Editing Ashley Stillons II (section)

==Appearance and Equipment==
Biologically appearing somewhere between eighteen and twenty, Ashley naturally has silver-blonde hair, though her power bleaches it white,<ref name="4.6 e1">“Dye it?” Sveta asked.<br/><br/>“Doesn’t work,” Ashley said.  “I have natural silver-blonde hair, but I use my power-”<br/><br/>She put her hand to the side of her head and used her power.  I stepped back, stumbled into Sveta, then reached out to help her catch her balance.<br/><br/>Ashley’s hair settled back into place.  Her pupils took a long few seconds to reappear.<br/>[...]<br/>“My eyes and hair lose their color,” Ashley said, in a non-sequitur for Tristan.<br/><br/>“You’d lose the dye,” I said.  “Probably.” - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/02/17 Excerpt] from [[Shade 4.6]]</ref> hair that hung down to the small of her back.<ref name="II2.5 e1">The final member of the group entered the room.  She was somewhere between eighteen and twenty, but her height might have been deceiving.  Her white hair was long enough to reach the small of her back, her irises especially pale or similarly white, and she wore a black dress with a dozen straps overlapping in an intricate way at the shoulders and back.  The hem of the dress was damaged at one end.  Threads frayed, polyester melted, with a noticeable hole in it.<br/><br/>“Hi, boss,” Kenzie said, a twinkle of mischief in her eye as Mrs. Yamada gave her a stern look.<br/><br/>“I’m glad you could make it, Ashley,” - [https://www.parahumans.net/2017/12/23/ Excerpt] from [[Flare 2.5]]</ref><ref name="II3.3 e2"/><ref name="II3.3e2">She raised her face and looked up at me.  White eyes behind a black mask, behind white hair.<br/>She used her power again.  Cords, columns, and shaped explosions of lensing, bending, and darkening within the roughly cone-shaped area, over the one or two seconds that she was creating each blast.  She didn’t even rise from her kneeling position.  She threw herself at me, and this time she caught me entirely off guard.  Her knees hit my shoulders, at least one of her arms caught me around the head, the fabric of her dress pulling against my face as she tried to fold herself around my head. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/01/13/glare-3-3/ Excerpt] from [[Glare 3.3]]</ref> She later cut her hair to shoulder length which helped with her swan aesthetic.<ref>I noticed mostly because Lookout was bouncing in her seat, but Ashley was in view now.   Double-vision.  There were two of her, wearing similar dresses.  The one slightly in the lead was our Ashley, our Swansong, with hair cut short.  It had fanned out slightly at the bottom, and where weight had pulled it straight, it had a bit of a twist to it.  Her bangs were similar, but more twisty, pushed over to one side. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/07/10 Excerpt] from [[Beacon 8.3]]</ref> She was thin, but had some degree of muscle.<ref name="II3.3e3"/>

The irises of her eyes were pale, almost white.<ref name="II2.5 e1"/> From a distance or in poor lighting, it was often impossible to make out what direction she was looking.<ref name="II3.3e1">Ashley was on foot.  White eyes were wide open behind her mask, the pupils not visible from this distance. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/01/13 Excerpt] from [[Glare 3.3]]</ref><ref name="II3.3e3">Her face gave away nothing, I realized.  It didn’t help that with the dust, her hair across her face, and the last remaining spots of light in my vision, I couldn’t make out her pupils.  Her hands and where they were pointing were one of her tells.  Her shoulders another.  She was thin, but especially as she crouched there, hands slightly behind her and at her sides, shoulders pointing forward, I could see the muscles underneath the skin around her shoulder and shoulder blade.<br/>Was there power or Manton protection there, keeping her from dislocating her shoulders when she used the recoil to move around like that?  Was it just strength and practice? - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/01/13/glare-3-3/ Excerpt] from [[Glare 3.3]]</ref> When she used her power, her irises and pupils became pure white, leaving her eyes blank for a few seconds.<ref name="II3.5e3">She tipped back her water bottle, finishing it off, and without even lowering the bottle from her mouth, used her power.  Shorter than her prior uses, abrupt.  It made its usual cacophony of noise, my ears ringing faintly in its wake, and it pushed her hair up and back, so it took  a second to fall back into place.<br/><br/>She caught her balance, taking a second before she stood straight again.  Then she looked at me with eyes that had no pupils, no irises, only the white, and only the dark makeup to draw out the eyelashes.  Slowly, her pupils faded back in. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/01/20/glare-3-5/ Excerpt] from [[Glare 3.5]]</ref><ref name="4.6 e1"/>

