there with my dad as he died. He talked to me and told me not to cry and that he was going to be fine, but I knew the truth and that he wasn’t going to make it. He told me things to tell my siblings and in his last moments he brought up his hand to my face and told me he loved me. Then he died, I still remember his face after a couple seconds. He turned white as a ghost and that, that’s what changed me for the rest of life. Took my childhood, innocence, and left me alone and orphaned. I cried and cried and cried, the police had to pull me off of him. They took me to the police station and kept me there for a long time, until Kitty’s family came. I never saw my siblings, got to get my stuff, or even go to my father’s funeral. Every night and even still I cry when I am alone, at night. I never was the same person again.” When I finished I saw that Cathy was crying, I was too.

“Anne…Anne…oh Anne.” Cathy said wrapping her arms around me.

“Anne I have to do something. I am really sorry but I have to leave.” Cathy says after a couple seconds.

“What?” I was barely able to see that.

“I am sorry.” Cathy said grabbing her tea and running out. Leaving me alone, again. I was alone. I sat there my hands on the cup of hot chocolate.

[greensleevesredlipstick]

my first howard/cleves fic in awhile because i lost my one and only brain cell after finals ended and wasn't able to find it. in this one anne came out as bi, and katherine and cleves are both lesbian. hopefully i start writing again lol but well see cause im lazy~~ hope u guys enjoy!!

kat yawned. she lazily shuffled out of bed, thinking about what to do on her day off. she rolled her eyes as she passed boleyn pounding on the bathroom door on her way downstairs. anne, evidently giving up on taking a shower with hot water, followed her to the kitchen. “watcha up to, kitty?” she asked. “got any fun plans for today?” kat shrugged. “i was actually gonna ask the group, i cant think of anything fun. what did you do last week?”. boleyn grinned mischievously. “well if you’re really looking for some fun...i did happen to find this gay bar that was honestly the most fun i’ve had since i’ve been back. it even beats out the ball i held when aragon finally moved out of the castle. cleves and i went and i don’t even remember all of it, but i know it was a good time” she winked. Kat said shyly “well... i would like to meet someone...” she played with her pink hair. she’d never gone to a bar alone, but she would definitely feel safer knowing that the men there wouldn’t be interested in her. anne, sending the younger girl’s hesitation said “what if cleves and i met you there after the show?”. kat replied “no i know how tiring they are, i wouldn’t want you to have to come out because of me”.  “c’mon” laughed Anne “you know that cleves and I are always down for a night out”. Grabbing her cousin’s hand, Kat said “okay, ill give it a shot!”. the pair skipped down the stairs and devoured the pancakes that Jane had prepared. the six of them chattered about the upcoming singalong. Jane was a little nervous about singing her heart-wrenching song alongside 400 people, but the queens reassured her that all would go well. 

After the arduous process of cleaning up, they retired to their rooms to get ready for the upcoming show. Cleves popped her head into Katherine’s room. “so...i hear you're going to Flame tonight. should be a good time” she said awkwardly. Kat replied “yea! i hope i actually, you know, see a cute girl tonight” she swallowed. “its been awhile”. Cleves didn’t know what to say. had Kat not noticed her flirting for the past several weeks? she didn’t want kat to go out tonight, but she couldn’t exactly stop her. “well, don’t have too much fun before anne and i get there” cleves said, shutting the door before kat could see the disappointment etched on her face. as they bustled about doing makeup and hair, no one seemed to notice that anna was a little extra quiet that day.

