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The Wonderful Whimsical Willy Wonka: a mystery of magical candy concoctions, the pinnacle of confectioners, and proof that you should never meet your heroes.
He(/she/it) may seem fine at first; eccentric of course- what inventor isn't- but quite the bit self-grandiose, the sort that tells you not to eat anything whilst chewing on chocolate, the sort you think think they're better than you. Yet, there's little quirks... rushed speech, compulsive alliteration, a posh English accent that occasionally slips into something less rehearsed, the unwrapping of little candies from a hidden pocket when stressed, and an odd fixation with Temptation and Death that results in a Las Vegas-esque musical number mid-tour (Did he practice that?!)
A genius prone to spirals, to fixations, to paranoia of her own mind, who closed its factory certain the world was out to get it, who reopened its factory after, at 3am in the dark of its office, realised that no Lazarus Machine nor Wonka-Vite would likely succeed. Willy Wonka did not want an heir, but it had become another nocturnal necessity.
And so: Six Tickets, Six Trials of Temptation.
It did not go quite as he planned.
Visual Notes
- When in public, commonly has flamboyant posing; often leans on or poses with cane.
- Jacket has a slight floral pattern to it.
- Factory has a kind of colourful, whimsical, art-deco vibe.
Who is Willy Wonka?
Willy Wonka- of whom does not even like the name 'Willy'- is the poster-child for media idolization. The fantabulous, fantastical, magnificent candyman who mysteriously disappeared two and a half decades ago- always a headliner- left newspapers to their own imagination. The chocolatier was already well-reputible, inventions and products beyond belief; but the mystery of his factory's closure snowballed him to something of a legend. When the day came, every adult and child had their own expectations of how the man would be on the day of the tour...
What greeted them was perhaps not what they expected. Wild yet rehearsed, short and large, a victorian-esque rainbow of an outfit; they thought perhaps this was the wrong person? But quickly with prescence alone, a song and a dance, a self-assuring smirk, and a lot of grandeur motions, this was in fact the fabled confectioner.
With a posh British accent, and alliteration abound, William Wonka is most certainly a showman at heart. She can come off as quite smug and arrogant at times, self-grandizing, and certain that she's right (because, by her odd logic, she is). Still, she's rarely directly dismissing, instead hiding it in complicated sentence structures ("You're Wrong, Willy Wonka!' you cry, but you're wrong, therefor I'm right about you being wrong about me being wrong, right? Right."), dark puns and jokes, accusatory suggestions, or pretending she didn't even hear them in the first place. With dramatic motions, off-putting moments of stress, riddles of temptation and death, a 'Lazarus Room' that we 'Don't speak about', and the energy of that one smug cat with knives pointed at it, this little man always leaves people on their feet and a liiittle bit concerned for their own safety.
In private though, it's often a different story. William Wonka is a genius- that cannot be debated- but he lives at the mercy of his own mind. Prone to overthinking, obsession, and paranoia, it's not uncommon to find him in his dressing gown, mumbling to himself in his study at 3am. The spirals often begin in the middle of the night, whether it be about an unfinished invention, dwelling on the nature of the opposistion, or his crippling obsession with his own mortality: he is proof that genius comes at a cost. Between fixations, self-debate, and the choir of Oompa Loompa that try whatever they can to cheer him up, his decades alone and unhelped has lead his morals and ethics to become twisted. Still, guilt gets to us all in the end.
- Vocally British in Accent. Posh, but a hint of an Estuary London accent when taken off-guard or particularly offended. Alliterates often, but far more when stressed/excited/etc. "Confidently Curious is the Child? How Catastrophic."
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Very stressed almost all the time. Generally good at hiding it in public, but gets a higher-pitched strain and groan to his voice when he's on the edge.
Wonka will occasionally momentarily mentally short-circuit, stare blankly forward, rummage around inside her jacket, and pull out a little candy-ball in foil. With two fingers daintily on each stem, she'll tug outwards to let it unwrap, and then pop it in her mouth. She doesn't wait until her mouth is empty to speak, but if someone annoys her she'll put one finger in the air and make them wait infuriatingly long until she finishes her mouthful. - Optionally messes with people if she deems them frustrating, and logically reasons it as 'teaching them a much-needed lesson'. Tends to get frustrated when it goes much worse than she planned.
