#↳ hannibal ⸻ ❛ do you believe you could change me the way i've changed you? ٬ i already did. ❜

[empathbled]

tag drop.

↳ ooc ⸻ ❛ i can make myself look٬ but the thinking is shutting down. ❜ ↳ promo ⸻ ❛ everyone has thought about killing someone٬ one way or another. ❜ ↳ memes ⸻ ❛ you won't like me when i'm psychoanalyzed. ❜ ↳ starter call ⸻ ❛ wind him up and watch him go. ❜ ↳ crack ⸻ ❛ i feel crazy. ❜ ↳ queue ⸻ ❛ do you feel alive? ❜

↳ about ⸻ ❛ i felt terrified٬ and then i felt powerful. ❜ ↳ meta ⸻ ❛ i feel like i am spilling. ❜

↳ images ⸻ ❛ i'm not even sure if i'm awake now. ❜ ↳ music ⸻ ❛ i could use a good scream٬ i can feel one perched under my chin. ❜ ↳ desires ⸻ ❛ but it wasn't real٬ it wasn't real. ❜

↳ answers ⸻ ❛ it's not any easier. shake it off٬ keep on looking. ❜ ↳ speech ⸻ ❛ i know what kind of crazy i am٬ but this isn't that kind of crazy. ❜

↳ hannibal ⸻ ❛ do you believe you could change me the way i've changed you? ٬ i already did. ❜ ↳ abigail ⸻ ❛ never again. only in my memories sleepless in the dark shall i still tread the old paths. ❜ ↳ medicbled (gloria) ⸻ ❛ put me back together. fix my broken mind. ❜ ↳ survivorofhellskitchen (karen) ⸻ ❛ let me see you stripped down to your bone. ❜

↳ verse ⸻ ❛ special agent٬ this is my design. ❜ ↳ verse ⸻ ❛ after the fall٬ this is my legacy. ❜

[omniishambles]

@collidingxworlds // & Will

Floating. Finally letting the stream carry him to where he needed to be. That thought made Hannibal smile, once more overwhelmed by the other mans presence, by the beauty that surrounded them.

They could be quite open with eachother now. No more need for secrets, for keeping their feelings hidden away. They were now working as one, a unit. A partnership.

A family, with the girls back at the house waiting for them. It was like a dream. A painting made in his own head and hung in the sprawling corridors of his mind palace.

Finally surrounded by people who understood him. Who knew him.

"I certainly could. I'd like that very much, Will."

END.

Hannibal’s silent little grin earned him a light amused snort from Will. Denying such an open truth would have been an insult to their intelligence, but he had still expected some kind of clever retort, a way to minimize the potential gravity hidden in the former profiler’s playful question.

Instead, what he had got had been what could have been considered a wordless admission on the other’s part, which was something that would have been unthinkable just a few months before.

Will took a moment to savour it, letting that awareness flood over him like the water was doing against his boots. They were past the manipulation and the cat-and-mouse games. This wasn’t guidance or mentorship anymore. Nor a courtship, as Alana had once called it. They were partners now, with all the implications that came with that.

“Touché,” he conceded at the reply that followed, choosing not to voice his thoughts. There was no need for it, and some things were better if undiscussed.

Then his expression sobered up, turning as placid and unreadable as the current of the river.

“I appreciate the vote of confidence, but…Maybe I’ll just let myself float for a while,” he eventually said, in a slightly distracted tone. “I’ve never been given the chance to stop and think what I want to do with my like and what I want from it. After all, we just had our new beginning. No better time to fully turning a new leaf, don’t you agree?”

For once, the uncertainty of the future didn’t make him uneasy as it had in the past. Even if he didn’t know what path he would take, he had a whole family of solid certainties to keep him steady.

“In the meanwhile, I guess that you could consider the idea of having a sous-chef.”

{ @omniishambles }

[neitherofusideal]

A compilation of my favorite hannigram quotes, related lines or conversations throughout the series.

— Uhm... Just because?

S01E01: Apéritif

Hannibal: "God forbid we become friendly."

Will: "I don't find you that interesting."

Hannibal: "You will."

S01E04: Oeuf

Hannibal: "Feeling paternal, Will?"

Will: "Aren't you?"

Hannibal: "Yes."

S01E09: Trou Normand

Hannibal (to Will): "Who knows Abigail better than you and I? All the burden she bears. We are her fathers now. We have to serve her better than Garrett Jacob Hobbs."

S02E01: Kaiseki

Hannibal: "I miss him."

Bedelia: "You are obsessed with Will Graham."

Hannibal: "I am intrigued."

Bedelia: "Obsessively."

S02E09: Shiizakana

Hannibal (to Will): "No one can be fully aware of another human being unless we love them. By that love we see potential in our beloved. Through that love, we allow our beloved to see their potential. Expressing that love, our beloved’s potential comes true. I love you, Will."

S02E10: Naka-Choko

Hannibal: "Stay with me."

Will: "Where else would I go?"

–/–

Alana: "It's just hard to know where you are with each other."

Will: "We know where we are with each other. Shouldn't that be enough?"

S02E12: Tome-wan

Will (to Hannibal): "You're right. We are just alike. You're as alone as I am. And we're both alone without each other."

–/–

Will (to Hannibal): "I bond with Abigail, you take her away. I bond with barely more than the idea of a child, you take it away. You saw to it that I alienated Alana, alienated Jack. You don't want me to have anything in my life that isn't you."

-/-

Hannibal: "Achilles lamenting the death of Patroclus. Whenever he's mentioned in the Iliad, Patroclus seems to be defined by his empathy."

