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lastcellontheleft · 20 hours

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It’s definitely worth talking about the larger implications of a Hannibal Lecter who has not truly been able to see a ‘future’ for himself until his final moments with Will in Wrath of the Lamb.

If we take Mads’ statement at face value, S2 Hannibal was building a whole damn life on the lam for himself, Will, and Abigail, with quiet— maybe conscious—expectation that it would never come to fruition.

Sure, every tiny step Will took toward his own darkness fueled Hannibal’s tiny spark of hope, but Hannibal was waiting for Will to fail him.

In sight of the finish line, Hannibal caught a whiff of Freddie Lounds and instead of having an honest conversation, instead of prying deeper into Will’s evasion—as he had nearly the entire series up to that point—Hannibal held his tongue, accepted Will’s betrayal at face value, and he burned everything down.

He overlooked the pieces of Will that were honest and reaching back for him. The indulgence of his cannibalism. The elevation of murder as art. The call to warn Hannibal about Jack. Understanding, with acceptance and true participation not far behind.

That’s why Hannibal takes so much comfort in his equations and the concept of time travel. He’s never been able to envision a true future for himself, so he can only look back and imagine what could have been done differently if only he’d known better.

For Hannibal, there is no future to divine when you are living on borrowed time, there is only the indulgence of the present moment, and the wasted opportunity of the past.

.

(Of course then Will breaks him out of prison, they kill a dragon together and Hannibal’s like ‘Okay I like this let’s pick out curtains.’)

#hannigram #hannibal #meta #c2e2 hannibal #Hannibal lecter

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tac-the-unseen · 1 day

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Hannibal Lecter x Reader x Will Graham Headcannons

Fluff, Minor edits for formatting!

Involves: Cooking, sleeping, art, tattoos, piercings, dates, funny little ideas

•While Hannibal is mostly the one cooking when you, him, and will are in a kitchen together it get a bit chaotic.

•You're decent at cooking but Will is a hot mess compared to you and Hannibal (that doesn't mean he's a bad cook, just not as good as you guys are). But you and Hannibal have no problem guiding and teaching him. It's a great bonding experience for all of you.

•When Hannibal talks in the kitchen you and Will call him 'chef'. Hannibal loves it but will never admit to it.

•All of you share a bed but you also have separate bed in another room that is used when one of you really needs your sleep or space. None of you talk about but it has really saved your relationship...multiple times.

•Hannibal mostly uses it when he has an important event coming up and needs to get a full night's rest.

•Will mostly uses it when he feels like the world is caving in on him and needs to get away.

•You mostly use it when you're mad that them or need to work a late shift.

•Hannibal loves taking you and Will to museums and art galleries. He loves digging through the layers of the art to get to its over all meanings.

•Everyone knows Hannibal likes to play the 'sugar daddy' role but he appreciates when you or Will try and contribute with the costs.

•Will isn't a fan of pet names. He thinks it's weird and kind of degrading, but if you or Hannibal use one or two, he won't complain. Especially if it's to comfort him during an episode.

•That being said if you call him William he immediately thinks he's in trouble for something. If he's not in trouble he will pout about you using his full name.

•On the other hand Hannibal loves pet/nick names. If you call him darling or love he will internally swoon.

•Will doesn't like to be touched and you and Hannibal are not expections. He can deal with touch but he's not happy about it. If you touch him while he's having a break down he with scream, shout, and cry.

•You can get away with cuddling at night but just barely. Be careful about your hand placement.

•If Will is losing an argument he'll say 'nah huh' and Hannibal without a beat will say 'yeah huh' right back.

•You and Will have woken up after a nap to find Hannibal sketching you several times. If he finds either of you asleep he'll run to get his sketch book and maybe some tea and gets to work.

•Hannibal is 10,000% a bridezilla. If you could get married he would be a nightmare to deal with. He might call off the whole wedding if he doesn't get the flowers he wants. And the catering, dear god the catering. He got so upset he thought about just making the food himself...day of...

•If Hannibal ever gets sick he feel guilty because he feels like he should be the one taking care of you two, not that other way around.

