#freddie lounds articles

[mooredanxieties]

It takes one to know one

Article: The FBI isn't just hunting psychopaths, they're head-hunting them too, offering competitive pay and benefits in the hopes of using one demented mind to catch another. Sure, we're familiar with the stereotype of the FBI profiler, swaggering onto a crime scene, fitting the pieces together like a master puzzler with his 1000-piece jigsaw. In reality, these profilers should be likened to harridans reading a cup of spent tealeaves- passing off their active imagination as incisive fact.

Fact Check: Drunk Iowa Driver's Alcohol Level Was Nearly Eight Times Legal Limit Article: Florida Woman Busted For DUI Tells Cop, "This Is What I Get For being a bridesmaid" Press Pass: South Carolina Man Attacked Grandmother Over Bizarre Chick Salad Mix-Up Press Pass: Open Gown, A Universal Hospital Indignity, Leads To Indiana Man's [unreadable]

Another Shrike In the Nest?

by Frederica Lounds

As reported before by Tattlecrime, the FBI maintains jurisdiction in the case of Garret Jacob Hobbs, the Minnesota Shrike. But as days turn to weeks, desperation has begun to take hold amongst the investigators. An embarrassing truth is beginning to emerge: There are no new leads on the whereabouts of the Shrike's seven missing victims. As families await any word at all about their lost daughters, the case looks as though it has stalled. Tip lines are open, but they have so far yielded little to nothing. Where lie these poor women who deserve a proper funeral? When approached for comment on the investigation, things with Graham took a surprising and dark turn. Upset at the probity of the questions at hand, Graham threatened, "It's not very smart to piss of a guy who thinks about killing people for a living." A statement like this calls into question the very mind and method of Will Graham and his FBI apologists. This is a man who skirted normal FBI... Read More

It Takes One To Catch One?

PHOTO EXLUSIVE - INSIDE THE LEEDS HOME

Exclusive photos of house where the Jacobi family was slaughtered.

The Jacobi home nestled in a sleepy suburb of Chicago that was startled awake by the shocking murder that has changed the area forever. Residents that have lived in the area for almost twenty years have said that they will now consider moving. See the disturbing exclusive photos inside.

Insane Fiend Consulted in Mass Murders by Agent He Tried To Kill

by Freddie Lounds

FEDERAL MANHUNTERS, stymied in their search for the Tooth Fairy, have turned to the most savage killer in captivity for help. Hannibal the Cannibal has gotten a call from a very special visitor- none other than Will Graham himself. I saw it with my own eyes, Graham coming form the main entrance to the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane on a recent afternoon. This mysterious visit had this reporter curious to its nature. What could Graham, who was almost a victim of Lecter himself, have to discuss with the Mad Doctor? A bit more digging lead me to face to face discussion with Will Graham. Needless to say he was evasive. But I was able to suss out that Graham has begun working for the FBI again on the Tooth Fairy investigation. And he was in fact visiting Lecter to help him get information on the Tooth Fairy murders. Is this really where to FBI has sunk? Hiring a man with questionable stability to get information form a clinically insane psychotic? If this is where the FBI has been able to take this investigation, this reporter is worried. Worried for the family left behind by the Leeds and Jacobi murders. And worried for the next family on whatever deranged list the Tooth Fairy has made. For surely there will be a next family. There have been three so far the the Tooth Fairy shows no sign of stopping. And frankly- what's to stop him? Certainly no local police agencies. Certainly no the FBI who have done nothing to further the investigations since they took over several months ago.

CANNIBAL KILLER FEEDS THE FEDS

[alt] FBI IN BED WITH THE DEVIL

[alt] TOOTH FAIRY INVESTIGATION BUNGLED BY FEDS?

Desperation Leads to Partnership with Cannibalistic Killer The recent apparent partnership between the FBI and Hannibal Lecter has this reporter wondering if there is anyone with whom the FBI won't partner. One wonders the validity of whatever information can be gleaned from someone who is so clinically insane as to devour those around him. How much can Lecter be trusted not to give misleading information to protect perhaps a fraternity of killers with whom he would most definitely be a member. And what does Lecter get from all this? Special privileges? Or maybe just the excitement of getting inside information on the violent nature of the Tooth Fairy crimes. This would no doubt a source of great pleasure for someone so diabolical in nature. I wonder how this makes the families of the victims feel. To know that Hannibal the Cannibal is drooling over the bloody remains of the lost loved ones. Is whatever little information can be provided by this this 'expert' killer worth making the victim's families continue to suffer?

