Relationship between William Wisp and Vyncent Sol

> "You guys are so awesome and gay... you and fucking-- Vyncent..." *-Grizzlyplays, aka Dakota Cole.*
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## Fanon Information

### Tropes

Romantic Subtext
Jealous Romantic Witness

## Relationship Summary

Vyncent Sol and William Wisp are 2 of the 4 Prime Defenders, and are established best friends with romantic tension, as said repeatedly by Dakota Cole and the players themselves. Vyncent thinks and speaks highly of Will in multiple regards, and Will in turn does the same for him. William, additionally, has crush on Vyncent, going by his repeated flirting with him and intense jealousy any time Vyncent flirts with someone or is flirted with. The crush could be seen as unrequited, but it's simply unclear due to Vyncent's oblivious nature. Regardless, they are very platonically close, and nothing will influence that, presumably.

## History

### Friendship

Having gotten along well since Vyncent first showed up and joined the Prime Defenders through their discovered shared interest of watching movies, William and Vyncent have always (for the course of the entire campaign) been good friends, with few (though not none) road bumps in this relationship. Their bond further solidified over the course of Dakota's 10 month absence from the group in between S1 and S2, as they were without Dakota *and* Tide, alone together at the destroyed Prime Defenders HQ.

It is clear Vyncent cares for and is a support for William, as he has reassured him multiple times throughout the show that he is funny, helpful, or other things when William has been outwardly self conscious or down on himself; including complimenting his poetry, calling him smart, saying that his puns are funny when he argues they aren't, and saying that he would never laugh at Will when he asks for his friends not to laugh while telling a story. He tries to make William feel better about Doug in Episode 9: A Bro No More by telling him that he can always call Vyncent a bro instead of him. Additionally, when Prime Defenders HQ was attacked in Episode 10: Nemeses and William was thrown back by the explosion, while Dakota ran into the building, Vyncent ran after Will to make sure he was alright and help him. In the same episode, Vyncent's consciousness comes through while in the mage, Min's, form upon seeing William unconscious, and he attacks the enemy himself, showing that they have a strong enough bond for Vyncent to temporarily do something that he ordinarily could not. He insists that he believes anything Will says when he tells them about the Cartoon World in S2 Episode 2, showing that he trusts Will wholeheartedly, a sentiment which the other reciprocates.

On the other hand, William does similar things for Vyncent. He regularly tries to make him feel better about things when he is down, as well as compliments Vyncent's own abilities and skills separate from The Greats, insisting that he is impressive in his own right and should give himself credit where it's due. He also sings Vyncent's praises to his mother when they meet her on Fauna.

William is quickly forgiving of Vyncent (when *not* pertaining to his love affairs) -- even when he finds out that he made a deal with Mal, when Vyncent explains that he only did so in order to get The Greats back home in fear they were dying. He also empathizes with Vyncent easily. When Vyncent was bald in S2 Episode 5, William commiserates with him by turning his hair invisible in an effort to make him feel better. Additionally, William clearly wants what's best for Vyncent, as he puts his friend's needs above his own personal feelings multiple times when giving him advice, including about the aforementioned situation, as well as when he has the opportunity to go home with Mynerva in S2 Episode 6. He also shows a great amount of concern for Vyncent's wellbeing, enough that he (and Dakota) followed after him upon seeing the state of Fauna through the portal in the same episode. On top of that, he exclaims to Vyncent's literal mother that he has a "tender scalp" and to be careful with him when she pulls a hair off of his head in S2 Episode 8.

