#the :3 x :3 couple of ever

[smittyw]

commission for @guardiansgalore of beutiful gorjuss edyss & her showstopping boytoy warf (@jmorpart)

[greeneyessmize]

If we don't get someone at least once calling Colin Lord Whistledown to tease him in Season 4, I will throw a tantrum lol.

And it needs to be by someone other than Pen so she can watch amusedly, trying not to laugh, while Colin tries to not looked slightly annoyed only because it's the 10 millionth time he's endured the joke.

It would be PEAK adorkable married couple behavior.

[seventh-district]

Midnight Hour

With the warm haze of sleep fading from you, your brow furrows as your right hand presses lightly against his lower abdomen, your thumb sweeping up and down in a small attempt at a comforting motion. You quietly call for his attention, voice still thick with sleep.

“Star? Is everything okay?”

His typically silent breath suddenly hitches, and his head angles down to face you. Now that he’s turned toward the light, you catch the way his eyes shine, and the way the light reflects off of what you quickly realize are tear tracks, running down his cheeks.

You awake in the middle of the night to find your lover in tears.

Pairing: Astarion x Reader

Word Count: 3,139

Content Warnings: [crying (obviously)] [non-specific mentions of Astarion's past trauma] [this fic was written by someone who hasn't actually played the game and that might show in the details/the lack thereof]

Blinking your tired eyes open, you squint at the light of the crackling fire in front of you. Closing them again, you let out a soft sigh as you try to guess at the current time. Given that you woke on your own, you’re assuming it’s likely close to, but not quite, time for you to take over tonight’s watch shift.

Your group has fallen into a routine where you pair off into teams of two, and a different team keeps watch each night. Tonight’s turn belongs to you and Astarion, and he’s taken the first half of the shift as usual. You usually, ironically, sleep your best on the nights that he keeps watch, in spite of only getting half the amount of sleep as you do on the nights another team has the job.

You suppose you can credit the fact that, at the end of the day, Astarion is a creature of the night. Something about knowing he has the upper hand when it comes to any unwanted nighttime visitors your group may encounter is… reassuring. To you, as well as to the others in the group, loathe as some of them may be to admit it. That is, once they all felt confident in his promises to not make a surprise midnight snack of them, at least.

Tonight is a bit of an exception, though, and you’re not quite sure what woke you early this time. You typically sleep soundly until he gently coaxes you awake, nails combing through your hair, voice soft and apologetic in your ear. He’s always somewhat reluctant to wake you, but he does so nonetheless, having learned his lesson after the first time he made the executive decision to let you sleep the whole night through. His arguments of “You really looked like you could use the rest.” and “What’s one sleepless night? I can sleep when I’m dead.” didn’t hold much water in the face of the way he dragged ass through the entire next day.

In “the spirit of fairness” and “proving that he can stick to an agreement,” he never tried to take the whole shift by himself again. It definitely didn’t have anything to do with how guilty he felt when he heard the disappointment in your tone when you awoke that first morning and discovered he hadn’t stuck to the plan. Definitely.

Laying there in the quiet, you try and fail to pinpoint what feels different about tonight. You don’t hear any strange noises, nothing feels unusual, and blinking your eyes open again you raise your head a bit to look around the fire. The rest of the group are circled around the other sides of the heat source, sleeping soundly. You figure that you’re probably just getting used to this routine by now, and your body simply woke up around your usual shift change time on its own.

Still, that doesn’t explain the vague, unplaceable feeling that something is just… off.

You let out a sigh that turns into a yawn as you stretch and roll away from the fire onto your back. Letting your head roll further to the left, your eyes land on the familiar sight of your lover’s back as he sits in his usual position beside you, diligently watching your six.

He’s taken to placing his bedroll right next to yours, insisting that you lie between the fire and himself. You couldn’t really argue with his point that he can’t feel the cold anyways, so there’s no need for him to be the one next to the fire. Nor could you argue with the benefits of having him as a line of defense between you and whatever lurks beyond the reach of the firelight.

The feeling of security and protection that he provides you with is still relatively foreign to you, and a soft smile blooms on your face at the warm feeling it brings. Your smile then falls a bit as you remember the silent question you ask yourself on the regular, of whether or not you provide him with the same.

