Name: Alison Madelyn Jarman

AGE: 18

DOB: 13 December 1980

Origin:

Alison Jarman as born to Andrew and Jessica (Mace) Jarman at Sunnydale General Hospital, in late fall 1980. Born and raised in Sunnydale, Alison (Ali to her friends) never knew what went bump in the night while growing up.

She had a fairly good childhood and was a well-adjusted child until things took a turn for the worse when she was thirteen. She came home from an outing to find a strange man in her house. It turned out that this was her mother’s new boyfriend (who himself was barely a legal adult), and that she was moving out after having disclosed to her father that they had had sex in her parents’ bed (A Glimpse at the Past). This led to Andrew suffering a nervous breakdown and having to be hospitalized. Alison had to spend two weeks with her mother and her new boyfriend while her father recovered from his episode. To the angry young woman, it was two weeks of Hell (A Glimpse at the Past).

After her mother left and moved to Los Angeles, Jessica wanted Alison to move to LA with her, but the feelings of betrayal the teenager felt made sure that would never happen. She chose to stay with her father and Andrew was awarded custody of her after the divorce was finalized. Much of Alison’s reasoning was that her father needed someone, and unlike her mother, she would not abandon her Daddy. Eventually, Alison came to accept the split, and to reluctantly accept her mother’s new love, whereas her father couldn’t.

During the time between her parents’ divorce and going to high school, Alison dealt with being the child of a single parent by joining the Popular crowds at her school. Mostly, her attitude was an act to keep people from picking on her for being a brain (and about her father’s medical condition). During her last year at middle school, she started developing a crush on one of her friends, Percy Williams. This crush continued into her freshman year at Sunnydale High School (A Glimpse at the Past).

It was during her freshman year that Alison’s next-door neighbor, a friend since childhood, was found dead along with her boyfriend. It was then that Alison finally started realizing something about the death rate in her hometown. She was also told about her grades slipping, being assigned a tutor, Willow Rosenberg. Having the Principal assign her to take lessons from the biggest geek this side of Xander Harris or Steven Urkel was a blow to the Popular Girl’s ego. Willow assured her that she knew Alison was smart, so they agreed to go behind Flutie’s back as long as Alison brought her grades up. Alison realized that her play-acting, meant to keep her friends from abandoning her, had tripped her up.

Upset about her friends dying (and Flutie dissing her intelligence), Ali ditched school for the rest of the day. She went along with her friends Marisa and Harmony (with some jocks such as Percy tagging along) to the Mall and the cinema. After the show, Alison and Percy walked to her house after Marisa left them, deciding to walk home alone. After getting home, Alison showed Percy her room since Andrew wasn’t home. Thinking that Percy returned her feelings, Alison started making out with him. But things took a turn for the worse; when Alison told Percy to stop, he refused. Unable to fight back against a man twice her weight, Alison could only suffer as Percy Williams raped her in her own bedroom.

After Percy finished and walked out, having finished his despicable task, the traumatized Alison swore to never let someone treat her this way again. She started by destroying everything that hinted at her previous personality, starting with her hair; Alison cut off enough hair so that what formerly fell past her waist was now only shoulder-length. She then began burning things that spoke of her status with the Popular Crowd; her good clothing, diary, makeup, photos, and all of the hair she’d cut off. Alison also drank herself to sleep, finishing off an entire fifth of whiskey that night.

The very next morning, Alison walked into school a changed woman. Word of her "night" with Percy had already spread and her former friends had already turned on her, calling her "Percy’s slut." As it turned out, Jesse, a friend of Willow and Xander’s, disputed Percy’s claim. He had put two and two together and handed the confused Ali a number to a rape crisis hotline. When she got home, she received more bad news; Marisa, her best friend, had been found dead during the day. Alison went into emotional overload and called the rape hotline, then her newfound friend, Jesse.

By the end of the school year, Alison and Jesse’s friendship continued to deepen as he helped her deal with the rape and went to her counseling sessions. While she became friends with Willow, she was still uncomfortable with Xander, because of lingering issues dealing from Percy’s violation. Also, having turned her attention back to becoming a "real person" rather than an airhead, Ali managed to raise her grade point average from a dismal 1.8 to a whopping 3.6.