Will: "He became Achilles on the field of war. He died for him there, wearing his armor."

Hannibal: "He did. Hiding and revealing identity is a constant theme throughout the Greek epics."

Will: "As are battle-tested friendships."

Hannibal: "Achilles wished all Greeks would die, so that he and Patroclus could conquer Troy alone. Took divine intervention to bring them down."

S02E13: Mizumono

Hannibal: "We could disappear now. Tonight. Feed your dogs, leave a note for Alana, and never see her or Jack again. Almost polite."

Will: "Then this would be our last supper."

Hannibal: "Of this life. I served lamb."

Will: "Sacrificial."

Hannibal: "I don't need a sacrifice, do you?"

–/–

Will: "You were supposed to leave."

Hannibal: "We couldn't leave without you."

...

Hannibal: "Time did reverse. The teacup that I shattered did come together. A place was made for Abigail in your world... You understand? A place was made for all of us, together. I wanted to surprise you. And you... you wanted to surprise me. I let you know me. See me. I gave you a rare gift. But you didn't want it."

Will: "Didn't I?"

...

Hannibal: "Do you believe you could change me, the way I've changed you?"

Will: "I already did."

Hannibal: "Fate and circumstance has returned us to this moment— when the teacup shatters. I forgive you, Will. Will you forgive me?"

S03E02: Primavera

Will: "A valentine written on a broken man."

–/–

Will: "I do feel closer to Hannibal here. God only knows where I'd be without him."

Abigail: "What did you see?"

Will: "He left us his broken heart."

Abigail: "How did he know we were here?"

Will: "He didn't. But he knew we'd come."

Abigail: "He misses us."

S03E03: Secondo

Hannibal: "He said he forgave me."

...

Bedelia: "Betrayal and forgiveness are best seen as something akin to falling in love."

Hannibal: "You cannot control with respect to whom you fall in love."

–/–

Chiyoh: "How do you know Hannibal?"

Will: "One could argue intimately."

Chiyoh: "'Nakama'? It's a Japanese word for very close friends."

Will: "Yes, we were 'nakama'."

–/–

Chiyoh: "Why are you looking for him after he left you with a smile?"

Will: "I've never known myself as well as I know myself when I'm with him."

–/–

Jack: “Will Graham understands Hannibal. He accepts him. Now, who among us doesn’t want understanding and acceptance?”

–/-

Bedelia: “What your sister made you feel was beyond your conscious ability to control or predict."

Hannibal: "Or negotiate."

Bedelia: "I would suggest what Will Graham makes you feel is not dissimilar. A force of mind and circumstance.”

Hannibal: “Love. He pays you a visit or he doesn't.”

S03E04: Aperitivo

Jack: "You remember when you decided to call Hannibal?"

Will: "I wasn't decided when I called him. I just called him. I deliberated while the phone rang. I decided when I heard his voice."

Jack: "You told him we knew."

Will: "I told him to leave. 'Cause I wanted him to run."

Jack: "Why?"

Will: "Because... because he was my friend. And because I wanted to run away with him."

–/–

Dr. Chilton: "Will Graham is alive because Hannibal Lecter likes him that way."

Jack: "Maybe it's one of those friendships that ends after the disemboweling."

Dr. Chilton: "I would argue, with these two, that's tantamount to flirtation."

S03E06: Dolce

Jack: "Hannibal will slip away. Will you slip away with him?"

Will: "Part of me will always want to."

–/–

Hannibal: "If I saw you everyday, forever, Will, I would remember this time."

Will: "Strange seeing you here in front of me. Been staring at afterimages of you in places you haven't been in years."

...

Will: "I wanted to understand you... before I laid eyes on you again. I needed it to be... clear. What I was seeing."

Hannibal: "Where does the difference between the past and the future come from?"

Will: "Mine?"... "Before you and after you."

...

Will: "You and I... have begun to blur."

Hannibal: "Isn't that how you found me?"

Will: "Every crime of yours, feels like one I'm guilty of. Not just Abigail's murder, every murder. Stretching backward and forward in time."

Hannibal: "Freeing yourself from me and me freeing myself from you. They're the same."

Will: "We're conjoined. I'm curious whether either of us can survive separation."

–/–

Hannibal: "I would've liked to show you Florence, Will."

S03E07: Digestivo

Hannibal: "Do we talk about teacups and time, and the rules of the disorder?"

Will: "The teacup's broken. It's never gonna gather itself back together again."

Hannibal: "Not even in your mind?"... "Your memory palace is building, it's full of new things. It shares some rooms with my own. I've discovered you there, victorious."

Will: "When it comes to you and me, there can be no decisive victory."

Hannibal: "We are a zero-sum game?"

Will: "I miss my dogs. I'm not going to miss you. I'm not going to find you. I'm not going to look for you. I don't want to know where you are or what you do. I don't want to think about you anymore."

Hannibal: "You delight in wickedness and then berate yourself for the delight."

Will: "You delight. I tolerate... I don't have your appetite."

Will: "Goodbye, Hannibal."

–/–

Hannibal (to Will): "I want you to know exactly where I am, or where you can always find me."

S03E09: ...and the Woman Clothed with the Sun

Hannibal: "Is there a child in your life, Will? I gave you a child, if you recall."

–/–

Will: "You called us "murder husbands.""

Freddie Lounds: "You did run off to Europe together."

S03E10: ...and the Woman Clothed in Sun

Bedelia: "Have you been to see him?"

Will: "Yes."