You roll the rest of the way to your left, and shuffle further toward him, closing what remains of the small gap he’d placed between the two of you. Lying halfway on your bedroll and halfway on his, you curl your body around his seated form, bringing your right arm up and gently placing a hand on the right side of his waist. He flinches slightly, and if this were earlier on in your relationship, you’d retract your hand. He’s long since informed you though that his reaction to unexpected touch is simply involuntary, and as long as it’s you, you’ve no need to pull away.

You recall the quiet, restrained desperation in his voice when he first explained it to you, all but begging you not to pull away. He can’t control the way his body reacts to touch, given that before you, he couldn’t recall the last time being touched meant anything other than pain. In spite of that though, he wants it. He wants you. That’s obvious in the way that he, without fail, immediately relaxes under your gentle touch once his mind and body process that it’s coming from you. The way he’s come to not only relax, but to lean into it. Lean into you.

You’d never push past his boundaries, never in a million years, but he’s made it quite clear after about a thousand of your quiet requests for consent at every minor touch, that he’s entirely welcoming of your non-sexual physical affections. Getting the man to verbally admit that he actually enjoys cuddling with you, without the truth being concealed beneath a heavy layer of playful banter and practiced, honeyed words didn’t come easy, but he came around to it in his own time.

So, you don’t pull back, instead following through with the motion and slowly snaking your arm around his waist. You press your front against his lower back and curl around to rest your left cheek atop his left thigh. You can’t help but notice that he doesn’t relax into you in the way he usually does, and your head turns to the right a bit, struggling to get a half-decent look at his face as you’re both turned away from the fire light.

He remains tense, still, and unresponsive to your movements, gaze seemingly locked dead ahead of him, staring out into the dark forest.

With the warm haze of sleep fading from you, your brow furrows as your right hand presses lightly against his lower abdomen, your thumb sweeping up and down in a small attempt at a comforting motion. You quietly call for his attention, voice still thick with sleep.

“Star? Is everything okay?”

His typically silent breath suddenly hitches, and his head angles down to face you. Now that he’s turned toward the light, you catch the way his eyes shine, and the way the light reflects off of what you quickly realize are tear tracks, running down his cheeks. He’s actively crying, tears dripping from his chin, and now with his head tilted down at you they take a different path, running down to converge and fall from the tip of his nose.

You nearly bolt upright in your shock, quickly unwrapping yourself from him and clambering around on all fours until you’re sat down in front of him, your hands gripping tightly to your upper thighs in worry. His wide-eyed gaze followed your every movement, and even now that you’re sat still in front of him, his eyes still dart around, frantically scanning you, for what, you don’t know.

“What- what’s going on?”

You keep your voice as quiet as you reasonably can in spite of your shock and concern, not eager to wake your companions and have everyone witness… whatever this is.

He doesn’t respond, looking just about as lost as you feel, shaking his head in silence as more tears fall. It’s one hell of a sight, and it suddenly hits you that this is the first time you’ve ever seen him cry.

Unsure of what to do and what even caused this, you resist the urge to wrap him in a hug, not wanting to overstep in this unfamiliar territory. Instead, you glance back over your shoulder and once again see and hear nothing of note before trying another question.

“Is there a threat? Did you see something that scared you, honey?”

He takes a long moment to answer, seeming unsure, before eventually settling on another shake of his head. His lack of confidence in his answer isn’t the most reassuring thing at the moment, but given that you aren’t detecting any danger either, you decide to believe that he really didn’t see any threat. At least, not here. Not right now, in the present moment, in front of him. He seems about halfway here and halfway gone, and if your growing suspicions are correct, he’s probably been sat here lost in the dark corners of his mind for a while now, given the state he’s in.

You catch movement to Astarion’s right side and watch as Karlach raises up from her prior position sprawled out face-down on her bedroll, propping herself up with her forearms beneath her. Her expression of concern is too aware and her eyes are too awake for her to have just now woken up, and you quickly gather that she’s probably been awake and laying there long enough to have heard your questions and Astarion’s lack of any verbal response. She doesn’t say anything though, and doesn’t move, just letting the situation unfold and keeping a watchful eye on the darkness behind you.

