Anjana

**Anjana** was a contestant in The Travel and finalist and the runner-up of Drama Express, as a member of the Radical Mongooses. She has a cameo appearance in The Fall of Barb Booty in Drama Cruise.

## Personality

Anjana is an only child born in a small town in the Midwest. She comes from a very conservative family who expected her to abide by their views, perform exemplary in school, and marry a man who would support her for the rest of her life. She is an extremely passionate piano player (having learned since she was 2!) and started getting into guitar when she began playing the ukelele at age 6 and got her very first guitar when she was 10 years old. She also did martial arts and earned her black belt at age 10. And when her parents took her on trips to the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone when she was a child, she developed an immense love for travel, nature, and animals. She was a very happy child growing up.

From the time she was a child, Anjana felt that there was something different about her, but was not quite able to put her finger on it. As she got older, she began to feel disconnected from her family and their beliefs as she began to realize who she really was. When she was in middle school, she was picked on relentlessly by her classmates, who would constantly insult her and accuse her of being "gay", "queer", etc., which horribly scarred her and gave her the impression that being gay was a bad thing. She struggled to make friends throughout middle school and usually felt anxious in social situations out of fear of being judged and ridiculed by everyone. After a particularly rough incident in school that ended up with her getting beaten up badly, after she was done mending the wounds on her face, she sat down in her room and reflected on her life. She thought about her interactions with the other children and the crushes she had on her female friends as a child. This, accumulated with the bullying, made her even more fearful of who she really was, especially considering the homophobic environment she was surrounded by. However through time, she slowly came to terms with the fact that she was a lesbian, which is what had made her different from everyone else. Over time, instead of being scared over her identity, she slowly learned to accept it, though she kept silent about it throughout early high school.

A few months after she had turned sixteen and had gotten her driver's license, Anjana, tired of hiding who she really was, decided to nun up and come out to her parents as gay during a peaceful family dinner. She tried to explain to them that this was an important part of who she was and that she was bullied relentlessly for being herself and that she needed as much support as she could. Sadly, her parents were very unaccepting of this and disowned her, firmly ordering her to leave at once. Heartbroken, Anjana drove off for what seemed like an endless journey and eventually decided to build a house on her own by the mountains, where she could admire the nature that could easily calm her down. She also attended a high school not too far from the area and got to meet three friends - Ian (who happens to be Rock's older brother!), Spud (not TDRR Spud), and Jammer. Together, they formed the rock band The Daytrippers, and that was where things began to turn around for Anjana's life. They were able to tour all over the place and became known as one of the best rock bands in town. Additionally, Anjana met her best friend who also identified as queer and together, they started the gay-straight alliance for their high school to bring the queers and straights together and promoted LGBTQ+ awareness across their community, doing wonders in making their community a more welcoming and accepting place, and making them rise in fame. Juggling all this at once was not easy for Anjana. She also had to work part-time jobs at the bubble tea store (which she didn't mind because she adored bubble tea so much and made fantastic ones at that) and at another local music store. Her best friend was also there to support her during her time of need. Soon, they would go on to graduate from high school and attend college together.

Anjana also got the opportunity to attend college, where she had a double major in music and LGBT & Women's Studies. She founded an organization for Queer Musicians, was a strong advocate for LGBTQ+ issues, continued to find success in her band, and was able to make a large support network of friends who were supportive of her identity and never judged her. College helped her come out of her shell considerably and become a more outgoing person and leader, causing her to make many friends in the process and help make the college environment more welcoming for others. She was especially supportive of her queer family and always made sure she was there for them at any chance that she got. She became known as the Lesbian Mom as a result. Outside of school, organization work, and working several jobs to support herself, Anjana enjoyed long runs, hikes, and workouts, going out for Mexican and bubble tea, and partying the night away at the local gay bar and getting drunk. She also graduated as the valedictorian of her graduating class!

The summer before her last year of college, she had the opportunity to compete in The Travel. Her first friend was Nabae and they got along very well with each other, but sadly, because of Nabae's early elimination, they did not get too much of a chance to interact with one another. She also met the Ultimate Gambler Celestia Ludenberg, whom she fell madly in love with and who would go on to be her teammate. From the day that she saw Celes swimming in her underwear, Anjana was determined to win her over. So, she resorted to be as nice to her as possible by getting her breakfast in the mornings, making the royal milk tea that she adores for her, and always being there to listen to her, especially about her dark secrets. Anjana and Celes also shared a few conversations about their lives and interests, and Anjana was very excited when Celes told her that she didn't have a preference between men or women, which instilled some confidence inside of her. Anjana was upset about the team switch and sadly, her lack of close connections with her team caused her to get eliminated 8th overall. Before she left however, Celes surprisingly hugged her and thanked her for being a good friend to her. Anjana was very happy with this and exchanged cell phone numbers with her to keep in touch with her.

Not too long after The Travel ended, Anjana decided to call Celes to spend some time with her. Fortunately, Celes happened to live in a house not too far from where Anjana lived. The two spent a lot of time together: having long phone calls during the nighttime, drinking the finest royal milk tea, spending time at the park, going out for dinner, and watching movies. One day, when the two were lying outside on the grass and watching the sunset, the two of them began to talk about each other's dreams and aspirations, and even went so far as to stare dreamily at one another. Anjana decided that now was the perfect time to ask her. Anjana slowly told Celes that she was the closest friend she has ever made and that she really liked her a lot. She also went so far as to say that if she did not return the feelings, then she wouldn't have a problem with it. Celes, although shocked at first, accepted Anjana for who she was, and proceeded to kiss her passionately, thus beginning their relationship. The two continued to date for two years and had to separate for a bit once Anjana was accepted into Drama Express.

Drama Express had shaped Anjana tremendously for the better, because it gave her the opportunity to reveal her outgoing side, improve her social game and interact with other people outside of her girlfriend who joined an episode later, and even develop the strength and courage to stand up for her friends when they were being mistreated by her girlfriend. She even had to initiate her very first break-up, which was very hard for her, but she slowly learned to stay strong about it. Fortunately, in the end, Celes apologized for her behavior after Andrew revealed her secrets, and turned back to her normal self. Anjana immediately forgave her girlfriend, having missed her terribly. She was also thrilled that Celes said yes to her proposal and they got married a few months after Drama Express ended.

Anjana did not mind too much being the runner-up and was very proud of Lucas for his victory. Even without the million dollars, she and her band made a lot of money from tours everywhere, and Celes made lots of money from gambling. So, she earned just about enough money to build a small castle for them. In the future, she hopes to build an even bigger castle for the two of them and perhaps with vampire butlers. Currently, both are very successful in their careers and Anjana recently got cast as Super Gay Woman in the new series Super Gay Woman, which made her garner even more recognition and made her a huge symbol in the LGBT community and the social justice community. Celes also helped Anjana reunite and make amends with her parents by organizing a special music festival for her when she encountered one of life's slumps. Anjana and Celes are currently the proud parents of two four-legged daughters (dogs): Buttons (a Cavalier) and Ingrid (a Siberian Husky).