Bedelia: "You haven't learned your lesson have you? Or did you just miss him that much?"

–/–

Bedelia (to Will): "My relationship with Hannibal isn't as passionate as yours. You are here visiting an old flame. Is your wife aware how intimately you and Hannibal know each other?"

S03E11: ...and the Beast from the Sea

Will (to Hannibal): "I'm not fortune's fool. I'm yours."

S03E12: The Number of the Beast is 666

Will: "Is Hannibal... in love with me?"

Bedelia: "Could he daily feel a stab of hunger for you and find nourishment at the very sight of you?... Yes. But do you ache for him?"

S03E13: The Wrath of the Lamb

Hannibal: "When life becomes maddeningly polite, think about me. Think about me, Will. Don't worry about me."

–/–

Will: "I knew you wanted me to know exactly where I could find you when I needed to."

Hannibal: "And you did."

Will: "I need you Hannibal." ... "Please."

–/–

Will: "It really does look black in the moonlight."

Hannibal: "See? This is all I ever wanted for you, Will. For both of us."

Will: "It's beautiful."

[pesky--dust]

I feel like I cannot fully explain it, but there is something so different in the way how in Mizumono Hannibal wants to kill Jack and threats Alana in comparison to how he hurts Will and kills Abigail. Besides his oblivious feelings for Will, in the way he “chases” Jack and Alana I can clearly see that terrifying the Chesapeake Ripper, the ruthless predator. But when he hurts Will? That scary murderer is gone, he is so heartbroken, that in my opinion he looks at least a few years older than he in fact is. He is so soft and vulnerable. His attitude changes again after:

Hannibal: Do you believe you could change me, the way I've changed you? Will: I already did.

Hannibal knows that Will is right and he didn't see the change within himself coming, he didn't want anyone allow to change him, but it happened, so he threw a tantrum and killed Abigail in front of Will to make a point.

So many different emotions showed only like in fifteen minutes. Something wonderful and terrifying.

[atlasscrumpit]

Hii,

If you're still taking requests, can I request a Hannibal x fem reader where they meet at a function or mutual friends party? She has a sort of allergic reaction (maybe she has a peanut allergy or something), and Hannibal saves her.

Adrenaline

Hannibal's eyes found you across the room, he hadn't seen you at one of his dinner parties before and he didn't remember inviting you, but after all he did offer people to bring a guest along.

His eyes gazed over the curves of your body in the green velvet dress you wore, he felt a kind of hunger towards you he didn't feel very often towards other people.

He excused himself from his current conversation and stalked his way over to you, wishing he could sink his teeth into your unmarked skin right there in front of everyone, witnessing your blood stain the velvet dress.

"I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting." Hannibal said as you slowly turned and looked at him with a kind smile.

"Oh, hello. You must be Hannibal, I'm Y/N." You greeted holding out your hand, he knew you were going for a handshake but he was much more of a gentleman than that.

He took your hand in his and pressed a soft kiss to your knuckles.

"Its an absolute pleasure, my dear. May I ask who you accompanied here tonight?" He asked, noticing how your cheeks were a little rosy, perhaps from the wine or hopefully even the company.

"I came with my husband, Richard Holland." You replied, a small part of his heart sank when he heard the word husband leave your lips.

"Ah, I've known him for quite sometime. Excuse me for being so forward but I never imagined him marrying someone such as yourself." He said as you tilted your head in confusion.

"What do you mean?" You asked as he chuckled a little.

"I apologise if it sounded rude. I know Richard to be quite a...brute and I never imagined him to settle down with someone, especially such a lovely young lady such as yourself." He slipped in a compliment right at the end making you blush a little.

"That's very nice of you to say..." You responded, Hannibal noticed the hesitation in your voice.

You were definitely hiding something.

"So, how did you two meet?" He asked, stepping a little closer to you.

The scent of your sweet perfume hitting his nose.

"Oh...well, it's a little unconventional." You muttered, staring down at your wine.

Hannibal tilted his head and kept an eye on your face.

"You're being quite bashful about this, my dear. Is there a secret I shouldn't know about?" He asked his voice becoming softer.

"Our marriage was arranged." You admitted, finally looking back up at Hannibal's face.

He nodded, too be honest he wasn't exactly surprised, he knew about Richard's habits and knew he would never change enough to keep a woman.

"I see... Excuse me for prying again, but does he treat you well, my dear?" He asked, making you feel shocked.

"Oh... Um." You muttered, not sure how to respond.

"That's all the answer I need, my dear. How about after dinner, you meet me in the library for a talk? I know Richard will be too drunk by then." He said as you smiled a little, feeling a small sense of hope.

"That would be good."

--

You sat beside your husband as the dinner was served.

"Did you tell them about my allergies?" You whispered to Richard.

"Yeah." He grumbled simply before he began drinking again, turning to the person on the other side and talking to them.

You began to eat your meal, noting how delicious it was.

About halfway through you began to feel a small tingle in your mouth, you tapped your husband to get his attention.

"Are you sure you told them?" You whispered as he looked at you in annoyance.

"Yes." He grumbled before turning around again.

You quickly excused yourself from the table and ran to the bathroom with your purse, opening it as fast as you could.

"Oh shit!" You shouted, seeing you had brought your epipen.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" You muttered as you began to hyperventilate.

A quick knock at the door startled you.

"Y/N, are you alright in there, my dear?" You heard Hannibal's voice, sighing in relief before you quickly opened the door.

"I-I'm having an allergic reaction." You stuttered out, placing your hand over your chest.

