#did will jack off before visiting or is hannibal imagining him doing so or what

[phoenixkaptain]

You know, theoretically thinking about it, one could suggest that Hannibal’s obsession with Clarice stemmed from his obsession with Will Graham. He brought up Will Graham in their very first interaction and you could consider Hannibal as a character quite capable of making mental leaps, such as the leap from “someone killed my sister and made me eat her and now I want gruesome, horrible, bloody revenge” to “anyone who is rude to me should be killed with extreme brutality and I should eat them.”

It could feasibly be suggested that the tactic they (as in Chilton and Crawford and those adjacent) meant to use, getting Hannibal to be attracted to the first woman he’s seen in multiple years so he would give advice, succeeded in a way they didn’t expect it to, Hannibal becoming attracted to the first person he saw in multiple years who fascinated him the way Graham did.

Crawford puts Clarice in Will’s spot. He is trying to use her to poke and prod and annoy a serial killer into revealing themself by allowing them to discover the mistakes those serial killers will inevitably make in their anger and annoyance. Clarice is sent to Hannibal Lecter’s cell to ask for advice, and while Will did make the choice on his own, for the most part, Hannibal doesn’t have any way of knowing that. For all he knows, Crawford dangled a piece of meat in front of him only to take it away and dangle another, slightly different piece of meat. (A less tenderized piece pft)

Hannibal’s obsession leaping from Will to Clarice is reasonable. We don’t know precisely why he became obsessed with Will, admittedly, but we know he became obsessed with Clarice over the course of Clarice taking Will’s place as Crawford’s bloodhound.

So what is the show? The show simply asks the question: what if that obsession never leaped over? What if Will didn’t discover that Hannibal was the Chesapeake Ripper the very first time they met? How would that obsession evolve?

And the answer is simple: the same way, in many ways, that it did with Clarice.

I’ve heard people describe the series Hannibal as putting Will in Clarice’s place, and I certainly agree that that was probably the primary inspiration, but I would also suggest that it was partially: what if Hannibal could build a similar relationship to Will that he did to Clarice? If his obsession to Will was given fuel, how big of a fire could one reasonably start?

How far does Hannibal’s obsession with Will go if he’s never given another subject to obsess over?

That’s the primary question I take away from the series. And the answer I get, is:

Pretty. Damn. Far.

#the inane ramblings of a madman #hannibal #nbc hannibal #hannigram #hannibal lecter #will graham #silence of the lambs #red dragon #i hate myself it’s 1 in the morning #why did i write this why do i this to myself #i’m going to blame bryan fuller actually #this is all his fault #i figured hanni was gay for will the first time i read red deagon #but fuller’s the one who decided to contemplate that further #and i’d be stuck with people who don’t see my vision #said vision being that hannibal’s obsession is gay af #because WHY did he think of WILL goddamn GRAHAM and SEMEN in the SAME fucking moment??? #what does it mean harris??? #why did you write it that way harris??? #did will jack off before visiting or is hannibal imagining him doing so or what #what #harris please explain every single word choice in every single sentence #of every single novel #please i just want to know please

[nhescio]

Okay I have a visceral need for a hannigram time travel fic but instead of the typical Will or Hannibal fix-it, the person that time travels back is none other than Frederick fucking Chilton. Like imagine Chilton wallowing around all crispy and stuff after being human torched wondering what he’s done to deserve everything he’s been through. And when he’s finally okay enough to be discharged from the hospital to go home, an anvil falls on him or smth. And as he’s lying there incredulously, he’s like, yknow what? Im not even upset about this. I think Ive suffered enough near death experiences. Please just let this one put me out of my misery. And as his eyes finally drift shut, he hears an alarm blaring in his face. An alarm from his phone. His phone which, when he goes to shut it off, displays an impossible sequence of numbers— the plastic screen shinning with a date from four years past.

So after freaking out and confirming that he is indeed in the past, (and weeping in joy over his unmutilated body) Frederick does the obvious— he packs his bags, pays a visit to the bank, and gets on the next available flight out of the country.

And then his plane crashes and he dies.

But of course he doesn’t die because that seems to be a common theme in Frederick Chilton’s life!

So he’s jolting out of bed again to that same alarm and he tries not to tear his own face off (not that he would ever actually do that cause he knows how easily he could lose that precious face). And (after a few more tries) since this time loop bs isn’t letting him run away, he does the next best thing— phoning the FBI with a tip so that they would investigate Hannibal Lecter and put him behind bars for good. But of course Hannibal somehow finds out and discretely shakes the FBI off his trail while simultaneously sending one of his murderer protégés after Frederick. And so not even a month passes by before Frederick finds himself dying and waking to that infuriating alarm again.

And he keeps going through different loops trying to avoid being “murder tableau of the week”, but failing miserably every time. After dying for what feels like an infinite number of times, he’s realized two main consistencies. Number one, he can’t personally expose Hannibal Lecter as the ripper if he doesn’t want to be gutted, and two, the sooner Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter begin their weird courtship, whether from Frederick’s deliberate meddling or from ripples of unrelated actions, somehow he’s left with much less blood and chaos in the aftermath. In one incredible timeline, Frederick even managed to only sustain one life threatening disembowelment for three years before accidentally making a rude comment about Will Graham’s lack of a social life, thereby leading to a cold death in the Atlantic.

After this revelation, he vows to get Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter to bang each other as soon as possible for the sake of his own self preservation— going through elaborate plans like befriending and recruiting the FBI’s forensics team, or snapping Jack Crawford out of his obliviousness so he’d bluntly give them a nudge, or even once flirting with Will Graham himself to get Hannibal Lecter jealous (note: that attempt did NOT end up well).

And one day, after a shocked text from his “Sassy Science Matchmaking Squad” group chat proclaiming that Hannibal and Will, lovingly dubbed Hannigram by the group, had spontaneously quit their jobs and run away to Europe together, Frederick suddenly realizes he hasn’t been stabbed or burned or maimed or drowned or disemboweled once! He thinks back to his early success in this timeline— silently high fiving with Beverly and Jimmy (Zeller, the spoilsport, had refused to partake) while voyeuristically watching Will and Hannibal shyly having their first kiss in the shadows of a filthy crime scene. In fact, he didn’t think anyone in their immediate circle had been stabbed or burned or maimed or drowned or— well you get the point.

And as one year turns to two to four to eight with no word from Hannibal or Will except the occasional postcard, a sort of cautious optimism starts building in Frederick’s heart. The years continue to fly by until one day, Frederick finds that his hair has turned a snowy white, and that his legs are too weak to support his aching body. He tries to take in a breath to laugh but it comes out as a wheeze. He’s at the end of the line once more, but this time at the end of a healthy, fulfilling life. His only wish is that he’s finally allowed to move on. And as he feels his life slowly drifting away from him, Frederick wonders if he’s accomplished whatever divine mission that godforsaken time loop had wanted him to complete. It really feels like he did the best he could this life, preventing every possible death on the East Coast by sending Hannibal and Will packing early. Sure, he feels bad for the poor suckers in Florence or Paris that were probably flambéed for a pretentiously fancy brunch, but realistically, those two would always leave a body count no matter where they went.

All Frederick wants now is to pass in peace. With a heavy sigh, Frederick willingly closes his eyes one last time, content to move on into whatever lies in the beyond.

And he dies. For real this time. Woohoo!

The End

#hannibal #hannigram #hannibal lecter #will graham #frederick chilton #crack pseudo-fic?? #i dont know what possessed me to write this #i havent slept for 27 hours #nheswrites

[wrathofthestag]

Fic Author Self-Rec Meme

@doggernaut tagged me on this, thanks for the tag. Okay, first off, go and read all of her stuff. You can start with these, but really, read all of them. Okay, was there a minimum? Maximum? Hmm... I'm going to follow her lead and pick five. I mean, do I pick my five favorite? Five most popular? Um... Okay, I'll do three OMGCP that I really like, and will throw in a couple from other fandoms.

OMGCP - I have over 200 Check, Please! fics, so it was hard to pick just three.

Blessing in Disguise - Zimbits I'm starting with this one, because it's my latest Zimbits fic and I was really happy with how it turned out, but pretty bummed by the number of hits. It was part of a OMGCP AU event, and the prompt was "AU where Jack didn't go to Samwell, but has a younger sister who does. She befriends Bitty and SMH, and Jack ends up hanging out with them when he visits her." I changed it in that Jack went to Samwell but graduated the semester before Bitty or his sister began. There's a lot of longing and missed connections, but don't worry, they finally get it together.

Weekender - Zimbits I think this is my longest fic? Um, I think so. I wrote most of this fic while I was in another country traveling for work. It was also the fastest fic that came to me. It was over 30K words and I wrote it in less than a month by the seat of my pants. Jack and Bitty meet at Falcs Fest. This fic was inspired by the time I went to Fan Expo Canada. It got me thinking, what would happen if you connected with a famous someone you met at a fan expo? Here's what happens.

Bits of Heaven - Zimbits Okay, I couldn't make up my mind between Bits of Heaven or All the Best Parts, but I went with the former. Here we meet a 40-something Jack and Bitty who get a second chance at love. Friends to lovers, with septuagenarian Bad Bob (and teenaged Frogs) acting as cupid. I love second chance at love stories, and oh! It features beautiful artwork by @ibakesouffles

Other Fandoms:

Glenn Miller and Blood: Or How to Court Someone in the 21st Century - Sam/Bucky This took off in a way I didn't expect. I wrote it after watching The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Did I ever ship them? Nope. Did I after watching the show? Heck yeah. I imagined how awkward dating would be for Buck. Then I imagined HOW AWKWARD it would be for him to realize he was in love with Sam---and I just went for it. It's fluff, just like a lot of fluff, okay? But it was fun!

Gauge Your Interest - Hannigram I wrote this one in 2016, so I don't really remember my thought process behind this one other than wouldn't be it funny if Hannibal thought Will was cheating on him, but instead Will was doing something completely innocent (and sweet)? Hannigram crack, for realsies.

Tagging five people: @devereauxsdisease @parvuls @fragile-teacup @zacharybosch and @hullomoon <3

#omgcp fic #sambucky fic #hannigram fic #self rec post

[detectivehannibal]

Two Timed

__

Hannibal Lecter x Will Graham x Reader

Warnings: Language, Angst.

Requested by: @vampirevatican​

A/N (edit): I hear you guys’ plea for a part 2. I have another request to write, but it is on my radar!

Word Count: 2,598

“Don’t give him the satisfaction of a second chance.”

__

You had been suspicious for awhile. It was surely hard to ignore the tug in your chest that was telling you something was off. In the seven years you had been married to Hannibal Lecter, you had learned how to be a keen observer. You had learned to be a careful listener and a focused watcher. In a general sense, he had taught you to be extremely in touch with all of your senses. This was turning out to be your worst nightmare. 

For starters, he was later coming home from work. You initially shrugged this off as perhaps he was off doing his unspeakable errands. However, the situation became very clear when he came home with just the slightest bit of lipstick on his shirt collar. Something that a non-observant person would blatantly miss. After that, all the signs were like a stop sign in your face. The unfamiliar scent of perfume that lingered around him when he walked past you. The simple yet vague answers he would give when you asked him about his day. It all came together quickly and life as you knew it was crashing down.

You didn’t want to believe that he was cheating on you. Hannibal Lecter, the most refined and morally just man you had ever known, being unfaithful to his wife. It was shocking and quite ironic. You didn’t want to have to go snooping for answers. You had always respected Hannibal’s space and personal belongings and never touched anything without asking first. However, you were too upset one fateful evening to care at this point. You searched every part of his study searching for even the smallest hint as of to who this mystery woman was. 

That’s when you found the letter. 

It wasn’t easy to spot. It wasn’t exactly sitting in plain view. You had to rummage through stacks of papers and folders before you saw it. The letter had been written on archival paper, something a little more formal and had some weight to it as it rested in your hands. The seamless piece of paper was addressed to “My dearest Alana” in Hannibal’s unmistakable handwriting. 

Oh. 

Your heart sank into your shoes when you read the header. This had to be a mistake. Surely this wasn’t the Dr. Alana Bloom who had been over for dinner on multiple occasions. The woman who had been mentored by your husband when she was in school to be a psychiatrist. It made your stomach curl in the worst way. The very woman who was acting as your husband’s mistress had been under your nose the entire time. You had almost wished she had been a stranger to you. 

The fact that you were finding out due to a letter was a double smack in the face. When you were dating Hannibal, he often would write you letters of the same magnitude. They expressed his deepest care and feelings for you. It was his way of pouring his soul and heart out to you. Now it seemed that had meant absolutely nothing.

Hot tears wasted no time filling your eyes and streaming your cheeks. This was the most betrayal you had ever felt. You were overwhelmed with anger, sadness, disappointment, and hurt all at the same time. How could he do this to you? You never in a million years would you have seen this coming. He was so adamant about people who were disrespectful and had no regard for others. This was very out of character. 

You shoved the letter back where you found it and raced to your car. There was no way you could stay here. You needed to get away to think. You needed to find someone who would care enough to listen before you did something stupid. Will Graham was your first immediate thought. You had been friends with him before ever knowing Hannibal. As a matter of fact, you met Hannibal through Will. You knew Will would listen. He was always there for you no matter what...whether he cared to be or not. His home was about an hour away from you and Hannibal’s shared home. It was a bit of a drive, but you were desperate. You pondered how to handle the situation while you were in commute. 

Your immediate solution was to turn Hannibal in to the police. You knew he was the killer they had been looking for. It would be the ultimate revenge and the most badass way to leave your lasting mark. You could have Hannibal Lecter at your mercy. You had the power to end his reign of cannibalistic terror. Unfortunately this plan had its leaks and you realized something infuriating. Hannibal would always be one step ahead. More than likely, he’d find out that you knew of the affair just as you were reporting him to Jack Crawford. He would obviously know that giving him up would be your first response and he’d have ample amount of time to get away without a trace.

And then you’d end up dead at his hands.

