BoM/TWS Message Forum

I wouldn't say it's the kind I like, but there's two comments I can make.

The first is that you're ignoring negative relationships - rivalries and hatreds. For example, very little has been explored about Geoff, the guy who "stole" Lisa from Will. In fact, very little has been explored about Lisa herself. With the Libra, Will could easily get all the info from Lisa herself and make a decision, or try to make another go at Lisa as Geoff, probably fueled by revenge. Another example is Will turning into Caleb's mother as a way to get "revenge" against him - even though it sprouts from a romantic relationship.

Imagine, for example, that Will gets so pissed with Lester that he escalates the conflict by using the book. He turns into some of his friends and destroys his self-esteem, then makes a "master" stroke by turning into his parents or caretakers. (This is a trend that's growing in popularity, strangely enough - stories where the main character is tortured by bullies that use transformation devices to turn into their parents and friends for the sole purpose of bullying them in their "safe" spaces. This would be the opposite, making Will a sort of antihero but always tempted by the corruption of abuse.

As a corollary, there are neutral relationships as well - Will being the matchmaker by turning into a friend of two people (maybe a mutual friend between one of his friends and the target of that friend's affection). This could go multiple ways, as perhaps Will wants to protect his friend from rejection by turning them into a golem after consistently failing to connect them, or use the masks to turn their friend into the object of their affection instead. Or - even stranger - to act as a pacifier between two people who may be in conflict.

The second point is that there are points where a family relationship can be developed. Not gonna shill mine (where Will grows a closer relationship with Robert), but there's one where Will turns into Cindy and shares with a group of less popular girls, only to have one of them (Lotte) make a copy of his brother and then finds the real one talking to someone else (Casey), making a mask of him. That could work as a good starting point to bring Robert into the fold, thus solidifying a friendship. Or you could use a branch where Will goes to Keyserling and becomes a friend of Umeko's - there are a couple stories where they work together with the masks.

An interesting one - which I haven't seen, probably because it goes away from the scope of the school which is ultimately the focus of the story - is to see the reactions from either Harris or Martha regarding the book. They've been used as targets of transformation but never been used as companions - and Martha's story has barely been explained outside from her relationship to Priscilla and therefore the family side living in Cuthbert. There are good entry ways, but what might cause some trouble is how to make something out of them.