Ashleigh Lead

[Thomas]

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ASHLEIGH LEAD

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NAME
Ashleigh Julian Lead

NICKNAMES
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AGE
19

GENDER
Transwoman

[Ashleigh's biological sex is male, but her mental gender is female and she presents herself to others as female through traditionally female attire and the use of female pronouns.]

HOMETOWN
Rustboro City; spent half of her life in Verdanturf Town

APPEARANCE

Ashleigh stands at a near even five foot ten inches when barefoot, although with shoes she's a tad bit taller. Slightly underweight, Ashleigh tries to distract from her small frame and naturally jutting bones with distracting but tasteful clothing and makeup. She sports shoulder length dirty blonde hair that's seen many different dyes in its day that is usually worn pulled back in a loose ponytail, though when the sun is too unforgiving she'll put it up completely in a twist with a large clip. When running, Ashleigh nimbly takes her hair tie out from sheer habit to keep from losing yet another one and always takes the time to brush her hair after she's had it stream with the wind.

She has two piercings on each ear lobe and always wears small gold hoops on the lower holes and small gold studs on the upper. Her face is slightly freckled, especially where her cheek bones lay beneath her honey amber eyes, and she usually makes the freckles' appearance fainter with quick swipes of powder foundation from her ever present compact. The rest of her skin is the medium apricot tone of her face, although her shoulders tend to get a golden tan in the summer. She's constantly applying light pink chap stick (as she has a terrible habit of biting her lip and then tearing the skin off with her teeth) and tends to stay away from lipstick and lip gloss, as she finds the products too sticky for comfort. She's always wearing brown-black mascara that lengthens her otherwise short eyelashes and uses a brown eyeliner pencil on her upper eyelids, but typically neglects eye shadow unless she's going somewhere or doing something that she has to look extra special for.

Ashleigh typically wears boot cut jeans (a variation of dark and light denim; it's just too weird to have a wardrobe of only one shade) and forest green and khaki capris, but is also fond of several skirts and a favourite dress: a spaghetti strap navy blue dress dotted with tiny, dull red birds with a small bow at the waist. The dress comes to her knees and is always accompanied with her favourite pair of cute but functional small heeled sandals that wrap around her ankle and up halfway up her calf.

Not terribly fond of the fashion side of t-shirts, Ashleigh normally sports tank tops or halter tops to go with her jeans or capris. She stays away from solid coloured tops but keeps her designs simple, often featuring only one design in the centre front. The petti coat she keeps for the colder months is solid black and buttons up, zips up, and has a tie close.

Depending on the terrain, Ashleigh wears either a sturdy pair of black boots with a small heel or her trusted pair of sneakers that are far less fashionable, although also far more practical. She keeps her nails painted in all the same colour but not always neatly trimmed; she cuts them only if she has no other choice. She sports a large messenger bag that serves as both her purse and Pokemon bag, although she keeps her six Pokemon on her waist with the specially made belt.

To give the illusion of breasts, she wears a 32 A cup padded bra and avoids low necklines in fear that someone will notice her lack of cleavage. She isn't curvy, but she does wear a waist cincher beneath her tops or dresses to give her body a more feminine appeal. She hides her Adam's apple with an ever present and simplistically designed black choker that has a small silver pendant that dangles from the front.

PERSONALITY

Despite all of the responsibility Ashleigh had to shoulder when growing up, Ashleigh is quite childlike in nature. She's naive and gullible and tries to believe the best in everyone. Her poor judgment lies at her demeanor though; she's very distant and closed off, more of a friend to herself than anyone else is. She can be intimidated easily and avoids verbal fights (but loves Pokemon fighting!) and arguments when possible.

Her social life having been stolen, Ashleigh doesn't really know how it's like to have a friendship with someone that isn't also parental. She harbours fear of it, but is also looking for it and wants to have it. It makes her anxious and for this reason often doesn't look you straight in the eye more than once and is fidgeting with her hands or hair.

She has a strong sense of justice (though quite loose morals) and especially loathes poachers. Although disinterested in police work, Ashleigh hopes to be able to save some Pokemon from poaching. Ashliegh also strongly feels that there is currently no other option but to slay as many of the infected Pokemon as possible. It's lamentable, but necessary and is driven to do as much good in the world as she can.

Ashleigh's strongest fear, aside inadvertently causing the death of someone, is being found out that she's a transwoman, largely due to how they are typically treated. She keeps most physical contact at bay for this reason, coming up with excuses to not hug after helping one another. She is especially shy around men she is attracted to, and often catches small giggles and sometimes even stutters.

HISTORY

Ashleigh was born to a small but financially well off family in Rustboro City and her first name was originally spelt "Ashley", but she legally changed it to "Ashleigh" when she turned eighteen. Her parents had moved to the big city after her father's hard work finally paid off and he officially became an employee of Devon Corporation.

