“Finds nourishment at the very sight of you” line hits harder because Hannibal is a cannibal. Hannibal’s normal hunger runs deep and ravenous; he is unsatisfied with conventional meat: He eats human beings. He craves risk, dominance, danger, and beauty. For someone capable of a gaping hunger like this to be satiated with the mere sight of Will???? For someone with so much desire and greed to be satisfied by the M E R E SIGHT of somebody??????????? OTL
Will hearing the rush of the stream while Jack tells him that Beverly’s died is so evil–the truth of her death is so violent that he applies a defensive mechanism and escapes into the comfort of unreality.
Will having such a naturally angelic look is so apt; Hannibal is compelled to tempt him. To corrupt him. Lie to him and make him lie; steal his truth and make him think he’s the devil.
I like to think of Will’s entire trip to Lithuania was him trying to metabolise what Hannibal’s fed him so far. It’s him figuring out how to break it down and let his body either absorb or reject it–but its in him and he’s no longer just himself. What’s he going to do? He is so uncomfortable: he wants to swallow, he wants to throw up. It’s incredible that he’s indecisive in the first place given what Hannibal’s done to him; but that’s why Hannibal was drawn to him in the first place–the fact that Will is capable of digestion unlike any other.
In Futamono, after Matthew’s murder attempt of him, Hannibal tells Alana he needs to get his appetite back. The next scene opens to Sheldon Isley’s body displayed in the parking lot. It’s big, clean, refreshing [flowers being a motif], and the way it is shot; it fills the entire screen. It’s saying ‘Look at me, I’m here’. It is not Hannibal exerting power to reassure himself from any insecurity or powerlessness–he’s simply existing, he’s simply alive, and that’s so fucking scary.
Oh! Alana saying Will’s not scared anymore and that’s what making him dangerous after he tried to get Hannibal killed in s2 – in contrast to s1e1 when she tells Jack that one of Will’s strongest drives is fear – is SO interesting. Will’s complex relationship with fear and anger – these negative emotions motivating his actions is such a bastard thing. Before, he was afraid of his work effecting him, changing him, always found ways to stay connected with himself. Now he’s reckless, he’s already suffered through his biggest fear of losing himself; he has nothing left but retribution. That makes him scary.
Really crazy how the last interaction between Hannibal and Will while Will’s imprisoned involves Hannibal taunting (dangling bait so to speak) and threatening Will with the lives of their mutual friends and acquaintances—and their subsequent interaction is when Will’s out of prison, and he visits Hannibal’s house and points a gun at his head.
Huge fan of how Will calls Hannibal “Dr Lecter” whenever he’s angry at him and Hannibal’s like “Who’s Dr Lecter???????? Will, I’m Hannibal ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️”
In season 1, Will’s clothes were homely. Had stains of hobby and everyday life. Intimate. Open. In the BSHCI, he is stripped of choice. Of power. He is in the same jumpsuit as everyone else, losing his identity. His hair is overgrown. He can’t afford to dream about comfort, he has to keep moving. Then we get salmon shirt era. Now nothing in his attire now is homely. It’s sophisticated; professional. What profession? What is he setting out to accomplish? To take down Hannibal Lecter. For this he has donned an armour to protect himself. No signs of his down-to-earth lifestyle on his clothes even though he still lives the same life with his mutts on his farm land. He still fishes, he still works ok his hobbies. Just not in front of Hannibal, who he believes will take advantage of him. Parallel that with Margot, who also uses clothing as an armour in response to being victimised by Mason. Am I comparing Mason to Hannibal? No. I’m comparing defensive mechanisms. That 2 of Hannibal’s clients both appear before him with the same inclination; both for different reasons (Will=strategic&defensive, Margot=vulnerable&defensive) and in different capacities is very poignant to me.
You know what—can I say—Hanninal hasn’t had people he could be ‘naked’ with. He couldn’t engage in honest dinner, conversation—and hear me out—sex. There’s always some caveat, some exclusion from the whole truth. If Will and him do literally anything sexual, even just kissing, I’m so curious how Hannibal would do it. Heck, even hand holding for the sake of hand holding. How would he do it? How does Hannibal indulge himself sexually? How does he touch? What kind of perverted is he? OTL
Nah cuz Will is so vindictive?? He’d literally go to a cannibalistic serial killer to seduce him–be seduced by him–just to put him behind bars rather than walk away and live a peaceful life?? Like girls be real for a sec–is any of that worth it? Would YOU do it if you could? Go back to your tormentor, eat humans with them going mm delicious, hey, btw I know you think I’m so cute haha, what’s your deepest darkest secret?? Delirious. Will is the type of kid whom if you intentionally tripped in the sandbox will attempt to cut you with a razor during arts and crafts activity later with blood still drying on his palms. He can’t be bullied. He’ll kill you.
It’s amusing how Hannibal expresses callous unconcern towards Will throughout season 1 but it is not the case by the end of season 2. Initially, Will was the top he spun to see how long it’d spin and which way it’d fall. Harming Will was a tool and a function of life. But throughout season 2 as we focus more on Hannibal’s internal thoughts, we can see Will burrowing into Hannibal’s soft spots. Will starts to mean more to Hannibal than an experiment or any other patient—Will is now a confidant. Will is interesting beyond his uniqueness; he’s angry, he’s sharp-edged, and he’s cruel. He is a burst of flavour on the tongue and sharp, painful teeth at his neck. He holds a gun to Hannibal’s head and threatens him. He tries to hurt and hurt again because he’s furious. He lets Hannibal hold his hands and clean his wounds knowing who he is, he takes the knife from his hands to cut into human flesh knowing who he is. Will is the soft underbelly of a great beast and cutting into him makes Hannibal feel. Nothing callous about the hurt he makes spill in Mizumono—he can barely breathe and stop gritting his teeth.
When Hannibal would not even allow Will imprisoning him to surrendering himself willingly for him to then letting Will push them both off a CLIFF like you’ve got a chronic case of down bad-iditis 🙏
It’s so fascinating that the only time Will empathizes with a victim–instead of the killer–is with Randall. It’s still the case that he’s focused on the killer i.e. Randall is introduced into his life as such, however, the contents of the conversation is important because it’s essentially Will talking with himself by proxy through his perception of Randall. This has also never happened before. Will is now locked in–he has to center himself against Hannibal’s manipulations to succeed in catching him. This is a trial and so it makes so much sense that he has this little moment of introspection: Randall tells him “This is my becoming, and yours” and Will shakes his head, he says, “This is my design” I think as an exertion of control over the situation. This is him saying, “This is my trap, this is how I catch Hannibal, this is MY design, I’m in control.”