Ash Kent

HISTORY
Ashling Donaghue ('Ash', for short) was born in Dublin, Ireland, to Aeden Donaghue and Aiofe Donaghue (nee Galway). He is seventeen minutes older than his twin sister, Alora Donaghue Unlike his extended family, his parents were incredibly liberally minded and did their best to raise their children free of judgement and the same intense boundaries they had grown up with.The Donaghues moved to Rhith soon after Ash and Alora's sixteenth birthday, due to Aiofe's work.

Ash had a fairly peaceful childhood. He didn't have much contact with his extended family as they cut off both Aeden and Aiofe once they left the church as young adults, but he was never lonely, especially because of his an Alora's close bond. As a child, Ash wanted to be a doctor, but as he grew up, he realised he very enjoyed swimming - specifically the 50m breaststroke ("Ironic, isn't it." He sometimes remarks when recalling his fifteen year-long swimming career). However, this was a sport he ended up dropping because of his gender dysphoria; though it wasn't ever crippling, he began to feel increasingly uncomfortable and distressed wearing a girl's swimming costume, knowing that people were not only able to see almost every inch of his body but also that they were seeing him as a girl. Nowadays he wants to be a doctor again (specifically an oncologist), and is planning to return to Ireland to study medicine.

Around the ages ten to sixteen, Ash became incredibly isolated and withdrawn. This was due to him trying to work through and process a lot and feeling he couldn't talk to or share anything with anybody. At a week-long swimming training camp near Rhith, when he was fifteen, Ash met Roya Jahan. They hit it off stayed in touch after the camp, Roya being Ash's first queer friend, and Roya introduced Ash to his friend group when he moved to England.

Ash was assigned female at birth, though he realised from a fairly young age that something inside him just didn't feel right, though he didn't yet understand how to vocalise that. Despite his supportive environment, the journey to accept himself was difficult and the only person he had that he felt he could confide in was Alora (and later Roya). Ash came out on his and Alora's sixteenth birthday, and told his parents he wanted to use 'he/him' pronouns to which their parents were immediately supportive. After meeting with gender therapists, he got the 'all-clear' and was able to start taking testosterone. (When the Donaghue's moved due to Aiofe's work, there were some issues with paperwork for his hormones, though this was all fixed soon enough.) When he turns eighteen, he plans to finally get top-surgery, which he's been saving up for ever since he found out what 'transgender' meant. Ash is now comfortable in his gender identity, and being able to come out and use the pronouns that best fit him. He isn't restricted by gender norms, and still enjoys wearing skirts and makeup, only now he's able to wear them and still feel like the man that he is.

PERSONALITY
As a child, Ash was incredibly outgoing and cheerful. He had always showed signs of intelligence, more to do with wit than academics, and adults enjoyed speaking to him because of it. Before he reached the age ten, he experienced a severe bout of depression that he's still working through. This was triggered by his confusion and internalised struggle with his identity. But thanks to people like Roya, Alora and his therapist, he was eased out of his shell and though he's still struggling with all this he's in a much better place. Now he's much more loud and sarcastic, and has a magnetic presence.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE & COMMUNICATION
Ashling has bright green, upturned eyes and bright red, curly hair and freckly pale skin. He dresses in very frumpy and baggy big band shirts and hoodies for heavy metal groups that nobody's heard of before, and sometimes wears skirts or eyeliner. Ash and Alora have matching necklaces with their names engraved onto them, that they were given as babies by their parents.

Ash has a thick Dublin accent and speaks loudly. Nowadays he swears often...and very colorufully. He's notoriously witty and sarcastic and tends to speak his mind.

FAMILY

 * Alora Donaghue

Alora and Ash have an incredibly close bond; the two of them aren't exact opposites but they aren't too much alike either. Despite not being identical twins, they looked very similar when they were younger. Now, they look very little alike, but they still have the same eyes. As children, they were convinced they had shared superpowers, specifically that they could read eachother's minds. Alora was incredibly patient with Ash, which was something he needed when he was trying to figure out and work through his gender identity. She was the first person he came out to properly, and the only person he was never afraid to tell. Long after they'd moved to Rhith, and once Elena had tried to unsuccessfully hit it off with Ash, he was the one to set Alora up with Elena Kriel, much to the latter's delight.


 * Aeden Donaghue

Aeden is a stay-at-home father. He mostly looked after the twins when Aiofe was at the hospital, which led to Ash growing very close to his father. Even before he came out as trans, Ash and Aeden already had a father-son relationship. They specifically enjoy making food together; Aeden is a professional chef and is more than happy to both pass his knowledge onto his son as well as bond with him over something they both enjoy doing. Ash's current tempermant is very much simliar to what his father's is - warm but also incredibly sarcastic and witty.


 * Aiofe Donaghue

Aiofe had always been very worried about Ash, as there were some complications with his birth. The older he got, the more concerned she grew, especially surrounding his period of isolation. What didn't help is how demanding Aiofe's job is, which resulted in her not being around her family as much as she would have liked. There were many late nights, though, when she came home in the very early morning or late night and Ash would still be awake (she didn't know this was because he rarely slept due to his distress surrounding his identity). He would cook for her and she would talk enough for the both of them.

Ash's and Aiofe's relationship was initially strained during and after their move to Rhith, as Ash felt that Aiofe's job had already taken so much time away from their family and was frustrated that not only was she being promoted, which meant even more time not at home, but also she was forcing them to move to some boring small town he'd never even heard of. However, a few months after the move, all was resolved, especially once Ash realised that Aiofe's new position allowed her to spend even more time at home.

FRIENDS

 * Elena Kriel

Elena and Ash initially had a fairly terse relationship due to her small crush on him. Elena and Ash both are both incredibly witty which was initially what drew her to him. Ash, however, wasn't aware of Elena's feelings and when he realised how she felt he confronted her about it before she had the chance to confess. Once they got past the awkward post-rejection stage, though, the two of them formed a firm friendship, with him even setting Elena up with his sister.


 * Roya Jahan

Roya is much more calm than Ash and tends to be his voice of reason in their friendship. Roya took Ash under his arm when they met at a week long camp. He introduced Ash to the idea of being trans and helped open him up to a world of queerness. Ash had devloped a squish (a platonic crush) on Roya, and the two stayed in touch after the camp, with Roya even visiting Dublin one spring holiday. Roya encouraged Ash from a distance and called him minutes before he came out to his parents. He was incredibly excited when he heard Ash was moving to Rhith, and did everything he could to make him feel welcomed.


 * Deisy May

Ash has a soft spot for Deisy, despite the fact that he teases her mercilessly. The two of them have a brother-sister bond and often bicker about menial topics, simply for the fun of it. True to his nickname, 'The Match', Ash also set Deisy up with Molly.