The Limitless Muse

About Ashly Burch

ASHLY BURCH is a voice actress, writer, singer, and all-around brilliant creator. She starred in Hey Ash Whatcha Playin’ (HAWP for short) alongside her brother, Anthony. She eventually stepped into acting in works like, Must Come Down and Dimension 404, and has done voiceover work for a myriad of amazing games. To mention a few, she was Tiny Tina in the Borderlands series, Chloe in Life is Strange, Cassie Cage in Mortal Kombat X, and Rise Kujikawa in Persona 4: Dancing All Night. She has also voiced animated characters, from Breezy in Adventure Time, Cass in Bee and Puppycat, Ash Graven in Final Space, to Enid in OK K.O.!

SHE HAS WRITTEN FOR Adventure Time, Mythic Quest, and Rocket Jump the Show! She sang in Muzzled the Musical as the Black Heart Malfalia “Malf” (I wish Ash took on more singing roles) and given inspiration and informative talks about video games that are very interesting to watch.

How I Found Out About Her

WHILE I WAS IN COLLEGE I use to frequent GameTrailers.com. This was probably around late 2009 or so? GameTrailers was my go to place for video game information and, of course, game trailers (oh how I miss thee old friend). As I sat in an empty classroom, utilizing the college’s many computers to model something in 3D I think, I stumbled upon a weird face in the main menu of the GameTrailer’s website: eyes wide, mouth agape, unsure of the gender. I clicked on it, apprehensively.

IT WAS A STRANGE online video about a sister and brother, named Ash and Anthony, playing a game about the Twilight Saga, called Scene It. I’ll admit, it was freaking odd, but I thought the sister was really cute. The whole thing was kind of unsettling and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to laugh or not? At first, I didn’t get it. Did I like it? Did I hate it? I needed to watch another episode to be sure.

LITTLE KING’S STORY was the next episode I decided to try. In it, Ash and her brother, Anthony, have a conversation in what, at the time, I thought was German (it is.)? It was at this point that I assumed that they were both German (but would eventually learn their ethnicity is East Asian and Thai). For a good portion of the video, Ash just screams. It was obnoxious… different… but I was starting to like it? And I was like dude, she’s adorable… I think? Still, I didn’t know if this was supposed to be humorous or not.

FAST FORWARD A FEW DAYS and I ended up binge-watching the entire series up to that point! HAWP became my new favorite thing, and Ash became my favorite person. My all-time favorite episodes, overall, are still Bioshock, Dark Knight, Left 4 Dead, Animal Crossing, and of course that 1st Scene It episode, which is freaking golden and hilarious to me now! Ash is just so freaking weird, that it’s adorable and brilliant! I love it.

How Her Work Inspires Mine

I BECAME OBSESSED with whatever Ash and HAWP were up to. I’ve been a huge fan since then. I listened to all their podcasts, followed them on social media, and would have loved to purchase their HAWP DVDs if I wasn’t a broke college student (now a broke stay-at-home dad). One day, I will own them all! Ashly is cute, quirky, adorable, talented, and an overall creative powerhouse. She’s my favorite voice actress, actress, celebrity, and I try to play or watch anything that she’s in. I recently watched the Critical Role One-Shot Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Crystal Palace and the Mysterious Monsters Game Show and loved them! 

HER WORK IS INSPIRING because she puts so much passion into what she does. I have found, and become obsessed with as well, some of my favorite games, shows, and characters because I follow her work. Doctor Who. Borderlands 2. Life is Strange. Maxine Caulfield (yes, I know Ash voiced Chloe, but Max is my favorite character). Tiny Tina. Rise Kujikawa. Persona 4: Dancing All Night. Critical Role. Firefly. Serenity. The Guided fate Paradox. Kuroiel. All at the top of my favorites lists. If it wasn’t for her work, I would not have shown an interest, and in turn, been inspired by these wonderful creations. Yes, she is not the sole creator behind these things, but it was her role in them that caught my interest in the first place.

SHE ALSO INSPIRED SOME OF HAND OF REL. The style that I write in, and the way I craft dialogue, is based on how Anthony and Ash wrote for HAWP, and also how Russel T. Davies wrote in Doctor Who. I try to add quirky wit to my writing. I may not be able to write as well as they do, but I try to inject that lunacy into my own style! Also, the side-cut that Rel Rel has in her transformation is inspired by one of Ashly Burch’s hairstyles (my favorite overall. Got to love the short hair!). You just can’t go wrong if Ash is a part of the creative process!

Closing Thoughts

ASHLY BURCH IS ONE of my favorite creators, for obvious reasons. Actually, my number 1 favorite celebrity. Hands down! She’s absolutely brilliant. I look forward to the next projects that she has lined up. I’m hoping for more musicals in the future, and perhaps more tangible episodes of HAWP because I miss watching them. Ash is definitely a limitless muse of boundless inspiration. You should give her work a look! I guarantee it won’t disappoint, and perhaps it will inspire you to create that thing you’ve been putting off. Till today!

IF YOU ENJOY my work, please feel free to support me with some Kofi! Any support is appreciated, but not necessary 😉 It helps support me as a creator, so anything helps 😀 If you choose to buy me a coffee, I thank you, YOU ROCK!

THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading! I’ll be back with another entry next Monday.  Keep that imagination kicking! Please take care, you all rock. Cheers!