Application
Name: Jabbers
Age: 25
Username: jabberart
Email: jabberwockyai@gmail.com
IM: jabberssekrit
Character name: Alice Liddel
Series: Games:
American McGee's Alice
Alice: The Madness Returns
Timeline: Right after she pushes Bumby in front of an oncoming train and London and Wonderland have merged.
Background: Alice was a bright, clever and imaginative child who had a loving family. Had being the operative word. Past tense. Shortly after her adventures in the Looking Glass, a fire consumed her home and her family. Wracked by survivor's guilt, Alice withdrew inwards, falling into a comatose stupor for ten years.
Alice spent those ten years in Rutledge Asylum where she received treatment that had more in common with medieval torture than modern medicine. And so she retreated further into her own mind, until one day a nurse had discovered her old stuffed rabbit. She gave it to Alice in hopes to bring her around and as she instinctively drew the stuffed toy close, it turned to her and spoke.
“Save us Alice!”
She fell, seemingly forever, down the spiraling hole into a world all too familiar to her. Rabbit had drawn her back into Wonderland, although what used to be a place of beauty and mystery had grown sinister and twisted. Her world as she knew it was warped into some hellish monstrosity, and there was only one to blame for this nightmare. Alice knew she had to get to the heart of the problem immediately. The Queen of Hearts specifically, and battling her way through hordes of Boojums and Cardguards, Snarks and Phantasmagoria, Alice faced her darkest foes; her own guilt in the form of the Jabberwock and her own madness, shaped into the Queen of Hearts.
Victorious, Alice was finally able to wake to the real world, and leave Rutledge Asylum.
Shortly after, she was taken under the wing of Doctor Bumby, a man who ran an orphanage and specialized in hypnotism to help traumatized children forget their pain. He was also a former friend to Alice's family. It was immediately apparent why Alice sought his aid. In spite of being able to function, she still wasn't whole. She had fits and spells, drifting in and out of reality like an untethered boat on the tides.
Again Alice found her way to Wonderland, a place corrupted and twisted, though not by the hands (or tentacles really) of the Queen. This was a force outside of the usual inhabitants of Wonderland, bringing with it strange creatures known as 'Ruins', hybrids of a dark, tarlike substance, bits of train engine and doll parts. And speaking of trains, a massive train full of burning cars was ripping it's way through Wonderland, causing the world to collapse and killing off its inhabitants.
Alice set out once more to find answers. Had she truly been responsible for the deaths of her family by careless mistake of her own? Or was something more sinister at foot?
And indeed she found the answer, dredging up memories long forgotten. The night of the fire, she hadn't escaped from the library where she had carelessly left a log on the fire. She had been in her bedroom and Dinah had shown her the way out. Her sister had been found dead in her room afterwards, door locked which was unusual because Lizzie had never liked locked doors and there was no reason she couldn't escape the fire from her own window. She'd done it before and was far more adept at climbing than Alice.
No, the fire had been started by a malicious intruder, a man who had eyes for Lizzie but Lizzie wanted nothing to do with him.
Ultimately, he took what he wanted, and killed any who would suspect him. Although, he hadn't counted on Alice surviving, but what luck! She's mad as a hatter and mute to boot. Nothing to fear. Oh she's come out of that little coma? This could be troublesome... but wait. Her memory of that night is hazy at best, and she blames herself for the fire. And even better, she's turned to the very culprit of her family's murder to help her forget. And when he was done helping her, well. She'd be useful in his little business on the side.
For Doctor Bumby, it was a stroke of incredible luck when Alice came to his orphanage none the wiser to his actions all those years ago. And better still, even if she talked, there weren't any who'd believe her except her whore of a nanny and, well, a half mad girl and a hooker were not exactly the most believable accusers in the face of a humble doctor trying to help mentally ill children.
This was a good chain of thought for Bumby, really. Until Alice was able to conquer the train he'd set in motion, destroy the Dollmaker, and finally confront him and push him in front of a train.
