Hannibal Analysis - Blog Posts

On the other hand, imagine Hannibal becoming blind because of glaucoma. The same thing happens. Hannibal is pulled out of bed and dragged out into the hall and tries to fight back and gets shot in the stomach. He can only hear scuffling. Everything is blurry and seeing in dim lighting is impossible. That's why Will would always leave little night lights around the house. He can hear Will fighting back and cursing. The man says they only want Will alive. Hannibal is dragged outside. He claws at the ground, nails scraping against sea shells and sand. Then, catching on wood. Their dock. Then, a rope is tied around Hannibal's ankle. They know he can't see because they've been watching Hannibal and Will for a while. Hannibal is thrown off the dock and into the ocean, bleeding and unable to see where the surface is, because they want to watch him struggle. But they won't let him drown (okay, don't imagine Hannibal being scared a shark may get him unless you want to cry like me. but also imagine Hannibal's other foot being bitten by a shark and mangled, but his foot remains intact, just damaged. imagine Hannibal's little gurgling scream underneath the water, where he's cold and frightened and being shaken around by the shark before it lets go.) Then, Will kills all three men in a rage and swims to Hannibal, wearing one of the night vision goggles. It breaks Will's heart to see Hannibal disoriented in the current, swimming the wrong way. He grabs the rope and tugs Hannibal close. It's the first time Hannibal shows true fear after losing the ability to see clearly, clinging to Will.

Imagine Hannibal going deaf when he's like 60 years-old. The world around him is always muffled and he can no longer hear Will's voice. Imagine Will noticing Hannibal is insecure about speaking now because it's difficult to articulate when he can't hear, especially since English is not his native language. Hannibal doesn't know it, but his accent thickens over time and Will finds it endearing because only he gets to hear it. Soon, he rarely speaks anymore and communicates via writing. One night, Hannibal wakes to a gun against his temple. It's cold. The captors are wearing night vision goggles and drag him and Will out of bed. Hannibal fights back and is shot in the stomach. He tries to call out for Will as he's dragged outside where it's pitch black. He knows his voice is probably slurred because he can't hear himself when he speaks and he's forgotten how many English words sound. He can't see anything. He can't hear anything. All he knows is he's bleeding and being dragged across their yard and Will is not here. Imagine Will hearing Hannibal's voice for the first time in ages, slurred and thick and trembling.

Imagine Hannibal going deaf when he's like 60 years-old. The world around him is always muffled and he can no longer hear Will's voice. Imagine Will noticing Hannibal is insecure about speaking now because it's difficult to articulate when he can't hear, especially since English is not his native language. Hannibal doesn't know it, but his accent thickens over time and Will finds it endearing because only he gets to hear it. Soon, he rarely speaks anymore and communicates via writing. One night, Hannibal wakes to a gun against his temple. It's cold. The captors are wearing night vision goggles and drag him and Will out of bed. Hannibal fights back and is shot in the stomach. He tries to call out for Will as he's dragged outside where it's pitch black. He knows his voice is probably slurred because he can't hear himself when he speaks and he's forgotten how many English words sound. He can't see anything. He can't hear anything. All he knows is he's bleeding and being dragged across their yard and Will is not here. Imagine Will hearing Hannibal's voice for the first time in ages, slurred and thick and trembling.

Hannibal's toilet being removed in the BSHCI is something I'll always want to explore in fics because the whump possibilities are endless. Humans can supposedly only last three to five days without water. Hannibal is no different.

Hannibal's toilet is removed and a gaurd needs to escort him to the bathroom from now on. His meals are suddenly being left on the floor right outside of his cell where he can look at them but not reach them because no one wants to have to take him to the bathroom. For the first day, Hannibal doesn't feel very put off by it because the food isn't even that good. He needs to use the bathroom but no one comes. So he ends up peeing in a corner. Then, the next day comes and he starts to feel thirsty and his stomach is growling. His plate of food is left on the floor again. He smells the first plate of food start to go bad. Two more days pass and Hannibal's mouth is now dry as a desert. He tries to ignore the hunger and the thirst. He faces the wall to keep from seeing the food just out of reach. He knows humans can only last so long without water. That's when he starts to feel real fear. He swallows his own saliva because he's so thirsty, but it becomes impossible when his mouth is so dry. His lips are chapped now, uncomfortably so. He doesn't have to use the bathroom anymore because there's nothing to expel. This is the first time Hannibal's gone without food in decades. Imagine how much trauma would resurface. Being starved when food is still visible. Like in the cabin. He's getting quite scared now when it becomes the fifth day without food or water. He lays in bed because of fatigue. He doesn't expect to see Will on the afternoon of the sixth day. Imagine Hannibal regressing in that moment because it's too much; being so thirsty and hungry and seeing Will (who is mad at him after sending someone after Molly). He wonders if this was Will's idea. A form of punishment. He's curled up in bed when today's dinner plate is passed through his cell. He doesn't move to get it. There could be something in the food or the water. He's being watched by Will so obviously something must be amiss.