"Alright, I assume you don't have an epipen?" He said as you nodded, he took your wrist and sat you down just outside of the bathroom.

"Wait here, just try to keep your panic to a minimum." He instructed before rushing off, somehow still looking poised while in a rush.

You tried your best to not panic, knowing it would cut your breathing off even more.

Hannibal came back barely a minute later with an epipen, he knelt beside you and ran his hand along your thigh before he quickly stabbed the epipen into your skin.

You gripped his shoulder to steady yourself while he administered the adrenaline into your body.

You panted softly as you felt it beginning to work.

"That's it, nice slow breaths, my dear." He instructed, softly rubbing your knee.

"What in gods name?" You heard your husband grumbled as he looked at you both.

"Your wife had an allergic reaction and was without an epipen, I keep them here for a patient of mine." Hannibal explained as Richard looked at you angrily.

"Let's get you somewhere to rest, sometimes there can be side effects even if you haven't experienced them in the past." Hannibal said, helping you stand up and supporting you.

"Whatever." Richard grumbled before walking away, making you sigh.

"Ignore him, my dear." Hannibal reassured you before taking you to a guest room.

He helped you lay down on a bed and went into the adjoining bathroom to grab a wet cloth.

Hannibal draped it over your forehead and placed a glass of water next to you.

"I'll be fine, you can get back to the party." You muttered, closing your eyes making Hannibal chuckle.

"Nonsense, my dear. I could use a break, and you need someone to monitor you for a while." He said pulling up a chair beside the bed.

"I suppose now is the perfect time to talk about your...inconvenient married."

[silver99johnlocked]

During season 2, after Jack finally accepts to believe in Will, they plot against Hannibal. Their plot is based on Will gaining Hannibal's trust by getting close to him one more time, but this time having no secrets between the two of them. Will makes it clear to Hannibal that he knows the truth and says that he still wants to be with him.

So basically Will's trying to pass this image to Hannibal: 'I know you're a killer and even though I wanted to turn you in before, it was only because you framed me and I got pissed. But to be honest, now that the anger is gone, I've realised that I'm actually really interested in making killing associations with you, just like you told me about all along. We could go off together and leave this play pretend life behind us so we can be our true selves and I can embrace the new person you made out of me.'

Hannibal is absolutely thrilled about it. He buys it. He fiercely wants it to be true. That's why when he finds out that Will is about to betray him, he gives him little second chances just to be sure. Because he doesn't want to believe Will would do that to him. He couldn't stand that.

The thing is that Will actually really cares about Hannibal. He's not a 'black or white' person. He inhabits the grey area of morality. He knows what's the right thing to do, yet he found in Hannibal the only person who truly understands and respects him. He can't simply betray Hannibal like that. That was never his plan. He chose his own side. He couldn't be 100% on Jack or Hannibal's side. He chose to play by the law but still give Hannibal a chance to escape. He calls and warns Hannibal that the police are coming. He's literally telling him to go and be safe.

What Will didn't predict was how much Hannibal cared about him. He only realizes that when he arrives at his house in 2x13. Abigai is alive. The reason why he never entirely took Hannibal's side, the reason why he couldn't forgive him.

Will asks her about Hannibal and he's right there behind him. The first thing he says: "You were supposed to leave". He's angry. He didn't want all this mess. He knew it would put people he cared about in danger but most of all, he wanted Hannibal free and safe. Even more so now. Maybe he would even join him after. But this isn't right, why would Hannibal risk everything like this? It doesn't make sense.

Hannibal: "We couldn't leave without you"

Will's entire face changes when he hears that. He underestimated the influence he had on Hannibal. He thought he was a pure psychopath, incapable of feelings, yet here he is, putting his own life at risk for the sake of another human being. But that's not everything. The cherry on the top is when Hannibal reveals that he wanted Abigail to be a surprise. He cared about Will so god damn much that he wasn't able to kill her because he knew how important she was to Will. He cared about Will so god damn much that he was willing to leave his entire (loner, detached, successful) life behind in order to flee and live as a family.

But that couldn't happen, because Will betrayed him. He made a place for their family, he actually made a romantic gesture but Will surprised him by choosing not to go with him. He chose Jack's side even if he did warn Hannibal about it. That detail doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that Will didn't choose to be with Hannibal.

Hannibal: I let you know me, see me. I gave you a rare gift, but you didn't want it.

Will: Didn't I?

Hannibal: You would deny me my life.

Will: No. No, not your life. No.

Hannibal: My freedom then, you would take that from me. Confine me to a prison cell. Do you believe you could change me the way I changed you?

Will: I already did.

And that's the moment, my friends. Will really only realized that there and then but he now knows that yes he did change Hannibal. He made Hannibal actually truly care for him. Hannibal made Will see his dark side but Will made Hannibal see his good side. They have blended so much that each internalised a part of the other. And when Will states this, Hannibal can't accept it. He, in all his glory, cannot accept to be changed by anyone, not even Will. He turns to pettiness to prove a point, like a child throwing a tantrum. In an anger attack, he does the unforgivable (by undoing his good deeds) and kills Abigail, simply to try and prove Will wrong. It's low, it's difficult, and that's why he's left heartbroken, because he knows immediately he fucked up. He knows Will will probably never forgive him for it.

At the end of the episode Will is dying next to Abigail and he is still able to see the wounded stag as a representation of how deeply heartbroken Hannibal is by everything that has happened. He's pure empathy after all, he sees through Hannibal's facade right into his heart. And he also aches for their separation because now he understands what it all really meant to Hannibal. He wasn't simply playing catch with the police, he put his body and soul into their escape because he really thought he had found someone with whom he could share his life without having to hide his true self. Will's betrayal cuts deep because it's not on his ego, it's on his very soul.

