#then they announced the engagement and i was like OH WE'RE JUST DIVING RIGHT IN OK

[whoreviewswho]

Wokeness, Responsibility and if RTD is problematic - Rose Noble and Trans Identities in RTD2

Is Russell T. Davies a problematic figure? Is he too woke or not aware enough? Is he doing something wrong to illicit negative responses from the conservatives as well as the progressives? Is it something in the programme, something in the marketing or is he doing nothing particularly bad at all? Well, perhaps you and I, faithful reader, can come to some sort of conclusion. Let's find out together as we take a dive into the controversial choices behind RTD2 and the mind of the man behind them.

“Homophobia and transphobia happens when it’s something you’ve never seen before. You can temper that reaction and change it when you introduce these images to people happily and normally and calmly when they’re young. Then it just becomes normal.” - Russell T Davies, Doctor Who: Unleashed

Yasmin Finney, in the role of Rose Noble, was the cover star of Doctor Who Magazine #591. She became the first trans woman to feature on the front of the magazine, six months before she made her on-screen debut in The Star Beast. The anticipation and mystique regarding Finney's role had been building for some time – twelve months, in fact, since her announcement in May 2022 and the teasing reveal of her character's name. Below her, on the retail version of the magazine, read the text; "RUSSELL T DAVIES ON CASTING ROSE". Indeed, such comments from RTD could be found inside as part of a larger article discussing LGBTQ+ characters from Doctor Who's history. Regarding Rose, RTD wrote the following words;

"We're looking for good actors. That's the most fundamental line. Good acting, gay, straight, in between, whatever, the actor we choose has to be good. That's the only thing that matters. I find myself at the heart of a web - of my own making, okay! - discussing the rights and wrongs of casting, especially when it comes to LGBTQ+ roles. And it's an evolving thing. My stance changes over the years, as I learn more and more. My opinions change, like they're meant to. When I express a preference for casting gay actors in gay roles, some critic will hold up Queer as Folk from 1999 and say, but you cast straight men in that! Yes, I say, and I owe them everything; their bravery allowed me to move forwards, but more significantly, that was 24 years ago. Do you still think the same as 24 years ago? And then they stick their dummies back in their mouths and I think, oh, you do. The joy of casting like this, is in making my own experience richer, and I hope the viewers' too. That's what's brilliant about working with Yasmin Finney - through contact with her, I've witnessed her ideals, her politics, her family, her fights, her triumphs, her life in this world. A life I might never have known. It's a journey and a joy. I love it, and I hope I can do more, more, more."

There is an important moment of self-reflection to be noted here – a direct acknowledgement from RTD that his values, attitudes and opinions in representing the LGBTQ+ is an evolving one. I am inclined to agree with this too. I am not wasting my time attempting to hold the RTD of a quarter of a century ago to the social standards of today. To hold any work or writer up in such a way is, in my opinion, a dangerous and flawed practice that necessitates a form of selective critical thinking to even be viable. Art does not exist in a vacuum and to divorce it of any cultural context is an ignorant and problematic way in which to engage with it. That does not mean you have to like that work or artist. I am not insisting upon you to approve of work that is produced from deeply offensive, ignorant and insensitive places simply because they were made in the past. I am merely agreeing with the school of thought presented by RTD that the individual's and society's moral compasses are constantly evolving beasts and that evolution is reflective in the art that comes out of them. This here is really the thesis of this whole series of articles. Feel free to turn away at this point if you find yourself disagreeing. If you're looking for somebody to validate your feelings that art which you disagree with in some respect is inherently bad, please go and virtue-signal somewhere else. 