[pesky--dust]

Do you remember Freddie Lounds' articles from the show that came out during the Red Dragon case?

If no, then here they are, because I would like to talk about them for a moment:

In the series, Will seems furious that he “had to justify himself to an eleven-year-old”, but in the book, Will was not happy about it either, as he would rather talk to his stepson (in the series: Wally, in the book: Willy) on his own terms about his past, which means killing a man (G.J. Hobbs) and being in a mental institution, but Lounds made this impossible for him.

However reading these articles, I think the questions Wally asked Will aren't the worst.

Here is the orginal script, which is also very much the same in the book:

Given that Freddie Lounds had been involved with Will's “case” from the very beginning, knew that Will and Hannibal were Abigail's surrogate fathers, that Will had followed Hannibal to Europe, and even called them “murder husbands”, Freddie could remind all of that in these articles if she wanted to, but she didn't.

If she did, the questions Wally asked Will were always could be worse, like “Dad, why is the press calling you Hannibal the Cannibal's murder husbands? And what does it mean that you had a child together????”.

Be grateful for that, Will.

[richtkin]

freddie was the first and the biggest hannigram fan out there.

miss girl CREATED the murder husbands.

[markodragic]

I finished hannibal weeks ago now but I still don't like the intensity of the freddie lounds hate among fans. she is important rep for female hacks. you all love men who suck but where is the love for WOMEN who suck

[tattlingcrimes]

this is LITERALLY me when i’m writing my articles lol.

[stick-ball-equals-pain]

I really don’t like this reporter

[its-the-ratdawg]

@thetattlercrime i hope you know i would die for you

i need a real name

[therealvinelle]

Can I hear your opinions on rita skeeter?

You know how some stories have that only sane man, the one person who isn't impressed by our dashing main characters or who's living in a different genre and rated story? The one, typically a fan favorite, character who has a fundamentally different perspective. They can also, shortly put, be the "this is stupid and you're stupid" character.

The NBC Hannibal show has Freddie Lounds ("I'm a bad, bad man", Will threatens her. He is then surprised when she runs a feature on the FBI hiring a creep to come to crime scenes and pretend he's a serial killer.) The Vampire Diaries had Elijah (he isn't a great example of this, but legacy fans will remember all the jokes about how the reason the writers never put him in episodes was because he'd have solved all the characters' stupid problems within twenty minutes and there would be no plot for the rest of the season. Elijah was perceived to be living in a different type of show than the rest of the teen drama cast), and there are some who think that this was Snape for Harry Potter.

They are wrong.

Rita, my dove

Let's take a look at a few things Rita prints over the course of canon, where we have an insight into what actually happened and know precidely what she printed. I have my copy of Goblet of Fire with me, it's in Norwegian so I'll be translating back to English but I trust that's alright.

The Quidditch world cup incident

What we know happened:

The British Ministry was responsible for the event. It was highly prestigious, with foreign leaders attending and people from all over the world camped out near the stadion. After the first match there's celebrations, which turns into a riot. Tents are set on fire, people are chased through the camp grounds, and there's total chaos where nobody knows where their loved ones are. The riot soon turns into a homage to Voldemort, with rioters in Death Eater uniforms tormenting the Muggles living nearby and someone putting up the Dark Mark.

Arthur Weasley, who works in the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts (which is admittedly part of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement), is sent to make a statement on the Ministry's behalf to the terrified witches and wizards hiding.

What Skeeter reports:

Headlining "TERROR AT THE WORLD CUP" (me translating), with an image of the Dark Mark, Rita Skeeter writes (this is Arthur skimming): "Ministry blunders... culprits not apprehended... lax security... Dark wizards running unchecked... national disgrace..." (original English from the wiki)

A full section (and this is me translating again): "If the terrified witches and wizards who waited for information while they hid in the woods had hoped for any sort of reassurance from the Ministry of Magic, they were sorely disappointed. A department spokesman, who only showed up long after the Dark Mark had appeared, claimed no one had been injured but refused to give further information. It remains to be seen if this statement will quell the rumors that several bodies were seen being recovered from the woods an hour later."

Verdict

All of this is accurate, except the last sentence.

Nobody was killed in the incident. However, Skeeter was acting on the information available to her, and she makes it clear this last part is unconfirmed. Further, I'm going to come out in her defense and say that Skeeter, writing an article critical of the Ministry in a community with a very loose sense of free speech, can't take Arthur Weasley at his vague word and should refer to her own sense of judgement when deciding whether the rumors are credible enough to print or not.

