will you ever write rotten meat again? it was my favorite thing because I've always had the same fantasy but no one writes about it
You know, I’m not sure :/. It was very expository and takes a lot of effort to structure that whole idea into a cohesive plot, and because not that many people were interested, it seemed like a lot of trouble. I’m glad it offered you something, I still answer questions about it on @offspringofmadness 🤍
after seeing that reblog on my post saying that shaming can be good because it creates social harmony, I truly give up on this fandom/website/sharing online. we are truly on another wavelength and there’s no point being here—we are speaking an entire different language.
*if shaming facilitated social harmony, this incredibly shaming world, wouldn’t be the way it is. the delusion here is alarming, but sure, go on shaming people to “help control behavior and create social harmony”, that’s certainly working really well! we certainly don’t have people engaging in criminal and atrocious behavior that no one will ever know about to help victims specifically because of shame and the taboo shame creates. yeah, no, it’s all good in world thanks to shaming. it has definitely helped control behavior…
How do you imagine Will's wedding to Molly? Honestly I have always wondered how her family took him. I doubt they were particularly happy about Molly marrying him (considering Freddie's articles and all that)
Thanks in advance and enjoy your summer <3
Ah, what a cool question, never seen anyone talk about Molly’s family. I always say that, my take, is that Molly is neglectful and selfish as a mother and I don’t see her as this poor little girl who deserved better as the rest of the fandom’s, pardon me but, superficial perception (as in they just look at things for what they look like and roll with it without much questioning).
I made a post about that already, probably tagged as “molly”, I wrote a long ass thing here but deleted because I don’t have the patience to deal with the generalized annoying people in this fandom that misunderstand everything. So definitely check my post on molly if you want an elaboration on my take. Essentially a quick google search of Will’s name would send any responsible parent a huge sign of danger and most would rather go for precaution than “compassion”. Which wasn’t either. Molly had a savior complex and was grieving too. She used Will just as much as he used her. No one is naive, both are adults .
Molly strikes me as someone with an abrasive, extroverted, unstable, “cool” mom, and as either a middle child or older child of two other girls. Deppressed, quiet, alcoholic father who was neither here nor there.
Her escaping skills + omitted lines from the script tells us she learned how to survive for some reason.
I think she has no close family. It’s why she married Will, even with the huge and obvious risks. She’s just tossed in the world with her kid. The father’s family probably tossed both after the guy died, or else they’d be somewhat against their grandson living with someone like Will. They probably don’t care enough.
Will probably met Molly’s sister, and the mother. Mom loved him, with all of her dangling jewelry and red lipstick and boho clothes and van life lol. The sister was probably like “he’s…nice…but Mol…come on, the guy’s all over the news linked to some pretty weird stuff”.
Wedding was either city hall or an extremely simple ceremony in their cabin or some farm with like. The sister, Wally, them and the officiant.
That was some deep pattern recognition analysis based in relatively vague stuff hahaha.
In all honesty I wholeheartedly believe that what Will couldn’t really get over and forgive was himself, and his choices that led to Mizumono. I think he grieved that mistake so profoundly that it took a permanent piece of his heart. Because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter that he was justified in his actions or whatever else. What matters is that he betrayed himself. And that betrayal led to a lot of destruction and suffering.
Hey Milk, first I want to say I'm so happy you are back. Love your takes on our favourite gay cannibals.
My question(s) would be your opinion the "He (Hannibal) defies categorisation" and "because it's easier they call him a monster" statements. It was by Alan, I think, in the show and Miriam said something similar in the flashback.
Also are there any things that could be pointing at a diagnosis and things that really defy categorisation?
And what of the things he does are just for show and keeping up appearance and which are "real". What I mean is how much of his for example "Oh I am the big bad scary cannibal" act he did in BSHCI was his real personality and behaviours and how much was just show? To maybe keep everyone away from his real self.
Hope you have fun and enjoy being back and don't get any hate for stating your opinion. Please keep up with your analysis, they make my day.