Relaxing slightly at the knowledge that someone else is awake and helping to keep watch now, your focus shifts back to Astarion, who’s gaze has moved to his lap, tears still falling fast. It’s almost unsettling, the way he cries. There’s no sound, no movement, his breathing is hardly even affected, nothing more than the occasional shaky breath to give away any sign of struggle at all. You don’t have to guess why it’s like this, given what he’s told you about his past. You’re sadly certain that he learned to cry like this ages ago. Silent and still, sat alone in the dark so no one would notice.

You don’t want to think about the sorts of punishments he’s endured as a result of showing such pain and emotion, but your mind pulls from what experiences he’s shared and offers up a few anyways, making you begin to feel sick.

Leaning down and trying to catch his gaze, you ask another question.

“Astarion, are you with me right now?”

He blinks, more tears spill, and his lips finally part as he responds to you with a strained whisper.

“I’m trying to be…”

You smile in spite of your current emotions and the general mood of the situation, doing your best to be something positive, something gentle, something safe for him to focus on.

“There you are…”

You say it to yourself as much as to him, relieved to finally hear his voice, as laced with pain as it sounds. You hold out your hand near where his lie balled into fists in his lap, offering him contact without forcing it on him.

“I want you to keep trying, okay? Do your best to come back into the present with me. You can take my hand, if you’d like?”

He stares down at your offered hand for a long moment before shakily unballing one of his fists. He hesitates, fingers trembling, before reaching out and placing his hand in yours. His skin is even colder than usual and slightly damp to the touch, and you couldn’t be less put off, or give less of a fuck about the messy state of him right now, or ever, if you’re being honest. You just want to help him, however you can.

You curl your warm fingers around his palm, wanting to pull him into a hug so badly but restraining yourself, letting him call the shots.

“You’re okay now, Star. You’re safe right now, here with me. We’re safe.”

He’s quiet for another long moment as he shuts his eyes tight, taking in your words. His other fist unfurls, and his body trembles almost imperceptibly.

“I… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

Your heart breaks.

“Honey, you have nothing to apologize for. Nothing at all, I promise you.”

He shakes his head in disagreement, his voice an insistent whisper.

“I shouldn’t be doing this.”

Your shoulders drop from where they’d been tensely held up, body slumping with a silent sigh as you watch him still try to hold this wall up between the two of you. You’d made it past a number of his walls already, but this one… this one you’ve yet to be granted access behind.

“It’s okay to cry, you know?”

Another shake of his head, this time with far more force behind it, almost vehement.

“No.”

You soften your voice, insisting.

“Yes. It is. You can cry now, Astarion. No one’s gonna hurt you. No one’s gonna judge you. I swear on my life, that’s the truth.”

His breaths become more labored, uneven and shaking.

“You aren’t his anymore. The old rules don’t apply. You can let it out, now. No one, and I mean no one, is going to punish you for it.”

His eyes pinch closed and his head shakes hard side to side, like he’s fighting his own mind, and his hand opens and closes like it wants to grab onto something. He then moves, wrapping his free hand around your arm and suddenly you’re being pulled toward him, desperately, insistently.

You follow the motion as he continues to tug at you, first leaning forward and propping yourself up with your other hand on the ground as he continues to pull you closer. You quickly gather what he wants as he lets go of your hand in favor of latching onto your other arm, pulling you upward, choking back tears all the while.

You raise up on your knees and his hands move once again to hook beneath your arms as you allow yourself to be pulled up onto his lap with physical strength you keep forgetting he possesses. Hooking your legs around his waist, you wrap your arms around his shoulders and pull him into you. His arms wrap tightly around your waist and he buries his face into the fabric of your shirt at the collar, muffling the soft sound of his crying which has now turned to full-blown sobs.

He’s still shockingly quiet in spite of it all, and you imagine it’s a mixture of being unable to let go of what’s ingrained into him, and not wanting to alert the entire camp to his current breakdown.

Your thumbs stroke up and down in place on his back, not wanting to let go of your hold on him but still wanting to give him some sort of comforting motion to focus on. Besides, you figure petting across the entire expanse of his scarred back might do the opposite of calming him down, so you refrain and keep your arms wrapped firmly around him. Turning your head down toward his, you whisper to him in between soft kisses to his temple.

“That’s it, love. Let it out.”

“You’re safe now, Astarion, I swear.”

“There’s nothing wrong with this.”

