#its also a reference to hannibal rising but the characters dont fucking know that so

[ghostforwhat]

Hi so I saw your tags on the post and was wondering if you might wish to share your thoughts on Will Graham and biting? I only recently watched the show for the first time so I’m like new to meta and theories and it’s really cool hearing other fan’s interpretations of the show. Hope you have an awesome day :)

Hi!! This is such a cute way to ask but what if i said i was being down bad hmm? What then? Lol jk unless Okayy I didn’t type all them out (like I’m prone to 🙄) because the thoughts are not quite as organized as I’d like before delving in but I’ll give it a shot for you :)

So there’s some posts (I’ll try to come back & link) that point out biting Cordell could be considered a final transition for Will (even though he rejects Hannibal, we never see him hesitate with himself or anyone besides Hannibal after Dolce) and I do agree that there was definitely a last wall breached there. I also think he exhibited clear signs of disgust with himself while doing it. Like he bites down and takes a chunk and then he chews before he can stop himself and spit out. He wants it and hates that he does. I see a lot of interpretation of Will looking to Hannibal for pride and while it’s there and he sees it and it eases him, that initial glance is more akin to getting caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar. Hannibal wouldn’t know that, didn’t hear Will talk about the biting, and wont hear him repeat it later and while it’s likely he is also aware of the pathology behind biting, he’s definitely not thinking about it in that moment when he smiles bright and proud. We see Will accept it with a twitch of his lips that again is a movement aborted. He’s heavily wounded and inhibitions of any kind at that point are gone or fading fast, it’s a fighting instinct in the same way Bedelia’s instinct to crush injured birds instead of nuture them is, for the hell of it, out of curiosity. Whimsy. He doesn’t exhibit defensive behavior like this again, not with the Dragon, or previously with Tier. It’s a unique set of circumstances where he can do whatever. Like. He knows realistically they might not make it out of this and it’s telling that this is the course of action he chooses, something that will please Hannibal and to a not so little extent, also himself. The look afterwards is so many things packed in to one and I’d argue one of connection, one of a goal shared and realized and thats why Hannibal is quick to say “You delight in wickedness and then berate yourself for the delight.” Like, this applies to almost every aspect of Will but it hits harder at that moment because we just saw that yeah, he does delight in it, he felt a whim to bite and he embraced it. The denial is expected, there wasn’t supposed to be consequences to his actions, but he did bite and chew.