Tabitha
|
Tabitha “Tab” Hazel Forbes |
|
|---|---|
|
Dorley girl |
|
| Gender | Female |
| Year of intake | 2007 |
| Sponsor | unknown |
| Gender at intake | Cis male |
| Date of birth | 1987-02-17 |
| Name at intake | [show]Morris |
| First appearance | Chapter 9 |
| Chapters with POV scenes | |
| edit this box | |
Tabitha, also known as Tab (and in some editions Tabby), is a sponsor at Dorley Hall. She is currently sponsoring Leigh and is in a relationship with Levi.
Tabitha is Black [SD 20] with dark skin; [SD 19] she likes to keep her hair in a natural style. [SD 33] Jodie describes her as "intimidatingly" "crazy pretty" and "a darling", [SD 22] Shahida considers her "level-headed and pleasingly straight-talking" with a smile that makes it difficult to concentrate around her. [SD 26] She has a large stature and is "only a little less" than Monica's size [SD 40] and about the same height as Lorna. [SD 22]
She is from Southampton. [1] [SD 25]
Tabitha is exclusively attracted to men, but before meeting Levi, she had a string of relationships that ended when her boyfriends came out as trans women (Belinda, Kelly, and most recently, Barry). To Tabitha's chagrin, most of the other sponsors found this run of bad luck amusing. [SD 20]
Tabitha is a grad student at Saint Almsworth. [SD 22]
Tabitha "retroactively" considers herself to have actually been transgender before her intake [SD 31] and was the first Dorley girl to graduate with a New Personal History that established her legal identity as a transgender woman. [SD 22]
Relationship with Leigh
Tabitha has gradually shifted from a detached, aloof stance to a sister-like relationship with Leigh. As Leigh neared final disclosure, Tabitha took it upon herself to love her, if only because no one else ever had. (She assured herself that liking her and enjoying her company would follow later.)
Tabitha has expressed a "fond amusement" in Leigh's struggles, likely due to their similarity to her own journey, and is often able to get Leigh out of her own head when she is spiraling emotionally. [SD 34]
This article is incomplete. You can help by expanding it.
Pre-transition
I got in trouble a lot. I didn’t get out of it as easily as some,” she adds sourly. “White boys get disciplined; Black boys get the book thrown at them. And they’re fucking lucky if it’s just the book.” [SD 34]
Tabitha came from a difficult home life and her temper and large frame made it easy to be "a certain way" and weaponize her masculinity. [SD 35]
This article is incomplete. You can help by expanding it.
2007 intake
Tabitha compares herself at intake to "maybe Raph" [SD 34] with a temper similar to Leigh's. [SD 35] Maria tells Bethany that she was, with hindsight, more like Melissa or Leigh, minus her "randomly directed aggressive tendencies". [SD 33] At intake, she had a bulky build similar to Leigh's and was of a similar height. [SD 35]
Tabitha also had a beard at intake; she claims it was not a "denial beard" but Maria has contested the idea. [SD 31]
Phillip
This article is incomplete. You can help by expanding it.
Sponsoring
Though she does not think of sponsoring as a career, Tabitha has done it for long enough that she "accidentally [has] become quite senior." [SD 34] Christine regards her as "experienced and level-headed and a good shot with a taser". [SD 27]
Tabitha describes her job as "changing people's genders therapeutically". [SD 37] Tabitha has seemingly written extensively on the mechanics of the programme; Frankie recalls having read internal documents where Tabitha was "vehement that none of her girls have ever been brainwashed or mind-wiped or otherwise fucked with" [SD 33] and another detailing the "concentric positive and negative feedback loops" involved in the basement. [SD 37] Tabitha views caring sponsors, clear direction and end goals, and love as crucial to differentiating the programme from torture. [SD 37]
Tabitha is not aware of the details of the washout programme. [SD 44]
She has a room on the third floor of the Hall. [SD 19]
Theory of gender indifference
Tabitha shares her theory regarding gender and the Dorley Hall selection process with Steph, Monica, and Jane:
“I think — and, you have to understand, I’m speaking from personal experience, here — the opposite of [being trans] isn’t being cis, necessarily,” Tabby says. “It’s being indifferent.”
