Will Stanton.

Hogwarts AU

2008-04-18T04:28:18Z

Name: Dick Grayson.
House: Sparlypoo. (5th)
Talent: Bright kid, decent quidditch player, all-round acheiver with leadership potential -- show-in for prefect one of these days.

Other: After his parents were murdered by Death-eaters, Dick was adopted by billionaire playboy ~~Hugh Heffner~~ Bruce Wayne, a wizard well know for his beneficial acts, interest in reform, and stuff that totally doesn't involve brooding in the dark or nurturing a raging hatred for murdering Death-eaters. Dick seems to have bounced back from the trauma of his parents death, and taken to life at Hogwarts eagerly. He's an all-round acheiever, the kind that teachers would love if he knew when to shut up.

Name: Clark Kent
House: Hufflepuff. (6th)
Talent: Too perfect memory, over acheiver at everything pretty much.

Other: Clark's a genuinely nice guy yet despite this manages to have next to no friends and is a self-pitying loner. A bit of a dork. Okay, a lot of dork. Best know for his petition to get plaid made Hufflepuff's official house colour.

Name: Conner Kent.
House: Hufflepuff. (6th)
Talent: Really good with a broomstick.

Other: Claims he is not related to Clark, despite being his near-identical twin brother. Best known for his sabotage of Clark's petition to make plaid made Hufflepuff's house colour and his futile efforts to get the attention of a girl.

Name: Will Stanton.
House: Ravenclaw.
Talent: Total bookworm, propensity to be very good at magic.

Other: Will's the seventh son of a seventh son, and with this wizarding background behind him, looks all set to be the next Ginny Weasley. Aimable, hard-working and reliable, this second-year is nonetheless capable of hexing your socks off.

Name: Jack Skellington.
House: Sparklypoo
Talent: Appearing unexpectedly behind people who are not expecting him.

Job: Ghost!
Other: The story goes that Jack Skellington was a mischevious poltergeist summoned one year at the Halloween festivities who became fascinated with magic and has stuck around ever since. Although assigned to Sparklypoo, Jack is notorious for wandering off and ending up pretty much anywhere.

[IC -- Post-camp!]

2008-04-18T02:11:58Z

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

goodwillrising @ 2008-02-01T13:34:00

2008-02-01T00:34:34Z

[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?

He can't be flirting with me. I'm British!

2008-01-30T06:38:21Z

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

[ic] Birthday Dinner, backdated to December 21st.

2007-12-22T22:03:03Z

[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.

[For all your ... never mind. General threading post.]

2007-10-26T07:38:29Z

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

Will and will-power.

2007-10-25T08:22:43Z

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.

When looking at the dynamics of the Light/Dark struggle, I noticed that there's this really odd contradiction in the book. Whenever Will does something good, it's because he was meant to do it. Often this has little to do with Will himself. Driving the Dark away from the church, for example, Will is all action :'He did nothing, he thought nothing. He stood there, and let the Signs work for themselves'(127). However, whenever Will makes a mistake it's all his fault: "But"-- he could not resist it --"Merriman, it was my fire that brought the Walker to me, wasn't it, and the Walker had the Sign." "The Walker was waiting for you, you stupid boy," said Merriman irritably. "I told you that he would find you, and you did not remember. Remember now." (59). Okay, point one: Merriman rocks even when he's being snarky. Two: This contradiction isn't limited to Will. Merriman acknowledges that its his fault Hawkins will betray them, then promptly accepts it, putting it in the context of something that is destined to happen: "It is clear already how it goes. Hawkin now will be a leak in the roof, a tunnel into the cellar" (100). He doesn't seem to think he can stop events. Now Merriman could be feeling guilty for his error of judgement, and accept this betrayal as a just punishment -- but given his commitment to the Light, I really doubt that Merriman is going to indulge in self-pity to the extent he would endanger the cause that he lives for -- and Hawkin's betrayal is a real danger. So what is going on?