-🍄
Really cool question! I think they claim he defies categorization because they witness a lot of contradictions in his character. Not the typical anything, and labeling him as a psychopath would narrow it too much. It would exclude the vast potential of Hannibal Lecter. But mostly, they don’t understand him.
Are there things that could point to a diagnosis? Sure. Hannibal fits traits from several diagnoses without cleanly aligning with any single one. He shows strong features of narcissistic personality disorder like grandiosity, superiority, aesthetic perfectionism, and high-functioning psychopathy, including charm, manipulation, shallow affect, and lack of remorse. While he partially meets criteria for antisocial personality disorder, his killings are too deliberate and ritualistic to be impulsive or purely self-serving.
Sadistic personality traits are obviously evident in his enjoyment of psychological and physical domination, often enacted through refined, symbolic violence. He also displays obsessive-compulsive personality traits through meticulous control over his environment, though not driven by anxiety. Schizoid tendencies (emotional detachment and isolation) surface beneath his social performances, and his cannibalism may express a paraphilic symbolic intimacy rather than literal hunger. But yes, Hannibal is less a textbook diagnosis and more a mythic archetype: judge, predator, and trickster cloaked in civility, for whom violence is an art form and intimacy an act of consumption.
Regarding how much his prison behavior was true, I believe Hannibal was coping with the ache in the only way he knew: denial, disguising as calming acceptance and “unbothereness”.
He was most likely dying inside but not even he would open up that door in his mind palace. I think he was holding on for dear life to keep that door from bursting out. By the end, he seemed to be close to snapping, probably why Will released him, he feels Hannibal intimately and Will looked close to snapping too so they had to find a way out asap.
I swear I wanted to write something funny about how they are eyefucking BUT FFS. Hannibal looks like he’s grieving Will over again I don’t know if this face is more heartbreaking or how he looked in Mizumono.
That’s the most Will we’ve seen of Will, imo. Look at how he has a little smile. He loves their game, even if he insists he only tolerates it. He delights in their wickedness, which is precisely why none of us will ever fully understand him. Because look at him…No one will ever understand why or how could anyone find amusement or joy in something like this. Not the philosophy behind it, or the symbolism, or whatever vague, abstract concept—the literal experience.
Are you back fr?? I see you occasionally here but not as much as before, do you plan to come back fully? Miss your metas and essays
I do not, I actually plan the opposite. I gave myself some time to test the waters here, but unfortunately it seems tumblr is getting progressively worse. We can’t even disable comments, if that was possible maybe I would still share my essays. It’s not the case so I will be keeping them to myself, as I’ve always been. I have +240 of unpublished essays/metas/analysis so it could’ve been really fun, but unfortunately because it is usually more irritating than fun, I choose to just keep it to myself and close friends who are also fans. It’s sweet that some of you like the posts here, and I’m glad you’ve enjoyed and found personal meaning in them. For me it was just a place to put everything, but fandom interaction is quite hellish so it’s just not worth it.
I encourage you to screenshot the posts you like to keep because eventually this blog will get deleted (although not immediately).
I hop in sometimes to answer asks or to add unto posts I feel really called to but I have been slowly retreating again and plan to keep it that way.
I don’t think sex holds the same meaning for Will and Hannibal as it does for most people…which is why the ace vs. non-ace discourse in the fandom often feels misplaced. I don’t see them as traditionally sexual, I don’t think they experience or approach sex the way society defines it. For them, it’s just another way to collapse distance. I genuinely believe they perceive it as something like carving a wound into each other’s flesh and crawling inside…less about desire in the conventional sense and more about a desperate, feral need to dissolve the boundary between self and other.
Hello! I just wanted to say thank you. That may seem odd, but I think like 2-3ish months ago or so, I came across your posts and analyses, and I honestly love them so much. I mostly want to say thank you (and @suchawrathfullamb) for that one post y'all made on May 27th about people who shame those who write and/or consume taboo content. I will be honest, I was one of those people. And what you said about projection, was and is so true, at least for me.
