#the teacup means literally everything about hannibals life

[fragiledate]

szn 2 finale, will never recover

[daisies-on-a-cup]

hannibal's philosophy about fate is one of the more complex and interesting things about his character in the show. the two quotes that come to mind in particular for me when thinking about that is "Nothing happened to me. I happened." and "I can feed the caterpillar, I can whisper through the chrysalis, but when it hatches, it follows its own nature and that is beyond me."

hannibal's idea of things happening but not causing is very interesting to me because it implies a strong belief in an internal locus of control. yes, things might have been done to you, someone may have said things to influence you, but ultimately it is your own doing, your own actions/thoughts that determine who you become. the trauma hannibal faced as a child were things that happened around him, things that were mostly out of his control, but he firmly believes that how he responded to those events were in his direct control. he decided what to do from then on, he decided to continue to eat people, not because of a trauma response, but because he liked to do it

but, intriguingly, hannibal also implies that he does believe in a small thing of fate. "Fate and circumstance has brought the teacup back together." all his life, hannibal has insisted that he has the control, he has the power, nothing is done to him- what happens happens because he allows it to happen. and yet, hannibal suggests a belief in god (though not a typical faith in god) as well as fate. when he says that fate has brought the teacup and them together again, he is trying to say that this was always going to happen. he was waiting for it to happen, hoping for fate to intervene, to show its face, despite his own iron grip on any control he has over the entire narrative

i think this outward insistence on control is a trauma response to what happened to himself and his family. if he truly believed that things were completely out of his reach of influence, then that would mean there was an ultimate fate guiding every aspect of his life. it was fate his family would be slaughtered, it was fate he and his sister would starve in the bitter winter, it was fate that the soldiers chose his sister instead of himself to eat that night, and it was fate that hannibal would continue to live. fate would then seem impossibly and irrevocably cruel then, and hannibal is a master of what cruelty and intimacy is. replacing "fate" with "i happened" is how he takes back that control, which is also interesting when reanalyzing mizumono

he says in the beginning of their confrontation "The teacup that I shattered did come together." but then a few moments later says "Fate and circumstance have returned us to this moment where the teacup shatters." it's an interesting switch, again, for hannibal to deny himself a true part in any of this devastation, to deny himself the heartbreak of this outcome. he removes himself from will's betrayal while also playing benevolent god, forgiving will in the same breath he accuses him of ruining their family, their future. he gives will forgiveness just as he takes abigail's life, all the while hiding behind "fate and circumstance" as the reason for their rended ending. hannibal denies causality and detaches himself from everything once again, just as he did with his sister, only his time it is reversed

time literally did reverse for hannibal, except it has gone the other way and he can only find comfort in that it was fate that did this to him and will, not will's or hannibal's or anyone else's fault

[alwaysthinkingoutloud]

Hannibal Episode-by-Episode Meta/Analysis: Episode 1, Season 1 (Apéritif)

The series start with Will Graham in a crime scene doing what he does, which is resurrecting crime scenes for further evidence and possible insight into the criminal’s mind and motives. What is interesting about this first scene is that for a first-time viewer, for the first a few minutes, it is not clear if what we are watching is a possible reenactment or it is actually a memory. That doubt gets cleared in a minute but until then, we don’t know if he is imagining or is he remembering. Is he a guy with a powerful imagination helping FBI who literally puts himself into the killer’s shoes or is he the killer itself, hiding in plain sight? To my thinking, the very first opening to the story does say a lot about the end of it all as well.

“This is my design”

Why not say plan, but design instead? Planning is something mechanical, strategical. It is the result of motive and effort of a rational brain rather than an acted-on urge. There is no much room for subjectivity or creativity since efficiency is the ultimate goal. However, design has a more artistical ring to it. It is like, its prior aim is not to be useful, but to be beautiful. Designing is done when aesthetics is of concern. We would say, Michelangelo designed David, plan would not look right there. It would be accurate as for explaining the mathematical part of it, the disciplined and patient hours that has been put into it, but it would not do justice to the inspiration, passion, and desperate need of the artist for his creation to materialize. A planner would not adore his work, but a designer would. And Will understands the difference a bit too well.

Later, talking with Jack Crawford, we learn that Will finds the name of Evil Minds Research Museum “hammy”. I do not think there is anything hammy about the name, it’s quite literal. It is not an ennobler name but why does Will find it so though? Does creativity and originality need to be perceived as abhorrent just because it was given birth by someone evil? This all-cautious way of approaching and overthinking things is a reflection of something dark within. Afterall, what is seen has at least a little to do with the seeing eyes, if not more.

Jack exhibits a disturbingly dominant way of communication with Will. He corrects Will’s eyeglasses, the guy who he knows is not comfortable with any kind of interpersonal interaction, within the minutes of their chat and holds down his bag to slow down his moving on. He is trying to make sure that Will feels Jack is the alpha and also that deep down, Will does not have the option to not cooperate. And more Will gets convinced to help for one step, stronger Jack drags Will into it for one more.

The first time we see Will interacting with any victim-related people, it is confusing. Being an empath and claiming that he can not only relate to narcissists and sociopaths but anyone, he does not seem to empathize much with the victim’s parents, cutting into the conversation about parents’ doubts on their daughter’s likelihood of being alive with a non-emotional, case related question. It almost makes you question if his ability to emphathize is just stronger with the dark side of the force than it is with the light one. Yes, the primer focus is to catch the killer and stop whatever malice is going on but after all, Jack came to Will with the need of help, so Jack must care about the case resolving more than he does. Yet, Jack seems more understanding of the parents’ feelings than Will, although Will is an ultimate empath. We even see Jack’s disapproval when Will cuts into the conversation. It is a brow mover.

Next, we get more insight about Will as he meets Winston. He finds him on the road roaming, tries to get close to him but cannot, so he drives all the way to his home to get something to lure him with and comes back to the dog. He is willing to go lengths to add a new dog to his pack, to his ‘family’, to his ‘social circle’. Something he is not willing nor comfortable to do for a person. Will's preferring an animal's company to a person's may say more than obvious. Afterall, he chooses Hannibal over Jack too, doesn't he?

Will who has already started to get traumatized by the case, is ambushed in the bathroom by Jack with an unforgiving mobbing, forcing ideas out of Will and stirring him up in the expense of his stability. Later on in his little chat with Alana, Jack’s intentions and priorities are further put into perspective. The way he talks about Will shows that for him, Will is more of a means to an end than an actual colleague. His insistence about “putting Will out there” despite Alana’s warnings and his admission of not being absolutely capable of protecting Will’s mental health just crowns that he does not genuinely care about Will. In fact, he even knows the risk of what he is doing, and he is trying to draw Dr. Bloom in to share, if not all together blame it on, the responsibility if something may go wrong.

We finally meet Hannibal in his office in a therapy session with his patient. The look Dr. Lecter throws when Franklyn blows his nose and places the dirty napkin onto the table… Up to this scene, we were not given any clue to suggest that Hannibal Lecter is a killer but after all, we do know who he is. And him being the first actual predator in the series we meet, we do not see him acting on brute violence or inelegant butchering. His first reaction depicted is unrest against rudeness. So the audience is welcomed into the mind of Lecter with an easily apprehensible act that can be shared by almost anyone. Almost to suggest that, this act of Franklyn’s may be enough to justify a wrath that may come upon him.

Jack shows up in Hannibal’s office unannounced and mistakes Franklyn with Hannibal. Hannibal, of course slightly annoyed, tells Jack to wait in the waiting room and invites him in with his own timing. Being a bossy and dominant guy he is, this takes Jack by surprise and it also tells us that there is an even stronger alpha here. So Jack realizes he cannot dominate Hannibal into his will like he did with Will. He may have to try something else. As Jack asks questions that are getting more specific and personal as they come, we see Hannibal getting cautious. Taking his scalpel into his hand and eyes widening. He lowers his guard only when he learns that he was referred to Jack by Dr. Bloom, his eyes visibly getting smaller, which are almost the only window to his thoughts anyway. So after seeing the sophisticated aura leaking not only out of Hannibal but everything around him, Jack chooses to sweet talk him into cooperation.