As it is, a riot in a crowded area at night with people who dressed like Death Eaters, where the Dark Mark was fired into the sky, where mass panic erupted, in a world where children can produce deadly magic with their wands, could easily have led to casualties. I don't think it was a far leap for Skeeter that people might have died, and the Ministry didn't want to admit as much.

Notice her phrasing (and yes, I know you're reading my translation) when she talks about the Ministry: "It remains to be seen if this statement will quell the rumors that several bodies were seen being recovered from the woods an hour later." Not, "It remains to be seen whether the rumors that several bodies were seen being recovered from the woods an hour later were true.", or any type of phrasing indicating that the truth will out. Only rumors that may or may not be quelled.

Knowing that the Wizarding World doesn't appear to be a functional nor accountable democracy, that things like statistics likely don't exist (who will be your statistician if there is no basic math education? How will wizards interpret statistics if they don't understand basic maths, what use are error margins and percentages to them? This is important, because without statistics there is also no need to collect numbers - how many students take the core classes, how many are employed after X years, how many citizens die in a given year and of what causes... you see where I'm going with this), and that Arthur gets so defensive when reading legitimate criticism of his Ministry (not even his department or jurisdiction, mind, and Skeeter anonymized him), indicates a fraught understanding of governmental accountability and transparency.

In other words, who can say if anybody died that night. Arthur himself had gone to bed with his family as soon as the chaos was under control, and there was no tally after the riot, no controlled evacuation, nothing. Skeeter wasn't wrong for publishing what she herself clarified was speculation, either way I'm hard pressed to see her as a villain for putting the Ministry under pressure, in fact I have to wonder if this kind of pressure is necessary to get them to admit things they'd otherwise shove under the carpet.

Back to Arthur Weasley. In response to this article he says to his family (me translating again): "Molly, I must go to the office. Killing this is going to take some time."

Now, I know real governments have to cry over scandals that take time to move past as well: however, what are people upset over? What's the scandal?

Oh, yes, that the Ministry wasn't able to prevent a riot at a large sports event, flubbed completely once it had begun, and failed to give the people any kind of useful or timely information. All of that is true. The only part that isn't true, would be dispelled if they'd only put out a statement saying "no one was killed". The only reason why one such statement wouldn't work is if Ministry statements are not considered trustworthy - and this is where we return to the above.

So far, so good on Rita Skeeter, and so bad on Arthur who, going by this section, questions the Ministry less than Bellatrix Lestrange questions Voldemort.

Interlude: Percy and the vampires

While the article about the World Cup is read, Percy jumps in with an anecdote about Skeeter.

"That woman is always out to slander the Ministry," Percy said angrily. "Last week she claimed we waster our time fooling around with cauldron thickness when we should be extinguishing vampires! As though it is not expressedly stated in Guidelines for treatment of non-wizard halfhumans that-"

I'm not going to make any guesses as to what precisely Skeeter's criticism was, because Percy is angry and venting to his family, which doesn't make him likely to present her argument fairly. Who knows what, specifically, she criticized and why and what she asked for in her article. What we do know is that she questioned Ministry priorities and resource allotment, and Percy takes it personally, he gets angry about it. Hostility and defensiveness is the gut reaction.

More damningly, "that woman is always out to slander the Ministry" implies no one else is doing it.

Your star is rising, Rita.

Oh no, post got long

And this is the part where I'd go on to her interview with Harry and subsequent articles, and later on Dumbledore, but I'm realizing that would make this post a very long and decentralized mess.

Will cover it in follow up posts: today is for Rita vs. the Ministry and how the Weasleys think Muggles are so quaint with their democracricy and freedom of speech, teehee that's silly.

[ihavemanyhusbands]

🔪 with Hannibal ?

Yes yes yessss perfect fit!!

——

You knocked on the door to Hannibal’s office, opening up as you heard his faint voice granting you access.

He sat at his desk, reading something on his ipad. His brow was furrowed in displeasure, his posture tense. He sniffed in that way you’d seen him do when he was furious, nose scrunching slightly in what looked like a snarl.

You stopped by one of the armchairs, unsure if you should approach.

“Bad time to visit?” You asked, sitting down.

He glanced up at you. “Freddie Lounds is up to her usual antics. This new article on Tattle Crime is… particularly scalding.”

“You know she likes to get under your skin,” you said, mouth twisting to one side with distaste. “She knows just which buttons to press.”