### Romantic Tension

> "Oh, Do You Come Here Often?"
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William has a crush on Vyncent, and it is possible (though not overt) that it could be requited. William often acts as though he and Vyncent are an established couple, behaving possessively of him when it comes to other potential love interests. This has only interfered with their friendship a handful of times, particularly when Vyncent has flirted with other people or been flirted with (S2 Episode 3: Dude, Where's Our Car? and S2 Episode 5: The Hangover as examples), which causes William to behave jealously and lash out at him. It seems possible that this could have started quite early on, judging by William "romantically" helping Vyncent with homework in Episode 2: Island of Amalgam. Since then, Will in particular has been less than subtle about said crush he has on Vyncent at times, with Vyncent not always seeming to notice/understand, but simultaneously almost seeming to reciprocate in some way while never making any sort of verbal indication of commitment. In Episode 6: Bees get Degrees, after watching *Return of the Wasps*, William tells Vyncent that he guesses "you can find love anywhere," to which Vyncent agrees, followed by a pause of them staring at each other in prolonged silence. William then tries to hold his hand, but turns intangible, going through Vyncent's and he doesn't notice. In Episode 8: Dance of Spirits, William says under his breath for Vyncent to "look away" while he dances with Dakota, and also gets defensive when Dakota suggests dancing with Vyncent himself if William won't dance with him. In retaliation upon seeing Will and Dakota together, Vyncent goes and finds Summer to dance with, which upsets Will. Later in the same episode, while trying to figure out if Doug has superpowers by trying to goad him into catching Vyncent from falling, William wistfully says that if Doug doesn't catch him, he will, to which Vyncent thanks him. In Episode 15: Planetary Problems, William deliberately has them hold hands while floating over a barrier. In Episode 24: Overlord, when Dakota asks Vyncent if he's hitting on Ashe "like he does with William", William annoyedly answers for him to that he isn't, then defensively asks Vyncent to confirm this. Vyncent says "that" is an "exclusively a William thing." However, they both then become awkward and change the subject. In S2 Episode 12: They've Been Watching, Vyncent tells William to "stay there and look pretty" while he and Dakota do a team attack. William then proceeds to take these instructions incredibly seriously, also seeming flustered by the comment.

Dakota is largely the one pointing out the awkward romantic tension that Vyncent and William share. He is repeatedly suspicious of the nature of their relationship throughout much of the show. He has, on more than one occasion, batted them away from one another or told them to "get a room" when they behave this way around him. Early on, he attempted to set both of them up with Summer at different times, saying that if he didn't get one of them to be with her that they would "only have each other". As the show has progressed, however, he seems less inclined to tear them apart and more inclined to ask about the true nature of their relationship as well as outright accusing them of having something between them. He has rarely gotten a straight answer, aside from The Greats confirming they have held hands in S2 Episode 9: One's Duty, and they found it "tender." Alphonz refers to it as an "honorable day." While not a canon event, Dakota's comments on Vyncent and William in JRWhat If: Otherworldly Summoning can be taken into account as in-character and relevant to the topic of their relationship. Dakota says that he feels like a third wheel between the two, telling Chip multiple times that his friends are "in love."

In S2 Episode 14: The Fall, Dakota bets along with Alan, Cantrip and Xavier about whether or not Vyncent and William will kiss after William catches him from falling out of a building. Dakota bets that William will chicken out, which turns out to be the case. Though he does lean in to do it, Charlie's roll (which he says was a 50/50 chance) causes him to pull back at the last second. Vyncent, in Condi's words, remains oblivious, but it's stated by him at the end of the episode that the two of them "will get there one day".

### Conflict

When Vyncent neglected to tell William and Dakota about his deal with Mal to get back home, Will became obviously upset when they did find out. Vyncent told Mal that he didn't feel guilty about making the deal, which caused Will to become more annoyed, taking a venomous tone with him about it. After Mal left, he seemed more scared and upset than angry, however. He demanded Vyncent to explain himself. He said that Vyncent believing Mal could take him home was confounded on nothing, to which Vyncent argued that he showed him Fauna and that he saw his mother. Will argued that Mal could probably show him anything he wanted, but Vyncent said he at least had to try to get home. Their fight was cut short by Dakota running off and they went to find him. Later, Vyncent explained that he was scared The Greats were dying in his head and that he was losing his connection to them, and that was why he felt the need to try and get back home so desperately; that he did not mean to betray William and Dakota's trust. William immediately forgave him at this confession and playfully punched his arm about the whole thing. He is not shown to harbor any grudge about the ordeal since.

William was visibly jealous in Episode 8: Dance of Spirits when Vyncent danced with Summer in retaliation for William dancing with Dakota. He drank vodka in response to watching them, agreeing with Dakota that something was "definitely wrong" while looking at them, even though Dakota was not referring to them. In S2 Episode 3: Dude, Where's Our Car?, when Vyncent was fighting Cantrip in the pit and asked her out, then promptly throwing pocket sand at her, William angrily said that the sand was from their "long walks on the beaches" and that she will "never have what [they] have." In the same episode, when Vyncent called Cantrip hot after being stabbed by her, William demanded to know "what's going on over there". He then passionately told Alan he was going to "break [him] like [Vyncent] broke [his] heart". He told Vyncent that they were "over", to which Vyncent seemed confused. When Vyncent knocked Cantrip out and told Will that he "[didn't] have a girlfriend anymore", seemingly for approval, William replied passive aggressively that this was "his problem", taking it as Vyncent being disappointed or upset about this fact. While he did ask concernedly if Vyncent was ok when he screams from thinking he killed Cantrip, he again reiterated that it was Vyncent's problem when he said that he killed her, concern disappearing. In S2 Episode 9: One's Duty when Dakota was talking to The Greats about how they shared feeling with Vyncent while in his head, William asked how they felt about "Cantrip in the pit," to which they reply: "Indifferent." Vyncent clarified that he was just using his charm to disarm her. William was satisfied with both answers, saying that he understood, and seemed to forgive Vyncent for this.

