Ashley Noel Nettle-Engel

[Ashley Engel]

[ Warning : This profile contains insinuated molestation. ]

The Basics

Name: Ashley Noel Nettle-Engel
Nicknames: Ash
Age: 17
Orientation: Asexual
Desired Rank/Job: Student
Powers: Telepathy - Initially beginning as the sensation of catching whispers in passing, Ashley’s ability manifested as a full auditory capability. Walls and doors hamper her hearing almost entirely, causing large open space filled with people to be a particular bane.

Without proper control, like current, her ability runs rampant as a sort of extra sense. Proximity increases the sound of other’s thoughts, and with any degree of focus on a person or their mental sound, the clarity is improved. Though right now “clarity” exists less as definition and more pure volume. Physical contact also seems to amplify Ashley’s ability to hear someone’s thoughts.

Passively the ability is a wonderful spawner of headaches, nausea, disorientation, faintness, and an abundance of unwanted information. Other symptoms seem to be discovered often, as Ashley’s exposure to people of different types goes on. Currently she has no real control, and cannot “turn off” or “quiet” what she overhears. Most amplification is variable-based, and not often something she can effect by will alone.

In time it would be possible (with practice) for her to develop and legitimately control this.
Control, presumably, would entail being able to turn “on” and “off” the hearing, and focus on singular targets versus her current state of hearing everyone all at once at different volumes. Beyond selective and targeted control, she could in theory project onto targets her own thoughts. On the idea of pulling or searching for select thoughts from others, it seems highly unlikely. The nature of Ashley’s ability it largely rooted in hearing, and being heard. Not a particularly invasive ability. Simply put- the only way she could ever pull a thought from someone would be to trick them into actively thinking about it. For projected thoughts the same idea applies, that active thoughts could be pushed onto others like an overheard voice, but any real senses or memories couldn't be directly forced from her mind to anyone elses’.
Play By: Kelly Pryor

The Details

Hair Color: Brunette
Eye Color: Green
Any Piercings? One in each ear lobe, and one in the upper cartilage of each ear
Any Tattoos? No
Any Scars? Surgical scar across her sternum

General Appearance: Typically the first thing anyone notices about Ashley is her height. At 5'0" she falls well into the short end of the scale for someone of her age and gender, making it the most easily noted detail of her appearance. Outside her height (or lack thereof) she’s of a fairly average aesthetic. Her features are donated by her classically-beautiful mother and somewhat effeminate father, in general providing Ashley with a “porcelain doll-like face”. Her cheeks are rounded, giving her a younger look that with her height continually causes issues with people underestimating her age. Despite having full lips and open eyes, she looks more like a somewhat cute child than any really beautiful young woman. Outside the delicate bone structure she has naturally brown hair and green eyes, identical to her father. On a more detailed level, she has a distinctly unpronounced chest for her age and a (surprisingly) toned figure. While she’s no well-built athlete the history of physical training still shows in her muscles- arms especially.

Aside from the physical, Ashley used to appear as a very typical rich girl. Her clothes were brand names, cutting edge in fashion, in all ranges of pastels and a few neons. That was all in the days where her mother was in control of her closet, however. Since moving out into her grandfather's care Ashley was given free reign over her own style choices, and has since been testing the waters of her own tastes. Currently she's enamored with jackets and coats of different varieties. It's rare, even in the summer, to see her without some second layer on. Her favorite selections so far seem to be various cuts and colors of jeans tucked into black boots, with tank tops and t-shirts under a plethora of dark-colored jackets. In the current season she's favoring a leather bomber jacket with a faux-leather collar. When the weather makes this too uncomfortable she tends to default to either a hodded shin-length peacoat-esc style with faux-fur along the hood, or a sleeveless vest with a detachable hood- also with a faux-fur lined hood. Ashley never wears anything that dips more than an inch or so below her collarbone, to avoid showing off any of the scar along her sternum. She tends to prefer long-sleeves, even in hotter weather, and only ever seems to wear boots now.

