Ashley Stillons II

[[Category:{{#switch:|File=Files|Template=Templates|articles}} in need of completion]]

<infobox>

<title source="name"><default>

Ashley Stillons II

</default></title> <image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group> <header>Basic information</header> <label>Civilian name</label> <label>Alias(es)</label> <label>Gender</label> <label>Worm start</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> </group> <group> <header>Personal Status</header> <label>Status</label> <label>General location</label> <label>Family</label> <label>Relationships</label> <label>Occupation</label> </group> <group> <header>Parahuman Status</header> <label>Legal status</label> <label>Team(s)</label> <label>Previous team(s)</label> <label>Power</label> <label>Known classifications</label> </group> <group> <header>Media</header> <label>First appearance</label> </group> </infobox> Ashley Stillions,<ref name="SB4">Damsel: Ashley Stillions - Private conversation with Wildbow, archived on Spacebattles</ref><ref name="II3.3 e4"/> known at Parahumans Online as Mangled_Wings is a nascent hero.

Personality

Ashley's personality can be said, especially by her, to be a distilled version of the original.<ref name="II3.3 e4"/> Ashley has has the original Damsel of Distresses (hereafter referred to DoD) personality and some memories.<ref name="II3.3 e2"/> She has a hard time remembering her childhood while her actions in combat like in the 'Boston Games' were much more clear.<ref>“Would’ve been in Boston. The slang term in the ‘scene’ was the Boston Games.”

Ashley smiled for the first time.
[...]
“Heroes, like the PRT, and like my family’s team, followed, to try and keep the peace until things settled. My family’s team was Lady Photon, Manpower, Flashbang, Brandish, Lightstar and Fleur.”

“The heroes without masks,” Ashley said.

“Yeah,” I said.

“I remember them. I was one of the villains who flocked,” Ashley said. - Excerpt from Flare 2.5</ref> Remembering that she fought New Wave when the hero team came to Boston to help with the Villain situation. Similarly she remembered that, fortuitously, she was not a multitrigger.<ref>Cap: I’m so glad I don’t have to deal with the cluster-trigger clusterfuck

Heart_Shaped_Pupil: Amen.

Mangled_Wings: Agreed. - Glow-worm P.6</ref> <ref> - Excerpt from Flare 2.5</ref> Like the original DoD she does do dramatic monologues but it is unknown if the original DoD could distinguish this as the push from her shard that this Ashley can.<ref name="II3.3 e678"/>

Like other S9000 clones, given Bonesaw's messy and inaccurate cloning process, Ashley started out with a cobbled together collection of memories,<ref name="26.3c1">Though it’s somewhat justified in this instance as they don’t retain their full memories – only cobbled-together personalities and histories. - Comment by Wildbow in Sting 26.3</ref> with some memory bleed from the shard,<ref name="I25 e2">He followed obediently. “Where’s my Catherine? She’s my…”

“Your mom, silly billy.” Cognitive dissonance would be bad. He could lash out. Not that he was that dangerous, like this.

“I was going to say wife. And I have two children. They’re seven and five. Except I’m…”

“You’re seven. You’re thinking of your sisters.”

“I’m confused,” he almost mewled the words. “It hurts, so much of it hurts to think about. I- I let a lot of people down. I can feel their disappointment like… like it’s pressing in on me from all sides. I can’t hide from it and I can’t stop myself from caring. I-“

“Hush,” she said. “It all gets better when you wall yourself in, doesn’t it?”

He nodded mutely.

“Walling you in,” she said, as she put him on top of the stand. A press of the button raised the glass enclosure. She could see him relax a fraction at that.

A bit of a problem, Bonesaw mused, as the container filled with the nutrient fluid. - Excerpt from Interlude 25</ref><ref>Greendoor65: And Damsel snaps because she lost a training exercise. Honestly, it seems kinda really bad idea to have a former S9 member on your team, Amnesty or not for exactly this reason.

Also, huh, are they saying that the Clones retain some memories through the Shards (If distant and faded)? If so, that's interesting as hell.
ughzubat: In Riley's interlude she talks about the first batches of clones having some memory bleed over, she theorizes it's because of their shards
Wildbow: Good recall, yep. 15 points to Cauldryn. - Conversation with Wildbow on Reddit</ref> and a less mature connection to her shard.<ref name="I26e1">The entity observed the ongoing conflict. No less than five seconds after it had been trapped, two figures had emerged from a doorway between worlds. The entity could see the paths forming, trace them back to the source. Another world, a living world without a shard occupying it.

