Deirdre

Deirdre is a Lion King fancharacter and VampireMeerkat's second original character ever published on the internet.

She's a normal meerkat who comes in contact with Damy, a disturbed vampire and her "boyfriend-in-denial". She made it her goal in life to reverse his mother's brainwashing and teach him to be normal by doing inoffensive indoor and outdoor activities.

Deirdre was created somewhere in 2003, but made her first online appearance at Lionking Fanart.org on June 21, 2004.

Backstory

Deirdre used to be member of the same colony Timon used to be in, but left at a young age with her mother because of personal reasons. Deirdre and Timon held contact over the years and met up frequently.
Deirdre met Damy for the first time at the age of 8, during an impossible moment of snow-fall in the area, and some time afterwards when she found him starving in the forest at night. He and his mother had a reputation as hostile vampires, and while Damy's was unjustified, she was afraid of him regardless. She asked to be spared if she led him to a deceased animal she found earlier, and had already left her traumatized. Damy had no bad intentions, but agreed for his own sake, which Deirdre regretted immediately.
While she witnessed the image of a vampire feeding on a corpse, Damy's mother appeared, displeased about the fact her son didn't hunt for his food and left a mortal girl standing.
She planned to kill Deirdre, but Damy made a deal with his mother to spare her life.
Deirdre met up with him again when she was 24, but her trauma from 16 years ago made him unrecognizable and their past together non-existent. She saw him as a stranger only Timon had some kind of past connection with.
At the same time, Damy never explained to her who or what he was, and only showed up to bother and bully her and Timon; which made his acts seem without any purpose or reason. Timon didn't know they ever met, so didn't think to help her remember.
One day, Damy had grown tired of watching their romantic interactions and wanted to take Timon captive for the purpose of torturing him. When Deirdre couldn't get an reason for his anger out of him, she volunteered to take his place. Damy denied at first, then agreed after seeing Timon responding upset to the offer.
She was brought to his house and chained to the ceiling of his basement. She didn't speak much during her stay and in most situations couldn't, and just asked "why?" every day.
3 months later, she was dying and Damy moved her upstairs to tie her to his bed instead. Though she was moved there for the sake of comfort, Damy would still beat her whenever she made eye contact or a sound.
After nearly 5 months in total, Damy had stopped and was taking care of her. He didn't reveal to her why; until the 6th and last month of her captivity, when he told her about his past, which included the story of their original first meeting as children. He then asked her to leave, but a week or 2 later, she had returned to knock on his door with the desire to help him find mental peace. This kept happening on a daily basis, and eventually Deirdre managed to permanently intrude into his life.
Damy and Deirdre became an inseparable duo in a setting the both of them would've never guessed to find themselves in. Their "friendship" meant the end of Timon and Deirdre's once developing love-relationship and it worsened Deirdre's reputation with the nearby villagers.
After moving in with Damy without consultation, Timon made the decision to leave his colony, met Pumbaa during his travels, and left both Damy and Deirdre behind to have his own adventures. Timon and Deirdre rarely meet up anymore and most of her company consists out of Damy.

Personality

Deirdre has an average intellect, though it seems like "being dumb" is part of her sense of humor. She loves to joke around and wants everyone around her to join her antics. Silence makes her restless.

She's righteous and a day never passes where she doesn't complain about Damy's behaviour, but at the same time, her motivation is easily drained. Because she can't fully change him, she stops getting too upset over actions that made her uncomfortable the day before, which earns her alot of criticism from spectators.

Deirdre's decision to return to Damy after he released her also indicates she has Stockholm syndrome, though she might feel to owe him her time, or simply feels sorry because of his childhood experiences. Either way, she's easy to forgive.

Appearance

Deirdre is an average meerkat and described to look lesser than by other characters, despite her unusual features.

She has short, blonde hair with bangs that form into three spikes, a wide face, blue eyes, big ears, and a simple pattern of the same stripes on her back.
In 2018, she was redesigned. In her old design, which she had for 16 years, Deirdre's hair was long, she had breasts, and her eyes were fully black; though always described to be blue.

Relationships

Damy

Damy and Deirdre have a weirdly comical friendship with hints of desire for each other, despite their inappropriate past.

After Damy gave her the details of his childhood and released her, she somehow felt to owe him a second chance and help him find genuine happiness. She returned some time afterwards and started visiting him on a daily basis. This led to her becoming a resident of his home and claiming his bed.
Deirdre functions as the angel that never leaves his shoulder and a "friendly beating" is usually the thanks she gets. These situations argue it's cartoon violence and not comparable to the torture she's gone through prior.

She thinks Damy acts like a grumpy old man, so constantly tries to involve him with the outside world. She invites him to parties and other social events, but it proves hard for him to function in company. He expresses disinterest for all her suggestions, but further in time accepts them more often by not audibly declining, though it's clear he only joins her to have it count as a date.
As Damy saved her life multiple times over the course of time, she became more romantically interested in him. She never told him or anyone else directly, but often hints at it, which Damy chooses to ignore because of their messy past.

Their bond is frowned upon by the neighbourhood and the vampire community. Mainly Deirdre is considered to be at fault by both parties.

Timon

Timon used to be Deirdre's best friend and sole love interest.

After the whole kidnapping incident came to an end, Timon felt like he had been pushed aside for her abductor. Deirdre insists she was the one who was pushed aside for Pumbaa, though the events of The Lion King 11/2 happened months after she had already moved in with Damy.

Timon is a controversial figure in many ways. He was Deirdre's first love interest, the one who tried to save her after getting caught, and the one who keeps reminding the two of this fact whenever they meet. His dislike for Damy is great; and he blames him for ruining his romantic development with Deirdre and "tricking" her into feeling sympathy for an unapologetic mass murderer. At the same time, he knows not to stand a chance against Damy in a fight and Deirdre is no longer the girl he fell for, so tries not to emotionally overexert himself.
She requested him to stop bringing up their past to Damy, as it tends to lose his will to do anything. Timon doesn't care about hurting his feelings, nor thinks Deirdre to be in the right, but accepted her wish by becoming less involved with the two.

Not much is left of their original friendship, but as they've never officially uttered a love confession to each other, despite sharing a kiss, they silently agreed no damage was done. They still depend on each other as friends in times of great need, though Deirdre usually goes to Damy for favours.

Cheekah

Damy's mother is the least pleased with Deirdre and wants her dead. Because Damy is an indestructible wall between her and her target, Cheekah depends on labyrinth schemes to get rid of her, and at other times tries to convince Damy to leave by noting him on their differences or vampire laws.

Deirdre and Cheekah have no relationship with each other. She refuses to acknowledge her directly.

Trivia

Deirdre is VampireMeerkat's second original character made public on the internet, yet was created a fair time before the first.
Deirdre's first appearance was in the private series, The ananas Show, where the human host character transformed herself into a meerkat in order to fit a dress the cameo guest, Timon, didn't want to wear;
- Deirdre is based on VampireMeerkat's first cartoon version of herself and initially meant to be a self-insert.
Deirdre was originally written to be Timon's love interest, which changed soon after Damy was designed. VampireMeerkat ended up feeling more intrigue for the character, explaining the fairly sudden deterioration of Timon and Deirdre's relationship in the story.
Deirdre was originally written to live together with Timon in Hakuna Matata, not in the "One-Scratch-and-Spotted-Field".
Deirdre shares some physical similarities with Cheekah, though also minor features with Kurt.