Also on a side note, she used to have long hair that reached a few inches past her shoulders. After moving out and being free of Elisia's nagging towards her hair, Ashley had it all cut off to a short style. Whether this was out of personal preference or just to spite her mother isn't quite clear.

Personality: Potentially the most outstanding part of Ashley is her personality. While young and therefore still developing the exact nature of herself, some traits are blatant even at her age. First and foremost is the part of her that’s caused the most trouble throughout her life. Most would assume this honor would go to developing metahuman powers, but rather it lies in her mental habits. Ashley, from a young age, was always.. off. Distant, disinterested in others, and often rude in her choices of how to handle people. Over time her disconnected habits and blunt attitude became less and less an “endearing childhood trait” she was expected to grow out of, and became a real issue. By the time she was twelve she was sent to a psychiatrist to analyze the root of the habits. It was through repeated visits and difficult conversation Ashley was declared to have sociopathic tendencies. More technically, an antisocial disorder of some variety. One which Ashley was content to leave alone, and one her parents lacked the drive to curb in her. Thus over the years she grew into the diagnosis rather than against it. In time her therapist recommended she be transferred after a long stint without progress. It was at this point Ashley’s father cancelled the routine altogether. Ever since, Ashley was left to develop into who she currently is- a curious, often oblivious young woman with a clumsy understanding of social norms and no respect for anyone besides herself. While she’s young, and thus still “salvageable” according to her old psychiatrist, she had no personal motivation to work on her arguable issue. So for the time being, while there is still room for her to grow, she is largely characterized by her inability to identify with others or form honest, open investment in other people. Ashley’s abilities socially are limited to an understanding of how people relate to her and benefit her. She can grasp emotions as they occur only to her, and typically has problems identifying and coping with the same thing in other people. Theoretically this could develop into a manipulative personality disorder by the time she’s an adult, but currently she lacks many of the tools needed to properly manipulate people. As it is, she just comes across as nosy, rude, and generally unlikable.

Your Vices

Likes: Coffee, rain storms, privacy, people-watching, “interesting” people/things, complicated concepts, the outdoors, big cities, cats, reptiles, bitter candy, spicy food, and mint
Dislikes: Loud noises, invasive people, most jewelry, physical contact, romance, not understanding something, losing, boring situations/people, people who lack the will to learn, hot summers, being confined, certain textures in food (things like oatmeal, jello), dogs, children, tight people-filled places (like packed elevators), the smell of cherries or fake cherry flavor

Strengths: While somewhat flexible and fast, those traits don’t rank too high above a general average. Most of Ashley’s strong suits are in the way of mental skills. Her memory and ability to learn is outstanding, though it’s never been tested for a numerical IQ rating. Typically puzzle-solving, analysis, and memory-based issues are her forte. While she can typically pick up new skills easily, said skills are rarely things she excels in. She’s good at learning- not so much everything she learns. (There is, indeed, a difference.)

Weaknesses: Sadly Ashley’s mental abilities seem to be where all her strength lies. Physically, while not unfit, she’s incredibly lacking. She’s quick and agile, but not very powerful or even exceptionally fast. In a physical confrontation if she can’t manage to get away she’s overall doomed. With a more or less average stamina she can try to put her quickness to use if the situation is lucky. But overall she can’t dish out a hit, or take more than one. Add in a past medical history that leaves her sternum weak, and she’s largely an easy target physically. Then there’s the social aspect to consider. She could either be a force to be reckoned with (if given the right tools to manipulate others with) or, like current, she could indefinitely rest as an awkward, clumsy person with no sense of the importance of others’ and their emotions. In the end- Ashley is exceedingly smart. She doesn’t have a lot else going for her, though.

Fears: If you asked her, she’d try to say nothing. But the fact of the matter is she, like anyone else, is scared of a lot of things. Big and small. She can’t stand spiders (or anything with several elongated limbs), and has a mild nausea when it comes to heights. For more distinct fears, she hates claustrophobic, contained spaces. She’s also marginally terrified by physical contact (on a forcibly level) and romance. She’s insecure to a fearful degree of how she looks due to the scar on her sternum, and to an extreme degree she’s afraid of being contained and bored her whole life. This fear, while not often apparent, leads her to follow a certain reckless drive. Even though she’s not much of a thrill-seeker at her core, she’ll break rules and take risks if the alternative feels too caging.