Further interesting stuff is the fact that Will's quest, the fact he completes the circle of Old Ones, the balance between the Light and the Dark, all these things seem to suggest a formal contact with a pre-ordained outcome. Added to this are all the prophecies that are completed throughout the story. Francescu pointed out that they could be matched by a set of prophecies on the part of the Dark, but given the big battle to cockblock each other by hanging onto the Grail etc, and stuff like that, not to mention the fact that all the Light's prophecies are true, I suspect this isn't the case.

Basically I have a theory and this theory is based on the suspicion that underlying The Dark is Riding series is the Christian theory of predestination. I don't want to say this because so many people throw around the term 'Jesus' already and that seems disrespectful to me. There's also the fear that I'll seem like I'm jumping on a bandwagon or something. Worse is the concern that I'm going to be one of those fanatical Christians that always makes me want to run and hide (very scary). So while I'm trying to be objective here, I'm concerned I might not be -- so please feel free to weigh in and disagree (Also, if this series has a Jesus, it's Bran. Think about it).

Why despite all these really good reasons to run the other way I am writing this is because I really do think this explains a lot about Will. The fact that he can be wiser than wise in one situation then almost ruin everything the next seems to me to tie into an interpretation of predestination: Whatever good you do is planned but those mistakes? All yours. In The Dark is Rising sequence, this pans out as 'as long as Will listens to his instincts as an Old One, he is guided. When his emotion gets in the way and he thinks like a human, he screws up. Which I think explains Will's apparent passivity at crucial moments of the story really well, and also explains why Will gets endorsed for risking Mary's life rather than give the Signs to the Dark.

What does this mean for camp?

Not a lot!

Obviously, although I didn't have this grand theory when I apped Will, I knew that he was not going to have the prophecy or the Light informing his decisions in camp. He does rely on his instinct to a great extent still, but since he's talked to Ronan, Zexion and people like that, he's realised that camp doesn't operate on the same, he calls them 'rules', that his world does. He's slowly coming to terms with this; he knows that he can't expect things in Camp to work as they should back at home, but he can't help being influenced by the type of magic someone uses. Three things have changed to really shake Will's complacent worldview: Will latched onto Ronan bigtime when he arrived -- similar magic, world view, but then Will managed to really put his foot in it big time not just once, but over and over. Given that Ronan was sort of a Merriman figure, Will was really sensitive to this -- until he realised that Ronan is a guy and makes mistakes like anyone else. He's still really fond of Ronan, and Ronan is important to him -- but Will's learnt to view him as Ronan. Likewise, Natsuo and Zexion have done wonders in getting Will comfortable with people who ping wrong. Zexion's last thread with Will in particular got Will's curiousity and sympathy raised, but Will still can't quite let go of his caution. He wants to track down Kairi, Sora and Riku now, and find out more about Zexion's world. Crowley on the other hand is similar enough to Will's world, that Will is not going to be more than token sceptical for a long time (D<).

The third thing that has really shaken Will is the fight against the big gnosis. Will had no idea what he was doing and he messed up. This sort of bothered me until I realised it was canon! /o/ However, Will doesn't have the benefit of this insight. He told Lina he needs to learn more and used his serious icons at her, but I don't know where he'll go from here. He's brooding a bit about it -- it ended well, no one got hurt, Lina liked his vines and Horus stuck his beak in his ear so Will isn't wallowing in depression. But it troubles him -- I don't think he's realised he has to think for himself in camp yet. But he might be on the road to that realisation.

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).

[because apparently playing with zombies leads to bath time.]

2007-10-13T23:18:27Z

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

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

[ic post - laying wards]

2007-10-01T04:56:39Z

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

[relationship meme]

2007-08-28T08:38:10Z

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

[Canon!]

2007-08-24T08:03:57Z

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.

[Magic!]

2007-08-18T21:45:35Z

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?