#chiyoh's theme

[jennaimmortal]

One of the easiest ways to understand the fact that Will was always a killer-in-waiting is to look at some of the most well-known themes of the show. What does Will love most about Hannibal? The fact that Hannibal saw, understood & never judged him, no matter how deadly & dangerous he was, no matter how wicked his thoughts were.

If Will didn’t actually feel all the things that Hannibal called him out for feeling or want the things that Hannibal pointed out he wanted, then Hannibal wouldn’t have been the only person to truly understand him, since he’d have been wrong in his assessments of Will. But he wasn’t wrong, which is why it meant so much to Will that Hannibal could see all of that in him but didn’t turn away or judge him.

One of the big things that upset Will when he learned the truth about Hannibal was the fact that he was faced with one of the main reasons they understood each other so well: they were both violent, dangerous people. Hannibal understood him because he’s felt those same things & had those same urges, and he’s a vicious killer. Ergo, SO IS WILL! That’s a big part of what led to Will lashing out hard at Hannibal, but never actually hating him or wanting him dead.

Will tied his own inner monster up so tightly with Hannibal’s so that he could give his conscious mind distance from that part of himself. By lashing out at Hannibal, he could lash out at himself. It’s where the whole “needing to kill Hannibal so he doesn’t become him” foolishness originated. Since those two things were so inextricably linked in Will’s mind, he’d convinced himself he could kill it if he killed Hannibal. (Chiyoh was so real for calling him out about that, btw.)

It’s also really ironic that Hannibal’s foolish, fucked up experiments with Will in S1 to speedrun his transformation actually ended up delaying it. Will suddenly had another shield to hide behind to tell himself “It’s not me, it’s Hannibal. If I kill Hannibal, I can kill that part of myself.” Poetic irony at its finest! I could do another whole post just about this.

But back to the point at hand, if Hannibal hadn’t been correct when he called out all the violent & dangerous things he saw inside of Will, he certainly wouldn’t have considered Hannibal the only person who truly understood him. He’d have been creeped out & wouldn’t have had any trouble at all either killing him “in the name of justice” or getting him arrested.

It was very deliberate that Will’s conflict about accepting Hannibal was intertwined with his conflict about accepting himself. He couldn’t do one without the other. It would’ve been a lot easier for Will to just accept that he’d fallen in love with a murderer & didn’t want to let him go. But Hannibal’s monster is so similar to his own that he couldn’t possibly only accept Hannibal for who he was. Accepting Hannibal was the same thing as accepting himself, which is why he fought so hard against it for so long.

[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."

[hannibalbabygirlifier]

Okay I don’t know how coherently I can express this but there’s a theme I keep noticing in Hannibal as really quite central but I never see anyone talk about it.

There’s something fascinating going on in regards to free will vs fate and nature. It’s a constantly repeating pattern-characters will desperately try to control the world around them and time and time again it is proved futile. Hannibal smashes his teacups to try and put them back together but they won’t. All his schemes and machinations are nothing in the face of the greater machinations of fate that never intended it to be put back together.

Bella, attempting to have control over whether she lives or dies, ultimately having the decision made for her in the flip of a coin. Jack, desperately trying to keep her alive, ultimately being the one to take life from her. The universe does not let her choose when to die or Jack choose to keep her alive.

Will, desperately trying to control his nature and choose who he is and what he wants ultimately being unable to repress or run from his real desires. No matter how many families he makes for himself, roles he tries to play, physical walls he puts between them, none of it is comparable to the pull of the universe, keeping them in each others orbit.

Abigail, saved from death, just to die the same way on a kitchen floor, because fate will not be cheated and she was always meant to die that way, just living on borrowed time.

Chiyoh, spending a lifetime trying to make a conscious choice not to kill her charge, only to be forced into it in self defence anyways.

Hannibal, desperately trying to sever himself from the vulnerability and love he feels, only after everything to accept that he is vulnerable and he is irrevocably changed and there isn’t anything he can do to control it. Hannibal’s comments on how we don’t control forgiveness or with whom we fall in love. “Love. Either he pays you a visit or he doesn’t”.

There’s something so fitting to all of that, that ultimately will doesn’t choose to run away with him in a conscious easy guaranteed way or try to kill him in a way that assures he dies. Instead, there is acceptance that there is to be no fighting the strings of fate. A leap of faith-if they live, so be it, there is no more fighting it, they are conjoined. If they die, so be it, then that is what is meant to be. The two most rigidly repressed control freak characters- will for his repression of nature and passion, hannibal for his repression of weakness and the vulnerability of his life and heart in someone else’s hands, accept the total loss of control and the futility of trying to have it. “If everything that can happens, happens, then you can never really do the wrong thing. You’re just doing what you’re supposed to do.”

[hiddenglovebox]

Can we talk about the sexism that occurs in the Hannibal fandom.

