Alice Purcell

Look, Brothers and Sisters, an Alice!
Alice Purcell is the latest Namesake to wear the name of Alice (the first recorded one was Alice Liddell. She is outwardly a slightly built, normal looking human woman with pale skin, brown eyes, and short, light brown hair in a bob but she is also part Wonderlander. When the Wonderlander 'comes out' she grins a grin full of sharp, Cheshire Cat teeth, and can dissolve into atmosphere. There is also a Cheshire stripe on her leg which you won't see unless she shows you.

Being Alice

Alice was originally born in Oxford to 'gobshite' abusive parents and she retains the trauma and aversion to this day. She wound up in a Merseyside foster home where things weren't much better, but she did meet her lifelong friend Suzan, who took her under her wing, teaching her how to read. Sadly for Suzan, she was slated to be eaten by One's Skeleton Key, Sahil (Nose) and when Alice jumped to save her life the trauma sent both girls into Wonderland.

Alice was badly injured in the fall into Wonderland and would have died had the Cheshire Cats not rescued her by giving her one of their nine lives each. This healed her, gave her extra lives, and gave her the understanding of a Cheshire Cat. Unlike most Namesakes, Alice is no longer fully human--which is fine; she knows herself to be a Wonderlander, and the only being she calls 'Mother' is a Cheshire Cat. When the Rippers separate her from her Wonderlander powers, she is naturally distraught.

Powers and Abilities

Some of Alice's powers are unsettling. Her 'mirror-self' would talk to her in the mirror and remind her of the things she did wrong, taunting her, breaking mirrors and getting her into trouble until, we presume, she learned to master this part of 'The Looking-Glass world'. As long as Alice has enough power, she can dissolve like a Cheshire Cat (making her very difficult to catch, as Fish learned too late! She can open a portal to Wonderland, hop through it, and jump out of it into a chosen point on Earth. She can even carry other people through with her, but all journeys take a lot of energy, and if she is too badly drained she will be rendered helpless. When she grins, she does it as a Cheshire Cat, showing her Cheshire teeth--an effect that terrifies Jack every time, but if she laughs like that her face can be stuck in Cheshire mode for days. She enjoys it, though. What cat doesn't love alarming her foes? The fact that she can climb trees wearing high heels ought to prove to anyone she is more than human.

Vorpal Sword

Alice is the only other Alice to use Alice Liddell's Vorpal Sword after her passing. The Vorpal Sword is her most powerful weapon (outside of herself, which is no slouch) and with it she is a skilled and deadly fighter. When it strikes it goes Snicker-Snack! The sword chose to come to her when she was in a moment of extreme depression as a child, struggling to fit in and know her new home at Calliope. With the sword a new purpose sparked her and she took up fencing lessons. The sword usually hangs like a charm around her neck, but grows full size when she needs it. The sword is an object of bitter envy by Ina, Alice Liddell's Shadow-corrupted sister, and she 'longs to reclaim it.'

Team Bulldozer

Alice, Wendy Shepard, and Jack Wright make up Team Bulldozer, a group known for its success in meeting new worlds...and instigating changes whether or not that world wants it done! Although Alice can give Jack the rough side of her tongue, she means well and the two bicker much like siblings. Thankfully, Wendy is there to calm them both.

Relationships

Alice does not give her heart easily, knowing she cannot give it halfway. She wears a ring around her neck for her closeness to Suzan, and Vanessa's turning traitor devastated her to the point where she refused to call her by her name. She is thoroughly enjoying her time with Selva Chopper, and they have every intention of being happy together. Since taking up the Vorpal Sword and living through the memories of the sword's former owners, she has their perspective to provide some stability. Alice will always be a Cheshire Cat and an Alice first before she identifies with her human side. She hung out in Liddell Park as a child partly because Jasper was there. When she can she visits her mother Wani the Cheshire Cat, and rests with her, complaining that humans are very tiring to work with.

Vanessa

Alice and Vanessa were once committed in a relationship. Vanessa's betrayal of Calliope, however well-intentioned, has left Alice infuriated and wounded. Circumstances suggest she carries a related grudge to Vanessa's brother Travis because he used his writer powers to 'stop his sister at whatever cost.' Alice did not take well to being subjected to another's control. She cut off Vanessa's arm with her Vorpal Sword but once she did, snapped out of the writer's influence and gave one of her lives to Vanessa instead. Alice and Travis have remained at loggerheads with more conflict than resolution. It is the thankless task of Jason Crawford, Wendy, and Jack to try to keep things peaceable between them.

Selva Chopper

Alice met the granddaughter of the Tin Woodsman and was soon smitten by the beautiful witch. The adoration was returned but both of them were unable to act on their feelings, what with Alice still traumatized and Selva learning how to fit in Calliope. Wendy's casual/not casual comment about Alice's crush on her spurred Selva into making the first move with a big kiss and the order to stay safe. Whatever happens next, they will do it together.