They engaged the eight with their own perception abilities, intervening to assist a group of others. As a pair, they opened fire with guns, then waded into hand to hand combat.

The entity looked at the male, and it saw the connection to the same shard as the eight. His connection was stronger, more mature. - Excerpt from Interlude 26</ref> However the child tinker also tweaked the psychology of her subjects to make them more stable and effective.<ref name="I25 e2"> Her test runs with the others had all worked. They were close enough to feel familiar, even if little details were off. Their personalities, their approaches, all would be close enough. Here and there, she’d fixed things, corrected the most detrimental personality traits that had been turned against them and allowed them to be captured or killed. - Excerpt from Interlude 25</ref> Because of this gaps remain; she was not originally familiar with computers or Parahumans Online, likely lack of life experience and her programming, but learned quickly.<ref name=":0">Strange_Mammal:you said you hadn’t really used a computer before
Mangled_Wings: I hadn’t.  I’m a fast learner.
Cap: this is A?
Strange_Mammal: it’s A…
Strange_Mammal: …we’re using first-letters to stay on down-low…
Strange_Mammal: …until we figure out what we’re doing
Cap: how long did it take to figure it out, A?
Mangled_Wings: Less than an hour. - Excerpt from Glow-worm P.3</ref>

In an argument on PHO in 2014, she described herself as a villain. Who was taking a break thanks to the Amnesty to educate and re-orientate herself.<ref name="P.3 e1">I am a villain. When I give you recommendations about leaving sleeping dogs alone I am referring to myself. When I tell you that you want to get out of the way if I have something I want? Referring to myself.

I am not one of the leeches. I pay for my own apartment. I make no trouble. Yet. Yes I am talking to the heroes. They keep their eye on me and I keep my eye on them. There are other factors. This makes degrees of sense you are not equipped to comprehend. For now it is fine and you should take my word for it.

I’m aiming to get stronger. I’m aiming to get smarter. - Excerpt from Glow-worm P.3</ref> They stated that they "don’t fly under the radar. I know what I am and I know what I’ll be, if I don’t die first" and described herself as "restless".<ref name=":1">Glow-worm P.3</ref> Regardless she had to deal with the fact that her former approach to life had ended with her killed and made into a tool for others purposes. She decided to try something new and joined the new hero team.

Due to how her personality was constructed as well of the nature of her shard she was extremely competitive. Going all in even on training exercises.<ref name="II3.3 e2"/> She still sees herself as Damsel of Distress as opposed to 'ashley'.<ref name="II3.3 e4">Ashley clenched one hand into a fist. “You realize if I hadn’t been holding back, I could have annihilated each and every one of you?”

“Woah,” Tristan said, with emphasis. “Ashley-”

She whirled on him, pointing, and he flinched, going silent. I stood from my seat.

“Ashley,” I said, because I wanted her attention off of Tristan.

“I’m not Ashley,” she said, her voice hard. “Nobody has called me that in a long, long time. I’m only Ashley because the therapists insisted and the others needed an actual name to put on the paperwork. I’m Damsel of Distress!”

“Okay,” I said. “Can we-”

I was spoken over. “I was a member of the Slaughterhouse Nine. They selected me. They had me kill and maim people. I didn’t mind doing it then, and I could do it here without blinking.”

“I don’t believe you,” Sveta said.

“I’ve died and I came back with only the vicious parts of me intact! All of the warmth, the good memories, the family, they’re just a fuzzy, indistinct dream. Those memories have no hold on me. The killing? Taking people’s arms and legs and watching them bleed out? That’s clear as anything. I could do the same to any of you.” - Excerpt from Glare 3.3</ref> Further she held herself in high regard and did not accept insults.<ref name="II3.3 e3">I started my flight toward toward Tristan.

“You’ll regret ignoring me,” Ashley said, behind me.

