Alsolem

Alsolem
GENERAL
Alice in Wonderland
American McGee's Alice
Character	Alice
Character	Caterpillar
IN FANDOM
Type (?)	Het

1

Alsolem is the het ship between Alice and the Caterpillar from the Alice in Wonderland fandom.

Canon

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

When shrunk down to a couple of inches due to eating one of the White Rabbit's cakes, Alice escaped the rabbit's house and worried what she could eat after being shrunken down. She noticed a regular-sized mushroom that towered over her, she began inspecting it to see what is on top, but found a caterpillar smoking from a long hookah and not noticing her at first.

When he did notice her, he and Alice just stared at each other for some time before the Caterpillar took the hookah out of his mouth to ask her who she is. Alice found the tone of the question slightly rude, but decided to explain that she herself isn't sure who she is anymore, having changed so many times since she got up this morning. When the Caterpillar does not understand what she's telling him, he demands for her to explain herself, but Alice figures that she can't since she's not herself right now. Alice does not find the right words to describe that she had been shifting in size, but the Caterpillar does not make an attempt to understand her. Alice tries to explain it by comparing the Caterpillar turning into chrysalis and finally a butterfly, suggesting that he should find the experience to be quite weird, but the Caterpillar denies that. Alice realizes that she has to explain that changing size is not natural for her, but that only leads to the Caterpillar continuing to demand that she should tell him who she is. Alice realizes that they're talking in circles, fed up with the question, she demands the Caterpillar to tell her who he is instead. When the Caterpillar asks her why, Alice herself realizes that she doesn't know why she asked him, deciding that it's best for her to leave. But before she does so, the Caterpillar calls her back to him again, telling her that he has some important information for her. Alice complied expecting something worth her time with that promise, but when the Caterpillar was telling her to "keep her temper", she could just barely swallow her anger when asking him if that was all he had to say. The Caterpillar denies that, but then doesn't continue and smokes another puff, Alice expects something worth hearing so she patiently waits by his side for him to finish. The Caterpillar finally asks her why she believes that she had changed, Alice recounts that she can't remember how common turns of phrases go, so the Caterpillar tasks her to recite the poem You are old, Father William from memory.

When Alice does so, the Caterpillar comments that her recitation was "not quite right" and Alice agrees, having admitted to altering some of the words. However, the Caterpillar rudely tells her that her entire recitation was wrong from beginning to end, leaving Alice in awkward silence again for a while. When he finally speaks up again, he asks Alice what size she would want to be. Alice initially denies having a specific wish, explaining that she'd been changing sizes so much today, but the Caterpillar tells her that he wouldn't know. As Alice once again resents how the Caterpillar keeps contradicting her, he continues the conversation by asking her if she's content now. Alice admits that she should be a bit taller and that she considers being three inches tall "wretched", but the Caterpillar gets offended by that last remark and stands upright to show that he himself is only three inches tall. Alice explains that she herself is not used to it like he is, but instead of offering a solution right away, the Caterpillar tells her that she will get used to it before taking another drag from the hookah. It took a minute or two for Alice to wait until the Caterpillar chose to speak again, shaking himself awake, he crawls down the mushroom onto the ground. Before he leaves, he tells her that one side will make her grow, the other will make her shrink. Alice doesn't quite understand at first, but the Caterpillar clarifies that he meant the mushroom before leaving for good.

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

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The Caterpillar in the Tim Burton film goes by Absolem, he first meets Alice as a child who ended up calling Underland "Wonderland." Years later after believing that Wonderland and its smoking caterpillar were part of a recurring dream, a much older Alice finds herself meeting Absolem upon her return to Underland. Absolem could tell that Alice has changed from the young child they all knew her to be, that is why his next words made it sound like they had found the "wrong Alice." He doesn't correct himself knowing doing so would prevent Alice from re-finding the strength and confidence she'll need for the battle to come.

American McGee's Alice

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When the deaths of her family broke Alice's mind and gravely affected Wonderland, turning it into a twisted nightmare, Caterpillar knew that only Alice can repair the damage done to Wonderland by killing the Queen of Hearts. He goes into hiding as he waits for Alice's return to Wonderland, so he can inform her of her task. Alice had first sought out Caterpillar as a means to re-find the White Rabbit after they were separated, but after he was killed by the Mad Hatter, her reasons for finding Caterpillar changed. Wanting to know why she was brought back to Wonderland in the first place, with Mock Turtle stating to her that Caterpillar knows all and will answer any question she has, it felt like her best option.

Fanon

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This is one of Alice's rarer ships with one of the Wonderland inhabitants. With the original novel having Alice as a child and Caterpillar mostly be presented as someone much older than her, in most adaptations of the story.

Although Caterpillar appears and has had a few encounters with Alice in American McGee's Alice, the ship isn't largely supported in its fanbase, like a few other classic AiW ships are. Even though Caterpillar remains an alley to Alice, while characters like the Mad Hatter became her enemy.

Because Caterpillar is an insect than a person, however, it has people either treat Chalice as a friendship or focus on one of his human/humanoid counterparts.

Fandom

FAN FICTION

Alice/Caterpillar tag on AO3

Alice/Caterpillar (Mad T Party) tag on AO3

Absolem/Alice tag on AO3

Trivia

• One of the DLC dresses of Alice: Madness Returns is based on Caterpillar.