Personality:
Alice is a deeply traumatized individual. More than half her life has been ruled by the tragedy that beset her as a child, and she struggles to reconcile with those dark memories. She is a volatile individual, and will react violently to those she perceives as enemies. Particularly those who go after those she cares for. And she can get very nasty with those who will go after those weaker than them both within Wonderland and outside in the real world.
Alice is wracked by a severe case of survivor's guilt, and she has, for most of her life, thought that she was responsible for the deaths of her loved ones.
Her heart is in the right place, if not necessarily her mind.
Beyond her questionable sanity, Alice is a bit stunted emotionally. Not that she isn't bright or clever, but she's been mentally dead to the world for ten years. Her interests and attitudes are still rather childish, if occasionally a bit sinister. She covets toys and loves fairy tales, wordplay and numberplay. Games of chess or cards are often enjoyable. She's also rather partial to sweets.
She can be petulant, impatient, even temperamental in nature, although she's usually quite collected and regards things with a certain childish curiosity,. She will speak her mind to friend and foe alike, a trait certainly not welcomed in a young lady in the era she lived in, especially when what she thinks runs contrary to what is proper etiquette. And particularly if said young lady is a sarcastic child in a young woman's body.
Though childish in many ways, Alice is certainly no innocent. She has seen and endured horrors that have shattered her, and with great care she's trying to pick up the pieces. She is jaded, she is cynical, but even beneath that damage, bits of the bright, optimistic child she once was occasionally shines through.
She still clings to her childhood Wonderland, a place she has saved and has, in turn, saved her.
Appearance: Alice will be arriving as her Wonderland self because I like her blue dress better. Yes I am shallow.
Alice, if we are being generous, would be described as a slender girl. If we are not, the word 'consumptive' comes to mind. She's sickly pale, with long dark hair and bright green eyes. She favours a blue dress, black and white striped stockings, and black lace-up boots with a pragmatic heel that's comfortable for walking, and suitable for stomping pesky executioners. Her apron is white, and tied in a neat bow in the back. The rather cute look of the dress is somewhat ruined by the strange runes decorating her apron, the skull at the knot of her bow and the bloodstains of her enemies splattered here and there.
Outside of Wonderland, her appearance is generally the same, though her wardrobe far more drab and she's had a haircut since the first game.
Skills/Abilities: Alice is swift and rather skilled with a knife. Particularly the Vorpal Blade. She is able to jump long distances and a petticoat's as practical as a parachute in a pinch. She can use her skirt to glide and increase the amount of space she can cover. She can shrink to the size of a doormouse at will, and can dodge enemy attacks by turning into a cloud of butterflies. She is also adept at turning relatively innocuous toys and household objects into lethal weapons. In dire circumstances Alice can lose control, going into a hysteria where she is stronger, faster, invulnerable, and frankly terrifying for a short time.
Not to mention she has mastered the art of making sense of the nonsensical. And has never skipped dessert. Not even once.
Spoken/Written languages: Victorian English
Items: Alice will have nothing on her other than the clothes on her back.
Third person sample: She had woken rather slowly which was unusual. Sleep was so often a fitful affair that waking up was a rather sudden matter, if she bothered to sleep at all. So languidly opening her eyes, and letting awareness gradually creep into her was welcomed and pleasant. She rolled over onto her side, and faced the wall. Alice traced the wallpaper pattern with her eyes, picturing a flock of flamingos poking among the paisley. It rather reminded her of the wallpaper pattern in her room, and as she nodded off again, she felt reassured that that whole ordeal with the fire and the asylum had just been a very bad dream. Lizzie and her would go exploring by the stream later that day, and mum would make tea and papa would be in his study. She'd have to ask him to make sure that doctor didn't come by. He was getting fresh with Lizzie...
She cuddled up to these warm thoughts that enveloped her like a thick fog and nearly fell back asleep.