I struggle with OCD, including moral OCD. My obsessions are often extremely, extremely dark and disturbing, so much so that I haven't said a single one of them (besides my more tame ones) to anyone, including those who are there to help me. Whenever I get one of these intrusive thoughts, I feel terrible, and that if I don't comply with my compulsions, then they'll become true, that I'll become a horrible, disgusting and vile person. When I saw others delving into more dead dove content, even those with OCD themselves and especially them, I always thought they were disgusting. I thought they were horrible people. I don't know how I didn't realize I was projecting there.
Your post was like a slap in the face lol, in the best way. It forced me to come to terms with my feelings. It made me uncomfortable, and then it made me question why I was so uncomfortable.
It's odd to me that I was so averse towards dead dove content/taboo works, despite dabbling into it myself. I never really fully jumped in; I only really read more gorey and violence filled fics and yandere tropes. I didn't publicly shame others for what they consumed or engaged in, but I always internally shamed them, which was also just a way of shaming myself too even though I didn't realize it, I suppose.
Anyways, again thank you and suchawrathfullamb for calling people out. It was a major wake-up call, and I don't know how long it would have taken me to come to terms with my feelings (or if ever). I still struggle with them, but I'm just glad I was able to see things in a different light. Also, I'm sorry people are so shitty on here and just everywhere in general. I hope you enjoy your time away from here and remember to take care of yourself! I wasn't here long, but I'm glad I stumbled across your blog. :D
P.S. Sorry for the shit you get from some ace people. Just know not all ace people are like that. I'm ace myself, and I personally believe Hannibal and Will were or would get it jiggy with one another LMAO.
P.S.S. I know you recently said you will be deleting your blog. This is why I decided to finally say thank you. I wanted to do it before you left. Are you comfortable with me archiving your blog on the WayBackMachine, or would you prefer for your followers to just screenshot your posts and keep them? I'll do whatever makes you feel most comfortable. :)
This is so important, thank you so much for sharing this. You have no idea how brave and self aware you are for facing this. Most people will remain on the side of shame and shaming. You give me hope in humanity. You truly, truly do. And on archiving, I’d rather you save the blog privately for yourself <3.
Oh, and about ace people, it’s not the reason I decided to slowly retreat…It’s people in general lol. I’m finding it hard to consume on social media, everything feels frustrating and exhausting to me. Lots of crazy opinions and behavior that are just sad. Anyway, tysm for sharing this, it means a lot, specially as someone in the psych field who fights for shame healing specifically!
Hi milk, I'm back with a new Hannibal question related to his trauma.
Do you think that Hannibal learned so many languages because of his mutism in his youth. Also do you think it was, conscious or unconscious.
Like a coping mechanism to overcome or overcompensate his loss of speech he is learning as many languages as possible.
Because Hannibal speaks Lithuanian, English, Italian, French. And Russian would make sense because in the soviet union Russian was mandatory in schools and I think Spanish would also make sense. And Latin and greek in form of read and translation.
-🍄
Ps: I really loved your last answer<3
Interesting question. I think it might be more related to his fear of being limited. Because we are always assuming from others what is most active inside of us, and Hannibal is constantly scheming, double playing and manipulating, I think he fears being at the end of the same acts. Well, I don’t think, by his reaction in Mizumono I think we all know he doesn’t know how to even handle being the victim of his own games. There’s also the fact that he was taught some of those languages, so he didn’t have much choice, but in terms of the ones he decided to learn, I would think it’s linked to his fear of not being able to understand something, as well as a fear of not being capable of taking care of himself/having autonomy. He lives a risky life and he had many preparations for the necessity of a escape…Speaking many languages facilitates the process a whole lot since he would be geographically limited otherwise.
Milk what do you interpret Will's line "I've never known myself as well as I know myself when I'm with him"?
