BoM/TWS Message Forum

I got a little counterpoint to this, since I've been dealing with it right now.

The issue with the anima band becoming a POV switching device is that it happens very late. So late, that we've been invested in what Will's doing for so long that it becomes a jarring exchange. And because the mind bands allow for deeper insight into the character you want to explore. A story where Will becomes someone else for a very long time will, in a way, become a POV change in and out of itself if only because he can subsume his own identity into the one he's assuming.

For a POV to be effective, it has to start from the very beginning. Don't have Will be the one that finds the mask; have Caleb, or Keith, or someone else do. And then let them stumble upon the book as they go. An alternative would be that Will barely has time to develop before he gets slapped with an anima band, therefore believing they're that other person, and THEN stumble upon the Libra.

But that in and out of itself is an issue because of the added complication - that, because they're not wearing a mask of the person, they're effectively forced into a "body swap" situation. There *is* a way to make the concept appealing, but it goes very dark, very quick.

Generally, the appeal of a POV change is to see the world from someone else's eyes, but most importantly, seeing specific characters from someone else's eyes. The existence of masks, mind bands and golems allows this to some extent, but it interferes with what could be considered a true POV change because you still have the original POV somewhere around. Even on a story where you intend to permanently replace two people and thus live the story from the new person's perspective, Will still recognizes themselves as Will and not as the new person in a subconscious way. And no matter how good the impersonation is, a golem looking and acting like Will, to an extent, will not be the real him.

I think the whole idea of switching POV is to force us to see Will without strings attached. See how he behaves from a different perspective, what he does, what he doesn't. See the drifting and wandering in real time - you see him, blink, and he suddenly disappears. Or see how he instinctively blends into situations he's been forced into. The chapters where the book is explained in detail are slight examples of this - they're done from someone else's POV, and while they don't show Will in action, they do show his unique traits.

Another example is the alternate story done by Masktrix (IIRC) where the book is found by some St. X students (not the one where Will gets hijacked by the Heathers, though - it's on the big book of alternate stories. I think it's the one with J.M.?) They stumble upon the book and do a rather sloppy job at it; I believe they get shocked by being unable to tap into the memories of a mixed mask + mind band combo compared to a separate mind band, which is something Will has no issues with.

Ultimately, the issue with anima bands is that Will is still there, which really doesn't make it a POV change. He believes he's the other person, and very little works to convince him otherwise other than removing the anima band, especially since it always feels the same way ("help! Someone swapped my soul from my body and is now using it!") I feel imaj's take on the anima band (where he breaks Breeanna's will to create a servile personality he can then attach to someone else, therefore creating Fi) is the one moment where the anima band has worked differently. It'd be interesting to see the anima band and how it affects someone that has been charmed by a Lamia, for example.