Aesling

Aesling is a main character and one of the series' three protagonists in Thrilling Intent.
== History ==
Ashe is rather secretive about her history, but we know that she came from Meathe. While there, Ashe was what was locally known as a guardian, charged with protecting her town from the outside world. The title and duties of guardian are passed down. She lived outside of a town unnamed with her father, in a large hollowed out tree, and was treated like royalty by the town's residents because she was a guardian. Tired of this treatment, Ashe eventually left Meathe, and her duties, behind.
== Appearance ==
Slender and androgynous, Ashe is sometimes mistaken for a man by strangers. Her most distinctive feature is her white, fluffy hair, which has earned her the monikers "Dandelion" and "Poofball." Her yellow eyes glow faintly. While no one else has commented on her hair and eye color, she herself has suggested that it is unusual for a human. She has blue markings across her body that resemble tattoos but are actually "bindings" and are related to her special powers. Her standard outfit is a long green leather tunic worn over dark pants, leather arm guards and a piece of leather padding around her waist, which holds knives.
== Personality ==
Ashe is a private person and slow to trust others. Her high-strung and anxious nature leads her to be easily frustrated by her more careless friends, which often results in her yelling at them. The most responsible member of the party, she takes it upon herself to keep the others in line. She prefers to consider situations from every angle before making a decision, usually choosing the most cautious route.
In battle she is hard and practical, choosing swift and lethal tactics. She is aggressive and has been known to fly into rages during combat with people she doesn't like, and isn't afraid to hurt herself if it means dealing damage to an opponent. One tactic she has started to use is to use her friends as a boostie to gain height.
Though she appears incapable of becoming intoxicated, Ashe loves drinking, and she enjoys spending time alone with a good book.
== Abilities ==
Ashe is quite physically powerful, and downs her opponents efficiently. She tends to mainly use either her sword or dagger for offense, though on occasion she does use her 'not-magic' offensively. Aside from that, she acts as a healer.
Her various not-magic/spirit junk abilities include:
* Healing
* Guidances
* Summoning weapons made of force
* Tightening or loosening
* Summoning hands of moss and stone
* Creating some form of frost
* Making Pretty Good Sticks
* Throat Stabbing (Special Move)
Ashe's "totally-not-magic/spirit junk" abilities stem from her bindings. Very little is known about her bindings, but it is known that she is bound to a domain. What that domain is is non-specific. To quote Ashe "All I can figure is that it's the domain of Ashe".
In addition to her sword and dagger, she has proved to be proficient with using a large shuriken, as she in Dungeon Truck gains one from Rat and is able to use it with relative ease.
== Relationships ==
=== Family ===
* Mother - Died giving birth to Ashe. She was the previous Guardian, and passed on her powers as Guardian to Ashe.
* Father - Raised Ashe until she ran away from Meathe. He trained her to use her powers for protecting Meathe, along with teaching her how to kill.
=== Thog ===
Ashe is typically civil with Thog. She trusts him with her life and there's a sense of high respect present. (ie. Thog gives her his pocket watch, and gun.) They often bicker, however their bickering can be categorized as nothing more than banter, just to get under each other's skin. Thog has actively made Ashe tear up during the Liquor And Spirits arc after he gives her an 'advance' of money, showing that even if he's money driven he does care enough to do what he can to make Ashe happy.
=== Gregor ===
Ashe generally tries to look out for Gregor. In battle, she supports him with healing and guidances. At times, their differing moral codes cause Ashe and Gregor to be at odds with one another. Ashe's reserved nature often confuses Gregor and is another cause of tension between the two. After BIG WAR, however, the pair's friendship has improved greatly. Ashe becomes incredibly protective over Gregor when the Church is involved.
=== Inien ===
When they first met, Ashe and Inien were instant enemies. Several misunderstandings, and Inien's caustic personality mixed with Ashe's sensitive temper, created a feud between them. Near the end of The Gods Are Gone arc, the two worked out their misunderstandings and formed what could be loosely defined as a friendship.