once the other girls had left, Kat nervously started getting ready for the club. She chose her favorite pink skater skirt, one she knew made her look good but wasn’t so short that she would attract unwanted attention. combining it with a black top (stolen from anne’s closet), she pacing in front of her mirror. She thought about a new hairstyle, but decided to go with her classic high ponytail. she went downstairs and was about to call a cab when she got an alarming text on her phone. it was in their group chat with the six queens, three alternates, and their stage manager. their manager said “VICKI-anne just threw up offstage.  GET DOWN HERE NOW!!!”. as if mirroring her cousin’s illness, kat too felt sick to her stomach. how could she go out knowing anne was ill? she quickly sent anne a text saying that she hoped she felt better, and that she would be waiting at home with some soup and tea. when she didn’t get a reply, she called the manager. the instant the phone was answered kat shouted “how is she?? can i talk to her? will she be okay??” the manager chuckled. “don’t worry katherine, it’s just a bit of food poisoning. she needs a day or two of rest, and she’ll be fine.” from the background, she heard “IS THAT MY COUSIN?? BRING THE PHONE OVER HERE”. the manager put the phone on speaker and set it on the bathroom sink. “annie, are you okay?” Kat asked, the concern obvious in her voice. “yea babe, must have bene the leftover sushi i had. please promise me you’ll still go out tonight!!!” Kat sighed. she had been looking forward to it, but she wanted to make sure anne was okay. “c’mon, for me?” the brunette urged. “i really want you to go. Cleves will still go meet you”. Kat replied “well.. if you insist...”. Anne squeaked “yipee!!” then quickly hung up the phone as another wave of nausea hit. Kat hesitantly went outside and hailed the nearest taxi, still feeling guilty about abandoning her cousin.

back at the arts theater, the queens quickly hurried offstage as soon as the mega six was over. they wanted to make sure that anne was okay-she had nearly fainted after her number and barely made it offstage before throwing up. they took the stairs two at a time-anna style-but were stopped at the entrance to their shared dressing room. the manager informed them that anne was feeling much better, but that they had sent her home with an assistant so she could get some sleep. the manager pulled cleves aside and said “im not really sure what anne was talking about, but she said that you had to go tonight or kittys gonna be all alone”. anna sighed. the evenings excitement had tired her out, but there was no way that she would leave kitty there-with dozens of single girls-by herself. she didn’t even bother to take off her stage makeup, simply adjusted, threw on a black jumpsuit, and was off. the only times the thoughts of getting to Kat were interrupted was by concern for anne but Jane reassured her that the brunette would be well taken care of.

when she got to the club she anxiously scanned the crowd to find Katherine. her worst fears were confirmed; she spotted a pink ponytail flirtatiously dancing with a group of women, looking particularly cozy with a blonde. spotting her friend, kat gidily ran up to her and tried to pull her onto the dance floor. Anna could tell she was a little more than tipsy. “C’mon” she slurred “don’t be a downer. have some drinks with my new friends and I!!”. Anna grabbed her friends hands “Katherine, you don’t normally like to drink like this. or dance with too many people”. Kat replied “well, I used to. I used to go out and have fun all the time, before, well, they happened. that's why I wanted to come out tonight, because I thought I would feel safer, and I did. Now CMON” she said insistently. Cleves followed. She wasn't just worried about Kat, she was a little jealous. Still, she allowed herself to be pulled onto the dance floor. Kat picked up where she had left off, flirting with the blonde and drawing attention from girls around the club. Anne quickly downed two drinks, but they did nothing to make her feel better-if anything worse. She muttered “bathroom” into Kat’s ear and tok off before the queen would notice something was wrong. what in the world had gotten into her?? she was always down to have some fun, why couldn’t she pull it together for Kat’s sake? she put a damp towel to her eyes, trying to conceal the puffiness that signaled the start of tears. she took a deep breath. she would go out there and tell her she had come down with whatever Anne had, and take off. Kat was doing more than fine on her own. Just then, the younger girl burst into the bathroom. “Anna?” she shouted, a little too loud for the small bathroom they were in. Catching sight of her fried, she stumbled over to the sink and wrapped anna in a hug. Cleves tried to disentangle herself, saying “go back out there babe, I’m just not feeling-” “anna I can tell somethings wrong”. Even in her drunken state, she was paying attention. “please tell me I just want to help” she said sloppily. The tears began to flow. Anna cursed; she didn’t want to ruin Kat’s night and crying in front of her crush was not exactly considered a “cool move”. she finally decided to go for it. nothing could be more embarrassing than this, so she figured she had little to lose. Anna stuttered “well i just-I don’t like seeing you dancing with those other girls.” she paused. Kat was confused. “I thought you wanted me to get back out there” she said. Anne laughed again then shakily replied “well I wanted you to be happy, always. I just hoped that maybe...it could be with me.” a wave of understanding hit Katherine, even in her impaired state. she paused for a beat, and cleves feared the worst. she imagined herself moving out of their flat because of the awkwardness, having to explain to the other queens that she had been rejected by her best friend. she was interrupted by Kat’s lips pressing against her own. her mind went blank. Katherine pulled back, but Anna leaned in again. she wanted this moment to last as long as possible. Katherine giggled into their kiss. she said shyly “you seemed so much older and cooler. I thought you saw my like an annoying little sister”. Cleves buried her face in katherine’s shoulder, overcome with emotion. the girl of her dreams had just kissed her. she tightly squeezed the smaller girl. “I’ve always seen you for just what you are. Adorable, funny, sweet, and kind. always the pretties girl in the room, too”. They kissed again, they dirty bathroom melting around them. Anna said “lets go love” Kat blushed “lets get you home”. they walked out, arms wrapped around each other, in a state of shock at how the night had turned out. they felt safe in each others arms. 