[leviostars]

when hannibal lecter asked, "do you believe you could change me, the way i've changed you?" and will graham responded with, "i already did," i took that PERSONALLY

[vampv0id]

"Did you believe you could change me the way I've changed you? >:'(" and "I already did >:')" brings our minds to revisit Hannibal's character arc over the series. How Hannibal set out to affect Will but was not ready to be affected in return and this result rattled his sense of control. How this returned influence is seen in all the deep and beautiful ways Hannibal changed and did things he could never have foreseen himself doing. Hannibal relearned to put someone before himself in a way he hadn't done since Mischa was still alive. Became more amiable to exploring warmer emotions. But also it refreshes me to how he changed in the way of experimenting with use of Will's vernacular. In the Hannibal Said "Gonna"' way. "He's not gonna kill us here :)" Simple and uncomplicated but blunt detail, like a fucking punch to your throat. S1 Hannibal would see S3 Hannibal's desire to branch out from rigid pretension the mark of a pleb. Mr. Fancy Vocabulary said gonna. He fucking said gonna. He said gonna. He said g

[augxst409]

Alternate Mizumono ending written in a half an hour!!

“Will, you have to let go.” Hannibal’s voice felt like sandpaper against Will’s ears, the quietness of his office felt more unnerving than it should have. “Hobbs’ ghost haunts me every waking moment of the day, it’s like he’s always there. A never ending cycle of reminders about Abigail. And you killed her.” Sweat formed on his forehead as he let out a shaky laugh, pacing about the familiar space of the office that held the deepest secrets of any of Hannibal’s patients.

“Yet you still agreed to run away with me, why?” Hannibal questioned, walking up slowly behind Will. “We haven’t left yet, you brought me here one last time to reminisce on the manipulation you put me through, the manipulation you’re doing to me right now.” Will lets out a breath. “It’s 10:35 pm, I'm in Baltimore, Maryland, and my name is Will Graham.”

His voice held a certain type of anger even Hannibal felt, his rage emanating like some venom from a scared snake. “Will…” Hannibal sighed, placing a hand on the other man’s shoulder. “Viral Encephalitis and you said it was mental illness, you framed me for your crimes and then killed Beverly when you found her in your basement… You were supposed to leave.” Will says through gritted teeth. “I couldn't leave without you.”

Will turned around furiously, stepping away from Hannibal. “I told everybody that you were a killer, and no one believed me.” Hannibal’s face remained stoic and emotionless. “You yourself are a killer, Will. Shooting Garrett Jacob Hobbs nine times, killing Randall Tier and mutilating his body and putting it on display, you are not innocent. Tell me, Will, do you still fantasize about killing me?” Hannibal’s words were nothing short of mocking, Will could hear his blood pumping throughout his body.

Will feels his gun hooked to his waistband, weighing him down by what feels like a hundred pounds, but he can’t bring himself to aim it at the man standing before him. The loud boom of thunder startles both of them out of their thoughts, now back to facing the reality of each other. Hannibal takes a couple of steps closer to Will, reaching out a hand and gently cradling Will’s head. “Do you believe that you could change me, the way I've changed you?” Will lets out a scoff. “I already did.”

The two men make eye contact, their heartbeats synchronizing in a way they both thought to be impossible. Hannibal let out a short breath before thrusting a hidden knife into Will’s gut, the pained noise that fell from Will’s mouth was lost in the sound of Hannibal’s beating heart, rapidly increasing in speed as Will clutched his shoulder. Hannibal dragged the knife across his abdomen, seeing a stray tear fall from his eye as the final moment of betrayal finally happened.

Blood stained every surface it touched, a reminder of the love he felt for the man that he had just stabbed. “I let you know me, see me. I gave you a rare gift, but you didn’t want it.” Hannibal saw the glazed over look in Will’s eyes as he failed to respond. “When the teacup shatters, Will you forgive me?” For the first time in Will’s life he saw true emotion behind Hannibal’s cold eyes, he just wished he could figure out what it was. He fell to the ground as the older man released him, clutching his stomach as blood continued to pool out of his body.

“Perhaps in another life, Will.”

[morningstarbee]

as much as i love hannibal, i will always be a will defender

I've seen some discourse among fannibals about who was in the wrong during Mizumono. I've actually seen several takes calling Will heartless and a monster for betraying Hannibal/hurting his feelings.

And I just need to write my thoughts down on this because I've always been a big proponent of

"Hannibal is a hypocrite who can dish it out but can't take it."

What do I mean by that? Let's make it very clear what happens in between them throughout the show.

(Spoilers ahead. Obviously.)

Let's start with Season 1

Will is a lonely person who has never felt truly understood by anyone

Hannibal befriends Will, accepting his darkness and the other unpleasant parts of his personality that drove other people away and made him feel wanted.

Hannibal gets Will to rely on him, to trust him and his opinion above any other person in his life.

Hannibal becomes aware of a serious illness that not only affects Will's ability to perceive reality, but could potentially kill him. He not only fails to inform Will or a medical professional about this, but actively makes it worse.

He frames Will for his own murders and when Will realizes something is going wrong and comes to him about it, urges him to turn himself in.

Will goes to prison and loses his credibility, his reputation. All his friends and colleauges no longer trust him. For many, all the secretly held beliefs they had about him are "confirmed" and all the perceptions about himself he had spent his life avoiding are now the common opinon.

Good? Okay now let's see what happens in Season 2.