When Jack, Hannibal and Will first come together in a room, it is the first time in the show where Will makes such a long, non-blinked eye contact with someone, that being Hannibal. And we see mixed emotions and thoughts on Hannibal’s face. He is amused, intrigued and curious at the same time with the way Will thinks. He makes a quick analyze of Will which results in making him fling out of the room. Being the controlled, non-impulsive, strategic guy he is; even Hannibal himself is a little surprised with the sudden blurbing of his perception of Will. So maybe this first scene having Will and Hannibal together is another kind of first as well with both men doing something not typically them.

Hannibal, telling Jack that “he may help Will see the cannibal’s face”, he copies the crime of Minnesota Shrike. At the first look, this looks like an attempt of toying with the FBI and confusing them. But considering Hannibal’s last conversation with Jack, this feels more like a tribute, a helping hand for Will. Hannibal knows that Will would know that this is not the same killer the second he sees the crime scene. As Will later says to Hannibal, this was done to show Will a negative so that he could see the positive. So, we see from this point on that Hannibal’s wit does not focus on FBI, it does on Will. We see Hannibal eating and smiling, joyous of the fact that he now has an object of interest. Will imagining of a stag right after this, as stag will be the subconscious symbol of the Chesapeake Ripper / Copycat Killer before Will knows who he is and later when he does, of Hannibal; it shows that Hannibal literally entered his life and mind in more than one way.

Hannibal shows up in Will’s house very early and obviously very impatiently. So he does not only plan to interfere Will with being the Copycat Killer but through his ‘person suit’ as well. Feeding Will the meat of the girl he killed is also exciting for Hannibal as this manipulation game he has set to play with Will gets to be sicker for a normal human perception.

The breakfast scene is also the first time where Hannibal is looking for some ill-intent or killing inclination in Will, while Will denies having so. He wonders how much being able to empathize with killers say about Will’s own potential to do so. Hannibal suggests that Jack is treating Will as he is “a fragile little teacup, only used for special guests”. And that he himself sees him as “a mongoose that he would want under the house when snakes slither by”. He suggests that Will is not a pray that should be afraid to get hurt, that he is the predator. By that Hannibal does not only encourage the destructiveness Will may be trying hard to keep buried to come alive, but also the false perception that Will’s mind is strong enough to take any challenge Jack may throw his way.

Hannibal warning Garret Jacob Hobbs is literally setting the pieces in position of his will to get Will where and how he wants. He does not know what will be waiting in Hobbs’ house for Will but in the end, it does not matter so much since he just wants to see what happens.

When they arrive at the house, seeing Hobbs leaving his wife on the threshold her throat cut, Hannibal stands still. Is it because he is so confident that Will will be too frantic to ever look back and notice that, or is it because deep down he just does not feel like putting his person suit on in front of Will? I think both. When Will shots Hobbs and tries to tend Abigail on the floor, Hannibal walks in and sees Will caring hard for the girl. Hannibal’s face looks curious about what is going on but more than that, again, his focus is on Will more than it is on anything else. He sees all these humane emotions that Hannibal himself has always been somewhat stranger too on Will, those emotions that he thought, cannot come in a package with all the destructive ones. But maybe they can. And those emotions may even look nice. Because it almost does on Will. Although how the events would turn out Hannibal did not know, it was certain that the way he pushed things, there would be blood and there would be Will doing something that will change him one way or the other. After all, they have undergone a traumatic (for Will) and exciting (for Hannibal) circumstance together and it is a known fact that people who experience a significant situation together tend to develop emotional bonds. Maybe this was the least of what Hannibal hoped for. If that was the case, he got more than he wished. Will got to kill someone even if it was for a just reason and there happened to be an orphaned girl that Will desperately bonded the moment he killed her father, who maybe a manipulative tool for Hannibal in his game. The last scene where Will finds Hannibal holding Abigail’s hand in the hospital room highlights this perfectly. Now, Hannibal and Will has a mutual asset that Hannibal may use to draw Will closer to himself despite of Will’s initial reservations to do so.

[k-s-morgan]

Hannibal Is Not a Psychopath: Criteria and Examples

The question of whether Hannibal is a psychopath often comes up. I'd like to start right with TL;DR: no, Hannibal is not a psychopath. It's confirmed in the show textually, with it being said that he's something that can't be defined and that doctors are confused as to what to label him with.

Evidence: E8 of S3.

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

HANNIBAL: What do you term me?

ALANA: I don't. You defy categorization.

That's the point of the show. It happens in a heightened reality where labels don't really exist (which is why I think there is no point in such analysis as this, but like I said, it’s for people who keep calling him a psychopath). Both Will and Hannibal are deeply unique, they do have some psychopathic traits, but all in all, their profiles are entirely fictional. You can also see this thread for what Bryan Fuller and Mads Mikkelsen say about this topic. Here are some highlights.

Bryan Fuller: Hannibal Lecter is unique in his crazy. He’s not a psychopath, because he experiences regret. And he’s not a sociopath, because he experiences empathy. So he is unique in his crazy, and that gives him a higher sensibility than just a mortal man ... one of the things that we talked about in our first meeting was not so much about playing Hannibal as the cannibal psychiatrist, as previously portrayed by other actors, but more like Lucifer and how he was a dark angel who had this affinity for mankind and a fascination with the human condition.

Now, let's move on to the actual practical examples from the show as related to two most common models devised for assessing a person with a possible psychopathy.

DSM-5 Criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder

A. Significant impairments in personality functioning manifest by:

1. Impairments in self functioning (a or b):

a.Identity: Ego-centrism; self-esteem derived from personal gain, power, or pleasure.

Ego-centrism.

Standard definition of ego-centrism is an "excessive interest in oneself and concern for one's own welfare or advantage at the expense of others". From S1, Hannibal is doing what he thinks is best to help people he finds interesting at the expense of his own safety and peace. Will is the brightest example (he always is). Hannibal senses a killer in him, understands Will subdues his true self, and he does everything in his power to help him Become. Here's what he says to Bedelia about it in E12 of S1, explaining what he wants to do with Will:

Hannibal: "Madness can be a medicine for the modern world. You take it in moderation, it's beneficial. ... Side effects can be temporary. They can be a boost to our psychological immune systems to help fight the existential crises..." Translation: Hannibal is using Will's illness in S1 to blur his self-control and get him to admit who he is so that Will could free himself of his self-acceptance crisis.

He says the same to Will in E1 of S2: "Our conversations, Will, were only ever about you opening your eyes to the truth of who you are."

Bedelia confirms it to Will in E2 of S2: "It may be small comfort, but I am convinced Hannibal has done what he believes is best for you."

Finally, Will admits it's true many times. One of them happens in S3 during his conversation with Chiyoh: "I've never known myself as well as I know myself when I'm with him."

Conclusion: Hannibal is really trying to help Will be himself and he succeeds in it. Furthermore, he does it at the expense of his safety.

Hannibal endangers himself from S1 the closer he gets to Will. In E9 of S1, Will learns that he helped Abigail bury the body of Nick Boyle. Hannibal's first instinct is to protect himself, so he reaches for the scalpel. But he immediately changes his mind. He takes a risk, choosing to explain his reasoning to Will. He places himself in danger - he did it back when he helped Abigail with the body (because he wanted to help her, too, and he wanted her to be a part of his and Will's family). He protects Will to the point where Jack grows suspicious and comes to talk to Bedelia about it. When Bedelia tells Hannibal that he should take a step back because he's getting too personal and endangers himself, Hannibal downright refuses.

He risks his life in an attempt to make Will free himself, too. He nearly dies after Will sends Matthew to attack him in E5 of S2 and he doesn't press charges - on the contrary, he's happy and he frees Will from the prison for that. He makes a conscious effort not to react in E7 of S2 when Will points a gun at him (just as what he did in E13 of S1). Will could shoot him any time but Hannibal places the need to help him Become above his safety. He's ready to dismantle his good life and run away with Will in the second half of S2. He gives up his freedom literally in S3 to prove to Will that he places him above himself. He proves it again by showing that he's willing to die for him: first, he agrees to Will's plan with the Dragon, knowing Will is planning something but not caring what it results in, perfectly willing to give Will all the control. He shields Will from the bullet at the expense of his safety again, talking about sacrifice and love. He lets Will push them off the cliff.