“Will and I are certainly her favorite subjects,” he sighed, setting down his tablet. “I have been kind before by warning her, but I’m not sure if I can spare any more kindness.”

“Especially not when she’s been so rude,” you added slowly, your words holding the weight of secret meaning.

He pushed his chair away from his desk and opened his arms in a gesture for you to approach. You got up and stepped into his embrace, his hands settling on your hips.

You cupped his face gently, scanning his features. The planes of his handsome face always seemed more severe when he was disquieted. His eyes were unfathomable, too, so searching them wouldn’t prove very fruitful.

You wondered how many had looked into that flat gaze and lived to tell the tale.

“You look like you want to kill me… or maybe fuck me,” you said, the softness of your voice constrasting your words. You tilted your head to the side in curiosity. “Or maybe even both.”

He let out a slight huff of amusement. “Pain and pleasure war inside me. Pleasure at seeing you, and pain… at the consequences of my being merciful with someone undeserving. Perhaps I should go back to listening to my instincts.”

“And what do your instincts tell you now?”

“That I definitely do not want to kill you right now. Or ever, for that matter. I should always make that abundantly clear.”

You smiled, but raised an eyebrow. “What about the other option?”

“That can definitely be arranged,” he smirked, hands squeezing your hips. “And that’s more than my instincts guiding me.”

———

[honeygrahambitch]

Hannibal looked around for Will. He had promised he wouldn't leave him alone not even for a second with his "snob" friends. He had to check something in the kitchen. When he had got back, Will had been nowhere to be found.

It had taken weeks to convince Will to show up. Truth to be told all Hannibal had wanted was to show everyone his perfect trophy husband and to make them jealous, which turned out to be an argument that did not convince Will. The only thing that did convince Will was the fact that he had promised him not to leave his side and to do the talking.

He walked down the halls of his own house, politely nodding to left and right, his eyes trying to identify his poor Will who was probably suffocating.

There he was. Surrounded by a group of people...who were all talking to him. Hannibal got closer and placed a hand on the small of Will's back.

"There you were." Hannibal said but he was soon interrupted by one of the women.

"You are a liar." She said and the others in the small group nodded. Hannibal arched an eyebrow. "You said your husband is not comfortable with this kind of occasions. He's been entertaining us for the last fifteen minutes. It's obvious that charisma is something you two share."

Hannibal remained with his lips parted. He looked at Will then back at his friends then back at Will. "My husband is full of surprises."

"Freddie Lounds is completely delusional to say anything about you. You are obviously the opposite of what her articles make you seem." A man said. Hannibal wondered if Will was on something.

"That is really appreciated, Ralph. And text me when you are looking into getting new lures if you need a second opinion."

"I absolutely will."

"Can I also contact you about the auto diagnosis system you were talking about?"

"Sure."

The group evaporated, leaving Will and Hannibal alone. Will immediately grabbed a glass of champagne from a tray.

"What was that about?" Hannibal asked.

"My social battery going out."

"It sounded like you were doing great."

"I was pretending greatly. I kept looking for you but you just dematerialized."

"I am truly sorry, amore." Hannibal apologized as he looked at him dearly. "At least I learnt you can pretend to be social."

"It's the same thing I do at the FBI." Will replied. "I borrowed your perspective. Started talking about things that would put the spotlights on me and became the most interesting person in the room."

"Is that what I am doing?"

"No, never, Hannibal."

[its-the-ratdawg]

FOR YOUR INFORMATION that "bReAkDoWn" that you deem worthy of "breaking news" was a SEIZURE that i had ABSOLUTELY NO CONTROL OVER and the very minor case of the sweats I experienced was caused by a FEVER. I WAS SICK. I HAD NO CONTROL OVER MYSELF. classic press. the media has gone to shit in our country. this whole article sounds like a cheesy snippet of some crime/thriller romcom that you initially think is about the sweaty fish guy and the cannibalistic serial killer but is ACTUALLY completely centric around the pansexual aromantic journalist who LIES IN THE NEWS. you know what Lounds, i hope you get kidnapped and forced to watch Mr Frederick LB Chilton (the LB stands for Little Bitch, which is his middle name) get cut open and disemboweled by ANOTHER gay murderer who is actually not mine. that would give you a great perspective on true crime!! not that you need that when you could just LIE

[noneofusarefree]

Freddie Lounds' Tattlecrime article? Hello?

[pesky--dust]

Ngl, I somewhat love these three "headlines" alongside photos of Hannibal and Will because Freddie clearly knows what she is doing.