- Commonly quotes 'Memento Mori'- Remember You Must Die. One of his biggest goals is to overcome death, and this has resulted in multiple failed machines, a de-aging candy (Wonka-Vite) that he can't seem to master, and seeking an heir. One may notice that other than the heighest room's giant window, no clocks are allowed in the factory. The lack of knowledge of time most certainly hasn't helped his decade of swirling in his own thoughts.
The only human who's ever managed to get Wonka to come down from a spiral- something even the Oompa Loompa struggle with. The caring mother of the man's heir orginally involved herself in effort to protect Charlie, to try and goad the chocolatier to therapy. But over time, she simply learnt how to work with him in a way he needed, where things went, what worked when things went wrong, and Wonka began to trust her in a way he hadn't in decades. Molly brings out a sweeter side in the usually unruley man. He coos over her, calls her petnames like 'gumdrop' and 'butterscotch', and she calls him 'dumpling' and 'teddy bear'. Still he can be a little bastard, and she'll tell him off with an 'Oh- William, stop-' and he'll pout and respond with some comeback of 'well it was warranted'.
Willy Wonka did not want an heir, and a few months in to his residency in the factory, Charlie realised this. The two do not see eye-to-eye, an almost troubled father-son dynamic forming (especially once he began romancing his mother). Wonka teaches Charlie all he needs to know should he finally inherit the factory (something the candyman is trying hard to make sure won't happen), but there's an edge to his tone, like the boy reminds him of his own failures to escape death. "Memento Mori, Charlie" says the man with a lost look in his eyes, and Charlie feels himself even more determined to become so much better than his fallen hero has. Willy Wonka often wonders if Charlie was the best pick. Perhaps Miranda- no, he tries not to think about that lapse in judgement.
The Oompa Loompa are a means to an end, not his friends, his workers. Still, despite the fact he often refuses to remember their names, he does remember each and every one, and he perfers them far more to any human he's come across (bar Molly). Although for his own thread of insanity left: Only Three Oompa Loompa in his prescense at a time; he gets headaches otherwise.
'It Must Be Believed to be Seen' - CatCF West-End
-- Canonically Sung
Beyond this door's invention
Where mind meets with machine
Beyond these gates, Astonishment waits
But it must be believed to be seen
No magic spells or potions
Forswear legerdemain
My kingdom's created from notions
All swirling inside of my brain
'Simply Second Nature' - CATCF West-End
-- Canonically Sung (in the Chocolate Room)
A poet sits for hours
With words upon his tongue
He cannot help but rhyme his doom and gloom
So if you taste my flowers
You’ll see that I’m among
That certain group, that lucky troupe for whom
It’s simply second nature
To wish away the gray
To take a licorice stick and make a tree
Yes, there’s no rhyme or reason
I was simply made this way
What’s strange to you is natural to me
'Memento Mori' - Will Wood
-- Canonically Sung (las vegas-esque number post-Inventing Room)
One day you're going to die
No need to fear 'cause when it's here you won't be alive
Try not to think about it
One day you're going to die
And there's probably nothing after
One day you're going to die
So if you only have one chance you oughta try your best to live as you like
One day you're going to die
'My Time' - Bo En
Days go by, It can't be helped
Moments pass, Shattered glass
Hands of time, Where’s that chime?
In my head- I'll just- I'll just- I'll just- I'll just-
Hands (hands!) of time will wring my neck
Every little moment spells regret
But I don't have to feel this way
As a voice inside my head
'Kitchen Fork' - Jack Conte
Pick out her heart with a kitchen fork
Pin down her arms
Wake from the scar, still feelin' sick
Where did it get started?
Where, oh, where did this come from?
Oh my God, my head's a gun
I let myself go
Three At a Time
-- (comedy) The Oompa Loompa are a handful, even in small doses...Toodles had begun to loud-and-fast yabber on about some experimental candy, Clovis had inturrupted to suggest that perhaps if they'd listened to their manager- and Spriggerton was chirping up rhythmatically, attempting to find a moment to calmly interject the obvious, correct, issue. Some may have found it amusing that three Oompa Loompa in an argument could sound almost like a song, but as it stood there with its eyes closed, upper lip raising into more and more of a disgusted grimace, William Wonka could only ponder that 'three oompa loompa in its prescence at once' was too many...
Strike That, Reverse It
-- He wears so much makeup for someone never seen...
The thing about perception, is that it mattered for mud when no one was around to percieve. The Oompa Loompa didn't care what Wonka wore, nor did Wonka care what they thought about what he wore. By all means, the chocolatier would have happily walked around his factory naked for the past two decades, if it hadn't been for one frustrating little factor: Reflections.