“I’m so proud of you.”

“You have every right to cry. No one ever should’ve taken that away from you.”

He grips you even tighter as you shower him with painfully unfamiliar affection and acceptance, comfort unlike anything he’s ever felt before in his horribly long life. His forehead presses against your right shoulder as his crying slows, trying to ground himself and catch his breath. You make a point of holding him securely against you, breathing slow and deep to give him an example to follow.

You catch movement in your periphery and glance over at Karlach as she quietly sits up and makes a series of silent lip movements and hand gestures that you don’t entirely grasp. You work them out to mean that she’s gonna take over watch for the rest of the night, and you can rest with Astarion. You send her a grateful look and mouth a “thank you,” to which she waves you off with what you think you read as a silent “don’t mention it” on her lips.

After a short while spent focused on slowing down his breath and bringing him fully out of his memories and back here with you, you whisper quiet words in his ear.

“Your work is done, Astarion. You can rest now.”

You mean it in both possible interpretations of the words, and he seems to understand that, his body finally relaxing against yours for the first time tonight.

“You wanna lie down with me, love?”

He seems like he almost nods, but stops himself, whispering back in an exhausted voice, scratchy and thick from crying.

“Someone has to keep watch.”

You hesitate to inform him that Karlach has already taken over that role for tonight, sure that he’d get no sleep at all if he knew she’d witnessed this. You know you’re gonna be awake watching over him for the rest of the night anyways, so instead, you offer a compromise.

“I can hold you and keep watch at the same time, love. Just… let me sit and you can lay against me.”

He gives the suggestion a moment of thought before nodding his head, reluctantly loosening his hold on you. You maneuver the both of you carefully so as to avoid allowing his tired eyes to catch sight of your obviously awake companion sitting behind him.

It isn’t much of a task considering his eyes are halfway closed already, his only remaining focus locked on you. You settle down at the head of his bedroll, guiding him to lie down and bringing his head to rest in the center of your lap.

Your hands take turns gently combing fingers through his white curls, and you feel his tense shoulders begin to relax at the feeling. You bring a thumb down and gently stroke over the lines creasing his brow, quietly encouraging him to release the tension he likely doesn’t realize he’s holding. You watch him pull in a deep, albeit still slightly unsteady breath, and you can practically feel the relief that washes over him when he exhales.

Words aren’t necessary between the two of you at this point, not in this moment, but you offer him a few anyways, hoping they’ll resonate in his tired mind as he slips into sleep.

“You’re safe here, Star. Rest easy.”

A/N: Like I said in the CWs, I haven't played the game for myself (yet!) so I only know what I've seen in the hours of (mostly Astarion-focused) scenes I've watched on YT. As a result, this might have read a bit funny if I've gotten certain details wrong. For instance- I have no idea how resting at the camp actually goes, whether or not someone keeps watch all night, etc. Also I'm not sure if Astarion even needs to actually sleep or if he meditates/falls into a trance and just calls it sleep, but for the sake of simplicity, (and me being clueless,) when I say he falls into sleep just assume he's doing whatever he'd normally do to rest. On a different note- this little fic was inspired by a combination of two things. The lovely art and additional commentary on this post, by @velnna , and also by me listening to Midnight Hour by Sierra Eagleson on loop for like, an hour, and daydreaming up this specific scene before proceeding to write it out. It is a beautiful song that is now the title and theme-song for this fic, and I encourage you to go give it a listen if you haven't heard it already. Header Image Source: x

[whateveryeah]

Casting department outdid themselves when they casted Emma D’arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen. The beauty is immaculate, their unique features really fit the Targaryen description of being closer to gods than men. Simply gorgeous that I cannot imagine anyone else in that role.

Matt Smith. Although people don’t find him conventionally attractive, I find him so incredibly charismatic that it adds to Daemon’s attractiveness more than any pretty face could.

That’s the post.