=== Kyr ===
Initially, Ashe did not trust Kyr and did not particularly appreciate his presence in the party. Over time, though, they have become friends. Ashe now tries keeping Kyr out of trouble that could be caused by his impulsive actions. She also has become fairly accepting of his inventions, carrying the oven mitt he gave her and encouraging the use of his devices in battle.
=== Markus ===
Ashe and Markus have gotten along well since the first arc. Markus was the first member of the party that Ashe showed her 'not-magic' to, showing that Ashe surprisingly trusted Markus almost immediately. They have occasionally bickered, but have not had any large arguments over the course of the series. During the Romance of the Four Clans arc, Ashe explains that she thinks that Markus is, at times, "cool," but she has trouble combining his dramatics with these calm, serious moments. Markus allows Ashe to keep to herself as she prefers.
=== Firi ===
Ashe and Firi have a fairly lighthearted friendship with a large amount of appreciation for each other when they first meet, as shown by the exchanging of the gold star badge in Harpy's Nest. It was later revealed that Ashe has a crush on Firi https://twitter.com/schadenfaust/status/841888640179539968, but surprisingly - despite her troubles with socializing - she has not appeared awkward around Firi as of yet.
She later confesses her feelings to Firi, who returns the feeling, and the two get together. As the group is asked to bring their allies to Freearch during A Storm, Ashe asks Firi if she wants to go on a date through the portal to Freearch, which the latter agrees to happily.
=== Harlock ===
The two first met when Harlock was hired to capture Ashe by Meathian pirates. After the group manages to corner Harlock, and informs her that she would not be paid in money for her services due to Meathe operating on the barter system, she was persuaded to stop trying to capture Ashe and, for 21 bucks, to take out the Meathian pirates that hired Harlock in the first place.
As the group returned to the Nine Shrines bar with Harlock, Ashe tells to Inien that Harlock (along with Firi) are her new friends that are cooler than Inien, which could be both a genuine feeling of friendship on Ashe's side (though Harlock said that they weren't friends), or merely an attempt to gloat over Inien.
Ashe seemed genuinely surprised when, during the A Storm arc, Harlock mentioned during her scolding of the group that she expected more from Ashe as the leader. Seemingly taking the scolding inwards, she doesn't hesitate when Harlock later tells her to kill one of the paladins of the Silver Thread that was corrupted by the other side, stating that Harlock knows more about Freearch than any of them, so they should listen to what she says.
She also respects Harlock a lot https://curiouscat.me/schadenfae/post/568659300.
== Trivia ==
* During early episodes, Ashe was spelled as Ash.
* The design of Ashe's bindings were said to be inspired by Celtic knots.
* According to Fae, during the 2nd singles live-stream, Ashe's bindings were originally going to be much more complex than Jackson was willing to draw.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txxqL7A0uxk
* Ashe is a cartographer by trade.
* Ashe has made herself a home out of a hollowed-out tree and sleeps there when not at the Nine Shrines.http://3rdwheelandthe4thwall.tumblr.com/post/117183766191/fan-email-1-13-15-not-sure-if-it-got-lost-in
* Ashe is the starring character of the children's book 'Aesling The Neck Stabber' which was written by Markus and Kyr.
* According to Fae, a big part of what inspired Ashe was the Tuatha dé Danann and the Daoine sìth.http://3rdwheelandthe4thwall.tumblr.com/post/117188872271/inspiration-behind-ashe
** Additionally, her first name Aesling is a twist of Aisling, which is a type of vision poem/dream poem.
* Ashe was informed by Harlock in episode 200 that Ashe is technically a queen.
** Whether this implies that her dad (or some other ruler of Meathe) has passed away, has not yet been revealed.
* Ashe once punctured both her eardrums to evade the effect of a ban screaming, as a consequence she hears a constant loud ringing noise.
* It has been joked among the group that Ashe can't spell or count, despite being able to read (she later admits that she can't, but it is unsure if her answer was sarcastic or not). The only thing she can write correctly so far (that is, evident in episodes) are people's names and the number four. Whether the spelling in her frequently updated journal is correct, the audience doesn't know.
* When she lived at Meathe, she had an accent.
* She was born with red hair.
* Ashe does not like the taste of water.Episode 150
== Gallery==
See Aesling/Gallery.
== References ==
Category:Main characters