Today's entry will chronicle the overall handling and reaction to the first openly trans character in televised Doctor Who and how these things are situated in the socio-political climate of 2023. Before we go any further, though, I would like to directly acknowledge a fact that you will likely have noticed which is that these writings are devoting comparatively little space to repeating the views of the 'anti-woke' crowd. This is due to the fact that this crowd offers next to nothing of value to say with any potentially valid criticisms about Rose's characterisation and Finney's performance being, at best, drowned out or, at worst, entirely non-existent. This leaves me with very little to say beyond acknowledging that these people exist and that they are hateful, transphobic bigots and should save a lot of embarrassment embracing their true identity of being fucking morons. What we will do, inevitably, is turn back to the progressive complaints because they are far more interesting to consider than the inane 'You ruined Doctor Who' crowd and much more important. 

But this is all still to come. Let's just take a moment to briefly contextualise queerness in Doctor Who as best we can without making that the whole article. Prior to 2005, Doctor Who was an incredibly gay programme. There was no question of it having a mainstream popularity and strong cultural presence throughout the 1960s and 1970s but following its sixteen years sabbatical from a regular television presence, the cult fanbase that remained primarily consisted of queer men*. Queerness in the original run of the show was always a matter of subtext. Indeed, a number of key creators across the show's history were queer identifying including the programme's first director Waris Hussein, writer/director Peter Grimwade and producer John Nathan-Turner. Jordan Shortman has written a terrific article titled A Look at LGBTQI+ Representation in Doctor Who which I strongly encourage you seek out. The article is wonderfully easy to read and excellently acknowledges and explains the relationship between the LGBTQI+ community and Doctor Who. I'll make sure to link it at the bottom of this post.

One of the key examples that Shortman cites is the nature of the Doctor as a character; "From the second televised story, there is a strong sense of justice about the Doctor, doing what’s right; treating all life in the universe with respect has been a large part of the Doctor’s character as well as a driving force for the show, even in times when LGBTQI+ themes couldn’t be included". The suggested asexual nature of the Doctor is also notable for their appeal as a queer icon. Other characters with a strong queer subtext include the companions Turlough and Ace, the latter of which has been confirmed to have a deliberate lesbian subtext in at least one of her serials. Coupled with the decidedly camp nature of the show's production, especially in the 1980s, it is not hard to pinpoint examples of where the show's queer fandom might have been accrued.

Shortman's article crosses the wilderness years and into the revival where one such queer fan, RTD, took over the reigns and ensured that that representation was no longer subtextual. His first series gave us an unabashedly pansexual companion with Captain Jack Harkness, portrayed by an openly gay man in John Barrowman. Jack and the Doctor shared the first ever same-sex kiss in the programme before the character left the show full-time to head up the spin-off series Torchwood where his relationship with Ianto Jones became a defining element of the show's fandom. Obviously we shall return to RTD himself but queer Doctor Who did not end with his initial departure. Steven Moffat, a cis straight man, introduced a similarly roguish, queer icon with part-time companion River Song and recurring allies Madame Vastra and her wife Jenny. Moffat also introduced the show's first openly queer female identifying companions with bisexual Clara Oswald and lesbian Bill Potts. Somewhat more divisive was Chris Chibnall's, also a straight cis man, presentation of a tragic romance between the Doctor and her bisexual companion Yaz. 

This brings us to 2023 and the debut of Rose on the 25th of November that year. In DWM #597, RTD and Finney discussed the character in Doctor Who with RTD's opening remarks being;

"You know me, I'm going to make my stuff as modern and as progressive as it can be [and] I thought it was joyous, to get a trans character in there. I thought that'd be a lovely 2023 thing to do. A blast of 2023! It makes you better, makes life richer, and makes the viewing experience better."

Rose’s first scene is, in fact, the first scene of The Star Beast (discounting the expository prologue) and it plays as well as one would hope. We glean something of her character, her interests and interests and her relationship with Donna. I feel obliged to mention that the lowest possible bar is met regarding representation in that the Doctor, our audience surrogate in this scene, does not deride, question or shame her in any way whatsoever. What caused some amount of uproar came in the character’s second scene which takes place outside the family home. Donna and Rose are walking back to the house together and a group of young boys ride past and recognise Rose. The group of them harass her, calling out the following;

LAD: Oi, Jason, you all right? LAD 2: Looking good, Jason! LAD: Give us a kiss, Jay Boy!