Damn him. At the time being, you were unsure of what to do. You could never attempt to live life as it was before while also knowing of his secret affair. That would be too cruel to yourself. You were worth way more than that. You deserved better. 

After what felt like an eternity, you pulled into Will’s yard. You hoped he wouldn’t mind an unexpected visit. It wasn’t too terribly late into the night, only about 9:15 or so. You knocked on his front door gently, this was followed by a sound from the inside of multiple sets of fuzzy paws rushing towards the door, alerting their human that he had a visitor. You peeked through the window to see a group of wagging tails and bright canine eyes. Oh, to be one of Will’s stray pups. You would always be well fed, treated with care, and have a cozy place to live. What a life. 

Will approached the door finally, his brows slightly dipping upon seeing your reddened eyes and flushed skin. You managed to hold it together long enough to muster a shaky greeting once he opened the door;

“Hi, Will.” 

He was holding the doorknob with one hand, his other resting on the door frame; 

“Hello,” He said suspiciously; “Have you been crying?”

Your lip quivered at his questions and a fresh round of tears welled up;

“Can I come in?” You asked choking down a sob. 

A brief flash of panic crossed the unofficial FBI agent’s face. He didn’t do well with a crying woman. He stepped aside to allow you to enter his home. You were happily welcomed by his dogs, Winston even sitting by your feet to request an ear rub. You squatted in front of him and stroked his soft, honey colored fur. He licked your salty tears from your cheeks, a sad laugh coming from your chest. 

Will closed the door behind him and frantically tried to see if he could figure out what was wrong without having to ask and further upset you. He noted that you weren’t wearing your wedding ring. You never left the house without it, so he knew it had something to do with Hannibal. Once you rose back from the floor and turned to him, he spoke;

“Did Hannibal do something?” He asked as gently as possible. 

He hated seeing you upset. He didn’t want to make it worse. You nodded in response, the flood of emotions washing over you again. The reality of the situation was really beginning to set in. 

“Yeah. He...He’s cheating on me,” You said with a cracking voice. You went on at the sight of Will’s face going white; “I found a love letter in his study.”

His eyes widened as he took a moment to process what you were saying. Who would ever want to be unfaithful to you? You were perfect in every way. 

“Are you sure it wasn’t for you? Perhaps he hadn’t addressed it yet?” He offered a simple solution. 

If only that simplicity was the truth. You fell onto his sofa and shook your head;

“It was addressed to Alana.” You stated.

Now that made his blood turn cold. This couldn’t be happening.

“Alana Bloom? What makes you so sure it’s her?” He asked in disbelief, sitting next to you

“Because she’s the only Alana that Hannibal and I both know, Will. She’s the only logical person. They go way back.” You said feeling defeated. 

Will stressfully ran a hand through his hair. As a third party this was a lot to take in. He could only imagine how you were feeling. Just like you, he never would’ve expected this from either of them. 

“[Y/N], I’m sorry.” He apologized.

He couldn’t help but feel a little responsible. He was the one who had introduced you two after all. He felt that this could’ve been avoided.

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault,” You said honestly; “I’m sorry for coming over here and making this your problem too. I didn’t know where else to go.” 

“Your problems can always be mine. I guarantee that. You can always come here.” He comforted.

You gave the best smile you could. Will had really always been there for you. If he was being honest, he wanted to kiss you in that moment. He just wanted you to understand how much he cared about you. He never wanted you to doubt it. But he didn’t kiss you. He would never take advantage of your emotions like that. After all, you were still a married woman. He didn’t want to force you to stoop to Hannibal’s level. Instead, he just put a hand over yours and rubbed his thumb across the back of your hand. 

On the subject of Hannibal, your phone had buzzed in your bag several times over the last several minutes. You knew it was Hannibal wondering where you were. You also knew he would quickly figure out that you were at Will’s home considering that he’s the only person you’d ever go see this late at night. It wouldn’t be long before Hannibal would be at his front door looking for you.

“What am I supposed to do? I can’t live with him knowing he’s got someone on the side.” You admitted.

“You especially shouldn’t live with him now. You can’t stay married.” He advised.

You knew this. You had a strict rule that always applied to your previous relationships. There was no excuse for cheating. That would be a dealbreaker every time. Divorce was common, but you never thought you’d end up a divorced woman. 

“I know. I mean what do I say to him?” You asked.

Will tucked his head to the side. It was a loaded question for sure. He wasn’t the relationship expert. He hadn’t had many serious relationships in his life. 

“Tell him how you feel. Make sure he understands how much he’s hurt you. Don’t hold back just because you love him,” He replied; “Don’t give him the satisfaction of a second chance.”

You were listening against your better judgement. You wanted so badly for this to just be a horrible dream. You wanted to wake up and this not be real. Silence fell over the both of you. You were out of things to say. You started sobbing again, collapsing into Will’s arms. He held you as you cries filled his home and caused his dogs to whine in sympathy. Your pity party was interrupted by a knock on the door a few minutes later. 

The man of the hour had arrived. 

Part of you wanted to run away and never see him again, but then you’d never get to tell him how you felt. And also he’d find you in record time. Will shot you a look before getting up to answer the door. Hannibal was standing there, still in his work suit and his demeanor was as cool as ever. 

“Hello, Will. Is [Y/N] here? She doesn’t seem to be at home,” He stated. 

“Yeah,” Will responded flatly; “She’s here. You’ve got some nerve showing up here, Dr. Lecter.”

Will was upset. His trusted psychiatrist had hurt his best friend by using his other friend. He had a right to be angry. Hannibal looked over Will’s shoulder to find you on the couch. He pushed past Will and into the room;

“Darling, I really wish you had informed me that you were going to be here.” He said disregarding Will’s previous sentence. 

You stood from the couch. You were furious, yet calm. You stood in front of your husband, looking into his dark eyes with a numb expression. This was your chance. 

“I know, Hannibal. I know about you and Alana.” You confessed.

While his face didn’t show any signs of shock, his heart skipped a beat. He obviously had never planned on you finding out, so this wasn’t what he expected. Will was watching, arms crossed as he observed. 

“How did you find out?” Hannibal asked nonchalantly.

If he had to guess, he would’ve suspected that maybe Alana came clean to Will who conveyed the truth. That was the first time Hannibal would’ve been wrong about anything. 

“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that I know about it. And I want you to know how much you’ve hurt me because of it.” You said. 

You weren’t crying anymore. You were past that point. 

“When I said ‘I do’ on our wedding day, I meant it. Every word of my vows was the truth. I was ecstatic to spend my life with you. I was beyond thrilled to have forever to spend with someone I loved. I just wish I had known it didn’t go both ways,” You spoke softly; “If our marriage wasn’t what you signed up for, then I suppose I owe you an apology. But if it was everything you expected and it still wasn’t enough...then I don’t know what to tell you. I gave you...I gave us everything I had. My whole heart and soul. I wanted to be sure we were each other’s forever. But I see I didn’t do as well as I could have.”

Hannibal was speechless. There wasn’t anything he could say. He was ashamed. Ashamed of getting caught and ashamed for hurting an innocent person. You reached into your pocket and pulled out your wedding ring. You silently took his hand and placed it in his palm. It was cliche, but it was powerful. You were done. 

“I’ll be moved out by tomorrow. Don’t try calling me. Don’t come looking for me. I’m leaving. I hope you can live with what you’ve done,” You said brushing past him. 

You looked at Will as you went to exit his home. He knew you’d call him in a few days after you had time to yourself. You would never leave him behind. You stopped at the door, leaving Hannibal with one final sentence;

“Goodbye, Hannibal.” 

You walked down the front porch steps and into your car. You didn’t know where you were going to go, but you had to get away somewhere. You drove away in silence, letting the road take you wherever it wanted. You couldn’t help but reflect on the good times you had with Hannibal. It would be inhuman not to. At the end of the day, even if it didn’t work out, Hannibal was your love story. You would never be able to change that.

No matter how hard you tried.

#hannibal #hannibal nbc #hannibal lecter #hannibal x reader #hannibal lecter x reader #hannibal lecter imagines #hannibal lecter ask

[darling-i-read-it]

Coquilles

1x05

Will Graham x reader, eventual Hannibal Lecter x reader x Will Graham 

Hannibal Re-Write Series Masterlist

Word Count: 2.2k 

Warnings: spoilers for hannibal, some cancer talk, murder, dead bodies 

Author’s Note: Dudes I do be thriving. I don’t think I’ve gotten as much interaction for any series as I have for this one and it makes me so happpyyy istg. Plus it’s the boys and we love the boys. 

I took lines directly from the script so some may seem familiar.

Official Episode Summary : Will and the team track a serial killer who has a gruesome ritual; Hannibal tries to drive a wedge between Jack and Will; Jack's wife, Bella, starts therapy with Hannibal.

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director 

(not my gif) 

You woke up in a panic. Your heart was racing and the dream you just had slipped your mind but it didn’t stop the worry plaguing your heart. You turned to the side of the bed and found it empty. This did not help your worry. The dogs all looked at you as they sat around the bed, scattered. You counted them and Winston was the only one missing.

Will and Winston that is.

You climbed out of bed. It was six in the morning but the clock was so much too early for him to have gone to work. Plus he always gave you a kiss on the forehead before he left. You hoped Winston had just dragged him outside or maybe he was going to get some fresh air after a bad dream. 

But when you opened the front door there was no Will and no Winston. Your heart beat accelerated and you put on your robe and shoes quickly, noticing quickly that Will’s robe was still on the side of the bed. You walked outside and looked around in the darkness, breathing heavily from fear. You couldn’t help but wonder the worst. What if he had gone out to get some fresh air and been kidnapped? What if something happened and Winston was trying to follow him. The dogs sniffed around but found nothing. 

You grabbed your phone and called Wills’ cell. The phone rang in the other room. You called the only other number you could think to help you, 911 clearly slipping your mind.

“Y/N?” the voice of a groggy Hannibal Lecter woke up. You didn’t notice you were crying until you tried to speak and a ugly worried cry escaped your lips. “What is it? Is something wrong?”

“I woke up and Will’s gone. The cars outside, one of the dogs is gone, his phone is here,” you said worriedly, standing outside, still looking around. 

“Was Jack going to come get him?” Hannibal asked, his voice the stark difference of yours. Very calm, very collected.

“No, we drive together or he tells me. Both of the cars are here Hannibal,” you said. 

“Should I attempt to make the drive out there?” 

It was then you saw the flashing police lights. You almost screamed from worry, scared now that they were coming to tell you they found your boyfriend dead in the street. 

“There’s a police car,” you told Hannibal. 

“At your home?” 

“Yes.” 

The back door opened and Will stepped out from the back. You let out a sigh of relief. 

“I have to go, Will’s okay,” you said and hung up the phone quickly, making a plan to write a formal apology to Hannibal later when you had hugged Will. You threw your arms around him and kissed him fiercely. You pulled away and wiped the few tears that had spilled. “Where were you?!” you yelled. Winston came out of the car as well and you kneeled down, hugging the dog tightly.

“I was sleepwalking,” he admitted. 

“What?” 

“We found him a couple of miles away. Maybe you should handcuff him down,” one of the officers suggested.

“Thank you for bringing him home. Both of them,” you said. They nodded and drove down the driveway. You hugged him again. “I thought something had happened.” He shook his head.

“I think I’m going to go to Hannibal’s in the morning,” he said. “Try and see if he can give me something for it so I don’t do it again. Otherwise I think we will have to try out the handcuff idea.” You laughed dryly and nodded. 

“It is morning Will.” He looked up at the sun as it started to rise and scoffed. 

“Do you want to come with?” he asked. You nodded, fully awake and having to go into the office eventually anyway. 

“Yeah. I don’t think I’m letting you out of my sights again.” 

-

“Although I might be, is it safe to assume you’re not sleepwalking now?” Hannibal asked, making some coffee in his robe and pajamas. 

“I’m sorry it’s so early,” he said.

“Never apologize for coming to me. Office hours are for patients. My kitchen is always open to friends.” Hannibal handed both you and Will a cup of coffee. You nodded in thanks. “Y/N woke me up this morning in quite a state. We should try and prevent that from happening again,” Hannibal said simply. You nodded, that morning feeling like a bad dream.

“It wasn’t ideal. That’s why we’re here,” you said. 

“I imagine it’s simply some good old fashioned post traumatic stress. Jack Crawford has gotten your hands very dirty,” Hannibal said and you nodded along, agreeing with every word. 

“Wasn’t forced back into the field,” Will countered. “No matter what she says.” He pointed to you. You drank a bit of the coffee mug silently. 

“I wouldn’t say forced. Manipulated would be the word I’d choose.” You nodded quickly again.

“I honestly don’t think Jack Crawford has ever had your best intentions in mind,” you said. You said it often. It was the truth. 

“I can handle it,” Will said to both you and Hannibal but his voice wasn’t very convincing. 

“Somewhere between denying horrible events and calling them out lies the truth of psychological trauma.”

“So I can’t handle it?” Will asked. 

“Your experience may’ve overwhelmed ordinary functions that give you a sense of control,” Hannibal told him.

“If my body is walking around without my permission, you’d say that’s a loss of control?” 

“Wouldn’t you?” Hannibal asked. You leaned against the kitchen counter.

“Honestly, will you please just speak with Jack?” you asked. Will looked at you and Hannibal, obviously on the same page about his mental state. You and Hannibal came from such different worlds in his mind. The two people he went to when his mind stopped working but you approached it so differently. You both stared at him expectantly. 

“I’ll think about it.” 

-

Hannibal gave you some time to check on Will so you took your time off to go and visit him at work. You had never actually seen the place he spent most of his time which was likely the morgue although you never asked. You were directed to a place where there were pull out places with bodies inside. 

Will and Beverly stood, talking.

Beverly saw you first and her eyebrows went up.

“Why if it isn’t the other Graham of the household,” she teased. “Your boyfriend has been doing a great job with defying the boss today.” You walked up to the two of them and Will pushed the body that was out back into the wall. 

“What are you doing here?”

“Are you finally fighting Jack? Please tell me you are.” 