Secret: She’s human. There are of course a myriad of things about her no one knows, and likely ever will. Notable out of the long list though is that deep down she’s fairly insecure about the things her psychiatrist pointed out to her and her parents. She’s not entirely sure she’s happy being “like she is” but with no clue how to change it or if she should, she’s relatively lost on the topic of her own identity. A part of her desperately wishes someone would affirm she’s fine just the way it is, but the logical parts of her all scream she is indeed just something in need of fixing. Something that likely never will be fixed. This, of course, is all caged and quieted deep down, and as far as she would let anyone know she’s absolutely pleased with her personality and mental state. Aside from this, the only other things worth note are two. One being that when she was younger there was a minor issue with her heart, which was fixed with a minor surgery easily enough. However, that surgery caused sternum complications due to a technical failure by one of the surgeons. A metal plate was put in to strengthen her sternum for a time, but Ashley had a severe allergic reaction to the medical stainless steel. Everyone was soon to learn as she had to be rushed back under for it's removal that she had an intense nickel allergy. The plate was removed and she was forced to stay in the hospital until her sternum healed over time. Since then she's been healthy, save for the allergy and looming reminder that her sternum is fairly fragile and prone to fracture more easily than most. Two is a far more sensitive topic, and one Ashley is prone to pretending never happened. First and foremost, it should be established Donovan Morgan never seemed like a bad person. He was Ashley's dance instructor for some odd number of years and was one of the few tutors she didn't mind keeping around. He was not creepy, cruel, or outstandingly dangerous-seeming. That was the problem. Ashley was lucky that on that particular day Cain was at the house, lingering around upstairs while she went through her lessons. Had he not been, Donovan likely would have gotten away with a lot more than he did. Though what he did succeed in was more than enough to provide Ashley with a new reason to find aversion in other people, and insecurity in herself. Cain drug Donovan outside, and Ashley informed her mother to stop payment for the dance lessons. The event was never talked about after that.

Family Ties

Father: Thomas Nettle ; Lawyer to less than innocent clientele
Mother: Elisia Nettle ; Jobless Socialite
Siblings: None
Any Other Important People:

Benjamin Engel ; her grandfather and pseudo-father/guardian
Cain Croix ; closest (only) friend, a foreign vagrant with dangerous hobbies

History

Ashley Noel Nettle was a daughter born to an arranged marriage of an acclaimed lawyer and a trophy wife. Since toddler years her parents were often absent. Be it Thomas with his work across the country, or Elisia with her serious dedication to a busy social life. Ever since she can remember Ashley has largely been alone, cared for by a rotating house staff. It’s easy to see how her personality could develop into something so disconnected from others, when her largest company was quick to become books and empty rooms.

Throughout her childhood Ashley was cursed with a strong run of bad fortune.
At age five she had to go to the hospital for a minor heart complication. One that should have been easily mended by a routine surgery- and technically was. However the procedure left her with a damaged sternum due to a technical failure by a surgeon. This, too, was meant to have an easy fix. A surgical steel piece was put to her sternum to secure it for a better healing process. Not soon after it was applied though, Ashley was rushed back under the knife. Turns out she was one of the few people in the world with an extreme nickel allergy- enough so that the piece in her chest caused a rather traumatic scare. It was quickly removed, and she was detained in the hospital to heal slowly with close monitoring. After the incident her spooked parents decided the best option to take was not to watch Ashley warily and teach her about nickel’s existence in various objects. Instead they opted to keep her cooped up “out of harm’s way”, where she stayed in their home in deep moose country New Hampshire.

