Counted Stars Application
Player Information:
Name or Handle: Cali
LJ: Email: Caliborn
AIM/ MSN / Plurk name: AIM: Calipso09, Plurk: MetroMyth
Any current characters here?: Garrus :3 Eleven :3
Character Information:
Character Name: Ashley Madeline Williams
Age: She was born on April 14th, 2158. Soooo about 27, during the events of ME2.
Canon: Mass Effect
Appearance: Ashley is a soldier at heart, and her appearance reflects that. She has long brown hair that is always kept back and out of her eyes; she dresses in clothes she can move in, and you will never see her in a skirt. She's got dark eyes, full lips, and a no-nonsense look (Which is really a lie, because she'll joke around as much as anyone, as long as she isn't on duty). She's not conventionally pretty, but can pull of striking fairly well. She looks the type who can mess you up in a fight and won't pull her punches.
Personality: Ashley is aggressive, blunt, and prickly. She tends to charge into things first so that she won't be surprised; make jokes at her own expense before others can beat her to the punch. She is strong, takes no nonsense even from her superior officers, and can be a little intimidating.
Her entire life has been spent trying to prove herself. Growing up, she proved she could be a solid rock and resource for her family while her father was away, though her sisters were more than capable of taking care of themselves. Enlisting in the military, she proved she would not shy away from a profession just because her family was blacklisted, and nothing could stop her from going for what she wanted, despite the rigors and strain it would put on her. In training she proved she was capable, sure, and a good leader-- a damn fine soldier, commended by her drill instructors.
Despite this, it was a struggle to get anywhere in the military; she had an exemplary service record but could get no ship-board postings, nor any sort of post that would put her in the real action. She was always given groundside postings on backwater colonies far away from anything, where her skills and talents were wasted. It was also a struggle to get promoted within the Alliance, when she meets Shepard she is still only a gunnery chief. This unfair blocking of her career and holding her back frustrates her more than anything else; yet despite this, she is professional and talented on the field, constantly striving to do better. As she tells Shepard, 'A Williams needs to be better than the best.' Simply to get notices, Ashley not only has to be good; she needs to be the best, and moreso. She puts a lot of pressure on herself to live up to these standards and despite the odds stacked against her, she strives to excell.
Ashley is most as ease in the military and doing what she does best. Being a soldier isn't just a part of her identity; it's how she tends to define herself, and she would not know how else to describe herself to a stranger. She is a soldier, through and through. It is both a defense and a curse, because it is something she finds shelter with and also something that tends to plague her because of her family's background. Still, it's what she knows best, and what she wants to be. Put her in some armor and give her a gun, and she'll do serious damage while protecting the innocent; put her in a dress and some pearls, and she'll... well, no one has ever seen her in a dress and pearls.
Family is extremely important to her. She has a very close relationship with her sisters. Her father was usually away on active duty when she was growing up, and she grew pretty close with her sisters in the meanwhile. She was the eldest, and is always looking out for them, even now when she herself is away on military duty far too often. Once, when her youngest sister gets in trouble with a boy at school, she takes emergency leave to head back home and walk her youngest sister to and from school. Her sisters come before her military career; this is saying a lot, for someone who sets their whole identity upon being a soldier. She also tries to keep in close contact with them, sending them lots of letters and syncing up for vid-chats whenever possible, especially when she is far away. She takes the time to be there for family no matter what.
