#first tumblr post and it’s hannigram psychoanalysis

[verrmori]

okay fannibals i was thinking about why hannigram is so appealing, especially to people with relationship trauma like me, and here’s what i’ve come up with. (content warning for discussion of abuse, gaslighting, and manipulation) also i’m sure a post like this has been made in the past, but i’m new to the fandom. also please feel free to reblog and add your own thoughts!

it’s because we can relate to will graham, and we want the same stability in our lives that will believes hannibal provides him with. that may sound crazy, and i’m not very good at speaking coherently, but i’m going to try to explain this by explaining how their relationship is abusive and incorporating my own experiences and feelings regarding those experiences. one thing abusers typically do is isolate their victims socially so the abuser becomes the sole person that the other person relies on. hannibal does this to will. he murders and manipulates others and uses his position as will’s therapist to create distrust towards jack in an attempt to distance will from his peers. as will’s therapist, hannibal is in a position meant to be credible, so will is under the illusion that he can trust hannibal, and hannibal uses this to manipulate and gaslight him. will develops a dependency on hannibal, and hannibal becomes will’s source of security and stability. victims of abuse tend to desire to be seen and understood by their abusers. they tend to want their validation and approval. will chases after hannibal because he wants the sense of security that comes with his presence. he wants to be understood, and he wants some sense of stability. will views hannibal as a safe constant in his life because of hannibal’s manipulation despite the horrible things hannibal does, and that’s why he’s tempted to run away with him. now, here’s where i address the appeal of the ship and why i, as someone who’s been in an abusive relationship, am drawn to it despite it clearly being unhealthy. for me, there’s always been the smallest desire to return to an abusive relationship solely because it’s predictable, and where there’s stability, there’s a sense of security. stability and security are arguably desirable to everyone, but i feel like they’re especially important for people like me and other fans who struggle with mental illnesses. having someone in your life provide you with a sense of comfort can lead to dependency on that person, and i believe that’s part of what happened with will in regards to hannibal. so why do we ship hannigram? because we see that will feels like he knows himself more when he’s with him. because we want to understand ourselves, and we want someone to help us connect with ourselves. we see that hannibal provides will with a false sense of security, and we see how put together hannibal appears, all of the bad behaviors aside, and we want that for ourselves. when i was in my abusive relationship, i understood that it was unhealthy, but i stayed because i felt more like myself when i was with them, and i was also afraid of what would happen if i left. will feels the same, and like i said earlier, we’re relating to will in this scenario. we want someone put together that can help us create structure in our own lives, and sometimes we’re willingly or unknowingly looking past the negatives in a person because we want to believe we’ve found the right one. we want hannibal to be the right one for will because we see how will is reacting to him. is it a healthy relationship? by no means. but it’s appealing.

#hannibal #will graham #hannibal lecter #hannigram #sorry this is so long omg #i’m experiencing thoughts #also i obviously do not speak for everyone with relationship trauma #if you disagree that’s completely okay just don’t be mean to me or i’ll cry #first tumblr post and it’s hannigram psychoanalysis #sage speaks #text