Hannibal (2013-2015)

Imagine if during Will’s honey trap era, he dropped by unannounced and found Hannibal slumped on the floor of his kitchen—wearing his red sweater and matching pajama pants—too weak and fatigued from the flu to make it back to bed.

He’s fevered and shivering, barely holding onto a half-eaten piece of toast that’s dangling between his sleep-slackened fingers. His bangs are fanned out across his forehead, softening his features and two days’ growth of stubble dusts his jaw. Will manages to wake him and strips him down to his boxers to wrangle him into a cold bath in hopes of bringing down his fever. Hannibal panics and tries to climb out—away from the frigid water—but Will holds him down.

Cue Hannibal’s cryophobia emerging for the first time in decades and he regresses. In under a minute, he’s sobbing and on the verge of hyperventilating, clinging to Will and losing his footing as he makes another effort to escape, slipping back into the water and busting his chin on the edge of the tub.

making a tiktok account for my hannibal headcanons and vulnerable hannibal rec list and rambles <3 i woke up from a nap and it came to me like a vision.

this was me in the spring of 2023 after i started writing my 54k word fic about Hannibal being tortured via laxatives and starvation after his toilet was removed in the BSHCI, and people actually left lovely comments on it when i expected at least one person to be like: "goddamn bitch what the fuck is this monstrosity"

YOU!! YES, YOU!! GO WRITE THAT FANFIC YOU THINK NOBODY BUT YOU WILL READ!!

i think about this all the time omg 😭 i read a fic about years where Will cooked Hannibal Lithuanian foods and he had a mini breakdown. and i have not stopped thinking about it since 💔

Do you guys ever think about how he never cooks food that would be familiar to him from childhood/Lithuania because I’m thinking about how he never cooks food that would be familiar to him from his childhood/Lithuania

you just know Hannibal's mind would do the equivalent of a blue screen and he would stand there frozen in shock the first time it happens, soaking in Will's southern accent softening the word 🤭

Something something hierarchy of needs pyramid with will graham calling hannibal baby just once on it somewhere

Vulnerable Hannibal Fic Rec List

New addition (located @ the bottom of the page) as of 9/24/2024!

On my previous post, people were interested in finding fics where Hannibal is touch-starved and or dealing with separation anxiety post-fall. So here is a small list of some that may fit that theme! The first five fics are mine, but the rest are some of my favorite fics I’ve ever read that feature vulnerable Hannibal in various seasons, AUs, and post-canon. This list will be updated intermittently!

The Ache Against The Wind (Rewritten): He’d sustained a substantial amount of brain damage throughout the last eleven days, Will had been told. Resulting in Post-Traumatic Amnesia. (Hannibal is tortured in the BSHCI via beatings, laxatives, enemas, starvation and the “water curing” method after his toilet is removed. Will saves him).

Pareidolia: Six weeks post-fall, Hannibal suffers from a seizure during dinner.

Je Te Laisserai Des Mots: Six months have passed since Will pulled them over the cliff. Even in light of their progressing relationship, much of Hannibal still remains a mystery to Will. For reasons unknown, he’s begun to pull away. (A sequel to Shrike; my housewife Hannibal fic!)

Between The Hour Of Reprieve:

At the cliff house, Hannibal receives a much-needed-hug. (features crying, touch-starved Hannibal).

Shrike (To Your Sharp And Glorious Thorn): Hannibal feels anxious about the prospect of Will abandoning him one day because he isn’t at all capable of being like Molly. His anxiety only heightens when Will gets a job. (features crying housewife Hannibal speaking Lithuanian).

A Cabin In The Woods by KoolJack1: Hannibal is thirteen and runs away from the orphanage when he feels that a fate of the elements will be better than the fate of abuse. He finds a small cabin in the woods, thinking warmth will be all he finds. He also finds Will. But who changes who?

