outgoing. generous. sweet. know-it-all. determined. unpredictable. noble. perfectionist. over-involved. loving. intelligent.At first glance people tend to assume that Ainsley is your typical blonde bimbo but she's not; she's anything but that. With a hidden intelligence, desperate ambition and drive to be more than what is expected of her, Ainsley has more to her than her pretty smile and perfect persona. She has a keen intelligence that is fed on a broad array of subjects, something that she is constantly expanding on, she's a very dedicated learner and finds it more of a hobby than a task, regularly using free time to learn more or find a new skill or subject to get involved in.
Able to generate light energy, Ainsley is able to create, shape and manipulate light as a weapon; she's not sure where it comes from, unaware that she is fae-touched and not just gifted. Through a series of trials and error, she's been able to harness this into a variety of different effects.VEIL DROP
Ainsley is able to throw the power from her fingertips at another person in the form of light daggers, the effectiveness of these daggers depend entirely on Ainsley's intentions, while she loses control of their flight, she can compel the light energy to find it's target, they do lose effectiveness over a distance and are limited in the effect over time. Currently, if hit by the daggers, people are merely stunned. The more a certain person is hit with these daggers can cause a more serious effect though.
In certain areas, Ainsley is able to absorb all the light around her, plunging the area into utter darkness. This is only with artificial light, she cannot drain sunlight. This energy is stored within Ainsley until she uses it -it must be used or Ainsley will leak light energy subconsciously, potentially causing injury to those around her.
Ainsley is able to create illuminations by directing light energy into and onto non-living objects, effectively lighting an area that previously had no light, like a torch. This manipulation feeds energy in a diffused manner, giving dark areas natural light. Due to the nature of her power, Ainsley does not have an unlimited source of energy, she does get tired and need to recharge, either by absorbing light or having a period of rest where she doesn't use any of her energy to generate her power.
When the veil drops, aside from gaining a serious boost in her current abilities, pushing her daggers to cause serious energy injury, Ainsley will also be able to use her power to create constructs of light.MILLENNIAL AWESOMENESS
Similar in ways to her daggers, Ainsley will be able to create constructs from her light energy which will have a solid quality. Technically, this could be shaped into anything, however Ainsley can primarily use this as a shield, using it either as a barrier to stop things getting through, or for protection.
She'll be able to absorb and store more energy and expel it in a more forceful and serious manner, something like a blast of all encompassing light. This will be seriously draining in her energy reserves and the more light energy she pushes out, the less energy she'll have over all.
Not a skill that's likely to get Ainsley anywhere important in life, she's the bees knees when it comes to social media. Her platforms tend to sway a lot more towards inspirational stuff with the slight foray into real life hacks and tricks, but her snapchat is all personal and all for her and close friends.
Thanks to a work placement with her family owned newspaper, Ainsley is adept with most secretarial duties, especially typing, shorthand and organising like a boss. Additionally, Ainsley has a knack for organising things; she's a pro with post-it's, handles a spreadsheet like a boss, and can direct a group of over involved parents like it's a military operation. She's been involved in so many fundraisers at work that it's near hilarious how good she is at getting an event to run smoothly.
Due in part to her power base, Ainsley tends to promote positivity, lightness and inspiration around her. This is not to say people aren't sad around her, she's not magic, it's just that more and more exposure to Ainsley and her bleeding of light energy tends to make people feel, well, brighter.
She can speak English, Spanish and some Russian phrases (which are very specific) thanks to where she grew up (English and Spanish being the taught public school languages) and her best friend's Russian heritage on her father's side. Ainsley can also utter a few Portuguese words that Sasha taught her but cannot form a coherent sentence or phrase.