It wasn't his height, nor his weight, nor his clothes that bothered him. no..
With every wrinkle, the passage of time became more apparent: Memento Mori. And thus added another layer of makeup to an already pampered face; a human being spitting in the face of time, so aware he has no power, yet too scared to stop fighting back.
Makes You Wait
-- (comedy) Mr Wonka usually speaks with his mouth full, unless he finds a reason not to...Mr. Wonka popped the little stress-relieving candy in his mouth and began to chew; out of all the children, Miranda Mary Piker was giving him the worst headache. As the little braided Know-It-All perked up once more, another of her prodding questions, this time he raised a finger right in front of her face. She was a little taller than him- lanky for her age- and she paused immediately in shock. He continued to chew, his other hand- cane in grip- swirling in front of his face, at least pretending he was trying to finish it quickly. He wasn't. He just knew it was annoying her.
The Cabaret Number
-- (comedy) This is a
As Ms. Beauregarde was escorted off the scene, covered in splotches of blue, the rest of the tour followed their guide like zombies on a leash. None had quite processed what just happened, and it wasn't until they reached the large chocolate & gold curtained hallway that a lisped question sounded out. "Mr. Wonka, did we just watch a kid die?!"
The chocolatier stopped in her tracks, and half turned towards Miranda with a lean on her cane. The question seemed to amuse her, a little smirk and a raised brow. "Well- everyone ends eventually. Afterall, after all..." A tiny piano slid behind her, further down the purple-carpetted hallway, and a background Oompa Loompa in a tux & tails climbed onto the seat, "Memento Mori."
Music began to play, and Wonka casually started to break out into a suspiciously-rehearsed musical number.
Somewhere down the line, Wonka pulls Mrs. Teavee into a dance, and proceeds to flirt up-close with Mr. Salt. As the music swelled to climax, the curtain behind the man rose to reveal a can-can line of Oompa Loompa in Las Vegas showgirl outfits, linking up with Wonka in the center. The tour watched on both surprised, but also mildly impressed; it certainly took their minds off the question, as intended.
E v e r y b o d y L i k e s Y o u
-- (???) As the media tilts, the Oompa Loompa try to cheer up their boss.(Based on These images.)
It had been a few days since the tour, and the silence of the losers had become far more apparant. Some had concentrated on the luck of the winner- just as Wonka had planned- but some reporters had begun to take a.. sour taste to the whole situation. As more and more papers began to portray the man in a bad light, the chocolatier had begun a particularly nasty spiral.
As it wandered about its factory, a course in familiar memory, the Oompa Loompa began to worry as they often did for their boss. In effort, one after the other, each perked up in chorus: "Everybody Likes You!". It wasn't long until the whole factory had errupted into song and dance, lost in their hivemind as much as the boss was lost, walking in its own dissociation.
Deep in the hallway of the boss' quarters, one of the few less prone to the siren's call, Clovis listened on with a frown. It was going to be one of those nights.
"Five Children Presumed to be Dead"
-- (Serious) As Charlie processes the traumatic events of the tour, pieces of the puzzle begin to slide together...(Set in Wonka's Office.)
As Charlie stared across the broad wooden desk, a deep emotional pain began to well-up in the young boy's eyes. Stifled words finally uttered a question he still wasn't sure he wanted to ask. "You- you didn't plan it, did you Mr. Wonka?"
The chocolatier had expected this. He had hoped it would have been sooner honestly, that the child would be brighter; but perhaps his heir was as much a disappointment to him as his answer would be to the heir.
"The hand of fate needed an arm, and I simply volunteered."
The portly man, lit by the eerie blue glow of the fishtank, did not shuffle in his office chair, nor did he show any sign of remorse in his almost exasperated response. As he finally honoured Charlie with his gaze, head lifting from his paperwork as he spoke, the boy's heart sunk; Willy Wonka was supposed to be his hero.
Mini-Prompts!
-- little phrases to have fun with!- "Beauty is in the eye of the Beheaded"
- "What in the Whipplescrumptious-Fudgemallow-Delight are you on about?!"
- The Unfortunate Effects of Loompaland Cocoa Beans
- The Queen of Chocolate
- Negotiating with the Night Shift
- The Thoughts Arrive at 3AM
- We're completely normal, Throwing bottles at God- You did this to us! Why did you do this to us? (this song feels like one of Wonka's frustration spirals where he starts babbling off increasingly less coherent annoyances)