Donna responds furiously, later explicitly reaffirming her support and love for her daughter, prompting Rose's exhausted response; "Just leave it". In regards to this scene, Finney detailed in DWM that Russell's scripts "definitely, definitely don't sugarcoat" the trans experience – 'Rose gets some stick from kids at school - when she and Donna are walking home, boys shout some stuff - and that's a part of being trans, especially in high school," She goes on to clarify; "Well, not just in high school. It's the stick we get from everybody. People see an opportunity and take it and love to degrade and embarrass us. But Donna's having none of it, and neither is Rose. I'm proud of that. That's such great writing. And I love the fact that, with both Rose and Elle, it's not like being trans is all there is. There's so much more to Rose than being trans".

Finney revealed even more about the scene in the corresponding episode of Doctor Who: Unleashed; “It did kinda bring back some PTSD for me. Sadly, my high school experience was a lot of bullying and a lot of defending myself and having to put on a brave face”. In the same episode, RTD commented; “Those boys on bikes are watching Doctor Who. So I hope they’ll watch it and think ‘Oh, maybe I shouldn’t do that. Maybe that’s wrong.’ It’s true, that’s part of our audience”. Notably, elsewhere in the same interview, RTD (before disclaiming a trigger warning) refers to Rose by her deadname and specifies that that choice was made because of an etymological link to the Greek word for 'healer'. He defended the decision to include the scene further in The Official Doctor Who Podcast; “To get that across and to get the prejudice that’s being shown towards Rose by those bullies and thugs in the street, we actually have to have a scene of deadnaming. Is that a good thing to do? Is that a wise thing to do? Is that a difficult thing to do? I personally think we should stare into difficult stuff like this, but equally, what a nice easy life I’ve got, and I’m ready to be told otherwise.”

An important thing to understand about RTD as a queer storyteller is his relationship with trauma. When he was eighteen, the world saw the first diagnosis of HIV/AIDS. There is a reason why It's a Sin depicted the brutality and horror of the UK AIDS Crisis with such a palpable sense of tragedy and bitterness. The queer experiences that RTD had when he was at his most impressionable were overwhelmingly loaded with hatred, bigotry, neglect, shame, fear and death. When RTD reinvented the Doctor in 2005, he depicted him as a "lonely god"; somebody who feels like the last man standing after his people are gone, alone in the universe. When it came to Torchwood: Children of Earth, this queer trauma was depicted further when Ianto is killed by a virus leaving Jack to carry on without him. Throughout RTD's career, his representation of queer characters and the queer experience has been informed by tragedy and trauma which he makes no less apparent in his writing of Rose. This begs the question – does this depiction being realistic preclude it from being poor or unnecessary? Would it have been just as strong a choice to simply write a strong character, one who is not bullied or belittled, and they just happen to be trans? This is an opinion that somebody voiced to me in real life after the special aired, a queer man who expressed exhaustion and disappointment with high profile queer representation offering traumatic experiences and defining its characters primarily by their queerness.

Following a scene with Rose's grandmother where she slips on her pronouns ("When I say she looks gorgeous, is that right? I mean, is it sexist? Never said it to him when he was... Oh. Oh, sorry"), Rose befriends The Meep and thinks she forges a connection due to their both feeling isolated and "from another planet". Another suggestion of queer trauma. As the story goes on, Rose becomes the crux of a big reveal which is that the Time Lord brain, the Doctor's brain, that was inherited by Donna in Journey's End passed down into Rose when she was born. It is at this point that the representation becomes... muddled.

When the Doctor reverts Donna's conditioning, one of the trigger words is "binary". At this moment, it is revealed that Rose speaks a different word - "Non-binary". This leads to the following explanation; 

DOCTOR: We're binary. DONNA: She's not, because the Doctor's... DOCTOR: ..male... DONNA: ..and female. ROSE: And neither. And more.