[theteablogger]

Diversity and character death in DAYD

(Or, “DAYD’s diversity iz pastede on yay”.)

This long-as-fuck post has been sitting in my drafts since sometime in 2015. I decided to finish and publish it because an ex-DAYDian suggested that it might still be useful. The initial idea was to examine how Andy's portrayal of various characters’ gender and sexuality had changed over time. Later, I expanded it to look at a number of different “diversity labels” that Andy applied to his characters, and how they related to who lived or died. When counting casualties, I have excluded those who were resurrected after Druim Cett.

On gender and sexuality:

First, here is each instance that I am aware of in which Andy listed his LGBTQIA characters. Unfortunately, I don’t have links for everything: most of the “20 Random Facts” lists are no longer online, I don’t want to link to chats that include DAYDians’ real names, and I only have some of the Tumblr posts in the form of .docs compiled by DAYDians on the Facebook group.

Undated: In “20 Random Facts About Luna Lovegood”, Luna is described as bisexual, but “she never [got] around to acting on it”. (A DAYDian wrote that list with Andy’s approval and with information provided by him. Later, Andy seemingly forgot about that and wrote another one that didn’t mention her sexuality.) In Susan, Colin, and Icarus’s “20 Random Facts”, Andy says that they are also bisexual. Derek’s says that he is gay, and Rowan’s implies that she is only attracted to girls. Stephen and Gwen’s “20 Random Facts” were each written by other DAYDians with Andy’s approval. Stephen’s says that he’s gay, and Gwen’s seems to imply that she dates both boys and girls, but prefers boys. Much later, in a Tumblr list of his LGBTQIA characters, Andy said that Gwen is a lesbian.

Sometime between April 2008 and July 2009: In his FAQ, Andy said, “I have no problem with slash or homosexuality. Rowan Glynnis and Malcolm Braddock both 'stir their cauldrons in their own direction.' IMHO, both Colin and Luna are bisexual.”

July 14, 2009: In the comments to his “Slash Goggles” post, Andy said, “Luna sees herself as pansexual. Gender is entirely irrelevant when she is looking for a partner of any kind, especially as she doesn't see it as a binary construct, or even a continuum, but as a physical detail as irrelevant to personhood as the color of one's hair. Colin honestly died too young to really know...certainly, he was bicurious, and he certainly liked girls, but where his sexuality would have developed can't be known when it never finished developing.” He also said that Colin, Luna, Stephen, Derek, Victoria, Rowan, Dean, and Gertie are the only characters that “fall under some form of ‘queer’” and that it would be “tokenism” to include a trans person in a group the size of Dumbledore’s Army.

July 17, 2010: Andy said that Derek, Dean, Susan, Stephen, Rowan, Vicky, Colin, and Icarus are “not strictly heteronormative”.