“What?”
“Some people just don’t care. [...] There are people who are guys solely because they are guys. And girls who are girls because they are girls. They’ve never thought about it. They don’t have a particular attachment to the shape they currently are, the social role they currently occupy, it’s just… theirs. It’s like their car, or their house. They may like it fine enough, but if someone like us comes along and says, hey, sorry, it’s time to move house, they’d just ask about the new address and for a week to box up their stuff.” [SD 19]
2019 intake
Tabitha considers herself as having once been similar to Leigh at intake; she describes looking at Leigh's file as "a bit like looking in a really pasty mirror". [SD 33] Despite having argued to be her sponsor, [SD 33] Tabitha is initially aloof and antagonistic towards Leigh (identifying as Will at the time); [SD 9] for her part, Leigh initially has a certain degree of respect for Tabitha's "professional detachment". [SD 13]
Leigh attempts to fight back during the October examination administered by Karen and is tased and struck by Tabitha. Following the examinations, Tabitha is approached by Steph. who requests to talk to Aunt Bea concerning the treatment of the basementees. [SD 12]
Following Declan's washout, Leigh becomes convinced he has been killed and that the rest of the intake are similarly doomed, which leads to Leigh teaming up with Ollie and Raph. Led by Leigh, the three stage a surprise attack against the sponsors on November 27th, where Leigh slams Maria's head into the concrete floor, seriously injuring her. [SD 17] In the wake of the attack, Leigh is confined to her cell, where she is kept shackled to the bed.
Tabitha is present in the kitchen with Indira when Lorna arrives to investigate the Hall. She attends an emergency sponsor meeting afterward to help assess the situation. [SD 20]
Upon disclosure on December 2nd, Leigh reacts by "shutting down" in despair, a response that vexes Tabitha and the other sponsors. Later, in her cell, Leigh's only reaction is a barely audible “It’s not fair". [SD 20] On the 5th, Tabitha informs Stephanie that Leigh has asked to talk to her. After a tense conversation, Leigh asks Steph to tell Tabitha that she has decided to stop resisting the programme and is "done" being Will. [SD 21] [SD 21]
After Lorna is read-in and on board with the Hall, she offers to help solve Tabitha's dating issues by setting her up with a trans man named Levi. Tabitha eagerly accepts. [SD 22]
With Maria still out of commission and Bea away searching for Valérie, Tabitha takes charge when Shahida arrives on December 11th to investigate the Hall's connection to Mark Vogel's disappearance. [SD 22] By chance, she is outside the Hall when Shahida returns the next day, having followed Melissa back to the building on her way to attempt to rescue Steph. She leads Shahida to the kitchen where she is read-in with the assistance of Lorna, Vicky, and Paige. [SD 25] When Melissa has been subdued and calmed down, Tabitha sends Monica to retrieve Melissa's car and bring in her luggage. [SD 26] Later, Tabitha sanctions "bringing in" Shahida's parents and allowing Melissa to reconnect with Shahida's mother. [SD 32] Shahida later recalls that Tabitha wasn't intimidating before she was read in because it was clear "how little her heart was in it". [SD 34]
On December 13th, Tabitha comforts Christine when she shares that she has not been sleeping well due to guilt from her past life and plans to return to her hometown of Brighton to vist; Tabitha encourages her to go and forgive herself. [SD 26]
Tabitha leads Leigh's reintroduction to the common areas from the cells on December 16th, where she apologizes publicly to Maria for attacking her and to Adam for betraying his trust. Adam rebuffs the apology. Leigh is led out and returned to his room. Afterward, Tabitha takes Steph to Leigh's room again for the two to talk and attempt to build a friendly report. [SD 27]
After Shahida is read in, Tabitha becomes something akin to her liaison at the Hall and the two have a warm report. [SD 31] When Shahida approaches Tabitha with the idea, she approves a visit by Rachel and is present to supervise when she first arrives at the Hall with Shahida and Melissa later on the 16th. The three women spend the night in Melissa's room on the second floor of the Hall; a spare room which Tabitha had recently help set up. [SD 28]