Conclusion: All this actions show that Hannibal is not overly ego-centric. He's capable of putting other people's needs above himself. Will is far from being the only example. Abigail, Bella, Margot, and Bedelia also fit here. Some could say that Hannibal does all this for Will just because he's in love with him. Yes, he wants to be family with Will in the end of this whole process, but it means that his final goal is their mutual happiness, not something just for his benefit. He knows Will is lonely (Will admits it himself several times in all seasons). He knows Will is going to be much happier after Becoming. Will's words (including those above) prove it.

Self-esteem.

Hannibal has a high self-esteem but it's not derived from the mentioned superficial elements. He has every reason to think highly of himself: he's extremely educated, he helped many people make their lives better (from common patients to people like Randall, who accepted themselves and became happy in their way), he is talented (he plays different instruments, he's an excellent and creative cook, he's fluet in several languages), he has excellent manners, etc. So, his self-esteem does not depend on gain, power, or pleasure.

b.Self-direction: Goal-setting based on personal gratification; absence of prosocial internal standards associated with failure to conform to lawful or culturally normative ethical behavior.

Hannibal's plan are as self-motivated as every person's. For instance, he wants a family with Will. Many people want to have families. But like it was said above, Hannibal doesn't focus only on himself here. He risks to protect Will's interests and he's willing to be put away so Will could be free to make his own decision, even if it doesn't include him. That's love, not personal gratification. He works with patients not just to tell himself what a clever man he is, he's genuinely concerned about them. He shares his worries about making Franklyn feel powerless in S1 with Bedelia. He tries to protect Franklyn and asks Tobias not to kill him. So, his goals are not aimed at his own gratification excessively.

Hannibal has a complex philosophy that doesn't fit the above criteria about prosocial internal standards. He doesn't have a lack of the desire to meet them: on the contrary, he wants to make this world beautiful. As he tells Will in S2, "Discourtesy is unspeakably ugly to me." He doesn't kill random people. He kills rude people that ruin the norms of ethical behavior. Hannibal is very active in being prosocial in his way: for instance, he kills a politician who ruined the forest where rare birds nested to build a parking lot. He killed a homophobic doctor. Hannibal has solid prosocial principles that aim to restore beauty and harmony in this world. He's a monster for sure, but he has principles that make everyone question themselves. Even cannibalism: people act all horrified when they learn they ate other people, but everyone is so joyful about eating animals who can think, feel, and who are smarter than many actual people. Double-standards provide for endless discussions.

Conclusion: Hannibal doesn't meet any of the above two major criteria. It already means he's not a clinical psychopath. But let's move forward.

2. Impairments in interpersonal functioning (a or b):

a.Empathy. Lack of concern for feelings, needs, or suffering of others; lack of remorse after hurting or mistreating another.

This doesn't fit Hannibal either. Like Bryan Fuller's quote above confirms, he does experience empathy and regret. It's obvious in the show as well: for instance, in E7 of S3, he writes formulas to reverse time (which is the embodiment of regret). He regrets hurting Will and he asks him if maybe the tea-cup can still be mended. In E8 of S2, he himself says: "A life without regret would be no life at all." He's almost crying in E11 of S2 when he and Will discuss Abigail. Will expresses his pain at the loss and Hannibal says: "I'm sorry I took that from you. I wish I could give it back." Note that he does intend to give Abigail back to Will: he left her to live because he wants them to reunite. He also tries to soothe Will's pain by hinting at the truth: "Occasionally, I drop a teacup to shatter on the floor on purpose. I'm not satisfied when it doesn't gather itself up again. Someday, perhaps, that cup will come together."

In E13 of S2, Hannibal is devastated to learn of Will's betrayal, but he understands his conflict. He gives him another chance, telling him, "I don't need a sacrifice." When he tells Will he forgives him later, he asks: "Will you forgive me?" This shows that he understands regret intimately. These (just a few out of many) examples prove that he cares about Will's feelings.

He's crying as he walks in the rain, leaving people he loved bleeding. He regrets the ruined plans and he accepts he's to blame to an extent. When in E3 of S3 Bedelia asks him whether Will betrayed him or vice versa, Hannibal replies: "I'm vague on these details." It means that after some time passed, he analyzed the situation and he's no longer sure he did the right thing. This is regret, too. Furthermore, he becomes self-destructive, which Bedelia notices and calls him out on. He doesn't fight against Jack, letting him beat him up, torture him, and almost kill him. Hannibal is an emotional wreck at that point: he agonizes over what happened with Will, he regrets what he did, and he clearly hates himself enough for it to torture himself like this.

I already described the risks Hannibal took to take care of Will's needs in the first section. In addition, he tells Will in S3 finale: "My compassion for you is inconvenient." Despite being hurt after covering him from the bullet, he tries to protect Will again and again. He cares about his suffering and he can't watch him be hurt.

Hannibal also empathizes with Bella, sometimes looking moved to tears. He gives her a chance to die as she wishes by tossing a coin, even though it could lead him to numerous problems with Jack. It's terrible for every normal therapist to have a patient who committed suicide. It's even worse when it happened right in their office, and it's 100 times worse for a serial killer who's one step away from being suspected. The fact that he even gives her a chance tells a lot. He's crying as he sends a grieving letter to Jack after Bella's death.

Hannibal understood Abigail's feelings and suffering and he cared about them, too. He tried to alleviate them. He was annoyed with her in E9 of S1 because she endangered him by digging up Nick's body. Instead of getting rid of her or protecting himself, he just gave her a warning. He tried to defend her in Will's eyes later in this episode. The only explanation for his actions is that he understood where she was coming from despite not liking it. He knew she wasn't just thoughtless or malicious - he understood her turmoil.

Hannibal also understands killers like Will, which proves he has empathy. As Will said about James Grey in E of S2, "Whoever he is, this second killer understood the Muralist well enough to find his canvas. Well enough to convince him to be part of it." Same goes to Randall and Francis, both of whom admit Hannibal understood them better than anyone else. There are many, many more other examples proving that Hannibal has empathy and cares about feelings of some people very deeply.

b.Intimacy. Incapacity for mutually intimate relationships, as exploitation is a primary means of relating to others, including by deceit and coercion; use of dominance or intimidation to control others.

I don't think much is needed to be said here since many examples were already covered. Hannibal and Will have an absolutely mutual relationship that's incredibly deep on all levels. As Will says in E4 of S3: "We have a mutually-unspoken pact to ignore the worst in one another in order to continue enjoying the best." Will chooses Hannibal every time. Hannibal's whole life revolves around Will. He's ready to go to prison for him, he;s ready to die for him, and he's ready to do all possible sacrifices.

Hannibal used deception with Will in S1 to a degree, but this had its own goal (to make WiLL feel better in the end), and the deception was gone for the majority of S2 and S3. Bedelia says in E12 of S2: "What he does is not coercion, it is persuasion." Hannibal tries to get people to see why they should be themselves instead of forcing them to do anything (and he does that since he can relate to them, which proves his empathy once again). Will had darkness in him from the start (which is proven in E2 of S1), so he did find comfort in Hannibal's words. For the majority of time, and all the time emotionally, Hannibal is honest with Will.

He doesn't try to dominate or control Will. He admires how unpredictable Will is in E8 of S2: "With all my knowledge and intrusion, I could never entirely predict you." He admits that Will has power over him in E8 of S3: "I discovered you [in my Mind Palace]... victorious." He doesn't exploitate him either as he truly wants what's best for him. He admits he's in love with him and says he loves him two different times. So Hannibal is capable of love, and his feelings are returned because Will finds his own unique equal in him. He tells Jack that he wants to run with Hannibal twice in S3, he keeps seeking him out, and he chooses him over everyone and everything. The last scene of the show with them eating Bedelia together shows that they're now in comfortable dark companionship where they hunt together.

Conclusion: Hannibal doesn't meet any of these two criteria, never mind both of them.

Now, the standard Hare Psychopathy Checklist. I'll list only those traits pointed here that have relevance (for instance, I'll ignore such points as "Previous diagnosis as psychopath", "Frequent marital relationships", "Poor probation or parole risk", etc.)

1. Glibness/superficial charm: yes. Hannibal is charming for sure and he talks very, very smoothly.

2. Egocentricity/grandiose sense of self-worth: not really. It was already discussed above. Hannibal does like to "defy God", as Will says in E2 of S3, but his beliefs are fully supported by his actions. He's also not self-absorbed and can put others above himself.