A lot of haters of the series say that the sexism is rooted in the show itself, which it’s not. The show had no themes of sexism except for the fact that every female character deserved better. Chiyoh, Molly, Margot, Abigail, Alana, Beverly.

The sexism is rooted in the fandom. I see posts glorifying the male characters and then pointing out the flaws of the female characters and ridiculing them. (Hating one female character is one thing. But hating ALL OF THEM???🤨🤨🤨)

Like Hannibal is literally a cannibalistic serial killer who manipulates people, yet you’re hating on Chiyoh who was a victim of his manipulation and saying that she was dumb for staying in that castle for so long. I’m just so deeply confused.

Me watching people make fun of my favs🫤

[cedarxwing]

My favorite details in Castle Lecter's set design

1. The Lecter family crest pays homage to the Hannibal book cover.

It references Milan's biscione, a snake devouring a man, which appears on the coat of arms of the Visconti and Sforza families (from which Hannibal is descended on his mother's side).

SIDE NOTE: One of Hannibal's favorite pastimes as the curator of the Palazzo Vecchio was reading about his ancestors:

Funnily enough, the Visconti-Sforza commissioned their own tarot decks in the 15th century, so Hannibal might've been studying those in the Palazzo library around the time he designed his Vitruvian Man tableau. Here's the original Visconti di Modrone Three of Swords vs an artist's reproduction:

2. Pheasant & Raven imagery

The Chiyoh/Abigail parallels are strong, but Chiyoh's symbolic prey animal is a pheasant instead of a deer! She uses pheasant quills as decoration for her dinner with Will, and there are some taxidermied pheasants in the hunting lodge we didn't get to see:

But my favorite detail is how she uses a pheasant bone to kill the Caged Man! Even a prey animal has sharp edges.

Meanwhile, ravens represent Hannibal's imposing presence haunting the estate. We see them on the Lecter family crest and taxidermied by the fireplace.

Doubled birds of prey motif... a nod to how Will is joining Hannibal as a predator?

All the hawk paintings could also just be referencing this single line in Hannibal Rising:

SIDE NOTE: Over in Florence, Hannibal is keeping in the bird theme with a feathered arm ham wing and a nest of green bean asps for his dinner with Sogliatto:

3. A Shrine for Mischa?

There's a deleted scene in the script where Will spots a Shinto shrine while snooping:

A small version of this shrine appears above the fireplace. It includes a pair of birds of paradise, the same flower Chiyoh leaves on Mischa's grave:

If you've read the books, Mischa's presence is also palpable in the deer heads watching over their dinner (not that we got to see them lol):

4. The way the painting above the fireplace is cut off makes it look like an oni glaring at them! Creepy!

Or maybe it's meant to look like Enma, the Buddhist King of Hell, who is depicted in the painting on the ceiling in the original production design (The Fever of Tairo no Kiyomori by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1883):

It's actually this Rorschach of a landscape based on Old Plum by Kano Sansetsu (1646):

5. Japanese family crests (mon) on the curtains

The Secondo scene uses the weeping wisteria family crest (sagari fuji mon):

The name Murasaki means wisteria, so I assume this crest represents her. It's doubly fitting, since in real life, this is the Fujiwara crest, and Lady Murasaki's namesake (Murasaki Shikibu, author of the Tale of Genji) was a Fujiwara.

The original production design uses a princess tree family crest (kiri mon). Not sure if there was any symbolism to that choice, but they didn't go with it in the end.

[pesky--dust]

I never thought I would be writing something like this, but talking to a few people has made me realize that a lot of fannibals have no idea about Red Dragon Con!

For disclaimer: I do not work for Starfury. I just trying to give this convention some recognition with this post, basing on what I know and what I experienced.

What is Red Dragon Con?

Red Dragon Con is NBC’s Hannibal-themed convention that has been held annually in London since 2015 (although it didn't take place in 2020-2023 due to the pandemic). The first few editions took place in winter, however now it takes place in summer.

Where and when is this year’s Red Dragon Con?

July 4th – 6th 2025

Renaissance Hotel, Heathrow

there are still some tickets left!!

What can you do at Red Dragon Con?

First of all, the biggest thing, I believe, is meeting Hannibal’s actors.

Last year we had Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal Lecter), Caroline Dhavernas (Alana Bloom), Tao Okamoto (Chiyoh), Tom Wisdom (Anthony Dimmond), Jeremy Davies (Peter Bernardone) and the Julian Richings (prisoner of Lecter Estate).

This year’s guests are: Hugh Dancy (Will Graham), Kacey Rohl (Abigail Hobbs), Lara Jean Chorostecki (Freddie Lounds), Jeremy Davies (Peter Bernardone), Demore Barnes (Tobias Budge), Ricky Whittle.

On Friday there is registration, where you collect your entry badge. In the evening there is a meeting with the actors for golden ticket holders, as well as the opening ceremony.