Carter and Ann-Marie were high school sweethearts, married straight out of high school and settling down in their hometown in Ojai, California. It wasn't a huge whirlwind romance, the pair had matching ambitions and hopes for their lives, having been the perfect couple all through high school and continuing it into college. Both qualified with degrees in journalism, looking to take on Carter's family business of a small town local newspaper and expanding. After a few years making their name in the papers, Ann-Marie fell pregnant following a few months of trying. Carter Jr was born in the fall, a welcome addition to the family following the death of his grandfather. With a baby at home and a family business to run, Carter took over at the newspaper while Ann-Marie transitioned into a stay at home mom.TEENAGE YEARS
Carter Jr was four when Shelby was born, a partial distraction for Ann-Marie as her mother fought cancer. The family grew and moved forward, Ann-Marie flourishing with her caregiving role, although her need for perfection resulted in slightly subdued children, she was looking after her two young children and her sickly mother.
Ainsley was unexpected. Not unwanted, but unexpected. They hadn't been planning on adding a third child, least of all just two years after Shelby and while Ann-Marie's mother was sick, but Ainsley appeared, along with her twin brother Wilson. Adding one child to things was a shake up, but two at once really messed with the family dynamic.
Ainsley was almost raised on stories from her parents, either about their early life, her grandmother or things they wrote about. Ainsley was a content young child, prone to sitting and listening to her parents, regardless of the topic, Wilson tended to be a little more wild, unless Ainsley was around to settle him down. Carter Jr and Shelby seemed less content to just sit and listen, so Ainsley and Wilson soaked up the attention from their mother every day.
As she got older, this developed into a storytelling, Ainsley attempting to make friends with literally everyone she could. She was a happy young girl, often called the light of the party, if not the life. She was rarely anything but happy. Almost always with Wilson by her side -Ainsley's friends were Wilson's friends and vice versa. For the better part of their youth they came as a package deal. Wilson tended to be a little less bubbly than Ainsley, although never dour, it was like they complimented each other. When they were together, it was like the perfect balance and Ainsley couldn't pin anything as wrong in the world.ADULTHOOD
Even as she started to notice issues at home. Her parents putting a lot of pressure on CJ to do well at school, her mother picking at Shelby's weight, Ainsley not being allowed to cut her hair like Maisie at pre-school with her little pixie cut, Wilson being expected to do things without Ainsley. There were signs that things had to a certain way, but in her young age, Ainsley couldn't really put her finger on it.
In a bid for Ainsley and Wilson to start operating in their own circles, like their mother wanted, both made the attempt to make their own friends. Wilson started playing sports at school and Ainsley joined the school newspaper and met Sasha. Sasha was one of the easier girls to get along with, and Ainsley and she became fast and firm friends very early on, regularly working together on assignments for the newspaper, even if it was just follow up, fact checking or getting the kids who wrote for the paper some coffee.
Ainsley formed a lasting and important relationship with Sasha, the pair of them complimenting each other's personalities in a manner similar to Wilson, where Sasha was reserved and quiet, Ainsley was outgoing and lively, where Ainsley was unrestrained and bright, Sasha was controlled and contained. It stopped Ainsley from pulling herself so thin she had little left of herself. As her mother strived for more and more from her children, Ainsley's friendship with Sasha meant that she didn't lose herself to her mother's whims or miss her brother uncontrollably.
What Ainsley was sure never factored into her mother's plans was Ainsley developing supernatural gifts. Just breaking into teenage-hood, fighting with puberty, expectations and boys, Ainsley discovered that sometimes, when highly emotional, she glowed at the fingertips. And then, accidentally, she found that those glowing tips could hurt. Leaving a hole in the parking lot at school, panicked and confused, Ainsley hid what she could do from everyone. The supernatural wasn't widely accepted, and there was a group at school who seemed far more engaged in the 'Humans First' nonsense going around, so Ainsley kept this development to herself. Not even telling Sasha and Wilson at first.
Finding out that Wilson had a power too, ones that calmed and muted Ainsley's, only bonded Ainsley more closely to her brother, sharing the secret with him and him alone while learning how to try and control her light based power and to limit the damage she inflicted around her. It was Wilson that started looking into how they could have these powers, if there was the chance that their elder siblings were hiding something too. Given that the twins weren't as close with CJ and Shelby, they didn't want to risk exposing something that their parents might not accept. They couldn't find anything that might explain their powers, just that they in their family appeared to be some kind of fluke.