At the end of her freshman year, Alison was preparing to spend her summer vacation in Los Angeles with her mother. Those plans changed when Jessica called to announce that she and Rhys were heading to Australia for two weeks. After shutting out her initial feelings of betrayal, she understood that her mom needed some time with her boyfriend and just postponed her trip to LA.

Alison started her sophomore year with high expectations. Her relationship with Jesse had continued to deepen although they were not romantically involved (despite her dad’s suspicions), and Ali had begun to bond with Willow as well. She heard about the new girl showing up, Buffy Summers, but didn’t give it much thought at first. She gave it more thought when she saw Buffy jump the fence in broad daylight. When she went to talk to Jesse about the strange thing she’d just seen, she heard Xander and Willow talking about vampires. She started to wonder if everyone was on drugs. However, it was later that night that Ali began to wonder if she was the one on drugs.

She ran into Jesse at the Bronze but he ignored her and seemed to be stalking Cordelia. When she saw his face undergo a sickening transformation, she knew she was in trouble. Before she could realize exactly what was happening, chaos broke out as Buffy and a few others began fighting the creatures. She saw Willow throw water on a girl, which burned the girl like acid. She also saw Buffy stake the thing calling itself Luke. It was then that she watched as Xander stabbed Jesse in the chest with a piece of wood. Jesse, her best friend, burst into a cloud of dust. The fear factor holding back her grief for the moment, Alison dully evacuated the Bronze when told to do so.

Unfortunately for her, things became worse when she came home. Her mother had decided to show the gall to announce her engagement to Rhys, which only served to send her father into a state of shock. Unable to stand any more trouble, Ali shouted her mother into submission and laid out an ultimatum; get out of HER home or her mother would never see her again. She then called an ambulance to get her father to the hospital.

The next day, Alison arranged for partial classes so she could take care of her father. Upon getting home, she immediately began researching what had happened at the Bronze, including Jesse’s death. Over the next few weeks, she began to accept the existence of vampires and demons. She also overheard a talk about Buffy being someone called the Slayer. She began to understand exactly how much rode on Buffy’s shoulders and occasionally eavesdropped on conversations between the "Slayer," Willow, and Xander. Her feelings of being betrayed by the latter two, who hadn’t told her about Jesse’s conversion, prevented her from approaching them.

When Principal Flutie died, Alison eventually had to resume her normal class schedule, as the new Principal was less than understanding about her home life. Ali arranged for a nurse to take care of her father during the day, and she took over the duties at night. Alison also became more careful, having learned what was out there. And although she went out of her way to avoid getting into the whole "saving the world" battle, she still found herself involved with things, however indirectly. One such instance was Halloween night, 1997. Alison was trying to leave Sunnydale for a party at her mother’s when she came across a mother and child needing help. After getting them home, Ali was attacked by someone who looked like an ape. What made is worse was that her next door neighbor, a preteen boy dressed as Superman, saved her from him. She eventually made it to Jessica and Rhys’ apartment, having escaped with her life and sanity once again.

In February of 1998, Alison realized that her father’s medical bills were going to eventually run his account dry. Alison faced a choice; drop of out school or get a job after hours. After trying (and failing) to gain employment at the Espresso Pump and Sun Cinema, the frustrated Jarman landed a job at Romero’s Pizza, the best pizza place in Sunnydale. She immediately hit it off with her new coworker, Ted, who ran her through her paces for the first few weeks. Her duties originally consisted of taking orders, although she then added making deliveries to her repertoire. She also started to develop a crush on Ted, although her history with losing friends made her resist making any sort of move.

Alison continued to listen in on the talks held by Buffy and the others in the library, taking care to make sure she wasn’t caught. But even she was shocked when Cordelia rocked Sunnydale High’s world by openly kissing Xander in the hallway. The next day, she secretly watched (and was shocked by) Xander kicking the hell out of six football players, including Percy Williams (Dating Sunnydale Style and Ringside Seat in the Bleachers).

