#dark!will

Chilton’s conversation totally sets this up. When he hits Will with the whole “this is your best possible world, Will. You’re not getting a better one” line? Yeah, that’s some heavy truth right there. Will is a pessimist, and what he’s really doing in that moment is thinking: "What if I had sided with Hannibal?" Somewhere, in another universe, Will went full dark mode and betrayed Jack, and Jack ended up dead. But here’s the thing—Will isn’t fantasizing about the act of killing Jack. He’s thinking about the consequences — the inevitable betrayal, horror, and pain Jack would have felt.

Let’s talk about that dinner scene. Will is flashing back to the “sacrificial lamb” dinner, right before the big showdown. Remember when Hannibal was like, “We can spare Jack, feed the dogs, and leave Alana a note”? If Will had dipped with Hannibal that night, Jack would’ve been fine, technically. But the betrayal would’ve still hit the same, and Will’s soul? that betrayal would have left him irrevocably changed, soulless.

This is why Chilton’s words carry such weight. The reality where Hannibal attacked, but they all survived, is the best outcome for Will. Hannibal made the choice for him — by stabbing him and leaving him for dead, Hannibal prevented Will from becoming the monster he wanted him to be. Ironically, Hannibal saved Will by keeping him from crossing the point of no return.

Will when he turned 15 to see an large stag with raven feathers. I like to think that Wills parents were just not good soulmates (right person wrong time yk) and his father just told him "fuck soulmates!!" and now Will just doesn't want a soulmate, but soon after his first ever chesapeake ripper scene dose he slowly see the beauty in the Stage and he starts to grow fond of it, like I can see Will just slowly adoring it but at first he denies it because "why the hell would a chesapeake ripper scene make me see the beauty in my soulmate??" and it just clicks for him that his fucking soulmate is the chesapeake ripper and that starts his dark awaking early. (I can see him in his living room with it and the dogs relaxing and hes just petting it and whispering to it in french-)

I can imagine that in the beginning that for Hannibal that it was a lamb and I bet that Hannibal would already be in love with his mate no matter how pure they are (like the saying pure as a lamb) but soon after Will sees the chesapeake ripper scene Hannibal notices that the lamb seems different, like its hooves prints in his dreams arent of a lamb but a wolf or dog and after Wills first kill Hannibal notices some horror with how his lamb is slowly revealing a dark brown almost black furred wolf that just stares at Hannibal and is more snappy and unafraid to bark for attention unlike the more hidden and silent lamb, of course that throws Hannibal off a bit but he still loves his wolf in lambs clothing soulmate.

Who seems so nice. So charismatic and handsome and friendly.

Who, behind closed doors, is jealous, spiteful, violent.

Who seemed, to Nico, so sweet and caring. Like someone who could heal him, fix him.

Who started with infantilizing him, talking down to him, making him believe that his body and mind, his feelings of doubt, are not to be trusted. That they're self-sabotaging in nature, driving him away from the one good thing he has going for him all because of a little disagreement.

Who, when Nico rebelled, told him not to treat him like a child, would just excuse it with 'I'm only looking out for you, Nico. Since you have such a terrible track record of taking care of yourself.'

Who escalated to insults and put-downs, that seem like joking on the surface so that, if he ever stood up for himself, he'd just be treated as the resident sourpuss who can't take a joke. Nobody would take his complaints seriously, even if he started crying, nobody would think anything but 'classic Nico, always so sensitive, so insecure, it's honestly annoying'.

Who hit him for the first time when he was waking up from a night terror, still not fully aware of what's a dream and what's real, hoping to calm him down like they do in the movies.

Who blamed the stinging of Nico's cheek on adrenaline and the last tendrils of his flashback, causing phantom pains. He knew it was bullshit, and Nico suspected it was bullshit, but he never said anything because... Well, who's the expert on these things, Nico? Me or you?

Who Nico was scared to lay down next to, but still did, laying awake the rest of the night, wondering how he got to this point.

Who got worse from there.