Five minutes pass and Will is still staring, brows furrowed. "Come eat," he says.

But Hannibal can't even if he's craving a droplet of water. Dread fills Hannibal's veins when Will leaves moments later. Then, Will returns twenty minutes later with a bag of food from one of Hannibal's favorite restaurants and a key and a water bottle. He feels relieved and overwhelmed all at once. Hannibal is struggling to sit up because he's feeling so weak and lightheaded. So Will needs to help him, and that's when Will notices how chapped Hannibal's mouth is. That he's probably not eaten or drank anything at all in the last few days.

Imagine Will asking "Are you thirsty, sweetheart?" and Hannibal starts tearing up and nodding. Will guides a straw past Hannibal's chapped lips and is left in shock when Hannibal finishes the entire bottle in a minute, still trying to drink even when there is no water left.

Truly!!

Like how this session must've ended, and how Hannibal must've been feeling during it, knowing he'd been betrayed? That keeps me up at night. This is just an old fic idea I had, but:

Imagine if Hannibal had to fight back tears in the aftermath of this moment because he’d never experienced a betrayal quite like this—because he hadn’t gotten this close to anyone since he was a child—and he had finally let Will see a part of himself he’d never imagined he could share with anyone. He believed he’d been accepted up until now. My headcanon is he was punished for not being able to speak at the orphanage: beaten when he would be forced to try and speak; but no words would come out; only a weak rasp. Imagine if he struggled to continue the their conversation because a lump was forming in his throat and it felt too much like the strain of trying to speak as a mute child.

So he panicked (because muteness is something he hadn't struggled with in decades) and all he could do was whimper as Will—

I really wanna know what happened in Mizumono moments after Hannibal smelt Freddie’s perfume on Will. How did he end the visit? How did Will not notice a shift in the atmosphere with his empathy? Like come on, Willy boy—put that over-empathetic brain to work. 😩

And the dinner scene when Hannibal suggests they run away together, feed Will’s dogs, and leave a note for Alana—but Will doesn’t want to. I bet Hannibal was fighting back a sniffle and a tearful hiccup with each bite. You know that sore, sandpaper sensation in your throat when you’re about to burst into tears, but holding it back?

Imagine if while Hannibal was eating, he choked because his throat felt so raw and Will had to do the Heimlich maneuver on him—and it only worsened his emotional state because Will has been playing him and just witnessed him gasping for his life over a small chunk of lamb. Tears are streaming down his cheeks, but Will believes it’s only a simple case of watery eyes. Then an ugly, voice-cracking sob bursts from Hannibal’s chest because Will is being so gentle with him—rubbing his back and asking if he’s all right (since he’s never nothing but elegance and grace 24/7)—and for the first time in decades his voice abandons him.

He hasn’t felt this off-kilter or this unlovable since he was in the orphanage—mute and alone—just waiting for someone to truly see him.

Will’s seen him—but he knows Will doesn’t want him as he is—who he’s always been. It’s a crushing blow. One he never thought he would have to experience because he never imagined meeting someone like Will.

I really wanna know what happened in Mizumono moments after Hannibal smelt Freddie’s perfume on Will. How did he end the visit? How did Will not notice a shift in the atmosphere with his empathy? Like come on, Willy boy—put that over-empathetic brain to work. 😩

And the dinner scene when Hannibal suggests they run away together, feed Will’s dogs, and leave a note for Alana—but Will doesn’t want to. I bet Hannibal was fighting back a sniffle and a tearful hiccup with each bite. You know that sore, sandpaper sensation in your throat when you’re about to burst into tears, but holding it back?

Imagine if while Hannibal was eating, he choked because his throat felt so raw and Will had to do the Heimlich maneuver on him—and it only worsened his emotional state because Will has been playing him and just witnessed him gasping for his life over a small chunk of lamb. Tears are streaming down his cheeks, but Will believes it’s only a simple case of watery eyes. Then an ugly, voice-cracking sob bursts from Hannibal’s chest because Will is being so gentle with him—rubbing his back and asking if he’s all right (since he’s never nothing but elegance and grace 24/7)—and for the first time in decades his voice abandons him.