The next few months were somewhat normal (as much as living in Sunnydale can be), although Ali did manage to put together the arrival of Buffy’s new boyfriend and the falling death rate in town. However, even she was slightly put off balance in July when Romero’s got a call to deliver 80 pizzas to the Sunnydale Motor Lodge. When she arrived, Ted introduced her to Buffy’s boyfriend (their first actual meeting). Alison started asking all kinds of questions about various people at the party, surprising Steve, Buffy, and Ted (Romero’s Induction). Alison took everything in stride except for two things: A strip tease which revealed a man’s scars (making Ali faint because it reminded her of a surgery her mother had once had) and meeting King Arthur, live and in the flesh (making Ali faint again).

Upon getting back to work, Ali broke down because of her mixed emotions about Xander and Willow, hating that these good fighters hadn’t been here the year before when Jesse needed them. Shortly thereafter, Alison decided to confront her issues by talking to Willow and Xander. After finally clearing the air (and cluing Buffy in on why she was so close to Jesse), and telling people why she was upset with them, Buffy made her an offer to join their team. Although the position was purely for research purposes, Alison turned down the offer, citing her lack of grace under pressure (giving the example of being saved by a pint-sized Kryptonian for Halloween), her father’s medical situation, and her residual feelings toward Willow and Xander. However, she did agree to talk to them if she needed to, and to consider their offer at another time (Girl Talk, Hellmouth Style).

As her senior year started, Alison continued making up classes missed during her sophomore year. One of these was the Basic Computers class (despite knowing how to use computers, it was a required course). She noticed a new exchange student sitting next to her and wondered why she and Ms. Calendar had gotten into an apparent argument. The next night, Ali had other things to worry about.

She was attacked on the way home from work by a vampire. Ali suffered a broken arm for her troubles but managed to stay alive, dusting the vampire when he tried to get sucky face with her neck. After this close call, Ali decided she needed to learn how to fight. She began taking aikido lessons and her intelligence and ability to learn quickly served her well.

Over the next few months, Alison continued her senior year without too much incident. She learned more about the new girls in town, Shaw Hunter and Faith Pryce, particularly Shaw as they shared Ms. Calendar’s computer class and occasionally worked on projects together. Things became screwy once again when she noticed Shaw fighting a vampire to save some children. While she knew about Shaw being a part of Buffy’s group (mainly because she was Amy Madison’s cousin), she wasn’t prepared to see the shining red eyes of her classmate (Another Night, Another Fright). After thinking about the revelation that Shaw wasn’t human (despite the public knowledge of DNA matching her to Amy), Ali decided she still wanted to be Shaw’s friend, provided she could find out the truth.

As 1999 enters into March, Ali’s life is proceeding at the normal pace. She continues to work at Romero’s, keep her grades up, help with Andrew’s care, and wanting to kill Ted for not noticing she’s crazy about him.

Race: Human.

Description: The first thing people notice about Alison is her height (or more accurately, her lack of such). Ali stands only five feet, two inches tall and wouldn’t even weigh one hundred pounds soaking wet. Adding to the lack of people noticing is that her hair, a dark brown bordering on black, is kept at shoulder length and worn in simple ponytails. Ali has blue eyes to compliment her face, but because she tends not to gussy herself up, people rarely notice her (Faith has been heard to say, "Ali is like you <Shaw Hunter>. She needs to embrace her inner runway model.")

Ali once did the "dress to impress" thing, including having her hair fall past her waist. Since her freshman year, the young senior operates by the "KISS" principle, favoring t-shirts, blue jeans, and running shoes. Part of this is her refusal to go back into "Airhead Mode," but mostly it’s simply that she cannot afford finer clothing, given her financial situation.

Alison does keep herself in fine shape, the result of her martial arts classes. If she ever does embrace that inner runway model, then people at Sunnydale High (such as Harmony or Cordelia) will remember why she once put them to shame.