Nearly.
A sudden thud and a snore had her bolt upright and look around wildly, the cobwebs clearing from her mind in an instant. Her eyes fell on a rather strange creature. It resembled a cross between a pig and a large, brown, hairy limabean. She gave it a long, piercing look, but her eyes weren't knives and other than the occasional grunt, the thing didn't stir from where it had fallen off a chair.
Alice noted that she was in no immediate danger from the lima pig and threw the blankets off her, stockinged feet touching the floor. Her boots were set neatly by her bed and she pulled them on. And, without much fuss, she set about exploring this new place.
If she was any judge, it was probably somewhere in the Hatter's realm as the odd device she found near the lima pig and the buttons that rotated the room seemed very much one of the mechanical madman's endeavors.
Had Wonderland begun to return to normal? Strange though it was, the room lacked much in ways of sinister symbolism, and she was without any of her ...unorthodox arsenal. Whatever the case she had some very cross words for March Hare and Doormouse. Their antics had nearly destroyed Wonderland! Well, technically it had been her and Doctor Bumby, but really they should have known better to work for someone so obviously insane. Alice took a last look around and, reassured that the creature was still quite catatonic, headed out.
First person sample:
[Video]
[Alice peers into the device, the video going upside down as she turns it over.]
What a most curious device. I reckon it's rather like a chain letter though done all at once since there are other people all writing each other on it. There are moving picture recordings and voice recordings too. I think I've got the right of it, but I'm not sure.
I'm really not sure of anything, to be honest. This isn't Wonderland. Or at least not any part of it to which I've ever been. And I don't recall others ever being able to come. But I'm myself here. Well, my other self. But not my other other self. I also seem to have acquired a lima pig, though the cat would be more helpful, enigmatic as he is..
[She pauses, and rocks back and forth from her heels to the balls of her feet.]
That man said people need help. That there are monsters. I wonder, if this isn't Wonderland, where might I find an adequate carving knife?
Age: 25
Username: jabberart
Email: jabberwockyai@gmail.com
IM: jabberssekrit
Character name: Alice Liddel
Series: Games:
American McGee's Alice
Alice: The Madness Returns
Timeline: Right after she pushes Bumby in front of an oncoming train and London and Wonderland have merged.
Background: Alice was a bright, clever and imaginative child who had a loving family. Had being the operative word. Past tense. Shortly after her adventures in the Looking Glass, a fire consumed her home and her family. Wracked by survivor's guilt, Alice withdrew inwards, falling into a comatose stupor for ten years.
Alice spent those ten years in Rutledge Asylum where she received treatment that had more in common with medieval torture than modern medicine. And so she retreated further into her own mind, until one day a nurse had discovered her old stuffed rabbit. She gave it to Alice in hopes to bring her around and as she instinctively drew the stuffed toy close, it turned to her and spoke.
“Save us Alice!”
She fell, seemingly forever, down the spiraling hole into a world all too familiar to her. Rabbit had drawn her back into Wonderland, although what used to be a place of beauty and mystery had grown sinister and twisted. Her world as she knew it was warped into some hellish monstrosity, and there was only one to blame for this nightmare. Alice knew she had to get to the heart of the problem immediately. The Queen of Hearts specifically, and battling her way through hordes of Boojums and Cardguards, Snarks and Phantasmagoria, Alice faced her darkest foes; her own guilt in the form of the Jabberwock and her own madness, shaped into the Queen of Hearts.
Victorious, Alice was finally able to wake to the real world, and leave Rutledge Asylum.
Shortly after, she was taken under the wing of Doctor Bumby, a man who ran an orphanage and specialized in hypnotism to help traumatized children forget their pain. He was also a former friend to Alice's family. It was immediately apparent why Alice sought his aid. In spite of being able to function, she still wasn't whole. She had fits and spells, drifting in and out of reality like an untethered boat on the tides.