On Saturday and Sunday there are photo ops with the actors, meetings with the actors, panels during which the attendees ask questions, and the autograph sessions.

You have to pay for the photos, and prices range from 35-75£

Regular ticket holders are guaranteed autographs from all regular guests

Golden ticket holders are guaranteed autographs from all regular guests and one bonus guest. This year’s bonus guests are Jeremy Davies and Ricky Whittle

Everyone has to pay for an autograph from an extra guest (this category appeared this year) — this year’s extra guest is Hugh Dancy

You have to pay for fan meets too (last year the highest price was £375 for Mads Mikkelsen, this year it's much lesser for Hugh Dancy)

On all three days there is a disco in the evenings. On Saturdays there is a cosplay competition with actors as the jury. On Sunday there is a closing ceremony.

What is my personal experience?

Red Dragon Con 6 was my first convention ever. I was nervous, but it's a small convention (last year there were about 700 people, this year it will be about 400) and the people there were so lovely that I knew I would want to come back. Fannibals were exchanging handmade goods, bringing some homemade cookies, fans (because it was so hot), going shopping together, and so on.

I will never forget when my friends and I were returning to another hotel at night and someone accosted us. This person said that they were sorry for following us, but their battery was dead and they had to get to the bus stop and they saw the flower crowns so they felt safe.

There was also a Hindu wedding held at that hotel. So half the people were in traditional Indian wedding attire and the other half was in flower crowns. People thought we were a cult (lol).

Caroline Dhavernas accidentally broke the flower crown I had for her, so in the photo she stands with her arms raised, holding it. (lol)

My favourite was definitely Jeremy Davies. Someone lent me a rat stuffed animal for a photo, and when I approached Jeremy, he immediately started acting like Peter. It didn't matter whether it was during fan meetings, photos or autographs — he tried to devote so much time to each one single person that in the end the staff had to hurry him up because the schedule was falling apart.

The closing ceremony was also delayed because of Jeremy — he was talking to both Bryan Fuller and the staff because he wanted to connect us with Bryan somehow. We ended up singing a made-up song to the tune of Happy Birthday and he sent it to Bryan (which he posted on Twitter).

It was hard to say goodbye to everyone, but yes, I am coming back this year for the seventh edition of the convention.

Once again, I am leaving here the link to the event page: https://seanharry.com/home/red-dragon/

If anyone has any questions or needs help — I do not bite and I can try to help in some way.

[singingrottenbones]

I just watched s3ep6 so spoilers for that in my ask but...

Why do you think Will was going to knife Hannibal before he got shot? Was he going to kill him, or just give him a scar? I didn't quite expect it after the way he laughed in the museum

Hi friend! Little disclaimer before I answer your question: I have only watched the show once so far, and I am at the end of season 1 with my rewatch. So I am not familiar with every possible interpretation, and my answer might change once I've finished my rewatch!

Now, onto your question: I actually thought about it as I was falling asleep, trying to understand Will's motive and what his actions could mean.

I think what it comes down to is the overarching theme of forgiveness.

There are a few parallels at play here: 2x13 ends with Hannibal both figurately and literally gutting Will, but he also says that he forgives him for his betrayal.

Fast forward to 3x02, 8 months later we are now in Italy. Will has followed Hannibal and is trying to reunite with him. We do not know for what purpose yet. Is it to kill him? To stay with him? But we do find out that Abigail is dead. And Will forgives Hannibal.

Then, in 3x06, they finally reunite. "If I saw you every day forever, Will, I would remember this time." All seems to be well. They smile, they laugh. They leave together. Chiyoh saves Hannibal's life.

Then, one of the best lines of dialogue on the show:

Followed by:

In a way, I think that Will had forgiven Hannibal for killing Abigail and very nearly killing him. For framing him, for uprooting his life, for leaving. But we cannot forget that Will and Hannibal's relationship is defined by metaphorical and literal violence. They can say something and mean it, and then go and do something contradicting it. That doesn't mean it wasn't true.

Will had forgiven Hannibal. He also wanted to hurt him. And I personally think that even with his knife in his hand, he didn't know if he was going to kill Hannibal or not. He doesn't answer Hannibal's question if he would have done it quickly, and we know that in his fantasy, he wanted to kill Hannibal with his bare hands. Like an animal.

Like with most of the show, there is an ambiguity to the character's action that allows for either interpretation. I choose to believe that Will didn't know what he was going to do - only that he was going to try.

[quackerofoatz]

Primavera and the Love of Hannibal ♥

( @manilovedinosaurs tagging as they had given me this wonderful idea with their question :D )

Uffizi Gallery and seen Primavera over ten times. He could have sat before any painting while Will was chasing him but chose Primavera.