When she was old enough to properly attend school, public and private institutions were avoided for the alternative of home schooling. Expensive tutors were marched in, ranging in all manner of topics from core subjects to languages, to a variety of arts and sports. Ashley, it was quickly discovered, was a rather gifted child. Her excellent memory skills and high intelligence were put to the test time and again with subjects and skills. In the end it was made clear she had a propensity for learning, even when what she was learning wasn’t a favorable subject. (A soccer tutor labeled as “disinteresting” after one month could attest to that.)

Things seemed to be going at a stomachable pace, until around age twelve.
Ashley had always seemed off. Distant, hard to interact with. Even the staff that raised her were rarely treated as anything more than bland fixtures in the halls. Ashley didn’t reach out to anyone emotionally, and rarely communicated well with others growing up. It wasn’t until her schooling had gone on for some time that concerns began to reach her mother Elisia.

Ashley, they would tell her, did not act like normal girls her age.
She didn’t talk about friends (not even the urge to find any) and her ways of speaking were blunt and abrasive at best. Her habits seemed almost manipulative at times, and her unwillingness to bond when the attempts were made was jarring. Elisia, only with her reputation threatened, took action. Upon Thomas’ next return home options were discussed. At age twelve Ashley was sent to a therapist, and appointments were set up for once every week.

The therapist, after extensive questioning and analysis, came to tell Ashley’s parents her verdict.
Sociopathic tendencies. Antisocial personality disorder. There was a real risk of it escalating with time into something worse. (The therapist had given examples of a manipulative personality, but what Ashley’s mother seemed to hear was psychopathic serial killer.)

Following the therapy, Ashley’s parents seemed even more disengaged than they had been. Thomas’ avoidant nature grew worse, his business trips longer. Elisia often stayed out at night in the city hours away, sometimes with friends and others with other men. Ashley never commented on it to anyone. Not the staff, not her therapist, and not either of her parents.

She didn’t really talk to anyone, actually, until the first night she snuck out.
She’d been thirteen and reckless. Puberty was awkward and terrifying, and without a guiding maternal force Ashley was left on her own to work through it. Her bitter rebellious streak grew quick and thick, and soon she was firing tutors and fighting to take control of her own life. The first dramatic step of which was to leave the gilded cage she’d known all her life.

She went into the town late into the night when Elisia was out.
The world outside wasn’t foreign to her as much as it had always been something too out of her grasp to even consider. Once in it she was overcome and overjoyed. She ran and screamed and exploded into atoms of fascination and vibrance. The people in the world she would never really understand, she would surrender that fact. But the world itself in all it’s complicated, boundless detail was something she would marry if given the chance.

Cain Croix was twenty years old when she met him.
They met at a bar, at two in the morning. Cain was stuck in the north country town, his vagrant wallet run dry and resources for travel all exhausted. Ashley, in her curiously naive high, caught his attention. And he the same to her. Perhaps the first real stroke of luck in her life was meeting him that night.

After the first time she snuck out again, and again.
She would come to barter a real allowance out of her parents, purely for cash money to hand over to Cain. Her only stipulation was that he stay in town, at least for one more week. One turned to two, two to five, five to ten. Months went by and the two grew more and more inseparable. Cain was the first person in Ashley’s life to be colorful. While everything else rested in dull gray Cain and his messy blonde hair and too-honest blue eyes was neon. They became friends and siblings and lovers all at once. They were soulmates, not in any truly romantic sense. But in the way two broken pieces of an object would come together seamlessly. They were of the same cloth, the same particles that dispersed into identical cosmos.

Time, unforgiving, marched on past their union and quickly evolving friendship.
While Ashley fired tutors and declared to have reached the end of what other people could teach her, her body began it’s final rapid change.

At age fifteen, her ability manifested.
She was lucky enough to know of metahumans from Cain, who was one. Her own waking power was vastly unlike his own, though, and while his heart and mind were always in the right place there was little he could do. One day she woke to whispers and mutters throughout her house, and the next Cain’s visit left her a crumpled, nauseous mass in the floor. One more after that, and a knocking came on her front door. Recruiters. Terribly efficient workers, they were.