[tinywalkingheater]

gortash and durge are either absolute freaks in bed

OR

they have the most boring, vanilla, missionary position sex ever

there is no in-between

[tojiscrack]

on my weekly re-read of liar liar, and i was GOING TO pull an all nighter and finish it all, but i feel asleep before i could 😞😞

ANYWAYS!! i find it so funny that throughout the first chapter (and even later chapters, but not as much) its mentioned (and made very obvious) that y/n is a little devil child, that can be too much to handle, but never w megumi. like, idk how to explain it, but hes never thought shes “too much”, and lets her do what she wants, just puts his input in (like when she switched classes, he didnt feel overly annoyed by it, just told her that she was gonna get in trouble) (i might be wrong about this LMAO) youve written them in a way that they balance each other PERFECTLY, like they are genuinely soulmates.

the end scene of the first chapter is oddly one of my favourite parts of the fic, because we get other characters (albeit, minor characters, but wtv) opinions on them, and youve written them exactly like how they describe it. they keep each other in line, and thats why they work so well together.

anyways!!! i love this fanfic so sosososooos much!!! i dont understand how this isnt more popular because???? ITS SO GOOD???? literally how arent people falling in love with your writing within the first 1k words??

(also i meant to include this in a previous ask, but i forgot lol, BUT ONE OF MY FAV DUOS IN THE FIC (and in canon lfmao) is megumi and nobara?? everytime they’re together i genuinely laugh, you nailed their characters and character dynamic)

liar, liar masterlist here:

INCOMING YAP SESSION CUZ THIS ASK GOT ME SUPER DUPER EXCITED KSJSJDIWJ

WEEKLY reread? girl, stop, you’re gonna notice all the typos i cba to get rid of 🫣

HAHAHA, NO STOP, I HAVEN’T HAD ANYONE MENTION THE WHOLE ‘DEVIL CHILD’ THING SINCE THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS WERE RELEASED 😭 and that, my friend, was months ago 🌝

so i’m so excited to just talk about this omggg!!! 😫💘

yes indeed 😤 megumi would most likely say she’s sm to handle, but really, he lowkey enjoys it. it’s the only time he can be an accomplice witness to such foolish behaviour, and not be reprimanded for it as much ‘cause he just has her to fall back on and blame. he won’t ever stop her, per se, but he’ll tell her once or twice ‘whatever you’re doing, it’s not gonna work’ or ‘don’t be dumb’, and think he’s done his part before being influenced by her 💀

‘i might be wro-’ stfu you’re right and you know it 🙄❤️

and you’re also right in it not being mentioned as much when they’re older. no, i did not forget to add it, that was done intentionally for two reasons:

they’re older now, so as much as she does what she wants with him, she’s a lot more tame than she was as a child. that doesn’t mean she ever regrets the stupid things she’s done (except for the whole mermaid thing, that is a lifelong regret she’ll always have 😭)

the idea that she’s such a menace has been established enough over the years to the point where no one feels the need to voice it. new characters probably would — someone like miss b who was introduced in the middle school chapter — but even then, she was exposed to the more tame versions of the chaotic duo. so everyone kinda silently acknowledges it, and only during crazy moments (like the tragic helicopter incident of 2016, rip satoru/suguru’s will to live 😔) will it actually be voiced (like ogi mistakenly believing that y/n didn’t start any of the nonsense that occurred during the incident, and that was mentioned cuz of the fact that she’s famously known to be so incredibly out of control).

the bonus scene for the first chapter was my fav to write as wellll (tho arguably, i say that about so many scenes, so the value of this statement is probably worth nothing 💀). bonus scenes were initially meant to be ONLY from other people’s pov, but i noticed how so many things from y/n and megumi’s childhood tgth are littered around the story, and that the only way you could ever get any insight of them is through the bonus scene since the chapters are too long to add flashbacks AND bonus scenes. i could always do a separate set of oneshots for them, but i don’t have the time for that (yk this through my horrid updating schedule) 😟

but i am so glad you’re telling me what you enjoyed — and more importantly, being specific about it. it lets me put into perspective how the later chapters (tho already planned) should be set out. your feedback means the world to me, and you deserve a million set of kisses every night for them <3333

‘i love this fanfic sosososo much!!! i don’t understand how this isn’t more popular because??? IT’S SO GOOD???’

okay brb, gonna go and find my right to exist and have the perfect life when cutie pies like you grace this earth 😖💞💓💗💞

maybe one day it’ll get bigger 😊 if that day ever comes, i’ll remember my og readers. i’ll remember the support i was given from them. i’ll remember people like you, who continuously flood my inbox with enough love to pull yank me out of writer’s block and squeeze out another chapter, how because of your long and juicy asks/messages/dms, the cycle of writing i have going on here continues, and i feel more and more proud that i even developed such a fic to begin with ❤️