Botticelli's work Primavera is an allegorical tableau. It depicts a scene from classical mythology, where the three Graces dance together. The central figure is the goddess of love, Venus, who stands on the right, surrounded by a retinue of gods, nymphs, and attendants. In the background, the horizon is filled with a scene representing the season of spring. The painting is considered a masterpiece of early Italian Renaissance art.

Primavera would have been a personal painting and would reflect his thoughts and feelings to me. Especially as Hannibal is a man of high-class taste including Renaissance art and Greek mythology. Primavera is a painting from the Italian Renaissance expressing the feeling of love.

There are many theories and ideas on what this painting could mean or represent with its symbolism with the characters. Some are the allegory of spring, humanism during the Renaissance, showing of Neoplatonism, the kindling of love, and the metamorphosis of time.

 It is generally agreed among historians that these are the main themes but there are many theories about if there is more.  For Hannibal, the main themes I think he sees are the metamorphosis of change, Neoplatonism, and the kindling of love. There are way too many themes in this beautiful painting so I will focus on these themes briefly. 

The metamorphosis of time is shown in this painting by combining the ideas of the past and present. It showed how religion and the subject matter of art have changed from Greek mythology to Christianity showing a clash of these. It’s in this sense that it matches the way Hannibal sees the world. He has a complex relationship with God yet sees the parallels of mythology around him. Like the Renaissance, he seems to reveal and understand more the violent and the gritty parts of Christianity. This is considered an uncommon theme for the time this painting is set in the Renaissance. There are several transformations in this painting with the figures of Venus to Mary and Chloris into Flora. In the same way, Hannibal had changed from Il Monstro to the Chesapeake Ripper, Will having his becoming as well.

( Where does the difference between the past and the future come from? 

Mine? 

Before you and after you.

 Yours? )

This painting by looking at it from a broad perspective is about the depiction of the seasons and the changing characters. The painting illustrates a spring scene as the flowers bloom and the seasons change and shows the passing of time in the changing nature of the characters themselves. The image of Zephyrus, the west wind, represents the coming of spring and fertility, while Chloris, the goddess of flowers, holds the nymph Flora as she blossoms in the springtime. Other figures symbolize the different ages of life, symbolizing the changing faces of time. Venus is pictured illustrating the natural cycle of life, which is birth and fertility, which this goddess represents, in combination with the Virgin Mary. With the change that has emerged in Hannibal’s life, there was always a change of women in his life from his past, present, and future.

She is depicted with the themes associated with the Virgin as being visibly pregnant, dressed modestly, and hand raised like in the annunciation. The Venus/Virgin Mary is represented in every woman he’s encountered. Bedelia is his present, Mischa and Chiyoh are his past and Abigail is his future. It is also paralleled with the women WIll has met in his life, (Alana, Abigail, Margot). Yet with meeting these women, they have begun to combine and blur more into each other with time The women in his life change just like the seasons, yet Will is the only person he wants to stay with.  Hannibal has seen this painting as a young man and now as a man in his late forties. He has changed with time and with the meeting of Will Graham.

(Where does the difference between the past and the future come from? 

Mine? 

Before you and after you. 

Yours?

 It's all starting to blur. 

Mischa.

 Abigail.

 Chiyoh.)

He visited Florence with Will and without Will. WIll in that way represents the change Hannibal saw in himself and the change he wanted to cause in Will. Like Zephyrus, he wants to change Chloris and elevate her in the name of love to Flora. He wanted Will to transform into the person he should be, into the person Hannibal envisions him to be. He comes to Florence in hopes of a fresh start and in a way to forget the kindling of the love he shared with Will. As with the final, Hannibal left heartbroken wanting to have shown Will many things about himself and the world. With every turn and step, Hannibal could never truly be free or forget Will as he did with others.  The figures of Zephyr, the personification of the west wind, and Chloris symbolize the romantic pursuit and connection. Zephyrus's gentle touch as he holds Chloris’ hand depicts a tender and loving moment between them as they begin their journey together are the centers of attention in the painting's narrative of romantic love. Zephyr's romantic pursuit of Chloris, portrayed by his touch, represents the initial connection and attraction between the two. This scene reflects the idea that love often blossoms unexpectedly, resembling the way the wind blows swiftly and suddenly without warning. This romantic chase is a representation of the deep emotional connection between the two, capturing the raw passion and determination in their pursuit of love. 

It reflects the Renaissance emphasis on Humanism, particularly in its portrayal of the kindling of love. During this period, Humanism emphasized the importance of human potential and individual experience. The painting illustrates a moment of blossoming love, with The themes of love and fertility in the painting reflecting the Humanist focus on the individual's emotional and physical well-being and the celebration of natural beauty and desire. Hannibal in a way was always for expressing his nature and that violence was a part of it and believed to be natural. He believed there was nothing wrong with expressing oneself in this manner believing it to be biblical. Many scenes in the Renaissance have gory scenes in the Bible or mythology and love can be attributed during or before the scene. He thinks of violence and love to be parallel to each other. 