The powder keg of Ashley’s home was sparked.
Elisia flew into a rage, blaming the blonde who refused to leave her daughter’s side. Thomas was called in from work, and true to his avoidant nature he hesitated to do anything at all. An argument raged while strangers spoke of legal ability to pull Ashley from the home and into a school in Vermont. Cain stood between her and the separate forces of strangers and her parents, but even his good intentions only added to the maelstrom of thoughts and screams in Ashley’s head.

In the end, it was indeed technically Cain who saved her.
Is there anywhere else you could go? He’d thought, in reference to whisking her out of the room. Out of the house. Away from the chaos. What she’d found in his words was an idea, though.

Ashley’s grandfather Benjamin was, in so many words, a businessman. In many others, he was a CEO and proud controlling force of a medical supplies company branching into foreign markets. He was also notoriously gifted in the ways of manipulating people. Ashley wasn’t the only person in her competitive business-minded family born with difficulty in coping with others. While they were hardly emotionally close, when she called Benjamin in a panic he delivered.

In two day’s time Ashley was being moved away from her parents.
Benjamin Engel was being declared her legal guardian, after a particularly loud “discussion” with her parents. The recruiters were given promise and signed paperwork, and as Ashley’s things were being sent to her grandfather’s New York penthouse, she was being sent to Hammel.

It was, from afar, all good news. But the fine print meant she was going somewhere Cain could not follow. While Benjamin himself had no issue with the boy, he did have trouble with the idea of someone twenty-two to Ashley’s fifteen accompanying her to school. So he compromised. Phones were purchased for the two, and contact was kept between them even as she flew out to Vermont. Cain, with all his saved money, returned to traveling the country haphazardly.

Ashley’s time at Hammel was a mere month long.
The reason being Benjamin. Ever the businessman, his intentions rested overseas. Europe was an expanding market for his trade, overseeing developments in another country was beyond simply profitable. Ashley’s mandatory education came first, though. Or so he’d thought initially, until more research into the nature of the beast illuminated a new option.

One month into her term at Hammel, Ashley was transferred.
By law, she could be moved closer to family for a more comfortable attendance. And who would be in Europe, but Benjamin and his new residency? His motives were very clearly explained to Ashley in private. His business would have an easier time flourishing while he made in-person connections, and on top of it all her involvement with other metahuman children was an exploitable avenue. Nothing could open doors better than her friendship with the children of influential people.

Ashley, in so many half-interested words, agreed.
The move to Switzerland was relatively quick and painless. Benjamin’s new home was sensibly grand, and Ashley’s transfer into Kocher was smooth. Everything, in theory, was flawless.

After her first term overseas, reports reached Benjamin.
While her academics were near flawless and her commitment to her language classes was commendable, less could be said for her focus on her power. She avoided other students at all costs- even going to far as to avoid the cafeteria and meals. Her practice with her power was nigh nonexistent, and her attitude towards the staff doing their best to help was.. unpleasant, on the good days.

Benjamin, first and foremost, was left in charge of the choice.

After her first year at Kocher, Ashley was transferred again in a return to Hammel.
She didn’t feel any guilt towards not practicing, or avoiding students. What she felt was like she had lost. Benjamin’s expectations had not been met, and while no disappointment was really noticeable, she felt it in him all the same. His thoughts never gave her insight to prove the notion, but she didn’t need them. She told herself she’d let him down, and that was proof enough for her.

So they returned stateside with a large air of unspoken intentions.
Benjamin’s time was demanded by his work, and in the summer between terms Ashley was again left in an empty home. And, again, it was filled with company. Cain.

Not more than a week back in America, and the boy was knocking at her door.
The summer was filled with more bad choices than she’d ever made in her life. She stayed up too late and made too much noise. She pierced her ears (avoiding any options containing nickel) and cut all of the long hair Elisia had loved off. Benjamin funded her first trip out to purchase her own selected wardrobe, and the hot summer was filled with illegal fireworks shot off the balcony. Life was good.

And then the school term came around again.