“I was out of line. He wanted answers where there were none,” he admitted. He looked exhausted. You wanted to take off his glasses and make him go to sleep. 

“What’s the murder of the week?” you asked, more at Beverly than Will.

“Some guy taking skin off the back to make them look like angels.” You scoffed.

“It’s never boring here is it?” 

“Never, not once. I’ll leave you two alone,” Bev said and then was gone. You looked up at Will and let out an audible sigh. 

“How are you?” you asked.

“Tired. Did Hannibal send you?”

“He gave me time off, probably presuming that I was going to come and see you. I have to be back before his next patient.” He nodded stiffly. “Is something wrong?”

“Just thinking about defying Jack,” he muttered. You smiled weakly.

“That’s what I like to hear.” 

-

You woke up the next morning and Will wasn’t there. Your heart started to race again. You had locked the downstairs door and windows but he still wasn’t there. You got up and started to look around. You immediately noticed that one of the upstairs windows was wide open, letting in a chilly January draft. You walked over to close it and noticed that Will was standing on the roof outside.

You let out a yelp and climbed outside, balancing on the roof as well. You grabbed his arm and he didn’t wake up. Instead his eyes shut tighter. You started to guide him over to the window and you ducked him down, making sure his head didn’t hit anything. You guided him back to the bed and then locked the window. 

He was freezing. You weren’t able to go back to sleep despite it being only five. You were too nervous. You set his head on your lap and he cuddled into it, realizing maybe where he was. You played with his curls and thought about calling Hannibal but didn’t want to wake him up again.

You realized then how much of a friend Hannibal had started to become for you. He was quickly reaching your ‘to call’ list when Will was asleep or at work. You thought about that for a while before Will started to stir awake. He sat up and looked around, as you awake.

“Why are you awake?” he asked, groggy.

“You sleep walked onto the roof,” you said lazily. His eyes went wide. 

“Maybe we should try that handcuff idea.” 

“Well we gotta do something. You have therapy today, ask Hannibal what he thinks.” He nodded and ran a hand over his face to rub out the sleep.

“You seem to care about Hannibal’s opinion a lot.”

“I just want you to get better.” He laid his head back down on your lap and you played with his curls some more before the alarm went off

-

You sat outside of the office, as you usually would when Hannibal had a client. You were clicking through things, checking payments and what not. Hannibal was in there with Bella Crawford or as her insurance called her, Phyllis Crawford. 

You were half paying attention to work, half thinking about Will, when Jack came in. Your mind had a ‘speak of the devil’ moment as he walked inside. You didn’t think he knew that Bella was in there. 

“Can I help you Jack?” He looked down at you, sitting at your desk. 

“Is my wife in there?” 

“If you don’t know I don’t have the privilege to tell you,” you said. You honestly didn’t know if that was a thing but you really didn’t like Jack so you figured you would make it a thing. “How’s my boyfriend?” 

“He said he wants to quit. I assume that’s you speaking.”

“We are a very conjoined couple.” You smiled to yourself. Will was making those steps to better himself. That was good. You weren’t sure if they would last but this was a start.  The door opened and you cursed your bad plan of him never finding out. 

“Agent Crawford,” Hannibal stated.

“Hello, Jack,” Bella said meekly. 

“Doctor, you mind waiting in the waiting room so my wife and I can borrow your office for a moment?” 

“Not at all.” Hannibal walked beside you and the door shut behind him, Bella and Jack inside.

“What’s there deal?” you asked.

“I can’t tell you that,” he said. You nodded, understanding. You looked up at Hannibal and he sat on the edge of your desk. “Will woke up on the roof this morning?”

“He woke up in bed but I woke up to him on the roof,” you explained. 

“He wants to leave. He wants to fish and work a simple life I just don’t think Jack is willing to let him go,” Hannibal told you.

“Aren’t you supposed to keep all of that in the office?” you asked. He nodded thoughtfully.

“I think you know that though,” he stated simply. That was true. You did know that.

“I admire him for trying,” you said quietly. “I want him to come back to me. He’s my best friend, he’s really all I have. We’re all each other have,” you admitted. “And the dogs.” 

“The both of you have me now,” Hannibal promised almost offhandedly. 

You nodded but you wondered what he meant by that. You didn’t ask.

#hannibal lecter x reader #hannibal lecter imagines #will graham x reader #will graham imagines #will graham x reader x hannibal lecter #hannibal lecter x reader x will graham #hannibal imagines

[slashyrogue]

It wasn’t easy for a human to attract a shifter. 

Or so Will had heard. 

He’d never had much experience with them, but the rarity of human x shifter couplings were so that there were even classes in order to help those who were desperately attracted to the idea. 

His shifter wasn’t hard to attract at all. 

The minute he’d met Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the cat shifter had formed an odd attachment to him. This phenomena was even more rare, as cats were the most fickle of the shifter types. There were some cats who didn’t mate at all, finding solace in being alone, and others who only stayed amongst their own kind. 

Hannibal seemed the first type, or so the many people who remarked to Will later would tell him, and as the weeks progressed Will found himself with a conundrum. 

He wasn’t interested. 

Will had never been interested in relationships with other humans, let alone becoming a shifter mate for life, and though Hannibal tried his best to woo him he really wasn’t Will’s type. Shifters in general had never paid much attention to Will that way so he’d ignored them when he found someone to spend the night with, and Hannibal’s attractiveness aside there was just nothing about him Will found interesting. 

But how to tell him? 

Jack Crawford had remarked to Will how “sensitive” an issue like rejection was to shifters. A wolf shifter himself, Jack was the only shifter Will knew outside of Hannibal he could talk to. 

“You’re sure about this, Will?” Jack asked, frowning, “I mean...you know what they say about cat shifters.” 

Will blushed. 

“I do."

“So, I mean...”

“I’m not interested, Jack,” he sighed, “And it’s getting to be a problem.”

Cat shifters were said to be amazing in bed, like one night with one and you’d never want to be with anyone else again. 

Will thought that sounded terrifying. 

Hannibal’s attempts at wooing him so far had begun to increase, nightly offerings of food and companionship that Will didn’t want or need but couldn’t turn away. He knew this was supposed to be a compliment, but it was starting to effect his entire life. 

“Well,” Jack sighed, scratching behind the brown ears on top of his head, “Just do it gently. I’ve heard cats can get...prickly. Hannibal doesn’t seem the type but you never know.” 

“I’ll try.” 

“And maybe I’ll start looking for another psychiatrist to...help you through your...problem.” 

Will nodded and left Jack’s office, feeling a bit better, and yet as he waited for the elevator doors to open he knew he’d miss that aspect of all this. 

His weekly visits to Hannibal’s office were nice, friendly, and Will didn’t genuinely hate them. Hannibal treated him like a person, more so than most humans did, and as much as he wasn’t attracted to him he wanted to remain friends. 

Would that even be possible after this? 

The doors opened and Will was so caught up in his thoughts he didn’t notice he wasn’t alone till the doors closed. 

“Hello, Will.” 

Hannibal’s accented purr startled him, making Will jump in surprise. “Hannibal,” he squeaked, coughing, “I...I didn’t notice you. Sorry.” 

“You seem upset. Is there an assignment from Jack that’s troubling you?” 

“No,” he whispered, squeezing his hands at his sides, “Nothing like that.” 

“I see.” 

“What are you doing here?” 

“I was looking for you,” Hannibal said honestly, “And as you were not home I suspected you to be here.” 

Will blushed. “Oh.” 

“Is there something the matter?” 

He couldn’t bring himself to look at him. “No.” 

“Will...” 

“Not here,” he mumbled, shaking his head, “It’s best if we...” 

The elevator suddenly lurched and he fell back only to have Hannibal catch him. He stared up into Hannibal’s amber eyes, surprised, and pulled himself away a moment later. 

“What was that?” 

Hannibal walked to the elevator buttons and pressed them. 

Nothing happened. 

“It seems we’re stuck. The elevator must have stalled.” 

Will sighed, leaning against the wall. “Perfect.”

Hannibal smiled at him. “Is it?” 

He frowned. “I didn’t mean...” 

“We will have some time alone together until it’s fixed I suspect. If you wanted to talk about your problem now....” 

“No,” Will sighed, “I...” 

“Will, you’ve never had a problem speaking your mind to me before. What is it that makes this different?” 

He blushed, looking down at his shoes. “It’s not--”

“Is this because of my interest?” 

Will looked up at him. “Um...” 

He watched Hannibal’s face fall. “I see.” 

“It’s been a few weeks and really I like talking to you in sessions but---” 

Hannibal moved as far away from him as possible. “No, it’s perfectly fine. I wouldn’t want you to feel obligated to accept my courting if you weren’t attracted.” 

Will’s stomach tightened. “I’m not....into shifters. Okay? I haven’t really ever been that much into men in general. It’s not you, it’s---” 

“Please, don’t,” Hannibal hissed, his eyes suddenly flashing, “I do not need your pity.” 

“Hannibal...” 

“I think it best if you call me, Dr. Lecter from now on. I’d prefer it.” 

The dismissal made Will sadder than it should have. “Ok.” 

Silence followed, and while Will’s phone didn’t work he was able to track fifteen minutes passed before someone’s voice came through the speaker. 

“Hello in there!” 

They both looked up from where they sat on the elevator floor and Will shot up rushing to the speaker. 

“Hey, we’re stuck!” 

“We see that! It’ll be a bit of a wait, fellas! Bobby called off sick and he’s the only one who knows how to handle number three but we’re calling in the repair guys who’ll be here in an hour.” 

Will sighed. “Fine. Just...let us know.” 

“Will do!” 

He saw Hannibal had moved away from him again and seemed to be doing everything he could not to acknowledge Will’s existence. 

“It--” 

“I heard,” Hannibal said, glaring at him, “I have very good hearing.” 

The pale brown ears at the top of his head were down low in his anger. Will had never seen them look like that before. “I know.” 

“And I’m very highly sought after,” Hannibal continued, “Many others want to mate with me. Many, many, others.” 

“I...” 

“Cat shifters are amongst the highest regard to mate with, did you know that?” 

Will blushed. “Yes.” 

“And yet...” 

“It’s me, Han---Dr. Lecter. Not you. You’re...great. Attractive, nice, and just...great.” 

Hannibal frowned, his ears raising. “And yet you do not find yourself attracted to me.” 

“No.” 

“Have you even attempted to see me in that regard?” 

Will cocked his head. “What do you mean?” 

“Have you...let yourself see me in that regard? Thought of me when you were pleasuring yourself? Imagined what mating with me would be like?” 

Will felt his cheeks redden. “No.” 

“Why?” 

“I just...didn’t.” 

Hannibal crawled closer to him, staying on his hands and knees as he looked at Will. He could smell his aftershave, and the light in his eyes was oddly beautiful. 

“Because you don’t think you ever could or because you’re afraid if you did you wouldn’t want to stop?” 

Will licked his lips. “Hann...” 

Hannibal leaned down to run his tongue across Will’s knuckles. He shivered, and a sudden throb of desire seemed to kick in. “I would do my best to pleasure you, Will. As much as you could handle and often.” 

He nuzzled Will’s hand now, and Will couldn’t resist scratching under his chin. 

“Dr. Lecter...” 

“Hannibal,” he purred, looking up again, “Please, Will...call me Hannibal.” 

Will’s cock twitched. “Hannibal, this...” 

“Are you interested now, Will?” 

“Yes,” Will said without hesitation, “What are you doing to me?” 

Hannibal smiled and licked Will’s hand again. “Absolutely nothing.” 

Will sighed. “No, you have to be. I...” 

“You saw me as a sexless figure, Will, and were unable to get past that. This seems to have been what was stopping you.” 

“No, I’m not even into shifters.” 

Hannibal lifted his head and Will watched as his whiskers grew more prominent. 

“Perhaps you’re only into me.” 

He reached up to touch Hannibal’s cheek and swallowed past the dryness in his throat. “Or you’re using some kind of cat sex trick on me.” 

Hannibal climbed up into his lap and Will groaned as he felt him grind against his already hardening cock. “Mmmm...” 

Will found it hard to concentrate on anything else, grabbing hold of his hips and arching up to meet the tease. “Fuck...” 

He licked across Will’s cheek and the loud purr he gave made Will whimper. 

“Shall I stop?” 

“No,” Will sighed, “Fuck, don’t...” 

The sudden lurch of the elevator made them both pause. Will felt them start to move and they looked at each other. Hannibal smiled and teased another lick to Will’s cheek. 

“It seems we’ll have to continue this another time.” 

He got up and Will whimpered at the loss. “Wait!” 

Hannibal stared down at him smugly. “It seems...you’re attracted to shifters after all.” 

Will sighed. “You can’t just leave me like this.” 

The elevator doors opened and Hannibal walked through to the other side. He turned to wink at Will. “If you’re interested in continuing our...discussion...you know where to find me.” 

And with that he was gone. 

Will stood up slowly, blushing as several people stared at him, and rushed out of the elevator. His cock was so hard he could barely walk and yet he got to his car barely able to stop thinking about Hannibal. 

The minute he was alone he had to resist the urge to jerk off. 

“Fuck.” 

It seemed he was interested after all. 

#hannigram au #cat shifter hannibal #human will #my writing #random ideas #not beta'd

[will-gayham]

Is Will Graham Self Aware?

If we don’t recognize Will’s self awareness over his Becoming and his love for Hannibal, we’re suggesting that Will is borderline delusional, incapable of setting boundaries, and unendingly indecisive but passive along the course he’s given. Perhaps love is blinding, but I’m going to talk about some times where he likely just worked in his own self interest instead.