•If you have tattoos or piercings Hannibal will just and stare that them. He wants to mesmerize every piece of you. In his spare time he finds him self drawing up concept art for more future tattoos. He doesn't show you any of them,but if you find one and end up getting it tattooed on you he might just have a heart attack.

•Very Interested in the tattoos/piercings healing process. Like he knows but he just likes to watch.

•Will likes to trace said tattoos and even considers getting a matching one with you!

•If Hannibal spots you and/or will getting overwhelmed overstimulated in public he hold your hand and whisper affirmations to you two.

Thanks for reading <3

#hannibal lecter #will graham #gn reader #hannigram #hannibal x reader #will graham x reader #Hannibal x reader x will #hannibal #nbc hannibal #slashers #boyfriends

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childofwonder · 2 days

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I’ve heard the sentiment from others that they don’t want season 4 because the ending we got was perfect and I hate that I can’t agree😞

Don’t get me wrong, I really love the fall but I just don’t like season 3 as much as I would like too. I know that the blame for that is on NBC and not the writers. They did the best they could with what they had and I appreciate that (except the Red Dragon storyline, I have many opinions about that lol) but I just wish they didn’t have to rush into Red Dragon.

Bryan said that if they didn’t do it then they wouldn’t have been able to do Red Dragon at all, which I understand. I think Red Dragon deserved a whole season. If they had a guaranteed 3rd and 4th season going into it I think that the timing and story just would’ve made more sense to me.

I just don’t understand Will trying to kill Hannibal after meeting in Italy and I hate that they break up after escaping the Verger farm. HANNIBAL LITERALLY SAVED YOU WILL, you ungrateful whiny baby(I understand that he needed a break after almost dying three times, im just mad at the writing). I wish they had run away and season 3b was them on the run, until they got caught. Then Will could pull a Bedelia and pretend like he was a victim and not a willing participant, leave Hannibal and marrying Molly. Then they could do a whole season of Red Dragon and the fall could’ve happened like in 3b. I just, omg

You have no idea how often I mourn the possibility of that arch. I mourn everyday the loss of season 4.

I think the fall is perfect though, I just wish the events leading up to it were different and the story was fleshed out over two seasons instead of rushed into one. Wishful thinking obviously.

Season 3 is just the weakest season in my opinion, I’m a sucker for season 2 and season 1 just has a better arch.

#hannibal #hannigram #hannibal nbc #will graham #hannibal lecter

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amarriageoftrueminds · 4 months

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genderfluid jekyll & hyde dubcon au idea:

Will starts a physical affair / FWB thing with (what he thinks is) Hannibal's sister (Hanne?), whom he meets outside Hannibal's office and who seems extremely attracted to Will from the get-go.

the Plot twist: Hannibal doesn't have a sister.

Hannibal can turn into a woman at will.

#hannigram #hannibunny #ficbunny #au idea #idk if it would be like an alter ego who takes over and hannibal just wakes up with her memories once she's done playing #or if it would be hannibal in there the whole time #but maybe he doesn't have/show the full extent of his personality as her so it's still him will falls for...??#hannibal's menu-stalking skills off the charts cuz he's disguised as a woman #slowburn of will figuring out that they're somehow the same person and also the chesapeake ripper #ends with will and 'hanne' running away together? on a plane to paris?#hannibal flipfucking will by flipping genders IMAGINE 😭#amotm this is my design #yet each man queues the thing he loves #hannibal as woman = someone like laetitia casta or kristen scott thomas photoshopped with brown eyes

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suchawrathfullamb · 1 month

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oh nothing just thinking about how Hannibal would draw things from memory and

#see this is why I'm in the “they hooked up during the show” team. most likely in the honey plot because there's too much evidence and now I #just made up a whole scenario in my head to this drawing bc okay what if this was his view from one of their times together? ok fine why #would there be a weird column in hannibal's bedroom or wherever? but it's hannibal and if anyone would have a weird piece of furniture #it would be him so yes he has a column in his bedroom and Will leaned on it naked after they were together to sulk and contemplate #and this is the story of this drawing-canon #also I need to know what's written there #hannigram #nbc hannibal #hannibal #will graham #murder husbands #hannibal lecter #hugh dancy