Again Alice found her way to Wonderland, a place corrupted and twisted, though not by the hands (or tentacles really) of the Queen. This was a force outside of the usual inhabitants of Wonderland, bringing with it strange creatures known as 'Ruins', hybrids of a dark, tarlike substance, bits of train engine and doll parts. And speaking of trains, a massive train full of burning cars was ripping it's way through Wonderland, causing the world to collapse and killing off its inhabitants.
Alice set out once more to find answers. Had she truly been responsible for the deaths of her family by careless mistake of her own? Or was something more sinister at foot?
And indeed she found the answer, dredging up memories long forgotten. The night of the fire, she hadn't escaped from the library where she had carelessly left a log on the fire. She had been in her bedroom and Dinah had shown her the way out. Her sister had been found dead in her room afterwards, door locked which was unusual because Lizzie had never liked locked doors and there was no reason she couldn't escape the fire from her own window. She'd done it before and was far more adept at climbing than Alice.
No, the fire had been started by a malicious intruder, a man who had eyes for Lizzie but Lizzie wanted nothing to do with him.
Ultimately, he took what he wanted, and killed any who would suspect him. Although, he hadn't counted on Alice surviving, but what luck! She's mad as a hatter and mute to boot. Nothing to fear. Oh she's come out of that little coma? This could be troublesome... but wait. Her memory of that night is hazy at best, and she blames herself for the fire. And even better, she's turned to the very culprit of her family's murder to help her forget. And when he was done helping her, well. She'd be useful in his little business on the side.
For Doctor Bumby, it was a stroke of incredible luck when Alice came to his orphanage none the wiser to his actions all those years ago. And better still, even if she talked, there weren't any who'd believe her except her whore of a nanny and, well, a half mad girl and a hooker were not exactly the most believable accusers in the face of a humble doctor trying to help mentally ill children.
This was a good chain of thought for Bumby, really. Until Alice was able to conquer the train he'd set in motion, destroy the Dollmaker, and finally confront him and push him in front of a train.
Personality:
Alice is a deeply traumatized individual. More than half her life has been ruled by the tragedy that beset her as a child, and she struggles to reconcile with those dark memories. She is a volatile individual, and will react violently to those she perceives as enemies. Particularly those who go after those she cares for. And she can get very nasty with those who will go after those weaker than them both within Wonderland and outside in the real world.
Alice is wracked by a severe case of survivor's guilt, and she has, for most of her life, thought that she was responsible for the deaths of her loved ones.
Her heart is in the right place, if not necessarily her mind.
Beyond her questionable sanity, Alice is a bit stunted emotionally. Not that she isn't bright or clever, but she's been mentally dead to the world for ten years. Her interests and attitudes are still rather childish, if occasionally a bit sinister. She covets toys and loves fairy tales, wordplay and numberplay. Games of chess or cards are often enjoyable. She's also rather partial to sweets.
She can be petulant, impatient, even temperamental in nature, although she's usually quite collected and regards things with a certain childish curiosity,. She will speak her mind to friend and foe alike, a trait certainly not welcomed in a young lady in the era she lived in, especially when what she thinks runs contrary to what is proper etiquette. And particularly if said young lady is a sarcastic child in a young woman's body.
Though childish in many ways, Alice is certainly no innocent. She has seen and endured horrors that have shattered her, and with great care she's trying to pick up the pieces. She is jaded, she is cynical, but even beneath that damage, bits of the bright, optimistic child she once was occasionally shines through.
She still clings to her childhood Wonderland, a place she has saved and has, in turn, saved her.
Appearance: Alice will be arriving as her Wonderland self because I like her blue dress better. Yes I am shallow.