There are two other posts that I think explain Will’s motivations well that I drew from, this one about how he doesn’t believe in free will, and this one that shows the reciprocity between Hannibal and Will. Therefore, he might be terrified of the thought of siding with Hannibal but give in to the inevitability anyway, and he might love Hannibal but need to reciprocate the violence that has been done unto him to be equal first.

season 2:

Despite his fantasies, Will does not kill Hannibal out of righteous violence when he has the opportunity out of the hospital. He was fine to kill Randall and (attempt) Ingram in similarly unplanned, sketchy circumstances (i.e. Ingram didn’t get convicted but Will still tried to pull the trigger, and he was going to be charged on Randall’s death in the end, risking his loss of freedom again). Either he’s somehow convinced himself that he’s still an effective upholder of the law, or he doesn’t actually want Hannibal dead or perhaps wants Hannibal specifically to be incarcerated for reasons of reciprocity rather than justice ones.

When in private with Hannibal, he is extremely candid about his murderous proclivities in what seems like excessive therapy appointments and dinners and work shifts together. A… suspiciously dedicated acting performance if it is a manipulation, but we see in his alone time that it is very much affecting him. This is the same man who refused to kill the person that stabbed him and chose a life of teaching because he was worried about Becoming. Either he’s sitting there essentially like ‘hope this doesn’t awaken anything in me!’ when it is clearly too late or he’s exploring his own darkness in full seriousness.

As for who he was siding with, Will spent months in jail trying to convince everyone that Hannibal is Hannibal and by “Yakimono”, Jack seems to believe him. Alana’s reaction at the world's most awkward dinner party™ is enough to show how suspicious it is that Will would forgive and believe Hannibal after everything. My personal favourite interpretation of the Freddie Lounds attack scene is that it’s completely Will’s imagination, what he wanted to do to her when in reality she was probably just brought to Jack’s desk and told the plan (why traumatize her for no reason? She would have written all about it!). There is all the possibility that he would have killed Jack in the end and gone with Hannibal (“Didn’t I?”). Either Will just plagued with indecision for the entire time or he was going along with the plan that would keep him out of suspicion and able to work with Hannibal behind the scenes.

season 3:

Will runs after Hannibal to Europe, angsting over his regret and longing for his “perfect world” alternative. He tells Jack that he wanted to run away with Hannibal, he tells Pazzi he doesn’t know who’s side he’s on and doesn’t deny what Alana is suggesting about seeing past Hannibal’s worst. These are all people that hate Hannibal, and Will isn’t gaining anything, especially not trust, by admitting his affection for Hannibal. He is also uncooperative with the police and goes off on his own to find Hannibal, therefore ruling out the idea of capturing Hannibal (at least right now). His options seem to be either to kill Hannibal or to run away with him, knowing he can’t get over him otherwise. He seems to attempt the killing option (unless he had only meant to scar Hannibal back?) perhaps because of his need to reciprocate. Either he’s half-heartedly trying to assassinate Hannibal (really? a small knife in public? *Chilton voice* ‘flirtation!’) despite being plagued with all these complicated feelings or he’s aware of the intimately personal nature of his ways to deal with Hannibal.

Will then loses his autonomy and spends a while tied up or drugged so it’s hard to deduce his thoughts until he breaks up with Hannibal. He later says “the only way you’d turn yourself in was if I rejected you” suggesting it was a plan of his, potentially a way to reciprocate for the time Hannibal put him in the hospital. If Will doesn’t believe in free will, he may believe in the inevitability of getting an opportunity to break Hannibal out just like Hannibal did for him, or at the very least hope he lives in that universe timeline. This might be why he’s so sour in the beginning of the “Wrath of the Lamb” when he ‘drops the mic’, he doesn’t see his chance yet. His voice sounds weak when he says “I like my life there (...) Molly and I want it to be the same.” When Will returns to say “pretty please”, his attitude is completely different, he’s energized and sly and smiley, practically glowing.

Backtracking, in s3e08, Will first goes to the Red Dragon crime scene and uses his empathy/imagination as effectively as we’ve seen in the past, but then goes to Jack and says he needs to visit Hannibal to get in the “mindset” again. Hannibal accuses Will of “just [coming] to look at [him], get the old scent”, and when Hannibal suggests that the Red Dragon is disfigured, Will half-heartedly pretends he hadn’t thought of that already (”that’s interesting”), which Hannibal calls him out for, too (“That's not interesting. You thought of that before”). Either he’s conveniently forgotten the effect that Hannibal has on him and convinced himself that he needs help on the case, which is questionable, or Will is truly there to see Hannibal.

Hannibal hints that he’s sent the Red Dragon after Will’s “ready-made” family, admitting he knows them and saying “they’re not my family, Will. I’m not letting them die, you are.” Will has been able to predict every other person who has been attacked by Hannibal (Beverly, Jack, Alana, Pazzi), but not the ones who Hannibal practically admits to? Returning to Hannibal after visiting Molly in the hospital, Will’s anger doesn’t linger and it’s arguably an intimate scene, standing in the dark, whispering about his “change”, their reflections overlapping. This is when Will realizes that the Red Dragon thinks he can do “anything”, even break Hannibal out of jail. Either Will is suddenly misunderstanding Hannibal but going along with him anyway, or Will is understanding of their plan and not particularly attached to Molly and Walter, maybe even likes the jealous attention from Hannibal (”Your experience of Hannibal's attention is so profoundly harmful, yet so irresistible”).

I don’t think I need to convince anyone that Will was purposefully breaking Hannibal out of the hospital. Can I just cite his eyebrow thing? Anyway, “it sounds weak to you, even as you say it”, the apathy at seeing police killed, going with Hannibal so easily. Either he needs to just retire because this plan crashed and burned bad or he wants to break Hannibal out of the hospital.

Of course, the interesting debate here is what his secret cliffside plan was. Either run away with Hannibal or finally kill him. “The bluff is eroding,” “soon all of this will be lost to the sea,” very well may be a plan admission. Will does not help Dolaryhyde kill Hannibal, he does not sit back and watch Hannibal die, he does not ensure his death with a fatal wound in the end.  Will and Hannibal survive together, either he just happened to survive and went with it idk his life is so absurd already might as well just become a murder husband since it fell in his lap? Or it was by Will’s own volition and assent that he runs away with Hannibal.

Conclusion: 

Will struggles to think rationally around Hannibal, it’s true, and he doesn’t make... great decisions, but I don’t think fans give him enough credit sometimes. He’s a criminal mastermind, a professor at the FBI, one of the best special investigators out there, and a master manipulator in his daily life. He struggles with the dark urges inside of him, perhaps yearns for a normal life instead, but is fully aware of them nonetheless. We can argue that Will is a hot mess, blinded by love, is borderline delusional in his self-denial and is riddled with indecisiveness for years but that he keeps on making bad decisions despite it and letting the current of his weird life take him along passively -- or we can recognize that he might have always been acting on his personal goals. His personal goals include exploring his Becoming and making things equal (reciprocal) with Hannibal and would empower him away from being just another victim. 

#Hannibal #Hannibal meta #hannigram #meta #long post #m

[tiny-yoongienthusiast]

whumptober day 1: lose control

Hannibal's office had become his home away from home of a sort, glass of wine in hand by the fire while his mind was somewhere else beyond the four walls. During one of these particular nights of warmth buzzing under his skin, Hannibal's phone rang, cell not office, a personal call.

"Hello?"

Quick and ragged breathing on the other line, "I don't know what happened he just came at me what was I supposed to do?" Will. His sentence was slurred with fear so strong Hannibal could practically taste it even through their mid air connection.

"Will, who came at you?"

But Will wasn't all there, he was muttering quietly to himself, something something teeth, something like an animal, the ramblings of a man lost to something just out of view.

"Will, I want you to try and calm your breathing. If you start to hyperventilate you may suffer a fainting spell." It was like talking to a brick wall, he wasn't going to have any effect from over the phone.

"I'll be over momentarily."

The entire drive, Hannibal tried to imagine what he would find upon his arrival. Would Will be on the floor, eyelids fluttering or would Hannibal find the screen door torn from its hinges with no sign of the curly haired man? What would become of him?

As Hannibal pulled up to the lone house he was quick to notice how normal it looked. Door still intact, dogs still inside if their muffled barking was anything to go off of. Hannibal knocked and the front door creaked open revealing that all the lights were off. Hannibal didn't hesitate walking through the entryway only to realize he was walking onto a crime scene. Randall Tier was sprawled out on the floor, his mechanical skull ripped away from his face and abandoned in a dark corner. His empty eyes stared unblinking at the ceiling, the room smelled of fear.

“Will?” The investigator was nowhere to be found and Hannibal was half worried the man had fled the scene of his crime but a small sound that one would assume could only come from a wounded animal sounded from a dark corner where Hannibal knew Will’s bed was situated based on previous visits. “Will?” Soft scuffling of cloth against the hardwood floor before Will came forward, moonlight spilling in from the doorway illuminated his figure. The blood covering his gorgeous hands and staining his shirt came as a slight shock but Hannibal really had to fight against himself to hide his excitement at the look on Will's face. The mixed look of grief and terror swimming in his irises blue as the deepest ocean, so much depth and so much yet to discover. His face reflected his exhaustion but Hannibal wanted more. He wanted to see just how terrified of his own reflection he could make the fragmented man in front of him.

“Will,” the slight tremor in his voice would have made him roll his eyes had he not had them trained on Will, “What have you done?” Will’s arms were wrist up in front of him, blood up to mid forearm, “I didn’t do it- I didn’t-”

Hannibal could almost see himself from above, closing his eyes and putting on a nervous stance obvious enough to be noticed by Will even in his absent state, “Well then who do you suppose did? I see no one else here and he surely didn’t do it to himself!” The way his voice rose slightly at the end in faux anxiety made Will flinch, gaze shifting to the floor but trying his hardest to ignore the cooling corpse displayed in the center of the room. “I d-I don’t know but I couldn’t...I couldn’t do this. This-this,” his head shook and his lips curled into the anxious, awkward frown tinged smile Hannibal hadn’t yet tired of seeing, “This is the work of a…” His voice trailed off, swallowing his saliva, hesitant. How Hannibal wanted to peel back the cover and peer into Will’s psyche, dip his fingers into the black pools of his mind and gain all the knowledge of his life.

“The work of what, Will?”

Will closed his eyes as if trying to hide from whatever images played in his mind, like a child scared of the dark, hiding underneath the duvet for protection against creatures just out of reach.

“Say it, Will. What did this?”

A quiet sob escaped his lips, “A monster…”

“I didn’t hear you, Will.”

“A monster!” Tears flowed freely down his perfectly reddened cheeks, Hannibal had seen him so disturbed only a handful of times, each time more enrapturing than the last. The poor boy was shaking where he stood, fingers gripping at his dark chocolate curls like a lifeline. “But it’s not my fault! He-he attacked me-”

Hannibal stared down at the broken body of what was once a man, reveling in how brutalized he now was. “You butchered him, Will,” His words brought back memories of Abigail standing over Nick Boyle’s crumpled form much like Will, so alike in ways they’d never known, beloved victims of The Chesapeake Ripper.

“I didn’t mean to…”

The way his voice shook and was filled with the purest hurt he’d felt in the boy, almost identical to the day Will found out about what really happened to Abigail.

“Apologies won't fix this. You can’t fix him.” Hannibal sighed and looked down at the floor, “I’ll have to call Jack.”

Hannibal knew from their sessions that Will valued his ability to lower people’s perceptions of him, make himself a quiet presence to ensure he wasn’t seen as a threat, but in the moment all sensibility was lost on him. His eyes went wild with fear as he practically fell into Hannibal, “Hannibal, please! You can’t tell Jack I did this, I didn’t!” His bloodied hands grasped at Hannibal’s coat, red rimmed eyes stared up at him, Will was making himself up to be quite a lowly creature. Hannibal didn’t appreciate being grovelled to by his victims, he found it disgusting, but looking directly into the gaze of a man gone wild with fear and even more so such an exquisite one at that; it only made him feel more powerful. “I can’t rightfully go on as if nothing has happened now can I?”

Will nodded frantically, eyes wet with tears as he slipped to the floor, still clinging to Hannibal’s coat, the blood on his hands soaking into the fabric. “You can! Pretend it never happened just-just please don’t say anything to Jack!”

Hannibal looked between Randall Tier and Will. A millisecond passed where Hannibal imagined telling Will that he was the one who told Randall where the lone, little house sat, no neighbors for miles. He craved the look on Will’s face, would he lash out in anger or simply shut down? Only time would tell but for now, Hannibal was happy to play the good guy.

“You need help, Will.”

As much as he didn’t want help, knew he couldn’t have possibly done this, he looked around his destroyed living room and he could see the evidence stacked against him, knew the jury would take one look at him and what he did and would only see a killer.

“Please help me Hannibal.”

#tinys fic #whumptober 2021 #hannigram #distressed boy my beloved

[hannigramficrecs]

A/B/O

Preemptive by HigherMagic [words: 5,023]

"Does it bring you pleasure, to keep this anonymous?" he asks. "Does it thrill you, that you don't know me, and I don't know you?"

By Fire, By Thunder by HotMolasses [words: 13,442]

Hannibal and Will are both sent to the same camp for the summer, where they meet and romance blossoms. Then it turns serious. Then they share something much deeper and darker than normal teenagers, and it leads them into the storm that is each other.

Ethereal by Anonymous [words: 3,360]

Perhaps he should have killed him, but when a little, Omega boy stumbles upon Hannibal in the woods, the Alpha can't help but be intrigued.

Visitation by HotMolasses [words: 6,674]

The door creaked open to Alana's office at the BSHCI, and when no one entered and no one spoke, she finally looked up. Before her was a shivering, sweat-drenched Will Graham, his body wrapped in one of the hospital blankets, his face red with fever. “Will?” she asked, concerned, rising to walk towards him. “How did you…” She halted the moment his scent reached her. “You’re in heat.” Will’s eyes were unfocused and he stared at the floor, unable to raise them in the submissive state he was in. “Hannibal.” he said, his voice pleading, needy. Cold chills ran down Alana’s spine in waves. Oh no. No.

Stand By My Side by Anonymous [words: 9,215]

Hannibal's looking for an Omega at the auction house. Trust him to like the one covered in blood who's just killed three guards in a desperate attempt to escape. Oh Hannibal, what have you gotten yourself in for this time?