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ghostdrinkssoup · 10 months

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there are only two types of big wet brown eyes: darling babygirl and satan incarnate

#sometimes they’re one and the same !! i.e hannibal lecter 🤭#they’re sexy either way btw I would know I also have big wet brown eyes #it depends on the intent behind those eyes you know. do they evoke a deep warmth in your stomach and make you feel whole and seen #or do they stare into the depths of your soul and try to pull out all your darkest secrets and inner demons idk idk #anyway I was thinking about kel AND hannibal while writing this #because having two wildly different hyperfixations at the same time makes you fr insane #ghost speaks

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cannibalovers · 3 months

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since some ppl did say yes, buckle up for a VERY long analysis because this song and "want" + a few others are some of my ultimate hannibal songs.

Hannibal song of the day: song no.1

a bit about the song:

"Missing Piece" (released in 1997) is a song by Recoil, a music project by Alan Wilder (former member of Depeche Mode, a group which I absolutely love and have a lot of their songs in my playlist). The song was written and sang as a duo by Alan Wilder and Siobhan Lynch. It's a moody and dark electronica song with jazzy elements and even a violin solo In short, the song is about self discovery and enlightement that a relationship has brought to the narrator, who has felt alone and misunderstood their whole life until they met the person who was their "missing piece". It explores the complex emotions and realisations that arose from the relationship(whether the relationship ended or not isn't really implied, at least in my eyes, although for my view on the song when it comes to hannibal, i think it might have).

now, i think from that it's already clear enough that I'm thinking about hannigram for this. I mean c'mon, a narrator that felt misunderstood and has been afraid to fully opening up to anybody, because of it's risks, even though they have so much love to give. That's literally Hannibal.

Although I feel like the narrator can also be Will but with how open and desparate the narrator seems, I keep thinking of Hannibal.

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Verse 1

"I wanna write myself

On the walls of your heart

Because the knot that holds us

Altogether throws us all apart

I'm gonna stop myself

Before I say something true

Because the answers

That roll from my tongue

Are nothing to do with you"

Hannibal loves to impact people (literally manipulates them), even though it doesn't last (usually).

Through the show, we can see just how many people he actually changed, changing their mindsets, convincing them to murder etc. that's more leaving an impact on their brain, but with Will, he's different. He indeed does change his mindset but he also really tries to get a place in Will's heart and get his attention because, as he confessed to Bedelia, Will intrigues him. I think the lyrics of the narrator wanting to write themselves on the walls of somebody's heart and leave an impact on them is just so incredibly hannibal.

But again, those people don't last usually, they usually end up dead, be it as Hannibal's dinner or something else. He knows this danger, and he knows this complicated knot of manipulation and lies he tied himself and Will with will most likely break off at some point, which he slowly comes to realise he doesn't want it to happen. (and then fucking mizumono happens)

In the song, the narrator hides the truth, most likely because of the fear of rejection, fearing the person doesn't feel the same, or because of the fear of losing the person. In season 2, his decision was to continue lying, not confessing the truth of his plan to Will, in my eyes to try and secure him in his hold, get his trust and love, see if Will would truly understand him and accept him for who he is - so, he stops himself from telling Will the truth, pretending his plan, his answers have nothing to do with his love for Will, but instead pretend that his plan is to destroy Will's life, leaving out the part where he's hoping Will would want to try and rebuild his life with Hannibal.

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Chorus

"(And) I hold a piece up to the light

Hold a piece up to my eye

Found a missing piece from my set

Found a person I'd not met (x2)

Sometimes is a lonely place (x5)"

self explanatory. There's so little to say, because the lyrics describe it so well, yet at the same time there's SO much to say.

The chorus is sung as a duo, both the narrator and the narrator's person. They both feel like they're the same and are each other's missing pieces, harmonising together.