‘literally how aren’t people falling in love with your writing after the first 1k words’ — errr probably ‘cause the first 1k words were just y/n trying (and failing) to explain what happens in her horror stories without stuttering 💀 LMFAO, SORRY 😭 i’d fall asleep on that carpet if i were the kids surrounding her, and they went to listen willingly.

but ugh, that’s so nice of you, i’m gonna siwjosnwidjwjd

AND OMG YOU’RE SO RIGHT

like everyone talks about yuji/nobara, or yuji/megumi, bUT WHAT ABOUT MY BEANS NOBARA/MEGUMI? they have a level of deep understanding with each other in canon (and in my fic, which will be addressed CHAPTERSSSS later) that i’d love to yap about, but i’ve already yapped enough, like you’re probably cringing rn i’m sorry 😭 another time, maybe 😔

[kowtownart]

Flustering the big ol' softie :3c

[offorestsongs]

assorted lilyarrow doodles because i needed to clean my brain after studying (ft. tsums and fursonas i guess)

[trashcreatyre]

Finished an old unfinished zine I found in my notebook earlier :3

[fanxians]

god i'm OBSESSED with them

[queenoftsage]

Listen.... Look at this photo LOOK AT IT!!!

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

Niles and Maris are low key OTP material

[auduux]

Fable people...please tell me i'm not the only one who ships reaver and logan </3

[craqueluring]

lets talk about dracula

TLDR: in both hannibal and dracula, 'man' and 'monster' are uncomfortably similar. the repulsion that 'man' has in response to this grey area is a part of what compels them to attempt to separate themselves from the monster in some way. the only way they actually succeed at this is in complete annihilation of the monster. despite this, their attempts at separation only blur the lines even further between them as the 'men' act increasingly like 'monster' in order to separate them, which is an obvious contradiction. a large part of the horror of both dracula and hannibal is the fact that the line between monster and non-monster becomes blurred. this is not only in that the monsters, hannibal and dracula, look human, but also because the humans can act like the monster, can lose themselves in this, and, eventually, like will, can consciously Become the monster.

i have three main parts to this:

similarity between man and monster

consequent impulse of man to separate self from the monster. the only way to do this is annihilation of the monster

in the attempts at separation, man and monster become even more similar

prepare for a long post <3

1. similarity between man and monster

in both dracula and hannibal, the characters are able to recognize their humanity in the monster in some way. the monsters look human, physically, and can blend in with humans, but they are far enough from humanity to be termed 'monsters.' alana says to hannibal in 3x08:

“You've long been regarded by your peers in psychiatry as something entirely Other. For convenience, they term you a monster.”

and not only can the monsters imitate humans, but the humans can imitate monsters. 

johnathan harker, a main character in dracula, watches dracula disturbingly crawl down the castle wall, and asks “What manner of man is this, or what manner of creature is it in the semblance of a man?” effectively, he is asking 'is dracula a man that is insane, or is he something entirely other that just looks like a man?' in this harker is" [repulsed] by his recognition of humanity in Dracula’s appearance and animalistic behavior."

despite this repulsion, he mimics dracula in the very behavior he was repulsed by in his attempts to escape and explore the castle

"While Harker loathes the “vision of otherness in human shape,” at the same time it helps him to “briefly expand his awareness of his own potential elasticity,”...(Auerbach 89). Although Harker remains disgusted by Dracula’s ability to impersonate humanity while retaining animalistic mannerisms, he nevertheless imitates the vampire’s environmental adaptability and expands his own capabilities. The interchangeability between the two existing beings creates apprehension not only of Dracula’s ability to pass as human, but also, if not more so, of Harker’s identification with Dracula" (x)

this directly parallels will's ability to imagine himself as the killers he investigates. although will and harker are repulsed by the behaviors of the 'monster' in question, they nevertheless mimic it. i will expand on this later.

so, the monsters look human. the monsters can act human. the men can act like the monsters. this grey area makes the men very uncomfortable. 