Alice, if we are being generous, would be described as a slender girl. If we are not, the word 'consumptive' comes to mind. She's sickly pale, with long dark hair and bright green eyes. She favours a blue dress, black and white striped stockings, and black lace-up boots with a pragmatic heel that's comfortable for walking, and suitable for stomping pesky executioners. Her apron is white, and tied in a neat bow in the back. The rather cute look of the dress is somewhat ruined by the strange runes decorating her apron, the skull at the knot of her bow and the bloodstains of her enemies splattered here and there.
Outside of Wonderland, her appearance is generally the same, though her wardrobe far more drab and she's had a haircut since the first game.
Skills/Abilities: Alice is swift and rather skilled with a knife. Particularly the Vorpal Blade. She is able to jump long distances and a petticoat's as practical as a parachute in a pinch. She can use her skirt to glide and increase the amount of space she can cover. She can shrink to the size of a doormouse at will, and can dodge enemy attacks by turning into a cloud of butterflies. She is also adept at turning relatively innocuous toys and household objects into lethal weapons. In dire circumstances Alice can lose control, going into a hysteria where she is stronger, faster, invulnerable, and frankly terrifying for a short time.
Not to mention she has mastered the art of making sense of the nonsensical. And has never skipped dessert. Not even once.
Spoken/Written languages: Victorian English
Items: Alice will have nothing on her other than the clothes on her back.
Third person sample: She had woken rather slowly which was unusual. Sleep was so often a fitful affair that waking up was a rather sudden matter, if she bothered to sleep at all. So languidly opening her eyes, and letting awareness gradually creep into her was welcomed and pleasant. She rolled over onto her side, and faced the wall. Alice traced the wallpaper pattern with her eyes, picturing a flock of flamingos poking among the paisley. It rather reminded her of the wallpaper pattern in her room, and as she nodded off again, she felt reassured that that whole ordeal with the fire and the asylum had just been a very bad dream. Lizzie and her would go exploring by the stream later that day, and mum would make tea and papa would be in his study. She'd have to ask him to make sure that doctor didn't come by. He was getting fresh with Lizzie...
She cuddled up to these warm thoughts that enveloped her like a thick fog and nearly fell back asleep.
Nearly.
A sudden thud and a snore had her bolt upright and look around wildly, the cobwebs clearing from her mind in an instant. Her eyes fell on a rather strange creature. It resembled a cross between a pig and a large, brown, hairy limabean. She gave it a long, piercing look, but her eyes weren't knives and other than the occasional grunt, the thing didn't stir from where it had fallen off a chair.
Alice noted that she was in no immediate danger from the lima pig and threw the blankets off her, stockinged feet touching the floor. Her boots were set neatly by her bed and she pulled them on. And, without much fuss, she set about exploring this new place.
If she was any judge, it was probably somewhere in the Hatter's realm as the odd device she found near the lima pig and the buttons that rotated the room seemed very much one of the mechanical madman's endeavors.
Had Wonderland begun to return to normal? Strange though it was, the room lacked much in ways of sinister symbolism, and she was without any of her ...unorthodox arsenal. Whatever the case she had some very cross words for March Hare and Doormouse. Their antics had nearly destroyed Wonderland! Well, technically it had been her and Doctor Bumby, but really they should have known better to work for someone so obviously insane. Alice took a last look around and, reassured that the creature was still quite catatonic, headed out.
First person sample:
[Video]
[Alice peers into the device, the video going upside down as she turns it over.]
What a most curious device. I reckon it's rather like a chain letter though done all at once since there are other people all writing each other on it. There are moving picture recordings and voice recordings too. I think I've got the right of it, but I'm not sure.
I'm really not sure of anything, to be honest. This isn't Wonderland. Or at least not any part of it to which I've ever been. And I don't recall others ever being able to come. But I'm myself here. Well, my other self. But not my other other self. I also seem to have acquired a lima pig, though the cat would be more helpful, enigmatic as he is..
[She pauses, and rocks back and forth from her heels to the balls of her feet.]
That man said people need help. That there are monsters. I wonder, if this isn't Wonderland, where might I find an adequate carving knife?