High school was complex to navigate, when Sasha's mother was going back to Brazil, Ainsley was beside herself, almost bleeding destructive light constantly and narrowly avoiding destroying her bed once. When her parents agreed to act as guardians for Sasha to remain there, Ainsley was over the moon, even with the tight stipulations attached to their agreement and the fact that Ainsley and Wilson had to figure out if Sasha should be told of their powers. Ultimately, the twins decided to tell Sasha, showing her their powers over light and darkness, and Sasha, although astounded, was very accepting.
Sasha threw herself into helping Wilson figure out where these powers came from, tracing back their family line to see if there were hints in anyone else's history, using the archive at the newspaper their parents owned. There were stories of supernatural beings in the area, before they moved to bigger cities that might've been more accepting, but nothing definitive about who or what these beings were. There was no way to know for sure if any of that had any hand in the twins and their powers, and ultimately, they had to let it go.
Ainsley managed to maintain her straight A's, qualify for the cheerleading squad, participate in the school newspaper and attend family functions for the newspaper, all while helping Wilson maintain the illusion of doing well in school and not snooping for those like them around town, and maintaining a grasp on her own power and her social life with Sasha. Running near constantly on just a few hours sleep, remembering to eat fleetingly, Ainsley didn't give her ability to function when others would've dropped too much thought. It worked, she managed to keep all aspects of her life together, even if she didn't know it was powered largely by her light energy. It worked.
Until it didn't.
Shortly after graduation, while Ainsley, Wilson and Sasha were working out what they were going to do with the rest of their lives, it turned out to be a moot point when, during a town celebration someone purposely ploughed their car into the crowed, mowing down numerous bystanders and pedestrians, killing dozens and injuring more. Ainsley was injured, her elbow was broken and she suffered some bruises and scrapes from the commotion, Sasha ended up with a concussion and fractured ribs. Wilson wasn't so lucky, being struck by the car as he made sure his sister was out of the way, he suffered a severe brain trauma and numerous breaks from being pulled under the car.
Wilson died in hospital from his injuries while Sasha was in surgery for internal bleeding and Ainsley was under observation for some hits to the head. It was a week later that news broke of a deranged man snapping and attempting to take out as many people as he could. In the weeks following, Ainsley sort of fell to pieces; Sasha's mom freaked and demanded she go home to Brazil, leaving Ainsley without her best friend or twin, and Ainsley isolated herself and did almost nothing to the point where she was brimming with power she hadn't been able to dispel.
She almost took out an entire street when she did eventually venture out of her room -by her mother's orders- which scared her into action. She had to do something, clear her head, get moving.
She took a summer position in San Diego, her parents fretting but allowing her the space to get herself together, seeing sparks of the usual Ainsley coming back. She spent a summer on her own, and loved it. A little while later she felt good enough to work towards going to college, since she'd missed applications, she restarted that process while working in San Fransisco, small time office work in a newspaper she knew her father sort of had ties to, something to earn some money before college.
It was in San Fran that Ainsley met Koa, the first ever supernatural being she knowingly met outside of her brother. A werewolf, but exceptionally friendly, and Ainsley felt an instant bond to the young man. She showed him around a few places in San Fran, since he was back packing to see the world, showing him some little known spots that tourists might miss. She showed him her power and he told her about other supernatural beings he knew, although not mentioning anyone by name.
Eventually though, Koa had to carry on his trip, and Ainsley returned to life as normal. Or as normal as things got. And then things changed again, when she saw a young wolf being harrassed in the street for no reason more than people thought he was a wolf and that they were better somehow. Ainsley hadn't used her powers offensively before, never on purpose. This time, she used it to defend someone else, firing light energy from her fingers into the assailants to stop them from harassing the young boy, helping him to get away before she made her own escape.
When she read about the incident in the news, how she'd hurt people with her power, Ainsley packed up everything she owned into two bags and headed for Los Angeles, deciding that she could get a place and settle in before she started at UCLA in the fall, and putting enough distance between herself and San Fran to hopefully avoid blow black from her power use.