2. consequent impulse of man to separate self from the monster. the only way to do this is annihilation of the monster

"This concept of [repulsive] recognition with an alien being underlines the entire novel, as Harker and the other male characters continue to reassert a form of difference between themselves and the vampire. Ultimately, their only way to clearly distinguish themselves from the abhorrent vampire is to annihilate Dracula completely" (x)

jack, alana, and will all continually attempt to stop hannibal by trying to imprison him, catch him, ignore him, etc. a large part of their motivation for this is either on the basis of morals and/or revenge, but i think a part of it could also be, like the characters in dracula, their trying to distinguish themselves from hannibal in reaction to such a repulsive monster being so close to humanity.

one of will's attempts to separate himself from hannibal in the face of this uncomfortable similarity/recognition with a monster is when he pulled a knife on hannibal in the uffizi gallery in 3x06 dolce. as chiyoh says in 3x05:

"If you don't kill him, you are afraid you will become him."

obviously will does not succeed. hannibal is imprisoned, but he is still not stopped. hannibal literally volunteers himself to be imprisoned to jack, which completely negates jack, alana, and will's goal of imprisoning hannibal as a way to separate themselves from hannibal. he is in the back of will's head for years: "[i am] where you always know where to find me," always tempting him to take a step towards Becoming. hannibal antagonizes alana in their talks, he is studied in the psychiatric journals. he is still there and he is still a monster that is uncomfortably similar to a man, or a man that is uncomfortably similar to a monster.

like in dracula, eventually, the only way jack, will, and alana can truly distinguish themselves from hannibal is by killing him. 

hannibal is not killing or doing harm in prison. they have him. he cannot do anything. unless he figures out some way to escape, he will never do anything harmful again. there is no real, pressing necessary reason to kill hannibal. and yet, will, jack, and alana plan to do just that in 3x13 TWOTL. a part of the reason i think they do this is because of the uncomfortable recognition of humanity in the monstrous human or humanoid monster that is hannibal. will, though, either no longer desires to be separated from hannibal or cannot be separated from hannibal, so he dies with hannibal.

in dracula, 

"The vampire hunters’ mission can be interpreted as a quest to eliminate the grey area where men and animals merge in a kind of monstrous coexistence." (x)

just as the characters in dracula feel compelled to separate themselves from dracula, jack, will, and alana feel compelled to separate themselves from hannibal. and, in both, the only way this happens is with the annihilation of dracula/hannibal. in hannibal, will is unable to separate himself from hannibal, so he is annihilated alongside hannibal.

semi-TLDR: okay, so it has been established that the line between man and monster is blurred by both. the monsters look human. the humans can mimic monsters. the humans hate this grey area and the similarities between them, and they want to separate themselves from the monster in some way. this is only achieved in complete annihilation of the monster

3. in the attempts at separation, man and monster become even more similar

despite men being repulsed by the grey area between them and monster, not only do they mimic the monsters, but in their attempts at separation, this imitation becomes more frequent and necessary, and the lines between them blur even further. so, while trying to distinguish themselves from the monster, they only become more similar.

in my opinion, the main way the characters in dracula distinguish themselves from him is actually not simply because they are not vampires. i think the main way the characters separate themselves from dracula is their christian religious values. after dracula attacks her, mina is cursed to become a vampire if she dies, and she is burned by the religious ritual they try to do to her. despite mina's almost-vampirism, she remains consciously religious, and is a decidedly 'good', and human, character. renfield is a human, and yet his worship of dracula rather than god contributes to his being closer to monster than man. so, religion, and therefore behavior, is the main way the characters in dracula separate themselves from dracula

as the characters try to distinguish themselves from dracula on the basis of their christian religion and religious behavior, and also non-animalistic behavior, in direct contradiction of this, they are forced to bend their religious beliefs and act in animalistic ways. 

as for simply behavior, harker imitates dracula in order to separate himself from dracula by mimicking him crawling down the castle wall (in "lizard fashion") while trying to escape. 

as for religion, mina is a big part of this. despite mina literally being burned by the sacred wafer, she is still accepted by the men, and her connection to dracula is the reason they are able to find dracula and kill him. in their attempts to separate themselves from dracula, the characters must accept an almost-vampire who was burned by a religious ritual as human and 'good' in order to annihilate something of the devil. the lines only become more blurred between man and monster as they attempt separation.

