Alejandro Leaf/Rumor Registry
Rumors
Alejandro Leaf has 2 Rumors written about so far.
Alejandro Leaf/IF-1667
The waters beyond this point are uncharted, tales from distant shores echoed back into our reality.
Background
The following accounts can be traced to a single leather-bound journal originally found in a locked wooden chest alongside a sextant-like device of indeterminate origin and a shell that matches no known species of mollusc. The chest was located in a storage room in the Legscraper’s lower levels that was described as “smelling faintly of the sea”. Subsequent attempts to locate and navigate to said room have been unsuccessful thus far. The journal details the exploits of the crew of a large sailing vessel, The Tokyo Adrift, descriptions of which are largely consistent with mid-17th century galleons.
With The Tokyo Adrift
Alejandro “Aly” Leaf was first discovered when The Tokyo Adrift found itself caught in a kelp forest near the port city of Infinity Plains. The location was also known the Watermill due to a high frequency of "sudden and turbulent waves dashing ships against nearby rocky outcrops, grinding them to pieces". According to a related entry, "many a ship found themselves pulled towards the rocks by strong, persistent tidal currents". As such, the region was often avoided by even the most experienced of sailors. A notable exception is found in one Captain Charla, whose "oddly constructed vessel, built to maximise buoyancy, floated unusually high in the sea, drifting right above the dangerous riptides".
The Adrift had stopped there to allow Goodwin Morin and Captain Strongbody to dive in search of specimens for the latter's research. Strongbody was later quoted in the journal describing the experience as “anxiety-inducing, it was like the entire environment was watching me, and it did not like what it saw”. The divers located their goal, a mollusc shell of considerable size and lustre, but found themselves unable to swim back to the surface. The journal reflects their retelling of the incident, describing “kelp clinging to [them], pulling [them] ever deeper” and “shadows lurking at the edge of [their] vision, only to disappear when focused on”. Morin later said “I’ve never felt so powerless while beneath the surface, the more we fought, the harder it fought back.”
Meanwhile, the ship itself found its rudder immobilised, kelp having crept into every available crack of the mechanism. It was only after returning the shell and backing away that the divers were able to make contact with the entity they would come to know as Aly Leaf. When reassured of their intentions and upon receiving their word that they would not harm the kelp forest, Leaf allowed them to retrieve their quarry.
Anatomical sketches of Leaf depict a head and tail resembling a leafy sea dragon, with the front legs and torso of a horse. Her exact form seems to be mutable and the journal posits that the entity witnessed was but an avatar of the greater whole. Leaf appeared to have full control over kelp from her domain, demonstrating the ability to independently control the movement of “as many as thirty individual fronds at a time”. Water dwelling members of the crew reported a deep hum echoing below the surface of the waves when she used this ability, the sound of which was described as “haunting and enchanting in equal measure”.Alejandro Leaf/IF-55.492
Appearance
Alejandro "Aly" Leaf presents as a dense mass of green vines surrounding a large pitcher plant. She treats this green-orange-pink bell as her head, and it is a natural focal point for those regarding and addressing her. Leaf's sprawling thicket of vines sway, furl and bend in concert when under her conscious control, but retain a degree of independent motility; if her attention should wander they may stretch out on their own and begin crawling up table legs or wrapping themselves around a teammate's ankle. Lift player Val Hitherto has referred to her as a "trippy Vine compilation".
Journalists describe Leaf's tentacle-like growths as moving in "eerie and captivating ways". Some report difficulty carrying on conversations with Leaf in person, as the sinuous swish triggers migraines, seasickness and, in at least one case, a deep hypnotic trance lasting several hours. Nandy Slumps has suggested that Leaf should make more use of this trait in her pitching.
Blaseball Career
With the LA Unlimited Tacos
Leaf signed up for what she understood to be a community kickball league while protesting against raw milk regulations outside Ralphio's Market in Van Nuys, California. During Seasons 1 and 2, fans described Leaf as "mostly human shaped" and "just kind of normal looking." Following the Wyatt Masoning, Leaf's appearance began to change drastically, with reports that she was "hard to make sense of" and "shaped super confusingly."