Ashley has decorous presentation, generally wearing black dresses, one had a dozen straps overlapping in an intricate way at the shoulders and back. Some of the hem and straps had been damaged and imperfectly mended.<ref name="II2.5 e1"/><ref name="II3.2e1">“What’s it good for?” Ashley asked.  She was taking things a step further than Chris’ wearing of the same shorts.  She wore the same dress she had worn at the meeting, the damage at the corner mended imperfectly.  One of the straps, I realized, had been damaged and patched, but her hair masked much of it.  She had a black mask in her hand, but she hadn’t put it on. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/01/09/glare-3-2/ Excerpt] from [[Glare 3.2]]</ref> She would accessorize this with black makeup, nail polish and even masks, much like the previous DoD had done.<ref name="I1ii eDoD">A young woman entered the restaurant.  [[Prancer]] almost thought it was the first of the influx, but she was alone.  She was an older teenager or twenty-something, with long white hair, wearing a black dress and black makeup, and she took a seat alone at the table.  She rummaged in a bag to find a book.<br/><br/>The waitress approached her, kettle already in hand.  The money was passed across the table, and the tea was poured.  A regular.<br/><br/>Her mask was so simple it might as well have not been there.  Curious, too, that she’d come this far to read a book.  Maybe someone would be joining her. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2017/12/05/daybreak-interlude-1/ Excerpt] from [[Interlude 1 II]]</ref> On one occasion, she wore a raincoat with a hood over it.<ref>Ashley was pulling on a raincoat, and Sveta’s hands were clasped in front of her.<br/>[...]<br/>Ashley stood on the sidewalk, her hood up. - [[Flare 2.7]]</ref><!--<ref name="5.3">[[Shadow 5.3]]</ref>-->

By way of a costume she initially wore a black mask<ref name="II3.2e1"/><ref name="II3.3e3"/> that was v-shaped, covering the nose, ears, and around her eyes, leaving her eyebrows partially visible.<ref>“Chris,” Ashley said.  She pulled on her mask.  It was v-shaped, covering the nose, ears, and eyes, leaving just a hint of her eyebrows visible above.  - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/01/09/glare-3-2/ Excerpt] from [[Glare 3.2]]</ref>

As a hero she goes by Swansong.<ref name="5.1">[[Shadow 5.1]]</ref> As Swansong, she wore a black-and-white dress and a mask,<ref>‘B-TV’.  The building loomed above us as we got out of the car.  It was me, Capricorn, Lookout, and, after a short delay for the camera and projector to boot up, Swansong in a dress that combined black and white.  The dress had costume lines and straps that crossed over at the collarbone.  Elegant, but short enough a dress that it could have been indecent. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/08/04/beacon-8-10/ Excerpt] from [[Beacon 8.10]]</ref><ref>A masked Swansong walked with her hands clasped behind her back to get to the rooftop’s edge.  Depending on how the light hit her, her hologram nature would be more or less apparent. - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/07/21 Excerpt] from [[Beacon 8.6]]</ref> with a white smoke effect coming from her eyes, a tinker effect.<ref>“Eviscerate me?” Swansong asked, and even though her voice was calm, I could see the animation in her eyes- if it weren’t for Kenzie’s special contact lenses with their holographic smoke effect, I might not have seen how her eyes moved.  As it was, I could see the starting point for the black smoke as a faint ring at the edges of her eyes.  “You’re making us look bad, and that’s worse.” - [[Heavens 12.4]]</ref><ref>


 - [https://www.parahumans.net/2019/03/29 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 12.x]]</ref> She did need to modify her costume as winter approached.<ref>“You can tell me how I’m supposed to wear a costume with a dress built in, when the temperature is below freezing.”<br/><br/>“I can try,” I said.  I glanced at Sveta, who was now staring into the mirror.  “You might have to wear leggings.”<br/><br/>She made a face, then looked at Kenzie.</ref>
===Prosthetics===
Ashley's hands and forearms are advanced prosthetics looking like normal, slender human hands with black-painted fingernails.<ref>Ashley raised a hand, slender, with black-painted nails. I couldn’t tell that her hand was prosthetic. - [[Flare 2.6]]</ref> Despite this they do not leave fingerprints nor extrude skin oils.<ref>“I found bullet casings,” Ashley said.  She’d veered furthest from the group.  Way off to the side, where the dirt gave way to the still-new, pavement of the highway, she’d found the casings.  Bending down, long skirt blowing against her bare calves, she used a finger to prod one casing.<br/><br/>“Careful you don’t taint the evidence,” Rain said. [...] “I’m… fuck.  I’m the prosthetics tinker, and I forgot about your hands.  You have no fingerprints, no skin oil.” - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/11/03 Excerpt] from [[Polarize 10.4]]</ref>