Pride, respect, they were key factors here. I could remember the meeting, the narrowing of the eyes. I knew Tristan was in a tough spot, but I paused, turning around in the air. I had to raise my voice to be heard with the distance between Ashley and me, as I said, “We’re not ignoring you. We’re dealing with you two against one.” - Excerpt from Glare 3.3</ref>

Relationships

Ashley is a member of the Chatroom group. The others were surprised when she expressed sympathy toward of5's plight.<ref>of5: Mostly.  Obviously not when I’m here.  Hard to strike a balance.  It’s not good times.

Mangled_Wings: My sympathies.

Heart_Shaped_Pupil: !

of5: I… really appreciate that, a.

Heart_Shaped_Pupil: !!

Curious_Cephalopod: please, K.  Let it be. - Glow-worm P.6</ref>

They consider her to be different from the previous Ashley.<ref name="II2.7">“Yes. And gradually trying to get her used to the idea of cooperating with the good guys, making sure she was staying reasonably healthy. They reached out regularly, letting her know there were better options. Except that Ashley was a different Ashley.” - Excerpt from Flare 2.7</ref> She listens to Rain,<ref name="II3.3 e678">“This was an idiotic game, and I. Don’t. Play. Games.”

“Count down from ten,” Rain said.

Ashley whirled on him. I left the ground, flying closer, stopping when things didn’t escalate further.

“Count down from ten,” Rain said. “That’s what Mrs. Yamada says, isn’t it? When you’re wound up.”

“It’s fine when she says it.”

“It should be fine when any of us say it,” Rain said. “Count.”

Ashley tensed. I could see it in her shoulders and the way the tendons stood out in her hands.

Everyone was silent.

I waited. Ten seconds passed. Then the fifteenth, then the twentieth.

“Feel better?” Sveta ventured.

Ashley turned, staring Sveta down. “No.”

“Count down from a hundred,” Rain said.

“I’m not going to-”

“Count,” Rain said, his voice soft. “Please. You’ve said before, when you get like this, there’s a part of you that’s saying you don’t want to act this way, and you can’t listen to it. So listen to the numbers first, then listen to that part of you.” - Excerpt from Glare 3.3</ref> sometimes, and Kenzie is able to connect with her when Ashly has an episode.<ref>Glare 3.3</ref>

She siad she would stay with the group until they failed. Sveta qualified this statement saying that failure in theis case ment such a catostophic failure they eventually crashed and burnt.

Appearance

Originally she was much like her template, being thin almost to the point of androgynous. She is eating far more regularly then the original did. However she seems to have diverged somewhat being described as having full white hair and clear pupils where the original had platinum blond hair and Blue eyes.<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.

“Hi, boss,” Kenzie said, a twinkle of mischief in her eye as Mrs. Yamada gave her a stern look.

“I’m glad you could make it, Ashley,” Mrs. Yamada said. “I’ve spent the last minute or two going over the basics, reminding others about the aims of the group and how confidentiality works in a group session.” - Excerpt from Flare 2.5</ref><ref name="II3.3 e2"/>

Abilities and Powers

Main article: Damsel of Distress

Presumably her powers<ref name="list">Damsel of Distress High recoil 'shotgun' bursts of warped space, disintegration and gravity shearing destroy virtually anything, fling her back. Can be used as mover power Independent/Slaughterhouse 9 Mover Shaker - Parahuman List; bolded edit by Wildbow</ref> are largely unchanged, she claims that her random firing issues are taken care of as long as her hands are maintained.<ref>Flare 2.6</ref> This could mean the previous enhancements that she had were refined and miniaturized to give her greater control.

Letting out full blasts creates a horrible noise.<ref name="II3.3 e1">I heard a noise, and at first I thought it was Chris dismantling the fort. It sounded like someone was tearing the world’s largest sheet of paper, nails on a blackboard, an alien’s scream from a science fiction movie that echoed far more than it should, a sharp explosion, and any number of other things, all overlapping and working against one another. - Excerpt from Glare 3.3</ref>

In a fight she is more energetic then the norm.<ref name="II3.3 e1">She raised her face and looked up at me. White eyes behind a black mask, behind white hair.

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.