Will makes a (failed) attempt to kill Hannibal through a proxy.

Hannibal claims his kills as the Ripper and Will is released from prison.

Will hatches a plot with Jack to make Hannibal believe that Will is on his side so that they can get him arrested.

Will makes Hannibal feel accepted and seen, in a way he had believed no one was capable of.

He plans to betray Hannibal at the final dinner with Jack and arrest him when he begins the plan to kill Jack.

Does that sound familiar? Person A befriends Person B, makes them feel accepted, and then betrays them and gets them thrown in jail. Person B's revenge is to befriend Person A and make them feel accepted only to turn and and betray them to get them thrown in jail.

It's a pretty fair revenge right? The only way it could have been more even was if Will somehow gave Hannibal brain cancer or something. (Though you could argue that the attempted murder makes up for it.)

Except, no, because Will doesn't go through with it.

He changes his mind and decides not to do the betraying part. He makes a very real attempt to accept Hannibal's offer and run away with him. And yet, in Hannibal's eyes, he accepted too late. And we all know what happened in Mizumono. A complete bloodbath.

That's the equivalent of someone punching you, and when you punch them back, they gut you in their fucking kitchen.

I also want to point out something specific in Mizumono.

Hannibal slices through Will's abdomen and says the words "I forgive you. Can you forgive me?"

REMEMBER THAT.

Now what happens in Season 3?

Hannibal leaves for Italy with Bedelia and is living in Florence with her.

It takes 8 months for Will to fully recover, not only from his physical wounds, but from the emotional ones. Hannibal leaving him behind. Grieving Abigail for the second time.

Will mentions, two separate times in this season, how he wanted to run away with Hannibal. When Jack asks why he warned Hannibal he says "Because he was my friend...and because I wanted to run away with him." Later, in Italy, when Jack asks if he will disappear with Hannibal when they find him, Will replies "Part of me will always want to."

Also, people never mention this, but everyone who survived the bloodbath knew Will had betrayed them. After Will took the risk to betray everyone to try and follow Hannibal, Hannibal left him behind with the people he betrayed for him.

Will travels to places where Hannibal has been to try and figure him out. Why that happened. What went so wrong. He visits the chapel in Palermo, the entrance to Hannibal's mind palace. He visits his childhood home and leaves flowers on Mischa's grave and a tableau of the man who killed her. He takes a tour that ends with him in Florence, where Hannibal "became a man", and finds him there.

They have, by all accounts, a pleasant conversation. They leave the Uffizi Gallery together and Will pulls a knife from his pocket. Chiyoh shoots him before we ever see how that plays out. And afterwards, Hannibal has him so drugged he can barely string a sentence together to explain himself. Then Hannibal attempts to murder him. Like saw open his skull and eat his brain.

Now this is purely speculation, but I have always had a pretty clear idea of what Will was attempting here, although he had arguably bad timing.

Earlier in the season, when Will was following Hannibal through the catacombs, he calls out "I forgive you." Which is a call back to when Hannibal forgave him in Mizumono.

Now how did Hannibal forgive him? He stabbed him, sliced him open with a knife, enough to hurt, really hurt, but not enough to kill him. He left him with a scar. A physical reflection of the emotional pain he caused Hannibal.

I will argue until the day I die that Will was attempting to reciprocate that idea here.

Hannibal reacts like Will was attempting to kill him. That getting that close and having that conversation about how intertwined they were was another ruse. I think in part it was an emotional reaction, though Hannibal would deny it. I mean, fool me once shame on you, but fool me twice, shame on me, right?

Of course, Hannibal doesn't get a chance to kill him because they are interrupted by the mercenaries Mason hired kidnapping them and taking them back to the States.

This is another big thing, because Mason wasn't after Will at all, not really. He was simply a bonus to Mason, and since he had them both, he decided to use Will, by cutting off his face and using it like a mask. Will is constantly catching strays for being associated with Hannibal.

They get out of this situation, narrowly, due to Alana's intervention and Hannibal rescues Will and takes them both back to Wolftrap.

When Will wakes up, Hannibal is acting like they're all hunky dory, like he didn't just make an attempt on Will's life.

Will tells him to fuck off. "I’m not gonna miss you. I’m not gonna find you. I’m not going to look for you. I don’t want to know where you are or what you do. I don’t want to think about you anymore."

AND THIS IS SO VALID !!

Will has made so many attempts to meet Hannibal at his level. Every single attempt at reciprocity between them has ended in Hannibal lashing out. Despite all of Hannibal's claims of wanting an equal, he never lets Will commit acts of betrayal and violence on the same level as him. If I was Will, I would also be done with him. It's so exhausting putting so much energy into someone only to constantly get it thrown back in your face like that.

(Also why I believe, in the show canon, their relationship doesn't work until Hannibal gets humbled by three years in prison.)

This is why you may hear me say things like "Hannibal has the emotional intelligence of a toddler" or calling him a hypocrite and stuff like that. Again, I LOVE Hannibal, he's one of my favorite fictional characters, period. But sir, you're so dumb. How can someone so clever be so stupid?

[ganemouchie]

[ Do you believe you could change me the way I've changed you?]

[ I already did.]

If I even vaguely tried to articulate how finale s2-early s3 Hannibal and Will make me feel I shit you not I think I would just straight up die.

[these-wayward-stars]

Why did Will call Hannibal to say “they know”?

Will was telling Hannibal that "they (FBI) know" you are the Ripper, because he wants to save Jack from Hannibal. He knows their trap won't work- the FBI thinks Hannibal is innocent and Will and Jack are inducing Hannibal to kill, so even if Jack catches Hannibal in the act, no charges can be brought against Hannibal.