Tabitha attends the 2019 Christmas Eve Party; she is dropped off by Levi who is walking with her when they run into Melissa, Shahida, and Rachel. The two share a kiss before Levi departs. After Rachel departs soon after, Tabitha, Melissa, and Shahida discuss possibly reading her in. [SD 30] At the party, Melissa reveals to Tabitha that she is considering moving back to the Almsworth area; Tabitha encourages her to do so and reassures her that she can also keep a room at the Hall as long as she needs. [SD 31] Later that night, Tabitha joins Monica in making cocktails for the remaining partygoers; afterward, Bethany recalls having a raspberry drink she'd made, Pippa complains about an "enticingly purple liqueur". When Monica proceeds to arm-wrestle everyone at the party, Tabitha declines. [SD 33]
Leigh
On Christmas Day, Leigh expresses to Christine that she is frustrated in her lack of progress; when she has an outburst, Tabitha steps in to talk her down. [SD 32] The next day, Tabitha takes special care on her appearance before going to see Leigh, specifically doing her hair and makeup and choosing her clothes to best convey her love for her (liking her "will come with time"). Nursing her suspicions about Leigh's state of mind, Tabitha mentally prepares herself for full disclosure. Tabitha takes her to secretly observe Ollie in his cell, to show Leigh how much progress she has actually made by comparison. [SD 33]
After returning from the visit to Ollie's cell, Maria has to warn Leigh to stop misgendering and deadnaming Bethany and Steph. Afterward, Bethany parades around the common room in a "slutty" catholic schoolgirl uniform and wig and makes out with Steph in order to make Leigh uncomfortable. Provoked, Leigh removes herself to her room, and Tabitha finally recognizes her distress as envy. When pressed, Leigh confesses that she has wanted to be a girl "forever". [SD 33]
Two days later, at Maria's insistence, Tabitha allows Bethany to confront Leigh in her room. Bethany pushes her to face herself by again dressing in an overtly feminine style and putting emphasis on her male name. [SD 33]
On December 30th, Beatrice enlists Tabitha, along with Christine and Paige, to deal with the growing Melissa / Shahida / Rachel / Amy situation, which has been approaching an imminent "reckoning". At the same time, it has also been decided, "somewhat over her head", that Leigh needs to be present at the first group "bitching session" in the basement and thus needs to be administered final disclosure. Meanwhile, Leigh's belief in autogynephila is shattered after reading an essay provided to her by Tabitha, triggering a bout of self-loathing that results in a self-destructive outburst in her room. After talking her down, Tabitha completes disclosure. Excusing Leigh from the group meeting, she encourages her to begin exercising to vent her frustrations, working out with a punching bag and sparring with Tabitha and Monica in a repurposed "prep room" in the upper basement level. Afterward, having missed most of the meeting with Melissa, Bea assigns Tabitha to work out the details of reconnecting Melissa with her late mother's close friend Jenny Yau; Bea reminds Tabitha of her one rule about operational security: "You broke it, you bought it". [SD 34]
By January 2nd, Tabitha and Monica have relocated the makeshift gym to a more permanent location further down the corridor. [SD 35] Exercising provides Leigh with a cathartic release, after which her temperament begins to improve; she also begins openly wearing a sports bra and fingerless training gloves around the basement. [SD 34] She eventually also joins Steph in practicing yoga, alongside Bethany, Raph, and Pippa. [SD 44]
Tabitha is present in the kitchen when the three Stenordale escapees arrive on January 5th; defying Maria's order, she opens the doors to allow them in. After introducing herself to the three escapees, she assesses the situation and leads Trevor away to get medical attention, taking a detour to a storage room on the the first floor to get him a change of clothes. When Trevor becomes distressed, Tabitha reassures him that the Hall can help him detransition and that he can feel safe from judgement while residing there. Collecting himself, Trevor makes a request to Tabitha to go easy on Frankie, revealing that she allowed Beatrice to escape back in 1988. [SD 37] Tabitha takes him out to the Peckinville portacabins where he is introduced to Jan Golding and Dr. Fatima Rahman, who stitches up his neck. [SD 38] Before departing, Tabitha hugs and chats briefly with Jan, who had requested to see her earlier. [SD 35] Tabitha informs Beatrice and Edy of what Trevor told her about Frankie. [SD 37] [SD 38]
