Will Stanton.

Cut and pasted to all my character journals! --22cnd August 2007 (Wednesday).

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Anything else anyone'd like me to add to this? It's for your benefit after all.

( You know what, they can just all go here. )

Well, we're at the park. What was so important that Francescu and Ken couldn't come too?

[The dinner crowd has cleared and the Mess Hall is quiet and empty. This means it is just perfect for Will and two cat boys to pull up a table and settle down with a book. And a mug of tea for Will, hot chocolate for the boys. There may also be cookies.]

Now, do you want a story from La Morte D'Arthur or one of the stories I know?

One of the funniest things about playing older Will is his thought processes, and it's so sad that I can't just tell everyone what he is thinking and why he is saying the things he does.

Basically, I decided that rather than play an older Will who has been 'swapped' with camp-Will, I am playing Will aged up -- that is, he has been made older by camp, and he is aware of this. There hasn't been any time outside of camp -- basically, it's the same as if someone had just cast an older spell on him or something.

However, he is not simply kid!Will in an older body. His mind's grown with his body. He's just -- not really fully aware of all the implications of this.

That's why he starts out 'I don't see the point of this' with his post, and then in the comments, as people draw him out, he's realising the differences. Like Fran: So, is it just your body that has matured? Will: I'm more than my body, Francescu. (*thinks* ... that sounded kind of -- oh, so that's innuendo! Interesting.) and Ronan: How's Bran? Will: (*thinks* Bran? How does Ronan know about Bran and why is he asking me -- oh!) Bran's fine. Etc.

Given the way the Light protects itself by messing with the memories of those it uses, including the Old Ones, Will doesn't know everything at this point -- he only knows what people ask him about/he has thought about himself. So while he really wants to know if the battle goes well and what is in store for him, the Light is keeping that from him. Older Will, however, is a lot more relaxed and comfortable with himself and his powers and responsibilities. So that's feeding over because that's a lot harder to hold back than memories. He is also slightly giddy, due to kid!Will realising that this is basically very cool.

... so basically this is just my way of saying I wish you all lived in my head, if only for Will's internal monologues.

ETA: So that this isn't a completely pointless babbling post, you guys can feel free to use this as a what does Older!Will think of this?/say that? etc meme.

Also, another part of the reason this virus is being so much fun for me is the guy in his icons -- Mika.

Now, he wasn't my first choice. Vernon Kay's pretty much ideal -- round face, which Will has in canon. Wispy, curly hair, dated, seventies style cut -- and he notably last weekend talked Aled from the Chris Moyles show into delivering a quad bike to his house topless live on the BBC. Aled is Welsh. People who know the Dark is Rising series know why this is awesome.

Here's Vernon! http://www.tv.com/vernon-kay/person/173524/photos.html

Sadly, Vernon cut his hair! He's got this crewcut which just isn't Will at all and there aren't enough photos of him that I could find pre-cut to make it work. Woe and sadness!

The other obvious choice was Mika, but I was telling Fran how I couldn't use him as he was too well known.

Fran: Who?

Me: ... okay, this might actually work.

It turns out almost none of you recognise Mika which is awesome from my perspective, but it really means that you won't get why Mika as grown-up Will is hilarious -- the guy is really flamboyant and he is a huge dork, he really is and I love him for it. So along with Mika's body, I can't help but imagine Will with some of his mannerisms. And then I die laughing. I'm sort of over this now, but picturing Will sort of prancing round camp will never not be funny.

To show you guys what I mean, here is Mika at his most flamboyant:

Love Today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tcn49zHLt0

And Mika at his best:

Grace Kelly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPUpxIBkcjM

Mika doing what he does best (being totally random):

Happy Ending: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvBIyJf6el0

[We have food, friends, and widely divergent timezones. Ergo, this birthday dinner is open for always. I imagine the food's been brought over from the Mess Hall and that a party atmosphere prevails. The living room of Toya and Yukito's house is probably a little crowded, but that just adds atmosphere. Enjoy!]

You even managed liver and onions.

((You comment, Will replies. Fun!))

So, one of the texts I chose for my final popular fiction essay was The Dark is Rising and while trying to identify the relationship of the hopes/anxieties raised by the novel, I noticed something funny. Or rather something I'd already noticed now made sense in a new way. I'd already noticed that Will seemed pretty passive for a 12 year old wizard with a lot of power and a healthy amount of cheek.

( And so, because I need a distraction from the two essays I have due tomorrow ... Spoilers for The Dark is Rising. )

Thoughts? Comments? Want to read my canon? (thanks Nights!)

And since I've been thinking about Will and his relationships, relationship meme! Alternately, you want to ask me my reasoning on anything Will's done? The floor is yours (but the furniture is mine).

((backdated to the day of the fashion-zombies. ))


Um. Are you ... what are you doing?

I found holly. If you two don't mind, I'm ready to go.

/o/ 1000 comments! Time for a relationship meme! Comment and I'll let you know what impression you've made on Will.

Simon somehow managed to find all 5 Dark is Rising books in .lit form. You'll need Microsoft Reader. (Mac Users D:) Mac Users, rejoice! Natsuo has a solution for you. Enjoy!

Yousendit link.

Or you should be able to find all five books in your library without too much difficulty -- they've had a few reprintings. And then tell me when you've read them because it will give me huge joy to know that people are reading these books. And we can hate the movie! It will be fun.

Will is an Old One. The closest definition we get of this in his canon is 'not quite human.' Will is recognisable to other Old Ones, agents of the Dark and the avatars of Wild Magic. If your character is sensitive magically, there's a good chance Will will ping them. I'd appreciate it if you could give me a head's up -- the other thing is that what type of magic you have is going to be very important, at least initially.

In The Dark is Rising world, there are five types of magic. High Magic, which is kind of above and beyond everything. Old magic which belongs to the earth -- stones and things. The three that come up most are Light which is good, Dark which is evil, and the Wild Magic which is living things, and neutral -- it can choose to aid light or dark, but it doesn't belong to either. Will is going to be wary of people who feel like Dark, respectful of wild and pretty relaxed about Light. In order to figure out how your character will ping Will, I'd like to know where your characters powers come from, and how they use them.

For example, I'm thinking something like the force would be pretty close to Light -- its inherent, and its concerned with good. The Dark Side of the Force, however, is closer to the Dark. People who's powers come from a god or force, like Thor or Jaime, would probably fall into Wild Magic. Does this make sense?