Ashley has very firm veiws on human and alien relations. While she has no problem with aliens specifically, Ashley has no problem stating her veiw that protecting humanity will come first for her. She recognizes that a species will always look after their own, and at first has reservations about allowing the aliens on board the Normandy free reign to roam and spy on brand new human technology. Despite this, she works well with the aliens on Shepard's team in the first game, and understands their being there is not her decision to make. She is absolutely loyal to Shepard and will follow any order given to her, including kissing a Turian, if it came down to that. She also spends most of her time in the lower level of the ship, where both Wrex and Garrus hang out, with no problems. Also, if she is sent off to help the Salarian team on Virmire, she works well with them and helps coordinate the teams with grace and composure. She is not xenophobic; she is able to work well with other species and never lets it interfere with her job. Also, towards the end of the game she re-thinks her original reservations and can be convinced that perhaps she was judging them too harshly as strangers, rather than giving the aliens a chance. Her only real reservations was the belief that, in a pinch, a species will protect their own first-- and that humans would be at a disadvantage if they expected Turians or Asari or whoever to vote for humanity above their own species. This she still holds to be true, although she does recognize now that there are individuals in every species, and that she should not judge a book by its immediate cover.
Ashley survives by putting on a face of strong bravado. Her biggest problem with the Reapers isn't so much fear that they're coming as it is frustration that she won't be able to do much to help. As she tells Shepard, she's infantry-- a ground soldier. When the giant starships of death come down, she knows a rifle won't do much to stop them. She wants to be in the fight, wants to make a difference, wants to prove to herself that she's a good soldier-- and feeling useless is one of the absolute worst things to deal with in her world. She believes that the Reaper's arrival would be much easier to deal with if she believed that she could honestly do something to help when they did come.
Overall, Ashley is a pretty honest person, whether you want to hear the truth or not. She's tough, not easily intimidated, and wants to protect her family-- and humanity-- from anything the universe might throw at them. She's intensely loyal to the people who earn her respect, And, most of all: she is a soldier.
Background: Right this way!
Specificifications:
--Her Shepard was male (paragon)
--She romanced him
--He convinced her to give aliens a chance :|
--Kaidan died on Virmire
Canon point: End of ME2. She may have heard about the events of Arrival.
Special Abilities: None, human through and through. She's got intense military training and is rather handy with a variety of guns.
Sect: Civilian, for now.
Job: Does Shepard want her back? ;; She's sorreee.
Samples:
First Person: This is Operations Chief Ashley Williams of the Alliance military. [The woman on the screen leans back, long dark hair falling over one shoulder, her arms crossed over her chest. She's dressed in a tight black tank-top and boyshorts, but despite the underclothes, her expression is intent and commanding.] Requesting a sit rep.
[She waits a moment, then exhales, eyes narrowing.] I don't recognize this tech, and this is ... definitely not where I went to bed. Spare me the 'training excersize' excuses.
Not sure what the game is here, but kidnapping a military officer is a federal offense. Now I don't expect that little tidbit to stop whoever did this, so let's just say I'm also going to make sure that this message bounces to the proper channels. And maybe the parties responsible will decide to have a change of heart before they get blown to hell.
In the meantime, someone better explain what the hell is going on, here.
Third Person:
Ashley was used to dealing with VIs, but having actual robots (or Droids, whatever) was... strange. Holograms and interfaces were one thing, but actual metal bodies rolling around? It was like something out of classic science fiction, one of the vids she and her sisters uses to cuddle up on the couch and laugh at when her father was away from home.
It was easier to laugh at them, to think of them as absurd. Truth be told, if anything, these droids reminded her of... low-tech geth, maybe; if she thought about it too hard, they made her a bit uncomfortable.
But they had brought her clothes. That was something of a peace offering, she supposed. Not armor, and not guns, but pants was a definite start. Still, she'd feel all lot better about being stuck in this place once she had some firepower under her belt. That way, if the droids did all decide to rise up and attack everyone, she could at least empty as many rounds as possible into their metal skulls before they took her down.
But for right now, she was stuck in civies. Facing an alien world in an alien universe with no guns and no unit at her back. No way to contact her family. No Alliance to call for help.
She had to hand it to Shepard-- she hadn't thought it would be possible since Horizon, but today might just be the new worst day in her life.
Anything Else: ROOMMATE PREFERENCE: Can she room with Kaidan please just so they can constantly bromance and "O_o YOU'RE ALIVE" at each other.