There a number of things potentially going on here that are of note. The first is that ongoing queer trauma subtext in RTD's work and this story's suggestion that that is a shared burden. This seems to be a realisation that has evolved in Davies' work over time. It's a Sin, for all its harrowing realism, makes a point of depicting community and friendship as intrinsic to the queer experience. The trauma is still there but it is a shared experience. The three specials RTD wrote from The Star Beast to The Giggle present a new arc for the Doctor which includes his making peace with not needing to be alone. As Donna suggests, in a rather meta-fictional line; "[Y]ou've been given a second chance. You can do things different this time. So why don't you do something completely new, and have some friends?" This theme can be extended to Rose as one of three characters who bears the load of the Doctor's experiences. The Doctor used to carry the weight of his trauma on his shoulders, now he has an opportunity to change and realise that others can take on those burdens with him. Perhaps this might have been what RTD was going for with his use of the term 'non-binary' – Rose saves Donna's life by freeing her from the limitations of binary thinking. It was assumed that she would either embrace her true self and die or live a slightly unhappy life with years of built up repression. Via Rose, we come to realise that there are not only two options.

To my understanding, the problem with this scene insofar as representation is largely rooted in the terminology and potentially an enormous misunderstanding from RTD. As presented, RTD seems to use the term 'non-binary' interchangeably with 'trans'. This is a complicated subject to get into but, so far as I understand it, the two terms are not generally accepted as synonymous. In contemporary queer culture, 'non-binary' is employed as an umbrella term for any identity that sits outside the accepted gender binary (male or female). For example, an individual assigned female at birth who identifies as agender, genderless. Transgender is also an umbrella term and it refers to an individual whose gender identity does not correspond to the one which they were assigned at birth. For example, an individual assigned male at birth who identifies as a woman. If these above definitions are to be taken as wrote, this would suggest that non-binary people may be transgender but not all transgender people are non-binary. These are not strict definitions, of course, but an attempt to better clarify and explain how RTD's use of terminology in The Star Beast is flawed.

This all could have worked better with some very minor changes. As written, it is plausible to infer that RTD's understanding of gender theory has some basis in academia, specifically in the views and opinions of activists and theorists of a closer generation to his. Based on how it is presented in The Star Beast, it would not be unreasonable to conclude that RTD considers the forging of a trans identity as an inherent rejection of the social constructs that are firmly entrenched in our post-colonial lives. Indeed, in Doctor Who: Unleashed, he explicitly remarked that; “It becomes a vital part of the plot that Rose contains the ‘he’ and the ‘she’ and the neither and the both, and that’s a new future. Rose goes beyond words, beyond definitions.”

An example of this relationship with gender can be found from feminist activist Gloria Steinem in a 2015 article for Advocate titled 'Op-ed: On Working Together Over Time' suggested that western society is shifting "away from only the binary boxes of “masculine” or “feminine” and begin[ning] to live along the full human continuum of identity and expression". Prolific gender theorist Judith Butler has expressed agreement with this opinion and offered her own definition of gender as a performative act from the individual rather than a natural reality. To quote BigThink's 2023 article 'Berkeley philosopher Judith Butler’s theory of gender for the 21st century'; "Gender only exists to the extent that it is performed, meaning it is both fluid and capable of evolving beyond history and tradition... It would be a mistake to come up with a single definition of what a woman is. It would be parochial. It would be coming from a very specific perspective. It would be freezing a time and place into a definition and then imposing it on the rest of the world”. 

There is nothing inherently problematic or inappropriate about RTD's choice to depict a non-binary character. The problems lie solely in the fact that he did not do this for the larger part of the story's runtime. While Rose never explicitly describes her gender identity or her preferred pronouns, it is strongly suggested throughout The Star Beast that she is female identifying; her family only refer to her with she/her pronouns and repeatedly denote her as their daughter. Instead, the text repeatedly suggests that Rose's identity exists on the established gender binary of male/female making the choice ending a muddled and awkward pill to swallow.