Who, when he was no longer able to convince Nico it never happened, he just healed the injury before he went outside. Because nobody would ever believe Nico without the scars to prove it. Even /with/ the scars to prove it, most would think he was lying, trying to slander the name of the most beloved boy in the camp.

Who, when Hazel started getting suspicious of Will, told Nico she was probably just looking to break them up because she's homophobic. She's not, and she's never said anything that could be mistaken as such, but she's from an older time, and he points to that as proof. And Nico has no choice but to believe him, he just wants what's best for him after all.

Percy whose heart stops beating for a minute when he sees Nico in the shadowy corner of his bedroom, battered, bleeding, and passed out because he used the very last of his strength to shadow-travel somewhere safe.

Who picks him up, light and bony as ever from his worsening depression and from the nerve-racking stress this relationship has put on him, and holds him close, patching him up the way him and his momma would do for each other all those years ago, never once trying to wake him up. He needs all the sleep he can get, and this could be the last peaceful sleep he gets in a while.

Who puts him in his own bed and sleeps on the couch instead, but not before making sure his front and back doors are both locked. He didn't think Will could tell where Nico was, or would travel all the way to his apartment from camp, but he had to make sure the poor thing was safe.

Traitors of Gold - Byler mood board (1/2)

“Promise me you’ll stay?”

“Didn’t I swear an oath to never leave your side?”

Camper: No

Will: The last patient who didn't change their diet after I suggested it died

Camper: Oh my goodness

Will: In a plane crash

Camper: That sounds unrelated

Will: I'm the one who crashed that plane

Camper:

• He's uncomfortable to look at, especially in the darkness, because he glows just a little too bright for everyone's taste. His eyes are the worst. Even in bright sunlight nobody can maintain eye contact without wincing. He's stopped announcing himself when he walks into a room, because the shielded eyes and wall of backs tell him his presence is known. Not welcome, but known.

• When he looks at you, it's as if he's already performing your autopsy, dissecting every part of you as if you were no more than flesh, a bundle of weakness and nerves for him to analyze.

• He's never the first to join a fight. No, he hangs back, watching everything and figuring out how to take the monster down. It's a good thing he's on our side, everyone thinks, because the monsters' throats aren't the only ones he studies

• If he speaks, it's a low murmur, hoarse and cracked, almost inaudible, because the last time he spoke in his real voice, a shrieking overtone hit the air, sending everyone around to their knees. Will Solace learned sign language.

• If you stand near him for too long, you sweat, and nobody's figured out if he's radiating heat or if you're too nervous.

• Will Solace is a healer, but his hands are too sure, too controlling. He brushes your arm and it bends as if you're being puppeted. Nobody will let him touch them.

• Nobody, that is, except Nico di Angelo.

• The boy who doesn't sleep and the boy who shines like the sun are inseparable.

• When Will slams his hand into the side of a creature's skull, Nico feels the life leave its body. A single, precise blow to the weakest point of the head, and the son of Apollo has taken down an enemy three times his size.

• If they stand too close to you, you feel every bone in your body and every drop of blood in your veins. None of it is yours to control any more. They don't mean to do it.

• Nico doesn't mind that Will glows. You get used to it after a while, and he finds comfort in seeing Will's silhouette when he closes his eyes.

• Will is grateful to have someone who doesn't twitch wildly when they touch, someone who understands just how feeble everyone's grip on life is, and who is as deathly cold as he is burning hot.

• They disappear for days on end, shadow traveling everywhere they go, because Will is finally cold and drawing strength from him gives Nico the biggest high he's ever felt.

• If they hold hands in public, mortals almost ignore them.

• Will's light brings Nico out of the shadows and Nico's shadow makes Will just a little less blinding.

• After a year you can almost tell what color eyes Will has.

• After a year, Nico's face is a little bit fuller, his eyes less sunken.

• After two years, Will's hands do more than just sign. His fellow campers will let him touch them long enough to close cuts and heal bruises.

• After two years, Nico can sit next to someone and they won't shrink away from him, fearing for their life.