3. Proneness to boredom/low frustration tolerance: no. Hannibal enjoys life deeply, always finding something to do, and he's extremely patient even in most aggravating situations. It ranges form annoying patients like Franklyn to Will, whose hypocrisy and self-doubt Hannibal tolerates lovingly till the very end.

4. Pathological lying and deception: no. Hannibal lies when he must, for good reasons. On the contrary, he tends to be funnily honest with his cannibal puns people choose to ignore. For example, when Alana asks what's in her beer, he tells her he can answer only with "yes" or "no" questions, implying he'd tell her the truth if she guessed it. Same thing happens in E11 of S3:

ALANA: I called him. To confirm that he hasn't called you. Not since you've been declared insane.

HANNIBAL: I could have told you that.

ALANA BLOOM: If only I'd known to ask.

HANNIBAL: If only.

ALANA BLOOM: Would you have told me the truth?

HANNIBAL: In my own way, I always have.

5. Conning/lack of sincerity: yes and no. Obviously, being a murderer, Hannibal smoothly misleads many people. At the same time, both Bryan and Mads confirmed Hannibal tends to be emotionally honest, and it's evident in the show as well. He's sincere about loving Will, caring about Abigail and Margot, respecting Alana and finding her physically attractive, respecting Jack and Bella, etc.

6. Lack of remorse or guilt: no. It was already discussed.

7. Lack of affect and emotional depth: no. Many examples were given to show Hannibal's emotional depth. Also, he cries in the opera in E7 of S1. It proves that he has enough “depth” to feel moved and touched by the song. He cries when writing down the poem about loss to Jack in E5 of S3. He cries because of Will several times, falls into deep depression in S3, and so on. Psychopaths can't do all that, especially crying genuinely for such reasons.

8. Callous/lack of empathy: no. It was already discussed. Hannibal can be very cruel, true, but he does have empathy and motivation.

9. Parasitic lifestyle: no. I don't think I should explain that) Hannibal is entirely financially independent.

10. Short-tempered/poor behavioral controls: no. Hannibal can indeed be emotional and impulsive, but he's patient and in perfect control in the majority of instances. He flew into rage after Will broke his heart, but it's natural in such circumstances (of course, killing and maiming people is not normal, but I'm talking about short temper in general. Hannibal doesn't have one. Examples of his patience are above.).

11. Promiscuous sexual relations: no. He slept with Alana for a while, who he knew and respected. He flirted with Anthony and seemed ready to sleep with him, but that's it. Hannibal isn't shown as overly caring about sex and he's focused on Will entirely.

12. Early behavior problems. Difficult to say since his backstory is a mystery in the show for the most part. He did seem to start killing early, so most likely it's a yes.

13. Lack of realistic, long-term plans: no. Hannibal's plans are meticulous and realistic, and he's fighting hard to achieve them (see Hannibal's attempt to make a family with Will). Another example: he's a very prolific killer who stayed hidden for ages and gave himself up in the end only for the man he loves, not because he was caught. So he makes and executes long-term plans perfectly.

14. Impulsivity: no. Hannibal can be impulsive as any other person, it's not excessive.

15. Irresponsible behavior as parent: not really... he tried to protect Abigail at all costs. He encouraged her killing, but I'm not sure if it can be classified as irresponsible, considering who Hannibal and Abigail are and what this show is about.

16. Failure to accept responsibility for own actions: no. Hannibal understands when he's wrong and he accepts the consequences. He takes pride in most of his kills, he admits to Bedelia that he made mistakes, he understands Will struggles to forgive him and apologizes for his actions, etc.

17. Many types of offense: yes.

18. Drug or alcohol abuse: no.

Out of 18 items, we have only 3 hard yes. That's a very low score.

Major conclusion: Hannibal does have some psychopathic traits. He's also cruel and he shows some sadistic tendencies, but he's not a psychopath at all. He can feel deeply and he forms extremely strong emotional bonds. I doubt such people actually exist, but that makes him even more fascinating as a character.

[elfnerdherder]

The Unquiet Grave: Chapter 20 Pt. 2

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Chapter 20: Where does the Swallow Fly? (Pt. 2)

Dolarhyde handles his broken arm much the way a seasoned FBI agent would. He cradles it but made little to no comment. There seems to be to him far more pressing matters, so the matter of his pain can wait. In it, Will senses a familiar pressure of someone having been used to dealing with long periods of excruciating pain.

He sits where Will once sat, and Hannibal had taken the place just across from him, poised on the edge of his seat. He made no move to adjust his collar or tie, although it left them askew and exposing the mottled skin beneath. Hands best fit to choking. Hands best fit to hurting.

It left Will to leaning on the desk, his back to the flames and eyes fixed to the people before him that are the literal reason for why his entire world is attempting to come crashing down around him.

Oh, but wait; he’s missing Abigail. Truly, it was her that led to all of this around him?

“Have they done your evaluation?” Dolarhyde asks Will.

Will nods, but his eyes are on Hannibal. “What did you mean?” he asks. Behind him, the fire sears hot, but it’s a reminder for him to stay grounded. The longer the quiet sits, the longer he’s sure he’s done something wrong, but if it’s wrong Dolarhyde doesn’t seem to realize it. If it’s wrong, it’s wrong enough not even a powerfully unhinged E-2 can sense it. 

“You’re full of questions this evening,” Hannibal notes. 

“Hannibal—”

“It’s as I said. You began to rage at me about how I had this edge of sorts over you, how you had a distinct lack of…tools…” His lip quirked. “But when you finally let go, when you finally allowed yourself to feel something other than the control and restraint you’ve been subjected to your entire formative life, you were able to so completely and effortlessly weaponize your power that your emotions bled into the Great Red Dragon of all people, and he began to mimic you. You took control of him.

“Not even I can do that,” he adds after a beat.

The quiet in the wake of his clipped speech is a heavy kind. It’s the same kind as in funeral rooms, when acquaintances are forced to reminisce about distant relatives, the very same as the new girlfriend meeting disapproving parents; it’s the same as when Will first dreamed of another boy’s nightmares in school and was able to somehow help him by easing the terror of it.

“And you worry about what I Dreamed into your mind?” Hannibal wonders savagely. His eyes still sit like delighted almonds on his high-cut cheekbones.

Will wants, for a wild moment, to stab them out.

Not my thoughts, think of walls, Will, walls…

Will rubs his bare hands onto his pants, but he’s not sure he can scrub away the rush of disgust that roils through him. It’s a punch of disbelief, coupled with a trickle of a sick certainty of his capability to be savage, given what he’d done to Agent—

—Mr. Jackson, now. Agent no longer.

Was that truly Dolarhyde’s madness clinging to him, or was it his own when he’d encountered the doomed agent in the restroom?

“Tell me about Red Dragon,” Dolarhyde cuts in. If Hannibal’s words condemn Will in his eyes, it doesn’t show. He leans in, and his stare is with the same heated focus as it had been in the hotel. His broken arm rests at stiff, ugly attention.

“What do you want to know?” Will asks. Shame sits with the yolks in the bottoms of his shoes. He wonders what Jack thinks of his lead.

“I’ve…I’ve killed s—some… a person, I think.” Dolarhyde confesses. His lips slur over the ‘s’, and a hand lifts to cover it. “Each time I lose time, people die.”

Will frowns. “Who’s hunting the hunter?”

“Purnell.” His lip curls. “Agents that work directly under her.”

“The Great Red Dragon worked under her until you started asking questions. How are your walls?”

Dolarhyde looks at him the exact same way that he had in the hotel room; his eyes flash with something, a dark and wicked sort of hunger, then it’s gone. “I think now you’d be able to Dream me walls. I think they’d be compelling, too.” He looks away to the bookshelves whose inhabitants now litter the floor every which way, pages crushed beneath spines that fell with careless, haphazard violence. Something in them stiffens his spine, and his jaw hardens. 

“I don’t want them anymore, Will Graham. I think the time for my walls are obsolete.”

There’s a moment where Will immediately looks to Hannibal for his reaction, but he stops himself just in time. There are no safe spaces here. Hannibal is anything but his paddle. “You don’t want them, or the Great Red Dragon doesn’t want them?”

His nostrils flare. “We are the same.”

“If you were the same, then wouldn’t you remember who he murdered before he came here?” Will challenges. “Wouldn’t you remember why he tracked me down?”

“Because We watch the Hunter, Will Graham. The only way to do so is by tracking him down.”