(You dropped your forgiveness, Will.

 You forgive how God forgives.

 Would you have done it quickly?

 Or would you have stopped to gloat?

 Does God gloat? 

Often.)

He is the foil to Hannibal, in more ways than one. They are conjoined, yet not similar. The love and understanding they share are as natural as the coming of spring.  They are as conjoined as the themes of violence and love in Renaissance art, neither can exist without the other. It is a tango of both desire and passion with these themes. Violence and love share a strange connection in life and literature. While they appear to be complete opposites, they coexist in an unusual dance of power and desire. This push-pull relationship is a raw expression of human emotion on the most fundamental level. It is in the very being of the relationship between Hannibal Lecter and Will. 

He is the Clrois to his Zephyrus. 

Patrocules to his Achilles. 

Love to his Violence. 

[tactician]

even though i said i wasn't going to, i ended up shiny hunting for an all-shiny team to play through the new pokemon scarlet teal mask dlc! :D meet aske the gallade, chiyoh the sinistcha, syrup the dipplin, laz the munchlax, marrow the mandibuzz aaaand crossbun the heracross! i love this lil gang so much and am so hype to progress further in the actual plot now dkfldskg

i'm gonna ramble about how each of my hunts for these pkmn went under the cut! :3c there'll be no plot spoilers because i have pretty much only scratched the surface of that!

ok so... syrup the dipplin was the first shiny that i collected for this team! i got her in a random applin outbreak a few weeks before the dlc dropped. i wasn't sure what to evolve her into (or if to just keep her as an applin), so i ended up procrastinating on that... but i realized that she was the perfect candidate for my teal mask team, since dipplin is a brand new pkmn. i generally don't keep track of encounters during outbreaks, but she showed up really fast! i was worried that i'd miss her since applin is SO small, and it's also green so it tends to blend into the grass ;_; either way, i caught her in a luxury ball o7

the second shiny i got was laz the munchlax! munchlax has been a dream shiny of mine so i was extremely hype to take this hunt on. ik it's on the more subtle side, but i think the rich, darker blue is really cute on munchlax, and a shiny is a shiny, u know? i started it off in pkmn shield a few days before the dlc dropped, since the pkmn twitter posted a screenshot with a munchlax in it hehe. i decided to try for a moon ball munchlax via the masuda method (somehow i have a TON of special apricorn pokeballs in shield?!?! we were eatin good back then wtf). i ended up going over-odds in shield for munchlax the NIGHT that the dlc dropped... i'm not sure about the exact number, but i was definitely over 512. once that happened, i transfered the parent snorlax over to scarlet and resumed the hunt over there, since i figured it'd be more fun to explore the new region as i hatched eggs. i hatched roughly 150 more of them before laz hatched on egg 668! (i also got the item finder mark on him, so his full title is 'laz the treasure hunter' - sooo cute. ;_;)

after laz, i decided to try for some more outbreak shinies, since i thought those would be quick and easy. by full odds standards, they totally were!!! but by outbreak standards, i def faced... a few little challenges! LDFGKD;GK

the morning after the dlc dropped, i had a ralts outbreak so i figured i'd go for another dream shiny of mine - gallade. that'd mean finding a male ralts, since gallade is gender-specific. i tried to hunt for a male ralts back in legends arceus and ended up finding a female one as well as a female kirlia, so i figured that i'd have some better luck in another game. i ended up finding FIVE more female ralts before finally getting a male one as ralts #8. i caught him in a net ball and named him 'aske' after a character in the dnd campaign that i'm in with my friends!! iykyk!!! LSDKFDSLKG but i really do enjoy catching pkmn that are themed after other characters so i'm totally thrilled to have this gallade!!! ;v;

shortly after nabbing aske, i got marrow the mandibuzz during a vullaby outbreak! this shiny was such a standard fun little outbreak shiny - i knocked out around 60 vullabies and she turned up very quickly after that. i think if you have the teal mask dlc and enjoy outbreak shiny hunting, the paradise barrens portion of the map is gonna be really, really good for them, since theres barely anything to obscure the pkmn that are outbreaking (and there's no grass, so there's like, no lag at all LMFAO). i caught the beloved lil birdy in a luxury ball.

after marrow came home so fast, i was emboldened, so i started my hunt for chiyoh the sinistcha(/poltchageist). i decided to see if i could get an artisan poltchageist outbreak to trigger, since, at the time, there were rumours about all-artisan outbreaks - and i suceeded in doing so!!! but then i couldn't find a shiny like... at all... to the point that i was genuinely wondering if it was glitched or something. i hunted in it for a full day and by that point i was like, Convinced that something was wrong, so i ended up giving up on that outbreak. i now realize that the shiny is REALLY subtle, though, so it's possible that i walked right past SEVERAL and didn't know... but i was being ridiculously careful when i hunted it, so i'm honestly not sure about that. anyway, while i was looking for the shiny poltchageist, i phased on TWO different heracrosses. i love heracross' shiny SO MUCH that i succumbed and decided to add one to my team! and that heracross ended up being named crossbun!