A fan theory that emerged in the wake of this scene was that Rose's trans identity stemmed from her having two people inside of her – the one she was born as and the one she identifies as. I hate this theory and I think that it is quite a transphobic reading of what happens here. There is no need to create a convoluted sci-fi reason for trans people to exist because trans people do exist. If cis people have a hard time comprehending the idea that somebody's assigned gender is not a label that they comfortably align and identify with, then I see no reason to make that reality something that can be hand waved away. Suggesting that transness is because of an alien presence in somebody's brain is not something that I can get behind and the problem is that that read is entirely plausible. Intentionally or otherwise, RTD has written in an 'out' for transphobes to justify and rationalise the character's existence in their own minds. And I very much dislike that.

RTD's trans representation in The Star Beast lead to a mixed reception within the fandom. As fan Emily, @emilyXCVI, remarked on Twitter, "[RTD] absolutely nails it in the first half, Donna & Sylvia’s talk in the kitchen was brilliant. But then the “nonbinary” thing and implying that Rose is trans because of the meta crisis…not so much. I appreciate the sentiment but it could have been framed a lot better". The positive points of praise frequently arose as acclaim for RTD's decision to depict a trans character in such a positive role in a high-profile, BBC programme. As Dr Emily Garside, @EmiGarside, proclaimed; "Russell T Davies truly stood up and said Trans people are beautiful and we love to see it. (The Doctor doesn’t stand for transphobes and neither does the Whoniverse)". Fio Trethewey, @FioTrethewey, was another voice in the fandom that was resoundingly positive; "#DoctorWho was so great last night, a fun romp and well made. Most of all I was so happy to see Donna respect her trans daughter, and help her mother when she was clumsy with the details, just all the good representation. In times we live in right now it’s what we need to see " 

The detractors were, however, equally as vocal with many pointing to RTD's comments surrounding the deadnaming scene as problematic. As JaeWrites, @jae_writes_, expressed; “RTD: ‘I didn't want to give transphobes any more ammo by putting David in 13's outfit.’ Also RTD: ‘So I'm just gonna deadname my trans character, make that deadname important to the story, repeat that deadname in interviews, and heavily imply that being trans is a choice.’” Some fans were critical of the choice to share Rose’s deadname in any context, concerned that the detail would only offer ammunition for transphobic fans to be disrespectful to the character when discussing her (this did happen). The harsher critics even compared the depiction to RTD’s earlier character of Lady Cassandra O’Brien from 2005’s The End of the World. The real first openly trans character in televised Doctor Who. The hysterical, vain, arrogant aristocrat was the primary villain of two stories in RTD's original run and was primarily depicted as a large, flat piece of skin in a metal frame. The character claimed to have had more than 700 different cosmetic surgeries. Cassandra mentions that she was born a boy in a throwaway line in her debut story which was intended to play as transphobic comedy. Cassandra blatantly played into the 'deranged transsexual killer' trope and is seemingly killed on-screen at the end of both stories she appears in. 

Following The Star Beast's broadcast, RTD appeared on The Official Doctor Who Podcast. The show is hosted by a diverse trio of fans, one of which is Juno Dawson, a trans woman. Dawson first became involved with Doctor Who in a professional capacity in 2017 but made her most high-profile contribution to the franchise to date in 2022 as the lead writer on the first series of Doctor Who: Redacted for BBC Sounds. The ten episode series featured Jodie Whittaker and a host of alumni returning to reprise their roles alongside original character Cleo, a young trans woman. The series was renewed for a second season which aired in 2023, now attracted to the RTD2 version of the programme, but Dawson was replaced as lead writer by prolific Who writer James Goss, a cis man. In the podcast, Dawson praised RTD's writing, especially the deadnaming scene; "There is no point in trying to sugar the pill. Trans people face transphobia". As some fans have been quick to point out, it remains unconfirmed whether Dawson or anybody else close to the production was consulted about their experiences as a trans person during pre-pre-production. As of the time of writing, neither Dawson nor any other trans identifying person has been confirmed in any creative role for seasons one or two.