May 26, 2011: In the midst of a post about a lot of other things, including the Trail of Tears hike, Andy listed his "LGBTQ-spectrum characters” as follows: “Derek, Stephen, and Dean were gay, Susan, Icarus, and Colin bisexual, Michael and Terry bicurious, and Victoria and Rowan lesbians, and several of the characters have challenged the socially dictated gender roles, like Ricky fighting to keep his daughter as a single father and Susan heading up the farm and fund after Ernie’s death.”

June 5, 2011: In a chat with several DAYDians, Andy said that his LGBTQIA characters were Derek, Stephen, Dean, Icarus, Colin, Susan, Rowan, and Vicky. He further stated that Derek and Dean are gay; Icarus and Susan are bisexual; Colin is bicurious; Rowan is a “baby bull dyke”*; and Victoria could be either a lesbian or bisexual, but we’ll never know for sure because she died in the Battle of Hogwarts. He didn’t state Stephen’s specific orientation in the chat. In the comments to the LJ post in which the chat was shared, Andy acknowledged that he’d previously said that Luna is bisexual. He also mentioned for the first time that Terry is asexual. 

June 15, 2011: In another chat, Andy clarified that Stephen was gay, as was Derek. He also said that Colin was bicurious, but considered himself bisexual.

September 22, 2012: In a Tumblr post listing DAYD characters and their labels, Andy said that Derek, Stephen, and Dean are gay; Malcolm is genderqueer; Terry is homoromantic/asexual; Michael is homoromantic/heterosexual; Colin, Icarus, and Victoria are bisexual; Rowan is a lesbian; and Luna is “pansexually identified”.

Later that month: In response to a Tumblr ask, Andy confirmed that Terry is homoromantic/asexual. In another response around the same time, he listed his LGBTQIA characters as follows: “Dean, Derek, Stephen, Colin, Susan, Icarus, Vicky, and Rowan out, Gwen deeply closeted maybe-lesbian-maybe-bi, Malcolm heterosexual but genderqueer, and Luna panfashionable…she likes to think of herself as pansexual but has never actually gotten the warm tinglies for anything that wasn’t cismale.” Shortly thereafter, he referred to Susan as “openly bi”.

March 5, 2013: Andy repeated that Malcolm is genderqueer/heterosexual and mentioned for the first time that they’d changed their name to Morgan.

January - February 2014: Over the course of several Tumblr asks, Andy repeated two or three times that Michael is homoromantic/heterosexual and Terry is homoromantic/asexual (but they “could be fairly called ‘a queer couple’”). He also referred to Malcolm as genderfluid.

Here’s a breakdown by character.

Colin: Bisexual according to the 2008 - early 2009 FAQ and his “20 Random Facts”, but bicurious in July 2009. Bisexual in May 2011. Bicurious in June 2011. Bicurious, but self-identifying as bisexual, later that month. Bisexual in September 2012. He is also included on the nonspecific July 2009 and July 2010 lists. Colin dies during the Battle of Hogwarts. He is very prominent in DAYD and a number of side stories, and appears as a ghost in A Peccatis.

Dean, Derek, and Stephen: Derek and Stephen are both described as gay in their “20 Random Facts” lists (Dean doesn’t have one). They are not mentioned in the FAQ post. All three are “some form of ‘queer’” in July 2009 and “not strictly heteronormative” in July 2010. Starting in May 2011, they were consistently described as gay whenever Andy was specific about their sexuality. They all die during the Battle of Hogwarts. Derek and Stephen barely appear in DAYD, although they’re both in “Reasons”. Derek also has his own “Rank and File” story and appears in “Boys Will Be”. Stephen briefly shows up in a couple of Mike-and-Terry fics and appears in a flashback at the beginning of A Peccatis. Dean only comes into DAYD for the battle and is not present in any of Andy’s other fic. 

Gertie: First referred to as “some form of ‘queer’” in July 2009 and never mentioned as LGBTQIA before or after that. Her gender identification and sexuality are unspecified. She dies during the Battle of Hogwarts. Gertie doesn’t appear in DAYD at all, but has three whole lines in a side story (”Turning the Tide”). 