The first nine years of Ashleigh's life were largely prosperous and happy, with the strong exception of her social life and the mandatory schooling that accompanied it. Despite not seeing him often, Ashleigh's father cared for her deeply and often brought Ashliegh new Devon Corporation items before they were officially released to the general public. Since she didn't manage well socially, the majority of those items were not put to use but instead became part of a growing collection that she shared with her mother.

Excelling in academics, Ashleigh found a refuge from the social abuse she endured at school in her many books and consecutively ranked in the top ten throughout her school years. Her passion for learning helped her survive the otherwise traumatic school years, but she also had her mother as a source of protection and guidance, and her father as a source of direction, hoping to one day garner the best qualities from them both, although she is only just recently beginning to believe that she can one day become someone half as good as her parents were.

Ashleigh and her mother both shared a strong passion for Pokemon and the placid beauty of nature. Growing up, the two often went south of the big city to enjoy the tranquil open space together. Her father was less involved in her life as he had to work more than the typical 40 hour week due to his wife's ailment she contracted after giving birth to Ashleigh. The two adults kept the illness a secret from their daughter however, not wanting a child to feel responsible or guilty for something she really had no control over. Instead, Ashleigh's mother tried her best to hide her failing health in every day life and found that the frequent trips to the outdoors and the friendly visits with the amiable Pokemon of passing trainers helped tremendously.

Ashleigh had a hard time making friends in school. Her parents, who were fairly liberal, didn't have an issue with Ashleigh growing out her hair, so long as she took care of it. They didn't see her disinterest in physical activities and Pokemon battles as something alarming; rather, it made them feel safer as parents and they encouraged her favoured sedentary activities that she enjoyed alone at home. Her classmates, however, disagreed.

Ashleigh was five years old when she first realised that she might be different from most other people. She was in her second year of school and enjoying a lesson about Pokemon evolution when the class was momentarily put on hold for recess. The classroom of children hurriedly rushed out of the building and outside to play; Ashleigh followed as the last student, book in hand. Upon reaching a tree to sit under (since the sun reflecting off book pages is so blinding), several students suddenly surrounded her. Some were from her class, others were a few years older. It took a few moments for Ashleigh to notice them, but as soon as she did one of the older boys flipped her book from her hands.

"Don't you know that only girls and fags have long hair?" he sneered, leaning forward some to look Ashleigh in the eye as she shrank back against the tree trunk behind her.

"I... I just like it, it's nice and soft and tickles my back - "

"Tickles his back!" Some boy yelled from her left, the rest howling in laughter at the comment.

"That is a pretty faggy thing to say," a girl pipped in from Ashleigh's right, "but I've seen the way you do things," she continued, taking a step closer to a cowering Ashleigh. "The way you talk to yourself, and hum, and look at your nails and play with your hair... It's as if you don't know you're a boy!"

Ashleigh said nothing in return, her eyes shut down and her head faced down. There were a few more jeers and some threw rocks at her while others kicked dirt up into her face, but then they all left and Ashleigh hurriedly got up, brushing her book off and smoothing its bent pages while rushing back to class, arriving slightly late.

She had her mother cut her hair that very afternoon, but even when she eventually conformed to their gender standards, Ashleigh was continually teased and bullied for her hobby of reading and her less mainstream and oftentimes hand-me-downs.
For the most part though, it was also significantly less violent. In defense and in social outcast, Ashleigh stayed home when she could, happy to talk with her father for a few minutes each day when he came home from work. She grew closer to her mother, but the flawed yet sustainable system was soon fatally disrupted: Ashleigh's father suddenly died.

It was a heart attack. Early for a man his age, but still possible. Ashleigh's mother had him cremated and she kept them in an urn, waiting for the right day to spread them out in the sea. With her father now gone with only a small amount of money to leave and a mother suddenly growing very sick, Ashleigh and her mother had no choice but to move out of Rustboro City and into a smaller, cheaper, healthier town - Verdanturf Town, a town known for it's healthy, clean air and natural healing atmosphere.

Despite her mother's growing illness and her father's sudden death, Ashleigh grew stronger in the new town. Her mother's condition began to stabalise and found the town a refreshing change, tending to her own garden of flowers to deal with the pain. Ashleigh began working with Pokemon breeders nearby, earning a little money and learning from the myriad of experiences it offered. Ashleigh's parents had always strongly felt that Pokemon deserved an adventurous life and to make them slaves to the house would be a dishonour. Ashleigh respected her mother's well-meaning rule, but began training on the side with some of the young Pokemon at the Day Care to prepare them for the real life outside. She quickly took a strong liking to training Pokemon and found that she was becoming more confident in herself. She started to grow her hair out again and wear subtle makeup. She learned how to walk in heels and experimented with different clothing styles. She began going out in her men's clothes, changing into a woman in a restroom, and spend a day truly expressed.