by that time, i decided that i didn't really care about having an artisan or counterfeit version of the poltchageist shiny (and tbh i kinda agree with the notion that artisan outbreaks sort of ruin the appeal of hunting down a rare forme), so i ended up doing a few encounter power sandwiches instead. when i finally ran into the shiny, it was huge relief LMAO. chiyoh was my 6th team member, so, with that, my teal mask team was complete! o7

i gave everyone mints, hyper trained them and ev trained them (using lots of mochi from the new ogre oustin' game hehe) and they're now ready to take on the plot! ik that it's definitely not all that necessary to build a team from scratch for the dlc but i had a blast doing it. the time i spent gathering these pals and exploring kitakami was really special. i'm definitely planning on doing this again for the indigo disc dlc!

[osachiyo]

PINK THEMEEEEE AJAAASJS I love it sm 🙏🏽

[titleleaf]

What are the Bad Hannigram Takes you're encountering? I watched the show but never got too involved in the fandom so I am fascinated

Oh god I'm so sorry, I have no idea how coherent any of this will be if you haven't dipped into the fandom and even for my part I've been mainly watching and reading from afar but hereeeee... are my thoughts. Disclaimer that YMMV, let people have fun, etc., but I am a gigantic hater.

[fandom negativity and a leetle canon-related negativity behind the cut: if for whatever reason you don't want to hear me bitching about people being Wrong On The Internet About A TV Show keep scrolling, mute me, block me, whatever]

Character-specific tunnel vision where Hannibal is the center of the universe -- not just in the sense that he's, yk, the title character of the show and the most memorable character created by Thomas Harris but in the sense that all characters are evaluated by how much they support or obstruct Hannibal's God-given right to do whatever he wants to anybody ever. And my God, it is so, so boring.

Nothing is ever Hannibal's fault, either. Delicate use of the exonerative passive voice — oh it's so sad, Will was framed, Beverly was murdered, Abigail was killed, but by whom? Hard to say! Especially funny when people whip this out regarding shit even Hannibal plainly regrets, like framing Will and then not having Will to hang out with. In general downplaying Hannibal's agency is such a weird move with a character who takes so much pleasure in doing what he wants. "To what extent are people a product of their external influences and life traumas, to what extent is Hannibal capable of not killing" is a whole other conversation but it's just a very odd reading of the character and the show as a text.

Nothing is ever Hannibal's fault, because it's actually the fault of... [scans crowd] that woman over there! Weird misogyny, often overlapping with the above (bc boy howdy, the list of women who Hannibal kills, maims, tortures, or otherwise fucks over is not short — Abigail, Alana, Bella, Beverly, Bedelia, Miriam, Margot, Georgia… I guess Freddie makes it out okay?) but sometimes seemingly just because, or to exonerate Hannibal of all blame for his own actions toward Will, as if this is the kind of show where it’s vitally important our blorbos be morally pure. Like… I’m sorry but I don’t think this is the show for you if that’s the case. People are really weird about Alana, people are really really weird about Bedelia, people are turbo weird about Molly... I'm sure there are people out there being weird about Chiyoh but I haven't encountered them yet, and I feel like there's some uhhhh other factors in play there too.

Baffling ship war stuff even once the canon's long since finished airing. I'm a big multishipper for this fandom so the weird competitive approach where Will and Hannibal's love must be the only real love (or even the only real erotic desire) they've either ever experienced ever is really off-putting. Showrunner Word of God here regarding Will's sexual orientation is in itself a take that annoys me, as a humorless bisexual man, but this is more commonly expressed via weird not-joking "jokes" about how the only reason Hannibal would ever have sex with a woman would be as an elaborate ruse (and how she'd deserve it for being stupid enough to believe he'd be into women) or how Hannibal's a better wife to Will than Molly ever could be. Dude... relax... your pairing has a literal love theme like a 1990s erotic thriller, why are you this insecure. People will do this with characters who don't even appear in the show! Now why is Clarice in it???? I need people to just be normal.

Nice polite sweet tea-sippin' Southern boy Will, and his equally annoying twin brother, Will with an inexplicable and phonetically-rendered Southern accent. 50% me being an extremely sensitive buzzkill about how the text presents Will's childhood and how the romanticized vision of the American South people draw on is superficial and rooted in white supremacist nostalgia, 50% me being a person who can hear Hugh Dancy speak dialogue in a television show and recognize basic American regional accents.

General... accrued fanon, I guess? All the tropes and memes and fandom in-jokes and fandom characterizations that build on one another to the point where their relationship to the show as a text (or to the novels, for that matter) is pretty damn tenuous.