I truly thing the best way to describe hannigram's relationship is by saying that they're each other's missing pieces. Hannibal seems to be a well-organized set of his pieces that make up him as well as a set of other people that he manipulated kind of as a list (maybe some as trophies). He's so composed, he's sure of his values and knows who he is, he's fully in control yet still felt incomplete, so he has spent his whole life finding that last missing piece (perhaps another meaning for missing, maybe he already had one and lost it, the missing piece being his sister........ ouch, although can't give much thought to this cuz haven't seen season 3 yet), a person who will be just like him and will complete him, not judge him, see him, accept him and be with him. That piece is Will.

He holds him up to the light, analyses him, studies him, gets to know him to determine if he is indeed the missing piece (in the show, he does his usual tactic of manipulating with the intention of making him his dinner but the more he got to know him, the more intrigued he got and saw a possibility of Will understanding him), and he indeed is his missing piece.

The fact that the narrator's person only sings during the chorus makes me think of how Hannibal made Will realise that he is Hannibal's missing piece and that although Will didn't really want it to be true, Hannibal helped him realise that Hannibal is Will's missing piece too - That's why I see the narrator as Hannibal and narrator's person as Will. He seems to be the second to realise this and accept this.

"Sometimes is a lonely place" is straightforward, I think. The two literally admit and show that they feel alone without each other, they have never felt so true to themselves as they feel when they're together, a room or a moment in life without one another is empty, a period without each other is a period they feel the most lonely.

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Verse 2

"So tow me over to the light

The sound, the sound it is in sight

Found my heart was contained within a cell

Found my heart in this tuck-a-way-me world"

ngl, verse 2 and chorus are quite similar in meaning to me. Maybe it's more so Hannibal letting Will study him as well and get to know him, letting Will tow him over to the light (let Will inside his mind). I feel like the lyrics about the narrator's heart being contained in a cell is maybe Hannibal becoming more and more aware of how restrictive he was with his emotions, how his human suit made him lock away his real heart and after many tries of trying to find the right key, Will finally found it and unlocked Hannibal's true self to the world. Overall, I feel like Hannibal feels the world is very restrictive for his type of people but he has found a way to live with it and accept it, although the desire to find a person like him never disappeared

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Coda

"Sometimes I held the missing piece

I held the missing piece

I held sometimes

I held the missing piece

I held..."

the end seems very lamentful to me. Sorry but it reminds me of mizumono

the end is overall so beautiful, I love how dark, slow yet jazzy and classy the song sounds, the coda just sounds like absolute heaven to me and its instrumental reminds me of the show overall so so much

but anyhow, the lyrics getting repeated, the moody, whiny tone the narrator sings it in combined with the reverb and minor key just immediately makes me think that the narrator lost their missing piece, reminiscing the times they had with them. Because of that, I immediately think of Mizumono and how distraught Hannibal was when he realised that Will betrayed him, letting Will see him just for Will to try and get him killed, even though he had a plan of giving back Will everything that he lost and everything that was precious to him. The whole song sounding quite blurry makes me think of how much emptiness Hannibal probably felt after the events in mizumono, how much of a blur everything was to him.

in conclusion, the song is literally so hannibal lecter coded to me

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additional notes: i already mentioned this song on my previous blog actually, together with "want" cuz together theyre AMAZING, i see want more from Wills perspective, i'll do that one tmr

could be lacking a little bit cuz i havent seen season 3 yet, maybe after it ill have some more thoughts but wont add them, i leave it at that

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my playlist

to anybody who read this, thank you and hope you enjoyed my rant<3

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ohbutwheresyourheart · 7 months

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after spending all of season 2 gleefully imagining hannibal getting his comeuppance... I think mizumono broke me