Who watches the watcher? Who hunts the hunter?

“Do you feel protective of him, given all that he’s done?” Hannibal cuts in before Will can fire off the feelings that sit on his tongue. “Given all that you think you’re going to get him to do?”

“Speak for yourself,” Will snaps, and he looks to Dolarhyde. “I’ve had my evaluation, and I passed. Purnell sent someone after me, which means you can’t be here with me.”

“They know,” Dolarhyde replies.

“Which means you shouldn’t be here,” Will repeats, harder. “I told Jack I had a lead when I came here, so the longer I’m here they’re going to send someone after me. They already think you’re after me.”

“Are you going to continue helping the FBI after everything they’ve done, Will?” Hannibal interjects. His surprise sounds almost human.

Dolarhyde looks at Hannibal, and something in his expression holds enough interest that Will is immediately put on edge. The two of them shouldn’t be alone in a room together. “That’s not a priority to me right now,” he says. His gaze rests on Hannibal’s shoe. “There’s the matter of you.”

“Of me?”

Will scoffs, “If you think I’m going to wait for you to try and kill me, you’re mistaken.”

“I’ve had many opportunities to kill you Will, and I haven’t,” Hannibal reminds him genially.

“If you go back in there, you won’t come out alive,” Dolarhyde cuts in bluntly. “They will kill you and alter the results. You know too much about what they’ve done. With Purnell in charge, that’s how it will always be.”

He believes it, but the alternative is no more promising either. The alternative…

Will’s compelled, for just a moment, to laugh at the sheer irony of the situation, that an E-3 with supposedly unlimited power is stuck between a rock and a hard place. It’s like being in that fucking cabin all over again, only his hands are on Abigail’s throat and he’s remembering just what its’ like to live a life where one never truly seems to have a choice.

He doesn’t laugh; he manages a dusty exhale and a cough, and he buries his face in his hand.

“Then let’s find a way to get to Hannibal’s house,” he suggests into his palm. He scrubs at his scruff and looks at Hannibal with something much akin to violent intent. “Because I’m not letting you out of my sight now that I know what you are.”

Hannibal has the grace not to say anything snarky about it. In the background, the fire pops and cackles at their misfortune.

-

Hannibal doctored Dolarhyde’s wound after they safely and discreetly reached his house, and they retreat into the kitchen as he makes a tea that will help with the pain. Will rests with his back to the pantry, his eyes on the killers just in front of him acting for all intents and purposes like something other than killers.

Hannibal’s neck has lost some of the redness to it, but there’s a tinge of purple to it instead, a darker hue from bruises already forming. Red Dragon’s grip had been no joke—he’d truly meant to kill him. Will studies it for longer than he likes before he skips over the not-so-good doctor and studies the room around him, once an intimate space of creativity and now holding something of more sinister intent.

Not for the first time, Will is very much aware of how all it takes is one moment—one second, in truth—to shift an entire perspective. His life of late has felt like nothing but one second after another of turns on turns on turns, and maybe it’s now that he truly, truly fathoms the twisting halls in the House of Mirrors, the fucking irony of Hannibal being the one to find him and right him.

Now that he has had time and tainted silence to retreat into himself, Will finds himself thinking over the very first time he’d ever eaten something offered from Hannibal Lecter. The salad and the rabbit and the terror.

The meat sometimes tastes like terror.

Hannibal hadn’t seemed too offended when he couldn’t eat the meat offered, cooked with care. I can’t account for how the hunted behave before they die. He’d almost seemed more curious and amused, like it was a quaint allergy revealed at a tea party than anything else.

And the care he’d showed in escorting him from the Callumny of Appelles, like he actually worried at Will’s mental space. Will’s thinking, and down the halls of his mind behind his walls he’s opening doors, retreating farther and farther away. Hannibal’s neck will be bruised beyond hiding tomorrow, and he’s the one that threw that young woman onto the antlers of a stag just to hear her scream. A choking scream, but musical all the same.

The worst thing, you see, about being an empath is the horrifying burden of imagination that comes with it.

“Are you going to brood all night, or have you thought of a plan?”

It takes a dragging moment for Will to register Hannibal’s voice. He looks away from the corner of the refrigerator and fixes his gaze just to his shoulder, unable to truly pull himself much farther past that. “If you’ve killed Slowinski, then your final goal is Purnell, right?”

Dolarhyde’s large, capable hand makes the teacup inside of it fragile and small. He lifts it and sniffs suspiciously at the contents before he sucks it down and grimaces; still hot. “Yes.”

“And then?”

“Then?”

“What’s your plan after that? Where are you going to go? What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to go into hiding.”

Will’s lip curls, and he looks to Dolarhyde’s teacup. “Are you going to let him continue to kill people? More blackouts?”

“If he said no, would it absolve him of all of the other murders?” Hannibal wonders.

Sometimes the meat tastes like terror.

“I wanted help, and they wouldn’t give it, Will Graham.” Dolarhyde replies, ignoring Hannibal. “I will help myself now.”

Will chews on his bottom lip, watching Hannibal pour Dolarhyde another cup of tea.

“You’ll need to go far from here. If not me, someone else. Someone on a tighter leash.”

“And what about you?” Dolarhyde challenges. Something about Will’s words drags a wan smile to his lips. “Are you also going to go into hiding? Run from them and keep running until you can’t anymore?”

“Their hearts race, their eyes widen, and in that final moment their muscles tighten. That was a very terrified rabbit.”

“I’m leaving, but where I’m going doesn’t concern anyone here. I want that made very clear,” says Will. He rests his hands on his hips, hooking his thumbs into his belt. “The only reason we’re all in this position is because of the FBI. The way I see it, the farther apart from one another we are, the harder time they’ll have finding us, and the higher our survival odds.”

Will won’t look at Hannibal, but he can hear something smug dripping from his lips as he says, “If you believe the only thing entwining the three of us together is the FBI, you’re willfully misinterpreting the evidence just before you.”

“Regardless—” Will snaps, glancing to him before looking back to Dolarhyde— “I have to go and call Jack Crawford. I have to pretend that I lost the lead, and by tomorrow we all need to separate.”

“That is easily remedied,” Dolarhyde replies, and he stands up. His large stature beside Hannibal is a chilling reminder of how easily he could have killed him, and Will manages a glance to his face, as empty as it once had always been.

What Will wouldn’t pay to go back to the time when looking at him had only brought silence.

-

I’ll call tomorrow with a follow-up.

Will turns his phone off after sending the text, and he looks out of the window rather than look at the man sitting across from him, observing him.

“Do you think if you keep a wakeful vigilance over me in my home, I won’t be able to hurt someone?” Hannibal wonders.

Will ignores him, favoring the snowfall outside instead. In the still, awful hours of the night where the air presses too close, Dolarhyde had slipped into the quiet with little ceremony, his splinted arm tucked against his chest. For some reason, Will had almost expected a resistance from him when Will had told him to leave. Back at the office, he hadn’t seemed in any place to leave.

“Or did I accidentally allow you to go too far,” he muses, more to himself than Will, “lost to the wayward machinations of thought.”

“I have nowhere to go,” Will says to the snowfall. With the curtains pulled back, frost crawls with a lazy intent around the corners of the panes. “I’m right where you’d like me to be.”

“One can be sitting mere feet away and still have travelled too far,” Hannibal replies.

There’s nothing else, though, that he is able to pry from Will. Silence lingers, and he enjoys a cup of something stronger than the tea he’d given Dolarhyde, a burn to soothe the throat aching from the grips of death.

“When I was small, I saw what it was to be an empath,” he says after a time. Will gives no indication that he’d heard, lost among his walls and doors. “My family thought to protect me from being sent somewhere to be tested, to be sold to something before I’d even had the chance to learn what it meant to even be what I was.

“In Lithuania, to not report your child is a death sentence. Naturally, the government has ways of finding out when someone is lying to them.”

Hannibal allows that to linger in the air, as though he is a storyteller to a rapt audience.

“Although they could not have said who the empathic child was…they could try to figure it out. To force their hand, should they threaten their family. Ironically, the detainers used were always empaths because the government couldn’t be sure if the family had taught their child to weaponize their gifts,” he muses, and he takes a sip of his wine. Will feels the pressure of his stare on his skin, pushing for entry. “They found out which of us was the empath as easily as if we’d told them ourselves, but by then the damage was done…lines had been crossed, Will. Lines no one truly can forgive.