THE PSYCHOTIC LEADING THE UNSTABLE

IT TAKES ONE TO CATCH ONE - Insane fiend consulted in mass murders by agent he tried to kill

FBI IN BED WITH THE DEVIL - desperation leads to partnership with cannibalistic killer

How many people read only headlines, online or even in shops browsing newspapers while waiting in the queue? And what do these headlines give us? Hannibal and Will are working together and FBI is in bed with the devil. "Be in bed with" is slang for having connections with a person or organization but the literal meaning when paired with Hannibal and Will's photos? When on top of that Freddie called them "murder husbands" before?

You know what people will gather from this.

Good job, queen.

[flock-of-cassowaries]

So my hot take on NBC Hannibal is that is is a remarkably and relentlessly cynical story, in that every. single. character. abuses the power vested in the virtue of their profession.

Like, all the cops, all the doctors, all the psychiatrists.

Almost all the murderers, too - the bee lady is killing clients, as is the mushroom man, and the social worker; Randall Tier and Mason Verger are using the tools / items available to them from their jobs to commit murder; and Tobias Bunch and Garrett Jacob Hobbs are transforming parts of their victims into materials they use / sell at work.

The only characters I can think of who are not show to be ludicrously unethical at their jobs are:

1. The pharmacist-colleague of the Mushroom Man whom Jack inexplicably screams at;

2. Will’s long-suffering s2 defence lawyer;

3. Georgia Mädchen and Abigail Hobbs (no jobs, Literally Minors™️);

4. The child-kidnapper from Oëuf (no job); and

5. The Angel-Maker (deus diablus ex brain-tumor).

…but of the law-enforcement / law-enforcement-adjacent characters, we have:

- Hannibal

- Jack (routinely flouts rules and does things that endanger his subordinates and which are probably illegal; which, points for verisimilitude, I guess)

- Zeller (leaks info to Freddie Lounds)

- Beverley (a bit more of a stretch, but I’m fairly certain showing an accused serial killer / mental patient confidential information on other crimes isn’t okay; and she definitely broke into a suspect’s house without a warrant)

- Chilton (the most unethical psychiatrist since the CIA stopped funding the Montreal Experiments)

- Alanna (starts out straight and narrow, but becomes willing to take on the role of her ex’s keeper - incredibly unethical for a psychiatrist, especially with a patient being held in custody)

- Will (again, starts out reasonably ethical, but then slides into such ends-justify-the-means nonsense as [1] defiling corpses; [2] traumatizing museum staff with defiled corpses; [3] knowingly eating human flesh; [4] warning a serial killer of his imminent apprehension; [5] attempting to use various serial killers as tools to kill and/or bait other serial killers; and [6] attempting to extrajudicially execute a serial killer [via cliff]. )

And like, technically, you could just read it as “Hannibal’s influence corrupts those around him”; that certainly seems to be the case with Alanna and Will.

(And arguably, that is how we’re supposed to read Jack, but… as the self-appointed president of the Jack Crawford Hate Committee - fuck Jack.)

I think Hannibal would certainly find it flattering to read it that way. It would appeal very much to his narcissism.

It’s also quite possible that was the writing team’s authorial intent, too.

But that is absolutely not how people work.

Hannibal would’ve encountered people who were just stubbornly immovable in their refusal to endanger patients / subordinates / whatever.

And people who just found him creepy.

People who got a bad vibe the first time they met him, and just refused to ever reassess their first impression - not particularly fair, in most cases, but there definitely are people who operate that way.

And sure, perhaps Hannibal would have just killed some of them, but… we never see that happen. It’s just everyone in Toronto Baltimore, in every profession, is apparently either just as laughably crooked as the real RCMP, or as corruptible as soft cheese on a hot day.

Tangential postscript:

This inspired me to read the Wikipedia article on “Controversies surrounding the RCMP”, and while I will not get into the horrifying details, this sentence made me laugh out loud:

“A subsequent public inquiry concluded that the RCMP was at fault, showing a lack of professionalism…”

Which like… yeah. Technically true.

Sort of like saying that Andrew Tate lacks a firm grasp of intersectional feminism.

But not incorrect, per se.

[cheese-rat29]

on the ten year anniversary of hannibal escaping, freddie lounds releases a book of all of her articles about will and the chesapeake ripper. she calls it murder husbands and releases it on valentine’s day

[the-circus-tent]

Freddie Lounds

the clever fox Freddie can slink into any crime scene to get her paws on anything article worthy. Even if it gets here more enemies than allies.