Unstoppable by HotMolasses [words: 2,462]

Will walks into Hannibal's office for his usual appointment. Hannibal scents that he's about to go into heat. They both lose their self-control.

Omega Mine by melmac [words: 11,995]

Will Graham is an unhappy omega married to the wrong Alpha. When the right one enters his life, they'd both do everything to right a very wrong situation.

Red City by TimmyJaybird [words: 28,760]

They met by happenstance- he smelled like a muted sweetness that drove a fire into Hannibal's blood. Or perhaps it was the way the boy didn't flinch, despite the body Hannibal had his hands on. Perhaps even it was something in those stormy eyes, that told a story of forced silence. Whatever it was, Hannibal was intrigued by this boy, but he could not foresee just how quickly Will would get under his skin, sink into his pores and cling like a tattoo. He couldn't know the trauma that clung to him like an ashen shadow.

Staking a Claim by blackcrystaly [words: 5,242]

From the moment Hannibal saw William he knew the omega was his.

Playing For Keeps by blackcrystaly [words: 11,292]

William senses that the last victim of the Chesapeake Ripper is a courting gift for him and wonders if he isn't getting obsessed with the case, so he decides not to tell anything to the BAU Chief, instead, he decides he must go to to speak with the always trustful Doctor Lecter, the alpha he had become progressively more and more attracted to.

Peachfire Whiskey by KareliaSweet [words: 22,076]

Will knows he'll remember this scent until the day he dies. Hannibal smells like firewood, and malt whiskey, and roasted peaches drizzled in honey. He smells like nothing Will has ever scented before, and it is so divine it dizzies him. or The Adventures of Professor Will Graham and His Terribly Naughty Omega Student, Hannibal Fucking Lecter.

Avaricious by everybreathagift [words: 11,432]

Sometimes, an omega's heat can trigger a dangerous response in an Alpha. After seven years, Will is going into heat and Hannibal ends up not taking well. The drama queen.

Tender by HotMolasses [words: 6,021]

Most people are betas, though a person can present as Alpha or Omega at any point in their life, not just at puberty. Hannibal has been an Alpha since he was a child and Mischa was killed. Will has been a Beta for all his life, but when Hannibal rescues him from Muskrat farm and begins to take care of him, Will's biology has other ideas.

Blaze by HotMolasses [words: 3,008]

The thought slipped from his mind as a warm tingle spread across his skin. Will inhaled again, deeply, and the scent was so good, so very, very good. A soft moan even escaped his lips before he realized what he was scenting, though it wasn’t until he heard the feral, bestial growl in front of him that his brain finally made the full connection, and his eyes flew open in terror. Rut. Hannibal had indeed lost his control. Will’s eyes snapped up to Hannibal’s and he saw them dilating. Will’s throat grew dry and his heart leapt with fear. The Chesapeake Ripper was in rut, and it was because of him.

Wings of Wax and Feather by BelladonnaWyck and raiast [words: 55,947]

"Did you just smell me?” "Difficult to avoid. My apologies, I didn’t realize there were any Omegas in this section of the prison.” “Most get sent to the Omega Holding Facility two counties over. But then, most don’t get done in for rippin’ out an Alpha’s throat in the middle of the street.” or Hannibal Lecter had always known the winding road of fate may one day lead him straight to a prison cell. He’d never imagined he’d find his true mate there.

Cheque Please by WendigoDreaming [words: 1,829]

Hannibal was just trying to enjoy a meal, the last thing he needed was an omega busboy in barely concealed heat wandering around the restaurant.

Picture Imperfect by shiphitsthefan [words: 13,645]

Will Graham has made a name for himself in the magazine industry for being the one and only alpha photographer that can be trusted. It isn’t that he doesn’t have hormonal urges; Will is simply able to control himself. In a society run by omegas, Will's empathetic nature is a gift; he can easily assume the omega mindset, almost as if he shares their biology, their behavior. Omegas feel safe with Will, because he isn’t innately predatory. He's just walked into a photo shoot with concert harpsichordist Hannibal Lecter. He's about to ruin everything.

An Easy Kind of Love by Dormchi [words: 4,167]

Will opens the door and the concentrated scent of pheromones, sweat, and slick that wafts out nearly makes Hannibal fall to his knees. Confining Will to one room is arguably the worst mistake Hannibal has ever made. Maybe he should have just buried himself alive, instead of allowing himself to be manipulated by such a horrible creature.

Compliments of the Chief by Entity_Sylvir [words: 3,252]

Hannibal pays a diplomatic visit to the leader of neighbouring tribe, and is treated to a somewhat unusual brand of negotiation. "Hello?" Hannibal greeted a little quizzically. "Do you have a message?" "Um," the boy replied softly, seeming to have a little trouble getting his words out. "No. I—I'm here on behalf of our tribe. And our hospitality." He gave a little hesitant smile. "Compliments of the chief."

Turning Page by raiast [words: 15,958]

'It's biologically impossible for Alpha parents to be affected by their Omega children's Heats. When Will presents while alone with his father, Hannibal realizes two things. 1) Bedelia cheated on him, and 2) he can claim Will for himself.'

Strawberry Jello by TigerPrawn [words: 13,484]

Will is a cop, shot in the line of duty. Hannibal is his surgeon. This would be the perfect set up for romance if they didn’t happen to both be Alphas…

Hold for Release by cloudsarefluffy [words: 8,547]

“But?” “Will, I think you’re obsessed with the Chesapeake Ripper.” For a moment, Will just blinks at her, but after what she says sinks in, a chuckle starts building up in his chest until it grows into a laugh. He’s almost coming apart at the seams because of Beverly, but as he notices he’s the only one finding it funny, his giggling dies off into silence. “Oh… You’re serious.”

Prodigal by YouAreMyDesign [words: 23,000]

"Mama, look at me." He does, irises shining with water he refuses to let fall. Hannibal presses his lips together, smooths his thumbs over his mother's cheeks. "Are you happy here?"

Darling Boy by Yggdrastiles (yoingle) [words: 5,223]

When Will Graham was 10 years old, he became an orphan. Hannibal Lecter adopted him, out of the goodness of his heart. Not really, he saw that angelic little omega and decided that he'd claim him as soon as he had his first heat. This is that story.

Lure by YouAreMyDesign [words: 16,720]

Hannibal eyes him, and tilts his head. "You challenged Jack because you wanted to see what he would do," he says. Will winces, but can't deny it. "If you challenged me, what do you think I would do?"

2 (25/25)

#hannibal #hannibal fanifc #hannigram #hannigram fanfiction #abo

[k-s-morgan]

I adore all your Hannibal metas and they really helped me understand subtle aspects of the show. One character I've never understood very well is Chiyoh. She seems like more of a plot device than a developed character. Can you explain her motivations? Why she's suddenly okay with killing randoms after firefly man? Why she saves Jack? Why she wears full makeup when she's been living off the grid as a hermit for 20 years? Haha I would love your insight.

Thank you so much! Chiyoh is definitely a character who leaves a lot of questions, and to be honest, I consider her arc one of the weakest because she just wasn’t fleshed out properly. Still, as they didn’t have enough time for it,  I think they did a relatively passable job, all things considered.

I imagine Hannibal left Chiyoh quite a lot of money before he left or gave her permission to sell anything from his castle because he doesn’t intend to go back there ever again. This is the only thing that explains the make-up (along with the clothes and other utilities she uses). At least occasionally, Chiyoh must visit the city and buy some things. She also understands how the modern world works very well despite allegedly living like a hermit for 2 decades, so she hasn’t been isolated for 100% of time.

Chiyoh has been loyal to the Lecter/Murasaki family. She is obsessed with Mischa, even though she’s never met her. This must be the result of Hannibal telling endless stories about her - at some point, Chiyoh grew so attached to her image and Hannibal’s memories that she decided to dedicate her whole life to avenging Mischa and celebrating her existence. This says a lot about her as a person - she’s lonely and detached from reality; she feels empty and aimless, and Mischa gives her a purpose.

She isn’t a killer, but she can kill if needed without any remorse or worry. She makes a decision to defend herself against her prisoner, even though we see that her decision could have ended up with her dead - since that moment, she embraces the necessity to kill and is prepared for it. She initially wanted to find Hannibal to “cage him” after learning of everything he’s been doing, but upon seeing him, her fondness must have woken up and she changed her mind. Now she acts like his guardian angel, his protector - and this is once again for Mischa, like she says. Because Mischa loved Hannibal and because Hannibal is the only other person who loves her.

Chiyoh saved Jack because she thought he knew where Hannibal and Will have been taken. She waited for only a few attackers to be left behind so that she could have a chance to take them out and then learn what she needed from Jack. So once again, it was all about Hannibal and her determination to guard him. 

That said, Chiyoh is still 100% a plot device. She’s there to talk to Will, let us see parts of his Becoming, and protect Hannibal.

#hannibal #chiyoh #meta

[fanficsandfluff]

Hannibal: A Little Less Different

This fic can also be found on my AO3, where it was first posted, here.

As much as I adore all the art that’s out there for Hannigram, I really don’t feel comfortable writing for them. So instead I chose my other OTP, Will and Beverly! I seriously love their dynamic. So, enjoy!

Pairing: Will & Beverly (platonic)

Words: 2075

~~~~

It wasn't so much shame as it was embarrassment that Will Graham felt while sitting at FBI headquarters mere yards away from the morgue. Or was he closer than that? Yardage didn't matter. A probe was gently stuck into his right ear, bringing Will back to this present moment momentarily. It was an uncomfortable sensation. This physical reminded him of why he doesn't like doctors. Why take the physical at FBI headquarters, one might ask?

Will got hurt on their last catch. It was no one's fault, Will tried to reassure. There was a fleeting moment of uncertainty where Will experienced time-lapse, and he fell into a ditch. That was the first instance. While facing off with the killer, he was thrown into the corner of a mantle. Scathed but alive, that's what Jack called it. As much as Will demanded he be given leave to go home and heal, Jack wanted to make sure there was nothing more seriously wrong with him. It was his leg and back right behind his ribs that were the main sources of pain. Typical injuries and soreness, in Will's head. But Jack gave him that look and, well, here we are now.

"Lie down for me, please."

Beverly's calm voice resonated in Will's head as he obeyed her instruction. He'd just gone through the vitals checks, passing each with flying colors, he was sure. Will shivered when his bare back touched the icy metal table. Now he felt like he belonged in the morgue. A very corpse-like feeling encompassed him as the metal chilled his skin and likewise, he warmed the metal.

"Will."

Will's eyes focused on Beverly. She clearly had just said something to him and had gotten no response.

"I said loosen up a bit."

"The table's cold."

Beverly smirked, "I saw you shiver. Relax."

"In this position, am I wrong to have a fear that you'll start cutting into me?"

"Your only fear right now should be not listening to my instructions."

Will smiled. He was put at ease. Beverly rested her hands on Will's belly and started pressing around. Will could feel her cold hands through her latex gloves, but that wasn't his only thought as he sharply inhaled and grunted. Beverly paused and looked at Will's face. Having not worked as frequently with living subjects, she feared she was being too rough. She was checking for injury, after all, so maybe she hit a sore spot. She proceeded with slightly gentler touches. But again, Will tensed.

"You can let me know if I'm hurting you," she rested her hands on the table as she looked down upon Will's pale upper body.

"No, you're not hurting me. I'm sorry. Continue."

Beverly massaged just under Will's ribs and that one got him to shoot up from his prone position, arms coming forward to protect. Beverly stared with an agape mouth and was about to send him to the hospital for intense organ displacement when she heard a small titter.

New shivers coursed through Will's upper body and he made shy eye-contact with Beverly, "I'm ticklish," he admitted.

Beverly's look of utter alarm placated to a kind of smugness when Will came clean.

"Well, better that than injury. Lay down, I need to finish up," she let Will lay down once more before she continued. No organ swelling or odd lumps, though she did get him to giggle. When she felt just behind his right set of ribs, he winced from pain this time. Assessment with that finished, Beverly then rolled up Will Graham's pant leg and brushed her fingers around his leg. Swelling under his kneecap.

The crime scene investigator lifted Will's leg and rotated his ankle, "Does this hurt?"

Will responded, "It's uncomfortable."

Beverly finished her physical examination and peeled off her gloves after instructing Will to get dressed.

"Am I dying?"

"Not this time," she responded with her usual wit. Will liked that he could talk to Beverly like this. The jabs, the morbid humor. They bounced off each other well.

"Bruised ribs, swollen knee, and twisted ankle. Nothing a little R&R in bed can't fix," she gave her analysis to Will, "I don't know how well you're gonna adhere to my prescription."

"I'll do my best."

"I think I'm going to have to check up on you."

"Well, aren't I the special patient."

Beverly grinned, "Goodbye, Will."

"Goodbye."

~~~~

It turns out Will didn't listen very well, after all. Two days passed and he was keeping up with his day to day activities, concordant with his sleeplessness. He walked the dogs, worked on flies, thought about death and destruction and loneliness and mental illness... all of Will Graham's greatest hits.

He was rightly a little surprised when a knock came on his door on a sunny winter morning. He expected Alana, or Jack, or even Hannibal. They frequently checked on him; and it was always a worrisome house call. They'd be concerned about him or if it was Jack, he'd be picking him up to consult on the newest grisly murder. No one ever checked up just... cuz.

"Hey," it was Beverly who greeted Will when he opened his door for her.

"Oh," he sounded surprised because he truthfully was, "Hi," he looked past Beverly, thinking there was someone else with her.

"Can I come in?"

"I need house calls now?"

Beverly and Will exchanged small smiles. He stepped aside to let her in. She stepped inside and placed a hot coffee on his desk, "I didn't know how you liked it. I deduced no sugar, dash of milk."

"You would be almost correct. I like one sugar packet," he lifted up the coffee in his hand and took a sip.

Beverly groaned and snapped her finger, "Ugh! So close. I figured someone unstable might not want sugar."

"As in not want joy?"

"As in don't overanalyze coffee preferences."