As the commotion clears, Tabitha is put in charge of taking care of Trevor and keeping an eye on Frankie. With the basement short-staffed, she approves Amy volunteering to help watch a shift with Jane and Melissa. [SD 37] Tabitha drops Frankie off in the security room while she goes to help cover the basement shift; thanks to this, when Ollie's suicide attempt is discovered shortly after, Frankie is able to respond immediately and save his life. Tabitha goes upstairs to disperse the girls gathering in the dining hall and returns to the basement to brief Steph and the others on Ollie's status. [SD 38]
By January 11th, Leigh stops going by her deadname, mainly as a concession to Tabitha's need to have a way to address her. Tabitha informs her of Declan, now Diana, having re-established contact with the Hall following her escape from Stenordale. [SD 39] Tabitha helps facilitate a reunion between the two the next day; after their conversation, Leigh begins using she/her pronouns. [SD 40]
Melissa
Tabitha oversees the basement lockdown following the discovery of bodies at Stenordale Manor on January 13th. [SD 42] When Gillian and Angela arrive a few days later to help out in the basement, Steph spots Tabitha holding Angela's baby and looking "happier than Steph's ever seen her". Angela reveals that she has revealed at least part of her true history to her wife, contradicting her NPH; Tabitha agrees to not tell Bea. Later, Tabitha and Levi have a fight over FaceTime after Tabitha vents about her desire to have a baby. The next day, yet to make up with Levi and feeling lost, Tabitha reminisces bitterly about her time with Phillip in the basement. [SD 44]
On January 18th, Tabitha apologizes to Melissa about the delay on reconnecting her with Jenny Yau due to the staff and resources necessary to properly vet her. [SD 44] On January 23rd, Melissa strikes out on her own to Jenny's house where she meets both Jenny and, unexpectedly, her younger brother Russ, who storms off when he realizes who she is. After Christine surmises Melissa's location, Tabitha travels to Jenny's house to retrieve her. In the car on the drive back, Tabitha informs Melissa that her NPH has been edited, at great risk to the Hall, to restore her original identity and re-establish her as a trans woman who has been living "deep stealth". Before returning to the Hall, they intercept Russ as he arrives at his flat; the three have a short confrontation where Russ angrily misgenders Melissa but agrees to keep her reappearance a secret. Arriving back at the Hall, Tabitha comforts Melissa until Abby comes to fetch her, and then makes an official action request to Peckinville to have Russ surveilled. [SD 45]
Trivia
Tabltha apparently likes to sleep in; Monica suggests she is fiercely protective of her "beauty sleep". [SD 41]
Notes on biographical information
- Name: The online editions of the series mostly call Tabitha “Tabby”, but these uses taper off by chapter 40, and the Neem Tree Press edition of Welcome to Dorley Hall replaces uses in Chapter 1–15 with her full name. Alyson has said this was an intentional decision:
I originally named her Tabby when I was just filling out a name list for the sponsors. When I started to characterise her, and especially when she started getting POVs, I decided the name didn't quite suit her, that I preferred Tabitha for her. So as the revision process for the books goes on, I'm changing that, and I've been writing new chapters with her name written out fully for a while
- Grad student: It's not actually clear from the text whether Tabitha is truly a grad student at Saints or not -- it is only ever stated to Shahida and Rachel before they were each read in and is possibly just a cover story. However, it seems safe to assume that she actually is a student, given that Maria and Monica are also both senior sponsors in the Saints postgrad program.
- Intake year: Before being revealed in chapter 45, Tabitha's year of intake could originally only be inferred from her birthdate [LL] as being somewhere between 2005 and 2012.
References
| Dorley girls (and a few non-girls) | |
|---|---|
| 2007 intake | |
| 2019 intake | Adam (Edy), Bethany (Maria), Diana (Monica), Leigh (Tabitha), Martin (Pamela), Ollie (Harmony), Raph (Jane), Stephanie (Pippa) |