Gwen: Dates both boys and girls, but prefers boys, according to her “20 Random Facts”. She is a lesbian, according to an undated Tumblr post. Andy describes her as “deeply closeted maybe-lesbian-maybe-bi” as of September 2012, but her sexuality is not mentioned on his “labels” list that month. She is also absent from the FAQ post and the July 2009, July 2010, May 2011, and June 2011 lists. Gwen dies during the Battle of Hogwarts. She is only mentioned once in DAYD. Her sole significant appearance in any of Andy’s fic is in “Wanted”, which portrays a sexual encounter between her and Jack Sloper. 

Icarus: Bisexual according to his “20 Random Facts”. He is absent from the FAQ post and from the list of “queer” characters in July 2009, but is described as “not strictly heteronormative” in July 2010. Icarus is consistently referred to as bisexual starting in May 2011. He is murdered in Sluagh (before Druim Cett, so he isn’t resurrected). He is only mentioned once in DAYD, but is fairly important in Sluagh and features in a couple of side stories.

Luna: Bisexual in the 2008 - early 2009 FAQ post and her “20 Random Facts”, pansexual in July 2009, “pansexually identified” in September 2012, and “panfashionable” later that month. She is absent from the July 2010 and May 2011 lists of non-heteronormative and/or LGBTQIA characters, and Andy explicitly stated that she never actually feels sexual attraction for anyone other than cisgender men. luna survives DAYD, in which she is very much present, and is out of the country during Sluagh. She also appears in A Peccatis and some side stories.

Malcolm/Morgan: Implied to be gay in the 2008 - early 2009 FAQ post. First mentioned as genderqueer and heterosexual in September 2012 and consistently described as genderqueer (or genderfluid) and heterosexual thereafter. Absent from the July 2009, July 2010, May 2011, and June 2011 lists. Their gender identification is never mentioned in fic; it only appears in three responses to Tumblr asks and an infodump on the Facebook group. Morgan is also one of only two Slytherins to join Dumbledore’s Army: Andy portrayed them as an effeminate stereotype alongside Terrence Runcorn’s hypermasculinity. They live, perhaps only because they become too frightened to remain in the DA following the murder of their housemate. Morgan is barely in DAYD, and their only other appearances are in a snippet with Renny and in a short fic recounting their departure from the DA. 

Michael and Terry: See this post. They both die in the Battle of Hogwarts. They are very prominent in DAYD and Andy’s other fic, and they also appear in a flashback at the beginning of A Peccatis. Andy had planned to write another fic, called Oubliette, in which the two of them would turn out to have been in limbo since the Battle of Hogwarts, and a “voodoo queen” named Mama Nola (yes, really) would offer to resurrect them ~for a price~.

Rowan: Her “20 Random Facts” heavily implies that she is attracted to girls. She’s implied to be a lesbian in the 2008 - early 2009 FAQ post, first specifically called a lesbian in May 2011, and consistently described as such after that. She is also included on the nonspecific July 2009 and July 2010 lists. Rowan dies during the Battle of Hogwarts. She has an important role in DAYD, but is not very prominent in spite of that. Rowan appears in a few side stories and shows up in A Peccatis as a horribly mutilated ghost.

Susan: Bisexual according to her “20 Random Facts”. She is absent from the July 2009 list, but is described as “not strictly heteronormative” in July 2010 and as bisexual in May 2011 and thereafter--except that Andy didn’t mention it in the September 2012 “labels” list. Susan never feels or expresses attraction to anyone but cisgender men in fic: although her “20 Random Facts” does say that she sleeps with women after Ernie dies, that is the only time it’s ever mentioned. Later, Andy did some Supernatural crossover Susan/Ruby fanart that may or may not be considered DAYD canon. Susan survives DAYD and Sluagh and is extremely important throughout the entire trilogy. She also appears in quite a few side stories.

Victoria: “Some form of ‘queer’ in July 2009 and “not strictly heteronormative” in July 2010. She is called a lesbian in May 2011, but described as either a lesbian or bisexual in June 2011, and bisexual in September 2012. She dies during the Battle of Hogwarts. Her only actual appearance in DAYD is when she faints on the Hogwarts Express, and she’s only in one side story and a snippet with Rowan.