He hasn’t felt this off-kilter or this unlovable since he was in the orphanage—mute and alone—just waiting for someone to truly see him.

Will’s seen him—but he knows Will doesn’t want him as he is—who he’s always been. It’s a crushing blow. One he never thought he would have to experience because he never imagined meeting someone like Will.

i'm sobbing ohmygod 😭💔

imagine that being the first time Hannibal ever leaned into an embrace (okay i think he did it with Abigail once but that was inauthentic), searching for a small crumb of comfort, in decades. imagine if the last genuine hug he'd had was when he was a mute teenager and would wake up from night terrors and be hugged or held by his uncle or Lady Murasaki. then, Hannibal spent the next two decades not ever being hugged until now.

"the embrace he dreamed he'd get, if they'd run away together" is killing me because omg imagine Hannibal being so excited to run away together and hoping Will would hug him. Hannibal post-bshci would be so, so touch-starved and Will had to know or at least form an inkling. the cliff hug was Hannibal's first hug in literal years. Hannibal was probably on cloud 9. post-fall Hannibal would probably still crave it (being hugged, being touched) but be too hesitant to seek it out (unless while asleep and unconsciously crept closer to Will).

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.

I'm exploring this in my cliff house fic right now, but thoughts on potential abuse that took place during Hannibal's stay at the BSHCI?

They took his toilet and books. I get the feeling there was sleep and food deprivation. I think lot of the guards didn't treat him well when they had to deal with him. Not like Alana would do anything about that. Especially after they figure out he won't attack them or try to escape and they basically have a willing punching bag. (Especially after Will gets married, Hannibal loses what little fight he has)

What if as they start recovering from the fall and getting closer, Will starts to see little tells and triggers and starts to piece together that Hannibal was not in fact treated to a luxury stay under Alana's care as he thought. Cue Hannibal constantly denying that he has trauma and fighting the tlc Will is trying to give and Will dealing with the guilt in the aftermath for being the cause of it all. Bonus points if Will goes into a rage and goes after (or at least wants to) the people who hurt him and Hannibal gets all flustered about being protected and cared for

OMG I AGREE!! also very excited for your fic. i'll touch on Hannibal's abuse in the BSHCI because you know whump is my bread and butter 😏

firstly, i think Hannibal did indeed face abuse (emotional and physical) like gaurds being rough and not caring if he got thrashed around or injured on their end. like omg imagine if when Hannibal was in that dolly thing with the wheels (wearing his straitjacket), one of the gaurds who absolutely hated him sped up the dolly thing and roughly pushed it over so Hannibal landed face first onto the floor with no way to brace himself and got a bloody nose and black eye. i might write a fic about that actually: Will finding Hannibal sedated and crumpled on the floor with the dolly thing crushing him. 😭

sorry i got sidetracked, but anywho!! i do think Hannibal faced starvation and missed meals, too. maybe not consistently. but at least a few times during those three years. i bet it messed with his mind a lot more than he would willingly admit to himself and bring back memories of being chained up with a growling stomach. on those nights, Hannibal probably struggled with night terrors.

i know this next part is so niche and not everyone needs to agree with it, but my headcanon is after Hannibal's toilet was removed there was at least one instance where laxatives were snuck into Hannibal's food or water, or Hannibal was restrained and forcefully given an enema by a few of the gaurds so they could watch Hannibal suffer without access to a toilet.

another headcanon i have is that sometimes Hannibal regressed in the BSHCI when the isolation and touch starvation became too unbearable. little Hannibal would curl up under the blanket and fold it over his head to be out of view when sucking his thumb for comfort and rocking himself to sleep. ohmygod what if i write a fic about that too?! 😭 Will going to visit Hannibal and Alana tells him Hannibal is regressed 💔 crying and i haven't even written it yet lmfao.

Hannibal regressed at least a few times. especially on his birthday or mischa's birthday because those are difficult days to be alone. Hannibal tried not to regress on Will's birthday because little Hannibal wouldn't think Will wanted to see him ever again.

going back to the toilet removal and laxative/enema torture: Hannibal probably regressed in those moments because such a loss of control was nearly foreign and unbearable.