#hannibal #that last supper with hannibal and will fucked me up #he knew he KNEW HE KNEW that will was still with the fbi #and gave him the hannibal style olive branch of:#hey. babe. it's okay. i get it. you're conflicted. we can just... go.#and abigail was ALIVE THE WHOLE TIME #and then he fucking killed her out of sheer petty spite that his rose-tinted murder family plan did not come together #because he could not stand the thought of abigail and will being a family without him #or even abigail still leaving with hannibal but missing will #and then JACK TRYING TO CALL BELLA #the only person i don't feel as bad for as i should is alana bc she just... doesn't really do it for me as a character #like i get it i get why she's the way she is she's meant to be the only sane person adrift in this sea of utter madness #but her being locked out of the loop and two steps behind everyone else is kind of... annoying. like alana!!! girl!!!! get with it!!!!!#but god hannibal. hannibal. hannibal.#i still kind of want to see him dead but i also kind of want to pat him #(from a distance. with like a mop or something like that one gif)#he really is in love with will #or at least the closest thing to love he can feel #and he really was imagining a way they could live a life together #sure it was a life on the run as cannibalistic serial killers constantly evading the fbi who would hunt them down until the day they died #but they would be cannibalistic serial killers with like. a picket fence. maybe some dogs.#oh my god wait the funniest thought just occurred to me #will refusing the offer of running off into the night with hannibal not because of any moral scruples #but because he would have had to leave his dogs behind #like hannibal come ON you KNOW this man did you really not include his dogs in the escape plan????#amateur mistake. do better next time.

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tantamounttoflirtation · 1 year

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S1 au where Hannibal goes to snoop around Will's house and discovers that its entirely nautical themed. And its not subtle either, its VERY TACKY. He is so disgusted that he immediately leaves and never speaks to Will again. Show over

#h talks #hes so appalled by Will's interior design choices that he abandons all of his plans and just. moves away.#I think it would be hilarious if Will really loves all the cheesy nautical stuff and decorates his whole house with it #and Hannibal tolerates it bcuz he loves Will but he really wishes that the aesthetic was subtler so he wouldn't have to stare at anchors-#every time he visits Will's house #nothing against nautical themes btw I think it can be very charming :)#nbc hannibal #Hannigram #happy saturday everyone I'm thinking abt them again

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menciemeer · 11 months

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empty places

72k, complete

“It’s crowded in my head,” Will admits. “Like someone’s written over all my pages, and I can’t see what’s beneath.” “Beneath all the words is nothing but a blank sheet. With patience and the right tools, you can carve the ink away.” Will tilts his chin up. “I think that’s already been tried, Dr. Lecter.” “Your father cut himself out of you.” “Not well enough.”

Garret Jacob Graham could have taught Hannibal Lecter a thing or two about raising monsters.

or, S1 with Will as Abigail. Pre-slash but decidedly Hannigram.

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quietwingsinthesky · 1 year

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returning to the jack & abigail dynamic: i'm imagining that after the first two or three times abigail drags jack home to have dinner with her family, hannibal pulls her off to the side like "are you sure this is the friend you want to make? :)" (<- is thinking about how Jack is allergic to using napkins properly and will wipe everything off with his sleeves) (he's not rude, he was just unfortunately raised by winchesters)

and she just crosses her arms and shoots back with "you get to keep will >:(" (<- knows she will get her way, partly because hannibal is going to give her what she wants, partly because if he doesn't, she's not above asking jack to do a little mindwiping.)

at which point, hannibal just has to accept that she's going to bring home a weird little guy just like he did.

#parallel here not meant to imply jack & abigail romantic relationship tbc #its just that abigail hasn't had any friends since that one girl died. and jack hasn't had any friends. uh. ever.#they're not dating they're more like the codependent homoerotic friendship you form with that one girl in middle school. you know the one.#abigail is weirdly obsessive about jack in a way that would be red flags for anyone else #only he (models his idea of how relationships should work off of the ones he's seen ie sam & dean. dean & cas. sam & lucifer)#sees it as sweet. abigail stalks him once #and he knows the whole time because angel powers and he's 🥰 'she cares about me so much. we must be best friends.'#spn #hannibal nbc #jack kline #abigail hobbs #hannibal lecter #they get high one day (hannibal's secret stash) and abigail goes 'i would eat u u know.'#and jack goes ':3 i mean you could! i don't think it would hurt me! i'll heal!'#they are such normal besties

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hesperidia · 3 months

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hannibal update: i'm at ep 4 and i can say that i love the forensics team. but i'm so bad at paying attention i didnt pick up their names???

also hannibal you can't give shrooms to a traumatized teenager wth (i say this as if he's not trying to convince several ppl that they are murderers/convince them that it's alright to kill. ah and the cannibalism. that did happen it is a significant thing that happened).