Ashley was enrolled again in Hammel, and just like the time before Cain left before she was sent away. This time, though, was with a cliche little summer promise between them.

It was during a night when they’d stayed up too late and slept too little the day before.
She’d sat, wearily watching the stars on the roof, and Cain had broached the topic she’d needed desperately to have forced on her.

What did she want to do with her life? Where did she want to go?
She kept repeating on loop. I don’t know. I don’t really care.

The conversation drug through apathy in a cycle before Cain had enough.
He took her out, deep into the city. As the night raged on in bars and clubs, he lead the way out of their secluded corner of the city into it’s heart. Into the swarms of people on the streets, thinking loud and wild. Ashley collapsed on the sidewalk, and Cain took her home. There, ill and exhausted, he made her a promise.

The day she could go outside where walls and windows wouldn’t keep her safe- the day she could walk among strangers and not be overcome by herself -that would be the day he would take her away. Anywhere she wanted to go, just the two of them. Not for people. Just for places. He promised her she’d see the Grand Canyon, and Niagra Falls. He would show her the worst greasy diners in the world, and the best five-star restaurants. A world with no grades and rules and expectations. Just them and vague destinations. All she had to do was focus. Go to school. Seriously apply herself to getting better with what she could do.

“When you can control your power, instead of it controlling you, we’ll run away from all these things you hate.”

He’d told her that in the early morning hours before she fell asleep.
A month later, the term began. A month later he’d skipped town, texting all the way, and she packed her bags for Hammel Institute. Benjamin never heard a word about the promise. He didn’t need to. All who needed to know, did.

So, phone close to heart and personal motivation finally found, Ashley left for Vermont.

Roleplay Example

“It’s time for-” the older woman started softly, but Ashley simply walked past her mid-sentence and went to her room down the hall.
Ashley knew exactly what time it was, and didn’t need to be told by anyone. She was particularly unlucky in the fact that she was both incredibly intelligent, and financially well to do. One or the other may have made for a good enough life, but the two together were (in her opinion) disastrous. Boredom was an affliction that struck anyone with too much money, or too many brain cells. Her having both was largely bad because it left her with an overabundance of boredom. Nothing was amusing, and the older she got the worse the sensation grew.

As a child, it had been theorized and whispered about and largely ignored. In her mother’s caste of society, the thing to do seemed to be ignore a problem and not talk about it. Ashley personally didn’t understand what on earth that was supposed to do to help it, but bringing the topic up with her mother sounded about as smart as shooting herself in the foot.

So instead she’d gone along with the pretending game like nothing was wrong. By the time she was a preteen, and tutors were on a regular schedule to the house, things became problematic. Her remarks during lessons garnered poor attention, and soon people were asking her mother what was wrong with her. Only then, when Elisia’s reputation was at stake, was something done. Ashley was given a new addition to her schedule. Weekly visits to a therapist, every wednesday at noon.

Today she took her time in changing out from her pajamas to decent outside clothes. Her mother was in charge of her wardrobe sadly, which left a large selection of dresses and heels, and only two pairs of sleek suit pants with overly feminine button-up shirts. Ashley sighed to herself as she picked the least offensive combination of black suit pants and pastel shirt, and fought with a pair of dress heels briefly. By the time she made her way out to the car, she was running five minutes late. The driver made a point of bringing up that fact twice on the ride out from her home to the city.

When Thomas and Elisia were married, Thomas’ present to Elisia (because of course she had demanded one) was a house. He called up the best architects his money could buy, and left Elisia in charge of her ideal home. It was built in their extended honeymoon, in a scenic expanse of sloping greenery outside a small town in New Hampshire. Just an hour away was a bustling city, where Elisia typically fled to for cafe dates with her “friends” and other dates with male company. Ashley was fairly certain Thomas knew what his wife was doing, but neither of them had a particular drive to bring it up. Things functioned well enough as they were.