Will smiled at that. Beverly walked around his home, taking a look at the bits and bobs of the place that made it home. She leaned down and pet a few of the dogs that brushed against her boots.

After Will took one more sip of the steaming, bitter coffee, "Can I ask why you're here?"

"We haven't had a new case since the last one, and no one's heard or seen from you since. I figured you needed something to think about."

"You figured I needed someone to talk to."

"That too," Beverly took a seat on the ottoman of a sofa chair. Winston came over and rested his chin on her lap.

"You're not a dog person."

"You can tell?" Beverly rested a gloved hand on Winston's head and gently pet it, "I always believed dogs gravitated towards people who they knew were uncomfortable around them."

Will smiled and he took a seat in the chair adjacent to Beverly, "To torture them?"

"To tease, or to convert."

"Is Winston converting you?"

Beverly set her coffee down on the floor carefully and removed her gloves. Once she did, she gave Winston a full petting and scratching. Will looked on.

"Thank you for the coffee."

"You're welcome," Beverly tucked some hair behind her ears after Winston trotted away from her to go to his dog bed, seeming proud and accomplished, "You haven't been relaxing very much, have you?"

"I'm doing the best I can."

"I don't want to be your nurse, I really don't... but if Jack needs you back in the field, he's gonna want Will Graham at 100%."

"That sounds like an impossibility. Will Graham has never performed at 100%."

Beverly watched how Will's eyes looked nowhere towards her. They didn't seem to focus on anything.

"Will you let me take another look at you?"

"You think you missed something?"

"No, I just want to do a little checkup. See how things are healing."

Will took another big gulp from his coffee and he walked over to his bed and sat at the edge of it. Beverly followed him and sat beside him.

"This doesn't seem like protocol."

Beverly looked at Will's face, his striking jawline. He was right. It wasn't. She cared about his wellbeing, physical and mental. If she could pay him a visit under the guise of medical work, then so be it.

She slipped her hand under Will's sweater to find the tender spot at the back of his ribs. The second her fingers made contact with the skin, Will gasped and he flinched.

"Your fingers are very cold."

Beverly grinned, "Being inside your icebox of a home isn't exactly helping," she teasingly traced her nails towards the front of Will's ribs and gave them a scratch. The consultant forced out a sputtering breath.

"I will repeat myself. This doesn't seem like protocol."

Beverly couldn't not smile now. She had Will here, in the safety of his own home, his dogs all around him, and now she was present. She needed to act on this, she may never get another opportunity to do so. Will froze, as did Beverly's hand. She kept her hand just barely touching Will's ribs, still under his thick sweater. It was just this extra pause of anticipation that bubbled up in Will's chest and he giggled sporadically when Beverly dug in. Will wiggled like a worm on a hook, unable to escape Beverly's hand.

"You're not a very good patient," Beverly teased and she introduced her other hand in the mix, all ten nails scratching and digging against Will's soft, tense skin. Will threw his head back as a louder laugh ripped through his lungs and he fell back onto the bed. It was very cute, Beverly couldn't lie.

"Beverly! B-Bev-- wahahait!" Will giggled away. He wasn't trying to shove at her attacking hands, nor really try to protect himself. It seemed all he was managing to do was wrap his arms loosely around his middle. Beverly was still able to access every curve and protrusion on Will's torso.

Beverly tried squeezing instead, and she latched onto both of Will's sides, allowing her thumbs to do most of the work digging into ticklish muscle. Will spasmed and he rolled side to side, his elbows pressing into his sides more now to try and lessen the sensation.

Will Graham's laugh was nothing like Beverly imagined. She didn't imagine it much, mind you, but she did think about it more than once. His laugh was deep and steady. Nothing she did really changed its pitch. Beverly scritched her hands to Will's belly and that's the first time Will reacted strongly to her tickling. He grabbed her wrists with his hands and tried pushing them out from under his shirt.

"Noho more, please," he giggled, face flushed red.

"You don't want a repeat physical?"

"More than anything, no."

Beverly shot her hands onto Will's belly again, even with him holding on, and she poked and clawed at anything she could. Will belted out more laughter. He snorted when Beverly scratched a nail around his bellybutton. When Will was snorting more than actually laughing, Beverly felt she betrayed him enough. She relinquished her ticklish hold on his bare skin and slipped her hands out from under his sweater. Will was panting on his bed, the tip of his nose having turned red from the fit of laughter.

"Is... Is it bad if I say I never want you as my doctor again?"

Beverly chuckled and she tucked hair that fell in her face behind her ear, "You're a pretty fun patient, I might have to recommend that we keep seeing each other."

Will smiled without provocation now and he sat up, "I really don't want to know how you're so good at that."

"Eldest child. Had a lot of practice."

Will looked at Beverly and his lips were quirked upwards. He had a friend in Beverly. It warmed his heart, almost more than the tickling warmed his body.

"Thank you for bringing me company. Just... don't tell anyone about... all of this."

Beverly smiled and she nudged Will's shoulder with her own playfully, "Wouldn't dream of it. Being ticklish definitely conflicts with your whole unstable, outsider persona."

"How so?"

Beverly considered it, "It makes you a little less different."

Will appreciated that statement. They sat in silence for a few extra seconds. One of the dogs jumped up onto the bed and made itself comfortable.

"I think I should take a look at that ankle now."

#hannibal #hannibal tv #hannibal fanfiction #hannibal fanfic #will graham #beverly katz #will graham and beverly katz #will graham & beverly katz #will and beverly #ticklish!will #ticklish!willgraham #lee!will #lee!willgraham #tickle fic #tickle fanfic #tickle fanfiction #platonic #fluff #tickles

[afreakingdork]

Review: Hannibal

This show has been a rollercoaster and not in a good way. I’ll come right out and say it: I hate this show. I came into it totally fresh; I had heard people liked it and knew absolutely zero about it. I haven’t even seen Silence of the Lambs. I’m fresh off Death Stranding so I was getting really curious about Mads Mikkelsen and I can totally see the influence. Some of the scenes where Mads is slicked up with inky black liquid look straight out of the game. The story however is a total mess. Now, whether this is because Bryan Fuller’s intentions were dashed (the whole 5 seasons thing) or if there was something else at play. I can’t be sure, but what I do know is that even if you can’t fulfil your vision, that doesn’t mean you just do whatever and throw caution to the wind. You’re still telling a narrative and if you go rogue then everyone will know it. 

So let’s start back with season 1. Probably the most classic of the show. I started by, of course, watching the pilot. Instead of reshooting the first episode, Hannibal decides to go straight from it’s pilot to the show. Which in and of itself isn’t a problem, except there are quite a few inconsistencies that just aren’t addressed. Will’s classroom and the design of Hannbal’s office are notable examples. Also, they flat out say Will has Asperger's which the show ultimately sweeps under the rug for whatever reason. The story plays out pretty cleanly in season 1. Now, I wanted to quit watching after the first few episodes because it was too high art.  The imagery didn’t make much sense and this wasn’t really my type of show. Seeing Will fall for Hannibal’s tricks and getting placed in jail in season 2 really started to peak my interest and I proclaimed that it finally had my attention. Unfortunately, half way through season 2, Will is released from jail and the show completely spins wildly out of control from that point on. After Will works with another serial killer to get Hannibal killed while in jail, he is suddenly befriending Hannibal once he gets out. We learn that he has a big plan to try to ensnare Hannibal, but it all feels empty and even as a viewer, I simply know that it is just a shit plan. All reason goes out the window as the show tries to tell me that careful Hannibal who tortured Will and put him in jail through season 1 and most of 2 is now just spilling his guts to his protégé. Also, the show wants me to believe that Will is considering running away with big H because he is just as enamored, as if I didn’t see this man struggle with every fiber of his tortured soul to not become Garrett Jacob Hobbs. 

All of this leads up to the blood match of the century at Hannibal’s house where the plan, duh, goes awry. This is where the worst season of all, season 3, certified fresh 98% on Rotten Tomatoes comes in like a flaming pile of garbage on a train. We whisk away to Europe and don’t give a fuck about following up on all our bloodied main characters we’ve grown to care about in two seasons. Suddenly the few ‘smart’ characters who speak in riddles multiplies to the point where not a single character isn’t speaking in code when talking to one another. Alana even gets this fucking insane line where she says bone marrow got in her blood stream so now she thinks differently. It’s insane. The only saving grace is Jack and that’s only because he’s the only consistent character throughout the show. He has a clean narrative and understandable motives. He’s the only character the script didn’t treat like an amorphous blob that changes on it’s whim as if it were Zeus having a bad hair day. After Hannibal is captured, the show dips down to a slow descent to it’s ending. It once again tries to make me question Will’s loyalty while simultaneously giving me no plot to support any major changes and just telling me that he’s changed right before he does. It’s totally asinine. I had pretty much shut completely down by the last 3 episodes. I think it’s borderline hilarious that the show honestly wants me to think that baiting the Dragon with Hannibal is the ONLY viable option to catch him. They don’t even consider any other possibilities. It’s just lazy. Let the whole show go over the cliff for all I care.

And all of this isn’t even getting in to how atrociously this show treats women. Alana Bloom starts as being the only person in Will’s corner who they force to be his love interest in one of the most un-sexually charged scenarios I’ve ever seen. They then, completely against character, make her Hannibal’s love interest for what I thought was an alibi, but I guess was genuine and again, not set up in the slightest. As previously mentioned, she does a 180 due to some bone marrow and is then a lesbian for another grotesque sex sequence that they just seem to love making her star in for pseudo prime time pornography. I mean, I guess I’m happy she ends up married with a kid? Beverly Katz is separated and pinned up like a museum display because she just happened to be smart. Every character hates Freddie Lounds and the show obviously wants you to hate her too, but when you think about it, why? What has she done other than be a strong independent woman who is chasing a career in the gruesome and trying to tell what she believes is the truth when other’s sweep the severity under the rug. The show hates her so much that if you start to break it down and remove her character from the show, the plot literally doesn’t change. She exists to be a punching bag. The only saving grace about Bella is the fact that her passing doesn’t push Jack’s story along at all, but her choice of passing was not only taken away by a man, it was then decided on a date not of her choosing by another. She has not a single bit of autonomy, even while being presented as a strong woman. Abigail Hobbs seems interesting enough, but in reality she’s nothing more than a way for Will and Hannibal to process their emotions and surrogate dad feelings onto. She is then “killed” off and, surprise, brought back only to be killed off again, only to BE BROUGHT BACK to find out she was a dead figment of Will’s fucked up imagination. Margot Verger is one of the most appalling examples of how this show treats women in the fact that she is not only sexually and physically abused, but she is also sterilized. Then, in season 2, when you think she finally can exact her revenge on her brother since he is rendered invalid, you find in season 3 that she did none of that, continued to let him torture her until someone else come’s down like a savior angel, Hannibal, and gives her the way she absolutely could have done herself to give her an out. The show literally wants me to believe that both Margot and Alana could not have considered the path to freedom without Hannibal’s help. They want you to believe these are not capable women because the show doesn’t believe women are. Unless it’s plot necessary, but only for that long. Du Maurier was smart enough to leave before Hannibal went to kill her in season 2, but for some reason in season 3 she comes back willingly to let him take her and torture her. Then she, I GUESS, cooks her leg up for him to visit as one of the final scenes of the show!?!!? Chiyoh was locked up for 20 years, supposedly, because she couldn’t leave behind the man who killed Hannibal’s sister, and when she is finally free, her whole character revolves around her being a good shot and wanting to help Hannibal because ??????? It makes absolutely no sense. Then, season 3 went ahead and went we need a woman who is blind to the fact that her partner is a serial killer, might as well make her blind for real. It’s repulsive, disgusting, and I don’t know why anyone enjoys this drivel. 

Verdict: 

P.S. my favorite character is Chilton. He’s one of the two consistent characters (hey, Jack!) and the fact that he just keeps getting brutally mutilated,  but can’t stay away from serial killers is downright pathological. He also shined so brightly in the scene just before he gets shot through the mouth in the interrogation room. I never would have guessed I’d be rooting for him. I was actually worried when the Dragon caught him, but there’s no squashing that cockroach of a man! 

#hannibal #review #me #show review #shows

[tlbodine]

The Wendigo is Not What You Think

There’s been a recent flurry of discussion surrounding the Wendigo -- what it is, how it appears in fiction, and whether non-Native creators should even be using it in their stories. This post is dedicated to @halfbloodlycan​, who brought the discourse to my attention. 

Once you begin teasing apart the modern depictions of this controversial monster, an interesting pattern emerges -- namely, that what pop culture generally thinks of as the “wendigo” is a figure and aesthetic that has almost nothing in common with its Native American roots...but a whole lot in common with European Folklore. 

What Is A Wendigo? 

The Algonquian Peoples, a cluster of tribes indigenous to the region of the Great Lakes and Eastern Seaboard of Canada and the northern U.S., are the origin of Wendigo mythology. For them, the Wendigo (also "windigo" or "Witigo" and similar variations) is a malevolent spirit. It is connected to winter by way of cold, desolation, and selfishness. It is a spirit of destruction and environmental decay. It is pure evil, and the kind of thing that people in the culture don't like to talk about openly for fear of inviting its attention.

Individual people can turn into the Wendigo (or be possessed by one, depending on the flavor of the story), sometimes through dreams or curses but most commonly through engaging in cannibalism. Considering the long, harsh winters in the region, it makes sense that the cultural mythology would address the cannibalism taboo.

For some, the possession of the Wendigo spirit is a very real thing, not just a story told around the campfire. So-called "wendigo psychosis" has been described as a "culture-bound" mental illness where an individual is overcome with a desire to eat people and the certainty that he or she has been possessed by a Wendigo or is turning into a Wendigo. Obviously, it was white people encountering the phenomenon who thought to call it "psychosis," and there's some debate surrounding the whole concept from a psychological, historical, and anthropological standpoint which I won't get into here -- but the important point here is that the Algonquian people take this very seriously. (1) (2)

(If you're interested in this angle, you might want to read about the history of Zhauwuno-geezhigo-gaubow (or Jack Fiddler), a shaman who was known as something of a Wendigo hunter. I'd also recommend the novel Bone White by Ronald Malfi as a pretty good example of how these themes can be explored without being too culturally appropriative or disrespectful.) 

