LogFAQs > #968206065

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Alice, meanwhile, was the only other girl in Peppers age range (aside from Minerva) for a good long while in the campaign, at least until we finally rescued Traci in week 29. Heres the thing about that: Pepper spent her teenaged years attending private schools as a pretty, rich, popular girl (the first two traits largely influencing the third). Her friends in high school and college were largely the kinds of bitchy, mean girls that achieve popularity in those formative years. Alice is very much the antithesis of ANY of that sort of lifestyle; shes more the kind of girl that Peppers friends would go out of their way to harass and spread rumors about, if only to make her life miserable. Yet at the end of the world, Alice was Peppers only real option for female companionship, and in a way, I think that forced scenario was one of the greatest catalysts in the campaign for expanding Peppers horizons.

You see, Pepper is extremely nerdy at heart, but this isnt a trait she was ever able to express around her popular peer group, because they cared more about fashion and boys and their own interpersonal drama. Though Pepper tried her best to keep her nose clean in that regard, she still went along their bitchy attitudes as a willing accomplice. Because of this, much like so many other aspects of her life, she spent her high school years largely devoid of a personality and persona that she could call her own. She was just another blonde in a sea of blondes. She started to come out of her shell in college, largely with some distance from the will of her family, but still, at the end of the day, she tended to gravitate to where she felt safest. Alice is absolutely not what Pepper could consider safe, yet theres something intensely freeing about that.

Alice just doesnt give a fuck what other people think about her (or at least she pretends not to). Shes a punk and a rebel, and shes doesnt like changing who she is just to make others feel comfortable. From their earliest interaction, Pepper tried to do the whole friendly Mormon thing, and Alice just wasnt gonna play nice. Something about this tough girl pulling no punches was just appealing to Pepper. Sure, there were instances where Alice was absolutely terrifying, like when she transformed into a demonic, Etrigan-based version of herself to call Pepper out, but ultimately, in those early days of the campaign, Pepper didnt have other options; she couldnt just run away from her fears, and as such, she had to learn to face them. Now granted, I as her player also found Alice extremely cool, and I pushed the issue, but I feel the need to psychologically justify things after the fact as well.

Theres almost a fifty-fifty split in the campaign between the magic and non-magic elements of the universe, and while Pepper resides in the realm of science, Alice is very much her magical counterpart. For me, personally, as a player, Ive struggled with the magical aspect of the plot, because its difficult for me to justify it from an in-character perspective. Pepper is very much a scientific mind, and the concept of magic, through that lens, would be confusing at best, and terrifying at worst. But I think having Alice as a character who is relatable and accessible (rather than some aged magician/wizard/demon/whatever), has at least allowed Pepper to accept certain aspects of the magical realm, and shes helped bridge that gap, even though its still somewhat of a struggle to connect at times.

Eventually, the two girls played off one another enough that Pepper actually started indulging in some more delinquent attitudes (like swearing or, GASP, trying marijuana for the first time). Sidenote: Alice going magically possessed and commanding Pepper to bring me marijuana was one of those fun, early examples of the kind of cavalier attitude that Alice brought to the campaign. But Pepper rubbed off on Alice a bit as well, and while I think Alice definitely made the stronger imprint of the two, there were still instances early on where Alice tried tempering herself to be more like Pepper, if only to try and appeal to Brennus.

Hoo boy, that storyline was a trip, and I fully admit that I fed the flames. After all, Peppers primary examples of female bonding prior to Zonn Zorr came in the form of boy talk. From her perspective, Alice CLEARLY had a crush on Brennus (including ditching her typical goth attire in favor of a more conservative sweater), and Brennus was just a really sweet and honorable guy who seemed really friendly to Alice, without being sex-obsessed like most boys. Pepper just kept egging Alice on and egging Alice on and egging Alice on, and Brennus was rather oblivious to how his actions might be interpreted. He actually told Alice to meet him, alone, in a bathroom stall, and didnt realize the implications of this until Alice aggressively started making out with him.