“They found the empath, but I think that if any one of us could go back to that day, we’d have each done it a little differently.”

Will can imagine it, but is that really so surprising? His skin feels over-sensitive despite being cloaked within his own clothing, and he wants to scrub his hands raw despite the fact that they’re safely tucked away from the world. Within a slow exhale, he’s just as easily imagining what it is to peel the skin away from bone, to feel a sort of fascinating power as the shine of membrane reflects in the light. A fast-running river of thought takes him, and he’s opening doors that should be closed, wondering just how long it would take to build his own plots of mycelium in the ground, something that would reach and know when he was there.

“The very first time that I weaponized my gift, I didn’t kill a single soul,” Hannibal continues, reverent.

Will’s gaze slides slyly to him, and his lip curls. “I don’t believe you.”

“I could show you, if you’d like,” Hannibal offers, and he leans forward in his chair, gaze fixated now that he has Will’s attention. He seems to be painfully aware of how tentative it is, as though he could lose it at any moment to the rushing tide. “Would you like to see?”

“No.”

“I think you would,” Hannibal replies, quiet. “Because the first time you weaponized your gift, you completely eradicated their entire existence as though they never were, and the second time you assumed control of their very will, their essence with the same effort as it takes to breathe.”

“And you wonder why the Academy encourages self-control,” Will retorts, only it’s half-assed because his horse isn’t quite hitched to their post any more than it is to Hannibal’s. He’s adrift, and he thinks of the times he used to sit in the fields just behind his house, the tall grass high enough to rise up about him like golden waves. The wind would blow, and his house would sit adrift in a sea of sunshine sprouted from the earth; a gust from the other side would bend stalks, bowing to its promise of sanctuary, and then another gust would tumble him under waves again.

“What did it feel like?” Hannibal asks.

Will wants to be sharp, then, and cruel. He can’t sense Hannibal’s curiosity, but he can see it in the way he leans in, inviting. Will is uncharted territory for Hannibal, too. An E-3, and isn’t that curious?

He thinks of his house, standing alone in an ocean of nothing but the earth and the woods and the trees. His lips part, and he can all but see Hannibal cease breathing to catch his words. “Do you think if I describe it easily enough, you can replicate it?”

“I only Dream things, Will; you make them real.”

“I wasn’t aware I’d even done it, and you want to know what I felt,” he mutters. Then, “I felt…I felt a need to build my walls. The Great Red Dragon’s emotions were…” God, they were, and it was pure vitriol at his back as he tried to keep a battering ram from hitting its mark. “I was imagining my walls, and then I felt him help me keep them that way—well,” he tacks on, savagely, “I thought he was helping. But I must have been taking.”

“If it’s any consolation, there may have been a point where your emotions overlapping with his made it impossible to distinguish who was giving and who was taking,” Hannibal says, gaze still fixated. A predator who’s caught his prey.

Will would take no such consolations from him. He looks back to the window and the snow adrift to the demanding breeze. “It may have started that way, but it didn’t end that way.”

“And so you remain awake rather than allow yourself to Dream.”

“I’m awake because I don’t trust you not to stab me in the back for knowing too much,” Will retorts.

“Am I the FBI?”

No, worse; he was curious.

“You’ve given me your secrets, Will. I’m more than happy to give you mine,” Hannibal offers genially, and he stands, crossing the short distance to hold out his hand. “Haven’t I been forthcoming in the past?”

Will looks at his hand, bare and open with an offering as tempting as it is poisonous. He thinks of the rabbit that just hadn’t hopped fast enough, how everyone loved Hannibal’s cooking and how he maybe may have started out a victim, but he certainly didn’t remain that way.

“I don’t want your secrets any more than I want to give you mine,” Will admits, and he stands up so that he is chest-to-chest with him. Hannibal doesn’t step back to give him room, crowding into his space, and Will thinks his walls high, strong and resilient in the face of someone that slipped something dark and sinister within their depths without telling him.

And with that thought, he slips around him and dismisses himself to instead keep a better vigil within the safety of the guest bedroom.

Will Dreams of bare hands offering Monkshood wrapped in lace. He tastes a rabbit running scared.

-

He calls Jack in the morning, standing in the snow on Hannibal’s back patio. The snow is a wet kind that will turn to an ugly slush that could ice if the temperature drops—Will feels it in the bite of the wind on his nose.

“What was the lead?” Jack asks the moment he picks up. If he knows about Slowinski, he gives no indication.

Will isn’t sure whether to think of that as a good sign or not. “I got to thinking maybe the rogue empath was a fan of the arts. There’s a lot of symbolism in the last piece.”

“So you’re, what—scoping out art galleries?” Jack sounds skeptical, and Will feels the distinct impression of a memory from the drawing on Hannibal’s desk, the one that’d shown him everything.

I wanted to see this painting one last time before I left.

“Just certain art pieces. Certain painters. I didn’t really get much, but…” he lets it linger a second before he exhales a laugh. He’d slept like shit. “I think I just need to stay busy, and maybe I’ll see something.”

There’s something surreal to the idea of talking like this, like he’s truly about to go back to work and pretend to stay busy, like he’s truly about to pretend that everything is okay. He’d passed his evaluation, and wasn’t that something to celebrate?

“If busy is what you’re looking for, then I’ve got something,” says Jack, and he sounds none-too-pleased with it. “Abigail Hobbs has taken off, and no one has a damn clue where she’s off to.”

There are several ways that people respond to shocking news. More often than not there is a certain denial to it because neurotypicals generally hope for the best despite evidence to the contrary. This, though, in the wake of the night prior seems only to confirm something deep in his gut, something he’d wrestled with as he’d tried to fall asleep in the house of a serial killer:

If he was leaving, Abigail had to come, too.

“Can’t make my schedule any busier than it is,” he says dryly, and he squints up to the sky. Looks like freezing rain. Smells like it, too. “I’m on my way.”

[queerhannibal]

What's your take on the whole Murder Family scenario? Was it ever realistic or did (poor poor) Abigail got tangled up in business of two men who were dreaming about being fathers but couldn't communicate properly and mizumonoed the shit out of everything?

Do I think that Will and Hannibal could have been the ideal fathers to Abigail? Probably not. Do I think that they both genuinely loved her and wanted to do their best by her? Absolutely. 

I don’t know if there was ever a moment in which it was actually possible, though. The thing is that if Abigail was dead, Will wasn’t going to be able to seriously pursue being in a relationship with Hannibal, at least not at that stage of grief he was in during season 2. He couldn’t be with Hannibal without betraying Abigail. 

He goes into the honeytrap scheme to bring Hannibal down mostly because Hannibal killed Abigail! yes he’s upset about being wrongfully imprisoned and by god is he upset about Bev (and i mean, he’s not happy about Hannibal being a murderer at all) but the thing he absolutely could not and would not let go is the fact that Hannibal killed Abigail

and this is partially bc Will loved Abigail a great deal, but it’s more because he knows that Hannibal loved Abigail a great deal, and if the best job Hannibal can do at loving someone is to murder them the moment it seems expedient to do so… then there’s not much point in Will contemplating having a future with him, is there?