Leaf was involved in Season β7's so-called Snackrifice, during which the team's entire pitching rotation became Shelled. She has not spoken publicly about her long confinement or her appearances with THE SHELLED ONE'S PODS, but a number of blackened shoots and cauterised growth tips appear to date from this period. Photographs taken throughout Leaf's ILB career support the perception that she has become progressively less humanoid and more vegetal in appearance. This process seems to have accelerated after Leaf was Unshelled, and at times little trace can be seen of her earlier form.
With the New York Millenials
Leaf made a nervy start to her Mills career, but her confidence returned and performance improved after an ice-breaking appearance on Winnie Mccall's podcast. She led the team in expanding the Apartment's peaceful rooftop garden, and cites this as helping her "rediscover her sense of fun". She dismissed claims that she had been seen crossing the city by "thwipping her vines about like Spider-Man" as "just plain silly".
Despite strong friendships with her teammates, particularly Patty Fox and regular flowerbombing partner Schneider Bendie, Leaf found it hard to put down roots in New York. After three seasons she left the team by mutual consent in order to branch out in new directions.
With the Tokyo Lift
Leaf arrived in Japan with a fresh bloom of Lift Pink flowers and a field guide to the local insects. Her signing coincided with the departure of batter Lotus Mango, and the newcomer immediately expressed interest in the now-vacant roles of Lift gardener and Head of Oxygenation.During Season β14 she was pleased to reconnect with former Taco and sometime POD Wyatt Quitter. At the time Leaf considered herself among the more well-adjusted players to have endured Shelling, and felt some responsibility toward others still processing the traumatic experience. The two shared long conversations in the calm of the Conservatory before Quitter's shocking loss to Static on day 99.
The humid climate of Tokyo was more agreeable to her current form than that of New York or the Los Angeli. On warm nights she took to sleeping outside, often draping herself across the Legscraper's batting cages. She continued in this habit even after one night of troubled dreams meant a grueling twelve-hour procedure to untangle her tendrils from the netting.
Leaf’s comfortable time in Tokyo came to an abrupt end on Season 17, Day 14, when she 
two Tacos players in one game: Felix Garbage and former teammate Basilio Fig. Leaf has refused to speak to anyone about the incident at all: not her Lift teammates, not the other Tacos, not former Pods, and not even current teammate and former pod Jessica Telephone.
Following the incident, Leaf seemed notably withdrawn and less comfortable around her teammates. Not even Yusef Fenestrate, who referred to Leaf as a surrogate aunt, could coax her into spending time with them. Leaf’s final public comment with the Lift was shortly after the team traded her to another team; she simply said, “I understand, and I’ll miss Tokyo.”
Personal Life
Leaf has a dry sense of humour, and the absence of facial features makes her famously difficult to read. On a few occasions she has accessorised her pitcher plant with sunglasses or googly eyes; whether this represents an earnest attempt to seem more relatable or simply a self-deprecating joke is itself a matter of continued debate.
She keeps in touch with many former teammates, including Fox, Bendie, Basilio Mason and Basilio Fig. She frequently sends seeds and cuttings of Japanese plants back to New York for the Millenials' rooftop garden. Among Lift players she is closest to Yusef Fenestrate, whom she is teaching to knit, and ecologist Grollis Zephyr, with whom she discusses her interest in gastro-entomology.
Beyond Blaseball, Leaf is well-known as an environmental and anticapitalist campaigner writing in both Spanish and English. Since Season 3 she has used splorting fame as a platform for her efforts against capitalism; in each of the cities she has called home Leaf has provided material and organisational support to grass-roots groups, encouraging budding anticapitalist activists in what she calls "sowing the seeds of our liberation".
Create New Rumor
To create a new Rumor for Alejandro Leaf, use the Page Creation tool to the right. The IF number needs to be a randomly generated 4 or 5 digit number with a period placed somewhere within, and it cannot match any numbers currently used on this page. We've generated one for you to use, but feel free to use a different number. This will create a subpage under Alejandro Leaf for inclusion in the main page. Visit Interdimensional Rumor Mill/Guide to read more about how to create a new Rumor.