Two days after The Star Beast aired, the highly publicised trial of Scarlett Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe commenced. Earlier that year, the pair were arrested on suspicion of murder of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey. The murder and subsequent trial generated much discussion and attention in the UK press drawing greater attention to the lives of transgender youth in Britain than ever before. In the midst of this event was Doctor Who, as written by a cis gay man, depicting a trans woman in the UK in 2023. Following the broadcast of The Star Beast, the BBC received 144 complaints about its choice to depict a trans character to which the corporation responded;  “As regular viewers of Doctor Who will be aware, the show has and will always continue to proudly celebrate diversity and reflect the world we live in. We are always mindful of the content within our episodes.” In 2023, its 60th year since initial broadcast, RTD ensured that Doctor Who, remained connected to the cultural conversation of the UK and its wider world.

But does that necessarily mean that he did it very well?

To be continued in part three; The First Black Doctor and the Meaning of Mavity

*See one of RTD's greatest ever in-jokes in Rose when our titular heroine meets up with Clive to talk about the Doctor and his wife remarks; "She? She's read a website about the Doctor? She's a she?"

A Look at LGBTQI+ Representation in Doctor Who - https://thedoctorwhocompanion.com/2023/06/01/a-look-at-lgbtqi-representation-in-doctor-who/ 

[edencantstopfallininlove]

A Declaration

You might want to read this all the way through. There’s something quite important that I want to share with you guys... However, if you reblog, don’t spoil the surprise in your response or the tags! In light of more recent posts, feel free to ignore that now!

As a disclaimer, I know nothing about fashion and I make that pretty obvious, but heck it

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How fortunate it was that the streets of Port Maerifa were so quiet that evening. The blue accents of the city's architecture were bolstered by the coming of twilight. A faint sea breeze danced about from the docks. As day slowly shifted into night, a pair of footsteps could be heard ambling along the streets.

Dhar was leading the way, guiding his lover by the hand as they moved towards their destination. This was a date they had been planning together for weeks; now that it was finally drawing to a close, Heather took the opportunity to really drink in the sight of the man who stole her heart. He had abandoned his usual armour in favour of a white shirt with a leather jacket, indigo denim slim jeans and black dress shoes that seemed to shine a little in the blue hour. Over his shoulder, he wore a small musky red bag with a thin strap; she wondered why he would need it on a date, but proceeded not to think about it again once they were out the door. All in all, she thought he looked just as gorgeous as always, if not even more so.

For their date, the two had put together a whistle-stop tour of their favourite spots. Each destination had a story behind it, a reason for them to slow down and reminisce. Deep down, Heather contemplated the possibility that there was a greater motive behind the whole thing. The final stop on their tour had taken them to a spot they knew all too well. The arch at the city’s foot.

"Oh, this place," said Heather, thinking aloud. "Remember the whole 'who stays and who goes' talk we had here? When you told Ajna - you told everyone - that you had nowhere to belong?"

"That I do," replied Dhar, "but a lot's changed since then. And I find myself thinking that less and less as time goes by; as I spend more new days with you."

"You’re so right. I've been thinking about the friends we've made on our journey, how we've come to be like family to each other. I hope you've felt it, Dhar. That there are people who care about you and are proud of how far you've come."

There was a long, comfortable silence as the couple stood side by side and drank in the atmosphere of the city. Feeling the urge to happy-stim, Heather clicked together the short heels of her black flats. She loved little gaps like this, where she could take a moment to feel the cool air brushing against her skin, ruffling the knee-length skirt of her blue summer dress, and appreciate everything that had built up to this moment. Every high, every low, every failure and triumph that led the two of them down their respective paths, and to each other.

"Marry me."

And then she heard them. The two words that dissolved her train of thought. Heather flinched on the spot as she tried to make sense of everything. The gentleness in Dhar's voice, the feeling of his fingers interlocking with hers, the fondness in his eyes... Was he staring at her the whole time?!