Contrast. He knows what he is by witnessing what he is not. At that point Will was still fighting his nature, remember that he did try to kill Hannibal/rejected him again. It’s comfortable for Will to be with Hannibal because he can always compare his own darkness to Hannibal’s and at that point, Hannibal’s seemed darker. Will does that all the time, actually: define himself by association (whether better or worse than what he thinks he is).
Besides Mason, who do you think was the worse character? xx
I’m guessing you mean in terms of personality, since you mentioned Mason. If I’m being honest, I think Mason is a lazy excuse for a villain. They made him the perpetrator of the most vile act, and that was it. He served the sole purpose of making Hannibal look like the lesser evil, and I think that’s just lazy writing. Your question proves it, “besides Mason”, it’s always “besides Mason.”
He’s the default pick for worst character, and to me, that just highlights how poor the narrative is in this regard.
You’re not writing compelling villains when you make the choice that obvious. You’re not elevating your main villain; you’re simply tossing in someone worse to automatically make him look better by comparison.
Anyway…yes, still. Because that’s how the show intended it. Mason is the worst. But besides him, I’d say Jack Crawford or Alana Bloom. As Will himself puts it: I prefer sins of omission to outright lies. Even in real life, I’d rather deal with a bad person who doesn’t hide behind morals than someone so entrenched in their righteous ego that they manipulate everyone and everything just to preserve their image of moral superiority.
Those are the most dangerous people. You can’t trust what you see or hear from them. Alana and Jack aren’t “vile” like Hannibal, or Mason, or that social worker guy, but at least those people are obvious in their vileness. Alana and Jack disturb me more because they present themselves as heroes while hiding behind a mask of virtue.
But sure, in terms of sheer disgustingness, the social worker probably wins that one.
At the very core of Will’s heart, he’s a rescuer. And in the deepest recesses of Hannibal’s, he is quietly, desperately, begging to be rescued.
Hannibal might’ve fooled most with his devil-may-care charm and the way he moved through life like it was a lavish buffet of indulgence. But for a man of his status, wealth, and control to give all of that up, to be locked away indefinitely, with no guarantee of release, and a real possibility of dying in prison, it really pronounces his desperation. Especially when he himself rejected the insanity plea designed to save his life. That’s not a man who clings to survival. That’s a man who no longer sees a reason to live.
When Will pointed a gun at him after getting out of prison, Hannibal didn’t resist. He was more than capable of defending himself, we’ve seen it. And he made his home easily accessible, which is strange considering who and what he was. But it’s in those very details that we glimpse Hannibal’s disregard for his own life. A loneliness so cavernous it creates an absence inside him, a constant echo that reminds him he doesn’t matter.
His “person suit” didn’t just conceal his crimes, it also curated admiration. He didn’t have real friends or lovers, but he had colleagues, peers, the occasional dates. People who admired his mind, his refinement. People like Alana, who reflected back to him a version of himself that was “loved”, or at least respected. That mattered. Hannibal will keep you alive if you show him you care. Or at least, he’ll let you live longer. He cannot help but respond to displays of care.
Will never understood how Bedelia survived him. But she saw him, and she chose not to shoot. More than that, she left with him, when he was most vulnerable. She stayed. She bathed him as he mourned that gaping wound in his chest. No wonder he spared her.
Will is always trying to save someone…Francis, Abigail, every stray dog, and ultimately, Hannibal. He can’t crush the wounded bird. He has to try and help it. And across their entire relationship, there’s this silent scream that bleeds out of Hannibal: Am I worth saving? Say yes, and I’ll leave this life behind.
Hannibal wants to be accepted for who he is, or rather, who he imagines himself to be. But deeper than that, he craves a love vast enough to naturally heal what’s broken in him. It’s not about becoming “good” or “redeemed” in any moral sense. It’s about the redemption of his soul. Of his hollow, ravenous heart.
No wonder he threw his life away for Will.