How could Will save Jack? Suppose Hannibal believed Will that the FBI are onto him. The reasonable course of action would be to run, rather killing Jack (as he and Will originally planned) and getting caught in the act.

Will lied, but Hannibal smiled and saw right through him, becuase Hannibal knows a. the FBI couldn't possibly have found evidence that he's the ripper and b. Will and Jack set him a trap because he smelled Freddie Lounds on Will.

So, Hannibal knows Will is lying, he knows the FBI ain't onto him, in fact the only people who suspected him were Will and Jack and they set a trap for him. Then, his reasonable move would be to kill Jack and kill Will for betraying him, and run away before the FBI finds the bodies of Jack, Alana, Abigail, and Will.

When Will tells Hannibal "you were supposed to run," he's merely acting, to maintain appearances- that he was telling Hannibal: somehow the FBI are onto you, don't wait for me, just run. Hannibal then reveals he hasn't bought it, "my freedom, then, you would take that from me." So, Will never knew that Hannibal knew of his "betrayal" / his undercover work until Hannibal said that, but he didn't realize how smitten Hannibal was either until Hannibal said "we couldn't leave without you".

I gave you a rare gift, but you didn't want it.

Didn't I?

Yes, he did want it, but in Will's mind it is the gift of justice, of catching the biggest most hard-to-catch fish in the field, in his career. He wants Hannibal caught more than killed / hunted, that's why he saved Hannibal's life before. Hannibal is important to him in that way, like Holmes / Moriarty- He needs the intellectual intrigue, the elaborate dance to bring killers to justice, that's all he has left in his life, curtesy of Hannibal. He can't live without it.

What Hannibal can't live without is someone, be it Margot, Will, Bedelia, or Randall, anyone he can manipulate into Becoming like him, to share the gift of killing with him. He's much the lesser of Moriarty in this sense. Moriarty does it for profit and as an intellectual exercise. Hannibal does it for his sickly enjoyment of cruelty.

Do you believe you could change me the way I've changed you?

I already did.

Hannibal has changed Will in the sense that he got him intrigued and obsessed. Will has changed Hannibal because he made Hannibal show emotion. "Nothing makes us more vulnerable than loneliness". Will realizes that he can use Hannibal's loneliness and Hannibal's morbid love for him to catch Hannibal. Indeed in S3 Hannibal turns himself in to be close to Will by means of the the justice system. Their dance should have ended there. The second half of S3 was a fanservice romantic fantasy.

Is Will in too deep? Yes. Is he obsessed with Hannibal? Yes. Does he empathize with Hannibal? No more than he empathize with other murderers (and that he’s lonely but that’s curtesy of Hannibal). Does he have romantic feelings for Hannibal? No.

If he did, if any affection he shows is genuine, it would be a symptom of Stockholm syndrome. There's an analysis from a psychologist's standpoint: Hannibal has ASPD and NPD, hence the manipulation of his patients and delusion of self-grandeur, where Will has autism and BPD, making him mentally (and physically, the encephalitis) unstable and vulnerable to manipulation.

Fannibals have this theory Will is suppressing his innate darkness and Hannibal helps him Becomes his true self ergo it's true love ! These people are the fuel behind said fanservice. But sure, people have every freedom to relish in wickedness, to reverse right and wrong, to scorn morality and worship psychopathy in fiction.

[chemsexandcold]

«Do you believe you could change me the way I've changed you?»

Having the most intense pain Will hears these words and answers Hannibal:

«I already did». Will was seeing Hannibal's smile, his care about Abigail and him. And was seeing how lonely Hannibal was, what loneliness has done to him. All this is said in one short phrase. Hannibal has been influenced by Will all this time. Graham was leading him to light when Hannibal was plunging Will into darkness. But they both stopped being lonely. And now they need each other.

Hannibal kills Abigail to show Will that he is wrong. Hannibal tries to prove that he hasn't changed, has remained as cruel as he was. But he already knows that he will wait for forgiveness from Will and will go to prison to have a ghostly hope of seeing him.

And Will knows that one day he will come to the prison cell to see his beloved darkness.

[nourrris]

I'm happy there was no season 4.

This could either be a popular, or very unpopular opinion, I'm unsure as frankly I've only began watching two days ago, and finished the show already, (god it was beautiful).

Anyways, I very firmly believe anything after a season 3 would have likely ruined the storyline, it ended on such a beautiful note, something that's so perfectly them. I'm also in a way, happy they never actually did kiss, although realistically I had been rooting for it to happen, the fact it didn't doesn't bother me one bit, it really brings out all the intimacy in their prior actions, and words, I love that their love was batshit insane, that it didn't need a kiss or pda to believe it was reciprocated, frankly surrendering eachothers lives together was more than enough for a confirmation.

But continuing on, I believe a season 4 would have been too messy, they left s3 on a very difficult position to recover off, and a position that didn't need recovering either, it didn't need fixing or changing - not one bit. It was so perfect in my opinion, their last things they did was kill a man together to save one another, then kill themseleves together, literally how much more fitting could it have been for these murder husbands? It just worked so well, that nothing can be more intimate than death for them, in my opinion.

