#it was surprisingly hard to come up with a description of the Colossal Nell though

[victorluvsalice]

Forgotten Vows Friday: FVV Character Profiles From Alice, Part 2

All right, we've done the "real world" friends and enemies Alice has encountered through the "Forgotten Vows Verse" -- now onto the creatures that inspired me to do this in the first place! All of these are enemies the pair face in the last third or so of "Fixing You," when they venture into Victor's brain and "Silent Burtonsville," so spoilers ahead! (As if I haven't probably spoiled everything already for you guys.) We start with one repeat from Alice's own game/Wonderland -- then we move into more unique monstrosities. . .

Slithering Ruin: My slaughter of the Dollmaker apparently chased these loathsome leeches from my brain into Victor's. Fortunately none of their larger, more aggressive cousins seem to have followed. Victor's discovery that one merely needs a well-aimed foot to defeat them has reduced them to an ultimately minor nuisance.

Puppet-Hand Spider: The title "Nightmare Spider" would be more than appropriate for these stitched-together abominations, if only I hadn't already used it. Knobbly-knuckled and clammy, they are as covetous and grasping as their original owner. The thick strings of webbing fired from whatever passes as their spinnerets must be avoided if Victor and I don't want to find fingers in awkward and uncomfortable places.

The Conglomeration: What is terrible alone becomes even more monstrous in tandem. The Ruins and Spiders have thrown their lot together to build this half-finished effigy of their former master. Possessed of unfortunate speed and a scalding touch, Victor and I will have to keep ahead of it until we figure out how to break it apart. Although. . .what worries me the most is that its face doesn't seem to be only Bumby's. . .

Ruined Barkis: Blue skin and Ruin-stained teeth do nothing for this "lord's" supposed good looks. His poisonous rhetoric is backed up by equally-lethal wine, and a sword as cruel as his heart. Fortunately he is not immune to his own weapons.

Galswells At The Gate: The local clergy seems to have given up God for gatekeeping, at least in Victor's "otherland." Then again, we did more or less destroy his church in fighting Barkis. . . Given that he let us pass after Victor performed his vows to satisfaction, he must be more reasonable than his real-life counterpart.

Cannery Snark: The souls of all the cod, salmon, and trout sacrificed at the Van Dort Cannery likely power these curious wooden relatives of my own fishy foes. This variation forgoes the power of poison, fire, or ice to instead overwhelm their prey with sheer disgust. Their guts can be vomited up with no apparent ill-effect -- on the fish. I'd rather have the fireballs.

Loudmouth Shade: If it looks like a crier, it sounds like a crier, I suppose. A pain in the arse, but not that hard to avoid.

Colossal Nell: As if my mother-in-law-to-be wasn't bad enough! Swelled to enormous, gelatinous proportions, and backed by a chorus of sycophant faces, she spits burning (literally) invective against her son and myself. A selection of mismatched limbs simply adds to the horror. At least defeating this monster should adequately equip me for life as the second Mrs. Van Dort. I hope, anyway.

Thirteen: A lie, carried forth to final fruition. A heartbreaking vision of my beloved's worst fears and secret shames. Proof that Bumby's poisons have seeped their way further into his soul than I ever thought.

. . .Victor. . .you really see yourself this way?