Like a fallen angel with shattered wings, cast from heaven’s gate, Hannibal falls into a world where love must be earned through performance. And so he wears the mask: cultured, brilliant, gracious, feeding on affection like a single grain of rice: enough to survive, never enough to feel full.
He drifts through circles of counterfeit care, clinging to these delicate illusions of connection. Until he glimpses the possibility of being loved not for the mask, but for the monstrous self beneath it. Not in Will, not yet, but in Tobias, in Bedelia, in all the others he lured close like moths to a flame. And yet, none stirred his heart. They admired him. They feared him. They saw the elegance of his darkness, and perhaps even loved it…but none were his equal. Their love rang hollow, because he did not believe they were worthy to offer it.
Their affection could never redeem him.
Only the love of a man who sees straight through his soul, because it mirrors his own. Only a man whose instincts match his, yet who still chooses tenderness over cruelty. Only a man like Will. Not those drawn to him for thrill or danger or the reflection of their own vanity, but the lamb-hearted creature who wandered too close to the wolf’s den. Will alone was pure enough to cleanse him. Not through goodness, not through morality, but through recognition.
And as Hannibal silently begs, am I worth saving?, Will remains blind to the nature of his own grace. He cannot fathom how someone like him could inspire devotion from something like Hannibal. His own fractured worth keeps him from seeing the most radiant truth: that a creature called monster could love him like an angel.
In the end, Will did not save Hannibal. He loved him back.
He washed his sins away in blood, and chose to descend with him into hell.
The relationship between Hannibal and Abigail is inappropriate…no matter how it’s rationalized through manipulation, trauma bonding, survival instincts, or the aesthetics of found family. At the end of the day, Abigail is a teenager. Hannibal is an adult man, a murderer, a stranger to her when they first meet, and someone who remains largely unknowable throughout. Their bond is not grounded in time, mutual development, or safety. It’s grounded in violence, coercion, and projection.
Much of the fandom’s framing of their dynamic as “sweet,” “cute,” or father-daughter-esque slides into the territory of aestheticized kink whether intentionally or not (which is fine when you don’t pretend otherwise and get offended by those who are open and shameless about it). It’s one thing to believe in a world where paternal closeness and physical affection are not automatically sexual, yes, in an ideal reality, a man hugging a girl doesn’t have to carry weight. But this isn’t that ideal. This is Hannibal Lecter. The context matters. The characters matter. And he is not a neutral, healthy father figure.
The insistence on reading Hannibal as someone capable of manipulation, murder, mutilation, and ritualistic orchestration of trauma…but somehow too morally pure or psychologically stainless to ever harbor even a trace of inappropriate desire is delusional. He is not sanctified. He’s a sadist with a long, complex history of obsession, incestuous undertones, and boundary violation. His relationship with Mischa, or more accurately, with the imago of Mischa, is clearly entangled with eroticism, loss, and fantasy. His backstory includes a sexual relationship with his aunt. These are not footnotes, they are central to his pathology.
To then take that same man and say, “Yes, but with Abigail, it was pure,” is a selective fantasy. It flattens the entire narrative into something safe, digestible, and disingenuous. No, he may not rape her, because, frankly, Hannibal doesn’t find that type of violence aesthetically pleasing, but that doesn’t mean his feelings toward her are clean. The suggestion that Hannibal is somehow immune to unconscious, boundary-blurring attraction toward the girl he positions as his “daughter,” who also happens to be a stand-in for his sister and a bond to Will, is simply not supported by canon. His obsessions are never neutral. They are possessive, totalizing, and always contaminated by desire, whether intellectual, emotional, or erotic.
This isn’t a moral judgment. It’s a recognition of pattern and character integrity. The discomfort should be there. It was written to be. To sanitize that for the sake of a soft, aesthetic father-daughter fantasy is to deliberately misread the story and neuter its psychological complexity.
And because most here lack nuance: if you do it for fun, for fanfiction etc, this is obviously not about you. It’s about those who do this, yet shame those who do it without pretending it’s something pure.