Latching onto the last part of the first section of the post, I really liked how they portrayed the reciprocity of Will's feelings towards Hannibal. When Bedelia ask's Will if he 'aches' for Hannibal too, and it cuts off to another scene, I generally already took that as a yes, as it was a big damn claim, I don't think it's something you easily hesitate on, not when the person in question is a cannibalistic murderer. When he chooses to save Hannibal, and jump off the cliff with him though, that is the real confirmation of course, choosing to leave his wife and son, all friends and absolutely every inch of the life he made - for Hannibal, a man he physically could not get over no matter how hard he tried.

It's perfect, sorry I just finished the show today (like a few hours ago) and I love it so dearly, I've never watched something where the ending felt so genuinely satisfying, even if it seemingly hadn't meant to felt like a finale in that manner, it worked amazingly, I'm very glad it wasn't a s2 situation with such an insane cliff hanger, or else I would have probably just.. never watched the show. Some say it does feel like a cliff hanger, but eventually you can come to terms and realize that their actions, a double suicide in the name of love(?) couldn't possibly surpass anything else they've done at that point, their action's have led them to either horribly idiotic situations, or blissful moments.

Lastly I wanted to mention my original assumption of the ending, I midway through season 2 found out Hannibal was actually a incomplete cancelled show, also prior to that I found through spoilers that will eventually has a wife. Those facts are important because I very weirdly am a person who cannot consume a media without spoilers, (my anxiety is due to that). So I just about know every ending of a show before I'm even halfway into it, although I tend to prefer to wait later, I wondered if finishing the show was worth it so i searched it up, and watched briefly the ending, It was very relieving as if it actually did truly end in a heterosexual way it would have immediately made me quit the show, as yes they are intimite but I still did want any type of closure, without it I would have felt at most pretty indifferent with the ending.

Anyways, the show is beautiful, I love it so so much, even if it's a complete change in genres for me, I love the characters, I love the artistry and creativity in the show, and god do I love the ending.

(edit a day later: guys i totally missed that last scene w bedelia at the end, i still prefer s3's ending but did not know it was implied they were alive!!??!)

[swordfolio]

"I gave you a rare gift, but you didn't want it."

"Tell me Will, do you believe you could change me, the way I've changed you?"

aka the playlist hannibal pops everytime will doesn't accept his gifts.

Listen here.

[omniishambles]

collidingxworlds​:

Will mused on Hannibal’s words, slowly chewing on his next bite and eventually swallowing it with a generous sip of wine. His mind was being pulled in different directions at the same time, in a way that, once upon a time, he would have found overwhelming. Nowadays he could handle it, but it was still difficult for him to focus properly on the case when he was busy also with pondering theological what-ifs and wondering if the pigeon he was eating was really a pigeon.

“Does the Devil truly exist?” He ended up asking, setting down the glass. “As you said, he serves mostly as a convenient scapegoat to justify events that wouldn’t fit the idea of a just God. He could be just a myth to hide away the Almighty’s crimes. A punishment without a proper reason to legitimate it is just sadistic cruelty.”

The profile’s gaze fell from the psychiatry’s face, locking on his half empty glass of wine. How to find a killer who followed a set of rules known only by the perpetrator himself and his God? He couldn’t see him, not clearly enough, not yet. Perhaps the next murder would have made the image sharper, but they couldn’t just sit around and wait for him to strike again.

But where to start from? Religious delusions weren’t so uncommon among people affected by a psychotic disorders. Perhaps Hannibal had had the right idea, bringing up ideas for a possible background. The divine would stay mysterious, at least for now, but they could speculate on the human.

“I don’t think he’s part of a group. He is the Chosen One, the only one who can serve as God’s right hand. He might have a specific place of worship, but it’s a private shrine, a place known by him alone,” Will eventually answered, shaking his head lightly. “And he couldn’t possibly be a priest, because he would never associate himself with such a greedy, power-hungry, corrupted organisation.”

There was a thought stuck between his brows, he could feel it’s weight, but he couldn’t put it into focus.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he targeted someone strongly associated with the Church at some point. Plenty of sinners hiding behind the face of a self-proclaimed ‘man of God’.”

He pause to finish his drink, a pensive expression lingering on his features.

“He could have been part of a congregation and he could have left it after realising that they weren’t doing God’s work as they were supposed to.” His fingers drummed against the polished surface of the table. “He could have been a theology student. It’s obvious that he known the Scriptures by heart. Or he could have grown up in an extremely religious family. That could explain why his vision of God and sinners is so inflexible.”

@collidingxworlds / & Will

Hannibal listened intently as he ate, letting Will’s thoughts wash over him and fill the cobalt dining room with intrigue. All of his suggestions seemed viable, but they were yet to figure out how they could narrow that list down. At least it had been narrowed somewhat, more than before, and Jack Crawford would be grateful for some kind of direction to go in, as determined as a bloodhound on the scent.

But this trail of blood intrigued Hannibal deeply. This killer had such a resolute belief that they were doing the work of God. He thought of James Gray and his great masterpiece which had been lacking until Hannibal allowed him to finish the piece, to make it mean something more than the muralist had originally intended. The great eye looking up at God, and God looking back.

So much art and music was fueled by God. One could almost feel his presence there, lingering like a great shadow, the promise of a higher power locked in the strokes of a brush or the swell of an orchestra.

“When did you last go to church, Will? Were you made to sit on a pew each Sunday as a child? Or did your parents allow you the extra sleep of sinners?” Hannibal asked with an amused smile, pausing in his meal to reach again for his wine. He took a sip, allowing the taste to linger in his mouth.

The blood of Christ. Water turned to wine. At least they could isolate the most likely religion this Chosen One belonged to.

“I think perhaps we ought to see which local churches might be missing a rather zealous member of their congregation. I’m sure they’d be remembered.”