They are deeply integrated up to her forearms, with power-channeling tubes taking place of bones.<ref name="x.3"/> The prosthetics served to help prevent her power from activating accidentally, as long as they received regular maintenance.<ref>“Reports were that you died.”<br/>“I did,” she said.  “Now I’m back.  My power isn’t holding me back anymore.”<br/>“You get sparky sometimes,” Kenzie said.<br/>“So long as my hands are maintained, I’m fine.  I have contacts.  I’m eating well, I’m sleeping, I’m studying and I’m training.  I’ll do it right this time.  I won’t die this time.” - [[Flare 2.6]]</ref> If they did not receive regular maintenance her fine dexterity would suffer.<ref name="4.4 e1">A moment later, she turned to Ashley.  She lowered her voice, “Do you have powers?”<br/><br/>Ashley nodded.<br/><br/>“Can you?” Presley held out the notebook.<br/><br/>“No,” Ashley replied.<br/>[...]<br/>I was having to get used to having the nice moments be routinely touched with those sour notes.<br/><br/>“I can’t hold a pen,” Ashley murmured.<br/><br/>I looked at her.<br/><br/>She moved her hands from where they rested on her knee.  She turned one over, moved a finger.  It trembled throughout the small movement.  “I’ll have my appointment after we talk to Houndstooth, get tuned up.  Until then, it hurts to move my hands and I don’t trust my power.  That’s why.”<br/><br/>“You could have explained.”<br/><br/>She gave me a look.<br/><br/>“You could have,” I said.<br/><br/>The look was maintained.  Even with the sunglasses she wore, the disdain was clear.  “Ripple effects, you said.  I wouldn’t be revealing it to her alone.  I’d be risking revealing it to everyone she meets from here on out.” - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/02/08/shade-4-4/ Excerpt] from [[Shade 4.4]]</ref> However, as long as prosthetics are not outright damaged, her power would still be safely restrained.

Overall, prosthetics make power expression less intricate, but more reliable.<ref name="x.3"/> If needed Ashley can tear them off, though this heavily damages them.<ref name="Pros">“I’m patient,” Ashley said.  “We’ll entertain ourselves with our side of the investigation.  I won over Llorona, I think.”<br/>[...]<br/>“Then how did you pull that off?” Capricorn asked.<br/><br/>Ashley smiled.  “When she acted like she was better than me because I wouldn’t play, I tore my left hand off in front of her.”<br/>[...]<br/>“It was such a mess,” Rain was almost despondent in tone, contrasted with Lookout’s excitement and Cryptid’s satisfaction.  “I’m the maintenance, you know.  And there’s blood with forced removals like that.  Like, hurry, hurry, get dressed, shoes on, and ''run'', because she might not live if it’s not plugged in right.”<br/>[...]<br/>“Letting the Queen place me at the bottom of the totem pole would have been worse,” Ashley said.  “It helps Rain, too.”- [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/07/14 Excerpt] from [[Beacon 8.4]]</ref>

The prosthetics were created by [[Bonesaw]] but [[Rain]] is able to provide maintenance for them.<ref>Ashley smiled.  “When she acted like she was better than me because I wouldn’t play, I tore my left hand off in front of her.”<br/>[...]<br/>“It was such a mess,” Rain was almost despondent in tone, contrasted with Lookout’s excitement and Cryptid’s satisfaction.  “I’m the maintenance, you know.  And there’s blood with forced removals like that.  Like, hurry, hurry, get dressed, shoes on, and ''run'', because she might not live if it’s not plugged in right.”<br/><br/>“Spooky,” Sveta said.<br/><br/>“Messy!” Rain exclaimed, to Sveta.  To Ashley, he said, very seriously, “''Messy''.” - [https://www.parahumans.net/2018/07/10 Excerpt] from [[Beacon 8.4]]</ref>