In S2 Episode 5: The Hangover, when Shauna kissed Vyncent and reminisced on how romantic he had been with her the previous night while they were "high" from Mynerva's magic, Will became extremely upset and vindictive, insisting Vyncent, who was extremely upset about the whole thing, "deserved this". He then told Shauna that he and Vyncent knew each other better than she knew him, sounded sad the middle of the conversation when a wedding between Vyncent and Shauna was mentioned, literally growled at her when she called Vyncent "sweetie", and called Vyncent a "bald rat" when he dared to say anything in response to William being mean to him about this. Soon later, he left the building with Dakota and Denise and drove the Winnebago away. When Vyncent later blamed William for being the reason he had to shoot himself in the foot to get away from Shauna, William defensively brought up that he kissed her, to which Vyncent refuted that *she* kissed *him* before he demanded to know why Will was "being so jealous". Will deflected from answering the question, threatening to sick his gang (referring to Satan's Bastards) on Vyncent before Dakota interrupted to ask if there was "something between the two of them". Neither answered.

While he dressed Mynerva's wound in the same episode, William poured a bottle of rubbing alcohol on Vyncent's gunshot wound in retaliation for his actions. Later, Dakota (upon an insight check) inferred (from Charlie) that William was extremely jealous, which was why he was angry and fighting with Vyncent and was trying to get the aftermath of his actions to last so he'd *also* be in pain. This entire incident was the worst fight they ever had. Mynerva later implied, still in the same episode, that she was under the impression they were in a relationship, to which Vyncent denied this by saying "nothing of the sort ever happens". William has not brought up this incident since it happened, nor has Vyncent, both quietly moving on. It's impossible to say if they've forgiven one another or not for all this, but they seem to be getting along just fine since.

Many times since, William continues to exhibit jealous behavior. There are multiple small moments of this in S2 Episode 14: The Fall in regards to a handful of characters, including Cantrip (again).

## Trivia

* The ship name for Vyncent and William, "Ghostknife" was coined in-universe by the two characters in Episode 2: Island of Amalgam, when they were left alone on the helicopter without Dakota for a few minutes. William asks what they should name their "new team", to which Vyncent points out that William has ghost powers, while he has a knife, to which William proposes "Ghostknife". It doubles as a base duo name but is widely seen by fandom as their ship name, as well.
* In the JRWhat If: Intergalactic Gameshow, Vyncent describes William as "kind of a dork, but really great" and talks about how well they get along, how they watch movies all the time, etc..
* In the JRWhat If: Heroes to Zeroes, when older Dakota and Vyncent decide to get married after leaving William in the Riptide universe, William demands to know if Vyncent "ever really loved him" through use of the Contact Other Plane spell. Vyncent does not answer, thinking this is a hallucination of Will or something of similar nature, but he does cry afterwards. When William ends up returning to Prime, Charlie says that he goes on to cause the two marital problems on purpose.
* Despite him being a bad singer, William genuinely seems to find Vyncent's singing beautiful, as evident in Episode 18: The Purps.
* Dakota confirms that Vyncent and William have fallen asleep while sharing a blanket together multiple times at the base while watching movies in Episode 22: Clock's Ticking.
* Condi followed up a post from the JRWI twitter confirming William's sexuality with this comment.

## References

1. ↑ Condi on William's flirting (under a tweet from the official JRWI account also confirming Will's sexuality)
2. ↑ Whatever this is
3. ↑ William helps Vyncent do homework
4. ↑ Condi's comment to the official JRWI twitter

## Art References

1. ↑ Fanart of William and Vyncent by 6footeel
2. ↑ Fanart of William and Vyncent by Cryingwyvern
3. ↑ Fanart of William and Vyncent from a scene in S2 Episode 14: The Fall by Kazzafraz