And once Will has begun to play Hannibal, he’s even MORE sure that Hannibal would kill him if they ever tried to actually be together, bc Hannibal would realize that the Will he wanted (the Will Will was pretending to be) was not how Will actually was; either Will would attempt to sustain the persona and be uncomfortable until he inevitably failed, or Will would begin to act like himself, and either way Hannibal would be disappointed, and apparently no matter how much Hannibal loves someone he murders them the moment they disappoint

So that’s what Will has to go on there lol. No matter how badly he wants to make this a real thing – no matter how desperately he wants to say yes when Hannibal offers to go without a sacrifice, no matter how invested he finds himself becoming in this fascinating and horrible man, no matter how deeply Will loves him – Will doesn’t believe that it’s in any way viable, and he can’t allow himself to believe it might be, because Abigail is dead

So the only circumstance in which the thing becomes a possibility, really, is if Will finds out that Abigail is alive when he still has time to show Hannibal he really does actually want to be with him and his performance was not actually entirely a lie, and the problem with that is that Hannibal absolutely would not under any circumstances tell him

I’m not entirely sure WHY Hannibal doesn’t tell him? Hannibal during that arc is kind of at peak dumbass as far as I can tell. He wants Will to be under his spell and Will seems to be and he doesn’t like. Question that in any way. Which I mean I get I do but it’s REAL DUMB bc like….. last week or whatever Will was promising reckonings and shit bc he couldn’t get over the fact that Hannibal killed Abigail so you’d think Hannibal would be bright enough to realize that was still bothering Will, especially when Will is literally crying about it still in Ko No Mono

You know what would’ve worked is if in that scene in Ko No Mono where Will is crying bc Hannibal killed Abigail even though he loved her, Hannibal had used his massive fucking brain and thought  “oh wow I bet he’s worried I’ll kill him even though I love him” and said “I did not actually kill Abigail” instead of some bullshit about teacups and sacrifices or whatever it was that he said

I do think if by some miracle of improved communication the three of them had ended up somewhere together as a family that it would have worked though! It would not be a smooth and easy thing since Abigail and Will actually did not have anything approaching a positive relationship anywhere outside of Will’s head at any point, but I think it could have gone okay with some time and effort

Will loved her a whole lot and he is capable of being a decent father, and Hannibal loved her a whole lot and while he is a terrible garbage person I think he does have sufficient skill that he could semi-competently parent a teenager. He certainly had the resources to give her a good life, and the desire to do so. I don’t think it would have been ideal for her, but I think it could have been good

[fragile-teacup]

#FannibalSelfRecs: Hannibal S4

This was a lovely idea. Thank you, @hannibalficwriters!

My self-rec is for The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.

It’s my take on post-fall Hannigram, written in three volumes (Volumes 1 and 2 are up on AO3 - Volume 3 is completed and will begin posting weekly during the @murder-husbands-big-bang). It also has timestamps. The rating for Volume 1 is Mature. From Volume 2 on, the rating is explicit.

What does the piece mean to you?

This was my first multi-chapter fic. It’s not epic-length but the characters go on quite the journey, both literal and emotional. I wrote Volume 1 shortly after S3 had ended and I absolutely LIVED it while I was writing it. It seemed to pour out of me (yes, that old chestnut, but it’s true) and I had the time of my life incorporating elements from the end of the Hannibal book AND tackling loose ends from the end of S3 (hungry, Bedelia?). Working on this series has sharpened my craft and allowed me to establish my ‘voice’. For Volume 1, @arkarti created the stunning picture that you see above. Volume 3 is being illustrated by another amazing artist. The first chapter of Volume 3 will be published in the @radiance-anthology. So really this series means everything to me!

What was your favourite line in your piece?

This is a really  difficult question to answer, so I’ll just pick something from the first and last chapters of Volumes 1 and 2.

Volume 1 Chapter 1...

‘Hannibal leans forward, pupils glinting red in the reflected glow of the ceiling lamp.

'The teacup came together, Will. For us, it seems, it always does.' And he smiles, a darkling thing.’

Volume 1 Chapter 10...

He's not coming.

Back in his room, Will surveys the bed morosely. His shoulder aches and he's ready to seek relief from the humiliation of rejection in oblivion. Shoes kicked off, shirttail tugged viciously free of his jeans, he flings himself down on top of the covers, gazing sulkily at the ceiling.

What now? Counting Wendigos?

Volume 2 Chapter 1...

Shit. Señora Méndez de Sotomayor, bearing down on him like an oversized flamingo on speed, all ruffled hot pink taffeta and skinny, flapping limbs.

Volume 2 Chapter 11...

Tugs gently at the strands caught between his fingers, tilting Hannibal's head back, and bends to drop one kiss, then another, on lips already softened in anticipation. 'But I seem to recall something about a bloody rampage across South America, raising holy hell.'

What are you most looking forward to in Season 4?

A Hannigram kiss!

[victorineb]

Fic Recs Mega Post

More fic recs for you fabulous fannibals, this time round there’s rare pairs a-plenty, actual devil Will Graham, and a fabulous Pacific Rim crossover AU

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: Volume 1 by @fragile-teacup (fragile-teacup (Mrs_Gene_Hunt)): So what are the chances that Will and Hannibal emerge from the Atlantic with all their issues resolved, finally a stable unit, murder husbands for life? Pretty much none, right? Certainly, in this beautifully-written post-TWotL fic, there is still a massive amount of that typical Hannigram miscommunication, obfuscation and downright stubbornness that keeps our boys from their happy ending. None of which is made better by Hannibal keeping Will sedated while he recovers from his injuries, or by sequestering them in the house of the one person guaranteed to drive Will out of his mind with jealousy… Centred on that dinner hinted at by the post-credits scene in TWotL, this winds the tension between Will and Hannibal (and Bedelia) to a fever pitch, in an absolute riot of bitchiness, resentment and pining. And then busts everything wide open when Will just can’t keep his emotions under wraps any longer…

Tomorrow, More Sun by @shiphitsthefan: Beardogs (Nigel/Lee) is a new pairing for me but it took precisely five paragraphs of this fantastic fic to make me fall in love. For those who aren’t aware, Lee is the Hugh from the infamous “I like bears” gif, and more specifically is an adorable ball of sass and joy who loves wine and is suffering from terminal cancer (but don’t worry, this is very much not an angsty story). Anyway, our tale begins when Lee is suffering from the worst post-chemo effects of his life and, desperate for relief, begs his dealer – a certain formerly very bad man from Bucharest – to drive out in the snow and provide him with a hit. Now, I mentioned the part where Lee likes bears, right? And there’s no-one more bearlike than Nigel – even “New Nigel,” who’s had to reform his ways (a little) as a result of the bullet in his brain landing him in a wheelchair – and Lee is, unsurprisingly, infatuated. There follows a charming and romantic tale of getting high, telling wicked jokes, and maybe, just maybe, falling in love (but definitely getting the best shag of either man’s life).

To Fuel Your Radiance by @fancybedelia (GoldenUsagi): Mischa Lecter should have died. Should have… and did, except that her brother made a deal with the devil. Hannibal’s soul in exchange for Mischa’s life. Some forty years later, the devil pays Hannibal a visit (disguised as a rather handsome, blue-eyed man named Will) in order to see what he’s done with his life. And, as is the Hannigram way, a mutual interest quickly turns to something much more twisted and obsessive. The brilliant thing about this AU is that, despite being a devilishly sexy (literally), self-assured, phenomenally powerful version of himself, Will is still Will. He’s not some malevolent, flamboyant devourer of souls, he’s still conflicted and weighed down by the nature of what he is. Which leaves Hannibal to take up the role of tempter (yes, even to the Devil himself), drawing Will into killing with him (which, admittedly, takes much less effort with this version!) and falling helplessly in love with the beast that emerges.

Ugly by @slashyrogue (nightliferogue): We as a fandom should be immensely grateful to count slashy as one of our number. She turns out a frankly staggering number of AUs and rare pair fics (in addition to her wonderful Hannigram works) and they are all, without exception, imaginative and beautifully written. Recently she’s been writing a lot of Basic Chickens and this, her most recent (at the time of writing) might be the best yet. When Elias finds a strange, black egg in amongst the chickens, his superstitious brothers order him to smash it, fearing it contains a demon. Elias (of course, this is Elias) refuses, and tends to the egg until it hatches, revealing a small, black, winged monster, which Elias decides to keep,  christening it “Ugly.” Which is all well and good until it turns out that Ugly also sometimes takes the form of a man (quickly renamed Adam) whose determined seduction of Elias has worrying, potentially dangerous side-effects. This is Basic Chickens with a brilliant supernatural twist and the story is sexy, sweet, constantly surprising and very, very much worth your time.

Stricken by @crossroadscastiel (peacefrog): So say, instead of landing on the rocks at the bottom of that cliff, Will and Hannibal instead land in a completely different universe, one where everything seems to be the same, except that they’re not dead from their horrifying injuries. Seems like a win, right? Oh, except there’s the little issue of Hannibal suddenly producing slick and the pair of them needing to shag like bunnies every five minutes or they’ll explode. Yep, the boys are not in Baltimore anymore, they’re in an omegaverse, Hannibal’s in heat, and if they can stop knotting each other’s brains out for long enough, they’re going to need to have a serious talk about feelings. Wanna bet how well that turns out? This is such a fun exploration of the omegaverse concept, with our intrepid murder husbands utterly baffled by what’s happening to them and how they can deal with it. It’s also sexy and sweet as hell – if you’re not into a/b/o, give this a shot, I’d be surprised if it doesn’t change your mind.

