Wayward Daughters
History
The Wayward Daughters Academy is a fan idea for a Supernatural spin-off that started in April 2015 and has grown into a much larger movement within fandom.
At the end of 9.19 Alex Annie Alexis Ann, Sheriff Jody Mills took Alex Jones, a young woman who had been held captive by a nest of vampires, home to live her. Later, in 10.20 Angel Heart Claire Novak is reunited with her mother Amelia Novak only to then tragically lose her. Sam, Dean and Cas also send her to Jody Mills while she heals. As she leaves she says "This is some sort of halfway house for wayward girls?", and an idea was born - Donna and Jody running a homebase for young women as a spin-off of Supernatural.
Two fans - Riley Keshner and Betty Days - set up a Twitter and Tumblr account to promote the idea with a letter writing campaign and petition. It captured the imagination of fans and actors including Kim Rhodes and Briana Buckmaster. Preceintly , one fan speculated on "#Jody&DonnasHomeForWaywardGirls With @robertberens as head writer."
Riley Krushner said: “I knew we had the numbers and so I put out a call to action through the fandom, and Betty and I created the social media accounts and a petition so that we could funnel everyone’s enthusiasm through a central outlet. We called it ‘Wayward Daughters Academy.’ That was May 1, 2015, the day after ‘Angel Heart’ aired. That day, Kim and Briana both followed us and we discussed with them that we appreciated their support but wouldn’t do anything without their consent. They were both on board, and the rest is history.”
The idea of Wayward Daughters expanded to support promoting positive female representation in Supernatural and other media, and also the idea of fans supporting each other. In December 2015, Kim and Briana ran a campaign through Creation Stands, selling Wayward Daughters tee shirts with proceeds going to Random Acts. As part of the campaign fans posted what the campaign meant to them under the tag #istandwityhwaywarddaughters. As a gift to the fandom, Briana posted a video of her lipsyncing to Beyonce. As the campaign broadened, it took on the tagline #WaywardAF and variations like #WaywardStrong and has led to a number of charity t-shirt campaigns.
11.12 Don't You Forget About Me gave fans a look at the life Sheriff Mills, Alex and Claire were building together, and furthered spurred the enthusiam for a series focussing on these characters.
12.16 Ladies Drink Free focussed on Claire who is out hunting on her own, and teams up with the Winchesters to track down some werewolves. In the preview for the episode by showrunners Andrew Dabb and Bob Singer, Dabb described Claire as “a fan favorite character, someone we really like” and Singer stated that the episode “very subtly tees up something that we’re gonna revisit next year.”
Kim and Alex reappeared in the episode 12.22 Who We Are - and survied the season.
On June 20th 2017, it was announced that Season 13 would feature a planted pilot for Wayward Sisters, a spin-off series that would tell the story of "Sheriff Jody Mills and a group of troubled young women, all of them orphaned by supernatural tragedy. Under Mills’ training and protection, the women will emerge as a supreme monster-fighting force."
T-shirt Campaigns
Kim Rhodes & Briana Buckmaster's "Wayward AF"
Charity: Random Acts
On Sale: June 2016 Tanks, t-shirts, hoodies, and cinch bags
Number sold: ~7,500
Relaunched in February 2017 to benefit New Leash On Life
On Sale: February 20th thru March 1st, 2017 Pet tags, necklaces, beanies, tanks, t-shirts, hoodies, ornaments
Number Sold: 10,655
From the site: "This Campaign will support Random Acts' Dreams 2 Acts Nicaragua project. Random Acts has joined together with volunteers to build a Center for Human Development which serves as the campus for a free High School in San Juan del Sur. Join us in standing with Kim & Briana to support this effort!"
Creation Stands, hosting the campaign, announced in a tweet that anyone purchasing a shirt by June 3rd would be entered in a chance to win a skype chat with Kim and Briana.
Throughout the campaign, Kim and Briana posted images of themselves in the shirts (and without pants on twitter and tumblr that became increasingly risque. Other SPN actors joined in the fun to support the cause, including Ruth Connell, Misha Collins and Matt Cohen, Rob Benedict, Richard Speight Jr., and Osric Chau.
Kim Rhodes & Briana Buckmaster's "Wayward Daughters"
Charity: Random Acts
On Sale: December 2015 T-shirts and hoodies
Number sold: 2,347
Relaunched in August 2016 to benefit Random Acts' Dreams 2 Acts Nicaragua project once again.
On Sale: August 8th thru August 22nd, 2016 T-shirts, tanks, hoodies, and cinch bags
Number Sold: 1,259
Wayward Daughters is a collaboration and we elected to support Random Acts. I have personal reasons for this as well.
I have been wayward much of my life. Often it was by choice, opting to belligerently pursue the road less traveled because it led someplace I shouldn't go. Other times it was by failure and I'd wind up sitting alone among
the metaphorical thorn bushes, weeping and hoping for guidance. Or at least an end to the self-inflicted pain. I was judged, I was scolded, I was silenced, I was mocked, I was ignored... but there was only one thing that ever brought me home. An act of kindness. It costs me nothing to be kind. It gives me everything. And practicing kindness now includes how I treat myself. I still identify as wayward. But we all do, don't we? A little? So supporting Random Acts seems a pretty logical thing for Wayward Daughters to do.– Kim Rhodes, From the Creation Stands campaign site
Wayward Daughters supporting Random Acts seems like a pretty obvious pairing to me. The movement behind Wayward daughters is inspired by the idea that we are all capable of finding our greater selves. Every set-back, every time we fall, it gives us new opportunity to rise up. But doing it alone can be tricky. That’s why we need to band together to support each other. To be there to lend a hand when one of us is feeling too weak. My dream for Wayward daughters is that it becomes a symbol to silently say “Go. Be you. I've got your back”. Random Acts is the perfect embodiment of such words. They are there to not only help you, but to also teach and encourage you to help others. They are an incredible charity and I am truly grateful and humbled to have an opportunity to help them.
– Briana Buckmaster, From the Creation Stands campaign site
Kim Rhodes & Briana Buckmaster's "Way Strong, Way Fierce, Wayward (AF)"
Charity: New Leash On Life USA
On Sale: June 2016 Tanks, Ladies crew neck t-shirts, unisex t-shirts
Number sold: ?
From the site: "This Campaign will support New Leash on Life USA, one of the country's most unique prison-dog training programs. For more info on New Leash On Life USA click: HERE. Join us in standing with Kim & Briana to support this effort!
- A portion of all proceeds goes to New Leash on Life USA
- Orders begin shipping the last week of July.
- 100% cotton / Machine Wash / Imported
- Design Fan Artist: Riley Santangelo"
This campaign accompanies the media announcement from TV Line and others about the Supernatural spinoff Wayward Sisters starring Kim Rhodes that will be built into Season 13 of the show.
During the campaign, Kim and Briana posted images of themselves (and their daughters) wearing the shirts on their twitter accounts.
Links
- @Wayward Academy
- Wayward Daughters Academy on Tumblr
- Wayward Daughters is the Supernatural spinoff we need by The Geekiary
- Supernatural fans want Wayward Daughters by The Daily Fandom
- Wayward Daughters Academy - the best new Supernatural fundraiser by Geek and Sundry
- Did ‘Supernatural’ just backdoor pilot the ‘Wayward Daughters’ spin-off? by Hypable
