Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Why I Love Will Herondale

William Herondale. He of the blue eyes, black hair, and all-around Shadowhunter badass-ness. While there are many boys in YA who make me swoon and forget how to string a coherent sentence together, young Mr. Herondale has won a special place in my heart with his devastating wit, unwavering loyalty to his friends, and, of course, his lethal skill with a seraph blade.

Will also loves books. I love books, too. Will doesn’t trust ducks after an incident in London’s Hyde Park. Um, I had a run-in with a seagull once—can I count that as something that he and I have in common? Maybe not. Will’s snark and sense of humor, though, are just my cup of tea. I live and breathe sarcasm, and so does Will. Sometimes neither his words nor his behavior are very gentlemanly, but if you’ve read Clockwork Prince, then you know the heartbreaking reason behind the image that he’s forced himself to project. Yeah, I’m totally defending him here, but believe me, this story is gut-wrenching! Although a good deal of Will’s personality is a cover, I still think that his wit is his own, and even when he’s not putting on an act, there’s a part of him that can’t resist making a clever remark whenever an opportunity presents itself.

What I love and admire most about Will Herondale is his devotion to the people he cares about (he may not always be able to show it, but he does care about others), particularly his parabatai, Jem. There is absolutely nothing that Will wouldn’t do for Jem, including dying for him (although I hope it doesn’t come to that because I love both boys. Damn this love triangle!). Will also won’t see Jem’s heart broken, despite his friend's happiness coming at the cost of his own. That’s just how it is with Will where Jem is concerned. Will has a very smart mouth on him, quite an ego, and can be downright rude at times, but he is as steadfast a friend as you could possibly ask for. The kindness and selflessness lurking behind the barrier that he’s built around himself really shine through in his friendship with Jem.

When we were first planning these Infernal Devices-themed posts, Ally came up with the idea that we should draw the characters we were writing about, too. Now, that’s easy enough for someone with her vast artistic talent to say. She nagged me into at least trying to draw Will, but the result was ghastly, just like I’d told her it would be. I feel much more at home with a camera in my hands, and this picture that I took of a duck a while back always makes me think of the scene in Clockwork Angel where Will and Jem are discussing that day in the park. So, to close out this post, I leave you with a photo of a duck and a few of my favorite Will quotes. Enjoy.

Never trust a duck.

The Quotable Will Herondale:

"I've mastered many things in my life. Navigating the streets of London, dancing the quadrille, the Japanese art of flower arranging, lying at charades, concealing a highly intoxicated state, delighting younger women with my charms . . ." — Clockwork Angel, "Chapter 2: Hell Is Cold"
"I must be more amusing than I thought. Which would make me very amusing indeed." — Clockwork Prince, "Chapter 10: The Virtue of Angels"
"I would die for you. You know that. I would die without you. If it were not for you, I would be dead a hundred times over these past five years. I owe you everything, and if you cannot believe I have empathy, perhaps you might at least believe I know honor—honor, and debt—" — Clockwork Prince, "Chapter 11: Wild Unrest"

6 comments:

  1. Great post, Lee! I have the duck thing in common with Will, maybe British ducks are just nuts :) Just read Clockwork Princess and there's even more to love about him...and Jem.

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    1. I can't say I've ever had a problem with ducks, but just as a precaution, I think I'll keep a safe distance from them in the future. :-)

      I've been studiously avoiding looking at Goodreads and Twitter for too long because we're still waiting for our copies of Clockwork Princess to arrive. We're supposed to receive them tomorrow, and the wait has been sheer torture!

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  2. Ahhhhh. I love Will, I will greatly miss him.

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  3. He sounds like a really cool character, motivates me to go ahead and read this series!

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