"Dhar, have you been hanging around Baozhai?" she asked, stammering her way through. "Did she imbibe you into this before we left?"

Dhar had to laugh. "Gods no, you know I won't drink that crap of hers!"

"Neither will I, to be fair."

"Come on, I'm serious! I want us to get married. I can’t think of anything better than being able to spend the rest of our lives like this."

Still not entirely believing what she was hearing, Heather turned to hold her lover's free hand as their gazes met.

"Just being with you is... already so much more than I ever thought I deserved. You know my past. There have been times when I've wondered whether you'd be happier without me. And yet, no matter how far I fell into the cycle of self-doubt, you've always been there to help me back onto my feet. It's you who moulded me into the man I am now. Someone who truly feels worthy of this woman's love. And believe me, you deserve it all in return. I want to remind you every day of how strong you are. How supportive, how compassionate, how beautiful, inside and out. Cliche as it sounds, you are, without a doubt, the best thing that ever happened to me. I mean, I literally wouldn't be here if not for you. Whatever the future holds for us, I want us to always be around to support each other. Because you and I? We're a team."

After a brief pause, Dhar abruptly shifted a single hand around in the shoulder bag. "Shit, where'd I put the damn thing...?"

"It's okay, sweetheart. I'll help you look for it if you-"

Heather was silenced first by the sight of the black box (it wasn't all an elaborate joke), then by the ring itself as Dhar knelt down and opened it - the silver band twisted upwards, with one line on each side adorned with amethysts that led the eye towards a single large orange topaz. What else could she do in that moment but gasp?

"Heather, my saviour, my rock, my love... Will you make me the happiest person in all the worlds?" His hopeful smile was offset now by glassy eyes, looking at Heather as if she were the most incredible thing to ever exist as he finally got to the big question. "Will you marry me?"

Heather's eyes sparkled as she preserved the memory of a display of love and vulnerability that she never would've expected from Dhar when they first met. But he was not the same man he was back then. He had grown so much kinder, nobler, truer; her heart swelled with pride at the privilege of being a part of that change.

If only he knew she’d made up her mind long ago.

"Yes!! Of course!" she cried as she dived in and enveloped her beloved in the biggest, tightest embrace he had yet been given. Dhar was, frankly, amazed that he managed to maintain his hold on the ring box.

"Woah, don't hug me! I should be hugging you!!"

He was quick to get over the shock, though, melting into his now fiancée’s touch and, at last, allowing himself to cry. After holding back long enough to say his piece, hearing the answer he had sought cemented this as the best day of his life, and now was the time to set his elation free.

"I'm sorry I'm such a mess right now..." he said when he let go after what seemed like aeons.

"A hot mess, maybe," replied Heather with a laugh as the ring was placed on her finger. "Still, you did say you'd be the happiest person in the worlds. You kind of asked for this!"

"I suppose I did, yeah. But it was worth it."

Almost instinctively, Dhar slid two fingers under Heather's chin, lifting her head to lock eyes with her in a silent request for permission. She responded with a subtle nod and, in the fading moonlight, accompanied by distant ocean waves, their promise of a union was sealed with a deep, lingering kiss, hands resting in each others’ hair, smiling against each others lips. It came so naturally, like it was always meant to be.

"Thank you, Heather. For everything. I love you... So, so much."

"Likewise, Dhar. I promise you won't regret this. Here's to our future - together."

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Soooo yeah, you probably all saw this coming a mile away, but...

As of today, Dhar and I are engaged!

An official announcement post will be going out at some point in the next few days, fingers crossed!

For reference, the ring looks like this: (psst everyone pitched in)

@ode-to-joie @tuff-and-fluff @f-orever-and-ever @abigailsfictionalothers @kitten-ships @dazailovemail​ @growlitheships @fawnships @fireemlmblem​ @rosepetalcharm​ and everyone who’s been kind enough to listen to me gush about my selfship!