While Ashleigh was getting stronger however, her mother's health was growing worse day by day. Ashleigh began to spend more time at home and less reading and out with Pokemon, trying to make her mother as happy as she could be for her last days.

In a few short weeks, Ashleigh's mother passed away in their home. Ashleigh was a month from turning nineteen. With little left in town, she began looking at the neighbouring towns and cities, reading up on different places she could move to or explore in regions outside Hoenn. During her research she stumbled upon the Nexivus region and was instantly enthralled, as well as thoroughly spooked.

The infected, almost zombie like Pokemon growing in number every day in that region offered a unique challenge she never could have imaged herself the chance to have. She could move there and be entrusted with a compatible Pokemon to befriend and train on a grand journey to prevent as much suffering and damage as possible from the uncontrollable and seemingly unstoppable infestation.

With a clear path ahead of her now, Ashleigh was finally allowed the freedom to be who she really was. She could be known as a woman to everyone just as soon as she turned over a new leaf in a new place. She got rid of all her former clothes and began life as a woman full time, finding her happiness increase tenfold. She did, however, have one last thing to do before officially reaching Nexivus: spread her parents' ashes.

Alone on a clear night, Ashleigh made her way down a long dock, an urn in each arm. She carefully removed the lids from each urn, slowly tipping the urns forward and watching as the ashes mingled with each other in the playful breeze and landed softly on the calm laps of the sea.

When the ocean swallowed her parents up completely, Ashleigh made her way back, taking her bag turned house with her, catching the last train for the night right into Nexivus...

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OUT OF CHARACTER

NAME
Thomas

HOW DID YOU FIND US?
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ROLEPLAY SAMPLE
Most recent post. 04 August 2011 on City of Ash

It had been another long journey.

Riddled with aches and pains, his muscles sore from the sea's harsh waves and his open wounds stinging from the ocean's biting salt, a large, ocean-drenched lion slowly made his way through the thick, dark muck of wet sand, the sea behind him now playfully calm and lapping at his expansive paws. With one paw in front of the other, the figure slowly and haphazardly made his way out of the sea and finally onto semi-solid land, his each painfully slow step sinking inches deep into the wet grit.

His body noticeably quivered with each step, his eyes struggling to remain open, his nose wrinkling in a grimace with every move forward. A thoroughly beaten and now useless tail dragged in the sand listlessly behind him, his muscles screaming in protest no matter his movement: standing up was painful, walking was painful, blinking was painful, breathing was painful. The ocean water that had crushed him throughout the night had been like a sheet of rock with every clash; eventually, he was pounded into real rocks and bore scrapes and cuts from the encounters.

There was, however, possible relief on the horizon.

It was finally dawn with the morning hours fast approaching. The atrocious, deadly night was finally over and nature resumed her normal pleasantries. Overhead he could feel the rising sun beating down on his soaked frame, slowly drying his massive sponge of a mane that covered his head, neck, throat, chest, shoulders, stomach, and even reached to his loins, weighing the whole length of his body down with forgotten dedication If only the sun would rise faster, he thought with a grimace as he took a notably painful step forward, his entire leg shaking in protest of the abnormal weight. I can't bear to carry this much longer...

The lion's thick, expansive mane left dots of varying sizes in the dry sand behind him as it steadily dripped. Some of the salt infested water raced down his slicked legs to the raw paws at their end, burning with renewed vigor and now mixing with painful grains of sand that nestled inside the wounded pads. The sun was higher up in the sky now and the lion could only hope for a faster dry time, but the thick salt residue that would stay locked inside his now tangled fur was nothing to look forward to. Now with solid footing, the lion feebly tried to shake the excess moisture off, but instead collapsed onto the cool beach sand beneath him, promptly passing out as he closed his eyes for what he feared might be the final time, one word on his mind: Mala...

This wasn't supposed to have happened. He'd already been shown the sea's mighty strength and unrelenting fury once before: washed up and thrown out, he had arrived on a beautiful island and met many beautiful creatures, including someone he had fallen desperately in love with. Those times, however, were long gone and the sea had swallowed him up once more. The lion now found himself barely alive and completely defeated on more familiar terrain that brought back memories of being a cub on the rocky ledges of Morocco. But he wasn't fooled; he knew this land was alien territory to him the instant the sea finally spit him out. It was, somehow, hotter here and even less alive than his native land. Could it be, perhaps, that he was given another chance, another shot at life and love? Or was he really living a life of no love lost, no love found?

[KITTYWHISKERS]

A very interesting character.
ACCEPTED.
Welcome to Nexivus. :3