The three most prominent LGBTQIA characters not involved with Dumbledore’s Army are Robin (Icarus’s Sluagh-era fuckbuddy, always referred to as gay), Brian (Irish auror who is revealed to be gay during A Peccatis), and Emerson (Malcolm’s partner, always described as genderqueer or genderfluid). Neither Robin nor Emerson appears in Andy’s fic, although Robin is in a very brief snippet written in response to a Tumblr ask. Brian died at Druim Cett, but was apparently resurrected along with everyone else.

As a side note, the “defying gender roles” business mentioned in the May 2011 LJ post is only noteworthy because Andy and all of his DAYDverse stories are so very, very gender essentialist. The examples that he gave are especially amusing to me because they both represent extremely common tropes in romance novels. For years, Harlequin and similar publishing houses have been churning out single dad romances by the dozen because they’re so popular. There are entire publishing lines dedicated to them! Also ubiquitous is the tragic young widow who “defiantly” chooses to run her late husband’s farm and raise their child single-handedly until a big, strapping, manly man (with optional Dark Past) comes along to help her. My own mother has several of those books on her shelf, most of the historical and/or Christian romance subgenres. 

That was as far as I got in 2015. More recently, I looked back at Andy’s LJ post from July 17, 2010, in which he broke down the cast list by which labels fit them: people of color, non-Protestants, people with disabilities, etc. I cross-referenced those lists with casualty lists from DAYD and Sluagh. I have to admit that I haven’t read A Peccatis very closely, so if any of these characters died in that fic, I missed it.

* No, it is not okay for Andy to say things like this. Yes, he still uses this kind of language a lot.

On diversity and death:

Andy’s DA has 78 members, of which 36 are female and 42 are male (although one of the guys later identifies as genderqueer). 12 members of the canonical DA who have already graduated return for the Battle of Hogwarts. 5 of those are female; 7 are male. Of the 90 total DA members, 56 (62%) die in DAYD and Sluagh. 

I’ve already noted that of the 14 LGBTQIA members of Dumbledore’s Army, 11 die. One of the three survivors (Morgan) isn’t in any fic other than DAYD, in which they exist only to make Renny look more manly, and a couple of short side stories. Susan and Luna’s sexuality is informed-only, and Andy waffled about Luna a lot.

Of 15 characters of color--Andy omitted Cho Chang--seven (Stephen, Dean, Tommy, Padma, Parvati, Romilda, and Cho) die in DAYD. Two more of these characters are maimed: Tony Goldstein loses both legs and Li Su (called Su Li in canon) loses her entire body below the waist. They later get married. Emma sustains a traumatic brain injury and her back is severely scarred. Salome is so badly injured that it takes her a year to recover.  

Of the 21 non-Protestant characters on this list, 13 (Stewart, Terry, Michael, Stephen, Leslie, Wayne, Oisin, Tommy, Camellia, Padma, Parvati, Romilda, and Icarus) die and two more (Tony and Li again) are severely maimed. Salome is injured as mentioned above. Neville is scarred to the point that he develops severe, chronic back problems as a result.

Of eight characters who are themselves immigrants to the UK, or are first-generation children of immigrants, five (Ritchie, Stephen, Tommy, Padma, and Parvati) die. Li and Salome survive with severe injuries, as described above. Fritz Bagman (an OC) survives, but loses both hands.

Of four characters born with physical disabilities, two (Jack and Ernie) die. Emma is injured and scarred as previously mentioned.

Every single one of the six characters that Andy says had psychological conditions prior to DAYD (Anna, Terry, Gwen, Gertie, Jack, and Perseus) dies during the Battle of Hogwarts.

Andy also lists ten characters who are extremely rich or poor in his fic, and five of those (Ernie, Michael, Katie, Orla, and Hal) die. He indicates that six characters have criminal pasts, and two of them (Rose and Icarus) die in Sluagh. Of five characters who have substance abuse problems in DAYDverse, only one (Terry) dies. 