In general, and while I know where this is coming from as a lover of dark stories/horror media/dark and destructive love stories who’s gotten flak for all of that: people getting so defensive about shipping something ~*~*~*problematique~*~* that they take other people talking about the things that textually make their dynamic fucked up (even if they’re talking about those things as something they like or something they enjoy exploring with the canon) as an attack or a sign somebody's Interrogating The Text From The Wrong Perspective. I think the show itself has some narrative weaknesses that lend themselves to this kind of fandom circlejerk but please... please Lord... I just want to write about a really weird guy getting his dick stepped on whilst classical music plays and having the time of his life, why is everyone doing this to me

On the much more benign end of things, “Will is totally normal average everyman while Hannibal is weird and pretentious and fruity” bc it just makes them sitcom parents. Show!Will is a weird fucking guy in his own right! They're both weird! And they're in love!

[allio-corporations]

(It’s funnier if they mainly do parody themes, using famous songs both modern and classical tunes, but make it about their lives aka their Lore. Like a more cannibalistic Weird AL. But occasionally do have original songs.)

Their Top Songs Include:

Rocking in the FBI (parody of Rocking in the USSR)

Jack I’m in Love with a Cannibal (parody of Mama I’m in love with a criminal)

Smooth Cannibals (smooth criminal)

Stagman’s World (parody of Scatman’s world)

Still Inside of You (parody of Still Into You)

Cannibal Paradise (parody of Gangster’s Paradise)

Hungry Widow Makers (original)

I am the Stagman (parody of I am the Walrus)

Cannibalistic Comedia (original but a inspired by Dante)

Let Me Eat You & My Best Friend (parody of Let Me Tell you About My Best Friend)

They would also have the weirdest instruments in the band, harpsichord, theremin (don’t know how to spell it), elementary school quality recorder (Will’s idea), violins, pianos, bass guitar, cello, timpani drums, and any other assortment they can get from their beloved forensic team.

Freddie shows up to play symbols or cowbell, Beverly probably violin or other stringed instruments (she does cello too since Tobias isn’t allowed to join bc Hannibal thought it would be rude to make cat gut aka human gut strings out of other bandmates so Tobias was kicked), Jimmy with the clarinet and trombone (bc comedic timing), Brian with trumpet and tuba, etc.

Jack on snare drums and canons (which have been used in many musical pieces throughout history), Will on a variety of guitars and pianos. Hannibal playing any obscure instrument he feels like for the song at hand. All of them trading around vocals.

With Abigail on finger symbols or kazoo. Reba on the mallet (can’t remember the name but it is similar to a metal xylophone you use with padded mallets), Francis on the screaming/skaa band vocals or bass clarinet, Chilton on the raid siren or piccilo (I have used a raid siren in a school band performance years ago).

Alana on the flute, Margot on the saxophones (of multiple varieties), Bedilia on the water glasses (real in orchestras, but in her case they’re full of wine she drinks throughout the pieces), Chiyoh on the harp or French-horn (could also just have her sniper rifle bc guns also used in music pieces throughout history). Bella is vocals or anything she likes because she is the best. Gideon on the baritone or synth (since both can be used to mimic or sound similar to different instruments, baritone a mix between trombone and tuba while synth can mimic a lot of different sounds).

(Mason, Franklin, Tobias, and Cordell are banned from music practice (aka Elf Practice like in my beloved movie Rudolph the red nosed reindeer) but are banned for various reasons, which you can infer.)

I have somehow turned the boyband into a cannibalistic orchestra.

I’ll add more later if I can think up of any more good ones. Thoughts? Probably will add to this later. I would love to hear other ideas on instruments for characters or songs/album names.

this looks like a weird CD cover for a boy band

[carmillasboywife]

another WIP from my chiyoh zine

[k-s-morgan]

Hey K! How are ya?

I was thinking about the wonderfully romantic lines from Hannibal and Will to each other in Dolce:

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

Will: Mine? Before you and after you. Yours? It’s all starting to blur… Mischa, Chiyo”

And I found interesting how Will doesn’t include himself in the list of people he thinks changed Hannibal’s past and future and influenced him. Why do you think that is?

Will immediately admits that Hannibal is the milestone that defines his past and his future but why doesn’t he think the opposite is also true?

Hi! This is a fascinating question, I love it. I think this moment underlines the depth of Will’s feelings and his doubts about his own importance to Hannibal.

I always believed that meeting Chiyoh affected Will’s confidence regarding Hannibal’s love for him. In the first several episodes, Will is operating under the knowledge that Hannibal loves him, and his emotions come to the surface more openly. He can't and doesn't want to move on; he openly admits to Jack that he wanted to run away with Hannibal. He chases Hannibal emotionally by spending time in his house and physically by sailing after him. But once he meets Chiyoh, Will starts drawing comparisons between them, and in my opinion, it awakens his insecurities again. If Hannibal abandoned Chiyoh, whom he was supposed to love, so easily, for so many years, without bothering to return to her, then maybe he's just not capable of love. Will is insecure by nature, he often doubts himself, and textually, that's the first time he starts considering killing Hannibal again. Seeing Bedelia as his replacement just reinforced this idea, so Will returned to his bitter and vengeful state, hence his attempt with a knife in Dolce.