Wendigo Depictions in Pop Culture

Show of hands: How many of you reading this right now first heard of the Wendigo in the Alvin Schwartz Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark book?

That certainly was my first encounter with the tale. It was one of my favorite stories in the book as a little kid. It tells about a rich man who goes hunting deep in the wilderness, where people rarely go. He finds a guide who desperately needs the money and agrees to go, but the guide is nervous throughout the night as the wind howls outside until he at last bursts outside and takes off running. His tracks can be found in the snow, farther and farther apart as though running at great speed before abruptly ending. The idea being that he was being dragged along by a wind-borne spirit that eventually picked him up and swept him away.

Schwartz references the story as a summer camp tale well-known in the Northeastern U.S., collected from a professor who heard it in the 1930s. He also credits Algernon Blackwood with writing a literary treatment of the tale -- and indeed, Blackwood's 1910 novella "The Wendigo" has been highly influential in the modern concept of the story.(3)  His Wendigo would even go on to find a place in Cthulhu Mythos thanks to August Derleth.

Never mind, of course, that no part of Blackwood's story has anything in common with the traditional Wendigo myth. It seems pretty obvious to me that he likely heard reference of a Northern monster called a "windigo," made a mental association with "wind," and came up with the monster for his story.

And so would begin a long history of white people re-imagining the sacred (and deeply frightening) folklore of Native people into...well, something else.

Through the intervening decades, adaptations show up in multiple places. Stephen King's Pet Sematary uses it as a possible explanation for the dark magic of the cemetery's resurrectionist powers. A yeti-like version appears as a monster in Marvel Comics to serve as a villain against the Hulk. Versions show up in popular TV shows like Supernatural and Hannibal. There's even, inexplicably, a Christmas episode of Duck Tales featuring a watered-down Wendigo.

Where Did The Antlered Zombie-Deer-Man Come From? 

In its native mythology, the Wendigo is sometimes described as a giant with a heart of ice. It is sometimes skeletal and emaciated, and sometimes deformed. It may be missing its lips and toes (like frostbite). (4)

So why, when most contemporary (white) people think of Wendigo, is the first image that comes to mind something like this?

Well...perhaps we can thank a filmmaker named Larry Fessenden, who appears to be the first person to popularize an antlered Wendigo monster. (5) His 2001 film (titled, creatively enough, Wendigo) very briefly features a sort of skeletal deer-monster. He’d re-visit the design concept in his 2006 film, The Last Winter. Reportedly, Fessenden was inspired by a story he’d heard in his childhood involving deer-monsters in the frozen north, which he connected in his mind to the Algernon Blackwood story. 

A very similar design would show up in the tabletop game Pathfinder, where the “zombie deer-man” aesthetic was fully developed and would go on to spawn all sorts of fan-art and imitation. (6) The Pathfinder variant does draw on actual Wendigo mythology -- tying it back to themes of privation, greed, and cannibalism -- but the design itself is completely removed from Native folklore. 

Interestingly, there are creatures in Native folklore that take the shape of deer-people -- the  ijiraq or tariaksuq, shape-shifting spirits that sometimes take on the shape of caribou and sometimes appear in Inuit art in the form of man-caribou hybrids (7). Frustratingly, the ijiraq are also part of Pathfinder, which can make it a bit hard to find authentic representations vs pop culture reimaginings. But it’s very possible that someone hearing vague stories of northern Native American tribes encountering evil deer-spirits could get attached to the Wendigo, despite the tribes in question being culturally distinct and living on opposite sides of the continent. 

That “wendigo” is such an easy word to say in English probably has a whole lot to do with why it gets appropriated so much, and why so many unrelated things get smashed in with it. 

I Love the Aesthetic But Don’t Want to Be Disrespectful, What Do I Do? 

Plundering folklore for creature design is a tried-and-true part of how art develops, and mythology has been re-interpreted and adapted countless times into new stories -- that’s how the whole mythology thing works. 

But when it comes to Native American mythology, it’s a good idea to apply a light touch. As I’ve talked about before, Native representation in modern media is severely lacking. Modern Native people are the survivors of centuries of literal and cultural genocide, and a good chunk of their heritage, language, and stories have been lost to history because white people forcibly indoctrinated Native children into assimilating. So when those stories get taken, poorly adapted, and sent back out into the public consciousness as make-believe movie monsters, it really is an act of erasure and violence, no matter the intentions of the person doing it. (8) 

So, like...maybe don’t do that? 

I won’t say that non-Native people can’t be interested in Wendigo stories or tell stories inspired by the myth. But if you’re going to do it, either do it respectfully and with a great deal of research to get it accurate...or use the inspiration to tell a different type of story that doesn’t directly appropriate or over-write the mythology (see above: my recommendation for Bone White). 

But if your real interest is in the “wendigocore” aesthetic -- an ancient and powerful forest protector, malevolent but fiercely protective of nature, imagery of deer and death and decay -- I have some good news: None of those things are really tied uniquely to Native American mythology, nor do they have anything in common with the real Wendigo. 

Where they do have a longstanding mythic framework? Europe.

Europeans have had a long-standing fascination with deer, goats, and horned/antlered forest figures. Mythology of white stags and wild hunts, deer as fairy cattle, Pan, Baphomet, Cernunnos, Herne the Hunter, Black Phillip and depictions of Satan -- the imagery shows up again and again throughout Greek, Roman, and British myth. (9)

Of course, some of these images and figures are themselves the product of cultural appropriation, ancient religions and deities stolen, plundered, demonized and erased by Christian influences. But their collective existence has been a part of “white” culture for centuries, and is probably a big part of the reason why the idea of a mysterious antlered forest-god has stuck so swiftly and firmly in our minds, going so far as to latch on to a very different myth. (Something similar has happened to modern Jersey Devil design interpretations. Deer skulls with their tangle of magnificent antlers are just too striking of a visual to resist). 

Seriously. There are so, so many deer-related myths throughout the world’s history -- if aesthetic is what you’re after, why limit yourself to an (inaccurate) Wendigo interpretation? (10) 

So here’s my action plan for you, fellow white person: 

Stop referring to anything with antlers as a Wendigo, especially when it’s very clearly meant to be its own thing (the Beast in Over the Garden Wall, Ainsworth in Magus Bride)

Stop “reimagining” the mythology of people whose culture has already been targeted by a systematic erasure and genocide

Come up with a new, easy-to-say, awesome name for “rotting deer man, spirit of the forest” and develop a mythology for it that doesn’t center on cannibalism 

We can handle that, right? 

This deep dive is supported by Ko-Fi donations. If you’d like to see more content, please drop a tip in my tip jar.  Ko-fi.com/A57355UN

NOTES: 

1 - https://io9.gizmodo.com/wendigo-psychosis-the-probably-fake-disease-that-turns-5946814

2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo#Wendigo_psychosis

3 - https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10897/10897-h/10897-h.htm

4 - https://www.legendsofamerica.com/mn-wendigo/

5- https://www.reddit.com/r/Cryptozoology/comments/8wu2nq/wendigo_brief_history_of_the_modern_antlers_and/

6 - https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Wendigo

7 - https://www.mythicalcreaturescatalogue.com/single-post/2017/12/06/Ijiraq

8 - https://www.backstoryradio.org/blog/the-mythology-and-misrepresentation-of-the-windigo/

9 - https://www.terriwindling.com/blog/2014/12/the-folklore-of-goats.html

10 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_in_mythology

#horror #folklore #mythology #deep dive #wendigo #cultural appropriation #monster design #creature design #long post #if you need a place to channel your deerman aesthetic #may I suggest huntokar from welcome to nightvale #100% fictional #100% awesome

[kiss-my-freckle]

3x12 Rewatch: The Number of the Beast Is 666

They open the episode with Will talking to Bedelia about what he sees when he looks at his wife. He says he imagines killing her over and over, but just his wife. He doesn’t imagine killing Walter or hurting the dogs. Bedelia is as clueless as the rest of them. It’s time to stop blaming Hannibal for everything. He didn’t give Will three years to build a family, confident that he would find a way to take them from him. He wrote Will a letter, told him to stay home. Will chose not to. He told Will to smell himself. Unwilling to accept who he is, Will chose not to. The lamb allowed his family to be taken from him. You cross into a lion’s territory, might as well put yourself on the dinner table. Bedelia talking about brittle materials. The fragile teacup. Their conversation switches, looks more like two women fighting over Hannibal. Bedelia is close to tears. Will asks her if Hannibal is in love with him, so he considered this himself. He surrendered. Not to Jack, but to Will. He gave up his freedom, his privacy. Spent three years without playing, three years without killing, three years without cannibalism. They’re wants, not needs. He needs Will. “But do you ache for him?" Jack assumes Will already imagined the worst. Hearing this come from his mouth is hilarious because Will imagined killing him. I love their entire conversation. Hannibal knows Will like no one else knows Will. It’s a forewarning. Cut to Francis digging into his tattoo, drawing blood. 

Will is upset. Jack says they don’t have time to play the long game, not like they did with Hannibal in season two. “Got me on the hook, now you're dangling me to catch a bigger fish.” He’s not at all happy Jack put him in this position. A lot of season two in their conversation. Purposeful for what’s to come. Will didn’t just bait Hannibal, he wanted to run away with him. Will looks at Alana, sees shards of mirror in her eyes. The happy Verger family. Hilarious to hear Hannibal warn Chilton. “Fate has a habit of not letting us choose our own endings, Frederick." He’s warning all of them because he knows. Will got his copy of Hannibal the Cannibal. Using him to bait Francis is the only play they have left. They can’t get him through Hannnibal and he already hit Will’s family. What’s the lamb gonna do...

I laugh like hell during the profile scene. It looks like WiIl is having a great time insulting. The Dragon kills pets first. Will calls Francis an animal, Chilton refers to him as the child of a nightmare, then Will invites Chiton in the photo-op. “One for the dust jacket." I think Will read Hannibal the Cannibal and realized it’s full of lies. “There's no opportunity here, Frederick. Not for you." Francis kills Chilton’s security team and takes him. Talk about a fragile teacup. Reba shows up to the house with soup for Francis. He doesn’t have the flu, he has The Dragon... lol. When she leaves, he shows Chilton the slides. “Do you see?” Will has his hand on Chilton’s shoulder, like a pet. "God! Please no. Not me.” Oh Chilton. “Do you think God is in attendance here?" Francis forces him on camera to admit his lies. That’s the point, his book is full of lies. “You are privy to a great becoming and you recognize nothing. It is in your nature to do one thing correctly and before me, you tremble. Fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe." Those traits Will fears most. "See how magnificent you are." Francis removes the blanket from Chilton’s back, not wanting to show his caring side, then bites his lips off and mails them to Hannibal. He knew it was coming. Don’t write a book of lies about him. Hannibal opens his package and eats one of Chilton’s lips. “You pretended to burn Freddie Lounds in a wheelchair to flush me out. What were you pretending to do with Frederick Chilton?" Another reminder of season two.  Because Will wanted to run away with Hannibal. Just like everyone else, Alana wants to blame him. He musn’t defend himself against a book of lies... jfc. “You orchestrated his end, Alana. You saw the hole and let him roll right into it. That's professional discourtesy." I love it when he forces people to own up or shut up. 

They play Chilton’s tape. A great scene for Will. Biting off his lips and setting him on fire is more merciful than breaking one’s spine... wow. Will drops, hands over his ears because he can’t handle the screaming. “Or maybe you wanted to put Dr. Chilton at risk?" Will doesn’t have to wonder, he’s still trying to deny who he is. She talks to him about participation, something Hannibal talked to her about when he killed Antony in Italy. Will hides himself from Jack, tells him he’s okay because he had the SWAT team. He's okay because he set Chilton up, plays it off when he interprets for Jack. He tells them about Reba. Francis takes her to the house, tells her what Will realized after his conversation with Hannibal. “Two groups of people were changed. Leeds. And Jacobi. The police think that they were murdered." He didn’t kill them, he changed them. “Do you know what they call the... the Being that visited those people?" He grabs her face when she starts to call him the Tooth Fairy. “I am the Dragon." Like the rest of them, Will blames Hannibal for what Francis did to Chilton. “Hannibal said he would, in his own way. Hannibal told him to." So uhm... either they stopped monitoring his phone calls, or Hannibal planned and predicted this prior to his last phone call. That’s what Will is saying. “Burned? Burned. Burned. No.” Not yet. 

[youghvaudough]

Rewatched Hannibal Recently...

... here are some random thoughts brain chips on the third season

watch out for a text wall it's a doozy down under

this rewatching I finally realized the first half of this season Hannibal was basically like “I’m touring Europe with Bedelia one last time before I check myself into jail so I can see my bf often”

Will must’ve been real good at arts and crafts. He made a whole ass butterfly?bee?dragonfly?firefly man display out of shattered wine bottles and garbage from a basement basically

Also how did he not cut his hands with the glass???? He had leather gloves sure but it’s not like those are cut resistant?????? Does he have cut-resistant leather gloves???????