Hannibal was probably triggered with memories of being trapped in the cabin with the men who killed his family (before he became mute) and asking to use the bathroom yet being forced to hold it for as long as possible. even when it became agonizing, especially when he was sick and couldn't hold in diarrhea. the men would punish young Hannibal with beatings and not give him anything to clean up the mess or throw him out in the snow for a period of time as punishment or lessen the amount of food he would be given, if any at all.

in the BSHCI, Hannibal would probably try to mask any signs of regression, though, so mutism was the best coping mechanism in those circumstances.

also omg we have the same brain because i've been thinking about Hannibal being sleep deprived in the BSHCI since winter. my headcanon is that it would occur on rare occasions, but be enough to send Hannibal into a regressed state. for two days (because that's as long as the guards would have during the weekend when Alana would not be there) lights would not be turned off when scheduled to be and music would blare loud in the speakers constantly. little Hannibal would be overwhelmed and shove both hands over his ears to soften the sound as much as possible, but it wouldn't offer much relief at all. i might write a fic about this too omg because imagine Will seeing a sleep deprived version of little Hannibal sobbing for silence and darkness and sleep in the BSHCI. 😭

now, on the topic of Will noticing signs of Hannibal's abuse/mistreatment

the first time Hannibal felt the urge to use the bathroom in Will's presence would probably bring up feelings of unease and resurfacing emotions and memories. especially if Hannibal was injured and incapable of getting around without assistance from Will. Hannibal would most likely involuntarily regress in that moment because there was (in little Hannibal's mind) a very high likelihood of being denied the option to seek out a bathroom and a very high likelihood of being tortured in such a way that made losing control of one's bladder or bowels inevitable and a very high likelihood of being punished for it. it would shock Will, seeing Hannibal fall into a state of regression and clearly be distressed about being allowed to use the bathroom.

my headcanon is that Will instantly adores little Hannibal and feels an overwhelming sense of protectiveness and fondness for this newfound version of Hannibal.

another moment where Hannibal may regress post-fall is during the first time Hannibal is hungry and it is not at all close to dinner time yet. Hannibal knows asking to have a snack is not some huge feat or something to be wary of while in Will's presence. but regressing temporarily eases Hannibal's worries about possibly being denied food (because Hannibal is hopeful Will would not deny little Hannibal the comfort of food). little Hannibal is cautious in asking Will for a snack and Will can sense it's a monumental moment. Will rushes to bring little Hannibal a snack and settles into bed and hand-feeds little Hannibal every bite to make it clear there is no reason for Hannibal to ever again be wary about asking for food. regressed or non regressed.

these are all my thoughts i have right now, but i may come back to this eventually and add some more. thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and sending in this ask. i would absolutely love love love talking more about vulnerable Hannibal with y'all. please feel free to send in more asks or share your thoughts with me about vulnerable Hannibal! <3

It’s storming and the lights are flickering (and Hannibal detests/is afraid of the dark during bad weather). The lights flicker off the moment Will plunges the spoon into Hannibal’s mouth. Hannibal is shivering (while rooted to the floor) and his jaws instinctively clamp down around the spoon because at one point he believed it would be his last morsel of sustenance. It’s agonizing as it sticks to the roof of his mouth and spills across his tongue and seeps into his gum line. He ends up choking on a sob and a mouthful of ice cream as he wets himself because of the resurfacing trauma. Cue Will feeling guilty as hell when the lights come back on because Hannibal is standing/trembling in a puddle of urine and Hannibal won’t speak for the rest of the night or the next day.

Imagine eight year old Hannibal escaping from the cabin and he’s so starving that he eats a few handfuls of snow just so his stomach won’t feel so empty. Later in life he never eats vanilla ice cream (or any other flavor for that matter) because the texture and temperature is too similar to snow. Will only knows he always turns down an offering of ice cream and thinks it’s weird as fuck that Hannibal is so averse to it because everyone loves ice cream. One day Hannibal is in the middle of a tangent and Will shoves a spoonful into his mouth and it triggers his cryophobia.

Imagine eight year old Hannibal escaping from the cabin and he’s so starving that he eats a few handfuls of snow just so his stomach won’t feel so empty. Later in life he never eats vanilla ice cream (or any other flavor for that matter) because the texture and temperature is too similar to snow. Will only knows he always turns down an offering of ice cream and thinks it’s weird as fuck that Hannibal is so averse to it because everyone loves ice cream. One day Hannibal is in the middle of a tangent and Will shoves a spoonful into his mouth and it triggers his cryophobia.