But the time in the gallery is like a temporary white zone. Despite his simmering resentment and bitterness, Will allows himself to be genuine here, to speak of his feelings, and his words reveal a lot. Like you said, he openly admits that Hannibal defined his life, separating it into “before” and “after.” There was also this deleted part:

Will: You and I have begun to blur.

Hannibal: Isn't that how you found me? 

Will: Even as the possibility of free will dissipates, my experience of it remains the same. I continue to feel and act as though I have it.

I think Will is saying that he is fated to be pulled toward Hannibal. He’s not in control of himself, not really - he just goes along with fate. This is a big theme in S3. But the important question here is, does he feel like the situation is the same for Hannibal? Because it doesn’t appear to be the case - Will seems torn.

On the one hand, as you pointed out, Will doesn’t include himself into the list of people who changed Hannibal’s life and divided it into huge relevant parts. But then Will also adds that they are conjoined and wonders whether “either” of them can survive separation. This implies a degree of mutuality.  

I’d say that all these lines mean the same thing: a part of Will knows Hannibal loves him, realizes how important he is, but this part is in need of constant reassurance. I always read Will as someone arrogant yet deeply insecure. He’s insecure about his darkness, he’s insecure about himself, he’s insecure about what people, specifically Hannibal, feel for him. 

I think he deliberately avoided mentioning himself in this scene because he wanted Hannibal to contradict him and include him on his own. He wanted to hear about how important and beloved he is from Hannibal’s own lips; he waited to be elevated to the level of Chiyoh and Misha or maybe even beyond that by Hannibal himself. Will is cunning, and I think he applies a similar tactic of getting reassurance throughout the show. That’s one of the reasons why I’m certain he’s the one behind the attack on Bedelia after TWOTL. He wanted to hunt her down and to harm her together with Hannibal, to get another confirmation of the fact that only he is unique and special, and that Hannibal wouldn’t mind killing/mutilating a woman he shared such a complex relationship with. 

[mousfri]

all of will's kills throughout season 2 and 3 have this underlying theme of revealing his victims' truth. randall is more a literal reveal obviously -- will makes his inward identity fit his outward one. the picture he paints with chiyoh's prisoner is more of a metaphorical revealing, a symbol of metamorphosis for a man who played a part in hannibal's becoming. even francis's death results in wings of blood spreading out although the ground in the illusion of the great red dragon.

obviously each of these has their own individual symbolism and context. will presents randall as he does as a 'gift' to him amongst other things. will's butterfly man is more about his own becoming than the man himself. francis is. he's a lot of things. a sacrifice to hannigram's future, for one.

but for a man constantly fighting to keep himself contained within normalcy, it's significant that he gives his victims something he refuses to give himself. an violent form of acceptance he can't seem to let himself have, but that he'll inflict on others to make himself feel better.

Hannibal 2.09 Shiizakana | 2.10 Naka-choko

requested by: @t3acupz

[onchyart]

The show didn' handle race well. It exoticised Japanese culture to the point Chiyo was less of a character and more of a perpetuation of the silent Asian Assassin trope.

And Fuller said the speech from Hannibal regarding the muralist appreciating skin color for pure aesthetic purposes and not being politicized was an opinion he shared, which is uncomfortable, especially for a White man to say since in an interview he said he was sad he wouldn't be able to go up and tell a Black person he thought their skin color was beautiful (as if they need the "compliment")

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree |strongly disagree

Chiyoh was underdeveloped and it is a crime. Exoticising of Japanese culture was in the books that were written in the 80s. Handled better in the show, but this topic needs conscious deconstruction and not just be a part of aesthetic exercise as it is right now. "Art is inherently political" wasn't a part of the mainstream culture then and the limp liberal "I dont see color" line of thinking was rampant through the 10s, so it is not surprise Fuller said what he said. Also, horror as a genre is only now is becoming something people are willing to discuss through political lenses (it has been before ofc, but people were so quick to shut it down and pretend it is all in good fun). Why I am not strongly agreeing on your take? Because this discussion deserves level-headed thinking and people on social medias are usually tended to be jumpy, conclusive in all the wrong places and self-righteous to the detriment of the topic at hand, without contributing anything new or productive. I am not saying it is you, who are those things anon, I am glad you are paying attention and not just mindlessly consuming the text. I think you should do a separate text post with your thoughts and how this theme could be better handled, cause we need this for the future, so our art would not suck balls like that.

send me unpopular opinions