Recipricol Alchemy by Scifibabe: In the silent echoes of his dreams, Will Graham treads a line blurred between control and chaos, each step drawing him inexorably towards claiming Hannibal as his own. It's a perilous dance on the edge of darkness, where the thrill of possession whispers of a transformation too profound to resist.

Hold Me, Don’t Let Me Go by sourweather: It's a few months after the Fall when it finally hits him. Hannibal has barely been touched in 3 years. And Will won't let it go on for another moment.

Hosanna In The Highest by sainthannibal: During the fall, Hannibal receives the brunt of the injuries, which leaves him unable to care for himself. Will discovers how much he enjoys taking care of him.

You Made Me Soup by itsybitsylemonsqueezy: Hannibal comes down with pneumonia while incarcerated. Will decides to make him some soup. Absolutely no one thinks it's strange that Will comes to give his ex soup when he finds out he's sick. No one at all finds this suspicious. At. All.

The Boy Under The Monster’s Bed by Wr4tttttthh: There were deep wounds that needed healing, new and old, physical and otherwise. (features crying, vulnerable Hannibal).

Delicate Ghost by hannigramcracker & TimmyJayBird: She was different- not the ghost of his memories, but something about this bloodied child ripped right at Hannibal's chest, and left him drowning in a cold snow he thought he had left in his childhood, that he had locked away within his skull. Drowning, with only one hand to grasp at, one body to cling to. One man to work him through the trauma and remind him what life was.

You With Those Nails, Me With This Cross by TheBitterKitten:

Will goes too far.

The Distance Is Quite Simply Much Too Far For Me To Row by softhan: Hannibal is having a rough time recovering from his injuries post-fall, and retreats into himself to avoid confrontation with Will while he's still weak and ill. Having to play happy husbands hardly helps.

Silk and Lace by jonnimir: Bedelia leaves Hannibal and Will a gift at the house on the cliff.

you are so right about everything and ily and your posts !! <3

Might be imagining things, but have you noticed how he first leans into the embrace, his face onto Will's shoulder?

I mean, he could've pulled Will closer first, without moving an inch. An act of power and having control over Will in his hands. But HE LEANED FIRST.

Maybe, only maybe, he NEEDED this embrace for comfort. It wasn't a terrifying gesture, it was meant for HIM, not Will. The embrace he imagined he'd get from Will, if they had run away together. The one that could've been a fresh start but it turned into a farewell.

the entire plot of Hannibal is literally that two gays matched each others freak a little too hard and ascended from humanity itself and started eating people

I think the reason I love fanfics about Hannibal having a terrible time is because in the show Will is The Guy Having A Terrible Time. My boy needs some rest and also a villain era. Hannibal needs to be kicked in the face and I think Will has absolutely earned the right to do it. Even better is the fact that Hannibal is super horny about it.

you worded it perfectly. i deleted a similar paragraph in my previous reply before posting bc i was scared it would anger people who don't agree lol.

but i do also think the take of 'If you write about Hannibal's trauma having an impact on his life as an adult then you are wrong and don't understand his character. Hannibal is not traumatized from witnessing his parents' murder and then unknowingly eating his sister (while in the middle of being starved). Hannibal's always been evil. His childhood experience would have no impact on his relationship with Will' doesn't have to be the set standard. i'm sorry, but it doesn't interest me as a writer 😭

also you're so right. people can have different opinions and that's okay. someone directly invalidating and bashing another person's speculative lens because it doesn't perfectly match their view of the narrative lens is unnecessary and rude. that shouldn't happen as much as it seems to. i'll shut up now before i ramble any longer. tysm for sharing your thoughts with me. <3

hey so can we talk about how characters in fiction are not autonomous individuals, but tools crafted to explore themes and provoke emotional/intellectual responses?

and more specifically, maybe also include how reducing Hannibal's actions to mere "evil" obscures his symbolic role as a disruptor of societal norms?

and maybe, MAYBE (if we have time), then carry the conversation into how focusing solely on Hannibal's morality erases the show's intended commentary on human behavior, repression, and connection?

please?