So I'm into Hannibal now

[eaten_by_bears]

And I have a lot to say about it.

Okay, so Hannibal clearly has a lot of shit going on in his brain. The finale kind of clarified some of it for me.

He wants people to see him and love him for who he is. Okay, everyone does. But he knows that he’s kind of out there, and he kills for fun. He’s afraid to reveal too much of himself. That’s why he makes it such an obstacle course, that’s why he crushes so hard on the empath who can take anyone’s point of view at all.

He’s afraid of being rejected or left. When he’s emotionally invested in someone, he needs to be in complete control. He wants the intimacy of another person, their different personality, their choices, etc. but he’s afraid that that means they’ll leave him or hurt him. So he plays a lot of mind games, and it doesn’t make for very satisfying relationships. And he’s scared but kind of relieved when Will gets up to his level and he’s not the only one in the game anymore. That means Will’s there by choice. He really wants him. (also, he gets to have a playmate at his crazypants murder game)

This control extends to control over life and death. If he isn’t sure of someone, he kills them before they leave. Or before they can die unexpectedly and leave him that way, like Mommy and Daddy and li’l Mischa.

He has a real fatherly streak. Nurturing is important to him. He wants to love and encourage people and watch them grow into who they are, like he didn’t get to do with Mischa. If it didn’t involve so much murder, it’d be really sweet. He’s not just brainwashing people into clones of him. Like he says to Will, he can feed the caterpillar, but he doesn’t control what comes out of the cocoon. This is one area where he’s honestly pleased to be surprised, to see who these other people are when they’re not being held back.

That’s part of why he feeds people to other people. (another part is a morbid sense of humor and another nother part is that he gets off on having people very close and still managing to trick them) Hunting is something important to him. He feels passionate about it, and it’s part of who he is. He wants to use this part of him, this special skill, to take care of people, to offer them something and nourish them in a very primal way. It’s a way to be accepted. It extends to his less creepy pursuits too, like cooking and brewing craft beer.

So, yeah. A lot of his more self-sabotaging behaviors are because he’s afraid of getting close to someone and then losing them. And he’s spent his whole life trying to fill a Mischa-shaped gap. He also has a compulsion to break the people close to him. Sending Will to the asylum wasn't just about turning him into a killer. He wanted to break the teacup and have it come back together. He wanted to see that Will was strong enough to endure through anything. I did wonder why Hannibal seemed so upset about Will being locked up after he'd spent so much trouble to get him there, but this makes sense to me. He didn't really want Will to go away. And definitely not to stop being his friend. Just to shatter and somehow still be okay.

Comments

[wist]

I noticed you were posting Hannibal fics! I'm not done the second season yet, so I won't read this post just in case of spoilers, but it's always cool to see fandom-likes crossing over!

[eaten_by_bears]

Hey, awesome! Glad to have another fannibal around. Hit me up if you want to squee about it sometime.

[wist]

I'm watching it with my sigfig and we're about at episode 4 season 2. Somewhere around there. Jack just found the lady in the basement in the woods. I think it's the armless cop trainee? I'm pretty excited about them bringing a new female character in since they've killed off a good lot, one has just vanished, and one kind of lost her character integrity and is now the romantic object of the show. So if they bring in the trainee, that'll be great!

I have accidentally spoilered myself a little through tumblr gifs, but I'm largely avoiding spoiler. I did hear that Hannibal is getting a third season though!

Also, look at this:

[eaten_by_bears]

I think you'll be happy with Alana's arc, at least. And so much lol, that is so how Hanners would react.

[wist]

As long as Alana rises up past being mostly the romantic interest, and soon, that would be great. I really liked her as a character, and liked her professionalism of not getting involved with Will or Hannibal. But then she got romantic with not just one, but both, and I kind of wish she hadn't... because it's such a poor thing to do ethical/career-wise.

But on the note of clothes, HAVE YOU NOTICED HOW HANNIBAL ALWAYS WEARS SOMETHING PLAID when he's got his hair slicked back? That's a lot of plaid.

[eaten_by_bears]

Haha, yeah. It's like, he's plaid-er than anyone around, but he senses Will's plaid even though it takes a different form. He wants Will to cultivate that plaid and embrace it, so they can stand next to each other and clash terribly.

[wist]

All the while wearing velcro shoes. I'm still hoping we get a scene where Will is cooking something, and it is terrible and ugly and has the consistency of oatmeal, and it was supposed to be toast.

[eaten_by_bears]

Will Graham is now Sweetie Belle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNgMkwtaNm4

[wist]

Haha yes, exactly. I don't watch MLP so I didn't know that's already been done, but yes, exactly. And then he'll artfully put on a colourful flourish of shaved something or another.

And when Hannibal asked what the garnish is, Will will tell him they're pencil shavings.

[eaten_by_bears]

I have spent entirely too much time thinking about Hanniponies. Will would be an earth pony, just one with an unusual talent.

Exacting, vain, perfectionistic Hannibal is a Unicorn through and through. His cutie mark is a knife. Because he's a doctor :D

[wist]

Hahaha, I don't completely understand what all of that means (mostly the earth-pony bit). But I certainly hope that the violinist pony is a beautiful stud, and his poor dead friend is a nice, ALIVE pony. Maybe he can be a little dragon. The girl that burned up would be a spooky-pony -- with the holes.

I DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT (if that's not obvious). Everything I know about MLP I learned from tumblr gifs.

Most of my fandoms involve robots: Asimov, Tron, transformers, Mass Effect... or angels or aliens.

[eaten_by_bears]

Violinist, violinist... you mean Budge?

An earth pony is a pony that's not a unicorn or a pegasus. They have a special connection to the land, and a lot of them have talents related to farming. In the past, there's been bad blood between the three races, and earth ponies are still a little looked down on sometimes.

Unicorns are the only ponies who can do magic, and their magic usually relates to their talent. They're aristocratic, a little arrogant, and tend to be neurotically perfectionistic.

The ponies with the holes are changelings. They take the form of people's loved ones and feed on the love they give them. Which is pretty fitting for Georgia, with her disorder!

[wist]

Oh, that does suit Georgia then! I'm not too good with remembering people's names if they die in the show. Oops.

Georgia's death was the one that hit me the hardest. That and that one guy that almost escaped from the human-eyeball-painting. :( I really hoped he'd get away.