in hannibal, i feel the main way the characters distinguish themselves from hannibal is their dedication to law enforcement. the beginning of the show makes this separation very clear: hannibal is a criminal, and the other characters are working with the fbi. of course, they are also not serial killers or (willingly) cannibals, but this is all on the basis of their morals which align with and rest heavily on the law.

as jack, will, and alana attempt to separate themselves from hannibal (because hannibal is acting illegally and is a criminal, and they are acting legally and are law enforcement), they, in direct contradiction of this, must break the law, and bend their morals.

will is the first to attempt to separate himself from hannibal because he was the first one to realize what hannibal was. in prison, his lawfulness bends when he sends matthew brown to kill hannibal. he bends (and therefore blends with hannibal) even more while trying to 'maintain his cover' to catch hannibal when he kills and mutilates randall tier and willingly engages in cannibalism with hannibal. in will's attempts in season 2 to separate himself from hannibal, he only contradicts what once distinguished him from hannibal so clearly.

jack and alana aren't driven to do this until the end of season two when they realize what hannibal is. in their desperation, they directly disregard the law embodied by kade prurnell, and jack goes to kill hannibal himself in mizumono, completely extra-legally, and alana follows. 

will, jack, and alana trying to kill hannibal extra-legally rests almost completely on their personal feelings, and not directly the law like before. this is exactly what hannibal does: kill people who he thinks deserve to die. they do this as well. will, jack, and alana are forced to imitate hannibal in order to separate themselves from hannibal.

by season three, will, jack, and alana are have all contradicted the values (the law) that once so clearly separated them from hannibal. they are barely even associated with law enforcement anymore. 

recall the clearly-cut beginning of hannibal: law enforcement vs. serial killer. by season three, the line between them is not only blurred. it is barely even there.

alana works with mason verger, 'facilitating torture and death,' completely extra-legally. jack assaults hannibal and literally almost kills him in florence with his bare hands. not to mention alana and margot killing mason verger in digestivo because hannibal said he would take the blame for it. literally doing something hannibal would do. 

it is continually said that the main point of hannibal's murders and manipulations is theater. in 3x04, alana says

"You're preparing the theater of Hannibal's death. I'm just doing my part to get him to the stage"

alana is the one preparing the theater of death now. not just hannibal. again, becoming more like him as she tries to annihilate him.

in the wrath of the lamb, will, jack, and alana (again, completely extra-legally) plan to kill both the dragon and hannibal together. 

at this point, they are completely dissociated from what once so clearly separated them from hannibal. this is plainly communicated by the reoccurring sentiment that jack, alana, and will have died in some way after mizumono:

in primavera 3x02:

"You [Will] are already dead, aren't you?"

and in digestivo 3x07

"You're dead, Dr. Bloom"

"Oh, Mason. We all are. Didn't you know?"

i don't think i need to explain how this connects to vampirism, lol.

not only they are completely disconnected from what once made them 'human/alive', but, again, they are doing what hannibal, the monster, does. they are planning to murder people who they personally think deserve death, bending their morals to allow torture, murder, etc. in their minds, they think that this is justified because of hannibal's actions, and, honestly, most people would probably agree. (and there is a whole other conversation about vigilantism to be had concerning this) but fundamentally, hannibal does the exact same thing. except his bar for 'someone who deserves death' is a lot lower.

in their attempts to destroy hannibal, they only become more like him.

"Nonetheless, the violent destruction of the vampires proves that, when turned from prey to predators, humans can be just as monstrous as the creatures they are determined to extinguish. Reason gives way to instinct; and science to sheer superstition. Deprived of their usual resources to assess and repress the monstrous menace, the characters rely on their most primitive impulses to destroy it. But, as we all know, vampires never die." (x)

i think this exchange between alana and chilton in the wrath of the lamb perfectly encapsulates this:

"You were never comfortable in your own skin, Frederick. You wouldn't be comfortable in Hannibal's."

"Are you?"

[nyxypoo]

NYXY DO U WANT ME TO WRITE A YURI FOR US 😳

I MEAN IF UR OFFERINGGGGGG

[vampcaprisun]

halsin, spiderman pointing at ren: big elf?????

ren, a celestial, spiderman pointing back: not quite but i’m just gonna let you have this one