Holy shit, was my first thought. She was not letting up. Every time she acted, it was with the energy of a sprinter taking off from their starting position, except her power gave her more of a push, and the jarring noises only magnified the surprise of it. - Excerpt from Glare 3.3</ref> and has a high degree of control.<ref name="II3.3 e44">“It’s obvious you have control,” I said. “Kenzie, can you show the walljump?”
[...]
Kenzie jumped to the scene. Ashley leaping off of the wall with one foot, her power just starting to explode out from her hands. The power looked more solid in projection than it did in reality.
[...]
“The walljump,” I said. “The sequences of blasts to maneuver and the whole-body coordination it must take. That, to me, says control.” - Excerpt from Glare 3.3</ref> This forward moving combat approach makes her very hard to predict thanks to her head to head nature and the chaotic nature of her power.<ref name="II3.3 e2">“Hoo,” I said. My heart was pounding, and I fanned myself a bit with my hand. “You do remember this is a training exercise, right?”

“You do realize my team is going to win this?” she retorted. Her hands shifted position slightly.

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.

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?

I’d relied on instinct to respond to her, and I didn’t love that I’d relied on that instinct. I wanted to be careful and thoughtful about the moves I made and Ashley’s approach allowed absolutely none of that. I was left to digest that I’d reacted to her by fighting, going the opposite direction instead of the Judo-like approach of using the enemy’s strength against them. - Excerpt from Glare 3.3</ref>

History

Background

Main article: Damsel of Distress

Post-Echidna

When Defiant killed the original DoD her DNA was already preserved by Bonesaw, this was used to create several clones for The Slaughterhouse Nine-Thousand. This seems to be the basis for Ashley's claim to have worked with over 20 villains in the past.<ref name=":1" />

Post-Timeskip

She and her finished clone sisters was awakened with the rest of The Slaughterhouse Nine-Thousand and was used in the rampage. Killing several people over the course of the event.<ref name="II3.3 e4"/>

Gold Morning

She was one of the surviving instances of the original Damsel that survived the initial deployment. She formed a family unit with her fellow clone. Then a goddess stepped in and Ashley was used along with other surviving parahumans to end Gold Morning.<ref>I found members of Bonesaw’s Slaughterhouse Nine. Clones who’d fled, or who’d been left behind, lurking in dark corners, or simply hiding. A Mannequin, two Damsels that were keeping each other company, a Night Hag-Nyx hybrid, and a Crawler-Breed hybrid. - Excerpt from Speck 30.4</ref>

Glow-worm

On August 19th Y1, they registered a PHO account from a library computer. They argued about the post-Gold Morning amnesty with other users, then was invited to the Chatroom group.<ref name=":1" />

They claimed that it only took them less than an hour to learn to use a computer for the first time.<ref name=":0" /> However, Strange_Mammal noticed that they had been logged in all day, and concluded that this was a lie. Manged_Wings was angry at the implication.<ref>Strange_Mammal: for your information…
Strange_Mammal: …others can see time you spend online on your profile.  you spent longer than one hour…
Strange_Mammal: …you’ve been online all day.
Mangled_Wings: I am at the library.  Something to do with that, I’d think.
Strange_Mammal: it doesn’t work that way.  I am 95% sure.
Strange_Mammal: there is no need to lie, A
Strange_Mammal: the reason for this project is supposed to be we know each other
Strange_Mammal: K will find out if she does not already know.  she pays attention to those things
Mangled_Wings: If you are 95% sure there is still 5% chance you are wrong.  Assume you are wrong before you get on my bad side.
Mangled_Wings: You do not want to get on my bad side. - Excerpt from Glow-worm P.3</ref>

Capricorn later noted that Ashley was practically living at the library.<ref name="P.7 e1">Cap: C was saying he had to go get lunch soon.
Cap: I think that’s why he left
Cap: A is eating too. she practically living at library now I think.
Cap: but she has to leave it to eat. - Excerpt from Glow-worm P.7</ref>

Early Ward

Arrived at the latest therapy group meeting and came face to face with a former hero.<ref>Flare 2.5</ref>

When taking part in a training exercise she took command of the younger heroes in the group, and went all in for her strategy.

Trivia

• Her life following her creation would have been subject to another quest sometime after PRT Quest had concluded.<ref name="R1">6. Damsel of Distress Quest - pre & post S9, possibly post-Worm, hinting at elements of sequel, North America - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref>

References

<references/>