Abilities (uncommon): Alison does not have any supernatural abilities; she is what would normally be classified as a normal human being. However, unlike many people, Alison doesn’t let the surprises of Sunnydale get to her as much as the next person. She manages to, as her father put it, make lemonade out of the constant lemons life hands her. A good example of this is her first real exposure to Buffy’s group at the Sunnydale Motor Lodge. She was able to accept gargoyles, Blue Berets, and the Slayer. Now if she could just get used to that King Arthur thing…

Abilities (learned): Alison is an extremely bright student, possessing an IQ score that is close to the standard of Willow Rosenberg. The difference is that while everyone knows about Willow’s brain, Ali tends to be the quiet achiever. She enjoys playing on computers, writing her own programs, and building websites, although she isn’t a hacker by nature. Jarman is also a crack researcher; give her a subject and she can find out nearly anything she needs to know, whether it’s vampires, medical conditions and the proper treatments for them (both in A Glimpse at the Past), or secret government alien hunting Special Forces units (Romero’s Induction). Alison’s first love, however, is studying evolution (name another eighteen year old who has copies of Einstein’s Twin Paradox and Darwinian Theory of Evolution on her desk).

Current Status: (include here if the person is immortal or not): Citizen of the United States with no criminal record. Senior at Sunnydale High School, accepted to the University of California at Sunnydale.

Proficient weapons: Alison is not known to be proficient with any form of weapons (hand to hand or firearms). She is currently taking lessons in aikido (having six or seven months of experience at this point). She also takes some time now and then to practice using the moves she has learned while wielding a stake in her off hand. One subtle advantage Alison has but doesn’t realize is that being left-handed, she can give more than a few opponents fits in a fight.

Current beliefs:

As of March 1999, Ali’s life is continuing its slow turn for the better. Her financial situation continues to improve as her hours at Romero’s increase, as does her own mental health. Her relationship with her mother has improved to the point that Alison makes frequent trips to Los Angeles to visit with Jessica.

The things that hurt Alison continue to be her limited friendships. Other than Ted (who she’s getting increasingly frustrated with as her crush goes unrequited), her list of friends is short and, even with them, she holds back. The main reasons for this herald back to the night she was raped; she feels uncomfortable with males other than Ted, Cesar, and her father. The same night, she lost her best friend. Marisa turned out to be only the first in a succession of friends she lost to the dark forces invading Sunnydale and it causes her to hold back. Other issues with those she might become close to depend on the person; Xander and Willow didn’t tell her about Jesse, she doesn’t know Buffy that well, and Shaw isn’t human (although saving the kids that night lets Ali give her the benefit of the doubt for now). Ali knows about her issues and is slowly trying to overcome them.

Despite this, she is still close to finishing her senior year as a loner, a prime target for people such as Harmony. However, Ali’s razor sharp tongue more than allows her to hold her own with the "new" Queen of the Popular Crowd.

Personally, Alison admires Buffy not only for her fighting skills, but also for the destiny that has called to her. Where Ali has had a rough few years, she knows that Buffy likely won’t even graduate college. She also feels a great deal of gratitude to Buffy and Steve for the changes they’ve brought to the town, making it more likely that she and those she hopes to be friends with will live long enough to be friends. As she deals with the issues that keep her from fully embracing friendships with various Slayerettes (especially Willow and Xander), she watches from afar, waiting to perhaps accept the offer made to her months ago. The one thing blocking her as well is her reluctance to believe in magic, such as witchcraft or magical swords from England. While she can accept vampires and Vampire Slayers, fireballs and Excalibur are a little harder to believe in.

What is the one most important thing you can say about the character?

Considering she has no "superpowers" and is just a normal girl, she manages not only to protect herself and her Dad but also the odd one or two people along the way.

Fiercely loyal to her Dad, she tries to do what’s best for him at all stages. Whether it’s yelling at her own Mom or working a part time job to help support her family. She is determined not to let her Dad’s declining health stop her from receiving an education. Having been in the popular group, she realizes that friends are only worthwhile if they can accept the difficulties thrown at you through life, making Shaw and Faith good candidates for her closest friends.

Favorite quote: "I get knocked down but I get up again, you’re never going to keep me down…" (Lyrics from Chumbawumba’s Tubthumping)

Nicknames: Ali, AJ, Pizza Girl, Short Stuff (which she hates).

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