Finally, Andy names all of the characters who are “their own definition of feminist”, i.e., every female character in Andy’s version of Dumbledore’s Army except Anna, but apparently none of the women from the canonical DA who’d already graduated, and no men at all. Again, Andy’s DA has 36 female members (of 78 total). 23 of them (too many to list) die in the Battle of Hogwarts and two more (Rose and Rachel) at Druim Cett. Another female member of Andy’s DA (Laura) dies four years after the Battle of Hogwarts from injuries sustained therein. In addition, five of the 12 original DA members who return to Hogwarts for the battle are female, and three of them (Katie, Alicia, and Cho) die. 

The only student deaths in DAYD that also occur in canon are Colin Creevey’s and Fred Weasley’s. (Lavender Brown dies in part two of the film version of DH, but the book is unclear as to whether she survives being mauled by Fenrir Greyback.) Rowling does indicate that besides Fred, Colin, Tonks, and Lupin, the death toll on the side fighting against Voldemort is about fifty; however, none of the others is named. It is very unlikely that all or even most of the remaining dead are students. There were the Order of the Phoenix, staff members, Hogsmeade villagers, Aurors, house elves, centaurs, and others fighting at Hogwarts as well. Oh, and the only students below year seven who were actually present were Colin and Ginny. It was entirely Andy’s choice to have fifty-plus Hogwarts students, many as young as 14, die between the Battle of Hogwarts and Druim Cett. It was also his choice to kill them in a variety of horrible, disgusting, often degrading ways, all described in graphic detail.  The text on this promotional image may as well end with, “...but they probably die horrifically.” 

Most of these characters’ backgrounds are entirely of Andy’s own making, as well. Other than a handful of POC characters and one who Rowling specifically said was Jewish (Tony), the Harry Potter series is pretty terrible with regard to representation. On the surface, that seems to make Andy look pretty good. It’s important to note, though, that most of the above information about these characters is not actually included in DAYD, Sluagh, A Peccatis, or even Andy’s side stories. It mostly came up after the fact on Andy’s LJ or tumblr, in chat, in Q&As, or in “20 Random Facts” lists about the characters. Later, one of his readers might use that information in a fic of their own. When a mention of someone’s ethnicity, etc. does show up in the main trilogy, it is often presented in a problematic way, with stereotyping and fetishization of people from “exotic” races or cultures. The Patil twins are the most obvious examples of this, but someone also recently pointed out to me that the DA members constantly refer to Romilda using an ethnic slur. So while Andy’s fanfiction does have greater representation across the board than Rowling’s novels do, he handles it very poorly and it’s obvious that much of it is an afterthought. Given that he was building a cult around his fanfiction, I believe his motives were most likely to widen the DAYDverse’s demographic appeal and to get people as emotionally invested in the characters and the ‘verse as possible--and ultimately in him, because he literally called himself God in the fandom.

TL;DR: I don’t think Andy deserves much credit for “great representation” when a) it was actually hugely problematic, and b) he killed or severely injured most of his diverse cast in such gratuitously terrible ways that large chunks of both DAYD and Sluagh can only be described as torture porn.

A few other items of note:

Others have written about how despite his alleged commitment to diversity, Andy’s art and writing make it abundantly clear that everyone in his version of the DA is gorgeous and athletic. The only DA member who gains weight (Icarus) does so after the events of DAYD and as a deliberate choice for armchair-psychology reasons. Only the villains are unattractive. 

Andy does casually kill off a lot of characters off-screen or with a quick one-line reference, despite criticizing Rowling for doing exactly that.

I learned from this post by ladyloveandjustice that one of the characters that Andy killed off-screen was based on a real child who had a terminal illness, wrote to JKR, and died before receiving a reply. JKR gave her a cameo in one of the novels as a tribute, and Andy added her name to a list of “the fallen” without a second thought. (Ladyloveandjustice’s sporking of all of DAYD is worth a read, actually. Or just see the wrap-up post, which nicely summarizes some of the major issues with DAYD.)