In Hannibal Rising Chiyoh is Hanni’s aunt’s lady-in-waiting (?) and was described as being about his age; if we’re going by that, she’s the same age as him in the show, which, ughhhhhh, let’s just say really really plays into the idea of us Asians not raisining (not mad at all; Tao Okamoto is so beautiful im gay as HELL —)

Bedelia: you’re in love with Will Graham and also leave me alone plz can I stop finishing murders on your behalf now

Hannibal was remarkably off his killing game at the end of the second season (or just really on his planning game) like NO ONE except for poor Abigail is dead by the 3rd season

Thinking about the filming of some scenes is so funny like: 

the crew carrying leather arm chairs and fancy glass side tables into the middle of some woods for a single shot

Bryan Fuller being like “ughhhh can I get a membrane-like sheet over this macro lens so I can film it bring sliced open like its will’s stomach skin” 

“also I need three thousand gallons of fake blood for some cool reverse drip shots”

everyone: Will help us catch Hannibal you must hate him so much right???? Will: busy imagining alternate reality where he and Hannibal actually worked it out at the end of the 2nd season

Will: tries his damndest to ignore everyone telling him he and Hannibal are in love while being very much smitten

Mason: talks religious mumbo jumbo  Alana after her bi awakening: *choke stare

the only saving grace for Jack Crawford is how much he’s the “I love my wife” trope

Frederic: ...why does no one wanna help me with Hannibal hunting when I go a-knocking but when Will does it everyone’s with him????????? What’d I do

No one:     Bryan Fuller: I NEED SOME SNAIL FUCKING SHOTS HERE

Bedelia: i feel like I’m your diet Will Graham Hannibal: what? no *continues to talk about how special Will Graham is and how no one will be his equal basically

WOAH question on Chiyoh so did Hannibal ~literally~ taxidermy her in time with some cannibal magic & that’s why she looks about, I don’t know, in her twenties still ?????? /s

Bryan Fuller: NOW I NEED TO OPEN AN OLD PAYPHONE FOR AN INTERIOR SHOT

Chiyoh: he’s good looking but dumb about Hannibal so 

I’ll kiss him

then push him off the train

(hopefully dude’ll be warned but also finally learn how to gay)

Bryan Fuller: ARE YOU MISSING SOME SLOW MOTION SHOTS OF HUGH DANCY FLIPPING OF THE TRAIN IN YOUR LIFE? ALWAYS

how did Mason and Pazzi achieve high resolution uninterrupted overseas video chat with the front camera of Apple laptops????? the power of wealth????? whenever I call my mom my phone turns into a potato pretty much

the jack v hannibal fight was the ultimate “I luh my dead wife” man v “I just need to stay alive and go meet my boyfriend” man fight

Bedelia: I know what your goodbye is; I know what you wanna do to Will and you’re in love with the dude. No thanks I’ll yeet myself outta here

“waving your uterus around like a weapon” how iconic

Dolce will forever go down in cinematic history there I said it. Nothing tops the mirroring scars, the downright sensual romantic dialogue in front of a fucking Botticelli, this 水乳交融 of two minds (can’t find a good enough translation other than maybe “melding”), one of the weirdest most kaleidoscope-forward lesbian sex scene of all times, a lot of overlapping orgasm faces, reflexive hugs and pats of comfort, weirdly timed lip-lickings, etc etc

At least Mason recognizes how good looking Will’s is lmao even with all the burnt penis talk on the table

“He’s looking very dry a little moisturizer please” Mason your gay is showing

“It’s dangerous getting exactly what you want” yeah we got this season of Hannibal and then no more of it I’d say you’re right on the money Dr. Lecter

Alana and Margot helping Hannibal and Will: LGBT solidarity at its finest

dumbest thing mason did was probably pissing off Margot

So basically Chiyoh is made of a stable metal element between iron and silver that’s why she doesn’t age?????? /s

maybe “I found you in my mind palace” can be our “always”

I remember the first time I watched Digestivo and I was so worried Hannibal’s gonna finish eating Will or take off or continue into the book silence of the lamb arc or something after Will basically went “I won’t go looking for you at all bye bitch where my dogs at” so imagine my fucking delight ecstasy when Hannibal threw himself at the FBI just so Will can always find him. I cried buckets and became a devout Bryan Fuller STAN that day

Chiyoh: fuck this shit im out; don’t wanna protect this idiot boy with luv no mo

Molly: weirdly familiar sharp features, sand-blond hair, husky sultry deeper voice hmmmmmmmmm guess WHAT

...but she actually likes doggos so 

Bryan Fuller: HUGH DANCY. COVERED IN BLOOD. NAKED. UNDER THE MOONLIGHT. NOW

Will gives Bedelia SO MUCH SHIT about using Hannibal as a means to fame that he almost forgets how possessive  protective of Hanni this makes him look

Bedelia: calm yo ass do you know how many “Will is special you’ll never be him” talks I’ve been in with Hannibal as the main lecturer?????

Bedelia: did you go visit him Will: ...yeah Bedelia: whelp fuck my leg is about good as steak any day now

An odd detail I remember about this Will/Bedelia interaction was Bryan Fuller saying in some interview (probably) that this is basically wife confronting mistress; you know who’s which

when Reba was touching the tiger that vet guy must’ve stayed in the room right??? for safety and stuff??? guy must’ve had the weirdest time just seeing Francis freak the fuck out watching Reba

also Reba deserves all the nice things in the world; Francis though an overall shitty person can recognize beauty

...wait i take it back dude said Will was ugly (ok he said “not very handsome” but) like bitch where

for a series with pretty good sfx that teeth scene in 310 was fake as f---

will and bedelia taking shots at each other verbally cracks me tf up like is this the psychology people’s version of “you suck” “uno reverse”

i have to keep reminding myself that this is a crime show that actually aired on national tv bc these dialogues mama??? downright telenovela. Bryan Fuller has a point when he described them as wife and mistress

Bedelia: I would’ve preferred to be bluebeard’s last wife Will: challenge accepted

i cannot stress this enough REBA DESERVES BETTER she seems like the nicest, most well-meaning person ever and deserves to be cherished like so

it's so strange, getting everything that you want; take Will’s slow-burn-esque realization of Hannibal’s twisted affections for example

Bryan Fuller: NOW GIVE ME A CLOSE UP OF ICE SUCKING

So  basically Hannibal’s attitude is “if I can’t be a constant fixture in his life I’ll be on his mind”

Hannibal is always a sucker for some good will ehhhh

Hannibal, in a police vehicle: get in Will we’re going cliff-diving dragon hunting; no but the actual line is just as cheesy geez hanni u smooth man-eater

The Bloom-Vergers look straight out of some gothic family catalog (if those exist)

like i will spare y’all the contrived complements of the Wrath of the Lamb bc like fucking hells mate there's no straight explanation for this finale

that’s it thanks for reading mates hannigram forever also someday some wealthy person will revive this I'm sure and we’ll rejoice then

#hannibal #nbc hannibal #hannigram #will graham #chiyoh #brain chips #im sorry but also not #hannibal s3 #i really appreciate Bryan Fuller if you cant tell #thank you for your service mr fuller #me rambling #bedelia du maurier #jack crawford #reba mcclane #bryan fuller

[questionablygourmet]

Rewatch meta: mirrors, connections, and intrusion in Aperitif & Amuse-Bouche

This is the first of what is intended to be a series of analytical posts based on what sticks out to me as I do a close rewatch of the show, roughly 1-3 episodes at a time.  This first one will mainly focus on the introduction of major motifs and thematic elements in the show; future posts may follow in that vein or just whatever else about the episodes gets me thinking.

-------

One of the aspects of the show that makes it such a vibrant experience, and lends vibrancy in turn to analysis and transformative works in fandom is its rich use of motif in how it communicates what is important and what is going on with the characters and in the narrative.  The first two episodes are set up: they present to us the main characters along with the essentials of who they are, and they’re the opening sally of (some of) major themes and motifs.

Mirrors 

Okay, the first thing I’m going to talk about here is not actually the aspect that got it included in this section, but I must: right before our very first look at Hannibal Lecter, we pan up his table and see fruit on a platter, mirrored in the polished surface of the wood. The fruit was the first thing that caught my eye, because of course it did, pomegranates being a pervasive motif in the fandom, and it’s an interesting layout: there are strong mythological associations for pomegranate (Hades & Persephone, etc) and figs (Dionysus, etc).  Strawberries, somewhat less so; they are often associated with love, fertility, and/or new life, but in a less obvious-in-modern-pop-culture fashion.

So.  An aesthetically beautiful array of fruit as a perfect symbolic introduction to the character of Hannibal!  ... and then its mirror image in the shine of the table.  Mirrors/the concept of mirroring will become a huge Thing specifically between Hannibal and Will over the course of the series.  We also get “the mirrors in your mind can reflect the best of yourself, rather than the worst of someone else,” which honestly is a line that fascinates me in context of how, in seasons 2-3, the idea of Will and Hannibal blurring together, being mirror images to each other/two sides to a coin gets played with and explored.

The irony here is that Hannibal really does want Will to be his authentic self - yet by the end of the series, whatever it may or may not have been Before (”Before you, and after you”), Will’s authentic self is in many ways a sort of mirror to Hannibal.  An answer to the question of Hannibal, as much as Hannibal is an answer to the question of Will.

Connection

So the really obvious place this comes out in a big way is with the killer du jour for episode 2 - Stammets’s whole schtick is that he’s obsessed with creating gardens of physical connections between people in the form of his creepy (and GROSS, honestly this is the grossest episode in the show for me) mushroom graves.  

But really, this is also ultimately one of the deepest-running themes of the show.  It’s central to our Murder Husbands, both of them profoundly isolated from the rest of humanity until they find each other.  It’s front-and-center with Franklyn and Tobias, both wanting to reach out to Hannibal (and Franklyn also to Tobias), and him having none of it.  And it’s necessarily fundamental to all the other interpersonal relationships, in the explicit variation of how mutual a given connection between characters is (and often, the contrast in how each of them perceives that connection - “Could I ever have understood you?” “No.”).  

And it’s more subtly emphasized in these two episodes as we’re being introduced to and developing an understanding of how Will works as an investigator.  

“You make jumps you can’t explain.”  “The *evidence* explains.”  

“Associations come quickly.” 

I roll my eyes every single time Hannibal says “pure empathy” in the show because while, yes, Will has plenty of empathy, as he protests to Jack in the very first scene, the point is he has an active imagination, and applies it to the evidence.  Will is so good at what he does because he makes connections between general knowledge he has and details of the crime scenes that seem strange or even nonsensical to others.  Antler velvet in the wounds?  Well, what do I know about antler velvet?  And then that knowledge he has about it promoting healing probably later supports his assertion that the killer experiences some form of love for his victims.

(It didn’t seem to fit in well in the earlier section, but the mirror motif also comes into play with the Shrike case in that the first Copycat murder is a distorted reflection of what the Shrike does, for the purposes of making the essential elements of the Shrike murders stand out more starkly to Will.)

In the Stammets case, his mental reconstruction at the crime scene itself is literally just a review of what they’ve already been able to conclude from the physical evidence, plus the inference that it’s not important to the killer that his victims be aware that they were dying, which is a fairly obvious one to make given the lack of restraints.  Then, when they’re discussing it in the lab and cause of death has been determined, he’s able to do more with the information - he’s able to determine the how of the victims’ docile interment and from then it’s a quick series of fairly obvious jumps to who the killer must be.

Finally, the debut of the Ravenstag is the result of the sudden, vivid connection Will’s mind has made from the imagery of the Copycat scene - crows and a stag’s head, a murder and a message.  The Ravenstag will go on to embody the spectre of death, an omen, but also in some ways a guardian.

Intrusion

Hoo boy is this show ever about that, and these episodes certainly do get off to a running start on this theme.

First of all, just about everyone and everything intruding on Will.  There’s Jack in his classroom, there’s Hannibal in Jack’s office and then Will’s motel room, there’s Beverly in Elise Nichols’s room and then again (slightly less unwelcome) at the range, there’s Freddie Being Freddie, and then there’s his hallucinations. 

We explicitly discuss the intrusive nature in which Will experiences his work: 

“Fear is the price of imagination.”

“No forts in the bone arena of your skull for the things you love.”

And then we start to see the basis for Will’s trust in Hannibal start to form has Hannibal backs off in episode 2.  He lets Will roam about the mezzanine of his office (literally circling Hannibal, and part of me wanted to talk about lions because of that and the line with Franklyn, but that felt like stretching a bit too much) while he stays below, gives answers to the questions Will lobs back at him, becomes someone who will push just enough to show concern and interest, but will gracefully retreat into safer waters at the right moment rather than press for ever more.

It’s beautiful and infuriating to me that this is both the truth and the smokescreen for actions that make it also a farce - Will and Hannibal’s relationship is characterized both by a strong, genuine interpersonal courtesy and a staggering degree of intrusion (mostly by Hannibal, though Will has his moments), and these things can and do frequently exist fully side by side.  

The other notable single target of intrusion in these episodes is, of course, Hannibal.

Something I didn’t really consciously grok on my first couple of watchings of Jack and Hannibal’s first scene together is that while Jack is trying to flatter Hannibal rather than intimidate/command (as he was doing with Will), Jack is still being very nearly as pushy and invasive as he was in his first scene with Will: shows up unannounced, assumes Hannibal will make time for him without stating his purpose in being there (I love how visibly taken-aback he is when Hannibal tells him to wait in the damn waiting room), then wanders around Hannibal’s office and messes with his drawings while casually talking about Hannibal’s personal history before he ever gets around to The Point.  Yes, Hannibal’s eventually pleased as punch with the results of that visit, but Jack’s behavior is what it is. 

Then there’s Freddie (oh, Freddie), who will continue to be a wildly intrusive presence in his life over the next few years in various ways.  And then there’s Will, himself, pushing back when Hannibal asks questions in their office sessions - and who will ultimately be The One True Intrusion, the destabilizing element that will cause Hannibal to tear his life as he knows it to the ground.  

There are other ways this theme can be discussed in the context of these two episodes, but I’ve hit the main points I meant to and this has gotten lengthy enough already!

(Below the cut, for your potential amusement, a smattering of my notes from rewatching that didn’t necessarily make it into this.)

JACK DON'T TOUCH PEOPLE'S GLASSES

I will never get over the irony of "You have to convince yourself that the lion is not in the room.  When it is I assure you, you will know."

pURe EMpatHY

ahh yes, the Teleporting Cannibal Episode

"I'd rather not take it from you" - have to wonder how much Freddie remembered that statement later, as she was starting to wonder if Hannibal might be killing with Will

And here's our first mention of God enjoying killing.

#hannibal #aperitif #amuse bouche #season 1 #meta #my meta #rewatch meta series #hannibal lecter #will graham #jack crawford