Ananta by @unicornmagic (canis_m): A what-if fic, with the what-if in question being ‘how might things have gone, had Hannibal not rubber-stamped Will back into the field but instead recommended he receive further treatment. Oh, and asked him on a date while he’s at it.’ Well, in this ‘verse, it means Will stays away from murder scenes while Hannibal takes his place, that Will starts therapy with a certain blonde ice-queen, and Will has to navigate the beginnings of a relationship with Hannibal while contemplating when he should reveal that he’s asexual. This is a beautifully-paced, patiently crafted exploration of the complex relationship between these two characters and the ways in which they fit together with each other unlike with anyone else. Will’s asexuality is written with grace and sensitivity, as the writer explores the other, less obvious intimacies that he and Hannibal share. If you need something lovely in your life, read this.

The Best of All Possible Worlds by @desperatelyseekingcannibals (TigerPrawn): Mortimer (from Hysteria) is one of my favourite Hugh roles, so I’m always delighted when the adorable, slightly bumbly doctor turns up in a fic. And this one is so much fun, pairing Mortimer with Galen from Rogue One (via some timey-wimey shenanigans that land Galen back in ye olde England) and developing a very sweet romance between the two, even as they try to figure out how to get Galen home. These are two of the most decent characters in the madancy back catalogue and they work really wonderfully together, Mortimer’s eager earnestness nicely grounded by Galen’s steadiness. Plus I was very pleasantly surprised by how much chemistry the characters have together – not to put to fine a point on it, but they’re wicked hot XD. The rare pairs phenomenon is truly the gift that keeps on giving and this is one of my favourite ships to come out of it, please do hop on board and prepare to be totally charmed.

A Way to Live by @sugarmaus (Sugarmouse): Hannibal Lecter is in the market for a new slave. He goes through them quickly, always on the lookout for some elusive something that even Hannibal doesn’t seem able to define. When he spots Will Graham in the dealer’s catalogue, he thinks there’s a chance he may have found it, and when he sees the man in the flesh he is almost certain of it. But Hannibal soon learns an important lesson: Never Underestimate Will Graham. And so begins a complex, high-stakes game of shifting identities and hidden desires between master and slave, with Hannibal’s rigid control slipping further and further as he loses himself to his fascination with getting inside Will’s mind. Essentially an AU in which Hannibal can buy and dispose of murder interns instead of influencing them via therapy this is a sharp and intense character study of our darling cannibal. Hannibal’s ennui and loneliness are front and centre here as he both strives to gain control over Will and hopes that he will not be able to. It’s fascinating, compelling, intelligent stuff, with more than a few surprises up its sleeves.

Fais Do-Do by @moku-youbi: Will is on the run. He has lost control and shot a man, and now he’s tasted blood for the first time and Jack Crawford is on his tail. Which is how he winds up staying at The Little Bear Inn, owned by Mischa Lecter and currently being run by her brother while she is unwell. Of course, this is an establishment run by the Lecters, so nothing is quite as it seems and it may not turn out to be the safe haven Will is looking for. Even if Hannibal is unexpectedly easy to talk to (and not too hard on the eyes, either). Then again, Will’s got some secrets of his own, and we all know what happens to people who underestimate Will Graham… This is a really fun trip through some classic horror tropes, stylishly fusing a Hitchcockian vibe with supernatural elements as Will’s paranoia grows in the face of the Lecters’ strange behaviour and the threat of Jack hunting him down. It’s atmospheric, sexy, and thrilling – old-fashioned horror at its very best.

An American Empath in London by @legohanniballecter (MaddyHughes): In this (very slight) Sherlock crossover AU, Jack loans out Will to Scotland Yard in order to aid them in investigating a series of horrific murders involving Tory politicians (seeing as their normal consulting detective recently jumped off a roof…). Except here, Will hasn’t met Hannibal Lecter, not until he sits next to him on the plane to London, that is, though it doesn’t take long for the pair to become intimately acquainted. Yeah, ain’t no slow burn around here, and Will finds himself in a strange city, attempting to deal with a case that frustrates him, a police force that doesn’t understand him, and an intense, overwhelming attraction to a man he barely knows. Not to mention that Hannibal’s up to his usual tricks: murder, manipulation, and winding Will Graham up to see how he goes. Two years in the making, this densely-plotted, highly intelligent case fic also features some seriously intense Hannigram, with its trademark mix of sexual tension, blood and mind games turned up to the nth degree. I highly recommend giving it a shot – once I started, I found it nigh-on impossible to put down!

And Do Abominable Things With Grace by @thedancingwalrus-blog (The_Dancing_Walrus): I love and adore Pacific Rim, let’s get that out of the way. That said, it’s not exactly the subtlest movie ever made and I always kind of wished they’d done more to explore the concept of drifting. Well, wish granted and with Hannigram into the bargain in this fascinating crossover AU. Set sometime in s2, after Will’s mistrial but before his release, things diverge sharply from canon when Beverly and the FBI arrest Hannibal for his crimes. And then leave canon in the fucking dust when the first Kaiju arrives and Will and Hannibal are kidnapped by the government to be used as guinea pigs in the development of drift technology. Of course, it turns out that fusing the consciousnesses of two people like Will and Hannibal ��� who are pretty much inextricably bonded from their first glance anyway – has some interesting, and not altogether pleasant, side-effects. This is a genuinely stunning piece of work, playing with POVs and levels of consciousness to portray the invasive intimacy of being forcibly mind-melded with another person and written with a lyrical, experimental style that is both effective and highly memorable. It also has one of the most interesting, insightful depictions of the relationship between Hannibal and Will I’ve had the fortune to read – by turns sad, hopeful and endearing, and never less than utterly beautiful.

Caging the Beast by Vulcanmi: How many have us have begged pleaded wondered how things might have gone if Will had called off his Mizumono dinner plans with Jack and Hannibal? In this AU the stupid idiot our intrepid empath does just that, and, having realised that he doesn’t want to live in a world where Hannibal is behind bars, sets about constructing one in which he can tame the beast and put it in a cage of his own. His decision sets everybody on an unfamiliar path but while some things change (no Florentine jaunt for Bedelia this time), others just can’t be avoided (Mason still needs to be someone’s bacon, and Will and Hannibal still dance around each other like a pair of nervous teenagers). Or put off forever, as Will’s growing awareness of the nature of his feelings for Hannibal shows. Many Mizumono fix-its focus on the murder fam running off together and trying to avoid capture. This takes the opposite approach, keeping everybody in Baltimore with the inherent dangers and tensions that involves, extending the game between Will, Hannibal and Jack, even as the former two inch their way towards true Murder Husband status. It’s a fascinating reframing of canon, retaining many elements from s3 but with Will and Hannibal acting as a team and a family. I lost count of the number of times I sighed “If only…” while I was reading this – if you still dream of what could have been that rainy night in Baltimore, this is definitely the fic for you.

Yet Another Hannigram S1 AU (series) by @coloredink: Fans of intense, complex, drawn-out conversations between Will and Hannibal (which is… all of us, right?) will be in heaven with this two-part series set sometime post-Tobias Budge in s1. Both instalments see the boys thrust into close living quarters and exploring the powerful but confusing nature of their relationship. In and built a little house that we could live in, Will takes Hannibal up on the offer of using his vacation house for a week, on one condition: Hannibal comes with him. There follow seven days in which two solitary men begin to realise they might not want to be solitary anymore, and tentatively negotiate how that might work. By contrast, there’s nothing tentative in follow-up a tower to broadcast all our dreams, in which Will and Hannibal have to pretend to live together as a couple in order to draw out a serial killer. The pretence soon gives way to something else, but when you’re the Chesapeake Ripper, deciding you want a boyfriend comes with extra complications… This series is a beautiful riff on some favourite tropes, the second instalment in particular playing on the “fake date” with brilliant results. It also lets us see a charmingly domestic version of Hannigram, investing time and care in building up the relationship without sacrificing the dark and twisted aspects of their story. And really, does it get any better than domestic fluff with a bit of murder on the side? Nah, didn’t think so…

As ever, if there are bad links, or I’ve misattributed anything, let me know and I’ll fix it lickety-split. Happy reading, lovely fannibals!