#put hannibal in a cage next to dr house to see who is the medical malpractice supreme #i'm having the time of my life watching though. i need to make a “will says odd shit” counter but it would be the whole script #lazutxt

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vvitchgender · 5 months

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People making jokes abt Lestat and Hannibal being really similar seem to be completely missing the important fact that serial killers are like, Lestat's favorite type of guy to eat. He loves eating bad guys and he loves eating murderers in particular. He'd turn Hannibal into a prune and move into his fucking house.

#it speaks #im not saying lestat is a GOOD guy a lot of the time. hes complex thats the whole point #but he's the hero of his series #hannibal is a villain #also lestat is a vampire and hannibal is not lmao #it would be the end of the chesapeake ripper for sure

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amarriageoftrueminds · 22 days

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fucked-up fic idea:

Y'know that one hannigram time travel au where they both travelled so far back in time that Will woke up as a 10 year old and Hannibal was able to rescue Mischa??

Well what if: A) Hannibal was much younger when Mischa died (more like 12), and B) they had the same age-difference as Mads and Hugh?

That would mean Will waking up, potentially, trapped in his infant body rather than his child body?? and being stuck that way for years until he can grow up again? 😬 And what if Hannibal knew that would probably happen, but did it anyway??

#hannibal nbc #hannigram #murder husbands #ficbunny #au idea #hannibunny #amotm this is my design #dat's me #meta: hannibal #you can't kill the meta #will graham #hannibal lecter #hannibal & will's terrible adventure #how do I tag this?? body horror? is it body horror? age dysmorphia??#I'm not stoned I swear #like I just thought what a mind-bending fic that would make #the logistics of will having to handle that #being SO UTTERLY FURIOUS with hannibal for doing it to him/them when he catches him #[ cue scene of 8 year old will trying to strangle 18 year old hannibal who is beaming at how adorable he is ]#day care providers and teachers being like 'this child is either gifted or possessed'#will being like 'this is a living nightmare'#but also 'pls don't trap me in a room full of toddlers for multiple hours 5 days a week I can't stand noise'#knowing him he'd probably turn it into some kind of Hard Candy AU #I can see de-ageing not being a problem for hannibal #because being with mischa again would make the time fly #and also he would see it as getting to spend his WHOLE life with will this time #and also probably he would be killing SO MANY child predators y'all #SO MANY

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facedock · 2 years

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The A-Team in Bullets and Bikinis

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ghostdrinkssoup · 2 years

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Hey I hope you don't mind a question. This is related to a snippet of the recent ask you posted:

also I think using “good” and “evil” to describe will isn’t helpful in an analytical context simply because the show goes out of its way to blur moral absolutes? he exists within the complicated grey, blurring with hannibal. again, much of the show is about deconstructing polarities, particularly the difference between humanity and monstrosity

I wanted to push back on the idea that there aren't moral absolutes in Hannibal and see if I could get any more thoughts.

It seems to me like Hannibal (character, not show) is presented as entirely, unquestionably evil. The show never gives him anything resembling a redemption arc, and only makes the vaguest allusions to a tragic backstory. He does some nice things, but nothing seems like a serious attempt to paint him as morally gray.

Even his love for Will is presented as obsessive, possessive, violent, and controlling, right up to 3b when he makes an earnest attempt to murder Will's family. He has no reason to believe Dolarhyde will fail.

Obviously there is no balancing force of absolute good, but I still feel like Hannibal (show, not character) is more about, like, the way Hannibal (character) warps the morality of everyone around him in an almost gravitational way.