Which was another reason she didn’t have a large taste for her therapist.
The woman, Margaret Thinder, was nosy. Which, arguably, her profession required. But that didn’t make it any less annoying for Ashley to sit through. She’d been dealing with the woman for going on two years now, and each weekly session seemed notably worse than the last. The only thing to come out of the awful experience was a new interest in psychology. After their first meeting Ashley had taken to reading on the subject, just to better understand the woman’s tactics.

Today, like all the previous meetings, Margaret answered the door to her office with a smile and an invitation to sit. Ashley’s driver waited in the lobby as Margaret shut the door and discretely turned on a recording device Ashley was fairly certain she wasn’t supposed to notice.

“So, how have you been?”
Margaret always started things off the same way. Ashley just stared at her, dull green eyes testing out what look boredom and irritation reflected the best in Margaret’s thick-lens glasses.

“Fine.” Ashley said curtly.
No further detail, no invitation for reciprocation. The usual. Margaret’s thin lips twitched slightly.

“Has anything interesting happened in the last week?”

Nothing I would tell you about.
“I fired my last tutor.”

At that, Margaret’s eyebrows rose and she straightened just slightly in her seat.
“Oh? Did something happen?”

“Yes. I just told you what happened.”
“Well, I realize that, what I meant was-”

Ashley sighed as Margaret explained. She already knew what Margaret meant. She was being a smartass. But, apparently without the right inflection, that was missed entirely. Or maybe Margaret was just stupid. Ashley hadn’t decided yet.

Margaret pried about the details of the event, and Ashley took to staring at the details of the room. It was largely unchanged from the last time. A few books were in different places in the bookshelf, there were exactly two less pieces of paper on the desk, and the picture frame on the leftmost corner was turned roughly five degrees more to the right. Inwards. Towards Margaret. She’d moved it to look at the contents, most likely.

Ashley wasn’t really sure what someone would keep a picture of on their desk, so she couldn’t follow the thought of what might be bothering Margaret any further. Something was on her mind at work though, and that was worth noting.

“He was unable to teach me anything new that I cared about, so I fired him.”
“Your mother let you do that?”

It was Ashley’s turn to twitch slightly. They had already -briefly- gone over Ashley’s lack of control against her mother’s whims in the house. (A bitter conversation which had started on the topic of a particularly ugly pink dress.)

“My mother doesn’t care enough to micromanage my education. If I fire a tutor it means I won’t listen to any one she hires after, so she knows there’s no point in fighting about it.”
Ashley crossed her ankles and stared at the gold and black nameplate on the edge of Margaret’s desk. She imagined it was there to compliment the diplomas and certificates on the wall, declaring that Margaret was indeed allowed to sit in a chair and legally tell people their brains were wrong.

“Well. It’s certainly impressive.” Margaret smiled but Ashley didn’t look.
“A girl your age finishing school? Will you be going to college soon?”

Ashley was fourteen. She’d been homeschooled all her life, but not yet legally tested for her diploma. Elisia didn’t care to learn how the system worked, and honestly neither did Ashley. Her mother kept paying for tutors, and Ashley kept reading and learning until it felt like all they had to teach was boring. Then she started telling them to not come back and to inform Elisia about stop payments. (A few hadn’t, and one was still getting paid to not show up. Ashley didn’t care enough to tell Elisia- it was funny.) By and large, her motivation to formalize and certify her education was nonexistent.

College, especially, seemed pointless. She had no will to go to more school and get a degree. Mostly because she had no want for a job. What was the point? Jobs were boring.

“Who knows.” She shrugged and slumped in her seat slightly.
Margaret slowly removed her glasses.

“Miss Nettle. I think I should bring up something important with you today.”
Ashley didn’t look away from a point on the wall where something had been nailed in then removed.

“I feel like we are not making a good amount of progress together.”
Still, she didn’t look over. But the teasing idea of all the psychoanalysis being over was pleasant.

“So, I’m transferring you as a patient to another therapist.”


Ashley audibly groaned and stood. Margaret looked surprised, but didn’t say anything right away.

In the same motion of standing Ashley moved, turning abruptly towards the door and walking to it briskly. Margaret fumbled to stand.