hi !! and yeah of course, I’m always happy to throw ideas around and discuss the show with other people :D

it’s interesting, because as I was thinking about how I wanted to approach answering this ask (and word my thoughts) I found my answer was similar to the previous ask about will’s morality, but in reverse. it’s fitting since will and hannibal are “just alike” isn’t it? identically different, mirrors, the negative space of each other, etc. I’ll explain what I mean

like with the previous ask, I think my interpretation of hannibal stems from 1) the nature of his character progression (and the role of the person suit) 2) his worldview as shown/set up in the show’s first season and 3) his foil dynamic with will and how their romance changes him (or rather, changes his perception of himself). I agree that hannibal is an irredeemable character and I love that the show never tries to redeem him or paint his violent, atrocious behaviour as “misunderstood”. I don’t think we’re supposed to think hannibal is good, or that he was right in any capacity, however, I do think the “absolute evil” we’re presented with is an aspect of his person suit, and that hannibal isn’t irredeemable because he’s an inhuman monster, but because he’s a horrible human being

to me, hannibal’s character is defined by a want for absolute control and dominance over others as a response to losing his sister and being stripped of all power and autonomy. as such, both the cannibalism and the “shattering teacup” are metaphors for his desire for control. he tries to recreate a family for himself and “reverse time” in order to hide from his own limitations and, as ridiculous as it sounds, mortality. he’s incredibly selfish, has a god complex, and absolutely delights in the idea that he is above humanity. this idea empowers him. we see this in s1 when he smirks after bedelia calls the person suit a “human veil”, like he’s pleased she sees him this way. because if he’s the devil pulling the strings then he’s not weak; if he consumes those who cross him then he must be superior; if he’s never attached then he can never lose anything or anyone. he is free from the human condition, and being perceived as “evil” fulfils this purpose perfectly

his romance with will completely shatters this illusion. the reason will still doesn’t understand hannibal in the s1 finale (when he realises hannibal is a serial killer) is because the “ripper” persona is another mask. it’s theatre, which means it’s performative. in s2 will’s person suit begins to mirror hannibal’s, the two of them becoming the “evil” versions of themselves, however, in mizumono this idea is completely deconstructed too, not because hannibal is suddenly a good person, but because by becoming attached to will, and being successfully manipulated by him, he finally loses control. he’s no longer the all-seeing god pulling the strings. not only that, but his love for will is not something he can control. ironically, the ripper has been ripped open, and his humanity is exposed as the ugly, bleeding wound it is (metaphorically, of course)

in s3 we learn the point of hannibal’s arc is to see the deconstruction of his person suit, like how will recreates the crime scenes to see the human underneath the killers he analyses. again, not to apologise for them, but to see them. hannibal is absolutely humiliated as punishment for his arrogance, and that untouchable monster we’re introduced to is exposed as the pathetic toddler he is in reality. he’s no longer in control, and never has been. hannibal wishes he was above humanity, he wishes he was absolutely evil and sitting on the devil’s throne, but he’s not. in fact, in s1 he’s just as desperate to hide from his “humanity” as will is to hide from his “monster”. still, they only realise the truth of themselves when these concepts begin to blur and merge together

on that note, I think something the show goes out of its way to challenge is the notion that humanity (and love) is synonymous with goodness. it would be easier to distinguish people as either good or evil (humans or monsters) because either persona is palatable and tolerable in a society that has certain expectations and roles we’re meant to follow. the person suit itself is a metaphor for conformity, but the show also suggests that the suit (or “mask”) is a prison in of itself, and that there is no freedom in constructing a false version of yourself to present to the world, no matter how terrible the human inside is. it’s why hannibal gives himself up in s3, and why his arc is complete when he relinquishes control and lets will pull him off the cliff in twotl, because he realises he’ll never be free if he’s never understood, accepted, and forgiven for his grotesque humanity. no one else in the world can do it (because he’s fucking awful) but will can, because he’s the same

#the whole time I was answering this I was listening to ‘the whole being dead thing’ from beetlejuice NSBSJSHS it felt fitting #hannibal is so PATHETIC like his arc is so satisfying because he gets his ass and his heart absolutely whooped #he’s a big child it would be funny if it weren’t so sad #I would love to unpack this further and talk about how audience perception of the person suit is reflective of societal norms #as well as the queer subtext because *god* this show is so inherently queer #but that’ll be it’s own post eventually #again thank you so much for the ask !! like I said before this is just my opinion and you’re free to disagree with me #hannibal #nbc hannibal #will graham #hannigram #hannibal meta #ask response #ghost speaks

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