“M-Miss Nettle, I-”
“If you’re transferring me, there’s no point in talking anymore. Besides, you’re boring Margaret.”

Ashley shut the door behind her and motioned for the driver to get up and lead the way outside.
As far as Margaret knew, Ashley was insecure over her mother controlling everything. What she wasn’t aware of, was that Ashley had figured out the system by the time she was seven.

Elisia paid the housestaff. Then, she treated the staff beyond poorly.
As long as they were paid, they did their job. But because Elisia was a bitch, none of them told her when her daughter broke the rules. So, the driver lead the way out and started the car as Ashley got inside. Instead of going straight back home, they stopped by the library.

Ashley would never understand people “correctly”. But she understood books and money and how to use people, and really it was all just the same thing in translation. As long as she had money and books, she didn’t care about other people.

What About You?

Name: Typically I go by Vox, though my username on here is Halcyon. Feel free to call me Vox or Hal, whichever floats your boat. I think my chatango thingy is Voxxer, so most might go for Vox?
Age: Early twenties.
Experience: Roleplaying in general? Oh, good graces.. years? I think, like most people, I got started in the old neopets craze back when I was around 13? I’ve been working on it ever since. (Even trying to make a career out of it, currently.)
How Did You Find Us? I just typed in “top roleplaying forums” into google and clicked around. Wound up here- maybe from an ad site? I’d have to dig through my history at this point to recall.
Ready To Play? Oh. Uh. I wasn’t expecting this part. Yes! (salutes) I arrived ready and willing! Sir? Miss? Er.. Person/s!

[Ashley Engel]

Ok, I couldn't sleep and wound up editing a lot of things based on suggestions I saw on previously accepted profiles. And just general rules I reread, so on and so forth. I'm telling myself I'm done touching it now, lest I keep getting carried away with nit-picking. So I'm just gonna bump it (I'm supposed to do that when done, right?) and swear to leave it alone now.

[Ashley Engel]

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to bump this again or not. (Oops?)
At any rate, I finished editing for more power description, and a (hopefully) smoother timeline after some lovely help. I'm ready for a review whenever anyone has time. Thanks in advance. =)

[Admin!]

Almost!

Welcome to Hammel, Vox! Ashley is looking good with the edits, and I only have a couple of notes for her before she can be accepted.

First, can you clarify what you mean by the telepathy working in her sleep? If you mean that she can hear other people's dreams, that will not fit with Hammel, as that qualifies as dream walking, which is a separate power and cannot be combined with telepathy.

Second, her memory will need to be toned down a bit. She can certainly have an excellent memory, and her ability to learn quickly is fine as well, as a function of her intelligence. However, near perfect recall/eidetic memory also constitutes a separate power on Hammel that cannot be combined with telepathy.

Lastly, please make sure that the title of the application and her name section match, so just edit the application to "Ashley Noel Nettle-Engel".

Once you have made these edits, please bump for another review by staff.

[Ashley Engel]

I meant less that she hears dreams, and more in line with the concept that the mind still subconsciously operates in sleep. Thus there are still muddled “thoughts” taking place, which she in turn picks up on to some degree. Like when there’s a tv on in another room but it can still be heard/still wake someone up. However, this detail is largely a passive thing and not in any way integral to her design/power, so I removed it in the edit just in case.



I removed mention of any “eidetic” labeling and left her memory described as a personal strength, presumably with room for errors and human forgetfulness from time to time versus a more powerful “flawless recall” concept.



Finally I edited the thread name, though I would like to ask if it’s still alright for me to keep my display name with a singular surname? Mostly for a sense of brevity as she would only use one in introductions and written terms. If not, it's not a large concern, really.

Also, before I forget to make note of it, thank you for taking the time out to give feedback. I understand it's due process for applications, but I know it still requires someone to take time out of their day and really put effort into this. So I appreciate it, and I hope the edits I made help the process along. =)

[Admin!]

Accepted!

Welcome to the Hammel Institute! Go do your CLAIMS and have fun!

And it's fine to leave your account display name the way it is.